PALESTINE’S LEGAL SCENE – Issue. 312

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

21 – 27 December. 2025

Issued every Sunday by Law for Palestine

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

Translation: Maisaa Abdelqader and Sundus Frarajah

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.

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

• The Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs condemned the Israeli occupation government’s decision to establish 19 new settlements in the occupied West Bank, describing it as an explicit admission of war crimes and a further enterenrichment of colonial control over Palestinian land. (December 23, 2025)

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

• The Israeli government formally announced plans to establish 11 new settlementsin the West Bank, along with the legalization or recognition of eight previously illegal outposts and settlement neighborhoods as official new settlements. Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said the move was aimed at blocking a Palestinian state. (December 21, 2025)
• The Knesset approved, in its second and third readings, the Bill to prevent a foreign broadcasting organisation from harming state security (temporary provision), which grants the government the authority to issue directives restricting the broadcasting and activities of a foreign channel. (December 23, 2025)
• The Knesset announced that the National Security Committee is continuing to prepare the penal law bill (amendment No. 159), concerning the death penalty for terrorists [Palestinian security prisoners], in preparation for its approval in the second and third readings. (December 23, 2025)
• Appearing before a Knesset committee, an Israeli military official stated that the ban on Israelis entering Area A was introduced during the Second Intifada in order to protect Israelis from harm. He noted, however, that in practice the restriction is enforced more strictly and applies only to Jews. He confirmed that the Prime Minister’s directives at times allow the entry of “Israeli Arabs” (Palestinians of 1948) as part of a “carrot and stick” policy aimed at improving the economic situation in Palestinian cities such as Jenin and Tulkarm. (December 25, 2025)
• The Israeli Knesset has given final approval to extending the temporary detention provisions for “unlawful combatants,” the legislation governing the treatment of prisoners affiliated with Palestinian armed factions in the Gaza Strip. The extension includes several adjustments, including reducing the maximum period for issuing a permanent incarceration order from 30 to 25 days, bringing forward the first judicial review from 45 to 40 days, and shortening the period during which the official in charge may deny detainees access to legal counsel from 45 to 25 days. (December 25, 2025)
• The Israeli Supreme Court approved orders issued by the Israeli occupation army to demolish approximately 25 civilian residential buildings in and around the Nur Shams refugee camp in Tulkarm, rejecting a petition filed by camp residents in partnership with Adalah, the Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel. The decision relied on “secret evidence” that was not disclosed to the defense, despite the State Attorney’s acknowledgment that the buildings belong to families with no connection to any military activity and that the area has been free of combat for more than a year. The court justified its ruling on what it described as a “justified military necessity” to facilitate potential future military movements. (December 26, 2025)

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

• The United Kingdom condemned the Israeli government’s approval of 19 new settlements in Palestine, stressing that they are illegal under international law and risk undermining the 20-Point Plan and prospects for long-term peace and security. The decision was also condemned by the Secretary-General of the League of Arab States as a flagrant challenge to the international will, and denounced by Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Iceland, Ireland, Japan, Malta, the Netherlands, Norway, and Spain, all of which called for its immediate reversal. (December 21–24, 2025)
• The Director-General of WHO stated that the latest IPC analysis for Gaza confirms that no areas of the Strip are currently classified as being in famine, following the October ceasefire and improved humanitarian and commercial access. However, he warned that this welcome progress remains extremely fragile, as the population continues to face massive infrastructure destruction, collapsed livelihoods and local food production, and ongoing restrictions on humanitarian operations. He called for the urgent and expedited approval and entry of essential medical supplies, equipment, and prefabricated hospital structures. (December 21, 2025)
• The Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) strongly condemned the ongoing crimes committed by the Israeli occupation in the Gaza Strip, including the latest bombing of a school sheltering displaced persons. The Organization stressed the need to activate international criminal justice mechanisms to prosecute and hold accountable all Israeli officials responsible for these crimes. (December 21, 2025)
• UNRWA reported that disinformation has become a global affliction, noting that for over two years the Agency has been subjected to a coordinated and unprecedented campaign aimed at dismantling it, with disinformation used as a primary weapon. It explained that one of the most persistent myths is the claim that UNRWA keeps Palestine Refugees in a permanent state of limbo, stressing that, wherever they are, refugees remain refugees in the absence of just and lasting political solutions to their plight. UNRWA emphasized that dismantling the Agency will not end the refugee status of Palestinians without a comprehensive political solution. (December 22, 2025)
• The United Nations Special Rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territories, Francesca Albanese, stated that two years of genocide have definitely crushed the fiction of Israel as a liberal democracy. Albanese explained that recent events demonstrate that decolonisation is not revenge, but a condition for justice and, in the end, for the liberation of both Palestinians and Israelis. (December 23, 2025)
• The International Court of Justice announced that Belgium had filed a declaration of intervention in the case brought by South Africa against Israel concerning the crime of genocide in the Gaza Strip, pursuant to Article 63 of the Court’s Statute. (December 23, 2025)
• The UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination called on all States Parties to take concrete action in response to its conclusions in the case brought by the State of Palestine against Israel, urging them to support the implementation of its recommendations, including through appropriate sanctions against practices that incite segregation or racially motivated violence. The call followed the publication of the Committee’s conclusions, which found that segregation between Jewish and non-Jewish communities, the expansion of settlements and outposts, restrictions on building permits, and home demolitions contribute to systemic discrimination against Palestinians and undermine prospects for a peaceful resolution. (December 24, 2025)

Publications of human rights NGOs:

• The human rights organisation B’Tselem reported that, since October 2023, Israel has been carrying out a genocide in the Gaza Strip, stressing that such actions constitute grave violations of international law and may amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity. B’Tselem noted that, 75 days after the “ceasefire”, the genocide in Gaza “is not over”, and called on the international community to act immediately to ensure the delivery of aid, initiate reconstruction, and protect Palestinian civilians. (December 21, 2025)
• Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) warned that Israel’s new registration rules for international non-governmental organisations risk leaving hundreds of thousands of people in Gaza without lifesaving healthcare in 2026. The organisation said that the new requirements could lead to the withdrawal of registration from humanitarian organisations, including MSF, preventing them from providing essential services in Gaza and the West Bank. (December 22, 2025)
• Al-Haq and Just Peace Advocates released a joint report entitled “How Canada Supports the ‘Israeli’ Alcohol Industry which is Embedded in Occupation and Apartheid”, warning that ‘Israeli’ alcohol products continue to be imported and sold in Canada without opposition, despite Israel’s well-documented and longstanding genocide, apartheid, and unlawful occupation. The report stresses that the ‘Israeli’ alcohol industry is deeply linked to these crimes. (December 23, 2025)
• The Palestinian Journalists Syndicate announced that monitoring data from October 7, 2023, through the end of 2025, reveals a systematic escalation in the targeting of Palestinian journalists, showing a clear shift from isolated violations to a consistent policy of silencing the press through killing, injury, and permanent disability. (December 26, 2025)

Research and academic studies (in Arabic and English):

• The International Journal of Human Rights published a research article by Pinar Dinc and Necmettin Türk titled: “Roots of destruction: exploring the genocide–ecocide nexus through the destruction of olive trees in occupied Palestine and Rojava”. (2025)
• The Journal of Scientific Development for Studies and Research published a research paper by Magdi Mohammed Ali Kullab titled:“Legal implications of the State of Palestine joining the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol)”. (2025)

Opinion Pieces and features:

• Haaretz published an opinion piece by Odeh Bisharat titled: “Israel Is Becoming a Role Model to the Fascist Madmen of the World”. (December 21, 2025)
• Mondoweiss published an opinion article by Jenin Younes and Deyar Jamil titled: “California’s AB 715 Claims to Combat Antisemitism but Is a Direct Attack on Free Speech Regarding Palestine”. (December 22, 2025)
• Mondoweiss published an opinion article by the Editorial Committee of Majallat al-Dirasat al-Filastiniyya titled:“Israel’s War on Gaza Has Made Genocide an Accepted Weapon of War. We’re Already Seeing It in Sudan”. (December 23, 2025)
• Mondoweiss published an opinion piece by Sara Kershnar titled: “The problem with Jewish advocacy for a ‘one-state solution’: Clarifying the role of Jewish anti-Zionists in dismantling Zionism”.(December 27, 2025)