Today
- Live
- Need to Know
Australia and US must defend freedom and security, says Biden
US President Joe Biden has toasted the close relationship between the US and Australia at a state dinner in Washington; Another mass shooting in US, at least 16 dead. Follow updates here.
- 33 mins ago
- Trudy Harris and Mark Ludlow
Israel agrees to US request to pause Gaza invasion: report
Washington is reportedly scrambling air defence systems to protect its troops from any regional fallout that might follow Israel’s ground assault on Gaza.
- Hans van Leeuwen
- Opinion
- Israeli-Palestinian conflict
All of Israeli society has mobilised in the face of terror
Israel’s social and economic resilience is critical once more as the country faces an unpredictable new crisis
- Jillian Segal and Michelle Blum
Yesterday
World leaders urge pause to deadly Gaza strikes
The US and Russia are leading international calls for a pause in fighting, while a UN agency said it was halting operations in Gaza after running out of fuel.
- Nidal al-Mughrabi and Emily Rose
Watch: Hamas release hostage who was held in a ‘spiderweb’ tunnel
Yocheved Lifshitz, speaking from Tel Aviv’s Ichilov Hospital, described the “unimaginable hell” of her kidnapping ordeal.
- Updated
- Kevin Sieff, Noga Tarnopolsky and Karla Adam
Fears grow that Israel has ‘no plan’ agreed for postwar Gaza
Washington has raised concerns about Tel Aviv’s lack of post-invasion exit strategy, say people familiar with discussions.
- Neri Zilber and Felicia Schwartz
- Opinion
- Israeli-Palestinian conflict
West’s enemies may be evil, but there’s no ‘axis’
Democracies should tease out the contradictions between Russia, China, Iran and North Korea, instead of dangerously lumping them together as a bloc.
- Janan Ganesh
Microsoft sales jump in AI arms race against Google
The technology company has invested in ChatGPT developer OpenAI and launched a series of AI-powered tools for its Office and Word products recently.
- Matthew Field
Israel warns Hezbollah against ‘unimaginable devastation’
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu urged Lebanon-based Hezbollah against launching its own war, as the two adversaries ratchet higher their rhetoric.
- Hans van Leeuwen
This Month
- Opinion
- The AFR View
Breaking Hamas must also broker peace
The huge risks of an Israeli invasion of Gaza can only be justified if there is a plan for a durable settlement for the whole region at the end of it.
- The AFR View
Pentagon rushes military advisers to Middle East
One of the officers leading the assistance is a Marine Corps general who helped lead special operations forces against Islamic State.
- Tara Copp and Aamer Madhani
US readies plans for mass Middle East evacuations
Officials said more than 600,000 Americans living in Israel and Lebanon were of concern, but that removing them was a worst-case scenario.
- Yasmeen Abutaleb, Dan Lamothe, John Hudson and Michael Birnbaum
Paralysis, chaos as Israel delays invasion
So pervasive is the infighting in the government that top officials have tried to assure a traumatised public they are “working in close and full co-operation”.
- Isabel Kershner
- Analysis
- Israeli-Palestinian conflict
Iran’s ayatollahs play the Middle East’s most dangerous game
Iran’s autocratic rulers hold one of the matches that could set the region alight: an “axis of resistance”, or network of violent proxies across the region.
- The Economist
- Opinion
- Israeli-Palestinian conflict
Why are Western Five Eye nations blind to Israeli occupation?
When it comes to Palestinian rights, where are the enlightened values and respect for human rights and international laws that these countries claim to hold?
- Ali Kazak
- Opinion
- Israeli-Palestinian conflict
This Israeli-Hamas war has smashed four big assumptions
An attack that was never imagined and thus achieved major strategic surprise has blown away old ideas about Hamas, Israel, the Arab world and America’s role in the region.
- Steven Erlanger
- Analysis
- Israeli-Palestinian conflict
‘There is no work’: war with Hamas hits Israel’s economy
As the country reels from the deadliest attack on its territory on October 7, companies’ trade on half-empty streets has collapsed.
- James Shotter and Ivan Levingston
- Opinion
- Israeli-Palestinian conflict
Why markets are relatively calm in the geopolitical storm
Investors as a group don’t act like individuals — their collective mind recognises risk as a historical constant.
- Ruchir Sharma
- Opinion
- Israeli-Palestinian conflict
Israel would do well to remember US failures in Afghanistan
For an enduring peace where Hamas no longer exists or is no longer supported by the public, even with coercion, the Jewish state needs time, patience and courage.
- Updated
- Dominic Nicholls
Israel launches tank raids into Gaza, two hostages released
Israel added tactical ground incursions to its aerial bombardment in Gaza, air strikes in Lebanon and raids in the West Bank, as Hamas set free captives.
- Hans van Leeuwen
