Palestine - AL-Monitor: The Middle Eastʼs leading independent news source since 2012

Palestine cover image

Palestine

August 4, 2025

Ramallah 8:41 pm

23°C

WASHINGTON, DC - JULY 07: U.S. President Donald Trump looks on as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during a dinner in the Blue Room of the White House on July 07, 2025 in Washington, DC. Trump is hosting Netanyahu for a dinner as the two discuss a potential ceasefire agreement to end the fighting in Gaza. (Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)

Over 600 former Israeli security officials call on Trump to end Gaza war

Former Israeli security officials, including former heads of the Mossad, the Shin Bet internal security agency, the Israeli military, Israel police and ambassadors are pleading with Trump to pressure Netanyahu to end the war.

Meeting of the Association Council between the European Union and Israel in the presence of the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Hebrew State Gideon Saar and the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the EU countries at the European Council in Brussels in Belgium, on Feb. 24, 2025.

Analysis

'Diplomatic tsunami': Israel grapples with isolation from Europe, Palestine's recognition

Israel is being ostracized not only by European states that have long criticized its policies but also by some of its traditional allies such as Germany and Italy as the hunger crisis in Gaza deepens.

Rina Bassist

By Rina Bassist

In Paris, reporting on Israeli politics and European affairs

Palestinians shove to receive a hot meal at a charity kitchen in the Mawasi area of Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip on July 22, 2025.

'A complete farce': Gaza residents say Israel's aid policy shift has done little as hunger grows

While global media outlets continue to show images of humanitarian aid trucks entering the Gaza Strip, we — residents of this besieged coastal enclave — have yet to feel the tangible affect of these convoys as our children’s stomachs remain empty.

NEW YORK, NEW YORK - APRIL 29: Riyad Mansour, Palestinian Ambassador to the UN, speaks during a United Nations Security Council meeting on the conflict in the Middle East, including the Palestinian question at the United Nations headquarters on April 29, 2025 in New York City. The Security Council held a meeting on the ongoing Israel-Hamas war as the International Court of Justice (ICJ) holds its second day of hearings into Israel’s humanitarian obligations to Palestinians after more than 50 days of Israel’

Interview

Palestinian UN envoy: Saudi-France summit was 'historic' milestone, builds on France recognition

Palestinian Ambassador to the UN Riyad Mansour told Al-Monitor in an interview that the the summit created fresh momentum for Palestinian statehood in line with recent recognition moves by countries such as France and the UK.

Riyad Mansour

Riyad Mansour

Palestinian Ambassador to the UN

Latest News

Analysis

As US envoys head to Gaza, details scant on Trump's 'food centers'

People carrying aid parcels walk along the Salah al-Din road near the Nusseirat refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip, used by food-seeking Palestinians to reach an aid distribution point set up by the privately run Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF, on June 25, 2025.

Elizabeth Hagedorn

By Elizabeth Hagedorn

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

US hits Palestine officials with visa bans amid growing statehood recognition

Protesters hold Palestinian flags during a demonstration organized by several peace organizations in support of Palestinians amid the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip, at Dam Square in Amsterdam, on Oct. 13, 2024.

AIPAC denies pulling Randy Fine endorsement after derogatory comments on Gaza starvation

Florida's Republican state senator, Randy Fine, speaks with the media on April 1, 2025, in Ormond Beach, Florida.

Analysis

Annexation, siege or transfers: Netanyahu's 3 options as Israel's Gaza quagmire deepens

TOPSHOT - People walk with sacks of flour delivered after trucks carrying humanitarian aid entered northern Gaza on July 27, 2025 coming from the Zikim border crossing. (Photo by BASHAR TALEB / AFP) (Photo by BASHAR TALEB/AFP via Getty Images)

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

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

A Palestinian woman stands against a wall plastered with posters picturing "martyrs" at a market in the Balata camp, near the occupied West Bank city of Nablus, on Dec. 15, 2020.

Palestinian Authority ends ‘martyr’ payments in possible gesture to Trump

The Palestinian Authority has paid millions of dollars to families of assailants who have attacked Israelis in recent years, drawing scrutiny from the United States and from victims of the attacks.

EYAD BABA/AFP via Getty Images

As Trump doubles down on Gaza plan, 69% of Israelis support idea despite concern

Three surveys show that Israelis support President Donald Trump's proposal to transfer Gazans to other countries and for the United States to take over the Strip, but are skeptical that such a plan could be implemented.

Yair Golan in Tel Aviv on Feb. 2, 2025.

Interview

Amid Israel's rightward shift, left struggles for relevance

In a special interview with Al-Monitor, Yair Golan, leader of center-left party the Democrats, insists that the Palestinian Authority must play a pivotal role in the future administration of Gaza.

Yair Golan

Yair Golan

Chair of the Democrats Party

People watch and wave as a helicopter, part of the hostage-release convoy, lands at Belinson-Schneider Hospital on Jan. 25, 2025, in Tel Aviv, Israel.

Hamas names 3 Israeli hostages to be released as ceasefire deal faces complications

After a brief delay, Hamas communicated to Israel the names of the three hostages set to be released on Saturday.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio talks to the media during a joint news conference with Guatemala's President Bernardo Arevalo at the Culture Palace in Guatemala City on Feb. 5, 2025.

Rubio heads to Saudi Arabia, UAE, Qatar, Israel on first Mideast visit

On his second trip abroad as Trump's secretary of state, Marco Rubio is expected to be in full damage-control mode after the president suggested the United States would "take ownership" of Gaza following his recommendation to evacuate its population.

U.S. President Donald Trump greets Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House in Washington, D.C. on February 4, 2025. (Photo by Bryan Dozier / Middle East Images / Middle East Images via AFP) (Photo by BRYAN DOZIER/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images)

Analysis

Will Trump's Gaza plan scuttle fragile Israel-Hamas ceasefire?

Strong negative responses to Trump's plan to transfer Palestinians from Gaza may provide Hamas an excuse not to release more hostages, Israeli officials fear.

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

Israeli soldier and kids use binoculars during a Sukkoth gathering, calling for resettling Gaza with Jewish communities near the border with the Gaza Strip on Oct. 21, 2024 in Southern Border, Israel.

Why Israel's far right is embracing Trump’s Gaza displacement plan

Israel's far right is elated by President Donald Trump's calls to drive Gazans away from the Strip and resettle them in other Arab states.

A Palestinian prisoner embraces a relative upon the arrival of some 90 prisoners set free by Israel in the early hours of Jan. 20, 2025, in the occupied West Bank town of Beitunia.

Palestinian prisoners sent to Egypt, Turkey as Tunisia declines: What we know

Egypt has taken 79 prisoners freed in the hostage-release and ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas, with more expected to be sent to Pakistan and possibly Algeria.

U.S. President Donald Trump takes questions from reporters during a press conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the East Room of the White House in Washington, D.C. on February 4, 2025. (Photo by Bryan Dozier / Middle East Images / Middle East Images via AFP) (Photo by BRYAN DOZIER/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images)

From Saudi Arabia to Australia and China, world leaders denounce Trump’s plan to 'take over' Gaza

President Donald Trump’s recent remarks about a possible US takeover of Gaza after relocating the Palestinians caused a wave of uproar across the region and the world.

JIM WATSON/AFP via Getty Images

Analysis

Could Trump’s Gaza plan be negotiating tactic for Saudi-Israel deal?

On a visit to the White House, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu surely didn't imagine that President Donald Trump would propose the United States take over responsibility for managing and reconstructing the Gaza Strip.

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

US President Donald Trump and Prime Minister of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu participate in a meeting in the Oval Office of the White House on Sept. 15, 2020, in Washington, DC.

Netanyahu first foreign leader to meet Trump Tuesday: What to expect

While President Donald trump is expected to push Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to go through with the second phase of the hostage deal, the Israeli leader is expected to ask the American president to turn up the heat on Tehran.

People in Jabalia erect tents amid the rubble of destroyed buildings as displaced Palestinians return to northern Gaza during a ceasefire in the war between Israel and Hamas, Jan. 23, 2025.

'Death itself could not get us out of here!' Gazans reject Trump’s proposal

After suffering more than a year of death and destruction, Palestinians in Gaza stress they will not abandon their land, dismissing the idea floated by the US president to relocate them to neighboring Arab countries.