Features

Features A Hamas al-Qassam fighter stands by a Red Cross vehicle transporting the bodies of Israeli hostages in Gaza City (AP)

First Hurdle in Trump’s Gaza Plan Hints at Deeper Crises

The dispute over the return of bodies, the issue that nearly blew up US President Donald Trump’s peace plan, is only the first landmine. More major challenges…

Nazir Magally (Tel Aviv)
Features A Russian drone flies over the city as Ukrainian servicemen fire towards it during Russian drone and missile strikes, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv, Ukraine September 28, 2025. (Reuters)

EU Scramble for Anti-Russia ‘Drone Wall’ Hits Political, Technical Hurdles 

Just hours after some 20 Russian drones entered Polish airspace last month, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said it was time for Europe to…

Features A woman holds a sign with a photo of Palestinian Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya during a protest calling for his release in front of the Shin Bet offices in Tel Aviv, Israel, Jan. 1, 2025. (AP) 

As Israel Frees Some Gaza Medical Staff, a Prominent Hospital Chief Remains Imprisoned 

Under Gaza’s ceasefire deal, Israel freed dozens of doctors, nurses, paramedics and other medical personnel seized during raids on hospitals. But more than 100…

Features A file photo from Sistani’s website shows his meeting with Lebanese parliament Speaker Nabih Berri in April 2019.

Sistani's Office Warned Hezbollah of 'Lawless War' in Rare Message 

Iraqi and Lebanese clerics have, for the first time, revealed that the office of Iraq’s top Shiite authority, Ali al-Sistani, sent a letter to Hezbollah in…

Ali Saray (Beirut)
Features Heavy machinery removes debris from a street, amid a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, in Gaza City, October 14, 2025. (Reuters)

Four Clans, Armed Groups Challenging Hamas in Gaza 

During the Gaza war, Hamas faced not only military setbacks but also growing internal challenges to its rule in the enclave from old rivals, many of them…

Asharq Al Awsat (Gaza)
Features  A Palestinian politician Nasser al-Qudwa speaks during an interview with Reuters in Ramallah in the Israeli-occupied West Bank October 13, 2025. (Reuters)

Arafat’s Nephew Returns to West Bank with Plan for Post-War Gaza

A nephew of late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat has returned to the West Bank after four years of self-exile, outlining a roadmap to secure peace in Gaza…

Features US President Donald Trump gestures next to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at Ben Gurion International Airport as Trump leaves Israel en route to Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, to attend a world leaders' summit on ending the Gaza war, amid a US-brokered prisoner-hostage swap and ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas, in Lod, Israel, October 13, 2025. (Reuters)

Trump Convinced Netanyahu to Take a Deal. Can He Keep Him Onboard? 

US President Donald Trump, a self-proclaimed peacemaker who has campaigned for a Nobel Prize, finally got a camera-ready diplomatic victory on Monday as world…

Features A drone view shows people gathering at Nasser hospital as they welcome freed Palestinian prisoners released by Israel as part of a hostages-prisoners swap and a ceasefire deal between Hamas and Israel, in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, October 13, 2025. REUTERS/Stringer

After Hostages and Prisoners are Freed, Complex Issues Remain for Israel-Hamas Ceasefire

Israel and Hamas moved ahead on a key first step of the tenuous Gaza ceasefire agreement on Monday by freeing hostages and prisoners, raising hopes that the US…

Asharq Al Awsat
Features Yousef Shamasneh, 83, holds portraits of his two imprisoned sons, Abdel Jawad, right, and Mohammad, at his home in the West Bank village of Qatanna, west of Jerusalem, Friday, Oct. 10, 2025. (AP)

Gaza Hostage Swap Brings Hope to Palestinian Prisoners’ Family

A stone's throw from the wall separating Israel and the occupied West Bank, the Shamasneh family is ready to welcome home two sons jailed for the past 34 years…

Features An Iranian missile system is displayed next to a banner with a picture of Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei during the Iranian Defense Week, in a street in Tehran, Iran, September 25, 2025. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS

Iran is Out in the Cold as the Mideast Unites in Support of the Gaza Ceasefire

As the Middle East broadly welcomes a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza, Iran finds itself at one of its weakest moments since its 1979 Iranian…

Asharq Al Awsat
Features Palestinians welcoming freed prisoners last February (AFP)

Behind the Scenes of Israel’s Release of Hundreds of Palestinian Prisoners

Israel’s release of nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners, a win for Hamas and a blow for Israel, has exposed the frailties of both sides as they try to soften…

Nazir Magally (Tel Aviv)
Features 10 October 2025, Palestinian Territories, Khan Yunis: People inspect a destroyed building as displaced Palestinians return to their homes after the Israeli army withdrew from some areas east of Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, following the announcement of an agreement between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas on the implementation of the first phase of the US peace plan for the Gaza Strip.(dpa)

Many Unresolved Questions Remain as a Ceasefire Begins in Gaza

Bombardment stopped and Israeli troops pulled back in Gaza on Friday under a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas. But will the agreement lead, as US President…

Features An Israeli military vehicle maneuver, after US President Donald Trump announced that Israel and Hamas agreed on the first phase of a Gaza ceasefire, on the Israeli side of the border with Gaza, October 9, 2025. REUTERS/Ammar Awad

What Do We Know about Trump's Gaza Deal?

Israel and Hamas have agreed to the first phase of US President Donald Trump's plan for Gaza, a ceasefire and hostage deal that could be a first step toward…

Asharq Al Awsat
Features A worker checks the valve gears in a natural gas control center of Türkiye’s Petroleum and Pipeline Corporation, 35 km (22 miles) west of Ankara, February 14, 2012. (Reuters)

Türkiye’s Gas Shift Threatens Russia and Iran’s Last Big European Market

Türkiye could meet more than half of its gas needs by the end of 2028 by ramping up production and increasing US imports, in a shift that threatens to shrink…

Features Jawad Hassan Nasrallah marks anniversary of his father, former Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah’s assassination, in Baghdad - 2025 (Reuters)

Tehran Losing Rounds in Iraq, but Not the War Yet

Two years ago, Iraq’s armed factions were eager to make their presence felt in the “Al-Aqsa Flood” scenes. That enthusiasm faded in the months after October…

Ali Saray (London)
Features A medical worker prepares to evacuate a premature baby from Al Helo International Hospital to be transported to a hospital in southern Gaza for further medical care, amid an Israeli military operation, in Gaza City October 3, 2025. REUTERS/Ebrahim Hajjaj

Gaza Babies Forced to Share Oxygen Masks as Israel Blocks Equipment, UNICEF Says

Israel has repeatedly denied permission to transfer incubators from an evacuated hospital in North Gaza, a UN children's agency official said on Tuesday,…

Asharq Al Awsat
Features A Palestinian boy flies his kite near tents of displaced families in the Nuseirat camp, in the central Gaza Strip (AFP). 

Hamas Marks Second Anniversary of Al-Aqsa Flood Amid Loss of Gaza Rule

Two years after the October 7, 2023 attack, the Hamas movement faces one of the most critical junctures in its history. The devastating war that followed has…

Asharq Al Awsat (Gaza)
Features Plumes of smoke rise from explosions in Gaza, as seen from southern Israel, October 7, 2025. (Reuters)

In Gaza War, Tens of Thousands Killed and Widespread Destruction 

Israel's offensive in Gaza, launched in response to the Palestinian group Hamas's attack on southern Israeli communities on October 7, 2023, has killed tens of…

Features Israeli troops patrolling along the Israel-Gaza border, 06 October 2025. (EPA)

US Has Given at Least $21.7 Billion in Military Aid to Israel Since War in Gaza Began, Report Says 

The United States under the Biden and Trump administrations has provided at least $21.7 billion in military assistance to Israel since the start of the Gaza…

Features Palestinian twins Uday and Hamza Abu Odah have known nothing but war since they were born in Gaza - Reuters

The Gaza Twins Whose Whole Lives Have Been War

Palestinian twins Uday and Hamza Abu Odah have known nothing but war since they were born in Gaza, less than a month after the conflict began on October 7,…

Asharq Al Awsat
Features  Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir walks to visit the Damascus Gate to Jerusalem's Old City, as Israelis mark Jerusalem Day, in Jerusalem May 26, 2025. (Reuters)

Netanyahu Faces Far-Right Backlash as Trump Presses to End Gaza War 

A rift within Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s far-right coalition is emerging as a flashpoint in efforts to end the war in Gaza, threatening to…

Features A Palestinian man transports buckets of water next to a coastal path northwest of Nuseirat refugee camp after being displaced southward following an Israeli announcement of closing Al-Rashid road towards the north of the besieged Gaza Strip on October 4, 2025. (AFP)

After False Dawns, Gazans Hope Trump Will Force End to Two-Year-Old War

Exhausted Palestinians in Gaza clung to hopes on Saturday that US President Donald Trump would keep up pressure on Israel to end a two-year-old war that has…

Features Smoke rises at the Al Harazin building following an air strike during an Israeli military operation in Gaza City, Gaza Strip, 03 October 2025. (EPA)

Comparing Hamas Response with Trump’s Gaza Plan

Hamas responded on Friday to President Donald Trump's plan for Gaza's future, including ending Israel's war in the enclave. The Palestinian group accepted…

Features An election poster of Henry Hamra, a Syrian-American parliamentary candidate who is the son of the country's last rabbi and who if elected will be the first Jewish representative in the Syrian parliament since the late 1940s, is displayed on the entrance of the closed Jewish Maimonides School of Damascus, in the Jewish quarter of the old city of Damascus on October 3, 2025, ahead of the upcoming vote on October 5. (AFP)

First Jewish Candidate in Decades Stands for Syria Legislature

Syrian-American Jew Henry Hamra is running for a seat this Sunday in Syria's first legislature since the ousting of longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad. If…