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

Palestine cover image

Palestine

September 22, 2026

Ramallah 10:50 pm

19°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

Lebanon's Hezbollah Leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah (center, L) meets with Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal (center, R) in Beirut in this photo released in July 12, 2010. Hamas leader Meshaal visited Lebanon to pay his condolences for Grand Ayatollah Sayyed Mohammed Hussein Fadlallah who died last week. REUTERS/Lebanon's Hezbollah Media office/Handout (LEBANON - Tags: POLITICS OBITUARY) FOR EDITORIAL USE ONLY. NOT FOR SALE FOR MARKETING OR ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS - RTR2GCPX

No Improvement in Sight For Hamas, Hezbollah Ties

Hamas and Hezbollah are continuing on divergent paths concerning Syria, and the relationship will remain strained for the foreseeable future.

Recently-freed Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit leaves after meeting with Christophe Bigot, the French ambassador to Israel (not pictured) at the French embassy in Tel Aviv January 11, 2012. During the meeting, Shalit gave the ambassador a letter addressed to French President Nicolas Sarkozy. Shalit returned home in October 2011 in a thousand-for-one prisoner swap which ended his five years of captivity in the Gaza Strip. REUTERS/Jack Guez/Pool (ISRAEL - Tags: POLITICS) - RTR2W5D2

Secret Israel-Hamas Channel Freed Gilad Shalit

In a new book, Israeli academic Gershon Baskin reveals the back channel he established with Hamas that led to the release of the Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit.

A teacher shows a Palestinian schoolgirl how to use a new laptop at a United Nations school in Rafah refugee camp in the southern Gaza Strip April 29, 2010. The United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) launched a campaign to distribute some 200,000 laptops to UNRWA students in the Gaza Strip, an UNRWA official said. REUTERS/Ibraheem Abu Mustafa (GAZA - Tags: POLITICS EDUCATION) - RTR2D9BN

Gaza Women Raise Voices Online

Female activists in Gaza have turned to social media to air their thoughts, but on-the-ground activism is still constrained by a largely male-dominated society.

Greece's Foreign Minister Stavros Lambrinidis (L) shakes hands with Nabeel Shaath, Envoy of the President of the Palestinian Authority, in Athens September 9, 2011. REUTERS/John Kolesidis (GREECE - Tags: POLITICS) - RTR2R16W

In Ramallah, Israeli Journalists Meet With Palestinian Leadership

In a talk with Israeli journalists in Ramallah, senior Palestinian official Nabil Shaath declared that the current Israeli coalition will not permit jump-starting the negotiations.

Lebanon's Hezbollah supporters wave Palestinian and Hezbollah flags during a demonstration, organised by Lebanese and Palestinian factions, against Israel's military operation in Gaza, in front of the U.N. headquarters in Beirut November 17, 2012. Israeli aircraft bombed Hamas government buildings in Gaza on Saturday, including the prime minister's office, after Israel's cabinet authorised the mobilisation of up to 75,000 reservists, preparing for a possible ground invasion. REUTERS/Jamal Saidi (LEBANON - T

Hamas, Hezbollah Reportedly Seek To Cool Tensions

Hamas sought an urgent meeting with Hezbollah to ease tensions after accusations that Palestinians affiliated with Hamas had fought alongside Syrian rebels in Qusair.

1-BetLahem Dancers.JPG

Music Festival Revives Hope For Tourism in Bethlehem

Hopes that tourists will return to Bethlehem are buoyed by a successful Bet Lahem Live Festival.

Dom wedding.JPG

Gaza's Gypsies Face Daily Racism

Gaza's Dom community is looked down upon and discrimated against by the broader population.

U.S. President Barack Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (L) tour a technology expo at the Israel Museum in Jerusalem March 21, 2013. REUTERS/Jason Reed (JERUSALEM - Tags: POLITICS SCIENCE TECHNOLOGY) - RTR3F9EE

US Needs to Link Peace Process, Syria

For Washington to successfully form a Western-Arab coalition against Syria, it must increase pressure on Israel to avoid accusations of having double standards.

Organ Transplants Bring Israelis, Palestinians Close

In Israeli hospitals, Jewish and Arab patients are treated equally — and even save each other's lives.

Stone-throwing Palestinian protesters run during clashes with Israeli soldiers at a protest against a nearby Israeli settlement in the West Bank village of Kfar Kadum, near Nablus May 31, 2013. REUTERS/Mohamad Torokman (WEST BANK - Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST) - RTX1078I

The Myth of One-State Alternative To the Two-State Solution

The alternative to the two-state solution is more conflict, not a binational single state.

EDITOR'S NOTE: PICTURE TAKEN ON GUIDED GOVERNMENT TOUR

Part of a haul of prescription drug Tramadol seized from a shipping container is displayed by police in Tripoli March 3, 2011. Libyan authorities accused al Qaeda on Thursday of trying to smuggle 37 million painkillers into the country to alter the minds of young people to join a revolt against Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi. The drugs were hidden in containers that were identified for furniture, sports equipment and marble tiles. REUTERS/Chris Helgr

Unemployment Drives Graduates In Gaza to Drug Addiction

Depressed by the lack of employment opportunities, many Gaza graduates are turning to the drug Tramadol as a way to escape.

Demonstrators hold candles and pictures of arrested Palestinian women during a silent protest in front of the Israeli embassy in Warsaw March 8, 2011. A silent protest was organized during International Women day to remember 37 Palestinian political female prisoners kept in Israeli jails, organizers said. REUTERS/Kacper Pempel (POLAND - Tags: CIVIL UNREST POLITICS) - RTR2JMLP

Palestinian Female Prisoners Suffer Abuse in Israeli Jails

Former Palestinian female prisoners in Israel recount their experiences, which often include assault at the hands of Israeli prison guards.