Israel Holds F-35 Drills in Anticipation of Regional War
Israel is holding its first drills with US-purchased F-35 fighter jets this week, in a large-scale exercise designed to simulate a war with northern adversaries Hezbollah, Syria, and Russia.
Israel
‘Iranian missiles can hit aircraft carriers in Persian Gulf’
Iranian missiles are capable of carrying out precision strikes on aircraft carriers in the Persian Gulf, commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps Maj. Gen. Hossein Salami said Tuesday in an interview with Iranian state television.
Netanyahu: Israel-Russia-U.S. meeting in Jerusalem crucial for regional security
Next week’s meeting in Jerusalem between the national security advisers of Israel, the United States, and Russia is ‘very important for the stability of the Middle East during these turbulent times,’ said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday.
Greenblatt: Israel should hold off on annexation until peace plan unveiled
US Special Envoy to the Middle East Jason Greenblatt said Tuesday that Israel should not move ahead with possible plans to annex parts of the West Bank, at least before the Trump administration’s peace plan comes out.
Pompeo: US forces in Persian Gulf just a deterrent
The Trump administration is not seeking conflict with Iran and its military buildup in the Persian Gulf is aimed entirely at deterring Iranian aggression and threats to US interests and international shipping, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Tuesday.
For First Time, Israeli F-35s Take Part in Drill Simulating Multi-Front War
For the first time, Israel’s advance F-35 fighter aircraft — called the ‘Adir’ — participated in a combat simulation, Ynet reported on Tuesday.
Russia-Iran strain raises possibility of US-Israel-Russia Syria deal
While few expect the advisors’ meeting this month in Jerusalem to produce immediate results, American and Israeli officials hope that it could prepare the ground for a deal that would further weaken Russian ties to Iran and reduce, if not terminate, Iran’s presence in Syria.
Germany, UK warn Iran over enrichment threat; EU takes wait-and-see approach
Germany and Britain on Monday warned Tehran not to breach uranium stockpile limits set by the 2015 nuclear deal, as the EU’s diplomatic chief dismissed Iranian threats as ‘political dialectics.’
Pompeo says US does not want war with Iran, urges diplomacy
While it is ‘unmistakable’ that Iran was responsible for the attacks on two tankers last week, the United States does not want to go to war with Tehran, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Sunday.
Israel joins U.S. in accusing Iran of oil tankers attack
After the US accused Iran of being behind the attack on the oil tanker in the Strait of Hormuz on Thursday, senior Israeli officials told Channel 13 that they too believe that the Iranian Revolutionary Guards were the ones who carried out the attack on the oil tankers in the Persian Gulf.
Iranian official calls IAEA inspectors ‘roaches,’ says Tehran should quit NPT
The head of an Iranian academic institute that conducts nuclear research has called for the Islamic Republic to withdraw from the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and renegotiate the 2015 nuclear deal, and repeatedly dubbed international nuclear inspectors ‘cockroaches.’
Iran says it will unveil measures reducing commitment to nuclear pact on Monday
Tehran said it would take further action Monday to renounce its commitments under the 2015 nuclear deal signed with world powers.
Mortar attack targets Iraqi base housing US troops
Militants in Iraq fired three mortar shells early Saturday into an air base just north of Baghdad where American trainers are present, causing no casualties, the Iraqi military said.
Arab League: Israel-Palestinian peace must have 2 states
The head of the Arab League is warning against any peace plan that ignores a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Khamenei: Iran doesn’t want nuclear bomb, but US couldn’t stop us if we did
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khameneni said Thursday that while Tehran doesn’t want an atomic bomb, ‘America could not do anything’ to stop it if it did, just days after the UN’s nuclear watchdog did not explicitly report that Iran was implementing its nuclear-related commitments and said that its rate of uranium enrichment was increasing.
Israeli planes hit several Gaza sites after Sderot rocket attack
Israel planes carried out multiple airstrikes in the Gaza Strip early Friday, hours after a rocket hit a religious school in southern Israel.
With glitz and glamor, Tel Aviv set for Mideast’s largest Pride parade Friday
Hundreds of thousands of people were set to take to Tel Aviv’s streets Friday, as the famously gay-friendly city puts on one of the world’s larger Pride parades.
Saudi forces intercept 5 Houthi drones in fresh airport attack
Saudi forces on Friday intercepted five Yemeni rebel drones in the second aerial attack on an airport in the kingdom’s southwest in two days, a Riyadh-led military coalition fighting the rebels said.
Sderot rocket strike prompts calls for major military operation in Gaza
Israeli politicians on the right and center called for serious military action against Gaza Thursday, after a religious school in southern Israel was hit by a rocket launched from the Palestinian territory.
Witnesses describe ‘miracle’ as Gaza missile barely misses Sderot students
Most students had already left for the weekend, but several people at a religious school in Sderot had stuck around Thursday night. Three of them were just sitting down to study Biblical psalms when a rocket alarm rang out just before 9 p.m.