Israel

On this trip, the White House says President Biden will try to reduce physical contact as a COVID-19 precaution, meaning fist-pumps replaced handshakes on the red carpet when he arrived.

Biden tries fist bumps instead of handshakes ahead of Saudi crown prince meeting

1:59pm July 13, 2022

by Asma Khalid

The White House says Biden is trying to limit physical contact during his trip to the Middle East because of COVID risks. But it's a decision that comes conveniently ahead of an awkward meeting.

President Biden's visit to the Middle East will start in Israel on Wednesday. Then he will go to the Israeli-occupied West Bank to meet the Palestinian leadership. From there, he'll attend a regional Arab summit in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, where he'll meet l

Biden's Middle East trip aims to shore up a relatively calm moment in the region

3:44pm July 12, 2022

by Larry Kaplow

In his visits to Israel and Saudi Arabia this week, President Biden will aim to keep the oil flowing and lock in progress on the Middle East's simmering conflicts.

In August, President Biden met with Israel's then-Prime Minister Naftali Bennett. This will be Biden's first trip to Israel as president, but he has been there many times during his political career.

Biden is building on the Abraham Accords, part of Trump's legacy in the Middle East

5:00am July 09, 2022

by Asma Khalid

Joe Biden has jettisoned most of his predecessor's foreign policy. But not the Abraham Accords. Those agreements between Israel and its neighbors are in the spotlight as Biden heads to the Mideast.

Youssef Al-Kurd waits to be seen for his heart disease at Shifa Hospital in Gaza.

Health & Safety

A 70-year-old man in Gaza needed open heart surgery. It was a race against time

5:51pm July 07, 2022

NPR journalists followed Youssef Al-Kurd and his family for months as they begged for the medical care that could save his life.

FILE - An Israeli Navy vessel patrols in the Mediterranean Sea, while Lebanon and Israel are being called to resume indirect talks over their disputed maritime border with U.S. mediation, off the southern town of Naqoura, Monday, June 6, 2022.

World News

Israel shoots down Hezbollah drones over Mediterranean

2:38am July 03, 2022

by The Associated Press

The Israeli military on Saturday said it shot down three unmanned aircraft launched by Lebanese militant group Hezbollah moving near an Israeli gas platform in the Mediterranean Sea.

Supporters of Mohammed el-Halabi hold a Palestinian flag and placards as protesters wave Israeli flags, outside the district court in the southern Israeli city of Beersheba, Wednesday, June 15, 2022.

World News

Gaza rocket into Israel breaks 2-month lull, Israel responds

2:27am June 18, 2022

by The Associated Press

Palestinian militants fired a rocket into southern Israel early Saturday. Hours later, Israeli aircraft carried out a series of airstrikes.

Ahmed Quraishi (second from left), a Pakistani TV news anchor, stands at the Western Wall prayer site in Jerusalem in May. His participation in the rare Pakistani visit sparked a backlash back home, prompting Pakistani state-run TV to fire him.

A rare visit by Pakistanis to Israel has caused furor in Islamabad

3:17pm June 01, 2022

Pakistan doesn't recognize Israel. After a delegation visited Israel and even met with its president, Pakistani senators were outraged and one visitor got fired.

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Members of Jewish youth movements dance and wave Israeli flags on the eve of Jerusalem Day an Israeli holiday celebrating the capture of the Old City during the 1967 Mideast war, next to the Western Wall, the holiest site where Jews can pray, in the Old C

World News

Unrest erupts at Jerusalem site ahead of nationalist march

9:10am May 29, 2022

by The Associated Press

Jewish pilgrims visited early Sunday ahead of a nationalist parade through the Old City, prompting Palestinians to throw rocks and fireworks.

A mural in Gaza City of the Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, who was shot and killed.

World News

An independent probe points to Israeli gunfire in the death of a journalist

9:51am May 16, 2022

by The Associated Press

One open-source research team said its initial findings lent support to Palestinian witnesses who said Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh was killed by Israeli fire.

Israeli police in riot gear confront mourners and the journalists on Friday covering the transfer from the hospital of slain Al Jazeera veteran journalist Shireen Abu Akleh to her final resting place in east Jerusalem. Abu Akleh, a Palestinian-American re

World News

Israeli police beat mourners at a slain Al Jazeera journalist's funeral

11:31am May 13, 2022

by The Associated Press

Dozens of people tried to march the casket of Shireen Abu Akleh from a hospital to a nearby Catholic church, but Israeli police hit them with batons, causing pallbearers to briefly drop the casket.