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Palestine

December 28, 2025

Ramallah 12:23 am

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Analysis

Gaza realities test Trump’s 2025 Middle East ambitions

During its first year, the second Trump administration confronted wars in Gaza and Sudan, forged new ties with Syria and grappled with the growing nuclear threat from Iran.

Elizabeth Hagedorn

By Elizabeth Hagedorn

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

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu participates in a joint news conference with US President Donald Trump (not seen) in the State Dining Room at the White House on Sept. 29, 2025, in Washington.

Analysis

In 2025, Netanyahu saved his coalition but stalled on Gaza, Iran, Lebanon

With 2025 ending, Israelis are frustrated over Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s refusal to fully end the Gaza war, solve the Hezbollah problem, reach a deal with Syria or find a way to constructively impact talks on the Iranian nuclear program.

Rina Bassist

By Rina Bassist

In Paris, reporting on Israeli politics and European affairs

US President Donald Trump speaks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the Israeli parliament, the Knesset, in Jerusalem on Oct. 13, 2025.

Analysis

Trump has upper hand over Netanyahu, but is it enough for Gaza?

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been stalling on the implementation of the second phase of President Donald Trump’s Gaza plan, but at the end of the day, Trump has much more leverage over Netanyahu.

Rina Bassist

By Rina Bassist

In Paris, reporting on Israeli politics and European affairs

Latest News

Maersk resumes Red Sea passage after two-year halt amid easing Houthi threat

A ship sails along Egypt's Suez Canal near Ismailia, April 16, 2025.

Facing Israeli pushback, Turkey recalibrates public messaging on Gaza force

Saeed Jaras / Middle East Images / AFP via Getty Images

Analysis

Trump's Syria envoy Barrack tests Israel's patience as Netanyahu pushes back

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (R) meets with US special envoy Tom Barrack, Jerusalem, Dec. 15 2

In Tel Aviv, reporting on national security, Israeli politics, defense

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

Gaza launches vaccination drive amid low turnout

The Palestinian Ministry of Health in the Gaza Strip, in cooperation with the World Health Organization and UNRWA, launched the first phase of coronavirus vaccination for the residents of the Gaza Strip after receiving 22,000 doses of vaccines from Russia and the United Arab Emirates.

Gaza welcomes child conceived through smuggled sperm from Israeli prisons

A Palestinian family in the Gaza Strip has welcomed the birth of a child born through IVF after the sperm of his father who is detained in Israeli prisons was smuggled.

Following presidential decree, Hamas releases 45 Fatah prisoners

Ahead of the highly anticipated Palestinian general elections, President Mahmoud Abbas issued a decree that called for the respect of public freedoms and the release of all prisoners of conscience.

Palestinian Christians to get at least 7 seats in legislative elections

President Mahmoud Abbas issues a decree to allocate at least seven seats in the next Palestinian Legislative Council to Christian citizens in a move that recognizes the importance of Palestine's dwindling Christian community.

One of the several burial chambers of the Tombs of the Kings, owned and administered by the French Consulate of Jerusalem, is pictured on December 28, 2018 in East Jerusalem. - The ancient site, which is considered the grandest burial compound in the holy city and has been closed for years, includes a sophisticated burial cave that has a mechanism for sealing the entrance by means of a stone that rotates on a hinge. (Photo by THOMAS COEX / AFP) (Photo credit should read THOMAS COEX/AFP via Getty Imag

France maintains order as visitors flock to Jerusalem's Tombs of the Kings

A 2,000-year-old funerary compound in Jerusalem has been marked by controversy since its reopening to the public in 2019.

Palestinians wait to receive doses of the the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 coronavirus vaccine provided by Israel's Magen David Adom medical services at Qalandia checkpoint on the crossing between the West Bank city of Ramallah and Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem, on February 23, 2021. - Israel said its "limited" supply of unused coronavirus vaccines would be sent to the Palestinians and several countries, with Honduras, which plans to move its embassy to Jerusalem, reportedly on the list. The world leader in va

Israel hatches plan to vaccinate Palestinian workers

Israel’s Health Ministry is reportedly awaiting permission to use the country's stock of Moderna vaccines for Palestinians working in Israel.

An Egyptian security officer checks the travel document of a Palestinian woman returning home through the one gate that remained open in the newly erected border fence between Egypt and the southern Gaza Strip town of Rafah, 03 February 2008. Egyptian and Hamas forces sealed off the border between Gaza and Egypt today after reportedly agreeing to control the frontier, blown open nearly two weeks ago amid an Israeli blockade. AFP PHOTO/MAHMUD HAMS (Photo credit should read MAHMUD HAMS/AFP via Getty Images)

Gaza court revises women’s travel restrictions after backlash

Outrage erupted in the Gaza Strip after a judge issued a ruling banning unmarried women from traveling without the consent of a male guardian, yet a revised ruling doesn't go far enough, activists say.

Nasser al-Kidwa, a member of Fatah's Central Committee and the nephew of late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, speaks during a press conference in the West Bank City of Ramallah, on January 18, 2017, - Al-Qidwa, widely seen as a possible successor to Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas, held a news conference on the outgoing US administration of Barack Obama and Donald Trump's presidency. (Photo by Abbas MOMANI / AFP) (Photo credit should read ABBAS MOMANI/AFP via Getty Images)

Will Nasser al-Qudwa be the dark horse of Palestinian presidential race?

Nasser al-Qudwa seems to be emerging as the dark horse in the Palestinian election gambit. A look at his strategy for the Palestinian elections.

A Druze woman gets vaccinated against the COVID-19 coronavirus at the Kupat Holim Meuhedet clinic in the Druze village of Ein Quniya in the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights on January 13, 2021. (Photo by JALAA MAREY / AFP) (Photo by JALAA MAREY/AFP via Getty Images)

Report: Israel to purchase vaccines for Syria in prisoner exchange deal

According to foreign publications, Israel has agreed to purchase Russian Sputnik V coronavirus vaccines for Syria, as part of a Russia-mediated deal to release an Israeli woman who crossed the border into Syria.

Hamas flags stand on the roof of the house of Palestinian assailant Salah Barghouti after it was partially demolished by Israeli forces in the village of Kobar near Ramallah, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, on April 17, 2019. - Israeli forces destroyed the home of the Palestinian who was killed during his attempted arrest on suspicion of carrying out a December shooting. Seven people were wounded in the December 9 attack near the Israeli settlement of Ofra in the occupied West Bank, one of them a pregnan

Is Israel trying to keep Hamas from running in Palestinian elections?

The Israeli army has recently arrested dozens of Hamas cadres and leaders in the West Bank in the lead up to the Palestinian elections, which may affect Hamas’ leaders ability to mobilize the masses, launch electoral campaigns and persuade candidates to join their lists for fear of Israeli arrests.

Oldest water tunnel in Palestine yet to be fully explored

The Balama tunnel is the most ancient water tunnel discovered in Palestine, but it still needs to be fully explored so it can turn into a tourist attraction.

A Palestinian government employee receives a portion her his overdue salary at a post office in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on December 8, 2018, after the Hamas-run finance ministry had announced that the money would be distributed over the two days, with employees receiving 50 percent of their salaries. - Employees of the Hamas administration in the Gaza Strip began collecting their salaries for a second month on December 7, after Qatar pumped more money into the territory with Israel's blessings. The

Qatar eases salary crisis for Gaza’s civil servants

Qatar has increased its aid package to the besieged enclave and getting involved in the file of the Palestinian prisoners detained in Saudi Arabia.