NPR gains rare access to the Israel-occupied zone of southern Lebanon.

As many as 50,000 Israelis are leaving the country a year, study shows, tired of war and hardline politicians.

Saudi Arabia, the world's top oil exporter, is under pressure by two wars choking shipping on either side of its coast.

NPR's A Martínez asks Michael Ratney, former U.S. Ambassador to Saudi Arabia, where the Saudis go from here now they're not getting the support they want from the United States.

One of the country's leading human rights organizations says Israel is dismantling all aspects of Palestinian life at a breakneck rate. The group has extensively documented what it says are the mechanisms Israel has used to "ethnically cleanse" the West Bank of Palestinians.

Iranian officials say a meeting with Gulf states to discuss the Strait of Hormuz has been postponed, dealing a blow to efforts to reopen the strait.

Iran's attacks forced the U.S. to pull back many troops stationed in the Gulf, leaving the future of these bases in question.

Iranian officials say a meeting with Gulf states to discuss the Strait of Hormuz has been postponed, dealing a blow to efforts to reopen the strait.

Dania Thafer of the Gulf International Forum weighs in on previously scheduled talks between Iran and Gulf states. Shortly before this interview aired, Oman announced that the talks were postponed.

Palestinian author Raja Shehadeh has secretly sent his archives from the Israeli-occupied West Bank to Scotland, worried they could be destroyed in an Israeli military raid.

Leading Palestinian writer Raja Shehadeh has documented Israel's occupation of the West Bank since day one. Fearing the occupation might consume his archive, he secretly moved it to Scotland.

(Image credit: Yazeed Abu Khdeir)

Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen have captured a strategic island in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait. The move threatens Saudi oil exports through a key commercial lane. And Saudi Arabia said it shut down a major oil pipeline as a precaution after it came under attack.

(Image credit: STR)

Yemen's Houthis have overrun Saudi-backed forces to consolidate control along a Red Sea shipping strait.

Many Iranians lost their jobs because of the war and the U.S. blockade. Now some are even losing their backup jobs as sanctions tighten.

(Image credit: Vahid Salemi)

A Houthi advance along Yemen's Red Sea coast could help push gas prices up even more as the Iran-backed group also launches attacks on Saudi Arabia's oil facilities.

The rebel group took over Yemen's port of Mokha, an area vital to controlling shipping through the Red Sea, Houthi and Yemeni officials said. Mokha is about 50 miles from the Bab el-Mandeb Strait.

As the U.S. war with Iran drags on, Iranians face increasing layoffs and a rising unemployment rate.

The U.S. military destroyed five Iranian oil tankers Tuesday and Iran struck back, targeting U.S. troops in Jordan.

NPR's Leila Fadel speaks with retired General Joseph Votel about the latest attacks and counterattacks from Iran.

Israel expressed outrage after the U.K. declared "settler terrorists" are causing "ethnic cleansing" in the West Bank and banned imports from the settlements.