Israel-Palestinian Conflict

The United States will once again withdraw from the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), President Donald Trump’s administration announced Tuesday, citing the agency’s “anti-Israel rhetoric,” “divisive cultural agenda,” and “pro-Palestinian bias.” The decision follows a 90-day review ordered by Trump earlier this year, and marks the third major withdrawal from a UN agency during his current term.

A simmering diplomatic dispute over visa delays for Christian organizations in Israel has been resolved, following high-level intervention from U.S. Ambassador Mike Huckabee and pressure from American faith leaders.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) announced Sunday it will begin ground operations in Deir al-Balah for the first time since the start of the Gaza conflict, expanding its military campaign into one of the last remaining areas of the Strip untouched by ground forces. The move comes with a new evacuation warning to civilians in the southwest of the city, directing them to seek refuge in the overcrowded coastal zone of al-Mawasi.

Pope Leo XIV has urged Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to achieve a ceasefire and “protect places of worship” after Gaza’s only Catholic Church was reportedly struck by Israel’s military, killing three people and injuring 10, including the parish priest, the Vatican said.

Israel has launched a forceful military intervention in southern Syria aimed at protecting the embattled Druze minority, after more than 500 people were killed in four days of bloody conflict in the province of As-Suwayda. The fighting, sparked by sectarian tensions between Druze militias, Bedouin tribal fighters, and Syrian regime forces, was intensified by alleged atrocities against Druze civilians–prompting Israel to act.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition plunged into deeper crisis Wednesday as the ultra-Orthodox Shas party announced its ministers were resigning from the government in protest of the failure to pass legislation exempting yeshiva students from military service. The move, while not an official departure from the coalition, further weakens Netanyahu’s grip on power, reducing his effective support in the Knesset to just 60 out of 120 members.

U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee has issued a sharply worded letter to Israel’s Interior Minister Moshe Arbel, accusing his office of systematically denying visas to Christian groups seeking to visit the Holy Land. The letter, first reported by Channel 12, conveys Huckabee’s “profound disappointment” and warns of diplomatic fallout if the issue is not resolved swiftly.

In a diplomatically unorthodox move, U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee attended a court hearing on Wednesday in Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s ongoing corruption trial, making headlines both in Israel and abroad.

President Donald Trump is set to host Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani at the White House on Wednesday, as the United States intensifies efforts to broker a Gaza ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF), in coordination with the Shin Bet internal security agency, has carried out a sweeping two-week campaign targeting senior Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) operatives involved in restoring the groups’ military infrastructure in Gaza, the military announced Sunday.

Israel has agreed in principle to allow Qatar and other countries to begin funding the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip under the terms of a proposed ceasefire, according to a report by Ynet and confirmed by regional sources familiar with the ongoing negotiations in Doha.

Israel and the European Union have reached a key agreement to expand humanitarian aid access to Gaza, EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas announced Thursday. The deal includes increasing the number of aid trucks, reopening multiple border crossings, and restoring key infrastructure.

Negotiations between Israel and Hamas are inching toward a potential 60-day ceasefire and hostage release deal, but a core dispute remains unresolved: the deployment of Israeli troops in Gaza throughout the truce period. While both sides agree that significant progress has been made, talks in Doha are intensifying over troop presence, humanitarian aid delivery, and the long-term status of the war.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) confirmed Wednesday that it has conducted a series of targeted ground operations in southern Lebanon aimed at dismantling Hezbollah’s military presence and preventing the Iran-backed terror group from re-establishing infrastructure near the border. The raids, described as “special, targeted operations,” were carried out over the past several days in response to repeated ceasefire violations by Hezbollah.

President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday unveiled the contours of an ambitious and controversial postwar vision for Gaza that includes the creation of a luxury “Gazan Riviera,” population relocation efforts, and sweeping reconstruction projects tied to U.S.-Gulf investments — all while ceasefire negotiations with Hamas remain deadlocked.