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SvennoJ 4 days ago
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Israeli influencer wields pepper spray against West Bank activists

A far-right Israeli influencer has been captured on film raiding a house of activists and journalists in the occupied West Bank, according to The Jerusalem Post newspaper.

Roi Star, a 45-year-old social media personality, pepper-sprayed at least two people and verbally harassed the people living in the house, including threatening their relatives.

“I know your family. I know where your cousin, your grandma, your father, your uncle, I know where everyone lives,” he said. “Do you want to talk, or do you want to get physical with me and get sprayed in the face?”

Settler violence in the occupied West Bank is on the rise, with settlers rampaging in Palestinian agricultural lands, storming and destroying homes, and killing and beating Palestinian civilians.

Throughout 2025, Israeli settlers or soldiers killed 240 Palestinians in the West Bank, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said earlier this month. Israeli forces killed 225 people, while settlers killed at least nine.


Israeli minister approves gun licences for 18 illegal West Bank settlements

Israel’s National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir has approved the issuance of gun licences to Israelis in 18 additional illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank, as the right-wing government headed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pushes to expand illegal outposts that undermine prospects for a two-state solution.

“The importance of the decision lies in the fact that these settlements will now be able to submit applications for a personal weapon licence,” Ben-Gvir, a far-right minister, wrote on Telegram on Wednesday, claiming that the efforts were to “enhance self-defence and increase personal security”.

Israeli settlers have been emboldened by a wide-scale armament programme spearheaded at the start of Israel’s genocidal war in the Gaza Strip by Ben-Gvir, and the near-total impunity they enjoy when carrying out attacks.


Israeli settlers, military storm more West Bank towns

Israeli forces stormed and arrested at least one Palestinian man east of the city of Jenin, the Wafa news agency reported, while carrying out separate raids in the towns of Yabad and Silat al-Harithiya to the west. They also arrested another man from Nablus after raiding several homes.

Meanwhile, Israeli settlers stormed the evacuated settlement of Tarsala, south of Jenin, under protection from the military. Sources told Wafa that the military closed off the Jenin-Nablus road before the settlers’ incursion, which saw buses and mobile homes pour into the former settlement.

Earlier dozens of settlers also raided the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, while Israeli forces were deployed overnight across the city of Tulkarem.


How Israel moved to shut down UNRWA in occupied East Jerusalem

Israel has steadily moved to dismantle the UN agency for Palestinian refugees in occupied East Jerusalem with Israeli forces now using bulldozers inside its headquarters compound.

According to UNRWA, here’s a timeline of key developments:

  • May 9, 2024: An arson attack targets UNRWA’s headquarters in East Jerusalem with Israelis setting fire to the perimeter, forcing a temporary closure.
  • October 28, 2024: Israel’s parliament passes legislation banning UNRWA operations inside what it defines as sovereign Israeli territory, a designation Israeli authorities apply to East Jerusalem.
  • January 30, 2025: Anti-UNRWA laws enter into force, prompting UNRWA to vacate its East Jerusalem compound over staff safety concerns.
  • April 8: Israeli authorities issue closure orders for six UNRWA schools in East Jerusalem.
  • May 8: Israeli forces and officials enforce the closures, ending in-person education for about 800 Palestinian children.
  • December 8: Israeli police forcibly enter UNRWA’s headquarters compound in East Jerusalem, remove the UN flag and seize property.
  • December 29: Israel’s parliament passes amendments allowing authorities to cut water, electricity, fuel and communications to UNRWA facilities and seize land where two UNRWA compounds are located, including its headquarters.
  • January 12: Israeli police forcibly enter UNRWA’s Jerusalem Health Centre, ordering its closure for 30 days and notifying staff of upcoming utility cuts.
  • January 20: Israeli forces accompanied by bulldozers begin demolishing structures inside UNRWA’s headquarters compound in East Jerusalem.