![China’s Sinopharm Group Co won World Health Organization backing for its coronavirus vaccine this month, but there are questions about how the shot, while protecting individuals from developing severe COVID-19, might help stop the virus from transmitting and infecting more people [File: Christopher Pike/Bloomberg]](/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/371834989.jpg?resize=570%2C380)
The UAE administered third Sinopharm doses to people who did not develop COVID-19 antibodies after the first two jabs.
Middle East News
![Borrell and EU envoys attend a meeting of EU foreign ministers via video link [Olivier Hoslet/Pool via AP]](/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/AP_21138503713443.jpg?resize=570%2C380)
Hungary declines to join 26 other foreign ministers in calling for a ceasefire.
More than 213 Palestinians killed, hospitals overwhelmed and running low on medical supplies and thousands are displaced
![Palestinians protesting against Israel's occupation near Beit El and Ramallah [Abbas Momani/AFP]](/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/000_9A94QE.jpg?resize=570%2C380)
Dozens wounded on Tuesday during protests amid general strike throughout the occupied West Bank.
![Wehbe apologised, saying he did not mean to offend 'brotherly Arab countries' [Screenshot/Reuters]](/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/2021-05-18T161359Z_3_LWD0019XZEK3R_RTRWNEV_E_2021-LEBANON-CRISIS-GULF.jpg?resize=270%2C180)
Lebanese top diplomat’s remarks on the Gulf states and the rise of ISIL were ‘insulting’, Riyadh says.
![International flights, to Tunisia, Turkey and Egypt, have been operated by Libyan companies, which do not have access to European airspace [File: Ismail Zitouny/Reuters]](/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/2020-06-04T123833Z_2139369843_RC2C2H9B26O2_RTRMADP_3_LIBYA-SECURITY.jpg?resize=270%2C180)
Tunisia’s national carrier schedules three flights a week to Tripoli and two to Benghazi in eastern Libya.
![More than 60 migrants and refugees have died in recent weeks in similar incidents off the Tunisian coast [File: Antonio Sempere/AFP]](/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/000_9A67N6.jpg?resize=270%2C180)
Boat carrying 90 people left Libya on Sunday and sank off Tunisia’s coast the following day
![The COGAT said in a statement that the border crossing was closed after an Israeli soldier was slightly injured in the attack [File: Ibraheem Abu Mustafa/Reuters]](/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/2020-08-11T064920Z_612438710_RC2IBI9SSE50_RTRMADP_3_ISRAEL-PALESTINIANS-GAZA.jpg?resize=270%2C180)
Israel says its soldier was injured in a mortar attack while aid trucks were crossing the Kerem Shalom border into Gaza.
![A demonstrator holding a Palestinian flag gestures during a protest, near Hawara checkpoint in the occupied West Bank, May 14, 2021 [File: Raneen Sawafta/Reuters]](/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/2021-05-14T130144Z_903171576_RC2PFN9J6TEJ_RTRMADP_3_ISRAEL-PALESTINIANS.jpg?resize=270%2C180)
Palestinians have reignited an urge for freedom that is irrepressible, and will spread all over.
![Then-US Vice President Joe Biden (left) shakes hands with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem on March 9, 2016 [File: Debbie Hill/Pool via Reuters]](/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/2020-11-07T000000Z_1332204449_RC2IYJ97G4RN_RTRMADP_3_USA-ELECTION-REACTION-ISRAEL.jpg?resize=270%2C180)
US support for Israel is rooted in World War II, the Cold War, pro-Israeli political influence and serious PR heft.
![Ince has done little to hide his political ambitions since his strong performance in the 2018 polls [File: Reuters]](/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/4545794eb0b64b8b8fce5a633a86a1b9_18.jpeg?resize=270%2C180)
Muharrem Ince, who contested 2018 polls against President Erdogan, forms the Homeland Party.
![A picture taken during a guided tour organised by Egypt's State Information Service on February 11, 2020,shows a partial view of the Tora prison on the southern outskirts of the Egyptian capital Cairo [Khaled Desouki/AFP] (AFP)](/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/000_1OX2CJ.jpg?resize=270%2C180)
Police raided the Cairo home of Hoda Abdel Hamid and detained her along with her husband and daughter.
![A man smokes near closed shops at a market in Jerusalem's old city, during a general strike called by Palestinians [Ammar Awad/Reuters]](/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/2021-05-18T085119Z_484110248_RC28IN9FH60P_RTRMADP_3_ISRAEL-PALESTINIANS-STRIKE.jpg?resize=270%2C180)
People across occupied West Bank, Gaza and Israel take part in collective action against occupation and Gaza bombing.
![An Israeli artillery unit fires towards the Gaza Strip as the week-long attacks against Palestinians continue [Heidi Levine/AP]](/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Isarel.jpg?resize=270%2C180)
Israeli leader’s popularity will undoubtedly rise among citizens as a result of the escalation with Gaza, analysts say.