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Palestine

September 20, 2026

Ramallah 12:52 am

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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and French President Emmanuel Macron arrive to hold a joint press conference in Jerusalem, Oct. 24, 2023.

Analysis

After France's settlement ban, Israel sees no warming of ties with Macron government

Israeli diplomats say France’s decision to ban imports from West Bank settlements has brought bilateral relations to an unprecedented low point.

Rina Bassist

By Rina Bassist

In Paris, reporting on Israeli politics and European affairs

Jewish settlement of Kedumim, in the West Bank

Analysis

Europe’s West Bank trade ban fires warning shot at Israel’s economy

Weeks before key Israeli elections, a dozen nations announced new trade restrictions targeting settlements in the West Bank, delivering a sharp rebuke to Israel's government that could presage additional international pressure.

Samuel Wendel

By Samuel Wendel

In Washington, DC, reporting on regional business and tech

Chaim Goldberg / AFP via Getty Images

Netanyahu threatens to sue Haaretz for reporting UAE warned Israel of Oct. 7 attack

The Emirati president reportedly warned that a planned attack could cause bloodshed, destabilize the region and threaten the Abraham Accords.

Palestinians hold up the green Hamas flag during a protest by supporters of both the Fatah and Hamas movements, as they rally in support of the Palestinian people following Friday noon prayers in Hebron, occupied West Bank, Nov. 3, 2023.

Majority of Palestinians lose trust in Hamas and Fatah, new poll finds

A recent poll by a Palestinian survey center found that trust in Palestinian factions has declined, amid stalled efforts to implement the Gaza peace plan and escalating settler violence in the West Bank.

Latest News

12 countries including France, UK, Canada end trade with West Bank settlements

West Bank settlements

Katz warns PA against 'Oct. 7-style' attack as West Bank violence rises

Israeli soldiers take positions during a military operation in the town of Qalqiya, in the occupied West Bank, Dec. 4, 2025.

Analysis

LORA missile test reveals limits of Germany’s Gaza criticism of Israel

A woman walks past a model of a Lora missile, Israel's long range artillery missile at the Israel defence stall at the international DefExpo 2008 defence fair, in New Delhi on February 16, 2008. India kicked off South Asia's largest defence fair, with hundreds of global weapons firms offering their latest hardware to the country's technology-hungry military. About 450 weapons companies from 30 countries are present at the four-day "DefExpo" in New Delhi, with several big-ticket announcements expected. AFP P

Rina Bassist

By Rina Bassist

In Paris, reporting on Israeli politics and European affairs

Analysis

As Israeli settler attacks mount, Trump avoids public pressure on Netanyahu

Israeli soldiers arrive in the village of Qusra, south of Nablus in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, which has faced escalating Israeli settler violence over the past month, on Aug. 29, 2026.

Elizabeth Hagedorn

By Elizabeth Hagedorn

In Washington, DC, reporting on diplomacy, regional politics, human rights

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

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (R) and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas attend an event about the Middle East peace talks in the East Room at the White House in Washington September 1, 2010. REUTERS/Jim Young (UNITED STATES - Tags: POLITICS) - RTR2HTCQ

Did Bibi choose to preserve Hamas to avoid talks with Abbas?

In an exclusive interview with Al-Monitor, Knesset member Israel Hasson, a former deputy head of Shin Bet, charges that Prime Minister Netanyahu has chosen to preserve Hamas as part of a strategy to keep Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas weak and unable to negotiate.

An Israeli border police officer speaks with a Palestinian man as he waits to cross into Jerusalem to attend the first Friday prayer of Ramadan in al-Aqsa mosque, at Qalandia checkpoint near the West Bank city of Ramallah July 4, 2014. REUTERS/Mohamad Torokman (WEST BANK - Tags: POLITICS RELIGION SOCIETY) - RTR3X1TV

Israel must end Gaza-West Bank separation policy

The failure of the current talks with Hamas emphasize the urgent need for Israel to end its ''separation policy'' of isolating Gaza from the West Bank.

A Palestinian fighter from the Izz el-Deen al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of the Hamas movement, is seen inside an underground tunnel in Gaza August 18, 2014. A rare tour that Hamas granted to a Reuters reporter, photographer and cameraman appeared to be an attempt to dispute Israel's claim that it had demolished all of the Islamist group's border infiltration tunnels in the Gaza war. Picture taken August 18, 2014. To match Exclusive MIDEAST-GAZA/TUNNELS REUTERS/Mohammed Salem (GAZA - Tags:

The new Gaza state

Hamas soon can pride itself on imposing an agreement on Israel, which actually opens the way for a future Gaza state — when in fact it only is obtaining what was reasonable to give the Gazans many years ago.

A worker walks through the vineyard of the Golan Heights Winery in the northern Israeli village of Merom Golan August 20, 2006. The harvest began on August 16 -- two days after the guns fell silent following a conflict in which Israeli troops pushed into south Lebanon and Hizbollah rockets rained on northern Israel. Israel's best grapes, all the experts agree, come from the north where the shelling and rocket fire were heaviest. To match feature LIFE-ISRAEL-WINE REUTERS/Yonathan Weitzman (ISRAEL) - RTR1GJ9

Israel lost on all fronts of the Gaza war

Not only did Israel lose its deterrence edge against Hamas, it also severely exposed its frayed ties with the US and the international community and faces a more comprehensive European boycott of settlement products.

A Palestinian woman, hoping to cross into Egypt, cries as she waits with others at the Rafah crossing between Egypt and the southern Gaza Strip August 12, 2014. Under Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, Cairo has secured closures on the Gaza border, increasing economic pressure on Hamas from a long-running Israeli blockade. Talks to end a month-long war between Israel and Islamist militants in Gaza have made no progress so far, an Israeli official said on Tuesday, as a 72-hour ceasefire in the shattere

Rafah crossing used as a bargaining chip in Gaza crisis

The economic and humanitarian interests of the people of the Gaza Strip and the Sinai Peninsula are relegated to the political game that will determine whether the Rafah crossing is reopened or not.

A man holds up a flag during a peace rally in Tel Aviv's Rabin Square August 16, 2014. The protesters were demonstrating in favour of a peaceful political agreement, to end the month-long conflict in Gaza, between the Israeli and Palestinian governments.
REUTERS/Baz Ratner (ISRAEL - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY) - RTR42O64

Stuck in the '90s: Israel’s peace camp is losing public interest

After weeks of rocket fire, the Israeli public, including many in the left, feel that the peace camp has no adequate proposals and can offer no updated paradigm for a diplomatic solution.

Fishing boats are seen at Gaza Seaport in Gaza City November 24, 2012. Israel eased restrictions on Gaza fishermen on Saturday, further implementing a three-day-old truce brokered by Egypt after a week of fierce fighting, Palestinian officials said. REUTERS/Ahmed Zakot (GAZA - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST CONFLICT) - RTR3ATKD

Gaza cease-fire talks hit snag over sea, air ports

Egypt has proposed that discussions of sea and air ports for Gaza be postponed until September, a move that is unlikely to receive a warm response from Hamas.

INDIAN SPRINGS, NV - APRIL 16: Airman 1st Class Ozzy Toma walks around an inert Hellfire missile as he perform a pre-flight check on an MQ-1B Predator unmanned aircraft system (UAS) April 16, 2009 at Creech Air Force Base in Indian Springs, Nevada. The United States Air Force currently has 116 of the aircraft in its UAS fleet with 31 of them airborne at any given moment, flying combat air patrols over Iraq and Afghanistan. After being launched overseas, the Predators are flown by pilots and sensor operator

US missile shipment delay should teach Israel lesson

Now that the White House policy of scrutinizing arms shipments to Israel is out in the open, Israel might begin to understand the price it will pay for rejecting a diplomatic process with the Palestinians.

Will US Middle East policy change after the Gaza war?

After the Gaza war, the challenge for the Obama administration will be to stabilize the region, prevent an intifada and create a basis for future progress.

Jerusalem culture nights under fire

When Gaza war erupted, the organizers of the Jerusalem Season of Culture decided to cancel most of its events, and to create, in their stead, exceptional content that corresponds with the security situation and internal Israeli conflicts.

An Israeli tank patrols just outside the border with the northern Gaza Strip August 12, 2014. Talks to end a month-long war between Israel and Gaza militants are "difficult", Palestinian delegates said on Tuesday, while Israeli officials said no progress had been made so far and fighting could soon resume. REUTERS/ Amir Cohen (ISRAEL - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST MILITARY TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY) - RTR4269F

Southern Israeli city of Sderot is tired of cease-fires

Fourteen years of rockets have bred hard feelings in the southern Israeli city of Sderot — which range from despair to utter despair — with residents actually hoping for a continuation of the battles, and frustration over the fact that the IDF did not conquer the Gaza Strip.

Homeless Gazans struggle to find shelter

Thousands of Gazans have been left homeless following Israeli attacks, with many dispersed across the Strip living in tents, garages, basements and parks.