WASHINGTON (AP) — Iraq and the U.S.-led military coalition resumed meetings Sunday on how to draw down troops who have been deployed there for years combating the Islamic State. The first long-awaited meeting took place Jan. 27, but had since been put on pause after Iran-backed militants struck a U.S. outpost in Jordan the very next day with a drone …
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Israeli strikes hit Rafah after Biden warns Netanyahu to have ‘credible’ plan to protect civilians
RAFAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — A series of Israeli strikes early Monday hit Rafah, the city on the southern edge of the Gaza Strip where 1.4 million Palestinians have fled to escape fighting elsewhere in the four-month Israel-Hamas war. Israel has been signaling its ground offensive in Gaza may soon target the densely populated city on the Egyptian border. On …
Read More »The economy of this Palestinian village depended on Israel. Then the checkpoint closed
NILIN, West Bank (AP) — Count the rings of the gnarled olive trees dotting Mohammed Mousa’s land in the West Bank village of Nilin: They’ve been here centuries, far before the Palestinian family’s livelihood came to depend on the whims of Israeli occupation. When Israel established a checkpoint near the Mousas’ land a decade ago, the family converted their ancestral …
Read More »Israeli strikes hit Rafah after Biden warns Netanyahu to have ‘credible’ plan to protect civilians
RAFAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — A series of Israeli strikes early Monday hit Rafah, the city on the southern edge of the Gaza Strip where 1.4 million Palestinians have fled to escape fighting elsewhere in the four-month Israel-Hamas war. Israel has been signaling its ground offensive in Gaza may soon target the densely populated city on the Egyptian border. On …
Read More »White House downplays Biden, national security aide’s blunt comments on Israel
WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House on Friday sought to downplay sharp criticism levied against Israel by President Joe Biden and a senior national security official over how Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government has conducted Israel’s four-month-old war aimed at rooting out Hamas militants from Gaza. Biden, speaking to reporters Thursday evening, called Israel’s military operations in Gaza “over the …
Read More »Biden is sending aides to Michigan to see Arab American and Muslim leaders over the Israel-Hamas war
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden is sending senior aides to Michigan on Thursday to meet with Arab American and Muslim leaders, according to three people familiar with the matter, as his administration’s handling of the Israel-Hamas war frustrates members of a key constituency in a 2024 battleground state. Some community leaders invited to the meeting said they welcome the …
Read More »Opinion piece about Detroit suburb is ‘racist and Islamophobic,’ Democrats say
LANSING, Mich. (AP) — An op-ed piece that dubbed a Detroit suburb “America’s jihad capital” is being condemned by two Democratic state lawmakers, who described it as “racist and Islamophobic” in a resolution presented Tuesday. Introduced by state Rep. Alabas Farhat and House Floor Leader Abraham Aiyash, the measure calls on The Wall Street Journal to retract the piece, which …
Read More »Michigan city ramps up security after op-ed calls it ‘America’s jihad capital’
DEARBORN, Mich. (AP) — Dearborn, Michigan, is ramping up its police presence in response to fallout from an opinion piece that described the city, which has the nation’s highest Muslim population per capita, as “America’s jihad capital.” Dearborn Mayor Abdullah Hammoud on Friday tweeted that city police increased security at places of worship and major infrastructure points as a “direct …
Read More »In Israel, France’s new foreign minister presses for a cease-fire to end ‘the tragedy in Gaza’
PARIS (AP) — France’s new foreign minister on Monday used his first visit to Israel to urge the government to allow an “ immediate cease-fire ” and a “massive influx” of humanitarian aid in Gaza. Foreign Minister Stéphane Séjourné, who became France’s top diplomat last month, met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem during his trip. Speaking later …
Read More »At least 6 Kurdish fighters are killed in a drone attack on a Syrian base housing US troops
BEIRUT (AP) — A drone attack on a base housing U.S. troops in eastern Syria killed six allied Kurdish fighters late Sunday, in the first significant attack in Syria or Iraq since the U.S. launched retaliatory strikes over the weekend against Iran-backed militias that have been targeting its forces in the region. The U.S.-backed, Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces said Monday …
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