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

Palestine cover image

Palestine

July 30, 2026

Al Bīrah 4:10 am

23°C

Flags of Spain and Argentina

Culture

How Argentina-Spain World Cup final became debate over Israel, Palestine

Governments and fans alike have turned teams and players into symbols of political division.

Government Media Office Director Ismail Thawabteh (R) and Hamas spokesperson Hazem Qassem (L) speak at a press conference.

Explainer

What does Hamas' move to dissolve its Gaza government mean?

Hamas has agreed to hand civilian administration over to the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza, but the committee is not yet in Gaza and may not deploy until Hamas’ disarmament is resolved.

Joint List Party leader Ayman Odeh attends a meeting on April 5, 2021 in Jerusalem, Israel.

Interview

Ayman Odeh says Arab parties could back Bennett or Eisenkot to block Netanyahu

In an interview with Al-Monitor, head of the Arab-Israeli Hadash-Ta'al Knesset faction, Ayman Odeh, said his party is prepared to make difficult decisions to topple Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government.

Ayman Odeh

Head of the Knesset's Hadash-Ta'al faction

Latest News

Who is Melat Kiros, the pro-Palestinian who unseated a longtime Democrat?

Michael Ciaglo/Getty Images

Amnesty International accuses Israel of state-led ethnic cleansing in West Bank

Israeli security forces attempt to disperse Palestinians who had gathered to protest the reported burning of land by Israeli settlers in the Palestinian village of Idna, west of Hebron in the occupied West Bank, on June 5, 2026.

Ireland bans hard-line Israeli ministers Ben-Gvir, Smotrich: What to know

Israeli policemen surround Israeli Minister of National Security and far-right politician Itamar Ben-Gvir as he arrives outside the Damascus Gate of the walled Old City of Jerusalem on May 26, 2025, during a flag march for Jerusalem Day, commemorating the Israeli army's 1967 capture of the city's eastern sector during the Arab-Israeli war.

Record Israeli arms exports highlight global rush for air defense

People stand in front of the Arrow 3 shield system during an event of the German Air Force to declare the Initial Operating Capability for the Arrow Weapon System for Germany at the Annaburger Heide Air Base in Schoenewalde / Holzdorf, eastern Germany, on Dec. 3, 2025.

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

Masked Palestinian supporters of the Al-Nasir Salah Al-Din Brigades prepare incendiary balloons to launch across the border fence east of Gaza city towards Israel, on June 16, 2021 east of Gaza City in Gaza.

Hamas tests new Israeli government by resuming incendiary balloons

The so-called “night confusion units” in Gaza continue to fire incendiary balloons toward Israel.

Women walk past a giant banner depicting Egypt's President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi amidst preparations to receive a visiting Egyptian intelligence delegation in Gaza City on May 31, 2021.

Egypt struggles to reconcile Hamas, Palestinian Authority

Egypt postponed a highly anticipated meeting between Palestinian factions to avoid failure, as Cairo recently came out as a major regional player after brokering the cease-fire between Israel and Hamas.

Damaged Gaza classroom

Gaza holds summer camp for children traumatized by war

The Gaza Ministry of Education has launched summer camps for children under 11 years old, to provide them with psychological support and games after the trauma they suffered during the latest Israeli escalation in the Gaza Strip.

Palestinian farmer Atta Jaber aided by his donkey ploughs his land facing the Israeli settlement of Kiryat Arba, Hebron, West Bank, April 4, 2021.

Expanding settlements threaten Palestinian homes in Hebron

Some 30 families in Khirbet al-Aida in Hebron have received notices that their houses will be demolished and their lands expropriated to expand Israeli settlements.

MOHAMMED ABED/AFP via Getty Images

Israeli bombs ignite pesticide stores, spew dangerous chemicals in Gaza

Israeli warplanes bombed the largest warehouse of agricultural material in the Gaza Strip, burning tons of dangerous pesticides and setting off an unfolding environmental disaster.

This photograph taken on May 14, 2014, shows a Gaza-Turkey solidarity flag projected on a wall of the Ankara Castle in Ankara, Turkey.

Turkey’s muddled approach to Palestine

Ankara sees a recently ratified security cooperation deal between Turkey and the Palestinian Authority as groundwork for a possible maritime boundary agreement between Turkey and Palestine. Experts see such prospects as far-fetched.

MAHMUD HAMS/AFP via Getty Images

Israel's travel ban threatens cancer patients in Gaza

Though Israel is allowing some cancer patients to travel for treatment abroad, the many more whose permits have been denied say the move is for show.

Palestinian youths clash with Israeli security forces in the village of Beita, south of Nablus, West Bank, June 8, 2021.

How these Palestinians thwarted settlers in northern West Bank

The Palestnian residents of Beita in the northern West Bank have held off settlers who tried for the fourth time to establish an outpost on the top of a strategic mount near their town.

Beita protest

Palestinian teen killed in West Bank clashes with Israeli army

The Israel Defense Forces said troops fired on the crowd to disperse hundreds of Palestinians who were rioting in a village south of Nablus.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken (L) and Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas give a joint statement, on May 25, 2021, at the Palestinian Authority headquarters in the West Bank city of Ramallah.

Did Gaza war end or rejuvenate Abbas’ presidency?

With the United States and other states unwilling to work with Hamas, aid money is flowing into the Palestinian government coffers.

Damascus Gate

Journalists recount abuse, arrest covering Jerusalem riots

Journalists in Jerusalem say they have faced abuse and arrest by Israeli forces while covering the recent events there.

Israeli security forces stand guard to prevent Palestinians from passing through an Israeli police checkpoint at the entrance of the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood, during a protest by demonstrators demanding the reopening of the roadblock, East Jerusalem, May 29, 2021.

Israeli police close off Sheikh Jarrah in Jerusalem

With concrete barriers and checkpoints, Israeli forces have closed off the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood in Jerusalem.