LUISTER NAAR DE JOODSE STEMMEN OVER

DE ISRAELISCHE MEGA-MISDRIJVEN TEGEN

HET INTERNATIONAAL HUMANITAIR RECHT

JEGENS DE PALESTIJNEN !

THE JEWISH VOICE FOR PEACE - JVP

  LEES "THE WIRE" !

BERICHTEN NA 28-02-2025 STAAN HIER

11 maart 2025

Today's headlines

We are international students organizing for Palestine, and we won’t be deterred

Anonymous Contributor

They can deport every last one of us, but they cannot erase the spirit of Palestinian resistance. That is what they fear.

Bakeries go dark in Gaza as Israel cuts off fuel to 2.1 million people

Tareq S. Hajjaj

As prices soar and essential goods disappear, famine conditions threaten to return to Gaza following Israel's closure of the border and the suspension of the delivery of fuel and aid.

1113.

10 maart 2025

The U.S. Government Is Targeting Palestinian Activists—Mahmoud Must Be Released NOW

On Saturday, March 8, DHS agents stormed the New York home of Mahmoud Khalil, a Palestinian student activist and U.S. permanent resident, and abducted him in front of his family. His 8-month pregnant wife, a U.S. citizen, was denied the chance to see him, and ICE has refused to disclose his whereabouts. Mahmoud has already been moved out of New York and could face imminent deportation.

Take Action: Demand that Congress, the DHS Secretary, and the State Department take immediate action to secure Mahmoud’s release and protect student activists and immigrants.

Mahmoud was targeted for his activism and calling for an end to Israel’s genocide in Gaza. He has no criminal record, yet he is being illegally detained in an ICE facility in a blatant act of political repression.

This is not just an attack on Mahmoud—it’s a crackdown on free speech, due process, and the right to dissent, and it won’t stop at this one individual. Secretary of State Marco Rubio openly confirmed that the U.S. government is revoking legal residency status and deporting individuals for their political views—a direct violation of the First Amendment and an alarming escalation of political repression. The Trump administration does not have the legal authority to revoke his green card, but that hasn’t stopped them from disappearing a Palestinian activist to silence the growing movement for Palestinian liberation.

This is the same administration that slashed over $400 million in funding to Columbia University, claiming the school hasn’t done enough to fight antisemitism—when in reality, this is about punishing those who refuse to be silent on Palestine. Columbia has expelled, suspended, and even physically assaulted students for protesting genocide, yet even their bowing to Zionist pressure wasn’t enough to protect them from Trump’s crackdown. Now, the university is actively collaborating with the U.S. government to target its own students.

This is state-sponsored political persecution. These are the actions of a fascist government, and we need to generate overwhelming public outrage and pressure to ensure Mahmoud's release immediately. The U.S. government is setting a dangerous precedent—anyone who challenges its unconditional support for Israel will be targeted, detained, and disappeared.

Take action now and demand the immediate release of Mahmoud Khalil so that he can return to his young family:

In solidarity,

Americans for Justice in Palestine Action

Americans for Justice in Palestine Action (AJP Action) is a 501(c)(4) nonprofit organization advocating for legislation supporting the human rights of the Palestinian people and endorsing candidates for office who support those rights.

1112.

10 maart 2025

Over the past two days, we have seen a deliberate and dangerous escalation in the suppression of free speech targeting our movement.

On Saturday, ICE arrested and detained Columbia University student organizer Mahmoud Khalil in a calculated attempt to instill fear, and silence those speaking out against Israel’s genocide and apartheid. Within 24 hours of being detained, Mahmoud was transferred to a Louisiana ICE facility more than 1,000 miles away from his home and wife who is eight months pregnant.

Since Mahmoud’s detention, President Trump and his administration have taken to social media to openly support his deportation and declare that this arrest is just the beginning. This is not speculation—this is a direct warning that Palestine solidarity activists, and anyone who dares to speak out against Israel’s crimes, are targets.

We cannot allow this to become the new normal.

Demand that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) release Mahmoud Khalil from detention and that Columbia reverse its policy of cooperating with and permitting ICE agents on campus immediately.

If we don’t stop this now, this persecution will expand.

The Trump administration is doing the bidding of Israel’s right-wing, fascist government—advancing policies that suppress dissent, persecute activists who speak out, and strip non-citizens and citizens alike of their constitutional rights.

Columbia University has a choice: Will it stand by and allow its students to be persecuted? Or will it uphold its responsibility to defend the right to organize and the right to free speech?

We have already seen where Columbia’s complicity can lead. After violently suppressing constitutionally protected protests earlier this year, the university allowed ICE onto campus and remained silent as students faced the threat of deportation. Undocumented students and students on visas are especially vulnerable, but this crackdown will not stop with them. Now, Mahmoud—a green card holder—is being targeted, proving that no one is safe. It is clear that anyone who the Trump administration perceives as a threat to his fascist, white supremacist agenda is at risk.

We must demand the release of Mahmoud, a Palestinian student activist, and put an end to the Trump administration’s plans for a new codified McCarthy era.

Analysts are warning that Trump’s administration is moving toward invoking the Insurrection Act, which would allow him to deploy the military and National Guard against its own people. We saw the same weaponization of the state against protestors who took to the streets in 2020 after the brutal murder of George Floyd. What we are witnessing today is an escalation of this ongoing war on dissent, using pro-Palestine activism as the first battleground to normalize repression and expand the mass deportation machine.

Palestinians and immigrant rights activists have warned for decades that the surveillance, censorship, and stripping of due process we endure will be expanded.

We are at a tipping point. The majority of Americans across party lines support a ceasefire. Polls show that Americans’ support for Israel is at the lowest it has been in 25 years. The majority of people in this country reject genocide. Our numbers are massive, but we must organize to make it clear: We are the many. We stand by our message for freedom for all.

Columbia and all universities across the country must act now. They must take a stand to protect their students and uphold our fundamental rights. The next 48 hours are critical—if Mahmoud is not released, it will set a new precedent for us all.

What is the point of a university that claims to be a beacon of free speech and learning if it persecutes its own students for asking questions and exercising their rights?

We must act now. Demand Columbia defend and protect its students, and reject the criminalization of protest. Demand that the DHS release Mahmoud Khalil now.

With urgency,

Sandra Tamari

Adalah Justice Project

Adalah Justice Project is a Palestinian-led advocacy organization based in the U.S. that builds cross-movement coalitions to achieve collective liberation. Our work is rooted in the conviction that drawing the linkages between US policy abroad and repressive state practices at home is crucial to shifting the balance of power.

I

Our mailing address is:
Adalah Justice Project

1111.

10 maart 2025

Palestinian student activist Mahmoud Khalil at Columbia University has been abducted by the Department of Homeland Security.

 

When he returned to his campus apartment from iftar on Saturday night, plainclothes ICE agents forced their way into his home. Upon finding out that he was a permanent resident, they declared his green card had been revoked—which is blatantly unconstitutional. They even threatened to arrest his 8-months-pregnant wife.

 

The fascist Trump administration has abducted Mahmoud—and Columbia University hasn’t said a word in his defense.

 

Just a couple hours ago, Trump threatened to ramp up his attacks and arrest student activists across the country.¹ We must raise the pressure on all universities to fight back and protect their students.

SEND A MESSAGE TO UNIVERSITIES NOW 

This is happening in real time. Within days of Trump's executive order targeting campus speech:

 =  Trump has cancelled $400 million in federal funding² to Columbia University, explicitly targeting student protests for Palestinian rights, with more cuts threatened.       = Barnard College has expelled multiple students for protesting Israel's genocide against the Palestinian people = The Trump administration has stated this is "the first round of action" with more to come = The Department of Justice is now investigating 10 universities over student protests

 

These are the first expulsions for protest at Columbia in almost 60 years. Even during Vietnam War protests, when students occupied buildings, Columbia's president advocated for "maximum leniency."³

 

But when it comes to Palestine solidarity, the rules are different. Students are facing unprecedented repression.

 

National Students for Justice in Palestine has called on the public to rise up against these fascist attacks through mass walkouts and demonstrations tomorrow, Tues. March 11 at 12 PM. Together, we demand universities establish themselves as sanctuary spaces and take measures to protect students, faculty, and staff against the Trump Administration’s crackdown on the Student Movement for Palestinian liberation on campus.

TAKE ACTION NOW

1110.

10 maart 2025

Demand the immediate release of Mahmoud Khalil, a legal permanent resident, from ICE Detention

The Trump administration has crossed a dangerous line. On Saturday night, Department of Homeland Security (DHS) agents abducted Mahmoud Khalil, a Palestinian student activist and recent Columbia University graduate, from his home. They raided his home, tore him away from his family, and denied his 8-month pregnant wife the chance to see him. He is a lawful permanent resident, yet he has been illegally thrown into and is being held in ICE detention.

This is not just an attack on Mahmoud—it’s an attack on the basic freedoms that this country claims to cherish. The Trump administration does NOT have the legal authority to revoke his green card. This is illegal, blatant political persecution. And it is proof that when it comes to Israel, both Republican and Democratic administrations have no regard for the values they pretend to champion.

The extent to which this administration is willing to trample on people’s basic rights is scary and should be a worrying sign for all Americans. The detention and possible deportation of a legal permanent resident who has no criminal record is a precedent that can set in motion the brutal targeting of political dissidents in the United States.

Columbia University has been no friend of Palestinians. Since students began protesting, the university has suspended, expelled, and physically beaten students. They’ve forced professors to retire and ended contracts with others. Despite Columbia’s knee-bending to Zionist pressure, the Trump administration still decided to cut more than $400 million in funding through federal grants claiming that the university has failed to counter antisemitism on campus.

It is now actively collaborating with the U.S. government to go after its students. Shame does not even begin to describe how treacherous the actions of the university are.

The message that this administration is sending is clear: Speak out for Palestine, and the U.S. government will come for you. Sign this petition demanding Mahmoud's release ASAP, and share it with everyone you know.

We will not be silenced, and we demand the immediate release of Mahmoud Khalil so that he can return to his young family.

 

In solidarity,

American Muslims for Palestine (AMP)

American Muslims for Palestine (AMP) is a grassroots nonprofit organization dedicated to engaging & educating Americans on Palestinian rights and the Israeli occupation. AMP is a premier national organization in the Palestine solidarity movement.

1109.

10 maart 2025

Readers’ Recommendations

       Israel cuts off electricity supply to Gaza, minister says (BBC)

• US: ICE arrests Palestinian activist who helped lead Columbia student protests (CNN)

1108.

10 maart 2025

Today's headlines

ICE arrests Palestinian activist for involvement in Columbia protests

In a stark escalation in the Trump administration's campaign against Palestine activism, on Saturday night, ICE agents raided the home of Mahmoud Khalil and detained the activist who had been among the leaders of Gaza protests at Columbia University.

The fabricated panic over antisemitism in the U.S. medical community conceals an attack on Palestinians

False charges of antisemitism in the U.S. healthcare community are spreading anti-Palestinian racism and doing irreparable harm to our work and obligation as healers.

Making the bloom a desert

Israel's founding myth of "making the desert bloom" could only work if it eliminated all traces of the society that came before it. That's why Zionism has always sought to erase the Palestinian people, from the Nakba to the genocide in Gaza.

1107.

10 maart 2025

Ramadan in Gaza, repression on campus, and an Oscar controversy

This week brought increased repression of the pro-Palestine student movement. The Trump administration canceled $400 million dollars worth of grants and contracts to Columbia University, where last year’s student encampment protests started.

The Department of Justice released a list of ten schools, including Columbia, that the Federal Task Force to Combat Anti-Semitism will be visiting to look into allegations of antisemitism on campus.

As we have reported extensively for years, Zionist organizations and the Israeli government have worked hard to conflate criticism of Israel and Zionism with antisemitism. Tamara Turki reported on nine students at Barnard College, affiliated with Columbia University, who were arrested at a sit-in protesting the recent expulsion of three student protestors.

To track this increased repression, we launched a new email newsletter this week from our U.S. Correspondent, Michael Arria. He’ll be writing the Power and Pushback newsletter twice a month, focusing on the Palestine movement and growing efforts to stifle dissent and Palestine solidarity.

I want to direct your attention to a couple of pieces about Gazans celebrating Ramadan amidst the devastation left by Israeli bombardment. Tareq Hajjaj wrote about how his family celebrated Ramadan in the past and what his relatives in Gaza are doing this year. Hend Salama Abo Helow says her family will cherish this Ramadan as proof they are still alive.

Lastly, the film, “No Other Land,” which tells the story of Masafer Yatta, a Palestinian village struggling against Israeli colonization, won the Oscar for best documentary this year despite having no U.S. distributor. This week, the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel issued a statement clarifying that it believes the film “violates the BDS movement’s anti-normalization guidelines.” Nada Elia said the Oscar win was “well deserved”, but Israeli co-director Yuval Abraham “center[ed] the needs of Israelis over Palestinian freedom” in his acceptance speech. Mohammad Hesham Huraini, a journalist and activist from Masafer Yatta, says that despite the attention the film’s win brings, the village is still facing imminent danger of ethnic cleansing.

David Reed, Publisher

 

Must Read: Nine students arrested at Barnard during pro-Palestine sit in

Tamara Turki: Nine students were arrested after Barnard College called police onto campus to break up a sit-in staged by pro-Palestine demonstrators over the recent expulsion of three student protesters.

Catch-up

= Qassam Muaddi: The Arab states are assuming responsibility for the Palestine question not just because their plans for the region’s future are at stake, but because the very stability of Arab regimes is on the line. But is the Arab plan good for Palestinians?

= Palestinians show the world what it means to develop a culture that fiercely defends and values their political prisoners. Our survival as Black people inside the U.S. relies on us seriously heeding this lesson.

= A new Gallup poll shows that support for Israel among Americans has dropped to its lowest level in at least 25 years, while sympathy for Palestinians is at a record high.

= While Israel and the United States are working together on a plan for Gaza, they have slightly different interests. This gap is opening space for regional Arab leaders to propose an alternative vision that avoids full-scale ethnic cleansing.

= Residents across five towns in Vermont voted to cut ties with Israeli apartheid making the state the first in the country where municipalities have voted to cut economic ties with Israel.

= When I ask my family members in Gaza how they’re spending Ramadan this year, they answer it’s just like any other month of deprivation in the past year and a half of genocide.

= The Israeli army has resumed random shelling and airstrikes against Palestinians in Gaza, marking the latest Israeli attempt to sabotage the ceasefire following Netanyahu’s violation of the agreement by stopping the flow of humanitarian aid.

= When Donald Trump proposed turning Gaza into the “Riviera of the Middle East” by forcefully removing its indigenous Palestinian population, he was not introducing a new idea but following an American tradition as old as Manifest Destiny itself.

= “No Other Land” won a well-deserved Oscar, but co-director Yuval Abraham’s speech epitomized liberal Zionist hasbara, centering the needs of Israelis over Palestinian freedom, while undermining the resistance of the Palestinian subjects of the film.

= The one-sided ‘New York Times’ coverage of the latest news from Israel and Palestine continues, unchanged.

= For families who lost loved ones, Ramadan is a seat left empty at the Iftar table, and the unbearable weight of being the ones left behind.

=  Masafer Yatta, the Palestinian community at the center of the Oscar-winning film ‘No Other Land’, is still at imminent risk of forcible displacement. An activist from the community writes about the daily settler pogroms targeting his people.

= Qassam Muaddi: Israel has suspended the entry of humanitarian aid into Gaza and resumed targeting Palestinian civilians, bringing the ceasefire with Hamas the closest it has even been to collapse.

1106.

9 maart 2025

Today's headlines

What the Arab summit’s plan for Gaza means for Palestine

Qassam Muaddi

The Arab states are assuming responsibility for the Palestine question not just because their plans for the region’s future are at stake, but because the very stability of Arab regimes is on the line. But is the Arab plan good for Palestinians?

Read more

If we abandon our political prisoners we abandon ourselves—Palestine shows us why

D. Musa Springer

Palestinians show the world what it means to develop a culture that fiercely defends and values their political prisoners. Our survival as Black people inside the U.S. relies on us seriously heeding this lesson.

Read more

Before you go

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1105.

8 maart 2025

Today's headlines

New Gallup poll shows support for Israel at record low

A new Gallup poll shows that support for Israel among Americans has dropped to its lowest level in at least 25 years, while sympathy for Palestinians is at a record high.

Slight rift between Trump and Netanyahu leaves opening for Arab states to avoid ethnic cleansing in Gaza

While Israel and the United States are working together on a plan for Gaza, they have slightly different interests. This gap is opening space for regional Arab leaders to propose an alternative vision that avoids full-scale ethnic cleansing.

1105A.

7 maart 2025

Een dag later stuurde Heller een reactie op de brief, waarin hij schrijft dat de inhoud ervan hem 'onwillekeurig [aan] de situatie in Gaza' deed denken. Hij vestigt de aandacht op de 15 duizend kinderen die Israël in Gaza heeft vermoord, en herinnert de briefschrijver aan de ‘ernstige voedselarmoede, zoals dat eufemistisch heet’. ‘Ik hoop dat u mijn reactie wilt delen met de Ambassade van Israël in Nederland’, sluit Heller af.  Lees de reactie van Heller en zijn ontslagbrief aan de gemeente Hilversum op onze site!

Israël-lobby
Al gauw ontving de (partijloze) Hilversumse burgemeester Gerhard van den Top een telefoontje van opperrabbijn Binyomin Jacobs. Waar Heller de Israël-lobby niet meteen in de brief had herkend, liet het Hilversumse college van burgemeester en wethouders (B&W) zich door die lobby vérgaand intimideren. Hellers mail, vonden de leden van het college, was ‘problematisch’.

Op maandagochtend diende Heller zijn ontslag in. Zijn antwoord aan de familie was ‘een wethouder onwaardig en had niet verzonden mogen worden’, schrijft hij. Hij noemt ook de dreiging van mogelijke publicitaire acties van pro-Israël-organisaties CIDI en Christenen voor Israël. Van de inhoud van zijn schrijven wil hij geen afstand doen, dus rest hem niets dan ontslag.

Vervolg
Inmiddels is bekend dat Bart Heller zal worden gevraagd om terug te keren als wethouder. Op een later moment zal de gemeenteraad van Hilversum hierover in de debat gaan.

Lees meer over de kwestie op onze site.

Opine | Gemeente Hilversum moet openheid geven over bemoeienis Israël-lobby

Veel wijst erop dat de Israël-lobby een belangrijke rol speelde in het recente aftreden van de Hilversumse wethouder Bart Heller, en daarvoor medewerking kreeg van het college van B&W. Het is essentieel dat deze kwestie wordt opgehelderd, schrijft Hilversummer Martijn de Rooi in een open brief aan het gemeentebestuur.

'Het valt ernstig te betreuren dat het college van B&W naar het zich laat aanzien welwillend heeft toegestaan dat de Israël-lobby een boosaardig stempel op de kwestie-Heller drukte, in ieder geval in de persoon van rabbijn Jacobs. In plaats van zich luid en duidelijk tegen diens aantijgingen en inmenging in de lokale politiek uit te spreken, is het daar ogenschijnlijk in meegegaan en gebogen voor de dreiging van ‘mogelijke publicitaire actie

Gevaarlijk woordenspel | ‘Een genocide moet eerst door een rechter worden erkend’

De term ‘genocide’ werd ooit gemunt om genocides te voorkomen, niet om staten een excuus te geven om weg te kijken tot het te laat is. Toch is dat precies wat er in Gaza gebeurt, schrijft Irene van Wilgen, journalist voor The Rights Forum met een MA in Genocide Studies.

'De vernietiging van Gaza is een doelbewuste strategie om het Palestijnse volk te laten verdwijnen, geframed als een existentiële dreiging voor Israël, waarmee publieke en politieke steun voor de uitroeiing wordt gecreëerd.' [c] Imago / Alamy

 

Benoemen van genocide essentieel
Voorwaarde voor het ‘succes’ van genocide is het gedogen ervan, schrijft van Wilgen. Genocidepreventie faalt niet door een gebrek aan bewijs, maar door een gebrek aan politieke wil. Dat is goed zichtbaar in de opstelling van premier Dick Schoof en minister van Buitenlandse Zaken Caspar Veldkamp (NSC) die hun onwil om de Israëlische genocide te bestrijden framen als juridische objectiviteit. ‘We willen niet op de stoel van de rechter gaan zitten’, luidt hun excuus.

Zo leidt wegkijken opnieuw tot vernietiging. In Gaza vindt genocide plaats, maar uitholling van het begrip staat die conclusie in de weg. Of biedt, bij veel quasi-juridische interpretaties, zelfs de ruimte voor medeplichtigheid. Het verdrag ter preventie van genocide wordt zo een toetssteen nadat de misdaad al heeft plaatsgevonden.

Documentaire | De kunst van het wegkijken

In de Gazastrook zijn door Israël sinds 7 oktober 2023 bijna 50 duizend Palestijnen gedood en ruim 110 duizend verwond. De voorwaarden voor het bestaan van de burgerbevolking zijn goeddeels vernietigd. Humanitaire hulp wordt tegengehouden. Ontmenselijking en de dreiging met verdrijving zijn aan de orde van de dag.

Maar ondanks deze niet mis te verstane tekenen van genocide kan de dader zijn gang blijven gaan. Hoe kan dat? En waarom wordt zelfs het internationaal recht – na de Tweede Wereldoorlog opgesteld om herhaling van de verschikkingen te voorkomen – ook door Nederland ondermijnd om de genocide in Gaza te faciliteren? De schade die nu aan de rechtsorde wordt aangericht is permanent, en levert ook onszelf uit aan het recht van de sterkste.

Deze vragen staan centraal in de zondagavond uitgezonden documentaire De kunst van het wegkijken van VPRO Tegenlicht. Aan de documentaire werd meegewerkt door Berber van der Woude (voorzitter bestuur van The Rights Forum), Liesbeth Zegveld en Jan Pronk (leden Raad van Advies van The Rights Forum), Angélique Eijpe en Alma Mustafić. De documentaire is online terug te kijken. Daarnaast worden meet-ups georganiseerd in Amsterdam (5 maart) en Utrecht (10 maart).

Opinie | Alleen een einde aan de straffeloosheid van Israël kan voor verbinding zorgen

Er is geen gebrek aan erkenning van Israëlisch slachtofferschap, maar aan erkenning van Israëls straffeloosheid, schrijft Nikita Shahbazi in een opiniestuk op onze website. Zij reageert daarin op een stuk in de Volkskrant van 4 maart, waarin Tjeerd Ritmeester, Keren Hirsch, Hanna Luden, Caroline Diepeveen en Louis Plas betogen dat hun partij GroenLinks-PvdA zijn energie moet steken in het ‘erkennen van Israëlische slachtoffers’. Dit om polarisatie in de samenleving tegen te gaan en een verbindende rol in het debat te spelen.

'Aandacht voor de Israëlische slachtoffers – van de kant van Nederlandse partijen en op het wereldtoneel – was er vanaf het begin en is er nog steeds. In tegenstelling tot wat de auteurs beweren, is juist het gebrek aan aandacht voor de Israëlische straffeloosheid het – inmiddels structurele – probleem.'

Israël keert Oekraïne en de EU de rug toe in de VN – en wordt beloond

De tegenstem van Israël is een nieuw moreel dieptepunt, schrijft het dagblad Haaretz in zijn redactioneel commentaar. Het land vreest de consequenties van zijn eigen full-scale invasion van Palestina, en keert Oekraïne, de EU en de internationale rechtsorde daarom de rug toe.

Associatieverdrag
Op diezelfde maandag nam de EU tegen Rusland al het zestiende sanctiepakket sinds 20

Ook werd op diezelfde  maandag 24 februari werd  in Brussel besloten om het EU-Israël Associatieverdrag, dat Israël belangrijke diplomatieke- en handelsvoordelen biedt, intact te laten. Dit ondanks het feit dat het verdrag in artikel 2 stelt dat 'de betrekkingen tussen de partijen [...] gebaseerd [zijn] op de eerbiediging van de mensenrechten'.

Uit onze agenda

zaterdag 8 maart t/m zaterdag 15 maart
Culturele evenementen

• Tegenlicht Meet Up Utrecht: ‘De kunst van het wegkijken’ op maandag 10 maart in Utrecht, Bibliotheek Neude - Huis van Actief Burgerschap (begane grond) (20.00 uur)
• Justice for Palestine – de stilte in de GGZ doorbreken op dinsdag 11 maart in Amsterdam, Pakhuis de Zwijger (19.30 uur)

1104.

7 maart 2025

Visit the new BDS website!

Our website has seen an unprecedented surge in visitors, particularly during Israel’s genocide in Gaza. Our new website makes sure we're more resilient in fighting attempts to silence us and more capable of nurturing and guiding our fast expanding.
 

And we have you to thank for it! Your contributions support the rapid growth of the global BDS movement led by the Palestinian BDS National Committee—the largest coalition in Palestinian society.

Help us spread the word!

1103.

7 maart 2025

Today's headlines

Nine students arrested at Barnard during pro-Palestine sit in

Nine students were arrested after Barnard College called police onto campus to break up a sit-in staged by pro-Palestine demonstrators over the recent expulsion of three student protesters.

Vermont towns vote to cut ties with Israeli apartheid 

Residents across five towns in Vermont voted to cut ties with Israeli apartheid making the state the first in the country where municipalities have voted to cut economic ties with Israel.

1102.

7 maart 2025

Palestine is in crisis, and the U.S. President has just issued a death threat against the people of Gaza after airing a dystopian vision of turning Gaza into a playground for billionaires. We fear that the worst violence and mass killings of innocent Palestinians is yet to come, and we need to do whatever we can to protect them. We need your help! Tell Trump that "Gaza is not your playground!"

Trump posted a public "warning" that extended to the civilian people of Gaza directly: "you're DEAD!" This is a terrifying call for collective punishment and the death of destruction of a whole population. It threatens the ceasefire that has been in place since January, bringing a much-needed pause to more than a year of bombardment and military operations against civilians amounting to genocide. We fear that the U.S. and Israeli is getting ready for another, more intensified round of bombardment and destruction of Gaza.

Platforms like Meta are happily circulating the AI-generated video cruelly satirizing the pain and suffering that families in Gaza have experienced at the hands of Israel's military supported financially, materially and politically by the U.S. government.

Meta and other big social media platforms are now rolling back their safety policies against hate speech and incitement, and this video may spearhead a campaign of genocide that supersedes the destruction that we have witnessed so far.

The threat over Gaza looms and the situation is also intensifying in the West Bank. Please also consider making a donation to our work at Friends of Hebron to support the Palestinian community in Hebron!

A Message from Issa Amro:

I opened my phone and saw that the President of the United states had posted the most disrespectful video about Gaza that I have ever seen. Trump presented a bizarre imperial “vision” for Gaza, turning a year of genocide into a callous joke.

While Palestinian mothers are still lying in bed every night mourning their dead children, burying their loved ones and ripping out their hair in despair… while whole families have been eradicated with the financial and political support of the US… Trump has the audacity to make fun of us, the people of Palestine, and to make fun of our dead.

How dare you, Mr. President!

It is clear that the “leader of the free world” has thrown away any pretense of diplomacy. I ask the global community to send a strong rebuttal and shout back at Trump that GAZA IS NOT YOUR PLAYGROUND- please sign this pledge. We need world leaders to seek real accountability and to work with us for an end to the genocide, apartheid and occupation.

The reason this offensive video has gone viral is that the US President shared it on his official Instagram account to his 32 million followers. Instagram is owned by Meta, so I am calling on Meta to take down the video — if it recognizes the people of Gaza as humans.

What's Next?

While the ceasefire in Gaza is on shaky ground, the Israeli military has intensified its assaults on the West Bank. In Hebron, the restrictions are getting worse and families expect a new wave of violence from Israeli soldiers and settlers.

1101.

6 maart 2025

Humanitarian Situation Update #270
West Bank

Palestinian observing his destroyed property following the demolition of 12 structures by Israeli forces in Az Za’ayyem Bedouin community, Jerusalem, on 3 March 2025. Photo by OCHA

Key Highlights

 

• At least 30 families were reportedly displaced, as operations by Israeli forces expanded in Jenin city on 4 March. At least 41 residential structures have also been slated for demolition in Tulkarm and Nur Shams refugee camps in the past two weeks.
• Attacks by Israeli settlers on Palestinian communities in the West Bank over the past week have resulted in the injury of at least 11 Palestinians, widespread damage to property and the displacement of at least five Palestinian families.
• Israeli authorities demolished 15 homes and 44 other structures in Area C and East Jerusalem for lacking building permits, displacing more than 80 Palestinians.
• Over 60,000 Palestinians have had their movements between the northern Jordan Valley and the remainder of Tubas governorate restricted for over a month due to Israeli forces’ closure of Tayasir checkpoint, following an armed attack by a Palestinian against Israeli forces at the checkpoint.

Humanitarian Developments

 

• Between 25 February and 3 March, Israeli forces killed three Palestinians, including one child, and injured 64 others, including 14 children, across the West Bank, including East Jerusalem. In addition, one Palestinian succumbed to wounds sustained in December 2024 and another Palestinian died in Israeli custody in unclear circumstances. For more information on casualties and further breakdowns of data, please see the monthly West Bank Snapshot. Incidents resulting in fatalities during the reporting period include:
  • On 25 February, Israeli forces shot and killed a Palestinian man and injured 31 others, including three journalists and an infant, during a 14-hour raid in Nablus city. During the raid, Palestinians threw stones at Israeli military vehicles and Israeli forces fired live ammunition and tear gas cannisters. According to local sources, the killed Palestinian was passing by the vicinity of the area of confrontations when he was fatally shot. Of those injured, seven were by live ammunition, five were by rubber-coated metal bullets, and 19 were due to teargas inhalation. The operation also led to widespread disruptions, with checkpoints around Nablus city closed for several hours and a local kindergarten evacuated by the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS).
  • On 26 February, a Palestinian man succumbed to injuries sustained during an Israeli airstrike on Nur Shams refugee camp on 24 December 2024 when one Palestinian man was killed and four others, including a child, were injured.
  • On 26 February, Israeli forces shot and killed a 16-year-old Palestinian boy during a raid in Qalqiliya city that involved confrontations between Israeli forces and Palestinian stone throwers near Qalqilya North checkpoint.
  • On 3 March, the Palestinian Commission of Detainees Affairs announced the death of a Palestinian man from Jenin refugee camp while he was held in Israeli custody in unclear circumstances. The man reportedly died on 23 February 2025 and had been held under administrative detention since November 2023. As of March 2025, according to data provided by the Israel Prison Service (IPS) to Hamoked, an Israeli human rights NGO, there are 9,406 Palestinians in Israeli custody, including 1,486 sentenced prisoners, 2,960 remand detainees, 3,405 administrative detainees held without trial, and 1,555 people held as “unlawful combatants.”
• Between 25 February and 3 March, OCHA documented 24 incidents involving Israeli settlers that led to casualties, property damage or both. As a result, 11 Palestinians were injured and about ten olive trees and nine vehicles were vandalized. The following are some of the key settler attacks that took place during the reporting period:
  • On 28 February, Israeli settlers, accompanied by Israeli forces, entered Palestinian-owned land near Halhul town, in Hebron governorate. Israeli forces physically assaulted and injured two Palestinians when they refused to leave their land after the forces and settlers demanded that they do so.
  • On 2 March, Israeli settlers, accompanied by Israeli forces, physically assaulted and injured three Palestinian men while they were picnicking on agricultural land in Shuqba village, in Ramallah governorate. One of the Palestinians suffered a broken arm due to the assault and one Palestinian-owned vehicle was confiscated by Israeli forces.
  • On 2 March, Israeli settlers carried out two separate raids into two communities in an Israeli-designated firing zone in Masafer Yatta area of southern Hebron: Isfay al Fauqa and Khirbet al Fakheit. During the raids, settlers assaulted and injured four Palestinians with sticks, stones and pepper spray, one of whom suffered bone fractures. The settlers also brought their sheep to graze on the community’s land, killed two of the community's sheep and stole sheep and donkeys. Communities located in the Israeli-designated firing zone in the Masafer Yatta area of southern Hebron have experienced a two-fold increase in documented settler incidents resulting in casualties or property damage, rising from an average of three incidents per month in 2024 to nearly six incidents per month in the first two months of 2025. The most significant rise has been in incidents causing property damage, particularly targeting agricultural and animal-related structures. These incidents have entailed near-daily intimidation, night raids, threats and property destruction, creating a coercive environment that pressures Palestinians to leave their current locations.
• Between 25 February and 3 March, five Palestinian herding families, comprising 39 people, including 19 children, were forcibly displaced due to recurrent settler violence, raids by Israeli forces, and access restrictions.
  • On 25 February, a Palestinian herding family of five people began dismantling its tents and animal shelters near Rantis village, in Ramallah governorate, fearing further violence by Israeli settlers and forces. Alongside semi-daily raids and restrictions imposed by Israeli forces on their access to surrounding grazing areas, the family reported frequent assaults by Israeli settlers in recent months; these include an incident on 27 January when about 20 armed Israeli settlers attacked Palestinian herders in the area with sticks and batons and injured a Palestinian man.
  • On 28 February, four Palestinian households comprising 34 people, including 19 children, were forcibly displaced from Ein al Hilwa - Wadi al Faw herding community, in northern Jordan Valley, citing daily violent attacks and intimidation by Israeli settlers following the establishment of a settlement outpost near the community about one month ago. Incidents include Israeli settlers grazing their livestock on the community’s lands, attacking Palestinian herders when they graze in nearby pastures, attempts to steal livestock, and harassment of children as they wait for school buses at the community’s entrance. Four other Palestinian households, comprising 30 people, had been forcibly displaced from this community on 16 October 2023 and 5 September 2024 following a surge in settler attacks, while only four families currently remain in the community. Between 1 January 2023 and 31 January 2025, OCHA documented the displacement of 2,275 Palestinians, including 1,117 children, across the West Bank, citing heightened settler violence and access restrictions.

• Between 25 February and 3 March, OCHA documented the demolition of 59 Palestinian-owned structures (including nine donor-funded structures) across the West Bank due to the lack of Israeli-issued building permits, which are nearly impossible to obtain. These included two homes in East Jerusalem and 13 residential structures in Area C, displacing 84 people, including 41 children, and otherwise affecting over 180 people. More than half of displaced people (46, including 24 children) were in Khallet Athaba' community, in Masafer Yatta area of Hebron, where eight residential structures were demolished. The eight tents were all donor-funded and provided as humanitarian assistance in response to a previous demolition incident in the community on 10 February 2025. Moreover, in two separate incidents, the Israeli authorities demolished 33 structures in Az Za'ayyem Bedouin community, in Area C of Jerusalem governorate, and blocked the community’s access to surrounding agricultural land with an earth mound. As a result, 22 people, including nine children, were displaced and 117 people were otherwise affected. The structures included four residential structures, 27 agricultural and livelihood structures, and a water network. Between 1 January and 3 March 2025, OCHA documented the demolition of 273 structures (including 36 donor-funded) due to the lack of Israeli-issued building permits and the resultant displacement of 385 people, including 198 children.
• Since 4 February, following a Palestinian shooting attack that killed two Israeli soldiers and injured six others, Israeli forces have closed Tayasir checkpoint, which connects the northern Jordan Valley with the remainder of Tubas governorate. The checkpoint’s closure has severely restricted the movement of over 60,000 people, while thousands of others traveling between Nablus and Jericho have also been impacted. The closure has particularly disrupted access to education, with more than 100 teachers and school staff forced to take a longer alternative route via Al Hamra checkpoint, extending their travel time by at least 90 minutes. Access to healthcare has also been severely affected; residents who previously relied on medical services in Tubas must now travel to Jericho, the closest alternative, with detours extending the journey for up to two hours instead of the usual 20-minute trip. Additionally, local community sources report that the closure has negatively affected economic activities, leading to increased transportation costs and higher commodity prices.

Developments in the northern West Bank

 

• The Israeli operation in the northern West Bank, which began in Jenin on 21 January, has entered its seventh week, making it the longest operation in the West Bank since the early 2000s. In Tulkarm city and its two refugee camps (Tulkarm and Nur Shams), the operation has been ongoing for about a month. So far, tens of thousands of people have been displaced from Jenin, Tulkarm and Nur Shams refugee camps, which have become almost completely deserted. Since 18 February, Israeli forces have notified the residents of at least 41 residential structures in Tulkarm and Nur Shams refugee camps via the Palestinian District Liaison Offices to evacuate their belongings from their homes ahead of their demolition. These include 16 structures in Nur Shams camp that were slated for demolition by Israeli forces on 5 March. Armoured vehicles and bulldozers have been reported to be active in the camps, but the exact number of structures already destroyed remains unknown thus far.
• On 4 March, Israeli forces expanded the operation in Jenin, deployed armored carriers, and intensified movement restrictions on access to and from the city. Israeli forces bulldozed infrastructure, resulting in electricity outages for at least five hours, mainly in the eastern neighbourhood of Jenin city. At least 30 families were reportedly displaced from the area, including three families who were previously displaced from Jenin refugee camp. On the same day, Israeli forces shot and killed two Palestinians, including one who was reportedly trying to return home and another who was reportedly engaged in an exchange of fire with the Israeli forces, who withheld his body. Three other Palestinians were physically assaulted and injured by Israeli forces. Also on 4 March, Israeli forces shot and killed an 18-year-old Palestinian male near Homesh checkpoint, located between Nablus and Jenin governorates, and withheld his body. According to the Palestinian District Liaison Office, the man reportedly approached the checkpoint with a knife and the forces shot him, with no reported injuries among Israeli forces. Since 21 January, 68 Palestinian fatalities by Israeli forces were documented, of whom 56 were in Jenin, Tulkarm and Tubas governorates, including eight children (6 boys and 2 girls) and two women, the majority within the context of the ongoing Israeli forces’ operation. Three Israeli soldiers were killed by armed Palestinians, including one during an exchange of fire in Jenin and two due to a shooting attack by an armed Palestinian at Tayasir checkpoint, in Tubas.
• On 25 and 26 February, OCHA, UNRWA and other partners conducted needs assessment of internally displaced people (IDPs) in 11 public shelters and held four focus group discussions with displaced people in rented accommodation in Jenin and Tulkarm. Key assessment findings include:
  • Due to the substantial number of displaced people and the fluctuation of people present in shelters, people in most of the visited shelters reported a need for essential items, including bedding, dignity, and cleaning kits. In addition, 70 per cent of shelters reported a lack of hygiene materials.
  • All displaced people in public shelters are relying on external food support, with most receiving at least one hot meal a day from community service and humanitarian actors. While 87 per cent have access to the market, of those surveyed in the shelters, more than half are unable to afford food. As a result, many have been forced to reduce food consumption or skip meals.
  • Access to water remains precarious, both inside and outside public shelters, due to extensive damage to water infrastructure in the ongoing Israeli forces’ operation, with IDPs reporting increased dependence on bottled water. In more than a third of the public shelters visited, people reported a need for more water and sanitation facilities.
  • In public shelters, many children have had their education disrupted due to limited space at alternative schools, the lack of school supplies, and lack of public transportation to reach schools amid access restrictions. UNRWA has launched a remote learning approach on 23 February to cover eight weeks of curriculum content in five weeks, but some students have limited or no ability to access remote learning due to the lack of access to internet services and remote devices. Furthermore, about half of the IDPs reported protection concerns, including a lack of privacy in public shelters due to the lack of gender partition. None of the shelters are accessible to people with disabilities, while almost half of the shelters reported having children with disabilities present.
  • Medications are both scarce and unaffordable despite some access to medical clinics. In 37 per cent of shelters, people reported a need for childcare and maternity services. Mental health distress was also underlined as a major concern.
• Since the beginning of the operation on 21 January, water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) partners have distributed 219 water storage tanks, 10 mobile latrines, over 2,000 hygiene kits, and delivered 4,654 cubic metres of water through water trucking to Jenin, Tulkarm, and Tubas. Moreover, partners have continued to provide food assistance in the form of food parcels and daily meals; this includes 450 meals per day provided by PRCS to families displaced from Jenin refugee camp and the surrounding areas. Humanitarian partners have also provided displaced people with at least 2,000 bedding kits and over 1,100 dignity kits, in addition to assisting over 5,500 families from Jenin and Tulkarm camps with multi-purpose cash assistance to support them in meeting some of their basic needs. In addition, UNRWA social workers have continued to provide Psychological First Aid (PFA) through the hotline, referring calls to specialized psychological interventions and are assisting displaced people in finding their family members who have been missing.

Funding

 

• As of 6 March 2025, Member States have disbursed approximately US$158.1 million out of the $4.07 billion (3.9 per cent) requested to meet the most critical humanitarian needs of three million out of 3.3 million people identified as requiring assistance in Gaza and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, in 2025, under the 2025 Flash Appeal for the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT). Nearly 90 per cent of the requested funds are for humanitarian response in Gaza, with just over 10 per cent for the West Bank. During February 2025, the oPt Humanitarian Fund (oPt HF) managed a total of 87 ongoing projects, totalling U$62.6 M million. These projects aimed to address urgent needs in the Gaza Strip (88 per cent) and the West Bank (12 per cent). The projects were strategically focused on Education, Food Security, Health, Protection, Emergency Shelter & Non-Food Items (NFI), Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH), Coordination and Support Services, Multi-Purpose Cash Assistance and Nutrition, and Camp Coordination & Camp Management. Of these projects, 50 projects are being implemented by international non-governmental organizations (INGOs), 25 by national NGOs and 12 by UN agencies. Notably, 37 out of the 62 projects implemented by INGOs or the UN are being implemented in collaboration with national NGOs. For more information, please see OCHA’s Financial Tracking Service webpage and the oPt HF webpage.

1100.

6 maart 2025

Quick Takes: Gaza/Israel

 

Gaza/Israel: Since March 2, the Israeli government has again blocked all aid entering Gaza, including fuel, in flagrant violation of international humanitarian law.

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6 maart 2025

Today's headlines

‘We thought the war had started again’: Israeli killings in Gaza resume as ceasefire hangs by a thread

Tareq S. Hajjaj

The Israeli army has resumed random shelling and airstrikes against Palestinians in Gaza, marking the latest Israeli attempt to sabotage the ceasefire following Netanyahu's violation of the agreement by stopping the flow of humanitarian aid.

Manifest Destiny and Zionism, a legacy of ethnic cleansing

Alexander Shelby

When Donald Trump proposed turning Gaza into the “Riviera of the Middle East” by forcefully removing its indigenous Palestinian population, he was not introducing a new idea but following an American tradition as old as Manifest Destiny itself.

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CARE

5 maart 2025

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5 maart 2025

We are excited to announce our virtual delegation for this month, a rare opportunity to travel virtually with us to a beautiful city that has held an important role in Palestinian history, cultural identity, and resistance: Umm al-Fahm.

 

History of Umm al-Fahm

According to local lore Umm al-Fahm, meaning "Mother of Charcoal" in Arabic, was given this name because the village was surrounded by forests which were used to produce coal. Located about 20 kilometers northwest of Jenin and 40 kilometers southeast of Haifa, the city is home to luscious greenery and ecological wonders, including Mount Iskander.

 

In 1945, the Palestinian village of Umm al-Fahm had a population of 5,490. They were not displaced during the 1947-49 Nakba; however, Israel occupied the city following the Lausanne Conference of 1949 . As of 2016, Umm al-Fahm had grown into a city with a population of 53,300, all of whom were Palestinian.  It is the social, cultural and economic center for residents of the Wadi Ara and Triangle regions. (The Triangle region, also known as Little Triangle, refers to a cluster of Palestinian-majority cities along the Green Line which has been annexed by Israel).

 

While Palestinians in Umm al-Fahm technically have Israeli citizenship, they are treated like second class citizens. There have been attempts to strip the people of Umm al-Fahm of their citizenship, as several Israeli politicians have suggested the Triangle should be transferred to Palestinian governance in exchange for Israel retaining control over its illegal settlements in the West Bank—a proposal that Palestinians have rejected as an act of ethnic cleansing.

 

Umm al-Fahm has been a site of extraordinary resistance to the occupation. Naji al-Ali, the legendary Palestinian caricaturist, once praised its tradition of resistance by saying, “Umm al-Fahm is the code name for Palestine.” In 1998, Palestinians there forced Israel to return confiscated “Al-Roha Lands” to their original owners. Today, Herak Umm al-Fahm (the Umm al-Fahm movement) has mobilized against the indiscriminate killing of Palestinians by Israeli police, holding mass demonstrations and even shutting down main streets.

UPCOMING EVENTS

GAZA SPEAKS OUT: Released after 13 years in Israeli dungeons

EYEWITNESS PALESTINE'S 2ND ANNUAL BENEFIT

LEARN MORE ABOUT UMM AL-FAHM

1096.

5 maart 2025

Our U.S. Correspondent, Michael Arria, launched a new email newsletter called Power & Pushback. This twice monthly email tracks the rise and repression of the Palestine movement.

Click here to instantly subscribe to it!

Today's headlines

Liberal Zionism steals the show at the Oscars

“No Other Land” won a well-deserved Oscar, but co-director Yuval Abraham’s speech epitomized liberal Zionist hasbara, centering the needs of Israelis over Palestinian freedom, while undermining the resistance of the Palestinian subjects of the film.

In the ‘NYTimes,’ Israeli captives are ‘hostages.’ But Palestinians are ‘prisoners.’ The biased coverage continues

The one-sided ‘New York Times’ coverage of the latest news from Israel and Palestine continues, unchanged.

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5 maart 2025

1094.

5 maart 2025

Tracking One Year on Israeli Violations of ICJ Genocide Order 

 A Brief

As the Israeli colonial regime continues its genocidal acts without interruption—violating the ceasefire terms by blocking all aid to Gaza and deliberately inflicting conditions to destroy the Palestinian people—while blaming the failure of negotiations on Hamas (the victim-blaming and gaslighting familiar tactics), it makes clear its intent to trample on international law and defy binding court orders it is obligated to uphold.

From January 2024 to January 2025, we tracked one year of Israel’s blatant disregard of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) provisional measures, which obligated Israel to prevent genocidal acts, punish incitement to genocide, and ensure humanitarian aid reaches Palestinians. With it comes the complicity and failure of third states to fulfill their obligations to use all measures at their disposal to prevent the genocide.

These briefs total 44 pages of violations, and the list of crimes continues to grow.

Read the latest brief covering violations from July 2024 to January 2025, along with all previous briefs:

HERE

When the ICJ issued its order in January 2024, we saw it as an important additional tool to press political action against genocide. After a year of compiling evidence—documented on the ground by brave Palestinians and partners—it is clear that the global system is more invested in shielding Israel, sustaining its impunity, and repressing accountability efforts than in stopping a live-streamed genocide, despite overwhelming, well-documented facts.

For Palestinians, policy and legal avenues are instruments in our political struggle, but when the system fails to prevent genocide, new paths must be forged. We have ended our ICJ briefs and will continue advocating through other disruptive tools.

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5 maart 2025

Gaza Humanitarian Response Update

Animal feed provision aimed at helping families sustain their surviving livestock and thereby contribute to local food production. Photo by FAO

Food Security Sector (FSS)

 

Response

 

• Between the onset of the ceasefire on 19 January and 1 March, FSS partners have brought in over 78,000 metric tons (MT) of food into the Gaza Strip. Preliminary analysis indicates that food parcel distributions by key partners are largely complementary, reaching a combined total of over two million people across Gaza.
• As of the third week of February, approximately 860,000 cooked meals were prepared in around 180 kitchens supported by humanitarians and distributed daily to families across the Gaza Strip. This represents an increase of over 35 per cent compared with the 630,000 meals prepared in about 160 kitchens before the ceasefire. Throughout February, the number of kitchens in Rafah doubled from four to eight and eight new kitchens were set up in Gaza city, increasing meal deliveries to North Gaza.
• During February, FSS partners re-established at least seven food distribution points in North Gaza, including five in Jabalya and two Beit Lahiya. In total, over 200 food parcel distribution points are currently operational across Gaza, with efforts underway to establish additional points to minimize distances that families need to travel, thereby reducing costs and protection risks.
• Since late January, FSS partners have established at least one help desk in North Gaza and six in Gaza city to assist people with food assistance registration and information updates.
• As of 2 March, 25 WFP-supported bakeries are operational across Gaza, including one in Rafah, six in Deir al Balah, nine in Khan Younis, eight in Gaza city, and one in North Gaza. These bakeries are producing more than 150,000 bread bundles per day – five times more bread than prior to the ceasefire.
• Bread is also available for purchase at 24 retailers, including 17 in Deir al Balah and seven in Khan Younis, to increase bread coverage, mitigate overcrowding and ensure families have safe access. FSS partners are working to establish similar bread-selling points in northern Gaza and east of Salah al Din Road to further expand coverage and reduce overcrowding, especially during the month of Ramadan.
• FSS partners have also scaled up free bread delivery, allocating 30 per cent of the bakery production to selected shelters and community kitchens, where it is distributed alongside cooked meals. Since the start of Ramadan on 1 March, partners have been adjusting their operations to accommodate Ramadan-specific food consumption patterns.
• Since mid-February, more than 3,000 vegetable seed kits have been distributed in Rafah, Khan Younis and Deir al Balah to promote diet diversity and improve nutrient intake through home and community gardening. Distribution of the remaining 7,000 kits that entered the Gaza Strip is underway.
• Since 19 January, approximately 3,000 livestock holders in Deir al Balah, Khan Younis, and Gaza city have received over 1,000 MT of animal feed during two distribution rounds. Additionally, by the end of February, about two MT of feed was also distributed to a poultry farm in Khan Younis. This critical support helps livestock-keeping households sustain their surviving animals and contributes to local production of fresh, nutritious food—such as meat and dairy products—essential for a healthy diet, particularly for children.
• FSS partners are conducting a joint quantitative assessment to better understand the needs and challenges faced by farmers, breeders and fishers. Data collection and analysis have been ongoing since the last week of February.
• FSS partners are exploring ways to support agricultural wells with fuel to help resume local food production. This effort is being closely coordinated with the water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) Cluster, which provides fuel to private wells for non-agriculture use, ensuring effective collaboration, monitoring and accountability.

 

Challenges

 

• Recent market monitoring analysis indicates that while key food prices decreased between January to February, many commodities remain priced 100-200 per cent higher than before the escalation of hostilities. Although half of surveyed households reported a slight improvement in food access compared to January 2025, overall consumption remains below pre-escalation levels. Overall, following months of severe food shortages, compounded by recent mass population movements, families continue to have minimal levels of food stocks and very limited purchasing power.
• Lack of cash liquidity and insufficient access to financial services continue to hamper partners' day-to-day operations. Additionally, the delivery of cooked meals and free bread to North Gaza remains challenging due to the poor conditions of roads and infrastructure.
• Cooking gas is available but remains insufficient for most households.
• Incident reports continue to indicate that fishers have been fired at while fishing just meters from the shore. For partners to support the resumption of fishing activity, fishers must be granted safe access to fishing waters without fear of harm, along with the resumption of imports of essential fish production inputs and tools.
• Restrictions on the entry of most emergency agricultural and livelihood inputs, except for some seeds and animal feed, are hindering the resumption of agricultural activities. This includes the reactivation of vegetable and fruit production and support for small-scale home, community and school gardening. The entry of agricultural inputs, such as seed kits, organic fertilizers and nylon sheets for greenhouses, is urgently needed through both humanitarian and private sector channels. These humanitarian items are key for supporting emergency livelihoods, enhancing dietary diversity and reducing food gaps in Gaza.

Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH)

 

Response

 

• Between 16 February and 1 March, the Palestinian Water Authority (PWA) and Coastal Municipalities Water Utility (CMWU) reported that a daily average of 135,232 cubic metres of water was produced across the Gaza Strip. About 38 per cent (51,707 cubic metres) of drinking water was produced from the two operational seawater desalination plants or supplied through two out of three Mekorot supply lines from Israel, while about 62 per cent (83,526 cubic metres) was produced by municipal ground water wells. CMWU are compensating for the lack of water from the Bani Said Mekorot water supply line by increasing production from groundwater wells in Deir al Balah.
• As of 1 March, partners reported that over 1,300 water points are operational across the Gaza Strip, more than 95 per cent of which are used to support water trucking activities.
• During the reporting period, WASH Cluster partners continued essential WASH interventions across Gaza, including water trucking, distribution of hygiene items, waste collection and installation of latrines continued throughout the Gaza Strip, as follows:
  • In Rafah governorate, CMWU and three WASH partners trucked a total of 298 cubic metres of drinking water to returning internally displaced persons (IDPs) across 39 locations. Additionally, two partners distributed 13,100 hygiene supplies at 10 IDP sites. Currently, one municipal water desalination plant is operational to help address critical shortages caused by extensive damage to water facilities and the inaccessibility of infrastructure located in the buffer and no-go zones.
  • In Khan Younis governorate, 13 partners trucked 958 cubic metres of drinking water and 4,276 cubic metres of domestic water to 217 locations, including displacement sites, schools-turned shelters, and humanitarian service delivery points. During the same period, partners also distributed 196,000 hygiene items and supported solid waste management by collecting 400 cubic metres of solid waste from sites and shelters. While the transfer of solid waste to temporary waste sites is increasing, about half of these sites are already full, and there is no access to landfills (see challenges below). Additionally, two partners installed 552 communal latrines.
  • In Deir al Balah governorate, 14 partners trucked 664 cubic metres of drinking water and 2,531 cubic metres of domestic water to 164 locations, including displacement sites, schools-turned shelters, healthcare facilities and humanitarian service delivery points. Eleven partners distributed more than 286,000 hygiene supplies while 533 cubic metres of waste were collected, and 492 cubic metres of waste were transferred to dumping sites. The Al Amal temporary waste site is nearly full.
  • In Gaza governorate, 15 partners trucked 1,851 cubic metres of drinking water and 759 cubic metres of domestic water to 338 locations, including displacement sites, schools-turned shelters, and humanitarian service delivery points. Additionally, partners distributed 47,000 hygiene supplies, collected 4,265 cubic metres of solid waste and transferred 1,253 cubic metres of solid waste to temporary dump sites. Planning is underway to scale up solid waste collection to 2,500 cubic metres per day in Gaza city.
  • In North Gaza governorate, nine partners trucked 1,153 cubic metres of drinking water and 3,219 cubic metres of domestic water to 210 locations, including displacement sites. In addition, partners distributed 7,300 hygiene supplies and transferred 326 cubic metres of solid waste to temporary dump sites. Two UNRWA wells are operational in Jabalya and work is underway to repair two additional wells.

 

Challenges

 

• Energy remains a considerable challenge for the WASH partners. Since October 2023, the Israeli authorities cut off the electricity supply and fuel reserves for Gaza’s only power plant (GPP) were depleted, forcing it to shut down, with electricity generation largely dependent on the entry of fuel for smaller generators. This has severely affected water production and distribution, as well as sewage and solid waste management, which now rely heavily on back-up generators operating long hours. The limited entry of generators, and spare parts, along with restrictions on vehicle spare parts and consumables, has necessitated careful management of WASH systems to sustain a minimum of operations. While improved access conditions following the ceasefire have enabled WASH services to be provided in more locations, the low importation rate of appropriate equipment and materials to Gaza remains a critical challenge.
• The WASH sector supply chain remains a key challenge for an effective response for several reasons. First, a broad range of critical WASH equipment are classified by Israeli authorities as “dual-use” items—goods that are considered useable for either civilian or military purposes—and are subject to entry restrictions. Second, WASH items, such as pipes, generators and prefabricated structures, are bulky, making them difficult to transport and screen, further limiting their availability. To address these challenges, the WASH Cluster urges donors to recognize the risks and impact associated with restrictions on the entry of WASH materials on response timeframes.
• The continued denial of access by the Israeli authorities to the Sofa and Juhor al Dik landfills, which fall within the “buffer” and “no-go” zones, is preventing agencies from transferring solid waste from the 30 temporary dump sites and numerous persistent ad-hoc sites. Approximately half of the temporary dump sites are already full and unable to receive additional amounts of solid waste. Access is needed to the two landfills to ensure a sanitary environment in southern and northern Gaza. Furthermore, the primary solid waste collection South of Wadi Gaza is expected to come to a halt by mid-April due to funding constraints. The WASH sector urgently requires new donors to support this critical activity.

Health

 

Response

 

• The mass polio vaccination campaign was successfully concluded on 27 February, immunizing a total of 602,795 children under the age of 10 within five days. This total includes 101,777 children from the North Gaza governorate, 210,279 from Gaza governorate, 100,279 from Deir al Balah governorate, 143,931 from Khan Younis governorate, and 46,529 from the Rafah governorate, surpassing the target with a coverage rate of 102 per cent.
• Between 1 February and 2 March, 1,136 patients, including 451 children, and 1,720 companions have been medically evacuated outside Gaza.
• During the reporting period, Health Cluster partners continued to restore and support health services across Gaza, including by re-opening previously closed primary health care centres (PHCs), restoring services at out-patient departments (e.g. Kamal Adwan Hospital), and expanding emergency services and bed capacity at hospitals and PHCs. In total, there are currently 63 PHCs that are full or partially operational across the Gaza Strip, up from 53 prior to the ceasefire.
• During the reporting period, WHO provided medical supplies to three hospitals and five partners across the Gaza Strip, benefiting approximately 250,000 people. Moreover, UNICEF provided the Ministry of Health with medications and supplies for maternal, neonatal, and child health, including the delivery of 30 continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) machines—which are used to treat pre-term infants with under-developed lungs—to neonatal units at Al-Aqsa, Nasser, Rantisi, Sahaba, and Patient friendly hospitals. UNFPA has also distributed 2,385 postpartum kits to hospitals and 27 Sonicaid ultrasound devices to three partners to support maternal health services.
• On 21 February, the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) opened a field hospital at Saraya Square in Gaza city, equipped with 70 beds, an emergency department, two operating theatres, and seven intensive care unit (ICU) beds. PRCS also established three Primary Health Care Centers (PHCCs) in Rafah and North Gaza and activated emergency medical services in both areas. In total, there are currently nine field hospitals operational across Gaza, including one in Gaza governorate, three in Deir al Balah, three in Khan Younis, and two in Rafah.
• Between 19 January and 1 March, 12 health facilities—five in the north and seven in the south—have been supported in establishing Early Warning, Alert, and Response Systems (EWARS) to enhance disease surveillance.
• During the last week of February, UNFPA trained 20 moderators online, with support from international and national consultants, on conducting focus group discussions and key informant interviews for the Maternal and Neonatal Health Study.

 

Challenges

 

• Restrictions by Israeli authorities on the importation of certain items persists, including generators, spare parts, oxygen plants, medical equipment, reagents and laboratory equipment, negatively affecting the ability of partners to further scale up health interventions and expand service delivery. As of 1 March, 15 out of 35 hospitals, 82 out of 145 PHCs, and 194 out of 360 medical points across the Gaza Strip remain non-functional.

Nutrition

 

Response

 

• During the reporting period, more than 33,400 children were screened for acute malnutrition, bringing the total number of children screened since the ceasefire took effect on 19 January to about 119,600 — one third of the target for the first quarter of 2025. Among those screened, 3,423 children were diagnosed with acute malnutrition, including 498 with Severe Acute Malnutrition (SAM), and were enrolled in treatment programmes. During the same period, partners screened at least 6,713 pregnant and breast-feeding women (PBW), bringing the total number of screened PBW since the ceasefire to 23,412, of whom 1,112 were diagnosed with acute malnutrition. As of 1 March, Nutrition Cluster partners provided services at four in-patient Stabilization Centres for the treatment of SAM with medical complications, 135 sites provided out-patient treatment of acute malnutrition, about 180 sites provided nutrient supplementation, and over 320 sites provided Infant and Young Child Feeding (IYCF) services.
• During the reporting period, WFP and partners provided specialized nutrient supplements to more than 36,000 children and 15,000 PBW as a preventative measure for acute malnutrition. Since the start of the ceasefire, nearly 230,000 children and 90,000 PBW received these supplements, representing 80 per cent and 60 per cent of the estimated 290,000 children and 150,000 PBW requiring micronutrient supplements.
• To improve dietary diversity among infants and young children, UNICEF is providing ready-to-use complementary foods, such as jars of mixed fruit, mixed vegetables, and mixed meat options. Since the start of the ceasefire, more than 19,590 infants and young children benefited from this assistance, including about 8,820 reached in February.
• Preparations are underway to conduct a standard nutrition assessment (SMART) survey across the Gaza strip to better assess the prevalence of acute malnutrition and guide response efforts.

Protection

 

Response

 

• During the reporting period, the Emergency Protection Responder (EPR) network and the Protection from Sexual Exploitation and Abuse (PSEA) volunteer network continued to deploy mobile protection teams at multi-sector distribution points, where people receive humanitarian assistance, to promote safeguarding and dignity practices. Currently, there are 100 mobile protection teams across the Gaza strip. On 16 and 17 February, the Protection Cluster conducted training sessions in Gaza city to strengthen the capacity of the EPR network in northern Gaza, focusing on protection case identification and safe referral pathways. Between 19 January and 1 March, 152 distribution sites were monitored and PSEA messaging reached over 4,400 community members.
• During the reporting period, three Mine Action (MA) actors conducted 102 Explosive Hazard Assessments (EHAs), including four for access roads, 27 for shelters and camps, 11 for UN facilities, 21 for medical facilities, and seven for public places, among others. MA partners also participated in 43 inter-agency missions to ensure safe access. Furthermore, between 19 January and 1 March, more than 1,690 Explosive Ordnance Risk Education (EORE) sessions were delivered for about 41,000 people, including over 2,760 children.
• Between 16 February and 1 March, UNRWA protection teams continued to identify and respond to protection risks and needs of displaced people across the Gaza Strip, focusing on identifying vulnerable people and facilitating their referral to specialized services. During this period, UNRWA's protection team conducted protection observations in 15 shelters and IDP sites. On 15 February, UNRWA teams coordinated the provision of assistance to at least 343 former detainees released at the Kerem Shalom crossing.
• During the reporting period, the Child Protection (CP) actors:
  • Conducted two rounds of training of trainers (TOT) sessions on mental health and psychosocial support (MHPSS) for CP service providers, targeting 50 frontline workers.
  • Organized two training sessions on case management for 40 frontline workers and three sessions on safe identification and referral pathways for 75 frontline workers.
  • Established eight new child-friendly spaces (CFS) in northern Gaza as part of efforts to scale up child protection activities there.
  • Distributed 45,000 winter clothing kits and 47,000 winter jackets for children across the Gaza strip.
• During the reporting period, the Housing, Land and Property Technical Working Group (HLP TWG) continued to coordinate with the Palestinian Authority (PA) Joint Operations Room and PA ministries to assess the status of digital land records, analyze and identify the challenges facing HLP issues (e.g. erasure of property boundaries, loss of documentation, debris accumulation), and develop recommendations. Among others, this includes enhancing public awareness on negotiations with landlords on land use, developing a guidance note on debris management that takes into account HLP challenges, and advising humanitarian frontline workers on how to address and channel HLP concerns when they arise.

 

Challenges

 

• Child protection actors continue to face challenges in establishing new Child Friendly Spaces due to limited space and the need for large winter tents.
• The rising prices of limited Information and Communication Technology (ICT) devices available on the local market are increasing the cost of providing case management services and managing sensitive data.

Education

 

Response

 

• On 23 February, the Ministry of Education (MoE) announced the start of a new semester, marking the beginning of a compressed academic year for 2024-2025 and the first time some students return to some form of in-person learning at schools in 17 months. As of 3 March, according to the MoE, over 150,000 students have enrolled in 165 governmental schools across Gaza, more than half of which are operating on three shifts a day, and over 7,000 teachers have been mobilized to support teaching. Of the total, 30 schools are in Gaza governorate, 52 in Deir al Balah, 57 in Khan Younis, and 26 in Rafah.
• Education Cluster partners continue to support these schools through cleaning efforts and teacher orientation initiatives. More than 658,000 school-aged children lost their access to formal education since October 2023 and at least 88 per cent of school buildings require either full reconstruction or major rehabilitation to be functional again.
• Moreover, the Ministry of Education (MoE) has registered approximately 32,600 students to take their final high school matriculation exams (Tawjihi), while more students are yet to enroll, as Grade 12 enrollments stood at around 39,000 in 2023. While three Cluster partners have committed to providing about 6,000 tablets, these remain in the West Bank; the tablets are needed to meet the minimum requirement of a three-shift daily exam schedule to accommodate all students.
• Over the past two weeks, at least 10 Temporary Learning Spaces (TLS) have been established, primarily in Gaza city and North Gaza governorates, providing educational access to more than 2,500 learners. The Education Cluster continues to mobilize partners to scale up and establish additional TLS, particularly in these areas, which remain underserved despite increasing school-aged children relocating from southern Gaza.
• Currently, about 460 TLS are accommodating more than 152,000 students across different grades. During the same reporting period, two Education Cluster members, in partnership with World Central Kitchen, distributed fresh fruits to 832 children enrolled in TLS in northern Gaza city. This initiative aims to promote enrollment and regular attendance while also supporting children’s nutritional needs.

 

Challenges

 

• Ongoing restrictions on the entry of education supplies, such as large tents as well as recreational, student and psycho-social support kits, continue to hamper the education response. In February, at least 10 pre-approved trucks carrying basic education supplies were denied entry into Gaza. Between 19 January when the ceasefire took effect and 1 March, only 100 out of an estimated 600 special tents needed to serve as temporary learning spaces entered Gaza.
• Anticipated delays in the entry of tablets for high-school examinations, the need for prior orientation on tablet use, lack of internet access and limited charging stations are some of the challenges facing Tawjihi students in taking in their high-school matriculation exams, the exact timing of which remain uncertain. Additionally, while the MoE has identified at least 85 schools/hubs to host the exams, these locations lack basic furniture, and many have WASH facilities in poor condition that require urgent repairs. The ongoing shortage of construction materials is preventing critical minor repairs in schools that sustained damage during hostilities and/or had been used as IDP shelters and have become worn down. This includes damage to WASH facilities, as well as the loss and destruction of furniture and teaching materials.
• On 25 February, the UNDSS reported that the Al-Qadisiya School in Tal As-Sultan neighborhood, west of Rafah, was hit by gunfire. This incident is concerning, as schools in Rafah are set to reopen this week. Over the past 15 months of hostilities, schools – many having to serve as emergency shelters – have repeatedly come under attack, instilling fear among children, teachers, and parents and severely disrupting education-in-emergency efforts within school environments.
• Funding remains insufficient to meet the massive levels of education needs, hampering the ability of education partners to expand access to education and mitigate the long-term impact of this crisis.

Site Management Cluster (SMC)

 

Response

 

• During the reporting period, SMC partners have continued the identification of sites that require decommissioning in Deir al Balah and Khan Younis, from which people have fully or largely left. Since the ceasefire took effect, people have left from a total of 105 sites.
• Since the ceasefire took effect on 19 January, SMC partners have identified 91 newly established IDP sites in North Gaza and Gaza governorates. As of 3 March, partners are managing a total of 162 active sites for displaced people across the Gaza Strip.
• SMC partners continue to provide site planning support to organizations engaged in setting up sites, ensuring adherence to minimum standards. While sites are a last resort, proper site-planning can significantly improve the living conditions and dignity for displaced people. Guidance can be found here.
• During the reporting period, one SMC partner delivered a two-day training course in Gaza city for 18 participants from local and international NGOs on core activities of site management as well as key principles of site planning.

 

Challenges

 

• Coordinated approaches to site planning remains a challenge given the involvement of a multitude of organizations who are not SMC members, which limits the ability to systematically adhere to minimum standards, including proper Explosive Hazard Assessments, land preparation (levelling), and adequate space for infrastructure.
• While 58 sites have been established on land allocated by municipalities, SMC reports that some sites have been set up on privately-owned land, which often lack formal land usage agreements and could potentially fuel Housing, Land and Property disputes.
• Only a small percentage of the overall number of IDP sites are managed by SMC partners due to limited funding, leaving many sites without adequate support or oversight. SMC is currently conducting site assessments to determine the number of sites not currently supported by SMC partners.

Shelter

 

Response

 

• Between 19 January, when the ceasefire took effect, and 2 March, the UN and its partners brought into Gaza more than 130,000 tents, of which about 112,000 tents were distributed, including more than 97,000 tents in the north and about 15,000 in the south. These figures only relate to shelter materials provided or facilitated through UN coordination. As of 2 March, about 59,000 tents are in the pipeline to enter Gaza when the crossings reopen.

 

Challenges

 

• Identifying safe and accessible locations to set up shelters remains a critical challenge due to widespread damage, rubble, explosive remnants of war and the lack of essential services. There remains an urgent need to bring in construction materials, particularly cement, to scale up shelter response by preparing foundations for sites.
• During the reporting period, some Shelter partners were forced to delay distributions because the shelter materials they received were missing some of their parts, such as receiving framing kits without sealing-off materials.

Logistics

 

Response

 

• Between 16 and 28 February, the Logistics Cluster facilitated 10 Government-to-Government and three Back-to-Back convoys of 308 trucks from Amman to Erez West/East on behalf of 14 partners, carrying 2,242 metric tonnes of food, health, nutrition, shelter, and WASH items. As of 1 March, the Logistics Cluster has facilitated 140 humanitarian inter-agency convoys through the Jordan corridor, dispatching 2,163 trucks with 20,332 metric tonnes of aid into Gaza on behalf of 27 partners.
• During the reporting period, 21 organizations participated in the fourth round of the Gaza Humanitarian Storage Capacity Survey, providing information on 72 warehouses. As needed in the future, the survey enables the Logistics Cluster to further assist warehouse sharing among partners.
• The Logistics Cluster's new 3,500-pallet capacity consolidation warehouse in Amman is now operational and is open to receiving partner cargo.

 

Challenges

 

• During the reporting period, Israeli authorities introduced the requirement to use curtain-sided trucks for deliveries to Erez crossing, but very limited quantities are available on the local market.
• During the reporting period, a technical issue with the scanner at Nitzana, used for inspecting trucks delivered to the Kerem Shalom-Karem Abu Salem crossing, has resulted in trucks having to return to Al Arish, Egypt, adding to the growing backlog of trucks awaiting entry into Gaza via the Egypt route.

Emergency Telecommunications (ETC)

 

Response

 

• The ETC has continued to support humanitarian operations of UN agencies and the Gaza Security Operations Centre (GSOC), including the delivery on 25 February of a solar-powered solution to ensure uninterrupted power for critical operations. This is one of four solar solution kits that had been brought into Gaza in July 2024. ETC also provided one agency with two satellite-based tracking devices to support staff safety and security; these devices were part of the final batch of 15 devices delivered to Gaza on 13 January.
• For more information on ETC activities, please visit:Palestine: Conflict | Emergency Telecommunications Cluster (ETC) (etcluster.org).

 

Challenges

 

• A significant amount of equipment has been damaged or destroyed due to hostilities, and the import of telecommunications equipment remains restricted and challenging, including after the ceasefire. This continues to limit the delivery of planned ETC services and improvements in the accessibility of telecommunications and internet services across Gaza.
• Insufficient funding has limited the Cluster’s capacity to address immediate critical communications needs for humanitarian responders in Gaza. The Cluster continues to appeal to potential donors for funding.

1092.

4 maart 2025

Humanitarian Situation Update #269
Gaza Strip

Jabalya, February 2025. Photo by OCHA/Olga Cherevko

Key Highlights

 

• On 2 March, Israeli authorities announced a halt to humanitarian aid entering Gaza, jeopardizing progress made in delivering vital, lifesaving assistance since the ceasefire took effect on 19 January.
• In February, a slight improvement was found in dietary diversity and since the ceasefire, over 3,000 children and 1,000 pregnant or breastfeeding women have been referred for acute malnutrition treatment.
• Over 150,000 students have enrolled in 165 schools since the Ministry of Education launched the new, compressed academic year on 23 February, marking the first return to some form of in-person learning at schools since October 2023.
• Two months into 2025, less than 4 per cent of the US$4 billion in funding required to meet the most basic humanitarian needs of people across the Occupied Palestinian Territory, especially in Gaza, has been secured.

Humanitarian Developments

 

• On 26 February, Palestinian armed groups returned to Israel the remains of four deceased hostages, through the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). On 26 and 27 February, the Israeli authorities released a total of 642 Palestinian detainees, including 491 who were reportedly detained from the Gaza Strip after 7 October, among them 44 children, and 151 others. In total, 97 detainees were reportedly released to Egypt. Since 19 January, 25 Israeli and five Thai hostages, the bodies of eight Israeli hostages, two of whom were children, and 1,777 Palestinian detainees have been released.
• As of 25 February, it is estimated that 59 Israelis and foreign nationals remain captive in Gaza, including hostages who have been declared dead and whose bodies are being withheld.
• On 24 and 26 February 2025, the Palestinian Prisoner’s Society announced the death of two detainees from Gaza while in Israeli custody, which raised the reported number of Gaza detainees who have died in custody since October 2023 to 40. As of March 2025, according to data provided by the Israel Prison Service (IPS) to Hamoked, an Israeli human rights NGO, there are 9,406 Palestinians in Israeli custody, including 1,486 sentenced prisoners, 2,960 remand detainees, 3,405 administrative detainees held without trial, and 1,555 people held as “unlawful combatants.” These figures do not include Palestinians who have been detained from Gaza since 7 October 2023 and are still held by the Israeli military.
• Between the afternoons of 25 February and 4 March, the Ministry of Health (MoH) in Gaza reported the killing of 57 Palestinians and the injury of 74 others; this includes 49 newly retrieved bodies. Since the ceasefire came into effect on 19 January, and as of 4 March, a total of 771 bodies were retrieved from areas that were previously inaccessible, the MoH reported. Since 7 October 2023 and as of 4 March 2025, the MoH in Gaza reported the killing of at least 48,405 Palestinians and the injury of 111,835 others.
• Between 26 February and 2 March, several incidents resulting in fatalities were reported across the Gaza Strip. On 28 February, an 18-year-old Palestinian man was reportedly killed in Rafah and a boy was reportedly killed in North Gaza. On 2 March, a young Palestinian man was reportedly killed while on the roof of his house in central Rafah and a woman was reportedly killed and others injured in Khan Younis. Moreover, the widespread presence of explosive ordnance continues to pose risk to people in Gaza. On 26 and 27 February, two people were reportedly killed and five others injured by explosive ordnances in North Gaza and Rafah, where people were reportedly digging to erect tents.
• Between 7 October 2023 and 3 March 2025, according to Israeli forces and official Israeli sources cited in the media, more than 1,607 Israelis and foreign nationals were killed, the majority on 7 October 2023 and its immediate aftermath. This includes 407 soldiers killed, in addition to 2,582 soldiers injured, in Gaza or along the border in Israel since the beginning of the ground operation in October 2023.
• Between 1 February and 2 March 2025, the World Health Organization (WHO) has supported the medical evacuation of 1,136 patients, including 451 children, and 1,720 companions from Gaza to receive specialized care in Egypt and other countries. About 12,000 to 14,000 people, including more than 4,500 children, remain in urgent need of medical evacuation, according to the Health Cluster.
• On 26 February, the polio vaccination campaign concluded, reaching 602,795 children under 10 years of age. Among them were 101,777 children in the North Gaza governorate, 210,279 in Gaza, 100,279 in Deir al Balah, 143,931 in Khan Younis and 46,529 in Rafah. Noting that the “ceasefire allowed health workers to reach more children than during previous vaccination rounds,” Director-General of WHO, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, emphasized that ending “polio hinges on fully vaccinating every last child and ensuring uninterrupted access to safe water, sanitation and hygiene, and proper nutrition.”
• On 23 February, the Ministry of Education (MoE) launched the new, compressed academic year for 2024-2025, marking the first return to some form of in-person learning at schools since the escalation of hostilities in October 2023. As of 3 March, according to MoE, over 150,000 students have enrolled in 165 governmental schools across Gaza, more than half of which are operating on three shifts a day, and over 7,000 teachers have been mobilized to support teaching. According to the Education Cluster, 30 of these schools are in Gaza governorate, 52 in Deir al Balah, 57 in Khan Younis, and 26 in Rafah. Most schools were severely damaged due to hostilities and/or used as shelters for displaced people and have become worn down, the Cluster added, noting that at least 88 per cent of school buildings still require full reconstruction or major rehabilitation. Yet, shortages in construction materials are preventing essential repairs, and the lack of capacity to clear explosive ordnance is preventing the use of some damaged buildings and increasing the need for temporary learning spaces. At the same time, between 19 January, when the ceasefire took effect and 1 March, only 100 out of an estimated 600 special tents needed to serve as temporary learning spaces entered Gaza and the entry of educational supplies continued to be limited, making it difficult to re-establish an effective learning environment with the required equipment and materials, particularly in North Gaza, where damage levels are especially high.

• On 2 March, Israeli authorities announced a halt to humanitarian aid entering Gaza, including fuel. Describing Israel's decision to halt aid into Gaza as “alarming,” Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, Tom Fletcher, stated: “International humanitarian law is clear: We must be allowed access to deliver vital lifesaving aid. We can’t roll back the progress of the past 42 days. We need to get aid in and the hostages out. The ceasefire must hold.” Also, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) warned that the stoppage of aid deliveries into Gaza will quickly lead to devastating consequences for children and families who are struggling to survive.
• According to the Food Security Sector (FSS), if the disruption to aid entry continues, at least 80 community kitchens may soon run out of stock. Among the kitchens that remain operational, some will need to start to adjust meal content or reduce the number of meals prepared to cope with anticipated shortages. Additionally, FSS partners would be forced to reduce food rations. While the distribution of previously dispatched food parcels is ongoing, these remaining supplies, which will support 500,000 people, will soon run out. Furthermore, household-level flour distribution will have to be suspended to prioritize the available flour stocks for sustaining bakery operations.
• Beyond the critical need to ensure the continued flow of food assistance, in line with the 2025 Flash Appeal for the Occupied Palestinian Territory, FSS partners are supporting the restoration of local food production systems and agricultural livelihoods in Gaza. These efforts are seeking to complement general food and bread distributions and healthy cooked meals. By providing the necessary resources to small-scale farmers, livestock herders and other agri-food actors, FSS partners aim to enhance access to a diverse and highly nutritious diet, including fresh milk, meat and vegetables. For example, since 19 January, FSS partners have distributed over 1,000 MT of animal feed to approximately 3,000 livestock holders in Gaza city, Deir al Balah, Khan Younis and more than 3,000 vegetable seed kits to support home and community gardening in Rafah, Khan Younis and Deir al Balah. The distribution of the remaining 7,000 vegetable seed kits that have entered the Gaza Strip is underway. However, according to FSS, even before the halt to the entry of humanitarian supplies to the Gaza Strip, the re-activation of agricultural activities was constrained due to restrictions on the entry of most agricultural inputs, such as seed kits, organic fertilizers and nylon sheets for greenhouses, through both humanitarian and private sector channels. These humanitarian items, FSS emphasizes, are critical to supporting emergency livelihoods, enhancing dietary diversity and reducing food gaps in Gaza.
• In addition, FSS highlights that safe access of farmers, breeders, and fishers to their lands, livestock and the sea is critical for resuming agricultural activities and restoring the food supply chain. Yet, an estimated 50 million tons of debris are scattered across Gaza, large swathes of agricultural land have sustained damage, and incidents of fishers being fired at while fishing just metres from the shore continue. To enable the resumption of safe agricultural practices and fishing activities, FSS emphasizes that the import of agricultural and fish production inputs and tools needs to resume, the removal of hazardous materials, including unexploded ordnance, should continue, and fishers must be granted safe access to fishing waters without fear of harm. According to the Interim Rapid Damage and Needs Assessment (IRDNA) issued by the World Bank, European Union, and UN on 18 February, economic losses in the agricultural sector are estimated at US$1.3 billion, and US$1.06 billion is required to address agricultural and food systems needs in the immediate and short terms (up to three years), with a focus on stabilizing infrastructure and basic needs to achieve 70 per cent functionality of critical assets in the first year and increase local food production by 40 per cent.
• Data collected by the Nutrition Cluster in February showed a slight improvement in the number of children and pregnant and breastfeeding women (PBW) consuming the minimum required food groups, with about eight per cent of children consuming four or more food groups, and a noticeable increase in the consumption of fruits, vegetables, eggs and dairy products, which can be attributed to the then increased availability of goods on the local market. Within this context, Nutrition Cluster partners continue to support the scale-up of screening processes of children and PBW to identify acute malnutrition cases that need to be enrolled in treatment programmes. Overall, since the ceasefire took effect on 19 January, more than 3,000 children and 1,000 PBW have been diagnosed with acute malnutrition in the Gaza Strip and referred for treatment. As of 1 March, Nutrition Cluster partners provided services at four in-patient stabilization centres for the treatment of severe acute malnutrition with medical complications and 135 sites currently provide out-patient treatment of acute malnutrition, compared with 120 sites prior to the ceasefire. To strengthen preventative measures, partners have also scaled up the blanket distribution of nutrient supplements, reaching nearly 230,000 children and 90,000 PBW since 19 January, in addition to providing more than 19,000 children with ready-to-use complementary foods (e.g., jars of mixed fruit). At present, about 180 sites across Gaza are providing nutrient supplementation, compared with 151 sites prior to the ceasefire, and over 320 sites are providing infant and young child feeding services compared with 160 prior to the ceasefire.
• On 4 March, WHO warned that the, “lack of water and sanitation threatens the health, dignity and, survival of women and girls in Gaza … [as the] inability to maintain hygiene increases anxiety and stress, deepening the mental health crisis among those displaced.” A female doctor displaced from North Gaza and interviewed by WHO described witnessing women cutting up their clothes to provide their daughters with makeshift sanitary pads in displaced sites, stressing that "only a woman can truly understand this suffering – lack of necessities, underwear, sanitary pads, and hygiene.” In response to the dire hygiene needs, since the ceasefire took effect, partners addressing gender-based violence have distributed 90,000 dignity kits, compared with 2,388 prior to the ceasefire, and WHO provided hygiene and sanitation supplies to meet the needs of over 77,000 women and girls.
• Drawing attention to the devastating mental health consequences if the ceasefire does not hold, a child psychotherapist and mental health activity manager for Médecins Sans Frontières stated: “The mental health of both children and adults in Gaza has been severely affected. They have gone through immense trauma, worrying about their lives for more than a year. We see depressive symptoms in adults and children … because they can’t take it anymore … The ceasefire needs to hold because without it, these children will once again be trapped in extreme survival mode … the uncertainty, fear and trauma have lasted too long for anyone to bear.”

Funding

 

• As of 3 March 2025, Member States have disbursed approximately US$156.4 million out of the $4.07 billion (3.8 per cent) requested to meet the most critical humanitarian needs of three million out of 3.3 million people identified as requiring assistance in Gaza and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, in 2025, under the 2025 Flash Appeal for the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT). Nearly 88 per cent of the requested funds are for humanitarian response in Gaza, with just over 12 per cent for the West Bank. Moreover, during February 2025, the oPt Humanitarian Fund (oPt HF) managed 87 ongoing projects, totalling $62.6 million, to address urgent needs in the Gaza Strip (86 per cent) and the West Bank (14 per cent). Of these projects, 50 are being implemented by international non-governmental organizations (INGOs), 25 by national NGOs and 12 by UN agencies. Notably, 37 out of the 62 projects implemented by INGOs or the UN are being implemented in collaboration with national NGOs. For more information, please see OCHA’s Financial Tracking Service webpage and the oPt HF webpage.

1091.

4 maart 2025

Today's headlines

Ramadan in Gaza: painful memories of the past, and a lingering hope for the future

For families who lost loved ones, Ramadan is a seat left empty at the Iftar table, and the unbearable weight of being the ones left behind.

Masafer Yatta is still facing imminent danger of ethnic cleansing

Mohammad Hesham Huraini

Ramadan in Gaza: painful memories of the past, and a lingering hope for the future

For families who lost loved ones, Ramadan is a seat left empty at the Iftar table, and the unbearable weight of being the ones left behind.

Masafer Yatta is still facing imminent danger of ethnic cleansing

Mohammad Hesham Huraini

Masafer Yatta, the Palestinian community at the center of the Oscar-winning film 'No Other Land', is still at imminent risk of forcible displacement. An activist from the community writes about the daily settler pogroms targeting his people.

Read more

Israel continues sabotage of ceasefire deal with suspension of aid into Gaza

Qassam Muaddi

Israel has suspended the entry of humanitarian aid into Gaza and resumed targeting Palestinian civilians, bringing the ceasefire with Hamas the closest it has even been to collapse.

Class action lawsuit against California Congress members over Gaza genocide goes international

One northern California activist’s idea of bringing a class action lawsuit against their local congressperson over support for the Gaza genocide has become a nationwide movement.

1090.

4 maart 2025

In today's Daily Brief:

• On Pointing Out the Obvious
• Quick Takes: US; Bangladesh; Thailand/China
• Readers’ Recommendations

Help promote human rights – forward this email to others & encourage them to sign up here.

Students take part in a protest march to demand justice for those killed during anti-quota protests in Dhaka, Bangladesh, August 3, 2024. © 2024 KM Asad/LightRocket via Getty

 

 Listen to the top story

 

Why Should We Even Have to Say This?

In human rights work, we say what needs to be said. Sometimes, we say it for those who are unable to speak out at the moment – or speak at all anymore.

Yet, sometimes, it seems as if we shouldn’t have to say what we say. What we’re saying seems so fundamental, so obvious, that no one should have to say it at all.

For example…

We shouldn’t have to say to Australia, “Don’t jail ten-year-old kids.” That should be clear enough to anyone.

We shouldn’t have to say to Israel, “Don’t starve children.”

We shouldn’t have to say to the US, the UK, Germany, and Iran: “Don’t keep sending weapons to warring parties committing atrocities.”

We shouldn’t have to say to Israel, “Stop torturing people.” , etc.

 “Don’t give Nazi-style salutes.” ”

All these things should be so obvious that no one should need to say them. Governments and government leaders should know their legal and moral obligations without being reminded.

Yet, here we are.

We face governments that often willfully ignore their obligations to serve the powerful at the expense of the powerless. So, human rights groups and activists often have to say what is simply obvious.

It’s important that we do so. Because if no one pointed out the obvious, it would gradually become less obvious. Human rights abuses would seem not worth mentioning, become “normal.”

Yet, however common they are, human rights abuses should never be considered normal. We all need to remind those in power of the standards humanity expects every day. We need to say what has to be said – even when no one should have to say it.

 

1089.

4 maart 2025

The U.S. Senate is considering making Mike Huckabee U.S. Ambassador to Israel. Huckabee is a former governor of Arkansas who believes that Israel should take over all of Palestine, that all Christian evangelicals will be transported to Heaven, and that Israel should be invaded by the world’s armies, culminating in Armageddon and the return of Jesus Christ. Presumably, supporters of this vision in Israel are bargaining only on the first part of it.

Click here to tell your Senators to reject Mike Huckabee’s nomination for Ambassador to Israel.

Huckabee is a passionate supporter of the current genocidal campaign. His nomination will be a step toward more death and destruction.

Write to your Senators here and urge them to oppose this nomination.

 

Take Action Now

 

Thank you for taking a stand for peace!

— World BEYOND War

Background:
>> Mike Huckabee’s old-school Christian Zionism is bad news for anyone who wants Middle East peace

 

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World BEYOND War is a global network of volunteers, chapters, and affiliated organizations advocating for the abolition of the institution of war.
Donate to support our people-powered movement for peace.
 
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1088.

3 maart 2025

The truth has finally come to the surface: leaked documents¹ published in January confirm a clear partnership between Microsoft and Israel’s military operations throughout Israel’s nonstop assault on the people of Gaza. These documents show that Microsoft has supplied a range of tech tools, from cloud systems to millions of dollars in engineering support, to the IDF as they carried out genocide.²

Join the Microsoft workers³ organizing to cut ties with the IDF and demand that Microsoft sever their ties with Israel's genocide.

TAKE ACTION

 

Without accountability to their workers or consumers, Big Tech companies will do almost anything for the most profitable contract—including facilitating the slaughter of Palestinians and the enforcement of occupation. If they don’t experience counterpressure, Microsoft and its peers will keep producing code that kills kids and refusing to answer for it.

 

Thanks for taking action.

In solidarity,

Sarah at Fight for the Future

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Footnotes:

1. Drop Site: https://www.dropsitenews.com/p/microsoft-azure-israel-top-customer-ai-cloud

2. The Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/jan/23/israeli-military-gaza-war-microsoft

3. No Azure for Apartheid: https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/microsoft-end-complicity-in-apartheid-and-genocide/

4. Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/p/DGfM3VrR8XB

1087.

3 maart 2025

Gaza is still standing. And so are we.

Dear Reader,

The world is finally seeing the truth that Israel tried to hide for 15 months. With the ceasefire in Gaza taking effect on January 19, 2025, the scale of destruction is unfathomable:

• 61,000 Palestinians were martyred—including nearly 18,000 children and more than 12,000 women.
• 38,000 children orphaned.
• Over 2 million forcibly displaced, left to suffer hunger, thirst, and disease.
• A landscape that was once home turned into rubble.

This genocide was committed in our name as Americans—funded by $24 billion in U.S. military aid, armed with American weapons, and protected by Washington’s diplomatic cover.

And now, under President Trump, this complicity continues. He aligns with the extreme Zionist right, pushing for further annexation of Palestinian land and the forced removal of Palestinians from the West Bank.

But Gaza is still standing. And so are we.

If the past year and a half has shown us anything, it is that determination, faith, and resilience are stronger than brutality. Gaza is not gone. Gaza is rising. And we must rise with it.

For nearly two decades, American Muslims for Palestine (AMP) has led this fight—with your support. Through mass mobilizations, pressuring elected officials, and spreading awareness, we have cracked the wall of complicity and shifted the narrative in the U.S.

Now is the time to intensify our efforts—not to succumb to despair.

THIS RAMADAN, TAKE ACTION !

 

In solidarity,

Osama Abu IrshaidExecutive Director, AMP

1086.

3 maart 2025

AJP Action Condemns Israel’s Violation of Ceasefire Terms and Trump Administration’s Role in Enabling Gaza’s Continued Suffering

Washington, D.C. – The latest reports of Israel preparing to resume its aggression against Gaza represent yet another blatant retreat from the original ceasefire terms that had been agreed upon by both parties. The original agreement, established to halt 15 months of Israeli aggression and genocide, facilitated the release of Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners, increased humanitarian aid, and initiated a partial Israeli troop withdrawal. However, the proposed extension of the first stage of the ceasefire by U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff, aiming for a temporary truce over Ramadan and Passover, has been met with complications. Witkoff’s new unreleased plan deviates from the framework negotiated for de-escalation. Instead, it sets the stage for Israel to further entrench its occupation, siege, and genocide with full U.S. complicity and partnership.

This moment directly results from the Trump administration’s reckless and deliberate policy choices. Trump and his officials not only emboldened Israel’s most extreme elements but also dismantled even the pretense of a U.S. commitment to a just resolution. If Israel resumes its assault on Gaza, the Trump administration will own it—this is the legacy of its unconditional support for Israeli aggression.

Beyond the betrayal of ceasefire commitments, Israel is yet again violating international law. As the occupying power, Israel is legally obligated under the Fourth Geneva Convention to provide for the well-being of the occupied population. Instead, it continues to deny humanitarian aid to the over 2 million Palestinians in Gaza, using starvation as a weapon and perpetuating mass suffering, even during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. The deliberate blockade of life-saving resources is not just an affront to human dignity—it is a war crime. Israel is further escalating its violations by threatening to cut off water and electricity in Gaza, compounding the already dire humanitarian crisis it has created throughout its genocide. Meanwhile, in the occupied West Bank, Israel has intensified its violent occupation campaign, forcibly displacing nearly 90% of the Jenin refugee camp’s population while escalating home demolitions, mass arrests, and deadly raids across Palestinian communities. These actions are not isolated incidents but part of a broader strategy of ethnic cleansing and systematic oppression that must be confronted with international accountability immediately.

The international community cannot afford to ignore Israel’s calculated violations, starting with the U.S.. The Trump administration must reject the dangerous precedent set by its predecessor and take immediate action to prevent further Israeli war crimes. Ceasefire agreements cannot be rewritten to fit the political interests of Israel and its allies; they must be upheld as binding commitments to prevent further devastation. If Israel launches another assault on Gaza and lifesaving humanitarian aid continues to be blocked, the consequences—and the blood—will be on the hands of this administration. The U.S. cannot continue claiming to support peace while enabling war crimes; it has a duty and a legal obligation to stop Israel’s aggressions and ensure immediate, unrestricted aid access to Gaza.

AJP Action demands accountability and an immediate end to the blockade of humanitarian aid into Gaza. Palestinians in Gaza cannot endure another round of Israeli aggression while Washington enables and excuses war crimes. We urge the Trump Administration and Congress to take a stand against these violations and refuse to be complicit in Israel’s systematic oppression of the Palestinian people.

 

In solidarity,
Americans for Justice in Palestine Action

1085.

3 maart 2025

Gaza: Israeli authorities denied an orthopedic surgeon entry into Gaza, preventing her from providing crucial treatment to children with disabilities. One of her patients, Minah, a 3-year-old girl with a clubfoot condition, has been left without necessary treatment for months. Her case is one of many.

1084.

3 maart 2025

Today's headlines

Prominent St. Louis rabbi’s genocidal, anti-Palestinian statements reflect the broader Jewish community

Michael Berg

Prominent St. Louis rabbi Jeffrey Abraham recently wrote there are "no 'innocent civilians' in Gaza," and endorsed the belief that Palestinians are "animals." The lack of uproar in the Jewish community shows how widely accepted these views are.

The global community must do more to demand justice for Palestinian journalists in Gaza and beyond

Yasmeen Abed

There is a well-established pattern of Israeli forces targeting Palestinian journalists. We must break this cycle of impunity by transparently investigating Israel’s crimes.

1083.

2 maart 2025

Today's headlines

Book Review: Scenes from a failed indoctrination

Jonathan Ofir

Liz Rose Shulman’s new book, Good Jewish Girl: A Jerusalem Love Story Gone Bad, provides a close-up view of one American Jew's "perverse initiation into Zionism" and why these indoctrination efforts fail.

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P.O. Box 442380

Detroit, Michigan 48244 USA

1082A.

1 maart 2025

Today's headlines

Illinois man who killed 6-year-old Palestinian boy found guilty of murder, hate crime

Joseph Czuba, 73, was convicted on Friday for the murder of a 6-year-old Palestinian American boy, Wadea Al-Fayoume, in October 2023. Czuba, who was the boy's landlord, faces life in prison after a jury found him guilty of committing a hate crime.

The Trump administration has no plan for Gaza other than supporting Israel’s perpetual war

Mitchell Plitnick

As the first phase of the Gaza ceasefire comes to an end it is clear the Trump White House has no substantive policy for the region. Israel is filling that vacuum with perpetual war.

Israel is stepping up its military aggression across the region. But is it out of strength, or weakness?

Qassam Muaddi

In the midst of fragile ceasefires in Gaza and Lebanon, Israel is escalating its military aggressions in the region, begging the question: is Israel experiencing a moment of unprecedented force, or is it afraid of betraying unprecedented weakness?

1082.