Refugees

A photo taken from the Lebanese side of the northern border crossing of al-Arida shows Syrian rebel fighters assisting with the passage of Syrians back into their country, Dec. 10, 2024.

Syria to reopen war-damaged border crossing with Lebanon: What we know

The move comes as the new authorities in both Lebanon and Syria work to ensure border security and better relations.

Palestinians gather for a communal iftar.

Israel expands Gaza buffer zone to 20% as humanitarian situation deteriorates

Israel’s expanded buffer zone will cut off Gaza from Egypt and further partition the Strip, as the humanitarian crisis in the territory deepens.

Members of a family riding a motorcycle drive past a charred car in the town of Jableh in Syria's coastal province of Latakia on March 12, 2025. At least 1,383 civilians, the vast majority of them Alawites, were killed in a recent wave of violence that gripped Syria's Mediterranean coast, a war monitor said on March 12. (Photo by OMAR HAJ KADOUR / AFP) (Photo by OMAR HAJ KADOUR/AFP via Getty Images)

Feature

Fearing for safety, Syria's Alawites who fled to Lebanon have no plans to return

More than 30 members of one family spoke to Al-Monitor after fleeing into northern Lebanon from Syria amid a spasm of sectarian violence in the country. Many remain skeptical that it's safe to return.

Katya Hovnanian-Alexanian

By Katya Hovnanian-Alexanian

A journalist tries to avoid mud splatter as Israeli forces drive on a destroyed road in the Nur Shams camp for Palestinian refugees near Tulkarem, after reportedly issuing demolition notifications for several houses amid a weeks-long offensive in the occupied West Bank on February 26, 2025. (Photo by Zain JAAFAR / AFP) (Photo by ZAIN JAAFAR/AFP via Getty Images)

Analysis

Could Israel's West Bank operation lead to annexation long sought by right?

The Israeli military is currently operating in West Bank Area A, which under the Oslo Accords should be administered fully by the Palestinian Authority.

Rina Bassist

By Rina Bassist

In Paris, reporting on Israeli politics and European affairs

Latest News

From Saudi Arabia to Australia and China, world leaders denounce Trump’s plan to 'take over' Gaza

U.S. President Donald Trump takes questions from reporters during a press conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the East Room of the White House in Washington, D.C. on February 4, 2025. (Photo by Bryan Dozier / Middle East Images / Middle East Images via AFP) (Photo by BRYAN DOZIER/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images)

'Death itself could not get us out of here!' Gazans reject Trump’s proposal

People in Jabalia erect tents amid the rubble of destroyed buildings as displaced Palestinians return to northern Gaza during a ceasefire in the war between Israel and Hamas, Jan. 23, 2025.

Thousands in Egypt protest Trump’s push to transfer Palestinians

Demonstrators gather outside the Egyptian side of the Rafah border crossing with the Gaza Strip on Jan. 31, 2025 to protest against a plan floated by US President Donald Trump to move Palestinians from the Gaza Strip to Egypt and Jordan.

Analysis

EU seeks channels with HTS as it grapples with post-Assad Syria

Members of the Syrian community in Berlin hold flags of Syria and Germany as they celebrate the collapse of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's government, Dec. 8, 2024.

Rina Bassist

By Rina Bassist

In Paris, reporting on Israeli politics and European affairs

Syrian pounds are pictured at a currency exchange shop in the town of Sarmada in Syria's northwestern Idlib province, on June 15, 2020.

Syria's interim PM warns foreign currency shortage could hinder refugee return

Nearly 14 years of civil war, international sanctions and the exodus of 4.82 million Syrians have crippled the economy, resulting in a sharp decline of the Syrian pound.

A sign about the heightened level of the counterterrorism response is seen outside HMS Duncan while docked at the Port of Limassol on the Mediterranean island of Cyprus, on Oct. 2, 2024.

Cyprus arrests eight Syrians accused of funding terror group: What we know

The arrests come as more Syrians arrive in Cyprus, fleeing the conflicts in Lebanon and Syria.

Displaced people ride on a donkey-drawn cart through a muddy puddle in Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip on Sept. 30, 2024.

Feature

Palestinians long for life before Oct. 7 as Gaza war upends lives, future

One year into the Israeli war on Gaza, as winter approaches, Gazans feel hopeless and trapped in an endless cycle of conflict amid tragic living conditions.

Rasha Abou Jalal

By Rasha Abou Jalal

In Gaza City, reporting on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict

Mayssa (C), 15, and Yara (R), 10, from Khan Younis, on board the UAE evacuation flight that arrived from Eilat to Abu Dhabi on Sept. 9, 2025.

UAE evacuates nearly 100 Gaza patients as 10,000+ await transfer

Abu Dhabi has pledged to bring in 1,000 injured children and 1,000 cancer patients from the Gaza Strip to be treated in the its hospitals.

United Arab Emirates

This photograph shows Paris 2024 Olympics Games banner in front of the National Assembly, in Paris, on July 18, 2024.

From Egypt to Saudi: Meet Middle East's athletes at Paris Olympics

Burgeoning Iraqi soccer star Ali Jasim and 2020 Israeli gold medal–winning gymnast Artem Dolgopyat are among the most-known competitors from the region.

Adam Lucente

By Adam Lucente

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

Migrants from Tunisia and Lybia arrive onboard of an Italian Guardia Costiera (Coast Guard) boat in the Italian Pelagie Island of Lampedusa on Aug. 1, 2020.

Analysis

As Europe's far right surges, North Africa immigration takes center stage

The election of far-right politicians in power across Europe will impact EU policy toward North Africa, which has proven to be an invaluable energy partner since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022.

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

A man rides a motorcycle near a burning Turkish truck during protests against Turkey in al-Bab, in the northern Syrian opposition held region of Aleppo on July 1, 2024.

4 dead in northern Syria protests following Turkey's anti-refugee riots

The riots targeting Syrian refugees in central Turkey have led to anti-Turkey protests in northern Syria.

Exterior view of the U.S. Capitol building prior to a roundtable discussion on Supreme Court Ethics conducted by Democrats of the House Oversight and Accountability Committee at the Rayburn House Office Building on June 11, 2024 in Washington, DC.

House spending bill erases UNRWA, Gaza pier funding, blocks refugee resettlement

President Joe Biden has threatened to veto the House-passed State, Foreign Operations bill if it reaches his desk.

Sudanese drivers rest on May 14, 2023 after transporting evacuees from Sudan into Egypt, in Wadi Karkar village near Aswan.

Egyptian authorities arbitrarily arresting Sudanese, Amnesty says

The alleged mass arrests and forced expulsions of Sudanese coincide with the raging war in Sudan, where fears of foreign interference are growing.

ANWAR AMRO/AFP via Getty Images

Analysis

Real or ruse, Hamas' yes to cease-fire proposal catches Netanyahu off guard

Caught by surprise by the Palestinian militant group agreeing to an Egyptian deal, the Israeli prime minister has opted for a limited incursion into eastern Rafah.

In Tel Aviv, reporting on national security, Israeli politics, defense

People from states of Khartoum and al-Jazira, displaced by the ongoing conflict in Sudan between the army and paramilitaries, queue to receive aid from a charity organisation in Gedaref on December 30, 2023. (Photo by AFP) (Photo by -/AFP via Getty Images)

Sudan’s Burhan arrives in Libya as war leaves more than 8 million displaced

Eastern Libya-based military strongman Khalifa Hifter has been accused of fueling the conflict in neighboring Sudan by sending weapons and other supplies to paramilitary forces fighting the Sudanese army.

People who fled war-torn Sudan wait at a railway station in the Egyptian city of Aswan on April 28, 2023.

How Egypt’s takeover of UNHCR asylum claims will impact vulnerable refugees

The Egyptian government is preparing to assume the role of registering and determining asylum claims, which could have drastic consequences for people seeking asylum in Egypt.