West Bank

UK sanctions 'illegal' Israeli settlements in West Bank, bans imports

The UK on Tuesday announced sanctions on Israeli settlements in the West Bank, banning the import of goods from the occupied Palestinian territories which it declared as "illegal". UK Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband was joined by Prime Minister Andy Burnham in the House of Commons as he delivered a statement to condemn the "ethnic cleansing of Palestinians" in West Bank settlements. While highlighting his own "proud British Jew" heritage, Miliband announced a "new comprehensive sanctions regime with appropriate religious exemptions". "The government believes the unlawfulness of the occupation should be reflected in the economic relationships we choose to have with the occupied territories," Miliband told MPs. "So I can announce today that we will introduce an import ban on goods from illegal settlements in the occupied territories," he said. Miliband said action would be taken against specific companies and individuals providing construction, infrastructure, financing or real estate

Netanyahu condemns rioters after weeks of West Bank settler violence

Israel's prime minister has spoken out after weeks of settler violence in the occupied West Bank and condemned the actions of a "handful of rioters." Israeli strikes and fire have killed three Palestinians in Gaza. And Iran's leadership now centres on military generals and clerics who are long entrenched in the ruling theocracy. Here's a look at the latest developments in the Iran war and the wider Middle East. Full coverage can be found here. Netanyahu condemnation follows unrest in West Bank town ------------------------------------------------------------------ Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemned criminal acts by a "handful of rioters" in the occupied West Bank that he said do injustice to the "law-abiding settler public." His statement follows over two weeks of unrest in the town of Qusra, where settlers have surrounded several homes including one owned by a Palestinian American. In an unusually sharp statement, US Ambassador Mike Huckabee referred to the sett

Israeli settler siege of Palestinian homes shows grave reality of West Bank

Loui Ridi travelled from Ohio to Qusra to protect his family home, where residents say Israeli settlers have cut off water, electricity and access amid escalating West Bank violence

Israeli settlers smash cars, set fires in West Bank as 4 killed in Gaza

Israeli settlers rampaged through multiple Palestinian villages overnight Saturday and into Sunday, smashing cars, setting fires and wounding several men in the latest flare-up of violence in the occupied West Bank. The official Palestinian news agency WAFA reported attacks in at least six communities on Sunday. The Palestinian Red Crescent Society said at least three Palestinians in the village of Jalud suffered head wounds from beatings and were hospitalized after confronting settlers, who were also reported injured. The rampage came a day after an 18-year-old Israeli settler was killed in a collision with a Palestinian vehicle in an area near two of the villages attacked. Police said they are investigating the settlers' claims that the collision was deliberate. The violence came as Israel's government also presses ahead with new settlements in the occupied West Bank. Attacks by settlers have intensified alongside a broader surge in violence since the Iran war started. Israel's .

US embassy to offer consular services at Israeli settlement in West Bank

The US embassy in Jerusalem plans to offer consular services for the first time at an Israeli settlement in the occupied West Bank. A statement posted Wednesday to the US embassy's account on the social platform X said consular officers "will be providing routine passport services" to US citizens Friday in the West Bank settlement of Efrat. The embassy said a similar outreach service is planned in the coming months in the Israeli settlement of Beitar Illit, calling the services part of its "efforts to reach all Americans." The US embassy has previously provided consular services in Ramallah and other Palestinian cities in the West Bank. The move continues a shift in policy under US President Donald Trump's administration, which has been far friendlier to Israeli settlements in the West Bank than past US presidents. "We welcome the historic decision by the US embassy in Jerusalem to extend consular services to American citizens in Judea and Samaria," Israel's Foreign Ministry said o

India joins over 100 countries in opposing Israel's actions in West Bank

India has joined over 100 countries and global organisations in condemning Israel's "unilateral" decisions and measures aimed at expanding its "unlawful presence" in the West Bank. A statement was issued by the Permanent Observer Mission of Palestine to the UN on Wednesday on behalf of the 100 countries and organisations "condemning Israel's unilateral measures and rejecting annexation." According to the statement, the signatories "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. We underline in this regard our strong opposition to any form of annexation," it said. Earlier, 85 nations had condemned Israel's unilateral measures and policies in the occupied West Bank through the statement issued on February 17. India was not among these initial nations that had jointly issued the statement. Later, Ne

14 nations condemn Israel's proposed new settlements in West Bank

According to the joint statement, the list includes the United Kingdom, Spain, France, Germany, Canada and Japan

Israeli Cabinet approves 19 new settlements in occupied West Bank

The approval increases the number of settlements in the West Bank by nearly 50 per cent during the current government's tenure

Israeli forces kill 2 suspected Palestinian attackers in West Bank

Israeli forces on Tuesday shot and killed two suspected Palestinian assailants wanted in a pair of attacks that wounded three Israelis in the occupied West Bank. It was the latest burst of violence in the territory, where fighting has spiked in recent weeks. The Israeli military said that troops shot and killed a suspect who stabbed two soldiers as they were confronting him near Ateret, an Israeli settlement in the central West Bank. It said the incident was under review. Israel's Mada rescue service said two soldiers were lightly wounded. In the southern West Bank, the army said it shot and killed a Palestinian who had earlier carried out a car-ramming attack that wounded a female soldier. The army said the man attempted to flee as they tried to arrest him near the city of Hebron while endangering the soldiers and he was shot dead. The Palestinian Health Ministry identified the suspect as a 17-year-old resident of Hebron. The Israeli army has stepped up its activities in the We

Will not allow Israel to annex West Bank, says Trump amid Arab concerns

President Donald Trump has said that he will not allow Israel to annex the West Bank. "There's been enough," Trump, apparently referring to Israel, told reporters in the Oval Office on Thursday while signing executive orders unrelated to Middle East policy. He added, "It's time to stop now." Trump has long bragged about his close relationship with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, but the president has faced pressure from Arab leaders, who have publicly expressed concerns about the Israeli military acting to annex more territory. Unlike Gaza, where Israel's war with Hamas continues, the West Bank is governed by the Palestinian Authority.

Will not allow Israel to annex West Bank, says Trump | Israel-Gaza war | Netanyahu

US President Donald Trump said on Thursday that he would not allow Israel to annex the West Bank, rejecting calls from some far-right politicians in Israel

EC actions challenge TMC's grassroots reach, BJP's strength in West Bengal

With the Election Commission planning to add nearly 14,000 new polling booths amid prospective Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of rolls in West Bengal, the BJP faces a shortage of Booth Level Agents (BLAs), exposing a critical organisational gap that could weaken its 2026 poll challenge, while the TMC, with no such issues, exudes confidence. For the Trinamool Congress, the expansion of polling stations from the existing 80,000 to an estimated 94,000, spread across 294 assembly seats, is less a burden than an opportunity to tighten its grip at the grassroots. In contrast, the BJP functionaries acknowledge they are planning to cover only about 70 per cent of booths with BLAs during the SIR exercise, well short of what is needed to ensure an effective presence statewide. In the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, the BJP could deploy polling agents in around 50,000-55,000 of West Bengal's existing 80,681 booths. The target now stands at 65,000-70,000, but insiders admit the party may struggle to ge

Israel to establish 22 new Jewish settlements in occupied West bank

Israel said Thursday it would establish 22 Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank, including the legalisation of outposts already built without government authorisation. Israel captured the West Bank, along with the Gaza Strip and east Jerusalem, in the 1967 Mideast war and the Palestinians want all three territories for their future state. Most of the international community views settlements as illegal and an obstacle to resolving the decades-old conflict. Defence Minister Israel Katz said the settlement decision strengthens our hold on Judea and Samaria, using the biblical term for the West Bank, "anchors our historical right in the Land of Israel, and constitutes a crushing response to Palestinian terrorism. He added it was also a strategic move that prevents the establishment of a Palestinian state that would endanger Israel. Israel has already built well over 100 settlements across the territory that are home to some 500,000 settlers. The settlements range from small ..

Israeli settlers in West Bank attack Oscar-winning Palestinian co-director

Filmmaker Hamdan Ballal, who co-directed the Oscar-winning documentary film "No Other Land", was later detained by the Israeli military

10 missing Indian workers rescued from West Bank by Israeli authorities

Indian workers were lured to a village in the West Bank with job promises, where their passports were confiscated. Israeli authorities have since rescued them, and they are now in a safe location

Anti-US sentiment in West Bank boosts demand for alternative 'Chat Cola'

Order a Coke to wash down some hummus in the Israeli-occupied West Bank these days and chances are the waiter will shake his head disapprovingly or worse, mutter shame, shame in Arabic before suggesting the popular local alternative: a can of Chat Cola. Chat Cola its red tin and sweeping white script bearing remarkable resemblance to the iconic American soft drink's logo has seen its products explode in popularity across the occupied West Bank in the past year as Palestinian consumers, angry at America's steadfast support for Israel in its war against Hamas in Gaza, protest with their pocketbooks. No one wants to be caught drinking Coke, said Mad Asaad, 21, a worker at the bakery-cafe chain Croissant House in the West Bank city of Ramallah, which stopped selling Coke after the war erupted. Everyone drinks Chat now. It's sending a message. Since Hamas' October 7, 2023, attack triggered Israel's devastating military campaign in the Gaza Strip, the Palestinian-led boycott movement

Israel sends tanks into West Bank for first time as it deepens crackdown

Israeli tanks moved into the occupied West Bank on Sunday for the first time in decades in what Palestinian authorities called a "dangerous escalation", after the defence minister said troops will remain in parts of the territory for a year and tens of thousands of Palestinians who have fled cannot return. Associated Press journalists saw several tanks move along unpaved tracks into Jenin, long a bastion of armed struggle against Israel. Israel is deepening its crackdown on the Palestinian territory and has said it is determined to stamp out militancy amid a rise in attacks. It launched the offensive in the northern West Bank on January 21 two days after the current ceasefire in Gaza took hold and has expanded it to nearby areas. Palestinians view such raids as part of an effort to cement Israeli control over the territory, where 3 million Palestinians live under military rule. The deadly raids have caused destruction in urban areas. Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said he a

Israel ups offense in West Bank, says troops to stay for a yr in few areas

Israel's defence minister said Sunday troops would remain for the coming year in parts of the occupied West Bank where they have launched a weekslong offensive and would prevent tens of thousands of displaced Palestinians from returning, as Israel deepens its crackdown on the Palestinian territory. Israel launched a broad offensive on the northern West Bank on January 21 two days after the ceasefire that paused the war in Gaza took hold and then expanded it to include other nearby areas. Israel says it is determined to stamp out militancy amid a rise in attacks. Palestinians view such raids as part of an effort to cement Israeli control over the territory, where 3 million Palestinians live under military rule. The raids have been deadly, caused destruction to urban areas and displaced tens of thousands. Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said he had instructed the military to prepare to remain in some of the West Bank's urban refugee camps, from where he said some 40,000 ...

Israel PM Netanyahu deploys army in West Bank after terror attack on buses

The bus blasts came just hours after Palestinian militant group Hamas returned four bodies purported to be hostages held in Gaza since its October 7, 2023 attack

Israel's West Bank crackdown causes mass displacement unseen since 1967

By car and on foot, through muddy olive groves and snipers' sight lines, tens of thousands of Palestinians in recent weeks have fled Israeli military operations across the northern West Bank the largest displacement in the occupied territory since the 1967 Mideast war. After announcing a widespread crackdown against West Bank militants on January 21 just two days after its ceasefire deal with Hamas in Gaza Israeli forces descended on the restive city of Jenin, as they have dozens of times since Hamas' October 7, 2023 attack on Israel. But unlike past operations, Israeli forces then pushed deeper and more forcefully into several other nearby towns, including Tulkarem, Far'a and Nur Shams, scattering families and stirring bitter memories of the 1948 war over Israel's creation. During that war, 7,00,000 Palestinians fled or were forced from their homes in what is now Israel. That Nakba, or catastrophe, as Palestinians call it, gave rise to the crowded West Bank towns now under assau