Mahmoud Abbas said this week that the Palestinian Authority is ready to enter peace talks with Israel. The president’s comments came during a call with Vladimir Putin and follow a rare joint press conference between the PA and Hamas last week. Abbas told the Russian president that the Palestinians believe any negotiations Read more…
A key committee in the US Congress has voted to include in its budget legislation to introduce an international fund for Israeli-Palestinian Peace. The campaign for the $250m fund, which would support people-to-people work between Israelis and Palestinians, has been led by the Alliance for Middle East Peace. In the Read more…
Benjamin Netanyahu’s drive to begin annexing parts of the West Bank appears to have stalled amid opposition from his Blue and White coalition partners, the Palestinians and the Arab world, and confusion in the White House. The “unity government” agreement signed in April – which allows Netanyahu to remain in power Read more…
Hezbollah released a video on Saturday in which it threatened to strike Israeli cities with precision-guided missiles. The Iranian-backed terror group said it has the capability to hit “very precise targets” anywhere in Israel. “Today, we can not only hit the city of Tel Aviv but also, if God wants Read more…
More than 1,000 parliamentarians from across Europe have signed a letter urging Israel not to go ahead with plans to annex parts of the West Bank after 1 July. The letter, which was sent to European foreign ministries, said unilateral annexation would be “fatal to the prospects of Israeli-Palestinian Read more…
Israel this week set a record for the highest number of openly gay members of the Knesset. Yorai Lahav-Hertzano (pictured) was sworn in on Monday as a member of the centrist Yesh-Atid-Telem alliance. He joins the Knesset following the passage of a law which allows ministers to leave their parliamentary seats Read more…
Benjamin Netanyahu’s plan to begin annexing parts of the West Bank next month appear to be facing new obstacles as the prime minister battles to secure approval from his Blue and White coalition partners. The position of Benny Gantz’s centrist party appears to have become pivotal: the United States Read more…
Hassan Nasrallah has vowed that Hezbollah will keep its weapons as protests against Lebanon’s economic and financial crisis have continued. In a fiery address, the terror group leader (pictured) pledged on Tuesday evening: “Our weapons will remain in our hands and we will not starve; we will kill you.” Protesters Read more…
Iran’s stockpile of enriched uranium has grown by 50 percent in the last three months, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) reported this week. A former head of Israeli military intelligence warned that Iran has now substantially reduced the “break-out time” – the time in which it would be possible for the Islamic republic to Read more…
Tel Aviv will not be staging its annual Pride parade this weekend due to the coronavirus pandemic. The event, which was attended by 250,000 people last year, is the Middle East’s largest but organisers say they are hopeful that it may be able to take place later in the summer. Read more…
Lebanon is facing an unprecedented economic crisis, spurring protests and a threat to the country’s stability unlike any seen since the end of the country’s bloody civil war three decades ago. The crisis – which was ignited last October by planned tax rises and grew into a wider movement against Read more…
The release of the US Middle East plan last week was a nakedly political event. As his impeachment trial in the US Senate continued, Donald Trump attempted to bolster his support among pro-Israel evangelical Christians at home, while throwing an electoral lifeline to Benjamin Netanyahu. Indeed, the Israeli prime minister Read more…