LUISTER NAAR DE JOODSE STEMMEN OVER

DE ISRAELISCHE MEGA-MISDRIJVEN TEGEN

HET INTERNATIONAAL HUMANITAIR RECHT

JEGENS DE PALESTIJNEN !

THE JEWISH VOICE FOR PEACE - JVP

  LEES "THE WIRE" !

BERICHTEN NA 31-01-2025 STAAN HIER

28 februari 2025

Your Activist Scoop

OUR GOVERNMENT'S GUILT

WHAT YOU CAN DO NEXT

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Welcome Ramadan – Stay Steadfast, Stay #DefiantForPalestine

As we welcome the blessed month of Ramadan, we reflect on its message of resilience, justice, and unwavering faith. This year, as our Palestinian brothers and sisters continue their struggle for freedom, we pray that Ramadan strengthens our resolve and commitment to standing in solidarity with them.

May this Ramadan keep us steadfast and resolute in our fight for justice and liberation for Palestine.

 AMP is a premier national organization in the Palestine solidarity movement.

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On Sunday, March 16 at 12:00pm ET, please join us for a Zoom webinar to hear from Israeli conscientious objectors who will share their stories of refusing to join the Israeli military.

This webinar is hosted in partnership with Veterans For Peace Chapter 51 and the Refuser Solidarity Network (RSN). The Refuser Solidarity Network works to end the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian Territories and the militarization of Israeli society, one soldier at a time.

Panelists:

• Atalya Ben-Abba is the Social Media Manager for the Refuser Solidarity Network. Atalya refused in 2017 and spent 110 days in the military prison because she wanted to publicly condemn the Israeli occupation, and not take part in its practices. Atalya has been an activist for the past ten years, working mainly in Jerusalem and the West Bank.
• Mattan Helman is the Executive Director of the Refuser Solidarity Network. Mattan spent 110 days in prison because he refused to join the Israeli army and oppress Palestinians.

We'll also hear from Israeli conscientious objectors Einat Gerlitz and Tal Mitnick, who will be traveling across Canada for the Anti-Zionist Refusenik Speaking Tour throughout the month of March, hosted by Independent Jewish Voices (IJV) in partnership with the Mesarvot Network.

Towards a world beyond war,
Greta Zarro

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Today's headlines

I am seeking a discharge from the U.S. military over the Gaza genocide. I was inspired by Aaron Bushnell.

I am an active duty Air Force lieutenant looking to gain a conscientious objector discharge due to my horror over the U.S. role in the Gaza genocide. Aaron Bushnell’s self-immolation a year ago started me on my journey.

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Dat deed vermoeden dat het ministerie geen openheid van zaken wilde geven. Daar gaat de rechtbank nu in mee.

'Ontmoedigingsbeleid'
Het Nederlandse gedogen van de handel met illegale Israëlische nederzettingen wordt door het kabinet zeer misleidend ‘ontmoedigingsbeleid’ genoemd. Uit de stukken die al wel waren vrijgegeven blijkt dat van ontmoediging geen enkele sprake is. Ambtenaren op het Ministerie kwamen zelf ook al tot de conclusie dat het beleid weinig voorstelde.

Israëlische militairen in een Shufersal-supermarkt op de door Israël bezette Syrische Hoogvlakte van Golan. © Michael Giladi / Flash90

Producten uit nederzettingen - geproduceerd op van Palestijnen gestolen land - komen daardoor nog steeds ongehinderd op de Europese en Nederlandse markt.
Europese, inclusief Nederlandse, financiële instellingen investeren dan ook nog steeds jaarlijks miljarden euro's in bedrijven, die actief zijn in de illegale nederzettingen.

Verbod op handel met illegale Israëlische nederzettingen

Nederland handelt hiermee in strijd met het internationaal recht.Het Internationaal Gerechtshof oordeelde vorig jaar dat alle staten de plicht hebben om:     'maatregelen te nemen om handels- of investeringsrelaties te voorkomen die bijdragen aan het in stand houden van de illegale situatie die door Israël in de bezette Palestijnse gebieden is gecreëerd.'

Directeur van The Rights Forum Gerard Jonkman:
'De enige manier om aan de door het Hoogste hof dat de wereld kent opgelegde verplichting te voldoen is door een verbod op te leggen. Zoals het nu al jaren bij wijze van sancties verboden is is om handel te drijven met de door Rusland bezette Krim. De voltallige Nederlandse regering moet zich hiervoor hard voor maken.'

Lees hier meer over de uitspraak  op de TRF-site

Vacature | Eindredacteur (fulltime)

Om onze groei in activiteiten en publicaties op te vangen is The Rights Forum op zoek naar een fulltime eindredacteur.

Van internationaal recht en internationaal humanitair recht hoef je geen kennis te dragen. Hoewel de naam van onze organisatie – The Rights Forum – anders doet vermoeden, zijn wij bij uitstek een journalistieke organisatie. Ben jij een ervaren journalist met een passie voor mensenrechten, internationale politiek en rechtvaardigheid? Heb je een scherpe nieuwsblik, een strategische visie op mediacommunicatie en de leiderschapskwaliteiten om een redactie aan te sturen? Weet jij hoe je journalistieke producties vernieuwend en impactvol maakt, zowel op traditionele als sociale media platforms? Dan zijn we mogelijk op zoek naar jou.

Ben je geïnteresseerd? Bekijk dan hier de volledige vacature.

Draconische wetgeving | Israël: wie misstanden blootlegt, wordt gestraft

Belasten van ngo's
Het tweede wetsvoorstel, ingediend door Likud-parlementariër Ariel Kallner, is gericht tegen kritische Israëlische ngo’s die (deels) worden gefinancierd door buitenlandse organisaties of overheden. Tot dusver zijn ngo’s geen belasting verschuldigd over die financiering. Onder de nieuwe wet krijgen zij daarover een belasting van 80 procent opgelegd. Daarnaast bepaalt de wet dat Israëlische rechtbanken bezwaarschriften van die ngo’s zonder inhoudelijke behandeling mogen afwijzen.

De wet raakt een breed scala aan ngo’s, waarvan vele een cruciale rol spelen bij het documenteren van mensenrechtenschendingen en het bieden van juridische en humanitaire ondersteuning aan kwetsbare bevolkingsgroepen.

Francesca Albanese in Duitsland: zwaar geschut om haar de mond te snoeren

Duitse verkiezingen | Winnaar Merz zoekt binnen een dag confrontatie met Strafhof

'In het geval hij van plan is Duitsland te bezoeken, heb ik mezelf beloofd dat we een manier zullen vinden om te zorgen dat hij Duitsland kan bezoeken en weer kan vertrekken zonder gearresteerd te worden. Ik vind het echt een absurd idee dat een Israëlische premier Duitsland niet kan bezoeken.'
 
Het Strafhof reageerde direct op de uitlatingen van Merz door hem eraan te herinneren dat staten de wettelijke plicht hebben om beslissingen van het Hof uit te voeren, en dat het niet aan hen is om ‘eenzijdig de juistheid van de juridische beslissingen van het hof te bepalen’. 

Tegenlicht meet up | De kunst van het wegkijken

Nadat Israël vijftien maanden genocidaal geweld heeft gepleegd tegen de Palestijnen in Gaza, is er nu een fragiel bestand tussen Israël en Hamas. Maar zelfs als het staakt-het-vuren standhoudt is dat nog maar het begin van het verhaal over de mensenrechtenschendingen die hebben plaatsgevonden. Hoe heeft de wereld zo lang genocidaal geweld kunnen aanzien? Waarom kijken wij, burgers en de Nederlandse staat, weg, en wat betekent dat voor de toekomst van het internationaal recht?

VPRO Tegenlicht liet een half jaar lang Nederlanders aan het woord komen die hun geweten wel laten spreken, tot aan ontslag op het werk en procesvoering bij de Hoge Raad toe, En maakte daar de documentaire De kunst van het wegkijken over. Eén van de Nederlanders is Berber van der Woude, bestuursvoorzitter van The Rights Forum. Op 5 maart organiseert Tegenlicht een meet up in Pakhuis de Zwijger in Amsterdam. Na vertoning van de documentaire gaan de makers in gesprek met onder anderen mensenrechtenadvocaat Liesbeth Zegveld en Berber van der Woude.

Tegenlicht organiseert ook in andere steden meet ups rondom De kunst van het wegkijken. Bekijk onze agenda of de website van Tegenlicht voor meer informatie. Uit onze agenda
zaterdag 1 maart t/m zaterdag 8 maart
 Demonstraties en wakes
• Wake op zaterdag 1 maart in Maastricht, Markt, achter het stadhuis (16.00 uur)
• Wake op zaterdag 1 maart in Groningen, Waagplein (13.00 uur)
• Wake op zondag 2 maart in Haarlem, Grote Markt (14.00 uur)
• Herdenking voor zorgmedewerkers in Palestina en Libanon op dinsdag 4 maart in Rotterdam, bij het wolken beeld, voor het Erasmus MC Rotterdam (12.30 uur)
• Sit-in rijksambtenaren op donderdag 6 maart in Den Haag, Ministerie van Buitenlandse Zaken, Rijnstraat 8 (12.00 uur)
• Wake op vrijdag 7 maart in Amsterdam, Spui, bij ‘t Lieverdje (12.45 uur)

• Diary Notes from Gaza met Samir al-Ajrami op zaterdag 1 maart in Amsterdam, De Balie (20.00 uur)

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Corrigendum
Humanitarian Situation Update #268
West Bank

Please note that we have corrected a mistake in Humanitarian Situation Update #268. Between 18 and 24 February, Israeli forces in the West Bank killed five Palestinians, not four.

The updated publication is available here, and the change is marked with an asterisk.

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In today's Daily Brief:

• Escalating Repression at Unprecedented Scale
• Quick Takes: Argentina; Bibas Family Funeral; Indonesia
• Readers’ Recommendations
• Podcast: Why Do People Move?
• Weekly Quiz!

Israeli tanks are deployed during an ongoing army operation in the Jenin refugee camp in the occupied West Bank, February 24, 2025. © 2025 Majdi Mohammed/AP Photo 

Listen to the top story

Israel Imports Gaza Playbook into the West Bank

Quick Takes: Bibas Family Funeral

Bibas Family Funeral : Shiri Bibas, and her young children, Kfir, and Ariel, were taken hostage by a Palestinian armed group on October 7, 2023. And killed in captivity. Wich is a blatant ly coming from HRW! They were buried in Israel on Wednesday as thousands of mourners bid them farewell along the funeral procession route. This funeral is a stark reminder of why hostage-taking is prohibited under international humanitarian law. Human beings should n

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Met het begin van de Ramadan liggen er nog meer dadels in de schappen van de winkels. Let goed op dat je geen bloeddadels koopt en gebruik eventueel de Boycat app daarbij. Vanuit het BDS National Committee komt de oproep bij gelegenheid van de Ramadan de boycot van medeplichtige bedrijven aan Israels misdaden nog meer kracht bij te zetten.

Steden hebben een enorm belangrijke rol in de BDS beweging en kunnen veel doen. Een grote stad als New Orleans heeft bijvoorbeeld een ethisch inkoopbeleid. Met de extreemrechtse regeringen overal is lokaal handelen des te belangrijker.

Tot slot nog een voorbeeld hoe boycotten helpt: De israëlische voetbalfederatie IFA raakt aan de lopende band sponsors kwijt. Eerst Adidas, daarna Puma, nu Erreà en als ze doorgaan is Reebok het volgende doelwit.

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

 Escaleer deze Ramadan de boycot van medeplichtige bedrijven

Terwijl de Ramadan begint, gaat Israël door met grootschalige militaire operaties op de illegaal  bezette Westoever van de Jordaan. Totnogtoe zijn minstens 40.000 Palestijnen door etnische zuivering van hun land en huizen verdreven. In Gaza is ondanks een wankel staakt-het-vuren dat de Israëlische regering uiteindelijk heeft moeten aanvaarden, uiteindelijk zijn ongeveer een half miljoen Palestijnen teruggekeerd!

Reebok, stop met Israëlisch voetbal te sponsoren!

Oproepen tot boycotten zorgen ervoor dat het Italiaanse sportkledingbedrijf Erreà zijn contract met de Israëlische voetbalbond (IFA) opzegt. Na oproepen tot boycot heeft het Italiaanse sportkledingbedrijf zich teruggetrokken uit een sponsorcontract met de Israëlische voetbalbond. Palestijnen dringen er bij nieuwe sponsor Reebok op aan om zich terug te trekken of een boycot tegemoet te zien.

Steden zijn belangrijk voor BDS!

Steden zijn een belangrijk deel van de BDS beweging Veel lokale overheidsinstanties hebben investerings- en inkooprelaties met bedrijven die medeplichtig zijn aan Israëls ernstige schendingen van Palestijnse rechten. Anderen hebben stedenbanden (soms zusterstadovereenkomsten genoemd) met Israëlische lokale overheidsinstanties die deelnemen aan het plegen van internationale misdaden door Israël.

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Trump’s AI-Generated Gaza Fantasy is a Diplomatic Embarrassment That Further Damages America’s Standing in the Region

Washington, D.C. – AJP Action denounces President Donald Trump’s latest AI-generated video as a reckless display of megalomania that undermines the United States’ credibility in the Middle East and North Africa region. At a time when the region is in crisis and need of real global leadership, Trump has instead chosen to broadcast a delusional vision of conquest: one that turns Palestine into a personal real estate project, complete with golden statues and luxury resorts. The video signals to the world that the U.S. is led by a man more concerned with vanity projects than with peace, justice, and the rule of law.

The AI-generated video, released on Trump’s social media platform earlier this week, opens with images of Gaza’s genocide, only to morph into a surreal landscape of high-end hotels, palm-lined boulevards, and a towering golden statue of Trump himself. The imagery is disturbingly reminiscent of the statues erected by dictators across the region: symbols of narcissism that, time and again, have been torn down by the people they were meant to dominate. Gaza is not an empty canvas for delusional billionaires. It is the home of millions of Palestinians, and their future should not be dictated by those who see Palestinian suffering as an opportunity for financial gain.

The most disgraceful moment of the video comes in its closing scenes, where Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is under an active International Criminal Court arrest warrant for war crimes, are depicted lounging shirtless on the beaches of Gaza as if their brutal policies will end in celebration. But history tells a different story. Leaders who commit war crimes do not retire on beaches; they stand trial in The Hague. This image is not a prediction of the future. It is a desperate fantasy that exposes Trump’s willingness to affiliate himself with war criminals at the expense of international law and order. 

Like Trump’s plans to “take over Gaza,” this AI-generated spectacle is not just offensive; it is another strategic disaster. While Trump indulges in digital delusions, our country’s standing in the region continues to deteriorate. The world is watching, and the message they receive is clear: the U.S. is not a serious broker of peace or stability but a country that openly mocks the suffering of millions while aligning itself with and backing those responsible for their oppression. No nation can command respect when its leadership views international law and human suffering as a joke.

Gaza’s future belongs to the Palestinian people, not foreign occupiers, war criminals, or billionaires. America’s future, too, must not be dictated by the reckless ambitions of a leader whose actions continue to isolate us on the world stage. The American people must reject Trump’s reckless attempts to further entrench U.S. complicity in Israel’s crimes and instead demand policies rooted in justice, accountability, and the unwavering defense of Palestinian rights.

In solidarity,
Americans for Justice in Palestine Action

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Humanitarian Situation Update #268
West Bank

Activities organized for displaced children in Jenin. Photo by UNRWA

Key Highlights

• As the ongoing Israeli forces’ operation in the northern West Bank enters its sixth week, tens of thousands remain internally displaced in Jenin and Tulkarm and humanitarian partners have mobilized to scale up assistance to families in need, amid an increasingly challenging operating environment.
• Two Palestinian children were shot and killed by Israeli forces on 21 February in Jenin and Hebron.
• Attacks by Israeli settlers on Palestinian communities in the West Bank over the past week have resulted in the injury of at least 10 Palestinians, widespread damage to property and the displacement of at least 17 Palestinian families.
• Rising settler violence over the past two years has reshaped displacement trends in Area C of the West Bank, surpassing demolitions as a key driver of displacement in Bedouin and herding communities.

Humanitarian Developments

• Between 18 and 24 February, Israeli forces killed four Palestinians, including two children, and injured 39 others, including eight children, across the West Bank, including East Jerusalem. In addition, a Palestinian man driving with his wife in Tulkarm city was killed when an Israeli military jeep collided with their vehicle in what appears to be an accident. The woman sustained injuries and was transported to the hospital. For more information on casualties and further breakdowns of data, please see the monthly West Bank Snapshot. Incidents resulting in fatalities during the reporting period include:
  • On 19 February, undercover Israeli forces shot and killed three Palestinians in El Far'a refugee camp, south of Tubas, after encircling a residential building and launching a shoulder-fired explosive projectile at it. The three bodies were withheld by Israeli forces.
  • On 21 February, Israeli forces shot and killed a 13-year-old girl in Jenin city and a 13-year-old boy in Jabal Johar neighbourhood, bordering the Israeli-controlled H2 area of Hebron city. According to local sources and human rights organizations, the girl was reportedly in the courtyard of her family home when she was shot, and her brother and cousin could not immediately reach her due to continued firing by Israeli forces. In Hebron city, according to eyewitnesses, the boy was killed while standing outside his grandparents’ house at the time of a raid by Israeli forces, during which there was stone throwing by Palestinians toward Israeli forces who fired live ammunition. Following the death of the two children, UNICEF’s Executive Director Catherine Russell stated: “Heartbreaking news that two Palestinian children were killed on Friday...This year alone, 17 children have been killed in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem. It must stop.”
• Between 18 and 24 February, OCHA documented 24 incidents involving Israeli settlers that led to casualties, property damage or both. As a result, ten Palestinians were injured, including eight by Israeli settlers and two by Israeli forces, and about 70 olive and 20 cactus trees and saplings were vandalized. The following are some of the key settler attacks that took place during the reporting period:
  • On 19 February, Israeli forces physically assaulted and injured two Palestinians, while they accompanied Israeli settlers during a raid into East Tayba Bedouin community, in Ramallah. According to residents, the settlers and forces raided the homes of seven Palestinian families, detained them all in one structure for four hours, and seized their mobile phones. After the forces and settlers withdrew, the families found that furniture in their homes had been damaged. Moreover, five vehicles, at least one water tank, and a storage room containing flour and fodder sacks had been vandalised and jewellery and money had been stolen.
  • On 21 February, a Palestinian family of seven herders, including four women, were forcibly displaced from the outskirts of Ein Yabroud village, in Ramallah, where they had been living for decades, after armed Israeli settlers broke into their shelters after midnight and assaulted them physically and verbally. The settlers also reportedly stole an electric generator belonging to the family. The attack followed daily harassment and threats facing the community following the establishment of a nearby settlement outpost in mid-February. Fearing further violence and theft of their livestock, the family was forced to leave the area, leaving behind their two residential and four animal shelters.
  • On 22 February, a Palestinian family of four, including two children, was displaced when their home was set on fire by Israeli settlers during a violent attack on Ma’azi Jaba’ Bedouin community in Area C of the Jerusalem governorate. A group of about 17 armed and masked settlers, believed to be from a nearby, newly-established settlement outpost, raided the community carrying flammable materials, clubs and stones; they fully burnt one home and one vehicle, partially burnt an animal shelter and a fodder storage room, and damaged a donor-funded mobile latrine and three solar panels. During the incident, about 60 additional settlers, accompanied by several members of Israeli forces, entered the community, stormed five homes and vandalized property, and physically assaulted four Palestinians who were injured with stones. According to residents, Israeli soldiers fired live ammunition and closed the entrance to the community, preventing the entry of fire trucks.
  • On 23 February, Israeli settlers vandalized and grazed their sheep on lands belonging to Dhaher al 'Abed village, west of Jenin city. According to affected farmers and the village council, the settlers vandalized an 80-metre-long metal fence and grazed hundreds of sheep on agricultural lands, causing damage to at least 70 olive trees and saplings.

• On 22 February, about 200 masked Israeli settlers, some of whom were armed, attacked four Palestinian livestock farms and one poultry farm on the eastern outskirts of Deir Dibwan town, in Ramallah, under the protection of Israeli forces. The attack resulted in the forced displacement of 15 Palestinian families, comprising 90 people, including 60 children and the loss of property and livestock. According to local community sources, settlers fired live ammunition, physically assaulted herders, and looted around 1,000 goats and sheep. In one of the targeted farms, settlers attacked a Palestinian family, physically assaulting a man and a child, stealing a mobile phone, and damaging two others as the family attempted to document the attack. The settlers then forced the family to remain inside their home, threatening to kill them if they left. During the attack, all the livestock from this farm and an adjacent one were stolen, along with a horse, two vehicles, and two donkeys. Israeli forces closed roads leading to the affected farms while settlers continued their assault. As a result, the livelihoods of at least eight Palestinian households were severely affected. Between 1 January 2023 and 31 January 2025, OCHA documented the displacement of 2,275 Palestinians, including 1,117 children, across the West Bank, citing heightened settler violence and access restrictions.
• Since OCHA began systematically documenting demolition incidents and displacement in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, in 2009 until recently, the main direct driver of displacement of Palestinians was the demolition of homes for lacking building permits issued by the Israeli authorities, due to restrictive and discriminatory planning regimes applied in Area C and East Jerusalem. However, in the past two years, displacement patterns have shifted, reflecting broader changes in the protection environment for Palestinian communities, particularly herding and Bedouin communities in Area C. In 2023, settler violence became a leading cause of displacement with more than 1,600 people displaced due to settler violence and access restrictions (mainly in Bedouin and herding communities), compared with about 300 people displaced by lack-of-permit demolitions in these communities. In 2024, about 620 people were displaced due to settler violence and access restrictions (mainly in Bedouin and herding communities), compared with nearly 370 displaced by lack-of-permit demolitions in these communities. Between 2020 and 2024, settler-related incidents targeting Bedouin and herding communities that resulted in casualties, property damage or both increased nearly sevenfold, rising from about 50 incidents in 2020 to approximately 330 incidents in 2024. This shift underscores the growing role of settler violence as a primary driver of displacement in the West Bank and the increasingly coercive environment within which Bedouin and herding communities in Area C live.
• On 24 February, The Secretary-General of the United Nations, António Guterres , addressed the United Nations Human Rights Council, raising concerns over the deteriorating situation in the West Bank and rising settler violence, stating: ”I am gravely concerned by the rising violence in the occupied West Bank by Israeli settlers and other violations, as well as calls for annexation.”
• Between 18 and 24 February, OCHA documented the demolition of 28 Palestinian-owned structures across the West Bank due to the lack of Israeli-issued building permits, which are nearly impossible to obtain. These included seven structures in East Jerusalem, and 21 structures in Area C, displacing 58 people, including 28 children, and otherwise affecting around 70 people. Over 40 per cent of displaced people (24 people) were due to demolitions in the Jabal al Mukabbir area of East Jerusalem. In addition, on 20 February, Israeli forces demolished, with explosives, a four-story residential structure on punitive grounds in Salfit city, displacing three households, comprising ten people, including four children.

• On 10 February, the Israeli Civil Administration issued a notice of intent to allot state lands for herding purposes around the Ras ‘Ein al ‘Auja Bedouin community, in Jericho governorate. More than 100 Palestinian Bedouin families, comprising about 700 people who rely on herding as a main source of income, are affected by this notice and fear that it will be used by settlers from surrounding settlement outposts to further intensify pressure the community. Moreover, on 4 February, Israeli settlers bulldozed the western area of Ras 'Ein al 'Auja community, opening a road that connects two settlement outposts out of five outposts that currently surround the community. Since January 2024, Ras ‘Ein Al ‘Auja Bedouin community has faced a growing number of attacks by Israeli settlers, with a total of over 100 incidents documented by OCHA, of which more than 40 resulted in casualties or property damage. This is an alarming increase compared with only five attacks documented in the ten years prior. The settler attacks have included cases of physical assault on shepherds as their flocks graze, forcing them to increasingly rely on expensive fodder to avoid grazing in open areas. Settlers have also been regularly breaking into the community, in some cases setting fire to structures, cutting off water pipes, making their livestock feed off on fodder belonging to families or physically assaulting residents seeking to access the nearby water spring.

Developments in northern West Bank

• The Israeli operation in the northern West Bank, which began on 21 January, has entered its sixth week, making it the longest operation in the West Bank in two decades. Humanitarian partners continue to face movement restrictions in reaching people in need, including emergency health care providers, such as Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS), seeking to transport the injured or evacuate families to safer areas. In total, since 21 January, at least 55 Palestinians and three Israeli soldiers have been killed in Jenin, Tulkarm and Tubas governorates. This is in addition to a Palestinian man who, on 26 February, succumbed to wounds sustained during an Israeli forces’ airstrike on Nur Shams refugee camp, in Tulkarm, on 24 December 2024.
• In Tubas governorate, the operation lasted for about a week and 10 days in Tammun town and El Fara’a refugee camp, respectively, between 2 and 12 February. Following the withdrawal of Israeli forces, the vast majority of the approximately 4,000 Palestinians who had been displaced from El Far’a refugee camp have returned to the camp and UNRWA services have resumed in full, including schools serving over 1,300 students.
• Between 23 and 25 February, Israeli forces carried out a two-day operation in Qabatiya town, in Jenin, during which a boy was injured by live ammunition fired by Israeli forces and there was significant destruction of infrastructure, including electricity and water lines.
• On 25 February, Israeli forces conducted a 14-hour raid in Nablus city that affected several neighbourhoods, during which Palestinians youth threw stones at military vehicles and Israeli forces fired live ammunition and tear gas cannisters. In total, one Palestinian man, reportedly a passer-by, was shot and killed by Israeli forces and 31 Palestinians, including a baby, were injured by live ammunition, rubber-coated bullets and as a result of tear gas inhalation. Furthermore, on 26 February, initial reports indicate that Israeli forces raided Qalqiliya city, during which they shot and killed a 16-year-old boy.
• On 23 February, the Israeli Minister of Defence announced that the 40,000 Palestinians displaced from Jenin and Tulkarm refugee camps would not be allowed to return, as he instructed Israeli forces to remain in Jenin, Tulkarm and Nur Shams camps for at least a year. Furthermore, Israeli forces announced that tanks were deployed in Jenin, marking the first tank deployment in the West Bank since the early 2000s.
• On 24 February, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) expressed its concern about the impact of the ongoing operations, especially for those displaced: “Many people have fled their homes to take shelter, including in crowded mosques and schools. With many homes damaged or destroyed, people are struggling to access basic needs such as clean water, food, medical care, and shelter. Winter weather has made it more difficult to survive. Displaced civilians are also struggling to find information about family members who have gone missing or who might have been detained.”
• On 25 and 26 February, OCHA, UNRWA and other partners led an assessment of the needs of internally displaced people (IDPs) in Jenin and Tulkarm. According to UNRWA, over 37,400 Palestinians have been displaced in the two governorates, primarily from Jenin, Tulkarm and Nur Shams refugee camps, where UNRWA has been forced to fully suspend operations due to ongoing operations. The assessment covered 10 IDP shelters and 50 families staying with relatives or friends or renting apartments. The assessment found that many families have been displaced multiple times since the start of the operations. Furthermore, many families have lost their livelihoods and are not able to cover the basic needs of their families. They report that aid so far has been insufficient to cover their needs as the operation has gone on for more than a month, with no clear end in sight. Lastly, access to food is limited, with some IDPs reporting a reduction in meals consumed per day. Aid actors report that more than 5,000 people from Jenin refugee camp have received one-off cash assistance and over 2,000 food parcels have been distributed to displaced families in Tubas, Tulkarm, and Jenin governorates, as of 20 February, with plans underway to distribute hot meals through community kitchens during Ramadan.
• The International Rescue Committee (IRC) and the Teacher Creativity Center (TCC) have been forced to suspend education activities in Jenin city, leaving 200 children without essential socio-emotional learning. The activities were focused on supporting crisis-affected children by adapting classrooms and equipping educators to address trauma. However, ongoing operations, including airstrikes, have destroyed infrastructure, and made it nearly impossible to safely conduct the activities. Assistance will continue from Ramallah, but according to IRC, children remain exposed to routine military and settler violence. While the new school semester began on 2 February, 10 UNRWA schools serving more than 5,000 children in the northern West Bank remain closed and many students have limited access to remote learning.

Funding

• As of 27 February 2025, Member States have disbursed approximately US$156.9 million out of the $4.07 billion (3.9 per cent) requested to meet the most critical humanitarian needs of three million out of 3.3 million people identified as requiring assistance in Gaza and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, in 2025, under the 2025 Flash Appeal for the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT). Nearly 90 per cent of the requested funds are for humanitarian response in Gaza, with just over 10 per cent for the West Bank. Moreover, during January 2025, the oPt Humanitarian Fund (oPt HF) managed 101 ongoing projects, totalling $72.4 million, to address urgent needs in the Gaza Strip (86 per cent) and the West Bank (14 per cent). Of these projects, 55 are being implemented by international non-governmental organizations (INGOs), 33 by national NGOs and 12 by UN agencies. Notably, 41 out of the 68 projects implemented by INGOs or the UN are being implemented in collaboration with national NGOs. For more information, please see OCHA’s Financial Tracking Service webpage and the oPt HF webpage.

1073.

27 februari 2025

Israel Imports Gaza Playbook into the West Bank

Israeli tanks rolled into the occupied West Bank for the first time in 20 years.

The move marks a major escalation in Israel’s military operation in the West Bank, home to more than 3 million Palestinians.

Focused – for now – on the northern West Bank, the campaign is already the longest and most intense in the West Bank since the Second Intifada in the early 2000s.

For weeks, the Israeli military has conducted air strikes and raids in the northern West Bank that have killed more than 50 Palestinians, many apparently unarmed and posed no imminent threat.

Additionally, Israeli forces have destroyed many homes and critical infrastructure, such as sewage networks and water pipelines. This has made several West Bank refugee camps “near unhabitable ”, according to the UN.

Tens of thousands of Palestinians have been displaced – a scale not seen in the West Bank since the 1967 war and the start of the Israeli occupation.

Israel’s defense minister Israel Katz said the operations will continue for a year and that displaced Palestinians will not be allowed to return.

We have seen this playbook before. In Gaza.

Human Rights Watch found that Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups committed war crimes against Israeli civilians during their October 7, 2023 attack. We found no plausible legal justification for Israel’s massive, deliberate displacement of Palestinian civilians in Gaza. These actions amount to war crimes, crimes against humanity, and in at least parts of Gaza, ethnic cleansing.

HRW also determined Israel’s destruction of Gaza’s water infrastructure was part of a policy calculated to bring about the destruction of part of the Palestinian population, amounting to the crime against humanity of extermination and acts of genocide.

Israeli authorities have for months been escalating their repression in the West Bank. Since the Hamas-led October 7, 2023 attacks, Israeli forces have killed more than 800 people, an unprecedented rate.

These actions go hand in hand with increased settlement construction, settler violence, home demolitions of Palestinian homes, and reports of torture of Palestinian detainees.

The repression is part of Israel’s ongoing crimes against humanity of apartheid and persecution against Palestinians.

To prevent further atrocities, governments should impose targeted sanctions and suspend arms transfers to Israel, ban trade with illegal settlements, and support the International Criminal Court.

We have seen in Gaza how this playbook plays out—states must urgently act to avoid the West Bank facing the same fate.

Quick Takes: Bibas Family Funeral

Bibas Family Funeral : Shiri Bibas, and her young children, Kfir, and Ariel, were taken hostage by a Palestinian armed group on October 7, 2023. And so called killed in captivity, which is a blatant ly pronounced by HRW! .They were buried in Israel on Wednesday as thousands of mourners bid them farewell along the funeral procession route. This funeral is a stark reminder of why hostage-taking is prohibited under international humanitarian law.

1071.

27 februari 2025

Israel wants to steal even more of Palestine.

Tell Congress: End U.S. weapons to Israel.

What we’re learning.

JVP is excited to co-sponsor an online course, focused on campaigns and organizing efforts within the context of the Trump administration and volatile circumstances on the ground in Palestine.

1070.

27 februari 2025

Today's headlines

Exclusive: Senior Hamas leader says movement isn’t interested in ruling Gaza, but laying down arms remains a ‘red line’

Tareq S. Hajjaj

Hamas leaders in Gaza say that although they will accept a "national consensus" on who governs Gaza, the movement will not lay down its arms. But Israel intends to tank the ceasefire through its violations of the deal, a senior Hamas leader tells Mondoweiss.

Trump promotes Gaza ethnic cleansing in bizarre AI video

Donald Trump posted an AI-generated video to social media showing him and Benjamin Netanyahu sunbathing together in Gaza as Elon Musk eats hummus outside a resort called "TRUMP GAZA."

New report details police repression of Palestine activism at UCLA

According to a new report, a total of $12.3 million was spent on "managing" UCLA’s protests around the school's Gaza solidarity encampment last year. Additionally, there were over 200 arrests, and more than 10 degrees were withheld from students.

1069.

26 februari 2025

1068.

26 februari 2025

West Bank Monthly Snapshot
Casualties, Property Damage and Displacement

• This report reflects information available as of the time of publication. The most updated data and more breakdowns are available at ochaopt.org/data.
• In Israel, 13 Israelis were killed by Palestinians from the West Bank in attacks that also resulted in the killing of 5 Palestinians between January 2024 and January 2025, with no such fatalities recorded in January 2025. These are counted separately, as this report covers incidents that took place in the West Bank.
• Casualties in the West Bank have been documented by OCHA since 2005, settler violence since 2006, and demolitions and displacement since 2009.
• Palestinians or Israelis whose immediate cause of death or the perpetrator’s identity remain disputed, unclear, or unknown, are counted separately, so are casualties as a result of “friendly fire” and Palestinian prisoners from the West Bank who have died in Israeli custody. Figures also do not include UXOs, mishandling of weapons, hit-and-run incidents, internal Palestinian clashes, and incidents where the perpetrator's nationality is disputed.

1067.

26 februari 2025

Today's headlines

Sanders introduces new resolutions to block U.S. arms sales to Israel

Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders is once again introducing legislation aimed at halting U.S. arms sales to Israel.

Aaron Bushnell and the universe of moral obligation

Through his self-immolation, Aaron Bushnell aligned himself with the Palestinian people and joined them outside the universe of moral obligation of the West.

Remembering Aaron Bushnell

Aaron Bushnell died by self-immolation in protest of the Gaza genocide a year ago today. His memory should stir a fire in our souls, and force us to evaluate our commitment to a better world.

1066.

26 februari 2025

Readers’ Recommendations

• Israel bombs ‘military targets’ in southern Syria, outside Damascus (Al Jazeera)

1065.

26 februari 2025

The genocide on Palestine is not over. Our current Sumud (steadfastness) to ethnic cleansing and erasure is confronted with international normalization of the violence against us. Now is the time to escalate our mobilization for liberation, justice and Palestinian-led reparation and rebuilding processes.

Accountability is not only needed to seek justice for crimes already committed but is necessary to ensure crimes stop being committed.

International rulings and resolutions on the obligations of all governments and private entities to sanction Israel, end complicity, and to arrest Israeli war criminals remain disregarded and are met with attacks. We must ensure their enforcement—not only for the Palestinian people but to uphold the very foundations of global justice, and rights.

From university campuses to parliaments, every voice, every action, every act of resistance reduces Israel's ability to act without consequence.

There were a few wins and some setbacks,  such as Trump cancelling sanctions against settlers.

In the past three months here are some of the accountability measures we added to the map:

• 9 countries formed the “Hague Group” to coordinate legal, diplomatic and economic measures against Israel’s violations of international law.
  
  
• Brussels parliament approved a resolution calling for sanctions against Israel.
  
  
• Alameda County in California, US, divested from Caterpillar and voted to adopt an ethical investment policy.
  
  
• Svenska hamnarbetarförbundet (the Swedish dockworkers’ union), voted in favour of a “blockade against handling war material to and from Israel’s apartheid and genocidal regime.”
  
  
• Norway Central Bank excluded Bezeq Israeli Telecommunication Corp Ltd citing "the risk of contributing to rights violations in war and conflict".
  
  
• Nelson City, Aotearoa (New Zealand) became the 4th city in the country to end its ties with illegal Israeli settlements.
  
  
• Ireland has filed a “declaration of intervention” at the ICJ in the case of South Africa vs. Israel on the crime of Genocide, to take part in the proceedings.

Keep fighting,

Inès

The Palestine Institute for Public Diplomacy
AL-Masayef
Ramallah, WB 00000
Palestine (State of)

1063.

25 februari 2025

Vaccinating a child in Gaza against polio. Photo by WHO

Key Highlights

• Over 586,000 children under the age of 10 have been vaccinated for poliovirus across Gaza, reaching 99 per cent of the target population since the campaign began on 22 February.
• Six newborns reportedly died from the cold weather in Gaza city and Khan Younis, health officials cited in the media report.
• Since the ceasefire began, the UN and its humanitarian partners have coordinated the distribution of over 100,000 tents. These figures only refer to humanitarian assistance coordinated by the UN.
• The average daily volume of water produced by groundwater wells has more than doubled since the ceasefire, due to increased fuel availability and basic emergency repairs.

Humanitarian Developments

• On 20 and 21 February, Palestinian armed groups returned to Israel, through the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), the remains of four Israeli hostages, including an elderly man, a woman and her two children. Initially, an unidentified body was sent instead of the killed Israeli mother, whose real remains were then returned separately, as confirmed by Israeli forensic officials. On 22 February, the ICRC facilitated the release of six living Israeli hostages from Gaza to Israel. The scheduled release of 620 Palestinian detainees from Israeli detention centres on the same day—reportedly including 445 people who were detained from the Gaza Strip after 7 October, 151 other detainees, one woman and 23 children (boys)—has been postponed by Israeli authorities, reportedly until Palestinian armed groups cease to carry out release ceremonies. In total, since 19 January, 25 Israeli and five Thai hostages, the bodies of four Israeli hostages, and 1,135 Palestinian detainees have been released.
• As of 25 February, it is estimated that 63 Israelis and foreign nationals remain captive in Gaza, including hostages who have been declared dead and whose bodies are being withheld in Gaza.
• As of February 2025, according to data provided by the Israel Prison Service (IPS) to Hamoked, an Israeli human rights NGO, there are 9,846 Palestinians in Israeli custody, including 1,734 sentenced prisoners, 2,941 remand detainees, 3,369 administrative detainees held without trial, and 1,802 people held as “unlawful combatants.” These figures do not include Palestinians from Gaza who have been detained by the Israeli military since 7 October 2023.
• Between the afternoons of 18 and 25 February, the Ministry of Health (MoH) in Gaza reported the killing of 57 Palestinians and the injury of 39 others; this includes 47 newly retrieved bodies. Since the ceasefire came into effect on 19 January, and as of 25 February, a total of 722 bodies were retrieved from areas that were previously inaccessible, MoH reported. As of 25 February 2025, MoH in Gaza reported the killing of at least 48,348 Palestinians and the injury of 111,761 others, since 7 October 2023.
• Between 17 and 25 February, several incidents resulting in fatalities were reported across the Gaza Strip. On 17 February, two Palestinians, a boy and a man, were reportedly killed near Al Awada Roundabout in central Rafah. On 19 February, one Palestinian was reportedly killed, and others injured, when a group of people were hit in Ash Shokat area in south-eastern Rafah. On 23 February, a Palestinian man was reportedly killed, and four others were injured, when a vehicle reportedly securing humanitarian aid overturned following shots fired towards it near Rafah Crossing.
• Between 7 October 2023 and 25 February 2025, according to Israeli forces and official Israeli sources cited in the media, more than 1,607 Israelis and foreign nationals were killed, the majority on 7 October 2023 and its immediate aftermath. This includes 407 soldiers killed, in addition to 2,581 soldiers injured, in Gaza or along the border in Israel since the beginning of the ground operation in October 2023.
• Between 24 and 25 February, six newborns reportedly died from severe cold weather in Gaza city and Khan Younis, according to health officials cited in the media. Five of the six newborn deaths were reported by the director of the Patient’s Friends Hospital in Al Rimal, in Gaza city, and were among infant patients recently admitted due to "cold injury," including hypothermia. On 25 February, local media reported that a two-month-old girl died due to cold weather while staying in a tent in Al Mawasi, in Khan Younis, and her body was received at Nasser Hospital, according to the head of the hospital’s paediatric department as cited in the media.
• The increased inflow of assistance since the ceasefire has enabled Cluster partners to reach tens of thousands with urgently needed tents and shelter materials. According to the Shelter Cluster, since the ceasefire, its partners have coordinated the distribution of over 100,000 tents across the Gaza Strip to internally displaced persons (IDPs) returning to plots of destroyed homes or to IDP shelter sites. These figures only refer to humanitarian assistance coordinated by the UN. In addition, partners have provided 113,260 families with tarpaulins and reached about 10,500 people with blankets, mattrasses, pillows, clothing and other non-food items (NFIs). Based on vulnerability criteria set by the cluster, partners undertake thorough assessments and verifications to inform distributions.
• On 20 February, the UN Resident Coordinator and Humanitarian Coordinator for the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT), Muhannad Hadi, visited the Gaza Strip, alongside the Director-General of the International Organization for Migration (IOM), Amy Pope. They visited several makeshift sites and spoke with residents, who emphasized the urgent need for shelter support as a key priority. Mr. Hadi and Mrs. Pope also met with key partners, staff and the Shelter and Site Management clusters. During discussions with the clusters, the need to enhance support for site planning to ensure minimum standards was stressed. Identifying safe and accessible site locations remains a major constraint due to widespread damage, rubble and the need for clearance of explosive remnants of war, and inadequate access to essential services, further complicating site selection and preparation. Partners reiterated that while technical capacity is available, severe funding shortages remain a key challenge. Additionally, facilitating the entry of construction materials, particularly cement, is critical for preparing the foundations of mobile shelters and enabling light repairs to homes.

• On 22 February, in the third such campaign in six months, a three-day mass polio vaccination campaign, with two additional mop-up days, was launched at 418 sites across the Gaza Strip, aiming to cover more than 591,000 children under 10 years of age. The campaign is led by the MoH and implemented with support from the World Health Organization (WHO), the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), UNRWA, the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) and other health partners. UNRWA through its health teams comprise about a third of the overall polio vaccination response. On the first three days of the campaign, the Health Cluster reported that a total of 547,748 children were vaccinated, constituting 92.6 per cent of the target population. These comprise about 89,000 children in North Gaza governorate, 186,000 in Gaza governorate, 93,000 in Deir al Balah governorate, 135,000 in Khan Younis governorate, and 44,000 in Rafah governorate. On 25 February, WHO reported that the polio vaccination campaign achieved 99 per cent of its target, reaching over 586,000 children under the age of 10, with efforts underway to reach the remaining children. While there have been no polio cases reported since a 10-month-old unvaccinated child was reported with poliovirus in August 2024, wastewater samples collected in December 2024 and January 2025 confirmed poliovirus transmission, according to WHO. Moreover, WHO and UNICEF have warned that current conditions in Gaza, including extensive population movements, overcrowded shelters and damaged water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) infrastructure, are ideal for the further spread of poliovirus, in addition to heightening the risks of communicable disease outbreaks.
• On 24 February, WHO reported that, since 1 February, it has supported the medical evacuation of 851 patients, including 320 children, from Gaza to receive specialized care in Egypt and other countries. About 12,000 to 14,000 people, including more than 4,500 children, remain in urgent need of medical evacuation, WHO added, urging “scaled-up approvals via all possible routes, including the restoration of medical referrals to the West Bank, including East Jerusalem.”
• Health Cluster partners continue to scale up support to health facilities across Gaza to restore essential services and boost capacity. Since the ceasefire, 17 new primary healthcare centres (PHCs) have been established, increasing the number of fully or partially functional PHCs to 62, while 83 PHCs remain non-functional. Of these, one PHC is now functional in North Gaza, 13 in Gaza, 26 in Deir al Balah, 19 in Khan Younis and three in Rafah. In addition, 11 medical points and seven mobile clinics have been newly established. On 21 February, the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) began operating its field hospital in Gaza city. The facility has 64 beds, including eight intensive care unit beds and six neonatal incubators and includes two operating rooms, one medical laboratory and one X-ray unit. Overall, in the past 30 days, WHO supported 17 hospitals, three field hospitals and up to 50 health cluster partners through the distribution of life-saving medical supplies sufficient for about 1.8 million people. These comprise kits for trauma and emergency care, primary health care, non-communicable diseases, sexual and reproductive health, maternal care and childcare, as well as dignity kits and nutrition supplements. Furthermore, on 17 February, in collaboration with the MoH, WHO supported the deployment of a second national emergency medical team (EMT) of 52 Palestinian doctors and surgeons to enhance surgical capacity at Al Aqsa Hospital in Deir al Balah and the European Gaza and Nasser hospitals in Khan Younis. The areas of focus of the team, which is mentored by the Norwegian Aid Committee (NORWAC), are orthopaedics, gynaecology and obstetrics, general surgery, and anaesthesiology. This is the second national EMT deployed in Gaza, with the first operating at Al Shifa Hospital.
• UNRWA continues to scale up services across Gaza. Since the start of the ceasefire, UNRWA teams have delivered critical food assistance to an estimated two million people – nearly everyone in Gaza. They also distributed tents to over 12,800 families (or about 64,000 people), provided over 364,000 health consultations at nine health centres and through more than 120 mobile teams working at about 50 medical points, and reached more than half a million people across the five governorates with blankets, mattresses, floor mats, clothes, kitchen items, tarpaulins for rain protection and other NFIs. There are also 120 shelters across Gaza run by UNRWA, hosting about 120,000 people. Between 17 and 23 February, at least 8,100 IDPs accessed UNRWA psychosocial support (PSS) sessions and activities and, as part of UNRWA's "Back to Learning" programme, over 6,600 children participated in basic literacy and numeracy activities, PSS sessions and recreational activities, such as arts, music and sports. Moreover, to date, nearly 260,000 children have enrolled in the UNRWA-run distance learning programme and received basic learning activities delivered by over 7,600 teachers covering Arabic, English, mathematics, and science.

• The average daily volume of water produced by groundwater wells has more than doubled since the ceasefire due to increased fuel availability and basic emergency repairs; functional and accessible groundwater wells are now collectively producing a daily average of 83,234 cubic metres of water, compared with a daily average of about 35,659 cubic metres produced by groundwater wells in the month prior to the ceasefire. At the same time, one of three Mekorot water supply lines from Israel, the Bani Saeed line in Deir al Balah governorate, has been out of service for over a month after sustaining damage due to military activities in the “buffer zone.” Since then, WASH Cluster partners have had requests to access and repair the water line rejected by Israeli authorities, according to the cluster. The continued non-operation of the Bani Saeed line has reduced overall potential water supply by 14,400 cubic metres per day, significantly affecting water accessibility for residents in Al Bureij, Al Maghazi, Deir al Balah and Kuza’a municipalities. Overall, while the total volume of water produced and supplied has increased by 42 per cent since the ceasefire began on 19 January, it stands at about a third of water supply prior to October 2023. Between 8 and 21 February 2025, the Palestinian Water Authority (PWA) and Coastal Municipalities Water Utility (CMWU) reported that an average of 135,590 cubic metres of water was produced daily across the Gaza Strip, including 52,356 cubic metres of drinking water produced from the two operational seawater desalination plants or supplied through the two operational Mekorot lines from Israel, and 83,234 cubic metres produced by municipal ground water wells.
• WASH Cluster partners continue to scale up response efforts to enhance water accessibility and mitigate public health risks. With a high leakage rate in water distribution networks of over 70 per cent associated with extensive damage during 15 months of escalated hostilities, compared with a 50 per cent loss rate prior to October 2023, cluster partners have been gradually increasing water distribution through water trucking since the ceasefire began. At present, partners are trucking about 16,473 cubic metres of water per day to 1,698 collection points across the Gaza Strip, reaching over 1.1 million people. Partners have also completed this week the rehabilitation and maintenance of three brackish water desalination plants in the Deir al Balah and Khan Younis governorates, which collectively produce about 589 cubic metres of water per day and benefit 76,000 people. Yet, repair efforts continue to be limited due to shortages in materials on the local market to sustain water distribution efforts, including plastic pipes, generators, rigid plastic tanks, membranes, and spare parts for desalination units.
• The lack of sufficient repairs to water infrastructure, coupled with limited storage capacity, continues to undermine water quality, increasing the risk of contamination and associated public health concerns. To improve access to safe water, sanitation and hygiene services, WASH Cluster partners have distributed nearly 8,000 hygiene kits, benefiting 8,000 households over the past week, starting from 16 February, along with 3,500 water containers (jerrycans). Since the beginning of the ceasefire, they have distributed a total of 82,500 hygiene kits and more than 27,500 jerrycans, in addition to approximately 102,000 cleaning kits so far in 2025. Furthermore, partners have constructed 940 household latrines and 469 communal latrines since the ceasefire, and decommissioned 763 pit latrines in Khan Younis and Deir al Balah, in locations where IDPs had left. Within this context and to enhance testing capacity of basic water parameters, including microbiological contamination, UNICEF has brought in five water quality field laboratories, with a total of 10 such laboratories now available in the Gaza Strip, and WHO is leading water quality surveillance efforts to ensure the optimized use of limited testing capacity.
• Efforts continue to address the solid waste crisis in Gaza, despite the lack of a sufficient number of solid waste removal trucks and hindered access to landfills in the “buffer zone,” the WASH Cluster reports. According to the UN Development Programme (UNDP), over 260,000 tons of solid waste have been removed across the Gaza Strip over the first four weeks of the ceasefire, benefitting about 624,000 people. More than 1,200 cubic metres of waste per day have been collected in Gaza and North Gaza governorates to reduce accumulated waste, with efforts underway to scale up collection to 2,500 cubic metres of waste per day for the next two months to cope with the accumulated amount of waste. Additionally, in Deir al Balah, the Municipality has contracted a private company to rehabilitate “Barak 2” landfill and improve solid waste management, with support from UNDP. Notwithstanding these efforts, the inability to transfer solid waste from about 30 temporary dump sites, about half of which are already full, to the Sufa landfill in southern Gaza and the Juhor al Dik landfill in northern Gaza—both of which are located in the “buffer zone” and remain inaccessible—continues to pose significant challenges to solid waste management efforts, aggravating public health risks. On 24 February, the Gaza Municipality warned of a health and environmental disaster due to the presence of thousands of tons of waste in the streets and temporary landfills, reporting that 80 per cent of the municipality’s machinery, including equipment used for waste management, has been destroyed.
• On 18 February, the World Bank, European Union, and UN issued findings of the latest Gaza and West Bank Interim Rapid Damage and Needs Assessment (IRDNA), which analyzes damages and losses as well as recovery and reconstruction needs across almost all sectors of the Palestinian economy, based on data collected between October 2023 and October 2024. According to the IRDNA, total recovery and reconstruction needs in Gaza require US$53 billion over the next decade. The housing sector in Gaza, which sustained the most damage, accounts for about 53 per cent of the total damage, followed by commerce and industry (20 per cent), transport (eight per cent), and WASH (five per cent). In a statement, the UN Resident Coordinator, Muhannad Hadi, emphasized that with immense recovery and reconstruction challenges ahead, the “UN stands ready to support the Palestinian people both on humanitarian assistance and a future recovery and reconstruction process.”

Funding

• As of 25 February 2025, Member States have disbursed approximately US$149.7 million out of the $4.07 billion (3.7 per cent) requested to meet the most critical humanitarian needs of three million out of 3.3 million people identified as requiring assistance in Gaza and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, in 2025, under the 2025 Flash Appeal for the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT). Nearly 90 per cent of the requested funds are for humanitarian response in Gaza, with just over 10 per cent for the West Bank. Moreover, during January 2025, the oPt Humanitarian Fund (oPt HF) managed 101 ongoing projects, totalling $72.4 million, to address urgent needs in the Gaza Strip (86 per cent) and the West Bank (14 per cent). Of these projects, 55 are being implemented by international non-governmental organizations (INGOs), 33 by national NGOs and 13 by UN agencies. Notably, 41 out of the 68 projects implemented by INGOs or the UN are being implemented in collaboration with national NGOs. For more information, please see OCHA’s Financial Tracking Service webpage and the oPt HF webpage.

1062.

25 februari 2025

Today, we are commemorating 31 years since a brutal massacre was committed in Hebron and the takeover of the city began. We want to update you about the current situation of Hebron and our work to support the community that was victimized and continues to suffer under the consequences.

Remembering a Tragedy

The Cave of the Patriarchs, known locally as the Ibrahimi Mosque, is one of the holiest sites in all the Abrahamic religions. In the early morning of February 25th, 1994, local Palestinian Muslims had gathered for an important prayer in the holy month of Ramadan. American-born Israeli settler Baruch Goldstein entered the mosque dressed in an army uniform. He waited until he saw people kneeled and bowed down in prayer before opening fire on the worshippers. Goldstein, who was a retired army doctor, killed 29 people and wounded 125 others, including children.

In response to the massacre, the Israeli army immediately closed down the area and, in the face of public anger, took the opportunity to enforce temporary closures in the city that later became permanent to facilitate settlement expansion. The sacred Mosque was divided down the middle, half of it given to settlers and turned into a synagogue. Hebron's main street, Shuhada Street, was gradually closed until no Palestinian national was allowed to even walk on it, let alone drive or open their shops. The front door of people's homes were welded shut while the families were still inside, and Hebron was turned into a ghost town. Israelis could use the streets freely and took over new buildings in the area while subjecting the remaining Palestinians to a reign of ongoing terror and harassment in an effort to drive them out of their homes. In the past year, this pressure has drastically increased and the situation keeps getting worse

1061.

25 februari 2025

Today's headlines

Israel says 40,000 displaced Palestinians in northern West Bank will not be allowed to return

Qassam Muaddi

The Israeli army expanded its “Iron Wall” offensive in the northern West Bank, sending tanks into Jenin for the first time in two decades and announcing that displaced residents from Jenin and Tulkarem would not be allowed to return to their homes.

Silencing Dissent: The arrest of Yves Engler and the criminalization of political speech in Canada

The criminal charges laid against Montreal-based author, activist, and Mondoweiss contributor Yves Engler for responding to a pro-Israel influencer’s social media posts should concern anyone who values freedom of expression and the rule of law.

1060.

25 februari 2025

Readers’ Recommendations

• More than 160 Gazan medics held in Israeli prisons amid reports of torture ( The Guardian) 

1059.

25 februari 2025

Destabilization

The Israeli government tries to derail the Gaza ceasefire agreement and steps up its military incursion in the West Bank while U.S. politics continue to destabilize. Our reporting this past week highlights how policy, propaganda, and Israeli military aggression are shaping realities on the ground.

In Washington, lawmakers are moving forward with legislation that could have lasting consequences for Palestinian rights and broader movements for justice. Michael Arria spoke to Lara Friedman, the President of the Foundation for Middle East Peace. She walked us through the anti-Palestinian bills introduced in the new Congress, examining how they aim to stifle activism, criminalize dissent, and further entrench U.S. support for Israeli policies. These legislative efforts, pushed by a bipartisan coalition with deep ties to pro-Israel lobbying groups, will expand anti-BDS measures, increase penalties for those supporting Palestinian resistance, and codify funding streams that sustain Israeli military operations.

Jonathan Ofir looked into the death of the Bibas family, who were held captive in Gaza following the October 7, 2023 attacks.

The Israeli government claimed that the two Bibas children were killed by Hamas “with their bare hands.” No evidence supporting this claim has been presented to the public. Hamas said in November 2023 that the two children, their mother, and their captors had been killed by Israeli bombing. By weaponizing grief and pushing unverified claims, the Israeli government continues to justify its military operations while shifting blame for the brutality of its war on Gaza.

On the ground in the West Bank, the situation continues to deteriorate. One month into Israel’s latest offensive, our reporting captures the daily realities faced by families living under constant threat—from home demolitions and mass arrests to military raids and settler violence. In the last month alone, more than 40,000 Palestinians in the West Bank have been displaced, and entire towns are facing siege-like conditions. The humanitarian crisis deepens by the day, with no international intervention to halt the destruction.

In solidarity,

David Reed, Publisher

Must read: There is no evidence Hamas killed members of the Bibas family. Israel is using their death to manufacture consent for genocide.

Israel claims Hamas killed two children in the Bibas family but has not offered any evidence. Their death has become another piece of atrocity propaganda Israel is using to justify genocide in Gaza.

Catch-up

= Mondoweiss spoke with Lara Friedman about Trump’s pro-Israel Executive Orders and the anti-Palestinian legislation people should be watching in the new Congress.

=  Human rights scholar Birju Dattani was forced to resign as Canada’s Chief Human Rights Commissioner following a pro-Israel smear campaign. His case reveals how false charges of antisemitism are used to silence support for Palestinian rights.

= Following a handover ceremony in Gaza for Israeli captives, during which one Israeli soldier kissed the heads of two Hamas fighters, an outraged Netanyahu suspended the release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners.

= Activists are calling on the Brooklyn Academy of Music to take a clear stance in support of Palestinian human rights and cancel an upcoming performance by the Batsheva Dance Company.

=  Media coverage of the shooting of two Israeli tourists who were mistaken for Palestinians ignored the root cause of the violence: Zionism.

= The love story of Nael Barghouti, the longest-serving Palestinian prisoner, and his wife Iman, is nothing short of a classic Palestinian folktale. Now, as Iman awaits her lover’s release from prison, Israel is not done trying to tear them apart.

= Palestinians in Gaza say that Israel is violating the ceasefire’s humanitarian agreements in order to force them to leave their homeland.

= Healthcare Workers For Palestine: There are over three decades of evidence that Israeli doctors harvest Palestinian organs in direct violation of international law. These stolen body parts were not just used for transplantation and research but for sale and profit.

=  Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s first trip to the Middle East made clear that Donald Trump is driving U.S. policy and largely adopting Israel’s belligerent stance in Gaza and Iran. The question remains whether the rest of the region can stop them.

=  Renowned Palestinian writer Refaat Alareer was Reem Hamadaqa’s professor and close mentor. She writes of his posthumous book If I Must Die, “Alareer’s poems embody the essence of resistance, grief, steadfastness—sumud—and storytelling as survival.”

= Qassam Muaddi: Israel has killed 55 Palestinians after one month of its ongoing “Iron Wall” offensive in the West Bank. Killings, mass displacement, and uncertainty are the new normal.

1058.

24 februari 2025.

EU/Israel: EU foreign ministers are meeting with Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar in Brussels today for the EU-Israel Association Council. There can be no business as usual with a government responsible for crimes against humanity, including apartheid and acts of genocide. Israel’s atrocities should be unequivocally condemned and consequences imposed.

1057.

24 februari 2025

Today's headlines

There is no evidence Hamas killed members of the Bibas family. Israel is using their death to manufacture consent for genocide.

Israel claims Hamas killed two children in the Bibas family but has not offered any evidence. Their death has become another piece of atrocity propaganda Israel is using to justify genocide in Gaza.

How antisemitism is weaponized to silence critics of Israel: The case of Birju Dattani

Human rights scholar Birju Dattani was forced to resign as Canada’s Chief Human Rights Commissioner following a pro-Israel smear campaign. His case reveals how false charges of antisemitism are used to silence support for Palestinian rights.

Netanyahu suspends release of 600+ Palestinian prisoners over ‘degrading’ handover ceremony

Qassam Muaddi

Following a handover ceremony in Gaza for Israeli captives, during which one Israeli soldier kissed the heads of two Hamas fighters, an outraged Netanyahu suspended the release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners.

Brooklyn Academy of Music: Drop Batsheva Dance Company, cultural ambassadors for genocide

Activists are calling on the Brooklyn Academy of Music to take a clear stance in support of Palestinian human rights and cancel an upcoming performance by the Batsheva Dance Company.

1056.

23 februari 2025

Today's headlines

Nael and Iman: fighters and lovers in the whispers of Kobar

The love story of Nael Barghouti, the longest-serving Palestinian prisoner, and his wife Iman, is nothing short of a classic Palestinian folktale. Now, as Iman awaits her lover's release from prison, Israel is not done trying to tear them apart.

A Jewish man’s shooting of two Israelis in Miami revealed the violent truth of Zionism

Jonathan Ofir

Media coverage of the shooting of two Israeli tourists who were mistaken for Palestinians ignored the root cause of the violence: Zionism.

A brief history of Israel’s theft and trafficking of Palestinian organs

Healthcare Workers for Palestine

There are over three decades of evidence that Israeli doctors harvest Palestinian organs in direct violation of international law. These stolen body parts were not just used for transplantation and research but for sale and profit.

1055.

23 februari 2025

Support Gaza War Refusers

On my most recent visit to the West Bank, me and my friends headed to Masafer Yatta, just south of Hebron, to join the last days of the harvest. We operated like itinerants: we started picking alongside the family we originally came to see before moving onto other groves, meeting new families we spotted from across the road and helping them wrap up their harvest. I had met a set of brothers, their wives and their children on one of these excursions. All of them hailed from a large nearby city where the brothers all worked as teachers, while they tended to their small parcel of land outside the city to make extra income from the annual olive harvest. Their extra source of side income has become a dangerous business: the settlers and the army regularly trespass on their land and physically threaten them. When they are not present on their land, their olive trees are threatened by arsonists from nearby settlements, a now ubiquitous phenomenon. The settlers are as keen to defile the land itself as they are to attack the Palestinians who tend to it.

The images of olive trees aflame that have made the rounds online are not so distant from the footage of American-made weapons enshrouding entire buildings in fire and smoke in the Gaza Strip before the ceasefire. Refusing the war also means refusing ecocide in all its forms: across Israel-Palestine, the military is determined to push people off of their land by destroying the land itself. RSN and local activists have documented some of these cases in the West Bank on our platform Voices Against the War at the same time as researchers are framing Israel’s assault on Gaza as ecocide. The soil in today’s Gaza is contaminated, while half of the Strip’s farmland and tree cover has been decimated by some estimates. With greenhouses also destroyed throughout the Strip, Gaza’s agricultural infrastructure is almost entirely decimated, a process advancing in the West Bank although at different rhythms and in different forms, which refusers and activists have witnessed during the olive harvest season and beyond.

As an anti-war and refuser movement, RSN is invested in identifying the connections between the West Bank, Gaza and Israel-Palestine as a whole. What seem like distant realities are deeply linked, notably the ecocide in Gaza and the settler and military violence destroying generations-old ecosystems in the West Bank, right before our eyes. When we refuse, we refuse the state of affairs from the river to the sea in its entirety: the genocide, the removal of people from their lands, the destruction of local ecosystems, and the sacrificing of Israeli children to advance these processes of Palestinian dispossesion. That is why our platform Voices Against the War documents resistance on a diverse range of fronts, where you will see current and former refusers on the front lines of dissent. Keep your communities informed: tell them about Voices Against the War to stay updated on internal resistance to Israel’s crimes.

In solidarity,

Tal Marom
International Solidarity Coordinator
Refuser Solidarity Network

1054.

22 februari 2025

Today's headlines

Gazans say Israeli ceasefire violations are meant to cause mass expulsion

Tareq S. Hajjaj

Palestinians in Gaza say that Israel is violating the ceasefire’s humanitarian agreements in order to force them to leave their homeland.

1053.

21 februari 2025

Op 8 april 2024 waarschuwde het gerenommeerde Lemkin Institute for Genocide Prevention voor de Israëlische genocide op de Palestijnse bevolking van Gaza, maar ook voor die op de Westelijke Jordaanoever en in Oost-Jeruzalem.

Vluchtelingenkampen
Tien maanden na de waarschuwing is die bezig uit te komen. Sinds in Gaza vanaf 19 januari een staakt-het-vuren van kracht is, heeft Israël zijn genocidale geweld naar de Westoever en Oost-Jeruzalem verplaatst. Dat richt zich vooral op het noorden van de Westoever, waar de grote Palestijnse vluchtelingenkampen – voormalige tentenkampen die zijn uitgegroeid tot stampvolle, verstedelijkte stadswijken – het doelwit zijn.

Met bulldozers verwoest het Israëlische leger de straten en riolering van het vluchtelingenkamp in Jenin, 25 januari 2025. Intussen is het kamp nagenoeg ontvolkt. © SOPA Images / Alamy

Intussen heeft Israël de kampen volledig van de buitenwereld afgesneden, en zet het de methodes in die eerder Gaza onleefbaar hebben gemaakt. De toevoer van elektriciteit, water en gas is afgesloten, en wegen en rioleringen zijn met bulldozers omgeploegd. De kampen worden vanuit de lucht gebombardeerd, huizenblokken worden opgeblazen en bewoners worden door scherpschutters beschoten. De Palestijnen die zich nog in de kampen bevinden, worden bovendien afgesneden van humanitaire hulpverlening en medische zorg.

Etnische zuivering
Het gevolg is dat de kampen op de Westoever worden ontvolkt, net als in Gaza. Op 10 februari meldde UNRWA dat in drie weken 40 duizend van de 76 duizend inwoners zijn verdreven. Volgens VN-organisatie OCHA vielen bij het Israëlische geweld 44 doden.

Ook elders op de Westoever draait de verdrijving van de lokale bevolking op volle toeren. Volgens VN-organisatie OCHA werden tussen 4 en 10 februari door Israëlische troepen 49 Palestijnse huizen en andere bouwwerken gesloopt. Het zwaarst getroffen is de streek Masafir Yatta in de South Hebron Hills waar Israël een genadeloze etnische zuivering uitvoert.

Interview | Francesca Albanese: ‘Palestina is de rode pil in The Matrix’

Op initiatief van The Rights Forum sprak journalist en presentator Natasja Gibbs met Francesca Albanese, VN-Speciaal Rapporteur voor de Palestijnse Gebieden. Albanese groeide op in Zuid-Italië, waar ze al op jonge leeftijd zag hoe de maffia twee rechters vermoordde – een les in hoe macht onrecht in stand houdt zolang niemand het uitdaagt. Die realisatie drijft haar werk als VN-rapporteur, vertelt Albanese

Tijdens het interview legt Albanese uit waarom het Westen wegkijkt, hoe Israël het recht straffeloos buigt en waarom Palestina voor haar de rode pil in The Matrix is.

Verslag | Tussen de as van het deeg en de retoriek van Trump 

'Duizenden kilometers verderop zitten Donald Trump en Benjamin Netanyahu in de elegant versierde hal van het Witte Huis. Achter hen een aristocratische open haard waarvan de warmte slechts een vonkje politieke brandstof nodig heeft, verzadigd van tientallen jaren kolonisatie en medeplichtigheid.'

Rechter bevestigt: ontslag Palestijnse werknemer was discriminatie

Op 17 oktober leidde dat tot zijn ontslag bij Speakap, naar verluidt omdat collega’s zich ‘ongemakkelijk voelden’ bij zijn uitspraken. Daardoor verloor hij zijn visum en verblijfsvergunning voor Nederland en moest hij asiel aanvragen, met grote persoonlijke consequenties als gevolg.

Historische juridische overwinning !!

In een juridische strijd, gesteund door het European Legal Support Center (ELSC), werd Speakap op 1 juni 2024 door het College voor de Rechten van de Mens en later door de rechtbank Amsterdam schuldig bevonden aan discriminatie op basis van politieke overtuiging.

Speakap moest Alsweirki €45.000 schadevergoeding betalen.

Volgens ELSC worden steeds meer werknemers bestraft wegens kritiek op Israël. De uitspraak vormt een juridisch precedent en onderstreept dat politieke overtuigingen, inclusief steun voor Palestijns verzet, wettelijk beschermd zijn.

Israël intensiveert strijd tegen Internationaal Strafhof

Het wetsvoorstel is de zoveelste poging van Israël om het Strafhof, dat onderzoek doet naar oorlogsmisdaden in Israël en de bezette Palestijnse gebieden en arrestatiebevelen uitvaardigde voor Benjamin Netanyahu en Yoav Gallant, te ondermijnen.

Open brief | Nederland moet EU-Israël-vergadering aangrijpen om einde aan mensenrechtenschendingen te eisen

Samen met PAX, Save the Children Nederland, SOMO en Oxfam Novib betoogt The Rights Forum in een open brief dat Nederland en de Europese Unie volgende week hun invloed moeten gebruiken om een einde te eisen aan Israëls continue mensenrechtenschendingen en oorlogsmisdaden. Op 24 februari vindt namelijk de lang uitgestelde vergadering van de EU-Israël Associatieraad plaats. Hier wordt de samenwerking tussen de EU en Israël besproken, waaronder op het gebied van handel, politiek en wetenschap.

Uit onze agenda
zaterdag 22 februari t/m zaterdag 1 maart
 

Demonstraties en wakes
• Wake op zaterdag 22 februari in Nijmegen, Koningsplein - Marienburg (14.00 uur)
• Sit-in rijksambtenaren op donderdag 27 februari in Den Haag, Ministerie van Buitenlandse Zaken, Rijnstraat 8 (12.00 uur)
• Sit in: a ceasefire is the bare minimum op donderdag 27 februari in Arnhem, Centraal Station
• Sit-in voor Palestina op donderdag 27 februari in Hilversum, Station
• Wake op zaterdag 1 maart in Maastricht, Markt, achter het stadhuis
• Wake op zaterdag 1 maart in Groningen, Waagplein

1052.

21 februari 2025

Today's headlines

Rubio’s first Mideast trip reveals Trump plans for the region

Secretary of State Marco Rubio's first trip to the Middle East made clear that Donald Trump is driving U.S. policy and largely adopting Israel's belligerent stance in Gaza and Iran. The question remains whether the rest of the region can stop them.

Living to tell the story

Renowned Palestinian writer Refaat Alareer was Reem Hamadaqa's professor and close mentor. She writes of his posthumous book If I Must Die, "Alareer's poems embody the essence of resistance, grief, steadfastness—sumud—and storytelling as survival."

1051.

21 februari 2025

“Why must Palestinians prove their humanity? And what are the implications of such an infuriatingly impossible task? With fearless prose and lyrical precision, Mohammed El-Kurd refuses a life spent in cross-examination. Rather than asking the oppressed to perform a perfect victimhood, El-Kurd asks friends and foes alike to look Palestinians in the eye, forgoing both deference and condemnation.” - Haymarket Books

We’ve partnered with Comrades Education (previously White Awake) for three years now, and we’re excited to announce their upcoming course on taking action for Palestine begins on March 16th!

As winter thaws and we begin to see spring on the horizon, now is the time to think about how to organize within your community, campus, or workplace.

In struggle,
Sumaya Awad

Adalah Justice Project

1050.

20 februari 2025

Today's headlines

Gaza ceasefire is reaching a dangerous crossroads as first phase nears an end

Qassam Muaddi

Israel wants to drag out the first phase of the Gaza ceasefire and eventually return to war, while Hamas wants to begin reconstruction as part of a second phase. This current impasse is bringing the fragile ceasefire to a dangerous crossroads.

1049.

20 februari 2025

Israel Used Elderly Gaza Couple as Human Shields, then Executed Them – Report

Israeli forces brutally killed two elderly Palestinians after using them as human shields in Gaza City. (Photo: video grab)

By Palestine Chronicle Staff 

An Israeli officer forced a 70-year-old Palestinian to enter homes with explosives around his neck before executing him and his wife.

Israeli forces brutally killed two elderly Palestinians after using them as human shields during an invasion of Gaza City’s southern Al-Zaytoun neighborhood last May, investigations by the Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor have revealed.

The victims, a married couple, were identified as Mohammed Fahmi Abu Hussein (70) and Mazyona Hassan Fares Abu Hussein (65), said the Geneva-based organization.

It cited an investigation by the Israeli website HaMakom having found that that an Israeli officer from the Nahal Brigade tied a chain of explosives around the neck of the elderly man. He was forced to enter houses in the Al-Zaytoun neighborhood, inspect them and ensure they were safe for eight hours.

“According to the website, he and his wife were shot by Israeli army forces after they finished the mission,” the rights group said.

The details of Israel’s killing of the Abu Hussein couple “are identical” to those posted on the HaMakom website about an incident involving an unnamed couple, Euro-Med Monitor said.

“The two most notable pieces of evidence, are the fact that both the date of the incident posted by ‘HaMakom’—May 2024—and its location—Al-Zaytoun neighborhood in Gaza City—match what was widely reported in the media,” the group emphasized.

The estimated ages of the victims that were reported in the news “also match the conclusions drawn from the investigations,” it stated.

Furthermore, the victims were a married couple, “which aligns with the recently disclosed details of the crime.”

‘Horrific Details’

Euro-Med Monitor said its investigations have “uncovered horrific details” not revealed by the Israeli website.

These details suggest that the couple was used as human shields and that their execution “was carried out by the detonation of explosives that were still attached to the wife, if not both members of the couple, rather than by gunfire.”

Mazyona Hassan Fares Abu Hussein’s body “was reduced to nearly nothing, with an earring serving as her only identifying feature.”

Meanwhile, Mohammed Fahmy Abu Hussein’s right leg “was completely missing” and the right side of his body “totally disfigured,” indicating that at least one member of the couple was killed by detonating explosives, said Euro-Med Monitor.

Testimony of Couple’s Son

The couple’s son, Ahmed Mohammed Fahmy Abu Hussein, 38, told the rights group that pieces of his parents’ bodies were taken from Salah al-Din Road, in the east of Gaza.

“We had to evacuate Al-Zaytoun neighborhood when the occupation forces arrived, but my parents stayed because they were too old and had trouble moving,” he said.

“Up until 10 May 2024, when we heard the fear in their voices during the final call, we were in continuous communication with them,” the couple’s son continued.

He stated that according to what his father told him, the occupation forces “had broken into their house and ordered them] to leave for the southern Gaza Strip.”

“I tried to call again a few minutes later, but the phone was off. Only when the forces left and we discovered the house completely burned did we learn of their fate,” explained Abu Hussein.

Following a search, he said, “we discovered pieces of my father’s body at Al-Ahli Hospital, and my mother was in fragments on Salah al-Din Street, where it seems that she was killed by setting off explosives.”

Only Teeth Identified

“My father’s right leg was amputated, and the right side of his body was completely gone. It was hard to identify him other than by certain features, like a tattoo on his hand,” Abu Hussein said.

“My mother’s body was utterly destroyed; we could only make out a few pieces of her face and (were only able to) identify her by the gold-covered teeth on her jaw,” he noted.

Abu Hussein said that the Israeli army’s “admission and subsequent announcement that they had used my father as a human shield and then brutally murdered him alongside my mother shocked us.”

“After days of losing contact, we hoped they were still alive, but we later learnt that they had been brutally murdered in a manner we could not have predicted,” he continued.

Abu Hussein also noted that his parents had “a bag full of cash and gold” with them before they were killed, but the bag was gone following the killing.

‘Breach of International Law’

“This crime violates international humanitarian law and can also be considered part of the genocide committed by the Israeli occupation army against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip since 7 October 2023, in which civilians have been brutally killed for no other reason than for being Palestinian,” said Euro-Med Monitor.

In addition, said the rights body, “this crime is a grave breach of international law, which forbids the use of civilians as human shields and declares deliberate killings to be crimes against humanity and war crimes that call for prompt prosecution.”

“The Israeli army’s admission of this crime does not permit avoidance of responsibility; rather, it serves as direct evidence of the serious violations committed by Israel in the Gaza Strip,” Euro-Med Monitor noted.

It called on the international community to “move swiftly to hold the perpetrators accountable and ensure that they do not escape punishment, as well as guarantee that a larger investigation into the ongoing genocide in the Strip is conducted immediately.”

The rights body also urged the International Criminal Court (ICC) to look into the aforementioned crime as part of its ongoing investigations into crimes committed by Israel in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, “plus take it into account as further proof of Israel’s ongoing genocide in the Gaza Strip.”

(The Palestine Chronicle)

1048.

20 februari 2025

Humanitarian Situation Update #266
West Bank

A Jenin Municipality worker repairs a water line damaged by bulldozers in Birqin, 15 February 2025. Photo by Jenin Municipality

Key Highlights

• Since the beginning of the Israeli forces’ operation in the northern West Bank on 21 January, 51 Palestinians, including seven children, and three Israeli soldiers were killed in Jenin, Tulkarm and Tubas governorates.
• Israeli forces’ operations in the northern West Bank have caused severe damage to water and sanitation infrastructure, disrupting access to water to tens of thousands of people and heightening public health concerns.
• Israeli settlers vandalized and cut down about 155 olive and fruit trees in Yasuf village, in Salfit, in one of 34 settler incidents documented by OCHA between 11 and 17 February that resulted in casualties or property damage.
• Nearly 40 Palestinians who rely on herding as a source of income have been displaced near Al Maniya village in Bethlehem due to recurrent attacks by Israeli settlers.
• Some 806,000 students across the West Bank had their access to education severely undermined in 2024, according to a new report by the Education Cluster.

Humanitarian Developments

• Between 11 and 17 February, Israeli forces killed six Palestinians, including one child, and injured 18 others, including seven children, across the West Bank, including East Jerusalem. In addition, one Palestinian child died of wounds sustained in an airstrike on 1 February. For more information on casualties and further breakdowns of data, please see the monthly West Bank Snapshot. Incidents resulting in fatalities during the reporting period include:
  • On 11 February, Israeli forces shot and killed a Palestinian man and injured three others, including a five-year-old girl, during a raid in Sa’ir village north of Hebron city. Palestinians threw stones at Israeli forces, who fired live ammunition, rubber coated metal bullets and tear gas canisters.
  • On 12 February, Israeli forces shot and killed three Palestinians, including a 16-year-old child, as part of the ongoing Israeli operation in Nur Shams refugee camp, northeast of Tulkarm city. During the ongoing operation, exchanges of fire between Palestinians and Israeli forces were reported inside the camp.
  • On 13 February, Israeli forces shot and killed a Palestinian man near Huwwara checkpoint, the southern main entrance to Nablus city, alleging that he had used a road leading up to the checkpoint that was prohibited to Palestinians and attempted to ram his car into Israeli soldiers. No casualties among Israeli forces were reported. The family of the killed man reported that he had been diagnosed with a mental health condition. Israeli forces withheld the body of the killed man.
  • On 14 February, Israeli forces shot and killed a Palestinian man during a raid in Askar refugee camp, east of Nablus city. Palestinians threw stones at Israeli forces, who opened fire toward Palestinians.
  • On 17 February, a 15-year-old Palestinian boy died of wounds sustained on 1 February 2025 in Qabatiya town, south of Jenin, when an Israeli airstrike targeted a vehicle, killing two Palestinians inside and injuring seven other Palestinians, including the boy and two women.
• Between 11 and 17 February, OCHA documented the demolition of 11 Palestinian-owned structures across the West Bank due to the lack of Israeli-issued building permits, which are nearly impossible to obtain. These included eight structures in East Jerusalem, and three other structures in Area C, displacing 12 people, including five children, and otherwise affecting over 35 people. All the displaced families were in two Area C communities, in Al 'Arrub refugee camp (Hebron) and Deir Ibzi’ village (Ramallah). In East Jerusalem, a family of two was affected after being forced to demolish its under-construction residence in Wadi Qaddum area in Silwan, after receiving a final demolition order from the Israeli authorities.

• Between 11 and 17 February, OCHA documented 34 incidents involving Israeli settlers that led to casualties, property damage or both. As a result, five Palestinians were injured and about 176 olive and fruit trees and saplings were vandalized. In one incident, Palestinians threw stones at an Israeli-plated bus near Hizma (Jerusalem), causing damage. The following are some of the key settler attacks that took place during the reporting period:
  • On 11 February, Israeli settlers severed pipes connecting 1,500 metres of agricultural water pipes in Area C of An Nazla ash Sharqiya village, in Tulkarm, affecting the livelihoods of 12 Palestinian farmers who depend on the network to irrigate their lands.
  • On 13 February, a group of armed Israeli settlers, believed to be from a newly established settlement outpost near Ma’ale Amos settlement, severed pipes connecting a 450-metre-long water network in Area B of Kisan village, in Bethlehem. The network was donor-funded and was installed with the support of a humanitarian organization to supply water to about 20 families.
  • Between 14 and 17 February, Israeli settlers injured four Palestinians on Palestinian-owned agricultural land in the West Bank. In Mikhmas village, in Jerusalem, two farmers were physically assaulted and injured by a group of armed Israeli settlers who attacked them with clubs and stones and stole personal belongings from inside their vehicle. In Surif village, in Hebron, a group of armed Israeli settlers physically assaulted and injured a Palestinian man and damaged a greenhouse planted with seasonal vegetables. In Rantis village, in Ramallah, a group of Israeli settlers attacked a Palestinian man while he was farming his land, punctured the tyres of his vehicle, and sprayed his face with pepper spray. Israeli settlers subsequently grazed their sheep on the land, causing damage to about 20 olive saplings.
  • On 15 February, a group of Israeli settlers, believed to be from Rechelim settlement, vandalized and cut down about 155 olive and fruit trees located on a nine-dunum piece of land belonging to farmers from Yasuf village, in Salfit. The land is located near the settlement, access to which by the Palestinian owners requires prior coordination with Israeli authorities.
  • On 16 February, Israeli settlers threw stones at a solid waste collection truck belonging to Bethlehem Municipality, in Bethlehem, shattering the windshield and injuring a Palestinian man who was sitting near the driver. The driver rushed the injured man, who sustained an eye injury, to a medical centre. The truck was on its way to transport garbage from Bethlehem city to a dump site located near Al Maniya village.
• On 14 February, seven Palestinian herding households, comprising 39 people, including 17 children, were forcibly displaced from Barriyet Al Minya area, east of Al Manila village in the Bethlehem governorate due to Israeli settler violence. The displacement followed repeated attacks and access restrictions imposed by settlers from a newly established outpost near Bariyat Tuqu’. OCHA recorded 20 incidents by settlers against Palestinians near Al Maniya village, including 16 that resulted in casualties or property damage since January 2024. The last attack occurred on 14 February, when, according to residents, a group of approximately 40 armed settlers raided their dwellings, vandalized structures, using clubs and stones, and fired tear gas canisters at them. In total, 16 Palestinians sustained injuries, including due to physical assault and tear gas inhalation. Of the injured, six people were transported to hospital and 10 received treatment on site by Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) paramedics. Israeli settlers also destroyed four residential structures, two solar panel systems, and two water tanks before Israeli forces arrived and evacuated them. The assault lasted for over six hours, forcing residents to flee to find safety along with their livestock while leaving behind all their belongings. Only four families remained in the larger area of the community, struggling to stay despite ongoing violence and deteriorating conditions. Between 1 January 2023 and 17 February 2024, OCHA documented the displacement of 2,278 Palestinians, including 1,085 children, across the West Bank, citing heightened settler violence and access restrictions.
• Herding communities in the northern Jordan Valley are facing increasing restrictions on their ability to access grazing lands due to settler violence, which have further undermined their livelihoods. For example, in Ad Deir community (Tubas), documented settler-related incidents rose from none in 2020- 2021, to one in both 2022 and 2023, and then surged to 14 in 2024. The sharpest increase (eight incidents) was in events involving harassment, intimidation, and access restrictions to grazing areas. Similarly, in Al Farisiya-Nab'a al Ghazal (Tubas), documented settler-related incidents increased from two in 2020, to 12 in 2023, and then to 29 in 2024, with the most significant increase being in incidents involving harassment, intimidation, and access restrictions, which rose from one to 21 incidents. Over the past two years, Bedouin and herding communities, which rely on livestock grazing as their primary source of income, have suffered from a severe reduction in already limited available pastureland. The expansion of settler herding outposts has further restricted access for Palestinian herders, forcing them to graze their animals in increasingly confined areas near their shelters.

• On 15 February, an Israeli military training exercise caused a fire that destroyed a Palestinian-owned agricultural structure in Az Za’ayyem Bedouin community, in Area C of the Jerusalem governorate. Tear gas canisters fired from a nearby Israeli military base landed on agricultural land, setting fire to an uninhabited residential structure and destroying all furniture inside as well as causing damage to ten surrounding trees. Following the incident, Israeli forces arrived at the scene and extinguished the flames. The fire affected one Palestinian household of six people, including two children. According to local community sources, training exercises by Israeli forces at the military base near the community regularly pose risks to residents and property. Situated next to the Israeli E1 settlement plan area, which aims to expand Ma’ale Adumim settlement and connect it to Jerusalem, the community has been subject to various coercive measures, including demolitions and displacement threats. Since 2009, OCHA documented the demolition of 106 structures, including 15 homes, in the community due to the lack of building permits, resulting in the displacement of 122 people, including 77 children.
• In the early morning hours of 12 February, Israeli forces carried out an eight-hour operation in Al ‘Arrub refugee camp, north of Hebron city, raided houses, destroyed the entrance of one house with explosives, and used an UNRWA health centre as a temporary detention site where they interrogated Palestinian residents of the camp. In total, 26 Palestinians were detained, including five elderly persons; 22 were subsequently released and four were taken into custody. According to testimonies provided by some of the released detainees to the local popular committee, Israeli forces reportedly numbered detainees on their foreheads using pens and physically assaulted them. Access to education was also disrupted, affecting about 1,800 school students inside the camp and others who attend educational institutions outside. In a statement, UNRWA said that the use of its health centre as a detention and interrogation centre was “a blatant disregard for the inviolability of United Nations facilities” and “follows a pattern of forcible entries into UNRWA installations in the West Bank since October 2023,” by both Israeli forces and Palestinian armed groups.
• On 18 February, Israeli officials from the Jerusalem Municipality and the Israeli Ministry of Education approached four UNRWA educational facilities in East Jerusalem. Israeli forces forcibly entered the Kalandia Training Centre (KTC), located immediately adjacent to Qalandia refugee camp on the West Bank side of the Barrier, and attempted to order the immediate evacuation of the KTC without any legal documentation; however, the forces left following discussions with UNRWA officials where United Nations privileges and immunities were invoked. Concurrently, sound bombs and tear gas cannisters were fired in the vicinity of the main street of Qalandiya refugee camp. On the same day, Israeli Ministry of Education officials visited three UNRWA schools in Wadi al Joz, Silwan, and Sur Baher, in East Jerusalem, in one instance accompanied by the Israeli police. They were denied entry, based on United Nations privileges and immunities. Responding to these developments, UNRWA Commissioner General, Philippe Lazzarini, condemned the breach of United Nations premises and called for access to education to be upheld, noting that the incidents have affected about 250 children in three UNRWA schools in East Jerusalem and more than 350 trainees at the KTC. Moreover, in a statement, the Director of UNRWA Affairs in the West Bank, Roland Friedrich, emphasized that UNRWA was committed to stay and continue to deliver services in East Jerusalem. These comments were later echoed by the Secretary General of the United Nations. UNRWA runs six schools, two health centres and one vocational training centre in areas that fall with the Israeli-defined East Jerusalem municipal boundary in the West Bank. For more information on UNRWA services in East Jerusalem, please see here.
• Access to education for hundreds of thousands of Palestinian children in the West Bank was severely undermined by access restrictions, home demolitions, settler violence and Israeli forces’ operations in 2024, according to a recent report by the Education Cluster. In 2024, the Palestinian Ministry of Education recorded 2,274 incidents of violence targeting the education system, with 109 schools attacked or vandalized; incidents include cases of armed settlers entering schools, detention of students or school staff, and harassment of students on their way to school. In affected areas, more than half of the students reported that they had faced delays or harassment on the way to school. As a result, some 806,000 students have had their access to education restricted in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem. Increasing poverty and food insecurity have also had a severe impact, forcing many families to deprioritize education, as approximately 40 per cent of families report that they cannot afford school-related costs, such as transportation or textbooks. Older children, particularly boys, are often required to work to support their families, contributing to increased dropout rates. At the same time, girls and young women are twice as likely to drop out of school after the age of 12 compared to boys, particularly in rural areas where travel to school entails long or unsafe commutes.

• Since mid-January, Israeli forces have intensified access restrictions across the West Bank, severely impeding Palestinians' access to markets, workplaces, emergency services, as well as health and educational facilities. At least 20 new gates have been installed at the entrances of towns and villages, alongside new roadblocks, earth mounds, and trench fences, further restricting movement on secondary access routes. Below are key examples of developments that have aggravated the movement of Palestinians across the West Bank during the reporting period:
  • In Jerusalem governorate, between 11 and 16 February, Israeli forces repeatedly closed Qalandiya and Jaba’ checkpoints, two major crossings connecting the central West Bank with both East Jerusalem and the southern West Bank, severely disrupting movement for tens of thousands of Palestinians. At Qalandiya checkpoint, forces physically assaulted and arrested three Palestinians, including one with rifles. On 14 February, Israeli forces closed Wadi an Nar checkpoint, which controls all Palestinian traffic between the southern and northern West Bank, for three hours, causing delays of up to eight hours, during which a Palestinian man was physically assaulted and injured by forces.
  • In Jenin governorate, Israeli forces installed a metal road gate on the main road south of Silat adh Dhahr village. If the road gate is closed, this would restrict movement between Jenin, Tulkarm and Nablus governorates, affecting hundreds of thousands of people.
  • In the Israeli-controlled H2 area of Hebron city, Israeli forces closed three checkpoints on 12, 16, and 17 February, restricting movement from and to the restricted area of H2 for up to five hours. This has restricted more than 170 students and teachers from reaching Al Ibrahimiya Basic School, forcing classes online.
• On 18 February, the World Bank, European Union, and UN issued findings of the latest Gaza and West Bank Interim Rapid Damage and Needs Assessment (IRDNA), which analyses damages and losses as well as recovery and reconstruction needs across almost all sectors of the Palestinian economy, based on data between October 2023 and October 2024. According to the IRDNA, recurring Israeli military operations, airstrikes, and closures have caused widespread damage and service disruptions across the West Bank, particularly in and around densely populated refugee camps in Jenin, Tulkarm and Tubas. Damage to the housing sector in the West Bank alone is estimated at US$16 million. In the health sector, only 61 per cent of facilities in conflict-affected governorates—mainly Hebron, Nablus, Ramallah, Jenin, and Bethlehem—remain fully functional, further delaying critical health care services. Access to education has also been severely affected, with about 602,000 public school students forced into home-based learning for up to three days a week throughout the 2023-2024 academic year. In a statement, UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator for the Occupied Palestinian Territory, Muhanned Hadi, reaffirmed that the “UN stands ready to support the Palestinian people both on humanitarian assistance and a future recovery and reconstruction process.”

Developments in the northern West Bank

• The Israeli operation, which began on 21 January, has become the longest operation in the West Bank since the early 2000s; it has so far lasted for just over a month in Jenin governorate, primarily in Jenin refugee camp and its surroundings, and for 24 days in Tulkarm city and its two refugee camps (Tulkarm and Nur Shams). In Tubas governorate, the operation lasted for about a week and 10 days in Tammun town and El Fara’a refugee camp, respectively, between 2 and 12 February. Since 21 January and as of 20 February, at least 51 Palestinians have been killed in Jenin, Tulkarm and Tubas governorates, including seven children (6 boys and 1 girl) and two women. Three Israeli soldiers were killed by armed Palestinians, including one during an exchange of fire in Jenin and two due to a shooting attack by an armed Palestinian at Tayasir checkpoint, in Tubas. Palestinian fatalities include three Palestinians killed in El Fara’a refugee camp on 19 February, when undercover Israeli forces surrounded a residential building in the camp and fired a shoulder-fired explosive projectile at it, according to initial information.
• This week, Israeli forces notified the Palestinian District Liaison Office that two structures in Jenin—one in the camp and one in the city—and 14 residential structures in Tulkarm refugee camp are slated for demolition. In Jenin refugee camp, residents were granted a two-hour window on 19 February, from 12:00 to 14:00, to retrieve their belongings. During this time, a 50-year-old woman was critically injured after reportedly using a route outside the pre-defined paths set by Israeli forces. In Tulkarm refugee camp, residents of the 14 homes set for demolition were similarly given a two-hour window, from 6:00 to 8:00 in the morning on 19 February, to collect their essentials. Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) teams assisted 14 families in moving their belongings, after they were allowed by Israeli forces to enter the camp; however, Israeli forces opened fire and fired smoke grenades at them. Initial reports suggest that at least nine structures were demolished by Israeli forces on 18 and 19 February.
• While the majority of displaced families are staying in rented accommodation, they are increasingly unable to afford the prohibitively high rent costs. As of 20 February, about 60 families, comprising about 300 people, are currently staying in six public shelters in Tulkarm and about 44 families, comprising 173 people, are staying in four public shelters in Jenin, with plans underway to set up two public shelters at two schools in Jenin to address the rising need. A multisectoral assessment conducted in early February across two collective centers and five apartments highlighted the urgent need for non-food items (NFI), including bedding kits, dignity kits, and kitchen kits. Scaling up shelter and financial assistance thus remain critical; Shelter Cluster partners have hitherto identified the urgent need for cash assistance for 4,000 families to meet rent needs.
• According to the water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) cluster, these operations have caused severe damage to WASH infrastructure, affecting tens of thousands of residents. In Jenin governorate, over 3.3 kilometres of sewage networks and 21.4 kilometres of water pipelines have been severely damaged, primarily within Jenin refugee camp and surrounding areas. The Jenin Municipality reported that over 5,000 metres of damaged roads have further impacted the water and sewage networks, leaving about 5,000 water connections unconnected to the system. Water trucking has been provided to some disconnected areas, but service restoration remains a major challenge. In Tulkarm Governorate, heavy damage has been recorded in Tulkarm and Nur Shams refugee camps, where 8.4 kilometres of sewage and stormwater networks and 15 kilometres of water pipelines have been severely damaged. The destruction has disrupted access to safe water for approximately 27,000 people, with at least 7,000 still not connected to the water system despite urgent municipal efforts to restore services. In Tubas governorate, a WASH assessment conducted in Tammun and El Fara’a refugee camp identified over four kilometres of damaged water and sanitation infrastructure, affecting around 10,000 people. Damage to these essential services, combined with the ongoing displacement crisis, has heightened the risk of waterborne diseases and other public health concerns, particularly in areas where residents have limited access to clean water and adequate sanitation.
• Humanitarian partners continue to scale up response efforts across Jenin, Tulkarm, and Tubas governorates, focusing on water distribution, sanitation interventions, and network restoration. According to the Palestinian Authority emergency operations room, about 75 per cent of the water and sanitation network in El Fara’a refugee camp had been restored as of 20 February. In Tulkarm and Jenin governorates, there is ongoing distribution of thousands of hygiene kits. To support displaced families, the Humanitarian Fund for the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt HF) this week redirected funding for existing projects to provide cash assistance, rental subsidies and essential items, including food.

Funding

• As of 20 February 2025, Member States have disbursed approximately $146.6 million out of the $4.07 billion (3.6 per cent) requested to meet the most critical humanitarian needs of three million out of 3.3 million people identified as requiring assistance in Gaza and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, in 2025, under the 2025 Flash Appeal for the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT). Nearly 90 per cent of the requested funds are for humanitarian response in Gaza, with just over 10 per cent for the West Bank. Moreover, during January 2025, the oPt Humanitarian Fund (oPt HF) managed 101 ongoing projects, totalling $72.4 million, to address urgent needs in the Gaza Strip (86 per cent) and the West Bank (14 per cent). Of these projects, 55 are being implemented by international non-governmental organizations (INGOs), 33 by national NGOs and 13 by UN agencies. Notably, 41 out of the 68 projects implemented by INGOs or the UN are being implemented in collaboration with national NGOs. For more information, please see OCHA’s Financial Tracking Service webpage and the oPt HF webpage.

1047.

20 februari 2025

Trump, Israel, and the “imperial boomerang”

Tell Congress: Protect students' rights.

Tell Congress: End U.S. arms to Israel.

University of California: Take action to protect your students!

Power Half-Hours for Gaza.

 What we're reading.

In an interview with +972 Magazine, Palestinian human rights lawyer Zaha Hassan discusses how the Israeli government’s repression of Palestinian civil society has been “exported” to the United States.

1046.

20 februari 2025

Today, we received another painful reminder of the effects of delaying hostage and ceasefire deals, as we saw toddlers Kfir and Ariel Bibas, their mother Shiri, and elderly peace activist and journalist Oded Lifshitz, return to Israel in coffins. Our hearts go out to their families in this dark time. We will continue to do everything in our power to advocate for every last hostage to return and for the deal to be implemented in full. It needs to serve as a reminder that deals save lives, that recovery is possible.

However, since the first day of the current ceasefire, it’s also been clear that whether it holds or not, the residents of the West Bank will continue suffering. Last month, the IDF began another massive operation in the northern West Bank, complete with airstrikes and massive demolitions of infrastructure, creating images that resemble Gaza more and more each day, in a process that’s come to be known as “Gazafication.” Tens of thousands of Palestinians are currently displaced from their homes in the West Bank as a direct result of this operation.

We’ve also seen that this operation in the West Bank includes some of the most reckless and immoral orders from the war in Gaza. The IDF has recently admitted multiple times to “mistakenly” killing innocent civilians in the West Bank. These killings can now easily be traced back to specific orders, all of which were imported from Gaza.

And so today, in the West Bank, tying your shoes outside could be a death sentence.

Central Command Chief Maj-Gen Avi Bluth recently decided to make a change to the IDF’s rules of engagement in the West Bank - issuing a shoot-to-kill order for anyone who “messes with the ground,” soldiers told Haaretz. This had dire and immediate consequences.

IDF airstrikes in Jenin, January 24th, 2025. Photo: Wahaj Bani Moufleh, Activestills

Last week, a 7-year-old Palestinian boy died of his wounds, ten days after being shot by IDF soldiers in the West Bank. They said he was “handling something on the ground.” The IDF gave the same excuse last month after an IDF drone strike killed the Bsharat cousins - ages 8, 10, and 21.

We’ve heard this order before. Here's what one officer who served in Gaza's Netzarim corridor told us:

"[...] you mess with the ground to tie your shoelaces, pick something up, throw away garbage; [...] you might be picking a flower. [But in Gaza,] messing with the ground is a code name for planting an explosive device, always. [...] if my life were filmed from a drone, what would look suspicious?"
Northern Gaza | 2024 | Captain

Another recent order - this one by Brig-Gen Yaakov Dolf, who commands the IDF Division in the West Bank - pushed the number of innocent casualties even higher. Shoot live ammunition at any vehicle coming from a combat zone that approaches a checkpoint, soldiers reported Dolf ordering. This was done to force cars to stop further away, the soldiers told Haaretz.

And so, on Sunday, IDF forces shot 23-year-old Sundus Shalabi and her husband to death, for slowly approaching a checkpoint while attempting to flee the IDF operation in the Nur Shams refugee camp. Her husband was killed in the car. Sundus, who was eight months pregnant, was shot three times after exiting, because she “looked suspiciously at the ground.”

Roads left in ruin after an IDF operation in Jenin, September 2nd, 2024.
Photo: Wahaj Bani Moufleh, Activestills

This order of “shoot anyone who approaches” is also familiar to us from Gaza:

"..the assumption was that if there are soldiers who open fire every now and then and still someone chooses to get close to the area, they have a motive."

Interviewer: "What does that mean in terms of opening fire?"

"You identify, you shoot."

Interviewer: "Shoot towards center mass?"

"Whoever comes [near], you kill him. Verify [it] too."
Northern Gaza | 2023 | 1st Sergeant

That same day, 21-year-old Rahaf Al-Ashkar was killed by an IDF explosive charge placed at the entrance of her house, also in Nur Shams. The IDF claimed residents were notified to leave prior to the attempted explosive breach, essentially claiming she chose to blow herself up willingly.

Following the explosion, soldiers forced a randomly chosen civilian resident to scan the site for any additional explosives, sources familiar with the incident told Haaretz. This sounds eerily similar to the IDF’s “mosquito protocol:” the most recent iteration of the practice of IDF soldiers using human shields to scan tunnels and houses. This protocol, too, started in Gaza.

BtS Executive Director Nadav Weiman spoke to NBC News last month about the IDF's widespread use of human shields, and previous IDF iterations of the practice.

All of this continues to be accompanied by mass destruction of infrastructure - including demolishing multiple-story buildings. One especially dubious IDF excuse for such acts has been the need to “widen the roads” to “ease troop movement” through the densely populated refugee camps.

Perhaps the most telling action imported from Gaza though, isn’t always an “official” order. Some Palestinians have said the IDF told them directly to leave, but for many, the rest of the warfare tactics the IDF imported from Gaza made it impossible to stay. Would you stay to live under the constant threat of airstrikes, gunfire, demolitions, and being used as a human shield? Over 30,000 Palestinians are currently displaced from the refugee camps of Jenin, Nur Shams and Tulkarm alone, with no foreseeable end in sight.

Mass displacement, the mosquito protocol, orders to shoot anyone who approaches IDF forces, or messes with the ground - all of these cruel and immoral IDF practices were imported from Gaza to the West Bank. Add airstrikes and destruction of infrastructure, and you’ve got a recipe for Gazafication.

Palestinians inspect the ruins of a building after an IDF operation in Nur Shams, September 2nd, 2024. Photo: Wahaj Bani Moufleh, Activestills

However, not all of the West Bank is being turned into Gaza. The process of escalation looks different in different parts of the West Bank. As the IDF continues to Gazafy larger cities and refugee camps in the northern West Bank, like Jenin and Tulkarm, smaller West Bank villages are experiencing a two-pronged assault of state-backed settler violence and increasing IDF restrictions.

Shortly after the ceasefire began, Israel’s government ordered the IDF to block dozens of Palestinian roads throughout the West Bank, operating checkpoints until the first stage of the ceasefire deal is completed. In essence, this is a return to the heavy restrictions that were imposed in the days immediately after October 7th.

The massive traffic jams these checkpoints caused during the day were joined by a flurry of settler pogroms in the night, no doubt bolstered by Trump’s dropping of sanctions against violent settlers, and Minister Katz’s decision to release all Jewish detainees who were in administrative detention. Katz’s decision took the draconian, immoral practice of administrative detention, and instead of abolishing it, reserved it for Palestinians only. The pogromists had gotten the hint - the state would not stop them.

Let’s take an example from last month: Settlers, faces covered, were caught on video approaching the village of al-Funduq and starting to torch cars and homes. They can be seen in the video, passing by a clearly visible police car, yet no arrests were made.

So, who *was* punished for this pogrom?

The Palestinian residents of al-Funduq, of course. The next morning, they were sealed in their homes by the IDF, made to watch, as settlers took victory laps driving through their village. Rewarding the terrorists by letting them rub salt in their victims’ wounds.

Collectively punishing Palestinians for being assaulted is not new. We’re reminded of H2 in Hebron, which has had similar restrictions for decades. In the 31 years since a settler terrorist killed 27 Palestinian worshippers in the Cave of the Patriarchs (Ibrahimi Mosque), the storefronts in the once vibrant city center have not reopened. Their doors were welded shut, and later repainted, to make them less noticeable.

So while villages like al-Funduq aren’t being Gazafied, they are in danger of being 'Hebronized'. We know what this looks like. Collective punishment for victims. Closed shops, empty streets, rewarding assailants and trespassers, adding blockade to injury. Yes, these restrictions are currently being labeled temporary, but as we learned all too well in Hebron: temporary restrictions have a nasty habit of becoming permanent.

On February 28th, we will be leading an emergency solidarity tour to Hebron. While we're nearly out of spots on our English-speaking tour, there's still room left to join one of our Hebrew-speaking tours on the same day, to see how decades of occupation turned the once-vibrant city center into a near-lifeless ghost town.

As always in our tours of Hebron, we will also be meeting with Palestinian activists from our partners at Youth Against Settlements, who’ve been fighting the occupation for decades using non-violent protest and education.

How we fought in Gaza
 

Hundreds of soldiers have given us their testimonies on previous Israeli military campaigns they took part in, in the Gaza Strip. Looking back can help understand the reality we see unfolding and the choices we face today.

1045.

19 februari 2025

Today's headlines

What anti-Palestinian legislation to look out for in the new Congress

Mondoweiss spoke with Lara Friedman about Trump’s pro-Israel Executive Orders and the anti-Palestinian legislation people should be watching in the new Congress.

1044.

NOS

19 februari 2025

Twee Israëlische militairen verlaten Nederland uit angst voor arrestatie

Twee Israëlische militairen die op vakantie waren in Amsterdam zijn met spoed terug naar Israël gegaan uit angst voor arrestatie. Dat melden verschillende Israëlische media. Het zou gaan om twee dienstplichtigen die in Gaza hebben gevochten. Ze hadden foto's op hun sociale media gepost uit Noord-Gaza, onder andere met geblinddoekte Palestijnse gevangenen.

De Hind Rajab Foundation, een organisatie die oorlogsmisdaden van Israëlische militairen documenteert en zich inzet om ze voor de rechter te brengen, bevestigt het nieuws. Die schrijft op X dat de militairen gisteren in Amsterdam waren geland en dat een van hen wordt verdacht van oorlogsmisdaden, zonder daarbij details te geven.

De Foundation zegt dat advocaten "in stilte" aan de zaak werkten, maar dat de Israëliërs werden gewaarschuwd toen hun gegevens op sociale media werden geplaatst. Ze verlieten Nederland vervolgens direct.

Niet op zichzelf

De zaak staat niet op zichzelf. Vorige maand stelde Brazilië naar aanleiding van informatie van de Hind Rajab Foundation een onderzoek in naar een Israëlische militair die in het land op vakantie was. Ook hij vluchtte naar huis. De Hind Rajab Foundation, vernoemd naar een vijfjarig Palestijns meisje dat in februari vorig jaar in Gaza door Israëlische militairen werd gedood, heeft in verschillende landen aanklachten ingediend tegen Israëlische militairen.

De organisatie maakt gebruik van wat militairen zelf op sociale media hebben geplaatst, zoals het opblazen of in brand steken van huizen en het mishandelen van gevangenen. Het Israëlische leger heeft militairen geadviseerd beeldmateriaal uit Gaza van hun sociale media te verwijderen en geen foto's te plaatsen van vakanties in het buitenland.

1043.

19 februari 2025

Today, we turn our attention to Gaza, where more than 375,000 Palestinians made their way back to their homes in northern Gaza.

And we also focus on Lebanon, where Israel has ignored ceasefire terms and kept its troops at five “strategic points” in Lebanese territory.

1042.

19 februari 2025

Humanitarian Situation Update #265
Gaza Strip

People in Jabalya, where thousands have returned to ruins, few buildings are left standing, and sewage is flowing in the streets. Photo by OCHA/Themba Linden

Key Highlights

• Since the ceasefire, food security partners have brought over 57,000 metric tons of food into Gaza, more than double the amount in the month prior to the ceasefire; distribution of that assistance is ongoing.
• Medical evacuations outside Gaza remain critical as the health system in Gaza continues to face significant challenges in delivering life-saving care to thousands of patients, including due to shortages of essential medical equipment.
• More than 1,500 water points are now operational across Gaza, but water production and supply are still at about a quarter of pre-October 2023 levels.
• Mine Action actors are assessing and marking explosive ordnance to facilitate the scale up of humanitarian operations.

Humanitarian Developments

• On 15 February, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) facilitated the sixth release operation since the ceasefire came into effect on 19 January. Three hostages were transferred out of Gaza to Israel, and 369 Palestinian detainees were released from Israeli detention centres. Palestinian detainees included 333 people who were detained from the Gaza Strip after 7 October 2023 and 24 detainees who were released to Egypt. In total, since 19 January, 19 Israeli and five Thai hostages and 1,135 Palestinian detainees have been released.
• As of 18 February, it is estimated that 73 Israelis and foreign nationals remain captive in Gaza, including hostages who have been declared dead and whose bodies are being withheld in Gaza.
• As of February 2025, according to data provided by the Israel Prison Service (IPS) to Hamoked, an Israeli human rights NGO, there are 9,846 Palestinians in Israeli custody, including 1,734 sentenced prisoners, 2,941 remand detainees, 3,369 administrative detainees held without trial, and 1,802 people held as “unlawful combatants.” These figures do not include Palestinians from Gaza who have been detained by the Israeli military since 7 October 2023.
• Between the afternoons of 11 and 18 February, the Ministry of Health (MoH) in Gaza reported the killing of 72 Palestinians and the injury of 57 others; this includes 62 newly retrieved bodies. Since the ceasefire came into effect on 19 January, and as of 18 February, a total of 675 bodies were retrieved from areas that were previously inaccessible, MoH reported. As of 18 February 2025, MoH in Gaza reported the killing of at least 48,291 Palestinians and the injury of 111,722 others, since 7 October 2023.
• Between 11 and 17 February, several incidents resulting in fatalities were reported across the Gaza Strip, including the following: 
  • On 11 February, a Palestinian man was reportedly shot and killed in As Saudi neighborhood in western Rafah.
  • On 12 February, a Palestinian man was reportedly killed and another injured in an airstrike in As Shouka area in eastern Rafah.
  • On 13 February, a 15-year-old Palestinian boy was reportedly shot and killed east of Al Bureij refugee camp in Deir al Balah.
  • On 16 February, according to the Gaza Ministry of Interior, three Palestinian police officers securing the delivery of humanitarian aid in Gaza, were reportedly killed in As Shouka area in southeastern Rafah.
  • On 16 February, a Palestinian man was reportedly killed in Ash Shouka area in southeastern Rafah.
• Between 7 October 2023 and 18 February 2025, according to Israeli forces and official Israeli sources cited in the media, more than 1,607 Israelis and foreign nationals were killed, the majority on 7 October 2023 and its immediate aftermath. This includes 407 soldiers killed, in addition to 2,579 soldiers injured, in Gaza or along the border in Israel since the beginning of the ground operation in October 2023.
• The health system in Gaza continues to face significant challenges in delivering the required care to thousands of trauma and chronic patients, including due to severe shortages in oxygen supply, equipment and bed capacity at intensive care units (ICUs). Only four oxygen stations are available in southern Gaza while one oxygen station is currently available serving seven hospitals in northern Gaza, compared with 20 machines in northern Gaza prior to the escalation of hostilities, according to the director of Shifa Medical Complex, placing the lives of patients in ICUs at risk. According to the MoH, 10 central oxygen stations, which were burned or destroyed during hostilities, were used to supply oxygen to critical hospital departments such as operating rooms, ICUs, emergency wards, and neonatal incubators, as well as to patients requiring oxygen at home. In total, according to the Health Cluster, there are currently 108 beds in ICU units across Gaza, including 23 in Gaza, 28 in Deir al Balah, 48 in Khan Younis, nine in Rafah and none in North Gaza.
• Chronically ill patients, estimated to number about 350,000 people, across Gaza continue to face critical shortages of essential medications and treatments. According to official sources cited by the World Health Organization (WHO), as of 2022, there were over 60,000 patients with raised blood glucose, about 45,000 patients living with cardiovascular disease, and more than 1,500 patients in need of kidney dialysis to maintain life. Additionally, Anera reported that many new patients have developed non-communicable diseases at an unusually young age, due to war-related stress, severely limited access to nutritious and calorically adequate food, and the consumption of salty or contaminated drinking water. Yet, despite significantly high levels of need, there are at present only 102 hemodialysis machines across Gaza, compared with 182 prior to the escalation of hostilities in October 2023. Ten of the currently available machines were brought into Gaza by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) following the ceasefire and placed in Al Aqsa Hospital and Az Zawayda field hospital in Deir al Balah governorate. In northern Gaza, according to the Health Cluster, there are only 27 machines, serving about 250 patients, up from 60 patients prior to the ceasefire given the return of hundreds of thousands of people to northern Gaza since 27 January. These equipment shortages are exacerbated by zero stock levels of kidney medications and consumables at MoH warehouses, the destruction of six out of seven dialysis centres, and reduced treatment sessions—generally two two-hour sessions instead of the required three four-hour sessions per week, resulting in detrimental consequences for the health of dialysis patients, the Health Cluster reported. According to MoH, there are currently 700 dialysis patients across Gaza.

• WHO reports that 14 of the patients evacuated to Egypt since 1 February have been further transferred to Italy via the EU Civil Protection Mechanism. This brings the total number of patients evacuated through this Mechanism to 100, according to ECHO. According to WHO, between 12,000 and 14,000 people, including about 5,000 children, remain in urgent need of medical evacuation.
• On the occasion of International Childhood Cancer Day, on 13 February, WHO reported that hundreds of children need to be evacuated to neighbouring countries to receive lifesaving treatment. Yet, of the 405 children with cancer referred to pediatric facilities outside Gaza following the escalation of hostilities in October 2023, “only 10 were approved with a companion,” and in some cases, “children died before receiving approval.” In support of cancer patients in Gaza, UNDP has recently supplied the hematology and oncology department at the European Gaza hospital with a one-year supply of essential cancer medications, including chemotherapy. In addition, it supplied Nasser medical complex in Khan Younis with advanced screening and diagnostic capabilities for breast cancer. Such procedures had been suspended after the only hospital specialized in treating cancer patients in Gaza (the Turkish-Palestinian Friendship Hospital) became non-operational in November 2023; back then, its fuel supply was depleted and it sustained heavy damage, preventing many cancer patients including women from accessing needed treatments. According to the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR), although breast cancer is the most common type of cancer among women in Gaza, accounting for about 20 per cent of all registered cancer cases, the survival rate in Gaza does not exceed 65 per cent, due to severe shortages of necessary medicines and treatments. In the Gaza Strip, more than 366 new cases of breast cancer are diagnosed annually, based on 2022 data, prior to the halt in diagnosis of new cases during the escalation of hostilities. PCHR warned that denying women early screening for breast cancer and delaying case detection expose women in Gaza to the risk of slow death.
• Food Security Sector (FSS) partners have significantly scaled up their efforts to assist people across the Gaza Strip. Since the ceasefire took effect on 19 January and as of mid-February, FSS partners supported more than 1.8 million people with full rations of food parcels. This is in addition to distributions of hot meals, wheat flour and bread bundles. In total, as of 17 February, FSS partners have brought into Gaza over 57,000 metric tons (MT) of food, more than double the amount in the month prior to the ceasefire. There are currently 25 WFP-supported bakeries across the Gaza Strip, including one in North Gaza, eight in Gaza, nine in Khan Younis, six in Deir al Balah and one in Rafah. This includes six newly opened bakeries in Gaza (one), Khan Younis (four), and Rafah (one) governorates. The new bakery in Rafah is the first WFP-supported bakery operating there since the May 2024 military ground operation. To expand bread coverage and reduce overcrowding, and as of 17 February, bread has been available for purchase at 24 retail shops and free bread delivery has been expanded to cover selected shelters and community kitchens, particularly in North Gaza. According to WFP, seven million hot meals have been served since the ceasefire took effect, including meals distributed at two new hubs in Beit Lahiya (in North Gaza) and Rafah that are serving 20,000 and 1,500 meals per day, respectively.

• There are currently more than 1,500 water points across the Gaza Strip, compared with 750-850 points operational prior to the ceasefire. These points are supplying 17,000 cubic metres of drinking and domestic water per day, serving 1.1 million people. In total, between 2 and 15 February, WASH Cluster partners trucked about 8,200 cubic metres of water to 1,532 locations across Gaza. However, water production and supply remain at about a quarter of water supply prior to October 2023; between 7 and 13 February, the Palestinian Water Authority (PWA) and Coastal Municipalities Water Utility (CMWU) reported that a daily average of 116,671 cubic metres of water was produced across the Gaza Strip. About 43 per cent (50,761 cubic metres) of drinking water is produced from the two operational seawater desalination plants or supplied from Israel through two of the Mekorot lines, while about 57 per cent (56,910 cubic metres) is produced by municipal ground water wells. Combined with the persistent need to bring in generators, solar panels and spare parts as well as the continuing energy crisis, WASH Cluster operators continue to face significant challenges. To address water scarcity and improve access to clean water, a subsidized water initiative has been launched in early February, led by UNICEF, PWA, and CMWU, to increase the quantity of water availability through the strategic management of fuel reserves. This initiative involves the provision of fuel to operate nine private desalination units in Gaza governorate and reduce water production costs. Another initiative is being planned that will expand water availability by providing owners of small private wells with fuel to produce free domestic water to returning internally displaced people (IDPs).
• The Protection Cluster and the Protection from Sexual Abuse and Exploitation (PSEA) Network are training and deploying mobile teams and volunteers at aid distribution points, to ensure safe and dignified access to humanitarian aid and adherence to the do no harm principle during the rapid scale-up of humanitarian assistance. Monitoring teams consist of Emergency Protection Responders (EPRs) and PSEA Network volunteers. Currently, 50 such teams operate in the north, and 50 others in the south, covering a total of 68 distribution points. Through monitoring conducted between 21 January and 18 February at 30 distribution points in Gaza, Deir al Balah and Khan Younis governorates, teams identified several gaps, including limited accessibility for persons with disabilities, limited capacity to prioritize vulnerable cases, and in most sites, the absence of a clear complaint mechanism. Furthermore, about 25 per cent of assessed sites were staffed solely by men, and 30 per cent of sites lacked separate queues for men and women, raising concerns about gender-sensitivity in aid delivery. The Protection Cluster with the PSEA network continue to expand safeguarding interventions and protection capacity across Gaza, including through awareness raising on the core humanitarian principles of impartiality and neutrality, information dissemination on available complaint mechanisms, such as the SAWA toll-free number, and training of additional monitors.

• In response to the critical threat posed by explosive ordnance (EO), humanitarian Mine Action (MA) actors are carrying out a range of key activities and functions, including explosive hazard assessments (EHA) of high-priority locations essential for humanitarian operations to assess the presence of EO threats. MA partners are also accompanying humanitarian convoys to ensure their safety from EO. Since the ceasefire took effect, support requests have surged by 375 per cent compared with 2024. Between 1 January and 17 February 2025, humanitarian organizations submitted to UNMAS 285 requests for EHA, 20 per cent of which were responded to by MA partners. UNMAS prioritizes MA support requests on behalf of the sector and is currently focusing on supporting immediate lifesaving activities. These include facilitation of humanitarian access to ensure safe delivery, distributions of food and other necessities, as well as assessments of humanitarian aid warehouses, distribution sites, hospitals, health centres and critical storage facilities. Humanitarian MA actors are unable to conduct life-saving disposal operations, due to the lack of necessary equipment. The needed equipment is classified as “dual-use”—goods that are considered useable for either civilian or military purposes— and are subject to entry restrictions by Israeli authorities. As a result, contaminated sites remain inaccessible and pose an imminent threat to the community. So far in 2025, UNMAS has recorded a sharp increase in reports of EO victims. Notwithstanding limited data, between 1 January and 17 February 2025, UNMAS documented the killing of two people and the injury of 38 others by EO, comprising one woman, 22 men, two girls and 13 boys. Khan Younis governorate accounted for about 37 per cent of verified injury reports. MA partners have scaled up lifesaving explosive ordnance risk education (EORE) messaging for humanitarian personnel and local communities, especially at distribution sites, key areas of return and critical access points. Since the ceasefire began, EORE training has been delivered to 271 humanitarian frontline staff. Coordination with the Health Cluster has also been strengthened to refer those injured to health services, including mental health and psycho-social support (MHPSS).
• On 14 February, the Education Cluster warned that the education system in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT) is in a state of profound crisis. In Gaza, all children remain deprived of formal education and the essential protective support it provides. According to the Education Cluster, the unprecedented learning loss and destruction of educational institutions have further deepened the critical mental health crisis among children and youth. According to UNICEF, nearly all of Gaza’s one million children require MHPSS. Amid these immense challenges, the 19 January ceasefire has allowed Education Cluster partners to scale up their response and reach more children with critical learning and MHPSS. As of 16 February, a total of 212,539 learners are enrolled in the Ministry of Education's e-school programme, with 187,400 actively attending classes. Furthermore, 251,691 learners are enrolled in UNRWA’s distance learning programme, which relies on self-learning materials, with 71 per cent (178,000) able to participate. Moreover, partners have continued to relocate and establish new temporary learning spaces (TLS) in areas of return. At present, there are 405 TLSs operational across Gaza, including 11 in northern Gaza, serving about 137,000 children — less than a quarter of school-aged population in the Gaza Strip. In Gaza and North Gaza governorates, partners continue to identify potential sites for TLS; however, the presence of unexploded ordnance remains a major challenge due to the lack of clearance capacity, but there are ongoing awareness raising activities to enhance children's safety in that regard. Efforts are also underway to improve sanitation and hygiene at schools previously used as IDP shelters in preparation for their re-opening for educational purposes. Over the past two weeks, and in coordination with the Ministry of Education and Higher Education, 17 schools in Deir al Balah and Khan Younis received cleaning materials through WASH Cluster support.

Funding

• As of 18 February 2025, Member States have disbursed approximately US$146.6 million out of the $4.07 billion (3.6 per cent) requested to meet the most critical humanitarian needs of three million out of 3.3 million people identified as requiring assistance in Gaza and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, in 2025, under the 2025 Flash Appeal for the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT). Nearly 90 per cent of the requested funds are for humanitarian response in Gaza, with just over 10 per cent for the West Bank. Moreover, during January 2025, the oPt Humanitarian Fund (oPt HF) managed 101 ongoing projects, totalling $72.4 million, to address urgent needs in the Gaza Strip (86 per cent) and the West Bank (14 per cent). Of these projects, 55 are being implemented by international non-governmental organizations (INGOs), 33 by national NGOs and 13 by UN agencies. Notably, 41 out of the 68 projects implemented by INGOs or the UN are being implemented in collaboration with national NGOs. For more information, please see OCHA’s Financial Tracking Service webpage and the oPt HF webpage.

1041.

18 februari 2025

Today's headlines

One month into Israel’s West Bank offensive, violence and uncertainty are the new normal

Qassam Muaddi

Israel has killed 55 Palestinians after one month of its ongoing “Iron Wall” offensive in the West Bank. Killings, mass displacement, and uncertainty are the new normal.

The liberal establishment is finally criticizing ethnic cleansing in Gaza now that they can blame Trump

Sana Saeed

Some of the most fervent pushback to Donald Trump’s plan for Gaza is coming from the same people, institutions, and newsrooms that refused to challenge, and even supported, the mass slaughter of Palestinians during the Biden administration.

1040.

17 februari 2025

Ceasefire maintains fragile hold as Trump pushes ethnic cleansing plans

As Donald Trump reshapes U.S. foreign policy in his second term, Benjamin Netanyahu and Israel’s far-right are seizing the moment to pursue their colonial goals. Trump’s support for Israeli expansionism emboldened Netanyahu to escalate Israeli violence in the occupied West Bank. Qassam Muaddi has filed a couple of stories the last week detailing the shocking military escalations in the West Bank, displacing over 40,000 Palestinians there.

In Gaza, the tentative ceasefire remains in place despite efforts by Netanyahu’s coalition to sabotage it. We are nearing the end of the first phase. Reports indicate that serious negotiations for the second phase have not started. Hamas appeared to have called his bluff and won. Jordan and Egypt made it plain to Trump that his ridiculous ‘plan’ to ethnically cleanse Gaza is off the table. Trump even had to issue a video praising Jordan’s King Abdullah as damage control after the two met in the Oval Office. But the plan “is already taking on a life of its own in Israel.”

David Reed, Publisher

Must-read: Palestine and politics of anti-appeal: an interview with Mohammed El-Kurd

Abdaljawad Omar interviews Mohammed El-Kurd about his new book, the struggle of narrating Palestinian resistance without dilution, and the contradictions of writing for an audience one refuses to appease.

Catch-up

= Tareq Hajjaj: Hamas politburo member Ismail Radwan tells Mondoweiss that Israel’s violation of the ceasefire’s humanitarian protocols “attempts to achieve what it could not achieve through its criminal war of extermination” in Gaza.

= Arab leaders face increasing pressure from the White House to support the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians. As they prepare an alternative proposal for Gaza it seems unlikely they can satisfy both Trump and their own citizens.

= Yara Hawari and Abdaljwad Omar discuss Israel’s attempts to sabotage the fragile ceasefire, emerging questions about post-war governance in Gaza, and what this means for the future of Palestine.

= Gaza cannot survive without UNRWA and the life-saving services it provides. That is why Israel’s attack on the UN agency is an attack on Palestinian existence.

= A new poll shows that Americans are more supportive of the Palestinians than they have been since at least 2017. Also in The Shift, Trump’s hostage demands made headlines, but Netanyahu returned to the ceasefire agreement in response to Hamas pressure.

= Princeton students are heading to trial over charges from the school’s Gaza solidarity encampment last spring. Despite intimidation from the university, the activists are insisting on defending their right to protest for Palestinian liberation.

= Qassam Muaddi: Israel’s ongoing assault on the West Bank is not to wipe out the Palestinian resistance. It is to ethnically cleanse Palestinians from their homes and set the stage for annexation.

= Last month Donald Trump signed an Executive Order aimed at canceling the visas of foreign students who advocate for Palestine. Mondoweiss talked to legal experts about its possible impact and the wider attacks on Palestine advocacy in the U.S.

= Mouin Rabbani: Trump is threatening to let “all hell break loose” after Hamas paused the release of Israeli captives in response to Israeli violations of the ceasefire. But make no mistake, this is exactly what Israel wants.

= Qassam Muaddi: The forcible displacement of over 40,000 people in the northern West Bank is repeating scenes from Gaza and stoking fears of ethnic cleansing. "The most important thing is to stay in our home," a resident of al-Far’a refugee camp tells Mondoweiss.

1039.

17 februari 2025

Israel ‘Committing Genocide, Must be Prosecuted Internationally’ – African Union

The AU’s 38th summit in the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa. (Photo: African Union X page)

By Palestine Chronicle Staff 

The Palestinian Resistance movement Hamas has welcomed the ‘principled’ stance taken by the African Union.

The African Union has declared that Israel “is committing genocide” against the Palestinian people “and must be prosecuted internationally.”

“We call for an end to cooperation and normalization with Israel until it ends its occupation and aggression against Palestine,” the final statement of the AU’s 38th summit held in the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa from February 15 to 16, also stated, according to media reports.

The summit also demanded the immediate release of all Palestinian detainees and affirmed that the forced displacement of Palestinians from their land was unacceptable and violated international law, Al Mayadeen reported.

The AU is made up of 55 Member States which represent all the countries on the African continent.

Guterres Urges Permanent Ceasefire

Also addressing the summit was Antonio Guterres, the UN Secretary-General, who stated “I know all our minds are also very much on Gaza.”

Guterres said a “resumption of hostilities must be avoided at all costs,” adding that the Palestinian people “have suffered too much.”

The UN Chief said he welcomed “efforts by the parties to abide by the ceasefire agreement – and urge action for a permanent ceasefire and release of all hostages.”

“Peace is possible in the Middle East – and that starts with tangible, irreversible and permanent progress toward the two-State solution,” Guterres continued.

Hamas Welcomes Stance

The Palestinian Resistance Movement Hamas has welcomed what it called “the principled and courageous” position of African leaders at the summit.

Hamas reportedly said it “commends the final statement of the African Union summit, and the principled and courageous position of member states in condemning the brutal Zionist war on Gaza, and rejecting the regime’s violations of the international law.”

“This firm position strengthens our people’s resistance against Israeli crimes,” the movement also said, according to the Quds News Network.

“It also sends a clear message to the international community to take responsibility and hold Israel accountable,” it added.

Previous AU Summit incident

In February 2023, an Israeli representative was expelled from the opening ceremony of an AU summit in Addis Ababa, following an objection to the diplomat’s presence at the event.

South Africa’s then-Minister of Foreign Affairs, Naledi Pandor, had told Asharq News, as cited by The Business Day, at the time that “the Israeli colleague” was “probably aware that we have objected to the commission chairperson’s unilateral decision to grant Israel observer status in our union.”

“We have objected to this because we believe that the continued occupation of the land of Palestinian people, as well as the building of new settlements, the prohibition on movement and that Palestinian people have to carry ID documents to travel on different roads from other persons living in the area, that they cannot build their own homes and be assured that their land will not be occupied were infringements of the contents of the AU,” Pandor reportedly added.

“And so on the grounds of Israel not reflecting the values, principles and objectives of the AU … we have expressed the view that they cannot be an observer in our organisation,” she continued.

(PC, Al Mayadeen, QNN)

1039A.

17 februari 2025

Hind Rajab Foundation Pursues War Crimes Charges against Israel’s FM Sa’ar

The Hind Rajab Foundation has urged Belgium to arrest Sa’ar during his visit scheduled for February 18.

The Hind Rajab Foundation has filed a complaint with the International Criminal Court (ICC), seeking an arrest warrant for Israel’s Foreign Minister, Gideon Sa’ar, for war crimes and crimes against humanity committed during Israel’s 15-month-long military assault on the Gaza Strip.

Sa’ar, a senior member of Netanyahu’s government and a key figure in Israel’s decision-making, “has played a central role in shaping and implementing policies that have led to mass displacement, collective punishment, and systematic attacks on Palestinian civilians,” the Brussels-based organization said in a statement on Sunday.

“His public statements and policy endorsements indicate direct and indirect participation in these crimes, as well as incitement to violence and obstruction of international justice mechanisms,” the organization added.

Impending Visit to Brussels

Noting that Sa’ar is scheduled to visit Brussels on February 18, the organization urged Belgium to “act under international law,” adding “No impunity for war criminals!”

The complaint – grounded in the Rome Statute – said the foundation, highlights “several grave charges” against the foreign minister, including war crimes and crimes against humanity.

‘Collective punishment and forced displacement ‘as well as ‘starvation as a method of warfare’ were included in the war crimes charges.

“Sa’ar has publicly advocated for reducing Gaza’s territory, a stance that directly aligns with Israel’s military actions that have led to the destruction of 72% of Gaza’s civilian infrastructure and the forced displacement of 1.7 million Palestinians,” said the organization.

Rome Statute Violations

These actions violate Article 8(2)(b)(viii) of the Rome Statute, which prohibits the transfer of civilian populations in occupied territories, it explained.

“The creation of military buffer zones and targeted destruction of homes suggest a deliberate policy aimed at permanently preventing Palestinian return—a clear violation of international law,” the organization continued.

It also pointed out that Sa’ar “has endorsed Israel’s total blockade on Gaza, which has restricted food, water, and medical supplies, leading to catastrophic famine conditions.”

“By weaponizing starvation, Israel has violated Article 8(2)(b)(xxv) of the Rome Statute, which criminalizes depriving civilians of objects indispensable to their survival,” said the group.

Starvation as a Military Tool

According to international humanitarian organizations, 96% of Gaza’s population is now food insecure, with over 495,000 people facing famine conditions, it noted.

“The use of starvation as a military tool is a grave breach of international law and constitutes a war crime,” said the organization.

It also pointed out that Sa’ar’s “public rejection” of Palestinian statehood and his endorsement of policies that deny Palestinians fundamental rights “amount to persecution under Article 7(1)(h) of the Rome Statute.”

“His infamous statement ‘What you call Palestine is the Land of Israel’, reflects a policy of systemic discrimination aimed at erasing Palestinian identity and sovereignty,” said the group.

The complaint emphasized that Sa’ar “is not acting alone,” adding that he was “part of a larger criminal enterprise within Netanyahu’s government, actively shaping policies that violate international law.”

Sa’ar’s role as a senior cabinet member “places him at the core of decision-making processes that have resulted in mass civilian harm.”

‘Ensure Sa’ar Does not Evade Justice’

Under Article 25(3)(a) of the Rome Statute, individuals who contribute to a common plan that results in war crimes and crimes against humanity can be held criminally liable as co-perpetrators, the organization emphasized.

It pointed out that as Belgium was a signatory to the Rome Statute, it has a legal obligation to cooperate with the ICC and take action against individuals accused of serious international crimes.

“The Hind Rajab Foundation calls on Belgian authorities to ensure that Sa’ar does not evade justice while on European soil. Allowing a suspected war criminal to visit Brussels unchallenged would be a betrayal of international legal commitments and the fundamental principles of justice,” it noted.

The organization’s latest filing is part of a broader campaign that has included its previous submission to the ICC against 1,000 Israeli soldiers for war crimes in Gaza.

In November, the ICC issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Israeli defense minister, Yoav Gallant, over alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity in the Gaza Strip.

(The Palestine Chronicle)

1038.

17 februari 2025

Stichting Hind Rajab Foundation zet  aanklachten voort wegens oorlogsmisdaden tegen Israëlische FM Sa'ar

De Hind Rajab Foundation heeft er bij België op aangedrongen Sa'ar te arresteren tijdens zijn bezoek op 18 februari.

De Hind Rajab Foundation heeft een klacht ingediend bij het Internationaal Strafhof (ICC) voor een arrestatiebevel tegen de Israëlische minister van Buitenlandse Zaken, Gideon Sa'ar, wegens oorlogsmisdaden en misdaden tegen de menselijkheid die hij heeft begaan tijdens de 15 maanden durende militaire aanval van Israël op de Gazastrook.

Sa'ar, een hooggeplaatst lid van Netanyahu's regering en een sleutelfiguur in de Israëlische besluitvorming, “heeft een centrale rol gespeeld in het vormgeven en uitvoeren van beleid dat heeft geleid tot massale ontheemding, collectieve bestraffing en systematische aanvallen op Palestijnse burgers,” zei de in Brussel gevestigde organisatie zondag in een verklaring.

“Zijn openbare verklaringen en beleidsonderschrijvingen wijzen op een directe en indirecte deelname aan deze misdaden, evenals het aanzetten tot geweld en het belemmeren van internationale justitiemechanismen”, voegde de organisatie eraan toe.

Aanstaand bezoek aan Brussel

De organisatie merkte op dat Sa'ar een bezoek aan Brussel gepland heeft op 18 februari en drong er bij België op aan om “te handelen volgens het internationaal recht” en voegde daaraan toe: “Geen straffeloosheid voor oorlogsmisdadigers!”.

De klacht - gebaseerd op het Statuut van Rome - benadrukt “verschillende ernstige beschuldigingen” tegen de minister van Buitenlandse Zaken, waaronder oorlogsmisdaden en misdaden tegen de menselijkheid.

Collectieve bestraffing en gedwongen verplaatsing 'evenals 'uithongering als oorlogsmethode' werden opgenomen in de aanklacht tegen oorlogsmisdaden.

“Sa'ar heeft publiekelijk gepleit voor het verkleinen van het grondgebied van Gaza, een standpunt dat direct overeenkomt met de militaire acties van Israël die hebben geleid tot de vernietiging van 72% van de civiele infrastructuur van Gaza en de gedwongen verplaatsing van 1,7 miljoen Palestijnen”, aldus de organisatie.

Schendingen van het Statuut van Rome

Deze acties schenden artikel 8(2)(b)(viii) van het Statuut van Rome, dat de verplaatsing van burgerbevolkingen in bezette gebieden verbiedt, legde de organisatie uit.

“De creatie van militaire bufferzones en de gerichte vernietiging van huizen wijzen op een weloverwogen beleid dat erop gericht is de Palestijnse terugkeer permanent te verhinderen - een duidelijke schending van het internationaal recht,” vervolgde de organisatie.

De organisatie wees er ook op dat Sa'ar “Israëls totale blokkade van Gaza heeft onderschreven, die voedsel, water en medische voorraden heeft beperkt, wat heeft geleid tot catastrofale hongersnood”.

“Door verhongering als wapen te gebruiken, heeft Israël artikel 8(2)(b)(xxv) van het Statuut van Rome geschonden, dat het strafbaar stelt om burgers te beroven van voorwerpen die onmisbaar zijn voor hun overleving,” zei de groep.

Honger als militair middel

Volgens internationale humanitaire organisaties is 96% van de bevolking van Gaza nu voedselonzeker en worden meer dan 495.000 mensen met hongersnood bedreigd.

“Het gebruik van uithongering als militair middel is een ernstige schending van het internationaal recht en vormt een oorlogsmisdaad”, aldus de organisatie.

De organisatie wees er ook op dat Sa'ar's “openlijke afwijzing” van een Palestijnse staat en zijn goedkeuring van beleid dat Palestijnen fundamentele rechten ontzegt “neerkomt op vervolging volgens artikel 7(1)(h) van het Statuut van Rome”.

“Zijn beruchte uitspraak 'Wat jullie Palestina noemen is het Land Israël', weerspiegelt een beleid van systematische discriminatie gericht op het uitwissen van de Palestijnse identiteit en soevereiniteit”, zo stelde de HRF vast.

De aanklacht benadrukte dat Sa'ar “niet alleen handelt” en voegde eraan toe dat hij “deel uitmaakte van een grotere criminele onderneming binnen Netanyahu's regering, die actief beleid vormgeeft dat het internationaal recht schendt.”

Sa'ar's rol als hooggeplaatst kabinetslid “plaatst hem in het centrum van besluitvormingsprocessen die hebben geleid tot massaal burgerleed.”

Ervoor zorgen dat Sa'ar zijn straf niet ontloopt

Volgens Artikel 25(3)(a) van het Statuut van Rome kunnen individuen die bijdragen aan een gemeenschappelijk plan dat resulteert in oorlogsmisdaden en misdaden tegen de menselijkheid strafrechtelijk aansprakelijk worden gesteld als medeplegers, benadrukte de organisatie.

Ze wees erop dat België, als ondertekenaar van het Statuut van Rome, de wettelijke verplichting heeft om samen te werken met het ICC en actie te ondernemen tegen individuen die beschuldigd worden van ernstige internationale misdaden.

“De Hind Rajab Foundation roept de Belgische autoriteiten op om ervoor te zorgen dat Sa'ar zich niet aan justitie onttrekt terwijl hij zich op Europees grondgebied bevindt. Toestaan dat een vermoedelijke oorlogsmisdadiger ongehinderd Brussel bezoekt zou een verraad zijn aan internationale wettelijke verplichtingen en de fundamentele principes van gerechtigheid,” merkte de organisatie op.

De laatste aanklacht van de organisatie maakt deel uit van een bredere campagne, waaronder de eerdere aanklacht bij het ICC tegen 1.000 Israëlische soldaten voor oorlogsmisdaden in Gaza.

In november vaardigde het ICC arrestatiebevelen uit tegen de Israëlische premier Benjamin Netanyahu en de voormalige Israëlische minister van Defensie, Yoav Gallant, wegens vermeende oorlogsmisdaden en misdaden tegen de menselijkheid in de Gazastrook.

(De Palestijnse Kroniek)

1037.

17 februari 2025

Quick Takes: Lebanon

Readers’ Recommendations

1036.

Yesh Din

16 februari 2025

Today, February 16, 2025, the Ministerial Committee for Legislation in the Knesset approved the advancement of two proposed laws with a single goal: to silence us and dismantle civil society in general, and human rights organizations in Israel in particular.
 

The first is a bill imposing an 80% tax on donations from foreign state entities, which also includes a clause stating that courts will not be obligated to consider petitions from NGOs whose primary funding comes from a foreign state entity.

The second is a bill that criminalizes the transfer of information to the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague. It stipulates that individuals or Israeli organizations that provide information to the ICC will face up to five years in prison - even if the information consists of publicly available reports and data.
 

These bills are expected to go to a preliminary vote as soon as this Wednesday, February 19, bringing Israel yet another step closer to the completion of its judicial overhaul.

Attempts to silence us will not change the reality we report on and work to improve. What they will do, however, is further entrench anti-democratic measures imported from some of the world’s most repressive governments. A state that respects human rights and the rule of law does not fear scrutiny or investigation - and has no need for laws that muzzle dissent.

1035.

16 februari 2025

Today's headlines

‘It’s a second birth for me’: sixth batch of Palestinian prisoners released as ceasefire deal hangs by a thread

Qassam Muaddi

Following tensions that threatened to unravel a tenuous ceasefire, Hamas released three Israeli prisoners after receiving guarantees from mediators that Israel would adhere to the humanitarian stipulations of the ceasefire agreement.

Arab states will have to stand up to Trump to avert ethnic cleansing of Gaza

Arab leaders face increasing pressure from the White House to support the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians. As they prepare an alternative proposal for Gaza it seems unlikely they can satisfy both Trump and their own citizens.

1034.

15 februari 2025

Today's headlines

Senior Hamas leader says Israeli ceasefire violations aim to continue genocide through other means

Tareq S. Hajjaj

Hamas politburo member Ismail Radwan tells Mondoweiss that Israel's violation of the ceasefire's humanitarian protocols "attempts to achieve what it could not achieve through its criminal war of extermination" in Gaza.

The Gaza ceasefire and Palestine’s future

Yumna Patel

Yara Hawari and Abdaljwad Omar discuss Israel’s attempts to sabotage the fragile ceasefire, emerging questions about post-war governance in Gaza, and what this means for the future of Palestine.

1033.

15 februari 2025

Boycott Captain America: Brave New World!

The new Captain America: Brave New World movie features an anti-Palestinian racist character, Ruth Bat-Seraph. That’s why the BDS movement is urging audiences to refuse to go and see it.
 

The character, also known as Sabra, was first introduced to Marvel comics in the 1980s, representing the Israeli government and occupation forces.

By reviving this racist character in any form, Marvel and parent company Disney are whitewashing and therefore enabling Israel’s genocide against Palestinians in Gaza and its decades-old regime of apartheid against the entire Indigenous people of Palestine.

Sign the petition to boycott Marvel's Captain America: Brave New World here!
 

Shira Haas, the actor playing Ruth Bat-Seraph, volunteered for the Israeli occupation forces despite being exempted, and has done the voiceover for a racist Israeli genocide propaganda film.
 

As 25+ Palestinian film and arts organizations have said, Marvel and Disney are complicit in "Israeli propaganda and the glorification of settler-colonial violence against Indigenous people."

BDS pressure has already forced Marvel and Disney to omit key details of the character's backstory from the film. But the character's shameful history cannot be altered or erased.

On Wednesday night, protesters disrupted the red carpet Hollywood premiere of the movie, and the livestream was cancelled, with mainstream Hollywood media covering the protest.
 

Watch the powerful new short video on Marvel and Disney’s complicity in genocide on Instagram and X!

BDS is also calling on audiences to boycott Disney's Snow White movie, Disney+ subscriptions, and Marvel merchandise.
 

Gal Gadot, depicting the Evil Queen in Snow White, has organized screenings of an Israeli military propaganda movie that attempts to justify Israel's genocide.
 

Our movement has shown that even the largest entertainment corporations like Disney are susceptible to grassroots pressure when they harm Palestinians.

Given the urgent need for accountability amid the rise of the global far-right, let's make sure Marvel and Disney hear us loud and clear: we won't stand for whitewashing Israel's genocide and apartheid!
 

Sign the petition here, and watch and share the video on Instagram and X.

The nonviolent BDS movement for freedom, justice and equality is supported by the absolute majority in Palestinian society. BDS rejects all forms of racism and racial discrimination.

1032.

14 februari 2025

Countdown to South Africa’s Endorsement

SIGN TODAY

We’re taking 20,000+ of your asks to the South African government next month. We've witnessed the harm, now, as a leading voice for the protection of civilians, it’s time for South Africa to say #StopBombingCivilians.  

Sign the petition and share this email to help us reach our goal—25,000 signatures.

Together with other activists, you are showing governments around the world how important it is to endorse the milestone international declaration aimed at curbing harm from the bombing and shelling of villages, towns, and cities.

But there’s more we can do! Now is the time to say that the civilian toll from the use of explosive weapons in populated areas—like Gaza, Sudan and Ukraine—is not only unacceptable but that it cannot happen again. Join the call to South Africa President Ramaphosa to endorse the declaration on the protection of civilians in populated areas today.

Send a strong message that the civilian toll from the use of explosive weapons in populated areas is unacceptable. This is a crucial moment for us to prioritize civilian safety.

#StopBombingCivilians, now and always.

Allan Ngari
Advocacy Director, Africa
Human Rights Watch

1031.

14 februari 2025

A special message from JVP Director Stefanie Fox.

Read Stefanie's full message 

Tell Congress: Protect students' rights

Tell Congress: End U.S. arms to Israel.

Tell University of California: Take action to protect your students.

What we're reading: 'Fertile ground' for fascism.

What we're reading: 'The war on memory'

Writer Molly Crabapple explores the history of the Jewish socialist anti-Zionist labor bund and its opposition to Zionism.

1030.

14 februari 2025

Deze week stond nadrukkelijk in het teken van het bezoek van Francesca Albanese, VN-Speciaal Rapporteur voor de mensenrechten in de bezette Palestijnse gebieden, aan Nederland. In Den Haag verzorgde ze 12 februari een lezing. Met een vlammend betoog onderstreepte ze in de afgeladen Nieuwe Kerk haar reputatie als een van de krachtigste stemmen voor Palestijnse rechten. 

Francesca Albanese tijdens de Dries van Agt-lezing 2025 in Den Haag. [c] Hanneke Vollbehr

Waar anderen zich verschuilen achter ‘complexiteit’, benoemt Albanese de realiteit zonder omwegen: Israël pleegt genocide in Gaza en houdt een regime van apartheid in stand op de bezette Westelijke Jordaanoever. En door daar niet tegen op te treden zijn met name de Verenigde Staten, maar ook de EU en Nederland, medeplichtig aan dit onrecht.
Albanese's lezing maakte bovendien opnieuw duidelijk dat haar conclusies steevast gestoeld zijn op zorgvuldig onderzoek en het internationaal recht.

Voor degenen die Albanese’s inspirerende optreden moesten missen, liet The Rights Forum het evenement integraal filmen. Die video verschijnt morgen op YouTube, en zal per mail worden gedeeld.

Francesca Albanese vertegenwoordigt een activisme dat niet wijkt, niet zwijgt en niet buigt voor druk. In een wereld waarin rechtvaardigheid vaak een onderhandelingspunt is, blijft zij ons continu herinneren aan wat op het spel staat.

Tweede Kamer cancelt bezoek
Het is daarom om te kotsen dat de Tweede Kamercommissie voor Buitenlandse Zaken op dinsdag 11 februari besloot een reeds door de Commissie aan Albanese gedane uitnodiging voor een gesprek in te trekken. Het gesprek van Albanese was twee dagen later gepland. In een artikel over deze affaire noemden wij de beslissing een nieuw 'dieptepunt in de parlementaire geschiedenis'; open parlementair debat met zowel mede- als tegenstanders is immers de zuurstof van een democratie. Bovendien geeft Nederland hiermee het signaal af dat ze de VN niet serieus neemt.

Aanleiding voor de annulering was een lastercampagne, opgezet door de SGP, pro-Israël-lobbyclub CIDI en de propagandisten van De Telegraaf. Op grond van leugens en insinuaties beschuldigden zij Albanese van antisemitisme. Ook daarover publiceerden wij een artikel, dat op onze site  te lezen is.

Op initiatief van GroenLinks-PvdA werd Albanese donderdagochtend alsnog in de Tweede Kamer ontvangen, in de vertrekken van de partij. Hoewel alle fracties waren uitgenodigd, waren naast GroenLinks-PvdA alleen D66, Denk en de Partij voor de Dieren aanwezig. Albanese betreurde dat de andere partijen niet met haar in gesprek wilden: 'Jammer dat ze mij niet willen ontmoeten, maar welke argumenten zouden ze hebben tegen de feiten die ik benoem?'

Albanese spreekt met Frans Timmermans (GroenLinks-PvdA), 13 februari 2025, Den Haag. 

Volop aandacht
Het bezoek van Albanese werd in de Nederlandse media uitgebreid uitgelicht. Met name het intrekken van de uitnodiging door de Tweede Kamer kreeg veel aandacht. In de NRC noemde advocaat Liesbeth Zegveld dat een 'gevaarlijke stap'.

Bijzondere avond
Onze dank gaat uit naar de guest of honour, Francesca Albanese, voor haar onverschrokkenheid, standvastigheid en vermogen om te inspireren tot actie. The Rights Forum voelt zich in zijn missie voor rechtvaardigheid voor het Palestijnse volk gesterkt door haar woorden, en door alle steun en het enthousiasme van het publiek.

Berber van der Woude en Francesca Albanese, met rechts een deel van de lichtinstallatie van Alaa Minawi. [c] Hanneke Vollbehr

Van Balfour tot Trump | En wéér besluit het Westen wat goed is voor de Palestijnen

Zo herhaalt zich de geschiedenis. De rode draad in (de aanloop naar) het ‘Palestijns-Israëlische conflict’ is het uitsluiten van de groep die het betreft: de inwoners van Palestina, de Palestijnen. In een artikel op onze website beschrijven we vier bepalende voorbeelden van die praktijk.

Opinie | Trump en de vragen na 7 oktober

Het pleidooi van president Trump voor een ‘transfer’ van de bevolking van Gaza sluit aan bij een diepgeworteld Israëlisch verlangen, betoogt Jan Keulen in een opiniestuk.

Coalitie van Europese organisaties wil opschorting EU-Israëlverdrag

In het Associatieverdrag staan afspraken over samenwerkingen tussen de EU en Israël, onder andere op het gebied van handel. De EU is de grootste handelspartner van Israël. In de open brief roept de coalitie van organisaties de Europese Commissie op haar invloed op Israël aan te wenden om Israëls schendingen van het internationale recht te stoppen, en het Verdrag dus op te schorten. Artikel 2 van het Verdrag, dat respect voor mensenrechten als de basis van de samenwerking ziet, biedt daar ruimte toe.

1029.

14 februari 2025

Israel’s horrific genocide in Gaza continues to unfold before our eyes. Trump, ever the embodiment of imperial hubris, schemes for a U.S.-colonial takeover of Gaza—another grotesque attempt to erase the Palestinian people  and entrench oppressive Zionist control. In this dark hour, Israel brazenly threatens to shatter the fragile ceasefire, proving once again that mass slaughter is not just a tactic in its arsenal; instead, it is Israel’s entire policy.

Genocide and mass murder are in service of erasing the refugees from the camps in Gaza to the camps of the West Bank. This is not merely an escalation; it is a tragic, relentless continuation of an atrocity. For over 77 long years, Zionism has waged a brutal war to erase the Palestinian people—to starve us, to bomb us, to exile us, to make us vanish into the void.

Yet we endure.

The conditions in Gaza are not an accident. They are the result of a deliberate Israeli policy to depopulate, to force Palestinians off their land, to imprison them in ever-smaller spaces until death or exile are the only choices. But Gaza refuses to choose exile. Gaza, against all odds, is asserting the right to life. The people of Gaza are not just fighting for survival—they are fighting for the right to exist, for the right to return to their ancestral homes, for the right to live freely on their land. And still they rise.

The United States is the architect of these horrors. For decades, it has bombed nations, toppled democratically elected leaders, and installed fascist dictators to enforce a system of global dominance. It has funded and armed Israel’s apartheid regime while perfecting its own mechanisms of control at home. The same empire that funds genocide in Palestine also poisons water in Flint, allows wildfires to devour Maui, and leaves the people of Puerto Rico to fend for themselves after disaster. The rooster has come home to roost. Fascism is no longer just foreign policy—it is here, unmasked, before our very eyes. And yet, many are still in shock, unable to accept that the very system they held dear was always built upon a foundation of violence.

But Palestinians have never held such illusions. We have waged a valiant fight against fascism for generations. We understand the nefarious ambitions of the Trump administration, just as we hold a mirror to the spineless complicity of the Democratic Party. We see clearly that these are not failures of a flawed system. The system, cruelly and effectively, is working exactly as it was intended.

Yet, let us not wallow in despair. Let us rise in fierce resistance.

If the people of Gaza, who have endured 15 months of high-tech genocide, can return to the north knowing their homes lie in ruins  and still cry out, “We will remain”, then we too must confront the fascism looming before us with the same unyielding spirit. We must take to heart Gaza’s unwavering courage: the path forward is not paved with fear or hopelessness, but built on our collective struggle.

Our Palestinian elders taught us well.  We must organize locally, build relationships, and lean on one another in these dark times. The road ahead demands sacrifices—of comfort, time, resources—but we have learned through seven decades of resistance that solidarity is the only way forward. That disciplined and intentional solidarity can and will dismantle the empire.

We refuse to abandon our people to fend for themselves in isolation. We will not allow fascism to consume us in silence.  We are determined  to create pathways for action—through boycotts, direct action, political education, and the cultivation of strong, enduring connections.

We are not just fighting to end genocide in Gaza. We are fighting for a world where no people, anywhere, are subject to colonial violence.

And we will triumph.

Because despite 77 years of massacres, expulsions, and walls, Zionists and their Western allies have failed to grasp a simple truth: Palestinians will never disappear. We are rooted in our land, in its olive trees, its wildflowers, its hills, its shores. We are in the sky, the air, and the very soil beneath our feet. Our essence flows through our zaatar, lingers in our sage, resonates in our villages and towns, in our mosques and churches. Palestinians, both in the homeland and in exile, remain bound to Palestine. As Mahmoud Darwish, the orator of our experience, reminds the world: “We have on this land that which makes life worth living.”

Palestine is not just a cause—it is our past, our present, and our future. Despite every attempt to push us out, we know Palestine will be free. This is not a mere wish, but rather a promise carried forward by every generation until it is reality.

This is the fight of our lifetime. And we need you in it.

With unwavering steadfastness,

Sandra, Sumaya, Izzy, Alia, Rand and the Adalah Justice Project team

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

I'd like to give to expand Palestinian-led organizing

If someone forwarded you this email, sign up here to get updates from AJP.

Our mailing address is:
Adalah Justice Project

1028.

14 februari 2025

Today's headlines

Poll: Just 9% of Democrats sympathize with the Israelis more than the Palestinians

A new poll shows that Americans are more supportive of the Palestinians than they have been since at least 2017.

I grew up in Jabalia refugee camp. Without UNRWA, I would not have survived.

Malak Hijazi

Gaza cannot survive without UNRWA and the life-saving services it provides. That is why Israel’s attack on the UN agency is an attack on Palestinian existence.

Explainer: Breaking down Trump’s executive order targeting Palestine activists

Last month Donald Trump signed an Executive Order aimed at canceling the visas of foreign students who advocate for Palestine. Mondoweiss talked to legal experts about its possible impact and the wider attacks on Palestine advocacy in the U.S.

1027.

13 februari 2025

De toekomst van mijn volk gaat in vlammen op.

In de Westelijke Jordaanoever, mijn thuis, worden eeuwenoude olijfgaarden in brand gestoken. In Gaza zijn ouders nog altijd op zoek naar de overblijfselen van hun kinderen, nu niet meer dan skeletten onder de brokstukken.

Trump wil twee miljoen van ons verdrijven naar de Egyptische en Jordaanse woestijn -- hij heeft zelfs geopperd dat Israëli’s in onze huizen op de Westelijke Jordaanoever kunnen gaan wonen.

Als zijn plan slaagt, wordt Palestina uitgewist.

Maar wij hebben iets dat Trump niet heeft: ‘Sumoud’.

Sumoud is opstandige vastberadenheid -- in Palestina verwijst de term naar een onbreekbaar doorzettingsvermogen dat ons creatiever maakt in het beschermen van onze gemeenschappen; door hoop te planten in de as van de verwoesting. Het is de reden dat we al generaties lang standhouden.

1026.

13 februari 2025

Humanitarian Situation Update #264
West Bank

UN Relief Chief Tom Fletcher visiting East Jerusalem on 5 February 2025. Photo by OCHA / Ahed Izhiman.

Key Highlights

• In the longest operation by Israeli forces in the West Bank in two decades, Israeli forces have killed 44 Palestinians, including an eight-month pregnant woman, and caused widespread destruction to homes and infrastructure.
• Over 40,000 Palestinians have been displaced from four refugee camps and surrounding areas in Jenin, Tulkarm and Tubas.
• The World Health Organization documented 694 attacks on health care between April and December 2024, 77 per cent of which involved obstruction of health care delivery.
• Nearly 60 people were displaced when their homes were demolished by Israeli authorities in three communities in Masafer Yatta area of Hebron for lacking building permits. Eleven of the 23 demolished structures had been provided as humanitarian aid.

Latest Developments (after 10 February 2025)

• Between 11 and 13 February, initial reports indicate that Israeli forces shot and killed a Palestinian man in Sa’ir (Hebron), at least one other man in an exchange of fire in Nur Shams refugee camp (Tulkarm), and one man in unclear circumstances near Huwwara (Nablus). Three soldiers were also injured in Tulkarm.

Humanitarian Developments (4 - 10 February 2025)

• During the reporting period, Israeli forces killed five Palestinians, including one child, and injured 49 others, including eight children, across the West Bank, including East Jerusalem. Two Israeli soldiers were killed, and six others were injured in an attack perpetrated by a Palestinian. For more information on casualties and further breakdowns of data, please see the monthly West Bank Snapshot. Incidents resulting in fatalities during the reporting period include:
  • On 4 February, a Palestinian man shot and killed two Israeli soldiers and injured six others at Taysir checkpoint near Tubas. The man fired live ammunition at the soldiers, who threw a grenade that killed him and withheld his body. Israeli forces have since closed the Taysir checkpoint, which connects Tammun town and surrounding villages with the northern Jordan Valley area, hindering the movement of at least ten villages and directly affecting more than 60,000 people. Thousands of others travelling in between Nablus and Jericho are affected as well.
  • On 7 February, a 10-year-old Palestinian boy succumbed to wounds sustained in Tulkarm city on 28 January when he was shot by Israeli forces during the ongoing operation. According to the child's father and video footage, the child stepped out of the house and was shot. He reports that no fighting was taking place in their area. After paramedics placed the child in an ambulance, Israeli forces physically assaulted and detained his father for an hour.
  • On 9 February, Israeli forces shot and killed a Palestinian man and injured four others, including one child, during the ongoing operations in Nur Shams refugee camp, northeast of Tulkarm city. Exchanges of fire between armed Palestinians and Israeli forces were reported during the incident.
  • On 9 February, Israeli forces shot and killed two Palestinian women, including a pregnant woman in her eighth month, and injured two men in the ongoing operation by Israeli forces in Nur Shams refugee camp, in Tulkarm. According to local sources, the pregnant woman and her husband attempted to leave the camp in search of a secure location and were both shot in the head, which killed the woman and her unborn child and injured her husband. The second woman was killed by shrapnel and her father was injured when Israeli forces used explosives to enter a home in the camp.
• In several incidents this week, medical teams reported that Israeli forces delayed them while transporting the injured to hospital. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), between April and December 2024, 694 attacks on health care were documented in the West Bank. These attacks resulted in 26 deaths and 121 injuries, affected 62 health facilities, including 22 mobile clinics, in addition to 475 ambulances. Furthermore, at least 172 health care staff were detained or arrested while on duty, along with 25 patients receiving care. Some 20 per cent of attacks involved the search of health facilities, transport, or personnel. Most attacks (77 per cent) entailed the obstruction of health care delivery.
• Since the announcement of the Gaza ceasefire agreement, and within the context of the release of Palestinians from Israeli detention centres, Israeli forces have restricted access around the home villages of freed prisoners, conducted operations where they attempted to disperse celebrations, raided homes of prisoners and their families or dispersed crowds waiting in Beituniya town, near Ofer Prison, for the release of loved ones. In these contexts, Israeli forces shot and killed one Palestinian and injured 134 others, including 28 children, mainly in Beituniya town (113); about 70 per cent (96) of injuries were caused by tear gas inhalation. In at least 20 separate incidents, Israeli forces raided the homes of Palestinian prisoners or their families, forbidding any form of celebration and, in some cases, interrogating and detaining family members. In conjunction with the prisoners’ release, between 15 and 20 January, large groups of Israeli settlers raided 11 Palestinian towns and villages in four governorates, injured 17 Palestinians, including two children, and caused damage to property.
• During the reporting period, OCHA documented 15 incidents involving Israeli settlers that led to casualties, property damage or both. As a result, three Palestinians were injured, including a child, and over 250 olive trees were damaged. The following are some of the key settler attacks that took place during the reporting period:

• • On 4 February, a group of Israeli settlers believed to be from Eli settlement, raided agricultural lands belonging to Al Lubban ash Sharqiya village, in Nablus, and cut down 55 olive trees, aged between 60 and 65 years.
  • On 5 February, a group of Israeli settlers believed to be from Mevo Dotan settlement uprooted about 200 olive trees in Kafr Ra’I village, in Jenin.
  • On 7 February, Israeli settlers physically assaulted and injured one Palestinian while he was walking through Wadi Salem near Al Khader village, in Bethlehem.
  • On 9 February, armed Israeli settlers raided a house and physically assaulted and injured a 15-year-old Palestinian boy while on the rooftop of his house in the Palestinian community of Tuba, located within the Israeli-designated “Firing Zone 918” in Masafer Yatta, Hebron governorate. Local residents heard him screaming and rushed to help him, after which settlers fled the scene.
• During the reporting period, OCHA documented the demolition of 49 Palestinian-owned structures across the West Bank due to the lack of Israeli-issued building permits, which are nearly impossible to obtain. These included four structures in East Jerusalem, all homes, and 45 other structures in Area C, displacing 76 people, including 37 children, and otherwise affecting over 100 people. The majority of people displaced were in the Masafer Yatta area of Hebron governorate, where nine families, comprising 58 people, including 27 children, had their homes demolished by Israeli authorities for lacking building permits. The demolitions took place in three communities - Khallet Athaba,’ Maghayir al ‘Abeed and Jinba – which are located in Area C and fall within the Israeli-designated Firing Zone 918, with the majority of displaced people (46) in Khallet Athaba’. In total, 23 structures, including 14 residential structures, three agricultural rooms, four latrines, a water cistern and a solar panel system were destroyed. Of the total, 11 structures were donor funded and had been provided as humanitarian aid.
• On 4 February, the Israeli Nature and Parks Authority (INPA), accompanied by Israeli settlers believed to be associated with Elad settler organization, seized a one-dunum plot of land in the Wadi Hilweh area of Silwan, in East Jerusalem. The land has been used as a Palestinian children's cemetery since the 16th century. The INPA with Israeli settlers destroyed its surrounding metal fence, removed the cemetery’s signboard, and replaced it with a notice declaring the land as "public property". According to community sources, no formal confiscation order had been received. Silwan is one of the communities in East Jerusalem most affected by eviction cases filed by Israeli settler organizations. In total, more than 200 Palestinian households in East Jerusalem have eviction cases filed against them by Israeli settler organizations in Israeli courts, placing over 900 people, including at least 400 children, at risk of displacement.
• Between 3 and 7 February, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator (USG-ERC), Tom Fletcher, visited Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory. Mr. Fletcher held meetings with Israeli and Palestinian authorities, local and international NGOs, UN agencies and affected people. In East Jerusalem, the USG-ERC met residents facing home demolitions and the threat of forcible eviction and stated: “This is the reality for so many families in East Jerusalem...but they tell me that they will stay and that they may have lost their property but they will not give up on their dignity and on their hope.”
• Between 4 and 9 February, Israeli forces raided two bookshops and a library in East Jerusalem. On 4 February, Israeli forces sealed off a Palestinian library in Khan al Zeit market, in the Old City of Jerusalem. The library, serving the community since the 1970s, was first raided on 31 January, when Israeli forces ransacked it, confiscated books, and arrested the owner. Four days later, on 4 February, Israeli forces returned to detain the workers and issued a closure order for one month. On 9 February, Israeli forces raided two Palestinian bookstores owned by the Educational Bookshop, in East Jerusalem. Two of the owners were detained and books were seized from the shops.

Developments in northern West Bank

• The Israeli operation in Jenin, which began on 21 January, has entered its fourth week, making it the longest operation in the West Bank since the early 2000s. On 28 January, the operation expanded to Tulkarm city and its two refugee camps, Tulkarm and Nur Shams, and affected Tammun town and El Far’a refugee camp in Tubas for one week and 10 days, respectively. As of 13 February, at least 44 Palestinians have been killed, including 25 in Jenin, 10 in Tubas, and nine in Tulkarm. Among the fatalities in Tulkarm was a pregnant woman and her unborn child (see above).
• On 12 February, UNICEF expressed its concern that the number of children killed, injured, or displaced in the north of the West Bank continues to increase. In the first two months of 2025, at least 13 children have been killed, including seven killed after the launch of the Israeli forces’ operation in the north. UNICEF added that, since the operation began, education has been disrupted in about 100 schools, further exacerbating psychological and social stress.
• On 10 February, UNRWA reported that operations have displaced over 40,000 Palestine refugees from Jenin, Tulkarm, Nur Shams, and El Far’a refugee camps, with several thousand residents displaced during the operation by Palestinian forces in and around Jenin and others displaced in the aftermath of the ongoing Israeli forces’ operation. Thousands of residents continue to flee the four refugee camps, which are collectively home to more than 76,000 Palestine refugees. Today, Jenin refugee camp is almost completely empty. Nur Shams refugee camp has also witnessed near-complete displacement, and several thousand residents have been displaced from Tulkarm and El Far’a refugee camps. Over the past week, most displaced families from El Far’a refugee camp have sought refuge in Jenin, Tubas, and Nablus cities. UNRWA continues to deliver emergency assistance to displaced families outside the refugee camps, but has been forced to fully suspend operations within the camps. While the new school semester began on 2 February, 13 UNRWA schools serving more than 5,000 children in the northern West Bank remain closed, and 13 UNRWA health services points are not functional.
• The majority of internally displaced people are currently staying in rented accommodation. However, displaced families are increasingly unable to afford the prohibitively high rent costs. About 100 families are currently staying in six public shelters in Tulkarm and about 65 families are staying in two public shelters in Jenin, with plans underway to set up two public shelters at two schools in Jenin to address the rising need. A multisectoral assessment conducted in early February across two collective centers and five apartments highlighted the urgent need for non-food items (NFI), including bedding kits, dignity kits, and kitchen kits. Scaling up shelter and financial assistance thus remain critical; Shelter Cluster actors have hitherto identified the urgent need for cash assistance for 4,000 families to meet rent needs.
• Aid actors report that access to health care is precarious in areas where the operations are ongoing. Access to the Jenin Governmental Hospital and Ibn Sina Hospital in Jenin remains extremely limited, with ambulances searched and delayed at the hospitals’ entrances. Jenin Hospital has also suffered extensive damage, including 100 shattered windows, requiring urgent repairs. Moreover, Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) ambulances are facing daily challenges due to checkpoint restrictions, highlighting the urgent need for negotiated safe passage for medical teams. Movement restrictions have also hindered the ability of health workers to reach their workplaces. Severe shortages of essential medicines have been reported, particularly for people suffering from chronic illnesses, further compounding the crisis. WHO is currently seeking to reinforce emergency stocks at hospitals, UNRWA has extended the hours of operation at health facilities, and other NGOs continue operating mobile clinic services in surrounding areas.
• Widespread damage to homes and infrastructure, including the destruction of water and sanitation systems in the four refugee camps, has led to the contamination of clean water with sewage, posing a significant health risk. At the same time, access restrictions to farmland have placed the livelihoods of thousands of farmers at risk, with 2,800 dunums of greenhouses and 10,000 dunums of open fields in Tammun directly affected. Livestock are also under threat due to severe disruptions in the supply chain and limited access to essential resources, further exacerbating food insecurity and livelihood losses.
• Humanitarian partners are scaling up response efforts, including water distribution, storage, and sanitation across Jenin, Tulkarm, and Tubas governorates. Water trucking to displaced families is ongoing, along with the distribution of hygiene kits, water storage tanks, mobile latrines, and NFIs. Humanitarian partners have also distributed food parcels to several thousand families in the three governorates and more than 1,700 households have received Multi-Purpose Cash Assistance (MPCA), with additional distributions planned in the coming days. Yet, as operations continue, humanitarian needs continue to outpace response efforts, particularly given access restrictions, funding shortfalls and the nature of the scattered displacement that has been unfolding.

Funding

• As of 13 February 2025, Member States have disbursed approximately US$146.6 million out of the $4.07 billion (3.6 per cent) requested to meet the most critical humanitarian needs of three million out of 3.3 million people identified as requiring assistance in Gaza and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, in 2025, under the 2025 Flash Appeal for the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT). Nearly 90 per cent of the requested funds are for humanitarian response in Gaza, with just over 10 per cent for the West Bank. Moreover, during January 2025, the oPt Humanitarian Fund (oPt HF) managed 101 ongoing projects, totalling $72.4 million, to address urgent needs in the Gaza Strip (86 per cent) and the West Bank (14 per cent). Of these projects, 55 are being implemented by international non-governmental organizations (INGOs), 33 by national NGOs and 13 by UN agencies. Notably, 41 out of the 68 projects implemented by INGOs or the UN are being implemented in collaboration with national NGOs. For more information, please see OCHA’s Financial Tracking Service webpage and the oPt HF webpage.

1025.

13 februari 2025

Quick Takes: US/ICC

Readers’ Recommendations 

1024.

13 februari 2025

Today's headlines

Israel’s offensive in the West Bank is the second act of the Gaza genocide

Qassam Muaddi

Israel’s ongoing assault on the West Bank is not to wipe out the Palestinian resistance. It is to ethnically cleanse Palestinians from their homes and set the stage for annexation.

Princeton students head to trial nearly a year after Gaza encampment

Princeton students are heading to trial over charges from the school's Gaza solidarity encampment last spring. Despite intimidation from the university, the activists are insisting on defending their right to protest for Palestinian liberation.

1023.

13 februari 2025

Israeli Apartheid Week (IAW) is back! And this year it coincides with the 20th anniversary of the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement, BDS@20. We need your support to make IAW a pivotal moment in the struggle for Palestinian liberation and global decolonization!

IAW will launch on the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination on March 21st and will include Palestinian Land Day on March 30th going into April 2025. This year’s theme will be “People Power Makes Apartheid History”

­

Decolonizing Palestine is decolonizing the world: The struggle against Israeli apartheid is deeply interconnected with broader struggles for justice, freedom, equality and dignity worldwide. Israel’s genocide against 2.3 million Palestinians in Gaza has revealed to the world the brutality of settler-colonialism, militarized capitalism, and Western complicity in systemic oppression.

Reimagining Palestine after apartheid: Reimagining life beyond oppression is a revolutionary act. It allows us to sustain hope, renew our determination, and chart a future of justice and liberation. IAW 2025 will amplify Palestinian artistic, literary, and creative visions of a post-apartheid Palestine, drawing connections between our struggle and all movements resisting oppression.

This IAW, we take collective action towards dismantling Israel’s apartheid regime and nurture the hope that any structure of oppression can be defeated. Together, we are bringing the dawn of Palestinian liberation closer than ever. Resist. Rise. Decolonize. Palestine Frees Us All.

1022.

12 februari 2025

Mohammad, six-years old is the sole survivor among one hundred members of his family.

Violence has defined Mohammad's life, and he does not even comprehend yet what violence and trauma mean. He struggles to remember his family.

But his future does not have to be defined by violence. Mohammad must be allowed to shape his own future and destiny free of colonial oppression, in his home Gaza, Palestine.

In Sole Survivors’ Stories: Stolen Present and Future - Episode 3, co-produced by Rabet and Bisan Owda in Gaza, Mohammad’s story is a necessary reminder that we are not numbers or puppets whose life can be decided on by foreign leaders.

Watch now and join the fight.

1021.

12 februari 2025

Americans Said No To Genocide, We Continue to Say No To Ethnic Cleansing

President Donald Trump has recently announced plans to ethnically cleanse Gaza and “take over” the Gaza Strip. Gaza is not his to take. Gaza is the indigenous and permanent homeland of Palestinians, internationally recognized as a sovereign Palestinian territory. Its 2.4 million inhabitants have already endured an unrelenting genocide backed by the United States, and now they face a new threat—forced displacement and erasure.

TAKE ACTION: DEMAND Stand Up To President Trump

The facts are clear:

• Israel has slaughtered at least 61,709 Palestinians since October 7, 2023, with more than 17,881 children among the dead.
• 90% of Gaza’s population has been displaced—many forced to flee over and over again.
• Entire neighborhoods have been erased. Homes, hospitals, schools, and UN shelters have been bombed to dust.

This is not just genocide. This is ethnic cleansing.

The American public overwhelmingly rejects Trump’s call to steal Palestinian land and Israel’s ongoing campaign to erase the Palestinian people. Our Members of Congress must act now—not to bankroll and endorse more Israeli war crimes, but to stop supporting the settler-colonialism state once and for all.

In solidarity,
Americans for Justice in Palestine Action

1020.

12 februari 2025

Today's headlines

‘Humiliating and painful’: testimonies of mass displacement in the northern West Bank

Qassam Muaddi

The forcible displacement of over 40,000 people in the northern West Bank is repeating scenes from Gaza and stoking fears of ethnic cleansing. "The most important thing is to stay in our home," a resident of al-Far'a refugee camp tells Mondoweiss.

The Gaza ceasefire may be falling apart. The real culprit is Israel.

Mouin Rabbani 

Trump is threatening to let “all hell break loose” after Hamas paused the release of Israeli captives in response to Israeli violations of the ceasefire. But make no mistake, this is exactly what Israel wants.

Trump says Palestinians won’t be able to return to Gaza under his plan

Donald Trump has vowed that displaced Palestinians will not be allowed to return to Gaza under the U.S. plan for the region. As part of this, he is threatening to cut aid to Jordan and Egypt if they refuse to accept Palestinians.

1019.

12 februari 2025

Key takeaways from the meeting with Trump and Jordan’s King Abdullah

US plan to "own" a Gaza emptied of its residents has put Jordan in a delicate situation.

The Take : What fallout does Jordan face from Trump’s Gaza plan?

Can the king of Jordan stand up to the US and stand for millions of Palestinians in Gaza?

1018.

12 februari 2025

In today's Daily Brief:

• The Right Numbers for Respecting Rights
• Quick Takes: New Jersey, US; France; Panama
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A family collects water lilies from Boeung Tamok lake to sell at the market, Phnom Penh, Cambodia, January 14, 2025. © 2025 Heng Sinith/AP Photo Listen to the top story

What Is Progress?

How do you measure progress? Specifically, what statistics, what numbers do you look at to see if a country is improving or backsliding?

The most well-known economic indicator around the world is surely gross domestic product, or GDP. You get that number by calculating the total market value of all the goods and services produced in a country over time.

Many politicians and policy makers talk in terms of GDP, almost to the point of obsession. It’s not hard to understand why. A country and its economy are an incredibly complex system, and people want to simplify things with a single number. Things are good if the number goes up. Things are bad if the number goes down.

However, that’s all really far too simple.

Note specifically that the definition of GDP doesn’t say anything about how a country’s goods and services are produced. It also doesn’t look at how “total market value” is shared and enjoyed among the population.

Things like human well-being and environmental sustainability aren’t considered in the GDP figure. There could be a country where just a few people own all the wealth and everyone else is practically enslaved, surrounded by ecological collapse – but the GDP number might still be nice and large. It might even be growing.

That’s not progress.

The need for better indicators of progress has been clear for some time, and many folks at the UN and elsewhere have been working on it.

Just yesterday, the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva discussed how to move beyond GDP and develop indicators to measure progress with human rights in mind. Human Rights Watch made a statement to the panel.

We emphasized key aspects of human well-being, based in fundamental human rights, that GDP ignores. These include education, health care, and a clean, sustainable environment. They all need to be measured when examining a country’s progress, or lack thereof.

Also, when these rights-based aspects are measured, they shouldn’t simply be averaged across a country’s entire population. That could hide critical imbalances between rich and poor.

Improvements in education or health care for a small minority, for example, may raise an indicator number nationally. However, if most people have seen no improvements, it makes no sense to talk about the country making progress overall.

When you hear that experts are discussing economic indicators, it may sound like a technical, even academic, debate. But the numbers our governments use to describe progress have a major impact on our rights and our lives.

We all deserve indicators beyond GDP.

Quick Takes: New Jersey, US; France; Panama

Readers’ Recommendations

1017.

11 februari 2025

AJP Action calls on the Trump administration and Congress to take the necessary steps to hold Israeli authorities accountable for this blatant violation of Shaden’s rights

Yesterday, we called on Virginia residents to demand their members of Congress and Senators take action for Shaden Qous, a 27-year-old Afro-Palestinian American artist, student, and activist from East Jerusalem who was unjustly detained by Israeli forces. We are relieved to share that Shaden has been released on bail.

In moments like these, demanding accountability and being relentless in our advocacy is a responsibility. Whether the victim is a U.S. citizen or not, it’s the least we can do, especially when our tax dollars continue to bankroll the occupation, apartheid system, and the rest of Israel’s human rights violations. Nonetheless, this fight is far from over.

Despite her release, Shaden is still facing politically motivated charges of “incitement” over her social media posts and remains entangled in Israel’s repressive legal system. Not only did Israeli forces raid her home, confiscate her personal belongings, and detain her arbitrarily, but they also denied her the fundamental right to attend her father’s funeral—a calculated act of cruelty and psychological torment.

Shaden’s case is not an isolated incident. It’s part of a broader pattern of systematic repression targeting Palestinians, including those with U.S. citizenship. The U.S. must stop disregarding these blatant violations of human rights.

AJP Action calls on the Trump administration and Congress to take immediate steps to hold Israeli authorities accountable and demand justice for Shaden, including:

• Ensuring all charges against her are entirely dismissed
• Holding Israel accountable for its ongoing practice of arbitrarily detaining Palestinians, including U.S. citizens
• Ending the flow of U.S. taxpayer dollars that fund Israel’s continued human rights abuses

Shaden may be out on bail, but justice has yet to be served. We will not stop fighting until every charge is dropped, and we will continue holding those responsible to account.

In solidarity,
Americans for Justice in Palestine Action

Israel detains U.S. citizen arbitrarily

A U.S. citizen from Virginia, Shaden Qous, has been arbitrarily detained by Israeli forces since January 6, 2025, following five days of house arrest and a long, intense interrogation. Shaden, a 22-year-old Afro-Palestinian artist, activist, and law student, was forcibly taken from her home in East Jerusalem, had her belongings confiscated, and is now being held in Ofer Military Prison on charges of "incitement" over social media posts.

Adding to the cruelty of her detention, Israeli authorities denied her the right to mourn her father, who suddenly passed away last week. They deliberately delayed her release on bail until after his funeral, robbing her of the chance to say goodbye.

TAKE ACTION NOW

The U.S. government has a duty to protect its citizens from arbitrary imprisonment and mistreatment by a foreign government—especially one that receives billions in U.S. taxpayer dollars annually.

Urge Congress to demand Shaden’s immediate release.  

In solidarity,
Americans for Justice in Palestine Action

1016.

11 februari 2025

Humanitarian Situation Update #263
Gaza Strip

Children who have returned with their family to northern Gaza and are now staying in their damaged home. Humanitarian actors racing against time to provide displaced people and returnees with food, shelter materials, winter clothing and other essentials. Photo by OCHA/Olga Cherevko

Key Highlights

• Humanitarian actors continue to scale up operations across the Gaza Strip.
• In the first 10 days of February, 360 patients, including 156 children, were medically evacuated from Gaza, while between 12,000 and 14,000 people, including about 5,000 children, remain in urgent need of medical evacuation.
• The Palestine Red Crescent Society completed the transfer of its field hospital from Khan Younis to Gaza city, where it will resume operations soon.
• Since 1 January, over 2,300 children have been admitted for outpatient treatment of acute malnutrition.

Humanitarian Developments

• Between 3 and 7 February, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator (USG-ERC), Tom Fletcher, visited Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including the Gaza Strip. Mr. Fletcher held meetings with Israeli and Palestinian authorities, local and international NGOs, UN agencies and affected people. In northern Gaza, the USG-ERC toured two hospitals — Al Shifa in Gaza city and Al Awda in Jabalya — where he met with patients, staff and management. He also spoke with survivors and returnees who are trying to rebuild their lives amid the rubble in Jabalya. Throughout his visit, the USG-ERC stressed the need to seize the opportunities presented by the ceasefire to sustain and expand relief efforts.
• On 8 February, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) facilitated the fifth release operations since the ceasefire came into effect on 19 January. Three hostages were transferred out of Gaza to Israel, and 183 Palestinian detainees were released from Israeli detention centres. Palestinian detainees included 111 people who were detained from the Gaza Strip after 7 October 2023 and seven detainees who were released to Egypt. In total, since 19 January, 16 Israeli and five Thai hostages and 766 Palestinian detainees have been released.
• As of 11 February, it is estimated that 76 Israelis and foreign nationals remain captive in Gaza, including hostages who have been declared dead and whose bodies are being withheld in Gaza.
• As of February 2025, according to data provided by the Israel Prison Service (IPS) to Hamoked, an Israeli human rights NGO, there are 9,846 Palestinians in Israeli custody, including 1,734 sentenced prisoners, 2,941 remand detainees, 3,369 administrative detainees held without trial, and 1,802 people held as “unlawful combatants.” These figures do not include Palestinians from Gaza who have been detained by the Israeli military since 7 October 2023.
• Between the afternoons of 5 February and 11 February, the Ministry of Health (MoH) in Gaza reported the killing of 107 Palestinians and the injury of 47 others; this includes 87 newly retrieved bodies. Since the ceasefire came into effect on 19 January, and as of 11 February, a total of 613 bodies were retrieved from areas that were previously inaccessible, MoH reported. As of 11 February 2025, MoH in Gaza reported the killing of at least 48,219 Palestinians and the injury of 111,665 others, since 7 October 2023. According to the Ministry, the cumulative figure includes 572 fatalities who were retroactively added as of 8 February 2025 after their identification details were consolidated and approved by a ministerial committee.
• Between 5 and 9 February, several casualties were reported across the Gaza Strip, including: a Palestinian boy who was reportedly killed in Rafah on 5 February; a Palestinian man who was reportedly killed near the Netzarim corridor in Al Mughraqa area, in Deir al Balah on 6 February; an elderly Palestinian woman who was reportedly killed in Al Qarara in eastern Khan Younis on 9 February; and three Palestinians who were reportedly killed and five others injured when some people, allegedly attempting to return to their homes in eastern Gaza city, were shot at near Al Kuwaiti Roundabout in southern Gaza city on 9 February.
• Between the afternoons of 5 February and 11 February, two Israeli soldiers were killed in Gaza, according to Israeli forces. According to official sources cited in the Israeli media, two Israeli soldiers were killed and eight were wounded when a crane used by the military collapsed on them overnight in the Gaza Strip on 6 February 2025. Between 7 October 2023 and 11 February 2025, according to Israeli forces and official Israeli sources cited in the media, more than 1,607 Israelis and foreign nationals were killed, the majority on 7 October 2023 and its immediate aftermath. This includes 407 soldiers killed, in addition to 2,579 soldiers injured, in Gaza or along the border in Israel since the beginning of the ground operation in October 2023.
• On 9 February, as part of the first 42-day phase of the ceasefire agreement, Israeli forces completed their withdrawal from the Netzarim corridor. On 10 February, the Israeli military announced that the movement of people on foot via Salah Al Deen Road will be permitted and the movement of vehicles northward on the same road will continue to be subjected to inspection. The Israeli military further emphasized that the movement of militants and the transfer of combat equipment toward northern Gaza is strictly prohibited, reiterating a warning to residents not to approach all areas where Israeli forces are deployed, the Rafah Crossing area, the Philadelphi Corridor, the ”buffer zone,” or the maritime area.

• The “buffer zone” along the eastern parts of the Gaza Strip was home to over 238,000 Palestinians prior to October 2023 and has witnessed extensive destruction, particularly in the first four and a half months of the escalation of hostilities. Satellite imagery analysis by UNOSAT showed that the number of damaged and destroyed buildings within the one-kilometre-wide border area sharply increased from 15 per cent to 90 per cent of about 4,000 structures between mid-October 2023 and end of February 2024. The area, nonetheless, encompasses facilities that are critical for humanitarian operations, including water wells, sewage pumping stations, wastewater treatment plants, and the main Sufa landfill which is located 800 metres from the eastern border of Gaza in Khan Younis governorate. Since the ceasefire took effect, coordination with Israeli authorities for humanitarian aid missions is no longer required except for entering the buffer zones. However, access impediments are hindering the ability of aid actors to conduct repairs and restore the functionality of key facilities in the buffer zones. For example, according to the Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) Cluster, the continued denial of access by the Israeli authorities to the Sufa landfill has prevented the safe transfer of solid waste from about 30 temporary dumpsites, half of which are already full, and numerous ad-hoc sites, aggravating public health risks.
• Between 5 and 10 February, 256 sick and injured patients, including 56 children, and 327 companions were evacuated to Egypt via Rafah Crossing to receive specialized care in Egypt. In total, since medical evacuations started through Rafah Crossing on 1 February, the World Health Organization (WHO) supported the medical evacuation of 360 patients, including 156 children. Between 12,000 and 14,000 people, including about 5,000 children, remain in urgent need of medical evacuation. Urging scaled-up approvals of medical evacuations, the WHO Representative in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT) emphasized that this includes the restoration of medical referrals to the West Bank, including East Jerusalem. According to WHO, about 1,900 hospital beds are now available at partially functional hospitals and field hospitals across the Gaza Strip to cover the needs of over two million people, compared with 3,500 beds that were available prior to the escalation of hostilities, and about 30,000 people are suffering from serious life-changing injuries that require continuous rehabilitation unavailable in the Strip.
• According to the Site Management Cluster, more than 586,000 people were observed crossing from southern to northern Gaza through six flow monitoring points established in Deir al Balah, Gaza city and North Gaza between 27 January and 6 February, while over 56,000 were observed crossing southwards between 30 January and 6 February. Most movements took place on the first two days, when over 376,000 people were observed crossing northward on 27 January and between 6:00 and 12:00 on 28 January.
• With 92 per cent of homes in Gaza damaged or destroyed, people across Gaza are exposed to heightened risks, according to the Shelter and Protection clusters. Among others, the critical shortage of adequate shelter and shelter materials has forced multiple families to cohabit in single tents, creating unsafe and undignified living conditions, especially for women and girls. Additionally, it forced some children to live on their own, even when relatives are willing to provide care. Without separate and secure spaces, they face heightened risks of gender-based violence (GBV), worsening levels of personal hygiene, including menstrual hygiene, and growing vulnerability to mental and physical health risks. Furthermore, the scarcity of shelter materials exacerbates existing power imbalances, leaving the most vulnerable groups, such as female-headed households, unaccompanied minors, and persons with disabilities, at greater risk of exploitation as they struggle to access the shelter they need. Many Palestinians are also forced to seek refuge in damaged buildings and are therefore exposed to the dangers of explosive remnants of war (ERW). With winter well underway, nearly a million displaced Palestinians remain in immediate need of assistance to protect themselves from harsh weather conditions, with families resorting to sewing old rice sacks for basic cover. At the same time, without proper shelter materials to establish safe spaces, Child Protection and GBV response efforts remain severely constrained.

• On 6 February, heavy rain and strong winds were observed in Gaza, leaving thousands of people exposed to cold and wet conditions. “People living in makeshift tents in Gaza are at the mercy of severe winter storms,” stated UNRWA, adding that, “hundreds of families in Deir al Balah and North Gaza have been affected, with hundreds of tents destroyed and several households displaced.” To gauge the impact of the storm, between 6 and 9 February, Site Management Cluster partners conducted assessments at 23 out of 1,328 displacement sites across the Strip and found that at least 800 families at these sites reported damage to their makeshift shelters, tents, water tanks and latrines, and needed immediate support. In addition, Child Protection partners reported that five child-friendly safe spaces have been destroyed by the adverse weather conditions, affecting community-based mental health and psychosocial support activities. In Jabalya, the largest adapted women and girl’s safe space, serving nearly 500 women and girls per month and where 100 received case management support, was also destroyed.

Humanitarian Response Scale-Up

• Overall, the surge in the daily entry of supplies into Gaza since the ceasefire came into force on 19 January – through Erez and Zikim crossings in the north and Kerem Shalom Crossing in the south – and improved access conditions have enabled humanitarian partners to meaningfully expand their operational presence and the delivery of lifesaving assistance in accordance with population movements, including in areas that were previously hard or impossible to access, such as Rafah, Gaza and North Gaza governorates.
• With flour and fuel available, the World Food Programme (WFP) is now supporting the operation of 22 bakeries across Gaza, including one in North Gaza, seven in Gaza, six in Deir al Balah, and eight in Khan Younis. As of 1 February, approximately 780,000 cooked meals prepared in about 160 kitchens were distributed daily to families across the Strip, an increase of 20 per cent compared with pre-ceasefire levels. WFP has also provided cash assistance to 15,791 households as of 31 January, aiming to reach up to 30,000 households (150,000 people) with multi-purpose cash assistance (MPCA) within one month.
• Health Cluster partners have intensified their efforts to address critical health needs across Gaza, including relocating medical facilities in response to population movements, establishing mobile clinics and new medical points, and supporting the expansion or re-activation of services at existing facilities. For example, on 9 February, the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) completed the transfer of the fully equipped Kuwait field hospital from Khan Younis to Gaza city, where it will resume operations soon. The first in northern Gaza, the field hospital includes several medical departments, including surgery, neonatal care, intensive care, radiology and emergency services, and will be operated by a medical team from Al-Quds Hospital, in Gaza city, which was rendered out of service at the beginning of war, PRCS stated. There are 10 other field hospitals currently available in the Gaza Strip, including four in Deir al Balah, four in Khan Younis and two in Rafah. In Rafah governorate, where all three hospitals remain non-functional, PRCS has resumed operations at its primary health-care clinic and UNRWA opened a new physiotherapy unit at Muawiya Health Centre and recruited six new physiotherapists to enhance services. MoH has also announced that the Central Blood Bank in Gaza city has resumed functionality, calling for blood donations to restock blood supplies in the Central Blood Bank as well as at Al Sahaba and Al Ahli Arab hospitals in Gaza city. As of 11 February, only 40 per cent of primary health centres (57 out of 142) and 51 per cent of hospitals (18 out of 35) in the Strip are operational, the vast majority partially so.
• The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), in collaboration with partners, have scaled up maternity medicines for deliveries, treatments for obstetric and gynaecological complications, outpatient visits for antenatal and postnatal care, family planning and sexually transmitted infection services, as well as the distribution of infant warmers, postpartum kits and dignity kits. Moreover, emergency obstetric and newborn care services are now available at 12 health facilities, including one in North Gaza where such services were resumed on 31 January at Al Awda Hospital in Jabalya. The other 11 facilities include three in Gaza city, three in Deir al Balah, four in Khan Younis, and one in Rafah. Despite intensive efforts, UNFPA warns that health-care facilities remain severely understaffed and overstretched in meeting growing needs, particularly in northern Gaza and Rafah, where the restoration and expansion of maternal and reproductive health capacities remain a priority.
• Partners addressing GBV have scaled up efforts to prevent and respond to the growing risks faced by women and girls. During the first week of February, a new women’s shelter was established in Gaza city, equipped with a solar power system to ensure uninterrupted services, providing a crucial refuge for survivors seeking safety and support. In addition, four new safe spaces for women and girls have been opened in northern Gaza following the ceasefire, and one was relocated from Khan Yunis to Rafah to better serve displaced families. Partners have also increased the distribution of dignity and hygiene kits, along with cash and voucher assistance to help survivors rebuild their lives. These efforts aim to strengthen protection mechanisms, restore a sense of safety, and rebuild social support networks that have been shattered by displacement and hostilities. However, the needs remain vast, with thousands of women and girls facing extreme insecurity, and there are urgent gaps in shelter, privacy, clean water, sanitation, and health care.

• UNRWA continues to provide lifesaving MHPSS services, including psychological first aid, individual and group counselling, fatigue management sessions, recreational activities, explosive ordnance risk education and protection cash assistance, reaching children, youth and adults. Since the escalation of hostilities in October 2023, approximately 730,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs), including more than 520,000 children, have benefited from a total of 284,860 MHPSS sessions and activities. Between 3 and 9 February, 10,907 IDPs accessed these vital services. Moreover, UNRWA continues to provide health services at three out of 22 of its health centres and four additional temporary centres as well as through 124 mobile medical teams working in 54 medical points inside and outside shelters across Gaza. Since the start of the ceasefire, UNRWA health teams have provided over 226,000 health consultations, care for more than 12,000 post-natal and pregnant women at high risk, dental and oral health services for over 8,850 patients at fixed and mobile clinics, and physiotherapy rehabilitation services for nearly 4,300 patients.
• Nutrition Cluster partners have scaled up the screening of children under five years of age and pregnant and breastfeeding women (PBW), noting that their vulnerability to malnutrition remains high. Between December 2024 and February 2025, 42 new sites offering malnutrition screening services have opened, bringing the total number of nutrition sites to 204, up from 162 in December 2024. This is mainly due to the expansion of services by one cluster partner in Deir al Balah and Khan Younis governorates. Furthermore, three stabilization centres are operational, down from four in January following the closure of one centre due to funding shortfalls. At present, data provided by partners from all 204 nutrition sites operational across Gaza — including three in North Gaza, 12 in Gaza, 89 in Deir al Balah, 93 in Khan Younis and seven in Rafah — show that malnutrition rates have remained relatively stable in December 2024 and January 2025. Notwithstanding limited screening data from northern Gaza to date, since 1 January, 2,369 children have been admitted for outpatient treatment of acute malnutrition. This includes 1,966 children diagnosed with moderate acute malnutrition and 403 children diagnosed with severe acute malnutrition. As for maternal malnutrition, 13,285 women were screened in January, with data showing an average malnutrition rate of 10-15 per cent of screened women. Malnutrition data is based on mid-upper arm circumference measurements (MUAC) used as a proxy for the global acute malnutrition rate (GAM). While MUAC tends to underestimate the GAM, compared with weight for height measurements, these have not been feasible in Gaza until now, the cluster reports, adding that planning is underway to undertake a nutrition SMART (Standardized Monitoring and Assessment of Relief and Transitions) survey in Gaza.
• While acute malnutrition was almost nonexistent in Gaza before the escalation of hostilities, lack of access to nutritious food and essential services over 15 months, including health care, water, sanitation and hygiene, has led to the spread of acute malnutrition, particularly among children under two years and PWB where 90 per cent are estimated to have experienced severe food poverty, consuming two or fewer food groups per day and mainly foods of low nutritional value such as bread and pulses. Overall, the Nutrition Cluster estimates that all 290,000 children under five and 150,000 PBW require feeding and micronutrient supplements as each episode of acute malnutrition has long term impacts, including on the development of a child, and poor diet can lead to chronic malnutrition (stunting), making prevention essential. Since the ceasefire took effect, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has reached over 10,000 children under two across Gaza with ready-to-use complementary foods to improve their dietary diversity. As of February 2025, 127 outpatient therapeutic feeding (OTP) sites are operational across Gaza, in addition to 240 sites that offer blanket supplementary feeding and 21 mother-baby safe spaces to support counselling and breastfeeding. The nutrition cluster reports that, in January 2025, 132,229 children and 58,254 PBW received food supplements, 12,704 children and 9,107 PBW received high energy biscuits, and nearly 220,000 caregivers benefited from counselling on infant and young child feeding practices.
• According to the Shelter Cluster, since the ceasefire came into effect, 644,000 people across Gaza have received shelter assistance including tents, sealing-off materials and tarpaulins, 878,800 received non-food items, and 116,000 received shelter items such as blankets, with special attention afforded by partners to apply the vulnerability criteria during distribution. As of 6 February, UNRWA reports that it is running 120 designated emergency shelters (DES) in the Gaza Strip, hosting about 120,000 people, noting that population movements remain fluid. This includes 37 DES that were established in the aftermath of the ceasefire, hosting approximately 30,000 IDPs as of 6 February, of which seven are in Gaza governorate and 30 are in North Gaza.
• Over the past week, Education Cluster partners have established 13 new temporary learning spaces (TLS) in Gaza, Deir al Balah, Khan Younis and Rafah governorates, providing learning opportunities for more than 1,700 school-aged children who have returned or relocated to these areas. These figures remain limited given the widespread damage to education infrastructure and the use of the remaining schools as shelters, limiting space available for educational purposes. As of 10 February, there are 403 TLS across the Gaza Strip, serving 152,000 children of whom about 48 per cent are girls and 52 per cent boys. This is down from 460 TLS prior to the ceasefire, due to the closure of TLS in central and southern Gaza following vast population movements to northern Gaza, notes the Education Cluster, but plans are underway to re-establish TLS in areas of return. TLS offer a range of support services for children, including psycho-social support (PSS), recreational activities, and lifesaving messages on protection and hygiene promotion, which learners can in turn share with their families, further extending outreach. Since UNRWA is the largest provider of emergency learning and MHPSS services across the Gaza Strip, most children study in learning spaces established within UNRWA schools that have been converted into shelters. Furthermore, between the 1 and 10 February, nearly 24,000 learners, primarily in Deir al Balah and Khan Younis, received backpacks, individual PSS kits, and other education-related supplies. However, access impediments continue to restrict the availability of education-related materials that aim to enhance the quality of learning for children. Since the beginning of the new academic year in September, all 658,000 school-aged children have been unable to access formal education. Additionally, 39,000 students who missed Grade 12 exams (Tawjihi) are yet to take these exams, putting their transition to tertiary education at risk unless educational support is provided.

Funding

• As of 11 February 2025, Member States have disbursed approximately US$146.4 million out of the $4.07 billion (3.6 per cent) requested to meet the most critical humanitarian needs of three million out of 3.3 million people identified as requiring assistance in Gaza and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, in 2025, under the 2025 Flash Appeal for the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT). Nearly 90 per cent of the requested funds are for humanitarian response in Gaza, with just over 10 per cent for the West Bank. Moreover, during January 2025, the oPt Humanitarian Fund (oPt HF) managed 101 ongoing projects, totalling $72.4 million, to address urgent needs in the Gaza Strip (86 per cent) and the West Bank (14 per cent). Of these projects, 55 are being implemented by international non-governmental organizations (INGOs), 33 by national NGOs and 13 by UN agencies. Notably, 41 out of the 68 projects implemented by INGOs or the UN are being implemented in collaboration with national NGOs. For more information, please see OCHA’s Financial Tracking Service webpage and the oPt HF webpage.

1015.

11 februari 2025

Quick Takes: Japan/Gaza

Readers’ Recommendations 

1014.

11 februari 2025

Today's headlines

Palestine and politics of anti-appeal: an interview with Mohammed El-Kurd

Abdaljawad Omar

Abdaljawad Omar interviews Mohammed El-Kurd about his new book, the struggle of narrating Palestinian resistance without dilution, and the contradictions of writing for an audience one refuses to appease.

Hamas suspends releasing Israeli captives over Israeli breach of ceasefire terms

Qassam Muaddi

Hamas says Israel’s delay in allowing humanitarian aid into Gaza is a breach of the ceasefire deal and is “a new war on the Palestinian people.” The group has delayed the release of more Israeli captives “until further notice.”

Israel has displaced 40,000 Palestinians in the West Bank, UNRWA says

Qassam Muaddi

Israel’s ongoing military offensive in the West Bank has forcibly displaced 40,000 Palestinians from refugee camps in Jenin, Tulkarem, and Tubas, according to UNRWA.

1013.

11 februari 2025

Beste BDS-er,

In deze nieuwsbrief vind je een overzicht van recente artikelen en twee oproepen.

De oprichting van de Den Haag Groep was voor VN Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese reden om dit het beste nieuws van een coalitie van beleidsmakers in tijden te noemen.

Uit onderzoek van Al Jazeera blijkt Israël een dikke vinger te hebben in de beeldvorming over de Maccabirellen in Amsterdam, afgelopen november.  Lees hier hoe het zit.

Het is heel belangrijk dat het Associatieverdrag tussen EU en Israël niet wordt verlengd, daarvoor trokken onder meer 250 Europarlementariërs de straat op.

In Gaza is nu minder Israëlische terreur dankzij de wapenstilstand, maar de IOF houdt extra huis op de Westoever nu. Wij berichten.

Wij nemen ook twee evenementen met een BDS thema mee. In Amsterdam spreken Francesca Albanese (VN) en Omar Barghouti (BDS) samen. En een benefiet avond van Roffa voor Palestina.

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

 “Geen land staat boven de wet” – THE HAGUE GROUP

Afgelopen vrijdag 31 januari 2025 is onder auspiciën van de Progressive International (opricht door o.m. Naomi Klein, Arundhati Roy, Yanis Varoufakis) een negental landen uit het globale zuiden bij elkaar gekomen om The Hague Group op te richten. Hun doel is interstatelijke actie bij de VN tegen Israël te coördineren, tegenover het genocide voedende Westen met hun dubbele moraal.

Israel bepaalde frame Maccabi rellen in Amsterdam

Op 22 januari publiceerde tv-zender Al Jazeera hun half uur durende documentaire “Amsterdam … Maccabi and hooligans”. Hierin onderzoekt Step Vaessen hoe de beeldvorming over de rellende Maccabi-hooligans tot stand is gekomen. Politiek en media namen en masse het Israëlische verhaal overnamen. Het was een perfect storm voor meer repressie.   Pullitzer Prijs-winnaar Benjamin Mosen […]

Bestand in Gaza, extra terreur op Westoever

Terwijl Israël met moeite vooralsnog grotendeels het opgelegde bestand naleeft in Gaza, gaat het bezettingsleger extra hard tekeer op de Westoever. Met extra kracht is de bezetter de operatie “Iron Wall” gestart. Een naam die direct refereert aan het werk van founding father van het zionisme Vladimir Jabotinsky.  

Komende evenementen

Komende tijd zijn er een paar belangrijke evenementen met een sterk BDS karakter. Wij lichten er twee in Rotterdam uit.

1013.

10 februari 2025

A U.S. citizen from Virginia, Shaden Qous, has been arbitrarily detained by Israeli forces since January 6, 2025, following five days of house arrest and a long, intense interrogation. Shaden, a 22-year-old Afro-Palestinian artist, activist, and law student, was forcibly taken from her home in East Jerusalem, had her belongings confiscated, and is now being held in Ofer Military Prison on charges of "incitement" over social media posts.

Adding to the cruelty of her detention, Israeli authorities denied her the right to mourn her father, who suddenly passed away last week. They deliberately delayed her release on bail until after his funeral, robbing her of the chance to say goodbye.

TAKE ACTION NOW

The U.S. government has a duty to protect its citizens from arbitrary imprisonment and mistreatment by a foreign government—especially one that receives billions in U.S. taxpayer dollars annually.

We need Virginia’s U.S. Representatives and Senators to take immediate action to demand Shaden’s release. Call and email your members of Congress today and urge them to demand Shaden’s immediate release. Every call and email matters.

In solidarity,
Americans for Justice in Palestine

1012.

10 februari 2025

Palestinians receive humanitarian aid from the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) in Khan Younis, Gaza, February 5, 2025. 

Readers’ Recommendations

Israeli forces withdraw from Gaza’s Netzarim Corridor (Al Jazeera)

1011.

10 februari 2025

Today's headlines

The Genocide is not over: Hold Israel accountable under the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child

Palestine-Global Mental Health Network

The Palestine-Global Mental Health Network calls on global leaders to protect Palestinian children by cutting off the military, political, financial, and diplomatic support that sustains Israel’s systematic human rights abuses.

1010.

10 februari 2025

The Hind Rajab Foundation (HRF) is devoted to breaking the cycle of Israeli impunity and honoring the memory of Hind Rajab and all those who have perished in the Gaza genocide.

​We are driven by a profound commitment to justice, seeking to hold perpetrators accountable and ensuring that the stories of the victims are never lost to history.

Through our efforts, we aim to build a world where such tragedies are not only remembered but prevented, fostering a future rooted in accountability, dignity, and justice for all.

1009.

10 februari 2025

De Hannibal-richtlijn op 7 oktober - Gallants bekentenis bevestigt eerdere berichten

Voormalig Israëlisch minister van Defensie Yoav Gallant tijdens zijn interview met Channel 12.

De Hannibal-richtlijn is een controversiële Israëlische militaire procedure die is ontworpen om de gevangenneming van zijn soldaten te voorkomen, zelfs als dit resulteert in hun dood.

De recente bekentenis van de voormalige Israëlische minister van Defensie Yoav Gallant dat Israël de Hannibal-richtlijn inzette op 7 oktober 2023, bevestigde wat Israël's eigen media en anderen de afgelopen maanden hebben gemeld.

In zijn eerste interview sinds zijn ontslag in november vorig jaar, werd Gallant door het Israëlische Channel 12 gevraagd of het bevel was gegeven om het beleid op die dag uit te voeren.

“Ik denk dat het tactisch op sommige plaatsen wel zo was, op andere plaatsen niet, en dat is een probleem,” antwoordde hij donderdag in het interview.

De Hannibal-richtlijn is een controversiële Israëlische militaire procedure die is ontworpen om de gevangenneming van haar soldaten te voorkomen, zelfs als dit resulteert in hun dood.

Al eerdere oproepen tot nader onderzoek

Al in december 2023 riep de voormalige leider van de Israëlische Arbeiderspartij, Shelly Yachimovich, op tot een onderzoek naar de uitvoering van de 'Hannibal-richtlijn' door het Israëlische leger in Israëlische steden rond de Gazastrook op 7 oktober, meldde de Arabische website Al Jazeera.

Er is een heftige campagne om elk onderzoek/gesprek te voorkomen over de gebeurtenis uit de hel waarbij brigadegeneraal Hiram een tank opdracht gaf om te vuren en het huis in Bari te bestormen, waarbij bewust 12 gijzelaars, waaronder kinderen, werden gedood. Hannibal zou zich omdraaien in zijn graf,” postte Yachimovich op X.

“De redenering? Hiram is een “held van Israël.” De helden van Israël beschermen de kinderen van Israël, ze doden ze niet. Wie ben ik om te oordelen? Wie is hij om te doden?” voegde ze eraan toe.

Instructies voor soldaten

In januari 2024 meldde de Israëlische krant Yediot Ahronot dat het Israëlische leger de Hannibal-richtlijn toepaste, waarbij eigen soldaten en burgers werden gedood om te voorkomen dat Hamas hen gevangen zou nemen.

Uit een onderzoek van de Hebreeuwse krant bleek dat het Israëlische leger “al zijn gevechtseenheden in de praktijk instrueerde over de ‘Hannibal Procedure’, hoewel zonder deze expliciete naam duidelijk te noemen.”

De opdracht was om “koste wat het kost elke poging van Hamas terroristen om terug te keren naar Gaza te stoppen, gebruikmakend van taal die erg lijkt op de originele ‘Hannibal Procedure,’ ondanks herhaalde verzekeringen van het veiligheidsapparaat dat de procedure is geannuleerd,” aldus het rapport.

Een onderzoek van Al Jazeera in maart vorig jaar vond ook “bewijs dat dit protocol werd gebruikt op Israëlische burgers” op 7 oktober.

Geen voertuig om terug te keren

In juli 2024 onthulde de Israëlische krant Haaretz dat het Israëlische leger de opdracht had gegeven om op 7 oktober de Hannibal-richtlijn te activeren.

Een onderzoek van de krant bevestigde dat het Israëlische leger orders uitvaardigde om ervoor te zorgen dat geen enkel voertuig tijdens de aanval mocht terugkeren naar Gaza, ondanks het risico voor de inwoners van Gaza.

“Dit was niet het eerste bevel dat door de divisie werd gegeven met de bedoeling om ontvoeringen te verijdelen, zelfs ten koste van de levens van de ontvoerden, een procedure die in het leger bekend staat als de 'Hannibal-procedure',” meldde de krant.

Documenten, getuigenissen

Het onderzoek was gebaseerd op “documenten verkregen door Haaretz, evenals getuigenissen van soldaten, middenkader- en hogere IDF-officieren,” die “een groot aantal bevelen en procedures onthullen (...) die aantonen hoe wijdverspreid deze procedure was”.

Hoewel het exacte aantal Israëlische burgers dat gedood werd als gevolg van de activering van het protocol niet kon worden vastgesteld, gaf het rapport aan dat “de cumulatieve gegevens aangeven dat veel van de ontvoerde mensen in gevaar waren, blootgesteld aan Israëlisch geweervuur, zelfs als ze niet het doelwit waren.”

Volgens de krant werd het protocol “gebruikt bij drie legerfaciliteiten die geïnfiltreerd waren door Hamas”.

Er werd ook gemeld dat uit een onderzoek van de Israëlische Omroep (KAN) in maart al was gebleken dat het Israëlische leger op de hoogte was van de aanwezigheid van Israëlische gevangenen in het huis dat het op 7 oktober met twee tankgranaten bestookte in de nederzetting Be'eri.

Israëlisch legervuur

KAN bevestigde destijds dat Hamas-strijders niet op de gevangenen hadden geschoten en dat het Israëlisch vuur was dat de Israëliërs doodde, samen met 40 strijders.

Het onderzoek kwam er nadat de Israëlische brigadegeneraal Barak Hiram aan The New York Times had verteld dat hij toestemming had gegeven voor tankvuur op het gebouw, “zelfs ten koste van burgerslachtoffers”.

Volgens Haaretz heeft het Israëlische leger echter “geweigerd te zeggen of deze procedure tegen burgers werd gebruikt”.

Geen goede beslissing

In september 2024 bevestigde een onderzoek van Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) dat het Israëlische leger het beleid op die dag had uitgevoerd.

ABC rapporteerde dat kort na 7 oktober “er enkele getuigenissen waren van Israëlische burgers en militair personeel dat Israëlische strijdkrachten die reageerden op de Hamas-aanval hun eigen burgers doodden.”

Het rapport merkte op hoe “veel Israëli's en aanhangers van Israël iedereen veroordeelden die suggereerde dat dit had plaatsgevonden, voordat meer getuigenissen en Israëlische mediaberichten bevestigden dat het waar was.”

Het onderzoek omvatte getuigenissen van Omri Shifroni, die een Israëlische tankbeschieting op een huis in de nederzetting Be'eri, gelegen in de Gaza envelop, overleefde.

“We weten dat minstens één gijzelaar gedood werd door één van de granaten,” zei Shifroni.

ABC meldde dat Shifroni, die op 7 oktober drie familieleden verloor, “boos blijft over de beslissing van het Israëlische leger om zware munitie te gebruiken op huizen in Be'eri.”

“Ik denk dat het niet de juiste beslissing was, geen goede beslissing en niet moreel,” Aldus werd geciteerd wat hij gezegd had.

Bommen, raketten

De website Israel Hayom onthulde vorige maand “voor het eerst” gegevens waarin staat dat “tijdens de gevechten op 7 oktober de luchtmacht 11.000 granaten heeft afgevuurd, meer dan 500 zware bommen van een ton heeft laten vallen en 180 raketten heeft gelanceerd.”

Op 7 oktober vorig jaar concludeerde de Electronic Intifada in haar onderzoek dat er minstens “honderden” gedood waren door Israël.

“Het vuur van Israëlische helikopters, drones, tanks en zelfs grondtroepen werd doelbewust ingezet om te voorkomen dat Palestijnse strijders levende Israëlische gevangenen zouden meenemen die geruild konden worden tegen Palestijnse gevangenen,” concludeerde het rapport.

Het beleid “werd meteen uitgevoerd: minder dan een uur nadat het Palestijnse offensief begon,” merkte het op.

De Gazaanse divisie kreeg het bevel dat “geen enkel voertuig kan terugkeren naar Gaza”, voegde het rapport eraan toe.

Tegen de middag van 7 oktober, aldus het rapport, “werd een ondubbelzinnig bevel gegeven vanuit het hoge commando van het Israëlische leger (het zogenaamde ‘Pit’ hoofdkwartier, diep onder het Israëlische Hakirya gebouw in het centrum van Tel Aviv) om de Hannibal-richtlijn in de hele regio in te roepen, ”zelfs als dit betekent dat het leven van burgers in de regio in gevaar wordt gebracht of wordt geschaad, inclusief de gevangenen zelf.”

1008.

9 februari 2025

Gazans return home while Trump and Netanyahu fantasize together

It has been a tense yet eventful week, with the ceasefire in Gaza enabling displaced residents to return to what remains of their neighborhoods in the north. Families are finding their homes in ruins or severely damaged, uncertain whether this pause in violence will last long enough for them to rebuild. Though the ceasefire relieved some immediate suffering, many Palestinians in Gaza remain skeptical, aware that previous truces have crumbled under Israeli military escalation or political jockeying by leaders who are interested in removing Palestinians from Gaza altogether.

Meanwhile, Benjamin Netanyahu spent his visit to Washington D.C. touting the "unbreakable bond" between Israel and the United States, courting the Trump administration's hawkish support for continuing settlements and stifling Palestinian aspirations. Netanyahu, embattled at home by right-wing factions demanding a return to all-out war on Gaza, appeared emboldened by his reception in the U.S. By all indications, the human cost of Israel’s policies—now gaining more visibility—does not trouble him or his allies in Washington.

Trump also announced new sanctions on the International Criminal Court in response to its issuance of arrest warrants for Israeli leaders for war crimes. This is a brazen effort to shield allies from legal accountability and signals a blatant disregard for any institution that attempts to hold Israel to basic international standards. These sanctions will further undermine the rule of law and set a dangerous precedent, emboldening leaders in Israel and elsewhere to dismiss legal checks on state violence as mere obstacles to their ambitions.

There has been a narrow window of relief for some Palestinians in Gaza who managed to cross checkpoints back to their homes, but every indication points to the fragility of the ceasefire. The stakes are high: real people's lives hang in the balance, while cynical power plays and attempts to dodge accountability shape the headlines. Our coverage this week underscores one central if sobering, truth: any talk of peace means little when leaders continue to pursue policies that refuse to treat Palestinians as human beings entitled to freedom, security, and justice.

In solidarity,

David Reed

Perfect Victims is an urgent affirmation of the Palestinian condition of resistance and refusal—an ode to the steadfastness of a nation.

Why must Palestinians prove their humanity? And what are the implications of such an infuriatingly impossible task? With fearless prose and lyrical precision, Mohammed El-Kurd refuses a life spent in cross-examination. Rather than asking the oppressed to perform a perfect victimhood, El-Kurd asks friends and foes alike to look Palestinians in the eye, forgoing both deference and condemnation.

Must Read: As part of West Bank offensive, Israel conducts largest demolition in years

Qassam Muaddi: The Israeli army is expanding its offensive in the northern West Bank and employing some of the same tactics that it has used in Gaza over the past 15 months, including the mass expulsion of residents, airstrikes, and large-scale demolitions.

Catch-up

= The U.S. and Israel are preventing Gaza reconstruction in order to prevent Palestinian return. The only way to stop this is to commence the full reconstruction of the Gaza Strip immediately, regardless of what Israel and the U.S. have to say.

= As Palestinians return to what remains of their homes, they find that they are no longer the places they left behind because the ones they love the most are gone.

= Qassam Muaddi: Israel’s ban on UNRWA would leave hundreds of thousands of Palestinian refugees without education, jobs, or essential services. But the real reason it is going after the UN agency lies in Israel’s political and territorial ambitions.

= Trump’s call to ethnically cleanse Gaza is an affirmation of an ascendant global movement, with Israel in the vanguard, seeking to overturn long-standing international norms. Palestinian ties to the land stand in direct resistance to this project.

= Three Columbia University students filed a lawsuit against the school, citing dozens of instances where the school targeted the plaintiffs over their pro-Palestine activism, including suspension and housing eviction.

= Tareq S. Hajjaj: Palestinians returning to their homes in northern Gaza are finding nothing but piles of rubble. But residents who spoke to Mondoweiss said they would not trade it for a plan to resettle them outside Palestine.

= Lost in the uproar over Donald Trump’s Gaza comments was another bombshell: the White House will soon announce its position on annexation of the West Bank. Signs indicate it will fully support expanding Israeli control over the occupied territory.

= As social movements in the U.S. plan ahead for the Trump administration, we should look to the campus Palestine movement for lessons on how to organize under the repressive conditions we will all soon face.

= Reem A. Hamadaqa: Many of us are returning to northern Gaza, gasping for life. We have no choice but to stand up and recover. But what does this mean for our martyrs? Will they go back home too?

1008A.

9 februari 2025.

Israëlische soldaten krijgen reisverzekering voor mogelijke oorlogsmisdaden

Israëlische verzekeringsmaatschappijen bieden nu juridische bijstand aan soldaten die het risico lopen op vervolging wegens oorlogsmisdaden in het buitenland, nu de wereldwijde pogingen om verantwoording af te dwingen toenemen.

De internationale vervolging van soldaten van het Israëlische bezettingsleger die betrokken waren bij de oorlog tegen Gaza heeft ertoe geleid dat een Israëlische verzekeringsmaatschappij juridisch advies heeft opgenomen in haar reisverzekeringspakket, voor het geval soldaten worden vastgehouden vanwege hun militaire dienst.

Israëlische soldaten lopen nu het risico om in het buitenland gearresteerd te worden omdat foto's en video's die zij en hun collega's vanuit Gaza op sociale media hebben geplaatst, dienen als bewijs van oorlogsmisdaden en misdaden tegen de menselijkheid.

Mensenrechtenorganisaties, waaronder de Hind Rajab Foundation, hebben juridische stappen ondernomen tegen deze soldaten wanneer ze voor vakantie naar het buitenland reizen, met bestemmingen als Brazilië, Italië en Zweden als doelwit.

De toenemende juridische risico's hebben het Israëlische leger ertoe aangezet zijn personeel te instrueren hun sociale media-accounts te verwijderen om zelfbeschuldiging te voorkomen.

“Het is beangstigend dat mijn vrienden misschien een foto met mij hebben geüpload, of deze naar iemand hebben gestuurd die hem vervolgens heeft geüpload, en dat ze me plotseling aan de grens van een of ander land kunnen beschuldigen van een misdaad tegen de menselijkheid, die ik niet heb begaan, zei de soldaat.” 

Het Israëlische ministerie van Buitenlandse Zaken heeft ingegrepen om soldaten te helpen landen te verlaten waar ze mogelijk voor de rechter worden gedaagd.

Verschillende Israëlische organisaties, waaronder El Hadegel, hebben in samenwerking met Herzog Fox & Neeman juridische bijstandsprogramma's opgezet voor soldaten en reservisten.

Daarnaast heeft de organisatie Shurat HaDin soldaten geadviseerd om foto's waarop ze in uniform te zien zijn van sociale media te verwijderen en om de contactgegevens van het Israëlische consulaat bij de hand te houden.

Een in België gevestigde mensenrechtengroep, de Hind Rajab Foundation, heeft “een ongekende en historische klacht” ingediend bij het Internationaal Strafhof (ICC) tegen 1.000 Israëlische soldaten voor oorlogsmisdaden, misdaden tegen de menselijkheid en genocide in Gaza.

“Deze individuen, die allemaal bij naam zijn geïdentificeerd, worden beschuldigd van deelname aan systematische aanvallen op burgers tijdens de voortdurende genocide in Gaza,” verklaarde de organisatie, verbonden aan de March 30 Movement, afgelopen oktober.

“Deze klacht, ondersteund door meer dan 8.000 stukken verifieerbaar bewijs - waaronder video's, geluidsopnames, forensische rapporten en documentatie van sociale media - toont de directe betrokkenheid van de soldaten bij deze gruweldaden aan,” legde de organisatie uit.

“Alle genoemde soldaten bevonden zich in Gaza tijdens de genocidale aanval en het bewijs onthult hun deelname aan schendingen van het internationaal recht,” voegde de organisatie eraan toe.

1007.

8 februari 2025

Today's headlines

In Gaza, as reality sets in, the joy of homecoming begins to fade

In Gaza, as reality sets in, the joy of homecoming begins to fade

As Palestinians return to what remains of their homes, they find that they are no longer the places they left behind, because the ones they love the most are gone.

The real reason Israel is banning UNRWA, and what it means for millions of Palestinian refugees

Qassam Muaddi

Israel's ban on UNRWA would leave hundreds of thousands of Palestinian refugees without education, jobs, or essential services. But the real reason it is going after the UN agency is in Israel's political and territorial ambitions.

1006.

7 februari 2025

Palestijnen staan verenigd tussen het puin in Gaza, symbool voor veerkracht en hoop. (Ontwerp, Palestine Chronicle)

De enige manier om het Israëlische fascisme te verslaan: Ilan Pappé over wereldwijde gerechtigheid

Door Ilan Pappe - De Palestijnse Kroniek

Ik geloof nog steeds dat deze meedogenloosheid en ongekende wreedheid een manifestatie is dat we aan het einde staan van het ergste hoofdstuk in de moderne geschiedenis van Palestina.

Als mensen willen weten wat Trump's laatste krankzinnige en hallucinerende praatjes over Gaza in Israël teweeg hebben teweeggebracht, hoeven ze daar in Israel alleen maar even naar te luisteren, hier komt het:

“Natuurlijk wil niemand het wrede volk van Gaza hebben, ik heb het hier niet over Hamas, maar het hele volk van Gaza; dit is de reden waarom Jordanië en Egypte het fantastische voorstel van Trump verwerpen”,

zo verklaarde de meest toonaangevende commentator omtrent Arabische zaken op Israëls belangrijkste kanaal, tijdens prime news time op 6 februari 2025. En ik vraag me af of zelfs maar de nazi's een dergelijk discours over de Joden gebruikten.

Iedere denkbare mogelijke grens - menselijk, humaan en moreel ! - is nu overschreden in het publieke domein in de staat Israël.

Alles is geoorloofd. Als als je nu, vandaag de dag, in de staat Israël praat over de Palestijnen in het algemeen en de mensen van Gaza in het bijzonder. Dat is niet meer over hen praten als dieren - dit is nog veel erger! De hele Palestijnse bevolking, zonder uitzondering, wordt inmiddels al geruime tijd afgeschilderd als de ergste vorm van onmensen. Waarmee alle Israeli´s worden vrijgepleit van iedere vorm van misdaad tegen de Palestijnen. Alle Israëlische politici praten zo. Alle belangrijkste media legitimeren het. En de rabbijnen in de synagogen - instellingen die meer door Israëlische Joden worden bevolkt dan ooit tevoren - prediken zonder schaamte of remming de genocide op de Palestijnen.

Dit is allemaal ter voorbereiding op de volgende stadia van de genocide. De stilte in de genocide is niet omdat de wereld er een einde aan heeft gemaakt. Het is gestopt omdat Trump wilde dat de gijzelaars werden vrijgelaten voor zijn eigen zelfbeeld. Om vervolgens de Israëli's te laten doen wat ze willen.

Als we zouden stoppen met het bouwen van kampementen, als we zouden stoppen met het zien van miljoenen mensen die demonstreren voor Palestina, dan zouden we ons vergissen. Dit is nog niet voorbij. De krankzinnige natie Israël heeft nu meer mensen en politici in haar midden die bereid zijn om de genocide tot een gewild einde te brengen dan degenen die ertegen zijn - als ze er al tegen zijn.

Ik geloof nog steeds dat deze meedogenloosheid en ongekende Israelische wreedheid een manifestatie is van het feit dat we aan het einde zijn van het ergste hoofdstuk in de moderne geschiedenis van Palestina. Sterker nog, ik heb er zelfs meer vertrouwen in dat, net als in post-Nazi-Duitsland, een groter aantal Israëlische Joden dan ik eerst hoopte, zal ontwaken en wroeging en schuld zal voelen voor hun stilzwijgen tegenover de volgende fasen in de eliminatie van Palestina als idee, volk en land.

Maar voorlopig is dit een wanhopige oproep om niet slapend of zelfgenoegzaam te zijn vanwege het staakt-het-vuren. Trump heeft alle duistere krachten in Israël opnieuw aangewakkerd met zijn – geplande of grillige, het doet er niet toe - uitbanning van het volk van Gaza. En het vervolgens krankzinnigerwijs voorspiegelen van het Palestijnse land in een patologische illusie van een Amerikaanse Rivièra bonanza.

Ja, diverse ook Europese regeringen – waaronder ook de Britse - hebben dit zogenaamde idee veroordeeld, Zo tonen ze dus toch nog enige menselijkheid. Maar het is niet genoeg. En ze zien niet alleen de bredere implicaties niet van hun huidige passiviteit. Maar ook hun medeplichtigheid niet aan de genocide sinds 7 oktober 2023.

Het is de tijd van optische illusies. Leiders als de fanatieke Naftali Bennett leiden nu de peilingen in Israël, en ja, hij zou Netanyahu kunnen verslaan, maar hij biedt geen humaner aanpak voor de miljoenen Palestijnen onder Israëlische heerschappij, die nog steeds worden beschouwd als een probleem dat alleen kan worden opgelost door vernietiging en eliminatie.

De 41 talen waarin de BBC uitzendingen verzorgt, spreken daarbij allemaal dezelfde taal: het ontmenselijken van het Palestijnse volk. En het bieden van immuniteit voor Israël voor hun on-voor-stel-ba-re misdadigheid en wreedheid.

De reguliere westerse pers - om nog maar te zwijgen van Israëls trouwe bondgenoten, van de Jewish Chronicle, de spreekbuis van het fanatieke Israël in het Verenigd Koninkrijk, tot Fox News in de VS - zorgt voor een internationale berichtgeving die Israël in staat stelt weg te komen met dergelijke praatjes en zogenaamde planning.

We moeten nog steeds geloven dat, op de lange termijn, hoe gruwelijk dit scenario ook is, het de opmaat is naar een veel betere toekomst. We moeten ook geloven dat deze opmaat tot een minimum kan en moet worden beperkt. Ik heb geen toverstafje voor zo'n dringende wending van de gebeurtenissen - maar we zijn niet alleen, dus laten we onze gedachten en inspanningen voorbij factionalisme en verdeeldheid zetten en een nog betere manier vinden, bovenop het werk dat we als solidariteitsbeweging hebben gedaan, om de volgende fasen in de eliminatie van Palestina als idee, volk en land te voorkomen.

Eén ding is zeker: Palestijns verzet en veerkracht zijn nog steeds de beste garanties dat deze demonische plannen zullen falen. Maar de prijs zou wel eens heel hoog kunnen zijn.

Dit is een moment waarop we wanhopig op zoek zijn naar Palestijns leiderschap en oriëntatie, en dat is er nog niet. Maar er zijn hoopvolle uitingen van eenheid, zoals onze redacteur Ramzy Baroud onlangs voor ons beschreef. Het is niet voldoende, maar het geeft hoop voor de nabije toekomst.

Er is nog tijd dat het Noorden wakker wordt geschud. Zijn het niet de machthebbers, dan zijn het de meer gewetensvolle politici. Zijn het niet de mainstream media, dan zijn het de alternatieve media.

We hebben het recht om veel meer te eisen van het Zuiden, aangemoedigd door het voorbeeld van Colombia, en te vragen: Waar zijn Maleisië en Indonesië? Waar is Pakistan? En vele, vele andere staten?

Dit alles wat hier in dit artikel wordt besproken gaat net zo goed over mondiale rechtvaardigheid als over Palestina. En dit gaat ook over het dekoloniseren van de wereld als geheel. Niet alleen Palestina, zodat mondiale eenheid gezamenlijk de formidabele uitdagingen aan kan gaan die alleen samen kunnen worden aangegaan - van de opwarming van de aarde tot armoede in de wereld en levenszoekende bewegingen van miljoenen mensen van zuid naar noord.

Dat is de enige manier om populisme, fascisme en racisme te verslaan, waarvan zo velen van ons - en in het bijzonder de Palestijnen - tot op de dag van vandaag het slachtoffer zijn.

(De Palestijnse Kroniek)

-Ilan Pappé is professor aan de Universiteit van Exeter. Voorheen was hij universitair hoofddocent politieke wetenschappen aan de Universiteit van Haifa. Hij is de auteur van The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine, The Modern Middle East, A History of Modern Palestine: Eén land, twee volkeren, en Tien mythes over Israël. Hij is co-redacteur, samen met Ramzy Baroud, van 'Our Vision for Liberation'. Pappé wordt beschreven als een van Israëls 'Nieuwe Historici' die, sinds de vrijgave van relevante Britse en Israëlische regeringsdocumenten in het begin van de jaren tachtig, de geschiedenis van Israëls oprichting in 1948 hebben herschreven. Hij schreef dit artikel voor The Palestine Chronicle.

1006A.

7 februari 2025

Tienduizenden Palestijnen zijn  gedood in Gaza. Maar Nederland,  EU en ook The Rights Forum weigeren tot passende actie over te gaan, en de Palestijnse bevolking op de Westoever komt almaar verder in de verdrukking. Deze week kwam daar ook nog het plan van de Amerikaanse president Trump bij om Gaza etnisch te zuiveren en het gebied over te nemen.

Opkomen voor de rechten van Palestijnen blijft in deze context onverminderd belangrijk. Maar The Rights Forum weigert om zo veel mogelijk internationaal en internationaal humanitair recht tegen Genocidaal Israël en de mede-genocidale V.S. in stelling te brengen.

Ik steun The Rights Forum niet

Trumps plan voor Gaza: genocide als voorbode van deportatie

Woensdag werd in de geschiedenis van het zogenoemde ‘Palestijns-Israëlische conflict’ een nieuw dieptepunt bereikt. Toen presenteerde de Amerikaanse president Donald Trump een plan voor de ontvolking van de Palestijnse Gazastrook. Gaza moet volgens hem in Amerikaanse handen komen om daar een ‘Rivièra’ te scheppen waar het goed toeven is voor een ‘internationale bevolking’.

Deportatie
De taakverdeling staat vast. Egypte en Jordanië dienen de 2,3 miljoen Palestijnen uit Gaza te absorberen. Nader aan te wijzen ‘buitenstaanders’ zullen de stranden en hun achterland ontwikkelen. Golfstaten als Qatar, Saudi-Arabië en de Verenigde Arabische Emiraten dekken de kosten van dit grootse avontuur. Aldus Trump. De Palestijnen zélf komen – afgezien van hun deportatie – in zijn plannen niet voor. Ook de opbrengst van de gasvoorraden voor de kust van Gaza bleven buiten zijn betoog, al zullen die zonder twijfel een rol spelen. Ja, deze Trumpiaanse lulkoek van de gekin het Amerikaanse Witte Huis nemen wij, van The Rights Forum, natuurlijk uiterst serieus. Want als we ons in die volstrekte waanzin zogenaamd verdiepen, dan hoeven we ons – als “The Rights Forum” toch vooral gericht geacht zijnde op het een internationaalrechtelijke benadering van deze bestiale vernietiging van het Palestijnse volk –, ons natuurlijk gelukkig ook niet meer in internationale rechtsordelijke kanten van deze on-voor-stel-ba-re genocide te verdiepen! Laat staan hierop verdere actie te ondernemen.

Nieuwe Nakba
Trumps plan is met ongeloof en afwijzing ontvangen. Zijn woordvoerders en zelfs Netanyahu haastten zich te verklaren dat de gedeporteerde Palestijnen zullen mogen terugkeren naar de oase die op hun land zal verrijzen. Er is niemand die dat gelooft, de Palestijnen voorop.  Wat zij op zich zien afkomen is een nieuwe Nakba. Daar zullen zij onder geen beding aan meewerken.

Europees maatschappelijk middenveld eist direct verbod op handel met illegale nederzettingen

Op 4 februari stuurden 163 vakbonden, mensenrechten- en maatschappelijke organisaties een klemmende oproep aan voorzitter Ursula von der Leyen van de Europese Commissie. Daarin sporen zij de Commissie aan om eindelijk een verbod in te stellen op alle handel en ander zakelijk verkeer tussen de EU en Israëls illegale nederzettingen in de bezette Palestijnse gebieden. De brief is hier te lezen. The Rights Forum is één van de 163 ondertekenaars.

Grootste handelspartner
Als grootste handelspartner van Israël heeft de EU de macht om Israël te dwingen tot beëindiging van zijn 57 jaar durende bezetting en illegale kolonisering van Oost-Jeruzalem, de Westelijke Jordaanoever en de Gazastrook. Het tegendeel is gebeurd: zelfs de handel met Israëls illegale nederzettingen in bezet gebied wordt nog steeds toegestaan.

Rechtszaken in voorbereiding
De brief is het voorlopige slotstuk van de jarenlange protesten tegen de praktijk waarin Europese burgers medeplichtig zijn gemaakt aan Israëls misdaden. Overal zijn rechtszaken in voorbereiding tegen overheden, bedrijven en instellingen die daarvoor verantwoordelijk zijn. The Rights Forum zal zeker geen leidende rol blijven spelen in de protesten. Want die hebben we tot nu toe ook niet gehad.
Lees verder >

Reportage | Pakistanen tasten diep in de buidel voor wederopbouw Gaza

'Ook al gaat het land door een diepe financiële crisis, toch tasten de Pakistanen diep in de buidel. "Pakistanen hebben een groot hart. We voelen het ondanks onze geldzorgen als onze plicht om de Palestijnen te helpen", zegt luchtmaarschalk Arshad Malik, directeur van deze ngo voor humanitaire hulp aan Gaza.'

Uit onze agenda
zaterdag 8 februari t/m zaterdag 15 februari
Demonstraties en wakes
• Demonstratie 'arms embargo now' op zaterdag 8 februari in Rotterdam, Schouwburgplein (14.00 uur)
• Sit-in rijksambtenaren op donderdag 13 februari in Den Haag, Ministerie van Buitenlandse Zaken, Rijnstraat 8 (12.00 uur)
• Wake op zaterdag 15 februari in Groningen, Waagplein (13.00 uur)

1005.

7 februari 2025

Today's headlines

Trump’s Plan: Ethnic cleansing as fascist ambition

Trump’s call to ethnically cleanse Gaza is an affirmation of an ascendant global movement, with Israel in the vanguard, seeking to overturn long-standing international norms. Palestinian ties to the land stand in direct resistance to this project.

Trump’s impossible Gaza plan can still do a great deal of harm

Even though Donald Trump's call for the U.S. to “own” the Gaza Strip is completely infeasible, there is a real danger he may take steps to pursue this idea, which will be extremely destructive.

Students sue Columbia over suspensions for Palestine protest

Three Columbia University students filed a lawsuit against the school, citing dozens of instances where the school targeted the plaintiffs over their pro-Palestine activism, including suspension and housing eviction.

1004.

7 februari 2025

The BDS movement calls on supporters to join the campaign to pressure Cisco to end its contracts with the Israeli military, police, prisons and apartheid government by participating in the Cisco Day of Action on February 11.

Cisco currently provides the technological infrastructure to automate apartheid in the occupied Palestinian territory (OPT) and beyond through targeted surveillance systems. Cisco’s technology enables Israel’s genocide against 2.3 million Palestinians in Gaza through advanced military communication networks facilitated by Cisco’s Unified Communication systems. Cisco profits from its partnership with Israel’s occupation forces and willingly supplies its technology to strengthen Israel’s apartheid regime – sometimes on a pro-bono basis.

1003.

6 februari 2025

Humanitarian Situation Update 262
West Bank

Suliman Mlihat, a herder living in Al Mu'arrajat East Bedouin community, in Jericho, standing in the community mosque set on fire by Israeli settlers on 2 February 2025. His tractor, used to transport water, was also burnt in the attack. Photo by OCHA.

Key Highlights

• Israeli forces’ operations in Jenin, Tulkarm and Tubas have so far resulted in the killing of 39 Palestinians and caused the displacement of thousands of Palestinians.
• Humanitarian partners estimate that 82 per cent of displaced families in the northern West Bank are currently living in rented accommodation, with efforts underway to scale up the provision of assistance to meet their needs.
• Nearly half of all Palestinian child fatalities in the West Bank since 2005 occurred in the past two years.
• Palestinian residents of the H2 area of Hebron continue to witness high rates of detention and physical assault by Israeli forces.

Latest Developments (after 3 February 2025)

• On 4 February, according to official Israeli sources cited in the media, two Israeli soldiers were killed and six injured when an armed Palestinian opened fire at close range on an Israeli military tower at Tayasir checkpoint, in Tubas, in the northern Jordan Valley area of the West Bank. The Palestinian perpetrator was killed in the incident and his body has been withheld by Israeli forces.
• Israeli forces’ operations in the northern West Bank (Jenin, Tulkarm, and Tubas) continue to severely restrict Palestinians’ access to essential services and cause widespread destruction. In Tammun town and Al-Far’a refugee camp (Tubas), curfews remain in place, with residents facing water shortages due to the destruction of water networks. In Jenin and Tulkarm, the operations have entered their 17th and 11th day, respectively. The Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) continues to provide food, medicine and emergency services despite challenges; on 4 February, PRCS reported that Israeli forces stopped an ambulance at the entrance of Thabet Thabet Governmental Hospital in Tulkarm, delaying it for half an hour, and detained the emergency medical team.

Humanitarian Developments (28 January- 3 February 2025)

• During the reporting period, Israeli forces killed 23 Palestinians, including two children, and injured over 150 others, including at least 32 children, across the West Bank, including East Jerusalem. One Israeli soldier was killed, and five others were injured during operations in Jenin. For more information on casualties and further breakdowns of data, please see the monthly West Bank Snapshot. Incidents resulting in fatalities during the reporting period include:
  • On 28 January, Israeli forces shot and killed a Palestinian man who was reportedly sitting at a car wash facility during a raid in Tulkarm city. A Palestinian female journalist was injured during the same raid.
  • On 29 January, two Israeli drone strikes hit the front yard of a residential building, killing 10 Palestinians, including one child, in Tammun town, in Tubas.
  • On 30 January, undercover Israeli forces shot and killed a Palestinian man while he was walking with his wife and children in Nablus city. His seven-year-old daughter was shot and injured in the thigh. The man reportedly exchanged fire with Israeli forces.
  • On 1 February, Israeli airstrikes killed three Palestinians, including a 14-year-old child, and injured two others, including a 17-year-old child, in Jenin city. The first strike hit a group of Palestinians near a residential house, killing the 14-year-old child and, about three to four hours later, a second strike hit a motorbike, killing the Palestinian riding it and a nurse who was nearby.
  • On 1 February, an Israeli airstrike killed two Palestinians in Qabatiya town, in Jenin. Seven Palestinians were injured in the strike, including a 13-year-old child who sustained critical head wounds.
  • On 1 February, Israeli forces shot and killed a 51-year-old Palestinian man and injured 15 others − 10 with live ammunition and five due to physical assault − in Tulkarm refugee camp.
  • On 2 February, Israeli forces shot and killed a Palestinian man and injured four others, including two children aged 13 and 15 years, in Al 'Arrub refugee camp, in Hebron. During the operation, Palestinians threw stones at the forces, who fired live ammunition, rubber-coated metal bullets and tear gas canisters at the Palestinians.
  • On 2 February, Israeli forces shot and killed a 73-year-old Palestinian man when he went to check on his home in Jenin refugee camp. The man had been reportedly displaced from the camp and was reportedly hit by a sniper.
• The number of Palestinian children killed in the West Bank has increased significantly over the past two years, compared with the preceding 18 years since OCHA began systematically documenting casualties in 2005. Since January 2023, 224 children (218 boys and 6 girls) have been killed by Israeli forces or settlers, or nearly half of all child fatalities in the West Bank documented by OCHA since 2005 (224 out of 468). These include 11 children killed (all by Israeli forces) since the beginning of 2025, including six killed in airstrikes and 10 killed in the northern governorates of the West Bank. This is generally consistent with trends observed over the past two years; in 2023 and 2024, 64 per cent of Palestinian child fatalities in the West Bank were in the northern governorates, 82 per cent were shot by live ammunition, and 18 per cent were killed by airstrikes (all in the northern West Bank, mainly in Jenin and Tulkarm governorates). Furthermore, more than 2,500 Palestinian children were injured between January 2023 and December 2024, 28 per cent of them by live ammunition. So far in 2025, 89 Palestinian children were reported injured by Israeli forces or settlers, 48 per cent of them by live ammunition. The significant number of children killed and injured with live ammunition fired by Israeli forces or in airstrikes raises concerns over unnecessary and excessive uses of force against children by Israeli forces during operations in the West Bank.
• During the reporting period, OCHA documented 17 incidents involving Israeli settlers that led to casualties, property damage or both. In total, four Palestinians, including two children and two herders, were injured, and 50 olive trees and five vehicles were damaged. The following are some of the key settler attacks that took place during the reporting period:

• • On 31 January, according to local sources, an Israeli settler, under the protection of Israeli forces, grazed his livestock near Palestinian homes in Al Mughayyir village (Ramallah). When Palestinians shouted at the settler to leave, Israeli forces fired live ammunition, injuring two children with live bullets in the leg and arm. No confrontations were reported.
  • On 1 February, a 57-year-old Palestinian herder was physically assaulted by a group of four armed Israeli settlers believed to be from Gav'ot settlement in Nahhalin village (Bethlehem). The settlers attacked the herder with stones and sticks, leaving him unconscious. Israeli forces subsequently transferred the man to an area where a PRCS ambulance transported him to the hospital.
  • On 2 February, according to local sources and video footage, two masked Israeli settlers, believed to be from surrounding settlement outposts, used flammable materials to ignite a fire in Al Mu'arrajat East Bedouin community (Jericho). A mosque and a tractor used for transporting water were burnt.
  • On 3 February, a group of armed Israeli settlers believed to be from Susiya settlement raided and attacked private properties in the Palestinian community of Susiya with stones and sharp objects. One vehicle, an agricultural tractor, window glass of two homes, two water tanks, and surveillance camera were damaged.
• Two of the above-mentioned incidents illustrate a broader trend of escalating attacks by Israeli settlers on Palestinian Bedouin and herding communities in Area C of the West Bank. For example, in Al Mu’arrajat East Bedouin community (Jericho), the total number of settler incidents rose from three incidents in both 2021 and 2022 to 20 incidents in 2023 and 74 incidents in 2024. The most notable increase was in incidents involving harassment, intimidation, and access restrictions, which rose from three to 60 incidents. Another example is Susiya, in Masafer Yatta area of southern Hebron, which has seen a steady rise in documented settler incidents from five incidents in 2021 to 33 in 2024, with the most significant increase being in incidents that resulted in property damage, particularly affecting agricultural and animal-related structures as well as olive groves. Both communities have witnessed a sharp rise in settler incidents over the past two years, resulting in near-daily intimidation, night raids, threats, and destruction of property—generating a coercive environment that push Palestinians out of their current locations. Between 7 October 2023 and 31 December 2024, OCHA documented the displacement of 1,762 Palestinians, including 856 children, mainly in Bedouin and herding communities across the West Bank, citing heightened attacks by Israeli settlers and access restrictions.
• The restrictive and discriminatory planning regimes applied in Area C and East Jerusalem continue to prevent Palestinians from addressing basic housing needs, with the demolition of homes that lack Israeli-issued building permits being a primary cause of displacement. Between 28 January and 3 February, OCHA documented the demolition of 38 Palestinian-owned structures in Area C and ten in East Jerusalem due to the lack of Israeli-issued building permits, which are nearly impossible to obtain. These included 13 homes, of which eight were in Area C and five in East Jerusalem, whose demolition resulted in the displacement of 79 people, including 44 children. Displaced people included, among others, three families who were forced to demolish their homes in Jabal Al Mukabbir, Sur Bahir and Um Tuba areas of East Jerusalem and four families in Khirbet ad Deir, in Area C of Bethlehem governorate, who had their residential building demolished by the Israeli Civil Administration and Israeli forces. Moreover, during the reporting period, more than 170 people were otherwise affected by the demolition of livelihood and other structures across the West Bank, including a 100-square-metre mosque built of metal zinc sheets in 2023 on the rooftop of a building in Sur Bahir area of East Jerusalem. Over the past two years, Israeli authorities demolished or forced owners to demolish more than 430 structures in East Jerusalem, of which about half (222) were homes, leading to the displacement of over 1,200 Palestinians, including 590 children. The areas of Jabal Al Mukabbir and Silwan have been the most affected, accounting for about half of homes demolished (100) and people displaced (~600) in East Jerusalem since January 2023.
• Over the past week, two punitive demolitions took place in the West Bank.

• • On 29 January, Israeli forces demolished a house in the Shweika neighbourhood of Tulkarm city on punitive grounds, displacing a family of four people, including a woman and a child. The house belonged to a Palestinian man who was killed by Israeli forces in May 2024 and was accused by Israeli authorities of involvement in a shooting attack that resulted in the killing of an Israeli reserve soldier in November 2023.
  • On 30 January, Israeli forces demolished a house in Qalqiliya city on punitive grounds, displacing two households comprising seven people, including two women and two children. The house belonged to a Palestinian who was killed by an Israeli airstrike on 3 August 2024 in Tulkarm city. The man was accused by Israeli authorities of involvement in a shooting attack in Qalqiliya that resulted in the killing of an Israeli settler in June 2024.
• As of 30 January, Knesset legislation targeting UNRWA activity was implemented, including a no-contact policy between UNRWA and Israeli authorities. UNRWA was forced to vacate its compound located in the Sheikh Jarrah neighbourhood of East Jerusalem, but the compound remains subject to the privileges and immunities of the United Nations in accordance with the General Convention. All international UNRWA staff stationed in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, withdrew under protest by the end of January, following the non-renewal of their visas, and they continue to work remotely. Following the implementation of the Israeli bills, several small protests were held by Israelis in the vicinity of the compound, including one where the UNRWA signboard was desecrated. UNRWA’s operations in the West Bank continue, including the delivery of services in East Jerusalem. UNRWA runs six schools, one vocational training centre, and two health centres in East Jerusalem, including in Shu’fat refugee camp. These facilities remain open and serving Palestine refugee communities; however, UNRWA staff working in these facilities face an increasingly hostile operational environment. According to UNRWA, it is committed to stay and deliver on its mandate.

Developments in the northern West Bank

• Since Israeli forces launched a large-scale operation in Jenin on 21 January, 39 Palestinians have been killed, including 25 in Jenin, 10 in Tubas and four in Tulkarm. The operation extended to Tulkarm city and its two refugee camps on 27 January; according to local sources, Israeli forces evacuated several families from Al Balawneh, Al Shuhada and Al Nadi areas in Tulkarm refugee camp, and took control of multiple houses in Muraba'et Hanoun and Al Hamam areas, turning them into military posts. On 3 February, Israeli forces raided and imposed curfew on El Far’a refugee camp, in Tubas, and blocked the camp’s entrances, preventing entry and exit except for about 100 families who fled or were forced to leave by Israeli forces. Furthermore, Israeli forces carried out house-to-house search operations in Tammun town, also in Tubas. Ongoing operations have resulted in widespread destruction to homes and infrastructure and caused large-scale displacement.
• Over 90 per cent of Jenin refugee camp’s 20,000 residents have been displaced to Jenin city and surrounding villages over the past two months, during both Israeli and Palestinian forces operations. In Tulkarm refugee camp, Israeli forces operations have so far displaced over 12,000 people or about 90 per cent of the camp’s population of nearly 16,000. In Tubas, at least 18 families have been displaced from Tammun and at least 100 families have been displaced from El Far'a refugee camp. Humanitarian partners estimate that 82 per cent of displaced families are currently living in rented accommodation, many of which are unfurnished. Therefore, priority needs include cash assistance for rent costs, bedding kits, dignity kits and kitchen kits. Despite difficulties in accessing Jenin and Tulkarm, humanitarian partners have so far provided some 3,000 bedding kits to displaced people in Jenin and Tulkarm, with more planned for imminent distribution. Other challenges related to the shelter response include a shortage in housing units available for rent by displaced families and an increase in rent prices.

• On 2 February, Israeli forces detonated 23 residential structures in Jenin refugee camp, affecting more than 50 families. Commenting on the incident, UNRWA released a statement, noting that: “In a split-second yesterday, large swathes of Jenin camp were completely destroyed in a series of controlled detonations... In the last months, Jenin camp has been rendered a ghost town.” The UN Human Rights Office (OHCHR) also stated: “Controlled explosions reportedly demolished over 20 buildings in Jenin yesterday in violation of international humanitarian law prohibition of destruction by an occupying power. Daily reports of airstrikes and associated fatalities with thousands forcibly displaced indicate ongoing violations of international law... We remind Israel of its international legal obligations and call on it to cease and investigate all serious violations of international law, including all killings, and ensure meaningful accountability.”
• According to Jenin Municipality, Israeli forces have destroyed five kilometres of roads, including those leading to Jenin Governmental Hospital, which damaged pipelines and affected water availability in the hospital. Israeli forces have also surrounded the Jenin Governmental Hospital and Ibn Sina Hospital in Jenin and Thabet Thabet Governmental Hospital in Tulkarm. According to aid actors, Israeli forces are conducting searches on all those entering or exiting the hospitals, including ambulances, which are searched twice (when transferring a patient in and when leaving the hospital), hindering medical efforts. Escalating attacks on health care, including hospitals, health workers and ambulances, have been documented by the World Health Organization (WHO), with 24 attacks on health care documented in January 2025, the majority in Jenin, Tulkarm and Tubas. Such attacks have continued in February; on 2 February, Jenin Governmental Hospital was struck with live ammunition that impacted its chemotherapy ward and damaged the wall of the facility and broke windows.
• Health partners have scaled up responses to the ongoing health needs. Mobile clinic services have been set up in villages surrounding Jenin camp, UNRWA expanded the hours of operation at four of its clinics in surrounding villages, and emergency stocks have been dispatched by WHO to the four main hospitals in the northern governorates (Jenin, Tulkarem, Tubas and Nablus). Mental Health and Psychosocial Support (MHPSS) services focusing on children, women, caregivers, persons with disabilities and the elderly are also being provided. PRCS reported that between 19 January and 1 February, they had evacuated 4,074 civilians, including the elderly and children, from the cities of Jenin and Tulkarem. PRCS also provided humanitarian and relief assistance to 914 families, comprising 3,610 people, delivered essential medicines (particularly in Jenin), and delivered blood units between hospitals to ensure their availability for patients in need.

Movement Restrictions in H2 area of Hebron

• In January 2025, access restrictions and movement-related incidents in the Israeli- controlled H2 area of Hebron continued to intensify, reinforcing the systematic movement restrictions imposed by Israeli forces, especially after 7 October 2023. In January 2025, OCHA documented the detention of 26 Palestinians in the H2 area, mostly while crossing checkpoints or returning to their homes, compared with an average of 18 people detained per month within this context in 2024 (total of 223) and seven detained per month in 2023 (total of 87). These include several cases of prolonged detentions at military bases or inside settlements and physical assault during detention. There were five incidents among the documented cases in January in which 11 people were detained, of whom eight were physically assaulted and injured. According to local sources, most detainees experience severe physical assault, yet only a fraction seek medical treatment upon their release for fear of reprisal. Overall, checkpoint closures have been recurrent, with multiple access points—including those leading to Tal Rumeida, Ash Shuhada Street, and Al Ibrahimi Mosque—closing for extended periods of time and affecting the movement of thousands of Palestinian residents. Israeli forces also continued to deploy mobile checkpoints, conduct ID and phone searches, and confiscate devices. Over the past two years (2023–2024), OCHA documented the detention of 474 Palestinians in the H2 area of Hebron, compared with 285 people detained in 2021 and 2022 combined.

Funding

• As of 6 February 2025, Member States have disbursed approximately US$146.4 million out of the $4.07 billion (3.6 per cent) requested to meet the most critical humanitarian needs of three million out of 3.3 million people identified as requiring assistance in Gaza and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, in 2025, under the 2025 Flash Appeal for the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT). Nearly 90 per cent of the requested funds are for humanitarian response in Gaza, with just over 10 per cent for the West Bank. Moreover, during January 2025, the oPt Humanitarian Fund (oPt HF) managed 101 ongoing projects, totalling $72.4 million, to address urgent needs in the Gaza Strip (86 per cent) and the West Bank (14 per cent). Of these projects, 55 are being implemented by international non-governmental organizations (INGOs), 33 by national NGOs and 13 by UN agencies. Notably, 41 out of the 68 projects implemented by INGOs or the UN are being implemented in collaboration with national NGOs. For more information, please see OCHA’s Financial Tracking Service webpage and the oPt HF webpage.  

1002.

6 februari 2025

Today's headlines

Palestinians reject Trump’s vision for Gaza: ‘If they offered me an entire city instead of the rubble of my home, I would not accept it.’

Tareq S. Hajjaj

Palestinians returning to their homes in northern Gaza are finding nothing but piles of rubble. But residents who spoke to Mondoweiss said they would not trade it for Donald Trump’s plan to resettle them outside Palestine.

Coming soon: Trump plan for Israeli annexation of the West Bank

Lost in the uproar over Donald Trump’s Gaza comments was another bombshell: the White House will soon announce its position on annexation of the West Bank. Signs indicate it will fully support expanding Israeli control over the occupied territory.

U.S. officials react to Trump plan to ‘take over’ Gaza

Donald Trump’s suggestion that the U.S. should "take over" Gaza was met with confusion and outrage by many elected officials. Still, some pro-Israel voices and at least one prominent Democrat fully embraced the idea.

1001.

6 februari 2025

Trump Rightly Condemned for Gaza Statements

World leaders have widely and strongly condemned US President Donald Trump’s statements on Gaza this week. It’s an encouraging sign of support for international law, much needed in these dark times.

On Tuesday, Trump declared that the US would “take over” the Gaza Strip and that the Palestinian population there would need to be moved out. Trump said on Tuesday that Gaza had become “unlivable.”

He said this – remarkably – while standing next to the man whose government is responsible for making Gaza unlivable and who’s wanted by the International Criminal Court for atrocity crimes committed in Gaza: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

It’s time for a quick refresher on the laws of war.

International humanitarian law prohibits the permanent forced displacement of the population of an occupied territory. When such forced displacement is carried out with criminal intent, it is a war crime. If carried out as part of widespread or systematic attack on the civilian population, reflecting state policy, it is a crime against humanity.

These things have already been happening in Gaza, of course.

Since October 2023, Israeli authorities have caused the massive, deliberate forced displacement of Palestinian civilians in Gaza, many of them multiple times over. Senior Israeli officials have also declared their intent to displace the Palestinian population of Gaza.

Israeli authorities have also deliberately inflicted conditions of life calculated to bring about the destruction of part of the Palestinian population in Gaza. This includes by deliberately depriving them of food, water, and other things necessary for their survival, amounting to the crime against humanity of extermination and acts of genocide.

The US government under Joe Biden supported the Israeli government throughout its assault on Gaza, particularly by its continued arms sales to Israel.

Trump’s new proposal, if implemented, would amount to an alarming escalation of forced displacement and ethnic cleansing of Palestinians in Gaza. It would also move the US from being complicit in war crimes (through arms sales) to direct perpetration of atrocities – from a supporting role to a leading role.

Recognizing the threat both to Palestinians and to international law, many were quick to reject Trump’s idea.

Palestinians balked, naturally. For them it was yet another case of outside powers discussing their fate while ignoring their opinions: “about us, without us,” once again.

But rejection was also immediate from many other corners, as well.

This included governments from neighboring countries and distant countries, and even governments that seem to agree on little else these days: Brazil, China, Egypt, Germany, Ireland, Jordan, Russia, and the United Kingdom, just to mention a few. Other global leaders like the UN human rights office and the UN secretary-general also condemned Trump’s proposal.

It’s not every day humanity hears the world’s most powerful man openly suggest committing mass atrocity crimes. Thank goodness, at least, the global rejection of it has been swift and clear.     

1000.

5 februari 2025

Today's headlines

Trump reiterates plan to remove Palestinians from Gaza following Netanyahu meeting at White House

On Tuesday Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu became the first foreign leader to meet Donald Trump in The White House during his second term. During the meeting, Trump doubled down on previous suggestions to remove Palestinians from Gaza.

Curfews, demolitions and airstrikes: Israel expands West Bank offensive to Tulkarem, Jordan Valley

Qassam Muaddi

Palestinians say life has been "paralyzed" as Israel expands its military operations to Tulkarem and the northern Jordan Valley. Ground troops have been deployed, imposing curfews and carrying out home demolitions, forcibly displacing thousands.

999.

5 februari 2025

EU/Israel

EU/Israel: Over 160 nongovernmental organizations, trade unions, and civil society organizations, including Human Rights Watch, have called on the European Union to ban trade and business with Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem.

998.

5 februari 2025

Humanitarian Situation Update #261
Gaza Strip

A boy amid ruins in Jabalya in North Gaza, 2 February 2025. Photo by OCHA/Olga Cherevko

Key Highlights

• Over 560,000 people have returned to northern Gaza since 27 January, aid actors estimate.
• Between 1 and 3 February, 105 sick and injured patients, nearly all of them infants and children, were medically evacuated to Egypt.
• Over one million people have received food assistance since the ceasefire took effect.
• To help people access aid, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) and its partners launched a public version of the online Humanitarian Service Directory.

Humanitarian Developments

• Over the past week, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) facilitated the third and fourth release operations since the ceasefire came into effect on 19 January. On 30 January, three Israeli and five Thai hostages were transferred from Gaza to Israeli authorities, and 110 Palestinian detainees, including 30 children, were released from Israeli detention centres. Palestinian detainees included 20 prisoners from the West Bank who were released to the Gaza Strip. On 1 February, three Israeli hostages were transferred out of Gaza to Israel, and 183 Palestinian detainees were released from Israeli detention centres. Palestinian detainees included 111 people who were detained from the Gaza Strip after 7 October and seven detainees who were released to Egypt. In total, since 19 January, ICRC facilitated the return of 18 hostages and 583 Palestinian detainees. The ICRC reminded the parties of their responsibility to ensure transfers are carried out safely and with dignity. As of 5 February, it is estimated that 79 Israelis and foreign nationals remain captive in Gaza, including hostages who have been declared dead and whose bodies are being withheld in Gaza. As of January 2025, according to data provided by the Israel Prison Service (IPS) to Hamoked, an Israeli human rights NGO, there are 9,846 Palestinians in Israeli custody, including 1,734 sentenced prisoners, 2,941 remand detainees, 3,369 administrative detainees held without trial, and 1,802 people held as “unlawful combatants.” These figures do not include Palestinians from Gaza who have been detained by the Israeli military since 7 October 2023.
• Between the afternoons of 28 January and 4 February, the Ministry of Health (MoH) in Gaza reported the killing of an additional 123 Palestinians and the injury of an additional 47 others; this includes 113 newly retrieved bodies. Since the ceasefire came into effect on 19 January, and as of 4 February, a total of 467 bodies were retrieved from areas that were previously inaccessible, MoH reported. As of 4 February 2025, MoH in Gaza reported the killing of at least 47,540 Palestinians and the injury of 111,618 others, since 7 October 2023.
• Over the past week, several incidents resulting in casualties were reported across the Gaza Strip, including:
  • On 30 January, a Palestinian boy was reportedly shot and killed in eastern Ash Shuja’iyyeh neighbourhood, in eastern Gaza city.
  • On 31 January, a 19-year-old Palestinian fisherman was reportedly shot and killed off the coast of An Nuseirat Refugee Camp, in Deir al Balah governorate.
  • On 2 February, a Palestinian man was reportedly killed in As Shouka area of eastern Rafah.
  • On 2 February, a Palestinian child was reportedly killed and four others injured when a car was hit on Al Rasheed Road.
• Between the afternoons of 28 January and 4 February, no Israeli soldiers were killed in Gaza, according to Israeli forces. Between 7 October 2023 and 19 January 2025, according to Israeli forces and official Israeli sources cited in the media, more than 1,605 Israelis and foreign nationals were killed, the majority on 7 October 2023 and its immediate aftermath. This includes 405 soldiers killed, in addition to 2,572 soldiers injured, in Gaza or along the border in Israel since the beginning of the ground operation in October 2023.
• On 1 February, medical evacuations started through Rafah crossings into Egypt. Between 1 and 3 February, 105 sick and injured patients, including 100 children, and 176 companions exited to Egypt. These included: 37 patients and 39 companions evacuated on 1 February; 34 patients and 63 companions evacuated on 2 February; and 33 patients and 70 companions evacuated on 3 February. On 2 February, the World Health Organization (WHO) welcomed the medical evacuation of patients, indicating that an estimated 12,000 to 14,000 people still require medical evacuation outside Gaza.
• Since 27 January, and for the ninth consecutive day, population movements have continued across the Gaza Strip but have largely slowed down. The Site Management Working Group (SMWG) reports that, as of 3 February, more than 565,082 people have been observed crossing from southern to northern Gaza, the majority of whom were observed crossing on 27 and 28 January. This includes 60 per cent men, 20 per cent women, and 20 per cent children. Observed vulnerable groups include pregnant or breastfeeding women, elderly people, persons with disabilities, patients who are chronically ill or in need of urgent medical care, and unaccompanied children. Aid workers stationed along those roads continue to provide support to address urgent needs. For example, the Protection Cluster reported that Child Protection partners have distributed more than 30,000 identification bracelets to children under four years of age to prevent family separation during the journey. This intervention was critical, as partners reported that they assisted more than 250 young children who had been separated from their caregivers while crossing to the north. This is in addition to the deployment of 30 ambulances and establishment of three medical points to provide emergency care to people on the move.

• Since 30 January, SMWG observed that more than 45,678 people have been moving southwards. The Protection Cluster notes that this is due to the lack of services and the overwhelming destruction of homes and communities in the north, leaving people without viable shelter options. With more than half a million internally displaced persons (IDPs) estimated to have returned to Gaza and North Gaza governorates, the need for food, water, tents and shelter materials in that area remains critical. According to the Shelter Cluster, despite the entry of a large volume of supplies since the ceasefire took effect, priority was given to food during the first two weeks, significantly limiting the entry of shelter assistance. Expanding their support to people in Gaza and North Gaza governorates, the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) reported that they brought into northern Gaza at least 3,000 tents on 3 February, adding that an additional 7,000 tents are expected to arrive in the coming days.
• Overall, the surge in the daily entry of supplies into Gaza since the ceasefire came into force on 19 January – through Erez and Zikim crossings in the north and Kerem Shalom crossing in the south – and improved access conditions have enabled humanitarian partners to meaningfully expand the delivery of lifesaving assistance and services across the Gaza Strip. Coordination with Israeli authorities for humanitarian aid missions is no longer required, except mainly for entering the buffer zones. As a result, humanitarian partners are adjusting their response in accordance with population movements, including by expanding their operational presence and services in areas that were previously hard or impossible to access, such as Rafah, Gaza and North Gaza governorates. As of 4 February, 25 emergency medical teams operate across the Gaza Strip, including 22 in central and southern Gaza, two in Gaza city, and one in North Gaza. Furthermore, over the past two weeks, the World Food Programme (WFP) delivered more than 10 million metric tons of food to Gaza, reaching about one million people through household-level distributions of food parcels. This is in addition to expanding bread deliveries at bakeries and community kitchens, re-opening a community kitchen in North Gaza on 24 January, and delivering fuel on 30 January that enabled the five WFP-supported bakeries in Gaza governorate to increase their production capacity by 40 per cent to meet growing demand.
• Prices for both food and non-food commodities have started to decline, although they remain significantly higher than pre-October 2023 levels, due to the unstable availability of commodities and the absence of a fully functioning commercial sector, according to WFP’s recent market monitor. While some prices fell between December 2024 and January 2025, many remain up to 1,200 per cent higher than pre-crisis levels. One-third of households surveyed reported improved access to food, but consumption remains relatively low, so does variety, with many relying on cereals and pulses. Shops are also facing cash and stock shortages, in addition to transportation-related challenges, mainly due to damaged infrastructure and security concerns. According to WFP, it is critical to address logistical, financial and supply chain challenges to restore market functionality and improve access to goods for people across the Gaza Strip.

• Across the Strip, water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) partners are scaling up water trucking activities to increase water accessibility and meet staggering levels of need given the high level of damage to water facilities or their presence in currently inaccessible locations in buffer zones. Some partners have also been pumping water from wells that remain operational and accessible on a rotational basis to help improve equity in distribution. Between 25 and 31 January 2025, the Palestinian Water Authority (PWA) and the Coastal Municipalities Water Utility (CMWU) reported that a daily average of 97,167 cubic metres of water was produced across the Gaza Strip; this includes 43,151 cubic metres of drinking water produced from the two operational seawater desalination plants or supplied through two of the Mekorot lines from Israel and 51,016 cubic metres produced by municipal ground water wells. The third, Bani Saeed Mekorot water line from Israel, in Deir al Balah governorate, has been out of service for over ten days after sustaining damage due to military activities in the buffer zone, which reduced the expected water supply of 14,400 cubic metres to zero. Moreover, UNICEF provided CMWU/PWA with fuel to expand the functionality and the provision of WASH services, including to operate groundwater wells, water treatment units, trucking operations, sewage pumping and repair activities. In southern Gaza, the Southern Gaza Desalination Plant has resumed functionality at full capacity following a four-day disruption due to damage to the electricity feeder line, increasing water production to 15,000 cubic metres per day, serving areas in Deir al Balah, Khan Younis and Rafah governorates.
• Humanitarian partners in Gaza report that challenges continue in bringing into Gaza some critical humanitarian supplies. For instance, the Food Security Sector (FSS) reported that most of the agricultural inputs critical for the resumption of agricultural activities, such as seed kits, organic fertilizers and nylon sheets for greenhouses have been denied access, preventing progress in improving dietary diversity and addressing food gaps. Likewise, restrictions on the import of telecommunications equipment continue to limit critical Emergency Telecommunication Cluster (ETC) services. In North Gaza governorate, according to the WASH Cluster, massive destruction, an unstable fuel supply and the lack of materials and equipment necessary to conduct repairs (e.g. spare parts, cement, pipes) are limiting the ability of aid organizations to carry out needed repairs and emergency services, including to re-connect damaged buildings to sewage networks and establish appropriate latrine spaces. Moreover, according to the Education Cluster, the entry of educational supplies, including learning materials and student kits, continues to be restricted, being considered non-humanitarian items, leaving many children without access to essential learning opportunities and exacerbating the challenges of inadequate temporary learning spaces.
• As areas that had undergone months of hostilities become newly accessible to civilians, including aid workers, UNMAS and Mine Action (MA) partners warn of higher exposure to the threat posed by explosive ordnance (EO). Currently, humanitarian MA actors are not able to conduct disposal operations; if EO is found, it is marked with warning messages. To mitigate risks and enable the scale-up of humanitarian response, MA partners are carrying out explosive hazard assessments, escorting humanitarian convoys along critical access routes, conducting awareness-raising sessions, and distributing leaflets with information on safe practices. To date, 135,000 print materials have been distributed at monitoring points and through non-MA actors. Moreover, to support coordination, the Protection Cluster’s MA Area of Responsibility has developed an interactive map, which includes all monitoring and distribution points, allowing Explosive Ordnance Risk Education (EORE) teams to coordinate and deliver safe messaging there, while mobile teams operate along Salah Al Deen and Al Rasheed roads and other areas of return. Explosive hazard assessments are also being conducted at high-priority locations that are essential for humanitarian activities.
• According to the latest geospatial assessments by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), in cooperation with the UN Satellite Centre (UNOSAT) and the UN Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR), 75 per cent of fields once used to grow crops in the Gaza Strip – as well as olive orchards – were damaged or destroyed as of 31 December 2024. Furthermore, over half of greenhouses and about 67 per cent of water wells were damaged (mostly in Gaza governorate). Livestock losses reached 96 per cent, with only one per cent of poultry still alive and the fishing sector on the brink of collapse. According to FAO’s assessment, home, broiler, and sheep farms sustained the most damage, and Khan Younis accounted for the largest number of damaged agricultural infrastructure. FAO says it is working to restore local food production in Gaza by scaling up deliveries of critical agricultural inputs. FAO is also focused on rebuilding agrifood infrastructure, such as greenhouses, wells and solar systems. However, the agency notes that “rebuilding Gaza’s agricultural sector will be extremely expensive and will take years, if not decades.”
• To help people access aid based on their needs and whereabouts, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), in collaboration with clusters and thematic working groups, has launched a public version of the Humanitarian Service Directory, listing aid services, helplines and messages. The directory is accessible to the public through a hyperlink and a QR code, further enhancing the humanitarian community’s accountability to affected people. On 29 January, the link was disseminated via the national telecommunications companies, Jawwal and Ooredoo, to their users in Gaza, largely to support returning IDPs. The Humanitarian Service Directory was initially launched in November 2024 to support helpline operators and other humanitarian partners.

Funding

• As of 4 February 2025, Member States have disbursed approximately US$145.6 million out of the $4.07 billion (3.6 per cent) requested to meet the most critical humanitarian needs of three million out of 3.3 million people identified as requiring assistance in Gaza and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, in 2025, under the 2025 Flash Appeal for the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT). Nearly 90 per cent of the requested funds are for humanitarian response in Gaza, with just over 10 per cent for the West Bank. Moreover, during January 2025, the oPt Humanitarian Fund (oPt HF) managed 101 ongoing projects, totalling $72.4 million, to address urgent needs in the Gaza Strip (86 per cent) and the West Bank (14 per cent). Of these projects, 55 are being implemented by international non-governmental organizations (INGOs), 33 by national NGOs and 13 by UN agencies. Notably, 41 out of the 68 projects implemented by INGOs or the UN are being implemented in collaboration with national NGOs. For more information, please see OCHA’s Financial Tracking Service webpage and the oPt HF webpage.

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5 februari 2025

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5 februari 2025

Trump wants all Palestinians out of Gaza.

Tell Congress: End U.S. arms to Israel.

Tell University of California: Take action to protect your students.

What we're reading.

Trump’s threat to deport peaceful student protesters is pulled straight from the pages of the Heritage Foundation’s “Project Esther”: the far-Right’s plan to dismantle the Palestine solidarity movement

 Jewish Voice for Peace

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5 februari 2025

WATCH: AMP & Partners Condemn Trump’s Call for Ethnic Cleansing of Palestinians from Gaza

American Muslims for Palestine (AMP), along with a coalition of advocacy groups including Americans for Justice in Palestine Action (AJP Action), CODEPINK, the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), and the U.S. Council of Muslim Organizations (USCMO), held a press conference outside the White House yesterday to denounce the visit of war criminal Benjamin Netanyahu and join voices around the world in opposing President Trump's call for the forced displacement of Palestinians from their land in Gaza.

American Muslims for Palestine
6404 Seven Corners Place Ste N | Falls Church, Virginia 22044
703.534.3032 | info@ampalestine.org

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4 februari 2025

Today's headlines

As part of West Bank offensive, Israel conducts largest demolition in years

Qassam Muaddi

The Israeli army is expanding its offensive in the northern West Bank and employing some of the same tactics that it has used in Gaza over the past 15 months, including the mass expulsion of residents, airstrikes, and large-scale demolitions.

The Encampment Movement leads the way under Trump

As social movements in the U.S. plan ahead for the Trump administration, we should look to the campus Palestine movement for lessons on how to organize under the repressive conditions we will all soon face.

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3 februari 2025

AJP Action Demands Trump to Retract His Statements about Ethnically Cleansing Gaza

Americans for Justice in Palestine Action (AJP Action) vehemently condemns President Trump's decision to host Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House tomorrow, Tuesday, February 4th. This meeting legitimizes a leader with an active international arrest warrant for war crimes and underscores the United States’ partnership in Israel's ongoing genocide against the Palestinian people, as well as the United State’s complete disregard for international law. 

It’s imperative to note that the International Criminal Court (ICC) has issued an active international arrest warrant for Netanyahu for war crimes against Palestinians in Gaza. Israel is also under investigation for genocide by the International Court of Justice (ICJ). Leading international human rights organizations have collectively condemned Israel and Prime Minister Netanyahu for committing genocide and crimes against humanity. Under President Biden, the United States sent billions of dollars to enable these atrocities. While the inauguration of a new president presented an opportunity to change course, hosting Netanyahu does the opposite—it doubles down on President Biden’s failed foreign policy and further implicates the U.S. in shielding a war criminal from accountability.

Even after a declared ceasefire in Gaza (which the Israeli government consistently violates), the Israeli government has flagrantly continued its apartheid regime, military aggression, and colonial expansion, now expanding and intensifying its oppressive actions in the West Bank. As Palestinians in the Gaza Strip attempt to rebuild their lives amidst the ruins, Israeli forces have escalated military operations in Jenin, killing dozens of Palestinians and destroying over 23 buildings in the beleaguered city. Israel’s unjustified assault has led to the displacement of hundreds of residents from the Jenin camp and surrounding neighborhoods and has now killed 905 people, including at least 181 children, and injured more than 7,370 people.

Hosting the architect of these atrocities and destruction directly contradicts the message President Trump delivered just weeks ago in his inauguration speech, where he claimed, "I want to be remembered as a man of peace." Instead of fostering peace, Trump is actively endorsing its erosion with his recent statements advocating for the ethnic cleansing of Gaza—an abhorrent stance that constitutes a blatant violation of international law. His proposal to forcibly relocate Palestinians in Gaza to neighboring countries like Egypt and Jordan indicates an endorsement of Israel’s regional agenda.

Meanwhile, Netanyahu has unilaterally delayed the second phase of ceasefire negotiations to align with President Trump, further undermining the peace process and reinforcing Israel’s consistent faltering commitment to ceasefire agreements. This calculated obstruction not only risks dismantling the already fragile ceasefire but also risks deepening the Israeli-made humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza. 

Too many lives are at stake, and the Palestinian people have already endured unimaginable suffering. We call on President Trump to immediately retract his statements advocating for the ethnic cleansing of Gaza, to hold Prime Minister Netanyahu accountable by demanding an end to Israel’s military aggression, and to make clear that his invitation is not a green light for Israel’s blatant pursuit of Palestinian erasure.
 

In solidarity,
Americans for Justice in Palestine Action

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3 februari 2025

Inès Abdel Razek

Co-Director

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3 februari 2025

The Big Question: ICC under Fire

With the International Criminal Court (ICC) facing increasing attacks lately, we asked Liz Evenson, HRW’s international justice director, to help unpick some misconceptions…

In all the attention the ICC is getting right now, what do you think are the most misunderstood aspects of the Court? What are the top three things you think media and politicians are most often getting wrong?

1. Media and politicians like to focus on the accused, whether that’s Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu or Russia’s Vladimir Putin. What needs to be told are the stories of courageous victims who campaign for justice for years, often against the odds and at risk.

2. That there’s no chance Putin or Netanyahu will ever really face arrest. The ICC is only as strong as governments who defend its independence, who help in arrests, who create the change needed for victims to have their day in court. With time, justice can be delivered. Look at leaders in the Balkans and in the Americas. It takes time, but it can happen.

3. That the ICC overrules national courts. The ICC does not act alone—it is part and parcel of the domestic judicial systems, of all of its 125 member countries, and only steps in when justice is blocked at home and needs to be backed up at the international level.

For more on the ICC under fire, listen to our new podcast: “Can the ICC survive 2025?” on Apple, Spotify, or the HRW website.

992.

3 februari 2025

Today's headlines

Now that we are returning home will our martyrs return too?

Many of us are returning to northern Gaza, gasping for life. We have no choice but to stand up and recover. But what does this mean for our martyrs? Will they go back home too?

Statement from Jewish Rutgers union members: Zionist hegemony must end

Open Letter

The offices of the Rutgers academic union were defaced with pro-Israel slogans just before a vote on divesting from the Gaza genocide. This blunt intimidation reflects the impunity afforded Zionists, and the urgent need to end Zionist hegemony.

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CARE

3 februari 2025

Terugkeren naar Noord-Gaza

Een eindeloze stoet van honderdduizenden mensen is deze dagen op weg naar huis in Noord-Gaza.

Jolien Veldwijk, landendirecteur van CARE in Gaza en de Westelijke Jordaanoever, vertelt in deze podcast over de grote opluchting en uitdagingen waar mannen, vrouwen en kinderen mee te maken hebben.

991.

2 februari 2025

Today's headlines

‘We are as dead as the ones beneath the graves’: When a cemetery becomes home for the living

When hundreds of thousands of Palestinians in Gaza squeezed into crowded shelters during the war, one family found refuge among the tombstones.

Rebuilding our homes and ourselves

I imagined that the end of the war would bring relief, but normalcy feels like a distant stranger I don’t know how to welcome.

990.

2 februari 2025

Our new project is a refusal letter of medical servicemen and women of the Israeli army.

When I arrived at my post on October 7th 2023, we had no adequate medical equipment or logistics. As a medic, my first instinct was to prepare makeshift tourniquets to be ready if they were needed. There was no advanced life support equipment. We were all aware of this, but considering the massacre in the south and the severity of our situation, it did not matter, we were truly in a state of survival, and that is exactly the litmus test that I use today.

Will you show up if you know there is no medical response team to take care of you if things go wrong? On that day, the answer was yes. Today the answer is a resounding no. I believe that our refusal will apply greatly needed pressure on Netanyahu’s government to continue the deal and end the war, ultimately saving countless Israelis, and Palestinians alike from the continued horrors of war.

Support Gaza War Refusers

From the letter of
Medical Servicemen and Women:
 

"First, do no harm." Every healthcare professional recognizes this phrase from the Hippocratic Oath. The oath also states that all health professionals, of all kinds, must take active steps when they see harm being done to a patient or a healthy individual and stop harmful actions [...]

We call on Israel not to yield to extremist pressures and to allow the deal to move to its second stage. We declare that we will not be willing to return to participate in the war in Gaza after the termination of the first stage of the deal.

We emphasize that although we will cease volunteering in the military reserves, we will continue to provide essential medical, psychological, and social services to anyone in need, which are so critical today.

As a member of Israeli society, taking such a stance is extremely difficult. It comes with many internal challenges as well as significant social costs, and often even threats from others. I have been called a traitor and an embarrassment to my nation by people who I know and have relationships with. Nonetheless I, and we, continue to fight against this war because we know we are on the right side of history. I never expected to be active in this movement for as long as I have. It has now been over 3 months, and it is thanks to you and others like you who continue to support the work that we are doing.

Support Gaza War Refusers

With gratitude,

Max Kresch
Soldiers for the Hostages

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1 februari 2025

Today's headlines

Photos: Inside the deadly Israeli invasion of Jenin

Mondoweiss Palestine Bureau

A look inside the Jenin refugee camp, as Israel continues a devastating offensive, the likes of which residents say they haven't seen in years.

read more mondoweiss site

Disease and illness are a hidden toll of the Gaza genocide

Rifqa Hijazi

From hepatitis to scabies and food poisoning, the war has caused countless ailments with devastating and deadly consequences for the fragile health of Palestinians in Gaza.

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