Israel - AL-MONITOR: The Middle Eastʼs leading independent news source since 2012

Israel cover image

Israel

May 7, 2026

Tel Aviv 11:28 am

22°C

People gather at the site of an Israeli airstrike that targeted Beirut's southern suburbs neighborhood of Haret Hreik on May 6, 2026.

Israel strikes Beirut in breach of Lebanon ceasefire

Israel has continued to carry out strikes in southern Lebanon but had not targeted Beirut since the ceasefire took effect.

Amirhossein KHORGOOEI / ISNA / AFP via Getty Images

Analysis

Israel fears Trump seeking Hormuz win while sidestepping Iran nuclear issue

While President Donald Trump keeps pressuring Iran on reopening the Strait of Hormuz, Israel fears the American leader will decide to cut his losses and sideline the nuclear threat.

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

A man sits watching as Lebanese first responders search for human remains among the rubble the day after a house was targeted in an Israeli airstrike in the southern Lebanese city of Nabatieh, on May 1, 2026.

Culture

Lebanon's churches, mosques and archaeological sites damaged in Israeli strikes

Israeli strikes in Lebanon have damaged a growing number of cultural and religious sites, as sites in Israel have also sustained damage from Hezbollah and Iranian attacks.

Latest News

Analysis

Can Bennett, Lapid unite Israel’s opposition to unseat Netanyahu?

Israeli Minister of Foreign Affairs Yair Lapid (L) speaks to outgoing Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, during a meeting at the Knesset (parliament), in Jerusalem on June 30, 2022. - Final approval of the parliament dissolution bill was initially expected by midnight but was postponed to June 30 as coalition and opposition lawmakers sparred over last-minute legislative details, several sources familiar with the parliamentary said. (Photo by Menahem KAHANA / AFP) (Photo by MENAHEM KAHANA/AFP via Getty Images)

Rina Bassist

By Rina Bassist

In Paris, reporting on Israeli politics and European affairs

Analysis

Iron Dome in Gulf: How Iran war turned UAE-Israel defense ties operational

AFP via Getty Images

Francesco Schiavi

By Francesco Schiavi

In Bologna, reporting on security, defense, economy, governance

Analysis

Without exit strategy, Israel faces emboldened Hezbollah, limited options on Iran

Ibrahim AMRO / AFP via Getty Images

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

Turkey warns France over Cyprus troop deployment: What to know

Members of the UN Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP), from the British Army's 1st Battalion Coldstream Guards, No. 2 Company, patrol along the buffer zone separating the internationally recognized Republic of Cyprus and the breakaway Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus in the divided capital Nicosia on Feb. 17, 2026.

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

Jordan digs deep to plant trees in Palestine

A Jordanian campaign called Plant Your Resilience is planting trees to protect West Bank land from confiscation by Israel.

Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Eliot Engel (D-NY) speaks during a media briefing after a House vote approving rules for an impeachment inquiry into U.S. President Trump on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., October 31, 2019. REUTERS/Joshua Roberts - RC1D56F1D9A0

Democratic lawmakers reckon with 2020 rhetoric on Israel aid

Presidential candidates who want to place conditions on Israeli military aid have prompted pro-Israel House Democrats to go on the offensive.

Israel's Foreign Ministry, Netanyahu's private candy store

Instead of appointing experienced and professional diplomats to fight Israel’s diplomatic battles, many of them find themselves without any jobs.

Retired Israeli General Benny Gantz, one of the leaders of the Blue and White (Kahol Lavan) political alliance, visits the Jordan Valley site of Naharayim, also known as Baqura in Jordan, east of the Jordan river and which has been leased to Israel as part of the Israel-Jordan peace treaty, on October 18, 2019. (Photo by JALAA MAREY / AFP) (Photo by JALAA MAREY/AFP via Getty Images)

Arab party reconsiders support of Gantz over Jordan Valley annexation

Talks about annexing the Jordan Valley raise concerns amid Arab Knesset members that the Blue and White party is veering right.

Why are Netanyahu’s associates indicted in submarine scandal, but not PM?

Revelations in the submarine scandal and indictments on bribery and breach of trust have turned it into the most serious case of security corruption ever exposed in Israel.

Are Israeli-Arab high school students neglected?

The low scores of Israeli-Arab high school students compared with Israeli-Jewish students should serve as a warning sign for the authorities, the education system and also the parents.

It's time for Israel's Gantz to assert leadership

Yair Lapid and other Blue and White seniors should realize by now that Benny Gantz has become their strongest card and the brand of the party.

Israel eyes industrial zone development on Gaza border

Israeli plans for industrial zones in the Gaza envelope are attracting international support and local hope that they will create thousands of jobs for Palestinians, though not everyone is on board yet.

Palestinian demonstrators hurl stones at Israeli troops during an anti-Israel protest at the Israel-Gaza border fence in the southern Gaza Strip October 25, 2019. REUTERS/Ibraheem Abu Mustafa - RC1C46E0D630

Why Hamas is renewing the Gaza border protests

In order to appease Palestinian public opinion and show that it is negotiating with Israel from a position of force, Hamas leadership is calling to resume fence demonstrations.

Benny Gantz, head of Blue and White party, speaks during a rally commemorating the 24th anniversary of the assassination of Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, in Tel Aviv, Israel November 2, 2019. REUTERS/Corinna Kern - RC19373C6E90

What does silence of Blue and White party cover?

The common desire of Blue and White’s leaders to topple Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu cannot justify their silence, when it comes to the Jewish settlement in Hebron or support for insane ideas like Jordan Valley annexation.

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hugs U.S. President Donald Trump as they talk during meetings at the White House in Washington, U.S., March 25, 2019. REUTERS/Carlos Barria - RC15FD644460

Netanyahu dangles Trump card in rotation talks

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is still pushing for a rotation agreement and insisting that his relationship with US President Donald Trump offers Israel important security opportunities.

Israeli singers form bridge to Arab countries

Israeli Middle Eastern music is popular in various parts of the Arab world, where it forms a bridge through a common musical heritage.