2026 in Palestine
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Incumbents
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Events
- Ongoing — Gaza war
January
- 1 January —
- Israel orders the banning effective 1 March of 37 humanitarian agencies from operating in the Gaza Strip for failing to comply with its revised regulations on the disclosure of detailed information on their Palestinian staff.[1]
- The Palestinian Authority submits applications for 14 locations across the West Bank and the Gaza Strip to be designated as World Heritage Sites by UNESCO.[2]
- 5 January – The Israeli Ministry of Communications approves the delivery of equipment necessary to upgrade Palestinian cellular networks from 3G to 4G in the West Bank.[3]
- 14 January – The United States announces the start of the second phase of the Gaza peace plan.[4]
- 19 January – The IDF launches a large-scale counterterrorism raid in Hebron, arresting at least seven people.[5]
- 20 January – Israel demolishes the headquarters of UNRWA in Sheikh Jarrah, East Jerusalem.[6]
- 21 January – Israeli national security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir allows the issuance of gun licences to residents of 18 Israeli settlements in the West Bank.[7]
- 26 January – The body of Ran Gvili is recovered by the IDF from northern Gaza, ending the Gaza war hostage crisis.[8]
February
- 2 February – The Rafah Border Crossing is partially reopened under the supervision of Israel and Egypt.[9]
- 18 February – A 19-year old Palestinian American is killed in an attack by Israeli settlers on the village of Mukhmas in the West Bank.[10]
- 23 February – Israel designates the online Palestinian media platforms Al Asima News, Quds Plus, Alquds Albawsala, Maraj and Maydan Alquds as terrorist organizations, accusing connections to Hamas.[11]
- 27 February – The Supreme Court of Israel allows aid groups barred for refusing to comply with new Israeli regulations to continue operating in Gaza and other Palestinian territories while it considers the case.[12]
- 28 February – The Rafah Border Crossing is closed by Israel, citing "security reasons" amid the start of the 2026 Iran war.[13]
March
- 8 March – Two Palestinians are shot dead at a close range in the head by Israeli settlers in Abu Falah, in the occupied West Bank. Another Palestinian is killed after Israeli soldiers throw smoke grenades during the attack.[14]
- 12 March – The IDF drops charges against five soldiers accused of raping a Palestinian prisoner at the Sde Teiman detention camp.[15]
- 14 March – Hamas calls for Iran to cease their attacks on Middle East neighbors during the war. They also reaffirm Iran's right to defend itself from Israel and the United States.[16]
- 15 March –
- Israeli forces kill a Palestinian couple and two of their children in Tammum, West Bank.[17]
- Eight police officers, including the police chief of the Deir al-Balah Governorate in Gaza, are killed by an Israeli attack on a police vehicle in Az-Zawayda.[18]
- 18 March – Four people are killed in an Iranian missile attack that hit a hair salon in Beit Awwa, West Bank.[19]
- 19 March – The Rafah Border Crossing partially reopens for the first time since the start of the 2026 Iran war.[20]
April
- 26 April – 2026 Palestinian local elections: Supporters of president Abbas win a majority of contested seats including some in Gaza's Deir al-Balah. One of the Deir al-Balah lists, largely seen as Hamas-aligned, win only two of the 15 seats contested in Gaza.[21]
May
- 15 May – Izz al-Din al-Haddad, the leader of Hamas in the Gaza Strip, is killed in an Israeli airstrike in Rimal, Gaza City.[22]
- 20 May – The U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control removes sanctions on Francesca Albanese, the UN Special Rapporteur on occupied Palestinian territories, after district judge Richard J. Leon of the District of Columbia blocked measures imposed over Albanese's criticism of Israel and its actions in Gaza.[23]
- 21 May – The Trump administration announces that it will revoke the visas of the Palestinian delegation to the UN if the Palestinian ambassador does not withdraw his candidature for the vice presidency of the UN General Assembly.[24]
- 26 May – Mohammed Odeh, the leader of Hamas in the Gaza Strip, is killed in an Israeli airstrike.[25]
- 29 May – The European Union expands Hamas and PIJ sanctions.[26]
June
- 9 June – The UK, Canada, France, Norway, Australia and New Zealand imposes sanctions on networks that finance and enable settler violence in the West Bank.[27]
- 26 June – Anti-Hamas protests erupt in Gaza City and other areas of northern Gaza.[28] Hamas deploys armed operatives on Gaza streets to suppress the protests.[29]
July
- 2 July – Hamas announces that it executed a person in Gaza whom it accused of collaborating with Israel and assisting in the assassination of several senior Hamas leaders, including former Hamas leader in the Gaza Strip Izz al-Din Haddad.[30]
- 6 July — Hamas announces the resignation of its civil administration under the Gaza peace plan.[31]
- 13 July — The EU announces that it had reach a deal with Israeli authorities for the implementation of two large waste and water management projects in Gaza.[32]
- 15 July — Morocco signs an agreement to join the International Stabilization Force in Gaza.[33]
- 16 July — The Palestinian Authority releases an audit which supposedly found that a new welfare program stopped a scheme that critics described as "pay-to-slay" in response to US pressure.[34]
- 20 July — Hamas announces the election of Khalil al-Hayya as its leader.[35]
- 23 July
- An Israeli is critically injured in a stabbing in the vicinity of Elon Moreh. The two Palestinian assailants are shot and killed.[36]
- An Israeli is moderately injured in a stabbing in the vicinity of Ganim. The assailant is subdued.[37]
- 24 July —
- Two Israelis including a soldier and a Hagmar reservist and four Palestinian civilians are killed, two other Israelis are critically and moderately injured and four Palestinians are injured, three seriously in a shooting in the vicinity of Havat Gilad after confrontations broke out.[38][39]
- The archaeological site of Sebastia is designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.[40]
- 26 July — The Israeli security cabinet authorises the entry of President Trump's Board of Peace into Gaza.[41]
- 27 July —
- 28 July — The IDF and Israeli Civil Administration demolish a Palestinian home erected without a permit in Ein al-Hilweh in the West Bank, despite the Supreme Court of Israel's interim ruling urging the state not to demolish the structure until it responds.[44]
- 30 July — Hamas and other Palestinian factions agree to a progressive disarmament plan in the Gaza Strip under international supervision.[45]
August
- 2 August – The Al-Quds Brigades agree to the Board of Peace disarmament plan for Gaza.[46]
- 5 August — Twenty-four Palestinian detainees are released by Israel.[47]
- 9 August — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu authorizes reconstruction in areas of Gaza which are not under Hamas control, the initiative will be led by the United Arab Emirates.[48]
- 13 August —
- Settlers move into the reconstructed Ganim settlement in the West Bank.[49]
- The mandate of the European Union Border Assistance Mission to Rafah and the European Union Police Mission for the Palestinian Territories at the Rafah crossing is extended by Israel until the end of June 2027.[50]
- Extremist Israeli settlers from Hilltop Youth besiege the homes of three Palestinian families, including one owned by an American national in Qusra, trapping 15 people including two children.[51][52]
- 14 August — Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz orders the transfer of all enforcement powers against Israeli settlers in the West Bank from the IDF to the Israel Police.[53]
- 16 August — Ten Palestinians and two Israelis are injured in a confrontation in Hebron allegedly triggered by a settler attack.[54]
- 17 August — Thirty-five Palestinian prisoners released by Israel return to Gaza.[55]
- 23 August — An Israeli is moderately injured in a stabbing attack in the vicinity of Al-Auja.[56]
- 25 August —
- Israeli far-right MK Zvi Sukkot and his aides damage a Palestinian monument in Madama.[57][58]
- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu orders the evacuation of the UNRWA compound in Kafr 'Aqab neighborhood of East Jerusalem, blaming the agency for the 7 October attacks.[59]
- 29 August —
- 30 August — Thirteen Palestinian prisoners are released by Israel into Gaza.[62]
- 31 August —
- A record €3 billion weapons deal is signed by Israel and Greece.[63]
- The Israel Discount Bank agrees to postpone its plan to cease providing correspondent banking services to Palestinian financial institutions amid international pressure from President Trump and the European Union, averting a Palestinian banking crisis.[64]
September
- 1 September —
- Under pressure from the Israeli government, 45,000 Palestinian children in schools in East Jerusalem are now required to study the Israeli curriculum.[65]
- Dozens of East Jerusalem private schools hold a strike on the first day of the new school year due to restrictions on teachers from the West Bank.[66]
- 2 September — Israel demolishes Al-Tabban village in the West Bank, citing an Israeli Supreme Court verdict that incorrectly determined that Palestinians living in the firing zone did not live there permanently before the area was declared a firing zone.[a][68]
Deaths
- 18 February – Leila Shahid, 76, diplomat.[69]
- 27 February – Adeeb Naser, 86–87, poet.[70]
- 8 March – Walid Khalidi, 100, historian.[71]
- 15 March – Jamal Rayyan, 72, news anchor (Al Jazeera).[72]
- 18 March – Muhammad Abu Shahla, senior field commander of the Khan Younis brigade and the brigade's intelligence chief.[73]
- 21 March – Muhammad Kamal Hassouna, 84, politician, minister of national economy (2007–2009).[74]
- 15 May – Izz al-Din al-Haddad, Islamic militant, commander of Hamas in the Gaza Strip (since 2025).[22]
- 26 May – Mohammed Odeh, Islamic militant, commander of Hamas in the Gaza Strip (since 2026).[25]
- 9 August – Diab Al-Louh, 68, ambassador to Egypt (since 2017).[75]
- 24 August – Sliman Mansour, 79, sculptor, painter and author.[76]
