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Ronen Bergman
For Ronen Bergman's latest contributions to The Japan Times, see below:
Iranians at an anti-Israeli rally after Friday prayers in Tehran. An Israeli airstrike on Iran on Friday damaged an air defense system, according to Western and Iranian officials, in an attack calculated to deliver a message that Israel could bypass Iran's defensive systems undetected and paralyze them.
WORLD
Apr 21, 2024
Israel’s strike on Iran highlights its ability to evade Tehran’s air defenses
The strike Friday was the latest salvo between the two countries this month that have heightened fears of a broader regional conflict.
Mourners gather in Tehran on Friday for the funerals of senior Iranian military and intelligence officials killed in Israel's bombing of the Iranian Embassy building in Damascus, Syria.
WORLD / Politics
Apr 6, 2024
Israel and U.S. are on alert for Iran to strike back at Israel
Analysts say Iran is more likely to strike Israel itself than through Hezbollah, its closest militant ally.
Water jugs are filled at a United Nations Relief and Works Agency camp for displaced Palestinians in Khan Younis, Gaza Strip, on Nov. 22.
WORLD
Feb 4, 2024
The 8 days that roiled the U.N.’s top agency in Gaza
UNRWA is the largest aid agency on the ground in Gaza, providing shelter to more than half the population and coordinating aid from Egypt and Israel.
Supporters of the Houthi movement hold a rally to denounce air strikes launched by the U.S. and the U.K. on Houthi targets, in Sanaa, Yemen, on Friday.
WORLD
Jan 13, 2024
The regional war no one wanted is here. How wide will it get?
Following the U.S.-led strikes on nearly 30 sites in Yemen on Thursday, there is no longer a question of whether there will be a regional conflict. It has already begun.
An Israeli soldier gestures from a tank, near a border area with Gaza, in southern Israel, on Thursday.
WORLD / Politics / ANALYSIS
Nov 19, 2023
Is Israel’s military strategy to eradicate Hamas working?
Israel is making progress in ground control of Gaza, but it has not vanquished Hamas or freed most of the hostages as global condemnation grows.
A protest for the return of the hostages on a main street in Tel Aviv on Saturday. The Biden administration has advised Israel to delay a ground invasion of Gaza, hoping to buy time for hostage negotiations and to allow more humanitarian aid to reach Palestinians in the sealed-off enclave, according to several U.S. officials.
WORLD / Politics
Oct 23, 2023
U.S. advises Israel to delay Gaza invasion, officials say
The U.S. has suggested that more time is needed for hostage negotiations, the delivery of aid and mapping out ways to avoid more civilian casualties.
Israeli soldiers load tank shells as their unit masses in Be'eri, near the border with the Gaza Strip, on Saturday.
WORLD / Politics
Oct 15, 2023
Israel plans Gaza invasion to avenge Hamas atrocities
The assault is expected to be Israel’s biggest ground operation since it invaded Lebanon in 2006.
Israeli soldiers during searches of burned homes in Kfar Azza, a village just across the border from Gaza that was attacked by Palestinian gunmen, in Israel, on Tuesday.
WORLD / Politics
Oct 14, 2023
The secrets Hamas knew about Israel’s military
Hamas gunmen surged into Israel in a highly organized and meticulously planned operation that suggested a deep understanding of Israel’s weaknesses.
Japan Times
WORLD
Apr 3, 2023
A front company and a fake identity: How the U.S. came to use spyware it was trying to kill.
The Biden administration has been trying to choke off use of hacking tools made by the Israeli firm NSO. It turns out that not every part of the government has gotten the message.
Japan Times
WORLD
Jan 18, 2023
Pentagon sends U.S. arms stored in Israel to Ukraine
The Pentagon is tapping into a vast but little-known stockpile of American ammunition in Israel to help meet Ukraine’s dire need for artillery shells in the war with Russia.
Japan Times
WORLD
Jun 17, 2022
Fears grow over Iran’s nuclear program as Tehran digs a new tunnel network
Although construction is evident on satellite and has been monitored by groups that track the proliferation of new nuclear facilities, officials have never talked about it publicly.
Japan Times
WORLD
Sep 19, 2021
The scientist and the AI-assisted, remote-control killing machine
Israeli agents had wanted to kill Iran's top nuclear scientist for years. Then they came up with a way to do it with no operatives present.
Japan Times
WORLD
Feb 21, 2021
Israel secretly agrees to fund vaccines for Syria as part of prisoner swap
To secure the release of an Israeli civilian held in Syria, Israel agreed to finance a supply of Russian-made COVID-19 vaccines for Damascus, an official said.
Japan Times
WORLD
Nov 29, 2020
Brazen killings expose Iran’s vulnerabilities as it struggles to respond
The operations are confronting Tehran with an agonizing choice between embracing the demands of hard-liners for swift retaliation or seeking a fresh start with a new U.S. leader.
Japan Times
WORLD
Nov 28, 2020
Gunmen assassinate Iran’s top nuclear scientist in ambush, provoking new crisis
For two decades, the scientist, Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, was the driving force behind what U.S. and Israeli officials describe as Iran's secretive nuclear weapons program.
Japan Times
WORLD
Nov 14, 2020
Al-Qaida’s No. 2, accused in U.S. Embassy attacks, is secretly killed in Iran
Israeli agents shot Abu Muhammad al-Masri on the streets of Tehran at the behest of the U.S., intelligence officials have confirmed.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 1, 2013
Hezbollah leader nears sundown
Recent victories by Hezbollah militiamen in Syria will not save the regime of Bashar Assad. They could presage the political sunset for Hezbollah's leader.

Longform

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