Israeli-Palestinian conflict

JACK GUEZ / AFP via Getty Images

Feature

50,000 Israeli expats fly home to vote in potential boon to Netanyahu rivals

Israel prohibits voting from abroad with limited exceptions, and Israelis who spoke to Al-Monitor said they are especially motivated to fly home this year.

Adam Lucente

By Adam Lucente

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

Pedestrians cross a street in front of a banner featuring Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu

Analysis

How Israel opposition infighting is boosting Netanyahu days before election

Discord within the opposition, including its reluctance to name a single candidate for prime minister ahead of the Oct. 27 election, is working in Netanyahu’s favor.

Mazal Mualem

By Mazal Mualem

In Tel Aviv, reporting on politics

In first, Israel’s Netanyahu says he held call with Syria’s Ahmed al-Sharaa

It is the first publicly disclosed contact between the leaders of Israel and Syria, which lack formal relations and have fought several wars. Sharaa’s government began US-mediated talks with Israel in 2025.

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi attends a joint statements and agreements during the EU and Egypt summit in Brussels, on Oct. 22, 2025.

Sisi says Egypt has no ‘territorial ambitions’ after Israel’s Smotrich threatens Sinai

The Egyptian president’s remarks follow a warning from Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich that Israel would seize the Sinai Peninsula if Egypt attacks.

Latest News

Former Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar sues Netanyahu for nearly $1M over Oct. 7 claims

Israel's Chief of the Mossad David Barnea (R) and Security Agency director Ronen Bar, attend a ceremony marking the Hebrew calendar anniversary of the Hamas attack on October 7 last year that sparked the ongoing war in Gaza, at the Mount Herzl military cemetery in Jerusalem on October 27, 2024. (Photo by GIL COHEN-MAGEN / POOL / AFP) (Photo by GIL COHEN-MAGEN/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

Explainer

Israel-UK relations hit new low over settlements, Gaza: What to know

The British Consulate General in east Jerusalem represents the British government in Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza during a protest against the recently announced British sanctions, aimed at economic activity in Israeli settlements in the West Bank, on Sept. 14, 2026, in Jerusalem.

West Bank olive harvest begins amid settler attacks on Palestinians, groves

Palestinian men sitting in and by a tractor look on after another man was injured by gunfire whilst being chased away by Israeli forces, in Aqraba in the Israeli-occupied West Bank on Oct. 6, 2026.

Exclusive

Rights, faith groups urge Congress to block $2.8B bomb sale to Israel

JACK GUEZ/AFP via Getty Images

Elizabeth Hagedorn

By Elizabeth Hagedorn

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

Slovak Foreign Minister Ivan Korcok (C) and his counterpart from the Czech Republic, Jakub Kulhanek (2nd R), listen to remarks by their Israeli counterpart, Gabi Ashkenazi (L), during their visit to a building that was hit by a rocket fired by Palestinian militants from the Gaza Strip, in the Israeli city of Petah Tikva on May 20, 2021.

German, Czech and Slovak foreign ministers arrive in Israel in show of solidarity

After their solidarity visit to Israel earlier this week, Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias, Czech Foreign Minister Jakub Kulhanek, Slovak Foreign Minister Ivan Korcok and German Foreign Minister Heiko Mass visited the site of a building ravaged by Hamas rockets.

Israeli howitzer

Hamas sees possible cease-fire with Israel within days

Israel rejected a prior truce offer, though the White House blamed Hamas.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan addresses a protest rally in Istanbul on May 18, 2018, against the recent killings of Palestinian protesters on the Gaza-Israel border and the US Embassy move to Jerusalem.

The Takeaway: Erdogan’s incendiary remarks about Israel worsen ties with Washington

The fallout of the Turkish president’s comments could compound problems for country’s beleaguered economy; Israel-Palestinian frictions dominate region’s news; Libya’s mercenaries; and more!

Four 250-pound class GBU-39/B guided weapons are seen mounted on a USAF F-15E on Aug. 14, 2003, at Eglin Air Force Base, Florida. GBU-39s are part of an arms package for Israel that some progressive Democrats are opposing.

House Democrats move to block Israel arms sale amid Gaza conflict

The gesture underscores a groundswell of opposition to Israel's policies among progressive lawmakers.

Turkish President and leader of the Justice and Development Party Recep Tayyip Erdogan speaks during his ruling party's group meeting at the Grand National Assembly of Turkey in Ankara on April 21, 2021.

US condemns Erdogan remarks toward Israel as anti-Semitic

The US State Department Tuesday condemned comments by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan as anti-Semitic, a claim Ankara officials refuted and said distracts from ongoing violence in Israel.

Gaza school

50 Gaza schools damaged in Israeli strikes, Save The Children says

Amid the heavy fighting, schools remain closed in Gaza and southern Israel “putting education out of reach for hundreds of thousands of children."

Amos Ben Gershom/GPO

Europe sends Israel mixed signals on cease-fire with Hamas

A special meeting of EU foreign ministers called upon Israel and Hamas to advance a cease-fire but the long debate reached no formal conclusions.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gestures as he shows a slideshow during a briefing to ambassadors to Israel at the Hakirya military base in Tel Aviv, Israel on May 19, 2021. Netanyahu said today that Israel's aerial bombing campaign on the Gaza Strip was aimed at deterring Hamas, but he did not rule out conquering the enclave's Islamist rulers.

US expects 'significant de-escalation today,' Biden tells Netanyahu

As President Joe Biden appealed for calm, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Wednesday there was no timeframe for ending the conflict with Hamas.

Lebanese soldiers stand guard in the southern Lebanese town of Qlaile on May 14, 2021. Three rockets were fired from southern Lebanon toward Israel, a Lebanese military source said. Israel's army confirmed the attack and said the rockets landed in the sea.

Rocket fire continues on Israel-Lebanon border

The Israeli military fired at targets in Lebanon following rockets being launched from Lebanon toward Israel.

Israeli security forces deploy to disperse Palestinian protesters amid clashes near the settlement of Beit El and Ramallah in the occupied West Bank on May 18, 2021.

House Democrats back away from delaying Israel arms sale amid Gaza conflict

The Biden administration will brief lawmakers on the proposed $735 million sale of JDAM guidance conversion kits and other weapons equipment.

MAHMUD HAMS/AFP via Getty Images

Egypt pledges $500 million for Gaza's reconstruction

Cairo, which is leading efforts to reach a cease-fire in the week-long conflict between Hamas and Israel, has pledged to help rebuild the battered Palestinian enclave.

A Palestinian family looks out from their home toward a protest by Israeli, Palestinian and foreign activists, against evictions of Palestinian families from their homes, in the mostly Arab neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah, East Jerusalem, Aug. 4, 2017.

East Jerusalem neighborhood key to halting Palestinian-Israeli fighting

The planned eviction of Palestinian families from their lands in Jerusalem’s Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood, claimed by Israeli settlers, has shed light on the neighborhood and its history.