Israel-Palestinian Conflict

Israel has successfully tested a maritime missile interception system that can shoot down short-range missiles, dubbing it the “Iron Dome of the Sea,” the navy announced on Wednesday.

Israeli Air Force fighter jets struck a weapons convoy headed into the hands of Hezbollah fighters in Syria, Channel 2 citing Arab media sources reported Tuesday.

A general agreement has been reached between the warring sides after tremendous mediation effort by international parties in recent days and a great number of messages exchanged via intermediaries.

An Israeli company authorized to drill an oil reservoir near the Dead Sea, recently evaluated to contain NIS 1.2 billion worth of fuel, stressed Sunday that the area is located entirely inside Israel, which it said was a response to Arab media reports that the site stretched into Palestinian territory.

Israelis across the country paused for two minutes Thursday morning in memory of the six million Jews who perished in Europe under Nazi rule as an air raid siren pierced the clear blue sky in an annual marking of Holocaust Remembrance Day.

Negotiations meant to enshrine U.S. defense aid for Israel over the next decade have snagged on disputes about the size, scope and fine print of a new multibillion-dollar package, officials say.

Jerusalem on Thursday responded to the looming French peace initiative, which is to involve an international effort forcing peace talks on Israel and the Palestinian Authority (PA).

An IDF battalion commander stationed on Israel’s border with Lebanon on Wednesday said the Hezbollah terror group’s recent activity was “reminiscent of what they did before the Second Lebanon War.”

A White House official indicated on Monday that the Obama administration was ready to offer Israel the largest military aid package offered to any country over the course of US history.

The Russian press reported at the end of last week that Russia was seeking to enter the Israeli natural gas industry, following a meeting in Russia last Thursday between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday labeled his meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin earlier in the day as “very successful,” adding that the two countries reached understandings over issues that had previously not been sufficiently clarified.

Russian forces fired on Israeli Air Force planes at least twice in recent weeks, according to a Friday morning report in the Hebrew newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was slated to travel to Russia Thursday morning for a quick round of a meetings with Russian President Vladimir Putin during which the leaders are expected to discuss Syrian fighting and weapons sales to Iran.

At a model Passover sacrifice ceremony on the Mount of Olives attended by approximately 400 people, several public figures expressed the hope that the Dome of the Rock shrine and the al-Aqsa mosque will soon be removed from the Temple Mount.

A bomb exploded on a bus in Jerusalem Monday afternoon, injuring over 20 people as it and other vehicles were engulfed in flames, and ratcheting up tensions in a city just recovering from a months-long wave of violence.

UNESCO, the United Nations body responsible for protecting historical and archaeological sites throughout the world, has changed its language for the Temple Mount, acquiescing last week to a request by the Palestinian Authority that it refer to the site using the term “Al-Aqsa mosque” only.

The Obama administration says it “will carefully consider” what are expected to be a series of United Nations Security Council Resolutions aimed at Israel in the coming months, generating accusations in Congress that Washington is preparing to abandon Israel at the U.N., according to State Department officials and congressional sources apprised of the measure.

Unlike last time Israel faced a hostile resolution at the United Nations Security Council, in December 2014, this time there is virtually no chance that it will fail to garner the required majority.

Israeli intelligence has confirmed to the German newspaper Bild, that Hezbollah, the Iranian-backed terrorist army that has vowed to destroy the Jewish state, has acquired advanced Russian anti-aircraft weapons systems that were given by the Russian military to the Syrian armed forces, reports The Times of Israel. The SA-17 Buk missile battery is a game changer and will directly threaten Israeli aircraft operating in northern Israel and the region.