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Palestine

July 26, 2026

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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

A bullet hole is seen in a door of a synagogue in Jerusalem where two Palestinian militants killed four rabbis and a policeman, November 19, 2014. Two Palestinians armed with a meat cleaver and a gun killed five people in the Jerusalem synagogue on Tuesday before being shot dead by police, the deadliest such incident in six years in the holy city. REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun (JERUSALEM - Tags: CIVIL UNREST POLITICS RELIGION TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY) - RTR4EP08

Jews, Arabs use religion as tool to escalate conflict

The murders at the Bnei Torah Kehillat Yaakov synagogue in Jerusalem are yet another sign of both sides in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict adding religious elements to the territorial dispute.

Palestinian Hamas-hired civil servants wait to receive payment outside a post office in Gaza City October 29, 2014. Some 24,000 civil servants hired by the Islamist group Hamas, many of whom have not received a full salary in almost a year, finally got some pay on Wednesday from the new Palestinian unity government based in the West Bank. The funds were supplied by the gas-rich kingdom of Qatar, which is an ally of Hamas. But the fact the cash was delivered by the West Bank administration gave a boost to ho

Gaza’s civil servants strike over unpaid wages

The pay dispute concerning Gaza’s public servants continues, with the consensus government refusing to pay for security and military employees hired by the previous Hamas government.

Palestinian women stand in front of Israeli border police officers in the Jerusalem district of Jabal Mukaber November 18, 2014. Two Palestinians, Ghassan and Udai Abu Jamal, cousins from Jabal Mukaber, armed with a meat cleaver and a gun killed four worshippers in a Jerusalem synagogue on Tuesday before being shot dead by police, the deadliest such incident in six years in the holy city amid a surge in religious conflict. REUTERS/Ammar Awad (JERUSALEM - Tags: CIVIL UNREST POLITICS MILITARY) - RTR4EL5A

Following synagogue attack, Netanyahu, Abbas must meet

With the latest wave of suicide attacks in Jerusalem, Israel faces a security situation that cannot be solved by building fences like the separation wall.

An Egyptian soldier keeps watch at the closed Rafah border crossing, between southern Gaza Strip and Egypt November 6, 2014. At Egypt's border with the Gaza Strip, families are emptying their homes - lugging mattresses and furniture onto waiting vans as soldiers look on from armoured cars. In nine villages along the frontier, 680 houses - homes to 1,165 families - are being razed to seal off smugglers' tunnels and try to crush a militant insurgency in northern Sinai that has intensified since the army overt

3,500 Palestinians stuck outside Gaza

The author interviews several Gazans stuck in Egypt and other countries, herself included, who are unable to return to the Gaza Strip following the terrorist attack in Sinai and the subsequent closure of the Rafah crossing.

An Israeli police officer gestures as he holds a weapon near the scene of an attack at a Jerusalem synagogue November 18, 2014. Two suspected Palestinian men armed with axes and knives killed four people in a Jerusalem synagogue on Tuesday before being shot dead by police, Israeli police and emergency services said, the deadliest such attack in the city in years. REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun (JERUSALEM - Tags: CIVIL UNREST POLITICS TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY) - RTR4EK6L

Jerusalem terror attack shatters brief remission

This morning's terror attack on a synagogue in Jerusalem indicates that the latest measures of lifting age restrictions for Muslim prayers at the Temple Mount failed at preventing further escalation.

Jordan's King Abdullah (R) meets with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry (L) and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (C) at the Royal Palace in Amman November 13, 2014. REUTERS/Yousef Allan/Royal Palace/Handout via Reuters (JORDAN - Tags: POLITICS ROYALS) ATTENTION EDITORS - FOR EDITORIAL USE ONLY. NOT FOR SALE FOR MARKETING OR ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS. THIS IMAGE HAS BEEN SUPPLIED BY A THIRD PARTY. IT IS DISTRIBUTED, EXACTLY AS RECEIVED BY REUTERS, AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS - RTR4E21Q

Kerry finds a way to Temple Mount compromise

In Amman, US Secretary of State John Kerry achieved a compromise on Muslim Temple Mount prayers, showing that a firm US stance must be taken to resolve the long-standing Israeli-Palestinian conflict

A Palestinian protester holds a Hamas flag during clashes with Israeli troops following a protest against what organizers say are recent visits by Jewish activists to al-Aqsa mosque, at Qalandia checkpoint near the West Bank city of Ramallah November 7, 2014. In recent months, a campaign for the prayer ban on Jewish worshippers at the site, known to Muslims as the Noble Sanctuary and to Jews as Temple Mount, to be overturned, led by settler activists, has gathered momentum, raising alarm among Palestinians

Hamas instigates further West Bank unrest

Hamas is seeking to take advantage of the latest acts of violence against Israelis in the occupied territories, but is hindered by tight security measures by Israel and the Palestinian Authority.

Arab MKs aim to restore dialogue with Israelis

In an interview with Al-Monitor, Arab Knesset members Haneen Zoabi, Basel Ghattas and Jamal Zahalka claim that the Israeli media categorize and demonize them in a way that prevents them from entering into a dialogue with the public.

A member of Hamas security forces stands next to plastic bags filed with confiscated drugs at a storage room in the prosecutor's headquarters in Gaza City December 2, 2009. Alarmed by mounting drug abuse and addiction among the cooped-up Palestinians of Gaza, Islamist rulers of the enclave plan to introduce the death penalty for gangs getting rich off smuggled narcotics. Picture taken December 2, 2009. REUTERS/Mohammed Salem (GAZA POLITICS SOCIETY CRIME LAW) - RTXREJY

Despite isolation, Gaza drug smuggling continues

Even with the closure of most tunnels between Gaza and Egypt, drugs such as Tramadol are still finding their way onto Gaza’s streets.

Supporters of the Islamist Ennahda movement wave party flags during a campaign event in Tunis October 24, 2014. Tunisia will hold parliamentary elections on October 26 and a presidential ballot in November. REUTERS/Zoubeir Souissi (TUNISIA - Tags: ELECTIONS POLITICS) - RTR4BIKG

Hamas frets over Ennahda’s election loss

Hamas is carefully studying Ennahda’s election loss in Tunisia amid concerns that Hamas may suffer a similar result if elections were soon held in Palestine.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas speaks at the opening of a museum of late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat in the West Bank city of Ramallah, November 9, 2014. REUTERS/Abbas Momani/Pool (WEST BANK - Tags: POLITICS) - RTR4DGOL

Israeli security officials view Abbas as key to stability

Despite the latest terror attacks in the Etzion settlement and at the center of Tel Aviv, Israeli security sources say that Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is committed to security cooperation with Israel and will work to defuse tension.

Mourners chant slogans during the funeral of two Palestinians, who were shot dead by Israeli forces on Thursday, in the West Bank city of Ramallah May 16, 2014. Israeli forces shot dead the two Palestinians during a stone-throwing protest on Thursday to mark the "Nakba", or "catastrophe", as Palestinians term their displacement when Israel was founded. REUTERS/Ammar Awad (WEST BANK - Tags: POLITICS) - RTR3PFK8

Israel investigates B'Tselem claims on shooting Palestinians

In an interview with Al-Monitor, B'Tselem Director Hagai El-Ad defends the organization's unequivocal, yet unpopular stance against Israeli policies: ''The moral image of the state is important for many Israelis and not just for B’Tselem activists.''