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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

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

Why Israeli Bedouins reject tree planting in their villages

Plans to plant trees near Bedouin villages are opposed by local residents and environmental groups.

Israel-Hezbollah tensions escalate, IDF sends more troops to the north

Following the killing on Monday of a Hezbollah operative and Hezbollah retaliation threats, the IDF decided to send reinforcement to the country’s northern borders.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (R) and his wife Sara Netanyahu cast their ballots during the Israeli legislative elections, at a polling station in Jerusalem on March 2, 2020. - Netanyahu urged people to vote despite widespread concerns about the coronavirus outbreak, as the longest-serving leader in the Jewish state's history cast his ballot. Israelis were voting for a third time in 12 months today, with embattled Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu seeking to end the country's political crisis an

Conversion therapy vote marks beginning of end for Israel's unity government

The vote to ban conversion therapy in Israel has exposed the depth of the crisis between the Likud and Blue and White.

Baptismal relic latest focus of opposing narratives

The Israeli authorities have stolen an archaeological stone relic from the home of a Palestinian official in the West Bank, claiming it was Israel’s in the first place.

Members of the LGBT community hold a banner reading in Hebrew "A homophobic Racist Has to Quit" during a rally against Israel's Education Minister Rafi Peretz following his remarks on gay conversion therapy, in the Israeli coastal city of Tel Aviv on July 14, 2019. - Members of the LGBT community hold a banner reading in Hebrew "A homophobic Racist Has to Quiet" during a rally against Israel's Education Minister Rafi Peretz following his remarks on gay conversion therapy, in the Israeli coastal city of Tel

Knesset moves to outlaw conversion therapy in Israel

Israel's ultra-Orthodox parties are angry with their coalition allies in the Blue and White for supporting a bill criminalizing conversion therapy for homosexuals.

Israelis protest against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem, on July 21, 2020. - Netanyahu, 70, was indicted in January for bribery, fraud and breach of trust in three cases. He denies all the charges and accuses the media and legal officials of a witch hunt. (Photo by Ahmad GHARABLI / AFP) (Photo by AHMAD GHARABLI/AFP via Getty Images)

Israeli Arabs absent from anti-Netanyahu, COVID-19 crisis protests

Years of exclusion from the social and political arenas might explain the fact that almost no Arab citizens have been seen taking to the streets to protest this government and its prime minister.

Hungarian foreign minister visits Israel, discusses Iranian file

Visiting Israel despite the coronavirus spike, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto discussed with his counterpart Gabi Ashkenazi not only bilateral cooperation, but also the Iranian file.

Mask-clad Israeli restaurant owners and clients protest against new lockdown measures imposed by the authorities due to a surge in coronavirus cases, by banging ice buckets, in the Israeli coastal city of Tel Aviv, on July 17, 2020. - Israel's government said today it was imposing new restrictions to limit the spiralling spread of coronavirus in the hope of avoiding a general lockdown further along the line. (Photo by JACK GUEZ / AFP) (Photo by JACK GUEZ/AFP via Getty Images)

Israeli restaurants vs. PM Netanyahu: 1-0

Celebrity chefs are championing the fight against the government’s decision to close down restaurants over the coronavirus pandemic.

Benny Gantz (C), A former IDF Chief and the head of Israeli Resilience party speaks to supporters during an election campaign event in Tel Aviv. Israelis will vote in a parliamentary election on April 9, choosing among party lists of candidates to serve in the 121-seat Knesset

Netanyahu stands alone

Surrounded by yes-men ministers and lacking any real professionals by his side, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has found himself alone at the top.

Palestinian Muslims perform the morning Eid al-Fitr prayer at the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, Islam's third most holy site, in the Old City of Jerusalem on June 5, 2019. - Muslims worldwide celebrate Eid al-Fitr marking the end of the fasting month of Ramadan. (Photo by AHMAD GHARABLI / AFP) (Photo credit should read AHMAD GHARABLI/AFP via Getty Images)

Jerusalem Muslims brace for Israel to shutter Al-Aqsa Mosque prayer house

Jerusalemites are preparing for another battle at Al-Aqsa Mosque compound as Israel moves to close a prayer house worshippers forced open in 2019.

Israeli model Bar Refaeli arrives on August 29, 2019 for the screening of the film "Ad Astra" during the 76th Venice Film Festival at Venice Lido. (Photo by Alberto PIZZOLI / AFP) (Photo credit should read ALBERTO PIZZOLI/AFP via Getty Images)

Israeli top model Bar Refaeli found guilty in tax evasion case

The international supermodel is a controversial person in Israel due to her avoidance of mandatory military service, as well as the trial.

The platform of the Leviathan natural gas field in the Mediterranean Sea which started production today is pictured from the Israeli northern coastal city of Dor on December 31, 2019. - Israel's offshore Leviathan field started pumping gas today in what the operating consortium called "a historic turning point in the history of the Israeli economy."
A joint statement from partners Noble Energy, Delek Drilling, and Ratio said that the start of production was expected to lead to an immediate reduction in dome

Major US energy deal could shake up Israeli gas fields

Chevron acquisition of the American company Noble Energy could affect gas drilling in the Israeli Tamar and Leviathan fields.