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

Palestine cover image

Palestine

August 3, 2026

Ramallah 6:12 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

JERUSALEM, ISRAEL - SEPTEMBER 15: In this photo provided by the U.S. Department of State, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (C) shakes hands with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas (R) as U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton looks on at the Prime Minister's Residence September 15, 2010 in Jerusalem, Israel. Netanyahu and Abbas are deadlocked in peace negotiations over Israeli settlement building. (Photo by U.S. Department of State via Getty Images)

Can P5+1 formula work for Israel, Palestinians?

While Palestinian officials partially welcome the idea of a P5+1 framework for multilateral negotiations, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's associates count on the Americans to nip this idea in the bud.

Palestinians take part in a rally while the speech of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is being projected in the West Bank city of Ramallah November 29, 2012. The 193-nation U.N. General Assembly overwhelmingly approved a resolution on Thursday to upgrade the Palestinian Authority's observer status at the United Nations from "entity" to "non-member state," implicitly recognizing a Palestinian state. REUTERS/Mohamad Torokman (WEST BANK - Tags: POLITICS) - RTR3B1GJ

Is Abbas one vote from Security Council majority?

Faced with a diplomatic stalemate unprecedented since the Oslo Accord, the Palestinians have given up on negotiating with Israel, opting instead to go to the UN Security Council, where they appear on the verge of securing a majority.

A Palestinian employee paid by the Palestinian Authority shows money to the camera after withdrawing cash from an ATM machine outside a bank, in Gaza City June 11, 2014. Gaza's public sector union suspended protests on Wednesday that had paralysed the local economy and threatened the deal on a Palestinian unity government but said it would resume its action if its members were not promptly paid. The pay dispute involving some 40,000 public servants erupted last week shortly after Hamas, which has ruled Gaza

Gaza civil servants' salaries remain unpaid

The Palestinian national reconciliation government is suffering from a deficit that poses a challenge to the payment of the salaries of Gaza's government workers.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas addresses the 69th United Nations General Assembly at United Nations Headquarters in New York September 26, 2014. REUTERS/Mike Segar (UNITED STATES - Tags: POLITICS) - RTR47UHT

Netanyahu's rejectionist policies forced Abbas' hand

The current Israeli government does not want peace if the price is the evacuation of even a few settlements.

A signpost is seen in Giv'at HaMatos, a neighbourhood on the southern fringes of Jerusalem's city limits where according to anti-settlement watchdog Peace Now, Israel decided to move forward on a settler housing project slated for construction since 2012, October 2, 2014. President Barack Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met on Wednesday in Washington. Netanyahu's visit was clouded by word of Israel's approval of the planned construction of more than 2,600 settler homes in mostly Arab Eas

The facts about buying land in Jerusalem's latest settlement

Despite condemnation from the United States and other countries, Israel is forging ahead with its plan to disrupt the Palestinian urban continuum in the Jerusalem area, while preventing the sale of real estate to non-Jews.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas (R) meets Kuwait's Minister of Foreign Affairs Sheikh Sabah al Khalid al Sabah, in the West Bank city of Ramallah September 14, 2014. REUTERS/Mohamad Torokman (WEST BANK - Tags: POLITICS) - RTR465AY

Abbas pushes UN statehood plan forward

The Palestinian Authority views Benjamin Netanyahu's government as a hopeless case, so it plans to move forward on four tracks to achieve UN recognition of Palestine by 2015.

Palestinian amateur archaeologist Waleed Al-Aqqad shows his collection of ancient artefacts at his house, which he was turned into a museum, in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip April 3, 2011. Five thousand years of fascinating history lie beneath the sands of the Gaza Strip, from blinded biblical hero Samson to British general Allenby. Picture taken April 3, 2011. To match Feature PALESTINIANS-ARCHAEOLOGY REUTERS/Ibraheem Abu Mustafa (GAZA - Tags: ENTERTAINMENT) - RTR2LFVJ

Israeli war destroys Gaza antiquities

Owners of private museums that housed thousands of antiquities continue to survey the damage and looting committed by Israeli forces in the latest conflict.

Despite diplomatic stalemate, Livni clings to her seat

Despite being a strong public advocate for peace, Tzipi Livni remains a member of an Israeli government hostile to the diplomatic process with the Palestinians.

An Israeli soldier guards the West Bank Jewish settlement of Susia, south of Hebron May 19, 2014. Israeli lawmakers are pressing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to lift what they call unjustified secrecy over opaque - and rising - funding for settlements on West Bank land Palestinians want for a state. Picture taken May 19, 2014. REUTERS/Amir Cohen (WEST BANK - Tags: POLITICS BUSINESS MILITARY) - RTR3VEDO

Israel should create 'Marshall Plan' for Gaza

Israel should seek a regional alliance — supported by the European Union, Russia, United Nations and United States — to enable the creation of a Palestinian state and peace between Israel and most neighboring countries, and form a strong axis to fight radical Islam.

A man holds up a placard during a peace rally in Tel Aviv's Rabin Square August 16, 2014. The protesters were demonstrating in favour of a peaceful political agreement, to end the month-long conflict in Gaza, between the Israeli and Palestinian governments.
REUTERS/Baz Ratner (ISRAEL - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST) - RTR42O65

Abbas destroyed hopes of Israel's peace camp

Accusing Israel of "genocide" would not prompt the UN to grant President Mahmoud Abbas a Palestinian state on a silver platter, but it did destroy whatever was still left of the bridge between the two people.

The mother of Palestinian Shukri al-Assouli holds a picture of him with his wife and daughter at her house in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip September 18, 2014. Assouli, 33, set off from Alexandria on September 6 with his wife and two children on a ship with 400 migrants on board that was destined for Italy, but the vessel sank and he was rescued by a Japanese commercial ship and taken to Greece. His family is missing. A devastating war with Israel has swollen the number of Palestinians in the Gaza

Fatwas issued to stop illegal migration from Gaza

The families of Palestinians who died in the Mediterranean trying to migrate from Gaza are hoping to find answers about the fate of their loved ones.

A Palestinian man throws a flag atop the rubble of the home of Hamas Gaza leader Ismail Haniyeh, which Gaza's interior ministry said was hit by a missile fired by Israeli aircraft before dawn on Tuesday, causing damage but no casualties, in Gaza City July 29, 2014. Israel's military pounded targets in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said his country needed to be prepared for a long conflict in the Palestinian enclave, squashing any hopes of a swift end to 22 days of fightin

Gaza landlords refuse to rent to 'targeted families'

Landlords and residents in the Gaza Strip are reluctant to live next to families who were targeted by Israel in the recent war, fearing they may also become targets in any future confrontation.