Orientul Mijlociu

ISIS remains active across the Syria–Iraq and Syria–Lebanon border belts, primarily through dispersed sleeper cells that stage low‑signature attacks to prove presence, test security responses, and cultivate new recruitment streams.

Recent field reporting and official statements point to a tactical adjustment: fewer mass‑casualty operations, more pinprick bombings, assassinations, and roadside attacks in remote terrain—especially the Syrian Badia, the Deir ez‑Zor countryside, and eastern Hasakah—along with infiltration corridors that abut Iraq and, to a lesser extent, Lebanon’s rugged frontier. Coalition and local security services warn that pressure lapses could open space for an escalation.

Forging a durable, just, and comprehensive peace in the Middle East should mimic the construction of a bridge. On one side, the architects of peace must build forward from where they stand today: negotiate a cease-fire agreement, uphold it, and point it toward a lasting settlement. On the opposite side, others must define the contours of that permanent settlement and then reverse engineer it to link up with current efforts.

For the first time in nearly four decades, Iran is on the cusp of a change of leadership—and maybe even of regime. As Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s reign nears its end, a 12-day war in June laid bare the fragility of the system he built. Israel battered Iranian cities and military installations, paving the way for the United States to drop 14 bunker-busting bombs on Iranian nuclear sites. The war exposed the enormous gulf between Tehran’s ideological bluster and the limited capabilities of a regime that has lost much of its regional power, no longer controls its skies, and exercises diminished control over its streets. At the war’s conclusion, the 86-year-old Khamenei emerged from hiding to declare victory in a raspy voice—a spectacle meant to project strength that instead underscored the regime’s frailty.

TEL AVIV — President Trump declared the Gaza war over and received a standing ovation in Israel’s parliament then in Egypt at a signing ceremony on Monday for his leading role in bringing about a ceasefire in the war-ravaged territory.

In a crucial part of the agreement, Hamas released the last 20 living Israeli hostages who had been captive for just over two years.

As normalization accelerates and Israel scrambles to neutralize the Yemeni threat, Sanaa asserts its central role in shaping West Asia’s power balance.

Since Operation Al-Aqsa Flood in October 2023, Yemen’s Ansarallah-aligned armed forces have transformed the Red Sea into a pressure point against Tel Aviv and Washington, extending operations to the Mediterranean and disrupting both Israeli and US interests.

Netanyahu has said that Hamas must disarm the ‘easy way or the hard way’ following the Gaza ceasefire deal

During an interview with Sky News on 10 October, senior Hamas official Dr. Basem Naim confirmed that Hamas would not completely disarm and that the movement would only hand over its weapons to a Palestinian state and integrate its fighters into a Palestinian national army.

Tuesday marked the second anniversary of Israel’s genocide in Gaza, which began in October 2023 and ended on Friday after both Hamas and Israel agreed to a ceasefire plan proposed by US President Trump.

The Palestinian Health Ministry has released a detailed update on the state of the health sector.

Bottom Line Up Front

Since the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack, numerous seemingly sacrosanct red lines in the region have been crossed, including extensive warfare between Iran and Israel on each other’s territory, and the Houthi threat to commercial freedom of navigation through the Red Sea.

The women’s brigade is reportedly to be led by Sadiya Azhar, the sister of Jaish-e-Mohammed’s chief Maulana Masood Azhar.

Pakistan-based terrorist group Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), which suffered a crippling blow during India’s Operation Sindoor, has reportedly stepped up efforts to revive its footprint, including in India, and has announced the formation of its first-ever women’s wing, named Jamaat-ul-Mominaat, according to media reports.

The prospect of Tony Blair heading a post-war authority in Gaza has revived memories of the Iraq invasion and the West’s disastrous Middle East interventionism

The prospect of former British Prime Minister Tony Blair heading a temporary international administration in Gaza has reignited fierce debate across the Arab world, with critics drawing parallels to the disastrous US occupation of Iraq two decades ago, of which Blair was one of the chief architects.