Eurotopics.net

Israel is continuing its offensive against the radical Islamic Hamas organisation in the Gaza Strip in the new year. There have also been Israeli drone attacks on Lebanon - according to the Israel army in response to shelling - and allegations of the targeted assassination of a Hamas leader in Beirut. Commentators warn that the situation has reached an impasse.

Israel's Supreme Court has struck down a key element of the controversial judicial reform passed by Benjamin Netanyahu's government. Eight out of fifteen judges voted against an amendment to the law on the so-called reasonableness clause of July 2023, which would have removed the Supreme Court's power to categorise government decisions as "unreasonable" and overrule them. Is Israel's democracy now back on track?

Almost half the world's population will decide its political future at poll stations this year. Commentators take an uneasy look at what the elections could bring for Europe and the world, from the UK to the US, Russia, India and Taiwan.