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October 17, 2026

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US President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally at the Oncenter Convention Center in Syracuse, New York, on Oct. 9, 2026.

Window for diplomacy with Iran may be closing as Trump again threatens Pickaxe Mountain

Israel still wary of Damascus, writes Ben Caspit from Israel; our correspondent in Tehran and Amberin Zaman explain how Iran and Turkey look to exploit Azerbaijan’s headscarf controversy; Qatar’s top diplomat offers energy assistance to Lebanon, Beatrice Farhat reports from Beirut.

Israeli troops stand guard on the dividing line between the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights and Syrian, near Majdal Shams, July 16, 2025.

Analysis

'The problem and the solution': Netanyahu-Sharaa call exposes Israel's Syria dilemma

The Israeli leader revealed that he spoke with the Syrian president last year, but stalled talks and Israel's fortification of a security zone on Syrian land underscore his mistrust of Sharaa.

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

President Donald Trump speaks to reporters before boarding Marine One on the South Lawn of the White House on Oct. 7, 2026 in Washington, DC.

Trump rules out US troops in Iran, leaves Pickaxe Mountain strike on the table

He did not dispute reports that the US military is weighing use of the "mother of all bombs."

Israeli President Isaac Herzog and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi at the the Conference on Interaction and Confidence-Building Measures in Asia, Baku, Azerbaijan, Oct. 15, 2026.

Israeli president meets FM Wang Yi as reports link China to Iran’s military buildup

Israeli President Isaac Herzog held talks with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and discussed topics ranging from economic and cultural cooperation to regional security.

Latest News

Who is Abdulrahman Alfozan, Saudi national charged in bugging OpenAI meetings?

Abdulrahman Alfozan in an undated photo

Exclusive

In bid to win over Saudi Arabia, Netanyahu may strike Yemen before elections

A giant electoral poster for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud party with the slogan "no surrender" is displayed on the facade of a building in Tel Aviv on Sept. 29, 2026

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

Trump offers Iran path to nuclear deal while keeping up military pressure

US President Donald Trump speaks at the "Golden Age of American Innovation Summit" at the Institute of Peace in Washington, DC, on Oct. 8, 2026.

Analysis

Deal or war? Israel fears fallout from Trump’s next move on Iran

GRAND ISLAND, NEBRASKA - OCTOBER 05: U.S. President Donald Trump wraps up an appearance at a campaign rally at Pinnacle Bank Expo Center on the Nebraska State Fairgrounds on October 05, 2026 in Grand Island, Nebraska. Trump is campaigning for incumbent U.S. Sen. Pete Ricketts (R-NE) and Gov. Jim Pillen ahead of the November midterm elections. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)

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

Adam Lucente

News and Business Correspondent

In New York City, reporting on regional news, militancy, climate change

Elizabeth Hagedorn

Diplomatic Correspondent

In Washington, DC, reporting on diplomacy, regional politics, human rights

Jared Szuba

Defense and Security Correspondent

In Washington, DC, reporting on defense, national security, military

Joyce Karam

Editor-in-Chief

Rosaleen Carroll

News Reporter and Supporting Editor

In Washington, DC, US, reporting on the Middle East

Paul J. Saunders

In Washington, DC, reporting on Russia in the Middle East

MILWAUKEE, WI - AUGUST 19: In this screenshot from the DNCC’s livestream of the 2020 Democratic National Convention, former first lady and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton addresses the virtual convention on August 19, 2020. The convention, which was once expected to draw 50,000 people to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, is now taking place virtually due to the coronavirus pandemic. (Photo by DNCC via Getty Images)

Egypt's pro-state media reignites Clinton email controversy as US vote nears

With the US presidential election just weeks away, Egyptian media outlets loyal to the government have dragged the controversy over former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's emails back into the headlines.

US to remove Sudan from state sponsors of terror list

President Donald Trump announced the plan to de-list Sudan on Monday.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo speaks during a news conference to announce the Trump administration's restoration of sanctions on Iran, on September 21, 2020, at the US State Department in Washington,DC, as US Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin looks on. - The United States said Monday it was imposing sanctions on Iran's defense ministry and Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro under a UN authority which is widely contested. "For nearly two years corrupt officials in Tehran have worked with the illegitimate

Iran arms embargo ends with warnings from Washington

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has threatened to sanction countries that engage in weapons trade with Iran.

Debra Tice, the mother of missing journalist Austin Tice, addresses a press conference January 27, 2020 at the National Press Club in Washington, DC. - Tice, who spent 83 days in Syria looking for her son, reiterated the belief that he remains alive and is being held, and advocated for his release. Austin, disappeared in Syria in 2012. (Photo by EVA HAMBACH / AFP) (Photo by EVA HAMBACH/AFP via Getty Images)

White House official traveled to Syria for secret hostage talks

The Wall Street Journal first reported that Kash Patel traveled to Damascus in an effort to secure the release of Americans hostages including Austin Tice and Majd Kamalmaz.

Intel: Congress urges Egypt’s president to release political prisoners

More than 50 US members of the US Congress called for Egyptian journalists, lawyers and rights activists to be released in a letter addressed directly to President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi.

US Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin (back) attends a signing ceremony between the head of the Israeli delegation, National Security Advisor Meir Ben Shabbat (L) and Bahraini Foreign Minister Abdullatif bin Rashid Al-Zayani (C), in the Bahraini capital Manama on October 18, 2020. - Israel and Bahrain cemented a deal officially establishing relations and signed several memorandums of understanding, further opening up the wealthy Gulf region to the Jewish state. (Photo by Mazen Mahdi / AFP) (Photo by MAZEN MAH

Israel, Bahrain establish diplomatic relations at a ceremony in Manama

Israel’s Foreign Ministry Director General Alon Ushpiz and Bahraini Foreign Minister Abdullatif bin Rashid Al Zayani signed yesterday a joint communique for the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries.

Supporters of Hashed al-Shaabi, an Iraqi paramilitary network dominated by Iran-backed factions, wave the Hashed flag as they stand under the national flag during a protest denouncing comments made by Kurdish ex-minister and to show their support to the paramilitary network in the southern Iraqi city of Basra on October 17, 2020. - Hashed supporters burned down the main Kurdish party's headquarters in Baghdad after criticism from a Iraq's Former Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari. Hundreds of Hashed demonstrat

Iraqi militias defy government, expand networks and pressure

Militias in Iraq are increasing their activities in response to the government's efforts to rein them in.

US drone strike kills two suspected al-Qaeda officials in Idlib

The strike is believed to have killed a former member of Huras al-Din's Shura Council and a security official.

Armenian-Americans hold signs and flags as they protest against the conflict between Azerbaijan and the Armenian enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh and Turkey's support for Azerbaijan in front of the US Capitol in Washington, DC, on October 15, 2020. - US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo voiced hope Thursday that Armenia would "defend" itself against Azerbaijan, appearing to show sympathy to one side over the fierce clashes. (Photo by Nicholas Kamm / AFP) (Photo by NICHOLAS KAMM/AFP via Getty Images)

Pompeo hopes Armenia can 'defend' itself from Azerbaijan

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo also said that Turkey was increasing the risk of more bloodshed.

Democratic Presidential candidate and former US Vice President Joe Biden participates in an ABC News town hall event at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia on October 15, 2020. (Photo by JIM WATSON / AFP) (Photo by JIM WATSON/AFP via Getty Images)

Biden slams Trump's Iran policy at town hall

The Democratic presidential candidate also praised Trump's work on the UAE-Israel deal.

A man wrapped in a Trump campaign flag walks in Jerusalem's Mahane Yehuda market during the Jewish holiday of Purim on March 11, 2020. - Israel has imposed some of the world's tightest restrictions to contain coronavirus, but that did not stop ultra-Orthodox Jews from hitting the streets to celebrate a treasured religious custom: drinking on Purim. Sometimes dubbed the "fun" Jewish holiday, Purim typically includes costumes and boisterous public celebrations marking a story dating from fourth-century Persi

Ahead of presidential elections, Israelis cheering for Trump

Israelis love US President Donald Trump — not only for his diplomatic gestures toward the country, but also for his informal, blunt style.

Senate Democrats urge Library of Congress to recognize Armenian genocide

Democratic Senators said the library should follow Congress and rebuke the Trump administration by referring to the killings of Armenians in Turkey in the early 20th century as a "genocide."