Palestine in February 2026: the most important developments in politics
In February 2026 the main political development concerning Palestine was US President Donald Trump's launch of a Board of Peace for Gaza. On February 15 Trump said its members had pledged more than $5 billion for reconstruction and thousands of personnel for a regional force, and described the aid as conditional on Hamas disarming. At the board's first meeting in Washington on February 19, the United States committed $10 billion and other nations a combined $7 billion. Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif attended and called for an end to ceasefire violations. Italy joined, while the Vatican declined, citing governance concerns. Indonesia said it was preparing up to 8,000 troops for a possible deployment. Hamas demanded the board compel Israel to stop truce violations, and Israel set a 60-day deadline for Hamas to disarm.
The second major theme was the West Bank. Israel's security cabinet approved measures on February 8 expanding its civil and land authority, and on February 15 the cabinet restarted the registration of West Bank land as state land, ending a decades-long freeze. Palestinian officials called it a land grab and a step toward de facto annexation. The United States and the United Kingdom said they opposed the steps, the UN Secretary-General condemned them, and Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Egypt, the EU and more than 80 UN member states criticised them as unlawful.
On Gaza itself, the ceasefire held amid mutual accusations of violations. Rafah crossing reopened for passengers on February 2 with new security protocols. Israel shut down Doctors Without Borders operations in Gaza, and the UN said Israel denied or impeded nearly half of coordinated aid missions.
Elsewhere, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas called the first elections to the Palestinian National Council for November and published a draft interim constitution. In Britain, the High Court ruled on February 13 that the ban on Palestine Action was unlawful; the government said it would appeal and was granted permission to do so.
by WorldBrief & Maksim Micheliov | AI-generated summary
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