Middle East

Six Palestinians were killed Monday as Israel blew up what it said was a tunnel stretching from the Gaza Strip into its territory, a rare case of such an incident since a devastating 2014 war. Ashraf al-Qudra, spokesman for the Hamas-led Gazan health ministry, confirmed six men had been killed. One of the men came

By TOI staff Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has reportedly said that he will not appoint any Hamas officials to the Palestinian unity government that do publicly recognize the existence of Israel. According to the Haaretz daily, Abbas told a delegation of former Israeli lawmakers visiting his party’s Ramallah headquarters on Sunday that “the Americans

Coalition chairwoman David Bitan announced following a meeting with Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked and MK Shuli Moalem-Rafaeli that the coalition would resume its normal functions. The coalition faced a potential crisis over disputes between the Likud and Jewish Home parties. At the meeting, it was agreed that the ‘French Law’ which would prevent the police

By TOI staff An Arab lawmaker from the Zionist Union faction said Monday that he would not be attending a Knesset ceremony next week marking the 100th year anniversary of the Balfour Declaration. “It is not out of defiance that I will not be attending the session,” Zoheir Bahlul told Channel 2. “This is simply

The Iraqi Kurdish parliament will meet Sunday to redistribute powers away from President Massoud Barzani, who is under pressure to step down following an independence referendum last month. The parliament had already decided to halt Barzani’s governmental activities and, on Saturday, said it would read out a statement from Barzani during the upcoming meeting. Despite

Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister says Iran’s hostile policy is the major obstacle to solving the crisis in Yemen, where Riyadh is leading a military alliance against Iran-aligned Houthi militant forces. Adel al-Jubeir accused Iran of interfering in Yemen and providing arms to the Shi’ite Houthi rebels. “Iran provides weapons to Houthi and [supporters of former

By Alexander Fulbright Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman called Sunday for extending Israel’s policy of demolishing terrorist murderers’ homes to Palestinian assailants who badly wound Israelis in terror attacks, saying such a policy would deter potential terrorists. Liberman said he recently instructed the Israel Defense Forces and the Defense Ministry’s legal adviser to weigh the possibility