Border Disputes

Israel military vehicles drive along the border fence into Israel, near the town of Majdal Shams, in the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights, on July 17, 2025. Syrian government forces have withdrawn from the whole of Sweida province after days of sectarian bloodshed in the heartland of the Druze minority, a war monitor and witnesses said July 17, 2025. (Photo by Jalaa MAREY / AFP) (Photo by JALAA MAREY/AFP via Getty Images)

Analysis

What Syria and Israel’s new communications cell really signals

The deal reached in Paris under US mediation reflects a rare step toward managing tensions but stops short of halting Israeli military strikes or producing a broader security pact.

Rina Bassist

By Rosaleen Carroll , Rina Bassist

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.

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

Syrian authorities have stepped up operations targeting smuggling attempts mainly destined for Hezbollah in Lebanon since the fall of President Bashar al‑Assad’s regime last year.

SAKIS MITROLIDIS/AFP via Getty Images

Ankara open to US mediation role in Turkey-Greece row with conditions: Source

A Turkish source told Al-Monitor that Ankara could be receptive to the idea of the US playing a role in easing tensions with Greece.

An Israeli military tank patrols along the border fence separating northern Israel from southern Lebanon on November 24, 2025. Hezbollah held the funeral on November 24 for its top military chief and other members of the militant group a day after Israel killed them in a strike on Beirut's southern suburbs. (Photo by Jalaa MAREY / AFP via Getty Images)

Analysis

Lebanon-Israel direct talks pause operation against Hezbollah — but for how long?

The US blocked Israel from widening its strikes on Hezbollah this week, yet another flare-up in their enduring conflict seems likely despite first direct talks between Lebanon and Israel.

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

Latest News

US pressure prompted Israel-Lebanon talks to avert war with Hezbollah

US deputy Middle East envoy Morgan Ortagus speaks during a United Nations Security Council meeting on the situation in Gaza, at UN headquarters in New York, on Sept. 18, 2025.

Analysis

As it prepares for Hezbollah’s retaliation, Israel anticipates limited fighting in Lebanon

Hezbollah

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

Analysis

Trump pursues Israeli-Syrian security pact with Sharaa, larger US military footprint

KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA - OCTOBER 26: U.S. President Donald Trump holds a bilateral meeting with Brazil's President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (not in frame) at Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre on October 26, 2025 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Trump is in Malaysia for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit, and will next travel to Japan, en route to South Korea for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum. (Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)

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

Israel escalates Lebanon attacks amid US frustration over Hezbollah disarmament

A bulldozer removes the wreckage of a vehicle targeted by an Israeli drone strike in the southern Lebanese village of Doueir near the city of Nabatieh, on Nov. 3, 2025.

Camels roam next to wind turbines that will supply power to a desalination plant under construction in Dakhla in the disputed Western Sahara, mostly controlled by Morocco, on May 26, 2025.

Feature

Trump eyes Algeria-Morocco rift over Western Sahara in latest peace bid

With the world’s attention fixed on the Gaza ceasefire, the Trump administration has its sights set on another diplomatic deal: Western Sahara.

Elizabeth Hagedorn

By Elizabeth Hagedorn

In Washington, DC, reporting on diplomacy, regional politics, human rights

AAMIR QURESHI/AFP via Getty Images

Iran to host Pakistani interior minister as border security, trade talks advance

Iran is finessing its relations with Pakistan, seeking to bolster border security and increase trade in response to sanctions.

Chairman of the US-led committee to monitor the ceasefire agreement between Lebanon and Israel Lt. Gen. Joseph Clearfield meets Lebanon President Joseph Aoun in Beirut, Oct. 23, 2025.

‘No one wants to return to war,’ Lebanon’s Aoun tells US general overseeing ceasefire

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun urged the committee tasked with monitoring the ceasefire that ended last year’s war with Israel to pressure the latter to end its daily attacks on Lebanon.

Iraqi national security adviser Qasim al-Araji meets with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, in Tehran, on Oct. 20, 2025.

Iraq's security chief visits Iran, steps up border and railway cooperation: What to know

Iraqi national security adviser Qasim al-Araji’s trip to Iran focused on efforts to deal with Kurdish groups on the border and a much-delayed railway linkage between the two countries.

COURTNEY BONNEAU/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images

Israel launches heaviest wave of strikes in south Lebanon since ceasefire

The Israeli escalation came just a day after the US military praised the Lebanese army’s progress in disarming Hezbollah.

WAKIL KOHSAR/AFP via Getty Images

Fearing fallout, Iran calls for cohesion amid shaky Afghanistan-Pakistan truce

The Islamic Republic is particularly concerned about the presence of the Islamic State-Khorasan branch in Afghanistan.

Lebanese army soldiers and security forces deploy near a vehicle that was hit by a reported drone-strike at the entrance of the village of Barja, about 30 kilometres south of Beirut, on Sept. 9, 2025.

US approves $230M for Lebanon’s push to disarm Hezbollah

New US funds for Beirut signal rare bipartisan approval for progress by Lebanon's security forces as they dismantle Hezbollah weapons caches, but significant risks remain as the militant faction resists full disarmament.

UMIT BEKTAS/AFP via Getty Images

In first visit in 25 years, Syrian FM pushes sanctions relief in Washington

Asaad al-Shibani’s visit to Washington comes as Syria seeks sanctions relief and engages in US-mediated talks with Israel on a security agreement.

Turkish Presidential spokesperson Ibrahim Kalin gives a press conference following talks with Sweden and Finland over their bids to join NATO at the Presidential Complex in Ankara, on May 25, 2022.

Turkey’s spy chief in Damascus as Israel, Syria weigh new security map

Ibrahim Kalin’s visit comes as Israel presses Syria on a buffer zone plan and Turkey frets over Kurdish autonomy.

A beekeeper walks by his beehives set in a valley in the Armenian province of Kotayk, with Mount Ararat seen in the background, on May 15, 2019.

Armenia's Pashinyan drops Mount Ararat from border stamps in 'concession' to Turkey

Armenia’s government will stop using Mount Ararat on border stamps starting in November, a move that has stirred outrage at home and fueled debate over Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s outreach to Turkey.

Pakistani security personnel check the documents of people who came from Iran at the Pakistan-Iran border in Taftan on June 16, 2025.

Iran says 13 militants in Baluchestan killed as insurgents exploit postwar weakness

The large-scale operation in Sistan-Baluchestan underscores persistent instability in the volatile, impoverished province, where Sunni militants have intensified attacks since the Iran-Israel conflict.

JALAA MAREY/AFP via Getty Images

Syria says six soldiers killed in Israeli drone strike as US pushes for security deal

There have been signs of progress in Israel-Syria talks, though tensions are flaring in the south and Syria has condemned a number of Israeli actions.