Israel

Disarming Hamas Is Easier Said Than Done

In fits and starts, President Donald Trump’s 20-point plan for Gaza is progressing. After months of inertia over Hamas’s refusal to disarm, the White House announced a breakthrough on July...

Pragmatism Could Draw Syria and Hezbollah Into an Accommodation

During the Syrian civil war, Hezbollah spent years fighting the factions now ruling Damascus. Now, even as Damascus intercepts the group’s weapons and disrupts its supply routes, Hezbollah’s Secretary...

Israel Holds Firm as Hamas Attempts To Delay Disarmament

Nine months have elapsed since President Donald Trump’s peace plan for the Gaza Strip was enshrined by UN Security Council Resolution 2803. Trump’s plan lays out an explicit vision for a Gaza freed...

Subterranean Warfare: Can Pickaxe Mountain Be Destroyed?

Erdogan’s Iraq play: A bigger game than oil

There is an easy way to read Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s decision to host Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al Zaidi in Ankara on July 28, and to call the visit “historic”: as an energy...

Iraq pressured by regional countries to rein in Iran-backed militias as new data on extent of attacks released

Iraq finds itself under growing pressure from regional countries and the US to rein in Iranian-backed Iraqi militias. The latest pressure from Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and Jordan comes as Ahmad...

Meet the Gaza athletes unmasked as terrorists

Abdullah Khattab emerged as one of Gaza’s rising soccer talents at a young age. But he was committed to more than just athletics. On July 22, the Israel Defense Forces published...

Trump Administration Foreign Policy Tracker: August

Trend Overview Welcome back to the Trump Administration Foreign Policy Tracker. Once a month, we ask FDD’s experts and scholars to assess the administration’s foreign policy. They provide trendlines...

Trump’s Board of Peace proposal has hit a roadblock amid reconstruction of Gaza Strip

President Trump is sounding bullish about the future of Gaza. After the Board of Peace, created by the US administration to manage the postwar reconstruction of the coastal enclave, issued...

Drone Strike on Egypt Spotlights Iran’s Expanding Pressure Campaign

For months, Cairo watched Iran’s regional campaign from the sidelines. Now, the war appears to have reached Egypt. On July 29, a drone struck the Egyptian port city of Damietta, damaging a U.S. gas...

Border Crisis Exposes Spain’s Self-Inflicted Migration Mess

Tens of thousands crossed from Morocco into Ceuta, Spain’s enclave on the North African coast, on July 30, most swimming around a breakwater as Moroccan border controls lapsed. Dozens drowned. Within...

U.S. Targets Iran’s Hormuz Extortion but Leaves Foreign Financial Enablers Untouched

Tehran faced two rounds of new U.S. sanctions in as many days. On July 29 and July 30, the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) issued back-to-back sanctions targeting the...

Board of Peace announces Hamas disarmament agreement, IDF reports 32 Gaza ceasefire violations July 10–31

US President Donald Trump announced that the American-led Board of Peace (BoP) had reached a “historic agreement” for the phased disarmament of Hamas on July 30. The BoP outlined a...

The Board of Peace’s New Gaza Initiative Is Bold — And It Just Might Work

US President Donald Trump, Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner and US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff attend the inaugural Board of Peace meeting...

Amid war and persecution, Iranians remain hungry for change

What is unmistakable is the depth of loathing for the Islamic Republic among its long-suffering citizens: At 71%, “dissatisfaction with the Islamic Republic” was the top reason for joining protests, according to a survey.

If the Saudis want a nuclear arsenal, Trump’s new deal might just give it to them

President Donald Trump made waves the day after his administration announced a bilateral nuclear cooperation agreement with Saudi Arabia. He conditioned the deal on Riyadh joining the Abraham...

Israel says Hezbollah launched drone attack on strategic ridge amid ceasefire

On July 29, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said Hezbollah launched an “explosive drone” overnight toward an IDF engineering vehicle in the Ali Taher Ridge area of southern Lebanon. Ynet reported that...

Saudi Participation in U.S. Airstrikes on Iraq Signals Impatience With Baghdad’s Inability To Control Armed Factions

Baghdad’s failure to address drone attacks from Iran-backed Iraqi militias is forcing other countries to act. American and Saudi forces, in a first for the ongoing war with Iran, launched joint...

Iran thinks it won the war with US — now Christians are paying the price

Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence (MOIS) published a list of “hostile” media organizations on July 14, including multiple Christian evangelical broadcasters based outside of Iran. Those Tehran finds...

As Iran batters the Gulf states, Trump’s course is beyond clear

President Donald Trump says he has “plenty of time” for talks with Iran. That works because Washington, DC, is 7,000 miles away from the Strait of Hormuz. But if you are in Dubai,...