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Israeli army conducts a raid into Yamun town with armored vehicles carrying out an operation at a house to detain a Palestinian in Jenin, West Bank on February 18, 2026. [Nedal Eshtayah – Anadolu Agency]
The Israeli army has detained more than 100 Palestinians across the occupied West Bank since the start of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, a Palestinian rights group said Sunday, Anadolu reports.
Several women and children were among the detainees since Ramadan began on Feb. 18 in most provinces of the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, the Palestinian Prisoner Society said in a statement.
The arrests were marked by “severe beating, organized acts of terrorism against detainees and their families, along with widespread sabotage and destruction of citizens’ homes, and confiscation of vehicles, money, and gold jewelry,” the group added.
More than 9,300 Palestinians are currently held in Israeli prisons, including 350 children, and they face torture, starvation, and medical neglect that has led to the deaths of dozens, according to Palestinian and Israeli human rights organizations.
Israel has intensified operations in the occupied West Bank since launching its military campaign in Gaza on Oct. 8, 2023.
At least 1,117 Palestinians have been killed and around 11,500 others injured in attacks by the army and illegal settlers in the West Bank during that period.
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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 settlers raided the Old City area of Hebron following Israel’s approval of a series of measures aimed at expanding its “oversight and control activities” in areas under the administration of the Palestinian Authority in West Bank on February 9, 2026. [Mamoun Wazwaz – Anadolu Agency]
More than 80 UN member states and several organizations on Tuesday condemned “unilateral” Israeli decisions aimed at expanding Israel’s “unlawful presence” in the occupied West Bank, Anadolu reports.
Delivering a statement at a news conference at UN headquarters in New York, Palestine’s UN envoy Riyad Mansour said, “I have the honor to deliver the following statement on behalf of 80 States and a number of organizations on the latest Israeli decisions regarding the occupied West Bank.”
“We strongly condemn unilateral Israeli decisions and measures aimed at expanding Israel’s unlawful presence in the West Bank. Such decisions are contrary to Israel’s obligations under international law and must be immediately reversed,” he said, underlining “our strong opposition to any form of annexation.”
The group reiterated its rejection of “all measures aimed at altering the demographic composition, character and status of the Palestinian Territory occupied since 1967, including East Jerusalem.”
“Such measures violate international law, undermine the ongoing efforts for peace and stability in the region, run counter to the Comprehensive Plan, and jeopardize the prospect of reaching a peace agreement ending the conflict,” the statement said.
The countries also reaffirmed their commitment, reflected in the New York Declaration, “to take concrete measures, in accordance with international law,” and in line with relevant UN resolutions and the July 2024 advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which declared Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territory illegal and called for the evacuation of all settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
The statement stressed that a “just and lasting peace,” based on relevant UN resolutions, the Madrid terms of reference, the principle of land for peace and the Arab Peace Initiative “remains the only path to ensure security and stability in the region.”
Israel has intensified military operations in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, since launching its war on the Gaza Strip on Oct. 8, 2023. The operations have included killings, arrests, displacement and settlement expansion, according to Palestinian officials, who say the measures aim to impose new realities on the ground.
At least 1,114 Palestinians have since been killed, 11,500 wounded and 22,000 arrested in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, according to official Palestinian data.
On Sunday, the Israeli government approved a proposal to register large areas in the West Bank as “state property,” for the first time since Tel Aviv occupied the territory in 1967.
Palestinians warn that Israel’s actions pave the way for a formal annexation of the occupied West Bank, which they say would end prospects for a Palestinian state envisioned in United Nations resolutions.
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Genocide denying UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy says that UK is suspending 30 of 350 arms licences to Israel. He also confirms the UK government’s support for Israel’s Gaza genocide and the UK government and military’s active participation in genocide.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.
Israeli soldiers during a raid in the occupied-West Bank town of Nablus, February 11, 2026
ISRAELI forces launched a series of raids across Gaza and the occupied West Bank today as the Palestinian humanitarian crisis deepened.
Israeli air strikes and artillery shelling targeted areas east of the southern city of Khan Younis in Gaza.
The Israeli army also continued raids across Hebron in the West Bank, with a number of Palestinians needing treatment for tear gas suffocation.
Since the so-called ceasefire with Hamas and other resistance fighters came into force in Gaza on October 10 last year, the Israelis have killed at least 586 Palestinians and injured another 1,558.
Israeli forces have violated the ceasefire agreement at least 1,620 times, according to the Gaza Media Office.
…
Israel has also continued to block humanitarian aid from reaching Gazans and have created obstacles for Palestinians to get through the Rafah crossing between the enclave and Egypt.
Thousands have been waiting to use the crossing to access desperately needed medical treatment.
Many of those crossing have reported mistreatment by the Israelis as they attempted to cross at Rafah.
The Israelis have also continued to choke off access to aid for the Palestinian population.
The ceasefire agreement said that “full aid will be immediately sent into the Gaza Strip.”
Since the ceasefire, only 31,178 aid trucks have been allowed into the enclave, averaging 260 trucks a day, according to the Gaza Media Office.
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 Defence Minister Israel Katz in Washington, United States on July 18, 2025. [Yasin Öztürk – Anadolu Agency]
Israel’s defence minister Yisrael Katz has ordered the army to prepare plans to occupy refugee camps in the occupied West Bank and establish a permanent military presence there, Israeli media reported.
According to the Israeli intelligence website Walla, Katz has instructed the army’s Central Command to draw up operational plans aimed at occupying refugee camps and dismantling what Israel describes as “armed infrastructure”.
The report said the planned operations would mirror the ongoing campaign in the Jenin refugee camp, where Israeli forces entered the camp, displaced residents and demolished large sections of housing. Israeli officials have described the Jenin operation as a success that restored the army’s “freedom of action” in an area it characterised as a security stronghold.
During 2025, the army’s Central Command launched a broad military operation across the West Bank. Following Katz’s instructions, Israeli forces occupied and severely damaged three refugee camps in the Jenin and Tulkarm areas, displacing more than 50,000 residents from the Nur Shams refugee camp and the Tulkarm refugee camp. Military outposts were subsequently established inside those camps.
Israeli authorities claim that armed groups operating in northern West Bank camps fled to surrounding villages as a result of the operations. According to Israeli assessments cited by Walla, maintaining a continuous military presence is intended to dismantle infrastructure, expand the army’s operational freedom and prevent armed groups from rebuilding or reaching a level where they could carry out attacks.
Military officials told the website that operations are carried out immediately when intelligence allows. “Where there is no such opportunity, we act extensively to prevent future growth, systematically dismantling capabilities and infrastructure,” one official was quoted as saying.
Palestinian officials and human rights organisations have warned that such operations amount to collective punishment and risk entrenching long-term military control over densely populated civilian areas in the occupied West Bank.
This work by Middle East Monitor is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
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.
This work by Middle East Monitor is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License
A general view from Cebel al-Baba (Mount Baba) area following Israeli far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich’s approval of the “E1” project in Jerusalem on August 15, 2025. [ Issam Rimawi – Anadolu Agency]
2025 closed as a record-breaking year for illegal Israeli settlement expansion in the occupied West Bank, with Israel’s far-right coalition approving an unprecedented number of new settlements and housing projects – a push rights groups say is aimed at annexing the territory and blocking Palestinian statehood.
According to Israeli settlement watchdog Peace Now, the approvals finalized this year capped an acceleration that began under the current government, surpassing any period since the Oslo Accords were signed in 1993.
“This is nothing to compare to previous governments,” Yonatan Mizrachi of Peace Now’s Settlement Watch Team told Anadolu.
“The goal of this government … is to prevent a political solution based on a two-state solution,” he said.
41 settlements approved in 2025
Peace Now said plans for 41 new illegal settlements were approved in 2025, making it the most extensive single year of settlement approvals on record. The figure includes both newly announced settlements and the retroactive legalization of previously unauthorized outposts.
In May, Israel’s Security Cabinet approved the construction of 22 new illegal settlements on Palestinian land in the occupied West Bank – the largest expansion in decades.
The move included the reestablishment of settlements in Homesh and Sa-Nur, which were dismantled under Israel’s 2005 unilateral disengagement from the Gaza Strip.
On Dec. 21, the Security Cabinet approved an additional plan to legalize 19 more settlements in the occupied West Bank, some newly established and others long-standing outposts now granted formal status.
Mizrachi said the current government moved quickly after taking office, legalizing 10 outposts in early 2023 and transforming nine of them into settlements.
Outposts are illegal even under Israeli law, while settlements are considered legal by Israel despite being illegal under international law.
Altogether, 68 settlements have been approved, legalized or initiated over the past three years, Peace Now said.
“This does not mean that all 68 settlements have already been established” Mizrachi said. “It means the process has begun – with government support, different planning committees and authorities.”
Spread across entire West Bank
The expansion is geographically wide-ranging, extending into areas where no settlements previously existed.
“Sixty-eight settlements that will be built according to the Israeli plan from the south to the north or from the north to the south,” said Mizrachi. “Including areas that today we don’t have any settlements like areas around Jenin, around Hebron.”
“It’s all over the West Bank actually,” he added.
In early 2023, there were more or less 140 settlements in the occupied West Bank, Mizrachi said. With recent approvals, that number has risen to 208.
The total number of Israeli settlers in East Jerusalem and the West Bank now stands at about 750,000.
Settlement expansion has also accelerated through construction approvals.
Peace Now on its website said Israeli authorities advanced plans for 28,163 settler housing units in 2025 – the highest figure ever recorded.
On the final day of the year, Israeli authorities approved a plan allowing settlers to return to Sa-Nur, greenlighting 126 housing units at the site evacuated in 2005, according to Israeli media.
The move was enabled by amendments introduced by the current government to the Disengagement Law, lifting restrictions on Israeli presence in parts of the northern West Bank.
Peace Now said the approval marks a return to settlement activity deep inside the northern West Bank, in densely populated Palestinian areas where settlers had not previously been present.
Blocking Palestinian statehood
Mizrachi said settlement expansion is central to the government’s strategy to prevent Palestinian statehood without formally declaring annexation.
“In the last three years, Israel has taken many steps – bureaucratic steps, advancing settlements, developing the West Bank – to increase the number of Israeli settlers,” he said.
“The aim is to prevent a Palestinian state in any political solution, because there will be so many settlements and so many locations with an Israeli presence that it would be much more difficult to evacuate.”
He said pressure from settler movements has intensified, pushing the government toward de facto annexation while avoiding a formal declaration due to international and US pressure.
B’Tselem, the Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories, spokesperson Yair Dvir said the settlement drive is accompanied by the forcible displacement of Palestinians.
“Israel continues to advance ethnic cleansing in the West Bank, both through the construction and retroactive legalization of outposts and new settlements, and through the forcible displacement of Palestinian communities and the violent takeover of vast areas of Palestinian lands,” he told Anadolu.
Concerns for 2026
Looking ahead, Mizrachi said settlement expansion is likely to continue into 2026, an election year in Israel.
“We are assuming that the advancing of settlement, house units, financial support to the settlers will continue in 2026 – it might increase or might not,” he said. “But definitely, the pattern that we have seen in the last three years will continue.”
He added that since October 2023, dozens of Palestinian communities have been forced to flee due to settler violence.
“Many times, an outpost is built next to the Palestinian community, making it more tense for the Palestinians to stay there,” he said. “We still see a lot of settler violence, much of it coming from illegal outposts.”
Mizrachi warned the trajectory is deepening instability.
“Instead of going toward a political solution that would mean withdrawing from the West Bank,” he said, “we are just going deeper into a more problematic situation.”
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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.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.Vote Labour for Genocide.
Israeli soldiers during a raid in the occupied-West Bank town of Nablus, February 11, 2026
