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Palestine

May 11, 2026

Ramallah 6:48 pm

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Two men stand next to the burned remains of a Palestinian vehicle in the Wadi al-Rakhim area of Susya village in Masafer Yatta, south of Hebron in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, on May 1, 2026.

EU ministers agree to sanction violent West Bank settlers: What to know

European foreign ministers have agreed to sanction extremist West Bank settlers, but are still discussing the list of names.

An elections employee tapes a poster with instructions to voters ahead of the upcoming municipal elections in Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip on April 21, 2026.

Feature

Gazans show cautious hope ahead of first local elections in 20 years

The city of Deir al-Balah in central Gaza is set to hold municipal elections for the first time in nearly two decades.

Rasha Abou Jalal

By Rasha Abou Jalal

In Gaza City, reporting on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict

Women read instructions to voters ahead of the upcoming municipal elections in Deir el-Balah in the central Gaza Strip on April 21, 2026.

Analysis

On eve of Palestinian local elections, competition in short supply

With many races unopposed and rivals excluded, the vote underscores a calibrated effort to contain dissent and prioritize stability.

Daoud Kuttab

By Daoud Kuttab

In Amman, reporting on Palestinian politics

Olmert

Interview

Olmert: Only Israel-Lebanon deal can curb Hezbollah, occupation 'unviable'

Former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert told Al-Monitor that Israel will only be able to defang Hezbollah if it reaches an agreement with the Lebanese government.

Ehud Olmert

Ehud Olmert

Former Israeli prime minister

Latest News

Meloni suspends Italy's military cooperation agreement with Israel

Meloni

'Apartheid': Arab countries including UAE, Jordan decry new Israeli law

MOJAHID NAW/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images

Settler violence spike exposes Israeli government rift with military

Israeli settler violence graffiti

Wartime closures at Jerusalem holy sites raise fears of lasting shift among Palestinians

Muslim worshippers break their fast outside the old city walls of Jerusalem on March 17, 2026, as the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound remains closed.

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

Palestinian Authority employees take part in a protest against what they say are deductions on their salaries, in Gaza City April 8, 2017. REUTERS/Ibraheem Abu Mustafa - RTX34OP5

New batch of PA employees in Gaza forced to retire

The Palestinian Authority referred more than 6,000 civil employees to early retirement, allegedly to exert pressure on Hamas to dissolve the administrative committee, hand over the Gaza Strip and approve elections.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas (L) holds a news conference after a meeting with European Union foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini in Brussels, Belgium, March 27, 2017. REUTERS/Yves Herman - RTX32WQI

Abu Mazen plays losing hand badly in Gaza Strip

The Palestinian president faces a challenge from a bitter rival backed by Egypt and the United Arab Emirates; what is Saddam Hussein’s family doing in Qatar?; Russia and the United States wary of Turkish military intervention in Syria.

Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) arrives for a classified briefing on the airstrikes launched against the Syrian military, at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, U.S., April 7, 2017. REUTERS/Aaron P. Bernstein - RTX34MT2

Israel frets over Congress push to slash Palestinian aid over terror payments

US lawmakers' efforts to further condition assistance to the Palestinian Authority is complicated by Israel's reluctance to undermine a key security partner.

Pipes that pump water cross through evaporation pools, which today make up the southern part of the Dead Sea, Israel July 27, 2015. The Dead Sea is shrinking, and as its waters vanish at a rate of more than one meter a year, hundreds of sinkholes, some the size of a basketball court, some two storeys deep, are devouring land where the shoreline once stood.Picture taken July 27, 2015. REUTERS/Amir Cohen - RTX1M941

Israeli-Palestinian water deal could chart course for further talks

An agreement between Israel and the Palestinian Authority on the Red Sea-Dead Sea canal project could build some trust between the sides, but the Palestinians are leery of any impact from it going into negotiations.

Israeli opposition leader Isaac Herzog, speaks during a demonstration held by Israeli left-wing group Peace Now, entitled "Two States, One Hope, A demonstration against 50 years of occupation", in Tel Aviv, Israel May 27, 2017. REUTERS/Amir Cohen - RTX37WRH

Palestinians disappointed over Israeli Labor primaries

Palestinian leadership in Ramallah is disappointed over Isaac Herzog losing the Labor Party’s primaries, as they were hoping that Herzog would join the Netanyahu government and advance regional negotiations.

A Palestinian supporter of former head of Fatah in Gaza, Mohammed Dahlan, holds a poster depicting Dahlan during a protest against Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Gaza City December 18, 2014. Dahlan, who lives in exile in the Gulf, is a powerful political foe of Abbas.
REUTERS/Mohammed Salem (GAZA - Tags: POLITICS) - RTR4IJ7B

Dahlan preps for return to Gaza

Former Fatah senior official Mohammed Dahlan is venerated now in the Gaza Strip as the man who closed the deal with Egypt to renew electricity flow.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas attends an opening of the Center via a teleconference with Bethlehem, before a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Bocharov Ruchei state residence in Sochi, Russia, May 11, 2017. REUTERS/Yuri Kochetkov/Pool - RTS166ZY

Egypt, Dahlan foiling Abbas' plot against Hamas in Gaza Strip

Senior Fatah leaders have lashed out at Egypt over deals reached with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’ archrival Mohammed Dahlan to improve conditions in Gaza, even as Abbas is trying to pressure Hamas there.

Supporters and members of the Palestine community attend a rally for peace in Gaza, in Santiago, August 9, 2014. Israel launched more than 30 air attacks in Gaza on Saturday, killing five Palestinians, and militants fired rockets at Israel as the conflict entered a second month, defying international efforts to revive a ceasefire. REUTERS/Ivan Alvarado (CHILE - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST SOCIETY) - RTR41TIO

PA Foreign Ministry leaves diaspora Palestinians frazzled

Shifting diaspora affairs from the purview of the PLO to the Palestinian Foreign Ministry has ruffled a number of feathers.

(down L-R)Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, Bolivian president Evo Morales and North Korea's nominal head of state Kim Yong Nam pose during the photo family after the opening ceremony of the Non-Aligned Movement summit in Porlamar, Margarita Island, Venezuela, on September 17, 2016.
With the left increasingly isolated by a crushing political and economic crisis, Venezuela is seeking the support of old friends at the Non-Aligned Moveme

Iran-PA relations continue to nosedive

Palestinians criticized the Fatah parliamentary bloc’s participation in the Iranian opposition conference held recently in Paris, and considered it to be interference in Iran’s internal affairs.

Palestinian supporters of dismissed senior Fatah leader Mohammed Dahlan shout slogans during a protest to support him on December 18, 2014 in Gaza City. Thousands of supporters of exiled Palestinian strongman Mohammed Dahlan demonstrated in Gaza to protest the reported sacking of dozens of members of the security forces who back him. AFP PHOTO/ MOHAMMED ABED (Photo credit should read MOHAMMED ABED/AFP/Getty Images)

Israel-Hamas prisoner exchange deal 'closer than ever'

Israel and Hamas finally appear to be making progress on a prisoner exchange deal mediated by Egypt and Mohammed Dahlan.

An Israeli soldier walks past Ibrahimi Mosque, which Jews call the Jewish Tomb of the Patriarchs, in the West Bank city of Hebron July 7, 2017. REUTERS/Ammar Awad - RTX3AJ9Z

UNESCO's Hebron resolution hurts Israeli-Palestinian peace process

UNESCO resolutions recognizing the Palestinians' connections to Jerusalem and Hebron holy sites only empower the Israeli right in its refusal to negotiate.

Palestinian Hamas militants attend the funeral of their comrade Ibraheem Abu Al-Naja in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip June 8, 2017. REUTERS/Ibraheem Abu Mustafa - RTX39MDV

Israel's dangerous game in Gaza

The Israeli government has an interest in Hamas staying in power in Gaza, but pressure on the organization from the Palestinian Authority and Egypt could lead it to provoke another war with Israel.