FRANCE 24’s coverage and analyses of political and social issues across the Middle East, including Egypt, the Gulf states, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Yemen and beyond.
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The investigation into the killing of Hind Rajab and paramedics in Gaza launched by the Israeli army came as a “surprise” in the country, “because so much time has passed” since the events took place, FRANCE 24 correspondent Noga Tarnopolsky said. “The timing is extremely late.” But Tarnopolsky said “the fact that these two very renown cases are being referred to criminal investigation is already…
The Israeli military on Wednesday admitted its troops fired on a car carrying five-year-old Hind Rajab in Gaza in 2024, saying it had ordered a criminal investigation into the killing which drew international outrage. The military also published reviews into four other high-profile incidents in Gaza, saying it was launching a criminal probe into the 2025 killing of 15 Palestinian medics and…
Israel’s defence minister on Thursday said Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was “dragging Turkey into dangerous adventures in Syria”, after the Israeli military bombed an air base in Syria earlier this week. Netanyahu previously claimed Turkey was looking to establish military presence in Syria. Follow our live blog for the latest updates.
Annette Young is pleased to welcome Joost Hiltermann, Special Adviser for MENA and training for the International Crisis Group. He sees the Palestinian Authority’s financial crisis not as an approaching emergency, but as an ongoing process of institutional and economic erosion. The PA has already lost much of its capacity to provide essential services, pay public-sector salaries in full, maintain…
The Israeli military will open internal criminal investigations into its troops' 2024 killing of 5-year-old Palestinian girl Hind Rajab alongside six of her relatives, as well as the killings of 15 medics and humanitarian workers in 2025, it announced Wednesday. Israeli rights groups have warned that such investigations rarely lead to convictions.
A Palestinian-American has raised the US flag on his home besieged by Israeli settlers, as the United States renewed criticism of the siege that has generated condemnation around the world.
Israel’s military said Wednesday it would launch criminal investigations into two high-profile attacks on Palestinians during the war in Gaza, including the killings of 5-year-old Hind Rajab and her family in January 2024 and of 15 Palestinian paramedics in March 2025. Follow our live blog for all the latest updates.
US President Donald Trump said Tuesday no talks with Iran were planned and insisted the Strait of Hormuz remained open despite reduced shipping traffic. Oman and Iran neared a deal on the waterway as a projectile struck a vessel, while the UAE said two Iranian ballistic missiles landed in or near its waters.
UN nuclear watchdog head Rafael Mariano Grossi said Tuesday that his agency had found several "tons of nuclear materials" at a previously undeclared site dating from the rule of Syria's previous authorities. Syria's Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani said the material was not dangerous and that Damascus had the right to keep and use it for peaceful purposes.
Christian leaders and religious figures in the West Bank say difficult living conditions are pushing an increasing number of Christian families to leave their homes. The reality is threatening the historic presence of Christians in Palestinian territories. France 24's correspondent Majed Saeed reports.
In the occupied West Bank, the Palestinian village of Qusra remains under siege by extremist Israeli settlers. They are trying to force families off their land through tactics including cutting off access to food and water. A Palestinian-American who owns a house in the village has returned to Qusra from Ohio. Louai Abo Ridi says he fears for safety amid reports of the Israeli army turning a blind…
As the 60-day ceasefire deadline passes, US President Donald Trump is lashing out at an American ally trying to mediate negotiations between the US and Iran. Using an expletive, Trump threatened to bomb Oman if it "gets in the way." This isn’t the first time Trump has threatened Oman. Details by Monte Francis.
Mideast negotiator and Trump son-in-law Jared Kushner was meeting Monday with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, days after the premier rejected the US-backed road map to move the ceasefire deal forward in Gaza. The meeting follows Kushner's meeting with Hamas’ leader in Egypt, as the US presses for Israel’s approval of the road map. Story by Ellen Gainsford.
Wassim al-Assad, a cousin of overthrown long-time Syrian ruler Bashar al-Assad, was convicted of multiple murders and murder accompanied by torture and brutality. A Damascus court issued a death sentence on Tuesday.
Israel said it had struck an airfield in the northwestern province of Idlib on Tuesday because of threats to its security after Syria allowed Turkish troops to amass near the airbase close to Aleppo. Earlier, Washington called the strikes an "unecessary escalation". Read our blog to see how the day's events unfolded.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US envoy Jared Kushner agreed Monday that an American general would oversee the disarmament of Hamas, an Israeli official said, as Netanyahu insisted Israel would not withdraw from Gaza until the group gives up its weapons.The understanding comes as President Donald Trump’s administration seeks to revive its Gaza peace plan amid tensions with…
The Trump administration is stepping up diplomatic efforts to secure a peace plan for Gaza. US envoy Jared Kushner is set to meet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a bid to persuade him to back the proposal. With Netanyahu facing major political and personal stakes ahead of a possible re-election, FRANCE 24’s Philip Turle examines whether the meeting could bring a breakthrough in Gaza…
The UN delivered aid to Qusra in the West Bank after Israeli settlers cut off several Palestinian families from food, water and electricity. Residents say they have faced months of harassment and attacks, while rights groups accuse settlers of trying to force Palestinians from the area. Critics warn that Israel’s plan to transfer law enforcement powers in the West Bank could further entrench…
US envoy Jared Kushner is due to meet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday after holding talks with Hamas leaders in Egypt aimed at reviving a US-backed Gaza peace plan that Israel has so far rejected. Noga Tarnopolsky, FRANCE 24's correspondent in Israel, has more on the stakes related to this visit.
US President Donald Trump on Monday threatened to bomb Oman if it "gets in the way" of a deal over shipping in the Strait of Hormuz. His threat came after the prime minister's office in Iraqi Kurdistan was targeted by two Iranian drones overnight, authorities said Monday. Follow our liveblog for all the latest updates.
The Iranian military announced on Sunday it would be offering a $30,000 reward for the killing or capturing of US soldiers, with the bounty doubled if conducted by a woman. There have been no known deployments of US ground troops in Iran during the war except for a rescue mission carried out in April.
A week after Israeli settlers began besieging Palestinian homes in the West Bank village of Qusra, human rights activist Netanael Hanadaro joined FRANCE 24 to recount what he witnessed there. He said he and other NGO members reached the isolated homes on foot and left food outside for the trapped residents, with the Israeli army saying it would deliver the supplies. Hanadaro described an…
Israel killed 11 people in strikes on southern Lebanon on Saturday, in what has been described as the biggest threat to the peace talks since the June agreement. Ziad Majed, Professor of Middle East Studies at the American University of Paris, spoke to FRANCE 24 about the potential impact of the strikes on the negotiations underway in Rome, the role of the United States, and Israel's policy…
A Hamas delegation held talks with Egyptian intelligence chief Hassan Rashad in Egypt on Sunday, followed by talks with US envoy Jared Kushner. Kushner had met shortly before with President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi in an effort to break the deadlock over the US-brockered peace plan for Gaza.
Israeli strikes in southern Lebanon have killed at least 11 people, in what local authorities describe as the largest escalation since the June agreement. Speaking to FRANCE 24, Pierre Catoire, an emergency doctor working in the area, described a deteriorating humanitarian situation, saying some doctors lost their homes in Saturday’s strikes and healthcare workers are increasingly worried that…
Several Palestinian homes in the West Bank village of Qusra have been under siege for a week, with families trapped inside as supplies dwindle and water and electricity are cut off. Settlers have continued their attacks openly, despite the presence of Israeli soldiers and growing international pressure on Israel.
Israeli airstrikes on southern Lebanon killed at least 11 people Saturday, some of the deadliest since deals in June eased hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah. Israel's military said the strikes were in retaliation for an attack by Hezbollah on its troops in the country's south and the Iran-backed militant group said that the attacks would be "met with what they deserve".
Overnight Israeli strikes in southern Lebanon killed at least seven people in one village, in the deadliest escalation since the lull in fighting began two months ago. FRANCE 24 correspondent Renée Davis, reporting from Beirut, says the strikes mark a significant escalation despite the so-called truce, and also gives us an update on ongoing negotiations with Israel.
The United States is urging Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to publicly condemn Israeli settlers who have besieged Palestinian homes in Qusra, while France is calling for their arrest and prosecution. As residents remain cut off from food and other supplies, settler violence is putting further political pressure on Netanyahu ahead of Israel’s election.
Palestinian residents of three houses in Qusra near Nablus in the occupied West Bank say they have been effectively cut off from food and other supplies since the siege by Israeli settlers began on Sunday. But the Israeli military has not done anything to remove the settlers. "We are seeing the cracks of Israeli politics, including a paralysed prime minister’s inability to condemn basic filmed…
Israel wants "more serious" US-brokered talks with Lebanon, a spokesman for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Saturday. Earlier Hezbollah said that Israeli attacks on Lebanon would be met with an "appropriate" response and urged Lebanese authorities to halt "humiliating" negotiations with Israel after strikes on the country's south killed at least 11 people. Read about the day’s events as…
US President Donald Trump on Friday dismissed concerns about the toll on sailors aboard the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln, who have endured a record deployment of almost nine months, saying that the deployment had been “not nearly long enough”. The Lincoln has been supporting the US war against Iran, and reports have emerged of sailors struggling with mental health issues.
For nearly a week, Israeli settlers have been surrounding homes in the West bank village of Qusra in a coordinated offensive to force Palestinian residents from their homes in order to seize new land.
Israeli settlers are carrying out a campaign of violence and intimidation against the Palestinian village of Qusra in the occupied West Bank, where families have had their electricity and water supplies cut off, in what residents say is an attempt to force them from their homes. France 24 Senior Reporter Catherine Norris Trent recalls reporting from Qusra in 2023, when villagers told her that…
Israeli settlers are conducting a campaign of violence and intimidation against the Palestinian village of Qusra in the occupied West Bank. Families have had their electricity and water supplies cut off, in what residents say is an attempt to force them from their homes. According to France 24 correspondent Noga Tarnopolsky, Israel’s Defence Minister is using settler violence for political…
Israeli settlers have taken control of a freshwater spring that Palestinian farmers in the occupied West Bank have relied on for generations, diverting its water to create a pool at an archaeological site advertised as a tourist attraction and leaving crops to wither. It is estimated that Israeli settlers have now seized control of 95 percent of the northern Jordan Valley's springs, pushing…
Israeli settlers are conducting a campaign of violence and intimidation against the Palestinian village of Qusra in the occupied West Bank. Families have had their electricity and water supplies cut off in what residents say is an attempt to force them from their homes. The IDF has nominally intervened and condemned the violence, but has failed to deter the settlers, who Palestinians say have long…
Reports of declining mental health and supply issues have been flagged by US sailors aboard the aircraft carrier USS Lincoln deployed to the Middle East, with some attempting to throw themselves into the sea. The ship has so far spent a record 260 uninterrupted days at sea as it supports the war in Iran, and is expected to be replaced by the Pacific-based USS George Washington en route to the…
Israel's Defence Minister Israel Katz called Friday for the police to take over law enforcement in the occupied West Bank from the military. Settlers there have been attempting to force Palestinian residents from their homes for nearly a week, intensifying efforts to seize more land. Read about the day’s events as they unfolded on our liveblog.
Amid the rubble and debris of Gaza's bombed-out landscape, beekeepers are rebuilding their livelihoods, handling swarms and collecting what little honey they can from the colonies that survived the war. Ibrahim al-Dabbeh, head of the Cooperative Association of Beekeepers in the Gaza Strip says "the war destroyed more than 95% of the bee sector". Rebuilding these hives means trying to revive an…
A spokesman for Iran's military command on Thursday called out US President Donald Trump's "lies and fabrications" after he claimed on social media that Washington had "total control over the Strait of Hormuz". Iran has maintained control of the Strait, a vital energy conduit, since the outbreak of the war on February 28.
Syria's economic capital Aleppo was left largely in ruins by the fighting that raged there between regime and rebel forces from 2012 to 2016. A 2023 earthquake also caused severe damage to the old city. But reconstruction is now well underway, in particular of Aleppo's treasured historic monuments.
US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee on Thursday denounced a siege by Israeli settlers against Palestinians in the West Bank village of Qusra as a "horrific act of terror". Huckabee, an evangelical Christian pastor who in the past has embraced Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, said the Israeli army intervened on Wednesday after a US request, but the soldiers failed to remove the…
Oman’s Environment Authority said Wednesday that oil leaking from a tanker grounded off the country’s coast had reached mainland beaches. The spill threatened marine habitats and a nearby protected area as strong winds and monsoon currents spread the oil, raising fears it could reach other islands.
