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October 2, 2026

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

If the Trump administration moves forward with the transfer, dozens of groups are urging lawmakers to seek a joint resolution of disapproval.

Elizabeth Hagedorn

By Elizabeth Hagedorn

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

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West Bank settlers attack Israeli activists as Netanyahu claims 'hoax'

On Wednesday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the attention surrounding settler violence was a “tremendous hoax.”

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Israel-UAE flights disrupted as airlines plan rescue flights: What to know

Israeli carriers are preparing repatriation flights from Dubai starting on Friday, subject to security approval.

United Arab Emirates

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FlyDubai incident recalls decades of Middle East airline hijackings: What to know

In 1968, the PFLP hijacked an El Al flight from Rome to Tel Aviv, marking the first political hijacking of an aircraft tied to the Middle East.

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FlyDubai incident spotlights key global link for Israeli travelers

Israelis pick up their luggage upon arrival from Tel Aviv to the Dubai airport in the United Arab Emirates, on Nov. 26, 2020, on the first scheduled commercial flight operated by budget airline flydubai.

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FlyDubai flight lands in Tel Aviv after distress alert, Saudi diversion

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Inside Netanyahu’s relentless push for meeting with UAE’s MBZ

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu after speaking during the 81st United Nations General Assembly at the United Nations Headquarters in New York, on Sept. 24, 2026.

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

Ex-Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar to sue Netanyahu over Oct. 7 accusations: What to know

Ronen Bar, former chief of Israel's domestic Shin Bet security agency

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

Palestinian woman Jamela Abu Esheba, 39, ties bags of cement with a rope at a work field in the northern Gaza Strip May 12, 2013. Abu Esheba, who lives with her aged parents, works as a cement bag porter and is the sole breadwinner for her family. REUTERS/Mohammed Salem (GAZA - Tags: SOCIETY POVERTY) - RTXZJND

Cement shortage in Gaza leaves thousands jobless

Israel's restrictions on cement imports into the Gaza Strip are having a devastating effect on the local economy.

Israeli soldiers stand atop an armoured personnel carrier (APC) positioned near the Lebanese border, close to the northern Israeli town of Shlomi February 27, 2014. Israel's northern region near Lebanon was tense on Thursday and the military ordered farmers away from fields abutting the border, a day after the Lebanese Hezbollah militia threatened to respond to an Israeli air strike that hit one of its bases on the border with Syria earlier in the week. REUTERS/Ammar Awad (ISRAEL - Tags: MILITARY POLITICS)

Israeli raid fuels internal divisions in Lebanon

The Israeli raid along the Lebanese-Syrian border generated reactions of embarrassment among the Syrian regime and the opposition, and from Bashar al-Assad's allies in Lebanon and their opponents, but each for different reasons.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Jack Lew makes remarks to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), at their annual policy conference, in Washington March 2, 2014. AIPAC, a pro-Israel lobby, has more than 100,000 members and is working with Congress to strengthen relations between Israel and America. REUTERS/Mike Theiler (UNITED STATES - Tags: POLITICS BUSINESS) - RTR3FX7V

Diplomacy, not sanctions, key to deal with Iran

As the American Israel Public Affairs Committee holds its annual policy conference, it would do well to remember that the Obama administration's diplomacy, not sanctions, has yielded better results, according to a former senior Iranian diplomat.

A Palestinian protester uses a sling to throw back a tear gas canister fired by Israeli troops during clashes at Atara checkpoint, north of the West Bank city of Ramallah February 28, 2014. The clashes erupted on Friday following the funeral of Muataz Washaha, who was killed by Israeli forces on Thursday at his home in the West Bank village of Birzeit, near Ramallah. REUTERS/Mohamad Torokman (WEST BANK - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST) - RTR3FTR8

Moscow foresees breakdown in Israeli-Palestinian talks

Russian experts cast doubt on Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations, and express their concerns about Israel's possible Plan B.

Al-Monitor recognized by IPI as 'Free Media Pioneer'

The International Press Institute has awarded the annual Free Media Pioneer Award to Al-Monitor as “a model for independent coverage of the region through its news, features, analysis and commentary at a time of political upheaval.”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is seen on a screen as he speaks at the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) policy conference in Washington March 5, 2012. REUTERS/Joshua Roberts (UNITED STATES - Tags: POLITICS) - RTR2YWD1

After AIPAC and J Street, Israel's third lobby: ZPAC?

Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman reportedly will break from Likud to run separately in the next elections.

Palestinians show their ID cards to Israeli police inside a bus in Jerusalem August 12, 2004. Investigators were still examining if members of a militant cell which bombed a West Bank checkpoint Wednesday were still at large. The blast killed two Palestinians and wounded 16 people. REUTERS/Gil Cohen Magen GCM/SM - RTR8GY0

Hamas slams PA for removing religion from ID cards

Hamas is saying that the Palestinian Authority's decision to abolish religion from national ID cards is a prelude to accommodating Jewish settlers in a future Palestinian state.

GAZA CITY, -: Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniya, new Finance Minister Salam Fayad (2R) and new Sports and Youth Minister Bassem Naim (R) arrive for the first meeting of the new Palestinian unity cabinet in Gaza City, 18 March 2007. The new Palestinian government held its first cabinet meeting today, vowing to confront rampant lawlessness and end a crippling international aid freeze but facing a continued Israeli boycott. AFP PHOTO/MAHMUD HAMS (Photo credit should read MAHMUD HAMS/AFP/Getty Images)

Hamas uses backchannel to Tel Aviv

According to Hamas sources, the Islamist movement sent an indirect message to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and not for the first time.

Cars burn at the site of an explosion in the Shi'ite town of Hermel February 22, 2014. A suicide bomber killed two Lebanese soldiers with a car bomb near an army checkpoint in a Hezbollah stronghold in northeast Lebanon on Saturday, security sources said.The latest bombing, in a country destabilised by the civil war in neighbouring Syria, was the third such attack in recent weeks in Hermel, a predominantly Shi'ite Muslim area near the border with Syria. Fifteen people were wounded. REUTERS/Rami Bleibel (LEB

Nasrallah talks Palestine after bombings in Lebanon

Following reports that Palestinian nationals have been involved in planning and carrying out recent suicide attacks in Lebanon, there are concerns that it could lead to a division between Palestinian and Lebanese factions involved in the resistance against Israel.

An Israeli policeman scuffles with a Palestinian during clashes near Lion's Gate in Jerusalem's Old City February 7, 2014. Tensions briefly ran high on Friday in Jerusalem's Old City following clashes that erupted between Israeli police and stone-throwing Palestinians on a compound known to Muslims as Noble Sanctuary and to Jews as Temple Mount. REUTERS/Darren Whiteside (JERUSALEM - Tags: RELIGION POLITICS CIVIL UNREST TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY) - RTX18CFC

The Jordan Option and Al-Aqsa Mosque

Jordan is torn between its special role in East Jerusalem and its concerns over the Palestinian impact on Jordanian identity.

A member of Palestinian civil defense extinguishes a fire at a Hamas training camp after it was hit by an Israeli air strike in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip December 24, 2013. A Gaza sniper shot dead an Israeli civilian over the border on Tuesday and Israel hit back with air strikes on two Hamas training camps which hospital officials said killed a Palestinian girl near one of the targets. REUTERS/Ibraheem Abu Mustafa (GAZA - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST) - RTX16TBF

Gaza border residents live under constant Israeli fire

Israeli troops regularly fire on Gaza's border residents, with locals suspecting Israel is trying to reestablish a buffer zone inside the Gaza Strip.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry is greeted by U.S. Ambassador to Israel Dan Shapiro (L) as he arrives in Tel Aviv November 8, 2013. Kerry met privately with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Friday before joining nuclear talks between major powers and Iran in Geneva. REUTERS/Jason Reed (ISRAEL - Tags: POLITICS) - RTX154Z7

Knesset member: Netanyahu can't pass an agreement

In an interview with Al-Monitor, Knesset member Orit Strock repeats the message she and her associates delivered to US Ambassador Dan Shapiro — that their coalition will block an agreement with the Palestinians.