• Israeli forces continue attacks on Gaza, killing at least seven people in the Palestinian territory on Sunday, including an eight-year-old girl.

Ro Khanna hits back at Israeli ambassador over West Bank detention

The Democratic congressman has accused Israel’s ambassador to the US of “arrogance” over his comments on the lawmaker’s detention by Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank.

The criticism from Khanna came after Michael Leiter told PBS’s Face the Nation that the Democratic lawmaker had not coordinated his visit with Israeli authorities despite Khanna’s office saying he did.

“When we requested he coordinate the trip with us, he rejected that by basically staying silent. So, that’s unfortunate. This whole incident is unfortunate,” Leiter said.

Khanna said Leiter’s comments mark the “height of arrogance”.

“If a US Congressman & American citizens were detained illegally by settlers & the military of any other nation, the Ambassador would beg the American people for forgiveness and take action against the perpetrators,” he wrote on X.

EU weighs trade ban on Israeli colonies

European Union member states have discussed imposing an import ban on products from illegal Israeli colonies in the occupied West Bank, following growing pressure from some countries.

“Everybody agrees that the situation in the West Bank is really intolerable,” EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said at the start of a meeting in Brussels.

“What is happening in the West Bank is actually making it more and more impossible that the two-state solution ever can come into effect.”

Several EU countries, including Ireland, the Netherlands and Spain, have already imposed their own trade restrictions on Israeli colonies in the occupied Palestinian territories, considered illegal under international law, amid increasing settler violence.

Gaza death toll reaches 73,231 as Israel’s genocidal war continues

Gaza’s Health Ministry says hospitals recorded eight Palestinians killed in the last 24 hours in Israeli attacks, with 32 wounded.

The latest casualty figures bring the total number of those killed by Israel since the “ceasefire” began in October 2025 to 1,108, with 3,578 injured.

Since October 7, 2023, 73,231 Palestinians have been killed and 173,686 wounded, the ministry said.

Elderly Palestinian, female relatives beaten by Israeli colonists

Israeli colonists assaulted Ibrahim Ismail al-Jabour, 79, and his family in the Huwara area in the occupied West Bank.

Relatives, including women and children, were injured and pepper-sprayed during the Israeli assault.

European Union launches $1bn aid initiative for devastated Gaza

The European Commission says it launched an initiative with 15 partners to deliver 883.6 million euros ($1bn) in desperately needed aid to Gaza.

The “Team Gaza Initiative”, launched at the Palestine Donor Group meeting in Brussels, will support ongoing and planned early recovery projects for the people of the war-battered Gaza Strip.

Twelve European countries and Japan joined the initiative, together with the World Bank and the European Investment Bank, the commission said.

“The EU is the most reliable and credible partner for the Palestinian people,” said its top diplomat Kaja Kallas in a statement.

“The people of Gaza need sustained financial support to meet basic needs, recover and rebuild their lives. Ultimately, the building of a Palestinian state must be owned and led by the Palestinian people, but they need the backing of the international community.”

Belgium slams EU response to Israeli colony imports

Belgium has criticized the EU’s response to imports from illegal Israeli colonies as insufficient with Foreign Minister Maxime Prevot describing the bloc’s latest proposals as a “token gesture” rather than a genuine effort to act.

Prevot said Belgium has been calling for months for concrete measures over the humanitarian situation in Gaza and the broader Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

“The European Commission has finally proposed a few options in a two-page document. So it gives more the impression of being a token gesture than a genuine willingness to move forward,” Prevot told reporters.

“We are asking for concrete proposals on which positions can be taken, on which the member states will have to vote, and which can be rapidly submitted to the Foreign Affairs Council.”

The European Commission is expected to present several possible measures including stricter export licensing rules for goods produced in illegal Israeli colonies, higher import tariffs to discourage exports, and a partial or complete ban on imports from those colonies.

Israel bombs Palestinians in Gaza City

Israeli forces bombed a group of Palestinians near Gaza City critically wounding several.

Medical sources told Wafa news agency the attack occurred in the al-Twam area to the northwest.

One man also sustained serious injuries after being shot by Israeli forces in the central Gaza Strip, Wafa reported.

EU’s plan to cut trade with illegal Israeli colonies

EU foreign ministers have met in Brussels to discuss whether there is enough support for new measures to curb trade with Israeli colonies in the occupied West Bank.

The discussions are based on a confidential paper by the European Commission that floats three different options – an import licensing system, prohibitive tariffs or a ban – an unnamed senior EU diplomat and a European official said, Reuters reported.

The EU has long struggled to take major decisions on Middle East policy because of deep and long-standing divisions among its 27 member countries, particularly on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

EU ministers favor trade ban with illegal Israeli colonies

EU foreign ministers largely favored the idea of banning trade with Israeli colonies during a meeting today, European Union ⁠foreign ⁠policy chief Kaja Kallas said after the meeting.

The officials met in Brussels today to discuss a response to increasing violence by Israeli settlers against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank.

“Everybody agrees that the situation in the West Bank is really intolerable,” Kallas had said at the start of the meeting.

The EU has long struggled to take major decisions on Middle East policy because of deep and long-standing divisions among its 27 member countries, particularly on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Kallas referred ⁠to an opinion from the European Commission’s legal service that ‌measures were possible without unanimity among EU members.

Several Palestinians wounded in Israeli drone attack in central Gaza

Several Palestinians have been wounded by an Israeli drone attack in central Gaza.

Wafa news agency is reporting that an Israeli drone fired at a civilian vehicle and a horse-drawn cart near az-Zawayda.

Earlier on Monday, Israeli forces bombed a group of Palestinians near Gaza City, critically wounding several of them.

Arab League committed to ‘ending occupation’ in Palestine, new chief says

Palestine will remain a top priority for the Arab League, the group’s new secretary-general, Nabil Fahmy, has said.

“We will continue to defend the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people and work towards ending the occupation,” the Wafa news agency quoted Fahmy as saying during his first news conference in Cairo.

“What Israel is committing in Gaza and the West Bank is an ongoing crime of genocide, which demands a steadfast Arab stance and action commensurate with the scale of historical responsibility.”

Jerusalem will be a particular focus “in the face of every attempt to alter its status or erase its Arab identity”, said Fahmy.

Last week, he said Israel had blocked him from visiting Ramallah in the occupied West Bank.

Smotrich fears Oslo Accords’ return

Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich is worried about a return to the Oslo Accords, which saw Israeli and Palestinian leadership at the time recognize the other for the first time.

The far-right minister has been a vocal proponent of illegal Israeli settlements and claimed in 2023 that the Palestinian people are “an invention” of the past century.