Middle East Minute by AL-MONITOR

Al-Monitor's Elizabeth Hagedorn discusses how each presidential candidate would face the conflict in the Middle East if they won. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info .

Al-Monitor's Adam Lucente traveled to Pennsylvania, a critical swing state, to speak with Muslim, Jewish and Armenian voters on their views and preferred candidate in the 2024 US presidential election. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info .

Al-Monitor's associate editor in Beirut, Beatrice Farhat, reports on what Hochstein's trip means for the region, how even previously "safe" areas are increasingly being targeted and Lebanese outlook on the conflict as the US election nears. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info .

The Israeli defense chief postponed his trip to Washington on Tuesday as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu prepared for a Wednesday morning call with President Biden, which Vice President Kamala Harris also joined. Meanwhile, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi traveled to Riyadh, where he met with Saudi Crown Prince MBS. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy N...

Al-Monitor's Jack Dutton interviews MAGNiTT CEO Philip Bahoshy on global investors interest in MENA startups. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info .

A conversation with Al-Monitor's Rina Bassist and Daoud Kuttab on how the past year has changed the region as we knew it with the anniversary of the Oct. 7 attacks, when Hamas fighters brutally murdered nearly 1,200 in southern Israel, taking 251 hostages and the ensuing war in Gaza began. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do...

While Israel vowed to retaliate after Iran launched around 200 ballistic missiles at the Jewish state Tuesday night, US President Joe Biden said on Wednesday that he would not support an Israeli attack on Iranian nuclear sites, leading many to wonder where, when and what Israel intends to hit. Iranian journalist Mohammad Reza Mousavi gives insight into how he sees Tehran calculating an Israeli res...

In Lebanon, at least 569 people have been killed and over 1,835 others injured since Israel  increased  its airstrikes in Lebanon, while world leaders meeting in New York at the UN General Assembly rush to convene diplomatic channels to avert a regional war. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info .

The Israeli military intensified its airstrikes in south and east Lebanon on Monday, warning Lebanese citizens to evacuate areas where Hezbollah may be storing weapons, Al-Monitor's Beatrice Farhat reporting from Beirut gives us the latest on the ground. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info .

Al-Monitor's Gabrielle Debinski and Tyler Huffman report on why Israeli officials, choosing between three options, made a decision on Tuesday to detonate pagers used by Hezbollah operatives. The pager attacks killed at least 12 people, including two children, and left around 2,800 others injured. On Wednesday more explosions followed as hand-held radios detonated, killing at least 20 people and in...

Israel is suspected of being behind a large-scale attack on pagers used by Hezbollah members that exploded across Lebanon on Tuesday, Ali Hashem, a contributor in the region gives us the regional first reaction and mood on the ground. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info .

In Washington, Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid called Monday for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to seal a Gaza truce deal while Israel's defense minister, Yoav Gallant, met with US envoy Amos Hochstein. Gallant warned that the possibility for an agreement with Hezbollah is becoming less likely as the group "continues to tie itself" to Hamas. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy...

Al-Monitor's Adam Lucente discusses Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian's first foreign trip this week to Iraq, where he called for unity against Israel and met with Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani in Baghdad as well as Kurdistan Region President Masoud Barzani in Erbil. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://a...

Russia has received short-range ballistic missiles from Iran and is expected to use them on the Ukrainian battlefield within weeks, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Tuesday, a claim Tehran has categorically denied, calling the Western media reports "a psychological warfare campaign." See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.c...

Al-Monitor's Sam Wendel addresses whether NFL changes to investment rules will attract MENA financiers given their track record with sport investments. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info .

As Brett McGurk, President Joe Biden's senior Middle East adviser, met with high-ranking Qatari officials in Doha on Tuesday, White House spokesperson John Kirby told Israel's Channel 12 that Iran was "postured and poised" to attack Israel. In Turkey, a court blocks 69 accounts on Twitter while Azerbaijan’s foreign minister, Jeyhun Bayramov, arrives&nbs...

Qatari prime minister and top diplomat Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani is in Tehran meeting with his Iranian counterpart, Abbas Araghchi, as Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir sparks fresh outrage by saying he would build a synagogue at Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa Mosque compound if he could. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://...

Al-Monitor's Gulf correspondent Jennifer Gnana explains how Saudi Arabia's efforts to attract foreign direct capital, streamline financial processes and continue diversifying its economy away from oil could be helped by the country's new reform laws. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info .

The news shaping the region today See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info .

Libya is split between an internationally recognized government in the capital, Tripoli, in the west and a rival in the east, and are in conflict with each other. Ben Fishman, a senior fellow at The Washington Institute who served on US National Security Council from 2009 to 2013, speaks about the situation in Libya, how the decrease in oil output has heightened tensions and the wider regiona...

Guliz Ozturk, CEO of Turkey-based carrier Pegasus Airlines, told Al-Monitor that despite geopolitical uncertainty, the airline still plans to deliver on its 2024 targets and is expanding to more international sites. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info .

UNRWA's communications director, Juliette Touma, speaks about how the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East's (UNRWA) mission has shifted since Hamas' Oct. 7 attack on southern Israel and the allegations against, and subsequent investigation into, the agency. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/...

Al-Monitor's Jack Dutton talks about how the market plunge at the beginning of this week impacted Middle East figures and how airlines delaying and cancelling flights shows how the political chaos has begun to bleed into the business sector. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info .

Since Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh was killed in Tehran, newly inaugurated President Pezeshkian has been forced to weigh his Reformist West rapprochement strategy with a calibrated Islamic Republic response to the assassination. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info .

As the danger of escalation between Israel and Iran mounted Monday, canceled flights and shortened summer holidays have left travelers waiting in long lines at Beirut's airport. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info .