Palestine weekly: After Kushner departs, Israel escalates Gaza attacks

What the report says

Israel intensified attacks in Gaza and expanded settlement activity in the occupied West Bank during the week after US envoy Jared Kushner left talks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, according to Al Jazeera. The report says the August 17 discussions produced working groups on disarmament and humanitarian issues, but did not resolve the main disputes over Gaza’s future, including Israel’s refusal to withdraw and Hamas’s objection to continued strikes and restrictions on aid and reconstruction materials.

In Gaza, Al Jazeera reported multiple deadly strikes on residential and displacement areas, including a cafe at Gaza City’s port and the former police headquarters, with later attacks in Deir el-Balah and elsewhere. Israeli officials also warned that kites, balloons and drones from Gaza could be treated as acts of war. Gaza’s Health Ministry said the death toll since the October ceasefire remained high, underscoring that the truce has not stopped violence.

The article also describes continued Israeli settlement advances in East Jerusalem and the West Bank. Israel issued a tender for 1,234 housing units in the E1 area, a move critics say would further divide Palestinian territory and complicate the prospect of a contiguous Palestinian state. Several European and Arab governments condemned the plan, while the US response remained limited and non-specific.

Al Jazeera further notes that Israel announced new investigations into some wartime incidents while closing others, and that settler violence, home seizures and village blockades continued in places such as Qusra, al-Mughayyir and Sa’ir. The broader context is the widening gap between international criticism and practical consequences for Israeli actions.