Armed Militias and Extremist Groups

Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shibani meets with his Turkish counterpart, Hakan Fidan, in Ankara, Aug. 6, 2026.

Syria's Shibani updates Turkey on Kurds' integration, slams Israel during Ankara visit

The visit highlighted Ankara's growing influence in post-Assad Syria, with the two neighbors expanding strategic coordination on security and regional affairs.

Omar AL-QATTAA / AFP via Getty Images

Analysis

Netanyahu’s Gaza double game: Back Trump, reassure Israel’s right

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is trying to both give the impression that Israel retains total freedom of action in Gaza while allowing the Board of Peace to move ahead with President Donald Trump’s peace plan.

In Tel Aviv, reporting on national security, Israeli politics, defense

Tiziana FABI / AFP via Getty Images

What to know about Lebanon-Israel 7th round of talks held in Rome

The US, Israel and Lebanon have sent expanded delegations to the talks, set to continue for three days and expected to focus on security arrangements, border issues and reconstruction.

Palestinian Hamas militants arrive to secure the area as Egyptian workers accompanied by members of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), search for the last two remaining bodies of hostages -an Israeli soldier and a Thai national- from under the rubble of the Jabalia refugee camp, in the northern of Gaza Strip on Dec. 1, 2025.

Analysis

How Hamas disarmament deal may test Iran's regional strategy

A possible Hamas decision to disarm would represent more than a Gaza development, testing Iran's decades-old strategy of projecting power through regional allies.

A correspondent in Tehran

By A correspondent in Tehran

In Tehran, reporting on politics

Latest News

Analysis

Renewed Iraq attacks test Zaidi’s push to disarm Iran-backed militias

Mourners carry one of the bodies of members of Iraq's Hashed al-Shaabi, or Popular Mobilisation Forces (PMF) who were killed earlier in Diyala in central Iraq by US-Saudi strikes, during the funeral in Baghdad on July 29, 2026. The US-Saudi strikes killed at least 20 militants, including Iranians, according to the Hashed al-Shaabi. The US and Saudi Arabia said the strikes were in response to attacks on US forces and Saudi oil facilities. (Photo by murtadha ridha / AFP via Getty Images) /

Mustafa Salim

By Mustafa Salim

Turkey, Pakistan among 14 countries backing Saudi Arabia's anti-Houthi Red Sea alliance

A Saudi navy ship is pictured docked at King Faisal navy base in Jeddah before the departure of a team to Port Sudan to help with the evacuation efforts of people fleeing Sudan, on April 29, 2023.

China cuts deal with Houthis, adjusts for long US war with Iran

This aerial photo shows a tanker unloading imported crude oil at a terminal port in Qingdao, in China's eastern Shandong province on June 25, 2026. (Photo by CN-STR / AFP via Getty Images) / China OUT

Explainer

Tankers keep sailing Red Sea despite Houthi threats as Saudi oil lifeline faces strains

A commercial vessel passes through an international shipping lane off Yemen's Hanish Island in the Red Sea on July 27, 2026.

A man inspects the destroyed building of Palestinian journalist Adel Zorob, who was killed overnight in an Israeli bombardment, in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on Dec. 19, 2023, amid continuing battles between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas militant group.

Day 94 of Hamas-Israel war blog: Monday, Jan. 8

The funeral of Hamza Wael Dahdouh, a journalist with the Al Jazeera television network, who was killed in a reported Israeli air strike in Rafah in the Gaza Strip on January 7, 2024

Day 93 of Hamas-Israel war blog: Sunday, Jan. 7

Wael and Hamza Al-Dahdouh and

Day 92 of Hamas-Israel war blog: Saturday, Jan. 6

A picture depicting Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of the Lebanese Shiite movement Hezbollah, hangs on a building near the site of a drone strike attributed to Israel targeting Hamas deputy leader Saleh al-Aruri in the southern suburb of Beirut on Jan. 3, 2024.

Day 91 of Hamas-Israel war blog: Friday, Jan. 5

This picture shows people and Iranian emergency personnel at the site where two explosions in quick succession struck a crowd marking the anniversary of the 2020 killing of Guards general Qasem Soleimani, near the Saheb al-Zaman Mosque in the southern Iranian city of Kerman on Jan. 3, 2024.

ISIS claims responsibility for twin Iran blasts that left nearly 100 dead

Two Islamic State operatives were responsible for the attacks, according to the group.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu meets with US envoy Amos Hochstein, Tel Aviv, Israel, Jan. 4, 2024.

Day 90 of Hamas-Israel war blog: Thursday, Jan. 4

People watch the televised speech of Lebanon's Hezbollah chief Hasan Nasrallah to mark the anniversary of the killing of slain top Iranian commander Qasem Soleimani, in a Beirut's southern suburb on January 3, 2024. Twin bomb blasts killed at least 103 people in Iran, ripping through a crowd commemorating Revolutionary Guards general Qasem Soleimani four years after his death in a US strike, state media reported. (Photo by ANWAR AMRO / AFP) (Photo by ANWAR AMRO/AFP via Getty Images)

Germany, Canada urge citizens to leave Lebanon as Hezbollah vows retaliation

Nasrallah again opted to avoid announcing a major escalation with Israel in his speech, but tensions are increasing following the likely Israeli strike that killed a Hamas leader in Beirut.

People watch the televised speech of Lebanon's Hezbollah chief Hasan Nasrallah, in southern Beirut on January 3, 2024

Day 89 of Hamas-Israel war blog: Wednesday, Jan. 3

Senior Fatah official Jibril Rajoub, in the West Bank city of Ramallah, attends by video conference a meeting with deputy Hamas chief Saleh Arouri (on screen from Beirut) discussing Israel's plan to annex parts of the Israeli-occupied West Bank, on July 2, 2020. (Photo by ABBAS MOMANI / AFP) (Photo by ABBAS MOMANI/AFP via Getty Images)

Analysis

Who is Saleh al-Arouri, top Hamas official killed in Beirut?

Saleh al-Arouri played a large political and military role in Hamas, and his death may elicit a strong response from Hezbollah.

Adam Lucente

By Adam Lucente

In New York City, reporting on regional news, militancy, climate change

An image of the aftermath of the explosion in southern Beirut on Jan. 2, 2023.

Top Hamas official Saleh al-Arouri killed in Beirut as Lebanon-Israel tension soars

Videos of the aftermath of the reported drone strike showed a large impact on cars and residential buildings as the Israel-Lebanon border heats up.

Soldiers of the Lebanese Army near the damaged building that was allegedly targeted by an Israeli drone strike on Jan. 2, 2024 in Dahiyeh, a suburb of Beirut, Lebanon.

Day 88 of Hamas-Israel war blog: Tuesday, Jan. 2

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (C) chairs a Cabinet meeting at the Kirya, which houses the Israeli Ministry of Defence, in Tel Aviv on December 31, 2023. Netanyahu said Israel displayed unparalleled "morality" in the Gaza war and rejected South Africa's charge that it was committing "genocidal" acts in the Palestinian territory

Day 87 of Hamas-Israel war blog: Monday, Jan. 1