Israeli-Palestinian conflict

Displaced Palestinian people look at paintings at an open-air art exhibition at the Bureij camp for Palestinian refugees in the central Gaza Strip on April 28, 2026. The majority of Gaza's 2.4 million people have been displaced, often multiple times, by the war that began with Hamas's attack on southern Israel on October 7, 2023. With displaced families living in tented camps, with serious concerns raised about their living conditions. (Photo by Eyad Baba / AFP via Getty Images) / -- IMAGE RESTRICTED TO EDI

Analysis

Why Abbas' win in Gaza remains 'symbolic,' not rejection of Hamas

Affiliates of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas performed relatively well in the municipal elections, though the vote was marred by complications relating to the war and the exclusion of Hamas.

Adam Lucente

By Adam Lucente

In New York City, reporting on regional news, militancy, climate change

An elections employee tapes a poster with instructions to voters ahead of the upcoming municipal elections in Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip on April 21, 2026.

Feature

Gazans show cautious hope ahead of first local elections in 20 years

The city of Deir al-Balah in central Gaza is set to hold municipal elections for the first time in nearly two decades.

Rasha Abou Jalal

By Rasha Abou Jalal

In Gaza City, reporting on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu holds the hand of his wife Sara as they attend a ceremony commemorating Israel's Remembrance Day for fallen soldiers, or Yom HaZikaron, at the Military Cemetery on Mount Herzl in Jerusalem on April 21, 2026. (Photo by Ilia YEFIMOVICH / POOL / AFP via Getty Images)

Israel's Netanyahu says he was treated for prostate cancer: What we know

The prime minister said he postponed the report’s publication to prevent it from being released at the height of the war with Iran.

Olmert

Interview

Olmert: Only Israel-Lebanon deal can curb Hezbollah, occupation 'unviable'

Former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert told Al-Monitor that Israel will only be able to defang Hezbollah if it reaches an agreement with the Lebanese government.

Latest News

Iran war deepens Gaza crisis as prices soar, aid falters

Children and families gather to receive free meals shortly before Iftar during the holy month of Ramadan at a displacement camp in central Gaza City, on Feb. 27, 2026.

Daoud Kuttab

By Daoud Kuttab

In Amman, reporting on Palestinian politics

'Apartheid': Arab countries including UAE, Jordan decry new Israeli law

MOJAHID NAW/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images

Settler violence spike exposes Israeli government rift with military

Israeli settler violence graffiti

Analysis

India's Modi arrives in Israel as fears grow of US-Iran conflict

PM Netanyahu - X

Rina Bassist

By Rina Bassist

In Paris, reporting on Israeli politics and European affairs

Arab Israeli protesters demonstrate in the mostly Arab city of Umm al-Fahm in northern Israel, on Sept. 10, 2021, to denounce punitive measures taken by the Israel Prison Service against Palestinian prisoners, after six of them escaped from the northern Gilboa prison.

Rocket fired into Israel after two Palestinian escapees caught

Two of the six escaped prisoners were caught in the northern city of Nazareth. Israeli forces previously searched the homes of the prisoners' families, according to Palestinian media.

Supporters of Islamic Jihad distribute sweets to celebrate the escape of six Palestinians from an Israeli prison, Rafah, Gaza Strip, Sept. 6, 2021.

Gaza factions suspend popular activities to advance mediation efforts

Palestinian factions in the Gaza Strip agreed to suspend popular activities until mid-September, to allow the mediators’ efforts for the reconstruction process to succeed.

Israeli security forces patrol along the security fence in the village of Muqeibila near the West Bank town of Jenin on Sept. 6, 2021, following the escape of six Palestinians from an Israeli prison.

Palestinian prison break embarrasses Israeli government

The last thing Prime Minister Naftali Bennett needed right now was a spectacular escape of six Palestinian prisoners from a high-security jail.

A relative of Mahmud al-Ardeh, one of six Palestinian prisoners who escaped from Israel's Gilboa prison, stands next to a banner showing him (L) and another prisoner, Raddad al-Ardeh, by his home in the village of Arabah, south of Jenin in the occupied West Bank on Sept. 8, 2021.

Jailbreak from Israeli prison shakes up Palestinian public

The escape of six Palestinians from a maximum security Israeli prison jolted observers.

Police and journalists gather around a hole used by six Palestinians to escape from the Gilboa Prison after they dug a tunnel beneath a sink, in northern Israel on Sept. 6, 2021.

Palestinian media alleges rights abuses during Israeli search for escaped prisoners

The Palestinian Authority is demanding the release of more prisoners following an escape at a high-security Israeli prison.

Isaac Herzog, a veteran of Israel's left-wing Labor party, delivers a speech after being sworn in before parliament as the Jewish state's 11th president, replacing Reuven Rivlin, in Jerusalem, on July 7, 2020.

Israel’s president takes lead on ties with Jordan, Palestinians

President Isaac Herzog has been busy these past few days on the Arab and Palestinian fronts, secretly visiting Jordan and speaking on the phone first with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and then with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

Police officers search as they investigate an area where six Palestinian prisoners managed to escape from Gilboa prison overnight on Sept. 6, 2021 near Kibbutz Beit HaShita in the Gilboa region, Israel. The prisoners, who include Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigade leader Zakaria Zubeidi, are believed to have escaped through a tunnel overnight.

Israel vows to capture escaped Palestinian prisoners

After the escape of six Palestinian prisoners and following riots in prisons and in the West Bank, Israel expects more violence.

Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett looks on during a plenum session on the state budget on Sept. 2, 2021.

Boxed in: Bennett, Abbas can’t win despite ‘goodwill gestures’

Domestic politics are complicating any moves toward better ties, and Hamas is seeking an advantage by stoking resistance.

Fatima Shbair/Getty Images

Israel asks Egypt to pressure Hamas to end border violence

In a meeting yesterday between senior Israeli and Egyptian defense officials, Israel asked Egypt to pressure Hamas to stop the ongoing nightly demonstrations by the Gaza border.

AHMAD GHARABLI/AFP via Getty Images

Gestures toward Palestinians leave Bennett in bind

With his rightwing base on the one side, the Biden administration and his coalition partners on the other, Prime Minister Naftali Bennett finds himself caught between a rock and a hard place on bettering the lives of Palestinians.

A picture taken on October 18, 2018 shows the US consulate in Jerusalem.

Palestinians welcome US plan to reopen Jerusalem consulate

Palestinians reacted positively to the US plan to fulfill one of President Joe Biden’s promises of reopening the US mission in Jerusalem, which will be providing services and a liaison to the people of Palestine.

Palestinians gather on Aug. 30, 2021 during a protest along the border fence with Israel, east of Gaza City in the central Gaza Strip, demanding an end to Israel's blockade and the right of Palestinians to return to lands they fled or were expelled from when the Jewish state was founded.

Will popular pressure in Gaza lead to new clashes with Israel?

Palestinian youth are carrying out non-military activities, backed by military factions in Gaza, to pressure Israel to lift the siege, among other demands.