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

Israel cover image

Israel

August 9, 2026

Tel Aviv 2:09 pm

33°C

Alex Wong/Getty Images

Analysis

As pro-Palestinian candidates gain ground, will AIPAC's influence wane?

The American Israel Public Affairs Committee’s influence has weakened in the Democratic Party and may also be at risk among Republicans.

Adam Lucente

By Adam Lucente

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

Hussein FALEH / AFP via Getty Images

Analysis

As US rethinks regional presence, Israel shifts focus to destabilizing Iran

Uncertain how to interpret the American regional redeployment, Israel is focusing on efforts to destabilize the Iranian regime and stop its nuclear program.

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

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.

Latest News

Analysis

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

Omar AL-QATTAA / AFP via Getty Images

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

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

Tiziana FABI / AFP via Getty Images

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

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

Israeli fire-fighters extinguish a fire that broke out after a rocket hit a petrol station in the southern Israeli city of Ashdod July 11, 2014. Israel pressed on for a fourth day with its Gaza offensive on Friday, striking the Hamas-dominated enclave from air and sea, as Palestinian militants kept up rocket attacks deep into the Jewish state. One rocket on Friday hit the petrol station in Israel's port city of Ashdod, causing a huge blaze and at least three people were seriously wounded, an ambulance spoke

Hamas bites the hand that feeds it

Israel is aware of the fact that any regime vacuum in the Gaza Strip will draw in more extreme forces, which is why it battles an impossible fight of trying to stop the rocket fire from Gaza while preserving Hamas rule.

Israeli children play inside a bomb shelter in the southern city of Ashkelon July 10, 2014. At least 74 Palestinians, most of them civilians, have been killed in Israel's Gaza offensive, Palestinian officials said on Thursday, and militants kept up rocket attacks on Tel Aviv and other cities in warfare showing no signs of ending soon. REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun (ISRAEL - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST SOCIETY) - RTR3Y0MI

Bomb shelters replace summer camps for Israeli children

Children from central and northern Israel are now experiencing what residents of the south have suffered for 13 years: the sounds of the alarms, the running for shelter, the ongoing fear and trauma.

Looking to take a break, Gazans find beaches a war zone

Israeli naval boats are firing at Gaza’s coastline, turning popular Gaza beaches into a war zone.

Palestinians accuse Israel of war crimes in Gaza

Cafes and homes in the Gaza Strip have been destroyed by Israeli bombardment, which local Palestinian activists say constitute war crimes.

Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas (C) prays prior a meeting with his leadership in the West Bank city of Ramallah on July 9, 2014. Abbas has demanded Israel "immediately stop" its air campaign on the Gaza Strip and called on the international community to pressure the Jewish state. Israeli warplanes pounded targets in the Gaza Strip today as a major campaign to stop volleys of Palestinian rocket fire entered its second day. AFP PHOTO / ABBAS MOMANI (Photo credit should read ABBAS MOMANI/AFP/Getty Im

Abbas' lack of action on Gaza war infuriates Hamas

Hamas officials have scolded President Mahmoud Abbas for attending a peace conference in Tel Aviv during Israel's assault on Gaza.

Israelis run towards a bomb shelter as a siren sounds warning of incoming rockets in the southern city of Ashkelon July 9, 2014. Israeli air strikes shook Gaza every few minutes on Wednesday, and militants kept up rocket fire at Israel's heartland in intensifying warfare that Palestinian officials said has killed at least 44 people in the Hamas-dominated enclave. REUTERS/Baz Ratner (ISRAEL - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST) - RTR3XVKO

Media circus causes panic in Israel

News anchors, security experts and Knesset members are all raising the panic level through the media over the rocket fire, enjoying the attention they are receiving during the “disaster marathon.”

A Palestinian woman harvests barley on a farm near the border of southern Gaza Strip with Israel April 28, 2014. REUTERS/Ibraheem Abu Mustafa (GAZA - Tags: AGRICULTURE) - RTR3MW60

Israel levels Gaza farms in search of tunnels

Israeli airstrikes on seemingly empty tracts are often agricultural lands vital to Gaza’s food production.

Palestinian medics inspect the remains of a car, which police said was hit in an Israeli air strike, in Gaza City July 9, 2014. An Israeli aircraft targeted a civilian car in the center of Gaza City's busiest shopping street on Wednesday night and at least one person in the car, the driver, was killed, medics said.Video of the destroyed car showed it had large red stickers that read "TV". The killed driver, Hamed Shehab, 30, worked for the Gaza-based news website Media 24. A Media 24 journalist told Reuters

Israeli strike hits media vehicle, kills driver

A first-hand account of the Israeli airstrike that killed Hamid Shehab, the driver of a media vehicle.

A Palestinian boy places a Hamas flag atop the rubble of a house which police said was destroyed in an Israeli air strike in the northern Gaza Strip July 9, 2014. At least 23 people were killed across Gaza, Palestinian officials said on Wednesday, by a bombardment Israel said may be just the start of a lengthy offensive against Islamist militants whose rockets struck deeper than ever before into Israel. REUTERS/Mohammed Salem (GAZA - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST) - RTR3XQSM

Hamas readies for Israeli ground offensive with tunnels, traps

Hamas has developed a sophisticated network of tunnels in the Gaza Strip in the event of an Israeli ground invasion.

An ultra-Orthodox Jew speaking on a mobile phone gestures in front of a fire that broke out after a rocket landed near the southern town of Sderot July 9, 2014. Israeli air strikes shook Gaza every few minutes on Wednesday, and militants kept up rocket fire at Israel's heartland in intensifying warfare that Palestinian officials said has killed at least 37 people in the Hamas-dominated enclave. REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun (ISRAEL - Tags: POLITICS MILITARY CIVIL UNREST RELIGION) - RTR3XTBG

Hamas surprises Israel

Western analysts misjudged the actions of a desperate Hamas, which considers honor and face-saving above all, launching an attack against Israel when it has nothing to lose.

Women, children killed in Gaza as death toll rises

Israeli strikes on Gaza have targeted residential homes, killing numerous women and children.

Medics treat a man, whom they said was wounded in an Israeli air strike, at a hospital in Gaza City on July 8, 2014. BY Wissam Nassar.

Gaza hospitals ill-equipped for Israeli onslaught

Gaza’s hospitals are lacking essential medicines to deal with the anticipated spike in casualties from Israel’s airstrikes on Gaza.