Archives for September, 2024

Fighters lift flags of Iraq and paramilitary groups, including al-Nujaba and Kataib Hezbollah, during a funeral in Baghdad for five militants killed a day earlier in a US strike in northern Iraq, on December 4, 2023.

Commander in Iraq's Kataib Hezbollah killed in Israeli strike in Syria

The Iran-backed group said Abu Haidar al-Khafaji had been a security advisor in Damascus.

The flags of Israel, United Arab Emirates, and Bahrain are projected on the ramparts of Jerusalem's Old City on September 15, 2020 in a show of support for Israeli normalisation deals with the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain. - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu signed landmark accords normalizing the Jewish state's relations with the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, as part of a peace push brokered by US President Donald Trump. (Photo by Menahem KAHANA / AFP) (Photo by MENAHEM KAHANA/AFP via Getty

Analysis

Israel-UAE trade to hit $3.3B in 2024 as wars in Lebanon, Gaza continue

Despite a growing Arab public backlash against economic ties with Israel, and politically strained ties between the UAE and Israel since the Gaza war, bilateral trade has continued across the technology, tourism and agriculture sectors.

Jennifer Gnana

By Jennifer Gnana

In Dubai, reporting on Gulf energy policy and politics

The remains of exploded Hezbollah pagers are put on display at an undisclosed location in Beirut's southern suburbs, a stronghold of the militant group

A modern 'Trojan Horse': two days of mayhem in Lebanon

Agence France-Presse

Demonstrators rally outside a mosque in Yemen's Huthi-held Sanaa on March 29, 2024

10 years into Houthi rule, some Yemenis count the cost

Agence France-Presse

An image grab taken from an AFPTV video shows an Israeli soldier pushing an apparently dead Palestinian off a rooftop during a raid in the occupied West Bank

Footage shows Israeli soldier pushing body off roof in West Bank

Agence France-Presse

Hezbollah fighters carry the coffins of people killed after hundreds of paging devices exploded in a deadly wave across Lebanon the previous day, during their funeral procession in Beirut's southern suburbs on September 18, 2024. Hundreds of pagers used by Hezbollah members exploded across Lebanon on September 17, killing at least nine people and wounding around 2,800 in blasts the Iran-backed militant group blamed on Israel. (Photo by ANWAR AMRO / AFP) (Photo by ANWAR AMRO/AFP via Getty Images)

Analysis

Pager attacks shake Hezbollah; are they prelude to Israel-Lebanon deal?

Despite US warnings about the unintended consequences of war with Hezbollah, Israel's leaders claim the extent and intensity of the fire can be controlled.

In Tel Aviv, reporting on national security, Israeli politics, defense

Israel's military said it was striking more Hezbollah targets in Lebanon Saturday evening

Israeli jets pound Lebanon after deadly Beirut strike

Agence France-Presse

Gold Apollo chief Hsu Ching-kuang speaks to the media outside the company's office in New Taipei City

Taiwan questions two in probe into Hezbollah pagers

Agence France-Presse

RABIH DAHER/AFP via Getty Images

As Israel escalates Hezbollah attacks, US concerns over Lebanon grow

The covert operation has the Lebanese militant faction reeling, but analysts question Israel’s strategic intent.

Jared Szuba

In Washington, DC, reporting on defense, national security, military

A Taliban fighter stands guard at the Islam Qala border between Iran and Afghanistan, as Iran sends tens of thousands of Afghan migrants back to Afghanistan, October 19, 2021.

Analysis

After attack on Hazara community, fault lines reemerge in Iran-Taliban ties

Tehran-Kabul ties appeared to be headed in a positive direction in recent months, yet a Sept. 12 attack on Shiites in Afghanistan has renewed tensions.

Sabena Siddiqui

By Sabena Siddiqui

In Karachi, reporting on South Asia, Middle East, Iran

The bodies of three men killed during an Israeli army raid lie on the roof of a building, and just below it, in Qabatiya near Jenin in the occupied West Bank

Israel army says West Bank air strike kills 4 militants

Agence France-Presse

UAE's president, Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed al-Nahyan (L), speaks with US President Joe Biden as they attend a session of the G20 Leaders' Summit at the Bharat Mandapam in New Delhi on September 9, 2023.

UAE in 'realignment mode' as Mohammed bin Zayed heads to US

The UAE president is set to meet US President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris on his visit. A top advisor refused to say on Thursday if he will be meeting Donald Trump.

United Arab Emirates

Women and a child queue to receive humanitarian aid packages at the Kurdish-run al-Hol camp.

Analysis

How ISIS brides held by Syria’s Kurds are smuggled to suitors in Europe

The women are finding their prospective husbands on the internet using smuggled mobile phones.

Amberin Zaman

By Amberin Zaman

In London, reporting on geopolitics, minorities, human rights, culture

MIRIAM ALSTER/AFP via Getty Images

Analysis

Middle East teeters on brink of war in Biden’s final stretch

The Biden administration is urging both sides to de-escalate, but with no Gaza cease-fire in sight and a US president in his lame-duck period, Washington has little room to maneuver.

Elizabeth Hagedorn

By Elizabeth Hagedorn

In Washington, DC, reporting on diplomacy, regional politics, human rights

Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah delivers his first speech since the communications devices of hundreds of operatives exploded in an unprecedented attack the group blamed on Israel.

Hezbollah's Nasrallah: powerful leader living in hiding

Agence France-Presse

Smoke billows from the site of an Israeli airstrike in the southern Lebanese village of Khiam near the border on September 19, 2024

Why is Israel focusing on border with Lebanon?

Agence France-Presse