Today, Black Moon Lillith, the point where the Moon is furthest from the Earth, comes into effect. Rebellion, hidden taboos, and the shaddow self will make themselves known.

Cancer, Leo and Virgo, take pride in standing up for yourself and what you believe in. You are your own biggest advocate.

As the Moon in this rare placement clashes with Mars, things could feel particularly firey. Don’t let amyone question your worth or uniqueness.

Ahead, you’ll find all star signs’ horoscopes for today: Tuesday August 4, 2026.

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Aries

March 21 to April 20

With your ruler clashing with Black Moon Lilith today, the spikier side of your nature may surface. This may see you debating with someone you disagree with or feeling drawn towards someone challenging. If you enjoy the thrill of the chase, this can call out to you too. If someone seems or acts as being unavailable, you can find yourself wanting to pursue them all the more!

Head here for everything you need to know about being an Aries

Taurus

April 21 to May 21

Chiron in Taurus is stirring questions about what you really value, including yourself. It can also make you more mindful of your approach to finances, what you spend but also what you attract. However, today, a brief but powerful aspect could see you more in the mood to live in the moment and indulge your senses. Now then, what do you fancy?

Head here for everything you need to know about being a Taurus

Gemini

May 22 to June 21

Your thinking has been given more spark of late, as the feisty Mars has powered through your sign. If you are a Twin happy to debate for the fun of it, you may have seen yourself gleefully discussing all sorts of subjects. Mind, things could get more intense today, and you may feel frustrated if you can’t get your point across or if it’s not understood.

Head here for everything you need to know about being a Gemini

Cancer

June 22 to July 23

Your equilibrium can be knocked off balance today, when some deeper unexpected energies come up. This may be an old hurt or anger which is triggered, perhaps by someone’s pointed comment. It’s not usually your style to react, more to withdraw, but if you feel someone is deliberately trying to trigger you, step up and take them on with your own direct take.

Head here for everything you need to know about being a Cancer

Leo

July 24 to August 23

It’s not that every Leo requires complete attention, but a healthy dash of respect sure does help. Recently, you have pitched in and shown a talent for working in group situations. Yet with Black Moon Lilith reminding you of your uniqueness, it’s a timely reminder to not forgo showcasing your star quality. However, someone may feel sidelined by this.

Head here for everything you need to know about being a Leo

Virgo

August 24 to September 23

The push to get ahead can be strong, but today’s clash between Mars and Black Moon Lilith suggests someone may question your motives or methods. While you usually prefer to let your actions do the talking, there are times when you need to stand up for yourself. Equally, if you’re feeling frustrated with an authority figure, do choose your words carefully

Head here for everything you need to know about being a Virgo

Libra

September 24 to October 23

Relationships can show some tension. If someone has very different beliefs or opinions, you might wonder whether it’s worth debating at all. Sometimes it can be, but sometimes agreeing to disagree is the wiser option. Today can also awaken a desire to broaden your horizons, encouraging you to explore fresh ideas without feeling the need to abandon your own.

Head here for everything you need to know about being a Libra

Scorpio

October 24 to November 22

A situation involving money, shared resources or an emotional attachment could become more intense today. You tend to sense what lies beneath the surface, and today’s influences can confirm that your instincts have been spot on. Even so, look to gather all the facts before making your next move; it will put you in a stronger position.

Head here for everything you need to know about being a Scorpio

Sagittarius

November 23 to December 21

Black Moon Lilith in your sign reminds you that you don’t need anyone’s approval to be yourself. Even so, today’s opposition from Mars could see someone challenge your views or question your intentions. While standing your ground has its place, listening carefully may reveal that there is more common ground than first appears. A little flexibility is not selling out.

Head here for everything you need to know about being a Sagittarius

Capricorn

December 22 to January 21

There may be more going on behind the scenes than first meets the eye. If something or someone has been irritating you, today’s energies could bring matters to light. Rather than bottling everything up, look for a way to say how you feel. Clearing the air, tackling an overdue task, or simply taking some time out can help restore a sense of control.

Head here for everything you need to know about being a Capricorn

Aquarius

January 22 to February 19

Your social life or involvement with a group could become livelier; however, if differing opinions emerge, resist the temptation to play devil’s advocate simply for the sake of it. On the plus side, today’s influences can inspire bold creative ideas and encourage you to connect with people who appreciate your unique take and originality. There is only one you, Aquarius!

Head here for everything you need to know about being an Aquarius

Pisces

February 20 to March 20

You may feel caught between your personal ambitions and others’ expectations. If someone questions your choices, don’t let self-doubt creep in. You know better than most that everyone has their own path to follow. Stay true to yours, Pisces, while remaining open to advice that genuinely supports your long-term aims rather than stifling you or holding you back.

Head here for everything you need to know about being a Pisces

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The leaders of UEFA, CONCACAF and the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) have reportedly formed an alliance aimed at toppling Gianni Infantino. 

The FIFA president is under huge pressure after he was forced to abandon a hugely controversial proposal to sell stakes in the World Cup to a group led by Josh Kushner, the brother of Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared, following a major revolt from the footballing world.

UEFA subsequently declared a loss of confidence in the Italian-Swiss administrator, while the English and Welsh FA are among several countries to withdraw their support for his re-election in next March’s elections. 

This has left Infantino fighting for his job, and he reportedly held crunch talks with the White House on Monday in a bid to help him survive. 

And now, according to The Times, the leaders of the three confederations are preparing to ‘paralyse FIFA’ if he refuses to resign. 

The report adds that they have several plans in place if the FIFA President insists on remaining in power and seeking re-election at next March’s election. 

The alliance includes the leaders of UEFA, CONCACAF and the AFC (pictured – Infantino with his UEFA counterpart Aleksander Ceferin in 2024)

This includes being prepared to stage their own rival international competitions, while they are also willing to impose a ‘government boycott’.

This would effectively mean they would refuse to either ratify FIFA decisions or be involved in council and committee meetings.  

A source told The Times: ‘Everyone is very determined he needs to go, and if not we will take all the necessary steps [to remove him from power]. 

‘That includes future international competitions – would the big South American countries prefer to play France or Spain, or Lebanon or Djibouti? Everyone is very determined, there are no backward steps now.’

It is also believed that with several countries withdrawing their support for Infantino, he has only secured the backing of around 15 nations so far.

Back in the summer, it was understood that the 56-year-old had the support of nearly all of the 211 FIFA members for his re-election in March. He needs 106 votes to win. 

No candidates have yet come forward to challenge him though, and they only have until November 18 to do so. 

If a significant number of nations called for Infantino to quit, it may help generate support for an emergency FIFA council meeting. 

The English and Welsh FA are among the nations to withdraw their support for Infantino

Daily Mail Sport also reported earlier on Monday how several European nations, including England and Wales, had formally withdrawn their backing for the beleaguered football chief. 

At the weekend, the FA had called for ‘a full and robust review of FIFA’s leadership and governance to ensure that the global game is run transparently’.

A statement from the Welsh FA on Monday then read: ‘The Football Association of Wales hereby confirms its withdrawal of support for the candidature of Mr. Gianni Infantino, for re-election as FIFA President for the 2027–2031 term.

‘The recent failures in good governance, processes, leadership, values, stakeholder management, communications and sound judgement have led us to a position where Mr. Infantino has lost the confidence of the FAW to remain at the helm of world football. Failing to put the best interests of football first is a failure we cannot accept.’

Serbia, Sweden and Finland also publicly withdrew their support, although Morocco, Qatar, Lebanon, Kuwait and Sri Lanka were among those to back Infantino.  

The latest update in this saga comes after UEFA sent Infantino a legal letter on Friday, where it threatened legal action over the abandoned plot, before adding that documents relating to the plan, known as FIFA Forward Enterprise (FFE), must be preserved. 

The letter to Infantino read: ‘Uefa hereby gives formal notice that it is actively considering legal action, arbitration, and/or regulatory complaints (together, the “proceedings”) arising out of and in connection with the FFE plan proposed by Fifa and all related matters as further described below.

‘You and Fifa are required to take immediate steps to identify, locate, and preserve all documents and electronically stored information described in this notice that are in your or Fifa’s possession, custody, or control.’

UEFA went on to warn FIFA that ‘any destruction, deletion, alteration, concealment or loss of relevant materials’ after their letter ‘may constitute spoliation of evidence’.

They then refused to rule out further action if any of the aforementioned actions took place, but the letter itself is not legal action. 

The letter also insisted that FIFA must ensure that certain individuals, including Infantino, Arsene Wenger, FIFA’s chief of global football development, secretary general Mattias Grafstrom and Kevin Lamour, FIFA’s chief operating officer, ‘specifically preserve all such materials in their possession’. 

UEFA later confirmed to Daily Mail Sport that a document preservation letter was sent.

People ‘incensed’ by the new rules have been corrected on how the proposals will work

Critics of Andy Burnham‘s road test rules for drivers over 70 have been been corrected following confusion about the new proposed measures.

Under the proposals, older motorists are set to face compulsory new tests – and will have their licences revoked if they fail.

They form part of a fresh road safety strategy drawn up by the Labour Government, now led by Andy Burnham. The significant crackdown is designed to ensure that drivers aged over 70 remain safe to continue behind the wheel, Yorkshire Live reports.

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It is widely expected to result in greater numbers of elderly drivers being removed from the roads as over 70s will be required to sit eyesight tests under the proposed measures.

However, following the announcement of the proposals, some Brits took to social media to express their outrage at the changes – believing that over 70s would have to do a whole new driving test every three years instead of just an eye test.

One X user said: “I’ve just written to my MP about Burnham’s plans for over 70’s to take a driving test every 3 years. I am totally incensed about it on so many levels.”

The X community note corrects the post, stating that: “Eyesight tests will be required every 3 years from age 70. Not full driving tests.”

Over 70s must pass the eye test in order to successfully renew their licence and retain the right to drive. The move follows mounting pressure for stricter safety measures regarding older drivers, in the wake of a number of tragedies in recent years.

Pensioners may also be required to undergo ‘cognitive’ tests under measures currently being considered, amid concerns over reaction times and concentration levels.

Motorists are already required to renew their licences upon turning 70, and every three years thereafter. Under the current system, individuals are expected to declare any medical conditions themselves.

Mixed martial arts fighter Allan Nascimento has died at the age of 34, says the UFC.

According to MMA’s leading promotion, the Brazilian flyweight was found unresponsive on Monday morning after suffering an apparent heart attack in his sleep.

“Despite the efforts of the responding medical team, he was pronounced deceased at the scene,” added a UFC statement., external

“Our thoughts and deepest condolences are with Allan’s family, friends, team-mates and loved ones during this incredibly difficult time.”

Nascimento had been with the UFC since 2021 and his last fight was a split-decision loss to Mitch Raposo in June.

That left Nascimento with an overall MMA record of 22 wins and seven losses, with a 4-2 record in the UFC.

Two men were spotted in the area at the time dressed all in black and wearing face coverings.

A car was torched in a late-night attack in Blantyre on Sunday. The alarm was raised around 11.40pm when officers were alerted to a motor having been set alight on Ivy Place in the South Lanarkshire town.

Emergency services, including Police Scotland and Scottish Fire and Rescue Service, raced to the scene. The blaze was extinguished. No one was injured in the dramatic incident.

Police are now hunting two men who were seen pushing a bicycle in the area at the time. The men were dressed in black clothing and wearing face covering.

Cops are trawling through more CCTV footage to get to the bottom of what happened. The force has also issued a public appeal for information, particularly drivers who may have stumbled across some relevant dash-cam footage.

Detective Constable Stuart Adams said: “I am appealing to anyone who was in the area around the time of the fire to think back and consider if they noticed anything suspicious or unusual.

“I would also appeal to any motorists with dash-cam to check their footage for any images which could assist our investigation. Any small piece of information could prove relevant.”

Anyone with information is asked to call Police Scotland via 101, quoting incident number 3677 of Sunday, 2 August, 2026. Alternatively, please call Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 where you can give your information anonymously.

In a separate “reckless” incident a car was set alight in Stevenston, North Ayrshire on Tuesday. The motor went up in smoke around 1am on Millhill Road, prompting a hefty emergency response. No one was hurt.

Detective Constable Martine Armstrong said: “Thankfully no-one was injured as a result of this reckless act. Our enquiries are ongoing and I am appealing for anyone who witnessed the incident and hasn’t already spoken to officers to contact us. I would ask anyone who was in the area and has dash cam or private CCTV footage which could assist to get in touch.”

Anyone with any information is asked to contact 101 quoting reference 0164 of 28 July, 2026.

Easby Abbey, properly known as the Abbey of St Agatha, was founded around 1152 by Roald, constable of nearby Richmond Castle.

It was only the third Premonstratensian monastery established in England, home to canons known as “White Canons” because of their plain, undyed robes, a title distinguishing them from the black-robed Benedictine monks found elsewhere.

Unlike traditional monks who withdrew from the world, the Premonstratensian canons combined a life of prayer with active pastoral work, preaching, teaching, and serving local parishes, while also having authority to celebrate mass.

Evidence suggests a religious community existed on the site even before the abbey’s founding, likely based around the parish church of St Agatha, itself possibly an Anglo-Saxon minster serving the surrounding area.

Easby Abbey near Richmond. (Image: NORTHERN ECHO CAMERA CLUB)

Wealth, sheep, and Scottish raids

The abbey prospered steadily through the late 12th and early 13th centuries, its endowment growing through more than 100 charters, with sheep farming becoming one of its main sources of income.

Its success allowed the community to found its own daughter house, Egglestone Abbey in nearby Teesdale, in 1198.

That prosperity attracted powerful patrons.

From the 14th century, the wealthy Scrope family of Bolton Castle took over patronage of Easby, funding an expansion of the abbey church and choosing it as their family burial place, with several generations of the Scrope barons interred there, including Richard le Scrope, 1st Baron Scrope of Bolton, who died in 1403.

Like much of the north, Easby also suffered during the medieval period, with the abbey badly damaged in 1346 when English troops were billeted there en route to the Battle of Neville’s Cross.

Easby Abbey near Richmond. (Image: NORTHERN ECHO CAMERA CLUB)

Dissolved by Henry VIII

Easby’s fortunes changed dramatically in the 1530s, when Henry VIII ordered the dissolution of England’s monasteries.

By 1536, the community had dwindled to just 11 canons, and the abbey was closed, its lands leased to Lord Scrope of Bolton for £300.

Within two years, most of the buildings had been stripped of valuable materials and left to fall into ruin, though some treasures were saved, including the abbey’s ornate canopied choir stalls, which survive today inside Richmond’s parish church.

Easby Abbey near Richmond. (Image: NORTHERN ECHO CAMERA CLUB)

From ruin to romantic icon

Ownership of the abbey passed through several families over the following centuries, including the Scropes, the Howes, and the Burtons, before industrialist Robert Jaques bought the estate in 1816.

By this point, the ruins had become a magnet for antiquarians and Romantic-era artists drawn to their crumbling grandeur, most famously JMW Turner, who painted the abbey amid its riverside setting.

The Jaques family retained ownership until 1930, when the ruins were taken into state guardianship, eventually passing to English Heritage, which maintains the site today.

Visiting Easby Abbey today

Visitors can still explore the abbey’s substantial surviving structures, including its magnificent refectory, gatehouse, and the canons’ dormitory, offering a clear sense of the site’s former scale.

Entry is free, with the abbey open daily from 10am to 6pm between late March and October, and 10am to 4pm during the winter months.

Next door, the still-active parish church of St Agatha contains rare 13th-century wall paintings, considered one of the hidden highlights of a visit.

A popular way to experience the site is via the scenic riverside walk from Richmond Castle, a roughly 35-minute route along the Swale that builds anticipation before the ruins come into view.

Celebrity Hunted is back for a new series, with a fresh set of famous faces on the run

Celebrity Hunted viewers suggested part of the show was “set up” as it returned for a new series.

The popular programme – which sees stars on the run and trying to stay hidden while being pursued by specialist trackers – has returned for a new series on Channel 4, with Strictly’s Amy Dowden and EastEnders’ Brian Conley among those taking part, reports the Mirror.

In the first episode, the celebs flew into their starting point in helicopters as they were tracked by members of the team who tried to make them land.

“You must land immediately!” shouted one of the Hunters, as another yelled: “Land now, land now!”

However, one viewer suggested it wasn’t realistic, claiming the helicopters’ flight paths would have already been laid out.

One posted on X: “Has there ever been a more set up show. As if the flight plans for these 3 helicopters weren’t submitted to the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) weeks ago and are all flying at the legal mandated speed, height and distance between them in London.”

“Obsessed with how fake this is now,” quipped one viewer, while another questioned: “Hang on… heading east when the lone heli stops the pair but that looks suspiciously like Westminster Bridge under them even though they’ve just flown over the city…”

Someone else suggested the show felt “staged”.

The cast of the series, in aid of Stand Up To Cancer, includes actor and comedian Brian Conley alongside his daughter Lucy and Strictly Come Dancing stars Amy Dowden and Carlos Gu. Joining them are TV personalities Scarlette and Stuart Douglas, Love Island contestants Chris Taylor and Toby Aromolaran, presenters and disability campaigners JJ Chalmers and Sophie Morgan and comedians Jen Brister and Laura Smyth.

“For 14 relentless days they must stay hidden, think fast and trust no one because the moment they leave a trail, the hunt is on,” reads a synopsis.

“Pursuing them is Ray Howard and his elite team of Hunters drawn from policing, military and intelligence backgrounds.

“They have the full arsenal of the modern state at their disposal including CCTV, ANPR, Facial Recognition, helicopters, drones, search dogs, cyber investigations and media appeals. Every clue, every sighting and every mistake can mean a capture.”

Viewers said they “loved” the first instalment, with one posting on X: “Great start, some really interesting fugitive pairings.” “Looking good so far, so full on,” said someone else.

Celebrity Hunted is airing on Channel 4.

Popular YouTube creator Max Gilardi has shocked fans by saying he is planning on traveling to Switzerland to be euthanized. 

Gilardi, 38, from Gloucester, Massachusetts, made the harrowing announcement on Sunday in a pre-recorded video posted to his page, called hotdiggedydemon. 

He told his 2.1 million followers that ‘after considering every option I could think of’ he has decided to pursue ‘doctor-assisted euthanasia’ as his ‘final solution’. 

Gilardi, who makes animated videos and livestreams himself playing video games, explained that he has been struggling with chronic illness for the past few years.  

The creator said he was diagnosed with fibromyalgia in 2024, a condition that causes pain throughout the body which has been limiting his ability to produce more content. 

‘I’m tired all the time,’ Gilardi said. ‘I spend a lot of my time lying down. I get a lot of bad pain in all my joints and my muscles, ankles, shins, hands, knees, hips, neck. I have a lot of difficulty sleeping.’

The creator added that he has also been dealing with a plethora of other health issues that doctors have been unable to diagnose, including a relentless drooling he dubbed ‘slobber mouth’, brain fog, and difficulty speaking. 

‘I would truly describe slobber mouth as maddening,’ he said. 

‘And as you can imagine, when you have slobber mouth and discognition (sic), and shortness of breath, and a scratchy throat that won’t stop producing mucus, and a tongue that feels numb and tingly, it makes streaming hard.’ 

He said the rising cost of his medical bills, including a $900 bill for an MRI which did not lead to a diagnosis or treatment, have compounded his despair. 

Gilardi makes animations, as shown above

‘There’s nothing more expensive than living,’ Gilardi said, adding that he is ‘constantly running out of money’ and has ‘outstanding medical bills’. 

The creator said his decision to seek euthanasia came after more than a year of considering his options, and felt like a ‘natural conclusion’ to his life. 

‘My existence has become one where I suffer and barely scrape by so I can continue to sustain an existence where I barely scrape by and suffer,’ Gilardi said. 

He also gave a lengthy insight into the struggles of living with fibromyalgia, saying he felt like he had ‘brain damage’. 

‘Fibromyalgia could maybe be conceptualized as a sort of non-definitional form of brain damage, if there is such a thing as non-definitional brain damage,’ he said. 

‘There’s a part of your brain called the hypothalamus, and when it’s damaged and it breaks, that’s what causes fibro. It breaks and starts sending out kind of bad signals to the rest of your body.’ 

The outpouring appeared to prompt Gilardi to change his mind, as he wrote on X hours later that he would ‘reassess’ his decision to travel to Switzerland, as shown above 

Gilardi added that he believes he may have developed the condition after contracting Covid-19. 

‘It can be caused by a concussive head injury or a bad viral infection, which, for me, was Covid,’ the creator explained. 

‘I got Covid in the winter of 2023, and then about a month… yeah, about a month and a half later, I got fibro, and I got slobber mouth.’ 

Gilardi’s fans were horrified, with many begging him not to seek euthanasia. 

Many told the creator they loved him and urged him to seek help, while some offered to donate money to cover his medical bills. 

The outpouring appeared to prompt Gilardi to change his mind, as he wrote on X hours later that he would ‘reassess’ his decision to travel to Switzerland. 

‘JEEEEZ you guys okay fine haha jk just kidding!! Nevermind!! Jk just kidding jk jk!!’ he wrote, before adding: ‘Decided I’m not thinking clearly, will reassess’. 

Euthanasia, which is administered by a doctor, is illegal in Switzerland, but assisted suicide, which involves the person who wants to die injecting themselves with a lethal substance, is allowed under certain circumstances. 

Switzerland’s most famous clinic, Dignitas, is based in Zurich and generally only offers euthanasia to those suffering from terminal illnesses.

The country is also home to Pegasos, which has more relaxed rules and offers assisted suicide to anyone suffering ‘a poor quality of life.’

Patients are generally euthanized by drinking a lethal cocktail of barbiturate drugs. 

Gilardi rose to internet fame with his web series called PONY.MOV, a a gory adult parody of the animated TV series My Little Pony. 

He now runs a media analysis series known as Brain Dump, while streaming to fans on YouTube as hotdiggedydemon.  

Hamas’s agreement to US president Donald Trump’s disarmament roadmap is welcome news. It potentially unlocks the stalemate that has kept 2 million Gazans living in catastrophic conditions since the ceasefire was announced more than nine months ago.

But there are concerns. Israel is unlikely to accept the plan, as it will require the withdrawal of the Israeli military from Gaza. The Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, is likely to try to stall at least until elections are held in late October.

Hamas knows this, and being in no rush to disarm, will also be content to slow-walk the process. If or when there are additional negotiations, each party is likely to object to the details to delay the process further or suspend it altogether.

Some of these hurdles can be overcome through sustained diplomatic engagement and pressure on both parties. But this is far from guaranteed. And an additional challenge that could derail any potential progress looms large beyond Gaza’s borders: the deteriorating situation in the West Bank.

I just returned from a month of fieldwork in the West Bank, meeting with local NGO workers, community leaders and youth activists and documenting settler violence, forced displacement and land seizures. Many people I met, whether in cities, refugee camps or rural areas, said they fear a repeat of Gaza in the West Bank. They fear another major war, another Nakba (meaning “catastrophe”: the term Palestinians use to describe the mass displacement of Palestinians in 1948). One person I spoke with said they felt as if “it’s going to explode”. This is a common view among people in the West Bank.

Pressure cooker

After spending weeks travelling around the territory, it wasn’t hard to see why. I have been visiting the region for more than 20 years, and life in the West Bank has never been easy for its residents. But now, it’s like a pressure cooker.

Travel within the West Bank has become much harder and slower, with additional checkpoints, gates and unpredictable road closures – mostly near expanding settlements – adding hours to simple journeys of less than 20km. On the roads that are open, settlers have lined the pavement with Israeli flags and blacked out the Arabic writing on multilingual road signs with spray paint.

In the cities, petrol stations are out of fuel and hospitals are short of medicine. Civil servants are out of work or earning only partial wages, as Israel continues to withhold much-needed tax revenues to the Palestinian Authority. More people are also being squeezed into urban areas as a result of both Israeli military seizures of neighbouring refugee camps and settler violence against rural communities. This is adding additional strain and tension to urban areas.

For example, I visited Tulkarem, where two refugee camps, once home to more than 33,000 people, now sit like empty ghost towns. In January 2025, the residents were forced out of the camps by the Israeli military. Most are still living in temporary shelters in schools or mosques, or in overcrowded apartments housing 30 to 40 people.

Residents of Jenin Camp were also displaced last year, and in late July, Israeli defence minister Israel Katz instructed the IDF to take control of another refugee camp, suggesting another major offensive and further mass displacement.

Other areas I visited rarely make international headlines, but they are well known within Palestine. For example, the Jordan Valley is a mostly rural area that stretches about 10km wide and 100km long. It hugs the West Bank’s border with Jordan and is comprised mostly of small, simple farming villages. The region is also part of what is referred to as Area C under the Oslo Accords, the peace deal signed between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) in 1995. The deal divided the West Bank into three areas with specific levels of security and control. Area C is under Israeli civil and military control.

All of Area C has experienced accelerated Israeli settlement growth, with over 100 new settlements approved by the current Israeli government since 2023. These are illegal under international law but supported by the state of Israel. In the Jordan Valley, there are 30 settlements as well as nine new outposts, which are typically unsanctioned by Israel initially, but usually allowed to develop into formal settlements with Israeli military protection.

Settlement expansion and land confiscation is not new in this area. But episodes of direct settler attacks accelerated after October 7 2023 and have continued to skyrocket across the West Bank, with about 2,500 documented attacks in 2026 alone.

These attacks were described by 600 former senior Israeli officials as terrorism, in a July 28 open letter to the Netanyahu government. Incidents range from harassment and stealing livestock, to arson, property destruction and physical, sometimes deadly attacks. In the Jordan Valley, such attacks have forced more than 45 entire villages to flee.

I visited one village, Ein el Hilweh, that had been home to 150 families. Their homes had been destroyed, and all that remained was a single tent erected by a solidarity group. At the entrance to the village, settlers had painted a picture of Greater Israel, showing the state of Israel extending across the Middle East from the Nile River in Egypt to the Euphrates River in Iraq.

Cycle of violence

The situation in Tulkarem, the Jordan Valley and other parts of the West Bank may appear disconnected from Gaza and Hamas disarmament negotiations. But they are inextricably linked for several reasons.

First, every settler attack risks unleashing an uncontrollable cycle of violence, like an incident in the village of Tal near Nablus in late July in which four Palestinians and two Israelis were killed, sparking days of retaliatory attacks. Many worry that Netanyahu will use a similar incident as a pretext for a broader military operation in the West Bank, and in turn halt negotiations or prevent any withdrawal from Gaza.

Second, even the slim chance that Hamas does disarm in Gaza doesn’t mean that armed struggle will disappear. On the contrary, in the absence of a broader, comprehensive agreement, other groups and individuals will jockey to fill that gap in both Gaza and the West Bank. Moreover, in the face of unsanctioned settler attacks, support for armed resistance as a form of self-defence in the West Bank will only increase.

Third, and deriving from the point above, no disarmament plan for Gaza and/or the West Bank will succeed without a credible pathway to Palestinian self-determination. The youth activists I met across the West Bank are hungry for a new political vision, but they do not see one. When I met with youth groups, nearly all of them told me that their greatest fear is that Palestine will cease to exist in any form by the year 2040 or 2050.

Donald Trump’s Board of Peace, which reportedly has negotiated the most recent agreement – and the international community more broadly – should leverage this moment to convince them otherwise. As discussions over potential decommissioning begin, they should be coupled with a commitment to and investment in a negotiated political process to ensure a better future for all of Palestine.