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April 29, 2026

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President Donald Trump gives a speech during the State Arrival Ceremony on the South Lawn on April 28, 2026, in Washington.

Trump speaks with Netanyahu, Putin as Iran pressure campaign escalates

President Donald Trump spoke by phone separately with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Russian President Vladimir Putin, discussing the situation in Iran and the possibility of extending the ceasefire.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio (C), alongside US State Department Counselor Michael Needham (2L) and US Ambassador to Lebanon Michel Issa (2R), speaks during a meeting.

US seeks to train Lebanon army units to disarm Hezbollah: What to know

Funding for such a program remains unclear, though the Pentagon has requested $36 million for fiscal year 2027 to support Lebanon’s army.

ANWAR AMRO/AFP via Getty Images

Analysis

Despite Trump pressure to limit Israel's Lebanon attacks, Aoun-Netanyahu meeting still unlikely

As President Donald Trump pressures Israel to limit its strikes in Lebanon, Hezbollah is taking advantage of the situation.

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

French President Emmanuel Macron speaks to journalists as he arrives for an informal meeting of the European Council in Nicosia, Cyprus, April 24, 2026.

Why US, Israel are freezing France out of Lebanon talks

With talks between Israel and Lebanon being held in Washington, Paris still insists that it must be involved to balance possible American bias and to protect Beirut’s interests.

Latest News

Why did the Met Opera lose its Saudi funding deal?

A person walks past the closed Metropolitan Opera at Lincoln Center on Jan. 7, 2021, in New York City.

Analysis

Israel fears Trump angling for Lebanon deal to offset Iran missteps

US Ambassador to Lebanon Michel Issa (R) holds a signed "Make America Great Again" hat while (L-R) US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Lebanon Ambassador to the US Nada Hamadeh Moawad listen to US President Donald Trump speak during a meeting with Lebanon Ambassador to the US and Israel Ambassador to the US, at the White House in Washington, DC on April 23, 2026. US President Donald Trump met Lebanese and Israeli envoys at a new round of peace talks Thursday, with Beirut seeking a one-month extension of a

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

How are Iran-linked tankers still moving through Hormuz blockade?

BAY ISMOYO / AFP via Getty Images

Analysis

Israel sees chance of US-Iran deal as almost 'non-existent,' readies for war

ATTA KENARE / AFP via Getty Images

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

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

Jared Szuba

Defense and Security Correspondent

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

Joyce Karam

Editor-in-Chief

Rosaleen Carroll

News Reporter and Supporting Editor

In Washington, DC, US, reporting on the Middle East

Paul J. Saunders

In Washington, DC, reporting on Russia in the Middle East

Low chances of success for Abbas’ alternative to US peace plan

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas proposed his vision for a peace process with Israel as an alternative to the United States' deal of the century.

NEW YORK, NEW YORK - FEBRUARY 11: Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas listens at the United Nations (UN) Security Council in New York on February 11, 2020 in New York City. Abbas used the world body to denounce the US peace plan between Israel and Palestine. Donald Trump's proposal for Israeli-Palestinian peace, which was released on January 28, has been met with universal Palestinian opposition. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

Why Palestinians failed at the Security Council

The Palestinians' push for a near-unanimous UN Security Council resolution opposing the Trump plan ran into a number of unexpected roadblocks.

Libyan commander Khalifa Haftar meets Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis (not pictured) at the Parliament in Athens, Greece, January 17, 2020. REUTERS/Costas Baltas - RC2NHE9O9B9H

Democrats call on Trump to sanction Libyan warlord Khalifa Hifter

Democrats are wary that the Donald Trump administration may be too friendly with Libya’s Khalifa Hifter, so they’re calling for sanctions.

Peace with the region is not a peace plan

The Trump peace plan is flawed because it has more to do with building a coalition against Iran rather than with promoting peace between Israelis and the Palestinians.

Palestinians tell Trump, Israel: We are not for sale

The Trump administration boasts of a generous economic framework offered to the Palestinians, while in truth it hopes the private sector will come up with the funds.

Fatah and Hamas officials wait for a meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and representatives of Palestinian groups and movements as a part of an intra-Palestinian talks in Moscow, Russia February 12, 2019. Pavel Golovkin/Pool via REUTERS - RC173B11DD10

Hamas, Fatah push ahead on reconciliation to counter US peace plan

The US peace plan has left no choice for Hamas and Fatah but to seek an end to Palestinian division, which was made clear in the efforts to revive this file and draft a unified strategy to counter the US proposal.

Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif attends a news conference following a meeting with Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov (not pictured) in Moscow, Russia, December 30, 2019. REUTERS/Evgenia Novozhenina - RC2M5E9N6PCJ

Iran FM phones Abbas to discuss US peace deal

Given shaky relations between Iran and the Palestinian Authority, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif's phone call to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas came as a surprise.

Tunisian soldiers stand in front of military equipment offered to Tunisia by the United States, in Tunis, Tunisia, May 12, 2016 REUTERS/Zoubeir Souissi - S1BETDRQOCAA

Trump budget spotlights Tunisia in pitch to overhaul foreign military aid

The State Department is dangling potential US aircraft sales to Tunisia as part of its pitch to overhaul foreign military aid.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas holds a map while speaking during a Security Council meeting at the United Nations in New York, U.S., February 11, 2020. REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton - RC2FYE9OX8R2

Abbas at UN gives muted rejection to Trump ‘annexation’ plan

The White House declares victory as the UN Security Council holds off on issuing a resolution reiterating old parameters for a two-state solution.

Iranians gahter during the commemoration of the 41st anniversary of the Islamic revolution in Tehran, Iran February 11, 2020. Nazanin Tabatabaee/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE HAS BEEN SUPPLIED BY A THIRD PARTY. - RC29YE9HSIHC

Iran marks revolution anniversary amid multiple challenges

The Islamic Republic marked the 41st anniversary of its founding as well as the 40th day after the US killing of its top general with state-organized rallies reflecting all-time-high anti-American sentiments.

Masked Palestinians prepare to attach balloons to a gas canister before releasing it near Gaza's Bureij refugee camp, along the Israel-Gaza border fence, on February 10, 2020. (Photo by MAHMUD HAMS / AFP) (Photo by MAHMUD HAMS/AFP via Getty Images)

The power Hamas holds over Israel’s elections

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu knows that terror attacks by Hamas right before the March 2 elections could cost him his job.

U.S. President Donald Trump makes remarks during the White House Business Session with the nation's governors in the State Dining Room of the White House, Washington, DC, U.S., February 10, 2020. REUTERS/Mike Theiler - RC2TXE9F4HJ0

Trump budget holds Palestinian aid hostage to progress on peace plan

The Donald Trump administration is doubling down on its bid to cut Palestinian aid by tying it to congressional funding for the president’s Middle East peace plan.