Melanie Ward, a member of parliament from the governing Labour Party, said 32 charities had collectively donated at least $37 million to organizations connected to Israeli settlements. She warned that if the donations qualified for the United Kingdom’s Gift Aid tax relief scheme, British taxpayers may have indirectly subsidized activities linked to settlements regarded as illegal under international law.

According to Ward, taxpayer-funded relief associated with those donations could amount to roughly $7.5 million. She described such a possibility as unacceptable and urged regulators to sever charitable links to settlement-related activities.

In a letter to the Charity Commission, Ward argued that support for the maintenance or expansion of settlements undermines efforts toward a peaceful resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and raises concerns regarding compliance with both domestic and international legal standards.

The issue gained additional prominence after Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper said on Tuesday that the Charity Commission had been instructed to investigate links between British charities and Israeli settlements.

Ward, formerly chief executive of Medical Aid for Palestinians, identified the Kasner Charitable Trust and UK Toremet among organizations that had allegedly directed funds to institutions operating in settlements. She cited reports indicating that the two charities donated approximately $7.6 million last year to the Bnei Akiva Yeshiva high school in the occupied West Bank.

She also alleged that the Kasner Charitable Trust had provided support to a yeshiva in Hebron, while UK Toremet had previously facilitated donations to Regavim, a pro-settler advocacy group co-founded by Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich.

Regavim has drawn international attention for its support of settlement activity and policies affecting Palestinian communities. Ward argued that funding directed toward such organizations does not satisfy the public-benefit principles required of registered charities.

UK Toremet also acts as a payment processor for the Jgive fundraising platform, through which donations can be directed to a range of Israeli and Zionist organizations, including some entities that have recently faced sanctions from the British government.

Responding to the allegations, a spokesperson for the Charity Commission said the regulator was carefully assessing the issues raised.

“The serious matters” outlined in the complaints are under consideration, the spokesperson said, adding that the commission was actively examining broader legal and compliance questions involving charities operating in Palestine.

The investigation comes amid heightened international scrutiny of Israeli settlement activity in the occupied West Bank, an issue that continues to generate diplomatic and legal debate among governments, international organizations and advocacy groups.

The findings were released by the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry, which was established by the UN Human Rights Council in 2021 to investigate alleged violations of international law in Israel and the Palestinian territories.

In its latest report, the commission said civilians in Gaza are caught between what it described as the structural violence and mass atrocities committed by Israeli forces and the coercive rule exercised by Hamas. The investigators said Palestinian residents have faced severe hardships from both the ongoing conflict and governance practices within the territory.

The report also focused extensively on the occupied West Bank, where violence has intensified since the Hamas-led attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, and the subsequent war in Gaza.

Commission chair Srinivasan Muralidhar said violence carried out by Israeli settlers was enabled by policies that support and protect settlement expansion. He also accused Hamas-affiliated forces of exploiting conditions created by prolonged conflict and destruction in Gaza.

The commission stated that, despite differing motivations and actors, Palestinian civilians have experienced a deliberate infliction of suffering in both Gaza and the West Bank.

According to the report, at least 26 Palestinians were killed and more than 1,570 injured in settler-related attacks between January 2023 and December 2025. Investigators said such incidents have continued on a near-daily basis in 2026.

The inquiry further concluded that Israeli authorities bear responsibility for facilitating conditions that allow settler violence to persist. It argued that settlement activity and related violence contribute to the expansion of Israeli control over Palestinian territory and the displacement of Palestinian communities.

The report called on Israel to immediately halt settlement expansion, end new settlement activities and remove existing settlers and settlements from occupied Palestinian territory. It also urged Israel to end what it described as the unlawful occupation of Palestinian land.

The commission examined abuses attributed to Hamas-affiliated forces and found evidence of serious violations, including alleged war crimes involving murder and torture. Investigators documented 249 incidents involving executions or severe physical violence during 2024 and 2025, resulting in at least 108 deaths and 384 injuries.

According to the report, Hamas-linked forces were involved in at least 60 of those incidents. Investigators also alleged that Palestinian civilians were tortured inside the Nasser Medical Complex in Gaza.

The commission emphasized that such actions do not negate the protected status of medical facilities under international humanitarian law.

The report recommended that Gaza’s de facto authorities immediately cease all extrajudicial punishments, including executions, torture and other forms of physical, psychological and sexual violence. It also called on authorities to refrain from using civilian infrastructure, including hospitals, for purposes incompatible with their humanitarian functions.

The findings are scheduled to be presented to the UN Human Rights Council next week. Israel has previously rejected the commission’s conclusions and accused it of systematic bias against the country.

Major General Avi Bluth, commander of the Israeli military’s Central Command, signed the implementing order required to enforce the legislation in the West Bank, according to Israeli media reports.

The measure follows legislation passed by the Knesset in March authorizing capital punishment for Palestinians convicted of attacks resulting in the deaths of Israeli citizens.

Under the military order, courts handling such cases must impose the death penalty as the default sentence unless judges determine that unspecified “special circumstances” justify life imprisonment instead.

Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported that provisions within the legislation make its application overwhelmingly directed at Palestinians. The law requires proof that the accused acted with intent to undermine the existence of the State of Israel or the authority of the military commander in the territory, conditions critics say are unlikely to be applied to Jewish Israeli suspects.

The legislation has prompted legal and diplomatic criticism amid heightened tensions in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the ongoing war in Gaza Strip.
Foreign ministers from Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Jordan, Indonesia, United Arab Emirates, Pakistan, Turkiye and Egypt jointly condemned the measure, warning that it entrenched discriminatory policies against Palestinians.

In a joint statement, the countries described the law as a dangerous escalation and accused Israel of advancing practices amounting to apartheid while denying Palestinians’ rights in the occupied territories.
The ministers also cited what they called credible reports of abuses against Palestinian detainees, including torture, starvation and denial of basic rights, arguing the death penalty law risked intensifying existing tensions.

Israeli authorities have defended the legislation as a counterterrorism measure intended to deter attacks against civilians.

James Elder, speaking on behalf of the UN children’s agency UNICEF in Geneva, said children were “paying an intolerable price” amid escalating violence and military activity across the West Bank, including East Jerusalem.“Between January 2025 and today, at least one Palestinian child has been killed on average every single week,” Elder told reporters.

The remarks come amid intensified Israeli military operations in several West Bank cities and refugee camps, alongside growing displacement and humanitarian concerns in the territory.The United Nations and humanitarian agencies have repeatedly warned about the impact of prolonged conflict and security operations on civilians, particularly children, in Palestinian areas.

Israel says its operations in the West Bank target armed militants and are aimed at preventing attacks against Israeli civilians and security forces.

The latest UN comments add to mounting international scrutiny over the humanitarian consequences of the conflict as violence continues across both the West Bank and Gaza.

After both Rajoub and Israeli football representative Basim Sheikh Suliman addressed delegates, FIFA President Gianni Infantino invited the two officials to stand beside him for a photograph.Rajoub declined repeatedly, despite several attempts by Infantino to persuade him to participate.

At one point, Rajoub could be heard saying, “We are suffering,” according to footage from the meeting.The incident followed renewed Palestinian pressure on FIFA over Israeli football clubs based in West Bank settlements, an issue that has remained a source of dispute for years within world football’s governing body.

The Palestinian Football Association has appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport after FIFA declined to impose sanctions on Israel over clubs located in Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank.

Palestinian officials argue that such clubs should not be allowed to compete in leagues organized under Israeli football authorities because the settlements are considered illegal under international law by much of the international community.

In 2024, United Nations experts identified at least eight football clubs operating in what they described as “Israeli colonial settlements” and called on FIFA to fulfill its human rights responsibilities by addressing the issue.

Speaking to reporters after the congress, Rajoub urged FIFA to enforce its own statutes consistently.“Apply the statutes with fairness, with logic,” he said.He also cited the broader impact of the Gaza war on Palestinian sport, accusing Israel of destroying sports facilities and causing the deaths of Palestinian athletes and staff.

“What’s going on in Palestine is terrible, destroying all the Palestinian sport facilities in Gaza, the killings of hundreds of Palestinian athletes, employees I think it’s now the time to make justice,” Rajoub said.Referring to the Israeli delegate, he added: “The guy who spoke on behalf of Israel, he did not even pay attention to the suffering, to what’s going on.”

“I refused to shake hands. How can I shake hands or have a photo with such a man?”FIFA has faced repeated calls from Palestinian officials and rights advocates to take action over Israeli settlement clubs, but the governing body has so far stopped short of imposing disciplinary measures.

The issue has added to wider political tensions surrounding international sport as the conflict in Gaza and the occupied Palestinian territories continues to affect athletes, federations and major sporting institutions.

Speaking during a visit on Monday to Palestinian villages in the West Bank alongside former senior Israeli officials including Matan Vilnai and Amram Mitzna, Pardo said the conditions he witnessed reminded him of historic persecution faced by Jews in Europe and left him feeling “ashamed to be Jewish,” according to remarks carried by Israel’s Channel 13.

Pardo said Israeli authorities were fully aware of settler attacks on Palestinian residents but had chosen not to intervene, describing the trend as a moral and strategic danger for the country.

He warned that confronting radical settlers, some of whom he said were armed and enjoyed political backing, could trigger internal instability and deepen divisions inside Israel.Pardo specifically pointed to the influence of far-right cabinet ministers Itamar Ben Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich, both of whom have supported stronger Israeli control over the West Bank and expansion of settlements.

Violence across the occupied territory has intensified in recent months, with Palestinian communities reporting repeated attacks, destruction of homes and farmland, and forced displacement.The United Nations considers Israeli settlements in the West Bank illegal under international law and has repeatedly called for a halt to settlement expansion, a position Israel disputes.

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said annexation of parts of the West Bank was not currently being pursued, citing opposition from U.S. President Donald Trump.However, Saar said Israel remained opposed to the establishment of a Palestinian state and would continue to strengthen its presence in the territory, a position that has further strained relations with the European Union and drawn criticism from rights groups and international partners.

The West Bank, captured by Israel in the 1967 Middle East war, remains one of the central flashpoints in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, with rising tensions fueling fears of broader regional instability.

Zelensky said on X that he had instructed Ukraine’s intelligence chief to brief Kyiv’s international partners on the reported plans, which he described as part of Moscow’s continued use of Belarusian territory and occupied areas of Ukraine to support drone operations.

In his nightly video address, Zelensky said the intelligence indicated Russia intends to build additional ground control stations to enhance long-range drone capabilities. He added that Belarus had previously played a role in amplifying the impact of Russian strikes earlier in the conflict, before Ukraine took countermeasures.

“We now have information from our intelligence that Russia intends to continue using the territory of Belarus and temporarily occupied territory of Ukraine to build ground control stations for long-range drones,” he said.

Zelensky warned that Ukraine would respond to any such developments. “There will be responses to this. And they will be felt,” he said, without providing details.

The Belarusian foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment outside business hours.

The missile hit a hair salon in the town of Beit Awwa, southwest of Hebron, the Palestinian Authority’s official news agency WAFA reported. Thirteen people were wounded, including one in serious condition.

The Israeli military said its initial assessment indicated the strike was caused by a cluster munition, a type of warhead that disperses multiple smaller bomblets over a wide area, increasing the risk to civilians.

Iran has launched daily missile attacks toward Israel since the conflict escalated at the end of February, though there have been no prior reports of it deliberately targeting Palestinian areas in the West Bank.

Unlike most Israeli cities, where bomb shelters are widely available, Palestinians in the West Bank have limited access to protective infrastructure. Many rely on sirens from nearby Israeli settlements or cities for warning of incoming attacks.

The disparity in civil defence measures has heightened risks for civilians as missile exchanges intensify across the region.Rising toll amid regional warAt least 15 people have been killed in Israel since the United States and Israel launched strikes on Iran, triggering the current conflict.

The latest incident underscores the widening geographic and human impact of hostilities.The strike comes as streets across the West Bank have been crowded in recent days, with families preparing for Eid al-Fitr, the holiday marking the end of Ramadan.