The Israeli Army shared its first comic book titled Hamas in Comics: Terror and Tyranny in Gaza, commemorating the so-called Operation "Pillar of Defense", an eight-day military offensive in the Gaza Strip. According to a post on the army's blog, the comic aims to "show you the terrorist organisation like you've never seen it before".

Inside the Gaza government press office, a fresh-faced young woman makes her case in fluent English; outside, scowling bearded officials bark orders at masked militants. In the Gaza Strip, the Islamist movement Hamas that runs it shows two faces. Wearing a brightly coloured veil and smiling broadly, 23-year-old Israa al-Mudallal admits with disarming candour that she still has a lot to learn in her role as Hamas's first-ever spokesperson for the foreign press.

As of today, neither the United States nor Israel has a vote in UNESCO -- the United Nations’ organization that leads global initiatives on everything from HIV/AIDS and climate change to literacy and Holocaust education. (Its name is short for United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization.) The downgrade is the result of two sets of laws that the United States and UNESCO have had for years.

Mexican Foreign Minister Jose Antonio Meade called on the United States on Tuesday to widen an investigation into spying to include allegations that a U.S. government agency hacked former President Felipe Calderon's public email account.

It was girls’ night out at Hayarkon Park in Tel Aviv for Rihanna’s one-night-only show in Israel as part of her “Diamond World Tour.” Teenage girls linked arms, mothers accompanied ten year old daughters, 20-something young women took selfies, and small percentage of men - reluctant boyfriends, benevolent fathers and gay couples - all waited on the grass for RiRi to alight upon the stage.

Saudi Arabia took the extraordinary step Friday of refusing to take its seat on the U.N. Security Council -- despite pursuing the position for years. It's an unprecedented protest over the council's failure to take firmer action in Syria and Palestine. And it comes at a time of growing Saudi frustration with American-led policies across the Middle East.

In an eatery here, 28-year-old Israeli human rights activist Avner Gvaryahu described the first time he came face to face with a Palestinian. He was 19 and serving in the Israel Defense Forces when his unit invaded the home of a Palestinian family in the dead of night. They were there to perform a “straw widow,” a raid during which soldiers forcibly seize control of a Palestinian civilian home.

Over three years ago, on January 22, 2009 - in the immediate aftermath of Operation Cast Lead - the government of Palestine lodged a declaration with the Registrar of the International Criminal Court, accepting the Court's jurisdiction "for the purpose of identifying, prosecuting and judging the authors and accomplices of acts committed on the territory of Palestine since 1 July 2002".