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Palestine

May 12, 2026

Ramallah 4:21 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

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (R) and European Union foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini speak to media following their meeting in Jerusalem, on May 20, 2015. AFP PHOTO / POOL / DAN BALILTY (Photo credit should read DAN BALILTY/AFP/Getty Images)

Will Trump's win prompt EU to adopt independent Mideast policy?

Given US President-elect Donald Trump's past declarations regarding the two-state solution, the European Union is now exploring a more independent regional policy as a basis for international consensus.

Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat speaks during a news conference in Jerusalem February 23, 2015. Barkat and his security guard wrestled a Palestinian attacker to the ground near city hall on Sunday after an ultra-Orthodox Jew was stabbed with a knife at a busy intersection. REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun (JERUSALEM - Tags: POLITICS CRIME LAW) - RTR4QSB2

Jerusalem mayor plays with fire in threat to Palestinian homes

The mayor of Jerusalem has threatened to demolish Palestinian homes in East Jerusalem if the Amona settlement is evacuated.

Why these Gazan inmates are picking up a pen behind bars

Nine inmates in the correctional and rehabilitation center in the Gaza Strip joined the project to handwrite the holy Quran using Uthmanic calligraphy in an effort to obtain privileges in prison and have their sentences reduced.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon arrives to visit a Qatari-funded rehabilitation and artificial limbs hospital in the northern Gaza Strip June 28, 2016. REUTERS/Mohammed Salem - RTX2IMA5

Half a million Palestinian children send letters to Ban Ki-moon

Half a million Palestinians wrote letters to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon as part of a campaign to shed light on Israel’s detention of Palestinian children.

A UN worker takes a box containing sanitation kits and soap provided by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) being stored at a UN school before a distribution to Palestinian displaced people on August 15, 2014 in Gaza City. The United Nations estimates that some 10,000 Palestinian homes were destroyed during fighting between Israel and Hamas during more than 4 weeks displacing hundreds of thousands from their homes in Gaza. A fragile ceasefire around Gaza held for a second day Frid

Why Palestinians are unfazed by calls to cut off US aid

Palestinians don't appear to be fazed by the calls of the Trump administration to cut off aid to the Palestinian government, as some feel that this could be a political relief from Washington pressures.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas leaves the hospital in the West Bank city of Ramallah, October 6, 2016. REUTERS/Mohamad Torokman - RTSR22E

Hamas blames Abbas in stalemate over PLO reform

Reform of the Palestine Liberation Organization remains at an impasse among the various Palestinian factions as pressure builds against Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas attends a meeting for the Central Council of the Palestinian Liberation Organization, in the West Bank city of Ramallah, March 19, 2015 file photo REUTERS/Mohamad Torokman/File photo - RTSR1TC

Is Abbas persecuting supporters of his rival?

Ahead of the Fatah conference, activists are claiming that President Mahmoud Abbas persecutes all those suspected of supporting his exiled rival, Mohammed Dahlan.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attends the weekly cabinet meeting in Jerusalem November 13, 2016. REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun - RTX2TEZ9

Netanyahu prefers an uninvolved Trump

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hopes that President-elect Donald Trump won’t invest his energies in resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

A Palestinian boy herds sheep in front of the ruins of Yasser Arafat International Airport, which was bombed by Israel in the past, in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip February 5, 2016. Nabil Shurafa's travel agency in Gaza was once packed with clients booking flights to London, Paris, New York or cities across the Arab world. These days, he's lucky if anyone comes in, as so few people can get out. REUTERS/Ibraheem Abu Mustafa - RTX25KVS

Liberman's airport comment not so ridiculous, says Gaza activist

Though a UN envoy dismissed Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman's recent claim that Israel would be the "first to invest" in a Gaza airport as a "distraction," coverage of the minister’s remarks has drawn attention to a proposed UN-administered facility approved by both Hamas and the Palestinian president.

Palestinian women attend a rally calling for an end to Palestinian divisions to mark International Women's Day, in Gaza City March 8, 2011. Female protesters rallied to voice their frustrations over the unending split between Hamas and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah movement, and the lack of progress towards a peace that will end Israeli occupation and finally give them a state of their own. REUTERS/Mohammed Salem (GAZA - Tags: CIVIL UNREST ANNIVERSARY) - RTR2JM2Z

Palestinian women cross divide to meet at 'peace tables'

Women gathered at "peace tables" in Ramallah and the Gaza Strip to discuss Palestinian women’s roles in promoting peaceful solutions as part of a worldwide October movement that included Islamic women's groups.

Houses are seen in the West Bank Jewish settlement of Maale Adumim as the Palestinian village of Al-Eizariya is seen in the background May 24, 2016. REUTERS/Baz Ratner - RTX2EZIG

The West Bank outpost champion

By advancing the regularization bill for legalizing West Bank outposts, HaBayit HaYehudi Chair Naftali Bennett shows the settlers that he is fighting for their cause.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and his foreign minister Riyad al-Maliki (R) arrive for an Arab League Foreign Ministers emergency meeting at the league's headquarters in Cairo September 7, 2014. Arab foreign ministers meeting in Cairo on Sunday are expected to issue a resolution backing Iraqi efforts to confront militants who have overrun large areas of Iraq and Syria and declared a cross-border Islamic caliphate, diplomats said. REUTERS/Mohamed Abd El Ghany (EGYPT - Tags: POLITICS) - RTR458TQ

How Abbas handpicks his ambassadors

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas selects ambassadors based on their loyalty to him rather than their interest in furthering the Palestinian cause.