Palestine weekly: After Kushner departs, Israel escalates Gaza attacks

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Within hours of United States envoy Jared Kushner leaving talks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu aimed astatine salvaging the Gaza “ceasefire”, Israeli strikes were again hitting residential areas successful the enclave, and by week’s end, elder officers were describing a instrumentality to pre-ceasefire rules of engagement.

Kushner’s August 17 talks produced 2 moving groups – connected disarmament and humanitarian issues – but exposed alternatively than resolved the halfway issues: Israel’s unwillingness to retreat from Gaza arsenic it believes Hamas volition not disarm alongside its refusal to let the aid, supplies and operation materials required to rebuild the territory. Hamas says Israel’s ongoing attacks and refusal to retreat its forces from Gaza are a usurpation of Trump’s 15-point program announced connected July 30.

E1 colony advances

Meanwhile, Israel has continued to beforehand its amerciable colony task successful the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem, widely seen arsenic a decease knell for the imaginable of a Palestinian authorities on 1967 lines arsenic portion of the alleged two-state solution.

On August 18, Israel issued a tender for 1,234 units successful the confederate conception of the East1 program successful occupied East Jerusalem, moving the long-frozen task connected the way towards progressive construction. The Palestinian Colonization and Wall Resistance Commission said the program would sever East Jerusalem from the occupied West Bank by fusing it with the Maale Adumim amerciable colony bloc and fragmenting the bluish and confederate West Bank.

The determination has drawn planetary condemnations. The United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Canada and Norway called the tenders “unacceptable” and warned of “legal and reputational consequences” for participants.
The European Union was reportedly preparing a sanctions bundle should operation begin.

Eight Arab and Muslim-majority states issued a associated rejection, and more than 100 erstwhile French and British ambassadors wrote successful Le Monde connected Saturday that settler unit and demolitions “amount to taste cleansing”, calling for suspended commercialized and an arms embargo.

As for Israel’s strongest ally, the United States, erstwhile asked astir E1 specifically, its Department of State repeated lone its modular enactment that the US “does not enactment Israel annexing the West Bank” without naming the project.

Days earlier, US Ambassador Mike Huckabee, a longtime colony supporter, had invoked the Ten Commandments to pass settlers against seizing Palestinian American property, threatening sanctions against those besieging homes successful the West Bank colony of Qusra, including 1 belonging to US national Loui Abu Ridi. Huckabee has condemned settlers holding the Palestinian homes nether siege arsenic “terrorists”.

That spread – a right-wing Christian Zionist ambassador consenting to telephone settlers “terrorists” and a State Department unwilling to specifically sanction the Israeli government’s flagship amerciable colony task – captured Washington’s bind: reining successful Israel’s worst excesses portion remaining its main guarantor.

The spread betwixt condemnation and effect was disposable elsewhere too, including successful Israel’s handling of its ain warfare crimes grounds successful Gaza. On Wednesday, the subject announced investigations into the January 2024 sidesplitting of five-year-old Hind Rajab and six of her household members – the first time Israel admitted firing connected their car – and the March 2025 sidesplitting of 15 medics successful Rafah. However, astatine the aforesaid time, Israel closed 3 different cases, including the April 2024 sidesplitting of 7 World Central Kitchen (WCK) workers.

The Hind Rajab Foundation said it had nary confidence Israel’s investigations would nutrient justice. The UK, Australia and Canada called the WCK probe closure – announced connected World Humanitarian Day – “shameful”.

Sieges, arson and onshore seizure successful the West Bank

A Human Rights Watch study last week recovered much Palestinians were displaced by settler attacks, demolitions and evictions successful the archetypal 4 months of 2026 than successful each of 2025. It accused Israeli authorities of “arming, backing and granting impunity” to settlers. The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs recorded 216 settler attacks causing casualties oregon harm successful July alone.

That signifier continued this week. According to the Palestinian quality bureau Wafa and section activists, successful al-Mughayyir, northeast of Ramallah, a bid of attacks included settlers overturning a conveyance carrying women, children and aged radical connected Thursday, injuring 5 people, and ramming a 2nd conveyance 2 days later. By Sunday, Israeli forces had sealed the village’s lone remaining entrance.

In Qusra, southbound of Nablus, a siege of 3 homes entered its 3rd week, leaving families chopped disconnected from food, h2o and medicine. Field activistic videos showed soldiers throwing a family’s belongings from a location they present occupy.

Settler attacks and arson dispersed passim the week. In Sa’ir, northeast of Hebron, equipped settlers killed 17-year-old Karim Sanad Shalaldeh and critically wounded a antheral successful his 70s during a raid that besides acceptable a location ablaze. In Khallet al-Farra, westbound of Yatta, settlers acceptable occurrence to a location with a household of 5 dormant inside.

UN Special Rapporteur connected the Occupied Palestinian Territories Francesca Albanese described the attacks arsenic “pogroms against defenceless civilians”. Experts present backmost her position, saying the West Bank attacks progressively acceptable the definition of a pogrom, which refers to “the organised violence” against a radical of radical due to the fact that of their “race oregon religion”.

Meanwhile, Israel’s territorial grip continued to expand. New oregon expanding outposts were documented astatine Tal al-Asur and Marj Sia, eastbound of Ramallah; Umm Safa, northwest of Ramallah; and Mount Tarousa, westbound of Hebron, wherever the “Doron” outpost, 1 of 19 settlements approved past year, received its archetypal caravans, according to Wafa.

Israeli settlements and outposts are amerciable nether planetary law.

In the bluish Jordan Valley, Israeli NGO B’Tselem reported that equipped forces and settlers had chopped the past h2o pipelines supplying respective Bedouin communities, placing 47 families – much than 300 radical – astatine imminent hazard of displacement successful the shadiness of Israel’s Crimson Thread Barrier project.

Israeli forces besides killed 2 Palestinians this week. Fathi Zedan Khazem was changeable during a raid connected his Jenin location connected Friday and near to bleed to decease aft soldiers blocked ambulance access, according to Wafa. Two days later, 14-year-old Islam Ahmad Ajjouri was changeable dead during a raid connected Askar al-Jadid exile camp, eastbound of Nablus.

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