Middle East

Riyadh: Sheikh Saleh bin Fawzan bin Abdullah Al-Fawzan has been appointed Grand Mufti of Saudi Arabia and the Chairman of the Council of Senior Scholars. The appointment was made by royal decree and based on a proposal by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Saudi Press Agency reported on Wednesday. The 90-year-old religious scholar will also undertake the role of president of the General Presidency

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says the regime’s military showered the besieged Gaza Strip with 153 tons of bombs on Sunday, in a brazen admission to violating a ceasefire agreement between the occupying entity and the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas. Netanyahu made the acknowledgment at the opening of the Israeli parliament (Knesset)’s winter session on Monday as he faced

The al-Mayadeen television news channel reported that the civilians were targeted in a series of air raids that struck an area between Msayleh and an-Najjariyah towns in the Sidon district of South Lebanon governorate early on Saturday. Local sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the Israeli assaults hit excavation equipment and bulldozers, adding that efforts are being made to reopen

The Israeli military has warned Palestinians not to return to northern Gaza, as it carries out fresh airstrikes across the blockaded territory despite a newly announced ceasefire meant to halt the genocidal war. In a statement on Thursday, the Israeli military’s Arabic-language spokesperson, Avichay Adraee, claimed that the area north of Wadi Gaza - the valley dividing the central and northern

Gaza / Cairo / Washington: Even as diplomatic delegations prepare to meet in Cairo to finalize a long-awaited ceasefire, Israel’s relentless bombardment of Gaza continued through the night, striking not only Gaza City but also the so-called “safe zones” where Palestinians had been told to evacuate for their own protection. Residents described a night of horror, with heavy artillery, airstrikes

Global reactions — including from key mediators — to Hamas’s partial acceptance of US President Donald Trump’s 20-point Gaza peace plan were filled with cautious optimism, as hopes rise for an end to the two-year war on Gaza. Late on Friday, the Palestinian group announced readiness to release all remaining captives and hand over power to other Palestinian factions, while noting that certain

A US Army veteran and former contractor for Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) says Israel established the US-backed scheme to “weaponize” aid distribution in the Gaza Strip in a bid to force Palestinians out of the besieged territory amid the genocidal war. Anthony Aguilar made the remarks during the annual convention of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee in Dearborn, Michigan. He

Riyadh, Sep 23: Sheikh Abdulaziz bin Abdullah Al-Sheikh, the Grand Mufti of Saudi Arabia and Chairman of the Council of Senior Scholars, has passed away at the age of 82, the Saudi Royal Court announced on Tuesday. According to the statement, funeral prayers for Sheikh Abdulaziz Al-Sheikh will be performed after the Asr (afternoon) prayer today at the Imam Turki bin Abdullah Mosque in Riyadh

A growing number of countries are officially recognizing Palestine as an independent state, amid mounting international outrage over Israel’s ongoing genocide in Gaza. France and other countries prepared to recognize a Palestinian state as the UN's centerpiece diplomatic week gets underway Monday, following a rash of Western governments in symbolicly endorsing statehood and sparking Israel's wrath

The Israeli military has warned it would operate with “unprecedented force” in Gaza City, urging residents to flee southwards while announcing the closure of a temporary evacuation route opened 48 hours earlier. Israel’s bid to capture Gaza City has sparked international outrage, with the territory already devastated by nearly two years of war and gripped by a UN-declared famine. It comes ahead of