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July 1, 2026

Tel Aviv 2:27 pm

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Shia Muslim devotees gather for a mourning ritual near the shrine of Hassan Nasrallah, the slain leader of the Lebanese Shia movement Hezbollah who was killed in a 2024 Israeli-airstrike, in Beirut's southern suburbs on June 26, 2026 at the peak of Ashura, a 10-day period commemorating the seventh century killing of Prophet Mohammed's grandson Imam Hussein. (Photo by JOSEPH EID / AFP via Getty Images)

Analysis

For Israel, Lebanon deal 'historic' despite fears Hezbollah will rebuild

While the deal with Lebanon allows the Israeli military to maintain a presence there, security experts warn that it also gives the weakened Hezbollah the time it needs to recover.

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

KAREN MINASYAN / AFP via Getty Images

Turkey, Azerbaijan slam Israel’s Armenian genocide recognition as Yerevan mum

Ankara accused Israel of weaponizing history as Armenia avoided public comment amid delicate regional diplomacy.

AFP via Getty Images

Traffic plummets through Strait of Hormuz after Iran, US trade fire

Shipping through the Strait of Hormuz had recovered somewhat before renewed fighting between Iran and the United States saw traffic drop sharply over the weekend.

Latest News

Syria slams Israeli 'violations' in south as ground clashes intensify: What to know

A car drives past an United Nations Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) outpost in the village of Khan Arnabah, Quneitra, southern Syria, April 29, 2026.

Explainer

Israel's Armenian genocide recognition marks new front against Turkey

Members of the Jerusalem Armenian community hold placards as they march during commemorations for the 94th anniversary of mass killings of their kin under the Ottoman Empire, Jerusalem's Old City, April 24, 2009.

US brokers deal for limited Israeli withdrawal in south Lebanon

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio (C, back) looks on as (L/R, front row) Israeli Ambassador to the US Yechiel Leiter, State Department Chief of Staff Daniel Holler, and Lebanese Ambassador to the US Nada Hamadeh sign a framework agreement at the US Department of State in Washington, DC, on June 26, 2026. Lebanon, Israel and the United States on Friday signed a trilateral framework agreement aimed at paving the way for a peace deal between the two long-time Middle East adversaries. (Photo by SAUL LOEB / AFP

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

Israeli Health Minister Yaakov Litzman speaks during a briefing to members of the media on the medical condition of former Israeli President Shimon Peres a day after he suffered a stroke, at a hospital near Tel Aviv, Israel September 14, 2016. REUTERS/Baz Ratner - RTSNPU9

How the call to prayer is uniting Israel's Arabs, ultra-Orthodox

Ultra-Orthodox Knesset members have joined forces with Joint List Knesset members in objecting to the bill preventing the muezzin call to prayer.

An entrance to a tunnel which Israel's military said it had discovered is seen just outside the southern Gaza Strip May 6, 2016. REUTERS/ Amir Cohen - RTX2D427

Were Israeli ministers the last to learn about Gaza tunnels?

According to different sources, Israeli Cabinet ministers did not receive information about the tunnels dug by Hamas in 2014, though the information was gathered by Israeli intelligence and was transferred to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

A Palestinian man displays SIM cards of Palestinian Jawwal cellular company in a mobile phone shop in Gaza City November 16, 2016. REUTERS/Ibraheem Abu Mustafa - RTX2U31Z

Israeli 3G SIM cards all the rage in Gaza

SIM cards allowing 3G service on Israeli telecommunications networks are being smuggled into Gaza and snapped up quickly by young Palestinians.

Moshe Kahlon, Israel's new Finance Minister, attends a meeting at the Finance Ministry in Jerusalem May 18, 2015. Boosting competition in Israel's banking system and the economy as a whole as well as bringing down property prices will be priorities for the country's new finance minister, he said on Monday. REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun - RTX1DH88

Has Israel's finance minister lost his fans?

Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon's supporters are disappointed, as they believed he would fight for the rule of law and the new public broadcasting corporation but now see him abandoning political battles that might mark him as a leftist, guided primarily by political survival.

JERUSALEM, ISRAEL - APRIL 17: In this handout image provided by the Israeli Government Press Office (GPO), Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu shakes hands with Palestinian chief negotiator Saeb Erekat watched by Netanyahu's personal envoy, attorney Yitzhak Molcho and the head of Palestinian Authority General Intelligence Majad Faraj during their meeting on April 17, 2012 in Jerusalem, Israel. At the end of the meeting, it was agreed to release the following statement: "Israel and the Palestinian Aut

Will submarine deal sink Netanyahu's ship?

A scandal over a submarine deal has focused the public's attention and that of Israel's attorney general on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s relations with two of his lawyers.

U.S. President-elect Donald Trump (L) and former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney emerge after their meeting at the main clubhouse at Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, New Jersey, U.S., November 19, 2016. REUTERS/Mike Segar - RTSSFB6

Trump’s transition off to rough start

Donald Trump’s administration is turning out to be the year of the white male.

Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu (R) attends a media conference together with Israel's new Defence Minister Avigdor Lieberman, head of far-right Yisrael Beitenu party, following Lieberman's swearing-in ceremony at the Knesset, the Israeli parliament, in Jerusalem May 30, 2016. REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun - RTX2EVP1

Is Netanyahu-Liberman power couple making comeback?

Of all the ministers, it was actually Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's long-year foe, who defended the prime minister on the submarine affair and who stated clearly that the Amona settlement will be evacuated.

People watch the raising of a Palestinian flag during a rally marking the Palestinian Declaration of Independence in 1988, in the West Bank city of Tulkarm November 14, 2016. REUTERS/Abed Omar Qusini - RTX2TLI1

Declaration of Independence barely remembered in Palestine

The 28th anniversary of the Palestinian Declaration of Independence came and went without fanfare.

Interpol's headquarters are seen in Singapore November 18, 2015. REUTERS/Thomas White - RTS7V48

Palestinians say Interpol bid on hold, not defeated

The Palestinian application to join Interpol has been suspended in what Israel is claiming as a diplomatic victory, but the Palestinians are undeterred by the setback.

Palestinian fishermen ride their boats as they return from fishing at the seaport of Gaza City early morning September 26, 2016. Picture taken September 26, 2016. REUTERS/Mohammed Salem - RTSPO9A

Gaza fishermen not permitted beyond 6-mile zone any time soon

As Israel keeps delaying the decision to allow Gazan fishermen to go further into the sea, they are left with a small nautical area where fish are scarce.

The dome and minarets of a new mosque are seen in the Israeli-Arab village of Abu Ghosh, near Jerusalem November 22, 2013. In a Holy Land rich with religious sites, the new Abu Ghosh mosque is rare - as is the hilly village from which it rises. Bankrolled largely by Chechnya and named after its former leader Akhmad Kadyrov, who was slain by Islamist militants in 2004, the glimmering shrine tells of this small Israeli Arab community's historical ties to the restive Russian province. Picture taken November 22

Israel moves forward with banning calls to prayer

A proposed Israeli law would ban the use of loudspeakers to amplify calls to prayer in mosques in Jerusalem and within the Green Line.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (R) and European Union foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini speak to media following their meeting in Jerusalem, on May 20, 2015. AFP PHOTO / POOL / DAN BALILTY (Photo credit should read DAN BALILTY/AFP/Getty Images)

Will Trump's win prompt EU to adopt independent Mideast policy?

Given US President-elect Donald Trump's past declarations regarding the two-state solution, the European Union is now exploring a more independent regional policy as a basis for international consensus.