Civil Society

SEBASTIEN BOZON/AFP via Getty Images

EU Commission chief seeks sanctions, partial trade freeze on Israel: What to know

The proposal comes in response to Israel’s actions in Gaza, but divisions among the EU’s 27 member states make it uncertain whether the measures will be adopted.

Demonstrators gather during an anti-government protest calling for action to secure the release of Israeli hostages held captive in the Gaza Strip.

Israeli universities, tech firms, cities to join strike over Netanyahu’s Gaza takeover plan

An increasing number of institutions and businesses are allowing their employees to join the general strike planned for Sunday, in protest of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s plan to take control of Gaza City.

Flags of Jordan and the Muslim Brotherhood are waved with other protest signs denouncing the US-led Middle East economic conference in Bahrain, in the Jordanian capital, Amman, on June 21, 2019.

Jordan summons suspects accused of holding Muslim Brotherhood assets: What to know

The Hashemite Kingdom has taken a number of legal actions against the Islamist organization since banning them in April.

Egyptian blogger and activist Alaa Abdel-Fattah exits the police headquarters in Cairo following his release on December 25, 2011.

What to make of Egypt's removal of Alaa Abdel-Fattah from terror list

An Egyptian court has removed a prominent jailed activist from the country's terrorism list amid scrutiny over Egypt’s human rights record under President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi.

Latest News

Turkey's opposition elects acting mayor as Imamoglu remains detained, protests persist

Newly elected interim mayor of Istanbul, Nuri Aslan of CHP, waits to speak to the media on March 26, 2025, in Istanbul, Turkey.

Canceled Syrian justice workshop sparks repression fears: What to know

SHADI AL-DUBAISI/AFP via Getty Images

Feature

Christians in Syria hopeful but wary of Sharaa’s intentions

church

Elizabeth Hagedorn

By Elizabeth Hagedorn

In Washington, DC, reporting on diplomacy, regional politics, human rights

After raid, Israel puts Jerusalem bookshop owners under house arrest: What to know

Educational Bookshop

A voter holds his proof of Kuwaiti citizenship upon arriving at a polling station during parliamentary elections in Kuwait City on June 6, 2023.

Analysis

Kuwait's citizenship law changes reflect growing restrictions under new emir

Kuwait, having one of the more rentier economies, is seeing citizenship laws tightened and dissent quieted under the regime of its new emir.

Jennifer Gnana

By Jennifer Gnana

In Dubai, reporting on Gulf energy policy and politics

Israelis sit in a coffee shop in the Israeli coastal city of Netanya, on April 14, 2024, one day after Iran launched its first-ever direct attack on Israeli territory.

Analysis

Post Oct. 7 Israel: Divided, veering right and embracing Jewish identity

A divided, polarized and more right-wing-than-ever Israeli Jewish society marks the first anniversary of the Oct. 7 Hamas massacre.

Mazal Mualem

By Mazal Mualem

In Tel Aviv, reporting on politics

Israeli border guards stand alert as anti-government demonstrators rally with national and pride rainbow flags at Ben Gurion Airport, near Lod, during a protest hours after parliament adopted a key clause of the government's judicial overhaul package at the first reading, July 11, 2023.

Analysis

How far will Israel's justice minister go in reviving polarizing judicial overhaul?

Justice Minister Yariv Levin is gearing up for another attempt to legislate the government's controversial judicial overhaul plan suspended after the Oct. 7 attack.

Mazal Mualem

By Mazal Mualem

In Tel Aviv, reporting on politics

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi and his US counterpart Joe Biden hold a meeting on the sidelines of the COP27 summit, in Egypt's Red Sea resort city of Sharm el-Sheikh, on Nov. 11, 2022.

In first under Biden, Egypt to receive full military aid tied to human rights

For each of the last three years, the administration withheld a portion of Egypt’s military assistance over continued human rights abuses.

OREN ZIV/AFP via Getty Images

Analysis

Allegations of prisoner abuse expose deep rifts in Israeli military

Israel’s military has long been called the army of the people, but its unity is being increasingly destabilized as the political rift expands.

Mazal Mualem

By Mazal Mualem

In Tel Aviv, reporting on politics

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (R) shakes hands with French President Emmanuel Macron (L) after a joint press conference in Jerusalem, Oct. 24, 2023.

Analysis

Israeli minister's support for Le Pen causing tensions in France-Israel ties

Reports that French President Emmanuel Macron confronted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about statements championing the far-right's Marine Le Pen signal the dangers of the Israeli government siding with European populists.

Rina Bassist

By Rina Bassist

In Paris, reporting on Israeli politics and European affairs

Israeli anti-government protesters prepare to release yellow balloons during a demonstration demanding action to release the hostages taken captive by Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip in the Oct. 7 attacks, central Tel Aviv, July 6, 2024.

Analysis

Why is Israel's anti-government protest movement struggling to gain steam?

Hundreds of thousands of people come out to support the families of the hostages in their call for a deal to release them, but fewer join rallies calling for the Netanyahu government to resign over the failures of Oct. 7.

Mazal Mualem

By Mazal Mualem

In Tel Aviv, reporting on politics

A visitor looks at portraits of late Franco-Lebanese film director Maroun Baghdadi and pictures from his movies at the venue of an exhibition dedicated to his memory in Beirut on December 12, 2023, as Lebanon commemorates the 30th annivesary of his death in an accident at the age of 43. (Photo by ANWAR AMRO / AFP) (Photo by ANWAR AMRO/AFP via Getty Images)

Culture

Lebanon's resistance through culture: Return of Beirut’s Metropolis Cinema

As Beirut continues to navigate its path toward recovery, Metropolis Cinema stands as a symbol of the enduring power of art and culture to resist, unite and inspire.

AFP via Getty Images

Israel ramps up attacks on northern Gaza as 60,000 flee Rafah

As the Israeli military expanded its operation in Rafah, the government faced strident criticism over its failures on and since Oct. 7 at Memorial Day observances around the country.

ZAIN JAAFAR/AFP via Getty Images

US, EU slap sanctions on Israeli Jewish supremacist, extremist settler groups

The European Union and the United States have published new lists of radical Israeli individuals and groups to be sanctioned.

Amir Levy/Getty Images

Israel’s Shin Bet warns violent Jerusalem protests could lead to 'dangerous' escalation

Rallies for the release of the hostages and calls for the resignation of the government are ramping up in Israel, where some desperate protesters have resorted to violence.

Ultra Orthodox Jewish youths block a road in Bnei Brak as they protest against their conscription into the Israeli armed forces, on April 1, 2024.

Analysis

Row in Israel over ultra-Orthodox draft threatens Netanyahu’s government

Ultra-Orthodox leaders are threatening to topple the government should the IDF start recruiting yeshiva students to serve in the army.

Rina Bassist

By Rina Bassist

In Paris, reporting on Israeli politics and European affairs