Palestine in March 2026: the most important developments in society
Palestine in March 2026 was marked by worsening living conditions in Gaza and growing settler violence in the West Bank. The UN population agency UNFPA reported rising rates of child marriage among girls in Gaza, citing pressure to marry and reports of sexual abuse after marriage. A UN report on 18 March said humanitarian needs were deepening while aid access remained severely constrained, and fuel and electricity shortages worsened later in the month. Egypt kept sending aid convoys, including a 3,000-ton shipment on 25 March, but the closure of the Rafah crossing left patients without access to treatment abroad. Reports of the torture of a Palestinian toddler brought calls for an independent investigation.
In the West Bank, a UN human rights report said Israel had displaced 36,000 Palestinians over the past year, largely through settlement expansion and settler violence, and expressed concern that the displacement could amount to ethnic cleansing. Settlers forced shepherds off their land, set fire to a mosque south of Nablus, burned buildings and vehicles in attacks across the territory in late March, and vandalised a Palestinian high school with graffiti reading 'A good Arab is a dead one'. The head of a relief organisation and a priest in a Christian town warned that rising settler incursions threaten the remaining Christian communities.
In Jerusalem, Israeli authorities kept the Al-Aqsa Mosque closed for Eid al-Fitr prayers for the first time in decades. Hundreds prayed outside the Old City, where police used tear gas to disperse crowds.
Elsewhere, the British government banned a planned pro-Palestinian march, citing intelligence about Iranian support for it, and a pro-Palestinian coalition announced what it called its largest aid flotilla yet.
by WorldBrief & Maksim Micheliov | AI-generated summary
Click a day in the chart above for that day's brief.