Gaza

US Energy Secretary Chris Wright speaks during an event with President Donald Trump in the Oval Office at the White House on Oct. 6, 2025 in Washington, DC.

US energy secretary scraps visit after Israel puts $35B Egypt gas deal on hold

Despite US pressure, Energy Minister Eli Cohen refuses to approve a $35 billion gas deal with Egypt until "a fair price for the Israeli market" is secured.

The Prime Minister was accompanied by his Chief-of-Staff, Tzachi Braverman, IDF Chief-of-Staff Lt.-Gen. Eyal Zamir, ISA Director David Zini, his Military Secretary Maj.-Gen. Roman Gofman, the Head of IDF Coordination Command, Maj.-Gen. Yaki Dolf, and senior IDF officials.

Analysis

As CENTCOM sets up in southern Israel, fears grow of expanding US influence

CENTCOM's establishment of the Civil-Military Coordination Center in southern Israel has given Washington unprecedented control over Israeli actions in Gaza.

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

A boy reacts sitting amid the rubble of a house destroyed in an Israeli strike in Nuseirat, in the central Gaza Strip, on Oct. 29, 2025.

Israel renews Gaza ceasefire after airstrikes kill over 100 Palestinians

After a night of aerial strikes in the Gaza Strip in retaliation for the killing of an Israeli soldier in Rafah, the Israeli military announced the resumption of the Gaza ceasefire.

Hamas militants carry a body retrieved from a tunnel in an area north of Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip, on Oct. 28, 2025.

Live Updates

Netanyahu orders 'powerful' strike in Gaza after Hamas attack in Rafah

Earlier in the day, Hamas militants fired anti-tank missiles at an Israeli military force that was conducting engineering work in the Rafah area, which remains under Israeli control.

Latest News

Analysis

Despite uptick in Israeli strikes in Lebanon, both sides reluctant for war

MAHMOUD ZAYYAT/AFP via Getty Images

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

Pentagon’s top general to visit Gaza monitoring center in Israel

ARLINGTON, VIRGINIA - JULY 18: Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine attends a meeting between Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz at the Pentagon on July 18, 2025 in Arlington, Virginia. This is Katz's first official visit to the United States and the counterparts will discuss shared defense priorities, including Iran’s threat posture and the ongoing war in Gaza. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

Culture

Gaza artists' unorthodox biennial finds a home in Istanbul

Alaà Al-Shawa’s “Fragile Masks,” a double portrait of restitched faces, highlights the young artist's quest for survival. (Photo: Nazlan Ertan)

Feature

Inside Congress' battle to repeal Syria's Caesar sanctions

A large Syrian flag flutters above Tishreen Park in Damascus on June 4, 2025.

Elizabeth Hagedorn

By Elizabeth Hagedorn

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

US President Donald Trump greets Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as he arrives at the White House on April 7, 2025 in Washington, DC.

Analysis

'A real collision course': Israel fumes at US takeover of Gaza, West Bank policy

Current and former Israeli officials are bristling at intense US pressure to conclude the war in Gaza at "whatever the cost," fearing that the worst is yet to come.

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

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio (L) looks on as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks following their meeting at the Prime Minister's office in Jerusalem on Oct. 23, 2025.

Rubio meets Netanyahu in push to preserve Gaza ceasefire

Secretary of State Marco Rubio is the latest US official dispatched to Israel to maintain the ceasefire’s momentum.

US President Donald Trump looks on during a press conference in the Oval Office of the White House, on Oct. 15, 2025, in Washington

Trump to Israel: West Bank annexation could end US support

"It won't happen," President Donald Trump said of annexation.

Hamas fighters gather at the site of the handing over of two Israeli hostages in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on Feb. 22, 2025.

Interview

Trump's back channel to Hamas says militants could cede heavy weapons in disarmament deal

Bishara Bahbah says he recently relayed messages between the Trump administration and Hamas concerning the handover of the deceased hostages.

Bishara Bahbah

Bishara Bahbah

Founder, Arab Americans for Peace

NATHAN HOWARD/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

Vance cautions Gaza truce 'tough task' as Knesset pushes West Bank bill

Vice President JD Vance expressed optimism about disarming Hamas and rebuilding Gaza, noting Arab countries are ready to help.

Smoke billows following an Israeli strike that targeted a building in the Bureij camp for Palestinian refugees in the central Gaza Strip on Oct. 19, 2025.

US military to start Gaza ceasefire monitoring as international force plans stall

Diplomatic snags and concerns that their troops could be caught in the crossfire between Hamas and Israel are raising questions about a US proposal to stabilize postwar Gaza with an international force, despite "great optimism" cited by US Vice President JD Vance on Tuesday.

US Vice President JD Vance and Second Lady Usha Vance greet US Ambassador

Analysis

As Trump envoys seek ceasefire progress, Netanyahu pins hopes on Hamas scuttling deal

"The ceasefire is still holding, but not thanks to Israel," a senior Israeli military source told Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity as US envoys work to keep the deal alive.

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

US Vice President JD Vance and second lady Usha Vance disembark Air Force Two on arrival to Ben Gurion airport on Oct. 21, 2025, in Tel Aviv, Israel.

Vance arrives in Israel to bolster fragile Gaza ceasefire

His visit comes a week after President Donald Trump flew to Israel to celebrate the hard-won deal.

Chris McGrath/Getty Images

Witkoff, Kushner in Israel to salvage Gaza ceasefire after series of flare-ups

The Trump administration is stepping up pressure on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to maintain the ceasefire with Hamas and begin implementing the second phase of the US president's Gaza peace plan.

SHARM EL-SHEIKH, EGYPT - OCTOBER 13: World leaders including U.S. President Donald Trump, Egypt's President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan and Qatar's Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani pose for a family photo, at a world leaders' summit 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

Analysis

Netanyahu powerless as Trump advances Gaza plan with Arab, PA forces

The second phase of the agreement with Hamas will force Israel to accept an international force composed of Arab soldiers and the involvement of the Palestinian Authority in the administration of the Gaza Strip.

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

Palestinian Hamas fighters carry their guns in Nuseirat in the central Gaza Strip as preparations take place for the release of three Israeli hostages, as part of the seventh hostage-prisoner swap on Feb. 22, 2025.

Analysis

What will it take to disarm Hamas?

Hamas could be open to a compromise that requires it to surrender “offensive” weapons only.

Elizabeth Hagedorn

By Elizabeth Hagedorn

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

General view of the Rafah Border Crossing on Oct. 9, 2025 in Rafah, Egypt.

Rafah reopening in limbo as Israel accuses Hamas of delaying return of hostages’ remains

Delays by Hamas in returning hostage remains are complicating Israel’s reopening of the Rafah crossing and could stall the next steps of the US-mediated ceasefire.