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Palestine

May 7, 2025

Ramallah 4:14 pm

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Israeli army tanks are deployed at a position near Israel's border with the Gaza Strip, on May 5, 2025. Israel was issuing orders to call up tens of thousands of reservists ahead of an expanded offensive in Gaza, Israeli media reported on May 3, as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attacked truce mediator Qatar. (Photo by Menahem KAHANA / AFP) (Photo by MENAHEM KAHANA/AFP via Getty Images)

Analysis

As Trump heads to Gulf, Israeli security cabinet split over plan to 'conquer' Gaza

Some associates of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu campaign for a limited Gaza operation to increase military pressure on Hamas, while the extreme right ministers call for retaking the entire Strip.

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

The barge Jennifer, part of a three ship flotilla carrying food aid for the Gaza Strip, sails next to the French frigate Courbet as the flotilla departs the port of Larnaca in Cyprus, March 30, 2024.

Gaza-bound aid flotilla hit in drone attack near Malta: What to know

The attack on the flotilla comes as the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip deteriorates.

President Donald Trump shakes hands with Steve Witkoff, special envoy to the Middle East at the White House on Feb. 11, 2025.

Trump's Gaza diplomacy takes back seat to Iran, Ukraine in first 100 days

Gaza is on the back burner as nuclear negotiations with Iran and talks to end the Ukraine war command the attention of President Trump and his Middle East envoy.

Secretary General of the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) Hussein al-Sheikh attends a meeting with the US Secretary of State and other foreign ministers, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, in the Jordanian capital Amman on Nov. 4, 2023.

Analysis

For Israel, al-Sheikh appointment as Palestinian VP signals continuity, pragmatism

The appointment of Hussein al-Sheikh as vice president of the Palestinian Authority is unlikely to bring dramatic changes to its policies on Israel.

Rina Bassist

By Rina Bassist

In Paris, reporting on Israeli politics and European affairs

Latest News

Hussein al-Sheikh, Abbas protege named Palestinian VP, draws mixed reactions

Hussein al-Sheikh

Switzerland to ban Hamas on May 15, allowing expulsions: What we know

This photograph taken on April 3, 2024, shows the House of Swiss Parliament under heavy clouds in Swiss capital Bern.

Israel intercepts weapons-laden drone from Egypt: What we know

AFP via Getty Images

Analysis

Hussein Sheikh as PLO's first vice president: Palestinian reform or Abbas gesture?

Secretary General of the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), Hussein al-Sheikh, gestures as he arrives for the 32nd Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) Central Council session in Ramallah on April 23, 2025. Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas on April 23 urged Hamas to free all hostages in Gaza, saying their captivity provided Israel with "excuses" to attack the territory, as rescuers recovered charred bodies from an Israeli strike. (Photo by Zain JAAFAR / AFP) (Photo by

By Rosaleen Carroll

In Washington, DC, US, reporting on the Middle East

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

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

Protesters interrupt Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin as he testifies before the Senate Armed Services Committee in the Hart Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill on April 09, 2024 in Washington, DC. Austin was testifying about the Biden Administration's FY2025 budget request for the Pentagon, which includes supplemental funding for Israel, Ukraine, Taiwan and other allies. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

US defense chief: 'We don't have any evidence' Israel is committing genocide in Gaza

Lloyd Austin's statement came just weeks after the State Department said it had found no evidence of the Israeli military violating the law of war in Gaza, despite extensive allegations to the contrary by UN officials and international aid groups.

Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammed Mustafa (L) meets Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, April 9, 2024.

Saudi Arabia hosts Palestinian PM as Gaza cease-fire talks advance

Mohammed Mustafa’s visit to Saudi Arabia comes after he stopped in Jordan and Egypt in the past days as mediators are pushing for a Gaza cease-fire.

Citizens inspect the effects of the destruction of Al-Farouq Mosque and the buildings destroyed by the Israeli raids on Feb. 22, 2024 in Rafah, Gaza.

Netanuyahu says date set for Rafah operation as Cairo talks enter new round

The Israeli prime minister's announcement came as the US dialed up pressure on Hamas to accept a cease-fire proposal tabled by CIA Director Bill Burns in Cairo over the weekend.