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Middle East

Today

Pro-Palestinian demonstrators at an encampment at Columbia University on April 22.

Why the campus protests are so troubling

Hamas is against the existence of a Jewish state and believes there should be an Islamic state between the river and the sea. When protests on college campuses ignore that, they are part of the problem.

  • Thomas Friedman

The history of the two-state solution (in six maps)

The world is still searching for a path to peaceful co-existence by Israelis and Palestinians.

  • Updated
  • Emma Connors and Hans van Leeuwen
Israeli soldiers drive a tank at a staging ground near the border with the Gaza Strip.

Halting the bombs: Biden’s gamble to rein in Netanyahu

The US president paused a weapons shipment to Israel, piling pressure on Israel’s leader to change course. Will it work?

  • James Politi, Felicia Schwartz and Mehul Srivastava
Palestinians headed to a makeshift tent camp west of Rafah on Friday.

Defiant Israel orders more Palestinians to flee Rafah

Benjamin Netanyahu insists that he must maintain military pressure in Gaza to eradicate Hamas despite warnings from the US and others.

  • Updated
  • Wafaa Shurafa and Sam Mednick

Yesterday

The resolution “determines” that a state of Palestine is qualified for membership.

Australia’s ‘yes’ vote on Palestine at UN slammed by Labor MP

Penny Wong said Australia’s support for Palestinian statehood will help to broker peace, but a Labor MP has argued it will further isolate Jewish Australians.

  • Updated
  • Matthew Cranston
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This Month

Foreign Minister Penny Wong.

Australia considers voting yes on Palestine’s UN bid

Penny Wong says abstaining is a common diplomatic practice, amid pressure to admit Palestine as a United Nations member.

  • Andrew Tillett

Lowy’s lament: ‘I know how insidious antisemitism can be’

Sir Frank Lowy experienced hatred against Jews first hand in Hitler’s Europe, and is shaken by what he now sees “leaking out of decent people” in Australia.

  • Jill Margo
Biden told Netanyahu last month, following the killing of World Central Kitchen aid workers in an Israeli strike, that ongoing US support for the war would depend on new steps to protect civilians.

‘We’ll fight with our fingernails’: Netanyahu hits back at Biden

The Israeli prime minister defiantly says the country is prepared to stand alone if necessary if it attacks Rafah to further its destruction of Hamas.

  • Updated
  • Shira Rubin, Michael Birnbaum and Karen DeYoung
Israeli soldiers work on armored military vehicles at a staging ground near the Israeli-Gaza border.

Biden says US will not supply weapons for attack on Rafah

The US president’s ultimatum is aimed at trying to deter Israel’s planned operation in Gaza.

  • Updated
  • Zeke Miller and Aamer Madhani
 So long as Hamas – a terrorist organisation – holds the political baton among Palestinians, Australia should not support the UN resolution.

Why now is not the time for Palestinian statehood

We cannot just hope that Hamas will lay down its arms – it will never happen. Nor can we hope that an alternative Palestinian Authority will emerge. We need to demand it, as a pre-condition of any form of recognition.

  • Jeremy Leibler
Russian President Vladimir Putin

Why Gaza is an endless gift for Vladimir Putin

Israel’s war on Hamas is a serious drain for Joe Biden as he heads towards the US presidential election.

  • Edward Luce
Benjamin Netanyahu at a ceremony marking Holocaust Remembrance Day at Yad Vashem, the World Holocaust Remembrance Centre, in Jerusalem on Monday.

Can the ICC actually arrest Benjamin Netanyahu?

The International Criminal Court is entitled to judge Israeli and Hamas officials, writes one of its former presidents.

  • Chile Eboe-Osuji
Palestinians look at the destruction after an Israeli strike on a residential building in Rafah.

US reveals weapons shipment to Israel halted

The United States withheld 3500 bombs last week out of concern that they might be used in a major assault against the southern Gaza city, officials said.

  • Peter Baker
Benjamin Netanyahu this week took a characteristic path: he bought time.

Benjamin Netanyahu’s dilemma: save the hostages or his government

In one of the biggest gambles of his career, Israel’s premier sent troops into Rafah to raise pressure on Hamas – and buy time.

  • Neri Zilber, Mehul Srivastava and Andrew England
Incursion: An Israeli soldier walks near an armoured personnel carrier near the border with the southern Gaza Strip.

White House piles ceasefire pressure on Netanyahu as tanks roll into Rafah

White House national security spokesman John Kirby urged negotiators to come to an agreement after Israel launched a “limited” assault on Rafah, in the south of Gaza.

  • Nataliya Vasilyeva, Tony Diver and Abbie Cheeseman
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The United Nations General Assembly may vote on Palestinian membership this week.

Palestinians seek UN General Assembly backing for full membership

It would effectively act as a global survey of how much support the Palestinians have for their bid, which was vetoed in the UN Security Council last month by the US.

  • Michelle Nichols
A soldier directs Israeli tanks near a border crossing to the southern Gaza Strip, Israel, on Sunday.

Israel takes control of Rafah border crossing

The Israeli 401st Brigade entered the Rafah crossing early on Tuesday local time, the Israeli military said, taking “operational control” of the vital pass.

  • Updated
  • Mohammad Salem and Nidal al-Mughrabi
Smoke rises following an Israeli airstrike east of Rafah

What’s in the ceasefire deal Hamas backs, but Israel does not?

The deal supported by Hamas would have seen three hostages released each week instead of three every three days, according to Israeli media reports.

  • Reuters
A makeshift tent city in Rafah.

Israel urges Rafah evacuation ahead of assault

Israel has described Rafah as the last significant Hamas stronghold after seven months of war, and its leaders have repeatedly said they need to carry out a ground invasion.

  • Updated
  • Sam Mednick and Josef Federman
Al Jazeera’s master control room at the network’s office in the West Bank city of Ramallah.

‘Dark day for media’: Israel shuts down Al Jazeera’s operations

The government accused the Qatari-funded satellite channel of being a “Hamas mouthpiece” and a threat to national security.

  • Kareem Fahim and Adela Suliman