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Palestine

July 25, 2026

Ramallah 8:44 am

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Flags of Spain and Argentina

Culture

How Argentina-Spain World Cup final became debate over Israel, Palestine

Governments and fans alike have turned teams and players into symbols of political division.

Government Media Office Director Ismail Thawabteh (R) and Hamas spokesperson Hazem Qassem (L) speak at a press conference.

Explainer

What does Hamas' move to dissolve its Gaza government mean?

Hamas has agreed to hand civilian administration over to the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza, but the committee is not yet in Gaza and may not deploy until Hamas’ disarmament is resolved.

Joint List Party leader Ayman Odeh attends a meeting on April 5, 2021 in Jerusalem, Israel.

Interview

Ayman Odeh says Arab parties could back Bennett or Eisenkot to block Netanyahu

In an interview with Al-Monitor, head of the Arab-Israeli Hadash-Ta'al Knesset faction, Ayman Odeh, said his party is prepared to make difficult decisions to topple Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government.

Ayman Odeh

Head of the Knesset's Hadash-Ta'al faction

Latest News

Who is Melat Kiros, the pro-Palestinian who unseated a longtime Democrat?

Michael Ciaglo/Getty Images

Amnesty International accuses Israel of state-led ethnic cleansing in West Bank

Israeli security forces attempt to disperse Palestinians who had gathered to protest the reported burning of land by Israeli settlers in the Palestinian village of Idna, west of Hebron in the occupied West Bank, on June 5, 2026.

Ireland bans hard-line Israeli ministers Ben-Gvir, Smotrich: What to know

Israeli policemen surround Israeli Minister of National Security and far-right politician Itamar Ben-Gvir as he arrives outside the Damascus Gate of the walled Old City of Jerusalem on May 26, 2025, during a flag march for Jerusalem Day, commemorating the Israeli army's 1967 capture of the city's eastern sector during the Arab-Israeli war.

Record Israeli arms exports highlight global rush for air defense

People stand in front of the Arrow 3 shield system during an event of the German Air Force to declare the Initial Operating Capability for the Arrow Weapon System for Germany at the Annaburger Heide Air Base in Schoenewalde / Holzdorf, eastern Germany, on Dec. 3, 2025.

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

Palestinian Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah waves during a news conference in Gaza City March 25, 2015. Hamdallah, who arrived to Gaza on Wednesday, urged donor countries to fulfill their financial obligations for the reconstruction of Gaza. REUTERS/Mohammed Salem

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Shifting tides in PA-EU relationship

Since the Vatican recognized the state of Palestine, Palestinians are hoping more European states will follow suit.

Palestinians wait to fill gas cylinders at a gas filling station in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip March 8, 2012.
REUTERS/Ibraheem Abu Mustafa (GAZA - Tags: ENERGY SOCIETY) - RTR2Z12V

Damaged gas cylinders become another threat to Gazans

In addition to other hardships suffered by Palestinians, damaged gas cylinder explosions are claiming the lives of citizens in Gaza who are unaware of their risks.

RAFAH, GAZA STRIP - AUGUST 16: Ahmed Youssef, an adviser to Ismail Haniya of Hamas, the dismissed Palestinian prime minister speaks as he sits at his home August 16, 2007 in Rafah, southern of the Gaza Strip. Today, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas issued an executive decree convicting any one who joins the administrative forces or militia of the rival Hamas movement. (Photo by Abid Katib/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Ahmed Youssef

Former Hamas official speaks out

In this interview with Al-Monitor, Ahmed Yousef, former political adviser to deputy chairman of Hamas’ political bureau, Ismail Haniyeh, weighs in on the negotiations with Israel, the future of a potential reconciliation with Fatah and international relations.

Part of a tunnel exposed by the Israeli military is seen on the Israeli side of the Israel-Gaza border August 14, 2014. A renewed truce between Israel and Hamas appeared to be holding on Thursday despite a shaky start, after both sides agreed to give Egyptian-brokered talks more time to try to end the Gaza war. REUTERS/Amir Cohen (ISRAEL - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST CONFLICT) - RTR42EPD

Israel silent while Hamas digs tunnels

Before getting into another round of fighting in Gaza, Israel must use its nonmilitary tools to stop the tunnel digging that Hamas has continued to pursue so vigorously.

An Israeli soldier walks near his tank just outside the Israeli border with the northern Gaza Strip August 23, 2014. Egypt called on Israel and the Palestinians on Saturday to halt fire and resume peace talks, but violence continued unabated with Israeli air strikes in the Gaza Strip and Hamas militants firing rockets at the Jewish state. REUTERS/Amir Cohen (ISRAEL - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST MILITARY CONFLICT) - RTR43H0K

Israel debates ethics of IDF during Gaza war

An NGO report has stirred controversy in Israel over the behavior of IDF soldiers during the Gaza war and the policies of the military forces.

A Palestinian woman holds a key, symbolising the keys to houses left by Palestinians in 1948, near the West Bank city of Hebron May 16, 2009. On May 15 Palestinians marked "Nakba", or "Catastrophe", to commemorate the time when hundreds of thousands of Palestinians were expelled or fled from their homes in the war that led to the founding of Israel in 1948. REUTERS/Nayef Hashlamoun (WEST BANK POLITICS) - RTXHR8H

Palestinians work to keep Nakba memory alive

Few Palestinian institutions and individuals are working on preserving the memories and stories of refugees who lived through the Nakba in 1948, in the absence of an official national project.

Palestinians place a red carpet between the ruins of houses, that witnesses said were destroyed by Israeli shelling during a 50-day war last summer, before they display a film on the war in the east of Gaza City May 12, 2015. REUTERS/Mohammed Salem

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Film festival opens amid Gaza's ruins

Children and residents from the Shajaiyah neighborhood in Gaza, which suffered mass destruction and massacres during the 2014 war, attended the Karama Human Rights Film Festival, featuring poignant movies about the tragedies.

Palestinian Salafists shout slogans during a rally in protest of what they say are recent massacres committed against Syrian and Egyptian people and against Syria's President Bashar al-Assad and Egypt's army chief General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip August 22, 2013. REUTERS/Ibraheem Abu Mustafa (GAZA - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST) - RTX12TCB

Tensions increase between Hamas, Salafists

Hamas-affiliated security forces have been waging a large-scale arrest campaign targeting Salafists, while Gaza’s fate seems to hang in the balance.

France's President Francois Hollande speaks during the U.N. Security Council meeting in New York September 24, 2014. REUTERS/Adrees Latif (UNITED STATES - Tags: POLITICS) - RTR47KVC

Will US endorse French UN resolution on Palestinian statehood?

In view of the composition of the new Israeli government and its policies, France could replace the United States in leading the efforts to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, by advancing a UN resolution on Palestinian statehood.

A Palestinian flag waves in front of a tapestry of Mariam Baouardy Haddad before Pope Francis leads a ceremony for the canonisation of four nuns at Saint Peter's square in the Vatican City, May 17, 2015. The four nuns being canonised include two Palestininan nuns, Marie Alphonsine Ghattas, founder of the first Catholic congregation in Palestine, and Mariam Baouardy Haddad, who established a Carmelite convent in Bethlehem. REUTERS/Tony Gentile - RTX1DB51

The story behind Palestine's canonized nuns

The Vatican has lifted Palestinian spirits with its recognition of the state of Palestine, canonization of two Palestinian nuns and reference to President Mahmoud Abbas as an “angel of peace.”

A Palestinian man inspects the damage to a library inside al-Eslah mosque after local witnesses said it was hit by an Israeli airstrike in Gaza November 18, 2006. REUTERS/Mohammed Salem (GAZA) - RTR1JGJZ

Gaza writers lose out as culture becomes afterthought

Difficult living conditions and lack of funding or royalties have discouraged Gaza's novelists.

A Palestinian girl holds a cut-out of a key during a rally ahead of the Nakba day in the West Bank city of Bethlehem May 14, 2015. Palestinians mark "Nakba" (Catastrophe) on May 15 to commemorate the expulsion or fleeing of some 700,000 Palestinians from their homes in the war that led to the founding of Israel in 1948. The Arabic writing reads, "we will not forget our right of return." REUTERS/Ammar Awad - RTX1CYI7

Palestinian state would solve right of return

After 67 years, the best way to deal with the Palestinian refugee issue is to allow Palestinians to have their own independent state.