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Palestine

July 31, 2026

Al Bīrah 3:24 am

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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

Palestinians radio silent on Netanyahu’s visit to Saudi Arabia

The Palestinian Authority keeps mum on the alleged visit of Benjamin Netanyahu to Saudi Arabia, as it does not wish to get on the wrong side of Riyadh.

Will Biden save the two-state solution?

President-elect Joe Biden must know that opting for confidence-building measures, instead of pushing the sides into negotiating a permanent settlement, would only perpetuate the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Palestinians gather to commemorate the birth of Prophet Mohammed, known in Arabic as "al-Mawlid al-Nabawi", outside the Dome of the Rock in the al-Aqsa mosque compound, Islam's third holiest site, in the old city of Jerusalem on October 29, 2020. (Photo by AHMAD GHARABLI / AFP) (Photo by AHMAD GHARABLI/AFP via Getty Images)

Palestinians in quandary about new visitors from Gulf

Palestinians and Jordanians are working to ensure that Gulf visitors to Al-Aqsa Mosque in the Palestinian half of Jerusalem abide by the same rituals and traditions that all Muslims have practiced when visiting the holy sites.

A Palestinian man walks past street art showing doctors mask-clad due to the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic in the Nusseirat refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip on November 16, 2020. (Photo by MOHAMMED ABED / AFP) (Photo by MOHAMMED ABED/AFP via Getty Images)

West Bank, Gaza record highest ever daily virus toll

The UN recently warned that parts of the Palestinian territories are not prepared to cope with a major outbreak of COVID-19.

Trump-Heights settlement in Golan here to stay

Several Israeli families are preparing to move in to the Trump Heights settlement village in the Golan Heights.

Hamas seeks to lock in Qatar aid while exchanging border fire with Israel

As Israel fails to fulfil its part of the truce understandings and in light of Qatar's alleged refusal to increase and renew its financial grant to the Gaza Strip, tensions have resumed between Israel and Hamas.

Pompeo’s visit to Psagot settlement, a farewell gift from Trump to Israel

US Secretary of State Pompeo's visit to the Psagot settlement, built on occupied land in the West Bank, reflects the Donald Trump administration’s decision to consider the Israeli settlements in the West Bank to be legal.

Palestinians carry the portrait of president Mahmud Abbas as they gather to commemorate the second intifada and to protest the Israeli normalisation deals with the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, in the town of Tubas, in the occupied West Bank on September 27, 2020. - The second intifada lasted five years, during which attacks were carried out in Israel, the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. In response Israel reoccupied much of the West Bank and began building a separation barrier between the two communities

Palestinians trying to dig themselves out of isolation

It seems Palestinians are trying to get out of international and Arab isolation by taking a series of measures, including restoring ties with Israel and returning their ambassadors to the UAE and Bahrain, in anticipation of the Joe Biden administration’s arrival into office.

Even with Biden, talks with Palestinians not on Israel’s agenda

Despite the election of Joe Biden, no one in Israel is keen to rush to the negotiating table with the Palestinians.

PA restoring ties with Israel undermines reconciliation, Hamas says

The reconciliation efforts between Hamas and Fatah are likely to go down the drain now that the PA announced that ties and security coordination with Israel have been restored.

Republican senators ask Trump to label West Bank products 'Made in Israel'

The senators want the president to reverse the Clinton-era customs policy before he leaves office in January.

A Palestinian youth pushes an elderly man next to the Ibrahimi mosque (background), also known as the Tomb of the Patriarchs, in the occupied West Bank city of Hebron on August 7, 2020, amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic crisis. (Photo by HAZEM BADER / AFP) (Photo by HAZEM BADER/AFP via Getty Images)

Israel advances plan for elevator at Tomb of the Patriarchs

The nongovernmental organization Emek Shaveh, however, is appealing against plans to build a path and an elevator at the entrance to the Tomb of the Patriarchs in the Palestinian city of Hebron.