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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

A Hezbollah flag flutters on the Lebanese side of the border fence with Israel, near the northern Israeli settlement of Shtula, July 20, 2021.

Israel weighs risks, options for dealing with Hezbollah’s precise missiles

Hezbollah is expanding its missile capability — what are Israel's options?

Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz meets with French Minister of Armed Forces Florence Parly, Paris, France, July 28 2021.

Israel’s Gantz in Paris, to repair diplomatic damage caused by NSO affair

Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz met July 28 with his French counterpart Florence Parly, in an attempt to reassure Paris over NSO affair allegations.

This picture shows a view of ongoing work at a construction site in the coastal city of Tel Aviv, Israel, July 12, 2021.

Affordable housing for Jaffa’s Arab residents: too little, too late

With the prices of houses skyrocketing in the center of Israel, even projects designed for the low-income Arab population of Jaffa have become too expensive for them.

Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett speaks as he chairs the weekly Cabinet meeting, Jerusalem, June 27, 2021.

Fourth coronavirus wave in Israel rattles Bennett’s leadership

New Prime Minister Naftali Bennett is challenged by his own ministers over the management of the fourth wave of the coronavirus pandemic.

Rabi Aaron Leibowitz (C), the founder of Hashgach Pratit — Hebrew for private supervision — which checks if restaurants abide by kosher practices, signs a certificate for the new bar Eitan Steinberg in the center of Jerusalem, June 8, 2016.

Israeli government advances ground-breaking reform for private kosher certification

New Religious Affairs Minister Matan Kahana is not afraid of the ultra-Orthodox parties; he advances an unprecedented reform on kosher certification.

Members of Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of the Palestinian Hamas movement, parade with a drone in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on May 28, 2021.

Lockheed, Israel's Rafael team up to build laser air defense weapon

Israel's Defense Ministry aims to field a ground-based laser capable of shooting down rockets by 2024.

People and children gather at a Red Sea beach near the Eilat-Ashkelon Pipeline Company's (EAPC) oil terminal by Israel's southern port city of Eilat on Feb. 10, 2021.

Israel suspends fuel-transport deal with UAE

The environmental decision to halt the fuel-transport deal with the Emirates created the first real diplomatic crisis between the countries since the signing of the Abraham Accords.

weapons

Iranian intelligence says it busted alleged Israeli spy network

Iranian officials said the alleged Mossad operatives planned to use weapons during riots in Iran and were arrested at the western border.

This picture shows a road sign in Rastan, central Homs province, Syria, Aug. 15, 2018.

Israel concerned over possible new Russian policy on Syria

Israel is perplexed over the recent statement by Russian Rear Adm. Vadim Kulit concerning the interception in Syria of alleged Israeli missiles.

Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid (L) talks with Cypriot Foreign Minister Nikos Christodoulides during a Foreign Affairs Council meeting at the EU headquarters, Brussels, Belgium, July 12, 2021.

Israel sides against Turkey in Cyprus dispute

Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid said after his meeting with Cypriot counterpart Nikos Christodoulides that Israel is concerned over what it considers a Turkish provocative move in northern Cyprus.

Houses in the unrecognized bedouin village of Sawaneen are seen, southern Negev Desert, Israel, June 8, 2021.

Bedouins excluded from Israel’s high-tech industry

Israelis who are employed by high-tech companies live a comfortable life, which Bedouin youths can only dream of.

Muweis canal of Nile River in northern Egypt

How water has become a flashpoint in the Middle East

Al-Monitor reporting shows the increased risks and relevance of water security for Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia; Iran and Iraq; and Israel and Jordan.