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Palestine

September 24, 2026

Ramallah 2:27 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

An Israeli soldier looks through binoculars in front of a mural depicting the late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat on the controversial Israeli barrier, during clashes with Palestinian stone-throwers at Qalandiya checkpoint near the West Bank city of Ramallah November 21, 2012. Clashes broke out between Palestinians and the Israeli army in multiple locations across the occupied West Bank on Wednesday, underlining heightened tensions by the Gaza conflict. REUTERS/Marko Djurica (WEST BANK - Tags: POLITICS CI

Is Israel Heading Toward Apartheid?

Akiva Eldar contends that Israel's discrimination against the Palestinians contradicts the intentions of its forefathers.

Teachers stand among school girls during a queue exercise at al-Qahera school in Gaza City April 2, 2013. New rules from the Education Ministry of the Islamist Hamas movement ruling the Gaza Strip will bar men from teaching at girls' schools and mandate separate classes for boys and girls from the age of nine. REUTERS/Mohammed Salem (GAZA - Tags: POLITICS EDUCATION) - RTXY5MN

Hamas Intensifies Gaza 'Islamization'

Hamas has been clamping down on young men wearing waist-down jeans and hair gel, the latest move in the ruling organization’s insidious campaign to “Islamize” Palestinian society in Gaza, writes Hazem Balousha.

The motorcade of U.S. President George W. Bush moves towards the Church of the Nativity in the West Bank town of Bethlehem January 10, 2008. Passing through a tiny "Door of Humility", Bush made a pilgrimage to the traditional birthplace of Jesus on Thursday in the first U.S. presidential visit to the occupied West Bank. REUTERS/Ammar Awad (WEST BANK) - RTX5EYY

What Do Peace Envoys Actually Do in the Middle East?

For many years, the world’s powers have been sending envoys to the Middle East to secure peace deals. Given their lack of success, however, Omar Shaban asks what their point is.

JERUSALEM, ISRAEL - MARCH 22: (ISRAEL OUT) U.S. President Barack Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during his visit to the Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial museum on March 22, 2013 in Jerusalem, Israel. This is Obama's first visit as president to the region and his itinerary includes meetings with the Palestinian and Israeli leaders as well as a visit to the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem. (Photo by Uriel Sinai/Getty Images)

What Really Happened Between Netanyahu and Obama

From confidential, well-placed sources, Ben Caspit discloses the arguments in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's chambers hidden behind friendly gestures in public during the US president’s visit.

Qatar's Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani talks during the official opening ceremony of the Doha GOALS forum in Doha December 11, 2012. REUTERS/Fadi Al-Assaad (QATAR - Tags: SPORT POLITICS) - RTR3BG1Z

Hamas’ Relationship with Qatar Widens Rift With West Bank

Since Qatar has taken the initiative to play a greater regional role, especially regarding the Palestinian cause, many in the West Bank feel it seeks to undermine Fatah’s leadership, writes Hazem Balousha.

Palestinian students hold the hand of Hamas chief Khaled Meshaal (2nd R) during his visit to the Islamic University in Gaza City December 9, 2012. Meshaal, in a defiant speech during his first ever visit to Gaza, told a mass rally on Saturday he would never recognise Israel and pledged to "free the land of Palestine inch by inch". REUTERS/Suhaib Salem (GAZA - Tags: POLITICS ANNIVERSARY CIVIL UNREST) - RTR3BDJP

Meshaal May Face Resistance In His Move Toward Openness

Khaled Meshaal has been re-elected as Hamas’ leader, but as he tries to move toward more openness, he may face resistance from hard-liners inside the movement, writes Adnan Abu Amer.

Palestinian women hold up their refugee ration cards during a protest demanding the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) to resume aid for refugees in Gaza City April 8, 2013. The main U.N. humanitarian agency for Palestinians closed all of its relief and distribution centres in Gaza after protesters stormed its headquarters on Thursday demanding it to reverse a decision to cut annual cash handouts of $40 to the poorest beneficiaries. REUTERS/Suhaib Salem (GAZA - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST SOCIET

Hamas Friction Continues With UN Relief Agency

The United Nations Relief and Works Agency in Gaza faces increasing difficulty in carrying out its work, as the Hamas-led government claims some of its activities are not in line with the Strip’s Islamic culture and values, writes Hazem Balousha.

U.S. President Barack Obama holds a souvenir book presented to him by Chairman of the Yad Vashem Directorate Avner Shalev during Obama's visit to the Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial in Jerusalem, March 22, 2013. REUTERS/Jason Reed (JERUSALEM - Tags: POLITICS) - RTR3FBHE

Obama's Lesson in Zionism

During his visit to Israel, President Barack Obama reminded the world of the values of liberation and self-determination on which Zionism is based, writes Einat Wilf.

Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal makes a speech during the congress of Turkey's Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan's ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) in Ankara September 30, 2012. Erdogan trumpeted Turkey's credentials as a rising democratic power on Sunday, saying his Islamist-rooted ruling party had become an example to the Muslim world after a decade in charge. Leaders including Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi, Kyrgyz President Almazbek Atambayev and Masoud Barzani, president of Iraq's autonomous Kurdis

Israeli Apology Pushes Hamas Away From Turkey

Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu’s apology to Turkish counterpart Erdogan over the Mavi Marmara incident has brought Turkey closer to Israel but pushed Hamas away, writes Adnan Abu Amer.

Members of the Palestinian security forces carry the body of Maysara Abu Hamdeya out of a hospital before his funeral in the West Bank city of Hebron April 4, 2013. Tensions have risen rapidly in the West Bank and Gaza Strip following the death from cancer on Tuesday of Abu Hamdeya, 64, who was serving a life sentence in an Israeli jail. REUTERS/Mussa Qawasma (WEST BANK - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST) - RTXY7TG

Palestinian Patients Denied Adequate Treatment in Israel

Callousness on the part of Jerusalem, Gaza and Ramallah alike prevents Palestinians from getting life-saving treatment at Israeli hospitals, writes Akiva Eldar.

Lebanon's Hezbollah Leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah (center, L) meets with Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal (center, R) in Beirut in this photo released in July 12, 2010. Hamas leader Meshaal visited Lebanon to pay his condolences for Grand Ayatollah Sayyed Mohammed Hussein Fadlallah who died last week. REUTERS/Lebanon's Hezbollah Media office/Handout (LEBANON - Tags: POLITICS OBITUARY) FOR EDITORIAL USE ONLY. NOT FOR SALE FOR MARKETING OR ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS - RTR2GCPX

Hamas, Hezbollah Take Opposite Sides in Syria

Hamas and Hezbollah leaders find themselves on opposite sides of the war in Syria, writes Shlomi Eldar.

Rajab Abu Ghanim (rear C) teaches his daughter, Palestinian girl Shorouq Abu Ghanem, to surf in the Mediterranean Sea off the coast of Gaza City November 5, 2010. Away from Gaza's troubled reality and beyond its polluted shore, Shorouq and Sabah Abu Ghanem surf in a world of their own. The two girls, 13 and 12, learnt how to swim at the age of three at the hand of their lifeguard father. They can swim up to 10 km (6 miles), dive to seven meters (25 feet) and surf on plastic boards that they hope one day to

Surfing in Gaza

Although there is a burgeoning surfing scene in the Gaza Strip, Gazan surfers struggle to find the necessary equipment and facilities, writes Hazem Balousha.