Amnesty International said on Thursday (May 14, 2026) that the Israeli army’s destruction of civilian homes in southern Syria since the fall of longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad should be investigated as “war crimes”.

Israel moved its forces into a UN-patrolled demilitarised zone on the Israeli-occupied Syrian Golan Heights after Assad’s December 2024 toppling by Islamist forces whom it considers jihadists.

It has also launched hundreds of strikes on Syria and carries out regular incursions into the country’s south where it demands a demilitarised zone.

“The Israeli military’s deliberate destruction of civilian homes” in southern Syria’s Quneitra province since December 2024 “with no absolute military necessity, should be investigated as war crimes”, Amnesty said in a statement.

“Israel has an obligation to make reparations for these serious violations of international humanitarian law,” the rights group added.

Amnesty said that the day Assad fell, Israeli forces entered three villages and towns in the UN-demilitarised zone in Quneitra province, “conducting home raids and ordering residents to leave”.

“Over the following six months, the Israeli military destroyed or damaged at least 23 civilian structures in three villages,” Amnesty said, adding that witnesses described the buildings as “their and their neighbours’ homes”.

The rights group said it used satellite imagery to verify damage and destruction to 23 structures in the villages.

“Securing Israel’s border cannot be used to justify bulldozing and blowing up people’s homes and villages on the territory of another country,” Kristine Beckerle, Amnesty’s deputy regional director for the Middle East and North Africa said in the statement.

Israeli operations in south Syria have continued even as the new Islamist authorities in Damascus have held talks with Israeli officials in recent months as they edge towards a security agreement after decades of hostilities.

Israel has occupied most of Syria’s Golan Heights since 1967, annexing it in 1981 in a move not recognised by most of the international community.

(This article is part of the View From India newsletter curated by The Hindu’s foreign affairs experts. To get the newsletter in your inbox every Monday, subscribe here.)

“A whole civilisation will die, never to be brought back again.” — That’s what Donald Trump, President of the United States of America, said six days ago, issuing an ultimatum to Iran, to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. Tehran, in turn, warned that its response would deprive the U.S. and its allies of oil and gas for years.

The Israeli military said on Monday (April 13, 2026) its troops had surrounded a key town in southern Lebanon after killing more than 100 Hezbollah fighters there over the past week. The announcement marks a significant advance in Israel’s ongoing invasion of southern Lebanon.

“The forces of the 98th Division have completed the encirclement of the town of Bint Jbeil and have begun an assault on it,” the military’s Arabic-language spokesman Colonel Avichay Adraee said on X.

Israel’s far-right Police Minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, visited the ​flashpoint Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in Jerusalem on Sunday (April 12, 2026), saying he ‌was seeking greater access for Jewish worshippers and drawing ​condemnation from Jordan and the Palestinians.

The compound ⁠in Jerusalem’s walled Old City is one of the most sensitive sites in West Asia. Known to Jews as ‌Temple Mount, it is the most sacred site in Judaism and is Islam’s third-holiest site.

Israel’s Foreign ​Minister on Sunday (March 15, 2026) denied reports ‌that Israel could soon hold direct ​talks with Lebanon ⁠and rejected claims it had told the United States it was running low ‌on interceptors.

Also read: West Asia war updates on March 15, 2026

Israel’s Haaretz newspaper reported on Saturday (March 14, 2026) that ‌Israel and Lebanon were expected ‌to ⁠hold direct talks in the ⁠coming days. Semafor also reported that Israel had informed Washington it was running critically ​low on ‌ballistic missile interceptors.

Both reports cited unnamed sources.

Asked about the weekend reports, Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said, “For ‌the two questions, the ​answer is no.”

He also said that Israel sees “eye-to-eye” with ⁠the U.S. in the war with Iran, now in its 16th ‌day, and that the two allies are determined to continue until their goals are achieved.

“We want to remove the existential threats from Iran for ‌the long term. We don’t want to ​go every year to another war,” he told reporters.

Mr. Saar was ⁠speaking from a Bedouin Arab town ⁠in northern Israel near an Israeli Air Force base ‌where homes were damaged in an Iranian missile attack last ​week.

Israel’s military said it “struck and dismantled” the headquarters of Iran’s state radio and television broadcaster, as it pressed on with its campaign against the Islamic republic.

“A short while ago, the Israeli Air Force struck and dismantled the Iranian terrorist regime’s communications centre” in Tehran, the military said, referring to IRIB.

The Israeli ​military ⁠issued late ‌on Monday ‌(March 2, 2026) an ‌evacuation ⁠warning ⁠for ​Tehran ‌residents, especially those located near ‌the ​headquarters of ⁠Iran’s ‌state broadcaster IRIB.

“The activities taking place at the centre were carried out and directed by the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps. Over the years, the Iranian Broadcasting Authority called for the destruction of the State of Israel and for the use of nuclear weapons,” the military added.

Israel’s government has told the Supreme Court that a ban on international media access to Gaza should remain in place due to security risks in the Palestinian territory, according to a court submission.

Since the outbreak of the Gaza war in October 2023, triggered by an attack on Israel by the Palestinian militant group Hamas, Israeli authorities have barred foreign journalists from independently entering the devastated territory.

Instead, Israel has allowed only a limited number of reporters to enter Gaza on a case-by-case basis, embedded with its military forces inside the blockaded territory.

The Foreign Press Association (FPA), which represents hundreds of foreign journalists working in Israel and the Palestinian territories, filed a petition with the Supreme Court in 2024 seeking immediate and unrestricted access for international media to the Gaza Strip.

Since then, the court has given several extensions to the Israeli authorities to come up with a plan, but at a hearing last month it set January 4 as a final deadline.

Late on Sunday, the Israeli government filed its response with the court, a copy of which was obtained by AFP.

In the submission, the government said the ban on media access to Gaza should continue, citing security risks in the territory.

“Even at this time, entry of journalists into the Gaza Strip without escort, as requested in the petition, should not be permitted,” said the government submission.

“This is for security reasons, based on the position of the defence establishment, which maintains that a security risk associated with such entry still exists.”

The government said the ceasefire in Gaza, which came into effect on October 10, continues to face regular threats.

At least 420 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza by Israeli forces since the ceasefire took effect, according to Gaza’s health ministry.

The Israeli military said three of its soldiers have also been killed by militants during the same period.

Last month, Defence Minister Israel Katz told parliament that the military’s swift responses to ceasefire violations by Hamas could endanger journalists, according to Israeli media reports.

The government said in its submission that the search for the remains of the last hostage held in Gaza is ongoing, suggesting that allowing journalists into the Palestinian territory at this stage could hinder the operation.

The remains of Ran Gvili, whose body was taken to Gaza after he was killed during the Hamas attack on October 7, 2023, have still not been recovered despite the ceasefire.

All of the other 250 hostages seized on that day — both the living and the deceased — have been returned to Israel.

The Supreme Court is expected to issue a ruling on the matter, though it is unclear when a decision will be handed down.

An AFP journalist sits on the board of the FPA.

The United States, Israel and Qatar held a trilateral meeting in New York Sunday (December 7, 2025), a senior White House official told AFP, months after Israeli jets conducted an airstrike in Doha, unsuccessfully targeting Hamas leadership.

The White House official confirmed that the meeting had taken place but did not provide any further details.

Also read: Hamas says Israel’s Qatar attack won’t change Gaza ceasefire demands

Two sources told U.S. news outlet Axios it was “the highest level meeting between the countries since the deal to end the war in Gaza, for which Qatar served as a key mediator.”

Axios also reported White House envoy Steve Witkoff hosted the meeting, with Mossad spy chief David Barnea representing Israel and an unnamed senior Qatari official in attendance.

Qatar, along with Egypt and the United States, helped broker a comprehensive ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, which remains delicate as both Israel and Hamas accuse each other of breaching its terms.

On Saturday (December 6, 2025), Qatar and Egypt both called for the withdrawal of Israeli troops and the deployment of an international stabilization force to fully implement the fragile agreement to end the conflict in Gaza.

Speaking at a diplomatic conference in Doha, Qatari premier Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani said “a ceasefire cannot be completed unless there is full withdrawal of the Israeli forces (and) there is stability back in Gaza.”

Axios reported that the main focus of Sunday’s meeting was largely “on the implementation of the Gaza peace agreement.”

Also read: Qatar says hopes to push Hamas, Israel to next talks phase ‘very soon’

The Israeli strike on Doha on September 9 unsuccessfully targeted top Hamas negotiator Khalil al-Hayra and others in the Palestinian militant group.

The strike instead killed six people and sparked a wave of criticism, including a rebuke from U.S. President Donald Trump.

Axios said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu later called Mr. Al Thani from the White House “at Trump’s urging, to apologize for the strike.”