Human rights

Amal Khalil, a veteran correspondent for the daily newspaper Al-Akhbar, in the southern Lebanese border village of Jebbayn in 2024.

Lebanon bids farewell to Amal Khalil, journalist killed by Israel: What to know

Khalil's death in a targeted strike on a house where she and a colleague took cover sparked widespread condemnation by Lebanese officials and international media groups.

Mahdi Farid, who was convicted of espionage for Israel’s Mossad, was executed after his death sentence was upheld by Iran’s Supreme Court, Tehran, Iran, April 22, 2026.

Iran executes 14th person since war over alleged Mossad ties: What to know

Iran has carried out multiple executions since the outbreak of the war with the United States and Israel, as it intensifies a crackdown on individuals accused of spying for Israel.

Olmert

Interview

Olmert: Only Israel-Lebanon deal can curb Hezbollah, occupation 'unviable'

Former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert told Al-Monitor that Israel will only be able to defang Hezbollah if it reaches an agreement with the Lebanese government.

MOJAHID NAW/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images

'Apartheid': Arab countries including UAE, Jordan decry new Israeli law

A group of foreign ministers struck out at a new Israeli law requiring the death penalty for Palestinians convicted of terrorism in military courts.

Latest News

Amid chatter of local uprisings, eyes turn to Iran's minorities: What to know

Osama Al Maqdoni / Middle East Images / AFP via Getty Images

'No meaningful protection': Israel’s new Gaza aid rules raise data, security risks

People walk through a heavily damaged street in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, on Oct. 12, 2025.

UN points to 'genocidal path' in RSF assault on Sudan’s El-Fasher

A displaced Sudanese woman who left El-Fasher after its fall with others, walks amid the remains of a fire that broke out at a camp in Tawila on Feb. 11, 2026.

Iran fires TV director over 'Death to Khamenei' blunder: What to know

TOPSHOT - An Iranian crosses a street next to a billboard bearing the portrait of Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and a quote reads in Persian 'Sing Oh Iran' at the Enqelab Square in Tehran on July, 9, 2025. (Photo by AFP) (Photo by -/AFP via Getty Images)

Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images for Freedom House

MidEast freedom rankings: Syria worst, Tunisia in decline, says Freedom House

Syria remains to be the least and Israel the best performing country when it comes civil and political freedoms while the biggest one-year decline has been observed in Tunisia.

Israeli forces disperse a protest against the government's controversial judicial reform bill in Tel Aviv on March 9, 2023. (Photo by JACK GUEZ/AFP via Getty Images

Protesters in Israel block roads, Haifa marine port on 'Day of Disruption'

Thousands of people are protesting against the government’s judicial overhaul plan, blocking highways, Haifa port and entrances to airport terminals.

Iranian Women in handmaiden costumes march along Whitehall as a peaceful protest for womens rights on International Womens Day on March 8, 2023 in London, England. Protests continue internationally in solidarity with Iranian women in their struggle for full gender equality and to have the freedom to choose how they want to dress and live their lives without fear, assault or intimidation. (Photo by Chris J Ratcliffe/Getty Images)

EU, UK sanction Iran, Taliban entities on International Women's Day

Marking International Women’s Day, the European Union and the British government each decided to sanction individuals and entities for violating human rights, particularly sexual and gender-based violence.

Iranian high school students sit for their university entrance examination in Tehran on June 25, 2009.

Protests across Iran as schoolgirl poisonings spread nationwide

The chain of suspected poisoning attacks on girls' schools continued unabated, prompting furious Iranians to chant against authorities who are scrambling for answers.

LOUAI BESHARA/AFP via Getty Images

US slaps visa sanction on Syrian military officer over Tadamon massacre

The State Department hit Amjad Yousef and his family with visa bans for his alleged involvement in the 2013 killing of 41 unarmed Syrian civilians.

Activists from of the Lebaanon’s LGBTQ community take part in a protest outside police station in Beirut on May 15, 2016, demanding the release of four transsexual women and calling for the abolishment of article 534 of the Lebanese Penal code, which prohibits having sexual relations that "contradict the laws of nature". (ANWAR AMRO/AFP via Getty Images)

Culture

Lebanon's LGBTQ community faces digital exploitation, blackmail

Lebanon's LGBTQ community is being targeted through social media platforms and dating apps, and the perpetrators are acting with impunity.

Germany's Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock (L) answers journalists' questions with Iceland's Foreign Minister Thordis Kolbrun Reykfjord Gylfadottir (R), during a special session of the UN Human Rights Council on the situation in Iran, at the United Nations, Geneva, Switzerland, Nov. 24, 2022.

Analysis

As Germany's relations sour with Iran, pressure grows on Berlin to do more

Activists in Germany are doubtful whether the expulsion of two Iranian diplomats will thwart the death sentence of German-Iranian national Jamshid Sharmahd.

Rina Bassist

By Rina Bassist

In Paris, reporting on Israeli politics and European affairs

Taiwanese navy launches a US-made Standard missile from a frigate during the annual Han Kuang Drill, on the sea near the Suao navy harbor in Yilan county on July 26, 2022. (Photo by Sam Yeh / AFP) (Photo by SAM YEH/AFP via Getty Images)

US bolsters human rights criteria for arms sales

The arms transfer policy takes into account how US weapons sales could be used to commit rights abuses.

Washington Pulse

Turkish soldiers stand next to a destroyed building in Hatay.

Turkish youth dies in police custody as impunity soars in wake of Turkey's killer quakes

Vigilantes and members of the Turkish gendarmerie are brutalizing some survivors in the provinces struck by the earthquakes in Syria and Turkey.

Iran street

EU slaps fifth wave of sanctions on Iran, targeting 32 individuals

The new list brings the total number of Iranian individuals under EU sanctions to 196 and the tally of sanctioned Iranian entities to 33.

Iraqi women's rights activists lift placards during a rally near the Supreme Judicial Council in Baghdad on Feb. 5.

Honor killings in Iraq rekindle efforts to criminalize domestic violence

There is once again outrage and calls for legal reforms in Iraq to protect women from being murdered at the hands of family members.

Madrid Mayor José Luis Martínez-Almeida.

Barcelona ends twin city agreement with Tel Aviv, citing Israeli 'apartheid'

Barcelona’s Mayor Ada Colau said that thousands of residents in her city signed a petition to sever ties with Tel Aviv so as to pressure Israel on Palestinian human rights.