Israel

Gaza: Riyadh Arab Summit Concluded, No Final Statement Expected

Arab leaders met in Riyadh on Friday to craft a plan for Gaza's post-war reconstruction to counter Donald Trump's proposal for the United States to take over the territory without its Palestinian inhabitants. Trump's plan has united Arab states in opposition to it, but disagreements remain over who should govern Gaza and how its reconstruction ...

14 Billion Dollars: The Devastating Losses of the Hezbollah-Israel Conflict

$14 billion! That is the historic and no less colossal amount of damage caused by the conflict between Hezbollah and Israel. This sum includes both material damage and economic losses. The reconstruction costs are estimated at around $12 billion.   For Nassib Ghobril, chief economist at Byblos Bank, economic losses amount to at least $3 ...

Israel to Release 602 Prisoners in Exchange for 6 Israeli Hostages Under Gaza Truce Deal

Israel will free 602 inmates from jails on Saturday as part of a hostage-prisoner swap with Hamas under an ongoing Gaza ceasefire deal, according to the Palestinian Prisoners' Club advocacy group. Among those released, 445 are people from Gaza who were arrested after Hamas' October 7 attack that sparked the war, 60 are serving long ...

Israel Says Hostage Body Returned by Hamas not Bibas Mother

Israel said Friday that one of the bodies returned from Gaza is not that of Shiri Bibas, as claimed by Hamas, and accused Palestinian "terrorists" of killing her two boys who have become symbols of the hostages' ordeal. Thousands of mourning Israelis had observed a moment of silence Thursday in honour of four dead hostages returned ...

Netanyahu Orders 'Intensive' West Bank Operations after Israel Bus Blasts

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Friday ordered an "intensive operation against centers of terrorism" in the occupied West Bank, his office said, after three buses exploded in central Israel without causing any reported injuries. Three devices detonated on buses in the city of Bat Yam on Thursday evening and two others were being ...

Israel Says Strikes Lebanon-Syria Border Crossings Used by Hezbollah

Israel said Friday it struck crossings on the Lebanon-Syria border used by Hezbollah to smuggle weapons, with a Syria war monitor reporting an unspecified number of people wounded in the attack. The Israeli military said its air forces "struck crossing points in the area of the Lebanon-Syria border" used by Hezbollah  "in attempts to smuggle ...

Israel: Explosions Hit Several Buses in Tel Aviv, Police Suspect Terrorist Attack

Israeli police said that explosions rocked several buses in the central Israeli city of Bat Yam on Thursday evening in what they described as a “suspected terror attack,” without giving any immediate reports of injuries. “Preliminary reports suspected a terror attack. Multiple reports have been received of explosions involving ...

Exclusive: Dr. Matthew Levitt: A Majority of Lebanese Are Annoyed by Hezbollah's Entry into War with Israel

In an exclusive interview, Dr. Matthew Levitt, the Director of the Reinhard Program on Counterterrorism and Intelligence at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, explained how the Lebanese Army exceeded Washington’s expectations in its deployment in South Lebanon. He also explained that Lebanon and Israel should start discussing peace ...

Hamas Accuses Netanyahu of Delaying the Second Phase of the Truce

Hamas on Thursday accused Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of "procrastinating" on negotiations for the second phase of a fragile ceasefire in Gaza, after Palestinian militants returned the bodies of four deceased hostages to Israel. "The second phase negotiations have not practically begun, and we are ready to engage in them as ...

Hamas Returns Bodies of Four Israeli Hostages

On Thursday, Hamas handed over the bodies of four Israeli hostages –  including Shiri Bibas and her two young children  – to the Red Cross. This marks the first transfer of remains since the October 7 attack that triggered the conflict. Armed and masked Hamas fighters displayed the four black coffins on a stage set up in Khan Yunis, each ...

Yemeni Minister Calls for Arrest of Huthi Leaders Attending Nasrallah’s Funeral

Yemeni Minister of Information Moammar al-Eryani has called for the arrest of several Huthi leaders who, he claims, plan to attend the funeral of former Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah in Beirut. Nasrallah, who led Hezbollah for more than 30 years, was killed on September 27. His funeral is scheduled for February 23. In a statement ...