Tag: Middle East
Caught between Israel and Iran, Jordan clings desperately to stability
After Iran’s unprecedented missile and drone attack on Israel on April 13, Jordan finds itself caught between the two enemies. Friday morning’s suspected Israeli strikes in central Iran have intensified…
Gaza aid worker deaths heighten scrutiny of Israel’s use of AI to select targets
The killing of foreign aid workers in Gaza has piled further pressure on Israel over its conduct of the war against Hamas, renewing scrutiny of how the Israeli army selects…
As donors suspend critical funding to UNRWA, allegations against staff remain murky
From our UN correspondent in New York – The UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) announced on January 26 that it had terminated the contracts of several employees pending an…
Israel’s administrative detention rates soar after October 7
Nablus – Since the October 7 Hamas attacks and the resulting war with Israel, the number of Palestinians in administrative detention has exploded. This emergency measure allows the Israeli government…
‘I will never justify what Israel is doing in Gaza’
from our special correspondent in Israël – On December 26, Israel’s first conscientious objector since the start of its war against Hamas, Tal Mitnick, was sent to prison after refusing to serve in the army. Mitnick,…
Gaza war drives wedge between French feminists
French feminist groups have come under fire for purportedly turning a blind eye to the sexual violence unleashed on Israeli women during the October 7 attacks by Hamas, echoing the…
The Hamas leaders on Israel’s radar
Since the deadly attacks on October 7 that killed more than 1,400 people in southern Israel, Israeli authorities have been targeting Hamas leaders. The militant Islamist group, founded in 1987 during the first Palestinian intifada, has ruled the Gaza…
Hamas attack rattles Israeli support for peace
From our special correspondent in Israel – The deadly fighting between Israel and Hamas has brought the long-festering Israeli-Palestinian conflict back to the fore, fueling international calls to revive a…
Gazans in Paris lament ban on pro-Palestinian protests
From their homes in Paris, Palestinians Sarah, Saïd and Yasser* are anxiously following the dramatic situation in Gaza, where their relatives are caught up in the massive bombardment and dire…
Israel-Hamas war tests Western unity as Global South slams ‘double standards’
International responses to the October 7 Hamas attack were broadly split between the Global North and South over condemnations of the killings of just Israeli civilians in the terror attack…
Iranian-sourced weapons used in Hamas and Islamic Jihad’s Israel assault
Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad movement launched an incursion into Israel on October 7, attacking by air and ground. While the range of weapons they’ve employed has garnered international…
Why the Islamic State group is ‘returning to its roots’ in the Syrian desert
Some of the remaining members of the Islamic State organisation – those who escaped death or imprisonment after losing their territory in 2019 – have made their way to Badia,…
Idlib, the last Islamist rebel bastion in Syria
SYRIA – FRANCE 24’s jihadism expert Wassim Nasr recently travelled to Idlib, the northwestern Syrian province controlled by the armed Islamist rebel group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), and a desired…
The frightening Twitter hunt for a Saudi dissident in exile
When a former colonel in the Saudi police force, now seeking asylum in the United Kingdom, took to TikTok in mid-March to explain live why he had left the police,…
How ‘apolitical’ Western Youtubers help push Syrian propaganda
Their videos get huge amounts of clicks and profits on YouTube. And their vlogs show a Syria that has turned the page on years of civil war. But these so-called…
the young men caught up in Iran’s execution spree
Since anti-regime demonstrations erupted following the September 16 death in custody of Mahsa Amini, Iranian authorities have executed four young men and sentenced several others to death on charges relating…
How EU-made shotgun cartridges ended up being used to repress protests in Iran
An investigation by the FRANCE 24 Observers team has found evidence that shotgun cartridges manufactured by French-Italian manufacturer Cheddite have been used in the repression of protests in Iran. Shotgun…
How Iran’s security forces are shooting to kill with ‘non-combat’ shotgun shells
“If you shoot at close range, you can kill.” In a rare interview, a member of Iran’s Basij paramilitary force told the FRANCE 24 Observers team that members of his unit…
Overseas Lebanese vote in key poll with high stakes for crises-hit country
Lebanese expats cast their ballots in France and dozens of other countries on Sunday in early voting for the May 15 parliamentary elections. Their numbers have swelled due to the…