When the executive committee of North Carolina’s Democratic Party passed a resolution in June calling for an immediate arms embargo on Israel, it set off another episode in the party’s ongoing struggles with how it addresses the Israel-Hamas war.

For weeks, Israel has engaged in back-channel talks over a diplomatic agreement with the Syrian government. Its strikes on Damascus this week highlight a lack of strategic clarity.

Israel will raise defence spending by 42 billion shekels ($12.5 billion) in 2025 and 2026, the finance and defence ministries said on Thursday, citing the country's security challenges.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said the Damascus headquarters served as a command center for deploying regime forces to Suwayda, a southern Syrian region gripped by days of deadly clashes between government troops, Druze militias, and Bedouin groups.

"For me it is mostly a story that says basic human kindness is a value and something we have lost," the film's director told newspaper "The Sunday Times."

The head of an Israeli parliamentary committee told the Finance Ministry on Thursday to come up with a compensation plan by next week for Israelis stranded abroad during last month's war with Iran or the panel would impose one.