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Palestine

December 28, 2025

Al Bīrah 8:47 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

Hamas scrambles for relevance in post-normalization Middle East

Egypt urges Palestinian reconciliation in midst of diplomatic surge, as Hamas keeps options open with Iran and Syria.

A picture taken on April 16, 2019 shows a general view of the Notre Dame of Jerusalem, a Christian guesthouse and restaurant for pilgrims, property of the pontifical Institute of Jerusalem. (Photo by AHMAD GHARABLI / AFP) (Photo credit should read AHMAD GHARABLI/AFP via Getty Images)

Pontifical Biblical Institute in Jerusalem reminds world of European presence in Holy City

The Jerusalem branche of the Rome-based Pontifical Biblical Institute has a museum that displays a Pharaonic mummy and baby’s bones in a jar, among other archaeological finds.

A general view taken on December 10, 2020 shows a crowded main square in Rafah, one day before a comprehensive lockdown was imposed on weekends in the southern Gaza Strip, as cases of infections with the coronavirus surged in the Palestinian coastal enclave. (Photo by SAID KHATIB / AFP) (Photo by SAID KHATIB/AFP via Getty Images)

Hamas forcibly expels residents from their homes in Rafah

The Hamas authorities in the Gaza Strip began a campaign to expropriate state-owned lands near the Rafah border crossing, as part of a project to expand the crossing, leaving many citizens homeless and jobless.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (R) shakes hands with Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry after giving a joint statement prior to their meeting at his Jerusalem office on July 10, 2016.
Shoukry met Netanyahu in Jerusalem for talks on reviving peace efforts with the Palestinians, in the first such visit in nearly a decade and the latest sign of warming ties.

/ AFP / GALI TIBBON (Photo credit should read GALI TIBBON/AFP via Getty Images)

Israel quiet as Egypt advances talks with Palestinians

Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi has not commented publicly about speaking with his Egyptian counterpart Sameh Shoukry, nor on the French-Egyptian initiative for a mini international peace conference.

A Palestinian man wearing a protective face mask as a preventive measure against the nivid coronavirus, walks inside a closed wedding venue in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, on March 22, 2020. - Authorities in Gaza today confirmed the first two cases of novel coronavirus, identifying them as Palestinians who had travelled to Pakistan and were being held in quarantine since their return.
The United Nations has warned that a COVID-19 outbreak in Gaza could be disastrous, given the high poverty rates and

2020 was a bad year for Gaza hotel-turned quarantine centers

Hotels in the Gaza Strip were unable to host New Year's Eve parties as they turned into quarantine centers due to the coronavirus pandemic, which has led them to incur great losses that bode ill for the sector.

palestian airlines fokker wikipedia.jpg

PA shuts down Palestinian Airlines, shuttering hopes for airport

The Palestinian Authority decides to shut down the Palestinian Airlines, which is seen as a symbol of sovereignty, citing financial burdens and maintenance costs of its only two aircrafts.

800-year-old school in Gaza gets face-lift

The Gaza Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities, the Gaza municipality and the Iwan Center for Cultural Heritage in Gaza launched an initiative with activists to restore an old school in the old city of Gaza City, with the aim to preserve the enclave’s heritage and raise awareness about the importance of culture among Palestinians.

New congresswoman criticizes Israel over vaccines for Palestinians

Illinois Democrat Marie Newman said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu should ensure that Palestinians in the West Bank are also vaccinated. The Palestinian Authority is reportedly exploring getting vaccines from Israel.

Palestinians wave national flags as they march in the streets of the occupied West Bank city of Ramallah, calling for the cessation of divisions between Fatah and Hamas and the unification of the West Bank and Gaza Strip, on January 12, 2019. (Photo by ABBAS MOMANI / AFP) (Photo credit should read ABBAS MOMANI/AFP via Getty Images)

Will latest effort to mend Fatah-Hamas ties succeed?

Palestinian reconciliation takes another step forward with an exchange of letters.

Houthis, Hamas merge diplomacy around prisoner releases

Hamas welcomes a Houthi initiative to release two Saudi airmen the Houthis captured in Yemen in exchange for Saudi Arabia freeing 60 Palestinian prisoners, including a Hamas leader and his son.

A Syrian watches an interview of Hassan Nasrallah, the head of Lebanon's militant Shiite Muslim movement Hezbollah, screened on Syria's official television channel Al-Ikhbariya on April 6, 2015 in Damascus. AFP PHOTO / STR (Photo credit should read -/AFP via Getty Images)

Iran, Hezbollah lead mediation to restore Hamas-Damascus ties

Mediation efforts led by Iran and Hezbollah to restore ties between Hamas and the Syrian regime seem to be making progress amid rising tensions with their mutual rivals in the region.

Was UAE behind Israeli decision to allow Palestinian farmers access to Jordan Valley?

For the first time in 46 years, Israel allowed Palestinians to enter al-Qa'oun valley in the northern Jordan Valley to cultivate their land. Despite the Palestinian Authority’s statement that this was in implementation of a judicial decision, Al-Monitor received information about Emirati-Israeli understandings that led to this action.

United Arab Emirates