RAFAH, Gaza Strip: An Israeli airstrike on a house in Gaza’s southernmost city killed at least nine people, six of them children, hospital authorities said Saturday, as Israel pursued its nearly seven-month offensive in the besieged Palestinian territory.Israel’s war against the Islamic militant group Hamas has led to a dramatic escalation of tensions in an … Read more
ISTANBUL: A leader of Palestinian militant group Hamas, Ismail Haniyeh, arrived in Istanbul Friday evening for talks with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan as the death toll in Gaza passed 34,000. A statement from Hamas Friday said Erdogan and Haniyeh would discuss the conflict in Gaza, adding that the head of the group’s political bureau … Read more
PALESTINIAN TERRITORIES: Palestinian militant group Hamas condemned on Friday the US veto that ended a long-shot Palestinian bid for full United Nations membership. “Hamas condemns the American veto at the Security Council of the draft resolution granting Palestine full membership in the United Nations,” the Gaza Strip rulers said in a statement, which comes amid … Read more
BEIRUT: A Lebanese minister and two senior officials said preliminary findings suggest Israel’s Mossad spy agency was behind the killing of a US-sanctioned Lebanese man accused of sending Iranian money to Hamas. The body of Mohammad Sarur, 57, was found riddled with bullets in a villa in the Lebanese mountain town of Beit Mery last … Read more
LONDON: In July 2018, a senior Iranian official made an announcement that raised eyebrows around the Middle East. The Islamic Republic, said Manouchehr Manteqi, head of the Headquarters for Development of Knowledge-Based Aviation and Aeronautics Technology and Industry, was now capable of producing drones self-sufficiently, without reliance on foreign suppliers or outside technical know-how. International … Read more
TEHRAN: After three days off, people in Tehran returned to work as normal on Saturday, but with a lingering cloud of concern that soaring tensions between Iran and its arch foe Israel could tip over into war.“I don’t know who is at fault and who is not, but it is better to reach a compromise … Read more
MOSCOW: Russia, Germany and Britain on Thursday urged countries in the Middle East to show restraint and Israel said it was preparing to “meet all its security needs” in a region on edge over an Iranian threat to strike Israel. The German airline Lufthansa, one of only two Western carriers flying to Tehran, extended a … Read more
WASHINGTON: US President Joe Biden issued some of his sternest criticism yet of Israel’s war on Hamas, calling its approach a “mistake” as the country faces a Wednesday court deadline to prove it is not throttling aid to hunger-stricken Gaza. With global outrage over the toll inflicted by the six-month-old war growing, Biden rebuked Israeli … Read more
Iran’s foreign minister accuses US of giving Israel ‘green light’ to attack consulate in Syria DAMASCUS, Syria: Iran’s foreign minister Monday accused the United States of giving Israel the “green light” for a strike on its consulate building in Syria that killed seven Iranian military officials including two generals.Hossein Amirabdollahian reiterated Tehran’s vows that it … Read more
‘Reckless’ Houthi Red Sea campaign harming Yemenis, Palestinians – US special envoy LONDON: Continuing Houthi attacks on shipping in the Red Sea are “misplaced, reckless and indiscriminate,” the US special envoy for Yemen said on Wednesday during a briefing attended by Arab News. Timothy Lenderking added that the Houthis’ activities are harming both ordinary Yemenis … Read more