Israel - AL-MONITOR: The Middle Eastʼs leading independent news source since 2012

Israel cover image

Israel

November 13, 2026

Tel Aviv 2:10 am

17°C

Displaced Palestinian children carry buckets and scoop water from a flooded area outside their tents at a displacement camp in Gaza City, Gaza Strip on November 7, 2026. Gaza's Government Media Office reported that heavy rain flooded at least 70,000 tents sheltering displaced Palestinians across the Gaza Strip within 12 hours. (Photo by Mohammed Al Qumsan / Middle East Images / AFP via Getty Images)

Analysis

Trump’s Gaza plan under fire as Israel restricts flood aid

More than a year after President Donald Trump announced a ceasefire to end the war in Gaza, Israel continues to restrict the delivery of shelter materials and rubble-clearing machinery.

Elizabeth Hagedorn

By Elizabeth Hagedorn

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

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang listens as US President Donald Trump delivers remarks at the US-Saudi Investment Forum at the Kennedy Center, on Nov. 19, 2025, in Washington.

Explainer

What does Nvidia CEO’s resignation mean for the Middle East’s AI buildout?

Jensen Huang’s sudden resignation amid an explosive espionage scandal has thrown the future of the world’s most valuable chipmaker into uncertainty, potentially creating fallout that could buffet the Middle East's technology sector at a crucial moment.

Amir Levy/Getty Images

Eisenkot meets Netanyahu in bid to avoid Iran strikes

Yashar leader Gadi Eisenkot met Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for a security briefing amid opposition concerns that the government could launch a military operation against Iran.

Silvia Casadei / Middle East Images / AFP via Getty Images

France, US push rival UNIFIL plans ahead of Lebanon mandate expiry

With the mandate of the UN peacekeeping force in Lebanon due to expire in six weeks, France and the United States are advancing sharply different proposals for the country's future after UNIFIL's departure.

Latest News

France denies entry for Israeli settler leader: What to know

Marco Longari / AFP via Getty Images

Explainer

From Oct. 7 inquiry to blocking Netanyahu: Eisenkot's bloc maps out Knesset agenda

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (R) casts his ballot, next to his wife Sara

Analysis

Trump officials look past Netanyahu, push Eisenkot to form government quickly

Amir Levy/Getty Images

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

Explainer

Uphill battle: Gadi Eisenkot's 3 paths to forming Israel's next government

Former Israeli army chief of staff and Yashar Party leader, Gadi Eisenkot, greets supporters

Samuel Wendel

Senior Analyst, Middle East Business & Tech

In Washington, DC, reporting on regional business and tech

Adam Lucente

News and Business Correspondent

In New York City, reporting on regional news, militancy, climate change

Jack Dutton

Chief Business Correspondent

In Bristol, reporting on regional business, climate change, AI, tech

Ben Caspit

Israel Columnist

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

Francesco Schiavi

In Bologna, reporting on security, defense, economy, governance

Rina Bassist

Associate Editor (Israel)

In Paris, reporting on Israeli politics and European affairs

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during the opening ceremony of Holocaust Memorial Day at the Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial in Jerusalem April 15, 2015. Starting Wednesday evening, Israel marks the annual memorial day commemorating the six million Jews killed by the Nazis in the Holocaust during World War Two. REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun - RTR4XHVD

Poll shows Israeli voters happy with status quo

According to a US survey of Israeli voters, security considerations tipped the scale and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu won once again for his reputation as a strong leader.

School children from Turkey's Jewish community leave notes on a symbolic railway track during a commemoration event on International Holocaust Remembrance Day at Etz Ahayim Synagogue in Istanbul January 27, 2013. The International Day of Commemoration, which was designated by the United Nations General Assembly to honour Holocaust victims, occurs annually on January 27. REUTERS/Murad Sezer (TURKEY - Tags: POLITICS RELIGION ANNIVERSARY) - RTR3D1Z7

Turkey commemorates Holocaust, ignores Armenian issue

Istanbul commemorated Jewish musicians who continued to create even when persecuted by the Nazis, in a ceremony reflecting the Turkish policy line of tolerance vis-a-vis minorities, as long as the question of Armenian genocide is not raised.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton gives the keynote address at the 2012 Saban Forum at the U.S.-Israel relations gala dinner in Washington, November 30, 2012. REUTERS/Mary F. Calvert (UNITED STATES - Tags: POLITICS) - RTR3B2U2

Should Hillary promote the Clinton Parameters?

Recent statements by former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton suggest that she's adopting a conciliatory tone toward Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu instead of pushing forward initiatives for the two-state solution.

MK Nava Boker aims to defend diversity in Likud

In an interview with Al-Monitor, newly elected Knesset member Nava Boker vows to continue fighting for the improvement of emergency services in Israel, so that disasters like the fire that killed her husband will not repeat themselves.

Belarusssian S-300 mobile missile launching systems drive through a military parade during celebrations marking Independence Day in Minsk July 3, 2013. REUTERS/Vasily Fedosenko (BELARUS - Tags: MILITARY SOCIETY) - RTX11AYI

Russian missile deal sets off alarm bells in Israel

Israel fears that the nuclear agreement, combined with Russian missiles, will strengthen Iran on all fronts, changing the balance of power of both Iran and Hezbollah vis-a-vis Israel.

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon (C) speaks to the media during his visit to the headquarters of the Palestinian cabinet in Gaza City October 14, 2014. Ban Ki-moon lamented the vast destruction in Gaza as he visited the area on Tuesday for the first time since the war, calling the situation "beyond description" and urging a speedy reconstruction effort. He also announced that Israel was permitting a first truckload of construction materials to enter the enclave, which has been blockaded by Israe

Hamas warily eyes proposals for long-term truce with Israel

Negotiations are ongoing between Hamas and international envoys on a potential 15-year truce with Israel, a plan some Hamas and Fatah figures see as a way to split the Gaza Strip from the West Bank.

Tamir Pardo (L), head of Israel's spy agency Mossad, and Yoram Cohen, chief of Israel's Shin Bet internal security service, speak during a corner-stone laying ceremony for a memorial commemorating fallen soldiers on Mount Herzl military cemetery in Jerusalem April 30, 2014. REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun (JERUSALEM - Tags: POLITICS) - RTR3N968

Israeli courts give free hand to Shin Bet

Lawyers specialized in human rights claim that ever since the kidnapping and murder of the three Israeli youths in June 2014, the Israeli judicial system is more lenient concerning the Israeli security apparatus' interrogation methods.

Former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton speaks during a press conference at the United Nations in New York March 10, 2015. REUTERS/Mike Segar (UNITED STATES - Tags: POLITICS) - RTR4STI7

How will Bibi meddle in next US presidential race?

Associates of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu estimate that casino mogul Sheldon Adelson, and subsequently Netanyahu, will soon decide whom to back in the US presidential race.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (C) and his wife Sara (2nd R) attend the Mimona ceremony at the Israeli town of Or Akiva near Caesarea April 11, 2015. Mimona is traditionally celebrated by Jews from North Africa at the end of the Passover holidays. REUTERS/Amir Cohen - RTR4WY31

Likud ministers sidelined from coalition negotiations

With coalition negotiations advancing slowly, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is keeping his cards close to his chest and not disclosing his final goal even to senior Likud members.

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stands with Transportation Minister Yisrael Katz (C) and Finance Minister Yair Lapid (L) during a groundbreaking ceremony for a new port in Ashdod October 28, 2014. Israel's government, looking to break up the monopoly of two state-owned ports in Haifa and Ashdod through which nearly all exports and imports pass, recently approved erecting private ports adjacent to the current ones. The move, it says, will bring down the cost of goods across the board. REUTERS/Amir

Public transport on Sabbath becomes political dispute

Israeli Transportation Minister Yisrael Katz is catering to right-wing religious voters by opposing a bill allowing public transportation on Saturdays, ignoring the poor people who depend on such services.

French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius (C) walks with others during a break in a meeting with world representatives seeking to pin down a nuclear deal with Iran at the Beau Rivage Palace Hotel in Lausanne March 31, 2015. The United States said it was prepared to work past a midnight deadline into Wednesday if progress was being made towards clinching a preliminary nuclear deal between Iran and global powers. REUTERS/Brendan Smialowski/Pool - RTR4VN93

France steps up involvement on Iran, Palestine

France has been very proactive during talks on the Iranian framework agreement, and it intends to extend this proactive attitude to the Palestinian issue.

A general view shows crowds of ultra-Orthodox Jewish men attending the funeral of Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, the spiritual leader of the ultra-religious Shas political party, in Jerusalem October 7, 2013. Yosef, an Iraqi-born sage who turned an Israeli underclass of Sephardic Jews of Middle Eastern heritage into a powerful political force, died on Monday at the age of 93, plunging masses of followers into mourning. REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun (JERUSALEM - Tags: POLITICS RELIGION OBITUARY) - RTX142Z0

Two trampled at massive ultra-Orthodox funeral

Ultra-Orthodox are eager to fulfill the spiritual act of accompanying the deceased on his last journey, but the massively attended funeral of Rabbi Halevi-Wosner entailed the trampling to death of two students in attendance.