Stories

Browse major news stories and see what officials have said.

Aug 20, 2026

Israel’s National Security Minister Says Israel Should Kill "30 to 40" People in Gaza Every Night Because "There Are People There Who Are Not Worthy of Life" — and Two of the Senate’s Most Reliably Pro-Israel Democrats Tell Him to Resign

In an interview recorded for the debut episode of a podcast hosted by former Hamas hostage Rom Braslavski and aired the weekend of August 15–16, 2026, Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir said Israel should be carrying out "targeted assassinations" in Gaza at a rate of "30 to 40 every night" — and made clear he did not mean only people posing an immediate threat. Ben-Gvir, who was criticizing the reduced tempo of Israeli operations under the armistice, said of Palestinians in Gaza that there are people there "who are not worthy of life." In the same conversation he called for Palestinians to be encouraged to leave Gaza permanently and said he viewed "all of Gaza as ours." The remarks circulated widely on Sunday, August 16, and drew condemnation from a narrow but notable slice of Washington: two Senate Democrats who have consistently voted to keep U.S. weapons flowing to Israel and have resisted party pressure to block arms sales. Sen. Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.) called the comments "horrific and completely indefensible" and became the first sitting U.S. senator to say outright that Ben-Gvir should leave the Israeli government, urging Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to publicly disavow him. Sen. Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.), a former CIA analyst and Pentagon official, followed on August 20, calling the remarks "abhorrent and a shameful part of the Netanyahu government." The episode is a marker of where the pro-Israel center of the Senate Democratic caucus has moved: the officials calling for a sitting Israeli cabinet minister's removal are not the caucus's left flank but two of its most dependable supporters of U.S. military aid to Israel. German lawmakers separately called for EU sanctions on Ben-Gvir over the same comments. The Trump administration did not issue a public statement on the remarks in the days that followed.

“Israel’s national security minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, has once again made violent, dehumanizing comments about innocent civilians in Gaza. It is abhorrent and a shameful part of the Netanyahu government. He should be long gone from any government role and publicly condemned by anyone who claims to care about civilians, Israeli or Palestinian, in the region.”
Elissa Slotkin (D-MI) · Aug 20, 2026

Israeli Settlers Besiege a Palestinian-American's West Bank Home for Nine Days, and Ambassador Mike Huckabee — a Champion of the Settlement Movement — Calls Them "Israeli Terrorists"

Beginning Sunday, August 9, 2026, dozens of Israeli settlers surrounded three Palestinian homes in Ras al-Ayn, on the edge of the West Bank village of Qusra near Nablus, pitching a tent outside, throwing stones, cutting water and electricity lines and blocking the roads. Fifteen people were trapped inside as food and water ran out. One of the houses belongs to Loui Ridi, a 46-year-old Palestinian American who grew up in Qusra and now lives in Toledo, Ohio; he watched the siege on his home security cameras for seven nights before boarding a flight from Detroit and reaching the house on the evening of August 17. On August 13, U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee — an outspoken supporter of Jewish settlement in the West Bank who as a matter of practice calls the territory Judea and Samaria — posted that the embassy had asked the IDF and Israel Police to "remove the Israeli terrorists doing this," calling the siege a "horrific act of terror" with "no excuse for such thuggish behaviour." He simultaneously defended the broader settler movement, drawing a line between "settlers" and a small minority of "unsettlers." The rebuke was unusually sharp for the ambassador, and came six days after Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) called on him to resign over what Van Hollen described as a pattern of failing to defend American citizens killed or mistreated in the West Bank — nine Americans killed there since January 2022, with no one held responsible. Washington privately pressed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to condemn the siege publicly; he did not, two months out from an Israeli election in which settler voters matter to his coalition. On August 17, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries called the siege "unacceptable" and urged the Trump administration to compel Israel to protect Palestinian civilians.

“The ongoing siege of Palestinian homes in the West Bank by violent, lawbreaking settlers is unacceptable. Enough.”
Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) · Aug 17, 2026

Jun 21, 2026· Updated

Trump Announces Renewed Israel-Hezbollah Ceasefire in Lebanon After Deadly Beirut Strikes

On June 19, 2026, President Trump said Israel and Hezbollah had agreed to renew their ceasefire in the 2026 Lebanon war, a truce a U.S. official described as mediated by the United States, Qatar, and Iran. The agreement came after fighting flared with intense Israeli strikes on southern Beirut and across southern Lebanon that killed dozens, making it one of the deadliest days of the conflict and briefly derailing U.S.-Iran talks. Vice President JD Vance postponed a trip to sign a related U.S.-Iran memorandum and publicly pressed Israel to respect the peace process, while Trump called the renewed truce "a little icing on the cake." Reactions among U.S. officials ranged from praise for the de-escalation to skepticism that a diplomatic solution would hold.

“Let's try a diplomatic solution. I think it's going to fail. What happens next?”
Lindsey Graham (R-SC) · Jun 21, 2026

Iran and Israel Trade Missiles for First Time Since April Ceasefire; Trump Claims "Total Victory" Near

Iran fired approximately 30 ballistic missiles at Israel on June 7–8, 2026 — the first such attack since an April 8 ceasefire — after Israel launched airstrikes on Lebanon. Israel retaliated with strikes on central and western Iran before both sides announced a halt to hostilities on Day 100–101 of the Iran war. Trump publicly called for an "immediate ceasefire" while privately warning Netanyahu he might be "left alone," and declared "total victory" would come within two weeks. JD Vance acknowledged that US and Israeli interests had "diverged" in the conflict, and Trump told the Financial Times "I call the shots. I call all the shots. He [Netanyahu] doesn't call the shots."

“You're really gonna win this over the next two weeks when we declare total victory. It'll be a total victory. Oil prices will come tumbling down. I call the shots. I call all the shots. He [Netanyahu] doesn't call the shots. You better be very careful with what you do because you might soon be left alone against Iran.”
Donald Trump (R-FL) · Jun 8, 2026

Apr 14, 2026· Updated

US and Israel Launch Joint Military Attack on Iran

On February 28, 2026, the United States and Israel launched a joint military operation against Iran — codenamed "Epic Fury" by the Pentagon and "Roaring Lion" by Israel — striking nuclear facilities, missile sites, and government compounds across Tehran, Isfahan, Qom, Karaj, and Kermanshah. By Day 2, CENTCOM confirmed over 1,000 targets had been hit, and Iranian state media acknowledged that Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei had been killed along with dozens of senior officials. Iran retaliated by launching waves of ballistic missiles and drones at Israel, US military bases, and Gulf states including the UAE, Qatar, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and Jordan, killing three US service members and eight people in Israel. Hezbollah broke its November 2024 ceasefire by firing rockets at northern Israel, the Strait of Hormuz was disrupted, and Middle Eastern airspace was largely closed. In Congress, bipartisan war powers resolutions were introduced with votes expected as early as March 4, while Trump said the operation was "ahead of schedule" and could take "four weeks or less." As of March 1, strikes continued with international calls for ceasefire from the UN, China, and others, while Oman offered mediation and Iran signaled openness to de-escalation.

“As I write this, B-2 Spirit stealth bombers and F-35 fighters are flying sorties over Iran as part of Operation Epic Fury. Our brave airmen and women are executing their mission with precision, power and courage that should make every American proud.”
Pete Stauber (R-MN) · Apr 14, 2026

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