All Middle East
- Tents in winter: Dislocated by war, Gazans struggle to find shelter
In Gaza, there is an increasingly frantic search for dwindling options for shelter even as Israel sets its sights on an overwhelmed and overcongested Rafah.
- First LookArab states warn Israel against launching invasion of Rafah
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he asked Israel’s military to plan for the evacuation of hundreds of thousands of people in Rafah ahead of an invasion, setting off panic. More than half of Gaza’s 2.3 million people are packed into the city on the border with Egypt.
- The ExplainerUS confronts ‘Axis’: Who are Iran’s allies? Can they be deterred?
Alongside the war in Gaza, Iran’s regional allies and U.S. forces have engaged in scores of attacks and retaliations. Both the U.S. and Iran say they want to avert a wider war, but the clashes’ intensity has increased.
- In West Bank, a glimpse at how war has hardened Palestinian views
If the Gaza Strip is the main battlefield in the Israel-Hamas war, the West Bank is still very much part of the conflict. And Israeli arrests and raids there are only reinforcing a wartime radicalization of the Palestinian population.
- Israel’s Netanyahu fights against Hamas, and for his future
For Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the war in Gaza is about more than destroying Hamas. It is a struggle for political survival.
- In Gaza, humanitarian network is in crisis even as needs soar
The humanitarian needs of Palestinians in Gaza, displaced by war and, in midwinter, facing dwindling access to food, shelter, and medicine, are staggering. A major crisis for Gaza’s aid distribution network could hardly be more poorly timed.
- Why Oct. 7 has bound Israeli Druze and Jews even more tightly
For the Druze, an Arab religious minority, serving the state in which they live is both a civic duty and a tenet of their faith. Yet after the horrors of Oct. 7 and their losses since, Israeli Druze see the Israel-Hamas war as becoming increasingly personal.
- Hostages or Hamas? Cracks spread in Israeli unity over war aims.
Israel’s twin war goals in Gaza of rescuing hostages and defeating Hamas have been hard to reconcile. As the U.S. and others try to mediate a new cease-fire/hostage deal with Hamas, do Israelis know what victory looks like?
- First Look‘We decide’: Netanyahu pushes back on UN ruling as war in Gaza beats on
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that Israel will “act according to what is required for our security” after the International Court of Justice’s order to limit death and destruction in Gaza.
- West Bank settler extremists widen campaign against Palestinians
Monitor reporters witnessed a shooting attack by West Bank settlers on Palestinian shepherds as an Israeli army jeep stood by. Officials and diplomats say the attacks further a campaign to push Palestinians off their lands.
- Writers, artists, scientists: Gaza mourns its cultural losses
War’s destructiveness extends beyond a tally of lives and structures lost; it extends to the richness of cultural life as well. Palestinians in Gaza say the loss of artists and academics who touched and inspired them will be felt for generations.
- Why populist president retains support amid Tunisia’s enduring poverty
Political analysts love to talk about voters’ pocketbooks. In theory, leaders would get credit for policy successes and blame for failures. But populists’ use of xenophobia and conspiracy theories can turn that idea on its head.
- Around the globe, the politics of the war in Gaza is local
The war in Gaza is reverberating in different ways around the world, from India and Indonesia to the U.S. and Germany.
- First LookMissile attacks across Middle East raise Gaza escalation risks
Iran said five of its Revolutionary Guards were killed in a missile strike in Damascus which it blamed on Israel. Other missile attacks Saturday occurred in Lebanon, Iraq, and Yemen.
- In escalating war zone, Druze village has a message: Hope and peace
In Beit Jann, an Israeli Druze village with views of Lebanon, Syria, and Jordan, the outlook is one of determined optimism. Even as the region is gripped by rising violence, villagers speak of peaceful coexistence.
- First LookPakistan and Iran blame mineral-rich warlords for missile strikes
Tensions flared this week after Iran and Pakistan exchanged missiles, killing a total of nine people. Both nations have taken steps to turn down the dial. Pakistan expressed a readiness to work with Iran “based on spirit of mutual trust and cooperation.”
- Widening Middle East war: Have Iran’s calculations changed?
As the Israel-Hamas war spreads around the wider region, looping in U.S. forces, Yemen’s Houthis, and now Pakistan, a connecting thread runs through Tehran. But are the actions of its “Axis of Resistance” helping or harming Iran?
- Israel-Hamas war: What’s left of the pro-peace camps?
For decades, Israelis and Palestinians – officials and regular folk – have convened to talk about, and advocate for, coexistence and peace. Amid the horrors of Oct. 7 and the war in Gaza, is that still possible?
- First LookSeeds of resistance: Why watermelon symbolizes Palestinian solidarity
Watermelon slices have grown to signify resistance to Israeli censorship. The fruit is now seeing an emoji-borne renaissance, marking new efforts to circumvent social media suppression and convey Palestinian support.
- Mixing hope and skepticism, Palestinians watch Hague genocide hearings
Many Palestinians in the West Bank say the case brought by South Africa against Israel could prompt judges to order a cease-fire in Gaza, offering a rare glimmer of hope for relief amid a bleak war.