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

Israel cover image

Israel

August 25, 2026

Tel Aviv 5:52 pm

31°C

Palestinian militant group Hamas police officers stand guard as people attend the opening of the Fatah party's eighth general conference at Al-Azhar University in Gaza City on May 14, 2026.

Ex-defense minister: Israel in ‘worst possible’ Gaza situation as Hamas gains strength

Former Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant criticized the Israeli government for allowing Hamas to retain control over half of the Gaza Strip.

A merchant ship "Jabotinsky" (former "Altalena"), chartered by Jewish military group Irgun Zvaei Leumi to carry weapons for Israeli fighters, burns near Tel Aviv beach, after being shelled by the Haganah, Israel, June 27, 1948.

Wreck of ship sunk by Israeli military in Irgun clash found after 78 years

The wreck of the Irgun underground's Altalena ship, bombed by the Israeli military in 1948 and deliberately sunk in 1949, was located off Israel's coast at a depth of 1,650 feet.

ilia YEFIMOVICH / AFP via Getty Images

Israel tightens election safeguards as public distrust surges: What to know

Israelis have lost trust in the government and in its ability or willingness to conduct free and fair elections.

Latest News

Analysis

Why Turkey sees Israeli strikes in Syria as warning over its military role, Mecca Pact

A Turkish soldier from the 1st Border Regiment Command looks out over the border wall to Syria during alert drills at a military outpost on the Turkey/Syria border on March 2, 2017 in Kilis, Turkey.

Barin Kayaoglu

By Barin Kayaoglu

In Ankara, reporting on geopolitics and national security

Analysis

Turkey bets on US deconfliction as Israel widens Syria red lines

Turkey/Syria border

Ezgi Akin

Rina Bassist

By Ezgi Akin , Rina Bassist

Analysis

Israel fears Turkey’s Syria ambitions and doubts Trump will stop them

ANKARA, TURKEY - JULY 7: U.S. President Donald Trump (L)shakes hands with with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (R) during a formal arrival at the Bestepe Presidential Palace during the NATO summit on July 7, 2026 in Ankara, Turkey. Leaders from NATO's 32 countries, plus NATO allies like Ukraine, gathered in the Turkish capital to discuss a range of issues involving spending targets, defense industrial production, and support for Ukraine, among other topics. (Photo by Emrah Gurel - Pool/Getty Images)

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

Turkey seeks Interpol Red Notices for Netanyahu over Gaza flotilla

Murat Kocabas / Middle East Images / AFP via Getty Images

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

Jerusalem attack

Israel calls on Ankara to close Hamas offices in Turkey

Following the killing in Jerusalem of Eliyahu Kay by a Hamas member linked to Turkey, and following the exposure of a West Bank Hamas cell led by the Hamas Turkey office, Jerusalem is calling on Ankara to shut down the group’s activities in the country.

Itmar Ben-Gvir (C), member of Israel's Knesset (parliament) and head of the one-man far-right "Jewish Power" (Otzma Yehudit) party.

Israeli ministers take stand against settler violence

Left-wing members of the government held a conference at the Knesset dedicated to what they consider a significant increase in violence by West Bank settlers.

US President Joe Biden meets with Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett in the Oval Office of the White House, Washington, Aug. 27, 2021.

US, Israel divisions on Iran spill into open

Israel is worried that the Americans are heading for an interim agreement with Iran that will wipe away the sanctions.

EMMANUEL DUNAND/AFP via Getty Images

Ex-Netanyahu aide testifies former boss obsessed with public image

Nir Hefetz, a former aide and confidant to Benjamin Netanyahu, testified Monday in a long-running corruption case against the ex-Israeli prime minister.

THOMAS COEX/AFP via Getty Images

Israeli tourists return to Jericho

Israeli tourists increasingly see affordable Jericho as desirable vacation option.

Mourners carry the body of Eliyahu David Kay during his funeral, a day after he was killed by a Palestinian gunman while on his way to the Western Wall in the Old City, Jerusalem, Nov. 22, 2021.

Palestinians clash with Israeli security after terrorist attack in Jerusalem

Expressing their support of the assailant who killed an Israeli and wounded four others in the alleys of Jerusalem’s Old City, residents of the East Jerusalem Shuafat refugee camp clashed with Israeli security forces.

Israeli border guards stand guard behind a security perimeter at the scene of a shooting in the Old City of Jerusalem, Nov. 21, 2021.

After UK blacklist, Israel pushes for international Hamas, Hezbollah bans

Israeli diplomacy efforts are heating up with European Union members and other countries to see Hamas and Hezbollah blacklisted completely.

Israeli couple Natalie and Mordi Oknin, who were held in Turkey for a week on suspicion of espionage, are greeted upon their arrival home following their release, Modi'in, Israel, Nov. 18, 2021.

Israeli president’s call with Erdogan may go beyond detainees’ release

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s friendly chat with his Israeli counterpart Isaac Herzog could be signal that he is ready to turn a page in Turkey’s strained ties with Israel.

Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett meets Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, Sharm al-Sheikh, Egypt, Sept. 13 2021.

Israeli-Egyptian meetings mark rapprochement progress

The expected visit to Israel in a few days of Egyptian Intelligence Chief Abbas Kamel reflects the trend of rapprochement in recent months between Jerusalem and Cairo.

Retired Israeli Gen. Benny Gantz, one of the leaders of the Blue and White party, uses a cellphone to take a selfie photograph with supporters during a campaign event, Tel Aviv, Israel, April 7, 2019.

House cleaner for Israel's Gantz charged over Iranian spying attempt

Israeli authorities say Omri Goren Gorochovsky reached out to an Iranian-linked hacking group and offered to install malware on the defense minister's computer.

Jerusalem District Court

Journalists covering Netanyahu trial harassed, attacked

Supporters of former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu harassed two journalists who came to cover his trial and struck one of them with a cane.

TIMOTHY A. CLARY/AFP via Getty Images

US envoy asks Israel to intervene in Sudan, says local press

According to Israeli reports, visiting US envoy to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield asked Defense Minister Benny Gantz to step in in Sudan.