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The targeted vessels and companies have transported hundreds of millions of dollars of the oil products through deceptive shipping practices, the US Treasury said. Treasury will “continue to deprive the regime of the petroleum revenue it uses to fund its military and weapons programmes,” John Hurley, the department’s undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence, said in a release (Read more at Arab Weekly).
The State Department’s independent watchdog is reviewing a request from two Democratic senators to investigate whether Trump officials broke ethics rules in connection with deals involving the United Arab Emirates. Witkoff and Sacks’ work on the issue drew scrutiny from the senators as a result of their reported financial ties to the UAE in the cryptocurrency space (Read more at Semafor).
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met on Sunday in Jerusalem with US Senator Lindsey Graham, with both leaders voicing concern over what they described as renewed military buildup by Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon. The meeting took place amid ongoing regional tensions and as Israel celebrates the Hanukkah holiday (Read more at I24).
He spoke as U.S. President’s Donald Trump’s Gaza ceasefire plan is expected to move to its second stage next month following the president’s anticipated meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Florida after Christmas. “The challenge of getting Hamas disarmed is not a goal that has been abandoned,” Huckabee told JNS in an exclusive interview in his Jerusalem embassy office. “The president has been very clear: They have to disarm and recognize they have no future in Gaza.” (Read more at JNS)
Rubio said the status quo was not sustainable in Gaza, where Israel has continued to strike Hamas targets while the group has reasserted its control since the October peace agreement brokered by the US. “That’s why we have a sense of urgency about bringing phase one to its full completion, which is the establishment of the Board of Peace, and the establishment of the Palestinian technocratic authority or organization that’s going to be on the ground, and then the stabilization force comes closely thereafter,” Rubio said (Read more at Arabnews).
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the strikes targeted “ISIS fighters, infrastructure, and weapons sites”. “This is not the beginning of a war — it is a declaration of vengeance,” Hegseth said. “Today, we hunted and we killed our enemies. Lots of them. And we will continue,” he added (Read more at CNBC).
Israeli officials have grown increasingly concerned that Iran is expanding production of its ballistic missile program, which was damaged by Israeli military strikes earlier this year, and are preparing to brief President Donald Trump about options for attacking it again (Read more at NBC News)
With growing fear the ceasefire could unravel, the Paris meeting aimed to create more robust conditions to identify, support, and verify the disarmament process and dissuade Israel from escalation. The situation is extremely precarious, full of contradictions, and it won’t take much to light the powder keg (Read more at Dawn).
Two U.S. Army soldiers and a civilian interpreter were killed on Saturday when an attacker targeted a convoy of American and Syrian forces in Palmyra before being shot dead, the U.S. military said. Three U.S. soldiers were wounded (Read more at Reuters).
"We are hearing and continue to see reports of humanitarian convoys actually being struck on their way in," he said. Describing the conflict as deeply troubling, Rubio pointed to the role of outside actors in fueling the conflict between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF). (Read more at Anadolu Ajansi)
Rubio said that he could not preview which parts of the Brotherhood might face sanctions. “I’m not going to comment on which segments of the Muslim Brotherhood—as you know, there are different chapters, for lack of a better term, and individuals spread throughout the world,” the secretary said (Read more at JNS).
Eduardo Martinez, mayor of Richmond, Calif., in the San Francisco Bay Area, believes that having apologized for sharing anti-Israel material on social media, the matter ought to be closed. “I retracted my mistakes. I own them,” he told JNS on Thursday afternoon. “I was hoping that people would listen to me with compassion and understanding, but apparently that doesn’t seem to be the way in the world.” (Read more at JNS)
The second phase of the US-crafted, 20-point peace plan is meant to see Israel withdraw its troops from Gaza and the de-radicalisation of the enclave, which has been under Hamas rule since 2007. Progress in moving towards implementation of the second phase has been slow since the ceasefire took effect in October between Israel and Hamas (Read more at The National).
Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who had already ordered sanctions on judges and prosecutors in the case, explicitly linked the new sanctions to a vote Monday in which the judges sided with the majority and upheld arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former defense minister Yoav Gallant. "We will not tolerate ICC abuses of power that violate the sovereignty of the United States and Israel and wrongly subject US and Israeli persons to the ICC's jurisdiction," Rubio said in a statement (Read more at France 24).
Many American Jews assume that it’s easy to be Jewish in Israel given the ubiquity of Hebrew and history in the Jewish state, where one needn’t pay tens of thousands of dollars annually for day school or thousands for synagogue membership to raise children who are knowledgeable about Judaism. But senior Israeli educators said that is not the case (Read more at JNS).
Exodus Movement agreed to pay $3.1 million for servicing customers in Iran and for suggesting ways to obscure their location to avoid restrictions. Treasury further alleged that Exodus customer service agents had actively provided tips on how Iranian users could mask their location by using altered IP addresses and virtual private networks to obtain service, despite the company being prohibited from selling goods, technology or services to Iran under the Iranian Transactions and Sanctions Regulations (Read more at JNS).
Norman Podhoretz, one of the most influential American Jewish intellectuals of the postwar era and the longtime editor of Commentary magazine, died in New York City on Dec. 16, weeks before his 96th birthday. A liberal as a young man, he later emerged as one of the most prominent conservative thinkers in the United States, playing a central role in shaping American political and cultural debate for decades (Read more at JNS).
President Donald Trump on Dec 17 attended a sombre ceremony marking the return of the bodies of two US soldiers and an American civilian who were shot dead in Syria over the weekend. Mr Trump, Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth, top military officer General Dan Caine and other officials stood near a grey C-17 transport plane, saluting as three flag-covered cases were carried off the aircraft to a van by white-gloved troops (Read more at Straits Times).
Rejecting forever wars has been a core Trump principle since his first administration, but only in this second one has it been fully incorporated into the country’s national security strategy. As for the move towards resolution of regional conflicts, this seems overly optimistic, to say the least (Read more at Middle East Eye).
Many countries are wary of the mission to demilitarise Gaza’s militant group Hamas, which could drag them into the conflict. “Few people in Pakistan enjoy the luxury of being able to take risks more than Munir. He has unbridled power, now constitutionally protected,” Kugelman added (Read more at Arab Weekly).
The new restrictions, which also apply to holders of Palestinian Authority-issued travel documents, will take effect on January 1. Syria's inclusion was justified by the White House due to security challenges, high visa overstay rates, and a recent fatal attack on U.S. soldiers by an Islamic State assailant. The full ban applies to both immigrant and non-immigrant visas, affecting visitors such as tourists, students, and business travelers from the listed nations (Read more at Nation Thailand).
Trump said: "If you go back, 10, 12, 15 years ago, the most, the strongest lobby in Washington was the Jewish lobby, it was Israel. That's no longer true. You have to be very careful." He added that "there's been a big change" in Congress, and singled out Democratic Party members Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez and Ilhan Omar as examples. He went on to claim that Omar, who has come under attack by Trump in recent weeks, "hates Jewish people" (Read more at New Arab).
Two Democratic members of the U.S. House of Representatives representing New York City, who face primary challengers from fellow Democrats opposed to their support for Israel, received endorsements on Tuesday from the Democratic Majority for Israel’s political action committee. Reps. Richie Torres (D-N.Y.) and Dan Goldman (D-N.Y.) were among 65 House Democrats backed by the group, which spent more than $6 million in the 2024 federal elections, according to the research group OpenSecrets (Read more at JNS).
"I think that, in a form, it's already running," Trump said in the Oval Office. "More and more countries are coming into it. They're already in but they'll send any number of troops that I ask them to send." The U.S. Central Command, which oversees U.S. military forces in the Middle East, will host a conference in Doha on December 16 with partner nations to plan the International Stabilization Force for Gaza (Read more at Daily Sabah).
Syria's Interior Ministry said its units in Palmyra carried out an operation in coordination with "international coalition forces" that resulted in the arrest of five suspects "who were immediately referred for questioning". US Secretary of State Marco Rubio discussed the attack by phone with Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shibani on Sunday (Read more at Canberra Times).
How will the US respond to the killing of three of its soldiers in Syria? Washington blames the Islamic State for the attack and vows retaliation. So, does that mean direct military involvement? And if so, what role would the new Syrian government play? (Listen here)
Amir Ohana, the Knesset speaker, said in a talk in Washington last week that the United States reaps tangible benefits from its relation with the Jewish state. “For the $3.8 billion America invests annually in Israel, the returns are estimated at $48 billion in defense contracts, shared research and development and real-world testing that accelerates U.S. hardware upgrades,” he said. “Israeli technologies protect American troops.” (Read more at JNS)
The White House sent a stern private message to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stressing that the killing of a top Hamas military commander over the weekend constituted a violation of the ceasefire agreement brokered by President Trump (Read more at Axios).
An online briefing by U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, intended to update EU foreign ministers on President Donald Trump's Gaza peace plan, was cut short by technical difficulties on Monday, EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said. French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said earlier on Monday that he had suggested to Kallas that Kushner, Trump's son-in-law, and Witkoff provide an update on the implementation of the plan to foreign ministers, who were meeting in Brussels (Read more at Reuters).
Avi Simhon, the head of Israel’s National Economic Council and the prime minister’s economic adviser, said at the conference that Israel’s presence was a “badge of honor” for the state and its high-tech industry, which is considered a global leader in the fields of innovation and artificial intelligence. “Together with our international partners, we are working to fortify the global AI industry, strengthen the resilience of supply chains, and ensure the economic and security prosperity of participating countries,” he added (Read more at JNS).
One of the sources, who is based in Jordan and specialises in Syria, expected the US to demand a review of the members of the new security apparatus that replaced the former Assad regime, and more rigorous vetting of candidates. They said the US could also apply pressure on Syria to curb the influence of hardliners who were rewarded for their role in the removal of Bashar Al Assad with security positions. “There could be thousands like the attacker in Palmyra in the system,” the source in Jordan said. They said the new authorities had “rushed” to recruit at least 100,000 men since the downfall of Bashar Al Assad – most of them Sunni and all supportive of Hayat Tahrir Al Sham, the former Al Qaeda affiliate that ousted the regime in December last year (Read more at The National).
Trump administration insiders and well-connected Republican businesses have been jostling to dominate pending humanitarian aid and reconstruction logistics in the shattered Gaza Strip. But there’s no way to issue long-term contracts for reconstruction or humanitarian aid yet: a Board of Peace, chaired by Donald Trump, was endorsed by the United Nations to administer the territory but is not yet in operation. And the mandate of the new Civil-Military Coordination Center is limited (Read more at Guardian).
Members of Congress gathered at the U.S. Capitol on Tuesday to mark the 50th anniversary of the United Nations resolution determining that Zionism is a form of racism and Daniel Patrick Moynihan’s denunciation of that “infamous act.” Rep. Joe Wilson (R-S.C.) said that for the past 50 years, Israel has proven that Resolution 3379 “was not true.” (Read more at Lighthouse)
US forces have intercepted a ship in the Indian Ocean last month and seized military-related cargo believed to be destined for Iran from China. a US special operations team boarded the vessel several hundred miles off the coast of Sri Lanka and confiscated the cargo before allowing the ship to continue its journey. US officials said Washington had been tracking the shipment prior to the operation (Read more at TRT World).
US Central Command reports an ambush on Saturday, the first attack to inflict US casualties since the fall of Bashar al-Assad. “This was an Isis attack on us and Syria,” Trump said. “We will retaliate.” The Islamic State was defeated in Syria in 2019, but the group’s sleeper cells still carry out deadly attacks in the country. The United Nations says the group still has between 5,000 and 7,000 fighters in Syria and Iraq (Read more at Guardian).
U.S. intelligence officials temporarily halted sharing critical intelligence with Israel during the Biden administration due to concerns about Israel's military conduct in Gaza. This move, deemed unusual by experts, highlighted friction in U.S.-Israel relations and underscored worries over potential human rights violations by Israel's military and security agencies (Read more at DevDiscourse).
Deployment of the force is a key part of the next phase of US President Donald Trump's Gaza peace plan. Under the first phase, a fragile ceasefire in the two-year-old war began on 10 October, and Hamas released hostages, and Israel freed detained Palestinians. "There is a lot of quiet planning that's going on behind the scenes right now for phase two of the peace deal," White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt told reporters on Thursday. "We want to ensure an enduring and lasting peace." (Read more at Business Standard)
Following a visit to a Qatari medical and rehabilitation facility hosting evacuated Palestinians, Carlson confronted what he termed the “abominable” human cost of Israel’s war on Gaza. Accompanied by a team visibly shaken by the experience, Carlson showcased harrowing footage of survivors, including infants and young children with “mangled faces” and “limbs blown off.” (Read more at Tehran Times)
The United Nations General Assembly on Friday overwhelmingly voted to back the International Court of Justice (ICJ) advisory opinion that Israel allow the entry of aid into Gaza via United Nations agencies, including the one specifically established for Palestinian refugees - the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA). A total of 139 countries voted in favour of the resolution, and 19 abstained. And 12 votes against it included Israel, the US, Hungary, and Argentina (Read more at Middle East Eye).
Mr El Sisi has not been to Washington since Mr Trump began his second term in January. He cancelled a visit to the White House in February after Mr Trump announced his intention to resettle Gaza's residents in Egypt and Jordan and turn the coastal territory into a resort (Read more at The National).
“Al-Haq is not an office. Al-Haq is an idea.” With those words, Shawan Jabarin, director of Palestine’s oldest human rights group, Al-Haq, explained why the sweeping US sanctions imposed by Donald Trump earlier this year would not stop the organisation’s work (Read more at Middle East Eye).
When it comes to liberal American Jews and President Donald Trump, the “cognitive dissonance is real,” said award-winning journalist Dahlia Lithwick on the Haaretz Podcast (Listen here).
According to a U.S. Central Command article posted on X, the milestone reached this week follows five consecutive weeks in which at least 4,200 truckloads of aid and goods entered the Gaza Strip. The coordination hub, established on Oct. 17, has also expanded its international footprint, now including representatives from approximately 60 partner nations and organizations (Read more at EJPress).
The drill, dubbed “Intrinsic Defender,” focused on maintaining and strengthening the long-standing cooperation between the two navies, expanding and improving responses to possible maritime threats and promoting joint operational learning. “Throughout the exercise, operational capabilities were integrated, and new technological capabilities were established, to broaden the IDF’s operational options,” the statement continued (Read more at New York Post).
Asked about Republicans’ stance on Qatar, Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-N.J.), a proponent of designating the Muslim Brotherhood, told JNS: “You have to really ask them about that, but I can just tell you have to sleep with your eyes open when you’re dealing with our friends over there.” (Read more at JNS)
Ofir Akunis, the Israeli consul general in New York, called Gvili an “Israeli hero” who defended Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, against “the Hamas monsters.” The campaign, which the consulate says was led in coordination with Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar, follows earlier international awareness efforts calling attention to the fate of hostages taken on Oct. 7 (Read more at JNS).
The bill was submitted by Sens. Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.) and Dave McCormick (R-Pa.). The Houthi Human Rights Accountability Act would mandate that a determination be made on whether the Iranian-backed Houthis should be sanctioned for human-rights violations or hostage-taking. “The Houthis have terrorized the Yemeni people, the region and Americans for far too long,” Rosen said in a statement. “With Iran’s support, the Houthis have prevented crucial, lifesaving aid from reaching civilians and unlawfully detained humanitarians and diplomats, including current and former local staff of the U.S. Mission in Yemen just this week.” (Read more at JNS)
President Isaac Herzog held talks in Jerusalem on Wednesday with US Ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltz, using the meeting to review the next steps for implementing last month’s UN Security Council Resolution 2803 and President Donald Trump’s peace framework. Israel’s Ambassador to the UN, Danny Danon, joined the discussion at the President’s Residence (Read more at Media Line).
Four US lawmakers on Thursday said there has been no accountability for an October 2023 attack by the Israeli military that struck a group of journalists in Lebanon, killing a Reuters visuals journalist and wounding others. US Senator Peter Welch from Vermont, the home state of one of the journalists wounded in the attack, accused Israel of not conducting a serious investigation into the incident, saying he had seen no proof of that (Read more at Arabnews).
A small group of Democratic lawmakers, alongside the Committee to Protect Journalists and Amnesty International, called on Israel and the Trump administration on Thursday to carry out a full and independent investigation into the first alleged targeting of journalists by Israel as it launched its wars on Gaza and Lebanon after 7 October 2023 (Read more at Middle East Eye).
In this Conflicted Conversation, Thomas speaks with Lorenzo Vidino, Director of the Programme on Extremism at The George Washington University. What happens when an ideological movement is neither a terrorist organisation nor an ordinary religious group — but something in between? One of the world’s leading experts on the Muslim Brotherhood explains (Listen here).
Why are we defending mass murder in Gaza? Because our Greatest Ally demands it. It’s time to rethink that relationship (Listen here).
The two leaders also addressed situations in Syria and Lebanon during their talks in Washington, according to the State Department, “reaffirming their commitment to close collaboration in pursuit of peace and stability in the Middle East (Read more at JNS).
Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana joined House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) in Washington to affix their signatures to a letter nominating Trump for the honor, something he repeatedly has insisted he deserved. The two men said in October that they would lead a worldwide campaign on behalf of Trump, and said their meeting on Tuesday would kick off that effort (Read more at JNS).
The United Nations agency operates in Gaza, the West Bank, Lebanon, Jordan and Syria, providing aid, schooling, healthcare, social services and shelter to millions of Palestinians. It was not immediately clear if current U.S. discussions were focused on sanctioning the entire agency - or just specific UNRWA officials or parts of its operation (Read more at Ammon News).
The US State Department says the sham proceedings only prove that the Houthis rely on the use of terror against their own people to stay in power. “The United States condemns the Houthis’ ongoing unlawful detention of current and former local staff of the US Mission to Yemen,” US State Department spokesperson Tommy Pigott said in a statement (Read more at Arabnews).
The appointment will further increase the U.S. responsibility for securing and rebuilding Gaza, which is turning into the biggest U.S. political-civilian-military project in the Middle East in more than two decades. Trump is expected to head the Gaza Board of Peace, and his top advisers will be members of an international executive board. Now, the U.S. will be in command of the enclave's security force (Read more at Axios).
The development underscored both the hostility that exists on social media against Israel and the usage of bots to amplify hate on such networks. The weeklong visit, which was organized by American evangelical leader Mike Evans with the Israeli Foreign Ministry, was the single largest gathering of pastors in Israel since the establishment of the state in 1948. It included a tour of the southern communities that came under attack during the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led massacre as well as meetings with survivors and former hostages (Read more at JNS).
US Ambassador to Türkiye Tom Barrack said, “As laid out in U.S. law, Türkiye must no longer operate nor possess the S-400 system to return to the F-35 program.” Barrack said the “positive relationship” between President Donald Trump and President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has created “a new atmosphere of cooperation,” leading to the “most fruitful conversations we have had on this topic in nearly a decade.” (Read more at Anadolu Ajansi)
“The bill critically prioritizes U.S.-Israeli defense cooperation to further enable both nations to counter missile, drone and emerging high-tech threats,” the pro-Israel group said. “Importantly, the bipartisan defense measure authorizes $500 million in fiscal year 2026 for U.S.-Israel missile defense cooperation.” (Read more at JNS)
The House Foreign Affairs Committee heard testimony on Wednesday about the “historical, strategic and political dynamics” of Judea and Samaria and that territory’s relationship to the term “West Bank.” (Read more at JNS)
"We hope that the United States, President Trump, and America as a great power, we want it to guarantee the rights of all minorities in Syria ... preventing any further massacres," Israeli Druze leader Sheikh Mowafaq Tarif said. U.S. President Donald Trump vowed in November to do everything he can to make Syria successful after landmark talks with Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa (Read more at LBC).
"We'll do it early next year, and the Board of Peace are going to...it'll be one of the most legendary boards ever," he told reporters at the White House. "They want to all do it. Basically, it'll be the heads of the most important countries. They all want to be on (it)." (Read more at TRT World)
The ceremony included a moment of silence for 10 Al Jazeera reporters killed in Gaza, with their photos displayed at a memorial table. The organization also awarded Al Jazeera a “press freedom grant.” (Read more at JNS)
Peyrin Kao, who went on a hunger strike for Gaza, said he believes Cal “is capitulating to the demands of the Trump administration and using me as bait.” The university said it was responding to student complaints (Read more at Berkeleyside).
Debra Tice, the mother of American journalist Austin Tice who went missing in Syria thirteen years ago, is asking Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to allow her to review all the information Israel's intelligence services have gathered about her son's whereabouts (Read more at Axios).
The US Treasury Department imposed sanctions Tuesday on four individuals and four entities accused of recruiting fighters for the civil war in Sudan. "The RSF has shown again and again that it is willing to target civilians—including infants and young children. Its brutality has deepened the conflict and destabilized the region, creating the conditions for terrorist groups to grow," said Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence John Hurley (Read more at Anadolu Ajansi).
The US State Department has cleared a potential foreign military sale of M1085A2 and M1078A2 medium tactical vehicles (MTVs) to Lebanon, valued at $90.5 million. MTVs are highly mobile, versatile trucks designed to transport troops and equipment across rough terrain. The M1085A2 and M1078A2 variants provide enhanced payload capacity, off-road performance, and adaptability for missions ranging from logistics resupply to tactical operations. Their mobility and modular design make them a core component of modern military transport fleets (Read more at Defense Post).
CAIR, the largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy group in the U.S., has already filed a lawsuit against Texas after Gov. Greg Abbott (R) last month designated the two groups as foreign terrorist organizations. Neither group features on the U.S. government's list of designated foreign terrorist organizations (Read more at Axios).
Speaking at a panel on Syria during the Doha Forum on Sunday, Barrack praised the Syrian administration of President Ahmad al-Sharaa’s "epic" and "heroic" achievements following the fall of Bashar al-Assad in December 2024. The US envoy warned against western efforts to impose democratic models on the Middle East, arguing that such initiatives "have not been successful". (Read more at Middle East Eye)
The IDF said the exercise brings together the Israeli Navy and the US Fifth Fleet for coordinated maritime training. The joint drill comes as the IDF’s chief of staff warned that the military must be prepared for a sudden, large-scale conflict (Read more at Mehrnews).
In a recent interview, the pro-Israel senator said that he doesn’t see a need for the United States to get involved with Hamas, but he’d encourage U.S. President Donald Trump to “consider joint operations with Israel if we can’t do diplomacy to disarm Hezbollah like we did with Iran.” (Read more at JNS)
The House of Representatives released its proposal for 2026 defense spending that would see a $50 million shift in funds for Israel from countering short-range rockets and mortars to systems that intercept ballistic missiles. The 2026 National Defense Authorization Act, released on Sunday, would spend $60 million on the U.S.-Israeli co-development and production program for Iron Dome, down from $110 million in 2025 (Read more at JNS).
The US Congress could soon repeal the so-called Caesar Act sanctions on Syria, with the proposal appearing in the National Defence Authorisation Act for Fiscal Year 2026. The repeal of the sanctions comes with conditions, however: it mandates a review of the situation in Syria every 180 days over the course of four years to ensure that Damascus is taking appropriate action in areas including combating ISIS, removing foreign fighters from government roles, and upholding religious and ethnic minority rights, among others (Read more at The National).
Netanyahu said that he would discuss with Trump how to bring an end to Hamas rule in Gaza. A ceasefire between Israel and Hamas is entering its second month, although both sides have repeatedly accused each other of violating the truce agreement. Netanyahu said that it was important to ensure Hamas not only upholds the ceasefire but also follows through on "their commitment" to the plan to disarm and for Gaza to be demilitarized (Read more at Reuters).
No American president has ever sided with an Arab state over Israel until Donald Trump forced Bibi to apologize to Qatar. A reaction from Qatar’s PM (Listen here).
The U.S. officials say Netanyahu must first approve a strategic gas deal with Egypt and take other steps to entice Sisi to meet. The U.S. is considering similar initiatives focused on economic incentives in areas like tech and energy between Israel and Arab countries such as Lebanon, Syria and Saudi Arabia (Read more at Axios).
The U.S., Israel, and Qatar are holding a trilateral meeting in New York on Sunday to rebuild relations after the failed Israeli strike in Doha. This is the highest-level meeting between the countries since the deal to end the war in Gaza, for which Qatar served as a key mediator. It's taking place as the Trump administration prepares to announce that the Gaza peace process is moving to a new phase (Read more at Axios).
They traveled to Washington to thank officials who were involved in securing the release of their sons’ remains from the Gaza Strip. Their visit included meetings with about 20 senators and 20 members of the House of Representatives from both the Republican and Democratic parties. “Throughout the entire struggle we insisted on maintaining a nonpolitical approach,” the families said. “We worked with the Biden administration during an election year and, after the transition, with the Trump administration as well.” (Read more at JNS)
Fifty-five Iranians deported from the United States will return to their home country in the coming days. In September, officials said the US had identified about 400 Iranians to be deported, with a first flight carrying 120 people making its way to Tehran via Doha (Read more at Straits Times).
Washington removed Ankara from its advanced F-35 fighter jet programme and imposed the sanctions in 2020 over its acquisition of Russian S-400 air defence systems. Turkey has called the move unjust, and voiced hope that the sides could overcome the issue during President Donald Trump's second term (Read more at Yahoo News).
Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller, the cowboy hat-wearing Republican who often draws attention for posting controversial messages on social media, made a bold geopolitical statement during an international trip he wrapped up Wednesday: He opened up trade relations with a group of Israeli settlements in the West Bank that neither the United States nor the United Nations legally recognizes (Read more at Texas Tribune).
'The days in which the Middle East dominated American foreign policy in both long-term planning and day-to-day execution are thankfully over,' says the document (Read more at Anadolu Ajansi).
On December 6, 2017, during my first term in office, I proudly signed a proclamation to officially recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and to relocate the United States Embassy to that marvelous city—a transformative step forward in the pursuit of peace in the Middle East. Today, 8 years later, my Administration renews its commitment to ushering in a new era of peace, prosperity, and stability in the region and all around the world (Read more at Whitehouse).
The president was asked whether he was concerned about a growing skepticism regarding Israel in the U.S., especially among the younger generation. “I believe that the underlying fountain that we all drink from is the same,” Herzog answered, adding that he was following the anti-Israel trends permeating American youth “very closely.” (Read more at JNS)
A federal appeals court ruled on Thursday that a Chicago landlord lawfully evicted a Palestinian-American for displaying a Palestinian flag in her apartment window. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit upheld a district court ruling, which held that Manal Farhan failed to prove claims of national origin discrimination or violations of the Fair Housing Act (Read more at JNS).
The UAE has struck a sweet spot. It is hedging against the US even as it leverages good ties in Washington to load up on AI chips and assert itself in hotspots from Yemen to Sudan that put it in conflict with the rest of the US’s Arab partners. The contrast between the UAE’s approach to Washington and that of its Gulf neighbours and rivals, Qatar and Saudi Arabia, has been brought into stark relief this year (Read more at Middle East Eye).
The bill passed the committee with bipartisan support, with Democrats Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick, Greg Stanton, Jared Moskowitz, Jim Costa, George Latimer, and Brad Schneider joining all the Republicans. To become law, the bill needs to pass the full House of Representatives and the Senate (Read more at Middle East Eye).
In a statement issued on Wednesday after its annual meeting in The Hague earlier this week, the Assembly of States Parties (ASP) vowed to uphold the integrity of the Rome Statute and said it was “gravely concerned” by threats and coercive measures targeting the court. The meeting took place in the shadow of US sanctions already imposed against a number of ICC senior officials, including judges and the chief prosecutor, Karim Khan (Read more at Middle East Eye).
Turkish Petroleum is in talks with Chevron, Exxon Mobil and other U.S. majors to take positions in upstream assets, as part of Turkey’s plan to expand from its growing exposure to liquefied natural gas, the country’s Energy Minister Alparslan Bayraktar said Wednesday on the sidelines of the World LNG summit in Istanbul. Announcements might come as early as next month, he said (Read more at Politico Pro).
The Feasibility Review of Emerging Equipment for Digital Open Media (FREEDOM) Act would require the U.S. Departments of State and Treasury and the Federal Communications Commission to study new direct-to-cell technology that would let cell phones connect directly to satellites (Read more at JNS).
This visit underscores the United States' commitment to advancing regional stability, implementing President Trump's 20-Point Plan for Gaza. While in Jordan, Ambassador Waltz will meet with senior Jordanian officials, including King Abdullah II and Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi, to discuss bilateral cooperation and Jordan’s critical role in facilitating humanitarian aid to Gaza. In Israel, Ambassador Waltz will meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Isaac Herzog to advance U.S.-Israel cooperation at the United Nations and discuss shared priorities for regional security and humanitarian aid. His visit will include briefings on the implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 2803 and stops at Karem Shalom and the Coordination and Monitoring Mechanism for Gaza (Read more at Anadolu Ajansi).
Speaking in a video interview with the Dealbock Summit, organised by The New York Times, Netanyahu said: “Yes, I will come to New York.” When asked if he would try to speak with Mamdani, the Israeli leader added: “If he changes his mind and says we have the right to exist, that would be a good start for a conversation.” (Read more at Middle East Monitor).
U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee on Wednesday urged more than a thousand visiting American pastors and Christian leaders to “light the pulpits of America” with the truth about Israel, and to quash criticism of the Jewish state from both the left and the right with the facts and the Bible (Read more at JNS).
New York City’s mayor, Eric Adams, has issued two executive orders he says are meant to combat antisemitism, less than a month before he hands over the keys to the mayoralty to Zohran Mamdani, an outspoken critic of Israel. The first order prohibits city agency heads and staff from engaging in “any policy that discriminates against the state of Israel, Israeli citizens based on their national origin, or individuals or entities based on their association with Israel”. A second order directs the New York City police commissioner, currently Jessica Tisch, to evaluate proposals for regulating protest activity occurring close to houses of worship (Read more at Guardian).
The fragile ceasefire in Gaza is the biggest foreign policy achievement of Trump's second term so far, and his administration wants to proceed to the second phase to avoid sliding back into war (Read more at Axios).
The Department of Defense’s inspector general released the much-anticipated unclassified report on Thursday about Pete Hegseth’s disclosure of plans for military airstrikes in Yemen in a Signal group chat earlier this year, triggering fresh demands for his resignation (Read more at Guardian).
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his coalition on Wednesday boycotted a Knesset vote endorsing US President Donald Trump’s plan for Gaza. The vote, initiated by opposition leader Yair Lapid, passed with 39 votes in favor and none against. As the period to debate the proposal began, members of Netanyahu’s coalition fled the Knesset plenum, hastily rushing to the exits as the vote neared (Read more at AOL).
US pressure led to the restart of the Kirkuk-Ceyhan pipeline in Iraq after Iranian drone strikes on US-operated oilfields in Kurdistan. This move is seen as a shift in influence from Tehran to Washington, highlighting US energy ambitions and diplomatic ties. The pipeline resumption agreement is temporary, with future complications due to legal and political factors (Read more at Long Bridge).
A federal judge questions the termination of Ozturk’s student status after the op-ed. Ozturk’s visa was revoked due to pro-Palestinian activism. The Judge said she was “struggling” to understand why President Donald Trump’s administration is preventing a Tufts University PhD student who had engaged in pro-Palestinian activism from working on campus nearly seven months after the Turkish citizen was released from an immigration detention center (Read more at Arabnews).
The U.S. military has stood up its first operational unit armed with Low-Cost Uncrewed Combat Attack System (LUCAS) kamikaze drones, a design reverse-engineered from the Iranian-designed Shahed-136, in the Middle East. The establishment of Task Force Scorpion Strike (TFSS) is a major development, and offers a way “to flip the script on Iran,” according to a U.S. official (Read more at The War Zone).
The meeting in Naqoura on the border between the countries was the first such direct, public engagement between Israel and Lebanon since 1993. The Trump administration has been tying to foster this sort of dialogue between Israel and Lebanon for nine months (Read more at Axios).
The program, which is the vision of the late OU leader and rabbi Moshe Hauer, involved a partnership with the religious Zionist group Rabbanei Haaretz Hatova and Gesher, an Israeli organization that promotes Jewish unity (Read more at JNS).
Israel will be among a select group of countries participating in the Pax Silica artificial intelligence summit at the White House on Dec. 12. Pax Silica is a strategic economic security coalition-building effort for the AI era that unites countries whose interests converge around securing the entire silicon to compute supply chain (Read more at JNS).
There was a clear “threat” delivered in Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s formal letter to President Isaac Herzog requesting a pardon in his corruption case, senior Haaretz columnist Dahlia Scheindlin said on the Haaretz Podcast. On the podcast, Scheindlin discusses the impact a pardon would have on a future election and the U.S.-led efforts to pursue the goals laid out in the Gaza cease-fire agreement, as well as what she believes Israel’s opposition needs to do to seize this moment ahead of next October’s election in order to formulate a “winning strategy” to defeat Netanyahu (Listen here).
At one point, Clinton recalled her recent teaching experience at Columbia University, where she saw how students’ opinions were being shaped by social media clips, which she said often contained propaganda or misinformation, including about the Oct. 7 terrorist attack on Israel in 2023. “When you would try to talk to them to engage in some kind of reasonable discussion, it was very difficult because they did not know history,” she said. “They had very little context. And what they were being told on social media was not just one-sided, it was pure propaganda.” (Read more at Hallywood Reporter)
Exxon Mobil has approached the Iraqi oil ministry to express its interest in buying Russian firm Lukoil's majority stake in the giant West Qurna 2 oilfield, five Iraqi official sources with direct knowledge of the matter said (Read more at Yahoo Finance).
The possible Saudi Arabian Foreign Military Sales (FMS) cases are each valued at $500 million. “The proposed sale will enhance Saudi Arabia’s capability to meet current and future threats by providing initial through advanced aviation operator and maintainer training for the safe and professional operation of the [Royal Saudi Land Forces Aviation Corps] US-procured helicopter fleet,” says the DSCA. Separately, the DSCA has announced a possible $445 million sustainment sale for Bahrain’s F-16s. It covers a broad range of components, spares, and other support (Read more at Global Flight).
A visit to the White House would mark the Israeli prime minister's fifth since Mr Trump returned to office in January. The two leaders have publicly projected a close relationship, though US and Israeli sources have said Mr Trump has at times expressed frustration with Mr Netanyahu (Read more at Strait Times).
“The two leaders stressed the importance and obligation of disarming Hamas and demilitarizing the Gaza Strip, and discussed expanding the peace agreements,” the prime minister’s office wrote. It’s not clear what peace agreements the two leaders discussed, but earlier on Monday, Trump wrote that there was a “historic opportunity” for “peace in the Middle East” under Syria’s new president (Read more at J Wire).
"It is very important that Israel maintain a strong and true dialogue with Syria, and that nothing takes place that will interfere with Syria's evolution into a prosperous State," Trump said on his Truth Social platform. Tensions have risen over hundreds of strikes by Israel on Syria, and in the deadliest so far, Israeli forces killed 13 people on Friday in an operation in the southern village of Beit Jin. Syria called the Israeli operation a "war crime." Israel said it targeted an Islamist group (Read more at France 24).
Some 100 evangelical Latinos and their pastors gathered to express solidarity with Israel and launched a new Zionist nonprofit targeting Spanish speakers. “We in the Jewish community need to show our appreciation to our Christian friends, who are standing with us and Israel,” Rabbi Ruben Malekan said (Read more at JNS).
The “No Immigration Benefits for Hamas Terrorists Act of 2025,” which Rep. Tom McClintock (R-Calif.) introduced, would amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to bar from the United States “any alien who carried out, participated in, planned, financed, afforded material support to or otherwise facilitated any of the attacks against Israel initiated by Hamas beginning on Oct. 7,” including members of Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (Read more at JNS).
Besides the inauguration of the new Consulate General in Erbil, Rigas is expected to meet with Iraqi officials and tour US diplomatic facilities (Read more at Iraqinews).
Opposition politicians have come out against the request, with some arguing that any pardon should be conditional on Netanyahu retiring from politics and admitting guilt. Others have said the prime minister must first call national elections, which are due by October 2026, before requesting any pardon (Read more at Arabnews).
According to U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM), American and Syrian forces identified and eliminated the storage facilities across the Rif Damashq province during a series of airstrikes and ground demolitions conducted between 24 and 27 November. “The combined operation destroyed over 130 mortars and rockets, multiple assault rifles, machine guns, anti-tank mines, and materials for building improvised explosive devices,” CENTCOM said in a statement (Read more at Anewz).
Did the Biden administration help cover up the killing of Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh by Israeli forces? This week on UpFront, Marc Lamont Hill speaks to Steve Gabavics, a colonel-turned-whistleblower who was sent by the United States Department of State to investigate Abu Akleh's killing in 2022. Gabavics found that Israel intentionally killed Abu Akleh, who was fired at 16 times while wearing a blue vest marked “press”, but the State Department labelled her killing "accidental" to avoid angering the Israeli government. Gabavics claimed that Abu Akleh is among several American citizens killed by the Israeli military for whom the US has taken no action to hold Israel accountable (Listen here).
The makers of the popular satirical cartoon show South Park turned their sights on Saudi Arabia in their latest episode, attacking American media personalities, politicians and sporting events for taking money from the state. Struggling to find funds due to the economic crisis in the US, one character suggests there is someone "who'd be willing to give South Park a bunch of money", adding "they're giving money to everyone else" (Read more at Middle East Eye).
American missionaries were dispatched to Palestine as early as 1821 but remained only until 1844, when competition from British Protestant missions rendered their presence redundant and led them to relocate to Syria and Lebanon. The Palestinians opposed the colonists, prompting the Ottomans to protest to the US minister that 'the natives' were being driven 'from their fields by a colony of Yankees' (Read more at Middle East Eye).
A spokesperson for the Iranian football federation (FFIRI) described the decision to reject the visa application as “unrelated to sport”, and the move raises the prospect of Iran withdrawing from the tournament altogether. Iran is one of 19 countries whose citizens are restricted from entering the US since a directive issued by Donald Trump in June. An exemption to the ban was granted to athletes, coaches or “persons performing a necessary support role” who were travelling for the World Cup or “other major sporting event”, but appears not to have been applied in this instance (Read more at Guardian).
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called a cabinet meeting this month to discuss settler violence, but this sudden interest stands in stark contrast to years of inaction by the state. Settler attacks in the occupied West Bank hit a record high in October, the worst monthly toll since record-keeping began almost two decades ago. The violence is happening with impunity and under the protection of the army, according to evidence collected by rights groups and testimonies from Palestinians. The question is: why are authorities only now taking an interest? Is new pressure from Washington pushing them to take a stronger stand against settler attacks? In this episode of Beyond the Headlines, host Nada AlTaher examines Israel’s reaction to settler violence. She speaks to Kobi Michael from the Misgav Institute and to political analyst Ori Goldberg (Listen here).
The feud between U.S. President Donald Trump and MAGA congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene may not be exclusively about Israel, “but Israel is one of the pillars of the narrative” that fueled Greene’s decision to resign earlier this week, Haaretz’s Washington correspondent Ben Samuels told the Haaretz Podcast (Listen here).
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar offered condolences to the American people after an Afghan national shot two National Guard members near the White House in a suspected terrorist attack. “My thoughts are with the families of the two brave National Guardsmen,” Sa’ar wrote on X (Read more at JNS).
“Thank you, Speaker @MikeJohnson, for your strong and principled words about Israel. Your clarity and conviction strengthen our shared stand against terror,” the premier stated on his office’s X social media. Johnson emphasized Israel’s role as the only stable democracy in the Middle East and said the alliance serves American interests regardless of religious motivations (Read more at JNS).
A senior Trump official has confirmed that the US administration is working on a plan to divide the Gaza Strip by constructing housing units for thousands of Palestinians in Israeli-occupied areas behind the so-called yellow line in Gaza, and not allowing them to leave those sites (Read more at Imemc).
In a statement, the group said it firmly opposes the executive order issued on the 24th of this month. It stressed that the move is politically motivated and the result of external pressure from Israel and the UAE to push President Donald Trump’s administration to issue the decision. The statement said: “Many Democratic governments, including the United States government, have previously reviewed such proposals and reached the same conclusion: that classifying the Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist group is completely detached from reality and not supported by any evidence (..) The facts have not changed.” (Read more at Middle East Monitor)
If implemented, the measure would undermine core US interests, destabilise the Middle East, and empower the very actors Washington claims to be combatting. Firstly, the designation represents a triumph for the far-right extremists surrounding Trump - figures such as Sebastian Gorka, Trump’s senior director for counterterrorism, with widely reported ties to ultranationalist and neo-Nazi groups in Europe; and Laura Loomer, a far-right activist known for Islamophobic campaigns across the US. Both have long framed the Brotherhood as part of a global Islamist conspiracy, and lobbied aggressively for its designation (Read more at Middle East Eye).
The union said Cornell University supported human rights abuses against Palestinians through research and ties to the weapons industry, and the decision allows it to "join a larger movement to end the genocide in Palestine". “Cornell is implicated in the Israeli genocide of Palestinians through research, recruitment, and financial ties with the weapons industry, and endowment investments,” a statement from the union reads (Read more at Middle East Eye).
Late on Monday night in Samaria, Senator Jason Rapert of Arkansas, the founder and president of the National Association of Christian Lawmakers (NACL), gathered a contingent of 20 U.S. lawmakers in quiet prayer before the army arrived to escort them into Joseph’s Tomb, one of the holiest and most sensitive sites in the region. They were guided by Yossi Dagan, head of the Samaria Regional Council (Read more at Newsrael).
The US president's direct engagement brings political weight and leverage, but risks tying the nation's future to transactional geopolitical interests (Read more at Middle East Eye).
Federal officials alleged that, in addition to overstaying his visa, Marouf donated nearly $14,000 to the Holy Land Foundation, a terror organization, in the 1990s, reported Fox 4 in Dallas. The leaders of the foundation were subsequently convicted of sending $12 million to Hamas (Read more at JNS).
The lawsuit filed Monday in U.S. District Court in North Dakota came one month after President Donald Trump pardoned Binance founder Changpeng Zhao, who had pleaded guilty to failing to combat money laundering on the crypto exchange (Read more at CNBC).
Anwar Gargash, the diplomatic adviser to the United Arab Emirates' president, said on Tuesday the UAE welcomed US efforts to end war in Sudan and condemned "atrocities" committed by both Sudan's army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (Read more at Khaleej Times).
The United States has presented Sudan's warring parties with a proposal for a truce but neither side has formally accepted it, U.S. envoy Massad Boulos said Tuesday, as the army accused its rivals of staging an attack despite declaring a ceasefire. Boulos said that while there were no objections to the content of the U.S.-proposed plan, the Sudanese army had come back with "preconditions" he described as impossible to achieve (Read more at CBC).
Widespread anger at the Gaza genocide poses serious problems for any Arab or Muslim-majority leader thinking of signing an Abraham Accord. Whether this shifts in the coming months will depend on what happens in the devastated enclave (Read more at Middle East Eye).
The trip advances the U.S. “commitment to advancing stability, security, religious freedom and prosperity across the region. Michael Rigas’s visit will reaffirm the “ironclad” U.S.-Israel relationship. the U.S. official will meet with Iraqi officials and tour U.S. diplomatic sites during his visit to Baghdad and Erbil, and inaugurate the consulate general in the latter city (Read more at JNS).
In March 2006, the Harvard Kennedy School published a working paper, “The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy,” by influential political scientists John Mearsheimer and Stephen Walt. Unknown at the time, Jeffrey Epstein gave feedback on talking points to discredit Mearsheimer and Walt, and used his extensive social network to circulate allegations of anti-semitism against the two scholars (Read more at Drope Site News).
The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), which had four food distribution sites that became flashpoints of chaos and deadly violence between May and October, said in a statement that it would shut down permanently, having “successfully completed its emergency mission” (Read more at Guardian).
The diary, which was published this week at the request of the non-profit group Hatzlaha, showed that Netanyahu held seven meetings and nine phone calls with Republican Senator Lindsay Graham. The discussions with Graham came at a time of heightened tension between Israel and the administration of then-US President Joe Biden over Israel's genocide in Gaza (Read more at Middle East Eye).
The contract covers base operating support, life support, and security services to be carried out at the Martyr Brigadier General (BG) Ali Flaih Air Base, located in Iraq’s Salah al-Din province. Work is expected to be completed by September 24, 2026 (Read more at Defense Post).
The contract coincides with the opening of a $33-million production facility in East Camden, Arkansas, established to support the Israel Missile Defense Organization’s push to accelerate Iron Dome interceptor production. The site will manufacture Tamir warheads for Israel’s Iron Dome air and missile defense system, which has been operational since 2011 and uses radar-guided interceptors to shoot down rockets, artillery, and short-range missiles with a reported success rate above 95 percent (Read more at Defense Post).
United States President Donald Trump “looks at Saudi Arabia like a piggy bank or an ATM machine” and that’s why the recent Saudi-US summit focused on deals instead of strategic regional issues, such as Sudan, Palestine, Iran and Syria, argues political scientist Gregory Gause, professor emeritus of international affairs at Texas A&M University. Gause tells host Steve Clemons that if Riyadh can seal a deal to house a joint AI data centre, “that's the best guarantee of US security.” He adds that China may be Saudi Arabia’s biggest customer but the US is Riyadh’s “preferred partner on security, AI, economics and defence cooperation”. (Listen here)
The United States is moving forward with plans to establish new communities for Gazans on the Israeli-controlled side of the line dividing the Strip, part of an effort to draw civilians away from Hamas-run areas (Read more at JNS).
Representative Vindman urges the White House to release the transcript of Trump's 2019 call with Prince Mohammed after Khashoggi's murder. Vindman claims the classified call was "shocking" and involved a quid pro quo, sparking controversy and demands from Democrats (Read more at Straits Times).
Lebanon’s army has been beefing up its presence in south Lebanon near the Israeli border since a US-brokered ceasefire last November sought to end more than a year of hostilities between Israel and the Iran-backed militant group (Read more at Defense Post).
Under the new status, Saudi Arabia will gain access to American defense technologies, priority delivery of military equipment, and the ability to host US war reserves. The kingdom also becomes eligible to bid on Pentagon contracts for maintenance and repair of US systems abroad (Read more at Defense Post).
“Regarding the F-35, I had a long conversation with Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who reiterated his commitment that the United States will continue to preserve Israel’s qualitative military edge in everything related to supplying weapons and military systems to countries in the Middle East,” Netanyahu said in a Hebrew-language interview widely circulated on X (Read more at Middle East Eye).
Several anti-Palestine groups, including Canary Mission and Betar USA, claimed credit for Khalil’s arrest in March. The lawsuit comes after the Trump administration failed to respond to a Freedom of Information Act request Khalil filed for the documents (Read more at Middle East Eye).
Members of the delegation stressed that their mission would continue until the remains of the last captive are returned home for burial. In a message shared by the White House on X, he told them: “You’re not a hostage anymore … today you’re heroes.” (Read more at JNS)
Following a “series of precise security surveillance and monitoring operations”, security forces arrested Zaitar in an ambush in the city of Baalbek in Lebanon’s eastern Baalbek-Hermel governorate, the Lebanese military said. “The detainee is one of the most dangerous wanted individuals, pursuant to a large number of arrest warrants, for crimes of forming gangs operating across numerous Lebanese regions in drug and arms trafficking, manufacturing narcotic substances, and robbery and theft by force of arms,” the military said (Read more at Aljazeera).
The White House has said it was unaware that a meeting took place earlier this year between United States ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee and Jonathan Pollard, a former US Navy officer who was convicted of spying for Israel and jailed for decades (Read more at Aljazeera).
While living in Maryland from late 2024 until March 2025, Dizajgan allegedly used TikTok to post images and videos of U.S. citizens marked with upside-down red triangles—an icon that Hamas uses to single out targets—accompanied by threatening remarks, per the indictment (Read more at JNS).
Two members of Congress with long pro-Israel records have called on U.S. President Donald Trump to respond to what they say is increasing “settler violence” in Judea and Samaria. Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) and Rep. Dan Goldman (D-N.Y.) wrote to the president, stating that matters have gotten worse since they first raised these concerns with Trump’s predecessor, former President Joe Biden (Read more at JNS).
Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) and Leo Terrell, chair of the U.S. Justice Department task force to combat Jew-hatred, were among the honorees awarded for speaking out on behalf of Israel and the Jewish people at a ceremony in Washington. Speaking at the Endowment for Middle East Truth’s annual “Rays of Light in the Darkness” gala, Fetterman said that the more people “back away from Israel,” the more he would “lean in stronger.” (Read more at JNS)
A federal judge on Wednesday blocked President Donald Trump’s administration from terminating temporary deportation protections and work permits for more than 6,100 Syrians while a legal challenge proceeds. U.S. District Judge Katherine Polk Failla in Manhattan said the abrupt elimination of temporary protected status for Syrians was likely illegal, agreeing with seven Syrian migrants who had sought to block the policy from taking effect on Friday. They claim the change was arbitrary and motivated by racial animus (Read more at NBC News).
Both companies are receiving approvals to purchase the equivalent of up to 35,000 Nvidia Blackwell chips (GB300s), said the department in a statement. “These approvals will promote continued American AI dominance and global technological leadership – consistent with President Trump’s July 2025 AI Action Plan. The approvals also follow landmark U.S.-Saudi and U.S.-UAE AI partnership agreements,” the statement added (Read more at Middle East Economy).
The multi-year arrangement will see Hartree Partners deliver liquefied natural gas (LNG) cargoes to Egypt’s existing import terminals and the country’s regasification facilities. The supplies are intended to support Egypt’s domestic energy requirements, particularly during periods of peak seasonal demand and as the country works to maintain stable electricity generation (Read more at World Energy).
Nearly all recent US administrations have worked with leaders with poor human rights records in order to advance US interests. But more than any recent occupant of the White House, Trump has not only praised prominent autocratic rulers, from Saudi Arabia and Hungary to China and El Salvador, but has shown little interest in reining them in, instead taking a more transactional approach (Read more at Business Standard).
"We sent (a) greeting message to all our international correspondent banks. We started with the Federal Reserve," Husrieh said. "We're telling them that ... we are back to the international financial system, and we are looking forward to long-term business relationships." (Read more at Market Screener)
In this episode of Middle East Focus, hosts Alistair Taylor and Matthew Czekaj sit down with MEI Visiting Scholar F. Gregory Gause, III, to analyze the policy implications of Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud's (MBS) first visit to the US in seven years. What do US and Saudi officials hope to achieve from MBS's historic trip? Gause breaks down how the kingdom has changed under MBS's leadership and the prospects for a bilateral defense agreement between the US and Saudi Arabia. Gause also examines the evolving US-Saudi relationship and how the turbulent regional landscape is affecting Riyadh's foreign policy calculations (Listen here).
Oil giant Saud Aramco said on Wednesday it had signed 17 preliminary deals with US companies with a potential overall value of more than $30 billion, during a visit to Washington by the Saudi Crown Prince. The projects span liquefied natural gas, financial services, advanced materials manufacturing and procurement of materials and services, it said in a statement (Read more at New Arab).
The joint venture plans to deploy up to 1 GW of AI infrastructure by 2030, with the shared ambition to expand capacity to multiple gigawatts, as a key pillar of HUMAIN’s overall ambitions. This joint venture is expected to begin operations in 2026, with a phase 1 deployment of 100 MW planned, powered by HUMAIN modern data center capacity, AMD Instinct™ MI450 Series GPUs and Cisco critical infrastructure solutions (Read more at CISCO).
"It is about civilian, civil use of nuclear power. It's not about enrichment. It's not about anything related to weapons. It's just about generating electricity, secure, reliable, affordable electricity," U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright said (Read more at Yahoo).
Saudi Arabian Mining Company (Maaden) and the Pentagon will create a joint venture to process rare earth materials from Saudi Arabia and other parts of the world to supply the US and Saudi manufacturing and defense sectors (Read more at Al-Arabiya).
A handful of Republican members of Congress, including House of Representatives Speaker Mike Johnson, Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Jim Risch and House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Brian Mast attended a black-tie dinner at the White House for bin Salman on Tuesday, according to a White House official (Read more at Dawn).
Founded in 2019 and fully state-owned by Abu Dhabi, EDGE Group is a rapidly growing advanced technology and defense conglomerate. Its portfolio spans a wide range of capabilities—from drones, armored vehicles, and radar systems to cyber and secure communications tech (Read more at Defense Watch).
This conversation will explore the emerging forces shaping the next wave of technological progress, highlighting the architectures, models, and investments powering a more intelligent and interconnected future. The discussion will be moderated by Abdullah Alswaha, Saudi Arabia's minister of communications and information technology. Both Musk and Huang attended a dinner Trump held for the crown prince (Read more at Yahoo Finance).
Since his 2023 signing for the Riyadh-based club – majority owned by the Saudi sovereign wealth fund that the crown prince chairs – Ronaldo has been the face of the Saudi league and has featured in promotional videos for the Saudi Tourism Authority (Read more at Aljazeera).
The crown prince's lavish White House reception marked his full rehabilitation and secured major economic, defence and technology deals that could shift the US-Saudi balance. More broadly, Arabs interested in democracy, freedom and human rights will be discouraged by the crown prince's increased power and influence. After the Arab Spring, the Saudi government helped guide counterrevolutions in Egypt, Tunisia, Yemen, Libya, and elsewhere (Read more at Middle East Eye).
The F-35 is just one item on Saudi Arabia's shopping list. Deliveries of the F-35 could still take years, so the kingdom is looking at more futuristic weapons systems, like Collaborative Combat Aircraft (CCA) drones. The agreement will put Saudi Arabia far ahead of other Gulf states and US partners in terms of wait times and negotiations for sophisticated US weapons (Read more at Middle East Eye).
Clips from a Jewish-American panel discussion are racing across social media and fuelling backlash this week after a former Obama speechwriter claimed young people falsely believe the Holocaust teaches you to “fight the big, powerful people hurting the weak people". Sarah Hurwitz argues young Jewish people 'can’t hear anything through the wall of carnage in Gaza' and are misapplying lessons about antisemitism (Read more at Middle East Eye).
The Trump administration has approached Yemen’s internationally recognised government in Aden about potentially contributing to the "international stabilisation force" being assembled for Gaza. News of the Aden government's involvement comes one day after US President Donald Trump feted Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman at the White House. The kingdom is a key backer of the Aden government, and has waged a war on the Houthis since 2015, creating what became one of the world's worst humanitarian crises (Read more at Middle East Eye).
Saudi Arabia has agreed to allow US citizen Saad Almadi to return home to Florida, five months ahead of the scheduled lifting of travel restrictions and a day after Saudi crown prince and prime minister Mohammed bin Salman met Donald Trump at the White House. Almadi, 75, was sentenced to 19 years of incarceration in the kingdom in 2021 after he wrote 14 tweets critical of the Riyadh government. Two years later, the charges were reduced to so-called “cyber crimes” and he was sentenced to a 30-year ban on leaving Saudi Arabia (Read more at Guardian).
Senator Jeanne Shaheen, the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said any deal with Saudi Arabia must include enhanced inspections through an agreement known as the Additional Protocol, which boosts the ability of the International Atomic Energy Agency to verify peaceful use of all nuclear material. It is critical that the U.S. hold Saudi Arabia to the "gold standard" in what is known as a 123 Agreement to ensure Riyadh will not enrich uranium or reprocess plutonium, as the United Arab Emirates agreed in 2009 when it signed a civil nuclear pact with Washington, she said. "We must not fuel a nuclear arms race in the Middle East." (Read more at Yahoo News)
"His majesty would like me to do something very powerful having to do with Sudan," Trump said at a Saudi-US business forum on Wednesday. "It was not on my charts to be involved in, I thought it was just something that was crazy and out of control," he added. "But I just see how important that is to you, and to a lot of your friends in the room, Sudan. And we're going to start working on Sudan." (Read more at TRT World)
The controversy over the killing of Khashoggi, a Washington Post columnist and U.S.-based critic of the Saudi leadership, flared again in the Oval Office in front of cameras as the kingdom's de facto ruler made his first White House visit in more than seven years seeking to further rehabilitate his global image tarnished by the incident. U.S. intelligence agencies concluded that bin Salman approved the capture or killing of Khashoggi at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. The crown prince denied ordering the operation but acknowledged responsibility as the kingdom's de facto ruler. "A lot of people didn't like that gentleman that you're talking about, whether you like him or didn't like him," Trump said. "Things happened, but he knew nothing about it, and we can leave it at that." (Read more at Japan Times)
In addition to Resolution 2803's vague wording and unclear commitments, the biggest obstacle is Israel's relentless opposition to a Palestinian state (Read more at Middle East Eye).
Tommy and Ben discuss Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s visit to Washington, his request for F-35 fighter jets and a NATO-like security guarantee, the real estate deals the Trump family might get in return, and how corruption is driving US foreign policy, including in the case of a gold-bar bribe from the Swiss. Then they talk about new reports on embattled (and embarrassing) FBI Director Kash Patel, what leaked emails tell us about Jeffrey Epstein’s relationship with Israeli intelligence and former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak, how Chinese hackers used AI in a game-changing new way, why the former prime minister of Bangladesh was sentenced to death, a massive corruption scandal in Ukraine, an update on civilians fleeing violence in Sudan, and a new documentary about how Adolf Hitler’s teeny tiny secret caused big problems. Then Ben speaks with author and former assistant administrator at USAID, Atul Gawande, whose new documentary “Rovina’s Choice” highlights the staggering rise in preventable malnutrition and deaths after American cuts to foreign aid (Listen here).
Muhammad bin Salman’s first visit to the White House in seven years earned the Saudi crown prince new weapons, giant tech deals and a burnished reputation. Our correspondent explains Trump’s warm welcome. Why gay rights in Hong Kong are going backwards. And how snail farms help Britons dodge tax (Listen here).
"Iran must ... provide the (International Atomic Energy) Agency without delay with precise information on nuclear material accountancy and safeguarded nuclear facilities in Iran, and grant the Agency all access it requires to verify this information," read the draft submitted on Tuesday, which diplomats said is highly likely to be passed (Source: Yahoo News).
It's a massive, long-term commitment — and one that appears to shrug off doubts regarding the tank's role on the battlefield of the future. General Dynamics Land Systems makes the Abrams main battle tank. It's used by the U.S. Army and has been adopted overseas, including by Ukraine (Read more at Axios).
While Trump and his advisers acknowledge the gaps between the Saudis and the Israelis are still wide, the White House told the Saudis it wanted to see some progress on this issue during the Trump-MBS meeting, U.S. officials said (Read more at Axios).
“I will say that we will be doing that,” Trump told reporters at the White House, "We'll be selling F-35s". In a potential multibillion-dollar deal, Riyadh wants to buy as many as 48 US-made jets. Through the deal, Saudi Arabia is seeking to strengthen its security in the face of threats from countries such as Iran and militias across the Middle East (Read more at Euronews).
Senior executives from IBM, Alphabet's Google, Salesforce, Andreessen Horowitz, Halliburton, Adobe, Aramco, State Street and Parsons Corp are also expected at the Nov. 19 event at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. The event is planned for the day after the crown prince, widely known by his initials MBS, meets with President Donald Trump (Read more at Reuters).
As a result, both groups would be barred "from purchasing or acquiring land" in the state of Texas. The proclamation gives the state's attorney general leeway to sue the groups accordingly (Read more at Middle East Eye).
A new initiative named the Anti-Zionist America Political Action Committee (Azapac) released an unprecedented video ad on Monday calling for donations and volunteers to help it build momentum and counter pro-Israeli lobbying groups in the US. The project, which kicked off earlier this year, is spearheaded by former New York University professor and author Michael Rectenwald, a self-described Libertarian, and has amassed more than 22,000 followers on X (Read more at Middle East Eye).
For days leading up to his visit, diplomats and Middle East watchers were placing bets on whether Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman would subject himself to one of US President Donald Trump’s notorious, and often raw, Oval Office press briefings. Payments are now due in full. For about 40 minutes, Trump and the crown prince fielded reporters' questions on almost every topic, from the murder of Middle East Eye and Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi to AI chips and arms sales - all with the cameras rolling (Read more at Middle East Eye).
The foreign ministry spokesperson Yvonne Mewengkang said it welcomed the resolution and stressed the importance of every party's involvement in it, "especially the Palestinian Authority". "The resolution prioritises conflict resolution and prolonged peace through the capacity building of the Palestinian authorities," Yvonne said in a statement. "Indonesia will always support an independent and sovereign Palestinian nation." (Read more at Jakarta Post)
'It is essential now to translate the diplomatic momentum into concrete and urgently needed steps on the ground,' says Antonio Guterres. "The adoption of the resolution on Gaza by the Security Council is an important step in the consolidation of the ceasefire, which the Secretary-General encourages all parties to abide by," said his spokesperson, Stephane Dujarric, in a statement (Read more at Anadolu Ajansi).
US President Donald Trump's Gaza peace plan wins UN Security Council backing. A mixed reaction from Palestinians: the Palestinian Authority welcomes the resolution, but Hamas rejects it along with plans for an international stabilisation force. So, what's next? (Listen here)
The Saudi Crown Prince believed Trump's direct pressure was needed to break a logjam in talks to end more than two and a half years of war, pointing to his work to achieve a ceasefire in Gaza last month (Read more at New Arab).
Saudi luxury real estate developer Dar Global hopes to fund much of its latest Trump hotel in the Maldives by selling blockchain-based crypto tokens to U.S. retail investors. London-listed Dar Global is one of The Trump Organization's main overseas partners, with seven projects under development including an 80-storey tower in Dubai, a golf resort in Qatar and hotels and high-end homes across Saudi Arabia and Oman (Read more at MSN).
The decision was made just hours before his planned departure and despite extensive preparations for the visit. The Lebanese Embassy in Washington announced the cancellation of a reception that had been arranged in honor of the army commander, expressing appreciation for guests’ understanding and saying it would inform them of a new date once set, without offering the Lebanese community any further explanation (Read more at Arabnews).
Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas agreed last month to the first phase of Trump's 20-point plan for Gaza - a ceasefire in their two-year war and a hostage-release deal - but the UN resolution is seen as vital to legitimizing a transitional governance body and reassuring countries that are considering sending troops to Gaza. Hamas, in a statement, reiterated that it will not disarm and argued that its fight against Israel is legitimate resistance, potentially pitting the militant group against the international force authorized by the resolution (Read more at Reuters).
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s visit to Washington marks his first U.S. trip since the killing of Jamal Khashoggi. Discussions are centered on significant defense agreements, access to artificial intelligence technology, and progress toward a civilian nuclear deal with the United States. The visit underscores a strategic realignment prioritizing security and technological advancement for Saudi Arabia (Read more at Fundfa).
Seven years on, MbS now casts himself as a broker of peace, repairing ties with Iran, pushing for a Gaza ceasefire and welcoming Syria back into the Arab fold, a striking pivot from a prince once branded reckless for plunging into Yemen’s war. Both reformist and autocrat, MbS has emerged as the most momentous and audacious leader in the kingdom’s modern history -- driving its transformation and shaping its future (Read more at Global Banking and Finance).
Temporary legal protections for Syrians will end on Friday, rendering thousands vulnerable and at risk of being separated from their families (Read more at Middle East Eye)
