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August 6, 2026

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Israeli battle tanks deploy in the village of Zawtar al-Sharqiyah (Eastern Zawtar) in southern Lebanon as pictured from the nearby village of Zawtar al-Gharbiyah (Western Zawtar) on August 2, 2026. Under a US-sponsored agreement signed in June, Lebanon's army is to disarm Hezbollah and the Israeli military is to withdraw from "pilot zones" where Lebanese forces will subsequently deploy. The deal came more than three months after Hezbollah drew Lebanon into the Middle East with rocket fire at Israel in suppo

Israel-Lebanon talks suspended amid escalation, set to resume Thursday

The Israeli delegation asked the American representatives to suspend the direct talks with Lebanon for a few hours over alleged leaks by Beirut.

Omar AL-QATTAA / AFP via Getty Images

Analysis

Netanyahu’s Gaza double game: Back Trump, reassure Israel’s right

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is trying to both give the impression that Israel retains total freedom of action in Gaza while allowing the Board of Peace to move ahead with President Donald Trump’s peace plan.

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

Tiziana FABI / AFP via Getty Images

What to know about Lebanon-Israel 7th round of talks held in Rome

The US, Israel and Lebanon have sent expanded delegations to the talks, set to continue for three days and expected to focus on security arrangements, border issues and reconstruction.

Latest News

Analysis

Lacking leverage over Trump, Israel stays quiet on US-Iran talks

US President Donald Trump (C) is welcomed by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at Ben Gurion International Airport on Oct. 13, 2025 in Tel Aviv, Israel.

Rina Bassist

By Rina Bassist

In Paris, reporting on Israeli politics and European affairs

Analysis

How strike on Damietta port exposes Egypt's energy infrastructure risks

An Egyptian man looks at the Qatari Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) carrier "Duhail" as its passes through the Suez Canal near the Egyptian port city of Ismailia on April 1, 2008. The vessel has a capacity of 210,100 cu.m making it one of the largest LNG carriers constructed to date. AFP PHOTO/STR (Photo credit should read -/AFP via Getty Images)

Samuel Wendel

By Samuel Wendel

In Washington, DC, reporting on regional business and tech

Analysis

No Iran commitment, no Trump endorsement: Netanyahu leaves US empty-handed

US President Donald Trump walks to board Marine One on the Ellipse near the White House in Washington, DC, on July 31, 2026. President Trump is traveling to Camp David in Maryland to hold a cabinet meeting and later to Bedminster, New Jersey to spend the weekend at his golf club. (Photo by Oliver Contreras / AFP via Getty Images)

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

Samuel Wendel

Senior Market Research Analyst

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

Las Vegas gaming tycoon Sheldon Adelson attends the second Annual Champions of Jewish Values International Awards Gala in New York, May 18, 2014. REUTERS/Mike Segar (UNITED STATES - Tags: BUSINESS SOCIETY) - RTR3PQTR

What does it mean to be a friend of Israel?

Some within the Republican Party have turned the Middle East conflict into a focal point of an internal political dispute.

Bibi's opulent lifestyle won't sway voters

The release of the state comptroller's report has confirmed the lavish household expenses of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his wife, Sara, but it may not matter on election day.

Palestinian labourers work on a construction site in the new Palestinian town dubbed Rawabi or "The Hills", near the West Bank city of Ramallah October 27, 2013. The crackdown on the Gaza Strip as Egypt demolishes the smuggling tunnels along its sandy border, and stagnation in the West Bank mean the Palestinian economy might shrink this year after average annual growth of about nine percent in 2008-2011. To match Analysis PALESTINIANS-ECONOMY/ REUTERS/Mohamad Torokman (WEST BANK - Tags: POLITICS BUSINESS

Israel still refuses to run water to Rawabi

In an interview with Al-Monitor, attorney Dov Weissglass deplores the ongoing Israeli refusal to connect the Palestinian town Rawabi to the water network, claiming that the refusal by Ministers Moshe Ya'alon and Silvan Shalom is politically motivated.

JERUSALEM, : Candles burn with the image of the late Brooklyn born Rabbi Meir Kahane as a follower prays at his grave at the Givat Shaul cemetery on the outskirts of Jerusalem 09 November 2006, to mark the 16th anniversary of his assassination by an Arab gunman in Manhattan. The anti-Arab Jewish militant movement founded by Kahane has in the past claimed responsibility for dozens of shootings of Palestinians in the West Bank, including the notorious 1994 massacre of 29 worshippers at a Hebron Mosque. AFP

What the Kahane phenomenon can teach Israelis today

The Israeli far-right prefers to preserve late Meir Kahane as a historical figure, but with his recent production of "Kahane Was Right" playwright Yoav Itamar forces the Israeli public to confront contemporary Israeli stances on Kahane's controversial, far-right ideologies.

Lieutenant-General Gadi Eizenkot (R), the new Israeli Chief of Staff, and outgoing Chief of Staff Lieutenant-General Benny Gantz embrace during a handover ceremony at the prime minister's office in Jerusalem, in which Eizenkot replaced Gantz, February 16, 2015. REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun (JERUSALEM - Tags: POLITICS MILITARY TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY) - RTR4PRN7

Israelis love to love their IDF chief of staff

Israel's chief of staff is treated like a sacred cow, admired and loved by a public tired of corruption and political squabbles.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu shakes hands with U.S.congressional pages after his speech before a joint meeting of Congress in Washington, May 24, 2011. Netanyahu's vision for ending conflict with Palestinians put "more obstacles" in front of the Middle East peace process, the spokesman for the Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said. REUTERS/Jason Reed (UNITED STATES - Tags: POLITICS) - RTR2MUB0 - RTXYDJ1

Bibi's speech to Congress could tip electoral scale

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Zionist Camp Chair Isaac Herzog are practically in a tie, according to polls, but Netanyahu might tilt the balance with a charismatic speech to Congress.

Former Israeli justice minister and HaTnuah party leader Tzipi Livni delivers a speech election campaign meeting in Tel Aviv, on January 25, 2015 ahead of the March 17 general elections. Oposition Labour party head Isaac Herzog and Livni have made an alliance to contest Israel's snap general election. Most Israelis would like to see Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu replaced after March elections but, paradoxically, he is seen as most suitable for the job, an opinion poll said on December 18, 2014. AFP PH

Zionist Camp pushes Livni to background

The Israeli public has not been convinced by the Zionist Camp's idea of a rotating premiership, which has helped boost Benjamin Netanyahu's changes of re-election.

Ayman Odeh (5).jpeg

Odeh: racist Israeli laws to benefit joint Arab list

The unified Arab list is expected to see success in the next Knesset elections as a result of discriminatory Israeli laws, according to the head of the joint list of all Arab parties.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas (L) and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi attend a Gaza reconstruction conference in Cairo October 12, 2014. Egypt, which brokered a ceasefire between Israel and the Palestinians in Gaza after a 50-day war, used a reconstruction conference in Cairo on Sunday to call for a wider peace deal based on a 2002 Arab initiative. REUTERS/Mohamed Abd El Ghany (EGYPT - Tags: POLITICS) - RTR49UU5

Palestinians prepare 'diplomatic intifada'

With Israel preoccupied with elections and the Arab world preoccupied with fighting the Islamic State, the Palestinians feel sidelined and are looking to launch a "diplomatic intifada."

Men take down a picture of former Lebanese Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri in the mainly Sunni Beirut neighbourhood of Tariq al-Jadideh February 5, 2015. Lebanon has begun removing political posters and party banners from neighbourhoods of the capital in a move to unify a country still divided from a civil war, following an agreement between the militant and political Hezbollah party and its rivals. Picture taken February 5, 2015. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir (LEBANON - Tags: POLITICS SOCIETY) - RTR4OHK4

Hezbollah, Future Movement find 'delicate stability' for now

The dialogue between Hezbollah and the Future Movement continues despite the limited results it has yielded so far.

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delivers a speech during the launch of his Likud party election campaign in Tel Aviv January 5, 2015. Netanyahu was re-elected head of the right-wing Likud party last week, overcoming his first hurdle toward winning a fourth term in office in a March general election. REUTERS/Baz Ratner (ISRAEL - Tags: POLITICS ELECTIONS) - RTR4K5IO

Netanyahu drops diplomacy in re-election bid

Sensing the disillusionment of the Israeli public over the Palestinian issue, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has focused his campaign agenda elsewhere.

Israeli-Arab lawmaker Hanin Zoabi speaks at a news conference announcing a joint political slate of all the Arab parties which will be running in the upcoming elections, in the northern city of Nazareth, January 23, 2015. Four political parties that mostly represent Israel's Arab minority have decided to run together in elections on March 17, creating a potential counter-weight to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his right-wing allies. Opinion polls suggest the united Arab list could secure 11 seats in

Arab list is stronger without Zoabi

The removal of Knesset member Haneen Zoabi, known for her provocative anti-Israeli stance, may make it easier for Israelis to vote for the new joint Arab party.