Israeli-Palestinian conflict

US sanctions International Criminal Court president, top lawyer

The sanctions come a month after Secretary of State Marco Rubio vowed to dismantle the court "brick by brick."

Ohad Zwigenberg / POOL / AFP via Getty Images)

Analysis

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

Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu agreed to advance the US administration's Gaza plan in a meeting with envoy Jared Kushner despite his skepticism about Hamas' commitment.

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

A picture take on Sept. 13, 2017, shows Khalaf Ahmad Al Habtoor, chairman of the Al Habtoor Group, attending the World Premiere of La Perle in Dubai.

UAE billionaire Habtoor takes aim at Ben Gvir’s Gaza rhetoric

The prominent Dubai businessman condemned the Israeli national security minister's call to kill of dozens Gazans nightly, putting a pointed criticism from an influential Emirati voice on the record.

United Arab Emirates

An Israeli rescue team arrives in Venezuela after the earthquake in June 2026. Israeli Foreign Ministry

Analysis

Why Venezuela is moving closer to Israel but stopping short of full ties

Israel and Venezuela have practical and strategic reasons for advancing their relations after years of hostility, but establishing full ties faces challenges.

Rina Bassist

Adam Lucente

By Rina Bassist , Adam Lucente

Latest News

Analysis

As pro-Palestinian candidates gain ground, will AIPAC's influence wane?

Alex Wong/Getty Images

Adam Lucente

By Adam Lucente

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

Gaza family buries 112 recovered from war rubble after Israeli strike

People attend a mass funeral for members of the Abu Sharia and Al-Hasayna families, whose remains were recently recovered from the rubble of their homes after an attack earlier in the war, on Aug. 4, 2026 in the Sabra neighborhood of Gaza City, Gaza.

Analysis

Why Mamdani concluded he can’t arrest Israel’s PM Netanyahu

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani speaks during a primary-night watch party for NYC Congressional candidate Claire Valdez at 99 Scott Studio on June 23, 2026 in the East Williamsburg neighborhood of the Brooklyn borough in New York City.

Adam Lucente

By Adam Lucente

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

Culture

How Argentina-Spain World Cup final became debate over Israel, Palestine

Flags of Spain and Argentina

A large Syrian flag flutters above Tishreen Park in Damascus on June 4, 2025.

Feature

Inside Congress' battle to repeal Syria's Caesar sanctions

Five months after President Trump pledged to lift sanctions on Syria, the harshest penalties remain on the books.

Elizabeth Hagedorn

By Elizabeth Hagedorn

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

Wife of jailed Palestinian leader Marwan Barghouti appeals to Trump for his release

Barghouti has been imprisoned in Israel since 2002, after being convicted of planning attacks that killed five people, and he has been held in solitary confinement since October 2023.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio (L) looks on as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks following their meeting at the Prime Minister's office in Jerusalem on Oct. 23, 2025.

Rubio meets Netanyahu in push to preserve Gaza ceasefire

Secretary of State Marco Rubio is the latest US official dispatched to Israel to maintain the ceasefire’s momentum.

US President Donald Trump looks on during a press conference in the Oval Office of the White House, on Oct. 15, 2025, in Washington

Trump to Israel: West Bank annexation could end US support

"It won't happen," President Donald Trump said of annexation.

Steve Witkoff, the US Special Envoy for the Middle East, and Jared Kushner meet with UAE National Security Adviser Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan in Abu Dhabi, Oct. 22, 2025.

Kushner, Witkoff meet with UAE’s Sheikh Tahnoon as US pushes to reinforce Gaza ceasefire

The visit by the American envoys to the UAE comes right after their visit to Israel in an attempt to stabilize President Donald Trump’s Gaza ceasefire plan.

United Arab Emirates

NATHAN HOWARD/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

Vance cautions Gaza truce 'tough task' as Knesset pushes West Bank bill

Vice President JD Vance expressed optimism about disarming Hamas and rebuilding Gaza, noting Arab countries are ready to help.

Smoke billows following an Israeli strike that targeted a building in the Bureij camp for Palestinian refugees in the central Gaza Strip on Oct. 19, 2025.

US military to start Gaza ceasefire monitoring as international force plans stall

Diplomatic snags and concerns that their troops could be caught in the crossfire between Hamas and Israel are raising questions about a US proposal to stabilize postwar Gaza with an international force, despite "great optimism" cited by US Vice President JD Vance on Tuesday.

TOPSHOT - Palestinians stand near a burning car reportedly set alight by Israeli settlers attempting to disrupt them harvesting olives near the occupied West Bank village of Turmos Ayya near Ramallah on October 19, 2025. (Photo by HAZEM BADER / AFP) (Photo by HAZEM BADER/AFP via Getty Images)

Israel's West Bank police chief condemns settler's 'cruel' beating of Palestinian woman

The attack, filmed in Turmus Ayya, comes amid a surge in settler assaults on Palestinian farmers during the olive harvest.

US Vice President JD Vance and Second Lady Usha Vance greet US Ambassador

Analysis

As Trump envoys seek ceasefire progress, Netanyahu pins hopes on Hamas scuttling deal

"The ceasefire is still holding, but not thanks to Israel," a senior Israeli military source told Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity as US envoys work to keep the deal alive.

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

US Vice President JD Vance and second lady Usha Vance disembark Air Force Two on arrival to Ben Gurion airport on Oct. 21, 2025, in Tel Aviv, Israel.

Vance arrives in Israel to bolster fragile Gaza ceasefire

His visit comes a week after President Donald Trump flew to Israel to celebrate the hard-won deal.

SHARM EL-SHEIKH, EGYPT - OCTOBER 13: World leaders including U.S. President Donald Trump, Egypt's President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan and Qatar's Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani pose for a family photo, at a world leaders' summit on October 13, 2025 in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt. President Trump is in Egypt to meet with European and Middle Eastern leaders in what’s being billed as an international peace summit, following the start of a US-brokered ceasefire deal to end the war

Analysis

Netanyahu powerless as Trump advances Gaza plan with Arab, PA forces

The second phase of the agreement with Hamas will force Israel to accept an international force composed of Arab soldiers and the involvement of the Palestinian Authority in the administration of the Gaza Strip.

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

Palestinians rally around aid trucks which entered from the Karem Abu Salem crossing, in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip on Oct. 12, 2025.

US CENTCOM hastens to rally international force to stabilize Gaza

Washington and its allies are drafting a UN Security Council resolution for an international stabilization force for Gaza, but the belated push has allowed Hamas to emerge from the rubble to kill off would-be rivals — and risks Israel restarting the war.