Politics & Security - AL-MONITOR: The Middle Eastʼs leading independent news source since 2012

politics and security cover image

Politics & Security

Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shibani meets with his Turkish counterpart, Hakan Fidan, in Ankara, Aug. 6, 2026.

Syria's Shibani updates Turkey on Kurds' integration, slams Israel during Ankara visit

The visit highlighted Ankara's growing influence in post-Assad Syria, with the two neighbors expanding strategic coordination on security and regional affairs.

Michigan Democratic Senate primary winner Abdul El-Sayed

AIPAC to oppose El-Sayed after major Michigan primary victory

The America Israel Public Affairs Committee said it will work to oppose Abdul El-Sayed’s “radical anti-Israel agenda” as his opponent seeks to paint him as extreme.

Turkish National Intelligence Organization chief Ibrahim Kalin

Turkey's intel chief hosts Libya delegation amid unification push: What to know

The visit by Libya’s high-level delegation came as US-led efforts gathered pace to broker a power-sharing arrangement between the country’s rival camps.

Latest News

Israel-Lebanon talks suspended amid escalation, set to resume Thursday

Israeli battle tanks deploy in the village of Zawtar al-Sharqiyah (Eastern Zawtar) in southern Lebanon as pictured from the nearby village of Zawtar al-Gharbiyah (Western Zawtar) on August 2, 2026. Under a US-sponsored agreement signed in June, Lebanon's army is to disarm Hezbollah and the Israeli military is to withdraw from "pilot zones" where Lebanese forces will subsequently deploy. The deal came more than three months after Hezbollah drew Lebanon into the Middle East with rocket fire at Israel in suppo

Analysis

How Turkey's PKK amnesty law entwines Kurds' hopes with Erdogan's ambitions

Fighters with the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) line up to put their weapons into a pit during a ceremony in Sulaimaniyah, in Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan region, on July 11, 2025.

Amberin Zaman

By Amberin Zaman

Reporting on geopolitics, minorities, human rights, culture

US lifts sanctions on Iraqi airline linked to Iran's IRGC: What to know

A memorial depicting Qassem Soleimani, the slain commander of the "Quds Force" of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), who was killed by a US airstrike in Iraq in 2020, is pictured at Valiasr Square in Tehran on April 6, 2026. Israeli strikes killed the intelligence chief of Iran's Revolutionary Guards, as the Islamic republic on April 6 defied threats from the US President to devastate civilian infrastructure if it does not reopen the Strait of Hormuz. (Photo by ATTA KENARE / AFP via Getty Ima

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

An Iranian border outpost is seen behind a part of Turkey’s newly completed border wall on the Turkey-Iran border, Caldiran, Turkey, July 10, 2021.

Israeli indicted for espionage in alleged Iran scheme to kill PM, defense minister

Israel Police and Shin Bet suspect that Moti Maman traveled twice to Iran, where he was asked to help carry out a plot to assassinate Prime Minister Netanyahu, Defense Minister Gallant or another senior officials.

US President Joe Biden (R) and UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed al-Nahyan (L) attend a bilateral meeting at a hotel in Saudi Arabia's Red Sea coastal city of Jeddah on July 16, 2022. (Photo by MANDEL NGAN / AFP) (Photo by MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images)

Analysis

UAE president to visit White House as frustrations mount over Gaza endgame

Abu Dhabi has hardened its stance on Israel as Gulf states consider their role in rebuilding Gaza.

Jennifer Gnana

By Jennifer Gnana

In Dubai, reporting on Gulf energy policy and politics

Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman meets with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken (not pictured) in Jeddah, on March 20, 2024.

Saudi crown prince says no Israel normalization without Palestinian state

The crown prince's comments follow the kingdom's top diplomat saying that any deal with Israel would require a pathway toward a Palestinian state.

AFP via Getty Images

At least 14 killed, 450 injured as second wave of blasts targets Hezbollah devices in Lebanon

Hezbollah has vowed to respond to the pagers attack, which it pinned on Israel, as the two parties continue to exchange fire along the Lebanese-Israeli border.

An Israeli soldier works on a tank as troops gather at a position in the upper Galilee region of northern Israel near the border with Lebanon on Nov. 7, 2023.

Israel deploys forces to Lebanon border after pager attack on Hezbollah

Reflecting a shift in priorities, the Israeli military has transferred the elite 98th Division from the Gaza Strip to the Lebanon border area.

Russia's President Vladimir Putin, accompanied by the country's Security Council Secretary Sergei Shoigu, meets with Ali Akbar Ahmadian, secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, in Saint Petersburg, on Sept. 12, 2024.

Top Putin aides in Iran as Russia seeks to ease concerns on Zangezur Corridor

The flurry of diplomatic visits and discussions appear to be a fresh move by Moscow to reenergize Iran-Russia bilateral ties, which have recently faced new complexities.

Lebanese army soldiers stand guard as an ambulance rushes wounded people to a hospital in Beirut on Sept. 17, 2024.

Exclusive

Exclusive: Hezbollah suspicions forced Israel to expedite Lebanon pager attack

It was not Israel’s preferred course of action to detonate the pagers ahead of a full-scale war with Hezbollah, but security officials made an 11th-hour decision after at least two Hezbollah members suspected something was amiss with the devices.

Gabrielle Debinski

Tyler Huffman

By Gabrielle Debinski , Tyler Huffman

Ambulances are surrounded by people at the entrance of the American University of Beirut Medical Center, on September 17, 2024, after explosions hit locations in several Hezbollah strongholds around Lebanon amid ongoing cross-border tensions between Israel and Hezbollah fighters.

Pentagon denies role in suspected Israeli pager attacks in Lebanon

Phone pagers exploded across Lebanon and in Syria, injuring thousands in a suspected Israeli attack targeting Hezbollah just a day after top Washington officials urged Israeli leaders not to escalate the conflict.

Jared Szuba

Rina Bassist

By Jared Szuba , Rina Bassist

EYAD BABA/AFP via Getty Images

Palestinian poll finds majority of Gazans say Hamas' Oct. 7 attack was wrong

A September public opinion poll from the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research shows that Palestinian support for Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack has dropped and a majority of Palestinians in Gaza say the attack was not the right move.

An ambulance rushes wounded people to the American University of Beirut Medical Center, on Sept. 17, 2024.

Lebanon: At least 11 killed, 4,000 injured in suspected Israeli pager attack against Hezbollah

The blasts, which reportedly killed several and injured thousands, came amid rising tensions between Israel and Hezbollah.

Iran's former President Hassan Rouhani (L) waves to the media as India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi looks on before a meeting at Hyderabad house, New Delhi, India, Feb. 17, 2018.

India tells Iran’s Khamenei to 'look at own record' over comments on Muslims suffering

India’s Ministry of External Affairs condemned Iran's Supreme Leader Khamenei’s remarks on the treatment of Muslims.

Israeli Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant meets soldiers on the Israeli border with the Gaza Strip, Sderot, Israel, Oct. 19, 2023.

Analysis

Can Netanyahu both fire Gallant and go to war in Lebanon?

The Biden administration clearly finds it hard to believe Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will go through with firing Defense Minister Yoav Gallant while warning that war with Hezbollah could break out soon.

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