Israel News

Israel observed Shabbat on Saturday amid fresh diplomatic tensions with the European Union and several Western nations over plans to expand settlements in the West Bank, known biblically as Judea and Samaria, and a separate dispute over a deadly Israeli strike on an aid convoy in Gaza.

Israel’s High Court of Justice has unanimously overturned the government’s decision to close the influential Army Radio after 75 years, ruling that ministers acted at least partly on “improper and invalid” political considerations because they objected to the station’s broadcasts.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told Jared Kushner that Israel remains firmly opposed to the creation of a Palestinian state, making the position “very clear” during a meeting this week with the Trump adviser, according to a senior Israeli official cited by JNS.

Israel has warned Syria not to allow Turkey to establish a deeper military foothold inside the country, escalating a growing diplomatic confrontation between Jerusalem and Ankara after an Israeli strike on the Abu al-Duhur military air base in northern Syria.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued a blunt warning to Turkey on Wednesday after Israel struck a Syrian military airbase that Jerusalem says Ankara was preparing to use for an expanded military presence in Syria.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and U.S. special envoy Jared Kushner have reached an understanding that Hamas must be fully disarmed and the Gaza Strip demilitarized before reconstruction begins or Israeli forces withdraw, marking a significant narrowing of differences between Jerusalem and the Trump administration over the future of Gaza.

Nuclear material has been discovered in Syria and placed under International Atomic Energy Agency oversight, reviving attention on a clandestine nuclear program that Israel destroyed nearly two decades ago.

Israel carried out an unusual airstrike deep inside northwestern Syria early Tuesday, targeting the strategic Abu al-Duhur military airfield shortly after a Turkish military delegation reportedly visited the base to assess its rehabilitation, according to Israeli and Syrian reports. The operation prompted a rare public rebuke from a senior U.S. envoy.

President Donald Trump’s Board of Peace is considering a significant overhaul of its Gaza disarmament framework after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejected a plan that would have linked Hamas weapons handovers to phased Israeli troop withdrawals, according to an exclusive report by The Times of Israel.

Iran-backed Hezbollah threatened to retaliate after Israel said Saturday it had killed a commander of the group in an attack that killed at least 11 people.

U.S. envoy Jared Kushner met senior Hamas leaders in Egypt on Sunday as the Trump administration intensified efforts to move Gaza toward disarmament and postwar governance, even as Israel continued targeted strikes against terrorist operatives inside the Gaza Strip.

A third red heifer has been born in Israel this season, giving rabbis three candidates now being examined as part of renewed efforts connected to the biblical purification rites required for Temple service.

A highly unusual midsummer storm swept across parts of Israel on Saturday, August 15, bringing heavy rain to Jerusalem, shattering August rainfall records near the capital, and sending floodwaters through a Judean Desert stream in what meteorologists described as an unprecedented summer event.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) carried out a second preemptive airstrike in Gaza in two days Thursday, targeting a Hamas terror cell in Khan Yunis that Israeli military officials said was preparing an attack against Israeli forces.

Israel is moving to expand the use of autonomous strike systems across its frontline forces, awarding a new Defense Ministry contract to develop a next generation of low-cost tactical attack drones for the Israel Defense Forces.

The United States has publicly rejected Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz’s declaration that Israeli troops will remain in southern Lebanon for the long term, exposing a widening disagreement between Washington and Jerusalem over how to secure Israel’s northern border.

Israel and Venezuela have agreed to renew consular relations for the first time since diplomatic ties were severed in 2009, marking another significant diplomatic development for Jerusalem in Latin America.

Colombia has formally recognized Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights, becoming only the second nation in the world after the United States to do so.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday formally launched a national artificial intelligence initiative aimed at making Israel one of the world’s leading AI powers, declaring that the Jewish state intends to help shape the technological future rather than merely respond to it.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday formally rejected a U.S.-backed 15-point plan for Gaza, declaring that Israeli forces will not withdraw from territory in the Strip until Hamas undergoes what he called complete and genuine disarmament.