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Palestine

July 28, 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

Members of the Palestinian security forces loyal to Hamas movement take part in a parade marking the fifth anniversary of the three-week offensive Israel launched in 2008-2009, in Gaza City January 13, 2014. REUTERS/Mohammed Salem (GAZA - Tags: POLITICS ANNIVERSARY MILITARY) - RTX17CGC

Hamas sticks to its guns; Egypt could still surprise

The fate of Hamas’ Qassam Brigades could hold up the reconciliation agreement between Fatah and Hamas; Bassem Sabry’s last article for Al-Monitor anticipates surprises still to come in Egypt.

At Gaza’s horse clubs, girls eager to ride

Despite the conservative nature of Gazan society, which often frowns upon women participating in sports, the Strip has seen a notable rise in female equestrianism in recent years.

A Palestinian farmer harvests barley on a farm near the border of southern Gaza Strip with Israel April 28, 2014. REUTERS/Ibraheem Abu Mustafa (GAZA - Tags: AGRICULTURE) - RTR3MW43

Smuggling of banned pesticides a problem in Gaza

Misuse of pesticides in Gaza’s agricultural industry poses a dangerous risk to farmers and consumers of Gazan produce.

Palestinian Hamas militants carry a coffin containing the body of their fellow comrade Rami Meshmish during his funeral in the central Gaza Strip April 16, 2014. Meshmish and another fellow militant were killed in an accidental explosion on Wednesday, al-Qassam brigades, the armed wing of Hamas movement, said in a statement. REUTERS/Ibraheem Abu Mustafa (GAZA - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST) - RTR3LJNS

Hamas won't give up military wing despite agreement

Fatah and Hamas have deferred discussion on the fate of the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades.

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delivers a statement in the Independence Hall of Israel in Tel Aviv May 1, 2014. Netanyahu said on Thursday he would seek to enact a law to define Israel as a Jewish state, a step certain to raise opposition from Arab citizens who make up a fifth of the population. REUTERS/Dan Balilty/Pool (JERUSALEM - Tags: POLITICS) - RTR3NETY

Israeli sanctions on Palestinians could backfire

The Israeli assumption that economic pressure will return the Palestinians to "the straight and narrow path," has already proven to be ineffective and might endanger the motivation for successful security cooperation.

Artist Damien Hirst's 'Where there's a will there's a way,' which shows antiretroviral drugs in a medicine cabinet, is seen as it is displayed at a gallery in New York, February 4, 2008, before the (RED) Auction at Sotheby's to benefit HIV/AIDS relief programs in Africa. The auction, arranged by Bono and Damien Hirst, will be on Valentines Day, February 14. REUTERS/Chip East (UNITED STATES) - RTR1WOB4

AIDS patients in Gaza face isolation, humiliation

Several treatment programs are available to AIDS patients in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, where they are treated as outcasts by society.

A farmer rides his horse as he herds his cattle towards stockyards near the outback Queensland town of Aramac, west of Brisbane, in this May 22, 2002 file picture. Hot on the back of winning lower tariffs for beef exports from its largest buyer Japan, Australia is setting its sights on winning another major prize for its beef industry by persuading China to open its market to live cattle sales. China's growing middle class seems to have an insatiable hunger for beef, but with limited domestic stock, beef im

Gazans mock Australia for cattle ban

Palestinians are expressing their exasperation with Australia’s decision to ban cattle exports to Gaza because of ill-treatment, while seeming to ignore the treatment of Palestinians under occupation.

Palestinians hoping to cross into Egypt wait behind a barbed wire fence at the Rafah crossing between Egypt and the southern Gaza Strip March 29, 2014. Egyptian authorities partially reopened Rafah border crossing, Gaza's main window to the world, on Saturday for three days after 50 days of its closure, Palestinian border officials said. Since the overthrow of Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi in July 2013, the authorities have largely kept the crossing closed, only opening it partially for limited periods o

Details emerge on Palestinian Gaza declaration

The Palestinian reconciliation deal appears to be moving ahead, with Hamas and Fatah agreeing to return the presidential guards to the Rafah border crossing with Egypt.

Israelis hold a sign depicting U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry during a protest outside his hotel in Jerusalem, against the release by Israel of Palestinian prisoners as a confidence-building gesture, March 31, 2014. Kerry broke from his travel schedule for the second time in a week and rushed back to the Middle East on Monday to try to salvage Israeli-Palestinian peace talks. REUTERS/Ammar Awad (JERUSALEM - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST) - RTR3JD9P

Kerry's warning to Israel lost in furor over 'apartheid'

Instead of internalizing the warning from US Secretary of State John Kerry about a single-state solution, pro-Israel advocates in the United States and the Israeli right focused instead on his choice of words.

Israel's Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, Transport Minister Shaul Mofaz (C) and Interior Minister Meir Sheetrit (L) attend the weekly cabinet meeting in Jerusalem September 14, 2008. Israel's cabinet debated for the first time on Sunday a proposal to offer compensation to Jewish settlers who volunteer to leave parts of the West Bank that would be handed to the Palestinians in a future peace deal.
REUTERS/Dan Balilty/Pool (JERUSALEM) - RTR21VED

Israeli presidential hopeful supports Palestinian deal

In an interview with Al-Monitor, Meir Sheetrit supports Hamas-Fatah reconciliation, even though this might not be the most popular stance with the Israeli public for a presidential hopeful.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry (R) talks with Palestinian lead negotiator Saeb Erekat (L) and State Department Mideast advisor Martin Indyk as he departs Joint Base Andrews in Washington enroute to Ukraine March 3, 2014. In remarks today, U.S. President Barack Obama said Kerry will propose ways in which a negotiation between Russia and Ukraine could be overseen by a multilateral organization when he goes to Kiev on Tuesday. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque (UNITED STATES - Tags: POLITICS) - RTR3G08L

Israel worried Indyk will walk

US Secretary of State John Kerry should table an American peace proposal and step away.

Israeli soldiers stand in formation before the opening ceremony of the annual Holocaust Memorial Day at the Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial in Jerusalem April 27, 2014. Starting Sunday evening, Israel marks the annual memorial day commemorating the six million Jews killed by the Nazis in the Holocaust during World War Two. REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun (JERUSALEM - Tags: POLITICS ANNIVERSARY) - RTR3MTXI

Israelis unmoved by Abbas Holocaust statement

It's best to leave the Holocaust out of politics.