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

Palestine cover image

Palestine

December 30, 2025

Ramallah 12:19 pm

12°C

Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images

At Mar-a-Lago, Netanyahu seeks Iran strike approval while Trump presses Gaza plan

US President Donald Trump is expected to push Israel to enter the second phase of his Gaza peace plan, while Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will focus on securing Trump’s approval for a potential strike on Iran’s ballistic missile program.

Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images

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

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

A Palestinian carries food supplies at an aid distribution center run by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), in Al-Shati refugee camp in Gaza City September 25, 2019. REUTERS/Mohammed Salem - RC16E05A7E10

Intel: Trump administration claims Palestinian aid not reaching people who need it

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, explaining the Donald Trump administration’s decision to provide $5 million in COVID-19 assistance to the Palestinians in place of $75 million appropriated overall, said US economic and humanitarian aid for the West Bank and Gaza is being cut in general because it was not reaching the people.

Workers disinfect the Wavel camp (also known as the Jalil Camp) for Palestinian refugees in Lebanon's eastern Bekaa Valley, on April 22, 2020, after the UN announced the first confirmed case of coronavirus there. - The patient, a Palestinian refugee from Syria, has been taken to the Lebanese state-run Rafiq Hariri hospital in Beirut, UNRWA, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, said in a statement on April 21. More than 2,000 people live in Wavel, according to statistics released by Lebanons' government a

First confirmed coronavirus case in Lebanon Palestinian refugee camp

A Palestinian refugee woman tested positive for the coronavirus in Lebanon amid fears that the conditions in such camps could lead to an outbreak.

Coronavirus brings more suffering to Gaza’s women

With the suspension of the Sharia courts’ work due to the confinement in the Gaza Strip, many Palestinian women have been struggling to get their rights to custody and alimony, while many have been separated from their children.

GAZA CITY, GAZA - MARCH 20: Doctor Mohammed Guneym preaches Friday sermon on precautions against coronavirus (Covid-19) during Friday prayer at Great Mosque of Gaza also known as the Great Omari Mosque in Gaza City, Gaza on March 20, 2020. (Photo by Ali Jadallah/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

Hamas quietly allows Gaza doctors to get COVID-19 training in Israel

Gazan medical staff received training inside Israel on the novel coronavirus in unpublicized coordination between Hamas and Israel.

Gantz-Netanyahu deal legitimizes annexation

The possibility of further Israeli annexation of occupied territories has received legitimacy from the Israeli government, pushing even further into the abyss the slight possibility of a two-state solution.

A healthcare worker checks the body temperature of Palestinian workers returning from Israel, amid concerns over the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), outside the Israeli-controlled Meitar checkpoint, near Hebron in the Israeli-occupied West Bank April 7, 2020. Picture taken April 7, 2020. REUTERS/Mussa Qawasma - RC280G9AG6MG

Coronavirus reveals Palestinian economic dependence on Israel

The coronavirus crisis reveals the dependence of the Palestinian economy on its Israeli counterpart, especially with regard to workers and the sources of income of thousands of families in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

Palestinians claim COVID-19 efforts blunted by Israel in East Jerusalem

Some East Jerusalemites accuse Israel of not being forthcoming about the spread of the coronavirus in East Jerusalem and criticize it for shutting down local efforts against the virus that are backed by the Palestinian Authority.

NABLUS, March 30, 2020 .Palestinian chef Hasan Titi, 56, helps his wife Samar Titi in cooking and preparing homemade meal inside their house kitchen in the West Bank city of Nablus, March 30, 2020. Normally, it's the women who do the cooking and kitchen chores in Palestine. However, this is changing amid a lockdown imposed to prevent the spread of COVID-19, or novel coronavirus.
TO GO WITH "Feature: Coronavirus lockdown brings Palestinian men into kitchen" (Photo by Ayman Nobani/Xinhua via Getty) (Xinhua/

Palestinian men take up cooking in quarantine

Forced to stay at home due to precautions against COVID-19, some Palestinian men are learning to cook for the first time in their lives.

A healthcare worker checks the body temperature of Palestinian workers returning from Israel, amid concerns over the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), outside the Israeli-controlled Meitar checkpoint, near Hebron in the Israeli-occupied West Bank April 7, 2020. Picture taken April 7, 2020. REUTERS/Mussa Qawasma - RC280G9AG6MG

Trump’s COVID-19 aid for Palestinians, Yemenis falls short of Congress’ directives

The Donald Trump administration’s new COVID-19 aid for Palestinians and Yemenis represents a tiny portion of the funding Congress actually appropriated to help both peoples.

How is Palestine dealing with added hunger, poverty from COVID-19?

Thousands of new Palestinian households fell below the poverty line due to COVID-19 which is an additional challenge to the government’s efforts in the fight against the epidemic and ramifications on the community.

GAZA CITY, GAZA - MARCH 19: Palestinians gather for a demonstration to demand coronavirus (COVID-19) protection for Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails, in Gaza City, Gaza on March 19, 2020. (Photo by Ali Jadallah/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

Saving Palestinian prisoners’ lives requires releasing the elderly and sick

As Palestinians commemorate Prisoners' Day on April 17, the biggest demand appears to be how to safeguard prisoners from the threat of the coronavirus pandemic.

GAZA, PALESTINE - 2020/03/23: A civil worker disinfectants the UNRWA school as a preventive measure against the spread of Coronavirus in Khan Yunis.
Test results confirm two cases in Gaza hence recording the first cases of COVID-19 in the Hamas-controlled strip. (Photo by Yousef Masoud/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)

Hamas prepares for COVID-19 outbreak to worsen

Hamas in the Gaza Strip is facing major challenges in dealing with the coronavirus pandemic due to the scarcity of financial and medical resources, despite strict containment measures.