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

Israel cover image

Israel

November 13, 2026

Tel Aviv 4:46 am

15°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

$30 Apr 1997: Eli Ohana of Israel in action during the World Cup Qualifier against Cyprus in Tel Aviv, Israel. Israel won 2-0. \ Mandatory Credit: Mark Thompson /Allsport$

Who wants to be a Knesset member?

The political arena has lost its attractiveness for people of substantial public service and achievement, opening the stage for media celebrities, and even for the world of soccer.

An Israeli mobile artillery unit fires towards the southern Gaza in this August 1, 2014 file photo. The July-August war in Gaza drew international condemnation for a number of reasons, but one episode proved more deadly than any other: an Israeli air and artillery bombardment on Aug. 1 that killed 150 people in a matter of hours.The events unfolded just as a three-day ceasefire was supposed to come into force. Hamas militants emerged from a tunnel inside Gaza and ambushed three Israeli soldiers, killing two

Palestinians prepare ICC files

Palestine is preparing files on Israeli settlement activity and the 2014 war on Gaza for submission to the International Criminal Court come April 1.

Abu Ubaida, the spokesman of the Izz el-Deen al-Qassam Brigade, the armed wing of the Hamas movement, is pictured on a television screen as he delivers a televised statement on Hamas TV, in Gaza August 20, 2014. Hamas's military wing said on Wednesday an Israeli air strike in Gaza had failed to kill its military commander, Mohammed Deif. In a televised statement, Ubaida said Israel had missed its target. Deif's wife and seven-month-old son were killed in the attack. REUTERS/Suhaib Salem (GAZA - Tags: POLITI

Mohammed al-Deif lives

Commander of the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades Mohammed al-Deif is responsible for some of the most murderous terror attacks against Israelis, yet during the Gaza war the IDF failed again to eliminate him.

A bulldozer works at a construction site in Pisgat Zeev, an urban settlement in an area Israel annexed to Jerusalem after capturing it in the 1967 Middle East war, August 13, 2013. A 10-minute drive from where negotiators will sit down on Wednesday to resume long-stalled Middle East peace talks, Israeli bulldozers are busy reshaping land that Palestinians want for their future state.
REUTERS/Baz Ratner (JERUSALEM - Tags: POLITICS BUSINESS CONSTRUCTION) - RTX12JQ0

Settlement funding: Likud betrays the poor

Over the years, the Likud Party has preferred to grant vast funds to settlements, instead of caring for the weak and poor sectors, which got it to power in the first place.

Palestinian political unity welcomed for Israeli elections

Palestinians in the occupied territories welcomed the decision by their brethren in Israel to form a joint list for the March elections.

An Israeli in King Arthur's court

Medieval re-enactments are catching on in Israel, including battles between knights and an annual event at the Horns of Hattin.

Could Israel’s strike on Hezbollah in Syria spark Iran nuclear talks?

The latest Israel-Hezbollah confrontation might be a catalyst for a nuclear deal between the P5+1 and Iran; Iran can ease Saudi Arabia’s security predicament; Netanyahu sees electoral gain in snubbing Obama.

A labourer works on an apartment building under construction in a Jewish settlement known to Israelis as Har Homa and to Palestinians as Jabal Abu Ghneim in an area of the West Bank that Israel captured in a 1967 war and annexed to the city of Jerusalem, October 28, 2014. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will expedite planning for some 1,000 settler homes in East Jerusalem, a government official said on Monday, in a bid to placate a restive coalition ally without further aggravating a dispute with

Europe determined to prevent Israeli settlement policy

While the Obama administration is reluctant to finalize its peace negotiations policy before Israeli elections, the European Union has already elaborated punitive measures in response to any future Israeli settlements.

U.S. President Barack Obama (R) shakes hands with Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as they sit down to meet in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington March 3, 2014. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst (UNITED STATES - Tags: POLITICS) - RTR3G01E

Obama snubs, Netanyahu scores

Despite the damage to his relations with President Barack Obama, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's coming congressional address is expected to strengthen his status within his Israeli right-wing electoral base.

A picture shows an Israeli army UAV landing in an airfield, in the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights, on January 20, 2015, two days after an Israeli air strike killed six Hezbollah members in the Syrian-controlled side of the Golan Heights. The strike on Syria killed an Iranian general, Tehran confirmed on January 19, as thousands of supporters of Lebanon's Hezbollah gathered to bury one of the six fighters killed in the same raid. AFP PHOTO / JACK GUEZ (Photo credit should read JACK GUEZ/AFP/Getty Image

Why Israel's Hezbollah strike didn't bother Turkey's Islamists

The latest Israeli attack on Hezbollah reveals Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s anti-Assad stance is stronger than his anti-Israel rhetoric.

Knesset (parliament) member Israeli Arab Ahmad Tibi campaigns seeking reelection ahead of Israel's general elections in the Israeli Arab town of Umm al-Fahm on January 14, 2013. Arab-Israelis, descendants of the 160,000 Palestinians who stayed on after the creation of Israel in 1948, make up 20 percent of the population. AFP PHOTO/AHMAD GHARABLI (Photo credit should read AHMAD GHARABLI/AFP/Getty Images)

Will a united Israeli Arab party survive elections?

Despite huge ideological gaps, Arab parties in Israel are trying to form a joint list for the election, but their traditional voter base might not follow.

Israeli politician and popular former Likud minister Moshe Kahlon (L) shares a laugh with a fishmonger as he visits the Jerusalem outdoors Mahne Yehuda market on January 21, 2015 during his campaign for the upcoming general election. Kahlon, who in November 2014 announced a comeback, is at the head of a new centre-right party called "Kulanu" (All Of Us). AFP PHOTO / GALI TIBBON (Photo credit should read GALI TIBBON/AFP/Getty Images)

Instead of reform, Israeli candidates offer gimmicks

The current Israeli election campaign is stocked with politicians visiting the Jerusalem market, populist declarations after the Tel Aviv terror attack and embarrassing video clips, but no proposals for reform or any consolidated agenda.