Continued Conflict in Gaza Amidst Disarmament Claims
Recent days have seen a notable increase in hostilities across the Gaza Strip, despite a United States-backed initiative aimed at disarming Hamas and other armed factions. On July 30, US President Donald Trump presented what was described as a “historic agreement” for the disarmament of these groups, framing it as the subsequent phase of the October 2025 “ceasefire” accord. This agreement was reportedly facilitated through the Board of Peace, an entity established by Trump with the mandate to oversee post-conflict reconstruction and governance in Gaza.
However, the implementation of this deal appears to be mired in fundamental disagreements. Ghazi Hamad, a negotiator for Hamas, conveyed to Al Jazeera that the Palestinian group would not proceed with the agreement unless Israel upheld its commitments, which include ceasing attacks and withdrawing its forces. Conversely, a spokesperson for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office stated that Israeli troops would remain in place until Hamas was fully disarmed. This unresolved impasse has coincided with an apparent escalation in Israeli military actions in Gaza, continuing a pattern observed throughout the 10-month “ceasefire” period.
In the immediate aftermath of the “historic agreement” announcement, Israeli strikes reportedly resulted in the deaths of at least 19 Palestinians on a single day, contributing to a weekend total of 26 fatalities in Gaza. Nickolay Mladenov, an envoy for the Board of Peace, issued a statement condemning the escalation, noting, “Two days of strikes across Gaza have killed civilians and destroyed medical supplies that people depend on,” without explicitly naming Israel as the perpetrator. These incidents concluded a month that has been characterized as the deadliest for Gaza this year, and for Palestinians in the occupied West Bank due to settler-related violence since 2023.
Devastating Impact on Civilian Lives and Infrastructure
The recent strikes have had a severe impact on civilian populations. On a particular Sunday, residential areas were targeted, leading to multiple casualties. In Gaza City’s al-Sousi Tower, a strike claimed the lives of Abdullah Abu Taif, 33, his pregnant wife, Abeer Anan, 29, and their five-year-old son, Azzam. Medical personnel at al-Shifa Hospital reportedly recovered the remains of an unborn child from the debris. Elsewhere, in al-Qarara, near Khan Younis, an apartment strike resulted in the deaths of Mahmoud al-Hams, 38, his wife, Fatima, 37, and their young daughter, with three others sustaining injuries, according to medics at Nasser Hospital. Near Deir el-Balah, an elderly couple, Kamal and Huda Abu Muailiq, aged 68 and 59 respectively, were also killed in their residence. A separate incident in the same vicinity saw two brothers killed while riding a motorbike.
Later that evening, a strike on a tent sheltering displaced individuals in Gaza City’s Remal neighborhood caused the deaths of two people, including a child. Four additional fatalities occurred in the same neighborhood when a drone struck a vehicle near the Sharia Court, an attack Israel claimed targeted military operatives. On Saturday, an overnight strike destroyed a medicine warehouse attached to Al-Aqsa Hospital in Deir el-Balah, obliterating two of four storage facilities and significantly damaging two others. The Israeli military stated that it had hit a Hamas weapons depot adjacent to the hospital, one of five such locations it reported striking that night. Munir al-Bursh, Director-General of Gaza’s Health Ministry, told Al Jazeera that the strike “turns medicine and illness itself into a tool of war.”
The Health Ministry reported that July was the deadliest month in Gaza since the beginning of the year, with 152 people killed. By August 3, the total number of fatalities since the October 2025 “ceasefire” had reached 1,250, with over 4,100 wounded. On August 1, Gaza’s Civil Defence concluded a two-week search of a flattened residence in the Sabra neighborhood, recovering 112 bodies, including 40 children. Mohammed Abu Dan, who oversaw the recovery, indicated that approximately 157 individuals remained missing, with some bodies reportedly fused into concrete due to the force of the explosions. Thousands of bodies are believed to still be beneath the rubble across Gaza. Other casualties this week included one-year-old Zaid Nofal, killed in a strike on his family’s home in the Bureij refugee camp, and eight-year-old Ratil Abdullah and 20-year-old Abdullah al-Balawi, who died in an Israeli drone strike on a tent in Khan Younis, as reported by Gaza Now.
Furthermore, Israeli forces have expanded the “Yellow Line,” which delineates Israeli-occupied Gaza from the rest of the besieged territory. New concrete barriers were erected on Salah al-Din Street, Gaza’s primary north-south route, near Shujayea, effectively cutting off displaced families from one of the few remaining unobstructed roads in the Strip.
Surge in West Bank Settler Violence and Land Seizures
The West Bank has also experienced a period of heightened conflict, with the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reporting that July, alongside March, was the deadliest month for Palestinians in incidents involving settlers since October 2023. OCHA documented over 1,380 settler-related incidents across the West Bank since the start of 2026, averaging 6.6 per day. Demolitions and settler violence have led to the displacement of an average of 17 people daily this year, double the rate of the preceding three years.
A report by the Palestinian National Bureau for Defending Land and Resisting Colonization, released this week, indicated that no soldier from Israel’s settler-heavy “Hagmar” defense units has been arrested for killing a Palestinian since at least 2017, and more than 93 percent of investigations into settler attacks have been closed without indictment. Following an incident in Tal, Nablus area, where four Palestinians and two Israelis were killed, settlers traversed the village accompanied by Israeli soldiers and armored vehicles. This wave of settler incursions included a 10-year-old boy being shot in the back on July 31 near al-Mughayyir. Israeli police subsequently arrested an off-duty soldier and settler on suspicion of the shooting, according to Haaretz. Days later, Issam Radwan, 71, and his wife Nahil, 65, were attacked and beaten with clubs on their farmland near Beitillu. The village council head reported that Nahil suffered a fractured skull, a bite wound, and a broken forearm, while Issam sustained a broken shin. In Idhna, west of Hebron, armed settlers from a nearby outpost attacked a Palestinian home, and soldiers arriving later reportedly attacked residents who came to assist the family, firing tear gas at them.
Throughout the week, as attacks and raids continued across the West Bank, settlers established new illegal outposts. While closures in the West Bank saw some easing from the previous week's near-total siege, the town of Sinjil, north of Ramallah, with approximately 8,000 residents, entered its third week under closure. Its main entrance remains sealed with earth mounds and metal barriers, complicating routine travel and posing potential dangers.
Land seizures have escalated in parallel with the violence. In the Jenin governorate, Israeli authorities issued orders to confiscate roughly 200 dunums (0.2 square kilometers) of land, some of which is designated for military roads spanning over 11km to service a network of government-approved outposts, as reported by the Wafa news agency. In the northern West Bank, the Israeli NGO Kerem Navot documented what researcher Dror Etkes described to Haaretz as an unprecedented move: military orders seizing Palestinian Authority-administered land in Area A, not for security purposes, but to connect two new illegal settlements, Noa and Emek Dotan, in anticipation of new Israeli families moving in next month.
In Masafer Yatta, an Israeli court dismissed petitions against the demolition of the Zif secondary girls’ school, which serves 251 students, and three homes in Khirbet al-Mafqara. This decision clears the way for their demolition at any time, according to Wafa and local activist Osama Makhamreh. Amidst a steady stream of international criticism, Global Affairs Canada, Canada's foreign ministry, reiterated that the settlements were “illegal under international law.” Israeli officials responded by accusing Ottawa of actions that “embolden terror.” The UN’s rights office, meanwhile, expressed its alarm regarding Israeli plans for further settlement expansion.
