Friday, August 14, 2026

Israeli troops force families from homes amid settler terror campaign in West Bank - Former PM of Israel calls events ‘concerted and meticulous attempt at ethnic cleansing’ against Palestinians

Critics in Israel say a lack of will on the part of soldiers in Qusra has led to the siege continuing.

Photograph: Anadolu/Getty

Thu 13 Aug 2026 14.54 EDT

Israeli troops have forced two Palestinian families to leave their besieged West Bank homes, the day after a top Israeli commander personally promised he would end a violent settler campaign to drive them out.

Israeli soldiers also took over eight other homes in Qusra early on Thursday, telling the village’s mayor, Abdul Azim Wadi, that the buildings were needed for a days-long operation to remove the settlers. They later relinquished six. Settlers still roam the village.

The Palestinians’ ordeal began on Sunday when Israeli settlers and soldiers set up a tent blocking the entrance to three homes on the edge of the village. They severed water and electricity supplies and prevented an ambulance from reaching a sick toddler.... READ MORE https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/aug/13/israeli-troops-force-families-from-homes-amid-settler-terror-campaign-in-west-bank

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Occupied West Bank: Settler siege of Palestinians marks a new low ..."“These criminal actions by the settlers, supported or acquiesced to by Israel, the Occupying Power, are making life unbearable for these Palestinian families and are clearly aimed at forcing them to leave their homes and their land,” the UN office said. “Time is running out for these three families before they are forcibly displaced”."

UN News

Global perspective Human stories

By Daniel Johnson in Geneva

13 August 2026 Peace and Security

In the occupied West Bank, the UN human rights office, OHCHR, appealed on Thursday to Israeli authorities to help Palestinian families trapped in their homes by settlers for days, amid an intensifying campaign to seize their land.

https://news.un.org/en/story/2026/08/1168130

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Key points

The West Bank has been under Israeli occupation since the 1967 Arab-Israeli war
Israeli settlements began expanding in the occupied West Bank soon after 1967
In 2005, Israel evacuated four settlements in the northern West Bank
The occupied territory is central to plans for a future Palestinian state, but violent settlement expansion is a growing obstacle to a negotiated two-State solution

According to reports, the United States has been involved in efforts to end the siege that began on Sunday, with the US Ambassador to Israel calling for the removal of what he called “Israeli terrorists”.

Three Palestinian families – around 15 people in total, including at least two children – have remained confined to their homes “in a state of terror” in the Ras al Ein area of Qusra village, south of Nablus, OHCHR said, alleging that the settlers had cut their power and water.

“These criminal actions by the settlers, supported or acquiesced to by Israel, the Occupying Power, are making life unbearable for these Palestinian families and are clearly aimed at forcing them to leave their homes and their land,” the UN office said. “Time is running out for these three families before they are forcibly displaced”.

Nowhere to go

Following the initial OHCHR statement, head of the UN office in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, Ajith Sunghay, told UN News that the families had been subsequently moved into just one home, which remains surrounded by Israeli settlers.

“Again, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) is either unable or unwilling to protect Palestinian communities, which they are expected to do so under the Geneva Convention; or worse, that the IDF is in collusion with the Israeli settlers, all aimed at displacing Palestinians and occupying their lands,” Mr. Sunghay said.

He also noted that about 20 Palestinian families from Qusra had been evacuated by Israel Defense Forces soldiers “for security purposes”, before stressing the urgent need for international assistance to end the increasingly dangerous situation in the occupied territory.

He added: “We really welcome statements, we really welcome dialogue…However, this is simply not enough. I think we are past the stage of boiling point. We are seeing unprecedented level of settler violence and we call on Member States to act, use its leverage in every possible manner.”

OHCHR noted that Palestinians living in Qusra have been the target of “increasingly frequent attacks” since November 2025, when Israeli settlers established an outpost nearby.

Previous requests from the Palestinian families to the Israeli military present at the site to intervene have not helped.

“Instead, Israeli security forces seem to have blocked medics, solidarity activists and journalists from reaching the families,” OHCHR said, adding that although soldiers dismantled settlers’ tents on Wednesday, they continued to surround the Palestinians’ homes.

Escalating situation

Mr. Sunghay noted that the dramatic events in Qusra were unfolding alongside other deeply worrying settler-driven incidents in the occupied West Bank.

This includes the IDF move to cordon off Taybeh town to people who do not live there on Tuesday, allegedly to protect them from Israeli settler attacks.

“In such circumstances…it's the Palestinians who pay the price and face the brunt of the problems, although it’s the Israelis who are settlers who are creating violence, attacks, and issues for the Palestinians,” the OHCHR senior official insisted.

An Israeli security fence runs along a hillside, separating a construction site in the foreground from a residential area with white buildings on a hill in the background under a clear blue sky. — © Adobe Stock/Voddol The security barrier erected by Israeli authorities in the occupied West Bank consists of concrete slabs up to eight metres high.

In another blow to peace efforts in the occupied West Bank, Mr. Sunghay noted that Israeli settlers have moved back into Ganim, one of four Israeli settlements in the northern West Bank that were evacuated in 2005 (the others being Kadim, Sa-Nur and Homesh). “This is a trend that we have seen repeatedly that's happening in West Bank,” he said.

Latest data from the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, on Thursday highlighted how Israeli settler “violence and harassment” have continued to target Palestinian communities across the West Bank. This includes those living in the South Hebron Hills and Jordan Valley.

“In parallel, settlement expansion continued, including the establishment of several new settlement outposts,” UNRWA said.

Reality of Operation 'Iron Wall'

The agency noted that Israeli forces have extended a military closure order affecting the Tulkarm and Nur Shams camps in the northern West Bank until 30 September 2026 and Jenin camp until 20 August 2026.

The move is a renewal of earlier closure orders which have severely restricted access to the largely emptied camps, UNRWA insisted. Today, more than 34,000 Palestinian refugees remain forcibly displaced from Tulkarm, Nur Shams and Jenin camps as a result of the Israeli military’s operation “Iron Wall”, which began in January 2025.

Thursday, August 13, 2026

Calculated deception: How Israel uses diplomacy to buy time for Gaza’s destruction

Displaced Palestinian families try to survive under challenging conditions amidst the rubble of destroyed buildings following Israeli attacks in Beit Lahia, northern Gaza Strip, Palestine on August 03, 2026. [Abdalhkem Abu Riash – Anadolu Agency]

by Dr Mustafa Fetouri

Last week’s mass funeral of 112 people—including 44 children from two closely related extended families—was not a new tragedy; it was the agonising, delayed accounting of a crime committed nearly three years ago. The victims, all belonging to the Abu Sharia and Al-Hassayna clans, lived in adjacent residential blocks in Gaza City’s Sabra neighbourhood when Israeli airstrikes flattened their homes on 22^nd and 23^rd November 2023. Entire bloodlines were wiped out in an instant: at least three generations—grandparents, fathers, mothers, siblings, children, and infants—buried side-by-side. Their bodies, recovered only recently from under the rubble after a 17-day excavation or identified from temporary mass graves amid the relentless siege, were finally laid to rest.

This grim scene serves as a harrowing microcosm of Israel’s war on Gaza: a war that not only slaughters entire bloodlines in single strokes of industrial scale of violence, but meticulously ensures that even the dead are denied dignity, safety, or immediate peace.

On paper, Gaza was supposed to be entering a period of quiet following the ceasefire framework announced in October 2025. In reality, peace never arrived. Israeli forces have continued an unrelenting barrage of airstrikes across the enclave, killing over 1,200 Palestinians—including more than 300 children—and injuring nearly 4,000 others since the agreement was signed. With over 90 percent of Gaza’s population long since uprooted, families are squeezed into ever-shrinking pockets of coastal sand dunes and makeshift tent encampments. Yet even these rudimentary canvas shelters are not spared: the Israeli military routinely strikes these designated “safe zones,” targeting displaced civilians in their sleep.

The double standard of Israeli diplomacy has been laid bare once again by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s explicit rejection of the US-backed 15-point peace plan for Gaza. Unveiled by Donald Trump’s Board of Peace as part of a framework to transition Gaza toward Palestinian administration and eventual self-determination... READ MORE https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20260813-calculated-deception-how-israel-uses-diplomacy-to-buy-time-for-gazas-destruction/

“Platformicide is not simply about removing content. It is about denying a population access to the infrastructures through which they can claim their existence online.”

‘Platformicide’ of Palestine: Activists struggle to be heard on Meta

A report by Palestinian NGO 7amleh and Utrecht University analyses 3,520 cases of digital rights violations against Palestinians.

By Heba Habib

Jerusalem-based journalist Faten Elwan has more than 300,000 followers on her Instagram account, a page which regularly covers events in Palestine and documents the Israeli occupation, but now her posts typically get just a few hundred views.

In April 2026, Elwan was on a hike when she discovered her account had been unexpectedly reactivated after a two-month suspension, something she believes was due to her pro-Palestine content.

Her first story back on the platform was of her walk along the sea and reached 30,000 views. Within an hour, the number for later stories had dropped to a few hundred.

She is one of many pro-Palestinian account holders who believe they have been “shadow-banned” by Meta, a technique allegedly used by social media companies to restrict the visibility of certain accounts, consequently limiting the number of people who can see their content.

“People tell me: if we don’t specifically search for you and type your name, ‘Faten Elwan’, together, we can’t find you. I no longer exist,” she told Al Jazeera.

Elwan’s account was suspended for the first time in late 2023, shortly after the start of Israel’s genocidal assault on Gaza, and her account has been taken down eight times during the war. In May 2025, Elwan managed to meet representatives of Meta, the company that owns Facebook and Instagram, to flag her silencing on their platforms, but she said their response to her complaint appeared dismissive and noncommitted.

“During my meeting with Meta, they heard my statement, and there was no reaction whatsoever. I gave my statement and provided examples of what happened to me, how I’m technically just a shadow on social media,” she said.

“We all used to have a school principal. The principal would punish the bad student and shut him up. Meta is simply playing that same role, but on a global scale.”

Shadow banning

Elwan’s case is one of many documented in a report investigating how Meta has allegedly suppressed Palestinian voices over the past five years, including during successive Israeli assaults on Gaza.... READ MORE https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/8/12/platformicide-of-palestine-activists-struggle-to-be-heard-on-meta

A global initiative for humanitarian law: The Global IHL Initiative exists to restore respect for the rules of war and ensure that the Geneva Conventions remain a living lifeline for the vulnerable. In an age of rising conflict and fading restraint, we stand for the sanctity of life, for accountability and for a future where the laws of war are not forgotten relics but the foundation of our shared humanity.

https://youtu.be/xliM7atAwD0?si=ORBSx1V0J9qcHBUP

Born from the ashes of World War II, the Geneva Conventions are a powerful promise that even in war, humanity must prevail. Created to put limits on the way wars are conducted and to protect those not taking part in the fighting – like civilians, prisoners and wounded soldiers – they have since been complemented with a series of treaties and customary law. This legal framework, known as international humanitarian law - or the laws of war - sets clear rules to follow amid the chaos of conflict.

There are now around 130 active armed conflicts worldwide.

They are not abstract legal concepts. They are the line between life and death, between dignity and despair, for millions caught in the crossfire. Yet despite a global consensus supporting the Geneva Conventions, adherence to even the most basic humanitarian norms remains shockingly insufficient in today’s war zones. Current conflicts reveal, in appalling and devastating ways, the immense challenges facing international humanitarian law in providing real and effective protection.

The suffering witnessed in war zones across the world is not inevitable. With strong political will, we can close the gap between the law and the reality on the ground.

https://www.upholdhumanityinwar.org/en

How does international humanitarian law (IHL) protect in war?

Civilians must be protected.

It is illegal to target civilians and civilian objects, such as homes, schools and hospitals. Civilians must also be protected against the effects of military operations.

The sick and wounded must be cared for regardless of whose side they're on.

Wounded, sick and shipwrecked civilians, soldiers and fighters, as well as medical staff, are all protected under IHL.

Detainees must be treated humanely and with dignity.

IHL protects those deprived of their liberty from ill treatment, acts of violence and intimidation.

The dead must be treated with dignity.

Warrying parties must take all possible measures to search for, collect and evacuate the dead.

Parties to a conflict must facilitate humanitarian access.

People must be able to receive humanitarian aid, like food, water and medicine.

IHL places limits on the fighting

IHL treaties and customary law regulate weapon use and ban some, such as biological and chemical weapons, landmines, and cluster munitions.

War crimes must be punished.

States have the responsibility to investigate, prosecute and punish serious violations of IHL.

Why this matters

To uphold and reaffirm the promise that, even in war, humanity must prevail.

The Global IHL Initiative exists to restore respect for the rules of war and ensure that the Geneva Conventions remain a living lifeline for the vulnerable. In an age of rising conflict and fading restraint, we stand for the sanctity of life, for accountability and for a future where the laws of war are not forgotten relics but the foundation of our shared humanity.

Despite the universal ratification of the Geneva Conventions, violations of fundamental humanitarian norms are widespread. Ongoing conflicts around the globe, whether in urban centres, rural villages or at sea, are causing devastating human suffering, destruction and displacement. Attacks on civilian infrastructure, hospitals and humanitarian workers are all too frequent. The human, social, economic and environmental costs of these violations are unsustainable.

https://www.upholdhumanityinwar.org/en

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[ISRAELI] Settlers and soldiers cut off water and electricity to [PALESTINIAN] homes, and block medical care in campaign of terror: “Every night, the [ISRAELI] settlers throw stones, use obscene language and shout during the night. We are living in a state of terror,” [PALESTINIAN] Hassan said. His mother, brother and sister, and three neighbours have also been blockaded inside, and their power and water have been cut off.

Refqa Hassan watches as Israeli settlers besiege her family home for the fourth consecutive day in the town of Qusra. Photograph: Alaa Badarneh/EPA

Israeli militants besiege two Palestinian families in their West Bank homes

Emma Graham-Harrison in Jerusalem

Thu 13 Aug 2026

Israeli militants have besieged two Palestinian families in their homes since the weekend, aiming to take over their properties in the West Bank village of Qusra through a campaign of terror.

A group of settlers and soldiers set up a tent outside the home of Yousef Hassan’s family on Sunday afternoon, trapping him inside with his wife and two young daughters.

The Israeli men gathered just metres away from the spot where 28-year-old Amir Moatasem Odeh was killed by a settler in March. Another attacker stabbed his father. No one has been arrested over the murder and assault.

“Every night, the settlers throw stones, use obscene language and shout during the night. We are living in a state of terror,” Hassan said. His mother, brother and sister, and three neighbours have also been blockaded inside, and their power and water have been cut off.

Settlers used the same tactics to steal another Palestinian home in neighbouring Jalud village, driving the al Tubasi family out in July after a months-long siege.

They cut off water and electricity to the homes, although a solar panel allows Hassan to keep some devices charged in Qusra. They have also blocked medical care.

When his younger daughter, aged two, fell ill with vomiting and a high fever on Monday, settlers blocked an ambulance from reaching the house. The girls and their mother were eventually evacuated on Tuesday.

Hassan said those in the house were short on food and were drinking water and juice delivered by the ambulance that came to collect his daughter. “The situation is extremely dire.”... READ MORE https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/aug/12/israeli-militants-besiege-two-palestinian-families-in-their-west-bank-homes