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Palestine

July 30, 2026

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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

TO GO WITH AFP STORY IN GERMAN BY CLEMENS WORTMANN
A picture taken on September 30, 2014 shows the town of Sebastia in the northern West Bank, hometown of Raed Saleh, the Palestinian-born Berlin mayoral candidate. After incumbent Berlin Mayor Klaus Wowereit announced his resignation the Palestinian immigrant Raed Saleh is one of three candidates to replace him. Saleh was was born in Sebastia, near Nablus in the West Bank, and is since three years the president of the Social Democrat Party (SPD) group in t

Israeli settlers threaten Palestinian archaeology in historic town of Sebastia

The ancient town of Sebastia northwest of Nablus in the West Bank remains a target of continuous attacks by the Israeli army and settlers.

Palestinian skeptics not yet sold on elections

As the prospect of Palestinian general elections draws near, Palestinians are skeptical about their success as divisions remain between the rival Fatah and Hamas movements.

A Palestinian workers fills up a truck transporting water from a freshwater plant that extracts water from wells and sells to people in the town of Khan Yunis in southern Gaza Strip, on November 18, 2020. - The densely-populated Gaza Strip has long lacked sufficient drinking water, but a new project helps ease the shortage with a solar-powered process to extract potable water straight from the air. (Photo by SAID KHATIB / AFP) (Photo by SAID KHATIB/AFP via Getty Images)

Israel provides Gaza with machines to extract water from air

An Israeli firm donated generators producing drinking water from air to the Gaza Strip, which faces an acute water shortage crisis, amid controversy about cooperation between the two sides.

Qatar renews Gaza aid amid Gulf reconciliation

Qatar has agreed to renew its grant to the Gaza Strip despite reconciliation with Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Egypt, which previously requested Doha cut ties with Hamas.

Palestinian supporters of the Islamist movement Hamas wave their flag and a pre-Baath Syrian flag (C) during a demonstration in the West Bank city of Hebron on November 21, 2012, against the ongoing Israeli military offensive on the Gaza Strip. Israel launched its offensive on November 14 with the targeted killing of a Hamas military chief. Since then, 147 Palestinians and five Israelis have been killed. AFP PHOTO/HAZEM BADER (Photo credit should read HAZEM BADER/AFP via Getty Images)

Moscow stands to gain from Hamas-Damascus reconciliation

While claims that Russia is playing a large role in reconciliation talks between the Palestinian movement Hamas and the Syrian regime may be overstated, Moscow could benefit in several ways if the two sides restore relations.

Hamas seizes Gulf detente opportunity to get close to Saudi Arabia

Hamas praised Saudi Arabia for the Gulf reconciliation, in an attempt to break the deadlock with Riyadh.

Palestinian workers wearing masks against Covid-19 lineup for a security check at the entrance to Israel's Mishor Adumim industrial zone nearby the Maale Adumim settlement in the West Bank east of Jerusalem, on July 1, 2020. - The government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said it could begin the process to annex Jewish settlements in the West Bank as well as the strategic Jordan Valley from today. The plan -- endorsed by Washington -- would see the creation of a Palestinian state, but on r

Palestinian factory workers strike in West Bank industrial zone

Palestinian workers at the Yamit factory in a West Bank industrial zone are striking for their first substantial raise in decades.

Exiled former senior Fatah member Mohammed Dahlan attends a Palestinian legislative Council meeting in Gaza City through video conference from the United Arab Emirates on July 27, 2017 following developments at the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound.

Palestinians were set to return to pray at a sensitive Jerusalem holy site after Israeli authorities removed controversial new security measures, potentially ending a nearly two-week crisis that sparked deadly unrest. Dahlan, Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas's exiled r

Abbas' rival Dahlan coordinates UAE aid to Gaza as Palestinian elections near

The United Arab Emirates has sent a new medical aid shipment to the Gaza Strip, the second in a month, to help cope with the coronavirus crisis, raising questions about the role of Fatah’s dismissed leader and President Mahmoud Abbas’ archrival Mohammed Dahlan.

Foreign Ministers of (L to R) Germany Heiko Maas, Jordan Ayman Safadi, Egypt Sameh Shoukry, and France Jean-Yves Le Drian, hold a joint press conference after a meeting to discuss the Middle East peace process, in the Egyptian capital Cairo, on January 11, 2021. (Photo by Khaled DESOUKI / AFP) (Photo by KHALED DESOUKI/AFP via Getty Images)

Cairo talks on Mideast peace show key players preparing for post-Trump era

The latest meeting appears to be a signal to the new US administration that the Middle East Quartet and the Palestinians are serious about talks based on a multilateral approach.

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.