Palestine News Today: Settlers Besiege Families in Qusra as Netanyahu Attacks Britain
14 August 2026. Your daily round-up of the most important news about Palestine, compiled from international and regional sources. Today: settlers keep Palestinian families under siege in Qusra, Netanyahu lashes out at the UK government, and attacks spread to the Christian town of Taybeh. Below, each story in brief, with links to the reporting it is based on.
Netanyahu Calls the UK 'the Islamic Republic of Britain'
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described the UK as "the Islamic Republic of Britain", Al Jazeera reports, in a remark that reflects growing tension between Israel and the Labour government.
Sources: Al Jazeera
UN Condemns Settler Siege in Qusra
The UN human rights office and the Palestinian Foreign Ministry called the days-long settler siege of homes in Qusra "criminal" and "inhumane". Israeli soldiers were also filmed preventing aid from reaching the besieged families.
Sources: Al Jazeera
Fear Grips Taybeh, the West Bank's Last All-Christian Town
The historic town of Taybeh, the last all-Christian Palestinian town in the occupied West Bank, has been hit by coordinated settler attacks, leaving residents afraid for their homes and land.
Sources: Al Jazeera
Kushner Heads to Israel Over Gaza Plan
US envoy Jared Kushner is set to visit Israel after Netanyahu rejected a Board of Peace plan under which Hamas would disarm and Israel would withdraw from Gaza.
Sources: Al Jazeera
Art Gives Gaza's Young Survivors Room to Heal
Art projects are giving young survivors of the war in Gaza safe spaces to process trauma and rediscover joy, Al Jazeera reports.
Sources: Al Jazeera
Rights Groups: The State Cannot Disown Settler Violence
Rights groups warn that settler violence and state action in the occupied West Bank share one aim: to push Palestinians off their land and annex it. They say Israel cannot present the attacks as the work of a fringe when soldiers stand by or take part, and when those responsible are almost never charged.
Sources: Al Jazeera
Soldiers Block Aid From Reaching Besieged Families
Video from Qusra shows Israeli soldiers stopping aid from reaching Palestinian families surrounded in their homes for days. Residents said food, water and medicine were running low while settlers moved freely outside, and that even neighbours were turned away at the edge of the village.
Sources: Al Jazeera
Soldiers Accused of Backing Settlers in Qusra
Palestinian residents and Israeli activists accuse soldiers in Qusra of protecting the settlers besieging the village rather than the families inside. Witnesses describe troops standing alongside masked men who blocked roads and cut off supplies.
Sources: Al Jazeera
The Wider Picture
Nearly a year after the ceasefire announced in October 2025, civilians in Gaza still face daily danger amid widespread destruction, continuing strikes and restrictions on the supplies and equipment needed to rebuild. According to Gaza's health ministry, more than 73,900 Palestinians have been killed since October 2023 and over 174,000 wounded. At least 1,381 people have been killed since the ceasefire came into force.
Sources: Al Jazeera, OCHA
In the occupied West Bank, the UN reports that settler attacks have affected 275 Palestinian communities so far in 2026, nearly matching the 279 recorded across all of 2025, the highest annual figure since records began in 2006. Permit-related demolitions have destroyed more than 1,100 Palestinian structures in 2026 and displaced over 1,500 people, a third of all those forced from their homes in the West Bank this year. With 98 per cent of Gaza's schools damaged or destroyed and more than 90 per cent of the territory in ruins, thousands of families are living in structures that have already been declared unsafe.
Sources: OCHA
Palestine News is published every day on Free Palestine Store. Each item summarises reporting from the named outlets in our own words; follow the source links for full coverage.
