Middle East Experience

Meirav Leshem Gonen, whose daughter Romi is still captive in Gaza, reflects on Hanukkah and the light we can share to bring the hostages home.
Source: Jerusalem Post
Full Article: 'Every person is a light': A hostage mother's message this Hanukkah

Hundreds of people gathered at the Church of the Nativity in the holy city of Bethlehem on Tuesday to mark another solemn Christmas overshadowed by the war in Gaza.Missing for a second consecutive year were the festive decorations, and the crowd paled in comparison to the throngs of tourists and pilgrims of Christmases past -- a reflection of the sombre mood as the war between Israel and Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip drags on.
Source: Al Monitor
Full Article: Bethlehem marks sombre Christmas under shadow of war

'Her heart couldn’t withstand the unbearable pain since October 7,' Carmit Palty Katzir, Hannah's daughter, said.
Source: Jerusalem Post
Full Article: A mother to all she met: Loved ones mourn passing of released hostage Hannah Katzir

Source: Jerusalem Post
Full Article: Palestinians sue oil giant BP for supplying Israel during Gaza war

Twelve Israeli companies rose more than 100% on Wall Street in 2024.
Source: Jerusalem Post
Full Article: Who were the Israeli winners and losers of Wall Street in 2024?

Syria's new leaders announced Tuesday that they had reached an agreement with the country's rebel groups on their dissolution and integration under the defence ministry.Absent from the meeting were representatives of the US-backed, Kurdish-led forces that control swathes of Syria's northeast.
Source: Al Monitor
Full Article: Syria authorities say armed groups have agreed to disband

Hundreds of Christians in war-ravaged Gaza City gathered at a church on Tuesday, praying for an end to the war that has devastated much of the Palestinian territory.Gone were the sparkling lights, the festive decorations, and the towering Christmas tree that had graced Gaza City for decades.The Square of the Unknown Soldier, once alive with the spirit of the season, now lay in ruins, reduced to rubble by relentless Israeli air strikes.Amid the rubble, the faithful sought solace even as fighting continued to rage across the coastal strip on Tuesday.
Source: Al Monitor
Full Article: Gaza Christians pray for end of 'death and destruction'

With no Christmas tree or decorations adorning the Church of the Nativity, revered as the birthplace of Jesus Christ, holiday cheer was absent in the Israeli-occupied West Bank city of Bethlehem on Tuesday.But for some, like Jerusalem resident Hisham Makhoul, spending Christmas in the holy city provided an "escape" from the Israel-Hamas war raging for more than 14 months in the Gaza Strip.
Source: Al Monitor
Full Article: Sombre Christmas in Bethlehem an 'escape' from war for Palestinians

AFP photographer Sameer al-Doumy never dreamed he would be able to return to the hometown in Syria that he escaped through a tunnel seven years ago after it was besieged by Bashar al-Assad's forces.Douma, once a rebel stronghold near Damascus, suffered terribly for its defiance of the former regime, and was the victim of a particularly horrific chemical weapons attack in 2018."It is like a dream for me today to find myself back here," he said."The revolution was a dream, getting out of a besieged town and of Syria was a dream, as it is now being able to go back.
Source: Al Monitor
Full Article: 'Like a dream': AFP photographer's return to Syria

Syria's new authorities torched a large stockpile of drugs on Wednesday, two security officials told AFP, including one million pills of captagon, whose industrial-scale production flourished under ousted president Bashar al-Assad.Captagon is a banned amphetamine-like stimulant that became Syria's largest export during the country's more than 13-year civil war, effectively turning it into a narco state under Assad.
Source: Al Monitor
Full Article: Syria authorities say torched 1 million captagon pills