Middle East Middle East news, arts, culture, and politics. Updates on Iraq, Israel, Palestine, Iran, OPEC, and the Persian Gulf states NPR streaming audio. Subscribe to the Middle East RSS feed.

Middle East

Palestinian children are sitting on a street flooded with sewage water in Deir el-Balah, in the central Gaza Strip, on July 23. Polio was detected in multiple samples of Gaza's wastewater a week ago and now infectious disease experts suspect there are mild cases of the disease already in the population. Majdi Fathi//NurPhoto via Getty Images hide caption

toggle caption
Majdi Fathi//NurPhoto via Getty Images

ATC & digital Friday 7/26: Polio in Gaza sewage

  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/nx-s1-5049852/nx-s1-0534b039-8bab-4fd0-8742-424af8bfb0a0" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

People stand amid rubble in the Jabalia refugee camp, northern Gaza Strip, on July 21. Mahmoud Zaki/Xinhua News Agency via Getty Images hide caption

toggle caption
Mahmoud Zaki/Xinhua News Agency via Getty Images

Sara Miliji, 12, from the border village of Naqoura, participates in an art class at a renovated movie theatre in the city of Tyre. Sara's family fled when their village was bombed. They now live along with hundreds of other families in a schoolroom turned into a shelter.
Diego Ibarra Sánchez for NPR hide caption

toggle caption
Diego Ibarra Sánchez for NPR

Vice President Harris speaks after meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the vice president's ceremonial office in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building of the White House on July 25. Roberto Schmidt/AFP via Getty Images/AFP hide caption

toggle caption
Roberto Schmidt/AFP via Getty Images/AFP

People hold pictures of Israeli hostages during a vigil on the National Mall on Tuesday in Washington, D.C. Families of hostages are hopeful Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu will agree to a ceasefire deal that would bring the hostages home. Justin Sullivan/Getty Images hide caption

toggle caption
Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during a memorial ceremony in Tel Aviv on June 18. Kent Nishimura/Getty Images hide caption

toggle caption
Kent Nishimura/Getty Images

NETANYAHU-CONGRESS

  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/nx-s1-5049499/nx-s1-bfd4782c-7383-4250-8534-31171ad73700" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Palestinian detainees after they were released by the Israeli army, in Deir Al Balah, Gaza Strip, on June 20. Ashraf Amra/Anadolu via Getty Images hide caption

toggle caption
Ashraf Amra/Anadolu via Getty Images

Gazans held in Israeli jails allege abuse

  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/g-s1-11048/nx-s1-9bef664b-7062-4e4f-bf41-910660878c8b" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">

An Israeli airstrike ignited a huge fire at an oil storage facility at Yemen's Red Sea port of Hodeidah on Saturday. Israel said the attack was in response to a drone strike by the Houthi militia that killed an Israeli man in Tel Aviv on Friday. ‎/AFP via Getty Images hide caption

toggle caption
‎/AFP via Getty Images

A handout picture obtained from Yemen's Huthi Ansarullah Media Center show a huge column of fire erupting following reported strikes by Israeli fighter jets in the Yemeni rebel-held port city of Hodeidah on Saturday. Ansarullah Media Center/AFP via Getty Images hide caption

toggle caption
Ansarullah Media Center/AFP via Getty Images

Israeli police investigate the scene of a drone attack in Tel Aviv, Israel on Friday. Yemen's Houthi militia claimed responsibility for the blast that left one dead and several injured. Maya Levin for NPR hide caption

toggle caption
Maya Levin for NPR

A worker cleans up on the Israeli side of the Kerem Shalom border crossing with southern Gaza on Wednesday. Israel says food is going into southern Gaza daily but is piling up on the Gaza side because the United Nations and aid groups aren't distributing it in a timely fashion. The U.N. says Israeli military operations and other war-related obstacles hamper its efforts. Maya Levin for NPR hide caption

toggle caption
Maya Levin for NPR

Food aid is piling up inside Gaza. Here's why it's not reaching those in need

  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/nx-s1-5035998/nx-s1-9002a236-9bff-4e25-850b-fc3083c6b0e7" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Members of the Lebanese army and the Italian contingent of the UNIFIL peacekeeping force inspect a house destroyed by an Israeli attack during a patrol in Yarine on June 10, 2024. Diego Ibarra Sánchez for NPR hide caption

toggle caption
Diego Ibarra Sánchez for NPR

Rocket exchanges between Israel and Hezbollah hit new highs in the past week

  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/nx-s1-5034288/nx-s1-d55f912a-16f8-4f29-b410-6cad797028ea" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Palestinians gather near the bodies of their relatives killed in the Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip, at a hospital morgue in Deir al-Balah, on Saturday. Abdel Kareem Hana/AP hide caption

toggle caption
Abdel Kareem Hana/AP

Iranian rights activist Masih Alinejad speaks during a press conference in association with the World Liberty Congress to urge action on political prisoners around the world in Washington, DC, on March 12. Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images hide caption

toggle caption
Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images

Protesters march to call for the release of Israelis held hostage by Palestinian militants in Gaza since the October attacks, in Jerusalem on July 7, amid the ongoing conflict in the Gaza Strip between Israel and the Palestinian militant Hamas group. Ahmad Gharabli/AFP via Getty Images hide caption

toggle caption
Ahmad Gharabli/AFP via Getty Images

Iranian rights activist Masih Alinejad speaks during a press conference in March in association with the World Liberty Congress to urge action on political prisoners around the world, at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images hide caption

toggle caption
Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images

Palestinians look at the aftermath of the Israeli airstrike on a U.N.-run school in the Nuseirat refugee camp in the Gaza Strip on July 6. Saher Alghorra/AP hide caption

toggle caption
Saher Alghorra/AP

Iranian reformist candidate Masoud Pezeshkian reacts after casting his ballot during the presidential runoff in Shareh Qods, west of Tehran on Friday. Atta Kenare/AFP via Getty Images hide caption

toggle caption
Atta Kenare/AFP via Getty Images

Reformist Masoud Pezeshkian wins in Iran's presidential runoff

  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/nx-s1-5030312/nx-s1-1ae10244-63f2-4eb1-9440-0f2dafdd7e96" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

In this photo made available by Iranian state-run TV, IRIB, Iranian presidential candidate Saeed Jalili, left, a hard-line former nuclear negotiator, and reformist candidate Masoud Pezeshkian greet one another at the conclusion of a debate at the TV studio in Tehran, Iran, on June 1, 2024. Morteza Fakhri Nezhad/AP/IRIB hide caption

toggle caption
Morteza Fakhri Nezhad/AP/IRIB

Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., who continues to break with progressives within his party by backing Israel in the war with Hamas, visited the country this week and met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Maya Levin for NPR hide caption

toggle caption
Maya Levin for NPR

John Fetterman meets Netanyahu in Israel to show support for the war

  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/nx-s1-5021789/nx-s1-048a4266-0c4c-4b54-ba51-57199a7afde6" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript