PALESTINE’S LEGAL SCENE – Issue. 322

Your weekly survey of the most important publications and activities related to Palestine and law, from local and international sources

 1 – 7 March 2026

Issued every Sunday by Law for Palestine

Prepared by: Nour Kharouf, Arwa Abdel Moniam, Ahmad Al Rjoub, and Murad Abu Murad

Translation: Mai Shaheen and Maisaa Abdelqader

Editing: Widad Hussein 

This weekly report reviews the legal dynamics of the Palestine question, and everything related to international law and Palestine. The report includes an account of the most important publications, activities and conferences related to Palestine at the local, regional, international levels. The report further covers decisions, decrees, and judicial orders affecting the Palestinian cause, whether made at the official, academic or public levels. The report aims to be a reference for monitoring, documenting and archiving the latest human rights developments related to Palestine, and to present them to individuals, researchers, study centers, and official, academic and legal institutions concerned.

To view this Issue of Palestine’s Legal Scene, please click here (5 minutes read)

Judicial decrees, decisions, positions, and orders issued by official Palestinian bodies:

• The Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates condemned the deliberate attack carried out by Israeli settlers in the village of Qaryout, south of Nablus, which resulted in the killing of two Palestinian residents and left several others wounded. The ministry affirmed that the attack forms part of a systematic and ongoing policy that includes violence, intimidation, settlement expansion, land confiscation, and forced displacement, describing it as part of a broader policy of ethnic cleansing and forced displacement. (March 3, 2026)
• The Palestinian Ministry of Awqaf and Religious Affairs and Affairs warned of an Israeli attempt to impose a new religious reality at Al-Aqsa Mosque, pointing to a dangerous escalation in violations against the mosque during February, when it was stormed by settlers 24 times, in addition to continued attacks by occupation forces on worshippers. (March 4, 2026)

Judicial decrees, decisions, positions, and orders issued by official Israeli bodies:

• Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) claimed that Israel does not arbitrarily prevent the entry of humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip, asserting that reports circulating on this matter originate from Hamas and from parties seeking to portray the situation in the enclave as catastrophic. It added that the closure of crossings with the Gaza Strip and the West Bank came in the context of the declaration of a national state of emergency. (March 2, 2026)

Judicial decrees, decisions, positions, and orders issued by Arab, European, and international bodies:

• United Nations experts condemned the “Board of Peace” and called for the adoption of a reform-oriented approach based on human rights for the reconstruction of Gaza. They stressed that the Palestinians’ right to self-determination is an inalienable right, not a conditional privilege, and that all decisions related to reconstruction must be in Palestinian hands in a way that ensures their continued presence and their safe, voluntary return to their lands and properties. They added that the international community must ensure that any efforts to rebuild Gaza are guided by international law, not by colonial interests. (March 2, 2026)
• Philippe Lazzarini, the Commissioner-General of UNRWA, stated that access to education in the occupied Palestinian territories is under attack in plain sight. In addition to hundreds of thousands of children in Gaza being out of formal schooling since the October 7 attacks, displacement and school closures in the West Bank have put 48,000 Palestinian refugee students at risk. He added that UNRWA’s funding crisis is causing an entire generation to lose access to education. Lazzarini also stated that Israel has renewed its ban on the entry of supplies into the Gaza Strip, and that, as famine worsens, people still lack the most basic necessities. (March 2–3, 2026)
• The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in the occupied Palestinian territories reported that the escalation in the Middle East has begun to directly affect residents of the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. It explained that the closure of checkpoints and disruptions to energy routes and supply chains have affected livelihoods and basic services. The office added that the authorities in Israel have reopened the Kerem Shalom Crossing, while both the Rafah Crossing and the Zikim Crossing remain closed. The rotation of international staff also remains suspended, increasing pressure on United Nations operations. (March 3, 2026)
• 119 members of parliament in the United Kingdom called on the British government, in a letter addressed to Yvette Cooper, to move from statements of condemnation to imposing specific sanctions on Israel. These include a full and comprehensive ban on all forms of trade and dealings with illegal Israeli settlements, as well as with the occupation itself, and the imposition of additional sanctions on settlers and settler groups. (March 3, 2026)
• The Honduran government announced its official withdrawal from the Hague Group, affirming that its foreign policy is exercised with full sovereignty, autonomy, and independence of judgment, while stressing that it remains committed to International Law, International Humanitarian Law, the defense of human rights, and multilateralism. The Bolivian government also announced its withdrawal from the group, explaining that matters linked to the determination of international responsibilities should be addressed through the universal, institutional, and legally established mechanisms of the United Nations system. (March 4, 2026)
• The Hague Group announced, following a meeting convened in The Hague with the participation of 40 states and co-chaired by the Republic of South Africa and the Republic of Colombia, the commitment of participating states to enhance accountability and the enforcement of international law in Palestine, while reaffirming the paramount importance of the Charter of the United Nations, the prohibition of the acquisition of territory by force, and the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination. (March 4, 2026)

Publications of human rights NGOs:

• Amnesty International – Italy commented on the adoption by the Constitutional Affairs Committee of the Senate of Bill No. 1004, which includes provisions to combat antisemitism and adopts a working definition of antisemitism. The organization stated that all the law’s measures are linked to the working definition of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) and its indicators, which could turn it into a tool for censorship and repression. The organization also pointed out that this definition classifies the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement (BDS) as well as any criticism of the policies of Israel, as manifestations of antisemitism. (March 2, 2026)
• Action on Armed Violence issued a report showing that the male-to-female ratio among the deceased in the Gaza Strip does not support Israeli claims that only fighters were targeted. Comparisons with other conflicts indicate that this ratio demonstrates that the violence has extensively affected the civilian population and reflects a broad distribution of violence across the population. (March 2, 2026)
• The Open University (OU) reversed its previous decision not to use the term “Ancient Palestine” in academic materials, deciding to allow academics to use the term wherever it is academically appropriate. The university clarified that the previous restriction applied only to a specific course unit. (March 3, 2026)
• Al-Haq and Addameer submitted two responses to the United Nations highlighting the manifest illegality of Israel’s Death Penalty Bill, which would mandate the death penalty for Palestinians accused of causing the death of an Israeli citizen. The bill would apply in a discriminatory manner in the occupied West Bank and be imposed by a simple majority of judges, functioning as yet another apartheid policy and genocidal tool. (March 6, 2026)
• B’Tselem said that under the cover of war, cooperation between the Israeli military and Israeli settler militias is deepening the ethnic cleansing of the West Bank following the start of the Israeli-American offensive against Iran. The organization noted that Israel imposed sweeping movement restrictions on Palestinians, sealing off many towns and villages, while armed settler militias—often operating with support from the army—carried out attacks on Palestinian communities, including raids, livestock theft, crop destruction, and assaults using clubs and stones, which resulted in Palestinians being killed and injured. It also reported that Israeli forces have taken over at least 55 homes inside Palestinian communities and, in several cases, forced families out of their homes during the war. (March 6, 2026)
• Law for Palestine called, at the Conference on Accountability and the Enforcement of International Law in Palestine held in The Hague and convened by the co-chairs of the Hague Group, for a complete embargo on the supply and transfer of arms, munitions, military fuel, related military equipment, and dual-use items to Israel. (March 4, 2026)

Research and academic studies (in Arabic and English):

• The journal Taylor & Francis published a research paper by the researcher A. Dirk Moses titled: ‘Preface: Genocide Studies and the Challenge of Gaza.’(2026)

Opinion Pieces and features:

• Novara Media published an article by Rivkah Brown titled: “UK Gave £90k to Sexual Violence Report Central to Israel’s Genocide Propaganda”.(March 2, 2026)
• Tamedia published an article by Catherine Couchard titled: “When do Swiss citizens become liable to prosecution while serving in the Israeli army?”(March 3, 2026)
• The Institute for Palestine Studies published an analytical article by Francis Annagu titled: “How Israel’s Siege of Gaza Is Deepening the Water and Public Health Crisis”. (March 3, 2026)
• DAWN published an article by Ghada Al Rozzi titled: “In the Shadows of Destruction: Gaza’s Displaced Families in Waiting”. (March 4, 2026)
• CounterPunch published an article by Robin Andersen titled: “Francesca Albanese, Gaza, and the Military-Propaganda Nexus Behind the US-Israeli War on Iran”.(March 4, 2026)
• Al Jazeera published an article by Wissam Elsayed titled: “From the tent to the operations room… How did the “land owners” document the war on Gaza?” (March 5, 2026)
• +972 Magazine published an article by Oren Ziv and Basel Adra titled: “With West Bank under total Israeli closure, settlers are seizing the moment”. (March 4, 2026)
• Mondoweiss published an article titled: “Israel is using the ‘Gaza doctrine’ in Lebanon and Iran”. (March 6, 2026)
• Haaretz published an article by Hanin Majadli entitled: “Why Do Israelis Champion Iranians’ Human Rights While Crushing Those of Palestinians?” (March 6, 2026)