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 31-03-2024 STAAN HIER

30 april 2024

De genocide in Gaza duurt nu al meer dan 200 dagen en heeft al meer dan 34.000 Palestijnse levens gekost en meer dan 77.000 gewonden opgeleverd. Ondanks opgelegde voorlopige maatregelen door het Internationale Gerechtshof en de oproep van de mensenrechtenraad van de VN tot sancties blijven het Westen en Nederland business-as-usual voortzetten en daarmee hun medeplichtigheid aan de straffeloosheid, aan de genocide en aan het voortduren van het onrecht jegens Palestijnen. Wij moeten onze stem blijven verheffen en in actie blijven komen. In deze nieuwsbrief vindt u de geplande acties en evenementen voor de komende 2 weken.

Een strijdbare groet van het docP team

Demonstratie bij AvroTros: Boycot Eurovisie 2024

Hilversum for Palestine organiseert:  Demonstratie Donderdag 2 mei om 17:30 uur  AVROTROS, Witte Kruislaan 55, Hilversum Dat Israël nog steeds welkom is bij het Eurovisiesongfestival toont de verdorvenheid van de organisatie. We roepen de European Broadcasting Union op om Israël uit te sluiten van het Eurovisiesongfestival.

Nakba-herdenkingen in Den Haag, Rotterdam en Amsterdam

Op de dagen dat wij in Nederland herdenken en de vrijheid vieren, organiseert het Netwerk Palestina drie Nakba-herdenkingsbijeenkomsten. Op deze bijeenkomsten – gevuld met panelgesprekken, poëzie, muziek en een filmvertoning, krijg je een unieke ervaring vanuit de Palestijnse beleving. Meer informatie over de bijeenkomsten vind je hier. Vrijdag 3 mei, 17:00 – 21:30 Zeeheldentheater Trompstraat 342.

Alternative Eurovision event: United by Music (for a Free Palestine)

United by Music (for a Free Palestine) // 11th May // Ventilator Cinema (OT301) An alternative event for anyone boycotting the Eurovision Song Contest A space to come together and collectively boycott the competition. Short films by Palestinian creators showcase the richness of the music scene in Palestine and give an insight into what it […]

Help mee met de campagne tegen EBS in Utrecht

Het Israëlische busbedrijf EBS doet mee aan een aanbesteding om openbaar vervoer in de stad Utrecht te kunnen verzorgen. Utrecht BIJ1 en BDS Nederland zijn daarom een campagne gestart om het bedrijf uit de stad te houden. Het moederbedrijf van EBS is Egged. Egged is een controversieel bedrijf omdat het gesegregeerde busdiensten uitvoert met bussen […]

155.

30 april 2024

Today's headlines

How Israel violates International Law in Gaza: expert report

An independent expert report lays out how Israel systematically violated U.S. and International Law in Gaza, concluding that Israel launched indiscriminate and disproportionate attacks on civilian areas.

Recent settler violence in the West Bank, explained

Recent settler attacks against the villages bordering the Jordan Valley between Nablus and Ramallah aren’t random. They are part of a historic Israeli policy to annex the Jordan Valley and expel the Palestinian communities that live there.

154.

29 april 2024

Universities Are Actively Corrupting Academic Freedom to Repress Gaza Protests

Over 900 student protestors have been arrested in the past two weeks across the country in the student uprisings to create “liberated zone” encampments at their universities and call for divestment from Israel’s war machine. The arrests have been enforced by city police and state troopers in a heavy militarization of U.S. campuses in response to peaceful protest camp sites. Universities have chosen to erode academic freedom on their campuses while maintaining complicity in weapons companies amid the genocide of over 34,480 people in Gaza, including at least 14,500 children. 

We are seeing pervasive harm done to the international reputation of American universities and the pillars of academic freedom underscored by the First Amendment and our democratic ideals here in the United States. While most of us assume that these universities cultivate thought and are strongholds for constructive dialogue, logic, rationality, and activism—instead, what we are seeing today is the oppression of students with no evidence of their wrongdoing. 

Even the infamous New York Police Department officers making arrests at Columbia University noted the students were peaceful and that it was university officials who identified a “danger” posed by students—a clear sign of political theater and moral evasiveness by university officials in criminalizing these peaceful anti-war protests made up of young people.

With more divestment encampment protests popping up every day across the country, American universities stand at a crossroads for academic freedom. University leaders must ask themselves: Do they embrace a separation between the moral, academic, and political? Does investing in an apartheid state that is waging a war of genocide in front of the whole world represent the values​​they advocate and stand for? 

This pivotal moment will define the reputation and standing of American universities for decades to come. Every infringement on the rights of students and their historic efforts for peace will be a dark stain on our history. 

As students show that they stand for justice amid a genocide and demand their colleges to do the right thing, we ask colleges to show us what they stand for. The university leaders know that their complicity with Israel is immoral and indefensible. They have the choice to change their policies rather than silence students who object to this complicity. 

We call for an end to the oppression of students and the threat to both their futures and the future of academic freedom. We call on universities to respond to students’ just demands for full disclosure of university investments in companies complicit in genocide and apartheid, for full divestment from these companies, and to drop their charges against students protesting peacefully for justice.
 

In solidarity,

Americans for Justice in Palestine Action

153.

29 april 2024

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

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

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

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

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

They are making history again.

Let’s honor student leaders' call to center Gaza and help stop the violent crackdown on their brave actions to stop this genocide.

Take action now!

In solidarity.

Linda, Granate, Ishraq, Yasmine, and the whole team at MPower Change.

P.S. Want to support our work towards justice for all people, and against white supremacy and Islamophobia? 

Sign up for a recurring MPower Change gift now.

Source:

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

152.

29 april 2024

Hostilities in the Gaza Strip and Israel
Flash Update #159

An overwhelmed medical worker in Gaza rests his head in his hands. Photo by Médecins Sans Frontières

Key Highlights

• Intense and long-term exposure to traumatic events is having a psychological toll on Gaza’s health workers, reports Médecins Sans Frontières. 
• UNICEF and the Coastal Municipalities Water Utility inaugurate a solar-powered water desalination plant in Rafah, with the latter warning that the entire water and sanitation system is nearing collapse.
• Nearly 37.5 million tons of conflict-generated debris are estimated to be present throughout Gaza, UN agencies assess.

Gaza Strip Updates

• Israeli bombardment from the air, land, and sea continues to be reported across much of the Gaza Strip, resulting in further civilian casualties, displacement, and destruction of houses and other civilian infrastructure. Intensive strikes on Rafah also continue to be reported, with at least 36 reported fatalities since 27 April (see below). 
• Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, Martin Griffiths, has recently emphasized the need to restrict the global use of explosive weapons in line with the 2022 Political Declaration on Strengthening the Protection of Civilians from the Humanitarian Consequences Arising from the Use of Explosive Weapons in Populated Areas (EWIPA). Globally, some 50 million people are currently affected by urban warfare, including 2.3 million people in Gaza, where thousands of tons of munitions have been dropped with wide-ranging short-term and reverberating effects. Such effects have included disruption of services critical to people’s survival, environmental contamination, as well as physical, psychological, and psychosocial harm to civilians.
• Between the afternoons of 26 and 29 April, according to the Ministry of Health (MoH) in Gaza, 132 Palestinians were killed and 275 injured, including 34 killed and 68 injured in the last 24 hours. Between 7 October 2023 and 12:30 on 29 April 2024, at least 34,488 Palestinians were killed in Gaza and 77,643 Palestinians were injured, according to MoH in Gaza.
• The following are among the deadliest incidents between 25 and 29 April: 
  • On 25 April, at about 19:40, eight Palestinians were reportedly killed when a minibus was hit at Al Maliya Junction in Tal al Hawa area, in Gaza city. The casualties were reportedly involved in aid distribution, but no additional information is available on their exact roles.
  • On 25 April, at about 16:00, three Palestinian children were reportedly killed and two injured in strikes near the Indonesian Hospital in Beit Lahiya.
  • On 26 April, in the afternoon, a woman, her husband and their two new-born babies were reportedly killed when a residential apartment was hit near Al Rimal clinic, in Gaza city.
  • On 26 April, at about 23:45, nine Palestinians, including three females, were reportedly killed and 30 injured when a house was hit in An Nuseirat Refugee Camp, in Deir al Balah. Seven nearby houses were also reportedly damaged during the same incident.
  • On 27 April, at about 1:05, six Palestinians, including four children and a woman, were reportedly killed and others injured when a house was hit in As Saudi neighbourhood, in western Rafah.
  • On 27 April, at about 16:10, ten Palestinians, including at least two children and a woman, were reportedly killed when a house was hit in An Nasser area in northeastern Rafah.
  • On 28 April, at about 23:00, three Palestinians were reportedly killed and others injured when a house was hit in Al Junaina area in eastern Rafah. According to media reports, the fatalities include a child and a woman. 
  • On 29 April, at about 0:35, ten Palestinians, including three children and three women, were reportedly killed and others injured when a house was hit in Al Jawazat area in eastern Rafah. According to media reports, the fatalities include three children and three women. 
  • On 29 April, at about 0:35, seven Palestinians were reportedly killed and eight injured when a house was hit in Ash Shaboura area in Rafah. According to media reports, fatalities include a child and three women.
• Between the afternoons of 26 and 28 April, no Israeli soldiers were reported killed in Gaza. As of 28 April, 260 soldiers have been killed and 1,586 soldiers have been injured in Gaza since the beginning of the ground operation, according to the Israeli military. In addition, over 1,200 Israelis and foreign nationals, including 33 children, have been killed in Israel, the vast majority on 7 October. As of 28 April, Israeli authorities estimate that 133 Israelis and foreign nationals remain captive in Gaza, including fatalities whose bodies are withheld.
• A mental health crisis is unfolding in Gaza, fuelled by constantly acute traumatic events, ongoing displacement, an absent sense of safety, and fear and anxiety about the future. According to the Health Cluster,  prior to the onset of hostilities, about 485,000 people suffered from mental health disorders in Gaza. Over 200 days of relentless violence and devastation have further exacerbated psychosocial needs, particularly among more than a million children estimated by UNICEF as requiring mental health and psycho-social support. Health workers in Gaza, already deeply worried about the safety and security of their families, are also enduring high levels of psychological stress and exhaustion that “will leave scars for years to come,” highlighted Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) on 26 April. Shedding light on the mental health impact of the conflict on Gaza’s healthcare workers, MSF said that health workers described receiving “repeated large numbers of casualties with crushed limbs and burns from explosions, and having to perform amputations without sufficient pain medication or anaesthesia.” At other times, bombardments or insecurity have forced these professionals to evacuate hospitals, tragically leaving patients behind. Like other Palestinians across Gaza, they are “in a state of constant alert. They can’t sleep, they think that at any moment they are going to die, that if they fall asleep, they won't be able to react quickly and run away, or protect their family,” MSF added. They are working under conditions that are “beyond human,” experiencing “anxiety, insomnia, depression, intrusive thoughts, emotional avoidance and nightmares, all of which can heighten the risk of mental health issues,” warned MSF, emphasizing that “healthcare workers and [other] civilians ... are [now] haunted and distressed by the prospect of an impending Israeli offensive in Rafah.” Since October 2023, MOH reports that 491 health workers have been killed in Gaza.
• In Rafah, where about half of the Gaza Strip's 2.3 million people are currently seeking shelter, the situation remains dire. Residents face severe challenges in accessing basic services such as health care, clean water, and sanitation facilities, amid a noticeable surge in fatalities and heightened anxiety about an imminent large-scale Israeli ground operation. To address the rising need for potable water, the Coastal Municipalities Water Utility (CMWU) and UNICEF inaugurated last week a solar-operated water desalination station, the fourth to be established in southern Gaza, to produce potable water for 400 families at the Taha Hussein School shelter for internally displaced persons (IDPs). At the same time, on 28 April, CMWU cautioned that the entire water and sanitation system is nearing collapse; after the Israeli authorities cut off the electricity supply, damage to water networks and facilities, overuse of existing generators, and shortages of spare parts and fuel continue to significantly reduce people's access to safe water and undermine sewage management. On 29 April, CMWU informed OCHA that the lack of power supply for Rafah’s wastewater treatment plant has now resulted in sewage overflow. Earlier, MoH in Gaza has warned that the suspension of operations at the public health laboratory, along with Israeli restrictions on chlorine entry, has impaired water testing and disinfection processes. According to MoH, this has compromised water safety, placing people’s lives at risk. 
• Khan Younis, the second largest city in Gaza which prior to the conflict was home to over 200,000 people, is now a “ghost town”, reported Save the Children International (SCI) on 25 April following an assessment mission to the area. Similar to scenes of total devastation in Gaza city recently described by OCHA and UNRWA, SCI stressed that every single building that they observed was “either severely damaged or rubble on the ground,” with some people returning to protect what has remained of their properties and belongings. According to an interim assessment by the World Bank, over 60 per cent of residential buildings and nearly 80 per cent of commercial facilities had been damaged or destroyed in Gaza between October 2023 and January 2024, with 80 per cent of total damage concentrated in the governorates of Gaza, North Gaza and Khan Younis.  SCI additionally observed that many children were walking “all by themselves,” in destroyed streets and being in dangerous proximity to destroyed or semi-destroyed buildings, with many carrying heavy containers, likely of water. Already in February, UNICEF estimated that at least 17,000 children were unaccompanied or separated from their parents throughout Gaza and the spokesperson of SOS Children’s Villages UK noted that the “creation of a new acronym – WCNSF, which stands for Wounded Child, No Surviving Family – is a sobering reminder of the heavy price children are paying.” 
• Nearly 37.5 million tons of conflict-generated debris are present throughout Gaza, with 3.2 million tons attributed to damaged roads, according to a preliminary joint analysis by UN-Habitat and UNEP, which integrates the findings of a UNOSAT Damage Assessment as of 29 February with building data as of May 2023. The analysis reveals a 63 per cent increase in the amount of debris present in Gaza as of 29 February, compared with just seven weeks prior on 7 January. The northern areas have suffered the largest scale of damage and destruction, with over 15 million tons of debris having accumulated in the Gaza governorate, nearly nine million in North Gaza and almost eight million in Khan Younis, followed by Deir al Balah (over 2 million tons) and Rafah (509,000 tons). UNMAS reports that much of this debris is laced with unexploded ordinance (UXO); while determining the exact amount of UXOs throughout Gaza is impossible, at least 10 per cent of ammunition fails to detonate when fired, UNMAS explains, estimating that up to 14 years might be required to clear all explosive threats and make Gaza safe again.

West Bank Update

• On 27 April, Israeli forces shot and killed two Palestinians driving in a vehicle near the Salem Barrier checkpoint in Jenin governorate and have withheld their bodies. According to the Israeli military, a vehicle approached the checkpoint and opened fire at Israeli forces, who responded by firing at the car. 

Funding

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

151.

29 april 2024

Today's headlines

‘Operation al-Aqsa Flood’ Day 206: Blinken says Israel has no plan to ensure civilian safety in Rafah

Palestinians brace for an invasion in Rafah as Hamas is expected to respond to a new ceasefire proposal. Meanwhile, Israel continues airstrikes on Gaza, and Gaza City’s municipality says that half of its water wells have been destroyed.

In the University of Manchester, ‘social responsibility’ means collaborating in genocide

The University of Manchester signed a £822,000 contract with BAE Systems, the company providing fighter jets to Israel in its ongoing genocide. Students, activists, and staff are fighting back.

We need to talk about the pro-Israel lobby in the UK

Hamza Ali Shah

The Labour Friends of Israel, the Conservative Friends of Israel, and the Board of Deputies have made significant inroads in UK politics. They have enabled the UK's unqualified support for Israel’s genocide.

150.

29 april 2024

Human Rights 101

Peaceful protest is a human right. Freedom of speech is a human right. Freedom of expression is a human right.

These are things you might learn in the first week of an introductory level “human rights 101” class at university. So, why is it that so many of those in charge of higher education in the US seem so unfamiliar with them?

The response of some university authorities to pro-Palestine protests on campuses has been shocking. These are the people who are supposed to be fostering learning and debate, encouraging the next generation to defend their beliefs in an atmosphere that respects fundamental freedoms.

Instead, they’ve responded with harsh crackdowns on students at institutions like Columbia University, the University of Texas, and Emory University. These include mass suspensions, evictions from university housing, and arrests of students, faculty, legal observers, and  journalists covering the protests.

Student groups have been protesting Israel’s military campaign in Gaza, which has killed more than 34,000 people over the past six and a half months, the majority of them women and children. The military onslaught has displaced more than a million people, and the Israeli military is using starvation as a weapon of war.

Peaceful protest does not seem an unreasonable response to a situation as grave as this. Student protesters are demanding universities divest holdings in companies they believe are profiting from the assault on Gaza.

But even if you disagree – if you think the situation in Gaza is not worth protesting about, or if you think divestment is not the appropriate remedy – these people still have a right to speak their minds and peacefully protest. Because we all have that right.

And no one should be punished for exercising their rights.

Now, private universities are not the government, of course. They can impose speech codes that are more restrictive than, say, the First Amendment of the US Constitution. And they also don’t have to allow students to set up an encampment indefinitely in the middle of campus.

University authorities have been trying to justify their harsh crackdowns on protesters as a fight against antisemitism. There have, indeed, been reports of antisemitic incidents, for example, in and around Columbia University.

But allegations of antisemitic acts and speech by individuals, as well as Islamophobia by individuals, should be investigated individually, assessed on a case-by-case basis. You can’t just deny people en masse their right to peacefully protest because some individuals at or near the protest have said vile things.

University administrators also need to show they understand the difference between things like, criticism of Israeli government policies and calls for Palestinian rights, on the one hand, and antisemitism on the other. The former is legitimate, the latter is not.

Let’s get back to human rights 101. Peaceful protest is a human right. Freedom of speech is a human right. Freedom of expression is a human right.

There’s really no excuse for the higher-ups at these universities not to know these basics and respect them.

149.

28 april 2024

ONTWAAKT PARIJS?

148.

28 april 2024

Today's headlines

The second life of Walid Daqqah

Qassam Muaddi

Walid Daqqah died in Israeli prison as a revolutionary and literary icon. But when he and his wife Sana' gave life to their daughter through his smuggled sperm, Walid was given a second life.

How the New York Times fights America’s wars

Writers Against the War on Gaza

The New York Times is not an unbiased fount of information, but a kapitalist sophisticated ideological weapon. Our goal is to unmask the Times and expose the paper for what it is: a tool of the kapitalist empire encased in a liberal veneer.

147.

28 april 2024

146.

27 april 2024

26 april 2024

Today's headlines

Youth, students, and university workers in Palestine: we stand with our comrades in the campus movement!

Palestinian Educational Collective

Together, we are collectively making history as we fortify our long tradition of resistance against injustice and fight for a liberated future in Palestine and beyond.

The Rafah invasion will be catastrophic

The impending Rafah invasion will be even worse than anything we've seen so far. And the U.S. is just going to watch it happen.

Humboldt faculty condemn police violence against students, join demands for boycott and divestment from Israel

As faculty at Cal Poly Humboldt, we deplore the use of physical violence by police and the deployment of extreme tactics to surveil students, escalate tensions, and criminalize free speech exercised by students calling for a ceasefire in Gaza.

Rice Univesity: Let students vote on divesting from Israeli apartheid

Rice University Students for Justice in Palestine Alumni

Alumni of Rice University Students for Justice in Palestine are condemning the university for suppressing a campus vote on divesting from the Gaza genocide.

Inside the first French university encampment for Palestine at Sciences Po Paris

On Wednesday evening, students at Sciences Po Paris established the first university encampment for Palestine in France, before being forcibly removed by riot police. The students promise the movement will continue.

‘It’s important to use these platforms to speak out about the genocide’: a Yale student organizer on the school’s encampment protest

A Yale graduate student and campus organizer talks to Mondoweiss about the school’s encampment protest and the school’s connection to Israel’s genocide.

Students across Philadelphia launch Gaza solidarity encampment at UPenn

Up Against the Occupation

Students from UPenn, Drexel, and Temple at the encampment are demanding that UPenn discloses its investments, divests from corporations that profit from Israel's genocide, and defends Palestinians students and their allies.

145.

Your Activist Scoop

Gaza solidarity encampment at Northwestern University in Evanston, Ill. Photo by Palestine Activism Collective.

• The Freedom Flotilla is about to set sail to deliver 5,500 tons of urgent humanitarian aid to starved Palestinian people in Gaza, but Israel is trying to prevent its departure. Take action now!
  

Join USCPR Action for the Nakba Days of Action in DC,  May  14-15, 2024, to build power in the long-haul fight to end U.S.            military funding to Israel once and for all.

144.

26 april 2024

Join Eyewitness Palestine on Tuesday, April 30th at 12PM ET for our second Live from Gaza webinar, focusing specifically on the collapse of the healthcare system following over six months and ongoing of enduring genocide. This special webinar will include four physicians, including clinic & hospital directors, that Eyewitness Palestine connected with during their time in Gaza on an emergency medical mission. During this webinar, Eyewitness Palestine is proud to highlight the voices of Dr. Mohammed Salamaa a pediatric physician at Emirati Hospital in Rafah; Dr. Moussa Abed, the Director of Tel Al-Sultan Clinic in Rafah; Dr. Kamal Khatib, the Director of Shuhada Al-Aqsa Hospital in Deir Al-Balah; Dr. Basel Amro, Director of the Zuwaida Medical Tent Clinic; and Dr. Mohammed Al-Attar, the Director of the Indonesian Field Hospital in Rafah. These physicians will share the powerful and important testimony of their lives and work under genocide. As the threat of a ground invasion in Rafah looms closer, these healthcare workers continue to give their all to take of their communities. In response, the least we can do is listen to, uplift, and echo their stories.

Register now at the link below to join us on Tuesday, April 30, 2024 at 12pm ET.

In solidarity, toward a liberated Palestine,

143.

26 april 2024

Hostilities in the Gaza Strip and Israel
Flash Update #158

A boy walking next to scattered solid waste in a heavily damaged area of Gaza city. Photo by OCHA/Olga Cherevko, 25 April 2024

Key Highlights

• The World Food Programme warns that without massive and consistent food assistance that can be delivered freely and safely, famine thresholds in Gaza will be breached within the next six weeks; this is the only way to halt famine.
• Sixty-five per cent of school buildings used as shelters for displaced people have been directly hit or damaged, highlights a new assessment by the Education Cluster.
• Rising temperatures are exacerbating the sanitation crisis and affecting more than 1.7 million internally displaced people who lack adequate shelter and the essentials for survival; one infant girl has reportedly died in Rafah from extreme heat.

Gaza Strip Updates

• Israeli bombardment from the air, land, and sea continues to be reported across much of the Gaza Strip, resulting in further civilian casualties, displacement, and destruction of houses and other civilian infrastructure.
• Between the afternoons of 24 and 26 April, according to the Ministry of Health (MoH) in Gaza, 94 Palestinians were killed and 139 injured, including 51 killed and 75 injured in the last 24 hours. Between 7 October 2023 and 14:00 on 26 April 2024, at least 34,356 Palestinians were killed in Gaza and 77,368 Palestinians were injured, according to MoH in Gaza.
• The following are among the deadliest incidents between 23 and 25 April:
  • On 23 April, at about 13:00, five Palestinians were reportedly killed and others injured when three houses were hit in western An Nuseirat Refugee Camp in Deir al Balah.
  • On 23 April, at about 23:00, three Palestinians, including a boy and two men, were reportedly killed and others injured when a house was hit in As Salam neighbourhood in eastern Rafah.
  • On 24 April, four Palestinians were reportedly killed and others injured when a group of people were hit near Abu Ureiban School in western An Nuseirat Refugee Camp.
  • On 24 April, at about 17:50, a woman and her two children were reportedly killed when a house was hit in Ash Shati’ (Beach) Camp, west of Gaza city. The woman was a writer and poet.
  • On 25 April, at about 8:30, four Palestinians were reportedly killed and others injured when a group of Palestinians were hit near Wadi Gaza.
  • On 25 April, at about 0:10, six Palestinians, including a journalist, were reportedly killed and ten others injured when a house was hit near Deir Yassin school, in Al Junaina neighbourhood in eastern Rafah.
• Between the afternoons of 24 and 26 April, no Israeli soldiers were reported killed in Gaza. As of 26 April, 260 soldiers have been killed and 1,584 soldiers have been injured in Gaza since the beginning of the ground operation, according to the Israeli military. In addition, over 1,200 Israelis and foreign nationals, including 33 children, have been killed in Israel, the vast majority on 7 October. As of 26 April, Israeli authorities estimate that 133 Israelis and foreign nationals remain captive in Gaza, including fatalities whose bodies are withheld.
• Only 165 out of 392 dead bodies (42 per cent) recovered from Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Younis have been identified, the Palestinian Civil Defense (PCD) reported on 25 April. The remaining 227 bodies could not be identified, according to PCD, including due to changed body markings, mutilation, or significant decomposition exacerbated by the placement of some corpses in plastic bags at a depth of three metres. PCD called for an independent investigation, including the forensic examination of about 20 bodies reportedly believed to have been buried alive, adding that it has found three mass graves: one in front of the morgue, a second behind the morgue, and a third near the haemodialysis building. Referencing the reported discovery of mass graves at both Nasser and Al Shifa hospitals, the International Commission on Missing Persons (ICMP) called for immediate action and expressed readiness to “support all efforts to protect and investigate mass graves and reliably identify human remains.”
• “There is reasonable evidence that all three famine thresholds – food insecurity, malnutrition, mortality – will be passed in the next six weeks” in Gaza, and some people are already dying of hunger, warned the Director of the WFP Geneva Office, Gian Carlo Cirri, in a press briefing on 24 April at the launch of the 2024 Global Report on Food Crises by the Global Network Against Food Crises (GNAFC). According to the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) system, famine occurs when: at least 20 per cent of the population in a given area have an extreme lack of food; at least 30 per cent of children suffer from acute malnutrition; and mortality due to outright starvation or the interaction of malnutrition and disease exceeds two people per 10,000 per day. After nearly seven months of Israeli bombardment, people in Gaza have exhausted all coping strategies to meet even their most basic food needs, stated Cirri; this includes eating animal fodder, begging, or selling their belongings to buy food. The famine threshold for acute malnutrition among children has already likely been surpassed in northern Gaza by mid-March and is projected to be breached in other areas of the Strip by May 2024, the GNAFC report underscores. According to the Nutrition Cluster, 31 per cent of children under the age of two in northern Gaza suffer from severe wasting and more than 346,000 children under the age of five are at the greatest risk of malnutrition and preventable mortality. The only way to halt famine in Gaza is by “rolling out massive and consistent food assistance in conditions that allow humanitarian staff and supplies to move freely and people to access the assistance safely,” stressed WFP senior spokesperson Abeer Etefa in a briefing to the European Parliament on 24 April.
• Living conditions in Gaza are “already atrocious” and will only be exacerbated by rising temperatures, as access to fresh water remains scarce and the whole system of solid waste treatment has crumbled, reported the Spokesperson of the UN Secretary-General, Stéphane Dujarric, on 25 April. On 25 April, a five-month-old girl reportedly died in a tent in Rafah due to the extreme heat. Temperatures have reached 40 degrees Celsius and are expected to further increase as the summer advances, worsening an already critical sanitation crisis. “It is like living in a greenhouse,” a displaced man in Rafah told UNRWA, describing conditions in the tent he shares with eight family members. Highlighting the enormity of the humanitarian crisis, UNRWA Communications Officer Louise Wateridge explained that makeshift shelters are everywhere in Rafah and “most families do not even have tents and are living under sheets of scrap plastic, doing everything they can to survive.” Beyond the daily struggle to find clean water and food, “there is a constant fear looming of what may or may not happen tomorrow,” Wateridge noted.
• Concerning the potential for an Israeli ground operation in Rafah, UN Senior Humanitarian and Reconstruction Coordinator (SHRC) for Gaza, Sigrid Kaag, warned the Security Council on 24 April that “such action would compound an ongoing humanitarian catastrophe, with consequences for people already displaced and enduring severe hardships and suffering” and that the UN’s ability to deliver would be “constrained.” All parties to the conflict must respect their obligations under international humanitarian law, including by taking constant care to spare civilians and civilian objects. This includes allowing civilians to leave for safer areas. Displaced civilians must also be allowed to return as soon as circumstances allow. Civilians must be protected regardless of whether they move or stay, and they must receive the essentials they need to survive -- including food, shelter and health services.
• On 25 April, the Municipality of Gaza informed OCHA that it has recently received about 18,000 litres of fuel, enabling it to partially operate 20 water wells out of 75 wells in Gaza city for eight hours a day for a week. Earlier this month, the Palestinian Water Authority (PWA) had reported that some 27,000 litres of fuel entered northern Gaza to operate 37 water wells serving some 320,000 people. Forty wells and 42,000 metres of water lines had been damaged since the onset of the hostilities, according to the municipality, and the remaining wells were forced to shut down due to the complete depletion of fuel, after the Israeli authorities cut off the electricity supply. This, coupled with the shutdown of the water line from Israel, which previously provided about a quarter of the city’s water needs, and the destruction of the city’s water desalination plant, has resulted in severe water shortages. In mid-April, PWA and the Municipality of Gaza completed the first phase of repairs to the water line from Israel and reported that additional network inspections and repairs need to be completed before water can be pumped. The municipality has issued an urgent call for the provision of fuel to restore the water supply, to avert health and environmental consequences of water cuts.
• Despite rising humanitarian needs, access constraints continue to significantly hinder the ability of humanitarian actors to reach people in need, particularly in northern Gaza. Between 20 and 26 April, 14 out of 23 humanitarian aid missions to northern Gaza were facilitated by Israeli authorities, one was denied, five were impeded (of which four were not fully completed), one was cancelled due to logistical constraints, and two remain pending as of the time of reporting. During the same period, out of 44 humanitarian aid missions to areas in southern Gaza that require coordination, 34 were facilitated by Israeli authorities, five were denied, two were impeded, two were cancelled due to logistical constraints, and one remains pending as of the time of reporting.
• A new assessment by the Education Cluster, based on satellite imagery collected on 31 March and 1 April, reveals a notable increase in the scale of damage and destruction of schools in the Gaza Strip compared with the 29 February analysis. Nearly 73 per cent of school buildings are now assessed to require full reconstruction or major rehabilitation to be functional again, up from 67 per cent previously identified as directly hit or damaged. In total, out of 563 school buildings, nearly 49 per cent (274) have been “directly hit” and 24 per cent (134) have been “damaged,” the majority in North Gaza and Gaza governorates and 29 per cent are UNRWA schools. An additional 17 per cent (96) of school buildings are classified as “likely or possibly damaged.” Among damaged schools, at least 59 have been destroyed, six of them in March 2024, and 39 have lost at least half of their structures. Schools have been affected multiple times, according to the assessment, with 33 facilities classified as “damaged” at the end of February being directly hit in March. Moreover, of the nearly 60 per cent of school buildings used as IDP shelters, some 65 per cent have been directly hit or damaged, with a marked increase in the number of such schools that have been directly hit as of 1 April compared with 29 February (130 vs. 90). The analysis also corroborates previous evidence gathered by the Cluster that “schools are being used for military operations by the Israeli Security forces including use as detention, interrogation centers and military bases.”

West Bank

• On 25 April, Israeli forces shot and killed a 16-year-old Palestinian boy with live ammunition in Ramallah city, later stating that this was in response to stone-throwing by Palestinians at them. During the operation, Israeli forces delivered at least one punitive demolition order against the house of a Palestinian accused of shooting toward vehicles travelling on Old Road 60, killing a Palestinian from East Jerusalem and a Palestinian citizen of Israel. Referring to this incident, Defense for Children International – Palestine (DCIP) stressed: “Under international law, intentional lethal force is only justified in circumstances where a direct threat to life or of serious injury is present. However, investigations and evidence collected by DCIP regularly suggest that Israeli forces use lethal force against Palestinian children in circumstances that may amount to extrajudicial or wilful killings.”

Funding

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

142.

26 april 2024

Hello. It’s Ishraq, MPower Change’s Organizing Director. I’m writing to update you on our campaign to pressure the University of Southern California (USC) to reinstate Asna Tabassum’s valedictorian speech.

USC is digging themselves into a deeper hole. First, they canceled Asna Tabassum’s valedictorian speech because of Islamophobia and anti-Palestinian scare tactics; now, they’ve canceled the main graduation because of anti-war, anti-genocide student protests.

Worst of all they called the LAPD to arrest and control students righteously protesting war and genocide.

Tell USC: Let Students Speak.

Our demand to #LetAsnaSpeak is now extended to all students at USC and at campuses across the country who oppose genocide. We've updated our one-click action to send six emails to USC leadership with that message.

Please take a moment to support USC students.

Thank you for all you do.

Ishraq Ali, MPower Change

(Our previous email is pasted below.)

________________________________________________________________________________________

I'm seething. Asna Tabassum, her family, and her community should be celebrating as she has been named the University of Southern California (USC) 2024 Class Valedictorian.

Instead, Asna, a first-generation South Asian-American Muslim, has had her Valedictorian speech canceled — because of alleged “security” fears over her vocal support for Palestinian rights.

Tell USC: Don’t punish Asna for speaking out on genocide.

#LetAsnaSpeak.

Asna has dedicated her studies to combating genocide — her minor is in “Resisting Genocide.”

Instead of being uplifted while the world witnesses what the International Court of Justice calls a "plausible genocide,” she is being censored.

We all deserve to hear Asna speak — especially right now.

In response to this cowardly decision, Asna stated:

“The university has created many safety measures, and created room for many more speakers, who are more controversial and more significant than I am.

I was hoping to use my commencement speech to inspire my classmates with a message of hope.

By canceling my speech, USC is only caving to fear and rewarding hatred.”¹

The commencement address is set for May 10th, so we have three weeks to pressure USC to do the right thing. 

Source:

1. “Valedictorian barred from speaking at commencement.” Daily Trojan, April 15, 2024.

141.

26 april 2024

Today's headlines

‘It felt like pulling my heart out of the earth:’ testimonies from the mass grave at Nasser Hospital

Tareq S. Hajjaj

As Civil Defense teams continue to unearth hundreds of bodies from the mass graves discovered at Nasser Hospital, Palestinians are flocking to the medical complex in search of their missing loved ones.

20 Pomona College students were arrested over a Gaza sit-in, but it hasn’t slowed their campaign

Michael Arria

"We are organizing with the understanding that the student body is behind us and students will continue to escalate until these demands are met because nobody on campus wants to be complicit in the genocide," says student organizer Sinqi Chapman

READ MORE

‘Operation al-Aqsa Flood’ Day 202: Gaza’s Civil Defense finds hundreds of new bodies in mass graves at Nasser Hospital

Qassam Muaddi

While Israel continues to attack all parts of the Gaza Strip, Palestinian Civil Defense teams report finding more bodies buried in mass graves in areas where Israeli troops have withdrawn. The Civil Defense says that some may have been buried alive.

READ MORE

Before you go

Mondoweiss is an independent, reader-funded publication. We publish stories and analysis about the struggle for freedom in Palestine that you will not find in corporate media. Our growing team relies on your support. Here are some ways you can help...

 Join our supporters and become a Mondoweiss donor today.

 Share Mondoweiss articles on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or any other social media platform you are active on.

 Forward this email to a friend by clicking this link.

 Subscribe to our podcast anywhere you listen.

140.

26 april 2024

Hostilities in the Gaza Strip and Israel
Flash Update #157

People amid a destroyed area in Khan Younis. Photo by OCHA, 17 April 2024

Key Highlights

• Palestinian Civil Defense teams have recovered 324 dead bodies at Nasser Hospital as of 24 April; the UN Human Rights Chief calls for independent investigations into these deaths. 
• Dire shortages of medications and basic supplies are endangering the lives of patients with blood diseases and genetic disorders, warns a Palestinian NGO. 
• Israeli forces’ operation in Nur Shams Refugee Camp resulted in 14 people killed, 50 injured, at least 11 households displaced, and an estimated 4,000 people currently affected by water and electricity supply cut-offs.

Gaza Strip Updates

• Israeli bombardment from the air, land, and sea continues to be reported across much of the Gaza Strip, resulting in further civilian casualties, displacement, and destruction of houses and other civilian infrastructure. On 22 April, at about 10:20, Israeli authorities reportedly released 34 Palestinians, including a woman and four elderly people, who had been detained from various locations across Gaza, at Kerem Shalom Crossing. 
• Between the afternoons of 22 and 24 April, according to the Ministry of Health (MoH) in Gaza, 111 Palestinians were killed and 145 injured, including 79 killed and 86 injured in the last 24 hours. Between 7 October 2023 and 13:30 on 24 April 2024, at least 34,262 Palestinians were killed in Gaza and 77,229 Palestinians were injured, according to MoH in Gaza.  
  • On 21 April, at about 14:50, seven Palestinian men were reportedly killed and others injured when a house was hit in western An Nuseirat Refugee Camp, in Deir al Balah. Others reportedly remain under rubble.  
  • On 22 April, at about 9:30, three Palestinians were reportedly killed and 11 injured when a group of people were hit near Abu Salim Mosque in Deir al Balah.
  • On 22 April, at about noon, six Palestinians were reportedly killed and others injured when a house was hit in Al Bureij Refugee Camp in Deir al Balah.
  • On 22 April, at about 15:30, a Palestinian girl was reportedly killed when a house was hit in Deir al Balah.
• Between the afternoons of 22 and 24 April, one Israeli soldier was reported killed in Gaza. As of 24 April, 260 soldiers have been killed and 1,584 soldiers have been injured in Gaza since the beginning of the ground operation, according to the Israeli military. In addition, over 1,200 Israelis and foreign nationals, including 33 children, have been killed in Israel, the vast majority on 7 October. As of 24 April, Israeli authorities estimate that 133 Israelis and foreign nationals remain captive in Gaza, including fatalities whose bodies are withheld.
• On 23 April, the Israeli military announced an order for residents of seven blocs in Beit Lahiya, in North Gaza governorate, to evacuate to two adjacent blocs. The seven blocs, with an area of 1.85 square kilometres, were home to 18,300 Palestinians before 7 October. The two blocs to which residents were ordered to evacuate have an estimated area of 0.85 square kilometres and currently encompass three schools, including one UNRWA school, and the Indonesian Hospital, which reportedly host internally displaced persons (IDPs). Since 7 October 2023, 246 square kilometres, which amount to 67 per cent of the Gaza Strip, have been placed under evacuation orders; this includes all areas north of Wadi Gaza, whose residents were ordered to evacuate in late October, as well as specific areas south of Wadi Gaza slated for evacuation by the Israeli military since 1 December.
• Efforts to recover dead bodies in Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Younis continue; on 24 April, the Palestinian Civil Defense announced that 324 bodies, including women, elderly persons and patients, have been recovered since 19 April, of whom only few were identified. The Government Media Office (GMO) in Gaza said on 22 April that some bodies were reportedly found with their hands-cuffed and stripped of their clothes. GMO added that the whereabouts of about 2,000 people believed to have been present at the hospital, when it was raided by the Israeli military on 14 February, remain unknown. Earlier this month, the Gaza Civil Defense reported that 381 bodies had been recovered from the area surrounding Al Shifa Medical Complex in Gaza city, and 10 bodies were reportedly discovered in front of the hospital’s surgery building on 15 April. On 23 April, UN Human Rights Chief, Volker Türk, decried the “harrowing killings” of mainly women and children in a series of recent Israeli strikes on Rafah. He also said he was “horrified by the destruction” at Shifa and Nasser hospitals and “the reported discovery of mass graves” in and around these locations. Calling for independent, effective and transparent investigations into the deaths, Türk added: “Hospitals are entitled to very special protection under international humanitarian law, and the intentional killing of civilians, detainees, and others who are hors de combat is a war crime.”
• On 22 April, a wastewater pump was reportedly hit in western Beit Hanun, in North Gaza governorate, compounding the already dire water and sanitation crisis. In eastern Gaza city, two schools and a medical clinic sheltering IDPs in the Ash Shuja’iyeh neighbourhood were also purportedly struck in separate incidents on 22 April, injuring an unconfirmed number of Palestinians. In Deir al Balah, the fifth floor and roof of the administration building of Al Awda Hospital were reportedly hit on 22 April, disrupting the solar energy system that supplies the hospital with electricity and causing damage to water and fuel tanks. Highlighting that 31 out of 36 hospitals in Gaza have sustained damage since October 2023, WHO warned that “access to healthcare continues shrinking every day due to attacks, hostilities and the lack of sustained deconfliction making it extremely challenging to resupply hospitals to strengthen and restore services.” An analysis by Save the Children based on WHO data concludes that, since the onset of the hostilities, 73 attacks on healthcare have been recorded on average every month in Gaza, a rate “higher than in any other conflict globally since 2018.”
• According to the Health Cluster, as of 24 April, only 54 per cent of cases for which medical evacuations were requested have been approved by Israeli authorities (5,263 out of 9,817). Out of all approved patients, 82 per cent have been evacuated outside Gaza (4,325). The remaining 18 per cent could not yet be evacuated due to movement restrictions or limitations on individuals who may accompany them. These limitations span from age restrictions, which have at times prevented essential evacuations of newborn babies, to the requirement for companions to have passports, in a context in which an estimated 30 to 40 per cent of people in Gaza have lost their identification documents during displacement, according to the Protection Cluster. The criteria for selecting patients who may be evacuated also remain unclear, with only eight per cent of male patients aged 19 to 60 years approved for evacuation, compared to 74 per cent of women of the same age range. The overwhelming number of conflict-related injuries has also strained evacuation resources, resulting in injuries being prioritized over chronic illnesses like kidney failure and heart diseases. This has led to tragic consequences; the Health Cluster reports that nine children who urgently required kidney dialysis died in February 2024, while waiting for evacuation.
• The remaining health facilities have shortages of personnel and basic supplies. On 18 April, Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP) stressed that doctors are now forced to “re-use medical equipment that is designed for single use,” citing instances in which external fixators, which hold together fractured bones, were removed from deceased individuals and re-used on living patients. In addition, shortages of strong pain relief medications, steroid creams and antibiotic ointments are hampering the treatment of simple diseases and forcing children to endure limb salvage surgeries with inadequate pain relief, reported Save the Children. The lack of food is also rendering patients too weak to heal properly or fight infections. On 17 April, the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) shed light on the plight of patients with blood diseases and genetic disorders amid a critical shortage of medications. According to PCHR, over 300 people suffering from thalassemia, including 80 children, lack the needed medicines and are at risk of developing hemochromatosis, an iron overload in body organs. PCHR noted that 18 thalassemia patients have already died since the onset of hostilities and another ten are in critical condition. The lack of medications, therapeutic milk formulas, and vitamins has also endangered the lives of patients suffering from cystic fibrosis; 23 patients have died since October, and only six of about 20 critical patients referred for treatment abroad have so far been medically evacuated, added PCHR.
• Access constraints continue to hamper the scaling up of critical aid to health facilities. WHO reports that, due to severe delays at checkpoints and ongoing fighting, a planned mission by WHO and its partners to Kamal Adwan and Al Awda hospitals on 20 April was only partially completed; the mission team evacuated four patients and their caregivers from Kamal Adwan, including a nine-year-old boy suffering from a head tumor and hydrocephalus, for medical evacuation abroad. However, fuel and medical supplies could not be delivered to Kamal Adwan hospital for the second consecutive time in seven days and needs assessments to help restore services could not be undertaken at Al Awda Hospital. In total, between 13 and 20 April, WHO and the NGO CADUS evacuated 13 patients from Kamal Adwan Hospital to the International Medical Corps (IMC) field hospital in Rafah and the European Government Hospital (EGH) in Khan Younis.
• On 24 April, the two Israeli military checkpoints on both Salah El Din and Al-Rasheed roads leading to northern Gaza were closed by the Israeli army due to troop movements. As a result, humanitarian missions and other movements to northern Gaza were halted as of the time of reporting. Between 1 and 24 April, 57 per cent (39 out of 69) of humanitarian aid missions to northern Gaza were facilitated by Israeli authorities, 35 per cent (24) were denied or impeded, 7 per cent were cancelled (5) due to logistical constraints, and one remains pending as of the time of reporting. During the same period, out of 160 humanitarian aid missions to areas in southern Gaza that require coordination, 78 per cent (125) were facilitated by the Israeli authorities, 13 per cent (20) were denied or impeded, and nine per cent (15) were cancelled due to logistical constraints.

West Bank Update, 16-22 April

Latest development: In the early morning hours of 23 April, Israeli forces shot and killed a 44-year-old Palestinian man during a search-and-arrest operation in Aqbet Jaber Refugee Camp in Jericho. The man was reportedly standing in front of his house and no clashes were taking place at the time of the incident. 

Between 18 and 22 April, 18 Palestinians, including three children, were killed in the West Bank, including 14 killed by Israeli forces in Nur Shams Refugee Camp in Tulkarm governorate. In addition, during the reporting period, 75 Palestinians, ten Israeli soldiers, and one Israeli settler were injured in the West Bank and two Israelis were injured in West Jerusalem. 

• Between 18 and 21 April, Israeli forces killed 14 Palestinians, including three children, injured at least 50 (including 17 by live ammunition), and arrested over 20, in a large-scale operation that lasted about 55 hours in Nur Shams Refugee Camp. Ten Israeli soldiers were also wounded, according to Israeli military sources cited in the Israeli media. During the operation, heavy sounds of exchanges of fire and explosions were reported, and Israeli forces besieged the camp, preventing entry and exit of at least 65,000 people who reside in the camp and the surrounding area of Tulkarm city. Medical teams were also denied access; the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) reported that the Israeli army prevented their ambulances from reaching the wounded and sick people for several hours to transport them to hospitals, one PRCS volunteer was shot and injured by live ammunition inside the camp, and an emergency medical team was detained for about half an hour. 
• The initial findings of an inter-cluster assessment conducted in Nur Shams Refugee Camp following the withdrawal of the Israeli army show that at least 11 households comprising 55 people, including 16 children, were displaced when their homes were rendered uninhabitable by bulldozers or explosives. Eight additional homes sustained severe damage, but their residents had already been displaced in previous operations by Israeli forces in the camp. In addition, about 500 homes sustained minor to moderate damage and multiple livelihood and commercial structures were destroyed. The UNRWA camp office, the disability rehabilitation centre, and the women’s association had also been raided and sustained minor damage. The operation entailed massive bulldozing of several vital road sections inside the camp and those leading to Tulkarm city, causing severe damage to water, sewage, electricity, and telecommunication networks. Water and electricity supplies were cut off, initially affecting the majority of the camp’s residents and currently affecting some 4,000 people, or about 30 per cent of nearly 14,000 people who live in the camp.
• On 20 April, a 49-year-old Palestinian paramedic and driver of a Red Crescent ambulance was shot and killed in a settler violence incident in As Sawiya village in Nablus governorate, while transporting two wounded Palestinians, either by Israeli forces or settlers when they raided the village.
• In two separate incidents, Israeli forces shot and killed three Palestinians in attacks or alleged attacks on Israeli forces in the West Bank. These include a 43-year-old woman, a mother of four, who was shot at Hamra checkpoint in the Jordan Valley on 19 April, after she reportedly carried out a stabbing attack. Her body is being withheld by Israeli authorities. Moreover, two men, aged 18 and 19 years, were killed at Beit Einun military gate near Hebron city on 21 April after Israeli forces suspected that they were planning to attack them. According to Israeli forces, one of the assailants had a locally made gun in his possession. 
• On 21 April, an Israeli settler was injured by explosives when he tried to remove a Palestinian flag off Road 458 in the Ramallah governorate. In West Jerusalem, two Israelis were injured on 22 April in a car-ramming attack carried out by two Palestinian boys from Hebron (both aged 17 years). The boys fled the scene but were subsequently arrested by Israeli forces, along with six members of their families.  
• On 21 April, six Palestinians were injured by Israeli forces or settlers when about 100 settlers, protected by Israeli forces, raided the village of Burqa in Ramallah governorate and set fire to an animal pen that shelters at least 200 sheep, killing at least four sheep. There were six other incidents of stone-throwing by settlers at Palestinian vehicles and physical assault of Palestinians across the West Bank. Since 7 October 2023, OCHA has recorded 794 Israeli settler attacks against Palestinians that resulted in Palestinian casualties (82 incidents), damage to Palestinian-owned property (622 incidents), or both casualties and damage to property (90 incidents).  
• During the reporting period, Israeli forces injured 12 Palestinians in search-and-arrest operations across the West Bank, of whom three (including two women) while driving their vehicle in Halhoul village in Hebron governorate and three others in clashes in Beita village in Nablus governorate. Based on Israeli military sources, in one of the operations in Duma village in Nablus governorate, Israeli forces arrested a 21-year-old Palestinian suspected of killing an Israeli settler boy on 12 April near Al Mughayyir village in Ramallah governorate.
• Since 7 October, 469 Palestinians have been killed and 4,974 injured in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, with at least one third of the injuries sustained by live ammunition (1,660). Fatalities include 452 Palestinians killed by Israeli forces, ten by Israeli settlers, and seven where the responsible parties—whether Israeli forces or settlers—have not been determined. About 38 per cent of the fatalities (176) took place in 16 refugee camps.  Nine Israelis have also been killed and 104 were injured in the West Bank; these include five members of Israeli forces killed and 69 injured. Since the beginning of 2024, 160 Palestinians and five Israelis have been killed across the West Bank, compared to 95 Palestinians and 16 Israelis in the same period of 2023.  
• On 16 April, 12 Palestinians, including six children, were displaced due to the demolition of two houses in Bani Na’im town in Hebron governorate; the houses belonged to two Palestinians who had been arrested after perpetrating a stabbing and ramming attack in Ra’anana, Israel, on 15 January 2024, which resulted in the killing of an Israeli woman. On the same day, four Palestinians were affected by the punitive demolition of a house in Beit Hanina in East Jerusalem that belonged to a man who was shot and killed by Israeli forces on 6 November 2023 while shooting at Israeli forces stationed at one of the gates leading to the Old City of Jerusalem. The house had been sealed off immediately following the event and an Israeli court ordered the evacuation of its residents in February 2024. In addition, on 16 and 17 April, five livelihood and agricultural structures were demolished by their owners or sealed off by Israeli authorities in East Jerusalem, affecting 20 people. Since 7 October, over 1,760 Palestinians have been displaced due to the demolition of their homes by Israeli authorities, of which 37 per cent were displaced because their homes lacked difficult-to-obtain building permits from Israeli authorities, nine per cent on punitive grounds, and 54 per cent within the context of operations by Israeli forces. 

Funding

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

139.

25 april 2024

Deze week publiceerde een onafhankelijk panel de resultaten van een onderzoek naar de VN-hulporganisatie UNRWA. Het rapport bevestigt dat Israël geen enkel  bewijs heeft kunnen leveren voor zijn beschuldiging dat een aantal van de in totaal 30.000 medewerkers UNRWA-medewerkers betrokken is bij Hamas of  bij de Palestijnse Islamitische Jihad. Het rapport concludeert juist dat UNRWA talloze procedures in stand heeft om zijn neutraliteit te waarborgen.

UNRWA onvervangbaar
Het rapport benadrukt daarnaast dat de hulp van UNRWA aan de Palestijnse burgerbevolking in Gaza ‘onvervangbaar’ en ‘onmisbaar’ is. Zeker in een tijd waarin het Internationaal Gerechtshof heeft geoordeeld dat het aannemelijk is dat er een genocide in Gaza plaatsvindt en er door Israël een hongersnood is gecreëerd.

Een inspectie van de schade aan een UNRWA-school in Khan Younis na Israëlische luchtaanvallen, 27 november 2023. © Alamy.

UNRWA en talloze andere humanitaire organisaties hebben maandenlang voor een gedegen en neutraal onderzoek gepleit, en zien hun overtuigingen bevestigd in het rapport.

Steun moet nú hervat worden
Het is schokkend dat Nederland heeft meegewerkt aan de door Israel opgezette hetze tegen het werk van UNRWA, door zonder bewijs roekeloos de steun stop te zetten. Met alle catastrofale gevolgen van dien. De publicatie van het rapport moet nú leiden tot de volledige hervatting van politieke en financiële steun door Nederland aan UNRWA. Andere landen, waaronder Duitsland, hebben de hulp inmiddels hervat. Nederland dient dit voorbeeld direct te volgen.

Patroon
Het is niet voor het eerst dat Nederland en andere donorlanden zich door Israël laten bespelen om Palestijnse ngo’s en hulporganisaties te ondermijnen. De afgelopen jaren leidden Israëlische beschuldigingen tegen dit type organisaties herhaaldelijk tot een stopzetting van buitenlandse hulp. In alle gevallen bleken de Israëlische ‘bewijzen’ achteraf niet te kloppen. 

Een UNRWA-school in de Gazastrook doet dienst als opvang voor Palestijnen die ontheemd zijn door de Israëlische bombardementen. Israël stelt alles in het werk om de westerse financiering van UNRWA te ondermijnen. © UNRWA / Rajaa Jdili

Marteling van UNRWA-medewerkers en Palestijnse burgers
Dat Israël alle grenzen overschrijdt om zijn beschuldigingen te 'onderbouwen' bleek eerder deze maand. In een door UNRWA gepubliceerd rapport, gebaseerd op ruim 1.500 getuigenissen, worden de ervaringen beschreven van Palestijnen die uit Israëlische gevangenschap terugkeerden naar Gaza. Zij werden door Israëlische militairen in Gaza opgepakt, in vrachtwagens geladen en vervoerd naar locaties in Israël en daar ontmenselijkt en gemarteld.

Onder de vrijgelaten gevangenen waren 23 medewerkers van UNRWA zelf. Zij getuigden dat zij gedwongen werden om valse verklaringen af te leggen tegen UNRWA – zoals over de vermeende betrokkenheid van UNRWA bij Hamas, en bij de aanval van Hamas op 7 oktober 2023. 

Tent of Nations in Bethlehem zoekt vrijwilligers

Vrijwilligers zijn daarbij erg belangrijk. De afgelopen zes maanden zijn er echter slechts enkele buitenlandse vrijwilligers bij Tent of Nations geweest, waardoor de familie Nassar extra kwetsbaar is.

Vrienden Tent of Nations Nederland is daarom op zoek naar vrijwilligers die bereid zijn om dit voorjaar of najaar voor één of enkele weken naar Bethlehem af te reizen. Ben je in goede gezondheid? Wil je heel concreet je steentje bijdragen aan de bijna uitzichtloze situatie in Palestina? Wil je de familie Nassar steunen in hun geweldloze verzet?

Neem dan via e-mail contact op met Vrienden Tent of Nations.

Lees | Nieuw rapport van B'Tselem over de hongersnood in Gaza

Gebaseerd op verschillende rapporten van internationale instanties over de situatie in Gaza en getuigenissen verzameld door veldonderzoekers van B'Tselem, concludeert de organisatie dat Israël al maandenlang de internationaalrechtelijke misdaad van hongersnood begaat in Gaza.

138.

25 april 2024

Today's headlines

We are occupying Emory University to demand immediate divestment from Israel and Cop City

Narek Boyajian and Jadelynn Zhang

We are students from universities across Atlanta who are organizing against Cop City and the genocide of Palestinians. We demand total institutional divestment from Israeli apartheid and Cop City at all Atlanta colleges and universities.

Read more

Morehouse College, get on the right side of history, rescind your invitation to President Biden

Faculty members are calling on Morehouse College to rescind its invitation to Joe Biden to speak at its 2024 commencement: "Any college or university that gives its commencement stage to President Biden in this moment is endorsing genocide."

‘I’ve never seen anything like this momentum before’: a Columbia student organizer on the Gaza Solidarity Encampment

An student organizer with Columbia’s Gaza Solidarity Encampment talks to Mondoweiss about the importance of centering Palestine, the campus movement exploding across the U.S., and what happens next.

Announcing the Harvard University Liberated Zone

The Harvard University Out Of Occupied Palestine Coalition has established a Liberated Zone to call for an end to Harvard’s moral and material complicity in the ongoing genocide of the Palestinian people.

Nadera Shalhoub-Kevorkian and the ‘liquidation of all untruths’

Dr. Nadera Shalhoub-Kevorkian’s detention confirms what the BDS movement has long argued: Israeli universities are first and foremost instruments of the state and agents of Zionism’s project of dispossession and apartheid rule.

137.

CARE verleent noodhulp in Gaza

Ondanks alle uitdagingen in Gaza, geven wij niet op en doen wat mogelijk is om humanitaire noodhulp te verlenen.

Mede dankzij de steun van trouwe supporters hebben nu 90 duizend mensen medische zorg, 165 duizend mensen drinkwater, 24 duizend burgers tentzeilen, kleding en matrassen.

136.

24 april 2024

If you’ve got a Citi credit card and a pair of scissors, you’ve got some power in your hands to help stop Israel’s genocide in Gaza.

Since October 2023, Citi has supported Israel’s war machine by financing a $500 million bond to Israel and billions of dollars in bonds to war profiteers Lockheed Martin and Raytheon.

Israel needs money and arms to carry out 200 days of genocide — Citi helps with both.

If you have a Citi credit card, it’s time to cancel it and let Citi know.

Citibank leads a consortium of banks that finances Israel’s purchases of weapons.¹ Citibank continues this financing even while Israel commits plausible genocide.Palestinians trapped in Gaza are being massacred by the Israeli military. With the same moral outrage that we hold the U.S.

government accountable for its partnership with Israel's genocide, we must hold Citi accountable as well.

Citibank is the largest U.S. bank operating in Israel — but it’s more than that.²

Citi is a core partner to Israel, at a time when even Israeli investment experts say they “see too many…similarities between South Africa during apartheid and present-day Israel.”³

And just as Citibank was forced to stop doing business with South Africa, we can do the same with Israel and Citibank.⁴

Today, we are witnessing an active genocide in Gaza. It is a crisis of horrific magnitude, with over 33,000 killed,⁵ one in three children.⁶ The U.S. arms and supports Israel’s genocide and so does the largest U.S. bank operating in Israel: Citibank.

Fight Citibank !!

In solidarity,

MPower Change

Sources:

1. “How much of my taxpayer dollars go to Israel and Ukraine?,” Planet Money, NPR, March 29, 2024.
2. ”Israel,” Citgroup.
3. “'I see too many social similarities between South Africa during apartheid and present',” CTECH, Aug. 17, 2023.
4. “CITIBANK IS LEAVING SOUTH AFRICA; FOES OF APARTHEID SEE MAJOR GAIN,” New York Times, June 17, 1987.
5. “Gaza death toll surpasses 30,000 but it's an incomplete count,” NPR, Feb. 29, 2024.
6. “‘Not a normal war’: doctors say children have been targeted by Israeli snipers in Gaza,” The Guardian, April 2, 2024.

135.

24 april 2024

Today's headlines

Three days under fire: Palestinians in Tulkarem describe the ‘most violent’ Israeli raid in years

Qassam Muaddi

“Unprecedented terror” continues to haunt Palestinians in the Nur Shams refugee camp in the northern West Bank, two days after the Israeli army concluded a 52-hour-long invasion which killed 14 residents.

AIPAC stayed out of Pennsylvania so they wouldn’t lose to Summer Lee again

Rep. Summer Lee easily won her primary in Pennsylvania’s 12th district. Israel lobby groups stayed out of the race as support for Palestine surges among Democratic voters. "Opposing genocide is good politics and good policy," Lee said after winning.

Read more

The student protests for Palestine are awe-inspiring. But we must not get distracted from Gaza.

I cannot help but be moved by the wave of protests taking over college campuses across the country. But the protests aren't the story. Gaza is.

A note to fellow Columbia faculty on the current panic

The current "antisemitism panic" at Columbia University is manufactured hysteria weaponized to quell legitimate political speech on campus and give cover to the larger project of ethnic cleansing in the West Bank and, now, of course, Gaza.

134.

24 april 2024

Why is this year different from all other years?

Stand with the student movement.

What we're reading.

What we're watching.

133.

23 april 2024

For more than half a year, you’ve been demanding that the U.S. government stop funding Israel’s genocide on Palestinians in Gaza. Today is a huge day in that fight.

In just a few hours, the Senate will vote on sending an additional $26 BILLION in weapons and military funding to Israel to fuel its genocide against Palestinians in Gaza.

If passed, the package will allow Israel to continue massacring thousands of Palestinians.

Your actions have helped stop this funding from being passed for the past 6 months. We need to keep up the pressure.

It’s the beginning of the end of Israel’s apartheid regime.

We are seeing cracks in their power that we never could have imagined just a few months ago.

Last week in a historic move, 58 members of the House voted no on more funding to Israel.

At the same time, students at Columbia University and at other campuses across the country have set up “Gaza encampments” and are demanding that their institutions stop using their tuition dollars to prop up Israeli genocide. The authoritarian university administration and police response to their protests tell us that the ruling class is scared of our power. There is no support for Israeli apartheid among the younger generation. Zionism has nowhere to go.

Today, when the Senate votes on sending billions more dollars to fuel Israel’s continued violence, we know they are totally out of step with their constituents.

The people have spoken. We want the end of Israel’s oppression of the Palestinians.Let’s show them the power of our movement.

Adalah Justice Project

132.

23 april 2024

Violent Repression & Criminalization of Student Sit-ins Echoes Dark Moments in Our History

Today, over 45 Yale University students were arrested for “trespassing” on their own campus as they camped outside of the university offices demanding transparency in university investments as well as divestment from weapons companies powering Israel’s ongoing genocide in Gaza. Last week, over 100 Columbia University students were arrested for the same as university officials directed police to force students to cease their protest—infringing on the students’ First Amendment rights and threatening their academic futures.

The lesson from these campuses is clear: elite universities are leading the way in unrelenting repression of peaceful Palestine solidarity protestors and are attempting to force students to choose between a moral protest and their educational or professional futures. This is dangerous and blatant repression—and it’s a threat to academic freedom and democracy nationwide. But students against the genocide refuse to be intimidated, and people of conscience nationwide have their backs.

We have seen this repression before in some of the darkest moments of US history over the past century: civil rights and anti-war protestors banded together in the 1960s to call for an end to the War in Vietnam—similarly staging sit-ins on campuses across the country. Like now, students faced severe tactics of repression through criminalization, violent arrest, disbandment of activist groups, suspensions, and even physical attacks by police. President Nixon made it his goal to kill the anti-war protest movement—and failed.

Efforts to stop campus protests of the genocide in Gaza and university complicity in injustice will fail to stop our movement.

These peaceful student protestors stand firmly within the legacy of resilient and successful direct action against horrific and immoral warfare in Gaza. “McCarthyism” has been an apt term in recent months for the witch hunt of student activists and university presidents who do not suppress Gaza solidarity protests enough. However, what’s even more concerning is that Zionist activists have called for the FBI and National Guard to be deployed against students—a move eerily reminiscent of violence against anti-war student activists that ended in the murder of 13 Kent University students by National Guardsmen in 1970. Administrators should learn from history and protect—not suppress—students’ academic and First Amendment freedoms.

We know that the foundation for such repression is anti-Muslim and anti-Palestinian racism that casts the victims of Israel’s war as less human and casts these peaceful protests as unruly, angry, and unreasonable. But the violence and racism of these institutions will not go unchecked.

We stand firmly alongside these students and will continue to shed light on this anti-democratic repression that threatens the sanctity of the university and peaceful protest nationwide. We call on universities to stand on the right side of history and heed these students’ demands, cease their repression, and stand on the side of truth and justice as Israel continues its campaign which has killed 15,000 children in Gaza and tens of thousands of civilians.

In solidarity,
American Muslims for Palestine (AMP)

131.

23 april 2024

On Saturday, with a vote of 366 to 58, the House passed the Israel Security Supplemental Appropriations Act, a piece of legislation designed to send billions more to Israel in military aid. The bill is now headed to the Senate, with full support from the White House, paving the way for Biden to send billions more in weapons to Israel. The vote was disappointed but no unexpected. After Saturday’s vote, the Israeli military, emboldened by the vote, carried out strikes on Rafah, where over a million Palestinians are sheltering. The strikes killed more civilians, the majority of whom were children.¹

1. “Deadly Israeli Airstrikes Again Hit Rafah,” The New York Times, April 21, 2024.

130.

23 april 2024

Confirm your subscription
to Al Jazeera's Weekly Newsletter

Thanks for signing up! Please confirm your subscription by clicking on the button below. We look forward to sharing our best content with you.

­

Confirm your subscription

­

If you received this email by mistake, simply delete it. You won’t be subscribed to the newsletter if you don’t click on the button above.

Have questions or need help? Contact Us

129.

23 april 2024

WITNESSING PALESTINE

128.

23 april 2024

Today's headlines

Bakeries finally reopen in northern Gaza as Palestinians continue to fight famine

Tareq S. Hajjaj

Bakeries are finally re-opening in northern Gaza for the first time since October. "The enemy has tried killing, death, starvation, and destruction and has not succeeded," Omar Jundia tells Mondoweiss, as he waits for his first fresh bread in months.

Read more

Netanyahu exploits Passover for more biblical genocide propaganda

As Passover begins, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is once again using the bible to justify genocide in Gaza as he compares Hamas to "Pharaoh" and promises to "land additional and painful plagues" upon the Palestinians.

Israel kills 14 Palestinians in West Bank city of Tulkarem

Palestinians in the West Bank city of Tulkarem are mourning 14 victims killed by an Israeli raid on the city’s Nur Shams refugee camp over the weekend. The invasion lasted 52 hours and destroyed much of the camp’s infrastructure.

127.

22 april 2024

Hostilities in the Gaza Strip and Israel
Flash Update #156

Internally displaced people in southern Gaza. Photo by UNRWA

Key Highlights

• There is a “palpable aura of fear” among displaced people in Rafah, states UNRWA, as airstrikes heighten concerns of a military escalation.
• Only three hospitals are currently providing maternal care across Gaza while an estimated 180 women are giving birth every day, UNFPA reports.
• About 12,340 tons of cooking gas, or an average of 82 tons per day, have entered Gaza since November, according to UNRWA; this is 68 per cent less than the daily average in the first nine months of 2023. 
• Four bakeries have resumed operations in northern Gaza, but this is still a “drop in the bucket,” warns WFP.

Gaza Strip Updates

• Israeli bombardment from the air, land, and sea continues to be reported across much of the Gaza Strip, resulting in further civilian casualties, displacement, and destruction of houses and other civilian infrastructure. Airstrikes on Rafah, Deir al Balah, and Gaza city have reportedly been especially intense, with continued reports of fighting between the Israeli military and armed Palestinian groups in northern Gaza.  
• Between the afternoons of 19 April and 22 April, according to the Ministry of Health (MoH) in Gaza, 139 Palestinians were killed and 251 injured, including 54 killed and 104 injured in the last 24 hours. Between 7 October 2023 and 12:30 on 22 April 2024, at least 34,151 Palestinians were killed in Gaza and 77,084 Palestinians were injured, according to MoH in Gaza. 
• The following are among the deadliest incidents between 18 and 20 April: 
  • On 18 April at about 13:55, three Palestinians were reportedly killed and others injured when a group of people were hit in eastern Jabalya Refugee Camp in northern Gaza.
  • On 18 April at about 18:15, at least three Palestinians were reportedly killed and others injured when a residential building was hit in Ash Sheikh Radwan area in Gaza city. Others are reported to be missing under rubble. 
  • On 18 April at about 21:00, four Palestinians were reportedly killed and three injured when a residential building was hit in Ash Shati’ (Beach) Refugee Camp in western Gaza city.
  • On 19 April, at about 22:20 hours, nine Palestinians, including six children and two women, were reportedly killed when a residential apartment near Al Quds University building in Tal As Sultan area, west of Rafah, was hit.
  • On 20 April at about 22:30, four Palestinians, including a girl and a pregnant woman, were reportedly killed when a house was hit near An Najma Square in Ash Shabora Refugee Camp in Rafah.
  • On 20 April at about 23:20, at least 16 Palestinians, including 13 children and three women, were reportedly killed when a house was hit in At Tanour area in eastern Rafah.
  • On 20 April at about 17:35, two Palestinians were reportedly killed, and ten others injured, when a location was hit in Al Mawassi area sheltering internally displaced persons (IDPs) in western Khan Younis.
• Between the afternoons of 19 and 22 April, no Israeli soldiers were reported killed in Gaza. As of 22 April, 259 soldiers have been killed and 1,583 soldiers have been injured in Gaza since the beginning of the ground operation, according to the Israeli military. In addition, over 1,200 Israelis and foreign nationals, including 33 children, have been killed in Israel, the vast majority on 7 October. As of 22 April, Israeli authorities estimate that 133 Israelis and foreign nationals remain captive in Gaza, including fatalities whose bodies are withheld.
• Airstrikes on Rafah have heightened concerns of an escalation in this southernmost area of Gaza, which is already hosting over half of Gaza’s population, many of whom have been displaced multiple times and are living in desperate conditions. On 21 April, the Deputy Humanitarian Coordinator and Deputy Director of UNRWA Operations in Gaza, Scott Anderson, reported that there was a “palpable aura of fear” among displaced people in Rafah about the prospect of a ground operation and stressed  the importance of allowing civilians to relocate in search of a safer place if an operation takes place. Anderson also underscored that combatting the spread of disease is as much a priority as delivering food assistance at this time, as the sanitation crisis has been exacerbated by the absence of mechanisms to collect thousands of pounds of accumulated waste, the lack of insecticides to control vectors, and rising temperatures. Moreover, on 22 April, the MoH in Gaza stressed that a ground operation into Rafah would effectively destroy what remains of the health system in Gaza, further depriving people of health services.  
• An estimated 180 women are giving birth every day in Gaza in “inhumane, unimaginable conditions,” stated the UNFPA representative in the occupied Palestinian territory, Dominic Allen, in a press briefing on 19 April, following a ten-day mission to Gaza between 8 and 17 April. Only three of the 11 hospitals that are still partially functioning across Gaza provide maternal care: As Sahaba in northern Gaza, Al Awda in Deir al Balah, and Al Emirati in Rafah. As part of an inter-agency mission to Khan Younis, Allen described seeing cables of ultrasound machines cut and screens of complex medical equipment smashed at Nasser Hospital.  Allen added that no medical equipment was functional at Al Khair hospital and there was an “eerie sense of death” in the birthing rooms. In Deir al Balah, Al Aqsa Hospital is so overwhelmed with trauma patients that it no longer provides maternity care. In Rafah, where Al Emirati Hospital represents a lifeline for pregnant women despite facing major capacity gaps, supporting 50-60 births per day including 10-12 caesarean sections, there is deep fear gripping the population that this last haven would be destroyed in the event of a military ground incursion, stressed Allen. To enhance overall capacity, UNFPA is delivering mobile maternity units and emergency obstetric care units to two of the six field hospitals operational in Gaza. UNRWA, the Palestinian Medical Relief Society (PMRS) and UNFPA have also deployed midwives to three UNRWA shelters to mitigate shortages in pre- and post-natal care, with efforts ongoing to scale-up this project. However, among wider access constraints and challenges in bringing necessary maternal health supplies and equipment into Gaza, Allen reported an instance when torches were removed from midwifery kits and another when the oxygen machine was removed from a prefabricated maternity unit during inspection at Kerem Shalom Crossing. In his briefing, the UNFPA official also underscored the heightened risk of gender-based violence (GBV), including child marriage, faced by women and girls in Gaza, and the efforts made by UNFPA and partners to re-establish support services for GBV survivors that have been largely destroyed by over six months of hostilities. Urging a massive increase in the influx of aid entering Gaza, Allen echoed the UN Secretary-General’s call for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire as the only solution to this ongoing catastrophe.
• Food production across Gaza continues to be severely impeded by dire shortages of fuel, including cooking gas. According to UNRWA, between 24 November 2023, when Israel first permitted the entry of Egyptian-imported cooking gas into Gaza, and 21 April 2024, about 12,340 tons of cooking .gas was allowed into Gaza. This is an average of about 82 tons per day, which falls short of requirements and is 68 per cent less than the daily average between January and September 2023 (260 tons). According to the Government Media Office (GMO) in Gaza, the impact of fuel and cooking gas shortages is particularly severe in northern Gaza, where families have been forced to rely on expensive and unsafe alternatives, such as firewood, charcoal, plastic and chemicals. The resultant emission of toxic gases has resulted in the spread of respiratory diseases, according to GMO. Longstanding constraints on the entry of fuel have also affected food production facilities, including restaurants and bakeries, limiting people’s access to nutritious meals and exacerbating food insecurity. This month, the World Food Programme (WFP)  supplied fuel and wheat flour to bakeries in northern Gaza, enabling four bakeries to resume operations after being inactive for more than 170 days. WFP Executive Director Cindy McCain emphasized the significance of this effort, stating: "In northern Gaza, this is what humanitarian access looks like: fuel, flour and now bread for families who haven’t had it in months. An important step, but a drop in the bucket. WFP and our partners need accelerated access into and across Gaza to prevent the possibility of famine."  
• According to the Cash Working Group, the very limited entry of commercial supplies into Gaza and the complete disruption of the private sector supply chain have resulted in a near total disappearance of the formal market and high price volatility, with significant fluctuations in key commodity prices reported since 7 October. On 14 April, the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS) reported that the Consumer Price Index had climbed by 165 per cent since the onset of the conflict, with an increase of over 25 per cent only between February and March 2024, and purchasing power has plummeted by 62 per cent. Informal markets have thus become a primary source for accessing essential goods, including food and water, and meeting basic household needs. In addition, displacement and loss of infrastructure has reduced the number of financial agents available for people to receive cash assistance, especially in northern Gaza.  There is also a liquidity shortage, mainly in southern Gaza, driven by the inability of banks to move cash between branches. Despite these challenges, up to 72 per cent of people who have received Multi-Purpose Cash Assistance (MPCA) have been able to draw these resources. As of 22 April, one round of emergency MPCA has been delivered to about 124,630 households and over 27,780 households have received a second round. A top-up has also been delivered to 34,000 people, including persons with disabilities and nursing mothers. According to post-distribution monitoring (PDM) data, most respondents reported a preference for cash in all assessed locations, cash assistance has helped them to meet some, or all, of the basic households needs, and most of the MPCA was reportedly spent on food, followed by medicine and drinking water. 

West Bank 

• Between 18 and 20 April, Israeli forces killed 14 Palestinians during a 50-hour operation in Nur Shams Refugee Camp and its surrounding area. During the operation, exchanges of fire between the Israeli military and armed Palestinians were reported, along with the sound of explosions. Initial reports indicate severe damage to civilian infrastructure, including residential homes, commercial stores, roads, electricity infrastructure, and water, sewage and telecommunication networks. Further technical assessments are planned.
• On 20 April, a 50-year-old Palestinian ambulance driver was shot and killed by either Israeli settlers or Israeli forces while evacuating two Palestinians injured during an attack by Israeli settlers in As Sawiya village in Nablus governorate. About 50 settlers believed to be from Eli settlement had raided the village, shooting and throwing stones while Palestinian residents gathered and threw stones at the settlers. Israeli forces also raided the village and opened fire. In a statement on 21 April, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) said it was appalled by the killing, noting that since the onset of hostilities, “eighteen staff members and volunteers of the PRCS [the Palestinian Red Crescent Society] have been killed in Gaza and now the West Bank and four from Magen David Adom in Israel.”
• A full weekly update on the West Bank will be published on 24 April.

Funding

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

126.

22 april 2024

Today's headlines

$17 billion in military aid for Israel under aid package

As the number of Palestinians killed in the Israeli assault on Gaza nears 35,000, the House of Representatives voted to send an additional $17 billion in unconditional military aid to Israel

Police brutality and mass arrests of Palestine protesters in Chicago may be precursor to the DNC

On April 15, Chicago police aggressively prevented marchers during the worldwide A15 day of action. Organizers say the repression was a message from the city ahead of the upcoming Democratic National Convention in August.

125.

22 april 2024

Last Saturday, the House of Representatives passed Bill H.R.8034, the Israel Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2024, with a concerning number of 58 members of Congress voting against it (37 Democrats and 21 Republicans

The allocation of $26 billion, including $14.1 billion designated for weapons to Israel, is deeply troubling. It goes against US laws and policies, such as the Foreign Assistance Act and the Arms Export Control Act, which prohibit weapon transfers to countries engaged in severe human rights violations.

The bill's passage in the House signals a critical moment for us to rally together and pressure our Senators to vote against it. The U.S. must end its blatant and unconditional support for Israel’s genocide in the Gaza Strip, as well as its support for Israel’s war crimes and occupation in general.

124.

21 april 2024

Today's headlines

Zionism must be exposed and discredited

Zionism threatens political freedom in the United States and international order. There is only one way to fight this ideology. Those who oppose it must explain the truth to Americans: Zionism is racist.

Long live the student resistance

University administrators fail to understand that student activists have glimpsed a remarkable future in which Palestinian liberation is possible. The Gaza Solidarity Encampment at Columbia University is an inspiration to stay the course.

The media is advancing a false narrative of ‘rising antisemitism’ on campus by ignoring Jewish protesters

ewish students participating in pro-Palestine protests on their campuses would have valuable things to say about the alleged "rising antisemitism" at their schools. But the media is ignoring them.

123.

21 april 2024

While revenge was never openly acknowledged, it unofficially lingered beneath the surface. Officially, we spoke about the strategic or tactical benefit of each operation, as armies of democratic states are supposed to behave. When I realized that we are actually in a cycle fueled by revenge and bloodshed, I understood that my participation did not enhance the state’s security.

I began to imagine myself in the shoes of a Palestinian, how I would react to invasions of a foreign military blocking and killing innocent people, blocking ambulances from the injured, demolishing houses etc. I realized that as an Israeli, I was perpetuating a cycle of vengeance for the deaths of innocent people. If I was a Palestinian, I would likely seek revenge for the death of innocent people on my side. It dawned on me that I'm a pawn in a game. A cruel game that not only does not end, with each revenge, it just intensifies. If twenty years ago up to twenty people were killed in each raid or terror attack, then today we see hundreds and thousands, even tens of thousand people killed. That's why I would refuse again today.

Towards the beginning of the war I was afraid to speak out publicly. The police, government and even fellow civilians were resorting to extreme measures to suppress any opposition to the war on Gaza. But today, more than ever, it is important to show Israelis and the international community that there are refusers and resistors of the war on Gaza. When I discovered the collective, AniSiravti, I was thankful there were others speaking out. They gave me the courage to share my story.

AniSiravti is looking for former Israeli soldiers who refused to serve and for those who found alternative ways to refuse their service (not as a political conscientious objector), and would like to publicly declare their refusal. We are looking for those who are interested in publishing a written or video testimony (with the option of remaining anonymous) of their refusal and are open to publish it on various social media platforms.

Help us widen our community so we can amplify the voices of refusers in one call to end the war and the occupation. In solidarity,

Itamar Shapira

122.

20 april 2024

Today's headlines

After Iran’s retaliation

Israel will likely use its limited attack on Iran to win a green light from the Biden administration to invade Rafah. While the muted response might have hopefully avoided a regional war, the price could be paid in Palestinian blood.

Eyewitness accounts from al-Shifa Hospital

Mondoweiss Gaza Correspondent Tareq Hajjaj discusses his reporting on the Israeli siege of al-Shifa Hospital and attacks on Palestinians attempting to return to northern Gaza.

121.

19 april 2024

Urge Congress to Protect Freedom Flotilla's Humanitarian Mission to Gaza

The Freedom Flotilla to Gaza is set to sail soon. We must push Congress to protect American civilians on the mission to challenge Israel’s illegal blockade on Gaza and admit life-saving humanitarian assistance. As Israel's brutal assault and blockade persist in Gaza, the specter of famine looms larger. More than 1.9 million Palestinians are enduring severe deprivation of food, water, and shelter. In response to this, the Freedom Flotilla has launched an urgent civilian aid mission. Multiple ships will make their way to Gaza, carrying over 5000 tons of life-saving supplies. On board are hundreds of individuals, including many Americans, united in defiance against Israel's relentless genocidal campaign targeting Palestinians. By rallying behind this cause, our members of Congress can send a clear message to Israel that blind support for unjust actions will no longer be tolerated. Please take action.Urgent action is needed!!

AMP

120.

19 april 2024

This week, the New York Times Palestine style guide was leaked and revealed how their journalists are prevented from covering Israel’s brutal occupation and genocide. How can the Times report from Palestine if its reporters can’t even use the word? This can only be described as journalistic malpractice.

What we cover matters. How we cover it matters even more.

If you missed it, please read Faris’s email below and support the work of our newsroom. Our reporting pulls no punches and states the truth clearly, but we need your help to do it. We are so close to reaching our spring goal, only $17,000 to go. Can you support our coverage? Any amount helps!

Thank you,

Adam Horowitz
Executive Editor

The media engages in mental gymnastics when portraying the killing of Palestinians in Gaza.

It is hardly surprising the corporate media doesn’t take Palestinian voices seriously. We always knew they barely covered Palestinian stories or let them speak in their own words. And we also knew the mainstream was perfectly willing to accept outlandish Israeli propaganda claims with credulity.

But what we’ve seen in the past six months has been a new low. So-called reputable sources uncritically repeated Israeli fabrications about Palestinians, playing into the Israeli effort to justify the genocide in Gaza by disseminating atrocity propaganda about October 7. Whether it’s the early repetition of the claim of “40 beheaded babies” (Mondoweiss was the first outlet to debunk it), or the widely publicized claims of systematic mass rape (we were one of the first sites to run multiple stories exposing several fabricated Israeli testimonies), the mainstream media has blood on its hands.

Thanks to our donors we are able to fight this relentless dehumanizing propaganda. If it wasn’t for independent news outlets like Mondoweiss, the spread of lies would’ve been even worse, with no accountability.

Please don’t let that happen.

Well into the genocidal campaign, the media continues to engage in mental gymnastics when portraying the indiscriminate killing of Palestinians in Gaza. The media used the passive voice when 6-year-old Hind Rajab was “found dead” after an Israeli tank killed her, six of her relatives, and the team of paramedics dispatched to save her. It lent credence to unsubstantiated claims about an alleged “command-and-control” center under al-Shifa Hospital. And it talked about how people “died” during “aid convoy violence” in a “crush of bodies” when reporting on the Flour Massacre, in which Israeli forces deliberately shot and killed 118 starving Palestinians seeking aid.

Mondoweiss has been there from the start, pushing back against the narrative that seeks to manufacture consent for genocide.

This is why Mondoweiss is so important. We provide a platform to not only push back against the lies and the systematic biases in the current media landscape but to honor the stories of Palestinians by letting them speak in their own words.

We put all our resources and staff capacity into fighting the dehumanizing rhetoric, for audiences to know the martyrs by their names. We have highlighted stories of family and friends frantically trying to save their loved ones in Gaza. Unfortunately, it’s not enough. The world knows more about the international aid workers who have been killed than they do about the 14,000 Palestinian children.

We need to do more. All of us.

We expanded our coverage to meet the need. Please support Mondoweiss' coverage by making a donation today.

Thank you for your support,

119.

19 april 2024

Pak de grondoorzaken aan
Dat Israëls bondgenoten in het Westen zich jongstleden tegen een geweldsescalatie keerden is niet genoeg. Essentieel is dat de grondoorzaken van de conflicten in het Midden-Oosten eindelijk worden aangepakt, niet met wapens, maar langs de lijnen van het recht.

Daarvan is de kwestie-Palestina zonder twijfel één van de belangrijkste. In plaats van het conflict in leven te houden dient het eindelijk te worden beëindigd. Daarvoor is van het hoogste belang dat Israëls bondgenoten, waaronder Nederland, Israëls bezettingspolitiek en geweld in Gaza niet langer steunen maar actief veroordelen.

F-35-onderdelen

Tweematen-politiek
Het is een toonbeeld van de tweematen-politiek die de westerse landen hanteren, waarin voor Israël andere regels gelden dan voor ieder ander. Het is hoog tijd dat daar verandering in komt. Niet deze medeplichtigheid, maar alleen handhaving van het voor alle betrokkenen even zwaar wegende internationaal recht kan tot vrede in het Midden-Oosten leiden. 

Antisemitisme-ophef in PvdA biedt kans om orde op zaken te stellen

Bezoek Herzog
Aanleiding is het partijstandpunt dat PvdA-Tweede Kamerlid Kati Piri op 8 maart namens GroenLinks/PvdA op X publiceerde. Daarin werd de komst van de Israëlische president Yitzhak Herzog naar de opening van het Nationaal Holocaustmuseum betreurd. Diens opruiing tot genocide in Gaza maakte zijn aanwezigheid onaanvaardbaar voor Joden en alle Nederlanders voor wie ‘Nooit meer’ ook écht ‘Nooit meer’ betekent. Voor de Palestijnse gemeenschap betekende Herzogs ontvangst door de koning en premier een klap in het gezicht die onrust en gevoelens van onveiligheid zaaide.

Een beeld van de demonstratie tegen de aanwezigheid van president Herzog bij de opening van het Nationaal Holocaustmuseum. 

Een urgent onderwerp is vandaag de dag de vaststelling dat ‘antisemitisme’ is verworden tot een ernstig misbruikt begrip in onze samenleving. Al decennia worden personen en organisaties – onder wie buitenproportioneel veel Joden – als antisemitisch belasterd. Daarbij zijn democratische waarden en vrijheden in het geding.

Als men over antisemitisme wil spreken, dient ze dat begrip eerst eenduidig te definiëren. En vervolgens universeel en transparant toe te passen.

Agenda Grand Palestinian Exhibition

Students for Justice in Palestina en Stichting Handala organiseren op zondag 21 april een Grand Palestinian Exhibition in Amsterdam.

'Van Henna-ontwerpen tot traditionele kleding en de kunst van Tatreez, dompel jezelf onder in de Palestijnse cultuur. Ontdek de werken van lokale en internationale Palestijnse kunstenaars, die elk hun eigen krachtige verhalen vertellen. Neem deel aan interactieve virtuele ervaringen die u naar Palestina brengen en uw begrip van de Palestijnse cultuur en identiteit verdiepen.'

Alle opbrengsten van de tentoonstelling gaan naar hulp voor Palestijnen in Gaza.

Zondag 21 april, van 13.00 - 18.00 uur.
RU PARE, Chris Lebeaustraat 4, 1062 DC Amsterdam

Oud-ministers en diplomaten roepen kabinet op tot directe hervatting steun aan UNRWA

Inmiddels lijkt enig bewijs voor de Israëlische beschuldigingen te ontbreken, en keren de donorlanden die hun contributies aan de hulporganisatie hadden opgezegd één voor één terug. Dat geldt niet voor Nederland.

Hoog tijd om daar verandering in te brengen, en niet voor de zoveelste keer onder het mom van 'geheim bewijs' mee te helpen aan de afbreuk van hulporganisaties die zich inzetten voor de rechten van Palestijnen.

Onafhankelijk rapport
In de komende dagen worden de resultaten gepubliceerd van een onafhankelijk onderzoek naar de Israëlische beschuldigingen tegen UNRWA en hoe de hulporganisatie met deze beschuldigingen is omgegaan. Zodra daarover meer bekend is zullen wij daarover berichten.

Tweede Kamer debatteert over Israël-Palestina

Op donderdag 18 april debatteerde de Tweede Kamer over de situatie in Israël en Palestina. Het debat vond grotendeels langs de geijkte lijnen plaats en zorgde voor weinig verassingen.

Maatregelen tegen kolonisten
De Kamer sprak zich onder meer uit over het bestraffen van illegale Israëlische kolonisten die zich schuldig maken aan geweld tegen de Palestijnse burgerbevolking. Dat is een terechte maatregel, die momenteel ook door de VS en de EU wordt besproken, maar is voornamelijk symbolisch van aard. Door enkel op te treden tegen individuele gewelddadige kolonisten wordt het gehele Israëlische nederzettingenbeleid geen strobreed in de weg gelegd. Sterker nog, Nederland weigert echte maatregelen te nemen die daar wel aan zouden bijdragen, zoals het verbieden van handel met bedrijven die actief zijn in de nederzettingen.

In een door DENK ingediende (en aangenomen) motie wordt de regering wel opgeroepen te verkennen welke aanvullende stappen genomen kunnen worden om het nederzettingenbeleid te stoppen, maar voorstellen voor concrete maatregelen ontbreken.

Verder werd ook een door de Partij voor de Dieren ingediende motie aangenomen waarin de regering wordt opgeroepen zich in te spannen voor meer ondersteuning en versterking van internationale waarnemers op de Westelijke Jordaanoever.

Motie voor erkenning Palestina verworpen
Vorige week debatteerde de Kamer ook al over Israël-Palestina. Een toen door de PvdA ingediende motie om Palestina officieel als staat te erkennen behaalde geen meerderheid. De motie kreeg wel steun van SP, PvdD, Volt, GL-PvdA, DENK en D66.

118.

19 april 2024

Hostilities in the Gaza Strip and Israel
Flash Update #155

Nine-year-old Tamer walks through the rubble of his destroyed neighbourhood in Khan Younis. Photo by UNICEF/Eyad El Baba

Key Highlights

• Every ten minutes, one child is killed or injured in Gaza, UNICEF warns, based on figures by the Ministry of Health, stressing the urgent need to increase medical evacuations of children.
• With 178 UNRWA staff killed and nearly 350 incidents affecting agency premises in Gaza, UNRWA calls for an independent investigation and accountability. 
• Some 270,000 tons of solid waste have accumulated across the Gaza Strip, according to the Union of Gaza Strip Municipalities, and the International Rescue Committee warns that children are dying from preventable or easily treatable diseases amid an unfolding public health catastrophe.
• Between 1 and 19 April, 15 per cent of aid missions to northern Gaza and areas in southern Gaza that require coordination have been denied or impeded by Israeli authorities.

Gaza Strip Updates

• Israeli bombardment from the air, land, and sea continues to be reported across much of the Gaza Strip, resulting in further civilian casualties, displacement, and destruction of houses and other civilian infrastructure. In a briefing to the Security Council on 18 April, Secretary-General António Guterres stated: “Two million Palestinians have endured death, destruction, and the denial of lifesaving humanitarian aid; they are now staring down on starvation. An Israeli operation in Rafah would compound this humanitarian catastrophe… To avert imminent famine, and further preventable deaths from disease, we need a quantum leap in humanitarian aid to Palestinians in Gaza… Delivering aid at scale requires Israel’s full and active facilitation of humanitarian operations.”
• Between the afternoon of 17 April and 15:00 on 19 April, according to the Ministry of Health (MoH) in Gaza, 113 Palestinians were killed and 169 Palestinians were injured, including 71 killed and 106 injured in the last 24 hours. Between 7 October 2023 and 15:00 on 19 April 2024, at least 34,012 Palestinians were killed in Gaza and 76,833 Palestinians were injured, according to MoH in Gaza.
• The following are among the deadly incidents between 16 and 17 April: 
  • On 16 April, at about 15:50, at least 12 Palestinians, including children, were reportedly killed when a group of people was hit near Al Muhandis roundabout in Al Maghazi Refugee Camp, in Deir al Balah. The location was reportedly a space for children to play.
  • On 17 April, at about 9:50, 13 Palestinians were reportedly killed when a group of people was hit at Ash Sheikh Radwan Bridge, in northern Gaza city.
  • On 17 April, at about 17:40, four Palestinian internally displaced persons (IDPs) were reportedly killed, and others injured, when Shuhayber school in Beach (Ash Shati’) Refugee Camp, in western Gaza city, was hit.
  • On 17 April, at about 21:15, at least ten Palestinians, including two women and five children, were reportedly killed and others injured when a house sheltering IDPs in As Salam neighbourhood in eastern Rafah was hit.
• Between the afternoons of 17 and 19 April, no Israeli soldiers were reported killed in Gaza. As of 19 April, 259 soldiers have been killed and 1,582 soldiers have been injured in Gaza since the beginning of the ground operation, according to the Israeli military. In addition, over 1,200 Israelis and foreign nationals, including 33 children, have been killed in Israel, the vast majority on 7 October. As of 19 April, Israeli authorities estimate that 133 Israelis and foreign nationals remain captive in Gaza, including fatalities whose bodies are withheld.
• At least 408 IDPs were killed and another 1,406 were injured in 349 incidents where munitions fired by parties to the conflict and incidents of interference, including use for military purposes, affected UNRWA premises in Gaza between 7 October 2023 and 15 March 2024, according to an UNRWA report released on 16 April. Over 85 per cent of incidents involved munitions, with at least 160 instances of direct hits, of which 122 affected schools. Another 15 per cent of incidents involved interference by parties to the conflict with UNRWA premises, including unauthorized entry, forced evacuation of IDPs, and use of facilities “as ring positions, to store weapons, as barracks, and for resupply missions.” Many premises have been affected multiple times; for example, 261 incidents were documented at 120 UNRWA schools, with an average of 2.2 incidents per school. UNRWA additionally documented 23 incidents affecting the Khan Younis Training Centre, which was sheltering over 34,000 IDPs prior to the outbreak of fighting in the area in late January. Moreover, since 7 October, 178 UNRWA staff have been killed in the Gaza Strip. In a briefing to the Security Council on 17 April, UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini highlighted that, although “UNRWA is the backbone of the humanitarian operation,” its “premises and staff have been targeted since the beginning of the war,” demanding “an independent investigation and accountability for the blatant disregard for the protected status of humanitarian workers, operations, and facilities under international law.”
• “Children are wearing a tremendous share of the scars of this war,” and every ten minutes a child is either killed or injured in Gaza, stated UNICEF spokesperson Tess Ingram, based on MoH figures, in a briefing to the press on 16 April, following a two-week mission to Gaza. More than 12,000 children have been injured in Gaza since the onset of hostilities according to MoH, an average of nearly 70 children every day. The real toll, however, is believed to be much higher as injuries are rarely disaggregated by age, explained Ingram. Recounting the harrowing stories of some of the children she met at hospitals—including a 13-year-old boy whose arm had to be amputated without anaesthesia and a 10-year-old boy shot in the head who did not survive—Ingram emphasized that only a ceasefire can stop the killing and maiming of children. She appealed for an immediate increase in the number of children being medically evacuated outside Gaza, stressing that they are “languishing in pain” in decimated health facilities lacking personnel and basic supplies like needles or stitches. Following a recent assessment mission to northern Gaza, WHO reported that a medical point operated by the Palestinian Medical Relief Society (PMRS) was in dire need of fuel and medical supplies as it continued to receive trauma patients and provide basic health services. The mission team also noted that rehabilitation efforts are underway at the Indonesian Hospital, and a thorough engineering mission is needed to determine the safety of facilities at Al Shifa Hospital, where the removal of dead bodies is still ongoing. On 18 April, the MoH in Gaza appealed again for the establishment of field hospitals and the deployment of international medical teams to Gaza and North Gaza governorates.
• The public health catastrophe underway in Gaza is disproportionately affecting children, warned the International Rescue Committee (IRC) this week. Amid overcrowding in shelters and severe shortages of clean water, sanitation and basic health services, children as young as four-months-old are dying from preventable or easily treatable diseases like pneumonia, gastroenteritis and diarrhea, with malnourishment rendering them particularly vulnerable. About 30 per cent of roughly 346,000 cases of diarrhea recorded since mid-October are among children under five years of age, according to WHO. As Hepatitis A and other illnesses continue to spread, the IRC also warned that six months of conflict have disrupted essential vaccination cycles, compromising children’s immunity to Hepatitis B, polio and rotavirus. Projections by the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and the Johns Hopkins Center for Humanitarian Health highlight that epidemics such as cholera, polio, measles and meningococcal meningitis would cause the highest mortality rate in Gaza should they occur, including under an immediate ceasefire scenario where about 11 per cent of estimated deaths due to epidemic disease are projected to occur among children under 59 months in the period between 7 February and 6 August. 
• About 270,000 tons of solid waste have accumulated across the Gaza Strip, creating an environmental and public health catastrophe, according to the Union of Gaza Strip Municipalities. Gaza city accounts for some 90,000 tons, or about a third, of accumulated waste, which the municipality mainly attributes to restricted access to fuel, the destruction of solid waste collection vehicles, and Israeli authorities’ denial of access to the main landfill in Juhr ad Dik area in eastern Gaza city.  The destruction of waste management facilities and medical waste disposal centres has also severely hampered the collection and disposal of solid waste by municipalities. In January and February 2024, about 10,000 tons of solid waste had been successfully collected from Rafah and Khan Younis under a UNDP-UNRWA partnership in support of the Joint Service Council for solid waste management (JSC-KRM) to help mitigate the impact of the solid waste crisis. The partnership involved UNDP-monitored distribution of fuel and the deployment of workers to oversee waste collection operations. While pre-dating the onset of hostilities, the solid waste crisis has been significantly exacerbated; for example, the Executive Director of the JSC-KRM highlighted that, following the mass displacement of people to the southern and central areas of the Strip, the daily amount of generated waste increased from 600 to 1,400 tons, exceeding the council’s capacity. Moreover, a water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) rapid assessment in Rafah between 4 and 29 February found that 92 per cent of 75 assessed sites for IDPs had some type of visible waste and 75 per cent had informal and uncontrolled dumping areas.
• Multiple obstacles continue to impede the timely and efficient delivery of urgent humanitarian assistance across Gaza. A limited number of functional land crossings force aid organizations to heavily rely on Kerem Shalom Crossing, where lengthy inspection processes introduce significant delays, leading to bottlenecks and logistical challenges. In a new development, and for the first time in more than six months, three convoys facilitated by the World Food Programme (WFP) crossed Erez Crossing into northern Gaza on 14, 15, and 16 April and some bakeries have resumed operations in northern and central Gaza. The convoys comprised 25 trucks carrying about 404 metric tons of food parcels and wheat flour to nearly 80,000 people, WFP reports. Two additional convoys carrying 374 tons of wheat flour have crossed into Gaza from Ashdod Port through Kerem Shalom Crossing on 16 and 17 April. Within Gaza, ongoing hostilities, the destruction of roads and the prevalence of unexploded ordnance pose significant risks for humanitarian workers, impeding the physical movement of aid supplies. This is in addition to fuel supply constraints, delays and insecurity at Al Rasheed (coastal) Road checkpoint, restrictions on telecommunications, an insufficient number of drivers and trucks cleared by Israel to use the fence road, and a limited number of available trucks. On 17 and 18 April, the United Nations transferred into Gaza 15 of 30 trucks it had purchased to enhance aid delivery by augmenting the available fleet. The purchase and shipment are funded through the occupied Palestinian territory Humanitarian Fund (oPt HF) at a cost of US$3.5 million. Finally, denied access to aid missions also represents a key constraint; between 1 and 19 April, 15 per cent (27 out of 181) of aid missions to northern Gaza and areas in southern Gaza that require coordination have been denied or impeded by Israeli authorities. In the past week (13-19 April), there has been an increase in the number of facilitated food missions to northern Gaza, accounting for 14 out of 17 missions facilitated by Israeli authorities. 

Funding

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

117.

18 april 2024

Today's headlines

Israeli army withdraws from Gaza’s Nuseirat refugee camp, says Rafah is next

The Palestinian Red Crescent accused the Israeli army of preventing medical teams from reaching the injured. Meanwhile, Human Rights Watch said evidence shows Israeli soldiers are participating in settler attacks in the West Bank.

How the UK media devalues Palestinian lives

The UK media's coverage of the killing of World Central Kitchen workers shows how much Palestinian life is devalued.

Resist Congressional efforts to silence free speech on Palestine

The House Committee on Education and the Workforce is aiming to silence support of Palestine. After targeting notable private universities it is now going after public institutions starting with Rutgers. The school must stand up to this intimidation.

116.

18 april 2024

Lire la version en français / Hier die deutsche Ausgabe lesen

If there’s one thing I’ve learned in my thousands of hours on social media over the years, it’s this: block early, block often.

I have a personal set of “blocking rules” I post frequently – on Bluesky, LinkedIn, Mastodon, and Twitter/X – explaining who gets blocked. For example, when I see someone in my replies supporting war crimes - boom, instant block. Pushing the propaganda lines of abusive governments? Block. Flinging hate? Block.

But wait, some say, aren’t you a human rights guy? Don’t you believe in freedom of speech?

Of course, I believe in freedom of speech. But just because someone is free to speak, does not mean I am obligated to listen to them – nor share their ideas.

There’s a responsibility I feel I have – that we all have – when using social media. We can control parts of these online spaces, and like a micro-editor of a micro-publication, we get to decide what we want our readers to see, and not to see.

Not only do we have control over our own posts and replies, we have some control over the replies of others. And for both: control implies responsibility. Blocking accounts that are spreading poisonous ideas in the replies to your social media posts is simply responsible behavior.

This always becomes an issue for me when I post about ongoing conflicts. Yesterday, I saw it in replies to social media posts linking to my latest Daily Brief article on Israel/Palestine, but it happens with every conflict. I block people who still seem to think the laws of war and other standards should only apply to the “other side” and not to “their side.”

Defending atrocities is appalling. Those who do so are denying the suffering of innocent individuals, and in doing so, they are denying the fundamental humanity of everyone, including themselves, actually.

In a way, it’s not their fault, of course. Conflicts can negatively impact people’s brains, push their minds into vicious desires for, or at least acceptance of, revenge and punishment, even of the innocent.

But that doesn’t mean I want to see their verbal violence and incitement to hatred in social media replies. And I don’t want my inaction to help such ugliness spread.

So, yes, I block people on social media. Often. I encourage you to do the same.

115.

18 april 2024

All around the world, the people are rising up with Palestine.

On Monday, which was Tax Day, protests simultaneously and autonomously took off in over 50 cities to jam economic production and grind the genocide machine to a halt. Protesters shut down both sides of the Golden Gate Bridge, blocked the Chicago O’Hare International Airport, and disrupted multiple ports and weapons manufacturers globally as part of a coordinated blockade called A15.

As brutal as it is to witness what our Palestinian people are enduring, we know that our movement has become a force to be reckoned with. And we’re only getting started.

House Republicans are scrambling to push through a new version of the Deadly Deal spending package this week, with an even more massive $26 BILLION in weapons to Israel. We must keep up the fight immediately and in the long haul.

Four weeks from today is Nakba Day, when we’ll commemorate the 1948 catastrophe in which Israeli militias forced out 750,000 Palestinians from their native land, as well as the ongoing Nakba. This Nakba Day is the time to boldly raise our voices in the halls of power.

Onward to liberation,

114.

17 april 2024

Congress is pushing for $14b in weapons to Israel.

Stop arming the Israeli military.

Power Half-Hours for Gaza.

Passover 5784/2024: Exodus from Zionism.

What we're reading.

113.

17 april 2024

Hostilities in the Gaza Strip and Israel
Flash Update #154

UN mission to northern Gaza, 15 April 2024. Photo by WHO

Key Highlights

• New Flash Appeal for the occupied Palestinian territory requests US$2.8 billion to meet the critical needs of over 3 million people in Gaza and the West Bank between April and December 2024.
• Twenty-three emergency medical teams (EMTs) have been deployed across Gaza to date, but access constraints prevent the scale-up of their operations in the north, WHO reports. 
• More than a million women and girls in Gaza are facing inhumane living conditions and critical health risks due to the lack of safe water and basic sanitation services, according to UN Women.
• Some 37 Palestinian communities across the West Bank have been affected by Israeli settler violence incidents leading to casualties and/or property damage between 9 and 15 April, triple the number of affected communities in the preceding week.

Gaza Strip Updates

• Israeli bombardment from the air, land, and sea continues to be reported across much of the Gaza Strip, resulting in further civilian casualties, displacement, and destruction of houses and other civilian infrastructure. 
• Between the afternoon of 15 April and 10:30 on 17 April, according to the Ministry of Health (MoH) in Gaza, 102 Palestinians were killed, and 199 Palestinians were injured, including 56 killed and 89 injured in the past 24 hours. Between 7 October 2023 and 10:30 on 17 April 2024, at least 33,899 Palestinians were killed in Gaza and 76,664 Palestinians were injured, according to MoH in Gaza. 
• The following are among the deadly incidents between 14 and 16 April: 
  • On 14 April, at about 18:25, five Palestinians were reportedly killed, and others injured, when a house in the new camp of An Nuseirat Refugee Camp was hit.
  • On 16 April, at about 11:00, four Palestinians were reportedly killed when a house in Beit Hanun, in northern Gaza, was hit and significantly damaged. 
  • On 16 April, at about 0:10, four Palestinians, including a child, were reportedly killed when a house in Tal As Sultan area, in western Rafah, was hit. 
  • On 16 April, at about 13:00, at least eight Palestinians including seven police officers were reportedly killed when a police vehicle in At Tuffah neighbourhood, in northeastern Gaza city, was hit. 
• Between the afternoons of 15 and 17 April, no Israeli soldiers were reported killed in Gaza. As of 17 April, 259 soldiers have been killed and 1,574 soldiers have been injured in Gaza since the beginning of the ground operation, according to the Israeli military. In addition, over 1,200 Israelis and foreign nationals, including 33 children, have been killed in Israel, the vast majority on 7 October. As of 17 April, Israeli authorities estimate that 133 Israelis and foreign nationals remain captive in Gaza, including fatalities whose bodies are withheld.
• Efforts to recover bodies in and around Al Shifa Medical Complex, in Gaza city, continue. On 15 April, the bodies of 10 Palestinians, including women and patients, were reportedly discovered in front of the surgery building of Al Shifa. On 9 April, the Gaza Civil Defence spokesperson, Mahmoud Basal, reported that at least 381 bodies had been recovered from the area surrounding Al Shifa, excluding people buried within the hospital’s compound, and some were completely disfigured and rendered unidentifiable. On 9 April, UN agencies supported the Ministry of Health in organizing dignified burials for unidentified bodies on the hospital’s premises. Separately, several corpses were reportedly found on 14 April under sand barriers in Beit Lahiya, in northern Gaza, on land that had allegedly been used as a temporary cemetery. According to the Government Media Office (GMO) in Gaza, some 7,000 Palestinians are missing or under the rubble.
• On 15 April, the Israeli authorities reportedly released 150 Palestinians, including at least one child, who had been detained from various areas of the Gaza Strip. On the same day, PRCS announced that six of its ambulance crews remained in detention and two were released 50 days following their detention at a military checkpoint while evacuating patients from Al Amal Hospital in Khan Younis. On 16 April, UNRWA reported that it had documented the release of about 1,500 detainees from Gaza through the Kerem Shalom Crossing, including 326 Gaza labourers who were working in Israel prior to 7 October, 43 children, and 23 UNRWA staff. In a press statement on 15 April, Al Mezan Center for Human Rights stated that “Israeli forces have detained at least 3,000 Palestinian residents of Gaza, including women, children, elderly people, as well as professionals such as doctors, nurses, teachers and journalists,” and estimated that some 1,650 Palestinian residents of Gaza are in Israeli prisons under the Unlawful Combatants Law. Data provided by the Israel Prison Service (IPS) to Hamoked, an Israeli human rights NGO, indicates that Israel holds 849 people as "unlawful combatants" and that overall detention figures do not include detainees from Gaza held by the Israeli military. On 4 April, the Palestinian Prisoners Club had reported that 23 children from Gaza are among more than 200 Palestinian children in detention, noting that this was the only figure available regarding detained children from Gaza and actual figures may be higher. 
• On 15 April, the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) announced that the emergency department of Al Amal Hospital in Khan Younis had been re-opened. All other departments, however, remain out of service due to extensive damage sustained during repeated bombardments and over 40 days of siege by Israeli forces. On 14 April, WHO and its partners were able to transfer a seven-year-old girl suffering from acute malnutrition and dehydration and a 34-year-old woman with multiple facial injuries and fractures from Kamal Adwan hospital in northern Gaza to a field hospital in the south. Both patients are expected to be medically evacuated abroad in the coming days. According to the latest WHO data, an estimated 6,000 critical trauma patients and 3,000 patients with serious chronic conditions need to be urgently evacuated from Gaza. Amid a severe shortage in primary and secondary health services, WHO has facilitated the deployment of 23 EMTs in 10 hospitals over the past 100 days; the EMTs have performed nearly 16,000 surgeries, undertaken over 298,000 consultations and provided an additional, combined capacity of 464 hospital beds. Extreme access constraints, however, continue to prevent the scaling up of vital EMT operations in the north, WHO notes. Six field hospitals have also been established, including four in Rafah and two in Khan Younis. On 15 and 16 April, the MoH in Gaza appealed for the urgent establishment of field hospitals in northern Gaza, the provision of generators, and restoration of electricity lines to support the operations of the remaining partially functional hospitals, warning that existing generators may stop functioning at any moment. 
• On 15 April, the Palestinian Water Authority (PWA) announced that extensive repairs of the Israeli Mekorot Bani Suhaila water connection point and some segments of the transmission lines in Khan Younis have been completed, with work underway to inspect all the transmission lines in the network and repair identified damage. Once fully functional, this line is expected to serve about 500,000 people in Khan Younis city, Abasan Al Kabira, Abasan Al Jadida and Bani Suhaila, according to PWA. Repair of the northern water line (Al Mantar), which provides Gaza city with 25 per cent of its water needs, is also underway by PWA and the Municipality of Gaza.
• Scaling up the Education-in-Emergencies (EiE) response is currently “near impossible and not without risk,” according to a joint statement by Save the Children International, Education Cannot Wait, and the Norwegian Refugee Council. EiE response entails the establishment of safe spaces for children to play and receive psychosocial support with referrals to specialised Mental Health and Psychosocial Support (MHPSS) and Child Protection services. But there are no safe places in Gaza amid relentless bombardment, the decimation of vital services, imminent famine, the destruction of all universities, and nearly 90 per cent of all schools destroyed or damaged. The statement further emphasized that the longer children are out of school, the more likely their learning regresses and the greater the risk that they drop out of school, which jeopardizes their potential in the long term and heightens the risk of their exposure to violence and abuse. Underscoring the need for an immediate ceasefire to keep the hope of children and parents alive and invest in their future, the organizations called on the Government of Israel to “immediately end unlawful attacks on education and endorse and fully implement the Safe Schools Declaration.” They also called on all parties not to use schools as battlegrounds and on the international community to strongly condemn attacks on schools, ensure accountability, and urgently prioritize inclusive MHPSS and EiE “whenever safe and unimpeded humanitarian access is a reality.”
• The health, dignity, safety and privacy of more than a million women and girls in Gaza have been compromised by limited water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) services as a result of six months of war, reports UN Women in its latest gender analysis on Gaza. According to the report, more than 10,000 women are assessed to have been killed, including 6,000 mothers, and those who have survived are facing starvation, undignified living conditions in overcrowded shelters, and heightened risk of exposure to infectious diseases such as diarrhoea and Hepatitis A. They also face critical health risks, such as reproductive and urinary tract infections, related to desperate WASH conditions, including limited access to water, latrines, washrooms, and menstrual hygiene products. Over 690,000 women and girls are resorting to desperate coping mechanisms such as the use of improvised sanitary cloth or sponges as sanitary pads and need 10 million disposable menstrual pads each month, the report says. Moreover, according to UN Women, by mid-December, the average per capita daily water consumption in Gaza has reached 1.5 litres, or one-tenth of the minimum amount required under international humanitarian standards for emergencies and five times less than the amount pregnant women and breastfeeding mothers need to keep themselves and their babies healthy and hydrated. The spread of dehydration and lower food intake, within the context of a polluted environment, heighten the risk of exposure to food and waterborne pathogens and decrease resistance to infections, according to a doctor from Khan Younis quoted in the report. Emphasizing that women and girls must be at the heart of humanitarian response efforts, in line with the agreed conclusions of the 68th session of the Commission on the Status of Women, UN Women called for: an immediate and sustainable ceasefire; improving the access of women and girls to food, safe drinking water, toilets and menstrual hygiene products; ensuring that WASH coordination and response efforts fully consider the differentiated needs of women and girls; and strengthening support to women-led organizations, including through direct and flexible financing.

West Bank Update | 9-15 April

• Between 12 and 15 April, seven Palestinians, including two children, were killed in the West Bank, including three by Israeli forces, one by an Israeli settler, and three where it remains unconfirmed if they were killed by Israeli forces or settlers (see detailed descriptions below). Four of the fatalities were killed in incidents involving Israeli settlers in a series of attacks on Palestinian communities during and after a search for a 14-year-old Israeli boy who went missing on 12 April and was found dead the following day near Malachei Hashalom settlement and Al Mughayir village in Ramallah governorate. During the reporting period, one Israeli soldier and 91 Palestinians were also injured. The Israeli soldier was injured on 14 April when Palestinians reportedly opened fire at Israeli forces patrolling the entrance to Sinjil village, in Ramallah governorate, and fled the scene. Injured Palestinians include 39 by Israeli forces, 43 by Israeli settlers, and nine where it remains unconfirmed if they were injured by Israeli settlers or forces. Roughly half of injuries among Palestinians were by live ammunition.
• On 12 April, a 25-year-old Palestinian man was killed during a large-scale raid by Israeli settlers, accompanied by Israeli forces, into Al Mughayyir village, in Ramallah governorate. The attack also resulted in the injury of 23 Palestinians, the displacement of 86 Palestinians when 21 houses were fully burnt by Israeli settlers, and damage to about 32 vehicles and several livelihood, agricultural and WASH structures. Some 220 sheep were also either killed or stolen and about 360 trees were vandalized. It remains unconfirmed whether the Palestinian man was killed by Israeli forces or settlers.
• On 13 April, a 17-year-old Palestinian boy was killed by an Israeli settler during a raid by Israeli settlers into Beitin village, in Ramallah governorate. 
• In separate Israeli army raids that involved armed confrontations with Palestinians, two Palestinians (aged 22 and 26 years), reportedly uninvolved in an exchange of fire, were killed in Al Fara’a Refugee Camp and Tubas city on 12 April and a 17-year-old was killed when Israeli forces besieged a house in Nablus city on 15 April. 
• On 15 April, two Palestinians were shot and killed, and three others were injured, when Israeli settlers were herding livestock on Palestinian land near Tell al Khashaba herding community in Nablus governorate. An altercation took place between the settlers and about 20 Palestinians, following which a large group of armed settlers and Israeli forces gathered and fired live ammunition toward Palestinians. It remains unconfirmed whether the Palestinian casualties were caused by Israeli forces or settlers. During the incident, Israeli forces prevented paramedics from reaching the two fatalities and have withheld their bodies. 
• In total, since 7 October 2023, 451 Palestinians, including 112 children, have been killed in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, of whom 435 were killed by Israeli forces, ten by Israeli settlers and six by either Israeli forces or settlers. Another four Palestinians from the West Bank have been killed while perpetrating attacks in Israel. In addition, since 7 October, about 4,890 Palestinians have been injured in various incidents involving Israeli forces and/or settlers. Also since 7 October, nine Israelis, of whom five were members of Israeli forces, have been killed in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and 91 were injured, of whom 59 were members of Israeli forces.
• Overall, during the reporting period, OCHA documented 45 settler attacks that led to casualties and/or property damage in 37 Palestinian towns, villages and herding communities in the West Bank, including 20 in Ramallah, Nablus, and Jerusalem governorates, especially those located along Road 60 and 458. This is triple the number of incidents (14) and communities (13) affected by settler violence incidents in the preceding week (2-8 April). Incidents involved shootings, burning houses and other properties, damaging livelihood structures, and throwing stones at vehicles. Meanwhile, Israeli forces were witnessed accompanying Israeli settlers inside the villages, blocking villages’ entrances, tightening movement restrictions along Road 60 between Ramallah and Nablus governorates, and preventing medical crews from reaching the affected areas. In Qusra and Duma villages, in Nablus governorate, 36 people were displaced after their homes were burnt by Israeli settlers. In Hebron, Israeli settlers established a tent on Palestinian land in Tuba of Masafer Yatta and damaged water tanks and hundreds of trees in Susiya, Tarqumiya, and Juret al Kheil. In the Jordan Valley, Israeli settlers, believed to be from a newly established settlement outpost near Ras ‘Ein Al ‘Auja Bedouin community, destroyed water pipes and, on several occasions, physically and verbally assaulted Palestinians from the community. Since 7 October 2023, OCHA has recorded 774 Israeli settler attacks against Palestinians that resulted in Palestinian casualties (78 incidents), damage to Palestinian-owned property (608 incidents), or both casualties and damage to property (88 incidents).
• In a statement on 15 April, the UN Human Rights Office in the occupied Palestinian territory called on the Israeli authorities “to take immediate, concrete steps to end the rapidly escalating violence being perpetrated against Palestinians by Israeli settlers and Israeli Security Forces (ISF) across the occupied West Bank following the reported murder of a 14-year-old Israeli boy.” The statement also demanded that Israeli forces “immediately end their active participation in and support for settler attacks on Palestinians and prevent further attacks, including by bringing those responsible to account.” 
• On 9 April, eight people, including four children, were displaced when a Palestinian family was forced to demolish their apartment for the lack of an Israeli-issued building permit and to avoid paying fines in Jabal al Mukkabir area of East Jerusalem. Since 7 October 2023, about 1,700 Palestinians have been displaced by home demolitions across the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, for lacking building permits, on punitive grounds, or during the course of operations by Israeli forces.

Funding

• On 17 April, the Humanitarian Country Team released a new Flash Appeal for the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt), which requests US$2.822 billion to meet the most critical needs of 2.3 million people in Gaza and 800,000 people in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, between April and December 2024. The figure reflects what is deemed most likely to be implemented over the next nine months, under access constraints and security challenges that limit the rapid scale-up of humanitarian response, and represents only a part of the $4.089 billion that the UN and partners estimate are required to meet the scale of humanitarian needs across the oPt. This Flash Appeal replaces the initial appeal launched in October 2023 and extended until March 2024, which sought $1.23 billion; roughly half of this amount was utilized in the last quarter of 2023 and the remaining half in the first quarter of 2024.
• The oPt Humanitarian Fund (oPt HF) has a total of 118 ongoing projects, for a total of $72.5 million, addressing urgent needs in the Gaza Strip (85 per cent) and West Bank (15 per cent). In light of the updated Flash Appeal, the HF has allocated an additional $22 million to bolster prioritized HF-funded projects in Gaza to enhance the operational capacity of humanitarian partners as well as ensure the continuity and expansion of essential services amid escalating challenges. In the West Bank, the oPt HF has allocated $5 million for key partners to enhance system readiness and responsiveness to sudden-onset emergencies, including those resulting from Israeli settler violence. Since 7 October, the oPt HF has mobilized $90 million from Member States and private donors, designated for programmes throughout Gaza. For a summary of the oPt HF activities and challenges in March 2024, please follow this link. Private donations are collected directly through the Humanitarian Fund.

112.

17 april 2024

As international pressure mounts to stop arms sales to Israel and call for accountability for Israel’s attacks on aid workers, President Biden has requested $18 billion in additional military aid to Israel, the largest aid package yet. Join us in this pivotal moment to make your voice heard: call on President to stop enabling Israel’s unmitigated violence and blatant abuses of human rights in Gaza, supported with unconditional U.S. aid.

No to $18 billion for Israel’s war against the Palestinian people

We are closer than ever to a ceasefire and accountability for Israel with the International Court of Justice’s (ICJ) proceedings against Israel’s “plausible” genocide and Nicaragua’s ICJ case against German weapons aid to Israel.  But President Biden needs to hear from you to recognize that he does not have the American people’s support for funding Israel’s genocidal warfare.

As hundreds of thousands of Palestinians are facing a man-made famine in Gaza, the President must recognize that the path to peace is through accountability and diplomacy–not collective punishment and regional warfare. Make your voice heard !!!

111.

17 april 2024

Today's headlines

Palestinians mark ‘Prisoners’ Day’ with more than 9,500 in Israeli jails

On Palestinian Prisoners’ Day, rights groups report at least 5,000 Palestinians have been detained from Gaza since October 7, and at least 16 Palestinians have died in Israeli detention amid unprecedentedly inhumane conditions.

Where pa’lante meets sumud: Puerto Ricans organize in solidarity with Palestine

Since October 7, activists across Puerto Rico have stood in solidarity with Palestine, as Palestinians’ determination to stay on their land and resist colonialism echoes their own struggle.

A secret internal ‘NYTimes’ memo reveals the paper’s anti-Palestinian bias is even worse than we thought

The shocking revelation of the New York Times's offensive internal style guide on language it will not permit in its Palestine reporting should prompt a broad examination of the paper's longtime bias.

110.

17 april 2024

By Andrew Stroehlein
Contact me at DailyBriefTeam@hrw.org and Twitter @astroehlein.

Leave Your Home or Else…

109.

17 april 2024

Calling for US$2.8 billion to fund humanitarian response in the Occupied Palestinian Territory through the end of 2024

Today, the humanitarian community in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT) released a new OPT Flash Appeal.

Full Flash Appeal                                                                                       Flash Appeal at a Glance

The OPT Flash Appeal calls for US $2.822 billion for UN Agencies, INGO, and NGO partners to address the most urgent and critical needs of more than three million people in the Gaza Strip (Gaza) and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, covering a 9-month period from April through December 2024.

This represents only part of the US $4.089 billion that the UN and partners estimate is required to support the basic needs of 3.3 million people. It reflects an effort to be realistic about what will be implementable given the current operating context.

The magnitude of this response and operational constraints are beyond what has been seen before in OPT and in other contexts. The vision laid out in this appeal requires critical changes in the operating environment. The essential conditions for provision of humanitarian assistance at the required scale are: 

• Humanitarian actors must have safe and sustained access to all people in need across the Gaza Strip and West Bank, including East Jerusalem. 
• More entry and supply routes via land into Gaza, including directly into northern Gaza (Karni, Erez); the use of Ashdod and Gaza City port as a maritime corridor; and supplies from Jordan transported directly to Erez/Karni and Kerem Shalom. 
• Improved ability to move within Gaza to effectively deliver assistance within the north. 
• Entry of critical humanitarian items, including communications equipment and protective gear for humanitarian staff. 
• Funding must be timely and flexible to allow humanitarian actors to adapt programming to a highly dynamic context. 
• Visas and permits for UN and INGO staff to support Gaza operations from Jerusalem, and for staff to move within the West Bank. 

Response Priorities

The main response priority is to scale the humanitarian response to address the current level of needs across OPT. This will be done by: 

• Providing emergency supplies including food, water, NFIs, education materials, and others until services and markets are again operable. 
• Making assistance accessible to all people in need, including delivering in the hard-to-reach areas. 
• Supporting existing structures, services, and markets where feasible. 
• Integrating time critical interventions in Gaza which lay the foundations for sustainable recovery. 

Protection serves as the foundation for the overall response which will be inclusive and gender-responsive with a specific focus on gender-based violence (GBV) and on children.

108.

16 april 2024

After spending an intense two weeks in Gaza, myself and our Programming & Operations Coordinator, Moureen Kaki, have safely returned. We led a delegation of 10 healthcare workers from all over the world who worked in various hospitals and clinics all over Rafah and Der Al Balah during their time there. We will be sharing our experiences for the first time publicly this coming Wednesday, April 17th and will discuss the situation on the ground from aid, health, the children, the sadness and the resilience to the daily bombardment. We hope you will join us for this difficult but much needed report back.

Next week, on Wednesday, April 24th at 12pm ET you will have the opportunity to take a custom virtual tour to the ancient Palestinian city of Al Khalil ("Hebron"), featuring Al Khalil native and activist, Muhanned Qafesha, who is also a member of Youth Against Settlements, an active anti-occupation group of Palestinian youth working against Israeli apartheid in Al Khalil.

107.

16 april 2024

On April 27, members of the U.S. media, celebrities, and politicians will wine and dine with President Biden and members of his administration at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner. 

Since October 7, Israeli forces have killed at least 125 journalists in Gaza -  more journalists than have ever been killed in a single country over the course of an entire year. But you wouldn’t know this shameful statistic by reading or watching U.S. mainstream media.

At a time when there are so few journalists left in Gaza, the U.S. media industry has chosen to sit and laugh with President Biden, ignoring his complicity in the assassination, torture, abduction and detention of their colleagues in Gaza by Israel.

Palestinian journalists in Gaza, including Bisan Owda and Mohammed Zaanoun, recently published a letter asking their colleagues to boycott the event. We need your help to pressure U.S. media companies to meet their demands and show Biden that there is a cost to aiding and abetting war crimes.

Palestinian journalist Mohamed Balousha was stationed in northern Gaza on Dec. 16, 2023 when Israeli snipers targeted and shot him. Balousha lay in the street for over six hours as Israeli forces prevented ambulances from reaching him. A few weeks before he was targeted, Balousha was the first to report on the killing of four premature babies in al-Nasr hospital when Israeli forces forced hospital personnel to leave or be killed.

106.

16 april 2024

Today's headlines

Israel ‘considers’ strike against Iran, continues to deny entry of aid into Gaza

Israel says it is considering a strike against Iran “that would not lead to a war” as it continues to restrict aid access to the Strip. Meanwhile, settlers in the West Bank escalated attacks against villages, killing two Palestinians.

Yale students launch hunger strike over school’s connection to Gaza assault

Over a dozen Yale Students have launched a hunger strike over the school’s complicity in the Gaza genocide.

To rebuild Gaza’s healthcare system, medical students from Gaza need support

Organizations are raising money for medical students from Gaza to continue their studies abroad. Continuing their medical education is vital to ensuring the future of healthcare in Gaza.

Israeli army opens fire on thousands attempting to return home to north Gaza

After letting a limited number of women, children, and elderly back into northern Gaza, the Israeli army opened fire on thousands of refugees who attempted to do the same.

105.

16 april 2024

Israel's genocide in Gaza, built on decades of apartheid and settler-colonialism, has killed over 33,000 Palestinians.

Israel is only able to carry on its genocidal war and maintain its oppressive regime over the Palestinian people because of international complicity, including by companies.

French insurer AXA is holding its General Assembly on the 23th of April, in Paris. New research shows that as of 15 February, the AXA Group had sold all its shares from Israeli bank Leumi and Israel Discount bank but still owns shares worth $2.6 million in Bank Hapoalim, one of the largest Israeli commercial banks that is blocklisted by the UN for financing Israel’s illegal settlement enterprise.

Our #BoycottAXA campaign is making AXA feel the heat as hundreds of AXA clients are terminating their AXA policy over the company’s complicity in Israel’s regime of genocide and apartheid. Let’s escalate our pressure!

In solidarity,
 
The Palestinian BDS National Committee (BNC)

104.

16 april 2024

Palestinian reporters risk their lives daily to share with the world the reality of the genocide in Gaza.

Last week, Christiane Amanpour made headlines when she bemoaned the difficulty of reporting on Gaza because there are no “independent journalists on the ground,” referring to Israeli restrictions on Western journalists from entering Gaza. Many rightfully pointed out this view ignores the heroic efforts of the Palestinian reporters who risk their lives daily to share with the world the reality of the genocide in Gaza.

Palestinian reporters are telling the story the mainstream media refuses to tell.

And readers are hungry for this news. Mondoweiss readership soared since October 7 because audiences around the world know that our Palestine newsroom prioritizes Palestinian stories written by Palestinian journalists. They know they will read the truth at Mondoweiss!

For the last six months, our Gaza correspondent, Tareq Hajjaj, continuously provided first-hand accounts of the devastation and personal loss Palestinians endured at the hands of Israel. All while trying to survive and take care of his own family.

His latest report on the al-Shifa Hospital massacre, providing firsthand accounts of the horrifying events from its survivors, has been read more than 38,000 times and counting, going viral on social media.

This was a unique story that had not been told in the English-language media, and it is getting noticed. The article received praise from many on social media, including Dr. Yara Hawari Co-Director of Al Shabaka, and Ryan Grim from The Intercept, among others. Hawari wrote, “Kudos to Mondoweiss for gathering the testimonies of the Shifa Hospital massacre and painting a picture of the horrors that unfolded,” and Grim described it as a “Devastating exposé of a historic war crime.”

Mondoweiss is committed to elevating Palestinian voices and sharing the stories only they can tell. Will you make sure we continue reporting the stories about Palestine written by Palestinians?

We appreciate your commitment to the truth.

Sofia Farah

103.

15 april 2024

Hostilities in the Gaza Strip and Israel
Flash Update #153

Destruction in Khan Younis. Photo by UNRWA

Key Highlights

• About 800,000 people may be forced to evacuate if the Israeli military launches a ground incursion into Rafah, warned Jamie McGoldrick at the end of his mission as Humanitarian Coordinator ad interim.  
• About 90 per cent of the approximately 4,000 buildings located along Gaza’s eastern border have been destroyed or damaged, according to UNOSAT. 
• WFP and UNOPS deliver fuel to enable the operation of a bakery in Gaza city for the first time in months. 
• Large groups of Israeli settlers attacked at least 17 Palestinian villages after a boy from an Israeli settlement in Ramallah governorate went missing and was later found dead. Two Palestinians were killed, at least 45 were injured, at least 20 households were displaced when their homes were burnt down, and dozens of homes, vehicles and agricultural structures sustained damage.

Gaza Strip Updates

• Israeli bombardment from the air, land, and sea continues to be reported across much of the Gaza Strip, resulting in further civilian casualties, displacement, and destruction of houses and other civilian infrastructure. Since 10 April, airstrikes, shelling and heavy fighting have reportedly been particularly intense in and around An Nuseirat Refugee Camp in Deir al Balah, with reports of the Israeli military detonating buildings, particularly in the new camp of An Nuseirat and northern An Nuseirat. Armed confrontations between the Israeli military and Palestinian armed groups also continue to be reported, especially in Deir al Balah and eastern Rafah. 
• Between the afternoon of 12 April and 11:30 on 15 April, according to the Ministry of Health (MoH) in Gaza, 163 Palestinians were killed, and 251 Palestinians were injured, including 68 killed and 94 injured in the past 24 hours. Between 7 October 2023 and 11:30 on 15 April 2024, at least 33,797 Palestinians were killed in Gaza and 76,465 Palestinians were injured, according to MoH in Gaza. 
• The following are among the deadly incidents between 11 and 14 April: 
  • On 11 April, in the afternoon, seven Palestinians were reportedly killed when a market in An Nuseirat Refugee Camp, in Deir al Balah, was hit. 
  • On 12 April, at about 9:10, at least 25 Palestinians were reportedly killed when a residential building in Ad Daraj neighbourhood, in Gaza city, was hit. 
  • On 12 April, in the morning, at least one internally displaced person (IDP) was killed, and nine others were injured, when the UNRWA Elementary Boys "B" and Girls "A" school in the new camp in An Nuseirat Refugee Camp, in Deir al Balah, was hit. According to the Palestinian Civil Defense (PCD), their teams were not able to go inside the school, which hosts a high number of IDPs, to carry out rescue operations and transfer the killed and injured people. 
  • On 12 April, at about 17:15, five Palestinians were reportedly killed, and 30 injured, when a house in Az Zarqa area, in Gaza city, was hit. 
  • On 13 April, in the afternoon, at least three Palestinians were reportedly killed when a house in An Nuseirat Refugee Camp was hit. 
  • On 13 April, at about 14:15, three Palestinians were reportedly killed when a house in the new camp of An Nuseirat Refugee Camp was hit. 
  • On 13 April, at about 21:30, seven Palestinians, including at least three women, were reportedly killed when a house in Al Mufti land, north of An Nuseirat Refugee Camp, was hit. 
  • On 14 April, at least one Palestinian woman was reportedly killed, and 23 others injured, by gunfire when a group of Palestinians were hit on Al Rashid Road while attempting to return to northern Gaza. Up to five fatalities were subsequently reported as a result of this incident. 
• Between the afternoons of 12 and 15 April, no Israeli soldiers were reported killed in Gaza. As of 15 April, 259 soldiers have been killed and 1,571 soldiers have been injured in Gaza since the beginning of the ground operation, according to the Israeli military. In addition, over 1,200 Israelis and foreign nationals, including 33 children, have been killed in Israel, the vast majority on 7 October. As of 15 April, Israeli authorities estimate that 133 Israelis and foreign nationals remain captive in Gaza, including fatalities whose bodies are withheld.
• On 11 April, intensive airstrikes, shelling and fighting in and around the northern area of An Nuseirat Refugee Camp reportedly prompted residents of the new camp in An Nuseirat and people who live near Wadi Gaza to evacuate to the central and southern areas of An Nuseirat. On 12 April, in the evening, residents of northern An Nuseirat reportedly received calls from the Israeli military to evacuate their homes. Earlier on the same day, at about 13:30, a group of journalists was reportedly struck during their media coverage in An Nuseirat, severely injuring one journalist, who later had his foot amputated. According to the Gaza Government Media Office, 140 Palestinian journalists and media workers have been killed since the onset of hostilities. On 12 April, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) reported that it had preliminarily documented the death of 95 journalists and media workers since 7 October, including 90 Palestinians, 2 Israelis and 3 Lebanese, stating that “journalists in Gaza face particularly high risks as they try to cover the conflict during the Israeli ground assault, including devastating Israeli airstrikes, disrupted communications, supply shortages, and extensive power outages.” 
• About 800,000 people may be forced to evacuate if the Israeli military launches a ground incursion into Rafah, warned Jamie McGoldrick on 12 April in a briefing at the end of his mission as Humanitarian Coordinator ad interim. IDPs would face a high risk of unexploded ordnance (UXOs) en route to other areas, including Khan Younis and Deir al Balah, and aid workers would face the additional challenge of scaling up assistance when there are barely enough supplies to meet humanitarian needs under the current conditions, according to McGoldrick. Overall, McGoldrick explained, humanitarians are working in an extremely challenging and hostile operating environment characterized by an unpredictable notification system, lack of communications equipment, no hotline to directly contact the Israeli military at times of emergency, a security vacuum, and a range of access constraints such as access denials and long hours of waiting at checkpoints. Assistance to northern Gaza has been far from adequate, and “at no point in time in the last month and more had we had three or even two of those roads [linking southern and northern Gaza] working at the same time simultaneously,” added McGoldrick. Noting that several commitments have already been made by Israeli authorities to facilitate the scaling up of assistance, he stated that no visible difference can yet be seen on the ground, warning that “if we don’t have the chance to expand the delivery of aid in all parts of Gaza, but in particular to the north, then we’re going to face a catastrophe.” 
• Satellite imagery shows a sharp increase in the number of damaged and destroyed buildings within the one-kilometre stretch of land along the border of the Gaza Strip west of the Armistice Demarcation Line, according to a new preliminary analysis by UNOSAT. Analysis undertaken on 29 February 2024 shows that 90 per cent of 4,042 buildings within the zone have been destroyed or damaged, including 3,033 destroyed, 593 damaged (severe or moderately), and 416 had no damage visible through satellite imagery. This is compared with a 15 per cent damage level on 15 October 2023. Another UNOSAT analysis shows that the percentage of damaged crop fields, arable land and fallow land in the zone has also increased from 5.36 per cent in October 2023 to 33.13 per cent in February 2024. According to UNOSAT, “the decline in the health and density of the crops can be observed due to the impact of activities such as razing, heavy vehicle activity, bombing, shelling, and other conflict-related dynamics.”  
• Efforts to scale up live-saving assistance and restore the health system continue to be undermined by “limited access, mission denials and delays, self-distribution of supplies among deparate crowds, and ongoing security challenges,” according to WHO. On 13 April, WHO and its partners were able to reach the Al Ahli Hospital in northern Gaza, delivering nearly 20,000 liters of fuel, some of which will be provided to As Sahaba Hospital. Three critical patients and two companions were also evacuated to field hospitals in Rafah. WHO highlighted that Al Ahli was originally an 80-bed facility that now accommodates over 120 patients, with benches and pews serving as makeshift beds after the library and chapel have been repurposed as inpatient departments. WHO warned that the overstretched facility can only provide minimal services, and many patients who are in critical condition, including children and people with severe trauma injuries and amputations, need to be immediately evacuated to receive treatment. The hospital is in dire need of additional beds, essential medicines and supplies, and urgently requires an international emergency medical team to support surgeries. On 15 April, the MoH in Gaza issued an appeal to all relevant institutions to help establish field hospitals in Gaza city and North Gaza governorate.
• The dire situation across health facilities extends beyond northern Gaza, with a vacuum in healthcare provision created following the destruction of Nasser Medical Complex in southern Gaza, once the second-largest referral hospital in the Gaza Strip. Inspecting the non-functional facility, WHO reported that most of the equipment and machinery had been damaged, and the Limb Reconstruction Center, which WHO and its partners helped establish in 2019, is in ruins. The Nasser Medical Complex warehouse, which previously provided essential medicines and supplies to other hospitals south of Wadi Gaza, has also been destroyed. The UNFPA representative in the State of Palestine, Dominic Allen, explained that the maternal and neonatal clinic is now empty, “full of destruction and of the smell of death,” while during his previous visit in January it was full of pregnant women, midwives and doctors, as well as IDPs seeking refuge. Allen stressed the urgency of a ceasefire to be able to support the rehabilitation of life-saving maternal health services.
• Calling for safe, sustained and scaled-up access to prevent famine, WFP and UNOPS delivered on 14 April fuel, enough for only four days, to enable a bakery in Gaza city to resume operations. Most of Gaza’s bakeries had been unable to operate due to conflict and lack of access, according to WFP. Since October 2023, the Gaza Strip has been under an electricity blackout after the Israeli authorities cut off the electricity supply and fuel reserves for Gaza’s only power plant were depleted. Kamel Ajour, a bakery owner in Gaza city, told WFP that “making bakeries work again will bring back life to the Gaza Strip.” WFP emphasized that, in recent months, northern Gaza “has largely been cut off from aid and has recorded the highest levels of catastrophic hunger in the world.” In mid-March 2024, the Global Nutrition Cluster reported a near doubling of malnutrition rates among children under the age of two in northern Gaza from 16 per cent in January to 31 per cent in February. According to the MoH in Gaza, 28 children have died of malnutrition and dehydration in northern Gaza since February, of whom 20 were under 12 months of age. Following the announcement of the bakery opening, crowds of people reportedly queued for the first time in months to buy bread, with 2.5 kilograms of bread reportedly priced at ILS5 (US$1.50), significantly lower than prices seen in previous months.

West Bank Update

• On 15 April, Israeli forces, including Special Forces, raided Nablus city and besieged a house, killing a 17-year-old Palestinian boy, in an exchange of fire with Palestinians.
• On 12 April, a 14-year-old boy from an Israeli settlement was reported missing near Al Mughayyir village in Ramallah and, the following day was found dead near the Israeli settlement outpost of Malachei Hashalom. On 12 and 13 April, following the boy’s disappearance, large groups of Israeli settlers raided at least 17 Palestinian villages and communities in Ramallah, Nablus, and Jerusalem governorates, mainly those located along Roads 458 and 60, including Beitin, Deir Dibwan, Sinjil, Turmus’ayya, Duma, Qusra, As Sawiya, Mikhmas, Jaba’, Al Jalazoun Regugee Camp, Ein Siniya, Beit Furik, Rantis, Beitillu, Umm Safa, Al Mazra’a al Qibliyeh, and Ras Karkar. Two Palestinians, including a 17-year-old boy, were killed in Al Mughayyir and Beitin, and at least 45 were injured. Some 40 per cent (18) of those injured were shot with live ammunition. Moreover, at least 20 households have been displaced when their homes were set on fire, and dozens of homes and vehicles were destroyed or sustained minor to moderate damage. Additionally, several agricultural structures sustained damage, with initial information indicating the killing of 50 heads of livestock and the stealing of another 120 sheep in Al Mughayyir village. Israeli forces reportedly closed the entrances to the targeted villages, tightening movement restrictions along Road 60 between Ramallah and Nablus governorates, and were witnessed firing rubber bullets and teargas cannisters toward Palestinians. During the last two years, OCHA has documented at least 100 settler attacks on Palestinian farmers and herders in the area of Al Mughayyir village, resulting in the displacement of two nearby Bedouin communities comprising 220 people, with the most recent displacement incident occurring on 15 October 2023.   

Funding

• The Flash Appeal for the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt), which requests US$1.23 billion to meet the critical needs of 2.7 million people across the oPt (2.2 million in the Gaza Strip and 500,000 in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem), was extended through the end of March 2024. As of 15 April, Member States have disbursed nearly $1.27 billion for the updated Flash Appeal (103 per cent); this includes about $649 million out of $629 million (103 per cent) requested for October-December 2023 and about $623 million out of $600 million (104 per cent) requested for January-March 2024. For funding analysis, please see the Flash Appeal Financial Tracking dashboard. The Humanitarian Country Team plans to launch on 17 April an updated flash appeal to cover the period through the end of 2024, taking into account continued access constraints and security challenges.
• The oPt Humanitarian Fund (oPt HF) has a total of 118 ongoing projects, for a total of $72.5 million, addressing urgent needs in the Gaza Strip (85 per cent) and West Bank (15 per cent). In light of the updated Flash Appeal, the HF has additionally allocated $20 million to bolster selected ongoing HF-funded projects in Gaza to enhance the operational capacity of humanitarian partners as well as ensure the continuity and expansion of essential services amid escalating challenges. In the West Bank, the oPt HF has launched a repositioning funding allocation for $5 million for key partners to enhance system readiness and responsiveness to sudden-onset emergencies. Since 7 October, the oPt HF has mobilized $88 million from Member States and private donors, designated for programmes throughout Gaza. For a summary of the oPt HF activities and challenges in March 2024, please follow this link. Private donations are collected directly through the Humanitarian Fund.

102.

15 april 2024

We can’t think about Tax Day without thinking about the U.S. genocide machine, which funnels our tax dollars to arm Israel with the deadliest weapons.

Now, we’re witnessing the cost: Israel has become emboldened to provoke a regional war with Iran, reinforced violent settler attacks on Palestinians all across the West Bank, and wiped out entire Palestinian bloodlines from existence in Gaza, killing a total of at least 41,000 Palestinians.

This is a critical moment in history, and it could not be more urgent to resist U.S. weapons to Israel.

Zionist politicians in Congress are moving fast this week to arm the aggressive Israeli regime with another $14 BILLION, which would only further embolden Israel to commit genocidal acts and escalate war. This Deadly Deal must be stopped.

Today on Tax Day, we rise up to end U.S. military funding to Israel and fight for liberation. Join the national #Strike4Gaza, speak up on social media, and hit the streets in your community.

As 56 House Representatives have raised in a letter to Genocide Joe, it’s extremely urgent to halt weapons to Israel. We need an overwhelming show of force to push our demands this Tax Day.
We cannot allow this massive $14 billion in military funding for genocide to come to the floor and pass Congress. A vote for weapons to Israel is a vote to wipe out more Palestinian families.

Stop arming Israel!

101.

15 april 2024

Today's headlines

European countries urge Israel not to respond to Iran attack; Israeli army targets Gazans returning north

Germany, France and the UK called upon Israel “not to escalate” after Iran’s strike on Saturday. Israel killed 43 Palestinians attempting to return home to north Gaza as Hamas presents a new counter-proposal for a ceasefire.

Why Iran’s retaliatory attack against Israel was not a ‘failure’

Inflated claims of Israel's remarkable military success in thwarting Iran's strikes ignores the fact that Iran was deliberately restrained to avoid regional war, while the strikes forced Israel to give away its defensive positions.

The mainstream U.S. media is hiding key truths in its coverage of Iran’s retaliatory attack

The assertion that Israel is trying to provoke a wider regional conflict appeared nowhere in the mainstream media coverage of Iran’s retaliatory strike.

Unleashed: Israeli settlers rampage through West Bank villages, kill two people, injure dozens

Israeli settlers went on a two-day rampage in the region northeast of Ramallah when a settler teenager was reported missing on Friday. They burned dozens of houses and killed two Palestinians, while effectively blockading some ten villages.

100.

15 april 2024

Breaking the Silence is the only organization that collects, verifies and publishes testimonies from former IDF soldiers about their service in the occupied Palestinian territories. For twenty years, our mission has been to speak the truth and to confront society with the reality of occupation, even in the hardest of moments.

Former soldiers continue to come forward to speak out,  whether they served in the West Bank or in the current war in Gaza. Soldiers’ testimonies make it possible for us to educate the public, advocate for an end to the occupation, and demand accountability.

99.

14 april 2024

IN FOCUS: I resigned from World Central Kitchen because it refused to tell the truth about the Israeli genocide in Gaza

Today's headlines

Iran launches retaliatory strikes on Israel as Israeli settlers rampage in the West Bank

Mondoweiss Palestine Bureau 

Iran said that its retaliation for Israel's April 1 attack on the Iranian consulate in Damascus would be "deemed concluded," while Biden reportedly told Netanyahu that the U.S. would not back an Israeli counterattack.

The liberal Jewish community is beginning to fracture over the Gaza genocide

J Street is reportedly losing staff and support as they prioritize Israeli militarism over Palestinian rights. The Gaza genocide is revealing the tension between Zionism and liberal Jewish values, a divide which will only continue to grow more stark.

98.

13 april 2024

Every week, we see a new round of horrifying images and videos from Gaza, where Israel has killed more than 33,000 Palestinians. The level of destruction is difficult even to comprehend.

You’re a Mondoweiss reader, which means you undoubtedly know that the United States shares responsibility with Israel for every war crime, every atrocity, and every lost life. Israel receives more than $4 billion in military aid from the U.S. every year, and the Biden administration is currently pushing Congress to approve even more.

We shed light on this bipartisan support for Israel to help hold elected officials accountable because our only responsibility is to report the truth to our readers.

Mondoweiss is one of the few media outlets focused on covering the intersection of U.S. politics and Palestine. We know that 2024 will be a key year, as the presidential election will have a direct impact on what happens in the region.

Since our beginning, we have covered and challenged the pernicious influence the Israel lobby has in U.S. domestic politics and this will be no different now. AIPAC is set to spend over $100 million on this election to oust congressional progressives. Biden’s reelection will undoubtedly be impacted by his support for Israel’s war on Gaza and we are anticipating historic protests at this summer’s Democratic National Convention.

97.

13 april 2024

Today's headlines

Dr. Ghassan Abu-Sittah: ‘Tomorrow is a Palestinian day’

For us, all of us, part of our resistance to the erasure of genocide is to talk about tomorrow in Gaza, to plan for the healing of the wounds of Gaza tomorrow. We will own tomorrow. Tomorrow will be a Palestinian day.

The killing of Ismail Haniyeh’s children exposes Israel’s weakness

Israel has always punitively killed the families of leaders and resistance figures as collective punishment. It is a sign of Israel’s inability to extract a military victory on the ground.

Tax resistance movement grows in response to U.S. support for Gaza genocide

Since October 7, many in the U.S have have grown to understand how our tax dollars fund the genocide in Gaza. This knowledge is inspiring a boom in an old form of resistance — tax resistance.

96.

13 april 2024

A dark cloud has hung over all of us this Ramadan:
The horror and pain of Gaza.

This Ramadan, we fought for our people in Gaza — and we will continue to fight until we have a permanent ceasefire, an end to the flow of arms to Israel, and a pathway for a free Palestine

With your help, we’ve made powerful inroads with partners who are now listening to Palestinian voices. We’ve shifted the media narrative and the political landscape and are growing ever-stronger at a time when it is needed most.

Please recommit with us right now to keep up the fight.

We are thankful you have been part of the important work we do.

In solidarity,

Linda and the team at MPower Change

95.

12 april 2024

Your Activist Scoop

• Thanks to the pressure you’ve built and your support of USCPR Action, 56 House representatives have signed a letter to Biden demanding that the U.S. halt weapons transfers to Israel. Sen. Warren became the first senator to finally acknowledge the genocide in Gaza. And now Rep. Gregory Meeks is facing increasing pressure from fellow Democrats on the Foreign Affairs Committee to block a weapons sale to Israel. Tell Congress to stop arming Israel, and to oppose the discharge petition that would fast-track $14 billion for Israel to a vote. 

94.

12 april 2024

Hostilities in the Gaza Strip and Israel
Flash Update #152

Destruction in Khan Younis, 10 April 2024. Photo by OCHA/Themba Linden

Key Highlights

• Khan Younis has become marred by profound destruction to homes, schools, hospitals, roads and other infrastructure, a UN inter-agency assessment mission finds.
• Many life-saving amputations might have been avoided if the health system in Gaza were still functional, reports Médecins Sans Frontières.
• A UNICEF convoy came under fire while en route to northern Gaza to deliver life-saving aid, including therapeutic food for children at risk of malnutrition and preventable mortality.
• Some 114 new closures have been erected throughout the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, since 7 October, further disrupting freedom of movement, access to basic services, workplaces, and markets, as well as movement by aid workers, initial results of a new OCHA closure survey show.

Gaza Strip Updates

• Israeli bombardment from the air, land, and sea continues to be reported across much of the Gaza Strip, resulting in further civilian casualties, displacement, and destruction of houses and other civilian infrastructure. On 11 April, the Israeli military announced that a ground operation had commenced in central Gaza. 
• Between the afternoon of 8 April and 10:30 on 12 April, according to the Ministry of Health (MoH) in Gaza, 427 Palestinians were killed, and 281 Palestinians were injured, including 89 killed and 120 injured in the past 24 hours. Between 7 October 2023 and 10:30 on 12 April 2024, at least 33,634 Palestinians were killed in Gaza and 76,214 Palestinians were injured, according to MoH in Gaza. 
• The following are among the deadly incidents between 7 and 11 April: 
  • On 7 April, at about 17:50, six Palestinians were reportedly killed when a cleaning supplies store in An Nuseirat Refugee Camp, in Deir Al Balah, was hit.
  • On 8 April, at about 18:50, five Palestinians, including the mayor of Al Maghazi, were reportedly killed when the building of Al Maghazi Municipality, in Deir Al Balah, was hit. 
  • On 9 April, at about 22:40, five Palestinians, including children, were reportedly killed and others injured when a house east of Jabaliya town, in North Gaza, was hit. 
  • On 9 April, at about 20:35, 14 Palestinians were reportedly killed and others injured when a house in An Nuseirat Refugee Camp, in Deir al Balah, was hit. 
  • On 10 April, at about 16:00, six Palestinians, including three adults and three children, were reportedly killed and one child was injured, when a vehicle in Beach camp was hit. 
  • On 11 April, at about 7:00, at least three Palestinians were reportedly killed and others injured when an UNRWA school in An Nuseirat New Camp, in Deir al Balah, was hit. 
  • On 11 April, at about 11:10, six Palestinians were reportedly killed and others injured when a group of people in Al Junina neighborhood, in Rafah, were hit.
  • On 11 April, at about 15:00, at least six Palestinians were reportedly killed when Firas public market in Gaza city was hit.
• Between the afternoons of 8 and 12 April, no Israeli soldiers were reported killed in Gaza. As of 12 April, 259 soldiers have been killed and 1,561 soldiers have been injured in Gaza since the beginning of the ground operation, according to the Israeli military. In addition, over 1,200 Israelis and foreign nationals, including 33 children, have been killed in Israel, the vast majority on 7 October. As of 12 April, Israeli authorities estimate that 133 Israelis and foreign nationals remain captive in Gaza, including fatalities whose bodies are withheld.
• Khan Younis has become marred by profound destruction to homes, schools, hospitals, medical centres, roads and other civilian infrastructure, according to a UN inter-agency assessment mission to the area on 10 April that followed the withdrawal of Israeli troops. A UN warehouse and Nasser Hospital warehouse were among the buildings found to be significantly damaged, including substantial amounts of medications and trauma supplies that had been provided as humanitarian assistance. The hostilities have also rendered Nasser, Al Amal and Al Khair hospital non-functional, with assessments necessary to evaluate if specialized medical devices, CT scanners, oxygen plants, generators and solar panels are able to function again, according to WHO staff who described the destruction as "disproportionate to anything one can imagine.” The UN team, comprised of representatives of OCHA, UNRWA, WHO, WFP, UNMAS and UNFPA, also reported that civilians who have returned to the area and those who stayed during the fighting are facing dire shortages of food, water and other critical supplies, collapsed services, and severe safety risks due to the presence of unexploded ordnance (UXOs), including 1,000-pound bombs found lying on main road intersections and inside schools. Among those at risk are thousands of internally displaced persons (IDPs) who require a range of humanitarian support services, including health, water and sanitation, food, and specialized support for women and disabled people, reports the Humanitarian Coordinator ad interim, Jamie McGoldrick, during a visit on 9 April to an UNRWA school hosting tens of thousands of IDPs in Khan Younis. 
• Many life-saving amputations might have been avoided and limbs saved with reconstructive surgery in Gaza if the health system were still functional in Gaza, reported Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) on 8 April. Instead, due to the decimation of the health system, the extreme lack of resources and arbitrary constraints on the assistance allowed to enter Gaza, doctors have had to “choose between sedating a patient in order to intubate them and save their life, or treating a seizure as the same medication is needed,” affirms the MSF Deputy Programme Director for the Middle East. Beyond crush injuries to the abdomen and chest, amputations to legs and arms and severe burns caused by bombardments on buildings and tents, and civilians being buried under the rubble, the MSF teams in Gaza have been witnessing cases of children with gunshot wounds caused by quadcopter drones and sniper fire. In a video posted on social media on 11 April, UNICEF spokesperson, Tess Ingram, described her encounter with a nine-year old girl, Juri, who was severely injured when the house of her grandparents was hit and has been at the European Hospital for 16 days with large, open wounds that cannot be treated in Gaza, hoping to be urgently evacuated outside of Gaza. Ingram stressed that all of this “cannot be acceptable to the world.” In a statement issued on 8 April, Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP) also highlighted the impact of the conflict on health workers, whose deaths have reportedly exceeded the total number of healthcare workers killed in conflicts globally in 2021 and 2022 combined. After six months of relentless conflict, “there is no safe place left in Gaza – not for healthcare workers, not for children, not for civilians, not for aid workers,” stressed MAP. According to MoH in Gaza, 489 health workers have been killed since the onset of hostilities.
• Delays, access restrictions, and shootings are among the constraints aid providers face in Gaza, UNICEF said on 10 April when one of its humanitarian convoys was hit by live ammunition while delivering life-saving aid to northern Gaza, including therapeutic food for children at risk of malnutrition and preventable mortality. Between 6 and 12 April, 41 per cent (7 out of 17) of aid missions to northern Gaza were facilitated by the Israeli authorities (including one partially), 41 per cent (7) were denied or impeded including due to nearby hostilities, and 17 per cent (3) were cancelled by aid partners mainly due to logistical constraints. Facilitated missions involved rapid assessments, support to dignified burials at Al Shifa Hospital, and delivery of essential food supplies. Denied missions include two planned for 12 April, one of which planned to deliver about 24,000 litres of fuel to operate back-up generators at Al Ahli Arab Hospital. Moreover, according to UNRWA, it continues to be disproportionately affected by access restrictions and was last able to deliver food to northern Gaza at the end of January. In southern Gaza, 91 per cent (31 out of 34) of aid mission requests to areas that require coordination were facilitated by the Israeli authorities (including one partially) and 9 per cent (3) were denied. On 11 April, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, Martin Griffiths, underscored that the safety of aid workers and civilians in Gaza "remains paramount,” welcoming “all efforts to increase the amount and type of aid delivered for the people of Gaza, whether by air, sea or, most importantly, land.” Since 7 October, more than 20,000 truckloads of goods entered Gaza, constituting about a quarter of the truckloads that could have entered if the pre-crisis daily average of 500 truckloads had been maintained. 

West Bank Updates | 2-8 April 

Latest development: in the early hours of 12 April, Israeli forces shot and killed two Palestinians in Al Far'a Refugee Camp and Tubas city.

• Between the reporting period of 2 and 8 April, three Palestinians were killed by Israeli forces, and one died of wounds sustained when he was shot by Israeli forces during a search-and-arrest operation in Qabatiya town, in Jenin governorate, on 30 March. One was killed in an exchange of fire with Israeli forces in Ya’abad village (Jenin governorate) on 4 April and another was a bystander who was killed while standing on the rooftop of a house during an exchange of fire between Israeli forces and Palestinians in Nur Shams Refugee Camp (Tulkarm governorate) on 5 April. In addition, on 8 April, a 17-year-old Palestinian girl was shot at Tayasir checkpoint, in Tubas governorate, and her body has been withheld by Israeli forces; according to the Israeli military, she attempted to carry out a stabbing attack. Since 7 October and as of 8 April, 432 Palestinians, including 109 children, have been killed by Israeli forces, nine by settlers and three by either Israeli forces or settlers, across the West Bank, including East Jerusalem. In addition, four Palestinians from the West Bank or East Jerusalem have been killed while perpetrating attacks in Israel. 
• On 4 April, as reported by the Israeli media, one Israeli man died of wounds sustained on 31 March in a stabbing attack by a Palestinian man in Gan Yavne near Ashdod in southern Israel. Since 7 October, nine Israelis have been killed and 83 injured in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem. Fatalities include five members of Israeli forces and four settlers, including eight killed by Palestinians and one where it remains disputed whether he was killed by a Palestinian or a member of Israeli forces during an alleged stabbing attack. In addition, eight Israelis were killed and 23 injured during Palestinian attacks in Israel, all by Palestinians except one who was mistakenly killed by a member of Israeli forces. 
• Some 35 Palestinians, including four children, were injured by Israeli forces during the reporting period, including 43 per cent (15) during a search-and-arrest operation on 6 April in Ad Duheisha Refugee Camp in Bethlehem governorate. Among the injured was a 21-year-old Palestinian who lost his left eye when he was beaten by an Israeli soldier who stopped him for an ID check at Al Muraba'a Checkpoint, one of the secondary southern entrances to Nablus city. Moreover, an Israeli female soldier and one Israeli settler were injured when a Palestinian opened fire at an Israeli settler bus travelling on Road 55 near An Nabi Elyas village in Qalqiliya governorate. Following the incident, the Israeli army carried out multiple search operations and imposed additional movement restrictions in Qalqiliya and Tulkarm governorates, which are in place until now. Since 7 October, some 4,800 Palestinians have also been injured, including at least 743 children, the majority by Israeli forces, including around 1,590 injured by live ammunition and 28 by shrapnel from airstrikes or shoulder-fired missiles. 
• According to the Palestinian Prisoners Club, 14 Palestinian prisoners, including some who hold Israeli citizenship, have died in Israeli prisons since 7 October. On 7 April, the Head of the UN Human Rights office in the occupied Palestinian territory, Ajith Sunghay, stated that since 7 October there has been a “further deterioration in the detainees’ conditions and the scale and intensity of ill treatment, as well as torture.” 
• During the reporting period, Israeli settlers perpetrated 11 attacks against Palestinians across the West Bank, leading to casualties and/or property damage. Two Palestinian shepherds were physically assaulted near As Safeer and Susiya communities in separate incidents on 2 April. On 4 April, Israeli settlers set fire to four Palestinian seasonal shelters in Ras 'Ein al 'Auja community and vandalized an agricultural room near Qusra village in Nablus. On 3 April, settlers stoned houses, smashing windows, in the H2 area of Hebron city. Moreover, not reported last week, settlers stole more than 50 sheep from a Palestinian shepherd in Barriyet Tuqu’ in Bethlehem on 1 April and demolished with bulldozers five Palestinian seasonal herding structures in Umm Daleen in Jericho on 28 March. Since 7 October 2023, OCHA has recorded 727 Israeli settler attacks against Palestinians that resulted in Palestinian casualties (72 incidents), damage to Palestinian-owned property (578 incidents), or both casualties and damage to property (77 incidents). The most affected governorates being Nablus (175 incidents), followed by Hebron (155) and Ramallah (145). Since 7 October 2023, at least 206 Palestinian households comprising 1,244 people, most of whom are herding families, including 603 children, have been displaced amid settler violence and access restrictions.
• Between 2 and 8 April, four residential structures, two under construction, were demolished due to the lack of Israeli-issued building permits, resulting in the displacement of six people, including three children, in Jabal al Mukabbir in East Jerusalem and As Samu’ in Hebron. Since 7 October, some 280 Palestinians have been displaced on average every month due to demolitions (all types), compared to a monthly average of 128 Palestinians displaced in the first nine months of 2023.
• Initial results of a new OCHA closure survey show that some 114 new closures have been erected throughout the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, since the escalation of hostilities in October 2023. These closures, which include checkpoints, earth mounds, roadblocks and road gates, have further disrupted Palestinians’ access to basic services, workplaces, and markets, as well as movement by aid workers to carry out assessments or deliver assistance. This brings to 759 the total number of movement obstacles in the West Bank. Intensified checks and more stringent access measures have also been reported since 7 October 2023, particularly at the entrances to Nablus and Tulkarm cities, and 29 permanent military checkpoints in H2 area of Hebron where non-registered civilians remain barred from accessing the area, except on Fridays during the month of Ramadan, and checkpoints only allow the movement of residents on foot between 7:00 and 19:00. Moreover, since 7 October, at least 81 Palestinians, including eight children, have been detained in or at checkpoints leading to H2 area and three Palestinian schools have remained closed, impacting at least 350 boys and girls.
• Humanitarian organizations and local sources estimate that 12,000 Palestinians holding West Bank IDs crossed via checkpoints into East Jerusalem on the last Friday of Ramadan, which coincided with the ‘night of destiny’ (5 April), compared with about 98,000 last year. Measures announced by the Israeli authorities stipulated that access of Palestinians holding West Bank IDs to Friday prayers at Al Aqsa Mosque in East Jerusalem was limited to children under 10 years of age, women over 50, and men over 55, with a valid one-day permit and magnetic card. In 2023, men over 55, women of all ages and children under 12 were allowed entry without a permit on Fridays during Ramadan. According to the Islamic Waqf, some 120,000 worshippers performed Friday noon prayers at Al Aqsa Mosque on the last Friday of Ramadan and about 200,000 performed the night and Taraweeh prayers. 

Funding

• The Flash Appeal for the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt), which requests US$1.23 billion to meet the critical needs of 2.7 million people across the oPt (2.2 million in the Gaza Strip and 500,000 in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem), was extended through the end of March 2024. As of 7 April, Member States have disbursed nearly $1.27 billion for the updated Flash Appeal (103 per cent); this includes about $649 million out of $629 million (103 per cent) requested for October-December 2023 and about $623 million out of $600 million (104 per cent) requested for January-March 2024. For funding analysis, please see the Flash Appeal Financial Tracking dashboard. The Humanitarian Country Team plans to launch on 17 April an updated flash appeal to cover the period through the end of 2024, taking into account continued access constraints and security challenges.
• The oPt Humanitarian Fund (oPt HF) has a total of 118 ongoing projects, for a total of $72.5 million, addressing urgent needs in the Gaza Strip (85 per cent) and West Bank (15 per cent). In light of the updated Flash Appeal, the HF has additionally allocated $20 million to bolster selected ongoing HF-funded projects in Gaza to enhance the operational capacity of humanitarian partners as well as ensure the continuity and expansion of essential services amid escalating challenges. In the West Bank, the oPt HF has launched a repositioning funding allocation for $5 million for key partners to enhance system readiness and responsiveness to sudden-onset emergencies. Since 7 October, the oPt HF has mobilized $88 million from Member States and private donors, designated for programmes throughout Gaza. For a summary of the oPt HF activities and challenges in March 2024, please follow this link. Private donations are collected directly through the Humanitarian Fund.

93.

12 april 2024

Israel and U.S. brace for Iranian retaliation as ceasefire talks stall

The U.S. and Israel intensify preparations for a potential Iranian strike in response to Iran’s Damascus consulate attack. Meanwhile, Hamas has conditioned a ceasefire and prisoner swap on the return of displaced Palestinians to northern Gaza.

A feminist praxis for academic freedom in the context of genocide in Gaza

The Palestinian Feminist Collective condemns sophicide and scholasticide in Gaza - the deliberate annihilation of Indigenous knowledge traditions and the physical destruction of centers of knowledge.

‘Come out, you animals’: how the massacre at al-Shifa Hospital happened

During the massacre at al-Shifa Hospital, the Israeli army shot patients in their beds and doctors who refused to abandon the sick, separated people into groups with differently-colored bracelets, and executed hundreds of civil government employees.

91.

Yesh Din 
Volunteers for Human Rights

12 april 2024

Dear supporters and followers,

In January, I returned to Yesh Din after an extended absence of almost three months. In an uncharacteristic manner, I would like to share with you a bit of my personal story and thoughts.

On October 7, I was visiting my family in Kibbutz Kfar Aza, located a few kilometers away from the Gaza Strip. I was born and raised in Kfar Aza, and I am deeply connected to the place and the community that was my home during my childhood and adolescence. The disaster that changed everything and the events preceding it are difficult to describe in words. Language is limited and cannot convey the horror and fear that penetrated my soul and have accompanied me since then; the difficulty in comprehending the magnitude of the event while still being a part of it; the question of why I survived while others were not as fortunate; the intense sorrow for the loss of so many loved ones, friends, and acquaintances – children, women, and men who were brutally murdered in their homes; the devastation of the kibbutz and the community, uncertain if they will ever recover and return; the constant worry for the abducted and the longing for Mira Stahl, my beloved sister-in-law, who was murdered in her home along with the two dogs that she and my brother loved so dearly.

My prolonged absence was necessary for me to mourn, process and be with my family, in addition to momentarily distancing myself from a routine that includes daily exposure to violence. The dedicated and professional team at Yesh Din functioned excellently even without an Executive Director for almost three months. For this, I feel fortunate and grateful.
Returning after an extended absence following this disaster is challenging both personally and professionally.

Professionally, this is the most violent period we have experienced, and consequently, the workload and challenges are greater than ever before. The terrible war in Gaza continues, and we all follow with concern the incomprehensible number of casualties, the vast number of displaced persons, and the distressing humanitarian crisis. Yesh Din does not directly operate in Gaza; yet our commitment to justice and human rights for Palestinians living under Israeli control led us to initiate along with Gisha and other organizations the call for a ceasefire and the immediate release of the abducted together with 38 Israeli civil society and human rights organizations. Yesh Din remains focused on the West Bank, where the war has dramatically impacted the entire population. We have been addressing, among other issues, the wave of settler violence that hit the West Bank since October 7 and its consequences; the draconian movement restrictions imposed by the military, which infringe upon the freedom of movement of Palestinians throughout the West Bank; and the promotion of annexation measures in the West Bank under the guise of war.

Personally, aside from the daily coping with grief and personal trauma, I find myself having to muster the strength anew each morning to operate within a reality that is so violent and surreal, reminding myself of faith in goodness and the human spirit. Even from the depths of sorrow and pain, I have no doubt that all of us – every human being living between the river and the sea – deserves a good and safe life, and even if it is harder to hold onto hope, there is no other choice because we all deserve a future.
 
Yours sincerely,
 
Ziv Stahl
Executive Director

Click here to read my Op-Ed in Haaretz

What Have We Been Up To?

In January, Yesh Din released our newest data sheet presenting findings from nearly two decades of monitoring police investigations of offenses committed by Israeli civilians against Palestinians and their property in the West Bank, based on 1,664 investigations conducted between 2005 and 2023 (Yesh Din has documented hundreds more incidents of settler violence in which the Palestinian victims chose not to file complaints). The release of this datasheet follows a period of intense settler violence, as 2023 was the most violent year for settler violence in the West Bank since Yesh Din began systematic monitoring of settler violence in 2006, on top of the military imposing draconian movement restrictions across the West Bank infringing on Palestinians’ freedom of movement. Analysis of the monitoring data proves that the Israeli law enforcement system fails in fulfilling its duty to protect Palestinians from Israeli violence and grants them de facto impunity. The failings of the law enforcement system are reflected throughout every step of dealing with ideological crimes committed by Israeli citizens against Palestinians in the West Bank. This long-standing systemic failure is a deliberate policy of the State of Israel, which normalizes the ideological violence of Israelis against Palestinians in the West Bank, supports it, and benefits from its results.

The annual olive harvest in the West Bank, a period of great economic and cultural significance that was set to begin in mid-October 2023, was stifled by Israeli restrictions, starting with the cancellation of the "coordination mechanism", which is supposed to permit Palestinians to farm lands near Israeli settlements with military protection but serves to restrict Palestinian access to their own lands. This year, Palestinians faced unprecedented difficulties harvesting their crop amid a wave of settler violence and increased aggression and access restrictions imposed by the military in the wake of the war that broke out in Gaza on October 7. Yesh Din has published a summary of settler and security forces violence documented during the 2023 olive harvest, including 113 harvest-related incidents documented by Yesh Din that feature different types of violence against Palestinian farmers. 2023's figures are significantly graver compared to previous years, as the scale of violence during the harvest was two to three times greater than in previous years.

On December 2023, a new visa restriction policy was implemented by the U.S., aimed at Israeli citizens believed to have committed acts of violence against Palestinians in the West Bank. Several European countries have since announced that they support this policy, and France, The U.K, Belgium and New Zealand have followed suit with similar policies of their own. We urge more countries to act responsibly in the face of Israel’s culture of impunity towards ideologically motivated criminals carrying out violence against Palestinians.

Petitions to the High Court of Justice

As you may remember, in August 2023, Yesh Din filed a petition to the High Court of Justice on behalf of the Head of the Burqa Village Council demanding that the newly defined jurisdiction of the Samaria Regional Council, intended for the re-establishment of the Homesh settlement, be cancelled. The petition further calls for the public (‘State’) lands to be allocated for the benefit of Burqa residents, rather than to a new settlement. This petition is the latest development in the legal struggle waged by the residents of Burqa for over a decade to regain access to their private lands, located where the Homesh settlement use to be before it was evacuated as part of the disengagement from Gaza in 2005. It just so happened that on the same exact day of the High Court of Justice hearing on the Illegal outpost Homesh this past January, there was another important – and relevant – hearing taking place in the Hague titled Legal Consequences Arising from the Policies and Practices of Israel in the OPT (Request for Advisory Opinion). Yesh Din’s petition to the Israeli High Court of Justice is directly connected to those same policies and practices to be judged in the Hague. In pursuit of justice through international law, in July 2023, Yes Din published a legal opinion regarding the legal status of the Israeli occupation, which was sent to the ICJ as well.

On March 7, Yesh Din filed a petition to the High Court of Justice in conjunction with two Palestinian communities in the Jordan Valley and the Jordan Valley Activists group. The petition concerns a new and unlawful practice by the Jordan Valley Regional Council, which confiscates Palestinian herds of sheep and cattle, and demands exorbitant payments from the owners for their release. This represents a new and aggressive form of economic violence by settlers. In this new practice, the regional council seeks to assert administrative authority over Pal. shepherds in its jurisdiction, contrary to International Law which stipulates that the authority of settler regional council applies only to Israelis, while authority over Palestinians is exclusively vested in the Israeli military.

The petition argues that the regional council lacked the legal authority to confiscate livestock from Israelis based on an Israeli civil bylaw, a position also endorsed by the Military Legal Advisor in the West Bank. Behind this new practice lies a policy of discrimination and inequality, intended to create a reality where only residents of the settler regional council, all of whom are Jewish Israelis, benefit from the vast grazing lands within its extensive municipal jurisdiction. In contrast, Palestinian shepherds who have lived in the area for decades - some even before the council was established - will lose their livelihoods and way of life as shepherds and will be forced to leave. The dangerous overreach of the regional council seeking to control the regulation of Palestinian shepherding has immense ramifications. It embodies a clear annexationist aspect, as it represents a breakdown of the military commander's responsibility in the OPT & the transfer of his authority to civilian authorities. The petition was filed by attorneys Michael Sfard and Snir Klein.

New Report About the Deadly Use of Ruger-Type Weapons Against Palestinians in the West Bank

In February, Yesh Din published a new report focusing on the use of Ruger firearms and the .22 inch ammunition they use in the West Bank, alongside the open-fire regulations for the use of these weapons. Through the stories of five young unarmed Palestinians who needlessly lost their lives because of the use of this weapon, this report aims to shed light on the deadly policy of unwarranted use of Ruger weapons. The report states that even though in 2001 the Military Advocate General determined that the Ruger was not a riot control weapon and that the open-fire regulations for its use must be restrictive and match those of potentially lethal weapons, the Ruger is still used as a means for riot control. This common practice is backed by the policy of both the military and the police, and has taken many lives, such as the life of 15-year-old Abdallah Gheith. Furthermore, the understanding that this is a proven potentially lethal weapon, is not properly instilled in soldiers and police officers, who perceive it as non-lethal, and employ it without the necessary caution.

The examples provided in this report indicate a common practice, whereby Israeli snipers shoot Palestinians in the absence of any sign indicating real danger to the lives of security forces or civilians. Investigation materials forwarded to Yesh Din show that the military’s orders permit the use of potentially lethal force against individuals identified as key instigators during demonstrations and similar events, even when they do not pose an immediate threat to human life. The military’s policy also permits directing lethal fire, without warning, at individuals who appear to have sabotaged the fence intending to cross it, even when they do not pose any threat to anyone, paying for this offense with their lives.  Israel’s obfuscation of the distinction between warfare and criminal incidents, and, correspondingly, between civilians and combatants, defies the law and inevitably leads to the killing of innocent people.

Click here to donate

Click here to follow us on Twitter

Click here to follow our new Instagram account!

Yesh Din is required by law to make the following statement:

Yesh Din is mostly funded by foreign governmental entities - through grants devoted to the provision of humanitarian assistance and the promotion of human rights. A list of our donors is available on the Israeli Associations Register's website and on Yesh Din's website.

Yesh Din is proud to be funded by States that are committed to the rule of law, that believe the occupation is not an internal Israeli matter, and that support the defense of international humanitarian law and human rights.

90.

Israeli soldiers talk about the occupied territories

12 april 2024

 When I broke my silence, I didn't go into a confessional booth – I wasn’t searching for atonement. I chose to speak out because I believe my society must see the reality it chooses to ignore - the missions we’re sending our children to carry out, and the result of the policies carried out in our names.

Breaking the Silence is the only organization which collects, verifies and publishes the testimonies of former soldiers which shed light on the reality of Israel’s policy in Gaza and the West Bank. The organization gave me a platform to speak out – to demand that the government stop making innocent civilians on both sides pay the price for their lack of leadership and political cowardice.

Back in 2014, we were promised that this war would be the last one– but after the tragedy of October 7th, Israel launched a new war on Gaza which has claimed countless lives and endangered the hostages who are still held captive in Gaza. “We will forever live by the sword,” was Netanyahu’s promise, but he’s the one living on our swords, while we, innocent Israelis and Gazans, are the ones dying.

We weren’t the last soldiers sent to carry out this policy – and we’re not the last ones coming forward to break our silence. Right now, as you’re reading these words, soldiers who fought in the ongoing war in Gaza are coming forward to share the truth of the mission they were sent to complete.

But collecting their stories takes resources. And right now, we can’t afford to ignore their voices. This week, Breaking the Silence launched a crowdfunding campaign to ensure they have the resources not just to listen to every single soldier who comes forward to share their story, but also use them as a platform for change – and they have three more days to meet their goal. Will you help them make sure that former soldiers  can continue raising our voices against the occupation in a moment where the stakes have never been higher?

89.

12 april 2024

De aanval van Hamas van 7 oktober 2023 in het zuiden van Israël kostte 782 ongewapende burgers het leven. De Nederlandse regering betuigde direct medeleven en solidariteit, en benadrukte het recht van Israël om zich te verdedigen. Binnen de EU nam Nederland het initiatief voor sancties tegen Hamas.

Bloedige oorlog
Een half jaar later heeft Israël op ongekende schaal dood en verderf gezaaid in de Gazastrook. Het geweld kostte tot dusver meer dan 33 duizend Palestijnen het leven, onder wie zeker 13 duizend kinderen. Meer dan achtduizend Gazanen worden nog vermist. De overgrote meerderheid van de bevolking van 2,3 miljoen zielen is ontheemd en er wordt op grote schaal honger geleden.

Het door het Israëlische leger vernietigde Al-Shifa-ziekenhuis in Gaza. [c] WHO

Maar wie zou verwachten dat de Nederlandse regering Israël met sancties tot de orde probeert te roepen komt bedrogen uit. Den Haag spreekt zich inmiddels weliswaar uit voor een staakt-het-vuren, maar daarmee is ook alles gezegd. Israël kan op onvoorwaardelijke steun rekenen, hoezeer het zich ook misdraagt. Nog altijd is Nederland in de Palestijnse kwestie geen deel van een oplossing, maar van het probleem.

Brede roep om sancties
Tegen deze achtergrond spreken steeds meer organisaties en deskundigen zich uit tegen het uitblijven van sancties tegen Israël. Deze week riepen meer dan 250 humanitaire en mensenrechtenorganisaties, waaronder The Rights Forum, alle VN-lidstaten op de levering van (onderdelen van) wapens en munitie aan Israël te staken en een onmiddellijk staakt-het-vuren af te dwingen.

In Nederland roepen drie groeperingen – Artsen voor Gaza, Advocaten voor Vrede en Ambtenaren en de Grondwet – regering en parlement in een petitie op tot het bevriezen van de relaties met Israël. Zij wijzen op de plicht die Nederland heeft om de internationale rechtsorde te helpen handhaven en de Palestijnse bevolking bescherming te bieden tegen het Israëlische geweld.

Ook een petitie van onder andere The Rights Forum tegen het sluiten van een nieuw militair verdrag met Israël kan nog worden gesteund. Deze petitie, die mede is opgesteld door PAX, Stop Wapenhandel en De Goede Zaak, is inmiddels al bijna 20 duizend keer getekend.  

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

In Gaza voert Israël oorlog tegen de Palestijnse burgerbevolking

De verwoesting van de Gazastrook door Israël is geen nevenschade in de oorlog tegen Hamas, maar een doel op zichzelf. Het in twee etappes verwoeste Al-Shifa-ziekenhuis geldt als voorbeeld.

'Hoofdkwartier van Hamas'
Op 1 april trokken Israëlische troepen zich terug uit het ziekenhuis na een belegering van twee weken. Het Al-Shifa-ziekenhuis is in die weken volledig verwoest en uitgebrand. In en rond het gebouw zijn honderden lijken aangetroffen, velen verminkt en in staat van ontbinding, sommigen overreden door bulldozers.

In november 2023 belegerde Israël het ziekenhuis ook. De bewering dat er een hoofd­kwartier van Hamas zou zijn gevestigd, bleek nergens op gebaseerd. De nieuwe belegering zou zijn gericht tegen ‘teruggekeerde’ Hamasstrijders. Opnieuw ontbreekt elk bewijs dat Hamas zich er ophield. De staf van het ziekenhuis heeft dat altijd ontkend.

Onderzoekers van de VN-hulporganisatie OCHA en de WHO doen onderzoek naar de verwoestingen in het Al-Shifa-ziekenhuis. [c] OCHA

Patroon van destructie
Bovendien bestaat er een patroon. De ziekenhuizen in de Gazastrook zijn door Israël grotendeels verwoest. Van de eerstelijns medische posten is nog 30 procent open. Daarnaast werden door Israël 126 ambulances vernietigd. En dat is ‘slechts’ de materiële schade. Sinds 7 oktober doodde Israël 489 chirurgen, artsen en ander medisch personeel, evenals 243 hulpverleners.

Intussen heeft Israël de volledige civiele infrastructuur van Gaza van de kaart geveegd. Ruim 60 procent van alle woningen is verwoest of beschadigd, evenals ruim 80 procent van winkels en kantoren. Drie kerken en 229 moskeeën zijn in puin gelegd. Van de 563 scholen in Gaza zijn er slechts 99 intact; 260 leraren en ander personeel werden gedood, evenals zesduizend leerlingen en studenten.

Oorlog tegen burgerbevolking
Deze praktijk van totale verwoesting kan alleen worden omschreven als een oorlog tegen de Palestijnse burgerbevolking. Dat Israël daarnaast strijd voert met Hamas doet aan die conclusie niets af. Sterker, de belegeringen van het Al-Shifa-ziekenhuis tonen aan hoe de strijd tegen Hamas door Israël wordt gebruikt om de burgerbevolking te treffen.

Petitie | Geen EBS in Utrecht

Het moederbedrijf van EBS is Egged. Egged is een controversieel bedrijf omdat het gesegregeerde busdiensten uitvoert met bussen die verboden zijn voor Palestijnen en het bedrijf busvervoer verzorgt van, naar en tussen illegale nederzettingen op de Westelijke Jordaanoever. Het bedrijf wordt daarom beschouwd als een belangrijke logistieke schakel in Israëls nederzettingenpolitiek.

Wilt u ook niet dat Utrecht en Utrechtse reizigers (onbedoeld) bijdragen aan de illegale kolonisatiepolitiek van Palestina door Israël? 

Teken dan de petitie.

Annexatie | Israël keurt bouw nieuwe illegale nederzetting goed

uitbreiding van een bestaande, al reeds nederzetting, stelt Peace Now dat het in feite een nieuwe kolonie betreft. Alleen een weg verbindt de nieuwe locatie met de bestaande kolonie Kiryat Arba, op een kleine kilometer afstand. De geplande woningen komen middenin een Palestijns woongebied te liggen.

Non-stop annexatie
Peace Now spreekt van 'non-stop annexatie', en beschrijft het plan als 'de zoveelste stap van de regering-Netanyahu, gericht op het vernietigen van elke mogelijkheid tot een politieke oplossing en het instandhouden van de bezetting [...]'. Terwijl de oorlog in Gaza de wereld in zijn greep houdt, gaat de annexatie van de Westoever dus "gewoon" op volle snelheid door.

Protest zwelt aan
Tegelijkertijd zien we dat het protest tegen de Israëlische kolonisatie van Palestijns gebied blijft groeien. Dat blijkt onder meer uit de grote steun voor petities en briefacties tegen bijvoorbeeld de Nederlandse pensioenfondsen ABP en PFZW wegens hun (in-)directe investeringen in de illegale Israëlische nederzettingen.

Wij roepen onze volgers op om, ondanks de nietszeggende standaardantwoorden die de aangeschreven bedrijven en instanties doorgaans terugsturen, dergelijke acties te blijven steunen. Wij merken dat het steeds moeilijker wordt voor hen om hun bijdragen aan mensenrechtenschendingen in Palestina te blijven verantwoorden. Vorige week sloegen we met elf Nederlandse hulp- en mensenrechtenorganisaties alarm voor de hongersnood in Gaza. En wel met pollepels op pannen. Net zoals de Palestijnse kinderen dat doen, terwijl zij urenlang in de rij staan voor voedselhulp. Met elke klap op deze pannen herinneren we de wereld eraan dat er geen tijd te verliezen is.

Er is geen tijd te verliezen. Stop de honger in Gaza NU! Wij roepen op tot een permanent staakt-het-vuren.

88.

11 april 2024

The media engages in mental gymnastics when portraying the killing of Palestinians in Gaza.

It is hardly surprising the corporate media doesn’t take Palestinian voices seriously. We always knew they barely covered Palestinian stories or let them speak in their own words. And we also knew the mainstream was perfectly willing to accept outlandish Israeli propaganda claims with credulity.

But what we’ve seen in the past six months has been a new low. So-called reputable sources uncritically repeated Israeli fabrications about Palestinians, playing into the Israeli effort to justify the genocide in Gaza by disseminating atrocity propaganda about October 7. Whether it’s the early repetition of the claim of “40 beheaded babies” (Mondoweiss was the first outlet to debunk it), or the widely publicized claims of systematic mass rape (we were one of the first sites to run multiple stories exposing several fabricated Israeli testimonies), the mainstream media has blood on its hands.

Thanks to our donors we are able to fight this relentless dehumanizing propaganda. If it wasn’t for independent news outlets like Mondoweiss, the spread of lies would’ve been even worse, with no accountability.

Please don’t let that happen.

Well into the genocidal campaign, the media continues to engage in mental gymnastics when portraying the indiscriminate killing of Palestinians in Gaza. The media used the passive voice when 6-year-old Hind Rajab was “found dead” after an Israeli tank killed her, six of her relatives, and the team of paramedics dispatched to save her. It lent credence to unsubstantiated claims about an alleged “command-and-control” center under al-Shifa Hospital. And it talked about how people “died” during “aid convoy violence” in a “crush of bodies” when reporting on the Flour Massacre, in which Israeli forces deliberately shot and killed 118 starving Palestinians seeking aid.

Mondoweiss has been there from the start, pushing back against the narrative that seeks to manufacture consent for genocide.

This is why Mondoweiss is so important. We provide a platform to not only push back against the lies and the systematic biases in the current media landscape but to honor the stories of Palestinians by letting them speak in their own words.

We put all our resources and staff capacity into fighting the dehumanizing rhetoric, for audiences to know the martyrs by their names. We have highlighted stories of family and friends frantically trying to save their loved ones in Gaza. Unfortunately, it’s not enough. The world knows more about the international aid workers who have been killed than they do about the 14,000 Palestinian children.

We need to do more. All of us.

We expanded our coverage to meet the need. Please support Mondoweiss' coverage.

87a.

Benefietmiddag voor kinderen van Gaza

11 april 2024

BENEFIETMIDDAG

voor de kinderen in Gaza

Op zondag 21 april organiseert Woest Oost in samenwerking met Theater Hanzehof een benefietmiddag in Zutphen om geld op te halen voor de theatermakers van Ayyam Al Masrah / Theatre Day Productions die momenteel in Rafah, Khan Younis en Deir el Balah (Gaza) werken met kinderen in deze oorlogsgebieden. Midden in de chaos zijn zij aan het werk met kinderen; in de overvolle scholen, in de opvangkampen en op straat. Zij geven hen de kans verhalen te vertellen, via spelopdrachten emoties en gebeurtenissen te delen en hen aan elkaar te verbinden. Ze creëren een plek waar verdriet, verlies en angst wordt gedeeld. Waar gespeeld wordt als woorden tekortschieten. Waar gelachen wordt, kinderen ontspannen en zich even herinneren hoe het is om kind te zijn.
 
Wij begrijpen als geen ander hoe belangrijk hun werk is voor kinderen. Juist nu. Omdat wij de missie en het werk van Ayyam Al Masrah willen steunen zodat zij hun helende werk voort kunnen zetten en workshops kunnen blijven geven, organiseren wij, als onderdeel van een veelvoud van acties in de gehele breedte van de Nederlandse podiumkunsten, op zondag 21 april een middag waarop we monologen van jonge theatermakers uit Gaza en muziek brengen. Iedereen is welkom om te komen en te doneren wat je kunt missen!
 
De Gaza-monologen zijn getuigenissen die in 2010, na de eerste oorlog in de Gazastrook, zijn geschreven door jongeren uit het ASHTAR Theater in Palestina. Deze monologen zijn vandaag de dag nog altijd relevant. Ze vertellen de verhalen van verschrikkingen, hoop en veerkracht van de inwoners van Gaza aan de wereld. Meer informatie over de Gaza-monologen is te vinden op www.ashtar-theatre.org
 
De middag:
Zondag 21 april
Inloop: 15.00 uur
Start: 15:30 uur (kom op tijd, om 15:30 gaat de deur dicht)
Locatie: Theater Hanzehof, Coehoornsingel 1, Zutphen
 
Programma:
Storytelling by Yahya Natoor
Monologen voorgedragen door jonge spelers van Woest Oost
Actuele tekst door makers van Woest Oost

Na het programma is er van 17:00 - 18:00 uur muziek en hapjes van Jacklin Arraf. De opbrengst hiervan wordt ook gedoneerd.
 
Je doneert aan Theatre Days Productions (www.theatreday.org). We hebben de garantie dat elke cent die gedoneerd wordt bij de makers komt en dus bij de kinderen van Gaza. Doneren kan via de QR-code tijdens de benefietmiddag of door contant geld in de aanwezige pot.

87a.

10 april 2024

Today's headlines

This year, Eid in Gaza is bittersweet

Eid al-Fitr in Gaza used to be a joyous occasion when families got together to celebrate the end of Ramadan. Now families gather to mourn their dead and bid farewell to the next martyr.

The Palestine Walid saw, from the little prison to the big prison

Walid Daqqah saw the “little prison” where he spent most of his life mirrored in the “big prison” that housed the rest of his people. His challenge to us and to himself was to free ourselves from the prison inside of us.

The Deir Yassin massacre reminds us — every Zionist accusation is a confession

Israel is guilty of the same massacres and atrocities it has accused Palestinians of committing on October 7. My family survived one of those massacres in the village of Deir Yassin on this day 76 years ago.

86c.

10 april 2024

Did Nancy Pelosi just call to halt weapons to Israel?

Tell Congress to stop arming the Israeli military.

Call Congress

What we're reading

86b.

10 april 2024

We are now in deep mourning for the lives lost to the US-backed Israeli genocide, which has killed over 40,000 Palestinian souls in Gaza. This morning, the slaughter of Palestinian families continues.

This year, I urge you to direct our collective spirit towards supporting the families in Gaza.

The situation is critical, and trusted Palestinian organizers in Egypt are leading a vital mutual aid effort. They are diligently working around the clock to distribute aid and cash within Gaza, provide evacuation funds for families seeking safety, and offer rent support for families that have recently arrived in Egypt. Many families are awaiting the opportunity to reunite with loved ones who have journeyed to Cairo, hoping to secure a place on the evacuation list and find some stability.

We urge you to explore the different initiatives.  We also ask that you continue to talk about Gaza, join actions, and keep putting pressure on your elected officials to call for a permanent ceasefire now.

May this Eid inspire us to recognize the strength and power of our collective action.

Izzy Mustafa
Adalah Justice Project

86a.

Israeli soldiers talk about the occupied territories

10 april 2024

Right now, soldiers continue to share their testimony, whether about the current war in Gaza or from the West Bank, we can’t afford not to listen to them.

In solidarity,
The Breaking the Silence team

87.

10 april 2024

To Bring the Genocide in Gaza to An End, Biden Needs to Demonstrate Leadership and Resolve for American Interests

In his call last Thursday with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, President Biden put America's credibility on the line regarding the ongoing Israeli genocide in the Gaza Strip. According to the White House Readout, Biden “made clear the need for Israel to announce and implement a series of specific, concrete, and measurable steps to address civilian harm, humanitarian suffering, and the safety of aid workers. He made clear that U.S. policy with respect to Gaza will be determined by our assessment of Israel’s immediate action on these steps.” Secretary of State Antony Blinken said after the call, “If we do not see changes we need to see, there will be changes in our policy.”

With the exception of some empty promises and marginal cosmetic steps to improve the living conditions of the afflicted residents of the Gaza Strip, Netanyahu did not show any practical and substantive response to the warnings of the United States. On the contrary, he now threatens to invade Rafah more than before, attacking the refuge of more than one 1.3 million Palestinians who have sought to escape from the crimes and brutality of the Israeli army there. Netanyahu has completely ignored Biden's threats, and it is time for Biden to draw a line in the sand and deliver on the White House’s threats to change policy. It is unacceptable for a vessel state to do repeatedly and explicitly defy U.S. national interests.

Americans for Justice in Palestine Action (AJP Action) calls on President Biden to take immediate action on Gaza as we observe the last day of Ramadan. AJP Action is alarmed that even after last week’s phone call with Netanyahu when Biden expressly tied ongoing American support to tangible changes in Israel's conduct in Gaza, nothing has changed. Israel’s genocide continues, the famine in Gaza is getting worse, and attacks on aid have continued. 

As we approach the solemn occasion of Eid, marking a time of reflection and community for millions worldwide, the absence of substantive action following President Biden's ultimatum is deeply troubling. The credibility of the United States, and indeed, that of President Biden himself, is at stake. The President's threats of consequences must be met with immediate and concrete actions; otherwise, they risk being perceived as hollow ultimatums.

With the genocide in Gaza escalating as the world watches live, it is imperative that President Biden's words translate into definitive action. AJP Action calls upon President Biden to:

• Immediately enforce the stipulations set forth in his dialogue with Prime Minister Netanyahu, ensuring the opening of critical passageways for humanitarian aid and the cessation of hostilities that endanger civilian lives.
• Halt U.S. military aid to Israel without delay, asserting compliance with both U.S. and international legal standards concerning human rights and the rules of engagement in conflict zones.
• Make a public call for an immediate and enforceable ceasefire, aligning with U.N. Security Council and international calls for peace and stability in the region.

This moment demands more than rhetoric; it requires resolute action that reflects America's commitment to justice, human dignity, and the rule of law. It requires American leadership and resolve on the part of President Biden. AJP Action stands firm in its advocacy for the rights and well-being of Palestinian people and will continue to hold leaders accountable for promises made and the actions that follow.

For the sake of human lives, for the sake of peace, for the sake of Eid, and for the integrity of international norms, we urge President Biden to act decisively and immediately. The world is watching.

86.

10 april 2024

Celebrate Conscientiously: This Eid Marks Rest and Mourning

We stand in solidarity with our brothers and sisters in Gaza. Our hearts ache and our souls mourn for the pain and hardships subjected upon them by the brutal Israeli military with unconditional U.S. support. We stand in solidarity with them, recognizing their right to return to their demolished homes and neighborhoods and to pursue a life of safety, freedom, and dignity.

We will continue to fight for them as part of our collective duty until a permanent ceasefire and uphold all human rights and fundamental freedoms through our relentless advocacy and organizing efforts

85.

9 april 2024

Today's headlines

Hamas maintains calls for permanent ceasefire as Netanyahu ‘sets date’ for Rafah invasion

Qassam Muaddi

Negotiations are set to continue in Cairo between Hamas and Israel, as Hamas holds to demands of a permanent ceasefire and the return of Palestinians to north Gaza. Meanwhile, Netanyahu vows to invade Rafah.

Jonathan Greenblatt’s racist keffiyeh smear is another chapter in the ADL’s war on Palestinians

ADL head Jonathan Greenblatt’s offensive comparison between the Palestinian keffiyeh and a Nazi swastika aims to smear Palestinian culture and criminalize Palestinians themselves.

Biden has no emotional attachment to Israel, it’s about politics

The New Yorker asks, "Why is the most powerful country in human history essentially taking orders from a country that relies on it for aid?” and then avoids the most obvious answer.

84.

9 april 2024

The world is finally condemning Israel and pushing back against the Zionist narrative. We can't stop now.

These past few months have been filled with tragic events, and still, in recent days, I’ve been surprised in positive ways. The world is finally condemning Israel. Even in the United States political support for the genocide is ebbing fast. And we have played our part.

We and others have been pushing for decades for the end of the brutal apartheid regime the U.S. helped to create. It’s taken way too long for these arguments to get a hearing in this country. And no one would be even debating this were it not for the immeasurable suffering, murder, and famine that has gripped Gaza for six months now.

But that means it is time for us to redouble our efforts to meet this moment.

You know I have been writing about Zionism and its hold on Jewish identity in the United States for almost two decades. For years it felt when progress was made within our communities, then the backlash from Zionist organizations and lawmakers was ferocious. Still, I remained optimistic change would come. Today, some of the news reports are actually encouraging.

Tensions between Biden and the Democratic base are soaring over Gaza. Even mainstream Democrats ask: Why isn’t the U.S. limiting aid to Israel? This is America’s war, isn’t it? And famine too? But the world is against it!

And even a liberal Zionist host I listen to on public radio in New York challenges a Zionist caller, Why are you a Zionist? Hasn’t that always meant the dispossession of Palestinians?

Over the years, we have pushed these arguments again and again in the American discourse. We’ve been canceled innumerable times for doing so, as have so many of our allies. And still, we refused to shut up.

Today, Mondoweiss’s content is seen by millions around the world.

We are pushing back against the Zionist narrative that has kept U.S. public discourse in a chokehold.

We can only continue shifting the discourse if we remain fully independent. Can you support our work with a donation today? Your donation will be matched dollar for dollar!

Local organizers outraged by genocide have managed to challenge Biden in primaries all around the country and give him a scare. This grassroots power is now breaking up the Democratic Party on questions of military aid for war crimes. BDS is finally getting a hearing, despite the insiders’ campaigns to dismiss it as antisemitism.

This discussion won’t be complete till the U.S. grapples with its support for a supremacist ideology, Zionism, which underlies all Israeli actions.

Our U.S. newsroom is exposing the media's complicity in the genocide and the moral bankruptcy of politicians who turn a blind eye to war crimes. Mondoweiss' U.S. correspondent Michael Arria has tirelessly reported on the Palestinian solidarity movement and helped to extend its influence.

We do more to inform audiences in the West than many media outlets with hundreds of staff. We need your help.

Phil Weiss
Founder and Senior Editor

83.

 Breaking the Silence –

Israeli soldiers talk

                            about the occupied territories

9 april 2024

At BtS, we believe that occupation can only sustain itself if we stay silent about the mission we as former soldiers were sent to complete. But we also know that the courage to speak out is contagious. As more and more former soldiers come forward to break their silence, we chip away at the narrative that we can only guarantee safety for Israelis by controlling the Palestinian people through military force.

Right now, the stakes are higher than ever. We can’t afford to ignore those who are coming forward to give testimony, whether in the current war in Gaza or the West Bank.  Our voices have the power to shape reality– to demand accountability from our political leaders, to educate our communities, and create change.

 With gratitude,
Avner GvaryahuExecutive Director, Breaking the Silence

82.

9 april 2024

Israel’s Imposed Famine on Gaza

Fadi is from al-Nasser neighborhood in Gaza City. For months, the Israeli government essentially punished him for the Hamas-led attacks of October 7. Fadi had nothing to do with those attacks, of course, because he’s six years old.

Fadi also has cystic fibrosis, a genetic disorder that causes damage to the lungs, and because of the Israeli blockade, his mother struggled to get adequate food and necessary medicines for him. By mid-January, Fadi’s health had deteriorated so badly he could no longer walk. Before the war, he’d weighed 30 kilograms [about 66 pounds]. Now, he weighs 12.

Still, in a sense, Fadi has been one of the lucky ones. He was evacuated from Gaza to a hospital in Cairo, Egypt, at the end of March.

Hundreds of thousands of children remain in Gaza, suffering not only because of the ongoing bombing and other violence, but also because the Israeli government has been using starvation as a weapon of war. This is a war crime, and kids are dying as a result of the policy.

“All evidence points towards a major acceleration of death and malnutrition” in Gaza. Those are the words of the experts – a UN-coordinated partnership of 15 international organizations and UN agencies investigating the hunger crisis in a March 18 report. In northern Gaza, they estimate, 70 percent of people are experiencing catastrophic hunger.

If things continue like this, outright famine is next.

But things don’t have to continue like this. Concerned governments could act. And by act, I don’t mean airdropping aid and proposing temporary seaports we’re all seeing in the news right now. Aid groups and UN officials have called such efforts inadequate to prevent a famine.

What outside governments – in particular, Israel’s friends – need to do is push the Israeli government to behave in accordance with its obligations under international law. They could, and should, impose targeted sanctions and stop arms transfers to press the Israeli government to ensure access to humanitarian aid and basic services in Gaza.

In short, they need to impose serious consequnces on the government of Israel to get it to stop committing the war crime of using starvation as a weapon of war.

There is evidence to suggest this would work, too. Apparently following pressure from the US government, the Israeli cabinet agreed to several measures on April 4 to increase the amount of aid entering Gaza. But it’s still just a trickle. More pressure would bring more results.

Kids like Fadi didn’t attack Israel on October 7, and they aren’t holding any civilian hostages today (also a war crime and one of the reasons Israeli officials gave for their starvation strategy in Gaza). Children shouldn’t be made to suffer for the crimes of militants.

About half of Gaza’s population is children. The government of Israel is pushing hundreds of thousands of innocent kids towards famine. It’s madness. It needs to stop.

81.

9 april 2024

Zaterdag 13 april: Boycot-actie bij Eurovision in Concert in Amsterdam

Zaterdag 13 april, van 16u30 – 19u30

Johan Cruyffboulevard – het plein tussen AFAS live en de Arena

Amsterdam Zuidoost, station Bijlmer Arena

Eurovision in Concert is al jaren de grootste pre-party van het songfestival in Europa. Deze editie zullen maar liefst 30 van de 37 landen hun inzending van 2024 al uitvoeren in AFAS Live in Amsterdam. Fans en pers uit heel Europa komen naar Amsterdam om hun songfestivalfavorieten voor het eerst live in actie te zien.

In deze tijd van genocide is verantwoording dringend nodig. De weigering van het Eurovisie Songfestival om Israël uit te sluiten stelt Israël in staat om het Eurovisie Songfestival schaamteloos te misbruiken. Israël verdoezelt zijn oorlogsmisdaden en misdaden tegen de menselijkheid met liedjes over inclusie, diversiteit en gelijkheid onder de slogan van het Eurovisie Songfestival: “United by music”. Het Eurovisie Songfestival biedt zo culturele dekking voor Israëls massamoord op tienduizenden Palestijnen.

De Eurovisie fans vormen een hechte en unieke gemeenschap verbonden door diversiteit en inclusiviteit.

In deze geest zullen we de deelnemers en het publiek dat aanwezig is bij Eurovision in Concert op 13 april vragen om gehoor te geven aan de Palestijnse oproep en Eurovisie 2024, het festival van de hypocrisie, te boycotten. We zullen in stijl aanwezig zijn met muziek, zang en flyers.

Al meer dan 200 artiesten en kunstenaars ondertekenden de open brief!

Artiesten, kunstenaars, musici, schrijvers, dichters, acteurs: sluit aan en teken ook!

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

(let op: alléén mensen werkzaam in de creatieve sector en je moet ingelogd zijn met een google-account om te kunnen tekenen, in onze vorige nieuwsbrief stond helaas een ontoegankelijke versie maar deze werkt)

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

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

Palestijnen dringen er daarom bij alle nationale deelnemers en kijkers op aan om het festival te boycotten.

Zowel in Nederland als in Spanje en Engeland stuitte het Seret Film Festival op protest. In Barcelona annuleerde een bioscoop in februari alle voorstellingen en in Engeland weigeren een bioscoopketen en filmhuizen nog langer ruimte te bieden aan het festival. Het festival zal daar in mei in geminimaliseerde vorm plaats moeten vinden.  In Nederland is het festival twee keer uitgesteld omdat bioscopen en filmhuizen geen zin hadden in Israel-promotie ten tijde van genocide. Seret film festival dreigt daarmee dan ook te verdwijnen.

In de kanttekening verscheen dit artikel over ons protest tegen het Seret Film Festival in de Balie:

BDS boos op De Balie vanwege Israëlisch filmfestival

BDS Nederland vindt het hoogst ongelukkig dat De Balie het omstreden filmfestival faciliteert, terwijl andere theaters en sponsors in Amsterdam het event nu boycotten, vanwege de bloedige oorlog in Gaza. Ook de gemeente Amsterdam sponsort het filmfestival dit jaar niet langer. ‘De Balie moet niet meewerken aan de Israëlische propagandaoorlog en geen podium bieden aan een festival dat gefinancierd wordt om oorlogsmisdaden te verbloemen en Israël af te spiegelen als een progressief en democratisch land’, schrijft BDS Nederland in zijn brief aan De Balie. ‘Dat is artwashing van genocide.’

Morgenavond vindt het filmfestival plaats in De Balie. Dorien Ballout van BDS Nederland vertelt de Kanttekening dat haar organisatie, de antizionistische Joodse organisatie Erev Rav en de Internationale Socialisten zullen demonstreren voor het gebouw. ‘Dit filmfestival is onderdeel van de Israëlische pr-machine, die in het leven is geroepen om de Israëlische oorlogsmachine en de mensenrechtenschendingen te verdoezelen. En nu vindt het plaats terwijl het aannemelijk is dat er in Gaza een genocide wordt gepleegd en de Palestijnen daar met de hongerdood worden bedreigd. De Balie is een voorvechter van het vrije woord. Heel mooi, maar waar is de stem van de mensen uit Gaza? Hun vrije woord wordt door Israël ontnomen.’

De Palestijnse Campagne voor de Academische en Culturele Boycot van Israël (PACBI) is in 2004 gestart om bij te dragen aan de strijd voor Palestijnse vrijheid, gerechtigheid en gelijkheid. Het pleit voor een boycot van Israëlische academische en culturele instellingen vanwege hun diepe en aanhoudende medeplichtigheid aan Israëls ontkenning van de Palestijnse rechten die zijn vastgelegd in het internationaal recht.

PACBI is een van de oprichters van het Palestijnse BDS National Committee (BNC), en heeft tot taak toezicht te houden op de academische en culturele boycotaspecten van BDS.

De BNC, inclusief PACBI, zet zich in voor de vrijheid van meningsuiting zoals bepaald in het Internationaal Verdrag inzake burgerrechten en politieke rechten van de Verenigde Naties (ICCPR) en verwerpt als zodanig in principe boycots van individuen op basis van hun mening of identiteit (zoals burgerschap, ras, geslacht of religie).

Richtlijnen voor de culturele boycot - een samenvatting

Israël gebruikt cultuur openlijk als een vorm van propaganda om zijn regime van bezetting, kolonialisme en apartheid over het Palestijnse volk te verdoezelen of te vergoelijken. Net zoals Zuid-Afrikaanse anti-apartheidsactivisten internationale kunstenaars, schrijvers en culturele instellingen hadden opgeroepen om Zuid-Afrika cultureel te boycotten, dringt PACBI er bij internationale culturele werkers en culturele organisaties, waaronder vakbonden en verenigingen, op aan om te boycotten en/of te werken aan de annulering van evenementen, activiteiten, overeenkomsten of projecten waarbij Israël, zijn lobbygroepen of zijn culturele instellingen betrokken zijn.

Internationale podia en festivals wordt gevraagd om financiering en elke vorm van sponsoring van de Israëlische regering af te wijzen.

Dit is een boycot van Israëlische culturele instellingen, niet van Israëlische individuen. BDS richt zich op medeplichtigheid, niet op identiteit. De culturele boycot van Israël moet doorgaan totdat Israël voldoet aan de drie eisen van de BDS-oproep. Israëlische culturele instellingen kunnen voorkomen dat ze het doelwit zijn van de boycot als ze voldoen aan de drie eisen van de BDS-oproep en een einde maken aan alle vormen van steun voor Israëlische schendingen van het internationaal recht.

In het bijzonder dringt PACBI aan op een boycot van:

• Optredens en tentoonstellingen in Israël
• Alle medeplichtige Israëlische culturele instellingen
• Culturele producten die in opdracht zijn gemaakt door een officiële Israëlische instantie of een niet-Israëlische instantie die Israël promoot
• Evenementen en activiteiten die worden gesponsord door een officiële Israëlische instantie of een medeplichtige instelling
• Normalisatie Projecten
• Onderzoeksmissies die worden gesponsord door Israël, Israëlische instellingen of lobbygroepen

80.

9 april 2024

Talk about Palestine everywhere you go. Post about where our tax dollars are going all day on social media.

79.

8 april 2024

Hostilities in the Gaza Strip and Israel
Flash Update #151

On 5 April, a UN assessment mission observed the extensive damage to Al Shifa Hospital, many parts of which are destroyed. The facility is no longer functional, and no patients are on site. Unexploded ordnance remains an immediate risk following several weeks of heavy fighting. Photo by OCHA.

Key Highlights

• One of four food aid missions to areas that require coordination in Gaza were facilitated by Israeli authorities in March.
• The World Health Organization reports that following the destruction of Al Shifa Hospital, northern Gaza has been left without any CT scanning capabilities, significantly reduced laboratory capacity, and only one source for medical oxygen production.
• Following repeated requests, Israeli authorities have made several commitments to facilitate the increase of humanitarian assistance to people in need.
• On World Health Day, the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics emphasized the challenges facing over half a million women of reproductive age and some 350,000 people suffering from chronic illnesses in Gaza.

Gaza Strip Updates

• Israeli bombardment from the air, land, and sea continues to be reported across much of the Gaza Strip, resulting in further civilian casualties, displacement, and destruction of houses and other civilian infrastructure. On 7 April, the Israeli military reportedly withdrew most of its ground forces from the southern Gaza Strip, leaving one brigade stationed in the newly established military corridor south of Gaza city.
• On 6 April, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, Martin Griffiths, described the passing six months of war in Gaza as a “betrayal of humanity,” warning that “we face the unconscionable prospect of further escalation in Gaza, where no one is safe and there is nowhere safe to go. An already fragile aid operation continues to be undermined by bombardments, insecurity and denials of access.” On 7 April, the Secretary-General of the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, Jagan Chapagain, stated: “The current humanitarian situation for the civilians in Gaza is beyond catastrophic. Millions of lives are at risk of hunger. An urgent and unhindered flow of humanitarian aid must be ensured to reach those in need. Not tomorrow, but now.”
• Between the afternoons of 6 April and 8 April, according to the Ministry of Health (MoH) in Gaza, 116 Palestinians were killed, and 183 Palestinians were injured, including 32 killed and 47 injured in the past 24 hours. Between 7 October 2023 and the afternoon of 8 April 2024, at least 33,207 Palestinians were killed in Gaza and 75,933 Palestinians were injured, according to MoH in Gaza. According to the Government Media Office in Gaza, fatalities include some 14,500 children and 9,560 women.
• The following are among the deadly incidents reported between 4 and 7 April:
  • On 4 April, at about 15:00, three Palestinians were reportedly killed when a building northeast of Beit Hanun was hit. Later a Palestinian paramedic was reportedly killed, and three others injured, in an airstrike, while trying to evacuate the wounded.
  • On 4 April, at about 22:30, an unconfirmed number of casualties was reported when a residential square in Al Maghazi Camp was hit.
  • On 5 April, at about 10:00, three Palestinians were reportedly killed and others injured when a house in western An Nuseirat Refugee Camp was hit.
  • On 7 April, at about 9:30, four Palestinians were reportedly killed when a group of people was struck in Az Zahra city, north of An Nuseirat Refugee Camp.
  • On 7 April, at about 11:00, four Palestinians were reportedly killed when a residential building in Ash Shuja’iyyeh area in Gaza city was hit.
• Between the afternoons of 5 and 8 April, four Israeli soldiers were reported killed in Gaza. As of 8 April, 259 soldiers have been killed and 1,559 soldiers have been injured in Gaza since the beginning of the ground operation, according to the Israeli military. In addition, over 1,200 Israelis and foreign nationals, including 33 children, have been killed in Israel, the vast majority on 7 October. On 7 April, the Israeli military retrieved the body of an Israeli hostage from Khan Younis. As of 8 April, Israeli authorities estimate that 133 Israelis and foreign nationals remain captive in Gaza, including fatalities whose bodies are withheld.
• On 6 April, the World Health Organization (WHO) announced the findings of a UN mission to Al Shifa Hospital in Gaza city on 5 April, stating that the basic right to health is “utterly out of reach for the civilians of Gaza” and “the ability of WHO and partners to help is constantly disrupted and impeded.” The UN mission, which was jointly carried out by WHO, OCHA, Mine Action Service (UNMAS), and the Department for Safety and Security (UNDSS), assessed the extent of destruction at Al Shifa Hospital following a two-week Israeli military operation, siege, and heavy fighting between the Israeli military and Palestinian armed groups between 18 March and 1 April. Following six attempts to reach the hospital that were either denied, delayed or impeded by Israeli authorities, WHO reported that the scale of devastation has left what was once the largest and most important referral hospital in Gaza completely non-functional, with substantial efforts needed to clear unexploded ordnance, assess the potential for making the facility safe and accessible, and evaluate the functionality of vital equipment such as ventilators and CT scanners. Most hospital buildings, including the emergency department, the surgical and maternity ward buildings, and the neonatal intensive care department were extensively damaged or burnt, along with most of the equipment, beds, incubators, the oxygen plant, and other assets. As a result, according to WHO, northern Gaza has been left without any CT scanning capabilities, significantly reduced laboratory capacity, and only one source for medical oxygen production at Kamal Adwan Hospital, “severely compromising effective diagnosis, which will increase avoidable deaths.” In addition, WHO staff witnessed numerous shallow graves and many partially buried dead bodies in the hospital’s compound, which had a “pungent smell of decomposing bodies.” Describing the scene, OCHA staff observed that “Shifa has literally become a graveyard. There are bodies still in this courtyard… We should be scaling up our response. Instead, we are being obstructed. We’re stuck at checkpoints waiting. We’re picking up bodies from the side of the road. This madness needs to stop.”
• In March, access restrictions and denials of movement by Israeli authorities have continued to hamper the delivery of life-saving assistance, according to a recent OCHA report. Access into Gaza is characterized by “lengthy inspection processes, fuel shortages resulting from Israeli restrictions, and restrictions on the movement of trucks, convoys, and vetted drivers…and congestion at the Kerem Shalom crossing,” while the entry of humanitarian assistance and commercial goods directly into northern Gaza, where 70 per cent of the populated is projected to be at risk of famine between mid-March and mid-July 2024, remains extremely limited. Within Gaza, only 26 per cent of planned food missions to high-risk areas requiring coordination with Israeli authorities were facilitated, 51 per cent were either denied or impeded, and 23 per cent were postponed or withdrawn due to security concerns or operational constraints. For movement between southern and northern Gaza, Israeli authorities facilitated less than half of planned aid missions in March and humanitarian actors could only utilize one route, with a limited use so far of the Fence Road on Gaza's eastern border. Overall, the report underscores that the constrained ability of humanitarian organizations to address humanitarian needs in Gaza has “generated a volatile, insecure, and non-permissive operational environment,” amid intense aerial bombardment, military ground operations, unexploded ordnance contamination, infrastructural damage, and widespread insecurity.
• According to WHO, between mid-October and the end of March, over half of its missions in Gaza have been denied, delayed, impeded, or postponed. On 5 April, a mission bound for Al Awda and Kamal Adwan hospitals in northern Gaza was aborted due to safety considerations, following delays and the detention of a supply truck driver for more than an hour, which did not allow for the completion of the mission before nighttime. The mission aimed to deliver medical supplies and fuel, deploy emergency medical teams, and facilitate the referral of critical patients. On 4 April, WHO and its partners were able to deliver medical supplies for about 1,000 patients and one pallet of canned food to As Sahaba Hospital in Gaza city. Medical supplies for about 1,000 patients were also provided to Al Ahli Hospital, and one patient with complex lower limb injuries, along with a companion, was evacuated to a field hospital in Rafah. Reiterating WHO’s appeal for a ceasefire, WHO Director-General, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said: “With shrinking health access, hospitals in the north are overwhelmed, and more medical supplies and food to serve the hundreds of patients are needed. We again call for sustained and safe passage for humanitarian aid.”
• On 6 April, the Humanitarian Coordinator ad interim for the occupied Palestinian territory, Jamie McGoldrick, announced that, following repeated requests by the humanitarian community, Israeli authorities have made several commitments to facilitate the ability of humanitarian actors to scale-up assistance in Gaza. This includes: the temporary re-opening of Erez crossing to allow for the direct entry of assistance into northern Gaza from Ashdod port; expansion of operating hours and scanning capacity at Kerem Shalom and Nitsana crossings; increasing the number of trucks entering through the Jordan corridor via Allenby Bridge from 25 to at least 50 a day; and approval to resume the operation of the water pipeline in northern Gaza. Moreover, the Humanitarian Coordinator reported that Israel has committed to establish a “better functioning coordination cell… that links humanitarian actors directly with the IDF Southern Command.” Israeli authorities have given further assurances that approvals will be given to activate 20 bakeries in northern Gaza. A timeframe for these measures remains pending.
• In a press release on the occasion of World Health Day, the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS) stressed that the 10 hospitals still partially functioning in Gaza are operating at 359 per cent of their capacity, struggling to cope with the constant inflow of injured patients. Meanwhile, some 350,000 people suffering from chronic diseases are unable to access vital medicines, supplies, and services. PCBS also underlined the impact that the critical shortage of clean water, sanitation and hygiene supplies is having on over 540,000 women of reproductive age in Gaza, and the serious risks being faced by pregnant women and new mothers with no access to reproductive health services and postnatal care. On 2 April, the International Rescue Committee (IRC) indicated that at least 183 women are giving birth in Gaza every day, most without access to midwives, doctors, or healthcare facilities. Credible reports remain of women undergoing Caesarean-sections without anaesthesia. Furthermore, due to displacement, shock and malnutrition, pregnant women are experiencing premature labour and miscarriage, with health organizations having reported a threefold increase in miscarriage rates since the onset of the conflict, according to IRC.

Funding

• The Flash Appeal for the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt), which requests US$1.23 billion to meet the critical needs of 2.7 million people across the oPt (2.2 million in the Gaza Strip and 500,000 in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem), was extended through the end of March 2024. As of 7 April, Member States have disbursed nearly $1.27 billion for the updated Flash Appeal (103 per cent); this includes about $649 million out of $629 million (103 per cent) requested for October-December 2023 and about $623 million out of $600 million (104 per cent) requested for January-March 2024. For funding analysis, please see the Flash Appeal Financial Tracking dashboard. The Humanitarian Country Team plans to launch an updated flash appeal through the end of 2024 on 17 April, taking into account continued access constraints and security challenges.
• In March, the oPt Humanitarian Fund (oPt HF) had a total of 118 ongoing projects, for a total of $72.5 million, addressing urgent needs in the Gaza Strip (85 per cent) and West Bank (15 per cent). Projects focus on the areas of education, food security, health, protection, emergency shelter and non-food items, water, sanitation and hygiene, coordination and support services, multi-purpose cash assistance and nutrition. Of these, 75 projects are being implemented by international NGOs, 28 projects by national NGOs and 15 projects by UN agencies. Of the 90 projects implemented by INGOs or the UN, 51 are being implemented in partnership with NNGOs. Since 7 October, the oPt HF has mobilized a total of $88 million since 7 October from Member States and private donors, designated for programmes throughout Gaza. For a summary of the oPt HF activities and challenges in March 2024, please follow this link. Private donations are collected directly through the Humanitarian Fund.
• The oPt HF is temporarily supporting the procurement of diesel fuel for humanitarian partners to avert a critical gap that might have stalled life-saving operations, and humanitarian actors are currently devising a longer-term mechanism. This followed the expiration on 31 March of a donor-funded project that provided subsidized fuel to humanitarian actors and critical private sector entities in Gaza. Moreover, in light of the updated Flash Appeal, the HF has additionally allocated $20 million to bolster selected ongoing HF-funded projects in Gaza to enhance the operational capacity of humanitarian partners as well as ensure the continuity and expansion of essential services amid escalating challenges. The HF is also developing an upcoming reserve allocation to bolster the capacity of national NGOs in the central areas of the Gaza Strip and Khan Younis, taking into account anticipated complexities in aid delivery, to ensure a more robust and effective humanitarian response. In the West Bank, the oPt HF has launched a repositioning funding allocation for $5 million for key partners to enhance system readiness and responsiveness to sudden-onset emergencies.

78.

7 april 2024

Today's headlines

We Israelis are the biggest Holocaust deniers

The Jewish state learned that it can commit its own Holocaust in Gaza and deny that it exists.

Ramadan reflections from ‘little Gaza’

Since October 7, my friend Aseel watched as her community in Jenin refugee camp became a target of Israeli attack. "They have even been aggressive toward the infrastructure, as though every inch of our city was resisting them," she said.

77.

7 april 2024

The situation in Haifa has become even harder since the beginning of the war. From the seventh of October until January there were a number of attempts to organize protests here. Folks from various anti-occupation groups and I wanted to bring a strong and clear voice against the war on Gaza. Every protest ended with arrests. Some ended very violently, and some were dispersed before we had an opportunity to collect ourselves and protest, as the police were there, waiting for us.

On the 13th of November, myself and a group of activists decided to organize a silent protest against the absolute silencing and suppression of Palestinians and Israeli human rights activists in Israel/Palestine. It was a small and peaceful action. We put black masking tape on our mouths in order to emphasize forced silencing. We were there with  posters saying- “no to gag orders” and “Hunger in Gaza will not bring security- ceasefire now!”. We sought to protest against the alarming rise of fascism growing since the beginning of the war. 

Poster to the left: "Hunger in Gaza will not bring security- ceasefire now!"
Poster the the right: "no to gag orders"

There were maybe 30 police officers and 15 activists. Although we weren’t blocking traffic, we were protesting silently, and abiding by the customs of a legal protest, the officers declared the protest illegal. They asked us to leave and threatened to begin arresting us. Of course, we decided to stay and within a few minutes they arrested a fellow activist who held a small sign written, “genocide”.

 The police were pushing us around and onto the ground. One officer yelled at me to “get out of here” and began to hit me. I found myself being dragged by a number of officers on the sidewalk. My legs scraping against the asphalt, I tried to pick myself up and heard my friends yelling, trying to stop my arrest. All of a sudden I found myself being passed from one officer to the other and then I was violently pushed into the police car. They also brutally arrested my friend. She is asthmatic and they wouldn’t allow her to get her inhaler from her backpack. During the ride to the police department they cursed us and called us traitors and profane names. They ask us how we are not embarrassed and ashamed of ourselves and said they should send us on buses to Gaza.

It is important for Jewish Israelis to continue to protest and stand in solidarity with Palestinians as we may be arrested from a few hours to an evening, maximum. Palestinians experience much worse. Since the beginning of the war the police have arrested thousands of Palestinians without evidence of any illegal activity. If arrested at a protest, they can be charged with incitement of violence, supporting terrorism and can be arrested or put under house arrest for months at a time.

The very real violence and arrests that both Israeli and Palestinian activists experience has made everyone fearful of speaking out and joining protests, but slowly people are beginning to gain the confidence to speak out against the war. We will raise our voice, one voice, against the war.

76.

6 april 2024

Humanitarian Access Snapshot - Gaza Strip
1-31 March 2024

Overview

An Unprecedented Humanitarian Crisis

The population in the Gaza Strip continues to face an unprecedented humanitarian crisis, characterized by intense hostilities and escalating humanitarian access constraints that have severely impeded the delivery of life saving humanitarian assistance and services. While humanitarian organizations continue efforts to scale up response operations, intense aerial bombardment in densely populated urban areas, large-scale military ground operations, unexploded ordnance (UXO) contamination, prevailing insecurity, the closure of key border crossings, movement restrictions, infrastructure damage and persistent access restrictions and denials by Israeli authorities have generated a volatile, insecure, and non-permissive operational environmen. These obstacles are hindering the ability of humanitarian actors to address the essential needs of Gaza’s population.

Famine is imminent in Gaza as 1.1 million people—half of Gaza’s population—are facing conditions of catastrophic food insecurity due to the intense conflict and severe limitations on humanitarian access. Urgent action is required from Israeli authorities and all parties to the conflict to facilitate safe, unimpeded access for humanitarian organizations to respond to the urgent needs of Gaza’s population.

Humanitarian Notification System (HNS)

The Humanitarian Notification System is designed to inform all parties to the conflict about the location of humanitarian compounds and the movements of humanitarian entities with a view towards avoiding collateral harm or damages and enhancing the safety and security of humanitarian sites, operations, and personnel.

In Gaza, depending on the level of assessed risk, there are – at present – two different types of humanitarian movement procedures:

Notification: movements to areas considered less sensitive.

Coordination: movements to areas with increased risks.

Humanitarian notification does not change the IHL obligations of the parties to the conflict, but rather supports their ability to meet those obligations by better informing them of humanitarian presence. Furthermore, the provision of location information by humanitarian partners using the HNS is strictly voluntary.

Humanitarian Situation: Key Figures

Persistent Access Restrictions and Denials Undermine Humanitarian Response

In March, an array of access restrictions and denials imposed by Israeli authorities continue to obstruct and limit humanitarian operations throughout Gaza. Israeli authorities have authorized the use of only one primary border crossings preventing humanitarian assistance or commercial goods from entering directly into northern Gaza, where levels of catastrophic food insecurity and humanitarian needs are most acute. In addition, lengthy inspection processes, fuel shortages resulting from Israeli restrictions, and restrictions on the movement of trucks, convoys, and vetted drivers create significant delays, while congestion at the Kerem Shalom crossing present a major operational bottleneck.

Moreover, the Israeli authorities' designation of the Al Rasheed Coastal Road as the primary route for humanitarian movement between Gaza's southern and northern areas has caused significant delays. The majority of humanitarian convoys travelling northward must navigate high security risk areas and a single Israeli checkpoint on the Salah Ad Din Road, leading to increased road congestion, substantial delays and exacerbated logistical constraints. Access to medical facilities was particularly constrained. In the last week of March, all four planned medical missions to Al Shifa hospital were either denied or impeded.

Israeli authorities continue impose constraints limiting humanitarian actors’ use of the central Salah Al Deen Road, which could potentially offer a more efficient and potentially more secure option, enhancing the efficiency and effectiveness of aid distributions. Humanitarian agencies continue to seek authorizations to alternative crossings in the north and routes, such as the Fence Road on Gaza's western border where only five convoys were facilitated out of the 16 coordinated missions planned (three of these were postponed by the organization due to operational constraints).

Prevailing movement restrictions and shortage of approved trucks and drivers continue to result in considerable delays, particularly limiting the quantity and frequency of humanitarian food convoys and distributions. In addition, in late March, Israeli authorities announced that one of the three partners delivering food in Gaza would no longer be allowed in northern Gaza, where more than 300,000 people face catastrophic food security conditions. Amid imminent famine and severe levels of acute food insecurity, food distributions in Gaza continue to encounter persistent challenges in mission coordination and encounter high proportion of mission denials, postponements, or impediments.

In March, in areas requiring coordination with IDF, that only 26 per cent of requested humanitarian food missions were facilitated by Israeli authorities. The remaining convoys were denied by Israeli authorities (40 per cent), postponed (20 per cent), impeded (11 per cent), or withdrawn (3 per cent) due to prevailing restrictions, security concerns, or operational constraints.

Intense Hostilities and Widespread Insecurity Severely Impede Humanitarian Operations, Endanger Civilians and Aid Workers

Intense hostilities in Gaza and widespread insecurity continue to undermine humanitarian access by threatening the safety of humanitarian personnel delivering assistance and restricting the ability of civilians to access essential services. Insecurity throughout Gaza has been further exacerbated by attacks directly affecting humanitarian and medical facilities.

More than 190 aid workers have been killed in Gaza between 7 October 2023 and 31 March 2024, including at least seven aid workers during the month of March. This total includes the highest number of UN personnel killed in a conflict in the history of the organization. In addition, Israeli military operations and airstrikes have repeatedly affected medical facilities throughout Gaza and humanitarian facilities — including an aerial strike on a humanitarian food distribution center on 13 March in Rafah — resulting in casualties of medical staff, humanitarian personnel, and civilians, despite ongoing humanitarian notification and coordination mechanisms with Israeli authorities.

Months of intense armed conflict have also resulted in a general breakdown of law and order within Gaza, generating additional security and protection risks for civilians and humanitarian organizations. In March, heightened violence affecting humanitarian convoys caused disruptions in aid distributions, as crowds in dire need of essential supplies sought resources for their survival. While previous disruptions were mainly centered around the Wadi Gaza Israeli checkpoint in northern Gaza, new issues arose in southern Gaza during March, including increased incidents of theft, disorganized gathering points, and violence affecting humanitarian personnel and assets.

While humanitarian actors are attempting to introduce temporary and alternative aid entry routes into Gaza, including airdrops and maritime transport routes, these cannot replace the utilization of land crossings and routes within Gaza, which are essential for implementing humanitarian operations at scale.

Physical Access Constraints and Infrastructure Damage Obstruct Humanitarian Operations

Heavy damage and destruction of roads caused by ongoing hostilities in Gaza continues to present physical access barriers and restrict humanitarian movements within Gaza. The remaining operational routes are often impassable and heavily congested due to significant infrastructural damage, heavy debris, and UXO contamination. As a result, the ability of humanitarian organizations to effectively deliver life-saving assistance to those in need remains compromised. Efforts to repair damaged roads and secure safe passage for humanitarian convoys are essential to addressing these challenges and ensuring that aid reaches those who need it most.

Key Events

75.

6 april 2024

Today's headlines

Netanyahu’s endgame and the Israeli far-right’s regional ambitions

The events of recent days suggest we may be seeing the Israeli endgame take shape. Netanyahu's far right government’s goals are not limited to Gaza: it wants to take over all of Palestine and start a war with Hezbollah and Iran as well.

74.

6 april 2024

Let’s dedicate this night of power to Gaza

Israel’s war of genocide in the Gaza Strip is not limited to dehumanizing its Palestinian victims. In collaboration with its allies, especially the United States, Israel is attempting to delegitimize the voices of those opposed to its brutal crimes against humanity. It does not matter here whether the targets of the Zionist smear campaign are Jews, Christians, or Muslims. Anyone who dares to defend Palestinian human rights and rejects Israeli violations on principled and moral grounds is a legitimate target for these hateful campaigns.

Tonight, make a Zakah-Eligible donation to support Palestinian advocacy and help us reach our goal on this blessed night!

As a leading force for Palestinian advocacy, American Muslims for Palestine (AMP) has been relentlessly targeted by a vicious campaign of slander and distortion aimed at delegitimizing, intimidating, and silencing our efforts. We are targeted as advocates of Palestinian rights with false allegations precisely because we are effective. As a number of credible studies suggest, “The More Americans Learn About Israel, the Less They Like It.”

This notion is confirmed by the major shift in American public opinion over the last six months: most Americans reject the Israeli war of annihilation in Gaza. It is the power of knowledge, mobilization, and advocacy, bolstered by the determination, persistence, and dedication of Palestinian advocates that drives this change. Israel knows it cannot win the battle of ideas, so its apologists resort to defamation and distortion to attempt to silence us and our work.

However, we see the fruits of our work and advocacy, and we know that the best path is to continue revealing the facts and dismantling the Zionist falsehoods. We have always refused to bow to pressure, intimidation, and distortion campaigns, and we will remain steadfast in this path.

73.

5 april 2024

The world has witnessed horror after horror in Gaza.

For 40,000 massacred Palestinians, his harsh words are too late. For over two million trapped in Gaza, facing starvation, lack of medical care, and devastating loss, his words must be backed by action.

Israel’s “plausible genocide” is far beyond a gross violation of human rights.

Now, with support for Biden and Israel plummeting,² the U.S. might actually start applying its laws to Israel because Biden’s reprimands are all empty words until he takes action to back them up.

Biden is feeling the heat. We’re at a time when we have the leverage of growing disapproval of Biden and Israel — it’s on us to make the most of this and act now for a permanent ceasefire and a halt of military assistance to Israel.

Harsh words for Netanyahu is not action. We will not stop pushing Congress and Biden until we have an immediate and permanent ceasefire and the U.S. stops arming Israel.

Sources:

1. “Joe Biden expresses outrage over deaths of World Central Kitchen aid workers in Gaza,” USA Today, April 3, 2024.
2. “Why is the US still sending an endless supply of arms to Israel without conditions?,” The Guardian, Dec. 2023.
3. “Majority in U.S. Now Disapprove of Israeli Action in Gaza,” Gallup, March 27, 2024.
4. “Biden ally Coons open to putting conditions on aid to Israel,” Axios, April 4, 2024.
5. “@AndrewSolender tweet with draft House letter,”  April 4, 2024.

MPower Action is the political and lobbying arm of MPower Change, a grassroots movement of diverse Muslim communities working together to build social, spiritual, racial, and economic justice for all people.

72.

5 april 2024

Your Activist Scoop

WATCH MY SPEECH AT THE UN 

WHAT TO DO NEXT

71.

5 april 2024

Correctie, zie 68

Key Highlights

• As of 1 April, 28 children have died of malnutrition and dehydration, according to the Ministry of Health in Gaza.
• In northern Gaza, Palestinians are surviving on an average of 245 calories a day since January, Oxfam reports, and the Nutrition Cluster estimates that more than 50,000 children under five are acutely malnourished.
• Some 19,000 litres of fuel were delivered over the past three weeks to northern Gaza to operate water wells, according to the Palestinian Water Authority.

Gaza Strip Updates

• Intense Israeli bombardment and ground operations as well as heavy fighting between Israeli forces and Palestinian armed groups continue to be reported across much of the Gaza Strip, resulting in further civilian casualties, displacement, and destruction of houses and other civilian infrastructure.
• Between the afternoon of 3 April and 10:30 on 5 April, according to the Ministry of Health (MoH) in Gaza, 116 Palestinians were killed, and 173 Palestinians were injured, including 54 killed and 82 injured in the past 24 hours. Between 7 October 2023 and 10:30 on 5 April 2024, at least 33,091 Palestinians were killed in Gaza and 75,750 Palestinians were injured, according to MoH in Gaza. According to the Government Media Office in Gaza, fatalities include some 14,500 children and 9,560 women.
• The following are among the deadly incidents not previously reported between 1 and 3 April:
  • On 1 April, at about 15:25, six Palestinians including three boys and three men, were reportedly killed, and others injured, when a group of people were struck in As Salam area in southern Rafah.
  • On 2 April, at about 17:00, six Palestinians, including two women and a child, were reportedly killed when a residential building, west of An Nuseirat Refugee Camp, in Deir al Balah, was hit.
  • On 3 April, during the morning hours, three Palestinians were reportedly killed when the courtyard of a house in Deir al Balah was hit.
  • On 3 April, during the evening, four Palestinians, including two baby girls, were reportedly killed and others injured when a house in western Rafah was hit.
  • On 3 April, at about midnight, two Palestinians, including a woman and a child, were reportedly killed when a house in eastern Rafah was hit.
• Between the afternoons of 3 and 5 April, no Israeli soldiers were reported killed in Gaza. As of 5 April, 255 soldiers have been killed and 1,552 soldiers have been injured in Gaza since the beginning of the ground operation, according to the Israeli military. In addition, over 1,200 Israelis and foreign nationals, including 33 children, have been killed in Israel, the vast majority on 7 October. As of 5 April, the Israeli authorities estimate that 134 Israelis and foreign nationals remain captive in Gaza, including fatalities whose bodies are withheld.
• As of April 2024, according to data provided by the Israel Prison Service (IPS) to Hamoked, an Israel-based human rights NGO, there are about 9,300 Palestinians in Israeli custody, including 3,661 administrative detainees (39 per cent) held without trial. These figures do not include Palestinians from Gaza who were detained by the Israeli military since 7 October 2023. In a press statement on 4 April, the Palestinian Prisoners’ Club Association reported that more than 200 Palestinian children are currently detained in Israeli prisons, including 23 children from Gaza who are detained in Megiddo Prison, noting that this is the only figure available regarding detained children from Gaza and actual figures may be higher.
• On 3 and 4 April, some 7,000 litres of fuel have entered northern Gaza to operate 13 water wells in Jabaliya city, Jabaliya Refugee Camp and Gaza city, amid extreme shortages of water, according to the Palestinian Water Authority (PWA). In total, over the past three weeks, PWA reports that 19,000 litres of fuel entered northern Gaza to operate 37 water wells serving some 320,000 people, in addition to continued work to rehabilitate water lines that have sustained damage due to bombings. On 4 April, a food mission to northern Gaza was also facilitated, comprising 10 trucks carrying 150 metric tonnes of food parcels and wheat flour. Between 30 March and 5 April, 53 per cent (10 out of 19) of aid missions to northern Gaza were facilitated by the Israeli authorities, 26 per cent (5) were denied, 16 per cent (3) were cancelled, and one mission was impeded.
• Six months of hostilities have had a devastating toll on Gaza’s children. "Nearly 26,000 children – or just over two percent of Gaza’s child population - have been killed or injured in Gaza in six months of a war which has decimated the health system and severed access to education,” according to Save the Children.* Beyond the long-lasting psychological trauma, injured children will suffer life-long physical harm; in December 2023, UNICEF estimated that at least 1,000 children have had one or both legs amputated. In a press release issued on 4 April, on the eve of Palestinian Children’s Day, the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS) highlighted that four children are killed every hour in Gaza and women and children represent 70 per cent of the 7,000 individuals unaccounted for across Gaza. Children are also disproportionately impacted by food insecurity, with Palestinians in Gaza now constituting some 80 per cent of all people facing famine worldwide. The situation is particularly severe in northern Gaza, where some 50,400 children under the age of five are acutely malnourished and 31 per cent of children under two suffer from severe wasting, according to the Nutrition Cluster. Recently, Oxfam also estimated that the population in northern Gaza has been forced to survive on an average of 245 calories a day since January. As of 1 April, MoH in Gaza reports that 28 children have died due to malnutrition and dehydration, and, according to WHO, Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza has been receiving at least 15 malnourished children every day. The UN Committee on the Rights of the Child had cautioned: “Children in Gaza can no longer wait, as each passing minute risks another child dying of hunger as the world looks on.”
• On 28 March, the UNFPA Representative in the occupied Palestinian territory visited the Al-Emirati Maternity Hospital in Rafah, describing a significantly worsened situation compared to his previous visit in February, with 60-70 births being delivered every day in an overwhelmed facility, facing shortages of even basic supplies like gauzes and sutures, and pregnant women having to give birth on floors in the little birthing suite that only comprises five rooms. In a separate account of the unacceptable situation at the hospital’s Incubator Care Unit, Dr. Ahmed Al-Shaer, indicated that the unit currently serves some 70 babies, compared to a capacity of ten beds for ten babies prior to 7 October, warning that some babies might die due to the shortage of ventilators. Currently, three or four babies share the same incubator, and the unit faces a critical lack of milk, oxygen, and medications for newborn and premature babies. In a statement on the looming famine in Gaza, the UNFPA Executive Director stressed that “hunger and malnutrition, driven wholly by manmade causes and by a lack of humanitarian access, have spread through Gaza at frightening speed, causing catastrophic rates of disease, death and despair. For pregnant women and newborns every day has become a fight for survival”.
• Airstrikes on Rafah and statements by Israeli officials about an imminent ground operation in the area have heightened concerns about the impact such an operation could have on more than half of Gaza’s population who have been crammed into less than 20 per cent of the Gaza Strip. On 3 April, 13 humanitarian and human rights NGOs issued a statement warning that “time is running out for international action to protect civilians and prevent atrocity crimes in Rafah, as UN Security Council resolution is ignored.” On 26 March, UNICEF reported that Rafah is “unrecognizable” due to congestion and widespread displacement and there is a “hellish disregard for basic human needs and dignity.” For example, one toilet is available for every 850 people in Rafah, compared to the global standard of one toilet for a maximum of 20 people in a humanitarian emergency, according to UNICEF. Humanitarian Coordinator ad interim, Jamie McGoldrick, had stated: “If people are forced to move from Rafah right now…there could be up to 500,00 to 900,000 people moving. We cannot cope with that…when we are right now in such a fragile situation in terms of our ability to address the current humanitarian situation.”
• The estimated cost of direct damage to critical infrastructure in the Gaza Strip is about US$ 18.5 billion, equivalent to 97 per cent of the 2022 GDP of the West Bank and Gaza Strip, according to an interim damage assessment report issued on 29 March by the World Bank, EU, and the UN. Using remote data collection sources to measure damage to physical infrastructure in critical sectors incurred between October 2023 and January 2024, the assessment finds that 80 per cent of damages were concentrated in the Gaza, North Gaza, and Khan Younis governorates and more than 60 per cent of homes have been damaged or destroyed, accounting for 72 per cent ($13.29 billion) of total damages. Moreover, nearly 80 per cent of assessed establishments in the commerce, industry and services sector have been damaged or destroyed, accounting for 9 per cent of total damages. The remaining 19 per cent of damages were incurred by other critical infrastructure and services sectors, such as education, water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH), health, energy, Information and Communication Technology (ICT), municipal services, and transport. Describing the shock to Gaza’s economy as “one of the largest observed in recent economic history,” the assessment report warns that most of the population has been pushed into multidimensional poverty. It further finds that the majority of the 980 NGOs registered in Gaza have ceased operations, disproportionately impacting vulnerable groups, including children, women, and persons with disabilities who relied heavily on services provided by the NGO sector. Finally, the assessment report presents recommendations for the prioritization of early recovery actions, including resumed access to essential health and education services, improvements in food production, cash for work programmes, removal of unexploded ordnances (UXOs), and clearing approximately 26 million tons of rubble, among other priorities.

Funding

• The Flash Appeal for the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt), which requests US$ 1.23 billion to meet the critical needs of 2.7 million people across the oPt (2.2 million in the Gaza Strip and 500,000 in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem), was extended through the end of March 2024. As of 5 April, member states disbursed nearly $1.26 billion for the updated Flash Appeal (102 per cent); this includes about $649 million out of $629 million (103 per cent) requested for October-December 2023 and about $608 million out of $600 million (101 per cent) requested for January-March 2024. For funding analysis, please see the Flash Appeal Financial Tracking dashboard. The Humanitarian Country Team plans to launch an updated flash appeal through the end of 2024 on 16 April, taking into account continued access constraints and security challenges.
• In March, the oPt Humanitarian Fund (oPt HF) had a total of 118 ongoing projects, for a total of US$ 72.5 million, addressing urgent needs in the Gaza Strip (85 per cent) and West Bank (15 per cent). Projects focus on the areas of Education, Food Security, Health, Protection, Emergency Shelter & NFI, WASH, Coordination and Support Services, Multi-Purpose Cash Assistance and Nutrition. Of these, 75 projects are being implemented by international NGOs, 28 projects by national NGOs and 15 projects by UN agencies. Of the 90 projects implemented by INGOs or the UN, 51 are being implemented in partnership with NNGOs. Since 7 October, the oPt HF has mobilized a total of $88 million since 7 October from Member States and private donors, designated for programs throughout Gaza. For a summary of the oPt HF activities and challenges in March 2024, please follow this link. Private donations are collected directly through the Humanitarian Fund.
• The oPt HF is temporarily supporting the procurement of diesel fuel for humanitarian partners to avert a critical gap that might have stalled life-saving operations. This followed the expiration on 31 March of a donor-funded project that provided subsidized fuel to humanitarian actors and critical private sector entities in Gaza, and humanitarian actors are currently devising a longer-term mechanism. Moreover, in light of the updated Flash Appeal, the HF has additionally allocated US$ 20 million to bolster selected ongoing HF-funded projects in Gaza to enhance the operational capacity of humanitarian partners as well as ensure the continuity and expansion of essential services amid escalating challenges. The HF is also developing an upcoming reserve allocation to bolster the capacity of national NGOs in the central areas of the Gaza Strip and Khan Younis, taking into account anticipated complexities in aid delivery, to ensure a more robust and effective humanitarian response. In the West Bank, the oPt HF has launched a repositioning funding allocation for $5 million for key partners to enhance system readiness and responsiveness to sudden-onset emergencies.

70.

5 april 2024

Today's headlines

Israel says it will ‘temporarily’ allow aid into Gaza

Following international outcry at the targeting of World Central Kitchen aid workers, Israel said that it would "temporarily" allow aid into Gaza. Meanwhile, Israeli forces raided the al-Aqsa Mosque compound and killed a Palestinian man in Tulkarem.

Biden calls for ‘immediate ceasefire’ during phone call with Netanyahu

Biden called for an immediate ceasefire during a “tense” call with Netanyahu, but it’s highly doubtful that U.S. policy in Gaza will change.

Netanyahu killed a top Iranian general in Syria to provoke a regional conflict — and the U.S. media is hiding his true motivation

Genocide Netanyahu continues to raise the risk of a regional war which could draw in the U.S. — and the mainstream media is hiding the danger from its audience.

69.

5 april 2024

Hostilities in the Gaza Strip and Israel
Flash Update #150

Displaced people carrying their belongings through the rubble of destroyed houses in Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip, as they seek refuge. Photo: UNICEF/El Baba

Key Highlights

• As of 1 April, 28 children have died of malnutrition and dehydration, according to the Ministry of Health in Gaza.
• In northern Gaza, Palestinians are surviving on an average of 245 calories a day since January, Oxfam reports, and the Nutrition Cluster estimates that more than 50,000 children under five are acutely malnourished.
• Some 19,000 litres of fuel were delivered over the past three weeks to northern Gaza to operate water wells, according to the Palestinian Water Authority.

Gaza Strip Updates

• Intense Israeli bombardment and ground operations as well as heavy fighting between Israeli forces and Palestinian armed groups continue to be reported across much of the Gaza Strip, resulting in further civilian casualties, displacement, and destruction of houses and other civilian infrastructure.
• Between the afternoon of 3 April and 10:30 on 5 April, according to the Ministry of Health (MoH) in Gaza, 116 Palestinians were killed, and 173 Palestinians were injured, including 54 killed and 82 injured in the past 24 hours. Between 7 October 2023 and 10:30 on 5 April 2024, at least 33,091 Palestinians were killed in Gaza and 75,750 Palestinians were injured, according to MoH in Gaza. According to the Government Media Office in Gaza, fatalities include some 14,500 children and 9,560 women.
• The following are among the deadly incidents not previously reported between 1 and 3 April:
  • On 1 April, at about 15:25, six Palestinians including three boys and three men, were reportedly killed, and others injured, when a group of people were struck in As Salam area in southern Rafah.
  • On 2 April, at about 17:00, six Palestinians, including two women and a child, were reportedly killed when a residential building, west of An Nuseirat Refugee Camp, in Deir al Balah, was hit.
  • On 3 April, during the morning hours, three Palestinians were reportedly killed when the courtyard of a house in Deir al Balah was hit.
  • On 3 April, during the evening, four Palestinians, including two baby girls, were reportedly killed and others injured when a house in western Rafah was hit.
  • On 3 April, at about midnight, two Palestinians, including a woman and a child, were reportedly killed when a house in eastern Rafah was hit.
• Between the afternoons of 3 and 5 April, no Israeli soldiers were reported killed in Gaza. As of 5 April, 255 soldiers have been killed and 1,552 soldiers have been injured in Gaza since the beginning of the ground operation, according to the Israeli military. In addition, over 1,200 Israelis and foreign nationals, including 33 children, have been killed in Israel, the vast majority on 7 October. As of 5 April, the Israeli authorities estimate that 134 Israelis and foreign nationals remain captive in Gaza, including fatalities whose bodies are withheld.
• As of April 2024, according to data provided by the Israel Prison Service (IPS) to Hamoked, an Israel-based human rights NGO, there are about 9,300 Palestinians in Israeli custody, including 3,661 administrative detainees (39 per cent) held without trial. These figures do not include Palestinians from Gaza who were detained by the Israeli military since 7 October 2023. In a press statement on 4 April, the Palestinian Prisoners’ Club Association reported that more than 200 Palestinian children are currently detained in Israeli prisons, including 23 children from Gaza who are detained in Megiddo Prison, noting that this is the only figure available regarding detained children from Gaza and actual figures may be higher.
• On 3 and 4 April, some 7,000 litres of fuel have entered northern Gaza to operate 13 water wells in Jabaliya city, Jabaliya Refugee Camp and Gaza city, amid extreme shortages of water, according to the Palestinian Water Authority (PWA). In total, over the past three weeks, PWA reports that 19,000 litres of fuel entered northern Gaza to operate 37 water wells serving some 320,000 people, in addition to continued work to rehabilitate water lines that have sustained damage due to bombings. On 4 April, a food mission to northern Gaza was also facilitated, comprising 10 trucks carrying 150 metric tonnes of food parcels and wheat flour. Between 30 March and 5 April, 53 per cent (10 out of 19) of aid missions to northern Gaza were facilitated by the Israeli authorities, 26 per cent (5) were denied, 16 per cent (3) were cancelled, and one mission was impeded.
• Six months of hostilities have had a devastating toll on Gaza’s children. Nearly 26,000 children – or just over two percent of Gaza’s child population - have been killed or injured in Gaza in six months of a war which has decimated the health system and severed access to education,” Nearly 26,000 children - over two per cent of Gaza’s child population - have been killed or injured since the hostilities began, according to Save the Children. Beyond the long-lasting psychological trauma, injured children will suffer life-long physical harm; in December 2023, UNICEF estimated that at least 1,000 children have had one or both legs amputated. In a press release issued on 4 April, on the eve of Palestinian Children’s Day, the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS) highlighted that four children are killed every hour in Gaza and women and children represent 70 per cent of the 7,000 individuals unaccounted for across Gaza. Children are also disproportionately impacted by food insecurity, with Palestinians in Gaza now constituting some 80 per cent of all people facing famine worldwide. The situation is particularly severe in northern Gaza, where some 50,400 children under the age of five are acutely malnourished and 31 per cent of children under two suffer from severe wasting, according to the Nutrition Cluster. Recently, Oxfam also estimated that the population in northern Gaza has been forced to survive on an average of 245 calories a day since January. As of 1 April, MoH in Gaza reports that 28 children have died due to malnutrition and dehydration, and, according to WHO, Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza has been receiving at least 15 malnourished children every day. The UN Committee on the Rights of the Child had cautioned: “Children in Gaza can no longer wait, as each passing minute risks another child dying of hunger as the world looks on.”
• On 28 March, the UNFPA Representative in the occupied Palestinian territory visited the Al-Emirati Maternity Hospital in Rafah, describing a significantly worsened situation compared to his previous visit in February, with 60-70 births being delivered every day in an overwhelmed facility, facing shortages of even basic supplies like gauzes and sutures, and pregnant women having to give birth on floors in the little birthing suite that only comprises five rooms. In a separate account of the unacceptable situation at the hospital’s Incubator Care Unit, Dr. Ahmed Al-Shaer, indicated that the unit currently serves some 70 babies, compared to a capacity of ten beds for ten babies prior to 7 October, warning that some babies might die due to the shortage of ventilators. Currently, three or four babies share the same incubator, and the unit faces a critical lack of milk, oxygen, and medications for newborn and premature babies. In a statement on the looming famine in Gaza, the UNFPA Executive Director stressed that “hunger and malnutrition, driven wholly by manmade causes and by a lack of humanitarian access, have spread through Gaza at frightening speed, causing catastrophic rates of disease, death and despair. For pregnant women and newborns every day has become a fight for survival”.
• Airstrikes on Rafah and statements by Israeli officials about an imminent ground operation in the area have heightened concerns about the impact such an operation could have on more than half of Gaza’s population who have been crammed into less than 20 per cent of the Gaza Strip. On 3 April, 13 humanitarian and human rights NGOs issued a statement warning that “time is running out for international action to protect civilians and prevent atrocity crimes in Rafah, as UN Security Council resolution is ignored.” On 26 March, UNICEF reported that Rafah is “unrecognizable” due to congestion and widespread displacement and there is a “hellish disregard for basic human needs and dignity.” For example, one toilet is available for every 850 people in Rafah, compared to the global standard of one toilet for a maximum of 20 people in a humanitarian emergency, according to UNICEF. Humanitarian Coordinator ad interim, Jamie McGoldrick, had stated: “If people are forced to move from Rafah right now…there could be up to 500,00 to 900,000 people moving. We cannot cope with that…when we are right now in such a fragile situation in terms of our ability to address the current humanitarian situation.”
• The estimated cost of direct damage to critical infrastructure in the Gaza Strip is about US$ 18.5 billion, equivalent to 97 per cent of the 2022 GDP of the West Bank and Gaza Strip, according to an interim damage assessment report issued on 29 March by the World Bank, EU, and the UN. Using remote data collection sources to measure damage to physical infrastructure in critical sectors incurred between October 2023 and January 2024, the assessment finds that 80 per cent of damages were concentrated in the Gaza, North Gaza, and Khan Younis governorates and more than 60 per cent of homes have been damaged or destroyed, accounting for 72 per cent ($13.29 billion) of total damages. Moreover, nearly 80 per cent of assessed establishments in the commerce, industry and services sector have been damaged or destroyed, accounting for 9 per cent of total damages. The remaining 19 per cent of damages were incurred by other critical infrastructure and services sectors, such as education, water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH), health, energy, Information and Communication Technology (ICT), municipal services, and transport. Describing the shock to Gaza’s economy as “one of the largest observed in recent economic history,” the assessment report warns that most of the population has been pushed into multidimensional poverty. It further finds that the majority of the 980  NGOs registered in Gaza have ceased operations, disproportionately impacting vulnerable groups, including children, women, and persons with disabilities who relied heavily on services provided by the NGO sector. Finally, the assessment report presents recommendations for the prioritization of early recovery actions, including resumed access to essential health and education services, improvements in food production, cash for work programmes, removal of unexploded ordnances (UXOs), and clearing approximately 26 million tons of rubble, among other priorities.

Funding

• The Flash Appeal for the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt), which requests US$ 1.23 billion to meet the critical needs of 2.7 million people across the oPt (2.2 million in the Gaza Strip and 500,000 in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem), was extended through the end of March 2024. As of 5 April, member states disbursed nearly $1.26 billion for the updated Flash Appeal (102 per cent); this includes about $649 million out of $629 million (103 per cent) requested for October-December 2023 and about $608 million out of $600 million (101 per cent) requested for January-March 2024. For funding analysis, please see the Flash Appeal Financial Tracking dashboard. The Humanitarian Country Team plans to launch an updated flash appeal through the end of 2024 on 16 April, taking into account continued access constraints and security challenges.
• In March, the oPt Humanitarian Fund (oPt HF) had a total of 118 ongoing projects, for a total of US$ 72.5 million, addressing urgent needs in the Gaza Strip (85 per cent) and West Bank (15 per cent). Projects focus on the areas of Education, Food Security, Health, Protection, Emergency Shelter & NFI, WASH, Coordination and Support Services, Multi-Purpose Cash Assistance and Nutrition. Of these, 75 projects are being implemented by international NGOs, 28 projects by national NGOs and 15 projects by UN agencies. Of the 90 projects implemented by INGOs or the UN, 51 are being implemented in partnership with NNGOs. Since 7 October, the oPt HF has mobilized a total of $88 million since 7 October from Member States and private donors, designated for programs throughout Gaza. For a summary of the oPt HF activities and challenges in March 2024, please follow this link. Private donations are collected directly through the Humanitarian Fund.
• The oPt HF is temporarily supporting the procurement of diesel fuel for humanitarian partners to avert a critical gap that might have stalled life-saving operations. This followed the expiration on 31 March of a donor-funded project that provided subsidized fuel to humanitarian actors and critical private sector entities in Gaza, and humanitarian actors are currently devising a longer-term mechanism. Moreover, in light of the updated Flash Appeal, the HF has additionally allocated US$ 20 million to bolster selected ongoing HF-funded projects in Gaza to enhance the operational capacity of humanitarian partners as well as ensure the continuity and expansion of essential services amid escalating challenges. The HF is also developing an upcoming reserve allocation to bolster the capacity of national NGOs in the central areas of the Gaza Strip and Khan Younis, taking into account anticipated complexities in aid delivery, to ensure a more robust and effective humanitarian response. In the West Bank, the oPt HF has launched a repositioning funding allocation for $5 million for key partners to enhance system readiness and responsiveness to sudden-onset emergencies.

68.

5 april 2024

THE CLASSIC

Free Palestine T-Shirt

67.

5 april 2024

Voor de tweede maal heeft het Internationaal Gerechtshof Israël maatregelen opgelegd. Israël moet direct grootschalige humanitaire hulp tot Gaza toelaten om acute uithongering van de bevolking te voorkomen. Ook dient het zijn leger te weerhouden van schendingen van de rechten van de Palestijnen.

De maatregelen vormen een uitbreiding van de ‘tijdelijke maatregelen’ die het hof al op 26 januari aan Israël oplegde. Beide maken deel uit van de ‘genocide-zaak’ die Zuid-Afrika eind december 2023 tegen Israël aanspande.

Het hof waarschuwt dat hongersnood niet ’slechts’ een risico vormt, maar zich inmiddels voordoet. De VN-organisatie OCHA schat dat ten minste 50 duizend kinderen inmiddels ernstig ondervoed zijn.

Toch meer noodhulp?
Het Internationaal Gerechtshof draagt Israël daarom op om per direct alle toegangen tot Gaza te openen, en de capaciteit daarvan uit te breiden. Israël leek daar geen gehoor aan te willen geven. Maar na zware druk van president Biden kondigde premier Netanyahu op 5 april aan meer humanitaire hulp toe te willen laten.

Daarbij zei de Israëlische premier overigens dat het opschalen van humanitaire hulp niet alleen van cruciaal belang is om een humanitaire crisis te voorkomen, maar ook om de gevechten te kunnen voortzetten.

Aanval op hulpverleners
Afgelopen maandag doodde het Israëlische leger in Gaza zeven internationale hulpverleners van World Central Kitchen (WCK) die juist een konvooi voedsel voor de hongerende bevolking hadden afgeleverd. Gevolg: de organisatie staakte per direct haar activiteiten in Gaza. Deze donderdag heeft ook de Amerikaanse hulporganisatie Anera haar werkzaamheden gestaakt. De zeven medewerkers van World Central Kitchen die op 1 april door Israël werden gedood, drie van hen met een Brits paspoort en de overige vier met respectievelijk de Palestijnse, Australische, Poolse en Amerikaanse/Canadese nationaliteit. © World Central KitchenEerder al weigerde Israël nog langer samen te werken met de VN-organisatie voor Palestijnse vluchtelingen UNRWA, waardoor de hongersnood van de bevolking van met name Noord-Gaza nog nijpender werd. Dat maakte de activiteiten van WCK en Anera des te noodzakelijker.

De komende dagen zal moeten blijken of de hulp die de Gazastrook in dat geval zal bereiken genoeg is om de acute hongersnood te verhelpen. 

Negen ngo's doen ultieme oproep aan ministerraad om hongersnood in Gaza te voorkomen

Met een lawaaiactie aan de Hofvijver tijdens de wekelijkse ministerraad van 5 april vragen negen Nederlandse hulp- en mensenrechtenorganisaties om aandacht voor de hongersnood in Gaza. The Rights Forum is één van de negen organisaties. Wij roepen op tot een staakt-het-vuren en doen een dringend beroep op de ministerraad om de druk op de Israëlische regering op te voeren om voedselhulp mogelijk te maken.

'Vandaag slaan wij in navolging van kinderen in Gaza met pollepels op pannen als een symbolisch alarm voor hongersnood in Gaza. Terwijl voor een groot deel van Gaza acute hongersnood dreigt, kijken wij toe’, zegt een woordvoerder van de gezamenlijke hulporganisaties.

Een dag eerder spraken afgevaardigden van enkele organisaties met premier Mark Rutte. Daarin vroegen ze de premier om de financiering van de VN-organisatie UNRWA te hervatten, omdat deze organisatie een coördinerende rol speelt bij de hulpverlening in Gaza. Ook eisten zij onmiddellijke en volledige toegang voor humanitaire hulp over land en garanties voor de veiligheid van hulpverleners in het gebied.

Gaat het Gerechtshof oproepen tot een staakt-het-vuren?

Tot op heden weigert het Internationaal Gerechtshof op te roepen tot een staakt-het-vuren in de Gaza-oorlog. Het lijkt er echter op dat de mening van de rechters van het Gerechtshof in de zaak Palestina-Israël aan het verschuiven is. Betekent dit dat een staakt-het-vuren dichterbij komt?

Hoogleraar Internationaal publiekrecht en lid van de Raad van Advies van The Rights Forum André Nollkaemper en oud-diplomaat én bestuurslid bij The Rights Forum Berber van Der Woude schoven op 4 april aan bij De Nieuws BV om daarover te praten.

Wie antisemitisme zegt te bestrijden, moet het eerst zelf afzweren

Harde waarschuwing
Deze framing is niet alleen onzinnig, ze heeft als keerzijde dat Joden verantwoordelijk worden gesteld voor de Israëlische misdaden waartegen Hamas zich verzet. Die vereenzelviging keert zich op een dag tegen de Joodse gemeenschap, waarschuwde de Joodse filosofe Hannah Arendt al in de jaren veertig van de vorige eeuw.

Vertaald naar het hier en nu leidt deze waarschuwing tot een simpele maar dwingende les: Joden, zeker die buiten Israël, mogen niet verantwoordelijk worden gesteld of gehouden voor de Israëlische misdaden tegen de Palestijnen. Maar dit geldt dan alleen voor zolang zij zich niet openlijk medeplichtig maken aan deze Israëlische misdrijven en deze niet publiekelijk van hun steun voorzien. Natuurlijk geldt dit dan onverkort ook voor alle niet-Joden. Voorzien zij de schier onvoorstelbare Israëlische misdrijven openlijk van hun steun, dan verbinden zich daarmee dus publiekelijk. En maken zich hiermee dan ook publiekelijk aanspreekbaar. En al evenzeer maatschappelijk kwetsbaar voor een stortvloed van kritiek. Want wie kaatst moet de bal verwachten! Joden en niet-Joden genieten, in alle gelijkheid, geen immuniteit. Zodra zij pal vóór de bijna niet te begrijpen misdadigheid van Israël gaan staan. Want dat immers maatschappelijke spanningen worden opgeroepen door iedereen, niet-Jood of Jood, die paradeert met de zwaarste misdrijven die de wereld kent, valt niet anders dan te verwachten. Iedereen die zich hieraan schuldig maakt, roept daarmee maatschappelijke reacties over zichzelf af. Jood of niet-Jood.

Vier voorbeelden
Het tegendeel is echter het geval. De Joodse gemeenschap in Nederland wordt er voortdurend met de haren bijgesleept. In een uitgebreid artikel op onze website beschrijven we vier recente voorbeelden van deze praktijk. De voorbeelden illustreren hoe solidariteit met de Palestijnen, en kritiek op Israël, wordt bestreden door ze tegen elke prijs te presenteren als aanval op Joodse Nederlanders. Wat die Joden eigenlijk zelf vinden, speelt geen rol.

De Joods-Nederlandse gemeenschap wordt op deze manier misbruikt om ongewenste opvattingen over Israël te bestrijden. Dat Joodse Nederlanders hierdoor in de vuurlinie van een verhitte politieke strijd worden geplaatst, geldt als collateral damage, nevenschade. Ziehier het giftige antisemitisme waarmee steun aan Israël in de samenleving gepaard gaat.

Opinie | De antisemiet die ik (niet) ben

Wie zich kritisch uitlaat over Israëls misdaden wordt direct uitgemaakt voor antisemiet, weet journalist Jos van Noord. ‘Ik ken mensen die dat CIDI-mantra inmiddels als een eretitel zien’, schrijft hij in een opiniestuk op onze website.

'Ervaring leerde mij dat degene die een kritisch woord laat horen over Israël meteen emmers drek over zich uitgestort krijgt. Zo iemand wordt gelijk als verachtelijke antisemiet weggezet. Het propagandabureau van Israël in Nederland heeft daar dikwijls ook de hand in.'

66.

4 april 2024

65a.

4 april 2024

The Palestinian Struggle for Labor Rights in Israel

Jacobin spoke to Palestinian workers whose underpaid labor provides part of Israel’s low-cost workforce. Their stories of organizing amid ethnic cleansing shed light on how this work is a crucial lifeline for Palestinians — now severed by the devastation of war.

Yesterday in Jacobin we published an important story by journalist Jaclynn Ashly based on recent interviews with Palestinian workers. These workers spoke about the desperate situation their families are facing as well as the history of Palestinian workers’ exploitation in Israel and the occupied territories.

Every year, tens of thousands of Palestinians’ livelihoods depend on work in Israel and its settlements. During the early years of the occupation, some Israeli officials opposed Palestinian employment in Israel, fearing it would displace Jewish workers. Over time, however, Israel recognized the potential benefit for its employers of a tightly controlled source of low-wage labor from a desperate population. Israel began allowing Palestinians to seek jobs in sectors that lack sufficient Israeli labor, such as construction, agriculture, and the service industry.

Following Hamas’s attack on October 7, Israel closed all checkpoints in and out of the West Bank. It barred Palestinian workers from their jobs in Israel and its settlements, leaving many destitute, with no money for rent, loan payments, or their children’s tuition.

As the war in Gaza drags on into its sixth month, the situation for workers is becoming more and more desperate. Thousands of workers from Gaza who had received permission to work inside Israel shortly before October 7 were detained and held incommunicado for weeks. Some endured humiliating ill treatment and torture by Israeli forces before being either returned to Gaza or released in the West Bank. Others fled into the West Bank from Israel out of fear for their safety.

The Palestinians Ashly interviewed emphasize that the realities these workers face were shaped over more than half a century, since Israel occupied the West Bank and Gaza. They highlight how Israel’s actions strangled the Palestinian economy, leading to a large portion of the Palestinian workforce relying heavily on Israeli wages. According to them, subjecting Palestinians to exploitative and abusive conditions in Israel and its settlements was a deliberate strategy employed by Israel to establish domination over Palestinians.

65.

4 april 2024

Today's headlines

Child deaths in Gaza on the rise, hostage negotiations ‘stuck’

Qassam Muaddi

WHO chief Ghebreyesus said he was “appalled” at the destruction of al-Shifa Hospital. Meanwhile, pressure on Netanyahu increases domestically to strike a hostage deal with Hamas as the UN Human Rights Council considers an arms embargo against Israel.

Zionists have tried to silence me through doxing and intimidation. They won’t succeed.

Mohammad Jehad Ahmad

A Palestinian teacher describes being targeted by Zionist groups with doxing and public harassment. He urges the New York City Chancellor of Education to take action before it turns violent.

Judge Aharon Barak is repeating Israeli propaganda at the ICJ

Aharon Barak, Israel’s ad-hoc judge for the Gaza genocide case at the ICJ, is acting less like a judge and more like a mouthpiece for official Israeli propaganda.

64.

4 april 2024

Our work is essential, and your support is critical to our sustainability.

Last week marked 18 years since Phil Weiss started Mondoweiss in 2006. I joined him shortly thereafter in 2008, and there is no way we could have imagined how our work would grow from those simple beginnings and how urgently it would still be needed all these years later.

We are not new to covering the struggle for truth from and about Palestine. We have reported on Gaza and the rest of Palestine and U.S. complicity in Israel’s occupation and amplified the global Palestine movement long before October 7, and will continue long after.

And it is essential we do so. Can you make a gift today to secure our future reporting from Palestine and our fight against propaganda?

-->Donate today

It’s no secret the state of the media is in shambles. Mainstream media has failed in its job to report the truth, to the point that it is being accused of complicity in genocide, and independent media is struggling.

Our work has never been as important or necessary as it is right now. Fund our newsroom with a contribution today.

Over the past 18 years, we have been able to push back against the tide because we have your support. And as we think to the future, there are two things that are certain: Mondoweiss will continue providing millions with timely, accurate, and unvarnished news on Israel’s ongoing occupation and genocide, and we will do so because we know we have the support of our readers.

For our 18th anniversary, we are looking for 180 donors who can donate $100 before the end of the week to sustain the expansion of our Palestine reporting.

Our readership has soared in these last six months because we all know that the stakes are so high now. We have to redouble our efforts. We simply can’t afford not to.

At Mondoweiss, we take our responsibility to inform extremely seriously, and getting news from Palestine is growing harder every day. We have expanded our staff, our publishing, and our capacity to respond to the dramatically increased need over these past six months. Help us sustain our extended coverage with a donation today.

Some of you are new to our work, and many others have been with us for the entire ride. Either way, you are here now because you know the reporting, analysis, and debate Mondoweiss provides is an essential part of the change we want to see. We are honored for the trust you have placed in us over these last 18 years, and with your help we promise to continue to redouble our efforts to do our part in the movement for a free Palestine.

-->Support news from Palestine

Our readership has soared in these last six months because we all know that the stakes are so high now. We have to redouble our efforts. We simply can’t afford not to.

At Mondoweiss, we take our responsibility to inform extremely seriously, and getting news from Palestine is growing harder every day. We have expanded our staff, our publishing, and our capacity to respond to the dramatically increased need over these past six months. Help us sustain our extended coverage with a donation today.

Some of you are new to our work, and many others have been with us for the entire ride. Either way, you are here now because you know the reporting, analysis, and debate Mondoweiss provides is an essential part of the change we want to see. We are honored for the trust you have placed in us over these last 18 years, and with your help we promise to continue to redouble our efforts to do our part in the movement for a free Palestine.

Support news from Palestine

With gratitude,

Adam Horowitz
Executive Editor

P.O. Box 442380

Detroit, 

Michigan, 48244 USA

63.

4 april 2024

Quick Takes: Gaza

Readers’ Recommendations

62.

4 april 2024

Genocide will continue — even if the bombs stopped tomorrow.

Tell Congress: No more weapons for genocide.

What we're reading.

What we've been doing.

61.

4 april 2024

Deze week is het zes maanden geleden dat het genocidale geweld van Israël in Gaza escaleerde. Een periode vol gewonden, doden en extreme honger brak aan

Voor 1.1 miljoen mensen in Gaza dreigt een catastrofale hongersnood. Ziektes liggen op de loer. Onschuldige burgers zijn wanhopig en hebben dringend hulp nodig.

60.

3 april 2004

3 april 2024

Hostilities in the Gaza Strip and Israel
Flash Update #149

Al Shifa Hospital is now in ruins and no longer able to function as a hospital, according to the World Health Organization. Photo by WHO

Key Highlights

• Seven World Central Kitchen staff members were killed in multiple Israeli airstrikes while travelling in a convoy in Deir al Balah after reportedly coordinating their movement with the Israeli army.
• According to the World Health Organization, Al Shifa Hospital is now in ruins and no longer able to function as a hospital and 21 patients had died during the siege.
• OCHA has documented more than 700 settler violence incidents across the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, since 7 October, constituting a daily average of four incidents.

Gaza Strip Updates

• Intense Israeli bombardment and ground operations as well as heavy fighting between Israeli forces and Palestinian armed groups continue to be reported across much of the Gaza Strip, resulting in further civilian casualties, displacement, and destruction of houses and other civilian infrastructure.
• Between the afternoon of 29 March and 11:30 on 3 April, according to the Ministry of Health (MoH) in Gaza, 352 Palestinians were killed, and 485 Palestinians were injured, including 59 killed and 83 injured in the past 24 hours. Between 7 October 2023 and 11:30 on 3 April 2024, at least 32,975 Palestinians were killed in Gaza and 75,577 Palestinians were injured, according to MoH in Gaza.
• The following are among the deadly incidents reported between 29 and 31 March:
  • On 29 March, seven Palestinians, including a woman and her six children, were reportedly killed when a building near Al Shifa Hospital in Gaza city, was hit.
  • On 29 March, at about 13:55, ten Palestinians were reportedly killed when a building near Al Shifa Hospital, in Gaza city, was hit.
  • On 29 March, at about 13:50, ten Palestinians were reportedly killed when a building near Al Shifa Hospital, in Gaza city, was hit.
  • On 29 March, at about 9:30, at least 15 Palestinians, including 10 police officials and a woman, were reportedly killed when a sports club sheltering internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Ash Shujai’yeh, in Gaza city, was hit. Another woman was killed, and others injured, in a second strike on the club at about 14:10.
  • On 30 March, at about 21:00, at least 12 Palestinians were reportedly killed, and 30 others injured, in a strike near Al Kuwaiti roundabout, in south-eastern Gaza city. The strike allegedly targeted members of the popular and tribal committees responsible for securing the delivery of aid.
  • On 31 March, at about 13:00, four Palestinians were reportedly killed, and at least 17 others injured, including eight journalists, when an IDP tent was hit in the courtyard of Al Aqsa Hospital in Deir al Balah. A World Health Organization (WHO) team was at the medical facility at the time of the strike to assess needs and collect incubators to be sent to northern Gaza.
  • On 31 March, at about 19:00, two Palestinians were reportedly killed, and three injured, when a group of people around Al Kuwaiti roundabout, in eastern Gaza city, were fired on.
• Between the afternoons of 29 March and 3 April, three Israeli soldiers were reported killed in Gaza. As of 3 April, 255 soldiers have been killed and 1,549 soldiers have been injured in Gaza since the beginning of the ground operation, according to the Israeli military. In addition, over 1,200 Israelis and foreign nationals have been killed in Israel, the vast majority on 7 October. As of 3 April, the Israeli authorities estimate that 134 Israelis and foreign nationals remain captive in Gaza, including fatalities whose bodies are withheld.
• On 1 April, seven World Central Kitchen (WCK) aid workers were killed in multiple Israeli airstrikes on their convoy, as they were departing their warehouse in Deir al Balah after unloading more than 100 tons of humanitarian aid supplies brought to Gaza via the maritime route. In a statement issued on 2 April, the WCK Chief Executive Officer, Erin Gore, said: “This is not only an attack against WCK, this is an attack on humanitarian organizations showing up in the most dire of situations where food is being used as a weapon of war. This is unforgivable.” The organization has paused its operations in the region. Since the onset of hostilities, WCK estimates that it has provided more than 35 million hot meals across Gaza and established more than 60 community kitchens. WCK confirmed that their team members were travelling in two armoured vehicles branded with the organization’s logo and one soft skin vehicle, after coordinating their movement with the Israeli army. According to the Israeli military, an initial investigation found that the strike was a “grave mistake” due to a misidentification. It noted that a new humanitarian command centre will be established to improve the coordination of aid distribution, and a full independent investigation will be completed over the coming days, the findings of which will be shared with WCK and other relevant international organizations. Under-Secretary General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator (ERC), Martin Griffiths, expressed outrage at the incident, describing the WCK aid workers as heroes who were killed while trying to feed starving people. Similarly appalled by the incident, Humanitarian Coordinator ad interim, Jamie McGoldrick, offered his condolences to the families and colleagues of WCK staff who were killed, affirming that this was “not an isolated incident,” there is no safe place left in Gaza, and the “oPt has become one of the world’s most dangerous and difficult places to work.”  
• Al Shifa Medical Complex in Gaza city, the largest hospital in Gaza and in the occupied Palestinian territory, is now in ruins and no longer able to function as a hospital and 21 patients had died during the siege, according to WHO. Following the withdrawal of Israeli forces on the morning of 1 April, the Israeli army reported that 200 armed Palestinians had been killed, including three senior Hamas members, and more than 500 suspects detained during the two-week military operation. The Government Medica Office (GMO) in Gaza stated that Israeli forces destroyed all hospital buildings and departments, killed more than 400 people, including five doctors, inside and around the hospital, as well as covered and buried corpses with sand. About 1,050 houses around the hospital were also reportedly burnt or damaged, more than 300 Palestinians have been detained, and more than 100 people remain missing, GMO added, calling for an international investigation into these events, concerted efforts to help resuscitate the health system in Gaza, and the critical need for field hospitals. Similarly calling for the urgent establishment of field hospitals, Dr. Marwan Abu Saadah, the hospital’s acting director emphasized that Al Shifa was the only teaching hospital in Gaza with a 750 bed capacity, over 26 operating theatres, 32 intensive care rooms, a central laboratory, and a 62-bed emergency centre, providing services to more than 250,000 people annually, including some 17,000 surgical operations. According to the Palestinian Civil Defense, it has been difficult to ascertain the total number of fatalities as some corpses could not be identified due to decomposition and tens of corpses remain in residential buildings in the hospital’s vicinity. On 2 April, WHO spokesperson, Dr. Margaret Harris, described the destruction of Al Shifa Hospital as “ripping the heart out of the health system in Gaza,” noting that hundreds of health workers have been killed while doing their job in Gaza. 
• With only 10 hospitals partially functional in the Gaza Strip, the health system is struggling to address rising needs, including due to the outbreak of infectious diseases. As of 25 March, WHO has recorded 586,402 cases of acute respiratory infections, 81,259 cases of scabies and lice, 46,195 cases of skin rashes, 19,117 cases of jaundice and 7,037 cases of chickenpox. As of 3 April, according to WHO, 47 per cent (4,416 out of 9,389) of patients who submitted requests for medical evacuation abroad have been approved and 80 per cent of the approved cases (3,529) have been medically evacuated abroad. On 30 March, WHO Director-General urged the Israeli authorities to “speed up approvals for evacuations so that critical patients can be treated,” warning that thousands of patients continue to be deprived of health care, including around 9,000 people who have been either injured in bombardments, require cancer treatment, or suffer from chronic conditions such as kidney failure.
• On 2 April, UNRWA Commissioner-General reported that the Israeli authorities have denied UNRWA’s participation in aid convoys to northern Gaza, including to Al Shifa Hospital, calling on the Israeli authorities to allow UNRWA to gain access to the north without delay. According to UNRWA, over half of all UN supplies that crossed into Gaza in March were UNRWA supplies. On 31 March,  ERC Griffiths reaffirmed that “UNRWA is the backbone of the humanitarian operation in Gaza [and] any effort to distribute aid without them is simply doomed to fail.”

West Bank

• Between 26 March and 1 April, six Palestinians were killed by Israeli forces, five in the West Bank and one in Israel. On 31 March, an Israeli policeman shot and killed a Palestinian man from Dura village (Hebron) who injured three Israelis with a knife near a shopping mall in Ashkelon city. On 30 March, Israeli forces shot and killed a 14-year-old child and injured three Palestinians during a military operation in Qabatiya village (Jenin), reportedly during armed clashes. On 27 March, four Palestinian men were killed in an Israeli airstrike and by gunfire during a military operation in Jenin city and its refugee camp.
• Since 7 October and as of 1 April, 428 Palestinians, including 110 children, have been killed by Israeli forces across the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, of whom 131 were killed since the start of 2024. In addition, nine were killed by Israeli settlers and three by either Israeli forces or settlers. Four additional Palestinians from the West Bank have been killed while perpetrating attacks in Israel. During the same period, some 4,760 Palestinians have been injured, including at least 739 children, the majority by Israeli forces. According to the Palestinian Prisoners Club, 11 Palestinians have additionally died in Israeli prisons since 7 October 2023, mainly due to reported medical negligence or abuse. 
• Since 7 October and as of 1 April, 16 Israelis, including five members of Israeli forces and seven settlers, have been killed and 111 injured in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and Israel. These include 14 killed by Palestinians and two mistakenly killed by Israeli forces during a Palestinian attack.
• Between 26 March and 1 April, Israeli forces carried out at least 155 operations across the West Bank, mainly search-and-arrest operations, the majority of which were in Hebron governorate (46 operations), followed by Jerusalem and Bethlehem governorates (each 37). Since 7 October 2023, Israeli forces carried out an average of 690 operations per month, detained over 6,000 Palestinians, and caused extensive damage to civilian infrastructure including roads, water and sanitation networks, residential houses, livelihood structures, and other public properties. Consequently, over 900 Palestinians have been displaced, primarily in Jenin, Tulkarm and Nur Shams refugee camps.
• Since 7 October, a monthly average of some 280 Palestinians have been displaced in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, compared to 128 Palestinians displaced on a monthly basis in the first nine months of 2023. Moreover, since 7 October 2023, at least 206 Palestinian households comprising 1,244 people, including 603 children, have been displaced amid settler violence and access restrictions. The displaced households are from at least 20 herding/Bedouin communities.
• Between 26 March and 1 April, Israeli settlers perpetrated nine attacks that led to five Palestinian casualties or damage to property. On 1 April, Israeli settlers raided the village of Huwwara in Nablus and physically assaulted and injured a Palestinian and hurled stones at Palestinian houses. In three separate incidents near the Khallet el Louza area in Bethlehem between 30 March and 1 April, settlers raided Palestinian land and vandalized gates, a solar panel and water tanks in one incident, a latrine in another incident and the door of a house and surveillance cameras in a third incident. On 30 March, Israeli settlers shot live ammunition at a Palestinian and physically assaulted three others on the outskirts of Mikhmas town in Jerusalem, injuring four people. In two incidents, Israeli settlers set fire to a vegetable stall owned by a Palestinian on Road 90 in Tubas on 29 March and to an animal shelter belonging to Al Muarrajat East Bedouin community in Ramallah on 27 March. On 26 March, Israeli settlers threw stones at a Palestinian herder in Umm al Kheir community in Hebron, killing a sheep. 
• Since 7 October 2023 and as of 1 April, OCHA has recorded 704 Israeli settler attacks against Palestinians, with a daily average of four incidents, resulting in Palestinian casualties (69 incidents), damage to Palestinian-owned property (558 incidents), or both casualties and damage to property (77 incidents). In total, 17 Palestinians have been killed and over 400 injured within this context, over 9,900 trees were damaged, and 40 houses were vandalized. In comparison, around 560 settler incidents were documented between 7 October 2022 and 1 April 2023.
• According to the Islamic Waqf, some 125,000 worshippers performed Friday prayers in Al Aqsa Mosque on the third Friday of the month of Ramadan (29 March). Measures announced by the Israeli authorities limit the access of Palestinians holding West Bank IDs to Friday prayers at Al Aqsa Mosque in East Jerusalem to children under 10 years of age, women over 50, and men over 55, with a valid one-day permit and magnetic card. Eligible persons can cross the checkpoints starting at 4:00 and return before 17:00. In 2023, men over 55, women of all ages and children under 12 were allowed entry without a permit on Fridays during Ramadan. In addition, access for Palestinian Christians holding West Bank IDs to East Jerusalem during Easter was subject to age constraints for the first time, allowing only women and men above 45 years of age to obtain permits to access East Jerusalem on 29 and 30 March, with some reportedly denied entry on 29 March. 

Funding

• The Flash Appeal for the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt), which requests US$ 1.23 billion to meet the critical needs of 2.7 million people across the oPt (2.2 million in the Gaza Strip and 500,000 in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem), was extended through the end of March 2024 As of 3 April, member states disbursed nearly $1.176 billion for the updated Flash Appeal (96 per cent); this includes about $629 million out of $629 million (100 per cent) requested for October-December 2023 and about $547 million out of $600 million (91 per cent) requested for January-March 2024. For funding analysis, please see the Flash Appeal Financial Tracking dashboard. The Humanitarian Country Team plans to launch an updated flash appeal through the end of 2024 on 16 April, taking into account continued access constraints and security challenges.
• The oPt Humanitarian Fund (oPt HF) has  mobilized a total of US$ 88 million since 7 October from Member States and private donors, designated for programs throughout Gaza, with allocations of 43 per cent in Rafah, 21 per cent in Deir al Balah, 20 per cent in Khan Younis, and 16 per cent in Gaza and North Gaza governorates. However, it has experienced a delay in finalizing its First Reserve Allocation of $3.5 million for 2024 due to restrictions imposed by the Israeli authorities on importing trucks intended to enhance aid transport capacity and enable humanitarian partners to scale up the delivery of essential aid and services across the Gaza Strip. A significant cost extension allocation of $20 million is being prepared for key projects in Gaza to address the most urgent needs, marking the second phase of December allocation responses adapted to the changing operating environment.
• The HF is also developing an upcoming reserve allocation to bolster the capacity of national NGOs in the central areas of the Gaza Strip and Khan Younis, taking into account anticipated complexities in aid delivery, to ensure a more robust and effective humanitarian response. In the West Bank, the HF is working on repositioning funding to key partners in order to enhance system readiness and responsiveness to sudden-onset emergencies. For a summary of the oPt HF activities and challenges in February 2024, please follow this link. Private donations are collected directly through the Humanitarian Fund.

59-a

3 april 2024

3 april 2024

The only way the genocide can end is if the U.S. government stops supplying Israel with the deadly weapons and political cover to commit it.

The brutal cost of U.S. participation in this genocide weighs especially heavy on us today, as we witness scenes of horror beyond belief from the Israeli military’s two-week siege on Al-Shifa Hospital.

I cannot express how disturbing it is that our U.S. government is using our federal tax dollars to fund these massacres: the point-blank executions of Palestinian people with hands bound by zip ties and the desecration of the bodies of our martyrs dug up from their graves by Israeli soldiers.

The trauma our people are enduring is unbearable. No one should be subjected to such unspeakable atrocities, and my heart breaks over and over.

You and I live in the nation most guilty of facilitating this genocide. And so we have no choice but to wake up each day and resist our government’s active role, as Biden keeps sending Israel more mass-murder bombs and warplanes as of just last week.

That means showing up in the streets, disrupting every politician in power enabling these war crimes, ensuring that our electeds continue hearing our demands, and building the movement to end U.S. military funding to Israel, once and for all.

Here’s one next step you can take: Join me in Washington, DC for the “Nakba Days of Action: Stop Arming Israel” on May 14-15, 2024 with the US Campaign for Palestinian Rights Action.

This year, we’re commemorating 76 years of the ongoing Nakba, at a time in which Palestinians in Gaza have now lived through a six-month-long genocide.

LEARN MORE ABOUT THE NAKBA DAYS OF ACTION

In the midst of this devastation, people around the world have risen up to strengthen our movement, building spaces that are fighting toward Palestinian liberation. It is in this movement that we’ve demanded that U.S. government divest from militarized institutions used to oppress and kill, and instead invest in caring for U.S. communities.

Fund care, not killing.

As part of the commemoration, you’re invited to join us in community for our Nakba Days of Action. We will organize and build pathways for ending U.S. military funding to Israel. 

59.

2 april 2024

2 april 2024

Israel Kills Aid Workers, Devastates Gaza's Hospitals to Starve Palestinians

Yesterday, an Israeli drone strike killed seven World Central Kitchen aid workers who had been distributing vital food aid in northern Gaza. By deliberately killing the aid workers, Israel achieved its goal today: the charity suspended its operations, and a ship carrying hundreds of tons of desperately-needed food turned around and returned to Cyprus. The same day, Israeli forces withdrew from Gaza's largest hospital, Al-Shifa, after a devastating two-week assault that destroyed the facility and killed hundreds of patients and medical staff.

Shockingly, despite these ongoing atrocities, the Biden administration is poised to approve an $18 billion sale of F-15 fighter jets to Israel, the largest U.S. arms deal since Israel started its genocide in Gaza. The administration also plans to send Israel a large new batch of precision-guided munitions.

This week’s massacres are isolated incidents, but part of Israel's systematic campaign to destroy aid delivery in Gaza, especially in the hardest-hit northern areas. As our memo from last month explained, Israel has:

• Maintained a crippling blockade on Gaza's borders, severely restricting aid trucks, despite orders from the International Court of Justice to facilitate humanitarian assistance.
• Enabled Israeli settler groups to stage protests blocking aid deliveries, with individuals like the extremist American-Israeli Andy Green taking a leading role. 
• Systematically destroyed water, power, communications, and transportation infrastructure essential for aid distribution.

In addition, Israel has also assassinated over 70 members of Gaza's Popular and Tribal Committees formed to help secure and distribute aid, including police officials and community leaders. Just three days ago, the committees announced they could no longer assist with food delivery due to the ongoing killings.

Israel is deliberately using starvation and aid obstruction as weapons of war in an apparent effort to force Palestinians to abandon their homes in northern Gaza — a grave violation of U.S. and international law. The UN reports over 1.1 million Palestinians in Gaza face severe food insecurity, with acute child malnutrition and multiple starvation deaths, overwhelmingly concentrated in the north. The recent Israeli assault on Al-Shifa Hospital left it severely damaged with hundreds of patients and staff killed. This attack on a protected medical facility is a grave violation of U.S. and international law and has further crippled Gaza's already overstretched healthcare system in the face of widespread malnutrition and a public health catastrophe.

The U.S. should demand an end to the genocide, blockade, and attacks on humanitarian efforts.

Take action today to call on President Biden to take the following steps without delay

1. Impose targeted sanctions on Israeli officials and settlers implicated in killing aid workers, aid obstruction, and human rights abuses in Gaza, building on the Biden administration's recent sanctions against violent West Bank settlers.

2. Demand Israel allow unfettered humanitarian access and aid delivery throughout Gaza, with meaningful consequences for non-compliance.

3. Suspend any weapon sales to Israel until further notice. The U.S. should follow other countries, including Canada and the Netherlands, in imposing an indefinite arms embargo on Israel.

Thank you for your attention to this urgent matter. Gaza can't wait.

Sincerely,

Americans for Justice in Palestine Action

58.

2 april 2024

The last six months have been filled with war and violence. While a genocide is unfolding in Gaza, families in Hebron fear that they are next. Palestinians in Hebron have been living under strict military lockdowns and the threat of violence from armed extremist Israeli settlers. We need to strengthen our resistance in the city and to amplify the voices of local volunteers. Help support Sundus and Aisha's speaking tour in Europe!

Sundus and Aisha Azza are sisters who have grown up surrounded by violence and repression. Their house is located ten meters away from an illegal Israeli settlement and they and their siblings have faced threats and violent assaults by their extremist Israeli neighbors. Sundus and Aisha have both been volunteers with Youth Against Settlements since they were children.

Support Sundus & Aisha!

Sundus and Aisha have been invited to Belgium for a photo exhibition about Palestinian life in the city of Hebron. This is a unique chance to bring Palestinian volunteers from the most vulnerable areas on ground in Palestine to speak directly with political decision-makers and civil society in Europe.

Other updates:

Our spokesman Mohammad Alzoghayer is still in administrative detention and has been held in Israeli jail without charge or trial since October 23rd alongside many others. We demand his immediate unconditional release

Friends of Hebron

Working for Peace and Justice

57.

2 april 2024

Atrocity propaganda

Since October 7, Zionists have wielded atrocity propaganda to justify genocide, while Palestinians have shared testimony of the atrocities they have witnessed.

Today's headlines

Israel kills 7 international aid workers in central Gaza, passes law banning Al Jazeera

The World Central Kitchen called the attack that killed seven of its aid workers “unforgivable” as Israeli forces killed 71 people across the Gaza Strip. Meanwhile, the Israeli government voted to approve a bill banning Al Jazeera.

GOP Congress member suggests nuclear bomb be dropped on Gaza

"It should be like Nagasaki and Hiroshima," Rep. Tim Walberg told a town hall audience in Michigan. "Get it over quick."

The ‘NYTimes’ is ignoring Israel’s crackdown in the West Bank

Israel has been using the distraction of the Gaza invasion to seize land in the occupied West Bank and attack Palestinians. The New York Times is ignoring the story.

56.

1 april 2024

Today's headlines

Israel withdraws from al-Shifa Hospital, leaving evidence of a massacre in its wake

Dozens of bodies are still being recovered from the rubble of a destroyed and burnt al-Shifa Hospital, following a two-week Israeli raid and siege on the hospital.

55.