<article data-history-node-id="448438" about="https://www.middleeasteye.net/live-blog/live-blog-update/israeli-police-guard-1500-jewish-settlers-storming-al-aqsa-mosque-0" class="live-blog-update default clearfix"> <h2> <a href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/live-blog/live-blog-update/israeli-police-guard-1500-jewish-settlers-storming-al-aqsa-mosque-0" rel="bookmark"> <span class="field field-title">Israeli actions 'paving way for total control' over Al-Aqsa, says Hamas</span> </a> </h2> <div class="content"> <div class="field field-field-text"><p>Hamas political bureau member Khaled Meshaal has warned that&nbsp;<a href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/countries/israel" target="_blank">Israeli</a>&nbsp;actions and measures around Al-Aqsa Mosque are “paving the way for total control and domination over the site”.</p> <p>Meshaal said the measures included the reported 40-day closure of the mosque, what he described as the “imposition of temporal division” to facilitate incursions by “extremist Jewish groups” and efforts to create “spatial division” by emptying key facilities within the courtyard, according to a statement.</p> <p>Al-Aqsa “stands at a crossroads”, Meshaal said, and called for steps to protect the site, including what he called a “strategy of resistance and jihad”.</p> <p>He also urged Arab and Muslim-majority countries to back&nbsp;<a href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/countries/palestine" target="_blank">Palestine</a>&nbsp;and called on Palestinians to keep a “steadfast presence” at the mosque.</p> <p>The comments come a week after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu toured tunnels beneath Al-Aqsa Mosque as hundreds of Israeli settlers raided the Jerusalem holy site.</p> <h3 data-pm-slice="1 1 []">Read more:&nbsp;<a aria-label="Israeli actions 'paving way for total control' over Al-Aqsa, says Hamas" href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/israeli-actions-around-al-aqsa-paving-way-total-control-over-site-says-hamas">Israeli actions 'paving way for total control' over Al-Aqsa, says Hamas</a></h3> <p><img alt="Jewish visitors pray at an entrance to the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound during Tisha B’Av in Jerusalem’s Old City, 23 July 2026 (Ammar Awad/Reuters)" src="https://www.middleeasteye.net/sites/default/files/styles/crop_16_9/public/images-story/Jewish%20visitors%20pray%20at%20an%20entrance%20to%20the%20Al-Aqsa%20Mosque%20compound%20during%20Tisha%20B%E2%80%99Av%20in%20Jerusalem%E2%80%99s%20Old%20City%2C%2023%20July%202026%20%28Ammar%20Awad%20Reuters%29.jpg.jpg?itok=lumwTnTM"></p> </div> </div> </article>

In today's Take Action Now, we are defending the right to criticize ICE online, preserving public services, and fighting against federal repression.

Gellung Warl, which was established as part of the treaty process, says bill would erode the basic rights of people in prison * Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates * Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast Victoria’s new First Nations voice to parliament has made its first intervention on government policy under nation-leading treaty powers to call for a controversial bill that would deny prisoners at least one hour of open air daily to be scrapped. The Labor government’s corrections amendment bill 2026, which is expected to pass parliament this week with Coalition support, would give authorities the ability to deny prisoners their daily hour of outdoor time “subject to operational considerations”. Continue reading...

Qatar says negotiations between Oman, Iran over future of shipping through Strait of Hormuz are making major progress.

On the first day of August this year, two men spoke at Gulkula, the sacred Gumatj land where the Garma Festival is held, about the same problem, and proposed competing solutions.

The pushback against the government's NDIS rationing will begin in earnest this week, with a speech highlighting the dangers of the government returning disability care to what it was before the Gilla...

No matter how much we know about history, we are doomed to repeat it. Appeasement of authoritarian voices will get us there faster.

The gambling debate is set to get underway with the Coalition likely giving the government the numbers it wants to pass the legislation. Meanwhile, Labor has decided falling house prices is not a bad...

ANALYSIS: Labor has finally scrapped the Climate Active program that allowed companies to falsely claim carbon neutrality – it must now dismantle the offsets framework.

<article data-history-node-id="445864" about="https://www.middleeasteye.net/live-blog/live-blog-update/israeli-forces-attack-agricultural-land-syria-set-military-checkpoint" class="live-blog-update default clearfix"> <h2> <a href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/live-blog/live-blog-update/israeli-forces-attack-agricultural-land-syria-set-military-checkpoint" rel="bookmark"> <span class="field field-title">Israeli forces attack agricultural land in Syria, set up military checkpoint</span> </a> </h2> <div class="content"> <div class="field field-field-text"><p>Israeli forces attacked agricultural land on Tuesday in the countryside of Syria’s Quneitra, according to local media reports.&nbsp;</p> <p>"Israeli occupation forces targeted agricultural land around Hamidiya village in the northern Quneitra countryside with three shells,"&nbsp;Alikhbariah TV channel reported.</p> <p>&nbsp;Elsewhere in the province, Israeli troops set up a temporary military checkpoint in Kudna.&nbsp;</p> </div> </div> </article>

More than 2,000 people have died from Ebola in the Congo. However, only 30 per cent of confirmed cases are seeking help.

Repeated heat waves, wildfires, droughts and storms are solidifying the understanding that new investments are unavoidable.

Alt: Daffy Duck carrying a red flag up a mountain

Scientists say a crucial Atlantic system is set to collapse. But the billionaire death cult that steers humanity’s destiny just doesn’t do existential crises, says Guardian columnist George Monbiot

We rarely speak about how the NDIS became a catch-all because we don’t have enough social services and supports to help people who need it.