US to offer passport services to citizens in illegal West Bank settlements

Israel welcomes move described by Palestinian Authority as undermining possibility of an independent state

The US will provide on-site consular services in two Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank for the first time, breaking with previous policy, in a move that has been criticised by Palestinian officials as “a clear violation of international law”.

In a post on X, the US embassy in Jerusalem said that as part of an initiative to mark the 250th anniversary of US independence, it would provide Americans with routine passport services in the West Bank settlement of Efrat on Friday “for one day only”.

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Israeli settlers kill 19-year-old Palestinian American, officials and witnesses say

Nasrallah Abu Siyam shot dead in occupied West Bank as UN human rights office accuses Israel of war crimes

Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank shot and killed a Palestinian American man during an attack on a village, the Palestinian health ministry and a witness have said.

Raed Abu Ali, a resident of Mukhmas, said a group of settlers came to the village on Wednesday afternoon where they attacked a farmer, prompting clashes after residents intervened.

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Israeli settlers attack and rob Italian and Canadian volunteers in West Bank

Group beaten in early hours of morning in village where they volunteered to help protect Palestinians from settler violence

Italy and Canada have raised concerns about the treatment of their citizens who were beaten and robbed by Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank.

Three Italians and a Canadian were attacked early on Sunday morning in the village of Ein al-Duyuk, near Jericho, where they had volunteered to help protect the Palestinian population from intensifying settler violence.

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Global ‘Free Marwan’ campaign calls for Palestinian political leader’s release

Locked away in prison for decades, Marwan Barghouti is a longstanding advocate for a two-state solution

A global campaign is being launched to secure the release of Marwan Barghouti, the Palestinian prisoner seen by many as the best hope of leading a future Palestinian state, as negotiations continue in the context of the current Gaza ceasefire.

The campaign, being led by Barghouti’s West Bank-based family with UK civil society support, is seeking to put the 66-year-old’s fate at the centre of the next stage of the ceasefire.

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Video shows Israeli forces shooting Palestinians dead moments after surrender

Far-right minister defends killing of two men who appeared to have given themselves up, saying ‘terrorists must die’

Video of an Israeli military raid in the West Bank shows soldiers summarily executing two Palestinians they had detained seconds earlier.

The shooting on Thursday evening, which was also witnessed by journalists close to the scene, is under justice ministry review, but has already been defended by Israel’s far-right minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, who declared that “terrorists must die”.

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Hundreds of Israeli soldiers raid Palestinian town in West Bank

Israeli military and security service say ‘broad counter-terrorism operation’ in Tubas to continue for several days

Hundreds of Israeli soldiers supported by armoured vehicles have conducted raids in the Palestinian town of Tubas near Nablus in the biggest such military deployment by Israeli forces in the occupied West Bank since the ceasefire came into effect in Gaza last month.

Palestinian media reported that a curfew was imposed on Tuesday night on Tubas and some neighbouring communities, roads were closed by earthen barriers and families forced from their homes to allow Israeli forces to use the buildings.

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‘They have total impunity’: West Bank settler violence surges after Gaza ceasefire

UN logs 260 attacks in October alone, its highest monthly tally, as settlers attack farmers and burn olive trees

Violence has increased across the occupied West Bank as Palestinian farmers try to harvest their olive trees before the end of the season, in the face of a concerted campaign of harassment by groups of armed and aggressive Israeli settlers.

Dozens of new incidents have occurred in recent days across much of the occupied territory as settlers step up a broader effort to intimidate and harm Palestinian communities.

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Israeli president condemns ‘serious’ attack by settlers on West Bank villages

Isaac Herzog makes rare statement on often-ignored violence as settlers injure Palestinians and attack soldiers

Dozens of masked Israeli settlers attacked Palestinian villages in the occupied West Bank on Tuesday, injuring four Palestinians and attacking Israeli soldiers in the latest incident of rising settler violence.

The settlers attacked the Palestinian villages of Beit Lid and Deir Sharaf, setting vehicles on fire and damaging property belonging to a Bedouin community, with charred remains of cars left behind the next day.

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UAE refuses to join Gaza stabilisation force without clear legal framework

Decision reflects wider regional doubts about terms of US-drafted plan to disarm Hamas

Plans for a UN-mandated international stabilisation force charged with disarming Hamas inside Gaza face growing opposition after the United Arab Emirates said it would not participate because it did not yet see a clear legal framework for the force.

Israel has already ruled out Turkey joining the force, and King Abdullah of Jordan has said Jordanian troops will not join. Azerbaijan, once mooted as a contributor, did not attend a planning meeting in Turkey last week and said it would not contribute unless a full ceasefire was in place.

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Returned body parts were of Gaza hostage recovered two years ago, Israel says

Netanyahu accuses Hamas of ‘clear violation’ of ceasefire as far-right ministers call for resumption of war

Benjamin Netanyahu has accused Hamas of a “clear violation” of the US-brokered Gaza ceasefire, saying the militant group had returned body parts of a hostage whose remains Israeli troops had recovered two years before.

Under the terms of the ceasefire, which took effect on 10 October, Hamas is required to return the remains of all Israeli hostages as soon as possible. In exchange, Israel has agreed to hand over 15 Palestinian bodies for each Israeli. Hamas has yet to return 13 bodies.

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Scottish fire engine destined for West Bank may return after 15-month Israeli seizure

Dundee firefighters request return of donated appliance to avoid Nablus officials having to pay £16,000 Ashdod holding fees

A fully equipped fire engine donated by Dundee firefighters to their counterparts in the West Bank city of Nablus could be sent back to Scotland after being impounded for more than a year by Israeli authorities.

Firefighters in Dundee, which is twinned with Nablus, have regularly donated kit, equipment and medical supplies to the West Bank over the past 15 years, as well as bringing Palestinian firefighters to Scotland for training.

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‘Bibi-sitting’: US heavy-hitters take turns to supervise Israeli prime minister

Marco Rubio warns Israeli politicians not to disrupt Gaza ceasefire after Knesset vote to annex West Bank

The parade of senior US officials travelling 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.

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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 orders a stop to any further work on bills

The 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.

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Trump says he ‘will not allow’ Israel to annex West Bank after lobbying from allies

British officials said they feared Trump would recognise Israeli control over the West Bank in retaliation for the UK, Australia, France and other recognising Palestine

Donald Trump has said he will not allow Israel to annex the occupied West Bank, rejecting calls from some far-right politicians in Israel who want to extend sovereignty over the area and in doing so make impossible the establishment of a Palestinian state.

“I will not allow Israel to annex the West Bank. Nope, I will not allow it. It’s not going to happen,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office, adding “There’s been enough. It’s time to stop now.”

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Israel carrying out crime against humanity in Gaza, Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas tells UN – as it happened

Speech by Palestinian Authority president also says Hamas should have no role in governing Palestine and must disarm

Alimi says the policy of containment has given the Houthis time to expand its arsenal.

“It has become clear the peace we seek cannot be asked for but must be imposed by force,” he says.

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‘Tunnel vision’: how Israel is using archaeology for political ends

Scientists say Netanyahu government and its US backers are trying to construct a history shorn of all complexity

When the US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, visited Jerusalem this month, the itinerary his Israeli hosts laid on involved more archaeology than anything else. On his first day, Benjamin Netanyahu took Rubio underground to excavations near the Western Wall. On the second day, Israel’s prime minister gave his American visitor the honour of inaugurating a tunnel burrowed under a Palestinian district, along a Roman-era street nicknamed the Pilgrimage Road, in a “City of David” archaeological park established by an Israeli settler organisation.

Both events were intended to emphasise Jerusalem’s Jewish roots and its status, Netanyahu stressed, as “our eternal and undivided capital”.

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UK set to recognise Palestinian state on Sunday

Keir Starmer expected to confirm move after concluding the situation has worsened significantly in recent weeks

The UK is expected to recognise a Palestinian state on Sunday after Israel failed to meet the conditions set out by Keir Starmer in July.

The prime minister is to make the announcement after concluding the humanitarian situation has deteriorated significantly in the past few weeks. The move comes despite pressure from the US and the families of hostages held by Hamas.

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UK preparing to recognise Palestinian state as early as Friday

Move comes after Israel fails to meet UK conditions that would have postponed step

The UK is preparing to recognise the state of Palestine as early as Friday, after Israel failed to meet conditions that would have postponed the historic step, including a ceasefire in Gaza.

Keir Starmer insisted the timing of the UK announcement had nothing to do with Donald Trump’s visit, even though the US president said at a press conference that he disagreed with Britain’s decision, without elaborating.

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Guy Pearce and Annie Lennox join call to end ‘normalised horror’ for children in Gaza

Stars read Michael Rosen’s 2014 poem Don’t Mention the Children in film released by Save the Children

Guy Pearce, Annie Lennox and Vanessa Redgrave are among the celebrities calling for an end to the “normalised horror” of children being killed in Gaza, as part of new short film.

Released by Save the Children and Choose Love, it features the stars reciting the words to a poem by Michael Rosen. Titled Don’t Mention the Children, the poem was written in 2014 in response to a Guardian article about the Israeli government banning a radio advert naming children killed in Gaza. It begins:

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Oscar-winning Palestinian says home in West Bank raided by Israeli soldiers

Director Basel Adra reports his property was stormed while he was at a hospital with relatives injured in settler attacks

Palestinian Oscar-winning director Basel Adra has said that Israeli soldiers have conducted a raid at his West Bank home, searching for him and going through his wife’s phone.

Israeli settlers attacked his village on Saturday, injuring two of his brothers and one cousin, Adra told the Associated Press. He accompanied them to the hospital. While there, he said that he heard from family in the village that nine Israeli soldiers had stormed his home.

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