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Palestine

October 9, 2024

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US President Joe Biden speaks during a news conference in the Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House on Oct. 4, 2024, in Washington.

Analysis

Gaza looms large over Biden’s foreign policy legacy as diplomacy falters

As the war continues into its second year, the Biden administration appears no closer to de-escalating in Gaza and laying a framework for a lasting Middle East peace.

Elizabeth Hagedorn

By Elizabeth Hagedorn

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

Displaced people ride on a donkey-drawn cart through a muddy puddle in Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip on Sept. 30, 2024.

Palestinians long for life before Oct. 7 as Gaza war upends lives, future

One year into the Israeli war on Gaza, as winter approaches, Gazans feel hopeless and trapped in an endless cycle of conflict amid tragic living conditions.

Nasser al-Kidwa, former minister for foreign affairs of the Palestinian Authority, ex-member of the Fatah movement's central committee, and nephew of late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, gives an interview in Gaza City on Sept. 24, 2022.

Exclusive

A way forward, ex-Palestinian FM Nasser Kidwa calls for Arab security presence in Gaza

In an exclusive interview with Al-Monitor, former Palestinian Foreign Minister Nasser al-Kidwa said that Palestinians must be serious and practical in order to reach an agreement to end the war in Gaza and establish a Palestinian state.

Daoud Kuttab

By Daoud Kuttab

In Amman, reporting on Palestinian politics

The flags of Israel, United Arab Emirates, and Bahrain are projected on the ramparts of Jerusalem's Old City on September 15, 2020 in a show of support for Israeli normalisation deals with the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain. - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu signed landmark accords normalizing the Jewish state's relations with the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, as part of a peace push brokered by US President Donald Trump. (Photo by Menahem KAHANA / AFP) (Photo by MENAHEM KAHANA/AFP via Getty

Analysis

Israel-UAE trade to hit $3.3B in 2024 as wars in Lebanon, Gaza continue

Despite a growing Arab public backlash against economic ties with Israel, and politically strained ties between the UAE and Israel since the Gaza war, bilateral trade has continued across the technology, tourism and agriculture sectors.

Jennifer Gnana

By Jennifer Gnana

In Dubai, reporting on Gulf energy policy and politics

Latest News

As Iran, Israel lurch toward war, Saudi Arabia seeks rapprochement with Tehran

Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian meets with regional leaders at the Asia Cooperation Dialogue in Doha on Oct. 2, 2024.

Who were Palestinian commanders in Lebanon targeted in latest Israeli strikes?

An apartment block stands in partial ruins after being hit by an Israeli airstrike on, Sept. 30, 2024 in Beirut, Lebanon.

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Analysis

Israel's 2 goals in Lebanon: Decouple Hezbollah-Gaza, restore deterrence

Debris lie around destroyed vehicles in a street under a residential building whose top two floors were hit by an Israeli strike in the Ghobeiri area of Beirut's southern suburbs on September 24, 2024. A Lebanese security source said on September 24 that an Israeli strike hit Hezbollah's south Beirut stronghold, as the Israel army confirmed it carried out the strike in the Lebanese capital without giving further details. (Photo by ANWAR AMRO / AFP) (Photo by ANWAR AMRO/AFP via Getty Images)

In Tel Aviv, reporting on national security, Israeli politics, defense

In White House visit, UAE leader seeks cooperation on Gaza and AI

MANDEL NGAN/AFP via Getty Images

United Arab Emirates

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

Ambassador Fu Cong, permanent representative of China to the UN.

Analysis

Israel’s prolonged Gaza war offers China strategic opportunity in Mideast

Israel’s continuous military operations in Gaza have likely offered China unexpected help in its rivalry against the US.

Andrea Ghiselli

By Andrea Ghiselli

In Shanghai, reporting on China in the Middle East

BASHAR TALEB/AFP via Getty Images

As war in Gaza drags on, crucial female hygiene products run out

Women in Gaza are particularly affected by the lack of humanitarian aid, with difficulties finding essential goods like feminine hygiene products.

EYAD BABA/AFP via Getty Images

Three obstacles remain as Egypt, Israel make progress on Philadelphi Corridor

Gaps between Israel and Egypt over the complicated issue of the Philadelphi Corridor are reportedly closing ahead of a Sunday summit in the Egyptian capital on a hostage release and Gaza cease-fire deal.

Fire sweep over the Marjayoun plain in southern Lebanon near the border with Israel after being hit by Israeli shelling on August 16, 2024, amid the ongoing cross-border clashes between Israeli troops and Hezbollah fighters. (Photo by RABIH DAHER / AFP) (Photo by RABIH DAHER/AFP via Getty Images)

Analysis

With Sinwar undecided, Israel wary of imminent Lebanon war with Hezbollah

“We are within touching distance of an Israeli attack in Lebanon, which is intended to allow us to return the residents of the north to their homes,” a senior Israeli military source told Al-Monitor this week, even as Iran hesitates on next steps.

In Tel Aviv, reporting on national security, Israeli politics, defense

An Egyptian army soldier stands among the bushes in the wired border of the Philadelphi Corridor.

Mossad director, US officials back in Egypt for talks on Philadelphi Corridor

The Israeli delegation for the deal to release the hostages arrived in Cairo for talks with the Americans and Egyptians ahead of a potential summit this Sunday.

Lebanese firefighters put out a fire in a car after an Israeli strike in the southern city of Sidon on August 21, 2024. An Israeli strike in Lebanon's southern city of Sidon on August 21, killed a Fatah official, said a leader from the Palestinian group and a security source, marking the first such attack reported on Fatah in over 10 months of cross-border clashes. (Photo by Mahmoud ZAYYAT / AFP) (Photo by MAHMOUD ZAYYAT/AFP via Getty Images)

Israel assassinates Fatah official in Lebanon, a first since Gaza war began

In a first since the Gaza war, a senior Fatah official was killed in an Israeli strike on Lebanese soil, as Israel-Hezbollah cross-border hostilities continue to escalate.

JACQUELYN MARTIN/AFP via Getty Images

Blinken meets with Egypt's Sisi as Philadelphi Corridor remains sticking point in Gaza talks

Cairo will host a new round of talks this week to secure an agreement on a Gaza cease-fire and hostage release deal as US Secretary of State Antony Blinken tours the region to mobilize support.

Yahya al-Sinwar (C), Gaza Strip chief of the Palestinian Islamist Hamas movement, waves to supporters during a rally marking the 35th anniversary of the group's foundation, in Gaza City on December 14, 2022. Hamas will end talks on securing a prisoner exchange with Israel unless there is progress soon, the militant group's leader in the Gaza Strip said on December 14. Since Israel's 2014 invasion of the Gaza Strip, the Islamist group has held the bodies of Israeli soldiers Oron Shaul and Hadar Goldin, altho

Analysis

As Netanyahu hedges, Hamas' Sinwar undecided between deal or regional war

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has arrived closer to the moment of truth where he must decide for or against a deal for the release of the hostages held by Hamas and a cease-fire in Gaza.

In Tel Aviv, reporting on national security, Israeli politics, defense

Pro-Palestine protesters march ahead of the Democratic National Convention on Aug. 18, 2024 in Chicago, Illinois.

Pro-Palestinian voices protest and participate in DNC in Chicago

Protesters from across the country are in Chicago for the DNC, demanding an end to aid for Israel as Vice President Harris and the Democratic Party grapple with how to handle the Gaza war.

This picture taken from the Egyptian side of the border with the Gaza Strip, shows a damaged building on July 4, 2024, as the conflict between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas continues. (Photo by Giuseppe CACACE / AFP) (Photo by GIUSEPPE CACACE/AFP via Getty Images)

Gaza cease-fire talks to resume in Egypt with Rafah, Philadelphi corridor in focus

Following two days of talks in Doha, the US, Egyptian and Qatari mediators are expected to resume negotiations on a Gaza cease-fire in Cairo this week in the presence of Israeli officials.

Pro-Palestinian activists and supporters wave flags and hold placards along with a Guy Fawkes mask as they walk past a McDonald's during a protest in central London on March 30, 2024, calling for a cease-fire in the Israel-Hamas conflict.

Analysis

Global brands still can’t shake Israel boycotts hitting Starbucks, McDonald’s

Consumer backlash continues hitting the bottom line of multinationals as the Gaza war nears the one-year mark.

Samuel Wendel

By Samuel Wendel

In Washington, DC, reporting on regional business and tech

US President Joe Biden meets with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House, in the Oval Office, Washington, DC, July 25, 2024.

Analysis

Does Netanyahu feel the pressure in Gaza cease-fire talks?

The Israeli prime minister sees time on his side; Iran seeks face-saving off-ramp from broader conflict.

Andrew Parasiliti

By Andrew Parasiliti

In Washington, DC, reporting on diplomacy, regional politics, national security