Türkiye and the Levant

The global march to Gaza is set to begin on 15 June, with thousands of international activists planning to walk from Al-Arish to the Rafah border crossing. The activists come from over 80 different countries and have arrived in Egypt by plane or organised bus. Participants include Nkosi Zwelivelile Mandela, a former South African lawmaker and grandson of Nelson Mandela, as well as Hala Rharrit, a former US State Department diplomat. The march aims to peacefully advocate for the opening of a humanitarian corridor into Gaza and to draw global attention to the worsening crisis in the Strip, characterised by shortages of food, medicine and fuel.

On Friday (13 June), a series of powerful explosions were heard and seen across Iran, following a large-scale Israeli air campaign targeting the country's military infrastructure. In a prerecorded video released early on Friday morning, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu argued that the strikes were aimed at nuclear infrastructure and ballistic missile factories inside Iran. According to Netanyahu, the strikes were necessary to delay what he described as an imminent nuclear threat.

The European Union should harden its stance against Israel and follow in the footsteps of the United Kingdom and other Western allies by issuing sanctions against far-right members of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Cabinet, Sweden’s foreign minister told Politico. Maria Malmer Stenergard said after meeting in Brussels with Kaja Kallas, the EU’s top diplomat, that the EU now needs to take a stronger position and increase pressure on the Israeli government.

The Informal Summit of the Organization of Turkic States (OTS), held on May 20-21, 2025, in Budapest, Hungary, marked a significant milestone in the organisation’s growing geopolitical influence. Hosted by Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, the summit brought together leaders from Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Türkiye, and Uzbekistan, alongside observer states Hungary, Turkmenistan, and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus. This gathering, the first OTS summit hosted by an observer state, underscored Hungary’s role as a bridge between the Turkic world and Europe, reflecting the theme “Meeting Point of East and West.”

Just when we thought the news from Gaza could not get bleaker, something new about the Israeli actions in the territory has emerged. Israel is arming “criminal gangs” in the war-torn Gaza Strip. Former Defence Minister, Avigdor Lieberman, revealed this on Thursday (5 June). "Israel transferred assault rifles and light weapons to criminal gangs in Gaza,” Lieberman, leader of the right-wing Yisrael Beiteinu Party, told the public broadcaster KAN. He said the weapons were transferred to the gangs upon orders of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. “In my opinion, the Cabinet hasn’t approved the transfer of weapons, but the head of the General Security Service (Shin Bet) was aware,” he added. “We are talking about what is equivalent to ISIS (Daesh) in Gaza. No one guarantees that these weapons will not be directed at Israel. We have no means of monitoring or tracking,” Lieberman said.

Today (4 June), more than 1.8 million Muslims began the Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca in Saudi Arabia. This holy pilgrimage presents one of the biggest logistical challenges for the country's authorities. This year, for the first time, the country is deploying drones and expanding the network of cooled roads to cope with the enormous crowds.

The prominent Swedish climate activist, who is sailing with 11 other activists on an aid ship bound for Gaza, said that she felt she had no choice but to help, as “our governments are failing us”.

Israel has accepted a new U.S. proposal for a temporary ceasefire with Hamas, the White House said on Thursday. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters that Israel “backed and supported” the new proposal. Hamas officials gave the Israeli-approved draft a cool response, but said they wanted to study the proposal more closely before giving a formal answer.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has appointed a team of legal experts to start working on a new constitution with critics saying it could allow him to remain in power beyond 2028, when his current term ends. Erdogan, who has led Türkiye as president since 2014 and was prime minister for more than a decade before that, has advocated for a new constitution arguing that the current one, which was drafted following a military coup in 1980, is outdated and retains elements of military influence even though it was amended several times.