DE ISRAELISCHE MEGA-MISDRIJVEN TEGEN

HET INTERNATIONAAL HUMANITAIR RECHT

JEGENS DE PALESTIJNEN !

THE JEWISH VOICE FOR PEACE - JVP

  LEES "THE WIRE" !

BERICHTEN NA 30-04-2024 STAAN HIER

31 mei 2024

Today, about eight months into the U.S.-funded genocide in Palestine, Genocide Joe laid out a ceasefire proposal nearly identical to the deal that Israel rejected four weeks ago.

He wants you to think that Israel came up with it—but in reality, Israel is the aggressor that needs to be stopped. Israel has crossed every red line imaginable countless times over, with massacre upon massacre. Even if a deal is reached now, Israel will keep killing Palestinians at every opportunity the U.S. enables it to.

Fight back to stop arming Israel once and for all! Take action in your community, and then surround the White House for Gaza on Saturday, June 8. Read the latest updates below.

Your Activist Scoop

DEMAND BIDEN & CONGRESS END THE GENOCIDE

• Demand the U.S. acknowledge the ICC’s authority and put a stop to the genocide. Share it widely.

 Onward to liberation,

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31 mei 2024

A ceasefire, humanitarian aid, and the reconstruction of Gaza are not preconditions for ending violence against Palestinians

Almost eight months into the Israeli genocide in Gaza which has murdered at least 40,000 Palestinians, enabled and funded by his administration, President Biden now claims that Israel has "offered" an "enduring" ceasefire and a prisoners exchange through a three-stage process. The proposal echoes what Palestinians agreed to roughly a month ago, which Israeli officials refused. In the intervening period, Israeli forces destroyed over 1000 homes in Jabalia refugee camp, killed over 2000 more Palestinians, and attacked safe zones in Rafah. The proposal also echoes our polling released last week: Americans have had enough, and we want to see both a lasting ceasefire and an end to unconditional military aid that abets this genocide of Palestinians.

The first six weeks include a complete ceasefire, the withdrawal of Israeli forces from all populated areas of Gaza, and the release of a number of Israeli hostages in exchange for some Palestinian prisoners held without charge. Palestinians would return to their homes where possible, and humanitarian assistance would be provided with 600 aid trucks entering Gaza daily—an amount that would finally meet the basic needs of starving Palestinians.

The second stage involves an exchange for the release of all remaining Israeli hostages and a "permanent cessation of hostilities." The third stage would commence major reconstruction in Gaza, with any remains of hostages who have died being returned to their families.

Despite Biden presenting this as an offer from Israel, Israeli media already quotes Israeli officials dismissing his speech as weak and unrealistic and they don’t seem to be in favor of the proposal. The Biden administration has pledged to ensure Netanyahu respects these terms, a commitment that would be significant if it proves true, and if the administration can deliver on it. However, only a total halt in weapons aid can guarantee this outcome.

We welcome a ceasefire, but we also demand it be unconditional, immediate, and permanent, not just an "enduring" one based on the prioritization of the Israeli regime’s status quo. Humanitarian aid is a legal and moral obligation—particularly for the Israeli regime as an occupying power. A ceasefire, humanitarian aid, and the reconstruction of Gaza are not bargaining chips or preconditions for the cessation of violence against starving Palestinians. No exchange can preclude Palestinians’ rights to self-determination. In fact, 1 in 5 potential Biden voters in swing states say a complete end to the siege of Gaza is a minimum as a starting point for lasting peace—and to secure their votes in November.

Addressing the catastrophic, Israeli-made humanitarian crisis in Gaza must happen regardless of Israel's approval or assessment. An “enduring” peace requires addressing the root cause of conflict and instability in the region: the Israeli occupation and U.S. complicity.

We welcome future efforts by the Biden administration to apply the necessary pressure on the Netanyahu government to end the suffering, ensure a prisoner exchange, and above all, end its occupation and repression of Palestinians.

In solidarity,
Americans for Justice in Palestine Action

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31 mei 2024

Humanitarian Situation Update #173
Gaza Strip

Jana (7) has received treatment at a WHO-supported stabilization centre after being diagnosed with severe acute malnutrition and dehydration. Photo by WHO

Key Highlights

• Only 14 of Gaza’s 36 hospitals are functional, all of them partially, facing critical shortages, the World Health Organization (WHO) reports. In Rafah, only three field hospitals are still operating, one of them partially.
• The World Food Programme (WFP) calls for the immediate opening of all access points, emphasizing that its ability to support people in need is deteriorating.
• Health and environmental risks are on the rise due to fuel shortages, limited access to clean water, sewage overflow, accumulation of solid waste, and infrastructural damage, UNRWA and partners warn. 
• Two Palestine Red Crescent Society paramedics were killed while on duty in Rafah.

Humanitarian Developments

• Israeli bombardment from the air, land, and sea continues to be reported across much of the Gaza Strip, resulting in further civilian casualties, displacement, and destruction of houses and other civilian infrastructure. Ground incursions and heavy fighting also continue to be reported, particularly in Rafah. Intensified hostilities following the issuance of evacuation orders and the Israeli military operation in Rafah have so far forced the displacement of about one million people, amid a decline in the entry of humanitarian aid.
• Between the afternoons of 29 and 31 May, according to MoH in Gaza, 113 Palestinians were killed and 637 were injured, including 60 killed and 280 injured in the past 24 hours. Between 7 October 2023 and 31 May 2024, at least 36,284 Palestinians were killed and 82,057 were injured in Gaza, according to MoH in Gaza. 
• The following are among the deadly incidents reported between 28 and 30 May:  
  • On 28 May, at about 11:35, four Palestinians, including a child, were reportedly killed and others injured when a group of Palestinians was hit in Al Fallujah area of Jabalya Refugee Camp, in North Gaza.
  • On 29 May, at about 1:00, three Palestinians, including two children, were reportedly killed when a house was hit in Ma’an area, in eastern Khan Younis.
  • On 29 May, at about 14:30, at least seven Palestinians, including at least two girls, were reportedly killed and others injured when a house was hit in eastern Khan Younis city.
  • On 29 May, at about 22:25, at least five Palestinians were reportedly killed and others injured when a residential building was hit in Ad Daraj area, in Gaza city.
  • On 30 May, at about 3:20, four Palestinians, including two women, were reportedly killed and 15 injured when a house was hit in Bloc C of An Nuseirat Refugee Camp, in Deir al Balah.
• Between the afternoons of 29 and 31 May, three Israeli soldiers were reported killed in Gaza. As of 31 May, 293 soldiers have been killed and 1,848 soldiers have been injured in Gaza or along the border in Israel since the beginning of the ground operation, according to the Israeli military. In addition, according to the Israeli media citing official Israeli sources, over 1,200 Israelis and foreign nationals, including 33 children, have been killed in Israel, the vast majority on 7 October. As of 31 May, it is estimated that 125 Israelis and foreign nationals remain captive in Gaza, including fatalities whose bodies are withheld.
• On 29 May, at about 23:00, the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) reported that two of its paramedics were killed while on duty in Tal as Sultan area in western Rafah. In a statement on 30 May, PRCS said that the killing was caused by an airstrike that directly hit the front of one of three ambulances on a humanitarian mission and when the remaining ambulance crew tried to extinguish the fire, Israeli troops opened fire toward them, forcing them to withdraw. The bodies were retrieved the next morning. PRCS called for accountability to ensure that the targeting of protected persons, including medical teams, stops. In response to the incident, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) stated: “Protecting humanitarian workers is a legal and moral obligation. The level of human suffering in Rafah and overall in the Gaza Strip is unconscionable. More than one million people, including PRCS volunteers and staff, have fled multiple times in search of safety with no access to basic services.” Since the intensification of hostilities in October 2023, at least 270 aid workers have been killed in Gaza, including 192 UNRWA staff, four other UN staff, at least 42 other aid workers, and 32 PRCS staff and volunteers of whom 19 were on duty.
• The alarming trend of key humanitarian facilities being forced to close in Rafah is continuing. On 30 May, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) reported that, due to the Israeli military operation in Rafah, it had closed a primary care centre in Al Mawasi. On 27 May, “due to extreme violence,” the NGO had already been forced to evacuate a WHO-supported Trauma Stabilization Point in Tal As Sultan area, a critical facility that just one day prior had received over 180 patients injured in the 26 May airstrike on tents sheltering internally displaced persons (IDPs). Overall, since October, MSF has been forced to leave 14 medical facilities in Gaza. SOS Children’s Villages also announced that it had started on 28 May the emergency relocation of children and adults from the SOS Village in Rafah to an alternative location in central Gaza “due to a dramatically heightened security risk.” The facility has thus “ceased to be a humanitarian hub for the local community and IDPs in Rafah,” stressed the NGO, adding that many of the children had already been displaced several times to escape the fighting. The Malnutrition Stabilization Centre in Tal as Sultan area has also completely ceased operations, according to the Nutrition Cluster, and efforts are ongoing to relocate its services to Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Younis. 
• The remaining health facilities in Gaza continue to face dire shortages of fuel and other vital supplies and equipment. On 29 May, the WHO Spokesperson, Dr. Margaret Harris, reported that only three WHO trucks had entered Gaza through the Kerem Shalom crossing since the Rafah incursion began, while 60 other WHO trucks were stuck in Al Arish, Egypt. In Rafah, key health services, such as dialysis, medical imaging, surgery, internal medicine, and maternity and pediatric care, are no longer available, and many of the highly skilled doctors and nurses have been displaced from the city. With Al Emirati Maternity Hospital ceasing operations, all three hospitals in Rafah that were partially functional prior to the Israeli military operation are now out of service. Just two overwhelmed and undersupplied field hospitals remain operational in the governorate, while a third one is inaccessible and only partially functional, according to WHO. Across Gaza, all medical teams are facing enormous challenges in meeting needs and are watching patients die as they lack either the tools, skills or supplies to do what is needed, underscored Dr. Harris, adding that doctors are struggling with infection prevention and control and are being forced to take difficult decisions, as removing a limb to save a life. The lack of CT scans south of Wadi Gaza means that doctors are not even able to see bone fractures to realign them in the most appropriate way. In the same way, treating severe burns requires intensive care and high-level medical services no longer available in the Strip, a message echoed by the WHO representative in the occupied Palestinian territory, Dr. David Peeperkorn. MSF has similarly highlighted that essential equipment needed for treatment, including generators, water pumps, scanners, X-ray, oxygen and sterilization items, continue to be outrightly blocked or face “appalling delays” in entering Gaza.  

• Pregnant and breastfeeding women have been living “in an unrelenting nightmare,” underscored UNFPA, warning that premature and complicated births have increased as pregnant women are stressed, scared, malnourished and exhausted. Overall, some 18,500 pregnant women have been forced to flee to Khan Younis and Deir al Balah, where access to maternal health care is minimal, while another 10,000 are estimated to have remained in Rafah amid desperate conditions. Beyond a critical shortage of maternal and reproductive health services and supplies, “many face the threat of famine and lack even the basics for survival,” emphasized UNFPA.
• On 30 May, WFP called for the immediate opening of all access points, as the Rafah exodus fuels hunger. The Israeli military operation in Rafah is having a devastating impact on civilians and humanitarian operations, WFP added, with adults and children beyond exhausted by constant displacement, hunger, and fear. WFP warned that further escalation could deepen the humanitarian catastrophe and bring aid operations to a standstill as constrained access to the southern parts of Gaza is driving a rapid deterioration in hunger levels similar to those previously witnessed in the north. 
• Food aid agencies are struggling to access humanitarian aid, particularly from Kerem Shalom crossing, due to active conflict, impassable roads, unexploded ordnance, fuel shortages, delays at checkpoints, and Israeli restrictions. “We need Israeli authorities to facilitate pick-up and delivery of humanitarian supplies entering Kerem Shalom – the opening of a border crossing is not enough,” WFP appealed as its ability to support people in need is deteriorating. Although recent deliveries of humanitarian aid and fuel from Egypt through the Kerem Shalom Crossing are positive steps, sustained access is essential. Fuel shortages also remain a major concern, affecting trucks, hospitals, sewage systems, desalination operations and bakeries. Out of 17 bakeries WFP supports in Gaza, only 11 are now operating due to the lack of cooking gas and other essentials as well as ongoing hostilities; these include one bakery in Jabalya, four in Gaza city, and six in the south.
• Fuel reserves necessary for operating critical water and wastewater facilities have reached critically low levels, with only 30,160 litres provided to these facilities between 20 and 26 May, or about 43 per cent of fuel requirements per day, according to the Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) Cluster. This shortage, combined with the shutdown of power supply, has led to a two-day suspension of water production and associated water trucking at the two main desalination plants in central and southern Gaza, resulting in lost production of about 4,500 cubic metres per day on 25 and 26 May. Water production at the third main water desalination plant in northern Gaza had already stopped in October. In addition, while all three Mekorot water lines from Israel are now operational, the one in central Gaza and the one in southern Gaza are operating at only 50 per cent of their capacity. Access to safe drinking water at the IDP sites in Khan Younis remains insufficient to meet needs, the Cluster reports, although it has somewhat improved following the establishment of ten new water distribution points. Overall, water production currently stands at about 80,000 cubic metres per day, only about 21 per cent of the 374,000 cubic metres per day produced prior to the intensification of hostilities in October.
• People across Gaza are facing heightened health and environmental risks owing to limited access to clean water, sewage overflow, infrastructural damage, and a lack of hygiene items, reports the WASH Cluster. About 60 per cent of all water and sewage facilities have been destroyed or damaged, according to the Cluster. In Khan Younis, there are no functional sewage pumping stations and displaced families are building their own makeshift latrines amid a lack of basic materials to improve sanitation conditions. In Gaza city, the lack of fuel to pump sewage has led to the accumulation of an estimated 500,000 cubic metres of stagnant sewage in Sheikh Radwan Lagoon. 
• The fuel deficit and lack of safe access to the two main landfills have additionally hampered solid waste collection services, resulting in the accumulation of trash across the Gaza Strip. Noting that UNRWA staff have been denied access to landfills by Israeli authorities and many of the agency’s sanitation centres, machinery and trucks for removing trash have been destroyed, UNRWA spokesperson, Louise Wateridge, stressed: “As the weather gets warmer, it just creates more problems, not only with the stench but with the spread of diseases and with pests like mice, rats and mosquitoes which make diseases spread even more.” Coupled with the lack of clean water, this continues to fuel rising numbers of acute respiratory infections, diarrheal illnesses, including bloody diarrhoea, and Hepatitis A, warned the UNRWA Director of Health, Dr. Akihiro Seita, on 28 May.

Funding

• As of 31 May, Member States have disbursed about US$1 billion out of $3.4 billion (30 per cent) requested to meet the most critical needs of 2.3 million people in Gaza and 800,000 people in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, between January and December 2024. This includes about $623 million out of $600 million (104 per cent) requested for January-March 2024 and about $395 million out of $2.8 billion (14 per cent) requested for the Flash Appeal launched on 17 April to cover the period between April and December 2024. For funding analysis, please see the Flash Appeal Financial Tracking dashboard.
• The oPt HF has 118 ongoing projects, for a total of $72.5 million, addressing urgent needs in the Gaza Strip (85 per cent) and West Bank (15 per cent). The HF has allocated an additional $22 million to bolster prioritized HF-funded projects in Gaza. Recently, 14 projects for a total of $5 million have been approved under the Third Reserve Allocation titled "Critical Humanitarian Aid for Gaza Amidst Escalating Conflict and Displacement (Phase 3)." Following a steep rise in displacement from Rafah to Khan Younis and Deir al Balah and to capitalize on the operational presence of national partners, these projects will be implemented by national NGOs (12 projects) or through a partnership between international and national NGOs (2 projects). Since 7 October, the oPt HF has mobilized over $100 million from Member States and private donors, designated for programmes throughout Gaza. A summary of the oPt HF activities and challenges in April 2024 is available through this link and the 2023 Annual Report of the oPt HF can be accessed here. Private donations are collected directly through the Humanitarian Fund.

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31 mei 2024

Today's headlines

The Mexico-Israel connection: repression and resistance

While the Mexican government has looked toward Israel for help in repressing dissent, Indigenous communities and activists see a common cause with Palestine as “todos somos Palestina'' has reverberated across the country since October.

As Israel’s invasion of Rafah and northern Gaza continues, Smotrich calls for ‘war’ on West Bank

Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich has called for launching a “defensive war” on the West Bank in the same way that Israel has done in Gaza. The minister wields administrative power over the West Bank.

257.

31 mei 2024

Steun de zaak tegen Booking.com!

The Rights Forum, Al-Haq, SOMO en ELSC deden vorige week aangifte tegen Booking.com. Wij willen dat het bedrijf verantwoordelijk wordt gehouden voor het profiteren van de illegale Israëlische nederzettingen in bezet Palestina. Booking faciliteert namelijk de verhuur van vakantie-accommodaties in de nederzettingen die gebouwd zijn op grond dat van de Palestijnse bevolking is gestolen.

De aangifte is omdat  Booking schuldig is aan ‘winst uit internationale misdrijven’. Door het injecteren van de opbrengsten in het Nederlandse financiële systeem maakt het zich daarnaast schuldig aan witwassen. Die strafbare feiten vormen de kern van de aangifte.

Hoe de ‘rode lijn’ rond Rafah met Palestijns bloed wordt uitgewist

Op 26 mei vond een Israëlische aanval plaats op het vluchtelingenkamp Tall al-Sultan, ten westen van de zuidelijke stad Rafah. Daarbij kwamen 45 Palestijnse burgers om toen hun tenten door twee Israëlische bommen in brand vlogen. De beelden van verkoolde en ernstig mismaakte lichamen leidden wereldwijd tot afschuw en woede.

'Rode lijn' voor de bühne
De aanval was twee dagen later onderwerp van debat tijdens het Vragenuur in de Tweede Kamer. Minister van Buitenlandse Zaken Hanke Bruins Slot (CDA) werd bevraagd over de ‘rode lijn’ die het kabinet rond Rafah had getrokken. Zou Israël Rafah aanvallen, dan volgden sancties, aldus het kabinet. Cynisch genoeg richtte Israël tijdens het Vragenuur een nieuw bloedbad aan, met 21 doden als gevolg.

Palestijnse vluchtelingen in Rafah zoeken door de ravage na het bombardement op Tall al-Sultan en de daardoor veroorzaakte brand. [c] Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor

De bloedbaden bewijzen dat de rode lijn van het kabinet voor de bühne was. Inmiddels staan er Israëlische tanks in het centrum van de omsingelde stad en lijkt een volgende moordpartij onvermijdelijk.

EU-Israël Associatieraad
Doet Nederland dan helemaal niets? In het Vragenuur vertelde Bruins Slot dat zij er in is geslaagd de EU-Israël Associatieraad bijeen te roepen. Tijdens die bijeenkomst zal Israël te verstaan krijgen dat het Associatieverdrag met de EU op het spel staat als het geweld in Gaza aanhoudt. Maar het is onwaarschijnlijk dat er daadwerkelijk maatregelen worden getroffen, aangezien daar unanimiteit onder de EU-lidstaten voor nodig is.

Symbolisch
Zo is de ferme taal van het kabinet over Rafah afgezwakt tot een onzeker Europees traject. Intussen maakt Nederland geen gebruik van de sancties die het zelf in huis heeft. Israëlische wapens blijven ons land binnenkomen, en zelfs de handel met Israëls illegale nederzettingen is nog altijd niet verboden. Zolang die Nederlandse steun aan Israël in stand wordt gehouden, is de inzet van Bruins Slot voor theoretische Europese maatregelen op z’n best symbolisch te noemen.

The Rights Forum roept de regering met de petitie Handen af van Rafah op tot sancties tegen Israël. Ben je het daarmee eens? Teken dan de petitie en help die te verspreiden.

Wij gaan opnieuw naar de rechter vanwege export F-35-onderdelen naar Israël

Waar gaat het om?
Op 12 februari 2024 besliste het Gerechtshof in Den Haag dat Nederland moet stoppen met de door– en uitvoer van F-35-onderdelen naar Israël. In een door Oxfam Novib, PAX en The Rights Forum aangespannen zaak oordeelde het Hof dat er een duidelijk risico bestaat dat met Israëlische F-35-gevechtsvliegtuigen ernstige schendingen van het humanitair oorlogsrecht worden gepleegd in Gaza.

Waarom opnieuw een kort geding?
Hoewel Nederland is gestopt met de directe doorvoer van onderdelen via een warenhuis in Woensdrecht naar Israël, weigert het te garanderen dat Nederlandse onderdelen niet indirect alsnog in Israël terechtkomen. Daarbij kan het ook gaan om onderdelen die in Nederland door Fokker en andere bedrijven worden gemaakt en worden geleverd aan Amerikaanse bedrijven die de F-35 bouwen. Op grond van de eerdere gerechtelijke uitspraak is iedere levering waarbij Israël de waarschijnlijke eindbestemming is verboden.

Wat nu?
De organisaties vragen de rechter om de Staat een dwangsom op te leggen om te verzekeren dat iedere export van Nederlandse onderdelen met eindbestemming Israël nu daadwerkelijk stopt. Dat is gewoonlijk een onnodige stap, aangezien de Staat zich doorgaans aan uitspraken van de rechter houdt. Dat vertrouwen is nu echter geschaad.
 

Het kort geding wordt op 28 juni 2024 behandeld door het Gerechtshof Den Haag.

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29 mei 2024

Hostilities in the Gaza Strip and Israel
Flash Update #172

Fadia is staying with her displaced family in northern Gaza amid rubble and without access to basic services. Photo by UNRWA.

Key Highlights

• Humanitarian facilities in Rafah are forced to close one after another; only one hospital there remains functional, although partially, the World Health Organization reports.
• The flow of humanitarian aid supplies into Gaza, already insufficient to meet the soaring needs, has dropped by 67 per cent since 7 May.
• In Jenin Refugee Camp, in the northern West Bank, 12 Palestinians, including four children, were killed last week, and 21 were injured, in a 40-hour operation carried out by Israeli forces.

Gaza Strip Updates

• Israeli bombardment from the air, land, and sea continues to be reported across much of the Gaza Strip, resulting in further civilian casualties, displacement, and destruction of houses and other civilian infrastructure. Ground incursions and heavy fighting also continue to be reported, including in Jabalya, south of Gaza city, northern An Nuseirat, eastern Deir al Balah, and Rafah. Intensified hostilities following the issuance of evacuation orders and the Israeli military operation in Rafah have so far resulted in the displacement of about one million people, most of whom had previously sought refuge in Rafah, amid bombardments, the absence of safety, lack of food and water, and unsuitable living and sanitary conditions, according to UNRWA.
• On 28 May, at about 14:40, mass casualties were reported in an airstrike on a site hosting internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Al Mawasi area, southwest of Rafah. The Ministry of Health (MoH) in Gaza reported 21 fatalities and 21 injuries, including ten with serious injuries. On 27 May, in response to the 26 May Israeli military airstrikes that had also hit tents sheltering displaced people in Rafah, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, Martin Griffiths, had stated: “We have said repeatedly that no place is safe in Gaza. Not shelters. Not hospitals. Not the so-called humanitarian zones. We have also warned that a military operation in Rafah would lead to a slaughter. We’ve seen the consequences in last night’s utterly unacceptable attack. Whether the attack was a war crime or a ‘tragic mistake,’ for the people of Gaza, there is no debate. What happened last night was the latest – and possibly most cruel – abomination. To call it ‘a mistake’ is a message that means nothing for those killed, those grieving, and those trying to save lives.” The UN Human Rights Chief, Volker Türk, also voiced his horror at the further loss of civilian life in Gaza, noting that the recent Rafah airstrikes “point to no apparent change in the methods and means of warfare used by Israel that have already led to so many civilian deaths.”
• Between the afternoons of 27 and 29 May, according to MoH in Gaza, 121 Palestinians were killed and 394 were injured, including 75 killed and 284 injured in the past 24 hours. Between 7 October 2023 and 29 May 2024, at least 36,171 Palestinians were killed and 81,420 were injured in Gaza, according to MoH in Gaza.
• The following are among other deadly incidents reported between 26 and 28 May:
  • On 26 May, at about 16:15, 13 Palestinians were reportedly killed and at least 20 injured when a house was hit in An Nazla area of Jabalya, in North Gaza.
  • On 26 May, at about 21:20, nine Palestinians, including at least two women and a child, were reportedly killed and others injured when a house was hit in Block C near Al Huda Mosque in An Nuseirat Refugee Camp, in Deir al Balah.
  • On 26 May, at about 22:50, five Palestinians, including a pregnant woman, were reportedly killed and others injured when a house was hit in Tal as Sultan area in western Rafah.
  • On 27 May, at about 21:25, seven Palestinians, including five women and one child, were reportedly killed and six others injured when a house was hit in Oraiba area, in northern Rafah.
  • On 28 May, in the morning hours, seven Palestinians were reportedly killed and others injured when the Barracks area was hit in western Rafah.
  • On 28 May, at about 10:35, at least six Palestinians, including a doctor, were reportedly shot and killed and others injured at Abu al Jadyan junction near Kamal Adwan Hospital in Beit Lahya, in North Gaza.
• Between the afternoons of 27 and 29 May, three Israeli soldiers were reported killed in Gaza. As of 29 May, 290 soldiers have been killed and 1,831 soldiers have been injured in Gaza or along the border in Israel since the beginning of the ground operation, according to the Israeli military. In addition, according to the Israeli media citing official Israeli sources, over 1,200 Israelis and foreign nationals, including 33 children, have been killed in Israel, the vast majority on 7 October. As of 29 May, it is estimated that 125 Israelis and foreign nationals remain captive in Gaza, including fatalities whose bodies are withheld.
• In a statement deploring the 26 May attack on IDP tents in Rafah, the Director General of the World Health Organization (WHO), Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, highlighted that the WHO-supported Trauma Stabilization Point (TSP) and other field hospitals in Rafah are overwhelmed, emphasizing that “the ongoing closure of the Rafah border, lack of fuel and aid getting into and across Gaza, and frequent mission delays and denials have choked [their] ability to support the health system at a time when operations should be rapidly growing to meet the rising needs.” Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) reported that, following the 26 airstrikes on IDP tents, the TSP it supports in Tal as Sultan area received 28 fatalities and 180 wounded people, most of whom suffered from shrapnel wounds, fractures, traumatic injuries and burns. “Though all the patients were stabilized and referred to field hospitals in Rafah, no single healthcare facility in Gaza can handle a mass casualty event such as this one. The health system has been decimated and cannot cope any longer,” underscored the MSF Emergency Coordinator in Gaza, Samuel Johann. The Field Hospital operated by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) played a key role in responding to the mass casualty incident. “We experienced first-hand the horror of this war, witnessing the appalling injuries and death,” stressed a Senior Medical Officer at the ICRC facility, informing that seven of the large number of patients treated were in critical condition and nine had “horrific orthopaedic injuries.” On the night of 27 May, medical staff and patients at the MSF-supported TSP in Tal as Sultan were reportedly forced to flee due to intensified hostilities and all medical activities ceased at the facility.

• As intense military operations continue to cause scores of casualties, including among women and children, access to basic health services is increasingly shrinking in Gaza. Al Emirati Maternity Hospital is the only hospital in Rafah that remains functional, although partially, compared with three in early May. An Najjar Hospital was evacuated on 7 May, and Al Kuwaiti Hospital in Rafah ceased operations on 27 May; according to media reports quoting the hospital’s director, this occurred after two medical staff were killed when the hospital’s gate was hit. Moreover, only 13 international Emergency Medical Teams (EMTs) coordinated by WHO are currently deployed in Gaza, reports the Health Cluster, down from 19 EMTs prior to 7 May. On 29 May, the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) announced that its teams were forced to evacuate the PRCS Al Quds Field Hospital in Al Mawasi area of Rafah due to growing insecurity, including artillery and air bombardments, and evacuation of residents. PRCS is in the process of relocating its field hospital to Khan Younis. On 28 May, PRCS spokesperson, Nebal Farsakh, warned that critically wounded patients might die as there is no adequate surgical capacity to simultaneously treat all the injured persons, and the most serious cases cannot be evacuated abroad. She added that many patients, including pregnant women and people with chronic and infectious diseases, are not receiving the care they need, as “hospitals can barely save the lives of those who are critically wounded.”
• Insecurity and severe constraints, including on access to border areas and restrictions on the movement between southern and northern Gaza, continue to create a non-permissive and volatile operational environment for humanitarian workers, preventing them from delivering life-saving aid to hundreds of thousands of people across Gaza. Between 1 and 28 May, out of 72 humanitarian missions coordinated with Israeli authorities to northern Gaza, 31 (43 per cent) were facilitated, 25 (35 per cent) initially received a green light but were subsequently impeded, 5 (7 per cent) were denied access, and 11 (15 per cent) were cancelled by humanitarian organizations. In addition, out of 236 humanitarian assistance missions coordinated with Israeli authorities to areas in southern Gaza, 122 (52 per cent) were facilitated, 43 (18 per cent) initially received a green light but were subsequently impeded, 32 (14 per cent) were denied access, and 39 (16 per cent) were cancelled by humanitarian organizations. Many missions classified as "impeded" experienced delays of up to nine hours, including extended delays imposed by Israeli authorities at insecure holding points located 2-3 kilometres south of Israeli military checkpoints en route to northern Gaza. In southern Gaza, military operations and movement restrictions have impeded multiple critical humanitarian missions, including preventing the collection of essential humanitarian supplies from Kerem Shalom Crossing and disrupting the rotation of humanitarian personnel into and out of Gaza, a vital operational function for humanitarian organizations. Some impeded missions had to be aborted while others could be carried out despite the impediment, although often partially.
• According to the Health Cluster, the cancellation of missions to northern Gaza has delayed the critical resupply of fuel and medical supplies and prevented partners from assessing conditions at hospitals in the north. Despite continued challenges, on 27 May, WHO and its partners reached northern Gaza for the first time since 13 May and delivered to Al Ahli Hospital in Gaza city 15,000 litres of fuel, 14 hospital beds, medicines and trauma supplies to cover the needs of 1,500 people. The mission also escorted five PRCS ambulances to the north. These vehicles have allowed PRCS to reactivate ambulance and emergency services in Gaza city, which had been suspended since two PRCS members were killed during a humanitarian mission four months ago. WHO stressed that Al Ahli Hospital is serving twice the number of patients it is designed for, is lacking essential surgical supplies and is unable to conduct life-saving surgeries in the evenings due to lack of specialized staff. Due to delays at a checkpoint, the mission was unable to visit the nearby Public Aid Hospital. WHO noted that the destruction of roads, lack of safe access and shortages of fuel continue to impede movement to the north.
• The amount of food and other aid entering Gaza, already insufficient to meet the soaring needs, has further shrunk since 7 May, with a daily average of 58 humanitarian aid trucks reaching Gaza between 7 and 28 May compared with a daily average of 176 aid trucks between 1 April and 6 May. These figures exclude private sector cargo and fuel. Of note, no aid has entered Gaza on 27 and 28 May through the temporary floating dock recently built by the US military, after a section was damaged due to bad weather conditions. Since it began operating on 17 May, 137 truckloads of food supplies were transported from the dock, according to the World Food Programme. Combined with intensified hostilities and access constraints within Gaza, this has gravely affected humanitarian operations and the ability of people to access live-saving aid. According to the Health Cluster, there are very limited medical supplies available within Gaza and this is placing major constraints on health service delivery.
• The ability of Nutrition partners to scale up operational presence and provide needed services has also been hampered despite a continuous rise in detected malnutrition cases. A post-distribution monitoring survey conducted by the Nutrition Cluster shows that dietary diversity has worsened in May, with 95 per cent of children aged six to 23 months eating two or less different food groups per day. Moreover, 85 per cent of children did not eat for a whole day at least once in the three days before the survey was conducted. Lack of dietary diversity is one of the key drivers of acute malnutrition and has been identified by key experts as one of four main indicators for assessing the severity of nutrition insecurity in Gaza from low to extremely critical. The lack of dietary diversity is considered “extremely critical.” The Minimum Dietary Diversity indicator is measured by the percentage of children aged six to 23 months who consumed foods and beverages from at least five out of eight defined food groups during the previous day. The other indicators are the level of disease, the level of access to clean water, and Mid-Upper Arm Circumference (MUAC) measurements. Nutrition partners continue to conduct MUAC screenings in shelters and healthcare facilities across the Gaza Strip. Since mid-January, 93,409 children aged 6-59 months have been screened for malnutrition, of whom 7,280 have been diagnosed with acute malnutrition, including 5,604 with Moderate Acute Malnutrition, and 1,676 with Severe Acute Malnutrition.

West Bank Updates (21-27 May)

• During the reporting period, Israeli forces shot and killed 13 Palestinians, including five children, and injured 35 others, including seven children. Fatalities include 12 Palestinians killed in Jenin (see below) and a 17 -year-old boy from Sa’ir village, in Hebron governorate, who was shot by Israeli forces on 26 May after he allegedly attempted to stab an Israeli soldier at Beit ‘Einun junction on Road 60 that leads to Hebron city. The body of the boy has been withheld by the forces. Since 7 October, 502 Palestinians have been killed: 485 by Israeli forces, including 122 children, ten by Israeli settlers, and seven where it remains unknown whether the perpetrators were settlers or soldiers. During the same period, over 5,100 Palestinians have been injured, including 4,859 by Israeli forces.
• Since 7 October, ten Israelis have been killed, including six soldiers and four settlers, and at least 105 have been injured, including 70 soldiers, in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem.
• Between 21 and 23 May, Israeli forces carried out a 40-hour operation in Jenin Refugee Camp and its surroundings, during which the forces killed 12 Palestinians with live ammunition, including four children, and injured 21 others with live ammunition. Israeli forces besieged the camp with jeeps and bulldozers and exchanged fire with armed Palestinians. The Palestinian fatalities included at least one school student, a doctor and a teacher. Emergency medical teams were denied access by Israeli forces to several areas inside the camp during the operation while it took up to two hours to be granted access to other areas. Since 7 October, Israeli forces have killed 122 Palestinians, including 30 children, in the Jenin governorate.
• On the first day of the operation in Jenin Refugee Camp, Israeli forces demolished on punitive grounds a two-story residential building, displacing nine people, including four children. The residence belonged to the family of a Palestinian who was accused by the Israeli authorities of killing an Israeli settler one year ago, in May 2023, and was subsequently killed by an Israeli drone on 20 March 2024. On 23 May, following the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Jenin, a UN-led inter-cluster mission conducted a rapid assessment and reported that at least two houses were destroyed, displacing four people. In addition, some 1,300 metres of water and sewage networks sustained damage by the bulldozing of roads in Jenin city and camp, according to the Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) Cluster. This has resulted in severe water and electricity outages for three days, affecting 80 per cent of the camp’s residents, estimated at 23,600 people, and 40 per cent of them are still without water as of 29 May. Further assessments are ongoing to assess other sustained damage, including dozens of houses and multiple UNRWA facilities.
• Injured Palestinians during the reporting period also include an elderly Palestinian farmer who was shot in the leg by Israeli forces while working on his land near At Taybe herding community in Hebron. The community’s 67 residents have been all displaced gradually since 7 October due to settler attacks and the declaration of their land as a closed military zone by the Israeli military. Moreover, seven Palestinians were injured during search and arrest operations, including a 14-year-old who was shot in the leg by Israeli forces in Tammun village (Tubas). Overall, during the reporting period, Israeli forces conducted 100 search-and-arrest operations, around half of which were in Hebron governorate.
• During the reporting period, Israeli settlers perpetrated 20 attacks that led to the injury of ten Palestinians and damage to property. Since 7 October, incidents involving Israeli settlers have resulted in the killing of 31 Palestinians, including six children, and the injury of over 500. These include incidents of alleged attacks against settlers and settlements by Palestinians. In total, around 43,000 Palestinian-owned trees and saplings were destroyed by Israeli settlers during this period.
  • Israeli settlers physically assaulted and injured nine Palestinians in four separate incidents during the reporting period. These included: four herders, three of whom were children, near Al Maniya village (Bethlehem); three workers travelling in a vehicle when they stopped at a traffic light on Road 60 in Hebron and were attacked by settlers with knives and screwdrivers; and a municipality worker while on duty near Masafer Bani Na’im (Hebron). Settlers gathering on Road 60 in the Ramallah area also forced a truck driver to leave his truck and punctured the tires, reportedly because they believed he was transporting aid to Gaza.
  • Israeli settlers vandalized 166 olive trees during the reporting period, including 16 in Al Khader village (Bethlehem) and 150 in Dhahr el ‘Abed village (Jenin), some aged 50 and 60 years. In addition, Israeli settlers burnt 15 dunums of wheat in Sabastiya village (Nablus) and set fire to land and agricultural rooms in Burqa (Nablus) as well as Susiya and At Taybe (both in Hebron). In Al Hathroura (Jericho) and Masafer Yatta (Hebron), settlers also grazed their livestock on Palestinian land, causing damage to hundreds of dunums planted with seasonal crops. On 27 May, Israeli settlers raided a Palestinian youth center in Kafr Ni’meh village (Ramallah) and vandalized the windows and doors.
  • On 23 May, settlers vandalized water networks in Ein Samiya, a community that was entirely displaced by repeated settler violence. Latest figures across the West Bank indicate that since 7 October, some 232 Palestinian households comprising 1,378 people, including 656 children, from 25 herding or Bedouin communities in Area C of the West Bank have been displaced amid settler violence and access restrictions.
• Since 7 October, Israeli authorities demolished 330 Palestinian homes, resulting in the displacement of 1,993 Palestinians, including at least 870 children. Over half were displaced during operations by Israeli forces, mainly in refugee camps in and near Tulkarm and Jenin cities, 38 per cent (760) due to lack-of-permit demolitions, and eight per cent (159) by punitive demolitions. Since 7 October 2023, 149 inhabited homes have been demolished for lacking building permits and 28 on punitive grounds throughout the West Bank, including East Jerusalem.

Funding

• As of 29 May, Member States have disbursed about US$987 million out of $3.4 billion (29 per cent) requested to meet the most critical needs of 2.3 million people in Gaza and 800,000 people in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, between January and December 2024. This includes about $623 million out of $600 million (104 per cent) requested for January-March 2024 and about $364 million out of $2.8 billion (13 per cent) requested for the Flash Appeal launched on 17 April to cover the period between April and December 2024. For funding analysis, please see the Flash Appeal Financial Tracking dashboard.
• The oPt HF has 118 ongoing projects, for a total of $72.5 million, addressing urgent needs in the Gaza Strip (85 per cent) and West Bank (15 per cent). The HF has allocated an additional $22 million to bolster prioritized HF-funded projects in Gaza. Recently, 14 projects for a total of $5 million have been approved under the Third Reserve Allocation titled "Critical Humanitarian Aid for Gaza Amidst Escalating Conflict and Displacement (Phase 3)." Following a steep rise in displacement from Rafah to Khan Younis and Deir al Balah and to capitalize on the operational presence of national partners, these projects will be implemented by national NGOs (12 projects) or through a partnership between international and national NGOs (2 projects). Since 7 October, the oPt HF has mobilized over $100 million from Member States and private donors, designated for programmes throughout Gaza. A summary of the oPt HF activities and challenges in April 2024 is available through this link and the 2023 Annual Report of the oPt HF can be accessed here. Private donations are collected directly through the Humanitarian Fund.

255.

29 mei 2024

Israel is a rogue state. Who will stop them?

Email Congress 

What we're reading.

254.

29 mei 2024

Today's headlines

The ‘blurred lines’ of Columbia’s Task Force on Anti-Semitism

Columbia’s “Task Force on Anti-Semitism” has announced a goal of making “ambitious changes” to the university. Faculty and students critical of Israel and Zionism appear to be the first target.

Read more

How Israeli prison doctors assist in the torture of Palestinian detainees

Kanav Kathuria

Israeli doctors share prisoners’ medical information with interrogators to “greenlight” torture, teach interrogators how to inflict pain without leaving physical marks, and even actively engage in acts of torture themselves.

253.

29 mei 2024

Join us today, Wednesday May 29th at 12PM ET for a virtual and informative tour in the historic city of Haifa. Known to Palestinians as "3aroset el Ba7r" (Bride of the Sea) because of its beauty and uniqueness, this captivating city has a deep history.

Led by Khulood Basel, Co-founder and Executive DIrector of Khashabi Theater,  who will take us around Haifa on a custom tour of the city and detail its incredibly rich history still visible today despite attempts to erase its Palestinian Arab identity.

252.

29 mei 2024

This week, we focus on Rafah, Gaza, where an Israeli airstrike on the safe area of al-Mawasi killed at least 45 Palestinians, including many women and children, earlier this week.

251.

28 mei 2024

250.

28 mei 2024

Demand President Biden Halt All Weapons to Israel and End the Genocide in Gaza

This Memorial Day weekend Israel launched a barbaric strike against civilians in Rafah, burning dozens of innocent Palestinians to death and decapitating babies. In the wake of this massacre, we cannot let up on our pressure and must continue to demand President Biden to immediately halt ALL weapons to Israel. We must hold President Biden to his promise of a “red line,” Israel cannot be allowed to continue committing these massacres.

TAKE ACTION: URGE PRESIDENT BIDEN TO DEMAND ISRAEL HALT THE INVASION OF RAFAH AND END THE GENOCIDE

The images and reports from Rafah are heart-wrenching. Israel’s evil strike against defenseless Palestinians taking refuge in a “safe zone” designated by Israel itself is beyond the pale and they must be held accountable for the 48 innocent Palestinians they murdered in the dubbed “tent massacre.” 

For months, President Biden has stated that any attack on Rafah would be a "red line." Call on President Biden to act on his words and intervene.

Take action today:

1. Demand and facilitate an immediate, permanent, and sustainable ceasefire to protect the lives of Palestinians in Rafah and across Gaza.
2. Stop Sending Weapons to Israel
3. Cease all threats and condemnations of the International Criminal Court (ICC) and the International Court of Justice (ICJ) decisions. These institutions must be respected and allowed to operate without intimidation to uphold international justice and accountability. 

Reports indicate that the situation in Rafah is dire, with over 80% of buildings destroyed and aid workers struggling to support Palestinians with minimal infrastructure. Rafah has become home to 1.4 million Palestinians, including 600,000 children, who now have nowhere safe to seek refuge.

President Biden has blood on his hands and must act immediately to ensure the safety and well-being of Palestinians in Rafah and throughout Gaza. He must use all leverage to force Israel to cease its attacks. We must reiterate our call for the President to facilitate an immediate, sustainable, and permanent ceasefire.

In solidarity,
Americans for Justice in Palestine Action

249.

27 mei 2024

More weapons destined for use by Israel in its genocide against 2.3 million Palestinians in Gaza are currently en route. Last night, Israel carried out one of its bloodiest massacres yet, in open defiance of last Friday’s explicit order by the ICJ that Israel cease its military offensive in Rafah immediately.

Israeli warplanes, funded and supplied by the US and Europe, pounded  a supposed “safe area” in Rafah where forcibly displaced Palestinians slept in plastic tents, setting the entire area aflame, murdering at least 45 and injuring 100s more, mostly women and children. Many were burned alive.

As you read this the Danish vessel Marianne Danica is crossing the Mediterranean on its way to Israeli ports, bringing in more deadly weapons. The arms flow and genocide profits of the military industry are thriving. Help us to stop it now!

We must escalate pressure to stop this genocide in Gaza! Only more people power will lead to wider boycotts, divestment and lawful sanctions to force the US-Israeli genocidal axis to stop and to ultimately help us dismantle the underlying regime of oppression.
 

Take action now:

1. Block the boats carrying weapons to Israel by pressuring involved governments to stop and search all vessels suspected of carrying such arms, prohibiting these vessels from flying their flag, and holding implicated shipping and insurance companies accountable.
    
2. Mobilize to pressure your government and parliament to immediately impose a #MilitaryEmbargo on Israel.
    
3. Join groups, particularly workers’ unions, in peacefully disrupting the transport of weapons, weapon parts, and other military equipment to Israel.

In solidarity,
 
The Palestinian BDS National Committee (BNC)

248.

27 mei 2024

Today's headlines

Israeli universities are assisting the genocide. Canadian universities refuse to cut ties with them.

Yves Engler

Despite the deep complicity of Israeli universities in the genocide in Gaza, Canadian universities are refusing the calls of their students to sever ties with these Israeli academic institutions.

This influential pro-Israel group is legitimizing the Gaza genocide on British campuses

Shaida Nabi

The Union of Jewish Students claims to serve the interests of the UK’s Jewish student community. It actually serves the interests of Israel by associating with its “quasi-governmental” Zionist institutions and whitewashing its coloniality.

Rafah massacre: how Israel bombs displaced Gazans in their tents

Tareq S. Hajjaj

The Israeli army bombed Gazans in their tents in the "safe zone" where it told them to go. Eyewitnesses told Mondoweiss most of the dead were burned alive or decapitated and dismembered. Many of them were children.

‘Operation al-Aqsa Flood’ Day 234: Israel bombs displaced Palestinians in Rafah tent camp and burning people alive

Israel’s bombing of Rafah’s “safe zone” has killed at least 45 people, causing fires to spread across the tent camp and burning  people alive.

247.

27 mei 2024

Daily Brief Videos

246.

27 mei 2024

Hostilities in the Gaza Strip and Israel
Flash Update #171

Girls sitting at a field hospital run by International Medical Corps after receiving medical treatment for injuries sustained in a 26 May strike on a site for displaced people in Rafah. Photo by OCHA/Yasmina Guerda, 27 May 2024

Key Highlights

• Reports of mass casualties, including women and children, in a strike on a site for internally displaced people in northwestern Rafah.
• Health facilities continue to face dire shortages of fuel and medical supplies while having to cope with a rising influx of casualties. The Nasser Medical Complex appealed for citizens to donate blood to address the urgent need for blood units.
• Most of the 15 monitored protection risks are at the highest levels of severity in Gaza, warns the Protection Cluster.

Gaza Strip Updates

• Israeli bombardment from the air, land, and sea continues to be reported across much of the Gaza Strip, resulting in further civilian casualties, displacement, and destruction of houses and other civilian infrastructure. Ground incursions and heavy fighting also continue to be reported, including in Jabaliya, south of Gaza city, northern An Nuseirat, eastern Deir al Balah, and eastern and central Rafah. Following the intensification of hostilities and issuance of evacuation orders in Rafah and northern Gaza, between 6 and 26 May, more than 945,000 people have been displaced from Rafah and 100,000 in northern Gaza.
• On 24 May, Under-Secretary General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, Martin Griffiths, stated: “There has been nothing limited about the suffering and misery that Israel's military operation in Rafah has brought to the people of Gaza… [it] has cut off the flow of aid into southern Gaza and crippled a humanitarian operation already stretched beyond its breaking point. It has halted food distributions in the south and slowed the supply of fuel for Gaza's lifelines – bakeries, hospitals and water wells – to a mere trickle…[at] a time when the people of Gaza are staring down famine; when hospitals are attacked and invaded; when aid organizations are blocked from reaching people in need; when civilians are under bombardment from north to south; it is more critical than ever to heed the calls made over the last seven months: Release the hostages. Agree a ceasefire. End this nightmare.”
• Between the afternoons of 23 and 27 May, according to the Ministry of Health (MoH) in Gaza, 250 Palestinians were killed and 829 were injured, including 66 killed and 383 injured in the past 24 hours. Between 7 October 2023 and 27 May 2024, at least 36,050 Palestinians were killed and 81,026 were injured in Gaza, according to MoH in Gaza.
• The following are among the deadliest incidents reported between 23 and 26 May:
  • On 23 May, at about 18:20 and again at 21:00, 16 Palestinians were reportedly killed and others injured when the warehouse of the Ministry of Social Development, reportedly sheltering internally displaced persons (IDPs), was hit near Abu Sultan Street in eastern Deir al Balah.
  • On 24 May, at about 19:00, at least eight Palestinians were reportedly killed and others injured when a residential building was hit on Yafa Street in Ad Daraj area, in Gaza city.
  • On 25 May, at about 12:00, ten Palestinians were reportedly killed and 17 injured when Al Nazla School, reportedly sheltering IDPs, was hit in Al Saftawi area, in North Gaza.
  • On 25 May, at about 13:00, seven Palestinians, including five children, were reportedly killed and others injured when a house was hit in Beit Hanoun, in North Gaza.
  • On 25 May, at about 23:00, six Palestinians, including two girls and three women, were reportedly killed when a house was hit in Khirbet Al Adass area in central Rafah.
  • On the evening of 26 May, mass casualties were reported in an airstrike on an IDP site in northwestern Rafah, north of the UNRWA Log-Base in western Rafah. On the same evening, the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) reported that many casualties were transported to “Tal Al-Sultan clinic and the field hospitals near the sea in Rafah,” while others were “trapped under the flames” and in destroyed tents. The Israeli army reported that an IDF aircraft struck two senior Hamas officials in Rafah. On 27 May, MoH in Gaza reported that 45 Palestinians, including 23 women, children and elderly, were killed and 249 injured in the incident.
• Between the afternoons of 23 and 27 May, one Israeli soldier was reported killed in Gaza and one succumbed to wounds sustained on 22 May. As of 27 May, 287 soldiers have been killed and 1,801 soldiers have been injured in Gaza or along the border in Israel since the beginning of the ground operation, according to the Israeli military. In addition, according to the Israeli media citing official Israeli sources, over 1,200 Israelis and foreign nationals, including 33 children, have been killed in Israel, the vast majority on 7 October. As of 27 May, it is estimated that 125 Israelis and foreign nationals remain captive in Gaza, including fatalities whose bodies are withheld.
• The Health Cluster reports that 16 of Gaza’s 36 hospitals are currently partially functioning, after Al Shifa Hospital resumed the provision of some services, including dialysis treatment for kidney patients. On 26 May, the PRCS announced that the surgical department and operating room at Al Amal Hospital in Khan Younis had also resumed operations. Meanwhile, intensified military activities continue to result in high casualty figures. On 27 May, the ICRC reported that its field hospital in Rafah had been dealing with an influx of casualties due to injuries and burns, as other hospitals were already overwhelmed. On 25 May, the Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Younis organized a blood donation campaign, appealing to citizens to urgently donate blood to address a deficit at the facility. On 15 May, Médecins Sans Frontières opened a new Trauma Stabilization Point in Rafah’s Tall As Sultan area, which is acting as a frontline responder for casualties, stabilizing them and then referring them to MoH and field hospitals for further treatment. As of 21 May, the facility had already received over 200 casualties, including a father, a mother and their child, all killed in a nearby bombing.

• On 24 May, UNRWA reported that, due to the closure of Rafah Crossing and disruption of aid flow via Kerem Shalom Crossing, its health centres had not received any medical supplies for the past 12 days, affecting medicine stocks especially antibiotics for children and anti-epileptic drugs and rendering certain laboratory and dental items and vaccines completely out of stock. Growing insecurity has forced the agency to close four medical points in northern Gaza on 11 May. Two medical points in Gaza city and Al Mawasi were successfully opened on 16 and 21 May, respectively. Through seven of their 24 primary healthcare centres and over 100 medical points currently operational across the Strip, UNRWA’s healthcare staff continue to provide an average of 160,000 people a week with primary health care services, including outpatient services, treatment of non-communicable diseases, medications, vaccinations, antenatal and postnatal health care, dressing for injured patients, and mental health and psychological support.
• More than eight months of hostilities in Gaza have resulted in an unprecedented scale of destruction and loss of civilian life and rendered most of the 15 monitored protection risks at the highest levels of severity, reported the Protection Cluster in an analysis issued on 24 May. The contamination of agricultural land with Explosive Ordnance (EO) will have long-standing negative consequences, further shrinking people’s capacity to sustain themselves and generate livelihoods and creating a protracted risk of physical injury, the Cluster noted. Other key highlights of the analysis include:
  • Over five per cent of Gaza’s population has been either killed, injured, or is missing. At least 3,000 women are estimated to be widowed, 10,000 children orphaned, 17,000 children left unaccompanied or separated, and more than one million people have lost their homes.
  • Children are adopting increasingly dangerous or negative coping mechanisms when searching for food, water, wood and essential supplies.
  • Risks associated with gender-based violence (GBV) have increased, with limited opportunities for GBV survivors to access life-saving support services and rising GBV risks for children, particularly girls with disabilities.
  • There are multiple indications of “an extremely worrying increase of mass and arbitrary detentions,” with “serious concerns of incommunicado detention and enforced disappearances.”
  • The destruction of offices, displacement of staff, fuel shortages and restrictions on the import of critical risk mitigation and protection supplies have prevented Cluster partners from returning to a fully operational mode, allowing them to maintain only minimum programming.
• Access constraints continue to severely hamper the delivery of life-saving humanitarian aid, exacerbating the suffering of hundreds of thousands of people throughout Gaza. Between 1 and 26 May, 30 coordinated humanitarian aid missions to northern Gaza were facilitated by Israeli authorities, 5 were denied access, 23 were impeded, and 10 were cancelled. Moreover, 107 aid missions to areas in southern Gaza that require coordination were facilitated by Israeli authorities, 29 were denied, 29 were impeded, and 33 were cancelled. Most missions classified as “impeded” experienced delays of up to nine hours. In one incident on 25 May, a UN inter-agency mission to deliver fuel and supplies and assess a humanitarian hub in Gaza city was aborted after a five-hour waiting time at the checkpoint, during which soldiers demanded physical and vehicular searches as well as biometric checks, procedures that violate UN privileges and immunities. Another UN mission on the same day that intended to deliver fuel and ambulances to two hospitals was similarly aborted.
• On 26 May, the passage of life-saving humanitarian assistance and fuel from Egypt into Gaza through Kerem Shalom Crossing was welcomed by the UN Secretary-General (SG) in a statement attributable to the SG Spokesperson. The UN Chief also underscored “the need for all crossing points to be open in line with Security Council resolution 2720 (2023) and for humanitarian organizations to have full, safe and unhindered access to reach all civilians in need across Gaza.” He further expressed dismay at “the lack of implementation of the recent orders of the International Court of Justice [ICJ] regarding the situation Gaza,” reminding the parties that the court orders are binding. On 24 May, the ICJ decision indicated additional provisional measures in the case of South Africa against Israel, including inter alia ordering Israel to “immediately halt its military offensive, and any other action in the Rafah Governorate,” “maintain open the Rafah crossing for unhindered provision at scale of urgently needed basic services and humanitarian assistance,” and “take effective measures to ensure the unimpeded access to the Gaza Strip of any commission of inquiry, fact-finding mission or other investigative body mandated by competent organs of the United Nations to investigate allegations of genocide.”
• Despite the ongoing liquidity shortage driven by the inability of banks to move cash between branches in Gaza, around 15,739 families received Multi-Purpose Cash Assistance (MPCA) across Gaza between 15 April and 26 May, the Cash Working Group (CWG) reports. The CWG has also been working with partner organizations and financial service providers to explore the use of digital payment solutions (e.g. e-wallets) recently developed by the Palestinian Monetary Authority (PMA) and local fintech companies. Digital payment solutions would enhance the ability of people to benefit from MPCA by allowing them to directly purchase essential supplies available on the market, make transfers, or redeem assistance via existing procedures without the need for a bank account or (for most operations) internet access. UNICEF and PayPal are currently piloting the e-wallet programme to serve some 3,600 people in Deir al Balah, where thousands of displaced people have moved from Rafah since the beginning of May. Assisted people can cash out their assistance through 30 agents, make e-payments for supplies from about 300 merchants, or make transfers between e-wallets and bank accounts. Cash actors and financial service providers in Gaza are also working to include street vendors in digital transactions. Since 7 October, 130,763 people have received MPCA across Gaza.

Funding

• As of 27 May, Member States have disbursed about US$930 million out of $3.4 billion (27 per cent) requested to meet the most critical needs of 2.3 million people in Gaza and 800,000 people in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, between January and December 2024. This includes about $623 million out of $600 million (104 per cent) requested for January-March 2024 and about $307 million out of $2.8 billion (11 per cent) requested for the Flash Appeal launched on 17 April to cover the period between April and December 2024. For funding analysis, please see the Flash Appeal Financial Tracking dashboard.
• The oPt HF has 118 ongoing projects, for a total of $72.5 million, addressing urgent needs in the Gaza Strip (85 per cent) and West Bank (15 per cent). The HF has allocated an additional $22 million to bolster prioritized HF-funded projects in Gaza. Recently, 14 projects for a total of $5 million have been approved under the Third Reserve Allocation titled "Critical Humanitarian Aid for Gaza Amidst Escalating Conflict and Displacement (Phase 3)." Following a steep rise in displacement from Rafah to Khan Younis and Deir al Balah and to capitalize on the operational presence of national partners, these projects will be implemented by national NGOs (12 projects) or through a partnership between international and national NGOs (2 projects). Since 7 October, the oPt HF has mobilized over $100 million from Member States and private donors, designated for programmes throughout Gaza. A summary of the oPt HF activities and challenges in April 2024 is available through this link and the 2023 Annual Report of the oPt HF can be accessed here. Private donations are collected directly through the Humanitarian Fund.

245.

27 mei 2024

Today's headlines

‘Our operations in the Red Sea are consistent with the world’s demands’: an interview with Yemen’s Ansar Allah

Robert Inkalesh

Ansar Allah official Nasr al-Din Amer rejects the notion the Yemeni movement is simply a proxy for Iran and says its maritime blockade of Israel in the Red Sea is meant to lift the siege on Gaza and has the overwhelming support of the Yemeni people.

244.

27 mei 2024

Only 48 hours after the ICJ demanded an immediate halt to Israel's military actions in Rafah, Israel doubled down and committed yet another massacre

May 27th, 2024 - Yesterday, Israel perpetrated a horrific massacre in Rafah, dropping 2,000-pound bombs on refugees living in tents and cynically labeling it a military target. These bombs targeted a refugee camp housing displaced Palestinians in a designated safe zone in Rafah, murdering 45 Palestinians, most of them women and children. This brutal attack on the camp in Tal as-Sultan followed a series of bombings on shelters in other areas, including Jabalia, Nuseirat, and Gaza City, which killed at least 160 additional Palestinians.

This atrocity comes only 48 hours after the International Court of Justice (ICJ) issued a legally binding ruling demanding an immediate halt to Israel's military actions in Rafah. Israel's blatant non-compliance with this ruling not only flouts international law but also renders any continued arms transfers to Israel illegal.

Since Friday, Rafah has endured over 60 bombings, underscoring the relentless and disproportionate nature of Israel's military campaign against Palestinians. These acts of violence are not isolated incidents but part of a systematic pattern of targeting and terrorizing the Palestinian population.

The Biden Administration is single-handedly responsible for the continued massacre of Palestinians by failing to hold Israel accountable since October and for continuing to greenlight the genocide. By providing unwavering political, financial, and military support to Israel, the Biden Administration defies international law and enables Israel's ongoing war crimes. The administration's inaction and tacit approval have continuously emboldened Israel to continue its brutal campaign against the Palestinian people with impunity.

We condemn these barbaric actions in the strongest terms and call upon the Biden administration to take immediate and decisive action to stop the ongoing genocide. The U.S. must cut all military aid to Israel immediately and hold it accountable for its war crimes. Compliance with international law is not optional; it is a mandate that must be enforced to ensure justice and protection for the Palestinian people.

Additionally, we demand that Congress disinvite Prime Minister Netanyahu and cease threatening the International Criminal Court (ICC) and the International Court of Justice (ICJ). These institutions must be respected and allowed to operate without intimidation to uphold international justice and accountability.

The massacre in Rafah is a glaring example of the urgent need for a permanent ceasefire and a reevaluation of the U.S.’s allyship with Israel. We demand an end to the bloodshed and unwavering support for the rights and dignity of the Palestinian people. The Biden Administration must be held to account for its complicity in these atrocities and its role in perpetuating the suffering of the Palestinian people.

In solidarity,
American Muslims for Palestine (AMP)

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

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Fox News report

24 mei 2024

 “De woordvoerder van de Duitse regering, Steffen Hebestreit, heeft gisteren, op de vraag “Would Berlin execute a potential ICC arrest order?” en “Would Berlin arrest and deport Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, if the International Criminal Court implements a warrant for his arrest?”, luid en duidelijk te kennen gegeven: “Of course, Yes, we abide by the law”. De woordvoerder van de Israëlische regering Avi Hyman reageerde hierop met de woorden: “I am old enough to remember the German coming here days after October 7, and stating that Hamas are the new Nazis. They seek a genocide against the Jews”. En Israel´s ambassador in Duitsland, Ron Prosor,  kwam met op X, voorheen Twitter, met de vlammende uitroep: “This is outrageous!”

PC Palestine Chronicle,  25 May 2024, komt hieromtrent vervolgens met de kop: “GAZA LIVE BLOG: GERMANY: WE WOULD ARREST NETANYAHU”

OSPACA

242.

24 mei 2024

Today's headlines

Biden and Congress are destroying International Law for Israel

Mitchell Plitnick

The current American threats to sanction the ICC could spell the death of International Law. Whatever little hope people had for a just international system will disappear.

Read more

Palm Beach residents sue county over its Israel investments

Michael Arria

A group of Palm Beach residents are suing the Florida county over its $700 million investment in Israeli bonds. "The people here are the grittiest, most powerful organizers I've had the privilege of seeing," a local activist told Mondoweiss.

De eis van de Palm Beach bevolking is dat de 7000 miljoen van hun belasting geld NIET naar Israel gaat, maar aan hun sociale noden besteed zal worden.

‘Operation al-Aqsa Flood’ Day 230: Israel lashes out at West Bank in wake of ICC request

Qassam Muaddi

Airstrikes continue across the Gaza Strip as the Israeli ground invasion continues in Jabalia and Rafah, displacing thousands. Meanwhile, the Israeli army launched a wide-ranging invasion of Jenin refugee camp, killing 12 people.

Jenin resistance defiant as Israeli army kills 12 Palestinians in raid

Shatha Hanaysha

The Israeli army withdrew from Jenin refugee camp after a three-day incursion that left 12 Palestinians dead. But the armed resistance in the camp remains defiant, vowing to repel all invaders.

241a.

23 mei 2024

241.

23 mei 2024

Today's headlines

New bill seeks to extend U.S. military benefits to Americans serving in the Israeli army

James Ray

A new bill in Congress would extend some U.S. military benefits to the estimated 20,000 Americans currently carrying out the Gaza genocide as members of the Israeli military.

Read more

A Tale of Two Commencements: How Gaza solidarity encampments are changing the way we see university education

Michael Gasser

Indiana University's "Liberation Commencement" was a celebration of the students' brave commitment to fighting powerful institutions and their involvement in challenging Zionism and the Palestinian genocide.

Read more

240.

23 mei 2024

Bericht van onze collega in Gaza

Saaed werkt sinds 2009 voor CARE. Op dit moment werkt hij als noodhulpcoördinator in Rafah, Gaza.
 

“Sinds het begin van het geweld ben ik noodhulp van CARE blijven coördineren voor de inmiddels meer dan twee miljoen mensen die met hongersnood worden bedreigd. Hoe moeilijk mijn eigen situatie ook is, ik weet dat anderen mijn hulp hard nodig hebben: mensen die nog meer hebben geleden en alles zijn kwijtgeraakt.”

VERHAAL VAN SAAED

239.

22 mei 2024

Readers’ Recommendations

238.

22 mei 2024

Repression.

Opposing genocide isn't antisemitic.

What we're doing.

237.

22 mei 2024

Release Mohamad, Julia, and Olivia Now!

Yesterday, our friend and colleague, Mohamad Habehh, alongside Olivia DiNucci and Julia Norman, were arrested for practicing their First Amendment right by disrupting a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing. Their powerful words served as a strong rebuke of Secretary of State Antony Blinken and the Biden Administration's policies that have facilitated the largest mass murder of Palestinians in history.

Those protestors spent the night in a Washington DC prison for their protest and they will be arraigned today at 1 pm Eastern. We are asking all to help us get them from prison.

236.

22 mei 2024

Hostilities in the Gaza Strip and Israel
Flash Update #169

The latest wave of displacement has resulted in more families living among rubble in damaged buildings, lacking essential services, vital supplies and protection. Photo by UNRWA

Key Highlights

• UNRWA suspends food distributions in Rafah due to supply shortages and insecurity.
• The situation in Gaza is “beyond catastrophic,” reports the World Health Organization (WHO), as Kamal Adwan Hospital becomes non-functional and Al Awda Hospital remains sieged.
• Since 14 May, 17 Palestinians were killed by Israeli forces in the West Bank, including nine in Jenin governorate and four in Tulkarm governorate.

Gaza Strip Updates

• Israeli bombardment from the air, land, and sea continues to be reported across much of the Gaza Strip, resulting in further civilian casualties, displacement, and destruction of houses and other civilian infrastructure. Ground incursions and heavy fighting also continue to be reported, especially in Jabalya and eastern Rafah.
• Briefing the Security Council on 20 May, the Director of OCHA’s Operations and Advocacy Division, Edem Wosornu, highlighted that the “humanitarian situation in Gaza…has only grown more urgent amid ongoing Israeli ground operations in and around Rafah since 6 May” and the humanitarian community is “running out of words to describe what is happening in Gaza.” Wosornu welcomed the first aid shipment delivered on 17 May via the floating dock and reiterated that “land routes remain the most viable and effective way to deliver the scale of aid needed.” “All available access points must be open and kept open for a sustained period to allow aid to enter at scale,” she added.
• Between the afternoons of 20 and 22 May, according to the Ministry of Health (MoH) in Gaza, 147 Palestinians were killed and 338 were injured, including 62 killed and 138 injured in the last 24 hours. Between 7 October 2023 and 22 May 2024, at least 35,709 Palestinians were killed and 79,990 were injured in Gaza, according to MoH in Gaza.
• The following are among the deadliest incidents reported between 19 and 21 May:  
  • On 19 May, at about 23:35, six Palestinians, including four children and a woman, were reportedly killed when a residential building was hit in Beit Lahiya, in North Gaza.
  • On 19 May, at about 23:30, a family of three Palestinians, including a 15-month-old child and a woman, were reportedly killed and seven others were injured when a residential apartment was hit near Al Qadisia School in Tal as Sultan neighbourhood, in western Rafah.
  • On 20 May, at about 12:30, five Palestinians were reportedly killed when a residential building was hit in Beit Lahiya, in North Gaza.
  • On 20 May, at about 18:35, 13 Palestinians were reportedly killed when a group of Palestinians was hit while attempting to return to their homes on An Nuzha Street in Jabalya Refugee Camp.
  • On 21 May, at about 6:44, four Palestinians, including three children, were reportedly killed and others injured when two houses were hit in Abasan Al Kabira, in eastern Khan Younis.
  • On 21 May, at about 11:30, three Palestinian children were reportedly killed and others injured when a group of people was hit near Awadallah Junction in Yebna Refugee Camp, in central Rafah.
• Between the afternoons of 20 and 22 May, no Israeli soldiers were reported killed in Gaza. As of 22 May, 282 soldiers have been killed and 1,776 soldiers have been injured in Gaza or along the border in Israel since the beginning of the ground operation, according to the Israeli military. In addition, according to the Israeli media citing official Israeli sources, over 1,200 Israelis and foreign nationals, including 33 children, have been killed in Israel, the vast majority on 7 October. As of 22 May, it is estimated that 128 Israelis and foreign nationals remain captive in Gaza, including fatalities whose bodies are withheld. 
• With more than 800,000 people displaced from Rafah since 6 May, nearly 150,000 people have registered for UNRWA services in Khan Younis alone in the last 10 days and there has been a 36 per cent increase in the number of people at UNRWA facilities in the governorate. These include “families living among rubble in damaged schools, lacking tents, essential services and vital supplies,” UNRWA reports. The Health Cluster had warned of a further surge in communicable diseases due to large-scale displacement to areas that lack basic necessities. Prior to the Rafah operation, WHO data covering 29 April to 5 May already showed a marked increase in reported cases of acute watery diarrhoea, respiratory infections and jaundice syndrome by 53, 47 and 45 per cent, respectively, compared with the previous epidemiological week. The data also showed a 200 per cent increase in reported cases of bloody diarrhoea over the same time span.
• On 21 May, UNRWA announced the suspension of food distributions in Rafah due to the lack of supplies and increasing insecurity. Both the World Food Programme (WFP) main warehouse and UNRWA distribution centre in Rafah remain inaccessible, the agency reported. While every effort is being made to establish additional kitchens in Khan Younis, Deir al Balah and Gaza city and scale up the distribution of hot meals, supplies for hot meal provision might soon be exhausted, the Food Security Cluster warns. Among others, a persistent shortage of cooking gas is hindering the ability to keep community kitchens and bakeries running and to ensure proper food preparation and nutrition in affected communities. As of 19 May, the Food Security Cluster reported that ten bakeries supported by humanitarian partners remain operational across the Strip, including six in Deir al Balah and four in Gaza city, but are hanging by a thread and could shortly run out of stock and fuel. Ongoing hostilities have also forced many people to leave their farms unattended, particularly in eastern Rafah and Khan Younis, exacerbating the already very limited fresh food production. On 17 May, the WFP Palestine Country Director, Matthew Hollingworth, had re-emphasized the urgent need to open additional entry points into Gaza, underscoring that only the consistent influx of assistance at volume in Gaza can help “stop famine in its tracks.”
• “The situation in Gaza remains beyond catastrophic,” stated the WHO Director-General, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, on 21 May, as the last two partially functional hospitals in northern Gaza (Al Awda and Kamal Adwan) became at risk of ceasing their live-saving operations. Al Awda Hospital has been under siege since 19 May, with no one allowed to leave or enter the facility, and 148 hospital staff, alongside 22 patients and their companions, still trapped inside. In a press briefing in Geneva, the WHO Director-General highlighted that this is the second time that Al Awda Hospital has been besieged since the onset of the conflict and the facility had already suffered significant losses, including the death of 14 employees. Quoting the Acting Director of the hospital, Dr. Mohammad Salha, Action Aid warned on 20 May that fuel and clean water had been exhausted, as fear was gripping patients and staff. According to WHO, medical personnel inside the hospital reported two attacks on 20 May, with “snipers aiming at the building,” and one incident of artillery shelling hitting the fifth floor, where the administration department is located. In a statement on 21 May, the Palestinian Non-Governmental Organizations Network (PNGO) also expressed deep concern for the safety of patients and staff at the hospital. Meanwhile, “intense hostilities near Kamal Adwan Hospital have compromised its ability to provide care and made it harder for patients to reach,” reported the WHO Director-General. The facility, which was the only one providing haemodialysis services in northern Gaza, was reportedly hit four times on 21 May, resulting in damage to the intensive care unit, reception, administration, and roof. Kamal Adwan Hospital is no longer functional, according to WHO.
• An Najjar Hospital, which had a 220-bed capacity, remains out of service and the Kuwaiti Hospital, with only 36 beds, continues to serve as the main trauma care provider, reports WHO. Out of nine field hospitals in the south, only seven remain fully functional. The Indonesian Field Hospital had to be evacuated on 14 May following the issuance of an evacuation order for the area where the hospital is located, and while 49 patients are currently receiving care at the UAE Field Hospital, the facility is now hardly accessible to new patients due to surrounding hostilities. Describing the critical situation triggered by intensified military activities over the past two weeks, the WHO Director-General indicated that over 70 shelters have now lost access to their medical points, daily medical consultations have dropped by nearly 40 per cent, and immunizations have fallen by 50 per cent. Meanwhile, all medical evacuations of seriously ill patients remained halted since 7 May and fuel shortages continue to threaten health care provision, affecting the functionality of hospitals, primary healthcare centers and ambulance movement. Operations by the Health Cluster have also been severely disrupted by the Rafah incursion, with only one WHO-led mission carried out from 9 to 18 May, amid growing insecurity, and experiencing delays of some 200 minutes.
• Between 1 and 20 May, 183 humanitarian aid missions in Gaza were coordinated with the Israeli authorities. Of 51 coordinated missions to northern Gaza, 37 per cent (19 missions) were facilitated by the Israeli authorities, 10 per cent (5 missions) were denied access, 35 per cent (18 missions) were impeded (these may be aborted or accomplished, albeit partially, despite the impediment), and 17 per cent (9 missions) were cancelled. Impeded missions included 10 that encountered extensive delays ranging from two to 7.5 hours. In one incident involving an inter-agency mission on 4 May, the driver was arrested, stripped naked and detained at an Israeli checkpoint and the team was threatened with firearms, leading to the mission’s cancellation. Another two missions classified as “impeded” were aborted, one after warning shots were fired at a UN vehicle and one because the checkpoint opened at about 13:00, which was too late to enable the completion of the mission before night-time. In southern Gaza, among the 132 coordinated missions, 50 per cent (66 missions) were facilitated by the Israeli authorities, 18 per cent (24 missions) were denied access, 13 per cent (17 missions) were impeded, and 19 per cent (25 missions) were cancelled. Of the 17 impeded missions, 14 were heading to Kerem Shalom Crossing to collect aid supplies and encountered delays due to traffic congestions blocking the road and delayed clearance by Israeli authorities, resulting in six missions being aborted.

West Bank Updates, 14-20 May

• Latest development (after the reporting period): Since 21 May, Israeli forces, including an undercover military force, shot and killed eight Palestinians, including two children, in Jenin city and Jenin Refugee Camp. The fatalities included a 50-year-old doctor who was en route to work at Jenin Governmental Hospital, a teacher shot near a school, and a student who was riding a bicycle to school. Nine others were injured. When the undercover unit was identified in Jenin Refugee Camp on 21 May, armed clashes erupted between Palestinians and Israeli forces, with additional Israeli forces and bulldozers deployed thereafter. The camp was besieged and, following coordination through the Palestinian District Coordination Office (DCO), UNRWA was granted a half-hour window to evacuate students as well as school, health and other UNRWA staff.
• During the reporting period, Israeli forces shot and killed eight Palestinians and injured 27 Palestinians, including 11 by live ammunition, in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem. Another 20-year-old Palestinian man died of wounds sustained in a 6 May operation carried out by Israeli forces in Beit Furik village (Nablus). Since 7 October, 489 Palestinians, including 117 children, have been killed and more than 5,000 Palestinians, including about 790 children, have been injured in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem. These include 472 killed by Israeli forces, ten by Israeli settlers, and seven where it remains unknown whether the perpetrators were Israeli soldiers or settlers. Ten Israelis, including six members of Israeli forces and one child, have been killed and at least 100 have been injured, including 70 members of Israeli forces and two children, in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, since 7 October.   
  • On 15 May, three Palestinian men (aged 22, 26 and 27 years) were shot and killed in Tulkarm city and two children were injured by live ammunition in Qalqiliya city, all by Israeli forces, during raids on money exchange shops. 
  • On 15 May, a 20-year-old Palestinian university student was killed and one was injured and arrested by Israeli forces during a demonstration held by Palestinians in commemoration of Nakba Day near the DCO checkpoint in Ramallah governorate. 
  • On 16 May, a 17-year-old Palestinian boy was shot and killed by Israeli forces near one of the entrances to the Old City of Jerusalem, after attempting to stab a member of Israeli forces. The child’s body has been withheld by Israeli forces. No injuries among Israeli forces were reported. 
  • On 17 May, a 24-year-old Palestinian man was shot by an Israeli army sniper during a search-and-arrest operation carried out by Israeli forces in Bal’a village in Tulkarm governorate. During the reporting period, some 120 search-and arrest operations were documented by OCHA, more than a third in Hebron governorate, resulting in the detention of at least 90 Palestinians. 
  • On 17 May, a 26-year-old Palestinian man was killed and nine others were injured when an Israeli airstrike hit a house in Jenin Refugee Camp. Since 7 October, 74 Palestinians have been killed by airstrikes or associated shrapnel in the cities of Jenin, Tulkarm and Nablus and nearby refugee camps. 
  • On 19 May, a 44-year-old Palestinian man from Beit Fajjar village in Bethlehem governorate was shot and killed by Israeli forces at Wadi an Nar (“Container”) checkpoint, after he was reportedly spotted by forces while carrying a knife. Israeli forces subsequently closed the checkpoint for two hours, impeding access between the central and southern West Bank. According to the man’s family, he suffered from a mental illness. His body was handed over to the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) one hour following the incident. No injuries among Israeli forces were reported. Since the beginning of 2024, 12 stabbing or alleged stabbing incidents targeting Israeli forces or settlers took place in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, including nine at checkpoints, resulting in the injury of three Israelis and the killing of 11 perpetrators or alleged perpetrators. These include a stabbing attack carried out on 30 April by a Turkish tourist in the Old City of Jerusalem. 
• Israeli settlers perpetrated 28 attacks against Palestinians, and these led to the injury of ten Palestinians (by settlers or Israeli forces) and/or damage to Palestinian property. Overall, since 7 October, 896 Israeli settler attacks against Palestinians resulted in Palestinian casualties (93 incidents), damage to Palestinian-owned property (707 incidents), or both casualties and damage to property (96 incidents).  
  • In Hebron governorate, three Palestinians, including an elderly man, were physically assaulted and injured by Israeli settlers near Al Qawawis, Haribat an Nabi and Al Jwaya herding communities. In Ramallah governorate, two Palestinian men were physically assaulted and injured by Israeli settlers in Ni’lin village and Al Mu’arrajat area. Also in Al Mu’arrajat, settlers blocked the road and several cars sustained damage due to stone throwing. In Nablus governorate, three Palestinians were shot by live ammunition fired by Israeli soldiers during raids by Israeli settlers on Qusra village on 14 and 15 May.
  • Since mid-May, at least seven incidents took place that involved attacks by Israeli settlers on Palestinian trucks suspected of transporting goods to Gaza. In two incidents in Ramallah governorate, the settlers physically assaulted and injured the truck drivers, damaged the goods, and set fire to one truck. In two incidents in Nablus and Qalqiliya, settlers stopped two trucks carrying donated animal fodder and attacked the drivers. The settlers damaged or took over sacks of fodder in both cases. At Tarqumiya Barrier Checkpoint in Hebron, Israeli settlers blocked the movement of trucks on two occasions, in addition to a previously reported incident when a group of Israeli settlers had offloaded and vandalized several trucks carrying food items en route from Hebron to Gaza.
  • Settler incidents resulting in property damage include attacks in Burqa and Yatma villages, in Nablus governorate, where Israeli settlers set fire to two houses and at least 20 vehicles. In Al Haffasi village, in Tulkarm governorate, Israeli settlers shot and killed a camel and stole four cows. In Ein Samiya area of Ramallah governorate, Israeli settlers entered and damaged a plant nursery and destroyed thousands of olive saplings. In addition, settlers continue to graze their livestock near the nursery, where it is estimated that at least 100 avocado and 60 guava trees have been damaged.
• During the reporting period, six Palestinian-owned structures were demolished for lacking Israeli-issued building permits in Area C and East Jerusalem. Five of the structures were demolished in Idhna town (Hebron), including two homes and two water cisterns, that resulted in the displacement of ten people, including three children, and affected 450 others, including 194 children. Since 7 October, 1,964 Palestinians, including 865 children, have been displaced by home demolitions carried out or ordered by Israeli authorities. Some 38 per cent (750 people) were displaced when their homes were demolished for lacking building permits, which are almost impossible to obtain, including 54 per cent in Area C of the West Bank and 46 per cent in East Jerusalem. Eight per cent were displaced by demolitions that were carried out by Israeli forces on punitive grounds, and 54 per cent were displaced when their homes were demolished during Israeli army operations, mostly in refugee camps in or near Tulkarm and Jenin cities.

Funding

• As of 22 May, Member States have disbursed about US$872 million out of $3.4 billion (25 per cent) requested to meet the most critical needs of 2.3 million people in Gaza and 800,000 people in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, between January and December 2024. This includes about $623 million out of $600 million (104 per cent) requested for January-March 2024 and about $249 million out of $2.8 billion (9 per cent) requested for the Flash Appeal launched on 17 April to cover the period between April and December 2024. For funding analysis, please see the Flash Appeal Financial Tracking dashboard.
• The oPt HF has 118 ongoing projects, for a total of $72.5 million, addressing urgent needs in the Gaza Strip (85 per cent) and West Bank (15 per cent). In light of the updated Flash Appeal, the HF has allocated an additional $22 million to bolster prioritized HF-funded projects in Gaza. Since 7 October, the oPt HF has mobilized $90 million from Member States and private donors, designated for programmes throughout Gaza. A summary of the oPt HF activities and challenges in April 2024 is available through this link and the 2023 Annual Report of the oPt HF can be accessed here. Private donations are collected directly through the Humanitarian Fund.

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22 mei 2024

Today's headlines

‘We have reached unprecedented levels of support for Palestine on this campus’: a student on Oxford’s Gaza Solidarity Encampment

Gaza solidarity encampments have spread across Britain, inspired by the wave of student organizing in the U.S. An organizer at Oxford University discusses student demands and how the U.K. protests compare to U.S. activism.

Netanyahu’s response to the ICC invokes another genocidal biblical reference

Netanyahu’s rant against the ICC quoted a biblical verse that warns against the dangers of not completely wiping out your enemy’s society. It doesn’t take much to figure out what this means for Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza.

Official Jewish blinders to genocide are a danger to Jews

Philip Weiss

The leading American Jewish groups are stoking anti-Jewish feeling by their own demonstration of anti-Palestinian bigotry: ignoring the famine and massacres of civilians in Gaza that have horrified the world and have led so many to accuse Israel of genocide.

Read more

234.

22 mei 2024

Het is NU het moment dat het er op begint te lijken dat EINDELIJK de aanklager van het Internationaal Strafhof de Israëlische premier Netanyahu en zijn defensieminister Gallant wil gaan vervolgen voor oorlogsmisdaden en misdaden tegen de menselijkheid [1].

Het is dan ook is onvoorstelbaar dat Nederland, waar het Internationaal Strafhof zetelt, de banden met de regering Netanyahu verder versterkt en hem de hand boven het hoofd houdt. Zelfs de inval van Rafah, die inmiddels begonnen is, vormt voor Rutte en de rest van het kabinet geen reden om actie te ondernemen richting Israël. 

Premier Rutte zei in maart nog dat een invasie van Rafah een rode lijn is [1]. Dit is de zoveelste grens die door hem, als het op aankomt, zonder een spier te vertrekken aan zijn laars wordt gelapt.

Maar hoe dan ook, het is nu wel duidelijk dat internationale druk vanuit de hele niet-westerse wereld en de strijd vanuit enorme contingenten jongere actievoerders in de westerse landen – landen die Israël nog steeds de hand boven het hoofd willen houden - uiteindelijk nog ook effect beginnen te sorteren.

Nederland heeft zich als een van de weinige landen nog niet uitgesproken over de arrestatiebevelen. Dit is onacceptabel!

Zolang de Israëlische regering mensenrechten blijft schenden en Nederland dit geweld niet veroordeelt, zullen wij ons blijven uitspreken vóór vrede. De Nederlandse regering kan zich niet langer afzijdig houden én tegelijkertijd Den Haag blijven presenteren als stad van vrede en recht.

Met strijdbare groet,

OSPACA

[1] Parool: Ongekend harde taal van Rutte: als Israël Rafah binnenvalt, volgen sancties

233.

22 mei 2024

Beste vrienden in Nederland, 

In het eerste debat – en wel het debat in de Nederlandse Tweede Kamer van een paar dagen geleden, onmiddellijk na de presentatie van het nieuwe Nederlandse regeerakkoord – krijgen we van de extreem rechtse voorzitter Bosma (PVV) van deze Tweede Kamer te horen dat die extreemrechtse partij van hem, nu die inmiddels de grootste partij van het land is geworden, in de Tweede Kamer niet meer omschreven mag worden als “extreemrechts”. Op dag één worden de Kamerleden dus  al gecensureerd door een ultrarechtse klootzak die zich aan het hoofd van de Tweede Kamer heeft genesteld!

De PVV – die partij, met Bosma dus als voorzitter van de Tweede Kamer -, zet moslims weg als tweederangsburgers. Die hier, als het aan deze extreemrechtse klerelijers ligt,  niet meer mogen bidden tot hun eigen God, of hier zelfs helemaal niet mogen zijn. De Genocide op de Palestijnen wordt door deze kwaadaardige PVV-schepsels met handgeklap begroet. Voor deze Bosma en Wilders van de PVV zijn Palestijnen untermenschen die maar het beste vernietigd kunnen worden. Het minste dat zij willen is wel dat zij de grenzen kunnen  sluiten voor hen die hun huis en haard verloren hebben en hebben te vrezen voor hun eigen leven.  

Action Get Back NoW

232.

21 mei 2024

YouGov AJP-Action Polls in Five Battleground States Show “Gaza Votes” May Determine November Election

Today, Americans for Justice in Palestine Action (AJP Action) released the results of YouGov polls commissioned in five battleground states. The polls show roughly a fifth of Democratic and Independent voters in key states are less likely to vote for President Biden in November because of his support for Israel’s war in Gaza. Forty percent of voters polled say tangible, de-escalatory policy changes will make them more likely to vote for Biden in November: imposing a permanent ceasefire, full humanitarian aid to Gaza, and conditioning military aid for Israel’s war.

Surveying 500 registered Democratic and Independent voters each in Arizona, Michigan, Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania, the statewide polls provide a detailed look at voters’ perceptions of Israel’s war in Gaza and how it impacts their votes in November.

Among the states polled, anti-war votes could cost Biden the election in Arizona and Wisconsin in particular—in part due to the especially narrow margins of victory in those states: 10,457 and 20,682 in Arizona and Wisconsin, respectively. However, the polls show anti-war votes will matter in Pennsylvania and Michigan as well, where a third of Democrats and Independents consider a ceasefire and full entry of humanitarian aid as minimum changes to secure or solidify a vote for Biden.

Key findings include:

• Across all five states, a critical margin of voters—roughly one in five—are less likely to vote for Biden on account of his handling of the war in Gaza.
• Forty percent or more of Democratic and Independent voters in each state say that imposing an immediate and lasting ceasefire, conditioning aid to Israel, and ensuring full entry of humanitarian aid would make voters more likely to vote for Biden in November. 
• Support for “uncommitted” anti-war protest campaigns represent a larger share of voters than actual turnout in each state’s primary; Pennsylvania had the strongest support.
• Between 55 and 66 percent of polled voters in each state say they support conditions on military aid to Israel.
• Roughly half or more Democratic or Independent voters say they believe Israel is committing a genocide against Palestinians.
• Over 50 percent of voters polled say they support the student encampments to push their universities to divest from Israel’s war. This indicates relatively strong sympathy for Palestine solidarity efforts even despite a media landscape of significant counter-narrative. 

What is certain is that the war in Gaza has turned into an electoral issue this year. What this opinion poll suggests is that President Biden cannot continue to ignore the convictions and demands of a large segment of the Democratic electoral base if he wants to maintain his chances of winning the upcoming November elections. A large percentage of Democrats oppose Biden’s handling of the Israeli war in Gaza—and an even larger percentage of them want to see a real change toward an immediate and permanent ceasefire. Either Biden does the morally and politically right thing and preserves his chances in the November elections, or he continues on the current path and risks jeopardizing his reelection bid.

While some national polls have been used to suggest small numbers of Gaza voters overall, few statewide polls reliably examine the scale of anti-war Gaza voters as a proportion of Biden’s base—and their persistence as “uncommitted” voters in November. Each of the five states polled had robust anti-war primary campaigns for “uncommitted” or a pro-ceasefire candidate. 

It’s clear that Palestine is a critical issue in key battleground states like Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Arizona, and Michigan. It’s not a passing protest effort that the Democratic Party can continue to ignore; people want an end to this war and a key margin of them will vote that way. But Biden can win over votes with a serious change in policy.

In solidarity,Dr. Osama Abu IrshaidExecutive Director

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

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21 mei 2024

Today's headlines

Israel’s extortion leaflets and Namecheap: How to do corporate accountability during a genocide

Tali Shapiro

Arizona-based Internet domain company NameCheap ended all service to Russia over the invasion of Ukraine but has now registered an Israeli website targeting Palestinian children. Activists are calling out the company's complicity in war crimes.

Read more

ICC warrants against Netanyahu and Gallant may be the first of many aimed at Israeli officials

David Kattenburg

“I think this is an enormous step forward,” former UN Special Rapporteur Michael Lynk tells Mondoweiss. “Today’s announcement was a long time in coming.”

Read more

Boeing University: How the California State University became complicit in Palestinian genocide

Jake Alimahomed-Wilson, Sabrina Alimahomed-Wilson, Araceli Esparza, Steven Osuna, Dennis López and Azza Basarudin

The longstanding partnership between California State University, Long Beach and Boeing is a showcase of higher education's complicity with US-Israeli militarism and the Gaza genocide.

230.

21 mei 2024

A Step toward Justice in Gaza and Israel

Lire la version en français / Hier die deutsche Ausgabe lesen 

Yesterday, the International Criminal Court prosecutor, Karim Khan, announced he is seeking arrest warrants for five leading figures in relation to grave international crimes committed in Israel and Palestine since October 7.

It is hopeful news.

For far too long, victims of serious abuses in Israel and Palestine have faced a “wall of impunity,” with perpetrators getting away with their crimes. And as with all crimes everywhere, when people are never punished for them, the same crimes tend to keep happening again and again.

Yesterday’s move at the International Criminal Court (ICC) offers a first step that opens the door to justice through fair trials.

The five leading figures named include three from Hamas and two from the Israeli government.

On the former side, there was Yahya Sinwar, head of Hamas in Gaza; Mohammed Diab Ibrahim Al-Masri, head of Hamas’s military wing; and Ismail Haniyeh, head of Hamas’s political bureau.

The prosecutor listed eight separate accusations against these Hamas leaders of  war crimes and crimes against humanity. These include extermination, murder, taking hostages, rape, and torture, among others.

On the latter side, the prosecutor named Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel’s prime minister; and Yoav Gallant, Israel’s minister of defence.

The prosecutor listed seven separate accusations against these Israeli leaders of war crimes and crimes against humanity. These include starvation of civilians as a method of warfare, and extermination and/or murder, among others.

Many welcomed the prosecutor’s move, but reaction in some quarters was harsh, perhaps most notably by those US politicians ( Republicans and Democrats, including Biden) who want to be seen supporting Israel.

Some argued that, by including individuals from both sides in his request, the prosecutor suggested moral equivalence between Hamas and the government of Israel. Supporters of Hamas and supporters of the Israeli government objected to any moral equivalence, each for their own reasons.

But all authorities and warring parties are obligated by international law and its protections for civilians, no matter what the other side does. Karim Khan was clear on this in his  statement yesterday:

“Today we once again underline that international law and the laws of armed conflict apply to all. No foot soldier, no commander, no civilian leader – no one – can act with impunity.”

He went on to say rightly that nothing could justify the taking of hostages or the targeting of civilians, and nothing could justify wilfully depriving civilians, including countless children, the basic necessities of life.

What happens next, as ICC judges decide on these applications for arrest warrants, will be worth watching. Expect more attempts to interfere in the work of the ICC, from the US (not an ICC member, by the way) and elsewhere.

ICC member countries should defend the ICC’s independence against these hostile pressures, including by making clear statements supporting the court’s independence.

The ICC prosecutor’s move yesterday was a step toward much needed justice in the region, ten years after the ICC first began its inquiry into the situation in Palestine. The victims of the region, on all sides, deserve it.

229.

20  mei 2024

Hostilities in the Gaza Strip and Israel
Flash Update #168

People being forcibly displaced from Rafah. Photo by UNRWA

Key Highlights

Nearly 40 per cent of Gaza’s population have been displaced over the past two weeks, many of whom have already been displaced multiple times.

• The Health Cluster warns of a further surge in malnutrition and communicable diseases due to large scale displacement towards areas that lack food, water and other basic necessities.
• The Ministry of Health appeals for support to address acute shortages of medications.

Gaza Strip Updates

• Israeli bombardment from the air, land, and sea continues to be reported across much of the Gaza Strip, resulting in further civilian casualties, displacement, and destruction of houses and other civilian infrastructure. Ground incursions and heavy fighting also continue to be reported, especially in Jabalya and eastern Rafah.
• Between the afternoons of 17 and 20 May, according to the Ministry of Health (MoH) in Gaza, 259 Palestinians were killed and 391 were injured, including 106 killed and 176 injured in the last 24 hours. Between 7 October 2023 and 20 May 2024, at least 35,562 Palestinians were killed and 79,562 were injured in Gaza, according to MoH in Gaza.
• The following are among the deadliest incidents reported between 16 and 19 May:  
  • On 16 May, at about 14:50, four Palestinians, including a pregnant woman and her unborn baby, were reportedly killed when a house was hit in Jabalya Refugee Camp.
  • On 17 May, at about 0:55, six Palestinians were reportedly killed when a house was hit on Al Falouja Street in Jabalya.
  • On 18 May, at about 10:00, 15 Palestinians were reportedly killed and others injured while trying to return to their homes in areas of Jabaliya Refugee Camp from which Israeli forces withdrew. 
  • On 18 May, at about 12:30, 28 Palestinians, including ten women and ten children, were reportedly killed and others injured when a residential square was hit in Mashrou’ Beit Lahiya near Kamal Adwan Hospital, in North Gaza.
  • On 18 May, at about 11:00, 12 Palestinians were reportedly killed and others injured when Iqra’ Library was hit in central Jabalya Refugee Camp.
  • On 18 May, at about 14:00, four Palestinian men were reportedly killed and others injured when a house was hit in Khuza'a area, in Khan Younis.
  • On 19 May, at about 1:00, 31 Palestinians were reportedly killed and others injured when a house was hit in the New Camp of An Nuseirat, in Deir al Balah.
• Between the afternoons of 17 and 20 May, three Israeli soldiers were reported killed in Gaza and one died of injuries sustained on 15 May. As of 20 May, 282 soldiers have been killed and 1,745 soldiers have been injured in Gaza or along the border in Israel since the beginning of the ground operation, according to the Israeli military. In addition, according to the Israeli media citing official Israeli sources, over 1,200 Israelis and foreign nationals, including 33 children, have been killed in Israel, the vast majority on 7 October. Between the afternoons of 17 and 20 May, the Israeli military announced that it has recovered the bodies of four Israelis from Gaza; as of 20 May, it is estimated that 128 Israelis and foreign nationals remain captive in Gaza, including fatalities whose bodies are withheld.
• On 18 May, the Israeli military issued a new evacuation order for all or parts of 10 neighbourhoods in the western part of North Gaza governorate covering 7.7 square kilometres. Since 6 May, six evacuation orders have been issued encompassing 61 square kilometres; these include two orders for 37.1 square kilometres in Rafah and four orders for 24.4 square kilometres in northern Gaza. To date, 285 square kilometres, or about 78 per cent of the Gaza Strip, have been placed under evacuation orders by the Israeli military; this encompasses all areas north of Wadi Gaza, whose residents were instructed to evacuate in late October, as well as specific areas south of Wadi Gaza designated for evacuation by the Israeli military since 1 December.
• The forced displacement of thousands of people from Rafah and in northern Gaza continues, many of whom have already been displaced multiple times. According to UN estimates, between 6 and 18 May, more than 900,000 people or nearly 40 per cent of Gaza’s population have been displaced; these include about 812,000 displaced from Rafah and more than 100,000 people displaced in northern Gaza. Displaced people from Rafah are currently seeking shelter in Khan Younis and Deir al Balah on any open land available, including access roads and agricultural land, as well as in damaged buildings that have not been structurally assessed. The Shelter Cluster has assessed that the majority of people who were forced to leave Rafah need shelter assistance, yet there are no tents and very few shelter and non-food items left for distribution in Gaza. On 18 May, UNRWA Commissioner General, Philippe Lazzarini, noted that people are moving without safe passage or protection and arrive in areas, such as Al Mawasi, which are already crammed and lack safe water supplies, sanitation facilities, and “minimal conditions to provide emergency humanitarian assistance in a safe and dignified matter.” Lazzarini further emphasized that no one and no place is safe in Gaza: “The claim that people in Gaza can move to ‘safe’ or ‘humanitarian’ zones is false. Each time, it puts the lives of civilians at serious risk.”  
• On 15 May, a rapid assessment carried out by humanitarian organizations in two IDP sites, which comprise 500-700 tent-size shelters each, pointed to makeshift dwellings being made of blankets, nylon, and foraged materials. Tents located directly on the beach slope were often unstable, and poorly protected from the elements, with solid waste from the nearby elevated areas rolling down at them and into the sea. The sites lacked water storage capacity, water distribution points and affordable drinking water. With no electricity, and cooking gas and wood being too expensive, families were resorting to burning trash and plastic to cook. Unsanitary pits and buckets were also used as informal latrines. Furthermore, health professionals at the assessed displacement sites needed support in establishing or improving local health points. Under international humanitarian law, civilians – whether they move or stay – must be protected. Wherever they are in Gaza, their essential needs, including food, shelter, water and health, must be met.
• The Health Cluster warns of a further surge in malnutrition and communicable diseases, including skin rashes, diarrheal illnesses and Hepatitis A, due to large scale displacement towards areas that continue to lack basic necessities such as water and food. Meanwhile, critical health facilities have become inaccessible due to their presence within or near areas affected by evacuation orders, disrupting people’s access to essential healthcare services including kidney dialysis, non-communicable disease management, maternal health, child health, and trauma care services. These include four hospitals, four primary health care centres, and 21 medical points, in Rafah and two hospitals, five primary health care centres, and 16 medical points in northern Gaza. WFP partners have also lost access to 101 distribution points for malnutrition prevention activities in Rafah and nine UNRWA nutrition sites have been similarly affected or closed, the Nutrition Cluster reports.
• As of 20 May, 15 of Gaza’s 36 hospitals are partially functioning and several of them are no longer providing inpatient services. The abrupt halt to all medical evacuations outside Gaza since 7 May, following the closure of Rafah Crossing, has further exacerbated bed shortages at hospitals. The Health Cluster estimates that since 7 May, some 700 critically ill and injured patients have been unable to leave Gaza to receive needed medical treatment elsewhere. Between 7 October and 18 May, 46 per cent (5,957 out of 12,761) of critical patients who submitted requests for medical evacuation were approved and 38 per cent (4,895) were medically evacuated abroad. 
• In North Gaza, both Al Awda and Kamal Adwan hospitals are in areas subject to evacuation orders. Al Awda Hospital has been besieged and is currently inaccessible, the Health Cluster reports. A number of patients and health workers remain inside the facility, with Médecins Sans Frontières warning that, “amid nearby fighting, the hospital has now run out of drinking water.” Meanwhile, access to Kamal Adwan Hospital is increasingly difficult; intense hostilities have reportedly occurred in the vicinity of the hospital and resulted in an increased influx of injured patients to the already overstretched facility. On 19 May, the MoH appealed for support from all humanitarian and international institutions to help address acute shortages of medications necessary for the provision of emergency and primary health care as well as other health services. MoH warned that hospitals and other service delivery points have zero stocks, which threatens the lives of patients. 

Funding

• As of 20 May, Member States have disbursed about US$835 million out of $3.4 billion (24 per cent) requested to meet the most critical needs of 2.3 million people in Gaza and 800,000 people in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, between January and December 2024. This includes about $623 million out of $600 million (104 per cent) requested for January-March 2024 and about $212 million out of $2.8 billion (7.5 per cent) requested for the Flash Appeal launched on 17 April to cover the period between April and December 2024. For funding analysis, please see the Flash Appeal Financial Tracking dashboard.
• The oPt HF has 118 ongoing projects, for a total of $72.5 million, addressing urgent needs in the Gaza Strip (85 per cent) and West Bank (15 per cent). In light of the updated Flash Appeal, the HF has allocated an additional $22 million to bolster prioritized HF-funded projects in Gaza. Since 7 October, the oPt HF has mobilized $90 million from Member States and private donors, designated for programmes throughout Gaza. A summary of the oPt HF activities and challenges in April 2024 is available through this link and the 2023 Annual Report of the oPt HF can be accessed here. Private donations are collected directly through the Humanitarian Fund.

228.

Adalah Justice Project –21 mei 2024 

As we continue to push for a permanent ceasefire, now is the time to continue the momentum by dismantling material support for Israeli apartheid and genocide.

Our local governments, state governments, unions, pension funds, universities, places of worship, and other institutions are directly supporting the Israeli military and government by investing billions in Israel Bonds. 

“Israel Bonds”–direct loans to the Israeli military and government, the majority of which come from institutions and individuals in the U.S.–provide crucial, unrestricted financial support for all aspects of Israel’s system of total domination over Palestinian life and the Israeli military’s current genocide in Gaza.

Together, we should disrupt the flow of funds to the Israeli government, disrupting “business as usual” — including the business of Israel's apartheid regime and ethnic cleansing of Palestinians. RSVP for the teach-in here.

In solidarity,

Adalah Justice Project

227.

20 mei 2024

Today's headlines

‘Operation al-Aqsa Flood’ Day 227: ICC seeks arrest warrants for Netanyahu and Galant, Sinwar; half of Gaza’s population ‘on the road,’ says UN

Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians continue to flee Rafah as Israel’s invasion advances further into the city. Meanwhile, ICC prosecutor Karim Khan seeks arrest warrants for Israeli and Palestinian leaders over the Gaza genocide and October 7.

Read more

Strengthening our movement in times of crisis: a historic task of the Palestinian liberation movement

Palestinian Youth Movement

The Palestinian struggle is at a critical juncture. We must come together to breathe conviction and clarity into our movement. Join us May 24–27 for The People’s Conference for Palestine!

Read more

The ‘NYTimes’ finally publishes a comprehensive indictment of ‘Jewish terrorism’ against Palestinians

James North

The New York Times has astonished its readers by publishing a long indictment of a subject it has purposely ignored for years: “Jewish terrorism” against Palestinians.

Read more

Biden refuses to abandon the normalization fantasy

Mitchell Plitnick

The Biden administration refuses to abandon the farcical cornerstone of its policy in the Middle East: a normalization deal between the Saudis and Israel.

Read more

ATL to GAZA: Free Palestine and Stop Cop Cities

Black Alliance for Peace - Atlanta

From Atlanta to Palestine, our struggles are inextricably intertwined, and the latest round of police violence against protesters proves this.

Read more

226.

19 mei 2024

Over the last few weeks, there's been a noticeable shift in Israeli public sentiment and we’ve received signs indicating the emergence of a new wave of refusal. Increasingly, Israelis view the ongoing fighting not merely as a matter of self-defense aimed at bringing hostages home, but rather as an enduring political war with a right-wing agenda.
Moreover, there's growing exposure to the harrowing realities in Gaza, a first for many Israelis. These developments have led to a rise in acts of refusal, particularly among reservist soldiers, some of whom are now expressing their refusal publicly. In light of this challenging atmosphere, many refusers prefer to refrain from publicly refusing. It's crucial for us to demonstrate to them that they are not alone, that support exists, and that we will stand by them during difficult times.
 . The petition's message reads:TO: Israeli conscientious objectors,

We, citizens of countries around the world, support your decision to refuse to take part in the Gaza genocide despite the persecution you face.

Not only is refusal to participate in war crimes a moral imperative, it is crucial to ending the horrors of the war. By withdrawing your cooperation and disobeying, you are undermining Israel’s ability to continue destroying Gaza.

We want you to know that many around the world support your courageous action, and hereby vow to help you in any way we can. Together, we can end this massacre. We at RSN are committed to supporting the refusers. They need all the support they can get as they stand against the Israeli army and face persecution. Sign the support petition and send it to your community.  Let's show refusers, as well as those considering refusal, that they are not alone, and that we have their backs!

In solidarity,

Mattan Helman
Executive Director
Refuser Solidarity Network

225a.

19 mei 2024

Today's headlines

‘Do No Harm’: A week in the life of ‘democracy’ and the betrayal of the university student

Generation Z forced the world to stop and respond to the Israeli genocide in Gaza. In return, they are being punished by the same system implicated in the killing.

The ‘ancient desire’ to kill Jews is not Hamas’s. It’s the West’s.

Joe Biden's claim that Hamas’s October 7 attacks were “driven by ancient desire to wipe out the Jewish people" is ahistorical and dangerous. In fact, Jewish history shows that antisemitism is a Western problem.

Unpacking the Israeli campaign to deny the Gaza genocide

A recent media flurry over the number of Palestinians killed in Gaza amounts to nothing more than genocide denial. This campaign to discredit the Gaza health ministry is simply a strategy to allow the Gaza genocide to continue.

225.

18 mei 2024

Today's headlines

Joe Biden’s attending Morehouse College’s commencement is an insult to the Black radical tradition

Marq Riggins and Sydney Jael Wilson 

As students at Atlanta’s HBCUs, we recognize that the struggles of the Black and Palestinian communities are interconnected. Because of this, Joe Biden’s upcoming commencement address at Morehouse College is an incredible slap in the face.

Morehouse says it will shut down commencement if students protest Biden speech

Michael Arria

When President Joe Biden gives the commencement speech at Morehouse College this weekend, it might be a short one. Administrators at the historically black college have warned the event will be stopped if there are protests over Gaza.

224.

18 mei 2024

Your Activist Scoop

• Hit the streets in Washington, DC tomorrow for the Nakba 76 march, and then join us for the People’s Conference for Palestine in Detroit the following weekend, hosted by Palestinian Youth Movement and cosponsored by USCPR and other organizations.
  

TELL CONGRESS TO END THE ONGOING NAKBA

223.

17 mei 2024

Today's headlines

South Africa returns to the ICJ to demand a stop to the Israeli genocide in Gaza

David Kattenburg

South Africa returned to the ICJ to argue for an immediate halt to Israel's genocidal assault on Gaza warning that a full Rafah invasion is "the last step in the destruction of Gaza and its Palestinian people.”

South Africa, Ireland, Palestine, and political strategy

Declan Kearney

Sinn Féin National Chairman Declan Kearney on the paradigm shift required within the Palestinian struggle to win.

South Africa FM: ‘We will not rest until Palestine’s freedom is realized.’

Naledi Pandor

Foreign Minister Dr. Naledi Pandor on the indivisible bond of solidarity between South Africa and the Palestinian people, "forged by the crucible of the two nations’ respective liberation struggles."

How the war killed my mother

Tareq S. Hajjaj

Today, I sit in Egypt with my wife and son. I thought my mother would be with us. Rest in peace, my beloved. I am so sorry I couldn't save you.

222.

17 mei 2024

Hostilities in the Gaza Strip and Israel
Flash Update #167

Displaced people in Al Mawasi getting water provided by tankers, 17 May 2024. Photo by OCHA/Yasmina Guerda

Key Highlights

• The ongoing influx of displaced people into Khan Younis and Deir al Balah continues to strain dwindling resources to respond to humanitarian needs.
• As of 11 May, WFP-supported distributions of special nutritional foods to pregnant and breastfeeding women and children under five have been suspended in Rafah but continued on a limited basis in Khan Younis and Deir al Balah.
• Only five bakeries are operational in all of Gaza and 11 have ceased operations, the Food Security Cluster reports; limited amounts of supplies have entered Gaza since 6 May and remain largely insufficient to address the soaring needs.
• The movement of Emergency Medical Teams in Gaza remains highly constrained, including due to growing insecurity, according to the Health Cluster.

Gaza Strip Updates

• Israeli bombardment from the air, land, and sea continues to be reported across much of the Gaza Strip, resulting in further civilian casualties, displacement, and destruction of houses and other civilian infrastructure. Ground incursions and heavy fighting also continue to be reported, especially in Jabalya and eastern Rafah. As of 17 May, Rafah Crossing remains closed. Kerem Shalom Crossing is operational, but the prevailing security and logistical conditions are hampering humanitarian aid deliveries at scale. 
• Between the afternoon of 15 and 10:30 on 17 May, according to the Ministry of Health (MoH) in Gaza, 70 Palestinians were killed and 120 were injured, including 31 killed and 56 injured in the last 24 hours. Between 7 October 2023 and 17 May 2024, at least 35,303 Palestinians were killed and 79,261 were injured in Gaza, according to MoH in Gaza. 
• The following are among the deadliest incidents reported between 14 and 16 May:  
  • On 14 May, at about 14:30, seven Palestinians were reportedly killed when a house was hit in Beit Lahiya in North Gaza.
  • On 15 May, at about 1:00, five Palestinians, including a girl, were reportedly killed and others injured when a house was hit in Al Bureij Refugee Camp. 
  • On 15 May, at about 2:00, four Palestinians were reportedly killed when their house was hit on Old Gaza Street in Jabaliya, in North Gaza.
  • On 15 May, at about 16:30, five Palestinians were reportedly killed and 15 injured when a group of Palestinians were hit in Al Jala Street, in Gaza city.
  • On 16 May, at 00:25, four Palestinians were reportedly killed and others injured when a house was hit in central Rafah.  
  • On 16 May, at about 4:35, several Palestinians, including children and women, were reportedly killed when a residential building was hit in Abu Iskandar area in Ash Sheikh Radwan, in Gaza city. 
  • On 16 May, at about 11:50, five Palestinians, including two children and two women, were reportedly killed and others injured when a residential building was hit east of the European Gaza Hospital in eastern Khan Younis.
• Between the afternoons of 15 and 17 May, six Israeli soldiers were reported killed in Gaza. As of 17 May, 279 soldiers have been killed and 1,723 soldiers have been injured in Gaza or along the border in Israel since the beginning of the ground operation, according to the Israeli military. In addition, according to the Israeli media citing official Israeli sources, over 1,200 Israelis and foreign nationals, including 33 children, have been killed in Israel, the vast majority on 7 October. As of 17 May, it is estimated that 132 Israelis and foreign nationals remain captive in Gaza, including fatalities whose bodies are withheld. 
• The ongoing influx of internally displaced persons (IDPs) into Khan Younis and Deir al Balah continues to strain dwindling resources to respond to humanitarian needs. Between 6 and 16 May, according to the UN, nearly 640,000 people were displaced from Rafah, including about 40,000 people displaced on 16 May. According to the Shelter Cluster, there are no remaining stocks of shelter materials inside Gaza. Moreover, on 14 May, UNICEF Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa, Adele Khodr, highlighted that the recent ground operations in Rafah and northern Gaza have heightened concerns about access to clean water and sanitation across Gaza: “In the north, vital wells have suffered great damage, while in Rafah at least eight facilities are down, impacting…  people, many of them children who will likely revert to contaminated water and become seriously ill. When water fails, children suffer the most.” In addition to inadequate infrastructure, “civilians – already exhausted, malnourished, and facing numerous traumatic events – are now facing increased death, injury, and displacement among the ruins of their communities. The very humanitarian operations that became the only lifeline for the whole population across the Strip are threatened,” Khodr warned. 

• On 17 May, in parallel to reports on first shipments arriving at the new floating dock off Gaza’s shore, OCHA spokesperson Jens Laerke said that “any and all aid into Gaza is welcome by any route. However, getting aid to people in need, into and across Gaza, cannot and should not depend on a floating dock.” Humanitarian agencies have stressed that land routes are the most viable, effective and efficient aid delivery method, which is why all crossing points need to open. Partners are finalizing operational plans to ensure readiness to handle aid once the floating dock is properly functioning, while ensuring the safety of staff.
• The food security situation in Gaza remains dire, with ongoing closures and inaccessibility exacerbating critical shortages of food, water, and fuel. The World Food Programme (WFP) reported on 15 May that its food and fuel stocks would run out in a matter of days. More than 3,000 metric tons of food in main warehouses have become inaccessible by food security partners due to ongoing hostilities. According to the Egyptian Red Crescent, as of 16 May, 1,574 out of about 2,050 trucks that remain stuck in Al Arish on the Egyptian side of Rafah Crossing carry critical food items. Limited amounts of supplies have entered Gaza since 6 May and remain largely insufficient to address the soaring needs; six trucks carrying food aid entered Gaza via Kerem Shalom Crossing on 11 May, 27 trucks carrying flour entered through the same crossing on 15 May, 121 trucks carrying food items entered through Erez Crossing on 6 and 8 May, and 156 trucks carrying flour were reported to have arrived in northern Gaza via West Erez (Zikim/As Siafa) entry point between 12 and 15 May, the Food Security Cluster reports. As of 16 May, 11 bakeries in southern Gaza have ceased operations due to fuel and supply shortages and ongoing hostilities and only five remain operational in the Gaza Strip, including four in Gaza city and one in Deir al Balah. These conditions have forced partners to conduct small-scale distributions with limited stocks, providing reduced rations and prioritizing Khan Younis and Deir al Balah governorates that have been receiving hundreds of thousands of IDPs from Rafah over the past ten days. As of 11 May, WFP-supported distributions of special nutritional foods to pregnant and breastfeeding women and children under five have also been suspended in Rafah but continued on a limited basis in Khan Younis and Deir al Balah.
• On 16 May, water engineers at Khan Younis municipalities reported that water and sanitation services in the governorate have collapsed due to ongoing hostilities and closure of the crossings. Vital infrastructure, such as wells, water tanks, distribution networks, desalination plants, sewage stations and drainage networks have sustained damages estimated at US$40 million in the water sector and $20 million in the sanitation sector, they added. Destroyed infrastructure includes 45 out of 60 water wells, nine out of ten main water tanks, 350 out of 700 kilometres of water pipes, and 70 kilometres of the main drainage networks, according to the same source. The engineers additionally noted that repair and restoration efforts have been rendered impossible by the closure of the crossings, and shortages in urgent maintenance supplies have been compounded by the destruction of all power generators and the governorate’s emergency and central warehouses. Ongoing displacement from Rafah to Khan Younis has further exacerbated the water and sanitation conditions, with sewage overflow and solid waste accumulation spread across roads, displacement camps and the rubble of destroyed homes and resulting in catastrophic health and environmental impacts. The engineers called for an urgent intervention to facilitate the entry of fuel and resources through the crossings and prevent a humanitarian catastrophe from unfolding, including death from thirst.
• The healthcare system in Gaza continues to deteriorate, with the delivery of critical medical supplies to hospitals located within the evacuation zones severely disrupted, UNICEF reports. The provision of basic services at nine primary healthcare centres and 37 medical points in Rafah and North Gaza has been similarly hampered by high insecurity and recent evacuation orders, according to the Health Cluster. Moreover, health facilities that maintain some level of functionality are facing rising shortages of essential medical supplies and have been forced to ration fuel. On 14 May, the Palestine Red Crescent Society highlighted that the continuous interruption of the entry of fuel into Gaza “threatens the complete collapse of the healthcare system, and shutdown of the remaining hospitals if fuel is not provided for power generators, ambulances, water desalination stations, and sewage networks.” Restrictions on the entry of tents and building equipment into Gaza also limit the ability of health partners to establish new temporary health facilities. While 18 Emergency Medical Teams (EMTs) continue to be deployed across the Strip, their movement remains highly constrained, including due to growing insecurity. On 14 May, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) warned that “relentless fighting and bombing has led to a massive influx of patients at the Al Aqsa Hospital,” where 46 of the 117 patients who were brought to the emergency room on 10 and 11 May alone succumbed to their wounds; these “mass casualty incidents are becoming more frequent,” MSF added.

Funding

• As of 17 May, Member States have disbursed about $783 million out of $3.4 billion (23 per cent) requested to meet the most critical needs of 2.3 million people in Gaza and 800,000 people in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, between January and December 2024. This includes about $623 million out of $600 million (104 per cent) requested for January-March 2024 and about $160 million out of $2.8 billion (6 per cent) requested for the Flash Appeal launched on 17 April to cover the period between April and December 2024. For funding analysis, please see the Flash Appeal Financial Tracking dashboard.
• The oPt HF has 118 ongoing projects, for a total of $72.5 million, addressing urgent needs in the Gaza Strip (85 per cent) and West Bank (15 per cent). In light of the updated Flash Appeal, the HF has allocated an additional $22 million to bolster prioritized HF-funded projects in Gaza. Since 7 October, the oPt HF has mobilized $90 million from Member States and private donors, designated for programmes throughout Gaza. A summary of the oPt HF activities and challenges in April 2024 is available through this link and the 2023 Annual Report of the oPt HF can be accessed here. Private donations are collected directly through the Humanitarian Fund.

221.

17 mei 2024

De vier van rechtse tot extreem-rechtse partijen, die nu de nieuwe Nederlandse regering zouden moeten gaan uitmaken, scharen zich dus volledig achter Israël en zijn genocidale belangen. Ons land blijft dan ook, als dit aan hem ligt, de genocide van Israël, geholpen door de V.S, met volle kracht steunen.Deze vier rechtse partijen erkennen, zo blijkt weer eens, alleen het bestaansrecht van de staat Israël. Niets over veiligheid voor Palestijnen. Niets over een Palestijnse staat. Niets over zelfbeschikkingsrecht voor Palestijnen.

Vrede, veiligheid en gelijkheid
Er kan alleen veiligheid zijn voor Israëli's als er veiligheid is voor Palestijnen. Er kan alleen vrijheid en veiligheid zijn voor Palestijnen als er veiligheid is voor Israël. Er kan alleen vrede en veiligheid zijn als er gelijkheid is voor alle burgers. Zolang er illegale bezetting, onderdrukking en apartheid zijn, zal niemand in vrede en veiligheid kunnen leven.

Die boodschap zullen wij tijdens de komende kabinetsperiode blijven uitdragen, aan de regerende partijen, aan de nieuwe oppositie en aan de Nederlandse bevolking. 

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

Livestream | Bekijk ons evenement van vanmiddag in Pakhuis de Zwijger

Vanmiddag om 15.00 uur gaat bestuurslid van The Rights Forum Berber van der Woude in gesprek met vertegenwoordigers van Artsen voor Gaza, Palästina Kongress, Jüdische Stimme en European Legal Support Centre. De humanitaire situatie in Gaza zal aan bod komen, evenals de repressie van voorvechters van Palestijnse rechten in landen als Nederland en Duitsland.

Wij betreuren dat de Palestijns-Britse arts Ghassan Abu-Sittah niet persoonlijk bij het evenement aanwezig zal zijn. Hoewel de door Duitsland aan hem opgelegde 'administratieve ban' door de rechter is opgeheven, heeft de Nederlandse staat deze uitspraak niet tijdig weten uit te voeren. Het verschil in handelingssnelheid van de regering om het Duitse inreisverbod over te nemen, en om dat vervolgens weer op te heffen, is op zijn minst opmerkzaam te noemen. Wel is het de bedoeling dat dokter Abu-Sittah via livestream een bijdrage aan het programma zal leveren.

Herdenking van de Nakba in teken dreigende genocide in Gaza

Met een onvoorstelbare vernietingsdrift heeft Israël, in de afgelopen zeven maanden, Gaza totaal verwoest en onleefbaar gemaakt. Honderdduizenden Palestijnen zijn vermoord, gewond en in hun gezondheid ondermijnd. De grote meerderheid van de 2,3 miljoen Palestijnen op de vlucht gedreven.

Als Rutte een catastrofe in Rafah zou willen voorkomen, zou hij nú moeten handelen

Premier Rutte heeft zijn Israëlische collega Netanyahu publiekelijk te kennen gegeven: ’Don’t Do It’, ‘Doe het niet.’ Daarmee doelde hij op een Israëlische aanval op Rafah, de Palestijnse stad in het zuiden van de Gazastrook, aan de grens met Egypte. Rutte betitelde zo’n aanval, als zou dit voor hem en de Nederlandse regering een ‘game changer zijn, met grote politieke gevolgen’.

Die aanval is nu begonnen. En natuurlijk trekt Rutte ook hier weer zijn keutel in. De man moet zo langzamerhand wel lijden aan een ontzettende constipatie! Inmiddels zijn Israëlische  tanks de stad binnengedrongen. En is Rafah is door Israëlische troepen omsingeld en afgesneden van alle humanitaire hulp. In het oosten en centrum wordt gevochten. Naar verluidt zijn 450 duizend Palestijnen de stad ontvlucht. De beelden van duizenden berooide Palestijnen die zich een weg banen door de ruïnes van hun land zijn mensonterend. Maar Rutte houdt ook hier weer zijn klep dicht: dus weer geen enkel woord van kritiek op zijn ‘vriend’ Netanyahu. Laat staan enigerlei vorm van aktie!

Een Palestijnse familie vlucht weg uit de belegerde stad Rafah. Veilige gebieden bestaan echter niet meer in Gaza. © OCHA / Olga Cherevko

De Tweede Kamerfractie van Volt heeft het demissionaire kabinet per motie opgeroepen een nationaal sanctiepakket samen te stellen, en hetzelfde te bepleiten op Europees niveau. Haast is geboden!

Dat Nederland Israël tot dusver zijn gang heeft laten gaan, is niets minder dan een nieuwe verbijsterende aanslag op de internationale rechtsorde en de humaniteit. Nu moet gehandeld worden, en snel.

SANCTIES TEGEN ISRAËL – EN WEL NU !!

The Rights Forum roept de regering met de petitie Handen af van Rafah op tot sancties tegen Israël. Ben je het daarmee eens? Teken dan de petitie en help die te verspreiden.

Teken de petitie!

Studentenprotest | Relatie met Israëlische universiteiten is onhoudbaar

Verstrengeld in onrecht
Nederlandse universiteiten worden al zeker twintig jaar aangesproken op hun relaties met Israëlische academische partners. De reden daarvoor is bekend: samenwerken met een regime van bezetting en kolonisering, en met de instituties en instellingen die dat steunen, leidt tot medeplichtigheid. Er bestaat geen excuus voor.

Het recent verschenen boek Towers of Ivory and Steel – How Israeli Universities Deny Palestinian Freedom bevestigt die conclusie. Daarin beschrijft de Israëlische academisch onderzoekster Maya Wind de veelkoppige, institutionele vervlechting van de Israëlische universiteiten met het nationale militair-industriële complex, en met het regime van bezetting, kolonisering en apartheid dat Israël over de Palestijnen uitoefent

Na de onbestrafte moord op Shireen Abu Akleh is Israël journalisten blijven vermoorden

Tweede Kamer
De dood van Abu Akleh leidde twee jaar geleden in de Tweede Kamer tot gespierde taal. Zelfs het CDA sprak van een ‘brute moord in koelen bloede’ die moest leiden tot veroordeling van de dader(s). CDA-minister van Buitenlandse Zaken Wopke Hoekstra werd door zijn eigen fractie opgeroepen daar ‘alles voor uit de kast te halen’, zodat de moord niet in ‘de doofpot’ zou belanden.

Daar bleef het bij. Er heeft geen gerechtigheid plaatsgevonden, de moord is zo diep mogelijk in de doofpot gestopt en het deksel is stevig aangestampt. Ook de Tweede Kamer liet het passeren. Het is geen wonder dat het doden van journalisten voor de Israëlische bezetter een routineklus is geworden.

En van Nederland heeft die daarbij al helemaal niets te vrezen!! Een nieuwe schande. Die niet zonder meer voorbij kan worden gelaten!

220.

16 mei 2024

Today's headlines

Israeli army withdraws from Zeitoun area after sustaining casualties, intensifies combat in Jabalia and Rafah

Qassam Muaddi

Israel’s war minister declares opposition to Israeli military control of Gaza as Netanyahu insists on continuing the war. Meanwhile, the Israeli army killed five Palestinians in the West Bank, including a student on Nakba day.

The Right of Return to Free Palestine

Salman Abu Sitta

76 years later, Palestinian return to the homes and lands we were expelled from in 1948 is feasible and, of course, legal. To Palestinians, it is also sacred and inevitable.

Rain is Coming

Mohammed El-Kurd

Mohammed El Kurd on the ongoing Nakba, and the present revolution.

Returning to Zarnouqa

Haidar Eid

On the 76th anniversary of the Nakba, "Returning to Zarnouqa" tells a story of generational displacement, genocide, and the inevitability of Return.

219.

15 mei 2024

218.

15 mei 2024

De studentenprotesten die internationaal plaatsvinden hebben succes! Ook in Nederland, waar nu al drie hogescholen in de kunst- en designwereld Nee zeggen tegen samenwerking met Israël. In het buitenland zijn al eerder successen te melden. Zoals 76 universiteiten in Spanje die Israël nu boycotten, het rijkste college in Cambridge gaat desinvesteren, het Trinity College in Dublin stopt samenwerking met Israël.

De protesten, bezettingen en kampementen leiden internationaal en zeker ook in Nederland tot veel geweld. Dat heeft tot veel kritiek geleid en de verklaring daaromtrent vind je ook in deze nieuwsbrief.

En vandaag 15 mei is het 76 jaar geleden dat de Nakba begon. Dat is ook het moment om verantwoordelijkheid te eisen en ons nog meer in te zetten voor het ontmantelen van het apartheidsregime.

Ook kan de campagne tegen EBS in Utrecht nog steeds steun gebruiken!

Een strijdbare groet van het docP team 

Academische boycot in Nederland van start!

Inmiddels drie kunst en design hogescholen gaan samenwerking met Israël stopzetten.

Wie volgt?

76 jaar Nakba. Eis actie en verantwoording om de genocide en de apartheid te stoppen

76 jaar Nakba. Eis actie en verantwoording om de genocide en de apartheid te stoppen

Terwijl we Nakba-dag herdenken, weigeren we werkeloos toe te kijken als louter getuigen van onrecht. We eisen actie, verantwoordelijkheid en transformatieve verandering om een toekomst van waardigheid, gerechtigheid en bevrijding voor het Palestijnse volk te verzekeren. De gedwongen verdrijving van ongeveer 750.000 inheemse Palestijnen uit hun huizen markeerde het formele begin van een regime van […] Het bericht 76 jaar Nakba

Lees Meer

Stop het geweld tegen demonstranten!

Help mee met de campagne tegen EBS in Utrecht

217.

15 mei 2024

UPCOMING EVENTS

LIVE FROM HAIFA: VIRTUAL DELEGATION

REGISTER FOR THE LIVE FROM HAIFA VIRTUAL DELEGATION HERE 

DONATE TO EYEWITNESS PALESTINE

216.

15 mei 2024

Hostilities in the Gaza Strip and Israel
Flash Update #166

People being displaced from Rafah. Photo by OCHA

Key Highlights

• A UN staff member was killed and another injured when their vehicle was struck while en route to the European Gaza Hospital in Khan Younis.
• Access to critical health services continues to shrink and displacement is on the rise as additional evacuation orders are issued and military operations intensify.
• The Palestinian Civil Defense teams report facing enormous challenges in conducting their work and saving lives amid significant resource shortages. 
• Israeli settler attacks displace the last two remaining families in Ein Samiya herding community in Ramallah governorate.

Gaza Strip Updates

• Israeli bombardment from the air, land, and sea continues to be reported across much of the Gaza Strip, resulting in further civilian casualties, displacement, and destruction of houses and other civilian infrastructure. Ground incursions and heavy fighting also continue to be reported in Jabaliya, Deir al Balah, and eastern Rafah. As of 15 May, Rafah Crossing remains closed. Kerem Shalom Crossing is operational, but the prevailing security and logistical conditions are hampering humanitarian aid deliveries at scale.
• Between the afternoons of 13 and 15 May, according to the Ministry of Health (MoH) in Gaza, 142 Palestinians were killed and 314 were injured, including 60 killed and 80 injured in the last 24 hours. Between 7 October 2023 and 15 May 2024, at least 35,233 Palestinians were killed and 79,141 were injured in Gaza, according to MoH in Gaza. 
• The following are among the deadliest incidents reported on 13 May:  
  • On 13 May, at about 0:50, four Palestinians were reportedly killed and others injured when a house was hit in Al Brazil neighborhood in eastern Rafah.
  • On 13 May, at about 11:15, four Palestinians were reportedly killed and others injured when a house was hit in Jabaliya, North Gaza.
  • On 13 May, at about 17:30, four Palestinians were reportedly killed and others injured when a house was hit on Yaffa Street, in Gaza city. 
  • On 13 May, at about 2:25, 11 displaced Palestinians were reportedly killed when Al Awala School was hit in An Nuseirat Refugee Camp, in Deir al Balah. 
  • On 13 May, at about midnight, at least 29 Palestinians were reportedly killed and others injured when a three-floor residential building sheltering at least 50 internally displaced persons (IDPs) in the vicinity of Jam’iya Mosque in An Nuseirat, in Deir al Balah, was hit. Many people remain under the rubble.
• On 13 May, a UN staff member was killed, and another was injured when their UN vehicle was struck while en route to the European Gaza Hospital in Khan Younis. Expressing sorrow about this incident, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, Martin Griffiths, emphasized: “Parties must take all feasible precautions to spare civilians, including UN personnel and humanitarian workers.” Since the onset of hostilities, at least 262 aid workers have been killed in Gaza, including 193 UN staff.
• Between the afternoons of 13 and 15 May, one Israeli soldier was reported killed in Gaza. As of 15 May, 273 soldiers have been killed and 1,712 soldiers have been injured in Gaza or along the border in Israel since the beginning of the ground operation, according to the Israeli military. In addition, according to the Israeli media citing official Israeli sources, over 1,200 Israelis and foreign nationals, including 33 children, have been killed in Israel, the vast majority on 7 October. As of 15 May, it is estimated that 132 Israelis and foreign nationals remain captive in Gaza, including fatalities whose bodies are withheld. 
• On 13 May, according to preliminary information received by OHCHR from UN and NGO partners, as well as media sources, two buses carrying 76 Palestinian detainees from Gaza were released in Al Qarara area in northeastern Khan Younis. The detainees were instructed to continue their journey on foot and reportedly reached different locations in Deir al Balah and Khan Younis, including Al Aqsa and Nasser hospitals. 
• On 14 May, the Palestinian Civil Defense (PCD) stated that its teams continue to face enormous challenges in conducting their operations in Gaza gripped by resource shortages. The lack of essential equipment, vehicles, and fuel has made it difficult for PCD to retrieve thousands of bodies trapped under rubble and reach people in need of rescue. The PCD appealed for an immediate intervention by the UN, the International Red Cross, and the international community to put pressure on Israeli authorities to facilitate PCD operations and ensure they have the necessary fuel and heavy equipment for rescue operations to save lives. PCD warned that existing reliance on primitive tools to recover thousands of bodies would take about six years to be complete. 
• On 14 and 15 May, the Israeli military issued two new evacuation orders for all or part of 19 neighbourhoods in northern Gaza, bringing to five the number of orders issued since 6 May in Rafah and northern Gaza. As of 15 May, according to the UN, nearly 600,000 people have been displaced from Rafah, including about 150,000 people in the past 48 hours. Another about 100,000 people have been displaced in northern Gaza, the UN estimates. To date, 285 square kilometres, or approximately 78 per cent of the Gaza Strip, have been placed under evacuation orders by the Israeli military; this encompasses all areas north of Wadi Gaza, whose residents were instructed to evacuate in late October, as well as specific areas south of Wadi Gaza designated for evacuation by the Israeli military since 1 December. As families continue to be displaced, many for the fifth time since the onset of hostilities, Israeli-designated “humanitarian zones” for the displaced remain unsafe, according to Save the Children (SCI); medical personnel at the SCI Emergency Health Unit in Al Mawasi have been treating children wounded in airstrikes taking place in such zones. All parties must respect international humanitarian law, at all times. This means that civilians must be protected, and their essential needs – including food, shelter, water and health – must be met, wherever they are in Gaza and whether they move or stay. 
• Access to critical health services continues to shrink as additional evacuation orders are issued and military operations intensify in areas where these services are found. On 14 May, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) announced that it had withdrawn from the Indonesian Field Hospital after providing post-operative care for injured patients at the facility since December 2023. The NGO reported taking this decision following the “advancing offensive” in Rafah and the “pattern of systematic attacks against medical facilities and civilian infrastructure” it had witnessed since the beginning of the conflict, adding that its teams have endured 26 violent incidents since October 2023, including “airstrikes damaging hospitals, tanks being fired at agreed deconflicted shelters, ground offensives into medical centres, and convoys fired upon.” While downsizing its footprint in Rafah, MSF has now resumed operations at the Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Younis, providing orthopaedical surgery and care for burns, among other services. 
• According to the Health Cluster, as of 15 May, the Indonesian field Hospital in Rafah is now out of service and there are eight functional field hospitals. These include a field hospital that has been newly established by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in coordination with the Palestinian Red Crescent Society (PRCS) to help address the “overwhelming” scale of medical needs in Rafah. The 60-bed facility, which has mass casualty management and triage capacities, will be able to provide emergency surgical care, obstetric, maternal, newborn and pediatric care, as well as outpatient services. Referring to the increasingly dire health situation in Gaza, the ICRC warned that patients with serious and chronic illnesses, including diabetes, pneumonia or other infectious and non-communicable diseases, are not receiving the attention they need as overstretched doctors and nurses must constantly prioritize the treatment of the critically wounded. 
• On 13 May, Oxfam warned about the rising risk of deadly epidemic outbreaks in Gaza, including cholera, as new forced displacement and intensified military activity in Rafah compound the “lethal cocktail” of over-crowding, waste and sewage accumulation, malnutrition and heat. Highlighting the scale of devastation of water and sanitation infrastructure, Oxfam reported that five of its WASH projects in Gaza - including three wells, a desalination plant and a sewage pumping station that served over 180,700 people a day - have been severely damaged or destroyed since 7 October 2023, with another seven projects also believed to have been impacted.  
• Destruction of infrastructure for the management of solid waste in Gaza, fuel shortages and access constraints have severely hampered effective waste management in Gaza, heightening health and environmental risks. According to UNDP, crucial facilities have sustained extensive damage, including: the administrative buildings of the two Joint Service Councils (JSCs) in northern and southern Gaza; about 100 waste collection vehicles and landfill machinery; a microwave for medical waste disposal; and two medical waste collection vehicles in North Gaza's Juhr Al-Deek area. The medical waste treatment device (microwave) was a UNDP project funded by the oPt Humanitarian Fund in 2020 at a cost of US$750,000 and had helped protect against COVID-19 contamination through proper waste management of 1.5 tons of medical waste per day, benefiting patients, health workers, and waste handlers at healthcare facilities. In Khan Younis, the medical waste treatment building and a microwave for medical waste management with operating capacity of one ton per day have also sustained damage. Additionally, only two out of 12 autoclaves at hospitals and central medical labs are still operational, at Al-Aqsa and European hospitals. In response to these challenges, UNDP and UNRWA have recently initiated fuel distributions to support solid waste management in Rafah, Khan Younis, and Deir al Balah and have facilitated between January and April the collection of approximately 45,000 tons of waste by the JSCs. UNDP estimates that at least 270,000 tons of waste have accumulated at temporary dumping sites recently established by municipalities adjacent to residential areas due to the lack of viable options, including the inaccessibility of Johr ad Deek landfill east of Gaza city and Al Fukhari (new Sufa) landfill east of Khan Younis; these include 170,000 tons in the south and 100,000 tons in northern Gaza. Rising temperatures are exacerbating the impact solid waste accumulation is having on people, such as generating insects and attracting wild animals, which is particularly severe at IDP sites. UNDP warns: “If the issue of solid waste, including medical waste, is not adequately addressed and resolved, it will exacerbate the suffering of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip….and severely impact public health, particularly with limited access to healthcare services. Moreover, it will contaminate agricultural lands and the aquifer as pollutants seep into the soil.” 
• Humanitarian aid missions aimed at delivering life-saving interventions continued to encounter varying levels of facilitation and hindrance, underscoring the ongoing complexity of the operating environment in Gaza. Between 1 and 14 May, 39 (59 per cent) humanitarian aid missions to northern Gaza were facilitated by Israeli authorities, 5 (8 per cent) were denied, 14 (21 per cent) were impeded, and 8 (12 per cent) were cancelled. Moreover, 79 (69 per cent) aid missions to areas in southern Gaza that require coordination were facilitated by Israeli authorities, 19 (17 per cent) were denied, 4 (3.5 per cent) were impeded, and 12 (10.5 per cent) were cancelled. Facilitated missions encompassed the delivery of food, medical supplies and fuel.

West Bank Update (7-13 May)

Latest development: On 15 May, Israeli forces shot and killed a 20-year-old Palestinian man and detained another injured Palestinian at Beit El DCO checkpoint at the northern entrance of Al Bireh city in Ramallah governorate. The man was shot during a demonstration marking An Nakba Day.

• On 12 May, Israeli forces shot and killed a 27-year-old Palestinian man and injured a 16-year-old boy during an operation by Israeli forces in Balata Refugee Camp in Nablus governorate. According to a local human rights organization, citing eyewitnesses, the killed man was unarmed and a bystander.  During the operation, Israeli forces bulldozed the main entrance of the camp, causing minor damage. Another 23 Palestinians sustained injuries, including four by live ammunition, during search-and arrest operations by Israeli forces, mainly in Tell (Nablus), Azzun (Qalqiliya) and Birzeit (Ramallah), and during the demolition of a house in Beit Ummar (Hebron) that belonged to a Palestinian prisoner. In addition, on 8 May, a member of Israeli forces died of wounds sustained during the 4 May operation by Israeli forces in Deir al Ghusun.
• Since 7 October, 480 Palestinians have been killed, including 116 children, of whom 463 were killed by Israeli forces, ten by settlers, and seven where it remains unknown whether the perpetrators were Israeli settlers or soldiers. In addition, around 5,040 Palestinians have been injured in the same period, 34 per cent of whom by live ammunition. Ten Israelis have also been killed and at least 105 have been injured in the West Bank since 7 October; these include six members of Israeli forces killed and 70 injured.  
• During the reporting period, Israeli settlers perpetrated 23 attacks against Palestinians that led to injury and/or damage to property. Thirteen (13) other settler incidents were reported that did not result in property damage, including intimidation of herders and entry into Al Aqsa Mosque compound where tensions have remained high. Overall, since 7 October, 848 Israeli settler attacks against Palestinians resulted in Palestinian casualties (87 incidents), damage to Palestinian-owned property (669 incidents), or both casualties and damage to property (92 incidents).  
  • On 9 May, Israelis threw Molotov cocktails toward the offices of UNRWA headquarters in Sheikh Jarrah, in East Jerusalem, following the occurrence of several other attacks in recent weeks including stone throwing and chanting racist slogans. As a result, extensive damage to the outdoor areas was reported but there were no casualties. In the aftermath of the attack, UNRWA temporarily closed its offices in East Jerusalem. 
  • On 13 May, a group of Israeli settlers attacked and caused damage to several trucks carrying food items en route from Hebron to Gaza at Tarqumiya Barrier checkpoint near Beit ‘Awwa village in Hebron governorate. Some of the trucks were attacked upon crossing the checkpoint and others when directed by Israeli forces at the checkpoint to take an alternative route along the Barrier. Settlers threw stones, punctured tires, and dumped goods on the ground. According to eyewitnesses, one of the trucks was also burnt completely. 
  • On 12 May, Israeli settlers physically assaulted and injured a Palestinian farmer in Khalet An Nahla in Bethlehem governorate and injured a sheep in Al Hathroura herding community in Jericho governorate. In another incident in N’lin village in Ramallah governorate, Israeli settlers attacked a Palestinian farmer and called in Israeli forces, who arrived at the scene and seized the farmer's tractor for two days.  
  • On 12 May, Israeli settlers set fire to 20 dunums of Palestinian-owned land in Al Mughayyir village in Ramallah governorate. As a result, 11 olive trees were completely burnt and ten others sustained damage. Earlier on 8 May, Israeli settlers grazed their sheep on five dunums of Palestinian land cultivated with barley also in Al Mughayyir village, damaging the crops. In addition, Israeli settlers burnt at least 600 hay bales in Duma village, in Nablus governorate, and vandalized a donor-funded, under-construction residence in Umm at Tiran community in Hebron governorate. 
• On 9 May, a number of families from Mantiqat Shib al Butum in the firing zone of Masafer Yatta were granted access by Israeli forces to their agricultural land located near the settlement of Mitzpe Yair for the first time since February 2024 but found that 600 olive trees planted on 60 dunums of land had been vandalized due to sheep grazing by Israeli settlers. A fence was also destroyed and a shed erected, also presumably by Israeli settlers. On 7 May, Israeli settlers cut a wire feeding electricity to 50 houses in ِAl Mazra’a al Qibliya village, in Ramallah governorate, causing a blackout for ten hours. 
• On 13 May, the last two remaining families Ein Samiya herding community (Ramallah), comprising 19 people including 11 children, were forced to leave their community amid attacks by Israeli settlers and moved to Kafr Malik village. Settlers stole the empty tents, a vehicle and fodder and have remained in the area, prohibiting the families from returning. As of today, all 29 households in the community (156 people) have become displaced. Across the West Bank, since 7 October, some 233 Palestinian households comprising 1,385 people, mostly herding families, including 654 children, have been displaced amid settler violence and access restrictions.  
• Between 7 and 13 May, the Israeli authorities demolished 18 Palestinian-owned houses due to the lack of Israeli-issued building permits in Area C of the West Bank, including in Azzun (Qalqiliya), Furush Beit Dajan and Duma (Nablus), Al Jiftlik herding communities (Jericho), Al Jwaya (Hebron). As a result, at least 82 Palestinians, including 50 children, were displaced. These include 28 who were displaced in one incident in Duma village on 9 May, when five homes and five livelihood structures were demolished. In total, 17 agricultural and other structures were demolished for lacking building permits in Area C during the reporting period, affecting 89 people.
• On 9 May, five Palestinians were displaced, and one girl was injured by shrapnel, when Israeli authorities detonated explosives in a house in Shu’fat Refugee Camp in East Jerusalem on punitive grounds. The apartment, located on the eighth floor of a nine-story building, belonged to a Palestinian who was shot and killed by an armed Israeli civilian after shooting and killing two Israeli men and injuring four others on 16 February 2024 in Kiryat Malachei in Israel. The house was immediately sealed off following the incident. 
• An inter-agency damage assessment in the aftermath of the 6 May operation by Israeli forces in Tulkarm Refugee Camp and its adjacent areas shows that ten homes have been rendered uninhabitable and 250 other houses sustained damages either by military bulldozers or various types of explosives. As a result, 69 people, including at least 20 children, were displaced.      
• Since 7 October, over 1,950 Palestinians have been displaced as a result of home demolitions carried out or ordered by Israeli authorities.  Since the beginning of the year, about 850 Palestinians have been displaced compared to 463 displaced during the same period in 2023. While levels of displacement due to the lack of building permits or on punitive grounds remained the same, there was a significant increase in displacement in the course of operations carried out by Israeli forces, mainly in refugee camps in and near Tulkarm and Jenin cities. 

Funding

• As of 15 May, Member States have disbursed about US$765 million out of $3.4 billion (22 per cent) requested to meet the most critical needs of 2.3 million people in Gaza and 800,000 people in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, between January and December 2024. This includes about $623 million out of $600 million (104 per cent) requested for January-March 2024 and about $142 million out of $2.8 billion (5 percent) requested for the new Flash Appeal launched on 17 April to cover the period between April and December 2024. For funding analysis, please see the Flash Appeal Financial Tracking dashboard.
• The oPt HF has 118 ongoing projects, for a total of $72.5 million, addressing urgent needs in the Gaza Strip (85 per cent) and West Bank (15 per cent). In light of the updated Flash Appeal, the HF has allocated an additional $22 million to bolster prioritized HF-funded projects in Gaza. Since 7 October, the oPt HF has mobilized $90 million from Member States and private donors, designated for programmes throughout Gaza. A summary of the oPt HF activities and challenges in April 2024 is available through this link and the 2023 Annual Report of the oPt HF can be accessed here. Private donations are collected directly through the Humanitarian Fund.

215.

15 mei 2024

It’s been 221 days and 76 years of an ongoing catastrophe, known as the Nakba, that Palestinians have been enduring since 1948.

Today, May 15, marks 76 years of an ongoing forced displacement of Palestinian communities. It marks the 76 years of constant attacks and violence against our people at the hands of the occupying Zionist regime. For more than seven decades, millions of Palestinians have been made refugees, including my own family.

Like you, I have been watching horrifying videos and images of Palestinian families being displaced from their homeland. I can’t help but think of my own family’s hardship of being displaced and barred from returning home. This is why I made the decision to do something to support these families as if they were my own.

Today I arrived in Cairo to help with efforts to assist displaced Palestinian families from Gaza. After surviving a genocide for months they are now in a new country with very little support. There is a network of individuals and small organizations coordinating mutual aid to families who are currently displaced in Egypt and those who are repeatedly being displaced in Gaza.

Organizers are on the ground tirelessly trying to help support the needs of refugees from Gaza who are not only struggling to adapt to a new reality with the trauma they have experienced, but also the constant fear for their loved ones trapped inside of Gaza, while the Israeli army intensifies their attacks with US-supplied weapons.

On this Nakba day, along with your advocacy efforts to end this genocide, I am asking you to continue to open your hearts and help support mutual aid efforts.

Unlike in 1948, there is technology and connection that make these efforts more efficient and sustainable. In real time, you can make an impact for those who have lost so much.

By giving today to mutual aid efforts, you can contribute to the collective care that will help relieve some of the mounting pressure on these families until they can return home to rebuild their lives.

In solidarity, Adalah Justice Project,

Rand Jitan

214.

15 mei 2024

At the 76th Anniversary of the Nakba, We Honor Our History of Resilience

May 15th, 2024 - On this day, Palestinians mark the Nakba, or “Catastrophe,” of 1948 with clear reminders that the Nakba is still ongoing, or mustamirra. The genocide that Israel is committing now in Gaza is a manifestation of the ongoing Palestinian Nakba. Today, we see the Israeli state continuing the crime of ethnic cleansing with land grabs in Jerusalem and the West Bank, and with daily attacks on Palestinians across Palestine. As American Muslims for Palestine, we recognize that this colonial project is bolstered by the United States, which ignores the fascism of Zionist apartheid and reinforces Israel’s weaponization of religion to rationalize the war crimes we see in Palestine.
 
On Nakba Day, we remember that this is not new. Israel was established by means of brutal massacres that were documented even by Israeli historians (Deir Yassin, Kafr Qasim, Tantura, etc.), through ethnic cleansing, and an attempt to erase Palestinians both from their land and global collective memory. Israel destroyed hundreds of Palestinian villages and changed the names of other cities and villages to similar, Hebrew names. Israel’s policy of denying self-determination to Palestinians in the West Bank is understood as an occupation; but in fact, this denial of self-determination over natural, cultural, and economic resources and repression of Palestinians’ individual rights are part of daily life wherever you go in Palestine.

The United States and other Western countries have supported Zionist claims and crimes at the expense of the indigenous people of Palestine. The U.S. has also provided cover for Israel's crimes in international forums, such as the UN Security Council, and provided it with the weapons it has used, and still uses, to oppress the Palestinian people, displace them, and steal their land.
 
But the Palestinian people, over more than a hundred years, have proven that they are a people that can’t be abolished and uprooted. Palestinian steadfastness and determination have always been a source of inspiration for many national liberation movements. Today, Gaza embodies another symbol of the steadfastness of the Palestinian people and their adherence to their rights, freedom, and dignity—despite the brutality of the genocide committed by Israel against them.
 
The international community faces a pivotal moment today to correct the historical wrong committed against the Palestinian people. The United States is facing the same pivotal historical moment. The public deception involved in portraying Israel as a perpetual victim no longer deceives younger Americans. Opinion polls prove this and confirm that “Israel’s exceptionalism” is an illusion—and is morally and politically wrong. Israel is an apartheid and genocidal state and must be treated as a rogue state.

Elected officials must realize that Americans and the world no longer accept unlimited and unconditional complicity in Israeli crimes against the Palestinian people. At the 76th anniversary of the Nakba during the ongoing Nakba in Gaza, we are more determined than ever to dismantle this colonial oppression through our advocacy. We have steadfastness for what it takes to live freely.

Throughout the week, AMP has launched a special educational video series titled “Nakba76: Gaza in Context.” This series highlights key elements of Israel’s brutality vis-a-vis Gaza and its besieged residents, which grounds the current genocide in its proper context.

In solidarity,
American Muslims for Palestine (AMP)

213.

15 mei 2024

Today marks 221 days of war in Gaza and the 76th commemoration of the Nakba, a day on which Palestinians mourn the loss of land, lives, and the displacement of 700,000 refugees between 1947-1949. As the city of Hebron suffers from heavy restrictions and military patrols, we want to share a few updates about our work and encourage you to support our countersurveillance project. We managed to provide relief for nearly 600 struggling families in Hebron. And we managed to send our volunteers to Europe on a resistance speaking tour. The New York Times also just published a feature on our Executive Director Issa Amro.

Our team carried in boxes of aid through the checkpoints to hard-to-reach vulnerable families in the restricted parts of Hebron.. It is now time to take on our Eyes on Hebron campaign of countersurveillance to keep vulnerable families safe!

Over the last seven months, Hebron families have suffered from intense lockdown, violence and threats from armed extremist Israeli settlers while suffering through an economic crisis of severe unemployment. Families were going hungry. Thanks to our team on the ground, we distributed aid to the mothers of Hebron's most vulnerable families

We sent the Palestinian sisters Sundus and Aysha Azza on a speaking tour to Brussels. Here, they participated in the opening of a photo exhibition with photos taken by women in Hebron. Sundus and Aysha also met with Belgian and European policymakers.

Sundus and Aysha come from a family of refugees from 1948. Now their family is struggling to remain in their home in Hebron while the extremist Israeli settlers next door are trying to force them out of the area.

The New York Times Magazine ran a feature story on our Executive Director Issa Amro, detailing his life and work under Israeli occupation.

“Welcome to the daily life of all my neighbors,” said Amro, who was waiting on the other side of the barrier for us. No sooner had we started to walk toward Amro’s home than we ran into another checkpoint, an impromptu roadblock manned by a pair of soldiers. One asked Amro where he was going.

A documentary by Al Jazeera visits Issa in his heavily restricted house in Hebron. 

With peace,

Friends of Hebron

Working for Peace and Justice

212.

15 mei 2024

Today's headlines

Biden is sending Israel another $1 billion in weapons

Michael Arria

Congressional aides say that the Biden administration will send Israel another $1 billion in weapons and ammunition.

Read more

Why the Israeli army is invading northern Gaza a second time

Tareq S. Hajjaj

The Palestinian resistance factions have regrouped in northern Gaza and are launching an offensive against Israeli forces, hoping to disrupt the ongoing invasion of Rafah.

UAW rank-and-file tells its leadership: don’t cross Palestinians’ picket line!

UAW Labor for Palestine

Rank-and-file members of UAW Labor for Palestine are demanding that their union's leadership withdraws their dues money from Israel Bonds and divest from genocide.

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15 mei 2024

Readers’ Recommendations

210.

15 mei 2024

 
The forced expulsion of approximately 750,000 Indigenous Palestinians from their homes marked the formal beginning of a regime of settler-colonialism, apartheid, military occupation, and now genocide that persists to this day.
 

The BDS movement reiterates the unyielding spirit of the Palestinian people in our legitimate struggle for freedom, return, justice, and self-determination, at a time when  our people are experiencing the world’s first live-streamed genocide.
 

As Israel pounds Rafah with bombs supplied by the US and Europe, we draw urgent attention to an imminent catastrophe against the 1.4 million Palestinians seeking refuge there.

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This Nakba Day, share our call to action!

We call out the complicity of states, corporations and institutions that have enabled Israel’s ongoing Nakba and shielded it from accountability for 76 years.

We applaud the creativity, principles, and bravery of the global solidarity movement, particularly the student-led uprising aimed at divestment from companies enabling Israel’s crimes and ending academic relations with its deeply complicit universities.

The BDS movement calls for:

- Pressuring the ICC to immediately issue arrest warrants against Israeli leaders and members of the military complicit in genocide.

- Street protests and peaceful disruptions of business as usual targeting complicit governments, companies and institutions.

- Pressuring governments to impose immediate unilateral and multilateral lawful sanctions against Israel, starting with a military-security embargo, as called for by the UN Human Rights Council and dozens of UN human rights experts.

- Expelling Israel from the UNGA and other international fora, including the International Olympics Committee, FIFA, Eurovision, etc.

Every day of impunity granted to apartheid Israel brings further devastating consequences to Indigenous Palestinians and to what’s left of international law’s credibility.

In solidarity,
 
The Palestinian BDS

209.

15 mei 2024

In this edition of the newsletter we focus on Rafah, in the south of the Gaza Strip, where Israel's military offensive has led to more internal displacement and exacerbated an already dire humanitarian situation.

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14 mei 2024

Did Biden really suspend weapons to Israel?

Email Congress 

This is the final stage of genocide.

5 minute read 

What we're reading.

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14 mei 2024

As we commemorate 76 years of the ongoing Nakba, Palestinian lives are on the line in Rafah, throughout Gaza, and across the West Bank

Since October, Israel has murdered over 42,000+ Palestinians in Gaza including 16,000+ children, and thousands more are unaccounted for under the rubble. An estimated 1.5 million Palestinians have fled their homes and are sheltering in Rafah. They are facing violent Israeli bombardment and many are on the brink of starvation because Israel has blocked food, water, and medical supplies. 

But the U.S. government is still arming Israel despite grave violations of U.S. and international law. Tell President Biden and Congress: Stop arming genocide!

President Biden has paused some arms shipments but is still poised to send others. On May 11, House Republicans introduced a bill that would force the U.S. State Department to send weapons to Israel, no matter what. The American public has made it clear that we do not want any more of our tax dollars funding genocide.

Take action today and tell Congress and President Biden to stop arming genocide. Additionally, we’ve partnered with other Pro-Palestine organizations and created a toolkit for you to take action throughout the week. 

Israel rejected a ceasefire deal and began a full-scale assault on the 1.5 million civilians in Rafah. Palestinians in Rafah are sheltering in tents and are on the brink of starvation due to Israel’s consistent blockading of food, water, and medical supplies from entering Gaza. We cannot be silent in the face of an ongoing genocide. Tell Congress and President Biden to stop arming genocide and pressure Israel for a permanent ceasefire NOW.  

In solidarity,
Americans for Justice in Palestine Action

206.

14 mei 2024

Today's headlines

UC San Diego students condemn university stance

Morgen A. Chalmiers

We as UCSD graduate students are outraged at the university's double standards as it violently cracks down on the Gaza Solidarity Encampment while inviting a Zionist archeologist complicit in the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians.

How one organization is providing mental health care to Palestinians living through genocide

Amid the chaos and destruction of war, the Gaza Community Mental Health Program stands as a glimmer of hope for agonized and neglected Palestinians struggling to survive the Israeli genocide.

205.

14 mei 2024

On February 5, 2024, Israeli naval gunfire hit an UNRWA aid truck carrying food. © 2024 UNRWA

Israeli Strikes on Aid Workers in Gaza

Lire la version en français / Hier die deutsche Ausgabe lesen

In the past seven months, Israeli forces have carried out strikes on humanitarian aid workers in Gaza – not once, not twice, but over and over.

Israel’s attack on the World Central Kitchen convoy, which killed seven aid workers last month, was far from being an isolated “mistake.” The Israeli military has hit aid workers’ convoys and premises at least eight times, according to  a new HRW report, killing or injuring at least 31 aid workers and those with them.

It’s critical to realize here Israel is striking known locations of aid workers on the ground. Aid groups had provided their coordinates to the Israeli authorities through a process used in war zones called “deconfliction.” In humanitarian work, the basic idea is, aid workers tell warring parties where they are, and those warring parties try to avoid hitting them in their military operations.

Communication between warring parties and humanitarians working in the war zone is essential, but when the attacks described in the new report came, Israeli authorities did not issue advance warnings to any of the aid organizations beforehand. Eight strikes on humanitarian aid workers suggests – at the very least – fundamental flaws with the deconfliction system.

If the government of Israel is concerned by this pattern of attacks on aid workers, it should allow international experts to conduct an independent review of the military’s humanitarian deconfliction process.

Israel’s allies ought to pressure Israel to do so and not simply because it’s the right thing to do, but also because they may be connected directly to these military strikes. In at least one of these incidents, Israel apparently made use of weapons and other equipment provided by the US.

Last week, US President Joe Biden announced his administration has “held up” at least one shipment of 3,500 bombs and artillery shells to Israel. This partial pause on weapon transfers didn’t go far enough, but was a step in the right direction.

Other allies have also revised their policies of supplying weapons to Israel. Canada announced it would halt future arms exports. Italy and  Spain also stopped new licenses. In the Netherlands, a  lawsuit forced the government to pause sales of F-35 fighter jet parts.

All governments should suspend military assistance and arms sales to Israel so long as its forces commit systematic and widespread violations of the laws of war – including using starvation as a weapon of war – against Palestinian civilians.

Remember: governments that continue to provide arms to the Israeli government risk being complicit in war crimes.

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13 mei 2024

Hostilities in the Gaza Strip and Israel
Flash Update #165

Palestinians continue fleeing Rafah Governorate. Photo by WHO

Key Highlights

• About 20 per cent of Gaza’s population have been displaced again in the past week, including from Rafah in the south and northern Gaza.
• Fuel shortages are threatening the continuity of health services and limited access to WASH facilities continues to drive a rise in infectious diseases, the World Health Organization reports.
• Recent evacuation orders and intensified military activity in Rafah have forced a reversal in the scale-up of nutrition services while the number of children suffering from acute malnutrition continues to increase, the Nutrition Cluster warns.

Gaza Strip Updates

• Israeli bombardment from the air, land, and sea continues to be reported across much of the Gaza Strip, resulting in further civilian casualties, displacement, and destruction of houses and other civilian infrastructure. Ground incursions and heavy fighting also continue to be reported in Jabaliya Refugee Camp, Gaza city, and eastern Rafah. As of 13 May, Rafah Crossing remains closed and there is a continued lack of safe and logistically viable access to Kerem Shalom crossing. According to Israeli authorities, aid supplies have entered northern Gaza via Erez Crossing on 9 May and via Zikim (Al Siafa) access point on 12 May, and 266,000 litres of fuel have also entered Gaza via Kerem Shalom crossing in the south on 12 May.
• “The war in Gaza has become a moral stain on the conscience of our collective humanity” and has entered “yet another horrifying phase,” stated Assistant Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Deputy Emergency Relief Coordinator Joyce Msuya on 12 May. Describing Gaza as a “hellscape for millions trapped under incessant bombardment,” Msuya indicated that those who have escaped death and injury “now risk losing their lives because of a lack of food, safe water, medicine and healthcare.” Stressing that Rafah and Kerem Shalom crossings are a “lifeline” for the delivery of humanitarian aid into Gaza, the UN Deputy Relief Chief reiterated the Secretary-General’s “longstanding call for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza, and the immediate and unconditional release of hostages” and added: “We also need Israeli authorities to abide by their obligations to facilitate safe, rapid and unimpeded access for humanitarian aid and humanitarian workers. This includes for UNRWA, which has been the backbone of the humanitarian response in Gaza.”
• Between the afternoons of 9 and 13 May, according to the Ministry of Health (MoH) in Gaza, 187 Palestinians were killed and 323 were injured. Between 7 October 2023 and 12 May 2024, at least 35,091 Palestinians were killed and 78,827 were injured in Gaza, according to MoH in Gaza. Moreover, according to the Gaza Government Media Office (GMO) and Palestinian Civil Defense, there are some 10,000 people reportedly missing or under rubble in Gaza. GMO also reports that overall fatality figures purportedly include more than 14,000 children and 9,000 women. The MoH documents the full identification details of casualties and has recently published the breakdown of 24,686 out of 34,622 fatalities for whom full details have been collected by MoH as of 30 April 2024; according to MoH, these reportedly include 7,797 children, 4,959 women, 1,924 elderly, and 10,006 men. The documentation process is ongoing by the MoH. The United Nations teams on the ground in Gaza have been carrying out, where conditions permit, their own independent verification of fatality figures; this process is ongoing.
• The following are among the deadly incidents on 10 and 11 May:
  • On 10 May, four Palestinians, including three children, were reportedly killed, when the vicinity of Tawbah Mosque in Jabaliya Refugee Camp was hit.
  • On 10 May, at about 16:30, at least eight Palestinians were reportedly killed and others injured when a house was hit in An Nuseirat Refugee Camp.
  • On 11 May, at about 1:00, three Palestinians, including a journalist, his wife and child, were reportedly killed when a house was hit in Jabaliya Refugee Camp.
  • On 11 May, at about 1:25, at least nine Palestinians, including five children, were reportedly killed and others injured when a house was hit in Az Zawayda area, in Deir al Balah.
  • On 11 May, at about 4:40, seven Palestinians, including at least four women, were reportedly killed and others injured when a house was hit in Al Maghazi Refugee Camp, in Deir al Balah.
  • On 11 May, at about 6:10, at least five Palestinians, including two women, were reportedly killed and others injured when a house was hit in northeastern Deir al Balah.
  • On 11 May, at about 12:00, ten Palestinians were reportedly killed and others injured when a house was hit in As Sabra neighborhood in Gaza city.
  • On 11 May, at about 19:15, six Palestinians, including a woman and an older man, were reportedly killed when a group of people were hit on Abu Husni Street in Deir al Balah.
  • On 11 May, at about 15:50, nine Palestinians, including at least three children and three women, were reportedly killed and others injured when a house was hit in northwestern Rafah.
• Between the afternoons of 10 May and 13 May, five Israeli soldiers were reported killed in Gaza. As of 13 May, 272 soldiers have been killed and 1,674 soldiers have been injured in Gaza or along the border in Israel since the beginning of the ground operation, according to the Israeli military. In addition, according to the Israeli media citing official Israeli sources, over 1,200 Israelis and foreign nationals, including 33 children, have been killed in Israel, the vast majority on 7 October. As of 13 May, it is estimated that that 132 Israelis and foreign nationals remain captive in Gaza, including fatalities whose bodies are withheld.
• On 11 May, the Israeli military issued a new round of evacuation orders affecting some 34 neighbourhoods in eastern Rafah and North Gaza. Recent evacuation orders cover a total area of 18.6 square kilometres, including 22 neighbourhoods in Jabaliya (12.6 square kilometres) and 12 neighbourhoods in Rafah (six square kilometres). UNRWA estimates that, as of 13 May, nearly 360,000 people have fled Rafah. Another 100,000 people in northern Gaza have so far been displaced, UN agencies estimate. In total, some 20 per cent of Gaza’s population have been displaced again over the past week.
• On 12 May, the Palestinian Red Crescent Society (PRCS) announced that operations had been restored at the ophthalmology, surgery and orthopedics departments of the Al Amal Hospital in Khan Younis. Two new field hospitals have also been established in Rafah, the World Health Organization (WHO) reports, one operated by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the second by MoH in Gaza. This brings to nine the number of field hospitals in Gaza, of which six are in Rafah, two in Khan Younis and one in Deir al Balah. Yet, fuel shortages, insecurity and access constraints are threatening the continuity of health services across Gaza, including, according to WHO, the potential need to expand emergency surgical procedures and referrals in the event of an expanded military operation in Rafah. Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) reported on 11 May that, due to the new evacuation orders issued by Israeli authorities, it had begun referring “the remaining 22 patients at the Rafah Indonesian Field Hospital to other facilities” as it could “no longer guarantee their safety.” Ambulances are also reportedly struggling to reach the European Gaza Hospital in Khan Younis because the main road connecting it to Rafah is blocked due to military activity in eastern Rafah. According to WHO, only two out of 36 hospitals (Nasser and Al Aqsa hospitals), five out of nine field hospitals, 17 out of 89 primary healthcare centres, 23 out of 188 medical points, and 10 mobile clinics are located within the so-called “Humanitarian Area” map shared by Israeli authorities. On 10 May, UNICEF’s Senior Emergency Coordinator in the Gaza Strip, Hamish Young, warned that, if hospitals run out of fuel, all life-saving equipment, such as ventilators and incubators, will stop working. Echoing the same message, UNFPA underscored that life support services for premature babies will lose power, and pregnant women and new mothers will be left without options to deliver their babies safely.
• Fuel shortages threaten the continued operations of the already degraded water desalination plants, water wells and sewage system as well as truck deliveries of life-saving aid to people in need, added Hamish Young of UNICEF. This would result in deaths among children that “can and must be prevented.” “Exhausted and terrified” people, Young stressed, have been resorting to creating improvised toilets by digging holes in the ground around groups of tents, exacerbating the risk of infections. Among all communicable diseases spreading in Gaza, cases of acute watery diarrhea and jaundice syndrome have been rising at a sustained pace, increasing by 22 and 26 per cent, respectively, in the second part of April compared with the preceding 14 days. According to WHO, as of 1 May, over 415,700 diarrheal illnesses and 61,099 cases of acute jaundice syndrome have been documented and limited access to proper WASH facilities continues to contribute to the rise in infectious diseases, including diarrhoea illness and hepatitis A.
• On 11 May, the Coastal Municipalities Water Utility appealed to all international and humanitarian organizations to urgently provide the necessary fuel to operate the electrical generators of WASH facilities. On 12 May, the mayor of Nuseirat also issued a statement warning that basic municipal services, including water wells, sewage pumps, and solid waste collection and transfer mechanisms, would cease functioning in 48 hours due to the depletion of fuel supplies.
• Although some fuel and food supplies have entered Gaza over the past two days, aid supplies remain largely insufficient. Prevailing conditions could aggravate the already catastrophic levels of hunger faced by the population. As of 8 May, WHO reports that 58 children suffering from Severe Acute Malnutrition (SAM) with complications have so far been admitted to three SAM Stabilization Centers operational in Gaza. According to the Nutrition Cluster, at least 70,583 children aged 6-59 months have undergone Mid-Upper Arm Circumference (MUAC) screenings since mid-January, of whom 5,169 have been diagnosed with acute malnutrition, including 3,986 with Moderate Acute Malnutrition (MAM) and 1,183 with Severe Acute Malnutrition (SAM). While a new nutrition stabilization centre and outpatient therapeutic programme have been established at the new International Medical Corps (IMC) field hospital in Deir al Balah, the Nutrition Cluster cautions that the scale-up of nutrition interventions has been reversed in Rafah; due to the latest evacuation orders and military escalation, three out of 22 health facilities and 25 out of 35 medical points providing nutrition services have closed and new services due to open in northern Gaza were put on hold.
• In April, severe access restrictions, coupled with relentless hostilities, air strikes and the general breakdown of law and order, continued to hinder the scaling up of vital humanitarian assistance across Gaza. Throughout April, 10 per cent of missions requiring coordination with the Israeli authorities were denied, preventing the delivery of live-saving food, health and water and sanitation assistance, as well as the medical evacuations of critical patients. A total of 41 missions from southern to northern Gaza also faced protracted delays of over four hours on average, with humanitarian convoys having to wait for extended periods at checkpoints amid high security risks and at times even being forced to abort their missions. The closure of crossings also represented another frequent challenge, with humanitarian organizations being unable to fully utilize the Erez Crossing and the Ashdod port to bring in supplies into northern Gaza. Infrastructural damage, the ubiquitous presence of debris and the threat of unexploded ordnance have further exacerbated access constraints, increasing travel time for humanitarian movements, and often resulting in delays, mission postponements, and cancellations.

Funding

• As of 10 May, Member States have disbursed about US$746 million out of $3.4 billion (22 per cent) requested to meet the most critical needs of 2.3 million people in Gaza and 800,000 people in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, between January and December 2024. This includes about $623 million out of $600 million (104 per cent) requested for January-March 2024 and about $123 million out of $2.8 billion (4 percent) requested for the new Flash Appeal launched on 17 April to cover the period between April and December 2024. For funding analysis, please see the Flash Appeal Financial Tracking dashboard.
• The oPt HF has 118 ongoing projects, for a total of $72.5 million, addressing urgent needs in the Gaza Strip (85 per cent) and West Bank (15 per cent). In light of the updated Flash Appeal, the HF has allocated an additional $22 million to bolster prioritized HF-funded projects in Gaza. Since 7 October, the oPt HF has mobilized $90 million from Member States and private donors, designated for programmes throughout Gaza. A summary of the oPt HF activities and challenges in April 2024 is available through this link and the 2023 Annual Report of the oPt HF can be accessed here. Private donations are collected directly through the Humanitarian Fund.

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13 mei 2024

Today's headlines

‘Operation al-Aqsa Flood’ Day 220: Resistance returns to the north, UNRWA says 300,000 people fled Rafah

The Israeli army has intensified its renewed assault on Jabalia refugee camp and the Zeitoun area in northern Gaza as resistance factions regroup there, months after the Israeli army said it had "defeated Hamas" in the north.

Outside agitators: How the power elite talk about dissent

Mayors, police chiefs, and university heads have defended their violent attacks on student protests by claiming “outside agitators” are the cause of unrest. This racist trope was used during the civil rights movement and is equally obscene today.

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Can you help get this image on a billboard truck outside of the Washington University commencement?

13 mei 2024

Washington University in St. Louis, like many campuses around the country, must be held accountable for their brutal response to protests aimed at stopping the genocide in Gaza.

As we wrote to you last week, Washington University is under scrutiny for repressing an anti-war protest on April 27. Instead of addressing the concerns of its students, faculty, and the community, the university resorted to punitive measures, including withholding degrees, suspending faculty and staff, and even deploying law enforcement to suppress peaceful protests.

The situation has escalated to the point where Washington University has erected fences around its campus, effectively shutting out the surrounding community it claims to serve. Additionally, graduating students have been warned that they will be required to unzip their regalia to make sure that expressions of solidarity with Palestine do not take place during commencement.

Recent events, including the violent beating of a 65-year-old Palestinian-American professor, Steve Tamari, by law enforcement, have underscored the urgent need for action. It is clear that Washington University's actions are not only unjust but also complicit in perpetuating violence and oppression.

Our campaign aims to amplify the voices of those who have been silenced by Washington University's administration.

We are launching a billboard truck initiative to send a powerful message directly to the university leadership.

The truck will demand that Washington University divest from Boeing and put an end to the arrests, beatings, and suspensions of those who dare to speak out against injustice.

If we can get universities to divest from weapons manufacturers and war profiteers like Boeing, we can change the material conditions that are driving this genocide forward - and shift the balance of power permanently.

We believe that by shining a light on Washington University's complicity in genocide, we can compel the administration to listen to its students, faculty, and the broader community.

201.

12 mei 2024

Today's headlines

Princeton Alumni call on university to divest and end complicity in genocide

Princeton Alumni for Palestine

We stand alongside Princeton University students in demanding divestment, boycott, and an end to the university's silence over the genocide in Gaza.

Toronto school promoting Israeli military deemed ‘charity’

Canada’s largest private high school recently organized a genocide solidarity trip in which students cooked for Israeli soldiers. In a sane world, the school’s charitable status would be revoked.

Israel is obliged to let Gaza refugees in: a response to Alice Edwards

UN special rapporteur on torture Alice Edwards is asking Arab states to shoulder the responsibility for the refugees that Israel created. Israel must let them in as the state that is responsible for their displacement and the denial of their rights.

200.

11 mei 2024

Today's headlines

Biden’s shifting ‘red line’ allows Israel to keep getting away with murder

Biden threatened Israel with pulling military aid if it invades Rafah, but Israel is attacking anyway. It won't face consequences so long as Biden remains vague on what amounts to sufficient grounds for suspending military aid.

Read more

Public statement from Emory arrestees

Anonymous Contributor

The arrests and violence against protesters are meant to tire the movement for liberation and scare us into complacency. They are afraid of the power we hold as a collective.

The students did not invent the encampments. We inherited them.

The student intifada draws its conviction from Palestinian and anticolonial resistance.

Biden panders to pro-Israel Jews, who are as reactionary on Israel as evangelicals

A Pew poll shows that when it comes to Israel, American Jews are much closer to white evangelicals than they are to Democratic Party numbers. Democrats want to cut off military aid. By and large, Jews don’t.

How Israel turned hospitals into ‘military targets’ by lying about international law

The bar for hospitals to lose protected status under international law is set very high. Those conditions were not met for any of the 36 hospitals in Gaza that Israel destroyed.

Read more

199.

10 mei 2024

Humanitarian Access Snapshot - Gaza Strip
1-30 April 2024

KEY FIGURES

Access restrictions

Humanitarian operations in Gaza continue to face severe humanitarian access restrictions, including the ongoing closure of key crossings, denials of planned missions, and delays in movements imposed by Israeli authorities. The combination of severe access constraints and ongoing insecurity has resulted in a non-permissive and volatile operational environment for humanitarian actors. Humanitarian organisations must be enabled by all parties to the conflict to safely address the unprecedented levels of need in Gaza.

Insecurity for humanitarian workers and civilians

Intense hostilities in Gaza, including aerial bombardment in densely populated urban areas and military ground operations, pose a significant threat to civilians, including humanitarian personnel, undermining humanitarian access and operations. A Humanitarian Notification System (HNS) informs parties to the conflict about the location of humanitarian premises—such as offices, warehouses and guesthouses—and movements of humanitarian entities, aiming to prevent harm or damage. The HNS does not alter the international humanitarian law (IHL) obligations of parties to the conflict, but aids in informing them about humanitarian presence, thereby supporting their compliance with these obligations. Additionally, the use of HNS by humanitarian partners is entirely voluntary.

On 1 April, seven aid workers employed by World Central Kitchen (WCK) were killed in targeted airstrikes by the Israeli army. Israeli missiles struck a WCK convoy that was coordinating its movements with the Israeli authorities at the time of the strike, after transporting humanitarian food supplies to a warehouse in Deir al Balah. At least 254 aid workers have been killed in Gaza between 7 October 2023 and 30 April 2024, including 185 UN staff members and 27 staff and volunteers from the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS). Persistent hostilities, air strikes, and the general breakdown of law and order in Gaza continue to pose significant security threats to humanitarian personnel and assets. These conditions prompted multiple humanitarian organizations to temporarily pause, suspend, or delay operations.

Access denials or delays

During April, Israeli authorities continued to deny the access of humanitarian organizations to areas where the UN had assessed that coordination with Israeli forces was required, including for life-saving activities. Israeli authorities denied 10 per cent of requested missions in Gaza. Denials were issued for a range of life-saving humanitarian activities and operations, including food assistance, emergency medical and health support, medical evacuations, and critical water, sanitation, and hygiene assistance. This has exacerbated the humanitarian needs of affected people. Emergency medical and health missions were particularly affected by access denials and delays.

On 16 April, a humanitarian organization faced significant delays imposed by the Israeli army totaling more than six hours and 30 minutes during a coordinated mission to Al Awda and Kamal Adwan hospitals in northern Gaza. The mission aimed to deliver essential medical supplies and fuel to the hospitals to support about 10,000 people for two weeks, as well as refer injured patients from northern Gaza to southern Gaza. However, due to prolonged delays imposed by the Israeli army, both the truck transporting medical supplies and the fuel tanker were forced to turn back. Only the objective of patient referral was achieved. Four days later, the organizations attempted the mission again, only to face seven hours of delays, once more disrupting the delivery of essential medical supplies and fuel.

In late March, Israeli authorities barred the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) from operating convoys north of the Israeli forces checkpoint. UNRWA had previously been one of the three agencies providing food assistance in northern Gaza, where more than 300,000 people are currently projected to face Famine (IPC 5) levels of food insecurity.

In addition to denials, humanitarian movements crossing from southern to northern Gaza have faced substantial delays: 41 missions experienced extensive delays of over two hours. The average delay time was 268 minutes (about 4 hours and 30 minutes). Humanitarian convoys are frequently required to wait for extended periods at checkpoints, creating operational bottlenecks and posing security risks due to the prevalence of security incidents and hazards in the surrounding areas. Persistent late openings or complete closures of Israeli military checkpoints impeded humanitarian operations throughout April. Further, humanitarian movements were restricted by the Israeli authorities due to strict checkpoint operating hours and timeframes, often forcing organizations to abort their missions.

Definitions for coordinated missions

Facilitated: The mission is approved by the Israeli Coordination and Liaison Administration (CLA) and proceeded without any impediments caused or imposed by the Israeli army.

Cancelled: The mission is cancelled by the humanitarian organization due to internal reasons.

Impeded: The mission is impeded by the Israeli army and is not able to achieve its objectives fully or partly.

Denied: The mission is denied by CLA.

In April, 21 missions were cancelled, 20 missions were denied and 34 missions were impeded.Throughout April, Erez crossing and Ashdod port had not been made fully available to all humanitarian organisations to bring in supplies into the north of Gaza. In addition, at least one checkpoint operated by Unidentified armed Palestinians was reported by humanitarian actors within Gaza.

Severe road damage and Unexploded Ordinances

Ongoing hostilities have destroyed or otherwise damaged roads and key infrastructure throughout Gaza, posing physical barriers to access and limiting humanitarian movements. Routes that remain available for use by humanitarian organizations are frequently blocked by debris, heavily congested, and contaminated with unexploded ordnance (UXO). An estimated 37.5 million metric tons (MT) of conflict-generated debris are estimated to be present throughout Gaza, with 3.2 million MT attributed to damaged roads. The UN Mine Action Service (UNMAS) reports that a considerable amount of this debris contains UXO, noting that at least 10 percent of fired ammunition potentially fails to function. Clearing all explosive threats in Gaza could take up to 14 years, UNMAS estimates. A UN assessment team surveying Khan Younis on 10 April reported that the streets and public areas were heavily contaminated with UXO, including unexploded 1,000-pound bombs at major intersections and within school premises. The debris is also estimated to contain about 800,000 MT of asbestos and other contaminants, posing serious health and safety issues.

The infrastructure damage increases travel time for humanitarian movements, leading to significant delays, mission postponements and cancellations, and additional security risks. Consequently, the capacity of humanitarian organizations to provide vital assistance to affected people is undermined. Urgent efforts to repair and reopen roads for humanitarian convoys are crucial to ensure the delivery of assistance to those most in need.

Example: Incidents during coordinated missions

On 9 April, a humanitarian organization attempted to implement a coordinated mission to Gaza city with 18,000 litres of fuel. However, like other organizations traveling to northern Gaza, the organization was required to wait at a holding point approximately two and a half kilometers south of the Israeli military Salah Ad Din checkpoint, the the militarized boundary between northern and southern Gaza. The organization awaited clearance from Israeli authorities to proceed through the Israeli army checkpoint. While at the holding point, the fuel tanker encountered mechanical issues, preventing it from restarting. When an accompanying UN vehicle was dispatched to the checkpoint to explain the situation to Israeli soldiers, the team observed a Palestinian man with a gunshot wound to the head, still alive but rapidly losing blood. The organization, in coordination with OCHA, urgently requested permission from Israeli authorities to provide first aid and transport the injured man to an ambulance. While waiting for the approval, live ammunition was fired from the direction of the checkpoint, hitting the fuel tanker’s windscreen. The approval to assist the injured man was never granted, and the man died after more than two hours without medical treatment.

ACCESS CONSTRAINTS ON HUMANITARIAN AID

198.

10 mei 2024

Nederland heeft de Brits-Palestijnse arts Ghassan Abu-Sittah toegang tot het land verboden. Het argument waar Nederland zich achter verschuilt: een Schengen-brede ‘administratieve ban’.

Abu-Sittah zou komende week in Nederland zijn. Hij zou onder andere spreken op een evenement van The Rights Forum op 17 mei in Pakhuis de Zwijger in Amsterdam. Ook zou hij ontmoetingen hebben met Nederlandse Kamerleden en met de Organisatie voor het Verbod op Chemische Wapens in Den Haag.

Opereren in Gaza
Direct na de aanval van Hamas op 7 oktober 2023 en de eerste Israëlische vergeldingsaanvallen, reisde Abu-Sittah namens Artsen zonder Grenzen af naar Gaza. Gedurende zes weken voerde hij er aan de lopende band operaties uit. Veelvuldig stond hij vanuit Gaza de internationale pers te woord over de ramp die zich er voltrok.

Dr. Ghassan Abu-Sittah, midden, voert een operatie uit tijdens het Israëlische offensief tegen Gaza in mei 2021. © Hosam Salem / DAWN

EU-brede ban
Op 12 april werd hem bij aankomst per vliegtuig in Berlijn de toegang tot Duitsland ontzegd. Abu-Sittah zou daar over zijn ervaringen in Gaza spreken op het Palestina Congres. Het congres werd na de eerste spreker door de autoriteiten verboden; Abu-Sittah werd per vliegtuig naar huis gestuurd. ‘Dit is wat medeplichtigen aan een misdaad doen’, zei hij bij die gelegenheid.

Nederland volgt nu het Duitse en Franse voorbeeld. Als reden voor de weigering Abu-Sittah toe te laten wordt slechts verwezen naar de administratieve ban. Nederland had daar, als het had gewild, van af kunnen wijken door een visum te verstrekken dat alleen voor Nederland geldig is.

Vrijheid van meningsuiting
Het is schokkend en wat ons betreft volstrekt onacceptabel dat Abu-Sittah nu ook de toegang tot Nederland wordt geweigerd. Blijkbaar beschouwt onze regering zijn getuigenis als een bedreiging voor de hechte band met Israël en de Nederlandse medeplichtigheid aan de slachtpartij in Gaza. Het besluit druist volstrekt in tegen elementaire vrijheden zoals de vrijheid van meningsuiting.

Daarnaast is het onbegrijpelijk dat Nederland, als gastheer van de belangrijkste instanties op het gebied van internationaal recht, een getuige van oorlogsmisdaden de toegang weigert. En dat terwijl de president van Israël, die publiekelijk genocidale uitspraken heeft gedaan, nog geen twee maanden geleden door onze koning en onze premier hartelijk is ontvangen.

Evenement in Pakhuis de Zwijger gaat door
Ondanks Abu-Sittahs fysieke afwezigheid gaat ons evenement in Pakhuis de Zwijger op 17 mei door.

The Rights Forum bestuurslid Berber van der Woude gaat in gesprek met vertegenwoordigers van Artsen voor Gaza, Palästina Kongress, Jüdische Stimme en European Legal Support Centre. De humanitaire situatie in Gaza zal aan bod komen, evenals de repressie van voorvechters van Palestijnse rechten in landen als Nederland en Duitsland.

Netanyahu vroeg Rutte om druk op Strafhof te zetten

Buitenlandse hulp ingeschakeld
Desondanks hebben de berichten paniek veroorzaakt in Israël, schrijft Middle East Monitor. In een poging de bevelen af te wenden, mobiliseerde Israël op 24 april zijn bondgenoten om het Strafhof onder druk te zetten. Premier Rutte was een van de eersten die door Netanyahu werd gebeld.

Op 28 april verzocht Netanyahu ook de Amerikaanse president Biden om hulp. Een dag later werden in het Amerikaanse Congres zware sancties tegen het hof – en individuele medewerkers – aangekondigd als het de arrestatie van de Israëli’s doorzet.

Missie geslaagd
Netanyahu's missie lijkt geslaagd. Op 3 mei bracht het kantoor van hoofdaanklager Karim Khan een zeldzame verklaring uit. Daaruit blijkt dat het Strafhof en zijn werknemers worden bedreigd en geïntimideerd. Weliswaar wordt niet vermeld tegen welk onderzoek van het hof de agressie zich richt, maar aangenomen wordt dat de door Netanyahu ingeschakelde troepen hun werk hebben gedaan.

Welk aandeel Rutte daarin heeft gehad, is onbekend. Feit is dat Nederland gastland is van het in Den Haag gevestigde Strafhof. Om die reden heeft de regering regelmatig gesteld zich verre te houden van het inhoudelijke werk van het hof. Een rol in de pro-Israëlische intimidatiecampagne zou daar haaks op staan. Als zelfverklaarde ‘hoeder van het internationaal recht’ zou Nederland die zelfs fel moeten veroordelen.

Demonstraties in Amsterdam, Utrecht en andere steden

De demonstraties voor een staakt-het-vuren, tegen de genocide in Gaza en tegen samenwerking van Nederlandse universiteiten met Israëlische instellingen die betrokken zijn bij de onderdrukking van Palestijnen, waren deze week volop in het nieuws.

The Rights Forum staat achter alle vormen van vreedzaam protest en is van mening dat het cruciaal is dat de Nederlandse bevolking zich luid en duidelijk uitspreekt tegen genocide, onderdrukking en bezetting. Wij verwelkomen de inzet van de studenten, docenten en hun medestanders om de Nederlandse medeplichtigheid aan de kaak te stellen en zich daartegen te verzetten.

De komende dagen zijn er in heel Nederland demonstraties gepland. Voor meer informatie daarover raden wij aan de Instagrampagina free.palestine.nl in de gaten te houden. 

Opinie | The kids are alright

In een opiniestuk bedankt bestuurslid van The Rights Forum Berber van der Woude de studenten van de VU, UvA en Amsterdam University College voor hun actie. 'Dat jullie niet meegaan in het verrotte status quo-denken, geeft me hoop voor de toekomst,' schrijft ze.

'De overheid ontruimt het studentenprotest om maar niet geconfronteerd te worden met de ongemakkelijke waarheid: we faciliteren genocide.'

Lees verder >

Jaap Hamburger, voorzitter van Een Ander Joods Geluid, spreekt de studenten op de Roeterseilandcampus toe. © Nikita Shahbazi

Israël sluit kantoren Al-Jazeera

Geen persvrijheid
Al-Jazeera is een van de weinige media met eigen journalisten in de Gazastrook, die live verslag doen van de slachting die Israël er aanricht. In Israëlische media bestaat daar amper aandacht voor. Onbekend is of dat het gevolg is van een zelfverkozen stilte of van de militaire censuur waaraan alle Israëlische media en zelfs columnisten blootstaan.

In tegenstelling tot wat vaak wordt beweerd kent Israël geen vrije pers. In de recent gepubliceerde World Press Freedom Index 2024 van Reporters Without Borders (RWB) zakte het land naar plaats 101.

Oorlog tegen journalistiek
Volgens het in New York gevestigde Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) werden in de oorlog in de Gazastrook tot dusver 97 journalisten door Israël gedood en 16 verwond. Vier journalisten worden vermist; 25 zijn door Israël ‘gearresteerd’. CPJ spreekt van de ‘dodelijkste periode voor journalisten’ sinds het in 1992 data verzamelt.

Opinie | Premier Rutte, voeg de daad bij het woord

Een Israëlische inval in Rafah was volgens premier Rutte in maart een ‘gamechanger’. Laat Nederland nu de innige vriendschap die het zegt te hebben met Israël op de proef stellen, schrijven Laurens Jan Brinkhorst, Jan Pronk & Koos van Dam.

'Voor zover Nederland zijn geloofwaardigheid in dit conflict niet al lang geheel verloren heeft, is dit de tijd om alsnog duidelijk stelling te nemen op basis van de woorden van de premier. [...] Het wordt de allerhoogste tijd om de daad bij het woord te voegen.'

Emotioneel Kamerdebat over antisemitisme schiet in alle opzichten tekort

Een feitelijk debat over antisemitisme blijkt in politiek Den Haag te veel gevraagd. Kamerleden bieden tegen elkaar op met ongefundeerde uitspraken, bestempelen kritiek op Israël tot antisemitisme, en hebben geen oog voor de ervaringen en opvattingen van Joodse Nederlanders.

Dat is onze conclusie na het lange antisemitismedebat van 25 april in de Tweede Kamer. Wij schreven een uitgebreide verslag over het debat, dat in zijn geheel op onze website te lezen is.

197.

10 mei 2024

Hostilities in the Gaza Strip and Israel
Flash Update #164

People leaving Rafah on 7 May 2024 following an evacuation order by the Israeli authorities. Photo by WHO

Key Highlights

• Over 100,000 people already displaced from Rafah are facing dire shortages of shelter, food, water and sanitation services.
• Unless fuel is immediately allowed into Gaza, five hospitals, five field hospitals, 28 ambulances, 23 medical points and 17 primary health care centres will only be able to sustain operations for less than 48 hours, warns the Health Cluster. 
• Eight WFP-supported bakeries in southern Gaza have already ceased operations and four will run out of fuel and supplies in three days.

Gaza Strip Updates

• Israeli bombardment from the air, land, and sea continues to be reported across much of the Gaza Strip, resulting in further civilian casualties, displacement, and destruction of houses and other civilian infrastructure. Ground incursions and heavy fighting also continue to be reported south of Gaza city and in eastern Rafah, including the area of Kerem Shalom and Rafah crossings. Rafah Crossing remains closed since 7 May. On 8 May, OCHA, UNRWA, UN Mine Action Service, and the UN Department of Safety and Security carried out a security assessment at both crossings, which remain heavily militarized. “The closure of the crossings means no fuel. It means no trucks, no generators, no water, no electricity and no movement of people or goods. It means no aid…Civilians in Gaza are being starved and killed and we are prevented from helping them,” stated Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Martin Griffiths. 
• Between the afternoons of 8 and 9 May, according to the Ministry of Health (MoH) in Gaza, 60 Palestinians were killed and 110 injured. Between 7 October 2023 and 9 May 2024, at least 34,904Palestinians were killed in Gaza and 78,514 Palestinians were injured, according to MoH in Gaza. Casualty numbers covering the period until the afternoon of 10 May are not available as of the time of reporting. 
• The following are among the deadly incidents on 7 and 8 May:  
  • On 7 May, at about 15:35, two Palestinian boys were reportedly killed and 17 injured when a house was hit in southern Rafah.
  • On 7 May, at about 23:00, seven Palestinians were reportedly killed and 14 injured when a house sheltering internally displaced persons (IDPs), in Az Zaytoun neighbourhood southeast of Gaza city, was hit. 
  • On 8 May, at about 20:25, five Palestinians were reportedly killed and 16 injured when a house was hit in Tall as Sultan area in western Rafah.
  • On 8 May, at about 17:50, 13 Palestinians were reportedly killed and others injured when a dental clinic was hit in Shawa Square, east of Gaza city.
  • On 8 May, at about 17:50, 11 Palestinians, including four children, were reportedly killed and others injured when the vicinity of Al Ibki Mosque in At Tuffah neighbourhood, east of Gaza city, was hit.
• Between the afternoons of 8 May and 10 May, no Israeli soldiers were reported killed in Gaza. As of 10 May, 266 soldiers have been killed and 1,610 soldiers have been injured in Gaza or along the border in Israel since the beginning of the ground operation, according to the Israeli military. In addition, according to the Israeli media citing official Israeli sources, over 1,200 Israelis and foreign nationals, including 33 children, have been killed in Israel, the vast majority on 7 October. As of 10 May, it is estimated that that 132 Israelis and foreign nationals remain captive in Gaza, including fatalities whose bodies are withheld. 
• In a statement issued on 8 May, the Government Media Office (GMO) announced that a third mass grave had been discovered inside Al Shifa Hospital in Gaza city and that 49 bodies had already been recovered as exhumation efforts continued. The statement added that, with this latest discovery, the number of mass graves found inside Gaza’s hospitals had risen to seven - three at Al Shifa Hospital in Gaza, three at Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Younis, and one in Kamal Adwan Hospital in North Gaza - with 520 bodies recovered in total. On 7 May, responding to a media question on this subject in Geneva, OHCHR spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani indicated that “it is clear that mass graves exist” and reiterated the call for an independent investigation to establish the circumstances in which individuals were killed.
• Since 6 May, UNRWA estimates that some 110,00 people have so far been displaced from Rafah and sought refuge in Khan Younis and Deir al Balah using vehicles, trucks, motorbikes and donkey carts. Reports further indicate that some IDPs have paid NIS1,500-2,000 in transportation fees. Amid a dire shortage of tents available on the market or in stocks of Shelter Cluster partners to support newly arriving IDPs, families have been carrying food items and personal belongings and setting up tents and makeshift shelters on the rubble of destroyed buildings and other places, including in southern Al Mawasi, or moving into empty UNRWA schools in Khan Younis. Multiple informal displacement sites have emerged, particularly south and west of Deir al Balah and west of An Nuseirat Refugee Camp. These areas lack infrastructure and basic services needed to support people’s access to food, water and health care. Fuel shortages continue to hinder the ability of aid actors to address priority needs of IDPs, including shelter, food, water, non-food and hygiene items, and sanitation facilities.
• The closure of Rafah Crossing has abruptly halted all medical evacuations of critically ill and injured patients outside Gaza. In a statement issued on 9 May, the Government Media Office indicated that 159 critical patients, including cancer cases, were prevented from leaving Gaza to receive treatment abroad since 7 May. According to the Health Cluster, prior to the Rafah Crossing’s closure, only 58 per cent of patients for whom medical evacuations were requested had been approved by Israeli authorities (5,857 out of 10,175) and, out of all approved patients, 83 per cent could be evacuated outside Gaza (4,843). The World Health Organization (WHO) and its partners have also been forced to stop evacuations of patients from northern to southern Gaza due to dire shortages of fuel and increasingly shrinking bed capacity at health facilities in the south. 
• The Health Cluster warns that, unless fuel is immediately allowed into Gaza, five hospitals and five field hospitals across the Strip will only be able to sustain operations for less than 48 hours. Similarly affected are 28 ambulances, 17 primary health care centres, 23 medical facilities in Al Mawasi, and ten mobile clinics that provide immunizations, trauma care and nutrition services. Without fuel to run generators, there is a critical risk of losing patients in Intensive Care Units (ICU), including newborns in neonatal ICUs, trauma patients requiring emergency surgeries and pregnant women in need of caesarian sections (C-sections). Furthermore, patients suffering from kidney failure would be deprived of vital hemodialysis treatment. Following the evacuation of An Najjar hospital in eastern Rafah on 7 May, 1,500 patients with kidney failure who previously received treatment at the hospital’s hemodialysis department have been left with limited options that are also subject to fuel availability. At Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Younis, 25 dialysis machines have been installed and are serving 60 patients as of 9 May while additional hemodialysis capacity has been reportedly available at Al Aqsa Hospital in Deir al Balah. The lack of fuel would additionally disrupt the disinfection and sterilization of surgical equipment in hospitals and severely impact referral pathways for patients, the Health Cluster added. The immediate resumption of fuel supply into Gaza is an urgent priority to keep alive what remains of Gaza’s decimated health system, with life-saving health services hanging by a thread. 
• Following the evacuation of An Najjar Hospital, critical patients were transferred to the Rafah Indonesian Field Hospital and Al Kuwaiti Hospital has become the main hospital in Rafah able to provide emergency care, trauma stabilization and patient referrals, subject to fuel availability. With a 36-bed capacity and two Emergency Medical Teams (EMTs) deployed on site, Al Kuwaiti Hospital, alongside two out of four other field hospitals in Rafah, could also potentially provide maternal services to pregnant women should Al Emirati Maternity Hospital in Rafah become inaccessible or inoperable due to the Israeli ground incursion, according to the Health Cluster. In April, UNFPA stationed a 40-foot mobile maternity unit at Al Mawasi Field Hospital operated by the International Medical Corps (IMC); the unit has laboratory equipment and two tents equipped with supplies for both normal deliveries and the management of obstetric complications, including surgical capacity for C-sections and blood transfusions. Two additional mobile maternity units supplied by UNFPA remain stuck at the border, according to WHO. In Deir al Balah, both Al Awda Hospital and the new IMC field hospital are providing maternity services, while in Khan Younis, the recently restored Nasser Medical Complex includes an operational maternity and neonatal ward, added WHO. On 8 May, Médecins Sans Frontières reported that it was suspending its activities at Al-Shaboura Clinic, an important health post where over 8,200 consultations had been provided in April alone, and was handing over its activities at Al Emirati Hospital to the Ministry of Health, relocating its staff to Nasser Medical Complex to “continue to support maternity services in a safer area.” 
• In Khan Younis, the European Gaza Hospital remained accessible as of 9 May and, with support from two embedded EMTs, continued to provide CT scans, neurosurgery and to operate an ICU and burn unit. Overall, 19 EMTs coordinated by WHO continue to operate in five hospitals and seven field hospitals across Gaza, but EMT personnel rotations have not been possible since 7 May due to the closure of Rafah Crossing, lack of fuel and movement challenges. The entry of all medical supplies has similarly stopped since 7 May. In late April, WHO secured a new large warehouse in Deir al Balah and relocated there a sizable volume of medical supplies from its warehouses in Rafah, anticipating that they could become unreachable in the case of an Israeli ground incursion. However, unless the entry of medical supplies via crossings resumes, the Health Cluster assesses that existing stocks will last for approximately three weeks, depending on the number of casualties that the health system will have to absorb in the coming days. 
• The stocks of critical aid supplies, including food and fuel, continue to rapidly dwindle for the fourth consecutive day due to the closure of Rafah Crossing and the lack of safe and logistically viable access to Kerem Shalom Crossing. The World Food Programme (WFP) stressed that current supplies of food and fuel will only last a few days, as the agency’s main warehouse in eastern Rafah has become inaccessible. Without them, WFP warned, “operations will go to a standstill,” undermining recent improvements and the sustainability of humanitarian services. In addition, on 7 May 2024, a security incident occurred at the Logistics Cluster common storage facility in eastern Rafah due to active hostilities, likely resulting in damage or loss of aid commodities in common storage. The warehouse remains inaccessible and will be assessed once security conditions allow.  As of 10 May, eight out of 12 bakeries supported by humanitarian partners in southern Gaza have already ceased operations and the remaining four in Deir al Balah and Rafah are currently operating at a reduced capacity and will run out of fuel and supplies in three days. In northern Gaza, the four operational bakeries have one week of supplies available for bread production. 
• Despite rising humanitarian needs, access constraints continue to significantly hinder the ability of humanitarian actors to reach people in need, particularly in northern Gaza. Between 1 and 9 May, nine out of 32 humanitarian aid missions (28 percent) to northern Gaza were facilitated by Israeli authorities, 5 (16 percent) were denied, 11 (34 percent) were impeded, and 7 (22 percent) were cancelled due to logistical constraints. Moreover, 25 out of 46 aid missions (54 percent) to areas in southern Gaza that require coordination were facilitated by the Israeli authorities, 9 (20 percent) were denied, 3 (6 percent) were impeded, and 9 (20 percent) were cancelled due to logistical constraints. 

Funding

• As of 10 May, Member States have disbursed about US$744 million out of $3.4 billion (22 per cent) requested to meet the most critical needs of 2.3 million people in Gaza and 800,000 people in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, between January and December 2024. This includes about $623 million out of $600 million (104 per cent) requested for January-March 2024 and $121 million out of $2.8 billion (4 percent) for the new Flash Appeal launched on 17 April to cover the period between April and December 2024. For funding analysis, please see the Flash Appeal Financial Tracking dashboard.
• The oPt HF has 118 ongoing projects, for a total of $72.5 million, addressing urgent needs in the Gaza Strip (85 per cent) and West Bank (15 per cent). In light of the updated Flash Appeal, the HF has allocated an additional $22 million to bolster prioritized HF-funded projects in Gaza. Since 7 October, the oPt HF has mobilized $90 million from Member States and private donors, designated for programmes throughout Gaza. A summary of the oPt HF activities and challenges in April 2024 is available through this link and the 2023 Annual report of the oPt HF can be accessed here. Private donations are collected directly through the Humanitarian Fund.

196.

10 mei 2024

Today's headlines

UC protests test the limits of Zionist fiction

The aftermath of the violence at University Campuses illustrates that we live in an upside-down world where we decry property damage on college campuses as we fund the genocide in Gaza, and where we advocate for free speech until it says “stop the genocide.”

Israel continues to close Rafah crossing as Biden threatens to halt arms shipments

Ceasefire talks are “paused” as delegations leave Cairo. Sources say Israel wants a full invasion of Rafah despite U.S. opposition, while Hamas reiterates its acceptance of the latest deal. Meanwhile, a new mass grave has been unearthed at al-Shifa.

The real reason Israel is invading Rafah

With 1.5 million people trapped in Rafah, Israel is moving forward with its invasion with no clear goals. So far Israel has been unable to wipe out the resistance in Gaza, so its only option is to massacre more Palestinians.

195.

9 mei 2024

Today's headlines

Rafah Invasion: Everything that’s happened so far

Israel began its invasion of Rafah, ordering the evacuation of hundreds of thousands of people. "I do not feel safe in any place in Gaza," Saadi Salem tells Mondoweiss as he attempts to flee Rafah. "The killing is in every corner around the Gaza Strip."

Read more

‘We are doing this in solidarity with the people of Gaza’: a Princeton student explains why he’s currently part of a hunger strike

"We're prepared to starve ourselves on the lawn of the administration building," Princeton divestment activist David Chmielewski tells Mondoweiss. "They're ignoring the urgency of the situation, which is that there's a genocide actively occurring."

Don’t be fooled – Biden is the real antisemite

Don't be fooled by Joe Biden's recent speech on antisemitism. Biden doesn’t care about Jews unless they share his support for Zionism. The rest of us are enemies of the state.

194.

8 mei 2024

Hostilities in the Gaza Strip and Israel
Flash Update #163

Families leaving Rafah on 7 May 2024 following an evacuation order by the Israeli authorities. Photo by OCHA/Olga Cherevko

Key Highlights

• With the continued closure of Rafah Crossing, humanitarian agencies warn that existing fuel stocks to sustain aid operations will be depleted within days.
• Tens of thousands of people have been forcibly leaving Rafah in search of safety, but the few displacement sites they arrive at lack essential infrastructure.
• All key medical facilities in Rafah could soon become inaccessible or inoperable, Health Cluster partners warn, as An Najjar Hospital - one of three remaining in Rafah -was already abruptly vacated on 7 May.
• The Israeli Supreme Court rules in favour of the return of 360 Palestinians to their homes in Khirbet Zanouta herding community in Hebron six months following their displacement due to settler attacks.

Gaza Strip Updates

• Israeli bombardment from the air, land, and sea continues to be reported across much of the Gaza Strip, resulting in further civilian casualties, displacement, and destruction of houses and other civilian infrastructure. 
• On 7 May, a ground operation by the Israeli military began in eastern Rafah, including the areas of Rafah and Kerem Shalom crossings as well as some 31 square kilometres where residents were ordered to evacuate on 6 May. Israeli authorities closed Kerem Shalom crossing on 5 May, following a mortar attack by Palestinian armed groups on the area, and closed Rafah Crossing for the movement of goods and people on 7 May. On 8 May, the Israeli authorities announced the re-opening of Kerem Shalom Crossing from the Israeli side. As of 8 May, Rafah crossing remains closed. The UN is engaging with stakeholders to advocate for the facilitation of the entry of fuel and other supplies through all routes into and within the Gaza Strip. In a press briefing on 7 May, UN Secretary-General António Guterres stated: “I am disturbed and distressed by the renewed military activity in Rafah,” warning that a full-scale assault on Rafah, the epicentre of the humanitarian operation, would be catastrophic and cripple all efforts to deliver critical assistance to the population. The UN Chief stressed the imperative to protect civilians whether they stay in Rafah or leave and emphasized Israel’s obligation to facilitate safe and unimpeded humanitarian access into and across Gaza.
• Between the afternoons of 6 and 8 May, according to the Ministry of Health (MoH) in Gaza, 109 Palestinians were killed and 296 injured, including 55 killed and 200 injured in the last 24 hours. Between 7 October 2023 and 8 May 2024, at least 34,844 Palestinians were killed in Gaza and 78,404 Palestinians were injured, according to MoH in Gaza.
• The following are among the deadly incidents between 5 and 7 May:  
  • On 5 May, at about 17:20, nine Palestinians, including at least four children and two women, were reportedly killed and others injured when a house was hit in Yebna Refugee Camp in southeastern Rafah. 
  • On 5 May, at about 22:50, nine Palestinians, including four children and three women, were reportedly killed and others injured when a house was hit on George Street in eastern Rafah. 
  • On 6 May, at about 1:50, four Palestinians, including two children and two women, were reportedly killed and others injured when a house was hit in Al Junainah neighbourhood in eastern Rafah.
  • On 7 May, at about 0:20, at least five Palestinians, including a woman and a child, were reportedly killed and others injured when a house was hit in Al Barahma neighbourhood in Tal As Sultan area in western Rafah. 
  • On 7 May, at about 2:15, four Palestinians, including one woman, were reportedly killed and others injured when a house was hit in Al Junainah neighbourhood in eastern Rafah. 
  • On 7 May at about 4:00, four Palestinians were reportedly killed and others injured when two apartments were hit in Tal As Sultan area in western Rafah.
• Between the afternoons of 6 May and 8 May, no Israeli soldiers were reported killed in Gaza. As of 8 May, 266 soldiers have been killed and 1,610 soldiers have been injured in Gaza or along the border in Israel since the beginning of the ground operation, according to the Israeli military. In addition, according to the Israeli media citing official Israeli sources, over 1,200 Israelis and foreign nationals, including 33 children, have been killed in Israel, the vast majority on 7 October. As of 8 May, it is estimated that that 132 Israelis and foreign nationals remain captive in Gaza, including fatalities whose bodies are withheld. 
• Since 6 May, tens of thousands of people, many of whom have already been displaced multiple times, have been forced to leave Rafah governorate in search of increasingly limited options for safety. Monitoring of population movements shows that people have primarily moved to Khan Younis and Deir Al Balah using vehicles, trucks and donkey carts through the three main roads connecting Rafah and Khan Younis: Salah Ad Deen Road, the Coastal Road, and Meraj Road. UN agencies report that the few sites to which people are already relocating are without adequate latrines, water points, drainage, or shelter, but humanitarian agencies are unable to improve conditions with no fuel and other supplies coming in.
• The continued closure of Rafah Crossing, where a daily average of 48 trucks and 166,000 litres of diesel entered Gaza between 1 and 5 May, essentially chokes off the entry of life-saving aid into Gaza and the fuel necessary for sustaining humanitarian operations and all life-critical sectors in Gaza.
• Humanitarian agencies warn that existing fuel stocks in Gaza will be depleted within days. This will have an immediate impact on all humanitarian operations, communication networks, and banking activities. If fuel provision does not resume, this would severe the ability of aid actors to dispatch and distribute existing aid stocks, gather information on humanitarian needs, and support the functioning of bakeries. The main water production facilities also risk ceasing operations without fuel. Combined with active hostilities, this would additionally bring to a halt the already limited solid waste collection and render inoperable or inaccessible the remaining sewage pumping stations. As a result, some 1,400 tons of solid waste estimated to be generated daily in southern Gaza and sewage would accumulate, exacerbating public health concerns. The ability of families to connect during displacement in case of separation would also be compromised. Since 7 October and as of 7 May, a monthly average of about two million litres of diesel and benzene entered Gaza due to restrictions imposed by Israeli authorities, a decline of about 85 per cent compared with the monthly average of 14 million litres of fuel (diesel and benzene) that entered Gaza between January and September 2023.
• The continued block on the entry of critical humanitarian items via Rafah Crossing and continued hostilities would have serious consequences on access to food and nutrition services and render impossible improvements at existing and new displacement sites. At present, and within a context where the majority of residential buildings have  been damaged or destroyed and more than 75 per cent of the people have already been displaced, Shelter Cluster partners have a limited number of tents available for distribution in Gaza. There is also a lack of materials, such as tarpaulins, ropes, plastic sheeting, timber, nails, and tools to build shelters or make damaged buildings habitable. Moreover, the main warehouses of Food Security Cluster partners in Rafah have become inaccessible due to hostilities and most partners would run out of food stocks in one week. The treatment of several thousand children suffering from acute malnutrition would be interrupted and routine service delivery, including screening, case detection, referral and blanket supplementary feeding would be impacted. 
• Critical medical services in Rafah have already been disrupted by the evacuation orders by the Israeli military, the ground operation in eastern Rafah, and the closure of Rafah Crossing. Health Cluster partners also warn that there is a risk that intensified military activity will soon render all main health facilities in the area inaccessible or inoperable, depriving over one million people of healthcare. The Abu Youssef An Najjar Hospital—one of the three, alongside Al Kuwaiti Hospital and Al Emirati Maternity Hospital, which remained partially functioning in Rafah as of 6 May—had to be abruptly vacated on 7 May as it was in the area subject to the evacuation order. The hospital’s dialysis department, WHO reported, was the only one surviving in Gaza and represented a lifeline for patients suffering from kidney failure. 
• The head of Al Kuwaiti Hospital in Rafah, Dr. Suhaib Al Hams, explained in video posted on 7 May that the situation at the facility was “catastrophic in every sense of the word” as the hospital was facing a rising influx of casualties amid dire shortages of beds and medical staff. The doctor appealed to all medical students, trainee doctors and nursing staff in the Rafah governorate, as well as to international organizations and medical teams, to urgently help the overwhelmed facility. On 7 May, Médecins Sans Frontières also reported that they had begun discharging patients able to walk from their clinic inside the Rafah Indonesian Field Hospital, and were also preparing for a potential medical evacuation. In the same way, Project HOPE highlighted that it had been forced to close its medical unit in Ash Shouka, which was in the evacuation zone, while operating hours had been reduced at its static clinic in Jafar At Tayyar displacement site, as medical personnel needed to leave to prepare for potential further evacuations. Surgical staff due to enter Gaza to support Kamal Adwan Hospital were also denied entry due to the closure of Rafah Crossing, Project HOPE reported. Meanwhile, in a press release, the Ministry of Health warned that 140 injured and sick patients, alongside their companions, who had to be medically evacuated on 7 May were unable to leave Gaza. The Ministry also stressed that no medicines, supplies or fuel necessary to sustain hospital operations were entering Rafah.
• Many of the over 600,000 children crammed in Rafah are already “highly vulnerable and at the edge of survival” and a ground incursion would expose them to catastrophic risks, reiterated UNICEF. About 65,000 children in Gaza’s southernmost area are estimated to have a disability, 90 per cent of children under five are suffering from one or more infectious diseases, and nearly 8,000 infants under the age of two are already acutely malnourished, UNICEF estimates. The Health Cluster has warned that there is a shortage of vaccines for routine immunization in Gaza; unless the entry of these critical supplies urgently restarts, immunization rates among children could decrease, heightening the risk of preventable disease outbreaks. Forced displacement and an expanded ground incursion in Rafah would further curtail children’s access to water, food and vital medical care and would rapidly increase the number of unaccompanied and separated children, while the ability of humanitarian actors to provide them with basic support would be heavily reduced. 
• In this rapidly deteriorating context, prolonged border closures and hostilities would deprive more than 690,000 women and girls of access to hygiene services and supplies and expose them to heightened health risks and violence amid renewed displacement. Furthermore, the fate of an estimated 30,000 pregnant women currently sheltering in Rafah is a grave concern. These women, hungry and exhausted, have already been living in desperate conditions, stressed UNFPA.  So far, Al Emirati Maternity Hospital, albeit only partially functioning and overwhelmed, has represented a lifeline for them, and the potential disruption of this and other surviving facilities in Rafah now threatens to leave pregnant women without options for the safe delivery of their babies. On 7 May, the WHO team leader in Gaza, Dr. Ahmed Dahir, reported that, as part of contingency efforts, WHO and its partners had provided new medical supplies to the hospital in recent weeks. Should Al Emirati Hospital become inaccessible, pregnant women would be referred to field hospitals in Al Mawasi, as well as to the Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Younis, where a basic package of health services has been restored, Dr. Dahir added. A survey conducted by UN Women in Rafah at the end of April reveals that more than 60 per cent of pregnant women interviewed had been facing complications, including 95 per cent reporting urinary tract infections, 80 per cent anaemia and 30 per cent pre-term labour. Moreover, 72 per cent of surveyed households with nursing mothers reported challenges in breastfeeding and in meeting the nutritional needs of newborns. 

West Bank Update (30 April - 6 May)

• Between 30 April and 6 May, Israeli forces killed five Palestinians in two operations. Another Palestinian fell off the roof of a building while being chased by Israeli forces. In addition, 20 Palestinians, including seven children, and one Israeli soldier were injured. Fifteen Palestinians sustained injuries during search-and-arrest operations, particularly in Beita and Beit Furik villages in Nablus. Among the injured was an eight-year-old boy who was shot with live ammunition by Israeli forces and detained, reportedly while with his friends, in Aqbat Jaber Refugee Camp in Jericho. Since 7 October, 479 Palestinians have been killed, including 116 children, of whom 462 were killed by Israeli forces, ten by settlers and eight where it remains unknown whether the perpetrators were settlers or soldiers. These include 348 Palestinians killed in operations carried out by Israeli forces, one third of whom were killed in refugee camps in or near Tulkarm and Jenin cities. In addition, almost 5,000 Palestinians have been injured in the same period, 34 per cent of whom by live ammunition. Nine Israelis have also been killed and at least 105 have been injured in the West Bank since 7 October; these include five members of Israeli forces killed and 70 injured. 
  • On 6 May, an Israeli soldier shot a 34-year-old Palestinian man during an Israeli operation in Tulkarm Refugee Camp. The man was reportedly in the street in Dhannaba neighbourhood adjacent to the camp when he was shot. During the operation, Israeli forces bulldozed multiple streets in the camp, resulting in extensive damage to infrastructure and cutting off water, electricity, and internet services. Israeli forces also restricted access to or in the area, including that of medical teams, as reported by the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS). Between 18 and 21 April, a large-scale operation had also been carried out by Israeli forces in the nearby Nur Shams Refugee Camp, which resulted in the killing of 14 Palestinians and caused extensive damage to infrastructure and over 40 residential buildings.
  • On 4 May, Israeli forces, including special forces, killed four Palestinian men (aged between 20 and 44 years) and withheld their bodies in an operation in Deir al Ghusun village in Tulkarm governorate. An Israeli soldier was also injured during the operation. Israeli forces, supported by a military bulldozer, reportedly surrounded a residential building and exchanged fire with four Palestinians inside. According to the Israeli military, the four Palestinians were allegedly responsible for killing an Israeli civilian and a soldier and injuring several members of Israeli forces in the West Bank after 7 October. Human rights organizations, citing eyewitnesses, said that the residence was hit by at least 30 air strikes, ground missiles and bombs. Israeli forces pulled out four of the Palestinians and declared their identities to Palestinian authorities. The Palestinian Ministry of Health confirmed to have found under rubble a headless body of a Palestinian whose identity has remained unidentified. In law enforcement, the use of potentially lethal force can only be used when strictly unavoidable to protect life or prevent serious injury.
  • On 30 April, a 26-year-old Palestinian man died after he fell off a rooftop while running from Israeli forces who chased him in Ad Dhahiryeh town in Hebron. The incident happened after the man, along with another man, left their car and tried to run away upon seeing an Israeli military flying (non-permanent) checkpoint. 
• Israeli settlers perpetrated 14 incidents that led to the injury of four Palestinians and damage to property, in addition to several incidents of intimidation and blocking of access mainly in the Jordan Valley communities. Overall, since 7 October, 829 Israeli settler attacks against Palestinians resulted in Palestinian casualties (86 incidents), damage to Palestinian-owned property (651 incidents), or both casualties and damage to property (92 incidents). 
  • Two Palestinians were physically assaulted by settlers, including a 16-year-old boy in the old city of Jerusalem who sustained critical injuries in the head and face and one while in his house in Yatta (Hebron). The third was injured while driving on Road 60 in Ramallah governorate by settlers who threw stones at vehicles travelling on the road. On 30 April and 1 May, Israeli settlers threw stones at the offices of UNRWA headquarters in East Jerusalem, causing damage to the main gate.
  • On 1 May, a 14-year-old boy was shot with live ammunition and injured by either Israeli settlers or soldiers in Qusra village in Nablus governorate. The incident took place after an Israeli settler grazing his sheep near the village reportedly approached Palestinian children in the village and they subsequently threw stones at him. 
  • On 2 May, Israeli settlers fired warning shots at Palestinian herders near Dura town (Hebron), causing them to flee the area and lose ten sheep. The following day, settlers vandalized two water tanks and killed a donkey in the Palestinian community of Juret al Khiel. Moreover, on several occasions, settlers grazed their livestock on Palestinian crops (in Ein Samiya in Ramallah and Umm at Turan in Hebron), stole troughs in Sinjil village (Ramallah), and a donkey in Masafer Yatta (Hebron). 
• Between 30 April and 6 May, the Israeli authorities displaced 26 Palestinians, including 18 children, in home demolitions. Since 7 October 2023, some 1,790 Palestinians, 78 per cent of whom are children, have been displaced in home demolitions. These include nearly 55 per cent (980 people) displaced during operations carried out by Israeli forces mainly in the refugee camps in and near Tulkarm and Jenin cities, 37 per cent due to lack-of-permit demolitions, and eight per cent on punitive grounds.
• On 2 May, the Israeli Supreme Court ruled in favour of a petition filed on behalf of some 360 Palestinians of Khirbet Zanouta herding community in Hebron, who were forced to leave their community due to settler attacks after 7 October, ordering the Israeli authorities to secure their return to their homes. The community was vacated on 2 November and, on 4 December, settlers destroyed some residential shelters and parts of the community’s school. Since 7 October, OCHA documented seven incidents where Israeli settlers attacked the community, destroying shelters and threatening families at gunpoint to leave. Across the West Bank, since 7 October, some 224 Palestinian households comprising 1,330 people, mostly herding families, including 643 children, have been displaced amid settler violence and access restrictions.
• In Hebron, Israeli forces opened road gates at the entrances of three towns located on Road 60, which had been closed after 7 October. The opening of these gates minimizes the detours that residents have been forced to take via secondary road infrastructure and improves the access of an estimated 180,000 people to their main service hub in Hebron city.
• The Israeli authorities continue to deny access to Palestinians holding West Bank IDs to East Jerusalem and have not issued permits for Christian Palestinians holding West Bank IDs to access the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in East Jerusalem on the occasion of Orthodox Easter. On 4 May, Israeli forces were  heavily deployed in the Old City of Jerusalem and erected metal barriers and flying checkpoints that hindered the access of hundreds of Palestinian and foreign worshippers to the church. The forces also reportedly detained two Palestinians from inside the church.
• On 5 May, Israeli forces raided and closed the offices of Al Jazeera Media Network in Sheikh Jarrah area in East Jerusalem and seized broadcasting equipment and tools. This came hours after the Israeli government decided to shut down the offices and operations of Al Jazeera in Israel for 45 days, citing security concerns.

Funding

• On 17 April, the Humanitarian Country Team released a new Flash Appeal for the oPt, which requests $2.8 billion to meet the most critical needs of 2.3 million people in Gaza and 800,000 people in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, between April and December 2024. As of 8 May, the appeal is 21.7 per cent funded. 
• The oPt HF has 118 ongoing projects, for a total of $72.5 million, addressing urgent needs in the Gaza Strip (85 per cent) and West Bank (15 per cent). In light of the updated Flash Appeal, the HF has allocated an additional $22 million to bolster prioritized HF-funded projects in Gaza. Since 7 October, the oPt HF has mobilized $90 million from Member States and private donors, designated for programmes throughout Gaza. A summary of the oPt HF activities and challenges in March 2024 is available through this link and the 2023 Annual report of the oPt HF can be accessed here. Private donations are collected directly through the Humanitarian Fund.

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SUPPORT THE STUDENTS

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8 mei 2024

Now is the time to tip the scales.

Around the world, all eyes are on Rafah.

"Unlike anything we have witnessed"

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8 mei 2024

Today's headlines

Gazans salute university students’ uprising for Palestine

As Israel’s invasion of Rafah begins, people in Gaza are holding out hope that international pressure will force Israel to stand down. Part of that hope is tied to the heroic actions of students across the U.S. and The Netherlands rising up for Palestine.

What it’s like to be used as a human shield by the Israeli army

Qasem Waleed

Israeli soldiers rounded up Ahmad Safi and his male family members in Khan Younis and made them stand atop a sand dune for 12 hours as the soldiers took cover behind them during a firefight with Palestinian resistance fighters. This is their story.

Read more

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8 mei 2024

Today, as the Olympic torch arrives in France, genocidal Israel is threatening to use “extreme force” against Palestinians in Rafah in the occupied Gaza Strip.

More than 1.2 million displaced Palestinians, forced to flee Israel’s relentless bombing and siege in other areas of Gaza, are sheltering in Rafah in dire conditions. The entire Palestinian population of 2.3 million is facing starvation and possible famine, according to UN agencies.
 

Today, groups across France are protesting the IOC’s refusal to ban apartheid Israel from the Paris games, even as it commits a genocide against 2.3 million Palestinians in Gaza.

More than 10,000 torchbearers will carry the Olympic flame across France over the coming months. Let’s get a message to the torchbearers to help ensure Olympic values are upheld!

­

Urge torchbearers to join calls to stop Israel’s #GazaGenocide

This is a chance to reach Olympic torchbearers and have them amplify our calls, from banning Israel from the Olympics to a military embargo on Israel.

More than 300,000 people across the world are supporting the call from 300 Palestinian sports clubs calling to #BanIsrael from the Olympics and international sports.
 

Israel’s Gaza genocide is also a sporticide, killing dozens of Palestinian sportspeople, including Palestinian Olympic football coach Hani Al Masdar, and destroying most sports facilities, including the Palestinian Olympic Committee offices.

We can all be torchbearers for Palestinian rights.

**For those in France, the Olympic torch relay is an occasion to peacefully disrupt the road to the Paris Games. There can be No Olympics As Usual as Israel continues its genocide and engineered famine in Gaza.

From May 8 until the opening ceremony on July 26, all along the torch route, make sure the calls to #BanIsrael and stop Israel’s #GazaGenocide are coming through loud and clear. Use the hashtag #TrueOlympicValues.

**For everyone, share these tweets/posts on social media calling on the IOC to #BanIsrael and on torchbearers to join us in the struggle. 

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

In solidarity,
 
The Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel

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8 mei 2024

Israel Starving Gaza

Lire la version en français / Hier die deutsche Ausgabe lesen

Israel is starving Gaza, and children are paying the price.

It’s doing this in defiance of the World Court, and today, I’m going to go into a bit of detail to explain what’s been happening in The Hague, but please, never forget this fundamental point: the government of Israel is starving Gaza as a weapon of war.

The International Court of Justice has issued legally binding orders requiring Israel to enable the provision of basic services and humanitarian assistance. The Court has done this twice, in fact: first in January and again in March.

Let’s be clear about a couple of things here.

First, the International Court of Justice – the ICJ, also called “the World Court” – is not the same thing as the International Criminal Court, the ICC. They are both based in The Hague, and they are both in the news regarding the Gaza crisis, so I’ve seen some confusion out there, particularly on social media.

The ICC can deal with individual responsibility for atrocity crimes – including war crimes, crimes against humanity, ethnic cleansing, and genocide. It has not issued indictments related to the Gaza crisis yet, but rumors of possible indictments of top Israeli officials, and inappropriate threats of retaliation against ICC officials from US senators and others, have been in the headlines.

The ICJ does not deal with individuals; it deals with states, specifically international legal disputes between states. In the relevant case here, South Africa is alleging that Israel is violating the international Genocide Convention of 1948. The ICJ is being asked to make a legal determination about state responsibility for genocide.

The ICJ has not made that determination one way or the other yet. It may take years before they rule on the question of genocide.

However, the ICJ has issued what are called “provisional measures” to address the immediate situation. Citing “catastrophic conditions” in Gaza in January, the court issued legally binding orders, including an order to enable the provision of basic services and humanitarian assistance. They gave the government of Israel a month to comply, and  the government pretty much ignored the Court.

In March, with the “spread of famine and starvation,” the Court imposed additional measures, ordering Israel to ensure the unhindered provision of humanitarian assistance, in full cooperation with the UN, including by opening new land crossing points. Again, Israel contravened the Court and the legally binding order.

It’s true that in April Israeli authorities allowed more aid trucks to enter Gaza, and opened an additional crossing and allowed construction of a port for aid entry. However, the increase in aid was small, nowhere near enough to meet the overwhelming need , according to the UN and humanitarian groups, who reported that Israel continued to block critical aid items.

The most recent news from the ground is even more grim. On May 5, Israeli authorities closed the Kerem Shalom crossing after a Hamas rocket attack, and on May 7, they seized the Rafah crossing, thus blocking aid entering from Egypt currently.

There’s a lot of detail here, I know, but the result of all this is straightforward enough. Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians, about half children, face famine, and many risk dying of starvation following Israel’s continued disregard for the law.

In short, Israel is starving Gaza, and children are paying the price.

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8 mei 2024

This week, we focus on Gaza, after the Israeli army took control of the Rafah crossing on the border with Egypt, moving forward with an offensive in the crowded southern city where some 1.5 million Palestinians are sheltering.

The crossing is crucial for the entrance of much-needed aid and the departure of wounded people and patients in need of treatment. 

The Israeli assault came just hours after Hamas said it had accepted a ceasefire deal proposal put forward by mediators. However, Israel insisted the proposal did not meet its core demands.

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7 mei 2024

Yesterday, Hamas agreed to the most recent ceasefire proposal put forward by Qatari and Egyptian mediators.

Israel responded by invading Rafah.

The objective is clear: Israel does not want a ceasefire. Israel wants to fully ethnically cleanse and seize Gaza, on U.S. taxpayers’ dime.

Despite Hamas’ agreement to the deal, Netanyahu and his war cabinet announced plans to move forward with the ground invasion, and ordered Palestinians to “evacuate” the city where it is currently carrying out a barrage of bombardments and shelling.

Israel also seized control of the Rafah border crossing, preventing all humanitarian aid from entering, and trapping Palestinians who were desperately attempting to find safety in Egypt.

For the over one million Palestinians, including 600,000 children, who have sought refuge in Rafah, there is nowhere to go.

Tell the Biden administration to stop sending weapons to Israel to kill thousands of Palestinians in Rafah.
 
President Biden has repeatedly defined Israel’s invasion of Rafah as a “red line.”

Last month, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that the Biden administration "cannot support a major military operation in Rafah," and that a major military operation in Rafah would have "terrible consequences" for civilians.

U.S. opposition to an Israeli ground invasion was reaffirmed yesterday by State Department Spokesperson Matthew Miller: “we have made clear that we do not support Israel launching a full-scale military operation in Rafah.”

Now it is to demand that President Biden follow through on his own “red line.”

We know President Biden is feeling the heat. This week, the Biden administration paused two shipments of Boeing-made precision bombs to Israel. It was the first time that the U.S. has stopped a weapons shipment destined for the Israeli military since Oct. 7. This is unprecedented, and proves that our movement’s pressure is working.

But a pause is not enough. We need our government to permanently stop arming Israel, and secure a permanent ceasefire NOW.

Since day one, Biden has had the power to end this genocide. Now 214 days into Israel’s attacks on Gaza, it is long past due for the Biden administration to take decisive action to secure a ceasefire and prevent a catastrophic Israeli ground invasion.

We have an opportunity to demonstrate the power of our movement by flooding the State Department with calls. The Biden administration has already claimed to oppose the invasion of Rafah. Let’s hold them to their word. Tell the State Department if they send weapons to Israel, they are facilitating an invasion of Rafah. Stop the weapons shipments. Demand a ceasefire.

In solidarity,

Alia El-Assar

Adalah Justice Project

186.

7 mei 2024

Gisteren hebben studenten van de Universiteit van Amsterdam een tentenkamp opgezet om de voortdurende ramp in Gaza [1] aan te kaarten.

En te eisen dat de universiteit alle institutionele banden met Israël verbreekt.

Deze manier van demonstreren is niet nieuw en wordt beschermd onder het demonstratierecht. Dat de politie niet ingreep toen het protest met geweld door tegenstanders werd verstoord, maar wel later op de avond het kamp met disproportioneel geweld ontruimde is niet normaal. [2]

Wij maken ons grote zorgen over de manier waarop vreedzame protesten worden verboden. Dit is niet normaal en mag niet normaal worden. Spreek jij je ook uit voor het recht om te demonstreren?

Effectief verzet komt voort uit solidariteit. Samen kunnen we elkaars vrijheid, zelfbeschikking en rechten beschermen. Deze week, te midden van een klimaat van verdeeldheid en angst, hebben studenten over heel de wereld een krachtig voorbeeld gegeven door zich te verzetten en solidariteit te tonen met het Palestijnse volk. Laat dit voorbeeld ook jou inspireren.

P.S. Een groep bezorgde burgers is een burger petitie gestart tegen het voorstel voor identificatieplicht op universiteiten. Dit belemmert de academische vrijheid en beperkt het recht om te protesteren, niet normaal dus. Teken de burgerpetitie hier.

[1] Een nieuw dieptepunt in Palestina met het binnenvallen van Rafah

[2] Politie beëindigt de protesten aan de UvA met geweld

[3] Extreemrechts grootste in de peilingen voor aankomende EU verkiezingen

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7 mei 2024

Commemorate #Nakba76 with us in Washington D.C.

Dear Viewer,

This May marks a significant moment in history—76 years since the Palestinian Nakba, 76 years of ongoing catastrophe. However, of all these years, the past year has been one of the most challenging.

For the last seven months, we have witnessed genocide and destruction in Gaza and across all of historic Palestine. Make no mistake, the genocide in Gaza and the ethnic cleansing in Jerusalem and the West Bank that we have witnessed are but current brutal manifestations of the ongoing Nakba that the Palestinian people have faced.

Yet, the Palestinian people have not and will not give up! We draw inspiration from their unwavering spirit, which is why we encourage you to join us to commemorate 76 years of Palestinian resilience and to show that the persevering people of Gaza are not alone. 

As the occupation and colonization of the Palestinian people intensify, so must our advocacy! Commemorate 76 years of the Nakba and stand with the people of Gaza!

In solidarity,
American Muslims for Palestine (AMP)

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7 mei 2024

De genocide in Gaza duurt nu al zeven maanden en heeft al meer dan 34.670 Palestijnse levens gekost en meer dan 77.000 gewonden opgeleverd. Ondanks opgelegde voorlopige maatregelen door het Internationale Gerechtshof en de oproep van de mensenrechtenraad van de VN tot sancties blijven het Westen en Nederland business-as-usual voortzetten en daarmee hun medeplichtigheid aan de straffeloosheid, aan de genocide en aan het voortduren van het onrecht jegens Palestijnen.

Gisteren accepteerde Hamas het voorstel van Egypte voor een staakt-het-vuren. Desalniettemin is Israël gisteren en vannacht overgegaan tot het aangekondigde grondoffensief in Rafah, waarvan de wereld, inclusief de VS en Europa, hebben gewaarschuwd dat het een absolute rode lijn zou betekenen. Wij verwachten en eisen dan ook dat hieraan gevolgen worden verbonden in de vorm van drastische sancties.  Wij moeten onze stem blijven verheffen en in actie blijven komen.

Een strijdbare groet van het docP team; blijf BDS-en!

Kom demonstreren tegen de Nakba

Zolang de bezetting voortduurt, zal er protest en verzet zijn. Aanstaande zaterdag 11 mei herdenken we de start van de Catastrofe, de Nakba, die na 7 oktober vorig jaar in verhevigde vorm wordt doorgezet.

De hele wereld is in rep en roer over het bloedbad dat Israël aanricht met constante diplomatieke, financiële en militaire steun van de VS, het Verenigd Koninkrijk en de EU. Het Nederlandse kabinet mag geen directe leveringen van F35 onderdelen doen, maar zoekt in opdracht van de mensenrechten verwaarlozende Kamer andere wegen. Duitsland schept eer in steun aan Israël, het is "Staatsraison". Dat alles terwijl het hoogste gerechtshof ter wereld, het Internationaal Gerechtshof op 26 januari al duidelijk maakte dat het toen aannemelijk was dat er sprake is van genocide.

Intussen heeft de VN Speciaal Rapporteur voor sinds 1967 bezette gebieden, Francesca Albanese uitgesproken dat er daadwerkelijk sprake van genocide is.

Het minste wat we kunnen doen is demonstreren en duidelijk maken: "Niet in mijn naam!". Met tientallen andere organisaties, initiatieven, partijen, bewegingen, sporen wij jullie aan om mee te lopen in de grote nationale demonstratie tegen de voortdurende en geïntensiveerde Nakba. Deze Catastrofe moet over zijn en Palestina moet vrij zijn!

8 mei herdenkingsprotest bij hoofdkantoor Booking.com in Amsterdam

Ruim 200 dagen bloedbad in de Gazastrook heeft ruim 34.630 doden en meer dan 77.870 (VN cijfers) aan de Palestijnse zijde opgeleverd. Daarvan zijn ruim 14.700 kinderen in de Gazastrook door militair geweld om het leven gekomen. Oorzaak is Israëlische bombardementen, scherpschutters, ziektes, kou, gedwongen uitdroging en uithongering. Een ongekend aantal kinderlevens dat maar moeilijk is voor te stellen. Om dit tastbaar te maken zijn in Utrecht, Rotterdam en Amsterdam al duizenden schoenen neergezet.

In Amsterdam vindt de actie plaats bij het hoofdkantoor van het bedrijf Booking.com. Dit bedrijf maakt gebruik van vakantieaccommodaties 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.

Van de vier grote toerismebedrijven is Booking.com, aldus een onderzoek van Amnesty International, de belangrijkste exploitant van accommodaties in de illegale nederzettingen. Onze hoofdstad Amsterdam biedt plaats aan Booking.com voor hun hoofdkantoor.

Met Plant een Olijfboom e.a. hopen we jullie op woensdag 8 mei tussen 13 en 18 uur te zien op het Oosterdokseiland nabij Amsterdam CS, voor het hoofdkantoor van Booking.com

Maak je pensioen nederzettingvrij

Onze pensioenen mogen niet gebruikt worden om schendingen van het humanitaire oorlogsrecht, van internationale mensenrechtenwetgeving en andere internationale wetten en verdragen te ondersteunen. Ondanks vele waarschuwingen doen het ABP en PFZW dit toch door te investeren in bedrijven die betrokken zijn bij illegale nederzettingen in bezette Palestijnse Gebieden. Wij streven ernaar dat ons pensioenfonds deze investeringen staakt en het beleid aanscherpt zodat dergelijke investeringen in de toekomst direct uitgesloten worden.

UvA campusbezetting in solidariteit met Gaza

Gisteren 6 mei 2024 vond er een bezetting plaats van het campusterrein van de Roeterseilandcampus van de Universiteit van Amsterdam. Binnen een dag werd deze met bruut geweld door de politie ontruimd. Mede-oprichter van de BDS beweging Omar Barghouti sprak de bezetters toe.

In een internationale reeks aan universiteitsbezettingen werd gisteren de Roeterseilandcampus van de Universiteit van Amsterdam bezet in solidariteit met Gaza en in steun aan de academische boycot van Israël. De bezetters (studenten, docenten en solidaire demonstranten) eisten van de UvA onthulling van hun belangen en samenwerking in Israël, en dat de universiteit meedoet aan de academische boycot van Israël. Het antwoord van de universiteit was dat ze neutraal zijn en niet aan politiek doen. 

Niettemin heeft het college ‘s avonds een verklaring gepubliceerd over hun samenwerking met Israelische universiteiten. De druk van de demonstranten en de Centrale Studentenraad vermag kennelijk meer dan twee jaar WOB procedure. Deze werd in 2022 gestart door The Rights Forum en er moest een rechter aan te pas komen om de universiteiten zover te krijgen dat ze hun juridische plicht gingen vervullen, maar nog steeds is er geen volledigheid.

Opvallend was de aanwezigheid van BDS mede-oprichter Omar Barghouti. Hij sprak zijn steun uit aan de bezetting en ging in op de excuses van de universiteit dat ze niet politiek zijn. Hij sprak het CvB aan op de morele en ethische verplichting van First Do No Harm. Hij noemde de UvA minstens medeplichtig aan genocide omdat de uitsrpaak van 26 januari van het IGH de genocide conventie in werking stelde. Vanaf dat moment is Nederland en ieder land verplicht alles te doen deze te stoppen, dus ook alle samenwerking te stoppen. De hele speech van Barghouti kun je terugkijken op YouTube.

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7 mei 2024

Today's headlines

Hundreds of Palestinian bodies recovered from mass graves in Gaza

Muhammad Shehada, from Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor, discusses the mass graves found at the Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, Gaza.

How Israeli university presidents are proving the case for boycott

Israeli university presidents condemnation of the Gaza solidarity protests in the U.S. is revealing Israeli universities' complicity in occupation, apartheid, and genocide.

Genocide Joe is beginning to stink like Lyndon B. Johnson

Robert Herbst

Joe Biden continues to fully support the Gaza genocide because he does not believe it will hurt him politically. This is the same arrogance that brought down LBJ over the Vietnam war.

Israel orders Palestinians to evacuate Rafah

Israeli strikes intensify on Rafah as Egypt closes the Rafah crossing from its side. Israel army has taken control on the Gaza border side and blocks humanitarian aid

182.

7 mei 2024

181.

6 mei 2024

Palestinians Face Rafah Invasion—Remind Biden Rafah is A Red Line

Eight months into Israel’s genocide in Gaza, Israel is beginning its invasion of Rafah, where more than half of Gaza's population has been sheltering. This escalation will lead to more war crimes. Experts have warned an invasion of Rafah will lead to a massacre and humanitarian catastrophe for a population already facing famine. The United States can put an immediate end to these atrocities and must halt ALL military aid and weapons shipments to the Israeli government without delay.

TAKE ACTION: URGE PRESIDENT BIDEN TO DEMAND ISRAEL HALT RAFAH INVASION, STOP AN IMMINENT CATASTROPHE

Reports from Rafah are grim, Israeli forces are already forcibly displacing Palestinian civilians from their homes and pushing hundreds of thousands of Palestinians into neighboring areas like Khan Yunis and Al-Mawasi. Conditions are horrifying, with over 80% of buildings destroyed, and aid workers struggling to support Palestinians with minimal infrastructure. Rafah has become home to 1.4 million Palestinians, including 600,000 children, with nowhere safe for them to seek refuge. The consequences of this operation, if allowed to proceed, are catastrophic. 

For months, President Biden has said repeatedly that Israel’s invasion of Rafah would be a “red line.” We urgently call on President Biden to act on his words, intervene, and demand an immediate halt to Israel's clear objective of complete genocide of Gaza. The international community cannot stand idly by while such egregious atrocities unfold.

The evacuation order issued in Rafah is not a logistical possibility; it’s a death order. Israel is forcing Palestinians, who have already been driven out of their homes under bombs and starvation for the last 200+ days, to “find safety” and “evacuate” when they have nowhere left to go. For more than half a year, Israel claimed Rafah was a safe zone. The distance Palestinians are now forced to traverse ranges from 1.5 to over 4 hours, and will expose them to certain danger.

Responding to this catastrophe requires resources and capacities that many displaced Palestinians simply do not have due to the dire circumstances imposed by Israel, aided by the United States.  Palestinians need consistent access to communication, physical strength amid disease and near-starvation, means of transportation, and a shelter to go to. This doesn’t include acute medical needs they also cannot meet because of Israel’s persistent and ubiquitous destruction. 

President Biden must act immediately to ensure the safety and well-being of Palestinians in Rafah and throughout Gaza. The President must use all leverage to force Israel to cease its invasion of the last refuge for Palestinians in Gaza and prevent another addition to the ongoing catastrophe in Gaza. We must reiterate our call for the President to facilitate an immediate sustainable, permanent ceasefire. Take action.

In solidarity,Ayah ZiyadehAdvocacy Director

180.

6 mei 2024

Hostilities in the Gaza Strip and Israel
Flash Update #162

Displaced children outside their improvised shelters in Gaza. Photo by UNICEF/El Baba

Key Highlights

• Israeli authorities closed Kerem Shalom Crossing after four Israeli soldiers were killed in an attack carried out by Palestinian armed groups on the area. 
• The Israeli military orders people in 31 square kilometres of eastern Rafah governorate to move to Al Mawassi; the area encompasses nine sites hosting displaced people, three clinics, and six warehouses.
• UN agencies continue to warn about the potentially catastrophic consequences of a Rafah operation, emphasizing that there is no safe place in Gaza.
• Humanitarian actors are committed to maintaining operations to provide support to people in need, wherever they are.

Gaza Strip Updates

• Israeli bombardment from the air, land, and sea continues to be reported across much of the Gaza Strip, resulting in further civilian casualties, displacement, and destruction of houses and other civilian infrastructure.
• On 3 May, OCHA Spokesperson, Jens Laerke, warned that if there is an assault on Rafah, “hundreds of thousands of people would be at imminent risk of death” and this will also be “an incredible blow to the humanitarian operation in the entire Strip because it is run primarily out of Rafah.” In war, there is an obligation to protect civilians and have their essential needs met. One fundamental way to do this is to allow civilians to leave for safer areas. But civilians must have enough time to leave, as well as a safe route and place to go. Importantly, displaced civilians’ basic needs must be met, and they must be allowed to return as soon as the circumstances allow. The United Nations is not taking part in involuntary evacuations or in the setting up of any displacement zones in southern Gaza. Humanitarian actors are committed to stay and deliver and stand ready to bring assistance to people in need, wherever they are.
• Between the afternoons of 3 and 6 May, according to the Ministry of Health (MoH) in Gaza, 113 Palestinians were killed and 241 injured, including 52 killed and 90 injured in the last 24 hours. Between 7 October 2023 and 6 May 2024, at least 34,735 Palestinians were killed in Gaza and 78,108 Palestinians were injured, according to MoH in Gaza.
• The following are among the deadly incidents between 2 and 5 May:  
  • On 2 May, at about 12:45, six Palestinians were reportedly killed and others injured when a residential building was hit in Ash Sheikh Radwan area, in northwestern Gaza city. 
  • On 2 May, at about 16:00, four Palestinians were reportedly killed and others injured when Bloc 4 of Al Bureij Refugee Camp was hit.
  • On 2 May, at about 18:00, two Palestinian men were reportedly killed when a house was hit in As-Salam neighbourhood in southwestern Rafah.
  • On 3 May, at 2:25, seven Palestinians, including five children and a woman, were reportedly killed when a house was hit in northern Rafah.
  • On 3 May, at about 23:50, at least three Palestinians were reportedly killed and others injured when a residential building was hit in As Saftawi area west of Jabaliya town.
  • On 4 May, at about 13:40, two Palestinians were reportedly killed and others injured when a house was hit in Abu Halawa area in eastern Rafah.
• Between the afternoons of 3 May and 6 May, four Israeli soldiers were reported killed in Israel near Kerem Shalom crossing in an attack by Palestinian armed groups. Subsequently, the Israeli authorities announced the temporary closure of the crossing. As of 6 May, 266 soldiers have been killed and 1,610 soldiers have been injured in Gaza or along the border in Israel since the beginning of the ground operation, according to the Israeli military. In addition, according to the Israeli media citing official Israeli sources, over 1,200 Israelis and foreign nationals, including 33 children, have been killed in Israel, the vast majority on 7 October. According to Israeli media sources, the remains of a security guard who was presumed a hostage were found in the tomb of another security guard. As of 6 May, it is estimated that that 132 Israelis and foreign nationals remain captive in Gaza, including fatalities whose bodies are withheld. On 2 May, Kibbutz Be’eri announced that a community member held hostage in Gaza was killed on 7 October and his body is being withheld in Gaza.  
• On 6 May, the Israeli military ordered the residents of nine blocs in eastern Rafah to “temporarily move” to a so-called “expanded humanitarian area” in Al Mawassi. The area slated for evacuation is about 31 square kilometres and includes Al Shokat municipality area, As Salam neighbourhood, Al Juneineh, Tal Azar’a and Al Bayuk. This area was home to some 64,000 Palestinians prior to 7 October and currently encompasses nine sites hosting internally displaced persons (IDPs), three clinics, and six warehouses. With today’s evacuation orders, 277 square kilometres or about 76 per cent of the Gaza Strip have been placed under evacuation orders; this includes all areas north of Wadi Gaza, whose residents were ordered to evacuate in late October, as well as specific areas south of Wadi Gaza slated for evacuation by the Israeli military since 1 December.
• In a joint statement issued on 3 May, the oPt and Global Protection Cluster stated that a potential incursion in Rafah would make the already catastrophic situation “impossible,” even “unthinkable,” warning that “the repeated displacement of people, the staggering loss of life – specifically of women and children – and the strain placed by the infrastructural and economic decimation of Gaza” have already stretched “any sense of community and individual resilience to its absolute breaking point.” Only an immediate ceasefire and the urgent scale up of humanitarian access into Gaza, particularly via land crossings, would prevent further harm to civilians, underscored the Cluster.
• On 3 May, the World Health Organization (WHO) warned that a full-scale operation could lead to a “bloodbath,” substantially increasing mortality and morbidity and further crippling “an already broken health system.” This would compromise the functionality or overwhelm the capacity of the seven partially functioning hospitals in southern Gaza, including three in Rafah. According to WHO, An Najjar and Al Emirati hospitals, which provide vital dialysis and maternal health services, as well as Kuwaiti Hospital, all in Rafah, could quickly become non-functional. WHO also cautioned that the European Hospital in Khan Younis, which currently serves as a third-level referral centre for critical patients, may also become unreachable. Another partially functioning hospital in Khan Younis is Nasser Medical Complex, which has resumed partial operations following the completion of the first phase of restoration by Health Cluster partners, including the hospital’s emergency and maternity wards, nine operating theatres, the ICU and neonatal ICU, and the outpatient department.  Work is also ongoing to resupply and expand services at key hospitals in northern Gaza, and to establish additional primary health centres and medical points in Khan Younis, Deir al Balah and northern Gaza, with supplies being prepositioned as part of contingency efforts to enable these facilities to treat diseases and manage trauma patients. Yet, all these efforts are just “band aid,” stressed the WHO Representative in the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt), Rik Peeperkorn, warning that this will in no way prevent the new scale of death, disease and displacement that an incursion would cause. 
• On 4 May, the Municipality of An Nusseirat issued a statement that details the level of incurred damage in An Nuseirat since the onset of hostilities. According to the municipality, about 27,000 square metres of roads, five main squares and intersections, 12 water wells, about 4,250 linear meters of water networks, 15 water valves, and two desalination plants have been destroyed. Ten power generators and six solar energy systems serving municipal facilities also sustained damage. Moreover, due to fuel shortages, the destruction of municipal vehicles and sewage networks and access limitations, about 22,000 tons of waste have accumulated in the streets and around IDP shelters. The lack of fuel has also undermined the functionality of water wells and sewage treatment plants, resulting in sewage overflow in some streets. The municipality called on international institutions to provide urgent support, including facilitating the entry of fuel, heavy machinery, and spare parts to repair sewage and water lines.  According to the Union of Gaza Strip Municipalities, about 270,000 tons of solid waste have accumulated across the Gaza Strip, creating an environmental and public health catastrophe. According to the WASH Cluster, the inability to access official solid waste landfills in Gaza, particularly Sofa Landfill, has hindered the safe transfer of solid waste from contaminated, temporary dumpsites.

West Bank Update

• On 4 May, the Israeli military carried out a 16-hour military operation in Deir al Ghusun village near Tulkarm city. During the operation, heavy forces supported by a military bulldozer surrounded a residential building and exchanged fire with Palestinians. According to human rights organizations, citing eyewitnesses, the house was hit by at least 30 air strikes, ground missiles and bombs. Israeli forces pulled out and withheld the bodies of four Palestinians and informed Palestinian authorities of their identities. A fifth fatality was found headless under rubble, according to the Ministry of Health, and his identity remains unclear. Initial information indicates that three families comprising 19 people, including 13 children, have been displaced. An assessment by the UN and its partners is underway. 
• An operation carried out by Israeli forces and fighting between Israeli forces and armed Palestinians are taking place in Tulkarm city and its refugee camps, as of the time of writing on 6 May. Initial reports indicate that Israeli forces have bulldozed multiple streets in Tulkarm Refugee Camp, resulting in extensive infrastructural damage and cutting off the water and electricity supplies and internet services. Schools in Tulkarm have also closed and movement from and to the area remains severely restricted. Israeli forces reportedly impeded access to the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) teams, and some of its volunteers were trapped in a house for several hours.

Funding

• On 17 April, the Humanitarian Country Team released a new Flash Appeal for the oPt, which requests $2.8 billion to meet the most critical needs of 2.3 million people in Gaza and 800,000 people in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, between April and December 2024. 
• The oPt HF has 118 ongoing projects, for a total of $72.5 million, addressing urgent needs in the Gaza Strip (85 per cent) and West Bank (15 per cent). In light of the updated Flash Appeal, the HF has allocated an additional $22 million to bolster prioritized HF-funded projects in Gaza. Since 7 October, the oPt HF has mobilized $90 million from Member States and private donors, designated for programmes throughout Gaza. A summary of the oPt HF activities and challenges in March 2024 is available through this link and the 2023 Annual report of the oPt HF can be accessed here. Private donations are collected directly through the Humanitarian Fund.

179.

6 mei 2024

Today's headlines

The mainstream media distorted our anti-Vietnam War protests 50 years ago. They’re following the same strategy today

Fifty years ago, I joined in protests against the Vietnam war. Today the mainstream media is smearing pro-Palestine student protests in ways that are even worse than how we were slandered back then.

Open letter to University heads: Listen to your courageous students and divest from Israel

As people of faith we believe in a better way. It is not too late for you to change course and rid yourself of deadly investments in companies profiting from the Israeli occupation. Join your courageous students and divest now.

Student resistance to the Gaza genocide is spurring a crisis for Democrats and the progressive coalition

The student protests erupting across American universities represent something far beyond a cyclical wave of campus activism. They reflect a profound political crisis that has laid bare the fractures within the Democratic Party.

Inside the Biden administration sham to convince the world Netanyahu wants a ceasefire

Antony Blinken claims that Hamas is blocking a ceasefire in Gaza, but it is Israel which has vowed to invade Rafah regardless of an agreement and is absolutely unwilling to declare an end to its genocidal operation.

178.

5 mei 2024

Today's headlines

Reflections on the German state’s silencing of the Berlin Palestine Congress

The German state's repression of the Palestine Congress in Berlin and its persecution of Palestine solidarity activists is a sign of the creeping resurgence of fascism in Germany.

The land and sea blockade against Israel is working as Israel takes a strategic hit

Netanyahu's plans to turn Israel into a regional transportation hub connecting Asia with Europe has just suffered a major setback. The reason is the maritime and land blockade against Israel in response to its genocide in Gaza.

177.

5 mei 2024

In solidarity,

Mattan Helman
Executive Director
Refuser Solidarity Network

176.

4 mei 2024

Today's headlines

Palestinians in Gaza’s displacement camps face rampant disease due to destroyed infrastructure

Those who survived Israel’s deadly bombardment now have to contend with the rising environmental disaster in Gaza’s displacement camps, including insect infestations, dangerous amounts of garbage and human waste, and the spread of infectious disease.

‘I was arrested for trespassing on my own campus’: an Emory student on the school’s Gaza protest

Michael Arria

David Meer was arrested during the brutal police raid on the Gaza solidarity encampment at Emory University in Atlanta. Meer talks to Mondoweiss about his arrest, the broad Palestine coalition on campus, and why he became involved.

‘They’ve sparked resistance around the world’ — a Columbia ’68er salutes the ’24 uprising

Philip Weiss

Bob Feldman, who protested at Columbia University in 1968, on the student uprising today, “I would tell these students: people will always remember what you did today . . . and I believe they have accomplished much more in 2024 than we did in 1968.”

Read more

175.

3 mei 2024

Your Activist Scoop

TAKE ACTION TO STOP THE RAFAH INVASION 

SEE THE PARALLELS TO HISTORIC PROTESTS 

JOIN THE NAKBA DAYS OF ACTION 

174.

3 mei 2024

Corrigendum

Hostilities in the Gaza Strip and Israel
Flash Update #160

Please note that booby traps mentioned in a previous version of this Flash Update, in reference to a statement by the Government Media Office, are not a threat UN specialized agencies have documented in Gaza. You can refer to the updated version of OCHA's Flash Update #160 available here:

Full Flash Update

173.

3 mei 2024

Hostilities in the Gaza Strip and Israel
Flash Update #161

Abrar, 15-year-old, who was hit by shrapnel. “When my house was bombed and destroyed, two of my brothers were killed, and a third one was injured. Some shrapnel hit my right eye, causing weak eyesight and constant tears.” Photo by UNICEF

Key Highlights

• A ground operation in Rafah would bring “catastrophe on top of catastrophe,” UNICEF warns, highlighting the unimaginable toll the war is having on children. 
• On 29 April, the Palestinian Water Authority (PWA) announced the resumption of water pumping through Al Muntar water line after 200 days of complete shutdown, potentially serving approximately 300,000 people in Gaza city. 
• There are continued constraints on the entry of medical supplies into Gaza, reports Médecins Sans Frontières.  
• A joint ESCWA-UNDP assessment points to a setback of more than 20 years in human development in Gaza.

Gaza Strip Updates

• Israeli bombardment from the air, land, and sea continues to be reported across much of the Gaza Strip, resulting in further civilian casualties, displacement, and destruction of houses and other civilian infrastructure. 
• In a press encounter on 30 April, UN Secretary-General António Guterres warned of “devastating” and “serious” consequences of a potential military assault on Rafah. Guterres also expressed alarm at reports of mass graves discovered in Gaza, including at Al Shifa and Nasser hospitals, urging immediate access for independent, international investigators with forensic expertise “to establish the precise circumstances under which hundreds of Palestinians lost their lives and were buried, or reburied.” The UN chief stressed that the situation is “worsening by the day,” notwithstanding recent progress in bringing more aid into Gaza; to stave off “an entirely preventable, human-made famine,” he reiterated his “call on the Israeli authorities to allow and facilitate safe, rapid and unimpeded access for humanitarian aid and humanitarian workers, including UNRWA, throughout Gaza.”
• Between the afternoons of 1 and 3 May, according to the Ministry of Health (MoH) in Gaza, 54 Palestinians were killed and 102 injured, including 26 killed and 51 injured in the last 24 hours. Between 7 October 2023 and 3 May 2024, at least 34,622 Palestinians were killed in Gaza and 77,867 Palestinians were injured, according to MoH in Gaza.
• The following are among the deadly incidents on 30 April and 1 May:  
  • On 30 April, at about 21:00, three Palestinians, including a child, were reportedly killed when an apartment was hit in An-Nuseirat Refugee Camp. 
  • On 30 April, at about 22:25, two Palestinian children were reportedly killed when a house was hit in Ash Shaboura Refugee Camp in southern Rafah.
  • On 1 May, at about 21:40, six Palestinians were reportedly killed and others injured when a house was hit in Az Zahraa area, south of Gaza city.
• Between the afternoons of 1 May and 3 May, no Israeli soldiers were reported killed in Gaza. As of 3 May, 262 soldiers have been killed and 1,605 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, including 33 children, have been killed in Israel, the vast majority on 7 October. As of 3 May, Israeli authorities estimate that 133 Israelis and foreign nationals remain captive in Gaza, including fatalities whose bodies are withheld.
• On 1 May, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) reported that it has documented 25 cases of detention of journalists in the occupied Palestinian territory. In addition to reports of injured or missing journalists, CPJ is investigating the killing of 97 journalists and media workers in Gaza since 7 October, calling it “the deadliest period for journalists” since they began collecting data in 1992. According to the Government Media Office (GMO) in Gaza, 141 Palestinian journalists and media workers have been killed in Gaza, 70 injured, and at least 20 detained since the onset of hostilities. 
• On 2 May, 64 people who had been detained from Gaza were released by Israeli authorities at Kerem Shalom crossing, reported the Palestinian Border and Crossing Authority. One was dead and another was critically injured, according to the same source. On 1 May, on the occasion of International Labor Day, three Palestinian institutions covering prisoner affairs reported in a joint press release that, based on Palestinian Ministry of Labour data, out of 10,300 workers from Gaza who were present in Israel to work on 7 October, 3,200 were released at Kerem Shalom Crossing in November 2023, 6,441 have been deported to the West Bank, and 1,000 remain missing. They noted that Israeli authorities refused to disclose information about the missing workers apart from announcing the presence of two military detention camps near Beersheba and Jerusalem. On 2 May, MoH in Gaza announced that the head of the Orthopaedic Department at Shifa Medical Complex, Dr. Adnan Al Bursh, who had been detained by Israeli forces since December 2023 died in an Israel prison. 
• UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell warned on 1 May that a ground operation in Rafah “would bring catastrophe on top of catastrophe,” highlighting the “unimaginable toll” the war is having on children, who comprise 47 per cent of Gaza’s population. Some 600,000 children are now crammed into Rafah, according to UNICEF, with nearly all being “either injured, sick, malnourished, traumatized or living with disabilities.” Reporting on his three visits to the Intensive Care Unit at the European Hospital in Rafah, UNICEF spokesperson James Elder described seeing multiple children occupying the same bed, “each one arriving after a bomb had ripped through their homes, each one dying despite doctors’ immense efforts.” In Al Mawasi, paediatric nurse Becky Platt also highlighted the physical pain and psychological distress affecting injured children at the Emergency Health Unit set up by Save the Children (SCI); according to Platt, the recovery path is long and difficult amid a shortage of effective pain relief, rehabilitation treatment, and devices like wheelchairs or prostheses. 
• Only 12 out of Gaza’s 36 hospitals are now partially functioning; these include two in North Gaza, three in Gaza, two in Deir al Balah, two in Khan Younis, and three in Rafah. Functioning facilities are operating with limited capacities, overwhelmed with patients and coping with critical shortages of fuel, medicines, supplies and staff, according to the latest analysis by WHO and the Health Cluster. Six field hospitals are also fully operational, all located south of Wadi Gaza, and 70 per cent of primary healthcare centres throughout Gaza remain unserviceable. Despite access constraints that prevent the scaling up of assistance in northern Gaza, Health Cluster partners are doing everything possible to deliver critical health services and restore minimum services at damaged facilities, including Nasser Hospital. On 2 May, the International Medical Corps (IMC) announced plans to establish a second field hospital, with a 42-bed capacity, near Deir al Balah, to scale up primary as well as specialized sexual, reproductive, maternal and child health services. IMC’s existing field hospital in Al Mawasi, in western Rafah, has been supporting 53,502 people since its establishment in January, with 1,400 surgeries conducted as of 24 April. On 2 May, the Palestinian Red Crescent Society (PRCS) also reported that the first baby was born at the newly reopened maternity ward of Al Amal Hospital in Khan Younis.
• Incremental progress in access to food, water, and sanitation facilities, has been recently observed in Gaza, with reports of continued constraints on the entry of medical supplies.   
  • On 29 April, the Palestinian Water Authority (PWA) announced the resumption of water pumping through Al Muntar "Mekorot" water line after 200 days of complete shutdown and substantive repairs. Potentially serving approximately 300,000 people in Gaza city, this is the third Israeli water line to resume operations after their shutdown in October 2023. Renewed water pumping has so far benefited four neighbourhoods in Gaza city, including Az Zaitoun, Ad Draraj, As Sabra and At Tuffah, the Municipality of Gaza informed OCHA on 2 May. According to the WASH Cluster, as of 30 April, water production across Gaza stands at approximately 77,000 cubic meters per day, representing about 20 per cent of Gaza's total water production prior to the recent hostilities.  
  • On 1 May, the World Food Programme (WFP) reported that after months of restricted access, it is building a storage capacity in Beit Hanoun. On the same day, a convoy carrying humanitarian supplies from Jordan, including food parcels, sugar, rice, supplementary food and milk powder, entered Gaza via back-to-back transfer at Erez crossing, following inspection by Israeli authorities only at Allenby Bridge. Once inside Gaza, local trucks carrying the assistance were rerouted by armed men toward UN premises undesignated for offloading the aid. All trucks reached the two designated UN premises as of 3 May and distribution is ongoing. Expressing readiness to scale up food assistance to northern Gaza, WFP emphasized that “rolling back six months of starvation requires steady flows of food supplies [with] safe, lasting access…sustained over time.”
  • On 2 May, the Coastal Municipalities Water Utility (CMWU) reported that it has successfully connected a 250-Kilovolt power generator, supplied by the Egyptian authorities, at the wastewater treatment plant in Rafah. This has enabled the reactivation of plant’s pumping system, preventing sewage overflow towards the Egyptian border and averting potential health hazards in areas populated by hundreds of internally displaced persons (IDPs) living near the border with Egypt. In a related development, the Municipality of Gaza warned on 2 May of the potential danger of the accumulation of sewage in the rainwater collection lagoon in Ash Sheikh Radwan neighbourhood, in northern Gaza city, due to the lack of electricity, limited fuel supplies, and damage to three main sewage pumping facilities.
  • The ability to bring into Gaza biomedical equipment, such as oxygen concentrators, continues to be very constrained, reported Médecins Sans Frontiers (MSF) on 1 May. Oxygen concentrators filter surrounding air to deliver purified oxygen for patients, and are vital for malnourished children suffering from anaemia, newborn babies with breathing difficulties and injured patients with severe blood loss. Pending approval are also the MSF requests to bring in a range of medical supplies, from ultrasound scanners to external defibrillators, generators, and intravenous sodium chloride solutions that are essential for rehydrating patients and diluting drugs. According to MSF, such requests have been repeatedly rejected by Israeli authorities and, when approved, it has taken an average of one month from the moment humanitarian cargo arrives in Egypt to the time it enters Gaza, with supplies undergoing multiple inspection processes. If a single item is rejected at Nitzana crossing, “the entire shipment is rejected and returned to Rafah, where the lengthy process begins again,” added MSF. Stressing the lack of clarity and consistency in what is being allowed to enter, MSF noted that the same items are sometimes approved and at other times rejected. In April, Israeli authorities approved the entry of fridges and freezers to store temperature-sensitive medicines, which MSF had requested in November and are now expected to reach Gaza in May.
• Between 27 April and 2 May, 35 per cent (8 out of 23) of humanitarian aid missions to northern Gaza were facilitated by Israeli authorities, 52 per cent (12) were impeded, two missions were denied, and one mission was cancelled. During the same period, out of 21 humanitarian aid missions to areas in southern Gaza that require coordination, 66 per cent (14) were facilitated by Israeli authorities, three missions were impeded, and four missions were denied. Impediments primarily entail prolonged waiting time prior to departure and delays at Israeli checkpoints on Salah Addin and Al Rasheed roads en route to northern Gaza and back to the south. On 29 April, one aid mission experienced a total of over nine hours of waiting time on its way to the north and back to Rafah due to heightened security procedures at the checkpoint, and ongoing fighting between Palestinian armed groups and Israeli forces near the checkpoint.
• On 2 May,  the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA) published the findings of their second initial rapid assessment of the macroeconomic and social consequences of the war in Gaza at six months, with projections for seven-, eight- and nine-months scenarios. Using various analytical tools such as satellite images, the assessment forecasts that Gross Domestic Product (GDP) loss could reach 29 per cent in 2024 if the war extends to nine months, with total losses of US$7.6 billion, up from the 25.8 per cent currently estimated by the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS). Moreover, the poverty rate across the State of Palestine is projected to more than double, reaching 60.7 per cent by the ninth month and plunging an additional 1.86 million people into poverty. All four scenarios indicate a setback of more than 20 years in human development in Gaza and from 13 to 16 years in the West Bank, the assessment finds. Commenting on the findings, ESCWA Executive Secretary Rola Dashti stated: “This assessment projects that Gaza will be rendered fully dependent on external assistance on a scale not seen since 1948, as it will be left without a functional economy, or any means of production, self-sustainment, employment, or capacity for trade.” According to UNDP Administrator, Achim Steiner, these unprecedented losses “will precipitate a serious development crisis that jeopardizes the future of generations to come.” 

Funding

• On 17 April, the Humanitarian Country Team released a new Flash Appeal for the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt), which requests $2.8 billion to meet the most critical needs of 2.3 million people in Gaza and 800,000 people in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, between April and December 2024. 
• The oPt HF has 118 ongoing projects, for a total of $72.5 million, addressing urgent needs in the Gaza Strip (85 per cent) and West Bank (15 per cent). In light of the updated Flash Appeal, the HF has allocated an additional $22 million to bolster prioritized HF-funded projects in Gaza. Since 7 October, the oPt HF has mobilized $90 million from Member States and private donors, designated for programmes throughout Gaza. A summary of the oPt HF activities and challenges in March 2024 is available through this link and the 2023 Annual report of the oPt HF can be accessed here. Private donations are collected directly through the Humanitarian Fund.

172.

3 mei 2024

The work must continue and here’s how you can help

The genocide in Gaza is the current brutal manifestation of the ongoing Nakba that the Palestinian people have faced over the last 76 years. This year, AMP is encouraging its chapters, communities, and partner organizations to partake in educational events, mobilizations, and advocacy centered around the Nakba with the genocide in Gaza unfolding as a backdrop.

Actions/Events

Educational

• Lecture/Workshop

This can consist of a lecture with a local or out-of-town speaker at a local mosque or community center. The topics of discussion can vary but discussions on Gaza as the New Nakba, 1948 Continued, Ethnic Cleansing and Genocide, etc are all recommended. Another possible workshop can feature a local imam or scholar who can discuss the matter from an Islamic perspective that can be geared toward the broader community or the youth specifically. This can also consist of a commemorative event with Nakba survivors.

• Film Screenings

Films are a great way to educate and leave an impact on a wider audience. Films such as Occupation of the American Mind, Gaza Fights for Freedom, and Naila and the Uprising are great educational tools among many that are easily accessible online.

• Longer Seminars

A longer half-day or full-day seminar is beneficial for communities that want to not only engage in learning from one lecture but also from a series of workshops designed to give community members practical tools to take action for Palestine.

       Push for a Ceasefire Resolution

Pass a ceasefire resolution or a resolution condemning genocide in Gaza in your local city or township. For more information on this, please contact info@ampalestine.org.

171.

3 mei 2024

Today's headlines

‘We want the university to cut any ties to Israel’: a Cal Poly Humboldt student on the protests gripping the school

A Palestinian member of 'Humboldt for Palestine' talks about Palestine organizing at Cal Poly Humboldt, the recent police sweep of activists protesting the Gaza genocide, and what the mainstream media has missed.

Gaza’s collapsing health system is one of the goals of Israel’s genocide

Qassam Muaddi and Tareq S. Hajjaj

Israel is deliberately destroying the entire health sector in Gaza as only 4 hospitals remain operational. "If these hospitals stop working, they will turn into mass graves, like Nasser and al-Shifa," Muhammad Zaqout, General Director of Hospitals in Gaza, told Mondoweiss.

United Methodist Church votes to divest from Israel bonds

United Methodists for Kairos Response

In the first such divestment action by a major Christian denomination, the General Conference of The United Methodist Church has voted to divest from Israel bonds, and those of other countries carrying out prolonged military occupations.

Hamas yet to respond to latest Israeli proposal

Blinken says Hamas “must” respond to Israel’s proposal as the U.S. begins building a sea pier.

170.

3 mei 2024

The Rights Forum voert actie tegen een mogelijke Israëlische aanval op de stad Rafah, in het zuiden van Gaza. Daar zijn nu 1,4 miljoen Palestijnen samengedreven na de verwoesting van de rest van het gebied.

Volgens premier Rutte zal een Israëlische aanval op Rafah ‘catastrofale gevolgen’ hebben. ‘Don’t do it’, liet hij de Israëlische premier Netanyahu weten. Minister van Buitenlandse Zaken Bruins Slot waarschuwt voor ‘een humanitaire catastrofe en een verlies van mensenlevens die niet te rechtvaardigen zijn’.

Laten we onze politici aan hun woord houden. Het mag niet, zoals zo vaak, bij loze woorden blijven! Een aanval op Rafah mag niet zonder gevolgen blijven.

Uitnodiging | In gesprek met Palestijnse arts Ghassan Abu-Sittah

The Rights Forum biedt een podium aan sprekers van deze organisaties, als tegenwicht aan de onderdrukking van de vrijheid van meningsuiting en Palestijnse solidariteit door de Duitse staat. Verder stellen we ons de vraag, gaan we in Nederland ook deze kant op?

Gespreksleider: Berber van der Woude
Panel: Artsen voor Gaza, Palästina Kongress, Jüdische Stimme, European Legal Support Centre

Praktische informatie
Vrijdag 17 mei, 15:00 – 17:00
Pakhuis de Zwijger Amsterdam
Toegang: € 12,50  |  Voertaal: Engels

Hamas zal wapens neerleggen als Israël bezetting beëindigt, zegt topfunctionaris

Hij pleit voor realisering van de zogeheten tweestatenoplossing, de vredesformule van ‘twee soevereine staten, Israël en Palestina, zij aan zij'. Onderdeel van de oplossing is ook de terugkeer van de Palestijnse vluchtelingen naar hun oorspronkelijke woonplaatsen.

Westen staat oplossing in de weg
Nederland en de EU zijn fervente voorstanders van de tweestatenoplossing, en onder president Joe Biden geldt dat ook voor de VS. Althans op papier.

In de praktijk hebben de westerse mogendheden nagelaten die oplossing te implementeren, in de afgelopen 75 jaar.

Bovendien hebben zij Israël toegestaan de Westoever en Oost-Jeruzalem op grote schaal te koloniseren. Daarmee wordt een levensvatbare, soevereine Palestijnse staat in de praktijk vrijwel onmogelijk gemaakt. Op deze manier houden Israël en zijn westerse bondgenoten de kwestie-Palestina in stand.

Op deze manier houden Israël en zijn westerse bondgenoten de kwestie-Palestina in stand. Zelfs de aanval van Hamas op 7 oktober 2023 en het daaropvolgende meedogenloze Israëlische offensief hebben daar geen verandering in gebracht.

Politieke oplossing
In het interview zegt Al-Hayya dat de gedachte van Israël dat het Palestijnse gewapende verzet kan worden geëlimineerd op wensdenken berust. Er bestaat geen militaire oplossing voor de kwestie-Palestina, alleen een politieke. Daarvoor biedt Al-Hayya namens Hamas nu eens te meer een duidelijke opening.

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

UNRWA | Nederland heulde openlijk opnieuw met Israëlische leugens

De Israëlische informatie waarop het kabinet zich baseerde om de steun aan VN-hulporganisatie UNRWA stop te zetten, blijkt niet te kloppen. Dat kan worden geconcludeerd uit het op 22 april verschenen ‘Colonna-rapport’.

Israël  er niet in geslaagd die te onderbouwen, schrijven de onderzoekers. Sterker, zij concluderen dat UNRWA robuuste regels hanteert ten aanzien van zijn neutraliteit.

Vier keer belazerd
Het is de vierde keer in vier jaar dat westerse donorlanden zich door Israël laten bespelen om Palestijnse ngo’s en hulporganisaties te ondermijnen. In alle gevallen bleken de Israëlische ‘bewijzen’ gefabriceerd en gebaseerd op door marteling afgedwongen bekentenissen, schreven we afgelopen maand. Steeds betaalden de (pro-)Palestijnse organisaties de prijs: hun financiering werd langere tijd bevroren of permanent gestaakt, met enorme impact op hun activiteiten en reputatie. Ook Nederland leende zich daarvoor.

Wil je meer weten over deze vier voorbeelden van Israëlische misleiding? Lees dan hier het hele artikel.

'Campagne mislukt'
Het Colonna-rapport heeft Nederland gedwongen zijn positie met betrekking tot UNRWA te herzien. Op 26 april stuurde het kabinet een brief naar de Tweede Kamer waarin het toekomstige financiering van UNRWA niet langer uitsluit – dit omgeven met zwaar aangezette mitsen en maren, en zonder concrete toezegging. Intussen is door Israëlische functionarissen toegegeven dat de ‘campagne tegen UNRWA’s internationale financiering’ is mislukt.

De vraag die resteert is of de westerse donorlanden, Nederland inbegrepen, hun lesje nu hebben geleerd. Nieuwe Israëlische beschuldigingen van Palestijnse of internationale organisaties zullen naar verwachting niet lang op zich laten wachten. Het hoort ondenkbaar te zijn dat die opnieuw serieus worden genomen.

169.

3 mei 2024

168.

3 mei 2024

White House’s Irresponsible Denialism and Vilification of Pro-Palestine Student Activists Endangers Their Safety & Campus Free Speech

WASHINGTON, D.C., May 02, 2024 - AMP condemns the escalating attacks on pro-Palestinian students by local police, campus authorities, and Zionist groups. President Joe Biden’s speech earlier today was an inadequate response to the growing violence against peaceful Gaza solidarity camps at over a hundred universities, where students, from all different backgrounds including Jewish students, are facing brutality and arrests. Rather than addressing the sources of violence and heeding calls for immediate federal action to protect student activists and uphold their rights to free expression and assembly, President Biden has misplaced the blame on the peaceful student activists. Doing so sets a dangerous precedent for students across the United States, making them open targets for attacks by police, administrators, and extremist Zionist groups.

In recent weeks, student-led protests have emerged on college campuses nationwide. “Liberated zone” encampments call for universities to divest from Israel in response to the ongoing genocide in Gaza and universities’ intransigence to condemn or divest from the ongoing violence. Clear documentation shows these demonstrations have been peaceful but have been met with disproportionate force from law enforcement and counter-protesters. Students and faculty have faced arrests, violence, and intimidation for exercising their First Amendment rights by their Universities and fellow students.

President Biden's speech was a glaring example of denialism and a dangerous attempt to publicly re-write the narrative about these students’ peaceful protest, implicating and endangering our communities and our students. President Biden claimed the students were guilty of  “vandalism, trespassing, breaking windows” but the facts show that it has been police deployed on students who have destroyed property, broken down doors and windows, and who have been shooting protestors in the face with rubber bullets, among other violence. Instead of holding accountable law enforcement and university administrations for their repression of these peaceful protests, his speech was a shameful attempt to deflect responsibility and undermine legitimate concerns.

It's disheartening that the U.S. government is only emphasizing the rise of anti-Semitism while it neglects to address the rampant anti-Palestinian racism and Islamophobia that pervade our society which dismisses the over 14,500 children, among over 33,000 people, killed in Israel’s war aided and abetted by both this administration and university investments. Biden’s negligence to state the facts and protect students undermines our democracy and academic freedoms.

President Biden must not prioritize political interests over human rights and justice. Accountability and meaningful action to protect the rights of all marginalized communities, including Palestinians and our allies is long overdue.

AMP calls on President Biden to:

• Publicly condemn the violence against student protesters and affirm their right to peaceful assembly and free speech.

• Direct the Department of Justice to investigate instances of excessive force and civil rights violations by law enforcement against student activists.

• Engage with university administrators to ensure that students are not facing disciplinary action or academic consequences for participating in peaceful protests.

• Allocate resources to support and protect student activists facing threats, harassment, or violence from counter-protesters.

• End all ongoing complicity of the administration in the genocide and demand and facilitate an immediate, permanent ceasefire.

AMP urges all those who believe in human rights, democracy, and freedom of expression to join in calling on the Biden administration to take decisive action to protect pro-Palestinian student activists and uphold their constitutional rights.
 

In solidarity,
American Muslims for Palestine (AMP)

167.

2 mei 2024

This email is hard to write.

Last weekend, my husband and I joined the anti-war encampment at Washington University in St. Louis to support students protesting their university’s complicity in Israel’s genocide of Palestinians in Gaza.

When the University called in armed police officers to violently break up what had been a very calm, even festive, gathering on the University lawn; my husband and I were both arrested.

In addition to the arrest, my husband, Steve Tamari, a 65-year old history professor, was also brutally beaten by four police officers for filming the arrests of students. Horrifying footage shows him slammed to the ground, then dragged away while his body remains limp, before officers callously drop him on his injured ribs with his hands tied behind his back.

My husband returned home from the hospital yesterday with nine fractured ribs and a broken hand. One doctor told him he was lucky to be alive, as his lungs could have easily been punctured during the abuse, which would have killed him on the spot.

Somehow, through it all, he issued this statement and reminder from his hospital room:

“My ordeal…is a small price to pay for Israel’s ongoing genocide in Gaza, aided and abetted by the U.S. government, the military, the political elite of both the Democratic and Republican parties, and, most outrageously, institutions of higher education like Washington University(…)The students are our collective best hope for an end to wanton violence, a more humane future, and a free Palestine.”

Take action now to support student protesters around the country. Use this tool to email 37 university presidents to support the student’s demands and tell administrators to be on the right side of history.

We are at a historical crossroads where students are meeting this critical moment by taking their demands directly to their administrations and forcing them to the table.

The demand is simple: Divest from companies that are actively contributing to Israel’s genocide.

At Washington University, students are demanding that the university cut all financial and recruitment ties with the weapons manufacturer Boeing. Boeing, based in St. Louis, is responsible for munitions that have destroyed homes and killed families in Gaza.

Like many other administrators across the country, Washington University leaders instead chose violent repression rather than address students’ concerns about the school’s complicity in genocide.

In addition to Steve and me, more than 100 students, faculty, and community members were arrested for participating in the Gaza solidarity encampment at Wash U. During the violent arrests, at least 21 protestors sustained injuries.

The repression didn’t stop there. The university administration banned twenty-three students and six faculty from campus. The faculty members were placed on administrative leave, locked out of their work emails, and instructed not to communicate with any faculty, staff, or students at Washington University, even in an off-campus setting.

Washington University is of course just one example. In the last two weeks, over 2000 students have been arrested on college campuses during anti-war protests. Often, arrests have been accompanied by extreme police brutality like we just saw at UCLA, University of Texas, and Columbia. This is clearly a coordinated attack on the campus movements for Palestinian freedom.

We stand wholeheartedly with the students across the nation and the globe demanding transparency and urging divestment from the war machine.

Students need all of our support right now.

We must all use the power at our disposal to grind this war machine to a halt.

Sandra Tamari
Executive Director
Adalah Justice Project

166.

2 mei 2024

Today's headlines

Flood the Gates: Escalate

Palestine Action US

The anti-imperialist movement in the U.S. has reached a level of militancy not seen in generations. But the Gaza genocide is ongoing and an invasion of Rafah is imminent. We must evaluate and recalculate our strategy to break the war machine.

Pro-Israel groups vs. student democracy at McGill

Liberal MP Anthony Housefather is clamoring for the violent suppression of McGill students protesting Israel’s genocide in Gaza. It is an odious escalation in the Israel lobby’s bid to suppress democracy

NYPD clears Columbia student occupation, arrests hundreds across the city

New York police arrested a total of 282 Palestine protesters across the city in what appeared to be a coordinated attack by the city government on student protest encampments.

165.

2 mei 2024

I’m writing to urge you to take action to support students protesting against genocide and for Palestinian freedom.

Over 1,100 students have been arrested in the past few weeks. It’s hard to believe that our university presidents and chancellors are calling the police on us. But we are undeterred.

They don’t understand that we want the people of Gaza to live.

We’ll do what we can to stop Israel’s genocide in Gaza using the time-honored tactics of nonviolent protest.

Please take action today. We can reach 37 university presidents, chancellors, and others.

In solidarity,

Abdullah Akl, and the team at MPower Change

_____________________________________________________

Our eyes stay fixed on Gaza as the Israeli military readies to attack the city of Rafah, where over a million Palestinians are sheltering.

With no end in sight of Israel’s genocidal attacks on Palestinians, the student solidarity movement rippling across the country is our brightest hope.

But, as in all nonviolent student movements, their nonviolent protest is being met with violence.

As of April 28, 800 students have been arrested in campus police sweeps.¹

Students have historically played a pivotal role in changing the course of history, helping bring an end to the Vietnam War and South Africa's apartheid.

They are making history again

Source:

1. “Crackdowns at 4 College Protests Lead to More Than 200 Arrests,” NYT, April 27, 2024.

164.

1 mei 2024

Columbia University Abdicates Its Duty to Academic Freedom with Ambush of Peaceful Student Protests for Gaza

Wednesday, May 1, 2024 — New York, NY — Last night, Columbia University students were ambushed by hundreds of New York Police Department officers in a surprise attack on the student encampment calling for divestment from Israeli apartheid and genocidal warfare. 

Over a hundred students were arrested as police used ladders to climb into a university building, “pushed protesters to the ground and slammed them with metal barricades.” One student was thrown down a flight of stairs, according to video footage, as hundreds more called for the police to stand down. The NYPD Strategic Response Group marched on students with riot gear and broke into university buildings—at the request of the university President Minouche Shafik. 

The NYPD wreaked terror on Columbia’s student body last night. They violently dispersed protestors and have been invited by Shafik to occupy the campus through graduation to ensure no protest tents are set up on the campus’s public spaces again. 

“We have never seen more lawlessness in recent months than when Columbia University deployed droves of law enforcement on their own students who have for weeks exercised their First Amendment rights—and rights as students—to demand that investments in Israel’s war machine end immediately amid the genocide of over 34,000 Palestinians in Gaza,” said Dr. Osama Abu Irshaid, Executive Director of Americans for Justice in Palestine Action.

AJP Action condemns Columbia University’s abdication of its responsibility to student rights and student safety. University leaders have a responsibility to uphold academic freedom, including students’ constitutionally-protected right to protest.

We call on the Department of Education to investigate Columbia University’s collaboration with the NYPD to attack students despite documentation of students’ consistently peaceful protests. The attacks have disparate impacts on Palestinian, Muslim, and other students of color on campus and endangers all students for exercising their rights. This follows a trend across the country. At least one Muslim student at Arizona State University was handcuffed by police last night as well before officers ripped her hijab off; she was seated and did not resist arrest. 

Not only has Columbia University failed to protect its Palestinian, Arab, and Muslim students in particular, it has allowed all Palestine solidarity activists in its community to be subject to public doxxing and attacks by faculty, staff, members of foreign militaries, and elected officials alike. The university has testified against these students in Congress and mischaracterized their peaceful protests in order to repress views unpopular with major donors and pro-Israel Members of Congress.

AJP Action expresses staunch support for the students and their demands—along with the demands and rights of students across the country: at UCLA, Yale, University of Minnesota, University of Texas, University of Wisconsin - Madison, and at dozens more campuses that have been attacked by law enforcement at the behest of university leadership. We also call on President Biden to condemn attacks on students and heed the popular movement to end support for Israel’s war in Gaza and to pursue diplomatic pathways to peace. 

As students seek legal action for the attacks yesterday, we stand by them and bear witness to the clear violations of their democratic rights and the widespread attacks on the integrity of higher education institutions in the U.S.
 

In solidarity,

Americans for Justice in Palestine Action

163.

1 mei 2024

Make no mistake: the demands of students and workers in their protests and encampments are unequivocal—they demand an end to the genocide in Gaza and urge us to prioritize people over profit and war. In response, however, these institutions are deploying armed riot police to quash these calls for justice.

Institutions like Columbia, UCLA, and others across the nation have shamelessly placed profit above safety. They are complicit in the devastation of lives in Palestine and their own students who are directly impacted by the genocide. By investing in weapon manufacturers that supply bombs to Israel, by allowing riot police to brutally suppress protests, and by permitting thugs to assault students and faculty, these universities are not mere bystanders but active participants in the ongoing violence and brutality against Palestinians worldwide.

The stance of the White House, the State Department, state officials, and university boards of trustees have highlighted that this struggle is a confrontation between those who profit from war and exploitation and those who firmly stand against their war machine.

We stand with students and are unwavering in our conviction that we are on the right side of history. The struggle hasn't ended, it has only just begun.

With resolve,
The Adalah Justice Project Team

162.

1 mei 2024

Today's headlines

The genocide in Gaza will also be the end of Israel

The more resistance that the colonized shows, the more brutal the colonizer becomes. Genocidal Israel is now walking in the footsteps of all other settler colonies on their deathbed.

Meet the ‘homegrown violent extremism’ researcher behind the crackdown on pro-Palestinian students at USC

Erroll Southers is a top USC administrator facing demands to resign after canceling a valedictorian commencement speech and cracking down on protestors. He has also produced research labeling identifying with Palestinians as a sign of radicalization.

We need to strike for Palestine: why UAW 4811 matters

In the years to come, we will need the strike as a tool for collective action to confront the challenges that face us. But right now, Palestine needs us, and that means we need to support reformers in the upcoming UAW 4811 Triennial Elections.

161.

1 mei 2024

Will they crush the biggest student movement since Vietnam?

7-minute read 

Stand with students protesting genocide.

Students are being subjected to an increasingly violent crackdown for peacefully protesting genocide. Here’s two ways you can support them:

What we're reading.

160.

1 mei 2024

Hostilities in the Gaza Strip and Israel
Flash Update #160

UN specialists inspect unexploded ordnance following the withdrawal of Israeli troops from Khan Younis city, on 10 April 2024. Photo by OCHA/Themba Linden

Key Highlights

• The risk of exposure to unexploded ordnance is at its “most dangerous stage,” warns UNMAS; a child sustains limb amputations following the reported detonation of a booby-trapped can of food in Khan Younis.
• More than 10,000 people are estimated to be missing under rubble in Gaza, according to the Palestinian Civil Defense.
• Since 7 October 2023, OCHA has recorded at least 800 Israeli settler attacks against Palestinians in the West Bank that resulted in casualties or property damage, including the killing of 31 Palestinians by Israeli forces or settlers, the injury of about 500, and damage to about 80 houses, nearly 12,000 trees and saplings and 450 vehicles. 
• Three schools in H2 area of Hebron city re-open for the first time in seven months, after Israeli authorities allow teachers to gain access to the area.

Gaza Strip Updates

• Israeli bombardment from the air, land, and sea continues to be reported across much of the Gaza Strip, resulting in further civilian casualties, displacement, and destruction of houses and other civilian infrastructure. 
• In a statement on 30 April, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, Martin Griffiths, stressed that recent improvements in aid delivery to Gaza, including the reopening of Erez crossing to bring aid from Ashdod and Jordan and efforts to open a maritime corridor, cannot be used to justify a full-blown assault on Rafah. Calling it “nothing short of a tragedy beyond words,” he added that a ground operation would deal a disastrous blow for “agencies struggling to provide humanitarian aid despite the active hostilities, impassable roads, unexploded ordnance, fuel shortages, delays at checkpoints, and Israeli restrictions” and would bring even more trauma and death for “the hundreds of thousands of people who have fled to Gaza’s southernmost point to escape disease, famine, mass graves and direct fighting.” 
• Between the afternoon of 29 April and 11:00 on 1 May, according to the Ministry of Health (MoH) in Gaza, 80 Palestinians were killed and 118 injured, including 33 killed and 57 injured in the last 24 hours. Between 7 October 2023 and 11:00 on 1 May 2024, at least 34,568 Palestinians were killed in Gaza and 77,765 Palestinians were injured, according to MoH in Gaza.
• The following are among the deadly incidents on 29 April: 
  • On 29 April, at about 12:25, two Palestinian women and two girls were reportedly killed, and others injured, when a house was hit in Tall As Sultan neighborhood in western Rafah. 
  • On 29 April, at about 13:20, three Palestinians, including a child and a woman, were reportedly killed and others injured when a house was hit near Al Ihsan Mosque, in An Nuseirat Refugee Camp.
  • On 29 April, at about 16:00, two Palestinians were reportedly killed and two injured when a house was hit in At Tuffah neighborhood, in Gaza city.
  • On 29 April, at about 18:45, three Palestinians, including a child and a journalist, were reportedly killed and others injured when a house was hit in An Nuseirat Refugee Camp.
• Between the afternoons of 28 April and 1 May, two Israeli soldiers were reported killed in Gaza. As of 1 May, 262 soldiers have been killed and 1,602 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, including 33 children, have been killed in Israel, the vast majority on 7 October. As of 1 May, Israeli authorities estimate that 133 Israelis and foreign nationals remain captive in Gaza, including fatalities whose bodies are withheld.
• More than 10,000 people are estimated to be missing under rubble in Gaza, the Palestinian Civil Defense (PCD) said in a statement on 30 April. PCD added that they are facing enormous challenges in recovering dead bodies, including lack of equipment, heavy machinery and personnel, warning it could take up to three years to retrieve the bodies using the primitive tools they have on hand. Rising temperatures can accelerate the decomposition of bodies and the spread of disease, warned PCD, appealing to UN agencies and all relevant stakeholders to urgently intervene to allow the entry of needed equipment, including bulldozers and excavators, to avert a public health catastrophe, facilitate dignified burials, and save the lives of injured people. 
• On 29 April, the Government Media Office (GMO) reported that a 14-year-old boy was seriously injured, and sustained limb amputations, after opening a booby-trapped can of food found while looking for his belongings in his house that had been shelled by Israeli forces in Khan Younis. The GMO indicated that many people have been recently injured due to the explosion of booby-trapped canned goods, urging the population to exercise maximum care. Based on UN estimates of unexploded munitions, the GMO assessed that around 7,500 tons of unexploded ordnance (UXO) might be scattered throughout Gaza, appealing for assistance by the international community to remove explosive remnants of war (ERW) and mitigate the risk for civilians. 
• The risk of exposure to unexploded ordnance is now at its “most dangerous stage,” warned the Chief of the UNMAS Mine Action Programme in the occupied Palestinian territory, Charles Birch, on 28 April. “Once people start returning to the north, that’s when most accidents will occur, because they will not be familiar with where unexploded ordnance is located,” Birch explained. UNMAS estimates that over 37 million tons of debris in the Gaza Strip contain about 800,000 tons of asbestos, other contaminants, and UXO, noting that at least 10 per cent of fired ammunition potentially fails to function. A UN assessment team visiting Khan Younis on 10 April, following the withdrawal of Israeli troops, reported that streets and public spaces were littered with UXO, with “unexploded 1,000-pound bombs lying on main intersections and inside schools.” To ensure the safety of humanitarian convoys delivering lifesaving assistance and where access permits, UNMAS continues to conduct explosive ordnance risk assessments of hospitals and UN installations, particularly UNRWA facilities sheltering internally displaced persons (IDPs). On 28 April, UNRWA and UNMAS carried out a damage assessment at UNRWA facilities in Khan Younis, marking shrapnel and UXO. Efforts are also ongoing to map UXO and high-risk areas and scale up Explosive Ordnance Risk Education (EORE) messaging; UNMAS has already reached via social media and SMS around 1.2 million people in Gaza and continues to conduct EORE sessions and deliver leaflets as part of aid packages distributed by other humanitarian partners. The Protection Cluster reports, however, that administrative obstacles and restrictions on the entry of critical supplies into Gaza limit the number of Explosive Ordinance Disposal (EOD) experts that may safely deploy to the Strip and the ability to bring in required EORE materials. Funding is also a major concern; UNMAS Chief Charles Birch stated that US$5 million has been secured for clearance processes but another $40 million is required over the next 18 months to address the unprecedented scale of contamination. 
• Persons with disabilities, whether pre-existing or newly acquired, are among the vulnerable groups worst affected by hostilities in Gaza. Many have lost their assistive devices or have been separated from their primary caregivers, according to ACAPS, preventing them from fleeing or finding safe shelter. Others who have been injured face the risk of long-term disability due to the lack of supplies to treat even minor injuries or fractures, warned Handicap International (HI). On 26 April, the UN shed light on the suffering of a deaf and mute Palestinian man who has been displaced with his wife and child to Deir al Balah; living in constant fear for his family, his hearing aid allows him to capture only a “weak echo” of what is happening around him, including the sound of bombing. In April, Atfaluna Society for Deaf Children also highlighted the challenges facing a 30-year-old Palestinian woman with a mobility impairment, who was forced to flee her home without her wheelchair and has since been displaced multiple times with her family. According to the 2022 Multi-Sector Needs Assessment (MSNA), about 21 per cent of households in the Gaza Strip were assessed to include at least one member of the household with a physical or mental disability. Since then, although data is limited, the number of people with disabilities in Gaza is believed to have dramatically increased; UNICEF estimated in December 2023 that around 1,000 children had lost one or both legs and Atfaluna Society later estimated that some 5,000 have acquired disabilities from injury.
• Humanitarian actors continue to face a number of access constraints in reaching people in need of assistance across Gaza, including denials of planned missions or prolonged delays at Israeli military checkpoints on Salah El Din and Al Rasheed roads that control movement between northern and southern Gaza. In April 2024, 55 per cent (52 out of 94) of humanitarian aid missions to northern Gaza were facilitated by Israeli authorities, 27 per cent (25) were impeded, 10 per cent (9) were denied, and eight per cent (8) were cancelled due to logistical constraints. In addition, during the same period, out of 185 humanitarian aid missions to areas in southern Gaza that require coordination, 80 per cent (147) were facilitated by Israeli authorities, three per cent (6) were impeded, 10 per cent (19) were denied, and seven per cent (13) were cancelled due to logistical constraints. Facilitated missions involved food distributions, delivery of medical supplies to hospitals, movement of emergency medical teams, fuel delivery, assessments, and support for water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) activities. 

West Bank Update (23-29 April)

• Latest development:  30 April: A 26-year-old Palestinian man died after falling off the roof of a building while being chased by Israeli forces in Adh Dhahiriya town in Hebron governorate. According to his family, the man and his friend were driving to their workplace and then left the vehicle and ran back to the town upon seeing an Israeli military checkpoint. The other man was arrested by Israeli forces. 
• Between 23 and 29 April, Israeli forces shot and killed five Palestinians, including a child, and injured 13 others. Since 7 October, 474 Palestinians including 116 children, have been killed in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and about 5,000 were injured. The fatalities included 457 killed by Israeli forces, ten by Israeli settlers and seven where it remains undetermined whether the perpetrators were Israeli forces or settlers. Over 70 per cent of the fatalities took place during search-and-arrest and other operations by Israeli forces. Nine Israelis have also been killed and 104 were injured in the West Bank since October 2023; these include five members of Israeli forces killed and 69 injured.  
• In two separate incidents, three Palestinians were killed by Israeli forces in attacks or alleged attacks against Israeli forces at two checkpoints in the West Bank. These include two Palestinians, aged 21 and 22 years, who were shot after reportedly shooting at Israeli forces from inside their vehicle at Salem Barrier checkpoint on 27 April. Their bodies have been withheld by Israeli authorities. Two additional Palestinians were injured, but it remains unclear whether they were inside the same vehicle. They were evacuated by the Palestinian Red Crescent Society (PRCS) 15 minutes following the incident. On 24 April, a 20-year-old woman was shot after allegedly attempting to stab Israeli soldiers at a checkpoint leading to Hebron city. According to an eyewitness, however, the woman was shot when she stepped out of her car after facing mechanical problems.
• In another two separate incidents, two Palestinians were shot during operations by Israeli forces, including a 16-year-old boy who was shot on 25 April when Israeli forces raided Ramallah city to deliver at least one punitive house demolition order and opened fire toward Palestinian stone throwers. The demolition order was issued for the house of one of the Palestinians suspected of shooting at vehicles travelling on Road 60 on 7 January 2024, which resulted in the killing of a Palestinian from East Jerusalem and a Palestinian citizen of Israel. Also, a 44-year-old man was shot and killed while reportedly standing in front of his house in Aqbet Jaber Refugee Camp in Jericho during an Israeli night raid on 23 April; the incident reportedly did not involve exchanges of fire between Israeli forces and Palestinians, nor clashes between Israeli forces and Palestinian stone throwers. 
• In H2 area of Hebron city, Israeli authorities allowed teachers to gain access to three schools serving at least 350 boys and girls for the first time since 7 October 2023, enabling the schools to re-open after nearly seven months. Movement restrictions affecting an estimated 7,000 residents of H2 area in Hebron have been in place since 7 October, with 29 checkpoints controlling access to the area only open for Palestinian residents. During the reporting period, Israeli forces detained at least 11 Palestinians at checkpoints controlling access from/to the H2 area or while walking en route to their houses in the area. Since the beginning of the year, 142 Palestinians have been detained in H2 area, compared to 63 in the same period last year.  
• During the reporting period, Israeli settlers perpetrated six attacks that led to the injury of two Palestinians and damage to property. In three incidents, Israeli settlers physically assaulted Palestinian herders (including an elderly man) while grazing their livestock near Ein Samiya herding community (Ramallah) and in Ma’in and Masafer Yatta (Hebron). Also in Masafer Yatta, settlers grazed their sheep on and damaged about four acres (17 dunums) of Palestinian land planted with seasonal crops. In two other incidents, Israeli settlers reportedly contaminated a water well in Al Maniya community (Bethlehem) and uprooted some 70 saplings of olives, grapes and figs in Qarawat Bani Hassan village (Salfit). In Ad Deir community (Tubas), Israeli settlers broke into private Palestinian land and destroyed crops and farm property, including generators, water pumps, solar panels, water pipes, and an agricultural tent, as well as stole an electric converter. 
• Since 7 October 2023, OCHA has recorded at least 800 Israeli settler attacks against Palestinians that resulted in Palestinian casualties (84 incidents), damage to Palestinian-owned property (629 incidents), or both casualties and damage to property (90 incidents). These incidents resulted in the killing of 31 Palestinians either by Israeli settlers or forces, close to 500 injuries, and vandalization of nearly 80 houses, at least 11,700 trees and saplings, and about 450 vehicles.
• There were 16 other settler incidents during the reporting period that did not result in casualties and/or property damage. In one incident, Israeli settlers established a new outpost on land belonging to the villages of Al Mughayyir and Kafr Malik in Ramallah governorate. Hundreds of settlers accompanied by Israeli forces also entered the archeological site in Sabastiya village in Nablus governorate, reportedly to celebrate the Passover, preventing the movement of Palestinians to and from the area. In addition, there were incidents of intimidation and access obstruction, affecting Palestinians’ access to their farms and water pumps in Ein al Hilweh and Ad Deir herding communities, respectively, in Tubas governorate. Since 7 October 2023, at least 206 Palestinian households comprising 1,244 people, most of whom are herding families, including 603 children, have been displaced amid settler violence and access restrictions.   
• Since 7 October 2023, some 1,765 Palestinians, of whom 43 per cent are children, have been displaced due to the demolition of their homes. Over half (961 people) were displaced during operations by Israeli forces, of which 94 per cent took place in the refugee camps of Nur Shams, Tulkarm and Jenin. This is followed by 37 per cent displaced by lack-of-permit demolitions and eight per cent due to demolitions on punitive grounds. 

Funding

• On 17 April, the Humanitarian Country Team released a new Flash Appeal for the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt), which requests $2.8 billion to meet the most critical needs of 2.3 million people in Gaza and 800,000 people in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, between April and December 2024. The figure reflects what is deemed most likely to be implemented over the next nine months, under access constraints and security challenges that limit the rapid scale-up of the humanitarian response, and represents only a part of the requirement that the UN and its partners estimate is needed to meet the scale of humanitarian needs across the oPt. This Flash Appeal replaces the previous appeal launched in October 2023 and extended until March 2024, which sought $1.23 billion; roughly half of this amount was utilized in the last quarter of 2023 and the remaining half in the first quarter of 2024.
• The oPt HF has 118 ongoing projects, for a total of $72.5 million, addressing urgent needs in the Gaza Strip (85 per cent) and West Bank (15 per cent). In light of the updated Flash Appeal, the HF has allocated an additional $22 million to bolster prioritized HF-funded projects in Gaza to enhance the operational capacity of humanitarian partners as well as ensure the continuity and expansion of essential services amid escalating challenges. In the West Bank, the oPt HF has allocated $5 million for key partners to enhance system readiness and responsiveness to sudden-onset emergencies. Since 7 October, the oPt HF has mobilized $90 million from Member States and private donors, designated for programmes throughout Gaza. A summary of the oPt HF activities and challenges in March 2024 is available through this link and the 2023 Annual report of the oPt HF can be accessed here. Private donations are collected directly through the Humanitarian Fund.

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1 mei 2024

As you probably know from previous communications, our staff, including Executive Director, Nancy Mansour, and our Programming & Operations Coordinator, Moureen Kaki, recently returned from Gaza leading an emergency medical delegation of healthcare workers.

Eyewitness Palestine staff shared their experiences a couple of weeks ago during our Gaza Report Back Webinar. As a follow-up to this webinar, yesterday Eyewitness Palestine hosted several doctors and Gaza hospital directors to share their experiences and stories of providing healthcare under genocide and the growing threat of a ground invasion in Rafah. Though some of the doctors originally listed could not attend due to work we were joined by Dr. Mohammed Salamaa of Rafah's Emirati Hospital, Dr. Mousaa Abed of Rafah's Tel Al-Sultan Clinic, and Dr. Hanann Abu Qassim of Zuiwada Medical Point.

They all shared powerful testimony of the emotional, physical, and psychological weight of their work. Beyond the work they do, the doctors themselves also live under bombardment and threat of death. For example, Dr. Salamaa discusses the fact that he has been separated from his family, who are staying north of Rafah and the consequences this has had on him. And though Dr. Abed was in Rafah prior to the arrival of internally displaced Palestinians from the north, the difference in patient volume in his clinic is unfathomable, creating conditions that make it so much more difficult to provide quality care..

COMING UP: WITNESSING PALESTINE 2024

Don't miss out! Join Eyewitness Palestine in Chicago, IL on Sunday, June 2, 2024 for our upcoming event, “Witnessing Palestine”, an evening highlighting the flavors, cultures and stories of Palestine. Speakers will include special guests coming from the West Bank, former Eyewitness Palestine delegates sharing their first-hand experiences as well as live Palestinian folk music. In these troubling times, this will be an opportunity to celebrate and honor the beauty of Palestinian peoples and culture, while supporting Eyewitness Palestine's transformative educational experiences that help North Americans gain a deeper understanding and commitment to the liberation of Palestine.

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1 mei 2024

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1 mei 2024

This week, we continue to focus on the protests against Israel's war on Gaza sweeping top university campuses across the US and beyond. Earlier today, police raided New York's Columbia University and arrested dozens of students, while in Los Angeles, a Palestinian solidarity encampment at the UCLA campus was attacked by pro-Israel counter-protesters.

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