Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich announced the allocation of 113 million shekels ($37 million) to develop and take control of more than 70 historical and archaeological sites across the occupied West Bank, expanding Israeli control over Palestinian heritage locations amid intensified settlement expansion.
Israeli forces demolished five inhabited Palestinian homes in the Bethlehem governorate on July 22, 2026—four in Nahhalin and one in Za’atara—according to WAFA and local reports. IMEMC separately reported that Israeli authorities demolished a home, a carwash facility, and two livestock farms in Rafat, northwest of Jerusalem. Anadolu Agency documented that the four Nahhalin homes were demolished on the grounds that they lacked building permits.
Amnesty International released a report on June 10, 2026, accusing Israel of conducting a state-led campaign of ethnic cleansing in the occupied West Bank through accelerated settlement expansion, forced displacement of Palestinians, and annexation measures. The human rights organization characterized these actions as war crimes and crimes against humanity.
Millions of Palestinians commemorated the 78th anniversary of the Nakba, the 1948 mass expulsion of 750,000 Palestinians during Israel's creation, with survivors in Gaza drawing parallels between historical displacement and current conditions of destruction in refugee camps.
A landmark report concluded that Hamas militants and their allies raped, assaulted and sexually tortured victims during and after the October 7, 2023 terror attack on Israel, detailing systematic sexual violence.
EU foreign ministers meeting in Brussels are set to approve sanctions on Israeli settlers, with the breakthrough coming after Hungary's new Prime Minister Péter Magyar replaced Viktor Orbán, who had previously blocked such measures.
