Two Palestinian brothers are the only survivors after Israeli troops killed their parents and two siblings in Tammun in the occupied West Bank, according to Palestinian health authorities. The boys say soldiers opened fire on their family car and beat them after the shooting.
Published On 15 Mar 202615 Mar 2026
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Several Palestinians were killed after armed Israeli settlers attacked the village of Abu Falah in the occupied West Bank. Witnesses say the settlers carried out the attack under the protection of Israeli forces.
Published On 8 Mar 20268 Mar 2026
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March 6 (UPI) — Ukraine‘s foreign minister accused Hungary of kidnapping seven Ukrainian state bank employees and stealing the cash and gold they were transporting, and Hungary announced it would expel the bank staff.
Ukraine’s Oschadbank said on Thursday that two vehicles with seven employees and about $75 million were stopped in Budapest Thursday, and Kyiv has lost contact with the personnel. The vehicles were transporting cash and gold from Austria to Ukraine.
Budapest announced Friday that the seven bank employees would be expelled from Hungary, and accused the seven people detained of money laundering.
On Wednesday, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky traded threats and accusations. Budapest blamed Kyiv for blocking a Russian oil pipeline into Hungary, but Kyiv said the pipeline was damaged by a Russian air strike in January, the BBC reported.
One month before the Hungarian elections, Orban is trailing in polling.
“Today in Budapest, Hungarian authorities took seven Ukrainian citizens hostage,” Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said Thursday on X. “The reasons are still unknown, as well as their current well-being, or the possibility of contacting them. … We will also address the European Union with the request to provide a clear qualification of Hungary’s unlawful actions, hostage-taking, and robbery.”
In a Friday morning post, Sybiha called it “state banditism.”
“Political statements from Hungarian officials this morning show that the detention of seven Ukrainian citizens in Budapest was part of Hungary’s blackmail and electoral campaign,” the post on X said. “Orban’s list of demands for Ukraine this morning was particularly telling. This is what typically happens after people are taken hostage: demands. We will not tolerate this state banditism.”
Oschadbank released a statement calling for the release of its employees.
It said the employees “were unjustifiably detained in Hungary while carrying out a regular transport of foreign currency and bank metals between Raiffeisen Bank Austria and Oschadbank Ukraine. … Oschadbank demands the immediate release of its employees and property and their return to Ukraine.”
The bank said the vehicles carried $40 million in U.S. dollars, about $40.5 million in euros and about 20 pounds of gold. The transfer was part of an agreement with Raiffeisen Bank.
“The cargo was registered in accordance with international transportation rules and current European customs procedures,” Oschadbank said in the statement.
It’s not clear what has happened to the cash and gold, but the BBC reported that Polish Foreign Minister Radek Sikorski said, “they’ve stolen the money.”
Hungary alleges that the transport was part of a money laundering operation. The Hungarian National Tax and Customs Administration said that seven Ukrainian nationals were arrested, including a former Ukrainian intelligence general, with two armoured cash trucks also seized.
“This year alone, more than $900 million, $486 million (in euros), and 322 pounds of gold bars have been transported through the territory of Hungary to Ukraine,” the statement said.
Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó also posted on X: “The government demands immediate answers and explanations from Ukraine on the cash shipments through Hungary. The question arises whether this is the money from the Ukrainian war mafia,” Szijjártó said.
Ukraine has issued a travel warning for its people to avoid traveling through Hungary.
“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs recommends that Ukrainian citizens refrain from traveling to Hungary due to the lack of guarantees of their safety against the backdrop of arbitrary actions by the Hungarian authorities,” a statement said.
I’m standing at 3,330 metres on a tall metal platform with a heavy harness strapped to my back, gazing in awe at the snow-covered Matterhorn, Mont Blanc and the Dents du Midi ridge. It’s a gorgeous distraction while I wait to be clipped in and launched down the valley at 120 kilometres an hour. This is the Mont Fort zip line, the highest in the world. I sit with my legs dangling over the precipice, then with a stomach-churning clunk the mechanism releases and I speed through the air over tiny figures skiing below. It’s exhilarating and over too soon. I’m grinning ear to ear, my lungs full of high mountain air.
I’m in Verbier, one of Switzerland’s most famous ski resorts. With access to 410km of pristine piste, excellent alpine food and a legendary après-ski culture, what’s not to like? Well, for many, the price. Verbier has long been favoured by A-listers and royalty, with eye-watering prices to match. Happily, there is a way to enjoy the same slopes, with much less of a financial hit. Stay in the village of La Tzoumaz (pronounced La Tsoo-mah), where accommodation can be half the price of Verbier, and you’re one chairlift away from the entire Four Valleys ski area. And as I discover, this “back door” resort has plenty of its own charms too.
La Tzoumaz has a year-round population of little more than 300 and, despite the influx of skiers, retains a charming village feel. Its name comes from the word “tzoumer” in Valaisan dialect, meaning “the place where you rest”, and it’s a good fit. I’m staying at Le Papill’on, a boutique hotel run by Ana and Pico. The 12 cosy, wood-panelled bedrooms are above the restaurant, some with views of the mountains, and the welcome is warm and genuine. Breakfast is generous, with Ana’s pastel de nata alongside eggs, cheese and meats, plus yoghurt, granola, fruit and cakes. Perfect fuel for a day on the slopes. Ski hire and the gondola are just two minutes’ walk away.
While Verbier access is the bonus, there’s also wonderful skiing at La Tzoumaz. A combination of north- and south-facing slopes gives excellent snow coverage over miles of blue, red and black runs. There are four chairlifts, including the swish new “télémixte” lift (both gondolas and chairlifts), which opened its second phase last December, improving the connection between Verbier and La Tzoumaz. A permanent “funslope” has ramps, jumps and tunnels, some of which play music – definitely not just for kids. There are two top ski schools: I spend a day with instructors from Ecole Suisse de Ski and another with Tzoum’Evasion and find all the guides unfailingly positive and professional. A beginner in our group progresses from grappling with bindings to snowplough turns in two days. The dedicated “Babylift” area is ideal for new skiers.
I’m here to ski, but it would be remiss to skip the other activities on offer. While the zip line was a definite highlight, I also try La Tzoumaz’s popular luge attraction. At 10km, it’s one of Europe’s longest sledging tracks, with a vertical descent of 711m. I crash into the sides (definitely wear a helmet), career off the edge into a snowdrift, and take a wrong turn requiring a long walk back, pulling my sledge. Speed demons will love it: I’m glad I tried it (but also, never again).
Ice-skating in La Tzoumaz is more my style, and the free ice rink makes this an easy evening activity. In peak season there’s a bar beside the rink, and you can rent skates from the sports shop over the road. We have a go at eisstock, a game similar to boules but played on ice. Best attempted with a mulled wine to warm the hands. At the base of the ski station there’s a little swimming pool, free to use with your lift pass. At Riddes, the village at the bottom of the slopes, I pop in to the Maye winery to taste some Swiss wines.
Food on the mountains is hearty skiing fuel. L’Inkontro is a smart new restaurant on Les Attelas slope, with incredible views over the valley from its large, sunny terrace. It merges Valaisan cuisine with Italian classics; the baked tortellini gratin powers my afternoon nicely. Chez Simon is a cosy alpine hut, easy to spend a few hours in. Croûtes are popular here, an alpine version of cheese on toast that’s so generous it’s served in a bowl to catch all the melted cheese. For serious mountain hunger, the croûte royale has added ham, egg and pickles. Stop for coffee at Croix-de-Cœur to drink in panoramic views over the Rhône valley, La Tzoumaz and Verbier.
Although it’s an easy ski between Verbier and La Tzoumaz, by road it’s a little more challenging. Currently you have to go down the mountain to Riddes and back up, and the buses don’t run all night, so it’s better to enjoy après-ski back in La Tzoumaz to avoid risking an expensive taxi. Evenings in La Tzoumaz are more relaxed than Verbier, but a lot of fun. For après-ski, Bar Des Etablons towards the end of the slopes is a lively and unpretentious meeting point with upbeat tunes. The sledging route ends here, and the free ski bus picks up outside.
Down in the village, near the ski lifts, Le Central bar is the best spot to wind down, with comfy leather sofas and beautiful big windows overlooking the valley. It opened last December, run by pro-snowboarder Xavier de Le Rue and friends. There are pizzas to share, local beers and a good wine list. For restaurants head to Le Papill’on for garlic snails or raclette, L’Auberge La Tzoumaz for fondue or local fish, and at L’Trappeur the house speciality, la potence de bœuf – beef served “on the gallows”, skewered on a metal structure then flame-grilled at the table. A well-stocked supermarket makes self-catering easy too.
While skiing in Switzerland may never be cheap, La Tzoumaz makes its most famous ski area feel far more attainable. With affordable accommodation, seamless access to the Four Valleys, and a friendly village atmosphere, it’s proof you don’t need to stay in the spotlight to enjoy the very best of the Alps.
The trip was provided by Verbier 4Vallées. Travel to Riddes by train from Geneva (with a change in Martigny) then catch a bus to La Tzoumaz. Hôtel Le Papill’on has rooms from 97 Swiss francs (£89) B&B a person, based on two sharing. Adult ski hire at T-Shop starts at £167 for six days. An adult one-day ski pass for the Verbier 4Vallées sector is around £85, adult six-day pass £380. More information at verbier.ch
Gaza City – Amid the buzz of customers in the Remal neighbourhood in Gaza City, Samar Abu Harbied stops at a small, makeshift roadside stall to buy groceries to prepare an Iftar meal for her family, to break their fast during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
With no cash in her purse, the 45-year-old housewife asks the grocer if she could put the bill on credit, until her husband or son could wire the money to him.
“I have not touched a paper note for months. I don’t even have money to pay for a taxi. Now we walk a lot, for long distances,” Abu Harbied said.
Najlaa Sukkar, 48, was trying to catch her breath at the same stall, which is run by her son Abdallah, after a failed journey on foot to see a doctor for a post-surgery check-up and to buy medication.
Najlaa said she did not have enough money to pay the 30 shekel (US$9.5) check-up fees, and the only banknote she had, a 20-shekel bill, was so worn out that the pharmacist turned it down.
“I returned without receiving medical care,” she told Al Jazeera.
“At the pharmacy, they didn’t accept the banknotes as they were frayed. The taxi driver didn’t accept a banknote, only small change, which I don’t have. It is very difficult to get by. What a mess, we don’t know what to do!”
Palestinians in the Gaza Strip are struggling to conduct their daily lives amid a severe cash flow problem imposed by Israel immediately after it embarked on its genocidal war on Gaza in October 2023.
A US-brokered ceasefire that went into effect in October has brought little reprieve to Palestinians, who are still using worn-out currency they had from before the war, or must rely on a new system of electronic payments conducted through smart telephones amid limited internet coverage.
Palestinians in Gaza use the Israeli currency, the shekel, in their daily transactions, and depend on Israel to supply banks with new banknotes and coins.
![A customer pays for groceries using bank account transactions [Ola al-Asi/ Al Jazeera]](https://i0.wp.com/www.aljazeera.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/When-money-is-scarce-every-choice-counts-bank-cash-or-on-credit.-1772105832.jpg?w=640&ssl=1)
Electronic payments
Palestinians were forced to turn to a digital payment system as a way to get around a severe shortage of Israeli shekel banknotes, a problem that has been exacerbated by the destruction of an estimated 90 percent of bank branches and cash machines.
The Palestinian Monetary Authority, working with internet service providers, has pushed for mobile-based electronic payments, including PalPay and Jawwal Pay, to help Palestinians overcome the liquidity problem.
Abu Harbeid said her son switched to electronic payments after he faced many problems using the 50 shekels per shift he was receiving while working as a night guard.
“My son, Shady, was receiving his daily wage in cash, which was worn and torn. We could hardly break it into smaller change or buy anything, as sellers don’t accept overused paper bills,” she told Al Jazeera.
“Moreover, the seller doesn’t accept it unless I spend it all, as they don’t have change. Now, as he is paid into his bank account, we buy everything through bank apps,” she added.
But digital payments have added another layer of hardship to a large segment of the population.
Most Palestinians still do not receive bank-transferred salaries, many lack access to smartphones, and those who have phones struggle to keep them charged in an area where electricity services are in severe crisis.
To add to that, there is still the problem of finding a good internet connection for the transfer process.
Abu Harbeid said a proper trip to the market requires her to have her husband or son with her to pay for goods. But neither can leave work to join her.
“I prefer cash in my hand; I could buy anything on the go,” Abu Harbied said.
![Abdallah Sukkar, owner of a street grocery stall, writing down customers' details in a notebook [Ola al-Asi/ Al Jazeera]](https://i0.wp.com/www.aljazeera.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/When-money-is-scarce-every-choice-counts-bank-cash-or-on-credit-2-1772105835.jpg?w=640&ssl=1)
Analysts say Gaza’s current economic reality started as a liquidity crisis, but has become an issue of transition from a regulated financial system to a fragmented survival economy shaped by scarcity, informality, and political constraints.
“However, as the months passed, the crisis evolved into something far more structural,” Ahmed Abu Qamar, member of the board of directors of the Palestinian Economists Association, told Al Jazeera.
“The black market now plays a dominant role in determining liquidity conditions. A small group of traders effectively manages cash circulation through high-commission cashing operations.”
He said that when money itself becomes a traded commodity, it signals severe distortion in the monetary system. “Cash, like any commodity, becomes subject to supply and demand dynamics. When it becomes scarce, its value increases beyond its nominal worth. From an economic perspective, this represents a structural disruption of the monetary system.
“The formal banking sector and the Palestinian Monetary Authority were sidelined. What we are seeing is the neutralisation of the formal monetary system,” he said.
Abu Qamar said the deeper issue was confidence – not just in cash, but in the financial system as a whole. “Cash is inherently difficult to track, whereas electronic payments are traceable and can be frozen or restricted. Implementing such a transition abruptly produces severe economic and social distortions,” he warned.
“Widespread selling on credit is not a sign of market stability – it is an indicator of declining incomes and weakened purchasing power. When debt expands rapidly without a parallel increase in income, the result is social fragmentation. Approximately 95 percent of households in Gaza depend on aid,” he added.
![People purchasing goods at a grocery shop at Al-Zawya market [Ola al-Asi/ Al Jazeera]](https://i0.wp.com/www.aljazeera.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/When-money-is-scarce-every-choice-counts-bank-cash-or-on-credit.-1772105810.jpg?w=640&ssl=1)
The war has paved the way for middlemen to cash in illegally on the financial woes of Gaza, residents said.
Sukkar said that when her husband or sons needed cash, they were often forced to deal with brokers who charge a hefty commission that could reach 50 percent.
“We lose our money to them for nothing; they steal from us under our full consent,” she said.
Many residents, like Abu Harbeid, also do not trust bank transfers, saying they prefer physical cash in hand.
“I ask my sons, where does that money in the account appear?” said Sukkar.
“Who holds our money in their hands? I used to see money and count it, the banknotes and the change. On some days, when there are technical problems with the bank applications, we get nervous about the possibility of losing the money in their accounts,” she added.
Abdallah Sukkar, whose family ran a well-known family store in the Shujayea area in eastern Gaza before the war, said families who receive direct deposit salaries often buy with bank transfers.
“But I don’t like this method; I prefer cash,” he said.
He said he accepts all banknotes, whether new or worn-out ones, and allows people to buy on credit, but admitted that all of that affects his ability to make improvements to the roadside stall he now runs in place of his family’s old business.
He also complained of unpaid debts, adding that debts had soared by more than 500 percent during the war, while his profits barely reach 2 percent. He said he had given out 20,000 shekels’ worth of goods to new customers, “all of [whom] have become customers during the war”.
“People don’t have money; I can’t turn them away when they come to buy food on credit. It’s already catastrophic in Gaza,” he said.
“From the beginning of Ramadan till now, I haven’t had banknotes and change, which affects the sales. I don’t have small change to give to people who have cash, so they turn to other stalls or shops.
“Yesterday, when the bank application stopped, we were terrified that we might lose our money in the bank,” he said.
US embassy services will be available in the illegal West Bank settlement of Efrat, starting on February 27.
Published On 24 Feb 202624 Feb 2026
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The United States has announced it will soon provide in-person passport services at an illegal Israeli settlement in the occupied West Bank.
The US Embassy in Jerusalem said it would start providing the service for Efrat, located between the Palestinian towns of Bethlehem and Hebron, on February 27.
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It will be the first time the US has “provided consular services to a settlement in the West Bank”, according to a US embassy spokesperson quoted by the Reuters news agency.
The embassy said it would plan similar on-site services in the Palestinian city of Ramallah, the illegal Israeli settlement of Beitar Illit near Bethlehem, and in cities within Israel, such as Haifa.
The US currently offers passport and consular services at its embassy in West Jerusalem as well as at a Tel Aviv branch office.
Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, home to 3 million Palestinians who seek the territory as part of a future state, are illegal under international law.
Nevertheless, far-right Israeli politicians have openly called for Israel to increase settlement expansion, or even annex the Palestinian territory.
This month, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s right-wing government approved measures to expand control over the occupied West Bank and claim large tracts of Palestinian territory as Israeli “state property”.
The move was roundly condemned by more than 80 United Nations member countries.
Much of the West Bank is already under Israeli military control, with limited Palestinian self-government in some areas run by the Western-backed Palestinian Authority.
According to the International Court of Justice, about 465,000 Israeli settlers live in the occupied Palestinian territory, spread across some 300 illegal settlements and outposts.
Among them are an estimated tens of thousands of dual US-Israeli nationals. The Efrat settlement is home to many American immigrants.
US President Donald Trump, a staunch supporter of Israel, has said he opposes Israeli annexation of the occupied West Bank. But his administration has not taken any steps to curb Israel’s expanding settlement presence.
In addition to advancing settlements, Israeli forces regularly carry out violent raids, demolitions, and arrests in the occupied West Bank, where attacks by Israeli settlers against Palestinians have also intensified, often under the protection of Israeli soldiers.
In January alone, at least 694 Palestinians were driven from their homes in the West Bank because of Israeli settler violence and harassment, the highest number since Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza erupted in October 2023, according to the United Nations.
Joint statement says Israeli land grab is ‘deliberate and direct attack’ on the viability of a Palestinian state.
Published On 24 Feb 202624 Feb 2026
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Foreign ministers of 19 countries, including Turkiye, Qatar, France and Brazil, have signed a joint statement condemning Israel’s moves to unlawfully extend and consolidate its control over Palestinian land.
The statement issued late Monday by the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs described Israel’s plans to begin land registration in the occupied West Bank, which will sanction the seizure of land from Palestinians who cannot prove ownership, as “de facto annexation”.
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“Changes are wide-ranging, reclassifying Palestinian land as so-called Israeli ‘state land’, accelerating illegal settlement activity, and further entrenching Israeli administration,” said the joint statement, also signed by Saudi Arabia and Egypt, as well as the heads of the Arab League and Organisation of Islamic Cooperation.
Israel’s plans, signed on February 15, will see registration introduced across Area C, which makes up about 60 percent of the West Bank’s territory, according to the illegal settlement monitoring organisation, Peace Now.
The joint statement warned Israel’s moves could permanently alter the “legal and administrative status” of territory that is largely under Israeli military control, with limited Palestinian self-rule, but which would constitute part of a future Palestinian state.
“Such actions are a deliberate and direct attack on the viability of the Palestinian State and the implementation of the two-State Solution,” the statement said, rejecting measures altering “the demographic composition, character and status of the Palestinian Territory occupied since 1967, including East Jerusalem”.
Signatories also called on Israel to end settler violence against Palestinians, pledging to take “concrete steps, in accordance with international law, to counter the expansion of illegal settlements in Palestinian territory and policies and threats of forcible displacement and annexation”.
The foreign ministers stressed that Israeli settlements constitute “a flagrant violation of international law”, including previous United Nations Security Council resolutions and the 2024 Advisory Opinion of the International Court of Justice (ICJ).
The landmark ICJ ruling stated that Israel’s “abuse of its status as the occupying power” rendered its “presence in the occupied Palestinian territory unlawful”.
According to the ICJ, approximately 465,000 Israeli settlers live in the occupied West Bank, spread across some 300 settlements and outposts, which are illegal under international law.
Earlier this month, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned that Israel’s land registration plan could lead to the “dispossession of Palestinians of their property and risks expanding Israeli control over land in the area”.
Signatories of the statement urged Israel to immediately release withheld tax revenues owed to the Palestinian Authority in accordance with the 1994 Paris Protocol.
They also stressed the importance of preserving the historic and legal status quo in Jerusalem and its holy sites, particularly during the holy month of Ramadan.
Attack on Nablus-area mosque is latest in surge of Israeli settler and military violence targeting Palestinians.
Israeli settlers have defaced and set fire to a mosque in the occupied West Bank during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, marking the latest incident in a wave of Israeli violence against Palestinians in the territory.
The Wafa news agency reported on Monday that settlers graffitied racist slogans on the walls of Abu Bakr as-Siddiq Mosque, located between the towns of Sarra and Tal, near Nablus in the north of the West Bank.
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Worshippers arriving for the day’s first prayers found the damage and a smouldering fire that spewed black smoke across the mosque’s entrance and stained the ornate doorway, The Associated Press reported.
“I was shocked when I opened the door,” Munir Ramdan, who lives nearby, told the news agency. “The fire had been burning here in the area, the glass was broken here and the door was broken.”
Ramdan told AP that security camera footage showed two people walking towards the mosque carrying gasoline or petrol and a can of spray paint, and running away a few minutes later.
The attackers spray-painted graffiti denigrating the Prophet Muhammad, as well as the words “revenge” and “price tag” – a term used to describe attacks by Israeli settlers against Palestinians and their property.
The assault comes amid a wave of intensified Israeli settler and military violence across the West Bank in the shadow of Israel’s genocidal war against Palestinians in the nearby Gaza Strip.
At least 1,094 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli troops and settlers in the West Bank since the Gaza war began in October 2023, according to the latest United Nations figures.
Last week, the UN Human Rights Council warned in a new report (PDF) that Israeli policies in the West Bank – including “the systematic unlawful use of force by Israeli security forces” and unlawful demolitions of Palestinian homes – aim to uproot Palestinian communities.
“These violations, together with pervasive and growing settler violence committed with impunity, are fundamental to the coercive environment that induces forced displacement and forcible transfer, which is a war crime,” the report said.
It added that these policies are aimed at “altering the character, status and demographic composition of the occupied West Bank, raising serious concerns of ethnic cleansing”.
Back in the West Bank village of Tal on Monday, resident Salem Ishtayeh told AP that the Israeli settlers’ assault on the local mosque was “directed especially” at Palestinians who are fasting during Ramadan.
“So they like to provoke you with words. It’s not that they are attacking you personally, they are attacking your religion, the Islamic faith,” Ishtayeh said.
According to the Palestinian Authority’s Ministry of Religious Affairs, settlers vandalised or attacked 45 mosques in the West Bank last year.
The Israeli military and police said they responded to the latest incident and were searching for suspects.
But human rights groups say the Israeli authorities have allowed the settlers to operate with total impunity in their attacks against Palestinians.
Israeli organisation B’Tselem has accused Israel of actively aiding the settlers’ violence “as part of a strategy to cement the takeover of Palestinian land”.
The UN also warned last year that settler attacks were being carried out “with the acquiescence, support, and in some cases participation, of Israeli security forces”.
SCOTTY T relies on money from his mum to stay afloat – as his lawyer calls the new dad’s bank balance “bleak”.
The finances of former Geordie Shore star – real name Scott Timlin – were laid bare as he appeared at Southwark Crown Court yesterday alongside Towie star Yazmin Oukhellou and Love Island star Jamie Clayton.
They all pleaded guilty to communicating an invitation or inducement to engage in investment opportunities.
The court heard Timlin has 2.7m followers on Instagram but he relies on nightclub appearances and his income from OnlyFans to make £34,000 a year.
Laura Miller, representing Timlin, said: ‘His post was scripted and he said what he was told to say. He accepts he was reckless.
“Mr Timlin is not a man of extensive means. He earns money via an agent but also does receive other money for example an OnlyFans.
“For the last 12 months his yearly income was around £34,000.
“As often said there is the Instagram world and the reality. Mr Timlin’s bank statements make it very clear the lifestyle he lives in the public eye is not the lifestyle he actually does lead.”
She said he relies on extra money sent by his mother.
She continued:”He made his name on Geordie Shore and won Celebrity Big Brother but that was as far back as 2016.
“Although he’s done some TV work since Geordie Shore ended in 2019 those were the programmes he made his name from.
“He now relies extensively on the promotional world being paid to attend bars and nightclubs for events.”
She said his opening and closing balances for the last three months “make for bleak reading”.
Timlin has recently become a father, and opened up to The Sun about how his son has changed his life.
He joined Geordie Shore in 2012 and gained himself the nickname Turbo T for his womanising ways.
Admitting he was out seven days a week doing cocaine as he opened up about his drug-drive arrest for the first time, he told us: “I felt like I was just getting drunk and I was on coke and all sorts,” he admits.
“It was just like every night getting drunk, waking up and then going out again.”
Timlin, 37, was fined £938, Oukhellou £975 and Clayton was given a £820 fine. All the celebs will pay a £1,000 contribution to prosecution costs.
Israel approves West Bank land claims unless Palestinians prove ownership, sparking ‘annexation’ accusations.
The Israeli government has approved a plan to claim large areas of the occupied West Bank as “state property” if Palestinians cannot prove ownership, prompting regional outcry and accusations of “de facto annexation.” The move forces Palestinians to navigate complex legal hurdles after decades of occupation and displacement, amid continued Jewish settlement expansion. What could this mean for the future of Palestinian land?
In this episode:
Episode credits:
This episode was produced by Noor Wazwaz and Melanie Marich, with Tamara Khandaker, Marcos Bartolomé, Maya Hamadeh, Tuleen Barakat, and our guest host, Kevin Hirten. It was edited by Sarí el-Khalili.
Our sound designer is Alex Roldan. Our video editors are Hisham Abu Salah and Mohannad al-Melhemm. Alexandra Locke is The Take’s executive producer. Ney Alvarez is Al Jazeera’s head of audio.
Connect with us:
Published On 20 Feb 202620 Feb 2026
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A new United Nations Human Rights Office report says Israel’s military campaign and blockade of Gaza have created living conditions “increasingly incompatible with Palestinians’ continued existence as a group in Gaza” as it presses its genocidal war on the enclave.
The report released on Thursday states that “intensified attacks, the methodical destruction of entire neighbourhoods and the denial of humanitarian assistance appeared to aim at a permanent demographic shift in Gaza”.
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“This, together with forcible transfers, which appear to aim at a permanent displacement, raise concerns over ethnic cleansing in Gaza and the West Bank.”
Covering the period from November 1, 2024 to October 31, 2025, the report documents Israel’s security forces’ “systematic use of unlawful force” in the occupied West Bank and occupied East Jerusalem.
It highlights “widespread” arbitrary detention and the “extensive unlawful demolition” of Palestinian homes, stating that the measures seek to “systematically discriminate, oppress, control and dominate the Palestinian people”.
These policies are altering “the character, status and demographic composition of the occupied West Bank, raising serious concerns of ethnic cleansing”.
In Gaza, the report condemns the killing and maiming of “unprecedented numbers of civilians”, the spread of famine and the destruction of the “remaining civilian infrastructure”.
At least 463 Palestinians, including 157 children, starved to death during the 12-month period, according to the findings.
“Palestinians faced the inhumane choice of either starving to death or risking being killed while trying to get food,” it says, adding that the famine and “foreseeable and repeatedly foretold” deaths directly resulted from actions taken by the Israeli government.
Israeli forces launched new air strikes and artillery attacks across the Gaza Strip, as families in the besieged enclave woke to begin their Ramadan fast under bombardment.
Shelling struck areas east of Khan Younis in southern Gaza at dawn on Thursday, where Israeli troops remain deployed. Warplanes also hit Rafah and areas east of Gaza City, according to Al Jazeera’s correspondent.
A day earlier, medical officials at Nasser Medical Complex confirmed that two Palestinians were killed by Israeli fire near the so-called “yellow line” in Bani Suheila, east of Khan Younis.
Israeli forces continue to demolish homes and infrastructure in areas they control, flattening entire neighbourhoods and entrenching displacement.
The attacks form part of Israel’s repeated breaches of the ceasefire that began on October 10, 2025.
Gaza’s Ministry of Health says those violations have killed 603 Palestinians and wounded 1,618 others as of Monday.
Violence has also intensified in the occupied West Bank.
On Wednesday evening, the Palestinian Ministry of Health announced the death of 19-year-old Nasrallah Mohammad Jamal Abu Siam, who succumbed to wounds sustained during a settler assault on Mukhmas, northeast of occupied East Jerusalem.
Settlers, operating under the protection of Israeli forces, opened fire and stole dozens of sheep from Palestinian farmers. Three of the wounded were shot with live ammunition.
With Abu Siam’s killing, the number of Palestinians shot dead by settlers alone since October 7, 2023 has risen to 37, according to the Wall and Settlement Resistance Commission.
Moayad Shaaban, head of the commission, described events in Mukhmas as a “dangerous escalation in organised settler terrorism”, citing a “full partnership between settlers and the occupation forces”.
Israeli troops also raided the town of Arraba, south of Jenin, wounding two young men with live fire, one critically. Soldiers detained several others during the incursion.
In Jerusalem, Ramadan has brought further restrictions at Al-Aqsa Mosque. The mosque’s imam, Sheikh Akrama Sabri, said Israeli authorities are “imposing a reality by force” by limiting worshippers while allowing extremist Jewish incursions into the compound.
Occupation authorities have issued more than 100 deportation orders barring young Jerusalemites from entering the mosque and restricted West Bank worshippers to 10,000 permits under strict age and security conditions. Al-Aqsa can hold up to half a million people.
Sheikh Sabri said Israeli forces question worshippers during tarawih prayers in what he described as “provocation upon provocation”.
Israeli forces carried out violent raids across the occupied West Bank, detaining Palestinians and demolishing homes. A young man was killed by settlers in Mukhmas, Jerusalem, while restrictions on West Bank worshippers at Al-Aqsa added to tensions during Ramadan.
Published On 19 Feb 202619 Feb 2026
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Attacks by Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank have intensified recently, backed by Israeli forces.
A young Palestinian man was killed and four other people were injured when a group of Israeli settlers, backed by Israeli forces, opened fire on a village in the occupied West Bank.
The death of the young man on Wednesday evening, identified as Nasrallah Abu Siyam, 19, marks the first killing of a Palestinian by Israeli settler gunfire so far this year, the official Palestinian news agency Wafa reports.
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During the attack on the village of Mukhmas, located northeast of occupied East Jerusalem, Israeli settlers also stole dozens of sheep from local Palestinian residents, Wafa reports.
The attack on Mukhmas and other Palestinian towns and villages constitutes a “dangerous escalation in systematic terrorism and reflects a complete partnership between the settlers and the occupation forces,” Mu’ayyad Sha’ban, head of the Palestinian Authority’s Colonization and Wall Resistance Commission, told Wafa.
Calling for international protection for Palestinian communities, Sha’ban said that settlers have now killed 37 Palestinians in the occupied West Bank since October 2023, but the escalating violence would not deter Palestinians from holding onto their land.
Mukhmas and the adjacent Bedouin community of Khallat al-Sidra have faced repeated attacks by Israeli settlers, often occurring with the protection or presence of Israeli forces, according to reports.
The governorate of Jerusalem, one of the 16 administrative districts of Palestine, said in a statement that the killing of the young man by Israeli settlers was a “fully-fledged crime… carried out under the protection and supervision of the Israeli occupation forces.”
Translation: Martyr of the town of Mukhmas, Nasrallah Abu Siyam, who ascended after succumbing to his injury from settler gunfire during the attack on the town northeast of occupied Jerusalem.
The governorate said the attack was part of a dangerous surge of violence carried out by settlers in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and characterised by the widespread use of live ammunition, direct shooting at Palestinian citizens, as well as burning local Palestinian homes, damaging vehicles and property, and seizing land.
Armed settler violence is being supported by “pillars of the Israeli government”, foremost among them far-right ministers Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich, the governorate added, according to Wafa.
According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), more than 1,000 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces and settlers in the West Bank since 2023, and more than 10,000 people have been forcibly displaced.
Since the start of this year alone, almost 700 Palestinians in nine communities have been displaced due to settler attacks, including 600 displaced from the Ras Ein al-Auja Bedouin community in Jericho governorate, OCHA reports.
Earlier this week, Israel’s government approved a plan to designate large areas of the occupied West Bank as Israeli “state property”, shifting the burden of proof to Palestinians to establish ownership of their land in a longstanding situation where Israel has made it all but impossible to obtain property titles.
Described as de-facto annexation of the West Bank, the Israeli government’s decision has drawn widespread international condemnation as a grave escalation that undermines the Palestinian people’s right to self-determination.
Israel’s attempted land grab and killings by settlers come amid a sharp increase in Israeli military operations across the occupied West Bank, where forces have intensified raids, carried out forced evictions, home demolitions, and other repressive measures in multiple areas.
AN ENTIRE country is placing a blanket ban on the use of power banks on flights.
Japan‘s transport ministry has told airlines that the use of the popular travel item onboard flights will be banned from April.
It comes as a number of incidents have occurred where mobile batteries and power banks have caught fire on flights.
Under the new ban, passengers will not be allowed to use power banks to charge their phone onboard a flight from Japan.
They will also not be able to charge power banks using the onboard power outlets.
However, they will still be able to take power banks on in hand luggage.
Read more on travel inspo
Back in July, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism banned passengers from storing any power banks in the overhead lockers on domestic and international flights.
And batteries of this kind are already not allowed in checked baggage.
Despite the new rules, passengers will still be able to carry up to two power banks with them onto a flight – it is just that they cannot be used at all throughout the flight and must be out of the overhead locker.
It comes as a number of other airlines have banned power banks over the past couple of years due to a number of incidents.
The handy and popular travel item is thought to catch fire when there is damage, a manufacturing defect or overcharging has caused it to overheat.
When a power bank does overheat, it can be made worse on a plane due to the high-altitude and low-pressure conditions.
Last January, a flight operated by Air Busan, experienced a fire on board which they believe was as a result of a defective power bank.
Even though passengers weren’t harmed, the plane was badly damaged.
Following the incident, Air Busan was the first airline to ban the use of power banks onboard.
And since, a number of other airlines have followed in its footsteps.
For example, both Cathay Pacific and Singapore Airlines have banned the use of power banks on board.
And back in November, Qantas and Virgin Australia announced that they would ban onboard use of power banks after one caught fire in an overhead locker onboard a Virgin Australia flight.
The changes for Virgin Australia flights came into force on December 1.
Qantas, QantasLink and Jetstar then followed on December 15.
In January, Lufthansa then became the latest airline to introduce new rules on power banks.
It came into force on January 15 and means that passengers on Lufthansa flights are no longer allowed to use their power banks onboard either.
UK airlines such as British Airways and Ryanair are yet to introduce any similar rules.
The Sun’s Head of Travel Lisa Minot explains:
AS staying connected becomes ever-more important, a ban on the handy gadget that can keep our devices topped up could be seen as a pain.
But the catastrophic consequences of a fire on a plane are an obvious reason to make rules stricter.
After countless incidents – and with so many counterfeit and faulty goods out there – it makes sense they are cracking down.
But airlines do need to understand the need for us to be able to top up our devices in the air. With plans afoot to get rid of physical boarding passes in the coming years, making sure we are able to use our devices will become ever more essential.
Adapting plane interiors to include USB ports will alleviate the need to top up on the go.
And more needs to be done to highlight the new rules – and the dangers these devices can pose.
In other aviation news, a major airline has axed more than 130 flights from the UK.
Plus, a UK airport is launching its biggest ever flight schedule with 19 new routes in a major £60million expansion.
UN warns that Israel’s plan will lead to widespread dispossession of Palestinian land in the occupied West Bank.
More than 80 United Nations member states have condemned Israel’s plan to expand control over the occupied West Bank and claim large tracts of Palestinian territory as Israeli “state property”.
“We strongly condemn unilateral Israeli decisions and measures aimed at expanding Israel’s unlawful presence in the West Bank,” Palestinian Ambassador to the UN Riyad Mansour said on Tuesday, speaking on behalf of the coalition of 85 member states and several international organisations.
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“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,” Mansour said.
“We reiterate our rejection of all measures aimed at altering the demographic composition, character and status of the Palestinian territory occupied since 1967, including East Jerusalem,” he said.
“Such measures violate international law, undermine the ongoing efforts for peace and stability in the region, run counter to the Comprehensive Plan and jeopardise the prospect of reaching a peace agreement ending the conflict”, he added.
The Comprehensive Plan is a November agreement between Israel and Hamas to end Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza, which includes a halt to Israel’s illegal settlement activity in the occupied West Bank.
Signatories to the joint statement on Tuesday include Australia, Canada, China, France, Pakistan, Russia, South Korea, Saudi Arabia, Turkiye , the United Arab Emirates, the European Union, the League of Arab States and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation.
The joint statement follows Israel’s decision to implement land registration in Section C of the West Bank for the first time since 1967, when Israel began its occupation of Palestinian territory.
Section C makes up about 60 percent of the West Bank’s territory, according to the illegal settlement monitoring organisation Peace Now.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, earlier this week, warned that Israel’s land registration plan could lead to the “dispossession of Palestinians of their property and risks expanding Israeli control over land in the area”.
Guterres warned that the process could be both “destabilising” and unlawful, citing a landmark 2024 ruling by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) that stated Israel’s occupation of the West Bank and Gaza is unlawful and must end.
Israel’s “abuse of its status as the occupying power” renders its “presence in the occupied Palestinian territory unlawful”, the ICJ said in its ruling.
“Israeli settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, and the regime associated with them, have been established and are being maintained in violation of international law,” the court added.
According to the ICJ, approximately 465,000 Israeli settlers live in the occupied West Bank, spread across some 300 settlements and outposts, which are illegal under international law.
Separately on Tuesday, a 13-year-old Palestinian child was killed, and two other children were seriously injured, in the occupied West Bank’s central Jordan Valley area by ammunition discarded by the Israeli military, the Palestinian Wafa news agency reported.
The injured children, aged 12 and 14, are receiving treatment in hospital, Wafa said.
This week, the Israeli government approved a plan to designate large areas of the occupied West Bank as “state property”, shifting the burden of proof to Palestinians to establish ownership of their land.
The decision, which undermines the Palestinian people’s right to self-determination, has prompted regional condemnation, with many describing it as a de facto annexation which is illegal under international law.
In recent years, Israel has intensified its military incursions, expanded illegal settlements, and demolished Palestinian homes, all as part of a series of aggressive actions to steal more Palestinian land.
In total, at least 37,135 Palestinians were displaced across the occupied West Bank in 2025, a record high amid Israeli military incursions and settler attacks, according to figures compiled by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).
According to UNRWA, Israeli military incursions have forcibly displaced at least 33,362 Palestinians from three northern refugee camps: Jenin (12,557), Tulkarem(11,862) and Nur Shams (8,943).
In addition to those displaced during Israeli operations, at least 3,773 have been forced from their homes due to Israeli home demolitions, settler violence, and access restrictions.
The West Bank governorates with the largest number of forced displacements include:
As part of the 1993 Oslo Accords, signed by the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and Israel, the occupied West Bank was divided into three areas – A, B and C.
This led to the formation of the Palestinian Authority (PA) – an administrative body that would govern Palestinian internal security, administration and civilian affairs in areas of self-rule, for a five-year interim period.
Area A initially comprised 3 percent of the West Bank and grew to 18 percent by 1999. In Area A, the PA controls most affairs.
Area B represents about 22 percent of the West Bank. In both areas, while the PA is in charge of education, health and the economy, the Israelis have full control of external security, meaning they retain the right to enter at any time.
Area C represents 60 percent of the West Bank. Under the Oslo Accords, control of this area was supposed to be handed over to the PA. Instead, Israel retains total control over all matters, including security, planning and construction. The transfer of control to the PA never happened.
Although Area C is the least populated part of the West Bank, with about 300,000 Palestinians compared with about 3 million in Areas A and B, the vast majority of home demolitions and settler attacks occur there, due to it being under full Israeli military and administrative control.
The Israeli Civil Administration rarely grants building permits to Palestinians in this area, so nearly all construction is considered illegal and subject to demolition.
Since Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza began in October 2023, violence by Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank has steadily risen.
According to data from OCHA, settlers have attacked Palestinians more than 3,700 times in the occupied West Bank over the past 28 months.
The number of settler attacks has risen sharply since 2016, with 852 recorded in 2022, 1,291 in 2023, 1,449 in 2024 and 1,828 in 2025 – an average of five attacks per day, according to data from OCHA.
Every West Bank governorate has faced settler attacks over the past year.
Data from OCHA shows that between January 1, 2025 and December 31, 2025, the Ramallah and el-Bireh governorate recorded the highest number of settler attacks with 523 incidents, followed by Nablus with 349 and Hebron with 309.
Settlers are Israeli citizens living in illegal, Jewish-only communities, known as Israeli settlements, built on Palestinian-owned land that Israel occupied in 1967.
Benjamin Netanyahu – Israel’s longest-serving prime minister – has bolstered settlement expansions since he first came to power in 1996, undermining the 1993 Oslo Accords, which called for the freezing of settlements and a mutually negotiated two-state solution.
Today, roughly 10 percent of Israel’s Jewish population, totalling between 600,000 and 750,000 people, live in about 250 settlements and outposts dispersed throughout the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem.
Many of these settlements are located near Palestinian population centres, often leading to increased tensions and restrictions on movement for Palestinians.
The Israeli government has approved a plan to begin land registration in the occupied West Bank, meaning it will be able to seize land from Palestinians who cannot prove ownership.
For the first time since Israel’s occupation of the West Bank in 1967, it will register such land as property of the state – also known as settlement of land title – in Area C of the occupied West Bank.
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Area C is the part of the West Bank that remains under direct Israeli control. It covers about 60 percent of the West Bank.
According to Israeli media, Israeli Minister of Finance Bezalel Smotrich, who submitted the proposal to restart land registration with Minister of Justice Yariv Levin and Minister of Defence Israel Katz, said the move was a continuation of “the settlement revolution to control all our lands”.
The Palestinian Authority presidency said the decision amounts to “de facto annexation” of the West Bank. It is the formalisation of the ongoing process of building settlements in the West Bank in violation of international law over the past several decades.
Here’s what we know about how this could be implemented:
During Jordanian control of the West Bank from 1949 to 1967, the administration primarily followed the British Mandate of land ownership, under which land was registered as state or private property.
But only about one-third of the land in the West Bank was formally registered under this process. Large numbers of Palestinians living in the region had no documentation or other means of proving they owned their own land. Many of them had also lost documents or they had been destroyed during the 1967 six-day Arab-Israeli war, which resulted in the Israeli occupation of the West Bank.
When Israel took control of the West Bank, it discontinued the process of land registration.
Now, the government has decided to restart the land registration, a move that many Israeli human rights groups and political analysts have condemned.
Xavier Abu Eid, a political analyst based in the West Bank, described the Israeli government’s move as a “de facto annexation of Palestinian territory”.
“What they are doing is the implementation of annexation, packaging it as a mere bureaucratic process,” he told Al Jazeera.
He added that it reaffirms the idea that “there is a colonial power that sets two different sets of legislation depending on ethnic and religious identity, defined also as apartheid.”
In 1993 and 1995, the Oslo Accords were signed between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization. They laid out administrative control of the West Bank and Gaza and divided the occupied West Bank into three areas – Area A, Area B and Area C.
The new Palestinian Authority (PA) was granted full administrative control of 18 percent of the land – Area A – and joint control with Israel over 22 percent – Area B. Area C remained under complete Israeli military control. These areas were meant to be in place for five years, after which full administrative control would be handed to the PA. However, this transfer never took place.
The land registration that will now be restarted will apply to Area C, which is home to more than 300,000 Palestinian people.
According to the Israeli anti-settlement group Peace Now, in Area C, about 58 percent of the land remains unregistered. In a statement on Sunday, the group warned that the Israeli government’s land settlement process will now facilitate full Israeli control of this unregistered land.
Israeli authorities have provided few details about how the process will unfold, but essentially, it will likely involve transferring legal ownership of land to the Israeli state and issuing evictions to Palestinian communities, as has been happening in East Jerusalem in recent years, experts told Al Jazeera.
Michal Braier, an architect and the head of research at Bimkom, an Israeli human rights organisation that focuses on land and housing rights, said it is likely Israeli authorities will take the same approach in the West Bank as they have taken in East Jerusalem since 2018. In East Jerusalem, only 1 percent of settled land has been registered to Palestinians from 2018 to 2024, according to Bimkom.
Braier said Israel will begin by selecting the areas of land it wants to register. The government has set a goal of registering about 15 percent of the unregistered land within the next four years, she added.
“Now we can pretty clearly guess that this 15 percent will be lands where they assume that they can prove the state ownership easily or they can easily reject Palestinian ownership claims because a lot of these unregistered lands don’t have clear records and the records go a very, very long time back. So it will be very hard to prove Palestinian ownership,” she told Al Jazeera.
In theory, she said, Palestinians will be able to file land claims as part of the new process, but in practice, it is likely that they will be prevented from successfully doing so.
“Even if they do file claims, the legal bars they need to meet are very difficult to obtain. On top of this, there is the problem of Absentee Property Law, which moves land into the state’s hands and is yet unclear how exactly it will be practised in the occupied West Bank. So Palestinians are highly likely to lose their individual property rights,” she said.
The Absentee Property Law is an Israeli law enacted in 1950 that states that Israel has the right to seize property of “absentees” – people who were expelled, fled or who left the country after November 29, 1947, the day the United Nations General Assembly passed a resolution to end the British Mandate and recommend the creation of a Palestinian and a Jewish state. Israel was founded less than six months later.
Braier said land registration “will be used as another mechanism to grab land that they could not grab until now for different reasons and to build more settlements and push out Palestinians from Area C”.
According to a Times of Israel report, an Israeli government resolution linked to the land registration bill has allowed for an initial budget of $79m for the land registration process in Area C from 2026 to 2030. The report added that during this process, Israel, which already has civilian and military control of the area, will establish 35 ministerial positions and set up state agencies to begin the process of registering land.
Peace Now described the Israeli government’s decision to restart land registration in the West Bank as “a mega land grab of Palestinian property”.
“Land registration will result in the transfer of ownership of the vast majority of Area C to the state, leaving Palestinians with no practical ability to realise their ownership rights,” the group said in a statement on Sunday.
Abu Eid said the land registration process the government intends to undertake amounts to a “full-fledged ethnic cleansing policy” and added that it is a moment that will be “remembered as a turning point in Israeli attempts at erasing the Palestinian cause”.
But he noted that the Israeli government’s decision has not arisen in a vacuum as Israel has “allowed for a wave of terror attacks by Israeli settlers and the expansion of colonial settlements all over the West Bank” for years.
“Palestinians in general are not just dispossessed of their land and natural resources but come under attacks that are dealt with utter impunity both by the Israeli regime and by the international community,” he said.
“In al-Auja, for example, near Jericho, from 100 Palestinian families that used to live in the place a few months ago, now there is not a single family left,” he added.
He said it is likely that Israel will expect thousands of displaced people from the West Bank to go to Jordan.
“You should not forget the incitement coming out from members of the Israeli government claiming that Jordan should be turned into Palestine while Palestine should be left for the Zionist project,” Abu Eid said.
The West Bank is home to about 3.3 million Palestinians. It is divided into 11 governorates with Hebron being the most populous at 842,000 residents. Jerusalem follows with 500,000, Nablus with 440,000, Ramallah and el-Bireh with 377,000 and Jenin with 360,000.
Since the Israeli occupation in 1967, the Palestinian people have been subject to land seizures and illegal settlement expansion.
Today, about 700,000 Israelis live in the West Bank and East Jerusalem in settlements and outposts that are Jewish-only communities built on Palestinian land. These range in size from a single dwelling to a collection of high rises. Last year, the Israeli government approved the construction of new settlements in the region, seeking to advance “de facto sovereignty” in the region.
In all, the number of settlements and outposts in the West Bank and East Jerusalem has risen by nearly 50 percent since 2022 – from 141 to 210 now.
Besides eroding Palestinian people’s land rights, Israel has also carried out frequent raids in the West Bank, where Palestinians are also subject to checkpoints, arbitrary arrests, home demolitions and settler attacks.
The Israeli human rights organisation B’Tselem estimated that settler attacks against Palestinians have forcibly displaced 44 communities across the West Bank in recent years. These attacks have also resulted in the deaths of Palestinian people. Since Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza began on October 7, 2023, settler attacks have also intensified.
At least 1,054 Palestinians were killed in the West Bank by Israeli soldiers and settlers from October 7, 2023, to February 5 of this year, according to the latest United Nations figures.
Braier said Sunday’s approval of Israel’s land registration in the West Bank will result in a rise in violence in the region.
“Area C is being cleared out by what is usually regarded as settler violence, but this violence is actually state violence, backed by state mechanisms, so this is all working together to expand Israeli control over Area C and expand settlement in Area C,” she said.
In 2024, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled that Israel’s “expropriation of land and properties, transfer of populations, and legislation aimed at the incorporation of the occupied section are totally invalid and cannot change that status”.
The ICJ has also ruled that Israel’s long-term occupation of Palestinian territory is illegal and must be terminated “as rapidly as possible”.
Braier said the Israeli government’s latest decision on land registration also contravenes international law.
“International law is clear: As an occupying power, Israel cannot exercise sovereign powers, including final determination of land ownership, in an occupied territory,” she told Al Jazeera.
“This position was reinforced by the International Court of Justice’s 2024 advisory opinion, which found that similar settlement of land title proceedings in East Jerusalem violate the laws of occupation,” she said.
“Furthermore, the decision to authorise Israeli civilian authorities to manage the land registration procedures likewise constitutes a clear indication of the annexation of the area,” she added.
On October 26, 1994, Israel and Jordan signed the Wadi Araba Treaty, which formally ended the state of war between the two nations that had existed since the creation of Israel in 1948.
Under the agreement, Israel and Jordan established diplomatic ties, agreed to exchange territory and opened the way for cooperation in trade, tourism, transport links, water resources and environmental protection. Jordan also signed the agreement seeking to ensure a two-state solution between Israel and Palestine would be established.
But the public in Jordan, opposition groups and human rights groups have repeatedly called on the government to sever relations with Israel due to its continuing aggression in Palestine.
In 2014, many Jordanians took to the streets, calling on the government to scrap its peace treaty with Israel after clashes between Israeli police and Palestinians at Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem.
In 2024, a similar call was issued by Jordanian activists as Israel conducted its genocidal war in Gaza, which has killed more than 70,000 Palestinians.
On Sunday, Jordan, which shares a 482km (300-mile) border with Israel and the West Bank, condemned Israel’s decision to reinstate land registration in the West Bank. Jordan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs described Israel’s move as a “flagrant violation of international law”.
While Jordan’s peace treaty with Israel still holds, Abu Eid said Sunday’s decision by the Israeli cabinet is a serious and sensitive matter for Jordan, particularly if thousands of people are forcibly displaced from the West Bank.
Furthermore, he said, Israel has been acting against the principles of the Jordan-Israel peace agreement for years.
“If peace agreements are aimed at creating the conditions to enhance cooperation and establish a two-state solution, Israel goes against all of such principles, seeking the expansionist ‘Greater Israel’ agenda,” he said.
“Jordan takes such matters seriously and will certainly seek to have collective action with other regional and international allies,” he added.
Israel’s decision to resume the land registration processes in the occupied West Bank for the first time since 1967 will facilitate the dispossession and displacement of Palestinians in violation of international law, Israeli rights groups say.
The land registration process – also known as settlement of land title – has been reinstated after nearly six decades, following the government’s approval on Sunday of a proposal submitted by far-right Minister of Finance Bezalel Smotrich, Minister of Justice Yariv Levin, and Minister of Defence Israel Katz.
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While Israel has increased the confiscation of Palestinian land through military orders, with the activity reaching record levels in 2025, the new move gives Israel a legal avenue that “systemati[ses] the dispossession of Palestinian land to further Israeli settlement expansion and cement the apartheid regime”, Bimkom, an Israeli human rights organisation that focuses on land and housing rights, said in a statement.
Michal Braier, head of research at Bimkom, told Al Jazeera that land registration will be inaccessible to large segments of the Palestinian population who never had their land formally registered, or who may fail to prove ownership.
In the occupied West Bank, land registration under the Jordanian Administration – which followed British Mandate rule and lasted from 1949 to 1967 – covered about 30 percent of the total area. As a consequence, about 70 percent of the West Bank is “completely unregistered”, Braier said, making it “very hard to determine who actually owns the land”.
Even for those whose land was registered, “the legal bar for proving land ownership is very, very high, in a way that most Palestinians won’t have the proper documents to prove it”, said Braier.
In 1968, Israeli occupation authorities froze most land settlement procedures in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, making transfer of ownership down the family line hard to prove for Palestinians.
Additionally, legal documents could have been lost or stored in homes that are now out of reach to Palestinian refugees displaced by the Arab–Israeli war (1948-49) – when the newly-founded Israel seized control of 77 percent of Palestine – and in the Six Day War of 1967, which ended with Israel capturing the Sinai Peninsula from Egypt and the Golan Heights from Syria, while occupying the West Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza.
The Israeli anti-settlement group Peace Now said the newly reinstated process of land registration amounts to a “full annexation” of Palestinian land.
“This is a way for Israel to take control over the West Bank,” Hagit Ofran, a Peace Now member, told Al Jazeera. “The government is asking for papers that are dating back to the British mandate or to the Jordanian time 100 years ago.”
“This is something that, very rarely, Palestinians will be able to prove, and therefore, by default, the land will be registered under [Israel’s] name,” she added.
Israel’s Supreme Court last month rejected a petition opposing the resumption of the land registration process, filed by local human rights groups Bimkom, Yesh Din, the Association for Civil Rights in Israel and HaMoked. The court deemed it “premature” to rule on the implementation of the government’s decision.
Israeli authorities have provided few details on how the process will unfold. Yet, a similar scenario has already played out in occupied East Jerusalem, where the settlement of land title that began in 2018 resulted in the expropriation of Palestinian land.
Research conducted by Bimkom found that only 1 percent of the East Jerusalem land registered for ownership between 2018 and 2024 was registered to Palestinians, while the rest came under the control of the Israeli state or private Israeli owners.
The move expanded Israel’s de facto annexation over East Jerusalem in breach of international law, including, most recently, an advisory opinion issued by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in 2024.
In its landmark ruling, the World Court found that Israel’s “expropriation of land and properties, transfer of populations, and legislation aimed at the incorporation of the occupied section are totally invalid and cannot change that status”.
More broadly, the ICJ ruled that Israel’s long-term occupation of Palestinian territory – comprised of East Jerusalem, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip – was unlawful, and must be terminated “as rapidly as possible”.
Braier said the Israeli government’s decision was its latest move expand control over Palestinian territory in breach of international law.
“The government is not hiding its intentions. They want to expand settlements and push Palestinians into as small an area as possible.”
Published On 15 Feb 202615 Feb 2026
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The Israeli government has 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.
Israeli public broadcaster KAN on Sunday said the proposal was submitted by far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, Justice Minister Yariv Levin, and Defence Minister Israel Katz.
“We are continuing the settlement revolution to control all our lands,” said Smotrich.
Most Palestinian land is not formally registered because it is a long, complicated process that Israel stopped in 1967. Registration of land establishes permanent ownership. International law states an occupying power cannot confiscate land in occupied territories.
The Palestinian Presidency slammed the Israeli government’s decision, calling it a “serious escalation” and saying the Israeli move effectively nullifies signed agreements and clearly contradicts resolutions of the United Nations Security Council, Wafa news agency reported.
Meanwhile, Israeli Defence Minister Katz described the move as an “essential security and governance measure designed to ensure control, enforcement, and full freedom of action for the State of Israel in the area”, the Jerusalem Post newspaper reported.
Last week, the Israeli Security Cabinet approved measures promoted by Smotrich and Katz that further facilitate the unlawful seizure of Palestinian land in the occupied West Bank.
Analysts describe it as a de facto annexation of the Palestinian territory, warning that it will profoundly reshape its civil and legal landscape by eliminating what the Israeli ministers called longstanding “legal obstacles” to the expansion of illegal settlements there.
Speaking from Ramallah, political analyst Xavier Abu Eid told Al Jazeera Israel is “packing annexation into some sort of a bureaucratic move”. He said the International Court of Justice in 2024 said the Israeli actions amount to annexation of the occupied West Bank.
“People should understand this is not just a step towards annexation, we are experiencing annexation as we speak today. What the Israeli government is doing is implanting their political programme – a policy that has already been presented,” he said.
Palestinian landowners are going to face more threats and intimidation from Israeli settlers supported by the Israeli government, he warned.
