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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 police are confronted by protesters during a demonstration amid a second lockdown in front of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's residence in Jerusalem, on September 26, 2020, to protest the government's handling of the COVID-19 pandemic. - Thousands of Israelis gathered in Jerusalem to demand the resignation of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, a day after the country tightened its lockdown aimed at slowing coronavirus spread. (Photo by EMMANUEL DUNAND / AFP) (Photo by EMMANUEL DUNAND/AFP via Get

Is Israel heading toward civil war?

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s growing incitement, the deepening economic crisis, the battle over demonstrations and ultra-Orthodox coronavirus infections are taking Israel several steps closer to a civil war.

WASHINGTON, DC - AUGUST 13: David Friedman, US Ambassador to Israel speaks during a briefing at the White House August 13, 2020 in Washington, DC. Trump spoke on a range of topics including his announcement earlier in the day of a new peace deal between Israel and the United Arab Emirates. (Photo by Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images)

US ambassador to Israel warns Biden win could undermine consensus on Iran

Ambassador David Friedman is the latest sitting US official to promote the president's policies ahead of the 2020 election.

Israeli El Al airline aircrafts are pictured on the tarmac at Israel's Ben Gurion Airport in Lod, east of Tel Aviv, on September 24, 2020. (Photo by Ahmad GHARABLI / AFP) (Photo by AHMAD GHARABLI/AFP via Getty Images)

American-Israeli yeshiva student takes reins of El Al

Israeli authorities approved the sale of almost 43% of Israel’s national carrier El Al to 27-year-old Eli Rozenberg, whose American father critics say is behind the purchase.

TOPSHOT - A view shows aftermath of recent shelling during the ongoing fighting between Armenia and Azerbaijan over the breakaway Nagorno-Karabakh region, in the disputed region's main city of Stepanakert on October 4, 2020. (Photo by Karo Sahakyan / Armenian Government / AFP) (Photo by KARO SAHAKYAN/Armenian Government/AFP via Getty Images)

Armenia accuses Israel of arming Azerbaijan

Armenia has recalled its ambassador, claiming that Israel supplies its rival Azerbaijan with weapons.

Digital anti-Netanyahu demonstrations attract thousands of Israelis

The Darkenu civil movement stages digital demonstrations that attract hundreds of thousands of viewers.

Israeli protesters sit on the ground during a demonstration against the Israeli prime minister and against the second nationwide lockdown imposed by the government in a bid to stem the increase of COVID-19 coronavirus cases, in the coastal city of Tel Aviv, on October 1, 2020. (Photo by JACK GUEZ / AFP) (Photo by JACK GUEZ/AFP via Getty Images)

Anti-Netanyahu groups stage ‘neighborhood protests’

Following restrictions on demonstrations, anti-Netanyahu groups are now staging “neighborhood protests’’ across the country.

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.