Arab cities aim to build resilience to natural disasters

AQABA, 29 April 2013 (IRIN) - Prevention may be better than a cure, but for the authorities in Arab cities and towns, natural disasters up to now have been largely about coping with them after they have taken place. full report

A who’s who of fighters in Gaza

GAZA, 15 April 2013 (IRIN) - A ceasefire brokered in November to end eight days of conflict between Israel and Hamas-controlled Gaza has been violated several times in recent weeks with renewed rocket fire from Gaza, Israeli air strikes and Israeli tank incursions onto Gazan territory. What are the chances of a lasting peace? IRIN takes a look at the main military actors on the ground. full report

Briefing: Derrière la colonie israélienne E1

JERUSALEM, 20 March 2013 (IRIN) - Le mois dernier, une mission d’enquête internationale sur les colonies israéliennes dans les Territoires palestiniens occupés (TPO) commandée par le Conseil des droits de l’homme des Nations Unies a révélé que les colonies constituaient une violation du droit international humanitaire et a appelé Israël à cesser son expansion territoriale immédiatement et à se retirer de ses implantations. full report

Disaster Risk Reduction in the Arab world

AQABA, 20 March 2013 (IRIN) - Nearly 300 government officials, scientists, aid workers and activists from across the Arab world are working together in Jordan to draw up the first joint regional platform for disaster risk reduction (DRR). full report

Briefing: Beyond the E-1 Israeli settlement

JERUSALEM, 18 March 2013 (IRIN) - A controversial Israeli settlement plan, known as E-1, has garnered much attention in the media. But Israel has also been moving forward with equally controversial settlement plans under less scrutiny and with unusual speed. As US President Barack Obama prepares to visit the region this week, IRIN takes a look at some of the details that have been overlooked in the discussion. full report

Briefing: Inside the E-1 Israeli settlement

JERUSALEM, 14 March 2013 (IRIN) - There was much fanfare over Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s announcement last year that Israel would move ahead with the controversial E-1 settlement plan. But what has happened since? How quickly could E-1 become reality? And what of the oft-overlooked humanitarian implications? full report

Imprisoned Eritreans complain of being forced to leave Israel

TEL AVIV, 11 March 2013 (IRIN) - Testimonies of jailed Eritrean migrants and asylum seekers (collected by a local NGO) say officials at Saharonim prison in Israel’s Southern Negev desert are coercing them to sign “voluntary repatriation” forms. full report

Export oil, import water – the Middle East’s risky economics

DUBAI, 5 March 2013 (IRIN) - The world’s driest region, the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), is getting drier at an alarming rate. full report

Breakdown of Syria aid pledges in Kuwait

KUWAIT CITY, 1 February 2013 (IRIN) - The international community pledged more than US$1.5 billion in humanitarian aid to Syria on 30 January, in the most successful fundraising conference in UN history - meant to meet the needs of two UN appeals: full report