Israel

Qatar is the Middle East’s mediator-in-chief. The assassination of Hamas’s senior leadership and Gaza War’s regionalisation to Lebanon have not thwarted Qatar’s push for a ceasefire and the release of ninety-seven Israeli hostages in Hamas’s custody.  The CIA and Mossad chiefs brainstormed plans for a hostage release deal Qatari prime minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani welcomed US Secretary of State Antony Blinken to Doha last Thursday. Sheikh Mohammed announced that Qatar had ‘re-engaged’ with Hamas after Yahya Sinwar’s death and would host US and Israeli negotiators for ceasefire talks. Blinken enthusiastically endorsed this proposal. On Sunday, CIA chief Bill Burns and Mossad head David Barnea arrived in Doha. As

Finally, a celeb has stood up to the Israel bashers. It took the famously dour frontman of Radiohead to do it. At a solo gig in Melbourne, Thom Yorke was heckled by an audience member smugly demanding to know why he hasn’t spoken out about Israel’s ‘genocide’ in Gaza. Yorke wasn’t having it. He even called the caterwauling gig ruiner a ‘coward’. It’s the best thing he’s done since OK Computer. Shaky footage filmed by his fellow concert-goers captured the man yelling at Yorke. From deep in the audience he barked something about the ‘Israeli genocide of Gaza’ and said half of those killed ‘were children’. He challenged Yorke to

So, the long-awaited Israeli strike on Iran is finally over, and if we trust the Israeli post-attack analysis, then it went well. Buckling under American pressure not to attack Iranian nuclear or oil facilities, which could have led to massive escalation and a spike in oil prices (both undesired outcomes on the eve of US elections), Israel focused instead on military targets. Its 100-aircraft armada knocked out all of Iran’s S-300 air defence system, reduced Iranian ballistic missile production by 80 per cent, and struck air defence systems in the vicinity of Abadan, an oil production centre. This air attack caused not only physical damage but also sent a clear

On the night of 26 October, Israel conducted an aerial strike on Iran, marking the latest move in the ongoing tit-for-tat conflict between the two countries. The attack, which had been anticipated and was announced by the Israeli government, was in response to an earlier Iranian missile strike on Israel at the beginning of October, named Operation True Promise 2. The Iranian attack was itself a retaliation for Israel’s assassination of senior leaders within Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Iranian Revolutionary Guard over the preceding months. Details of last night’s airstrike remain unclear, but reports suggest that Israel targeted approximately 20 Iranian military sites. Prior to it, there was speculation that Israel might

Two senior US officials are in the Middle East this week, with the joint mission of negotiating an end to the current war between Israel and a number of Iran-backed Islamist militias. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken arrived in Israel on Tuesday. US Special Envoy on Lebanon Amos Hochstein was in Beirut on Monday. Are the two faced with a mission impossible, or is there a chance that their efforts may forge a pathway to bring the year-long conflict to an end? At the start of this week, Israeli aircraft carried out a series of attacks on Hezbollah targets deep inside Lebanon. These included the headquarters of the organisation’s aerial

The White House wants Israel to allow more aid into Gaza and implement humanitarian ceasefires within 30 days. If they don’t, the US has threatened to withhold military aid to the country. That’s according to a leaked letter sent over the weekend by secretary of state Anthony Blinken and defence secretary Lloyd Austin in which they set out a short but punchy list of demands. The letter’s unusually harsh tone seems to be motivated by domestic pre-election pressure on the Democratic party. President Joe Biden’s fractured relationship with Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu has also played a part – which is why the letter was addressed to defence minister Yoav Gallant

A wave of violence is convulsing Israeli society. It’s not caused by Hamas, Hezbollah, Houthi, or Iranian attacks. Instead, it’s the daily violence meted out, not by terrorists or enemy governments, but by citizen against fellow citizen. Amidst the chaos of war, Israel is suffering a crime wave. Murder is a crime that happens in every society, but there are alarming trends emerging in Israel. A recent study by the Taub Centre for Social Policy Studies in Israel found that the murder rate amongst Arab-Israelis, who comprise around a fifth of the state’s population, is one of the largest in high-income countries, behind only Mexico and Columbia in the OECD.  Israel is suffering

Last night, a single Hezbollah drone managed to inflict more damage on Israel than 200 Iranian ballistic missiles so far. A ‘swarm’ of drones launched by the Iran-backed terror organisation based in Lebanon exploded south of the northern city of Haifa, with one hitting the Binyamina military base, home to a training camp for the Israeli Defence Force’s (IDF) Golani Brigade. Early reports indicate the drone was spotted by the Israeli airforce, but attempts to shoot it down failed. Sirens to warn those targeted also did not go off. As a result, it exploded, causing a reported 67 casualties according to Israeli media, four of whom have been killed and

Israel’s overt ground intervention into Lebanon is now entering its third week.  So far, the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) have advanced just a few kilometers in and established control in a number of locations across the border.  The IDF itself has described its ground action on the border as consisting of ‘limited, localised and targeted raids.’  Standing at a border observation post a few days ago, my impression was that this description appears accurate, at least for now.  Looking across to the towns of Bint Jbeil, Maroun a Ras, Ain Ebel and Ait a Shaab, we heard the occasional sound of artillery cannons.  Twice, we saw interceptions of ordnance fired

When Iran attacked Israel last week with a barrage of missiles, one thing was certain: Israel would hit back hard. Ten days on, that response has still not come. Yoav Gallant, Israel’s defence minister, has warned that the retaliatory strike on Iran will have an element of surprise. Israel’s attack, he said, ‘will be deadly, precise and above all surprising. They will not understand what happened and how it happened, they will see the results.’ A wounded Iran with the IRGC still in charge could prove more dangerous Gallant knows that this element of surprise is critical; without it, Israel may have insufficient conventional capability to land a decisive first-blow strike.

Travelling through the Gaza border area on the morning of October 8, 2023, I was struck by a sense of familiarity. The scenes of destruction, the burnt buildings, and the smashed-up cars by the side of the road were, of course, profoundly shocking. But they were not, at least to me, unfathomable. Unlike most of my fellow Israeli citizens, I had spent a good part of the preceding decade in close proximity to the wars in Syria and Iraq. I knew then, immediately, what had just happened in the kibbutz of Israel’s southern region was what happens when a Sunni jihadi organisation finds a way through to the helpless civilian

One year after the brutal attacks of 7 October 2023, Israel’s global reputation has undergone a remarkable transformation. Far from being undermined by the actions it has taken in Gaza and beyond, Israel’s standing has been fortified, its image strengthened with steel. While some voices –particularly in the West – have feigned concern about Israel sacrificing its international standing in its pursuit of victory, the reality is starkly different. Israel’s reputation has not been diminished but has evolved into one of decisiveness, strategic intelligence, and strength. This return to a decisive military posture restores the Israeli reputation of old Much of the concern surrounding Israel’s actions in the last year

From sunset on Wednesday until sunset today, Jews around the world celebrate Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish new year. It comes after a hellish 12 months for Israel and the Jewish diaspora at large. It started with Hamas’s brutal terror attack of 7 October and ended with an Iranian missile barrage on Tuesday night. There is undoubtedly more to come as Israel tries to push back Hezbollah, bring about an end to the near daily rocket attacks and allow displaced citizens from the north to return home. The plight of the remaining hostages looms large I was in Israel just a few weeks ago. In the run up to arriving at