Mena Today

Hamas said it had information that Israel intended to carry out a hostage rescue operation similar to one conducted in Gaza's Nuseirat camp in June and threatened to "neutralize" the captives if such an operation took place, according to an internal statement seen by Reuters on Wednesday.

Israeli settlers attacked two Palestinian towns early on Wednesday, setting fire to property and hurling stones, after police looked to dismantle an illegal settler outpost in the occupied West Bank, the Israeli military said.

South Korean lawmakers submitted a bill on Wednesday to impeach President Yoon Suk Yeol after he declared martial law and reversed the move hours later, triggering a political crisis in Asia's fourth-largest economy.

The Biden administration on Tuesday ramped up sanctions on Iran, targeting 35 entities and vessels it said carried illicit Iranian petroleum to foreign markets as part of what the U.S. Treasury Department called Tehran's "shadow fleet."

French President Emmanuel Macron announced on Tuesday a joint initiative with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to co-chair a major conference aimed at advancing the establishment of a Palestinian state.

King Charles and Keir Starmer welcomed Qatar's emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, for a state visit to Britain on Tuesday that the prime minister hopes will help build on the Gulf state's investment in the country.

Israeli leaders hailed on Tuesday a pledge by U.S. President-elect Donald Trump that there would be "hell to pay" in the Middle East unless hostages held in the Gaza Strip were released ahead of his Jan. 20 inauguration.

NATO announced on Tuesday that its first liaison office in the Middle East will "soon" open in Jordan, signaling a significant step toward strengthening ties with the region. 

Qatar on Tuesday issued a warning that military action would not resolve the ongoing crisis in Syria, following a rapid offensive by rebel forces that resulted in the capture of Aleppo and surrounding areas.

Sudan's famine-stricken Zamzam displacement camp has been struck by shelling from the Rapid Support Forces, volunteers and medical aid agency MSF said, as the paramilitary group seeks to tighten control of the Darfur region in the country's war.

Iraq will not act as a mere spectator in Syria where it believes groups and sects are victims of ethnic cleansing, Iraq's prime minister said on Tuesday, according to a readout from his office of a phone call to Turkey's president.

Syrian rebels advancing against government forces pushed close on Tuesday to the major city of Hama, rebels and a war monitor said, after their sudden capture of Aleppo last week rocked President Bashar al-Assad.