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Palestine

October 31, 2026

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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

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.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (R) shakes hands with Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry after giving a joint statement prior to their meeting at his Jerusalem office on July 10, 2016.
Shoukry met Netanyahu in Jerusalem for talks on reviving peace efforts with the Palestinians, in the first such visit in nearly a decade and the latest sign of warming ties.

/ AFP / GALI TIBBON (Photo credit should read GALI TIBBON/AFP via Getty Images)

Israel quiet as Egypt advances talks with Palestinians

Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi has not commented publicly about speaking with his Egyptian counterpart Sameh Shoukry, nor on the French-Egyptian initiative for a mini international peace conference.

A Palestinian man wearing a protective face mask as a preventive measure against the nivid coronavirus, walks inside a closed wedding venue in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, on March 22, 2020. - Authorities in Gaza today confirmed the first two cases of novel coronavirus, identifying them as Palestinians who had travelled to Pakistan and were being held in quarantine since their return.
The United Nations has warned that a COVID-19 outbreak in Gaza could be disastrous, given the high poverty rates and

2020 was a bad year for Gaza hotel-turned quarantine centers

Hotels in the Gaza Strip were unable to host New Year's Eve parties as they turned into quarantine centers due to the coronavirus pandemic, which has led them to incur great losses that bode ill for the sector.

palestian airlines fokker wikipedia.jpg

PA shuts down Palestinian Airlines, shuttering hopes for airport

The Palestinian Authority decides to shut down the Palestinian Airlines, which is seen as a symbol of sovereignty, citing financial burdens and maintenance costs of its only two aircrafts.

800-year-old school in Gaza gets face-lift

The Gaza Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities, the Gaza municipality and the Iwan Center for Cultural Heritage in Gaza launched an initiative with activists to restore an old school in the old city of Gaza City, with the aim to preserve the enclave’s heritage and raise awareness about the importance of culture among Palestinians.

New congresswoman criticizes Israel over vaccines for Palestinians

Illinois Democrat Marie Newman said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu should ensure that Palestinians in the West Bank are also vaccinated. The Palestinian Authority is reportedly exploring getting vaccines from Israel.

Palestinians wave national flags as they march in the streets of the occupied West Bank city of Ramallah, calling for the cessation of divisions between Fatah and Hamas and the unification of the West Bank and Gaza Strip, on January 12, 2019. (Photo by ABBAS MOMANI / AFP) (Photo credit should read ABBAS MOMANI/AFP via Getty Images)

Will latest effort to mend Fatah-Hamas ties succeed?

Palestinian reconciliation takes another step forward with an exchange of letters.

Houthis, Hamas merge diplomacy around prisoner releases

Hamas welcomes a Houthi initiative to release two Saudi airmen the Houthis captured in Yemen in exchange for Saudi Arabia freeing 60 Palestinian prisoners, including a Hamas leader and his son.

A Syrian watches an interview of Hassan Nasrallah, the head of Lebanon's militant Shiite Muslim movement Hezbollah, screened on Syria's official television channel Al-Ikhbariya on April 6, 2015 in Damascus. AFP PHOTO / STR (Photo credit should read -/AFP via Getty Images)

Iran, Hezbollah lead mediation to restore Hamas-Damascus ties

Mediation efforts led by Iran and Hezbollah to restore ties between Hamas and the Syrian regime seem to be making progress amid rising tensions with their mutual rivals in the region.

Was UAE behind Israeli decision to allow Palestinian farmers access to Jordan Valley?

For the first time in 46 years, Israel allowed Palestinians to enter al-Qa'oun valley in the northern Jordan Valley to cultivate their land. Despite the Palestinian Authority’s statement that this was in implementation of a judicial decision, Al-Monitor received information about Emirati-Israeli understandings that led to this action.

United Arab Emirates