Middle East
Israel readying response to Iran missile attack
Israel was preparing a military response to Iran’s missile attack this week that heightened fears of a wider regional war, an Israeli official said yesterday, as fighting raged in Lebanon and Gaza.
Lebanon conflict pushes Gaza truce out of focus
Palestinians fear the crisis in Lebanon is diverting the world’s attention from Gaza, where Israeli strikes killed dozens more people this week, and diminishing already dim prospects for a ceasefire a year into an offensive that has shattered the enclave.
Lebanon invasion / How might Israel strike back against Iran?
Israel has sworn it will retaliate for Iran’s missile barrage on Tuesday, which involved more than 180 ballistic missiles and was largely thwarted by Israel’s air defense systems. Below are some ways Israel, backed by the United States, could strike back.
Iran’s allies will keep fighting Israel
Iran’s supreme leader yesterday vowed in a rare address that his allies around the region would keep fighting Israel, as he defended his country’s missile strike on its arch-foe.
US President Biden does not believe there will be 'all-out-war' in Middle East
U.S. President Joe Biden said he did not believe there is going to be an "all-out war" in the Middle East, as Israel weighs options for retaliation after Tehran's largest ever assault on its arch-enemy.
Israel strikes Beirut, south Lebanon
Israel’s military urged residents of more than 20 towns in south Lebanon to evacuate their homes immediately yesterday as it pressed on with incursions after suffering its worst losses in a year of fighting the Iran-backed armed group Hezbollah.
Food aid to Gaza falls as Israel sets new rule
Food supplies to Gaza have fallen sharply in recent weeks because Israeli authorities have introduced a new customs rule on some humanitarian aid and are separately scaling down deliveries organized by businesses, people involved in getting goods to the territory told Reuters.
Iran warned Nasrallah of Israeli plot to kill him
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei warned Hezbollah leader Syyed Hassan Nasrallah to flee Lebanon days before he was killed in an Israeli strike and is now deeply worried about Israeli infiltration of senior government ranks in Tehran, three Iranian sources said.
West Bank Raid: Israeli forces kill 2 Palestinians
Israeli security forces yesterday killed two Palestinians suspected of carrying out a shooting attack against police this week, Israel’s military said.
Erdogan does not rule out backing Sweden’s Nato bid
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan yesterday appeared to leave open the possibility of backing Sweden’s Nato candidacy, saying Turkey would “make the best decision, whatever it is” at next week’s alliance summit.
Israel, Lebanon trade cross-border shelling
Two rockets were fired from southern Lebanon toward Israel yesterday, prompting cross-border strikes by the Israeli military, sources on both sides said.
Israel’s army ends West Bank raid
Israel’s army yesterday declared the end of a large-scale military operation in the occupied West Bank that killed 12 Palestinians and one Israeli soldier over the previous two days.
Iran maintains crackdowns
Iran is still meting out harsh punishments on people suspected of involvement in mass protests, including “chilling” executions, a United Nations fact-finding mission said yesterday.
Jenin raid close to completion
Israel is close to completing its Jenin operation, a senior aide to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said yesterday after the fiercest fighting in the flashpoint West Bank town in more than two decades killed 10 Palestinians and forced thousands to flee.
Israel army raid kills 9 Palestinians in West Bank
Israeli forces killed nine Palestinians in a large-scale operation Monday in the occupied West Bank that the army labelled an "extensive counterterrorism effort," involving air strikes and hundreds of troops
Large-scale Israeli army operation kills eight in West Bank
Israeli forces killed eight Palestinians in a large-scale operation Monday in the occupied West Bank in what the army labelled an "extensive counterterrorism effort" involving drone strikes and hundreds of troops
2,000 hajj pilgrims hit by heat stress: Saudi officials
More than 2,000 pilgrims have suffered heat stress during the hajj pilgrimage, Saudi officials said Thursday, after temperatures soared to 48 degrees Celsius (118 degrees Fahrenheit) during the annual rites
Crowds 'stone the devil' in final hajj ritual
Massive crowds of robed Muslim pilgrims gathered for the "stoning of the devil" ritual in Saudi Arabia on Wednesday as the biggest hajj pilgrimage since the pandemic draws to a close