This page links only to Crisis Group publications on Syria, Lebanon and Israel/Palestine, as researched and written by our Middle East and North Africa Program. For publications about Eastern Mediterranean energy, maritime boundaries, Turkey-Greece tensions and the Cyprus problem, please see our Eastern Mediterranean Rivalries page.
The erosion of Lebanese political institutions, which has already disabled the presidency and the cabinet, now threatens hundreds of municipalities. Amid its crippling economic crisis, Lebanon can ill afford to lose one of the last vestiges of state functionality.
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Yemen
It's important to remember that [Syrian president] Assad's return to the Arab League is a symbolic measure to begin the process of ending his regional isolation.
The U.S. and Europe have made it clear that they do not agree with Arab states normalizing with the Assad regime, but there doesn’t seem to be much they can do about it.
Nothing happens in southern Lebanon without Hezbollah’s knowledge.
[Israeli settlers] are completely emboldened by this government. They have the legitimacy they didn’t have before politically and that gives settlers a lot more audacity.
The UAE has, since 2021, embarked on a policy of diminishing tensions with other countries in the region, and normalizing with Assad is part of that.
If the UN fails to extend its operation [in Syria] via these [Turkish border] crossings, donor states should bypass the UN and do bilateral assistance themselves.
The CrisisWatch Digest Lebanon offers a monthly one-page snapshot of conflict-related country trends in a clear, accessible format, using a map of the region to pinpoint developments.
Major gas finds in the eastern Mediterranean seabed over the last ten years have fuelled ambitions to link the region’s energy markets and, in turn, bring its countries in conflict to the negotiating table. These great expectations have proven outsized, but smaller-scale objectives are achievable.
This week on War & Peace, Olga Oliker talks with historian and writer Dr. Ilana Bet-El about the ongoing protests in Israel, the surge of the far right in that country and parallel political developments in Europe and beyond.
Young Palestinians have formed new armed groups across the West Bank. Small, disjointed and scattered, they lack a clear political agenda. But both Israel and the Palestinian Authority have found reason to exaggerate the threat they pose to the status quo.
As Israeli protesters rage against their far-right government’s anti-democratic legislation, military raids and settler attacks continue in the West Bank. Without steps to de-escalate the situation, violence there or in Jerusalem could spiral during the Muslim and Jewish holidays in the weeks ahead.
The rebels who control north-western Syria are dealing harshly with ISIS cells but have not yet crushed them entirely. The best way to stop jihadists from rebounding is to consolidate the area’s ceasefire. Outside powers can also help by sending more humanitarian aid.
This week on War & Peace, Olga Oliker and Elissa Jobson are joined by Sam Sokol, reporter at Haaretz, to discuss the impact of the war in Ukraine on the country's Jewish communities, accusations of anti-semitism in Ukraine and Russia and their relationship to the real thing, and Ukraine-Israel relations.
This week on Hold Your Fire!, Richard Atwood speaks with Mairav Zonszein and Tahani Mustafa, Crisis Group’s Israel/Palestine experts, about the past week’s violence, which follows the deadliest year in the West Bank and Jerusalem for almost two decades.
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