Israel-Hamas war

MENASource Jun 20, 2025

Inside Cairo’s ‘security first’ calculus on the March to Gaza

Egypt’s deterrence of the march are baffling to many, because the international initiative is in line with Egypt’s declared position on Gaza.

Econographics May 23, 2025

Can the EU leverage economic pressure to broker a Gaza cease-fire?

By Lize de Kruijf

As diplomatic efforts falter, attention is turning to economic statecraft—the strategic use of trade and economic leverage to influence state behavior. The European Union (EU) and United States are Israel’s largest and second-largest trading partners, and any economic pressure they apply could have severe consequences for Israel’s economy.

Conflict Economy & Business

MENASource May 12, 2025

Gazans fear famine amid Israel aid block: ‘I don’t want to be a number’

By Arwa Damon

For Palestinians, time is running out— a warning that has been echoed at some of the highest ranks of international organizations, including the World Health Organization.

Conflict Human Rights

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MENASource

MENASource May 12, 2025

Gazans fear famine amid Israel aid block: ‘I don’t want to be a number’

By Arwa Damon

For Palestinians, time is running out— a warning that has been echoed at some of the highest ranks of international organizations, including the World Health Organization.

Conflict Human Rights

MENASource Apr 29, 2025

Dispatch from the UN Blue Line: Israel’s ‘systematic destruction’ in Lebanon

By Nicholas Blanford

If Hezbollah refuses to disarm, Israel would almost certainly escalate its attacks possibly to the extent of resuming the war in Lebanon.

Iran Israel

MENASource Apr 15, 2025

Weakened by Israel, Hezbollah turns to spin games to hold support

By David Daoud

Hezbollah’s more cautious posturing on Israel in recent weeks demonstrates the militant group knows it’s in no condition to fight.

Conflict Israel

New Atlanticist

New Atlanticist Apr 26, 2025

In a normalization agreement with Israel, Saudi Arabia should settle for nothing less than Palestinian statehood

By Amir Asmar

Saudi Arabia should make full Palestinian statehood part of the asking price for normalizing relations with Israel.

International Norms Israel

New Atlanticist Mar 18, 2025

The Gaza cease-fire is over. What’s next from Israel, Hamas, and the US?

By Atlantic Council experts

In the early hours of March 18, Israel launched air strikes on Gaza, ending the two-month cease-fire. Atlantic Council experts answer pressing questions about the resumed conflict.

Conflict Israel

New Atlanticist Mar 5, 2025

The Egyptian plan for postwar Gaza is a good starting point—but it needs changes

By Thomas S. Warrick

While many obstacles remain, the Egyptian proposal could form the starting point for negotiations over a workable plan for postwar Gaza.

Conflict Crisis Management

Videos

The Atlantic Council's Holly Dagres explains the implications of recent escalations between Israel and Iran. She explores how Israel might respond to Iran's missile attack on October 1.

Dagres is a nonresident senior fellow specializing in Iranian affairs and the editor of the Middle East Programs’ IranSource and MENASource publications.

How will Israel respond to Iran's missile attack?

YouTube Video UR4eoZfb8xk

Will this latest escalation lead to all-out war between Israel and Hezbollah? What will it mean for the conflict in the Middle East? The Atlantic Council’s Jonathan Panikoff breaks down the key issues at stake after this week’s explosion of Hezbollah pagers and walkie-talkies in Lebanon.

For more analysis, visit our website: https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/new-atlanticist/experts-react/experts-react-whats-behind-the-hezbollah-beeper-and-walkie-talkie-explosions/

Is a full-scale war between Israel and Hezbollah imminent?

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Senator Joni Ernst says recent conversations with Mohammed bin Salman have made her optimistic that Saudia Arabia remains committed to normalizing relations with Israel.

"We know that [Saudi Arabia has] been working very hard with the Israelis on what some of us will call 'normalization'. The Saudis don't call it that, but it's a peace and prosperity plan for their countries," said United States Senator Joni Ernst.

"There has to be resolution in Israel," she said as a caveat.

She made these remarks during an Atlantic Council event at the @AtlanticCouncilUS headquarters in Washington, DC.

Watch the full event here:

https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/event/the-n7-initiatives-fireside-chat-with-senator-joni-ernst/

#shorts

Senator Joni Ernst: Saudi Arabia "still intent on moving forward with normalization" with Israel

YouTube Video UYxwUpswrmo

How will the killings of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh and Hezbollah commander Fouad Shukur impact the war in Gaza?

"The ceasefire negotiations are likely to be delayed as a result of this, but they will continue," says William F. Wechsler, Senior Director at the @AtlanticCouncilUS's Rafik Hariri Center and Middle East Programs.

#shorts

Impact of key Hamas and Hezbollah leaders' deaths on Gaza war

YouTube Video gwszRhjyFE0

While the latest round of hostilities between Iran and Israel, culminating in Iran’s April 14th attack, have gone quiet, the latest escalation may point to a new status quo.

Raz Zimmt, a researcher at Tel Aviv University, writes that while both countries have avoided a full-fledged military confrontation, “The first direct Iranian attack on Israel marks a new phase in the two countries’ strategic rivalry.”

Read Zimmt’s full analysis, “This round of Iran-Israel escalation is over, but the next could be just around the corner”: https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/iransource/israel-iran-escalation-syria-zahedi/

#shorts

Smart in 60 Seconds: Has the Iran-Israel conflict entered a new phase?

YouTube Video 0_J2KVjW9rM

Hung Tran, nonresident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council's Geoeconomics Center and former IMF deputy department director, emphasized the significance of Iran's missile and drone attack on Israel over the weekend.

"It really opened Pandora's box in the sense of, in the future, tit [for] tat retaliation will go beyond what we have seen before," he said.

Watch more from the 2024 Spring Meetings of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF) at the link below.

https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/imf-world-bank-week/?network_account=AtlanticCouncil&utm_campaign=2024_imf_spring_meetings

How Iran's missile attack on Israel could affect global markets

YouTube Video PAFyGsznVPA

While Hamas has been hit with sanctions from the US, EU and G7 countries, the organization continues to manage an investment portfolio worth at least $500 million dollars, partly due to the lack of a terrorism designation for the group by the UN and partners in the Arab World.

Read the full analysis by Kimberly Donovan, Maia Nikoladze, Ryan Murphy, and Alessandra Magazzino with the Atlantic Council’s Economic Statecraft Initiative: https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/econographics/global-sanctions-dashboard-how-hamas-raises-uses-and-moves-money/

#shorts

Smart in 60 Seconds: How Hamas funds its terror operations

YouTube Video -LXYGwZOhG8

Since the the Hamas attacks on October 7, Lebanon-based Hezbollah and the IDF have engaged in tit-for-tat missile and drone strokes, and the attacks are escalating.

Hezbollah is refusing to negotiate until the War in Gaza ends, and more than 80,000 residents of northern Israel have evacuated and are refusing to return unless Hezbollah is pushed further from the Israeli border.

Nicholas Blanford of the Atlantic Council’s Middle East programs writes that if hostilities continue for much longer, "Pressure on the Israeli government to launch some form of offensive into south Lebanon is going to be hard to resist, even if it has little chance of achieving long-term success."

Read Blanford’s analysis “A steady escalation along the Lebanon-Israel border—and no end in sight”: https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/menasource/gaza-hezbollah-israel-war-ghaziyeh-escalation/

#shorts

Smart in 60 Seconds: Violence is escalating between Israel and Lebanon

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Nonresident Senior Fellow Thomas Warrick served in the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the US Department of State, where he worked on counterterrorism strategies across the Middle East and former Soviet states.

In Gaza, Warrick says there are four key scenarios for a post-war transition, and that planning needs to start as soon as possible “if the war is to end with something that makes a better outcome for the Israeli people, for the Palestinian people, and for the entire Middle East.”

Read Warrick’s essay published in the New York Times, “I Saw What Happened to America’s Postwar Plans for Iraq. Here’s How Israel Should Plan for Gaza,”

HERE: www.nytimes.com/2023/10/16/opinion/israel-gaza-iraq-iran.html

Here’s what Gaza might look like after the war

YouTube Video mpo_erwJdOg

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Events

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Online Event Mon, January 29, 2024 • 12:00 pm ET

Qatar’s prime minister on regional de-escalation, war in Gaza, and US-Qatar relations

AN #ACFRONTPAGE EVENT – Qatari Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al-Thani presents his vision for Middle East security, integration, and peaceful coexistence.

Conflict Crisis Management Defense Policy Economy & Business

Online Event Fri, November 17, 2023 • 10:00 am ET

David Petraeus on Israel, Ukraine, and the evolution of warfare

AN #ACFRONTPAGE EVENT — A conversation with former CIA director and retired US Army General David Petraeus on Israel, Ukraine, and the evolution of warfare.

Europe & Eurasia Israel Middle East Security & Defense

Public Event Mon, October 16, 2023 • 12:00 pm ET

Israel-Hamas War: The ground, information, and multilateral environment ahead

A distinguished group of experts analyze the ground, information, and multilateral environment ahead for the Israel-Hamas war.

Disinformation Israel Middle East Security & Defense

Public Event Fri, December 8, 2023 • 9:00 am ET

Egypt’s foreign minister on his country’s leadership, the war in Gaza and related challenges

AN #ACFRONTPAGE EVENT— Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry discussed the Israel-Hamas War, Egypt’s regional leadership and other challenges.

Economy & Business Israel Middle East North Africa

Public Event Tue, October 25, 2022 • 4:30 pm ET

A conversation with President of Israel Isaac Herzog

AN #ACFRONTPAGE EVENT – President Isaac Herzog presented his vision for regional cooperation within the context of Israel-Arab normalization.

Economy & Business Israel Middle East Politics & Diplomacy

All articles

MENASource

Jul 17, 2025

Five years on, the Abraham Accords need a multilateral mission

By Joseph Epstein

As the Trump administration pushes for “commerce, not chaos” in the region, the Abraham Accords ideology is the most powerful tool to achieve that goal.

Israel Middle East

New Atlanticist

Jul 16, 2025

Five questions (and expert answers) about Israel’s strikes against Syria

By Atlantic Council experts

Our Middle East experts explain the roots of the crisis and what it means for Syria, Israel, the Druze, and the broader region.

Conflict Crisis Management

MENASource

Jul 16, 2025

How Mauritania-Israel normalization may boost US posture in the Sahel

By Sarah Zaaimi

If Mauritania is nearing a deal with Israel, this could be the beginning of a wider re-engagement with Sahel countries.

Israel Middle East

MENASource

Jul 12, 2025

Netanyahu’s trip to Washington ends with conflicting signals

By Daniel B. Shapiro

The moment of truth may yet come when Trump’s leverage on Netanyahu, which is considerable, may not be expressed only in private settings.

Iran Israel

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