Israel escalates settlement expansion and violence in Gaza and West Bank
Israeli airstrikes in Gaza City destroyed the Al‑Muttaqin Mosque, killing at least one Palestinian and wounding more than a dozen people. At the same time, Israeli settlers attacked a Palestinian family near Bethlehem, setting fire to a home, burning a car and spray‑painting graffiti on the building.
Israeli authorities issued military orders confiscating roughly 200 dunums (about 20 hectares) of land in the Jenin district and approved a measure that could allow the first members of an International Stabilization Force to enter Gaza. A report by the Palestinian Center for Israeli Studies documented a sharp rise in demolitions, with 2,461 Palestinian structures razed in 2024‑2025 and annual demolition rates climbing from 537 to 966. Between 2009 and 2020, Israel approved only 66 housing permits for Palestinians in Area C while granting more than 22,000 permits for settlements, with Palestinian permits falling to zero in 2020.
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich transferred land‑planning powers from the military to civilian bodies within the Ministry of Defence, a move described as changing the "DNA" of the occupation. Across the West Bank, coordinated attacks by settler colonizers injured Palestinians, destroyed homes, uprooted olive trees and established new outposts near villages such as Yasuf and Umm Safa. During a US‑Israel meeting, President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu discussed Iran and Lebanon, leaving the West Bank absent from the agenda.
Entities: Al‑Muttaqin Mosque · Benjamin Netanyahu · Bezalel Smotrich · Israel · Palestinian Center for Israeli Studies (Madar)
Claims
What the coverage asserts, and how well corroborated each claim is across sources.
- [○ 1 SOURCE] Israeli authorities issued military orders confiscating about 200 dunums (20 hectares) of Palestinian land in the Jenin district. (Article 1)
- [○ 1 SOURCE] Israeli settlers set fire to a Palestinian home near Bethlehem, torched a car and spray‑painted graffiti on the building. (Article 1)
- [○ 1 SOURCE] Israeli security cabinet approved a measure that could permit entry of an International Stabilization Force into Gaza. (Article 1)
- [○ 1 SOURCE] Israeli airstrike destroyed the Al‑Muttaqin Mosque in Gaza City, killing at least one Palestinian and wounding more than a dozen. (Article 1)
- [○ 1 SOURCE] Between 2009 and 2020 Israel approved only 66 Palestinian housing permits in Area C while approving more than 22,000 permits for settlements, with Palestinian permits dropping to zero in 2020. (Article 2)
- [○ 1 SOURCE] Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich transferred land‑planning powers from the military to civilian bodies within the Ministry of Defence. (Article 2)
- [○ 1 SOURCE] Israel demolished 2,461 Palestinian structures in 2024‑2025, with annual demolition rates rising from 537 to 966 structures. (Article 2)
- [○ 1 SOURCE] Settler colonizers injured a Palestinian man in Al‑Maniya near Bethlehem with an iron pipe and attempted to steal his sheep. (Article 3)