Orientul Mijlociu

Pressured by opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu, and concerned over Hezbollah attacking, Prime Minister Yair Lapid announced Israel will not negotiate its maritime border with Lebanon under threats.

Within less than a week, the optimism that had swept through Jerusalem, Beirut and Washington regarding prospects for completing a deal on the Israeli-Lebanese maritime border has turned into discouraging pessimism. On Oct. 6, Defense Minister Benny Gantz instructed the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) to prepare for escalation along Israel’s northern borders, including “defense and offense readiness.”

US strikes knocked off the jihadist group’s second-highest Syrian commander and a smuggler believed to have helped kidnap and behead Kurdish officials.

American military forces in Syria killed three top Islamic State officials in two separate operations over the past 24 hours, US officials said.

John Le Carré, a legendary author of espionage novels, described Lesbos as “a Greek island in the Aegean wholly surrounded by monstrous memories” in his bestselling thriller “A Perfect Spy.” The line between fiction and truth becomes murkier as tensions between Turkey and Greece over Lesbos, Samos, other Greek islands and other issues show no sign of abating and are likely to escalate.

Proponents of a moderate Islam that embraces tolerance, diversity, and pluralism may be betting on the wrong horse by supporting Muslim scholars on autocrats’ payroll.

Polling in the Middle East seems to confirm that state-sponsored clerics lack credibility.

Germany on Wednesday said it had resolved “almost all known cases” of its citizens stuck in Syrian jihadist camps, after announcing the repatriation of 12 people.

Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock released a statement announcing that seven children and four women returned to Germany on Wednesday night from the Roj camp in northeastern Syria.

Libya’s Tripoli-based prime minister Abdulhamid Dbeibah has defended a deal signed earlier this week with Turkey over oil and gas exploration in the Mediterranean, which angered European nations.

The memorandum of understanding, three years after a controversial maritime border deal, sparked a sharp reaction from Greece as well as from Dbeibah’s rivals in Libya, where two administrations are grappling for power.

Saudi Arabia has been pushing for production cuts due to fluctuations in global oil prices.

Oil prices are at a three-week high following the decision by Saudi Arabia, Russia and other major oil producers to cut production.

The price of Brent crude oil topped $94 a barrel today, the highest price since Sept. 14, according to market data.

Iraq’s oil reduction per the recent OPEC+ agreement will not affect the country’s revenues, according to Iraq’s oil minister.

During the 33rd OPEC and non-OPEC Ministerial Meeting, which was held Oct. 5 at the OPEC headquarters in Vienna, Austria, the 23 member states decided to decrease oil production.

Iraq’s political deadlock continues amid fear of a new wave of violence erupting in the streets.

Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi met with Kurdish leaders Monday as part of his campaign for a national dialogue to end the political deadlock.