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Palestine

December 7, 2025

Ramallah 5:48 pm

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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

US Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield attends a UN Security Council meeting on the Israel-Hamas war, at UN Headquarters in New York City on Feb. 20, 2024.

Breaking | Last Updated: March 22, 2024, 12:58 pm

Russia, China veto US-backed UN resolution on Gaza cease-fire

The failed resolution backed an “immediate and sustained cease-fire” and a hostage deal to free the remaining captives.

Wang Kejian (left) meets Hamas political chief Ismail Haniyeh in Qatar on Oct. 17, 2023. - Hamas via Telegram

Three reasons behind rare China-Hamas meeting in Qatar

From the location to the timing and the messaging, the China-Hamas meeting on Sunday underscored Beijing's messaging and approach to the Gaza war without, however, elevating its role to a broker in the conflict.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during a joint press conference with the German Chancellor after their meeting in Jerusalem on March 17, 2024.

Republican House speaker courts Netanyahu amid partisan split on Gaza

If he accepts Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson’s planned invite to speak before Congress, chances are Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will find an even less receptive audience than listened to his 2015 address.

People inspect damage and recover items from their homes following Israeli air strikes on March 19, 2024, in Rafah, Gaza.

Rights groups warn US over Israel's assurances on weapons use

In a report to the Biden administration, Oxfam and Human Rights Watch challenged Israel's assertion that it's using US weapons in accordance with international law.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken disembarks from the plane upon his arrival at King Khalid International Airport in the Saudi capital Riyadh on Feb. 5, 2024.

Blinken to visit Saudi Arabia, Egypt as US-Israel rift grows over Gaza

The top US diplomat will return to the Middle East as US alarm grows over Israel’s planned military offensive in Rafah.

Wang Kejian, during a visit to the head of Hamas' political bureau Ismail Haniyeh

China’s Middle East diplomat meets Hamas' Haniyeh in Qatar

China confirmed a meeting between a Foreign Ministry official and Hamas’ political chief Ismail Haniyeh in Doha as Beijing seeks a wider role in the region.

Children play in the rubble of Al-Faruq Mosque, which was destroyed during Israeli bombardment, in Rafah on the southern Gaza Strip on March 17, 2024.

Israeli delegation to visit White House as Biden-Netanyahu Rafah rift continues

The White House has invited an Israeli delegation to Washington to discuss ways forward in the campaign against Hamas, likely seeking to buy time after failing to secure a cease-fire in Gaza war before Ramadan.

An undated image of Faiq Mabhouh.

Israel kills Hamas’ Faiq al-Mabhouh as US confirms Marwan Issa’s death

US national security advisor Jake Sullivan confirmed that Hamas' number three, Marwan Issa, was killed last week while Israel took out another high-ranking Hamas security official.

West Bank

Why West Bank tensions could boil over during Ramadan

The increasing Israeli raids and armed attacks against Israeli forces have raised fears that the situation in the West Bank will explode.

An undated image of Samaher Esmail provided by her family.

Family sees double standard in Israel’s detention of US citizen

The Biden administration speaks often of its pledge to bring home every unjustly detained American. But what happens when the accusation of unjust detention involves a close ally?

AFP via Getty Images

Israeli delegation heads to Qatar to review Hamas' cease-fire proposal

Israel and Hamas have so far failed to agree on the terms of a cease-fire in Gaza that would include a prisoner swap.

This photograph shows the Israeli settlement of Efrata built on the land of the Palestinian town of Al-Khader in the Bethlehem governorate in the occupied West Bank on March 6, 2024.

Breaking | Last Updated: March 14, 2024, 2:59 pm

US sanctions West Bank outposts linked to settler attacks on Palestinians

The sanctions are a response to an uptick in settler violence in the West Bank that the United Nations blames for the deaths of at least nine Palestinians since Oct. 7.