Middle East Near You

I am writing this as Israeli missiles are destroying buildings in Gaza, killing children and frightening civilians under the pretext of tackling the issue of kites that have burned...

Israel’s press continues to write about the shape of the Palestinian Authority when President Mahmoud Abbas leaves the political arena. This comes amid speculation about his deteriorating health and...

Iran has cut the expenses of its media offices in Palestine and has not paid debts of $3 million to local television production companies for the hire of equipment...

Israel is facing the consequences of the leaks of extracts from the State Comptroller’s report on the failures of the 2014 war against the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip....

The issue of Israeli soldiers captured by Hamas in Gaza still has momentum in Israel, with various predictions of whether the two sides will get into agreement for a...

Days after the end of Fatah’s Seventh Conference, and Mahmoud Abbas’ success in excluding the team of his nemesis Mohammed Dahlan, there have been increasing rumours that the latter...

Palestinians did not really need to see Avigdor Lieberman, head of Yisrael Beiteinu, appointed as minister of defence on 25 May to be convinced that the coalition led by...

Avigdor Lieberman is a Jew from the former Soviet Union; he was born in the former Soviet Republic of Moldova. With his appointment as Defence Minister his wish has...

Palestinians and Israelis are experiencing a conflict over the Israeli army’s “pursuit” of wanted Palestinians in Area A. Meanwhile, Palestinian security agencies are asking Israelis to hand over security...

Palestinians are dependent on banks and currency exchange offices in their financial transactions, such as receiving cash transfers from employers and relatives, and perhaps even for financial transfers sent...

In an area where international and regional affairs are now often one and the same, the local dimension no longer plays a sole major role in managing events and...

The recent death of seven Al-Qassam Brigades members after the collapse of a tunnel highlighted the new combat style created by Hamas in the Palestinian territories a decade ago,...

January 1st was not a good start to the year for the Israelis, as it was the day that Palestinian Nashat Melhem carried out an armed attack in the...

Israel has shown unrivalled enthusiasm for the survival of the government currently ruling in Egypt, until further notice, at least. It may not be an exaggeration on my part...

Since the end of the 2014 Israeli war on Gaza, the enclave’s borders have been witnessing mutual mobility by the Israeli army and Hamas fighters, with each sending the...

At the climax of the intifada’s successive developments on the ground, the political position surrounding the events seem to need much clarification and reading. This is despite the fact...

Israel’s decision to ban the Islamic Movement, led by Shaikh Raed Salah, has opened a new door to confrontation. It also sheds light once again on the reality of...

Since the outbreak of the Palestinian-Israeli clashes at the beginning of the month, one distinction was highlighted: the absence of a political and field leader. Meanwhile, the Palestinian youth...

At a time when political relations are becoming increasingly strained between the Palestinians and Israelis, the two sides are looking into the future of the security coordination between them...

Israeli security and military circles are monitoring the expansion of ISIS closely, especially its control of Tadmor and Al-Ramadi. This is due to the fact that it opens the...

Israelis, especially in military circles, are preparing to launch a new war on Gaza after several Palestinian groups decided to launch rockets into Israel. The Israeli army cannot otherwise...

Since the end of the Israel’s offensive against the people of Gaza last summer, Hamas has spent a great deal of its energy on proving to human rights organisations...

With ever more visits by Arab and foreign envoys to Gaza to discuss the truce between Hamas and Israel in efforts to lift the siege, discussions within Hamas and...

One could possibly argue that the Arab world has experienced more dysfunctional situations, ambiguous alliances and contradictions in the past few years than in any other period in the...

Since the beginning of this month, Israeli media outlets have been publishing a day by day account of the Gaza war last summer, which mentions the Israeli army’s failures....

Since the beginning of March of this year, Hamas has conducted a series of political phone calls in various diplomatic directions. Head of the Hamas Political Bureau Khaled Meshaal...

PA employees have not received their full salaries for the second month in a row after Israel froze $127 million in Palestinian tax revenues in response to the PA’s...

The rapprochement between Hamas and Iran recently peaked as the two sides began their preparations for the visit of Khaled Meshaal to Tehran in late December 2014. Without warning,...

It was rather unprecedented when the Saudi national press agency published Hamas’s condolences to the Saudi monarchy over the loss of their monarch, the late King Abdullah. Meanwhile, in...

While Hamas has had faith in the possibility of improving relations with Cairo, the border area between Rafah and Sinai has recently witnessed a number of successive developments on...

On the first day of its attack on Gaza, Israel announced a number of goals, the most important of which was to deal a harsh blow to Hamas, stop...

In June, the uncertainty of the fate and whereabouts of the bodies of the kidnapped Israeli settlers led Israel to accuse two Hamas officials of being responsible for the...