9 d. ago As Trump’s Gaza plan unravels, what’s next for the Middle East? Join live Q&A with Bel Trew

With tensions rising once more and the US rushing to uphold its fragile deal, chief international correspondent Bel Trew will answer readers’ questions on what – if anything – is achievable for the Middle East under the current framework

Politics

2 w. ago Tony Blair ‘has a contribution to make’ to Trump’s Gaza peace deal, UK’s Middle East minister says

Exclusive: Hamish Falconer has spoken to The Independent on Gaza and why cutting international aid has not made the migrant crisis worse

Politics

2 w. ago Jared Kushner is back – and so are big questions about his financial ties | Mohamad Bazzi

Kushner’s investment firm is backed by three Arab petrostates critical to the Gaza agreement. And the deals keep comingIn Donald Trump’s first term, his son-in-law and senior adviser Jared Kushner was omnipresent. He worked on criminal justice reform, Covid-19 vaccine development and modernizing technology across federal agencies. His portfolio extended to foreign policy, as he brokered a new North American trade agreement and negotiated peace deals in the Middle East. But when Trump returned to the White House in January, Kushner stayed out of the limelight and declined to take a formal role in the administration.A few weeks ago, Kushner re-emerged as a central player behind Trump’s peace plan for Gaza, which so far has achieved a ceasefire, an exchange of Israeli hostages for Palestinian prisoners and a partial withdrawal of Israeli forces from the territory. Kushner took a victory lap, as Trump and others in the US administration gave him significant credit for helping negotiate ...

Politics

2 w. ago Tony Blair should be part of Trump’s Gaza peace deal, UK’s Middle East minister says

Exclusive: Hamish Falconer has spoken to The Independent on Gaza and why cutting international aid has not made the migrant crisis worse

Politics

2 w. ago Rebuilding devastated Gaza after two years of war is a monumental task. Who is going to pay for it?

Donald Trump has declared peace in the Middle East and secured a fragile ceasefire. What happens next is not so clear, James C.Reynolds reports

Events

2 w. ago US senior officials warn Israeli political factions not to disrupt Gaza ceasefire

Marco Rubio says bill passed by rightwing MPs to establish Israeli ‘sovereignty’ over occupied territories ‘threatens’ peace dealThe parade of senior US officials traveling to the Middle East in recent weeks is a clear warning from the White House to Benjamin Netanyahu and Israeli political factions to not disrupt the recent Gaza ceasefire – including by an annexation of the West Bank – or face a serious rift in relations with the US.As the shaky ceasefire came into effect last week, Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner quickly rushed to the region for consultations. Now they have been followed by secretary of state Marco Rubio and vice-president JD Vance as Trump deploys his top allies to tamp down on internal strife within Israel’s fractious Knesset. Continue reading...

Events

3 w. ago 'UK forces on tense mission to help Gaza peace must remember lessons of Iraq'

British troops have been deployed to the Middle East to help keep the peace in Gaza - but commanders and politicians must remember the 'mission creep' of previous conflicts

Events

3 w. ago Trump back to feuding with Zelensky over Ukraine — even as he tries to hold together his fragile Middle East ‘peace’ deal

Trump has seen a reversal of fortune in foreign affairs, Eric Garcia writes. It turns out, Putin, Zelensky, Hamas and Netanyahu are not the Senate and House Republicans

Politics

3 w. ago Trump vindicated as stunning new poll crowns him the man who did what Obama and Biden never could in the Middle East

Donald Trump may not have been awarded a Nobel Peace Prize yet, but American voters - even Democrats - are giving him high marks for his work trying to achieve peace in the Middle East.

Politics

3 w. ago Giorgia Meloni condemns Italian union leader for ‘Trump courtesan’ remark

Prime minister says CGIL head is ‘clouded by resentment’ and accuses the left of hypocrisy towards womenGiorgia Meloni has condemned the boss of Italy’s biggest trade union after he referred to the prime minister as the “courtesan” of Donald Trump.Maurizio Landini, the leader of CGIL, which organised several pro-Palestinian protests before the Gaza ceasefire deal, made the remarks on TV on Tuesday, the day after world leaders, including Meloni, met in Egypt for a Middle East peace summit. Continue reading...

Politics

3 w. ago Gaza latest: Aid delivery ‘extremely challenging’ despite Israel

UN aid chief Tom Fletcher said humanitarian groups have a ‘mountain to climb’ to deliver the necessary scale of aid in Gaza

Politics

3 w. ago Gaza latest: Trump threatens to ‘go in and kill Hamas’ if violence continues amid delays over dead hostages

Families of Israeli hostages demand termination of ceasefire deal if Hamas fails to return the 19 bodies remaining in Gaza

Events

3 w. ago While the eyes of the world are on Gaza, Israeli settlers in the West Bank still behave with impunity | Ofer Cassif

As the harvest season begins, attacks on Palestinian farmers and their land are spiralling. The words of peace following the Gaza ceasefire ring hollowLast Monday, when the US president, Donald Trump, addressed the Knesset alongside the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, my compatriot lawmaker Ayman Odeh and I raised a banner calling them to “Recognise Palestine”. We were brutally expelled by force from the parliament’s plenum, revealing the fragile state of the supposed “only democracy in the Middle East”. How can Trump and Netanyahu speak of peace in the Middle East without recognition of the people deprived for decades of their basic liberties and rights under vicious occupation?Nowhere is the deceit more clear than in the occupied West Bank. There, the words of peace are but a weak and distant voice, but the horrifying sounds of settler violence and terror still echo loudly. More than 30 occurrences of settler violence against Palestinians have been documented since the...

Politics

3 w. ago We are told the ‘war’ against Gaza is finally ‘over’. Is it? | Arwa Mahdawi

I am not celebrating the end of the ‘war’ because this was not a war – and it’s not over, eitherThank you, Donald Trump. Thank you, Benjamin Netanyahu. Thank you, Jared Kushner. Let’s all pause, shall we, and have a moment of appreciation for these three wise men who have finally brought peace to the Middle East. Blessed are the peacemakers!And, of course, thank you to the Israeli military which, as a US taxpayer, I have done my part to help fund. To echo Kushner: “Instead of replicating the barbarism of the enemy, [Israel] chose to be exceptional.” Continue reading...

Events

4 w. ago It’s taken only 24 hours, but Trump’s fairytale of peace in the Middle East seems doomed

As the ceasefire teeters after only a day, the region looks set to remain trapped in a dystopian, ever-violent Groundhog Day, writes chief international correspondent Bel Trew

Politics

4 w. ago Wizz Air flight returning from Egypt peace summit makes emergency landing after passengers report 'explosion' in cargo hold and dropping 21,000ft in eight minutes

A Wizz Air flight returning from the Middle East peace summit has been forced to make an emergency landing following passenger reports of an explosion in the cargo hold. 

Transport

4 w. ago Ben Jennings on Donald Trump declaring peace in the Middle East – cartoon

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Politics

4 w. ago ‘For the sake of peace’: why a Palestinian forgives the Israeli soldier who shot him

Exclusive: Munib al-Masri Jr is part of a campaign asking the UK to help create a ‘just future’ in Palestine – starting with an apology for its role in the crisisHe has spent 14 years in pain, adjusting to paralysis below the waist. But Munib al-Masri Jr, 37, says he forgives the Israeli soldier who shot him.Masri is among Palestinians who welcomed the UK’s recognition of Palestinian statehood last month but are pushing the government to go further. The Britain Owes Palestine campaign that Masri is part of wants the UK to formally apologise for what they say is its historical role in creating the Middle East crisis, as ceasefire talks bring an uneasy peace to the region and raise questions about its future. Continue reading...

Politics

4 w. ago Awkward! Starmer drops smile as Trump turns back on him at Middle East peace summit

The prime minister faced an awkward moment as Donald Trump appeared to invite him up to speak in front of reporters during the Middle East peace summit

Politics

last month Donald Trump tells crowds there are world leaders he 'doesn't like at ALL' as he teases who they are

Leaders from across the world stood behind the US President as he delivered a speech following the signing of an historic peace deal in the Middle East which has brought an end to the war in Gaza

Politics