Middle East

Gaza war is putting Egyptian-Israeli relations to the test

Israel-Hamas war

When the Israeli military seized control of the border crossing at Rafah, the Egyptian government seemed to be taken by surprise. Egypt’s government has stopped cooperating with aid shipments into Rafah. It’s also joined South Africa’s effort at the International Court of Justice to bring charges of genocide against Israel. Experts say the 45-year-old Egyptian-Israeli peace treaty is being put at risk. 

Yahya Sinwar, head of Hamas in Gaza, delivers a speech during a rally marking "Jerusalem Day," or Al-Quds Day, an annual celebration to support Palestinians in the holy city, at a soccer filed in Gaza City, Friday, April 14, 2023.

Who is Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar and what does he want? 

Israel-Hamas war

What does the halting of a recent shipment of US weapons to Israel mean for the war in Gaza?

Israel-Hamas war
International students in the US face many challenges as they adjust to new cultural norms.

Chaplains open doors for international students on campus

Sacred Nation
This photo provided by the Israel Defense Forces shows a tank with an Israel flag on it entering the Gazan side of the Rafah border crossing on Tuesday, May 7, 2024.

As Israel moves into Rafah, are ceasefire talks over? 

In the Israeli town of Tkuma, about 3 miles from the Gaza strip, vehicles in various states of destruction sit in a giant lot.

‘I’m processing’: Israelis and international tourists visit sites of Oct. 7 attacks 

Israel-Hamas war

Many visitors in Israel, both local and international have traveled within Israel to the sites of the Hamas attacks on Oct. 7, 2023. Host Marco Werman was in Israel recently and asked some of these visitors why they decided to visit these sites of violence. Their answers are varied — and complex.

Netanyahu says stopping the Gaza war now is ‘not an option’

Israel-Hamas war

As talks around a possible ceasefire in Gaza continue, Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Tuesday that the Israeli military is still planning to launch a ground offensive into Rafah. But there are signs that negotiators are getting closer to a ceasefire deal. 

boy in his room playing guitar

His stepfather took him to Syria in 2014. His ordeal had just begun.

Shadow of ISIS

When ISIS was in power, between 2014 and 2019, the terrorist group recruited and trained children to take part in its fight. Some were brought to Syria by their parents. Others were born there. These children became part of the global terrorist movement. And today, five years since the group was defeated, hundreds of these minors and adolescents remain detained in Syria.

Wafaa Mustafa was married to American ISIS fighter Russell Dennison.

‘We have no future’: A Syrian woman speaks about her life with an American ISIS member

Shadow of ISIS

When the terrorist group ISIS emerged in Syria in the last decade, some 30,000 foreign fighters went to Syria to fight for the group. Most were from Europe and Asia. About 300 Americans joined or attempted to join ISIS, including one woman who was married to an American ISIS fighter. 

Children stand outside tents at Roj detention camp in northern Syria.

‘Guantanamo on an epic scale’: Life inside ISIS detention camps in Syria

Shadow of ISIS

ISIS still conducts large-scale attacks like the one in Russia last month that killed about 130 people. In Syria, where the group originated, it continues to be active. One strategy to contain ISIS has been to hold thousands of people in detention camps in northeastern Syria.