West Bank | Pakistan

Israel’s hardline finance minister announced on Wednesday a major expansion by more than 2,000 homes of three Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank that Palestinians hope will be part of a future independent state. Most nations consider Israeli settlements there to be illegal under international law and a major obstacle to a two-state solution for long-term peace. Bezalel Smotrich, who holds authority over parts of Israel’s civilian administration in the West Bank, said a planning committee approved the construction of 2,162 new Jewish homes. They include 1,006 units in a new settlement near Jerusalem, 922 near the Palestinian city of Nablus and 234 near Hebron. “We are continuing to build the Land of Israel in practice,” said Smotrich, an ultra-nationalist sanctioned by Britain, France and others who accuse him of inciting violence against Palestinians. Smotrich has denounced the sanctions against him, saying the measures would not change Israeli policy. The new homes would “strengthen our hold on the...

The United Nations condemned on Tuesday the toll from “escalating” Israeli military operations and settler attacks in the occupied West Bank on children, with 70 Palestinian children killed since the start of 2025. “Children are paying an intolerable price for escalating military operations and settler attacks across the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem,” UN children’s agency spokesman James Elder told reporters. Since the start of 2025, when Israel began a large-scale military operation in the West Bank, “at least one Palestinian child has been killed on average every single week” there, adding that another 850 children had been injured during that period. “Most of those killed or wounded were done by live ammunition,” he said. Israeli forces were responsible for a full 93 per cent of the deaths, Elder said, highlighting that the scaled-up military operations had come amid “historic levels of settler attacks”. According to the UN, March 2026 saw the highest number of Palestinians injured by Israe...

European Union (EU) foreign ministers reached an agreement on Monday on new sanctions targeting violent Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank, as well as leading Hamas figures, EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said. The sanctions package, which targets three settlers and four settler organisations whose identities have yet to be publicly disclosed, had been blocked for months by the previous Hungarian government, which lost an election last month. European governments have raised concerns about a rise in reports of settler violence against Palestinians in the West Bank. “It was high time we move from deadlock to delivery,” Kallas said in a post on X. “Extremisms and violence carry consequences,” she added. Reacting to the development, Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said on X that the EU had “chosen, in an arbitrary and political manner, to impose sanctions on Israeli citizens and entities because of their political views and without any basis.” “Equally outrageous is the unacceptable comparison ...

Under the bleachers of a West Bank stadium, a dozen men from Gaza live in a former changing room, blocked from returning home by the war that erupted more than two-and-a-half years ago. Among those stranded is Sameer Abu Salah, 54, who had been working odd jobs in Israel’s commercial hub of Tel Aviv, where wages are far higher than in his home city of Khan Yunis in Gaza. He had then gone to Nablus, in the north of the occupied West Bank, where he is now trapped. “I entered (Israel) only four days before the war,” he said from the little space he had set up under the stands of Nablus city stadium. “I was respected and honoured. Then the war happened,” he added, referring to Israel’s relentless military campaign in the Palestinian enclave following Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack. Abu Salah now makes a living collecting and reselling recyclables, sending money to his family after losing two sons to Israeli airstrikes. A Palestinian man sits inside a damaged building, a day after of an Israeli strike at the Shati...

Pakistan has raised alarm at the systematic annexation of the occupied West Bank, expansion of illegal settlements and the forced displacement of Palestinians, calling for the intervention of the global community. The stance was expressed by Pakistan’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations Ambassador Asim Iftikhar Ahmad at the Arria-formula meeting on the situation in the occupied territory. “While international attention is consumed by multiple crises across the region, the systematic annexation of the occupied West Bank, expansion of illegal settlements, demolitions, land seizures and forced displacement of Palestinians continue unabated, and this requires our attention,” he said, according to the statement shared by Pakistan’s UN mission on X. “Israeli policies and illegal actions, unprecedented in scale and impact, are undermining the prospects for a viable Palestinian state,” he said. The ambassador said that Pakistan condemned Israel’s ongoing legislative and administrative measures aimed at en...

TECH giant Microsoft has removed misleading Israeli designations used in the occupied West Bank and included Palestinian geographical names in its digital maps in accordance with international law, Anadolu Agency reported quoting an Arab rights organisation. In a statement, the Arab Center for the Advancement of Social Media (7amleh) said the changes included location-based services, including the search engine ‘Bing’, where labels that previously listed locations in the West Bank under ‘Judea and Samaria, Israel’ were replaced with the term ‘West Bank’. ‘Judea and Samaria’ is an Israeli term to designate the occupied West Bank, which is in contrast to international law that dictates that the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, must be recognised as a Palestinian territory occupied by Israel. The West Bank is a key component of the future Palestinian state. The changes represent a “necessary correction,” said Lama Nazeeh, 7amleh’s advocacy manager, calling on technology companies to comply with international...

BEIRUT: Israeli strikes killed more than a dozen people in Lebanon and Gaza on Saturday, while an Israeli settler shot dead a Palestinian man in the occupied West Bank, according to officials. The widespread violence came a day after plans were announced for potential ceasefire talks between Lebanon, Israel and the United States. Israeli strikes on a village near Sidon in south Lebanon on Saturday killed eight people and wounded nine others, five of them seriously, the Lebanese health ministry said. Lebanon’s health ministry also said a total of 10 people were killed by Israeli strikes in the country’s south on Saturday, with state media reporting Israeli raids on more than a dozen locations. Earlier in the day, officials said strikes killed 10 people in the Nabatiyeh district. The ministry said the dead included a member of the Lebanese civil defence and two paramedics from the Islamic Health Committee, decrying Israel’s “systematic” targeting of emergency workers. Hezbollah slams planned negotiations with I...

Israel has approved the establishment of 34 new settlements in the occupied West Bank, according to Israeli media reports and the watchdog Peace Now, which said the decision was taken “secretly” in early April. “The security cabinet secretly decided to establish 34 new settlements,” Peace Now said in a statement released late on Thursday. The 34 settlements come on top of 68 others already approved since Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s right-wing government came to power in 2022. The decision has not been officially published by any government body, and the defence ministry, in charge of settlements in the occupied West Bank, declined to respond to AFP’s questions. “We are not addressing this issue,” a spokesperson for the ministry told AFP. According to news channel i24News, 10 of the 34 settlements are already existing outposts, which are illegal under Israeli law, but will now be retroactively legalised under the decision. The remaining 24 are yet to be built. All settlements are illegal under internat...

An international media association on Saturday condemned what it described as a “violent assault” by Israeli soldiers who detained a CNN crew in the occupied West Bank this week. A CNN team was reporting on the aftermath of an assault by Israeli settlers and the establishment of an illegal outpost near the Palestinian village of Tayasir on Thursday when Israeli soldiers detained it, the Foreign Press Association (FPA) said. “The soldiers aggressively targeted the crew and Palestinian civilians present, pointing their rifles at them,” the FPA said, even after the journalists identified themselves. “The soldiers repeatedly tried to infringe the CNN crew’s right to film, ordering the crew to stop filming and threatening to confiscate the camera. “Later, an IDF (Israeli Defence Force) soldier approached CNN’s photojournalist from behind, placed him in a chokehold, slammed him to the ground, and damaged his camera,” said the association, which represents hundreds of journalists in Israel and Palestinian territorie...

Diplomats from 13 European countries and Canada on Saturday slammed growing “terror” by settlers against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, after a surge in deadly attacks. Since the start of March, six Palestinians have been shot dead in settler attacks in the West Bank, according to a tally of data from the health ministry. “We strongly condemn increasing settler terror and violence by the Israeli security forces inflicted upon Palestinian communities,” said a joint statement from the diplomatic missions of countries including France, Spain and Britain. “We are especially appalled by the killings of Palestinians over these past weeks. This violence by settler militias, aimed at taking over land and creating a coercive environment, forcing Palestinians to leave their homes, must end.” The statement called on the Israeli authorities to “prevent and prosecute the lethal violence, raids and attacks”. Israel’s military chief, Lieutenant General Eyal Zamir, on Wednesday criticised the increase in settler att...

Over 500,000 Israelis live in West Bank settlements, deemed illegal under international law

Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar on Thursday arrived in Saudi Arabia on a two-day visit to attend an extraordinary meeting of the Organisation of Islamic Council’s (OIC) Executive Committee. The Extraordinary Open-Ended Ministerial Meeting of the OIC Executive Committee is set to be held tonight in Jeddah. It will “consider the illegal decisions of the Israeli occupation authorities aimed at expanding settlements, pursuing annexation, and attempting to impose Israeli sovereignty over the Occupied West Bank”, according to the Foreign Office (FO). Dar was received at Jeddah’s King Abdulaziz International Airport by Pakistan’s Permanent Representative to the OIC Ambassador Fawad Sher, Ambassador to Saudi Arabia Ahmad Farooq, and Consul General in Jeddah Syed Mustafa Rabbani, FO said. The meeting is taking place against the backdrop of the Israeli government approving a proposal to register large areas of the occupied West Bank as “state property” for the first time since the occupation of the...

Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar will embark on Thursday on a three-day visit — from February 26-28 — to Saudi Arabia to participate in the Open-Ended Extraordinary Ministerial Session of the Organisation of Islamic Council (OIC) Executive Committee, according to the Foreign Office (FO). The FO said in a statement on Wednesday that the ministerial session would be held on February 26 in Jeddah “to consider the illegal decisions of the Israeli occupation authorities aimed at expanding settlements, pursuing annexation, and attempting to impose Israeli sovereignty over the Occupied West Bank”. The meeting is taking place against the backdrop of the Israeli government approving a proposal to register large areas of the occupied West Bank as “state property” for the first time since the occupation of the territory in 1967. The move is in violation of international law, which states that an occupying power cannot confiscate land in occupied territories. At the ministerial session in Jeddah, FM D...

Muslim and European countries, including Pakistan, on Wednesday condemned Israeli attempts aimed at the “unacceptable de facto annexation” of Palestinian land in the occupied West Bank. A joint statement by Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Brazil, France, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Indonesia, Ireland, Egypt, Pakistan, Luxembourg, Norway, Palestine, Portugal, Qatar, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Türkiye, United Arab Emirates, the League of Arab States and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation said that recent changes made by Israel to reclaim land in the occupied West Bank as “state property” are “wide-ranging” and accelerate illegal settlement activity and further entrench Israeli administration. Earlier this month, the Israeli government approved a proposal to register large areas of the occupied West Bank as “state property” for the first time since the Israeli occupation of the territory in 1967, in clear violation of international law, which states that an occupying power cannot confiscate land in occupied territories....

More than a dozen international humanitarian organisations have petitioned Israel’s Supreme Court to block an imminent order that would force 37 non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to cease operations in Gaza, the West Bank and east Jerusalem, warning of catastrophic consequences for civilians. Organisations including Doctors Without Borders (MSF), Oxfam, the Norwegian Refugee Council and CARE were notified on December 30, 2025 that their Israeli registrations had expired and that they had 60 days to renew them by providing lists of their Palestinian staff. If they fail to do so, they will have to cease operations in Gaza and the occupied West Bank, including east Jerusalem, from March 1. The petition, described as unprecedented in its scale and joint nature, seeks an urgent interim injunction from Israel’s top court to suspend the closures pending full judicial review. The 17 petitioners, which include some of the NGOs hit by the ban, argue the Israeli measures are incompatible with an occupying power’s ob...

GENEVA: Israel’s increased attacks and forcible transfers of Palestinians “raise concerns over ethnic cleansing” in the Gaza Strip and West Bank, the United Nations said on Thursday. The cumulative impact of Israel’s military conduct during the conflict in Gaza and blockade of the territory, has inflicted living conditions “increasingly incompatible with Palestinians’ continued existence as a group in Gaza”, said the UN human rights office. “Intensified attacks, the methodical destruction of entire neighbourhoods and the denial of humanitarian assistance appeared to aim at a permanent demographic shift in Gaza,” the office said in a report. “This, together with forcible transfers, which appear to aim at a permanent displacement, raise concerns over ethnic cleansing in Gaza and the West Bank.” The report covered Nov 1, 2024 to Oct 31, 2025. It highlighted the Israeli security forces’ “systematic use of unlawful force” in the occupied West Bank and annexed East Jerusalem. The report also pointed to “widespread”...

Eight Muslim countries, including Pakistan, on Tuesday condemned the Israeli move to claim land in the occupied West Bank as “state property”, saying that the step reflected an attempt to “impose a new legal and administrative reality designed to consolidate control over the occupied land”. Al Jazeera reported on Sunday that the Israeli government had approved a proposal to register large areas of the occupied West Bank as “state property”, for the first time since the Israeli occupation of the territory in 1967, in clear violation of international law that states an occupying power cannot confiscate land in occupied territories. Israel’s foreign ministry claimed the measure, approved late on Sunday, would enable “transparent and thorough clarification of rights to resolve legal disputes” but the move drew strong condemnations from across the globe for its violation of international law. In a joint statement issued on Tuesday, the foreign ministers of Pakistan, Egypt, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, Indones...

Pakistan on Monday strongly condemned Israel’s latest move to register large areas of the occupied West Bank as “state property”, calling on the international community to reject its actions, according to a statement by the Foreign Office (FO). Al Jazeera reported on Sunday that the Israeli government had approved the proposal to claim large areas of the occupied territory as property of the state if Palestinians could not prove ownership, a move which prompted outcry from Palestinian group Hamas, the Palestinian presidency, and political analysts. “Pakistan strongly condemns the latest attempt by the Israeli occupying power to convert areas of the Occupied West Bank into so-called state property, and to expand illegal settlement activities,” the statement said. It pointed out that these steps clearly violated international law and relevant United Nations Security Council and General Assembly resolutions, stressing that they “must be rejected” by the international community. “The occupying power’s continued d...

Eight Muslim countries, including Pakistan, in a joint statement on Monday, warned against the “continued expansionist Israeli policies” in the occupied West Bank. In the statement, the foreign minister of Pakistan — along with those of Egypt, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Indonesia, Turkiye, Saudi Arabia and Qatar — “condemned in the strongest terms the illegal Israeli decisions and measures aimed at imposing unlawful Israeli sovereignty, entrenching settlement activity, and enforcing a new legal and administrative reality in the occupied West Bank, thereby accelerating attempts at its illegal annexation and the displacement of the Palestinian people”. The statement comes a day after Israel’s security cabinet approved a series of steps that would make it easier for settlers in the occupied West Bank to buy land while granting Israeli authorities more enforcement powers over Palestinians, according to Israeli media. Citing statements by Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and Defence Minister Israel K...

The United Nations on Wednesday said decades-long discrimination and segregation of Palestinians by Israel in the West Bank were intensifying, and called on the country to end its “apartheid system”. In a new report, slammed by Israel, the UN rights office said “systematic discrimination” against Palestinians across the occupied Palestinian territories had “drastically deteriorated” in recent years. “There is a systematic asphyxiation of the rights of Palestinians in the West Bank,” UN rights chief Volker Turk said in a statement. “Whether accessing water, school, rushing to hospital, visiting family or friends, or harvesting olives — every aspect of life for Palestinians in the West Bank is controlled and curtailed by Israel’s discriminatory laws, policies and practices,” he added. “This is a particularly severe form of racial discrimination and segregation that resembles the kind of apartheid system we have seen before.” A number of independent experts affiliated with the UN have described the situation in ...