Our Wednesday News Analysis | Why Tell Matters: Is the West Bank Approaching a New Intifada?

Family members and residents mourn one of the Palestinians killed during the Israeli army and settler attack on the town of Tell, southwest of Nablus, in the occupied West Bank. (Photo: QNN)

The events in Tell, southwest of Nablus, were not an isolated act of violence. They were a warning.

For years, Israel has treated Palestinian villages in the occupied West Bank as open spaces for military raids, settler invasions, land theft and collective punishment. The expectation was that Palestinians would endure the violence, bury their dead and return to the same unbearable routine.

In Tell, however, that carefully maintained equation was briefly disrupted.

The confrontation began when armed Israeli settlers entered the area near the village, attempting to attack Palestinian homes. Villagers confronted them. Israeli soldiers and armed settlement personnel then intervened, transforming the settler attack into a broader military assault.

During the confrontation, a Palestinian man seized an Israeli weapon and opened fire. Two Israelis were killed, while four Palestinians from the Ramadan family were also killed. What followed was a sweeping campaign of punishment against the entire village.

Israeli forces sealed Tell, stormed many homes and interrogated scores of residents. More than 70 Palestinians were detained in the initial crackdown. The Israeli violence soon spread to surrounding communities, where armed settlers attacked homes, vehicles and set mosques on fire.

The meaning of "Tell," therefore, does not lie solely in the number of the dead. It lies in the fact that Palestinians, confronted by armed settlers and soldiers, refused to retreat.

Tell may or may not become the immediate spark of a broader uprising. But it revealed that beneath the outward appearance of Israeli control, the West Bank is reaching a breaking point.

Since the beginning of the genocide in Gaza in October 2023, Israel has transformed the West Bank into another major battlefield. More than 1,180 Palestinians have been killed, approximately 13,000 wounded and over 24,600 detained, including hundreds of women and nearly 2,000 children.

The assault is not limited to military raids. It is an integrated system involving the occupation army, armed settlers, military courts, settlement councils, demolition authorities and ministers who openly advocate annexation.

In 2026 alone, thousands of Palestinians have been displaced through settler attacks, demolitions and Israeli restrictions on Palestinian construction. By July, the rate of displacement had reached an average of 17 Palestinians every day—twice the daily average recorded during the previous three years.

Of course, none of this is random violence, but a deliberate policy...

Read more: Why Tell Matters: Is the West Bank Approaching a New Intifada?

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YOU CAN'T INTEGRATE ISRAEL INTO THE MIDDLE EAST WHILE ISOLATING IT FROM PALESTINIANS

Source: Haaretz
https://www.haaretz.com/opinion/2026-08-10/ty-article-opinion/.premium/you-cant-integrate-israel-into-middle-east-while-isolating-it-from-palestinians/0000019f-e789-d310-a3df-e78bff280000

By Danny Citrinowicz
Published August 10, 2026

Israel cannot hold both ends of the stick – you can't continue the current policy in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, while promising an Abraham Accords expansion and Israel's integration into the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor

The signing of the Abraham Accords on the White House Lawn last year. Credit: Andrea Hanks

Israel can't continue its current policy regarding the Palestinians and expect full regional economic integration and also deeper cooperation with additional countries, including in Europe. The strategic reality is more complex than election campaign slogans.

The idea of "economic peace" and conflict management, presented over the years as an alternative to a political deal, has failed to create the desired breakthrough.

Moreover, it's likely to distance Israel from regional integration rather than bring it closer.

The promises of expanding the Abraham Accords and connecting Israel to Saudi Arabia and the Gulf states are often repeated as if they were inevitable developments.

However, there is no factual basis for this without altering policy.

You, the politicians promising an expansion of the Abraham Accords and Israel's integration into the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor, don't understand that Israel will remain isolated without progress on the Palestinian issue.

Many politicians across the political spectrum ahead of the election repeatedly speak of the vision of Israel's economic integration in the Middle East. IMEC, the economic corridor connecting India with the Middle East and Europe, is a fixture at the heart of this vision. Some warn of the possibility that Saudi Arabia will prioritize routing the corridor through Syria rather than Israel. Others suggest increasing the number of trucks entering from Jordan or investing in rail lines as part of preparation for integration into the project.

However, there's one major contradiction here. These politicians are the very same ones who oppose the establishment of a Palestinian state, support the current policy in the West Bank and Gaza Strip and often present the struggle with Iran as the almost exclusive key to shaping the new Middle East. They act as if weakening Iran is sufficient to turn Israel into a natural partner in the region...

Read more: You Can't Integrate Israel Into the Middle East While Isolating It From Palestinians

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BOARD OF PEACE CAVES TO NETANYAHU AND REWRITES ISRAELI WITHDRAWAL TERMS FROM GAZA

Source: Middle East Eye
https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/board-peace-caves-netanyahu-and-rewrites-gaza-withdrawal-terms

By Elis Gjevori
Published August 4, 2026

Board ties any Israeli withdrawal to complete disarmament by Hamas, reversing its earlier phased approach

US President Donald Trump attends the inaugural meeting of the "Board of Peace" at the US Institute of Peace in Washington, DC, on 19 February 2026 (Saul Loeb/AFP)

Hamas accepted the original sequence, and the board’s retreat risks undermining that agreement while rewarding Israel’s refusal to halt its attacks or withdraw.

Netanyahu: … Israel would neither stop attacking Gaza nor pull back from the Yellow Line, Israel Hayom reported.

… even after Hamas is disarmed, Israel has the right to attack Gaza.

Hours after the meeting, an Israeli air strike killed two Palestinians in Gaza City’s Sheik Ajlin neighborhood.

The US-backed Board of Peace has hardened the conditions for an Israeli withdrawal from Gaza after its senior officials met Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The board linked any Israeli withdrawal beyond the Yellow Line, which divides Gaza into areas occupied by Israeli and Palestinian control, to the complete disarmament of Hamas, abandoning the phased approach it presented last week.

“Contrary to inaccurate reports, we note that the withdrawal of the IDF beyond the Yellow Line will take place only once decommissioning is complete, as Hamas committed to the mediators. This applies to light weapons, heavy weapons and the tunnels alike,” it said after Monday’s meeting.

The Yellow Line was established following the so-called ceasefire of October 2025.

Israel has since seized additional Palestinian territory and now controls more than 60 percent of the enclave, with Netanyahu even saying that the aim is to increase to around 70 percent.

Last week, a board official said Israel would initially withdraw to the Yellow Line under the disarmament plan.

The proposal also tied phased Israeli withdrawals to the gradual decommissioning of Palestinian weapons.

The board initially referred on Monday to the “full withdrawal of the IDF”, leaving open the possibility of earlier partial withdrawals.

It removed the word “full” minutes later, bringing its position closer to Netanyahu’s demand that Israel retain its forces until Hamas has completely disarmed...

Read more: Board of Peace caves to Netanyahu and rewrites Israeli withdrawal terms from Gaza