Recent weeks have underscored the volatile future facing Palestinians, marked by assertive moves by Israeli officials and settlers at religious sites, controversial legal decisions, and accelerated settlement projects timed ahead of the October 27 elections. As political rhetoric intensifies during sacred Jewish holidays, military operations, home demolitions, and access restrictions have persisted throughout the occupied territories, with repercussions expected to linger well into the autumn.
In occupied East Jerusalem, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited underground archaeological tunnels beneath the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound and the Old City on the eve of Yom Kippur. He later joined thousands of settlers for prayers at the Western Wall, which was shielded by bulletproof glass. The following day, National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir entered the Al-Aqsa compound under heavy police escort. Approximately 570 settlers entered the site for religious rituals, flouting the existing status quo, with over 450 returning the next morning, according to Wafa. Jordan’s Foreign Ministry, which serves as custodian of the site, denounced the actions as an effort to divide the compound temporally and spatially.
During the same holiday period, Israeli forces sealed the Ibrahimi Mosque in Hebron to Muslim worshippers from Sunday afternoon through Monday night, while allowing settlers unrestricted entry for celebrations. The mosque’s call to prayer has remained banned for 90 consecutive days.
In the West Bank, violence continued to escalate. On September 20, Israeli troops killed a Palestinian man near the unauthorized Ganim settlement east of Jenin, alleging he attempted a vehicular attack. Hours prior, an Israeli settler was fatally shot near the Halamish settlement. Israeli forces subsequently raided a hospital where Qadri Muhammad Samara from Biddu was being treated for injuries, arresting him. Soldiers then targeted Samara’s village,forcing members of three families into one residence and assaulting four men.
Ben-Gvir immediately called for the death penalty for Samara, citing a March law allowing military courts to sentence Palestinians convicted of killing Israelis—a provision with no equivalent for Israeli soldiers. Netanyahu ordered the demolition of Samara’s home and deployed additional troops to the region. Forces subsequently blocked access to Ramallah and el-Bireh and conducted mass arrests in Biddu.
Amid these developments, President Isaac Herzog pardoned Elor Azaria, the soldier convicted in 2017 of manslaughter for shooting Abdul Fattah al-Sharif, a wounded Palestinian in Hebron in 2016. The pardon drew opposition from Israel’s military chief of staff, who noted Azaria’s lack of remorse, while Defense Minister Israel Katz welcomed the decision as support for soldiers. Meanwhile, Moataz al-Atrash, a 21-year-old from Hebron, died in Ofer Prison after 11 months in administrative detention without charge. The Palestinian Prisoners’ Society reported that 92 prisoners have died since October 2023.
Settler attacks persisted across the West Bank, often with security forces standing by or assisting. In Burqa near Ramallah, settlers attacked on September 19 and returned the next day to occupy an agricultural structure, potentially establishing a new illegal outpost. As olive harvest season approaches, settlers have cut down Palestinian olive trees in Yabad, Nilin, and Khirbet Firasin near Jenin, and grazed livestock in Masafer Yatta south of Hebron. Demolitions also displaced families in Deir Ballut and Masafer Yatta, where eight people, mostly children, were forced out of their homes.
In Gaza, infrastructure failures and strikes continued to exact a heavy toll. On September 19, an Israeli drone strike killed the eldest son of the Health Ministry director-general as he exited his displacement tent. Another strike on a vehicle in Sheikh Radwan market killed one person and injured four. Activists described a separate incident as a double-tap strike that killed a 15-year-old boy attempting to aid a wounded paramedic. As of September 21, Gaza’s Health Ministry reported 1,394 deaths and 4,839 injuries since the ceasefire began in October 2025, bringing the total death toll since October 2023 to 73,914.
Building collapses have become increasingly common. On September 16, a six-story structure in the al-Sinaa district collapsed onto residents and displacement tents, killing 21 people, including 12 children. A second building fell in al-Sabra two days later. The Ministry of Public Works warned that over 2,000 damaged buildings remain at risk. Healthcare capabilities have also deteriorated, with 70% of hospital generators non-operational due to fuel and parts shortages. Additionally, Israeli authorities reduced the number of medical evacuation patients allowed to travel to Egypt from 136 to 61, a move condemned as a violation of the right to medical treatment.
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