Palestine weekly wrap: Under cover of ceasefire, Israel increases grip
Despite official ceasefires in Gaza, Lebanon, and Iran, Israeli forces and settlers have intensified operations in Palestinian-administered areas of the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and Gaza, with increased violence, demolitions, and attacks on civilian and police infrastructure. Municipal elections were held in parts of the West Bank and Gaza, though turnout was low and many Palestinians questioned their significance amid ongoing displacement and destruction. Settler violence has surged, including deadly attacks on schools and homes, while Israeli authorities advanced evictions and construction in occupied East Jerusalem. The political landscape in Israel saw former Prime Ministers Bennett and Lapid unite ahead of elections, signaling continuity in hardline policies toward the occupied territories.
- ▪At least 40 Palestinians were killed in Gaza between April 20 and April 27, including police officers and children, despite the October ceasefire.
- ▪Settler attacks expanded into Palestinian-controlled Areas A and B of the West Bank, with calls to 'cancel Oslo with your feet' circulating in extremist networks.
- ▪In East Jerusalem, 17 homes have been demolished in Silwan in 2026, with over 2,000 Palestinians at risk of displacement in what could be the largest expulsion since 1967.
- ▪OCHA reported 925 movement obstacles in the West Bank—the highest in 20 years—and nine Palestinian communities fully displaced in 2026 alone.
- ▪Former Israeli Prime Ministers Naftali Bennett and Yair Lapid announced a political merger, uniting under Bennett’s leadership ahead of October elections with no inclusion of Arab parties.
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News|Israel-Palestine conflictPalestine weekly wrap: Under cover of ceasefire, Israel increases gripSettler violence surges deeper into Palestinian-administered areas, and Gaza’s police forces are decimated further.ListenListen (8 mins)SaveClick here to share on social mediashare-nodesSharefacebookxwhatsapp-strokecopylinkgoogleAdd Al Jazeera on GoogleinfoPalestinian women react outside the Nasser Hospital after a relative, killed in an Israeli air strike, was brought to the morgue in the city of Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip on April 21, 2026 [AFP]By Al Jazeera StaffPublished On 28 Apr 202628 Apr 2026Israel has officially agreed to ceasefires in Gaza, Lebanon, and Iran. But that has not meant any de-escalation, as Israeli forces and settlers press further into Palestinian-administered areas of the occupied West Bank, deeper into civilian space in Gaza, and more aggressively into the heart of occupied East Jerusalem.The pattern, documented across multiple fronts this week – including a surge of strikes in Lebanon despite the announced extension of the ceasefire there – suggests that ceasefires have functioned less as true pauses in hostilities than as cover for accelerated fact-making on the ground. It was against this backdrop that Palestinians in the West Bank and, for the first time since 2006, in part of Gaza, went to the polls on Saturday in municipal elections – despite many Palestinians doubting that these votes would be able to bring about change.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemslist 1 of 3Analysis: Bennett-Lapid alliance attempt to unseat Israel’s Netanyahulist 2 of 3Activists accused of raiding Israeli weapons factory face trial in Germanylist 3 of 3Abbas loyalists sweep Palestinian elections, including some seats in Gazaend of list Gaza: Police targeted, children killed, elections held in rubbleIn Gaza, the week brought some of the heaviest strikes on civilian and police infrastructure since the October ceasefire. Forty Palestinians were killed from April 20 to April 27, according to the Gaza Ministry of Health.They included three police officers killed in a drone strike in Khan Younis on April 21, five people – including three children – slain in an air strike on the courtyard of a mosque in Beit Lahiya on April 22, and eight people killed in an attack on a police vehicle in Khan Younis on April 24. A separate attack in Gaza City also killed two police officers on the same day. Advertisement On Saturday, Islam Karsou, a woman pregnant with twins, and her two young children were killed in artillery shelling near Kamal Adwan Hospital. On Monday, 15-year-old Ayham al-Omari was killed by Israeli forces in Beit Lahiya, according to Telegram reports.The Popular Committees in Gaza condemned “the repeated targeting of the Palestinian police” as “a direct attack on citizens’ security and safety”. Critics note the campaign risks dismantling the very governance structures the Board of Peace’s framework requires to function before reconstruction can begin.As of April 27, since the October 11 ceasefire, 817 Palestinians in Gaza have been killed and more than 2,200 injured, according to the Gaza Ministry of Health. Since October 7, 2023, the cumulative toll stands at 72,593.Small-scale elections took place in Gaza – specifically in Deir el-Balah – for the first time since 2006, in municipal elections on Saturday. In Deir el-Balah, turnout was 23 percent, with the commission attributing the low figure to an outdated civil…
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