Israeli-Palestinian conflict

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.

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.

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

Sheikh Mohammed's visit comes as questions mount over Hamas' disarmament and the role of international troops in post-war Gaza.

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

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

Former Israeli security and diplomatic officials, members of Commanders for Israel’s Security, sent a letter to President Trump urging him to disarm Hamas and involve the Palestinian Authority in the second phase of his Gaza peace plan.

Head of Israel's Raam, Mansour Abbas, speaks at his campaign headquarters in the northern Israeli city of Tamra before national election polls close, on Nov. 1, 2022

Analysis

Stunt or recalibration? Israel's Raam to break with Muslim Brotherhood

Raam leader Mansour Abbas took a huge political risk this week, announcing the party will sever its ties with the Islamic Movement.

Rina Bassist

By Rina Bassist

In Paris, reporting on Israeli politics and European affairs

Latest News

Analysis

How the Trump administration reshaped US diplomacy toward Hamas

Donald Trump son-in-law Jared Kushner (L), White House special envoy Steve Witkoff (C) and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio attend a meeting between President Trump and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi (not pictured) at a summit on Gaza in Sharm el-Sheikh, Oct. 13, 2025.

By Rosaleen Carroll

In Washington, DC, US, reporting on the Middle East

Interview

Cyprus weighs joining Gaza force but 'not enough clarity' on mission, FM says

Cyprus' Foreign Minister Constantinos Kombos speaks to media at a Ministerial Council meeting of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) on December 4, 2025 in Vienna, Austria. (GEORG HOCHMUTH/AFP via Getty Images)

Constantinos Kombos

Cypriot Foreign Minister

Israel, US send mixed signals on Gaza phase 2 before Trump-Netanyahu meeting

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

Exclusive

Hamas official says group needs guarantees on war's end and statehood to disarm

Basem Naim, member of Hamaspolitical bureau speaks during an interview with AFP in Istanbul on February 8, 2025. Hamas has no desire to return to war with Israel, a senior official with the Palestinian group told AFP on February 8, 2025, nearly three weeks into a fragile ceasefire that halted fighting in Gaza. "Returning to war is certainly not our wish nor our decision," Basem Naim said in an interview. (Photo by Ozan KOSE / AFP) (Photo by OZAN KOSE/AFP via Getty Images)

Elizabeth Hagedorn

By Elizabeth Hagedorn

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

Syrian air defense batteries responding to what the Syrian state media said were Israeli missiles targeting Damascus, Jan. 21, 2019.

Syria: Over 40 killed in alleged Israeli strikes targeting Hezbollah warehouse

The attack reportedly hit at least one weapons warehouse belonging to Hezbollah near Aleppo International Airport.

ROSLAN RAHMAN/AFP via Getty Images

Amid Biden-Netanyahu split over Rafah, Pentagon leans on lessons from Iraq

As the Biden administration seeks to prevent further humanitarian catastrophe in Rafah, former US commanders told Al-Monitor there are key ways the Israeli military can shape an operation to protect civilians.

Jared Szuba

In Washington, DC, reporting on defense, national security, military

Palestinians check the rubble of buildings that were destroyed following overnight Israeli bombardment in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, on March 27, 2024, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas.

White House: No Rafah invasion until Israeli delegation talks alternatives

"We don’t support a major ground operation," White House NSC coordinator John Kirby emphasized on Thursday, as an Israeli delegation is expected to discuss alternatives with top officials in Washington next week.

A picture taken from Rafah shows smoke billowing after Israeli bombardment on Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip on March 21, 2024, amid ongoing battles between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas.

State Department staffer resigns over Biden's handling of Gaza

Annelle Sheline is the second State Department official to publicly resign since Oct. 7, citing the erosion of US credibility on human rights in the Middle East as a result of the war.

Washington Pulse

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz (not pictured) speak to the media following talks at the Chancellery on March 16, 2023 in Berlin, Germany.

In latest about-face, Netanyahu agrees to resend canceled US delegation to discuss Rafah

The White House said that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu agreed for his top aides to travel to Washington to discuss the situation in Rafah after the Israeli leader canceled the delegation Monday.

ANGELA WEISS/AFP via Getty Images

Palestinian UN mission makes small gains as all eyes on Qatar cease-fire talks

Daoud Kuttab

By Daoud Kuttab

In Amman, reporting on Palestinian politics

Iran's Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian (R) receives Hamas' Doha-based political bureau chief Ismail Haniyeh.

Iran reassures Hamas of continued support as Haniyeh visits Tehran

The meetings in Tehran were held as Iranian officials celebrated a moment of triumph for Hamas after the United States allowed the UN Security Council to pass a Gaza cease-fire resolution.

A person sits on a donkey-drawn cart while watching from a far as people search the rubble of destroyed buildings in the Asra residential compound.

Israel confirms Hamas’ Marwan Issa killed in airstrike earlier this month

IDF spokesperson Daniel Hagari confirmed that Hamas' No. 3 in Gaza, Marwan Issa, was killed in an Israeli airstrike on March 10.

JACK GUEZ/AFP via Getty Images

Analysis

As Israel's Gallant seeks arms in Washington, Netanyahu picks fight with Biden

The Israeli premier's decision to cancel a major diplomatic visit to Washington will add to the distance between his country and the United States, but that may be precisely his plan.

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

Iranian weapons smuggled into the West Bank captured by Israeli forces, in a handout image published March 25, 2024.

What we know about alleged Iran weapons plot in West Bank

Israel said that Iran’s IRGC was working to smuggle explosives into the Palestinian territory.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken (R) talks with Israel's Defence Minister Yoav Gallant (L) as part of their meeting in Tel Aviv on Jan. 9, 2024, during his week-long trip aimed at calming tensions across the Middle East, amid continuing battles between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas in Gaza.

Israel’s Gallant kicks off US visit with weapons, Rafah on agenda

Washington still seeks to avert an Israeli operation in Rafah, even as Netanyahu cancels a delegation of top advisers over the US abstention on a UN Security Council vote.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (R) and French President Emmanuel Macron (L) hold a joint press conference in Jerusalem on Oct. 24, 2023.

Macron warns Netanyahu forced population transfer in Gaza would be war crime

French President Emmanuel Macron reiterated in a phone call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that Paris is against a military operation in Rafah and against any attempt to transfer displaced Gazans.