Jerusalem tensions rise as far-right ministers enter holy site

On May 14, tens of thousands of ultra-nationalist Israelis marched through Jerusalem's Old City to celebrate the state's 1967 occupation of East Jerusalem. Far-right demonstrators chanted "Death to Arabs" and yelled that Palestinian villages should burn while they attacked local shops and residents.

Far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir flew the Israeli flag inside the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound. He declared that the Temple Mount belonged to Israel using specific Jewish terminology. Fellow legislator Yitzhak Kroizer prostrated himself before the Dome of the Rock Mosque. Kroizer posted online that the time had arrived to remove all mosques and build the Temple instead.

Israeli authorities restricted entry to the holy site that morning by barring men under 60 and women under 50. They cleared the compound for more than 2,200 settler incursions during that week. This action violated the established status quo which prohibits non-Muslim prayer and vests custodianship with the Jordanian-administered Islamic Waqf.

Videos showed settlers assaulting residents in the Christian Quarter and Silwan neighborhoods. Reporters faced physical abuse including being shoved and spat upon. Police expelled solidarity activists while allowing far-right marchers to pass freely through the area.

The entire week represented one of the most intense periods of violence and dispossession in recent memory. This surge stemmed from Jerusalem Day celebrations and a coordinated settler push into Areas A and B of the West Bank. The attacks killed a sixteen-year-old, displaced seven families, and included military strikes on Gaza. These actions signaled an Israeli government intent to impose facts on the ground before upcoming elections later this year.

The deadliest act of settler violence occurred on May 13 when dozens of soldiers protected settlers during an attack on villages north of Ramallah. Local Palestinian activist networks reported that settlers targeted Jilijliya, Sinjil, and Abwein. Sixteen-year-old Youssef Kaabneh died from a gunshot wound to the chest. Ambulances failed to reach him quickly because Israeli military vehicles blocked the roads. Footage shared by activists showed soldiers escorting stolen livestock through towns while arresting three Palestinian residents.

Kaabneh's family had previously fled Wadi al-Siq due to settler violence and sought refuge in Jilijliya. They believed this area under Palestinian Authority administrative control would offer safety. The next day, seven families were forcibly displaced from the village outskirts.

The attack represented a broader surge of violence across the occupied West Bank. On May 16, Israeli forces killed sixteen-year-old Fahd Awais in al-Lubban ash-Sharqiya after opening fire on his vehicle. The local Red Crescent confirmed that ambulances were prevented from reaching him. In Sinjil, settlers stabbed Jaber Shabaneh in the leg as he foraged for sage. Field monitor Jonathan Pollack documented these injuries.

Settler attacks continued to be documented across dozens of other communities in recent days. This coordinated campaign demonstrates a clear strategy to expand settlements and displace Palestinians before international scrutiny increases.

Settlers ignited a fire at a mosque and torched vehicles in Jibiya, reports the Palestinian state news agency WAFA. The violence spread to Shaqba, Beit Ummar, Abu Falah, Majdal Bani Fadel, and Turmusayya, where activists and WAFA confirmed additional vehicles were burned and a home set ablaze. In Marah Rabah, farmers were targeted, while 150 fruit trees were destroyed in Yasuf. Olive trees in Burqa faced the torch, sheep were run over in Khirbet al-Tawil, and the Ashkara road south of Yatta was blocked, according to local activist networks and Pollack.

A new legal reality settled in the West Bank on Sunday night: the death penalty for Palestinians convicted of deadly acts of "terrorism" became operational. Israeli military Central Command chief Avi Bluth signed the requisite order, enabling the law to take effect. United Nations experts and numerous governments have condemned the measure as discriminatory and potentially a war crime. Meanwhile, the Israeli coalition moved to dissolve the parliament, mandating elections by late October. Opposition figure Avigdor Lieberman warned reporters that Prime Minister Netanyahu might stage a military operation purely to influence the upcoming vote.

In Sheikh Jarrah, authorities greenlit plans for an Israeli military complex on the site of the demolished UNRWA headquarters, per WAFA. Further seizures followed, with plans approved to take historic Palestinian properties in the Bab al-Silsila neighborhood near Al-Aqsa, alongside military orders confiscating land in Jenin and Qabatiya. Elsewhere, Fatah convened its Eighth General Conference—the first gathering in ten years—re-electing Mahmoud Abbas as leader and appointing his son Yasser to the Central Committee. Critics argue this move elevated loyalty above democratic merit.

The conflict in Gaza intensified with assassinations and airstrikes. On Nakba Day, May 15, Israel struck and killed Izz al-Din al-Haddad, head of Hamas's armed wing. His wife, daughter, and four other civilians died in the same attack on a Gaza City residential building. Netanyahu later confirmed on television that Israel now controls roughly 60 percent of the Strip, extending beyond the 'yellow line' established under the October ceasefire. Strikes continued relentlessly; on May 14, drone fire killed brothers Tamer and Mohammad al-Mutawa among civilians on al-Nazha Street in Jabalia. Two days later, a strike near the Abu Hussein school in Jabalia claimed another life.

On May 17, the toll rose as three community kitchen workers were killed in a strike at a food distribution site in Deir al-Balah, an incident Hamas labeled a "deliberate war crime." Another person died in Khan Younis that same day. As these assaults persist, the humanitarian crisis deepens. OCHA's May 15 report noted that in the first eleven days of May, only half of the aid trucks entering from Egypt could offload supplies at Israeli crossings. The World Health Organization estimated that over 43,000 people in Gaza suffer life-changing injuries, with one in four being children, yet no rehabilitation facility remains fully operational. In Khan Younis, sewage pumping stations have stopped working due to oil shortages, causing floods that inundate residential streets. Since the October ceasefire, 877 Palestinians have been killed and more than 2,600 injured. The cumulative death toll since October 7, 2023, stands at 72,769.