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 29-02-2024 STAAN HIER

31 maart 2024

Today's headlines

‘No, dear. I will never leave Gaza.’

I tried to convince my parents to leave Gaza, but my father’s resolute refusal caught me off guard. “No, dear. I will never leave Gaza,” he stated firmly. The weight of our conversation lingered long after we said our goodbyes.

54.

30 maart 2024

Today's headlines

How Netanyahu will use the U.N. ceasefire resolution to prolong Gaza’s genocide

Benjamin Netanyahu may have been angry the U.S. refused to veto the ceasefire resolution in the U.N. Security Council this week, but he will still use it to prolong the Gaza genocide.

Rutgers profits from Boeing airstrikes launched on Gaza. Vote ‘Yes’ to divest!

Endowment Justice Collective

Rutgers profits off of Palestinian suffering by investing $100 million in Boeing, the company that manufactured the munitions that leveled Gaza. Vote “Yes” to divest from the genocide.

53.

29 maart 2024

#Vote‍Uninstructed: Let President Biden know that Wisconsin stands against genocide

Just 20,000 votes, a number smaller than the Muslim American community in Wisconsin, is needed to send this message. The demands are simple: a permanent ceasefire now, full entry of humanitarian aid and restoring aid to UNRWA, an end to military aid to Israel, and an end to the siege on Palestinians in Gaza.

Take action to help turn out “uninstructed” votes in the vital swing state of Wisconsin!

In solidarity,

Americans for Justice in Palestine Action

52.

29 maart 2024

Your Activist Scoop

OUR GOVERNMENT'S GUILT

• We have driven a public opinion shift: 55% of Americans, including 75% of Democrats, disapprove of Israel’s genocidal assault on Gaza, according to this latest Gallup poll.
  

READ THE LATEST POLLING

Thank you for taking action with us.

Onward to liberation,

52.

29 maart 2024

The last 48 hours have been a rollercoaster ride.

For several weeks, we have been scheming to disrupt President Biden’s appearance at Radio City Music Hall that took place last night.

But beginning on Wednesday evening, our disruptors started receiving emails from the Biden team stating that their tickets would not be honored and they would not be allowed to attend the star-studded event.

Over 40 people were blocked from attending.

But 15 of our people did make it inside. Biden faced a continuous stream of disruptions that brought attention to the genocide in Gaza.

Our protest forced event attendees including President Obama, President Clinton, Stephen Colbert, Queen Latifah, and Lizzo, to confront U.S. complicity in Israeli genocide.

Our message was clear: we called on President Biden to halt the arming of Israel and to demand a ceasefire to end the ongoing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza. There can be no business as usual for President Biden while our families and friends face genocide made possible by U.S. weapons.

Politico reported about our protest saying, “The frequent protests — including shouts of “blood on your hands” — drew flashes of frustration from the former presidents on stage.

Outside the event, attendees were met with mass disruption as thousands poured into the streets, creating gridlock around Radio City Music Hall. Inside, our actions disrupted the day's program, highlighting the people's total rejection of the genocide and those who profit from it.

Despite efforts by Biden staffers to keep protesters away, including refusing entry to multiple rabbis, Palestinian youth, descendants of Holocaust survivors, former Democratic staffers, and climate activists, our opposition to Israel’s genocide was loud and powerful.

The contrast between the garish hob-nobbing in New York to the reports of suffering pouring out of Gaza is shameful. More than 32,000 Palestinians have been killed by Israel with U.S. weapons. Famine is setting in for 2.3  million Palestinians across Gaza.

We will not be silenced. Keep disrupting business as usual until Palestinians are free.

In solidarity,

Adalah Justice Project

51.

29 maart 2024

Today's headlines

ICJ orders Israel to stop famine in Gaza as Israel continues to raid hospitals

Qassam Muaddi

The International Court of Justice imposed new provisional measures in South Africa’s case against Israel for its genocide in Gaza, ordering Israel to ensure the entry of food and other supplies in order to stop the spreading famine.

Security Council ceasefire resolution brings ‘little hope’ to Gaza as Israeli genocide rages on

The Security Council's ceasefire resolution has offered “little hope” in Gaza as Israel’s genocidal attack continues to rage. “We believe the reality around us, not the Security Council,” Huda Amer, a Palestinian journalist in Gaza, tells Mondoweiss.

The Israel lobby is fractured, and so at last is the Jewish community

The Palestinian genocide is providing a moment of reckoning for the Jewish community.

50.

29 maart 2024

Hostilities in the Gaza Strip and Israel
Flash Update #148

Children at a school used as a shelter for internally displaced persons in Rafah city. Photo by UNICEF/El Baba

Key Highlights

• Access impediments have severely compromised the ability of humanitarian actors to reach people in need across the Gaza Strip.
• Since 1 March, 30 per cent of humanitarian aid missions to northern Gaza and 10 per cent of missions to southern Gaza were denied access by the Israeli authorities.
• Nearly 40 per cent of school buildings in Gaza have been directly hit, according to an updated assessment of satellite imagery by the Education Cluster.

Gaza Strip Updates

• Intense Israeli bombardment and ground operations as well as heavy fighting between Israeli forces and Palestinian armed groups continue to be reported across much of the Gaza Strip, resulting in further civilian casualties, displacement, and destruction of houses and other civilian infrastructure.
• Between the afternoon of 27 March and 11:30 on 29 March, according to the Ministry of Health (MoH) in Gaza, 133 Palestinians were killed, and 203 Palestinians were injured, including 71 killed and 112 injured in the past 24 hours. Between 7 October 2023 and 11:30 on 29 March 2024, at least 32,623 Palestinians were killed in Gaza and 75,092 Palestinians were injured, according to MoH in Gaza.
• Incidents resulting in the killing of journalists and media workers in Gaza continue to be reported. On 26 March, at about 22:30, a Palestinian journalist was reportedly killed along with her husband and children when a house in Rafah was hit. On 28 March, at about 4:55, a Palestinian journalist was allegedly shot and killed in Al Shifa Hospital in Gaza city.
• The following are among other deadly incidents reported between 26 and 28 March:
  • On 26 March, at about 10:30, 30 Palestinians were reportedly killed when a residential building near Al Shifa Hospital, in Gaza city, was hit.
  • On 26 March, at about 11:30, 12 Palestinians, including four children and four women, were reportedly killed and others injured when tents for internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Al Mawasi area, in western Khan Younis, were hit.
  • On 26 March, at about 20:00, at least 20 Palestinians were reportedly killed or buried under the rubble when a residential building near Al Shifa Hospital, in Gaza city, was hit.
  • On 27 March, at about 3:15, nine Palestinians, including three children and three women, were reportedly killed when a house in Khirbet Al Adass area in northern Rafah was hit.
  • On 27 March, at about 17:50, four Palestinians, including two girls and one woman, were reportedly killed, and over 10 others injured, when an agricultural greenhouse in northern Rafah was hit.
  • On 27 March, the bodies of 15 Palestinians including six children were reportedly recovered from various areas in Rafah. The circumstances and exact locations of their killing were not reported.
  • On 27 March, at about 21:15, four Palestinians, who are reportedly members of the popular committee tasked with securing the delivery of humanitarian aid, were reportedly hit and killed on Salah Ad Deen Street in Az Zaytoun area, in Gaza city.
  • Between 27 and 28 March, at least 15 Palestinians were reportedly killed, including women and children, and others injured, when residential buildings near Al Shifa Hospital were hit.
• Between the afternoons of 27 and 29 March, one Israeli soldier was reported killed in Gaza. As of 29 March, 252 soldiers have been killed and 1,523 soldiers have been injured in Gaza since the beginning of the ground operation, according to the Israeli military. In addition, over 1,200 Israelis and foreign nationals have been killed in Israel, the vast majority on 7 October. As of 29 March, the Israeli authorities estimate that 134 Israelis and foreign nationals remain captive in Gaza, including fatalities whose bodies are withheld.
• The health system in Gaza is barely surviving, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), with only 10 out of 36 hospitals currently functional, albeit partially. Partially functional hospitals provide limited services, are overwhelmed with patients, and face critical shortages of fuel, medicines, medical supplies, and health personnel. More than 400 health attacks in the Gaza Strip have been documented by WHO as of 12 March, affecting some 100 ambulances and nearly 100 health facilities. On 28 March, the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) reported that the whereabouts of eight PRCS team members remain unknown and seven were released by the Israeli authorities 47 days after they were detained from Al Amal Hospital in Khan Younis. WHO demanded “an immediate end to attacks on hospitals in Gaza” and called for the “protection of health staff, patients and civilians.”
• The siege imposed on Gaza, including closed crossings, no water and no electricity have been key ingredients for the major humanitarian catastrophe unfolding in Gaza, according to OCHA. Combined with intensive Israeli ground and air operations, this has severely compromised the ability of humanitarian actors to ensure there is a reliable and predictable supply chain and safe humanitarian access to reach people in need, leaving the humanitarian operation “on its knees.” In lieu of faster access from Ashdod port in Israel through Erez crossing to reach northern Gaza (see OCHA map), where famine is projected to occur anytime between mid-March and May 2024 and 70 per cent of the population is projected to face catastrophic hunger between March and July 2024, the delivery of aid offloaded in Port Said, Egypt, to Gaza is lengthy and riddled with obstacles. It involves offloading, reloading, storage, and screening of aid supplies at multiple locations in Egypt and at Israeli crossing points leading to Gaza, resulting in significant delays and inefficiencies. “Once inside Gaza, aid convoys have to travel on crowded, impassable roads, at risk of unexploded ordnance, often close to fighting and amid desperate hungry crowds. IDF soldiers too often delay or deny convoys from crossing checkpoints, with rejected requests for safe passage, searches, detentions and sometimes violence against aid convoys and awaiting crowds,” OCHA added. On 22 March, UN Under-Secretary General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, Martin Griffiths, reiterated his call for a ceasefire and called on Israel to lift all impediments to aid.
• Between 23 and 29 March, 42 per cent (8 out of 19) of humanitarian aid missions to northern Gaza were facilitated by the Israeli authorities, 42 per cent (8) were denied, and 16 per cent (3) were postponed or withdrawn. During the same period, 93 per cent (38 out of 41) of aid missions to areas south of Wadi Gaza that require coordination were facilitated by the Israeli authorities, and 7 per cent (3) were withdrawn. In total, since 1 March, 48 per cent (29 out of 60) of aid missions to northern Gaza were facilitated by the Israeli authorities, including one that was initially facilitated but later impeded, 30 per cent (18) were denied, and 22 per cent (13) were postponed or withdrawn. Moreover, out of 187 aid mission requests for areas south of Wadi Gaza that require coordination, 80 per cent (150) were facilitated by the Israeli authorities, 10 per cent (19) were denied, and 10 per cent (18) were postponed or withdrawn. Facilitated missions involved: food distributions; movement of emergency medical teams; fuel, nutrition and health assessments; delivery of supplies to hospitals; and support for water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) activities.
• A new assessment by the Education Cluster of school damages in the Gaza Strip concludes that at least 67 per cent of schools in Gaza will either need full reconstruction or major rehabilitation work to be functional again. The assessment is based on an analysis of satellite imagery due to access limitations, especially in northern Gaza, intensive Israeli bombardment and recurrent telecommunications shutdowns. The analysis also provides evidence that complements reports, photos, and videos previously received by the Cluster “showing that schools are being used for military operations by Israeli Security Forces (ISF) including use as detention, interrogation centers, and military bases.” In total, according to the assessment, about 38 per cent of school buildings (212) have been “Directly Hit” since 7 October, 30 per cent “Damaged,” 18 per cent “Likely or Possibly Damaged,” and 12 per cent with no reported damage. Directly hit schools exclude 35 incidents where school playgrounds but not structures were hit, which are classified under the “damaged” category. Some 84 per cent (94 out of 212) of directly hit schools are in Gaza governorate, followed by Khan Younis, North Gaza and Deir al Balah. Moreover, among the 122 directly hit schools, 58 per cent (112) are public schools, 29 per cent (62) are UNRWA schools, and 13 per cent (28) are private schools. The assessment additionally finds that 59 per cent of school buildings that have been used as IDP shelters have been either directly hit or damaged, 53 schools are now classified as totally destroyed, and 38 schools have lost at least half of their structures.

Funding

• The Flash Appeal for the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt), which requests US$ 1.23 billion to meet the critical needs of 2.7 million people across the oPt (2.2 million in the Gaza Strip and 500,000 in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem), was extended through the end of March 2024. As of 29 March, member states disbursed nearly $1.054 billion for the updated Flash Appeal (86 per cent); this includes about $617 million out of $629 million (98 per cent) requested for October-December 2023 and about $438 million out of $600 million (73 per cent) requested for January-March 2024. For funding analysis, please see the Flash Appeal Financial Tracking dashboard.
• The oPt Humanitarian Fund (oPt HF) has mobilized a total of US$ 88 million since 7 October from Member States and private donors, designated for programs throughout Gaza, with allocations of 43 per cent in Rafah, 21 per cent in Deir al Balah, 20 per cent in Khan Younis, and 16 per cent in Gaza and North Gaza governorates. However, it has experienced a delay in finalizing its First Reserve Allocation of $3.5 million for 2024 due to restrictions imposed by the Israeli authorities on importing trucks intended to enhance aid transport capacity and enable humanitarian partners to scale up the delivery of essential aid and services across the Gaza Strip. A significant cost extension allocation of $20 million is being prepared for key projects in Gaza to address the most urgent needs, marking the second phase of December allocation responses adapted to the changing operating environment. The HF is also developing an upcoming reserve allocation to bolster the capacity of national NGOs in the central areas of the Gaza Strip and Khan Younis, taking into account anticipated complexities in aid delivery to ensure a more robust and effective humanitarian response. For a summary of the oPt HF activities and challenges in February 2024, please follow this link. Private donations are collected directly through the Humanitarian Fund.

49.

29 maart 2024

Campagne | Vakbonden, spreek je uit!

Maar omdat vakbonden zoals de FNV en CNV weigeren zich uit te spreken, kunnen werknemers die actie willen voeren, niet worden beschermd. Zelfs niet als ze lid zijn.

Daarom roepen leden van deze vakbonden in een nieuwe campagne hun besturen op om zich uit te spreken over de genocide in Gaza. Zodat de leden die actie willen voeren, beschermd kunnen worden. Vooral nu de Palestijnse vakbonden opnieuw oproepen tot solidariteit, ditmaal in het kader van Land Day (30 maart), een belangrijke dag voor Palestijnen.

Israël executeert Palestijnse burgers met behulp van drone

De drone volgt de mannen, en ergens in Israël besluit een commandant blijkbaar dat zij moeten worden gedood. Een eerste salvo doodt twee van de mannen. De andere twee proberen wankelend en vallend te ontkomen, ieder in een andere richting, maar een tweede en derde salvo kosten ook hen het leven. Het is moord in koelen bloede.

Doofpot
Het Israëlische leger heeft aangekondigd een onderzoek naar het voorval in te stellen, en dat betekent vermoedelijk dat de zaak zoals gewoonlijk in de doofpot verdwijnt, schrijft de Israëlische journalist Gideon Levy in de krant Haaretz.

Schending vonnis
De dood van het viertal dateert van na het tussenvonnis van het Internationaal Gerechtshof in de door Zuid-Afrika tegen Israël aangespannen genocidezaak. In dat vonnis werd Israël in het kader van artikel 2 van het Genocideverdrag opgedragen het doden van Palestijnen te staken. De moord op de mannen is een duidelijke schending van dat vonnis.

Het Internationaal Gerechtshof heeft overigens op 28 maart een geüpdatete versie van het tussenvonnis gepubliceerd. Daarin herhaalt het de provisionele maatregelen van het eerste vonnis en wijst het op de sterk verslechterde humanitaire situatie. Ook roept het Gerechtshof Israël opnieuw op om ervoor te zorgen dat meer hulp Gaza kan bereiken en dat het alles eraan moet doen om te voorkomen dat het Israëlische leger zich schuldig maakt aan genocide.

48.

28 maart 2024

Today's headlines

Israel announces it has killed 200 Palestinians in its siege of al-Shifa Hospital

The Israeli army announced it has killed 200 Palestinians in al-Shifa Hospital and its vicinity since its second raid on the hospital started 11 days ago. Meanwhile, Israeli media says the military is preparing for the invasion of Rafah.

We study America’s biggest public health crisis. This is why we speak out against the Gaza genocide.

By almost every measure, Gaza represents one of the greatest man-made public health catastrophes of our age. As public health professionals, it is our duty to speak out about the genocide in Gaza. Our public health colleagues should do the same.

47.

27 maart 2024

Two days after the UN Security Council passed a resolution for an immediate pause leading to a lasting ceasefire, Israel has predictably doubled down on its horrific attacks: heavily bombing Rafah, turning hospitals into extermination camps, and forcibly starving Gaza.

All with zero consequences for taking precious Palestinian lives.

The fact is: As long as the U.S. keeps cutting the checks for genocide and supplying the bombs and bullets, Israel will keep massacring Palestinian families.

Every person and every local community in the country needs to rise up now to say: Not another nickel, not another dime, no more money for Israel’s crime

In the toolbox, you’ll find key resources you can use to organize in your local community in Driebergen, including:

• Satirical Tax Day “coupons” you can distribute to show the very real resources our communities could have if our government stopped arming Israel.
• A City Council Organizing Toolkit to advocate for a permanent ceasefire resolution and divestment on the local level
• The Stop Gaza Genocide Toolkit with creative strategies you can use to stop arming Israel
• Protest signs and flyers you can print out.

Over the weekend, Congress passed the annual $3.8 billion in U.S. military funding and weapons to Israel, while also extending the ban on critically needed UNRWA humanitarian funding for an entire year. Next, the House of Representatives is considering sending another $14 BILLION in deadly weapons to Israel.

New Gallup polling shows a sea change in opposition to Israel: 55% of Amer 

46.

27 maart 2024

In a step in the right direction, the United Nations Security Council has adopted a resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire in Gaza. While not sufficient, it is notable that the United States abstained from the vote, marking a significant shift in its blank-check policy with Israel. This resolution comes as the humanitarian crisis in Gaza reaches catastrophic levels, with widespread starvation and acute malnutrition affecting a significant portion of the population, particularly children. 

The resolution's passage underscores the growing international consensus that unconditional military support to Israel fuels atrocities and undermines peace efforts. It is now more crucial than ever for the United States to align its policies with international law and human rights by suspending all military aid and weapons transfers to Israel. 

Unfortunately, although the United States abstained from vetoing the Security Council resolution, it is sending signals that it does not intend to allow it to be implemented, in an attempt to appease Israel. "Our vote does not − and I repeat that, does not − represent a shift in our policy," White House national security spokesman John Kirby told reporters shortly after the vote. “Israel is still a close ally and a friend .. (and) it seems like the prime minister's office is choosing to create a perception of daylight here when they don't need to do that.” He added, “It’s a non-binding resolution, so there’s no impact at all on Israel’s ability to continue to go after Hamas.” 

In fact, there must be “daylight” between the U.S. and Israel. The Biden administration's funding and political support for the genocidal war Israel is waging in the Gaza Strip makes the United States an accomplice in the crime of genocide. Therefore, it’s not enough to caution that “Israel would become such a pariah in the world and even in the United States,” under Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Nor is it enough to warn that Israel could face “consequences” if it launches a ground assault on the city of Rafah in southern Gaza. Israel does not take these warnings seriously, and it does not hesitate to challenge Biden, who still enables it to commit horrific crimes in the Gaza Strip with impunity.

This requires us to maximize our efforts and increase our pressure on the Biden administration to adhere to international law and American laws. Suspending U.S. military assistance to Israel is not only a moral imperative but also a legal obligation under existing U.S. law. Section 620i of the Foreign Assistance Act requires the President to withhold aid from any country that obstructs U.S. humanitarian assistance.

AJP Action sent this memo to the White House and Congress today. As you can see, the memo contains compelling evidence that Israel is using starvation as a weapon of war, particularly to force Palestinians to abandon northern Gaza, in clear violation of this law.

The United States must no longer turn a blind eye to Israel's egregious human rights violations and its obstruction of humanitarian aid. By suspending military assistance, the U.S. can demonstrate its commitment to upholding international law, protecting human rights, and fostering a just and lasting peace for all. 

45.

27 maart 2024

Hostilities in the Gaza Strip and Israel
Flash Update #147

Kamal Adwan Hospital is the only hospital in northern Gaza providing treatment for malnourished children and one of four that remain partially functional in the area, March 2024. Photo by UNICEF

Key Highlights

• Famine is ever closer to becoming a reality in northern Gaza, the World Health Organization reports.
• Health services in northern Gaza have been largely destroyed and the healthcare system in southern Gaza is on the brink of collapse, warns the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.
• According to the Government Media Office in Gaza, 12 Palestinians drowned while trying to reach airdropped aid that fell in the sea on 25 March.

Gaza Strip Updates

• Intense Israeli bombardment and ground operations as well as heavy fighting between Israeli forces and Palestinian armed groups continue to be reported across much of the Gaza Strip, particularly in and around Al Shifa hospital in Gaza city and in central Khan Younis. This has resulted in further civilian casualties, displacement, and destruction of houses and other civilian infrastructure.
• Between the afternoons of 25 March and 27 March, according to the Ministry of Health (MoH) in Gaza, 157 Palestinians were killed, and 195 Palestinians were injured, including 76 killed and 102 injured in the past 24 hours. Between 7 October 2023 and afternoon of 27 March 2024, at least 32,490 Palestinians were killed in Gaza and 74,889 Palestinians were injured, according to MoH in Gaza.
• The following are among the deadly incidents reported on 24 and 25 March: 
  • On 24 March, at about 21:10, 22 Palestinians, including at least six children and eight women, were reportedly killed when a house in Deir al Balah was hit.
  • On 24 March, at about 18:40, seven Palestinians, including four women and a boy, were reportedly killed and others injured when a house in Al Junainah neighbourhood, in eastern Rafah, was hit.
  • On 25 March, at about 20:25, five Palestinians were reportedly killed when a residential building behind Al Shifa Hospital, in Gaza city, was hit.
  • On 25 March, at about 21:20, two Palestinians were reportedly killed when a group of people waiting for humanitarian aid near Al Kuwaiti Roundabout in Gaza city was hit.
  • On 25 March, at about 12:25, an unconfirmed number of casualties was reported when Palestinians gathered to collect airdropped humanitarian aid were hit near Karni Crossing area, in eastern Ash Shuja’iyah in Gaza city.
  • On 25 March, according to the Government Media Office (GMO) in Gaza, 12 Palestinians drowned while trying to reach airdropped aid that fell into the sea off the shore of Beit Lahiya on 25 March.
  • On 26 March, at about 0:40, 18 Palestinians, including at least nine children and five women, were reportedly killed and tens of others were injured when a house sheltering IDPs in Musabeh area, in northern Rafah, was hit.
• Between the afternoons of 25 and 27 March, there were no Israeli soldiers reported killed in Gaza. As of 27 March, 251 soldiers have been killed and 1,520 soldiers have been injured in Gaza since the beginning of the ground operation, according to the Israeli military. In addition, over 1,200 Israelis and foreign nationals have been killed in Israel, the vast majority on 7 October. As of 27 March, the Israeli authorities estimate that 134 Israelis and foreign nationals remain captive in Gaza, including fatalities whose bodies are withheld.
• Famine is ever closer to becoming a reality in northern Gaza, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). A mother of six children explained to WHO that mainly expensive wild plants are available on the market, with “no vegetables, no fruits, no juice…no lentils, no rice, no potatoes or eggplants, nothing,” and they are mainly forced to eat common mallow.  On his visit to Rafah crossing on 23 March, the UN Secretary General described seeing long lines of blocked relief trucks, emphasizing that “it’s time to truly flood Gaza with life-saving aid.”
• OCHA oPt Gaza Sub-office Head noted that during high-risk aid missions, aid workers frequently find near Israeli military checkpoints, which separate northern and southern Gaza, injured or elderly persons or people with crutches whom they try to help, or human remains and dead bodies that they try to recover while children as young as three years old are walking by.
• The health system in Gaza is collapsing due to ongoing hostilities and access constraints, resulting in a growing number of hospitals that have been rendered out of service. As of 27 March, according to WHO, 24 out of 36 hospitals in Gaza are non-functional, two are minimally functional in northern Gaza, and 10 are partially functional including four in northern Gaza and six in southern Gaza. According to the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), the “health services in northern Gaza have been largely destroyed, and the southern Gaza Strip’s healthcare system is on the brink of collapse.”
  • In northern Gaza, OCHA oPt Head of Office, Andrea De Deminico, noted that Kamal Adwan Hospital is receiving about 15 malnourished children a day and is struggling to maintain services, with a heavily damaged generator and amid a lack of water, food and sanitation. To save children, he called for the need to allow humanitarian assistance to flow without any impediment.
  • In Gaza city, Al Shifa Hospital remains besieged for the 10th day, amid intensive exchanges of fire between the Israeli military and armed Palestinians. According to the MoH in Gaza, besieged doctors and patients at the hospital have repeatedly appealed to the international community to urgently intervene, noting that the Israeli army has confined medical staff, ill and wounded persons to the human resources building, which is not set up for health care provision, and has prevented them from leaving. The Israeli military had said that it has established a dedicated treatment area for patients at Al Shifa Hospital and supplied them with medical equipment, food and water.
  • In Khan Younis, amid intensive military operations, the Israeli military has forced hospital staff and wounded patients to evacuate Al Amal Hospital and closed the entrances with dirt barriers, according to the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS). On 25 March, PRCS, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), and OCHA evacuated six patients and a companion, 27 staff, and retrieved the bodies of two people who were killed inside the hospital, including a PRCS volunteer who was a member of the Emergency Operations Room. As of 26 March, both the hospital and the nearby PRCS headquarters have ceased functioning. On the same day, IFRC issued a statement, emphasizing that sustained hostilities in and around Al Amal Hospital for over 40 days have placed PRCS teams and patients in grave danger, and that the  “forced closure of Al Amal Hospital, one of the few remaining medical facilities in the south [and the second PRCS hospital to shut down], has profound implications, leaving countless lives at risk.”
  • At the European Gaza Hospital (EGH) in Khan Younis, an Emergency Medical Team (EMT) with Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP), the International Rescue Committee (IRC), and the Palestine Children’s Relief Fund (PCRF) described the situation at the hospital, where they have been treating patients for two weeks, as “unimaginable” and “beyond comprehension.” Witnessing horrifying scenes of patients dying from infections, they emphasize the extent to which the hospital is overwhelmed with patients; designed with a capacity of only 200 beds, the EGH has expanded to 1,000 beds, but the increased capacity remains insufficient to meet needs due to critical shortages of basic medical supplies, infrastructural damage, and constraints on aid access. Around 22,000 internally displaced people have also sought refuge and safety at the hospital, “sheltering in the corridors and in tents inside the hospital.”

West Bank Updates

• In the early morning hours of 27 March, Israeli forces killed three Palestinians and injured five others during an eight-hour military raid in Jenin city and its adjacent refugee camp. Fatalities include one Palestinian killed by live ammunition during armed clashes between Israeli forces and Palestinians who also threw pipe bombs and stones at the forces, and two killed when struck by an Israeli drone.
• On 23 March, an Israeli soldier died of wounds sustained during an exchange of fire with a Palestinian man on 22 March near Dolev settlement in Ramallah governorate.
• On 22 March, a Palestinian man died of wounds sustained on 21 August 2023 during an Israeli military raid in Beita village in Nablus governorate.
• Since 7 October, 438 Palestinians have been killed, including 426 by Israeli forces, nine by settlers and three by either Israeli forces or settlers, across the West Bank, including East Jerusalem. These include 129 Palestinians killed since the start of 2024, the vast majority by Israeli forces. Some 4,700 Palestinians have been injured, including 725 children, since 7 October in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem.
• Since 7 October, 16 Israelis, including five members of Israeli forces, have been killed and 109 injured in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and Israel.
• Since 7 October, over 1,600 Palestinians have been displaced due to home demolitions, more than half of whom were displaced in operations carried out by Israeli forces, 38 per cent by the demolition of homes that lacked Israeli-issued building permits, and 8 per cent due to demolitions on punitive grounds. In addition, since 7 October 2023, over 1,240 Palestinians, including about 600 children, from at least 20 herding communities have been displaced amid settler violence and access restrictions.
• On 20 March, Israeli settlers physically assaulted and injured a Palestinian farmer and set his vehicle on fire while he was working on his land near the Israeli settlement of Homesh in Nablus governorate. Also on 20 March, an Israeli settler physically assaulted a Palestinian bus driver, injuring him in the head, in Neve Yaakov settlement in East Jerusalem. Since 7 October 2023 and as of 24 March 2024, OCHA has recorded 683 Israeli settler attacks against Palestinians that resulted in Palestinian casualties (64 incidents), damage to Palestinian-owned property (541 incidents), or both casualties and damage to property (78 incidents).

Funding

• The Flash Appeal for the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt), which requests US$1.23 billion to meet the critical needs of 2.7 million people across the oPt (2.2 million in the Gaza Strip and 500,000 in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem), was extended through the end of March 2024. As of 27 March, member states disbursed nearly $1.052 billion for the updated Flash Appeal (86 per cent); this includes about $616 million out of $629 million (98 per cent) requested for October-December 2023 and about $436 million out of $600 million (73 per cent) requested for January-March 2024. For funding analysis, please see the Flash Appeal Financial Tracking dashboard.
• The oPt Humanitarian Fund (oPt HF) is currently supporting 122 projects, for a total of US$ 74.5 million, addressing urgent needs in the Gaza Strip (83 per cent) and West Bank (17 per cent). Despite logistical hurdles, safety and security concerns, and fuel scarcity that hinder the procurement and transport of supplies, implementation is led by 77 international NGOs, 20 national NGOs, and 16 UN agencies. Of the projects implemented by international NGOs or UN agencies, 56 per cent are in partnership with national NGOs. For a summary of the oPt HF activities and challenges in February 2024, please follow this link.
• The oPt HF has recently finalized its First Reserve Allocation of US$ 3.5 million for 2024, which aims at boosting the aid transport capacity to enable humanitarian partners to increase the delivery of vital aid and services to people across the Gaza Strip. This is in addition to a total of $88 million received by the Fund since 7 October from Member States and private donors and allocated for programming across Gaza, including 43 per cent in Rafah, 21 per cent in Deir al Balah, 20 per cent in Khan Younis, and 16 per cent in Gaza and North Gaza governorates. Private donations are collected directly through the Humanitarian Fund. In addition, the Central Emergency Relief Fund (CERF) has recently allocated US$ 700,000 to a project led by UN Women that aims to strengthen gender-responsive and inclusive accountability to affected people, bringing to $18.7 million the total CERF allocation to oPt since 7 October.

44.

27 maart 2024

Today's headlines

A volunteer doctor in Gaza faces her patients’ traumas along with her own

I am in my final year in medical school and have seen hundreds of critical cases as a volunteer doctor during Israel’s genocidal assault on Gaza. The traumas I have seen in my patients are no different from those I have experienced myself.

Another Israeli soldier admits to implementing the ‘Hannibal Directive’ on October 7

Captain Bar Zonshein recounts firing tank shells on vehicles carrying Israeli civilians on October 7. "I decide that this is the right decision, that it's better to stop the abduction and that they not be taken," he told Israeli media outlets.

43.

27 maart 2024

Finally, the U.N. passes a ceasefire resolution.

Read more 

Tell Congress: Stop funding the Israeli military.

42.

27 maart 2024

41.

26 maart 2024

Today's headlines

U.N. Security Council passes ceasefire resolution, U.S. abstains

Benjamin Netanyahu canceled a planned delegation to Washington following a U.S. abstention at the U.N. Security Council, saying the Gaza ceasefire resolution which passed marked a "retreat" that "gives Hamas hope."

The story of Yazan Kafarneh, the boy who starved to death in Gaza

9-year-old Yazan Kafarneh died of a congenital illness turned deadly by severe malnutrition under Israel’s genocidal siege. “He didn’t need a miracle to save him," cries his mother. "All he needed was the food we’ve always been able to provide him.”

‘Horrific’ eyewitness accounts continue to emerge from Israel’s siege on Gaza’s hospitals

Eyewitness accounts continue to emerge from Gaza’s hospitals, including rape, torture, mass executions, and soldiers crushing Palestinian bodies with tanks. Hamas says Israel's systematic attack on hospitals is central to its "war of extermination."

40.

26 maart 2024

After several vetoes over the last 6 months, the U.S. abstained from a UN Security Council Resolution demanding a ceasefire

This morning, the UN Security Council passed resolution 2728 requiring an immediate ceasefire in Gaza for the month of Ramadan, the release of all Israeli hostages, and the expansion of the flow of humanitarian aid to Gaza. This resolution marks the first successful attempt at achieving a ceasefire at the Security Council after three previous U.S. vetoes of resolutions calling for a ceasefire.

While this is a step in the right direction, a U.S. abstention does not show the moral leadership that is gravely overdue to permanently end the ongoing genocide. It’s also critical to note that the United States watered down the resolution by demanding the removal of the phrase “permanent ceasefire,” and conditioned the ceasefire and entry of humanitarian aid–required already by international law–on release of Israeli hostages. Effectively, the U.S. pardoned the forced famine of a million Palestinians and shielded Israel from accountability for attacking and obstructing aid shipments and kidnapping thousands of Palestinians with no charge. Over 32,000 lives have been taken by the ongoing genocide and the Administration continues to fund, arm, and enable Israel’s massacre. A sane world cannot demand a temporary pause to a genocide, instead; Israel must permanently end the killing of Palestinians and the U.S. must impose a lasting ceasefire.

Following the UN Security Council resolution the United States Congress and President Biden must rescind their decision to defund UNRWA and resume funding to the vital UN agency that has remained one of Gaza’s last remaining lifelines with the infrastructure to effectively deliver aid.

Finally, following the UN Security Council’s vote, Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz said on X that his country would not abide by the resolution. Therefore, we call on President Biden to enforce international law and impose consequences on Israel for its defiance of the UN Security Council. Accountability is essential to ensure compliance with international law and to prevent further disregard for human rights and humanitarian principles, Israel must abide by the UN Security Council’s resolution or face consequences.

In solidarity,

American Muslims for Palestine (AMP)

39.

25 maart 2024

Hostilities in the Gaza Strip and Israel
Flash Update #146

A joint WHO, OCHA, UNRWA and UNDSS mission to Al Amal PRCS hospital in Khan Younis in February 2024. Photo by WHO/Christopher Black

Key Highlights

• The UN Human Rights Office expresses alarm at the series of reported attacks on aid warehouses and police officers in Gaza.
• Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO) calls for an immediate end to the siege around Al Shifa Hospital and safe access to patients.
• UNRWA calls for lifting restrictions on access to northern Gaza, after the Israeli authorities informed the UN that they will no longer approve any UNRWA food convoys to northern Gaza.
• Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) staff and wounded patients arrive in Rafah after being trapped inside ambulances outside Al Amal Hospital for 20 hours.

Gaza Strip Updates

• Intense Israeli bombardment and ground operations as well as heavy fighting between Israeli forces and Palestinian armed groups continue to be reported across much of the Gaza Strip, particularly in Al Rimal area near Al Shifa Hospital in Gaza city, central Khan Younis, and the vicinity of Al Amal and Nasser hospitals. This has resulted in further civilian casualties, displacement, and destruction of houses and other civilian infrastructure.
• Between 10:30 on 21 March and 25 March, according to the Ministry of Health (MoH) in Gaza, 345 Palestinians were killed, and 506 Palestinians were injured, including 107 killed and 176 injured in the past 24 hours. Between 7 October 2023 and 10:30 on 25 March 2024, at least 32,333 Palestinians were killed in Gaza and 74,694 Palestinians were injured, according to MoH in Gaza.
• The following are among the deadly incidents reported between 22 and 24 March:
  • On 22 March, at about 11:20, eight Palestinians were reportedly killed, and others injured, when a house in An Nasser neighbourhood, in northeastern Rafah, was hit.
  • On 23 March, at about 2:30, five Palestinians, including four children and a woman, were reportedly killed when a house in Mirage area, in northern Rafah, was hit.
  • On 23 March, at about 6:30, several Palestinian casualties were reported when IDPs tents in Al Beraka area in Deir al Balah were hit.
  • On 23 March, at about 12:00, at least 19 Palestinians were reportedly killed, and others injured, when a group of people waiting for humanitarian aid were shot at in the vicinity of Al Kuwaiti roundabout in Gaza city.
  • On 23 March, at about 22:00, eight Palestinians, most of them children, were reportedly killed, and others injured when a house sheltering internally displaced persons (IDPs) was hit in Deir al Balah.
  • On 24 March, at about 2:00, eight Palestinians, including two children and a woman, were reportedly killed and others injured when a house on Al Fallouja Street in Al Junainah neighbourhood, in eastern Rafah, was hit.
• Between the afternoons of 22 and 25 March, one Israeli soldier was reported killed in Gaza. As of 25 March, 251 soldiers have been killed and 1,509 soldiers injured in Gaza since the beginning of the ground operation, according to the Israeli military. In addition, over 1,200 Israelis and foreign nationals have been killed in Israel, the vast majority on 7 October. As of 25 March, the Israeli authorities estimate that 134 Israelis and foreign nationals remain captive in Gaza, including fatalities whose bodies are withheld.
• On 22 March, the UN Human Rights Office (OHCHR) expressed alarm at the series of attacks since early February on aid warehouses as well as police officers and other actors reportedly involved in securing the delivery of aid supplies. OHCHR called on Israel to “ensure [the] entry of humanitarian aid and all other goods necessary for the survival of the civilian population at the required scale, facilitate the rebuilding of civilian infrastructure and ensure the safety of convoys, routes, warehouses, distribution sites, aid seekers and those securing and delivering aid.” Reported attacks have not only contributed to a breakdown in civil order, according to OHCHR, but they have also culminated in a situation whereby young men have often monopolized access to scarce assistance. Members of the civilian police who do not directly participate in hostilities are civilians and “cannot be targeted on the basis of their status” under international humanitarian law, OHCHR emphasized.
• On 22 March, the Gaza Coastal Municipalities Water Utility condemned the destruction of its headquarters in Al Zahra area in southwestern Gaza city and its main warehouse. Located in Al Mawasi area of Khan Younis, the warehouse contained most of the equipment and spare parts needed for the operation and maintenance of stations for water desalination plants, water pumping and sewage treatment. According to WHO, limited access to proper water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) facilities continues to contribute to the outbreak of infectious diseases, including diarrhoea and hepatitis A. On 22 March, Project Hope reported a rise in cases of hepatitis A at three of their clinics in the Gaza Strip, including one in Jaafar At Tayyar displacement site that provides shelter for over 100,000 people in Rafah. Moreover, among 125 children under the age of two screened at this site between 17 February and 16 March, 30 (nearly 25 per cent) showed signs of malnutrition. Project Hope warned that a ground offensive in Rafah “would be a death warrant for over a million people,” as health, nutrition, and sanitation conditions are already rapidly deteriorating.
• Ongoing hostilities continue to severely disrupt the delivery of vital health services and endanger the lives of patients, medical staff, and internally displaced persons (IDPs) sheltering at besieged hospitals. In Gaza city, the Israeli military operation inside and around Al-Shifa Hospital has continued for the eighth consecutive day, with reports from the Israeli military that 170 armed Palestinians have so far been killed and some 500 suspects have been detained. The MoH in Gaza said that besieged doctors and patients have appealed to international organizations to urgently intervene and save their lives, reporting that five wounded patients have died at the hospital due to the lack of water, food and medical services as of 24 March. Describing conditions at Al Shifa Hospital as “utterly inhumane,” the Director-General of the World Health Organization, Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, stated on 23 March that reports from inside the hospital indicate that two patients on life support have died due to the lack of electricity and some 50 health workers and 143 patients have been kept in one building “with extremely limited food, water and only one nonfunctional toilet.” The WHO Director-General called “for an immediate end to the siege” and appealed for “safe access to ensure patients get the care they need.” According to the Health Cluster, a proposed WHO medical evacuation mission to Al Shifa Hospital, where about 103 patients urgently need medicines and supplies, was not facilitated by the Israeli authorities on 20 March.
• On 24 March, UNRWA Commissioner-General, Philippe Lazzarini, called for lifting the restrictions on access to northern Gaza, after the Israeli authorities informed the UN that they will no longer approve any UNRWA food convoys to northern Gaza. Underscoring that UNRWA is largest aid organization in the Gaza Strip, the Commissioner-General described the situation as “outrageous,” as it “makes it intentional to obstruct lifesaving assistance during a man-made famine.” Between 16 and 22 March, nine out of 17 humanitarian aid missions to northern Gaza were facilitated by the Israeli authorities, five were denied, and three were postponed or withdrawn. During the same period, 33 out of 42 humanitarian aid missions to areas south of Wadi Gaza that require coordination were facilitated by the Israeli authorities, four were denied, and five were postponed or withdrawn.
• On the afternoon of 25 March, PRCS staff and wounded patients have reportedly arrived in Rafah, after being trapped in ambulances outside Al Amal Hospital in Khan Younis for about 20 hours, according to PRCS. PRCS added that the Israeli military had forced them to evacuate the hospital on 24 March, and when two people exited the ambulances to clear the rubble on the road to the military checkpoint, they were fired on by the Israeli army. Upon returning to Al Amal hospital, they found the door closed and were trapped inside the ambulances. The Israeli military said it has killed 20 armed Palestinians in or around Al Amal hospital.

Funding

• The Flash Appeal for the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt), which requests US$1.23 billion to meet the critical needs of 2.7 million people across the oPt (2.2 million in the Gaza Strip and 500,000 in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem), was extended through the end of March 2024. As of 24 March, member states disbursed nearly $1.051 billion for the updated Flash Appeal (85 per cent); this includes about $616 million out of $629 million (98 per cent) requested for October-December 2023 and about $435 million out of $600 million (72 per cent) requested for January-March 2024. For funding analysis, please see the Flash Appeal Financial Tracking dashboard.
• The oPt Humanitarian Fund (oPt HF) is currently supporting 122 projects, for a total of US$ 74.5 million, addressing urgent needs in the Gaza Strip (83 per cent) and West Bank (17 per cent). Despite logistical hurdles, safety and security concerns, and fuel scarcity that hinder the procurement and transport of supplies, implementation is led by 77 international NGOs, 20 national NGOs, and 16 UN agencies. Of the projects implemented by international NGOs or UN agencies, 56 per cent are in partnership with national NGOs. For a summary of the oPt HF activities and challenges in February 2024, please follow this link.
• The oPt HF has recently finalized its First Reserve Allocation of US$ 3.5 million for 2024, which aims at boosting the aid transport capacity to enable humanitarian partners to increase the delivery of vital aid and services to people across the Gaza Strip. This is in addition to a total of $88 million received by the Fund since 7 October from Member States and private donors and allocated for programming across Gaza, including 43 per cent in Rafah, 21 per cent in Deir al Balah, 20 per cent in Khan Younis, and 16 per cent in Gaza and North Gaza governorates. Private donations are collected directly through the Humanitarian Fund. In addition, the Central Emergency Relief Fund (CERF) has recently allocated US$ 700,000 to a project led by UN Women that aims to strengthen gender-responsive and inclusive accountability to affected people, bringing to $18.7 million the total CERF allocation to oPt since 7 October.

38.

25 maart 2024

THIS WEDNESDAY

Live from Lyd: Virtual Delegation

 Join Eyewitness Palestine on Wednesday, March 27th at 12PM ET for our Live from Lyd webinar, featuring a special virtual delegation led by Tamer Nafar (see interview below with EP staff member Moureen), who will take us around Lyd on a custom tour of the city. Lyd, like many Palestinian cities, is an ancient city that's been home to multiple civilizations over its 5,000-year history. It was the site of one of the most grueling massacres of the Nakba and remains haunted by the injustices brought on to it. Today, the community of Lyd--one of the few cities with an integrated Palestinian and Israeli Jewish population--is marred by addiction and gun violence. We'll hear from Lyd residents about the resilience and struggles they face in the community.

37.

25 maart 2024

Today's headlines

‘Horrific’ eyewitness accounts continue to emerge from Israel’s siege on Gaza’s hospitals

Leila Warah

Eyewitness accounts continue to emerge from Gaza’s hospitals, including rape, torture, mass executions, and soldiers crushing Palestinian bodies with tanks. Hamas says Israel's systematic attack on hospitals is central to its "war of extermination."

‘Not in my Name’: how a new generation is divesting from Israeli apartheid

“Not in our name” has long been a rallying cry for Jews who protest Israel, but it is now being adopted by a new group as well – those with wealth who are joining the movement to boycott and divest from Israeli apartheid.

GoFundMe’s Palestine double standard makes it complicit in Gaza genocide

By delaying the release of funds from "genocide escape" campaigns for Palestinians in Gaza due to "safeguarding" measures, GoFundMe is imperiling the lives of Gazans for whom every second can mean life or death.

36.

24 maart 2024

Protestactie: DeBalie, stop whitewashing genocide!

Doe mee met het protest voor de Balie! Op woensdag 27 maart om 18.00 uur en/of zaterdag 30 maart om 19.30 uur

De Balie moet niet meewerken aan de Israëlische propaganda-oorlog en geen podium bieden aan een festival dat gefinancierd wordt om oorlogsmisdaden te verbloemen en Israel af te spiegelen als een progressief en democratisch land. Dat is artwashing van genocide. Lees hier verder

Deze protesten worden georganiseerd door Erev Rav, Internationale Socialisten en BDS Nederland.

Werknemers Booking.com sluiten aan bij protest tegen bedrijfsbeleid tav Israëls illegale nederzettingen

Donderdag 14 maart bezocht een groep activisten van XR Justice Now, BDS NL & Workers for Palestine het hoofdkantoor van Booking.com voor een demonstratie. Het is de eerste van meerdere demonstraties in het kader van BDS NL’s B.Honest campagne om te zorgen dat Booking.com stopt met adverteren voor illegale nederzettingen op de bezette West Bank, zonder dat legitieme Palestijnse bedrijven worden geraakt.

Een twintigtal Booking.com werknemers kwam naar buiten en nam deel aan de demonstratie buiten het gebouw. Het is een duidelijk teken van de groeiende ontevredenheid van Booking.com medewerkers over de doorgaande medeplichtigheid van hun bedrijf aan Israëlische Apartheid.

BDS NL hield een toespraak die direct gericht was tot de medewerkers waarin men uitlegde dat de medeplichtigheid van Booking.com ook hen medeplichtig maakt.

Doneren

Sluit je ook aan bij de acties tegen bloeddadels van Albert Heijn!

Voor de tweede week hebben demonstraties plaatsgevonden bij Albert Heijn en andere supermarkten tegen bloeddadels. Andermaal met succes: dit keer heeft Albert Heijn in de Kinkerstraat de dadels uit de schappen gehaald! Laten we doorgaan met acties tot er geen enkele bloeddadel meer te vinden is!

Afgelopen zaterdag werd actie gevoerd bij Albert Heijn en andere winkels in Amsterdam, Alkmaar, Eindhoven, Diemen, Utrecht, Leiden, Bergen op Zoom en Wageningen!

Boycot is resistance! Free Palestine!

Boycot Eurovisie 2024 vanwege de deelname van genocidaal Israël

De Palestijnse Campagne voor de Academische en Culturele Boycot van Israël (PACBI), een van de oprichters van de BDS-beweging, roept op tot boycot van Eurovisie 2024.

Wij dringen er bij alle deelnemende omroepen, nationale deelnemers, finalisten, productieploegen en kijkers op aan om de wedstrijd te boycotten na de weigering van de organisatoren, de European Broadcasting Union (EBU), om het genocidale Israël uit te sluiten.

Artiesten, kunstenaars, musici, schrijvers, dichters, acteurs: sluit aan bij de oproep tot boycot van Eurovisie 2024

Teken hier de open brief aan jullie collega, onze nationale kandidaat, Joost Klein, met het dringende verzoek om af te zien van deelname:

Terwijl de voorbereidingen van het Eurovisiefestival in volle gang zijn, voert één van de deelnemende landen, Israël, een genocide uit op 2,3 miljoen Palestijnen, al 16 jaar opgesloten in Gaza, hongert hen moedwillig uit en houdt alle grenzen voor hen gesloten.

Eurovisiesongfestival geeft Israël toch het podium. Onder de slogan “United by music” biedt het Israël een dekmantel voor genocide en de kans zich voor te doen als een land dat streeft naar de eenheid, inclusiviteit en gelijkheid, waar het Eurovisiesongfestival voor zegt te staan.

De Palestijnse Campagne voor de Academische en Culturele Boycot van Israel (PACBI) en het Palestijnse Journalisten Syndicaat hadden de organisatoren van het Eurovisiesongfestival, de EBU, opgeroepen om Israël uit te sluiten – net zoals Rusland werd verbannen vanwege zijn illegale invasie van Oekraïne. De EBU heeft in plaats daarvan haar beschamende, hypocriete medeplichtigheid aan de genocide van Israël verdubbeld.

Palestijnen dringen er daarom bij alle deelnemende omroepen, nationale deelnemers, finalisten, productieploegen en kijkers op aan om het festival te boycotten.

35.

24 maart 2024

Today's headlines

Israel assaults al-Shifa, Nasser, and al-Amal hospitals in one day

Israeli forces ordered Palestinians inside al-Amal Hospital in Khan Younis to leave “naked," while survivors of the al-Shifa Hospital raid witnessed numerous atrocities committed by the Israeli army. In Jerusalem, Israeli settlers stormed al-Aqsa.

Chuck Schumer’s speech widens rifts over Israel in Congress

Democrats are fracturing over support for Israel, because their constituents don’t support it. The long-term result might be the end of the bipartisan consensus on Israel.

Malcolm X’s final written words were about Zionism. Here is what he said.

For Malcolm X, Zionism was inextricably linked to wider European colonialism. In a little known passage written just before his assassination, he made it clear he saw Zionism as not just a threat to Palestine, but to the entire Third World.

Mainstream media finally reports on Gaza famine but won’t admit Israel is deliberately responsible

James North

Palestinians in Gaza are starving, but the mainstream media won’t tell you the simple truth that Israel is intentionally causing the famine.

34.

24 maart 2024

At the beginning of the month, four friends and I organized an action against the war on Gaza. We wanted to bring the reality of the Genocide in Gaza directly to the doorstep of those responsible, Israeli pilots. We brought activists against the destruction of Gaza to one of the biggest air-force bases in Israel, where the planes are stored and the pilots who bomb Gaza operate and reside. With our hands painted in red, we stood outside the base and held pictures of the faces of Palestinian children, women and men, murdered in Gaza. We wanted the pilots to see the people whose lives they are responsible for destroying. During the action we held a sign that said “The blood is on your hands,” and another sign in Hebrew that pleaded they stop the bombing of Gaza.

During the action, Sahar Vardi, a conscientious objector, and war-resister said: “To the pilots hiding behind the fences. We are here to remind you of the faces, the people, the children, the women, the grandmothers, the grandfathers, that are on the other end of the bombs that you are dropping from the air. We are here to remind you that they are human beings, to show you their faces and remind you of your responsibility for the results of your actions. Responsibility to the killing of more than 30,000 people in five months. But also for the people that are starving, for the houses destroyed, for the hospital, for the schools, for any possibility of life in gaza. That is on your hands!” Being alongside fellow refusers is very valuable for me. Knowing that there are Israelis who oppose this Genocide and are willing to speak out, even in the face of arrest, accusations of betrayal and social isolation, is reassuring. More so, in such a hostile environment, the support of the international community feels priceless. Your steadfast solidarity serves as a powerful reminder that we are not alone in our struggle, that voices of Israeli war refusers resonate far beyond the boundaries of our immediate communities. This type of solidarity and resistance gives me hope that we can create a different reality here. Please share this email and this video with your friends, family and on your social media platforms so we can reach more people. Our collective power comes from our communities.

33.

23 maart 2024

Today's headlines

In northern Gaza Israel turned back food aid for the
second time in a week.

U.S. cuts UNRWA funding as famine looms for Gaza

Congress passed a $1.2 trillion spending bill that will continue a ban on funding UNRWA until at least 2025. President Biden has said he will sign the bill immediately.

Israel’s plans to replace its Palestinian labor force could spell disaster for the Palestinian economy

Since October 7, Israeli politicians and far-right leaders have pressed for Israel to replace Palestinian laborers with foreign workers. Such a move would devastate the Palestinian economy and could bring the Palestinian Authority down with it.

Ceasefire resolutions are building organizing power throughout the U.S.

Michael Arria

More than 100 ceasefire resolutions have passed throughout the United States. They might seem merely symbolic, but activists say they will have a lasting impact.

32.

22 maart 2024

For five days in a row, the Israeli military has been invading Al-Shifa Hospital, murdering 160 Palestinian people, kidnapping 600, and bombing multiple buildings in the complex—all part of its daily genocidal attacks.

Our Palestinian people should not have to endure these ongoing horrors. The genocide must end NOW.

Today, the House of Representatives just passed a spending package, which includes $3.3 billion in U.S. military funding to Israel, $500 million in weapons to Israel, and banning all direct UNRWA humanitarian funding for a year, with 23 Democrats opposing. Now the package is on the Senate floor for debate. Instead of stopping the killing, our government is fueling the flames.

Next keep an eye on the UN Security Council tomorrow, where France is putting forward a ceasefire resolution after the weak and non-binding U.S.-led resolution for a temporary pause failed. Keep fighting for a permanent ceasefire and an end to arming Israel. Read the latest updates below.

• As Secretary of State Blinken visits apartheid Israel today, Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu is doubling down on plans for a full-scale genocidal invasion of Rafah, and Israel just announced that it’s stealing 2,000 acres of land in the Jordan Valley. The Israeli state is storming ahead with full impunity, believing no one will hold it accountable.

       . The Biden administration is planning to build its port in Gaza with the rubble from destroyed Palestinian homes, including the remains of our martyrs. Meanwhile, Netanyahu has proposed using that port to forcibly ship out Palestinian people.

• While Israel attempts to assure the Biden administration that it’s using U.S. weapons without violating international law, Human Rights Watch and Oxfam have called out this obvious lie. The two organizations urge the U.S. to stop all weapons transfers to Israel.
  

READ THE REPORT FROM HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH & OXFAM 

• The House just voted to send more U.S. weapons to Israel and ban all direct U.S. humanitarian funding to the UNRWA aid agency until 2025.

31.

22 maart 2024

Geen natuurramp
Borrell benadrukte dat de crisis in Gaza geen gevolg is van een natuurramp, maar bewust door mensen is gecreëerd.

En ook bewust in stand wordt gehouden. Israël wordt weliswaar door de EU en Nederland zo langzamerhand voorzichtig bekritiseerd, maar wordt in de praktijk geen strobreed in de weg gelegd. Sterker nog, als het aan onze regering ligt blijven we gewoon de onderdelen leveren voor de F-35 vliegtuigen die in Gaza worden ingezet.

Door Europese landen en de VS wordt nu gewerkt aan een maritieme corridor om vanaf Cyprus voedsel en hulpgoederen aan te voeren. Daarvoor moet in Gaza eerst een aanlegplaats worden gebouwd, die naar verluidt pas in mei klaar is. Dit terwijl aan de Egyptische grens met Gaza vele honderden trucks met hulp door Israël worden tegengehouden. Verstrekken van hulp vanuit de lucht of via zee kan hooguit aanvullend zijn op het verstrekken van hulp over land, maar kan deze niet vervangen.

Palestijnen geen Oekraïners
De hele wereld is het eens dat de uithongering van de Palestijnen in Gaza onmiddellijk moet stoppen. Maar die stopt niet. Israël wordt opzichtig afgeschermd door de VS, het VK en de EU, met Nederland in de voorste gelederen.

Hoewel het Westen, waaronder Nederland, een arsenaal aan effectieve sancties ter beschikking staat, worden die niet ingezet. Palestijnen zijn nu eenmaal geen Oekraïners, zoals Borrell opmerkte.

Wij strijden tegen oorlogsmisdaden, annexatie, bezetting en onderdrukking.

Liegende politici, dát is pas een smet op de herinnering aan de Holocaust

Op dinsdag 12 maart werd in de Tweede Kamer stilgestaan bij de opening van het Nationaal Holocaustmuseum in Amsterdam, twee dagen eerder.

'Antisemitische bagger'
Een flink aantal Kamerleden was ‘woedend’ en ‘schaamde zich kapot’ vanwege de protesten die hoorbaar waren op het moment dat de genodigden per auto aankwamen bij het museum en bij de ingang een korte plechtigheid plaatsvond.

Menig Kamerlid had ‘antisemitische slogans’ en scheldwoorden als ‘kankerjoden’ gehoord. Staatssecretaris Eric van der Burg van Justitie en Veiligheid (VVD), namens het kabinet aanwezig in de Kamer, deelde in de woede over de ‘bagger’ en de ‘doelbewust antisemitische uitlatingen’. Hij had op de televisie demonstranten ‘Juden raus’ en ‘kankerjood’ horen roepen.

Burgemeester Halsema: geen ongeregeldheden
Volgens de Amsterdamse burgemeester Femke Halsema was er van dergelijke uitingen echter geen sprake. Dat blijkt uit de brief over het verloop van de demonstraties die zij diezelfde dinsdag naar de gemeenteraad stuurde. Ook volgens de Amsterdamse politie was de demonstratie ‘over het algemeen goed en rustig verlopen’.

Demonstrant op het Waterlooplein in Amsterdam tijdens de door Erev Rav georganiseerde betoging tegen de komst van de Israëlische president Yitzhak Herzog naar de opening van het Nationaal Holocaustmuseum, 10 maart 2024. © Charles M. Vella / SOPA Images/Sipa USADe demonstratie van de Joodse organisatie Erev Rav op het Waterlooplein, waarbij ook andere Joodse organisaties, alsmede Palestijnen acte de présence gaven, trok meer dan 1.500 betogers en was volgens de organisatoren en aanwezigen – waaronder een vertegenwoordiging van The Rights Forum – geslaagd én vreedzaam.  ‘Het was gewoon ontroerend’, zei initiatiefnemer Yuval Gal van Erev Rav achteraf.

Fundamentele vragen
De verschillende lezingen van de demonstraties roepen fundamentele vragen op. Waarom weersprak Van der Burg, die tijdens het Vragenuur nota bene opmerkte met Halsema over het verloop van de dag te hebben gesproken, wat de Amsterdamse burgemeester had verklaard? En hebben de Kamerleden werkelijk antisemitisch gescheld gehoord, of ging hun fantasie met ze op de loop?

Heel opvallend is dat tijdens het Vragenuur amper aandacht was voor de aanleiding voor de demonstraties: de uitnodiging aan de Israëlische president Herzog om de opening van het museum bij te wonen. Zijn komst betekende een klap in het gezicht van zowel Joden als Palestijnen, in feite van alle Nederlanders die de les van de Holocaust serieus nemen: Nooit meer! Over ‘een smet op de opening van het museum’ gesproken.

Bekijk | Herdenkingsbijeenkomst Dries van Agt

Op 5 maart organiseerde The Rights Forum een bijeenkomst ter nagedachtenis van Dries van Agt. Tijdens dit informele samenzijn stonden we stil bij de markante persoon Van Agt, zijn politiek-maatschappelijke betekenis, en met name zijn niet-aflatende inzet voor het Palestijnse volk.

De gehele bijeenkomst is nu op Youtube terug te zien. In de beschrijving van de video ziet u welke sprekers het woord hebben gedaan, en kunt u gemakkelijk specifieke toespraken terugvinden. 

Agenda | Gaza Staakt-het-Vuren Pelgrimage, van Amsterdam-Holendrecht naar Utrecht

Op zondag 24 maart organiseert Christelijk Collectief een 'pelgrimage' in solidariteit met Palestijnen in Gaza. De tocht loopt van Amsterdam Holendrecht naar het centrum van Utrecht. Deze pelgrimstocht is onderdeel van een internationale beweging in reactie op een oproep tot solidariteit van Palestijnse christelijke organisaties. Iedereen is welkom om mee te doen; of je nu religieus bent of niet. Het is een tocht van 'contemplatie, berouw en geweldloze solidariteit'.

De organisatie benadrukt dat de tocht een pelgrimage is, geen protestmars. Het is een moment voor rouw en bezinning. Vlaggen en leuzen staan daarom niet centraal. De route is ongeveer even lang als de Gazaanse kust; ongeveer 36 kilometer. Het is ook mogelijk om een deel van de pelgrimage mee te lopen. De aanvang is om 08.00 uur vanaf Station Holendrecht.

Bezoek de pagina van de pelgrimage voor meer informatie.

Binnenkort komt Daoud Nassar met zijn vrouw Jihan en zijn oudste dochter Shadin naar Nederland. Vrienden Tent of Nations Nederland nodigt hen op 6 april uit in Utrecht, waar Daoud en Shadin zullen vertellen over de huidige situatie in Palestina en de impact hiervan op hun boerderij en project.
​
Lees hier meer informatie over het programma en meld je uiterlijk dinsdag 2 april aan via tentofnationsnl@gmail.com.

30.

22 maart 2024

Today's headlines

U.S. advances UN Security Council ceasefire resolution as al-Shifa Hospital siege enters fifth day

Anna Lekas Miller

The siege of al-Shifa Hospital enters its fifth day as the Israeli army threatens to blow up the hospital, while the U.S.'s proposed UNSC resolution uses nebulous language that does not call for an "immediate" ceasefire.

When children are present in a genocide

When children are present in a time of genocide, they will always be the most vulnerable, the most affected, and the most in need of our protection. They will need pediatricians, such as myself, to act en masse and say unequivocally: ceasefire now.

29.

22 maart 2024

Hostilities in the Gaza Strip and Israel
Flash Update #145

Offloading aid in Jabalya, northern Gaza. Photo by UNRWA/Mohammed Hinnawi, 19 March 2024

Key Highlights

• As the military operation in Al Shifa Hospital continues, the World Health Organization expresses concern about the impact on the facility’s ability to function and save lives.
• On World Water Day, UN Women highlights the impact severe water shortages in Gaza have had on women.
• Some 13 per cent of displaced women in Rafah lack civil documentation for both them and their family members, hindering their access to aid and essential services, according to a recent UN rapid assessment.

Gaza Strip Updates

• Intense Israeli bombardment and ground operations as well as heavy fighting between Israeli forces and Palestinian armed groups continue to be reported across much of the Gaza Strip, particularly in Al Rimal area near Al Shifa Hospital in Gaza city. This has resulted in further civilian casualties, displacement, and destruction of houses and other civilian infrastructure.
• Between 7 October 2023 and 10:30 on 21 March 2024, at least 31,988 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza and 74,188 Palestinians have been injured, according to MoH in Gaza. As of the time of writing, there were no updated casualty figures covering the period until the afternoon of 22 March available from the MoH in Gaza.
• The following are among the deadly incidents reported on 20 and 21 March:
  • On 20 March, at about 13:20, one Palestinian police officer was reportedly killed, and at least three others were injured, when a Palestinian police checkpoint near As Sekka area in Jabalya Refugee Camp was hit.
  • On 20 March, at about 13:35, three Palestinians were reportedly killed, and 10 others were injured, when a group of people at Hamouda junction in eastern Jabalya Refugee Camp were hit. Unconfirmed reports indicate that this group comprised police officers involved in securing the delivery of aid.
  • On 20 March, at about 19:40, nine Palestinians were reportedly killed, all said to be women and children, when a house opposite Al Madin police station, in central Gaza city, was hit.
  • On 20 March, at about 19:40, nine Palestinians were reportedly killed, including three women, and others were injured, when a house in western An Nuseirat Refugee Camp, in Deir al Balah, was hit.
  • On 20 March, at about 20:40, one Palestinian man succumbed to wounds sustained when the yard of the UNRWA Rafah East Distribution Centre was hit on 13 March, bringing to seven the total number of reported fatalities in this incident.
  • On 21 March, at about 5:00, nine Palestinians were reportedly killed, and others injured, when a house in Al Isra area, in northern An Nuseirat Refugee Camp, in Deir al Balah, was hit.
  • On 21 March, at about 10:00, nine Palestinians were reportedly killed, and others injured, when a vehicle was hit in Bani Suheila area, in eastern Khan Younis.
• Between the afternoons of 21 and 22 March, no Israeli soldiers were reported killed in Gaza. As of 22 March, 250 soldiers have been killed and 1,489 soldiers injured in Gaza since the beginning of the ground operation, according to the Israeli military. In addition, over 1,200 Israelis and foreign nationals have been killed in Israel, the vast majority on 7 October. As of 22 March, the Israeli authorities estimate that 134 Israelis and foreign nationals remain captive in Gaza, including fatalities whose bodies are withheld.
• The Israeli military operation inside and around Al Shifa hospital in Gaza city has continued for the fifth consecutive day amid intensive exchanges of fire with Palestinian armed groups. According to WHO Director-General, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, access to the hospital is now impossible and a WHO mission on 21 March had to be cancelled due to insecurity. WHO and partners have also lost contact with health personnel at Al Shifa Hospital, where health workers have been among those reported arrested and detained. Calling for the protection of hospitals in line with international humanitarian law, the WHO Director-General stated: “The ongoing situation could impact the hospital’s ability to function, even minimally, and deprive people of critical, lifesaving care.” Since the first Israeli military raid into Al Shifa Hospital in November 2023, the hospital has been operating either partially or minimally, with the most recent delivery of essential supplies facilitated by WHO on 11 March. The Gaza Government Media Office has stated that at least three patients have died at Al Shifa Hospital due to a shortage of critical medications and limited power supply. Since the start of the military operation in the area of Al Shifa Hospital, the Israeli military stated that it has killed about 150 armed Palestinians and detained hundreds of suspects.
• Hospitals and health centres that remain functional in the Gaza Strip continue to suffer severe shortages of fuel, medical equipment and medications. During a visit to Kamal Adwan Hospital on 21 March, jointly with WHO, UNICEF and OCHA, Humanitarian Coordinator ad interim, Jamie McGoldrick, described how overwhelmed the hospital currently is with trauma patients from incidents of food distributions and patients who were able to leave Al Shifa Hospital where there is an ongoing military operation. Kamal Adwan is the only paediatrics hospital in northern Gaza. It is also struggling to provide a wide range of medical services in the areas of neurology, urology, ophthalmology, and haemodialysis, receiving about 1,000 patients per day. As malnutrition levels among children in northern Gaza have doubled in February compared with January, WHO has established a nutrition stabilization centre at the hospital; this centre is now a lifeline for children suffering from severe acute malnutrition with medical complications. Moreover, on 19 March, OCHA, UNRWA and WHO carried out a joint mission to deliver fuel and medical supplies to UNRWA’s health centre in Jabalya and Kamal Adwan Hospital in Beit Lahiya. During the mission, the team also assessed critical medical needs at the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) medical point in Jabalya, the only one run by PRCS in northern Gaza and one of eight PRCS medical points in the Gaza Strip. On the visit to Kamal Adwan Hospital, the Humanitarian Coordinator emphasized the need to provide more support, supplies and fuel “to make sure the hospital keeps running.”
• On World Water Day, 22 March, UN Women highlighted the impact severe water shortages in Gaza have had on women who are struggling to survive “with no food, no water, [and] no tents.” According to the Water, Hygiene, and Sanitation (WASH) Cluster, water production from all the water sources in Gaza has dropped to only 5.7 per cent of pre-October production levels as of February 2024, with very limited supplies available for drinking and domestic use, including for personal hygiene. In a joint press release on 22 March, the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics and the Palestinian Water Authority reported that the average per capita water consumption in the Gaza Strip has dropped from 84.6 litres per day prior to 7 October to 3-15 litres per day. In December 2023, UNICEF had warned that children in southern Gaza were accessing only 1.5 to 2 litres of water per day, well below the recommended requirements for survival. According to humanitarian standards, the minimum amount of water needed in an emergency is 15 litres, which includes water for drinking, washing, and cooking. For survival alone, the estimated minimum is three litres per day.
• A recent rapid assessment carried out by the Women’s Affairs Center, UNDP’s Programme of Assistance to the Palestinian People (PAPP), and UN Women between the end of December 2023 and the end of January 2024, sheds light on the immediate impact of hostilities on women. According to the assessment findings, the vast majority (91 per cent) of displaced women surveyed in Rafah reported that their homes had been damaged or destroyed and over half had lost at least one family member since 7 October. In addition, the assessment finds that some 94 per cent of women feel unsafe and lack privacy and a similar percentage have been struggling to afford necessities such as food, water and hygiene supplies. To cope, women have resorted to extreme measures such as fasting and selling part of the aid they receive to purchase needed clothing and hygiene supplies. The assessment also finds that overcrowding at displacement sites raises concerns about gender-related protection risks, especially gender-based violence (GBV). Moreover, nearly half of surveyed women reported lacking civil documentation for them and/or their family members, including 13 per cent who lack civil documentation for both them and their family members, hindering their access to aid and essential services. According to the Protection Cluster, an estimated 30 to 40 per cent of people in Gaza have lost their identification documents during displacement. Although in-kind assistance does not require people to produce identification, the lack of such documents presents a significant obstacle to obtaining Multi-purpose Cash Assistance (MPCA).

West Bank Updates

• On 21 March 2024, a 24-year-old Palestinian man died of critical wounds sustained by an Israeli drone strike on a Palestinian vehicle in Jenin Refugee Camp the day before, bringing to four the death toll of that incident.
• On 21 March, Israeli forces, including an undercover unit, shot and killed a 29-year-old Palestinian man in Aqbat Jaber Refugee Camp during a raid that involved an exchange of fire with Palestinians. Israeli forces also searched houses in the camp and injured three Palestinians, including a five-year-old girl who sustained injuries from shrapnel and two men who were injured with live ammunition and arrested.
• On 22 March, a Palestinian man opened fire at an Israeli bus near Dolev Israeli settlement, in Ramallah governorate, causing damage to the bus, the Israeli military reported. Israeli forces then reportedly initiated a search operation lasting for about three hours, during which eight members of Israeli forces were injured in an exchange of fire with the man, according to Israeli media sources. An Israeli drone and helicopter were deployed and struck the Palestinian man with two missiles, killing him. During the incident, Israeli forces raided the nearby villages of Deir Ibzi and Kafr Ni'ma, closed the road gate at the only entrance to Ras Karkar village (with an estimated population of 2,200), and broke into the house of the killed Palestinian man, arresting his brother alongside two other Palestinians.
• Since 7 October, 434 Palestinians have been killed, including 421 by Israeli forces, nine by settlers and three by either Israeli forces or settlers, across the West Bank, including East Jerusalem. These include 126 Palestinians killed since the start of 2024, the vast majority by Israeli forces. Some 5,000 Palestinians have been injured, including 725 children, since 7 October in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem.
• Since 7 October, 15 Israelis, including four members of Israeli forces, have been killed and 109 injured in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and Israel.
• According to the Islamic Waqf, some 120,000 worshippers performed Friday prayers in Al Aqsa Mosque on the second Friday of the month of Ramadan (22 March). Measures announced by the Israeli authorities last week limited the access of Palestinians holding West Bank IDs to Friday prayers at Al Aqsa Mosque in East Jerusalem to children under 10 years of age, women over 50, and men over 55, with a valid one-day permit and magnetic card. Eligible persons can cross the checkpoints starting at 4:00 and return before 17:00. In 2023, men over 55, women of all ages and children under 12 were allowed entry without a permit on Fridays during Ramadan.
• On 20 March, a Palestinian man was displaced after he was forced to demolish his residence due to the lack of Israeli-issued building permit in Al ‘Isawiya in East Jerusalem. Since 7 October, over 1,600 Palestinians have been displaced due to home demolitions, more than half of whom were displaced in operations carried out by Israeli forces, 38 per cent by the demolition of homes that lacked Israeli-issued building permits, and 8 per cent due to demolitions on punitive grounds. Also since 7 October 2023, over 1,240 Palestinians, including about 600 children, from at least 20 herding communities have been displaced amid settler violence and access restrictions.

Funding

• The Flash Appeal for the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt), which requests US$1.23 billion to meet the critical needs of 2.7 million people across the oPt (2.2 million in the Gaza Strip and 500,000 in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem), was extended through the end of March 2024. As of 21 March, member states disbursed nearly $1.05 billion for the updated Flash Appeal (85 per cent); this includes about $616 million out of $629 million (98 per cent) requested for October-December 2023 and about $434million out of $600 million (72 per cent) requested for January-March 2024. For funding analysis, please see the Flash Appeal Financial Tracking dashboard.
• The oPt Humanitarian Fund (oPt HF) is currently supporting 122 projects, for a total of US$ 74.5 million, addressing urgent needs in the Gaza Strip (83 per cent) and West Bank (17 per cent). Despite logistical hurdles, safety and security concerns, and fuel scarcity that hinder the procurement and transport of supplies, implementation is led by 77 international NGOs, 20 national NGOs, and 16 UN agencies. Of the projects implemented by international NGOs or UN agencies, 56 per cent are in partnership with national NGOs. For a summary of the oPt HF activities and challenges in February 2024, please follow this link.
• The oPt HF has recently finalized its First Reserve Allocation of US$ 3.5 million for 2024, which aims at boosting the aid transport capacity to enable humanitarian partners to increase the delivery of vital aid and services to people across the Gaza Strip. This is in addition to a total of $88 million received by the Fund since 7 October from Member States and private donors and allocated for programming across Gaza, including 43 per cent in Rafah, 21 per cent in Deir al Balah, 20 per cent in Khan Younis, and 16 per cent in Gaza and North Gaza governorates. Private donations are collected directly through the Humanitarian Fund. In addition, the Central Emergency Relief Fund (CERF) has recently allocated US$ 700,000 to a project led by UN Women that aims to strengthen gender-responsive and inclusive accountability to affected people, bringing to $18.7 million the total CERF allocation to oPt since 7 October.

28.

22 maart 2024

I’m sure you’ve seen the devastating reports coming out of Gaza.

One million Palestinians in Gaza are facing imminent famine. The images of babies, children, people of all ages starving to death are burned into my brain.

And yet what are the politicians in Washington doing? They are voting to *ban* funding to the primary U.N. agency responsible for providing food in Gaza.

It’s mind boggling.

Later today, Congress is expected to vote on a spending bill that would ban funding to UNRWA - the largest provider of life-saving assistance to Palestinians in Gaza - through March 2025.

The U.S. has been the largest donor to UNRWA, typically providing between $300-400 million annually. If passed, this ban would create a shortfall of hundreds of millions of dollars - at the time when the aid is needed most.

In a cynical move, the ban on UNRWA funding has been wedged into a massive spending bill that lawmakers must pass in order to avoid a government shutdown.

The New York Times is reporting that this bill is expected to “easily pass Congress” by the weekend.

We can’t let them get away with this. We can’t let them cut off aid during a genocide.

This immoral bill not only cuts off a key lifeline for Palestinian refugees, but it also allocates hundreds of millions of dollars to further militarize our southern border and detain, deport, and separate families.


Take action now.

Adalah Justice Project

27.

21 maart 2024

CARE

21 maart 2024

De crisis in Gaza is een crisis die we nog nooit eerder hebben gezien. Na ruim vijf maanden van geweld lijden de mensen in Gaza onder ziekte, honger en duisternis.

Er is vrijwel geen nachtelijk licht en gezondheidszorg in Gaza. Vrouwen bevallen in het donker en op straat.

CARE probeert met medische teams hulp te verlenen ondanks alle uitdagingen.

26.

21 maart 2024

21 maart 2024

Hostilities in the Gaza Strip and Israel
Flash Update #144

Humanitarian workers preparing hot Ramadan Iftar meals for displaced families in southern Gaza. Implemented by ANERA and World Central Kitchen, this is one of 122 relief projects currently supported by the occupied Palestinian territory Humanitarian Fund. Photo by ANERA

Key Highlights

• The Israeli military operation inside and around Al Shifa Hospital is ongoing for the fourth consecutive day.
• According to Oxfam, the Israeli authorities have been arbitrarily rejecting the entry into Gaza of civilian goods that have a potential military use. 
• The Israeli Supreme Court issued a temporary injunction against the return of some 25 patients from East Jerusalem and Israel  to Gaza. 
• The Israeli army killed nine Palestinians across the West Bank since the afternoon of 20 March, including five by airstrikes.

Gaza Strip Updates

• Intense Israeli bombardment and ground operations as well as heavy fighting between Israeli forces and Palestinian armed groups continue to be reported across much of the Gaza Strip, particularly in Al Rimal area in the vicinity of Al Shifa Hospital in Gaza city. This has resulted in further civilian casualties, displacement, and destruction of houses and other civilian infrastructure. 
• Between the afternoon of 20 March and 10:30 on 21 March, according to the Ministry of Health (MoH) in Gaza, 65 Palestinians were killed, and 92 Palestinians were injured. Between 7 October 2023 and 10:30 on 21 March 2024, at least 31,988 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza and 74,188 Palestinians have been injured, according to MoH in Gaza.
• The following are among the deadly incidents reported on 19 and 20 March:  
  • On 19 March, at about 21:00, at least 27 Palestinians were reportedly killed when a three-floor building housing internally displaced persons (IDPs) on Al Ishreen street in An Nuseirat Refugee Camp, in Deir al Balah, was hit.
  • On 19 March, at about 17:30, at least four Palestinians, including the head police of An Nuseirat, and two young girls, were reportedly killed and others injured when a car in An Nuseirat Refugee Camp, in Deir al Balah, was hit.
  • On 19 March, at about 20:45, near Al Kuwaiti roundabout at the southeastern entrance to Gaza city, at least 30 Palestinians, were shot at and killed. Among the victims was the Director of the Emergency Committee in western Gaza city. The group reportedly comprised Palestinians who were part of a committee tasked with overseeing the entry and distribution of humanitarian aid.
  • On 20 March, at about 4:00, 20 Palestinians were reportedly killed, and others injured, when a residential building in Ard Ash Shanti area, in northwestern Gaza city, was hit.
  • On 20 March, at 5:25, at least seven Palestinians were reportedly killed, and others injured, when a house in Al Bureij Refugee Camp, in Deir al Balah, was hit.
  • On 20 March, at about 11:00, four Palestinians, including two children and a woman, were reportedly killed when a house near Hamdan Hall in eastern Rafah was hit.
• Between the afternoons of 20 and 21 March, no Israeli soldiers were reported killed in Gaza. As of 21 March, 250 soldiers have been killed and 1,489 soldiers injured in Gaza since the beginning of the ground operation, according to the Israeli military. In addition, over 1,200 Israelis and foreign nationals have been killed in Israel, the vast majority on 7 October. As of 21 March, the Israeli authorities estimate that 134 Israelis and foreign nationals remain captive in Gaza, including fatalities whose bodies are withheld. 
• The Israeli military operation inside and around Al Shifa Hospital in Gaza city has continued for the fourth consecutive day. According to the Israeli military,  it has killed over 50 armed Palestinians in the past 24 hours, bringing to 140 the number of Palestinians the Israeli army said they have killed since the start of this military operation. According to the spokesperson of the Palestinian Civil Defense in Gaza, the Israeli army reportedly refused to allow civil defense crews to reach and rescue hundreds of injured people who had issued calls for help in the vicinity of Al Shifa Hospital. The Israeli military also reported that about 3,700 people passed through a checkpoint it established near Al Shifa hospital and moved southwards, over 300 of whom have been detained.
• In a recent report, Oxfam International outlines seven key humanitarian access constraints that impede aid delivery into and across Gaza. Among other constraints, the report draws attention to the denial of entry of civilian goods into Gaza by the Israeli authorities, on the grounds that they could potentially be used for military purposes.  It highlights that the range of prohibited items goes beyond international best practice for regulating trade in dual-use items established by the Wassenaar Arrangement. The report adds: “Israel is arbitrarily rejecting aid items as ‘dual-use’; civilian goods with a potential military use. Such items, including flashlights, batteries, water pipes, fittings and medical supplies, are often necessary for people’s survival and for meeting other basic needs,” with the same item sometimes being rejected or allowed to pass on different days. According to the report, the prohibition on the entry of back-up generators has severely impacted the functionality of Gaza’s water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) and health sectors, and Oxfam has been unable to bring in a shipment of vital water quality testing equipment since December 2023. Action Aid had also reported that oxygen cylinders and anaesthetics for hospitals were among the items not permitted to enter Gaza during inspections. Other items that​​​​​​​ humanitarian partners are currently identifying as difficult to bring into Gaza include psycho-social support kits, mine-action supplies for Explosive Ordnance contamination assessments, and telecommunications equipment.   
• On 20 March, following a petition filed by Physicians for Human Rights – Israel (PHRI), the Israeli Supreme Court issued a temporary injunction against the return to Gaza of some 25 patients, along with their companions, who have been at hospitals in East Jerusalem and Israel since before 7 October. The patients were scheduled to be bused back to Gaza by the Israeli authorities, reportedly because they no longer require in-patient medical treatment, and include cancer patients and five newborn babies and their mothers. According to PHRI’s spokesperson, as cited in the media: “Returning residents to Gaza during a military conflict and a humanitarian crisis is against international law and poses a deliberate risk to innocent lives.” In late October 2023, WHO estimated that at least 400 patients from Gaza had been stranded in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, after the movement between Gaza and the West Bank came to a halt. Separately, on 18 March, PHRI and five other human rights organizations petitioned the Israeli Supreme Court to “compel Israel to allow the entry of all humanitarian aid and assistance shipments into Gaza and ensure the civilian population receives everything it needs to survive the war – in accordance with Israel’s obligations as an occupying power.”  

West Bank Updates

• Israeli forces killed nine Palestinians across the West Bank on 20 and 21 March:

• Minutes before the start of Ramadan Iftar on 20 March, Israeli forces targeted with a "Sky Quad Drone" a Palestinian vehicle driving in Jenin Refugee Camp, killing its three passengers and seriously injuring the fourth. According to reports from PRCS, two bodies were severely charred, while the third was dismembered. Palestinians later demonstrated in front of the Palestinian Presidential Compound, refusing to bury the three killed Palestinians before the release of political prisoners from a Palestinian Authority prison. Subsequent clashes and an exchange of fire erupted between Palestinian security forces and Palestinians in the camp, resulting in the injury of six Palestinians, one of whom sustained a critical head injury. 
• On 20 March, Israeli forces carried out a 10-hour military operation in Nur Shams Refugee Camp in Tulkarm city, during which the forces killed four Palestinians, two by Israeli airstrikes and two by shooting. Israeli forces also bulldozed road infrastructure and caused damage to residential houses and other properties. Israeli media outlets, citing the Israeli army, said that Israeli forces have caried out 45 air strikes across the West Bank since the start of the war on Gaza.
• On 21 March, Israeli forces shot with live ammunition and killed an 18-year-old Palestinian male during an Israeli search-and-arrest operation in Al Bireh city, in Ramallah governorate, which involved clashes between Palestinians throwing stones and Israeli forces. During the operation, Israeli forces searched several houses in Al Bireh and Ramallah cities. 
• On the morning of 21 March, Israeli forces shot and killed an elderly Palestinian man from Hebron city at a bus station near the settlement of Elazar in Gush Etzion in Bethlehem. The circumstances of the incident remain unclear. 
• Since 7 October, 431 Palestinians have been killed, including 419 by Israeli forces, nine by settlers and three by either Israeli forces or settlers, across the West Bank, including East Jerusalem. These include 123 Palestinians killed since the start of 2024, the vast majority by Israeli forces. Some 4,690 Palestinians have been injured, including 725 children, since 7 October in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem.  
• Since 7 October, 15 Israelis, including four members of Israeli forces, have been killed and 101 injured in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and Israel.
• On 20 March, Israeli settlers believed to be from settlement outposts near Rimonim settlement, in the Ramallah governorate, have occupied and placed their sheep in an unknown number of empty Palestinian structures in the Bedouin community of Al Mu'arrajat Center. Since 12 October, Palestinian families from this community have been forcibly displaced amid heightened Israeli settler violence in the area. Also on 20 March, following reported attacks by settlers believed to be from a settlement outpost established near Ma’ale Efrayim settlement on 11 March, five Palestinian households comprising 21 people, including eight children, were forced to dismantle their homes and other structures near Fasayil village in Jericho. The families rely on herding as a main source of income and reported that Israeli settlers have been limiting their access to grazing lands and have cut pipes that supply them with water. 
• Since 7 October 2023, over 1,240 Palestinians, including around 600 children, from at least 20 herding communities have been displaced amid settler violence and access restrictions. In addition, since 7 October, over 1,600 Palestinians have been displaced due to home demolitions, more than half of whom were displaced in operations carried out by Israeli forces, 38 per cent by the demolition of homes that lacked Israeli-issued building permits, and 8 per cent due to demolitions on punitive grounds. 

Funding

• The Flash Appeal for the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt), which requests US$1.2 billion to meet the critical needs of 2.7 million people across the oPt (2.2 million in the Gaza Strip and 500,000 in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem), was extended through the end of March 2024. As of 21 March, member states disbursed nearly $991 million for the updated Flash Appeal (81 per cent); this includes about $616 million out of $629 million (98 per cent) requested for October-December 2023 and about $375 million out of $600 million (63 per cent) requested for January-March 2024. For funding analysis, please see the Flash Appeal Financial Tracking dashboard.
• The oPt Humanitarian Fund (oPt HF) is currently supporting 122 projects, for a total of US$ 74.5 million, addressing urgent needs in the Gaza Strip (83 per cent) and West Bank (17 per cent). Despite logistical hurdles, safety and security concerns, and fuel scarcity that hinder the procurement and transport of supplies, implementation is led by 77 international NGOs, 20 national NGOs, and 16 UN agencies. Of the projects implemented by international NGOs or UN agencies, 56 per cent are in partnership with national NGOs. For a summary of the oPt HF activities and challenges in February 2024, please follow this link.
• The oPt HF has recently finalized its First Reserve Allocation of US$ 3.5 million for 2024, which aims at boosting the aid transport capacity to enable humanitarian partners to increase the delivery of vital aid and services to people across the Gaza Strip. This is in addition to a total of $88 million received by the Fund since 7 October from member states and private donors and allocated for programming across Gaza, including 43 per cent in Rafah, 21 per cent in Deir al Balah, 20 per cent in Khan Younis, and 16 per cent in Gaza and North Gaza governorates. Private donations are collected directly through the Humanitarian Fund. In addition, the Central Emergency Relief Fund (CERF) has recently allocated US$ 700,000 to a project led by UN Women that aims to strengthen gender-responsive and inclusive accountability to affected people, bringing to $18.7 million the total CERF allocation to oPt since 7 October.

• For the Humanitarian Needs and Cluster Response Update for the period between 12 and 18 March, please visit: Humanitarian needs and response update | 12-18 March 2024. The update for a given week is initially published on Mondays and is updated throughout the week to reflect new content.

25.

21 maart 2024

Today's headlines

Israel has killed over 100 aid workers in Gaza in the last week

Leila Warah

Israel has killed over 100 aid workers in Gaza over the past week as its military siege of al-Shifa Hospital continues. Meanwhile, the Netanyahu government continues planning for an invasion of Rafah.

Canadian foreign minister says country will stop arms sales to Israel

Canada's parliament voted to stop future arms sales to Israel. "This appears too good to be true," CJPME Vice President told Mondoweiss. "We need to make sure that Canada stops the transfer of all military exports, period, without any loopholes."

There is nothing we can do about Israel other than everything

The war on Gaza is being used to advance fascism and white supremacy in the U.S. It is also opening people's eyes to global systems that require genocide to continue. To stand with Palestine is to transform those systems and build a different world.

24.

21 maart 2024

21 maart 2024

It’s Our Job to Stop Arming Israel: The U.S. must follow Canada’s moral example

Canada has announced a complete suspension of all new arms export permits to Israel, effective immediately. This long overdue freeze will remain in place indefinitely until the Canadian government can ensure that any military exports are used in full compliance with Canada's strict export laws, which prohibit weapons transfers that could abet civilian harm or violate international humanitarian law. 

Canada's decision reflects growing international outrage over Israel's bloody genocide in Gaza and the consensus military aid to Israel fuels atrocities and undermines peace. This bold move by Canada marks a pivotal moment for the international community to reevaluate their complicity in perpetuating injustice through unconditional military support to Israel. As more and more voices worldwide demand accountability and an end to impunity, the United States must also urgently reexamine its practices of providing billions in weapons to Israel with no strings attached.

For too long, the U.S. has been arming Israel to the teeth and shielding it from any consequences at the UN. Weak attempts by the Biden administration to entice or persuade the extremist Netanyahu government to change its behavior have utterly failed. Stern statements from top U.S. officials like Secretary Blinken and Senator Schumer have fallen on deaf ears among Israeli leadership.

It is clear that the decades-long U.S. policy of appeasing Israel as it tramples on Palestinian rights has only emboldened Israeli impunity and made a just, lasting peace more remote than ever. To truly promote human rights, international law, and equality for Palestinians, the U.S. must stop trying in vain to change Israel's behavior and instead cut the pipeline of unconditional military aid to Israel.

Only by ending U.S. complicity and impunity can we begin to forge a path of justice, equality, and dignity for all. Join us in urging President Biden to stop arming apartheid and finally align U.S. policy with human rights, international law, and Palestinian self-determination.

In solidarity,
Americans for Justice in Palestine Action

23.

20 maart 2024

Today's headlines

Israel kills Gaza officials handling food delivery to the north; Canada votes to halt arms sales to Israel

Hamas slams Israel for "spreading chaos" after an Israeli airstrike killed two local police officers in charge of securing and delivering food to north Gaza.

‘All of them are gone except me’

My friend Reem Hamadaqa barely survived an attack on her home in Khan Younis that killed her parents and most of her family. What do you tell a friend who has lost nearly everything?

Doctors justify genocide in a prestigious journal

The Journal of the American Medical Association published four letters rife with racist anti-Palestinian tropes. The prestigious platform created the appearance of intellectualism and expertise, but it’s all just racism with a ribbon on it.

Read more about this anti-Palestine racism by the

American Medical Association !!

22.

20 maart 2024

20 maart 2024

In Gaza’s north, a full-blown famine is imminent.

*Are* there red lines for Biden?

Reinstate UNRWA funding now.

Event: Gaza's Health Crisis.

21.

20 maart 2024

20 maart 2024

Hostilities in the Gaza Strip and Israel
Flash Update #143

Fuel delivery to power lifesaving operations at Kamal Adwan Hospital, the only paediatrics hospital in the north of Gaza. Photo by OCHA, 19 March 2024

Key Highlights

• Patients and medical doctors lack food and water as hospitals across Gaza struggle to maintain operations and save lives, the World Health Organization (WHO) warns.
• The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights calls for unfettered humanitarian and commercial access into and across Gaza to prevent famine.
• Some 25 patients are scheduled to be returned to Gaza from East Jerusalem on 21 March.

Gaza Strip Updates

• Intense Israeli bombardment and ground operations as well as heavy fighting between Israeli forces and Palestinian armed groups continue to be reported across much of the Gaza Strip, particularly in southeastern Gaza city and areas surrounding Al Shifa Hospital. This has resulted in further civilian casualties, displacement, and destruction of houses and other civilian infrastructure.
• Between the afternoon of 19 March and noon on 20 March, according to the Ministry of Health (MoH) in Gaza, 104 Palestinians were killed and 162 Palestinians were injured. Between 7 October 2023 and noon on 20 March 2024, at least 31,923 Palestinians were killed in Gaza and 74,096 Palestinians were injured, according to MoH in Gaza.
• The following are among the deadly incidents reported on 18 and 19 March:
  • On 18 March, at about 19:10, at least eight Palestinians were reportedly killed when a group of people in Beit Hanun, in North Gaza, was hit.
  • On 18 March, at about 19:05, eight Palestinians, including a Palestinian Lieutenant Colonel responsible for securing the entry of aid trucks to northern Gaza, his wife and children, were reportedly killed when a residential building in Jabalya city, in North Gaza, was hit.
  • On 18 March, at about 19:20, one Palestinian was reportedly killed, and at least six others were injured, when the building of Al Bureij Municipality, in Deir al Balah, was hit and reportedly destroyed.
  • On 18 March, at about 21:30, six Palestinians including a woman and a young girl, were reportedly killed, and others injured, when a house in western An Nuseirat refugee camp, in Deir al Balah, was hit.
  • On 18 March, at about 23:50, five Palestinians including three children and a woman were reportedly killed when an apartment in Az Zohour neighbourhood, in Rafah, was hit.
  • On 18 March, at about 22:00, six Palestinians were reportedly killed, and others injured, when a house belonging to a Palestinian journalist in Al Amin area of Sheikh Radwan neighbourhood, in Gaza city, was hit.
  • On 19 March, in the morning, nine Palestinians were reportedly killed when a house on Al Jalaa Street, in Gaza city, was hit.
  • On 19 March, at about 11:50, 15 Palestinians were reportedly killed when a house in central Gaza city was hit.
• Between the afternoons of 19 and 20 March, one Israeli soldier was reported killed in Gaza. As of 20 March, 250 soldiers have been killed and 1,496 soldiers injured in Gaza since the beginning of the ground operation, according to the Israeli military. In addition, over 1,200 Israelis and foreign nationals have been killed in Israel, the vast majority on 7 October. As of 20 March, the Israeli authorities estimate that 134 Israelis and foreign nationals remain captive in Gaza, including fatalities whose bodies are withheld.
• The Israeli military operation inside and around Al Shifa hospital in Gaza city continued for the third successive day, with reports of heavy exchange of fire between Israeli forces and Palestinian armed groups. According to the Israeli military, some 90 armed Palestinians were killed and 300 suspects were detained including 160 who were transferred to Israel for further questioning. The Gaza Government Media Office reported that civilians, including children, were among the fatalities. The MoH in Gaza called on international organizations to help protect the wounded and sick patients and medical staff at Al Shifa Hospital, also noting that they have been unable to break their fast due to the lack of water and food as Israeli forces continue to besiege the hospital. Expressing concern about the sporadic and slow access to hospitals, WHO stated on 18 March that they and their partners “have been carrying out high-risk missions to deliver medicines, fuel and food for health workers and their patients, but … requests to deliver supplies are often blocked or refused. Damaged roads and continuous fighting, including in and close to hospitals, mean deliveries are few and slow.” WHO further highlighted that when teams do reach hospitals, they “meet exhausted and hungry health workers who ask us for food and water. We see patients trying to recover from life-saving surgeries and losses of limbs, or sick with cancer or diabetes, mothers who have just given birth, or newborn babies, all suffering from hunger and the diseases that stalk it.” In a briefing on 18 March, Humanitarian Coordinator ad interim, Jamie McGoldrick, described “the industrial scale destruction” he had recently witnessed on his way to visit Al Shifa hospital, where there was very limited fuel for generators to run hospital equipment, doctors were struggling to address the needs of injured and ill patients, and many displaced people were seeking shelter.
• Sounding the alarm about the projected imminent risk of famine in Gaza, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, stated on 19 March, that this human-made catastrophe “can and must be prevented,” calling on Israel, as the occupying power, “to facilitate the unimpeded entry and distribution of needed humanitarian assistance and commercial goods.” The High Commissioner particularly highlighted the impact starvation has on children, who have been reportedly sent unaccompanied from northern to southern Gaza to desperately search for food. On 18 March, WHO also emphasized the immediate and long-term health impacts of malnutrition and disease on children: “Malnutrition makes people more vulnerable to getting severely ill, experiencing slow recovery, or dying when they are infected with a disease. The long-term effects of malnutrition, low consumption of nutrient-rich foods, repeated infections, and lack of hygiene and sanitation services slow children’s overall growth. This compromises the health and well-being of an entire future generation.”
• Some 25 patients from Gaza, along with their companions , are scheduled to be returned to Gaza from hospitals in East Jerusalem on 21 March, as ordered by the Israeli authorities, reportedly because they no longer require in-patient medical treatment. In late October 2023, WHO estimated that at least 400 patients from Gaza had been stranded in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, after the movement between Gaza and the West Bank came to a halt. Until 7 October, patients and their companions were among the few categories of people from the Gaza Strip eligible to apply for Israeli-issued permits to exist Gaza, with the vast majority of Palestinians in Gaza largely banned from exiting via Israel, including for passage to the West Bank. Between January and August 2023, according to the Palestinian General Authority of Civil Affairs , there were at least 1,700 monthly exits of patients from Gaza to the West Bank via Beit Hanoun/Erez crossing. During the same period, about 80 per cent of the 1,645 Gaza patient applications submitted to the Israeli authorities on average every month were approved for exiting Gaza, of which nearly half were for gaining access to health care facilities in East Jerusalem. Cancer patients comprised the largest category of those seeking referral to hospitals outside Gaza, constituting about 36 per cent of applicants. According to the MoH in Gaza, there are currently some 9,000 cancer patients who are at risk of death. The only hospital specialized in treating cancer patients in Gaza was the Turkish-Palestinian Friendship Hospital, which became non-operational in November 2023 after its fuel supply was depleted and it sustained heavy damage.

West Bank Updates

• Just before sunset on 19 March, a 43-year-old Palestinian herder, a father of four, was shot and killed in Khirbet Tell al Khashaba herding community near Aqraba village in Nablus. According to community sources and eyewitnesses, the Palestinian man was grazing his livestock when three Israeli settlers from a nearby settlement outpost wearing army uniforms approached him and forcefully pushed him to the ground. Community sources added that as he attempted to defend himself and pushed one of the attackers back, he was fatally shot in the chest by another settler. According to an Israeli army source, cited by a media outlet, the Palestinian man was shot by an Israeli soldier.
• On 19 March, a Palestinian man opened fire at and injured two Israeli security officers in a natural reserve near Gush Etzion settlement junction next to the entrance to Beit Fajjar village in Bethlehem. The man was subsequently shot and killed by Israeli forces.
• Since 7 October, 422 Palestinians have been killed, including 410 by Israeli forces, nine by settlers and three by either Israeli forces or settlers, across the West Bank, including East Jerusalem. These include 114 Palestinians killed since the start of 2024 (compared with 85 during the same period in 2023), the vast majority by Israeli forces. Some 4,690 Palestinians have been injured, including 724 children, since 7 October in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem.
• Since 7 October, 15 Israelis, including four members of Israeli forces, have been killed and 101 injured in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and Israel.
• Since the beginning of 2024, displacement due to home demolitions during operations carried out by Israeli forces accounts for 55 per cent of displacement in the West Bank, followed by displacement by demolitions due to the lack of Israeli-issued building permits (38 per cent) and displacement due to demolitions on punitive grounds (7 per cent).
• Since 7 October 2023 and as of 19 March 2024, OCHA has recorded 660 Israeli settler attacks against Palestinians that resulted in Palestinian casualties (59 incidents), damage to Palestinian-owned property (526 incidents), or both casualties and damage to property (75 incidents). Almost two-thirds of these incidents took place between October and December 2023.

Funding

• The Flash Appeal for the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt), which requests US$1.2 billion to meet the critical needs of 2.7 million people across the oPt (2.2 million in the Gaza Strip and 500,000 in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem), was extended through the end of March 2024. As of 15 March, member states disbursed nearly $974 million for the updated Flash Appeal (79 per cent); this includes about $616 million out of $629 million (98 per cent) requested for October-December 2023 and about $358 million out of $600 million (60 per cent) requested for January-March 2024. For funding analysis, please see the Flash Appeal Financial Tracking dashboard.
• The oPt Humanitarian Fund (oPt HF) is currently supporting 122 projects, for a total of US$ 74.5 million, addressing urgent needs in the Gaza Strip (83 per cent) and West Bank (17 per cent). Despite logistical hurdles, safety and security concerns, and fuel scarcity that hinder the procurement and transport of supplies, implementation is led by 77 international NGOs, 20 national NGOs, and 16 UN agencies. Of the projects implemented by international NGOs or UN agencies, 56 per cent are in partnership with national NGOs. For a summary of the oPt HF activities and challenges in February 2024, please follow this link.
• The oPt HF has recently finalized its First Reserve Allocation of US$ 3.5 million for 2024, which aims at boosting the aid transport capacity to enable humanitarian partners to increase the delivery of vital aid and services to people across the Gaza Strip. This is in addition to a total of $88 million received by the Fund since 7 October from member states and private donors and allocated for programming across Gaza, including 43 per cent in Rafah, 21 per cent in Deir al Balah, 20 per cent in Khan Younis, and 16 per cent in Gaza and North Gaza governorates. Private donations are collected directly through the Humanitarian Fund. In addition, the Central Emergency Relief Fund (CERF) has recently allocated US$ 700,000 to a project led by UN Women that aims to strengthen gender-responsive and inclusive accountability to affected people, bringing to $18.7 million the total CERF allocation to oPt since 7 October.

20.

20 maart 2024

President Biden must reinstate funding to UNRWA and force the protection of humanitarian aid for Palestinians in Gaza

The past six months have seen over 31,000 Palestinians killed in Israel's relentless war on Gaza, enabled by unconditional U.S. military aid. This genocide has resulted in the displacement of 85% of Palestinians in Gaza, with 93% facing acute hunger and widespread destruction of homes and infrastructure.Palestinians in Gaza are facing high levels of acute food insecurity, and famine is imminent.

This dire situation demands swift and decisive action to save lives. Here's how you can make a difference:

Contact your Members of Congress (both senators and representatives) and urge Members of Congress to pressure the Biden Administration to:

1. Reinstate full funding to UNRWA to ensure essential services reach Palestinians in Gaza and defend the critical work of humanitarian aid workers.
2. Prioritize and demand the opening of all borders for aid delivery to Gaza and other affected areas to ensure unimpeded access to humanitarian assistance.
3. Initiate an immediate halt to all U.S. weapons transfers to Israel until compliance with international humanitarian law is ensured.
4. Demand and facilitate a complete, permanent, and unconditional ceasefire  

19.

20 maart 2024

Israel/US: Human Rights Watch and Oxfam are calling on the Biden administration to follow US law and immediately suspend arms transfers to Israel. Yesterday, the two organizations submitted a joint memorandum to the US government regarding Israel’s violations of international humanitarian law including with US weapons and the blocking of US-funded humanitarian assistance.

18.

19 maart 2024

19 maart 2024

Hostilities in the Gaza Strip and Israel
Flash Update #142

Muhammad (11) carrying a bowl of beans for his family who stay in a tent in Rafah. “Every day, I walk two kilometres and spend over five hours to provide one meal a day for my family,” he says. Photo by UNICEF/Zagout

Key Highlights

• The Famine Review Committee and UN Emergency Relief Coordinator emphasize that famine in Gaza can be averted, provided urgent measures are put in place, including the restoration of unfettered humanitarian access.
• Significant obstacles currently hinder the sustained scale-up of aid into and across Gaza, according to the World Food Programme and the Humanitarian Coordinator.
• During the first two weeks of March, one in five humanitarian aid missions to northern Gaza were denied access by the Israeli authorities.
• Some 900 Palestinians have been displaced due to the destruction of their homes during search-and-arrest and other operations carried out by Israeli forces across the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, since 7 October.

Gaza Strip Updates

• Intense Israeli bombardment and ground operations as well as heavy fighting between Israeli forces and Palestinian armed groups continue to be reported across much of the Gaza Strip, particularly in Deir al Balah and areas surrounding Al Shifa Hospital in Gaza city. This has resulted in further civilian casualties, displacement, and destruction of houses and other civilian infrastructure.
• Between the afternoon of 18 March and noon on 19 March, according to the Ministry of Health (MoH) in Gaza, 93 Palestinians were killed and 142 Palestinians were injured. Between 7 October 2023 and noon on 19 March 2024, at least 31,819 Palestinians were killed in Gaza and 73,934 Palestinians were injured, according to MoH in Gaza.
• The following are among the deadly incidents reported on 17 and 18 March in Deir al Balah:
  • On 17 March, at about 15:00, two Palestinians, a man and a young girl, were reportedly killed and others injured when a house was hit in An Nuseirat Refugee Camp.
  • On 18 March, at about 00:40, nine Palestinians, including a 3-year-old boy, were reportedly killed and at least six others injured when a house was hit in western An Nuseirat Refugee Camp.
• Between the afternoons of 18 and 19 March, one Israeli soldier was reported killed in Gaza. As of 19 March, 249 soldiers have been killed and 1,482 soldiers injured in Gaza since the beginning of the ground operation, according to the Israeli military. In addition, over 1,200 Israelis and foreign nationals have been killed in Israel, the vast majority on 7 October. As of 19 March, the Israeli authorities estimate that 134 Israelis and foreign nationals remain captive in Gaza, including fatalities whose bodies are withheld.
• The Israeli military operation inside and around Al Shifa Hospital in Gaza city continued for the second consecutive day. According to the Israeli military, some 50 armed Palestinians were reportedly killed during the operation, including the Head of the Internal Security Operations Directorate, and 180 were otherwise detained. There were also reports indicating that Israeli forces took control of several buildings within and around the hospital compound, besieged two schools where hundreds of internally displaced persons (IDPs) reside, and detained journalists. The full extent and impact of the military operation remains unknown. The hospital and its surroundings reportedly witnessed intense exchanges of heavy gunfire, heightening concerns for the safety of patients, medical personnel and thousands of IDPs in the hospital and the surrounding area. Since the first Israeli military raid in mid-November 2023, Al Shifa Hospital has struggled to maintain services and is one of six hospitals in northern Gaza that remain only partially functional, facing critical shortages of electricity, medications, medical equipment, food, and personnel.
• The hunger crisis in the Gaza Strip is rapidly deteriorating, particularly in northern Gaza, because “people have been cut off from life-saving aid, markets have collapsed, and fields have been destroyed,” stated Under-Secretary General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator (ERC), Martin Griffiths. According to the latest findings of the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) partnership, 1.1 million people are projected to face catastrophic levels of hunger (IPC Phase 5) and be at risk of famine in Gaza, the highest number of people ever recorded in this category by the IPC system. This includes more than 200,000 people in Gaza and North Gaza governorates who are imminently at risk of famine anytime between mid-March and May 2024 because they will have completely exhausted their food supplies and coping capacities. The IPC global Famine Review Committee (FRC) has emphasized that famine in Gaza can be halted provided there are urgent and proactive measures undertaken by parties to the conflict and the international community. In addition to specific programmatic recommendations, the FRC recommends: the restoration of humanitarian access as well as health, nutrition, and WASH services; the protection of civilians; the provision of safe, nutritious, and sufficient food to all populations in need; the sustained supply and movement of sufficient aid commodities ranging from food to medicines, specialist nutrition products, and fuel throughout the Gaza Strip; and the full resumption of the flow of commercial goods. Before famine is declared when it would be way too late, ERC Griffiths similarly emphasized the urgency of averting famine: “We must flood Gaza with food and other life-saving aid. There is no time to lose. I renew my call to the Israeli authorities to allow complete and unfettered access for humanitarian goods.”
• On 17 March, the World Food Programme (WFP) delivered 18 trucks carrying 274 metric tons of wheat flour, food parcels and ready-to-eat rations to Gaza city, the ninth convoy WFP managed to take to northern Gaza since the beginning of 2024. WFP estimates that at least 300 daily food trucks need to enter and be distributed across Gaza, particularly in the north. However, there are obstacles hindering the sustained scale-up of the food supply chain, such as limited entry points, complicated border controls, difficult road conditions, and high tensions and desperation, according to WFP. The Humanitarian Coordinator ad interim, Jamie McGoldrick, underscored in a briefing on 18 March that “nothing moves aid faster and in greater volumes to populations in need than a fleet of heavy trucks and use of all roads that are available.” He highlighted the need for: consistently reaching northern Gaza via multiple routes; scanning goods at Ashdod port and Allenby Bridge to bring larger amounts of aid directly into northern Gaza as Kerem Shalom crossing only has the capacity to scan 250-300 trucks per day; and being able to bring in critical commodities including medical equipment, spare parts for water and sanitation systems, generators, solar panels, and chemicals to treat water, among others. According to McGoldrick, the lack of these critical items is one of the key drivers of the malnutrition crisis.
• Humanitarian access constraints continue to severely affect the timely delivery of life-saving assistance, particularly to hundreds of thousands of people in northern Gaza. During the first two weeks of March, 46 per cent of humanitarian aid missions to northern Gaza (11 out of 24) were facilitated by the Israeli authorities, 21 percent were denied (5), and 33 percent (8) were postponed including one due to access impediments. During the same period, 76 per cent of aid missions to areas south of Wadi Gaza that require coordination (78 out of 103) were facilitated by the Israeli authorities, 15 were denied (14 percent), and ten were postponed or withdrawn (10 percent). Facilitated missions primarily involved food distributions, nutrition and health assessments, and the delivery of supplies to hospitals.

West Bank Updates

• On 15 March, a 26-year-old Palestinian man died of wounds sustained on 17 July 2023 during an Israeli raid in Al Fawwar Refugee Camp in Hebron.
• Since 7 October, 420 Palestinians have been killed, including 409 by Israeli forces, nine by settlers and two by either Israeli forces or settlers, across the West Bank, including East Jerusalem. These include 112 Palestinians killed since the start of 2024 (compared to 85 during the same period in 2023), the vast majority by Israeli forces. Some 4,690 Palestinians have been injured, including 724 children, since 7 October in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem.
• Since 7 October, 15 Israelis, including four members of Israeli forces, have been killed and 99 injured in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and Israel.
• Between 7 October 2023 and 18 March 2024, OCHA has recorded a monthly average of 670 search-and-arrest and other operations by Israeli forces across the West Bank, including East Jerusalem. This is almost double the monthly average for the first nine months of 2023 (some 340 operations). A total of 304 Palestinians have been killed, including 72 children, and 2,657 others were injured, within this context by Israeli forces, representing about 73 per cent of Palestinian fatalities during this period. Some of the operations involved fire exchanges between Palestinians and Israeli forces, airstrikes, and use of under-cover Israeli military units. As a result, over 5,700 Palestinians have been detained, and some 900 Palestinians, including 370 children, have been displaced due to the destruction of their homes by Israeli forces during these operations. The vast majority (94 per cent) of displaced people were in the refugee camps of Nur Shams, Tulkarm and Jenin, where Israeli forces also regularly bulldozed roads and caused extensive damage to electricity, water and sewage infrastructure.
• Since the beginning of 2024, 580 Palestinians, including 220 children have been displaced, compared with some 400 in the same period last year. The majority of those displaced were in operations carried by Israeli forces (318), especially in the refugee camps in Tulkarm and Jenin. Over 200 Palestinians were displaced as are result of demolition of houses due to the lack of Israeli-issued permits, most of them were in East Jerusalem, and around 40 were displaced due to the demolition of their homes on punitive grounds.
• On 17 March, according to local community sources, armed Israeli settlers physically assaulted two Palestinian shepherds while they were grazing their sheep near Ariel settlement in Salfit governorate and stole forty sheep. Since 7 October 2023 and as of 19 March 2024, OCHA has recorded 658 Israeli settler attacks against Palestinians that resulted in Palestinian casualties (59 incidents), damage to Palestinian-owned property (524 incidents), or both casualties and damage to property (75 incidents). Almost two-thirds of these incidents took place between October and December 2023.

Funding

• The Flash Appeal for the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt), which requests US$1.2 billion to meet the critical needs of 2.7 million people across the oPt (2.2 million in the Gaza Strip and 500,000 in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem), was extended through the end of March 2024. As of 19 March, member states disbursed nearly $974 million for the updated Flash Appeal (79 per cent); this includes about $616 million out of $629 million (98 per cent) requested for October-December 2023 and about $358 million out of $600 million (60 per cent) requested for January-March 2024. For funding analysis, please see the Flash Appeal Financial Tracking dashboard.
• The oPt Humanitarian Fund (oPt HF) is currently supporting 122 projects, for a total of US$ 74.5 million, addressing urgent needs in the Gaza Strip (83 per cent) and West Bank (17 per cent). Despite logistical hurdles, safety and security concerns, and fuel scarcity that hinder the procurement and transport of supplies, implementation is led by 77 international NGOs, 20 national NGOs, and 16 UN agencies. Of the projects implemented by international NGOs or UN agencies, 56 per cent are in partnership with national NGOs. For a summary of the oPt HF activities and challenges in February 2024, please follow this link.
• The oPt HF has recently finalized its First Reserve Allocation of US$ 3.5 million for 2024, which aims at boosting the aid transport capacity to enable humanitarian partners to increase the delivery of vital aid and services to people across the Gaza Strip. This is in addition to a total of $88 million received by the Fund since 7 October from member states and private donors and allocated for programming across Gaza, including 43 per cent in Rafah, 21 per cent in Deir al Balah, 20 per cent in Khan Younis, and 16 per cent in Gaza and North Gaza governorates. Private donations are collected directly through the Humanitarian Fund. In addition, the Central Emergency Relief Fund (CERF) has recently allocated US$ 700,000 to a project led by UN Women that aims to strengthen gender-responsive and inclusive accountability to affected people, bringing to $18.7 million the total CERF allocation to oPt since 7 October.

17.

19 maart 2024

19 maart 2024

Today's headlines

Israeli attacks escalate on Rafah, al-Shifa Hospital invasion enters second day

After a night of heavy bombardment the PA warns Israel's Rafah offensive has begun. Meanwhile, the invasion of al-Shifa hospital continues; all communication with medical staff trapped inside the hospital has been silent since Monday evening.

The real reason Israel stormed al-Shifa Hospital yet again

Israel's latest attack on al-Shifa Hospital and the successful delivery of food aid to northern Gaza are connected. Here's how.

Opposition to Palestinian rights shaped U.S. anti-terror laws

A new report shows how opposition to Palestinian rights helped shape anti-terror laws in the United States.

16.

19 maart 2024

19 maart 2024

19 maart 2024

18 maart 2024

Here’s the latest...

On March 16, 2003, the IDF killed American activist Rachel Corrie as she defended homes in Rafah from destruction. As Israel threatens to invade the city, a volunteer who stood alongside Rachel writes on her legacy — a call for steadfast solidarity with Gazans.

15.

18 maart 2024

Take a Principled Stance for Palestine Now!

During the month of Ramadan, many mosques and organizations engage in various activities, including outreach programs, iftars, and interfaith events. While sharing our faith is encouraged, it is imperative for mosques to refrain from inviting nor accepting invitations from elected officials or leaders who have staunchly supported the genocide against the Palestinians.

Our mosques need to take a crucial step in delivering a loud and clear message to elected officials and leaders that the North American Muslim community is urging a call for an immediate and permanent ceasefire in Gaza. With a staggering toll of over 31,000 Palestinians martyred and more than 72,000 injured, and these numbers continuing to rise, it is an affront to our values to invite pro-genocide elected officials and leaders into our community spaces.

We are at a pivotal moment that demands moral clarity and steadfast principles. We urge elected officials and leaders to call for an immediate and permanent ceasefire. The ongoing genocide in Gaza must come to an end, allowing for humanitarian aid to reach those in need, and the process of rebuilding Gaza can commence without delay.

The American Muslim Task Force for Palestine recommends and calls upon all the mosques and Muslim organizations of North America to take the following pledge: 

“We, as the Board of Trustees and the Administrators of our Mosque / Islamic Center/Organization commit to not accept invitations nor invite elected officials and leaders who have staunchly supported Israel’s genocide against Palestinians and are against the call for a permanent ceasefire in Gaza to our mosques or any of our community programs.”

In solidarity,

The American Muslim Task Force for Palestine

14.

18 maart 2024

Instead of holding them accountable, Biden has continued to arm Israel’s ongoing genocide in Gaza

The catastrophic situation in Gaza continues to worsen by the day, with over 31,000 Palestinians killed in the past five months of Israel's relentless genocide. Enabled by unconditional U.S. military aid, Israel's assault has displaced 85% of Palestinians in Gaza, left 93% facing acute hunger, and destroyed homes and infrastructure on a massive scale. The UN has warned that Gaza is on the brink of complete collapse and total famine.

The Biden administration's response to this unfolding humanitarian disaster has been to continue arming Israel to the tune of billions of dollars while paying lip service to Palestinian suffering. Recently, President Biden announced sanctions on a few extremist settlers and began dropping meager amounts of humanitarian aid—measures that will do nothing to alleviate Gaza's misery as long as U.S. bombs keep raining down.

Enough is enough. The Biden administration has a moral and legal obligation to cut off ALL U.S. weapons transfers to Israel immediately. By any reasonable standard, Israel's indiscriminate bombing of Palestinians in Gaza are obvious war crimes and crimes against humanity. Continued U.S. military assistance makes our country complicit in these atrocities under laws like the Foreign Assistance Act.

Pressure is mounting on the administration to take real action. On March 11, eight prominent senators, led by Senators Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, sent a letter urging Biden to enforce the Foreign Assistance Act. This law prohibits U.S. aid to any country that restricts the delivery of U.S. humanitarian assistance. The senators note that according to the administration's statements, the Israeli government is blatantly violating this law with its ongoing obstruction of aid to Gaza.

The letter demands that Biden issue an ultimatum to Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu: lift all restrictions on humanitarian access to Gaza or face an immediate cutoff of U.S. military aid as required by law. This would be a major step, as Israel currently receives over $3.8 billion annually in U.S. military financing.

The senators' letter highlights just how dire the situation in Gaza has become, citing reports of "families eating leaves or animal feed, women giving birth to malnourished babies with little or no medical care, and children dying from malnutrition and dehydration."

True accountability, let alone justice, for Palestinians is impossible as long as U.S. weapons continue enabling Israel's genocide in Gaza. We have to maintain our pressure.

In solidarity,
Americans for Justice in Palestine Action

13.

18 maart 2024

Today's headlines

Israeli army storms al-Shifa again, aid reaches Jabalia for first time in months

Leila Warah

Over a million people in Gaza face "imminent" famine as UNRWA aid trucks arrive in northern Gaza for the first time in months. Meanwhile, the Israeli army's Chief of Staff says "a long way to go" until Israel's military objectives are achieved.

Weekly Briefing: Now everyone hates Israel

The unbelievable onslaught on a captive people in Gaza has at last cracked the conscience of the American Jewish community and sent American Zionists into complete crisis.

Not in Our Name CUNY demands that Hunter administration apologize for antisemitism smear

Not In Our Name CUNY

We understand that speaking out in the face of settler colonial genocide is, in the words of Hunter's campus motto, an important act of "care of the future."

12.

18 maart 2024

Hostilities in the Gaza Strip and Israel
Flash Update #141

“People in Gaza are starving to death right now,” warns the World Food Programme Executive Director Cindy McCain, as every second person is expected to experience catastrophic levels of food insecurity. Photo by UNICEF/El Baba

Key Highlights

• 1.1 million people in Gaza are projected to face catastrophic levels of food insecurity between March and July 2024, up from 378,000 in December 2023, according to the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification analysis released on 18 March.
• Nutrition screenings conducted in February show acute malnutrition rates among children in northern Gaza and Rafah have nearly doubled since January.
• On 18 March, the Israeli military launched an operation in the area Al Shifa Hospital, in Gaza city, and reportedly distributed leaflets instructing internally displaced persons to immediately evacuate to Al Mawasi area in southern Gaza.

Gaza Strip Updates

• Intense Israeli bombardment and ground operations as well as heavy fighting between Israeli forces and Palestinian armed groups continue to be reported across much of the Gaza Strip, particularly near Al Shifa hospital in Al Rimal area of Gaza city and in Deir al Balah. This has resulted in further civilian casualties, displacement, and destruction of houses and other civilian infrastructure. On 16 March, the Israeli army reportedly withdrew from Hamad area of Khan Younis.
• Between the afternoon of 15 March and 10:30 on 18 March, according to the Ministry of Health (MoH) in Gaza, 236 Palestinians were killed and 358 Palestinians were injured, including 81 killed and 116 injured in the past 24 hours. Between 7 October 2023 and 10:30 on 18 March 2024, at least 31,726 Palestinians were killed in Gaza and 73,792 Palestinians were injured, according to MoH in Gaza.
• The following are among the deadly incidents reported between 14 and 17 March: 
  • On 14 March, at about 16:10, four Palestinians including a child were reportedly killed, and others injured, when a civilian car in Ash Sheikh Radwan area in Gaza city was hit.
  • On 14 March, at about 12:30, at least five Palestinians were reportedly killed, and others injured, when a house on Salah Ad Deen Road in Al Bureij refugee camp was hit.
  • On 14 March, the bodies of 24 Palestinians were reportedly recovered from different areas in Khan Younis, including 17 from Hamad area.
  • On 15 March, at about 10:50, the bodies of eight Palestinians were reportedly recovered from central Khan Younis city and Hamad area in northwestern Khan Younis.
  • On 15 March, at about the time when people break their daily Ramadan fast, five Palestinians were reportedly killed, and 22 others were injured, when a house sheltering internally displaced persons (IDPs) in At Touffah area, north of Gaza city, was hit.
  • On 15 March, at about 20:00, eight Palestinians were reportedly killed when a house in northern An Nuseirat refugee camp, in Deir al Balah, was hit.
  • On 15 March, at about 23:50, at least 36 Palestinians were reportedly killed, most of them said to be children and women, including pregnant women, and others injured when a residential building in Abu Ghula area in western An Nuseirat refugee camp, in Deir al Balah, was hit.
  • On 16 March, at about 14:00, one Palestinian woman was reportedly killed, and others injured, when IDP tents in Al Mawasi area, in Rafah, were hit.
  • On 16 March, at about 10:00, seven Palestinians were reportedly killed, and 10 others injured, when a house in An Nuseirat Camp, in Deir al Balah, was hit.
  • On 17 March, at about 1:25, at least 11 Palestinians were reportedly killed, and others injured, when a house in Bishara neighbourhood, in Deir al Balah, was hit.
• Between the afternoons of 15 and 18 March, one Israeli soldier was reported killed in Gaza. As of 18 March, 248 soldiers have been killed and 1,482 soldiers injured in Gaza since the beginning of the ground operation, according to the Israeli military. In addition, over 1,200 Israelis and foreign nationals have been killed in Israel, the vast majority on 7 October. As of 18 March, the Israeli authorities estimate that 134 Israelis and foreign nationals remain captive in Gaza, including fatalities whose bodies are withheld.
• On 15 March, UNICEF reported a staggering and rapid rise in malnutrition levels among children, warning that there is a high risk that malnutrition rates will “continue to increase across the Gaza Strip, costing more lives, in the absence of more humanitarian assistance and the restoration of essential services.” Nutrition screenings conducted in February show a near doubling of acute malnutrition among children compared with January: from 16 to 31 per cent among children under the age of two in northern Gaza; from 13 to 25 per cent among children under the age of five in northern Gaza; and from 5 to 10 per cent among children under the age of two in Rafah. The rate of severe wasting, the most life-threatening form of malnutrition that necessitates therapeutic feeding and treatment unavailable in Gaza, has also increased:  from almost 3 per cent to 4.5 per cent of children in shelters and health centres in northern Gaza, and fourfold in Rafah from 1 to 4 per cent. In Khan Younis, where nutrition screenings were conducted for the first time by UNICEF and its partners, 28 per cent of children under the age of two were found to be acutely malnourished, including 10 per cent who suffer from severe wasting. In reaction to these devastating findings, UNICEF Executive Director, Catherine Russel, stated: “We have repeatedly attempted to deliver additional aid and we have repeatedly called for the access challenges we have faced for months to be addressed. Instead, the situation for children is getting worse by each passing day. Our efforts in providing life-saving aid are being hampered by unnecessary restrictions, and those are costing children their lives.”
• According to the latest findings of the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) analysis released on 18 March, nearly the entire population of Gaza is currently facing crisis (IPC Phase 3) or worse levels of food insecurity, including 876,000 facing emergency (IPC Phase 4) levels of food insecurity and 677,000 facing catastrophic (IPC Phase 5) levels of food insecurity. The fast-deteriorating food security conditions, including a nearly 80 per cent increase in the number of people facing catastrophic levels of food insecurity (677,000 vs. 378,000) have been triggered by the intensity of hostilities, extremely limited humanitarian access, and severe limitations on the supply of goods and basic services, according to the report. During the period of March through July 2024, under the assumption that a ground offensive in Rafah takes place, the analysis finds that half the population of Gaza (1.1 million people) is projected to face catastrophic levels of insecurity; these would include 70 per cent of the population of Gaza and North Gaza governorates, 50 per cent of Deir al Balah and Khan Younis governorates, and 45 per cent of Rafah governorate.
• On 16 and 17 March, at least 27 truckloads carrying food supplies successfully reached northern Gaza, including  15 that reportedly reached Jabalya for the first time in four months. The arrival of supplies occurred without any reported incident.
• In the early morning hours of 18 March, the Israeli military announced the initiation of an operation in the area Al Shifa Hospital in Gaza city, citing intelligence information suggesting the military use of the hospital by Palestinian armed groups. The Israeli army also reportedly distributed leaflets instructing IDPs at and near the facility, as well as the residents of Al Rimal neighbourhood, to immediately evacuate to Al Mawasi area in southern Gaza. According to MoH in Gaza, a fire erupted at the entrance to the surgeries department building, resulting in multiple fatalities and injuries. Expressing concern about the safety of health workers, patients and civilians, the Director-General of the World Health Organisation (WHO) stated: “Hospitals should never be battlegrounds…The hospital has only recently restored minimal health services. Any hostilities or militarization of the facility jeopardize health services, access for ambulances, and delivery of life-saving supplies. Hospitals must be protected. Ceasefire!”

West Bank Updates

• On 16 March, in H2 area of Hebron city, Israeli forces shot, killed and subsequently withheld the body of an armed Palestinian who had reportedly opened fire at a military post.
• Since 7 October, 419 Palestinians have been killed, including 408 by Israeli forces, nine by settlers and two by either Israeli forces or settlers, across the West Bank, including East Jerusalem. These include 110 Palestinians killed since the start of 2024 (compared with 85 during the same period in 2023), the vast majority by Israeli forces. Some 4,690 Palestinians have been injured, including 724 children, since 7 October in the West Bank. 
• According to the Islamic Waqf, approximately 80,000 Palestinians performed Friday prayers at Al Aqsa Mosque on the first Friday of the month of Ramadan (15 March). Access for Palestinian holders of West Bank IDs into East Jerusalem was limited to children under 10 years of age, women over 50, and men over 55, with valid permits and magnetic cards, through three designated checkpoints along the Barrier (Qalandiya, Gilo 300, Az Zaytoun).
• Since 7 October, 15 Israelis, including four members of Israeli forces, have been killed and 99 injured in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and Israel.
• Between 7 October 2023 and 18 March 2024, approximately 300 houses were demolished and 1,640 Palestinians have been displaced in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, of whom 57 per cent were displaced since 1 January. The majority of those displaced (903) were during operations carried out by Israeli forces, especially in refugee camps in Jenin and Tulkarm, followed by displacement due to the lack of Israeli-issued permits (640), and displacement due to the demolition of homes on punitive grounds (138).
• Since 7 October 2023 and as of 18 March 2024, OCHA has recorded 650 Israeli settler attacks against Palestinians that resulted in Palestinian casualties (59 incidents), damage to Palestinian-owned property (518 incidents), or both casualties and damage to property (73 incidents). Almost two-thirds of these incidents took place between October and December 2023.

Funding

• The Flash Appeal for the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt), which requests US$1.2 billion to meet the critical needs of 2.7 million people across the oPt (2.2 million in the Gaza Strip and 500,000 in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem), was extended through the end of March 2024. As of 18 March, member states disbursed nearly $974 million for the updated Flash Appeal (79 per cent); this includes about $616 million out of $629 million (98 per cent) requested for October-December 2023 and about $358 million out of $600 million (60 per cent) requested for January-March 2024. For funding analysis, please see the Flash Appeal Financial Tracking dashboard.
• During February 2024, the oPt Humanitarian Fund (oPt HF) had a total of 122 ongoing projects, for a total of US$ 74.5 million, addressing urgent needs in the Gaza Strip (83 per cent) and West Bank (17 per cent). Projects focused on the areas of Education, Food Security, Health, Protection, Emergency Shelter and non-food items, water, sanitation and hygiene, coordination and support services, multi-purpose cash assistance and nutrition. Of these, 77 projects were being implemented by international NGOs, 29 projects by national NGOs, and 16 projects by UN agencies. Of the 93 projects implemented by INGOs or the UN, 52 were being implemented in partnership with NNGOs. The oPt HF has also recently finalized its critical and time sensitive First Reserve Allocation of 2024, titled "Emergency Fleet Augmentation for Enhanced Gaza Aid Delivery", amounting to US$3.5 million. The allocation aims at boosting the aid transport capacity to enable humanitarian partners to increase the delivery of vital aid and services to people across the Gaza Strip. For a summary of the oPt HF activities in February 2024, please follow this link. Since 7 October, the oPt HF has received a total of $88 million in contributions from member states and private donors. Private donations are collected directly through the Humanitarian Fund.

11.

17 maart 2024

Sluit je aan bij de acties tegen bloeddadels van Albert Heijn!

Terwijl er meer dan 30.000 mensen in Gaza zijn vermoord, verkoopt Albert Heijn Israëlische dadels. Hiermee steunt Albert Heijn de Israëlische oorlogskas en de de genocide tegen Palestijnen.

Sitin4Palestine NL en BDS NL roepen daarom op: Demonstreer bij Albert Heijn winkels in het hele land. Albert Heijn, stop de verkoop van bloeddadels!

Sitin4Palestine NL is een groep activisten door het hele land die de afgelopen maanden sit-ins organiseerden op treinstations.

Op zaterdag 16 maart startte de campagne met acties bij Albert Heijn winkels in Amsterdam, Eindhoven en Alkmaar. De demonstranten riepen Albert Heijn op om te stoppen met de verkoop van bloeddadels, en riepen het winkelend publiek op: boycot bloeddadels!

Bij Albert Heijn in de Javastraat in Amsterdam werden Israëlische dadels en avocado' s nog tijdens de actie uit de schappen gehaald!

Albert Heijn verkoopt al heel lang producten uit de apartheidsstaat, vooral groente en fruit. Terwijl toegang tot water voor veel Palestijnen in historisch Palestina bewust door Israël wordt afgeknepen, heeft de Israëlische agri-industrie vrij toegang. De export van Israëlische dadels is hiervan een belangrijk - en symbolisch - voorbeeld. Voor de kolonisatie werden dadels door Palestijnen verbouwd.

Albert Heijn verkoopt veel dadels van het merk King Solomon, maar ook veel van de medjoul dadels van het huismerk komen uit Israël. King Solomon wordt geexporteerd door Hadiklaim, een bedrijf dat op de zwarte VN lijst staat van bedrijven die bijdragen aan het in stand houden van de bezetting.

Boycot is resistance! Free Palestine!

Great work everyone at the boycott bloeddadels actions at Alkmaar, Eindhoven and Amsterdam East and West yesterday!! We handed over our letters to the supermarket management and distributed more than 1.500 flyers to shoppers.

We also received lots of positive feedback from people and AH workers and in Amsterdam East (Javastraat) multiple Israeli products (dates, avocado’s) were removed from the shelves by the AH itself, within half an hour after starting our action! We will remain vigilant if they don’t come back. 

It was also great to connect with each other, building networks of like-minded people in our neighborhoods, so we can act together to support the people in Palestine. 

In the coming days we will announce the locations for Saturday the 23rd of March. If you want to contribute, or if you have friends and family that might want to, please invite them as soon as possible to fill in the signup form (link in bio) to (co)organise an action next Saturday!

10.

17 maart 2024

Today's headlines

Top EU official says Israel failed to prove its accusations against UNRWA

Mustafa Abu Sneineh

Netanyahu has vowed to invade Rafah despite the international red line. Meanwhile, the U.S. has sanctioned two illegal settler outposts in the West Bank for the first time.

Palestine: Unity of land, people and struggle

Today, Gaza is on the frontlines, but she is not alone. We call on all Palestinians everywhere to unite in action. Our liberation can only be achieved through a unity of struggle, built upon a unity of people and a unity of land.

Refaat Alareer lives

I have finally realized that the lessons Dr. Refaat taught me and the power of his words keep him alive. As long as I breathe, I will tell his stories and the endless stories of my occupied and silenced city.

9.

17 maart 2024

Tom Mehager, the founder of the project, an activist, a partner, and a father, was sentenced to four weeks in military prison in 2003, due to his refusal to serve as a reserve soldier. Like most Israelis and Palestinians in the land, he woke up with his partner and daughter in Tel Aviv to a number of sirens. Just a few hours later he was watching the horrific massacre in the south and already posting on Facebook about his predictions and fears of another severe military operation, that was yet to come, in Gaza. He writes: 

I began to question the morality and logic of the occupation after I served my full military service. During my mandatory reserve duty, I served as the commander of an artillery unit at a roadblock in the West Bank. Once I understood the main purpose of my work there was to harass and humiliate Palestinians passing through, I decide I did not want to be a part of this inhumane military system and refused to continue to serve.

Israel is instilling a military dictatorship on the Palestinian people, committing human rights violations, collective punishment, and a siege on Gaza. At the onset of the war a few refusers and I thought about creating a platform for refusers to collectively declare their decision to refuse. Although we have been dismissed from reserve duty, we are using this platform to take  a moral stance. To proclaim - we refused in the past and would refuse again today, even after the seventh.

People need to hear our voices and know that we believe there must be red lines in Israeli society. What is happening today in Gaza is horrifying and we don’t believe this level of killing and hunger will bring anyone safety, or the hostages back.

Donate to support Gaza War refusersI would like to share with you Yonatan Shapira’s testimony, a fellow refuser from the project:

“We conducted targeted and intentional killings and murders of civilians. At first I tried to explain it to myself in different ways…I didn't have direct contact with the acts of killing, I was a search and rescue pilot. But at some point I was able to understand that it doesn't matter much whether I am doing the “clean job” or the less terrible one and a pilot in another squadron shoots in the middle of the night and slaughters an entire family. These things horrified me and quite a few other pilots in the air force at that time.. a letter was organized later known as the pilot’s letters… We declared that we refuse to continue to be a part of the oppression and occupation and the murder of innocent people.

This was 21 years ago and we were talking about isolated incidents here and there, one, two, ten, fifteen, twenty people, some children here, some children there. Today when Israel carries out a genocide in Gaza on full scale, with around thirty thousand murdered, over ten thousand children, who knows how many thousands lying under the ruble, some dead, some slowly dying from hunger and injuries, it’s clear that I would also refuse today.”  

In solidarity,

Maya Eshel
International Solidarity Coordinator
Refuser Solidarity Network

8.

16 maart 2024

Today's headlines

It isn’t Netanyahu who is acting against the will of his people, it’s Biden

Mitchell Plitnick

Democrats are criticizing the Israeli government for not reflecting the desires of Israelis in its war on Gaza. Netanyahu may be hated, but it’s clear he's not acting against the will of his people. That description is far more fitting for Joe Biden.

7.

15 maart 2024

Effectively Out-Organizing The Zionist Lobby

Last month, the Minneapolis City Council officially passed a ceasefire resolution, marking Minneapolis as the first city in the U.S. to call for an end to all U.S. aid to Israel. This groundbreaking resolution was brought to life through the collaborative efforts of the AMP Minnesota team, along partners at the Minnesota-based Free Palestine Coalition. Originally adopted on January 25th, it faced a veto from Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey less than a week later. However, thanks to the tireless mobilization of AMP and partner organizations, the city council overturned the mayor's veto on a 9-3 vote, marking one of the only times a veto has been overridden in the current Mayor’s history. 

The resolution is monumental for three key reasons. Firstly, by establishing a nationwide precedent, Minneapolis has become the first major city in the country to demand an end to U.S. aid to Israel shattering the boundary of what is considered acceptable criticism of Israel.  Secondly, the resolution contextualizes the current crisis with 75 years of displacement and occupation, rather than erroneously starting the timeline on October 7th. Lastly, it acknowledges the truth by referring to Israel's siege as genocide and collective punishment, incorporating findings from the International Court of Justice (ICJ) investigation.

AMP chapters around the country have worked on city council resolutions, passing them in major cities across the country.

Sana Wazwaz

AMP Minnesota

6.

15 maart 2024

Today's headlines

Hamas proposes new prisoner exchange deal, Netanyahu’s office calls it ‘unrealistic’

Thousands of Palestinian worshippers have been denied access to pray at al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem for Ramadan's first Friday prayers, while Israeli forces have committed another massacre against Palestinian aid-seekers in Gaza City.

5.

15 maart 2024

Hostilities in the Gaza Strip and Israel
Flash Update #140

Warning of imminent famine, the World Food Programme delivered this week 88 metric tons of food parcels and wheat flour for 25,000 people in northern Gaza. Photo by UNRWA

Key Highlights

• The World Health Organization and partners delivered medical supplies sufficient for 80,000 patients to Al Aqsa Hospital in Deir al Balah on 13 March.
• The hunger crisis in Gaza is deepening, rendering almost the entire population reliant on food aid that remains insufficient to address soaring needs.
• During the first two weeks of March, 12 humanitarian aid missions to northern Gaza were facilitated by the Israeli authorities, six were denied, and six were postponed.

Gaza Strip Updates

• Intense Israeli bombardment and ground operations as well as heavy fighting between Israeli forces and Palestinian armed groups continue to be reported across much of the Gaza Strip, particularly in the Hamad area of Khan Younis, resulting in further civilian casualties, displacement, and destruction of houses and other civilian infrastructure.
• Between the afternoon of 14 March and 10:30 on 15 March, according to the Ministry of Health (MoH) in Gaza, 149 Palestinians were killed and 300 Palestinians were injured. Between 7 October 2023 and 10:30 on 15 March 2024, at least 31,490 Palestinians were killed in Gaza and 73,439 Palestinians were injured, according to MoH in Gaza.
• Between the afternoons of 14 and 15 March, according to the Israeli military, there were no Israeli soldiers killed in Gaza. As of 15 March, 247 soldiers have been killed and 1,476 soldiers injured in Gaza since the beginning of the ground operation, according to the Israeli military. In addition, over 1,200 Israelis and foreign nationals have been killed in Israel, the vast majority on 7 October. As of 15 March, the Israeli authorities estimate that 134 Israelis and foreign nationals remain captive in Gaza, including fatalities whose bodies are withheld.
• The following are among the deadly incidents reported on 13 and 14 March:
  • On 13 March, at about 20:00, six Palestinians were reportedly shot and killed and others injured while they were waiting for aid supplies at Al Kuwaiti roundabout, at the entrance to Gaza city.
  • On 14 March, at about 7:00, seven Palestinians were reportedly killed and others injured when a house in Al Bureij Refugee Camp, Deir al Balah, was hit.
  • On 14 March, 20 Palestinians were reportedly killed, and more than 155 others were injured, while waiting for humanitarian aid at Al Kuwaiti roundabout, at the entrance to Gaza city.
• On 14 March, the World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, reported that WHO and partners had delivered medical supplies sufficient for 80,000 patients to Al Aqsa Hospital in Deir al Balah the previous day. Some 140 health workers, 70 per cent of them volunteers, are serving 650 hospitalized patients, in addition to about 250 patients treated in the emergency room daily. In addition to health service needs, the hospital is struggling with water, sanitation, hygiene and waste management, with some 7,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs) sheltering in two of the hospital’s warehouses. Al Aqsa is one of only 12 out of 36 hospitals across Gaza that remain partially functional. Of these, only two are providing maternity services, although it is estimated that some 180 women are giving birth every day in Gaza, and that 21,000 have delivered since the current conflict began. UNFPA has provided basic supplies to a doctor who has set up operations in a tent in a site established for 40,000 IDPs in Rafah. Dr. Mohamed Ragab, used to work as a gynaecologist and obstetrician at the Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Younis, before damage to the hospital rendered it non-functional, following an Israeli military operation in February. Now treating up to 70 women every day, he stated that his operation “might be the only place in the displacement camps where we can provide antenatal and pregnancy care.” The WHO Director-General concluded that “the conditions in which people in Gaza are receiving health care are inhumane. We reiterate in the strongest terms our appeal: to protect health and civilian infrastructure; to allow us and partners safe and sustained humanitarian access; [and] for a ceasefire.”
• The hunger crisis in Gaza is deepening, rendering almost the entire population reliant on food aid that remains insufficient to address soaring needs. The Humanitarian Coordinator, Jamie McGoldrick, has emphasized that road transport is the only solution for scaling up the flow of aid. This week, WFP delivered 88 metric tons of food parcels and wheat flour for 25,000 people in northern Gaza, while warning that “famine is imminent” if the amount of aid to the area is not “exponentially” increased. During the first two weeks of March, 12 humanitarian aid missions to northern Gaza were facilitated by the Israeli authorities, six were denied, and six were postponed.

West Bank Updates

• Since 7 October, 418 Palestinians have been killed, including 407 by Israeli forces, nine by settlers and two by either Israeli forces or settlers, across the West Bank, including East Jerusalem. These include 109 Palestinians killed since the start of 2024 (compared with 80 during the same period in 2023), the vast majority by Israeli forces. Some 4,690 Palestinians have been injured, including 724 children, since 7 October in the West Bank.
• The Israeli authorities have announced measures on the entry of Palestinians holding West Bank IDs, with valid permits and magnetic cards, to Al Aqsa Mosque on the first Friday of the month of Ramadan (15 March), limiting entry to children under 10 years of age, women over 50, and men over 55. In 2023, men over 55, women of all ages and children under 12 were allowed entry without a permit on Fridays during Ramadan.
• Since 7 October, 15 Israelis, including four members of Israeli forces, have been killed and 99 injured in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and Israel.
• Between 7 October 2023 and 15 March 2024, over 300 Palestinian houses have been demolished in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, resulting in the displacement of about 1,680 people, the majority (903) during operations carried out by Israeli forces especially in refugee camps in Jenin and Tulkarm. In addition, 640 people were displaced due to the demolition of their homes for lacking Israeli-issued building permits, compared to 705 displaced in the first nine months of 2023. Nearly 140 people were also displaced due to the demolition of their homes on punitive grounds since 7 October, compared to 78 during the first nine months of 2023.
• On 14 March, armed Israeli settlers from the "Sde Efraim" settlement outpost raided the nearby village of Kafr Ni'ma in Ramallah and attacked Palestinians and their property, injuring one Palestinian, vandalizing and setting fire to vehicles and agricultural structures, and killing two sheep. Since 7 October 2023 and as of 15 March 2024, OCHA has recorded 646 Israeli settler attacks against Palestinians that resulted in Palestinian casualties (59 incidents), damage to Palestinian-owned property (513 incidents), or both casualties and damage to property (74 incidents).

Funding

• The Flash Appeal for the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt), which requests US$1.2 billion to meet the critical needs of 2.7 million people across the oPt (2.2 million in the Gaza Strip and 500,000 in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem), was extended through the end of March 2024. As of 15 March, member states disbursed nearly $974 million for the updated Flash Appeal (79 per cent); this includes about $616 million out of $629 million (98 per cent) requested for October-December 2023 and about $358 million out of $600 million (60 per cent) requested for January-March 2024. For funding analysis, please see the Flash Appeal Financial Tracking dashboard.
• During February 2024, the oPt Humanitarian Fund (oPt HF) had a total of 122 ongoing projects, for a total of US$ 74.5 million, addressing urgent needs in the Gaza Strip (83 per cent) and West Bank (17 per cent). Projects focused on the areas of Education, Food Security, Health, Protection, Emergency Shelter & NFI, WASH, Coordination and Support Services, Multi-Purpose Cash Assistance and Nutrition. Of these, 77 projects were being implemented by international NGOs (INGOs), 29 projects by national NGOs (NNGOs), and 16 projects by UN agencies. Of the 93 projects implemented by INGOs or the UN, 52 were being implemented in partnership with NNGOs. The oPt HF has also recently finalized its critical and time sensitive First Reserve Allocation of 2024, titled "Emergency Fleet Augmentation for Enhanced Gaza Aid Delivery", amounting to US$3.5 million. The allocation aims at boosting the aid transport capacity to enable humanitarian partners to increase the delivery of vital aid and services to people across the Gaza Strip. For a summary of the oPt HF activities in February 2024, please follow this link. Since 7 October, the oPt HF has received a total of $88 million in contributions from member states and private donors. Private donations are collected directly through the Humanitarian Fund.

4.

15 maart 2024

Say NO to additional U.S. military funding for Israel.

Millions of people across the country are demanding a permanent ceasefire in Gaza and calling for an end to Israel's brutal occupation — and members of Congress need to know we are all paying attention at this very moment.

With more than 39,000 Palestinians killed in Gaza since October — two-thirds of whom are women and children — we have to stop the U.S. from sending more arms to Israel.

Tell Congress Now: No more funds for genocide.

In solidarity,

Yasmine, Linda, Ishraq, and the team at MPower Action

3.

15 maart 2024

AIPAC is your problem too. This conservative, anti-Palestinian lobby group bolsters bigoted candidates and drives billions in deadly weapons to Israel. That means putting dangerous politicians in power, funding an active genocide, and taking critically needed resources away from our own communities.

You and I have seen the consequences over and over. Politicians, fearing AIPAC’s influence, will refuse to call for a permanent ceasefire, to stop arming Israel, or to hold the Israeli regime accountable for its war crimes in any way. Sometimes they’ll call for even more massive violence, as AIPAC-funded House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said this week that the genocide must continue.

Stand up and fight back! USCPR Action is teaming up with a broad coalition of progressive organizations to urgently resist, including Justice Democrats, Jewish Voice for Peace Action, MPower Action Fund, and more.

2.

15 maart 2024

beroep van de zaak die Oxfam Novib, PAX en The Rights Forum aanspanden tegen de staat. Het oordeel van het hof luidde dat Nederland moet stoppen met alle uitvoer van deze onderdelen naar Israël.

Sluiproute
‘Het is onbestaanbaar dat het kabinet op deze manier omgaat met de uitspraak van het hof,’ zegt Michiel Servaes, directeur van Oxfam Novib, namens de drie organisaties. ‘Gezien de humanitaire catastrofe die zich voltrekt in Gaza is het uitermate kwalijk dat de Nederlandse staat bezig is om een sluiproute te verzinnen om alsnog onderdelen voor het F-35-gevechtsvliegtuig te leveren aan Israël. Dat gaat lijnrecht in tegen de uitspraak van de rechter dat Nederland moet voorkomen betrokken te raken bij ernstige schendingen van het humanitair oorlogsrecht in Gaza.’

Regering om opheldering gevraagd
Met het door de NOS bekendgemaakte nieuws over het regeringsbeleid is een nieuw dieptepunt bereikt wat betreft de ondermijning van de nationale en internationale rechtsorde ten behoeve van Israëlische oorlogsmisdaden.

‘We zullen ons verdiepen in deze nieuwe informatie van de NOS [...] en de regering om spoedige opheldering vragen. En als nodig zullen wij er niet voor terugschrikken om opnieuw naar de rechter te stappen,’ zo stelt Servaes.

Het kabinet ontkent te hebben gezocht naar alternatieve routes om alsnog F-35-onderdelen te kunnen leveren aan Israël, rapporteert NRC.

Uiteraard houden wij u de komende tijd op de hoogte van de ontwikkelingen.Steun onze rechtszaak!
De fundraiser voor de rechtszaak loopt nog altijd. De staat heeft namelijk aangegeven in cassatie te gaan. Dit betekent dat een Hoge Raad zich zal buigen over de uitspraak van het Gerechtshof. Een cassatieproces is een tijdrovend en kostbaar proces, we kunnen daarom jullie steun nog steeds goed gebruiken!

Fel protest tegen sponsoring door Booking.com van Pride Amsterdam

De nederzettingen waarin de accommodaties zich bevinden zijn illegaal en maken inbreuk op de rechten van de lokale Palestijnse bevolking. Tegen deze praktijk wordt al jaren geprotesteerd, maar tot een beleidswijziging van Booking.com heeft dat tot dusver niet geleid.

Pride Amsterdam
Binnen die context wordt nu het bestuur van Pride Amsterdam 2024 aangesproken op de sponsoring van het evenement door Booking. Een collectief van tot dusver vijftig organisaties, waaronder The Rights Forum, en 750 individuele ondertekenaars roept het bestuur per brief op de samenwerking met Booking te heroverwegen totdat het bedrijf zijn activiteiten in de illegale nederzettingen staakt.

De actie heeft veel aandacht gekregen op Instagram, met prominente aanjagers als Tofik Dibi, Maurits de Bruijn en (oud-)Pride-ambassadeurs als Jason Bhugwandass en Haroon Ali. Ook het COC ondersteunt de actie inmiddels. Het Amsterdamse AT5 meldt dat het bestuur van Pride Amsterdam de brief zeer serieus neemt, en met een reactie zal komen.

Commentaar | De ontvangst van Herzog moet gevolgen krijgen

De aanwezigheid van de Israëlische president Herzog op 10 maart in Amsterdam heeft geleid tot verbijstering en bittere controverse. Joodse organisaties riepen het Internationaal Strafhof op tot zijn arrestatie, veel Nederlanders deden aangifte bij het OM, en rond de opening van het museum vonden demonstraties plaats.

Lessen van de Holocaust
Die controverse had voorkomen kunnen en moeten worden. Het feit dat Herzogs komst bij velen als een mokerslag zou aankomen was voorspelbaar, maar werd door de museumdirectie genegeerd. Dat ‘Nooit meer’ voor veel Nederlanders, onder wie logischerwijs veel Joden, ook écht ‘Nooit meer’ betekent, was voor de directie een verrassing, of is als collateral damage beschouwd.

Joodse Nederlanders demonstreren tegen de aanwezigheid van de Israëlische president Yitzhak Herzog bij de opening van het Nationaal Holocaustmuseum in Amsterdam op 10 maart 2024. © Charles M. Vella / SOPA Images/Sipa USADat laatste geldt ook voor de vele Palestijnen in Nederland. Het feit dat Herzog hier met alle egards is ontvangen, is onverteerbaar. Die impact, gevoeld in termen van uitsluiting en onveiligheid, is door de directie niet onderkend of domweg genegeerd.
 
Opheldering nodig
Die minachting voor grote groepen Nederlanders en hun gevoelens verdient opheldering. Dit temeer daar die getuigt van een fundamenteel verschil van inzicht over de lessen van de Holocaust. Met het oprekken van ‘Nooit meer’ tot ‘Nooit meer, tenzij’ stelt het museum die ter discussie, en daarmee zijn eigen missie.

'Als de ene genocide wordt herdacht en de andere gesteund, is het tijd voor verzet'

Wij strijden tegen oorlogsmisdaden, annexatie, bezetting en onderdrukking. Helpt u mee?

Agenda Protesten in Amsterdam en Utrecht

Op zaterdag 16 maart om 14.00 uur vindt op initiatief van SOS Peace een vredesmanifestatie plaats op de Dam in Amsterdam. De organisatoren roepen op tot een permanent staakt-het-vuren, humanitaire hulp aan Gaza, de vrijlating van gijzelaars en een duurzame vrede. Deelnemers wordt gevraagd symbolen van vrede mee te nemen. Klik hier voor meer informatie.

Opinie Lasteraars waren bij Dries van Agt aan het verkeerde adres

Ook De Rooi werd na de dood van Dries weer op allerlei rotzooi getrakteerd: 'Ik werk immers voor de door hem opgerichte stichting The Rights Forum. Dan is fanmail uit pro-Israël-hoek, gecomponeerd rond de steekwoorden antisemiet, terrorist, nazi en kapo, nooit ver weg. Ook al ben je, zoals ik, een zoon van Holocaustoverlevenden en van Joodse afkomst.'

Lees hier het artikel van Martijn de Rooi.

Agenda Movies That Matter

1.

14 maart 2024

Hostilities in the Gaza Strip and Israel
Flash Update #139

Photo by UNICEF/Zagout

Key Highlights

• One of the few remaining UNRWA distribution centres in Gaza was hit by an Israeli strike on 13 March.
• Catastrophic healthcare conditions are impeding the disease management of thousands of chronically ill patients in Gaza, according to a new report.
• Mine Action response in Gaza is hindered by the need for authorization to deploy specialized personnel, restrictions on the import of humanitarian mine action supplies, and unreliable communications systems.
• The UN Human Rights Office has called on the Israeli authorities to immediately halt any imminent home demolitions and the forcible displacement of some 1,550 Palestinians in Al Bustan area of Silwan in East Jerusalem.

Gaza Strip Updates

• Intense Israeli bombardment and ground operations as well as heavy fighting between Israeli forces and Palestinian armed groups continue to be reported across much of the Gaza Strip, particularly in the Hamad area of Khan Younis, resulting in further civilian casualties, displacement, and destruction of houses and other civilian infrastructure.
• Between the afternoon of 13 March and 10:30 on 14 March, according to the Ministry of Health (MoH) in Gaza, 69 Palestinians were killed and 110 Palestinians were injured. Between 7 October 2023 and 14 March 2024, at least 31,341 Palestinians were killed in Gaza and 73,134 Palestinians were injured, according to MoH in Gaza.
• The following are among the deadly incidents reported on 12 and 13 March:
  • On 12 March, at about 20:00, 11 Palestinians were reportedly killed, and others injured, when a house in Al Mahatta area in Deir al Balah governorate was hit.
  • On 12 March, four Palestinian bodies were recovered from multiple locations in An Nuseirat and Al Mughraqa areas in Deir al Balah governorate.
  • On 12 March, around noon, two Palestinian fishers were reportedly shot and killed while fishing off the coast of An Nuseirat in Deir al Balah governorate.
  • On 13 March, at about 3:00, eight Palestinians were reportedly killed, and others injured, when a house in Az Zaitoun neighbourhood, in southeastern Gaza city, was hit.
  • On 13 March, at about 8:30, eight Palestinians were reportedly killed, and others injured, when a house in Al Bureij, in Deir al Balah governorate, was hit.
• Between the afternoons of 13 and 14 March, the Israeli military reported no Israeli soldiers killed in Gaza. As of 14 March, 247 soldiers have been killed and 1,475 soldiers injured in Gaza since the beginning of the ground operation, according to the Israeli military. In addition, over 1,200 Israelis and foreign nationals have been killed in Israel, the vast majority on 7 October. As of 14 March, the Israeli authorities estimate that 134 Israelis and foreign nationals remain captive in Gaza, including fatalities whose bodies are withheld.
• On 13 March, up to six people, including an UNRWA staff member, were reported killed and 22 others injured by an Israeli strike on an UNRWA facility in Rafah, which serves as both a warehouse and a distribution centre. One of the fatalities is believed to be a Hamas commander, who the Israeli military says was “precisely targeted”’ in a strike in Rafah on 13 March. According to UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini, the strike affected “one of the very few remaining UNRWA distribution centres in the Gaza Strip … as food supplies are running out, hunger is widespread and, in some areas, turning into famine.” The Commissioner-General said that UNRWA shares the coordinates of all its facilities in Gaza with the parties to the conflict on a daily basis and that the Israeli authorities had received the coordinates of the Rafah facility the day before it was struck. Since the beginning of the current round of hostilities, UNRWA has recorded an “unprecedented number of violations against its staff and facilities that surpass any other conflict around the world,” with at least 165 UNRWA team members killed, more than 150 UNRWA facilities struck, and over 400 internally displaced persons (IDPs) killed while seeking shelter in UNRWA facilities. “The United Nations, its personnel, premises and assets must be protected at all times,” the Commissioner-General added.
• A new report by Juzoor for Health and Society Development highlights the challenges facing the healthcare system in Gaza, which was already struggling due to recurrent hostilities and the blockade, and is now at “a breaking point,” with emergency response activities at a minimum. The system’s ability to detect disease outbreaks, respond to mass casualty incidents, and record health outcomes has been disrupted, necessitating urgent efforts to stabilize the healthcare system and restore its functionality. The report focuses on the catastrophic conditions impeding the disease management of thousands of chronic patients in Gaza, including at least 10,000 Palestinians with cancer, and the lack of data on the number of people dying because they cannot access health care for their chronic conditions. “The inability to continue renal dialysis, the lack of insulin, and other life-saving cardiac medications, fuel shortages, scarcity of clean water, and lack of electricity means thousands of people with cardiovascular diseases (CVD), asthma, kidney disease, or diabetes are unable to treat or control their conditions, which will result in the rapid increase in deaths,” according to the report. In addition, the report notes that there are currently some 2,000 cancer patients who require treatment abroad, a two-fold increase compared to cancer cases scheduled for referral prior to 7 October.
• Humanitarian partners warn that it will take years to clear nearly 23 million metric tons of debris generated by the destruction of residential units and other properties across the Gaza Strip as well as to clear up unexploded ordnance contamination. Calling for immediate action to enable large-scale assessments of explosive ordnance contamination, the Protection Cluster reports that Mine Action partners are carrying out explosive threat assessments for prioritized humanitarian sectors, delivering explosive ordnance risk education, and conducting digital, radio and SMS campaigns tailored to different groups including persons with disability. Challenges hindering Mine Action response include the need for authorization to deploy specialized personnel, restrictions on the import of humanitarian mine action supplies, and unreliable communication systems. Humanity and Inclusion is also warning of the lasting impact of long-term pollution on people in Gaza: “Given Gaza’s urban environment – where buildings have collapsed, are in ruins or damaged – explosive remnants are not only a permanent danger, but will also have a long-term impact on Gazans’ daily lives and their territory’s socio-economic development.”

West Bank Updates

• Since 7 October, 418 Palestinians have been killed, including 407 by Israeli forces, nine by settlers and two by either Israeli forces or settlers, across the West Bank, including East Jerusalem. These include 109 Palestinians killed since the start of 2024 (compared with 80 during the same period in 2023), the vast majority by Israeli forces. Some 4,690 Palestinians have been injured, including 724 children, since 7 October in the West Bank.
• The Israeli authorities have announced measures on the entry of Palestinians holding West Bank IDs, with valid permits and magnetic cards, to Al Aqsa Mosque on the first Friday of the month of Ramadan (15 March), limiting entry to children under 10 years of age, women over 50, and men over 55. In 2023, men over 55, women of all ages and children under 12 were allowed entry without a permit on Fridays during Ramadan.
• Since 7 October, 15 Israelis, including four members of Israeli forces, have been killed and 99 injured in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and Israel.
• Between 7 October 2023 and 14 March 2024, an estimated 1,680 Palestinians have been displaced due to home demolitions carried out by Israeli forces across the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, nearly triple the number of people displaced by home demolitions during the corresponding period last year. These include some 900 people displaced as a result of the destruction of 138 houses during operations carried out by Israeli forces across the West Bank, the vast majority in the refugee camps of Tulkarm and Jenin. In addition, 25 houses have been demolished on punitive grounds, resulting in the displacement of some 140 people. Over 600 people have also been displaced by the demolition of their homes due to the lack of Israeli-issued building permits, more than half of whom were in East Jerusalem. On 11 March, the UN Human Rights Office called on the Israeli authorities to immediately halt any imminent home demolitions and the forcible displacement of some 1,550 Palestinians in Al Bustan area of Silwan in East Jerusalem to create a park next to an Israeli settlement in the heart of the city.
• Since 7 October 2023 and as of 14 March 2024, OCHA has recorded 645 Israeli settler attacks against Palestinians that resulted in Palestinian casualties (59 incidents), damage to Palestinian-owned property (513 incidents), or both casualties and damage to property (73 incidents). These incidents have resulted in damage to an estimated 9,850 trees and saplings, 80 per cent of which were vandalized by Israeli settlers between October and December 2023. In comparison, between 7 October 2022 and 14 March 2023, Israeli settlers vandalized more than 8,300 trees and saplings across the West Bank.

Funding

• The Flash Appeal for the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt), which requests US$1.2 billion to meet the critical needs of 2.7 million people across the oPt (2.2 million in the Gaza Strip and 500,000 in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem), was extended through the end of March 2024. As of 13 March, member states disbursed nearly $974 million for the updated Flash Appeal (79 per cent); this includes about $616 million out of $629 million (98 per cent) requested for October-December 2023 and about $358 million out of $600 million (60 per cent) requested for January-March 2024. For funding analysis, please see the Flash Appeal Financial Tracking dashboard.
• During February 2024, the oPt Humanitarian Fund (oPt HF) had a total of 122 ongoing projects, for a total of US$ 74.5 million, addressing urgent needs in the Gaza Strip (83 per cent) and West Bank (17 per cent). Projects focused on the areas of Education, Food Security, Health, Protection, Emergency Shelter & NFI, WASH, Coordination and Support Services, Multi-Purpose Cash Assistance and Nutrition. Of these, 77 projects were being implemented by international NGOs (INGOs), 29 projects by national NGOs (NNGOs), and 16 projects by UN agencies. Of the 93 projects implemented by INGOs or the UN, 52 were being implemented in partnership with NNGOs. The oPt HF has also recently finalized its critical and time sensitive First Reserve Allocation of 2024, titled "Emergency Fleet Augmentation for Enhanced Gaza Aid Delivery", amounting to US$3.5 million. The allocation aims at boosting the aid transport capacity to enable humanitarian partners to increase the delivery of vital aid and services to people across the Gaza Strip. For a summary of the oPt HF activities in February 2024, please follow this link. Since 7 October, the oPt HF has received a total of $88 million in contributions from member states and private donors. Private donations are collected directly through the Humanitarian Fund.

14 maart 2024

Today's headlines

Israel kills 7 Palestinians waiting for aid, attacks UN distribution center

Israel’s Knesset approved a $19.4 billion budget increase to fund the ongoing Israeli genocide, while the Biden administration has indicated that it will greenlight the targeting of "high-value Hamas targets in and underneath Rafah."

Call to Action: Support academic freedom for Nadera Shalhoub-Kevorkian

Palestine-Global Mental Health Network

Hebrew University's suspension of Palestinian professor Nadera Shalhoub-Kevorkian sends a chilling message to scholars worldwide. Silencing her undermines academic freedom and the broader struggle for human rights and dignity in Palestine and beyond.

Are we indeed all Palestinians?

Mohammed El-Kurd

Are we indeed ‘all Palestinians’ as we chant on the streets of New York and London? If so, this rallying cry must abandon metaphor and manifest materially in resistance and refusal. Because Gaza cannot stand alone in sacrifice.

Palestinians in Gaza face famine during Ramadan

Ramadan has arrived, and northern Gaza has been overtaken by famine. “People fast without the promise of breaking it, and the world watches on without doing anything,” Ghazi Oweis, a refugee from northern Gaza, tells Mondoweiss.

14 maart 2024

In January, the World Court decided that Israel is plausibly committing genocide against the 2.3 million Palestinians in occupied Gaza. Here’s some of what Israel is doing to Palestinian athletes and sports facilities in Gaza as part of its genocide.

Among the more than 31,000 Palestinians in Gaza killed by Israel are an Olympic football coach, a FIFA referee, dozens of players, athletes, and technical staff. Israel has destroyed the Palestinian Olympic Committee offices, turned sports facilities into shameful mass detention and torture centers, and bombed most major stadiums across Gaza.

Yet, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) is still planning to allow genocidal Israel to participate in the Olympic Games this summer in Paris.

As the IOC prepares to meet next week, take action now to say there is no place for genocide and sporticide in the Olympics!

­More than 186,000 people have signed petitions calling for genocidal Israel to be banned from international sports, including the Olympics.
 

Twenty-six French MPs have called on the IOC to sanction genocidal Israel.

From March 15-17, groups around the world are organizing protests at their national Olympic committees calling on them to support the call from more than 300 Palestinian teams to #BanIsrael from the Olympics.
 

Join them by taking action online today. Sign the petitions below calling for #BanIsrael from international sports.

We can’t sit back as the IOC allows Israel to use the Olympics to sportswash its genocide in Gaza and its underlying, decades-old apartheid regime against Palestinians everywhere.

Stay tuned to join more actions as we pledge No Olympics As Usual and organize to peacefully disrupt the road to the Paris 2024 games.

In solidarity,
 
The Palestinian BDS National Committee (BNC)

13 maart 2024

Read and share the full Wire on our website.

Red lines and red carpets.

What we're reading.

13 maart 2024

Hostilities in the Gaza Strip and Israel
Flash Update #138

About 5,000 people with disabilities acquired from injuries sustained in hostilities in Gaza suffer from a lack of accessible shelters, potential exploitation, insufficient medical services, and neglect of their needs. Photo by WHO

Key Highlights

• For the first time in three weeks, the World Food Programme (WFP) was able to deliver food for 24,000 people in Gaza city.
• There has been a dramatic deterioration in the mental health of children in Gaza, according to Save the Children.
• According to a new assessment, 5,000 persons with disabilities acquired from injuries sustained in hostilities in Gaza suffer from a lack of accessible shelters, potential exploitation, insufficient medical services, and neglect of their needs.
• Six Palestinians were killed in the West Bank between the afternoons of 12 and 13 March, bringing to 107 the number of Palestinians killed by Israeli forces since the beginning of 2024.

Gaza Strip Updates

• Intense Israeli bombardment and ground operations as well as heavy fighting between Israeli forces and Palestinian armed groups continue to be reported across much of the Gaza Strip, resulting in further civilian casualties, displacement, and destruction of houses and other civilian infrastructure.
• Between the afternoons of 12 and 13 March, according to the Ministry of Health (MoH) in Gaza, 88 Palestinians were killed and 135 Palestinians were injured. Between 7 October 2023 and 13 March 2024, at least 31,272 Palestinians were killed in Gaza and 73,024 Palestinians were injured, of whom 72 per cent are women and children, according to MoH in Gaza.
• The following are among the deadly incidents reported on 12 March:
  • On 12 March, at about 11:50, seven Palestinians were reportedly killed, and six others injured, when a house in Az Zaytoun neighborhood, in Gaza city, was hit.
  • On 12 March, at about 3:00, 11 Palestinians were reportedly killed, and others injured, when three houses in Al Jaafarawi area, in southeastern Deir al Balah, were hit.
  • On 12 March, at about 9:30, 11 Palestinians were reportedly killed when a house in Al Qarara Town, in northeastern Khan Younis, was hit.
• Between the afternoons of 12 and 13 March, according to the Israeli military, there were no Israeli soldiers killed in Gaza. As of 13 March, 247 soldiers have been killed and 1,475 soldiers injured in Gaza since the beginning of the ground operation, according to the Israeli military. In addition, over 1,200 Israelis and foreign nationals have been killed in Israel, the vast majority on 7 October. As of 13 March, the Israeli authorities estimate that 134 Israelis and foreign nationals remain captive in Gaza, including fatalities whose bodies are withheld.
• Children in Gaza are among those worst affected by hostilities, hunger, displacement, disease, as well as the lack of basic services and vital aid. They make up roughly half of Gaza’s population of 2.3 million people, the vast majority of whom are internally displaced and at least 625,000 no longer have access to educational facilities. In a new report, Save the Children finds that “violence, displacement, starvation and disease on top of nearly 17 years of a blockade have caused relentless mental harm to children,” that is much worse than previous escalations in hostilities and has eroded children’s capacity to cope and recover. This is manifested by “fear, anxiety, disordered eating, bedwetting, hyper-vigilance and sleep problems as well as behavioural changes such as an alternation in attachment style with parents, regression and aggression.” Children as young as 12 have also been among those arbitrarily detained, according to the report, causing additional emotional distress, a compromised sense of safety, and a deterioration in children’s physical health. Since 7 October, Protection Cluster partners have provided child protection services, including mental health and psycho-social support (MHPSS), to more than 260,000 children and 27,000 caregivers across the Gaza Strip, but report facing difficulty in bringing psychological support kits into Gaza to support the implementation of activities.
• On 12 March, WFP delivered food for 25,000 people in Gaza city, marking the first successful convoy to reach northern Gaza since 20 February, when it announced a pause in deliveries to the north due to unsafe access and distribution conditions. The movement of aid trucks from southern Gaza to the north has been severely constrained, with only 25 per cent of aid missions planned in February (6 out of 24) facilitated by the Israeli authorities. In December 2023, the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) projected that the entire population of Gaza would face acute levels of food insecurity by February 2024, including more than half a million projected to face catastrophic levels of food insecurity. A new IPC analysis is due to be released in mid-March. As of 12 March, MoH in Gaza reported that 27 people, including 23 children, have died of malnutrition and dehydration at hospitals in northern Gaza.
• Some 5,000 people in Gaza who have acquired disabilities from injury over the past five months are among the vulnerable groups worst affected by hostilities, according to a new assessment by Atfaluna Society for Deaf Children, which identified the most urgent community needs of persons with disabilities (PwDs) and their families. The assessment finds that PwDs in Gaza, particularly women and children, suffer from a lack of accessibility in non-inclusive shelters, potential exploitation, insufficient medical services, and neglect of their needs. This is leading to social isolation and a deterioration in their mental health such as anxiety, depression and post-traumatic stress disorder. The report provides recommendations to address the needs of PwDs, including the provision of assistive devices, psychosocial interventions, and improving accessibility measures in displacement shelters, among others.

West Bank Updates

• Between the afternoons of 12 and 13 March, six Palestinians were killed in the West Bank:
  • On 12 March, Israeli forces fatally shot a 13-year-old Palestinian boy in the chest with live ammunition while reportedly holding a lit firework and playing with other boys in Shu’fat refugee camp (Jerusalem). Israeli forces have withheld the boy’s body and raided his house in the camp. A general strike was announced in the camp following the killing.
  • On 12 March, Israeli forces opened fire at Palestinians who were allegedly attempting to throw Molotov cocktails at a military observation tower in Al Jib village (Jerusalem). Two Palestinians, aged 16 and 23 years, were killed and three others were injured. Israeli forces detained the injured Palestinians for approximately 30 minutes before handing them over to Palestinian medical teams.
  • In the early hours of 13 March, Israeli forces shot and killed two Palestinian men, and injured four others, during a raid in Jenin city and nearby refugee camps.
  • On 13 March, a 15-year-old Palestinian boy from Al Khader village (Bethlehem) reportedly carried out a stabbing attack at the Tunnels checkpoint that controls access from the southern parts of the West Bank into East Jerusalem, injuring two members of Israeli forces. The boy was subsequently shot and killed by Israeli forces.
• Since 7 October, 418 Palestinians have been killed, including 407 by Israeli forces, nine by settlers and two by either Israeli forces or settlers, across the West Bank, including East Jerusalem. These include a total of 109 Palestinians killed since the start of 2024 (compared with 80 during the same period in 2023), the vast majority by Israeli forces. Over 4,680 Palestinians have been injured, including 722 children, since 7 October in the West Bank.
• The Israeli authorities have announced measures on the entry of Palestinians holding West Bank IDs, with valid permits and magnetic cards, to Al Aqsa Mosque on the first Friday of the month of Ramadan (15 March), limiting entry to children under 10 years of age, women over 50, and men over 55. In 2023, men over 55, women of all ages and children under 12 were allowed entry without a permit on Fridays during Ramadan. The UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, Tor Wennesland, said in a statement on 12 March: “I take note of the guarantee by the Israeli authorities to allow the Muslim population of the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, access to the Holy Sites. I call upon all sides to refrain from provocations and demonstrate maximum restraint.”
• Since 7 October, 15 Israelis, including four members of Israeli forces, have been killed and 99 injured in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and Israel.
• On 11 March, two households comprising seven people, including three children, were displaced after their house was demolished by the Israeli authorities in Um at Tiran community in Hebron governorate, due to the lack of Israeli-issued building permits. Since the beginning of 2024, 69 houses have been demolished in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, due to the lack of building permits that are almost impossible to obtain, resulting in the displacement of 219 people of whom over 60 per cent were in East Jerusalem.
• A house in Nur Shams Refugee Camp was rendered uninhabitable during a military operation on 11 March, displacing a family of two people. Since 7 October 2023, some 868 Palestinians, including 358 children, have been displaced because of the destruction of their houses during operations carried by Israeli forces in the West Bank, the vast majority (93 per cent) in the refugee camps of Nur Shams, Tulkarm and Jenin.
• In the evening hours of 12 March, Israeli settlers raided Burin village in Nablus and set fire to a Palestinian car and damaged four others. Israeli forces subsequently entered the village and physically assaulted a driver in a car who was with his four-month-old infant. Since 7 October 2023, OCHA has recorded 639 Israeli settler attacks against Palestinians that resulted in Palestinian casualties (59 incidents), damage to Palestinian-owned property (508 incidents), or both casualties and damage to property (72 incidents). Most of these incidents (over 400) took place between October and December 2023.

Funding

• The Flash Appeal for the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt), which requests US$1.2 billion to meet the critical needs of 2.7 million people across the oPt (2.2 million in the Gaza Strip and 500,000 in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem), was extended through the end of March 2024. As of 13 March, member states disbursed nearly $974 million for the updated Flash Appeal (79 per cent); this includes about $616 million out of $629 million (98 per cent) requested for October-December 2023 and about $358 million out of $600 million (60 per cent) requested for January-March 2024. For funding analysis, please see the Flash Appeal Financial Tracking dashboard.
• During February 2024, the oPt Humanitarian Fund (oPt HF) had a total of 122 ongoing projects, for a total of US$ 74.5 million, addressing urgent needs in the Gaza Strip (83 per cent) and West Bank (17 per cent). Projects focused on the areas of Education, Food Security, Health, Protection, Emergency Shelter & NFI, WASH, Coordination and Support Services, Multi-Purpose Cash Assistance and Nutrition. Of these, 77 projects were being implemented by international NGOs (INGOs), 29 projects by national NGOs (NNGOs), and 16 projects by UN agencies. Of the 93 projects implemented by INGOs or the UN, 52 were being implemented in partnership with NNGOs. The oPt HF has also recently finalized its critical and time sensitive First Reserve Allocation of 2024, titled "Emergency Fleet Augmentation for Enhanced Gaza Aid Delivery", amounting to US$3.5 million. The allocation aims at boosting the aid transport capacity to enable humanitarian partners to increase the delivery of vital aid and services to people across the Gaza Strip. For a summary of the oPt HF activities in February 2024, please follow this link. Since 7 October, the oPt HF has received a total of $88 million in contributions from member states and private donors. Private donations are collected directly through the Humanitarian Fund.

13 maart 2024

Israel lobby urges US to justify war with ‘Hamas

Leaked Israel lobby presentation urges US officials to justify war on Gaza with ‘Hamas rape’ claims

The Grayzone has obtained slides from a confidential Israel lobby presentation. They contain talking points for politicians and public figures seeking to justify Israel’s assault on the Gaza Strip.

Western media concocts ‘evidence’ UN report on Oct 7 sex crimes failed to deliver

Western media promoted a UN report as proof Hamas sexually assaulted Israelis. Yet the report’s authors admitted they couldn’t locate a single victim, suggested Israeli officials staged a rape scene, and denounced “inaccurate forensic interpretations.

13 maart 2024

Today's headlines

Netanyahu vows to invade Rafah

Benjamin Netanyahu says Israel "will finish the job in Rafah" despite growing international concern over an invasion, including from the U.S.

Human rights groups sue Denmark for weapons export to Israel

Three Danish organizations along with the Palestinian human rights group Al-Haq have together filed a lawsuit against Denmark for its export of weapons to Israel.

New Jersey protesters target event pitching West Bank real estate deals

Hundreds demonstrated against an real estate event in Teaneck, NJ promoting properties in Israel and the illegally-occupied West Bank.

12 maart 2024

12 maart 2024

Hostilities in the Gaza Strip and Israel
Flash Update #137

Psychosocial support teams help displaced families in Gaza through specialized activities. Photo by UNRWA

Key Highlights

• On 11 March, a team of the World Health Organization and its partners delivered 24,050 litres of fuel, food, and medical supplies for 42,000 patients at Shifa Hospital in northern Gaza.
• On 11 March, about 75 orphans and other vulnerable children were evacuated by SOS Children’s Villages from Rafah to an orphanage in the West Bank.
• As of 12 March, the Ministry of Health (MoH) in Gaza reported that 27 people have died of malnutrition and dehydration at hospitals in northern Gaza.

Gaza Strip Updates

• Intense Israeli bombardment and ground operations as well as heavy fighting between Israeli forces and Palestinian armed groups continue to be reported across much of the Gaza Strip, resulting in further civilian casualties, displacement, and destruction of houses and other civilian infrastructure.
• Between the afternoons of 11 March and 12 March, according to the MoH in Gaza, 72 Palestinians were killed and 129 Palestinians were injured. Between 7 October 2023 and 12 March 2024, at least 31,184 Palestinians were killed in Gaza and 72,889 Palestinians were injured, of whom 72 per cent are women and children, according to MoH in Gaza.
• The following are among the deadly incidents reported between 10 and 11 March:
  • On 10 March, at about 14:00, at least 10 Palestinians were reportedly killed when a house in Tal Al Hawa, west of Gaza city, was hit.
  • On 11 March, at about 1:00, three female Palestinians were reportedly killed, and others injured, when a house in Khirbet Al Ades area, in northeastern Rafah, was hit.
  • On 11 March, during the morning, 16 Palestinians were reportedly killed, and others injured, when a house in the Az Zaytoun neighbourhood, in Gaza city, was hit.
• Between the afternoons of 11 and 12 March, according to the Israeli military, there were no Israeli soldiers killed in Gaza. As of 12 March, 247 soldiers have been killed and 1,475 soldiers injured in Gaza since the beginning of the ground operation, according to the Israeli military. In addition, over 1,200 Israelis and foreign nationals have been killed in Israel, the vast majority on 7 October. As of 12 March, the Israeli authorities estimate that 134 Israelis and foreign nationals remain captive in Gaza, including fatalities whose bodies are withheld. On 12 March, the Israeli authorities reportedly announced the killing of a soldier thought to be held captive in Gaza, indicating that his body is still being withheld.
• At the request of the Government of Germany, on 11 March, about 75 orphans and other vulnerable children between three and 15 years of age were evacuated by staff from the SOS Children’s Villages from Rafah to an orphanage in Bethlehem, in the West Bank. The group received approval from the Israeli authorities to enter Egypt through the Rafah Crossing, and then Israel via the Taba crossing with Egypt. Israeli forces reportedly accompanied the convoy from the Taba border crossing to Bethlehem. Children in Gaza are among the worst affected by the conflict, with the Government Media Office in Gaza reporting that some 13,000 children have been killed since the start of the war. In a statement issued on 18 January, SOS Children’s Villages reported that extended families who had taken in children orphaned in airstrikes were struggling to provide for them and were requesting that the organization take them in. According to UNICEF, 17,000 children in Gaza are currently unaccompanied or separated, constituting one per cent of the total displaced population of 1.7 million people. On 9 March, UNICEF warned: "There are 600,000 children in Rafah, terrified of what’s next. From displacement and the threat of bombings to starvation and disease, so many are suffering the unimaginable, and now they are trapped in an overcrowded space with death getting closer.”: "There are 600,000 children in Rafah, terrified of what’s next. From displacement and the threat of bombings to starvation and disease, so many are suffering the unimaginable, and now they are trapped in an overcrowded space with death getting closer.”
• Hospitals across Gaza continue to face critical shortages of fuel, surgical equipment, anaesthetic drugs and other medications, food and health personnel, particularly in northern Gaza where only six hospitals are partially functional. According to MoH in Gaza, some 2,000 medical staff in northern Gaza need ready-made meals during Ramadan. On 11 March, a team of WHO staff and partners delivered 24,050 litres of fuel, food, and medical supplies for 42,000 patients at Shifa Hospital in northern Gaza; supplies included anaesthetic drugs, surgical materials and medicines. The team also carried out an assessment mission at Al Helou Hospital, also in Gaza city, to determine urgent needs. Highlighting the challenges facing medical staff in Gaza, on 7 March the President of Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), Dr. Christos Christou, stated: “When I visited some of our staff in Palestine a few months ago, they were already mentally and physically exhausted. Now, I fear they are at breaking point.”
• Acute malnourishment is disproportionately affecting children, particularly in northern Gaza, with devastating impacts in both the immediate and long terms, according to World Vision. As of 12 March, MoH reported that 27 people, including 23 children, have died of malnutrition and dehydration at hospitals in northern Gaza. Warning that the number of deaths from starvation, “is likely to be much higher,” World Vision underlined that “the immediate delivery of food and other lifesaving humanitarian aid is now a question of life or death for the children who have been caught up in this crisis.” On the night of 11 March, media outlets reported that a shooting incident at the Kuwait roundabout southeast of Gaza city resulted in at least nine fatalities and numerous injuries. The attack targeted individuals congregated to collect vital aid. The UN Human Rights Office (OHCHR) had documented 14 such incidents at two entrances of Gaza city between mid-January and the end of February, and at least 11 additional incidents were reported between 1 and 8 March, during which at least 28 Palestinians have been reportedly killed.

West Bank Updates

• In the evening hours of 11 March, an undercover Israeli forces unit raided Attil village in Tulkarm governorate, shot and killed one Palestinian inside a supermarket, and seriously injured another who later died at a hospital. According to the Israeli military, its forces killed an armed Palestinian on his way to carry out an attack. According to the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS), Israeli forces delayed ambulance access to evacuate the casualties for about half an hour. The body of one Palestinian fatality is still being withheld by Israeli forces.
• Since 7 October, 412 Palestinians have been killed, including 311 by Israeli forces, nine by settlers and two by either Israeli forces or settlers, across the West Bank, including East Jerusalem. These include a total of 102 Palestinians killed since the start of 2024 (compared with 80 during the same period in 2023), the vast majority killed by Israeli forces. Over 4,660 Palestinians have been injured, including 718 children, since 7 October in the West Bank.
• A Palestinian man was physically assaulted and injured by Israeli settlers near Homesh settlement in Nablus, while he was reportedly picking wild thyme on 9 March. So far since 7 October 2023, OCHA has recorded 629 Israeli settler attacks against Palestinians that resulted in Palestinian casualties (57 incidents), damage to Palestinian-owned property (501 incidents), or both casualties and damage to property (71 incidents). Most of these incidents (over 400) took place between October and December 2023.
• Since 7 October, 15 Israelis, including four members of Israeli forces, have been killed and 97 injured in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and Israel.
• On 10 March, the Israeli authorities demolished four houses, including two under construction, in Area C of the West Bank, due to the lack of Israeli-issues building permits; these include a house in Furush Beit Dajan and three other houses in Al Jiftlik al Musaffah, both in the Jordan Valley area. As a result, two households comprising 11 people, including six children, were displaced.
• Since the beginning of 2024, there has been a decline in the number of people displaced as a result of lack-of-permit demolitions in the West Bank compared with the same period in 2023 (212 vs. 329); however, house demolitions and resultant displacement in East Jerusalem has slightly increased, with 34 houses demolished and 133 people displaced between 1 January and 12 March in 2024 compared with 31 houses demolished and 115 people displaced during the same period last year.
• On 11 March, an exchange of fire took place between Israeli forces and Palestinians, who threw pipe bombs during a raid by Israeli forces in Nur Shams Refugee Camp in Tulkarm city. Israeli forces bulldozed roads inside the camp, the main entrance of the camp and the main road that links the camp with Tulkarm and Nablus, causing damage to water, electricity, sewage and internet infrastructure. As a result, it is estimated that over 84,600 people in Nur Shams refugee camp and Tulkarm city were affected. Three houses and at least one livelihood structure were also destroyed. Since 7 October 2023, some 866 Palestinians, including 358 children, have been displaced because of the destruction of their houses during operations carried by Israeli forces in the West Bak, the vast majority (93 per cent) in the refugee camps of Nur Shams, Tulkarm and Jenin.

Funding

• The Flash Appeal for the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt), which requests US$1.2 billion to meet the critical needs of 2.7 million people across the oPt (2.2 million in the Gaza Strip and 500,000 in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem), was extended through the end of March 2024. As of 12 March, member states disbursed nearly $973 million for the updated Flash Appeal (79 per cent); this includes about $616 million out of $629 million (98 per cent) requested for October-December 2023 and $357 million out of $600 million (59 per cent) requested for January-March 2024. For funding analysis, please see the Flash Appeal Financial Tracking dashboard.
• During February 2024, the oPt Humanitarian Fund (oPt HF) had a total of 122 ongoing projects, for a total of US$ 74.5 million, addressing urgent needs in the Gaza Strip (83 per cent) and West Bank (17 per cent). Projects focus on the areas of Education, Food Security, Health, Protection, Emergency Shelter & NFI, WASH, Coordination and Support Services, Multi-Purpose Cash Assistance and Nutrition. Of these, 77 projects are being implemented by international NGOs (INGOs), 29 projects by national NGOs (NNGOs), and 16 projects by UN agencies. Of the 93 projects implemented by INGOs or the UN, 52 are being implemented in partnership with NNGOs. The oPt HF has also recently finalized its critical and time sensitive First Reserve Allocation of 2024, titled "Emergency Fleet Augmentation for Enhanced Gaza Aid Delivery", amounting to US$3.5 million. The allocation aims at boosting the aid transport capacity to enable humanitarian partners to increase the delivery of vital aid and services to people across the Gaza Strip. For a summary of the oPt HF activities in February 2024, please follow this link. Since 7 October, the oPt HF has received a total of $88 million in contributions from member states and private donors. Private donations are collected directly through the Humanitarian Fund.

12 maart 2024

Today's headlines

‘Operation Al-Aqsa Flood’ Day 158: Israeli airstrikes continue to pummel Gaza during the holy month of Ramadan

Israeli forces bombed Gaza on the first day of Ramadan, killing two fishermen. Israel’s fortified highway has reached the Mediterranean coast, effectively splitting Gaza in two. Meanwhile, hundreds of settlers stormed the al-Aqsa Mosque compound.

Read more

Here’s what Pramila Patten’s UN report on Oct 7 sexual violence actually said

The UN report on sexual violence on October 7 has found no evidence of systematic rape by Hamas or any other Palestinian group, despite widespread media reporting to the contrary. But there are deeper problems with the report’s credibility.

Progressive orgs form ‘Reject AIPAC’ coalition ahead of 2024 election

A group of progressive organizations has formed a coalition to fight back against AIPAC in the 2024 election.

UN expert: Israel is engineering famine in Gaza

UN Special Rapporteur Michael Fakhri says Israel's intentional starvation of Gaza is unprecedented. “We've never seen a civilian population made to go hungry so completely and so quickly," he tells Mondoweiss. "Never in modern history.”

12 maart 2024

12 maart 2024

12 maart 2024

Israel's genocide in Gaza, built on decades of apartheid and settler-colonialism, has killed over 30,000 Palestinians.
 

Palestinians have been killed while escaping shelling, taking refuge in hospitals and schools, or waiting for aid. UN experts are now calling for an arms embargo on Israel while it is on trial at the International Court of Justice for plausible genocide.
 

Far from paying heed to the ICJ ruling, tech corporations like Google and Amazon are enabling Israel’s AI powered, live streamed genocide by providing the cloud platform for Israeli occupation forces under Project Nimbus.­

This March, we are marching for Palestine. As part of Israeli Apartheid Week 2024, organizations and people of conscience around the world are building grassroots power and amplifying BDS campaigns.

On March 14th, join us in putting the spotlight on Google and Amazon by highlighting their complicity in Israel’s genocide in Gaza and calling for pressure on them. 

11 maart 2024

A Special Message from Dr. Osama Abu Irshaid

Israel's ongoing brutal genocide for more than 5 months now against more than 2 million Palestinians in the Gaza Strip should be a wake-up call for us as American Muslims. This heinous crime would not be possible without the White House’s backing. Since October 7, 2023, the Biden administration has provided Israel with weapons and ammunition worth billions of dollars, causing over 100,000 Palestinian deaths, injuries, and disappearances according to the UN. Most of the dead are women and children, and nearly 90% of the remaining population are displaced amid the decimation across the Gaza Strip. But the Biden administration did not stop there: it defended Israel’s crimes and provided diplomatic immunity to Israel at the United Nations, despite wide condemnation of Israel’s exterminationist war by most countries and international institutions.

The above places a great responsibility on our shoulders as American citizens. The atrocities taking place in the Gaza Strip are being done in our name and with our tax dollars. This cannot continue, and we cannot allow it to happen again. The continuous Israeli crimes in the Gaza Strip, the West Bank, Jerusalem, and against Al-Aqsa Mosque, require continuous work for Palestinian rights in the US. This is why at American Muslims for Palestine, we have made working for Palestine a daily mission for the past 18 years. We understand the US is uniquely capable of restraining Israel and making a change in Palestine – and that we must advocate continuously, not seasonally, for Palestinian rights. Today, this responsibility is more urgent than ever, and we want to shoulder its weight with you.

More than 1,400 years ago, the month of Ramadan represented an inflection point in history. In it, the Noble Qur’an was revealed to the Messenger Muhammad (PBUH), with the final message, guidance and mercy to mankind. Ramadan was a historic turning point from slavery and tyranny to a message of truth, justice, and worshiping Allah alone. Our role at AMP is to preserve this Ramadan spirit.

We invite you to make this blessed month of Ramadan a turning point in the work for Palestine in America. We cannot continue at the same pace. We see profound changes in American public opinion toward Palestinian rights and potential political repercussions for US leaders who support the genocide in Gaza.

11 maart 2024

11 maart 2024

Major American Muslim Political Groups Announce Formation of National 2024 Election Coalition

(Washington D.C.- 03/11/2024) A coalition of American Muslim 501(c)4 political organizations today announced the formation of the American Muslim 2024 Election Taskforce. In the lead-up to the 2024 elections, the task force plans to amplify the American Muslim community’s views on key policy issues, enhance its civic engagement, boost voter turnout, and, ultimately, issue a joint recommendation or endorsement in the 2024 presidential election.

In a statement, the American Muslim 2024 Election Taskforce said:

“Together, the growing population of American Muslim voters has the power to impact the outcome of the 2024 presidential election in key swing states and improve our nation’s domestic and foreign policies for the benefit of all people, here and abroad.

11 maart 2024

11 maart 2024

Today's headlines

As Ramadan begins, Israel obstructs Palestinian entry to al-Aqsa Mosque

Leila Warah

Israel is preparing itself and its prisons for the arrest of thousands of Palestinians, Netanyahu says. Meanwhile, Israel has already begun obstructing access to the Al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem, attacking worshipers on the first night of Ramadan.

Open letter from Asians and Asian Americans in support of Palestine and rejecting Zionism

A broad coalition of Asian, Asian American, Pacific Islander, and other organizations working for justice and equity call on the API Council to reject the Jewish Community Relations Council's "Outstanding Community Partner Award.”

UC Berkeley students and faculty reject university condemnation of protest of anti-Palestinian speaker

The UC Berkeley chapters of Graduate Students for Justice in Palestine, and Faculty and Staff for Justice In Palestine respond to the university's condemnation of a protest of an event featuring Israeli genocide apologist Ran Bar-Yoshafat.

11 maart 2024

11 maart 2024

Hostilities in the Gaza Strip and Israel
Flash Update #136

Some 90 per cent of mothers and children in Gaza are not eating a diverse diet, according to the World Food Programme (WFP). Photo by UNICEF/Eyad Al Baba

Key Highlights

• The death toll from malnutrition and dehydration has risen to 25, including 21 children, according to the Ministry of Health (MoH) in Gaza.
• On 8 March, at least five Palestinians were reportedly killed due to the malfunction of a parachute of a humanitarian aid airdrop.
• An NGO aid worker was killed in Gaza on 8 March.
• On 9 March, the World Health Organization (WHO) delivered orthopedic and trauma items as well as fuel to Al Ahli and As Sahaba hospitals in northern Gaza.
• Since the beginning of 2024, about 560 Palestinians have been displaced in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, due to the demolition of their homes.

Gaza Strip Updates

• Intense Israeli bombardment and ground operations as well as heavy fighting between Israeli forces and Palestinian armed groups continue to be reported across much of the Gaza Strip, particularly in Hamad area northwest of Khan Younis, resulting in further civilian casualties, displacement, and destruction of houses and other civilian infrastructure.
• Between the afternoon of 8 March and 09:30 on 11 March, according to the MoH in Gaza, 234 Palestinians were killed, and 358 Palestinians were injured, including 67 killed and 106 injured in the past 24 hours. Between 7 October 2023 and 9:30 on 11 March 2024, at least 31,112 Palestinians were killed in Gaza and 72,760 Palestinians were injured, of whom 72 per cent are women and children, according to MoH in Gaza.
• The following are among the deadly incidents reported between 8 and 10 March:
  • On 8 March, at about 11:45, 12 Palestinians were reportedly killed when two houses in Al Qarara area, northeast of Khan Younis, were hit.
  • On 8 March, at about 15:40, at least eight Palestinians were reportedly killed, and 60 others injured, when a residential building in Az Zawayda area, in Deir al Balah, was hit.
  • On 8 March, at about 16:46, at least three Palestinians were reportedly killed when an apartment in the Brazil neighbourhood, south of Rafah, was hit.
  • On 8 March, during the day, at least five Palestinians were reportedly killed when airdropped humanitarian aid reportedly fell on Palestinians due to a malfunction in the parachutes near Al Fayrouz Towers in Gaza city.
  • On 9 March, at about 11:00, 13 Palestinians were reportedly killed and others injured when two houses in western An Nuseirat were hit.
  • On 9 March, at about 18:40, five Palestinians were reportedly killed, and others injured, when a house in Al Baraka area in Deir al Balah was hit. Other Palestinians remain under the rubble.
  • On 10 March, at about 6:20, 15 Palestinians were reportedly killed, and others injured, when tents used by internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Al Mawasi area were hit.
• Between the afternoons of 8 and 11 March, according to the Israeli military, two Israeli soldiers were killed in Gaza. As of 11 March, 247 soldiers have been killed and 1,474 soldiers injured in Gaza since the beginning of the ground operation, according to the Israeli military. In addition, over 1,200 Israelis and foreign nationals have been killed in Israel, the vast majority on 7 October. As of 11 March, the Israeli authorities estimate that 134 Israelis and foreign nationals remain captive in Gaza, including fatalities whose bodies are withheld.
• Hostilities in Gaza continue to endanger the lives of humanitarian aid workers. On 8 March, Anera reported that its logistics coordinator in Gaza was killed, along with 30-50 other people, in an Israeli airstrike on a shelter in Deir al Balah. The coordinates of the shelter had been shared with the Israeli authorities, according to Anera. Demanding an independent investigation, Anera emphasized “the urgent need for accountability and reliable measures to ensure the safety of aid workers.”
• The malnutrition crisis in Gaza is accelerating at an unprecedented pace due to the alarming lack of food, water and health services, according to the World Food Programme (WFP). WFP adds that the crisis heightens the risk of long-term health impacts and is disproportionately affecting women and children, with 90 per cent of mothers and children not eating a diverse diet. As of 10 March, MoH in Gaza reported that the death toll as a result of malnutrition and dehydration in northern Gaza has risen to 25, noting that the figure only reflects hospitalized cases. This includes three children who died at Shifa Hospital on 9 March as well as a two-month-old baby and a 20-year-old woman who died at Kamal Adwan hospital on 10 March, according to the MoH in Gaza. Reiterating its call for a ceasefire and the unfettered flow of humanitarian aid and commercial goods into Gaza, Save the Children warned: “Children in Gaza cannot wait to eat. They are already dying from malnutrition and saving their lives is a matter of hours or days – not weeks.”
• On 8 March, UNFPA, OCHA, and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) carried out a rapid assessment of Al Ahli and As Sahaba hospitals in Gaza city. Al Ahli Hospital is severely damaged, although a reduction in the intensity of hostilities in the area has improved patients’ access, and some IDPs remain on the grounds of the hospital. Only two surgeons are on staff, and the hospital is relying on volunteers. The facility can treat up to 50 patients and currently has 40 patients, but when over one hundred Palestinians were killed on 29 February while waiting for an aid distribution, it had to cope with approximately 200 patients. Despite being overworked and lacking food for themselves, the medical staff are able to perform general surgery and limited neurology and Ear, Nose and Throat (ENT) services. However, they are in urgent need of specialized equipment and, especially, fuel. As Sahaba Hospital, which specializes in maternity care, is also under-staffed and under-fuelled, with extreme shortages of oxygen and anaesthetics. Staff reported preforming C-section cases with local anesthetics. The inter-agency team delivered maternity equipment and medicine to both hospitals, while UNFPA provided reproductive health kits to As Sahaba hospital and conducted a needs assessment to identify critical maternity and reproductive health needs. On 9 March, WHO delivered orthopedic and trauma items for 150 patients and 13,000 litres of fuel to Al Ahli Hospital, and 12,000 litres of fuel to As Sahaba Hospital. On 10 March, WHO Director-General, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, reiterated: “We need sustained, safe access to health facilities in order to supply them with urgently needed lifesaving healthcare on a regular basis.”

West Bank Updates

• On 8 March, according to the Israeli military, seven Israeli soldiers were wounded near the Israeli settlement of Homesh by an explosion, allegedly caused by Palestinians. The explosion followed the opening of fire by armed Palestinians at a military post near the settlement. Consequently, Israeli forces launched a manhunt in Nablus city and the surrounding villages.
• Since 7 October, 417 Palestinians have been killed and 4,665 Palestinians have been injured, including 718 children, across the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and Israel. Since the beginning of the year, a total of 102 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank and Israel, compared with 78 in the same period in 2023, the majority by Israeli forces.
• Since 7 October, 15 Israelis, including four members of Israeli forces, have been killed and 97 injured in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and Israel.
• Since the beginning of 2024, about 560 Palestinians, including 212 children, have been displaced across the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, because of the demolition of their homes (estimated at 116 houses). More than half of them (over 300) were displaced during operations carried out by Israeli forces, 90 per cent of whom were displaced during operations in refugee camps in Tulkarm and Jenin governorates. Only 21 people were displaced in the same context during the equivalent period of 2023. The remaining displacements included 36 per cent displaced following the demolition of homes due to the lack of Israeli-issued building permits; and eight per cent on punitive grounds.
• On 10 March, Israeli forces deployed heavy forces at entrances leading to the old city of Jerusalem, denying the entry of young Palestinian men through the gates of Al Aqsa Mosque. Israeli forces also reportedly physically assaulted Palestinians, including women and older persons. Since 7 October, and although there was no official announcement to this effect, the Israeli authorities have been imposing heavy restrictions on access to Al Aqsa Mosque compound on Fridays.
• Between 7 October 2023 and 7 March 2024, some 866 Palestinians, including 358 children, have been displaced because of the destruction of their houses during operations carried out by Israeli forces. The vast majority (93 per cent) of displaced people were in the refugee camps of Nur Shams, Tulkarm and Jenin, where Israeli forces also regularly bulldozed roads and caused extensive damage to electricity, water and sewage infrastructure.
• Since 7 October 2023, OCHA has recorded 626 Israeli settler attacks against Palestinians that resulted in Palestinian casualties (56 incidents), damage to Palestinian-owned property (499 incidents), or both casualties and damage to property (71 incidents).

Funding

• The Flash Appeal for the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt), which requests US$1.2 billion to meet the critical needs of 2.7 million people across the oPt (2.2 million in the Gaza Strip and 500,000 in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem), was extended through the end of March 2024. As of 11 March, member states disbursed nearly $973 million for the updated Flash Appeal (79 per cent); this includes about $616 million out of $629 million (98 per cent) requested for October-December 2023 and $357 million out of $600 million (59 per cent) requested for January-March 2024. For funding analysis, please see the Flash Appeal Financial Tracking dashboard.
• During February 2024, the oPt Humanitarian Fund (oPt HF) had a total of 122 ongoing projects, for a total of US$ 74.5 million, addressing urgent needs in the Gaza Strip (83 per cent) and West Bank (17 per cent). Projects focus on the areas of Education, Food Security, Health, Protection, Emergency Shelter & NFI, WASH, Coordination and Support Services, Multi-Purpose Cash Assistance and Nutrition. Of these, 77 projects are being implemented by international NGOs (INGOs), 29 projects by national NGOs (NNGOs), and 16 projects by UN agencies. Of the 93 projects implemented by INGOs or the UN, 52 are being implemented in partnership with NNGOs. The oPt HF has also recently finalized its critical and time sensitive First Reserve Allocation of 2024, titled "Emergency Fleet Augmentation for Enhanced Gaza Aid Delivery", amounting to US$3.5 million. The allocation aims at boosting the aid transport capacity to enable humanitarian partners to increase the delivery of vital aid and services to people across the Gaza Strip. For a summary of the oPt HF activities in February 2024, please follow this link. Since 7 October, the oPt HF has received a total of $88 million in contributions from member states and private donors. Private donations are collected directly through the Humanitarian Fund.

11 maart 2024

11 maart 2024

BDS NL roept op: Maak een vuist tegen Booking

Booking: B.Honest – Stop Profiting from War Crimes - Delist illegal settlements!

BDS Nederland roept actiegroepen op tot creatieve, geweldloze, impactvolle protestacties tegen Booking.com

Het bedrijf Booking.com maakt gebruik van vakantie-accommodaties in illegale nederzettingen in bezet Palestina, en profiteert daarmee direct van de Israëlische bezetting en de dagelijkse ontwrichting van Palestijnse levens.

Booking.com staat zelfs vermeld in de VN Database van bedrijven die een sterke negatieve impact hebben op de mensenrechten van Palestijnen in de bezette Palestijnse gebieden.

De komende maanden willen we luid en duidelijk maken: geef geen ruimte aan bedrijven zoals Booking.com zolang zij zich schuldig maken aan de schending van Palestijnse mensenrechten. Niet in onze portemonnee, niet in onze hoofdstad, niet in de hele internationale toerisme-industrie.

BDS Nederland roept actiegroepen op tot creatieve, geweldloze impactvolle protestacties tegen Booking.com.

Booking: B.Honest – Stop Profiting from War Crimes - Delist illegal settlemen

BDS Nederland

Teleportboulevard 130
1043 EJ Amsterdam

Netherlands

11 maart 2024

10 maart 2024

10 maart 2024

10 maart 2024

Today's headlines

‘Operation Al-Aqsa Flood’ Day 156: Israel deploys 15,000 troops in West Bank as Ramadan starts

Mustafa Abu Sneineh

Ceasefire talks falter as Izz El-Din Al-Qassam Brigades spokesperson says Israel is using “deception and evasion.” Israel deploys thousands of troops in the West Bank and Jerusalem ahead of plans to restrict access to Al-Aqsa Mosque during Ramadan.

The real reason ‘from the river to the sea’ has garnered so much condemnation

Dr. Khalil Barhoum

10 maart 2024

10 maart 2024

10 maart 2024

9 maart 2024

Photo: Senna Ahmad/IG: @sennaahmad

I still can’t believe we pulled it off.

On Thursday night, we made President Biden late for his annual State of the Union address.

Our team led hundreds of activists to block the route of the President’s motorcade as he traveled to the Cap

Our demonstration attracted camera crews from CNN, ABC, NBC and other mainstream national outlets that covered our action live, broadcasting our demands to millions of Americans tuning in.

While President Biden was counting on using the State of the Union to boast about his accomplishments over the past three years, we set the tone for the night - making it impossible for the President to avoid the widespread anger at his role in Israel’s genocide in Gaza.

This historic act of mass civil disobedience came at the end of a day-long series of protests across Washington, DC.

Responding to our call to action, local DC activists painted the Palestinian flag on the street, dropped a banner demanding 'President Biden: Stop Funding Genocide,' and crashed press conferences to raise the alarm that 'Biden's legacy is genocide.'

Earlier in the evening, we helped lead a rally of hundreds of people outside of the White House in a “People’s State of the Union” to demand that President Biden invest in our communities’ needs – not genocide, weapons, and war.

To organize this action, we brought together national organizations including US Campaign for Palestinian Rights, Rising Majority, Palestinian Youth Movement, Jewish Voice for Peace, Democratic Socialists of America, Action Center on Race and the Economy (ACRE), Center for Popular Democracy, and Showing Up for Racial Justice (SURJ).

In addition, we worked with over 40 organizations who endorsed the action - from local grassroots groups like Occupation Free D.C. to national operations like Sunrise Movement, Movement for Black Lives, and Transgender Law Center.

Adalah Justice Project is playing a critical role in convening organizations and advancing a clear, Palestinian-centered strategy for our movement.

Sandra Tamari
Executive Director
Adalah Justice Project

9 maart 2024

9 maart 2024

Today's headlines

Deadly aid drop and obstacles to a maritime corridor expose farcical humanitarian response to Gaza famine

At least eighteen children have died in Gaza from malnutrition, while deaths by starvation have risen to 23. Meanwhile, the Pentagon announced that Biden's proposed floating pier would take two months and 1000 U.S. troops to build.

Palestinians expect Israeli crackdown on worship at al-Aqsa during Ramadan

Israel is taking advantage of the war on Gaza to exert control over the al-Aqsa Mosque compound and prevent Palestinians from visiting. With the month of Ramadan set to start, Israeli authorities intend to tighten restrictions even further.

As Ramadan approaches, Rafah braces for an Israeli ground invasion

As Israel's impending ground invasion of Rafah looms without a ceasefire agreement in sight, the 1.5 million people crammed into Gaza's southernmost city fear that they will spend Ramadan under Israeli fire.

8 maart 2024

Hostilities in the Gaza Strip and Israel
Flash Update #135

Five months into the ongoing hostilities in Gaza, the scarcity of food, water and medical care has left many struggling to survive, particularly pregnant women and new mothers. Photo by UNRWA

Key Highlights

• Pregnant women and new mothers in Gaza are struggling to keep themselves and their babies alive, amid critical shortages of food, water and medical care.
• An estimated 8,000 patients need to be medically evacuated from Gaza, including over 6,000 trauma-related patients, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).
• Less than one per cent of funding raised through the 2023 Flash Appeal has gone to national or local women’s rights organizations, UN Women reports.

Gaza Strip Updates

• Intense Israeli bombardment and ground operations as well as heavy fighting between Israeli forces and Palestinian armed groups continue to be reported across much of the Gaza Strip, resulting in further civilian casualties, displacement, and destruction of houses and other civilian infrastructure. On 8 March, the Spokesperson for the UN Human Rights Office, Jeremy Laurence, warned: “Any ground assault on Rafah would incur massive loss of life and would heighten the risk of further atrocity crimes. This must not be allowed to happen. We also fear that further Israeli restrictions on access by Palestinians to East Jerusalem and Al Aqsa Mosque during Ramadan could further inflame tensions.”
• Between the afternoon of 7 March and 10:30 on 8 March, according to the MoH in Gaza, 78 Palestinians were killed, and 104 Palestinians were injured. Between 7 October 2023 and 10:30 on 8 March 2024, at least 30,878 Palestinians were killed in Gaza and 72,402 Palestinians were injured, according to MoH in Gaza.
• The following are among the deadly incidents reported on 6 March:
  • At about 15:00, seven Palestinians were reportedly killed when a bus in Az Zaitoun neighbourhood in Gaza city was hit.
  • At about 15:15, five Palestinians were reportedly killed, and others injured, when a mosque in Jabalya city, North Gaza, was hit.
  • At about 20:00, five Palestinians were reportedly killed, and others injured, when a house in western An Nuseirat, Deir al Balah, was hit.
  • At about 21:30, at least 12 Palestinians were reportedly killed, and others injured, when a house in southern Deir al Balah was hit.
  • The bodies of 29 Palestinians reportedly killed in various areas in Khan Younis, southern Gaza, were recovered.
  • At about 9:40, four Palestinians were reportedly killed, and seven others injured, when a group of people on a street in Bani Suheila, in northeastern Khan Younis, was hit.
• Between the afternoons of 7 and 8 March, the Israeli military reported of no Israeli soldiers killed in Gaza. As of 8 March, 245 soldiers have been killed and 1,469 soldiers injured in Gaza since the beginning of the ground operation, according to the Israeli military. In addition, over 1,200 Israelis and foreign nationals have been killed in Israel, the vast majority on 7 October, Israeli figures indicate. As of 8 March, the Israeli authorities estimate that 134 Israelis and foreign nationals remain captive in Gaza, including fatalities whose bodies are withheld.
• In a press release to mark International Women’s Day, Islamic Relief reported that pregnant women and new mothers in Gaza are facing a constant struggle to keep themselves and their babies alive, amid life-threatening shortages of food, water and medical care. Islamic Relief staff in Gaza report pregnant women enduring C-sections without anaesthetic or painkillers, newborns starving to death, and a shortage of menstrual hygiene materials, leading to women and girls developing infections as they resort to using any scraps of cloth or torn clothing they can find. There are about 50,000 pregnant women in Gaza and, every day, about 180 women give birth amid the rubble or in tents or cars, because they can’t access hospital or medical facilities, the organization said, adding that pregnant women and newborns have repeatedly been forced to evacuate hospitals and aid workers report a big increase in premature births due to the extreme levels of stress. According to the press release, with pregnant women and new mothers at especially high risk of malnutrition, relatives and partners forego their own food for them, but most women in Gaza are now going whole days without eating. Many new mothers face dehydration because they can’t get enough water, making it even harder for them to breastfeed. According to CARE: “Our partners are telling us that the shelters they are running see women burying their newborns every day, as they do not have access to critical medical care, or simply because there is no way to feed them.” The International Federation of Journalists, noting that thirteen women journalists have lost their lives in Gaza since the start of the conflict, stated that the “work of women journalists in Gaza is instrumental in bringing global attention to the situation and provides another perspective on the war” and restated “the absolute necessity for all journalists to report freely and safely from Gaza.”
• On 6 March, the Ministry of Health in Gaza announced the names of 42 Palestinian patients scheduled to travel to Egypt through the Rafah Crossing for medical treatment. According to WHO, an estimated 8,000 patients need to be medically evacuated from Gaza, including over 6,000 trauma-related patients, and 2,000 patients with serious chronic conditions, such as cancer. Of the 36 hospitals in Gaza, 12 are partially functioning, one is minimally functioning and 23 are non-functional. Two field hospitals are fully functional and the third is minimally functioning. Only 20 of 80 primary health care facilities in Gaza are now functional. The damage to Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis during the Israeli military operation in February has rendered it non-functional; the Israeli military alleged that the hospital was used by Palestinian combatants for military purposes. Of the 27 UN attempts to reach Nasser hospital in February, only 12 missions were initially coordinated by the Israeli military and, of them, only six were facilitated, reaching their destination. The access of Emergency Medical Teams (EMT) to northern Gaza hospitals has not been possible due to the security situation, there are no EMTs in the area. In February, only six of 24 planned missions to areas north of Wadi Gaza were facilitated by the Israeli authorities. The low number of planned missions is primarily due to an operational pause, after a UN-coordinated food convoy was struck by Israeli naval fire on 5 February. On 1 March, WHO led two life-saving missions to northern Gaza, to provide essential fuel and medical supplies: on 1 March to Shifa hospital to deliver 19,000 litres of fuel and critical medical supplies; and on 3 March to Al-Awda and Kamal Adwan hospitals, providing 19,500 litres of fuel for each hospital, in addition to essential medical supplies.

West Bank Updates

• According to initial reports, on 8 March, Israeli forces surrounded the house of a wanted Palestinian suspect in Silat Al Harithiya village in Jenin governorate and exchanged fire with Palestinians. The Israeli army then informed the Palestinian District Coordination Office of one Palestinian fatality and are withholding the body. Since 7 October, 417 Palestinians have been killed and 4,665 Palestinians have been injured, including 718 children, in conflict-related incidents across the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and Israel. Since the beginning of the year, a total of 102 Palestinians have been killed, compared with 71 in the same period in 2023, the majority by Israeli forces.
• Since 7 October 15 Israelis, including four members of Israeli forces, have been killed and 90 injured in conflict-related incidents in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and Israel.
• Since 7 October 2023, a total of 1,620 Palestinians, including 710 children, have been displaced across the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, because of the demolition of their homes. More than half of them were displaced during military operations, mainly in the refugee camps in Tulkarm and Jenin; 38 per cent were displaced following the demolition of their homes due to the lack of Israeli-issued building permits; and nine per cent on punitive grounds. Furthermore, some 200 families from some 19 herding communities across the West Bank comprising 1,222 people, including 595 children, were displaced amid Israeli settler violence and access restrictions.
• Over the past five months (between 7 October 2023 and 7 March 2024), OCHA has recorded a monthly average of 700 search-and-arrest operations and other military operations by Israeli forces across the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, more than double the monthly average for the first nine months of 2023 (some 340 operations). These include operations carried out by Israeli undercover units and ones that involved the exchange of fire with Palestinians. In total, 297 Palestinians have been killed, including 71 children, and 2,600 others were injured, within this context by Israeli forces, representing about 70 per cent of Palestinian fatalities during this period. In addition, over 5,400 Palestinians were arrested, and some 866 Palestinians, including 358 children, have been displaced because of the destruction of their houses during military operations. The vast majority (93 per cent) of displaced people were in the refugee camps of Nur Shams, Tulkarm and Jenin, where Israeli forces also regularly bulldozed roads and caused extensive damage to electricity, water and sewage infrastructure.
• Since 7 October 2023, OCHA has recorded 624 Israeli settler attacks against Palestinians that resulted in Palestinian casualties (55 incidents), damage to Palestinian-owned property (498 incidents), or both casualties and damage to property (71 incidents).

Funding

• UN Women reports that “10 out of 12 women’s organizations surveyed in Gaza reported being partly operational, providing essential emergency response services. Despite their extraordinary efforts, less than one per cent of funding raised through the 2023 Flash Appeal has gone to national or local women’s rights organizations. Channeling funding to these organizations is crucial to meet the overwhelming needs of women and their families and communities, and to ensure that the voices of Gazan women do not go unheard.”
• The Flash Appeal for the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt), which requests US$1.2 billion to meet critical needs of 2.7 million people across the oPt (2.2 million in the Gaza Strip and 500,000 in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem), was extended through the end of March 2024. As of 8 March, member states disbursed nearly $971 million against the updated Flash Appeal (79 per cent); this includes about $616 million out of $629 million (98 per cent) requested for October-December 2023and $356 million out of $600 million (59 per cent) requested for January-March 2024. For funding analysis, please see the Flash Appeal Financial Tracking dashboard.
• During February 2024, the oPt Humanitarian Fund (oPt HF) had a total of 122 ongoing projects, for a total of US$ 74.5 million, addressing urgent needs in the Gaza Strip (83 per cent) and West Bank (17 per cent). Projects focus on the areas of Education, Food Security, Health, Protection, Emergency Shelter & NFI, WASH, Coordination and Support Services, Multi-Purpose Cash Assistance and Nutrition. Of these, 77 projects are being implemented by international NGOs (INGOs), 29 projects by national NGOs (NNGOs), and 16 projects by UN agencies. Of the 93 projects implemented by INGOs or the UN, 52 are being implemented in partnership with NNGOs. The oPt HF has also recently finalized its critical and time sensitive First Reserve Allocation of 2024, titled "Emergency Fleet Augmentation for Enhanced Gaza Aid Delivery", amounting to US$3.5 million. The allocation aims at increasing the aid transport capacity to enable humanitarian partners to increase their capacity to deliver vital aid and services to people across the Gaza Strip. For a summary of the oPt HF activities in February 2024, please follow this link. Since 7 October, the oPt HF has received a total of $88 million in contributions from member states and private donors. Private donations are collected directly through the Humanitarian Fund.

8 maart 2024

8 maart 2024

Today's headlines

Zionism and Jewish identity

American Zionists are not deluded about Zionism. They know exactly what Israel is, and they are actively supporting blatant supremacy, racism, and apartheid. But that is changing, because Zionism is finally being challenged in the left/liberal press.

Read more

Replacing Netanyahu with Gantz won’t fix the problem

The Biden administration sees Benny Gantz as a leader who can be reasoned with. To his supporters, Gantz sells himself as the "rational" alternative to Netanyahu, but just as iron-fisted in his policies toward Gaza and the Palestinians.

8 maart 2024

Last night, I witnessed a historic protest on Capitol Hill: Hundreds of people blocked Biden’s motorcade to the State of the Union, forcing him to reroute and delaying his arrival. It was the largest civil disobedience action in the history of the State of the Union.

Against the flashing lights of police cars, protesters sat in the street, chanted, and sang. They carried a massive Palestinian flag and held a banner reading “BIDEN’S LEGACY IS GENOCIDE.” The protest followed our 500-strong People’s State of the Union rally outside the White House.

When there is no justice, there is no peace. When the president doesn’t listen, we force him to.

Our USCPR Action Executive Director Ahmad Abuznaid speaks at last night's protest. Photo by Jake Ratner.

Photo by Eman Mohammed.

7 maart 2024

Let's start this Ramadan with action for Gaza 

Next week marks the beginning of Ramadan as Muslims all over the world will be fasting from dawn to dusk. But we know that for our people in Gaza, the fast does not end. For the past five months, Palestinians have been starving from the Israeli siege and war aided by the Biden Administration. As children protest in Gaza with signs reading, “Stop our daily death,” and “we die afraid and hungry,” we must escalate our advocacy.

We will not forget Gaza this Ramadan and we will not let the White House ignore Gaza either!

7 maart 2024

Tonight on Capitol Hill, President Biden will give his State of the Union address, in an attempt to convince the American public that everything is normal. You know, business as usual.

However: There is nothing normal about sponsoring a genocide with taxpayer dollars and blocking every attempt to call for a permanent ceasefire.

This is the State of the Genocide. While Biden will be talking up what's he's supposedly done for the nation, Palestinian people in Gaza are mourning their dead, desperately cooking with animal feed in an attempt to survive forced starvation, and dreading when the next bombs will drop—or when Israel will begin a full-scale ground invasion killing spree in Rafah.

The Biden administration’s active participation in Israel’s genocide against the Palestinian people is unconscionable.

Today I'll be speaking at our People's State of the Union rally to protest Genocide Joe, raising our demands loud and clear outside the White House.

SHARE THE DEMANDS NOW

See you in the streets.

Onward to liberation,

7 maart 2024

Hostilities in the Gaza Strip and Israel
Flash Update #134

A United Nations mission delivering life-saving supplies to Shifa hospital in Gaza city, 1 March 2024. In February, the access of only six of 24 planned aid missions to the north was facilitated by the Israeli authorities. Photo by UNICEF/Sonia Silva, 1 March 2024

Key Highlights

• The access of only six of 24 planned aid missions by the UN and its humanitarian partners to areas north of Wadi Gaza was facilitated by the Israeli authorities in February.
• The number of deaths as a result of malnutrition and dehydration has risen to 20, according to the Ministry of Health (MoH) in Gaza.
• Some 700 displaced families at an informal site in Rafah report facing significant challenges across multiple sectors, according to a recent inter-agency assessment.
• The Consumer Price Index (CPI) for food in Gaza has risen by nearly 105 per cent since the onset of hostilities, significantly diminishing people’s purchasing power.

Gaza Strip Updates

• Intense Israeli bombardment and ground operations as well as heavy fighting between Israeli forces and Palestinian armed groups continue to be reported across much of the Gaza Strip, resulting in further civilian casualties, displacement, and destruction of houses and other civilian infrastructure.
• Between the afternoon of 6 March and 12:30 on 7 March, according to the MoH in Gaza, 83 Palestinians were killed, and 142 Palestinians were injured. Between 7 October 2023 and 12:30 on 7 March 2024, at least 30,800 Palestinians were killed in Gaza and 72,298 Palestinians were injured, according to MoH in Gaza.
• Between the afternoons of 6 and 7 March, according to the Israeli military, one Israeli soldier was killed in Gaza. As of 7 March, 245 soldiers have been killed and 1,469 soldiers injured in Gaza since the beginning of the ground operation, according to the Israeli military. In addition, over 1,200 Israelis and foreign nationals have been killed in Israel, the vast majority on 7 October. As of 7 March, the Israeli authorities estimate that 134 Israelis and foreign nationals remain captive in Gaza, including fatalities whose bodies are withheld.
• According to a new report, February witnessed an almost 50 per cent increase in the number of coordinated humanitarian missions that were facilitated by the Israeli authorities across Gaza, rising to 111 compared with 75 in January. However, only six of 24 planned missions to areas north of Wadi Gaza were facilitated in February, primarily due to an operational pause, after a UN-coordinated food convoy was struck by Israeli naval fire on 5 February. The UN attempted two food convoys to the north on 18 and 19 February, but the lack of law and order, and the aggressive stance by the Israeli military towards approaching crowds, led to a renewal of the pause. By contrast, 105 out of 200 planned missions requiring coordination to areas south of Wadi Gaza were facilitated, a significant increase compared with January (65). This occurred despite a 48-hour pause in coordinated missions in the south on 26 February, after two medical workers were detained from a UN-coordinated medical evacuation the day before. Other incidents which highlight the degraded humanitarian space and increasing risks to aid workers include a direct strike on ambulances conducting a coordinated medical evacuation on 7 February and a strike on a deconflicted compound on 20 February, reportedly by an Israeli tank, killing two Médecins Sans Frontières family members. The UN attempted to reach Al Amal Hospital eight times, but movement was denied or impeded, except for a fueling mission on 20 February. Of the 27 UN attempts to reach Nasser Hospital, only six of 12 missions that were initially coordinated by the Israeli military were facilitated: the Israeli military alleged that both hospitals were used by combatants for military purposes. The degrading security situation is compounded by cases of violence against humanitarian workers and from people attempting to seize humanitarian supplies. On at least five separate occasions in February, the Israeli military attacked Palestinian police elements, resulting in their decreased presence at the border crossings and along the main supply routes through Gaza, and a further deterioration in security. The frequent and prolonged closures and blockages at Kerem Shalom and Nitzana crossings have also significantly hampered the entry of humanitarian aid. The report concludes that “the cumulative effect of these disruptions had a tangible decrease in the efficiency and predictability of aid delivery into Gaza, with no evidence to suggest an imminent improvement in the situation.”
• On 5 March, the bodies of 25 Palestinians reportedly killed in several areas in Khan Younis, southern Gaza, were recovered. In addition, the following are among the deadly incidents reported between 5 and 6 March, all in Deir al Balah:
  • On 5 March, at about 19:15, six Palestinians were reportedly killed, and others injured, when a house was hit.
  • On 6 March, at about 0:50, three Palestinians were reportedly killed, and others injured, when a house was hit.
  • On 6 March, at about 6:15, three Palestinians were reportedly killed, and others injured, when a house in Al Bureij camp was hit.
• Some 700 families displaced from northern Gaza to an informal site managed by a local committee in Rafah report facing significant challenges across multiple sectors, according to a joint assessment mission carried out by the Inter-Cluster Coordination Group (ICCG) on 28 February to inform emergency response efforts. Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) have reported that food distributions are sporadic and inadequate, mainly comprising canned food, which offers limited nutritional variety. There is also a critical need for milk products for babies and children. At the site, there are no health services currently available, poor hygiene conditions, insufficient shelter materials, and a lack of medications for people suffering from chronic illnesses, such as diabetes, high blood pressure, and Hepatitis A. Water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) conditions are dire at the IDP site; there are no latrines, essential hygiene items, or sufficient clean water, forcing many IDPs to use brackish water discharged from a nearby desalination plant. Solid waste disposal is also a significant problem, contributing to unsanitary living conditions and attracting rats and insects.
• The malnutrition crisis in northern Gaza continues to deteriorate significantly, and hunger has reached “catastrophic levels” according to the Humanitarian Coordinator Jamie McGoldrick. On 6 March, MoH in Gaza reported that a 15-year-old child and a 72-year-old elderly man died as a result of malnutrition and dehydration in northern Gaza, bringing the number of such deaths to 20. Furthermore, in addition to some 14 incidents documented by the UN Human Rights Office (OHCHR) involving shooting and shelling of people desperately gathered to receive lifesaving aid at two entrances of Gaza city between mid-January and the end of February, at least five additional incidents have been reported since 1 March. These include two incidents on 6 March when at least nine people were reportedly killed, and more than a dozen injured, by gunfire as people gathered at the Nabulsi roundabout southwest of Gaza city. On 5 March, a 14-truck convoy of World Food Programme (WFP) food deliveries to northern Gaza, the first since it paused deliveries to the north on 20 February, was turned back by Israeli forces at the Wadi Gaza checkpoint after a three-hour wait. The trucks, which were carrying some 200 tons of food aid, were subsequently ransacked by a large crowd of desperate people. Despite challenges, WFP emphasized that “road routes are the only option to transport the large quantities of food needed to avert famine in northern Gaza,” reiterating its call for a ceasefire to create enabling conditions for the humanitarian operation.
• Markets in the Gaza Strip are facing a range of challenges, including critical food shortages, reliance on informal supply channels, and the re-selling of humanitarian assistance, according to WFP’s Gaza Market Monitoring report issued on 1 March. Due to the insufficient flow of goods, more than half of shops surveyed between 7 and 15 February in Deir al Balah and Rafah reported a decrease in food stocks, and a notable portion indicated a complete depletion of their stocks. The shortages include food staples, such as eggs, dairy products, vegetable oil, vegetables, rice, and pulses. These developments, combined with the displacement of owners and employees have compelled many shop owners to transition into informal street vendors. The re-selling of humanitarian aid, particularly among informal street vendors, is also rising, according to the report. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS), the annual rate of food inflation in Gaza has reached 118 per cent in January 2024. In addition, the CPI for food has risen by nearly 105 per cent since the onset of hostilities, significantly diminishing people’s purchasing power.

West Bank Updates

• On 6 March, a Palestinian man died of wounds sustained on 4 March when he was shot by Israeli forces in Burin village, in Nablus governorate, while trying to help an injured child who was shot and killed. Also on 6 March, a 14-year-old boy was arrested in Beit Hanina in East Jerusalem after stabbing and injuring an elderly Israeli settler in the nearby Israeli settlement of Neve Yaakov.
• Since 7 October, 416 Palestinians have been killed and 4,658 Palestinians have been injured, including 718 children, in conflict-related incidents across the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and Israel. Since the beginning of the year, a total of 101 Palestinians have been killed, compared to 71 in the same period in 2023, the majority by Israeli forces. Since 7 October, 15 Israelis, including four members of Israeli forces, have been killed and 90 injured in conflict-related incidents in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and Israel.
• On 5 March, the Israeli authorities demolished a house in Nablus city, due to the lack of Israeli-issued building permits. As a result, family of eight people, including four children, were displaced. Since 7 October 2023, a total of 1,620 Palestinians, including 710 children, have been displaced across the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, because of the demolition of their homes. More than half of them were displaced during military operations, mainly in the refugee camps in Tulkarm and Jenin; 38 per cent were displaced following the demolition of their homes due to the lack of Israeli-issued building permits; and nine per cent on punitive grounds.
• Since 7 October 2023, OCHA has recorded 623 Israeli settler attacks against Palestinians that resulted in Palestinian casualties (55 incidents), damage to Palestinian-owned property (497 incidents), or both casualties and damage to property (71 incidents).

Funding

• The Flash Appeal for the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt), which requests US$1.2 billion to meet critical needs of 2.7 million people across the oPt (2.2 million in the Gaza Strip and 500,000 in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem), was extended through the end of March 2024. As of 7 March, member states disbursed nearly $971 million against the updated Flash Appeal (79 per cent); this includes about $616 million out of $629 million (98 per cent) requested for October-December 2023 and $355 million out of $600 million (59 per cent) requested for January-March 2024. For funding analysis, please see the Flash Appeal Financial Tracking dashboard.
• During February 2024, the oPt Humanitarian Fund (oPt HF) had a total of 122 ongoing projects, for a total of US$ 74.5 million, addressing urgent needs in the Gaza Strip (83 per cent) and West Bank (17 per cent). Projects focus on the areas of Education, Food Security, Health, Protection, Emergency Shelter & NFI, WASH, Coordination and Support Services, Multi-Purpose Cash Assistance and Nutrition. Of these, 77 projects are being implemented by international NGOs (INGOs), 29 projects by national NGOs (NNGOs), and 16 projects by UN agencies. Of the 93 projects implemented by INGOs or the UN, 52 are being implemented in partnership with NNGOs. The oPt HF has also recently finalized its critical and time sensitive First Reserve Allocation of 2024, titled "Emergency Fleet Augmentation for Enhanced Gaza Aid Delivery", amounting to US$3.5 million. The allocation aims at increasing the aid transport capacity in order to enable humanitarian partners to increase their capacity to deliver vital aid and services to people across the Gaza Strip. For a summary of the oPt HF activities in February 2024, please follow this link. Since 7 October, the oPt HF has received a total of $88 million in contributions from member states and private donors. Private donations are collected directly through the Humanitarian Fund.

7 maart 2024

7 maart 2024

Today's headlines

Over 2 dozen Palestinian captives have ‘died’ in Israeli detention camps

Leila Warah

At least 20 Palestinians have died as a result of malnutrition and dehydration in Gaza, health officials say. Meanwhile, new reports from Israeli media say 27 Palestinian captives who were being held in Israeli "makeshift cages" have died.

Gaza’s Miracle of the Manna: Aid and the American God complex

Gaza's skies now oscillate between punishment and mercy, terror and relief, as U.S. aid is dropped among its besieged population alongside U.S.-made bombs.

‘We are the masters of the house’: Israeli channels air snuff videos featuring systematic torture of Palestinians

Israeli TV channels aired a number of reports showing the torture and humiliation of Palestinians in Israeli prisons. The videos are consumed by the Israeli public as entertainment, revealing the sadism of Israeli society.

6 maart 2024

6 maart 2024

Humanitarian Access Snapshot - Gaza Strip
End-February 2024

Overview

Despite facing extreme challenges for humanitarian work, including two operational pauses and the continuation of extreme constraints on humanitarian movement and operations in February, there was nevertheless a significant scale-up in humanitarian efforts. This period witnessed a 48% increase in the overall number of coordinated humanitarian missions facilitated by the Israeli authorities across Gaza, climbing from 75 in January to 111 in February. However, the effectiveness of these expanded efforts was undermined by a cessation of operations to the north and an overall decline in the security of civilians, including humanitarian aid workers. This decline was chiefly attributable to the diminished presence of local police, following a spate of attacks by Israeli forces that led to police casualties. The resultant deterioration in law and order imposed severe access constraints, significantly impeding the movement of aid within and across Gaza. In the face of these formidable obstacles, the humanitarian operations in February demonstrated a resolute commitment to ramping up aid, highlighting an enduring determination to surmount the hurdles encountered.

MISSIONS TO THE NORTH AND THE OPERATIONAL PAUSE

In February, the UN and its humanitarian partners planned only 24 missions to areas north of Gaza, of which six (25%) were facilitated. This stands in stark contrast to January, when 61 missions were planned to the north, with nine (15%) facilitated. The decrease in planned and facilitated missions was primarily the result of an operational pause taken after a UN-coordinated food convoy was directly hit by Israeli naval fire on 5 February while waiting at a holding point as required by the Israeli military. The following day, UN staff reported harassment and intimidation by Israeli soldiers towards them and convoy members at an Israeli checkpoint. These incidents, coupled with previous impacts to UN-coordinated movements, led the UN and its partners to temporarily halt coordinated aid missions to the north of Gaza from the evening of 6 February. The pause aimed to allow the Israeli military to produce a framework that would adequately safeguard UN personnel, partners, and contractors from the risk of attack, abuse, or detainment at Israeli military checkpoints and in areas under Israeli control. However, when little progress was shown, the UN nevertheless attempted two food convoys to the north on 18 and 19 February; but the lack of law and order – and aggressive stance by the Israeli military towards approaching crowds – necessitated the renewal of the pause.

MISSIONS IN THE SOUTH AND THE 48-HOUR PAUSE

Despite the reduction in humanitarian operations towards the north, February recorded a 48% increase in the overall number of coordinated missions (111) facilitated by Israeli authorities to areas necessitating coordination to the north and the south of Wadi Gaza combined. This was largely due to scale-up of in the number of coordination requests for the humanitarian missions to the south. In February, out of 200 planned missions to areas south of Wadi Gaza assessed as requiring coordination, 105 were successfully facilitated, illustrating a significant 62% increase over the number of planned missions successfully facilitated in January (65). Nevertheless, February witnessed a 38 per cent of coordinated humanitarian missions to the south of Gaza denied or impeded, an increase as compared to 32 per cent captured in January. The rate of mission postponements remained relatively stable, with February's 11% closely aligning with the 9% observed in January. Areas not requiring coordination are excluded from these statistics.

This increase in missions planned and facilitated occurred despite a 48-hour pause in coordinated missions in the south (26-27 February). The pause was taken by the UN and partners after two medical workers were detained from a UN-coordinated medical evacuation on 25 February. The detainment occurred despite the fact that the coordination process includes Israeli clearance of all convoy members. The convoy was transporting 24 critical patients including children; one of whom was a new-born. The medevac mission encountered severe obstructions, including the detainment, which created a delay of over seven hours. The incident – in violation of existing assurances – further highlighted the deteriorating context the Israeli military is forcing on aid workers, and the resulting risks.

A DETERIORATING ENVIRONMENT, DEGRADED ASSURANCES AND HEALTH ACTORS

To further highlight the degraded humanitarian space, during the period between the attack on the food convoy on 5 February and the detention of medical staff on 25 February, several significant incidents occurred. These included an attack that directly hit ambulances conducting a coordinated medical evacuation on 7 February; an Israeli military operation to arrest medical staff—alleged by the Israeli military to be combatants—inside Al Amal Hospital on 9 February; and Israeli military operations in Nasser Hospital starting from 13 February. The latter, also alleged by the Israeli military to be a response to the combatant use of the hospital for military purposes, included the forced displacement of internally displaced persons (IDPs). As a result of multiple reports of Israeli strikes, the UN attempted to reach Al Amal eight times from 15 February; but movements were denied or impeded every time, except for a fuelling mission on 20 February; the UN was also denied access to Nasser Hospital to assess and support critical patients there prior to the initiation of operations – and then for multiple days once operations had commenced. February saw the UN plan 27 missions to Nasser, yet only 12 were initially coordinated by the Israeli military for facilitation, of which six were then impeded. Denials and impediments particularly affected missions involving urgent medical evacuations and refuelling.

Finally, on 20 February, a deconflicted International Non-Governmental Organization compound housing health workers and their families was directly hit – reportedly by an Israeli tank – led to the death of two family members residing with members of the International Non-Governmental Organization and injuries to six others.

Attacks on deconflicted compounds (humanitarian locations notified in advance to all parties) – such as the reported strike against the occupied living quarters of another International Non-Governmental Organization engaged in the health sector on 18 January – degrade confidence in the implementation of the Humanitarian Notification System for Deconfliction; and underscore the severe risks faced by health workers and other humanitarians struggling to stay and deliver in a degrading security situation in Gaza.

THE DETERIORATION OF LAW AND ORDER

As law and order deteriorated, Gaza saw an increase in violence targeting humanitarian workers and faced significant challenges in the movement and distribution of aid. The stance of the Israeli army, which views police forces as combatants, further complicates the efforts to restore law and order—elements that are crucial for protection of civilians as well as the smooth facilitation of humanitarian assistance. Reports were captured of at least five separate Israeli attacks on Gaza police elements in February; resulting in a decreased presence in open areas – such as main supply routes through Gaza and border crossings where humanitarian aid enters Gaza – and a correlating deterioration in security. The combination of massive displacements, high levels of vulnerability and need, and degraded security has led to complications in moving aid throughout Gaza and cases of violence by people attempting to seize humanitarian supplies. As the UN has entered into discussions with both local communities and the Israeli military to resolve this issue, the Israeli military initiated bilateral discussions with the private sector which led to a small number of movements to the north – not coordinated by the UN – that reportedly resulted in major protection issues and civilian deaths. Until the provision of law and order can be restored, and multiple entry points provided, the entry and facilitation of humanitarian aid remain severely hampered.

INSECURITY AT THE CROSSINGS

From late January through February, the frequent and sometimes prolonged closures and/or blockages at Kerem Shalom and Nitzana crossings have significantly hampered the cross-border movement of humanitarian cargoes. Specifically, the Kerem Shalom crossing was inaccessible on no less than 16 occasions, with Nitzana facing closures on at least 10 different days due to protests and insecurity. Notably, the onset of insecurity in the corridor – linked to security gaps that were created following attacks on the local police - generated a series of supply chain disruptions. This pattern of closures, particularly affecting the Kerem Shalom crossing, underscores a critical vulnerability in the humanitarian supply chain, reflecting how external pressures and security concerns directly translate into operational impediments. The cumulative effect of these disruptions had a tangible decrease in the efficiency and predictability of aid delivery into Gaza, with no evidence to suggest an imminent improvement in the situation.

6 maart 2024

Today's headlines

Prospect of breakthrough in ceasefire talks remains thin

Mustafa Abu Sneineh

Canada will resume funding to UNRWA and pay a pledge of $25m due in April. I

The doctor’s role in liberation: an interview with Dr. Ghassan Abu-Sittah

In a wide-ranging interview, Dr. Ghassan Abu-Sittah discusses the liberatory potential of medicine, the genocidal nature of Zionism, and the obligation, when confronted with the logic of elimination, to remain unwavering in our commitment to life.

Palestinian PM’s resignation nothing more than ‘cosmetic shake up’, analysts say

The U.S. is putting pressure on the PA to reform itself so it can take on a local governance role in a "postwar" Gaza Strip. But analysts say the resignation of the prime minister “won’t change the ways” of the massively unpopular PA.

6 maart 2024

6 maart 2024

Hostilities in the Gaza Strip and Israel
Flash Update #133

Four in every five households in Gaza lack access to safe and clean water, UNICEF reports. According to a recent assessment, displaced people have access to only two litres of water per person per day, well below the recommended minimum standard of 15 litres. Photo by UNRWA

Key Highlights

• Eighteen people have so far died from malnutrition and dehydration, according to the Ministry of Health (MoH) in Gaza.
• A 13-year-old girl, the only survivor of her family, was rescued from under the rubble of her destroyed house after 40 hours.
• A UN report calls for fully-fledged independent investigations into all reports of sexual violence in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territory, including sexual violence committed against Israeli hostages and during the 7 October attacks in Israel.
• According to UNICEF, 81 per cent of households in Gaza lack access to safe and clean water, with internally displaced persons (IDPs) among the most affected.

Gaza Strip Updates

• Intense Israeli bombardment and ground operations as well as heavy fighting between Israeli forces and Palestinian armed groups continue to be reported across much of the Gaza Strip, resulting in further civilian casualties, displacement, and destruction of houses and other civilian infrastructure.
• Between the afternoon of 5 March and 10:30 on 6 March, according to the MoH in Gaza, 86 Palestinians were killed, and 113 Palestinians were injured. Between 7 October 2023 and 10:30 on 6 March 2024, at least 30,717 Palestinians were killed in Gaza and 72,156 Palestinians were injured, according to MoH in Gaza.
• According to a press release by UN Women on 1 March, an estimated 9,000 women have been reportedly killed by Israeli forces in Gaza to date, not including those believed to be dead under the rubble. “Every day the war in Gaza continues, at the current rate, an average of 63 women will continue to be killed. An estimated 37 mothers are killed every day, leaving their families devastated and their children with diminished protection.”
• Between the afternoons of 5 and 6 March, according to the Israeli military, there were no Israeli soldiers killed in Gaza. As of 6 March, 244 soldiers have been killed and 1,451 soldiers injured in Gaza since the beginning of the ground operation, according to the Israeli military. In addition, over 1,200 Israelis and foreign nationals have been killed in Israel, the vast majority on 7 October. As of 6 March, the Israeli authorities estimate that 134 Israelis and foreign nationals remain captive in Gaza, including fatalities whose bodies are withheld.
• On 5 March, a 13-year-old girl who was trapped for 40 hours under the rubble of her destroyed house in Hamad city, west Khan Younis, was rescued and transferred to a field hospital in Rafah. Her entire family was killed. The Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) and OCHA participated in her evacuation. On 4 March, the bodies of 41 Palestinians reportedly killed in various areas in Khan Younis were recovered from under rubble.
• On 4 March, a nurse who worked at a primary health clinic supported by Project Hope was killed, along with seven of his relatives, including a child and a pregnant woman, in a strike on their family home in Rafah. In a statement, Project Hope said: “We are outraged and heartbroken by the loss of Mohammed and the countless other innocent humanitarians, health workers, and civilians who have died during this conflict,” warning that their remaining team members in Gaza “are in imminent danger.” Since the onset of hostilities, 364 health workers have been killed, according to the MoH in Gaza.
• The following are among other deadly incidents reported between 4 and 5 March:
  • On 4 March, at about 13:30, four Palestinians were reportedly killed when a house in Az Zaytoun area, in southeastern Gaza city, was hit.
  • On 4 March, at about 21:00, 17 Palestinians were reportedly killed, and others injured, when a house near the European Gaza Hospital, in southern Khan Younis, was hit.
  • On 5 March, at about 3:20, eight Palestinians were reportedly killed, and others injured, when a residential square in Jabalya Camp, in North Gaza, was struck. Additional casualties have reportedly remained under rubble.
• On 6 March, MoH in Gaza reported that 18 people have so far died of malnutrition and dehydration, and that starvation in northern Gaza has reached fatal levels, particularly affecting children, pregnant women and people suffering from chronic illnesses. UNFPA recently cautioned that “malnutrition rates among pregnant and breastfeeding women have surged, posing significant health risks to both mothers and newborns.” 
• On 4 March, the UN Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Sexual Violence in Conflict, Pramila Patten, reported that she and a team of experts “ found clear and convincing information that sexual violence, including rape, sexualized torture, cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment has been committed against hostages and has reasonable grounds to believe that such violence may be ongoing against those still held in captivity” in Gaza. The team also found “reasonable grounds to believe that conflict-related sexual violence occurred in multiple locations during the 7 October attacks,” and noted that the full extent “may take months or years to emerge and may never be fully known.” The report followed an official visit to Israel at the invitation of the Government, between 29 January and 14 February. The team also visited Ramallah, where the mission heard concerns raised over cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment of Palestinians in detention, including sexual violence in the form of invasive searches, threats of rape and prolonged forced nudity. The report’s recommendations include a call for the Israeli Government to grant full access to the UN Human Rights Office (OHCHR) and the Human Rights Council- mandated independent Commission of Inquiry on the occupied territory to conduct fully-fledged independent investigations into all alleged violations. The Special Representative also called on Hamas to immediately and unconditionally release all hostages and to ensure their protection, including from sexual violence, and for all relevant and competent bodies to bring all perpetrators of sexual violence to justice. The Special Representative reiterated the Secretary-General’s call for a humanitarian ceasefire.
• The provision of essential water, hygiene and sanitation (WASH) services in Gaza remains severely hindered by the months-long cut in power supply across Gaza, limited fuel supplies for backup generators, the destruction of infrastructure, and access constraints. According to UNICEF, 81 per cent of households lack access to safe and clean water, with IDPs living in overcrowded collective centres or informal sites being among the most affected. A rapid assessment conducted by WASH Cluster partners between 4 and 18 February at 41 IDP sites in Rafah governorate reveals that people have access to only two litres of water per person per day for drinking, cooking, washing and other domestic purposes, mostly relying on water trucking. This is significantly below the recommended minimum standard of 15 litres per person per day. There is only one toilet available for every 341 people, only 24 per cent of assessed sites have latrines that offer safe and private access, and only 20 per cent have latrines accessible for persons with physical disabilities. At 39 per cent of the sites where showers are available, one shower is available for every 1,292 persons. The majority of sites (93 per cent) have some type of visible waste, including solid waste, human feces or stagnant water, and most (68 per cent) have informal or uncontrolled dumping areas. On 5 March, the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS) and the Environment Quality Authority stated that Gaza is witnessing a public health and environmental disaster characterized by groundwater and soil contamination, the accumulation of large volumes of solid waste, and the daily flow of some 130,000 cubic metres (130 million litres) of untreated sewage to the Mediterranean Sea. According to the Municipality of Gaza, 70,000 tons of solid waste has accumulated in Gaza city.

West Bank Updates

• On 5 March, Israeli forces shot and killed a 16-year-old Palestinian boy from Urif village (Nablus) on Road 60 near Huwwara village (Nablus), allegedly after stabbing and seriously injuring an Israeli soldier. Also on 5 March, a Palestinian man died of wounds sustained on 29 February after being shot in the head by Israeli forces during an undercover operation in Jenin city. Since 7 October, 415 Palestinians have been killed and 4,648 Palestinians have been injured, including 712 children, in conflict-related incidents across the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and Israel. During the same period, 15 Israelis, including four members of Israeli forces, were killed and 89 injured in conflict-related incidents in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and Israel.
• Since 7 October 2023, 616 people, including 294 children, have been displaced in Area C and East Jerusalem after their homes were demolished due to the lack of Israeli-issued building permits, which are almost impossible to obtain.
• Since 7 October, a total of 25 houses have been punitively demolished and two others sealed off, leading to the displacement of 138 Palestinians, including 57 children.
• Since 7 October, 853 Palestinians, including 350 children, have been displaced, following the destruction of 133 homes during operations carried out by Israeli forces across the West Bank. About 95 per cent of the displacement was reported in the refugee camps of Jenin, Nur Shams and Tulkarm.
• Since 7 October 2023, OCHA has recorded 622 Israeli settler attacks against Palestinians that resulted in Palestinian casualties (56 incidents), damage to Palestinian-owned property (495 incidents), or both casualties and damage to property (71 incidents).

Funding

• The Flash Appeal for the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt), which requests US$1.2 billion to meet critical needs of 2.7 million people across the oPt (2.2 million in the Gaza Strip and 500,000 in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem), was extended through the end of March 2024. As of 6 March, member states disbursed nearly $964 million against the updated Flash Appeal (78 per cent); this includes about $616 million out of $629 million (98 per cent) requested for October-December 2023 and $348 million out of $600 million (58 per cent) requested for January-March 2024. For funding analysis, please see the Flash Appeal Financial Tracking dashboard.
• The oPt Humanitarian Fund Unit (oPt HFU) is currently preparing for a more significant allocation to support response efforts under a ceasefire scenario, enabling a wider array of actors to participate in relief efforts. Priority sectors identified for immediate support include Food Security and Livelihoods (FSS), Multipurpose Cash Assistance (MPCA), WASH, Shelter, and Health, reflecting the most pressing needs in the Gaza Strip. Special attention is being given to directing funding and additional resources toward actors in areas that face significant access challenges, notably in central and northern Gaza. In the West Bank, innovative solutions are sought to address the impact of military activities on infrastructure and ensure operational effectiveness amid closures.
• The oPt HF and the Central Emergency Relief Fund (CERF) are currently funding more than 94 ongoing projects in the Gaza Strip to meet urgent humanitarian needs, notwithstanding constraints on the entry and delivery of aid into and within the Gaza Strip. These interventions, totalling about $88 million, address needs in the areas of food security, shelter, water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH), health and protection. Since 7 October, the oPt HF has received a total of $88 million in contributions from member states and private donors. Private donations are collected directly through the Humanitarian Fund.

6 maart 2024

Why Biden is hiding

What we're watching

As we continue to fight for a permanent ceasefire, we’re also expanding our tactics and targets, exposing the institutions and individuals fueling this genocide and demanding accountability.

That’s why we took to the streets in NYC to demand that our elected officials stop taking money from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, a right-wing, anti-Palestinian lobby group that has spent hundreds of millions of dollars to buy our politicians’ silence on Palestine — including bullying them into opposing a ceasefire.

In this clip from Al Jazeera English, JVP member Tal Frieden sums up AIPAC in three words: “Pro-death. Pro-apartheid. Pro-genocide.”

5 maart 2024

Biden Administration’s Six-Week Ceasefire and Gantz Meetings a Total Disgrace

This week, we learned that Israeli war cabinet member Benny Gantz is visiting Washington, D.C. by the invitation of President Biden, while Vice President Kamala Harris has also called for a six-week ceasefire in exchange for a prisoner swap. The news comes amid U.S. primary elections over the next several weeks. These developments show two things:

1. Our pressure campaigns are working to push the White House to take action for a ceasefire, humanitarian aid, and Palestinian rights—or suffer political consequences. We must keep up the pressure.
2. The Biden Administration has lost control over Prime Minister Netanyahu to stop this war and is attempting to save face with inadequate and superficial measures towards humanitarian aid and an end to all violence.

Inviting Gantz, Netanyahu’s war cabinet member and direct political rival, to meet with senior Biden Administration officials is a disturbing signal that the White House’s diplomatic pressure on Netanyahu has completely failed. Instead of cutting aid to Israel and intervening in this war, officials are attempting to do damage control and play into Israeli politics amid the humiliating failure of diplomatic pressure to end the massacre in Gaza or provide humanitarian aid.

If Netanyahu’s extremist leadership does not have the support or trust of the Biden Administration, we must ask why the Israeli government receives a blank check for billions of dollars in weapons and military aid amid an unrestrained campaign of genocide. As a client state of the United States, financially supported more than any other country, Israel must be held accountable—not appeased while it publicly undermines the United States. The Palestinian people face a rapidly-rising death toll after already over 30,000 people have been killed and a million people are starving from Israel’s ban on and bombing of humanitarian aid to Gaza. 

Begging Netanyahu to stop killing civilians or going around him belittles the position of the United States with regard to Israel. The Biden Administration’s early support for Netanyahu’s campaign and syndication of his war-mongering talking points has not resulted in respect for U.S. interests or the Administration’s own political interests in a major election year. But the Administration continues to act as if its hands are tied—or rather, that it is unwilling to take serious action to stop the genocide of Palestinians.

The truth is that Israel’s genocidal campaign cannot continue without U.S. support. The administration cannot shirk its power to stop this war on all Palestinians in Gaza. 

A six-week ceasefire does not respond to popular demands and the urgency of the situation in Gaza. A ceasefire must be permanent, immediate, and enforced. Conditions for a ceasefire, imposed on a starving population facing ongoing and imminent genocide, is a gross miscalculation of the scope of human tragedy Israel is creating with U.S. support. The U.S. government can be found complicit in the war crimes and genocide it has aided and abetted since October.

Instead, the White House must take this opportunity for a comprehensive change in American strategy toward lasting peace by asserting a moral stance to impose a permanent ceasefire and affirm the full rights of the Palestinian people to live on their land.

Signed,

Americans for Justice in Palestine Action

5 maart 2024

Hostilities in the Gaza Strip and Israel
Flash Update #132

The access of UN-coordinated humanitarian deliveries to northern Gaza has been largely denied over the past months, leaving people with very limited means to survive. This photograph was taken during a UN refuelling mission to northern Gaza, following which Al Awda hospital resumed partial operations. OCHA/Themba Linden, 3 March 2024

Key Highlights

• On 4 March, Al Awda Hospital in northern Gaza resumed partial operations after fuel and medical supplies were delivered by a UN inter-agency mission.
• The UNRWA Commissioner-General has said that the Agency is now functioning ‘hand-to-mouth’ following the decision by major donor countries to pause their funding.
• According to HelpAge, the decision by major donors to withdraw funding from UNRWA will worsen the plight of already deprived Palestinian civilians, including older people.
• A 10-year-old Palestinian child was killed by Israeli forces in Burin village (Nablus). Since 7 October, 107 Palestinian children have been killed in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem.

Gaza Strip Updates

• Intense Israeli bombardment and ground operations as well as heavy fighting between Israeli forces and Palestinian armed groups continue to be reported across much of the Gaza Strip, resulting in further civilian casualties, displacement, and destruction of houses and other civilian infrastructure.
• Between the afternoon of 4 March and 10:30 on 5 March, according to the Ministry of Health (MoH) in Gaza, 97 Palestinians were killed, and 123 Palestinians were injured. Between 7 October 2023 and 10:30 on 5 March 2024, at least 30,631 Palestinians were killed in Gaza and 72,043 Palestinians were injured, according to MoH in Gaza.
• Between the afternoons of 4 and 5 March, the Israeli military reported no Israeli soldiers killed in Gaza. As of 5 March, 244 soldiers have been killed and 1,453 soldiers injured in Gaza since the beginning of the ground operation, according to the Israeli military. In addition, over 1,200 Israelis and foreign nationals have been killed in Israel, the vast majority on 7 October. As of 5 March, the Israeli authorities estimate that 134 Israelis and foreign nationals remain captive in Gaza, including fatalities whose bodies are withheld.
• On 4 March, the Israeli military announced that its forces had encircled the Hamad area in western Khan Younis and conducted a night-time operation reportedly targeting armed groups’ infrastructure and facilities from the air and the ground. According to the military, a corridor was established for civilians to exit the area, following the issuing of an evacuation order on 3 March which instructed the residents of Hamad area to evacuate to Al Mawasi.
• Hospitals in Gaza continue to face severe disruptions in providing health care. On 4 March, MoH in Gaza announced that, since the onset of the conflict, 155 health facilities had been damaged, and 32 hospitals and 53 health centres had been rendered non-functional, due to attacks or shortages of essentials. In addition, 126 ambulances had been damaged and rendered unusable. The ministry further reported that 269 medical staff, including hospital directors in Gaza, had been detained by Israeli forces. Al Awda Hospital in Jabalya resumed partial operations on 4 March after fuel and medical supplies were delivered by WHO, OCHA, UNICEF, and UNFPA as part of a UN inter-agency inspection mission of hospitals in North Gaza. The hospital had to stop operations on 28 February, due to a lack of electricity, depletion of fuel, and shortages of medical supplies. On 3 March, the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) reported that Israeli forces were maintaining their siege of Al Amal Hospital in Khan Younis for the forty-second consecutive day. As a result, there is a severe shortage of essential supplies, including food, water, and fuel. Additionally, medical supplies for chronic diseases and laboratory necessities have reportedly been depleted.
• On 4 March, the UNRWA Commissioner-General, Philippe Lazzarini, addressed the UN General Assembly. In response to Israeli allegations of the involvement of UNRWA staff from Gaza in the 7 October attacks on Israel, 16 donor countries have paused their funding, amounting to a US$450 million loss to the Agency. In the West Bank, the Israeli authorities have initiated measures against UNRWA, including banning local staff members from entering East Jerusalem, which is affecting all its services. As a result of these measures, the Commissioner-General warned that UNRWA is functioning ‘hand-to-mouth’ and that the fate of the Agency, and the millions of people who depend on it across its five fields of operation, ‘hang in the balance.’ In Gaza, the collapse of the Agency would result in immense human suffering as ‘only UNRWA has the footprint and the capacity to deliver services … in the absence of a full-fledged state authority.’ The Commissioner-General also stated that ‘UNRWA’s mandate embodies the promise of a fair and lasting political solution’ and that ‘dismantling the Agency in Gaza and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, would only serve those who oppose such a solution.’
• According to HelpAge, the decision by major donors to withdraw funding from UNRWA will worsen the plight of already deprived Palestinian civilians. Prior to the current hostilities, older people in Gaza were already living with the long-term impact of conflict and displacement, with reduced access to essential health and social services. Anecdotal evidence indicates that the number of older people living in designated shelters is disproportionately high in the north of Gaza. The suspension of funding directly affects the health and well-being of older people, who are likely to lack the necessary medications for non-communicable diseases, and are also at risk of isolation, trapped in combat areas, and facing starvation due to food insecurity, the organization says. HelpAge calls upon ‘governments to reassess and backtrack on their decisions to withdraw funding from UNRWA. The humanitarian crisis unfolding demands collective responsibility and a commitment to the well-being of the most vulnerable and those who need it the most, including Gaza’s older people.’
• The following are among the deadliest incidents reported between 3 and 4 March:
  • On 3 March, at about 19:30, eight Palestinians were reportedly killed, and others injured when a house in Khirbet Al Adas neighbourhood, in Rafah city, was struck.
  • On 3 March, at about 20:00, 12 Palestinians were reportedly killed, and 42 others injured, when a residential building in the second camp in An Nuseirat, in Deir al Balah, was struck.
  • On 3 March, at about 21:50, seven Palestinians were reportedly killed, and others injured, when a house near Al Awda Roundabout, in central Rafah, was struck.
  • On 4 March, at 0:45, 13 Palestinians were reportedly killed when a house in Jabalya Camp, in North Gaza, was struck.

West Bank Updates

• On 4 March, Israeli forces shot and killed a 10-year-old Palestinian child during a raid in Burin village, in Nablus governorate, which escalated into clashes between the Israeli army and Palestinian stone throwers. Community sources reported that the child was fatally injured while he was in a vehicle with his father, and that two other Palestinians were injured while they were trying to assist them. Since 7 October, 107 Palestinian children (including 106 boys and 1 girl) have been killed in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, including 105 killed by Israeli forces, one by Israeli settlers, and one by either Israeli forces or settlers. Overall, since 7 October, 413 Palestinians have been killed and 4,645 Palestinians have been injured, including 712 children, in conflict-related incidents across the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and Israel.
• Since 7 October, 15 Israelis, including four members of Israeli forces, were killed and 88 injured in conflict-related incidents in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and Israel.
• On 2 March, a Palestinian family was forced to demolish their newly built three-storey residential building in Al ‘Isawiya in East Jerusalem due to the lack of Israeli-issued building permits. As a result, four households comprising 17 people, including nine children, were displaced. Since 7 October 2023, 616 people, including 294 children, have been displaced in Area C and East Jerusalem after their homes were demolished due to the lack of Israeli-issued building permits, which are almost impossible to obtain.
• In the late hours of 3 March, the Israeli authorities demolished on punitive grounds a house in Nablus city, displacing one person. During the demolition, clashes erupted between Israeli forces and Palestinians, resulting in the injury of 15 Palestinians. The house belonged to the family of a Palestinian man accused of killing three Israeli settlers in the Jordan Valley on 7 April 2023, and was himself killed during a military operation in Nablus city on 4 May 2023. On 5 March, another house was punitively demolished in Kafr Dan village in Jenin, displacing a family of seven, including two children. The house belonged to the family of two brothers who were detained after being accused by the Israeli authorities of being involved in the shooting attack in Huwwara on 19 August 2023, which resulted in the killing of two Israelis. Since 7 October, a total of 25 houses have been punitively demolished and two others sealed off, leading to the displacement of 129 Palestinians, including 53 children.
• Israeli forces carried out a military operation in Nur Shams Refugee Camp in Tulkarm, during which an exchange of fire took place between Palestinians and Israeli forces. The operation resulted in extensive damage to roads connecting the camp with Tulkarm and Nablus cities as well as the destruction of electricity and sewage infrastructure. At least five livelihood structures were also damaged by bulldozers. Since 7 October, 853 Palestinians, including 350 children, have been displaced, following the destruction of 133 homes during operations carried out by Israeli forces across the West Bank. About 95 per cent of the displacement was reported in the refugee camps of Jenin, Nur Shams and Tulkarm.
• Since 7 October 2023, OCHA has recorded 615 Israeli settler attacks against Palestinians that resulted in Palestinian casualties (54 incidents), damage to Palestinian-owned property (491 incidents), or both casualties and damage to property (70 incidents).

Funding

• The Flash Appeal for the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt), which requests US$1.2 billion to meet critical needs of 2.7 million people across the oPt (2.2 million in the Gaza Strip and 500,000 in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem), was extended through the end of March 2024. As of 5 March, member states disbursed nearly $964 million against the updated Flash Appeal (78 per cent); this includes about $616 million out of $629 million (98 per cent) requested for October-December 2023 and $348 million out of $600 million (58 per cent) requested for January-March 2024. For funding analysis, please see the Flash Appeal Financial Tracking dashboard.
• The oPt Humanitarian Fund Unit (oPt HFU) is currently preparing for a more significant allocation to support response efforts under a ceasefire scenario, enabling a wider array of actors to participate in relief efforts. Priority sectors identified for immediate support include Food Security and Livelihoods (FSS), Multipurpose Cash Assistance (MPCA), WASH, Shelter, and Health, reflecting the most pressing needs in the Gaza Strip. Special attention is being given to directing funding and additional resources toward actors in areas that face significant access challenges, notably in central and northern Gaza. In the West Bank, innovative solutions are sought to address the impact of military activities on infrastructure and ensure operational effectiveness amid closures.
• The oPt HF and the Central Emergency Relief Fund (CERF) are currently funding more than 94 ongoing projects in the Gaza Strip to meet urgent humanitarian needs, notwithstanding constraints on the entry and delivery of aid into and within the Gaza Strip. These interventions, totalling about $88 million, address needs in the areas of food security, shelter, water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH), health and protection. Since 7 October, the oPt HF has received a total of $88 million in contributions from member states and private donors. Private donations are collected directly through the Humanitarian Fund.

5 maart 2024

Today's headlines

Israel “campaigns” to end UNRWA in Gaza Strip

UNRWA’s chief says dismantling the agency is “short-sighted” and will “sow the seeds of hatred, resentment, and future conflict.” Israeli forces fire at Palestinians seeking aid and food in Gaza City and detain others in southern Gaza.

Flour soaked in blood: ‘Flour Massacre’ survivors tell their story

The “flour massacre” marked a new phase in Israel’s starving of northern Gaza when the army opened fire on crowds waiting for aid trucks. “Our lives must have become so cheap for so many people to die this way,” a witness told Mondoweiss.

Over 30,000 Palestinians have been killed. Biden says critics should, “Give this just a little bit of time”

Joe Biden tells The New Yorker that his Gaza critics should give Israeli bombing, “Just a little bit of time.”

The ‘Flour massacre’ is a precursor to Israel’s ‘day after’ in Gaza

The massacre of the hungry Palestinians should be understood as a harbinger of Israel’s “day after” plan for Gaza and all of Palestine - permanent military occupation.

4 maart 2024

You and I are witnessing a U.S.-funded genocide, paid for by the billions with our tax dollars.

Our U.S. government has not only been complicit in genocide, but has become an active participant, as members of Congress vote to send $14 billion in deadly weapons to Israel, and as the Biden administration blocks a permanent ceasefire at the UN Security Council again and again. We need a PERMANENT CEASEFIRE, now.

Look up where your Democratic members of Congress stand on Palestinian human rights. Use our new, interactive 2024 Congress Scorecard.

CHECK OUT THE 2024 CONGRESS SCORECARD

Americans are refusing to accept the ongoing U.S.-funded genocide in Palestine. 67% of the U.S. public supports a permanent ceasefire, as reported by Data for Progress. Meanwhile, half of Biden’s 2020 voters believe Israel is commiting genocide against the Palestinian people, a poll by The Economist and YouGov has found.

On the 2024 Congress Scorecard, you can see the grades for each member of Congress based on their Palestinian human rights track record. The scorecard displays criteria such as:

See how Democratic members of Congress measure up, and then use this information in your advocacy. Look them up on our 2024 Congress Scorecard now.

CHECK OUT THE 2024 CONGRESS SCORECARD

4 maart 2024

The New York Times has an ugly anti-Palestinian bias.

The New York Times may be the most prestigious daily newspaper in the English-speaking world. But as one of the reporters who collected a Pulitzer for the paper last year, Mona Chalabi, has pointed out, one of the areas where that reputation is hardest to square with reality is the Times’s coverage of Israel/Palestine.

Even as Palestinian deaths dwarf Israeli deaths — current estimates of the number of Israeli civilians killed on October 7 are in the hundreds, while tens of thousands of Palestinian civilians have been killed during Israel’s many months of brutal retaliation — the Times has consistently devoted more coverage to Israeli deaths. In fact, the chart shows, the disconnect actually increased at the very time that Palestinian deaths were skyrocketing.

More recently, the controversy over Times freelancer Anat Schwartz has revealed the ugly depths of that bias. Despite having no journalistic experience, she was one of a tiny team of reporters assigned to cover one of the most sensitive and important stories the Times has taken on since Israel’s war on Gaza began: the allegations that Hamas systematically used sexual assault as a weapon of war during the October 7 attack.

Before becoming a filmmaker — and, very suddenly last year, a freelance journalist for the New York Times — Schwartz served in the intelligence division of the Israeli Air Force. And her own views on the Israeli/Palestinian conflict, which are a matter of public record, veer into the genocidally racist.

4 maart 2024

Today's headlines

Israel is ‘engineering famine’ in Gaza

Amnesty International says Israel is “engineering famine” in Gaza. Organization head Agnes Callamard adds, “all states that cut UNRWA funding, sold weapons and supported Israel bear responsibility too.”

Here are the latest examples of the astonishingly dishonest ‘NYTimes’ coverage of Israel’s war on Gaza

James North

The New York Times continues to set new records for dishonesty in its coverage of Israel’s war on Gaza, including blaming the Palestinian victims of Israel's "Flour Massacre" for their own deaths.

Justice for “Comfort Women” is justice for Palestinian resistance: A call of conscience for our communities

People’s truth speaks louder than settler colonialism and denialism for Palestine and “Comfort Women.”

A firsthand encounter with ‘Fortress Israel’

As American Christians who enable Israel’s actions through our government's support, we are not separate from what is unfolding in Palestine. We must accept our part in it, bear witness, and stand in support of the besieged Palestinian people.

4 maart 2024

Hostilities in the Gaza Strip and Israel
Flash Update #131

Some of the hundreds who were injured on 29 February on Rashid Road, in Gaza city, remain in critical condition, as the death toll has reportedly risen to 118. Shifa hospital, 1 March 2024. Photo by WHO

Key Highlights

• The nutrition crisis in northern Gaza is rapidly deteriorating; 15 children have so far died as a result of malnutrition and dehydration, according to the Ministry of Health (MoH) in Gaza.
• On 1 March, a UN mission managed to reach Shifa Hospital in Gaza city and deliver fuel, life-saving medicine and treatment for children suffering from severe acute malnutrition.
• On 2 March, 11 people were killed when tents housing internally displaced persons (IDPs) and people gathered in front of Al Emirati field hospital in Rafah were hit, according to MoH in Gaza.
• Three Palestinian boys were killed in three separate incidents in the West Bank.

Gaza Strip Updates

• Intense Israeli bombardment and ground operations as well as heavy fighting between Israeli forces and Palestinian armed groups continue to be reported across much of the Gaza Strip, particularly in Az Zaitoun area of Gaza city and in northwest Khan Younis, resulting in further civilian casualties, displacement, and destruction of houses and other civilian infrastructure. Palestinian armed groups continued to fire rockets into Israel.
• Between the afternoon of 1 March and 10:30 on 4 March, according to the MoH in Gaza, 306 Palestinians were killed, and 543 Palestinians were injured, including 124 killed and 210 injured in the past 24 hours. Between 7 October 2023 and 10:30 on 4 March 2024, at least 30,534 Palestinians were killed in Gaza and 71,920 Palestinians were injured, according to MoH in Gaza.
• Between the afternoons of 1 and 4 March, according to the Israeli military, four Israeli soldiers were killed in Gaza. As of 4 March, 244 soldiers have been killed and 1,453 soldiers injured in Gaza since the beginning of the ground operation, according to the Israeli military. In addition, over 1,200 Israelis and foreign nationals have been killed in Israel, the vast majority on 7 October. As of 4 March, the Israeli authorities estimate that 134 Israelis and foreign nationals remain captive in Gaza, including fatalities whose bodies are withheld.
• The nutrition crisis in northern Gaza is rapidly deteriorating. As of 3 March, MoH in Gaza reported that 15 children had died of malnutrition and dehydration at Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza, and expressed fear for the lives of six other infants who are suffering from acute malnutrition. On 3 March, the UNICEF Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa, Adele Khodr, stated that the “tragic and horrific” child deaths in Gaza are unfolding despite being “man-made, predictable and entirely preventable.” According to Ms. Khodr, “the lives of thousands more babies and children depend on urgent action being taken now” to prevent famine, and “for this we need multiple reliable entry points that would allow us to bring aid in from all possible crossings, including to northern Gaza; and security assurances and unimpeded passage to distribute aid, at scale, across Gaza, with no denials, delays and access impediments.”
• Israeli airstrikes on Rafah continue to be reported. On 2 March, MoH in Gaza reported that 11 people were killed, and some 50 others were injured, when tents housing IDPs and people gathered in front of Al Emirati field hospital in Tall as Sultan area of Rafah were hit. Among the fatalities was a nurse and a member of the field hospital’s ambulance crew. According to Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), this MSF-supported field hospital is the primary maternal health facility in southern Gaza, and in recent weeks patients “have voiced their fear of entering the hospital due to systematic attacks in and around healthcare facilities across Gaza.” On 2 March, the Israeli army stated that it had carried out a “precision strike” in the area of the hospital, targeting militants from the Islamic Jihad group.” The Director-General of the World Health Organization, Tedros Ghebreyesus, described the incident as “outrageous and unspeakable,” and reiterated that health workers and civilians must be protected at all times. Last week, the UN Secretary-General warned that an Israeli offensive on Rafah, which is already hosting over half of Gaza's population of 2.3 million people, would jeopardize the core of the humanitarian aid operation.
• The following are among the deadliest incidents reported between 1 and 3 March:
  • On 1 March, at about 3:50, ten Palestinians were reportedly killed when a house sheltering IDPs in Al Bureij Camp, in Deir al Balah, was struck.
  • On 1 March, in the afternoon, ten Palestinians were reportedly killed, and many others injured, by airstrikes in Az Zaytoun neighbourhood in Gaza city.
  • On 1 March, at about 23:50, 16 Palestinians were reportedly killed when several houses in Deir al Balah were struck.
  • On 2 March, 20 Palestinians were reportedly killed, and 16 others injured, when a house in western Jabalya Camp, in North Gaza, was struck.
  • On 2 March, at about 23:00, 14 Palestinians were reportedly killed when a four-story house in As Salam neighbourhood, in southeast Rafah, was struck.
  • On 2 March, at about 23:00, ten Palestinians were reportedly killed when a house near Abu Hussain School in Jabalya Refugee Camp was struck.
  • On 3 March, at about 10:50, at least eight Palestinians were reportedly killed, and others injured, when a civilian vehicle in Deir al Balah was struck.
• According to MoH in Gaza, the death toll from the 29 February incident on Rashid Road south of Gaza city, where people were killed and injured while seeking lifesaving aid, has risen to 118, and tens of the 760 injured people remain in critical condition due to the lack of capacity to save their lives. In a press statement on 3 March, the UN Security Council members expressed deep concern about the incident as well as the estimation that the entire population of Gaza is facing alarming levels of acute food insecurity, urging Israel “to keep border crossings open for humanitarian aid to enter Gaza, to facilitate the opening of additional crossings to meet humanitarian needs at scale, and to support the rapid and safe delivery of relief items to people in all of the Gaza Strip.” On 1 March, the UN Human Rights Office (OHCHR) strongly deplored the incident, noting that since mid-January “the Office has recorded at least 14 incidents involving shooting and shelling of people gathered to receive desperately needed supplies at … two entrances to Gaza city - with a majority of these incidents resulting in casualties.” On 2 March, one Palestinian was reportedly killed and more than 20 injured by gunfire while people were gathering in anticipation of a humanitarian aid delivery on Rashid Road in Gaza city. Tens of casualties were also reported on 3 March, as people gathered to receive aid supplies at the Kuwaiti roundabout in Gaza city, according to MoH in Gaza.
• On 1 March, the Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO) stated that, after more than a month, a UN mission had managed to reach Shifa Hospital in Gaza city and deliver 19,000 litres of fuel, life-saving medicine for 150 people, and treatment for 50 children suffering from severe acute malnutrition. The Head of the OCHA Gaza Sub-Office stated that the hospital was treating more than 200 people injured during the 29 February incident on Rashid Road at the time of their visit. “We have seen people with gunshot wounds, we have seen amputees, and we have seen children as young as 12 that were injured ... These events cannot be allowed to go on. We need to have safe, secure passage throughout Gaza to reach the people that need humanitarian aid. We need every single crossing into Gaza opening and these people need to have not just food and water. We hope that in the coming days, large convoys with food will come into North Gaza, and in this way we can then reach people, talk to them, and see what other needs they have.”

West Bank Updates

• On 2 March, Israeli forces shot and killed a 13-year-old boy, and injured another, at the entrance of the Al Jalazoun Refugee Camp in Ramallah, where they were from. According to Israeli media, the two children were attempting to throw Molotov cocktails.
• On 2 March, Israeli forces shot and killed a 15-year-old Palestinian boy during a search-and-arrest operation in Kafr Ni’ma village in Ramallah. According to local sources, the boy was shot while watching the forces withdraw.
• On 2 March, an Israeli civilian was injured after being stabbed by a Palestinian man in Adh Dhahiriya community, Hebron. The man was transported to Israeli hospital and the suspected assailant later arrested.
• On the morning of 4 March, Israeli forces shot and killed a 16-year-old Palestinian boy and injured two others when the forces raided Al Amari refugee camp in Ramallah; there were no clashes at the time of the killing. Subsequently, an exchange of fire took place between Palestinians and Israeli forces, in which a member of Israeli forces was injured.
• Since 7 October 2023, 412 Palestinians have been killed, including 106 children, and 4,623 Palestinians have been injured, including 710 children, in conflict-related incidents across the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and Israel. Since the beginning of the year, 99 Palestinians have been killed, including 28 in refugee camps. Since 7 October, 15 Israelis, including four members of Israeli forces, were killed and 88 injured in conflict-related incidents in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and Israel.
• On 29 February, the Israeli authorities demolished 18 structures in the Jericho area, five of which were residential, due to the lack of Israeli-issued building permits, resulting in the displacement of seven people, including three children. Most of the remaining structures included external kitchens and bathrooms, agricultural structures and solar panel systems. Since 7 October 2023, 599 people, including 285 children, have been displaced in Area C and East Jerusalem after their homes were demolished due to the lack of Israeli-issued building permits, which are almost impossible to obtain.
• On 24 January, the Israeli authorities sealed off a house on punitive grounds in Beit Hanina in East Jerusalem, displacing four people. The house belonged to the family of a Palestinian who shot at Israeli soldiers at one of the gates leading to the old city of Jerusalem on 12 October 2023, slightly injuring two soldiers, before being shot and killed. Since 7 October, a total of 23 houses have been punitively demolished and two others sealed off, leading to the displacement of 121 Palestinians, including 51 children.
• Since 7 October 2023, OCHA has recorded 607 Israeli settler attacks against Palestinians that resulted in Palestinian casualties (53 incidents), damage to Palestinian-owned property (484 incidents), or both casualties and damage to property (70 incidents).

Funding

• The Flash Appeal for the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt), which requests US$1.2 billion to meet critical needs of 2.7 million people across the oPt (2.2 million in the Gaza Strip and 500,000 in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem), was extended through the end of March 2024. As of 4 March, member states disbursed nearly $956 million against the updated Flash Appeal (78 per cent); this includes about $616 million out of $629 million (98 per cent) requested for October-December 2023 and $341 million out of $600 million (57 per cent) requested for January-March 2024. For funding analysis, please see the Flash Appeal Financial Tracking dashboard.
• The occupied Palestinian territory Humanitarian Fund (oPt HF) and the Central Emergency Relief Fund (CERF) are currently funding more than 94 ongoing projects in the Gaza Strip to meet urgent humanitarian needs, notwithstanding constraints on the entry and delivery of aid into and within the Gaza Strip. These interventions, totalling about $88 million, address needs in the areas of food security, shelter, water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH), health and protection. Since October 7, the oPt HF has received a total of $88 million in contributions from member states and private donors. Private donations are collected directly through the Humanitarian Fund.

3 maart 2024

3 maart 2024

Today's headlines

Palestinian children die of malnutrition as Israel blocks aid into Gaza

U.S. airdrops of food and aid in Gaza have been described as “performative BS” that “fools no one.” Meanwhile, Hamas’s delegation has arrived in Cairo for ceasefire talks as Ramadan is due to start next Sunday.

How Israeli universities are an arm of settler colonialism

Maya Wind's new book meticulously demonstrates how Israeli academic institutions were created to serve the Zionist colonization of Palestine. They continue to do so to this day while fueling Israel's university-military-industrial complex.

Redemption through genocide

The ICJ ruled that Israel’s Gaza campaign poses a plausible and urgent threat of genocide. Future historians of Jewish messianism may recount how in 2024 "redemption through sin" became "redemption through genocide," with unconditional U.S. support.

3 maart 2024

I wish I was shocked to tell you this: The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) is honoring Jared Kushner at its summit on combating antisemitism. That's right, that Jared Kushner, who has stood by right-wing antisemites like Donald Trump and Steve Bannon.

Meanwhile, the ADL is trying to mainstream a radical and dangerous definition of antisemitism, one that construes criticism of the state of Israel as a form of hatred against the Jewish people. This is the lynchpin of their efforts to criminalize pro-Palestinian speech and to shut down the movement for Palestinian liberation.

You and I know that true liberation for Jews can never come by oppressing and silencing Palestinians. Like generations of Jewish leftists before us, tens of thousands in Jewish Voice for Peace work tirelessly to dismantle the institutions and structures that sustain injustice and grow something joyful, beautiful, and life-sustaining in their place.

Five months into the unspeakable genocide in Gaza, more people than ever are demanding an end to the billions in U.S. weapons sent each year to Israel’s military.

The pro-Israel lobby is losing control of the narrative. In the last five months, Jews and allies have rallied in the tens of thousands to demand an end to U.S. support for the Gaza genocide. Today, a Reuters poll reveals that the majority of Democratic voters want a presidential candidate who does not back military funding to Israel. 

Millions of eyes are on Palestine, and the pro-Israel lobby is scared. That’s why the ADL has attacked JVP as a “hate group” and the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) is spending hundreds of millions of dollars to try to undo the advancements our movement has made.

We envision replacing Jewish institutions that use fear to keep us in line, with thriving and vibrant Jewish communities building safety for ourselves and all our neighbors, grounded in a vision of dignity, power, and love for all people. It’s going to take all of us, standing together, to make it happen.

2 maart 2024

2 maart 2024

Today's headlines

Israel firing on Palestinians waiting for aid in Gaza

UN calls for an investigation following Thursday's "flour massacre" where Israel killed at least 115 Palestinians waiting for aid and injured more than 760. The need for aid is becoming even more dire as starvation worsens in northern Gaza.

On March 2, the world will march to stop Israel’s genocidal assault on Rafah

Israel is threatening to carry out a full-scale invasion of Rafah, a tiny section of Gaza where 1.5 million Palestinians are now packed, on March 10. Ahead of the deadline, a global day of protest will happen this weekend.

Biden memos show Palestine advocacy is working

Kibbutz leader confirms movement’s role in establishing and maintaining Israeli apartheid

The kibbutz has long been celebrated by liberals as an example of Israel's socialist pedigree, but movement head Nir Meir says the “first mission” of kibbutzim was “to conquer the land," and today it stands ready to "maintain outposts" by Gaza.

2 maart 2024

Biden Aid Airdrops to Gaza are Too Little Too Late: U.S. Must Change Course

This week, after witnessing the Flour Massacre in which over 100 Palestinians were killed at the site of a food aid shipment and over 750 more starving Palestinians were injured, the Biden Administration has announced its intention to conduct air drops of humanitarian aid to Gaza. This act is too little too late and an effort to evade holding Israel accountable to its duties before both U.S. and international law as a recipient of billions in taxpayer dollars. 

This cosmetic change in the Biden Administration’s approach suggests that the President and U.S. government have lost complete control over any actions of the Israeli government. In the face of what experts have called the fastest-ever onset of famine since WWII—imposed by Israel on the Palestinian people in Gaza—the Biden administration’s actions show a crass dismissal of Palestinian suffering directly aided and abetted by both U.S. weapons and military aid. The administration must drastically change course as its current approach has indisputably failed while giving Israel license since October 7th to exact deadly collective punishment on the Palestinian people in Gaza—with full U.S. financial and political coverage

The humanitarian catastrophe wrought by the Israeli campaign in Gaza is the disastrous next phase in Israel’s genocide. In addition to over 30,000 Palestinians killed by Israel including over 13,000 children, over 70% of homes have been destroyed, at least 10 children have died from hunger, and over a million Palestinian civilians face starvation and indefinite displacement. The Biden Administration pleading with Israel for the entry of limited humanitarian aid and a temporary ceasefire has failed. The United States provided cover for Israel through vetoes of a ceasefire at the UN Security Council even as most of our allies voted for ceasefire. 

Israel has completely ignored the demands of the International Court of Justice which found genocide “plausible” in Gaza if Israel took no action to allow the free entry of humanitarian aid, to avoid continued killing of Palestinian civilians, and to prevent conditions “calculated to bring about [Palestinians’] physical destruction in whole or in part.” Alongside the U.S. federal court’s finding regarding genocide in Gaza, these acts implicate the United States as complicit in genocide. Dropping aid from the sky does not change this reality and indeed, Israel may still obstruct or bomb such aid given the precedent of the past few weeks. 

The U.S. must cut military aid to Israel, thereby compelling an immediate and permanent ceasefire. Compel Israel to withdraw from Gaza. Recognize Palestinians’ full human and political rights, and pressure Israel and Egypt to immediately allow the full flow of humanitarian trucks into Gaza without restriction. This is the only strategy that can emerge from a commitment to doing what is right and humane—in addition to what is in the U.S.’s best interest for its standing before the world. 

Political expediency and election prospects are only secondary considerations amidst an unmitigated genocide enabled by this administration. Speeches of sympathy with Palestinians are directly at odds with current policy. The Flour Massacre must compel the U.S. to reckon with Israel’s intent and our complicity: the Biden administration must act decisively to stop genocide.

Sincerely,

Dr. Osama Abu Irshaid

2 maart 2024

• During an urgent aid delivery in Gaza yesterday, Israeli occupation forces opened fire on starving Palestinian people, murdering over 100 and wounding over 1,000. This horrific attack has become known as the flour massacre. Afterward, when the UN Security Council attempted to pass a statement condemning the massacre, the U.S. blocked it and shielded Israel from any accountability once again.
• Biden announced that the U.S. will begin air drops of humanitarian aid in Gaza—but air drops of limited quantities cannot possibly deliver anywhere close to enough aid for countless starving Palestinian people. Israel must stop blocking humanitarian aid from entering Gaza and stop brutally attacking Palestinians during each aid delivery.

• Tell Genocide Joe there will be NO BUSINESS AS USUAL as he prepares to deliver his State of the Union address.
• Millions around the world will march for Gaza TOMORROW, Saturday, March 2 with Shut It Down for Palestine. There are nearly 100 actions around the world. Join a march for Gaza this Saturday!

1 maart 2024

1 maart 2024

Hostilities in the Gaza Strip and Israel
Flash Update #130

Eighteen humanitarian partners are providing food assistance across the Gaza Strip, despite enormous restrictions. World Central Kitchen has established field kitchens in Rafah and created a network of community kitchens across Gaza. Photo by OCHA

Key Highlights

• The Ministry of Health in Gaza reports that the casualty toll from the incident on Rashid Street on 29 February morning has increased to 112 killed and 760 injured.
• The MoH in Gaza has reported that another four children have died of malnutrition and dehydration, bringing to 10 such child fatalities so far.   
• On 29 February, two Israeli settlers, including a 16-year-old child, were killed near Eli settlement in Nablus governorate in the occupied West Bank.
• On 29 February, Israeli forces shot and killed two Palestinian brothers near Beit ‘Awwa village in Hebron.

Gaza Strip Updates

• Intense Israeli bombardment from air, land and sea continues to be reported across much of the Gaza Strip, resulting in further civilian casualties, displacement, and destruction of civilian infrastructure. Ground operations and heavy fighting between Israeli forces and Palestinian armed groups also continue to be reported.
• Between the afternoon of 29 February and 12:30 on 1 March, according to the Ministry of Health (MoH) in Gaza, 193 Palestinians were killed, and 920 Palestinians were injured. Between 7 October 2023 and 12:30 on 1 March 2024, at least 30,228 Palestinians were killed in Gaza and 71,377 Palestinians were injured, according to MoH in Gaza. On 1 March, UN Secretary-General António Guterres stated: “I am appalled by the tragic human toll of the conflict in Gaza - more than 30,000 people reportedly killed and over 70,000 injured. I reiterate my call for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire and the unconditional release of all hostages.”
• According to the MoH in Gaza, the casualty toll from the incident on Rashid Street south of Gaza city on 29 February has risen to 112 fatalities and 760 injuries. A number of countries have called for an independent investigation into the circumstances surrounding the incident. Condemning the deaths, the UN Secretary-General stated that “the desperate civilians in Gaza need urgent help, including those in the besieged north where the United Nations has not been able to deliver aid in more than a week.”  
• The following are among other deadly incidents reported on 28 February:  
  • On 28 February, at about 16:45, 14 Palestinians were reportedly killed, and tens of others injured, when four buildings in An Nuseirat Refugee Camp, in Deir al Balah, were struck.
  • On 28 February, at about 19:00, nine Palestinians were reportedly killed, and tens of others injured, when a house in An Nuseirat, in Deir al Balah, was struck.
  • By midnight on 28 February, 18 bodies were reportedly recovered from under the rubble in An Nuseirat, in Deir al Balah. 
  • By midnight on 28 February, 14 bodies were reportedly recovered from under the rubble in Khan Younis. 
  • On 28 February, at about 18:00, four Palestinians were reportedly killed, and others were injured, when a house in Al Bureij, in Deir al Balah, was struck.
• Between the afternoons of 29 February and 1 March, there were no Israeli soldiers reported killed in Gaza. As of 1 March, 240 soldiers have been killed and 1,432 soldiers injured in Gaza since the beginning of the ground operation, according to the Israeli military. In addition, over 1,200 Israelis and foreign nationals have been killed in Israel, the vast majority on 7 October. As of 1 March, the Israeli authorities estimate that 134 Israelis and foreign nationals remain captive in Gaza, including fatalities whose bodies remain withheld in Gaza.
• The MoH in Gaza reported that 10 children have died so far as a result of malnutrition and dehydration, including four at Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza on 29 February. On 27 February, Save the Children warned that Gaza is witnessing “a mass killing of children in slow motion because there is no food left and nothing getting to them,” echoing earlier warnings of the threat of malnutrition among children by UNICEF and the World Health Organization (WHO). On 29 February, the Secretary General of the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC), Jan Egeland, reported witnessing “the children of Gaza visibly malnourished, reduced to searching the streets for food and assistance. … It is unimaginable that an entire population is left to starve while vast amounts of supplies sit waiting just a few miles away across the border." The NRC Secretary General called on all states supporting the parties to the conflict to “insist on a ceasefire and full humanitarian access and aid supplies. The human suffering in Gaza is already beyond belief, and this war on civilians must end immediately.”
• On 29 February, the Union of Gaza Strip Municipalities appealed for the prompt entry of fuel to the Gaza city and northern Gaza governorates, to enable the municipalities to provide basic services including water, wastewater treatment and solid waste collection and transfer. Neither governorate has received fuel since the end of October 2023, compounded by the electricity cut, leading to a significant gap in service provision and a lack of water, and to the accumulation of waste and overflow of sewage. The union also appealed for the provision of heavy and medium machinery and back-up generators to replace destroyed equipment. According to Care, an analysis of satellite images reveals that cities in the Gaza Strip have experienced an enormous decrease in electricity, with nighttime light reduced by 84 per cent, and Gaza city witnessing the largest reduction at 91 per cent. The analysis found that 70 per cent of hospitals had little or no nighttime light, with power outages being particularly severe in Gaza city and North Gaza.  “Power means life or death in hospitals. We hear of newborns dying because there is no electricity for the incubators; children ceasing to breathe and mothers dying on the operation table simply because lifesaving machinery switched off,” the Care Country Director stated. 

West Bank Updates

• On 29 February, two Israeli settlers, including a 16-year-old child, were killed when a Palestinian man from Qalandiya Refugee Camp opened fire at a gas station on Road 60 near Eli settlement in Nablus. The man was subsequently shot and killed by an Israeli settler at the scene. Following the incident, Israeli forces closed most of the checkpoints and roads that connect the northern West Bank to the central and southern governorates. Settlers also gathered in multiple areas, preventing Palestinian vehicles from using Road 60. 
• On 29 February, Israeli forces shot at three Palestinian brothers near Beit ‘Awwa village in Hebron, reportedly for attempting to enter Israel through informal openings in the Barrier, killing two of them, aged 26 and 34 years, and injuring the third. Also on 29 February, a 22-year-old Palestinian prisoner with cancer died at an Israeli hospital; the man is from Kafr Ein village in Ramallah and had been in prison since September 2022. According to the Palestinian Prisoners Club, 11 Palestinians have died in Israeli prisons since 7 October 2023, mainly due to reported medical negligence or abuse. Since 7 October 2023, 409 Palestinians have been killed, including 103 children, and 4,611 Palestinians have been injured, including 709 children, in conflict-related incidents across the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and Israel. Since the beginning of the year, 96 Palestinians have been killed, including 26 in refugee camps. During the same period, 15 Israelis, including four members of Israeli forces, were killed and 86 injured in conflict-related incidents in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and Israel. 
• Since 7 October 2023, 592 people, including 282 children, have been displaced in Area C and East Jerusalem, after their homes were demolished due to the lack of Israeli-issued building permits, which are almost impossible to obtain. 
• Since 7 October 2023, OCHA has recorded 603 Israeli settler attacks against Palestinians that resulted in Palestinian casualties (54 incidents), damage to Palestinian-owned property (482 incidents), or both casualties and damage to property (67 incidents).

Humanitarian Needs and Response Updates | 20–26 February

Health

Needs

• There is a crucial need to expand primary healthcare services within informal shelters; enhance routine immunization coverage; deliver medication for non-communicable diseases; extend sexual and reproductive health services; establish additional field hospitals in various locations across the Gaza Strip; ensure the availability of laboratory equipment, reagents and blood products.
• Following two reported cases of death among children due to Severe Acute Malnutrition (SAM) stemming from inadequate food supplies, there is an urgent need to access northern Gaza to deliver food and establish SAM stabilization centres along with outpatient therapeutic feeding programmes.

Response

• Between 12 and 18 February, 45 health cluster partners delivered primary and secondary healthcare services across Gaza, reaching 124,800 people.
• WHO, in collaboration with OCHA and PRCS, led missions to Nasser Medical Complex, Al-Amal, and European Gaza hospitals to evacuate critical patients to the International Medical Corps (IMC), United Arab Emirates, and Indonesian field hospitals as well as Al Aqsa Hospital. The team also prepositioned medicines, medical supplies, and fuel and provided hot meals and water.
• With the support of WHO, the IMC field hospital increased its bed capacity from 98 to 150.
• UNFPA and WHO have successfully identified and deployed 72 midwives across various shelters and at designated medical points to provide services for spontaneous vaginal deliveries, antenatal care and family planning.
• Medical Global, with WHO’s support, established a SAM stabilization centre in Tell As Sultan primary healthcare centre in Rafah with a capacity of five beds. Additionally, preparation for a training session for 32 healthcare workers on the management of SAM cases with medical complications is underway.
• For more information on the healthcare situation and response, as of 20 February, visit: Sitrep - issue 23 (who.int)

Challenges

• Shortages of fuel, food, medicine, and medical supplies at hospitals in northern Gaza and lack of access to the area.
• Continued hostilities in Khan Younis pose significant barriers to accessing healthcare.
• Following the strike on MSF’s guest house on 20 February, intensified efforts to ensure the safety of humanitarian guest houses throughout Gaza are urgently needed.
• The increase of bloody and watery diarrhea can be directly attributed to the lack of safe drinking water, posing a significant public health challenge.
• The absence of segregated sanitation facilities and electricity within shelters presents a considerable safety risk, depriving women and girls of secure environments and thereby increasing their vulnerability to sexual violence.

Nutrition

Needs

• A new report by the Global Nutrition Cluster highlights a steep rise in malnutrition among children and pregnant and breastfeeding women in the Gaza strip.
• Sustained collaboration with partners is needed to enhance their capacity in various nutrition response areas, including Mid-Upper Arm Circumference (MUAC) screening capacity, identifying cases of Severe Acute Malnutrition (SAM) and Moderate Acute Malnutrition (MAM), and facilitating treatment using simplified protocols.
• There is a crucial need to expand MUAC screening into northern Gaza, where the situation is deteriorating rapidly and there is limited capacity.
• Continued distributions of supplementary nutrition food and blanket supplementary food to those in need to prevent malnutrition.

Response

• Five implementing partners continue conducting screenings for malnutrition among children aged 6 to 59 months, using MUAC measurements in shelters and health facilities. In total, 10,963 children aged 6-59 months underwent MUAC screening. Children with SAM and MAM are receiving treatment through the simplified treatment protocol.

Challenges

• Restricted access to northern Gaza significantly contributes to insufficient humanitarian aid delivery, leading to concerns about food insecurity and the possibility of widespread starvation and fatalities due to hunger.

Food Security

Needs

• The food security situation continues to be extremely critical across Gaza, particularly in northern Gaza, with people reportedly feeding their children animal fodder. Vulnerable segments of the population, including children, the elderly and people with underlying health conditions, are particularly exposed to the risk of malnutrition and famine.
• The food security situation in the Middle Area and southern governorates is also critical, with most of the population queuing for hours to receive food when trucks manage to enter. In Rafah, the situation is increasingly concerning, with growing reports of people stopping aid trucks to take food and eat it immediately.
• There is an urgent need to increase the fleet of delivery trucks.
• There is an urgent need to import the agricultural inputs necessary for reactivating domestic production of essential fresh foods like eggs, vegetables, meat, fish and milk to ensure the availability of a balanced nutrition.
• There is a need to establish secure and uninterrupted humanitarian corridors, with the support of the private sector and a focus on critical resources like fuel and cooking gas.

Response

• Between 19 and 25 February, a total of 18 partners engaged in providing food assistance across the Gaza Strip, reaching around 1.7 million people with food assistance at least once. Rafah Governorate received about 45 per cent of the total food assistance, followed by Deir al Balah (24 per cent), Khan Younis (15 per cent), and northern Gaza Strip (15 per cent).

Challenges

• Operating partners are reporting a lack of food to distribute, and some are reporting that existing stocks will last for only two days.
• The large number of people reached with hot meals is still insufficient to meet daily nutritional requirements.
• Ongoing airstrikes and heavy fighting in Gaza continue to affect the flow of food, posing challenges for the conduct of safe and efficient humanitarian operations. Frequent border closures, restrictions, and security concerns hinder the delivery of a consistent and dependable food supply.
• Rafah crossing is now working at a reduced rate and Karem Shalom is encountering closure due to Israeli demonstrators preventing trucks from entering. The humanitarian community is engaging with all relevant stakeholders to address this issue.

Protection

Needs

• Identification, tracing and reunification as well as interim and alternative care arrangements are critically needed for unaccompanied, previously detained and separated children. UNICEF estimates that some 17,000 children are unaccompanied or separated.
• Provision of MHPSS, including psychological first aid (PFA) and specialized counselling, and winter clothing and blankets are urgently needed for children and newborn babies.   
• Re-establishment of emergency Gender-Based Violence (GBV) services and referral pathways, including health services for GBV survivors, Clinical Management of Rape (CMR), MHPSS, as well as safe spaces and shelters are needed.
• There is a need for a continuous pipeline to distribute dignity kits and Menstrual Hygiene Management (MHM) supplies for over 690,000 menstruating women and girls.
• A comprehensive Humanitarian Mine Action (HMA) response is needed given the likely scale of Explosive Ordnance (EO) contamination despite the absence of formal large-scale assessments of contamination levels.
• There is a need for deployment of Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) operators to conduct explosive hazard assessments of safe sites for humanitarian response, in addition to training for humanitarian workers and messaging tailored to different groups on Explosive Ordnance Risk Education (EORE) and Conflict Preparedness and Protection (CPP). 
• Victim Assistance (VA) services for survivors of shelling and explosive ordnance-related accidents are also needed.

Response

• Child Protection partners have reached 267,511 boys and girls and 27,307 women and men through awareness-raising interventions, MHPSS, identification and registration of unaccompanied and separated children, and distribution of clothing kits.
• GBV sub-cluster partners have provided 26,800* women and girls with 104,320 packs of sanitary napkins, which is sufficient to cover needs for the next 3 months, as well as a total of 3,500 Dignity Kits and 8,926 MHM kits.
• GBV responders are conducting procurement and distribution of CMR kits, and identification of health service points to provide CMR.
• Partners are exploring ways to establish emergency safe spaces, to provide PFA and recreational activities for vulnerable women and girls. Partners continue to expand PFA services for vulnerable groups, including GBV survivors, through frontline responders.
• Mine Action (MA) partners are actively engaged in carrying out Explosive Threat Assessments to the prioritized humanitarian sectors, delivering EORE and CPP sessions, producing educational materials, conducting digital campaigns, Radio and SMS campaigns, tailoring them to people with disability needs, and exploring partnerships with local organizations to enhance their reach and impact.
• To ensure a well-coordinated effort, the MA sub-cluster has now established active bi-weekly technical working groups on EORE-CPP, GIS, and will soon initiate an explosive ordnance disposal forum for Gaza.*

Challenges

• Difficulties in providing sufficient urgent and safe alternative temporary care arrangements for unaccompanied children, especially adolescents, due to physically and resource-exhausted families and communities, extreme overcrowding and continuous insecurity.
• Limited access prevents the provision of critical protection services to thousands of affected people.
• Obtaining authorization to deploy MA personnel, especially EOD operators for EO contamination assessments; restrictions on importing essential humanitarian mine action supplies; and unreliable communication systems that interfere with EORE, messaging, and coordination activities.

Logistics

Response

• Storage and transport capacity inside Gaza remains challenging with ongoing assessments for identification of additional storage options. The Cluster continues to facilitate access to temporary storage, transport, and cargo notification transshipment services. 
• The Logistics Cluster delivered an online training on the Service Request Forms (SRF), for storage and transport bringing together 79 participants. 
• IMPACCT Working Group and the Logistics Cluster organized an information session with UN agencies on customs clearance challenges in Jordan. A second session with International NGOs is already planned for the following week. 
• The Logistics Cluster common service provision in Port Said, Egypt will be discontinued at the end of February as storage is not identified as current gap. Assessment of logistics gaps and needs remains ongoing. 
• As of 25 February 2024, the Logistics Cluster received for storage 6,251 m3 of cargo on behalf of 17 organisations in Gaza in total, and so far supported 21 organisations with cargo notification services in Rafah. 
• The last convoy of 23 trucks from Amman – King Hussein Bridge - Gaza departed on 14 February, and it took nine days to reach Rafah due to protests in Nitzana—upcoming convoy date to be shared. So far, through Jordan corridor, the Logistics Cluster facilitated partners` access to the inter-agency convoy, transporting a total of 3,596 mt of relief items on 267 trucks on behalf of six partners, taking the King Hussein Bridge route. 

Challenges and Gaps

• The storage and transport capacity inside Gaza remains challenging with ongoing assessments for identification of additional storage options. The Logistics Cluster continues facilitating access to temporary storage, transport, and cargo notification transshipment services. 
• The Logistics Cluster is collecting the pipeline for incoming cargo through the Egypt and Jordan corridors for the coming three months. This is a vital exercise for operational planning, understanding the resources available and allocating based on the prioritization list. Partners have received a dedicated form for their organisation via email and are requested to update it every Sunday. Partners who have not received the form can reach out to palestine.logcluster@wfp.org.

Emergency Telecommunications

Needs

• There is an urgent need for independent communication platforms for responders in Gaza to coordinate emergency response and deliver aid, amid ongoing communication blackouts and unreliable/intermittent access to telecommunication services.
• There is a crucial need to import all essential satellite-based communications equipment (sat phones, data solutions), Security Communications Systems (VHF Radios and networks), and power solutions (solar power solutions, generators).

Response

• Since its establishment, the ETC has been engaging with the Israeli authorities to obtain authorization to import all essential telecommunications equipment into Gaza and provide independent access to communications for humanitarian responders.
• The ETC has been supporting humanitarian agencies in Gaza with Information and Communication Technology (ICT) assessments, technical advice and information, repairs, and guidance on the use of ICT equipment. Since 9 January, the ETC has conducted 16 ICT assessments in 13 locations in Rafah, and supported 17 humanitarian agencies with ICT repairs, technical advice, and guidance on the use of ICT equipment to maximize the available telecommunications resources on the ground.
• For more information on ETC activities, please visit: Palestine: Conflict | Emergency Telecommunications Cluster (ETC) (etcluster.org).

Challenges

• Limited access to electricity, fuel, and telecommunications services continues to impede the humanitarian response in Gaza.
• The process of importing telecommunications equipment into Gaza remains lengthy and extremely challenging.

Multi-Purpose Cash Assistance (MPCA)

Response

• Between 19 and 25 February, 27,028 households received one round of emergency MPCA. Cash out operations are concentrated in the governorates south of Wadi Gaza, with the majority being reported in Rafah. As of 25 January, one round of emergency MPCA was delivered to some 160,000 households, a top-up was delivered to 35,000 people (including people with disabilities and nursing mothers), and over 16,000 households have received a second round.
• Since 7 October, some 116,000 households have cashed out their assistance, and about 5,400 payments have been cancelled after not being cashed out for months mainly due to the lack of connectivity and available agents (especially north of Wadi Gaza). Provided assistance falls well short of need given market collapse and price volatility.
• Based on the last post-distribution monitoring data (PDM) collected between mid-January and mid-February, food remains the most purchased item with humanitarian cash (80 per cent), followed by medicines (39 per cent), water (23 per cent), hygiene bedding (10 per cent), and transportation. PDM data show that cash remains a relevant modality of assistance which can be used by recipients to access goods and services that remain available.

Challenges

• Poor electricity supply and connectivity is affecting the ability of financial service providers to make cash accessible, compromising the encashment of the MPCA package.
• Since late December, commercial trucks have sporadically entered Gaza, with 830 trucks recorded as of 26 February. Informal markets are the primary source of accessible goods, which complicates efforts to track distributions and gather market data.

Funding

• The Flash Appeal for the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt), which requests US$1.2 billion to meet critical needs of 2.7 million people across the oPt (2.2 million in the Gaza Strip and 500,000 in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem), was extended through the end of March 2024. As of 1 March, member states disbursed nearly $940 million against the updated Flash Appeal (76 per cent); this includes about $616 million out of $629 million (98 per cent) requested for October-December 2023 and $324 million out of $600 million (54 per cent) requested for January-March 2024. For funding analysis, please see the Flash Appeal Financial Tracking dashboard.
• The occupied Palestinian territory Humanitarian Fund (oPt HF) and the Central Emergency Relief Fund (CERF) are currently funding more than 94 ongoing projects in the Gaza Strip to meet urgent humanitarian needs, notwithstanding constraints on the entry and delivery of aid into and within the Gaza Strip. These interventions, totalling about $88 million, address needs in the areas of food security, shelter, water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH), health and protection. Since October 7, the oPt HF has received a total of $88 million in contributions from member states and private donors. Private donations are collected directly through the Humanitarian Fund.

1 maart 2024

Gebeurt dat niet, dan mogen geen wapens geleverd worden. Op grond daarvan moeten staten nu afzien van de levering van militaire goederen aan Israël.

Genocide
De VN-deskundigen wijzen onder meer op de voorlopige uitspraak van het Internationaal Gerechtshof in de door Zuid-Afrika tegen Israël aangespannen ‘genocide-zaak’. Op 26 januari noemde het hof het risico dat Israël in de Gazastrook genocide pleegt ‘plausibel’.

Onder het Genocideverdrag dienen daarbij aangesloten staten alles te doen om genocide te voorkomen. Het opschorten van de wapenexport is daartoe een eerste vereiste. Ook het Wapenhandelsverdrag verplicht staten de levering van wapens en onderdelen te staken wanneer het duidelijke risico bestaat dat die worden ingezet bij het plegen van genocide.

Nederland blijft echter vol inzetten op de militaire samenwerking en wapenhandel met Israël. Dat gaat zelfs zo ver dat de ministeries van Defensie van Nederland en Israël op het punt staan om een defensieverdrag te sluiten. Dit als basis voor de intensivering van de militaire samenwerking tussen beide landen, waarbij onder meer Nederlandse kennis ter beschikking komt aan het leger dat zich in de Gazastrook schuldig maakt aan mogelijke genocide.

Teken en steun onze petitie tegen militaire samenwerking met Israël
Het defensieverdrag moet nog door de Eerste Kamer worden goedgekeurd. Dat mag niet gebeuren. Daarom zijn wij met onze partners PAX, Stop Wapenhandel en De Goede Zaak een petitie gestart, die na een week 13.500 maal is ondertekend.

Iedereen die het met ons eens is dat elke vorm van militaire samenwerking met Israël onder de huidige omstandigheden uitgesloten hoort te zijn roepen we op de petitie te tekenen en te helpen verspreiden. Zoals de VN-deskundigen het formuleren: ‘Het internationaal recht kan zichzelf niet afdwingen.’ Dat moeten wij doen.Teken de petitie >

Bloedbad Israëlische leger beschiet Palestijnen bij voedselkonvooi in Gaza

De gruweldaad had ook als gevolg dat het aantal dodelijke Palestijnse slachtoffers door Israëlisch geweld sinds 7 oktober de 30 duizend is gepasseerd.

Israël verandert verhaal
Zoals we vaker hebben gezien na een moordpartij die wereldwijd tot diepe afschuw en afkeuring leidt, denk bijvoorbeeld aan de moord op journalist Shireen Abu Akleh in mei vorig jaar, veranderden de Israëlische autoriteiten meermaals hun verklaring. Eerst zouden er slachtoffers zijn gevallen doordat mensen elkaar vertrapten toen de vrachtwagens met meel arriveerden. Later meldde een woordvoerder van het leger dat sommige mensen in de menigte een gevaar voor Israëlische soldaten hadden gevormd, waarop die zouden zijn gaan schieten.

Al-Jazeera publiceerde vandaag een analyse van het bloedbad en de Israëlische uitleg. Palestijnse ooggetuigen beschrijven daarin hoe zij onder vuur werden genomen toen zij voedsel probeerden te verzamelen. Zij beschrijven de moordpartij als een hinderlaag, en stellen dat de gevallen van vertrapping het gevolg waren van de chaos die ontstond toen het Israëlische leger het vuur opende.

Hongersnood
Duidelijk is dat de tragedie een direct resultaat is van de hongersnood die in de Gazastrook is ontstaan als gevolg van Israëls allesvernietigende militaire campagne. Israël weigert voldoende humanitaire hulp toe te laten, waardoor de Palestijnse bevolking niet alleen het risico loopt om te komen bij bombardementen, maar ook door honger.

Hoezeer de situatie in de Gazastrook nog kan en zal verslechteren, werd vorige week duidelijk. Een drietal vooraanstaande medische centra publiceerde een rapport waarin zij op basis van verschillende scenario's voorspellen hoeveel Palestijnse slachtoffers de komende zes maanden zullen vallen.

De cijfers zijn schokkend. Zelfs in het beste geval van een staakt-het-vuren verwachten de medische centra dat er ruim 6.500 doden zullen vallen, voornamelijk als gevolg van ziekte, infecties en honger. Bij het behoud van de status quo, en dus een voortzetting van het geweld, zal dit aantal naar verwachting oplopen tot bijna 60 duizend.

Nederlandse veroordeling blijft uit
Wereldwijd uitten politiek leiders zoals Josep Borrell, de Hoge Vertegenwoordiger van de EU voor Buitenlandse Zaken, VN-Secretaris Generaal Antonio Guterres en de Franse president Emmanuel Macron hun afschuw over het bloedbad. In Nederland bleef het echter, tot het moment van schrijven, stil. Noch demissionair premier Mark Rutte, noch minister van Buitenlandse Zaken Hanke Bruins Slot, noch minister van Buitenlandse Handel Geoffrey van Leeuwen voelden zich geroepen het geweld te veroordelen. Eens te meer lijken de levens van Palestijnse burgers voor hen niet te tellen.  

Wij strijden tegen oorlogsmisdaden, annexatie, bezetting en onderdrukking. Helpt u mee?

1 maart 2024

Today's headlines

No ceasefire in sight despite international condemnation of Israel’s ‘flour massacre’

U.S. blocks a UN Security Council resolution condemning Israel for its massacre against Palestinians attempting to receive humanitarian aid in Gaza, saying that the incident “still needs to be investigated.”

In our thousands, in our millions: On Aaron Bushnell’s final act

What Aaron Bushnell did was an act of fierce, principled love in a situation of extreme desperation. It unflinchingly declared that even in the heart of the empire the lies of Zionism no longer hold.

Violating intimacies

Israeli soldiers have photographed themselves posing with the lingerie of Palestinian women they have displaced or killed in Gaza. They join a long line of conquest images, from Abu Ghraib images to the spectacle of Jim Crow-era lynchings.