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May 17, 2026

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Lebanon-Israel ceasefire extended 45 days as US opens security talks

The Pentagon will host Israeli and Lebanese military delegations for a round of separate security talks later this month.

US President Donald Trump talks to UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan as he departs the Al Bateen Executive Airport on May 15, 2025, in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.

Analysis

‘A reckless act’: Netanyahu sparks UAE fury by claiming secret visit

Just as UAE-Israeli relations were deepening through cooperation against Iran, the Israeli prime minister publicly embarrassed Abu Dhabi by revealing his March visit.

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

Israel's Netanyahu suing New York Times over column on Palestinian rape

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Foreign Minister Gideon Saar rejected New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof's accusations of systematic sexual abuse and rape of Palestinian prisoners, calling the claims a "blood libel."

Latest News

Analysis

Israel’s drone dilemma: Hezbollah’s low-cost threat reshapes Lebanon front

Artillery units are positioned near the Lebanese border in northern Israel, May 4, 2026.

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

EU ministers agree to sanction violent West Bank settlers: What to know

Two men stand next to the burned remains of a Palestinian vehicle in the Wadi al-Rakhim area of Susya village in Masafer Yatta, south of Hebron in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, on May 1, 2026.

Netanyahu fears being left out as Trump pursues Iran diplomacy

Ronen Zvulun / AFP via Getty Images

Samuel Wendel

Senior Market Research Analyst

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 Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gives a briefing on coronavirus developments in Israel at his office in Jerusalem, on September 13, 2020. - Israel's government announced it would impose a three-week nationwide lockdown in an effort to stem one of the world's highest novel coronavirus infection rates after a surge in cases. (Photo by Yoav Dudkevitch / POOL / AFP) (Photo by YOAV DUDKEVITCH/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

Netanyahu and Nasrallah at a standoff

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu launched another verbal confrontation against Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah, but is unlikely to opt for a preemptive strike on Hezbollah missiles.

TEL AVIV, ISRAEL - MAY 25: Yair Lapid, Blue and White party member speaks at a protest against Netanyahu's 'Immunity Law' on May 25, 2019 in Tel Aviv, Israel. Israeli Prime Minster Benjamin Netanyahu attempt to push for laws that will give him immunity from criminal prosecution as part of the coalition agreements for the next goverment. (Photo by Amir Levy/Getty Images)

Israel’s Lapid fighting to leverage Netanyahu’s coronavirus failure

Yesh Atid leader and opposition chair Yair Lapid fails to leverage his energy and gain momentum, even as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is highly criticized over his handling of the coronavirus pandemic.

Armenia recalls Israel ambassador over arms sales to Azerbaijan

The diplomatic rebuke came after an Azerbaijani official said Israeli-made drones were being put to use in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

The Tungsten Explorer, an off-shore oil and gas exploration drillship, is seen in the background as people bathe in the Mediterranean water off the coast of Jounieh bay, north of Lebanon's capital Beirut, on May 19, 2020, despite beaches being legally closed due to COVID-19 coronavirus restrictions. - Lebanon gradually started lifting a COVID-19 coronavirus lockdown that has compounded its economic crisis despite an uptick in cases that prompted a four-day lockdown. Across the Mediterranean, a seasonal reco

Israel, Lebanon agree to maritime border talks

Israeli Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi and Energy Minister Yuval Steinitz confirmed today that Israel and Lebanon will open direct talks on demarking their maritime border with US mediation.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo (L) and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu make a joint statement to the press after meeting in Jerusalem, on August 24, 2020. - Pompeo arrived in Israel kicking off a five-day visit to the Middle East which will take him to Sudan, the United Arab Emirates, and Bahrain, focusing on Israel's normalising of ties with the UAE and pushing other Arab states to follow suit. (Photo by DEBBIE HILL / various sources / AFP) (Photo by DEBBIE HILL/AFP via Getty Images)

US, UAE press ahead to broker Israel-Sudan rapprochement

Sudan might be ready to establish ties with Israel, but first it needs for the United States to remove it from the list of countries sponsoring terrorism.

The Iron Dome defence missile system, designed to intercept and destroy incoming short-range rockets and artillery shells, is pictured in the southern Israeli city of Ashdod on November 12, 2019. - Israel's military killed a commander for Palestinian militant group Islamic Jihad in a strike on his home in the Gaza Strip, prompting retaliatory rocket fire and fears of a severe escalation in violence. (Photo by Jack GUEZ / AFP) (Photo by JACK GUEZ/AFP via Getty Images)

Intel: First Israeli Iron Dome battery arrives in US

A second Iron Dome battery is expected to arrive by the end of the year.

Israel's midfielder Dia Saba (R) shoots the ball past Guatemala's goalkeeper Paulo Motta as he scores during the FIFA friendly football match between Israel and Guatemala at Netanya Municipal Stadium in the Israeli coastal city of Netanya on November 15, 2018. (Photo by JACK GUEZ / AFP) (Photo credit should read JACK GUEZ/AFP via Getty Images)

Arab-Israeli soccer star joins Emirati league

Following normalization of ties between Israel and the United Arab Emirates, the Emirati Al-Nasr soccer club has recruited Arab-Israeli star Dia Saba, who will be the first Israeli to join a Gulf league.

United Arab Emirates

An Israeli policeman stands holding a demonstrator confronting him, all mask-clad due to the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic, during a demonstration outside the Knesset (Israeli parliament) in Jerusalem on September 29, 2020, against a possible bill restricting protests amidst new pandemic regulations. - Israeli Health Minister Yuli Edelstein said on September 29 that there was "no way" the country's second nationwide coronavirus lockdown would be lifted after three weeks as originally planned. (Photo by Mena

Netanyahu’s government shaking over decision to ban demonstrations

The Knesset adopted this morning more restrictions on demonstrations during the coronavirus lockdown, but some Blue and White members could not bring themselves to vote with the government on that.

A picture taken on February 24, 2018 from Lebanon's southern border town of Naqura on the border with Israel, south of Beirut, shows the maritime boundaries between Lebanon and Israel.
The UN peacekeeping force in southern Lebanon has made efforts to prevent tension between Lebanon and Israel from escalating into a conflict, warning of continued escalation on the backdrop of oil exploration and construction of a barrier on the border. / AFP PHOTO / JOSEPH EID (Photo credit should read JOSEPH EID/AFP

US mediation pushes Israel, Lebanon on marking maritime border

Reports say that following US mediation, Israel and Lebanon are now ready to discuss the marking of their maritime borderline.

Ultra-Orthodox Jewish men and boys, a few mask-clad due to the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic, stand along a street corner in the Ultra-Orthodox neighbourhood of Mea Shearim in Jerusalem a few hours before the start of Yom Kippur, the Jewish holy day of Atonement, on September 27, 2020. - Yom Kippur, also known as the Day of Atonement, is one of the most important holidays of the Jewish year, during which Israelis observe a period of a 25-hour fasting, reflection and prayers and during which synagogues are f

Netanyahu won't crack down on ultra-Orthodox despite virus surge

Though the ultra-Orthodox community's disregard for pandemic measures has emerged as central to Israel's virus problem, Prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu can't afford to endanger his political alliance with them.

Israeli earth movers remove concrete blocks along the side of a road lying in "Area C" of the occupied West Bank where Israeli administers full civil and security control, in the flashpoint city of Hebron on July 2, 2020. (Photo by HAZEM BADER / AFP) (Photo by HAZEM BADER/AFP via Getty Images)

West Bank village celebrates end of 20-year-old Israeli roadblock

The residents of Qalqas, south of Hebron, will finally see the main road to their town’s entrance reopened, blocked in 2000 by the Israeli authorities.

JERUSALEM, ISRAEL - SEPTEMBER 20: Protesters hold signs during a demonstration against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on September 20, 2020 in Jerusalem, Israel. As the country grapples with a surge in Covid-19 cases it has imposed a three-week lockdown that coincides with Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish new year, and Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. (Photo by Amir Levy/Getty Images)

As Israel enters lockdown, Netanyahu protesters vow to continue

As Israel enters a strict nationwide lockdown, activist groups say they will swap mass rallies with car convoys to express their anger at the government and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.