Benjamin Netanyahu News

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. Just a few months before President Trump took office, families of Israeli hostages held in Gaza started lobbying him to their cause. In one meeting in New York in 2024, Adi Alexander was surprised to realize Trump thought most of the Israeli hostages being held by Hamas were dead.

Beneath the stated justifications of any war in history—righteous causes, nuclear threats, regime changes—the bedrock truth is the same. Conflict is and has always been a quest for resources. The Iran war is merely the latest chapter.

If you thought 2025 was a tough transition, 2026 now seems to have plenty more surprises in store. India, in particular, has to trek through two tricky minefields over the next 10 months: energy security and technological flux. These two prickly issues will have to fight for the political leadership’s mind-space, cluttered as it is with tricky geopolitics, rising unemployment, sticky economic growth and an always-on electoral cycle.

In international relations, manifestly illegal government action can sometimes be morally defensible. While historical examples of legitimacy trumping legality are few and far between, they do exist.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. The Pentagon has told a second aircraft carrier strike group to prepare to deploy to the Middle East as the U.S. military prepares for a potential attack on Iran, according to three U.S.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. As President Trump ponders a second military strike on Iran, the relationship between the U.S. and Israel is evolving.

These negotiations come just days after the US imposed a series of new tariffs affecting several nations, including a levy of 26% on India. According to Reuters, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio discussed the levies with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. A State Department readout of their meeting confirmed that the tariff discussions are part of a broader diplomatic effort. The talks are centered on a relatively small subset of the countries impacted by the new tariffs, with both parties looking to strike deals. This is seen as the first phase of a larger set of negotiations, as countries begin to assess their next steps and responses to the tariff changes. On Friday, Vietnam, which is facing a 46% tariff on its exports to the US, announced that it intends to reduce its tariffs on US goods to zero, pending an agreement with the US.

Early in the week, an Egyptian official described the proposal to The Associated Press, saying Hamas would release five living hostages, including an American-Israeli, from Gaza in return for Israel allowing aid into the territory and a weekslong pause in fighting. Israel would release hundreds of Palestinian prisoners. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief media on the closed-door talks. On Saturday, the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gave no details about Israel's counter-proposal, which it said was offered after Netanyahu held consultations on Friday. Israel a week and a half ago ended its ceasefire with Hamas by launching a surprise wave of strikes that killed hundreds of people. The White House blamed Hamas for the renewed fighting. Israel has vowed to escalate the war until Hamas returns the 59 hostages it still holds — 24 of them believed to be alive. Israel also wants Hamas to give up power, disarm and send its leaders into exile. On Saturday, Israel widened its ground operations in Gaza's southern city of Rafah near the border with Egypt.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his new national-security team are planning a major ground offensive in Gaza in the belief that capturing and holding swaths of territory will allow them to finally defeat Palestinian Islamist militant group Hamas, according to people familiar with the government’s thinking. On Sunday, Israel sent infantry into the northern part of the Gaza Strip and areas around Rafah in the south.

Israeli airstrike in southern Gaza killed a Hamas political leader, Salah al-Bardaweel, on Sunday, the militant group said, as Palestinian officials put the death toll from nearly 18 months of conflict at over 50,000. After two months of relative calm in the war, Gazans have again been fleeing for their lives after Israel effectively abandoned a ceasefire, launching a new all-out air and ground campaign on Tuesday against Hamas. Explosions echoed throughout the north, central and southern Gaza Strip early on Sunday, as Israeli planes hit several targets in those areas in what witnesses said was an escalation of the attacks that began earlier in the week. At least 30 Palestinians had been killed in Israeli strikes on Rafah and Khan Younis so far on Sunday, health authorities said. Those killed included three municipal employees, medics said. Hamas said the airstrike on Khan Younis killed Bardaweel and his wife. Israeli officials had no immediate comment.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said it instructed the army to respond forcefully against dozens of targets in Lebanon, where the Iran-backed Hezbollah is based. Israel's army said six rockets were fired toward Metula, a town along the border with Lebanon. Three crossed into Israel and were intercepted. The army said it «cannot confirm the identity of the organisation that fired the rockets.» It said it struck Hezbollah command centres and dozens of rocket launchers. An Israeli strike on the southern Lebanese village of Touline killed five people, including a child, and wounded 10 others, including two children, Lebanon's state-run National News Agency reported. Another Israeli strike Saturday night hit a garage in the coastal city of Tyre, the NNA reported, with one person killed and seven wounded. It was the first attack on the city since the ceasefire took effect November 27. And a strike on Hawsh al-Sayed Ali village along the border with Syria wounded five people, according to the NNA.

«I really wanted to believe that there is still a chance to reach a second stage without renewing this war. But it feels like my building of hope has collapsed, and I have no idea what to do next,» Nimrodi said Tuesday. Nearly 60 families have relatives still held in Gaza. About two dozen hostages are believed to be alive. During the ceasefire's first phase, which began in January, Hamas released 25 Israeli hostages and the bodies of eight others in exchange for nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners. But since that phase ended early this month, the sides have not been able to agree on a way forward. Israel's renewed airstrikes threaten to end the fragile deal.

Hamas warned that Israel's new airstrikes early Tuesday breached their ceasefire and put the fate of hostages in jeopardy. Israel said it launched the wave of airstrikes across the Gaza Strip because of a lack of progress in ongoing talks to extend the ceasefire. It was not immediately clear if the operation was a one-time pressure tactic or if the 17-month-old war was being resumed altogether. Hamas said Israel's government was responsible for an «unprovoked escalation» against Palestinians. Gaza's ministry of health said at least 44 people were killed in the airstrikes early Tuesday. Israel launched a wave of airstrikes across the Gaza Strip early Tuesday, saying it was striking Hamas targets in its heaviest assault in the territory since a ceasefire took effect in January. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he had ordered the strikes because of a lack of progress in ongoing talks to extend the ceasefire. It was not immediately clear if the operation was a one-time pressure tactic or if the 17-month-old war was being resumed altogether.

Gaza early Tuesday morning. Israel launched a new wave of airstrikes across the Gaza Strip, saying it was striking Hamas targets in its heaviest assault in the territory since a ceasefire took effect in January. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he had ordered the strikes because of a lack of progress in ongoing talks to extend the ceasefire. It was not immediately clear if the operation was a one-time pressure tactic or if the 17-month-old war was being resumed altogether. «This comes after Hamas repeatedly refused to release our hostages and rejected all offers it received from the U.S. presidential envoy, Steve Witkoff, and from the mediators,» Netanyahu's office said. Taher Nunu, a Hamas official, criticized the Israeli attacks. «The international community faces a moral test: either it allows the return of the crimes committed by the occupation army or it enforces a commitment to ending the aggression and war against innocent people in Gaza,» he said.

Following the offer on Friday, Israel said the Palestinian militants had «not budged a millimetre» after a proposal from US President Donald Trump's Middle East envoy. The first phase of the truce, which began in January, ended on March 1 without agreement on next steps. A Hamas official said negotiations began in Doha on Tuesday. «The ball is in Israel's court,» a Hamas spokesman said. «We want to solidify the ceasefire agreement and force (Israel) to implement its terms,» Abdul Latif al-Qanou told AFP, accusing Israel of «delaying» its enforcement.

Steve Witkoff for a temporary ceasefire during Ramzan and Passover period. The decision was taken after a security discussion chaired by Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and with the participation of Israel's Defence Minister, senior security establishment officials and the negotiating team. In a post on X, the Israel Prime Minister's Office stated, «Following a security discussion chaired by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and with the participation of the Defense Minister, senior security establishment officials and the negotiating team, it was decided. Israel adopts the framework of US Presidential envoy Steve Witkoff for a temporary ceasefire during the Ramadan and Passover period.» On the first day of the framework, half of the living and deceased hostages will be released. Upon its conclusion, if agreement is reached on a permanent ceasefire, the remaining living and deceased hostages will be released, according to the statement released by Israel Prime Minister's Office.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. Israel’s demand for the demilitarization of southern Syria near its border presents a severe challenge for the country’s new rulers, who three months ago brought down the Assad family’s regime.

Donald Trump has found himself at the center of a storm on his Truth Social platform after sharing a bizarre and controversial AI-generated video depicting a reimagined Gaza.

Donald Trump has shocked the globe with his latest post — an artificial intelligence (AI) generated video of Gaza.

Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday that Israel was prepared to resume fighting against Hamas after the Palestinian group accused it of endangering a five-week-old Gaza truce by suspending prisoner release.