At first glance, “Towards a Westphalia for the Middle East” seems to the reader to mirror countless other books on the region’s history. By comparing current conflicts to wars of a bygone era, it risks falling into the traps of eurocentrism and orientalism, damning the region as trapped in...

...

We are starting to hear talk of the need for Syria to return to the embrace of the Arab states and to take its vacant seat in the Arab League after a seven-year absence. The League suspended Syria’s membership after the Assad regime lost its legitimacy due to the...

Football violence in Algeria has left over 300 people injured and hundreds more arrested. During a press briefing held yesterday in Algerian capital Algiers, Director of Public Security at Algeria’s General Directorate of National Security – Issa Nayli – explained that, during the ongoing 2018-2019 football season, 80 violent...

The Sudanese government has denied reports that Russian mercenaries are aiding security forces in cracking down on anti-austerity protests that have rocked the country over the past month. Sudanese Interior Minister, Ahmed Bilal Osman, dismissed a report by the Times last week that published photographs of troops – allegedly from...

US President Donald Trump yesterday launched a verbal assault on Turkey, saying he “will devastate Turkey economically if they hit Kurds” in the wake of the US withdrawal from Syria. In the threatening tweet yesterday, Trump announced that the US was “starting the long overdue pull-out from Syria while...

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 up for the coldness between them during the Syrian crisis. This development manifested itself on two levels over the last...

The government of Qatar sees no reason to reopen its embassy in Damascus, nor any encouraging signs for a normalisation of ties with the Syrian government, Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed Bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani has insisted. Speaking at a press conference this morning, the minister slammed the suggestion that Qatar...

The Palestinian Ministry of Health announced yesterday that the latest stage of the “From Gaza to Liverpool” kidney transplant programme has begun. This stage is the 20th instalment of the programme, which is led by the head of the Organ Surgery Centre at the Royal Liverpool Hospital in the...

Hundreds of protesters took to the streets in six major cities across Sudan on Sunday to demand the overthrow of the regime. Protests were held in the cities of Bahri, Faw, Al-Fashir and Amri, as well as Port Sudan and Madani. Protesters in the city of Amri included people...

Israeli historian Benny Morris has doubled down on his defence of the Nakba, the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians that took place in 1948, reported Middle East Eye. In a new interview with Israeli paper Haaretz, Morris addressed previous comments he has made concerning the events of 1948. “When you...

The Action Group for the Palestinians of Syria said on Saturday that the regime of President Bashar Al-Assad has committed various violations against Palestinian refugees detained in its prisons, including “torture, electrocution and rape.” According to a report published on the group’s website, as many as 35 Palestinian female...

Israeli minister Yoav Gallant declared Sunday his opposition to a Palestinian state and support for the annexation of the occupied West Bank, reported The Jerusalem Post. The Aliya and Integration Minister was speaking during a visit to West Bank settlements Beit Aryeh, Neve Tzuf, Eli and Shiloh. All settlements...

Israeli politicians Yair Lapid and Tzipi Livni are holding “serious talks” on their parties – Yesh Atid and Hatnuah respectively – running a joint ticket in the upcoming election, reported Haaretz. Lapid and Livni have reportedly met several times over the past few days, ever since Labor Party chair...

A Palestinian mother who was released from a Palestinian Authority prison last week has told a press conference that the investigators there threatened to rape her. Suha Jbara’s defence team organised the media event to allow her to speak about the severe torture to which she was subjected during...

A member of the PLO Executive Committee called on Sunday for donors to fulfil their pledges made for the reconstruction of Nahr Al-Bared, a Palestinian refugee camp in Lebanon, Al-Sharq Al-Awsat has reported. Ahmed Abu Holy is the head of the Palestine Liberation Organisation’s Refugee Department. He pointed out...

Qatar is to fund the evacuation of African migrants from Libya via the African Union. The Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al-Thani, issued a decree yesterday to set up a fund which will cover the cost of evacuating illegal African migrants from Libya and reintegrating them into...

Tunisia has passed the death sentence on 41 terrorists found guilty of an attack that killed 15 soldiers in June, 2014. The attack took place in the Mount Chaambi area of Kasserine Province on the border with Algeria. The area remains a hideout for militants. “The Tunis Court of...

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi expects Egypt’s new military intelligence head to make the Sinai Peninsula his “top priority”. General Khaled Megawar – who was appointed as head of Egypt’s military intelligence on 22 December – is expected to focus on the ongoing security situation in the Sinai Peninsula,...

The leader of Tunisia’s Ennahda Party has said that the movement will participate in this year’s presidential elections, Anadolu has reported. Rached Ghannouchi insisted, though, that he is not running for office. Ghannouchi made his comment during a lecture on Saturday at the Centre for Strategic and Diplomatic Studies...

The CEO of Israeli spyware company NSO Group has admitted that its software was used to spy on the Emir of Qatar. In an interview with Yedioth Ahronoth this weekend, Shalev Hulio admitted that his company’s product was used to spy on Emir Tamim Bin Hamad Al-Thani, as well as...

Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas is to become president of the “Group of 77 and China” tomorrow. The President’s Office announced the move in a statement yesterday, with Abbas’ spokesman Nabil Abu-Ridiena adding that Abbas will deliver a speech at the UN Headquarters in New York during the...

New clashes broke out on Sunday between the Yemeni National Army and Houthi rebels near the strategically vital port of Hudaydah, Al-Arabiya news channel has reported. “The clashes took place around the University of Hudaydah and in the vicinity of the airport,” military sources revealed. They added that Houthis are...

The Israeli occupation authorities distributed dozens of demolition orders on Sunday in the Arab village of Um Namila in the Negev, Arab48.com has reported. The security forces which stormed the village told the residents to evacuate 15 acres of residential and agriculture land, which are scheduled to be recognised...

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Sunday that a rift between Qatar and its Gulf Arab neighbours had gone on for too long and was threatening regional unity needed to counter Iran, Reuters reports. Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and non-Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) member Egypt...

Daesh militants are “living their final moments” in the last enclave they hold near the Iraqi border, where US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) are attacking them, an SDF official said on Sunday, Reuters reports. A defeat of the jihadists in the enclave would wipe out Daesh’s territorial foothold on the...

The White House’s national security team last fall asked the Pentagon to provide it with options for striking Iran after a group of militants aligned with Tehran fired mortars into an area in Baghdad that is home to the US Embassy, a source familiar with the matter said on...

The Egyptian parliament yesterday approved a decision to extend a nationwide state of emergency for an additional three months. “On 10 January, the House of Representatives received a decree from president Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi, in which he ordered an extension to the state of emergency throughout the country for...

The airlines of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Oman and Bahrain are preparing to resume direct air traffic to the Syrian capital of Damascus, the director general of Syrian Air, Shafa Al-Nouri, announced yesterday. “A delegation from Oman Air visited Damascus International Airport on Thursday and inspected its technical condition...

The Iranian Foreign Ministry on Sunday summoned Poland’s Chargé d’Affaires, Wojciech Unolt to protest a US planned conference on Iran and the Middle East scheduled to take place next month in Warsaw. A statement issued by the Iranian Foreign Ministry said the ministry has informed the Polish charge d’affaires...

The Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, seized “great secrets” during the failed Israeli security operation in the Gaza Strip on November, its spokesman said on Saturday. “We seized equipment and technical devices that contain great secrets. The enemy thought that made tools and equipment unusable and...

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Sunday hailed Qatari support for Washington’s anti-terrorism efforts. Speaking during the opening session of the second US-Qatari Strategic Dialogue in Doha, Pompeo said the US and Qatar work together to settle many regional issues, including Afghanistan and Iraq. He expressed gratitude to...

Palestinian resistance group Hamas has held Israel responsible for the ongoing escalation in the blockaded Gaza Strip. “The Israeli occupation bears the consequences of continuing commit its ‘follies’ against peaceful protesters and deliberately killing them in cold blood as well as bombing sites of resistance,” spokesman Fawzi Barhoum said...

The Iranian-aligned Houthi group threatened on Sunday to launch more drone attacks after a deadly strike last week on a Yemeni government military parade, stoking tension between the warring parties amid UN peace efforts. In a report by Reuters, Houthi spokesman Yahya Sarea said Thursday’s drone strike on a...

Qatar Investment Authority aims to raise investments in the United States to $45 billion in the next two years as it rebalances its portfolio of assets away from Europe, its chief executive said on Sunday according to a Reuters report. The sovereign wealth fund has built up a huge...

Israel said on Sunday it had completed a search for Hezbollah tunnels from Lebanon after uncovering at least six of the passages dug secretly under the border by the Iranian-backed guerrillas. The operation, made public by Israel in early December, had stirred fears on both sides of a flare-up....

Saudi Arabia plans to set up a $10 billion oil refinery in Pakistan’s deepwater port of Gwadar, Reuters reports the Saudi energy minister as saying on Saturday, speaking at the Indian Ocean port that is being developed with the help of China. Pakistan wants to attract investment and other...

A Saudi minister on Saturday warned against revolutions that lead to the “usurpation of power”, according to the official SPA news agency. Speaking at a meeting of Saudi preachers in Riyadh, Minister of Islamic Affairs, Dawah and Guidance, Abdullatif bin Abdulaziz Al Sheikh, warned against revolutions carried out by...

Amnesty International’s Middle East Research director slammed the US-led Coalition on Friday, saying it had not learned from its mistakes in the past. Lynn Maalouf’s remarks were in reaction to the coalition’s statement about the start of “the process of deliberate withdrawal” from Syria. Maalouf said: It is deplorable...

The Turkish news agency, Anadolu, claims that Kurdish rebels have been forcibly recruiting children between ages 11 and 16 years old. Anadolu Agency released a report on Friday which, they claim, shows that the PKK has been kidnapping children to use them in attacks, allegedly, as they have done for...

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Saturday he was optimistic that a “good outcome” could be reached between Turkey and Syrian Kurdish groups, after speaking to the Turkish foreign minister, reported Reuters. “We recognise the Turkish people’s right to defend their country from terrorists, but we also...

Turkey loaded tanks and armoured vehicles onto trucks on Saturday and dispatched the convoy to the Turkish province of Hatay on the Syrian border, the Demiroren and Reuters news agencies reported. It was the second day of reinforcements of the Turkish military presence on the border near the northern...

The Syrian state news agency said Israeli warplanes fired a number of missiles toward the Damascus area on Friday, triggering Syrian air defences that shot down most of them. “The results of the aggression so far were limited to a strike on one of the warehouses at Damascus airport,”...

Civil defence forces in Yemen’s port city of Aden fought to extinguish a fire at an oil refinery on Friday, sparked hours earlier by an explosion, the cause of which was still unknown, Reuters reported. There were no reports of casualties. Separately, Saudi state television reported that the Saudi-led...

Sudanese security forces fired tear gas to disperse demonstrators who marched after noon prayers in the capital Khartoum on Friday as protests against President Omar al-Bashir’s 30-year-old rule widened, reports Reuters. Anti-government protests first flared last month and have posed the most serious challenge yet to Bashir, a former...

Lebanon’s dollar-denominated sovereign bonds tumbled for a second day on Friday following a Bloomberg report quoting the finance minister saying a fiscal reform plan included a debt rescheduling, reported Reuters. Finance Minister Ali Hassan Khalil said such a rescheduling would be undertaken in coordination with lenders and the central...

Israeli troops shot dead a Palestinian woman during Gaza border protests on Friday, medics said, while the Israeli military said it opened fire in response to grenade and rock attacks and breaches of the frontier. Ashraf Al-Qidra, spokesman for the Gaza health ministry, said 25 other Palestinians were wounded...

A US Government report has shown that the number of Arab citizens who applied to the random US emigration visa programme known as the ‘lottery’ reached four million in 2018; they include an estimated 1.3 million Egyptians. According to the figures published on the website of the US State...

An international criminal gang based in Syria which kidnapped a British aid worker in November and demanded a $4 million ransom in Bitcoin has been smashed. Birmingham-born Mohammed Shakiel Shabir was taken at gunpoint two months ago from outside his apartment block in war-torn Idlib. Kidnapping in this area...

The antipathy between the two main rival Palestinian political factions – Fatah and Hamas – has reached an unprecedented level in recent weeks. Ordinary Palestinians hoped that 2019 would be a better year and see an end to the ongoing 12-year rift between the two parties. Yet their wishes...