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

politics and security cover image

Politics & Security

Palestinian Hamas militants arrive to secure the area as Egyptian workers accompanied by members of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), search for the last two remaining bodies of hostages -an Israeli soldier and a Thai national- from under the rubble of the Jabalia refugee camp, in the northern of Gaza Strip on Dec. 1, 2025.

Analysis

How Hamas disarmament deal may test Iran's regional strategy

A possible Hamas decision to disarm would represent more than a Gaza development, testing Iran's decades-old strategy of projecting power through regional allies.

A correspondent in Tehran

By A correspondent in Tehran

In Tehran, reporting on politics

Mourners carry one of the bodies of members of Iraq's Hashed al-Shaabi, or Popular Mobilisation Forces (PMF) who were killed earlier in Diyala in central Iraq by US-Saudi strikes, during the funeral in Baghdad on July 29, 2026. The US-Saudi strikes killed at least 20 militants, including Iranians, according to the Hashed al-Shaabi. The US and Saudi Arabia said the strikes were in response to attacks on US forces and Saudi oil facilities. (Photo by murtadha ridha / AFP via Getty Images) /

Analysis

Renewed Iraq attacks test Zaidi’s push to disarm Iran-backed militias

An attempt by Iraqi government forces to seize weapons belonging to an Iranian-backed faction encountered resistance, raising questions about Prime Minister Ali Zaidi’s pledge to disarm militias by Sept. 30.

Mustafa Salim

By Mustafa Salim

Fighters lift flags of Iraq and paramilitary groups, including al-Nujaba and Kataib Hezbollah, during a funeral in Baghdad for five militants killed a day earlier in a US strike in northern Iraq, on Dec. 4, 2023.

Analysis

Iran-linked militias seek to draw Iraq into regional war

“Iran’s logic is the logic of war,” a Gulf regional official tells Al-Monitor.

Week in Review

By Week in Review

Latest News

Explainer

Estimated 60,000 migrants cross from Morocco into Spanish territory: What we know

Ceuta

Analysis

No Iran commitment, no Trump endorsement: Netanyahu leaves US empty-handed

US President Donald Trump walks to board Marine One on the Ellipse near the White House in Washington, DC, on July 31, 2026. President Trump is traveling to Camp David in Maryland to hold a cabinet meeting and later to Bedminster, New Jersey to spend the weekend at his golf club. (Photo by Oliver Contreras / AFP via Getty Images)

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

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

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi received on March 26 his Rwandan counterpart, Paul Kagame.

Egypt strengthens ties with Rwanda amid Nile dam crisis

Egyptian-Rwandan relations are currently witnessing rapprochement, as Cairo expands its influence in the Nile Basin to put more pressure on Ethiopia over its controversial Nile dam.

Lebanese students wave the national flag during an anti-government demonstration in the southern village of Hasbaya, Lebanon, Nov. 8, 2019.

Lebanese elections marked with high number of youth candidates

In the parliamentary elections due in May, dozens of youth and women are hoping to break the cycle of political nepotism and bring new faces to the country’s parliament.

A picture shows the Tunisian parliament in Tunis on March 31, 2022.

Tunisia's future darkens with dissolution of parliament

Tunisia's president has taken a darker turn after unilaterally dissolving parliament and threatening to put elected deputies on trial.

Benjamin Netanyahu visits on March 31, 2022, the parents of Border Police officer Shirel Aboukrat.

Terror wave in Israel plays into Netanyahu’s hands

Opposition head Benjamin Netanyahu now leads a campaign alleging that the Bennett government fails in addressing the terror threat.

Israeli security forces detain a Palestinian man outside the Damascus Gate of the old city of Jerusalem late on April 3, 2022.

Israel government looks to Amman to help calm Jerusalem tensions

Following the three terror attacks at the end of March, Jerusalem is reaching out to Amman, Cairo, Abu Dhabi, Ankara, Washington and other capitals to prevent further violence.

Iran's foreign ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh speaks to media during a press conference in Tehran on Nov. 15, 2021.

Iran blames US for halt in nuclear talks

Iran’s Foreign Ministry claims the United States still has not decided to return to talks.

ADEM ALTAN/AFP via Getty Images

Turkey revises election law in risky bid to block breakaway conservatives

Lowering the election threshold could boost the ruling coalition’s number of parliamentary seats, but there's no guarantee.

captagon

Saudi Arabia confiscates more Captagon pills at Jordan border

Saudi authorities have promised to crackdown on drug smuggling, which they have blamed on Hezbollah.

Tunisia

Biden's budget proposal would slash military aid to Tunisia

Tunisia's president further cemented his hold on power this week as US lawmakers urged the Biden administration to scrutinize its security aid to the country.

A US Navy service member attends a vigil for Navy Corpsman Maxton "Max" W. Soviak at Edison Middle School in Berlin Heights, Ohio, Aug. 29, 2021. Soviak was killed during the Aug. 26 terrorist attack outside of Kabul Airport in Afghanistan along with 12 other American service members and more than 100 Afghans.

Taliban releases Afghan-American Naval reservist held in Afghanistan

US citizen Safi Rauf and his brother Anees Khalil were released to Qatar before traveling home to the United States.

An Israeli border policewoman is comforted as she mourns next to the grave of her killed colleague Shirel Aboukrat.

Analysis

Fragile Israeli government tested by perfect storm of security threats

Also: Upcoming religious holidays heighten concerns of more violence, including by the Islamic State operating within Israel.

Week in Review

By Week in Review

Aerial view of the destruction in the city of Raqqa, Syria, Nov. 7, 2021.

Pentagon could have done more to prevent casualties in key Syria battle, report

A 2017 decision to encircle the Islamic State's capital at Raqqa inhibited the possibility of civilian escape corridors, a Pentagon-sponsored report found.