Israel kills Palestinians in Gaza as cabinet deepens West Bank annexation measures

Israel’s cabinet approved a package that sharply expands Israeli control over parts of the West Bank, with Hebron the main target. Planning, licensing, construction and local resources in Hebron would be moved from the Palestinian municipality to the Israeli army, and a separate governing body would be created for the nearby Jewish settlement. New rules would restrict Palestinian access to water and limit farming, construction and business activity, while legal changes would ease Jewish purchases of West Bank land and overturn a Jordanian‑era ban on transferring land to non‑Palestinians. Critics say the measures pave the way for appropriation of Palestinian land (including via forged claims); Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said the intent is to “kill the idea of a Palestinian state,” and Palestinian leaders called the package racist, illegal under international law, and a breach of agreements such as the 1997 Hebron Agreement and the Oslo Accords, labeling it a step toward annexation and colonial seizure. Israeli forces opened fire in Gaza City’s Zaytoun neighbourhood, killing a Palestinian man on Monday; medical officials told Al Jazeera Arabic that Israeli fire also killed three Palestinians, including a child, there on Sunday. The report frames the wider conflict that began on 8 October 2023 as “genocide” and says a ceasefire took effect on 10 October 2025; Palestinian health authorities allege hundreds of Israeli violations of that ceasefire, blaming about 580 deaths and nearly 1,550 injuries since it began. Separately, Israel’s security cabinet approved expanding occupation authority into Palestinian‑administered areas of the West Bank, a step Palestinian officials condemned as a breach of the Oslo Accords and an attack on Palestinian self‑rule.