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

Palestine cover image

Palestine

May 11, 2025

Al Bīrah 6:53 pm

28°C

Russian President Vladimir Putin meets with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi at the Kremlin in Moscow on May 9, 2025. (Photo by YURI KOCHETKOV / POOL / AFP) (Photo by YURI KOCHETKOV/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

Egypt’s Sisi in Russia, meets Putin after military parade: What to know

Egypt and the Palestinian Authority both sent representatives to Russia for the annual World War II parade as they court ties with Moscow.

Palestine Vice President Hussein Sheikh meets Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Jeddah on May 8, 2025.

Saudi crown prince hosts Palestinian VP Sheikh days before Trump visit

The trip comes ahead of President Donald Trump's visit to the kingdom, as the Palestinian Authority eyes a role in postwar Gaza and Arab states push for a technocratic government in the enclave.

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.

Latest News

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

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

Analysis

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

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.

Rina Bassist

By Rina Bassist

In Paris, reporting on Israeli politics and European affairs

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.

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

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken (R) talks with Israel's Defence Minister Yoav Gallant (L) as part of their meeting in Tel Aviv on Jan. 9, 2024, during his week-long trip aimed at calming tensions across the Middle East, amid continuing battles between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas in Gaza.

Israel’s Gallant kicks off US visit with weapons, Rafah on agenda

Washington still seeks to avert an Israeli operation in Rafah, even as Netanyahu cancels a delegation of top advisers over the US abstention on a UN Security Council vote.

EDITORS NOTE: Graphic content / A dog wonders past debris following an Israeli airstrike in Rafah, in the southern of Gaza Strip, on October 16, 2023. The death toll from Israeli strikes on the Gaza Strip has risen to around 2,750 since Hamas's deadly attack on southern Israel last week, the Gaza health ministry said October 16. Some 9,700 people have also been injured as Israel continued its withering air campaign on targets in the Palestinian coastal enclave, the Hamas-controlled ministry added. (Photo by

Gaza's animals not spared from war, suffer starvation, trauma and diseases

With majority of the population displace and the humanitarian conditions worsening, animals in the war-ravaged enclave are subjected to dire conditions as Israeli bombardment continues

TOPSHOT - A Palestinian girl wearing a pink dress stands amidst the ruins of the Al-Faruq Mosque that was destroyed during Israeli bombardment, in Rafah on the southern Gaza Strip on March 22, 2024, amid ongoing battles between Israel and the militant group Hamas (Photo by MOHAMMED ABED / AFP) (Photo by MOHAMMED ABED/AFP via Getty Images)

Hamas' popularity dips 11%, but only 7% of Palestinians blame it for Gaza war

A new poll by a Palestinian research institute found discrepancies between the attitudes of West Bank and Gaza Palestinians the current war, Hamas and a two-state solution.

US Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) questions Treasury Undersecretary For Domestic Finance Nellie Liang as she testifies before the Senate Banking Committee Feb. 15, 2022 in Washington, DC.

Interview

Van Hollen: Israeli restrictions on Gaza aid 'not currently in compliance' with US policy

In an exclusive interview with Al-Monitor, Sen. Chris Van Hollen said he is concerned about the US getting drawn into planning of Israeli military operation in Rafah.

Chris Van Hollen

Chris Van Hollen

US Senator

US Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield attends a UN Security Council meeting on the Israel-Hamas war, at UN Headquarters in New York City on Feb. 20, 2024.

Breaking | Last Updated: March 22, 2024, 12:58 pm

Russia, China veto US-backed UN resolution on Gaza cease-fire

The failed resolution backed an “immediate and sustained cease-fire” and a hostage deal to free the remaining captives.

Wang Kejian (left) meets Hamas political chief Ismail Haniyeh in Qatar on Oct. 17, 2023. - Hamas via Telegram

Three reasons behind rare China-Hamas meeting in Qatar

From the location to the timing and the messaging, the China-Hamas meeting on Sunday underscored Beijing's messaging and approach to the Gaza war without, however, elevating its role to a broker in the conflict.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during a joint press conference with the German Chancellor after their meeting in Jerusalem on March 17, 2024.

Republican House speaker courts Netanyahu amid partisan split on Gaza

If he accepts Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson’s planned invite to speak before Congress, chances are Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will find an even less receptive audience than listened to his 2015 address.

People inspect damage and recover items from their homes following Israeli air strikes on March 19, 2024, in Rafah, Gaza.

Rights groups warn US over Israel's assurances on weapons use

In a report to the Biden administration, Oxfam and Human Rights Watch challenged Israel's assertion that it's using US weapons in accordance with international law.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken disembarks from the plane upon his arrival at King Khalid International Airport in the Saudi capital Riyadh on Feb. 5, 2024.

Blinken to visit Saudi Arabia, Egypt as US-Israel rift grows over Gaza

The top US diplomat will return to the Middle East as US alarm grows over Israel’s planned military offensive in Rafah.

Wang Kejian, during a visit to the head of Hamas' political bureau Ismail Haniyeh

China’s Middle East diplomat meets Hamas' Haniyeh in Qatar

China confirmed a meeting between a Foreign Ministry official and Hamas’ political chief Ismail Haniyeh in Doha as Beijing seeks a wider role in the region.

Children play in the rubble of Al-Faruq Mosque, which was destroyed during Israeli bombardment, in Rafah on the southern Gaza Strip on March 17, 2024.

Israeli delegation to visit White House as Biden-Netanyahu Rafah rift continues

The White House has invited an Israeli delegation to Washington to discuss ways forward in the campaign against Hamas, likely seeking to buy time after failing to secure a cease-fire in Gaza war before Ramadan.

An undated image of Faiq Mabhouh.

Israel kills Hamas’ Faiq al-Mabhouh as US confirms Marwan Issa’s death

US national security advisor Jake Sullivan confirmed that Hamas' number three, Marwan Issa, was killed last week while Israel took out another high-ranking Hamas security official.