As Israel advances on a Syrian buffer zone, it sees peril and opportunity

TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — The dramatic downfall of Syrian President Bashar Assad presents possible danger, and an opening, for neighboring Israel. After fighting wars on multiple fronts for months, Israel is now concerned that unrest in Syria could spill over into its territory....

Netanyahu is set to take the witness stand for the first time in his corruption trial in Israel

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is set to take to the witness stand Tuesday for the first time in his trial on corruption allegations, a pivotal point in the drawn-out proceedings that comes as he wages war in Gaza and faces an international arrest warrant for war...

Israel's foreign minister says it has struck suspected chemical weapons sites in Syria

Trump says he can't guarantee tariffs won't raise US prices and won't rule out revenge prosecutions

WASHINGTON (AP) — Donald Trump said he can't guarantee that his promised tariffs on key U.S. foreign trade partners won't raise prices for American consumers and he suggested once more that some political rivals and federal officials who pursued legal cases against him should be imprisoned. ...

Gaza health officials say latest Israeli airstrikes kill at least 14 including children

DEIR AL BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Israeli airstrikes in central Gaza killed at least 14 people including children Sunday, Palestinian health officials said, while the bombing of a hospital in northern Gaza wounded a half-dozen patients. Israel’s military continues its latest...

Trump's return may be a boon for Netanyahu, but challenges abound in a changed Middle East

TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — Shortly after Donald Trump’s win in last month’s U.S. election, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rushed to congratulate the president-elect: “History’s greatest comeback!” he gushed. If Trump’s staunchly pro-Israel first term and his...

Analysis: At dueling Mideast forums, officials ask what will happen when Donald Trump takes office

MANAMA, Bahrain (AP) — At glittering ballrooms in the Mideast this weekend, discussions of the wars and chaos gripping the region gave way to one central question: What's going to happen when U.S. President-elect Donald Trump takes office next month? Summits in both Bahrain and...

US opens investigation into Spain's reported port denials of cargo ships carrying arms to Israel

WASHINGTON (AP) — The United States has opened an investigation into whether NATO ally Spain has been denying port entry to cargo vessels reportedly transporting U.S. weapons to Israel. The Federal Maritime Commission, an independent body charged with monitoring and evaluating...

AP PHOTOS: After 15 months of abandonment, hostage homes are empty memorials

KIBBUTZ NIR OZ, Israel (AP) — After 15 months of war, the homes of Israeli hostages are like time capsules of a war zone. There’s a small blue bicycle flung to the ground outside the house of the Bibas family — all of whom, including two young boys Kfir and Ariel, are still in captivity....

Ailing kids wait months for Israeli permission to leave Gaza for treatment. Some die in the meantime

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — The 12-year-old Palestinian boy was lying in a hospital bed in central Gaza, wracked with leukemia, malnourished and whimpering in pain despite the morphine doctors were giving him, when Rosalia Bollen, a UNICEF official, said she saw him in late October. ...