EU Urges US to Let Palestinian Leaders Into the UN as Gaza Strikes Continue
September 19, 2026. The European Union urged Washington to reverse its travel ban on Palestinian leaders ahead of the UN General Assembly, as Israeli strikes in Gaza killed four people, including the son of Gaza's health chief. Here's each story in brief, with links to the original reporting.
EU Presses Washington to Lift Palestinian Travel Ban
The European Union urged the US to reconsider barring the Palestinian delegation from the UN General Assembly, pointing to its obligations as host country. The Assembly has voted to let Mahmoud Abbas speak via pre-recorded video.
Sources: Al Jazeera
Health Chief's Son Among Four Killed in Gaza
Four Palestinians were killed in Israeli attacks, including the eldest son of Gaza health ministry director-general Munir al-Bursh, hit by a drone outside a tent in Jabalia, Al Jazeera reports. At least 1,381 people have been killed in Gaza since the ceasefire began.
Sources: Al Jazeera, Al Jazeera
Herzog Clears Soldier Who Killed Wounded Palestinian
Israel's President Isaac Herzog effectively wiped the record of Elor Azaria, the soldier convicted of shooting a wounded Palestinian who was already incapacitated in 2016, over the objections of Israel's army chief.
Sources: Al Jazeera
Young Coders in Gaza Refuse to Give Up
Students in a Deir el-Balah robotics project are building sensors and early-warning systems with whatever equipment they can find, Al Jazeera reports, after Gaza's tech sector was devastated.
Sources: Al Jazeera
UEFA Says No to Ireland's Israel Request
European soccer's governing body rejected Ireland's request to be kept apart from Israel in future draws, saying such requests are judged case by case.
Sources: Al Jazeera
Israel Hits Back at UK Over Ethnic Cleansing Charge
Israel's foreign minister called UK Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband's ethnic cleansing accusation "outrageous lies".
Sources: Al Jazeera
The Film Israel Won't Watch
An Al Jazeera piece argues the backlash against the Gaza documentary NAZA reflects a wider refusal to face the war's reality.
Sources: Al Jazeera
Gaza's Waste Sites Reach Capacity
Two temporary dumping sites in Gaza have closed after exceeding capacity, raising public health risks, the UN warns.
Sources: OCHA
Where Things Stand
The October 2025 ceasefire never fully held. Strikes have continued almost daily, and the machinery, fuel and spare parts needed for repairs are still mostly kept out of Gaza. More than 73,900 Palestinians have been killed and over 174,000 wounded in Gaza since October 2023, health officials say, with the count still climbing through strikes that never stopped.
Sources: Al Jazeera, OCHA
The UN has logged settler attacks against 275 Palestinian communities in the West Bank this year, close to the 2025 record and far above levels seen a decade ago. Israeli authorities have demolished more than 1,100 Palestinian structures in the West Bank this year, displacing over 1,500 people, most for building without permits that are almost never granted. More than 90 percent of Gaza is destroyed or damaged. UNICEF puts the figure for schools at 98 percent, and thousands now shelter in buildings at risk of collapse.
Sources: OCHA
Funding is its own crisis. UN agencies have cut food aid in Gaza and the West Bank as Western donations drop, at a moment when humanitarian groups say needs are the highest since the war began. Diplomatically, the past year brought recognition of the State of Palestine by the UK, Canada and Australia in September 2025, followed by the first Western trade measures against illegal settlements. The United States has not recognized Palestinian statehood.
Sources: OCHA
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