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January 1, 2026

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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

Israel says it is seeking to totally destroy Gaza's Hamas rulers after the deadly October 7 attacks which caused the worst bloodshed in Israel's history

Day 20 of Hamas-Israel war blog: Thursday, Oct. 26

Israeli soldiers prepare a tank near the border between Israel and Lebanon on Oct. 16, 2023, in Shlomi, Israel.

Hamas threatens 'hell on earth' in event of Israeli ground invasion

Israel has amassed troops and military equipment in preparation for its ground offensive on Gaza, while Palestinian factions have further warned that the Israeli army would incur more losses should it invade Gaza.

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan (L) meets with Qatari Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani in Doha, Oct. 25, 2023.

Qatar ‘hopeful’ about hostage talks with Hamas as Turkey warns of regional shockwaves

As Qatar expresses hope for the release of more Israeli hostages, Turkey’s top diplomat has warned Israel against a ground invasion.

Gaza journalists

At least 24 journalists, majority Palestinians, killed in Israel-Hamas war

The number of journalists killed in the Israel-Hamas war in three weeks already exceeds the number of journalists killed in Ukraine in the year and half since Russia invaded, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists.

Erdogan

Turkey’s Erdogan hails Hamas as liberators, leaving detente with Israel in shreds

The Turkish president's speech on Wednesday aligned himself more firmly with the Sunni Muslim world, while pushing aside the benefits of closer ties with Israel and other regional economies.

NINEVEH, IRAQ - JUNE 20: Iraqi PMF fighters June 20, 2017 on the Iraq-Syria border in Nineveh, Iraq. The Popular Mobilisation Front (PMF) forces, composed of majority Shi'ite militia, part of the Iraqi forces, have pushed Islamic State militants from the north-western Iraq border strip back into Syria. The PMF now hold the border, crucial to the fall of Islamic State in Mosul, blocking the Islamic State supply route for militants from Syria to Mosul. (Martyn Aim/Getty Images).

No consensus yet among Iraqi armed groups on joining Israel-Hamas war

Interviews with faction leaders reveal anger with Hamas over starting a unilateral conflict, but also a determination to get involved if Hezbollah greenlights such a move and Israel invades Gaza.

US President Joe Biden holds a press conference following a solidarity visit to Israel, on October 18, 2023, in Tel Aviv, amid the ongoing battles between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Thousands of people, both Israeli and Palestinians have died since October 7, 2023, after Palestinian Hamas militants based in the Gaza Strip, entered southern Israel in a surprise attack leading Israel to declare war on Hamas in Gaza on October 8. (Photo by Brendan SMIALOWSKI / AFP) (Photo by BREN

Al-Monitor/Premise poll: 82% of Americans wary of US intervention in Israel-Hamas war

As the Israel-Hamas war rages on and threatens to spill into a wider regional conflict, Americans are either unsure of or reject a US military intervention in the region, according to a new Al-Monitor/Premise poll.

Jordan queen rues West's 'glaring double standard' on Gaza

Agence France-Presse

A Palestinian man uses a fire extinguisher to douse a fire following an Israeli strike, in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip on Oct. 14, 2023, as fighting between Israel and the Hamas movement continues for the eighth consecutive day.

In a first, Blinken backs possible ‘humanitarian pause’ in Gaza

Secretary of State Antony Blinken's comments come as the US is increasingly concerned that Israel's military campaign in the Gaza Strip could fuel a broader regional conflict.

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan and UAE's President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed meet on Oct. 24, 2023.

Turkey's Fidan travels to UAE, Qatar, seeks mediation on Israel-Hamas war

The top Turkish diplomat, who met with the Emirati leaders in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday, is set to travel to Qatar, where Hamas' political bureau is based.

DELIL SOULEIMAN/AFP via Getty Images

Day 18 of Hamas-Israel war blog: Tuesday, Oct. 24

AHMAD GHARABLI/AFP via Getty Images

Day 17 of Hamas-Israel war blog: Monday, Oct. 23