Gaza

US President Donald Trump speaks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the Israeli parliament, the Knesset, in Jerusalem on Oct. 13, 2025.

Analysis

Trump has upper hand over Netanyahu, but is it enough for Gaza?

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been stalling on the implementation of the second phase of President Donald Trump’s Gaza plan, but at the end of the day, Trump has much more leverage over Netanyahu.

Rina Bassist

By Rina Bassist

In Paris, reporting on Israeli politics and European affairs

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio gestures as he speaks during an end-of-year press conference in the State Department Press Briefing Room in Washington, DC on December 19, 2025. (Photo by Mandel NGAN / AFP via Getty Images)

Rubio hints US could accept Hamas keeping small arms

The top US diplomat told Al-Monitor the focus of disarmament should be on the "weaponries or capabilities" that Hamas would need to threaten Israel.

A ship sails along Egypt's Suez Canal near Ismailia, April 16, 2025.

Maersk resumes Red Sea passage after two-year halt amid easing Houthi threat

A ceasefire reached between Israel and Hamas in October has prompted some shipping companies to consider resuming services, but security concerns persist.

Saeed Jaras / Middle East Images / AFP via Getty Images

Facing Israeli pushback, Turkey recalibrates public messaging on Gaza force

Turkey’s top diplomat has suggested that being part of the Gaza stabilization force is not Ankara’s priority.

Latest News

Analysis

How Netanyahu ceded to Trump, agreed to Egypt's $35B gas deal

SHARM EL-SHEIKH, EGYPT - OCTOBER 13: U.S. President Donald Trump and President of Egypt Abdel Fattah El-Sisi clasp hands as they speak to the press before their meeting on October 13, 2025 in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt. President Trump is in Egypt to meet with European and Middle Eastern leaders in what’s being billed as an international peace summit, following the start of a US-brokered ceasefire deal to end the war in the Gaza Strip. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

In Tel Aviv, reporting on national security, Israeli politics, defense

Qatar’s prime minister meets US officials as Gaza plan stalls

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio (R) shakes hands with Qatari Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani at the State Department in Washington, on Dec. 17, 2025.

Over 600 Israeli ex-security chiefs urge Trump to disarm Hamas, back PA in Gaza

President Donald Trump speaks with Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the Knesset, Israel's parliament, on Oct. 13, 2025 in Jerusalem.

Analysis

Trump's Syria envoy Barrack tests Israel's patience as Netanyahu pushes back

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (R) meets with US special envoy Tom Barrack, Jerusalem, Dec. 15 2

In Tel Aviv, reporting on national security, Israeli politics, defense

ABBAS MOMANI/AFP via Getty Images

How EU-West Bank police mission hopes to advance two-state solution

Newly appointed EUPOL COPPS chief Karin Limdal is tasked with helping Palestinian law enforcement institutions reform to facilitate the implementation of the two-state solution and Palestinian statehood.

EVELYN HOCKSTEIN/AFP via Getty Images

As Egypt expresses optimism, how Israel-Hamas cease-fire deal could look

As Israel and the rest of the world wait for Hamas to respond to the latest cease-fire proposal, new reports suggest that Israel will agree to a reduced number of 33 hostages to be released in the first stage.

ABIR SULTAN/AFP via Getty Images

Analysis

Israel braces for ICC warrants against Netanyahu, Gallant

Israeli leaders have confirmed concerns that the International Criminal Court in the Hague will issue international arrest warrants over the Gaza war.

Rina Bassist

By Rina Bassist

In Paris, reporting on Israeli politics and European affairs

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attends a traditional government group photo shoot at the president's house, Jerusalem, December 29, 2022.

Analysis

The 'eternal survivor': Netanyahu’s rising poll numbers in Israel explained

Almost seven months after Hamas' attack, electoral support for the Israeli prime minister is slowly building against all odds.

Mazal Mualem

By Mazal Mualem

In Tel Aviv, reporting on politics

Demonstrators against the war in Gaza rally in support of Palestinians on the campus of the University of Texas in Austin, Texas, on April 25, 2024.

Gaza protests spread to over 25 US universities with hundreds arrested

The Gaza solidarity encampment at Columbia University has sparked similar protests throughout the country.

Israeli soldiers of the Jewish Ultra-Orthodox battalion "Netzah Yehuda" take part in their annual unit training in the Israeli annexed Golan Heights, near the Syrian border on May 19, 2014. The Netzah Yehuda Battalion is a battalion in the Kfir Brigade of the Israel military which was created to allow religious Israelis to serve in the army in an atmosphere respecting their religious convictions. AFP PHOTO/MENAHEM KAHANA (Photo credit should read MENAHEM KAHANA/AFP via Getty Images)

As pressure mounts, US delays plan to withhold aid from Israeli military unit

The State Department's plan to block a notoriously violent Israeli military unit from receiving US security assistance could help address what some say is a failure to hold Israel to the same standards as other US arms recipients.

US special envoy to the region Amos Hochstein (R) meets with Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant at Israeli Defense Ministry headquarters, Tel Aviv, Jan. 4, 2024.

In Israel, US envoy Hochstein talks Lebanon border tensions with Gallant

US special envoy Amos Hochstein met with Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and is set to speak with President Isaac Herzog as the Israel-Lebanon border remains tense.

Jade Gao/Getty Images

China hosts Hamas, Fatah delegations for reconciliation talks

The meeting follows a Hamas official's statement that the movement was ready to join the PLO.

Pro-Palestinian protesters set up a tent encampment during a demonstration in front of Sproul Hall on the UC Berkeley campus on April 22, 2024, in Berkeley, California.

Over 20 US universities join in Gaza protests: What we know

A pro-Palestinian encampment at Columbia University has sparked similar protests throughout the United States, as well as France, eliciting both praise and condemnation as authorities in some areas attempt to disperse the crowds.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken (2-R) arrives for group photo with (L-R) Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry, Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi.

Israel war cabinet meets as Egypt proposes three-phase Gaza cease-fire plan

Reports suggest that Egypt has taken the lead on a new round of talks with Hamas and has presented Israel with a fresh proposal for a hostage-release and truce deal.

A boy helps a vendor arrange his merchandise as he sets up before the rubble of a collapsed building in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on April 23, 2024 amid the ongoing conflict in the Palestinian territory between Israel and the militant group Hamas.

Israeli security chiefs in Cairo to discuss possible Rafah invasion

In Egypt, IDF chief Herzi Halevi and Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar reportedly discussed Israel's plan to enter Rafah as well as the possibility of restarting negotiations for a hostage deal.

Humanitarian aid is dropped on the Gaza Strip, west of Gaza City, on March 25, 2024, amid the ongoing conflict in the Palestinian territory between Israel and the militant group Hamas, with the background showing Israel's Rutenberg power station near Ashkelon.

US says Israel boosted Gaza aid flow after convoy strike, but more is needed

US envoy David Satterfield said the volume of assistance reaching Gaza is "significantly greater" than it was, but issues remain with aid distribution.