36 m. ago ‘Tense calm’ returns to Syria’s Sweida province after week of deadly violence

More than 1,000 people estimated to have been killed after clashes between Bedouin and Druze groupsAn uneasy calm returned to southern Syria’s Sweida province on Sunday, after fighters withdrew following a week of violence estimated to have killed more than 1,000 people.Local people told news agencies the area was calm after Syria’s Islamist-led government said Bedouin fighters had left the predominantly Druze city. Continue reading...

Events

44 m. ago Palestinian Health Ministry says 73 people killed while waiting for aid in Gaza – Middle East crisis live

More than 150 people also wounded, some critically, as some witnesses say Israeli military shot at crowdIsrael wants the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) to replace a system coordinated by the UN and international aid groups. Along with the US, it accuses Hamas of stealing aid, without offering evidence.Critics have argued that the GHF is a tool for the Israeli and US governments to politicise humanitarian aid and to distribute it in ways that will depopulate sectors of Gaza in apparent violation of international law. Continue reading...

Events

2 h. ago More than 1,000 people killed in south Syria clashes with ‘tense calm’ now in place in Sweida – Middle East crisis live

Syria struggling to contain sectarian clashes between Bedouin and Druze fightersIsrael wants the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation to replace a system coordinated by the UN and international aid groups. Along with the US, it accuses Hamas of stealing aid, without offering evidence.Critics have argued that the GHF is a tool for the Israeli and US governments to politicise humanitarian aid and to distribute it in ways that will depopulate sectors of Gaza in apparent violation of international law. Continue reading...

Events

2 h. ago Bedouin fighters withdraw from Syrian province hit by violence

Troops re-enter southern Sweida after US and Arab states broker deal between Damascus and Tel Aviv

Events

4 h. ago ‘Tense calm’ in Sweida after withdrawal of Bedouin fighters – Middle East crisis live

Syria struggling to contain sectarian clashes between Bedouin and Druze fightersThe Reuters news agency has spoken to residents who say there is a “tense calm” in Sweida after the Islamist-led government declared that Bedouin fighters had withdrawn from the predominantly Druze city.Kenan Azzam, a dentist, told Reuters residents were still, however, struggling with a lack of water and electricity. Continue reading...

Events

47 h. ago Netanyahu speaks to Pope after three killed in Israeli strike on Gaza church – Middle East crisis live

Leo urges Israeli PM to reach a ceasefire deal and expresses concern over ‘heartbreaking toll’ in regionTwo of Jerusalem’s most senior Christian clerics travelled to Gaza on Friday after a deadly Israeli strike on the Palestinian territory’s only Catholic church, the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem said, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reports.The Catholic Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, Pierbattista Pizzaballa, and his Greek Orthodox counterpart, Theophilos III, headed an “ecclesiastical delegation” to meet local Christians after Thursday’s strike on the Holy Family Church in Gaza City, a statement read.Those responsible must be held to account.It is crucial that immediate steps are taken to prevent recurrence of such violence. Continue reading...

Events

51 h. ago Fourteen reported dead after Israeli strikes on Gaza – Middle East crisis live

Two separate Israeli strikes reported in southern Gaza, with another attack in the northTwo of Jerusalem’s most senior Christian clerics travelled to Gaza on Friday after a deadly Israeli strike on the Palestinian territory’s only Catholic church, the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem said, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reports.The Catholic Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, Pierbattista Pizzaballa, and his Greek Orthodox counterpart, Theophilos III, headed an “ecclesiastical delegation” to meet local Christians after Thursday’s strike on the Holy Family Church in Gaza City, a statement read.Those responsible must be held to account.It is crucial that immediate steps are taken to prevent recurrence of such violence. Continue reading...

Events

4 d. ago At least 20 killed in crush at Gaza aid point – Middle East crisis live

Israeli-backed logistics group the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation claims people trampled in Khan Younis while health officials say they were suffocatedIran’s parliament said the country should not resume nuclear negotiations with the United States until preconditions are met, in a statement reported on Wednesday by Iranian state media, Reuters reports.The statement said:When the U.S. use negotiations as a tool to deceive Iran and cover up a sudden military attack by the Zionist regime (Israel), talks cannot be conducted as before. Preconditions must be set and no new negotiations can take place until they are fully met, Continue reading...

Events

8 d. ago UN says fuel shortage in Gaza at ‘critical levels’ – Middle East crisis live

A lack of fuel means ‘lifelines will vanish for 2.1 million people’, the UN saidIsraeli airstrikes killed at least 28 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, including four children, hospital officials said on Saturday, the Associated Press (AP) reports. The four children and two women were among at least 13 people who were killed in Deir al-Balah, in central Gaza, after Israeli airstrikes pounded the area starting late on Friday, officials in Al-Aqsa Martyr’s hospital said.Another four people were killed in strikes near a fuel station, and 15 others died in Israeli airstrikes in Khan Younis, in southern Gaza, according to Nasser hospital. The Israeli military said in a statement that over the past 48 hours, troops struck approximately 250 targets in the Gaza Strip, including militants, booby-trapped structures, weapons storage facilities, anti-tank missile launch posts, sniper posts, tunnels and additional Hamas infrastructure sites. Continue reading...

Events

8 d. ago People waiting for aid among dozens reported killed by Israeli forces in Gaza – Middle East crisis live

Gaza civil defence said Israeli forces killed at least 30 people on FridayTurkish president Tayyip Erdogan said on Saturday that a new page opened for Turkey following the start of a weapons handover by Kurdistan Workers’ party (PKK) militants, Reuters reports.He said:As of yesterday, the scourge of terrorism has entered the process of ending. Today is a new day; a new page has opened in history. Today, the doors of a great, powerful Turkey have been flung wide open.Following incidents in which harm to civilians who arrived at distribution facilities was reported, thorough examinations were conducted... and instructions were issued to forces in the field following lessons learned. Continue reading...

Events

9 d. ago Almost 800 people killed in Gaza while trying to get food aid since end of May, says UN – Middle East crisis live

Majority of those killed were in the vicinity of sites run by the Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation The number of people killed by strikes in Gaza on Friday has risen to seven, according to the region’s civil defence agency, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reports.Nearly all of Gaza’s population has been displaced at least once during the more than 21-month war, which has created dire humanitarian conditions for the more than two million people living there. Continue reading...

Events

9 d. ago Five reported dead in Gaza after Israeli strike on school sheltering displaced people – Middle East crisis live

Separately, the Al-Awda hospital in Nuseirat said it received several casualties after Israeli forces had opened fire at civilians near an aid distribution pointMilitant fighters of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) began handing over their weapons near the northern Iraqi city of Sulaymaniyah on Friday, marking a symbolic but significant step in the decades-long conflict between Turkey and the outlawed group.The disarmament ceremony marks a turning point in the transition of the PKK from armed insurgency to democratic politics, as part of a broader effort to draw a line under one of the region’s longest-running conflicts. Continue reading...

Events

1 week ago Gaza health system overwhelmed by casualties at aid distributions, says Red Cross – Israel

The ICRC said ‘the scale and frequency of these incidents are without precedent’The IDF has issued a new evacuation order for the Khan Younis area in Gaza, instructing Palestinian who live there to head west as the no-go zone expands.Col Avichay Adraee, the military’s Arabic-language spokesperson, wrote on X: “Due to terror activities in the area, the IDF with its maneuvering troops and intensive firepower is expanding actions in your area.”Physiotherapists support nurses, cleaning and dressing wounds and taking vitals. Cleaners now serve as orderlies, carrying stretchers wherever they are needed. Midwives have stepped into palliative care. Continue reading...

Politics

1 week ago Indirect talks over Gaza ceasefire continue as Netanyahu arrives in Washington

Israeli minister says meeting with Trump will focus on ‘a new Middle East’ with 60-day pause discussed in DohaMiddle East crisis – live updatesIndirect talks between Israel and Hamas over a ceasefire and hostage deal in Gaza continued for a second day on Monday, hours before a meeting in Washington between Benjamin Netanyahu and Donald Trump.Avi Dichter, an Israeli minister and member of Netanyahu’s security cabinet, said he expected Trump’s meeting with the Israeli prime minister would go beyond Gaza to include the possibility of normalising ties with Lebanon, Syria and Saudi Arabia – an ambitious project that is central to the US president’s policy in the Middle East. Continue reading...

Events

2 w. ago Fed chair Jerome Powell blames Trump tariffs for failure to cut US interest rates this year – business live

Rolling coverage of the latest economic and financial newsUS dollar has worst first half in more than 50 years amid Trump tariffsSainsbury’s has recorded its strongest growth since last summer after its Argos chain recorded a big step up in sales as shoppers sought out paddling pools and fans during recent hot weather.The retail group said Argos, its catalogue shop, was able to achieve growth of 4.4% in the three months to 21 June, up from 1.9% in the previous quarter. Comparable group sales, excluding fuel, rose 4.7% on a year earlier.Companies have now expanded production slightly for the fourth month in a row, order intake has ceased to fall, and slightly longer delivery times also indicate that demand is picking up a bit.Against the backdrop of numerous uncertainties - US tariffs, the crisis in the Middle East, and Russia’s ongoing war against Ukraine - this can certainly be seen as a sign of resilience. Continue reading...

Politics

2 w. ago Israel launches waves of Gaza airstrikes after new displacement orders

Scores of Palestinians reported killed as senior Netanyahu adviser due to arrive in Washington for ceasefire talks Middle East crisis – live updatesIsrael ramped up its offensive in Gaza on Monday, with new displacement orders sending tens of thousands of people fleeing the north of the devastated territory and waves of airstrikes killing about 60 Palestinians, according to local officials and medical staff.The violence in Gaza came as a senior adviser to Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel’s prime minister, was due to arrive in Washington for talks on a new ceasefire, a day after Donald Trump called in a social media post for a deal to end the 20-month war and free 50 hostages held by Hamas. Continue reading...

Politics

2 w. ago Trump says he is ‘not offering Iran anything’ as country says US must rule out airstrikes before talks resume – Middle East crisis live

Iranian deputy foreign minister says it has been told US wants to talk but president says he is not speaking to them and repeats claim that its nuclear facilities have been ‘obliterated’France, Germany and the UK have condemned “threats” against the head of the UN nuclear watchdog, Rafael Grossi, after Iran rejected its request to visit nuclear facilities bombed by Israel and the US.Tehran has accused Grossi, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), of “betrayal of his duties” for not condemning the attacks on Iran’s nuclear sites, and Iranian lawmakers this week voted to suspend cooperation with the agency.France, Germany and the United Kingdom condemn threats against the director general of the IAEA Rafael Grossi and reiterate our full support to the agency.We call on Iranian authorities to refrain from any steps to cease cooperation with the IAEA. Continue reading...

Events

3 w. ago Iran says it has ‘serious doubts’ over Israel’s commitment to ceasefire – Middle East crisis live

Iran’s armed forces chief of staff says it is ‘ready to respond with force’ if attacked again; Iran says airstrikes on Evin prison killed at least 71 Gaza’s civil defence agency said Israeli attacks have killed at least 14 people, including three children, so far on Sunday.Civil defence spokesperson Mahmud Bassal told the Agence France-Presse (AFP) news agency that 13 people were killed in airstrikes at four locations around the Gaza Strip, and another from Israeli gunfire near an aid distribution centre. Continue reading...

Events

3 w. ago Donald Trump reiterates calls for ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas – Middle East crisis live

US president says online ‘make the deal in Gaza’ and ‘get the hostages back’ as he says he believes a ceasefire can be reached within a weekDuring the 12-day war, Israeli airstrikes killed at least 627 civilians and injured nearly 4,900 others in Iran, according to official figures.The war on Iran – cast as a preemptive attack for self-defence – was launched by Israel and later joined in by the US. Continue reading...

Politics

3 w. ago Keir Starmer admits he was distracted by Middle East crisis and NATO summit as he vows to 'carry the can' for Labour's embarrassing welfare U

The Prime Minister spent much of the past fortnight out of the country to attend a meeting of G7 leaders in Canada , and then a NATO gathering in The Hague.

Politics