The Middle East: news and events on the map, theatre by theatre
OKO follows events in the Middle East across 11 theatres — Gaza, the West Bank, southern Lebanon, Israel, the Red Sea, Yemen, southern Syria, Iraq, Iran, the Persian Gulf and Hormuz. For each it shows current news from open sources with a link to the original article, and reported events right on the map.
What you will see on the map
The Middle East panel groups news by theatre: headline, outlet, time and a link to the full article. OKO recognises reports of strikes by keywords and places them where the strike hit — for broad matches such as a country or the open sea, marked “approximately”. Every such card carries the label “reported · unverified”.
In Gaza, the West Bank, southern Lebanon, the Red Sea, Yemen and southern Syria, OKO also shows who controls which settlement — from the detailed maps on Wikipedia under CC BY-SA 4.0, with the date of the last edit.
- Theatres: Gaza, West Bank, southern Lebanon, Israel, Red Sea, Yemen, southern Syria, Iraq, Iran, Persian Gulf and Hormuz.
- An IMF PortWatch card with estimated shipping through Hormuz, Bab el-Mandeb, Suez and the Cape of Good Hope.
Where the news comes from
News comes from GDELT and the RSS feeds of twelve publishers such as the BBC, Al Jazeera, The Guardian, France 24 and UN News; when there is little news, Google News fills in. OKO shows the headline, the outlet and, for some sources, a preview image — you read the full article at the original publisher. Outlets under EU sanctions are excluded.
The server refreshes news every 15 minutes; the panel loads newer items the next time you open it. The server fetches the Wikipedia control maps every 6 hours, and when a map has not been updated on Wikipedia for a long time, OKO marks it as stale.
What OKO does not do yet
For the Middle East, OKO does not yet show front lines or an event timeline, and it does not show alerts or airspace closures. Strike data are media reports, not verified facts. We track places and events, not people.
At a glance
- Theatres
- 11 plus an overview of the region
- News
- GDELT and RSS of twelve publishers, Google News fallback; refreshed every 15 min
- Territorial control
- Wikipedia maps (CC BY-SA 4.0) in 6 theatres
- Shipping
- IMF PortWatch — estimates, roughly weekly
FAQ
Is the news verified?
No. OKO shows headlines and links from open sources and labels reported strikes as unverified. Read the original article for details.
How often does the news change?
The server refreshes it every 15 minutes; an open panel loads newer items the next time you open it.
Where does territorial control come from?
From the detailed maps on Wikipedia (Israel and Palestine, Lebanon, Yemen, Syria) under CC BY-SA 4.0. Each shows its date and a warning when it is stale.
Can I open a single theatre?
Yes, for example okolive.sk/?mideast=red-sea opens the Red Sea.
Sources and licences
- The GDELT Project
- RSS feeds of 12 publishers (BBC, Al Jazeera, The Guardian, France 24, UN News, The Times of Israel, Haaretz and others)
- Google News (fallback when there is little news)
- Wikipedia — detailed conflict maps — CC BY-SA 4.0
- IMF PortWatch
These are the main sources for this topic; further sources and licences are shown right in the map.