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Palestine

December 6, 2025

Ramallah 1:31 am

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A boy sits outside the entrance to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) building complex in Gaza City, on Sept. 6, 2025.

Interview

UNRWA plans Turkey office to boost Gaza, Syria aid as pledges dip

Speaking exclusively to Al-Monitor, UNRWA’s Tamara Alrifai said the upcoming Turkey office would help the agency to expand its operations not only in Gaza but also in Syria.

JERUSALEM - OCTOBER 13: U.S. President Donald Trump shakes hands and speaks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the Knesset, Israel's parliament, on the day of Trump's address on October 13, 2025 in Jerusalem. President Trump is visiting the country hours after Hamas released the remaining Israeli hostages captured on Oct. 7, 2023, part of a US-brokered ceasefire deal to end the war in Gaza. (Photo by Evelyn Hockstein - Pool/Getty Images)

Analysis

As he stalls Gaza plan, will Netanyahu pick his far-right coalition over Trump?

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu won’t publicly go against the Gaza plan of President Donald Trump, but he keeps stalling on discussing the parameters for the implementation of the plan’s second phase.

Rina Bassist

By Rina Bassist

In Paris, reporting on Israeli politics and European affairs

BASHAR TALEB/AFP via Getty Images

Turkey’s spy chief holds talks in Egypt over trapped Hamas militants

Turkey’s spy chief met with Qatari, Egyptian officials as the Gaza ceasefire process stalls over Hamas fighters trapped in tunnels.

Latest News

UN Security Council endorses US plan for Gaza security force

UN Security Council votes for US resolution on the Gaza peace plan

Germany lifts Israel arms embargo: What changed in Berlin?

(COMBO) This combination created on February 24, 2025 of file pictures shows the leader and top candidate for Chancellor of Germany's Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party Friedrich Merz (L, on February 24, 2025 in Berlin) and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (on December 9, 2024 in Jerusalem.. Friedrich Merz, who is expected to be Germany's next chancellor after his conservative CDU/CSU bloc won national elections, said on February 24, 2025 that he would make sure Benjamin Netanyahu "can visit" G

Analysis

Ahead of MBS visit, Saudis link Israel normalization to 3 asks from Trump

US President Donald J. Trump leaves the Saudi Royal Court with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on May 13, 2025, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

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

After 13 hours, 150 Gazans allowed to enter South Africa: What to know

A South African Airways (SAA) flight is seen on the tarmac before departing from the O.R. Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg on Sept. 23, 2021.

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

Dahlan

Analysis

What’s behind Abbas’ amnesty gesture as Dahlan, others eye role in postwar Gaza?

The move relates to exiled rival Mohammed Dahlan and comes as the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia are pushing for reforms of the Palestinian Authority.

Adam Lucente

By Adam Lucente

In New York City, reporting on regional news, militancy, climate change

A Palestinian family (C-L) eat an iftar meal, the breaking of the fast, in their destroyed house amid the rubble of buildings in Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip on March 4, 2025, during the Muslim holy fasting month of Ramadan. UN chief Antonio Guterres said he strongly endorsed an Egyptian plan put to Arab leaders at a summit in Cairo on March 4 for Gaza's reconstruction without displacement of its Palestinian inhabitants. (Photo by Bashar TALEB / AFP) (Photo by BASHAR TALEB/AFP via Getty Images)

White House rejects Arab plan for postwar Gaza, insists on Trump's

The Trump administration has rejected a joint Arab proposal for postwar Gaza out of hand, insisting on its plan to treat Gaza as a real estate development that observers have likened to ethnic cleansing.

People watch on a big screen as Egypt's president, Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, welcomes Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas ahead of an Arab League summit on Gaza on March 4, 2025.

Arab states back Egypt’s $53 billion Gaza plan, ‘technocratic’ administration

The plan, which additionally calls for the UN to consider sending peacekeepers to the Palestinian enclave, could face obstacles from Israel and Hamas.

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi attends the extended format meeting of the BRICS summit in Kazan on October 23, 2024. (Photo by Alexander NEMENOV / POOL / AFP) (Photo by ALEXANDER NEMENOV/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

Live Updates

Arab summit adopts Egypt’s alternative plan to Trump’s Gaza takeover: What to know

Arab states adopted an Egyptian plan calling for a “technocratic" committee to administer the Gaza Strip under the umbrella of the Palestinian Authority as part of a broader two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

HOLLYWOOD, CALIFORNIA - MARCH 02: (L-R) Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal, Basel Adra and Yuval Abraham accept the Documentary Feature Film award "No Other Land" onstage during the 97th Annual Oscars at Dolby Theatre on March 02, 2025 in Hollywood, California. (Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images)

Culture

Palestinian-Israeli documentary, Iranian film win at Oscars: What to know

Two films from the Middle East won Oscars at Sunday's Academy Awards, highlighting the growing reputation of the region's film industry at a time of ongoing tensions and crises.

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi arrives at the BRICS summit in Kazan on October 23, 2024. (Photo by Maxim Shemetov / POOL / AFP) (Photo by MAXIM SHEMETOV/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

Analysis

Inside Egypt's Arab summit plan to use leverage to thwart Trump’s Gaza plan

Cairo is coordinating with Arab League member states to forge a united front and support for its plan to counter the US president's vision of taking over Gaza.

Shahira Amin

By Shahira Amin

Hamas fighters gather at the site of the handing over of two Israeli hostages in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, as part of the seventh hostage-prisoner release on February 22, 2025. Palestinian militants freed two Israeli hostages on February 22, among the last live captives eligible for release under the first phase of a fragile truce that is also expected to see Palestinian prisoners released. (Photo by Abood Abusalama / Middle East Images / Middle East Images via AFP) (Photo by ABOOD ABUSALAMA/Middle

Analysis

With Trump losing interest, Israel likely to buy time, extend phase one of deal

As US envoy Steve Witkoff shifts focus to Russia and Ukraine, the Israel-Hamas deal faces mounting hurdles ahead of phase 2 this Saturday, making it more likely to extend current status-quo.

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

OMAR AL-QATTAA/AFP via Getty Images

Gaza’s fragile calm teeters as Israel balks at full pullout

Israel and Hamas face a Saturday deadline to implement the next phase of the ceasefire, which includes the full withdrawal of Israeli troops and the release of the remaining hostages.

A journalist tries to avoid mud splatter as Israeli forces drive on a destroyed road in the Nur Shams camp for Palestinian refugees near Tulkarem, after reportedly issuing demolition notifications for several houses amid a weeks-long offensive in the occupied West Bank on February 26, 2025. (Photo by Zain JAAFAR / AFP) (Photo by ZAIN JAAFAR/AFP via Getty Images)

Analysis

Could Israel's West Bank operation lead to annexation long sought by right?

The Israeli military is currently operating in West Bank Area A, which under the Oslo Accords should be administered fully by the Palestinian Authority.

Rina Bassist

By Rina Bassist

In Paris, reporting on Israeli politics and European affairs

Truth Social. Photo collage created by Al-Monitor.

Trump’s AI Gaza video elicits mockery from Middle East social media users

The US president’s video depicting a future Gaza under American authority was widely shared on Arabic and Hebrew social media, with many Palestinian users criticizing it.

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar (L) addresses a press conference with European Commission Vice-President and High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Kaja Kallas and Vice President of the European Commission for Democracy and Demography Dubravka Suica and after a meeting at the EU headquarters on the sidelines of the EU's foreign affairs council, in Brussels on Feb. 24, 2025.

Israel FM holds rare EU meeting as divisions on PA’s role in Gaza persist

Israel and the European Union are keen on relaunching dialogue, but divergences are almost irreconcilable, especially concerning the possible participation of the Palestinian Authority in the future management of Gaza.

Smoke billows after an explosion over the Jenin camp for Palestinian refugees in the occupied West Bank during an Israeli raid on Feb. 24, 2025.

In first since 2002, Israel sends tanks to occupied West Bank as 40,000 Palestinians flee

Israel has stepped up its raids in West Bank towns and cities over the weekend in an apparent response to bus bombings near Tel Aviv last week.