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Palestine

August 4, 2026

Ramallah 2:54 am

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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

Palestinian President Yasser Arafat (L) walks out with U.S. ambassador to Israel Martin S. Indyk after their meeting at Arafat's office in Gaza Strip May 31. Indyk visited Gaza to discuss the last developments in the peace process in the Mideast.

AJ/ME - RTR4UKY

Kerry may tap Indyk as peace envoy

Diplomatic officials have told Al-Monitor that US secretary of State John Kerry may tap former Clinton Near East envoy Martin Indyk as his Israel-Palestine peace envoy.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry announces further peace talks at a news conference with Israel's Justice Minister Tzipi Livni (L) and Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat (R) at the State Department in Washington July 30, 2013. Israel and the Palestinians will seek to reach a peace agreement within nine months and negotiators will meet again within two weeks after holding a "positive" first round of talks, Kerry said on Tuesday. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst (UNITED STATES - Tags: POLITICS) - RTX1250P

Kerry aims for Israel-Palestine peace accord in 9 months

US Secretary of State John Kerry has said that both Israel and Palestine have agreed to put all issues necessary to achieve a final status agreement "on the table for negotiation."

United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon (R) looks on as Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas signs a guest book during the UN General Assembly at UN Headquarters in New York September 24, 2013. REUTERS/Eric Thayer (UNITED STATES - Tags: POLITICS) - RTX13XTE

In Palestine, resistance more popular than negotiations

In the aftermath of the Gaza war, with a strengthened Hamas and little hope of change from the Israeli government, the West Bank Palestinian leadership considers either working toward a transitory agreement with Israel or taking the UN route, with the backing of the European Union.

An Israeli soldier looks at the Gaza Strip through a monocular on the Israeli border 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/Amir Cohen (ISRAEL - Tags: POLITICS CONFLICT MILITARY TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY) - RTR41TE3

Both Israel and Hamas claim victory

Both sides, Israel and Hamas, will have to compromise as the Gaza campaign will be declared a draw.

A general view shows damage and burnt tents for Syrian refugees from the fighting between Lebanese army soldiers and Islamist militants in the Sunni Muslim border town of Arsal, in eastern Bekaa Valley August 7, 2014. Militant Islamists have mostly withdrawn from the Lebanese border town of Arsal, which they seized at the weekend, taking with them captive Lebanese soldiers, militant and security sources said on Thursday, as a truce to end the deadly battle appeared to hold. REUTERS/Hassan Abdallah (LEBANON

Is Lebanon next target of Islamic State?

Lebanon battles extremist armed groups; Egypt’s political isolation in Gaza; Iran’s shift on Hamas; family of Al-Monitor columnist killed by Israeli airstrike; lobbying series continues.

A Palestinian boy rides in a car driving past residential buildings in Beit Lahiya town, which witnesses said was heavily hit by Israeli shelling and air strikes during the Israeli offensive, in the northern Gaza Strip August 7, 2014. Mediators worked against the clock on Thursday to extend a Gaza truce between Israel and the Palestinians as the three-day ceasefire went into its final 24 hours. Israel has said it is ready to agree to an extension as Egyptian mediators pursued talks with Israelis and Palesti

Israeli media wakes up to Gaza destruction, criticism

With the war nearing its end, Israeli media features the destruction of Gaza, not only in numbers but in images, exposing the Israeli public to the suffering of the Palestinians and to harsh criticism voiced by European leaders.

Hezbollah supporters wave Lebanese, Syrian, Palestinian and Hezbollah flags as they listen to their leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah addressing his supporters during a rally to mark "Quds (Jerusalem) Day" in Beirut's southern suburbs July 25, 2014. REUTERS/Sharif Karim (LEBANON - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST RELIGION) - RTR4056R

Gaza war brings Hamas, Hezbollah closer

The war on Gaza offers an opportunity to renegotiate the strategic relationship between Hamas and Hezbollah, whose relationship has been severed over the past three years, providing major obstacles can be overcome.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry (L) and Martin Indyk leaves a briefing room at the State Department in Washington July 29, 2013. Kerry named former U.S. ambassador to Israel Indyk as his main envoy in Israeli-Palestinian talks starting in Washington later on Monday seeking "reasonable compromises" in the tough negotiations. REUTERS/Yuri Gripas (UNITED STATES - Tags: POLITICS) - RTX123XL

Peace talks to get underway, Kerry names Indyk envoy

Following informal talks between Israeli, Palestinian, and US diplomats, US Secretary of State john Kerry will host Israeli and Palestinian negotiators for an iftar dinner as the peace process resumes after a three year hiatus.

Vice president and director of the Foreign Policy Program at the Brookings Institution in Washington D.C. , Martin Indyk, speaks during the U.S.- Islamic World Forum in Doha June 9, 2013. REUTERS/Mohammed Dabbous (QATAR - Tags: RELIGION) - RTX10HPL

Kerry names Indyk peace envoy, calls for reasonable compromise

Secretary of State John Kerry has named former US envoy to Israel and Clinton peace negotiator Martin Indyk as his new special peace envoy.

U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice speaks at the White House in Washington, in this February 28, 2011 file photo. Rice is on a "short list" of possible U.S. candidates to head the World Bank, according to media reports on March 13, 2012. Picture taken February 28, 2011. REUTERS/Jim Young/Files (UNITED STATES - Tags: POLITICS BUSINESS) - RTR2ZA4O

Kerry, Rice brief Jewish, Arab American groups on Mideast peace talks

US Secretary of State John Kerry and National Security Adviser Susan Rice briefed Jewish and Arab American groups Thursday and Friday on the Israel-Palestine peace talks in an effort to bolster support.

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (R) and Defence Minister Moshe Yaalon attend a cabinet meeting in Tel Aviv July 31, 2014. Netanyahu, facing international alarm over a rising civilian death toll in Gaza, said on Thursday he would not accept any ceasefire that stopped Israel completing the destruction of militants' infiltration tunnels. Gaza officials say at least 1,372 Palestinians, most of them civilians, have been killed in the battered territory and nearly 7,000 wounded. Fifty-six Israeli soldi

Israel prepares for an international legal assault

Israel prepares to face the UN Commission and the private complaints that might be submitted against it in the aftermath of the Gaza incursion, compiling a "defense dossier" with the footage it gathered through the operation days and even testimonies of foreign journalists who covered Gaza.

Israeli soldiers look towards Gaza from Israel August 3, 2014. The fighting on Sunday pushed the Gaza death toll given by Palestinian officials to 1,726, most of them civilians. Israel has confirmed that 64 soldiers have died in combat, while Palestinian rockets have also killed three civilians in Israel. Israel began its air and naval offensive against Gaza on July 8 following a surge of cross-border rocket salvoes by Hamas and other guerrillas, later escalating the operation into ground incursions. RE

Poor Israelis suffer from war, support it anyway

In the Israeli paradox, those suffering from economic insecurity support the parties that promise to stand firm against security threats, while actually contributing to social inequality.