PALESTINE’S LEGAL SCENE – Issue. 323

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

 8 – 14 March 2026

Issued every Sunday by Law for Palestine

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

Translation: Aseel Ghabayen and Firdous Abdelhameed

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 two terrorist attacks perpetrated by settler gangs in the occupied West Bank. The first attack, in MasaferYatta, south of Hebron, resulted in the death of a young Palestinian man and injuries to several members of his family, including one in critical condition. The second attack, in the village of Abu Falah, northeast of Ramallah, left three Palestinians dead and others wounded. The Ministry emphasized that these crimes are part of a dangerous and ongoing escalation of attacks by the Israeli occupation and its proxies, the settler gangs. (March 8, 2026)
• The Jerusalem Governorate and the Jerusalem Affairs Department of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO)warned of a dangerous escalation in incitement rhetoric led by extremist Temple organizations against Al-Aqsa Mosque, amid continued closure measures imposed by occupation authorities on the mosque. The Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs also affirmed that Israel has no sovereignty over the occupied city of Jerusalem. (March 9, 2026)
• The Palestinian National Council and the Jerusalem Governoratewarned of the dangers of a decision by the extremist Israeli minister Itamar Ben-Gvir to expand the arming of settlers in occupied Jerusalem to include approximately 300,000 additional settlers, stressing that this step represents a dangerous escalation and reflects an extremist political ideology. (March 9, 2026)
• The Jerusalem Governorate warned of recent changes detected on maps displayed on the website of the Israeli municipality in Jerusalem, showing modifications in the planning divisions imposed by the occupation authorities on the town of Silwan, indicating a reduction in its area. (March 10, 2026)
• The Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs condemned the burning of the “Mohammad Fayyad” Mosque, located in the village of Duma, south of the city of Nablus, by terrorist settlers. It also noted that racist and inciting slogans were written on its walls, describing the act as a new terrorist crime and an assault on the sanctity of places of worship. (March 12, 2026)
• The Wall and Settlement Resistance Commission reported that settlers carried out 192 attacks against Palestinian citizens and their property over the past two weeks. These attacks led to the forced displacement of four Bedouin communities and affected 37 families, comprising 191 people. The Commission also stated that the Israeli occupation authorities issued three military orders to seize land for military purposes, under which 133 dunums of citizens’ land were taken in the governorates of Jenin and Salfit. Additionally, two military orders were issued to remove tree cover from 47 dunums of land in Arraba and DeirIstiya, as part of what were described as “security measures”.(March 13, 2026)

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

• Israel’s National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir announced that residents of all Jewish neighborhoods in Jerusalem will now be eligible to obtain firearm licenses. More than 240,000 Israelis have already acquired personal firearmslicenses since the expansion of gun ownership. (March 9, 2026)
• The Israeli Military Advocate General dropped all charges against five soldiers accused of violently assaulting and raping a Palestinian detainee from Gaza inside the “SdeTeiman” military detention center in 2024. The decision was justified by a lack of evidence following the detainee’s return to Gaza as part of a prisoner exchange deal in October 2025, as well as the difficulty of conducting a fair trial. (March 12, 2026)

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

• The Egyptian and Jordanian foreign ministries, along with the General Secretariat of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), condemned the attacks perpetrated by settlers against Palestinian citizens in the West Bank, which resulted in deaths and injuries, describing them as a dangerous escalation and a blatant violation of international law. Germany’s Foreign Ministry also strongly condemned the killing of five Palestinian civilians, stating that the incidents are “deeply disturbing” and part of a whole series of violent attacks on the civilian population, and stressing that all incidents of settler violence must be investigated promptly and that those responsible must be held accountable. Meanwhile, the British Consulate-General in Jerusalem said it was appalled by the killing of five Palestinians in incidents of settler violence and urged that statements be matched with swift, thorough investigations and accountability for those responsible. (March 8–10, 2026)
• Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said that the two-State solution is the only equitable and widely recognized solution to the Palestinian question, adding that any other arrangements must reinforce — rather than undermine — the two-State solution. (March 8, 2026)
• The United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) in the Occupied Palestinian Territory reported that between 4 and 9 March, 16 Palestinians were killed in Gaza as a result of Israeli airstrikes, UAV attacks, artillery and naval shelling, and gunfire, despite the ceasefire. It also noted that three Palestinians were killed in the West Bank by Israeli security forces and settlers during the same period. The report added that there is a continuing pattern of attacks targeting Palestinians apparently solely due to their proximity to Israeli forces’ deployment lines in Gaza. (March 10, 2026)
• German Chancellor Friedrich Merzwarned that annexation moves in the West Bank would be a big mistake, saying they would make the two-state solution even more difficult, and stressed that Germany is urging Israel to refrain from such steps. (March 10, 2026)
• Spain officially ended the mission of its ambassador to Israel, according to a royal decree published in the official gazette. The ambassador had already been recalled to Madrid in September 2025 in response to the assault on the Gaza Strip. This decision reflects Spain’s alignment with the principles of international law and its rejection of what it described as genocide and ethnic cleansing against the Palestinian people in Gaza. (March 10, 2026)
• In a joint statement, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, Indonesia, Pakistan, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Egypt, the Arab Parliament, the League of Arab States, the General Secretariats of both the Organization of Islamic Cooperation and the African Unioncondemned the continued closure by the Israeli occupation authorities of the gates of Al-Aqsa Mosque to Muslim worshippers, particularly during the month of Ramadan. They considered this a serious violation of the historical and legal status of the holy sites in occupied Jerusalem and an infringement on freedom of worship. (March 11, 2026)
• The European Union affirmed that the level of violence in the West Bank is unacceptable. It reported that six Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank as a result of attacks by extremist settlers since February 28, with many other communities also coming under attack. Property has been damaged and livelihoods destroyed, leading to displacement and leaving people without shelter. The EU called on the Israeli authorities to take immediate and effective measures to prevent further attacks on Palestinian civilians and to ensure accountability. (March 11, 2026)
• The International Court of Justice announced that the Netherlands and Iceland have submitted declarations of intervention in the case concerning the application of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide in the Gaza Strip (South Africa v. Israel). This was done pursuant to Article 63 of the Court’s Statute, as both countries are parties to the 1948 Genocide Convention. (March 12, 2026)

Publications of human rights NGOs:

• The International Commission to Support Palestinian Rights (ICSPR) issued a policy paper titled “Legal Protection for Palestinian Women under Occupation and in Situations of Armed Conflict”. (March 8, 2026)
• The Palestinian NGOs Network (PNGO) issued an urgent appeal to United Nations institutions and international bodies on the occasion of International Women’s Day, calling for immediate intervention to protect Palestinian women from the injustice and violence of the Israeli occupation. (March 8, 2026)
• Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) reported that its teams at the field hospital in Deir Al-Balah in Gaza received six patients with injuries from Israeli airstrikes on 8 March, with three people killed, including two children. The organization added that attacks continue throughout the Gaza Strip despite the ceasefire, noting that more than 618 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli attacks since the ceasefire, and warning that there is no safety in Gaza, where the humanitarian situation remains catastrophic. (March 10, 2026)
• B’Tselem said that Israel has killed 16 people in Gaza over the past ten days, adding that since the ceasefire was declared, Israel has killed 648 Palestinians and injured another 1,728 in Gaza, stating that the genocide in Gaza continues. (March 10, 2026)
• Amnesty International stated that the devastating and multilayered impact of Israel’s ongoing genocide—now lasting nearly 29 months—has pushed Palestinian women and girls in the Gaza Strip to the brink, amid harsh living conditions, mass displacement, and the collapse of healthcare services, particularly those related to reproductive health and maternal and newborn care. (March 10, 2026)
• The Palestinian Center for Prisoners’ Advocacy stated that raids on sections of Israeli prisons constitute “organized terrorism” against Palestinian detainees, holding Itamar Ben-Gvir directly responsible for the recent assaults. The Center added that the Israeli government, led by Benjamin Netanyahu, provides political cover for the escalation of repression inside the prisons. (March 10, 2026)
• The Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor announced a new investigation revealing incidents in which the Israeli army targeted a civilian family in Khan Younis, southern Gaza, in February 2024. The findings included the bombing of the family’s home, the killing of family members by sniper fire, the obstruction of medical aid for the wounded, the prevention of retrieving and burying the bodies, as well as the arbitrary arrest of surviving relatives. (March 10, 2026)
• Abdullah Al-Zaghari, head of the Palestinian Prisoners’ Club, stated that the Israeli prosecution’s decision to drop the charges against the soldiers accused of raping a detainee from Gaza at the “SdeTeiman” camp constitutes a new green light for committing further crimes of rape and torture against Palestinian and Arab prisoners and detainees. He added that the decision was not surprising in light of complicity within the occupation’s judicial system. The organization DAWN stated that the decision once again proves that there is no justice for Palestinians within the Israeli judicial system. (March 12, 2026)
• United Staff for Gaza — an independent initiative comprising nearly 2,500 current and former UN employees — announced the appointment of former Afghan diplomat FaridZarif as Senior Advisor to the initiative. Zarif affirmed that security and peace can only be achieved by guaranteeing the inalienable rights of all people, including the Palestinian people. (March 13, 2026)

Opinion Pieces and features:

• Wafa news agency published an article by MuhannadJadou titled: “Under the cover of war: escalating Israeli violence and settler aggression across the West Bank”.(March 8, 2026)
• The Guardian published an opinion piece by Mohsen Farshneshani and Emily Hawley titled: “Sanctions on Israeli settlements are working – even without the United States”.(March 10, 2026)
• Mondoweiss published an article by QassamMuaddi titled: “Why is Israel trying to cause an ‘explosion’ in the West Bank?”. (March 11, 2026)
• The Palestinian Policy Network published a policy paper by Ahmad Al-Qarout titled: “Insulation Not Isolation: Israel’s Super-Sparta War Economy”. (March 11, 2026)
• Truthout published an article by Hind Salama Abu Hilou titled: “Palestinians in Gaza Slam Kushner’s Reconstruction Plan as Disguised Theft”.(March 11, 2026)
• Truthout published an article by Chris Walker titled: “Spain withdraws its ambassador to Israel over genocide in Gaza and the war in Iran”. (March 11, 2026)
• The Palestine Chronicle published an article by RamzyBaroud, titled: “Saving the Middle East: The Map Begins with Palestinian Justice”. (March 12, 2026)