82 articles
Dihok
Dihok (Duhok, Dohuk; Syriac Nohadra) is the capital of Duhok Governorate in Iraq's Kurdistan Region, founded as a town in 1887 under Ottoman rule, a governorate seat since 1969, a university city, and a major refuge for displaced people since 2014.
Dimona (דימונה)
Dimona (דימונה) is a development town turned city in Israel's Negev Desert, founded 19 September 1955 by North African immigrants, population about 40,000, planning growth to 100,000 under a 2018 five-billion-ILS housing agreement.
Efrat (אפרת) (Israeli settlement)
Efrat (אפרת, also Efrata) is an Israeli settlement and local council in the Gush Etzion bloc of the West Bank, founded in 1983 by Moshe Moskovics and Rabbi Shlomo Riskin, about 12 km south of Jerusalem, mainly religious-Zionist with 11,421 residents in 2020.
Eilat (אילת)
Eilat (אילת), Israel's southernmost city on the Gulf of Eilat bordering Egypt and Jordan, founded 1950; a free-trade-zone resort of about 52,000-57,000 people with a VAT exemption, tourism-based economy, and famous coral reefs.
Erbil
Erbil (Hawler/Hewlêr), capital of Iraq's Kurdistan Region, is one of the world's oldest continuously inhabited cities, built around the Erbil Citadel tell, ancient Arbela, a UNESCO World Heritage Site inscribed in 2014.
Fallujah (الفلوجة)
Fallujah (الفلوجة), Iraqi city in Anbar governorate on the Euphrates about 60–69 km west of Baghdad; ancient Anbar/Pumbeditha site, 'city of mosques', site of the 2004 battles, 2014–2016 ISIL occupation, and post-2016 reconstruction.
Famagusta (Αμμόχωστος)
Famagusta (Αμμόχωστος, Gazimağusa) is a walled port city on Cyprus's east coast, pre-1974 the island's main port and tourist center, now in Northern Cyprus with Varosha sealed off since 1974.
Gaza City
Gaza City (غزة, Ghazzah), largest city of the Gaza Strip on the Mediterranean coast; over 5,000 years of habitation, historic centre on UNESCO Tentative List; 83% of buildings damaged and famine confirmed after the 2023–2025 war.
Haifa (חיפה)
Haifa (חיפה; Arabic حيفا) is Israel's third-largest city, a mixed Jewish-Arab Mediterranean port city on Mount Carmel, capital of Haifa District, home to one of Israel's two biggest commercial ports and the Baha'i World Center.
Hama (حماة)
Hama (حماة), known as Hamath in antiquity, is a large city in central Syria on the Orontes River, best known for its wooden waterwheels and the 1982 massacre.
Hebron
Hebron (Al-Khalil) is the second-largest Palestinian city in the West Bank, with over 200,000 people and a UNESCO-listed Old Town in danger, divided since 1997 into H1 and H2.
Hillah
Hillah (Al-Hilla, الحلة), capital of Babil Governorate in central Iraq on the Shatt al-Hillah branch of the Euphrates; founded 495 AH/1101-1102 AD by the Mazyadid Sadaqah, a Shia scholarly center beside Babylon's ruins, 470,917 people in 2024.
Holon
Holon (חולון) is a city of about 192,000 residents southeast of Tel Aviv, Israel, founded in 1940 from five neighborhoods, known for the Design Museum Holon by Ron Arad, Wolfson Medical Center, and large-scale urban renewal.
Homs (حمص)
Homs (حمص), Emesa in antiquity, is Syria's third-largest city on the Orontes at the Homs Gap, home to the country's largest oil refinery; dubbed 'capital of the revolution' in 2011, devastated by the 2011–2014 siege, and a main return destination after Assad's fall in December 2024.
Idlib (إدلب)
Idlib (إدلب) is a city and governorate capital in northwestern Syria on the Turkish border, long the main rebel-held enclave under HTS, now under the Syrian Transitional Government, with roughly 2.8–3.2 million people and heavy displacement.
Irbid
Irbid (إربد), ancient Arabella, is Jordan's second-largest city, 65 km north of Amman, seat of Irbid Governorate. Greater Irbid Municipality has about 908,000 residents; a Decapolis city with Bronze Age origins and major universities.
Jerash (جرش)
Jerash (جرش), ancient Gerasa, is a city in northern Jordan and capital of Jerash Governorate, famed for one of the best-preserved Greco-Roman sites: oval forum, cardo, theaters, hippodrome, devastated by the 749 AD earthquake, refounded in 1878.
Jericho
Jericho (أريحا) is a West Bank oasis city in the Jordan Valley, the world's lowest city and among the oldest continually inhabited. Nearby Tell es-Sultan holds deposits from about 10,500 BC and was UNESCO-listed in 2023.
Jerusalem (ירושלים)
Jerusalem (ירושלים, al-Quds), city sacred to Judaism, Christianity, and Islam; Israel's largest city with about 1,063,000 residents; Old City a UNESCO World Heritage site since 1981; East Jerusalem annexed in 1967, unrecognized internationally.
Jerusalem, Jerusalem
Jerusalem, Jerusalem (Yerushalayim; al-Quds): the contested holy city of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam; UN corpus separatum plan of 1947, divided 1948-1967, Israeli-claimed capital since 1980, population about 1,063,000.
Karbala (كربلاء)
Karbala (كربلاء), Iraqi holy city about 90 km southwest of Baghdad, one of the four Shiʿite shrine cities, site of the 680 Battle of Karbala, shrines of Imams Husayn and Abbas, and the Arbaeen pilgrimage drawing over 22 million visitors.
Katzrin
Katzrin, also known as Qatzrin (קצרין), is a town in the Golan Heights, founded by Israel in 1977 and home to about 8,000 people; it is the area's main Israeli settlement and administrative center.
Kelar
Kelar (Kalar), town in Sulaymaniyah Governorate, Kurdistan Region of Iraq, center of Kalar district in Garmian. Predominantly Sunni Kurd; major IDP destination since 2014; 1,400-metre corniche project.
Khān Yūnis
Khān Yūnis (خان يونس), second-largest city in the southern Gaza Strip and seat of its governorate; founded 1387 by Mamluk emir Yunis al-Dawadar; municipality since 1917; heavily razed in the war since 2023.
Khānaqīn
Khānaqīn (Xaneqîn), Kurdish-majority city in Diyala, Iraq, on the Alwand River near Iran; disputed under Article 140, site of Iraq's first 1927 oil refinery, population about 175,000.
Kirkuk (كركوك)
Kirkuk (كركوك, also Kerkuk) is a city in northern Iraq atop one of its largest oil fields, claimed by both Iraq and the Kurdistan Region.
Latakia (اللاذقية)
Latakia (اللاذقية), ancient Laodicea ad Mare, is Syria's main Mediterranean port city and capital of Latakia governorate, founded by Seleucus I, with a Roman tetrapylon and a port that resumed full-capacity operations in 2025.
Lod (לוד)
Lod, also known as Lydda or al-Lud, is a mixed Jewish and Arab city in Israel, just south of Ben Gurion Airport with a population of about 96,000.
Mosul
Mosul (الموصل), Iraq's second-largest city on the Tigris opposite Nineveh, founded as a garrison city in 640–641, peaked under the Zangids, was occupied by ISIL 2014–2017, and is undergoing UNESCO-led reconstruction.
Nablus (نابلس)
Nablus (نابلس), founded 72 CE as Flavia Neapolis near Shechem, is the northern West Bank's commercial hub: Old City kasbah, Nabulsi soap, Mount Gerizim Samaritans, Balata camp, Area A governance, and post-2023 checkpoint and raid pressures.