The Iran-backed terror group Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip, and the Palestinian faction Fatah, which politically controls Palestinian areas of the West Bank, have both rejected U.N. requests to accept some 150,000 Palestinian refugees fleeing the violence in Syria. Their refusals come as U.N. officials have raised the estimated death toll...

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It is now estimated that 60,000 people have lost their lives in Syria’s 22-month, three-way proxy war between Bashar al-Assad’s regime, West-backed rebel forces, and Kurdish troops. This figure is the result of a cross-checking of the names of the dead by the United Nations and suggests that previous numbers...

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Russia is increasing its efforts to mediate a solution to the Syrian conflict, and is calling on its Damascus allies to engage in dialogue with opposition groups seeking to overthrow the regime of Syrian ruler Bashar al-Assad. The Kremlin has also extended an invitation for talks to the Syrian National...

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The six Arab states that comprise the Gulf Cooperation Council have issued a joint communique condemning “continuing Iranian interference” in their internal affairs as well as Tehran’s growing nuclear program. “Politically, (there is) lots of meddling in the affairs of GCC states; an environmental threat to our region from the...

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The UK Huffington Post is criticizing Europe and America for “dangerous complacency” regarding the risk that Syria’s arsenal of chemical and biological weapons will fall into the hands of terrorists. The Syrian conflict is a three-way proxy war between Sunni-backed rebels, the Iran-backed regime in Damascus, and Kurdish groups. The...

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Jordanian officials are lashing out at Turkey over Ankara’s role in funding and arming the increasingly hardline Islamist rebels fighting to overthrow the Syrian regime of Bashar al-Assad. Suggesting that Syria may devolve into a “black hole that sucks Jihadists from around the world,” the Jordanian officials blasted Ankara for...

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Al-Qaeda linked forces in Syria are gaining momentum as the country’s nearly two-year-long conflict approaches a critical juncture. The al-Nusra Front, which the U.S. last week designated as a terrorist organization, is seeing its profile and power rise as opposition forces close in on their goal of removing the Bashar...

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United Nations peacekeeping forces on the Israel-Syria border are at risk of collapsing, the French ambassador to the UN warned earlier this week. The spiraling anarchy in western Syria is punctuated by routine clashes between forces loyal to the regime of Syrian ruler Bashar al-Assad and rebels seeking its overthrow....

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Gesturing toward the spiraling anarchy in Syria, Russia has reportedly dispatched a new flotilla of warships into the Mediterranean. Five vessels, including a frigate and two landing ships, set sail from Baltiysk. Officially, the ships are in the theater to carry out maneuvers and replace an existing flotilla. Moscow sources,...

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Europe may change its policy and soon start supplying arms to rebel forces fighting to overthrow the Syrian regime of Bashar al-Assad, according to British Prime Minister David Cameron. European foreign ministers are reviewing the current arms embargo on Syria, and cited a strategic imperative to bolster moderate opposition forces...

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