Middle East Crisis Gaza War

Trump Appeals to Israel: “Calm Down” on Settler Violence

The United States has asked Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to change his policy regarding the occupied West Bank, Axios reports. At Monday’s meeting between the two leaders, Trump and his top advisers reportedly asked Israel to “calm down” on the provocations, according to sources.

This is the first time in several years that the United States, which has previously supported Israel’s actions in the West Bank, has expressed concern about settler policy. The Trump administration’s reasoning is that a violent escalation in the West Bank could hamper the peace process in Gaza.

The president is also said to have been critical of Israel’s withholding of billions of dollars in tax revenues from the Palestinian Authority, which has brought the Palestinian government to the brink of collapse, according to information provided to the Times of Israel.

Israel: Continued ban on journalists entering Gaza

Israel intends to continue to prevent journalists from entering Gaza, says the country's Defense Minister Israel Katz. The reason is, among other things, that their entry would pose a threat to Israeli soldiers on the strip, reports Haaretz.

- We oppose the entry of journalists because the ceasefire agreement is not perfect and there is a concern that it could be canceled at any time, Katz added.

Journalists have been banned from traveling to Gaza since the outbreak of the war more than two years ago.

The situation in the West Bank

Israel occupied the West Bank during the Six-Day War in 1967, taking control from Jordan. Since then, Israel has established and expanded settlements throughout the area and today around 700,000 Israelis live there, including East Jerusalem. 

The security of the settlements is protected by a large Israeli military presence. Israel has claimed the right to control the West Bank, citing national security and cultural and religious ties to the area, which Israel calls Judea and Samaria. The fact that Israelis can move freely in the West Bank and are subject to different laws than Palestinians has led to accusations that Israel operates an apartheid system.

The UN General Assembly has described the occupation as illegal in several resolutions, which was upheld by the International Court of Justice in 2024. The court also called on Israel to pay compensation to the Palestinian people for the suffering the occupation has caused.