Israel-Palestinian Conflict

Benny Gantz’s National Unity party would earn 29 seats if elections were held today, while the Likud Party would earn just 24 seats, according to new polls published by N12 and Channel 13 on Sunday evening.

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant began on Thursday an official visit to Greece and Cyprus, revealing significant progress in Tehran’s nuclear program during a stop in Athens.

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi met with senior Palestinian officials in Damascus on Thursday, expressing his country’s continued support for them while Iran and Syria signed multiple long-term cooperation agreements. Damascus-based Palestinian official Khalid ʽAbd al-Majid, head of a splinter faction of the Palestinian Popular Struggle Front, told The Associated Press that the delegation updated Raisi on the situation in the West Bank, Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip. Iran has long provided financial and military backing to select Palestinian factions.

Israel and China participated in the first direct talks on a free-trade agreement at the end of March since November 2019 and the eighth round since 2016, Globes reported.

Israel and Gaza armed groups agreed to a cease-fire early Wednesday after a day of increased violence, sparked by the death of a prominent Palestinian Islamic Jihad member during a hunger strike in an Israeli prison. According to Al Jazeera and Reuters, Palestinian sources confirmed that the truce went into effect before dawn, mediated by officials from Egypt, Qatar, and the United Nations.

Israel’s High Court of Justice on Monday rejected a request to hold Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in contempt for allegedly violating the terms of an agreement stipulating that he not interfere in judicial reform legislation.

U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) on Monday became the second-ever holder of his post to address the full Israeli Knesset, following in the footsteps of Newt Gingrich in 1998.

Israel launched airstrikes against the airport in the northern Syrian city of Aleppo on Monday night, killing one soldier and leaving seven others wounded, Syrian state media reported.

Israel launched airstrikes against targets near the western Syrian city of Homs during the pre-dawn hours of Saturday morning, Syrian state media reported.

While Thursday’s rally in support of the judicial overhaul provided a shot in the arm to coalition lawmakers determined to advance the currently suspended initiative, the Likud-backed protest could well put Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in an even thornier position as he seeks to reach a deal with the opposition on reforming the judiciary.

U.S. CENTCOM Commander Gen. Michael E. Kurilla arrived in Israel on Wednesday night for meetings with senior defense officials.

Two suspects were arrested on Thursday in Tel Aviv, as anti-government protesters attacked Israel’s economy minister Nir Barkat. Meanwhile, organizers estimated 600,000 advocates of judicial reform gathered in Jerusalem.

The Biden administration has been sending to Ukraine munitions from a stockpile the US has kept in Israel, a stockpile that Israel itself would need to use in a time of war while giving no clear indication as to when that stockpile will be replenished, Israel Hayom reports.

Speaking in a pre-recorded message broadcast at the Independence Day ceremony on Mount Herzl, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu continues to call for unity amid widespread divisions and protests against his government.