Israel

Israel should stop engaging in activities that undermine peace with Palestine, Jordanian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates Ayman Safadi said, reiterating the importance of the two-state solution in maintaining harmony in the region. Safadi, who was meeting his Israeli counterpart Gabi Ashkenazi at the King Hussein Bridge Border crossing …

Israel edged closer on Wednesday towards a fourth national election in two years after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s main governing partner, Benny Gantz, backed an opposition move to dissolve parliament. Parliament gave preliminary approval to a dissolution bill, but the legislation needs to pass three as yet unscheduled votes to …

Iran’s Guardian Council watchdog body approved a law on Wednesday that obliges the government to halt U.N. inspections of its nuclear sites and step up uranium enrichment beyond the limit set under Tehran’s 2015 nuclear deal if sanctions are not eased in two months. In retaliation for the killing last …

Maritime border talks between Lebanon and Israel scheduled for Wednesday have been postponed, and U.S. mediators will now contact the two old foes separately, Israeli and Lebanese officials said on Monday. The negotiations were launched in October with delegations convening at a U.N. base to try to resolve a dispute …

Jordan’s King Abdullah on Sunday met with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and both leaders set high hopes that U.S. President-elect Joe Biden will revive peace talks over a two-state solution to the decades-old Arab-Israeli conflict, officials said. In a palace statement after meeting with Abbas in the Red Sea port …

Iran will give a “calculated and decisive” response to the killing of its top nuclear scientist, said a top adviser to Iran’s supreme leader, while a hardline newspaper suggested Tehran’s revenge should include striking the Israeli city of Haifa. “Undoubtedly, Iran will give a calculated and decisive answer to the …

The Lebanese Parliament discussed on Friday a letter from embattled President Michel Aoun requesting assistance in the forensic audit of the Banque du Liban’s accounts. The request overthrew the contract that the Lebanese government signed with the restructuring consultancy Alvarez & Marsal to conduct an audit of the central bank’s …

The deputy leader of Lebanon’s Iran-backed Hezbollah movement said on Friday that the response for the assassination of Iranian scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh was in Iran’s hands. “We condemn this heinous attack and see that the response to this crime is in the hands of those concerned in Iran,” Sheikh Naim …

An Iranian scientist long suspected by the West of masterminding a secret nuclear bomb programme was killed in an ambush near Tehran on Friday, likely to provoke confrontation between Iran and its foes in the last weeks of Donald Trump’s presidency. The military adviser to Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali …

A historic meeting between Israel’s prime minister and Saudi Arabia’s crown prince has sent a strong signal to allies and enemies alike that the two countries remain deeply committed to containing their common foe Iran. Last Sunday’s covert meeting in the Saudi city of Neom, confirmed by Israeli officials but …

Leading Sudanese politician and former prime minister Sadiq al-Mahdi died from a coronavirus infection three weeks after being hospitalised in the United Arab Emirates, according to family sources and a party statement early on Thursday. Mahdi, 84, was Sudan’s last democratically elected prime minister and was overthrown in 1989 in …

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has promised Jonathan Pollard, an American who spent 30 years in U.S. prison for spying for Israel, a warm welcome and a comfortable life in Israel now that parole restrictions have ended. “We are waiting for you, even during the time of the coronavirus, with open …

The Syrian army said early Wednesday that Israel launched air strikes on an area in the southern outskirts of Damascus, where military defectors believe has a strong Iranian military presence in the second such attack within a week. The Israeli aerial strike on a strategic area that Israel had hit …

Palestinian officials have downplayed the effectiveness of a statement by US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo during his recent visit to Israeli settlements in the West Bank. The statement included a move to allow products made in the occupied territories to be labeled “Made in Israel,” a clear contradiction to …

Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister told Arab News on Monday that there were no Israeli officials at a meeting between Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and the US Secretary of State. Prince Faisal bin Farhan has denied reports that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu joined talks in NEOM with Mike Pompeo …

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu secretly flew to Saudi Arabia on Sunday to meet Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and visiting U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Israel’s Kan public radio and Army Radio said on Monday. If confirmed, it would be the first publicly acknowledged trip by an Israeli …

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in an apparent message to U.S. President-elect Joe Biden, said on Sunday there should be no return to the 2015 Iran nuclear deal abandoned by President Donald Trump. Biden, who takes office on Jan. 20, has said he would rejoin the accord if Tehran first …

Iran on Sunday vowed to defeat any Israeli attempt to harm its role in Syria, saying the era of “hit and run” attacks by Israel there was over, days after Israel carried out air strikes on Syrian army and Iranian paramilitary targets in the country. Israel, which views Tehran as …

Palestinian militants fired a rocket into Israel, drawing Israeli air strikes in the Gaza Strip, the Israeli military said on Sunday. There were no casualties reported on either side of the border. Israeli police said the Gaza rocket fired on Saturday night damaged a factory in the southern city of …

Israeli leaders on Saturday welcomed the U.S. decision to end parole restrictions on Jonathan Pollard, a former U.S. Navy intelligence officer who served 30 years in prison after being convicted of spying for Israel. The U.S. Justice Department’s parole commission decided on Friday to allow a travel ban on Pollard …

Syria condemned U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s visit to the “occupied” Golan Heights on Thursday in the “strongest language” and said it was a provocative act before U.S. President Donald Trump leaves his post, state media said. Pompeo became the first U.S. secretary of state to visit an Israeli …

Mike Pompeo on Thursday paid the first visit by a U.S. secretary of state to an Israeli settlement in the occupied West Bank, in a parting show of solidarity with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu by the outgoing Trump administration. Palestinians accused Pompeo of helping Israel to cement its control over …

Israel launched air raids against what it called a wide range of Syrian and Iranian targets in Syria on Wednesday, sending a signal that it will pursue its policy of striking across the border despite U.S. President Donald Trump’s election defeat. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a war monitor, …

The Palestinian Authority will resume civil and security cooperation with Israel suspended in May over a now-frozen Israeli plan to annex parts of the occupied West Bank, a Palestinian minister said on Tuesday. Civil Affairs Minister Hussein al-Sheikh wrote on Twitter that “the relationship with Israel will return to how …

Israel said it launched air strikes against a number of Syrian army and Iranian Quds Force targets in Syria on Wednesday after explosive devices were planted in the Israeli-held Golan Heights. The Syrian state news agency reported that three military personnel were killed and one was wounded in “Israeli aggression”. …

Qatar’s foreign minister said on Monday Arab states that establish ties with Israel undermine efforts for Palestinian statehood, but it was in their own sovereign right to do so. Three Arab countries – the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Sudan – set aside hostilities with Israel in recent months to …

Israel’s military said it struck Hamas positions Sunday morning following a rocket attack from the Gaza Strip overnight. Two rockets were fired into southern Israel from the Gaza Strip late Saturday, the Israeli army said, although there were no immediate reports of any damage or wounded. The Israeli Defense Forces …

The leader of Lebanon’s Hezbollah said on Wednesday he was pleased about “the humiliating downfall” of U.S. President Donald Trump, but urged regional allies to be on alert for any U.S. or Israeli “folly” during the rest of his term in office. Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, in a televised speech, described …

The United States is expected to impose sanctions as early as next week on Iranians involved in a violent crackdown against anti-government demonstrations in Iran a year ago, three sources familiar with the matter said on Monday. The sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the sanctions announcement was …

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday congratulated U.S. President-elect Joe Biden after his election win saying he looked forward to working together with the new administration and strengthening the two countries’ alliance. “Congratulations @JoeBiden and @KamalaHarris. Joe, we’ve had a long & warm personal relationship for nearly 40 years, …

A Palestinian on Friday ended a 103-day hunger strike against being held without charge by Israel after being assured his detention would not be extended, the Palestinian Prisoners’ Club advocacy group said. An Israeli security official confirmed that Maher Al-Akhras, 49, had ended his hunger strike and would be released …

Lebanon’s prosecutor general decided Tuesday not to charge fugitive ex-auto tycoon Carlos Ghosn for visiting Israel in 2008 because the statute of limitations has expired, a judicial source said. Three lawyers filed a motion in January calling for the 66-year-old businessman to be prosecuted over his trip to the Jewish …

Saudi Arabia and Qatar are among countries slated to establish relations with Israel under a regional rapprochement launched by U.S. President Donald Trump, an Israeli official said on Monday. Straying from Israel’s reticence about Tuesday’s U.S. election, Intelligence Minister Eli Cohen said implementing further normalisation deals could depend on the …

Jewish settler leaders prayed on Monday for U.S. President Donald Trump’s re-election, citing his support for Israel, during a ceremony at a biblical tomb in the occupied West Bank that has been a flashpoint of conflict with the Palestinians. “We have come to bless President Trump, both for the past, …

Usumain Baraka speaks impeccable Hebrew, considers Israelis among his best friends and can quote passages from the Old Testament. But as a Sudanese asylum seeker, Baraka has no legal status in Israel and lives a precarious life tethered to the whims of the Israeli government. Now, after Israel and Sudan …

Americans born in Jerusalem will now be able to list Israel as their birthplace on their passports, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced on Thursday, in a nod to Washington’s recognition of the contested city as Israel’s capital. It was the latest in a string of pro-Israel policy shifts …

The U.S. State Department notified Congress it approved the sale of 50 Lockheed Martin Co LMT.N F-35 jets to the United Arab Emirates in a deal that could be worth $10 billion, sources said on Thursday, potentially setting up a showdown with lawmakers over the deal. The United States and …

For many West Bank Palestinians, the olive tree is both a revered cultural emblem and an economic necessity – but it has also become a focal point of a struggle between them and Israeli settlers for a land they both claim. More than 1,000 trees owned by Palestinian farmers have …

Israel and Lebanon held “productive” talks over their disputed Mediterranean Sea border on Thursday and agreed to meet again next month, the United Nations and the United States said. Thursday’s meeting was the third this month between the longtime foes, mediated by the United States and hosted by the United …

The Trump administration lifted a decades-old ban on Wednesday that had prohibited U.S. taxpayer funding for Israeli scientific research conducted in Jewish settlements in occupied territory, drawing Palestinian condemnation. With Tuesday’s U.S. election approaching, President Donald Trump’s move was praised by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and could resonate with …

Regardless of the outcome of the Nov. 3 presidential election, US President Donald Trump does not have to worry about one thing: being accused of leaving the Middle East in a worse condition than he inherited it. Judging by the Arab News/YouGov pan-Arab survey’s findings, that dubious honor goes to …

An Israeli cabinet minister said on Sunday that a U.S. sale of advanced F-35 warplanes to Qatar could be possible despite Israel’s objections to such a deal given the Gulf state’s links to Iran and Palestinian Hamas. “I have no doubt that if they (Qatar) want it and are willing …

Prominent political factions in Sudan have rejected a deal brokered with the help of the United States to take steps to normalise ties with Israel. The agreement was sealed on Friday in a call between U.S. President Donald Trump, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and Sudanese transitional leaders. It would …

Iran’s foreign ministry on Saturday described a U.S.-brokered Sudan-Israel deal to normalise ties as “phoney” and accused Khartoum of paying a ransom in return for Washington removing it from a list of state sponsors of terrorism. The deal agreed on Friday marked the third Arab government after the United Arab …