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Attacks by Israeli settlers on Palestinians in the occupied West Bank have increased
Attacks by Israeli settlers on Palestinians in the occupied West Bank have increased, as settlers exploit movement restrictions imposed by the Israeli army since the start of its offensive against Iran, according to reports. At least five Palestinians have been killed in recent days.
Rights groups and medical teams said settlers had intensified assaults on Palestinian villages and towns, taking advantage of military checkpoints that restrict Palestinian movement and delay ambulances from reaching the wounded.
The Israeli army has closed many roads across the West Bank with iron gates and earth mounds since the first day of the offensive. It has also shut most crossings with Israel, describing the measures as pre-emptive security steps.
In a related context, the United Nations said about 700 Palestinians had been displaced by settler attacks since the start of 2025 until early February 2026.
Meanwhile, the Israeli government has continued to expand settlement activity in the West Bank. Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said the settlement building campaign aims to undermine the idea of establishing a Palestinian state.
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Orcas discuss how Trump was re-elected and him being an obviously insane, xenophobic Fascist.Keir Starmer objects to criticism of the IDF. He asks how could anyone object to them starving people to death, forced marches like the Nazis did, bombing Gaza’s hospitals and universities, mass-murdering journalists, healthworkers and starving people queuing for food, killing and raping prisoners and murdering children. He calls for people to stop obstructing his genocide for Israel.Orcas discuss Genocide-supporting and complicit Zionists. Donald Trump, Keith Starmer, David Lammy, Rachel Reeves, Angela Rayner and Wes Streeting are acknowledged as evil genocide-complicit and supporting cnuts.
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Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez gives a speech in the Spanish capital Madrid on March 04, 2026. [Burak Akbulut – Anadolu Agency]
The Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) on Wednesday welcomed the Spanish government’s decision to withdraw its ambassador from Israel and reduce its diplomatic representation.
In a statement received by Quds Press, the movement said the step continues what it described as the honourable positions of the Spanish government and people in rejecting what is happening in the Gaza Strip.
Hamas said the decision reflects opposition to what it called the genocide faced by the Palestinian people in Gaza, as well as rejection of Israeli violations of international law. It described the move as a noble position that shows a genuine commitment to humanitarian values.
The movement praised what it called Spain’s “courageous” stance and urged other countries to take similar measures, including cutting various forms of relations with Israel.
It also called for international pressure on Tel Aviv to stop what it described as ongoing crimes and attacks against Palestinians, as well as assaults that it said affect other peoples in the region.
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Keir Starmer objects to criticism of the IDF. He asks how could anyone object to them starving people to death, forced marches like the Nazis did, bombing Gaza’s hospitals and universities, mass-murdering journalists, healthworkers and starving people queuing for food, killing and raping prisoners and murdering children. He calls for people to stop obstructing his genocide for Israel.Donald Trump explains why he established his Bored of PeaceOrcas discuss Genocide-supporting and complicit Zionists. Donald Trump, Keith Starmer, David Lammy, Rachel Reeves, Angela Rayner and Wes Streeting are acknowledged as evil genocide-complicit and supporting cnuts.
Communist Party of Israel MP says US-Israeli attack on Iran was based on lies and only citizens standing up for peace can stop it
THE world risks being dragged into “forever war” by Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu and only citizens standing up for peace can stop it, an Israeli MP warned today.
Knesset member Ofer Cassif of the Communist Party of Israel (CPI) told the Morning Star that the US-Israeli attack on Iran was based on lies — and was already a smokescreen for intensified violence and ethnic cleansing in occupied Palestine.
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“Netanyahu wants forever war in his own interests. He’s interested in doing anything possible to keep himself out of prison, which by definition means staying in power, and he believes as long as the death and destruction in Israel doesn’t rise too high that war will help him in elections.
“Those around him, the coalition, are racist bigots — many of them, the majority are messianic and see this as part of a divine plan, and they’re bloodthirsty all right.
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US aggression has been ramped up globally since the start of the year, and there is nothing defensive about the war in Iran. After all it was Trump himself who tore up the agreement that did exist between Iran and the West on its nuclear programme — which even the chairman of the Israeli Space Agency Isaac Ben-Israel acknowledged Tehran did not deviate from “by one millimetre.”
Last year, both Trump and Netanyahu claimed to have obliterated Iran’s nuclear programme. Eight months later they say it’s a threat again. “They lie.” Indeed, their aggression makes nuclear proliferation more likely: “The majority of experts in Israel, let alone outside it, say the harbinger of an Iranian nuclear bomb is Netanyahu.”
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[T]he CPI was right to warn Israel would use the war to accelerate ethnic cleansing in Palestine.
Even before October 7, Cassif was warning Israel intended to carry out the “decisive plan” identified by its self-proclaimed fascist Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, which defines Palestine’s future in three options, “subjugation, expulsion and annihilation.”
Israel’s government plans to “annex all Palestinian territory without granting basic political or civil rights to Palestinians; expel all Palestinians who do not accept that fate; and kill those who try to resist.
“We saw that in Gaza — where the strategy was genocide. We see it in Israel, in fascism and the persecution of anyone who raises a voice against the government.
“And we see it in the West Bank. There is systematic ethnic cleansing in the West Bank, and since the war with Iran began, it’s worse. Entire communities are vanishing.”
Genocide denier and Current UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer is quoted that he supports Zionism without qualification. He also confirms that UK air force support has been essential in Israel’s mass-murdering genocide. Includes URLs https://www.declassifieduk.org/keir-starmers-100-spy-flights-over-gaza-in-support-of-israel/ and https://youtu.be/O74hZCKKdpAKeir Starmer objects to criticism of the IDF. He asks how could anyone object to them starving people to death, forced marches like the Nazis did, bombing Gaza’s hospitals and universities, mass-murdering journalists, healthworkers and starving people queuing for food, killing and raping prisoners and murdering children. He calls for people to stop obstructing his genocide for Israel.Orcas discuss Genocide-supporting and complicit Zionists. Donald Trump, Keith Starmer, David Lammy, Rachel Reeves, Angela Rayner and Wes Streeting are acknowledged as evil genocide-complicit and supporting cnuts.
Palestinians gather in the market following the targeting of Iran by the US and Israel and the subsequent retaliatory strikes in Khan Younis, Gaza on February 28, 2026. (Photo by Abed Rahim Khatib/Anadolu via Getty Images)
“All the NGOs in Gaza need more food, medicine, medical equipment, fuel, tents, personal care every day. We cannot wait,” said chef José Andrés, founder of World Central Kitchen.
After Israeli and US forces launched an illegal war aimed at forcing regime change in Iran this past weekend, Israel also announced “the closure of the crossings into the Gaza Strip,” which it has bombed and starved for nearly 29 months, killing at least tens of thousands of Palestinians.
Israel’s Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT)—which oversees civilian policy in Gaza and the West Bank—announced on social media Saturday that “several necessary security adjustments have been implemented” because of the operation against Iran, including the closure of Gaza crossings “until further notice.”
COGAT also claimed that “the closure of the crossings will have no impact on the humanitarian situation” in Gaza, adding that “the substantial quantities of food that have entered since the beginning of the ceasefire amount to four times the nutritional needs of the population,” so “the existing stock is expected to suffice for an extended period.”
However, reports from human rights groups, journalists, and the United Nations have highlighted how Israel’s restrictions have continued to impede evacuations of the sick and severely wounded, and nongovernmental groups’ deliveries of humanitarian aid, despite the October ceasefire deal. Palestinians in Gaza also remain at risk of Israeli forces’ airstrikes, gunfire, and shelling.
“A new chokehold on Gaza,” Philippe Lazzarini, commissioner-general of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for PalestineRefugees in the Near East, said Monday. “Once again, Israel is renewing its ban on supplies entering Gaza. After more than two years of unspeakable suffering and a spreading man-made famine, people still lack the most basic supplies, despite increases in aid since the ceasefire. UNRWA personnel in Gaza keep providing healthcare, learning, and clean water—but we must be allowed to do much more and certainly not less.”
Even before Israel closed the borders on Saturday, the US-Israel attack on Iran led to Palestinians in Gaza “buying whatever food supplies and goods they could manage,” Al Jazeerareported Monday. “People everywhere rushed to the market to buy sugar, flour, cooking oil, and yeast. Shelves began to empty, and the price of essential goods increased.”
Things got even worse after COGAT’s announcement. Asmaa Abu Al-Khair, a 38-year-old mother of eight, told Al Jazeera at a Gaza City market on Sunday that “I feel great anxiety. Everyone is talking about it—about Iran’s strike and the closure of the crossings—and I cannot afford to buy what I need, while at the same time, I am afraid of famine returning. I have young children.”
Many displaced families living in nearby tents also “do not have the money to buy supplies, nor the space to store them inside the tents,” she said. “We endured so much hardship during the war, and it barely ended with the announcement of a ceasefire. So why close the crossing now? What do we have to do with what is happening? Is what we witnessed not enough? Why play with people’s nerves?”
Since Saturday, critics around the world have also warned about the impacts of Israel shutting off the Palestinian exclave indefinitely, again. Arab Center Washington DC fellow Assal Rad declared on social media that “under the cover of its illegal war on Iran, Israel is continuing genocide in Gaza.”
Mass shooting survivor and former congressional candidate Cameron Kasky similarly said that “the siege on Gaza returns in its fullest force. Illegal wars to advance Israel’s goals are being used for expanding the genocide plans.”
Israel is reinstating its starvation policy. The Gaza genocide never ended. https://t.co/8Oz7xYqPRI
Chef José Andrés said on social media Sunday that World Central Kitchen—which he founded—is cooking 1 million hot meals every day, and if Gaza’s borders stay closed, the group “will run out of food this week.”
“We need food deliveries every single day to feed hungry families who are not part of this war,” he said. “All the NGOs in Gaza need more food, medicine, medical equipment, fuel, tents, personal care every day. We cannot wait… let the humanitarian trucks go through today!”
Responding to Andrés, US Congressman Mark Pocan (D-Wis.) said that “Israel must reopen access to aid groups. If not, Netanyahu must be arrested immediately. He continues war crimes.”
Israel is back to imposing hunger of the Palestinian civilians of Gaza https://t.co/6Q3XMTsSlu
The Hague Group—a coalition of countries that came together last year, led by Colombia and South Africa, with the goal of upholding the ICC and ICJ rulings on Israel and Palestine—responded to COGAT by scheduling an emergency meeting that at least 30 nations are set to attend in the Dutch city for which the organization is named.
The focus of Wednesday’s meeting “is simple,” Varsha Gandikota-Nellutla, the group’s executive secretary, said in a Monday statement. “How do we give international law teeth? Several states have begun enforcing their legal obligations, turning rhetoric into concrete action through The Hague Group’s measures: cutting arms flows, closing ports, and pursuing accountability.”
Ronald Lamola, South Africa’s minister of international relations and cooperation, said that “the application of international law can no longer be selective: punitive for some and totally disregarded by others. The Hague Group exists to translate obligations that arise out of international law into coordinated state action. We invite governments of conscience—those prepared to uphold law in deed as well as word—to join us.”
This is important. On 4 March, The Hague Group is convening over 30 States from Asia, Africa, Latin America and Europe to deliberate Israel’s escalating annexation in the West Bank, the renewed restrictions on aid to Gaza, and the absence of enforcement of international law. https://t.co/w4ZW5DUcdY
Francesca Albanese, the UN special rapporteur focused on the occupied Palestinian territories and a target of Trump administrationsanctions, said that “I am honored to attend the upcoming emergency meeting of the The Hague Group.”
“Time has come for decolonized multilateralism, grounded in universal rights and obligations, applied with integrity and free from double standards,” Albanese added. “May European and Arab states join this necessary effort.”
Genocide denier and Current UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer is quoted that he supports Zionism without qualification. He also confirms that UK air force support has been essential in Israel’s mass-murdering genocide. Includes URLs https://www.declassifieduk.org/keir-starmers-100-spy-flights-over-gaza-in-support-of-israel/ and https://youtu.be/O74hZCKKdpAKeir Starmer objects to criticism of the IDF. He asks how could anyone object to them starving people to death, forced marches like the Nazis did, bombing Gaza’s hospitals and universities, mass-murdering journalists, healthworkers and starving people queuing for food, killing and raping prisoners and murdering children. He calls for people to stop obstructing his genocide for Israel.Orcas discuss Genocide-supporting and complicit Zionists. Donald Trump, Keith Starmer, David Lammy, Rachel Reeves, Angela Rayner and Wes Streeting are acknowledged as evil genocide-complicit and supporting cnuts.
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Israeli authorities prevent Palestinians from entering Jerusalem from the West Bank to perform the first Friday prayers of Ramadan at Al-Aqsa Mosque in East Jerusalem, on February 20, 2026. [Issam Rimawi – Anadolu Agency]
Israeli forces on Sunday evening forced worshippers out of a mosque in the Old City of occupied East Jerusalem and prevented them from performing the Isha and Taraweeh prayers.
Local sources said troops entered Sheikh Lulu Mosque shortly before the call to the Isha prayer and forced worshipers to leave the place, and prevented prayers, including Tarawih prayers, in what was described as part of ongoing restrictions on places of worship.
The incident came as Al-Aqsa Mosque remained closed for a second consecutive day under what authorities described as a state of emergency. Strict closures were also imposed on the Old City and its entrances.
Since Saturday evening, Israeli authorities have completely shut Al-Aqsa Mosque and forced worshippers to leave immediately, citing the declaration of a state of emergency following Israel’s attack on Iran. The measures have further tightened restrictions on freedom of worship and movement in the city.
Genocide denier and Current UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer is quoted that he supports Zionism without qualification. He also confirms that UK air force support has been essential in Israel’s mass-murdering genocide. Includes URLs https://www.declassifieduk.org/keir-starmers-100-spy-flights-over-gaza-in-support-of-israel/ and https://youtu.be/O74hZCKKdpAKeir Starmer objects to criticism of the IDF. He asks how could anyone object to them starving people to death, forced marches like the Nazis did, bombing Gaza’s hospitals and universities, mass-murdering journalists, healthworkers and starving people queuing for food, killing and raping prisoners and murdering children. He calls for people to stop obstructing his genocide for Israel.Orcas discuss Genocide-supporting and complicit Zionists. Donald Trump, Keith Starmer, David Lammy, Rachel Reeves, Angela Rayner and Wes Streeting are acknowledged as evil genocide-complicit and supporting cnuts.
Israeli MK Ofer Cassif
