Armed Militias and Extremist Groups

US President Donald Trump speaks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the Israeli parliament, the Knesset, in Jerusalem on Oct. 13, 2025.

Analysis

Trump has upper hand over Netanyahu, but is it enough for Gaza?

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been stalling on the implementation of the second phase of President Donald Trump’s Gaza plan, but at the end of the day, Trump has much more leverage over Netanyahu.

Rina Bassist

By Rina Bassist

In Paris, reporting on Israeli politics and European affairs

A destroyed Syrian army battle tank lies abandoned near the ancient ruins of Palmyra in central Syria on Feb. 7, 2025.

US bombs ISIS targets in Syria in retaliation for Palmyra insider attack

The Islamic State has not claimed direct credit for the ambush by a member of Syria's domestic security forces that killed three American personnel in Palmyra last week.

Rabih DAHER / AFP via Getty Images

Second Lebanon-Israel meeting agrees to strengthen Lebanese army: What to know

The second round of civilian-led talks between Israel and Lebanon focused on the economic track while also addressing the removal of Hezbollah's weapons.

SHARM EL-SHEIKH, EGYPT - OCTOBER 13: U.S. President Donald Trump and President of Egypt Abdel Fattah El-Sisi clasp hands as they speak to the press before their meeting on October 13, 2025 in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt. President Trump is in Egypt to meet with European and Middle Eastern leaders in what’s being billed as an international peace summit, following the start of a US-brokered ceasefire deal to end the war in the Gaza Strip. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

Analysis

How Netanyahu ceded to Trump, agreed to Egypt's $35B gas deal

The Israeli prime minister's frustration with Trump administration strong-arming continues, with pressure to sign Egypt gas deal and now a reported push for Sisi meeting.

In Tel Aviv, reporting on national security, Israeli politics, defense

Latest News

US, France and Saudi Arabia agree to conference to bolster Lebanon’s army

This photograph taken during a press tour organised by the Lebanese army shows Lebanese soldiers standing atop a military vehicle in Alma Al-Shaab, near the border with Israel in southern Lebanon, on November 28, 2025. It was the first guided tour the army gave journalists since a November 2024 ceasefire sought to end over a year of hostilities between Hezbollah and Israel. (Photo by Anwar AMRO / AFP via Getty Images)

Qatar’s prime minister meets US officials as Gaza plan stalls

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio (R) shakes hands with Qatari Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani at the State Department in Washington, on Dec. 17, 2025.

Over 600 Israeli ex-security chiefs urge Trump to disarm Hamas, back PA in Gaza

President Donald Trump speaks with Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the Knesset, Israel's parliament, on Oct. 13, 2025 in Jerusalem.

Syria foils major arms smuggling attempt to Lebanon: What we know

The Internal Security Directorate in the Zabadani area of rural Damascus thwarted an attempt to smuggle a shipment of weapons and seized large quantities of RPG shells that were hidden in an organized manner and prepared for smuggling towards Lebanon, on Dec. 17, 2025.

International Institute for Counter-Terrorism

Mossad chief warns Iran leadership of retaliation, says Israel foiled 27 attacks

In an unusual direct threat, Israel's Mossad chief warned Tehran decision-makers that Israel will come after them should Iran hurt any Jew or Israeli.

A man wearing camouflage visits the grave of Wagner private mercenary group chief Yevgeny Prigozhin, who was killed in a private jet crash in the Tver region last week, at the Porokhovskoye cemetery in Saint Petersburg on August 30, 2023. (Photo by Olga MALTSEVA / AFP) (Photo by OLGA MALTSEVA/AFP via Getty Images)

Russia maintains Libya role after Wagner's mutiny, Prigozhin's death

A senior defense official visited eastern Libya to meet with the Libyan National Army and assure them that Russian support would continue.

North Africa Pulse

Members of Lebanon's LGBTQ community attend a picnic the coastal city of Batroun, north of Beirut, on May 21, 2017, as part of the Beirut Pride week aimed at raising awarness about the rights of the community. / AFP PHOTO / IBRAHIM CHALHOUB (Photo credit should read IBRAHIM CHALHOUB/AFP via Getty Images)

Culture

Lebanon: Backlash as MPs introduce bill to decriminalize LGBTQ+ relationships

Some Lebanese leaders have intensified their campaign against the LGBTQ+ community after news emerged of a bill to repeal an anti-LGBTQ+ provision of the Penal Code.

Israel's Foreign Minister Eli Cohen (L) attends a press conference with his counterpart from Bahrain Abdul Latif al-Zayani (R), during his visit to the capital Manama on September 4, 2023. (Photo by Mazen Mahdi / AFP) (Photo by MAZEN MAHDI/AFP via Getty Images)

Hamas, Hezbollah lash out at Bahrain as Israeli FM concludes visit

Hamas criticized the visit as Israel’s relations with the island kingdom continue to improve, despite historically high tensions with the Palestinians.

Tens of thousands of people rally in support of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in Damascus on October 26, 2011, as an Arab delegation led by Qatar was headed for Syria for mediation between the Syrian government and its opponents. The demonstrators, waving Syrian flags and brandishing pictures of Assad and his brother Maher (L), swarmed to Omayyad square in the heart of Damascus. AFP PHOTO/LOUAI BESHARA (Photo credit should read LOUAI BESHARA/AFP via Getty Images)

Syria: clashes in Damascus countryside with Maher Assad brigade leave 5 dead

The residents of Zakia town had been raising anti-regime banners, and a man was killed by local militias affiliated with Maher al-Assad’s Fourth Division this week.

Iraqis drive past electoral billboards and placards of candidates for the upcoming parliamentary elections in Karrada district, Baghdad, Iraq, Sept. 19, 2021.

US welcomes conviction of Iranian, 4 Iraqis for killing American citizen

Stephen Troell, an aid worker in Baghdad, was killed in November when gunmen opened fire on his car.

Palestinian militants march during the funeral of Palestinians killed in clashes the previous day in the Israeli military operation in Jenin in the occupied West Bank on July 5, 2023.

What's behind rare intra-Palestinian clashes in West Bank

The rare clash between the Palestinian Authority and local Palestinians came amid increased Israeli security raids in the territory.

Arab Israelis demonstrate against organized crime and calling on the Israeli police to stop a wave of intra-communal violence, Umm al-Fahm, March 12, 2021.

Analysis

Does Israel’s government want to curb deadly crime wave in Arab sector?

Despite electoral promises, National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir has nothing to show in terms of stopping spiraling violence in Arab Israeli towns and villages.

In Tel Aviv, reporting on national security, Israeli politics, defense

Yevgeny Prigozhin, the leader of the Wagner mercenary group.

Wagner chief Prigozhin among passengers in fatal plane crash: Russian state media

Russia’s grey-zone influence in the Middle East and Africa enters uncharted territory amid reports of the Wagner chief’s death.

Russia / Mideast

View of the headquarters of Libya's Central Bank in Tripoli, Oct. 15, 2004.

Libya’s central bank reunifies after clashes in Tripoli

The reunification of the financial institution is a sign of progress and follows disputes over oil revenue distribution and violence in the capital, as Libya continues to grapple with the aftermath of the civil war.

A truck drives on a road as a plume of smoke rises from a building during a reported Russian airstrike on Syria.

Russian airstrikes target Hayat Tahrir al-Sham in Syria

The al-Qaeda offshoot is focused on defending its territory from Russian-backed Syrian government forces, but it has also clashed with the Islamic State recently.

JAAFAR ASHTIYEH/AFP via Getty Images

Palestinian Islamic Jihad, Fatah hold rare meeting in Gaza

The meeting in Gaza comes as the PA escalates its crackdown on Islamic Jihad in the West Bank.