Israel must stop ‘ethnic cleansing’ in Gaza, Jordan tells US

Jordanian foreign secretary warns ‘we stand at brink of regional war’ as he meets Antony Blinken in London

Jordan’s foreign minister has called for pressure on Israel to end what he called the “ethnic cleansing” in Gaza, as he met the US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, in London.

Blinken, who is still hoping Gaza peace talks can be revived, stopped over in the UK to brief leaders from Lebanon, the United Arab Emirates and Jordan after he had been unable to meet them on his recent tour of the Middle East.

Continue reading...

‘A little hyped up’: experts downplay claims over Petra archaeological find

Researchers urge caution after Jordan tomb excavation and say new clues about Nabataean culture may lie elsewhere

For one of the most famous ancient sites on the planet, there is a surprising amount about the city of Petra – and the Nabataean people who built it – that we don’t know for sure.

What exactly were their origins? How did their society operate? And why did they hand-carve such spectacular monuments into the reddish rock of the Jordanian desert?

Continue reading...

After a fortnight of military triumph, what is Israel’s endgame?

Hawks argue Tehran’s missile assault gives legitimacy to a direct attack on Iran – but would ‘wars and wars and wars’ guarantee greater security?

Israel is enjoying a moment of military and intelligence triumph. Over two weeks, it has killed an “archenemy” in his secret bunker, decimated Hezbollah’s leadership, blown up the militant group’s communications networks and parts of its arsenal and humbled its sponsor, Iran.

As its ground troops marched into Lebanon, Israel fended off a large-scale Iranian ballistic missile attack with backing from the US and other allies.

Continue reading...

Middle East crisis: Israeli strikes on Syria kill at least 25 people, war monitor says – as it happened

Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says the dead include civilians as well as soldiers and ‘Syrians working with pro-Iran groups’

The UN human rights chief has said that ending the war in Gaza is a priority and asked countries to act on what he called Israel’s “blatant disregard” for international law in the occupied Palestinian territories.

“States must not – cannot – accept blatant disregard for international law, including binding decisions of the (UN) security council and orders of the International Court of Justice (ICJ), neither in this nor any other situation,” the UN high commissioner for human rights, Volker Turk, said in a speech at the opening of the UN human rights council in Geneva.

The court considers that the violations by Israel of the prohibition of the acquisition of territory by force and of the Palestinian people’s right to self-determination have a direct impact on the legality of the continued presence of Israel, as an occupying power, in the occupied Palestinian territory.

The sustained abuse by Israel of its position as an occupying power, through annexation and an assertion of permanent control over the occupied Palestinian territory and continued frustration of the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination, violates fundamental principles of international law and renders Israel’s presence in the occupied Palestinian territory unlawful.

Forcible evictions, extensive house demolitions and restrictions on residence and movement.

The transfer by Israel of settlers to the West Bank and East Jerusalem and maintenance of their presence.

Its failure to prevent or to punish attacks by settlers.

Restricting the access of the Palestinian population to water.

Israel’s use of the natural resources in the occupied Palestinian territory.

The extension of Israel’s law to the West Bank and East Jerusalem.

Continue reading...

Jordanian driver kills Israeli workers at border with West Bank

Triple shooting on mostly quiet border with Jordan may be indicative of Gaza war spreading violence across region

Three Israeli workers have been killed at a border crossing between the West Bank and Jordan when a Jordanian truck driver opened fire on them, in a fresh sign that the nearly year-old Gaza conflict is spreading violence across the region.

On the same day, an Israeli airstrike in northern Gaza killed a senior aid official and two women and two children from his family.

Continue reading...

Iran may rethink reprisals against Israel over killing of Hamas’s leader

Other Islamic countries are not openly backing military response by Tehran and more targeted action appears likely

Iran may be rethinking the scale and format of its planned reprisal against Israel after the assassination of Hamas’s political leader, Ismail Haniyeh, but is not likely to be put off by the absence of explicit support from Muslim states for an Iranian military response, officials have suggested.

Meanwhile, Israeli officials have reportedly concluded that the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah is determined to carry out an attack in the next few days in response to Israel’s killing of senior commander Fuad Shukr, but the degree to which it will coordinate with Iran is unclear.

Continue reading...

Jordan in last-ditch effort to prevent Iran retaliating for Haniyeh killing

Foreign minister’s rare visit to Tehran appears likely to fail given Iranian insistence on making a decisive response

Jordan’s foreign minister, Ayman Safadi, has made a rare visit to Iran in a last-ditch effort to persuade it to hold back from attacking Israel in response to the assassination of the Hamas political leader, Ismail Haniyeh, in Tehran last week.

The western ally with a large Palestinian population is facing a tough balancing act as it faces domestic calls to break off relations with Tel Aviv and to stop protecting it after shooting down Iranian missiles aimed at Israel earlier this year.

Continue reading...

Gaza conflict could fuel IS and al-Qaida revival, security experts warn

Officials and analysts warn of evidence of increased Islamic State and al-Qaida militant activity across Middle East

Security services across the Middle East fear the conflict in Gaza will allow Islamic State (IS) and al-Qaida to rebuild across the region, leading to a wave of terrorist plots in coming months and years.

Officials and analysts say there is already evidence of increased Islamic militant extremism in many places, although multiple factors are combining to cause the surge.

Continue reading...

‘I panic when my phone rings’: the plight of Palestinians in Jordan

In kingdom where half of people have Palestinian roots, rulers try to balance US ties with calls for action on Gaza war

Ahmed Saeed Abu Fares leans back in his cheap plastic chair and smiles. He has just got a call through to his older sister in Gaza. Though he is only 90 miles away in Jordan, this is an achievement. The conversation is brief, but long enough for Abu Fares to hear that she is safe. So too are her children. For the first time in weeks, the 63-year-old scrap dealer relaxes.

“We just couldn’t get through to check on them. When their house was bombed and two of my nieces were killed, it was two weeks before I found out. So I’ve been panicking when my phone rings. Every time, it is terror or fear,” Abu Fares says. “I feel much better now. She says they are all tired but OK.”

Continue reading...

More than 550 hajj pilgrims die in Mecca as temperatures exceed 50C

At least 320 of the dead are from Egypt and Saudi officials report treating more than 2,000 people for heat stress

At least 550 pilgrims have died during the hajj, underscoring the gruelling nature of the pilgrimage which again unfolded in scorching temperatures this year.

At least 323 of those who died were Egyptians, most of them succumbing to heat-related illnesses, the two Arab diplomats coordinating their countries’ responses told AFP.

Continue reading...

Israel under huge pressure to accept three-stage ceasefire agreed by Hamas

Benjamin Netanyahu faces chorus of diplomatic pressure not to go ahead with full-scale offensive on Rafah

Israel is coming under huge diplomatic pressure to accept a three-stage ceasefire surprisingly agreed by Hamas, despite the apparent determination of its prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, to continue with a planned offensive in Rafah.

Netanyahu’s office said that the proposal Hamas accepted was “far from Israel’s essential demands” but that it would nonetheless send negotiators to continue talks on a deal.

At the same time, the Israeli military said it was conducting “targeted strikes” against Hamas in eastern Rafah.

Continue reading...

Gulf states’ response to Iran-Israel conflict may decide outcome of crisis

Tit-for-tat attacks present Sunni monarchies with complicated choices over region’s future

Iran’s missile and drone attack on Israel had, by the end of this week, become one of the most interpreted events in recent modern history. Then, in the early hours of Friday, came reports of Israel’s riposte. As in June 1914, when Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife were assassinated in a moment that ultimately led to the first world war, these shots were heard around the world, even if few can agree conclusively on what they portend.

By one de minimis account, Tehran was merely sending a performative warning shot with its attack last Saturday, almost taking its ballistic missiles out for a weekend test drive. The maximalist version is that this was a state-on-state assault designed to change the rules of the Middle East. By swarming Israel with so many projectiles, such an assessment goes, Iran was prepared to risk turning Israel into a mini-Dresden of 1945 and was only thwarted by Israeli strategic defences and, crucially, extraordinary cooperation between the US, Israel and Sunni Gulf allies.

Continue reading...

Jordan faces difficult balancing act amid row over role in downing Iranian drones

Amman and allies insist Jordanian actions were self-defence after public anger at home and across region

Jordan has found itself caught in the crosshairs of the confrontation between Iran and Israel, facing public anger at home and in the region for its role in downing dozens of Iranian drones targeting Israeli territory on Saturday night.

Underlying its precarious position, Amman summoned the Iranian ambassador on Sunday over comments from Tehran that appeared to threaten Jordan for joining the US-led effort to support Israel in shooting down the incoming salvo. The diplomatic summons came after Iran seemed to warn Jordan that it would face an attack of its own if it continued to defend Israel.

Continue reading...

Fate of Middle East hangs in the balance as Israel mulls its next steps

Joe Biden is believed to have urged restraint, and Tehran deems the matter ‘concluded’ but ultimately Israel’s response lies in the hands of three prickly rivals in its war cabinet

The prospect of a major regional war in the Middle East hangs in the balance on Sunday morning, when Benjamin Netanyahu’s war cabinet is due to meet to decide Israel’s response to Iran’s drone and missile attack.

Netanyahu’s ministers voted in the middle of the night to delegate that decision to the tiny war cabinet, comprising Netanyahu, defence minister Yoav Gallant and Benny Gantz, a Netanyahu opponent who joined the government as minister without portfolio after the Hamas 7 October attack, which began the spiral of violence that has brought Israel and Iran to the brink of war.

Continue reading...

‘We searched for ladies over 70’: on the trail of Jordan’s forgotten folk music

An arts organisation has been seeking out and recording the region’s traditional music and is teaching the lyrics to young singers

In the Jordanian town of Tafilah, a six-year-old boy softly hummed a song. His family were astonished, and his 82-year-old great-grandmother, Jawaher Al Ahmad, overheard and began to cry. She asked the child who had taught him the “hajini”, or Bedouin folk song, and said: “The last time I heard that song was at my wedding.”

Her great-grandson, Ahmad, had learned the tune as part of the I’m My Voice project run by Tajalla for Music and Arts, a cultural organisation founded by Russol Al Nasser.

Continue reading...

Roadside bomb kills seven children in southern Syria, says state media

Blast struck in conflict-stricken Daraa province, where dozens of incidents have claimed about 100 lives this year

At least seven children were killed after a roadside bomb detonated in south-western Syria, in an area where dozens of incidents have already claimed about 100 lives in 2024, state media and a war monitor reported.

It remains unclear who planted the bomb in the northern countryside of conflict-stricken Daraa province, which lies between Jordan and the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights. Russian-backed Syrian government forces and their allies captured the city and province of Daraa from opposition forces in 2018.

Syrian state news agency Sana, citing an unnamed police official in Daraa, blamed militant groups, which are still active in the area.

But the UK-based war monitor the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights accused a pro-government militia of planting the bomb in an assassination attempt, without giving further details. It says at least eight children were killed.

Sana reported two other injuries in the explosion.

Daraa city was known as the cradle of the Syrian uprising in 2011 that spiralled into an all-out war, now in its 14th year.

In 2018, after Daraa was retaken by the government and its allies, Moscow mediated a reconciliation agreement with rebel groups which left them in charge of security in some areas, under Russian supervision.

The unique reconciliation effort was a way for Moscow to alleviate concerns from Israel of Iran-backed militias approaching its borders and Jordan, which has a key border crossing nearby.

However, an armed insurgency has continued.

The observatory said the bombing is the 83rd security incident in Daraa it has documented in 2024 so far, which has led to the deaths of 100 people.

Continue reading...

Houthis face ‘further consequences’, Austin says after latest strikes – as it happened

This blog is closed. You can find all our Middle East coverage here

At least 13 Iranian-backed fighters have been killed in strikes in eastern Syria, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights has said.

The airstrikes destroyed 17 positions sheltering Iranian militias in Al-Mayadeen and Al-Bokamal near the border between Syria and Iraq, in addition to airstrikes targeting positions near Deir ez-Zor city, it said.

Continue reading...

US retaliatory airstrikes on targets in Iraq and Syria will not be the last

The carefully planned raids were the largest yet against Iran’s proxies and are likely to continue until threats to US personnel are neutralised

US retaliation, when it came, was broad and deep, and telegraphed five days in advance.

The White House, the Pentagon and state department had spent the best part of a week talking about the response to Sunday’s drone attack on a US base in northern Jordan, which killed three Americans and wounded more than 30.

Continue reading...

Dozens in Jordan targeted by authorities using NSO spyware, report finds

Findings suggest Jordan is relying on cyberweapon to quash dissent and its use is ‘staggeringly widespread’

About three dozen journalists, lawyers and human rights workers in Jordan have been targeted by authorities using powerful spyware made by Israel’s NSO Group amid a broad crackdown on press freedoms and political participation, according to a report by the lobbying group Access Now.

The information suggests the Jordanian government has used the Israeli cyberweapon against members of civil society, including at least one American citizen living in Jordan, between 2019 and September 2023.

Continue reading...

Iran not seeking war with US but ‘not afraid of it’, says military chief

Head of Islamic Revolutionary Guards defiant as US prepares ‘very consequential response’ to drone attack on Jordan base

The head of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) has vowed the country is not afraid of war with the US, as the Pentagon weighs how directly to respond to the killing of three US servicemen in a drone attack in Jordan.

The IRGC commander-in-chief, Maj Gen Hossein Salami, said: “We hear some threats from American officials about targeting Iran. We tell them that you tested us and we know each other. We do not leave any threat unanswered, and we do not look for war, but we are not afraid of it. This is the well-known truth.”

Continue reading...