Hamas: We won’t disarm as part of any truce with Israel
Hamas said on Monday that it will not lay down its weapons or ‘pay any political price’ as part of any cease-fire agreement with Israel.
Israel-Palestinian Conflict
PA leader admits efforts to torpedo Israel-Hamas truce talks
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas warned Saturday that he will not allow for two separate entities to rule Palestinian lands, effectively admitting that Ramallah was actively trying to torpedo the Egyptian-brokered cease-fire talks between Israel and Hamas.
Abbas: We will thwart Trump’s plan, Nation-State Law
US administration officials who purportedly claim to want to improve the living conditions of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip are ‘liars,’ Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas said on Wednesday.
Israel to boost security budget by hundreds of millions of dollars
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu presented the cabinet with his ‘2030 Security Concept’ on Wednesday, which will add hundreds of millions of dollars to military spending, and outlines the expected threats, military manpower needs, and principles for using force over the next decade.
US warns no one will be ‘fully pleased’ by Israeli-Palestinian peace plan
The Trump administration said Wednesday that neither Israelis nor Palestinian would be ‘fully pleased’ by its long-awaited Middle East peace plan, whose contents are one of the most guarded secrets in Washington.
Russia exerts growing clout in Middle East as it begins patrols in Golan Heights
Russian military police have begun patrolling the demilitarised zone between Israel and Syria in the Golan Heights, highlighting Moscow’s increasing clout as a Middle Eastern power broker following its intervention in the civil war there.
Israel-Hamas cease-fire deal ‘virtually done,’ paper reports
After a two-day lull in violence along the Gaza Strip-Israel border, the Los Angeles Times quoted a senior Israeli official Monday as saying that a cease-fire agreement with Hamas, the Islamist organization that rules Gaza, is ‘virtually done.’
Israeli-Palestinian support for two states at 20-year low, poll says
Support for a two-state resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is at the lowest point in two decades, according to new polling data released on Monday by two academicians.
Netanyahu: Israel Will Restore Quiet to Gaza Border Region ‘in Full’
Israel will restore total quiet its southern region near the border with the Gaza Strip, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed on Sunday.
PA leader Abbas talks US peace plan with Jordan’s Abdullah
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas met with Jordan’s King Abdullah in Amman on Wednesday to discuss the regional situation ahead of the expected unveiling of the U.S. administration’s Middle East peace plan.
No rockets or airstrikes as fragile Gaza truce lasts through the night
After two days that saw the worst exchange of fire between Israel and Hamas since the 2014 war, a fragile truce prevailed Friday in Gaza, with no rocket attacks or airstrikes since an apparent ceasefire went into effect at midnight.
Over 150 rockets launched into Israel, woman seriously injured
Rocket barrages by the Hamas terror group continued throughout the night. The military said over 150 rockets and mortar shells were launched at Israeli communities since Wednesday evening.
Israeli UN Envoy Urges New Head of South Lebanon Peacekeeping Force to Push Back Harder Against Hezbollah
Italian Maj. Gen. Stefano Del Col replaced Irish Maj. Gen. Michael Beary as the new commander of the UN peacekeeping force in southern Lebanon on Tuesday — a development that was welcomed by a top Israeli diplomat.
Syria Blames Mossad as Top Syrian Rocket Scientist Assassinated
Aziz Azbar, head of the Scientific Research and Studies Center in Masyaf, also known by its French acronym ‘CERS’, was killed in a car bombing incident alongside his driver on Saturday night in an alleged Mossad operation, a senior official from a Middle Eastern intelligence agency told the New York Times on Monday.
U.S. envoy Kushner calls UNRWA corrupt, inefficient, unhelpful for peace
Emails published by Foreign Policy magazine this week shed light on discussions within the Trump administration on phasing out support for the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, an organization that provides aid to descendants of refugees from 1940s Mandate Palestine.
White House bolstering Mideast team ahead of peace plan rollout
US officials say the Trump administration is staffing up a Middle East policy team at the White House in anticipation of unveiling its long awaited but largely mysterious Israeli-Palestinian peace plan.
Netanyahu warns that Israel will stop any Iranian attempt to close Red Sea
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned Iran on Wednesday that Israel, together with an ‘international coalition,’ would not allow the Islamic Republic to close a key regional waterway.
US Senate passes huge defense bill including $550 million for Israel
The US Senate easily passed a $716.3 billion defense authorization bill Wednesday that includes funding for Israel to defend itself against Hezbollah and Hamas, as well as ramping up military spending and bolstering America’s posture against Russia while avoiding policy changes that would have antagonized US President Donald Trump.
After Trump’s talks offer, US reassures Israel of tough policy on Iran
Senior officials in US President Donald Trump’s administration assured Israel that its tough stance against Iran has not changed, after Trump’s offer to engage in talks was strongly rebuffed by Iranian officials.
Russian envoy: Deal reached to keep Iran 85 km from Israeli-Syria border
Russia and Israel have reached an agreement to remove Iranian forces in Syria to within 85 kilometers of the Golan Heights border, Russia’s special envoy for Syria told the Sputnik news agency on Wednesday.