Every year, on the last Friday of the Muslim month of Ramadan, worshipers around the world mark “Al-Quds Day.” This year. Ramadan began on April 23rd and ended on May 23rd. Al Quds Day this year was on May 22nd. Al-Quds is the name in Arabic for Jerusalem. The word is taken from the Hebrew word for holy which is…

Shalom from Jerusalem. I hope you and your families are healthy and well in these uncertain and challenging times. If you, your organization, your firm, etc. are interested in taking this opportunity to deepen your knowledge about the current events in the Middle East, please contact me at Avi@AviMelamed.com. In the meantime, be healthy & stay safe. All my best,…

Compared to previous Western initiatives, President Trump's plan reflects a more up-to-date dialogue with the realities that exist on the ground. This in itself, it is essential because it marks the end of the paradigm that dominated the outlines offered previously by Western diplomats to end the conflict. Trump's outline - even if not fulfilled, will set the tone for future outlines.

"Council of the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden Countries” - yet another layer in the formation of the Israeli-Egyptian-Saudi axis. This alliance strives to curb Iran and Turkey from spreading their influence and power in the Middle East and restore stability to this turbulent region.

An update to my article on Zoom-In on the Middle East | December 15, 2019, In this short article, I would like to focus on Turkey’s involvement in the war in Libya. The Civil War in Libya began in 2011 following the ousting of Libyan Dictator, Muammar al-Gaddafi, in October of that year. Since then, various Libyan factors have been…

This article is being written just hours after Iran launched a missile attack (January 8) against two military bases in Iraq. The targets were the Ein al-Assad base in western Iraq and the Harir base located some 70 miles west of the Iran-Iraq border. These bases host United States Forces, as well as International Coalition Forces that are fighting ISIS…

The killing of Iranian Al-Quds Force Commander, Major General Qassem Soleimani by the United States (January 3rd, 2020), launched a shock wave that ripples through the Middle East. Qassem Soleimani was the Al-Quds Force commander. The Al -Quds force is an elite unit of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards (IRG). The IRG reports directly to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. Soleimani…

The Middle East is a chain of links. Everything is connected. Understanding the links is critical to developing an accurate picture of reality. I wanted to take the opportunity to provide a contextualized snapshot of the region along with my predictions of what we can expect in the short term. I hope you find this brief overview helpful.   Lebanon…

Rising gasoline prices in Iran have resulted in an outbreak of mass protests across Iran. Protestors are blocking roads and setting fire to public buildings, banks that are owned by the Iranian Revolutionary Guards, police stations, etc. They are also burning posters and destroying statues of the leader of the 1979 Islamic Revolution in Iran, Ayatollah Khomeini, the first Supreme…

The expected damage caused by the storm in the Gaza Strip may be extremely severe. Hamas does not have the means and resources to repair the damages that may be caused to infrastructure, homes and agricultural crops. Therefore, a severe winter storm has the potential to be "the straw that broke the camel's back" and to develop into a mass…

October 21, 2019 The screams and mass protests – unprecedented in volume and intensity – which erupted in Lebanon on Thursday, October 17th are screams of despair and demand for a profound change. The precise, straightforward, and exhaustive way to describe the background to the protests is that the Lebanese – young, old, Sunni, Christian, Shi’ite, Druze – are just…

October 20, 2019    Background On October 9, 2019, Turkey’s army invaded northeastern Syria. As of now, the Turkish military operation is focused on a 70-km stretch between the city of Kobani (Ein Al-Arab) and East Tel Al-Abyad. This area has a mixed population of Kurds (the majority) and Arabs. The Turkish operation is officially referred to as “Operation Peace…

In Part 1 of my three-part analysis, “Alarms on the Lebanese – Israel Border might be Last Wake-up Call for Western Leaders” (September 11, 2019), I explained and contextualized the events of September 1, 2019, on the Israeli Lebanese border. In Part 2,  “Alarms on the Lebanese – Israeli Border (Part 2) Iran’s Hegemonic Modus Operandi” (September 13, 2019) I…

Over the past week, mass protests and riots have spread throughout Iraq’s major cities. Reportedly, more than 100 protestors have been killed, and more than 6,000 have been injured.  This is not the first time such protests have broken out in Iraq – particularly in Baghdad and southern Iraq. And like before, most of the protesters are Shi’ites. However, there…