Morocco - AL-Monitor: The Middle Eastʼs leading independent news source since 2012

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City Name

Rabat

Morocco

December 5, 2025

Rabat 3:53 pm

19°C

The Civil Guard, in a joint operation with the Royal Moroccan Gendarmerie, has dismantled a criminal organization dedicated to smuggling hashish into Spain using drones, on Nov. 11, 2025.

Spain, Morocco dismantle drone network flying hashish across border

Spanish authorities seized more than 150 kilograms of hashish and more than 320,000 euros ($371,820) in cash in searches across southern Spain.

ABDEL MAJID BZIOUAT/AFP via Getty Images

Analysis

Morocco's UN-backed Western Sahara plan offers investors some reassurance

Last week, the UN Security Council voted in favor of a resolution backing Rabat’s plan for Western Sahara, describing autonomy under Moroccan sovereignty as the “most feasible solution” to the 50-year disagreement over the disputed territory.

In Bristol, reporting on regional business, climate change, AI, tech

A man stands atop the kasbah of Ait-Ben-Haddou.

Culture

From Hollywood set to heritage hub: Morocco’s $75M bet on Ouarzazate

Once the Hollywood of the Sahara, Morocco’s desert city is betting on sustainable tourism to reclaim its place on the map.

Brahim Ghali, President of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SARD) and Secretary-General of the Polisario front, salutes the flag of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SARD) ahead of a Polisario congress at the refugee camp of Dakhla, which lies some 170km to the southeast of the Algerian city of Tindouf, on January 13, 2023.

UN Security Council backs Moroccan plan for disputed Western Sahara

The resolution boycotted by Algeria says the Moroccan plan "could constitute a most feasible solution" to the conflict.

Latest News

Feature

Trump eyes Algeria-Morocco rift over Western Sahara in latest peace bid

Camels roam next to wind turbines that will supply power to a desalination plant under construction in Dakhla in the disputed Western Sahara, mostly controlled by Morocco, on May 26, 2025.

Elizabeth Hagedorn

By Elizabeth Hagedorn

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

Saudi investment minister visits Morocco, Senegal on Africa trade drive

Saudi Investment Minister Khalid Al Falih with Moroccan Industry Minister Riad Mezzour

Culture

Marrakech's African Contemporary Art Museum reinvents itself two years after quake

Installation view of CONVERGE in Seven Contours, One Collection at MACAAL © Ayoub El Bardii.

Morocco arrests 400+ as youth protesters demand government steps down

ABDEL MAJID BZIOUAT/AFP via Getty Images

Naima Morelli

In Rome, reporting on Middle East culture

Francisco Serrano

In Lisbon, reporting on North Africa business

Chief economist at Israel's Ministry of Finance Shira Greenberg (L) and Morocco's Director General Of the Customs and Indirect Tax Administration at the Ministry of Economy and Finance Nabil Lakhdar exchange a signed agreement at the Royal Palace in the Moroccan capital Rabat on December 22, 2020, on the first Israel-Morocco direct commercial flight, marking the latest US-brokered diplomatic normalisation deal between the Jewish state and an Arab country. - (Photo by FADEL SENNA / AFP) (Photo by FADEL SENN

Moroccan officials arrive in Israel to reopen liaison office

An administrative Moroccan delegation arrived in Israel to reopen the liaison office following normalization of ties between the two countries.

TOPSHOT - Director General of Israel's Population and Immigration Agency Shlomo Mor-Yosef (L) and Minister Delegate to Morocco's Minister for Foreign Affairs Mohcine Jazouli sign an agreement at the Royal Palace in the Moroccan capital Rabat on December 22, 2020, on the first Israel-Morocco direct commercial flight, marking the latest US-brokered diplomatic normalisation deal between the Jewish state and an Arab country. (Photo by FADEL SENNA / AFP) (Photo by FADEL SENNA/AFP via Getty Images)

Fourth elections in Israel: Netanyahu’s Moroccan card

For Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, renewal of ties with Rabat means one thing: possible support of hundreds of thousands of Israelis of Moroccan origins.

Moroccans celebrate in front of the parliament building in Rabat on December 13, 2020, after the US adopted a new official map of Morocco that includes the disputed territory of Western Sahara. - Western Sahara is a disputed and divided former Spanish colony, mostly under Morocco's control, where tensions with the pro-independence Polisario Front have simmered since the 1970s. Morocco became the fourth Arab state this year, after the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Sudan, to announce it had agreed to norm

Kushner, Israeli delegation arrive in Morocco on first direct flight

Israeli and Moroccan officials are expected to sign the first of several accords cementing relations between the two countries.

A Moroccan man walks next to a Palestinian flag during a demonstration against the US Middle East peace plan in the capital Rabat on February 9, 2020. - Morocco has warming but quiet relations with Israel, although they do not enjoy formal diplomatic ties. Israel and Morocco opened "liaison" offices in each other's countries in the mid-1990s but Rabat closed them after an escalation of Palestinian-Israeli violence in 2000. (Photo by FADEL SENNA / AFP) (Photo by FADEL SENNA/AFP via Getty Images)

Why Palestinians found Moroccan normalization easier to take

Unlike Israel's normalization deals with the UAE, Bahrain and Sudan, the most recent one with Morocco caused little anger among Palestinians.

WASHINGTON, DC - SEPTEMBER 15: Special adviser to the president Jared Kushner (L) and Ivanka Trump arrive to the signing ceremony of the Abraham Accords on the South Lawn of the White House September 15, 2020 in Washington, DC. Witnessed by President Trump, Prime Minister Netanyahu signed a peace deal with the UAE and a declaration of intent to make peace with Bahrain. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)

White House's Kushner to visit Israel, Morocco following normalization agreement

Senior Trump administration adviser Jared Kushner will lead a US and Israeli delegation to Morocco next week.

Oman praises Israel-Morocco relations

Oman has yet to recognize Israel officially, despite speculation that the sultanate would do so.

Western Sahara media, activists criticize US decision to recognize Moroccan sovereignty

US President Donald Trump announced Thursday that the United States had accepted Morocco's claim to disputed Western Sahara and that Morocco and Israel were establishing full relations.

Moroccan Jews and Israeli Jewish tourists participate in a religious ceremony to observe the holiday of Sukkot (the Feast of the Tabernacles) at a synagogue in the "Mellah" Jewish quarter of the Medina in Marrakesh on October 13, 2017.
The once teeming Jewish area of Moroccan tourist gem Marrakesh is seeing its fortunes revived as visitors including many from Israel flock to experience its unique culture and history. / AFP PHOTO / FADEL SENNA (Photo credit should read FADEL SENNA/AFP via Getty Images

Normalization with Morocco warms Israeli hearts

Unlike the normalization deals with Bahrain and with the United Arab Emirates, the imminent deal between Israel and Morocco will be built on centuries of common history and heritage.

TOPSHOT - US President Donald Trump looks on during a ceremony presenting the Presidential Medal of Freedom to wrestler Dan Gable in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC on December 7, 2020. (Photo by SAUL LOEB / AFP) (Photo by SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images)

Trump announces Israel-Morocco normalization deal

Under the deal, the United States will also recognize disputed Western Sahara as Moroccan territory.

A United Nations car drives past the Mechouar square on May 14, 2013 in Laayoune, the capital of Moroccan-controlled Western Sahara. Six Sahrawi activists arrested this month after pro-independence protests in Western Sahara said they were tortured by Moroccan police and made to sign confessions, Amnesty International charged on May 16, 2013. AFP PHOTO /FADEL SENNA / AFP / FADEL SENNA (Photo credit should read FADEL SENNA/AFP via Getty Images)

Jordan plans consulate in Western Sahara amid flareup

The Jordanian consulate will reportedly be located in Laayoune, the largest city in the disputed region.

Members of the Polisario Front stand guard during a visit of the United Nations chief on March 5, 2016, in Bir-Lahlou, in the disputed territory of Western Sahara, situated 220 kilometres (137 miles) southwest of the Algerian town of Tindouf.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon, who met Polisario Front leaders including its Secretary General, said he would "spare no effort" in trying to find a solution to the Western Sahara issue. / AFP / Farouk Batiche (Photo credit should read FAROUK BATICHE/AFP via G

Western Sahara conflict tests Turkey-Algeria ties

Turkey’s continued cold war with the Saudi bloc is adding fuel to the brewing conflict in Western Sahara between Algeria and Morocco.

Intel: Morocco signs 10-year military cooperation agreement with Pentagon

The United States is building up its alliances in North Africa amid tensions with Russia and China.