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July 27, 2026

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Analysis

Why US carriers unlikely to rush back to Beirut as Trump lifts Lebanon flight ban

The White House is set to allow US airlines to fly to Beirut for the first time in decades, but experts say the move is more about politics than planes as Washington creates new openings for Lebanon's battered economy.

Samuel Wendel

By Samuel Wendel

In Washington, DC, reporting on regional business and tech

GIL COHEN-MAGEN / AFP via Getty Images

Analysis

Ahead of Trump meeting, Netanyahu lays groundwork for Israel to rejoin Iran war

Reports of an Iranian espionage ring and nuclear centrifuges movement could help Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu make the case to the Israeli public and Donald Trump to rejoin the war, ahead of a critical election in October.

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

Latest News

Explainer

As Turkey rivalry heats up, Greece to acquire $4B Israeli air defense system

David's Sling.

Trump says Saudi nuclear deal 'totally subject' to Israel normalization

Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

Israel fears US deal would allow Saudi Arabia to enrich uranium

US President Donald Trump (R) and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu shake hands as they arrive to speak to journalists during a joint press conference at Trump's Mar-a-Lago residence in Palm Beach, Florida, on Dec. 29, 2025.

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

An Israeli police officer speaks to an ultra-Orthodox Jewish student at a Yeshiva (Talmudic school) in Bnei Barak, a city east of Tel Aviv with a significant ultra-Orthodox Jewish population, on April 2, 2020, as part of measures imposed by Israeli authorities against the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic. - Israeli police backed by surveillance helicopters have stepped up patrols of ultra-Orthodox Jewish neighbourhoods that have become coronavirus hotspots. (Photo by JACK GUEZ / AFP) (Photo by JACK GUEZ/AFP vi

Coronavirus bursts Israeli ultra-Orthodox bubble

With the number of coronavirus carriers in the ultra-Orthodox community exploding, it is important for this community to realize that anyone who keeps it from knowledge and information is keeping it from making educated decisions.

GAZA CITY, GAZA - DECEMBER 16: Yahya Sinwar, the leader of Hamas in Gaza, attends the event marking the 31st anniversary of the establishment of Hamas at Al Katiba Square in Gaza City, Gaza on December 16, 2018. (Photo by Ali Jadallah/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)

Hamas blusters for Israeli coronavirus aid

Hamas has neglected the health system of Gaza for years, so its only weapon against the coronavirus is threatening Israel or offering a deal for help.

A palestinian worker manufacture protective coverall suits and masks at a workshop in Gaza City on March 31, 2020. amid coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic. Factories in the Gaza Strip used to specialize in the manufacture of shirts and jeans, for despite the closure of many of them in previous years due to the blockade imposed on the Gaza Strip and the inability to export and its aftermath From economic problems that led to the closure of many factories, But with the invasion of the new coronavirus to the world,

Coronavirus revives Gaza's sewing sector as tailors turn out PPE

As COVID-19 spreads across the Middle East, Israel is having medical gear made in the Gaza Strip, where clothing manufacturers have shifted production to sorely needed personal protective equipment.

Palestinian Bedouin pupils ride a donkey on their way to school in the village of Khan al-Ahmar in the Israeli-occupied West Bank on September 6, 2018, after Israel's top court upheld an order to raze the village. - Israel's top court on Wednesday upheld an order to raze a Palestinian Bedouin village in the occupied West Bank, after debating petitions challenging the decision. "We reject the petitions" against the directive to demolish Khan al-Ahmar, the supreme court panel said in its ruling, adding that a

Israeli-Bedouin students left behind over coronavirus

Israeli high schools and colleges offer online courses for students who are confined due to the coronavirus, but these initiatives are worthless for the Bedouin pupils who have little access to computers or fast internet in their villages.

Israel’s defense minister rises to the COVID-19 threat

In taking action to combat the coronavirus outbreak in Israel, Defense Minister Naftali Bennett has shown that he can be creative, determined and effective in using the military’s human and technological capabilities.

02 April 2020, Israel, Bnei Brak: An Israeli policeman stops Orthodox Jews, who insist on carrying on with their prayer at the Ponevezh Yeshiva, a Jewish institution that focuses on the study of traditional religious texts, despite the imposed lockdown amid the coronavirus pandemic. Photo: Ilia Yefimovich/dpa (Photo by Ilia Yefimovich/picture alliance via Getty Images)

IDF latest mission: saving Bnei Brak, Israel's most overcrowded city

With rabbis and residents disobeying instructions over the coronavirus, Israeli paratroops were dispatched to the town of Bnei Brak to restrict entry and exit.

Israel’s Lapid back in race to lead Israel

Now that the Blue and White alliance has been dismantled, Yair Lapid is free to pursue his old dream of premiership.

GAZA, Feb. 24, 2020 -- Militants in the Gaza Strip fire rockets to Israeli cities on Feb. 24, 2020. Israeli war jets on Monday struck posts that belong to Palestinian militant group in Gaza Strip for the second day in a row, according to Palestinian security sources. Israeli army said in a press statement that it has began targeting Islamic Jihad posts in Gaza. (Photo by Xinhua/ via Getty Images)

Rocket fired toward Israel amid coronavirus outbreak in Gaza

Hamas weighs escalating confrontation with Israel as COVID-19 cases grow.

HEBRON, March 22, 2020 -- Palestinian workers try to enter Israel through a checkpoint between the West Bank city of Hebron and Beersheva, March 22, 2020. The Israeli authorities announced late on Saturday that all crossings to and from Israel will be closed to limit the spread of COVID-19. A total of 53 Palestinians have been infected with the virus since March 5, and 17 of them have recovered, the health ministry in the West Bank said earlier Saturday. (Photo by Mamoun Wazwaz/Xinhua via Getty) (Xinhua/xio

Palestinian workers in Israel face more restrictions amid coronavirus outbreak

The Palestinian government in the West Bank has escalated its precautionary measures on Palestinian workers returning from Israel in order to prevent further spread of the coronavirus.

Palestinian artists paint protective face masks to encourage people to wear them as a precaution against the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in Gaza City March 30, 2020. REUTERS/Mohammed Salem - RC2DUF9EIP84

Israel suggests strings be attached to coronavirus aid for Gaza

Israeli Defense Minister Naftali Bennett has urged that any aid to Gaza for the COVID-19 pandemic be linked to the recovery of soldiers' remains.

Israeli health minister urges quarantine on ultra-Orthodox city

Israel's Heath Ministry has urged Netanyahu to call for a lockdown in an ultra-Orthodox city overwhelmed by COVID-19.

What can we learn from the left's disappointment in Gantz?

The left-wing camp is disappointed after perceiving Blue and White leader Benny Gantz as a 2020 model of late Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin.