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Palestine

May 13, 2026

Ramallah 3:07 am

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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

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi addresses the United Nations General Assembly in the Manhattan borough of New York, U.S. September 20, 2016. REUTERS/Eduardo Munoz - RTSOOE8

Will 1967 Palestinian refugees ever return?

The Egyptian-Israeli peace treaty may have been good for the two parties, but it has also been used to prevent Palestinians displaced in 1967 from returning to their homes.

Palestinian judges discuss a petition to suspend municipal elections, at the High Court office in the West Bank city of Ramallah September 8, 2016. REUTERS/Mohamad Torokman - RTX2ON47

Palestinian election delay leaves $8 million in limbo

A Palestinian court's decision to postpone local voting creates a financial quandary.

Palestinians walk at the headquarters of the High Court in the West Bank city of Ramallah September 8, 2016. REUTERS/Mohamad Torokman - RTX2ON41

How independent are Palestinian courts?

The decision of the Palestinian High Court of Justice to postpone the local elections raised a debate among Palestinians, with some accusing the judiciary branch of being manipulated by the executive one.

Israeli border policemen perform a body search on a Palestinian following a stabbing attack on two Israeli police officers near Jerusalem's Old City September 19, 2016. REUTERS/Ammar Awad TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY - RTSODQN

Liberman’s punishment strategy brings an end to West Bank calm

The plan by Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman to punish West Bank villages from which Palestinian assailants originate provokes anger and frustration amid the local population.

A Palestinian man rides his bicycle in front of a mosque on a stormy day in Gaza January 18, 2016. REUTERS/Mohammed Salem - RTX22XLX

Why proposed blasphemy law horrifies many in Gaza

One scholar's call for an anti-blasphemy law has riled Gazans across the Strip, with some saying the idea is better suited to the Islamic State and will damage Hamas' image as a moderate Islamic movement.

Palestinian police stand outside the Cinema Jenin movie theatre in the West Bank city of Jenin August 5, 2010. The only cinema in Jenin, closed for more than 20 years, reopened on Thursday following two years of restoration work. REUTERS/Ammar Awad (WEST BANK - Tags: SOCIETY IMAGES OF THE DAY) - RTR2H2GC

Will Jenin’s only cinema be demolished to make way for mall?

Jenin Cinema faces the risk of demolition after it was put up for sale by its owners, and businessmen have made offers and expressed their intentions to build a mall in its place.

A veiled Palestinian teacher stands next to children as they queue at a United Nations Relief and Work Agency (UNRWA)-run school in Gaza September 22, 2015. As the United Nations celebrates its 70-year anniversary this year, Reuters documents the work of the organisation's main aid agency in the Gaza Strip, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA). The agency runs schools including the al-Nour (Light) School for the Blind and Visually Impaired Children in Gaza City and has helped families to repai

Gaza parents object to mixed-gender schools

The new school year opened with sit-ins at both government and UNRWA-affiliated schools in Gaza in protest of the schools' efforts to combine boys and girls in the same classes.

Alain Le Roy, under-secretary-general for Peacekeeping Operations at the United Nations, looks on in a helicopter during his visit at the Golf Hotel, headquarters of Alassane Ouattara, in Abidjan December 27, 2010, where a detachment of UNOCI peacekeepers provides security. An election meant to resolve Ivory Coast's decade-long political crisis has resulted in two rivals claiming the presidency, with incumbent Laurent Gbagbo defying world pressure to hand over to Ouattara. The standoff has killed more than

Veteran French diplomat: EU should play greater role in resolving Syria crisis

French diplomat Alain Le Roy discusses the European Union's "unstable" and "insecure" borders and its greater challenge of resolving the crisis in Syria.

A Palestinian employee speaks on the phone in the office of the Central Elections Commission in the West Bank town of El Bireh August 17, 2016. REUTERS/Mohamad Torokman - RTX2LI4S

Palestinians on both sides seethe over postponed elections

Palestinians are disappointed by the postponement of the local elections, and with the political divide as deep as ever, the wide disillusionment and frustration plaguing both the West Bank and Gaza is giving way to apathy.

BERLIN, GERMANY - APRIL 19: Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas speaks to the media with German Chancellor Angela Merkel (not pictured) following talks at the Chancellery on April 19, 2016 in Berlin, Germany. Abbas is meeting with Merkel as well as other European leaders as well as Vladimir Putin of Russia in an effort to gain support for the Mideast peace process. Abbas is next scheduled to travel to New York to attend peace talks at the United Nations. (Photo by Sean Gallup/Getty Images)

Palestinians, Israelis harden positions ahead of UN summit

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas plans to shift from his traditional pragmatism and present hard-line positions in his speech at the upcoming UN General Assembly meeting.

Palestinian and South African officials pose in front of a giant statue of Nelson Mandela during its inauguration ceremony in the West Bank city of Ramallah on April 26, 2016.
Palestinians inaugurated the statue of Mandela donated by the South African city of Johannesburg to their political capital. The six-metre (20-foot) two-tonne bronze statue was a gift from Johannesburg with which Ramallah is twinned.

/ AFP / ABBAS MOMANI (Photo credit should read ABBAS MOMANI/AFP/Getty Images)

South Africa renews efforts to help unite Hamas, Fatah

Three groups are joining forces in hopes of ending the Palestinian division.

Why Israelis don't care about electricity agreement with PA

Israeli Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon was disappointed when Israelis showed little interest in and even expressed disapproval for the groundbreaking electricity agreement signed between Israel and the Palestinian Authority.