A long-awaited, clearly visualized investigation into Israel’s use of the M113 APC as what I’ve called a barrel bomb on wheels to destroy civilian infrastructure. Experts estimate it carries one to three tons of explosives, likely ammonium nitrate, though not confirmed.

If you're a journalist who needs an expert to talk about events in southern Yemen, I've been following this issue on an almost-daily basis for close to a decade now.

spoke to some smart people about the threat of ISIL in Syria www.aljazeera.com/features/202...

🚨 A renewed large-scale war may happen in Yemen. Not related to the now worldwide popular Houthis but pitting the internationally recognised Saudi-backed Presidential Leadership Council (controlling areas in green in the map) against the UAE-backed and separatist Southern Transitional Council.

THREAD: on Friday, Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu announced that Israel would recognize Somaliland, an autonomous breakaway republic in northern Somalia, as an independent state. This makes Israel the first state to officially recognize Somaliland, since it's 1991 declaration of independence.

Leaving prison after spending most of the past 12 years incarcerated did not mean freedom for Alaa Abd el-Fattah, until he could finally travel. The British government needs to do more to combat the harms of travel bans wielded by authoritarian regimes. My piece for @theobserveruk.bsky.social

The fall of Lebanon’s TV drug baron ft.trib.al/OR7NBgM

Books in 2025 that resonated with me... Gate of the Sun - Elias Khoury (maybe the best novel I've read) The Savage Detectives - Roberto Bolaño (top 10 novels I've read) The Word for World is Forest - Ursula Le Guin No Turning Back - Rania Abouzeid (best journalistic book I've read) 1/2

Usually, I just pick up books based on what I'm in the mood to read or what I find in front of me but this year I've decided to try planning some, while also allowing some improvisational reading. Here are ten books I hope to read

Books in 2025 that resonated with me... Gate of the Sun - Elias Khoury (maybe the best novel I've read) The Savage Detectives - Roberto Bolaño (top 10 novels I've read) The Word for World is Forest - Ursula Le Guin No Turning Back - Rania Abouzeid (best journalistic book I've read) 1/2

The Life and Death of a photographer in Gaza Listening now to @adamshatz.bsky.social on @lrb.co.uk podcasts.apple.com/lb/podcast/t...

Scorching the Monk Forest: Israel’s ecocide in southern Lebanon flip.it/p2TYD_

Spoke to some analysts about the SDF's integration into the Syrian army, just before clashes broke out yesterday in Aleppo www.aljazeera.com/features/202...

Dystopian

Some people just need to be the center of attention, no matter what kind of attention

Syrian refugees face ‘unbearable’ suffering in Lebanon as Taoiseach to accelerate resettlement

Titanic…uh oh

I am thrilled that the Cincinnati Review has nominated my essay on the south of Lebanon, “My mother’s village and my father’s village,” for the Pushcart Prize.

I don’t like to throw around the word evil, but it is the only term that comes to mind to describe the US policy and behavior here. Read the article

still think usaid is the biggest story of the year

In today's Guardian : My special report with Ashley Kirk and the Visuals team- we followed one Palestinian family across 2 years of devastation to show what's left of home. www.theguardian.com/world/ng-int...

Omar Hamad and Ibrahim are gathering donations to create a public library in Gaza after Israel’s genocidal war destroyed nearly all its existing libraries, schools, and universities. lithub.com/you-can-help...

The rehabilitation of pro Assad propagandists who literally took money from Russia, Iran, and Syria into the pro palestine movement offends me as a palestinian. And fyi, is such a disservice to the movement. Liberation for all of us or none of us.

🚨 ICYMI: Yesterday, Sana Mustafa, Joseph Daher, Sarah Hunaidi, and @justinsalhani.bsky.social joined TIMEP for an online panel discussion on foreign affairs, economics, and political developments one year into Syria's transition. Catch up here: www.youtube.com/live/lWr9Osn...

Also when he says "The Arabs" he means i.e. a couple dozen corrupt dictators, not the Arab public, Arab civil society, Arab political sentiment.

I was in Damascus on December 9, 2024 the day after Assad's regime fell. I went back a year later to see what has changed and what is still the same. www.aljazeera.com/features/202...

Integrity seems to carry such little weight these days.

One year on from the fall of the #Assad regime in #Syria, there is an opportunity for justice. Survivors,families of the disappeared,and Syrians everywhere are demanding justice. Stand with survivors and families of all victims - Sign and share the petition: thesyriacampaign.org/BringAssadTo...

"The concerns of minorities are real and not to be dismissed, but I also hope a focus on a particular minority group does not overshadow or dismiss the wider struggle for universal rights that thousands of Syrians are demanding across sects and regions." I wrote this after a trip to Syria last Dec

This recognition emphasizes the pertinence of Dana’s reporting today, as southern Lebanon faces a new wave of Israeli occupation. The stories shared in this article stand as both testimony and warning. Read: thepublicsource.org/lebanon-lost...

🏆 We’re proud to announce that “Stolen By a Map: The Haunting History of Lebanon’s Villages” by Dana Hourany has been shortlisted for the Outstanding Contribution to Peace Award by the Fetisov Journalism Awards.

I returned to Beirut earlier today after a 4-day reporting trip to Damascus. I'll be taking part in this panel in about 40 minutes.

Even spies are gig workers now

These people think they're inventing something new when I have seen this theater play out a thousand times a thousand and one the world is circles within circles within circles and we can rest knowing it could go on for a million years hence and we would not miss anything new under the sun

Help Sonia

A quick dispatch from Damascus, on the eve of the anniversary of the Assad regime’s collapse.

A quick dispatch from Damascus, on the eve of the anniversary of the Assad regime’s collapse.

I have been in Damascus for the last couple of days covering the lead up to the one year anniversary of Assad’s fall. The last year has been difficult for many, especially those in areas like the coast and Sweida. At the same time, speaking to people here it is clear how liberated many feel

Yasser Abu shabab, head of an Israeli backed gang in gaza, just killed in clashes

I’m seeing a new Israeli/American talking point essentially saying that Lebanese citizens and government need to understand Israel is working in our best interest and if we aren’t able to understand that they are ready to attack. Do i add this to the dystopian thread?

Israel has relied on spreading narratives that benefit them that infiltrate general perception. During times of conflict, when people pay closer attention to details & history of occupation/apartheid, it is inevitable that that perception will decline. This is partially why ceasefires benefit them

I've recently been asked about policy recommendations for Gaza and the wider region in 2026. honestly, I feel very uncreative in this, but I do not believe anything in Gaza or Palestine/Israel at large can be managed without what many have demanded for decades: end the occupation/apartheid.

“In the generation since George W. Bush’s administration unleashed its global war on terror – invading and occupying Afghanistan and Iraq – the US has failed to reckon with all the ways its legacy of violence abroad eventually comes home” — my latest @theguardian.com

Analysts told me that they agree with @amnesty.org in that Israel's genocide in Gaza is not over. The mass killing has slowed but the conditions for life & society have been destroyed and are not being allowed to be rebuilt. www.aljazeera.com/features/202...

The "Gaza ceasefire" is a period of reduced intensity in terms of Israeli attacks. For the Israeli government this is merely a lull until the genocide can be resumed with full strength, with the aim of mass ethnic cleansing. Any other plans would have to be imposed on Israel.

Analysts told me that they agree with @amnesty.org in that Israel's genocide in Gaza is not over. The mass killing has slowed but the conditions for life & society have been destroyed and are not being allowed to be rebuilt. www.aljazeera.com/features/202...

🧵 1-5 The recent Alawite protests in Latakia, Tartus, Homs, and Hama – and the reactions they sparked – highlight dynamics far more significant than their modest turnout suggests. In my latest, I unpack the three key takeaways they reveal. en.majalla.com/node/328524/...

We at the Tahrir Institute for Middle East Policy (TIMEP) unequivocally condemn the recent assault of our former nonresident fellow, Sudanese human rights lawyer @mohanedelnour.bsky.social following his remarks in support of Sudanese civilians at a demonstration in Newcastle, England.

Seems like as time goes on more people will adopt this already emerging consensus view of the Biden admin in MENA, but it's one thing to say it and another to hold the architects of this program to account: why does no one ask why CAP hired Blinken, why CNN hired McGurk, Sullivan at Harvard?

The Pope left Beirut a couple of hours ago and there are already reports of Israeli drones flying low over parts of the city.