Gaza

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

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio gestures as he speaks during an end-of-year press conference in the State Department Press Briefing Room in Washington, DC on December 19, 2025. (Photo by Mandel NGAN / AFP via Getty Images)

Rubio hints US could accept Hamas keeping small arms

The top US diplomat told Al-Monitor the focus of disarmament should be on the "weaponries or capabilities" that Hamas would need to threaten Israel.

A ship sails along Egypt's Suez Canal near Ismailia, April 16, 2025.

Maersk resumes Red Sea passage after two-year halt amid easing Houthi threat

A ceasefire reached between Israel and Hamas in October has prompted some shipping companies to consider resuming services, but security concerns persist.

Saeed Jaras / Middle East Images / AFP via Getty Images

Facing Israeli pushback, Turkey recalibrates public messaging on Gaza force

Turkey’s top diplomat has suggested that being part of the Gaza stabilization force is not Ankara’s priority.

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Analysis

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

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)

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

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.

Analysis

Trump's Syria envoy Barrack tests Israel's patience as Netanyahu pushes back

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (R) meets with US special envoy Tom Barrack, Jerusalem, Dec. 15 2

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

Former US President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks at a remembrance event to mark the first anniversary of the Hamas attack on Israel at Trump National Doral golf club in Miami, Florida, on Oct. 7, 2024.

How a Trump or Harris win could shape the Middle East

The Takeaway unpacks what a Harris or Trump presidency would mean for the trajectory of Israel's mulitfront war in the region.

Saudi Arabian Minister for Foreign Affairs Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al-Saud arrives at the BRICS summit in Kazan on October 24, 2024. (Photo by Alexander Zemlianichenko / POOL / AFP) (Photo by ALEXANDER ZEMLIANICHENKO/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

Saudi-Israel normalization 'off table' until Palestinian statehood, FM says

Saudi Arabia's foreign minister has said that normalization with Israel will wait for progress on Palestinian rights.

This combination of pictures created on Aug. 15, 2021 shows CIA Director, William Burns, testifying during a House Intelligence Committee hearing about worldwide threats, on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, on April 15, 2021 and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi (R) attending a press conference with his Russian counterpart at the presidential palace in the capital Cairo on Dec. 11, 2017.

CIA chief, Egypt’s Sisi discuss 'urgent need' to end Lebanon, Gaza wars

The meeting comes as Egypt, Qatar and the US resume mediation talks to secure a hostage deal and a cease-fire in Gaza.

Drew Angerer/Getty Images

CIA chief returns to Egypt in last-ditch effort for Gaza deal: What we know

The Israeli press reports that CIA chief William Burns will head to Cairo Thursday for more talks on a possible deal between Israel and Hamas.

Commuters drive past a billboard bearing pictures of Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian (2-L), armed forces chief of staff Major General Mohammad Bagheri (L) US President Joe Biden (2-R) and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (R) in Vali-Asr square in Tehran on Oct. 27, 2024.

As election looms, US calls for calm while Iran weighs response to Israeli strikes

The latest Israeli attack appeared calibrated to avoid a major escalation from Tehran that could trigger an all-out regional war.

Rockets fired from southern Lebanon are intercepted by Israel's Iron Dome air defense system over the Upper Galilee region in northern Israel on Sept. 24, 2024.

Israel clinches $500M deal with Elbit Systems, Rafael for Iron Beam defense system

Expected to be operational within a year, the 100-kilowatt class, high-energy Iron Beam system is designed to complement Israel's existing Iron Dome defense system.

WASHINGTON, DC - JANUARY 28: U.S. President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu participate in a joint statement in the East Room of the White House on January 28, 2020 in Washington, DC. The news conference was held to announce the Trump administration's plan to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. (Photo by Sarah Silbiger/Getty Images)

Analysis

Israel’s Netanyahu 'dreams' of Trump victory to deal Iran final blow

Though the Israeli government's stated war goals include avoiding a regional war and an ongoing confrontation with Iran, the reelection of former President Donald Trump could change the calculus.

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

SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images

Analysis

Israel, Hamas in wait-and-see mode ahead of US election

With Hamas and Israel holding firm and the US election less than two weeks away, a cease-fire deal still appears far from reach.

Elizabeth Hagedorn

By Elizabeth Hagedorn

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

Displaced families fleeing Israeli army operations in Jabalia in northern Gaza take the main Salah al-Din road toward Gaza City on Oct. 23, 2024.

Tens of thousands flee Jabalia after Israel sends more troops to northern Gaza

The Israeli military's push into northern Gaza has killed at least 770 Palestinians, according to Gaza's government office, and has caused tens of thousands to flee the Jabalia area.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrives at Israel's Ben Gurion Airport in Lod, on the outskirts of Tel Aviv, on Oct. 12, 2023.

Blinken to push for elusive Gaze cease-fire in latest Mideast trip

The top US diplomat’s 11th mission to the Middle East since the Oct. 7 attacks comes as Israel plans retaliatory strikes on Iran, while waging war in both Gaza and Lebanon.

US Envoy Amos Hochstein (C) speaks with Arab League Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul Gheit (L) and Lebanon's Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri (R) in Beirut on October 21, 2024. (Photo by AFP) (Photo by -/AFP via Getty Images)

US envoy Hochstein says 1701 'not enough' to end Israel war in Lebanon

US special envoy Amos Hochstein is in Lebanon for talks on a formula that would put a stop to the war in Lebanon, after Israel reportedly presented new conditions for a cease-fire.

NIR ELIAS/AFP via Getty Images

With Sinwar dead, US pushes Israel’s Netanyahu to take off-ramp

Israel’s killing of Yahya Sinwar, the architect of the Oct. 7 attacks, has renewed hope for a cease-fire deal that would free the remaining hostages.