Dov Lieber

Dov Lieber is The Times of Israel's Arab affairs correspondent.

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, second left, flanked by newly released Palestinian security prisoners, greets the crowd in Ramallah, on October 30, 2013 (Issam Rimawi/Flash90)

February 18, 2018, 3:45 pm

Ministers back bill slashing PA funding over terror payouts

Legislation would allow Defense Ministry to deduct sum of Ramallah’s welfare payments to Palestinian prisoners and their families from tax revenues transferred to PA

By Marissa Newman and Dov Lieber

Eritrean demonstrators chanted "Refugees, not infiltrators," outside of the Rwandan Embassy in Herzilya on January 22, 2018. (Melanie Lidman/ Times of Israel)

February 15, 2018, 3:49 pm

Court rules Eritrean draft dodgers eligible for asylum in Israel

As thousands await deportation, precedent-setting decision rules deserters in African country face ‘well-founded fear of persecution’ and should receive refugee status

By Dov Lieber

A picture taken on February 10, 2018, shows the remains of a Syrian missile that landed in northern Israel. (AFP Photo/Jack Guez)

February 15, 2018, 12:15 pm

‘Agents’ in Syria said to transfer fallen anti-aircraft rocket to Israel

Report says a Russian-made S-200 that landed on the Syrian side of the Golan Heights has made its way into Israeli hands

By Dov Lieber

US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, speaks in Cairo, Egypt, February 13, 2018. (Khaled Elfiqi/AP)

February 14, 2018, 7:07 pm

Tillerson: Hezbollah’s role in Lebanese politics needs to be recognized

Top US diplomat makes rare admission of terror group’s powerful political presence, says Israeli-Palestinian peace plan draft ‘fairly well advanced’

By Dov Lieber

Lebanese President Michel Aoun (C) reviews the honor guard during an official welcome ceremony at Marka airport in Amman on February 14, 2017. (AFP Photo/Pool/Khalil Mazraawi)

February 12, 2018, 7:11 pm

Lebanese president warns of ‘new wars’ over multiple disputes with Israel

Aoun says Beirut is determined to stand its ground in conflicts over offshore natural gas rights, border wall

By Dov Lieber

Saleh Al-Hamwi, one of the founders of Al Qaeda's Nusra Front (now called Jaish al-Fatih). He was expelled from the group mid-2015. (Youtube)

February 11, 2018, 4:53 pm

Former Qaeda leader in Syria ‘welcomes’ Israeli airstrikes

Saleh Al-Hamwi tweets rare public support for Jerusalem, but contends Iran succeeded in creating deterrence over Syrian skies

By Dov Lieber

Majdi Halabi, the Israel correspondent for the London-based Arabic news site Elaph. (Courtesy)

February 9, 2018, 6:48 am

How a Saudi publisher is helping Israel speak to the Arab world

Veteran Druze journalist at London-based Elaph says he initiated a series of interviews with owner’s blessing, but denies paper is a conduit for Jerusalem and Riyadh to talk

By Dov Lieber

An employee of the Palestinian health ministry checks the Beit Hanoun hospital in the northern Gaza Strip after it stopped its services on January 29, 2018, after it ran out of fuel. (Mahmud Hams/AFP)

February 8, 2018, 1:33 pm

UAE donates $2 million to prevent shutdown of Gaza’s hospitals

Infusion should be enough to keep critical medical services in the Strip running for at least a few months

By Dov Lieber

US Special Envoy Jason Greenblatt attends a press conference regarding the water agreement between Israel and the Palestinian Authority, on July 13, 2017. (Yonatan Sindel/ Flash90/File)

February 8, 2018, 10:27 am

US peace envoy blasts Abbas for failure to mention Jerusalem’s Jewish connection

Jason Greenblatt says denying ‘Judaism’s thousands of years of ties’ to the city isn’t conducive to lasting peace

By Dov Lieber

Sari Taha, program manager for Rawabi's collaborative workspace 'Connect,' lectures visitors. (Courtesy)

February 4, 2018, 5:21 pm

With all his chips in, Palestinian businessman aims to build ‘Silicon Rawabi’

Companies that have moved to new West Bank city tech hub so far are almost exclusively owned or funded by its builder, Bashar Masri

By Dov Lieber

Illustrative: An injured Palestinian man arrives at a hospital to receive treatment following an Israeli air strike in Beit Lahia, in the northern Gaza Strip, on December 8, 2017 .(AFP PHOTO / MOHAMMED ABED)

January 29, 2018, 4:52 pm

Hospital in Gaza freezes services after fuel runs out

Beit Hanoun hospital says patients’ lives at risk after it suspends services because it can’t run generators during the many hours of no electricity

By Dov Lieber

Illustrative image of a tank flying the Hezbollah terror group's flag seen in the Qara area in Syria's Qalamoun region on August 28, 2017 (AFP Photo/Louai Beshara)

January 29, 2018, 3:22 pm

Responding to IDF op-ed, Hezbollah lawmaker says Israel is afraid

Army spokesperson’s warning to Lebanese over Iran’s attempts to build missiles in country dismissed as ‘provocative nonsense issued only by a coward’

By Dov Lieber

Illustrative: Mahmoud Abbas, center, at the African Union summit on June 14, 2015. (AFP/GIANLUIGI GUERCIA)

January 28, 2018, 5:38 pm

Abbas invites African nations to join in peace process

PA leader, in speech to African Union in Ethiopia, appears to castigate Trump for alleged ‘shithole’ comment

By Dov Lieber

Illustrative. Palestinians celebrate after Palestinian prisoners end a hunger strike over their conditions in Israeli jails, in the West Bank city of Ramallah, May 27, 2017. (Flash90)

January 25, 2018, 9:08 pm

In first, key European body calls on Palestinians to stop financing terror

Israel declares ‘diplomatic achievement’; Council of Europe also slams Trump’s Jerusalem decision and urges increased EU role in peace process

By Dov Lieber

Illustrative: Arab Israeli students at the campus of Givat Ram at Hebrew University, on the first day of the new academic year, October 26, 2014. (Miriam Alster/Flash90)

January 25, 2018, 3:16 pm

Number of Arab students in Israeli universities grows 78% in 7 years

Despite success of government program, minority community is still underrepresented in academia, especially the Bedouin sector

By Dov Lieber