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

Palestine cover image

Palestine

September 21, 2026

Ramallah 10:06 pm

21°C

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and French President Emmanuel Macron arrive to hold a joint press conference in Jerusalem, Oct. 24, 2023.

Analysis

After France's settlement ban, Israel sees no warming of ties with Macron government

Israeli diplomats say France’s decision to ban imports from West Bank settlements has brought bilateral relations to an unprecedented low point.

Rina Bassist

By Rina Bassist

In Paris, reporting on Israeli politics and European affairs

Jewish settlement of Kedumim, in the West Bank

Analysis

Europe’s West Bank trade ban fires warning shot at Israel’s economy

Weeks before key Israeli elections, a dozen nations announced new trade restrictions targeting settlements in the West Bank, delivering a sharp rebuke to Israel's government that could presage additional international pressure.

Samuel Wendel

By Samuel Wendel

In Washington, DC, reporting on regional business and tech

Chaim Goldberg / AFP via Getty Images

Netanyahu threatens to sue Haaretz for reporting UAE warned Israel of Oct. 7 attack

The Emirati president reportedly warned that a planned attack could cause bloodshed, destabilize the region and threaten the Abraham Accords.

Palestinians hold up the green Hamas flag during a protest by supporters of both the Fatah and Hamas movements, as they rally in support of the Palestinian people following Friday noon prayers in Hebron, occupied West Bank, Nov. 3, 2023.

Majority of Palestinians lose trust in Hamas and Fatah, new poll finds

A recent poll by a Palestinian survey center found that trust in Palestinian factions has declined, amid stalled efforts to implement the Gaza peace plan and escalating settler violence in the West Bank.

Latest News

12 countries including France, UK, Canada end trade with West Bank settlements

West Bank settlements

Katz warns PA against 'Oct. 7-style' attack as West Bank violence rises

Israeli soldiers take positions during a military operation in the town of Qalqiya, in the occupied West Bank, Dec. 4, 2025.

Analysis

LORA missile test reveals limits of Germany’s Gaza criticism of Israel

A woman walks past a model of a Lora missile, Israel's long range artillery missile at the Israel defence stall at the international DefExpo 2008 defence fair, in New Delhi on February 16, 2008. India kicked off South Asia's largest defence fair, with hundreds of global weapons firms offering their latest hardware to the country's technology-hungry military. About 450 weapons companies from 30 countries are present at the four-day "DefExpo" in New Delhi, with several big-ticket announcements expected. AFP P

Rina Bassist

By Rina Bassist

In Paris, reporting on Israeli politics and European affairs

Analysis

As Israeli settler attacks mount, Trump avoids public pressure on Netanyahu

Israeli soldiers arrive in the village of Qusra, south of Nablus in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, which has faced escalating Israeli settler violence over the past month, on Aug. 29, 2026.

Elizabeth Hagedorn

By Elizabeth Hagedorn

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

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 hand of an alleged Palestinian collaborator hangs out of his cell as he speaks with a security guard inside a Hamas-run prison in Gaza City April 23, 2013. The Islamist Hamas government, which is pledged to Israel's destruction by force of arms, is lauding a recent campaign to root out informants in its midst, which it hopes will deprive Israel of a subtle but effective tool. Picture taken April 23, 2013. To match Feature PALESTINIANS-HAMAS/SPIES REUTERS/Suhaib Salem (GAZA - Tags: POLITICS) - RTXZEXX

Public opinion sways Gaza death penalty verdicts

There are concerns that Gaza's judiciary is being influenced by public opinion, obstructing defendants seeking to avoid a death penalty from receiving a fair trial.

Palestinian members of the al-Qassam brigades, the armed wing of the Hamas movement, stand guard as they wait for the arrival of Hamas chief Khaled Meshaal in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip December 7, 2012. Hamas's exiled leader Meshaal will step onto Palestinian land for the first time in 45 years on Friday for a "victory rally" in the Gaza Strip, displaying his newfound confidence after last month's conflict with Israel. Meshaal, the Islamist group's leader, who has not visited the Palestinian Territor

Up close and personal with Hamas' Mourabitoun unit

In an exclusive, Al-Monitor gained rare access to one of Hamas' most reputable brigades, the Mourabitoun, which are likely to play a lead role in any future confrontation with Israel.

Palestinians enjoy the weather on the beach in Gaza City August 23, 2013. Gaza's sandy beach is a favourite spot for locals to relax, especially as most residents cannot afford holidays outside the enclave. Picture taken August 23, 2013. REUTERS/Mohammed Salem (GAZA - Tags: POLITICS SOCIETY TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY) - RTX145VO

Gaza's unmarried couples defy social traditions

Relationships outside marriage remain taboo in Palestinian society, but some are daring to challenge tradition.

Tamarod protest fails in Gaza

After months of hype, Nov. 11 passed without a hitch in Gaza as Tamarod was a no-show.

Activists unveil a giant Palestine flag in support of a Palestinian statehood outside the European Union Council in Brussels November 19, 2012. REUTERS/Francois Lenoir (BELGIUM - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST) - RTR3ALZ9

Palestinians Sideline EU on peace process

Despite EU aid, the Palestinian government is not insisting on a more prominent European role in the peace process.

Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal (L) shakes hands with Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov as they meet in Moscow February 8, 2010. REUTERS/Sergei Karpukhin (RUSSIA - Tags: POLITICS) - RTR29YP3

The Russian key to Hamas

The appointment of the first spokeswoman might ameliorate the image of Hamas in the West, but the key to its rehabilitation lies actually with Russia.

RAMALLAH, -: An Israeli soldier talks to prominent Palestinian democracy and human rights activist Mustafa Barghuti, 51, at Kalandia checkpoint in the West Bank city of Ramallah 29 November 2004. Barghuti became the latest Palestinian who has decided to run in the January 09 presidential election to replace Yasser Arafat. Barghuti, secretary-general of the Palestinian national initiative, said that he wanted to make the fight against governmental corruption one of the main platforms of his campaign. AFP PH

Palestinian youths lack role model

Many young Palestinians are frustrated with the suffocation of democracy by the two main political parties and by their exclusion from the political scene.

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reaches out to shake hands with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry in Jerusalem November 6, 2013. REUTERS/Jason Reed (JERUSALEM - Tags: POLITICS) - RTX151ZB

Will US cave to Netanyahu again?

US Secretary of State John Kerry's blunt words for Israel shows he is withstanding pressure from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, but for how much longer?

A general view of the UNESCO headquarters before a ceremony for the "UNESCO-Equatorial Guinea International Prize for Research in the Life Sciences" in Paris July 17, 2012. Rights groups said on Monday UNESCO's decision to award a science prize sponsored by the president of Equatorial Guinea was "shameful and utterly irresponsible". Despite calls to abandon it, the governing council of Paris-based UNESCO voted by 33 to 18 with six abstentions to approve awarding what was originally called the "UNESCO-Obiang

The US-UNESCO tragedy

Is the US role in UNESCO a casualty of Palestine's membership?

A Palestinian student walks past a mural depicting late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat in Gaza City November 7, 2013. Swiss scientists who conducted tests on the remains of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, whose widow Suha says he was poisoned by radioactive polonium, will give a news conference on Thursday on their findings. REUTERS/Suhaib Salem (GAZA - Tags: POLITICS CRIME LAW SOCIETY) - RTX153OJ

Despite Swiss report, controversy over Arafat's death continues

The publication of the Swiss inquiry into the death of Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat does not offer an end to the debate over whether he was poisoned.

Palestinians stand on a stage with a poster depicting late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat during a rally marking the 48th anniversary of the founding of the Fatah movement, in Gaza City January 4, 2013. Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians joined a rare rally staged by President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah group in Gaza on Friday, as tensions ease with rival Hamas Islamists ruling the enclave since 2007. REUTERS/Suhaib Salem (GAZA - Tags: POLITICS ANNIVERSARY) - RTR3C3I8

Palestinians want to know who killed Arafat

Palestinians are not surprised by the findings of the Swiss forensic report that the late PLO leader Yasser Arafat's body contained high levels of polonium.

U.S. President Barack Obama (R) meets with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas during the United Nations General Assembly in New York September 24, 2013.

REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque (UNITED STATES - Tags: POLITICS) - RTX13Y4X

Obama goes big in the Middle East

The US-Russia agreement on Syria’s chemical weapons, a possible nuclear deal with Iran, and Israeli-Palestinian peace talks are all signs that the Obama administration may be charting a new course in the region.