Hundreds of U.S. Marines, IDF troops train in southern Israel
Hundreds of Israeli soldiers and US Marines trained shoulder-to-shoulder Monday in southern Israel as part of Juniper Cobra 2018, drilling on close urban combat and tunnel warfare.
War
An Israel-Hezbollah war could easily draw in Iran, US intel official warns
A top Trump administration intelligence official warned of the ‘real potential’ of war between Israel and Hezbollah that could bring in Iran and embroil the region in conflict.
Trump fires Rex Tillerson, will nominate Mike Pompeo to replace him
President Trump has fired Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and will nominate CIA Director Mike Pompeo to replace him.
Trump team ready to release peace plan
The Trump administration is finishing up its Middle East peace plan and intends to make it public soon, The New York Times reported Sunday.
White House to meet on Gaza crisis Tuesday, as it prepares to unveil peace plan
The Trump administration will convene a conference at the White House on Tuesday aimed at solving the humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip, with Jared Kushner and National Security Council staff outlining their plan for alleviating suffering in the coastal enclave.
UNHRC report: Settlements are a war crime
Israeli settlement activity in the West Bank and east Jerusalem is a war crime, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad al-Hussein charged in a report he issued last week.
U.S., Israel can’t afford confrontation, Iranian commander warns
A senior Iranian commander has warned Israel and the United States that it cannot afford the costs of a confrontation with the Islamic Republic.
Syrian jets hit south in first such attacks since truce
Syrian jets struck rebel-held towns in the country’s south on Monday, the first aerial attacks on the area since the United States and Russia brokered a deal making it a ‘de-escalation zone’ last year, rebels and residents said.
Syrian Observatory Says War Has Killed More Than Half a Million
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a British-based war monitor, said on Monday about 511,000 people had been killed in the Syrian war since it began seven years ago.
U.S. and IDF troops, in major joint drill, simulating battle on 3 fronts
Juniper Cobra, the largest joint US-Israeli air-defense exercise, is under way, with thousands of troops deployed across the country simulating scenarios where Israel faces missile barrages simultaneously on various fronts.
Netanyahu to Amb Haley: U.S. support of Israel at U.N. a ‘tsunami of fresh air’
Meeting with US Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley in New York on Thursday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said American support of Israel at the UN was not just a breath of fresh air but ‘a tsunami’ of it.
Trump says he’ll meet with North Korea’s Kim Jong Un
After months of trading insults and threats of nuclear annihilation, President Donald Trump agreed to meet with North Korean leader Kim Jung Un by May to negotiate an end to Pyongyang’s nuclear weapons program, South Korean and U.S. officials said Thursday. No American president has ever met with a North Korea leader.
California governor says Trump administration waging war against state
California Governor Jerry Brown on Wednesday accused President Donald Trump’s administration of declaring war on the most populous U.S. state, after the Justice Department sued to stop policies that protect illegal immigrants against deportation.
Iran’s Russian Anti-Aircraft Missile Now Operational, U.S. Says
Iran tested and deployed a Russian-made anti-aircraft missile system last year that has long worried U.S. and Israeli military officials because it gives the Islamic Republic a ‘generational improvement in capabilities,’ the Pentagon’s Defense Intelligence Agency disclosed.
Trump considering tariff exemptions for Canada, Mexico
The White House opened the door Wednesday to exempting Canada and Mexico from the proposed tariffs on steel and aluminum, the first pullback from a plan that critics say will spark a trade war.
Eleven nations – but not U.S. – to sign Trans-Pacific trade deal
Eleven countries are expected to sign a landmark Asia-Pacific trade agreement in Santiago on Thursday, as an antidote to the increasingly protectionist bent of the United States, which last year pulled out of the pact.
Russian, US air strikes in Syria caused mass civilian deaths, UN says
A significant number of civilians in Syria were killed by Russian and U.S.-led coalition air strikes last year, according to a new report from United Nations war crimes investigators.
Trump warns ‘world is watching’ after North Korea says it’s willing to give up nuclear weapons
President Trump said on Tuesday said ‘the world is watching’ North Korea after the regime promised not to use nuclear or conventional weapons against Seoul and expressed a willingness to hold talks with the United States on denuclearization.
Mississippi Senate passes nation’s most restrictive abortion ban, clinic plans to sue
After a heated floor debate, the Senate on Tuesday passed a bill 35-14 to ban abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy, bringing the state one step closer to enacting the most restrictive abortion ban in the country.
Iran warns it can produce higher enriched uranium in less than two days
Iran said on Monday it could produce higher enriched uranium within two days if the United States quit a 2015 nuclear deal between Tehran and six major powers, Tehran’s Arabic language al-Alam TV reported.