Refugees

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.

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.

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

The group were reportedly stranded for several hours after opting to leave the war-torn Palestinian enclave.

Against erasures

Culture

London photography exhibition documents daily life in wartorn Gaza

“Against Erasure - Photographs from Gaza,” currently on view in London, brings together the striking work of 11 photographers from Gaza.

Lebanese army soldiers are stationed at the Burj al-Barajneh camp for Palestinian refugees in Beirut's southern suburbs on Aug. 21, 2025, as armed Palestinian groups in the refugee camps start handing over their weapons.

Lebanon begins disarming Palestinian factions after refugee camp hands over weapons

Lebanese and Palestinian officials confirmed that the first phase of the disarmament process of Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon has begun.

Latest News

Taliban slams Iran after 1.8M Afghans deported in past 3 months: What to know

Afghan refugees are pictured at the Islam Qala border crossing between Afghanistan and Iran on June 28, 2025, following their deportation from Iran.

Analysis

How Iran’s Afghan expulsions signal new era in national security policing

Afghan migrants who were living in Iran as refugees deboard a bus after being deported back to Afghanistan at the zero point between Afghanistan and Iran in the Herat province on Feb. 23, 2025.

A correspondent in Tehran

By A correspondent in Tehran

In Tehran, reporting on politics

Syria to reopen war-damaged border crossing with Lebanon: What we know

A photo taken from the Lebanese side of the northern border crossing of al-Arida shows Syrian rebel fighters assisting with the passage of Syrians back into their country, Dec. 10, 2024.

Israel expands Gaza buffer zone to 20% as humanitarian situation deteriorates

Palestinians gather for a communal iftar.

UN Special Rapporteur for the Palestinians Francesca Albanese.

Interview

Israel’s occupation has crossed the ‘red line of legality,’ says new UN rapporteur

In an interview with Al-Monitor, the newly appointed UN special rapporteur for the Palestinians, Francesca Albanese, speaks about her plans to address human rights violations in the Palestinian territories, while fending off a smear campaign launched against her by Israel.

Francesca Albanese

Francesca Albanese

UN Special Rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territories

People who have just crossed from war-torn Ukraine into Poland wait to board buses provided by Polish authorities at the Medyka border crossing, Medyka, Poland, March 11, 2022.

Young Egyptian rescues Arab families trapped in Ukraine

Social media outlets were abuzz over the past few days with news about Islam al-Ashiri, an Egyptian man who rescued a number of families stuck in Kyiv following the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

OZAN KOSE/AFP via Getty Images

Turkey’s quota plan for refugees alarms rights activists

Turkish Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu is advocating quotas for foreigners to prevent ghettos and clashes, but activists worry relocations would cut vulnerable refugees' access to work and services.

BERTRAND GUAY/AFP via Getty Images

Afghan evacuees in UAE protest US resettlement delay

From their shelter in Abu Dhabi, the protesters demanded they be resettled in the United States.

United Arab Emirates

Britain law

UK appeals court says woman in Syria unlawfully stripped of citizenship

The woman, who is living in the Al-Roj camp in northeast Syria, had sought repatriation to the United Kingdom.

Iraqis play at the snow-covered Safin Mountain on Jan. 18, 2022, near the city of Erbil, the capital of Iraq's northern Kurdish autonomous region.

Rare snowstorm hits Iraq and Syria

Many people in the Kurdistan Region rejoiced while playing in the snow, but such conditions can be dangerous for others, especially those living in displaced people camps.

NICOLAS MAETERLINCK/BELGA MAG/AFP via Getty Images

UN agency seeks urgent support for Palestinian refugees in Lebanon

The UNRWA said $87.5 million in new funding is needed to continue operations in crisis-ravaged Lebanon.

Prime Minister Naftali Bennett meets with Emirati Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan in Abu Dhabi, Dec. 13, 2021.

The Takeaway: Did Israeli PM help break deadlock over US weapons sale to UAE?

Also: The Gulf and climate; Syrian refugees return from Belarus; Israel expands Golan settlements; Egypt wants assurances on gas pipeline; China-Ethiopia ties unsettle Egypt; Iran threatens sanctions on US; Building Sharjah … all in less than 1,200 words!

Andrew Parasiliti

Elizabeth Hagedorn

Joe Snell

By Andrew Parasiliti , Elizabeth Hagedorn , Joe Snell

Youths wave a Palestinian flag outside of the White House on Aug. 9, 2014, in Washington, DC.

US, Palestinian officials hold first economic dialogue in five years

The US-Palestinian Economic Dialogue covered infrastructure development, access to US markets, US regulations, free trade and other financial issues.

Syrian migrant Masour Nassar, 42, from Aleppo, applied for asylum in Poland.

Would-be Syrian refugees flown back from Belarus despite visas

Belarus has given Syrians two options: cross the border into Poland or be deported.

Iraqi migrants who were flown home from the Belarusian capital Minsk, arrive at the airport in Arbil, the capital of Iraq's northern autonomous Kurdish region, on Nov. 26, 2021.

Iraq repatriates more citizens from Belarus

The Kurdistan Regional Government previously reported that it had helped bring more than 1,800 people home from the Belarus-Poland border.

Kurdish migrants

Iraqi Kurdistan continues repatriation flights from Belarus

Thousands of migrants have gotten stuck at the Belarus-Poland border this winter, many of them Kurds from Iraq.