Middle East Experience

Her family had lost hope she would ever return after Islamic State fighters took her and thousands of other Yazidi women and girls as sex slaves from Iraq into Syria during their reign of terror.A decade later, 27-year-old Silvana Khider walked for days across Syria as president Bashar al-Assad's rule came to an end, and was reunited with her sister in Iraq.While she was taken by IS, she spent the last years of her ordeal in Syria's Idlib province, bastion of the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) group that spearheaded Assad's fall on December 8.
Source: Al Monitor
Full Article: Decade after IS abduction, Yazidi survivor returns to Iraq

Thousands of fighters linked to Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps paraded with heavy weapons and vehicles through the streets of Tehran on Friday showing their readiness to face "threats".The parade by paramilitary Basij volunteers comes after the weakening of Iran's allies Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in the Gaza Strip, during wars with Israel. It also follows last month's toppling by Islamist-led rebels of Syrian president Bashar al-Assad, whom Tehran also supported.
Source: Al Monitor
Full Article: Thousands of armed militia in Iran march against 'threats'

The weakening of Hezbollah in last year's war with Israel allowed Lebanon's long deadlocked parliament to reach consensus around a president who has the confidence of the international community.Army chief Joseph Aoun, who was elected on Thursday ending a more than two-year vacancy, signalled a readjustment of Lebanon's foreign policy as the country works with international creditors to forge a way out of six years of deepening financial crisis.
Source: Al Monitor
Full Article: Weakening of Hezbollah allowed Lebanon to fill vacant presidency

Turkey's top diplomat ruled out any role for French troops in Syria Friday, saying Washington was its only interlocutor as US officials sought to head off Turkish military action against Kurdish fighters. Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan accused Paris of turning a blind eye to Turkey's own security concerns, and called on France to take back its jihadist nationals jailed in Syria.Paris and Washington have been hoping to dissuade their NATO ally from escalating an offensive against the Kurdish-led SDF, which helped them defeat the Islamic State group in 2019.
Source: Al Monitor
Full Article: Turkey raps France, says US only counterpart in northeast Syria

Batoul Bsharat was playing with her eight-year-old brother Reda in their village in the occupied West Bank. Moments later an Israeli drone strike killed him and two of their cousins."It was the first time in our lives that we played without arguing. It meant so much to me," the 10-year-old said as she sat on the concrete ledge outside the family home in the northern village of Tammun where they had been playing on Wednesday.At her feet, a crater no wider than two fists marked where the missile hit.
Source: Al Monitor
Full Article: Palestinian family wants justice for children killed in Israel strike

With approximately 1,950 housing units already under planning and construction across Jerusalem, Carso is one of several companies leading Jerusalem’s urban renewal.
Source: Jerusalem Post
Full Article: Carso Nia: The visionary real estate project helping revitalize Jerusalem

The children suffered fractures, severe bruises and fainting, said the civil defense in a statement.
Source: Jerusalem Post
Full Article: Stampede kills three women, injures five children in Damascus mosque

Behind the Bylines: As editor-in-chief, Steve Linde helped shape The Jerusalem Post into what it is today, and did the same in his seven years helming The Jerusalem Report.
Source: Jerusalem Post
Full Article: Steve Linde: Journalist, editor, mentor, mensch, friend

A highly abridged weekly version of Dust & Stars.
Source: Jerusalem Post
Full Article: This week in Jewish history: Babylonians besiege Jerusalem, Zola publishes 'J’accuse'

'They are making it difficult,' Kirby said.
Source: Jerusalem Post
Full Article: Hamas is why 'we don't have this deal,' Kirby says of hostage negotiations