A case in point is the royal palace's reaction after the opposition Islamist Justice and Development Party (PJD) "deplored" the Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita for allegedly defending Israel publicly, even as it commits "criminal aggression against our Palestinian brothers". King Mohammed VI's office hit back, accusing the PJD of voicing...

The participation of Emirati firm ADNOC is the latest sign of the quickening normalisation of relations between Israel and the UAE since their opening of diplomatic ties in 2020.

Lawmakers were scheduled to vote this week on a central part of the proposals, which would change the way judges are appointed. That has now been put off. A parliamentary committee has already amended the draft law to make it more acceptable to opponents.

Organisers had hoped hosting Israeli games on the Hindu-majority island of Bali would offer a buffer against local backlash, but Koster's opposition has cast that into doubt. Officials in Jakarta said they feared losing hosting rights to the country's first major tournament and being isolated by the world governing body...

The customs deal is viewed as the concluding phase of a free trade agreement following the normalization of relations between the two countries. Netanyahu describes it as historic.

The letter from the six-member GCC's foreign ministers also called on the United States "to play its role in reaching a just, comprehensive and lasting solution" to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Israel's far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, speaking earlier this month, said that the Palestinians did not exist as a people,...

The latest demonstration to hit Israel's commercial hub came days after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to press on with the changes despite mounting international alarm. But his defence minister said Saturday that "we must stop the legislative process" for a month in view of the divisiveness of the reforms.

JERUSALEM -Israel's attorney general on Friday accused Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of "illegal" public intervention on the government's divisive judicial reform program, citing his ongoing corruption trial. After largely staying on the sidelines of the discussions, Netanyahu said in a televised address on Thursday he was "entering the arena" and...

Netanyahu, in a televised address, said he was determined to advance the reforms but wanted to reach a solution acceptable to both supporters and critics of the proposal. Lawmakers earlier on Thursday approved legislation restricting grounds for declaring a premier unfit for office, a move opposition chief Yair Lapid called...

Israeli parliament approved legislation restricting grounds for declaring a premier unfit for office, a move the opposition has called a "personal law" that serves Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The vote came as Netanyahu's government pushes forward with a judicial reform program, which critics say threatens Israeli democracy and has sparked...

Tel Aviv, Israel -- The oldest known near-complete Hebrew Bible was presented to the press on Wednesday in Tel Aviv, where it will be displayed for a week before going under the hammer in New York. The Codex Sassoon is one of only two codices, or manuscripts, containing all 24 books...

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said the parliamentary vote scraps "a discriminatory and humiliating law, that prohibited Jews from living in areas in northern Samaria, which is part of our historic homeland," using the biblical name for the northern West Bank.

It was the second such attack in a month on the airport in Syria's second city, which has been a major conduit for relief flights since a February 6 earthquake devastated swathes of northern Syria and neighboring Turkey. The pre-dawn strike targeted "the airport compound and a weapons depot belonging to...

The parliamentary vote notably paves the way for Israeli authorities to formally allow settlers to return to Homesh, the only one of the four sites whose residents were forcibly removed before their homes were demolished. Most governments around the world consider all Jewish settlements in the Palestinian territories as illegal...

Jerusalem--Israel's ruling coalition presented on Monday an amended version of a key element in its contentious judicial overhaul, in hopes of allaying concerns at home and abroad for Israeli democracy. The country has seen 11 consecutive weeks of mass demonstrations against the proposed reforms, which are already moving through parliament...

"There are no Palestinians, because there are no Palestinian people," far-right Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said at an event in Paris. Smotrich and his Religious Zionism group have a history of making incendiary remarks about Palestinians.

The attack in Huwara came three weeks after the fatal shooting of two Israeli settlers, also in the same occupied West Bank town, adding to a surge in violence this year and to fears of escalation during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan starting in the coming week. Neither the...

Cairo, Egypt - Israeli and Palestinian officials were holding talks in Egypt on Sunday "to restore calm" after a surge in deadly violence in the occupied West Bank, Egypt's foreign ministry said. The meeting, which follows similar talks last month in Jordan where both sides pledged to prevent more violence, comes...

The Palestinian health ministry announced the death of Yazan Omar Jamil Khasib, 23, who died "after the occupation (Israel) opened fire on him at the northern entrance of Al-Bireh" city near Ramallah, in the occupied West Bank. The Israeli army said "soldiers spotted a suspect and asked him to identify...

Demonstrators gathered in Jerusalem and the northern city of Haifa to denounce the overhaul that would, among other things, allow lawmakers to scrap supreme court rulings with a simple majority vote. Some opposition leaders joined a later rally in central Tel Aviv.

Thirty houses were burned and damaged, according to local officials, after dozens of Israeli settlers set them ablaze. Bezalel Smotrich, Israel's finance minister and an extreme-right settler, later said "Huwara needs to be wiped out", sparking widespread condemnation, including from the UAE, the UN, the United States and France.

BEIRUT, LEBANON - The UN peacekeeping force in Lebanon said Thursday it had not observed any border crossings after Israel said it killed a suspect wearing an explosive belt who may have entered from Lebanon. The Israeli army said on Wednesday it was probing the possible involvement of Lebanon's Hezbollah movement...

JERUSALEM- Israel's parliament took another step Tuesday to push forward a legal reform package that has sparked mass protests against the hard-right government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Lawmakers in a 3:00 am (0100 GMT) vote approved a bill in first reading that would, among other things, allow the Knesset...

The Israeli-UAE trade is likely to get an added boost in the next few weeks as an anticipated signing of a customs agreement will enable the FTA signed last year to go into effect.

Nablus, Palestinian Territories - Three Palestinian gunmen were shot dead after they fired at Israeli soldiers in the northern West Bank near Nablus, the Israeli army said on Sunday, as violence in the region continued. The military said that "armed gunmen opened fire" on soldiers at an army position near the...

Israeli airstrikes targeting a weapons depot in Syria killed two pro-Iran fighters and wounded three soldiers, a war monitor said. "Israeli strikes targeted a weapons depot belonging to pro-Iran forces located... between Tartus and Hama provinces," said Rami Abdel Rahman, head of the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

DAMASCUS, SYRIA - Syria's Aleppo airport, a key conduit for relief flights after the devastating February earthquake, reopened on Friday, an official said, following Israeli air strikes this week that hit its runway. The damage caused by Tuesday's raid forced aid deliveries and all flights to be diverted to Latakia and...

An Israeli settler killed an assailant in the occupied West Bank, the Israeli military said, the latest bloodshed in a surge of violence in the Palestinian territory. The incident occurred at Dorot Illit settlement in the north of the West Bank, the army said in a statement.

Austin's talks with his hosts were centred on the changing geopolitics of the region, which is currently roiled by rising threat from Iran and the ongoing war in Ukraine.

A planned mass rally in Tel Aviv by Israeli protesters opposed to the government's controversial legal reform plans forced an 11th-hour change of venue for Lloyd Austin's talks, throwing an international spotlight on Israel's domestic divisions.

The Palestinian health ministry said six men had been killed, one aged 49 and the rest in their 20s, in clashes that the army said included soldiers launching shoulder-fired rockets amid ferocious gunfire. On Tuesday, Jordan foreign ministry spokesman Sinan Majali condemned what he called Israeli "aggression", warning it "will...

Two witnesses said rockets had been fired at the building housing a group of militants, and reported gunfire in the streets of the northern West Bank camp, the latest in a string of fatal military operations in the territory. The raid comes amid a surge in violence in the Israeli-Palestinian...

Israeli warplanes struck Aleppo airport before dawn, causing significant damage that halted flights to and from Syria's war- and quake-battered second city, the defense ministry said. The airport has been a major conduit for aid flights since a February 6 earthquake devastated southeastern Turkey and Syria, a transport ministry official...

Dozens of Israeli Air Force pilots have said they will boycott military training in protest at government legal reforms that critics see as threatening democracy. In a letter sent to the chief of staff, 37 pilots threatened to not attend a training day due on Wednesday. The pilots' statement was...

The latest rally in Tel Aviv came after a similar demonstration on Wednesday when police employed stun grenades and water cannon in a rare use of force that led to about 39 arrests and 11 injuries in the coastal city. Judicial reform is a cornerstone of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's...

LONDON, UK-  Six European countries on Saturday called on Israel to stop expanding its settlements in  Palestine's West Bank. Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Spain and Poland have also jointly condemned the recent attack on Israeli citizens by Palestinian groups. In a joint statement, they said, "We urge the Israeli government...

Riyadh, Saudi Arabia--Saudi Arabia and Qatar on Friday condemned a call by an Israeli minister for a flashpoint Palestinian town to be "wiped out", with Riyadh describing it as "racist and irresponsible". Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, a far-right member of Israel's coalition government, made his comments on Wednesday, days after...

"I also read news in the press,” the Hungarian President Novak said. “In Hungary, a decision so far has not been made on moving our embassy in Israel,” he added. “The ministry would provide updates on any changes to the embassy in all cases,” Hungary’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mate Paczolay...

Tensions are high, especially after the nearby Palestinian town of Huwara came under attack by Israeli settlers on Sunday, hours after two Israeli settlers were shot dead as they drove past.

Demonstrators in Tel Aviv blocked some streets, and police employed stun grenades, water cannon and officers on horseback in a rare use of force in the coastal city. Some 39 people were arrested for "allegedly rioting and not obeying instructions by police officials", police said in a statement

Dozens of Israeli settlers set homes and cars ablaze in the northern town of Huwara overnight Sunday, after a day of Israeli-Palestinian talks in neighbouring Jordan aimed at quelling escalating unrest in the Palestinian territory. More than 350 Palestinians were injured, most suffering from tear gas inhalation, the Palestinian Red...

Dozens of Israeli settlers set homes and cars ablaze in the northern town of Huwara overnight, after a day of Israeli-Palestinian talks in neighboring Jordan aimed at quelling a surge in violence in the Palestinian territory. The violence came hours after two Israeli settlers -- brothers Yagel Yaniv and Hallel...

The latest deaths came amid talks in Jordan to discuss worsening violence in the occupied territory, and days after Israeli forces launched their deadliest West Bank raid in nearly 20 years, which left 11 Palestinians dead in the northern city of Nablus. The West Bank is home to about 2.9...

Jordanian state broadcaster Al-Mamlaka said the meeting, which kicked off in the Red Sea resort of Aqaba, was "the first of its kind in years between Palestinians and Israelis with regional and international participation" and would address "the situation in the Palestinian territories". Palestinian intelligence chief Majed Faraj and the...

The entrances to the home of Fatima Alqam, her husband Moussa and four children were sealed within days after her son killed seven people outside a synagogue in the settlement of Neve Yaacov. Khayri Alqam was shot dead in the attack and his family later received a demolition order for...

Israeli media reported the crowds were again in the tens of thousands, after lawmakers this week took a step towards approving the reforms which are a cornerstone of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's latest administration, which took office in December. Critics have condemned the reforms as an assault on the independence...

Jordan will host a "political-security" meeting between Israel and the Palestinians to try and restore calm to the occupied Palestinian territories after deadly violence, a Jordanian government official said. The meeting to be held in the Red Sea resort of Aqaba will also be attended by United States and Egyptian...

Nablus, Palestinian Territories--When Israel conducted its deadliest raid in the occupied West Bank in almost two decades this week, a young Palestinian nurse rushed to help. As critical case after critical case succumbed to their wounds, Elias al-Ashqar, 25, let out a blood-curdling roar. "My father! My father," he screamed, as...

Israel's government approved the 2023-2024 budget against the backdrop of economic uncertainty linked to controversial judicial reforms advanced by the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The government had been expected to adopt the budget during a cabinet meeting Thursday, but talks ran late into the night and also took...

On Twitter, the Omani Civil Aviation Authority affirmed that "the Sultanate's airspace is open for all carriers that meet the requirements of the Authority for overflying". Netanyahu visited Oman in 2018 at the invitation of Sultan Qaboos, despite Muscat not officially recognizing Israel. "This is a day of great news...