Israel accelerates land grabs in Gaza and the West Bank

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Israeli authorities have begun implementing permanent alterations at Hebron’s Ibrahimi Mosque as part of plans for settlements in Gaza. The mosque’s director has described the changes as a fundamental alteration to the site’s historic character.

In Hebron, Israeli forces have installed steel beams over the open courtyard of the mosque, and have also blocked the Muslim call to prayer there for an extended period. In Gaza, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich announced that his Settlement Administration had completed plans for three settlements in the north of the Strip, and called on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to approve them.

Smotrich stated that the settlements would form a security belt for Israeli border communities. Netanyahu separately stated that Israel was pushing towards taking 70 percent of Gaza.

Meanwhile, Israeli authorities have designated 465 dunums (0.465 square kilometers) of land near Sinjil as “state land”, effectively retroactively legalizing the Givat Haroeh outpost and entrenching settlement infrastructure in the area.

Settlers have also carved new bypass roads on private Palestinian land near Kobar and Beitillu, and erected fencing to seize land for a new outpost. In Gaza, Israel’s land-grabbing project has advanced, with Smotrich stating that the groundwork for three northern settlements was complete.

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reported that around midnight on June 23, Israeli forces placed yellow cement blocks near displacement tents in Beit Lahiya, Gaza. The UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry found that Israeli forces had deliberately targeted and killed Palestinian children between October 2023 and October 2025.

According to the commission’s report, at least 20,179 Palestinian children were killed during this period, with the deliberate killing of children being a key element establishing genocidal intent. Israel rejected the report as a “libelous sham”.

Source: Al Jazeera