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Palestine

December 28, 2025

Ramallah 4:53 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

Mohamed Aliwa, a Palestinian youth whose leg was amputated near the knee in 2018 after he was hit by Israeli army fire during protests along the fortified border separating the Gaza Strip from Israel, shows off his parkour skills despite his disability and while on crutches in Gaza City on January 4, 2021. - Parkour, an extreme sport also known as free-running, originated in France in the 1990s. Young people in the Gaza Strip have been practising parkour for years; bounding from ruin to ruin in an enclave p

With one leg, this Gazan parkour star crosses besieged enclave

Official authorities in the Gaza Strip do not recognize parkour as an official sport, but it has become the only breathing space for many young people in the enclave.

Egypt reopens border crossing with Gaza

The border between Egypt and the Palestinian territory was previously being opened only for a few days at a time but is now open indefinitely.

Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas attends an Arab League emergency meeting discussing the US-brokered proposal for a settlement of the Middle East conflict at the league headquarters in the Egyptian capital Cairo on February 1, 2020. - Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas announced on February 1 a cut of all ties with Israel and the United States, including security cooperation, days after Washington unveiled a controversial Middle East peace plan. Abbas spoke at an Arab League meeting in Cairo called after US

Palestinian factions meet in Cairo ahead of elections

Fatah, Hamas and several other Palestinian political parties participated in talks in the Egyptian capital about the upcoming elections in the Palestinian territories.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delivers a speech at the 5th Global Forum for Combating Anti-Semitism conference at the International Convention Center in Jerusalem, on May 12, 2015. AFP PHOTO / MENAHEM KAHANA (Photo credit should read MENAHEM KAHANA/AFP via Getty Images)

Netanyahu accuses ICC of anti-Semitism

Israel's prime minister lashed out at the International Criminal Court after it ruled that its jurisdiction includes the West Bank and Gaza Strip, pointing out that the court was created in part to protect the Jewish people.

Gaza counts Mamluk-era mosque among ancient treasures

Gaza’s venerable Al-Thafar Damri Mosque is a reminder of the prestigious history of the Islamic civilization during the Mamluk period.

PA begins virus vaccinations after receiving batch from Israel

The Palestinian Authority began vaccinating medical teams on Tuesday after the first batch of vaccines was delivered by Jerusalem.

A health worker administers a dose of the Pfizer-BioNtech COVID-19 vaccine at Clalit Health Services, in a gymnasium in the Israeli city of Petah Tikva, on February 1, 2021. - Israel's nationwide lockdown was extended to contain the coronavirus which has continued to spread rapidly as the country presses ahead with an aggressive vaccination campaign. (Photo by JACK GUEZ / AFP) (Photo by JACK GUEZ/AFP via Getty Images)

Israel provides COVID-19 vaccine doses for Palestinian health-care workers

Faced with international criticism, and also for its own interest of curbing the spread of the coronavirus pandemic, Israel transferred to the Palestinian Authority a first shipment of 2,000 Pfizer vaccine doses.

St. George's Orthodox Church, Jenin - West Bank. This church was built on the site where Jesus was said to have cured ten lepers. Is considered as one of the oldest Christian holy places and church in the world.

One of the world’s oldest churches sits in small town in the West Bank

Burqin, a town in the northern West Bank, is home to one of the oldest churches in the world, the Church of the Ten Lepers, where Jesus Christ is said to have performed a miracle of healing lepers who were confined in the church’s cave.

Palestinians welcome end of US pressure but doubt Biden will press Israel

Palestinian officials welcomed recent moves by the Joe Biden administration in which he reversed some of the previous administration’s policies that were seen as strongly biased toward Israel.

Members of the Palestinian security forces stand guard outside the Legislative Council building in the occupied-West Bank town of Ramallah, on January 16, 202. - Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas announced yesterday dates for the first Palestinian elections in more than 15 years, setting legislative polls for May 22 and a July 31 presidential vote.
Abbas's Fatah party, which controls the Palestinian Authority based in the occupied West Bank, and the Hamas Islamists, who hold power in Gaza, have for years

Hamas leaders in West Bank warn of Israeli intimidation ahead of elections

Israeli intelligence warned a prominent Hamas leader in the West Bank against running in the Palestinian elections.

WASHINGTON, DC - MARCH 06: U.S. Ambassador to Israel David Friedman addresses the American Israel Public Affairs Committee's annual policy conference at the Washington Convention Center March 6, 2018 in Washington, DC. With thousands of delegates and attendees, the annual AIPAC conference is the largest gathering of the pro-Israel movement in the United States. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

PA vows to sue US ambassador over support to Israeli settlements

The Palestinian Authority has threatened to sue former US Ambassador to Israel David Friedman after he recognized the City of David settlement project in Jerusalem.

Criminal violence escalates among Arab communities in Israel

Violence is escalating among Arab communities in Israel, with no prospect for Israeli authorities stepping in to keep the peace.