Middle East Near You

The Central Elections Committee for Hamas prisoners held by Israel announced the end of the elections in late December for the senior leadership of the movement’s prisoners for 2019...

Iranian-Palestinian relations – specifically with the resistance factions led by Hamas and Islamic Jihad – are gradually growing and developing in what seems to be an attempt to make...

On 16 December, just a few days after Libya’s long-awaited referendum law was passed by the Houses of Representatives, it faced its first legal hurdle. Veteran lawyer and member...

In its efforts to rally all Palestinians, Hamas strives to be inclusive. Over the past few years since winning control of the Gaza Strip in 2006/7, the Islamic Resistance...

Between May and December last year Daesh attacked three sensitive government sites in the Libyan capital Tripoli causing deaths, injuries and extensive damages. All three sites symbolise state sovereignty...

Exactly six years ago, the Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement — Hamas — ended its official presence in Syria due to the deteriorating security situation in the country on one...

Britain is the traditional home of football where it has been played for centuries. It may be no surprise that for many people in the UK, football is like...

On 5 January it will be 33 years since the end of Operation Moses, the secret operation to smuggle thousands of Ethiopian Jews, known as Falashas, out of Sudan...

If you did not know much about Chad, a country in the middle of Africa, it most likely it caught your eye on 26 November when its President, Idriss...

December 17 marks the eighth anniversary of what is called the “Arab Spring”, which started in Tunisia before spreading to the rest of the Middle East and North Africa...

A couple of years before the first Palestinian Intifada against the brutal Israeli occupation in 1987, Naji Al-Ali, a famous Palestinian cartoonist, produced one of his finest cartoons motivating...

The Palermo conference on Libya went ahead as scheduled — 12/13 November — with all of the local protagonists present, along with many regional and international players. Italy finally...

Between September 2017 and last month, Egypt hosted seven rounds of talks aimed at unifying the military establishment in neighbouring Libya. Participants were representatives of Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar,...

On 19 November, it will be 41 years to the day that the late Egyptian President Anwar Sadat embarked on his stunning and controversial visit to Israel. His trip...

Next week, Italy is hosting an international conference on Libya in Palermo, Sicily. Italy has every reason to be concerned about what is happening in Libya, given that the...

When France first occupied Algeria, an Arab, Muslim country on the Mediterranean coast in North Africa, in 1830 it did so with the firm belief that Algeria is an...

Seven years have passed since the United Nations authorised military intervention in Libya under the pretext of “humanitarian intervention” and a “responsibility to protect”. At the time it was...

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has had a history of tension with its intellectuals and dissidents since its inception. The modern kingdom, referred to by some as the Third...

Could Saudi Arabia take steps to punish America? In the wake of the disappearance, and presumed murder, of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, it’s a pertinent question. Theoretically, the Saudi government...

The UN General Assembly voted on Tuesday by an overwhelming majority to grant the State of Palestine enhanced rights and privileges, allowing it to take over the chair of...

When Donald J Trump was three years old the UN General Assembly met a few blocks away from where he was born and adopted Resolution 302. That was in...

The UN Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) was established by the international organisation in September 2011 for an initial period of three months. UNSMIL’s mandate was to help the...

French journalist Jacques Mallet du Pan (1749-1800) once described the French Revolution by saying that, “Like Saturn, the Revolution devours its children.” Look at Libya today and you will...

Since the revolt that led to NATO intervention in Libya in 2011, the UN Security Council has passed almost 30 different resolutions and issued half-a-dozen presidential statements on the...

A new round of violence erupted on 27 August south of the Libyan capital Tripoli, between militias nominally allied to the Government of National Accord (GNA) and the 7th...

It is no longer a secret that the efforts of the local, regional and international parties to reach a truce between the resistance and Israel are declining. This absolves...

Tawergha is a small Libyan costal town roughly 300 kilometres east of the capital Tripoli. Its estimated that 40,000 of its inhabitants are black Libyans who have lived there...

In August 2005, the Israeli occupation forces withdrew from the Gaza Strip in a unilateral disengagement plan announced by the then Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. Although there is much...

Mohammad Bin Salman, Saudi Arabia’s energetic young Crown Prince, seems to be in a hurry not only to consolidate his domestic power, as monarch-in-waiting, but also to make his...

During a press conference at the White House with Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte on 30 July, President Donald Trump said, “e recognise Italy’s leadership role in the stabilisation...

The Palestinian agenda is crowded with political meetings and debates, and the reality is experiencing a political struggle that will shape the features of the next phase. However, the...

At the height of its strength in Libya, Daesh controlled the coastal city of Sirte, about 500 kilometres east of Tripoli, having amassed a sizeable force thanks to hundreds...