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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)

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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

GIL COHEN-MAGEN/AFP via Getty Images

Disaster unfolds as hell breaks loose in Israel, Gaza

Israel was unprepared for the nightmare scenario of simultaneous rioting in the country and massive rocket attacks from Gaza.

Ra'am Party leader Mansour Abbas and other party members attend a meeting with President Reuven Rivlin at the President's residence on April 5, 2021 in Jerusalem.

Arab-supported government in Israel looks less likely

Riots in Lod, Ramle and other mixed Jewish and Arab cities, coupled with Israeli retaliation against the barrage of rockets from Gaza, are making an Arab-backed government coalition look increasing unfeasible.

SAID KHATIB/AFP via Getty Images

1,000 rockets from Gaza fired at Israel overnight

Hundreds of thousands of Israelis ran to shelters over the night as sirens blared warnings of rocket fire from the Gaza Strip.

A torched observation post is seen outside a religious Jewish school in the central city of Lod, near Tel Aviv, following nighttime clashes between Arab Israelis and Israeli Jews, Israel, May 11, 2021.

Protests, violence break out in mixed Jewish-Arab cities of Israel

An Arab-Israeli man was shot dead and Jewish Israeli businesses were attacked in the city of Lod last night.

JACK GUEZ/AFP via Getty Images

Israel's security crisis has new political team sweating

Israel's evolving security crisis has put a damper on the formation of a new government.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu chairs a Cabinet meeting, as an escalation of violence raged for a second day in the Gaza Strip, Jerusalem, Nov. 13, 2019.

Will escalation with Hamas benefit Netanyahu?

Escalation with Hamas arrives exactly at the moment when the anti-Netanyahu bloc is trying to cobble up a "government for change."

Israeli police officers clash with Palestinians during the holy Muslim month of Ramadan on April 24, 2021 in Jerusalem.

US expresses 'serious concerns' to Israel over Jerusalem violence

National security adviser Jake Sullivan said the United States had "serious concerns" over the Jerusalem clashes and the potential evictions of Palestinian families from the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood.

Palestinians run for cover from tear gas fired by Israeli security forces at Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa mosque compound on May 10, 2021, ahead of a planned march to commemorate Israel's takeover of Jerusalem in the 1967 Six-Day War.

Temple Mount violence bares fragility of Turkey’s attempts to fix relations with Israel

Turkey's president and other officials have condemned Israel's crackdown on Palestinians in unrest at Al-Aqsa mosque, posing a serious threat to Ankara's efforts to mend ties with Israel.

Israeli security forces fire tear gas at Palestinian protesters along the Israel-Gaza border, east of Khan Yunis town in the southern Gaza Strip on May 8, 2021. Israel braced for more protests after clashes at Jerusalem's flashpoint Al-Aqsa Mosque compound wounded more than 200 people and as the international community urged calm after days of escalating violence. The clashes came as tensions have soared over Israeli restrictions on access to parts of the Old City during Ramadan and the threat of eviction h

Jerusalem hit by Hamas rockets

After demanding Israeli police withdraw from the Temple Mount compound, Hamas fired this evening several rockets at Jerusalem and at Israeli communities in the south.

EMMANUEL DUNAND/AFP via Getty Images

New loan fund could save small Arab-Israeli businesses

Already fragile small Arab-Israeli businesses were hit especially hard by the pandemic and the ensuing economic crisis.

MOHAMMED ABED/AFP via Getty Images

Israel closes Gaza Strip crossing over continuing rocket fire

The Israeli authorities have closed a border crossing with Gaza as rockets rain down and dozens of incendiary balloons float from the Strip toward Israel's southern communities.

Palestinians run for cover from tear gas fired by Israeli security forces in the Old City, ahead of a planned march to commemorate Israel's takeover of Jerusalem in the 1967 Six-Day War, Jerusalem, May 10, 2021.

After violent weekend in Jerusalem, clashes erupt on Temple Mount

Violent clashes between Israeli police and Palestinian protesters at Temple Mount, or Haram-esh-Sherif, as clashes spread.