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Palestine

April 25, 2026

Ramallah 6:58 pm

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An elections employee tapes a poster with instructions to voters ahead of the upcoming municipal elections in Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip on April 21, 2026.

Feature

Gazans show cautious hope ahead of first local elections in 20 years

The city of Deir al-Balah in central Gaza is set to hold municipal elections for the first time in nearly two decades.

Rasha Abou Jalal

By Rasha Abou Jalal

In Gaza City, reporting on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict

Women read instructions to voters ahead of the upcoming municipal elections in Deir el-Balah in the central Gaza Strip on April 21, 2026.

Analysis

On eve of Palestinian local elections, competition in short supply

With many races unopposed and rivals excluded, the vote underscores a calibrated effort to contain dissent and prioritize stability.

Daoud Kuttab

By Daoud Kuttab

In Amman, reporting on Palestinian politics

Olmert

Interview

Olmert: Only Israel-Lebanon deal can curb Hezbollah, occupation 'unviable'

Former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert told Al-Monitor that Israel will only be able to defang Hezbollah if it reaches an agreement with the Lebanese government.

Meloni

Meloni suspends Italy's military cooperation agreement with Israel

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni announced her country's military cooperation agreement with Israel will no longer be automatically renewed.

Latest News

'Apartheid': Arab countries including UAE, Jordan decry new Israeli law

MOJAHID NAW/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images

Settler violence spike exposes Israeli government rift with military

Israeli settler violence graffiti

Wartime closures at Jerusalem holy sites raise fears of lasting shift among Palestinians

Muslim worshippers break their fast outside the old city walls of Jerusalem on March 17, 2026, as the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound remains closed.

Analysis

Hamas sits out Iran war as Gaza, Gulf interests take priority

Displaced Palestinians gather for a fast-breaking Iftar meal amid the rubble of destroyed buildings at the Jabalia refugee camp, in the northern Gaza Strip, during the Muslim holy fasting month of Ramadan, Feb. 23, 2026.

Abeer Ayyoub

By Abeer Ayyoub

In Istanbul, reporting on Palestine

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

The United Nations Security Council meets on the situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian question, at UN headquarters in New York City on April 18, 2024. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Thursday painted a dark picture of the situation in the Middle East, warning that spiraling tensions over the war in Gaza and Iran's attack on Israel could devolve into a "full-scale regional conflict." (Photo by ANGELA WEISS / AFP) (Photo by ANGELA WEISS/AFP via Getty Images)

US vetoes Palestinian membership at United Nations

The resolution to grant the Palestinians full UN membership received support from a majority of the council but failed to pass after a US veto.

WASHINGTON, DC - NOVEMBER 13: U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) speaks during a news conference calling for a ceasefire in Gaza outside the U.S. Capitol building on November 13, 2023 in Washington, DC. House Democrats held the news conference alongside rabbis with the activist group Jewish Voices for Peace. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

Ilhan Omar’s daughter suspended from Columbia University over Gaza protests

The suspension from the university’s sister institution was in relation to an on-campus encampment in solidarity with Gaza, Isra Hirsi said on X, and follows a House panel on antisemitism at the school.

Qatar 'reevaluating' Hamas-Israel mediation role amid mounting criticism

Qatar, alongside the US and Egypt, has mediated talks between Israel and Hamas on a cease-fire in exchange for the release of hostages taken in the militant group’s Oct. 7 attack.

Ismail Haniyeh.

Hamas' Haniyeh to visit Turkey as Erdogan hits back at Gaza criticism

The Turkish president dials up his defensive tone in response to domestic criticism over the Gaza war.

VICTORIA VALDIVIA/Hans Lucas/AFP via Getty Images

Starbucks pledges $3M to World Central Kitchen for Gaza meals

The coffee giant has announced a large donation to the aid group World Central Kitchen, which lost seven of its staff members earlier this month in an Israeli airstrike.

Black smoke billows amid clashes as Israeli forces raid the al-Faraa camp for Palestinian refugees near Tubas city in the occupied West Bank on Jan. 13, 2024.

West Bank at boiling point as Palestinians take up arms against settlers

Armed attacks against settlers in the West Bank escalated as the Israeli army and settlers stepped up daily attacks against Palestinians.

Abu Ubaida (C), spokesman of the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades.

US unveils sanctions on Hamas spokesperson Abu Ubaida

The US Treasury Department also targeted Hamas members linked to the group’s cyber and drone operations in Lebanon and Gaza.

The UN Security Council holds an emergency meeting on the risk of famine and attacks on humanitarian workers in Gaza, UN headquarters, New York, April 5, 2024.

US readies another veto as Palestinians seek elusive UN membership

The United States is poised for another UN Security Council showdown as the Palestinians seek full UN membership for the second time.

Palestinian worshippers gather on April 10, 2024 in the courtyard of Gaza City's historic Omari Mosque, which has been heavily damaged in Israeli bombardment during the ongoing battles between Israel and Hamas, on the first day of Eid al-Fitr to mark the end of the Islamic fasting month of Ramadan. (Photo by AFP) (Photo by -/AFP via Getty Images)

Palestinians in Gaza mark solemn Eid at destroyed mosques, in displacement

Eid al-Fitr has been a somber holiday this year in the Gaza Strip, where the dead have left gaping holes in families.

Ismail Haniyeh, the Doha-based political bureau chief of the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas, speaks to the press after a meeting with the Iranian foreign minister in Tehran on March 26, 2024.

Breaking | Last Updated: April 11, 2024, 7:43 am

Three sons of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh killed in Israeli strike

Ismail Haniyeh confirmed his sons were killed in a strike in Gaza, and Israel later said its air force targeted the three men.

A volunteer distributes sweets to Muslims after special morning prayers to start the Eid al-Fitr festival, which marks the end of the holy fasting month of Ramadan, at the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in Jerusalem on April 10, 2024.

Syria to Sudan, Middle East celebrates bittersweet Eid in shadow of war

Pro-Palestinian protests sweep across the region as Muslims mark the first day of religious holiday Eid al-Fitr.

Gazans at Eid morning prayers at the flattened Al-Farooq mosque in Rafah

Gazans mark 'saddest' Eid with little to celebrate or eat

Agence France-Presse