PALESTINE’S LEGAL SCENE – Issue. 340

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

 5 – 11 July 2026

Issued every Sunday by Law for Palestine

Prepared by: Razwan Issa, Nour Kharouf, Arwa Abdel Moniam

Translation: Mai Shaheen

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)

Legal updates by official Palestinian bodies:

• The Colonization and Wall Resistance Commission reported that the Israeli occupation authorities and settlers carried out 11,074 attacks in the West Bank during the first half of 2026. It added that settlers committed 3,488 attacks, resulting in the killing of 17 Palestinians, the establishment of 42 new settlement outposts, and the partial or complete displacement of 26 Bedouin communities. (July 6, 2026)
• Bassam Jabr, Director of Education in Yatta, reported that an Israeli court had rejected an appeal seeking to halt the demolition of Al-Rifa’iya School, east of Hebron. (July 8, 2026)
• Prime Minister Mohammad Mustafa said that the Palestinian people are confronting a comprehensive settler-colonial project aimed at uprooting them from their land, seizing their national rights, imposing annexation and displacement, undermining their national institutions, and reshaping the political and legal landscape. (July 8, 2026)
• The President of the Palestinian National Council condemned the Israeli Knesset’s approval, in its first reading, of a bill allowing additional Palestinian clearance revenues to be frozen and allocated for purposes and compensation determined by the occupying power, describing it as an act of organised financial piracy. He also condemned the demolition of a school south of Nablus by groups of extremist settlers. (July 9-10, 2026)

Legal updates by official Israeli bodies:

• Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said that the “settlement revolution” was still in its early stages, affirming that his government intends to expand it to include the Naqab (Negev) and Galilee regions. (July 5, 2026)
• The Israeli Knesset approved, in its first reading, a bill allowing additional funds belonging to the Palestinian Authority to be frozen. The bill was referred to the Foreign Affairs and Defence Committee for further deliberation. It provides for the annual freezing of an amount from the funds transferred by Israel to the Palestinian Authority equivalent to the amount transferred by the Authority to the Gaza Strip in the previous year. (July 9, 2026)

United Nations official statements and publications: 

• The United Nations expressed concern over escalating violations in the West Bank following the killing of a 16-year-old Palestinian child in Qalandiya refugee camp and the injury of two other children. The UN Human Rights Office also reported that a four-month-old infant had died after being delayed in reaching medical treatment because Israeli forces had closed the entrance to the infant’s village. The UN stressed the need to protect civilians and hold those responsible for violations accountable. (July 6, 2026)
• The UNRWA Commissioner-General, the UN Human Rights Office in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, and the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and Israel called for the immediate release of Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya and all Palestinian medical personnel arbitrarily detained by Israel, and for his safety and access to urgent medical care to be ensured.( July 6 -8 , 2026)
• The United Nations reported that waves of displacement were continuing in the Gaza Strip as Israeli forces advanced, further reducing the areas available to residents. At least nine families were displaced from southern Gaza amid reports of gunfire and injuries. The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) stated that humanitarian space in the Occupied Palestinian Territory continues to shrink due to insecurity, growing restrictions on movement and access, repeated displacement, and funding shortages. (July 10, 2026)

Legal updates by regional and international bodies:

• The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation’s Media Observatory for Israel’s Crimes against the Palestinians highlighted the state of sports in the Gaza Strip, noting that the war had killed more than 1,000 Palestinian athletes, young people, and scouts, and destroyed 285 sports facilities. (July 7, 2026)
• The Irish Parliament approved a bill banning the import of goods from Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory. The bill prohibits the import of goods produced in Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem. It will now be referred to the Irish Senate for final approval before entering into force. (July 8, 2026)
• The Spokesperson for the Secretary-General of the League of Arab States announced that Israel had refused to allow the newly appointed Secretary-General, Nabil Fahmy, to visit the Occupied Palestinian Territory, where he was scheduled to meet Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah. (July 8, 2026)
• The European Commission proposed several options to tighten trade restrictions on Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including a full or partial ban on imports of settlement products, stricter export licensing requirements, or higher tariffs, in response to the continued expansion of settlements in the occupied West Bank. (July 9, 2026)

Publications of human rights NGOs:

• A joint report by Peace Now and KeremNavot found that, during its first three years, the current Israeli government accelerated the de facto annexation of the West Bank at an unprecedented pace. The report explained that Israeli measures are not limited to settlement construction, the legalisation of outposts, or declarations of state land as separate actions; rather, they form a unified policy involving structural changes to the system of governance. (July 6, 2026)
• Elbit Systems announced that the Israeli military identified approximately 850,000 intelligence targets during the wars on the Gaza Strip and Lebanon between 7 October 2023 and the end of 2025, using the digital command-and-control system “Tzayad,” at a rate of nearly 1,000 targets per day. (July 6, 2026)
• Physicians for Human Rights–Israel reported that the Israeli authorities’ response to a petition submitted to the Supreme Court concerning the detention of 14 doctors from the Gaza Strip raises serious questions about Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya’s health. The organisation noted that the authorities acknowledged that he had undergone several medical examinations since his transfer to the underground Rakefet detention facility, without explaining the reasons for or results of those examinations or addressing allegations that he had sustained serious injuries and repeatedly lost consciousness. (July 6, 2026)
• Amnesty International USA issued an urgent appeal to the U.S. Secretary of State, calling for action to secure the immediate and unconditional release of Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya, Director of Kamal Adwan Hospital, and warning that his life is in imminent danger due to torture. (July 8, 2026)
• A new study published by the Rosa Luxemburg Foundation, entitled “Inside the Campaign Against UNRWA in Germany,” found that pro-Israel political actors in Germany, the United States, and Israel are leading a systematic political and media campaign to discredit UNRWA and end its funding by influencing decision-makers and public opinion. (July 2026)
• The European Middle East Project (EuMEP) and the International Cooperation for Development and Solidarity (CIDSE) issued a joint proposal calling for an end to EU trade with Israeli settlements and outlining legal and practical mechanisms for implementing the ban in accordance with international law. (July 8, 2026)
• The Palestinian Human Rights Organisations Council and the Palestinian NGO Network sent more than 50 letters to embassies, representative offices, and consulates of foreign states in Palestine, calling for urgent intervention to secure the release of 11 Palestinians who had been arbitrarily detained over their alleged affiliation with the Health Work Committees. (July 8, 2026)
• Le Courrier published the findings of an investigation into Swiss nationals who served in the Israeli military. Some of them were investigated by the Swiss authorities on suspicion of violating laws governing foreign military service. The investigation also revealed the existence of an organisation that recruits international volunteers to Israel and houses them in an illegal settlement before preparing them to enlist in the Israeli military. (July 9, 2026)
• Human Rights Watch affirmed that UNRWA is indispensable in the Gaza Strip and called on governments to reject the appeal by the “Board of Peace,” chaired by U.S. President Donald Trump, to exclude the agency from Gaza. It also urged states to continue funding UNRWA and protect its mandate, while calling on the Israeli authorities to cease targeting the agency and other humanitarian organisations. (July 10, 2026)
• Palestinian civil society organisations, together with international solidarity organisations , issued a statement affirming that they do not participate – and refuse to participate in or promote – any project, initiative, or activity bringing together Israeli and Palestinian civil society under the misleading frameworks of “people-to-people engagement” or “peacebuilding,” which serve only to normalise the oppression of the Palestinian people. (July 11,2026)

Opinion Pieces and features:

• Mondoweiss published an article by James North entitled:“Israel is murdering Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya. The U.S. media is covering up the crime”.(July 8, 2026)

Upcoming human rights opportunities and events:

• The European Legal Support Center (ELSC), in cooperation with the Palestinian Youth Movement (PYM), the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement, and Italian dockworkers, announced an online webinar on 22 July entitled “Disrupting Genocide Supply Chains.” The webinar will explore ways to halt the flow of weapons and military supplies to Israel through European ports. (July 11, 2026)