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

Palestine cover image

Palestine

August 1, 2026

Ramallah 7:32 pm

29°C

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

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.

Latest News

Explainer

What does Hamas' move to dissolve its Gaza government mean?

Government Media Office Director Ismail Thawabteh (R) and Hamas spokesperson Hazem Qassem (L) speak at a press conference.

Interview

Ayman Odeh says Arab parties could back Bennett or Eisenkot to block Netanyahu

Joint List Party leader Ayman Odeh attends a meeting on April 5, 2021 in Jerusalem, Israel.

Ayman Odeh

Head of the Knesset's Hadash-Ta'al faction

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.

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

Gaza university launches programs for hearing-impaired

The Islamic University in Gaza has introduced two diploma programs for hearing-impaired students, a first in the territory.

A crater marks the centre of a courtyard at a United Nations-run school sheltering Palestinians displaced by an Israeli ground offensive, that police said was hit by an Israeli shell, in Beit Hanoun in the northern Gaza Strip July 24, 2014. At least 15 people were killed and many wounded on Thursday when Israeli forces shelled a U.N.-run school sheltering Palestinian refugees in northern Gaza, said a spokesman for the Gaza health ministry, Ashraf al-Qidra. Chris Gunness, spokesman for the main U.N. agency i

UNRWA takes no responsibility for rocket launchers in shelters

The Board of Inquiry report concerning the strikes at UNRWA facilities during Operation Protective Edge fails to address that the agency’s officials turned a blind eye to Hamas militants' use of the facilities as weapon depots.

A Palestinian man holds a child near the Erez crossing in Beit Hanun in the north of the Gaza Strip on January 13, 2015. The head of the Palestinian authority for civil affairs, Hussein al-Sheikh, said that Hamas have taken over the Palestinian side of the Erez Crossing, while the Islamic movement which controls the impoverished Palestinian territory has accused the Palestinian authority of stopping work at the crossing "without justification." AFP PHOTO / MOHAMMED ABED (Photo credit should read MOHA

Gazans pursue jobs in Israel despite danger

Difficult living conditions inside the Gaza Strip have pushed citizens to risk their lives to emigrate in search of work even without the proper Israeli permits.

Palestinians buy sandwiches from a restaurant in Gaza City on January 18, 2009. Taking advantage of a ceasefire, restaurants in the Gaza Strip re-opened their doors to customers at night for the first time since the beginning of Israel's offensive. Palestinian militants announced a one-week ceasefire today after Israel called a unilateral halt to the massive offensive on Gaza that has killed 1,300 people since beginning on December 27. AFP PHOTO OLIVIER LABAN-MATTEI (Photo credit should read OLIVIER LABAN-M

Fast food booms in Gaza

Gaza's restaurant sector is thriving as residents flock to one of the few available diversions.

Palestinians shop at a market in Gaza City July 26, 2014. Palestinians in the Gaza Strip poured into the streets on Saturday to recover their dead and stock up on food supplies after a 12-hour humanitarian truce agreed by Israel and Hamas took hold. Israel's military pledged to hold fire for 12 hours from 8 a.m. (0500 GMT) but press on searching for tunnels used by militants. The Islamist group Hamas, which dominates Gaza, said all Palestinian factions would abide by the brief truce. REUTERS/Ahmed Zakot (GA

Hamas imposes new taxes to meet payroll dues

In an attempt to raise the payrolls of employees appointed by the previous Hamas government, new taxes have been levied on goods and services in Gaza, angering importers and consumers.

U.S. Under Secretary for Political Affairs Wendy Sherman arrives at Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland, April 3, 2015. REUTERS/Brendan Smialowski/Pool - RTR4W06S

US restates positions as Israeli government takes shape

Senior Obama administration officials have reiterated the president's commitment in a 2009 Cairo speech to the two-state solution, reinforcing the US stance to Netanyahu's new government.

Palestinians walk out of Israel's Erez Crossing after leaving Gaza July 13, 2014. According to a spokesperson for Israel's Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT), about 850 Palestinians with dual citizenship left Gaza on Sunday at the request of their foreign embassies. Israeli naval commandos clashed with Hamas militants in a raid on the coast of the Gaza Strip on Sunday, in what appeared to be the first ground assault of a six-day Israeli offensive on the territory aimed at stopp

Israel's spy recruitment puts Gazans in tough spot

Gaza security services have been receiving complaints submitted by citizens who have been blackmailed or threatened by Israeli security and intelligence officers to work for them as informants.

Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal speaks during an interview with Reuters in Doha October 16, 2014. Meshaal on Thursday called on Muslims to defend the al-Aqsa mosque compound in Jerusalem, saying Israel was trying to seize the site, revered in Islam and Judaism and focus of a Palestinian uprising in 2000. REUTERS/Fadi Al-Assaad (QATAR - Tags: POLITICS RELIGION) - RTR4AH1B

Meshaal blocked major attack on Israel

Head of Hamas' Political Bureau Khaled Meshaal in July prevented a mega tunnel attack of infiltration and hostage abduction, planned by the military branch, fearing an unprecedented Israeli military reaction.

Residents queue up to receive humanitarian aid at the Palestinian refugee camp of Yarmouk, in Damascus March 11, 2015. The Palestinian Yarmouk refugee camp in Damascus, which is under siege by Syrian government forces fighting rebels, has received its first relief supplies since the beginning of December. The aid was delivered by the United Nations Relief and Works Organization (UNRWA) on March 5, the organisation said in a news release.
REUTERS/Stringer (SYRIA - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST CONFLICT) - RTR

PLO fails to address Yarmouk crisis

The crisis in the Yarmouk refugee camp, which emerged after the Islamic State took control of the camp, reveals the weakness of the PLO, as the responsible party to handle the situation of Palestinian refugees around the world.

Doctors speak to a Palestinian patient at Augusta Victoria Hospital in East Jerusalem November 6, 2012. Six hospitals in East Jerusalem face a financial crisis because the aid-dependent Palestinian Authority has been unable to meet payments for their services, jeopardizing the healthcare of thousands of West Bank patients. REUTERS/Baz Ratner (JERUSALEM - Tags: HEALTH POLITICS BUSINESS) - RTR3A2BZ

After 15 years some Palestinian doctors now drive into Israel

An Israeli decision permitting Palestinian doctors to drive across checkpoints and enter Israel comes as part of a series of Israeli moves to ease the travel restrictions.

Palestinian students supporting Hamas flash three fingers to draw attention to their electoral number during an election campaign for students' council at Palestine Polytechnic University in the West Bank city of Hebron April 20, 2015. REUTERS/Mussa Qawasma TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY - RTX19HXV

Hamas sweeps student council elections in West Bank

The victory of Hamas in the West Bank university elections seems to indicate that support there is waning for the Palestinian Authority and Fatah.

A woman holds a sign which reads "Boycott Israel" in front of symbolic coffins while attending a demonstration supporting Palestine, in Berlin August 1, 2014. Israel launched its Gaza offensive on July 8 in response to a surge of rocket attacks by Gaza's dominant Hamas Islamists. Hamas said that Palestinians would continue confronting Israel until its blockade on Gaza was lifted. REUTERS/Steffi Loos (GERMANY - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST) - RTR40YJG

Israeli High Court upholds anti-boycott law

By defending a law sanctioning calls for economic, cultural or academic boycotts involving Israel, the Israeli High Court endorsed extending Israeli law over the West Bank while also damaging freedom of speech.