Gaza

This photograph taken on Jan. 20, 2026, organized by the Saudi-backed Yemeni government, shows Saudi-backed Yemeni forces in the city of Mukalla in Yemen's coastal southern Hadhramaut province.

Saudi-UAE rift complicates Israel's counter-Iran efforts, normalization

Israel fears that the rivalry between the UAE and Saudi Arabia will further push Riyadh toward countries that espouse political Islam policies.

Steve Witkoff, US special envoy to the Middle East, (C) Adm. Brad Cooper, commander of the United States Central Command (CENTCOM), (L) and Jared Kushner listen as US Vice President JD Vance speaks.

Analysis

Why Trump is betting on military leaders for Iran negotiations

The White House has enlisted senior US military commanders to grease the wheels of complex negotiations with adversaries, but can they help advance Trump's policy demands?

Jared Szuba

In Washington, DC, reporting on defense, national security, military

WASHINGTON, DC - JANUARY 29: U.S. Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff (L) shakes hands with U.S. President Donald Trump (R) as U.S. Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum (2L) and Kathryn Burgum (2R) look on in the Oval Office at the White House on January 29, 2026 in Washington, DC. U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order to coordinate a federal government response to drug addiction. (Photo by Samuel Corum/Getty Images)

Analysis

Fearing Iran deal, Netanyahu races to US to sway Trump, sidestep Witkoff

Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu is flying to Washington to persuade President Donald Trump not to forget Iran's ballistic missile project and its proxies in the talks with Tehran.

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

Diplomatic advisor to the United Arab Emirates President Anwar Gargash (C) react on stage with Former US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo (L) and Atlantic Council President and CEO Frederick Kempe (R) during the World Governments Summit in Dubai on February 3, 2026. Spain will seek to ban social media for under-16s to protect them from harmful content such as pornography and violence, Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said on February 3, in the latest such move by governments. Australia established a world first i

On eve of talks, UAE's Gargash throws weight behind Iran-US deal

Anwar Gargash, diplomatic adviser to the UAE president, spoke at a panel discussion at the World Governments Summit in Dubai, where he discussed the latest developments in Gaza, Iran, Sudan and Yemen.

United Arab Emirates

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Feature

Excludes Palestinians, eyes profit: Gazans view Trump’s Board of Peace with deep distrust

Palestinians sit amid destroyed buildings by the Israeli military in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip on Jan. 27, 2026.

Rasha Abou Jalal

By Rasha Abou Jalal

In Gaza City, reporting on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict

Analysis

As envoys recalled, what's driving Israel-South Africa rupture?

PHILL MAGAKOE/AFP via Getty Images

Rina Bassist

By Rina Bassist

In Paris, reporting on Israeli politics and European affairs

As phase 2 looms, Netanyahu insists no Turkish or Qatari troops in Gaza

JACK GUEZ/AFP via Getty Images

Israel recovers final Gaza hostage, Rafah crossing set to reopen: What to know

Truck carrying aid enters Gaza through the border crossing on Oct. 12, 2025, in Rafah, Egypt.

An Egyptian tanker truck bearing the insignia of the United Nations enters the Egyptian side of the Rafah border crossing with the Gaza Strip on March 23, 2024, amid the ongoing conflict in the Palestinian territory between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas. (Photo by Khaled DESOUKI / AFP) (Photo by KHALED DESOUKI/AFP via Getty Images)

Why PA rejected Israel's offer for 'unofficial' control of Rafah crossing

A Ramallah-based source explained to Al-Monitor that the PA is not interested in cooperating with Israel on piecemeal projects that don't include a broader agreement on postwar governance of Palestinian territories.

A Bahrain security forces armored vehicle is stationed near a billboard depicting the faces of Saudi Arabia's King Salman bin Abdulaziz (L), last year's Arab League summit host, and Bahrain's King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa (R), this year's host, ahead of the 33rd league summit in Manama, May 15, 2024.

Arab League calls for 'immediate' Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, deployment of international force

The statement further expresses the Arab nations' “firm position for a just and comprehensive peaceful settlement of the Palestinian issue” and their support for an international peace conference on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant (R) leaves the State Department after meeting with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken at the US State Department in Washington, on March 25, 2024.

Israel sends Shin Bet delegation to Egypt as Netanyahu, Gallant clash

The split in the Israeli cabinet came as Hamas claimed an attack that targeted Israeli troops with a projectile in Gaza City and as its leader Ismail Haniyeh rejected any settlement that excludes the group from power in Gaza after the war.

TOPSHOT - US Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks to the press at the port of Ashdod in southern Israel on May 1, 2024. (Photo by Evelyn Hockstein / POOL / AFP) (Photo by EVELYN HOCKSTEIN/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

Blinken says 'deep concerns' about Israeli Rafah operation's impact on aid

The Financial Times reported Wednesday that the Biden administration is in talks with Arab states including Morocco, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates to participate in a peacekeeping force in Gaza when the war is over.

WASHINGTON, DC - APRIL 24: National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan talks to reporters in the Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House on April 24, 2024 in Washington, DC. Sullivan fielded questions about legislation President Joe Biden signed that morning for $80 billion in foreign aid, abortion arguments at the Supreme Court and other topics. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

Jake Sullivan to visit Saudi Arabia, Israel amid regional tension

White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan's trip comes as the Biden administration is urging Israel to consider alternatives to a full-scale invasion of Rafah.

Smoke rises over Gaza as an Israeli tank takes position along the border with the Gaza Strip, southern Israel, May 13, 2024.

Analysis

Netanyahu buys time in Rafah, balances Israel's far right and Biden's 'red lines'

As the Israeli military steps up its eastern Rafah operation, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will soon have to decide whether to cross the American red line: a full-scale invasion of the Gazan city.

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

ROBIN VAN LONKHUIJSEN/ANP/AFP via Getty Images

ICJ to host hearing on Israel's Rafah operation

The International Court of Justice will conduct hearings this Thursday and Friday to discuss a new request by South Africa to order Israel to stop its Rafah operation.

Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas shakes hands with China's President Xi Jinping after a signing ceremony at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on June 14, 2023. (Photo by Jade GAO / POOL / AFP) (Photo by JADE GAO/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

With second meeting in June, China finds opportunity in Hamas-Fatah talks

China is increasingly seeing Hamas as a legitimate political force in the political process on Palestine’s future and statehood, refusing to condemn or describe the group as a terrorist organization.

An Israeli army battle tank takes a position in southern Israel near the border with the Gaza Strip on May 13, 2024, amid the ongoing conflict in the Palestinian territory between Israel and the Hamas movement.

Israel unlikely to achieve 'total victory' over Hamas, US official says

Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell said the United States and Israel are “struggling over what the theory of victory is” in the Palestinian enclave.

A man films with his phone a damaged trailer truck that was carrying humanitarian aid supplies.

Israeli settlers attack aid convoy of 98 trucks heading to Gaza from Jordan

Israeli settlers have repeatedly attacked and vandalized aid trucks heading to the Gaza Strip, where the humanitarian situation is quickly deteriorating.

The Pentagon is seen from a flight taking off from Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport on November 29, 2022, in Arlington, Virginia.

Pentagon intelligence officer resigned over US support for war in Gaza

US Army Maj. Harrison Mann is the first Defense Department official to have publicly linked his resignation to US support for Israel's war in Gaza war.

This handout photograph taken and released by the Turkish Presidency Press Service on May 13, 2024 shows Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis (L) and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan posing before a meeting in Ankara.

Erdogan rebukes Greek PM for calling Hamas ‘terrorists,’ says 1,000+ members being treated in Turkey

Erdogan’s comments came after the Greek prime minister told the news conference that “particularly in the Middle East there are differences with Turkey.”