Middle East Archives

17Mar

By Patti MohrNo Comments

Diplomacy and International Law, Global Economics, Middle East, Types of News: Brief

War Delays U.S.-China Summit

March 17, 2026—A high-profile meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping is postponed. The original date for the meeting was for March 31-April 2. Neither country issued new dates for the meeting through their spokespersons. A U.S. president has not visited China since November 2017 during Trump’s first term. Former President Joe Biden visited China while serving as vice president in 2011 and 2013, but not during his presidency. The two countries—the largest economies in the world—reached a truce in October 2025, agreeing to a one-year reduction in U.S. tariffs, a suspension of China’s restrictions on rare-earth exports, controls on fentanyl production, and a promise by China to buy U.S. agricultural products, including soybeans. Geopolitics Disru...

UN Security Council Condemns Iran’s Strikes on Gulf States

11Mar

By No Comments

Diplomacy and International Law, Middle East, Organizations, IMF, WTO, G7, UN Security Council

UN Security Council Condemns Iran’s Strikes on Gulf States

UNSC Rejected Russia's Draft Resolution Calling on 'All Parties' to Stop Military Activities March 11, 2026—The UN Security Council passed a resolution on March 11 condemning retaliatory attacks by Iran against the Gulf region, specifically Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Jordan. Bahrain offered the resolution on behalf of the Gulf Cooperation Council. The council approved it on a 13-0-2 vote, with China and Russia obstaining. The resolution, S. Res. 2817, affirmed the right of “individual or collective self-defense” and deplored “the deliberate targeting of civilians and civilian objects by the Islamic Republic of Iran, including airports, energy installations, objects necessary for food production and distribution, and critical civilian i...

US, Israel’s Illegal ‘War of Choice’ Against Iran

3Mar

By Patti MohrNo Comments

Geopolitics, Middle East, Types of News: Analysis

US, Israel’s Illegal ‘War of Choice’ Against Iran

March 3, 2026—In violation of international law, the United States and Israel started a war against Iran in the early hours of Saturday, February 28. The strikes targeted the compound of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, killing him and members of his family, air defense capabilities, missile sites, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), and an elementary school for girls. The Pentagon calls the attack, “Operation Epic Fury." Iran responded with missiles and drones targeting U.S. bases, Israel, and strategic sites throughout the region. Across the media spectrum, editorial boards, observers and others have called the actions by the United States and Israel as “a war of choice.” Death Toll To date as of March 3, the death toll includes at least 787 people in I...

Arab Group Condemns Israel’s Illegal Annexation Plans

10Feb

By Patti MohrNo Comments

Diplomacy and International Law, Legal Battles, International Law, Justice, Middle East, Types of News: Brief, Types of News: Videos

Arab Group Condemns Israel’s Illegal Annexation Plans

Israeli Settlers and Military Committed a Thousand Crimes in a Week, Report Finds February 10, 2026—The Arab Group, a regional coalition of 22 member states, called on the international community to condemn the Israeli government’s plans to annex the occupied West Bank—a key part of the territory meant for a Palestinian state. Led by Riyad Mansour, Palestine’s representative to the United Nations, the group of ambassadors from Arabs states said it is building diplomatic support to prompt the UN Security Council—the principal body for resolving international disputes—to act. “We want the Security Council to shoulder its responsibility and show resolve and determination,” Mansour said. “We stand for defending international law. We stand for justice. We stand for the rights of the P...

Hopes, Fears As Rafah Border Reopens After Long Delay

2Feb

By Patti MohrNo Comments

Foreign Aid, International Development, Middle East, Types of News: Brief

Hopes, Fears As Rafah Border Reopens After Long Delay

Israel's Ban on 37 Humanitarian Aid Group Goes Into Effect March 1 Rafah border crossing reopens under heavy restrictions. February 2, 2026—The Gaza-Egypt border reopened today after a year of being closed by the Israeli government. Although strict controls remain in place, the Rafah border crossing is open to foot traffic. The United Nations reported that Israel will allow 50 Palestinians to enter and exit Gaza each day, but only on foot. Furthermore, Egypt and the European Union will be involved in supervising the crossing. Observers have mixed reactions about what it means. Ali Shaath, a technocrat appointed as chair of the Palestinian National Committee for the Administration of Gaza, called it a “window of hope.” However, Israeli airstrikes that killed 30 people in a displac...

ICJ: Israel Must Allow Humanitarian Aid to Gaza Through UN Agencies

22Oct

By Patti MohrNo Comments

Legal Battles, International Law, Justice, Middle East, Organizations, IMF, WTO, G7, UN Security Council, Types of News: Brief

ICJ: Israel Must Allow Humanitarian Aid to Gaza Through UN Agencies

Judgment Strikes Blow to Israeli Laws Against UNRWA October 22, 2025—The International Court of Justice, the highest judicial body of the United Nations, ruled today that Israel is obligated as the occupying power to allow humanitarian aid to the people in the Gaza Strip. Furthermore, the court ordered Israel 1.) to respect the prohibition on the forcible transfer of a population and 2.) allow the International Committee of the Red Cross to visit detainees. Today’s decision comes at the request of the UN General Assembly, specifically after Israel’s legislature voted to block UNRWA, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, from work. The ICJ is considering three separate cases relating to Israel-Palestine. Today’s 71-page Advisory Opinio...

17Oct

By Patti MohrNo Comments

Diplomacy and International Law, Geopolitics, Middle East, Types of News: Brief

Trump Negotiates US-Saudi Defense Deal

Middle East Moves Closer to Regional Military and Security Integration October 17, 2025—President Donald Trump is in talks with Saudi Arabia over a defense deal involving military and intelligence cooperation, the Financial Times reported today. The newspaper reported that a White House aide suggests the two leaders could sign something when Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman visits Washington next month. Regional Integration The two countries have long discussed security deals, many of which are related to the Abraham Accords. Details of such discussions are often muted and known to even officials serving on the House and Senate Foreign Policy Committees. On September 29, Trump announced via executive order the United States will provide NATO-life security guarantees for ...

Israel Spending Millions on U.S. Influence Campaign Targeting Christians

15Oct

By Patti MohrNo Comments

Corruption, Bribes, Illicit Finance & Money Laundering, Middle East, Types of News: Analysis, United States

Israel Spending Millions on U.S. Influence Campaign Targeting Christians

PR Campaign Plans to Bring the 10/7 Experience to Mega Churches and College Campuses October 15, 2025—The Israeli government is investing millions of dollars in an influence campaign targeting American Christians. The purpose, according to new filing reports in the Justice Department’s FARA system, is to encourage Christians in the United States to have a favorable view of the Israeli nation-state, question the longstanding U.S. policy of a two-state solution, and associate Palestinians with Hamas and extremism. The story is part of a larger PR blitz by the Israeli Foreign Ministry with an annual budget of $150 million, the Times of Israel reported. It is separate than a $1.5 million a month campaign called the Esther Project run by former Trump campaign strategist Brad Parscale thro...

Netanyahu Ally Aims to Delay Corruption Trial Due to ‘War’

15Oct

By Patti MohrNo Comments

Corruption, Bribes, Illicit Finance & Money Laundering, Domestic Politics, Middle East, Types of News: Brief

Netanyahu Ally Aims to Delay Corruption Trial Due to ‘War’

Proposal Creates Perverse Incentive to Restart Gaza War October 15, 2025—As Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu testified today in court over longstanding corruption charges, a key political ally advanced plans to tie an exemption from that trial to wartime. It comes just days after U.S. President Donald Trump announced that a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war signified a “historic dawn of a new Middle East.” Netanyahu Ally: No Trial During War Yariv Levin is not just the Justice Minister, he is also the deputy prime minister, minister of the Interior, and minister of Religious Services. He’s also a key Netanyahu ally who, in January 2023, led the judicial overhaul plan to restrict the authority of the Supreme Court. It was a highly controversial reform that cri...

4Sep

By Ali AltawilNo Comments

Middle East, WAR: Dispatches & Dialogue

Poem: Gaza, Once a City

Gaza city, like a flower born of ashes that taught us how to love life. By Ali Altawil, M.D. There was a small homeland,gazing out over the seaas if guarding a dream,Its name was Gaza…Not just a city,but the heartbeat of a soulthat never knew surrender,A flower born of ashes,That taught us how to love life,Even as the shadow of deathhovered in its sky each evening.Gaza…Her simplicity shone brighter than any grandeur,And her people wove love from pain,They smiled through wounds,And dreamed,for dreaming ran in their veins like faith and blood.Gaza…She loved life…If not for herself,Then for her children,Those who knew nothing but how to adore her,For she was their mother, their child, their friend,The story we tell when time grows heavy,And we need a lesson in resilience. Gaza…The me...