Israel - Al-Monitor: The Middle Eastʼs leading independent news source since 2012

Israel cover image

Israel

November 27, 2024

Tel Aviv 5:54 pm

17°C

Israel Lebanon

US military to monitor Israel-Lebanon ceasefire alongside UN, France

The Lebanese Army emerges as the lynchpin of a fragile ceasefire as Biden vows no US troops on the ground in south Lebanon.

An Israeli soldier sits in a tank stationed near the border with Lebanon in the Upper Galilee area in northern Israel, on Nov. 26, 2024.

Biden says Israel, Lebanon accept ceasefire to end war

President Joe Biden said the parties had agreed to a “permanent cessation of hostilities” after nearly 14 months of war.

Smoke billows from the site of an Israeli airstrike in Marjayoun, near the Lebanon-Israel border, on Sept. 23, 2024.

Israel security cabinet approves ceasefire deal with Hezbollah to end Lebanon war

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his security cabinet approved the US-mediated deal with Hezbollah for stopping the conflict in Lebanon.

Smoke billows above Beirut's southern suburbs following an Israeli airstrike on Nov. 26, 2024, amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hezbollah.

Cautious optimism in Lebanon as Israel inches toward cease-fire deal

Lebanon is awaiting Israel’s decision on a US-brokered cease-fire deal even as Israeli strikes continue across the country.

Latest News

Netanyahu gets partial delay for testimony; cease-fire decision expected in hours

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrives at the District Court to follow Hollywood producer Arnon Milchan by video conference from Brighton, testifying at a trial involving Netanyahu, Jerusalem, June 25, 2023.

Analysis

Will Netanyahu finally agree to Lebanon cease-fire after months of delays?

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during a memorial ceremony for Israelis killed on the Hebrew calendar anniversary of the Hamas attack on October 7 last year that sparked the ongoing war in Gaza, at the Mount Herzl military cemetery in Jerusalem on Oct. 27, 2024.

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

Sign up to our Daily Briefing

Keep up with Al-Monitor's top stories with a morning digest from across the region.

Interview

Lebanon’s ex-spymaster says Israel-Hezbollah cease-fire close

The influential head of Lebanon's General Security apparatus, Abbas Ibrahim, is pictured during an interview at his office in the capital Beirut on July 22, 2020.

Maj. Gen. Abbas Ibrahim

Maj. Gen. Abbas Ibrahim

Former Lebanese intelligence chief

UAE’s Jewish community in shock as arrests made in Israeli rabbi’s killing

Rabbi Levi Duchman performs morning prayers on the roof of the Jewish Community Center of the UAE, Dubai, United Arab Emirates, March 22, 2021.

Ben Caspit

Israel Columnist

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

Jack Dutton

Chief Business Correspondent

In Bristol, reporting on regional business, climate change, AI, tech

Adam Lucente

News and Business Correspondent

In New York City, reporting on regional news, militancy, climate change

Rina Bassist

Associate Editor (Israel)

In Paris, reporting on Israeli politics and European affairs

Samuel Wendel

Senior Market Research Analyst

In Washington, DC, reporting on regional business and tech

Gabrielle Debinski

Newsletter and Content Editor

In New York City, reporting on the Middle East

Smoke billows during Israeli shelling on the southern Lebanese village of Kfar Kila near the border with Israel on January 31, 2024, amid ongoing cross-border tensions as fighting continues between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas group in Gaza. (Photo by Rabih DAHER / AFP) (Photo by RABIH DAHER/AFP via Getty Images)

Analysis

Hochstein back in Israel: Can he bring Lebanon cease-fire alongside Gaza's?

Israel may have to accept low-key conflict with Hezbollah as the "new-old normal" on its northern border even as a cease-fire appears close with Hamas.

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

Ireland's prime minister, Leo Varadkar, talks to the press as he arrives for the second and last day of a European Union summit, at the EU headquarters in Brussels, on Oct. 27, 2023.

Ireland seeking review of EU-Israel trade deal

Ireland-Israel relations have plummeted since the start of the Gaza war amid significant pro-Palestinian and anti-Israeli sentiment in the country.

French marines patrol the area around the French navy frigate, the FS Languedoc.

Analysis

Despite internal discord, EU to launch Red Sea naval mission within 3 weeks

Internal disagreements within the European Union are why Brussels announced only this week that it will set up a naval military mission in the Red Sea to protect the maritime route.

Rina Bassist

By Rina Bassist

In Paris, reporting on Israeli politics and European affairs

THOMAS COEX/AFP via Getty Images

Breaking | Last Updated: February 1, 2024, 2:49 pm

Biden authorizes sanctions over West Bank settler attacks

Under a new executive order, the State Department has imposed sanctions on four Israelis accused of violence and intimidation that forced Palestinians to flee their homes in the West Bank.

The children of Palestinian Mahmoud Al-Durra, 32 years old, from Gaza City, who was displaced to the city of Rafah in the south of the Gaza Strip after Israeli raids destroyed his house and his wife was killed, play in the ruins on Jan. 31, 2024 in Rafah, Gaza.

Hamas claims stir debate over UN’s aid lifeline to Gaza

The Biden administration is under mounting pressure to urgently resume funding for UNRWA, without which aid agencies say humanitarian conditions will further deteriorate in the Gaza Strip.

amlies of hostages and supporters hold signs and photos of hostages during a protest calling for an hostages deal with Hamas near the Israeli Prime Minister's residence on January 22, 2024in Jerusalem Israel. According to Israel, 132 hostages are still held by Hamas in Gaza since the October 7 attack. As the conflict between Israel-Hamas conflict rages on, the IDF focused the military offensive on Khan Younes, now the epicenter of the clashes in southern Gaza. For their part, families of hostages in Israel

Analysis

What's holding up Israel-Hamas hostage release, cease-fire deal?

Reports indicate that Israel would have to release thousands of Palestinian prisoners, including those convicted of murder, in exchange for the release of the roughly 136 hostages held in Gaza.

Rina Bassist

By Rina Bassist

In Paris, reporting on Israeli politics and European affairs

A Starbucks store stands in Manhattan on January 30, 2024 in New York City. The global coffee chain officially introduced its extra virgin olive oil-infused drinks on Tuesday. Named Oleato, the drinks debuted in Italy in February 2023 and arrive in stores on the same day Starbucks will report fourth-quarter earnings. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

Starbucks feels Gaza boycott heat, cuts sales forecast as BDS targets Chevron

The two companies are being targeted by campaigners over perceived support for sides in the Israel-Hamas war.

Israeli ambassador to Sweden, Ziv Nevo Kulman (C) meets with people as they show their solidarity and support outside the Israeli embassy in Stockholm, Sweden, on October 9, 2023, after the surprise attack by Palestinian militant group Hamas against Israel. (Photo by Jonathan NACKSTRAND / AFP) (Photo by JONATHAN NACKSTRAND/AFP via Getty Images)

What we know about attempted attack in Sweden outside Israeli Embassy

Israeli Ambassador to Sweden Zin Nevo Kulman thanked Stockholm police for thwarting an attempted attack by neutralizing a suspected explosive device.

A shipment of 155mm artillery shells used by the Israeli army is transported on a truck along a highway between the Jerusalem and Beersheba in southern Israel on October 14, 2023. (Photo by Yuri CORTEZ / AFP) (Photo by YURI CORTEZ/AFP via Getty Images)

Gaza war brings sharp rise in Israeli defense procurements

David Rosenberg

David Rosenberg

In Tel Aviv, reporting on business and tech

Israel's Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant speaks at the funeral for Col. Asaf Hamami, commander of Gaza Division's Southern Brigade, at the Kiryat Shaul cemetery, Tel Aviv, Israel, Dec. 4, 2023.

'Hamas won’t control Gaza,' Israel defense chief says, citing West Bank as model

Reacting to statements by far-right ministers on Israel ruling Gaza, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said Israel would need freedom to operate militarily in the enclave, but will not govern it.

David Cameron

UK’s Cameron heads to Oman to discuss Houthi attacks, Red Sea escalation

Ahead of the visit, the foreign minister told the Conservative Middle East Council that Britain is ready to bring forward the moment when it officially recognizes an independent Palestinian state.

TEL AVIV, ISRAEL - JANUARY 30: An Israeli soldier passes by a wall with photos of hostages held by Hamas in the Gaza Strip on January 30, 2024 in Tel Aviv, Israel. The Israeli prime minister's office referred to as "constructive" the recent high-level talks on a proposed pause in fighting in Gaza, as well the release of Israeli hostages held there. The potential deal, which is being brokered by Qatar and Egypt, would also entail the release of Palestinian prisoners held in Israel and other conditions. (Phot

Analysis

Cautious optimism around Israel-Hamas deal but Netanyahu indecisive

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu knows that his far-right allies will give him hell, should he accept a hostage release deal that would set free thousands of Palestinian prisoners.

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