US security adviser: Our goal is to get Iran out of Syria
White House National Security Adviser John Bolton arrived in Israel Sunday and met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for talks focused mainly on Iran.
Israel
Hamas: We won’t disarm as part of any truce with Israel
Hamas said on Monday that it will not lay down its weapons or ‘pay any political price’ as part of any cease-fire agreement with Israel.
With Abbas sidelined, Israeli-Palestinian conflict enters new territory
It is unlikely coincidental that Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas this weekend restated a call for ‘popular resistance’ against Israel, as the PA boss, back up against the wall, is seen by critics as having resorted to the often-used tactic of deflecting blame away from his own shortcomings and onto the ‘occupation.’
Two Iranian-Americans Charged With Spying on Jewish, Israeli Facilities
Two Iranian-Americans have been charged by the Trump administration with spying on Jewish and Israeli-associated facilities in California on behalf of the hardline Iranian regime, the Department of Justice announced late Monday.
House-Church Members in Iran Reportedly Sentenced to Year in Prison
A convert from Islam in Iran said he and 11 other Christians were sentenced to a year in prison for ‘inclination to the land of Christianity’ among other charges, according to Mohabat News.
Bolton in Israel: Iran Nuclear Program at ‘Top of List’ in Talks With Netanyahu
Iran’s nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programs are at ‘the top of the list,’ U.S. National Security Advisor John Bolton said Sunday after arriving in Israel, where he plans to holds talks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
US ambassador tells Israeli MK ‘no reason to evacuate settlements’ in peace deal
In a meeting with several settler leaders Wednesday, US Ambassador to Israel David Friedman said that he saw ‘no reason to evacuate settlements’ in a peace deal, a Likud lawmaker said.
PA leader admits efforts to torpedo Israel-Hamas truce talks
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas warned Saturday that he will not allow for two separate entities to rule Palestinian lands, effectively admitting that Ramallah was actively trying to torpedo the Egyptian-brokered cease-fire talks between Israel and Hamas.
Abbas: We will thwart Trump’s plan, Nation-State Law
US administration officials who purportedly claim to want to improve the living conditions of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip are ‘liars,’ Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas said on Wednesday.
Russia says drone attacks on its Syria base have increased
Russian air defense assets in Syria have downed 45 drones targeting their main base in the country, its military said Thursday, after an attack by the Islamic State group on a Syrian army base a day earlier killed seven troops.
Cyprus serving as Gaza’s port still in early stages
If the emerging cease-fire arrangement with Hamas includes some kind of port or shipping corridor from Cyprus to Gaza, as some reports have indicated, no one has yet cued in the Cypriots.
Israel to boost security budget by hundreds of millions of dollars
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu presented the cabinet with his ‘2030 Security Concept’ on Wednesday, which will add hundreds of millions of dollars to military spending, and outlines the expected threats, military manpower needs, and principles for using force over the next decade.
IAI to provide Barak-8 Missile Defense System for navy’s new warships
Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) will provide advanced defense systems to Israel Navy’s new Sa’ar-6 corvettes to protect strategic maritime assets, the defense giant announced on Tuesday.
US warns no one will be ‘fully pleased’ by Israeli-Palestinian peace plan
The Trump administration said Wednesday that neither Israelis nor Palestinian would be ‘fully pleased’ by its long-awaited Middle East peace plan, whose contents are one of the most guarded secrets in Washington.
Top Trump security aide Bolton to visit Israel next week
Top White House official John Bolton will visit Israel for talks next week, the Trump administration said Tuesday.
Russia exerts growing clout in Middle East as it begins patrols in Golan Heights
Russian military police have begun patrolling the demilitarised zone between Israel and Syria in the Golan Heights, highlighting Moscow’s increasing clout as a Middle Eastern power broker following its intervention in the civil war there.
Egypt summons Palestinian groups for Israeli truce, unity talks
Representatives of various Palestinian factions in the Gaza Strip headed to Cairo on Tuesday for talks with Egyptian intelligence officials on the possibility of reaching a truce agreement with Israel, and ending the Hamas-Fatah power struggle.
Israel-Hamas cease-fire deal ‘virtually done,’ paper reports
After a two-day lull in violence along the Gaza Strip-Israel border, the Los Angeles Times quoted a senior Israeli official Monday as saying that a cease-fire agreement with Hamas, the Islamist organization that rules Gaza, is ‘virtually done.’
Hezbollah chief claims terror group stronger than IDF, ready for war
The leader of Lebanon’s Hezbollah movement said Tuesday that US sanctions against Iran and his Iran-backed group will not have major effects on them and will not lead to regime change in Tehran.
Israeli-Palestinian support for two states at 20-year low, poll says
Support for a two-state resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is at the lowest point in two decades, according to new polling data released on Monday by two academicians.