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

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Politics & Security

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Lebanon charges 5 in alleged Hezbollah operation to train Assad loyalists

A Lebanese military court has charged the five, including an Assad-era Syrian officer and Hezbollah members, with running a cross-border security network planning attacks in Syria’s coastal region.

Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman looks on as he attends a trade agreement signature ceremony at the Elysee Palace in Paris on August 24, 2026. (Photo by LOU BENOIST / POOL / AFP via Getty Images)

Analysis

How Netanyahu is leveraging Houthi threat in secret Saudi normalization push

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is trying to capitalize on Riyadh's need for intelligence assistance to make normalization headway ahead of the October elections.

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

Mario Tama/Getty Images

Former Assad official sentenced to 60 years in US for torture

Samir Ousman Alsheikh was convicted by a jury in March of three counts of torture, one count of conspiracy to commit torture, visa fraud and attempted naturalization fraud.

Yemenis gather during a rally to show their support for the UAE-backed Southern Transitional Council (STC) in the coastal port city of Aden, on December 14, 2025. (Saleh Al-OBEIDI / AFP via Getty Images)

Interview

Yemen separatists urge US not to let Saudi Arabia ‘call the shots’

As Houthi fighters steamroll Yemen’s Red Sea coast, the country's southern separatists say an independent South Yemen is the best check on the group’s expansion.

Latest News

Trump administration approves $24B sale of F-35 jets to Saudi Arabia

A US Air Force F-35 fifth-generation jet fighter takes off during the NATO's Ramsteign Flag 2025 exercise at Leeuwarden Air Base on April 8, 2025.

US sanctions Iranian crypto exchange BitBank over Hormuz payments

A pedestrian passes by the Treasury Building in Washington, DC on Jan. 18, 2023.

Turkey's Erdogan to run for 'final' third term in 2028, adviser says

Vyacheslav PROKOFYEV / AFP via Getty Images

Israel, Morocco agree to exchange ambassadors, open embassies

Royal Air Maroc Boeing 787-9 'Dreamliner' aircraft

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

Supporters of Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr gather outside the Iraqi parliament in the Green Zone in the capital Baghdad, on the seventh day of protests against the nomination of a rival Shiite faction for the position of prime minister in the heavily-guarded Green Zone, on Aug. 5, 2022.

Iraqi Kurds and Sunnis fear intra-Shiite conflict could spiral to other communities

Sunnis and Kurds in Iraq are wary that if unresolved, the fighting among Shiite factions could spill over into their regions.

Iran's chief nuclear negotiator Ali Bagheri Kani leaves after talks at the Coburg Palais, the venue of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) in Vienna on Aug. 4, 2022.

IAEA report still key sticking point in Iran nuclear talks

Multiple sources report ‘progress’ in Vienna meetings this week.

Russian President Vladimir Putin (R) shakes hands with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (L) during a meeting in Sochi, on Aug. 5, 2022.

At summit, Erdogan, Putin still divided on Syria

Ankara agreed that part of its natural gas payments to Moscow would be switched to rubles.

A picture taken on Aug. 4, 2022, shows the closed main gate to Beit Hanun at the Erez crossing between Israel and the northern Gaza Strip.

Israel airstrikes kill Islamic Jihad commander in Gaza

Detecting military regrouping, Israel’s air force struck this afternoon several Islamic Jihad targets in Gaza and killed the head of its northern district command.

Passengers arriving from the United States walk with their luggage at Ben Gurion International Airport, near Lod, Israel, Nov. 1, 2021.

US urges Israel to expedite legislation needed for visa waiver

A senior official at the US Embassy in Jerusalem warned that if the Knesset waits until after the Nov. 1 elections to pass legislation required for the American visa-waiver plan, the wait for entering the program could be very long.

Turkey frees Palestinian man in Haiti assassination saga

A Palestinian man suspected of involvement in the slaying of Haiti’s president last year has left Turkey after winning a protracted legal battle over his detention in the country.

A People's Liberation Army air force WZ-7 high-altitude reconnaissance drone is seen a day before the 13th China International Aviation and Aerospace Exhibition in Zhuhai, Guangdong province, China, Sept. 27, 2021.

Drones used by Iran-backed militias are coming from China, US says

Senior US official accuses Beijing of playing both sides in the Middle East’s race for drone technology.

Israeli Prime Minister and Yesh Atid party leader Yair Lapid speaks during the party's opening election campaign rally ahead Israel's general elections, Tel Aviv, Israel, Aug. 3, 2022.

Israel launches airstrikes against Islamic Jihad in Gaza

Three months before the Nov. 1 elections, and following growing tensions on Gaza border, Prime Minister Yair Lapid decided to respond forcefully to Islamic Jihad threats.

This picture taken on May 2, 2021, shows a view of the Amur-class Russian navy repair ship PM-138 docked at the port of the Sudanese city of Port Sudan.

Russia eyes Port Sudan as key naval hub

Russia-Sudan ties have deepened since the October 2021 military takeover in Sudan and the Russia-Ukraine war.

KHALED DESOUKI/AFP via Getty Images

Russian Orthodox Church builds on links with Egyptian Copts

Egypt's Giza governorate now hosts an administrative and spiritual center for the Russian Orthodox Church.

Supporters of Iraqi cleric Muqtada al-Sadr wave flags as they occupy the Iraqi parliament for a sixth consecutive day, in protest at a nomination for prime minister by a rival Shiite faction, Green Zone, Baghdad, Iraq, Aug. 4, 2022.

Muqtada al-Sadr complicates Iranian moves in Iraq

Iranians from different sides look at Iraq's Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr’s recent move with suspicion.

Beirut silo

Lebanese mourn, seethe as damaged and neglected Beirut port silos fall

Victims of the Beirut blast can only watch as the port’s ruined grain silos – an unofficial monument to those killed and a symbol of denied justice – have begun to collapse after two years of indecision from government authorities.