Israeli-Palestinian conflict

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan receives Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the Turkish House in New York, on Sept. 19, 2023.

Analysis

What’s at stake for Turkey as Israel heads to the polls?

Israel’s Oct. 27 election could offer a chance to ease tensions with Ankara, but competing ambitions in Syria and beyond threaten to push the two US allies toward a dangerous confrontation.

Amberin Zaman

By Amberin Zaman

Reporting on geopolitics, minorities, human rights, culture

JACK GUEZ / AFP via Getty Images

Feature

50,000 Israeli expats fly home to vote in potential boon to Netanyahu rivals

Israel prohibits voting from abroad with limited exceptions, and Israelis who spoke to Al-Monitor said they are especially motivated to fly home this year.

Adam Lucente

By Adam Lucente

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

Pedestrians cross a street in front of a banner featuring Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu

Analysis

How Israel opposition infighting is boosting Netanyahu days before election

Discord within the opposition, including its reluctance to name a single candidate for prime minister ahead of the Oct. 27 election, is working in Netanyahu’s favor.

Mazal Mualem

By Mazal Mualem

In Tel Aviv, reporting on politics

In first, Israel’s Netanyahu says he held call with Syria’s Ahmed al-Sharaa

It is the first publicly disclosed contact between the leaders of Israel and Syria, which lack formal relations and have fought several wars. Sharaa’s government began US-mediated talks with Israel in 2025.

Latest News

Sisi says Egypt has no ‘territorial ambitions’ after Israel’s Smotrich threatens Sinai

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi attends a joint statements and agreements during the EU and Egypt summit in Brussels, on Oct. 22, 2025.

Former Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar sues Netanyahu for nearly $1M over Oct. 7 claims

Israel's Chief of the Mossad David Barnea (R) and Security Agency director Ronen Bar, attend a ceremony marking the Hebrew calendar anniversary of the Hamas attack on October 7 last year that sparked the ongoing war in Gaza, at the Mount Herzl military cemetery in Jerusalem on October 27, 2024. (Photo by GIL COHEN-MAGEN / POOL / AFP) (Photo by GIL COHEN-MAGEN/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

Explainer

Israel-UK relations hit new low over settlements, Gaza: What to know

The British Consulate General in east Jerusalem represents the British government in Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza during a protest against the recently announced British sanctions, aimed at economic activity in Israeli settlements in the West Bank, on Sept. 14, 2026, in Jerusalem.

West Bank olive harvest begins amid settler attacks on Palestinians, groves

Palestinian men sitting in and by a tractor look on after another man was injured by gunfire whilst being chased away by Israeli forces, in Aqraba in the Israeli-occupied West Bank on Oct. 6, 2026.

Jewish men, wearing traditional Jewish prayer shawls, gather to perform the annual Cohanim prayer during the holiday of Sukkot at the Western Wall (R), while above are seen the Muslim Dome of the Rock mosque (2nd-L) and its minaret (L), in the Old City of Jerusalem, Oct. 12, 2022.

Israel challenged by West Bank 'Lion’s Den' assailants

Prime Minister Yair Lapid struggles now with Palestinian unrest in the West Bank and east Jerusalem, fueled by provocations on the part of ultranationalist legislator Itamar Ben-Gvir and opposition head Benjamin Netanyahu.

Israeli security forces stand behind a makeshift barricade of flaming tires separating them from Palestinian youths during clashes at the northern entrance of Ramallah, West Bank, Oct. 3, 2022.

Palestinian security forces become more involved in resistance in West Bank

The involvement of Palestinian security service members in attacks against Israeli forces in the West Bank is on the increase, amid the growing concerns of the Israeli army.

French-Palestinian Salah Hamouri.

French Palestinian jailed in Israel on hunger strike

Arrested last March by Israeli authorities, French Palestinian Salah Hamouri protests his prolonged administrative detention.

AL-MONITOR Staff

By AL-MONITOR Staff

Israeli soldiers stand guard at one of the entrances of the Shuafat refugee camp, East Jerusalem, Oct. 9, 2022.

Palestinian attack on Israeli soldiers ramps up tension in Jerusalem

With the deadly attack Oct. 8, Israeli security agencies warn about tensions in the West Bank seeping into East Jerusalem and the Temple Mount compound.

The Turkish (R) and Israeli flags.

Turkey taps career diplomat as new ambassador to Israel

Turkey has named a veteran career diplomat as the new Turkish ambassador to Israel — a move that also reflects Ankara’s sensitivities to the Palestinian cause.

Palestinians participate in a rally at the Gaza City sea port, in which they demand their right to receive gas from maritime fields in the eastern Mediterranean and the lifting of the Israeli blockade, Gaza Strip, Sept. 13 2022.

Egypt persuades Israel to extract Gaza’s natural gas

Al-Monitor obtained information from Palestinian and Egyptian officials about the success of Egyptian mediation in pushing Israel to allow the start of extracting natural gas off the coast of the Gaza Strip.

Palestinian youths stand behind a makeshift barricade of flaming tires separating them from Israeli security forces during clashes at the northern entrance of the city of Ramallah, West Bank, Oct. 3, 2022.

Israel escalates raids on Palestinian armed groups in West Bank

The security situation in the West Bank continues to worsen as Israel escalates its raids and assassinations inside cities and armed factions retaliate.

Kobi Gideon/GPO

In EU dialogue, Lapid recommits Israel to two-state solution

Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid addressed the long-defunct council for the Israel-EU Association Agreement today in a major step toward resuming dialogue with the European Union.

Stephanie Keith/Getty Images

Israel-US tensions grow over West Bank escalation

With elections just a month out and despite American warnings, Prime Minister Yair Lapid is sticking with his hawkish line on West Bank security escalation.

Israeli border guards are pictured during clashes with Palestinian demonstrators in the area of Bab al-Zawiya in the center of the city of Hebron, West Bank, Sept. 29, 2022.

Israeli army could use armed drones for targeted killings in West Bank

If the IDF does not manage soon to thwart the current wave of violence in the West Bank, it could opt for targeted killings of terrorists using armed drones.

Palestinian men clean a street as calm returns to the city of Nablus following clashes between protesters and Palestinian security forces the previous day, West Bank, Sept. 21, 2022.

Israel threatens Gaza amid West Bank escalation

Israel threatened to target Hamas and its leaders in the Gaza Strip over the movement’s role in inciting young Palestinians to attack Israel in the West Bank and forming and funding military cells.

Interim Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz (not pictured) speak to the media following talks at the Chancellery, Berlin, Germany, Sept. 12, 2022.

Israel’s Lapid ducks calls from PA head Abbas

Reports say that unlike President Isaac Herzog and Defense Minister Benny Gantz, Prime Minister Yair Lapid avoided requests for a phone call from Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas ahead of the Jewish New Year.