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July 7, 2026

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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

Michael Ciaglo/Getty Images

Who is Melat Kiros, the pro-Palestinian who unseated a longtime Democrat?

Kiros has taken a hard stance against Israel and opposes all aid to the country as pro-Palestinian candidates make further inroads in the party.

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.

Amnesty International accuses Israel of state-led ethnic cleansing in West Bank

In a new report, Amnesty International said that the escalating forced displacement and settlement expansion in the occupied West Bank is part of a state-led campaign to control the Palestinian territory.

Latest News

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.

With Hungary’s ICC U-turn, Israel loses a key European ally

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, (R) shakes hands with Viktor Orban, Hungary's prime minister, during a news conference on April 3, 2025 in Budapest, Hungary.

Who was Mohammed Odeh, Hamas military commander killed by Israel in Gaza?

Omar AL-QATTAA / AFP via Getty Images

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

MOHAMMED ABED/AFP via Getty Images

Two Palestinians killed in West Bank as Israel intercepts flying object from Gaza

Two Palestinians were killed by Israeli forces in the West Bank on Monday as Israeli warplanes intercepted an object flying over the Gaza Strip.

Israeli police officers stand on a rooftop near Al-Aqsa Mosque.

Israel eases Palestinian entry restrictions to Al-Aqsa ahead of Ramadan

With the Muslim month of Ramadan and the Jewish Passover week holiday overlapping this year, the issue of visits to the Temple Mount/Haram al-Sharif compound gets more complicated than usual.

Israeli security forces patrol the town of Huwara following a shooting attack on an Israeli vehicle in the area, West Bank, March 19, 2023.

US-Israeli citizen injured in West Bank as parties meet in Egypt to de-escalate

A second Israeli-Palestinian-American-Egyptian-Jordanian meeting took place on Sunday, with all parties pledging to take measures to de-escalate tensions in Jerusalem and the West Bank, ahead of Ramadan and Passover.

Bezalel Smotrich, Israeli far-right lawmaker and leader of the Religious Zionism party, speaks during a rally with supporters, Sderot, Israel, Oct. 26, 2022.

In Paris, Israel’s Smotrich says Palestinian people don't exist, calls them 'fictitious'

Addressing far-right French Jews at a conference, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich dismissed the existence of the Palestinian people, claiming he and his forefathers were the “real Palestinians.”

Israeli armored military vehicles and humvees patrol along the border with Lebanon near the northern kibbutz of Bar'am, Israel, March 15, 2023.

Hezbollah, Hamas seek to exploit Israel's internal weakness to attack

The security incident last Monday near the border with Lebanon worries the IDF, as Hezbollah tries to exploit the ongoing crisis in Israel.

Israeli soldiers search for suspects during an operation near the Jit junction west of Nablus in the occupied northern West Bank on March 12, 2023. - Israeli forces shot dead three Palestinian gunmen after they fired at troops near Nablus, the army announced early in the moring. Palestinian medical and security sources had no information on the event. (Photo by jaafar ashtiyeh / AFP) (Photo by JAAFAR ASHTIYEH/AFP via Getty Images)

Israelis, Palestinians to meet in Egypt in bid to lower tensions before Ramadan

With Ramadan only days away, Israel, the Palestinians, the United States, Egypt and Jordan fear that West Bank tensions could explode.

Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh (front) flashes the victory gesture upon arriving for a meeting with representatives of other Palestinian factions at the Palestinian embassy in Lebanon's capital Beirut on September 3, 2020, in rare talks on how to respond to such accords and to a Middle East peace plan announced by Washington this year. - The meeting in Beirut is joined by video conference with talks in Ramallah between Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas and representatives of Palestinian factions there. Haniyeh

Hamas says leadership visited Russia, met Sergey Lavrov

A Hamas official has revealed that his movement "recently" visited Moscow and warned that the group's "patience is running out" with Israel.

Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images for Freedom House

MidEast freedom rankings: Syria worst, Tunisia in decline, says Freedom House

Syria remains to be the least and Israel the best performing country when it comes civil and political freedoms while the biggest one-year decline has been observed in Tunisia.

Barbara Leaf (L), US Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs, and Dana Stroul (C), US Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defence (DASD) for the Middle East, join a media roundtable in Kuwait City on October 19, 2022. (Photo by YASSER AL-ZAYYAT / AFP) (Photo by YASSER AL-ZAYYAT/AFP via Getty Images)

US will 'protect' its technology against China theft in Middle East: Leaf

Barbara Leaf, top Middle East official at the State Department told Al-Monitor that the Syrian government is participating in the drug trade, and blamed Iran for the failure of the nuclear deal.

A sneak peak from season two of Khateera’s Smatouha Menni which is expected to release in March 2023.

Culture

Arab women's group 'Khateera' dares to defy, one narrative at a time

Khateera’s content ranges from misconceptions about women’s intelligence in society and women's unpaid labor, to heavier topics such as sexual rights and honor killings, toxic masculinity and the shame around periods in Middle East society.

MOHAMMED ABED/AFP via Getty Images

Israel-Gaza border sizzles in wake of West Bank escalation

A rocket fired from Gaza toward Israel during the night and an explosive device that went off early in the morning have interrupted the relative calm in the region.

JAAFAR ASHTIYEH/AFP via Getty Images

Israeli troops kill six Palestinians in Jenin as West Bank violence escalates

A few hours only after settlers rioted again in the village of Huwara, Israeli soldiers raided the West Bank city of Jenin, killing six people, including the assailant who murdered a week ago Israeli brothers Halel and Yagel Yaniv.