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Palestine

September 20, 2026

Ramallah 12:52 am

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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and French President Emmanuel Macron arrive to hold a joint press conference in Jerusalem, Oct. 24, 2023.

Analysis

After France's settlement ban, Israel sees no warming of ties with Macron government

Israeli diplomats say France’s decision to ban imports from West Bank settlements has brought bilateral relations to an unprecedented low point.

Rina Bassist

By Rina Bassist

In Paris, reporting on Israeli politics and European affairs

Jewish settlement of Kedumim, in the West Bank

Analysis

Europe’s West Bank trade ban fires warning shot at Israel’s economy

Weeks before key Israeli elections, a dozen nations announced new trade restrictions targeting settlements in the West Bank, delivering a sharp rebuke to Israel's government that could presage additional international pressure.

Samuel Wendel

By Samuel Wendel

In Washington, DC, reporting on regional business and tech

Chaim Goldberg / AFP via Getty Images

Netanyahu threatens to sue Haaretz for reporting UAE warned Israel of Oct. 7 attack

The Emirati president reportedly warned that a planned attack could cause bloodshed, destabilize the region and threaten the Abraham Accords.

Palestinians hold up the green Hamas flag during a protest by supporters of both the Fatah and Hamas movements, as they rally in support of the Palestinian people following Friday noon prayers in Hebron, occupied West Bank, Nov. 3, 2023.

Majority of Palestinians lose trust in Hamas and Fatah, new poll finds

A recent poll by a Palestinian survey center found that trust in Palestinian factions has declined, amid stalled efforts to implement the Gaza peace plan and escalating settler violence in the West Bank.

Latest News

12 countries including France, UK, Canada end trade with West Bank settlements

West Bank settlements

Katz warns PA against 'Oct. 7-style' attack as West Bank violence rises

Israeli soldiers take positions during a military operation in the town of Qalqiya, in the occupied West Bank, Dec. 4, 2025.

Analysis

LORA missile test reveals limits of Germany’s Gaza criticism of Israel

A woman walks past a model of a Lora missile, Israel's long range artillery missile at the Israel defence stall at the international DefExpo 2008 defence fair, in New Delhi on February 16, 2008. India kicked off South Asia's largest defence fair, with hundreds of global weapons firms offering their latest hardware to the country's technology-hungry military. About 450 weapons companies from 30 countries are present at the four-day "DefExpo" in New Delhi, with several big-ticket announcements expected. AFP P

Rina Bassist

By Rina Bassist

In Paris, reporting on Israeli politics and European affairs

Analysis

As Israeli settler attacks mount, Trump avoids public pressure on Netanyahu

Israeli soldiers arrive in the village of Qusra, south of Nablus in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, which has faced escalating Israeli settler violence over the past month, on Aug. 29, 2026.

Elizabeth Hagedorn

By Elizabeth Hagedorn

In Washington, DC, reporting on diplomacy, regional politics, human rights

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

Israeli soldiers block a side entrance into the West Bank City of Hebron during an operation to locate three Israeli teens June 17, 2014. Israel decided on Tuesday to widen a crackdown on Hamas in the West Bank after troops detained more than 40 members of the Palestinian Islamist group in sweeps conducted in tandem with a search for the three missing Jewish teenagers. REUTERS/Amir Cohen (WEST BANK - Tags: POLITICS MILITARY) - RTR3UAVZ

Hamas fears Israel will deport its leaders

Hamas leaders are also concerned that Israel will launch a military campaign if the kidnapped boys are not found.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas gestures as he speaks during a conference in the West Bank city of Ramallah June 19, 2014. Israeli forces traded gunfire with Palestinians on Thursday, the military said, in the fiercest street battles in the occupied West Bank since a search began for three Israeli teenagers missing for a week. Abbas roundly condemned the kidnappers on Wednesday and promised to hold to account those responsible. His words in turn were denounced by Hamas and other factions, who accused h

Israel sees Palestinian unity as possible casualty of kidnapping

As Israel deals with the kidnappings, US-Israel relations are at an all-time low.

Palestinian and foreign activists remove debris from a structure in an old village known as Ein Hajla, in the Jordan Valley near the West Bank city of Jericho January 31, 2014. Some 100 activists took part in a campaign to try to resettle the village and to protest Israel's occupation of the West Bank including the Jordan Valley. REUTERS/Ammar Awad (WEST BANK - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST) - RTX182J1

Mosul events warning on Palestinians' eastern border

The defeat of the trained Iraqi army in Mosul has made many Israelis worry about worst-case scenarios on its own borders.

A Palestinian man stands outside his house as an Israeli soldier takes part in an operation to locate three Israeli teens in the West Bank City of Hebron June 19, 2014. Israeli forces traded gunfire with Palestinians on Thursday, the military said, in the fiercest street battles in the occupied West Bank since a search began for three Israeli teenagers missing for a week. REUTERS/Mussa Qawasma (WEST BANK - Tags: POLITICS MILITARY) - RTR3UOFG

Kidnappings force rethink of Israel’s Hamas strategy

As it searches for the kidnapped teenagers, Israeli decision-makers are considering how their actions will affect Hamas’ influence in the long run.

$Israeli men and women, separated by a green divider, pray in the town of Elad, home of Eyal Yifrach, one of three missing teenagers, June 16, 2014. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu prepared Israel for a long drawn-out operation to find the three missing teenagers as troops expanded the search into a crackdown on the Islamist group accused of abducting them and arrested dozens of its officials. REUTERS/Finbarr O'Reilly (ISRAEL - Tags: RELIGION POLITICS CIVIL UNREST) - RTR3U421$

Youths' abduction stirs Israeli sympathy for settlers

Politicians from both the right and the left are sympathizing with the families of the abducted youths in an unusual wave of empathy from the Israeli public toward the settlers at this moment of national distress.

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

Knesset member Zoabi says kidnappers 'aren't terrorists'

Knesset member Haneen Zoabi has decided to continue to focus more on provocation than on action.

Young Palestinians swim in a pool as they take part in a military-style exercise at a summer camp organized by the Hamas movement in Gaza City June 12, 2014. Hamas stages dozens of military-style summer camps for young Palestinians in Gaza strip to prepare them to confront any possible Israeli attack, organisers said. REUTERS/Suhaib Salem (GAZA - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST) - RTR3TFW5

Hamas summer camps for kids include military training

Hamas is keen to retain its influence in Palestinian society, and is using its annual summer camps to stay connected with Gaza youth.

Palestinians lean against a car as Israeli soldiers take part in an operation to locate three Israeli teens in the West Bank City of Hebron June 17, 2014. Israel decided on Tuesday to widen a crackdown on Hamas in the West Bank after troops detained more than 40 members of the Palestinian Islamist group in sweeps conducted in tandem with a search for the three missing Jewish teenagers. REUTERS/Amir Cohen (WEST BANK - Tags: POLITICS MILITARY) - RTR3UAUQ

Kidnapping of Israeli boys 'no joke' for Palestinians

Israel is tightening its grip on the West Bank and intensifying mock air raids over the Gaza Strip, as Palestinians anticipate an Israeli response to the June 12 kidnappings.

Gaza’s poor rummage through garbage for food

Widespread poverty in the Gaza Strip has forced some of the most desperate to dig through dumpsters to feed their families.

An Israeli soldier blindfolds of a Palestinian suspected of throwing stones as he detains him during clashes in the West Bank City of Hebron June 16, 2014. Israeli armed forces swept through half a dozen Palestinian towns on Monday and arrested more Hamas officials, expanding a search for three teenagers into a crackdown on the Islamist group accused of abducting them. Most of the military efforts have been concentrated in Hebron, a Hamas stronghold.
REUTERS/Baz Ratner (WEST BANK - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL U

Netanyahu, Abbas can avoid next abduction

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu should engage Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on both diplomacy and security to better manage future crises.

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gestures during a news conference in Tel Aviv June 15, 2014. Israel said on Sunday Hamas militants had abducted three Israeli teenagers in the occupied West Bank, warning of "serious consequences" as it pressed on with a search and detained dozens of Palestinians. REUTERS/Finbarr O'Reilly (ISRAEL - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST) - RTR3TVSJ

Kidnappings put Netanyahu back on offense

The abduction of teenagers in the Hebron region puts an end to Netanyahu’s political hard times, and, without a dominant defense minister such as Ehud Barak at his side, he is seen, even by the left, as a balanced authority on matters of security and leadership.

A Palestinian protester holding a Palestinian flag heads a soccer ball next to Israeli border police during a demonstration in solidarity with hunger-striking Palestinian prisoners held by Israel, outside Israel's Ofer military prison near Ramallah June 11, 2014. Israel's parliament has given initial approval to a law to enable the force-feeding of Palestinian prisoners on a hunger strike, drawing defiance from activists who said on Tuesday it would not deter the inmates. REUTERS/Mohamad Torokman (WEST BAN

FIFA to monitor Israeli violations against Palestinian soccer

The international soccer federation has not sanctioned Israel for its violations against Palestinian soccer, instead giving a committee until December to monitor developments.