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Politics & Security

Palestinian Hamas militants secure the area as Egyptian workers, accompanied by members of the International Committee of the Red Cross, search for the last two remaining bodies of hostages from under the rubble of the Jabalia refugee camp, in the northern of Gaza Strip on Dec. 1, 2025.

Analysis

Trump's Board of Peace faces first test: Disarming Hamas

President Donald Trump’s plan for a Gaza Strip lined with beachfront resorts and glitzy high-rises hinges on Hamas' disarmament.

Elizabeth Hagedorn

By Elizabeth Hagedorn

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

Kobane

Syria-Kurd deal hinges on SDF integration as Barrack meets Kobane

Damascus and the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces are navigating tense negotiations following clashes and a temporary ceasefire in northeastern Syria.

Children and women, relatives of suspected Islamic State jihadists, walk inside al-Hol camp in the desert region of Syria's northeastern Hasakah province, on Jan. 21, 2026.

Iraq to prosecute ISIS detainees transferred from Syria: What to know

The repatriation of Iraqis accused of Islamic State ties from Syria has reignited security concerns in Iraq.

Ramil Sitdikov / AFP via Getty Images

Putin offers $1B in frozen assets for Gaza Board of Peace — will US unfreeze them?

It remains unclear how such an arrangement could be implemented, since any contribution from frozen assets would require formal unblocking by the US government.

Latest News

Herzog: Saudi normalization talks could resume as Gaza ceasefire enters next phase

Israel's President Isaac Herzog gestures as he speaks during the World Economic Forum annual meeting, Davos, Switzerland, Jan. 22, 2026.

Trump launches Board of Peace: We can do 'whatever we want'

Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

What Israel stands to lose in Syria-SDF agreement

Jalaa MAREY / AFP via Getty Images

US military airlifts Syria ISIS prisoners to Iraq after SDF retreat: What to know

RAQQA, SYRIA - JANUARY 19: Syrian government forces are deployed near Al-Aqtan prison on January 19, 2026 in Raqqa, Syria. Yesterday, the Syrian government announced that a nationwide ceasefire deal had been reached with the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), who had been clashing with government forces in recent weeks. The Kurdish-led force, a long-time ally of the United States in the fight against ISIS, had controlled large swaths of northwest Syria during the years of the country's civil war. T

Jared Szuba

In Washington, DC, reporting on defense, national security, military

Amberin Zaman

Chief Correspondent

Reporting on geopolitics, minorities, human rights, culture

Adam Lucente

News and Business Correspondent

In New York City, reporting on regional news, militancy, climate change

Elizabeth Hagedorn

Diplomatic Correspondent

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

Ezgi Akin

Associate Editor (Turkey)

In Ankara, reporting on diplomacy, EU-Turkey ties, NATO

Ben Caspit

Israel Columnist

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

Jared Szuba

Defense and Security Correspondent

In Washington, DC, reporting on defense, national security, military

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (L) speaks with UAE President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan and Indian President Narendra Modi on the sidelines of the G-7 summit, June 14, 2024, Apulia, Italy.

Turkey’s Erdogan, UAE president discuss Gaza during G7

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan also briefly chatted with US President Joe Biden on the sidelines of the summit.

US special envoy Amos Hochstein (C) arrives for a meeting with Lebanon's parliament speaker in Beirut on November 7, 2023 amid continuing tenions on the Lebanese-Israeli border, one month after the start of the war between Hamas and Israel. While the war rages in Gaza, there has also been cross-border fighting between Israel and Lebanon's militant group Hezbollah. (Photo by AFP) (Photo by -/AFP via Getty Images)

Hochstein to visit Israel as Lebanon tensions soar, Gallant slams France's effort

Reacting to a statement by French President Emmanuel Macron, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said Israel will not take part in a trilateral comittee to de-escalate tensions with Hezbollah.

Smoke billows from the site of an Israeli airstrike on the southern Lebanese village of Khiam near the border on June 8, 2024 amid ongoing cross-border tensions as fighting continues between Israel and Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip. (Photo by Rabih DAHER / AFP) (Photo by RABIH DAHER/AFP via Getty Images)

Analysis

As Hamas wavers on deal, Israel's main front moves to Lebanon's Hezbollah

As Netanyahu plays for time, the Israeli military has recommended to the government that troops wrap up their activities against Hamas in the southern Gaza city within a month and move on to deal with Hezbollah in the north.

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

Smoke billows from the site of an Israeli airstrike on Zibqin in southern Lebanon on June 12, 2024.

Hezbollah-Israel clashes intensify as fears grow of all-out war in Lebanon

The situation on the Israel-Lebanon border is worsening, all while US efforts to reach a cease-fire in Gaza have yet to lead to a deal.

Iran's chief nuclear negotiator Ali Bagheri Kani leaves after talks at the Coburg Palais, Vienna, Aug. 4, 2022.

Iran’s acting FM in Iraq for talks on bilateral ties, Gaza war

The visit is part of an ongoing regional tour that also took Ali Bagheri Kani to Lebanon and Syria and kicked off shortly after his appointment.

Giorgia Meloni was received at the presidential palace in Abu Dhabi by UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al-Nahyan. (WAM)

UAE, Saudi leaders expected at Italy's G7 summit as Meloni boosts Gulf ties

Italy is seeking Saudi investments and closer gas ties with the UAE, all while it focuses on migration and energy-related interests in North Africa.

US President Joe Biden (R) and Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan hold bilateral talks the NATO Summit in Vilnius on July 11, 2023. (Photo by ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS / AFP) (Photo by ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty Images)

Erdogan and Biden may meet at NATO's US summit in July, ambassador says

Amid widening differences over Gaza, Turkey postponed in April the Turkish president’s visit to the White House that was planned for May.

YASSER AL-ZAYYAT/AFP via Getty Images

Fire in overcrowded Kuwait building kills at least 41

A fire at an overcrowded building in Kuwait has killed at least 41 people and injured dozens more, and the death toll is expected to rise as dozens of others are treated in hospitals.

RABIH DAHER/AFP via Getty Images

Hezbollah fires 160 rockets at Israel after senior commander killed

Hezbollah launched more than 160 rockets at north Israel in response to the death of the most senior commander in the Lebanese group killed since the cross-border hostilities began in October.

Iran's chief nuclear negotiator Ali Bagheri Kani leaves after talks at the Coburg Palais, the venue of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) in Vienna on August 4, 2022. - The United States and the European Union's Iran nuclear envoys on August 3, 2022 said they were travelling to Vienna for talks with Tehran's delegation as they seek to salvage the agreement on its atomic ambitions. (Photo by Alex HALADA / AFP) (Photo by ALEX HALADA/AFP via Getty Images)

Iran hopes to finalize 20-year pact with Russia as Bagheri Kani meets Lavrov

Despite lingering questions and skepticism at home, the Iranian government has been pushing the agreement as part of its overall strategy to build new alliances meant to mitigate Western political pressure and economic sanctions.

In this pool photograph distributed by Russian state agency Sputnik, Russia's President Vladimir Putin (L) attends a meeting with Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan (R) in Moscow on June 11, 2024.

Putin meets Fidan, 'fully supports' Turkey’s aspirations in BRICS

The first bilateral meeting between Putin and Fidan saw the Russian leader embrace Ankara's interest in joining the BRICS as a counterweight to the West.

Palestinians wave their national flags, and banners bearing the image of jailed Fatah leader Marwan Barghuti with a slogan demanding his release and referring to him as the "symbol of freedom", during a celebration marking the 57th anniversary of Fatah movement's foundation, in Ramallah, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, on December 30, 2021.

Movement for PLO reform faces opposition from Ramallah leadership

Players from the Palestinian diaspora and elsewhere are pushing hard for reforms to the Palestine Liberation Organization, causing enough of a stir that President Mahmoud Abbas appears to be worried.