Middle East Monitor

The Israeli army is preparing for a possible resumption of its military offensive against Lebanon if fighting with Iran resumes, Israeli daily Yedioth Ahronoth reported Friday. The newspaper said the military is preparing for another round of fighting on the Lebanese front in the event of renewed hostilities with Tehran. Israeli forces are continuing operations along the border with Lebanon, preparing military positions, and updating operational plans ahead of winter, it added. The report said Israel’s security establishment was awaiting a US decision on whether to resume military operations a

Middle East Monitor·قبل 15 ساعة

Russian President Vladimir Putin confirmed Friday that the next round of trilateral talks between Russia, the US, and Ukraine over the ongoing war is expected to begin next Tuesday in Abu Dhabi, according to Russian state news agency Tass. During a meeting with permanent members of Russia’s Security Council, Putin said he had invited representatives of the Russian delegation set to travel to Abu Dhabi, capital of the United Arab Emirates, for the talks. The Security Council meeting was attended by Vladimir Medinsky, Igor Kostyukov, Yuri Ushakov, Mikhail Galuzin and Sergei Ryabkov, Tass reporte

Middle East Monitor·قبل 15 ساعة

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres remains fully committed to defending the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) and its critical work, a UN spokesman said Friday, Anadolu reports. “I can tell you that the secretary-general is fully committed to defending UNRWA in the exercise of its fundamental role in support of Palestinian refugees,” Stephane Dujarric told supporters. “He once again calls for UNRWA’s vital work to be fully funded.” Dujarric’s remarks followed an UNRWA statement Thursday warning that unprecedented financial pressures, declining global contributions, and increasingly

Middle East Monitor·قبل 15 ساعة

Iranian health authorities have continued distributing iodine tablets to residents of the southern city of Bushehr, home to the country’s only operational nuclear power plant, as part of an emergency preparedness plan launched before the June 2025 war, the Young Journalists Club (YJC) news agency reported Friday. The deputy head of Bushehr University of Medical Sciences for health affairs said the distribution initially prioritized areas surrounding the nuclear power plant before expanding to cover the entire city. A total of 180,000 iodine tablets have been distributed under a decision by cri

Middle East Monitor·قبل 15 ساعة

Spain should withdraw as a co-host of the 2030 FIFA World Cup if Morocco is selected to stage the final, opposition leader Alberto Nunez Feijoo said, Anadolu reports. Feijoo, leader of the conservative People’s Party, made the remarks during an interview with Spanish football programme El Chiringuito broadcast Thursday. “Spain must organize the World Cup final,” he said. “And if it does not organize it, in my opinion, Spain should not participate in organizing the World Cup.” Asked directly whether he would advocate Spain’s withdrawal if Morocco received the final, Feijoo replied: “Yes. The an

Middle East Monitor·قبل 16 ساعة

French presidential candidate Jean-Luc Melenchon has pledged to enforce the International Criminal Court’s (ICC) arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu if elected in 2027, according to a book published Friday, Anadolu reports. A new edition of “The Common Future,” a book outlining the France Unbowed (LFI) candidate’s official election program. The book sets out around 1,000 pledges covering defense, NATO and the Palestinian issue, among other topics. Under the program, Melenchon promises to enforce the ICC’s arrest warrant for Netanyahu and immediately withdraw France fro

Middle East Monitor·قبل 16 ساعة

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Friday criticized the international community’s failure to address Israel’s actions in the occupied Palestinian territories, warning that the international system is failing to uphold peace and security, Anadolu reports. Speaking at the official opening ceremony of the TRT World Forum 2026 at the Istanbul Congress Center, Erdogan said: “Occupier terrorism, which seeks to forcibly displace Palestinians from their ancestral homeland, is growing more and more brazen by the day under the indifferent gaze of the modern world.” International institutions tas

Middle East Monitor·قبل 16 ساعة

A group of human rights lawyers and activists plans to submit evidence to the International Criminal Court’s (ICC) Office of the Prosecutor next week, urging it to seek arrest warrants for US President Donald Trump and other senior US officials over alleged crimes in Gaza, The National reported. Members of the Taxpayer Alliance Against Genocide (TAAG) are expected to travel to The Hague on Nov. 11 to present material concerning what the group describes as US officials’ alleged role in aiding and abetting genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity in the Palestinian enclave. The group sai

Middle East Monitor·قبل 16 ساعة

The share of Christians in occupied Jerusalem fell from 25% of the population in 1922 to about 1.56% by the end of 2023, according to a study released by the Jerusalem International Foundation, Anadolu reports. The study said the city had around 15,300 Christians at the end of 2023, including approximately 13,100 Palestinians. It attributed the decline to Israeli policies, economic and social pressures, continued emigration, and low population growth. Israeli residency policies affecting Palestinians in Jerusalem, including revocation of residency permits under the “center of life” criterion,

Middle East Monitor·قبل 17 ساعة

Israeli opposition leader Gadi Eisenkot said Friday that significant progress had been made in negotiations to form a national emergency government, expressing hope that he would receive the mandate to form a government early next week, Anadolu reports. In a statement posted on US social media platform X, Eisenkot, leader of the Yashar party, said Israel was facing a “real, tangible and dangerous emergency” and called for a swift transfer of power to prevent outgoing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu from remaining in office. He said 74 members of the 120-seat Knesset had not expressed confide

Middle East Monitor·قبل 17 ساعة

Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said Friday that Italians detained by Israeli authorities in the occupied West Bank had “done nothing,” calling for their return to Italy, ANSA reported. “We are following the case. They did nothing, they were just there carrying out agricultural activities, harvesting olives. We hope they can be sent back to Italy as soon as possible,” Tajani said. The detainees were among 14 international volunteers arrested near Kafr Ni’ma, about 23 kilometers (14 miles) from Ramallah, while helping Palestinians with the olive harvest. READ: Italy monitors situation i

Middle East Monitor·قبل 17 ساعة

An estimated 15.4 million people in Sudan urgently need emergency shelter and essential household supplies, but severe funding shortages threaten to halt assistance to millions, two UN agencies warned Friday, Anadolu reports. In a joint statement, the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) and the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said humanitarian organizations have sufficient resources to prioritize assistance for only 10% of those in need. So far, just 936,000 people have received assistance, leaving millions without adequate shelter or basic necessities, the agencies said. They warned that

Middle East Monitor·قبل 17 ساعة

Iran will no longer rely solely on written commitments from the US and expects concrete actions before entering a new phase of diplomacy, a senior Iranian security official said Friday, Anadolu reports. Ali Bagheri, deputy secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, said Washington had repeatedly disrupted negotiations by violating its commitments over the past 18 months, according to the Iranian state news agency IRNA. “Iran must see practical actions by the US with its own eyes,” Bagheri said, adding that a new diplomatic opening would become possible only after such steps were ta

Middle East Monitor·قبل 18 ساعة

Gaza’s Health Ministry said Friday that 260 cases of congenital anomalies were recorded among newborns during the first nine months of 2026, surpassing the 184 cases documented throughout 2022, Anadolu reports. Health Ministry Director-General Munir al-Bursh described the figures as a serious health warning and called for an independent international scientific investigation into the reasons behind the increase. The ministry said 322 cases were recorded in 2025, a 75% increase compared with 2022. Bursh expressed concern over the rise amid Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza, starvation, displacemen

Middle East Monitor·قبل 18 ساعة

Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty and his Iranian counterpart Abbas Araghchi discussed efforts to contain regional tensions and prevent renewed military confrontation between Washington and Tehran, Egypt’s Foreign Ministry said Friday, Anadolu reports. The talks marked the second phone call between the two officials since Tuesday amid continuing regional diplomatic efforts to de-escalate tensions and revive negotiations between the US and Iran. “The two ministers discussed the latest developments on the regional scene and efforts being made to contain the current tensions,” the ministry

Middle East Monitor·قبل 18 ساعة

Israeli forces and occupiers carried out a series of attacks across the occupied West Bank on Friday, including assaults on Palestinians harvesting olives, the burning of residential tents and farmland, and raids on several areas, according to the Wafa news agency. Israeli soldiers forced dozens of foreign activists and several journalists to leave Abu Falah village, northeast of Ramallah, after they attempted to support Palestinian residents seeking access to their land to harvest olives, Wafa reported. In a separate incident, Israeli occupiers and soldiers assaulted and detained 15 foreign a

Middle East Monitor·قبل 19 ساعة

It seems that a third round of war between the United States, Israel, and Iran may be approaching. The United States and Israel may be considering another military campaign, hoping to achieve their goals through surprise attacks and a further escalation of tensions. They may believe that a stronger and more extensive attack could weaken Iran’s military capabilities and as Trump has put it, “finish them off” once and for all. However, the conditions have changed. Iran has gained direct experience from the previous wars and has had time to strengthen its internal resilience for another battle, d

Middle East Monitor·قبل 19 ساعة

IMAGES: Palestinian journalists urge medical evacuation for colleague in intensive care in Gaza

Middle East Monitor·قبل 20 ساعة