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Palestine

July 25, 2026

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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 Islamic movement Hamas' leader, Osama Hamdan gives a speech during the fifth annual meeting of the Moroccan movement for Unification and Reform (known as Attawhid Wal'Islah in Arabic and MUR in French) on August 9, 2014 at the Mohammed V theatre in the capital Rabat. The meeting, with this year's theme being "Reforms, cooperation and responsability", gathers political local and foreign representatives, coming notably from Sudan, Tunisia, Algeria and also from Europe. AFP PHOTO / FADEL SENNA

Hamas expands international outreach

Recent meetings between Hamas and international figures suggest that ties are deepening between the movement and Western diplomats, who are quietly meeting to discuss Gaza’s future, the reconciliation with Fatah and a proposed truce with Israel.

Senior Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh (5th R) gestures as he gives a speech during a rally ahead of the 27th anniversary of Hamas founding, in Jabaliya in the northern Gaza Strip December 12, 2014. REUTERS/Mohammed Salem (GAZA - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST) - RTR4HR3K

Israel should be wary of Hamas' truce proposal

The dire situation in Gaza has apparently prompted Hamas' political leaders to offer Israel a long-term cease-fire, but the dominance of the movement's military wing casts doubt on such a truce holding.

A Jewish boy lifts his hand to prevent a Palestinian from taking his picture near a police barrier cordoning off a building the day after Israeli police evicted Jewish settlers who occupied it in the West Bank city of Hebron April 5, 2012. Israeli police evicted Jewish settlers on Wednesday from the building they said they had bought from a Palestinian in the heart of Hebron, a frequent flashpoint in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. REUTERS/Ammar Awad (WEST BANK - Tags: POLITICS MILITARY CIVIL UNREST) - RT

Hana Salah on why she writes

Al-Monitor contributor Hana Salah shares her thoughts on journalism.

A Palestinian woman loads her suitcases onto a luggage cart before crossing into Gaza through Israel's Erez crossing August 6, 2014. A Gaza truce was holding on Wednesday as Egyptian mediators pursued talks with Israeli and Palestinian representatives on an enduring end to a war that has devastated the Hamas Islamist- dominated enclave. Israel withdrew ground forces from the Gaza Strip on Tuesday morning and started a 72-hour Egyptian-brokered ceasefire with Hamas as a first step towards a long-term deal.

Israel tightens control on Erez crossing

The Israeli authorities have arrested at the Erez crossing Palestinian and Israeli merchants who were accused of smuggling prohibited goods to the resistance in Gaza, which is said to be using these materials to rebuild the tunnels destroyed during the war in summer 2014.

A Palestinian man gestures near a damaged car in the West Bank village of Burka, near Ramallah October 10, 2013. An Israeli police spokesperson said on Thursday three cars were damaged overnight and the words "Geulat Tzion loves Tomer Hazan" were scrawled in Hebrew on a wall of the mosque. Geulat Tzion is an illegal Jewish settler-outpost in the West Bank where structures were demolished by Israeli forces a day earlier and Tomer Hazan is an Israeli soldier who was killed by a Palestinian on September 21. RE

Why is Israel still blind to settler violence against Palestinians?

Despite resolutions by Israeli administrations to adopt the 2003 Road map for Peace and the Sason report on illegal West Bank outposts, settler violence against Palestinians continues unabated.

Gazan women surge ahead with startups

Young, educated women in the Gaza Strip are among the most likely to be unemployed in an area where nearly half of people are out of work, as many of these women are now turning to business incubators to find funding and support to build their own businesses.

Concerns rise over plots to oust Abbas

With security tensions on the rise in the West Bank, there is talk of conspiracy in which Hamas, Israel and ex-Fatah official Mohammed Dahlan are spreading chaos with the goal of toppling President Mahmoud Abbas.

Bibi's fantastic feats of flip-flopping

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s personality allows him to promise things but not follow through, and at the end of the day, he will always return to his political base on the right.

Syrian writer and journalist Samar Yazbek poses on September 26, 2014 in Paris. AFP PHOTO JOEL SAGET (Photo credit should read JOEL SAGET/AFP/Getty Images)

10 Middle Eastern writers you should know

These 10 female writers are challenging conceptions of women in the Middle East.

Israeli army soldiers stand guard during a demonstration by Palestinians against the closure of the main road in Jabaa area south of the West Bank city of Bethlehem January 17, 2015. REUTERS/Mussa Qawasma (WEST BANK - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST) - RTR4LSL6

Political deadlock could lead to security escalation in West Bank

Palestinian officials view Israel's recent military maneuvers in the West Bank and its prediction of an uprising as attempts to escalate the security situation.

Israeli poet Agi Mishol avoids rallying for political causes

In an interview with Al-Monitor, Israeli poet Agi Mishol speaks about the difference between men and women poets.

A man places a Palestinian flag on a fence surrounding the U.S. consulate during a rally in support of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' bid for statehood recognition in the United Nations, in Arab East Jerusalem September 21, 2011. Abbas plans on Friday to submit an application for full U.N. membership for the state of Palestine based in the West Bank, East Jerusalem and the coastal Gaza Strip -- lands occupied by Israel in 1967. REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun (JERUSALEM - Tags: POLITICS) - RTR2RM9T

One Palestinian's quest for a US visa

After being granted a scholarship to study in the United States, a Palestinian media lecturer struggled to reach the US Consulate in Jerusalem, where he was shocked to see Palestinians and Israelis being treated equally.