Food security

A boy sits outside the entrance to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) building complex in Gaza City, on Sept. 6, 2025.

Interview

UNRWA plans Turkey office to boost Gaza, Syria aid as pledges dip

Speaking exclusively to Al-Monitor, UNRWA’s Tamara Alrifai said the upcoming Turkey office would help the agency to expand its operations not only in Gaza but also in Syria.

Tents sheltering Palestinians from Gaza City displaced by the Israel-Hamas conflict are pitched by damaged buildings at the Qatari-built Hamad City residential complex, northwestern Khan Yunis, southern Gaza Strip, Sept. 22, 2025.

Water 'more precious than gold': Palestinians fleeing Gaza City face perilous journey south

The Israeli ground invasion of Gaza City has caused massive waves of displacement and intensified struggles to survive with little or no water, shelter, food, or sanitation.

This picture shows pumpjacks in an oil field and smoke plumes rising in the background, following reported Turkish drone strikes near the town of al-Qahtaniyah in Syria's northeastern Hasakah province, close to the border with Turkey, on Nov. 23, 2022.

Exclusive

UK-based oil firm victim of standoff between Damascus, Syria’s Kurds

Gulfsands Managing Director John Bell outlines his company’s plans and Syria’s energy prospects in an exclusive interview.

Amberin Zaman

By Amberin Zaman

Reporting on geopolitics, minorities, human rights, culture

Yemeni boys walk on a flooded road during a rally in solidarity with Palestinians in the Houthi-run capital Sanaa on Aug. 1, 2025.

Yemen: Flash floods injure 10+ in Aden as climate toll mounts

Yemen has experienced deadly flooding in recent years, further impacting the ongoing displacement crisis in the country.

Latest News

Culture

Meet Nadeen Ayoub, first Palestinian woman to compete for Miss Universe

Nadeen Ayoub

Sudan’s army chief meets Trump adviser amid US peace push: Reports

Sudan's army chief Gen. Abdel Fattah al-Burhan.

After Hamas ban and deadly ambush, Gazans wary of GHF aid jobs

People carry boxes of relief supplies from the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) as displaced Palestinians return from an aid distribution center in the central Gaza Strip on May 29, 2025.

Interview

Israel’s former Germany envoy: Arms embargo 'warning sign' of growing isolation

JOHN MACDOUGALL/AFP via Getty Images

Jeremy Issacharoff

Jeremy Issacharoff

Former Israeli ambassador to Germany

A photograph taken on October 31, 2022 shows a cargo ship loaded with grain being inspected in the anchorage area of the southern entrance to the Bosphorus in Istanbul. - Cargo ships loaded with grain and other agricultural products left Ukrainian ports on october 31, 2022 despite Russia's decision to pull out from a landmark deal designed to ease a global food crisis. As one of the brokers of the grain deal, Turkey has stepped up diplomacy with the two warring countries in a bid to save it as Russia warned

Turkey's Fidan says no solution without Russia to grain deal impasse

The top Turkish diplomat Hakan Fidan dismissed Kyiv's alternative solution offer to ship Ukrainian grain without an agreement with Moscow.

The Liberia-flagged bulk carrier Asl Tia en-route to China transits the Bosporus.

Russia pulls inspectors from Turkey after Kremlin nixes grain deal

The joint operation center in Istanbul, which was set up as part of the Black Sea grain deal, has been the sole mechanism through which Ukrainian and Russian officials were directly working together on a regular basis since the invasion of Ukraine.

The Barbados-flagged ship "Nord Vind" coming from Ukraine loaded with grain is anchored for inspection in Istanbul, on Oct. 11, 2022.

Wheat prices rise by nearly 3% as Russia-Ukraine grain deal expires

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said he may call his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, in an effort to save the export deal. The deal’s termination could have economic effects on the Middle East.

This photo taken on July 10, 2012, in Ankara shows people at a traditional "doner" fast food restaurant. In Turkey 35% of the population has accumulated excess body fat to the extent that it may have an adverse effect on health, leading to reduced life expectancy and/or increased health problems. The Turkish health ministry has launched a campaign calling on Turks to be more active. AFP PHOTO/ADEM ALTAN (Photo credit should read ADEM ALTAN/AFP/GettyImages)

Bahrain, Turkey are Middle East's biggest eaters: Oxford rankings

Bahrain and Turkey are listed among the top eaters globally, while daily calorie consumption in war-ridden Yemen stands behind the recommended level.

People are seen picking out sheep at a livestock market, in Tunis' Ariana region, ahead of the Muslim festival Eid al-Adha, amid an increase in livestock prices, June 21, 2023.

Eid's price tag: Tunisia’s inflation leaves sheep out of reach for many Muslims

With soaring prices, Tunisian families are struggling to afford the cherished tradition of buying a sheep for the Eid al-Adha holiday.

Egypt's President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi (L) greets Chinese President Xi Jinping (R) during a signing ceremony at the Great Hall of the People on December 23, 2014 in Beijing, China.

Analysis

Chinese panda bonds present opportunity for cash-strapped Egypt

With this agreement with the African Development Bank, Egypt is the first African country to issue bonds in Chinese currency that are placed in the domestic market of mainland China.

In Bristol, reporting on regional business, climate change, AI, tech

Egypt Sisi

Analysis

Egypt: Sisi's Africa tour highlights GERD, economic, climate change challenges

Sisi visited Angola, Zambia and Mozambique this week, demonstrating the continued importance Egypt places on political, economic and security ties with southern Africa and the continent as a whole.

Adam Lucente

By Adam Lucente

In New York City, reporting on regional news, militancy, climate change

Fishing boats are moored at the port of Karantina, north of Beirut, as their owners protest against the continued use of the nearby Karantina landfill waste dump site and its resultant waste pollution harming the local fishing industry, May 24, 2018.

In Lebanon, women break barriers by tinkering fishing nets to secure income

Lebanese women whose husbands are fishermen are joining them at sea and making and repairing fishing nets to secure an income for their families.

TOPSHOT - A huge electoral poster bearing a portrait of Turkish President and presidential candidate of AK Party Recep Tayyip Erdogan with a slogan which reads "Keep going with the right man" covers the facade of a high-rise building in Ankara, on May 23, 2023, ahead of the presidential election runoff on May 28, 2023. (Photo by Adem ALTAN / AFP) (Photo by ADEM ALTAN/AFP via Getty Images)

Al-Monitor/Premise Turkey poll: Erdogan, Kilicdaroglu statistically tied in election runoff

The poll found the economy, refugees and justice stand out as the top three issues that the country faces, with 71% of respondents favoring an imminent return of refugees in the country.

Fizzy drinks

Analysis

How a prolonged war in Sudan could threaten global fizzy drink supply

Sudan is the world's leading supplier of gum arabic, an essential ingredient in fizzy drinks that acts as an emulsifying and separating agent.

In Bristol, reporting on regional business, climate change, AI, tech

Two pairs of US hundred dollar and Egyptian hundred pound notes are held before a window showing the skyline of Egypt's capital Cairo and the Nile river on January 16, 2023. - With Egypt's economy in crisis, the currency in freefall and inflation skyrocketing, the poor have been hit hard but the middle class is also teetering on the brink. The Egyptian pound has lost half its value against the dollar since March, following a devaluation demanded as part of a $3 billion International Monetary Fund loan agree

Egypt inflation drops to 31.5%, but food prices still rising

Annual inflation fell slightly in April compared to the previous month as the central bank readies its next decision on interest rates.

Abu Dhabi's crown prince, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, left, shakes hands with Chinese President Xi Jinping after witnessed a signing ceremony at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, Monday, July 22, 2019. (Photo by Andy Wong-Pool/Getty Images)

In boost to China, UAE and Kuwait become 'dialogue partners' in Shanghai Cooperation Organization

The Gulf states made up half of the new partners at the annual Shanghai Cooperation Organization meeting in 2023.

United Arab Emirates