PALESTINE’S LEGAL SCENE – Issue. 314

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

 4 – 10 January. 2026

Issued every Sunday by Law for Palestine

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

Translation: Asma Louzon and Aseel Ghabayen

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:

• Palestinian National Council President Rawhi Fattouh said that the attack by extremist Jewish groups on an Islamic cemetery in occupied Jerusalem, during which the gravestones were destroyed, constitutes a serious violation of the sanctity of the dead and their burial sites, describing it as a racist crime. (January 5, 2026)
• The head of the Colonization & Wall Resistance Commission (CWRC), Minister Mu’ayyad Sha’ban, reported that, in 2025, the Israeli occupation forces and colonizers committed 23,827 attacks against Palestinian citizens and their property in the governorates across West Bank governments, making the highest number of attacks documented in a single year. (January 5, 2026)
• The Permanent Representative of Palestine to the United Nations, Ambassador Riyad Mansour, sent three identical letters to UN officials urging the international community to condemn all illegal Israeli actions in occupied Palestine and to take practical steps to halt these crimes, including the implementation of accountability measures in accordance with international law. (January 8, 2026)
• The Palestinian Prisoners’ Affairs Commission and the Palestinian Prisoners’ Club reported that the family of the settler killed in the case of prisoner Ahmed Samer Dawabsheh from the village of Duma/Nablus submitted a request to the Israeli military court to impose the death penalty on him. They also demanded that the panel of judges be replaced with higher-ranking judges to decide the case. The commission and the club indicated that the court granted both the prosecution and defense until January 12, 2026, to respond to the request. (January 8, 2026)
• The Jerusalem Governorate reported that the Israeli occupation authorities officially notified the lawyer representing the Bedouin communities and the Al-Eizariya Municipality of their intention to begin the actual implementation of the dangerous settlement project known as “Fabric of Life”. The project constitutes the practical execution of Israel’s annexation plan for the E1 area, entrenches a system of transportation apartheid, and represents one of the most severe blows to the possibility of establishing a contiguous Palestinian state. (January 9, 2026)

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

• The Knesset’s National Security Committee continued preparations for the Penal Law (Amendment No. 159) which proposes the death penalty for “terrorists” ahead of its second and third readings. Knesset member Zvika Fogel said that an updated version would be submitted next week, following an agreement with the ministers of national security and justice on provisions of its implementation, including a review of enforcement mechanisms such as lethal injection, a nitrogen mask, firing squad, and hanging. (January 7, 2026)

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

• The Commissioner-General of UNRWA, Philippe Lazzarini, stated that the United Nations General Assembly has overwhelmingly renewed UNRWA’s mandate for an additional three years, noting that the decision reflects broad global solidarity with Palestinian refugees and reaffirms the international community’s responsibility to meet their humanitarian and developmental needs pending a just and lasting solution to their decades-long plight. (January 5, 2026)
• Iceland, Ireland, Luxembourg, Malta, Norway, Slovenia, and Spain condemnedrecent Israeli legislation targeting UNRWA, including measures to cut off water, electricity, and communications to its facilities. They stated that the measures undermine the UN mandate, violate international law, contravene the advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice, and carry grave humanitarian consequences for the Palestinian civilian population. They also called on Israel to ensure that accredited international NGOs continue to operate in Gaza and to halt any deregistration efforts. (January 5, 2026)
• The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reported that administrative and bureaucratic obstacles have continued to hinder the delivery of essential items such as shelter, water, sanitation, construction materials, and educational supplies to the Gaza Strip. OCHA clarified that humanitarian operations are ongoing despite coordination and security challenges with Israeli authorities, stressing that the humanitarian situation in Gaza remains critical. (January 5, 2026)
• The EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Kaja Kallas, and EU Commissioners Dubravka Šuica and Hadja Lahbib issued a joint statement on the registration of international non-governmental organizations in Palestine, calling on Israel to allow international NGOs to operate and to deliver life-saving assistance to civilians in need in Palestine. (January 6, 2026)
• The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights issued a report detailing the asphyxiating impact of Israel’s laws, policies and practices on all aspects of Palestinians’ daily life, warning that they violate international law and are effectively entrenching a permanent system of apartheid against Palestinians. The report notes that policies of separation, segregation and subordination are accelerating and becoming entrenched. UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk described this reality as a “systematic asphyxiation” of the Palestinians’ rights and a particularly severe form of racial discrimination and segregation resembling apartheid. (January 7, 2026)
• The Jordanian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ayman Safadi, and Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan stressed the need to uphold the Gaza ceasefire agreement and to move forward with its second phase, while intensifying efforts to halt the dangerous Israeli escalation in the occupied West Bank. (January 7, 2026)
• The Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) condemned the Israeli occupation forces’ raid on Birzeit University, considering it a flagrant violation of international laws and conventions and a deliberate attack on the sanctity of educational institutions. The OIC called on the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and all other relevant international bodies to assume their responsibilities, condemn the attack, and take practical measures to monitor and document such violations. (January 7, 2026)
• UNRWA reported that the Israeli parliament has passed new legislation that hinders the agency’s ability to carry out its work in the occupied Palestinian territories. (January 7, 2026)
• A statement issued by the Jordanian–European Summit affirmed that the two-State solution is the only path to a just and comprehensive resolution of the Middle East conflict. The statement called for the rapid, safe and unhindered delivery of humanitarian assistance, its sustained and large-scale distribution across the Gaza Strip, and for unimpeded access for the United Nations, its agencies and humanitarian organizations. (January 8, 2026)

Publications of human rights NGOs:

• Forty-three human rights and humanitarian organisations from Palestine, the Arab world, Europe, and Latin America strongly condenmed and categorically rejected the Israeli occupation’s decision to ban several international humanitarian organisations from operating in the Gaza Strip, describing it as a dangerous escalation and a direct continuation of a policy of genocide against the Palestinian people. (January 5, 2026)
• The Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor reported that the agreement reached between U.S. President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu regarding Gaza during their latest meeting includes advancing the plan to build the so-called “Green City” in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip. The plan aims to confine Palestinians to roughly half of the territory, effectively creating a residential “ghetto”, and forciblydisplacing them from their homes. (January 6, 2026)
• Doctors Without Borders announced that Israel had ordered the organisation to cease operations in the Gaza Strip after it failed to comply with new restrictions, including the registration of all Gazan employees and limits on criticism of Israel’s conduct of the war. Claire San Filippo, the groups’ emergency coordinator for Gaza, warned that if the organisation is unable to operate, it would have catastrophic consequences for hundreds of thousands of Palestinians. She stated that Israel informedthe organization it could no longer bring supplies, doctors, nurses, or other international aid workers into Gaza and that it must cease all activities and withdraw its international staff by the end of February. (January 6, 2026)
• The Foreign Press Association (FPA) expressed deep disappointment with the Israeli government’s latest response to its appeal for full and free access to the Gaza Strip, stressing that instead of presenting a plan allowing journalists to enter Gaza independently and work alongside their Palestinian colleagues, the government again chose to keep the territory closed. The associationstated that it would submit a robust response to the Supreme Court in the coming days, hoping the judges would put an end to what it called “charade”.(January 6, 2026)
• The Palestinian Center for Prisoners Advocacy denounced the Israeli occupation forces’ storming of the Birzeit University campus and their prevention of a peaceful event dedicated to solidarity with Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli occupation prisons. The Center explained that banning solidarity activities within universities constitutes a clear violation of international conventions. (January 6, 2026)
• Doctors Without Borders (MSF) reported that residents of the Gaza Strip are facing torrential rain and strong winds while living in makeshift shelters, as Israel continues to block or delay the entry of vital supplies such as tents, tarpaulins, and temporary housing. The organization stated that its medical teams are treating respiratory infections, wound complications, skin diseases, and infants suffering from severe cold due to these harsh conditions. MSF further stated that Israel is taking measures to halt its operations and those of other NGOs in Gaza, calling this a violation of Israel’s obligations under international humanitarian law and an attempt to obstruct the delivery of aidin Palestine. (January 7, 2026)
• The Medical Practitioners Tribunal rejected the complaint submitted by UK Lawyers for Israel against Dr Abu Sittah, which had accused him of supporting violence, terrorism, and antisemitism. In response, both ELSC and PILC submitted a formal complaint to the UK Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) against the Director of UK Lawyers for Israel, alleging breaches of professional standards and the use of vexatious legal actions to silence solidarity with Palestine. The complaint calls for her suspension and for an investigation into the organisation’s activities as an unregulated entity, arguing that its threatening letters constitute a pattern of intimidation and suppression of freedom of expression. (January 7, 2026)

Research and academic studies (in Arabic and English):

• Criminalogicalencounters published a research paper by the researcher Iva Ramuš Cvetkovič titled:“If Machines Could Speak: What Can AI-Powered Technologies Used in Gaza Tell Us About Israel’s Genocidal Intent?”.(2025)
• The Indiana Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences published a research paper by Abdul Jalil and others titled:“Justice Without Borders: Rethinking Sovereignty, Genocide, and the Palestinian Statehood Debate”. (2025)
• Social Sciences published a research paper by Guadalupe Francia and Tabisa Arlet Verdejo Valenzuela titled: “The Rights to and Within Education in Armed Conflicts: The Case of Gaza 2023–2025”. (2025)

Opinion Pieces and features:

• Mondoweiss published a media analysis by James North titled: “Israel has detained Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya without charges for a year. Why has the New York Times refused to cover his case?”.(January 5, 2026)
• The Hill published an opinion article by Eilon Caspi titled, “Only Trump can stop West Bank settlers’ terrorism”. (January 7, 2026)
• The Palestine Chronicle published an op-ed by Ramzy Baroud titled: “Teetering on the Brink of Genocide: Why Netanyahu is Keen on Prolonging the Gaza War”. (January 8, 2026)
• Mondoweiss published an opinion article by Shatha Hanaysha titled:“Israel Is Quietly Erasing Palestinian Refugee Camps from Existence in the West Bank”. (January 8, 2026)
• EJIL:Talk! published an article by Andreas Zimmermann titled:“Another Brick in the Wall: Israel’s Seizure of UNRWA Facilities in East Jerusalem”. (January 8,2026)