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.

Israel dismantles weapons cell in West Bank

Israel announced the arrest of dozens of people allegedly involved in the production of weapons in the West Bank.

Israeli threats escalate against Hamas

Israeli officials have recently increased their threat of a wide-scale military operation against Hamas in the Gaza Strip, prompting the movement to take precautionary measures.

Democratic 2020 U.S. presidential candidate former New York Mayor Mike Bloomberg delivers remarks during the AIPAC convention at the Washington Convention Center in Washington, U.S., March 2, 2020. REUTERS/Tom Brenner - RC2RBF9BWPZS

Opposition to Bernie Sanders draws out bipartisan unity at AIPAC

AIPAC has struggled to maintain its bipartisan stature on Capitol Hill recently, but rallying Democrats and Republicans against Bernie Sanders has given it a new opportunity.

Israel offers new incentives to Gazans

As part of the truce agreements Israel reached with Hamas in the Gaza Strip, 2,000 merchants from the Strip will obtain permits to work in Israel, which will have a positive impact on the Gazan economy.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu talks to the U.S. Ambassador David Friedman during his visit to Ariel settlement in the West Bank, February 24, 2020. Sebastian Scheiner/Pool via REUTERS - RC287F98LHX4

How Netanyahu is burying the two-state solution

If Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ever had the common sense to leave room for a future agreement with the Palestinians, he buried it recently with his decision to build new housing units in Jewish east and south Jerusalem neighborhoods.

PA plans to bypass Israel by issuing construction permits, rebuilding demolished homes

Palestinian Minister of Local Government Majdi al-Saleh has recently announced he will be issuing permits that allow Palestinians to build houses in Area C of the West Bank, ignoring the need for Israeli approvals.

Why is Egypt building a wall along its border with Gaza?

Although it coincides with Washington’s Mideast peace plan, observers and experts say they believe that safeguarding and boosting national security are the real reasons behind Egypt's decision to build a new wall along its border with the Gaza Strip.

How Hamas’ observation units operate on Gaza border

Israel has recently revealed details about Hamas’ observation posts erected along the Gaza border to monitor Israeli movements.

PA seeks Israeli left's support to challenge US peace plan

Despite the public's ire, the Palestinian Authority has been meeting with members of the Israeli media and the sympathetic left to boost Israeli opposition to the US peace plan ahead of the March 2 Knesset elections.

A Palestinian girl looks out of her family dwelling on a rainy winter day in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip February 10, 2020. REUTERS/Ibraheem Abu Mustafa - RC2KXE9KDOS8

What is wrong with Israel’s policy toward Gaza?

Lacking any real policy on the Gaza Strip, Israel keeps imposing and then easing restrictions on the suffering of Gaza residents.

Netanyahu honeymoons with Hamas, expects quiet in return

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has quietly made a number of significant concessions to Hamas to buy some quiet until the March 2 elections in Israel.

Chief Palestinian Negotiator Saeb Erekat gestures as he speaks to the media in Ramallah, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank July 1, 2019. Picture taken July 1, 2019. REUTERS/Mohamad Torokman - RC18AC22D710

Hamas, Fatah trade blame for holdup on Gaza meeting

Fatah and Hamas are accusing each other of delaying the PLO delegation visit to Gaza aimed at countering the US Mideast peace plan.