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Iraq
Oman urges de-escalation during Iran FM visit
Muscat, Oman — Oman's foreign minister called Sunday for de-escalation during a visit by his Iranian counterpart who started a regional tour in Muscat where he met a spokesperson for Yemen's Houthi rebels.
The visit by Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian came almost a week after an airstrike in Damascus leveled the Iranian Embassy's consular annex and further raised regional tensions.
The attack, which Tehran blamed on Israel, killed seven Islamic Revolutionary...
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Israel says it hit Hezbollah sites in eastern Lebanon
Beirut — Israel's military said Sunday its warplanes had struck Hezbollah sites in eastern Lebanon, where the Iran-backed group has a strong presence, in retaliation for one of its drones being downed.
A source close to Hezbollah told an AFP correspondent in eastern Lebanon's Baalbek region that the strikes targeted Janta and Sifri in the Bekaa Valley, around 80 kilometers (50 miles) from the closest Israeli frontier.
The Israeli military said on Telegram that "fighter...
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'Show must go on' for Iranian journalist stabbed in London
LONDON — A journalist for an independent Iranian media outlet in London stabbed outside his home last week has returned to work, saying "the show must go on."
Pouria Zeraati, a presenter for Iran International, needed hospital treatment for leg wounds suffered in the March 29 attack.
The 36-year-old said the stabbing was a "warning shot."
"The fact that they just stopped in my leg was their choice," he told ITV News.
"They had the opportunity to kill me...
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Iran renews vow to avenge strike in Syria attributed to Israel
ISFAHAN, Iran — A top military commander Saturday renewed Iran's promise to retaliate after an airstrike earlier this week widely blamed on Israel destroyed Iran's Consulate in Syria, killing 12 people, including two elite Iranian generals.
General Mohammad Bagheri, Iran's joint chief of staff, told mourners gathered for the funeral of General Mohammad Reza Zahedi that Iran will decide when and how to stage an "operation" to take revenge. Zahedi was the...
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Iran arrests 3 suspected Islamic State group militants
Tehran, Iran — Iranian police have arrested three suspected members of the Islamic State group who were plotting attacks at the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, state media reported Saturday.
Those arrested in the city of Karaj in the northwestern province of Alborz included Mohammed Zaker, who was identified as "a senior member" of the group, according to the official IRNA news agency.
"The police in Alborz province arrested three members of the Islamic State...
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For families of hostages, it's a race against time as war reaches 6 months
JERUSALEM — It’s the last wish of a dying mother, to be with her daughter once more. But six months into Israel's war against Hamas, time is running out for Liora Argamani, who hopes to stay alive long enough to see her kidnapped daughter come home.
“I want to see her one more time. Talk to her one more time,” said Argamani, 61, who has stage four brain cancer. “I don’t have a lot of time left in this world.”
Noa Argamani was abducted from a music festival October 7 when Hamas-led...
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Rights groups say Israel's strike that killed aid workers was no anomaly
CAIRO — Two basic mistakes, according to the Israeli military.
First, officers overlooked a message detailing the vehicles in the convoy. Second, a spotter saw someone boarding a car, carrying something — possibly a bag — that he thought was a weapon. Officials say the result was the series of Israeli drone strikes that killed seven aid workers on a dark Gaza Strip road.
The Israeli military has described the deadly strike on the World Central Kitchen convoy as a tragic error. Its...
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Israeli troops recover body of hostage from Gaza, military says
JERUSALEM — Israeli commandos have recovered the body of a hostage held in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, the military said on Saturday, three months after he pleaded for his release in a video issued by his Islamic Jihad captors.
Elad Katzir, a 47-year-old farmer from Kibbutz Nir Oz, was among 260 people dragged into Gaza during an October 7 cross-border rampage by Hamas-led gunmen that triggered Israel's ongoing offensive in the enclave.
Katzir was killed by Islamic Jihad,...
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After 6 months of war, much of Gaza reduced to rubble
gaza — Before the Israel-Hamas war erupted, the tiny enclave run by the Palestinian militant group Hamas was impoverished and densely populated, but full of life — restaurants, shops, makeshift soccer pitches, universities and hospitals.
Six months after the conflict began, Reuters cameramen rode bicycles along the Gaza Strip's ruined streets to gauge the destruction left by Israeli air strikes that have killed more than 33,000 people in retaliation for Hamas's October 7 attack on...
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Experts see ‘breaking point’ for US policy toward Israel
Israel has been quick to react to a Biden administration warning Thursday that it must protect Palestinian civilians and aid workers or lose the unconditional support of the United States. VOA's Senior Diplomatic Correspondent Cindy Saine reports from the State Department.
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Worrying signs exist that IS growing stronger in Syria
washington — Slowly but surely, the Islamic State terror group seems to be regaining its footing in Syria, launching new and brazen attacks against forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
Just-released data from U.S. Central Command, which oversees U.S. forces across the Middle East and South Asia, puts the number of Islamic State fighters in Syria and Iraq at about 2,500 — more than double estimates from late January.
And a series of new studies is adding to the concern.
The...
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UN rights council accuses Israel of war crimes against Palestinians
GENEVA — The U.N. Human Rights Council overwhelmingly adopted a resolution Friday calling for Israel to be held accountable for possible war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza. Only six countries voted against the resolution, which passed with 28 votes in favor and 13 abstentions.
The council chamber erupted in a wild burst of applause when the results of the vote were announced to the glee of the many countries that supported the resolution and to the dismay of those that did...
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Rights lawyers go to court to stop German arms deliveries to Israel
berlin — Human rights lawyers said Friday they had filed an urgent appeal against Germany's government to stop exports of war weapons to Israel, citing reasons to believe they were being used in ways violating international humanitarian law in Gaza.
A Dutch court has ordered the Netherlands to block all exports of F-35 fighter jet parts to Israel over concerns they were being used for attacks on civilian targets in the Israeli-besieged Gaza Strip, where tens of thousands have been...
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Six months into war, UN chief demands 'quantum leap' in Gaza aid
UNITED NATIONS — The U.N. secretary-general warned on Friday that children are dying in Gaza from hunger and dehydration and said a “quantum leap” in the delivery of lifesaving aid is urgently needed.
“When the gates to aid are closed, the doors to starvation are opened,” Antonio Guterres told reporters.
He said as the six-month mark in the war between Israel and Hamas approaches on Sunday that the “speed, scale and inhumane ferocity” of the war mark it as one of the deadliest conflicts...
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Yemen Houthis continue to attack Israel
The Iranian-backed Houthis have fired dozens of long-range missiles at Israel since the war in Gaza began, most of which have been shot down. As the war continues, there is concern the Houthi attacks could spark a regional confrontation. Linda Gradstein reports for VOA from Jerusalem. VOA footage by Ricki Rosen.
Categories: Iraq
In Northeast Syrian markets, US dollar is king
Qamishli, Syria — In an economy largely shattered by a 13-year conflict, most business owners and shopkeepers in northeast Syria would be content to receive a few customers each day. But it would certainly make them happier if such customers paid in U.S. dollars.
"If you don’t have Syrian money, no problem, I take any U.S. dollar bill you have," a teenage fruit vendor in the Kurdish-majority city of Qamishli told VOA as he was trying to sell his produce.
"If you buy these...
Categories: Iraq
Analysis: 6 months into Gaza war, Israel faces deepening isolation
JERUSALEM/CAIRO — Six months into the war in Gaza, the killing of a group of aid workers by an Israeli air strike summed up both the dire humanitarian crisis and the lack of a clear way out of a conflict that is leaving Israel increasingly isolated.
The attack on Monday night that killed seven staff of the World Central Kitchen (WCK) aid group, including six foreigners, has angered even some of Israel's closest allies, adding to growing pressure for an end to the...
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