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Politics & Security

Palestinian Hamas militants arrive to secure the area as Egyptian workers accompanied by members of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), search for the last two remaining bodies of hostages -an Israeli soldier and a Thai national- from under the rubble of the Jabalia refugee camp, in the northern of Gaza Strip on Dec. 1, 2025.

Analysis

How Hamas disarmament deal may test Iran's regional strategy

A possible Hamas decision to disarm would represent more than a Gaza development, testing Iran's decades-old strategy of projecting power through regional allies.

A correspondent in Tehran

By A correspondent in Tehran

In Tehran, reporting on politics

Mourners carry one of the bodies of members of Iraq's Hashed al-Shaabi, or Popular Mobilisation Forces (PMF) who were killed earlier in Diyala in central Iraq by US-Saudi strikes, during the funeral in Baghdad on July 29, 2026. The US-Saudi strikes killed at least 20 militants, including Iranians, according to the Hashed al-Shaabi. The US and Saudi Arabia said the strikes were in response to attacks on US forces and Saudi oil facilities. (Photo by murtadha ridha / AFP via Getty Images) /

Analysis

Renewed Iraq attacks test Zaidi’s push to disarm Iran-backed militias

An attempt by Iraqi government forces to seize weapons belonging to an Iranian-backed faction encountered resistance, raising questions about Prime Minister Ali Zaidi’s pledge to disarm militias by Sept. 30.

Mustafa Salim

By Mustafa Salim

Fighters lift flags of Iraq and paramilitary groups, including al-Nujaba and Kataib Hezbollah, during a funeral in Baghdad for five militants killed a day earlier in a US strike in northern Iraq, on Dec. 4, 2023.

Analysis

Iran-linked militias seek to draw Iraq into regional war

“Iran’s logic is the logic of war,” a Gulf regional official tells Al-Monitor.

Week in Review

By Week in Review

Latest News

Explainer

Estimated 60,000 migrants cross from Morocco into Spanish territory: What we know

Ceuta

Analysis

No Iran commitment, no Trump endorsement: Netanyahu leaves US empty-handed

US President Donald Trump walks to board Marine One on the Ellipse near the White House in Washington, DC, on July 31, 2026. President Trump is traveling to Camp David in Maryland to hold a cabinet meeting and later to Bedminster, New Jersey to spend the weekend at his golf club. (Photo by Oliver Contreras / AFP via Getty Images)

In Tel Aviv, reporting on national security, Israeli politics, defense

Amberin Zaman

Chief Correspondent

Reporting on geopolitics, minorities, human rights, culture

Adam Lucente

News and Business Correspondent

In New York City, reporting on regional news, militancy, climate change

Elizabeth Hagedorn

Diplomatic Correspondent

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

Ezgi Akin

Associate Editor (Turkey)

In Ankara, reporting on diplomacy, EU-Turkey ties, NATO

Ben Caspit

Israel Columnist

In Tel Aviv, reporting on national security, Israeli politics, defense

Jared Szuba

Defense and Security Correspondent

In Washington, DC, reporting on defense, national security, military

Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas walks to welcome Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko at the Palestinian Authority leadership compound, Ramallah, West Bank, Nov. 15, 2007.

Palestinian Authority remains neutral on Ukraine

The Palestinian Authority adheres to the principle of neutrality in the Russian war on Ukraine, but Palestinians do not hold back in criticizing the double standards of the West, imposing sanctions on Russia, while turning a blind eye to Israel’s war against them for 74 years.

KHALIL MAZRAAWI/AFP via Getty Images

Lawmakers urge US action on Syria's crisis-hit Rukban camp

The Biden administration faces congressional pressure to help desperate civilians stranded in the Syrian camp near Jordan.

JOE KLAMAR/AFP via Getty Images

Iran says Ukraine war will not impede nuclear talks

Iran is seeking details on comments made by Russia about sanctions and the nuclear talks.

Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett gives a joint press conference with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who said a new Iran nuclear agreement "cannot be postponed any longer," at the King David Hotel, Jerusalem, March 2, 2022.

Israel calculates Ukraine war's influence on Iran nuclear talks

Israel follows closely on Russian warnings against US-Ukraine sanctions affecting the emerging Iran-nuclear deal.

Ukraine resistance

As West rallies around Ukraine, Palestinians see double standard

While Palestinians have lauded Ukrainian efforts to resist Russia's invasion, they lament a double standard in the West toward their own efforts to resist occupation.

Russian President Vladimir Putin (R) speaks with Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett during their meeting, in Sochi, Russia, Oct. 22, 2021.

Israel’s Bennett undertakes diplomatic blitz on Ukraine

Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett spent the weekend in Moscow and Berlin, and talking either in person or on the phone with Russian President Vladimir Putin, French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

Palestinian Khader Adnan, who staged a 56-day hunger strike while being detained for a year without charge by Israeli authorities and who Israel says is a member of Islamic Jihad, lies on a bed as he is treated at the Makassed hospital in East Jerusalem, July 15, 2015.

Assassination attempt on Islamic Jihad leader escalates tensions with Palestinian Authority

Islamic Jihad leader in the West Bank Khader Adnan was subjected to an assassination attempt in Nablus, raising speculation about the possible role of the Palestinian Authority’s security forces.

KHALED DESOUKI/AFP via Getty Images

Jailed Egyptian activists on hunger strike to protest pretrial detention

Twelve Egyptian political prisoners who have been in pretrial detention for years are now on hunger strike.

Russia's President Vladimir Putin (L) speaks with Chechnya's head Ramzan Kadyrov.

Jihadis in Idlib bash Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov for role in Ukraine war

Chechen jihadis in Syria seek to join the forces defending Ukraine against Russia while condemning the participation of pro-Russian and leader of Russia's Chechnya region Ramzan Kadyrov in the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

EBRAHIM HAMID/AFP via Getty Images

New Sudanese press union takes shape

Sudanese journalism bodies have signed a draft charter to establish a new union in a win for post-coup press freedom.

People gather around a damaged building in the Turkish-controlled city of al-Bab in Syria's northern Aleppo province on the border with Turkey on Feb. 2, 2022, following reported artillery shelling.

Residents in north Syria grow angry at Turkish-backed rebels over rise in bombings

The wave of assassinations reflects the failure of the Turkish-backed opposition factions to secure the area in north Syria, while their members are accused of facilitating these operations by turning a blind eye on smuggling operations from regime and Kurdish-held areas.

Western wall

Ultra-Orthodox, Reformist Jews clash over prayer space at Western Wall

Progressive Judaism activists from Israel and the US are demanding Prime Minister Naftali Bennett implement the compromise on an egalitarian mixed-prayer space by the Western Wall, as was agreed under the former government.