Israel considers costs of escalation in Gaza

Gaza residents bear the costs of war; Israel weighs its option with Hamas; Al-Monitor interviews Iraqi political leaders; the forgotten war in Syria.

Palestine

Global jihad benefits from Gaza crisis

As Arab states do little to intervene in Gaza, militant jihadism continues to spread throughout the region.

Palestine

Iraqi minorities victim of sectarian conflict

The minorities in Iraq are subject to religious restrictions in the areas controlled by the Islamic State, which might lead to their extinction.

Iraq

Barzani: Iraqi Kurds keeping their options open

In an interview with Al-Monitor, President of the Iraqi Kurdistan Region Massoud Barzani speaks about the current crisis and doesn’t rule out the right to self-determination if unification efforts fail.

Iraq

US, Iran security cooperation could help save Iraq

Tehran and Washington must act together to manage the crisis in Iraq before the volatile divide between Shiites and Sunnis becomes an all-out sectarian war and destabilizes the region.

Iraq

Islamic State moves to capture another Turkish border crossing

The Islamic State is attacking Kobani canton, or Ain al-Arab, in an attempt to encircle the Kurdish autonomous region in Syria and capture a third crossing to Turkey.

Iraq

Turkey faces threat from returning jihadists

Having lost the proxy war it waged against Syria, Turkey now faces a potential threat to its own peace and stability by Turkish jihadists returning from Syria.

Iraq

Fallujah key to defeating Islamic State

The residents of Fallujah are not pledging allegiance to Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi but could be a part of the resistance to IS.

Iraq

Push for Kurdish independence divides Iraqi Kurds

Kurdistan Regional Government President Massoud Barzani's call for independence from Iraq has drawn criticism from Iraqi Kurdish politicians who fear a Kurdish state would become a Turkish vassal state.

Iraq

Lebanon: The summer when everything went wrong

Political, constitutional, livelihood and weather problems are happening simultaneously in Lebanon.

Iraq

Sistani signals opposition to renewing Maliki’s term

Iraqi Shiite cleric Ali al-Sistani has drawn red lines about the candidates for the premiership and demanded that a government quickly be formed, before the scheduled date next month.

Iraq

Trade, security concerns bring Turkey, Israel closer

Turkish-Israeli relations are still far from normalized, but developments in the region are converging the two countries' security and economic interests.

Palestine