Middle East

February 15, 2025

Lebanese authorities arrested more than 25 people on Saturday following an attack on a United Nations convoy that wounded two peacekeepers the day before, the interior minister said in a statement. UN and Lebanese officials have condemned Friday’s attack, which came as Hezbollah supporters blocked the road to the country’s only international airport for a second ...

February 15, 2025

The sixth round of the hostage release deal is underway, with Sagui Dekel-Chen, Iair Horn and Alexander “Sasha” Troufanov set to be handed over by Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) on Saturday. As in previous exchanges, Hamas used the event for a highly staged propaganda display, reinforcing the brutality of Gaza’s terrorist factions. This marks ...

February 10, 2025

The terrorist group Da’esh, also known as ISIL, remains a serious global security threat despite years of sustained efforts to dismantle its operations, UN counter-terrorism officials warned during a Security Council meeting on Monday. The discussion focused on the 20th biannual report of the Secretary-General on the threat posed by Da’esh to international peace and security. ...

February 8, 2025

The IDF arrested over 60 terror suspects and confiscated dozens of weapons in the West Bank over the past week, the military confirmed on Friday. The confiscated weapons included a number of M-16 rifles, handguns, and Carlo firearms, as well as explosives and materials needed for the manufacturing of explosives. In addition to the arrests and ...

February 8, 2025

Or Levy, Eli Sharabi, and Ohad Ben Ami are the hostages released by Hamas on Saturday. The three have been held captive by the terrorist organization for 491 days. Both Ben Ami and Sharabi are residents of Kibbutz Be’eri. Levy, now 34, was attending the Nova Music Festival on October 7 with his 32-year-old wife, Eynav, ...

February 7, 2025

Detectives from Kafr Kassem police station discovered a ready-to-use explosive device in an open area near Jaljulya during an operation, it was revealed on Friday. The explosive device was discovered Thursday night as part of an operation by Central District police officers to thwart the usage and trafficking of weapons. Police squads arrived at the scene ...

February 5, 2025

The United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS) in Iraq welcomes an additional funding from the Government of Italy, which will contribute to support the Government of Iraq (GoI) to protect civilians from the threat of explosive ordnance (EO) and will enable humanitarian, socio-economic, and reconstruction efforts. The Government of Italy has actively participated in the UNMAS ...

February 3, 2025

A car bomb exploded on the outskirts of a northern Syrian city on Monday, killing at least 19 people, all but one of them women, and leaving more than a dozen wounded, hospital workers said. The car detonated next to a vehicle carrying mostly female agricultural workers on the outskirts of the city of Manbij. The ...

February 2, 2025

On Monday, a child was killed and another injured after an explosive remnant of war detonated in Riyadh subdistrict, southwest of Kirkuk, a medical source reported. The source told Shafaq News, “The two children were playing near Al-Shaheed village, about 45 km southwest of Kirkuk when the device exploded.” The source added, “Security forces cordoned off ...

February 2, 2025

Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) “successfully” thwarted an ISIS bombing attempt targeting civilians and security forces in southwest Kirkuk. The group stated on Sunday that explosives experts from the PMF’s 15th Brigade, under the North and East Tigris Operations Command, located and neutralized an improvised explosive device (IED) planted by ISIS militants in Humairah al-Kubra village, ...

February 2, 2025

Almost 14 years of civil war contaminated swathes of the Syrian Arab Republic with roughly 324,600 unexploded rockets and bombs and thousands of landmines, according to a 2023 estimate by the US-based Carter Center. In the last four years alone, the Syrian Arab Republic has recorded more casualties resulting from unexploded ordnance than any other country, ...

February 2, 2025

All 60 members of the Chinese military engineering contingent from the 23rd Chinese Peacekeeping Force to Lebanon successfully passed the United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS) qualification assessment in a single attempt on Friday. They obtained dual certifications in mine clearance and explosive ordnance disposal (EOD), securing their “minefield pass.” This marked the first UN assessment ...

February 1, 2025

Three hostages returned to Israel Saturday, as Keith Siegel, Yarden Bibas, and Ofer Kalderon were released from Hamas captivity after 484 days. Siegel arrived at the main reception point on the Re’im base in Israel shortly before noon, the military confirmed, hours after Kalderon and Bibas. Bibas and Kalderon were both released from captivity around 8:30 ...

January 30, 2025

TAMPA, Fla. – On Jan. 30, U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) Forces conducted a precision airstrike in Northwest Syria targeting and killing Muhammad Salah al-Za’bir, a senior operative in the terrorist organization Hurras al-Din (HaD), an Al-Qaeda affiliate. The airstrike is part of CENTCOM’s ongoing commitment, along with partners in the region, to disrupt and degrade efforts ...

January 30, 2025

Turkey’s allied forces have captured an entire underground ‘city’ in Manbij, previously controlled by Kurdish paramilitaries. Clashes near the Euphrates River threaten to cause a catastrophe at the Tishrin Dam. Clutching a small radio transmitter, Abu Azzam shouted at the group gathered in front of the Al Agha restaurant. He urged them to disperse. Just a ...

January 30, 2025

First, hostage Agam Berger, and then later on Thursday, hostages Arbel Yehoud, Gadi Mozes, and five Thai citizens were released by Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad. Berger was freed in the early morning with Yehoud and Mozes released hours later. In exchange, in the late afternoon, Israel released 110 Palestinian security prisoners, of which around 30 ...

January 29, 2025

An explosion that struck a Hong Kong-flagged container ship travelling north through the Red Sea sparked a major fire, forcing its crew to abandon the vessel, shipping industry officials said. The ship was drifting and ablaze on Wednesday some 225km (140 miles) off the coast of Hodeida, a port city in Yemen held by the country’s ...

January 26, 2025

Yemen’s Houthi rebels unilaterally freed 153 war detainees Saturday, the International Committee of the Red Cross said, one of several overtures in recent days to ease tensions after the ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip. Previous prisoner releases have been viewed as a means to jumpstart talks over permanently ending Yemen’s decadelong war, ...