Weeks of unrest in Egypt have left left scores dead and injured. Recent clashes have brought just this week’s death toll to at least twelve. More violence is feared as opposing sides – supporters and opponents of former Egyptian president Mohamed Morsi – ramp up for rival protests. Egypt’s army chief Abdel...

France is making a major push to highlight for U.S. officials that the Syrian regime has been using Sarin gas as part of its battle against rebels seeking the overthrow of the Bashar al-Assad regime. English-language French news outlets are reporting that Paris has cleaned out the cupboard: France has...

Al Qaeda affiliated terrorists are taking credit for two spectacular jailbreaks staged on Sunday in Iraq. The Los Angeles Times described the chaos and the sheer scope of the breakouts: Al Qaeda’s Iraqi affiliate, the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, issued a statement claiming responsibility for the dual...

A top member of Mahmoud Abbas’s Fatah faction is suing the Palestinian Authority (PA) president at the International Criminal Court (ICC) for intimidation and corruption. Mohammed Dahlan – a member of the Fatah Central Committee and the movement’s onetime strongman in Gaza – is seeking reparations for property he claims...

The Associated Press is reporting that Iran will snub the U.S. and decline to invite representatives from Washington to the August 4 inauguration of President-elect Hassan Rouhani: Spokesman Abbas Araghchi told a press conference Tuesday that leaders from all other countries, including Britain, have been invited to the swearing-in of Hasan Rouhani. Araghchi had...

Israeli intelligence fears that the violence in Syria will destabilize the country until it recognizably becomes a failed state, according to statements made Tuesday by Major General Aviv Kochavi, commander of military intelligence (MI). In a rare public appearance, Kochavi told newly graduated intelligence officers of the Israel Defense Forces...

Israel’s police and security services are upgrading their efforts to identify and arrest right-wing Jewish extremists targeting Israeli-Arabs and Palestinians. The national police and Shin Bet, Israel’s domestic security service, are aware of the actors behind some of the recent “price tag” attacks, which derive their name from the graffiti...

The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) have deployed one battery of the Iron Dome anti-missile system to Israel’s Red Sea port of Eilat. The decision was made by the Chief of Staff Lt.General Benny Gantz, after consultations with other commanders of the military and with an eye toward the increased threat...

The New York Times has evaluated the significance of statements made this weekend by Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, especially as they relate the possibility that Western overtures for new talks may prove successful: Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, threw some cold water on recent efforts to reinvigorate diplomatic...

As part of Jerusalem’s ongoing efforts to boost the peace initiative being pushed by Secretary of State John Kerry, Israel has agreed to release “hardcore” Palestinian prisoners. The concession may however prove insufficient to overcome Palestinian opposition to renewing negotiations between the parties. Palestinian factions have resisted exhortations by President Authority (PA) President Mahmoud...