Israel
13 briefs
Hamas Will Not Disarm. The Peace Plan Requires It to Disarm.
The US-led Board of Peace has hit a wall: Hamas says it will give up weapons only after a Palestinian state is guaranteed. The BoP says there is no state guarantee without disarmament first. Neither position has moved.
Hamas Will Not Disarm Until Israel Withdraws. Israel Will Not Withdraw Until Hamas Disarms. The Ceasefire Is Expiring.
Talks in Cairo hit a deadlock on the sequencing question that the October deal deliberately left unresolved. The Board of Peace has 281 days to solve something the negotiators could not.
The Democratic Party Has Broken on Israel. The Leadership Is Pretending Otherwise.
All but 7 Senate Democrats just voted to block weapons sales to Israel. The same week, the DNC blocked a floor vote on a resolution condemning AIPAC. Both facts are true at once.
The Lebanon Ceasefire Is Holding on Paper and Collapsing on the Ground
Thirteen people were killed in Israeli strikes on southern Lebanon on Friday. Hezbollah fired back. Both sides are calling this a ceasefire.
Israel Seizes Gaza Aid Flotilla 1,000 Miles From Gaza
The interception near Crete ends the mission before it starts and turns 175 detained activists into a diplomatic problem for every government that said nothing.
Zelenskyy Accuses Israel of Buying Grain Stolen by Russia. Israel Says Prove It.
A diplomatic row over Russian-flagged ships unloading in Haifa reveals the limits of Ukraine's moral leverage over countries that also have their own survival calculations.
Israel Is Buying Russia's War Dividend
Ukraine says Israeli ports are unloading grain Russia stole from occupied Ukrainian territory. Israel says submit evidence through proper channels. Four ships have already been cleared to leave.
Trump Extended a Ceasefire That Lebanon Cannot Keep
The Oval Office meeting produced a three-week truce extension and a photo opportunity. It did not produce a party that controls Hezbollah. That remains the only thing that matters.
Israel and Lebanon Have a Ceasefire. Hezbollah Is Not Part of It.
The 10-day truce excludes the party doing most of the fighting. Israel has reserved the right to strike at any time. Hezbollah says occupied land gives Lebanon 'the right to resist.' This is not a ceasefire. It is a pause with paperwork.
Orban Lost His Election. His Israel Policy Did Not.
Hungary's incoming leader Peter Magyar says he will keep the veto on EU sanctions against Israel. Five countries want to punish Israel for Gaza. One country can stop all of them. And the EU is starting to ask whether the unanimity rule should survive this.
Israel and Lebanon Met in Washington. One Side Wanted a Ceasefire. The Other Wanted Disarmament.
The first direct Israel-Lebanon diplomatic talks in 30 years ended without agreement. Israel came to demand Hezbollah's disarmament. Lebanon came to ask for a ceasefire. Those are not the same conversation.
Annexation in Plain Sight
Israel's security cabinet secretly approved 34 new West Bank settlements in early April. Smotrich called it 'practical sovereignty.' Trump's own administration has said it opposes annexation. Nobody has done anything about it.
The Ceasefire Has Three Versions. None of Them Cover Lebanon.
VP Vance admitted there are three conflicting drafts of the Iran truce circulating simultaneously. That isn't a diplomatic misunderstanding. It is the deal.