Russia, Iran in tug of war over Syria military reform Moscow and Tehran have disparate views on how the Syrian military should be reformed. Syria
After years of calm, Lebanon’s Tripoli reels from 'lone wolf' terror attack Following an attack in Tripoli that killed four, the Lebanese government admits that it might not prepared to confront "lone wolf" terrorism. Lebanon
Will Arabs in Israel revive Joint List for new elections? Palestinian citizens in Israel lost three seats in the April 10 elections due in large part to the low turnout, which came as a result of apathy and unhappiness about the fact that the united list was divided into two. Israel
Distrust of SDF, unclear future divide Syrian tribal massacre area Al-Monitor traveled to the Shaitat area of Deir ez-Zor, scene of a 2014 massacre in which up to 1,000 mostly men and boys were killed within a few weeks after the tribe rose up against the Islamic State, to understand how the people there are dealing with the Kurdish-led SDF. Syria
Egypt's hand appears in play behind scenes in Sudan The head of the Sudanese Transitional Military Council has visited Saudi Arabia, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates, raising questions about Cairo’s role in Sudanese affairs. Saudi Arabia
Seized newspaper reads dark times for Egypt's press The repeated confiscation of Al-Ahaly newspaper has raised complaints about press freedom in Egypt, where state oversight of the media is a long and opaque tradition. Egypt
Election delay fueling Algerian protesters’ fire With the postponement of presidential elections in Algeria, the political class has ignored the constitution, undermining the credibility of interim President Abdelkader Bensalah and the influence of army chief Gen. Gaid Salah. Algeria
Netanyahu's choice for Egypt envoy known for diplomatic gaffes Despite of his history of diplomatic and security missteps, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is considering appointing Communications Minister Ayoub Kara to the extremely sensitive position of ambassador to Egypt. Egypt
Islamic Jihad mulls military action to foil US peace plan As the United States gets closer to officially revealing details of its Middle East peace plan, the Palestinian Islamic Jihad says it and its allies are ready to do whatever is necessary to stop the lopsided deal. Palestine
Who stands in the way of Israel’s Shaked premiership? Former Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked did not make it to the Knesset in the April elections, yet her high popularity generates several proposals for running in the September vote. Israel
Democrats want to tie Trump’s hands on Iran. Here are their options. Congress wants to take back its war-making authorities as tensions escalate with Iran. United States
US Syria envoy says ‘no role’ for Europe in proposed safe zone The United States has a “general” deal in place to establish a safe zone in northeastern Syria, the Trump administration’s top Syria policy official said, but the effort will not include European countries. Syria
Election of Israel’s state comptroller turning political For Giora Romm, the Blue and White party made no real effort to promote his candidacy for the position of state comptroller and did not try to mobilize other opposition parties for the vote. Israel
Which road will Israel’s new justice minister take? Justice Minister Amir Ohana has the opportunity to engage Israeli Supreme Court justices in a dialogue that could ultimately benefit the entire judicial system, but he might just as well continue to attack the court in ways pleasing to the person who appointed him, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Israel
AKP's Istanbul campaign sinks to new lows Turkey's ruling AKP has insinuated that the opposition's winning mayoral candidate for Istanbul Ekrem Imamoglu is secretly Greek to discredit his campaign in a move that seemed to backfire. Turkey
Iran says Mossad ‘fabricating intelligence’ on oil tanker attacks Iran’s foreign minister has condemned the UNSC meeting that will discuss UAE claims about oil tanker attacks. Saudi Arabia
