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Palestine

July 26, 2026

Ramallah 4:46 pm

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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

Palestinians, hoping to cross into Egypt, ride in a car as they wait at the Rafah crossing in the southern Gaza Strip August 25, 2014. Under Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, Cairo has secured closures on the Gaza border, increasing economic pressure on Hamas from a long-running Israeli blockade. Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned Palestinian civilians on Sunday to leave immediately any site where militants are operating, one day after Israel flattened a 13-storey apartment block in Ga

Closures become norm for Rafah crossing

The closing of the Rafah crossing by Egypt following the terrorist attack in Sinai will worsen the humanitarian situation of Gaza residents, for whom the crossing is a lifeline to the outside world.

A Palestinian man rides his bicycle past the office of the Ministry of Education in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip June 26, 2014. Some 40,000 public servants hired by Hamas went on strike in Gaza on Thursday in a pay dispute that could test the resilience of the new Palestinian government, formed just weeks ago under the Islamist group's unity pact with President Mahmoud Abbas. All government offices in the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip were closed as a result of the one-day strike, but hospital emerg

Gaza employees victims of political maneuvering

Gaza government employees have not received salaries in over a year in some cases due to political disputes.

Smoke rises after a house is blown up during a military operation by Egyptian security forces in the Egyptian city of Rafah, near the border with southern Gaza Strip October 29, 2014. At least 33 Egyptian security personnel were killed on Friday in the Sinai Peninsula bordering Israel and Gaza, in an attack on a checkpoint that bore the marks of assaults claimed by Egypt's most active militant group Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis. Egypt's President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said on Saturday the military would respond with

Sinai attack threatens Egypt-Hamas ties

Egypt has accused Hamas of being behind the latest attack in Sinai, but Hamas vehemently denied this, saying the security of Egypt is closely related to Gaza’s security.

Israeli Arab lawmaker Haneen Zoabi (L) waits before a hearing at the Supreme Court in Jerusalem December 27, 2012. Zoabi appealed to the Supreme Court after Israel's electoral authority barred her from re-election on December 19, saying she had supported the nation's enemies by joining a protest ship that tried to break a naval blockade of Gaza. REUTERS/Ammar Awad (JERUSALEM - Tags: POLITICS) - RTR3BXBA

Arab Knesset member threatens to leave parliament

In an interview, Arab Knesset member Basel Ghattas warns of a growing trend where Israeli politics is no longer a fair game, which might lead to his faction leaving parliament.

Palestinian Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah (4th L) and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas (3rd L) pose for a group photo with Palestinian ministers during a swearing-in ceremony of the unity government, in the West Bank city of Ramallah June 2, 2014. Abbas swore in a unity government on Monday after overcoming a last-minute dispute with the Hamas Islamist group. REUTERS/Mohamad Torokman (WEST BANK - Tags: POLITICS) - RTR3RT7N

Palestinian elections on hold until further notice

The reconciliation government has yet to hold the presidential and parliamentary elections in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, as Hamas and Fatah accuse each other of stalling this democratic process.

Palestinian protesters wave the flags of Palestinian political movements, Fatah (yellow) and Hamas (green) as they chant slogans in support of the national reconciliation and the announcement of the formation of a national unity government between the two factions, during a rally it Khan Yunis, in the southern Gaza Strip, on May 29, 2014. Palestinian premier Rami Hamdallah is to head the consensus government to be formed under a deal with Hamas to end seven years of rival administrations in the West Bank an

Fatah’s Revolutionary Council grapples with growing issues

At its last meeting, Fatah’s Revolutionary Council discussed relations with Hamas, negotiations with Israel and internal disputes with Mohammed Dahlan’s movement.

Israeli policemen prevent Palestinian women from entering the compound which houses al-Aqsa mosque and is known to Muslims as Noble Sanctuary and to Jews as Temple Mount, in Jerusalem's Old City April 16, 2014. Israeli riot police entered one of Jerusalem's most revered and politically sensitive religious compounds on Wednesday to disperse rock-throwing Palestinians opposed to any Jewish attempts to pray there. REUTERS/Ammar Awad (JERUSALEM - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST RELIGION) - RTR3LHFX

Al-Aqsa’s women resist

Palestinian women have taken it upon themselves to protect the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound from the trespasses of Israeli extremists.

US President Bill Clinton applauds as Jordan s King Hussein reaches out and shakes hands with Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin (L) at the end of the Israeli - Jordanian peace treaty signing ceremony - RTXF6XE

Israel should protect 'old front' with Jordan

To maintain the special Israeli-Jordanian ties, Israel should be sensitive to the internal pressures facing the Hashemite kingdom and promote a real diplomatic process with the Palestinians.

What does Hezbollah mean by 'painful concessions' in Syria?

UN Syria envoy meets Hezbollah official; Erdogan sets back Turkey-Iran ties and points out US "mistake"; Israel seeks to suppress "silent intifada" in Jerusalem.

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addresses the 69th United Nations General Assembly at the U.N. headquarters in New York September 29, 2014.
REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton (UNITED STATES - Tags: POLITICS) - RTR487YD

Is Israel's reputation in decline?

The United States and the European Union once regarded Israel's occupation as a temporary evil, but now its settlement expansion is perceived as no less detrimental to the peace process than Palestinian terror.

A Palestinian walks in the neighbourhood of Silwan in Arab East Jerusalem March 4, 2009. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton criticised Israel on Wednesday over plans to demolish Palestinian homes in Arab East Jerusalem and said Washington would engage Israeli leaders on Jewish settlements. REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun (JERUSALEM) - RTXCCF2

Neglect, provocation feed East Jerusalem unrest

Coping with the growing violence requires more than increased policing in East Jerusalem, where discrimination and neglect deprive residents of infrastructure, education and services.

Palestinian boys look at statues that are made of fiberglass and covered with clay by Palestinian artist Eyad Sabbah, which are depictions for the Palestinians who fled their houses from Israeli shelling during the most recent conflict between Israel and Hamas, in the east of Gaza City October 21, 2014. REUTERS/Mohammed Salem (GAZA - Tags: CIVIL UNREST POLITICS SOCIETY) - RTR4AXXF

Art re-emerges in Gaza

As life struggles to return to normal, artists there express the pain and suffering Gaza experienced in the war.