Palestine - AL-MONITOR: The Middle Eastʼs leading independent news source since 2012

Palestine cover image

Palestine

August 30, 2026

Ramallah 3:09 pm

26°C

A boy walks carrying a table on his back past salvage workers scrapping the rubble of a building that was destroyed during Israel's war against Hamas in Gaza City on Aug. 16, 2026. — Photo by Omar Al-Qattaa / AFP via Getty Images

Israel, Hamas bide their time as Gaza peace plan stalls

As the Israel-Hamas ceasefire approaches the one-year mark in October, the Board of Peace is under pressure to deliver results in the Gaza Strip.

Palestinian militant group Hamas police officers stand guard as people attend the opening of the Fatah party's eighth general conference at Al-Azhar University in Gaza City on May 14, 2026.

Ex-defense minister: Israel in ‘worst possible’ Gaza situation as Hamas gains strength

Former Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant criticized the Israeli government for allowing Hamas to retain control over half of the Gaza Strip.

Latest News

Turkey seeks Interpol Red Notices for Netanyahu over Gaza flotilla

Murat Kocabas / Middle East Images / AFP via Getty Images

Australia summons Israeli ambassador over World Central Kitchen strike: What to know

Zomi Frankcom

Analysis

Netanyahu yields to Trump on Gaza, betting Hamas won’t disarm

Ohad Zwigenberg / POOL / AFP via Getty Images)

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

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

Russian President Vladimir Putin meets with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on the sidelines of the Sixth Summit of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia, Astana, Kazakhstan, Oct. 13, 2022.

Putin hosts Abbas as Russia looks for role in ending Gaza war

Russia’s President Vladimir Putin and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas held talks in Moscow on first such visit for the Palestinian leader since 2021.

Palestinian children passing by on the street look at the makeshift gravesite of Khaled Abu Obeid at his family's home in Gaza City's Sheikh Radwan neighbourhood on August 7, 2024. Khaled was feeding pigeons on their rooftop when he was killed by a sniper on December 21 amid an Israeli siege of the area, forcing the family and neighbours to dig his grave at home, where it remains, the family said. (Photo by Omar AL-QATTAA / AFP) (Photo by OMAR AL-QATTAA/AFP via Getty Images)

UK, France, Germany leaders urge restart of Gaza cease-fire talks as Hamas reconsiders

European leaders, including UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz called on Monday for the truce talks to resume, after the mediators did last week.

Palestinians flee the Hamad residential district and its surroundings in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip after receiving a warning from the Israeli army to evacuate the area on August 11, 2024, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Hamas militant group. (Photo by Bashar TALEB / AFP) (Photo by BASHAR TALEB/AFP via Getty Images)

Israel expands evacuation order in Gaza’s Khan Younis, more than 75,000 flee

The Israeli military escalation comes only days before proposed cease-fire talks on Thursday, brokered by the US, Qatar and Egypt.

Yahya al-Sinwar (C), Gaza Strip chief of the Palestinian Islamist Hamas movement, shakes hands with a masked fighter of Hamas' Qassam Brigades during a rally marking the 35th anniversary of the group's foundation, in Gaza City on December 14, 2022. Hamas will end talks on securing a prisoner exchange with Israel unless there is progress soon, the militant group's leader in the Gaza Strip said on December 14. Since Israel's 2014 invasion of the Gaza Strip, the Islamist group has held the bodies of Israeli so

Analysis

With its ally Haniyeh gone, how will Turkey approach Sinwar-led Hamas?

Hamas’ new political chief, Yahya Sinwar, is seen as hard-line and pro-Iran, which unsettles Turkey, but he is unlikely to turn the armed Palestinian group into a mere instrument of Tehran.

Barin Kayaoglu

By Barin Kayaoglu

In Ankara, reporting on geopolitics and national security

School shelters across Gaza have been hit at least 14 times since July 6

Israel faces anger over Gaza school strike rescuers say killed 93

Agence France-Presse

US Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris speaks during a campaign event at Desert Diamond Arena in Glendale, Arizona, on Aug. 9, 2024.

Interview

Harris replacing Biden on ticket gave Democrats expected bump from Arab Americans

Abed Ayoub, Arab American ADC grassroots leader, discusses why the Harris bump was expected, whether Jill Stein could be a spoiler in Michigan, why Tim Walz was a positive VP pick, and more.

Abed Ayoub

Abed Ayoub

National Executive Director of the American Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee

Iranians lift up a flag and the mock up of a missile during a celebration following Iran's missiles and drones attack on Israel, on April 15 2024, at Palestine square in central Tehran.

Iran’s threat to Israel adds uncertainty over Gaza cease-fire

The looming attack from Iran and its allies, coupled with Hamas’ elevation of Yahya Sinwar, casts fresh doubt on a cease-fire deal.

TOPSHOT - (L-R) Mahmoud al-Aloul, Vice Chairman of the Central Committee of Palestinian organisation and political party Fatah, China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi, and Mussa Abu Marzuk, senior member of the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas, attend an event at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing on July 23, 2024. China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi on July 23 hailed an agreement by 14 Palestinian factions to set up an "interim national reconciliation government" to govern Gaza after the war. (Photo by Pe

Analysis

Hamas reshuffle constrains China as Yahya Sinwar consolidates power

Ismail Haniyeh was no ally of Beijing, but he and Hamas' political wing emerged in recent years as a bridge to expand China's diplomatic influence in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

Joyce Karam

Israeli tanks move toward Rafah during the wider military operation in the Gaza Strip, May 29, 2024.

US says cease-fire talks in 'final stage' as Hamas taps Sinwar to be new leader

The nomination of Gaza Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar as head of the organization's political bureau does not mean that the door of cease-fire and hostage release negotiations is closed.

Yahia al-Sinwar (C), Gaza Strip chief of the Palestinian Islamist Hamas movement, waves to supporters during a rally marking the 35th anniversary of the group's foundation, in Gaza City on Dec. 14, 2022.

Hamas' Gaza-based leader Yahya Sinwar to replace slain political chief Ismail Haniyeh

Sinwar, considered the mastermind of the Oct. 7 attack, will succeed Ismail Haniyeh following the latter’s assassination in Iran.

JAAFAR ASHTIYEH/AFP via Getty Images

West Bank violence leaves at least eight Palestinians dead

The latest round of violence in the West Bank comes as Israel is bracing for an expected response from Iran and its regional allies to the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran.

The Akdeniz RoRo, part of the Freedom Flotilla Coalition, is loaded with goods as it is anchored in Tuzla seaport, near Istanbul on April 19, 2024.

Turkey blocks Gaza-bound aid flotilla from sailing, organizers say

The organizers of the flotilla blamed the move on pressure from other NATO countries.