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

Palestine cover image

Palestine

October 30, 2026

Ramallah 8:33 pm

16°C

Tents sheltering Palestinians displaced by the Hamas-Israeli war are pitched between the rubble of destroyed buildings in the Jabalia camp, northern Gaza Strip, Oct. 20, 2026.

Analysis

What Israel's election could mean for Palestinians in Gaza, West Bank

The ouster of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu could provide Palestinians some relief, but is unlikely to improve their prospects for statehood.

By Rosaleen Carroll

In Washington, DC, US, reporting on the Middle East

American freelance photojournalist Heidi Levine lies on a gurney in the emergency room of the government hospital in the Israeli-occupied city of Ramallah, as she is treated after being attacked by Israeli settlers while photographing Palestinian farmers harvesting their olives, in the Palestinian village of Abu Falah on Oct. 16, 2026.

Washington Post journalist hospitalized after Israeli settler attack in West Bank

The assault was one of several attacks on Friday as Palestinians gathered to harvest olives across the West Bank.

Israel's Chief of the Mossad David Barnea (R) and Security Agency director Ronen Bar, attend a ceremony marking the Hebrew calendar anniversary of the Hamas attack on October 7 last year that sparked the ongoing war in Gaza, at the Mount Herzl military cemetery in Jerusalem on October 27, 2024. (Photo by GIL COHEN-MAGEN / POOL / AFP) (Photo by GIL COHEN-MAGEN/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

Former Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar sues Netanyahu for nearly $1M over Oct. 7 claims

Bar is suing for 3 million shekels ($970,000) over a Sept. 28 post on X in which Netanyahu blamed the former Shin Bet chief for Oct. 7 intelligence failures and accused him of withholding warnings.

The British Consulate General in east Jerusalem represents the British government in Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza during a protest against the recently announced British sanctions, aimed at economic activity in Israeli settlements in the West Bank, on Sept. 14, 2026, in Jerusalem.

Explainer

Israel-UK relations hit new low over settlements, Gaza: What to know

Despite Britain’s ban on goods from Israeli settlements and Israel’s closure of the British Consulate in East Jerusalem, both countries are seeking to keep communication channels open.

Latest News

West Bank olive harvest begins amid settler attacks on Palestinians, groves

Palestinian men sitting in and by a tractor look on after another man was injured by gunfire whilst being chased away by Israeli forces, in Aqraba in the Israeli-occupied West Bank on Oct. 6, 2026.

Analysis

Three years after Oct. 7, Hamas’ grip on Gaza tests Netanyahu’s ‘total victory’

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during the state memorial ceremony for the third anniversary of Oct. 7 attack, at Mount Herzl military cemetery, Jerusalem, Oct. 5, 2026.

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

Israel bars UK Greens leader over Zionism-racism resolution: What to know

Green Party leader Zack Polanski delivers his speech during day one of the Green Party annual conference at Brighton Centre on Oct. 2, 2026, in Brighton, England.

West Bank settlers attack Israeli activists as Netanyahu claims 'hoax'

Erik Marmor/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

Demonstrators take part in a protest in solidarity with the Palestinians over the ongoing conflict with Israel, in Washington, DC on May 15, 2021.

Are Palestinians gaining in court of world opinion?

Independent observers have noticed a marked difference in public attitudes around the world and especially in the United States regarding the latest violent escalation in Palestine and Israel, changes connected to timing, messaging and the platforms carrying those messages.

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) speaks to reporters following a procedural vote on the nomination of Polly Ellen Trottenberg to be Deputy Secretary of Transportation at the U.S. Capitol on April 12, 2021 in Washington, DC.

Bernie Sanders introduces Senate resolution to block $735 million weapons sale to Israel

Sanders' move will force a vote in the Senate on whether or not to block the arms sale.

Washington Pulse

Palestinians inspect damage to buildings in Gaza City on May 20, 2021 in Gaza City, Gaza.

Israel, Hamas declare cease-fire after 11 days of fighting

Israel’s Security Cabinet unanimously approved an Egyptian cease-fire proposal on the 11th day of conflict with Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip that has left more than 200 people dead.

ANAS BABA/AFP via Getty Images

UN chief calls for cease-fire to end 'hell on earth' for Gaza's children

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called on Israel and Hamas to allow for mediation efforts to end the worsening conflict.

Gaza school

50 Gaza schools damaged in Israeli strikes, Save The Children says

Amid the heavy fighting, schools remain closed in Gaza and southern Israel “putting education out of reach for hundreds of thousands of children."

Cracks show on a mural covering the wall of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) headquarters in Gaza City's Rimal neighborhood, following Israeli air raids, Gaza Strip, May 18, 2021.

These civilians died in Israeli raid on their homes in Gaza City

At least 42 Palestinians, including 10 children and 12 women, were killed in an Israeli airstrike that leveled three residential buildings in central Gaza City.

A Palestinian family looks out from their home toward a protest by Israeli, Palestinian and foreign activists, against evictions of Palestinian families from their homes, in the mostly Arab neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah, East Jerusalem, Aug. 4, 2017.

East Jerusalem neighborhood key to halting Palestinian-Israeli fighting

The planned eviction of Palestinian families from their lands in Jerusalem’s Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood, claimed by Israeli settlers, has shed light on the neighborhood and its history.

A Palestinian demonstrator stands amidst smoke from burning tires during a protest against the tension in Jerusalem and the Israeli-Gaza fighting, on May 17, 2021, in the occupied West Bank, near the settlement of Beit El next to Ramallah.

Gaza violence sparks debate over conditioning US military aid to Israel

A number of progressive Democrats have called for the United States to reexamine Israel's annual aid package.

SAID KHATIB/AFP via Getty Images

Hamas claims Israel cannot destroy tunnel network

Despite Israel's relentless bombing of Hamas' leadership and tunnels, the Islamic resistance group claims the network will survive the assault.

Israel's Iron Dome air defense system intercepts rockets above the coastal city of Tel Aviv on May 15, 2021, following their launching from the Gaza Strip controlled by the Palestinian Hamas movement.

Hamas again threatens to strike Tel Aviv after Israel kills Islamic Jihad commander

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday that the operation ‘could take some time. I hope it won't take long, but it's not immediate.’

Israel's Iron Dome aerial defense system is launched to intercept a rocket launched from the Gaza Strip, above the southern Israeli city of Ashdod, on May 17, 2021.

Senate unlikely to block arms sale to Israel amid Gaza conflict

The Biden administration aims to provide Israel with additional bomb guidance systems.

Palestinian journalists stand in shock following the destruction of Jala Tower, which was housing international press offices, by an Israeli airstrike in the Gaza Strip on May 15, 2021. The Israeli airstrike demolished the 13-floor building housing Qatar-based Al Jazeera television and American news agency The Associated Press in the Gaza Strip.

Intel: Blinken hasn't personally seen evidence that Hamas used the building housing AP, Al Jazeera

Israel says the building was used by the Palestinian militant group, but it has not publicly provided any evidence to back up that claim.