US-backed aid group proposed building camps for displaced people in Gaza
Gaza Humanitarian Foundation proposes ‘Humanitarian Transit Areas’ located inside and outside of war–torn enclave
Syria
US revokes foreign terrorist designation for Syria’s Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham
The group, also know as Al-Nusrah Front, took part in offensive that ousted Bashar al-Assad
‘Going backwards’: Landmine treaty enters increasingly perilous territory as key states pull out
Finland, Poland and Ukraine have all moved recently to exit the 1997 Ottawa agreement
‘Everyone is digging for gold now’: Desperate Syrians resort to scouring ancient sites
Security vacuum after Assad downfall has led to plundering for Greek, Roman and Byzantine artefacts
‘Everybody can feel the pain’: Middle Eastern views on the present and future
A Syrian, a Palestinian, an Iranian and an Israeli give their views on how better times might be reached where they live
Middle East in maps: Key territories in the current conflict
A map-based guide to understand wars and conflict in the Middle East
Israel-Iran ceasefire leaves key questions unanswered
It remains to be seen whether the Iranian nuclear programme was obliterated or merely set back
Islamic State suicide bombing in Damascus church kills 22 people
Sunday night attck was first major IS operation and suicide bombing in Syria since toppling of former president Bashar al-Assad in December
Demining in Syria: ‘People are desperate to go back to their houses... In their mind the main threat is gone’
There have been more than 900 mine-related injuries or fatalities in Syria since the fall of the Assad regime
‘Axis of Resistance’ in no position to help Iran
Self-preservation and national interest mean regional allies can do little more than express support
Israel and Iran continue to exchange attacks as death tolls and calls for de-escalation grow
Tánaiste warns against travel to either country as Irish embassy staff work with citizens actively seeking to leave them
Children play among bones as Syria faces ‘enormous challenge’ of what to do about mass graves
Six months after the fall of Syria’s Assad regime, mass burial sites of the war’s victims are still not cordoned off or protected
Climate change adds to Syria’s problems as Damask rose harvests fade
Syria’s harvest has shrunk as a result of climate change-related drought, further complicating the country’s economic recovery
Exhibitions open in Damascus remembering suffering and sacrifice under Syrian regime
Hundreds attend the first gallery show openings since fall of Bashar al-Assad, honouring former detainees and disappeared people
‘KatKot’ chocolate and ‘Ugarit Cola’: What life in Syria was like under US sanctions
It felt like the more ways we learned to survive the sanctions regime, the more creative ways it found to punish us
Binyamin Netanyahu reduced to spectator as Donald Trump tours Middle East
US president bypasses Israel as he eyes Gulf billions, meets Syrian leader and pursues detente with Iran
Donald Trump holds warm meeting with ‘tough guy’ Syrian leader
US president meets Ahmed al-Sharaa in Saudi Arabia after promising to lift sanctions on war-ravaged country
US pushes former foes to lead Syria towards ‘normalisation’ after decades of enmity
Sanctions to be lifted as Washington urges Damascus to cut ties with Palestinian militants and to protect minorities
Celebrations in Damascus after Donald Trump’s sudden announcement of end to sanctions on Syria
Economic embargoes to be lifted as country struggles to rebuild after 13 years of war
Trump meets Syrian president in Saudi Arabia after surprise move to lift sanctions on Syria
US president urges Ahmed al-Sharaa to normalise ties with longtime foe Israel
In Lebanon I eat lunch and listen for the thrum of planes, the blasts of bombs
Beirut Letter: I am unused to the sudden contrast between joy and violence, and feel a deep disquiet
Jess Murphy: ‘Everybody’s equal in my kitchen – whether you wash dishes or cook on an open fire grill’
The Kai restaurant chef-proprietor says appreciation of food is the easiest way to overcome cultural barriers
Syrian Druze are walking a ‘tightrope’ between Damascus and Israel
Pilgrims travel to pray at shrine to Shuaib in Israel for first time in more than 75 years
Israeli strikes target sites in Syria, killing one and injuring four
Israel on Friday bombed area near presidential palace in Damascus in warning to Islamist-led authorities of readiness to ramp up military action
Israeli strikes on Syria hit area near presidential palace in Damascus
Escalation indicates Israel’s preparedness to ramp up military action in name of Syria’s Druze minority
Israel says its military strikes in Syria aimed at group that attacked Druze community
Syrian source says Israeli drone strikes targeted government security forces in mainly Druze town of Sahnaya
Syria’s largely secular Druze community drawn into sectarian conflict
Clashes in Damascus suburb were triggered by recording alleged to be of a Druze cleric insulting Prophet Muhammad
The Great Betrayal: The Struggle for Freedom and Democracy in the Middle East by Fawaz A Gerges – engaging read for seasoned observers
The scope is perhaps too broad, and the prose a little dry, for this book to appeal to the general reader
‘We are nice people, but poor’: After Assad’s fall, economic problems are Syrians’ biggest concern
War, corruption and sanctions have taken a heavy toll on Syria, whose deepening poverty is ‘a dangerous accelerant in an already volatile environment’
The ghosts of Khaldiyeh, a Homs neighbourhood devastated by Syria’s war
Khaldiyeh, in Syria’s third-largest city, is a former opposition stronghold once under siege during the country’s long war
Lisa Smith lawyers argue no legal system could convict her of Isis membership
Even if she moved to Islamic State-controlled area and was a sympathiser, it does not prove she was a member, court told
In Homs, efforts to rebuild but trauma haunts the streets
Syria’s new government is walking a tightrope, trying to state-build in a devastated country with a diverse and deeply divided society
Islamic State regains strength in Syria
Recent developments could make it easier for group to show renewed vigour, say experts
‘They destroyed this moment of joy’: On the frontlines of the Israeli incursion into Syria
Days after the fall of the Assad regime, Israeli forces entered southern Syria, where many locals now want protection from the UN
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