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Israel

May 19, 2026

Tel Aviv 2:46 pm

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Men gather around the husk of a destroyed pickup truck that was driven by a local shepherd who was reportedly struck by Israeli forces and buried by locals at a grave nearby, in the Najaf desert in southwestern Iraq, on May 12, 2026.

What we know about secret Israeli bases in Iraq

Iraqi authorities have said there are no longer any hostile forces operating in its territory.

Somaliland’s first ambassador to a foreign country formally, Mohamed Hagi, presented his diplomatic credentials in Jerusalem to Israeli President Isaac Herzog, on May 18, 2026.

Israel accredits Somaliland's first ambassador: What to know

Israel was the first country to recognize the breakaway region on the Horn of Africa last year.

talks

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

Latest News

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

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

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

A labourer walks past electoral campaign posters bearing the portraits of Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (L), leader of the Likud party, and retired Israeli general Benny Gantz (R), one of the leaders of the Blue and White (Kahol Lavan) political alliance, in the Israeli city of Tel Aviv, on April 3, 2019, ahead of the general election scheduled for April 9. (Photo by JACK GUEZ / AFP) (Photo credit should read JACK GUEZ/AFP via Getty Images)

Israel awaits its two prime ministers

Having made the toughest decision of his life, Benny Gantz is about to enter a unity government under Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Coronavirus leading Israel into a Passover like no other

With Passover approaching, the Israeli government appears set to implement extraordinary measures to try to keep the novel coronavirus from spreading beyond control as families gather for the holiday.

A man passes under a "Don't Panic" banner hanging at the entrance of Shuk HaCarmel (Caramel) market in the Israeli coastal city of Tel Aviv on March 24, 2020 after Israel barred residents from leaving home for non-essential reasons and stopped night-time public transport, tightening already strict measures to fight the spread of coronavirus. (Photo by JACK GUEZ / AFP) (Photo by JACK GUEZ/AFP via Getty Images)

Tel Aviv, the city that never stops, now paralyzed

Although Tel Aviv is known as "the city that never stops," its entire entertainment and tourism scene — plays, other performances, bars, restaurants and hotels, the seashore — have come to a halt as a result of the coronavirus.

Israeli Arabs left to rely on 'self-help' for coronavirus testing

The discrepancy in the Israel government's approach to coronavirus testing in Jewish and Arab communities has put the burden on Arab Knesset members and local Arab authorities to organize to try to keep infections under control in Arab towns and villages.

TEL AVIV, ISRAEL - FEBRUARY 17: Workers hang a Blue and White Party billaboard showing its leader Benny Gantz and Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, as part of the party's campaign on February 17, 2020 in Tel Aviv, Israel. In two weeks Israelis will head to the polls for the third election in less than a year. (Photo by Amir Levy/Getty Images)

Netanyahu gets cold feet on unity government for Israel

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has backed away from the unity government plan even after Blue and White leader Benny Gantz agreed to many of his conditions.

Palestinian workers returning from Israel arrive at a testing site for the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), outside the Israeli-controlled Tarqumiya checkpoint near Hebron in the Israeli-occupied West Bank March 26, 2020. REUTERS/Mussa Qawasma - RC2RRF9ZN4LX

Coronavirus restrictions expose deficit in Palestinian-Israeli Oslo Accord

The coronavirus outbreak exposed a largely unknown deficit in the Oslo Accords: the existence of large areas outside the authority of Palestinian and Israeli powers.

An Israeli police officer speaks to an ultra-Orthodox Jewish student at a Yeshiva (Talmudic school) in Bnei Barak, a city east of Tel Aviv with a significant ultra-Orthodox Jewish population, on April 2, 2020, as part of measures imposed by Israeli authorities against the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic. - Israeli police backed by surveillance helicopters have stepped up patrols of ultra-Orthodox Jewish neighbourhoods that have become coronavirus hotspots. (Photo by JACK GUEZ / AFP) (Photo by JACK GUEZ/AFP vi

Coronavirus bursts Israeli ultra-Orthodox bubble

With the number of coronavirus carriers in the ultra-Orthodox community exploding, it is important for this community to realize that anyone who keeps it from knowledge and information is keeping it from making educated decisions.

GAZA CITY, GAZA - DECEMBER 16: Yahya Sinwar, the leader of Hamas in Gaza, attends the event marking the 31st anniversary of the establishment of Hamas at Al Katiba Square in Gaza City, Gaza on December 16, 2018. (Photo by Ali Jadallah/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)

Hamas blusters for Israeli coronavirus aid

Hamas has neglected the health system of Gaza for years, so its only weapon against the coronavirus is threatening Israel or offering a deal for help.

A palestinian worker manufacture protective coverall suits and masks at a workshop in Gaza City on March 31, 2020. amid coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic. Factories in the Gaza Strip used to specialize in the manufacture of shirts and jeans, for despite the closure of many of them in previous years due to the blockade imposed on the Gaza Strip and the inability to export and its aftermath From economic problems that led to the closure of many factories, But with the invasion of the new coronavirus to the world,

Coronavirus revives Gaza's sewing sector as tailors turn out PPE

As COVID-19 spreads across the Middle East, Israel is having medical gear made in the Gaza Strip, where clothing manufacturers have shifted production to sorely needed personal protective equipment.

Palestinian Bedouin pupils ride a donkey on their way to school in the village of Khan al-Ahmar in the Israeli-occupied West Bank on September 6, 2018, after Israel's top court upheld an order to raze the village. - Israel's top court on Wednesday upheld an order to raze a Palestinian Bedouin village in the occupied West Bank, after debating petitions challenging the decision. "We reject the petitions" against the directive to demolish Khan al-Ahmar, the supreme court panel said in its ruling, adding that a

Israeli-Bedouin students left behind over coronavirus

Israeli high schools and colleges offer online courses for students who are confined due to the coronavirus, but these initiatives are worthless for the Bedouin pupils who have little access to computers or fast internet in their villages.

Israel’s defense minister rises to the COVID-19 threat

In taking action to combat the coronavirus outbreak in Israel, Defense Minister Naftali Bennett has shown that he can be creative, determined and effective in using the military’s human and technological capabilities.

02 April 2020, Israel, Bnei Brak: An Israeli policeman stops Orthodox Jews, who insist on carrying on with their prayer at the Ponevezh Yeshiva, a Jewish institution that focuses on the study of traditional religious texts, despite the imposed lockdown amid the coronavirus pandemic. Photo: Ilia Yefimovich/dpa (Photo by Ilia Yefimovich/picture alliance via Getty Images)

IDF latest mission: saving Bnei Brak, Israel's most overcrowded city

With rabbis and residents disobeying instructions over the coronavirus, Israeli paratroops were dispatched to the town of Bnei Brak to restrict entry and exit.