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Israel

June 24, 2026

Tel Aviv 10:01 pm

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Lebanese army forces deploy in the village of Bir al-Salasel in southern Lebanon on June 15, 2026. Iran's foreign ministry on June 15 said the US must ensure that Israel commits to stopping the war in Lebanon under a deal agreed upon with the US to end the Middle East war. Lebanon was pulled into the conflict in early March when Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah launched rocket attacks on Israel in retaliation for the killing of Iran's supreme leader, prompting Israeli strikes and a ground invasion. (Pho

Analysis

Pilot zones at center of Israel-Lebanon talks as Trump pressures Netanyahu

With the fifth round of talks set to begin Tuesday, Israel is prepared to withdraw from at least one “pilot zone,” allowing the Lebanese army to take control of the area.

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

Smoke rises following an Israeli airstrike in Tyre, Lebanon, on June 9, 2026.

Analysis

As US reshapes Lebanon strategy, Israel finds itself sidelined

The deal advanced between Washington and Tehran sees a linkage between the Iranian and Lebanese theaters and creates a deconfliction mechanism — without consulting Israel beforehand.

Rina Bassist

By Rina Bassist

In Paris, reporting on Israeli politics and European affairs

Former Israeli Chief of Staff Gadi Eizenkot gives a press conference in Tel Aviv, on December 4, 2018.

Can political novice Eisenkot defeat Netanyahu in upcoming elections?

The former military chief of staff is emerging as the prime minister's strongest rival in upcoming elections, overtaking former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett in recent polls.

Latest News

Analysis

How Netanyahu used Lebanon strikes to push back on Trump’s Iran deal

US President Donald Trump holds a press conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Palm Beach, Florida, Dec. 29, 2025.

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

'Let Syria take care of Hezbollah': Trump criticizes Israel, leans on Sharaa to help in Lebanon

EVIAN-LES-BAINS, FRANCE - JUNE 16: U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a bilateral meeting with the Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani on the sidelines of the G7 summit, on June 16, 2026 in Evian-les-Bains, France. Leaders from the Group of 7 (G7) countries convened in Evian, France, near the Swiss border, for their annual summit to discuss challenges to peace and security for Ukraine and Europe, the situation in the Middle East, and other geopolitical issues. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Get

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

Saudi Foreign Minister Adel Al-Jubeir attends a Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) meeting in Riyadh June 11, 2015. Gulf Arab countries have offered support for Qatar as host of the 2022 World Cup as criticism grows over the choice of the desert nation as the venue for world soccer's top event. REUTERS/Faisal Al Nasser - RTX1G3S4

Will Saudi Arabia save Hamas?

Saudi Arabia's patronage of Hamas could help the movement's leadership regain the power usurped by its military wing and save it from collapse.

Isaac Herzog, co-leader of the centre-left Zionist Union party, is seen at his party's headquarters in Tel Aviv March 16, 2015. Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in a final bid to shore up right-wing support ahead of a knife-edge vote on Tuesday, said he would not permit a Palestinian state to be created under his watch if he is re-elected. Herzog favors reviving peace talks with U.S.-backed Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. REUTERS/Nir Elias (ISRAEL - Tags: POLITICS ELECTIONS) - RTR4TKZ6

Lapid, Herzog veer right

Israeli center-left leaders' adoption of rhetoric to appeal to the right instead of crafting credible policy alternatives indicates that they have not learned the lessons from their March electoral loss and will be unprepared for early elections.

Israel, not Iran, started Middle East nuclear arms race

Claims that the Iran deal will spark a nuclear arms race in the region ignore the fact that Israel been leading the Middle East's arms race for the last 65 years.

Israel's community gardens bloom

In Tel Aviv and across Israel, residents join communities that cultivate community vegetable gardens, enjoying the once lost sense of sharing between neighbors while developing a more sustainable approach to life.

Israeli women walk in a Jewish settlement known as "Gevaot", in the Etzion settlement bloc, near Bethlehem August 31, 2014. Israel announced on Sunday a land appropriation in the occupied West Bank that an anti-settlement group termed the biggest in 30 years and a Palestinian official said would cause only more friction after the Gaza war. Some 400 hectares (988 acres) in the Etzion settlement bloc near Bethlehem were declared "state land, on the instructions of the political echelon" by the military-run Ci

No financial, judicial control over Israeli settlement enterprise

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu demands a tighter inspection of Iranian nuclear plants, but rejects inspection of settlement financing and construction, which is criticized by Israel's High Court also for its lack of transparency.

Israelis reflect on dangers of 'unjustified hatred'

On Tisha B'av, religious and secular Jews gather to debate the issue of bigotry and the often difficult relations between the many diverse sectors of Israeli society.

Israelis hold placards during a protest calling for the release of Jonathan Pollard from a U.S. prison, outside U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry's hotel in Jerusalem January 2, 2014. Kerry began his 10th visit to the region on Thursday in pursuit of an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal. Pollard, a former U.S. Navy intelligence analyst, has been serving a life sentence in the United States since he was caught spying for Israel in the 1980s. REUTERS/Ammar Awad (JERUSALEM - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST) - RTX170

The case for releasing Pollard

US authorities deny any linkage between the Iran deal and the fact that it won't oppose the release of convicted spy Jonathan Pollard later this year.

Former Shin Bet chief: Diplomatic stalemate keeps Bibi in power

Yaakov Peri tells Al-Monitor that the Israeli government is stable since the outgoing US administration has formulated its legacy and there is no diplomatic initiative to be opposed by right-wing coalition members.

Ayman Odeh, head of the Joint Arab List, poses before the filming of a television campaign ad in Tel Aviv, March 8, 2015. A political sideshow for much of the past six decades, Israel's Arab minority is hoping to gain much-needed muscle after next week's parliamentary election, with four Arab parties uniting under one banner for the first time. Surveys show the Joint Arab List could even finish third in the vote and become a factor in the coalition-building that dominates Israeli politics, where no party ha

Arab Knesset leader: Don't call me 'a demographic problem'

In an interview with Al-Monitor, Joint List Chair Ayman Odeh argues that calling for the preservation of a Jewish majority in Israel excludes Arabs from public discourse.

A Palestinian family takes a selfie on a beach of the Mediterranean in Tel Aviv during Eid al-Fitr, which marks the end of the holy month of Ramadan July 19, 2015. Thousands of Palestinians used permits given by the Israeli authorities allowing many to enjoy the beaches along Israel's Mediterranean shoreline during the Eid al-Fitr holiday. REUTERS/Baz Ratner TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY - RTX1KXU4

Travel permits aim to manage, not solve, Palestine-Israel conflict

Palestinians were granted permits to travel to Israel for the Eid al-Fitr holiday, but larger issues remain.

A Turkish Air Force C-160D Transall transport aircraft takes off from Incirlik airbase in the southern city of Adana, Turkey, July 26, 2015. Kurdish militants killed two Turkish soldiers in a roadside bombing on Sunday, the military said, apparently retaliating for Ankara's crackdown on the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) launched in tandem with strikes on Islamic State insurgents in Syria. Long a member of the U.S.-led coalition against Islamic State, Turkey made a dramatic turnaround this week by granting t

Erdogan’s shift on Islamic State linked to Kurdish gains in Syria

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan finally takes on the Islamic State while attacking PKK bases in northern Iraq; Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu now the only US ally actively opposing Iran deal; Israel faces pressure to forgo demolition of Palestinian village.

U.S. Secretary of the Treasury Jack Lew (L) listens to U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry (R) as they appear before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in Washington July 23, 2015. U.S. lawmakers skeptical about the nuclear deal with Iran promised to press senior Obama administration officials to make more information about it public at a Senate hearing on Thursday as Congress begins its two-month review of the agreement.
REUTERS/Gary Cameron
- RTX1LJNB

Congress gets extra dose of Iran before summer recess

A look at the Middle East issues Congress will be addressing the week of July 27.