Palestine News Today: UK Consulate Row Deepens as Gaza Strikes Continue Despite Ceasefire
29 September 2026. Legal experts and diplomats have challenged Israel's threat to shut Britain's East Jerusalem consulate, while fresh Israeli strikes in Gaza killed Palestinians despite the ceasefire. Solidarity with Palestinians continued to grow across Britain and worldwide, from Westminster to the United Nations.
Legal experts say Israel cannot shut UK consulate
Former attorney general Dominic Grieve has advised the Foreign Office that Israel has no legal right to close Britain's consulate in East Jerusalem, according to The Guardian and Anadolu Agency. Grieve argues the mission sits in occupied Palestinian territory, recognised as such by the UN and the UK itself. Sir Vincent Fean, a former consul-general there, told Middle East Eye that Israel's threatened closure, announced after the UK's ban on settlement goods, is unlawful. Israel says it intends to close the consulate on 8 October.
Sources: Middle East Eye, Anadolu Agency, The Guardian
Miliband condemns Israeli government over Gaza
UK Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband used the Labour Party conference to denounce the actions of the Israeli government in Gaza and pledged tougher measures, according to Middle East Monitor and Democracy Now!. His remarks come as Britain's ban on trade in illegal settlement goods, announced this month, awaits implementation within six to nine months, leaving West Bank communities exposed to continuing settler violence in the meantime, Middle East Monitor reports.
Sources: Middle East Monitor, Middle East Monitor, Democracy Now!
Labour blocks vote on Palantir's NHS contract
Labour's Conference Arrangements Committee blocked an emergency motion from delegates calling for the cancellation of Palantir's NHS contract over the firm's ties to the Israeli military, Middle East Eye reports. The motion had been brought by the Socialist Health Association and several constituency parties in Liverpool.
Sources: Middle East Eye
Gaza issue reshaping British politics, says solidarity leader
Palestine has become a genuine electoral issue in Britain for the first time, the incoming director of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign told The Guardian. Aimee Shalan said anger over Gaza is mobilising voters, as demonstrations against the war have grown into a sustained protest movement. Separately, a Channel 4 Dispatches documentary examined government files suggesting the UK downplayed evidence of Israeli war crimes in Gaza in order to continue arms sales, Democracy Now! reports.
Sources: The Guardian, Democracy Now!
Deadly Israeli strikes hit Gaza despite ceasefire
An Israeli airstrike on an apartment in Gaza City's al-Nasr neighbourhood killed two Palestinians and wounded several others, including children, Anadolu Agency reports. Middle East Eye and Al Jazeera reported a separate drone strike on the same area killed at least one person and left children among the wounded, with medics at al-Shifa Hospital treating the injured. The attacks came despite the ceasefire agreement, raising fresh questions over its enforcement.
Sources: Anadolu Agency, Middle East Eye, Middle East Eye
West Bank raids and closures disrupt Palestinian life
Israeli forces shot a Palestinian man during a raid on a West Bank town and briefly prevented medics reaching him, Anadolu Agency reports. Separately, tightened Israeli military checkpoints isolated Ramallah, with motorists reporting waits of up to six hours that disrupted work, travel and access to medical care across the central West Bank.
Sources: Anadolu Agency, Anadolu Agency
Settlers storm Al-Aqsa Mosque during Sukkot holiday
More than 1,200 Israeli settlers, including National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, stormed the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound under police protection during the Jewish holiday of Sukkot, Middle East Monitor reports. Palestinian shops in the surrounding area were forced to close to accommodate the incursion, continuing a pattern of restricted Palestinian access to the holy site.
Sources: Middle East Monitor
UN warns Gaza winter aid is being blocked
The United Nations warned that Israeli restrictions and funding shortfalls are severely hampering preparations for winter in Gaza, with thousands of heating points urgently needed, according to Anadolu Agency and Middle East Monitor. Germany separately called on Israel to ensure humanitarian aid reaches Gaza, while families in the territory remain forcibly separated from spouses abroad after Israel suspended travel in and out of the Strip, Mondoweiss reports.
Sources: Anadolu Agency, Middle East Monitor, Middle East Monitor, Mondoweiss
War crimes accusations mount as UN envoy demands accountability
Former German vice chancellor Robert Habeck said there is substantial evidence that war crimes were committed in Gaza, according to Anadolu Agency and Middle East Monitor. At the UN Security Council, Palestinian envoy Riyad Mansour said the recent high-level week proved Palestine cannot be erased or ignored, and called for the international community to move from condemnation to concrete accountability measures.
Sources: Anadolu Agency, Middle East Monitor, Anadolu Agency
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