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Palestine

March 21, 2026

Ramallah 8:11 am

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Muslim worshippers break their fast outside the old city walls of Jerusalem on March 17, 2026, as the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound remains closed.

Wartime closures at Jerusalem holy sites raise fears of lasting shift among Palestinians

Palestinians say sweeping restrictions during Ramadan and ahead of Eid reflect security concerns, but there is concern they could ultimately reshape access to worship in the Old City.

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.

Latest News

Analysis

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

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)

Barin Kayaoglu

By Barin Kayaoglu

In Ankara, reporting on geopolitics and national security

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.

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

TOPSHOT - Palestinian journalists attempt to connect to the internet using their phones in Rafah on the southern Gaza Strip on December 27, 2023, amid continuing battles between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas. Power cuts have become a fact of life in war-torn Gaza. But thanks to embedded SIM cards, Palestinians can still access the internet and stay in touch with loved ones abroad. (Photo by SAID KHATIB / AFP) (Photo by SAID KHATIB/AFP via Getty Images)

Gaza journalists killed at rate of 7.5%, higher than US soldiers in recent wars: IFJ

IFJ has recorded the death of 75 journalists in Gaza since Oct. 7 out of an estimated 1,000 working there before the war began.

A picture depicting Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of the Lebanese Shiite movement Hezbollah, hangs on a building near the site of a drone strike attributed to Israel targeting Hamas deputy leader Saleh al-Aruri in the southern suburb of Beirut on Jan. 3, 2024.

Day 91 of Hamas-Israel war blog: Friday, Jan. 5

WASHINGTON, DC - NOVEMBER 27: Actress Cynthia Nixon speaks as she announces a hunger strike calling for a ceasefire in Gaza outside the White House on November 27, 2023 in Washington, DC. Nixon, who was joined by state legislators, community leaders and activist, demands that President Biden call for a permanent ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war and stops military aid to Israel. (Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

'Quietly complicit': second US official quits over Biden’s Gaza war handling

Tariq Habash, a Department of Education political appointee, said he could no longer represent an administration that “does not value all human life equally.”

MAHMUD HAMS/AFP via Getty Images

Over 1 million people displaced to Gaza’s Rafah since war began

With nearly two million people displaced in the Gaza Strip, a UN relief agency has called out Israel for subjecting the Palestinians to collective punishment.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu meets with US envoy Amos Hochstein, Tel Aviv, Israel, Jan. 4, 2024.

Day 90 of Hamas-Israel war blog: Thursday, Jan. 4

Israeli drone strike aftermath on Jan. 2, 2024, in Dahiyeh, a suburb of Beirut, Lebanon.

US braces for escalation as Hezbollah weighs Israel retaliation

Israel's suspected killing of Saleh al-Arouri, a senior Hamas member based in Lebanon, has raised fears of more spillover from the war in Gaza.

Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad makes a statement to the press on March 19, 2013 before a signing ceremony at EU headquarters in Brussels ahead of the opening of the annual coordination meeting of Palestinian aid donors.

Interview

Salam Fayyad says he is not part of Gaza ‘day after’ talks

The former Palestinian prime minister told Al-Monitor that any discussion of post-war rule in Gaza "must be based on national consensus."

Salam Fayyad

Salam Fayyad

Former Palestine Prime Minister

People watch the televised speech of Lebanon's Hezbollah chief Hasan Nasrallah, in southern Beirut on January 3, 2024

Day 89 of Hamas-Israel war blog: Wednesday, Jan. 3

Senior Fatah official Jibril Rajoub, in the West Bank city of Ramallah, attends by video conference a meeting with deputy Hamas chief Saleh Arouri (on screen from Beirut) discussing Israel's plan to annex parts of the Israeli-occupied West Bank, on July 2, 2020. (Photo by ABBAS MOMANI / AFP) (Photo by ABBAS MOMANI/AFP via Getty Images)

Analysis

Who is Saleh al-Arouri, top Hamas official killed in Beirut?

Saleh al-Arouri played a large political and military role in Hamas, and his death may elicit a strong response from Hezbollah.

Adam Lucente

By Adam Lucente

In New York City, reporting on regional news, militancy, climate change

A worker arranges products on a shelf as nearby labels reading in Arabic "national product" are displayed on packaged items at a supermarket in Ramallah in the occupied West Bank on December 26, 2023, as part of a wider campaign urging Palestinians to boycott Israeli products and buy locally made goods. Since the war in Gaza began, a slew of boycott posters, stickers and leaflets has cropped up across the occupied West Bank. Many Palestinians are looking for alternatives as calls to ban Israeli goods also g

Prospects dim for post-war Palestinian economic recovery

David Rosenberg

David Rosenberg

In Tel Aviv, reporting on business and tech

Soldiers of the Lebanese Army near the damaged building that was allegedly targeted by an Israeli drone strike on Jan. 2, 2024 in Dahiyeh, a suburb of Beirut, Lebanon.

Day 88 of Hamas-Israel war blog: Tuesday, Jan. 2

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (C) chairs a Cabinet meeting at the Kirya, which houses the Israeli Ministry of Defence, in Tel Aviv on December 31, 2023. Netanyahu said Israel displayed unparalleled "morality" in the Gaza war and rejected South Africa's charge that it was committing "genocidal" acts in the Palestinian territory

Day 87 of Hamas-Israel war blog: Monday, Jan. 1