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September 29, 2026

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Israeli PM

On secret UAE visit, Netanyahu asked MBZ to deny pre-Oct. 7 warnings

During his trip to Abu Dhabi, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu asked President Mohamed bin Zayed to deny reports that he had been warned ahead of the Oct. 7 attack that Hamas was preparing a major assault.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and French President Emmanuel Macron arrive to hold a joint press conference in Jerusalem, Oct. 24, 2023.

Analysis

After France's settlement ban, Israel sees no warming of ties with Macron government

Israeli diplomats say France’s decision to ban imports from West Bank settlements has brought bilateral relations to an unprecedented low point.

Rina Bassist

By Rina Bassist

In Paris, reporting on Israeli politics and European affairs

Jewish settlement of Kedumim, in the West Bank

Analysis

Europe’s West Bank trade ban fires warning shot at Israel’s economy

Weeks before key Israeli elections, a dozen nations announced new trade restrictions targeting settlements in the West Bank, delivering a sharp rebuke to Israel's government that could presage additional international pressure.

Samuel Wendel

By Samuel Wendel

In Washington, DC, reporting on regional business and tech

Chaim Goldberg / AFP via Getty Images

Netanyahu threatens to sue Haaretz for reporting UAE warned Israel of Oct. 7 attack

The Emirati president reportedly warned that a planned attack could cause bloodshed, destabilize the region and threaten the Abraham Accords.

Latest News

Majority of Palestinians lose trust in Hamas and Fatah, new poll finds

Palestinians hold up the green Hamas flag during a protest by supporters of both the Fatah and Hamas movements, as they rally in support of the Palestinian people following Friday noon prayers in Hebron, occupied West Bank, Nov. 3, 2023.

12 countries including France, UK, Canada end trade with West Bank settlements

West Bank settlements

Katz warns PA against 'Oct. 7-style' attack as West Bank violence rises

Israeli soldiers take positions during a military operation in the town of Qalqiya, in the occupied West Bank, Dec. 4, 2025.

Analysis

LORA missile test reveals limits of Germany’s Gaza criticism of Israel

A woman walks past a model of a Lora missile, Israel's long range artillery missile at the Israel defence stall at the international DefExpo 2008 defence fair, in New Delhi on February 16, 2008. India kicked off South Asia's largest defence fair, with hundreds of global weapons firms offering their latest hardware to the country's technology-hungry military. About 450 weapons companies from 30 countries are present at the four-day "DefExpo" in New Delhi, with several big-ticket announcements expected. AFP P

Rina Bassist

By Rina Bassist

In Paris, reporting on Israeli politics and European affairs

Beatrice Farhat

Associate Editor (Lebanon)

In Beirut, reporting on regional news, culture, conflict

Daoud Kuttab

Palestine Columnist

In Amman, reporting on Palestinian politics

Rasha Abou Jalal

In Gaza City, reporting on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict

Abeer Ayyoub

In Istanbul, reporting on Palestine

Naima Morelli

In Rome, reporting on Middle East culture

Fatima AbdulKarim

In Ramallah, reporting on the West Bank

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas (C) holds hands with Palestinian prisoners who were released from Israeli prisons during celebrations in the West Bank city of Ramallah early August 14, 2013. Israel freed 26 Palestinian prisoners on Wednesday to keep U.S.-sponsored peacemaking on course for a second round of talks, but diplomacy was dogged by Israeli plans for more Jewish homes on occupied land the Palestinians claim for a future state. REUTERS/Mohamad Torokman (WEST BANK - Tags: POLITICS TPX IMAGES OF T

Hamas Downplays Israel's Prisoner Release

Hamas fears that Fatah's ability to secure a prisoner release via negotiations may undermine its resistance-only approach to freeing Palestinian prisoners held by Israel.

Jamil Nabi Annatsheh, a Palestinian prisoner freed by Israel, stands beneath a banner depicting him and hung outside his house in the West Bank city of Hebron August 14, 2013. Israeli and Palestinian negotiators were due to reconvene U.S.-brokered peace talks in Jerusalem on Wednesday amid little fanfare and low expectations, dogged by plans for more Jewish settler homes on occupied land. The resumption of negotiations, after a first round in Washington last month that ended a three-year standoff over Jewis

The Twisted Symbolism Of the Palestinian Prisoner Release

While the Palestinians take pride in the release of prisoners, the Israeli government is taking pride in its decision to build houses.

Apartment blocks under construction (front) are seen in Pisgat Zeev, an urban settlement in an area Israel annexed to Jerusalem after capturing it in the 1967 Middle East war, August 12, 2013. Israel on Monday named 26 Palestinian prisoners to be freed this week under a deal enabling U.S.-backed peace talks to resume, although Palestinians said these had been undermined by newly announced plans to expand Israeli settlements. REUTERS/Amir Cohen (JERUSALEM - Tags: POLITICS BUSINESS CONSTRUCTION) - RTX12IKF

Israeli Settlement Authorization Is Pre-Emptive Strike

Israeli is striking a blow against the peace process by authorizing further settlement expansion.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas (R) speaks to Moshe Shahal, a member of the Israel Peace Initiative and a former Israeli cabinet minister, during a news conference after Abbas met members of the Israeli Peace Initiative in the West Bank city of Ramallah April 28, 2011. The Israel Peace Initiative, a private group that includes former politicians and security officials, wants Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government to renew peace talks, which the Palestinians have frozen over his refusal t

Former Israeli Minister Blasts Palestinian Prisoners Release

Former Labor Minister Moshe Shahal, who chaired the Prisoner Release Committee in the Rabin government, criticizes the decision to release prisoners instead of freezing the construction in the West Bank.

Fatah strongman and lawmaker Mohammed Dahlan (C) arrives at the Palestinian Authority headquarters in the West Bank city of Ramallah December 16, 2006. Hamas spokesman Ismail Rudwan accused Fatah strongman and lawmaker Mohammed Dahlan of being behind the attack on Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh's convoy. REUTERS/Loay Abu Haykel (WEST BANK) - RTR1KH1X

Exclusive: Dahlan Family Visits Gaza

Despite the animosity between former Fatah official Mohammed Dahlan and the Hamas leadership, his family was granted permission to visit the Gaza Strip.

Senior Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh gives a speech during Eid al-Fitr prayers in Gaza City August 8, 2013. REUTERS/Ibraheem Abu Mustafa (GAZA - Tags: RELIGION POLITICS) - RTX12DLP

Hamas to Persist With Public Executions Despite Objections

Hamas will go ahead with public executions by the end of August despite an outcry by human rights groups.

A Bedouin boy rides a donkey near a sign in the West Bank village of Wadi al-Maleh, near the border with Jordan April 29, 2013. Israeli soldiers on Monday evicted several hundred Bedouins from the village in the occupied West Bank after the army declared the area a live-fire training zone. The residents of Wadi al-Maleh, a village mostly inhabited by shepherds in the arid area, had almost all left their homes by an evening curfew and retreated to neighbouring villages, a local leader told Reuters. REUTERS/M

Israeli Army Seeks to Evict Villagers to Expand Firing Zone

The Israeli army wants to evacuate the Palestinian West Bank villages of Masafer Yatta to accomodate its live-fire training area.

A Palestinian salesperson holds Apple's new iPhone 5 at a mobile phone store in Gaza City October 16, 2012. Apple's new iPhone 5 is selling well in the Gaza Strip despite inflated prices, reaching the Palestinian enclave via smuggling tunnels even before high-tech hub Israel next door. REUTERS/Mohammed Salem (GAZA - Tags: POLITICS SCIENCE TECHNOLOGY BUSINESS SOCIETY TELECOMS) - RTR3970R

Hamas Monitors Facebook Activism

Hamas' security services in Gaza are keeping a close eye on Facebook activity for hostile opinions and planned protests.

AppleMark

US Rep. Keith Ellison Calls For Obama-Rouhani Summit

In an interview with Al-Monitor, Ellison says, “If the United States had direct negotiations with Iran, the first item should be stopping the bloodshed in Syria.”

Gila Molcho, sister of Ian Feinberg, who was killed in 1993 by Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, speaks on the phone while holding a framed portrait of Feinberg, during a protest against the government's plan to free Palestinian prisoners, in Tel Aviv August 12, 2013. Israel on Monday named 26 Palestinian prisoners, one of them convicted of killing Feinberg, to be freed this week under a deal enabling U.S.-backed peace talks to resume, although Palestinians said these had been undermined by newly announced pl

Will Release of Palestinians Who Killed Israelis Bring Peace?

How can the release of the Palestinian prisoners who murdered Israeli peace activist Ian Feinberg promote peace negotiations between the two sides?

Senior Hamas leaders Ismail Haniyeh (L) and Mahmoud Al-Zahar (R) pray at the stage during a rally marking the 25th anniversary of the founding of Hamas, in Gaza City December 8, 2012. Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal, in an uncompromising speech during his first ever visit to Gaza after decades of exile, told a mass rally on Saturday he would never recognise Israel and pledged to "free the land of Palestine inch by inch". REUTERS/Ahmed Jadallah (GAZA - Tags: POLITICS ANNIVERSARY CIVIL UNREST RELIGION) - RTR3BCZ

Iran-Hamas Rebuild Ties Following Morsi’s Ouster

After the ouster of Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood from power, Hamas is again looking to Iran for support.

Israeli parliament employees set up a Palestinian flag (L) next to an Israeli one as they prepare ahead of a meeting between Israeli parliament members and a delegation of Palestinian politicians and businessmen, aimed at encouraging Israeli-Palestinian negotiations, at the Knesset, the Israeli parliament, in Jerusalem July 31, 2013. Israeli and Palestinian negotiators on Tuesday gave themselves about nine months to try reach an agreement on ending their conflict of more than six decades in U.S.-brokered pe

Israeli-Palestinian Peace Process Faces Enormous Challenges

As long as the US is not playing a forceful role, there will be numerous difficulties that could prevent the Palestinian-Israeli negotiation process from successfully moving forward.