Trump's UN nominee reassures advocates of Iran deal, two-state solution

South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley offered a measured counterpoint to Donald Trump's inflamed rhetoric during her confirmation hearing Jan. 18.

Palestine

Palestinian local elections on front burner

The postponed local Palestinian elections might be scheduled in 2017 amid talks about possibly holding them in phases starting next May.

Palestine

Gaza youths use cellphones to make films about unemployment, disabilities

Palestinians in the Gaza Strip are submitting short videos filmed on their cellphones to the Mobile Short Film Festival, which has organized the first such contest in Gaza.

Palestine

What the world is telling Palestinians, Israelis and Trump

European diplomats believe the international attendance at the second Paris conference reflects broad support for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Palestine

Will Gaza's electricity crisis escalate Hamas-Israel tension?

Gaza residents are furious at Hamas for pouring funds into the tunnel enterprise while they are left without electricity, and Israel is wary of attacks as distraction from their mass demonstrations.

Palestine

Tunisia’s top diplomat exhorts Trump not to abandon Palestinian statehood

In an exclusive interview with Al-Monitor, Foreign Minister Khemaies Jhinaoui urged the president-elect not to give up on Middle East peace.

Palestine

Word of Qatar's new office in Gaza rattles Palestine

Palestinians were shaken up by the quickly retracted news that Qatar was to open an embassy in Gaza, a move that would greatly complicate the political division between Hamas and Fatah.

Qatar

Does Abbas really want to hold local council elections?

The Palestinian government approved a decree law to establish courts to examine local council elections to overcome the controversy that caused the postponement of local elections in October 2016, but Hamas has voiced its objection to the move.

Palestine

For Israel, more unknowns than knowns with Trump

The Israeli right and defense establishment have found it hard to determine with any certainty what direction US President-elect Donald Trump will take on policy.

Palestine

Why Israeli ultra-Orthodox secretly visit West Bank tomb

More ultra-Orthodox Israelis are refusing to coordinate their visits to the Tomb of Joshua, in the West Bank Palestinian village of Kifl Hares, in what the Israel Defense Forces considers an onerous security risk.

Palestine

How Palestinian left hopes to renew political system

In an interview, Jamil Mezher, a member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine's' political bureau, told Al-Monitor that the division between Fatah and Hamas is preventing the renewal of the political system in Palestine.

Palestine

Arab mayors consider strike as Israel razes houses

Israel's demolition of 11 homes in an Arab village has prompted its mayor to resign in only the first wave of outraged responses from the Arab-Israeli leadership, which has scheduled an emergency rally and is debating a mass resignation.

Palestine