Egypt rejects Israeli decision to open Rafah for exit only, insists it would only accept ‘two-way’ opening

Cairo reaffirmed its adherence to the plan and UN Security Council Resolution 2803, including the right of return for Palestinians.

According to the Egyptian State Information Service, Egyptian authorities refuted on Wednesday afternoon reports that Israel claims it will open the Rafah crossing, the only lifeline for Gaza to the outside world, but only for those wishing to leave the besieged coastal enclave.

Iran Update, November 21, 2025

Toplines

Some Syrian General Security Service (GSS) units are improving their counter-insurgency approach in rural minority areas by relying on relationships with locals. The GSS arrested a large Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC)-affiliated Assadist cell in Sheikh Bader, Tartous Province, on November 12.[1] Independent Syria researcher Gregory Waters reported on November 21 that locals originally tipped off the GSS to the cell’s presence at their compound in Sheikh Bader.[2] The two GSS officers who led the investigation said that the local tip-off and local community support were critical to the GSS’s dismantlement of the Assadist cell and to stability in the surrounding area.[3]

Red Cross says Hamas handed over ‘small remains, pieces’ of a body; Israeli forensic experts checking

Hamas official said terror group was transferring hostage’s body, but no official statement made; Qatar says it hopes to push Israel and Hamas to next phase of truce ‘very soon’

Israel received unspecified “findings” potentially belonging to a hostage, handed over by Hamas through the Red Cross in the Gaza Strip, the Prime Minister’s Office said on Tuesday, as Israel awaits the return of the bodies of the final two captives.

Can Trump Dismantle the UN Refugee Convention?

In 2017, United States President Trump said of refugees: “I hate taking these people. I guarantee you they are bad,” leaving no doubt about his disdain for the 40 million people around the world who have been forced to leave their own country and seek asylum elsewhere because of persecution, human rights violations and armed conflict.

Chaos as Iraq announces then retracts terror listing for Hezbollah and Houthis

Chaos erupted among government agencies in Iraq on Thursday after Lebanon’s Hezbollah and Yemen’s Houthis appeared briefly on a list of terrorist groups facing sanctions, before it was quickly retracted.

A terrorist listing would be a surprise move against Iranian allies with connections in Iraq. The Official Gazette published on the Justice Ministry website, dated November 17, listed the two groups among organisations accused of terrorism and financing extremism.

A Year Later, Lebanon Still Won’t Stand Up to Hezbollah

Although Washington should keep pressing the Lebanese government to seize weapons and prosecute political assassins, the chances of Beirut actually confronting the militia appear increasingly slim.

Just days before the one-year anniversary of the Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire, the government of Lebanon announced that it would provide official disability cards and full benefits to thousands of Hezbollah members injured in Israel’s now-famous September 2024 covert operation detonating pagers belonging to the Lebanese militia group. The Trump administration criticized Beirut’s decision to extend a social safety net for some Hezbollah members, and the initiative was hurriedly rolled back. But that aborted decision highlights a troubling dynamic in Lebanon more than a year after Israel smashed Hezbollah and decapitated its leadership.

Mapping the future of drug markets in West Africa – Synthetics, cocaine, criminal money, and strategic responses

The high-level dialogue “Mapping the future of drug markets in West Africa – Synthetics, cocaine, criminal money, and strategic responses”, jointly convened by the Government of Ghana, the Government of the Netherlands, and the GI-TOC, marks a critical step in bringing together key stakeholders to drive forward a more effective and cohesive response to drug markets – particularly cocaine and synthetic drugs – which represent an urgent and complex public health, security, and human rights challenge in West Africa and beyond. This dialogue, which took place in Accra, Ghana, on 27 and 28 November 2025, comes at a critical juncture: West Africa’s – and the global – marketplace for illicit drugs is changing, and there is much debate about appropriate responses.