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July 28, 2026

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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

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks with President Shimon Peres (2nd L) at the sixth Negev Conference in the southern town of Sderot March 18, 2014. REUTERS/Amir Cohen (ISRAEL - Tags: POLITICS) - RTR3HJWJ

Netanyahu caught between Obama, Bennett

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu faces a tough choice between US President Barack Obama and negotiations with the Palestinians on one hand and the integrity of his coalition and the threat of elections on the other.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry climbs up the stairs of the plane to leave Tel Aviv April 1, 2014. Kerry met Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for the second time in less than 12 hours on Tuesday in an effort to salvage stalled peace talks with the Palestinians. Kerry broke into his travel schedule on Monday for a flying visit to Jerusalem and headed back to Europe again after his early morning discussions with Netanyahu. REUTERS/Jacquelyn Martin/Pool (ISRAEL - Tags: POLITICS) - RTR3JFGX

Kerry's possible failure opens new, dark era in peace talks

Even Menachem Begin did not support annexation of West Bank lands.

Israel's Jewish people and the Palestinian public

Since its founding, Israel has defined itself as both a Jewish and democratic state, while denying Palestinians their right to self-determination.

Israeli border police officers try to prevent Jewish settlers from interrupting Palestinian traffic after a stabbing attack, near the West Bank Jewish settlement of Yitzhar near Nablus April 30, 2013. A Palestinian man stabbed and shot dead an Israeli settler in the occupied West Bank on Tuesday, the Israeli ambulance service and police said. REUTERS/Nir Elias (WEST BANK - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST) - RTXZ4N7

Israeli settlers attack IDF, Palestinians

The Palestinians living in the villages near the Yitzhar settlement were not surprised this week at the violence perpetrated by the settlers on IDF soldiers: “If this is what they do to the soldiers, think what they do to us.”

ELON MOREH, WEST BANK - FEBRUARY 27: (FILE PHOTO) Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin (C) with Interior Minsiter Yosef Burg (2nd R) and settler leader Benny Katzover (R) listens to an explanation by Agriculture Minister Ariel Sharon (2nd L) about the development February 27, 1981 of the permanent settlement of Elon Moreh east of the West Bank Palestinian town of Nablus. After being forcibly evacuated by the Israeli army from the nearby Sebastia train station seven times since the summer of 1974, the pio

Veteran settler Katzover: Livni encourages boycott wave

In an interview with Al-Monitor, veteran settler Benny Katzover says there's a link between the settlers' youth violence against IDF soldiers and the forced evacuation of illegal outposts, and Katzover does not worry about the boycott of products.

Israel's Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman (R) greets his Canadian counterpart John Baird before their dinner in Jerusalem January 19, 2013. Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper is on a four-day visit to Israel and the Palestinian Territories. REUTERS/Darren Whiteside (JERUSALEM - Tags: POLITICS) - RTX17LHJ

Liberman keeps eye on bid for Israeli premiership

By torpedoing negotiations on one hand, while setting conditions for their resumption on the other, Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman's tactics enable him to gain points with the left and the right of the political spectrum, pursuing his route toward the premier's seat.

A Palestinian boy takes part in a protest against the blockade on Gaza, at the border between Egypt and Gaza Strip March 7, 2014. An Egyptian-Israeli blockade on the Gaza Strip, run by the Hamas Islamist movement, has left industry and construction gasping for resources, pushing unemployment to dizzying heights and deepening suffering for impoverished residents. The sign reads "How long will the international and Arab silence on Gaza blockade continue". REUTERS/Ibraheem Abu Mustafa (GAZA - Tags: POLITICS CI

Sisi’s candidacy appears to ease Egypt-Hamas tensions

Field Marshal Abdel Fattah al-Sisi’s candidacy in Egypt’s upcoming presidential elections has eased tensions between Cairo and Hamas, but this might be a tactical move by Sisi.

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (2nd L), flanked by Tzipi Livni (L), Israel's chief negotiator with the Palestinians, National Security Adviser Yaakov Amidror (3rd L) and Military Secretary Eyal Zamir, speaks with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry (not pictured) during a meeting in Jerusalem June 29, 2013. Kerry extended his Middle East peace mission on Saturday, shuttling between Jerusalem and Amman for more talks with Israeli and Palestinian leaders on reviving their stalled negotiations. REUT

Livni manages political fallout of failed peace talks

After another apparent failure in negotiations, Israeli chief negotiator Tzipi Livni wriggles out of giving real explanations for the fact that she continues to remain in the right-wing government, thus betraying her center-left constituents.

Palestinians leave the compound known to Muslims as Noble Sanctuary and to Jews as Temple Mount, after Friday prayers in Jerusalem's Old City April 4, 2014. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said on Friday Washington was evaluating whether to continue its role in Middle East peace talks, signalling his patience with the Israelis and Palestinians was running out. REUTERS/Amir Cohen (JERUSALEM - Tags: SOCIETY RELIGION) - RTR3JXYO

Kerry has no excuse for failure in peace talks

The US secretary of state should now offer an accelerated timetable for the acceptance of Palestine as a member of the United Nations.

U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Samantha Power speaks during a Security Council meeting on the crisis in Ukraine, at the U.N. headquarters in New York March 3, 2014.
REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton (UNITED STATES - Tags: POLITICS) - RTR3G02N

Palestinians are right to go UN route

US aid to the Palestinians represents an ongoing effort to deny them access to the United Nations and thus statehood.

American-Israeli Ilan Grapel (C) poses for a photograph with Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (3rd R), Israeli negotiator Yitzhak Molcho (2nd R), U.S ambassador to Israel Daniel Shapiro (R), Israeli Knesset member Yisrael Hasson (3rd L), U.S. Congressman Gary Ackerman (L) and Grapel's mother (2nd L) in Jerusalem in this handout picture released October 27, 2011 by the Israeli Government Press Office (GPO). Egypt released the American-Israeli it held as an alleged spy and Israel freed 25 Egyptians

Knesset member warns of Arab Spring in West Bank

In an interview with Al-Monitor, Kadima Knesset member and former Shin Bet official Israel Hasson warns of Israel's humiliating approach to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and predicts that if negotiations blow up: "The Arab Spring will get to the West Bank.''

A Palestinian Hamas supporter celebrates after Erdogan declared victory in local polls during a rally organised by Hamas movement in the northern Gaza Strip March 31, 2014. Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan declared victory in local polls that had become a referendum on his rule and said he would "enter the lair" of enemies who have accused him of corruption and leaked state secrets. The Arabic words read "Turkey Justice and development forward". REUTERS/Mohammed Salem (GAZA - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNRES

Hamas celebrates AKP win in Turkish elections

Hamas considers Turkey a vital ally and held rallies in celebration of the ruling Justice and Development Party's election victory.