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December 30, 2025

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At Mar-a-Lago, Netanyahu seeks Iran strike approval while Trump presses Gaza plan

US President Donald Trump is expected to push Israel to enter the second phase of his Gaza peace plan, while Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will focus on securing Trump’s approval for a potential strike on Iran’s ballistic missile program.

Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images

Analysis

Gaza realities test Trump’s 2025 Middle East ambitions

During its first year, the second Trump administration confronted wars in Gaza and Sudan, forged new ties with Syria and grappled with the growing nuclear threat from Iran.

Elizabeth Hagedorn

By Elizabeth Hagedorn

In Washington, DC, reporting on diplomacy, regional politics, human rights

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu participates in a joint news conference with US President Donald Trump (not seen) in the State Dining Room at the White House on Sept. 29, 2025, in Washington.

Analysis

In 2025, Netanyahu saved his coalition but stalled on Gaza, Iran, Lebanon

With 2025 ending, Israelis are frustrated over Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s refusal to fully end the Gaza war, solve the Hezbollah problem, reach a deal with Syria or find a way to constructively impact talks on the Iranian nuclear program.

Rina Bassist

By Rina Bassist

In Paris, reporting on Israeli politics and European affairs

US President Donald Trump speaks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the Israeli parliament, the Knesset, in Jerusalem on Oct. 13, 2025.

Analysis

Trump has upper hand over Netanyahu, but is it enough for Gaza?

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been stalling on the implementation of the second phase of President Donald Trump’s Gaza plan, but at the end of the day, Trump has much more leverage over Netanyahu.

Rina Bassist

By Rina Bassist

In Paris, reporting on Israeli politics and European affairs

Latest News

Maersk resumes Red Sea passage after two-year halt amid easing Houthi threat

A ship sails along Egypt's Suez Canal near Ismailia, April 16, 2025.

Facing Israeli pushback, Turkey recalibrates public messaging on Gaza force

Saeed Jaras / Middle East Images / AFP via Getty Images

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

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delivers a statement overlooking the Israeli settlement of Har Homa, located in an area of the Israeli-occupied West Bank, that Israel annexed to Jerusalem after the region's capture in the 1967 Middle East war, February 20, 2020. Debbie Hill/Pool via REUTERS - RC2E4F9ALPB6

Can anyone stop Netanyahu’s annexation plans?

A formidable array of figures is working in public and behind the scenes to block Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s plan to annex West Bank lands.

A Palestinian man prays inside a mosque on the second Friday of Ramadan as prayers are suspended due to concerns about the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Gaza City May 1, 2020. REUTERS/Mohammed Salem TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY - RC2MFG9HFHIU

Coronavirus imposes different reality for Palestinians during Ramadan

Authorities in Gaza and the West Bank face big challenges trying to stanch the spread of the novel coronavirus during Ramadan, which usually involves social visits and group prayers.

Secretary General of the Arab League Ahmed Aboul Gheit (L) looks on during Arab Foreign Ministers meeting in a regular session to discuss latest developments in Middle Eastern affairs, in Cairo, Egypt September 12, 2017. REUTERS/Mohamed Abd El Ghany - RC199F92FCF0

Arab League to meet over Israel’s West Bank annexation plan

The pan-Arab organization will discuss controversial Israeli plans under a government unity deal to annex parts of the West Bank.

Netanyahu notches up international blitz on West Bank annexation

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he was confident that President Donald Trump will let the Israeli government annex parts of the West Bank, as stated in the American peace plan.

Palestinian women work in a sanitiser factory amid precautions against the coronavirus, in Hebron in the Israeli-occupied West Bank March 12, 2020.REUTERS/Mussa Qawasma - RC2DIF9G27AF

Palestinian woman leads fight against coronavirus, while others fall victim to domestic violence

Women are taking the lead in the fight against the COVID-19 outbreak in the Palestinian territories, while at the same the virus has brought more violence and suffering to some women.

A woman wearing a protective face mask and gloves walks past the Imamzadeh Saleh shrine, amid fear of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in Tehran, Iran April 2, 2020. WANA (West Asia News Agency)/Ali Khara via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS PICTURE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY - RC2DWF9GIRD0

Women, children face increased risk of abuse during Mideast lockdowns

No COVID-19 furlough for imprisoned Iranian women’s rights activists; Interreligious, LGBT couples struggle to connect; Yemen’s cease-fire gets a second chance.

Concerns over coronavirus in prisons push Israel-Hamas deal forward

With Hamas concerned about a coronavirus outbreak in Gaza and Israel concerned about overcrowding in its prisons, the pandemic offers a unique opportunity to reach a prisoner exchange deal.

Israel weighs strategic implications of coronavirus crisis

Israeli intelligence is unsure whether the pandemic will ease tensions with neighboring countries or do just the opposite.

Gaza farmers destroyed flowers amid lockdown

The state of emergency imposed on the Gaza Strip due to the coronavirus pandemic has not spared the flower cultivation sector.

A general view of tents at a camp in Bar Elias, in the Bekaa Valley, Lebanon January 13, 2020. Picture taken January 13, 2020. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir - RC2QFE9G8SHJ

NGO: Most refugees in Lebanon lack soap after refugee tests positive for coronavirus

The International Rescue Committee's survey was released after a Palestinian refugee in Lebanon tested positive for the virus.

European High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice-President of the European Commission Josep Borrell, holds a virtual news conference on the approval of Operation Irini, at the European Commission in Brussels, Belgium March 31, 2020. REUTERS/Francois Lenoir/Pool - RC2YUF9VU8ZQ

Israel rebuffs EU over criticizing West Bank annexation goal

Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz took issue with EU foreign representative Josep Borrell warning against possible annexationist policies of a new Israeli government despite his not obtaining the backing of all European Union states.

Palestinians, who are quarantined at Al-Mathaf Hotel amid concerns about the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), wave to their relatives in the northern Gaza Strip April 15, 2020. REUTERS/Mohammed Salem - RC225G9AJ5UK

Gaza: Love in the time of COVID-19

The requirement that Gaza residents go into quarantine upon returning to the territory has resulted in a number of people meeting their match.