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Palestine

April 21, 2026

Ramallah 6:37 am

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Meloni

Meloni suspends Italy's military cooperation agreement with Israel

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni announced her country's military cooperation agreement with Israel will no longer be automatically renewed.

MOJAHID NAW/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images

'Apartheid': Arab countries including UAE, Jordan decry new Israeli law

A group of foreign ministers struck out at a new Israeli law requiring the death penalty for Palestinians convicted of terrorism in military courts.

Israeli settler violence graffiti

Settler violence spike exposes Israeli government rift with military

Knesset member Ram Ben-Barak of centrist Yesh Atid told Al-Monitor that the government must permit the use of administrative detention for extremist settlers to curb the violence.

Muslim worshippers break their fast outside the old city walls of Jerusalem on March 17, 2026, as the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound remains closed.

Wartime closures at Jerusalem holy sites raise fears of lasting shift among Palestinians

Palestinians say sweeping restrictions during Ramadan and ahead of Eid reflect security concerns, but there is concern they could ultimately reshape access to worship in the Old City.

Latest News

Analysis

Hamas sits out Iran war as Gaza, Gulf interests take priority

Displaced Palestinians gather for a fast-breaking Iftar meal amid the rubble of destroyed buildings at the Jabalia refugee camp, in the northern Gaza Strip, during the Muslim holy fasting month of Ramadan, Feb. 23, 2026.

Abeer Ayyoub

By Abeer Ayyoub

In Istanbul, reporting on Palestine

Spain recalls Israel ambassador, calls Iran war 'flagrant illegality': What to know

Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez speaks during a United Nations Summit on Palestinians at UN headquarters during the United Nations General Assembly, New York, Sept. 22, 2025.

'No meaningful protection': Israel’s new Gaza aid rules raise data, security risks

People walk through a heavily damaged street in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, on Oct. 12, 2025.

Analysis

Why Turkey’s exclusion from Gaza force may be a strategic blessing

ANKARA, TURKEY - JANUARY 21: Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan speaks to MPs at his party's group meeting in the Turkish parliament on January 21, 2026 in Ankara, Turkey. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is among world leaders that have been invited by United States President Donald Trump, to join the Gaza Board of Peace, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan was also included as an appointed member. (Photo by Serdar Ozsoy/Getty Images)

Barin Kayaoglu

By Barin Kayaoglu

In Ankara, reporting on geopolitics and national security

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

A United Nations vehicle drives by as Palestinian girls share a food ration in Rafah, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, Gaza Strip, March 31, 2024.

HRW says Israel launched 8 airstrikes on aid workers in Gaza

The report comes amid outrage following the killing of a foreign UN worker in Israeli fire on an aid convoy in Rafah.

Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas shakes hands with China's President Xi Jinping after a signing ceremony at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on June 14, 2023. (Photo by Jade GAO / POOL / AFP) (Photo by JADE GAO/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

With second meeting in June, China finds opportunity in Hamas-Fatah talks

China is increasingly seeing Hamas as a legitimate political force in the political process on Palestine’s future and statehood, refusing to condemn or describe the group as a terrorist organization.

An Israeli army battle tank takes a position in southern Israel near the border with the Gaza Strip on May 13, 2024, amid the ongoing conflict in the Palestinian territory between Israel and the Hamas movement.

Israel unlikely to achieve 'total victory' over Hamas, US official says

Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell said the United States and Israel are “struggling over what the theory of victory is” in the Palestinian enclave.

A man films with his phone a damaged trailer truck that was carrying humanitarian aid supplies.

Israeli settlers attack aid convoy of 98 trucks heading to Gaza from Jordan

Israeli settlers have repeatedly attacked and vandalized aid trucks heading to the Gaza Strip, where the humanitarian situation is quickly deteriorating.

The Pentagon is seen from a flight taking off from Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport on November 29, 2022, in Arlington, Virginia.

Pentagon intelligence officer resigned over US support for war in Gaza

US Army Maj. Harrison Mann is the first Defense Department official to have publicly linked his resignation to US support for Israel's war in Gaza war.

An undated image of Layan Nasir.

Family of Christian Palestinian woman held in Israeli detention speaks out

The mother of Layan Nasir, a young Palestinian woman recently detained by Israel in the West Bank, trusts her daughter will come out stronger from Israeli prison.

Displaced Palestinians transport their belongings on the back of a truck as they flee al-Mawasi to a safer area in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, May 9, 2024.

Panic in Rafah as Israel expands operation, Palestinians ordered to al-Mawasi

The Israeli army’s invasion into parts of Rafah and the failure of cease-fire talks in Cairo killed displaced Palestinians’ hope for an end to the war, now into its eighth month.

US President Joe Biden speaks after signing the foreign aid bill at the White House in Washington, DC, on April 24, 2024.

Analysis

For Biden, only cease-fire could quell Democrat dissent on Israel-Hamas war

Is Biden winning or losing showdown with Netanyahu over Gaza?

Week in Review

Andrew Parasiliti

By Week in Review , Andrew Parasiliti

CHARLY TRIBALLEAU/AFP via Getty Images

Breaking | Last Updated: May 10, 2024, 3:42 pm

General Assembly votes to grant Palestine more UN rights short of membership

By a significant majority, the UN General Assembly recommended the Security Council reconsider the Palestinian bid for full membership.

AFP via Getty Images

CIA director, Israel and Hamas leave Egypt talks with no deal reached

After representatives of Hamas and the United States left Cairo, the Israeli delegation also departed on Thursday as sources told Kan news agency that "irreconcilable gaps" had emerged between the parties.

MENAHEM KAHANA/AFP via Getty Images

Biden pauses transfer of bombs to Israel amid concerns of Rafah invasion

It's the first time the Biden administration has admitted restricting the flow of arms to Israel in a bid to shape the ongoing war in Gaza, but the move failed to stop a limited initial incursion into Rafah.

Palestinians crowd a street as smoke billows nearby from Israeli strikes in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on May 7, 2024, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas.

Palestinian Fatah official slams Israel’s Rafah push but hopeful on Gaza deal

Abbas Zaki told Al-Monitor he’s hopeful the strong international response will leave Israel with no choice but to withdraw from the Rafah crossing and potentially accept a deal.