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Palestine

September 20, 2026

Ramallah 1:48 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

A Palestinian protester returns a tear gas canister fired by Israeli troops, during a protest in solidarity with hunger-striking Palestinian prisoners held by Israel, in the West Bank village of Bilin near Ramallah June 13, 2014. Some 120 Palestinians held by Israel began refusing food on April 24 in protest at their detention without trial. Since then the number has risen closer to 300. Israel's Prisons Service says 70 have been hospitalised. REUTERS/Mohamad Torokman (WEST BANK - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNRES

Netanyahu wrong to blame Abbas for kidnapping

Israel should rethink its Palestinian prisoner detention policy.

An Israeli soldier looks at Palestinians inside a vehicle near the West Bank city of Hebron June 14, 2014. Israel sent more troops to the occupied West Bank on Saturday to step up searches for three Israeli teenagers believed to have been abducted by Palestinians, with a military source saying it was not known if they were dead or alive. REUTERS/Ammar Awad (WEST BANK - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST MILITARY) - RTR3TRKI

Fatah leader on kidnappings: 'Everyone is in big trouble now'

In an interview with Al-Monitor, senior Fatah official Fares Qadura warns of escalation, saying that everyone knows that Israel will not negotiate a prisoners exchange for the three kidnapped youths.

Palestinians sit outside their house as Israeli soldiers patrol near the West Bank City of Hebron 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/Ammar Awad (WEST BANK - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST MILITARY) - RTR3TVBR

Hamas denies role in kidnapping

The group's leaders, however, anticipate a severe confrontation with Israel.

Netanyahu's kidnapping nightmare leads to refocus on Hamas

For Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the kidnapping of three Israeli teenagers may vindicate his tough stance on Hamas.

U.S. President Barack Obama speaks about the situation in Iraq from the South Lawn of the White House in Washington June 13, 2014. Obama said on Friday he will take several days to review options for how the United States can help Iraq deal with a militant insurgency, saying any action would need significant involvement by Iraq itself. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque (UNTIED STATES - Tags: POLITICS) - RTR3TNFS

Israelis ask whether Obama has given up on Iraq

The crisis in Iraq has only sharpened the perception by Israelis that Barack Obama is now willing to act with resolve in the Middle East.

Wine-grower Gershon Ferency harvests Chardonnay grapes in his vineyard near the West Bank Jewish settlement of Bat Ayin, south of Bethlehem August 20, 2012. Established in 1993, Ferency's winery produces some 6,500 bottles of kosher wine a year using organically grown grapes. REUTERS/Nir Elias (WEST BANK - Tags: FOOD AGRICULTURE) - RTR36ZI0

Israel's settlement tourism

Following a vast campaign designed to rebrand the West Bank settlements as tourist attractions with guided tours to biblical sites, and to open it up to the Israeli mainstream, the region has become popular with tourists from Israel and overseas.

(From L to R) Palestinian legislator Mustafa Barghouti, Palestinian Fatah delegation chief Azzam al-Ahmed, Hamas prime minister in the Gaza Strip Ismail Haniya, Hamas deputy leader Musa Abu Marzuk, and secretary-general of the Palestinian Arab Front (PAF) Jameel Shehadeh, pose for a picture in Gaza on April 23, 2014. Rival Palestinian leaders from the West Bank and Gaza Strip agreed to form a unity government within five weeks as peace talks with Israel face collapse. AFP PHOTO / SAID KHATIB (Photo c

Barghouti says Israel must end 'profitable occupation'

In an exclusive interview with Al-Monitor, veteran Palestinian politician Mustafa Barghouti, who played a key role in negotiating the latest reconciliation deal, provides new details on the unity negotiations and what comes next.

Egyptians celebrate after the swearing-in ceremony of President elect Abdel Fattah al-Sissi, in front of the Presidential Palace in Cairo, June 8, 2014. Sisi promised to rule Egypt in an inclusive manner after he was sworn in as president on Sunday but gave no indication he would reconcile with the Muslim Brotherhood movement he removed from power nearly a year ago. REUTERS/Asmaa Waguih (EGYPT - Tags: POLITICS ELECTIONS) - RTR3SS6R

Hamas silent on Sisi's election

Hamas leaders and spokespeople have been instructed not to make any public statements concerning the election of President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi in Egypt, to avoid aggravating the new president.

Palestinian women walk near a mosque in a street in the Gaza Strip March 13, 2014. REUTERS/Mohammed Salem (GAZA - Tags: POLITICS SOCIETY RELIGION) - RTR3GYYE

Women shut out from Fatah-Hamas reconciliation deal

Women were absent from the Palestinian reconciliation meetings, which shows the lack of female participation in the affairs of the Gaza Strip.

An Israeli police officer stands inside a burnt mosque in the Bedouin village of Tuba-Zangariya in northern Israel October 3, 2011, before the arrival of Israel's President Shimon Peres. They strike in the dead of night, setting fire to mosques and daubing their walls with "Price Tag" graffiti, the defiant slogan of Israeli settlers waging a vigilante campaign branded as "un-Jewish" by President Shimon Peres. The "price-taggers" have vowed to avenge any move by Israeli authorities to uproot settlement out

Why doesn't Netanyahu label price tag attacks as terrorism?

Participants of the 14th Herzliya Conference criticized Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for persisting in refusing to define settlers who commit "price tag" attacks as members of a terror organization.

A Palestinian boy looks at a militant during an anti-Israel rally organized by Islamic Jihad movement in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip October 24, 2013. REUTERS/Suhaib Salem (GAZA - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY) - RTX14MNS

Ex-Islamic Jihad leader launches new armed group in Gaza

A former Islamic Jihad leader has announced the creation of a new “resistance faction” in the Gaza Strip, which has been accused of promoting sectarianism.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry (L) talks to Israel's Finance Minister Yair Lapid before their meeting in Jerusalem December 6, 2013. REUTERS/Pablo Martinez Monsivais/Pool (JERUSALEM - Tags: POLITICS BUSINESS) - RTX1665G

Lapid slams Netanyahu for 'crisis' in US-Israel ties

In a landmark speech, Finance Minister Yair Lapid broke ties with right-wing coalition members and laid claim to Israel's center-left.