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    Middle East

    Yesterday

    An Israeli soldier directs a tank near the border with the southern part of the Gaza Strip.

    Top UN court orders Israel to stop Rafah operation

    Israel is unlikely to comply with the order from the International Court of Justice, but the ruling adds more pressure to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

    • 1 hr ago
    • Mike Corder
    Increasingly isolated: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

    International court has received $50m from Australian taxpayers

    Australia is one of the biggest bankrollers of the International Criminal Court, which wants to arrest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

    • Updated
    • Andrew Tillett
    Campus protests will not affect Israel.

    Who’s in more trouble: Israel or Iran?

    Middle East conflict is making Iran’s clerical regime seem ever more fragile, and Israel’s sense of nationhood even stronger.

    • Bret Stephens

    This Month

    A Palestinian demonstrator carries a mock rocket and the Hamas militant group flag during clashes with Israeli forces in the West Bank city of Jenin

    Furious Israel pulls funding after Palestinian state recognition

    Tel Aviv will not transfer much-needed funds to the Palestinian Authority after three European countries decided to recognise a Palestinian state.

    • Aaron Boxerman
    Ireland’s three government leaders from left, Eamon Ryan, Simon Harris and Micheal Martin make their announcement in Dublin.

    Norway, Ireland, Spain recognise Palestinian state in ‘historic’ move

    Israel’s foreign minister branded the three countries’ decision a “distorted step”, which shows “terrorism pays” and immediately recalled its ambassadors.

    • Joseph Wilson
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    The funeral service for hostage Shani Louk in Srigim-Li On, Israel.

    Dutton open to cutting ties with ICC over Netanyahu arrest warrant

    Opposition Leader Peter Dutton has floated cutting ties with the International Criminal Court amid a deepening political row over an arrest warrant being sought for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

    • Updated
    • Andrew Tillett
    Israelis in Jerusalem resumed their anti-government protests this week, but support is turning.

    Why ICC arrest warrants are rare good news for Netanyahu

    Israel’s prime minister, a renowned political phoenix, may have been given a political lifeline and a boost of public support, though this may be short-lived.

    • Isabel Kershner
    Whoever succeeds Iran’s late president Ebrahim Raisi will have to bow to the same forces.

    President’s death shows an Iran with few cards left to play

    The death of president Ebrahim Raisi opens the way for a dynastic succession to Iran’s supreme leadership. The regime’s chief goal now is protecting the status quo.

    • Patrick Gibbons
    Rescue workers at the scene of the helicopter crash that killed Iran’s president and foreign minister this week.

    How sanctions played havoc with Iran’s ageing helicopters

    The US-made Bell 212 carrying the country’s president and foreign minister was almost 30 years old when it crashed into a mountainside.

    • John Paul Rathbone, Sylvia Pfeifer and Philip Georgiadis
    Mourners with portraits of President Ebrahim Raisi take to the streets in Tehran.

    Iran moves to project stability after fatal air crash

    The change in leadership comes during heightened tensions in the region and discontent in Iran, where many have called for an end to decades of repressive rule.

    • Farnaz Fassihi, Vivian Yee and Leily Nikounazar
    Joe Biden told Benjamin 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.

    PM’s refusal to slap down international court ‘tarnishes’ Australia

    Jewish groups and Peter Dutton say Anthony Albanese should join the US and condemn the International Criminal Court’s pursuit of Benjamin Netanyahu over war crimes.

    • Andrew Tillett
    Mourners with portraits of President Ebrahim Raisi take to the streets in Tehran on Monday.

    Death of Ebrahim Raisi to test unity of Iran’s hardline factions

    An emergency presidential election next month could drive the tense political rivalry among loyalists of the theocratic system to a new level.

    • Najmeh Bozorgmehr

    Political bombshell hits Israel’s leaders over Gaza war

    The application by the ICC prosecutor for the arrest warrant for Benjamin Netanyahu is loaded with symbolic and practical implications.

    • James Shotter
    Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar.
Uploaded 21st May 2024
Photo: AP

    Outrage over Netanyahu war-crimes arrest warrant

    Joe Biden called the ICC prosecutor’s decision “outrageous”, adding “there is no equivalence – none – between Israel and Hamas”.

    • Updated
    • Josef Federman
    The ICC has applied for an arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

    Arrest warrants huge blow for Israel and massive gamble by ICC

    The question of how the US president responds to this, along with Congress, now becomes critical.

    • Updated
    • Gideon Rachman
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    Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

    Little-known vice president named as interim Iranian president

    Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has named the first vice president, Mohammad Mokhber, as caretaker, in line with the constitution.

    • Jon Gambrell
    Hossein Amirabdollahian was also involved in efforts to reach a détente with regional rival Saudi Arabia in 2023.

    Foreign Minister another hardliner close to Revolutionary Guard

    Hossein Amirabdollahian represented the hardline shift in Iran after the collapse of Tehran’s nuclear deal with world powers when Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew.

    • Jon Gambrell
    Smoke rises following an Israeli airstrike in the Gaza Strip, as seen from southern Israel.

    Australia considers declaring Middle East no-go zones

    ASIO and the Federal Police remain concerned about terrorism in Australia amid tensions in the Middle East.

    • Andrew Tillett
    Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi in Ankara in January.

    Iran’s hardline president dies in helicopter crash

    Officials have confirmed the deaths of President Ebrahim Raisi and Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian in a helicopter crash, state media reported.

    • Updated
    • Jon Gambrell
    Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s plan for defeating  Hamas and for post-war Gaza is now a source of internal political division within Israel.

    Hamas’ defeat, helping Ukraine win, best for West

    The sooner Israel defeats Hamas, the better. And also the sooner the US focuses attention on helping Ukraine win the war, the better.

    • The AFR View