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Regional powers seek off-ramp from Iran war, and other Middle East developments

Qatar and other regional powers sought an off-ramp from the war with Iran on Thursday as another tanker attack was reported in the Strait of Hormuz, and the Iranian government dismissed the Trump administration’s latest sanctions. Elsewhere in the Middle East, Israel continued its attacks on Gaza and Lebanon even as the country’s strikes on […]

8 mins read

Republicans face a midterm verdict as Iran war drags on months longer than Trump promised

BETHLEHEM, Pa. | Mike Gibbons sat out the presidential election two years ago, frustrated that Democrat Kamala Harris did not take a stronger stand against Israel’s war in Gaza and unable to bring himself to cast a vote for Republican Donald Trump. That is not his plan this year. The 33-year-old restaurant server in this […]

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Israeli military launches criminal probes into killings of Hind Rajab and Palestinian paramedics

JERUSALEM | Israel’s military on Wednesday announced its first criminal investigations into troop conduct in the war in Gaza, focusing on the killings of 5-year-old Hind Rajab and her family and of 15 Palestinian paramedics. The military said it would not launch criminal investigations into three other attacks that killed aid workers from World Central […]

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There’s a reason why Israel has done little to rein in settler violence. It’s not just Netanyahu

Palestinians in the occupied West Bank village of Qusra have huddled inside their homes for days on end, unable to leave because of the threat posed by Israeli settlers. The Israeli military, which over the past three years has displayed staggering military and intelligence capabilities from Beirut to Tehran, has yet to fully remove the […]

7 mins read

Top US commander visits aircraft carrier, Gaza talks in Egypt and other Mideast news

The top U.S. military commander in the Middle East praised the leadership of the long-deployed USS Lincoln after visiting the sailors on the vessel during a regional tour that ended on Saturday, the U.S. Central Command said. U.S. negotiator Jared Kushner had a rare meeting with the Hamas leader on the Gaza ceasefire. And the […]

8 mins read

In rejecting Trump’s Gaza plan, Netanyahu reprises a balancing act he has mastered

It’s possibly the most important job of any Israeli prime minister: maintain good relations with the United States while pushing back on demands seen as undermining Israel’s security. No one has managed the balancing act longer than Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel’s longest-serving leader. But with the Iran war at a stalemate, and U.S. President […]

6 mins read

Netanyahu says no Israeli withdrawal from Gaza until Hamas has been completely disarmed

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza City | Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Tuesday that Israel will not withdraw from its current lines in Gaza until Hamas has completely disarmed and pushed back on a recent deal announced by U.S. President Donald Trump. Netanyahu’s remarks cast more doubt on the deal to disarm Hamas, which was seen as […]

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Israel says it has serious concerns with Hamas disarmament deal

TEL AVIV, Israel | Israel has shared “serious security concerns” with the White House regarding the proposed disarmament deal with Hamas, an Israeli official said as Israeli strikes overnight and into Sunday evening killed at least 17 people, including children, in Gaza. The remarks by Doron Spielman, spokesperson for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office, […]

5 mins read

Trump says deal reached for Hamas disarmament. Israel doesn’t comment

WASHINGTON | President Donald Trump said Thursday that a deal has been reached for Hamas to disarm and Israel to withdraw its forces from Gaza, but many hurdles, conditions and long timelines remained to wind down the war in the Palestinian territory. The White House announcement comes nine months after a U.S.-brokered ceasefire was signed. […]

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Three Colorado Democrats among majority voting to cut aid to Israel in growing split

WASHINGTON | More than half the House Democrats voted Wednesday to strip $3.3 billion in U.S. aid from Israel, the most substantial signal yet that once rock-solid bipartisan support for the country is disintegrating in the aftermath of its war in Gaza that has killed thousands of Palestinians. The vote tally, 104-314, was not enough […]