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August 27, 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

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Alternate Prime Minister and Defence Minister Benny Gantz attend the weekly cabinet meeting in Jerusalem June 7, 2020. Menahem Kahana/Pool via REUTERS - RC294H9BAXQW

Netanyahu needs Gantz to win Trump's annexation go-ahead

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu must get his political partner Defense Minister Benny Gantz on board first for US President Donald Trump to endorse his annexation plan.

Israel seeks to bypass PA, directly engage with Palestinians

After the Palestinian Authority announced its disengagement from the agreements with Israel, the latter has been working on opening direct communication channels with Palestinians, in an attempt to weaken the PA.

AIPAC lobbies for US-Israel coronavirus bill to counter China

Congress is quickly lining up behind an AIPAC bill to deepen COVID-19 cooperation with Israel while sidelining China.

Israel's El Al airline seeking financial help to stay afloat

Israel's airport remains closed and the airline has suffered from the downturn in global travel.

A view shows Palestinian houses in the village of Wadi Fukin as the Jewish settlement of Beitar Illit is seen in the background, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank June 23, 2019. Picture taken June 23, 2019. REUTERS/Mussa Qawasma - RC1985B332A0

Report: Some Jewish parts of West Bank to be excluded from annexation

The latest Israeli media reports on annexation further deepen the rift between Israeli settlers and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks as he and U.S. President Donald Trump discuss a Middle East peace plan proposal in the East Room of the White House in Washington, U.S., January 28, 2020. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid - RC26PE94BY08

A week later, Netanyahu calls killing of autistic Palestinian a 'tragedy'

More than a week after the killing of Palestinian Iyad Halak, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu decided to condemn the incident and describe it as a tragedy.

A Bedouin man stands next to a mural depicting Micky Mouse outside a polling station as Israelis vote in a parliamentary election, in the city of Rahat in Israel's southern Negev Desert April 9, 2019. REUTERS/Amir Cohen - RC175CC9E220

Bedouins say Israeli police ignoring violence in their communities

Some characterize the Negev as the Wild West because of the lack of law enforcement.

Netanyahu connects directly with Israelis in new vlog

In his new vlog, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu shows once again that he is a virtuoso when it comes to using social networks to bypass the media and control his messaging.

ANTALYA, TURKEY - MAY 27: Israel's charg√© d'affaires in Turkey, Amira Oron (C) poses for family photo during the Midterm Review of the Istanbul Programme of Action in Antalya, Turkey on May 27, 2016. The Midterm Review conference for the Istanbul Programme of Action for the Least Developed Countries takes place at Titanic Hotel in Antalya, Turkey from 27-29 May 2016. The conference will undertake a comprehensive review of the implementation of the Istanbul Programme of Action by the least developed countri

Israel confirms first woman ambassador to Egypt

A year and a half after her initial nomination, the Israeli government has finally approved the appointment of Amira Oron as ambassador to Egypt.

Palestinians reveal Israeli alternatives to two-state solution

Palestinians seem to be caught between a rock and a hard place with Israel’s shifting away from a two-state solution and the diminishing chances of such an option after the announcement of the US Middle East peace plan.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delivers a statement overlooking the Israeli settlement of Har Homa, located in an area of the Israeli-occupied West Bank, that Israel annexed to Jerusalem after the region's capture in the 1967 Middle East war, February 20, 2020. Debbie Hill/Pool via REUTERS - RC2E4F9ALPB6

Netanyahu’s dilemma over his annexation plan

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu must now decide whether he wants to go ahead with his annexation plan, or hope that the White House will get him out of it.

China apparently left out of Israel's 5G network tender

The first phase of the tender for building the 5G wireless network in Israel has passed its deadline, with Chinese bidders apparently left out.