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Politics & Security

ANWAR AMRO/AFP via Getty Images

What's behind Hezbollah's Naim Qassem openness to Lebanon-Israel cease-fire

For the first time since Israel’s ground invasion of Lebanon began Sept. 30, Hezbollah has indicated openness to a cease-fire separate from a deal in Gaza.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi speaks to the press, in front of the portrait of slain Lebanese Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, after meeting with Syrian officials at the Iranian embassy in Damascus on Oct. 5, 2024.

Analysis

'Do not test our will,' Iran FM Araghchi warns Israel ahead of Saudi Arabia visit

Iran's foreign minister began a regional tour as Tehran prepared for a possible Israeli strike, with its Revolutionary Guard saying it had a wide range of plans in store for retaliation.

A correspondent in Tehran

By A correspondent in Tehran

In Tehran, reporting on politics

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant meets with US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin at the Pentagon on June 25, 2024, in Arlington, Virginia.

Pentagon confirms Israel defense chief Gallant's Washington visit is postponed

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has nixed his defense chief's trip as Washington looks for leverage to restrain an Israeli retaliation against Iran that Biden administration officials fear could escalate into a regional war.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan wears a scarf with both Turkish and Palestinian flags as he addresses a rally organized by the AKP party in solidarity with the Palestinians in Gaza, in Istanbul on Oct. 28, 2023.

Analysis

Erdogan accuses Israel of wanting to wage war on Turkey despite robust trade ties

These claims, which analysts have deemed absurd, are mainly aimed at appeasing his Islamist base and distracting the broader public from their economic woes.

Amberin Zaman

By Amberin Zaman

In London, reporting on geopolitics, minorities, human rights, culture

Latest News

Where do Kamala Harris, Donald Trump stand on Gaza war, Iran policy?

Vice President Kamala Harris speaks before planting a pomegranate tree at the Vice President's residence at the US Naval Observatory on Oct. 7, 2024 in Washington, DC.

Live Updates

Israel defense chief postpones US visit as differences over Iran response grow

Smoke rises from buildings hit in an overnight Israeli airstrike that targeted the neighbourhood of Al-Jamous in Beirut's southern suburbs on October 3, 2024. Israel kept up its bombardment of Beirut after Iran launched its second, and largest, attack on Israel in months, which prompted Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to warn Tehran would pay. (Photo by AFP) (Photo by -/AFP via Getty Images)

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Analysis

As response looms, US tries to dissuade Israel from catastrophic attack on Iran

Italian F35 fighter jets take part in the "Blue Flag" multinational air defence exercise at the Ovda air force base, north of the Israeli city of Eilat, on November 11, 2019. (Photo by JACK GUEZ / AFP) (Photo by JACK GUEZ/AFP via Getty Images)

Ben Caspit

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

Biden treads fine line on Iran as Israel's Gallant heads to Washington

US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant stand during an honor cordon at the Pentagon on June 25, 2024 in Arlington, Virginia.

Amberin Zaman

Chief Correspondent

In London, reporting on geopolitics, minorities, human rights, culture

Ben Caspit

Israel Columnist

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

Elizabeth Hagedorn

State Department Correspondent

In Washington, DC, reporting on diplomacy, regional politics, human rights

Ezgi Akin

Associate Editor (Turkey)

In Ankara, reporting on diplomacy, EU-Turkey ties, NATO

Jared Szuba

Pentagon Correspondent

In Washington, DC, reporting on defense, national security, military

Adam Lucente

News and Business Correspondent

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

US President Joe Biden speaks during a news conference in the Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House on Oct. 4, 2024, in Washington.

Analysis

Gaza looms large over Biden’s foreign policy legacy as diplomacy falters

As the war continues into its second year, the Biden administration appears no closer to de-escalating in Gaza and laying a framework for a lasting Middle East peace.

Elizabeth Hagedorn

By Elizabeth Hagedorn

In Washington, DC, reporting on diplomacy, regional politics, human rights

Iranian Quds Force commander Ismail Qaani.

Iran says IRGC Quds Force chief Qaani alive, offers few details

The commander was reportedly in Beirut at the time of an Israeli strike targeting a senior Hezbollah official.

Macron

Analysis

What is extent of France-Israel rift as Macron calls for arms embargo?

Israel and France are not yet in a diplomatic crisis, but the exchange of accusations between French President Emmanuel Macron and Israeli Premier Benjamin Netanyahu does not bode well for bilateral relations.

Rina Bassist

By Rina Bassist

In Paris, reporting on Israeli politics and European affairs

Displaced people ride on a donkey-drawn cart through a muddy puddle in Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip on Sept. 30, 2024.

Palestinians long for life before Oct. 7 as Gaza war upends lives, future

One year into the Israeli war on Gaza, as winter approaches, Gazans feel hopeless and trapped in an endless cycle of conflict amid tragic living conditions.

In this pool photograph distributed by Russian state agency Sputnik, Russia's President Vladimir Putin (L) and Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev (R) attend the official dinner following their talks in Baku on August 19, 2024.

Analysis

How Iran's Zangezur concerns could backfire on its own interests

Sabena Siddiqui

By Sabena Siddiqui

In Karachi, reporting on South Asia, Middle East, Iran

Turkey's right-wing Nationalist Movement Party leader Devlet Bahceli greets the crowd during the party's 12th Ordinary Grand Congress in Ankara, on March 18, 2018.

Analysis

A surprise handshake in Turkey's parliament: Nationalist-Kurdish thaw or political maneuver?

The escalating conflict in the region — among other considerations — has prompted unexpected handshakes between two foes in Turkey: pro-Kurdish DEM Party lawmakers and Nationalist Movement Party leader Devlet Bahceli.

Ezgi Akin

In Ankara, reporting on diplomacy, EU-Turkey ties, NATO

Former Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert attends a demonstration against the Israeli government's controversial justice reform bill, in Tel Aviv on March 1, 2023. (Photo by JACK GUEZ / AFP) (Photo by JACK GUEZ/AFP via Getty Images)

Exclusive

A way forward, ex-Israeli PM Olmert says Gaza cease-fire only road for solution

Former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said the plan he recently presented with former Palestinian official Nasser al-Kidwa for ending the Gaza war does not have buy-in from the current Israeli or Palestinian leadership.

Rina Bassist

By Rina Bassist

In Paris, reporting on Israeli politics and European affairs

Nasser al-Kidwa, former minister for foreign affairs of the Palestinian Authority, ex-member of the Fatah movement's central committee, and nephew of late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, gives an interview in Gaza City on Sept. 24, 2022.

Exclusive

A way forward, ex-Palestinian FM Nasser Kidwa calls for Arab security presence in Gaza

In an exclusive interview with Al-Monitor, former Palestinian Foreign Minister Nasser al-Kidwa said that Palestinians must be serious and practical in order to reach an agreement to end the war in Gaza and establish a Palestinian state.

Daoud Kuttab

By Daoud Kuttab

In Amman, reporting on Palestinian politics

People inspect the remains of an Iranian missile that fell into the home of a Bedouin family in the Negev desert near Arad on October 2, 2024, in the aftermath of an overnight Iranian missile attack on Israel.

Analysis

As world awaits Israel's response to Iran, can US help stave off ‘all-out war’?

Benjamin Netanyahu mulls four options to respond to Iran, the US moves goalposts on containing the war, the Gulf looks for assurances on oil assets and more.

Andrew Parasiliti

By Andrew Parasiliti

In Washington, DC, reporting on diplomacy, regional politics, national security

In this handout image provided by the Iranian Leader's Press Office, Iranian Supreme leader Ali Khamenei (C) is seen alongside Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian (L), Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf (2L), Judiciary Chief Mohsen Ejeie (2R) and Hezbollah representative in Iran Abdallah Safieddine reading the Koran during the Friday prayer ceremony on October 04, 2024 in Tehran, Iran.

Analysis

Iran's Khamenei seeks to navigate between defiance, de-escalation after missile salvo

In his first public Friday sermon in over four years, the Iranian leader demonstrated defiance yet seemed keen to avoid further escalation by signaling to Israel that Tehran has no appetite for a direct confrontation and prefers its regional proxies to wage the limited battle on its behalf.

A correspondent in Tehran

By A correspondent in Tehran

In Tehran, reporting on politics

Pictures of slain al-Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh hang on the facade of the building housing the television station's office in Ramallah in the occupied West Bank, after Israel issued a 45-day closure order on September 22, 2024. Al Jazeera reported on September 22 that Israeli troops had raided its Ramallah bureau and informed journalists for the Doha-based network in the occupied West Bank to shutter operations. (Photo by JAAFAR ASHTIYEH / AFP) (Photo by JAAFAR ASHTIYEH/AFP via Getty Images)

Analysis

After Al Jazeera office closure, what's next for press freedom in Israel?

The closure of the Ramallah Al Jazeera office came after the office in Jerusalem was shut down by order of the Israeli government last May.

Mazal Mualem

By Mazal Mualem

In Tel Aviv, reporting on politics

Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian meets with regional leaders at the Asia Cooperation Dialogue in Doha on Oct. 2, 2024.

As Iran, Israel lurch toward war, Saudi Arabia seeks rapprochement with Tehran

Riyadh seeks assurances from Tehran that energy infrastructure in the region is spared amid talks of Israeli retaliation targeting Iranian oil and gas assets.