Middle East

Israeli soldiers load shells onto a tank Sunday at a staging area in southern Israel near the border with Gaza. The army is battling Palestinian militants across Gaza in the war ignited by Hamas' Oct. 7 attack into Israel.

World News

Israel pulls thousands of troops from Gaza as combat focuses on 1 city: Khan Younis

9:31am January 01, 2024

by The Associated Press

It's the first significant drawdown of troops since the war began, and could signal that fighting is being scaled back in some areas. But the biggest city in southern Gaza still is fiercely contested.

Are U.S. interests served by the country supporting Israel's war on Hamas?

7:16am January 01, 2024

NPR's Michel Martin speaks with analysts Yousef Munayyer and Jonathan Schanzer about American interests in continuing to support Israel in its war against Hamas.

U.S. forces say they killed the boat crews in a Houthi ship attack in the Red Sea

4:17pm December 31, 2023

by The Associated Press

Hours before the attack on the container ship, the U.S. military said it had shot down two missiles fired toward the same ship

Palestinians visit the graves of people killed in an Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip and buried inside the Shifa Hospital grounds in Gaza City, on Sunday, Dec. 31, 2023.

World News

Israeli strikes in Gaza kill at least 35; Netanyahu says 'many months' of war ahead

2:07pm December 31, 2023

by The Associated Press

Residents reported strikes in the Gaza's central region, the latest focus of the nearly three-month air and ground war that has now engulfed most of the territory.

World News

The Israeli army attacked a U.N. aid convoy along a route it designated safe

8:13am December 31, 2023

by Rob Schmitz

NPR's Rob Schmitz talks with Tom White, director of Gaza affairs for the UN Relief and Works Agency. He says his agency's aid workers have been hit several times while operating in Gaza.

World News

Inside a rare Jerusalem school where Israelis and Palestinians go to class together

7:53am December 31, 2023

by Eleanor Beardsley

At a rare high school in Jerusalem where Israeli Jews and Palestinians go to class together, teachers talk about how they're trying to teach empathy amid war between Israel and Hamas.

Ten-month-old Ahmin Esas, who was born with clubfoot, shares a moment with his mother and brother in the family's home near Battambang, Cambodia. As a single parent with limited means, his mother, Pho Sok overcame many challenges to ensure her son could receive the treatment he needed.

Unforgettable global photos of 2023: Drone pix, a disappearing island, happiness

7:16am December 31, 2023

by Gabriel Spitzer

Pictures of happiness, of a disappearing Sierra Leonean island, of a pair of flip-flop-clad feet poking out of the Indian Ocean surf: Here are our photo stories from 2023 that we won't forget.

Scenes from the year's top global TikToks.

Top global TikToks of 2023: Mr. Bean of math, makeup demo, capybaras!

12:57pm December 30, 2023

by Danielle Preiss

The most popular global TikToks of the year are a mix of the over-the-top, the weird and the wonderful. Here's a closer look at five favorites.

Palestinians look at the destruction after an Israeli strike in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip, on Friday.

World News

Airstrikes hit refugee camps in Gaza as U.S. approves new weapons sales to Israel

10:31am December 30, 2023

by The Associated Press

Israeli warplanes struck two urban refugee camps in central Gaza on Saturday, as the Biden administration approved a new $147.5 million emergency weapons sale to Israel.

World News

Tensions between Israel and Hezbollah rise amid fears of the war spilling over

8:07am December 30, 2023

We look at the increase in tensions between Hezbollah militants and Israel on the Lebanese border, as Israel ramps up its offensive in Gaza.