Houthis vow support for Iran against Israel, confirm coordination
Speaking to Al Jazeera Mubasher on Tuesday, Mohammed al-Bukhaiti, a member of the group's political bureau, confirmed the Houthis are in ongoing coordination with Tehran as confrontations with Israel escalate.
The Houthis, who have already launched several attacks targeting Israel in solidarity with Gaza, announced on Sunday that their latest operations were carried out in coordination with Iran—marking the first time a Tehran-backed faction has publicly admitted to direct cooperation on such strikes.
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Middle East Eye
2 hours ago
- Middle East Eye
France freeze on Gaza evacuations 'predates alleged antisemitic incident'
A freeze by France on evacuations of Palestinians from Gaza precedes a claimed incident of antisemitism by a Palestinian evacuee, according to media reports. On 1 August, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot announced the suspension of evacuations from Gaza following the discovery of alleged antisemitic posts by a Palestinian student who had been evacuated by French authorities. The student, who was due to pursue studies at Sciences Po Lille next year, was deported to Qatar. Middle East Eye has not been able to independently verify the alleged posts in question. Left wing politicians and human rights groups condemned the decision to freeze all evacuations as a result. New MEE newsletter: Jerusalem Dispatch Sign up to get the latest insights and analysis on Israel-Palestine, alongside Turkey Unpacked and other MEE newsletters In an op-ed, more than 1,600 academics denounced a "chilling cynicism", accusing "France [of] exacerbating its participation in the Israeli project of erasure and extermination of Palestinians underway in the Gaza Strip". However, according to French outlet Mediapart, the suspension of evacuations predates the incident involving the Palestinian student. The French outlet contacted Palestinians who had been selected to participate in PAUSE, a program to bring artists and scientists in exile to France. Candidates were offered positions at higher education institutions or universities in France. France freezes Gaza evacuations after evacuee's alleged antisemitic posts Read More » The Palestinians on the scheme told Mediapart that French authorities, through their consulate in occupied East Jerusalem, had told them they would be evacuated before the summer. They learned afterwards - well before the alleged antisemitic incident - that their evacuations had been postponed without explanation. "We initially thought it was because of the war between Israel and Iran", one of the respondents told Mediapart. 'Then there was a resumption of evacuations, around 20 June, but only of students leaving alone, without their families." In response to their requests for clarification, French authorities urged the students to "be patient" and said they were encountering complications securing visas for family members. French officials told the Palestinians affected that they were nevertheless trying to resolve the complications. Cogat, the Israeli military agency responsible for civil affairs in the occupied Palestinian territories, denied in a statement to Mediapart that Israel had been restricting the departure of Gaza residents. 'Ad hoc or political' evacuations Seperately, the French foreign ministry has stopped responding to inquiries about the evacuation of sick Palestinian children. A number of children have been awaiting transfer since May, Mediapart reported, citing Doctors Without Borders (MSF). The outlet spoke to Hani Isleem, a project coordinator at MSF who handles medical evacuations from Gaza. France's recognition of Palestinian state: A 'symbolic' move with questionable effectiveness Read More » According to Isleem, French hospitals have the capacity to accommodate these patients but the country had not moved to evacuate them. A diplomatic source said "France carries out medical evacuations for the benefit of injured or sick children from Gaza within the framework of a criteria that has been put in place by and is managed by WHO [World Health Organisation". The WHO estimates that at least 12,000 sick and wounded Palestinians are awaiting evacuation from Gaza. Paris announced on 20 March that it had taken in 25 Gazan patients since the beginning of 2024. President Emmanuel Macron had promised in November 2023 that France would evacuate up to 50 if necessary. In total, since the beginning of 2025, Paris has evacuated 292 Palestinians, according to the ministry of foreign affairs. Isleem denounced French evacuations as "ad hoc or political" and intended for public relations purposes. France is one of several western states that has announced it will recognise a Palestinian state at the upcoming UN General Assembly in New York next month.
Middle East Eye
6 hours ago
- Middle East Eye
How Syria became the battleground for Israeli and Turkish influence
Watching the geopolitical landscape in the Middle East in recent months, it would be tempting to conclude that Israel's strategic position has improved. The same could be said for Turkey. Could this situation constitute a recipe for stability, or presage further troubles ahead? Although engaged in conflict on multiple fronts - Gaza, the occupied West Bank, Lebanon, Syria, Yemen, and Iran - Israel appears to have prevailed for the time being, while the Tehran-led 'axis of resistance' seems in disarray. Iran's military leadership and infrastructure were severely hit during the June war, which also damaged the state's nuclear programme, although how much it has been set back remains unclear. The Iranian response was muted after the US bombed the Fordow, Natanz and Isfahan nuclear sites on 22 June. Syria, meanwhile, is now ruled by a former al-Qaeda militant whose reputation was laundered at record speed by western democracies. Decades of American and European mobilisation against extremist groups such as the Islamic State and Hayat Tahrir al-Sham were tossed into the garbage within days, further confirming western double standards. New MEE newsletter: Jerusalem Dispatch Sign up to get the latest insights and analysis on Israel-Palestine, alongside Turkey Unpacked and other MEE newsletters Iran's main logistical route to support Hezbollah in Lebanon has thus been severed. As for the Lebanese movement itself, it has been severely weakened with the loss of leader Hassan Nasrallah and other top figures. It is now under strong pressure, both internal and international, to give up its military arsenal. At the same time, Israel's ruthlessness in Gaza, which has been turned into a massive killing field as starving civilians queue to receive limited humanitarian aid, has degraded much of its international support. But Israel's extremist government does not really care about the world's opinion, as long as western nations continue to provide support (and others, such as Russia and China, remain inexplicably neutral). Unprovoked strikes As for Turkey, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan recently succeeded in neutralising the main security threat along its southeastern border, the Kurdistan Workers' Party. It also prevailed in its long-sought objective to remove Bashar al-Assad from power in Syria, replacing him with Ahmed al-Sharaa. And last but not least, Ankara has bolstered its global reputation as the go-to mediator in the Russia-Ukraine war. Alongside Israel, Turkey has become a top regional actor. In this context, any path towards stability in such a volatile setting must now inevitably involve both Israel and Turkey - and both are prepared to rebuff US pressure, in ways few other American allies could dream of doing. Unsurprisingly, suspicions about Washington's real intentions run deep in Turkey. Ankara believes that ultimately, the US will always prioritise Israel Syria could become one of the most important stress tests for this dynamic. Last month, Israel carried out air strikes against Syrian regime positions amid clashes between Druze and Bedouin communities in southern Syria. While Israel said its goal was to protect the Druze, its actual policy seems to be focused on disarming the area south of Damascus to expand its own 'buffer zone'. This is not even to mention how, in the immediate aftermath of Assad's collapse, Israel launched a series of unprovoked air strikes on Syria, levelling the state's military infrastructure - to the usual deafening silence of western democracies. Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Turkey and other regional states have expressed their support for Syria's unity, while Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan has warned that Turkey could intervene if separatist groups - such as the Druze, viewed by Ankara as an agent of Israel - attempt to divide and destabilise Syria. There has also been speculation that Israel may try to void its 1974 ceasefire deal with Syria, in search of a new security arrangement that would give Israel a presence beyond the Golan Heights for a five-year transitional period, according to a regional security source. Considering how easily Israel turns transitional periods into permanent ones, it would be normal to expect such a move to ignite serious concerns in Damascus, and possibly also Ankara. Suspicions run deep At the same time, the Syrian government's recent attempt to subdue Druze areas has caused concerns among the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), who fear that in such a scenario, they could become the next target - although so far, they have benefitted from US protection. In this context, Turkey does not appear ready to come to Sharaa's defence, and it is unclear as to whether it would be able to compromise with Israel on agreed spheres of influence. In a hypothetical division, the southern part of Syria up to the outskirts of Damascus could fall under Israeli influence, and the rest - except for the SDF heartland east of the Euphrates - under Turkish influence. In such a configuration, the SDF would count on American support as a bulwark against Turkish attacks. How this would work in practice would be an open question. Syria after Assad: How Israel and the US are accelerating plans to partition the country Read More » Another significant stress test may soon come into play with regard to US diplomacy in the area. The US ambassador to Turkey, Tom Barrack, an American of Lebanese origin, has a significant advantage in Washington: a direct line to President Donald Trump. He is also the special envoy for Syria, with a mandate to stabilise the political situation in Lebanon. This is quite an extensive mandate for a single figure in a highly volatile region - a clear signal that Washington might be aiming for a comprehensive approach. Unsurprisingly, suspicions about Washington's real intentions run deep in Turkey. Ankara believes that ultimately, the US will always prioritise Israel. But the future remains uncertain. Can Washington rein in two of its major regional allies to avoid a scenario in which a deeply divided Syria, pulled in different directions by competing spheres of influence, could be the spark that ignites another major conflict? The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Eye.
Middle East Eye
6 hours ago
- Middle East Eye
Israeli forces detain 19 people, including disabled man, in West Bank
Israeli military forces detained a young Palestinian man with disabilities and two brothers during a pre-dawn incursion in the town of Kafr ad-Dik, west of Salfit in the occupied West Bank, according to the Wafa news agency. According to local sources, Israeli soldiers arrested Ramadan Jasser ad-Dik, a man with special needs, along with brothers Zahi and Amr Ibrahim ad-Dik, following a large-scale raid on several homes in the town. According to the Palestinian Prisoners' Media Office, 19 Palestinians were arrested today in West Bank in areas including Am'ari, Bethlehem, el-Bireh and Hebron, Qalqilya, Salfit and Jenin. Israeli forces keep position during a military raid in Kafr Aqab east of Ramallah in the occupied West Bank on 7 October 2024 (Zain Jaafar/AFP)
