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

Israel cover image

Israel

October 8, 2026

Tel Aviv 2:55 am

21°C

Passengers board a flydubai flight, bound for Dubai, before taking off from Ben Gurion Airport near Tel Aviv, on Sept. 30, 2026.

Mossad, Shin Bet in UAE: What we know about Israel’s FlyDubai probe

The National Security Council is probing foreign carrier security protocols, while police investigate two senior Transportation Ministry officials suspected of providing private services for aviation companies.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu lays a wreath during the state memorial ceremony for the third anniversary of the Oct. 7 attack, at Mount Herzl military cemetery, Jerusalem, Oct. 5, 2026.

Why Netanyahu still resists an independent probe 3 years after Oct. 7

Alongside official memorial ceremonies taking place across Israel on Monday, civil society groups are holding protests calling on Prime Minister Netanyahu to take responsibility for the Oct. 7 attacks.

Palestinian men sitting in and by a tractor look on after another man was injured by gunfire whilst being chased away by Israeli forces, in Aqraba in the Israeli-occupied West Bank on Oct. 6, 2026.

West Bank olive harvest begins amid settler attacks on Palestinians, groves

Between 80,000 and 100,000 Palestinian families in the West Bank rely on the olive harvest for primary or secondary sources of income, according to the United Nations.

Latest News

Analysis

Three years after Oct. 7, Hamas’ grip on Gaza tests Netanyahu’s ‘total victory’

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during the state memorial ceremony for the third anniversary of Oct. 7 attack, at Mount Herzl military cemetery, Jerusalem, Oct. 5, 2026.

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

Israel bars UK Greens leader over Zionism-racism resolution: What to know

Green Party leader Zack Polanski delivers his speech during day one of the Green Party annual conference at Brighton Centre on Oct. 2, 2026, in Brighton, England.

Analysis

How Netanyahu is capitalizing on MBZ meeting, FlyDubai attack to gain in election polls

Israeli Prime Minister and Likud party leader Benjamin Netanyahu speaks to supporters at the lectern during a party campaign rally at Expo Tel Aviv on Sept. 17, 2026 in Tel Aviv, Israel.

Mazal Mualem

By Mazal Mualem

In Tel Aviv, reporting on politics

Analysis

How FlyDubai attack exposes gaps in Israel-UAE security ties

Abraham Accords signing

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

Samuel Wendel

Senior Analyst, Middle East Business & Tech

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

Palestinians, who fled their homes that are adjacent to the border with Israel, ride in a truck as they make their way to stay in a United Nations-run school in Gaza City July 13, 2014. An Israeli air strike on the home of Gaza's police chief killed 18 people on Saturday, Gaza's health ministry said, and Hamas fired the largest salvo of rockets yet on Tel Aviv since the start of the Jewish state's offensive in the Palestinian enclave. Israel's offensive has killed 145 Palestinians since Tuesday. Gaza medica

Hamas' attack on Israel destroys Gaza

Hamas rose to power through those in Gaza who wished to better their dire situation, but the movement chose to invest its resources in attacking Israel, ignoring the devastating consequences of its choice on the population.

Israeli strike kills family having coffee

Members of the Hamad family were sitting drinking coffee in front of a relative’s home when an Israeli strike claimed their lives.

An explosion is seen in the northern Gaza Strip after an Israeli air strike July 13, 2014. Israeli naval commandos clashed with Hamas militants in a raid on the coast of the Gaza Strip on Sunday, in what appeared to be the first ground assault of a six-day Israeli offensive on the territory aimed at stopping Palestinian rocket fire. REUTERS/Ammar Awad (GAZA - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST) - RTR3YCA0

Israel and Hamas' lose-lose situation

The current escalation in the Gaza Strip could have been avoided had Israel truly agreed to the two-state solution, thus nullifying the political force of Hamas and its desire to hurt Israel at any cost.

People point to an iron dome missile trail, after an iron dome was fired to intercept an incoming rocket, during an air raid siren warning of a rocket attack in Tel Aviv July 12, 2014. Hamas militants launched ten rockets at Tel Aviv on Saturday, causing no casualties or damage, in the largest salvo yet on Israel's main business hub, since Israel launched its Gaza offensive against the Islamist group, five days ago. REUTERS/Finbarr O'Reilly (ISRAEL - Tags: POLITICS MILITARY CIVIL UNREST CONFLICT) - RTR3YB2W

The sirens of Tel Aviv

The people of Tel Aviv insist on maintaining normalcy by going to the beach and watching the World Cup, despite the rockets flying overhead, yet, something in the city has cracked this time around.

Smoke and flames are seen following what witnesses said was an Israeli air strike in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip July 11, 2014. Israel pressed on for a fourth day with its Gaza offensive on Friday, striking the Hamas-dominated enclave from air and sea, as Palestinian militants kept up rocket attacks deep into the Jewish state. At least 79 Palestinians, most of them civilians, have been killed in the offensive, which Israel says it launched to end persistent rocket attacks on its civilian population, s

Global jihad benefits from Gaza crisis

As Arab states do little to intervene in Gaza, militant jihadism continues to spread throughout the region.

A Lebanese army personnel inspects the remains of a shell that was suspected of having been launched from Lebanon to Israel, near the village of El Mari in Southern Lebanon July 11, 2014. Two rockets were fired into northern Israel from Lebanon on Friday, and Israel's army responded with artillery fire, Lebanon's news agency and security sources said, adding it was unclear who was behind the initial attack. There were five rockets fired in total from southern Lebanon, Lebanese security sources said. Two ent

Who fired the rockets from Lebanon?

The group who fired two rockets into Israel is unknown, but the Lebanese army is tracking a suspect who may resolve the mystery.

Netanyahu, Ya'alon prefer airstrikes over ground attack

Lessons learned from the second Lebanon war, international objections and politics are all playing a part in Turkish Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's decision to postpone a Gaza ground attack.

Egypt's Foreign Minister Sameh Shukri attends a joint news conference with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry (not seen) in Cairo June 22, 2014. Kerry held talks on Sunday with President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi in Cairo over concerns about Egypt's crackdown on the Muslim Brotherhood and the threat which the conflict in Iraq poses to the Middle East. REUTERS/Brendan Smialowski/Pool (EGYPT - Tags: POLITICS) - RTR3V3Z9

Egypt distances itself from Gaza war

Egypt is not playing an active role to mediate a cease-fire, as it has done in previous confrontations between Israel and Hamas, suggesting that it might prefer Israel delivering a blow to Hamas.

Israeli fire-fighters extinguish a fire that broke out after a rocket hit a petrol station in the southern Israeli city of Ashdod July 11, 2014. Israel pressed on for a fourth day with its Gaza offensive on Friday, striking the Hamas-dominated enclave from air and sea, as Palestinian militants kept up rocket attacks deep into the Jewish state. One rocket on Friday hit the petrol station in Israel's port city of Ashdod, causing a huge blaze and at least three people were seriously wounded, an ambulance spoke

Hamas bites the hand that feeds it

Israel is aware of the fact that any regime vacuum in the Gaza Strip will draw in more extreme forces, which is why it battles an impossible fight of trying to stop the rocket fire from Gaza while preserving Hamas rule.

Israeli children play inside a bomb shelter in the southern city of Ashkelon July 10, 2014. At least 74 Palestinians, most of them civilians, have been killed in Israel's Gaza offensive, Palestinian officials said on Thursday, and militants kept up rocket attacks on Tel Aviv and other cities in warfare showing no signs of ending soon. REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun (ISRAEL - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST SOCIETY) - RTR3Y0MI

Bomb shelters replace summer camps for Israeli children

Children from central and northern Israel are now experiencing what residents of the south have suffered for 13 years: the sounds of the alarms, the running for shelter, the ongoing fear and trauma.

Looking to take a break, Gazans find beaches a war zone

Israeli naval boats are firing at Gaza’s coastline, turning popular Gaza beaches into a war zone.

Palestinians accuse Israel of war crimes in Gaza

Cafes and homes in the Gaza Strip have been destroyed by Israeli bombardment, which local Palestinian activists say constitute war crimes.