Middle East and north Africa – Page 2 – War Watch

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War, a Trump-imposed deal or internal regime collapse: for Tehran, none of the options are good | Sanam Vakil
BySanam Vakil February 3, 2026

Iran’s leaders now face unprecedented peril. The regime has lost its footing, and the global mechanisms to avoid conflict no longer workDr Sanam Vakil is the director of Chatham House’s Middle East and North Africa programmeForty-seven years on from th…

Read More War, a Trump-imposed deal or internal regime collapse: for Tehran, none of the options are good | Sanam Vakil
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei | Benjamin Netanyahu | Donald Trump | Gaza | Iran | Iran's nuclear programme | Israel | Israel–Iran War | Middle East and north Africa | Nuclear weapons | Palestinian territories | Petrol prices | Protest | World news

Music and dancing signify defiance at celebratory funerals of Iran’s protesters
ByRobert Tait and Deepa Parent February 3, 2026

Euphoric scenes are a snub to theocracy’s culture of piety, say analysts, and carry message of rebellion Iranians killed in recent protests that rocked the country have been laid to rest in boisterous funerals featuring loud pop music and dancing, app…

Read More Music and dancing signify defiance at celebratory funerals of Iran’s protesters
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Shock, awe, death, joy and looting: how the Guardian covered the outbreak of the Iraq war
ByIan Mayes February 3, 2026

In spring 2003, exuberance at the fall of Saddam was swiftly followed by a descent into deadly chaos. Whether moving independently or embedded with troops, Guardian reporters witnessed the violence on the groundThe allied attack on Iraq began on 20 Mar…

Read More Shock, awe, death, joy and looting: how the Guardian covered the outbreak of the Iraq war
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei | Benjamin Netanyahu | Donald Trump | Gaza | Iran | Iran nuclear programme | Iran's nuclear programme | Israel | Israel–Iran War | Middle East and north Africa | Nuclear weapons | Palestinian territories | Petrol prices | US foreign policy | US military | US news | World news

Iran’s president says Tehran ready to pursue ‘fair’ talks with US
ByAndrew Roth in Washington February 2, 2026February 3, 2026

Masoud Pezeshkian instructs foreign minister to seek negotiations with US as Trump warns ‘bad things would happen’ if no solution agreedIran’s president said on Tuesday that he had instructed his foreign minister to “pursue fair and equitable negotiati…

Read More Iran’s president says Tehran ready to pursue ‘fair’ talks with US
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Handful of sick and wounded Palestinians allowed through Rafah crossing on first day
ByLorenzo Tondo and agencies February 2, 2026February 2, 2026

Numbers Israel permitted to enter Egypt after reopening border were far lower than expected following delaysA small number of sick and wounded Palestinians have begun crossing into Egypt to seek medical treatment after Israel permitted a limited reopen…

Read More Handful of sick and wounded Palestinians allowed through Rafah crossing on first day
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‘A violation of our history’: Palestinian uproar over Israel’s plan to seize historic West Bank site
ByJason Burke and Sufian Taha in Sebastia February 2, 2026

Residents of Sebastia say heritage project is pretext for massive land grab and expansion of Jewish settlementsThe Byzantine-era church lies half hidden in the shade. Roman columns rise from among the olive trees, even older ruins linked to Israelite k…

Read More ‘A violation of our history’: Palestinian uproar over Israel’s plan to seize historic West Bank site
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Hold on to Her review – horrific death of a two-year-old puts immigration crackdown in spotlight
ByPhil Hoad February 2, 2026

Robin Vanbiesen’s documentary uses the killing of Mawda Shawri in Belgium as the starting point to explore the dehumanising machinery of border policyHere is an insightful but perhaps over oblique Belgian documentary that sets itself an ambitious goal:…

Read More Hold on to Her review – horrific death of a two-year-old puts immigration crackdown in spotlight
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei | Benjamin Netanyahu | Donald Trump | Gaza | Iran | Iran's nuclear programme | Israel | Israel–Iran War | Middle East and north Africa | Nuclear weapons | Palestine | Palestinian territories | Petrol prices | World news

First medical evacuee leaves Gaza as Rafah crossing reopens for handful of Palestinians – as it happened
ByYohannes Lowe (now) and Maya Yang (earlier) February 2, 2026February 2, 2026

This live blog is now closed. You can read the latest full report here:Sick and wounded Palestinians enter Egypt after Israel reopens Rafah crossingMore than 400 European former top diplomats and officials have urged the EU to increase pressure on Isra…

Read More First medical evacuee leaves Gaza as Rafah crossing reopens for handful of Palestinians – as it happened
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei | Benjamin Netanyahu | Culture | Donald Trump | Film | Gaza | Iran | Iran's nuclear programme | Iraq | Israel | Israel–Iran War | Middle East and north Africa | Nuclear weapons | Palestinian territories | Petrol prices | World news

‘Yes, they would execute a child’: the film about a girl who has to bake a birthday cake for Saddam Hussein
ByCath Clarke February 2, 2026

Warm, funny and heartbreaking, The President’s Cake tells the story of a brutal ruler and a girl forced to make him a present in a time of sanctions-induced hardship. Its Iraqi director Hasan Hadi remembers his own fearful childhoodThere were no cinema…

Read More ‘Yes, they would execute a child’: the film about a girl who has to bake a birthday cake for Saddam Hussein
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Do You Love Me review – exhilarating documentary is ode to the collective courage of Lebanese people
ByPhuong Le February 2, 2026

In this freewheeling film Lana Daher draws from more than 20,000 hours of archival footage to channel the resilient spirit of BeirutAs freewheeling as a travelogue, Lana Daher’s mercurial documentary eschews talking heads and voiceover, drawing instead…

Read More Do You Love Me review – exhilarating documentary is ode to the collective courage of Lebanese people