Israel News

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) announced Sunday it will begin implementing daily “tactical pauses” in select areas of the Gaza Strip to facilitate the delivery and distribution of humanitarian aid, following mounting international pressure over the growing humanitarian crisis.

Israel says it has started airdrops with humanitarian aid in Gaza to prevent mass starvation in the enclave after the United Nations allegedly refused to distribute food on Israeli terms.

Britain, France, and Germany blamed Israel for the “humanitarian catastrophe” in Gaza and demanded that Israel lift “restrictions” on aid.

French President Emmanuel Macron sparked a diplomatic firestorm Thursday by announcing that France will formally recognize a Palestinian state at the United Nations General Assembly this September.

After nearly three weeks of intensive U.S.- and Qatari-mediated negotiations with Hamas in Doha, both Israel and the United States have recalled their negotiating teams, citing a lack of genuine progress and deep-rooted ideological obstacles from the terror group that continue to stall a potential deal.

A disturbing wave of antisemitic incidents has erupted across Europe in recent weeks, targeting Israeli tourists and Jewish communities with increasing frequency and violence. From Greece to Germany, Switzerland to Belgium, attacks, threats, and legal actions against Israelis are raising alarms among Jewish leaders and government officials alike.

In a decisive political statement, the Israeli Knesset voted overwhelmingly Wednesday in favor of a non-binding resolution declaring support for the application of full Israeli sovereignty over Judea, Samaria, and the Jordan Valley — territories comprising what is internationally referred to as the West Bank. The symbolic resolution passed 71-13, reflecting wide backing among the governing coalition and some members of the opposition.

Senior officials from the United States, Israel, and Syria are due to meet Thursday to negotiate urgent security arrangements in southern Syria, after a week of deadly sectarian violence and Israeli military strikes targeting Syrian forces near Damascus.

Hundreds of pro-Palestinian protesters blocked Israeli tourists from disembarking in Greece on Tuesday, forcing an Israeli-owned cruise ship carrying 1,600 passengers to reroute to Cyprus.

The United States will once again withdraw from the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), President Donald Trump’s administration announced Tuesday, citing the agency’s “anti-Israel rhetoric,” “divisive cultural agenda,” and “pro-Palestinian bias.” The decision follows a 90-day review ordered by Trump earlier this year, and marks the third major withdrawal from a UN agency during his current term.

A simmering diplomatic dispute over visa delays for Christian organizations in Israel has been resolved, following high-level intervention from U.S. Ambassador Mike Huckabee and pressure from American faith leaders.

The Israeli Air Force conducted drone strikes on Yemen’s Houthi-controlled Hodeida port on Monday, targeting military infrastructure used by the Iran-backed group to launch attacks on Israel. According to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), the operation was carried out in direct response to ongoing Houthi missile and drone assaults, marking the thirteenth such Israeli strike on Yemen.

Israel’s military pledged to investigate claims by Gaza’s Hamas-controlled Health Ministry that at least 85 Palestinians were killed Sunday while trying to get food, but the army expressed doubts about the reported death toll.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) announced Sunday it will begin ground operations in Deir al-Balah for the first time since the start of the Gaza conflict, expanding its military campaign into one of the last remaining areas of the Strip untouched by ground forces. The move comes with a new evacuation warning to civilians in the southwest of the city, directing them to seek refuge in the overcrowded coastal zone of al-Mawasi.

Pope Leo XIV has urged Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to achieve a ceasefire and “protect places of worship” after Gaza’s only Catholic Church was reportedly struck by Israel’s military, killing three people and injuring 10, including the parish priest, the Vatican said.

Israel has launched a forceful military intervention in southern Syria aimed at protecting the embattled Druze minority, after more than 500 people were killed in four days of bloody conflict in the province of As-Suwayda. The fighting, sparked by sectarian tensions between Druze militias, Bedouin tribal fighters, and Syrian regime forces, was intensified by alleged atrocities against Druze civilians–prompting Israel to act.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition plunged into deeper crisis Wednesday as the ultra-Orthodox Shas party announced its ministers were resigning from the government in protest of the failure to pass legislation exempting yeshiva students from military service. The move, while not an official departure from the coalition, further weakens Netanyahu’s grip on power, reducing his effective support in the Knesset to just 60 out of 120 members.

U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee has issued a sharply worded letter to Israel’s Interior Minister Moshe Arbel, accusing his office of systematically denying visas to Christian groups seeking to visit the Holy Land. The letter, first reported by Channel 12, conveys Huckabee’s “profound disappointment” and warns of diplomatic fallout if the issue is not resolved swiftly.

U.S. President Donald Trump called Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday following a deadly Israeli military strike that hit Gaza’s only Roman Catholic church, killing three civilians and wounding several others.

In a diplomatically unorthodox move, U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee attended a court hearing on Wednesday in Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s ongoing corruption trial, making headlines both in Israel and abroad.