SAT-7’s Middle East Briefing brings you a monthly roundup of news from the Middle East and North Africa, with a particular focus on the experiences of believers and the challenges facing the Church in the region. It’s available as a long-read article, or as a 7-minute podcast. Read the articles below or listen to all our latest podcast episodes here. You can also listen and subscribe on Spotify, Apple or Google Podcasts – just search “The Middle East Briefing”.
Middle East Briefing – April 2024
April 2024While conflict in the Holy Land and the fresh involvement of Iran dominates headlines, a war between generals continues to ravage Sudan, and Türkiye expresses an appetite for change in political leadership. The Middle East found itself on a knife-edge last weekend after Iran launched 300 missiles and drones at Israel – the Islamic Republic’s first direct assault on Israel […]
Middle East Briefing – March 2024
March 2024While the Holy Land and Sudan continued to suffer ruinous wars this month, Iran had elections with record low turnouts as it prepared to celebrate Nowruz, the Persian new year. Unrelenting conflicts in Gaza and Sudan have brought both countries to a new level of suffering. Many of the 300,000 Palestinians still living in the north of Gaza have been […]
Middle East Briefing – February 2024
February 2024A year on from the two devastating earthquakes that hit Türkiye and Syria, the repercussions are still being felt for many people who live in the two countries. Elsewhere, the new World Watch List highlights the dangers facing Christians the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), and conflict in the Holy Land continues to deepen, bringing stronger calls from international […]
Middle East Briefing – January 2024
January 2024The Middle East and North Africa begins the new year dominated by the war in Gaza and an under-reported conflict in Sudan. The Gaza Strip has been devastated by over 100 days of war with Israel. A displaced and starving population has been squeezed into ever smaller pockets of land while fighting between Hamas and Israeli forces intensifies. In Sudan, […]
Middle East Briefing – November 2023
November 2023Five weeks since Hamas attacked border communities in Israel with a savagery that shocked the world, Israel has carried out an intense bombardment of the Gaza strip in order to “crush and destroy” Hamas. A massive humanitarian crisis has unfolded in record time as a result. Israel says it is targeting the underground tunnels of Hamas and continues to accuse […]
Middle East Briefing – October 2023
October 2023The Holy Land is in the midst of one of the most deadly conflicts for civilians since 1948. The crisis began at dawn on 7 October when over a thousand Hamas fighters crossed from Gaza into southern Israel under cover of rocket fire. killed civilians and soldiers including 250 people at a music festival, and took 199 Israelis hostage, including […]
Middle East Briefing – September 2023
September 2023News broke late on Friday night of a 6.8 magnitude earthquake in Morocco with an epicentre 70km south of Marrakesh. Then on Sunday, a powerful storm triggered devastating flooding in Libya, killing thousands. As days go on and the rescue and recovery operations continue, we will know the full scale of lives lost and the damage done. Destruction in Morocco’s […]
Middle East Briefing – July 2023
July 2023The disturbing spectre of interracial conflict came to the fore in parts of the Middle East and North Africa this month. It was most extreme in reports of genocide from Darfur, Sudan, but evident too in events in Tunisia and in the ongoing conflict in the Holy Land. The conflict in Sudan that has displaced nearly 3 million people has […]