Within days of the U.S.-Israeli War on Iran breaking out in late February 2026, streets across West Bank cities filled with lines at gas stations as prices for vegetables and bread surged, and the strain has persisted despite a two-week ceasefire.

With Gaza still lying in the ruins of a devastating war and Israeli Occupation raids and settlement attacks intensifying across the West Bank, Palestinian municipal ballot boxes are set to open on April 25, 2026.

Nikolay Mladenov, the former UN envoy to the Middle East, has emerged as the leading contender to head the “Peace Council” for Gaza, a body that would oversee day-to-day governance of the territory.

Palestinian authorities have detained Hicham Harb, a suspect in the 1982 Paris attack, sparking legal and political controversy over his possible extradition to France.

As the US moves to finalize two key elements of Trump’s second-phase plan for Gaza, the shape of “the day after” in Gaza is coming into focus, and it may not be what the Israeli Occupation hoped for.