Middle East

Israel-Hamas War
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- Israel-Hamas War

A new year dawns on a Middle East torn by conflict and change

The streets were buzzing with excitement in Damascus as Syrians welcomed in a new year that seemed to many to bring a promise of a brighter future after the unexpected fall of Bashar Assad’s government weeks earlier.

Middle East latest: Dozens of patients and wounded evacuated from Gaza for treatment

In Gaza’s crowded tent camps, women wrestle with a life stripped of privacy

Now Syria’s long-ruling Baath party is collapsing, too

A fourth infant dies of the winter cold in Gaza as families share blankets in seaside tents

An Iraqi couple is charged in Germany with keeping and abusing Yazidi girls as slaves

Germany’s federal prosecutor has charged an Iraqi couple with enslavement, torture and war crimes, alleging they kept two young Yazidi girls as slaves and sexually and physically abused them.

Iran confirms arresting Italian journalist Cecilia Sala

Iran’s state media say an Italian journalist has been arrested on charges of violating the Islamic Republic’s laws.

Israeli hospital says Netanyahu has undergone successful prostate surgery

An Israeli hospital says Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has undergone successful prostate surgery.

Syria’s de facto leader says it could take up to 4 years to hold elections

Syria’s de facto leader has said it could take up to four years to hold elections in Syria, and that he plans on dissolving his Islamist group that led the country’s insurgency at an anticipated national dialogue summit for the country.

Syria’s dwindling Jewish community can visit one of the world’s oldest synagogues again

Syria’s civil war left one of the world’s oldest synagogues partially destroyed. Now Syria’s handful of remaining Jews are making pilgrimages to the synagogue in a Damascus suburb where people from throughout the region once came to pray.

AP WAS THERE: Carter announces Middle East peace agreement

One of Jimmy Carter’s crowning achievements as president was the Camp David talks that would deliver Israel’s first peace agreement with an Arab nation and make Nobel Peace Prize winners of Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin.

Middle East latest: Israel intercepts Houthi missile fired from Yemen

Israel’s military says it intercepted a missile fired toward the country by Yemen’s Houthi rebels. The attack set off sirens late Monday in central areas of Israel, including Tel Aviv.

North Korea’s Kim vows the toughest anti-US policy before Trump takes office

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un says he will implement the “toughest” anti-U.S. policy, less than a month before Donald Trump takes office as U.S. president.

A suicide bomber kills a police officer and wounds another in southern Iran

Iranian media say a suicide bomber killed a local police officer and wounded another in a southern Iranian port city, home to a large Sunni Muslim community.

Israel detains the director of one of northern Gaza’s last functioning hospitals during a raid

Gaza’s Health Ministry says Israel’s army has detained the director of one of northern Gaza’s last functioning hospitals.

AP PHOTOS: Portraits of former Syrian rebels now soldiers

Former Syrian rebels who now serve as part of the new Syrian government’s armed forces posed for portraits with their weapons.

Relatives of Bashar Assad arrested as they tried to fly out of Lebanon, officials say

Lebanese officials say the wife and daughter of one of deposed Syrian president Bashar Assad’s cousins have been arrested at the Beirut airport.

Israeli troops forcibly remove staff and patients from northern Gaza hospital, officials say

Gaza’s Health Ministry says Israeli troops have stormed one of the last hospitals operating in the territory’s north and forced many of the staff and patients outside.

Middle East latest: Israeli soldiers burn a hospital in Gaza

Gaza’s Health Ministry says Israeli soldiers stormed and burned a hospital after forcibly removing staff and patients.

Middle East latest: WHO chief says he was at Yemen airport as Israeli bombs fell nearby

The World Health Organization’s director-general said airstrikes on Yemen’s main airport occurred as he was about to board a flight in the Houthi rebel-held capital of Sanaa.

Israel strikes Houthi rebels in Yemen’s capital while the WHO chief says he was meters away

A new round of Israeli airstrikes in Yemen has targeted the Houthi rebel-held capital of Sanaa and multiple ports.

A Syrian family recounts the horrors of the 2013 chemical attack near Damascus

A Syrian family that survived a 2013 chemical weapons attack that killed hundreds of people near the country’s capital, Damascus, says the ordeal they experienced haunts them to this day.

Clashes between Islamists now in power in Syria and Assad’s supporters kill 6 fighters

A British-based war monitor said clashes between Islamists who took over Syria and supporters of ousted President Bashar Assad’s government have killed six Islamic fighters and wounded others.

Missile fire from Yemen’s Houthi rebels sets off sirens in central Israel for the second night

A missile launched from Yemen triggered air raid sirens across central Israel sending millions of residents looking for cover for the second night in a row.

Pope calls for nations to overcome divisions in Christmas address as communities celebrate worldwide

Pope Francis in his traditional Christmas message has urged “all people of all nations” to find courage during this Holy Year “to silence the sounds of arms and overcome divisions” plaguing the world, from the Holy Land to Ukraine, Africa to Asia.

An Israeli soldier who died 417 days after his Oct. 7 wounds has become a symbol of sacrifice

An Israeli soldier who died more than 400 days after being wounded in the attack that sparked the war in Gaza now symbolizes the sacrifice of fallen fighters.

Iran restores access to WhatsApp and Google Play after they were banned amid protests

Iran’s government says it has lifted a ban on access to WhatsApp and Google Play after more than two years. That’s according to the official IRNA news agency.

Global monitor says famine is weeks away in north Gaza. A US diplomat calls warning ‘irresponsible’

A leading global food crisis monitor says deaths from starvation will likely pass famine levels in north Gaza as soon as next month. The U.S.

Kurdish-led forces push back Turkish-backed Syrian rebels in a tense offensive

Kurdish-led fighters in Syria, known as the Syrian Democratic Forces, say they have launched a counter-offensive against the Ankara-backed Syrian National Army to take back areas near Syria’s northern border with Turkey.

France has a new government, again. Politics and crushing debt complicate next steps

France’s president and prime minister have managed to form a new government just in time for the holidays. Now comes the hard part.

Afghanistan welcomes Saudi Arabia’s decision to reopen embassy in Kabul

Afghanistan has welcomed the reopening of Saudi Arabia’s Embassy in Kabul for the first time since the Taliban returned to power in 2021.

Middle East latest: Israeli’s defense minister acknowledges it killed Hamas leader

Israel’s defense minister has confirmed that Israel assassinated Hamas’ top leader last summer and is threatening to take similar action against the leadership of the Houthi rebel group in Yemen.

In the ruins of a bombed-out church in Lebanon, there’s now a tiny Christmas tree

A Christmas tree stands among the fallen stones in the ruins of a Catholic church in southern Lebanon that was hit by an Israeli airstrike during the war with Hezbollah.

Former Israeli spies describe attack using exploding electronic devices against Hezbollah

Two recently retired senior Israeli intelligence agents are sharing details about a deadly clandestine operation that targeted Hezbollah militants in Lebanon and Syria with exploding pagers and walkie-talkies.

Trump threatens to try to take back the Panama Canal. Panama’s president balks at the suggestion

Donald Trump is suggesting that his new administration could try to regain control of the Panama Canal.

Prominent Lebanese figure meets Syrian insurgent who led Assad’s ouster, seeking better relations

A prominent Lebanese politician has met with the insurgent who led the overthrow of Syrian leader Bashar Assad, and both expressed hope Sunday for a new era in relations between their countries.

Israeli strikes in Gaza kill at least 22 as Vatican envoy visits Christians for pre-Christmas Mass

Palestinian medical officials say Israeli strikes across the Gaza Strip have killed at least 22 people, including five children.

Winter is hitting Gaza and many Palestinians have little protection from the cold

Nearly two million displaced Palestinians in Gaza are struggling to protect themselves from the coming winter.

In Assad’s hometown, few shared in his family’s fortune. They hope they won’t share in his downfall

On the walls of the palatial mausoleum built to house the remains of former Syrian President Hafez Assad — whose son, Bashar Assad, was ousted two weeks ago — vandals have sprayed variations of the phrase, “Damn your soul, Hafez.”

2 US Navy pilots shot down over Red Sea in apparent ‘friendly fire’ incident, US military says

The U.S. military says two U.S. Navy pilots have been shot down over the Red Sea in an apparent “friendly fire” incident.