Palestine - AL-MONITOR: The Middle Eastʼs leading independent news source since 2012

Palestine cover image

Palestine

July 27, 2026

Ramallah 7:02 am

19°C

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

Alain Le Roy, under-secretary-general for Peacekeeping Operations at the United Nations, looks on in a helicopter during his visit at the Golf Hotel, headquarters of Alassane Ouattara, in Abidjan December 27, 2010, where a detachment of UNOCI peacekeepers provides security. An election meant to resolve Ivory Coast's decade-long political crisis has resulted in two rivals claiming the presidency, with incumbent Laurent Gbagbo defying world pressure to hand over to Ouattara. The standoff has killed more than

Veteran French diplomat: EU should play greater role in resolving Syria crisis

French diplomat Alain Le Roy discusses the European Union's "unstable" and "insecure" borders and its greater challenge of resolving the crisis in Syria.

A Palestinian employee speaks on the phone in the office of the Central Elections Commission in the West Bank town of El Bireh August 17, 2016. REUTERS/Mohamad Torokman - RTX2LI4S

Palestinians on both sides seethe over postponed elections

Palestinians are disappointed by the postponement of the local elections, and with the political divide as deep as ever, the wide disillusionment and frustration plaguing both the West Bank and Gaza is giving way to apathy.

BERLIN, GERMANY - APRIL 19: Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas speaks to the media with German Chancellor Angela Merkel (not pictured) following talks at the Chancellery on April 19, 2016 in Berlin, Germany. Abbas is meeting with Merkel as well as other European leaders as well as Vladimir Putin of Russia in an effort to gain support for the Mideast peace process. Abbas is next scheduled to travel to New York to attend peace talks at the United Nations. (Photo by Sean Gallup/Getty Images)

Palestinians, Israelis harden positions ahead of UN summit

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas plans to shift from his traditional pragmatism and present hard-line positions in his speech at the upcoming UN General Assembly meeting.

Palestinian and South African officials pose in front of a giant statue of Nelson Mandela during its inauguration ceremony in the West Bank city of Ramallah on April 26, 2016.
Palestinians inaugurated the statue of Mandela donated by the South African city of Johannesburg to their political capital. The six-metre (20-foot) two-tonne bronze statue was a gift from Johannesburg with which Ramallah is twinned.

/ AFP / ABBAS MOMANI (Photo credit should read ABBAS MOMANI/AFP/Getty Images)

South Africa renews efforts to help unite Hamas, Fatah

Three groups are joining forces in hopes of ending the Palestinian division.

Why Israelis don't care about electricity agreement with PA

Israeli Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon was disappointed when Israelis showed little interest in and even expressed disapproval for the groundbreaking electricity agreement signed between Israel and the Palestinian Authority.

Palestinian man Saeed el-Aer (L) trains stray dogs with other boys on the property of the organisation he helped set up, the Sulala Society for Training and Caring for Animals, in Zahra, south of Gaza city July 17, 2016. Picture taken July 17, 2016. REUTERS/Ibraheem Abu Mustafa - RTSIUK4

Gazan personally finances rescue for stray animals

A Palestinian citizen has launched the first welfare society in the Gaza Strip for stray dogs and cats, as there is no government funding or official organization for attending to these animals.

Former Israeli President Shimon Peres delivers a statement to the media as he is discharged from a hospital near Tel Aviv, January 19, 2016. REUTERS/Baz Ratner/File Photo - RTSNKPV

Israeli-Arab MK sticks by statements bashing ailing Peres

Talking to Al-Monitor, Arab Knesset member Basel Ghattas explains why he slammed former President Shimon Peres, who is hospitalized and in critical condition.

Palestinian judges discuss a petition to suspend municipal elections, at the High Court office in the West Bank city of Ramallah September 8, 2016. REUTERS/Mohamad Torokman - RTX2ON46

Fight over Palestinian electoral lists gets technical

Fatah refuses to work with the Gaza courts to resolve the disqualification of some of its electoral lists by the Central Election Commission as officials struggle to find answers in legal texts.

Palestinians shop as a mannequin displaying a headscarf and robe is seen at a market ahead of the Eid al-Adha festival in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip September 23, 2015. Muslims across the world are preparing to celebrate the annual festival of Eid al-Adha or the Feast of the Sacrifice, which marks the end of the annual haj pilgrimage, by slaughtering goats, sheep, cows and camels in commemoration of the Prophet Abraham's readiness to sacrifice his son to show obedience to Allah. REUTERS/Ibraheem

Hajj is 'blessed season' for Gaza shop owners

Added expense and problems with transport are leading Gazans to buy hajj gifts from local markets rather than in Saudi Arabia.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas speaks during a news conference with Chancellor Angela Merkel (unseen) at the Chancellery in Berlin, Germany, April 19, 2016. REUTERS/Hannibal Hanschke - RTX2AOLJ

Why Palestinians aren't holding their breath for Moscow meeting

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has agreed to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Russia despite the latter’s rejection of the Palestinian preconditions.

A Palestinian teacher holds a sign during a protest demanding better pay and conditions, in the West Bank city of Ramallah March 7, 2016. For a month, more than 25,000 teachers in the West Bank have been on strike over pay and benefits, causing chaos for schools, pupils and parents, and prompting the Palestinian Authority to deploy military police on the streets of Ramallah. The sign reads, "If the sons of our people are in the streets, are the teachers' sons in palaces?". Picture taken March 7. REUTERS/Moh

Can Palestinian Authority cope with decline of international aid?

International aid to the Palestinian Authority fell by 70% over the last four years, significantly affecting the Palestinian government's budget, and consequently, the economy.

Gideon Remez, one of the Israeli researchers who said on Thursday that Soviet-era documents showed that Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas worked in the 1980s for the KGB, the now-defunct Russian intelligence agency, holds up a page he received after some documents smuggled out of Russia by a former KGB archivist were released for public research two years ago, with a line in Russian reading, " "Krotov", which is the derived from the Russian word for "mole" and, "Abbas, Mahmoud, born 1935 in Palestine, mem

What's behind Israeli report claiming Abbas was KGB spy?

Israeli researchers have accused Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas of having been a KGB agent, to wide criticism from Palestinians who see the claim as part of an Israeli smear campaign to get rid of Abbas.