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Palestine

July 26, 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 Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah talks to media after the first unity government meeting in the West Bank city of Ramallah June 3, 2014. President Barack Obama's administration said on Monday it plans to work with and fund the new Palestinian unity government, and Israel immediately voiced its disappointment with the decision also criticized by some U.S. lawmakers. REUTERS/Mohamad Torokman (WEST BANK - Tags: POLITICS) - RTR3RY8D

PA trapped by tax revenue freeze

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has allegedly promised Israel to further tighten the noose around Hamas in exchange for Israel unfreezing Palestinian tax revenues.

A Palestinian boy rides his bicycle past Israeli soldiers during a protest, by both Palestinian and foreign activists against the continued closure of Shuhada street to Palestinians, in the West Bank city of Hebron August 7, 2010. REUTERS/Ammar Awad (WEST BANK - Tags: CIVIL UNREST MILITARY IMAGES OF THE DAY) - RTR2H4DA

Palestinian girl recounts imprisonment

Israel has circumvented international law to classify Palestinian children as minors only up to the age of 16, in clear violation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, in order to arrest and detain Palestinian youths.

A Palestinian policeman loyal to Hamas stands guard near burning tyres during a protest by Palestinians calling for reconstruction of their houses that witnesses said were destroyed by Israeli shelling during a 50-day war last summer, outside a United Nations food distribution center in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip February 16, 2015. REUTERS/Ibraheem Abu Mustafa (GAZA - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST CRIME LAW) - RTR4PQSX

Regional events have Hamas in political limbo

Various events and unresolved regional crises have fed Hamas' reluctance to forge regional alliances and take decisive positions on developments in the Arab world.

A woman supporter of the Shiite Muslim Hezbollah movement holds onto an image of the movement's slain commander Imad Mughniyeh during a Hezbollah parade in the city of Nabatiyeh in southern Lebanon on December 19, 2010, to mark the 13th day of Muharram-Ashura, where believers mourn the killing of the Prophet Mohammed's grandson, Imam Hussein, in the seventh century, during the battle of Karbala in central Iraq. AFP PHOTO/MAHMOUD ZAYYAT (Photo credit should read MAHMOUD ZAYAT/AFP/Getty Images)

Was Hezbollah's Mughniyeh an unintended target?

A security source from Beirut tells Al-Monitor how the perpetrators of the 2008 assassination of Hezbollah's military commander might not have known they were targeting the elusive Imad Mughniyeh.

A Palestinian labourer holds up a box of freshly picked strawberries, intended for export, on a farm in Beit Lahiya in the northern Gaza Strip December 7, 2011. REUTERS/Ibraheem Abu Mustafa (GAZA - Tags: AGRICULTURE FOOD SOCIETY BUSINESS) - RTR2UY5X

Gaza farmers unable to export produce

Agriculture in Gaza is suffering after the Israeli decision to ban vegetable exports from the Strip to the West Bank.

A Palestinian worker sticks Intajuna ("Our Products") stickers on Palestinian goods displayed in a supermarket in the West Bank city of Ramallah August 2, 2009. Intajuna is one of many campaigns asking Palestinians to avoid Israeli products. After 40 years of occupation, the Palestinian economy is tied to Israel's, so attempts to reduce its dependence clash with hard realities. Picture taken August 2, 2009. To match feature PALESTINIANS-ISRAEL/BOYCOTT REUTERS/Fadi Arouri (WEST BANK POLITICS BUSINESS) - RTR2

PA considers ending economic ties with Israel

Palestinians are discussing the possibility of rejecting the Paris Protocol and disengaging economically from Israel following Israel's decision to withhold tax revenues from the Palestinian Authority.

A Palestinian boy pushes his bicycle as members of Palestinian security forces loyal to Hamas march on a street in Gaza City February 10, 2015.
REUTERS/Mohammed Salem (GAZA - Tags: MILITARY SOCIETY) - RTR4OYHX

Internal unrest threatens Gaza

As violence and general lawlessness increase in the Gaza Strip, Fatah and Hamas are accusing each other of being behind the turmoil.

Palestinian youths hold Palestinian flags during a demonstration against the construction of a section of the controversial Israeli barrier in the West Bank town of Beit Jala near Bethlehem March 4, 2010. REUTERS/Ammar Awad (WEST BANK - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST) - RTR2B7EQ

Ministry strike leaves East Jerusalemites in limbo

An open-ended staff strike at the Interior Ministry in Jerusalem has left Palestinian residents unable to access critical documents.

A Palestinian woman standing outside her damaged house watches a demonstration calling for Gaza reconstruction and against the United Nations decision to suspend payments for Palestinians, whose houses were damaged or destroyed during a 50-day war with Israel last summer, in Biet Hanoun in the northern Gaza Strip January 30, 2015. The main U.N. aid agency in the Gaza Strip said on Tuesday a lack of international funding had forced it to suspend payments to tens of thousands of Palestinians for repairs to ho

Gazans forced to sell their belongings

The harsh economic crisis that has been worsening in the Gaza Strip due to the Israeli blockade and the PA’s financial deficit has forced Gazans to sell their belongings to avoid begging for money.

Palestinian labourers work on a construction site in the new Palestinian town dubbed Rawabi or "The Hills", near the West Bank city of Ramallah October 27, 2013. The crackdown on the Gaza Strip as Egypt demolishes the smuggling tunnels along its sandy border, and stagnation in the West Bank mean the Palestinian economy might shrink this year after average annual growth of about nine percent in 2008-2011. To match Analysis PALESTINIANS-ECONOMY/ REUTERS/Mohamad Torokman (WEST BANK - Tags: POLITICS BUSINESS

Israel still refuses to run water to Rawabi

In an interview with Al-Monitor, attorney Dov Weissglass deplores the ongoing Israeli refusal to connect the Palestinian town Rawabi to the water network, claiming that the refusal by Ministers Moshe Ya'alon and Silvan Shalom is politically motivated.

Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal speaks during a rally in Tehran university February 2, 2009. A delegation from Hamas, headed by its leader Meshaal, arrived in Tehran on Sunday as part of a regional push to reinforce support for the Palestinian group after the Israeli invasion of Gaza. REUTERS/Raheb Homavandi (IRAN) - RTXB5LD

Disagreement keeps Hamas-Iran rapprochement on ice

Reports that Iran is insisting on the resignation of Hamas’ political bureau chief Khaled Meshaal in exchange for the resumption of relations between the parties seems to have stalled reconciliation talks for now.

Rabat, MOROCCO: Visitors attend the 13th edition of the Casablanca International Book Fair, 13 February 2007. The event gathers some 600 exhibitors from sixty different countries. The Justice and Development party (PJD) accused the Ministry of Culture of preventing Islamic publishing companies from exhibiting. AFP PHOTO / ABDELHAK SENNA (Photo credit should read ABDELHAK SENNA/AFP/Getty Images)

Hamas prevents Arabic fiction award finalist from leaving Gaza

Palestian writer Atef Abu Saif has been nominated for the International Prize for Arabic Fiction but was stopped by security services from attending the announcement in Morocco.