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December 31, 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 border policemen wearing protective gear as a precaution against the coronavirus, guard at an Israeli checkpoint in the occupied West Bank on the outskirts of Jerusalem March 11, 2020. REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun - RC2MHF9K85OW

On near-national lockdown, Israelis ordered indoors unless ‘absolutely necessary’

Israel's new steps, which are aimed to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus, include further restrictions on Palestinian day laborers entering Israel.

Jerusalem alliance fills gap in coronavirus awareness

A group of Jerusalem-based activists launched an alliance to raise awareness and provide emergency needs to the Palestinian population in East Jerusalem amid the coronavirus outbreak.

Banksy's hotel offers dark humor as Bethlehem becomes ghost town

Bethlehem's Walled Off Hotel painted its facade black in protest of US President Donald Trump's peace plan, but the situation is even darker with the coronavirus alert in the city.

Israel tightens grip on Palestinian workers to limit COVID-19

The Israeli authorities have decided to prevent Palestinian construction workers who are crucial for the Israeli construction sector from commuting from and to the West Bank for fear that this could help spread the coronavirus in Israel.

US Democratic Representative Ro Khanna, vice chair of the 98-member Congressional Progressive Caucus, holds a news conference during Web Summit, in Lisbon, Portugal, November 6, 2019. REUTERS/Pedro Nunes - RC2Q5D9AG2PF

Intel: House Democrats ask whether Israel violating US aid restrictions

More than 60 Democratic lawmakers are pushing the Donald Trump administration to clarify whether Israel uses American military equipment to demolish Palestinian homes in the West Bank, hinting that doing so could trigger military aid restrictions under US law.

A Palestinian worker wearing a mask sanitizes the hands of a customer amid coronavirus precautions, in a supermarket in Gaza City March 8, 2020. Picture taken March 8, 2020. REUTERS/Mohammed Salem - RC2EGF9PKI3K

Can blockade shield Gaza Strip from epidemic?

The Israeli security system is trying to head off a nightmare as the coronavirus menaces the uniquely vulnerable Gaza Strip.

Coronavirus imposes calm on Gaza front

Calm has returned between Israel and Palestinian factions in Gaza, mainly because of the outbreak of the coronavirus and fears of it spreading in the besieged enclave.

An Israeli police officer helps a Health Ministry inspector put on protective gear before they go up to the apartment of a person in self quarantine as a precaution against coronavirus spread in Hadera, Israel March 16, 2020 REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun - RC23LF9W400M

Israelis in panic over COVID-19, but not the 'occupation virus'

Despite attempts to spin events otherwise, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has hijacked the coronavirus in an attempt to hold on to power and perpetuate the occupation.

Palestinian COVID-19 state of emergency raises other fears

The Palestinian Authority declared a state of emergency in response to COVID-19, but critics believe it's a cover for the body to make political arrests.

Palestinian Hamas chief in the Gaza strip Ismail Haniyeh, gives a speech during a memorial service Three Hamas policemen were killed after two suicide bombings, on September 2, 2019 in Gaza City.
(Photo by Majdi Fathi/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

Hamas in Moscow to mend ties with Syrian regime

Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh's visit to Moscow is seen as a potential move to repair relations the Syrian regime.

Ayman Odeh (3rd-L), leader of the Hadash party that is part of the Joint List alliance, gives an address with other alliance leaders at their electoral headquarters in Israel's northern city of Shefa-Amr on March 2, 2020, after polls officially closed. - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appeared to lead his main challenger following elections with multiple exit polls putting his right-wing Likud several seats ahead of the centrist Blue and White party. Exit polls by three Israeli television network

Arab voters in Israel turn out in force, win new Knesset seats

A united effort helped Arabs in Israel claim two more parliament seats that they hope will translate to a better quality of life.

Netanyahu, Gantz must return to Cairo 2016

Blue and White leader Benny Gantz should agree to a unity government with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, not just to fight the coronavirus, but to resume the Cairo talks with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.