❝ Far from calculated strategy, the US' war on Iran exposed disarray, ideological extremism, and the erosion of its global credibility ❞ — Alex Foley

Several press freedom organisations including the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) file emergency motion urging Israel’s top court to allow international media into Gaza

❝ Not one to abide by ceasefires, Israel is carpet bombing Lebanese civilians, as its quest for devastation continues with no end in sight ❞ — Belen Fernandez

Trump is racing against the midterms, Iran is betting on endurance, and Netanyahu needs a war with no end.

PODCAST: In this episode, Adam Shatz is joined by Joëlle Abi-Rached and Mohamad Bazzi to discuss life on the ground in Lebanon, Israel’s strategic objectives in the region and Hizbullah’s relationship to the Lebanese state.

Israel is doing everything it can to drive its closest allies away ❝ From social media attacks to real-life diplomatic snafus, from Berlin and Paris to Seoul, Israel's Foreign Ministry has increasingly jeopardized relations with all but U.S. President Trump ❞ — Dahlia Scheindlin

❝ If Donald Trump fails to end the Iran war soon, its effects could last for decades, with unpredictable consequences ❞ — Paul Rogers

Meead Abu al-Rub speaks to MEE about the Italian magazine cover that has made her famous, and about what armed Israeli settlers did that day

❝ More than 38,000 Palestinian women & girls were killed in Gaza between Oct 2023 and Dec 2025 ❞ — UN Women

❝ More than 700 Palestinian women have been arrested since the Gaza genocide began, enduring brutal conditions of starvation, isolation and humiliation by Israeli military ❞ — Victoria Brittain #Palestinian_Political_Prisoners

❝ The Israeli military’s destruction of the Qasmieh bridge threatens to cut off Lebanese territory south of the Litani River from the rest of the country. The attack should be investigated as a potential disproportionate attack on civilians, which would be a war crime. ❞ — @hrw.org

#BooksOnPalestine review: 'The Foundations of Zionism' is a major work of Palestinian historical scholarship by Sabri Jiryis that feels uncannily timely in 2026.

❝ “There are no innocent civilians in Jenin. There are no innocent children in Jenin.” All Palestinians are legitimate targets for elimination. He recommended that all Palestinians who do not want to be killed by the IDF “relocate their place of residence anywhere else in the world” ❞

❝ Israel’s push for buffer zones and 'natural borders' suggests the emerging ceasefire is unlikely to halt its ongoing ethnic cleansing in southern Lebanon. ❞ — Dimi Reider

After three years of a multi-front war across the Middle East, Israel is discovering the constraints of what can be achieved by military power alone

❝ A revolution is underway within the Jewish community as youth abandon Zionism following the Gaza genocide. While the community scrambles to respond, the Israel lobby is being fractured in the process. ❞ — Philip Weiss

❝ The time is long overdue for members of Congress to listen to the American people and end US military aid to the extremist Netanyahu government ❞ — Bernie Sanders

Despite their defeat by Senate Republicans, bills seeking to block arms sales to Israel found widespread Democratic support.

❝ Israel bombed Tehran's Rafi-Nia synagogue in the middle of the Jewish holiday of Passover. The attack revealed, to a shocking degree, Zionism's willingness to treat Jewish life as disposable in the service of its ideological project. ❞ — Jared Sacks

Recently declassified Israeli archive documents, reported by Haaretz, have shed further light on attempts by a Zionist militia to forge a relationship with Nazi Germany in the 1930s and 40s.

The head of Palestinian human rights @alhaq.bsky.social organization has been refused a visa by France, preventing him from attending key briefings at the French parliament, French foreign ministry and the Council of Europe.

❝ Direct talks in Washington for the first time in 30 years continue a long history of overtures that predate resistance and persist despite repeated Israeli attacks on civilians. ❞ — Joseph Massad

Israel collaborating with settlers to expel Palestinians from their Old City homes — Nir Hasson

Israeli forces are destroying more than 1,000 homes a day in Lebanon, according to a preliminary assessment by Lebanon’s National Council for Scientific Research (CNRS), which described Israeli attacks on the country as an "unprecedented escalation"

❝ In recent months, Israeli soldiers have arrested dozens of West Bank Palestinians — many blindfolded, beaten, and then released without explanation. ❞ — Basel Adra

With no clear victor, the Iran war has accelerated a shift in Middle East geopolitics, weakening old assumptions about power, deterrence, and security

“What the world should know is that we will return to these villages, and when we do, we’ll return to rubble, and it will be an immense process of rebuilding.” She notes the Israeli military is using the same tactics in Lebanon as in Gaza

“What [Israel] is doing here is trying to put something that sounds reasonable on the table, but with the intention of embarrassing and humiliating the Lebanese government,” which Levy says does not have the capacity to disarm Hezbollah.

Palestinian leader Marwan Barghouti has been subjected to repeated "brutal assaults" inside Israeli prisons while held in solitary confinement, according to a rights campaign, as abuses against #Palestinian_Political_Prisoners continue to escalate.

❝ After the failure in Gaza and Iran, the Israeli prime minister hopes he can be triumphant in Lebanon. ❞ — Ori Goldberg

Italy’s decision has little immediate impact, but marks an unprecedented U-turn by one of Israel’s staunchest allies.

Just weeks before she was killed in Gaza, Rachel wrote to us, "This has to stop. I think it is a good idea for us all to drop everything and devote our lives to making this stop." www.thenation.com/article/poli...

Decisions at the latest Democratic National Committee meeting emphasized the disconnect between the party’s leadership and its base. ■ Party leaders are stuck in an anachronistic time warp, severely out of touch with – or contemptuous of – what most Democrats currently believe about Israel.

[ Where have we seen this before ] Israeli soldiers marked dozens of Palestinian women with numbers on their hands during their ongoing invasion of the Jenin refugee camp in the occupied West Bank on Monday.

Calls to boycott the popular Amazon Prime TV show 'The Boys' are circulating on social media after an interview with actor Tomer Capone resurfaced in which he describes his time in the Israeli army, including violence against Palestinians

Despite tactical victories, including a wave of assassinations of key Iranian leaders, Israel and the US cannot translate battlefield momentum into a political win

In Trump's worldview, war can be sanctified and violence becomes destiny whereas Pope Leo XIV would not sanctify war or reduce faith to a political instrument

❝ An investigation has been launched after we discovered a suspicious military transfer from Britain to Israel. ❞ tinyurl.com/mvpyhhuu ❝ Brussels has banned aircraft carrying military equipment for Israel from stopping in the country or using its airspace ❞ tinyurl.com/yfu7cf8a

NEW: "Reconstruction and Ruin" the Winter 2025 Issue of Middle East Report is now live! This issue captures the challenges facing ordinary people in the Middle East as the warfare politics of dispossession and division continue amidst efforts to rebuild urban landscapes.

Rev. Munther Isaac warns Israel's measures are actively targeting Palestinian Christians, restricting worship and undermining their presence in Jerusalem.

❝ The Daily Telegraph is being acquired by a German-based media giant - and now its journalists are formally expected to support Israel. ❞ — @owenjones.bsky.social

With Israel's war demographically reshaping the country, its military strategy is deliberately pitting Lebanon's religious communities against each other.

A new report documents sexual violence and coercion against Palestinians in detention, raising concerns over impunity and Israel's expanded death penalty law.

Long before the war in Gaza, Israel was known to have systematically tortured children. Since the genocide that began in October 2023, Israel has operated industrial-scale torture facilities for Palestinian detainees.

Israel doesn't know how to live without war, and maybe it doesn't want to. ❝ After the cease-fire with Iran briefly interrupted the perpetual cycle of violence, Israel's leadership appears eager to return to its familiar rhythm of war ❞ — Odeh Bisharat archive.md/lbCHA

Gaza's 'catastrophic' healthcare crisis is worsening ❝ Alongside a surge in diseases caused by insects, rodents and contaminated water, health officials and aid groups report that Israel's restrictions have resulted in dire shortages of medicine and medical supplies. ❞

A campaign calling for Barghouti’s release described the incidents as “brutal attacks”. It said they took place while he was in solitary confinement in Megiddo and Ramon prisons, in northern and southern Israel respectively. #Palestinian_Political_Prisoners

Israel's 'rational' left is more dangerous than Ben-Gvir and Smotrich ❝ There are two kinds of enthusiasts for genocide and ethnic cleansing in today's Israeli public discourse. One are the "haters" and the second are the "rationalists" — Ofer Cassif archive.md/whb9B

When Francesca Albanese, the UN special rapporteur, published her report Anatomy of a Genocide in March 2024, she was lionised by some and demonised by the Trump government. She describes what happened next.

❝ The leaders of Israel’s four Arab parties say they agree on the importance of a unified electoral alliance. Yet they remain divided on the terms of the pact. ❞ — Samah Salaime