Middle East

Assad forces recaptured 6 rebel-held areas in embatteled city over the weekend; over 200 killed since assault began 13 days ago By Karam al-Masri and Layal Abou Rahal Syrian displaced families gather at a makeshit camp on November 27, 2016 in the government-held district of Jibreen in Aleppo, as civilians have fled the eastern part

TEL AVIV, Israel — Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’ political party, Fatah, opens its first party congress in seven years Tuesday amid swirling speculation about who will succeed the 81-year-old at the helm of the Palestinian Authority. Some 1,400 Fatah delegates will gather at Abbas’ presidential compound in Ramallah for the five-day convention, with many coming

By Ira Sharkansky JERUSALEM – For some days Israel has suffered from levels of personal hardship, dislocation, mobilization, and property damage equivalent to the 2014 Gaza operation of the IDF. The prime aggressor has been the weather, with incidents of civilian carelessness and aggression by Palestinians.. We’ve been experiencing an extreme case of what typically

  Israeli Air Force launches two strikes against Islamic State in Syria (JNS.org) The Israeli Air Force (IAF) struck Islamic State forces Monday in Syria, Israel’s second strike against the jihadist terror group in just more than a day. The IAF had killed four Islamic State terrorists Sunday in Syria in response to mortar and

Students from Jerusalem were attacked Sunday morning by stone-throwing Arab teens from southern Israel. The targets of the attack were taking a field trip to the Ein Gedi National Park near the Dead Sea through the Kfar Etzion Field School. During their hike through the desert canyon area, the group came under a barrage of

Kuwait City (dpa) – Kuwait’s opposition made a comeback on Sunday, gaining at least 20 out of 50 seats in legislative elections held the previous day, official results showed. The opposition, including Islamists, liberals and nationalists, had boycotted the previous two elections over changes to the voting system decreed by the ruling Emir Sabah al-Ahmed

By Rabbi Dow Marmur JERUSALEM — Here are some “explanations” – in no particular order of improbability – of the fires that raged in Israel in the last few days, devastated thousands of acres of land, destroyed many homes and other places of human habitation, injured a large number of people – some seriously but,

HAIFA, Israel — Two days after a wave of wildfires spread throughout the mixed Arab-Jewish city of Haifa and forced tens of thousands to flee, residents returned to pick through the blackened debris of their homes while pondering what had started it all. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday had called the string of

Tel Aviv (dpa) – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Saturday thanked Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas for helping Israel to fight wildfires that have been plaguing the country. Netanyahu called Abbas in the evening to express his thanks for the Palestinians sending 8 vehicles and 40 fire personnel to Israel, the prime minister’s office said.