By Daphne Psaledakis and Humeyra Pamuk WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The United States on Thursday warned all parties in the Middle East against escalation as tensions between Iran-backed Lebanese movement Hezbollah and Israel remained high, saying Washington’s priority is to find a diplomatic solution. “We will continue to stand by Israel’s right to defend itself, but we don’t want to see any party escalate this conflict, period,” State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller told a regular briefing. […]
Tag: Mideast
Hamas says studying new Israeli truce proposal
By Jay DESHMUKH JERUSALEM, April 27, 2024 (AFP) – Hamas said it was studying on Saturday the latest Israeli counterproposal regarding a potential ceasefire in Gaza, a day after media reports said a delegation from mediator Egypt arrived in Israel in a bid to jump-start stalled negotiations. The signs of fresh truce talks came alongside at least three Israeli air strikes during the night in Rafah, southernmost Gaza, according to an AFP correspondent. Rafah is […]
Israel minister reprimanded over Gaza nuclear ‘option’ comment
JERUSALEM, Nov 5, 2023 (AFP) – An Israeli minister was suspended from government meetings “until further notice” Sunday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said, after suggesting in an interview dropping a nuclear bomb on Gaza. The comments by Heritage Minister Amichay Eliyahu advocating a fierce military response to Hamas’s October 7 attacks even at the cost of the lives of hostages believed to be held in Gaza also drew rebuke from families of the captives. […]
Israel demolishes West Bank home of Hamas deputy leader
ARURA, Palestinian Territories, Oct 31, 2023 (AFP) – The Israeli army demolished the West Bank home of exiled Hamas number two Saleh al-Aruri with explosives on Tuesday as war raged with the Islamist group in Gaza. The Israeli military said forces entered the village of Arura, near Ramallah, and shot at people who were “hurling” rocks towards them during the demolition. Aruri is accused by Israel of masterminding numerous attacks. He was elected deputy to […]
Markets gyrate as investors eye Mideast crisis, economic fears
LONDON, Oct 24, 2023 (AFP) – World stock markets saw choppy trading Tuesday though Wall Street moved ahead in anticipation of a flood of strong corporate earnings, even as economic and geopolitical fears still dog sentiment ahead of this week’s eurozone interest rate decision. Volatile US Treasury yields had affected stock trading Monday in the US, where some indexes rebounded after a sluggish start but the S&P 500 fell to its lowest close since May. […]
President Biden’s Mideast trip is the riskiest of his presidency
WASHINGTON, Oct 17, 2023 (AFP) – Joe Biden’s Middle East diplomatic drive faltered before it got off the ground Tuesday after his trip to Jordan was canceled following a strike on a Gaza hospital that killed hundreds of people. The 80-year-old US president will now only head to ally Israel to show support after the October 7 Hamas attack, upending what was meant to be regional balancing act. The trip was always set to be […]
Israel says 22 dead in ‘war’ after militants enter from Gaza
By Ahmad Gharabli, with Adel Zaanoun and Mai Yaghi in Gaza City ASHKELON, Israel, Oct 7, 2023 (AFP) – Palestinian militants had begun a “war” against Israel which they infiltrated by air, sea and land from the blockaded Gaza Strip on Saturday, Israeli officials said, a major escalation in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Israeli medics reported 22 people killed. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said “we are at war” and vowed severe retaliation after ordering an extensive […]
Israel, Saudi moving towards ‘framework’ for deal: US
WASHINGTON, Sept 29, 2023 (AFP) – Israel and Saudi Arabia are moving towards the outline of a historic US-brokered deal to normalize relations after decades of hostility, the White House said on Friday. President Joe Biden is hoping to transform the Middle East — and score an election-year diplomatic victory — by securing recognition of the Jewish state by Saudi Arabia, the guardian of Islam’s two holiest sites. “All sides have hammered out, I think, […]
Gaza ceasefire takes effect after five days of deadly fighting
GAZA CITY, Palestinian Territories, May 13, 2023 (AFP) – A ceasefire took effect in and around the Gaza Strip on Saturday after five days of cross-border exchanges that have killed at least 33 Palestinians in Gaza and two people in Israel. The truce was due to take effect at 10:00 pm local time (1900 GMT), Egyptian and Palestinian sources said. But in the final 30 minutes running up to 1900 GMT, dozens of rockets were […]
Jordan to host MidEast summit in bid to defuse regional tensions
by Acil Tabbara Agence France-Presse AMMAN, Jordan (AFP) — Jordan hosts a Middle East summit Tuesday bringing together regional and international players hoping to help resolve regional crises, particularly in neighboring Iraq. The “Baghdad II” meeting, which will also include officials from France and the European Union, follows an August 2021 summit in Iraq’s capital organized at the initiative of French President Emmanuel Macron. Iraq only recently arrived at a fragile compromise government after a […]
Mideast sandstorms snarl traffic, close schools, harm health
by Haitham EL-TABEI with AFP correspondents in the Middle East Sandstorms across the Middle East have delayed flights, closed schools and hospitalised thousands — a phenomenon experts say could worsen as climate change warps regional weather patterns. Saudi Arabia on Tuesday became the latest country blanketed with dust that slowed traffic and made iconic towers in the capital difficult to see from more than a few hundred metres (yards) away. Electronic signs along Riyadh’s […]
Israelis, Arabs, Iranians in harrowing exodus from Ukraine
Israelis, Arabs and Iranians landed back in their home countries Tuesday to the tearful relief of relatives, as evacuations of nationals caught up in the Russian invasion of Ukraine gathered pace. The Middle Eastern evacuees had been forced to make harrowing escapes through the war zone to board repatriation flights in neighbouring countries, after Ukraine closed its airspace to civilian traffic at the start of the invasion last week. One of the first flights, bringing home Israeli evacuees, […]
