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July 8, 2026

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Explainer

Lebanon's latest damage estimate outlines reconstruction challenge

More than 1 million Lebanese residents fled their homes after Israeli attacks in southern Lebanon intensified in March, when Hezbollah entered the conflict.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (L) welcomes US President Donald Trump (R) upon his arrival on Air Force One at Etimesgut Air Base near Ankara, on July 7, 2026, before attending the 36th NATO Heads of State and Government Summit. (Photo by SAUL LOEB / AFP via Getty Images)

Analysis

Trump's F-35 push for Turkey runs into CAATSA — and Israel

Israel fears that Washington may be shifting its strategic options toward Turkey as the two rivals push for regional hegemony.

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

ABIR SULTAN / AFP via Getty Images

Israel, Greece conduct military drills ahead of NATO summit in Turkey

Photos published by the Greek military showed fighter jets from both countries flying side by side over the Aegean Sea.

Latest News

Interview

Ayman Odeh says Arab parties could back Bennett or Eisenkot to block Netanyahu

Joint List Party leader Ayman Odeh attends a meeting on April 5, 2021 in Jerusalem, Israel.

Ayman Odeh

Head of the Knesset's Hadash-Ta'al faction

Analysis

As US-Iran talks falter, Israel views war outcome as 'total strategic failure’

Motorists drive past a billboard bearing a picture of Iran's slain supreme leader Ali Khamenei, ahead of his funeral in Tehran on July 3, 2026. Iranian leaders began paying their respects on July 3 before the coffin of the country's late supreme leader Ali Khamenei, killed in the US-Israeli strikes that triggered the Middle East war, as Tehran prepared for a vast funeral. Khamenei's body arrived at Tehran's Grand Mosalla on July 3 ahead of ceremonies which are expected to draw millions. (Photo by AFP via Ge

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 Shi'ite Houthi rebel walks at a checkpoint in Sanaa December 11, 2014. The Houthis are an armed Shi'ite faction whose fighters had swept down from the north and stunningly captured Sanaa from the army about a month earlier. Their arrival following anti-government protests threatens to further destabilise Yemen, already wracked by political turmoil since the Arab Spring revolutions of 2011. To match Insight YEMEN-HOUTHIS/ REUTERS/Mohamed al-Sayaghi (YEMEN - Tags: CIVIL UNREST TRANSPORT) - RTR4HNFD

Iran's role in Yemen draws Israel, Saudi Arabia closer

The Houthi takeover of the Yemen port city, the tribe's strong ties to Iran and its latest contacts with Palestine Islamic Jihad have both Israel and Saudi Arabia worried.

Palestinian honor guards carry the coffin of Palestinian minister Ziad Abu Ein during his funeral in the West Bank city of Ramallah December 11, 2014. Thousands of mourners turned out on Thursday for a Palestinian state funeral for a minister who died after being grabbed by the neck by an Israeli policeman at a West Bank protest, an incident that has raised tensions with Israel. Israeli and Palestinian officials issued conflicting accounts over the results of a joint Palestinian, Jordanian and Israeli autop

Rajoub: Abu Ein's death will spark uprising, not violence

Senior Fatah officials blame Israel for the death of Palestinian Cabinet Minister Ziad Abu Ein, as does Jibril Rajoub, who says that in spite of the death of a “man of peace,” the nonviolent uprising will continue, while Israel fears escalation.

Isaac Herzog (R), the newly elected head of Israel's left-of-centre Labour Party, speaks during a news conference after his meeting with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in the West Bank city of Ramallah December 1, 2013. REUTERS/Mohamad Torokman (WEST BANK - Tags: POLITICS) - RTX15ZO7

On Israel's left, Herzog is Livni's real electoral challenge

The ''anyone but Bibi'' trend sweeping Israeli politics lately might harm the Likud Party and help Labor and opposition leader Isaac Herzog, but according to polls it does not reduce the overall size of the right-wing camp.

A worker checks the valve gears in a natural gas control centre of Turkey's Petroleum and Pipeline Corporation, 35 km (22 miles) west of Ankara, February 14, 2012. REUTERS/Umit Bektas (TURKEY - Tags: BUSINESS ENERGY) - RTR2XU2U

In natural gas, all pipelines go through Turkey

Natural gas from Iraq is to reach Turkey in 2017, Azeri gas is to arrive in 2018 and Iran, Russia and Israel also want to sell their natural gas via Turkey.

Israeli Arab Knesset (parliament) member Hanin Zuabi arrives to the Supreme Court in Jerusalem on December 27, 2012, for a hearing regarding the Election Committee's decision to disqualify her from contending in the upcoming elections. AFP PHOTO/GALI TIBBON (Photo credit should read GALI TIBBON/AFP/Getty Images)

Arab parties push for unity ahead of Israeli elections

As the Knesset prepares to debate proposed laws that would significantly damage political activity by the Palestinian parties, Arab members weigh their options while debating ways to increase their collective power in parliament.

A Palestinian prepares to throw a tear gas canister fired by Israeli troops back to the soldiers during clashes following a gun battle where the troops shot dead two Palestinians, Marwan Kawasme and Amar Abu Aysha, in the West Bank city of Hebron September 23, 2014. Israeli troops shot dead the two Palestinians in the West Bank city of Hebron on Tuesday and the military said they were members of Hamas responsible for the killing of three Israeli youths in June, an attack that led to the Gaza war. Kawasme an

Israel, PA seek to prevent Hamas from igniting West Bank

Joint security efforts in the West Bank between the Palestinian Authority and Israel aim to prevent Hamas cells from instigating strife.

Naftali Bennett (C), smiles during a Jewish Home party meeting, at the Knesset, the Israeli parliament, in Jerusalem March 4, 2013. A surprise alliance between Israeli political stars, far-right Bennett, and centrist Yair Lapid, who reject privileges for ultra-orthodox Jews is frustrating Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's efforts to form a new government. REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun (JERUSALEM - Tags: POLITICS) - RTR3EKA2

Bennett a divider, not a uniter

Economy and Trade Minister Naftali Bennett’s speech at the Saban Forum indicates that in the upcoming elections, a vote for the right means perpetuating the rule of an ethnocentric camp determined to enclose Israel in a mental ghetto.

Senior Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh gestures as leaves his office as a former Hamas government Prime Minister, in Gaza City June 2, 2014. President Mahmoud Abbas swore in a Palestinian unity government on Monday under a reconciliation deal with Hamas Islamists that led Israel to freeze U.S.-brokered peace talks with the Western-backed leader. REUTERS/Suhaib Salem (GAZA - Tags: POLITICS) - RTR3RTWM

Fatah official: Israel, Hamas in direct talks

A Fatah official has confirmed claims by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas about Israel and Hamas holding direct talks, claiming that the two sides are engaged in security cooperation.

Palestinians stand behind the bars of a symbolic cage as they take part in a rally calling on Egyptian authorities to open the Rafah border crossing, at the crossing in the southern Gaza Strip November 23, 2014. Egypt's decision to shut its border with the Gaza Strip has stranded thousands of Palestinians on the Egyptian side of the border while around a thousand people in Gaza are desperate to get out for medical treatment in Egypt, officials in Gaza say. Egypt closed Rafah, the only crossing point betwee

Trapped Palestinian students demand Gaza crossings reopen

Approximately 1,500 Palestinian students enrolled in foreign universities are stuck in Gaza, and are protesting for the reopening of the Rafah or Erez crossings.

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sits before a vote to dissolve the Israeli parliament, also known as the Knesset, in Jerusalem
December 8, 2014. Israel's parliament voted on Monday to dissolve itself in preparation for an early general election on March 17, after a crisis set in motion by Netanyahu's dismissal of two ministers.
REUTERS/Baz Ratner (JERUSALEM - Tags: POLITICS) - RTR4H6JJ

Is this Netanyahu's last political fight?

The Likud election campaign will reveal a party much different than that of former elections, having turned from a liberal-right party anchored in development towns, into a hub of the settlers.

Israeli soldiers and trucks are seen from the southern Lebanese village Marwaheen, as a Hezbollah flag flutters during a protest in solidarity with Palestinian people in Gaza near the Lebanese-Israeli border July 25, 2014. The protest was organised by Hezbollah with the participation of Shi'ite and Sunni Muslim Sheikhs, against Israel's military action in Gaza and marking the annual al-Quds Day. REUTERS/Ali Hashisho (LEBANON - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST RELIGION MILITARY) - RTR403PX

Israel-Hezbollah deterrence game continues

The reported airstrike against a convoy on its way from Lebanon to Syria has not yet sparked a strong reaction by Hezbollah against Israel, probably because its patron Iran is still negotiating a nuclear deal.

An Israeli air force F-15 fighter jet lands at the Hatzerim air base, southern Israel March 30, 2009. REUTERS/Amir Cohen (ISRAEL POLITICS MILITARY) - RTXDEVC

Israeli strikes on Syria hit Iranian weapons destined for Hezbollah

Syrian military sources tell Al-Monitor that Israeli warplanes struck storage depots with Iranian weapons that were to be sent to Hezbollah in Lebanon.