Israeli-Palestinian conflict

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan receives Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the Turkish House in New York, on Sept. 19, 2023.

Analysis

What’s at stake for Turkey as Israel heads to the polls?

Israel’s Oct. 27 election could offer a chance to ease tensions with Ankara, but competing ambitions in Syria and beyond threaten to push the two US allies toward a dangerous confrontation.

Amberin Zaman

By Amberin Zaman

Reporting on geopolitics, minorities, human rights, culture

JACK GUEZ / AFP via Getty Images

Feature

50,000 Israeli expats fly home to vote in potential boon to Netanyahu rivals

Israel prohibits voting from abroad with limited exceptions, and Israelis who spoke to Al-Monitor said they are especially motivated to fly home this year.

Adam Lucente

By Adam Lucente

In New York City, reporting on regional news, militancy, climate change

Pedestrians cross a street in front of a banner featuring Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu

Analysis

How Israel opposition infighting is boosting Netanyahu days before election

Discord within the opposition, including its reluctance to name a single candidate for prime minister ahead of the Oct. 27 election, is working in Netanyahu’s favor.

Mazal Mualem

By Mazal Mualem

In Tel Aviv, reporting on politics

In first, Israel’s Netanyahu says he held call with Syria’s Ahmed al-Sharaa

It is the first publicly disclosed contact between the leaders of Israel and Syria, which lack formal relations and have fought several wars. Sharaa’s government began US-mediated talks with Israel in 2025.

Latest News

Sisi says Egypt has no ‘territorial ambitions’ after Israel’s Smotrich threatens Sinai

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi attends a joint statements and agreements during the EU and Egypt summit in Brussels, on Oct. 22, 2025.

Former Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar sues Netanyahu for nearly $1M over Oct. 7 claims

Israel's Chief of the Mossad David Barnea (R) and Security Agency director Ronen Bar, attend a ceremony marking the Hebrew calendar anniversary of the Hamas attack on October 7 last year that sparked the ongoing war in Gaza, at the Mount Herzl military cemetery in Jerusalem on October 27, 2024. (Photo by GIL COHEN-MAGEN / POOL / AFP) (Photo by GIL COHEN-MAGEN/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

Explainer

Israel-UK relations hit new low over settlements, Gaza: What to know

The British Consulate General in east Jerusalem represents the British government in Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza during a protest against the recently announced British sanctions, aimed at economic activity in Israeli settlements in the West Bank, on Sept. 14, 2026, in Jerusalem.

West Bank olive harvest begins amid settler attacks on Palestinians, groves

Palestinian men sitting in and by a tractor look on after another man was injured by gunfire whilst being chased away by Israeli forces, in Aqraba in the Israeli-occupied West Bank on Oct. 6, 2026.

MAHMUD HAMS/AFP via Getty Images

Hamas promises retaliation for Israel killing senior military leaders

Israeli strikes have killed a large number of Hamas commanders and destroyed dozens of security, military and police sites in the Gaza Strip.

Mohamed Ramadan hugging Israeli singer Omer Adam

Hamas says some Arab dramas promote normalization with Israel

An Egyptian series starring Egyptian actor Mohamed Ramadan angered Hamas for portraying the Gaza Strip as a drug den in the 1940s; Hamas also is critical of Ramadan over issues involving Arab states' normalization of relations with Israel.

The United Nations Security Council meets to hear from Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas at the UN, New York, Feb. 11, 2020.

Israel, Hamas confrontation spills into diplomatic arena

As the Israel-Hamas campaign intensifies, so does the public diplomacy campaign waged by Israel’s Foreign Ministry on the international arena.

Vehicles are pictured ablaze after a rocket launched from the Gaza Strip, controlled by the Palestinian Hamas movement, landed in the southern Israeli city of Ashkelon on May 11, 2021.

Palestinian resistance in Gaza vows to not back down against Israel

The Palestinian resistance factions in the Gaza Strip followed up on their pledge to attack Israel should it continue its violations against Palestinians in Jerusalem.

Smoke billows from Israeli airstrikes in Gaza City, controlled by the Palestinian Hamas movement, on May 11, 2021.

Hamas open to halting hostilities with Israel, Russia says

Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz has ruled out a cease-fire for now.

A truck burns at the entrance of the mixed Jewish-Arab city of Lod, where a state of emergency has been declared following civil unrest, on May 12, 2021. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared a state of emergency in Lod, where police said "wide-scale riots erupted among some of the Arab residents," and authorities later imposed an overnight curfew there.

Israel imposes curfew on Arab-Jewish city as protests intensify

The central city of Lod is under a state of emergency, and residents are banned from leaving their homes Wednesday night.

Fatima Shbair/Getty Images

ICC monitors Israeli-Palestinian violence for war crimes

Fatou Bensouda, the chief prosecutor for the International Criminal Court, says she is monitoring the escalating violence in the Palestinian territories and Israel.

Erdogan

Erdogan wants to 'teach a deterrent lesson' to Israel

The Turkish president made the remarks on the ongoing conflict in Israel and the Palestinian Territories during a call with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

NYC mayoral candidate Andrew Yang speaks at a press conference at Tweed Courthouse in Manhattan on May 11, 2021 in New York City.

New York City politicians spar over Israel, Palestine

The leaders in New York City’s mayoral election both defended Israel over the recent conflict with the Palestinians, though other politicians more to the left spoke in favor of the Palestinian cause.

Hady Amr

US sends diplomat to urge calm as Israel, Hamas fighting escalates

Hady Amr, the top State Department official on Israeli-Palestinian affairs, will push for both sides to de-escalate.

Heavy smoke and fire surround Al-Sharouk tower as it collapses during an Israeli air strike, in Gaza City on May 12, 2021.

The Takeaway: How Netanyahu gains politically from conflict with Gaza

Also: The United Arab List may be down, but it's not out; Biden administration sends envoy to region; our coverage from Israel, Gaza, Jerusalem and the West Bank; Egypt wants return of pregnant mummy from Poland.

MOHAMMED ABED/AFP via Getty Images

Intel: US reaches out to Egypt over Israel-Palestine violence

The Egyptians may talk Hamas off the ledge, but both the Israeli prime minister and the Palestinian militants may stand to politically benefit from a prolonged conflict.