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August 25, 2026

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Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani (C) watches as US special envoy for Syria Tom Barrack prepares to sign an agreement in Damascus on September 16, 2025. Shaibani announced on September 16 a plan backed by Jordan and the United States to restore calm to Druze-majority Sweida province, which witnessed deadly violence in July. (Photo by LOUAI BESHARA / AFP) (Photo by LOUAI BESHARA/AFP via Getty Images)

Exclusive

Israel recalibrates Syria policy, explores path to security deal

Israel is rethinking its hard-line Syria policy and seeking to repair ties with US envoy and Donald Trump's confidant Tom Barrack amid a push for a security agreement with Damascus.

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

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.

Latest News

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

ilia YEFIMOVICH / AFP via Getty Images

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

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

Israeli Knesset member Emilie Moatti meets with Aurore Berge, a member of the French National Assembly, on her diplomatic trip to France on Sept. 27.

Israel offers EU new approach, constructive dialogue

The French visit of Emilie Moatti, Labor Knesset member and head of the Subcommittee for Foreign Affairs, reflects the new approach that Israel’s government now offers to the European Union: open and constructive dialogue.

Prime Minister of Israel Naftali Bennett addresses the 76th Session of the United Nations General Assembly on Sept. 27, 2021 at U.N. headquarters in New York City.

Israel’s Bennet makes first speech to UN

Contrary to former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Prime Minister Naftali Bennett chose to deliver a straightforward, calm and gimmick-free first speech to the General Assembly.

Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid is pictured during a press briefing with his Moroccan counterpart, in Rabat on Aug. 11, 2021.

Lapid's rhetoric divides Israel

Foreign Minister Yair Lapid has abandoned his aspirations for leading the center-right, targeting instead the center-left camp.

Iraqis attend the conference of peace and reclamation organised by US think-tank Center for Peace Communications (CPC) in Erbil, the capital of northern Iraq's Kurdistan autonomous region, on Sept. 24, 2021.

Israel hails declaration by Iraqi group in favor of normalization

Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and Foreign Minister Yair Lapid both welcomed calls by some 300 Iraqis in favor of normalizing ties between Jerusalem and Baghdad.

A woman walks past a SoftBank sign, Tokyo, Japan, May 12, 2021.

Saudi-linked SoftBank invests heavily in Israel

The investment of SoftBank in Israel and the appointment of former Mossad Chief Yossi Cohen as its representative in the country might signal Saudi interests in Israeli technology.

SAID KHATIB/AFP via Getty Images

Hamas official reports progress in Israel prisoner exchange talks

Hamas official Moussa Abu Marzouk said a deal could be weeks away.

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

Israel assesses frayed ties with US Jews, Democratic Party

Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and his government are confronted with the double challenge of rehabilitating ties with the Democrat Party and mending the rift with the American Jewish community.

PAUL HANDLEY/AFP via Getty Images

US Iron Dome funding holdup feeds internal Israeli political dispute

Rivals of Prime Minister Naftali Bennett are using US delay in funding the Iron Dome defense system to present him as dangerously inexperienced.

JACK GUEZ/AFP via Getty Images

'Arab Lives Matter' sweeps Twitter as 3 Arab-Israelis die in 24 hours

Three murders in one day have prompted Arab-Israelis fed up with violence in their towns to demand action over social media.

Jalama

Israel reopens West Bank crossing after Palestinian manhunt ends

The Jalama crossing had been closed since six Palestinian militants escaped from a nearby Israeli prison.

Catherine Labiran, the founder of The Praxis Project, addresses a high-level meeting to commemorate the twentieth anniversary of the adoption of the Durban Declaration being held during the UN General Assembly 76th session General Debate at the United Nations Headquarters on Sept. 22, 2021 in New York.

Israel marks diplomatic victory as 33 countries boycott Durban IV conference

According to the Foreign Ministry in Jerusalem, 33 countries boycotted the Durban IV conference today in New York over concerns about anti-Semitism and because the platform would be exploited to attack Israel.

AHMAD GHARABLI/AFP via Getty Images

Arab-Israeli town gets development plan at last

Umm al-Fahm became the first Arab-Israeli locality to sign an agreement for 15,000 new housing units and large development projects.