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A Demilitarized Zone and a Resort: Inside the Syria–Israel Talks
The United States, Israel, and Syria announced in a joint statement issued by the U.S. State Department on Tuesday that Syrian and Israeli representatives had reached an understanding during U.S.-brokered talks held in Paris to establish a contact mechanism for coordination on security, intelligence, and commercial matters. The mechanism will operate under U.S. oversight, according…
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Managing Tension with Iran, Israel Seeks to Avoid Miscalculation
Israel’s public broadcaster reported that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has enlisted Russian President Vladimir Putin to convey calming messages to Iran, signaling that Israel does not intend, at this time, to attack. According to the channel, citing diplomatic sources, these messages were sent recently, including through direct phone calls between Netanyahu and Putin. The initiative…
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Israel’s Reading of Maduro’s Arrest
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s remarks regarding the arrest of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro by U.S. forces reflected an official view in Israel that what occurred constituted a strategic development that extends beyond Venezuela to affect broader balances in the confrontation with Iran and its allies. Speaking at the opening of the Israeli government’s weekly…
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Alhurra Reviews The Israeli Military’s 2025 Data Release
As the curtain closed on 2025, the Israeli military published its annual operational summary, offering a portrait of a year described within the defense establishment as one of the most intense and complex on record, amid what Israel calls a “multi-front campaign.” From Gaza and Lebanon to Syria and the West Bank, and extending to…
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Year of Unfinished Endings: How 2025 Reset the Middle East’s Fault Lines
2025 began as yet another chapter in what has felt like a perpetual decade of conflict in the Middle East. The war in Gaza continued unabated, sectarian tensions once again threatened to plunge Syria into chaos, clashes persisted between Hezbollah and Israel along the Lebanese border, and a brief but intense conflict erupted between Israel and Iran. As the…
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Israel Adds Laser System to Bolster Air Defenses
Israel’s Defense Ministry announcement that it had delivered the “Or Eitan” system was not framed as a routine technical update. The language of the statement, the timing of the announcement and the ceremony surrounding it suggested the security establishment views the moment as more than the introduction of a new weapon into service. It is…
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Five Takeaways from Trump’s Meeting with Netanyahu
U.S. President Donald Trump made a series of significant remarks Monday while hosting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, including a threat against Iran, openness toward Syria and Turkey, and a call for Netanyahu to receive a pardon. Trump said the two leaders would discuss five issues. Disarming Hamas Trump…
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Second Phase of Hezbollah Disarmament Poses Key Test for Lebanon
As the year draws to a close, Lebanon is entering a delicate phase in which efforts to confine weapons to state authority north of the Litani River have moved to the forefront of political and security debates. At the center of the issue is Hezbollah’s arsenal, widely seen as the most significant test of the…
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A Gas Deal or a Political Signal? Egypt and Israel’s Energy Agreement
The deal to export gas from Israel to Egypt– recently approved by the Israeli government, was not presented as a routine economic announcement. Instead, Israel’s leadership framed it as a central national and strategic achievement, using it to recast the country’s energy narrative. Yet that carefully constructed message — polished at the press conference podium…
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Israel Overhauls Digital Arm After Gaza War
Alhurra’s correspondent quotes an Israeli military source as saying that in the past few days the Israeli army began implementing a major overhaul of its technology and communications arm, aimed at strengthening its digital and cyber capabilities following the challenges it faced during the recent war. The source described the move as “a direct response…