Politics & Security - AL-MONITOR: The Middle Eastʼs leading independent news source since 2012

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Politics & Security

US Vice President JD Vance speaks at the Wisconsin Air National Guard facility at Milwaukee Mitchell International Airport on July 8, 2026, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Vance says Israeli intelligence had ties to Epstein: What to know

Vice President JD Vance has grown more critical of Israel, possibly in an effort to capitalize on changing views among voters with an eye on the 2028 presidential election.

DAVOS, SWITZERLAND - JANUARY 22: U.S. President Donald Trump (C) sits in between Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan (L) and Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev during a signing ceremony for the “Board of Peace” at the World Economic Forum (WEF) on January 22, 2026 in Davos, Switzerland. The US-backed “Board of Peace” is intended to administer the fragile ceasefire in the Gaza Strip after the war between Israel and Hamas. The final makeup of the board has not been confirmed. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/G

Trump taps Russia-born investor to oversee $200M+ fund backing Armenia-Azerbaijan corridor

The appointment of Chicago-based investor Konstantin Sokolov to oversee a $200 million fund marks a new phase for Washington's proposed trade and transportation route linking Azerbaijan, Armenia and Turkey.

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attends a cornerstone laying ceremony for the Atarot Heritage Center at an abandon airport in East Jerusalem near the separation wall with the Israeli occupied West Bank city of Ramallah on July 5, 2026.

Israeli PM Netanyahu 'will not travel' to US next week, his office says

On Wednesday, an Israeli official had told Al-Monitor that Netanyahu was planning to travel on Saturday and meet with President Donald Trump next week and attend the memorial service for Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.).

Zaid AL-OBEIDI / AFP via Getty Images

Syria seizes arms shipment on Iraq border destined for Hezbollah

The operation comes as part of the Syrian authorities' efforts to curb illicit arms smuggling through its territory, namely intended for Hezbollah.

Latest News

Turkish opposition leader Ozgur Ozel could launch new party by August

Ozgu Ozel

Russian couple faces deportation from Turkey after Bible reading at Hagia Sophia

Visitors stand inside Hagia Sophia Grand Mosque in Istanbul on April 14, 2025.

Amberin Zaman

Chief Correspondent

Reporting on geopolitics, minorities, human rights, culture

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

Ezgi Akin

Associate Editor (Turkey)

In Ankara, reporting on diplomacy, EU-Turkey ties, NATO

Ben Caspit

Israel Columnist

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

Jared Szuba

Defense and Security Correspondent

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

MOHAMMED ABED/AFP via Getty Images

Flooded with casualties, Gaza hospitals limit services as fuel runs out

The humanitarian situation in Gaza is deteriorating as fuel runs out, hospitals reach capacity and nearly 200,000 displaced.

Netanyahu Gantz

Israel’s Netanyahu, Gantz reach deal to form emergency government

On the fifth day of the war with Hamas, the prime minister and the National Unity Party head agreed to form an emergency coalition.

Israel's army has hammered Hamas with thousands of strikes since Hamas gunmen killed 1,200 Israelis, mostly civilians, and took about 150 hostages

Day 5 of Hamas-Israel war blog: Wednesday, Oct. 11

On day five of the war, Gaza's humanitarian crisis deepens while Israel readies for a ground incursion against Hamas.

Israel Intelligence Minister Gila Gamliel meets with Iranian journalists and activists in exile, London, UK, Sept. 6, 2023.

Israel's intel minister: As backer of Hamas, Iran shares responsibility for attack

Israeli Intelligence Minister Gila Gamliel says Iranian support over the years helped Hamas to build itself into the dead-spreading group it has become.

President Joe Biden speaks on the terrorist attacks in Israel.

Blinken to visit Israel in show of support after unprecedented Hamas attack

Secretary of State Antony Blinken is expected to arrive Thursday in Israel for meetings with senior Israeli leaders.

sraeli soldiers take positions near the Israeli military base of Har Dov on Mount Hermon, a strategic and fortified outpost at the crossroads between Israel, Lebanon, and Syria, on October 10, 2023. Israeli strikes on Lebanon killed three Hezbollah members on October 10 amid surging tensions after Palestinian militants tried to infiltrate Israel from Lebanon, in an escalation on Israel's northern border two days after Hamas militants launched an unprecedented attack on the country's southern flank from the

Explainer: As Lebanon-Israel border heats up, 3 armed groups stand out

Several Palestinian militants are active in southern Lebanon, a stronghold of the Iran-backed Hezbollah movement.

Israeli tanks leave the kibbutz of Kfar Aza in southern Israel after inspecting the area on the border with the Gaza Strip, on October 10, 2023. Israel pounded Hamas targets in Gaza on October 10 and said the bodies of 1,500 Islamist militants were found in southern towns recaptured by the army in gruelling battles near the Palestinian enclave. (Photo by JACK GUEZ / AFP) (Photo by JACK GUEZ/AFP via Getty Images)

Analysis

Israel's Netanyahu has little choice but to launch Gaza ground operation

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu knows that a ground operation is highly risky and complicated, but might have no other options.

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

Explosions illuminate the sky during Israeli strikes on Gaza City on October 10, 2023. Israel said it recaptured Gaza border areas from Hamas as the war's death toll passed 3,000 on October 10, the fourth day of gruelling fighting since the Islamists launched a surprise attack. (Photo by MAHMUD HAMS / AFP) (Photo by MAHMUD HAMS/AFP via Getty Images)

Day 4 of Hamas-Israel war blog: Tuesday, Oct. 10

This photograph taken on May 24, 2023 shows the US aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford cruising near Jeloya island, in Moss, south of Oslo. The ship is the world's largest warship and will be in port in Oslo for four days. Russia's embassy in Norway on Tuesday, May 23, 2023 hashly criticised the visit by the US aircraft carrier to Oslo as an "illogical and harmful" show of force. (Photo by Terje Pedersen / NTB / AFP) / Norway OUT (Photo by TERJE PEDERSEN/NTB/AFP via Getty Images)

Pentagon warns Iran, Hezbollah to stay out of Hamas war with Israel

The Biden administration deployed an aircraft carrier strike group in a bid to deter a multi-front war against Israel, but lack of a formal defense treaty with Israel and Congressional authorities could inhibit Washington's ability to respond.

Palestinians look for survivors under the rubble of a house destroyed by an Israeli air strike in Rafah.

Gaza under siege braces for worst as Israel-Hamas fighting escalates

The Israeli airstrikes and decision to cut off water and power supply to the already besieged Gaza Strip have the residents on edge.

DELIL SOULEIMAN/AFP via Getty Images

Turkey’s Erdogan says ‘first phase’ of Syria operation has concluded

The Turkish president also said the first phase of Turkey’s ongoing operations against outlawed Kurdish militants and dominant Syrian Kurdish groups was concluded.

President Joe Biden speaks on the terrorist attacks in Israel.

At least 11 Americans dead in Hamas attack on Israel, Biden says

Other Americans are still missing and could be among the scores of hostages taken into Gaza, the White House said.