Tunisia

Tunisia increases prison sentences for defendants in deadly 2023 Djerba synagogue attack - report

A Tunisian appeals court increased prison sentences for defendants linked to the 2023 attack on Djerba’s historic Ghriba synagogue, which killed five people, including two Jewish visitors.

|BySETH J. FRANTZMAN
A Jewish worshipper prays during a pilgrimage to the El Ghriba synagogue in Djerba, Tunisia
Now, when Israel looks out at the map, it has an alliance with two countries that face Iran directly across the Gulf

Middle East economy to shrink 2.1% in 2026, Gulf economies by 4.3%, World Bank forecasts

Despite grim forecasts, the World Bank projects regional economies could rebound by 7.8% in 2027 if the conflict ends this year, though the Hormuz blockade and inflation remain major threats.

|ByDANIELLE GREYMAN-KENNARD
A migrant stands on the deck of rescue ship "Ocean Viking" operated by the NGO SOS Mediterranee as waves crash against the ship sailing in the Mediterranean Sea, near Italy, on January 2, 2026

At least two dead, six reported missing after migrant shipwreck off Tunisia's coast

Sea-Watch rescued another 23 survivors, including a toddler, from an offshore oil and gas platform where they had taken refuge after the shipwreck.

|ByREUTERS
Global Movement to Gaza Sweden holds a demonstration in connection with the arrival of the released Swedish participants in the Global Sumud Flotilla, in central Stockholm, Sweden October 7, 2025.

Tunisia extends 'Sumud 4' flotilla activists' detention to 10 months, little international outcry

While the brief detention of flotilla members by Israeli authorities sparked international outrage, the six-month detention of four activists in Tunisia has been underreported internationally.

|ByMATHILDA HELLER

Since Tunisia’s Saied seized control, the country’s economic situation continues to deteriorate

IMF loans stall as Saied rebuffs its demands for reform; meanwhile, Europe offers aid to buy influence.

SEPTEMBER 9, 2023ByDEBBIE MOHNBLATT/THE MEDIA LINE
Tunisian President Kais Saied

Forty-one feared dead in migrant shipwreck in central Mediterranean

A tragic shipwreck last week leaves the majority of people on board missing, only four survivors found

AUGUST 9, 2023ByREUTERS
A group of migrants huddle, wrapped in emergency blankets, after being rescued

What do MENA Muslims think about the role of women in society? – study

The researchers surveyed respondents from Algeria, Egypt, Pakistan, Tunisia, Turkey, and the Palestinian Territories on their perception of women's chastity and marital patriarchy.

JULY 15, 2023ByDANIELLE GREYMAN-KENNARD
Women shop at a street in Tehran, Iran, November 29, 2021.

Tunisia’s Saied uses desperate Europe to stop migration, gain aid and legitimacy

Europe has, in the past, aided foreign governments that it condemns to stop migration flow into the continent.

JUNE 25, 2023ByDEBBIE MOHNBLATT/THE MEDIA LINE
Transit camp for migrants near the Tunisian border with Libya

Tunisia's fledgling democracy is a ticking time bomb - opinion

How much longer the liberal atmosphere of Tunisia’s 12-year fledgling democracy will last is anybody’s guess.

MAY 31, 2023ByNEVILLE TELLER
A Tunisian flag flutters outside the building of Ennahda party headquarters, after police raided the headquarters early on Tuesday and evacuated all present to start a search that will take days, after showing a judicial warrant, party officials said, in Tunis, Tunisia April 18, 2023.

No fear, more effort to build after the Djerba attack - opinion

Yes, Jewish life has its difficult, even tragic moments – but it is in the response to those tragedies that I can see how Jewish communities have thrived.

MAY 21, 2023ByMENDY CHITRIK
THE GHRIBA synagogue in Djerba, Tunisia, where this month’s attack took place: There was a sense of loss, but also an undercurrent of grim determination that this community would carry on, says the writer.

Tunisia may be on verge of dissolving the Ennahda movement - report

If the Ennahda party is indeed reduced in influence or disbanded in some way, either by authorities or other means, this will be a major development in Tunisia.

MAY 20, 2023BySETH J. FRANTZMAN
Rached Ghannouchi, the head of Islamist Ennahda party and former speaker of the parliament, during an interview with Reuters at his office in Tunis, Tunisia, July 15, 2022.

14 Days: Gaza operation

Israeli news highlights from the past two weeks.

MAY 19, 2023BySTEVE LINDE
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is seen holding a security assessment amid the IDF's Operation Shield and Arrow against Gaza-based Palestinian Islamic Jihad.

Tunisia president pledges safety for Jewish citizens after synagogue attack

The president met with Tunisia's chief rabbi, chief Christian archbishop and Muslim mufti, saying that receiving clerics sent a "historical message" of coexistence and tolerance.

MAY 17, 2023ByREUTERS
TUNISIA WAS once considered the Arab Spring’s sole success story, but President Kais Saied has dissolved parliament, dismissed the government and assumed autocratic powers.

Tunisian president claims Djerba synagogue shooting wasn't antisemitic

Two Jewish cousins and three police officers were killed in a shooting near the Djerba synagogue on Lag Ba'Omer.

MAY 15, 2023ByZVIKA KLEIN
Tunisian presidential candidate Kais Saied reacts after exit poll results were announced in a second round runoff of the presidential election in Tunis, Tunisia October 13, 2019.