Gaza

Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images

Analysis

Gaza realities test Trump’s 2025 Middle East ambitions

During its first year, the second Trump administration confronted wars in Gaza and Sudan, forged new ties with Syria and grappled with the growing nuclear threat from Iran.

Elizabeth Hagedorn

By Elizabeth Hagedorn

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

ABIR SULTAN / AFP via Getty Images

Analysis

Eyeing Turkey, Netanyahu boosts Greece, Cyprus ties ahead of US visit

Worried about the increasing empowerment of Turkey across the Middle East, Israel is making a show of neighborhood strength with Greece and Cyprus.

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

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu participates in a joint news conference with US President Donald Trump (not seen) in the State Dining Room at the White House on Sept. 29, 2025, in Washington.

Analysis

In 2025, Netanyahu saved his coalition but stalled on Gaza, Iran, Lebanon

With 2025 ending, Israelis are frustrated over Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s refusal to fully end the Gaza war, solve the Hezbollah problem, reach a deal with Syria or find a way to constructively impact talks on the Iranian nuclear program.

Rina Bassist

By Rina Bassist

In Paris, reporting on Israeli politics and European affairs

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

Latest News

Rubio hints US could accept Hamas keeping small arms

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)

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

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

Facing Israeli pushback, Turkey recalibrates public messaging on Gaza force

Saeed Jaras / Middle East Images / AFP via Getty Images

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

Israel's Prime Minsiter Benjamin Netanyahu presents the new government to parliament at the Knesset in Jerusalem on Dec. 29, 2022.

Day 72 of Hamas-Israel war blog: Sunday, Dec. 17

Relatives of Israeli-Bedouins kidnapped in Gaza call on world leader to assist the campaign for their release, Dec. 14, 2023.

Relatives of Israeli Bedouins kidnapped by Hamas plead for France's help

Relatives of Israeli Bedouins kidnapped by Hamas Oct. 7 are hoping to raise international awareness of their plight.

Israeli Minister of Defence Yoav Gallant (R) and US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin deliver a statement to the press at the Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) headquarters near the Ben Gurion airport in Tel Aviv, on March 9, 2023.

Pentagon dispatches top officials as concerns grow over Israel’s conduct in Gaza war

US officials are expected to advise their Israeli counterparts on methods to shift the campaign from wide-scale ground-clearance operations to more focused strikes against Hamas leadership.

Yakov Argamani, father of 26-year-old Israeli hostage Noa Argamani, speaks to media outside the Tel Aviv Museum of Art, now informally called the "Hostages Square", in Tel Aviv on Dec. 16, 2023, amid continuing battles between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas. The Israeli army was on December 16 investigating the killing of three hostages which it said had been mistakenly identified as a threat by soldiers, an incident that sparked protests in Tel Aviv.

Day 71 of Hamas-Israel war blog: Saturday, Dec. 16

Israel's Prime Minsiter Benjamin Netanyahu presents the new government to parliament at the Knesset in Jerusalem on Dec. 29, 2022.

Analysis

Even with Israel at war, Netanyahu is already campaigning for next elections

Signs indicate that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu might not step down after the war is over, but rather will run again for the position of Israel’s leader.

Mazal Mualem

By Mazal Mualem

In Tel Aviv, reporting on politics

hostage families rally

Breaking | Last Updated: December 15, 2023, 1:56 pm

IDF troops kill 3 Israeli hostages by mistake

In a dramatic announcement, IDF spokesperson Daniel Hagari said IDF troops have accidentally shot and killed three Israeli hostages in Gaza.

Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images

US chases breakthrough in Gaza hostage impasse

A senior Hamas official claimed the group has been holding four female soldiers since the truce collapsed, when Biden administration says the militants recategorized civilian women set for release as soldiers.

BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP via Getty Images

Analysis

Netanyahu, Biden at loggerheads over war, Gaza's future

While the Americans pressure Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to lean on the Palestinian Authority, the Israeli leader continues to scapegoat Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

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

BERLIN, GERMANY - NOVEMBER 18: A child attends a demonstration in support of Palestine amidst the ongoing war in Gaza, which the Israeli government says targets Hamas, the Palestinian Sunni Islamist political and military organization governing the Gaza Strip, on November 18, 2023 in Berlin, Germany. According to Hamas' health ministry, over 11,500 people have been killed in Gaza since Israel began retaliation for the group's deadly attack on October 7, in which around 1,200 people were killed and 240 other

Analysis

In midst of Gaza carnage, could outside solidarity spur Hamas to go global?

Even if Hamas as a military threat remains largely confined to the region, the ideology it promotes has an opportunity to capitalize on Gaza's grievances, gain more traction than at any point in recent memory.

Colin P. Clarke

By Colin P. Clarke

In Pittsburgh, US, reporting on counterterrorism, militancy

Palestinians inspect the destruction caused by Israeli strikes on their homes in the village of Khuzaa, near Abasan east of Khan Yunis near the border fence between Israel and the southern Gaza Strip on Nov. 27, 2023.

Day 70 of Hamas-Israel war blog: Friday, Dec. 15

French President Emmanuel Macron attends a video conference at the presidential Elysee Palace on Oct. 20, 2023.

How France is targeting Hamas financing

Representatives of 20 countries gathered in Paris to formulate a plan against the financing of Hamas and expand sanctions against its members.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu heads the weekly cabinet meeting at his office in Jerusalem on December 10, 2023

Day 69 of Hamas-Israel war blog: Thursday, Dec. 14