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Israel

May 19, 2026

Tel Aviv 10:28 pm

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NICOSIA, CYPRUS - APRIL 24: Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa arrives for an informal meeting of European Union leaders on April 24, 2026 in Nicosia, Cyprus. The EU heads of state and government are meeting over two days to discuss the conflict in Iran and the Middle East, including freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz, the effects of high fuel prices, and how Europe may contribute to de-escalation and a peace agreement. (Photo by Byron Smith/Getty Images)

Syria's Sharaa renews ban on Israeli imports in customs law: What to know

The renewal comes even as Damascus pursues US-backed security talks with Israel aimed at reducing tensions along the border.

Somaliland’s first ambassador to a foreign country formally, Mohamed Hagi, presented his diplomatic credentials in Jerusalem to Israeli President Isaac Herzog, on May 18, 2026.

Somaliland's first ambassador to Israel announces embassy in Jerusalem: What to know

Israel was the first country to recognize the breakaway region on the Horn of Africa last year.

A bride and group couple rides in a military jeep arriving for a public mass wedding ceremony at Imam Hossein Square in Tehran on May 18, 2026. Iran said on May 18 that it had responded to a new US proposal aimed at ending the war, adding that diplomatic exchanges continue despite Iranian media reports describing Washington's demands as excessive. Washington and Tehran have been swapping proposals in an effort to end the conflict which the US and Israel launched on February 28, but they have held only a sin

Analysis

Israel pushes for full Iran blockade as it awaits Trump's next move

Israel’s preferred strategy, sources told Al-Monitor, calls for a comprehensive naval, economic, land and air blockade of Iran, alongside tighter sanctions and covert activity aimed at destabilizing the regime.

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

Men gather around the husk of a destroyed pickup truck that was driven by a local shepherd who was reportedly struck by Israeli forces and buried by locals at a grave nearby, in the Najaf desert in southwestern Iraq, on May 12, 2026.

What we know about secret Israeli bases in Iraq

Iraqi authorities have said there are no longer any hostile forces operating in its territory.

Latest News

Lebanon-Israel ceasefire extended 45 days as US opens security talks

talks

Analysis

‘A reckless act’: Netanyahu sparks UAE fury by claiming secret visit

US President Donald Trump talks to UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan as he departs the Al Bateen Executive Airport on May 15, 2025, in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.

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

Israel's Netanyahu suing New York Times over column on Palestinian rape

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

Palestinian labourers sort plastic containers before they are recycled in a factory in Abasan in the southern Gaza Strip October 25, 2009. REUTERS/Ibraheem Abu Mustafa (GAZA POLITICS ENVIRONMENT) - RTXPZTI

How Gaza’s plastic factories are betting on recycling

Plastic factories in the Gaza Strip seek to develop the local production of products through recycling, and break the reliance on imported goods.

Israeli far-right activist betrayed by his own

Last year, far-right activist, journalist and former Knesset member Sharon Gal launched hate campaigns against those defending democracy and freedom of expression, only to become a victim of the monster he created.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas attends a meeting for the Central Council of the Palestinian Liberation Organization, in the West Bank city of Ramallah, March 19, 2015 file photo REUTERS/Mohamad Torokman/File photo - RTSR1TC

How Abbas can counter Netanyahu’s maneuver

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu uses time and again the demand that Palestinians recognize Israel as the homeland of the Jewish people to sideline the issues of occupation and settlements.

Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman is seen during a meeting with the Cypriot Foreign Minister Ioannis Kasoulides at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Nicosia, Cyprus September 16, 2016.REUTERS/Yiannis Kourtoglou - RTSO008

The Israeli defense minister’s surprising offer

Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman granted the Palestinian newspaper al-Quds an interview in an attempt to reach out to the Palestinian public while bypassing Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

Amit (2nd L), a 7 year old cancer patient, sits on his intravenous drip stand decorated with an animal figure at Schneider Children's Medical Center in Petah Tikva March 23, 2006. The hospital offers art therapy for children undergoing cancer treatments as a way to make their treatments more friendly. REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun - RTR17JJ2

Is Israel banning entry of Gaza cancer patients?

Israeli physicians say that many cancer patients from the Gaza Strip are banned from entering Israel, and so they are hospitalized in Gaza where there is no adequate medical treatment.

A Turkish flag flutters atop the Turkish embassy as an Israeli flag is seen nearby, in Tel Aviv, Israel June 26, 2016. REUTERS/Baz Ratner/File Photo - RTSOQGS

Why Netanyahu and Erdogan prefer ‘cold normalization’

Neither Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu nor Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan are particularly enthusiastic about implementing the reconciliation agreement between the two countries.

Meet Netanyahu’s right-hand man in the Knesset

Knesset member David Bitan, coalition chairman and a close associate of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, has proposed legislation that would make it easy to revoke the nationality of activists like B’Tselem chief Hagai El-Ad.

Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev chairs a meeting on social and economic development of regions in Pskov, Russia, August 16, 2016. REUTERS/Dmitry Astakhov/Sputnik/Pool - ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY. EDITORIAL USE ONLY. - RTX2L9WK

Russian-Palestinian relations better than during Soviet era

Russian-Palestinian relations remain strong at both the official and public level, as Moscow has always supported the Palestinians’ right to self-determination and regularly funds cultural centers in the Palestinian territories.

Hagai El-Ad, Executive Director of B'Tselem, a leading Israeli human rights organisation, poses in his office in Jerusalem December 16, 2015. An ultra-nationalist Israeli group has published a video accusing the heads of four of Israel's leading human rights organizations, including "B'Tselem", of being foreign agents funded by Europe and supporting Palestinians "involved in terrorism." REUTERS/Ammar Awad - RTX1YYPY

Will foreign pressure save or destroy Israel?

After the executive director of Israeli human rights group B'Tselem spoke out against settlements before the UN Security Council, the resulting criticism took issue only with his call for international intervention to advance peace.

Protesters and family members of 9/11 victims protest in front of the White House regarding President Barack Obama's threatened veto of the Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act (JASTA) in Washington, U.S., September 20, 2016. REUTERS/Gary Cameron - RTSOMWI

Has JASTA pushed Saudi Arabia and Israel closer?

Riyadh has become convinced more than ever that the closer it gets to Tel Aviv, which it believes has influence in US decision-making circles, the stronger and safer it will become in the face of JASTA.

Why one Palestinian actor came back to the Israeli stage

Actor George Ibrahim appeared at the Acre Fringe Theater Festival almost 30 years after leaving the Israeli art scene and establishing the Al-Kasaba Ramallah Theater.

Russian Navy's reconnaissance ship Liman of the Black Sea fleet sails in the Bosphorus, on its way to the Mediterranean Sea, in Istanbul, Turkey, October 21, 2016. REUTERS/Murad Sezer - RTX2PW0Q

Israel wary of Russian comeback to the region

Russia has extended its presence in the region to such an extent that any IDF jet crossing the Israeli border in the north immediately appears on Russian military radar screens.