MIDEAST: In a Rotten State

Abu Abed can't make a profit, and although 54 years old, he still has not married. "I can't pay my rent, I can't afford a wedding."

MIDEAST: ‘United’ Jerusalem Has Two Faces

Israel says "united" Jerusalem will be the eternal capital of the Jewish state. However, a quick walk across the Green Line which marks the international border dividing the two parts of the city reveals a city very much divided.

MIDEAST: Critical Healthcare Fails to Recover

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has warned that unless the siege of Gaza is lifted and a political solution implemented, Gaza's badly damaged health system will go from very bad to worse.

LEBANON: Shattered Camp Revives Under Military Eyes

Palestinian refugees at Nahr Al-Bared in North Lebanon are living under tight military siege two years after a war destroyed the refugee camp. It has now become a test case for a new approach in Lebanon's security policy towards Palestinian refugee camps.

MIDEAST: Settlers Push Palestinians to Sleep on the Street

Israel's continued policy of Judaising East Jerusalem in order to establish facts on the ground before the future of that part of the city is decided, has left dozens of Palestinians homeless and sleeping on the streets.

MIDEAST: Embattled Hamas Shows its Moderate Face

The Islamic resistance movement Hamas's rule of Gaza is facing protracted political and military opposition from within Gaza, other Palestinian territories and abroad.

MIDEAST: Children Have a Way With Miracles

Call it that choice between looking at the half-full or half-empty part of the results. And it is almost half; 55 percent of schoolchildren passed their exams in Gaza this year.

MIDEAST: Suddenly, It’s Advantage Fatah, and a Solution

Has the just-ended Fatah party convention, concluded in a cavalcade of personnel change, affected the prospects for a two-state solution that might finally resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict?

MIDEAST: New Blood Invigorates Fatah Leadership

Despite internal divisions, much criticism and against enormous odds, the Fatah movement has emerged from its Sixth Revolutionary Council here with new blood in its leadership and hopes for a fresh agenda.

MIDEAST: Tensions Rise on Israel’s North

The war of words between Israel and the Lebanese resistance movement Hizbullah has heated up in the last week, raising fears that another war between Lebanon and Israel is imminent.

MIDEAST: There Just may Have to be a Partner

"We have no partner," has been the mantra of successive Israeli governments, both right-wing and centre, ever since the outbreak of the Palestinian Intifadah in September 2000 in wake of the failed Camp David summit. That was the last time Palestinians and Israelis saw each other as potential peace partners.

MIDEAST: Piecing the Injured Back Together

On a Saturday morning in Gaza city, the Artificial Limb and Polio Centre (ALPC) is filled with people waiting to see the director, Dr. Hazem Al-Shawwa.

MIDEAST: Prison Toughens Palestinian Women

In her office at the Bethlehem women's counselling centre, Khawla Al-Azraq recounts her memories from Israeli prison as vividly as if they were yesterday: the routine physical and psychological abuse, the nightly room searches, the hunger strikes and other collective actions in protest against their conditions, and the intense study sessions with her fellow prisoners.

MIDEAST: New Israeli Plan to Warn of Impending Attacks

The Israeli Defence Force (IDF) is taking new measures to warn Palestinian civilians about impending aerial attacks. This comes in response to questions raised over whether Israel had complied with international laws during its 2006 war in Lebanon and the Gaza offensive earlier this year.

MIDEAST: Peace in Balance as Fatah Fights for Survival

Fatah, the largest faction of the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO), is fighting for its very survival as the movement faces implosion, and attacks from all sides. The issues have come to the fore at the sixth revolutionary council of the party that began in Bethlehem Tuesday.

MIDEAST: Hope Now Advances to Autumn

Much of the world is side-tracked into the summer holiday mood, but the Obama Administration consistently stresses it won't allow its Middle East peacemaking effort to be side-tracked: We'll soon be hitting full stride, is the constant White House message.

MIDEAST: Traumatised Children Struggle to Rise Again

Tens of thousands of children in Gaza are still suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) following Israel's three-week bombing December- January.

MIDEAST: And Still They Run These Taxis

Salleh wonders how he will pay for a replacement car part he bought from the tunnels black market.

MIDEAST: Israel Prepares for War Over Reports

Six months after Israel's devastating assault on Hamas, its south-western border with Gaza has not been as quiet in a decade - only two rockets in the past six weeks on Israeli towns. Yet, the plight of Palestinian civilians in Gaza continues to haunt Israel.

LEBANON: Global Warming Makes Mischief Worse

With its long, dry summers, Lebanon's diminishing woodlands are devastated by wild fires every year - and this year is no exception.

LEBANON: No Law for Detained Palestinians

Palestinian refugee Youssef Shaaban was released from prison early this month - after serving 16 years in a Lebanese prison for a crime he did not commit.