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Israel

The latest news, analysis and opinion on Israel. In-depth analysis, industry insights and expert opinion.

Capital

Jerusalem

Head of State

President Isaac Herzog

Head of Government

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu

Francesca Albanese, the UN special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the occupied Palestinian territories attends a demonstration during a nationwide strike in Italy, called by the USB union in solidarity with Gaza and against the government and its plan to increase military spending, in Rome, Italy, on November 29 last year. Photo: Reuters

Israel-Gaza war

World artists back Palestine rapporteur Francesca Albanese despite criticism

Albanese faces calls from France and Germany to step down over remarks in which she criticised ‘most of the world’ for enabling Israel’s ‘genocide’ in Gaza.

14 Feb 2026 - 11:17PM

Israel-Gaza war

Indian author Arundhati Roy pulls out of Berlinale over jury’s Gaza comments

14 Feb 2026 - 2:12PM

Japan

Why elite Japanese school asked 12-year-olds to read Palestinian poems for exam

14 Feb 2026 - 1:07PMvideocam

Middle East

Trump says change of power in Iran would be ‘best thing’

The US president’s comments are his most overt reference yet to regime change, as he pushes Tehran to make a nuclear deal.

14 Feb 2026 - 7:50AMvideocam

The USS Gerald R. Ford departs from Newport News, Virginia, in April 2017. Photo: US Navy via AP

Middle East

US is sending second aircraft carrier to the Middle East to coerce Iran

The USS Gerald R. Ford would join the USS Abraham Lincoln as Donald Trump ramps up pressure on Iran for a deal.

13 Feb 2026 - 3:05PM

Indonesia

They called Trump’s ‘Board of Peace’ neocolonialism. Now they’re thinking twice

Several Muslim groups have previously opposed Prabowo’s decision to join the board, fearing it would serve US and Israeli interests.

13 Feb 2026 - 6:12PMvideocam

US-Iran tensions

The US dropped proposal of Iran regime change. Could a nuclear deal be next?

Both sides appear amenable to a deal limiting some of Iran’s nuclear enrichment activities after last week’s diplomatic re-establishment.

12 Feb 2026 - 5:16PMvideocam

Women march with a sign depicting US President Donald Trump with bloodied hands in Tehran on Wednesday during a rally marking the anniversary of the 1979 Islamic revolution. Photo: AFP

Middle East

Trump ‘insists’ to Netanyahu that he will continue nuclear talks with Iran

Israel fears that the US might pursue a narrow agreement that does not include restrictions on Iran’s ballistic missile ⁠programme.

12 Feb 2026 - 3:59AM

Australia

Australia presses Israel’s Herzog for charges over Gaza strike killing aid worker

PM Albanese uses Israeli president’s visit to demand charges for 2024 strike on aid convoy that killed Australian Zomi Frankcom and her colleagues.

11 Feb 2026 - 5:10PM

Middle East

In message to Iran, Trump weighs sending second aircraft carrier to Middle East

The US president warned that the US would have to do ‘something very tough’ if a deal was not reached.

11 Feb 2026 - 1:40PM

An F/A-18F Super Hornet preparing to launch from the USS Abraham Lincoln in the Arabian. Photo: US Navy via AFP

Israel-Gaza war

Israel’s ‘de facto sovereignty’ of West Bank condemned as illegal annexation

Ministers admit new land rules aim to block a Palestinian state, a move the UN and Arab nations slam as a grave violation of international law.

10 Feb 2026 - 9:09PM

Palestinians sit in a car in front of a closed Israeli gate near Ramallah in the Israeli-occupied West Bank earlier this month. Photo: Reuters

Israel-Gaza war

Israel ban on Palestinian workers spurs ‘starvation and desperation’ in West Bank

Desperation grows as Israel refuses to reinstate work permits, leaving thousands of Palestinians without income and forcing families into deep debt.

10 Feb 2026 - 6:25PM

Middle East

Israel kills 4 suspected militants in Gaza’s Rafah despite ceasefire

Air strikes killed 24 in Gaza last Wednesday, with the Israeli military saying it was in response to one of its officers being wounded by enemy gunfire.

9 Feb 2026 - 7:00PM

Iran

Iran sentences Nobel laureate to 7 more years amid stand-off with US

As Iran extends the jail term for Narges Mohammadi, its foreign minister strikes a maximalist position after US talks.

9 Feb 2026 - 4:08PM

A mural with a picture of Iran’s Supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, on a street in Tehran, Iran. Photo: West Asia News Agency via Reuters

China-Middle East relations

Israeli diplomat Aviv Ezra says ties with China must not be marred by ‘politics’

Highest level official to visit China since Gaza war highlights opportunities for China and Israel to advance ties as peace deal progresses.

7 Feb 2026 - 8:00PMvideocam

During a visit to China last week, Israeli diplomat Aviv Ezra said he was “very optimistic” about the future of bilateral ties with China. Photo: Shutterstock

United States

Pentagon ditches Harvard as Hegseth declares university too ‘woke’

The defence secretary says the Ivy League university ‘no longer meets the needs of the War Department or the military services’.

7 Feb 2026 - 4:00PMvideocam

India

India’s trade blitz seeks to keep afloat a sinking global order

‘Jolted out of its slumber’ by US tariffs, New Delhi is aggressively diversifying trade alliances to act as a bridge in a polarised world.

10 Feb 2026 - 8:54PM

Iran

Oman mediates Iran-US nuclear talks amid tensions and Trump’s threats

The meeting is the first between the two sides since Washington joined Israel’s war with Tehran in June with strikes on nuclear sites.

6 Feb 2026 - 10:42PMvideocam

Officials stand inside the gate of a palace where Iran and the US held their talks in Muscat, Oman, on Friday. Photo: AP

Israel-Gaza war

Gaza’s violent reality: hundreds have been killed since October ceasefire

At least 556 Palestinians have died in Israeli strikes, while four Israeli soldiers have been killed in the same period.

5 Feb 2026 - 2:35PM

Science

Nasa’s Juno finds Jupiter is a tiny bit smaller than previously thought

The robotic spacecraft was launched in 2011 and has been orbiting ‍the gas giant since 2016, transmitting raw data back to Earth.

5 Feb 2026 - 4:02AMvideocam

Israel-Gaza war

‘Where is the ceasefire?’: Israeli strikes kill 21 Palestinians in Gaza

More than 530 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire since an October ceasefire, as Gaza health officials decry the ‘continued genocidal war’.

4 Feb 2026 - 8:35PM

Palestinians carry the bodies of three people killed in an Israeli strike on their displacement tent on Wednesday. Photo: dpa

Donald Trump

Iran plans nuclear talks with US as Trump warns of ‘bad things’

Facing threats of potential US military action, Tehran agrees to a Friday meeting in Istanbul on its nuclear programme.

3 Feb 2026 - 6:56PM

Protesters at an anti-US and anti-Israeli rally in support of the Iranian government, outside the US consulate in Istanbul on Sunday. Photo: AP

Israel-Gaza war

Gaza’s Rafah crossing sees ‘limited’ reopening amid truce, but challenges remain

Restoring the Rafah-Egypt crossing is a vital milestone for the peace process, concluding the long closure enforced by the Israeli military.

2 Feb 2026 - 7:49PM

United States

My Take | How to prevent war with China: return Taiwan to the mainland

Beijing has a far more legitimate claim over Taiwan than the US and Israel have over any strip of land in the western hemisphere and Palestine.

1 Feb 2026 - 9:00PM

China-Middle East relations

Israel’s China envoy calls to deepen historical ties in rare media outreach

Eli Belotserkovsky’s article comes amid global buzz over Trump’s Board of Peace and months after closer media ties pledge with Xinhua head.

1 Feb 2026 - 7:29PMvideocam

Eli Belotserkovsky, Israel’s ambassador to China, has written a Chinese-language article for state news agency Xinhua. Photo: Handout

India

India calls Modi’s Israel visit mention in Epstein email ‘trashy ruminations’

The foreign ministry acknowledged the 2017 trip but said the rest of the claims ‘deserve to be dismissed with the utmost contempt’.

1 Feb 2026 - 1:34PM

Israeli President Reuven Rivlin (right) gestures as Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi sits to sign the guest book during a welcome ceremony in Jerusalem in 2017. Photo: AFP

Israel-Iran conflict

Gas leak behind deadly Iran blast that stoked fears of US or Israeli attack

The explosion highlighted the jittery mood ‍prevailing in the country, as Trump threatens strikes and says a US ‘armada’ is on its way.

1 Feb 2026 - 1:26AM

Israel-Gaza war

Israeli strikes on Gaza kill 30, including children at tent camp: hospitals

The latest fatalities came hours before the Rafah crossing, on Gaza’s border with Egypt, was due to open.

31 Jan 2026 - 11:54PMvideocam

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Israel

World artists back Palestine rapporteur Francesca Albanese despite criticism

Albanese faces calls from France and Germany to step down over remarks in which she criticised ‘most of the world’ for enabling Israel’s ‘genocide’ in Gaza.

Indian author Arundhati Roy pulls out of Berlinale over jury’s Gaza comments

Why elite Japanese school asked 12-year-olds to read Palestinian poems for exam

Trump says change of power in Iran would be ‘best thing’

The US president’s comments are his most overt reference yet to regime change, as he pushes Tehran to make a nuclear deal.

US is sending second aircraft carrier to the Middle East to coerce Iran

The USS Gerald R. Ford would join the USS Abraham Lincoln as Donald Trump ramps up pressure on Iran for a deal.

They called Trump’s ‘Board of Peace’ neocolonialism. Now they’re thinking twice

Several Muslim groups have previously opposed Prabowo’s decision to join the board, fearing it would serve US and Israeli interests.

The US dropped proposal of Iran regime change. Could a nuclear deal be next?

Both sides appear amenable to a deal limiting some of Iran’s nuclear enrichment activities after last week’s diplomatic re-establishment.

Trump ‘insists’ to Netanyahu that he will continue nuclear talks with Iran

Israel fears that the US might pursue a narrow agreement that does not include restrictions on Iran’s ballistic missile ⁠programme.

Australia presses Israel’s Herzog for charges over Gaza strike killing aid worker

PM Albanese uses Israeli president’s visit to demand charges for 2024 strike on aid convoy that killed Australian Zomi Frankcom and her colleagues.

In message to Iran, Trump weighs sending second aircraft carrier to Middle East

The US president warned that the US would have to do ‘something very tough’ if a deal was not reached.

Israel’s ‘de facto sovereignty’ of West Bank condemned as illegal annexation

Ministers admit new land rules aim to block a Palestinian state, a move the UN and Arab nations slam as a grave violation of international law.

Israel ban on Palestinian workers spurs ‘starvation and desperation’ in West Bank

Desperation grows as Israel refuses to reinstate work permits, leaving thousands of Palestinians without income and forcing families into deep debt.

Israel kills 4 suspected militants in Gaza’s Rafah despite ceasefire

Air strikes killed 24 in Gaza last Wednesday, with the Israeli military saying it was in response to one of its officers being wounded by enemy gunfire.

Iran sentences Nobel laureate to 7 more years amid stand-off with US

As Iran extends the jail term for Narges Mohammadi, its foreign minister strikes a maximalist position after US talks.

Israeli diplomat Aviv Ezra says ties with China must not be marred by ‘politics’

Highest level official to visit China since Gaza war highlights opportunities for China and Israel to advance ties as peace deal progresses.

Pentagon ditches Harvard as Hegseth declares university too ‘woke’

The defence secretary says the Ivy League university ‘no longer meets the needs of the War Department or the military services’.

India’s trade blitz seeks to keep afloat a sinking global order

‘Jolted out of its slumber’ by US tariffs, New Delhi is aggressively diversifying trade alliances to act as a bridge in a polarised world.

Oman mediates Iran-US nuclear talks amid tensions and Trump’s threats

The meeting is the first between the two sides since Washington joined Israel’s war with Tehran in June with strikes on nuclear sites.

Gaza’s violent reality: hundreds have been killed since October ceasefire

At least 556 Palestinians have died in Israeli strikes, while four Israeli soldiers have been killed in the same period.

Nasa’s Juno finds Jupiter is a tiny bit smaller than previously thought

The robotic spacecraft was launched in 2011 and has been orbiting ‍the gas giant since 2016, transmitting raw data back to Earth.

‘Where is the ceasefire?’: Israeli strikes kill 21 Palestinians in Gaza

More than 530 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire since an October ceasefire, as Gaza health officials decry the ‘continued genocidal war’.

Iran plans nuclear talks with US as Trump warns of ‘bad things’

Facing threats of potential US military action, Tehran agrees to a Friday meeting in Istanbul on its nuclear programme.

Gaza’s Rafah crossing sees ‘limited’ reopening amid truce, but challenges remain

Restoring the Rafah-Egypt crossing is a vital milestone for the peace process, concluding the long closure enforced by the Israeli military.

.css-1m2rp1p{color:#34b8b5;}My Take | How to prevent war with China: return Taiwan to the mainland

Beijing has a far more legitimate claim over Taiwan than the US and Israel have over any strip of land in the western hemisphere and Palestine.

Israel’s China envoy calls to deepen historical ties in rare media outreach

Eli Belotserkovsky’s article comes amid global buzz over Trump’s Board of Peace and months after closer media ties pledge with Xinhua head.

India calls Modi’s Israel visit mention in Epstein email ‘trashy ruminations’

The foreign ministry acknowledged the 2017 trip but said the rest of the claims ‘deserve to be dismissed with the utmost contempt’.

Gas leak behind deadly Iran blast that stoked fears of US or Israeli attack

The explosion highlighted the jittery mood ‍prevailing in the country, as Trump threatens strikes and says a US ‘armada’ is on its way.

Israeli strikes on Gaza kill 30, including children at tent camp: hospitals

The latest fatalities came hours before the Rafah crossing, on Gaza’s border with Egypt, was due to open.

My Take | How to prevent war with China: return Taiwan to the mainland