Middle East Experience

We are nearing the endgame leading to an attack on Iran's nuclear program - or to serious new nuclear negotiations.
Source: Jerusalem Post
Full Article: Iran may secure a deal before Trump's deadline - or face Israeli strikes in Tehran

Every bulb represents a name, every barcode tells a story: A light installation at Tel Aviv’s Habima Square aims to keep the memory of each victim.
Source: Jerusalem Post
Full Article: 1,400 lights, 1,400 souls: Shining a light on the victims of October 7

US government lawyers pushed Friday for the case of a pro-Palestinian protest leader slated for deportation to be moved to a Louisiana court thought to be sympathetic to President Donald Trump's hardline immigration crackdown.Columbia University graduate student Mahmoud Khalil -- a prominent face of the protest movement that erupted in response to Israel's war in Gaza -- was arrested and taken to Louisiana earlier this month, sparking protests. Several other foreign student protesters have been similarly targeted.
Source: Al Monitor
Full Article: Trump lawyers try to shift Palestinian activist's case to Louisiana

Marwa fled Taliban rule in Afghanistan because she wanted to study, work, wear jeans and go to the park without a male chaperone. Now she is under lock and key in Costa Rica, along with hundreds of other migrants expelled by the United States to third countries in Central America.Costa Rica is one of three Central American countries, along with Panama and Guatemala, that have agreed to receive migrants from other countries and to detain them until they are sent to their home nations or other host countries.
Source: Al Monitor
Full Article: 'Jail or death': migrants expelled by Trump fear for their fate

Iranian police have dispersed a weeks-long sit-in by demonstrators supporting the mandatory head covering for women, state media reported, after authorities deemed the gathering illegal. The demonstrators -- largely women in black full-body robes -- staged the sit-in since last month outside the parliament building in Tehran. Since Iran's 1979 Islamic revolution, women have been required to conceal their hair in public. However, increasing numbers, particularly in major cities including the capital Tehran, have pushed the boundaries by allowing the covering to slide back.
Source: Al Monitor
Full Article: Iran police disperse pro-hijab protesters outside parliament

AFP photographer Yasin Akgul, who was arrested this week covering Turkey's worst unrest in more than a decade, was freed Thursday from an Istanbul jail, AFP correspondents said, though his lawyer said the charges against him remain.Akgul was detained in a pre-dawn raid at his home Monday and remanded in custody by an Istanbul court a day later. He was charged with "taking part in illegal rallies and marches", drawing outrage from rights groups and the Paris-based news agency.
Source: Al Monitor
Full Article: AFP journalist Yasin Akgul leaves jail, but lawyer says charges remain

The danger of changing Israel’s character has increased. The country is still a vibrant democracy, but will it remain so?
Source: Jerusalem Post
Full Article: Israel's not a dictatorship, but it's headed toward becoming one

For the second consecutive year, traditional Eid al-Fitr celebrations marking the end of Ramadan were absent in Gaza on Sunday, as residents of the Palestinian territory awoke to the roar of Israeli bombardment."Eid, which was once a day of family reunions and visits, has now become a day of farewells and funerals," said Nahla Abu Matar, a 28-year-old mother, speaking to AFP.Like hundreds of thousands of Gaza residents, she has been displaced from her home in northern Gaza and is now living in the southern area of Khan Yunis.
Source: Al Monitor
Full Article: 'Day of funerals,' Gazans mark grim Eid under Israeli strikes

Palestinians on Wednesday staged protests in the Gaza Strip against the territory's Hamas rulers for the second consecutive day, calling for an end to the war with Israel, witnesses said.Demonstrators carrying banners reading "Hamas does not represent us" were seen marching in Gaza City and the town of Beit Lahia to the north, just over a week after Israel resumed its bombing campaign following nearly two months of a truce."We do not want Hamas! We are tired," said protester Muayed Zahir, who took part in the rally in Gaza City.
Source: Al Monitor
Full Article: Anti-Hamas chants at new protests in Gaza: witnesses

The texts included information on when the attacks were to take place, when US planes were to take off from base, as well as what planes and drones would be used.
Source: Jerusalem Post
Full Article: Trump advisor leaks included exact details of Houthi strikes in Signal chat