Month: August 2026

Turkey rejects Israel’s justification for strikes on Syria’s Abu al-Duhur airbase, accusing Jerusalem of violating Syrian sovereignty and stability. Elad Benari Published: Aug 19, 2026, 4:41 AM (GMT+3) Recep Tayyip ErdoganReuters Turkey on Tuesday night condemned Israel’s confirmation that it carried out airstrikes on the Abu al-Duhur airbase in Syria, rejecting Jerusalem’s explanation for the operation. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said Israel acted after Syria was close to violating a security understanding by allowing Turkish forces to deploy at an airbase near Aleppo. “Israel and Syria agreed to a status quo in security matters, which Syria was on the verge of breaching …

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August 18, 2026 Oil tanker – illustrative (AP) Top Trump administration official says US is able to get 8-9 million barrels of oil out of the Persian Gulf, while Iran’s exports have fallen to zero.  By World Israel News Staff US Energy Secretary Chris Wright said Monday that Iran is currently exporting no oil at all, portraying the US naval blockade as having effectively severed one of Tehran’s most important sources of revenue as the Trump administration intensifies pressure on the Islamic Republic. “Iran’s exports today are zero barrels of oil per day,” Wright said during an appearance on Fox News. …

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Kushner predicts progress in Hamas weapon handover within 30 days, reportedly cautions PM against interpreting ‘imminent threat’ too broadly when approving Gaza strikes By Nava Freiberg,  Agencies and Jacob Magid  17 August 2026, 5:19 pm   Left to right: White House adviser Jared Kushner, Board of Peace envoy Nickolay Mladenov, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. (Fabrice COFFRINI / AFP, Chaim Goldberg/ FLASH90) Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu insisted during a meeting Monday with envoys from the White House and the US-backed Board of Peace that Israel would not redeploy any of its forces in Gaza or allow reconstruction to begin until the Strip was completely disarmed, …

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Iran moves from defensive to ‘fully offensive’ policy toward US and sets deadline for full MoU implementation within the next few weeks, Iranian official says i24NEWS August 16, 2026 at 11:21 PM ■ latest revision August 17, 2026 at 02:44 PM Eight Muslim countries say Israel ‘bears responsibility for obstructing efforts to achieve peace’ after rejecting Trump’s Gaza plan, in a joint statement of foreign ministers. The signatories included Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, Indonesia, Pakistan, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Egypt. The countries say they condemn Israel’s public rejection of the Gaza peace plan, which “fundamentally undermines the collective efforts exerted to …

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Hamas says it will only begin disarming if Netanyahu publicly commits to plan, diplomat tells ToI; Egyptian, Turkish and Qatari mediators also present; after his first meet with terror group head since ceasefire, Kushner flies to Israel By Jacob Magid, Follow Emanuel Fabian Follow and Agencies16 August 2026, 6:33 pmUpdated: Today, 2:17 am US envoy Jared Kushner (left) and Hamas chief Khalil al-Hayya (right) in a photo montage. (Fabrice COFFRINI / AFP; AP/Khalil Hamra) US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law and top aide Jared Kushner met with Hamas chief Khalil al-Hayya in the Egyptian coastal city of El-Alamein on Sunday, an Arab diplomat told The Times of …

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 August 17, 2026 Mojtaba Khamenei (X) Israel reportedly caught off guard by the pace of Iran’s rearmament during ceasefire as Tehran appears poised to escalate fighting with the US. By World Israel News Staff Iran’s hard-line leadership used a two-month negotiating window with the United States to rebuild military capabilities, tighten the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ grip over the armed forces and prepare Tehran’s regional allies for an expanded war, according to a new Wall Street Journal report. The preparations, undertaken under Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei, have included accelerating missile and drone production, reorganizing Iran’s security leadership and coordinating with allied groups …

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August 17, 2026 Hezbollah. (Shutterstock) Hezbollah gearing up for new confrontation with Israel in southern Lebanon aimed at torpedoing peace talks, while waiting for approval from Iran. By World Israel News Staff Hezbollah is deliberately stepping up military pressure in southern Lebanon while waiting for approval from Iran to widen the confrontation with Israel, according to a Lebanese political source, raising fears that renewed fighting could derail US-backed negotiations between Jerusalem and Beirut. The assessment, first reported by Lebanon’s Nidaa al-Watan, said Hezbollah was seeking to undermine the direct negotiations and was awaiting instructions from Tehran before deciding whether to escalate …

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According to a senior official, the talks expected in Jerusalem will focus on ways to accelerate the implementation of Trump’s 20-point plan, with the end goal being a demilitarized Hamas. US President Donald Trump listens, as his son-in-law Jared Kushner speaks, during the inaugural Board of Peace meeting at the US Institute of Peace in Washington, DC, US, February 19, 2026.(photo credit: KEVIN LAMARQUE/REUTERS)Which committee is set to take control of Gaza?›What condition must be met before Israeli forces withdraw?›Why is Jared Kushner pressuring Netanyahu in Jerusalem?›Who is Nikolay Mladenov?› ByIDAN KWELLERAUGUST 17, 2026 08:15Updated: AUGUST 17, 2026 08:27 Jared Kushner, Nikolay …

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$400 million will pay ‘legitimate’ contractors, severance to Hamas civil servants not hired by new technocratic government, sources tell ToI; NCAG to audit Hamas books By Lazar Berman Follow and Jacob Magid Follow12 August 2026, 7:43 pm Palestinians in Khan Younis, the southern Gaza Strip, August 12, 2026. (Abed Rahim Khatib/FLASH90) The Board of Peace on Wednesday denied that there is any “financial agreement” with Hamas, after the Kan public broadcaster reported that the body agreed to cover $400 million of Hamas’s debt to outside parties as part of its roadmap for the terror group’s disarmament. Instead, the sum earmarked in the disarmament plan will …

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Both attacks came in response to the incident in which three IDF soldiers were seriously wounded over the weekend. Explosion of infrastructure in southern Lebanon, as seen from the Israeli side. August 10, 2026.(photo credit: AYAL MARGOLIN/FLASH90)ByMIRIAM SELA-EITAMAUGUST 16, 2026 08:34Updated: AUGUST 16, 2026 10:11 The IDF killed senior Hezbollah commander Abu Hassan Alaa during weekend strikes in the Deir ez-Zahrani area in southern Lebanon, the military announced on Sunday morning. Alaa served as a commander in Hezbollah’s Bader Unit and had carried out attacks on IDF soldiers operating in the region. The military noted that its strikes came alongside those from over the weekend …

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Aug 16, 2026 Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said that “60 days have passed since the agreement signed with the US, we have no intention at the moment to return to negotiations with the United States.” https://www.israelnationalnews.com/flashes/691809