Sep 8, 2026
US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee stated categorically that Israel has no plan to force Palestinians out of Gaza, responding to recent proposals by Israeli ministers to expel the territory's two million residents. During a West Bank visit, Huckabee also condemned settler violence and urged severe consequences.
Israeli forces shot dead two Palestinian youths, including 16-year-old Khalil Abu Alia, during a confrontation in Al-Mughayyir village that began when settlers attempted to steal sheep. Separately, Israeli military razed an entire village near Hebron in what residents describe as an escalation of violence in the occupied West Bank.
The UN reports a deeply alarming humanitarian situation across the occupied Palestinian territories, as the World Food Programme halves West Bank food assistance due to funding shortages while Israeli settler and military violence escalates, killing two Palestinian teenagers and targeting mosques.
Pope Leo XIV called for an end to violence against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank amid a surge in settler attacks, including a siege in Qusra village and shootings in Hebron where Israeli settlers and IDF troops reportedly shot a father and son trying to prevent arson, with ambulances blocked from reaching the wounded for 40 minutes.
Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz ordered the IDF to prepare transferring civilian law enforcement in the occupied West Bank to police, following a week-long siege by settlers of Palestinian homes including one owned by a Palestinian American family. The move, described by critics as de facto annexation, comes after the U.S. ambassador condemned the settler violence as a 'horrific act of terror.'
Israeli forces killed two Palestinians and at least one other Palestinian was wounded during clashes in Deir Jarir on Sunday night after settlers entered the village to retrieve livestock they claimed had been stolen. The IDF said troops entered to prevent friction and evacuate the settlers and opened fire after stones and concrete blocks were thrown, while Palestinian residents accused the military of protecting and coordinating with the settlers.