Refugees

A photo taken from the Lebanese side of the northern border crossing of al-Arida shows Syrian rebel fighters assisting with the passage of Syrians back into their country, Dec. 10, 2024.

Syria to reopen war-damaged border crossing with Lebanon: What we know

The move comes as the new authorities in both Lebanon and Syria work to ensure border security and better relations.

Palestinians gather for a communal iftar.

Israel expands Gaza buffer zone to 20% as humanitarian situation deteriorates

Israel’s expanded buffer zone will cut off Gaza from Egypt and further partition the Strip, as the humanitarian crisis in the territory deepens.

Members of a family riding a motorcycle drive past a charred car in the town of Jableh in Syria's coastal province of Latakia on March 12, 2025. At least 1,383 civilians, the vast majority of them Alawites, were killed in a recent wave of violence that gripped Syria's Mediterranean coast, a war monitor said on March 12. (Photo by OMAR HAJ KADOUR / AFP) (Photo by OMAR HAJ KADOUR/AFP via Getty Images)

Feature

Fearing for safety, Syria's Alawites who fled to Lebanon have no plans to return

More than 30 members of one family spoke to Al-Monitor after fleeing into northern Lebanon from Syria amid a spasm of sectarian violence in the country. Many remain skeptical that it's safe to return.

Katya Hovnanian-Alexanian

By Katya Hovnanian-Alexanian

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

Latest News

From Saudi Arabia to Australia and China, world leaders denounce Trump’s plan to 'take over' Gaza

U.S. President Donald Trump takes questions from reporters during a press conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the East Room of the White House in Washington, D.C. on February 4, 2025. (Photo by Bryan Dozier / Middle East Images / Middle East Images via AFP) (Photo by BRYAN DOZIER/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images)

'Death itself could not get us out of here!' Gazans reject Trump’s proposal

People in Jabalia erect tents amid the rubble of destroyed buildings as displaced Palestinians return to northern Gaza during a ceasefire in the war between Israel and Hamas, Jan. 23, 2025.

Thousands in Egypt protest Trump’s push to transfer Palestinians

Demonstrators gather outside the Egyptian side of the Rafah border crossing with the Gaza Strip on Jan. 31, 2025 to protest against a plan floated by US President Donald Trump to move Palestinians from the Gaza Strip to Egypt and Jordan.

Analysis

EU seeks channels with HTS as it grapples with post-Assad Syria

Members of the Syrian community in Berlin hold flags of Syria and Germany as they celebrate the collapse of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's government, Dec. 8, 2024.

Rina Bassist

By Rina Bassist

In Paris, reporting on Israeli politics and European affairs

Mohammed Khier, head coach of Alsama cricket club, with cricketer Aya Fakhri Diab during practice in Al Marj camp.

Teenage Syrian refugees in Lebanon find cricket a welcome distraction

Cricket is emerging as a tool for social transformation and improving Syrian refugees’ education.

This aerial view shows tents covered in snow at a camp for internally displaced Syrians, near the town of Kafr Lusin, as a snow storm hit the region, at the border with Turkey in the rebel-held northwestern province of Idlib, March 13, 2022.

Climate change makes life harder for displaced Syrians

The extreme weather conditions caused by climate change have been particularly felt by the displaced living in camps across northwestern Syria, where NGOs are struggling to meet all of their needs.

Jewish Ukrainian refugees wait in Moldova to board plane to Tel Aviv

Debate in Israel continues over Ukrainian refugees

The Tel Aviv District Court ordered yesterday the State to offer Ukrainian refugees working permits, so they can live in dignity.

Turkish police try to arrest an ultranationalist protester.

Erdogan unveils plans to send 1 million Syrians back as anti-refugee sentiment escalates

As anti-refugee sentiment rises higher in Turkey during the Eid, Erdogan pledges a build-and-return project enabling more than a million Syrians to return “voluntarily” to northern Syria.

Palestinian children burn tyres following an earler an Israeli military raid in Jenin in the occupied West Bank on April 12, 2022.

Is Israel ready to invade Jenin camp?

Residents of the Jenin refugee camp in the northern West Bank fear yet another invasion by the Israeli army, 20 years after the Battle of Jenin.

Iranians visit the spot in the courtyard of Imam Reza shrine in the northeastern city of Mashhad on April 6, 2022.

Iran closes Afghanistan consulates after angry protests

Furious Afghans threw rocks at the Iranian Embassy in Herat after videos went viral of Afghan refugees being mistreated in neighboring Iran.

UN Special Rapporteur for the Palestinians Francesca Albanese.

Interview

Israel’s occupation has crossed the ‘red line of legality,’ says new UN rapporteur

In an interview with Al-Monitor, the newly appointed UN special rapporteur for the Palestinians, Francesca Albanese, speaks about her plans to address human rights violations in the Palestinian territories, while fending off a smear campaign launched against her by Israel.

Francesca Albanese

Francesca Albanese

UN Special Rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territories

People who have just crossed from war-torn Ukraine into Poland wait to board buses provided by Polish authorities at the Medyka border crossing, Medyka, Poland, March 11, 2022.

Young Egyptian rescues Arab families trapped in Ukraine

Social media outlets were abuzz over the past few days with news about Islam al-Ashiri, an Egyptian man who rescued a number of families stuck in Kyiv following the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

OZAN KOSE/AFP via Getty Images

Turkey’s quota plan for refugees alarms rights activists

Turkish Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu is advocating quotas for foreigners to prevent ghettos and clashes, but activists worry relocations would cut vulnerable refugees' access to work and services.

BERTRAND GUAY/AFP via Getty Images

Afghan evacuees in UAE protest US resettlement delay

From their shelter in Abu Dhabi, the protesters demanded they be resettled in the United States.

United Arab Emirates

Britain law

UK appeals court says woman in Syria unlawfully stripped of citizenship

The woman, who is living in the Al-Roj camp in northeast Syria, had sought repatriation to the United Kingdom.

Iraqis play at the snow-covered Safin Mountain on Jan. 18, 2022, near the city of Erbil, the capital of Iraq's northern Kurdish autonomous region.

Rare snowstorm hits Iraq and Syria

Many people in the Kurdistan Region rejoiced while playing in the snow, but such conditions can be dangerous for others, especially those living in displaced people camps.