25 h. ago Israel attacked Palestinian water sources over 250 times in five years, data reveals

Armed forces and settlers used bombs, dogs, poison and machinery to attack people and infrastructure at key sitesIsraeli armed forces and settlers have attacked Palestinian water sources more than 250 times in the past five years, amounting to the most sustained assault on civilian water supplies in recent years, new research reveals.Bombs, dogs, poison and heavy machinery were among the weapons used to attack Palestinians and their infrastructure at drinking water, irrigation and sanitation sites in the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip on at least 90 occasions between January 2024 and mid-2025, according to the Pacific Institute, a California-based nonpartisan thinktank tracking water conflicts. Continue reading...

Politics

27 h. ago Israelis attacked Palestinian water sources over 250 times in five years, data reveals

Armed forces and settlers used bombs, dogs, poison and machinery to attack people and infrastructure at key sitesIsraeli armed forces and settlers have attacked Palestinian water sources more than 250 times in the past five years, amounting to the most sustained assault on civilian water supplies in recent years, new research reveals.Bombs, dogs, poison and heavy machinery were among the weapons used to attack Palestinians and their infrastructure at drinking water, irrigation and sanitation sites in the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip on at least 90 occasions between January 2024 and mid-2025, according to the Pacific Institute, a California-based nonpartisan thinktank tracking water conflicts. Continue reading...

Politics

61 h. ago Reuters journalist among Palestinians injured after Israeli settlers attack olive harvesters in West Bank

News agency says journalist and security adviser repeatedly beaten by masked Israeli men wielding clubs and sticks

Events

4 d. ago Where is the Gaza ‘peace process’ really going? | Ahmad Ibsais

Israel turns the violence up and down at will, maintaining full dominion over Gaza and the West Bank, then calls each pause a generous ‘ceasefire’If you started attending one funeral a day beginning 1 January 2025, you would finish in the year 3887. That is how long it would take to mourn every life lost in Gaza. By then, your grandchildren’s great10 grandchildren would be dust, and still you would be burying Palestinian bodies from a “war” Israel insists was about self-defense. Even then, this number does not tell you about the thousands of ways these bodies were burned, torn, crushed and made anything but whole.And yet here we are, watching world leaders gather in Egypt for a “peace summit” last month where the only people absent were Palestinians. The banner read “Peace 2025”, while Palestine’s representatives were barred from the room.Ahmad Ibsais is a first generation Palestinian American, law student and poet who writes the newsletter State of Siege Continue reading...

Politics

9 d. ago ‘Olives are everything for us’: West Bank farmers prevented from harvesting by settler violence

About 70% of town’s olives are inaccessible without risking a potentially fatal clash with Israeli settlersAround As-Sawiya, rolling hills covered in fields and orchards rise to a horizon sharp against a pristine blue sky. It is a stunning view. But look closer and it becomes clear why the few thousand residents of this small town in the north of the Israeli-occupied West Bank say they are under siege – and why the olives are still heavy on the trees two weeks after the official date of the beginning of the annual harvest.From the highest point in As-Sawiya, Mahmud Hassan, the mayor, points out the olive orchards on the other side of the highway below the town. They lie on land owned by local families but are now impossible to reach without risking a potentially fatal clash with Israeli settlers who live in settlements around the town, or with Israeli security forces, he says. In all, about 70% of the town’s olives are currently inaccessible. Continue reading...

Society

2 w. ago Former West London bank granted permission to convert into gambling venue

Former West London bank granted permission to convert into gambling venue  MyLondon

Events

2 w. ago The war in Gaza is supposed to be over. But be warned: without truth and justice, it will never truly end | Simon Tisdall

A fragile ceasefire is in place, but what’s needed is an international tribunal for resolution and reparation. That’s the only route to lasting peaceDonald Trump insists the war in Gaza is over. No, it isn’t. The violence is much reduced. Yet Israeli forces have reportedly killed about 100 Palestinians and wounded hundreds more since the 10 October ceasefire began. Food aid supplies are still heavily restricted. The occupation continues, in Gaza and the West Bank. US officials fear prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his accomplices may renege on the deal, as in the past.Likewise, Hamas elements and rival gangs have kept fighting. The terrorist group is not disarming; Israeli forces have not fully withdrawn to the agreed lines. US-framed security, governance and reconstruction proposals remain vague, hypothetical and contentious. The war’s root causes, principally the denial of Palestinian sovereignty and statehood, are not addressed. Unless that changes, it will all kick off agai...

Events

2 w. ago Trump’s men come to Israel with plenty to say. But they’re silent on any real future for Gaza | Roy Schwartz

Kushner, Witkoff, Vance and Rubio – they’ve all been sent to keep the ceasefire in place. Now we need to hear about a concrete planThese days present quite a unique phenomenon: the first-ever US march of the babysitters. They vary in their qualifications and attributes, but they all share the same mission – to prevent an Israeli breach, or even destruction, of Gaza’s fragile ceasefire. Since the war ended, there have been few days without at least one of Donald Trump’s envoys on the ground. Just this past week saw the likes of Jared Kushner, Steve Witkoff, JD Vance and Marco Rubio – all arriving to perform their duties.Israel keeps them busy. In just a few days it launched a series of attacks in Gaza after the killings of two Israel Defense Forces (IDF) soldiers – resulting, according to reports, in dozens of Palestinian casualties. Several ministers called for a resumption of the war, and the Knesset passed a preliminary decision to annex the West Bank. The US reaction was somewher...

Politics

2 w. ago Trump shuts down reporter over Israel's vote to annex West Bank after his threat to cut support

The reporter's question centred on the Israeli Knesset, where right-wing lawmakers voted on Wednesday to advance a bill to impose Israeli sovereignty on the occupied West Bank.

Politics

2 w. ago 'I cannot understand a word she's saying': Moment frustrated Trump asks French reporter 'where are you from?' after being stumped by her accent during West Bank question

The reporter's question centred on the Israeli Knesset, where right-wing lawmakers voted on Wednesday to advance a bill to impose Israeli sovereignty on the occupied West Bank.

Politics

2 w. ago West Bank residents fear they may be Israel’s next target after Gaza

With the war in Gaza drawing down, Palestinians worry the Israeli military will turn its attention towards the West BankShadi Dabaya’s body bears the scars of the Israeli occupation. The 54-year-old proudly stuck out his jaw to show the chunk of his cheek torn away by Israeli fire and traced the zigzag scar on his arm, the pink, raised flesh marking the bullet’s path through his body.“I got these in the second intifada,” said Dabaya, beaming. He pulled up a video of himself a year earlier confronting an Israeli personnel carrier in Jenin camp wielding only a flip-flop, playing it from different angles. Continue reading...

Politics

2 w. ago West Bank resistance dies amid fears of becoming Israel’s ‘next Gaza’

Once known as the ‘martyrs’ capital’ of Palestine, Jenin is now patrolled by Israeli soldiers as weary residents seek quiet lifeShadi Dabaya’s body bears the scars of the Israeli occupation. The 54-year-old proudly stuck out his jaw to show the chunk of his cheek torn away by Israeli fire and traced the zigzag scar on his arm, the pink, raised flesh marking the bullet’s path through his body.“I got these in the second intifada,” said Dabaya, beaming. He pulled up a video of himself a year earlier confronting an Israeli personnel carrier in Jenin camp wielding only a flip-flop. Continue reading...

Events

2 w. ago WHO says aid situation in Gaza ‘remains catastrophic’ despite ceasefire – Middle East live

WHO’s director general says there has been little improvement in the amount of aid going into Gaza since the ceasefire took holdTurkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said the United States and others must do more to push Israel to stop violating the Gaza ceasefire agreement, including the possible use of sanctions or halting arms sales.According to an official readout of his remarks to reporters on board a return flight from Oman, Erdoğan said the Palestinian militant group Hamas was abiding by the agreement. He added that Turkey remains ready to support the planned Gaza taskforce in any way needed. Continue reading...

Events

2 w. ago US senior officials warn Israeli political factions not to disrupt Gaza ceasefire

Marco Rubio says bill passed by rightwing MPs to establish Israeli ‘sovereignty’ over occupied territories ‘threatens’ peace dealThe parade of senior US officials traveling to the Middle East in recent weeks is a clear warning from the White House to Benjamin Netanyahu and Israeli political factions to not disrupt the recent Gaza ceasefire – including by an annexation of the West Bank – or face a serious rift in relations with the US.As the shaky ceasefire came into effect last week, Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner quickly rushed to the region for consultations. Now they have been followed by secretary of state Marco Rubio and vice-president JD Vance as Trump deploys his top allies to tamp down on internal strife within Israel’s fractious Knesset. Continue reading...

Events

2 w. ago Trump threatens to cut all support for Israel in extraordinary escalation after JD Vance 'personal insult'

President Donald Trump revealed a red line that will force his administration to yank its support for Israel as it attempts to hold a fragile ceasefire with Hamas: annexation of the West Bank.

Politics

2 w. ago What does the Israeli proposal to annex the West Bank involve after JD Vance hits out at ‘stupid political stunt’

Over 250 settlements, considered illegal, are spread across the West Bank, with nearly a million settlers

Politics

2 w. ago Vance says Knesset votes on annexing West Bank are an ‘insult’ as Netanyahu halts progress

US vice-president suggests votes were ‘stupid political stunt’ as Israeli PM halts further work on billsMiddle East crisis – live updatesThe Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has ordered a halt to the advancement of parliamentary bills linked to the annexation of the West Bank after the US vice-president, JD Vance, described a vote on two bills in the Knesset as an “insult”.The bills applying Israeli law to the occupied West Bank, which would be tantamount to the annexation of land Palestinians want for a state, won preliminary approval from Israel’s parliament on Wednesday, barely a week after Donald Trump pushed through a deal aimed at ending a two-year Israeli offensive in Gaza. Continue reading...

Politics

2 w. ago Vance lashes out at ‘very stupid’ Israeli vote to annex West Bank

Move by parliament prompts heated exchanges between US, Arab allies and Israeli far right

Politics

2 w. ago West Bank olives and Russian drone attacks: photos of the day – Thursday

The Guardian’s picture editors select photographs from around the world Continue reading...

Events

2 w. ago Annexing West Bank ‘would put Donald Trump’s Gaza plan at risk’, warns Marco Rubio

A bill applying Israeli law to the occupied West Bank won initial approval from Israel's parliament on Wednesday

Events