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August 26, 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

Israeli Defence Minister and alternate Prime Minister Benny Gantz arrives at the Knesset (Israeli Parliament) in Jerusalem on December 2, 2020. - Gantz said his party will vote for an opposition bill to dissolve parliament, a move that could force a fourth election in under two years. (Photo by Alex KOLOMIENSKY / POOL / AFP) (Photo by ALEX KOLOMIENSKY/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

Israel's Gantz presides over collapse of Blue and White

Blue and White leader Benny Gantz, the only real alternative to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, now collapses politically, taking down with him the whole center-left camp.

A picture taken on November 22, 2016 shows an Israeli army Dolphin-class submarine sailing at Israel's Naval port in the Mediterranean city of Haifa. / AFP / JACK GUEZ (Photo credit should read JACK GUEZ/AFP via Getty Images)

Israeli, American submarine activity suggests show of force against Iran

Israel reportedly dispatched a submarine to the Suez Canal and the Red Sea in what has been taken as a clear warning to Iran not to escalate tensions at this sensitive time of transition.

A Palestinian woman takes a picture at the Dead Sea near the city of Jericho in the occupied West Bank on August 2, 2020 during the Eid al-Adha holiday. (Photo by HAZEM BADER / AFP) (Photo by HAZEM BADER/AFP via Getty Images)

Project to save Dead Sea going nowhere

Experts warn of an environmental crisis if a project is not advanced by Jordan and Israel to save the Dead Sea that is shrinking at catastrophic rates.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan addresses a protest rally in Istanbul on May 18, 2018, against the recent killings of Palestinian protesters on the Gaza-Israel border and the US embassy move to Jerusalem. (Photo by OZAN KOSE / AFP) (Photo by OZAN KOSE/AFP via Getty Images)

Israel spurns Turkish bid to improve ties

In the past few weeks, Ankara has made several overtures toward rapprochement with Israel, yet Jerusalem seems to be waiting for something solid.

Lebanese men watch the head of the country's Shiite Muslim movement Hezbollah Hassan Nasrallah during a televised speech, at a coffee shop in the southern suburbs of the capital Beirut, on August 30, 2020, on the tenth day of the month of Muharram which marks the peak of Ashura. - Ashura is a 10-day period of mourning in remembrance of the seventh-century martyrdom Imam Hussein, who was killed in the battle of Karbala in modern-day Iraq, in 680 AD. (Photo by ANWAR AMRO / AFP) (Photo by ANWAR AMRO/AFP via Ge

Nasrallah says Hezbollah would not be part of Iran nuclear talks

The Shiite party's leader also said Hezbollah has doubled its missile supplies.

Chief economist at Israel's Ministry of Finance Shira Greenberg (L) and Morocco's Director General Of the Customs and Indirect Tax Administration at the Ministry of Economy and Finance Nabil Lakhdar exchange a signed agreement at the Royal Palace in the Moroccan capital Rabat on December 22, 2020, on the first Israel-Morocco direct commercial flight, marking the latest US-brokered diplomatic normalisation deal between the Jewish state and an Arab country. - (Photo by FADEL SENNA / AFP) (Photo by FADEL SENN

Moroccan officials arrive in Israel to reopen liaison office

An administrative Moroccan delegation arrived in Israel to reopen the liaison office following normalization of ties between the two countries.

An Israeli military medic prepares to administer the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine at the medical centre of Tzrifin military base in the Israeli town of Rishon Lezion on December 28, 2020. (Photo by JACK GUEZ / AFP) (Photo by JACK GUEZ/AFP via Getty Images)

Israel leads in vaccinations

Israel's vaccination drive is in high gear, operating seven days a week, 24 hours per day, including on the Sabbath.

Members of the Joint List Ayman Odeh (C) speaks to the press in the presence of Ahmad Tibi (R), Osama Saadi (L) and Mansour Abbas (2nd-L) following their consulting meeting with Israeli President, to decide who to task with trying to form a new government, in Jerusalem on September 22, 2019. (Photo by Menahem KAHANA / AFP) (Photo credit should read MENAHEM KAHANA/AFP via Getty Images)

Israeli right, Arabs fume over talks between Netanyahu, Joint List senior

Members of the Joint List are angry over what seems to be rapprochement, perhaps even a political deal, between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Knesset member Mansour Abbas.

An Israeli woman wearing a protective mask carries a national flag as she takes part in a demonstration in Tel Aviv's Rabin Square on May 2, 2020, in favour of the Supreme Court to consider tomorrow to block the coalition government agreed between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his rival-turned-partner Benny Gantz. - If the expanded panel of 11 judges set to hear the case deems the coalition deal invalid, Israel may be forced to hold its fourth election in less than two years. (Photo by JACK GUEZ / A

As new elections loom, Israel’s Supreme Court deliberates Nationality Law

On the backdrop of announced fourth elections, right-wing circles see the hearing last week on the controversial Nationality Law as evidence that the Supreme Court leans toward the left.

Israel braces for lockdown amid coronavirus spike, new UK strain

Egypt is also heading for new restrictions amid a new wave

US Customs clarifies position on labeling of West Bank products

The US government said areas in the West Bank run by Israel must label products as "Made in Israel" when exporting to the United States, but goods from Palestinian-administered areas do not need to.

Israeli Deni Avdija to make NBA debut

The former player for Maccabi Tel Aviv could become the first international basketball star to come out of Israel.