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Israel

April 3, 2025

Tel Aviv 1:19 pm

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This picture taken from Israel-annexed Golan Heights along the border with southern Syria shows smoke billowing above the Syrian village of Koayiah during Israeli bombardment, on March 25, 2025.

Israel carries out airstrikes in Damascus, Homs, Hama as Syria tensions flare

Israel is upping its military action against Syria despite protests from the new government in Damascus.

In this handout photo provided by the US Navy, the Abraham Lincoln and John C. Stennis Carrier Strike Groups conduct carrier strike force operations in the US 6th Fleet area of operations on April 24, 2019 in the Mediterranean Sea.

F-35s, carriers and B-2 bombers: Pentagon reinforces Mideast military presence

The Pentagon has been quietly amassing forces in the Middle East amid concerns that Iran's IRGC could lash out at US bases in the Arabian Peninsula and the Levant if the White House's bid to end Tehran's nuclear enrichment via diplomacy goes off the rails.

Former US President Donald Trump gestures as US Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) addresses the crowd during a 2024 election campaign event in Columbia, South Carolina, on January 28, 2023. Trump hits the campaign trail Saturday for the first time in a third bid for the US presidency overshadowed by intensifying criminal investigations and a firestorm of political controversy. The twice-impeached Republican, whose party lost the White House and both chambers of Congress during his term, makes his case for anoth

Analysis

How criticism of Trump may have sunk Netanyahu's Shin Bet nominee

Sen. Lindsey Graham’s objection to Eli Sharvit’s nomination as the new Shin Bet chief may have been a key factor in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s decision to rescind the appointment on Tuesday.

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

Sharvit

Meet Eli Sharvit, Trump critic and Netanyahu's outsider nominee to lead Shin Bet

In a surprise move, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has nominated former Israeli naval commander Eli Sharvit to become Shin Bet chief despite his lack of intelligence experience.

Latest News

What does Netanyahu's judicial law mean for Israel's separation of powers?

Amir Levy/Getty Images

UAE, Qatar investments fuel Jared Kushner's firm assets to $4.8 billion

Jared Kushner, founder and CEO of Affinity Partners, and Steve Witkoff, US Middle East envoy, during a panel discussion at the FII Priority summit, Miami Beach, Feb. 20, 2025.

United Arab Emirates

Analysis

Are Lebanon, Syria ripe for peace with Israel or on cusp of more escalation?

An Israeli soldier checks a Merkava battle tank deployed at a position in the Israel-annexed Golan Heights along the border with southern Syria on March 25, 2025. Israel's military said it carried out a second strike in Syria on March 25, in response to incoming fire from across the demarcation line, hours after Syrian authorities reported that at least five people had been killed as a result of Israeli shelling. (Photo by Jalaa MAREY / AFP) (Photo by JALAA MAREY/AFP via Getty Images)

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

Israeli incursion into southern Syria kills 6 as Jordan condemns: What we know

Salah Malkawi/Getty Images

Samuel Wendel

Senior Market Research Analyst

In Washington, DC, reporting on regional business and tech

Francesco Schiavi

In Bologna, reporting on security, defense, economy, governance

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

Rina Bassist

Associate Editor (Israel)

In Paris, reporting on Israeli politics and European affairs

US President Donald Trump, accompanied by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (L), speaks during a meeting in the Oval Office of the White House, Washington, Feb. 4, 2025.

Analysis

Emboldened by Trump, Netanyahu is driving Israel into judicial crisis

Empowered by moves in Washington, Prime Minister Netanyahu fired Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar and is pushing for the sacking of Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara.

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

Ronen Bar, chief of Israel's domestic Shin Bet security agency, attends a ceremony marking Memorial Day for fallen soldiers of Israel's wars and victims of attacks at Jerusalem's Mount Herzl military cemetery, on May 13, 2024.

How Netanyahu's sacking of Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar could backfire on Israel

The decision by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to fire Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar is likely to further erode Israel’s rule of law and democratic principles.

Hossam Shabat

Al Jazeera journalist Hossam Shabat killed in Israeli strikes on Gaza: What to know

Two journalists were killed by Israeli strikes in Gaza on Monday amid Israel’s renewed offensive in the territory.

Israeli army Merkava main battle tanks move at a position in southern Israel along the border fence with the northern Gaza Strip on March 18, 2025.

Analysis

With ceasefire shattered, what's next for Israel’s military invasion of Gaza?

It is unclear whether Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s plan is to pressure Hamas until it agrees to compromise on the hostage deal or if he is now heading toward resuming the war until Hamas is defeated.

Rina Bassist

By Rina Bassist

In Paris, reporting on Israeli politics and European affairs

An Iran-made missile and its launchers are exhibited during a rally that marks the 46th anniversary of Iran's 1979 Islamic Revolution in Tehran, Iran, on February 10, 2025. (Photo by Hossein Beris / Middle East Images / Middle East Images via AFP) (Photo by HOSSEIN BERIS/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images)

Exclusive

Israel to push Trump on Iran attack plan on high-stakes Washington visit

Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer and national security adviser Tzachi Hanegbi will lead the multiagency Israeli team to the talks with US national security adviser Michael Waltz and State Department and Pentagon officials in Washington next week.

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

Minister of Diaspora Affairs and Combating Antisemitism of the State of Israel Amichai Chikli delivers a speech during the symposium on fighting antisemitism on Jan. 22, 2024, in Krakow, Poland.

Far-right Europeans invited to Israel's antisemitism conference, causing boycott

Jewish communities in Europe are furious over Israeli Diaspora Affairs Minister Amichai Chikli's inviting far-right European politicians to an antisemitism conference in Jerusalem.

Israeli army Merkava main battle tanks move at a position in southern Israel along the border fence with the northern Gaza Strip on March 18, 2025.

Israel launches ground operation in Gaza as ceasefire collapses: What we know

After heavy aerial bombardments, Israeli troops launched their first ground incursion into central Gaza since January's ceasefire was reached.

Adi Alexander (C), father of Edan Alexander, attends a US House Committee on Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on the Middle East, North Africa, and Central Asia roundtable with family members of individuals being held hostage by Hamas, on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, on Nov. 29, 2023.

Interview

Israel's renewed Gaza strikes put last living US hostage at risk, family warns

Israeli American Edan Alexander was due to be released in the second phase of the ceasefire.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during a joint press conference with US President Donald Trump in the East Room of the White House on Feb. 4, 2025, in Washington.

Analysis

Netanyahu’s Gaza war goal: Pressuring Hamas or political survival?

It is unclear yet whether the aerial bombardments are a strategy to pressure Hamas into a new hostage deal, or a more comprehensive decision by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to continue the war until the group is defeated.

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

OMAR AL-QATTAA/AFP via Getty Images

Over 400 killed in Gaza as Israel breaks ceasefire, Ben-Gvir returns to cabinet

The new round of airstrikes in Gaza come two months after a ceasefire halted the more than 13-month Israel-Hamas war that left tens of thousands dead and caused massive destruction across the enclave.

BAKR ALKASEM/AFP via Getty Images

Israel pushes militarily in southern Syria as new strikes kill 3: What we know

Israel said earlier that it struck military sites in southern Syria while the government reported three civilians were killed.

Former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert speaks during a briefing on US President Donald Trump's Mideast peace plan on February 11, 2020 in New York. Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas told the UN Security Council that the world should reject President Donald Trump's Middle East plan, which he said would limit Palestinian sovereignty in a "Swiss cheese" deal. "We reject the Israeli-American plan," which "throws into question the legitimate rights of the Palestinians," Abbas said, brandishing a large map of

Interview

In break with Netanyahu, Olmert urges Israel to recognize Syria’s Sharaa, open dialogue

Former Israeli Premier Ehud Olmert believes Israel should recognize the legitimacy of the Syrian interim administration, telling Al-Monitor in an interview that he believes that the two countries should open dialogue.