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Palestine

March 20, 2026

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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.

Analysis

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

Hamas has so far stayed out of the escalating Iran war, despite its longstanding alliance with Tehran, reflecting a cautious strategic calculation.

Abeer Ayyoub

By Abeer Ayyoub

In Istanbul, reporting on Palestine

Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez speaks during a United Nations Summit on Palestinians at UN headquarters during the United Nations General Assembly, New York, Sept. 22, 2025.

Spain recalls Israel ambassador, calls Iran war 'flagrant illegality': What to know

Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez called the US-Israel war in Iran a "flagrant illegality.”

People walk through a heavily damaged street in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, on Oct. 12, 2025.

'No meaningful protection': Israel’s new Gaza aid rules raise data, security risks

The guidelines expand Israeli authority to deny NGO registration in the Palestinian territories and visas for foreign aid workers as Gaza continues to reel from two years of war.

ANKARA, TURKEY - JANUARY 21: Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan speaks to MPs at his party's group meeting in the Turkish parliament on January 21, 2026 in Ankara, Turkey. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is among world leaders that have been invited by United States President Donald Trump, to join the Gaza Board of Peace, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan was also included as an appointed member. (Photo by Serdar Ozsoy/Getty Images)

Analysis

Why Turkey’s exclusion from Gaza force may be a strategic blessing

Despite being excluded from Gaza’s international stabilization force, Ankara will likely leverage its ties with Hamas to maintain influence within the Trump administration’s Board of Peace.

Barin Kayaoglu

By Barin Kayaoglu

In Ankara, reporting on geopolitics and national security

Latest News

How did FIFA become part of Trump’s Gaza reconstruction effort?

Brendan SMIALOWSKI / AFP via Getty Images

Billions pledged, but Hamas' grip clouds Trump’s Gaza plan

US President Donald Trump (C), flanked by US Vice President JD Vance (L) and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio (R), joins leaders for a group photo during the inaugural meeting of the Board of Peace at the US Institute of Peace in Washington, on Feb. 19, 2026.

Trump touts pledges of troops, billions for Gaza at Board of Peace summit

US President Donald Trump attends the inaugural meeting of the "Board of Peace" at the US Institute of Peace in Washington, DC, on Feb. 19, 2026.

Interview

Huckabee confirms US-Israel alignment on Iran, says Hamas will disarm 'sooner or later'

Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, US President Donald Trump's nominee to be ambassador to Israel, testifies during his Senate Foreign Relations Committee confirmation hearing at the Dirksen Senate Office Building, Washington, March 25, 2025.

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

White House Coordinator for the Middle East and North Africa Brett McGurk arrives at the US Capitol on April 18, 2024 in Washington, DC.

CIA chief heads to Qatar, McGurk to Egypt as US presses for Gaza deal

Biden's top Middle East adviser and CIA Director Bill Burns are leading a last-ditch effort to pressure Hamas to take the first step toward ending the Gaza war.

WASHINGTON, DC - MAY 31: U.S. President Joe Biden delivers remarks on former U.S. President Donald Trump’s guilty verdict in his hush-money trial before speaking on the Middle East at the White House on May 31, 2024 in Washington, DC. Biden said Trump had a fair trial and an impartial jury found him guilty on all 34 counts and added it is dangerous for anyone to say the trial was rigged. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

As US downplays cease-fire gap with Israel, Biden urges Qatar to secure Hamas approval

The Biden administration is projecting confidence that Israeli leaders will follow through with the latest three-phase cease-fire plan, despite unresolved sticking points that burdened previous negotiations.

Palestinian Authority President Mahmud Abbas waves during a swearing-in ceremony of newly appointed ministers, on March 31, 2024, in Ramallah, in the occupied West Bank.

Palestinian presidency criticizes Iran's Khamenei publicly: What we know

Iran has long backed Hamas and threw its support behind the group following its assault on southern Israel last October.

UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan and Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al -Thani meet in Abu Dhabi on Sunday. (WAM)

UAE, Qatar join efforts to support Biden's Gaza proposal

The US is reaching out to countries in the region to push for a recent proposal laid out by President Joe Biden that includes a cease-fire in Gaza and a hostage deal.

Palestinians walk past a jetty in Gaza City with a view of navy vessels off the coast as part of a humanitarian "maritime corridor" announced by US Central Command, amid the ongoing conflict in the Gaza Strip between Israel and Hamas, May 17, 2024.

Could US Congress vote shut down Gaza pier permanently?

A special resolution that gives Congress power over the use of US armed forces abroad could force Democrats to vote on Biden’s handling of the conflict and aid to Gaza

US President Joe Biden speaks during a campaign rally at Girard College on May 29, 2024, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Biden's popularity plummets to 18% among Arab American voters over Gaza

The president has lost support with Arab voters in Michigan, Virginia and Pennsylvania over his handling of the Gaza war, according to the Arab American Institute.

This picture taken from Israel's southern border with the Gaza Strip shows parachutes of humanitarian aid dropping over the besieged Palestinian territory on March 26, 2024, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the militant group Hamas.

Pentagon pauses humanitarian airdrops in Gaza, citing Israel's Rafah operation

The Biden administration's plan to surge humanitarian aid into Gaza is falling apart.

Bahrain's King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa (front row, 4th-L), Egypt's President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi (front row, 5th-L) China's President Xi Jinping (front row, 5th-R), United Arab Emirates' President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan (front row, 4th-R), Tunisia's President Kais Saied (front row, 3rd-R) and delegations pose for a family photo ahead of the opening ceremony of the 10th Ministerial Meeting of China-Arab States Cooperation Forum at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse, May 30, 2024, Beijing, China.

China's largest Arab summit wraps with 'Beijing declaration': What we know

The meeting in Beijing in the presence of Arab leaders comes as the war in Gaza rages on, while China seeks a wider role in the region.

A picture shows the Armenian car park in the Old City of Jerusalem on December 13, 2023. When bulldozers rolled into Jerusalem's Old City to start work on an Israeli settlement that would build a luxury hotel atop a fourth of the historic Armenian quarter, residents rapidly mobilized.

Inside the scheme to grab ‘holy’ land in Jerusalem’s Armenian quarter

Local activists are working to stop a megadeal signed by the Armenian patriarch to lease land to a luxury hotel developer.

The Hague, Netherlands, June 15, 2016 — exterior of the recently opened new premises of the International Criminal Court in The Hague.

Culture

White House opposes sanctioning ICC over request for Netanyahu warrant

The White House walked back comments from Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who last week indicated he would support a congressional effort to sanction the world court.

TOPSHOT - This video grab from AFPTV shows an aerial view of destroyed buildings in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip on April 22, 2024 amid the ongoing conflict in the Palestinian territory between Israel and them militant group Hamas. Israel pulled its ground forces from Khan Yunis on April 7 after carrying out what it called a "precise and limited operation" at the Nasser Medical Complex, one of the biggest hospitals in the Palestinian territory. (Photo by AFPTV / AFP) (Photo by -/AFPTV/AFP via Getty

For the day after, a 3-phase Gaza plan toward a two-state solution

The stark options before Israelis and Palestinians today are to continue to fight each other or to agree on a plan to achieve the timely fulfillment of a two-state solution.

Palestinians watch US military ships in the Gaza floating pier on the Mediterranean Sea offshore installed by the US military to deliver aid to Gazans, Gaza Strip, May 17, 2024.

Gaza aid pier breaks down, halting US humanitarian deliveries by sea

The Biden administration's plan to alleviate famine in the Palestinian enclave — and in turn, enable Israel to pursue what remains of Hamas — is falling apart.