Middle Orient

Official in Prime Minister’s Office says developments still only in 1st stage dealing with release of hostages, follow-up steps must be completed, denies talks on 2nd stage underway A senior official in the Prime Minister’s Office stressed to The Times of Israel on Wednesday that the war in Gaza is …

As Gaza Ceasefire Begins, Hamas Is Already Reasserting Control Disarming Hamas is key to the U.S.-backed deal to end the Gaza war. The first phase of the agreement signed Oct. 9 in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, appeared to begin successfully on Oct. 13, when Hamas released 20 living Israeli hostages. However, …

This week’s summit in the Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheikh looks like nothing short of a triumph for the United States in the Middle East. U.S. President Donald Trump met with representatives of thirty countries, and the declaration signed there to end the war in Gaza stands in stark contrast …

On 29th September 2025, the US president Donald Trump, alongside the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, proposed a new plan to resolve the crisis in Gaza. As part of the president’s plan, a “Board of Peace” constituting a hand-picked technocracy led by the former British Prime Minister Tony Blair is …

Several people were killed over the weekend in Gaza City in violent clashes between Hamas security forces and the members of an armed clan, multiple sources reported on Monday. Skirmishes first broke out last week between the Palestinian Islamist group and the Doghmush clan after a ceasefire between Israel and …

Syrian Kurdish leader Mazloum Abdi has announced to AFP that he had reached a “preliminary agreement” with Damascus on the integration of his troops into Syria’s military and security forces. Abdi, who heads the powerful Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), had met Syrian interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa in Damascus last week, …

Hamas tightened its grip on Gaza’s ruined cities Tuesday, launching a crackdown and executing alleged collaborators, even as US President Donald Trump vowed to disarm the group. The Israeli military said the remains of four more hostages held in Gaza had been brought into Israel, a day after Hamas handed …

Amid the immediate joy of the hostage families, and the victorious crowing of the American President, Gaza’s peace plan may yet produce a long truce. Beyond the politicking of outsiders — Donald Trump’s quest for personal glory, Qatar’s desire to draw closer to the White House — fatigue among the …

Forging a durable, just, and comprehensive peace in the Middle East should mimic the construction of a bridge. On one side, the architects of peace must build forward from where they stand today: negotiate a cease-fire agreement, uphold it, and point it toward a lasting settlement. On the opposite side, …

For the first time in nearly four decades, Iran is on the cusp of a change of leadership—and maybe even of regime. As Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s reign nears its end, a 12-day war in June laid bare the fragility of the system he built. Israel battered Iranian cities …