Overview
- Two members of The Elders, Mary Robinson and Helen Clark, completed a weeklong visit to Israel, the occupied West Bank, Jordan and Lebanon and warned the situation for Palestinians has sharply worsened.
- They said fast expansion of Israeli settlements and rising settler violence are driving the loss of Palestinian territory and space for a future state.
- Independent monitoring groups report the Netanyahu government has approved about 100 new West Bank settlements and the United Nations recorded more than 760 settler-related incidents that injured people or damaged property in early 2026.
- Robinson and Clark called for international accountability, urging the EU to suspend trade benefits with Israel or ban settlement products and urging states to recognise Palestinian statehood to shore up the two-state option.
- The Elders met Israel’s President Isaac Herzog, who pushed back on parts of their account, while international courts and UN bodies have found the occupation and settlement activity unlawful, a legal context the Elders cited as supporting their calls.