150 people were killed in Gaza in the month of July – “the highest reported monthly death toll since the beginning of the year”, states the United Nations Humanitarian Agency (OCHA).

Israel has continued its relentless and systematic attacks on Gaza, including bulldozing tented areas where make shift schools were set up.

“Since the announcement of a ceasefire agreement on 10 October 2025 and as of 5 August 2026, 1,254 Palestinians were killed, 4,121 were injured, and 804 were retrieved from under the rubble.”

The recovery of bodies buried under their apartment block homes took place over a period of two weeks. 112 human remains were retrieved from the homes which were hit by an Israeli airstrike in November 2023 in As Sabra, southern Gaza city. The remains include those of 40 children, 38 women, and 7 persons with disabilities. 157 people remain missing after that attack – presumed still lying under the rubble.

Today, Saturday 15 August, people in Orkney will gather on the Kirk Green, outside St Magnus Cathedral, Kirkwall, between the hours of 1 and 2pm to raise awareness of the Gaza Genocide and of the wider implications of the US/Israel War of Choice with Iran. All are welcome to join with them who wish to see Peace and Justice for the People of Palestine and the wider region.

In the illegally occupied West Bank, Israeli settlers continue to terrorise and attack Palestinian families, besieging them in their own homes, and destroying crops. In the Ras al Ein area of Qusra village, south of Nablus,  Israeli settler thugs have been cutting off power and water supplies to the families living there. 

A spokesperson for OHCHR said:

“These criminal actions by the settlers, supported or acquiesced to by Israel, the Occupying Power, are making life unbearable for these Palestinian families and are clearly aimed at forcing them to leave their homes and their land.

“Time is running out for these three families before they are forcibly displaced”.

20 Palestinian families from Qusra were “evacuated”by Israel Defense Forces soldiers “for security purposes”

This policy of Clearance is part of the Israeli government’s ultimate aim to create a ‘Greater Israel’ removing Palestinians from farms and villages by force, intimidation and violence.

The same process is being carried out by Israel in southern Lebanon. The Guardian carried an article this week “Israel deliberately starting wildfires in southern Lebanon, firefighters say”.

Olive groves and crops have been targeted.

“Environmental groups said the fires in recent weeks were part of a longstanding Israeli practice of targeting Lebanon’s natural environment.

“On Tuesday, the Israeli military dropped flares in a wooded area outside Khiam, in south Lebanon, sparking blazes. When firefighters attempted to extinguish the flames, a drone struck close by, forcing them to withdraw, said the head of the civil defence in the Nabatieh region, Hussein Fakih.”

It is the same methods used by Israel in Gaza, and The West Bank – to make the land uninhabitable, and unproductive for Palestinians to drive the people out and make way for extending the borders of Israel.

Readers interested in supporting Palestinian farmers can do so by buying from Zaytoun – a Fair Trade social enterprise.

The Orkney Peace vigil welcomes anyone who wishes to join with them on the Kirk Green, Saturday 15 August, 1 – 2 pm.

Fiona Grahame