Israeli-Palestinian conflict

The US National flag flies at half staff on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, DC on December 4, 2025, in honor of Sarah Beckstrom, the National Guard member who was fatally shot the week before. An Afghan man accused of shooting two members of the National Guard near the White House, killing one, pleaded not guilty on December 2, 2025 to murder charges. Lakanwal is charged with first-degree murder for the death of Sarah Beckstrom, 20, a National Guard member from West Virginia, as well as ass

US strategy document names Iran 'chief' destabilizer, calls Syria 'potential problem'

The document frames US engagement as shifting away from energy and conflict and toward broader economic and defense partnerships.

A boy sits outside the entrance to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) building complex in Gaza City, on Sept. 6, 2025.

Interview

UNRWA plans Turkey office to boost Gaza, Syria aid as pledges dip

Speaking exclusively to Al-Monitor, UNRWA’s Tamara Alrifai said the upcoming Turkey office would help the agency to expand its operations not only in Gaza but also in Syria.

JERUSALEM - OCTOBER 13: U.S. President Donald Trump shakes hands and speaks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the Knesset, Israel's parliament, on the day of Trump's address on October 13, 2025 in Jerusalem. President Trump is visiting the country hours after Hamas released the remaining Israeli hostages captured on Oct. 7, 2023, part of a US-brokered ceasefire deal to end the war in Gaza. (Photo by Evelyn Hockstein - Pool/Getty Images)

Analysis

As he stalls Gaza plan, will Netanyahu pick his far-right coalition over Trump?

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu won’t publicly go against the Gaza plan of President Donald Trump, but he keeps stalling on discussing the parameters for the implementation of the plan’s second phase.

Rina Bassist

By Rina Bassist

In Paris, reporting on Israeli politics and European affairs

BASHAR TALEB/AFP via Getty Images

Turkey’s spy chief holds talks in Egypt over trapped Hamas militants

Turkey’s spy chief met with Qatari, Egyptian officials as the Gaza ceasefire process stalls over Hamas fighters trapped in tunnels.

Latest News

UN Security Council endorses US plan for Gaza security force

UN Security Council votes for US resolution on the Gaza peace plan

Analysis

Turkey's Gaza ambitions grow as Israel's pushback hardens: Can US mediate?

ISTANBUL, TURKEY - JUNE 01: People carry a large Palestinian flag during a protest to express support for Palestinians in Gaza outside the Hagia Sophia Grand Mosque on June 01, 2025 in Istanbul, Turkey. Protests continue as talks between Hamas, Israel and the U.S continue to seek a ceasefire deal and negotiate for a permanent end to the war. (Photo by Chris McGrath/Getty Images)

Rina Bassist

Ezgi Akin

By Rina Bassist , Ezgi Akin

After 13 hours, 150 Gazans allowed to enter South Africa: What to know

A South African Airways (SAA) flight is seen on the tarmac before departing from the O.R. Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg on Sept. 23, 2021.

Analysis

With Saudi Arabia on sidelines, Trump looks to widen Abraham Accords circle

Evan Vucci / Getty Images

Elizabeth Hagedorn

By Elizabeth Hagedorn

In Washington, DC, reporting on diplomacy, regional politics, human rights

In an aerial view, container ships sit docked at the Port of Oakland on May 21, 2024, in Oakland, California.

Maersk, Hapag-Lloyd to partner on Africa route avoiding Red Sea

Gemini Cooperation will use the Cape of Good Hope network, which has been the alternative transit route for hundreds of vessels since the Houthis stepped up their attacks on commercial shipping in the Red Sea in mid-November 2023.

WASHINGTON, DC - OCTOBER 4: U.S. President Joe Biden turns around to joke with a reporter as he leaves a news conference in the Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House on October 04, 2024 in Washington, DC. Biden made a surprise appearance, his first in the briefing room since becoming president, to tout a positive job report and take questions from reporters. (Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)

Biden, Netanyahu speak as Israel plans retaliation against Iran

The two leaders spoke as the region awaits the Israeli military's response to Iran's latest missile barrage.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi speaks to the press, in front of the portrait of slain Lebanese Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, after meeting with Syrian officials at the Iranian embassy in Damascus on Oct. 5, 2024.

Analysis

'Do not test our will,' Iran FM Araghchi warns Israel ahead of Saudi Arabia visit

Iran's foreign minister began a regional tour as Tehran prepared for a possible Israeli strike, with its Revolutionary Guard saying it had a wide range of plans in store for retaliation.

A correspondent in Tehran

By A correspondent in Tehran

In Tehran, reporting on politics

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan wears a scarf with both Turkish and Palestinian flags as he addresses a rally organized by the AKP party in solidarity with the Palestinians in Gaza, in Istanbul on Oct. 28, 2023.

Analysis

Erdogan accuses Israel of wanting to wage war on Turkey despite robust trade ties

These claims, which analysts have deemed absurd, are mainly aimed at appeasing his Islamist base and distracting the broader public from their economic woes.

Amberin Zaman

By Amberin Zaman

Reporting on geopolitics, minorities, human rights, culture

Vice President Kamala Harris speaks before planting a pomegranate tree at the Vice President's residence at the US Naval Observatory on Oct. 7, 2024 in Washington, DC.

Where do Kamala Harris, Donald Trump stand on Gaza war, Iran policy?

During events marking the one-year anniversary of the deadly Hamas attack that sparked war in Gaza, both candidates roughly outlined strategies for de-escalation.

Smoke rises from buildings hit in an overnight Israeli airstrike that targeted the neighbourhood of Al-Jamous in Beirut's southern suburbs on October 3, 2024. Israel kept up its bombardment of Beirut after Iran launched its second, and largest, attack on Israel in months, which prompted Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to warn Tehran would pay. (Photo by AFP) (Photo by -/AFP via Getty Images)

Live Updates

Israel defense chief postpones US visit as differences over Iran response grow

Israel's premier has reportedly barred the defense minister from traveling to the United States until he speaks with the US president and his security cabinet approves a response to an Iranian missile attack.

US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant stand during an honor cordon at the Pentagon on June 25, 2024 in Arlington, Virginia.

Biden treads fine line on Iran as Israel's Gallant heads to Washington

The Pentagon likened the current crisis in the Middle East to that in Europe prior to the First World War, as the Biden administration seeks to restrain an Israeli counterattack against Iran.

US President Joe Biden speaks during a news conference in the Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House on Oct. 4, 2024, in Washington.

Analysis

Gaza looms large over Biden’s foreign policy legacy as diplomacy falters

As the war continues into its second year, the Biden administration appears no closer to de-escalating in Gaza and laying a framework for a lasting Middle East peace.

Elizabeth Hagedorn

By Elizabeth Hagedorn

In Washington, DC, reporting on diplomacy, regional politics, human rights

Iranian Quds Force commander Ismail Qaani.

Iran says IRGC Quds Force chief Qaani alive, offers few details

The commander was reportedly in Beirut at the time of an Israeli strike targeting a senior Hezbollah official.

This picture shows closed shops in an alley of Jerusalem's Old City, on Sept. 11, 2024, amid the ongoing war between Israel and Palestinian militants.

Analysis

A year after Oct. 7, Israel’s economy battered by endless multifront wars

A year after the deadly attack on southern Israel by the Hamas militant group and the ensuing war in Gaza, the direct cost to the Israeli economy has been more than 100 billion shekels ($26.3 billion), according to the Israeli Finance Ministry.

In Bristol, reporting on regional business, climate change, AI, tech

Displaced people ride on a donkey-drawn cart through a muddy puddle in Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip on Sept. 30, 2024.

Feature

Palestinians long for life before Oct. 7 as Gaza war upends lives, future

One year into the Israeli war on Gaza, as winter approaches, Gazans feel hopeless and trapped in an endless cycle of conflict amid tragic living conditions.

Rasha Abou Jalal

By Rasha Abou Jalal

In Gaza City, reporting on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict

Israelis sit in a coffee shop in the Israeli coastal city of Netanya, on April 14, 2024, one day after Iran launched its first-ever direct attack on Israeli territory.

Analysis

Post Oct. 7 Israel: Divided, veering right and embracing Jewish identity

A divided, polarized and more right-wing-than-ever Israeli Jewish society marks the first anniversary of the Oct. 7 Hamas massacre.

Mazal Mualem

By Mazal Mualem

In Tel Aviv, reporting on politics