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August 30, 2026

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Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (R) and Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa arrive for a joint press conference following their meeting at the Presidential Palace in Ankara, Feb. 4, 2025.

Analysis

Why Turkey welcomes Israel-Syria talks despite mounting red lines

Turkey supports US-backed Israel-Syria talks but sees little prospect of a lasting accommodation until the Israeli elections.

Barin Kayaoglu

By Barin Kayaoglu

In Ankara, reporting on geopolitics and national security

Ammar Ammar / AFP via Getty Images

Analysis

Israel’s Lebanon dilemma: Confront Hezbollah without angering Trump, triggering Iran

Israeli sources point out that the pilot project for Israel's withdrawal and the Lebanese military taking control over the area is not working because of the government's reluctance to search for Hezbollah's weapons in private homes.

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

A boy walks carrying a table on his back past salvage workers scrapping the rubble of a building that was destroyed during Israel's war against Hamas in Gaza City on Aug. 16, 2026. — Photo by Omar Al-Qattaa / AFP via Getty Images

Israel, Hamas bide their time as Gaza peace plan stalls

As the Israel-Hamas ceasefire approaches the one-year mark in October, the Board of Peace is under pressure to deliver results in the Gaza Strip.

Latest News

Netanyahu trails Eisenkot in new poll as Israel's right-wing bloc weakens

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu holds a press conference with US President Donald Trump at his Mar-a-Lago club on Dec. 29, 2025, in Palm Beach, Florida. — Joe Raedle/Getty Images

Exclusive

Israel recalibrates Syria policy, explores path to security deal

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)

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

Ex-defense minister: Israel in ‘worst possible’ Gaza situation as Hamas gains strength

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.

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

Hamas takes advantage of pre-election restraint to needle Israel

Convinced that Israel will not engage in a large-scale military operation before the September elections, Hamas seems to be allowing sporadic attacks from Gaza to escalate.

Israeli society, ultra-Orthodox torn over gender separation

The issue of gender separation is not only an area of disagreement between the ultra-Orthodox and secular society in Israel, it is also a raging debate within ultra-Orthodox society itself.

Denied visit to Israel, US congresswomen tour Palestinian reality

The plight of two US lawmakers offers a glimpse into Israel’s 52-year control over the fate of millions of people living outside its sovereign territory and its undermining of Palestinian civilians' right to move freely throughout the territories.

How this Palestinian committee works to end agreements with Israel

A Palestinian committee is currently reviewing ways to end all agreements signed with Israel and break economic ties, but Palestinians are wary of such efforts as President Mahmoud Abbas has repeatedly failed to put his promises into action.

Camera issue fails to capture suppression of Arab Israeli vote

The cameras in Arab-majority voting stations are a ploy to excite the Likud's base while high voter rates in the settlements — where votes shouldn't even legally be cast — pose a much bigger electoral issue.

Ramon Airport: Israel’s white elephant in the desert

It’s been seven months since the festive inauguration of the Ramon Airport, which despite its hefty price tag, has failed to meet anyone's expectations.

Demonstrators hold Palestinian flags as they take part in a protest against Bahrain's conference about U.S. President Donald Trump's vision for Mideast peace plan, in front of the U.N. headquarters, in Beirut, Lebanon, June 25, 2019. REUTERS/Aziz Taher - RC13E44861E0

Hamas raises $100,000 for Palestinian refugees in Lebanon

Hamas’ recent fundraising campaign in the Gaza Strip to support Palestinian refugees in Lebanon received mixed reactions from Gazans.

Palestinian men pray as they mark the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha on the compound known to Muslims as Noble Sanctuary and to Jews as Temple Mount in Jerusalem's Old City August 11, 2019. The Dome of the Rock is seen in the background. REUTERS/Ammar Awad - RC12485BDCE0

A win-win solution on the Temple Mount

Many have tried, but always failed, to resolve the issue of tensions occasionally flaring over praying on the Temple Mount/Haram al-Sharif, but the solution is not so difficult.

U.S. Reps Ayanna Pressley (D-MA), Ilhan Omar (D-MN), Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) and Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) hold a news conference after Democrats in the U.S. Congress moved to formally condemn President Donald Trump's attacks on the four minority congresswomen on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., July 15, 2019. REUTERS/Erin Scott - RC11EF17C500

Netanyahu risks all by placing fate in Trump's hands

Unable to refuse any request from his ally President Donald Trump, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has barred Congresswomen Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib from entering Israel despite wide condemnation.

(COMBO) This combination of pictures created on August 15, 2019 shows Democrat US Representatives Ilhan Abdullahi Omar (L) and Rashida Tlaib during a press conference, to address remarks made by US President Donald Trump earlier in the day, at the US Capitol in Washington, DC on July 15, 2019. - Influential US pro-Israel lobby AIPAC on August 15, 2019 opposed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's decision to bar two Muslim American members of Congress from visiting the Jewish state."We disagree with Reps. Oma

Democratic leaders blast Israel for banning Tlaib, Omar

Pro-Israel Democrats are blasting Israel’s decision to ban two pro-Palestinian lawmakers from visiting the West Bank following pressure from President Donald Trump.

Can Egypt's 'Passage' lead to an Oscar?

"The Passage," an Egyptian film on the War of Attrition following the 1967 Arab-Israeli war, has received an enthusiastic reception at the box office in Egypt and has raised some eyebrows in its treatment of Egyptian-Israeli relations.

An Israeli opponent of Israel's disengagement plan from Gaza mourns as he prays on the roof of a synagogue in Kfar Darom. An Israeli opponent of Israel's disengagement plan from Gaza mourns as he prays before evacuation by special evacuation policemen on the roof of a synagogue in the Jewish Gaza Strip settlement of Kfar Darom on August 18, 2005. In the most violent scenes since the start of forced evictions from Gaza, police armed only with shields poured from a cage hoisted on top of the synagogue and gr

Israel's 2005 Gaza disengagement: A turning point for Israel’s right

For the Israeli right, the 2005 Gaza disengagement became an ideological and a strategic turning point, which will make it difficult for any Israeli leader to champion a similar move in the West Bank.