Israel said it had conducted a joint missile test with the United States over the Mediterranean Sea on Tuesday, hours after Russia's announcement of its detection of missile launches added to jitters about possible military action against the Syrian regime.
One of the rules of diplomacy is to increase the number of friends and decrease adversaries. But Israel seems to be doing the opposite.
Here's a glimpse of all that happened around the world last week, in 10 images.
A new tell-all book has claimed that former United States president Bill Clinton's steamy phone sex with Monica Lewinsky was listened in by British spooks and was also used for blackmail by Israel.
A Syrian artist is highlighting the plight of his people with a series of striking paintings that cast some of the world's most powerful leaders as powerless refugees.
'Previous governments in India had reservations about working with Israel.' 'Modi has shed this tag.' 'Disengaging itself from its traditional and ideological foreign policy approach in the Middle East shall serve India's long-term interests.' Rajaram Panda explains why the significance of Modi's visit to the Jewish nation goes beyond markers like the first-ever visit to Israel by an Indian PM and 25 years of diplomatic ties.
United States envoy to the Middle East on Tuesday pressed Israel on "prompt resumption" of the stalled peace talks with Palestine, amid sharp differences between Washington and Tel Aviv over settlement activities in disputed areas.
Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip on Friday killed six persons, including a pregnant woman and two children, taking the Palestinian toll to 815, as the 18-day conflict threatens to spread to the West Bank after deaths of two youths in anti-Israel protests in north of Jerusalem.
Israel on Monday pressed on with its heavy bombardment of Gaza and foiled major infiltration attempts by Hamas on the 14th day of the conflict that has killed 558 Palestinians and 27 Israelis, even as the United Nations and the United States called for an "immediate ceasefire".
The bear hug in which the Prime Minister loves to smother Western VIPs might strike as theatrical, boastful and, above all, unhygienic, in these stricken times, says Sunanda K Datta-Ray.
Amid spiralling violence and growing tension over the killing of three Israeli teens and the burning of an Arab boy in retaliation, a bereaved Jewish family has emerged as a steady and calming voice trying to instill reason among people calling for revenge.
In a setback to the fragile Middle East peace process, Israel's general elections threw up an inconclusive mandate on Wednesday, with both the centrists and the rightists claiming victory and a hawkish anti-Arab leader emerging as the possible kingmaker.
The 18th Maccabiah Games, popularly known as the "Jewish Olympics", began on Monday with a burst of song, dance and fireworks, and tight security for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Organisers said the 12-day Games are their biggest ever, with about half the 7,000 competitors coming from 65 countries.
Palestinians, who protested massively along the Gaza border clashed with Israeli forces.
The Shiv Sena passed a resolution not to align with the Bharatiya Janata Party.
Mumbai's Chabad House in the Nariman House Colaba, one of the bloody targets of the 26/11 terror strikes, will be renamed as 'Nariman Light House' on the 10th anniversary of the attacks and 10 months after Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's visit, official sources said on Friday.
Bloodbath in Gaza continued unabated today with Israel and Hamas refusing to back down in the conflict that has killed over 660 Palestinians and 31 Israelis, even as US Secretary of State John Kerry said his ceasefire negotiations in Jerusalem were making progress.
Israeli jets on Tuesday pounded 50 Hamas targets on the Gaza Strip injuring at least 17 Palestinians as part of a military offensive code-named 'Protective Edge' after a barrage of rockets hit southern Israel amid escalating tensions in the region.
'Hitchens asked which State Israel had most in common with -- and then answered his own question, saying "Pakistan".' 'They were both, he explained "confessional States": Founded to succour the followers of a particular faith,' remembers Mihir S Sharma.
Israel and India are likely to finalise a free trade agreement next year
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the United States recognises -- as have Israeli courts -- the legal conclusions relating to individual settlements must depend on an assessment of specific facts and circumstances on the ground.
PM Modi would be the fifth foreign leader Trump would have spoken with over phone after being sworn-in as the US President on January 20.
Abbas seeks India's role in peace process as PM Modi visits Palestine.
Argentina have cancelled their final World Cup warmup match against Israel, striker Gonzalo Higuain said on Tuesday, as political pressure grew ahead of Saturday's scheduled fixture in Jerusalem.
'Like Nehru, too, Modi has found dealing with Beijing more and more difficult and has adopted an increasingly assertive approach towards managing India's northern neighbour.'
Duterte had consistently led the Time 100 Reader Poll, an online survey in which the publication had asked its readers to vote for who should be included in this year's Time 100 list of the world's most influential people.
Modi's visit to dwell on water conservation, Israel's expertise in desalination may also be tapped
The possibility of a deal between Iran and the world on its nuclear programme has some perils but much promise for India, says Uday Abhyankar
Stepping up its offensive, Israeli military killed 26 Palestinians, including eight members of a family, in overnight raids on the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip, taking the death toll to more than 300 in the 12-day long conflict that has displaced thousands.
Israel on Wednesday stepped up its offensive in Gaza, asking 100,000 Palestinians to flee their homes and threatening ground operations, as the death toll in the airstrikes climbed to 208 with tensions escalating following failed Egyptian cease-fire efforts.
Commentators in Canadian media highlighted that Union Minister of State for Agriculture Gajendra Shekhawat received Trudeau at the Delhi airport when he arrived on a seven-day India visit on Saturday evening and contrasted it against Modi himself receiving several world leaders at the airport.
'Tehran senses that the Modi government is inexorably gravitating toward the US-Israeli-Saudi axis, jettisoning India's traditional independent Gulf policies,' notes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
'When the national anthem of India was sung and joined by all present with the PM in front, it was the best moment of the whole night.'
'While high-level interventions may help smoothen inter-State relationships, they cannot fundamentally change the alchemy of such relationships, which are firmly rooted in mutual benefits and mutual interests,' points out Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
43.2 million people follow the Indian premier on the social media platform.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has made his debut among the world's most powerful people, ranked 15th on the Forbes list topped by Russian President Vladimir Putin who pipped his US counterpart Barack Obama for a second year in a row.
The government said there was no immediate plan to extend the 21-day lockdown period, which entered its sixth day on Monday, while the Indian Army dismissed as "fake" social media posts about a possible emergency declaration next month.
'Modi personally provides the higher direction of the ministry and the minister then works with bureaucrats on implementation,' points out Aakar Patel.
'We don't want confrontation; we are trying to build a cooperative relationship in which both sides have stakes in producing an improving climate of relations and responsible behaviour.' What does Shiv Shankar Menon, one of India's most brilliant diplomats and the former National Security Advisor, think of the Modi visit to the US, the Chinese stand-off in Ladakh and the situation on the LoC?
He won the 1994 Nobel Peace Prize for his work in reaching an interim peace agreement with the Palestinians.
