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Palestine

September 26, 2026

Ramallah 2:58 pm

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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and French President Emmanuel Macron arrive to hold a joint press conference in Jerusalem, Oct. 24, 2023.

Analysis

After France's settlement ban, Israel sees no warming of ties with Macron government

Israeli diplomats say France’s decision to ban imports from West Bank settlements has brought bilateral relations to an unprecedented low point.

Rina Bassist

By Rina Bassist

In Paris, reporting on Israeli politics and European affairs

Jewish settlement of Kedumim, in the West Bank

Analysis

Europe’s West Bank trade ban fires warning shot at Israel’s economy

Weeks before key Israeli elections, a dozen nations announced new trade restrictions targeting settlements in the West Bank, delivering a sharp rebuke to Israel's government that could presage additional international pressure.

Samuel Wendel

By Samuel Wendel

In Washington, DC, reporting on regional business and tech

Chaim Goldberg / AFP via Getty Images

Netanyahu threatens to sue Haaretz for reporting UAE warned Israel of Oct. 7 attack

The Emirati president reportedly warned that a planned attack could cause bloodshed, destabilize the region and threaten the Abraham Accords.

Palestinians hold up the green Hamas flag during a protest by supporters of both the Fatah and Hamas movements, as they rally in support of the Palestinian people following Friday noon prayers in Hebron, occupied West Bank, Nov. 3, 2023.

Majority of Palestinians lose trust in Hamas and Fatah, new poll finds

A recent poll by a Palestinian survey center found that trust in Palestinian factions has declined, amid stalled efforts to implement the Gaza peace plan and escalating settler violence in the West Bank.

Latest News

12 countries including France, UK, Canada end trade with West Bank settlements

West Bank settlements

Katz warns PA against 'Oct. 7-style' attack as West Bank violence rises

Israeli soldiers take positions during a military operation in the town of Qalqiya, in the occupied West Bank, Dec. 4, 2025.

Analysis

LORA missile test reveals limits of Germany’s Gaza criticism of Israel

A woman walks past a model of a Lora missile, Israel's long range artillery missile at the Israel defence stall at the international DefExpo 2008 defence fair, in New Delhi on February 16, 2008. India kicked off South Asia's largest defence fair, with hundreds of global weapons firms offering their latest hardware to the country's technology-hungry military. About 450 weapons companies from 30 countries are present at the four-day "DefExpo" in New Delhi, with several big-ticket announcements expected. AFP P

Rina Bassist

By Rina Bassist

In Paris, reporting on Israeli politics and European affairs

Analysis

As Israeli settler attacks mount, Trump avoids public pressure on Netanyahu

Israeli soldiers arrive in the village of Qusra, south of Nablus in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, which has faced escalating Israeli settler violence over the past month, on Aug. 29, 2026.

Elizabeth Hagedorn

By Elizabeth Hagedorn

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

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

TO GO WITH AFP STORY BY PATRICK MOSER
Israeli Arab waiter Majed Ibrahim carries various types of hummus dishes at a restaurant in the town of Abu Gosh near Jerusalem on January 4, 2010. At the risk of whipping up discord with Lebanon, the Arab-Israeli village is planning to make the world's biggest hummus, a humble chickpea dip that stirs passions across the Middle East. AFP PHOTO/Menahem KAHANA (Photo credit should read MENAHEM KAHANA/AFP/Getty Images)

Upscale Palestinian cuisine flourishes in Israel

Top Israeli Arab chefs have dispelled the notion of Palestinian cuisine being simple and cheap, serving traditional dishes, some with innovative twists, in enjoyable surroundings.

Newly appointed Palestinian judge Khouloud Al-Faqih speaks during an interview with Reuters in the West Bank city of Ramallah February 23, 2009. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas ordered last week the appointment of the first two female judges in the Palestinian Authority, one of them Al-Faqih. Picture taken February 23, 2009.
REUTERS/Fadi Arouri (WEST BANK) - RTXC0RD

Palestinian female judges gavel down taboos

Palestinian attorney Kholoud al-Faqih defied all norms when she decided to become the first woman to occupy the position of Sharia judge, breaking a long-standing taboo in Arab societies.

A Palestinian fighter from the Izz el-Deen al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of the Hamas movement, is seen inside an underground tunnel in Gaza August 18, 2014. A rare tour that Hamas granted to a Reuters reporter, photographer and cameraman appeared to be an attempt to dispute Israel's claim that it had demolished all of the Islamist group's border infiltration tunnels in the Gaza war. Picture taken August 18, 2014. To match Exclusive MIDEAST-GAZA/TUNNELS REUTERS/Mohammed Salem (GAZA - Tags:

Hamas focuses on rebuilding tunnels as Gazans suffer

Hamas' focus on reconstructing its tunnel infrastructure and rearming, while ignoring the lack of housing in Gaza and the general misery of Gaza residents, points to the military wing's dominance in the organization.

10 Middle East artists to watch

Many female artists in the Middle East and North Africa are redefining their mediums.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (R) addresses a joint meeting of Congress in the House Chamber on Capitol Hill in Washington, March 3, 2015. REUTERS/Joshua Roberts (UNITED STATES - Tags: POLITICS) - RTR4RWM9

Will US-Israel rift benefit Palestinians?

The Palestinians hope that the growing rift between the Obama administration and the Netanyahu government will signal to Europeans and others that the United States might be less forceful in diplomatically defending Israel.

MITZPE RAMON, ISRAEL - OCTOBER 16: (ISRAEL OUT) Israeli Prison Service bus carrying Palestinians prisoners leaves Nafha prison on October 16, 2011. in Mitzpe Ramon, Israel. IDF soldier Gilad Shalit is to be freed from 5 years of captivity in Gaza in an exchange deal which will see the release of 477 Palestinian prisoners in an initial deal with another 550 to freed after the return of Shalit. (Photo by Lior Mizrahi/Getty Images)

Palestinian protests in Ramon Prison set to spread

Palestinian prisoners have staged protests in Ramon Prison in Israel, and during March protests are expected to expand to other prisoners and the broader Palestinian community.

Hamas policewomen take part in a graduation ceremony for members of Hamas security forces in Gaza City December 17, 2012. REUTERS/Suhaib Salem (GAZA - Tags: POLITICS MILITARY) - RTR3BO8W

Women's roles in Hamas slowly evolve

The Hamas movement is keen to encourage women’s participation in military and social life, depending on women to mobilize support.

Life in Gaza gives Palestinian satirists plenty of material

Gazans have embraced satirical videos and publications that reflect the Gaza Strip's economic, social and political crises.

Palestinian students cross the street as members of Palestinian security forces loyal to Hamas march in Gaza City February 10, 2015.
REUTERS/Mohammed Salem (GAZA - Tags: MILITARY EDUCATION SOCIETY) - RTR4OYIN

Hamas denies abuse, detainment of Fatah leaders

Several Fatah leaders told Al-Monitor that the Hamas-affiliated security apparatuses in Gaza arrested them and violated their basic human rights, which Hamas rushed to deny.

A Palestinian woman, hoping to cross into Egypt, holds her son as they wait with others at the Rafah crossing between Egypt and the southern Gaza Strip August 12, 2014. Under Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, Cairo has secured closures on the Gaza border, increasing economic pressure on Hamas from a long-running Israeli blockade. Talks to end a month-long war between Israel and Islamist militants in Gaza have made no progress so far, an Israeli official said on Tuesday, as a 72-hour ceasefire in the

Asmaa al-Ghoul on why she writes

Al-Monitor contributor Asmaa al-Ghoul shares her thoughts on journalism.

A Palestinian boy looks on near burning tyres during cashes with Israeli soldiers following a protest against the near-by Jewish settlement of Qadomem, in the West Bank village of Kofr Qadom near Nablus September 19, 2014. REUTERS/Abed Omar Qusini (WEST BANK - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST CONFLICT TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY) - RTR46XNM

PA clamps down on security amid unrest in West Bank

Recent clashes in the West Bank between security officials and protesters have triggered Palestinian fears that stability will be difficult to restore.

Palestinian boy Mohammed Wahdan, whom medics said was wounded in Israeli shelling, is held by his aunt as he receives psychological care at Shifa hospital in Gaza City August 14, 2014. In a ward at Shifa, Gaza's largest hospital, child therapist Rabeea Hamouda is trying to elicit a response from two small brothers, Omar and Mohammed, aged three and 18 months, hoping for some words or perhaps a smile. For seven straight minutes the children, peppered with burns and shrapnel wounds sustained in Israeli shelli

Rasha Abou Jalal on why she writes

Al-Monitor contributor Rasha Abou Jalal shares her thoughts on journalism.