How much must Palestinians pay to escape Gaza? At least $5,000 for an adult and $2,500 for a child, paid to a firm with ties to the Egyptian army and intelligence services. Amid fears of a looming Israeli offensive in Rafah, prices show no sign of falling. economist.com/middle-east-an…

'Some US military officials have also privately expressed security concerns about the project, and the military was looking into a mortar attack on Wednesday that caused minimal damage in the area where some pier work is supposed to be done.' nytimes.com/2024/04/25/us/…

Satellite images show that Israel's strike in Iran last week destroyed an air-defense radar. Iran then quickly pulled a switcheroo, hauling it away and sticking a similar (but incompatible) radar on the same spot so it could claim the strike was harmless. economist.com/middle-east-an…

We just launched a new Middle East newsletter for subscribers The Economist. You'll get weekly analysis from our correspondents—the first issue has my thoughts on endless, pointless wars—plus a roundup of our MENA coverage and things to read elsewhere. economist.com/newsletters/mi…

Well said by Alon Pinkas: a single battalion can't commit regular abuses unless politicians and generals allow it to. 'If the Leahy Law is about human rights violations, then the entire political echelon needs to be held accountable.' haaretz.com/israel-news/20…

The UN has called for an inquiry into reports of mass graves at two Gaza hospitals: 'Among the deceased were allegedly older people, women and wounded, while others were found tied with their hands… tied and stripped of their clothes.' news.un.org/en/story/2024/…

The new oil-sanctions legislation passed by the House is full of holes, as Javier Blas explains. Iran is very good at circumventing them, and unless Biden finds some magical leverage that helps squash Chinese demand, any sanctions will be hard to enforce. bloomberg.com/opinion/articl…

'Israel is preparing to move civilians from Rafah to nearby Khan Younis.' So one supposed 'safe zone' during a Rafah offensive will be a city where the infrastructure is in ruins and the streets are littered with unexploded ordnance. wsj.com/world/middle-e…

Yesterday's resignation of Israel's military-intelligence chief will herald a wave of other departures by senior officials in the coming months—all except for one, the man in charge of the Israeli government, who still refuses to take any responsibility. haaretz.com/israel-news/20…

Not at all surprising: 'Israel has not provided evidence to support its allegations that many employees of the main UN agency for Palestinian refugees are members of terrorist organizations, according to an independent review commissioned by the UN.' nytimes.com/2024/04/22/wor…

Good piece by Afshon Ostovar on why it's wrong to dismiss Iran's retaliatory attack as mere symbolism: 'The operation revealed the ascendance of the IRGC's hawks in Tehran and the depth of their desire to take Israel head-on.' foreignaffairs.com/israel/iran-an…

'Hours after launching its strike against Israel to retaliate for the Damascus attack, Iran deployed battalions of security forces to swarm the streets of Tehran and other cities. It violently cracked down on women defying the hijab rule.' nytimes.com/2024/04/21/wor…

'Netanyahu's almost complete silence this week reflected the strategic and political headaches the Iranian strike caused him. The man who made a career out of talking up the Iranian threat has had nothing to say about an actual Iranian attack on Israel.' haaretz.com/israel-news/20…

The dilemma for Qatar is that they host the ostensible leaders of Hamas, but those leaders now have little influence over Sinwar and the other guys in Gaza. They raised expectations they can broker a deal which is probably beyond their power to deliver. wsj.com/world/middle-e…