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Palestine

May 11, 2026

Ramallah 8:24 pm

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Two men stand next to the burned remains of a Palestinian vehicle in the Wadi al-Rakhim area of Susya village in Masafer Yatta, south of Hebron in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, on May 1, 2026.

EU ministers agree to sanction violent West Bank settlers: What to know

European foreign ministers have agreed to sanction extremist West Bank settlers, but are still discussing the list of names.

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

Women read instructions to voters ahead of the upcoming municipal elections in Deir el-Balah in the central Gaza Strip on April 21, 2026.

Analysis

On eve of Palestinian local elections, competition in short supply

With many races unopposed and rivals excluded, the vote underscores a calibrated effort to contain dissent and prioritize stability.

Daoud Kuttab

By Daoud Kuttab

In Amman, reporting on Palestinian politics

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.

Ehud Olmert

Ehud Olmert

Former Israeli prime minister

Latest News

Meloni suspends Italy's military cooperation agreement with Israel

Meloni

'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

Wartime closures at Jerusalem holy sites raise fears of lasting shift among Palestinians

Muslim worshippers break their fast outside the old city walls of Jerusalem on March 17, 2026, as the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound remains closed.

Beatrice Farhat

Associate Editor (Lebanon)

In Beirut, reporting on regional news, culture, conflict

Daoud Kuttab

Palestine Columnist

In Amman, reporting on Palestinian politics

Rasha Abou Jalal

In Gaza City, reporting on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict

Abeer Ayyoub

In Istanbul, reporting on Palestine

Naima Morelli

In Rome, reporting on Middle East culture

Fatima AbdulKarim

In Ramallah, reporting on the West Bank

Jordan's King Abdullah (L) speaks with Secretary of State Rex Tillerson at the National Prayer Breakfast in Washington, U.S., February 2, 2017. REUTERS/Carlos Barria - RTX2ZCD3

What Jordan's king told Trump

The Palestinian leadership has failed thus far to establish direct channels of communication with the White House, but Jordan’s King Abdullah II may have succeeded in transmitting at least one of its messages to President Donald Trump.

Israeli policemen remove a pro-settlement activist during an operation by Israeli forces to evict settlers from the illegal outpost of Amona in the occupied West Bank February 1, 2017. REUTERS/Baz Ratner TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY - RTX2Z6FD

Israeli peace camp should use language Trump understands: Private property

With President Donald Trump in the White House, the Israeli peace camp should focus its strategy on highlighting the theft of Palestinian lands for settlement construction.

U.S. President Donald Trump salutes as he arrives at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, Florida, U.S., February 6, 2017. REUTERS/Carlos Barria - RTX2ZVRM

Why the US might cut Palestinian aid drastically

The Palestinian Authority worries that the new US administration will withhold aid, in part to pressure Palestinians to return to the negotiating table with the Israelis.

Why Paris conference on Mideast peace was a success

In an interview with Al-Monitor, senior French diplomat Pierre Vimont says that the Jan. 15 Paris conference reaffirmed that a two-state solution is the only viable option for peace between the Israelis and Palestinians.

TO GO WITH AFP STORY BY MAJIDA AL-BATSH
A general view of the ancient Roman ruins in the northern Palestinian West Bank village of Sebastia, 12 kms northwest of Nablus, on May 5, 2011. Sebastia is home to a number of important archaeological sites from six successive cultures dating back 10,000 years: Canaanite, Israelite, Hellenistic, Herodian, Roman and Byzantine. AFP PHOTO/JAAFAR ASHTIYEH (Photo credit should read JAAFAR ASHTIYEH/AFP/Getty Images)

Palestinian historical city of Sebastia besieged by settlements

Palestinian officials have been attempting to add the West Bank’s historical city of Sebastia on UNESCO’s World Heritage List to protect it from alleged Israeli violations.

An Ultra-Orthodox Jewish man prays next to candles in the Tomb of Caleb Ben Yefuneh in the West Bank village of Kifl Hares, near the Jewish settlement of Ariel, January 5, 2012. The Israeli army late on Wednesday night allowed hundreds of ultra-Orthodox Jews to visit the tombs of biblical figures Joshua Ben Nun and Caleb Ben Yefuneh, on the traditional Jewish calendar date dedicated to commemorating people whose date of death is unknown. REUTERS/Nir Elias (WEST BANK - Tags: RELIGION POLITICS) - RTR2VWDO

'War of the shrines' stirs tension between Palestinians, Israelis

The fate of the West Bank’s holy sites is the subject of intense competition between Palestinian historical narratives and the theological discourse of the settlement movement. They are also key targets for settlement activities.

Labourers work at a construction site in the Israeli settlement of Ramot in an area of the occupied West Bank that Israel annexed to Jerusalem January 22, 2017. REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun - RTSWSS5

Will EU be more open to ICC probe of Israeli settlements?

Palestinians are seeing an opening to push the International Criminal Court with Europe, as anger over Donald Trump increases.

Palestinians clash with Israeli border police during clashes at a checkpoint between Shuafat refugee camp and Jerusalem October 9, 2015. In the past 10 days, four Israelis have been shot or stabbed to death in Jerusalem and the occupied West Bank, and at least a dozen have been wounded by Palestinians wielding knives or screwdrivers in stabbings in Tel Aviv and other Israeli cities. Several Palestinians have also been killed, and scores wounded in clashes with Israeli security forces during stone-throwing

Desperate Palestinian leadership could choose armed struggle

With the Trump administration clearly on Israel’s side, Palestinian leadership might resort, once again, to armed struggle.

Herbal medicine industry flourishing in Gaza Strip

Gazans believe that herbal medicine is a better option for the public health and the citizen’s pockets in light of the decadelong Israeli siege.

Israeli volunteers drive sick Gazans from border to hospital

Every day, Israeli volunteers drive Gazan medical patients, including children sick with cancer, from the Gaza border checkpoint to hospitals in Israel.

A general view taken on August 11, 2015 shows the Al-Azhar University, which was built on the former Jewish settlement of Netzarim, south of Gaza City, as Palestinians prepare to mark the tenth anniversary of the Israeli withdrawal from Gaza. Following the departure of the last Jewish settlers from Gaza in August 2005, the Israeli army demolished houses and dismantled its equipment before formally handing over the land to the Palestinian Authority. AFP PHOTO / MOHAMMED ABED (Photo credit should read

Will debt and poor financial prospects close Gaza's Al-Azhar Institute?

Al-Azhar's administration is calling for funds in the face of declining enrollment and rising debt.

Israeli policemen try to remove pro-settlement activists from a house during an operation by Israeli forces to evict settlers from the illegal outpost of Amona in the occupied West Bank February 1, 2017. REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY - RTX2Z6O2

The Israeli right's 'flattery fest' for Amona

Before, during and after the evacuation of the illegal Amona outpost, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his ministers groveled to the right-wing factions of the settler movement.