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 31-05-2024 STAAN HIER

30 juni 2024

Support Gaza War Resisters

We wrote about the most important direct resistance actions RSN is supporting. Such as the Hatzerim Air Force Base Demonstration that brought faces of the bomb victims to the bomber pilots. We shared the important work being done on our social media platforms, Voices Against War, amplifying and unifying voices of resistance within Israel and abroad, and lastly, how we believe these horrifying times can be a turning point for Israel/Palestine and what we are doing to help shift the paradigm.

Your commitment to standing with Israeli resistance is deeply appreciated.

In solidarity,
Mattan Helman
Executive Director
Refuser Solidarity Network

339.

30 juni 2024

Today's headlines

We carried my mother’s body for miles so we could bury her

Shahad Ali

My mother was lucky. She had the privilege of being buried in a way that preserved her dignity as a human. We were so proud of this achievement, and we remained faithful to her and her memory.

In Tehran, Gaza rekindles the revolution

For some in Iran, the West's relentless punishment has weakened the revolutionary fires of 1979. But for countless others, they are being rekindled by the Palestinian resistance in Gaza.

338.

30 juni 2024

BREAKING: American Muslim Political Groups Call on President Biden to Withdraw from 2024 Presidential Race After "Losing Confidence" of Key Voters

(WASHINGTON, D.C.- 06/30/2024) The American Muslim 2024 Election Task Force, a national coalition of American Muslim 501(c)4 political organizations, today called on President Biden to withdraw from the 2024 presidential race after losing the confidence of key voters due to widespread opposition to his support for the Gaza genocide and widespread concern about his ability to serve as president for another four years.

In a statement, task force members Americans for Justice in Palestine Action, CAIR Action, ICNA Council of Social Justice Action, Muslim American Society Action, Muslim Civic Coalition Activate and the U.S. Council of Muslim Organizations Civil Action Network said, in part: "President Biden should now step aside so that the Democratic Party can identify and nominate a new, able, and qualified candidate who better reflects the values and views of most voters, including opposition to U.S. support for the Gaza genocide."

The task force also said that President Biden’s withdrawal is the best and perhaps only way to prevent Donald Trump from returning to the White House.

FULL STATEMENT CALLING ON PRESIDENT BIDEN TO WITHDRAW FROM THE 2024 PRESIDENTIAL RACE

"As American Muslim political organizations that care deeply about the future of our country and justice for all people, we must today call on President Biden to withdraw from the 2024 presidential race.

"Even before his deeply concerning and disappointing debate performance, President Biden's financial support for the mass murder of Palestinians in Gaza, his failure to effectively address anti-Palestinian racism and Islamophobia here at home, and his dishonest response to the diverse and overwhelmingly peaceful anti-genocide protests on college campuses had already alienated and made it difficult for many American Muslims, young people, and other voters to consider supporting him in the fall.

"Now widespread and growing concerns about President Biden's ability to continue serving in office for another four years have made the political status quo untenable. If President Biden remains the Democratic nominee, he could lose Michigan, Georgia, Minnesota, Pennsylvania, and other key swing states, thereby returning President Trump to power.

"Just as many American Muslims cannot bring themselves to vote for President Biden, many American Muslims also do not want to see Donald Trump return to office. Former President Trump has made it clear that he plans to round up undocumented immigrants in mass camps, reinstate the Muslim Ban, entrench racial inequities in our economy and criminal justice system, stack the federal civil service with political loyalists, and pursue a foreign policy just as or even more immoral than the Biden foreign policy.

"During the CNN presidential debate, President Trump even said the Israeli government should be allowed to complete its genocide, ignored the question of whether he would support the recognition of a Palestinian state to achieve peace, and weaponized Palestinian identity as a racist insult.

“Meanwhile, President Biden touted his transfer of deadly weapons to Israel and falsely claimed that Netanyahu's government wants the genocide to end. Their positions on Gaza were despicable and their performances were deeply disturbing.

"The American people should not have to choose between such fatally flawed candidates. The ethnic cleansing of Palestinians and this genocide should be a red line for any administration.

"President Biden should step aside so that the Democratic Party can identify and nominate a new, able, and qualified candidate who better reflects the values and views of most voters, including opposition to U.S. support for the Gaza genocide. In an ideal world, the Republican Party would also force President Trump--a failed president and convicted felon who sparked the Jan. 6th insurrection--to step aside.

"The American Muslim community is not a monolith. We are politically diverse. But our community is united in supporting basic principles of justice that all people should support. Human rights. Racial equality. Religious freedom. Free and fair elections. Economic opportunity.

“American Muslim voters expect anyone who wants to lead our nation to support all of these basic principles. Opposing racism, occupation, and genocide are not big asks. They are basic asks. Both President Biden and President Trump have failed to clear this very low bar. American Muslims and the broader American people demand better options now.”

The American Muslim 2024 Election Taskforce is a coalition of American Muslim 501(c)4 political organizations formed to amplify the American Muslim community’s views on key policy issues, enhance its civic engagement, boost voter turnout, and, ultimately, issue a joint recommendation or endorsement in the run-up to the 2024 presidential election.

Founding Members:

• AJP Action 501(c)4
• CAIR Action 501(c)4
• ICNA Council of Social Justice Action 501(c)4
• Muslim American Society Action 501(c)4
• Muslim Civic Coalition Activate 501(c)4
• U.S. Council of Muslim Organizations Civil Action Network  

337.

29 juni 2024

The tragedy in Gaza is playing out in American politics

Two days ago, at the presidential debate, Trump used “Palestinian” as a slur to attack Biden. Each trying to outdo one another in their support for Israel.

In Congress, things are no better. The House of Representatives voted overwhelmingly to bar the State Department from using Gaza’s Health Ministry to cite figures on Palestinian deaths —in an attempt to blind Americans to genocide. And this week Israel lobby groups spent over $15 million to defeat Congressman Jamaal Bowman, who dared to use the word genocide to describe the unending Gaza slaughter.

That’s why I’m so proud of our site. We are dedicated to the idea that the Palestinian future is an American issue. The U.S. has given a blank check to Israel and we refuse to let this country vilify Palestinians in the most bigoted terms.

Help us push back against the dehumanizing rhetoric from U.S. politicians echoed by mainstream media.

“There is so much anti-Palestinian racism in this chamber that my colleagues don’t even want to acknowledge that Palestinians exist at all,” Rashida Tlaib said of the Congress.

Tlaib and the rest of the Squad are lonely voices in the Democratic Party. The Party leadership is terrified of Palestinian humanity and determined to squelch it because it is a wedge issue for the party’s election hopes.

And this shows just how important our work is. There is a burgeoning movement for Palestinian human rights among the young. They refuse to be silenced. And they are craving trusted news sources. They have seen the images out of Gaza, and read our accounts of the atrocities – they are unwilling to be bullied to ignore a genocide.

In that spirit, we have taken on the rampant anti-Palestinianism in the American mainstream. We believe, despite broad cultural contempt, that the Palestinian children under the rubble are as sacred and worthy as any other child on this planet. We reject the idea that Israelis count for more, and that antisemitism is a more urgent issue than Islamophobic bigotry.

We will never stop reporting on apartheid and Zionism and the role of the Israel lobby.

Phil Weiss
Founder and Senior Editor

336.

29 juni 2024

Your Activist Scoop

FOLLOW USCPR ACTION 

READ MORE ABOUT MOUSA'S PROTEST

• No warm welcomes for war criminals! Tell Congress to reject Netanyahu's joint address on July 24, by publicly opposing and protesting his speech. Then make plans tto protest the speech.
• Join us for the March on the DNC in Chicago this August! USCPR will be there marching for Palestine as part of the coalition.

335.

29 juni 2024

Today's headlines

The second invasion of al-Shuja’iyya is a war of attrition

Tareq S. Hajjaj

Israel has been forced into a war of attrition as the Palestinian resistance has reconstituted itself across Gaza. The scale of the horrors perpetrated by the Israeli army in these battles only emerges through testimonies after the fighting ends.

Columbia University Hind’s Hall defendants reject deals in solidarity with the CUNY 22

The Hind’s Hall 46

Protesters arrested for seizing Hind’s Hall at Columbia University are refusing any deals unless protesters at CUNY are offered the same, and they stand in solidarity with those facing the most extreme repression in the movement.

Stories of survival and suffering: inside Gaza’s Al-Aqsa Hospital

Reem A. Hamadaqa

Reem Hamadaqa spent 96 days in Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in central Gaza recovering from an Israeli attack that killed the rest of her family.

Trump says Biden has ‘become like a Palestinian’ in debate exchange

In a presidential debate marked by incoherence and lies, Donald Trump attacked Joe Biden, saying "he’s become like a Palestinian" for supposedly withholding total support for Israel's genocidal assault on Gaza.

334.

29 juni 2024

AMP Condemns Trump and Biden’s Allegiance to Israel Amid Ongoing Genocide in Gaza

American Muslims for Palestine (AMP) strongly condemns the rhetoric used by both major political candidates, Donald Trump and Joe Biden, who are racing to pledge allegiance to Israel at the expense of the U.S. national interest and in support of the ongoing genocide in Gaza.

During Thursday night’s debate, Trump’s use of the term “bad Palestinian” as a derogatory slur was not only offensive but dangerously dehumanizing, reflecting a blatant disregard for the dignity and humanity of the Palestinian people. Trump criticized Biden by saying, “He’s become like a Palestinian, but they don’t like him because he’s a very bad Palestinian. He’s a weak one.” This rhetoric is a reprehensible attempt to demean an entire people struggling to end a genocide committed by the very administration he is referencing.

Moreover, both Trump’s and Biden's positions amplify the urgency of our call for justice. Trump's hesitation to support an independent Palestinian state, coupled with his insistence that Biden should allow Israel to “finish the job” against Palestinians, underscores a dangerous alignment in U.S. political leadership that disregards the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, let alone the value of Palestinian life. Biden, on the other hand, attempted to gaslight the public about Israel’s ongoing genocide, even though Prime Minister Netanyahu and other members of the Israeli government have openly rejected ceasefire proposals several times and stated their intention to continue their war on Gaza at all costs.

The use of “Palestinian” as an insult by Trump and the continued vocal, political, and financial support for Israel’s occupation of Palestine by both leaders are stark reminders of the dehumanization Palestinians face. We urge all Americans, especially our political leaders, to condemn such harmful rhetoric and to advocate for policies that respect the human rights and dignity of all people.

AMP calls for an immediate end to the use of racist and dehumanizing language in political discourse and reiterates its commitment to supporting the Palestinian struggle for freedom, justice, and self-determination. We demand that U.S. foreign policy prioritize human rights and justice over their political allegiances that support ongoing atrocities in Gaza.

Sincerely,
American Muslims for Palestine

333.

28 juni 2024

Humanitarian Situation Update #184
Gaza Strip

Piles of waste alongside the tents of displaced people in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip. Photo: UNICEF, Iyad El Baba

Key Highlights

• A high risk of famine persists in the Gaza Strip, a new IPC analysis finds.
• At least 60,000 people were displaced from Gaza City and 5,000 from Al Mawasi area of Rafah overnight, according to initial estimates by the Site Management Working Group.
• Twenty-one children suffering from cancer leave Gaza in first medical evacuation since early May; according to the Ministry of Health in Gaza, about 10,000 cancer patients, including nearly 1,000 children, require medical evacuation.
• Critical water sanitation and hygiene (WASH) services are hanging by a thread due to severe fuel shortages, warns the WASH Cluster.

Humanitarian Developments

• Israeli bombardment from the air, land, and sea continues to be reported across much of the Gaza Strip, resulting in further civilian casualties, displacement, and destruction of houses and other civilian infrastructure, particularly in Ash Shuja’iyeh area of Gaza City and Al Mawasi area of Rafah. The Site Management Working estimates that, overnight on 27 June, about 60,000 to 80,000 people were displaced from areas east and northeast of Gaza City and moved westwards and, according to initial indications, about 5,000 people were displaced from Al Mawasi area of Rafah to Al Mawasi area of Khan Younis. Ground incursions and heavy fighting also continue to be reported.
• Between the afternoons of 24 and 27 June, according to the Ministry of Health (MoH) in Gaza, 139 Palestinians were killed and 331 were injured. Between 7 October 2023 and 27 June 2024, at least 37,765 Palestinians were killed and 86,429 were injured in Gaza, according to MoH in Gaza. Casualty figures covering the period until the afternoon of 28 June are not available as of the time of reporting.
• The following are among the deadliest incidents reported between 24 and 27 June:
  • On 24 June, at about 16:40, ten Palestinians, including nine men and a boy, were reportedly killed when a group of Palestinians was hit at Bani Suhaila Square on Salah ad Din Road, in eastern Khan Younis.
  • On 25 June, at about 20:00, at least nine Palestinians, including women, were reportedly killed when a house was hit in Ash Shati' Refugee Camp, west of Gaza City. Other people were reportedly trapped under rubble.
  • On 25 June, at about 2:30, eight Palestinians, including women and children, were reportedly killed when Abed Al Fatah Hamoud School, designated as a shelter for internally displaced persons was hit in At Tuffah neighbourhood, in central Gaza City.
  • On 26 June, at about 13:55, four Palestinians were reportedly killed when a group of Palestinians attempting to get internet connection was hit in Al Jurn area of Jabalya, in North Gaza.
  • On 26 June, at about 20:30, eight Palestinians, including children, were reportedly killed and others injured when a group of Palestinians was hit in Al Alami area in Jabalya Refugee Camp, in North Gaza.
  • On 27 June, at about 6:50, five Palestinians were reportedly killed, and others injured when a residential building was hit in Ash Ash Shuja’iyeh, east of Gaza City.
  • On 27 June, the General Directorate of the Palestinian Civil Defense (PCD) announced that three of their workers were killed in the line of duty and several other people were injured in an Israeli airstrike in Al Bureij.
• Between the afternoons of 24 and 28 June, there were no Israeli soldiers were killed in Gaza, according to the Israeli military. Between 7 October and 28 June, according to the Israeli military and official Israeli sources cited in the media, over 1,514 Israelis were killed, the majority on 7 October. These include 314 soldiers killed on 7 October and its immediate aftermath and 314 soldiers killed in Gaza or along the border in Israel since the beginning of the ground operation. In addition, 2,005 soldiers were reported injured since the beginning of the ground operation. As of 28 June, it is estimated that 120 Israelis and foreign nationals remain captive in Gaza, including fatalities whose bodies are withheld.
• Attacks on humanitarian aid workers and health facilities continue to be reported. On 25 June, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) reported the death of its sixth staff member in Gaza. According to MSF, the staff member was a physiotherapist who was killed, along with five other people including three children, by Israeli forces while cycling to an MSF clinic in Gaza City. In a 26 June press release, Al Awda Health and Community Association announced the complete destruction of its health centre in Rafah based on aerial and satellite imagery. The Association explained that this was its fifth facility to be destroyed since October 2023, with the other four hospitals and health centers also being directly targeted. Decrying the reported killing of 500 health workers “against the backdrop of systematic attacks on hospitals and other medical facilities,” the UN Human Rights Office (OHCHR) stressed this week that “hospitals, medical personnel and ambulances must be respected and protected at all times.” OHCHR also cited “credible information” that Israeli military “raids on hospitals have often led to mass detention and enforced disappearances, including of medical staff.” OHCHR appealed to Israel, as the occupying power in Gaza, to “immediately cease the killing of protected people, including healthcare workers,” as well as urged impartial investigations into the killings and the release of all arbitrarily detained health workers.
• On 27 June, the Israeli military ordered residents of 28 residential blocs (~7.3 square kilometres) in Ash Shuja’iyeh, Al Turkuman, Judaidah, and At Tuffah, all east of Gaza City, to immediately evacuate via Salah Ad Din Road to what the Israeli military defines as a "humanitarian zone" in southern Gaza. According to the Site Management Working Group, it is estimated that about 60,000 to 80,000 people were displaced on 27 June from areas east and northeast of Gaza City and moved westwards. In total, approximately 285 square kilometres, or about 78 per cent of the Gaza Strip, have been placed under evacuation orders by the Israeli military. This includes all areas north of Wadi Gaza, where residents were first instructed to evacuate in late October, as well as specific areas south of Wadi Gaza designated for evacuation since 1 December.
• On 24 June, Save the Children (SCI) reported that over 20,000 children in Gaza are estimated to be “lost, disappeared, detained, buried under rubble or in mass graves.” Children who have been separated from their parents and are with strangers are particularly vulnerable to violence, abuse, exploitation and neglect, added the NGO. Coupled with repeated displacement and incessant hostilities, children in Gaza have become susceptible to a wide spectrum of mental health issues that doctors are observing in Gaza; MSF Mental Health Activity Manager in Gaza, Davide Musardo, described images of children “maimed, with burns or without parents. Children having panic attacks, because physical pain triggers psychological wounds…Calmer children draw[ing] drones and military jets.” Little children do not have the tools to cope with the scale of loss, suffering and trauma surrounding them, Musardo explained, and are increasingly showing symptoms of depression, anxiety and acute stress, with many expressing a “desire to die instead of living this horror.”

• A high risk of famine persists in the Gaza Strip as long as hostilities continue and humanitarian access remains restricted, according to the third update on food insecurity in the Gaza Strip published on 25 June by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) partnership. The IPC analysis finds that about 96 per cent of the population of the Gaza strip are likely to face crisis or worse levels of acute food insecurity (IPC Phase 3 or above) between 16 June and 30 September, including 33 per cent (745,000 people) projected to face emergency levels of acute food insecurity (IPC Phase 4) and 22 per cent (495,000 people) projected to face catastrophic levels of acute food insecurity (IPC Phase 5). Moreover, in contrast to the February projections that famine would likely occur in northern Gaza by the end of May, available evidence does not suggest that famine is currently occurring in the northern governorates, where food deliveries and nutrition services increased in March and April. In the southern governorates, the situation has deteriorated following intensified hostilities in Rafah and increased access restrictions since early May; over a million people have been displaced from Rafah to areas with “significantly reduced” essential infrastructure and basic services and “people’s ability to cope and access humanitarian assistance” has been eroded.  Across the Gaza Strip, the latest data show that, on a regular basis, more than half of the population does not have any food to eat in the house, and over 20 per cent go entire days and nights without eating. To buy food, more than half of the households were forced to exchange their clothes for money and one third resorted to picking up trash to sell.
• Nutrition Cluster partners have observed trends similar to those in the IPC analysis through the Nutrition Vulnerability Analysis (NVA) published on 25 June, based on data collected in southern and northern Gaza between 1 April and 24 May 2024. The analysis finds that improved humanitarian access in April contributed to limited improvements in food security indicators and the diets of children (aged 6–23 months). Yet, the analysis points to a deterioration in dietary diversity among children aged 6 to 23 months and pregnant and breastfeeding women in May compared with April, based on a post-distribution monitoring (PDM) assessment carried out by UNICEF between 20 and 24 May across the Gaza Strip. In southern Gaza, PDM results showed a deterioration in dietary diversity among children aged 6 to 23 months, with 99 per cent eating from four or fewer food groups in May, compared with 96 per cent in April. Although with a limited sample, data covering northern Gaza revealed similar trends. Across the Gaza Strip, 93 per cent of children aged 6 to 23 months had eaten two or fewer food groups in the 24 hours preceding the survey, while among pregnant and breastfeeding women, 96 per cent had eaten two or fewer food groups. Furthermore, the PMD found that 85 per cent of parents reported that their children had gone without eating for a whole day due to lack of money or other resources, while almost 100 per cent of households reported having to skip meals or eat less food to secure their child’s diet. The absence of minimum dietary diversity – which entails the consumption of at least five out of eight defined food groups for children aged 6–23 months and at least five out of 10 defined food groups for women—can seriously jeopardize both women’s health and child development. Access constraints and volatile security conditions have led to the closure of nutrition delivery points in May and June and to delays in establishing new nutrition services, according to the Nutrition Cluster, thereby hampering the scale up of operational presence to ensure the early detection of children and women requiring nutrition support.
• On 27 June, MoH in Gaza announced that 21 children suffering from cancer, mostly leukaemia, exited Gaza through the Israeli-controlled Kerem Shalom crossing to Egypt. Calling for the re-opening of Rafah Crossing, MoH emphasized the urgent need to evacuate 10,200 people suffering from cancer in Gaza, including 980 paediatric cases of whom 250 are in critical condition. Moreover, while more than 1,200 people require hemodialysis treatment, nearly half (593 patients) are relying on only 24 dialysis machines at Al Aqsa Hospital in Deir al Balah, and there are only 17 dialysis machines available in the North Gaza and Gaza governorates, according to MoH. Due to shortages of equipment and medications, dialysis patients are now receiving treatment only twice a week, with each session lasting less than one hour and a half, which is far below the frequency and length of treatment required, underscored the Ministry. According to MoH in Gaza, over 70 per cent of essential medicines are missing at Gaza’s hospitals and primary healthcare centers and about 70 per cent of health infrastructure has been destroyed, disproportionately affecting cancer and kidney patients.
• The scale of health needs in Gaza continues to severely outstretch the scant resources available. On 23 June, WHO and its partners delivered fuel and medical supplies to Al Ahli and As Sahaba hospitals in northern Gaza. Five children - four suffering from cancer and one having second-degree burns - were also transferred from Al Ahli Hospital in Gaza governorate to Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Younis governorate. On 26 June, the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) received six trucks of medicines and supplies through Kerem Shalom Crossing. However, the inability to bring in sufficient medical supplies and fuel has forced aid organizations to scale back their services. UNRWA reported that the severe deficit of medicines and fuel is hampering life-saving operations by its teams who continue to provide services at only 29 per cent of the Agency’s health centres that remain operational. PRCS noted that severe fuel shortages have rendered 36 per cent of its ambulance fleet (18 ambulances) non-functional. Similarly, MSF highlighted that its inability to bring in supplies into Gaza since the end of April had forced it to temporarily suspend operations at one of its health centers in Khan Younis. Moreover, due to the shortage of sterile compress gauzes at Nasser and Al Aqsa hospitals, MSF has reduced the frequency of dressing changes for patients with severe burns, which increases the risk of infections. Painkillers are lacking and medicines to treat rising skin infections such as scabies are “running dangerously low.” According to MSF, since 14 June, six MSF trucks, comprising 37 tons of medical supplies, have been awaiting entry on the Egyptian side of Kerem Shalom Crossing.
• The ongoing constraints on the entry of sufficient fuel supplies continue to severely reduce people’s access to WASH services across the Gaza Strip and further disrupt water trucking, network repairs, sewage pumping, and solid waste collection. According to the WASH Cluster, between 15 and 23 June, only 25,900 litres of fuel were received, an average of about 3,200 litres of fuel per day, which is less than five per cent of the estimated daily requirement of 70,000 litres to operate critical WASH services that remain accessible. The scarcity of fuel has forced water service providers to undertake significant rationing in operating municipal groundwater wells and the two water desalination plants that remain functional, resulting in further reductions in water production. For example, water production from groundwater wells, which historically accounted for 80 per cent of Gaza’s water supply, has recently dropped from 35,000 to 15,000 cubic metres per day, or to about six per cent of pre-war groundwater production capacity (~250,000 cubic metres per day). Limited fuel has also only allowed the two operational desalination plants to pump sufficient water to maintain the filtration membranes, which rapidly deteriorate from lack of use, have been difficult to replace, and without which the plants are rendered inoperable. This ‘membrane flushing” produces 2,000 – 2,500 cubic metres of drinking water per day, which constitutes only a quarter of each desalination plant’s current production capacity. In the absence of an immediate replenishment of adequate fuel supplies, the WASH Cluster warns that water production in Gaza would cease within three days of the cessation of membrane flushing. Between 10 and 23 June, water production for safe drinking and domestic purposes stood at about 112,000 cubic metres per day, which is less than 30 per cent of the per-war production level, the WASH Cluster reports.
• Between 1 and 27 June, out of 101 planned humanitarian assistance missions to northern Gaza coordinated with Israeli authorities, 49 (49 per cent) were facilitated, 10 (10 per cent) were denied access, 30 (30 per cent) were impeded, and 12 (11 per cent) were cancelled due to logistical, operational, or security reasons. In addition, out of 276 coordinated humanitarian assistance missions to areas in southern Gaza, 197 (71 per cent) were facilitated by Israeli authorities, 14 (five per cent) were denied access, 30 (11 per cent) were impeded, and 35 (13 per cent) were cancelled.

Funding

• As of 28 June, Member States have disbursed about US$1.20 billion out of $3.42 billion (35 per cent) requested to meet the most critical needs of 2.3 million people in Gaza and 800,000 people in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, between January and December 2024. For funding analysis, please see the Flash Appeal Financial Tracking dashboard.
• The oPt HF has 109 ongoing projects, for a total of $78.9 million, addressing urgent needs in the Gaza Strip (86 per cent) and West Bank (14 per cent). Of these projects, 69 projects are being implemented by international non-governmental organizations (INGOs), 26 by national NGOs and 14 by UN agencies. A summary of the oPt HF activities and challenges in May 2024 is available through this link and the 2023 Annual Report of the oPt HF can be accessed here. Private donations are collected directly through the Humanitarian Fund.

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28 juni 2024

Stand Against AIPAC Influence and Protect Election Fairness

American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) and other Zionist groups are funneling millions of dollars into our political system, attempting to unseat progressive, pro-Palestinian members of Congress. This anti-democratic influence, often bolstered by Republican big donors, corporate interests, and dark money is compromising our democracy and undermining the fight for Palestinian human rights.

AIPAC’s involvement in Democratic primaries is a stark example of this undue influence: AIPAC has managed to channel Republican money to support candidates who align with their pro-Israel stance in deeply Democratic districts, often at the expense of progressive values and Palestinian rights. AIPAC and its Zionist and Republican allies intend to continue spending more money in the 2024 elections than ever before, threatening to spend up to $100 million to crush pro-Palestinian dissent in Congress.

Demand members of Congres to reject AIPAC money and to stop the extreme influence of wealthy special interests in our elections.

In solidarity,
Americans for Justice in Palestine Action

331.

28 juni 2024

Oorlog, geweld en honger

Zenab: hoogzwanger in Gaza

“Ik ontdekte op 4 oktober dat ik zwanger was. Ik had drie dagen om me gelukkig te voelen, totdat de oorlog begon.”

De dagen van Zenab draaien om overleven: water en voedsel. Tegelijkertijd probeert ze haar oudste dochter Lila te beschermen tegen de harde realiteit van hun leven. Lila is zich er niet van bewust dat hun thuis niet meer bestaat: “Ze blijft me vragen wanneer we weer naar huis gaan”.

HET VERHAAL VAN ZENAB  

Met hartelijke groet,

Reintje van Haeringen
Directeur CARE Nederland

330.

28 juni 2024

Today's headlines

Israel’s leaked plan for annexing the West Bank, explained

Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich’s plan to annex the West Bank would see over 60% of the territory becoming a part of Israel. But Palestinian experts say it is “already happening.”

UN agency says Gazans face ‘catastrophic’ food insecurity

The UN has warned of “imminent” famine in Gaza as starvation spreads due to border closures. Meanwhile, following Israeli war minister Yoav Gallant's visit to Washington, the U.S. and Israel have asserted they do not want war with Hezbollah.

Israeli officer killed, 16 other soldiers injured in Jenin refugee camp during army invasion

The Palestinian resistance in Jenin attacked Israeli military vehicles in a "double ambush" using improvised explosives, resulting in the death of an Israeli soldier, the injury of 16 others, and the immobilization of an armored troop carrier.

329.

28 juni 2024

Eerste kort geding
Het gerechtshof in Den Haag besliste op 12 februari 2024 dat Nederland moet stoppen met de door– en uitvoer van onderdelen voor de F-35 naar Israël. Het Hof oordeelde dat het aannemelijk is dat met de F-35 gevechtsvliegtuigen van Israël ernstige schendingen van het humanitaire oorlogsrecht worden gepleegd in Gaza. De regering besloot om in cassatie te gaan. De regering heeft tot het tijdstip dat er uitspraak in cassatie wordt gedaan de verplichting om alle export van deze onderdelen met eindbestemming Israël te doen stoppen.

Opnieuw naar de rechter
Dat doet het echter niet. De Staat suggereert onder meer dat het niet duidelijk is welke onderdelen in welke vliegtuigen terechtkomen, en dat het dus niet kan voorkomen dat Nederlandse onderdelen via andere landen alsnog in Israël belanden. Ook stelt de Staat dat de levering van vliegtuigen en vliegtuigonderdelen via het F-35 programma ingewikkeld is en dat Nederland daar niet over gaat, en dat het moeilijk is om Nederlandse onderdelen als zodanig te traceren.

Uit andere documenten blijkt echter dat de route van onderdelen van de F-35 juist wel goed te traceren is. Onze conclusie is daarom dat Nederland zich op onjuiste gronden onttrekt aan haar verantwoordelijkheid en het de uitspraak van het Gerechtshof aan haar laars lapt. We vragen de rechtbank nu een dwangsom op te leggen aan de Staat zodat het iedere export van F-35 onderdelen met eindbestemming Israël daadwerkelijk stopt.

Zitting
Dat is de kern van het indrukwekkende betoog dat onze advocaat Liesbeth Zegveld vanochtend tijdens de zitting hield. Het is nu aan de rechter om een oordeel te vellen. De uitspraak staat gepland voor 12 juli.
 
Nederland, houd je aan de uitspraak van de rechter! Geen F35-onderdelen meer naar Israël!

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

Rechtvaardigheid voor Palestijnen is in politiek Den Haag mijlenver weg

Afgelopen week stonden in politiek Den Haag vijf bijeenkomsten met betrekking tot het thema Palestina/Israël op de agenda. Zoals aangekondigd in onze laatste nieuwsbrief blikken we daar in een uitgebreide analyse op onze website op terug. Daarbij staan twee rondetafelgesprekken model voor de gure politieke wind die er sinds de verkiezingswinst van het rechtse politieke blok – de PVV in het bijzonder – in Nederland waait.

Explosief VN-rapport kan grote gevolgen krijgen voor Israël

Schendingen en opruiing
Het rapport is het resultaat van het eerste diepgaande VN-onderzoek naar de aanval van Hamas op 7 oktober 2023, en het daaropvolgende Israëlische geweld in Gaza en op de Westelijke Jordaanoever tot 31 december 2023. De documenten beschrijven de facts on the ground en schetsen het juridische kader. Op grond daarvan worden de Israëlische en Palestijnse schendingen van de rechtsorde vastgesteld. Ook bevatten ze talloze voorbeelden van opruiing door Israëlische politici en militairen.

Ondersteunend belang
Het onmiskenbare belang van het rapport schuilt in de onderbouwing die het biedt voor de lopende zaken van het Internationaal Strafhof en het Internationaal Gerechtshof. Op 20 mei verzocht Karim Khan, de hoofdaanklager van het Strafhof, de rechters van het hof om arrestatiebevelen uit te vaardigen voor de Israëlische premier Benjamin Netanyahu en zijn minister van Defensie Yoav Gallant, alsmede voor drie kopstukken van Hamas. De commissie heeft het Strafhof zevenduizend geverifieerde bewijsstukken ter beschikking gesteld die Khans verzoek ondersteunen.

Dezelfde ondersteuning biedt het rapport aan de ‘genocide-aanklacht’ die Zuid-Afrika tegen Israël heeft aangespannen bij het Internationaal Gerechtshof. De ondersteunende bewijslast van de commissie kan ook deze zaak in een stroomversnelling brengen.

Obstructie | Israëlische ambassadeur ontboden wegens tegenwerking Strafhof

Eind mei bleek uit onderzoek van The Guardian, +972 Magazine en Local Call dat Israël tien jaar lang het Internationaal Strafhof en zijn toenmalige hoofdaanklaagster Fatou Bensouda bespioneerde, intimideerde en chanteerde. Dit met als doel de arrestatiebevelen van Israëlische leiders te voorkomen die Bensouda’s opvolger Khan vorige maand alsnog heeft aangevraagd.

De ontmoeting tussen het ministerie en de ambassadeur werd door ambtenaren bekendgemaakt naar aanleiding van vragen die verschillende Nederlandse Kamerleden eind mei over het onderzoek indienden. Afgelopen dinsdag zei een woordvoerder van het ministerie van Buitenlandse Zaken dat de Israëlische ambassadeur 'werd verzocht zich te melden bij het [ministerie] in verband met beschuldigingen in de artikelen in The Guardian en +972'. Volgens de woordvoerder heeft er een gesprek plaatsgevonden 'waarin de zorgen van Nederland zijn geuit'.

328.

27 juni 2024

327a.

27 juni 2024

Beste BDS-er,

Dit is een nieuwsbrief vol ontwikkelingen. Diplomatie, nieuwe BDS successen wereldwijd en in Nederland, criminalisering, en IL staat voortaan voor Israël Liegt (zo ongeveer altijd).

Blijf BDS'en!

Hartelijke groet van het DocP team

Cuba voegt zich in Zuid-Afrika tegen Israël

Minister Rodríguez stelde: “Cuba heeft besloten zich als derde partij te voegen in de klacht van Zuid-Afrika bij het Internationaal Gerechtshof.” De verklaring van Cuba’s ministerie van Buitenlandse Zaken legt uit: “Cuba zal gebruik maken van zijn recht als derde partij een interpretatie te geven van de regels van de [genocide] conventie die Israël flagrant heeft geschonden en in nog steeds overtuigender trap blijft volgen.

Academische boycot van Israël gaat als een speer

De academische boycot van Israël gaat goed. Het fenomeen is twintig jaar oud, maar de laatste maanden gaat het als een speer. Deze maand hebben zeker 13 academische instellingen waaronder de universiteit van Stavanger in Noorwegen, van Palermo op Sicilië en die van Quebec in Montreal, Canada hun banden met Israël verbroken.

BDS extremistisch volgens Duitse Bondsdag

In hun jaarrapport over 2023 noemt het Duitse Bundeskriminalamt BKA  (de Duitse evenknie van de AIVD) acties tegen Israël “buitenlands terrorisme” De BDS beweging wordt voortaan behandeld als “vermoedelijk extremistische casus” want de beweging voor boycot, desinvestering en sancties schendt het internationaal geaccepteerde idee van het bestaansrecht van Israël, aldus het BKA.

Oproep aan FNV-leden

Het hoofdbestuur van de FNV heeft een mail doen uitgaan aan FNV leden die bezorgd zijn over wat de bond doet en nalaat inzake steun aan werkers die zich voor Palestina inzetten op hun werkplek. Daartoe organiseert het een bijeenkomst op 6 juli tussen 14 en 16 uur in Utrecht.

BDS succes in Utrecht! EBS niet gegund!

De provincie Utrecht heeft de nieuwe OV concessies niet aan EBS gegund. Mede dankzij de inzet van UtrechtBIJ1 en BDS NL zijn er twee andere bedrijven gekozen om het openbaar vervoer in de provincie te mogen leveren. In het proces van de concessieverlening is er hard gelobbyd om EBS te boycotten. Met succes!

 Hind Rajab: vermoord met 355 kogels

Op 29 januari dit jaar werden de zesjarige Hind Rajab, haar nicht Layan en vijf andere familieleden vermoord door de Israëlische bezettingsmacht in Gaza. Een Israëlische tank schoot op korte afstand 355 kogels af op de zwarte Fiat waarin de Palestijnse familie zat. Mogelijk is er ook nog een militaire Caterpillar bulldozer over ze heen […]

327.

27 juni 2024

Our work as journalists and storytellers sometimes feels futile to us, especially when death in its cruelest form is visited upon us on a daily basis, to the point that we can’t even catch up with it.

The Palestinian story, which had been shaped by the traumatic experience of the ongoing Nakba for the last 76 years, has been growing in new dimensions with each new massacre and with each new assault on a hospital or a tent city. The voices trying to get the story out seem as if they are drowning in the void, even more so when over 150 Palestinian journalists in Gaza have been killed on duty in the past eight months.

However, in an intimate corner of our consciousness, we know that the story needs to be told, now more than ever. History, which is ongoing, is not limited to the past. It teaches us that genocide is only possible if dehumanization is possible.

Dehumanization is possible when a people’s collective story, made up of millions of individual human stories, has been erased from the world’s memory and awareness. Though it might be a painful process, in the most painful of times, it is our duty to raise it up.

By Palestine Chronicle Staff, June 27, 2014:

MORE THAN A MILLION GAZANS SUFFER FROM THE MOST  EXTREME FORM OF MALNUTRITION, STARVATION,                            ACCORDING TO  UNICEF

326.

27 juni 2024

Netanyahu is promising a forever war.

What we're reading.

Join JVP at the Socialism Conference.

325.

26 juni 2024

Today's headlines

The mainstream media is setting the stage for an Israeli war on Lebanon

An unsourced article in the British Telegraph claiming Hezbollah is storing weapons in Beirut's airport is the latest example of the mainstream media setting the groundwork for an Israeli war on Lebanon.

For opposing genocide, Bowman is framed as antisemitic — by liberal Zionists

The Democratic establishment and Israel lobby are seeking to destroy the political career of Rep. Jamaal Bowman because he dared to criticize the Israeli genocide of Palestinians in Gaza. And many liberals are joining right in.

324.

26 juni 2024

Humanitarian Situation Update #183
West Bank

Destruction in Nur Shams Refugee Camp in Tulkarm, 26 June 2024. Photo by the Resident Coordinator's Office

Key Highlights

• Settlement expansion continues to shrink the grazing space available for herding communities in Area C.
• Israeli settlers injured eight Palestinians, including four in a Bedouin community in Jericho; 40 settler attacks in that community were documented so far in 2024 compared with two in 2023.
• OHCHR condemns the tying of an injured Palestinian man to the hood of an Israeli military jeep while driving around Jenin, as shown in video footage.

Latest developments (after 24 June)

• On 26 June at around noon, according to initial reports, demolitions in Umm al Kheir, south of Hebron, resulted in the displacement of about 38 people, most of them children. Demolished structures reportedly include a community shelter, a structure housing the community generator and three residential structures. The displaced families’ water tanks and solar panels were also damaged during the demolition incident. According to the community, there are at least 20 residential and other structures that have pending demolition orders against them, placing additional families at risk of displacement. In the afternoon, the Israeli military reportedly declared the area a closed military zone, confiscated a tent erected to temporarily house the displaced families, and arrested an activist.
• On 26 June, the Humanitarian Coordinator for the Occupied Palestinian Territory, Muhannad Hadi, led a field visit to the West Bank to witness access and movement restrictions and settlement expansion that generate humanitarian needs. The mission, which was organized by OCHA and UNRWA, included a visit to Tulkarm city and its two adjacent refugee camps, Tulkarm and Nur Shams. Mr. Hadi listened to residents’ stories on the impact of the recurrent operations carried out by Israeli forces in the camps. The mission also visited farmers affected by the 712-kilometre-long West Bank Barrier.

Humanitarian Developments (18-24 June)

• During the reporting period, Israeli forces shot and killed four Palestinians (see details below), including one child, and injured about 60 others across the West Bank. Most injuries occurred during search-and-arrest operations. In addition, on 22 June, a 12-year-old boy died of wounds sustained on 12 June from live ammunition fired by Israeli forces during a search-and-arrest operation in Al Bireh city. No confrontations were reported during that incident and medical teams reported being denied access to the child for half an hour.
  • On 18 June, Israeli forces shot and killed a 39-year-old Palestinian man for allegedly attempting to stab a member of Israeli forces at the entrance to Beit Fajjar town, Bethlehem. Palestinian medical teams were prevented from reaching the man and his body has been withheld by Israeli forces.
  • On 20 June, Israeli forces shot and killed a 15-year-old child when Palestinians threw stones at Israeli forces during a search-and-arrest operation in Qalqiliya city (Qalqiliya), reportedly following the theft of an Israeli vehicle.
  • On 21 June, Israeli forces shot and killed two Palestinians in Qalqiliya city. According to Qalqiliya municipality and an eyewitness, undercover Israeli forces in civilian vehicles followed a Palestinian car and opened fire at it, killing two Palestinians inside. Israeli forces then surrounded the vehicle, prevented access to the area, withheld the bodies of the two Palestinians and confiscated the vehicle. According to the Israeli military, the two Palestinians opened fire at their forces and were planning an attack; the military further stated that two pistols were seized from the scene.
• According to Israeli media, at least one person believed to be Palestinian shot and killed one Israeli man in Qalqiliya city on 22 June. The incident is under investigation by the Israeli police. The Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) attempted to treat the Israeli man’s injuries at the scene, before handing him over to Israeli forces. He was later pronounced dead. Following the incident, Israeli forces restricted movement in and around Qalqiliya and conducted search-and-arrest operations.
• On 22 June, Israeli forces shot and injured four Palestinians and arrested three others during a search-and-arrest operation in Al Jabiriyat neighbourhood in Jenin city. No exchanges of fire or confrontations were reported at the time of the incident. PRCS reported that Israeli forces prevented their access to the casualties. Video footage from the incident shows an injured Palestinian tied to the hood of a military jeep while passing by two ambulances. According to a 23 June statement by the UN Human Rights Office (OHCHR), Israeli forces subsequently drove the man for about 200 metres before reportedly interrogating and releasing him and allowing him access to medical treatment. OHCHR condemned the incident as an example of “continued and flagrant violations of international human rights law and international humanitarian law binding on Israel as the occupying Power.” The Israeli military cited in Israeli media stated that an exchange of fire ensued during a search-and-arrest operation and that the matter was being investigated.
• Since 7 October and as of 24 June, 536 Palestinians, including 130 children, have been killed in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem; these include 519 killed by Israeli forces, ten by Israeli settlers, and seven where it remains unknown whether the perpetrators were Israeli soldiers or settlers. In addition, over 5,370 Palestinians have been injured, including about 830 children. More than a third of the injuries were caused by live ammunition. During the same period, at least 12 Israelis, including seven soldiers and five settlers, were killed by Palestinians and at least 105 Israelis, including 70 soldiers, were injured in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem. Moreover, attacks by Palestinians from the West Bank in Israel resulted in the killing of eight Israelis as well as four of the Palestinian perpetrators.
• During the reporting period, OCHA documented 18 attacks by Israeli settlers across the West Bank, resulting in the injury of eight Palestinians and damage to at least 100 trees and other property. The following are among the key settler incidents reported between 18 and 24 June:
  • During the reporting period, Israeli settlers perpetrated four attacks in Ras 'Ein al 'Auja Bedouin community, Jericho, during which four Palestinians, including three children, were injured and at least 11 sheep stolen. The community has experienced about 40 attacks since the beginning of 2024, as documented by OCHA, compared with two incidents for the whole of 2023.
  • On 18 June, Israeli settlers physically assaulted and injured two elderly Palestinians after stoning their vehicle on Al Mu’arrajat Road that connects Ramallah and Jericho governorates.
  • On 18 June, Israeli settlers dressed in military-like uniform vandalized a water well, cut off irrigation pipes, destroyed farming tools and vandalized 50 olive trees in Yasuf village, Salfit.

• • On 22 June, armed Israeli settlers from Ma'on settlement raided agricultural land in At Tuwani herding community in Masafer Yatta and destroyed 50 olive trees aged about 40 years. They destroyed part of the terraces and fences surrounding six dunams of agricultural land. Two days later, in the same governorate, a group of armed Israeli settlers from Mitzpe Yair outpost raided Manitqat Shi’b al Butum community during the night. Video footage shows the settlers stealing a donkey that belonged to a Palestinian family from the community.
  • On 23 June, Israeli settlers threw stones at a Palestinian family on their farming land near Beitar Illit settlement in Hebron, injuring an elderly woman. The settlers then stole the family’s tractor. This was the first time the family had permission to access their land since 7 October due to restrictions imposed by Israeli forces.
  • On 24 June, Israeli settlers attacked and injured a Palestinian elderly man in Al Jwaya herding community south of Yatta (Hebron). According to the family, a masked settler with his flock of sheep approached the Palestinian man while he was shepherding with his family near their home and started grazing the land. Other settlers in military-like uniform were observing from a distance, the family added. When the family protested the settler’s sheep grazing the land, the settler initially attacked the elderly man with a knife and then hit him with a bat and stones. An ambulance arrived at the scene after about 30 minutes and transported the injured man to a hospital.
• Since 7 October, OCHA has recorded 1,018 attacks by Israeli settlers against Palestinians, of which 105 led to Palestinian fatalities and injuries, 800 to damage to Palestinian property and 113 have led to both casualty and damage to property. As a result, over 44,260 Palestinian-owned trees and saplings have been destroyed by Israeli settlers.
• On 20 June, the Israeli civil administration, including members of the Archaeology Unit, handed over six evacuation orders to all the six families in the Bedouin community of Barriyet Hizma to the west of Hizma village in Jerusalem governorate, citing concerns related to the destruction of antiquities. As a result, an estimated 30 people are at risk of displacement. Community sources report that, since the beginning of the year, they have been repeatedly subjected to attacks by Israeli settlers believed to be from a newly established settlement outpost in the area. Since 1 January 2024, OCHA has documented seven settler attacks in the community, resulting in the injury of two Palestinians and damage to nine structures.
• On 23 June, Israeli authorities demolished six structures for lacking Israeli-issued permits in Area C of Jericho governorate, including four inhabited residential structures, one under-construction house, and one pool. The demolitions took place in ‘Ein ad Dyuk at Tahta, Isteih area of Jericho city, and Aqbat Jaber Refugee Camp. As a result, three households comprising 12 people, including six children, were displaced and three households comprising 14 people, including two children, were otherwise affected. Between 7 October and 24 June, Israeli authorities demolished, confiscated or forced the demolition of 1,013 Palestinian structures in East Jerusalem and Area C, of which 37 per cent (377 structures) were inhabited homes. As a result, 2,246 people, including 991 children, were displaced. Over half of those displaced (1,149) were during military operations, particularly in Jenin and Tulkarm cities and the surrounding refugee camps; 42 per cent (938 people) were due to the lack of permit; and 7 per cent (159) were displaced by punitive demolitions.

Funding

• As of 25 June, Member States have disbursed about US$1.19 billion out of $3.42 billion (35 per cent) requested to meet the most critical needs of 2.3 million people in Gaza and 800,000 people in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, between January and December 2024. For funding analysis, please see the Flash Appeal Financial Tracking dashboard.
• The oPt HF has 109 ongoing projects, for a total of $78.9 million, addressing urgent needs in the Gaza Strip (86 per cent) and West Bank (14 per cent). Of these projects, 69 projects are being implemented by international non-governmental organizations (INGOs), 26 by national NGOs and 14 by UN agencies. Notably, 43 out of the 83 projects implemented by INGOs or the UN are being implemented with national NGOs. Since 7 October, the oPt HF has mobilized over $100 million from Member States and private donors, designated for programmes throughout Gaza. A summary of the oPt HF activities and challenges in May 2024 is available through this link and the 2023 Annual Report of the oPt HF can be accessed here. Private donations are collected directly through the Humanitarian Fund.

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26 juni 2024

A friendly reminder that today at 12 noon EST, we will be taken around the beautiful city of Ramallah on a Virtual Delegation by Palestinian Artist, Wafa Hourani.  Hourani's work can be found here: https://www.wafahourani.com/.

If you have yet to sign up, please do so below by clicking on the poster or via the sign up link!

LIVE FROM RAMALLAH:VIRTUAL DELEGATION

REGISTER FOR THE LIVE FROM RAMALLAH VIRTUAL DELEGATION HERE 

322.

25 juni 2024

The genocidal war on Gaza has made the role of independent media more important than ever.

Western mainstream media is parroting Israeli talking points, blending news and propaganda. Smaller, independent media outlets have been the only publishers presenting even a degree of nuance to their Palestine coverage, let alone on-the-ground reporting.

The Israeli government noticed how much attention outlets like ours are getting, and it’s been trying to shut down and discredit crucial journalistic work ever since.

Hasbarists (pro-Israel propagandists) attacked media outlets that pushed back against atrocity propaganda. Israel banned Al Jazeera and brutally targeted journalists in Gaza, as well as trying to discredit independent outlets. The dehumanization of Palestinians seemed to permeate every public conversation. Smears like Holocaust denial and antisemitism predictably followed.

But these accusations no longer stuck, because we kept pushing back.

For years, and most importantly, in the past months, Mondoweiss has played a crucial role in debunking key Israeli falsehoods that attempted to legitimize the genocide. We have documented, in painful detail, every massacre in Gaza, and with every article we offer a window into Gazans’ efforts to survive the genocide.

When college students across the U.S. set up protest encampments on their campuses and rose up collectively for Gaza, Mondoweiss was an important resource and platform for student activists. Many of them reached out to us to publish statements and further amplify their efforts.

Aside from combating Israeli lies and amplifying the solidarity movement, Mondoweiss has also presented an incisive and nuanced analysis of the situation on the ground in Palestine that very few provide.

Readers, activists, and Palestine solidarity organizations often tell us that Mondoweiss is critical to the movement. Independent journalism is the last bastion against fascism

Faris Giacaman, Managing Editor

321.

25 juni 2024

Today's headlines

Netanyahu says he refuses to end the war on Gaza

As Benjamin Netanyahu tells Israeli TV he is prepared to continue the war in Gaza indefinitely, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant visits Washington D.C. to meet U.S. officials amid a possible all-out war with Lebanon.

Feminist scholars stand with Professor Nadera Shalhoub-Kevorkian

Open Letter

The persecution of Professor Nadera Shalhoub-Kevorkian and her research are deeply intertwined with the ongoing genocidal assault on Gaza and the attacks on Palestinian educational institutions, scholars, and students across Palestine.

320.

24 juni 2024

Humanitarian Situation Update #182
Gaza Strip

People queueing to receive food aid in Gaza. Photo by WFP

Key Highlights

• The UN Human Rights Office deplores repeated strikes on Ash Shati’ Refugee Camp west of Gaza city.
• WHO appeals for the urgent medical evacuation outside Gaza of over 10,000 critically ill and injured patients through all possible crossings.
• The inability of humanitarian agencies to consistently and safely transport aid commodities from Kerem Shalom Crossing and the closure of Rafah Crossing are significantly undermining aid operations.

Humanitarian Developments

• Israeli bombardment from the air, land, and sea, as well as ground incursions and heavy fighting, continue to be reported across much of the Gaza Strip, resulting in further civilian casualties, displacement, and destruction of houses and other civilian infrastructure.
• Between the afternoons of 20 and 24 June, according to the Ministry of Health (MoH) in Gaza, 195 Palestinians were killed and 445 were injured. Between 7 October 2023 and 24 June 2024, at least 37,626 Palestinians were killed and 86,098 were injured in Gaza, according to MoH in Gaza.
• Between the afternoons of 21 and 24 June, one Israeli soldier was killed in Gaza, according to the Israeli military. Between 7 October and 24 June, according to the Israeli military and official Israeli sources cited in the media, over 1,513 Israelis were killed, the majority on 7 October and including 313 soldiers killed in Gaza or along the border in Israel since the beginning of the ground operation. In addition, 1,977 soldiers were reported injured since the beginning of the ground operation. As of 24 June, it is estimated that 120 Israelis and foreign nationals remain captive in Gaza, including fatalities whose bodies are withheld.
• On 22 June, MoH reported that 24 people were killed and 49 were injured when tents of displaced people were hit west of Rafah city a day earlier. On 21 June, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) stated that “heavy-calibre projectiles landed within meters” of its office in Al Mawasi area of Rafah, “which is surrounded by hundreds of displaced civilians living in tents.” As a result, there was an influx of mass casualties into the nearby Red Cross Field Hospital and the ICRC office sustained damage. Noting that ICRC facilities had previously been affected by “stray bullets,” the Committee stressed that “firing so dangerously close to humanitarian structures” endangers the lives of civilians and humanitarian workers and “parties to the conflict have an obligation to take all feasible precautions to avoid harm to civilians and damage to civilian objects, including humanitarian facilities.” The Israeli military said that an initial inquiry into the incident showed that there was no direct attack on the Red Cross facility, adding that a further examination will be carried out and its findings presented to international partners.
• On 23 June, the UN Human Rights Office (OHCHR) deplored repeated strikes on Ash Shati’ Refugee Camp west of Gaza city, including at least three that occurred on 21 and 22 June and resulted in the reported killing of 34 Palestinians, including children. OHCHR reiterated that “Israel’s conduct of hostilities continues to raise concerns over serious violations of international humanitarian law,” including the principles of distinction, proportionality and precaution, resulting in high numbers of casualties among civilians already enduring a “life-threatening lack of food, clean water and access to objects indispensable for their survival.”
• The following are among other deadly incidents reported between 20 and 23 June:
  • On 21 June, five Palestinians were reportedly killed and others injured when two residential buildings were hit behind Deir Al Latin School in Gaza’s Old City.
  • On 22 June, at about 12:00, at least 24 Palestinians, including children, were reportedly killed and dozens of others injured when a residential block was hit near As Susi Mosque in Ash Shati' Refugee Camp, west of Gaza city.
  • On 22 June, at about 12:00, 19 Palestinians were reportedly killed and others injured when a house was hit in At Tuffah neighbourhood, east of Gaza city.
  • On 22 June, at about 15:00, four Palestinians, including two children, were reportedly killed when a house was hit in Ash Shuja’iyeh neighbourhood, east of Gaza city.
  • On 23 June, in the morning hours, eight Palestinians were reportedly killed and others injured when a house was hit in As Sabra neighbourhood, in Gaza city.
  • On 23 June, MoH reported that Gaza’s Director of Emergency and Ambulance Services had been killed in a strike on Ad Daraj clinic in Gaza city.
• Access constraints continue to severely hamper the delivery of essential humanitarian assistance and services across Gaza, including the provision of critical food and nutrition aid, medical care, protection and shelter support, as well as water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) services to hundreds of thousands of people. Between 1 and 23 June, out of the 86 planned coordinated humanitarian assistance missions to northern Gaza, 42 (49 per cent) were facilitated by the Israeli authorities, 10 (11.5 per cent) were denied access, 24 (28 per cent) were impeded, and 10 (11.5 per cent) were cancelled due to logistical, operational or security reasons. In addition, out of the 232 coordinated humanitarian assistance missions to areas in southern Gaza, 162 (70 per cent) were facilitated by Israeli authorities, 14 (six per cent) were denied access, 28 (12 per cent) were impeded, and 28 (12 per cent) were cancelled. In one incident on 23 June, a humanitarian aid mission returning to southern Gaza after delivering fuel and medical supplies in Gaza city was delayed for over 13 hours at an Israeli military checkpoint, exposing the convoy to the high risk of being caught in crossfire and being stranded at an unsafe location during the night. Between 18 and 23 June, three coordinated missions scheduled to pick up aid supplies from the Palestinian side of Kerem Shalom Crossing were cancelled due to security concerns, including active hostilities and the collapse of public order and safety along the route designated by the Israeli military for cargo movement between the crossing and central Gaza.
• Persistent fuel shortages continue to hinder aid operations and the functioning of critical water, sanitation, health and other facilities across the Gaza Strip. Since the beginning of 2024, only 14 per cent of fuel (diesel and benzene) that used to enter Gaza on a monthly basis prior to October 2023, has been entering Gaza (two million vs. 14 million litres), with recent field reports indicating critically low levels of benzene available for distribution. On 23 June, the Director of the Kuwait Field Hospital in Khan Younis announced that the main electricity generator had stopped functioning due to the lack of fuel, and the facility, which receives more than 1,500 patients daily, was now relying on a secondary generator to maintain operations

• Some of the 17 hospitals categorized as “partially functioning” in effect maintain only minimal operations, and access to them is so fragile that some pregnant women reaching these facilities have been reportedly requesting early Caesarean sections for fear of not being able to deliver safely later, stated the World Health Organization (WHO) Representative in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT), Dr. Richard Peeperkorn, during a press briefing in Geneva on 21 June. In the same briefing, WHO Trauma Surgeon and Emergency Officer, Dr. Thanos Gargavanis, explained that the protracted closure of Rafah Crossing, the increase in fighting, large-scale displacement and the collapse of law and order have also meant that the United Nations continues to operate in an “un-workable environment” and what it is achieving “is only a fraction of what we should be doing.” Given the critical situation, the focus inside Gaza continues to be on lifesaving and limb-saving operations, Thanos added, with currently no conditions in place to bring in protheses or deploy specialized medical teams to assist amputees, many of them children and adolescents, in the rehabilitation process. The total number of wounded Palestinians and other medical cases evacuated since 7 October represents less than six per cent of the injury toll reported by MoH (4,895 out of more than 85,000 reported injuries). Within this context, WHO appealed for the facilitation of medical evacuations for over 10,000 patients, including trauma cases and people with cancer, heart, mental health and other conditions, through all possible crossings to ensure they receive the medical care they need. Until 7 October, patients and their companions were among the few categories of people from the Gaza Strip eligible to apply for Israeli-issued permits to exit Gaza, with the vast majority of Palestinians in Gaza largely banned from exiting via Israel, including for passage to the West Bank. Between January and August 2023, according to the Palestinian General Authority of Civil Affairs, there were at least 1,700 monthly exits of patients from Gaza to the West Bank via Beit Hanoun/Erez crossing. During the same period, about 80 per cent of the 1,645 Gaza patient applications submitted to the Israeli authorities on average every month were approved for exiting Gaza, of which nearly half were for gaining access to health care facilities in East Jerusalem. Cancer patients comprised the largest category of those seeking referral to hospitals outside Gaza, constituting about 36 per cent of applicants.
• To help mitigate the impact of the health system’s collapse and address soaring needs, the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) and UNRWA are seeking to reactivate some of their services in northern Gaza. On 20 June, a PRCS specialized team, accompanied by the ICRC, was deployed to Gaza city to oversee the reactivation of the Al Quds Hospital and other relief services, including clinics and primary health centres, in northern Gaza. PRCS teams and volunteers are also working to reactivate services at the Society’s branch in Jabalya, which was damaged during a raid by Israeli forces at the end of 2023. Meanwhile, efforts have begun to clean up the UNRWA health centre in Jabalya, which was set on fire during a military operation and will require full rehabilitation to be functional again. According to UNRWA, other critical priorities in Jabalya include ensuring access to safe drinking water and addressing the accumulation of solid waste, as the scorching heat across Gaza continues to exacerbate the already dire water, sanitation and health conditions.
• The World Food Programme (WFP) continues to support the reopening of additional bakeries across the Gaza Strip, including in northern Gaza. As of 22 June, 12 WFP-supported bakeries are operational: six in Deir Al Balah, four in Gaza City, and two in Jabalya. One of the bakeries in Deir Al Balah resumed operations on 22 June after temporarily closing due to cooking gas shortage while five bakeries in Rafah remain closed due to the ongoing hostilities. One of the two bakeries in Jabalya is now providing fresh bread every day to about 3,000 families in the area, reported WFP Country Director, Matthew Hollingworth, on 23 June. Hollingworth stressed that while these efforts have helped achieve “some small levels of food security,” it remains “essential for commercial fresh food to enter northern Gaza,” where every child he met during his visit said “they’re dreaming of eating vegetables… [and] meat [and] they’re sick of eating aid even though it’s keeping them alive, but it’s barely a life.” Still, the entry of aid itself remains tenuous; in recent weeks, like all other aid actors, Food Security Cluster partners have been unable to consistently and safely transport aid commodities from Kerem Shalom Crossing to central and southern Gaza, due to ongoing fighting, criminal activities and the risk of looting along Salah Ad Din Road, forcing them to reduce food rations and limit coverage. Unless safe access to the Crossing is restored, food parcels available for distribution would be depleted in July and the number of cooked meals (now estimated at about 650,000 across Gaza) would be significantly reduced, the Cluster warned. Echoing the same concerns, the Nutrition Cluster cautioned that access limitations and security concerns have significantly limited pipeline supplies for the blanket supplementary feeding programme, which can only cover 30 per cent of the needs of children and pregnant and breastfeeding women through the end of July. According to the Food Security Cluster, urgent interventions are needed to roll back months of near starvation conditions by further expanding the volume, frequency, and geographic reach of life-saving food and other critical assistance as well as allowing for improved flows of private sector commercial supplies and cash liquidity.
• The unprecedented environmental impacts of the war in Gaza include “rapidly growing soil, water and air pollution and risks of irreversible damage to [communities’] natural ecosystems,” according to a preliminary assessment published by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) on 18 June. Conflict-generated debris, now averaging over 107 kilogrammes per square kilometre in Gaza or five time the debris from the 2017 conflict in Mosul (Iraq), is one key concern as it poses significant “risks to human health and the environment, from dust and contamination with unexploded ordnance, asbestos, industrial and medical waste, and other hazardous substances.” In addition, Gaza’s soil and water sources have been contaminated with munitions that contain heavy metals and explosive chemicals and with sewage due to the near collapse of water and sanitation systems, and they could be further harmed by anticipated lead leakage from destroyed solar panels. UNEP added that air quality is likely to sharply deteriorate due to the ongoing accumulation of rubbish, associated with damage to five out of six solid waste management facilities, as well as the burning of wood, plastic and waste as an alternative to cooking gas. These risks are both short and long term and are likely to persist long after the hostilities end, UNEP emphasized.

Funding

• As of 24 June, Member States have disbursed about US$1.19 billion out of $3.42 billion (35 per cent) requested to meet the most critical needs of 2.3 million people in Gaza and 800,000 people in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, between January and December 2024. For funding analysis, please see the Flash Appeal Financial Tracking dashboard.
• The oPt HF has 109 ongoing projects, for a total of $78.9 million, addressing urgent needs in the Gaza Strip (86 per cent) and West Bank (14 per cent). Of these projects, 69 projects are being implemented by international non-governmental organizations (INGOs), 26 by national NGOs and 14 by UN agencies. A summary of the oPt HF activities and challenges in May 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.

319.

24 juni 2024

This is a pivotal moment in our struggle for liberation.

Mondoweiss has been an integral part of the movement for years. Since October 7, it has risen to meet this crucial moment. The movement is growing like never before and movement journalism is essential to those seeking to create social and political change.

Today's headlines

Republicans demonstrate their terrifying Palestine policy

Two “must-pass” House of Representatives bills to fund the State and Defense Departments show how dangerous Republican Party views on Palestine are.

Read more

The International Olympic Committee must sanction Israel over its genocidal war in Gaza

Open Letter

It is unconscionable for Israel to participate in the 2024 Paris Olympics. Israel should be suspended from international sports organizations and events until it ends its grave violations of international law.

318.

23 juni 2024

Today's headlines

Wounded Palestinian man strapped to front of Israeli army vehicle, used as human shield

Shatha Hanaysha

During a military raid on Jenin, Israeli soldiers strapped an injured Palestinian civilian to the front of a military jeep and paraded him through the street as a human shield. He was eventually handed over to Palestinian medical teams.

Read more

The myth of Israeli democracy died in Gaza and Israel’s hasbara will never recover

Saree Makdisi's "Tolerance Is a Wasteland: Palestine and the Culture of Denial" shows just what a sham Israeli liberalism always was and continues to be.

Read more

Ten Holocaust survivors condemn Israel’s Gaza genocide

Open Letter

Holocaust survivors say using the Holocaust to justify genocide in Gaza and repress student protest on college campuses is an insult to the Holocaust's memory.

Read more

317.

22 juni 2024

The last 8 months have been the most horrific and challenging in the 16 years I have been at Mondoweiss. I never thought we would cover a genocide unfolding before our eyes. The stories and testimonies we have covered in these last months will stay with me for the rest of my life.

And as we have always known, the darkest moments also call us to take the greatest action. A worldwide movement has grown in these last 8 months, and Mondoweiss has played a critical role.

I was fortunate to experience this firsthand.

In May, I attended the Global Anti-Apartheid Conference on Palestine in South Africa. It was an inspiring occasion. It was inspiring because I met activists from across the world who broadened my mind about the possibilities for liberation in Palestine.

316.

22 juni 2024

Today's headlines

Understanding Israel’s threats of war with Hezbollah

Hezbollah spent the past decade accumulating military and political power to deter Israel from attacking Lebanon. But recent escalations threaten to start a war no one wants because the U.S. won't force Israel to stop the genocide in Gaza.

Gaza’s hospitals are empty, and patients die in silence

This genocidal war brings with it the systematic destruction of all of Gaza's health system. This has created a new category of people who die from preventable illnesses due to a systematic lack of access to medical care.

Read more

315.

21 juni 2024

Today's headlines

Threat of all-out war between Israel and Hezbollah rises

Qassam Muaddi

Hassan Nasrallah warned in a televised speech that Hezbollah would “fight without restraints and without limits” in the event of an all-out war. Meanwhile, the first lawyer to visit Gaza detainees in Sde Teiman said they face “unimaginable” abuse.

‘We’re refusing to let ourselves live in comfortable complacency’: Scenes from the Cardiff encampment for Palestine

Cardiff University's encampment for Gaza was worried about police brutality based on the scenes they watched from the U.S. On June 3 their fears came true when South Wales police attacked protesters with an unprecedented level of violence.

314.

21 juni 2024

Humanitarian Situation Update #181
Gaza Strip

Al Awda hospital. Photo by OCHA

Key Highlights

• The health system in Gaza has lost 70 per cent of its bed capacity, the Ministry of Health reports, as efforts continue to rehabilitate vital medical services in northern Gaza.
• The volume of medical supplies entering Gaza is insufficient to sustain the health response and all medical evacuations outside Gaza remain halted, warns the World Health Organization.
• About 39,000 high-school students in Gaza are unable to sit for their General Secondary Examinations this year, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Education.
• Women-led organizations are facing immense operational, security and funding challenges, UN Women reports.

Humanitarian Developments

• Israeli bombardment from the air, land, and sea, as well as ground incursions and heavy fighting, continue to be reported across much of the Gaza Strip, resulting in further civilian casualties, displacement, and destruction of houses and other civilian infrastructure.
• Between the afternoons of 19 and 20 June, according to the Ministry of Health (MoH) in Gaza, 35 Palestinians were killed and 130 were injured. Between 7 October 2023 and 20 June 2024, at least 37,431 Palestinians were killed and 85,653 were injured in Gaza, according to MoH in Gaza. Casualty figures covering the period until the afternoon of 21 June are not available as of the time of reporting.
• The following are among the deadly incidents reported between 18 and 21 June:
  • On 18 June, in the afternoon, three Palestinian men were reportedly killed, purportedly while collecting wood, when an agricultural area was hit in northwestern An Nuseirat Refugee Camp, in Deir al Balah.
  • On 19 June, at about midnight, seven Palestinians were reportedly killed when tents for internally displaced persons (IDPs) were hit in Ash Shakoush area in western Khan Younis.
  • On 19 June, at about midnight, six Palestinians, including children, were reportedly killed, and others were injured when a residential building was hit in Ash Sheikh Radwan neighbourhood, north of Gaza city.
  • On 19 June, at about 1:00, at least eight Palestinians, including a pregnant woman and a child, were reportedly killed and others injured when a barracks, purportedly used for storing humanitarian aid, was hit in Al Mawasi area, northwest of Rafah.
  • On 19 June, at about 19:00, 12 Palestinians were reportedly killed and others injured when a group of people was hit on Salah Ad Din Road, east of Rafah.
  • On 21 June, at about 10:40, five Gaza Municipality workers were reportedly killed while attempting to operate water wells inside a municipality facility in Gaza city, according to a press statement by the Municipality of Gaza.
• Between the afternoons of 19 and 21 June, two Israeli soldiers were killed in Gaza, according to the Israeli military. Between 7 October and 21 June, according to the Israeli military and official Israeli sources cited in the media, over 1,512 Israelis were killed, the majority on 7 October and including 312 soldiers killed in Gaza or along the border in Israel since the beginning of the ground operation. In addition, 1,957 soldiers were reported injured since the beginning of the ground operation. As of 21 June, it is estimated that 120 Israelis and foreign nationals remain captive in Gaza, including fatalities whose bodies are withheld.
• On 21 June, the Palestinian Ministry of Education (MoE) reported that about 39,000 high-school students in Gaza have been deprived of the opportunity to take their General Secondary Examinations (also known as Tawjihi) that are scheduled to begin on 22 June. For students who are currently overseas, MoE is supporting 1,320 students from Gaza in taking their Tawjihi exams in 29 Arab countries, the majority (1,090) in Egypt. Overall, some 625,000 students have been out of school in Gaza since October 2023 due to the escalation of hostilities and, as of 11 June, more than 7,000 students and 378 educational staff have been killed in Gaza according to the MoE. Within this context, and given large-scale damage to education infrastructure, Education Cluster partners continue to establish and expand Temporary Learning Sites (TLSs) for school-aged children in and around IDP shelters, which currently serve over 17,000 children in Khan Younis and Deir al Balah; according to the Cluster, these spaces are critical for offering children non-formal learning as well as opportunities to benefit from recreational and mental health and psychosocial support interventions.
• On 18 June, the Commission for Prisoners and Ex-Prisoners Affairs and the Palestinian Prisoners’ Club issued a joint statement to express concern about the enforced disappearance of Palestinians detained from Gaza and the lack of information about the circumstances of death of Palestinians who have reportedly died in Israeli custody. The two institutions noted that they have not received any confirmation of the death of Dr. Iyad Al Rantisi, the head of the Maternity Department at Kamal Adwan Hospital, following his detention at an Israeli checkpoint in Gaza on 10 November 2023. The statement came in response to an Israeli media report that Dr. Iyad Al Rantisi died at Shikma Prison in Israel, six days after he was detained by Israeli forces. According to the same media source, “the Israeli military is investigating 36 deaths at its Sde Teiman detention facility, two deaths at the Anatot detention center and the deaths of two people who died en route to a detention center,” adding that “these figures do not include Palestinians from Gaza who died in prisons operated by the Israel Prison Service.” Dr. Al Rantisi is the second physician from Gaza to have reportedly died in Israeli custody, following the announced death of Dr. Adnan Al Bursh, the head of the Orthopaedic Department at Shifa Medical Complex. According to MoH in Gaza, at least 310 medical personnel have been detained by Israeli forces. As of June 2024, according to data provided by the Israel Prison Service (IPS) to Hamoked, an Israeli human rights NGO, there are 9,112 Palestinians in Israeli custody, including 3,410 administrative detainees (37 per cent) held without trial and 899 people (10 per cent) held as “unlawful combatants.” These figures do not include Palestinians from Gaza who have been detained by the Israeli military since 7 October 2023 and their number remains unknown.

• Relentless efforts are ongoing to restore key services at health facilities in northern Gaza as the health system struggles to address soaring needs amid a lack of any field hospitals in the area. According to the Health Cluster, rehabilitation works have been completed at the Patients’ Friendly Hospital, which now receives an average of 70 patients per day at its emergency department, has a 40-bed capacity dedicated for maternal services, and includes a six-bed stabilization centre for the treatment of severe acute malnutrition cases. Moreover, while Al Shifa and the Indonesian hospitals remain under rehabilitation, the re-opened kidney dialysis department at Al Shifa is now serving 35 patients a week and the Indonesian Hospital is already serving an average of 100 patients a day. Overall, the health sector in Gaza has lost 70 per cent of its bed capacity, according to the MoH, and faces a range of challenges. For example, Al Ahli Hospital in Gaza governorate in the north has a 100-bed capacity but is struggling to maintain operations, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), due to an exhausted workforce, unpaid since October 2023, scarce fuel and medical supplies, and lack of orthopaedic, plastic, maxillofacial and neurosurgery specialists. To facilitate the provision of improved medical care to critical cases, WHO and its partners have supported the transfer of some patients from this and other hospitals in northern Gaza to hospitals in southern Gaza; on 17 June, WHO and its partners transferred two patients —a 16-year-old girl with upper limb injury and a 32-year-old woman with spinal fracture, both with congenital hearing loss—from Al Ahli Hospital in Gaza governorate to the European Gaza Hospital in Khan Younis governorate.
• In central and southern Gaza, where over a million people have been displaced from Rafah since 7 May and live in dire conditions, only seven hospitals remain functional, all partially, including three in Deir al Balah and four in Khan Younis, alongside eight field hospitals with a cumulative capacity of 630 beds. Moreover, the volume of medical supplies entering Gaza remains insufficient to sustain the health response. During the second week of June, WHO delivered its first cargo through Ashdod port for shipment to Gaza via Kerem Shalom Crossing. Although these two containers of antibiotics are estimated to cover the needs of 35,000 people, they “are barely a fraction of what’s needed to sustain the massive health response,” stressed WHO. Meanwhile, all medical evacuations outside Gaza remain halted since the closure of Rafah Crossing on 7 May, with an estimated 2,150 critical patients unable to leave the Strip as of 20 June, reports WHO.
• Women-Led Organizations (WLOs) in the Occupied Palestinian Territory are facing immense operational, security and funding challenges, reveals UN Women’s latest Gender Alert, based on a rapid assessment carried out in March 2024 of the work of 25 WLOs including 18 headquartered or having a presence in Gaza and seven in the West Bank. The Gaza offices of 89 per cent of surveyed organizations sustained some level of damage, including 35 per cent that were destroyed. More than half of the organizations (56 per cent), including those that had their offices damaged, have been able to operate at full capacity in terms of personnel by relying on their extensive network of volunteers, while 40 per cent have been facing shortages in personnel and, as a result, are working at partial capacity. In addition, financial struggles have been acute since the escalation of hostilities in October 2023, with 56 per cent of WLOs reporting decreased funding that they attributed to suspended instalments or cancelled commitments by donors. The majority also remain seriously concerned about the physical safety and mental health of their staff. Notwithstanding the myriad challenges, UN Women highlighted that surveyed WLOs have maintained high levels of engagement in various areas of the humanitarian response, except funding decisions, including coordination meetings, the development and implementation of needs assessments and flash appeals, and participation in emergency response efforts. UN Women presented several recommendations that can help humanitarians and donors further strengthen the engagement of WLOs in emergency response, early recovery efforts, and coordination structures, such as prioritizing flexible funding for WLOs and promoting their participation in funding review committees and strategic advisory groups.
• Access constraints continue to severely hamper the delivery of essential humanitarian assistance and services across Gaza, including the provision of critical food and nutrition aid, medical care, protection and shelter support, as well as water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) services to hundreds of thousands of people. Between 1 and 20 June, out of 71 humanitarian assistance missions coordinated with the Israeli authorities to northern Gaza, 36 (51 per cent) were facilitated by Israeli forces, eight (11 per cent) were denied access, 18 (25 per cent) were impeded, and nine (13 per cent) were cancelled due to logistical, operational or security reasons. Moreover, out of 210 coordinated humanitarian assistance missions to areas in southern Gaza, 146 (70 per cent) were facilitated by Israeli authorities, 13 (six per cent) were denied access, 27 (13 per cent) were impeded, and 24 (11 per cent) were cancelled. Insecurity along the Salah Ad Din Road remains a major concern due ongoing fighting, criminal activities, and the risk of looting. For instance, a shooting incident on 15 June that resulted in the killing of two Palestinians while an aid convoy was on the road prompted the cancellation of convoys to Kerem Shalom Crossing between 16 and 18 June to mitigate risks. Attempts to use the fence road as an alternative have had limited success. Combined with the lack of public order and safety, these factors have hampered the ability of aid actors to consistently transport relief and fuel supplies that arrive through Kerem Shalom Crossing.

Funding

• As of 21 June, Member States have disbursed about $1.06 billion out of $3.42 billion (31 per cent) requested to meet the most critical needs of 2.3 million people in Gaza and 800,000 people in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, between January and December 2024. For funding analysis, please see the Flash Appeal Financial Tracking dashboard.
• The oPt HF has 109 ongoing projects, for a total of $78.9 million, addressing urgent needs in the Gaza Strip (86 per cent) and West Bank (14 per cent). Of these projects, 69 projects are being implemented by international non-governmental organizations (INGOs), 26 by national NGOs and 14 by UN agencies. A summary of the oPt HF activities and challenges in May 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.

313.

21 juni 2024

Netanyahu says $17B not enough, rebukes Biden for halting more 2,000-pound bombs

Dear Reader,

Next month, war criminal Benjamin Netanyahu is invited to address Congress. Dozens of Democrats have already said they will boycott him, but we must increase the pressure. Bipartisan Congressional leadership have invited him to speak amid the genocide of over 40,000 Palestinians and as a United Nations Commission just found the Israeli state guilty of repeated crimes against humanity. 

Netanyahu is attacking American democracy outright in his public rebuke of leaders that have given him more aid than they have given the average American or many U.S. institutions. Providing a platform for Netanyahu amid such flagrant disrespect and ingratitude from a foreign leader is a betrayal of the American people—particularly as a majority of Americans oppose Israel’s war on Gaza. 

Take action now. Netanyahu is not an ally! Rescind his invitation, and end support for this war on the Palestinian people.

In solidarity,
Americans for Justice in Palestine Action

312.

20 juni 2024

311.

20 juni 2024

Today's headlines

The Asian American Foundation’s ADL partnership is a betrayal to Asian American communities

The Asian American Foundation's partnership with the Anti-Defamation League legitimizes the ADL's attacks on marginalized communities and betrays the Foundation's own commitment to building a more inclusive future.

Progressive organizations launch Reject AIPAC to counter the pro-Israel lobby

Michael Arria interviews Justice Democrats spokesperson Usamah Andrabi about the Reject AIPAC coalition and the Israel lobby's election strategy.

310.

19 juni 2024

Humanitarian Situation Update #180
Gaza Strip & West Bank

A displaced girl washing clothes in a refugee camp in Khan Younis. Photo by WHO

Key Highlights

• Hundreds of thousands of displaced people in southern Gaza suffer from poor access to shelter, health, food, water and sanitation, UN assessment missions find.
• About 57 per cent of Gaza’s cropland has been damaged, estimate FAO and UNOSAT.
• Real Gross Domestic Product in Gaza has declined by over 83 per cent, reports the International Labor Organization.
• About a dozen attacks by Israeli settlers took place in the West Bank, resulting in the injury of 24 Palestinians, property damage, and the displacement of a Palestinian family.

Gaza Strip Humanitarian Developments

• Israeli bombardment from the air, land, and sea continues to be reported across much of the Gaza Strip, resulting in further civilian casualties, displacement, and destruction of houses and other civilian infrastructure. Ground incursions and heavy fighting also continue to be reported, including in Beit Hanoun, south of Gaza city, eastern Deir al Balah, northeastern Khan Younis, as well as in central and southern Rafah.
• Between the afternoons of 14 and 19 June, according to the Ministry of Health (MoH) in Gaza, 130 Palestinians were killed and 421 were injured. Between 7 October 2023 and 19 June 2024, at least 37,396 Palestinians were killed and 85,523 were injured in Gaza, according to MoH in Gaza.
• The following are among the deadliest incidents reported between 16 and 18 June:
  • On 16 June, in the evening, nine Palestinians, including six children, were reportedly killed and 11 injured when a house was hit in the vicinity of Abu Rasas roundabout in Al Bureij Refugee Camp, in Deir al Balah.
  • On 17 June, at about 19:50, at least nine Palestinians were reportedly killed when a group of people waiting for aid trucks was hit on Salah ad Din Road, east of Rafah.
  • On 18 June, at 1:20, ten Palestinians, including at least one child and a woman, were reportedly killed and others injured when a house was hit in the first camp in An Nuseirat Refugee Camp, in Deir al Balah.
  • On 18 June, at 2:40, six Palestinians were reportedly killed and others injured when a house was hit in the fifth camp of An Nuseirat Refugee Camp, in Deir al Balah.
• Between the afternoons of 14 and 19 June, 12 Israeli soldiers were reported killed in Gaza. As of 19 June, 310 soldiers have been killed and 1,947 soldiers have been injured in Gaza or along the border in Israel since the beginning of the ground operation in October 2023, according to the Israeli military. In addition, according to the Israeli media citing official Israeli sources, over 1,200 Israelis and foreign nationals, including 33 children, have been killed in Israel, the vast majority on 7 October. As of 19 June, it is estimated that 120 Israelis and foreign nationals remain captive in Gaza, including fatalities whose bodies are withheld.
• The food supply chain in Gaza has been severely disrupted, with significant damage to croplands, greenhouses, and agricultural structures reported in April and May. The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) estimates that roughly 41 per cent of the Gaza Strip’s total area is covered by cropland (about 150 square kilometres), comprising field crops, vegetables and orchards, and other trees. However, a recent assessment by FAO and the United Nations Satellite Centre (UNOSAT) indicates a significant decline in crop health and density across the Strip due to razing, heavy vehicle movement, bombing, shelling and other conflict-related operations. The findings highlight the “urgent need to provide emergency support to restart local production of fresh and perishable food.” As of May 2024, about 57 per cent of Gaza’s cropland is estimated to have been damaged, compared to more than 40 per cent in mid-February 2024. Khan Younis governorate accounted for the largest area of damaged cropland, and the area of damaged cropland in Rafah more than doubled in May compared to February, increasing from 4.52 to 9.22 square kilometres. FAO further assessed that about a third of the area of greenhouses in the Gaza Strip has been damaged as of 23 April, and Gaza and North Gaza governorates exhibited the most significant damage with more than 80 per cent of their greenhouse areas damaged. Hundreds of agricultural structures have also been assessed as damaged by FAO as of 20 May, including 537 home barns, 484 broiler farms, 397 sheep farms, and 256 agricultural warehouses, in addition to some 46 per cent of Gaza’ agricultural wells (1,049 out of 2,261).
• The situation in southern Gaza is quickly deteriorating as people have been crammed in a “highly congested area along the beach in the burning summer heat,” while active conflict and lawlessness have made it “near-impossible” for WFP and its partners to meet the soaring needs, highlighted the World Food Programme (WFP) Deputy Executive Director, Carl Skau, on 14 June, following a two-day visit to Gaza. In northern Gaza, he noted that food deliveries have improved but people need more diverse, nutritious food. Skau explained that humanitarians are finding it more difficult to do their job: “Staff spend five to eight hours waiting at checkpoints every day. Missiles hit our premises, despite being deconflicted. The breakdown of law and order means we also face looting and violence amid a large security vacuum.” Describing scenes of large-scale destruction, rivers of sewage, and how traumatized and exhausted people are “from the south to the northernmost tip of the Strip,” the WFP Deputy Executive Director emphasized that achieving a stable food security situation across Gaza requires the sustained scale-up of supplies of fresh food, access to clean water and healthcare, and fuel for bakeries, and above all “people want this war to end, and so do we.” Skau stressed that WFP is now looking at ways to further support the functioning of bakeries and markets in ways that can help people begin the process of restoring their lives beyond mere survival.

• The Site Management Working Group (SMWG) reports that over one million people have been forced out of Rafah since the onset of the Israeli forces’ ground operation there on 7 May, and an estimated 60,000 to 75,000 people remain Al Mawasi area of Rafah and 750 people in Rafah city as of 17 May. At displacement sites, internally displaced persons (IDPs) are living in overcrowded makeshift shelters and tents, which are in dire need of repair and do not offer any protection from extreme heat, according to recent UN inter-cluster assessments led by OCHA between 7 and 14 June. The assessments covered four informal displacement sites in Deir al Balah, two in Khan Younis and two in Al Mawasi area of Rafah, with a total population of over 130,000 people. Additional key findings from these assessments include:
  • People report a critical lack of antenatal and postnatal care, limited access to treatments for people with chronic illnesses, and the absence of assistive devices for persons with disabilities and the elderly. Some displacement sites have medical points that operate only a few hours a day and face shortages of medicines. Unaffordable transportation and the lack of ambulance services hamper access to partially functioning hospitals, with reports of emergency deliveries taking place in tents with no medical support at late hours during the night. Despite visible signs of wasting among children, no nutrition screenings have been conducted to assess the scale of malnutrition and treat identified cases due to limited capacity.
  • Access to water is critically low, with people having to queue for long hours to collect it and being forced to rely on sea water for domestic use, including for newborns at one site. People are using shallow pit latrines, and there is a continuing spread of communicable illnesses, amid sewage overflow, the proliferation of insects, rodents and snakes, and a near-total lack of hygiene items and sanitation facilities.
  • Children are engaging in burdensome and risky tasks, such as water and food collection, being exposed to violence at distribution points due to competition over scarce resources and to the ubiquitous risk of unexploded ordnance. There are also growing reports of gender-based violence, particularly domestic violence and early marriage, further exacerbating challenges faced by women and children.
  • Only a small portion of displaced people can regularly access hot meals, no distributions of flour or food parcels have taken place recently, and basic food items on the market are largely unaffordable. There is also a critical lack of milk and formula for babies and nutritional supplements for children and pregnant and breastfeeding women. In the absence of fuel, people are being forced to burn plastic from garbage or wood to cook. Many households report having only one meal every day, with some having one meal every two or three days, relying mostly on bread, food sharing with other families, and rationing stocks.
• Access constraints continue to severely undermine the delivery of essential humanitarian assistance and services across Gaza, including the delivery of food and nutrition assistance, medical care, protection and shelter support, and water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) services to hundreds of thousands of people. Between 1 and 18 June, out of the 61 coordinated humanitarian assistance missions to northern Gaza, 28 (46 per cent) were facilitated by Israeli authorities, eight (13 per cent) were denied access, 16 (26 per cent) were impeded, and nine (15 per cent) were cancelled due to logistical, operational or security reasons. Out of the 192 coordinated humanitarian assistance missions to areas in southern Gaza, 134 (70 per cent) were facilitated by Israeli authorities, 12 (six per cent) were denied access, 26 (14 per cent) were impeded, and 20 (10 per cent) were cancelled. During this period, denied missions included four solid waste transfer missions to landfills, water delivery to multiple schools and other sites in northern Gaza, and transfer of hygiene kits also to northern Gaza. Furthermore, insecurity due to ongoing military operations and a breakdown of civil order continues to be widespread, with multiple reported incidents of theft of relief supplies and shootings that posed significant risks to the population and humanitarian workers.
• The intensification of hostilities has caused “unprecedented devastation to the Palestinian labour market and the wider economy,” according to a recent analysis released on 7 June by the International Labour Organization (ILO) and the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS). Between October 2023 and May 2024, real GDP in Gaza plummeted by a staggering 83.5 per cent, compared to the corresponding pre-war period, and the economy has shrunk to only 4.1 per cent of the Palestinian economy, down from nearly 17 per cent. Gaza’s unemployment rate has also skyrocketed to over 79 per cent, amid a devastating loss of lives and livelihoods, repeated displacement, and destruction of infrastructure. High inflationary pressures have further aggravated the suffering, eroding people’s purchasing power and their ability to meet even the most basic needs, with year-on-year inflation peaking to over 153 per cent in the Strip in April 2024. In the West Bank, real GDP has decreased by nearly 23 per cent and unemployment increased to about 32 per cent. Among workers still employed in the West Bank, 51 per cent have faced reduced working hours and nearly 63 per cent have experienced wage reductions. Significantly, all private sector establishments in Gaza and 29 per cent of private sector establishments in the West Bank either halted their operations or reduced production, amounting to an estimated total loss of US$2.3 billion in production value (not encompassing losses in fixed assets), including 1.5 billion in the West Bank and 810 million in the Gaza Strip.

West Bank Humanitarian Developments

Due to Eid Al-Adha holiday, some developments in the West Bank during the reporting period are yet to be verified, so this update may not include total figures for key indicators monitored by OCHA.

• Between 11 and 18 June, Israeli forces killed 11 Palestinians, including two children, in the West Bank, of whom nine were in Jenin governorate, one in Nablus governorate, and one in Bethlehem governorate (see details below).
  • On 11 June, Israeli forces shot and killed six Palestinians, including a 17-year-old boy, during an operation in Kafr Dan village, northwest of Jenin. Three of the fatalities were killed when an undercover unit followed by military reinforcements encircled and fired missiles at a residential building and exchanged fire with Palestinians inside. A family of five, including two children, was also displaced. Clashes between Israeli forces and Palestinians who threw stones and explosive devices at the forces also resulted in the killing of three Palestinians. The Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) reported that Israeli forces initially prevented their ambulance from transporting the casualties and opened fire toward them. According to the Israeli army cited in the media, six Palestinian gunmen were killed in the operation.
  • On 13 June, an undercover Israeli force followed by military reinforcements encircled an under-construction building in Qabatiya (Jenin) and exchanged fire with two Palestinians inside. The house was then struck with several missiles. Video footage showed an Israeli military bulldozer lifting the bodies of two killed Palestinians along with rubble from inside the house. A third Palestinian was shot and killed during a subsequent confrontation between Israeli forces who fired live ammunition and Palestinians who threw stones and Molotov cocktails at the forces in the town.
  • On 15 June, Israeli forces shot and killed a 15-year-old boy and injured two others with live ammunition during a search-and-arrest operation in Beit Furik village (Nablus).
  • On 18 June, Israeli forces shot and killed a 39-year-old Palestinian man for allegedly attempting to stab Israeli soldiers at the entrance to Beit Fajjar town (Bethlehem) and withheld his body.
• On 14 June, Israeli military forces injured 16 Palestinians during a raid in Al Bireh city and its vicinity. Six Palestinians were injured by live bullets, including two children, one was shot with a rubber bullet, and nine suffered from tear gas inhalation. One Palestinian was also arrested.
• Between 11 and 18 June, Israeli settlers perpetrated at least 11 attacks that resulted in the injury of 24 Palestinians and damage to Palestinian property, including vandalism of trees, saplings and crops. The following are some key incidents during this period:
  • On 12 June, Israeli settlers shot and injured a Palestinian shopkeeper, and assaulted and injured another in the Old City of Jerusalem. Reportedly, the settlers marched through the Old City, chanted anti-Palestinian slogans, and attacked some shops.
  • On 17 June, armed Israeli settlers, who have newly established an extension to Givat Assaf settlement outpost on the eastern outskirts of Deir Dibwan village, attacked Khallet Al Maghara herding community (Ramallah). As Palestinians were evacuating the community along with their sheep, they were attacked by another group of armed Israeli settlers east of Deir Dibwan village who opened fire toward Palestinians, physically assaulted them, and used clubs to attack them. As a result, 15 Palestinians were injured, including five children, sustaining fractures, bruises and injury by glass shrapnel. All the injured were transported to a medical centre in the village for treatment. In addition, Israeli settlers also vandalized one ambulance and ten other vehicles. Due to this and other frequent intimidations and attacks by Israeli settlers on this herding community, a family of four people, including one child, was displaced. The family was forced to leave behind two residential shelters, three animal shelters, two animal barns, and all their personal belongings. There are 10 households comprising more than 50 people still living in the community but have all temporarily moved to other locations as part of their seasonal movement, except the now displaced family.
  • On 18 June, around 20 Israeli settlers, reportedly from Yitzhar settlement, attacked Burin village (Nablus) while attempting to set fire to a vehicle when its driver was still inside. The owners of a nearby kiosk, a man and his wife, pulled the man out of the car and the settlers then assaulted and threw stones at them. The couple were injured, the kiosk sustained partial damage, and the vehicle was eventually set on fire. Later, Israeli settlers set fire to lands in the village and threw stones at residents; according to initial information, more than 200 olive trees were damaged. Following the incident, Israeli soldiers reportedly raided the village and carried out a search operation.
• Between 11 and 18 June, Israeli authorities demolished or forced Palestinian owners to demolish eight Palestinian-owned structures due to the lack of Israeli-issued building permits, displacing 21 people, including 14 children. All the structures were in Area C of the West Bank and included two tents, an animal shelter and a kitchen in Bardala village (Tubas), a residence in Umm Qussa village (Hebron), and an agricultural room, a storage room and a fence in Kharbatha al Misbah village (Ramallah).
• On 13 June, during a ten-hour Israeli operation in Jenin Refugee Camp and parts of Jenin city, military bulldozers damaged four residential shelters, displacing 11 families of 48 people including 17 children, and several road sections, causing power outages. Exchanges of fire were reported, and local community sources indicated that Israeli army jeeps encircled the vicinity of Jenin governmental hospital and carried out extensive searches of ambulances moving in and out of the hospital. According to PRCS, Israeli forces prevented a PRCS ambulance from evacuating an injured Palestinian, arrested him, as well as physically assaulted and injured a Palestinian paramedic.
• On 14 June, the World Health Organization (WHO) expressed concern over the escalating health crisis in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, since 7 October. Between 7 October and 28 May, WHO documented 480 attacks on health care in the West Bank, the majority (59 per cent) in the cities of Tulkarem, Jenin and Nablus. Echoing similar concerns, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) stated on 19 June that “medical and paramedical staff [in the West Bank] are repeatedly attacked, harassed, blocked and hindered as they attempt to tend to injured people.” According to WHO, access to health has been restricted by a variety of obstacles, including the closure of checkpoints, detention of health workers as well as the siege and closure of entire towns. Moreover, 44 per cent of 28,292 permit applications to access health facilities in East Jerusalem and Israel between October 2023 and May 2024 have been denied or remain pending, showing a 56 per cent decrease in applications and a 22 per cent decrease in approvals compared with October 2022–May 2023 period. WHO further highlighted the impact of the fiscal crisis faced by the Palestinian Authority (PA) on the health system, “with health workers receiving only half of their salary for nearly a year and 45 per cent of essential medications being out of stock.” Most West Bank areas also suffer from limited services, as “primary care clinics and outpatient specialty clinics are now operating two days per week, and hospitals are operating at approximately 70 per cent [of] capacity.”

Funding

• As of 14 June, Member States have disbursed about $1.06 billion out of $3.42 billion (31 per cent) requested to meet the most critical needs of 2.3 million people in Gaza and 800,000 people in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, between January and December 2024. For funding analysis, please see the Flash Appeal Financial Tracking dashboard.
• The oPt HF has 109 ongoing projects, for a total of $78.9 million, addressing urgent needs in the Gaza Strip (86 per cent) and West Bank (14 per cent). Of these projects, 69 projects are being implemented by international non-governmental organizations (INGOs), 26 by national NGOs and 14 by UN agencies. Notably, 43 out of the 83 projects implemented by INGOs or the UN are being implemented in collaboration with national NGOs. Since 7 October, the oPt HF has mobilized over $100 million from Member States and private donors, designated for programmes throughout Gaza. A summary of the oPt HF activities and challenges in May 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.

309.

19 juni 2024

Today's headlines

The kibbutzniks blocking humanitarian aid to Gaza

Complicity in genocide is not confined to the Israeli right. Members of the liberal organization that spearheaded the anti-Netanyahu protests last year are now blocking humanitarian aid to Gaza.

What’s next for the Uncommitted campaign?

The Uncommitted Movement proved to be hugely popular during the Democratic primaries. What happens now?

308.

19 juni 2024

Israel is a core pillar of U.S. dominance.

Tell Congress: Stop arming Israel.

Happy Juneteenth

What we're reading

What we're not reading

We're not reading the ADL's efforts to conflate criticism of Israel with antisemitism. And soon, no one might, as the ADL faces a Wikipedia ban.

Wikipedia's editors determined in a vote that the ADL is "generally unreliable" on Palestine/Israel. An "overwhelming majority of editors involved in the debate about the ADL" also voted to declare the organization unreliable on the subject of antisemitism, putting the ADL in the company of the National Inquirer, Newsmax, and others.

307.

18 juni 2024

In today's Daily Brief:

• Defending the ICC

And Justice for All

Ask people what they think about the term “universal human rights,” and I bet you’ll find the word “rights” is less problematic for many than the word “universal.”

Folks don’t generally take issue with the idea that they have fundamental freedoms, or human rights, themselves. But it’s often trickier to convince them that everyone else also has those same rights.

It’s the old us-versus-them problem . When it’s me, my family, and my friends, it’s easier to empathize than when it’s someone else, particularly someone not like me, my family, and my friends. In a war, these feelings get amplified, and people too easily deny the rights of victims if they are seen as enemy rather than ally.

We can see this on a grand scale in a strain of US political thinking about the International Criminal Court (ICC).

The US is not one of the 124 member countries of the ICC. Still, both Democratic and Republican presidential administrations have supported the court in specific cases. The US government has even assisted with the arrest of suspects wanted by the court. The Biden administration has recognized the court’s key role in addressing atrocity crimes in Ukraine and Darfur, Sudan.

When it comes to the ICC looking into Israel’s actions in Gaza, however, the approach shifts sharply among US politicians ( Republicans and Democrats, including  Biden) who want to be seen supporting Israel.

We saw this even before ICC prosecutor Karim Khan announced he was seeking arrest warrants for five leading figures, three from Hamas and two from the Israeli government. In April, twelve US senators threatened to sanction Khan if he pursued cases against top Israeli officials.

After the warrant applications were announced, the US House of Representatives passed a bill aimed at imposing sanctions against the ICC, its officials, and those supporting investigations at the court involving US citizens or allies. Biden has so far opposed the current bill, but it is now under consideration in the US Senate.

Apparently, for some US politicians, international law should apply to some perpetrators, but not to others; some victims deserve justice, but not others.

It’s an assault on the very concept of universality. As I’ve said many times  before : If you only care about war crimes when your enemies commit them, then you don’t really care about war crimes, do you?

But there is some hope in this story, as well.

Ninety-three member countries of the ICC have declared their “unwavering support” for the court in the face of these and other recent threats. They reconfirmed their backing for the court “as an independent and impartial judicial institution” and their commitment to defending the ICC, its officials, and those cooperating with it from any political interference and pressure.

It’s an encouraging sign of universal principles over politics.

306a.

18 juni 2024

Today's headlines

‘Operation al-Aqsa Flood’ Day 255 cabinet

Gaza authorities accuse Israel and the U.S. of inducing starvation in Gaza as a weapon of war to force their "political goals."

The U.S. power structure is blindly dedicated to Israel

Philip Weiss

When the board of the Columbia Law Review clumsily censored a pro-Palestinian article it revealed the degree to which pro-Israel ideology is enmeshed in the U.S. power structure. Luckily, a generational shift is changing this before our eyes.

306.

Ruim acht maanden geleden startte het verwoestende geweld in Gaza. Onder de slachtoffers bevinden zich ruim 25 duizend vrouwen en kinderen. Het einde is nog niet in zicht.

Toegang voor hulpverlening blijft ontzettend moeilijk. Door gebrek aan voedsel neemt honger enorm toe. Wederom zijn vooral vrouwen en kinderen het slachtoffer van deze vreselijke situatie. CARE blijft doorgaan en geeft noodhulp waar het kan. Helpt u mee? 

GEEF VOOR GAZA

Geef alstublieft voor families in Gaza zodat zij overleven. Tienduizend kinderen zijn al ondervoed. Help hen vandaag nog.

Al honderden hulpverleners hebben het niet overleefd. Ondanks de grote risico's ondersteunt CARE de inwoners van Gaza nog steeds met mobiele medische teams. Als één van de weinige hulporganisaties leveren wij noodhulp van binnenuit.

Alleen door mensen zoals u kunnen wij ons werk doen. In noodsituaties waar ook ter wereld. Ik wil u daarom enorm bedanken voor uw steun en vertrouwen in CARE.

Met vriendelijke groet,

Nok van de Langenberg
Hoofd humanitaire actie bij CARE Nederland

305.

18 juni 2024

18 juni 2024

304.

17 juni 2024

Today's headlines

Divestment at the University of Edinburgh: Breaking from Balfour’s colonial legacy

As a university steeped in the legacy of Balfour, we have an urgent duty to end complicity in Israel's settler colonial project. Divestment from companies complicit in occupation, apartheid, and genocide is the first step toward historical redress.

Rotten to the Core: How the Gaza genocide has revealed anti-Palestinian racism at Apple

Apple has silenced employees who have spoken out for Palestine and shown bias toward Israel through statements and actions. In the process it has lost all credibility as a company that claims to believe in racial equity or social justice.

303.

16 juni 2024

Since October 7th, Israeli resistance has faced persecution and activists have been labeled as traitors and terror supporters. Many felt voiceless, and unable to make an impact. This is why we established our social media platform, “Voices Against War” (VAW).
 

Our main goal is to ensure people know Israelis against the war and apartheid exist. Not all are genocidal maniacs. 

When we started working with RSN last October we only had a few hundred followers on social media. Now, we have nearly 50,000 followers across Instagram, Twitter and Facebook, and our newsletter’s reach has almost doubled. Just this past month our posts reached over 2.4 million people, making VAW the largest social media platform dedicated to amplifying the voices of Israeli resistance. Our wide reach has brought global attention to many actions and has been vital in supporting our community and linking us with activists abroad.

In solidarity,
Atalya Ben-Abba
Coordinator
Refuser Solidarity Network

302.

16 juni 2024

Our Eid Is When The Genocide Ends

We stick together with our people in Gaza and pledge to continue fighting for their human rights and fundamental freedoms through tireless advocacy and organizing efforts.

In solidarity,
The AMP Family

301.

16 juni 2024

Today's headlines

Blinken’s lies about Hamas rejecting a ceasefire reveal the Biden administration’s true intentions

The Biden administration is playing a shell game with the Gaza ceasefire that aims to trick the Democratic base into thinking meaningful action is taking place to end fighting while still allowing Israel to continue its genocidal campaign.

Read more

How Israel’s massacre of 270 Palestinians in Gaza’s Nuseirat refugee camp unfolded

Faris Giacaman speaks to Tareq Hajjaj about his reporting on the Nuseirat massacre and the U.S. "floating dock" off Gaza's coast.

300.

15 juni 2024

Today's headlines

The story of the U.S. ‘floating dock’ built from the rubble of Gaza’s homes

The U.S. said it was constructing a floating pier off Gaza’s coast to deliver humanitarian aid to the people of Gaza. However, the real reason it exists is to protect American interests in the region.

Why the fight for Palestine is the fight against U.S. imperialism in the region

We need an alternative approach to understanding Palestine that situates it within the wider region and the Middle East’s central place in our fossil fuel-centered world. It´s all about U.S. imperialism and oil reserves.

299.

14 juni 2024

Your Activist Scoop

• The Biden administration has continued lying to cover up Israel’s refusal of the three-stage ceasefire deal, even after the UN Security Council passed a binding resolution for it this week.
• The House voted to block U.S. funding for critically needed reconstruction in Gaza, which now heads to the Senate.
• U.S.-made Boeing GBU-39 bombs have been identified at both the Rafah tent massacre and UN school massacre sites.
• Reports from Gaza have circulated suggesting that American and Israeli soldiers used the U.S.-built pier in Gaza to launch a sneak attack disguised as an aid truck, massacring 275 Palestinians in Nuseirat refugee camp on Saturday.

The People's Red Line outside the White House.

298.

14 juni 2024

We are witnessing a pivotal moment in our fight to end the ongoing genocide in Gaza. Eight officials from across the U.S. government have publicly resigned in protest of Biden’s role in Israel’s war crimes, and many more have quietly left.

These resignations are making waves in Washington, exposing the cracks within the administration and acting as a powerful rebuke of Biden’s policies.

As of this writing, Israel has murdered more than 37,000 Palestinians in Gaza with the full military, financial, and political backing of the U.S. We must keep pushing to end our government’s complicity.

Earlier this year, we put out a call to more than 200 Biden administration staffers to resign. Together, we sent four million emails demanding they quit genocide. The growing dissent we are seeing within his administration is no coincidence. Your actions are making a difference.

Now is the time to keep pushing.

We are now calling on State Department staff working under Secretary of State Antony Blinken — one of the main enablers of Israel’s genocide — to resign.

What we are doing is working, and it’s crucial to double down on our efforts.

The administration’s genocidal policies can only be executed with the help of staffers within the State Department and other agencies, who are ultimately tasked with promoting and advancing U.S. foreign policy - whether they agree with it or not.

For a free Palestine,

Alia El-Assar
Adalah Justice Project

297.

14 juni 2024

Humanitarian Situation Update #179
Gaza Strip

Palestinian girls use a wheelchair to carry water in Khan Younis city, in the southern Gaza Strip. Photo by UNICEF/Eyad El Baba

Key Highlights

• Only two stabilization centres for severely malnourished children remain functional across the Gaza Strip as catastrophic hunger grips a significant portion of Gaza’s population, warn UN agencies. 
• Displaced families face significant challenges in accessing basic services, with a critically low access to water, according to recent humanitarian assessments. 
• Jordan, Egypt and the UN co-organize a “Call for Action” conference to urgently strengthen the humanitarian response in Gaza, as fuel shortages and access constraints continue to severely disrupt the delivery of life-saving aid.

Humanitarian Developments

• Israeli bombardment from the air, land, and sea continues to be reported across much of the Gaza Strip, resulting in further civilian casualties, displacement, and destruction of houses and other civilian infrastructure. Ground incursions and heavy fighting also continue to be reported across Gaza, including in Beit Hanoun, south of Gaza city, eastern Deir al Balah, northeastern Khan Younis, as well as in eastern, central and western Rafah.
• Between the afternoons of 10 and 14 June, according to the Ministry of Health (MoH) in Gaza, 142 Palestinians were killed and 396 were injured.  Between 7 October 2023 and 14 June 2024, at least 37,266 Palestinians were killed and 85,102 were injured in Gaza, according to MoH in Gaza. 
• The following are among the deadly incidents reported between 10 and 12 June:   
  • On 10 June, at about 12:20, at least five Palestinians were reportedly killed and 30 injured when several residential buildings were hit in Al Qarara, north of Khan Younis city. 
  • On 10 June, at about 13:20, five Palestinians, including four women and one man, were reportedly killed and others injured when a house was hit in Al Fukhari area, southeast of Khan Younis city.
  • On 11 June, in the morning hours, eight Palestinians were reportedly killed and others injured when a house was hit in Ad Daraj neighbourhood, in Gaza’s Old City.
  • On 12 June, at about 1:30, seven Palestinians were reportedly killed and others injured when a house was hit in Ash Shuja’iyya neighbourhood, east of Gaza city.
  • On 12 June, at about 2:30, eight Palestinians, including an unidentified number of children, were reportedly killed and others injured when a house was hit in Ad Daraj neighbourhood, in Gaza’s Old City. 
  • On 12 June, during the morning hours, at least four Palestinians were reportedly killed and others injured when a residential building was hit in Az Zaytoun neighbourhood, in southern Gaza city. 
  • On 12 June, at about 23:55, four Palestinians, including a man, a woman and their two children, were reportedly killed and at least six others were injured when a house was hit in Al Hassayna area in western An Nuseirat Refugee Camp, in Deir al Balah.
• Between the afternoons of 10 and 14 June, four Israeli soldiers were reported killed in Gaza. As of 14 June, 299 soldiers have been killed and 1,940 soldiers have been injured in Gaza or along the border in Israel since the beginning of the ground operation, according to the Israeli military. In addition, according to the Israeli media citing official Israeli sources, over 1,200 Israelis and foreign nationals, including 33 children, have been killed in Israel, the vast majority on 7 October.  As of 14 June, it is estimated that 120 Israelis and foreign nationals remain captive in Gaza, including fatalities whose bodies are withheld.
• Israeli evacuation orders and military operations since early May have so far forced the displacement of about one million people from Rafah and more than 100,000 people in northern Gaza. Assessments by humanitarian organizations over the past month have highlighted the dire conditions facing displaced families, with significant challenges to their ability to access basic services.   
  • Between 14 and 16 May, a light-touch rapid assessment by the Site Management Working Group (SMWG) found that more than half (51 per cent) of 47 assessed locations across all five Gaza governorates reported that people were displaced in new sites, 31 per cent were displaced in existing sites, and 16 per cent returned to destroyed houses. The majority of displaced people from Rafah sought refuge in the already overcrowded and resource-depleted governorates of Khan Younis and Deir al Balah. Interviewed key informants highlighted that new arrivals were facing a range of challenges in accessing basic services and identified food as their first priority, followed by water and sanitation, and health. The main reported barriers to accessing water and health services included the lack of a sufficient number of water points, the long distance to available water points and health facilities, overcrowded health facilities, and the lack of water tanks, storage containers, medicines and transportation.  
  • On 7 June, two inter-cluster assessments led by OCHA were carried out at two informal displacement sites in Deir al Balah. At both Abo Dalal and Ard Al Ghusain displacement sites, which house 3,000 and 7,000 displaced people respectively, families reported irregular food distributions, overcrowded and dilapidated shelters with an average of eight to 10 persons per shelter, lack of sanitation infrastructure, and a range of health issues such as skin diseases, hepatitis A, gastroenteritis, and respiratory illnesses. Moreover, domestic violence and mental health issues were highlighted as prevalent, with children having no access to child-friendly spaces or educational activities. A critically low access to water was also reported as a key concern; average water availability per person per day was less than two litres at Abo Dalal displacement site and only 0.7 litres at Ard Al Ghusain displacement site. This is less than the internationally recognized minimum requirement for survival of three litres per day and significantly lower than the minimum amount of 15 litres per day needed in an emergency for drinking, washing and cooking. 

• The water and sanitation infrastructure in Gaza continues to sustain significant damage. According to the Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH) Cluster, the recent intensification of military operations has resulted in additional losses of critical water and sanitation assets, including five water production wells in Jabalya, and two water wells, the supply line from the Egypt-based desalination plant and two desalination plants, all in Rafah. Over the past eight months, WASH Cluster partners estimate that approximately 67 per cent of water and sanitation facilities and infrastructure have been destroyed or damaged due to conflict-related activities, with damage to mobile assets yet to be assessed.  Damaged facilities include 194 water production wells, 40 high volume water reservoirs, 55 sewage pumping stations, 76 municipal desalination plants, four waste water treatment plants and nine warehouses. Many other facilities have also been rendered non-operational due to a range of challenges, including insecurity, constrained access, lack of power supply and fuel to operate generators, and limited to no availability of spare parts, consumables, basic building materials and equipment.  As a result, while water production through the Coastal Municipalities Water Utility/Palestinian Water Authority (CMWU/PWA) and municipal service providers has increased to 95,000-108,000 cubic metres per day across the Gaza Strip, this figure represents only 28 per cent of water production prior to October 2023 and is unevenly distributed across the various production points. The Cluster further notes that there is a 50 per cent water loss in the distribution network due to large scale damage, limiting actual water availability. Families in informal displacement sites face additional challenges given the lack of infrastructure that needs to be newly installed to ensure service delivery.  People’s coping mechanisms are heavily stretched, the Cluster emphasizes; the most vulnerable people are collecting water from unreliable sources in inadequate containers and lack hygiene items such as soap or facilities for handwashing and other basic hygiene practices. Combined, these factors have contributed to elevated levels of acute watery diarrhea, skin diseases and an outbreak of Hepatitis A. 
• No international Emergency Medical Teams (EMTs) are currently deployed in Rafah or in northern Gaza due to rising insecurity, reported the World Health Organization (WHO). Medical evacuations of critical patients outside of Gaza also remain suspended, and persistent fuel shortages continue to threaten the functioning of vital medical infrastructure and equipment. Moreover, while 17 of Gaza’s 36 hospitals are partially functional, 14 are partially accessible due to insecurity and physical barriers, such as damage to patient and ambulance entrances and surrounding roads. In Rafah, where no hospitals are currently functional, the ICRC field hospital represents a lifeline for the population, while the UAE field hospital remains only partially functional amid severe access challenges. In a positive development, in Khan Younis, Al Khair Hospital resumed partial functionality, and 15 dialysis machines to serve 250 patients were provided to Nasser Medical Complex with support from the World Bank. However, the CT scanner at Nasser remains out of service and diagnostic capacity has severely shrunk. In North Gaza, following the Israeli forces’ withdrawal on 31 May, access to the Al-Awda, Kamal Adwan and Indonesian hospitals has been partially restored; the Indonesian Hospital now offers only basic emergency services while inpatient services have resumed at both Kamal Adwan (144 beds) and Al Awda (40 beds) hospitals, with Al-Awda also providing critical maternal care. On 9 June, WHO and its partners reached both facilities, delivering 24,000 liters of fuel and medical supplies to support an estimated 2,000 patients. Two tents were also provided to Al-Awda to expand the facility’s premises. 
• The inability to provide health services safely, coupled with the lack of clean water and sanitation, are exacerbating malnutrition risks in Gaza. On 12 June, the WHO Director-General, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, stressed that a “significant proportion of Gaza’s population is now facing catastrophic hunger and famine-like conditions.” While over 8,000 children under the age of five have been already diagnosed for acute malnutrition, ongoing insecurity, access constraints and large-scale displacement continue to hamper the critical scale-up of identification of cases of malnourished children at the community level, explains the Nutrition Cluster. On 11 June, UNICEF further warned that almost 3,000 children, who were receiving treatment for acute malnutrition in the south prior to the military escalation in Rafah, have now been cut off from life-saving services due to displacement and shrinking treatment capacity; only two stabilization centres for severely malnourished children are now functional in Gaza, one in North Gaza and one in Deir al Balah. “Our warnings of mounting child deaths from a preventable combination of malnutrition, dehydration and disease should have mobilized immediate action to save children’s lives, and yet, this devastation continues,” stated the UNICEF Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa, Adele Khodr. On 14 June, the Director of Kamal Adwan Hospital in North Gaza reported to the media that they have recently documented more than 200 cases of children with multiple signs of malnutrition. 
• A new assessment by the Education Cluster, based on satellite imagery collected on 3 and 7 May, reveals a further increase in the scale of damage and destruction of schools in the Gaza Strip compared with the 1 April analysis. Over 76 per cent of schools in Gaza are now assessed as requiring full reconstruction or major rehabilitation to be functional again, up from 73 per cent. The assessment also highlights a “continuous spike in the direct targeting of schools,” with 23 facilities that had already been classified as “damaged” in the previous analysis being affected by additional direct hits in April. Among school buildings used as IDP shelters, 69 per cent have been directly hit or damaged, up from 65 per cent in March. Overall, some 54 per cent of school buildings (307 out of 563) have been “directly hit,” 22 per cent (123) of school buildings have been “damaged,” while 15 per cent (86) are classified as “likely or possibly damaged.” Of note, more than 96 per cent (296) of all directly hit schools are in areas subject to evacuation orders issued by Israeli authorities. Furthermore, out of all damaged schools, 61 have been totally destroyed and 39 have lost at least half of their structures. North Gaza and Gaza governorates have been the most impacted, with about 90 per cent and 89 per cent of their school buildings directly hit or damaged, respectively. 
• In May, humanitarian access in Gaza was severely hindered by intense military activities, the closure of crossings, volatile security conditions, unexploded ordnance, complex and inconsistent movement notification and coordination procedures, damaged and overcrowded roads, and inconsistent checkpoint procedures. These challenges have persisted in June; between 1 and 13 June, out of 44 planned coordinated humanitarian assistance missions to northern Gaza, 23 (52 per cent) were facilitated by Israeli authorities, four (nine per cent) were denied access, 10 (23 per cent) were impeded, and seven (16 per cent) were cancelled due to logistical, operational or security reasons. In addition, out of 151 coordinated humanitarian assistance missions to areas in southern Gaza, 108 (71 per cent) were facilitated by Israeli authorities, seven (five per cent) were denied access, 24 (16 per cent) were impeded, and 12 (eight per cent) were cancelled. Many missions classified as “impeded” experienced extended delays imposed by the Israeli army. During the same period, a humanitarian convoy was delayed for over nine hours at an insecure checkpoint leading to northern Gaza, preventing the organization from delivering critical medicines and nutrition supplies for more than 10,000 children. Another humanitarian mission to northern Gaza, which involved the delivery of critical medical supplies to hospitals and transfer of one patient, faced a delay of over five hours at a checkpoint, undermining these critical medical activities. 
• On 11 June, the World Food Programme (WFP) stressed that while it has been able to reach over one million people in the Gaza Strip last month, aid operations have been severely affected by the escalation in fighting and urgently need “regular access, the ability to transport aid safely, and fighting to stop.” On the same day, WFP took the precaution of temporarily halting operations at the floating dock, pending a thorough security assessment needed to ensure the safety and security of staff and partners. On 12 June, Humanity and Inclusion (HI) reported that the Israeli army bulldozed the NGO’s warehouse in Rafah, “where nearly 200 pallets of humanitarian equipment were stored,” noting its location and function had been reported to the Israeli authorities. 
• A high-level conference, titled “Call for Action: Urgent Humanitarian Response for Gaza,” was held in Jordan on 11 June. Co-organized by Jordan, Egypt and the UN, the conference aimed to identify means of strengthening the humanitarian response in Gaza, including the operational, logistical, protection, and other conditions necessary for establishing sustainable pipelines to immediately deliver sufficient aid. The conference also discussed preparations for early recovery and garnered commitments for a coordinated collective response. It was attended by Heads of State and representatives of governments and international organizations, including UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator Martin Griffiths, and Humanitarian Coordinator for the Occupied Palestinian Territory Muhannad Hadi. In his remarks at the conference, Guterres saluted “the brave humanitarians in Gaza working in nightmare conditions to stem the suffering,” called for full accountability for the deaths of 193 UNRWA staff members, and reaffirmed that UNRWA is the backbone of the humanitarian response. The UN Chief further stated: “Deliveries require safe routes and effective deconfliction mechanisms to ensure their security. They require unimpeded access for security and communications equipment, commensurate with the risks of working in a war zone.  They require immediate efforts to clear routes inside Gaza, which are littered with mines and unexploded ordnance. Civilians must be allowed to seek safety.  And civilians and the infrastructure they rely on must never be militarized or targeted.” As of 12 June, at least 273 aid workers have been killed in Gaza, including 197 UN staff members, 33 PRCS staff and volunteers, and 43 other aid workers. According to MoH and Palestinian Civil Defense, 498 health workers and 70 Civil Defense staff have also been killed.

296.

14 juni 2024

Today's headlines

No need for ‘Jewish values’ in the fight for Palestine

Anna Rajagopal

The World Health Organization warned of mass starvation in Gaza. Meanwhile, Israeli forces have killed 12 people in the West Bank in 48 hours.

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14 juni 2024

Weet u wie er volgende week woensdag langskomt in Den Haag? COGAT. Ooit van gehoord?

COGAT is de Israëlische overheidsorganisatie die de ‘civiele aangelegenheden’ in de bezette Palestijnse gebieden coördineert. Zeg maar de uitvoerende tak van de bezetting. De organisatie houdt de Gazastrook al sinds 2007 in een wurggreep. Daardoor was Gaza vóór 7 oktober al onleefbaar.

COGAT zet nu uithongering in als wapen tegen de burgers van Gaza. Uithongering is de belangrijkste reden dat de aanklager van het Internationaal Strafhof om arrestatiebevelen voor Netanyahu en Gallant heeft verzocht.

Ernstig ondervoede kinderen in het Al-Aqsa ziekenhuis in Gaza, 31 mei 2024. De hongersnood in Gaza breidt zich steeds verder uit. De voedselsituatie is extreem kritiek. © Saher Alghorra/ZUMA Press Wire/Alamy

Op de bezette Westoever zijn Palestijnen afhankelijk van COGAT voor het krijgen van allerlei noodzakelijke vergunningen. En de onteigening van Palestijns land en de sloop van Palestijnse bezittingen? Ook daar is COGAT verantwoordelijk voor.

Het is voor Palestijnse burgers de gehate uitvoerende tak van het Israëlische bezettings- en apartheidsregime. En die organisatie komt woensdag naar Den Haag om te praten over ‘hulpverlening aan Gaza’. Op initiatief van PVV-Kamerlid Dennis Ram.

Het is verbijsterend dat de Kamer heeft ingestemd met deze uitnodiging. Tegen de baas van COGAT, defensieminister Yoav Gallant, kan door het Strafhof ieder moment een arrestatiebevel worden uitgevaardigd.

Lees hier het hele artikel >

Wij strijden tegen oorlogsmisdaden, annexatie, bezetting en onderdrukking.

Rol van Israëlische universiteiten bij Gaza-oorlog dwingt tot verbreken banden

De intensieve protesten van studenten en docenten brachten Nederlandse universiteiten er afgelopen weken stapvoets toe om hun relaties met Israëlische partners kritisch onder de loep te nemen. Dat proces is deze week ruw verstoord.

Op 7 juni publiceerden de rectoren van de 15 Nederlandse universiteiten een open brief in Trouw, waarin zij bekendmaken hun banden met Israëlische academische instellingen niet te verbreken. Als argument noemen zij de academische vrijheid en de mogelijkheid tot ‘wetenschappelijk diplomatie’, tegen een achtergrond van gedeelde academische waarden.

Kern vermeden
In hun brief vermijden de rectoren de kern van de protesten. Zij gaan niet in op het feit dat alle Israëlische universiteiten structureel bijdragen aan de Israëlische oorlogsmachine en het regime van bezetting, kolonisering en apart­heid.

De studentenprotesten in een notendop. Van Nederlandse universiteiten wordt geëist hun banden met Israëlische zusterinstellingen te verbreken. © Alamy / Robert vant Hoenderdaal

Als recent voorbeeld geldt de opstelling van de Israëlische universiteiten ten aanzien van de oorlog in Gaza. In hun verklaringen stelden zij zich op als megafoon van het regime, bereid om diens oorlogsretoriek te verspreiden, inclusief de ontmenselijking van de Palestijnse vijand. Ook bestookten zij niet-Israëlische – vermoedelijk ook Nederlandse – universiteiten met agressieve Israëlische propaganda.

Eis blijft staan
Dat valt niet te rijmen met de ‘gedeelde academische waarden’ waarop de 15 Nederlandse rectoren hun besluit baseren. Van hen wordt onverminderd gevraagd zich uit te spreken tegen het Israëlische geweld in Gaza en de overige bezette Palestijnse gebieden; en te besluiten dat de rol van de Israëlische universiteiten daarin onvermijdelijk moet leiden tot het verbreken van de institutionele banden.

Nieuwe documentatie over samenwerking met Israëlische universiteiten

Documentaire | Where Olive Trees Weep

Op 24 juni wordt de documentaire vertoond in het MidWest cafe in Amsterdam. Aanvang is 19.00 uur.

Israël eindelijk op ‘lijst van schaamte’ van VN

Israël wordt door de VN opgenomen op een zwarte lijst van landen en strijdgroepen die ernstig inbreuk maken op de rechten van kinderen. De lijst – vanwege de ernst ook ‘lijst van schaamte’ genoemd – maakt deel uit van het jaarlijkse VN-rapport Children and armed conflict dat half juni verschijnt.

Directe aanleiding vormt het geweld dat het Israëlische leger sinds 7 oktober 2023 gebruikt tegen de burgerbevolking van de Gazastrook. Daarbij kwamen ten minste 13 duizend kinderen om. Ook de dagelijkse aanvallen van gewapende Israëlische burgers op de Palestijnse bevolking van de bezette Westelijke Jordaanoever worden genoemd.

Op 17 maart 2024 werden door de organisatie Plant een Olijfboom duizenden kinderschoenen opgesteld op het Utrechtse Vredenburgplein. Zij symboliseren de duizenden Palestijnse kinderen die sinds 7 oktober 2023 in Gaza door Israël zijn gedood. © The Rights Forum

Paria-status
Al sinds 2015 worden vragen gesteld waarom Israël ondanks zijn gedocumenteerde schendingen van kinderrechten niet op de lijst werd geplaatst. In het rapport van 2023 werd Israël omschreven als een van de zwaarste schenders, maar ook toen niet opgenomen op de lijst van schaamte. Politieke druk van Israël en de VS wist dat te voorkomen. Die ban is nu gebroken.

Opname op de zwarte lijst leidt niet tot directe sancties, maar dwingt Israël mee te werken aan een VN-actieplan ter beëindiging van zijn schendingen. Bovenal vreest Israël de paria­status die onlosmakelijk met de lijst is verbonden. Die kan leiden tot een veranderde opstelling van regeringen, en van internationale bedrijven die vrezen voor boycots en reputatieschade als zij met Israël (blijven) samenwerken.

Op dinsdag 18 juni bieden wij de Tweede Kamer onze petitie 'Handen af van Rafah' aan. Daarin stellen wij dat de Israëlische aanval op Rafah consequenties moet krijgen: een stop op militaire samenwerking en handel met Israël.

Wij roepen al onze volgers op de petitie nog eenmaal in hun netwerken te verspreiden, om in deze laatste week zo veel mogelijk handtekeningen te verzamelen.

Volgens premier Rutte zou de aanval op Rafah ‘catastrofale gevolgen’ hebben. ‘Don’t do it’, liet hij de Israëlische premier Netanyahu weten. Nu dat wel is gebeurd, moeten wij onze politici aan hun woord houden. Het mag niet, zoals zo vaak, bij loze woorden blijven! 

Almere in actie voor stadsgenoot Abed die vastzit in Gaza

In Almere wordt vrijdag 14 juni een solidariteitsactie gehouden voor Almeerder Abed Al Attar die al maanden vastzit in de Gazastrook. Hij was daar voor een bruiloft toen de oorlog uitbrak, maar krijgt ondanks zijn Nederlandse paspoort geen toestemming om Gaza te verlaten.

De fractievoorzitter van DENK in Almere, Hassan Buyatui, heeft dagelijks contact met Abed en hoorde van de steeds nijpendere financiële situatie van zijn gezin. Zijn partij organiseert daarom deze solidariteitsactie om aandacht te vragen voor Abed's situatie.

'Als ik met hem bel om te vragen hoe het gaat, zegt hij telkens hetzelfde: Ik wil terug naar mijn vrouw; ik wil terug naar mijn kinderen', zegt Buyatui. 'Daarom is dat ook de slogan van de actie geworden.'

De actie vindt vandaag, op vrijdag 14 juni, plaats op het Stadhuisplein in Almere, van 18.00 tot 19.00 uur. 

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Today's headlines

‘Their message is, The Empire Strikes Back’: Breaking down AIPAC’s role in the 2024 election

Michael Arria

Political consultant Peter Feld unpacks AIPAC’s strategy in the Democratic primaries, Jamaal Bowman’s bad poll numbers, and whether Gaza will impact Biden’s reelection.

What comes after Gantz’s resignation?

There are now two different visions in Israeli politics for how the war should progress. Netanyahu would have the war continue without end, while Gantz would accept a ceasefire but find a pretext to resume the fighting once the captives are released.

“We are going to hurt you”: UC Santa Cruz chancellor unleashes police mayhem against student protesters

Students for Justice in Palestine at UC Santa Cruz

A brutal, nine-hour, multi-agency police assault against unarmed protesters at UC Santa Cruz shows the university would rather use violence against its own students than address demands to divest from genocide.

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13 juni 2024

JOIN THE SUMMER OF RESISTANCE

JOIN THE SUMMER OF RESISTANCE

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12 juni 2024

Humanitarian Situation Update #178
West Bank

A 6-story residential building, whose Palestinian owner was forced to demolish it due to lack Israeli-issued building permit, which is almost impossible to obtain. A family of 29 people were consequently displaced. Jabal al Mukabbir, East Jerusalem. Photo by OCHA

Key Highlights

• Over 500 Palestinians, including over 100 children, have been killed in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, since 7 October. Nearly 75 per cent of the fatalities (over 380 Palestinians) took place during operations by Israeli forces in cities and villages, particularly in Jenin and Tulkarm, including refugee camps which constituted 34 per cent of those killed (196).
• 183 Palestinians from the Jerusalem governorate have been displaced since the beginning of this year. Over the past week, 55 Palestinians were displaced, representing 30 per cent of total displacement in Jerusalem since 1 January.  Palestinians displaced in Jerusalem governorate represent 36 per cent of the overall number of people displaced in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem.
• Since 7 October and until 28 May, the World Health Organization has documented 480 attacks on health care in the West Bank. Some 16 people have been killed and 95 have been injured in such attacks. Furthermore, 319 ambulances, 54 health facilities and 20 mobile clinics have been affected.

Latest developments (after 10 June)

• On 11 June, according to media reports, the Palestinian Ministry of Health in the West Bank stated that Israeli forces killed six Palestinian men during an operation, which included an exchange of fire, in Kufr Dan, Jenin.

Humanitarian Developments (4 – 10 June)

• During the reporting period, Israeli forces shot and killed 13 Palestinians, 11 of whom were killed in operations in refugee camps and villages. In addition, 75 Palestinians were injured by Israeli forces, the majority (59) also during operations, mainly sustained in the refugee camps of Al Far’a (Tubas), Jenin, and Aqbat Jaber (Jericho).
• Between 7 October 2023 and 10 June 2024, 521 Palestinians, including 126 children, were killed in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem; these include 504 Palestinians killed by Israeli forces, ten by Israeli settlers, and seven where it remains unknown whether the perpetrators were Israeli soldiers or settlers. Nearly 74 per cent of the fatalities (over 380 Palestinians) occurred during operations by Israeli forces in cities, villages and refugee camps, particularly in Jenin and Tulkarm governorates. In addition, over 5,200 Palestinians, including about 800 children, were injured, more than a third by live ammunition. During the same period, 12 Israelis, including seven soldiers and five settlers, were killed by Palestinians and at least 105 Israelis, including 70 soldiers, were injured in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem. In addition, during the same period, attacks by Palestinians from the West Bank resulted in the killing of eight Israelis and four Palestinian perpetrators in Israel.
• The following are among other deadly incidents reported between 4 and 10 June:
  • On 4 June, Israeli forces shot and killed two Palestinian men near a military gate located at the Barrier, West of Tulkarm city, reportedly in an exchange of fire. According to Israeli media citing the Israeli army, Israeli forces ambushed the two men as they approached the Barrier, killed them and confiscated a rifle.
  • On 6 June, Israeli forces, which included an undercover unit, shot and killed three Palestinians, including a 17-year-old boy, and injured 20 others, in an operation in Jenin Refugee Camp and its surroundings. During the operation, an Israeli military helicopter struck some areas in the camp, causing damage to at least two residential houses. An exchange of fire between Israeli forces and Palestinians was also reported. Footage shows an Israeli military jeep chasing two Palestinians, including a child, while they were riding on a motorcycle, and were shot from behind. Of the injured, nine were due to live ammunition, six due to shrapnel, and five when military jeeps ran over them.
  • On 6 and 8 June, Israeli forces shot and killed two Palestinians in Ya’bad (Jenin) and Anabta (Tulkarm), respectively, in two separate operations by Israeli forces.
  • On 10 June, Israeli forces, which included an undercover unit, shot and killed a 17-year-old Palestinian boy and injured five other Palestinians in an operation in El Far'a Refugee Camp, south of Tubas. The operation, which lasted for 16 hours, involved an exchange of fire between Palestinians and Israeli forces. Camp residents reported that an Israeli undercover unit was hiding in a community centre for people with disabilities inside the camp.
  • In a separate incident on 10 June 2024, Israeli forces shot and killed a Palestinian man and injured a nine-year-old boy in an operation in Dhinnaba neighborhood of Tulkarm city. The man was shot when Israeli forces were arresting another Palestinian. According to the Palestine Red Crecent Society (PRCS), the man was left bleeding on the ground until he died. Reportedly, Israeli forces shot at the PRCS ambulance and initially prevented them from evacuating the injured boy.
  • On 10 June, Israeli forces shot and killed four Palestinian men, injured eight others, and arrested four during an operation in Kafr Ni’ma village, west of Ramallah. According to local and official Palestinian sources, Israeli forces raided the village at about 09:00 and conducted a search operation. They confiscated surveillance cameras and set up a checkpoint at the village's entrance that operated until night. At about 20:30 on the same day, Israeli forces shot and killed a Palestinian man in an area between Kafr Ni’ma and the nearby village of Bil’in, whom they had suspected of setting fire to a caravan and a vehicle in a settlement outpost in the area that resulted in property damage. The forces then shot and killed three Palestinian men in a vehicle when they reportedly attempted to reach the injured man. According to PRCS, their medics reached the area to evacuate the injured but were denied access by Israeli forces for at least two hours. One ambulance had its tires punctured by Israeli forces’ live ammunition as it attempted to reach the injured. Israeli forces opened fire at those gathered at the scene, injuring eight Palestinians with live ammunition, including one child. Israeli forces also assaulted and arrested four Palestinian men at the scene. Israeli forces withheld the bodies of those killed following the incident. According to Israeli forces, on 9 June a Palestinian man wearing a military uniform tried to commit an arson attack in Sde Efraim settlement outpost. Furthermore, the Israeli forces claim they opened fire at a Palestinian vehicle that was attempting to run over Israeli soldiers who were patrolling near Kafr Ni’ma. During this incident, an Israeli soldier was injured by friendly fire.
• During the reporting period, Israeli settlers perpetrated 13 attacks that resulted in the injury of 15 Palestinians and damage to Palestinian property, including the vandalism of trees, saplings and crops. Between 7 October 2023 and 10 June 2024, OCHA recorded 968 settler attacks against Palestinians. These include attacks which have led to Palestinian casualties (98 incidents), damage to Palestinian property (767 incidents), or both (103 incidents). During these attacks, Israeli settlers killed ten Palestinians, injured 237 others, and destroyed or damaged over 43,600 Palestinian-owned trees and saplings.
• The following are some examples of settler attacks that took place between 4 and 10 June:
  • Eleven Palestinians were injured and at least 360 Palestinian-owned trees and plants were damaged in three separate incidents, where dozens of settlers from Yitzhar settlement, accompanied by Israeli forces, perpetrated attacks in ‘Urif, Qusra and Burqa villages in Nablus, triggering clashes with Palestinians. Five of the injuries were sustained by live ammunition shot by Israeli forces, including two in critical condition (in ‘Urif), one was hit by a tear gas cannister, and others suffered from tear gas inhalation. 
  • Israeli settlers from a newly established Israeli herding outpost assaulted a Palestinian man while he was picnicking near Ras ‘Ein al ‘Auja in Jericho. Israeli settlers also assaulted a Palestinian man while he was shepherding near Hizma in Jerusalem and attempted to steal his sheep. 
  • Thousands of Israelis, including Israeli settlers marched through the Old City of Jerusalem on 5 June. A number of those who marched attacked Palestinians and damaged property, which forced Palestinian traders to close their shops. Moreover, hundreds made their way to Al Aqsa Mosque compound for prayers, where they and Israeli forces prevented Palestinians from accessing the Mosque. Furthermore, the marchers physically assaulted two Palestinian journalists, one Israeli journalist and one female foreign journalist during the march. Israeli forces who accompanied the marchers, physically assaulted dozens of Palestinians and arrested 20 Palestinians.
  • On 7 June, Israeli settlers from the Givat Assaf outpost set fire to agricultural land planted with wheat and barley crops and trees in Burqa, Deir Dibwan and Beitin villages in Ramallah governorate. Furthermore, at least ten houses, hundreds of trees, dozens of cars and hundreds of dunums of land were damaged in the attack, and settlers reportedly fired live ammunition at Palestinian property. On the same day, in Hebron governorate, settlers vandalized three structures in At Tuwani village, and grazed their livestock on seasonal crops in Umm ad Daraj village. 
• During the reporting period, Israeli authorities demolished or forced Palestinian owners to demolish 50 Palestinian-owned structures due to the lack of Israeli-issued building permits, displacing 88 people, including 43 children. These included 43 structures in Area C of the West Bank. The remaining seven structures demolished and 33 people displaced were in East Jerusalem, the majority (29 people) when the owner was forced to demolish his six-story residential building in Jabal al Mukkabir on 8 June.
• On 3 June, during the previous reporting period, the Israeli civil administration, accompanied by Israeli forces demolished twelve structures citing the lack of Israeli issued building permits in Area C, south of 'Anata Bedouins (Wa'ar al Beik) community, in Jerusalem governate. As a result, an extended family of four refugee households comprising 22 people, including 13 children, were displaced.
• Based on field assessments carried out by the UN during the reporting period, at least three houses were damaged during this week’s operations in the refugee camps of Jenin (on 6 June) and Al Far’a (on 10 June). As a result, 14 people, including five children, were displaced. In both operations, Israeli forces bulldozed sections of streets in and around the camps. In another operation in Kafr Dan village in Jenin, Israeli forces bulldozed several road sections, causing damage to civilian infrastructure, resulting in a water cut-off that lasted over ten hours. This affected the access to drinking water for about 30 percent of Kafr Dan population (~7,500 persons). The operation resulted in the destruction of about 80 metres of asphalt road sections and over 100 metres of external blocks and concrete walls of various properties. Additionally, over 100 waste containers of various capacities were destroyed.
• Since 7 October 2023 and until 10 June 2024, the Israeli authorities demolished, confiscated, or forced Palestinian owners to demolish 990 Palestinian-owned structures, of which 34 per cent (366 structures) were inhabited homes displacing, 2,155 people, including 1,036 children. These include: 1,089 people (51 per cent) displaced by the demolition of homes during operations by Israeli forces, particularly in refugee camps in and near Tulkarm and Jenin cities; 907 people (42 per cent) displaced by demolitions due to the lack of Israeli-issued building permits; and 159 (7 per cent) by demolitions on punitive grounds.

Funding

• As of 12 June, Member States have disbursed about US$1.06 billion out of $3.42 billion (31 per cent) requested to meet the most critical needs of 2.3 million people in Gaza and 800,000 people in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, between January and December 2024. For funding analysis, please see the Flash Appeal Financial Tracking dashboard.
• The oPt HF has 118 ongoing projects, for a total of $72.5 million, addressing urgent needs in the Gaza Strip (85 per cent) and West Bank (15 per cent). The HF has allocated an additional $22 million to bolster prioritized HF-funded projects in Gaza. Recently, 14 projects for a total of $5 million have been approved under the Third Reserve Allocation titled "Critical Humanitarian Aid for Gaza Amidst Escalating Conflict and Displacement (Phase 3)." Following a steep rise in displacement from Rafah to Khan Younis and Deir al Balah and to capitalize on the operational presence of national partners, these projects will be implemented by national NGOs (12 projects) or through a partnership between international and national NGOs (2 projects). Since 7 October, the oPt HF has mobilized over $100 million from Member States and private donors, designated for programmes throughout Gaza. A summary of the oPt HF activities and challenges in May 2024 is available through this link and the 2023 Annual Report of the oPt HF can be accessed here. Private donations are collected directly through the Humanitarian Fund.

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12 juni 2024

Today's headlines

Gaza resistance sources say fear is rising U.S. pier will be used for forced displacement of Palestinians

Ahmed Omar

Critics warn the U.S.-constructed pier off Gaza's coast is being used for military purposes. Now a source in the Gaza resistance says there are indications it will be used to facilitate the forced displacement of Palestinians.

The new Jewish international: taking back the power of definition

The International Jewish Collective for Justice in Palestine began in opposition to the IHRA antisemitism definition and is now a worldwide network of organizations from 16 countries working as partners with Palestinians in pursuit of justice.

Read more

‘People’s red line’ surrounds the White House to demand end of Gaza genocide

On June 8, an estimated 100,000 people formed a two-mile “people’s red line” surrounding the White House in Washington, D.C. to protest the genocide in Gaza and the U.S. role in the mass murder of Palestinians.

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Er is nog steeds veel te doen en we starten met een nieuwe campagne!

De universiteiten blijven bezet en meer en er is een rapport uit over de betrokkenheid van alle Nederlandse universiteiten.

Wij starten met Sit-in for Palestine een campagne tegen Albert Heijn, vanwege al hun fruit en groente uit Israël. Kom zondag naar de campagnemiddag in Amsterdam!

We gaan ook meer aandacht besteden aan de Olympische Spelen.

Als je lid bent van de AOb vragen we je mee te doen met een petitie om hun bestuur onder druk te zetten. Dat moet toch over de brug komen, nu de FNV-voorzitter zich ook heeft uitgesproken.

Al die campagnes kosten geld. Het zou geweldig zijn als jullie ons in deze tijden extra kunnen steunen! Dus zoek de groene doneerknop!

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

 Onze boodschappen financieren apartheid en genocideIsraelisch fruit smaakt bitter

Door Israëlische vruchten en fruit te importeren zijn Albert Heijn en Nederlandse detailhandel medeplichtig aan de genocide en apartheid in Palestina.

Doe mee met Sit-in for Palestine NL en BDS Nederland in de campagne tegen de exportproducten van Israëlische agrobedrijven die in Albert Heijn en andere winkels verkocht worden.

Deze zondag houden we samen met Sit-in for Palestine een campagnemiddag in NieuwLand, Pieter Nieuwlandstraat 93, Amsterdam.

 Universitaire medeplichtigheid bekendgemaakt

Universitaire medeplichtigheid bekendgemaakt

Afgelopen week heeft een onderzoekscoalitie van o.m. Stop Wapenhandel de website Academic Complicity, academische medeplichtigheid, gelanceerd. Daar staat hoe academische instellingen in Nederland samenwerken met Israëlische bedrijven of universiteiten. Eerder al kwam een gedegen rapport uit over de banden van de universiteit Leiden met de bezetter van Palestina.

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11 juni 2024

Get three ABCs of Capitalism pamphlets for $10

Political organizing is hard — political education shouldn’t have to be. In the best tradition of socialist pedagogy, Catalyst journal and Jacobin partnered up for a series of pamphlets called The ABCs of Capitalism. Written by Catalyst editor Vivek Chibber, each one is self-contained and can be read on its own.

Order The ABCs of Capitalism for just $10

Pamphlet A: “Understanding Capitalism.” A forty-page text explaining clearly why capitalism isn’t just a collection of individuals, but individuals grouped in social classes with very different interests. Capitalists aren’t necessarily “greedy,” but motivated by market pressures. Those pressures create enormous wealth but also great misery for the majority. Because of the nature of the system, workers can only advance if they act collectively.

Pamphlet B: “Capitalism and the State.” We are living in a new Gilded Age, in which an immense concentration of wealth has grown together with the concentration of political power. This pamphlet analyzes the sources of state bias. We need to understand why, far from counteracting the power of capital, states tend to reinforce it. We need to recognize the structural forces that bind the state to capitalist interests, even though capitalists’ small numbers should be a disadvantage in a democratic system.

Pamphlet C: “Capitalism and Class Struggle.” The reason working-class struggles are central to Left politics is that they are the enabling condition for everything else. They create the power and the political leverage that enables us to act on our morals and ideological beliefs — whereas the morals and values without the leverage remain little more than pipedreams. In this third pamphlet, we develop the classic rationale for a class-based political strategy. We examine how it works and also why, even though it deserves to be at the heart of progressive politics, it is so hard to organize and sustain.

Intended for students, organizers, and militants, we hope that these short texts will help in the task of building a new generation of socialist organizers.

The pamphlets are being sold at cost — bundles of 3 for just $10.

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Today's headlines

‘Operation al-Aqsa Flood’ Day 248: Israel kills 274 Palestinians while freeing four Israeli prisoners in Gaza; Gantz resigns from war cabinet

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Humanitarian Situation Update #177
Gaza Strip

Please note that a previous version of Humanitarian Situation Update #177 was missing a paragraph with a list of deadly incidents reported between 6 and 9 June, which has now been included. You can refer to the latest version of OCHA’s Humanitarian Situation Update #177, where the changes are marked with asterisks, here:Online version

Recent publications

• Reported impact snapshot | Gaza Strip (9 June 2024)
• Humanitarian Situation Update #176 | Gaza Strip
• Gaza Strip: Humanitarian access constraints | 9 June 2024
• Humanitarian Situation Update #175 | West Bank
• Humanitarian Response Update (20-26 May 2024)

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Humanitarian Situation Update #177
Gaza Strip

Makeshift tents of internally displaced people in Al Mawasi, Khan Younis. Photo by OCHA

Key Highlights

• An Israeli military operation in An Nuseirat Refugee Camp rescues four Israeli hostages and results in nearly 1,000 Palestinian casualties. 
• Al Aqsa Hospital in Deir al Balah is operating at nearly five-fold its capacity while surviving on only one electricity generator.
• Over 330,000 tons of solid waste have accumulated in or near populated areas in the Gaza Strip, warns the Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Cluster.

Humanitarian Developments

• Israeli bombardment from the air, land, and sea continues to be reported across much of the Gaza Strip, resulting in further civilian casualties, displacement, and destruction of houses and other civilian infrastructure. Ground incursions and heavy fighting also continue to be reported across Gaza, particularly in An Nuseirat Refugee Camp and Rafah. As of 10 June, intensified hostilities and military operations in Rafah have so far forced the displacement of approximately one million people, deepening the humanitarian crisis and significantly destabilizing humanitarian aid flows. 
• In response to the Israeli military operation and mass casualties in An Nuseirat Refugee Camp, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, Martin Griffiths, described the camp as the “epicentre of the seismic trauma that civilians in Gaza continue to suffer.” The UN humanitarian relief chief added: “The images of death and devastation following Israel’s military operation there prove that each day this war continues, it only grows more horrific. Seeing shrouded bodies on the ground, we are reminded that nowhere is safe in Gaza. Seeing bloodied patients being treated on hospital floors, we are reminded that health care in Gaza is hanging by a thread. And even as four hostages are reunited with their families, we are reminded that scores are still being held captive. All of them must be released. All civilians must be protected. This collective agony can and must end now.”
• Between the afternoons of 7 and 10 June, according to the Ministry of Health (MoH) in Gaza, 393 Palestinians were killed and 1,182 were injured. Fatalities include 274 killed and 698 injured in An Nuseirat Refugee Camp on 8 June, MoH reported. Between 7 October 2023 and 10 June 2024, at least 37,124 Palestinians were killed and 84,712 were injured in Gaza, according to MoH in Gaza. 
• Between the afternoons of 7 and 10 June, one Israeli soldier was reported killed in Gaza. As of 10 June, 295 soldiers have been killed and 1,908 soldiers have been injured in Gaza or along the border in Israel since the beginning of the ground operation, according to the Israeli military. In addition, according to the Israeli media citing official Israeli sources, over 1,200 Israelis and foreign nationals, including 33 children, have been killed in Israel, the vast majority on 7 October. On 8 June, four Israeli hostages were released by Israeli forces in an operation in An Nuseirat Refugee Camp. As of 10 June, it is estimated that 120 Israelis and foreign nationals remain captive in Gaza, including fatalities whose bodies are withheld.
• Attacks on schools sheltering internally displaced persons (IDPs) continue to be reported. As of 5 June, UNRWA reported that at least 435 incidents have impacted its facilities sheltering displaced families. As a result, at least 456 IDPs taking refuge in UNRWA shelters (including schools) have been killed, 1,478 injured, and 186 different UNRWA installations damaged since 7 October, the Agency reported. Subsequently, on 7 June, at about 12:15, at least three Palestinians were reportedly killed and 15 injured when UNRWA’s Asmaa School sheltering IDPs in Ash Shati’ Refugee Camp was hit. 
• Intensive land and air strikes during the Israeli military operation in An Nuseirat Refugee Camp on 8 June resulted in the killing of 274 Palestinians and the injury of another 698 people, according to MoH in Gaza. Moreover, the Gaza Government Media Office (GMO) reported that 64 children, 57 women and 37 elderly people were among the fatalities, and 153 children, 161 women and 54 elderly people were among the injured. GMO further stated that 89 inhabited houses and residential buildings were targeted during the operation without prior notification. MoH reported that large number of casualties were transferred to the already overwhelmed Al Aqsa Hospital, in Deir al Balah, where tens of injured people were lying on the floor amid severe shortages of medicines, medical consumables and fuel. 
• In a press statement issued at the height of the emergency on 8 June, the director of Al-Aqsa Hospital urged citizens to donate blood to help treat wounded patients and appealed for new generators, stressing that the facility is now surviving with only one electricity generator and, should it break down, the hospital would be forced to cease operations. MoH also warned that a critical shortage of generators across Gaza is threatening the continued provision of life-saving health services, placing the lives of the sick and injured at risk, and appealed to the international community for support. MoH noted that many generators have been destroyed in the hostilities and the maintenance of existing ones has been hampered by restrictions on the entry of spare parts into Gaza. After being the sole source of electricity for health facilities for nearly nine months, many generators urgently require repairs, MoH emphasized. On 10 June, MoH further warned that the only oxygen station in Gaza governorate, which supplies health facilities and chronically ill patients with oxygen, could cease functioning in a matter of hours due to the shortage of fuel. 
• The mass casualty incident in An Nuseirat Refugee Camp has greatly overwhelmed the limited capacities of hospitals, especially Al Aqsa and Al Awda hospitals in Deir al Balah and Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Younis. A UN inter-agency mission to Al Aqsa Hospital on 8 June highlighted that the hospital was hosting about 700 patients, or nearly five-fold its capacity for in-patient services prior to the war, as well as providing dialysis services to an estimated 700 patients, albeit at a reduced pace. Describing the situation at Al Aqsa Hospital on 8 June as a “nightmare,” Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) coordinator in Gaza, Samuel Johann, stated that the hospital had to cope with back-to-back mass casualties, which is “way beyond what anyone could deal with in a functional hospital, let alone with the scarce resources” available. MSF, whose medical teams were working alongside doctors at Al Aqsa and Nasser hospitals, further reported that doctors had to deal with the full gamut of conflict wounds, including amputations, eviscerations, trauma, brain injuries, fractures and severe burns, and the intensive care unit at Nasser Medical Complex was already full as patients kept on arriving. At one point, about 50 critically injured patients, including unconscious children, arrived in the span of one hour, added MSF, noting that Nasser Medical Complex had limited CT scanning capabilities and suffered from a shortage of painkillers, with morphine and ketamine being rationed. Al Awda Hospital in Deir al Balah was similarly inundated with injured patients and dead bodies, highlighted CADUS, which has two medical teams embedded at Al Awda and Al Aqsa hospitals. The NGO additionally reported being unable to immediately dispatch additional urgent support due to requirements to coordinate movements to this area with the Israeli military 24 hours in advance. 

• The World Health Organization (WHO) and Health Cluster partners continue to step up support for the provision of critical health services across the Gaza Strip, but significant challenges persist. On 7 June, WHO reported that a truck carrying European Commission-supported medications for noncommunicable diseases, such as hypertension, cardiac conditions, type 2 diabetes, and chronic respiratory illnesses, had arrived in Gaza via the Kerem Shalom Crossing on 30 May. WHO noted that the distribution of these supplies would support the treatment of up to 44,000 people at health facilities, stressing that “given the scale of needs, the extremely limited quantity of health supplies trickling in via Karem Shalom is simply not enough.” Meanwhile, the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) noted that its team at Al Amal Hospital in Khan Younis is setting up tents with medical beds in front of the hospital’s reception and emergency department, to increase bed capacity at the facility and better respond to emergencies. At present, 17 of Gaza’s 36 hospitals remain partially functional, including three in North Gaza, seven in Gaza, three in Deir al Balah and four in Khan Younis, while none are operational in Rafah. 
• Fuel shortages continue to severely disrupt people’s access to water and the operation of vital sanitation facilities in the Gaza Strip, compounding the impact of prolonged electricity cuts and damage to infrastructure. According to the Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) Cluster, between 26 May and 2 June, only 20 per cent of fuel needed per week to ensure the operation of vital water and wastewater facilities was received (94,000 out of 490,000 litres required). Fuel deliveries were also suspended between 31 May and 6 June due to safety concerns and the shifting of logistical support services from Rafah to Khan Younis amid intensified military operations. In North Gaza, while the delivery of some fuel supplies has enabled the operation of the pumping station at Sheikh Radwan sewage lagoon, helping to reduce the level of accumulated wastewater, the lack of a steady flow of fuel creates a continued risk of sewage overflow into neighbouring areas. In addition, the lack of sufficient fuel limits water distribution through the functional networks, which, coupled with the lack of generators and spare parts, continues to impact the availability of potable water. As of 2 June, daily water production in the Gaza Strip stood at around 95,000 cubic metres per day, representing only 26 per cent of water produced prior to October 2023. 
• The accumulation of “mountains of waste and rubble” in Gaza is “posing significant health and environmental risks," warned the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS) on the occasion of World Environment Day, on 5 June. Prior to the intensification of hostilities on 7 October, nearly all collected waste was transferred to two primary landfills: Juhr Al Dik, serving Gaza city and northern Gaza; and Al Fukhari, serving the central and southern areas. However, the inaccessibility of the two landfills, coupled with fuel shortages, damage to infrastructure, and the destruction of about 100 waste collection vehicles and machines, have severely compromised the waste management system, according to PCBS, resulting in waste being burned, piled up or disposed off at random dumpsites. To address this crisis, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has recently contributed to collecting 47,000 tons of waste from Deir al Balah, Khan Younis, and Rafah and transferring them to temporary dumpsite by employing over 200 workers. UNDP has also distributed some 80,000 litres of fuel to support waste management operations. Public health protection in Gaza, however, requires vital upgrades to the temporary dumpsites, landfill access, and additional funding for the maintenance of vehicles and supply of containers, stressed UNDP. As of 9 June, the WASH Cluster estimates that around 330,400 tons of solid waste have so far accumulated in or near populated areas across the Gaza Strip.

Funding

• As of 10 June, Member States have disbursed about US$1.06 billion out of $3.4 billion (31 per cent) requested to meet the most critical needs of 2.3 million people in Gaza and 800,000 people in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, between January and December 2024. For funding analysis, please see the Flash Appeal Financial Tracking dashboard.   
• The oPt HF has 109 ongoing projects, for a total of $78.9 million, addressing urgent needs in the Gaza Strip (86 per cent) and West Bank (14 per cent). Of these projects, 69 projects are being implemented by international non-governmental organizations (INGOs), 26 by national NGOs and 14 by UN agencies. Notably, 43 out of the 83 projects implemented by INGOs or the UN are being implemented in collaboration with national NGOs. Since 7 October, the oPt HF has mobilized over $100 million from Member States and private donors, designated for programmes throughout Gaza. A summary of the oPt HF activities and challenges in May 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.

284.

10 juni 2024

Today's headlines

‘I heard all of my friends’ last breath’: Testimonies from the Nuseirat massacre

Tareq S. Hajjaj

The Israeli massacre in Gaza's Nuseirat camp killed over 270 Palestinians and injured many more. Survivors say the horrors they witnessed will stay with them for the rest of their lives.

Read more

My Nuseirat

Haidar Eid

I was born in the Nuseirat refugee camp and it made me who I am. The Nuseirat massacre will not be the last in Gaza, but like all massacres committed by colonialists, it will be a signpost in our long walk to freedom that will not be forgotten.

Read more

Palestinian artists launch global platform for resistance and creativity

The Palestinian Artists Consortium is more than a venue for seeing and purchasing art, it is a window into Palestine.

283.

8 juni 2024

We are in close contact with a number of resistance groups. These are led by young Israeli activists who are not affiliated with established NGOs.

When they approached us for help, it was clear that our response would be positive. We saw an opportunity to support non-violent resistance undermining the sustainability of the Gaza genocide. Here are three examples:

• Sde Teiman: Highlighting the horrific conditions of Gazan detainees in Israel. Since October 7 thousands of Palestinians have been held indefinitely and under inhumane conditions at the Sde Teiman facility in southern Israel. Dozens have died and many others have testified that they endured torture: physical and sexual violence, starvation and denial of medical care. In an effort to draw attention to this largely unreported phenomenon — and to send a message to the detainees that they are not alone – activists protested at the prison with signs and banners such as “Sde Teiman Torture Camp”, “Israel Makes People Disappear” and “At Least 40 Palestinians Tortured to Death”.

Support Gaza War Resisters

The Israeli war resistance movement is growing!

 In solidarity,

Refuser Solidarity Network

282.

9 juni 2024

Today's headlines

Israel kills over 200 Palestinians to rescue 4 captives; U.S. allegedly involved in operation

Mondoweiss Palestine Bureau

At least 210 Palestinians were killed and 400 others were injured in the central Gaza Strip on Sunday after Israeli forces carried out a “rescue operation” to retrieve four captives. Reports of U.S. involvement in the operation have sparked backlash.

Read more

The invisibility of Palestinian Christians

Palestinian Christians suffer from a crisis of representation, as some church leaders and community members disassociate from the Palestinian struggle and perpetuate the perception that they are a "minority."

The Biden administration must stop Israel before it escalates in Lebanon

There are dangerous signs Israel intends to escalate attacks on Lebanon and raise the stakes with Hezbollah. If it does, the risk of a regional war grows enormously. The only way out is to end the fighting in Gaza.

281.

8 juni 2024

Today's headlines

Israel’s progression from Apartheid to Genocide

The unfolding genocide in Gaza is the latest chapter in Israel’s attempt to remove Palestinians from their land. All those calling for a ceasefire should join in the longer-term efforts to dismantle Israeli apartheid.

The genocide in Israeli prisons

Qassam Muaddi

Families of Palestinian prisoners are kept in the dark about the fate of their loved ones at a time when Israeli prison authorities are creating conditions unfit for human life.

Read more

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280.

7 juni 2024

Humanitarian Situation Update #176
Gaza Strip

A Palestinian displaced woman in a refugee camp in Rafah city. Photo by WHO

Key Highlights

• The UN Human Rights Office reports that the airstrike on a UN school in An Nuseirat Refugee Camp suggests a failure of the Israeli military to ensure strict compliance with International Humanitarian Law.  
• Al Aqsa Hospital in Deir al Balah is overwhelmed with patients and one of its two generators went out of service. 
• All medical evacuations outside of Gaza continue to be suspended since 7 May. 
• Nine out of 10 children in Gaza are experiencing severe food poverty, UNICEF reports.

Humanitarian Developments

• Israeli bombardment from the air, land, and sea continues to be reported across much of the Gaza Strip, resulting in further civilian casualties, displacement, and destruction of houses and other civilian infrastructure. Airstrikes have reportedly been especially intense in central Gaza, particularly in Al Bureij, Al Maghazi, and An Nuseirat refugee camps and eastern Deir Al Balah. Ground incursions and heavy fighting also continue to be reported, particularly in Rafah. Intensified hostilities and military operations in Rafah have so far forced the displacement of more than one million people, deepening the humanitarian crisis and significantly destabilizing humanitarian aid flows. Less than 100,000 people are estimated to have remained in Rafah governorate.  
• Between the afternoons of 3 and 7 June, according to MoH in Gaza, 252 Palestinians were killed and 753 were injured, including 77 killed and 221 injured in the past 24 hours. Between 7 October 2023 and 7 June 2024, at least 36,731 Palestinians were killed and 83,530 were injured in Gaza, according to MoH in Gaza. 
• On 6 June, a United Nations school sheltering about 6,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs) was struck overnight in An Nuseirat Refugee Camp, according to UNRWA. MoH in Gaza reported that the strike resulted in the killing of 40 people, including 14 children and nine women, and the injury of 74 others, with some casualties still under rubble. The Israeli military reported that nine members of Palestinian armed groups were operating from inside the school and were killed in the strike. Noting that the school was hit without prior warning, the Commissioner-General of UNRWA Philippe Lazzarini stated: “Since the war in Gaza began, over 180 UNRWA buildings were hit and more than 450 displaced people were killed as a result. UNRWA shares the coordinates of all its facilities (including this school) with the Israeli Army and other parties to the conflict. Targeting UN premises or using them for military purposes cannot become the new norm.” Furthermore, the UN Human Rights Office in the occupied Palestinian territories expressed deep concern “that this strike suggests a failure by the IDF to ensure strict compliance with international humanitarian law, particularly the basic principles of distinction, proportionality and precaution in attack. While Israel has claimed that armed Palestinians were using the school as a base of operations, which itself would amount to a violation of IHL, this would not allow or justify violations of these principles. We note with concern that this attack follows a strike last week on an IDPs camp in Rafah that left at least 45 Palestinians dead.”
• The following are among other deadly incidents reported between 2 and 6 June:  
  • On 2 June, at about 23:30, six Palestinians, including three children, were reportedly killed and others injured when a house was hit near Al Farouq Mosque, in Block Number 9 of Al Bureij Refugee Camp, in Deir al Balah. 
  • On 2 June, at about 12:00, eight Palestinians, including five children and a woman, were reportedly killed when a house was hit in As Sabra neighbourhood in central Gaza city.
  • On 3 June, at about 02:50, ten Palestinians, including four women and three children, were reportedly killed when two houses were hit east of the Islamic University in western Khan Younis.
  • On 4 June, eight Palestinian police officers were reportedly killed and others injured when a vehicle and a group of Palestinians in front of an IDP centre were hit in Abu Sitta Street, in northern Deir al Balah. 
  • On 5 June, at about 6:45, eight Palestinians were reportedly killed when a house was hit in Al Maghazi Refugee Camp, in Deir al Balah. 
  • On 6 June, at about 04:25, six Palestinians were reportedly killed and others injured when a house was hit in the second camp of An Nuseirat, in Deir al Balah. 
• Between the afternoons of 3 and 7 June, one Israeli soldier was reported killed in Gaza. As of 7 June, 294 soldiers have been killed and 1,902 soldiers have been injured in Gaza or along the border in Israel since the beginning of the ground operation, according to the Israeli military. In addition, according to the Israeli media citing official Israeli sources, over 1,200 Israelis and foreign nationals, including 33 children, have been killed in Israel, the vast majority on 7 October. As of 7 June, it is estimated that 124 Israelis and foreign nationals remain captive in Gaza, including fatalities whose bodies are withheld.
• On 31 May 2024, UNOSAT published an updated preliminary analysis of structural damage and destruction in the Gaza Strip, based on satellite imagery collected on 3 May 2024.  The assessment identified 137,297 damaged structures, constituting about 55 per cent of all structures in the Gaza Strip. These include 36,591 structures identified as destroyed, 16,513 severely damaged, 47,368 moderately damaged, and 36,825 possibly damaged. Compared with the 1 April analysis, the Deir al Balah and Gaza governorates experienced the sharpest increase in damage, with 2,613 and 2,368 newly damaged structures, respectively. At the municipality level, Gaza city had the highlest overall count of damaged structures (34,803), followed by Khan Younis city (19,202), Jabalya (11,886), and Beit Lahiya (9,450)—noting that the UNOSAT analysis was conducted prior to the most recent three-week ground operation in northern Gaza that resulted in the reported destruction of 50,000 housing units, UNRWA shelters, and more than 15 water wells and other public infrastructure, according to the emergency committee of North Gaza municipalities, which include Jabalya, Beit Lahiya and Beit Hanoun. UNOSAT added that within Deir al Balah governorate, An Nuseirat Municipality had the highest number of newly damaged structures at 1,216, and highlighted that this analysis is preliminary and yet to be validated in the field. According to data collected between October 2023 and January 2024 in a previous interim damage assessment by the World Bank, the EU and the UN, more than 60 per cent of homes in the Gaza Strip have been destroyed or damaged, accounting for 72 per cent of the total estimated cost of direct damage to critical infrastructure (US$13.29 billion out of $18.5 billion).
• Intensified hostilities are deeply crippling healthcare provision across Gaza, amid supply shortages and reduced bed capacity. Available bed capacity at existing hospitals reached 439 per cent as of 13 May, or more than four times their capacity, according to MoH. For example, in Deir al Balah governorate in central Gaza, the few still partially functional hospitals are increasingly overwhelmed by the influx of casualties from continued airstrikes, with the situation being particularly severe at Al Aqsa Hospital according to Health Cluster partners. Following the 4 June airstrikes on Al Bureij and Al Maghazi refugee camps, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) reported that the facility received at least 70 dead and more than 300 injured, the majority women and children and many critically injured with severe burns, shrapnel wounds, fractures and other traumatic injuries. Describing conditions at the hospital, the MSF Medical Adviser in Gaza, Karin Huster, indicated that wounded people were lying on the floor and outside the facility, while dead bodies were being brought to the hospital in white plastic bags and “the odour of blood” in the emergency room “was overwhelming.”  MSF explained that people in critical condition who arrive at Al Aqsa “stay in Al Aqsa and die in Al Aqsa,” calling the facility “a sinking ship.” A second mass influx of casualties occurred overnight on 5 June, stretching the hospital’s capacities to the limit as it continues to struggle with a shortage of operating theatres, beds and equipment, highlighted Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP). The hospital is also currently running on one generator to produce electricity, with another one out of service, reported the hospital’s administration in a statement on 5 June, warning that the lives of dozens of injured and sick patients in intensive care units, as well as premature babies receiving breathing support from ventilators, are at risk. The hospital appealed to the UN and international organizations to urgently intervene to save patients and provide new generators, noting that it is currently hosting 700 patients and serving more than a million people in central Gaza. 
• On 5 June, the International Medical Corps (IMC) announced that the escalation of fighting had forced it to relocate all equipment and operations from its 160-bed field hospital in Rafah governorate to its second field hospital in Deir al Balah, thereby allowing it to continue to provide critical health services “while protecting the safety and security of its patients and staff.” With An Najjar, Al Kuwaiti and Al Emirati hospitals out of service and the IMC facility now closed, only two field hospitals continue to provide health services in Rafah governorate: the ICRC Field Hospital in Al Mawasi area and the UAE Field Hospital in Rafah city, the latter being increasingly difficult to reach due to ongoing hostilities, reports the World Health Organization (WHO). 
• All medical evacuations of critically ill and injured patients remain suspended since the closure of Rafah Crossing on 7 May, exacerbating the challenges facing health facilities where service provision is hanging by a thread. More than 1,200 patients, or an average of 50 patients per day, have been unable to leave Gaza to receive the necessary treatment abroad as of 30 May, according to WHO. WHO further estimates that at least 14,000 patients now require medical evacuation outside the Strip, with this figure expected to further increase due to shrinking hospital bed capacity amid the ongoing escalation. Already prior to 7 May, only 46 per cent of critical patients (5,857 out of 12,761) for whom medical evacuation outside Gaza had been requested were approved by Israeli authorities. However, only 4,895 patients, or 38 per cent of the total, were evacuated while the remaining 962 patients were unable to travel due to movement restrictions or limitations on people accompanying them. Given the overwhelming number of conflict-related injuries, critically wounded patients had also been prioritized over people suffering from chronic illnesses, such as kidney failure and heart disease, leaving the latter in extremely precarious conditions. Moreover, thousands of people who have suffered from amputations and other life-threatening injuries now lack access to adequate nursing and rehabilitative care in Gaza, underscored Humanity & Inclusion (HI) on 4 June, cautioning that the “growing pile of unexploded ordnance in the rubble of destroyed buildings” will continue to pose a threat for the entire population of Gaza in the future.
• On 6 June, a World Food Programme (WFP) warehouse in Deir al Balah sustained damage after an Israeli projectile missile hit the adjoining flour mill building - one of only two flour mills in Deir al Balah, where the warehouse is used as a main storage and transit hub for commodities in the Gaza Strip. While all WFP and partner staff working in the warehouse have been accounted for, WFP was forced to temporarily suspend its operations at the warehouse. WFP resumed its activities at the warehouse on 7 June and plans to conduct a damage assessment. The food agency urged all parties to the conflict to uphold their obligations to respect the integrity of humanitarian premises and assets, as well as aid workers serving people in desperate need of assistance.
• Nine out of 10 children in the Gaza Strip are experiencing severe food poverty, surviving on two or fewer food groups per day, reported UNICEF on 6 June, based on five rounds of data collected between December 2023 and April 2024. Moreover, in an analysis published on 31 May, the Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS NET) indicated that the Israeli military operation in Rafah has disrupted food distribution channels and diminished access to food. FEWS NET emphasized that irrespective of whether famine thresholds have been reached or surpassed – an accurate assessment of which is not possible due to limitations on humanitarian access and data collection – malnutrition is extremely high among children and “people are dying of hunger-related causes across Gaza.” On 4 June, Action Against Hunger​​​​​​​ stressed that many malnourished children, especially those under the age of two, require urgent care.  The NGO’s nutrition and health coordinator in Gaza reported that the lack of food is impacting children’s development, delaying their growth, weakening vital organs as the heart, kidneys and lungs, and making them more vulnerable to infections such as pneumonia. A similar message was conveyed by the WFP Executive Director, Cindy McCain, who, commenting on the recent WFP-FAO global “Hunger Hotspots” outlook report, stressed that “once a famine is declared, it is too late - many people will have already starved to death.” 
• Military operations have significantly destabilized humanitarian aid flows, forcing UN and partners to reorganize the entire operation. At present, aid convoys need to navigate active hostilities, barely passable roads, unexploded ordnance and recurrent delays. The humanitarian community is engaging with Israeli authorities to ensure sustained, secure and unimpeded access for humanitarian aid into and within the Strip. A Humanitarian Notification System is in place to notify and coordinate humanitarian movements—the 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. Yet, impediments, delays, and denials of missions continue to restrict and undermine the ability of humanitarian organizations to reach affected communities in Gaza to provide essential assistance and services. Between 1 and 6 June, out of the 17 coordinated humanitarian assistance missions to northern Gaza, 8 (47 per cent) were facilitated by the Israeli authorities, 3 (18 per cent) were denied access, 4 (23 per cent) were impeded, and 2 (12 per cent) were cancelled, due to operational or security reasons. In addition, out of the 74 coordinated humanitarian assistance missions to areas in southern Gaza, 52 (70 per cent) were facilitated by the Israeli authorities, 3 (4 per cent) were denied, 12 (16 per cent) were impeded, and 7 (10 per cent) were cancelled. Many missions classified as impeded experienced extended delays, with some delays reaching up to nine hours at sensitive and insecure locations, placing humanitarian personnel at increased security risks.

Funding

• As of 7 June, Member States have disbursed about $1.05 billion out of $3.4 billion (31 per cent) requested to meet the most critical needs of 2.3 million people in Gaza and 800,000 people in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, between January and December 2024. For funding analysis, please see the Flash Appeal Financial Tracking dashboard.   
• The oPt HF has 109 ongoing projects, for a total of $78.9 million, addressing urgent needs in the Gaza Strip (86 per cent) and West Bank (14 per cent). Of these projects, 69 projects are being implemented by international non-governmental organizations (INGOs), 26 by national NGOs and 14 by UN agencies. Notably, 43 out of the 83 projects implemented by INGOs or the UN are being implemented in collaboration with national NGOs. Since 7 October, the oPt HF has mobilized over $100 million from Member States and private donors, designated for programmes throughout Gaza. A summary of the oPt HF activities and challenges in May 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.

279.

7 juni 2024

Al 57 jaar kan Israël zijn bezetting voortzetten. Al 57 jaar groeit de illegale Israëlische kolonistenbevolking op de Westoever gestaag. En al 57 jaar weigert de internationale gemeenschap concrete maatregelen te treffen tegen Israëls illegale koloniale beleid en de apartheid in Palestina. De Palestijnse bevolking is het kind van de rekening, met als meest recente dieptepunt de oorlog in Gaza.

Vlaggenparade in Jeruzalem
Terwijl dit gitzwarte jubileum buiten Israël en de Palestijnse gebieden in relatieve stilte voorbijtrok, gingen extreemrechtse Israëli's in Jeruzalem de straten op voor de jaarlijkse 'vlaggenparade'. Met deze enkel als karavaan van haat te beschrijven optocht 'vieren' de deelnemers de bezetting van het Palestijnse gedeelte van de stad. 

De 'vlaggenparade' trekt door het islamitische gedeelte van de oude stad van Jeruzalem, 5 juni 2024. [c] AlamyHoewel de optocht steevast gekenmerkt wordt door racistische leuzen en oproepen tot geweld - 'Dood aan de Arabieren', 'Verbrand hun dorpen' - was de sfeer volgens Israëlische journalisten dit jaar zo mogelijk nog grimmiger. Voor het begin van de mars trokken groepen Joodse jongeren door het Palestijnse deel van de oude stad, waar zij Palestijnse winkeliers en voorbijgangers uitscholden, bespuugden, bedreigden en aanvielen. Terwijl de politie in voorgaande jaren dergelijke directe confrontaties nog probeerde te voorkomen, konden de knokploegen deze keer grotendeels hun gang gaan.

Israëlische jongeren vallen de Palestijnse freelance journalist Saif Kwasmi aan tijdens de vlaggenparade, 5 juni 2024. [c] Maya Levin

Sterker nog, een Palestijnse fotojournalist die door een groep van zo'n tien jongeren was aangevallen en daarbij aan zijn hoofd gewond raakte, werd later op de dag door de Israëlische politie gearresteerd. Een bekende Israëlische rechtse activist had hem er bij de politie van beschuldigd een 'Hamas operative' te zijn. Zijn aanvallers gingen allen vrijuit.

En dat alles in de 'enige democratie in het Midden-Oosten', onze 'vriend en bondgenoot' Israël. 

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

Ja, ik help mee

Nederlandse organisaties treffen maatregelen wegens Israëlische misdaden

 
COC Nederland stopt samenwerking met Booking.com
LHBTI+-belangenvereniging COC Nederland heeft de samenwerking met Booking.com verbroken omdat het bedrijf vakantieaccomodaties blijft aanbieden op de door Israël illegaal bezette Westelijke Jordaanoever. Dat maakt COC bekend middels een verklaring op de website van de organisatie.
 
In de verklaring schrijft COC dat het goede gesprekken heeft gevoerd met Booking, maar dat 'onze visie op de bescherming van mensenrechten specifiek in de bezette Palestijnse gebieden te ver uit elkaar ligt op dit moment. Om deze reden hebben we besloten onze samenwerking en donatierelatie met Booking.com niet te verlengen. Dit besluit is gebaseerd op onze toewijding aan de fundamentele principes van mensenrechten en gelijkheid.'

Onderzoeksinstituut: geen samenwerking met Israëlische staat na vernietiging van de academische infrastructuur in Gaza

De aanleiding voor deze maatregel is 'de scholasticide, de totale verwoesting van de academische infrastructuur in Gaza' door het Israëlische leger, schrijft het NIAS in een verklaring. Daarin kondigt het instituut ook aan dat zijn medewerkers niet voor hun werk naar Israël zullen reizen, en niet zullen deelnemen aan evenementen die worden georganiseerd of gefinancierd door Israël. Israëlische wetenschappers worden niet per definitie uitgesloten van NIAS' onderzoeksprogramma's.

Positieve ontwikkeling
The Rights Forum verwelkomt deze moedige en belangrijke stappen van COC Nederland en het NIAS. Samen met hen hopen wij dat dergelijke acties bedrijven, universiteiten, instituties en uiteindelijk de Nederlandse staat ertoe zullen bewegen om hun verantwoordelijkheid te nemen en niet langer bij te dragen aan of weg te kijken van de onderdrukking van de Palestijnse bevolking en maatschappij. 

Welbewust vernietigde Israël de medische infrastructuur van Gaza

De documentaire vertelt wat de hele wereld de afgelopen acht maanden in nieuwsuitzendingen en op sociale media heeft kunnen zien: hoe het Israëlische leger de Gazastrook van noord naar zuid verwoestte, de bevolking van 2,3 miljoen Palestijnen verdrijvend naar steeds kleinere, zogenaamd ‘veilige zones’ die in de praktijk nooit veilig bleken.

Doordat Israël de aanvoer van voedsel, water, elektriciteit en medische hulpmiddelen afkneep kampten de ziekenhuizen al snel met tekorten, terwijl ze overstroomd werden met gewonden en vluchtelingen. Vervolgens werden de ziekenhuizen door het Israëlische leger belegerd en aangevallen. Duizenden patiënten verloren bij de Israëlische aanvallen het leven, en de meeste ziekenhuizen werden volledig verwoest.

Onleefbaar
Onder internationaal humanitair recht genieten medische voorzieningen en medisch personeel strikte bescherming. Aanvallen daarop komen al snel neer op oorlogsmisdrijven en misdrijven tegen de menselijkheid, en zijn alleen toegestaan als medische centra voor militaire doeleinden worden gebruikt. Israël beweert steevast dat Hamas in of onder de ziekenhuizen commandocentra had ingericht, of dat er grote aantallen strijders verbleven. Het heeft daarvoor echter nooit bewijs geleverd.

De grootschalige verwoesting van de medische infrastructuur heeft geen andere reden dan het onleefbaar maken van de Gazastrook, menen betrokkenen en deskundigen in de documentaire.

Belgische regering vervolgt airline om transport van wapens naar Israël

België verbiedt de uitvoer en doorvoer van wapens en munitie als die neerkomt op ‘versterking van de militaire capaciteit van de Israëlische krijgsmacht’. Sinds 7 oktober 2023 heeft Challenge Airlines desondanks zeventig ton aan munitie en explosieven vervoerd.

De ferme stap van de minister tegen de luchtvaartmaatschappij volgt op onthullingen van de Belgische media RTBF, Le Soir en De Morgen over de rol van de luchthaven Luik als ‘draaischijf’ in de bewapening van Israël. In reactie daarop werd de regering door Amnesty International en andere ngo’s in gebreke gesteld vanwege het niet handhaven van de vereiste vergunningen.

278.

7 juni 2024

Today's headlines

‘The generation that says no more’: Inside the Columbia University encampments for Palestine

Students at Columbia University continue to disrupt business as usual for Gaza and have birthed a radical re-imagining of society in the process.

Announcing the launch of the online Popular University for Gaza

Open Letter

San Francisco State University cancelled Dr. Rabab Abdulhadi's Palestine course. It is now available online as part of the Popular University for Gaza.

‘Operation al-Aqsa Flood’ Day 244: Israel commits new massacre in strike on UNRWA school in Nuseirat

Qassam Muaddi

The U.S. and 16 other countries urged Hamas and Israel to “make concessions” to secure a ceasefire deal. Meanwhile, Israel killed 40 people in a bombing of an UNRWA school in the central Gaza Strip.

Read more

277.

6 juni 2024

The human cost of Israeli bombings in Gaza continues to increase—Biden's red line has long been crossed

This morning, Israeli forces targeted al-Sardi school in central Gaza, a United Nations facility serving as a refuge for forcibly displaced Palestinians. This brutal attack claimed the lives of at least 40 Palestinians, including 14 children and 9 women, and left more than 70 wounded.

This attack follows last week's bombing in Rafah, where a U.S.-made bomb was confirmed to have been used in an Israeli strike that resulted in the deaths of dozens of Palestinians. The use of American weaponry in these attacks underscores the depth of complicity and support of the U.S. government in the ongoing violence against Palestinians. Despite these glaring atrocities, the Biden administration continues to assert that it does not see evidence that Israel is deliberately targeting civilians and maintains that Israel has not crossed the so-called "red line" in Rafah.

This stagnant stance by the Biden administration raises serious questions about the threshold of violence and human suffering that must be met for the U.S. to reevaluate its unconditional support for Israel. The deliberate targeting of schools, homes, and U.N. shelters, facilities clearly marked and known to be housing civilians, cannot be brushed aside as collateral damage or accidental. The pattern of these attacks reflects a systematic disregard for Palestinian lives and a blatant violation of international law.

Moreover, the Biden administration's reluctance to hold Israel accountable sends a dangerous message that the lives of Palestinian children, women, and men are expendable. This not only emboldens further aggression but also perpetuates Israel’s impunity. It is imperative that the U.S. administration acknowledges the gravity of these war crimes and takes decisive action to suspend all military aid to Israel, enforcing strict compliance with international humanitarian law.

As we witness the continuous assault on Gaza, we must remember that these are not isolated incidents but part of a broader strategy of oppression and displacement. The United States must take a stand against these egregious violations of human rights. It is a moral and legal obligation to demand justice for the victims and to work towards a future where Palestinians can live in peace and dignity, free from the fear of bombings and occupation.

In solidarity,
American Muslims for Palestine (AMP)

277.

6 juni 2024

As the U.S. continues to greenlight the ongoing genocide against Palestinians, it’s vital to know where our elected officials stand

As the United States continues to fund and provide political and financial cover for the ongoing genocide against Palestinians, it is vital to know where our elected officials stand.

This year, we have decided to exclusively assess Democratic Members of Congress, both in the House and Senate, and have opted not to score Republicans. This decision stems from our preliminary research that uncovered little to no discernible support for the Palestinian cause among elected Republicans.

Our methodology is based on two fundamental principles: objectivity and thoroughness. For our Congressional scorecard, we analyzed over 20,000 data points denoting where Members have stood on the genocide of Palestinians in Gaza since October 7, 2023.

In solidarity,

Ayah ZiyadehAdvocacy Director

276.

6 juni 2024

275.

6 juni 2024

Today's headlines

Did you condemn Hamas?

The question we have to ask ourselves is not whether we condemn Hamas, but whether we condemn a settler colonial regime that makes armed struggle necessary for survival.

274.

5 juni 2024

Questions and answers for Biden.

One day we read that Biden is excited about Israel’s ceasefire plan. And the next day Israeli officials say that it’s Biden’s plan, and it’s unacceptable.

Whose plan even is this? What is the Biden administration planning to do about an Israeli military hell-bent on crossing every “red line” that the U.S. has set — including invading Rafah and re-displacing over 1 million refugees?

Stop arming Israel.

273.

5 juni 2024

White Phosphorous, Israel, and Lebanon

The Israeli military has been using white phosphorus in Gaza and south Lebanon. There’s a lot of confusion out there about white phosphorus, so let’s look at what it is, what it isn’t, and how it’s problematic.

White phosphorus is a chemical substance, dispersed in artillery shells, bombs, and rockets. When exposed to oxygen, it ignites, and the chemical reaction produces intense heat (815°C, 1500°F), light, and thick smoke. It is commonly used as a military tool to create a smokescreen to obscure military operations, or to make enemy targeting more difficult, or mark enemy targets.

It also inflicts appalling injuries when it comes in contact with people. White phosphorus is not considered a chemical weapon, because it operates primarily by heat and flame rather than toxicity, but its impact on the human body is nonetheless horrific.

It causes severe burns, often down to the bone, and burns on only ten percent of the body are often fatal. It can also cause respiratory damage and organ failure. Survivors often experience a lifetime of suffering.

White phosphorus can be burst over or on an area at different heights. When released on or near the ground, the area immediately affected is generally smaller. When airburst, however, white phosphorus covers a larger area and spreads its incendiary effects more widely. If an airburst is over a populated area, the risks to civilians are obvious.

White phosphorus is not specifically banned by international humanitarian law. However, like all actions in a conflict, its use is still bound by the laws of war, whose  core concept is that all parties to a conflict must distinguish, at all times, between combatants and civilians. The law requires all parties to take all feasible precautions to minimise harm to civilians and civilian objects.

Using airburst white phosphorus is unlawfully indiscriminate in populated areas and otherwise does not meet this legal requirement to take all feasible precautions to avoid civilian harm. White phosphorus doesn’t discriminate, falling on military opponents and civilians alike.

This brings us to Israel’s actions in Gaza and south Lebanon. We’ve written about this before, but a  new report further documents Israel’s widespread use of white phosphorus in south Lebanon since October. This includes at least five municipalities where white phosphorus munitions were unlawfully airburst over populated residential areas, putting civilians at grave risk.

So, what’s to be done?

In the immediate term, Israel should prohibit all use of airburst white phosphorus munitions in populated areas. Israel has already developed different munitions as a replacement, so why aren’t they using them?

Lebanon, for its part, should turn to the International Criminal Court and enable the investigation and prosecution of grave international crimes on Lebanese territory since October.

And in the longer term and globally, stronger international standards are needed against the use of white phosphorus. We should work to protect civilians everywhere from the harmful effects of incendiary weapons.

272.

5 juni 2024

Humanitarian Situation Update #175
West Bank

This was the home of a family in the Ras al ‘Amud area of East Jerusalem. The family was forced to demolish it following orders by Israeli authorities citing lack of a building permit, which is rarely granted for Palestinians. Photo by OCHA

Key Highlights

• More than 500 Palestinians and 12 Israelis have been killed in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, since 7 October. 
• About 280 olive and fig trees and 580 grape vine trees were vandalized by Israeli settlers in seven communities across the West Bank during the week-long reporting period.
• A Palestinian family in the Batn Al Hawa area of Silwan, in East Jerusalem, faces the risk of imminent forced displacement after the Israeli Supreme Court rejected their appeal against eviction. 
• The DCO checkpoint, one of the main entrances to Ramallah and Al Bireh cities, was re-opened for the first time in eight months.

Latest developments (after 3 June)

• On 5 June 2024, ten diplomatic missions, led by the Humanitarian Coordinator for the Occupied Palestinian Territory, Muhannad Hadi, participated in a visit to the central West Bank. The group visited Palestinian herding and Bedouin communities, where members and organizations supporting them shared concerns over the humanitarian impact of heightened violence, settler activities, access restrictions, demolitions and other coercive policies and practices. Hadi stated during the visit: “While all eyes are on Gaza, the people of the West Bank must also be supported and protected. The situation here is volatile. We can't wait for the West Bank to become another Gaza.”
• On 4 June, Israeli forces shot and killed two Palestinian men near a military gate located in the Barrier west of Tulkarm city, after the two men reportedly opened fire at them. Their corpses have been withheld by Israeli forces. 

Humanitarian Developments (28 May – 3 June)

• During the reporting period, Israeli forces shot and killed six Palestinians and a Palestinian man ran over two Israeli soldiers in the West Bank (see detailed descriptions below). In addition, 38 Palestinians were injured by Israeli forces, the majority (37) during search-and-arrest operations, and a Palestinian man died of suffocation (not counted above) while working in a landfill when a fire broke out, reportedly ignited by tear gas cannisters, Molotov cocktails or sound grenades, during confrontations between Israeli forces and Palestinians in Al Bireh city.  
  • On 29 May, a Palestinian man ran over two Israeli soldiers (both aged 20 years) with a commercial vehicle at Nablus-Awarta checkpoint that controls access to and from Nablus city from the east. The man fled the area and handed himself over to Palestinian authorities, reportedly noting that the ramming incident was an accident. The two soldiers died of their wounds by the morning of 30 May. For several hours following the incident, Israeli forces further restricted access to Nablus city and Balata Refugee Camp, conducted search operations, and confiscated a vehicle allegedly used in the alleged attack. 
  • On 30 May, Israeli forces shot and killed a 21-year-old Palestinian man, and injured four others with live ammunition, during a search-and-arrest operation in Ramallah and Al Bireh cities. During the operation, Israeli forces raided a money exchange shop and threw tear gas canisters and sound bombs toward Palestinian stone throwers, causing a large fire in the two cities’ main vegetable market. Dozens of shops and goods were destroyed or damaged, affecting the livelihoods of tens of families. 
  • On 1 June, Israeli forces shot and killed two Palestinian children (aged 16 and 17 years) near Aqbat Jaber Refugee Camp in Jericho. The circumstances of the incident remain unclear. According to documentation collected by Defense for Children International – Palestine (DCI), the boys “were carrying stones while heading toward a parking square for cars confiscated from Palestinians, and they discovered that there were Israeli forces behind the cars from a distance of 50 to 80 metres (164 to 262 feet) away when they were shot.” One of the boys died immediately and the second boy was reportedly injured and taken by Israeli forces to an Israeli hospital where he was pronounced dead. 
  • On 3 June, undercover Israeli forces raided a wedding hall in Nablus city where they shot and killed the bride’s brother (22-years-old) when he attempted to escape. His body has been withheld by Israeli forces. Israeli forces subsequently raided Nablus city and an exchange of fire ensued between Israeli forces and armed Palestinians; two Palestinian bystanders (aged 28 and 30 years) were shot and killed by Israeli forces and nine were injured by live ammunition. The Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) reported that its ambulances were denied access by Israeli forces while trying to evacuate the injured. Thirteen (13) per cent of Palestinians killed by Israeli forces in the West Bank since 7 October 2023 (63 out of 491) were in Nablus Governorate. 
• Between 7 October 2023 and 3 June 2024, 508 Palestinians, including 124 children, were killed in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem; these include 491 killed by Israeli forces, ten by Israeli settlers, and seven where it remains unknown whether the perpetrators were Israeli soldiers or settlers. In addition, over 5,150 Palestinians, including about 800 children, were injured, more than a third of whom were injured by live ammunition. During the same period, 12 Israelis, including seven Israeli soldiers and five settlers, were killed by Palestinians and at least 105 Israelis, including 70 soldiers, were injured in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem. In addition, attacks by Palestinians from the West Bank resulted in the killing of eight Israelis and four Palestinian perpetrators in Israel.
• On 4 June, the UN Human Rights Chief, Volker Türk, condemned the daily killings in the occupied West Bank, noting that a third of Palestinian fatalities (164) were killed within the context of “militarized operations, involving airstrikes by unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) or planes and the firing of ground-to-ground missiles on refugee camps and other densely populated areas.” Türk stated that Israeli forces have “often used lethal force as a first resort … in cases where those shot clearly did not represent an imminent threat to life,” and added that there is “a pattern of the denial of medical assistance to those injured.” The Human Rights Chief further highlighted that “pervasive impunity for such crimes has been commonplace for far too long in the occupied West Bank … [and] has created an enabling environment for more and more unlawful killings” by Israeli forces, emphasizing that international law must be respected and enforced, and accountability ensured.
• During the reporting period, OCHA documented 17 attacks perpetrated by Israeli settlers against Palestinians and their property, including vandalism of about 860 trees and saplings. In seven incidents, Israeli settlers vandalized trees and other property in: Duma (110 olive trees), Qusra (25 olive trees and 40 dunums) and Burin (30 olive saplings) in Nablus governorate; Kafr Ad Dik (17 olive trees) in Salfit governorate; Burqa (17 olive trees and 45 metal fencing poles) in Ramallah governorate; Ramin (80 fig trees) in Tulkarm governorate; and Al Khader (580 grape vine trees) in Bethlehem governorate. Furthermore, settlers set fire to two residential structures and two animal shelters in Khallet Al Maghara herding community (Ramallah); set fire to solar panel batteries and stole about 350 metal fencing poles in Khirbet An Nahla (Bethlehem); and set fire to two agricultural structures and 50 dunums (12 acres) of land in At Taybe herding community (Hebron). Also in Hebron, settlers have continued to graze their livestock on Palestinian land in Khirbet at Tabban community in Massafer Yatta area, damaging a total of 100 dunums (25 acres) of land over a two-month period. Twenty other attacks were documented that did not result in injuries or property damage, almost half involved raids into Al Mu’rrajat (Ramallah) and Ras Ein al ‘Auja (Jericho) Bedouin communities.

• Since 7 October 2023, OCHA has recorded 943 attacks by Israeli settlers against Palestinians, which led to Palestinian casualties (96 incidents), damage to Palestinian property (748 incidents), or both (99 incidents); during these attacks, Israeli settlers killed ten Palestinians, injured 231 others, and destroyed or damaged over 43,000 Palestinian-owned trees and saplings. 
• On 3 June, Palestinians opened fire at an Israeli bus and a settler's vehicle travelling near Qalqas Junction, south of Hebron city. Both vehicles sustained damage; there were no reported injuries. Israeli forces launched a large-scale search operation in the area and closed all entrances to Hebron city for two days, impeding the movement of about 850,000 residents of Hebron governorate. Moreover, on 3 and 4 June, Israeli forces closed all except one entrance to Jericho city, citing security reasons, causing severe traffic congestion and impeding access to the city. The movement of people across the West Bank is controlled by at least 790 obstacles to movement, including checkpoints, roadblocks, road gates and earth-mounds. In a positive development, on 3 June, the DCO checkpoint, which is one of the main entry and exit points into and out of Ramallah and Al Bireh cities, was re-opened by Israeli authorities for the first time since 7 October 2023. The checkpoint is now scheduled to open daily between 8:00 and 15:00, whereas before 7 October it was open 24 hours a day. Following the announcement, settlers gathered on Road 60 and threw stones at Palestinian vehicles. 
• During the reporting period, Israeli authorities demolished or forced the owners to demolish 15 Palestinian-owned structures due to the lack of Israeli-issued building permits. These include seven inhabited residential homes in Al ‘Isawiya (1), Ras al ‘Amud (1), Silwan (1) and Al Walaja (1) in East Jerusalem as well as Jalbun (2) and Jericho (1) in Area C. As a result, seven households comprising 36 people, including 14 children, were displaced. Eight other structures were demolished in East Jerusalem and Area C of the West Bank, including five under-construction buildings and three agricultural structures, affecting 28 people, including 11 children.   
• Since 7 October and until 3 June, the Israeli authorities demolished, confiscated or forced the owners to demolish 904 Palestinian structures, of which 39 per cent (350 structures) were inhabited homes. As a result, 2,038 people, including 890 children, were displaced. These include: 1,082 people (53 per cent) displaced by the demolition of homes during operations by Israeli forces, particularly in refugee camps in and near Tulkarm and Jenin cities; 797 people (39 per cent) displaced by demolitions due to the lack of building permits; and 159 (8 per cent) by demolitions on punitive grounds. 
• Two Palestinian families in the Silwan and Sheikh Jarrah areas of East Jerusalem are at imminent risk of displacement from their homes after receiving final eviction orders from Israeli courts who ruled in favour of Israeli settler organizations. In the Karm al Jaouni area of Sheikh Jarrah, the Israeli Magistrate Court issued a final eviction order against Diab family on 14 April 2024, demanding that the family vacate their home by 15 July and pay a penalty of 80,000 NIS (US$21,562) in legal fees to Nahalat Shimon, a settler organization. In the Batn Al Hawa area of Silwan, the Israeli Supreme Court rejected on 26 May a petition filed by the Shehadeh family to challenge a prior court ruling that ordered them to vacate their four-storey building by 1 June in favour of the Ateret Cohanim settler organization. With this decision, the Shehadeh family of five households, comprising 35 people, has exhausted all domestic legal procedures and faces the risk of imminent forced displacement at any moment. Currently, 218 Palestinian households in East Jerusalem have eviction cases filed against them in Israeli courts, the majority by settler organizations, placing at least 970 people, including 424 children, at risk of displacement.

Funding

• As of 5 June, Member States have disbursed about US$1.05 billion out of $3.42 billion (31 per cent) requested to meet the most critical needs of 2.3 million people in Gaza and 800,000 people in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, between January and December 2024. For funding analysis, please see the Flash Appeal Financial Tracking dashboard.   
• The oPt HF has 118 ongoing projects, for a total of $72.5 million, addressing urgent needs in the Gaza Strip (85 per cent) and West Bank (15 per cent). The HF has allocated an additional $22 million to bolster prioritized HF-funded projects in Gaza. Recently, 14 projects for a total of $5 million have been approved under the Third Reserve Allocation titled "Critical Humanitarian Aid for Gaza Amidst Escalating Conflict and Displacement (Phase 3)." Following a steep rise in displacement from Rafah to Khan Younis and Deir al Balah and to capitalize on the operational presence of national partners, these projects will be implemented by national NGOs (12 projects) or through a partnership between international and national NGOs (2 projects). Since 7 October, the oPt HF has mobilized over $100 million from Member States and private donors, designated for programmes throughout Gaza. A summary of the oPt HF activities and challenges in May 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.

271.

5 juni 2024

Today's headlines

Mask Off Maersk: Demand logistics giant Maersk cut ties with genocide

Palestinian Youth Movement

A new international campaign aims to end Maersk’s pervasive role in the transportation and supply of weapons used by Israel in its genocide against the Palestinian people in Gaza.

270.

5 juni 2024

We turn here our focus on Gaza where Israel’s military campaign has now killed more than 36,500 people and wounded tens of thousands more. As Israel’s offensive continues, an image urging social media users to keep "All eyes on Rafah" has gone viral. Find out why below.

269.

4 juni 2024

Today's headlines

Against a world without Palestinians

If the world as it is cannot abide Palestinian existence, then we will have to change the world. We have already started.

Read more

San Jose State University professor says she was suspended over her Palestine activism

Last month Sang Hea Kil, a justice studies professor at the San Jose State University, was placed on a temporary suspension because of her Palestine activism.

Read more

Israel contradicts Biden over ceasefire proposal

Israeli protests demanding a prisoner exchange deal continue in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem as Blinken discusses the proposal with Gantz and Gallant. Meanwhile, Gaza authorities say that thousands of children face death from starvation.

268.

4 juni 2024

This Pride month means fighting for the people and land we love.

As a queer Palestinian person, I’m fighting with every fiber of my being. The function of genocide is to totally annihilate a people, to destroy every condition that promotes life: Food, water, sanitation, healthcare, housing, schools, places of worship—even down to any source of enjoyment or hope for the future.

In the face of annihilation, Palestinian people fight back. We refuse to lay down and be killed quietly. We cling to the steadfast spirit of our ancestors, to the precious memories of our homeland, to the force of life beating in our hearts.

This Pride, I ask you to fight with us. Find all the ways you can take action.

267.

3 juni 2024

Today's headlines

Netanyahu is back and leading the polls, all thanks to the ICC

In Israel, a potential arrest for crimes against humanity can help boost the popularity of a politician. That itself is a telling indictment.

Israel is committing genocide. Its enablers can be held to account.

Since October 7, scholars have debated whether Israel’s actions meet the legal threshold of genocide. A meticulous new report finds the evidence is clear and overwhelming.

Read more

266.

3 juni 2024

Humanitarian Situation Update #174
Gaza Strip

Youssef (13) carrying bread for his family in Al Mawasi. Photo by UNICEF

Key Highlights

• Treatment of more than 3,000 children suffering from acute malnutrition is at risk of interruption if nutrition supplies are not distributed, UNICEF warns.
• No bakeries are currently functional in Rafah and public health concerns are beyond crisis levels in Khan Younis and Deir al Balah, according to the World Food Programme.
• The Emergency Committee for North Gaza municipalities declared Jabalya town, Jabalya Refugee Camp, Beit Lahya and Beit Hanoun as “disaster zones.”
• Humanitarian space continues to further shrink, report UNRWA and the Protection Cluster.

Humanitarian Developments

• Israeli bombardment from the air, land, and sea continues to be reported across much of the Gaza Strip, resulting in further civilian casualties, displacement, and destruction of houses and other civilian infrastructure. Ground incursions and heavy fighting also continue to be reported, particularly in Rafah. Intensified hostilities following the issuance of evacuation orders and the Israeli military operation in Rafah have so far forced the displacement of about one million people, amid a decline in the entry of humanitarian aid.
• Between the afternoons of 31 May and 3 June, according to MoH in Gaza, 195 Palestinians were killed and 720 were injured, including 40 killed and 150 injured in the past 24 hours. Between 7 October 2023 and 3 June 2024, at least 36,479 Palestinians were killed and 82,777 were injured in Gaza, according to MoH in Gaza. 
• The following are among the deadly incidents reported between 30 May and 3 June:  
  • On 30 May, at about 13:25, at least three Palestinians were reportedly killed and others injured when an UNRWA school was hit in Jabaliya Refugee Camp, in North Gaza. 
  • On 31 May, at about 1:05, eight Palestinians, including two children and three women, were reportedly killed and others injured when a house was hit in Bloc 9 in Al Bureij Refugee Camp, in Deir al Balah. 
  • On 31 May, at about 6:25, three Palestinian men were reportedly killed and others injured when a civilian car was hit in Al Helou Street in An Nuseirat Refugee Camp, in Deir al Balah. 
  • On 31 May, at about 20:00, three Palestinians including two women, one of whom was identified as a journalist, were reportedly killed and others injured when a house was hit in Al Jalaa Street in the central part of Gaza city. 
  • On 1 June, at about 15:00, two Palestinians were reportedly killed and four others injured when Ali Bin Abi Talib School sheltering internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Az Zaitoun neighbourhood of Gaza city was hit.
  • On 2 June, at about 1:30, three Palestinians, including a man, a woman, and an infant, were reportedly killed when a house was hit in Ad Daraj neighbourhood of Gaza city. 
• Between the afternoons of 31 May and 3 June, no Israeli soldiers were reported killed in Gaza. As of 3 June, 293 soldiers have been killed and 1,878 soldiers have been injured in Gaza or along the border in Israel since the beginning of the ground operation, according to the Israeli military. In addition, according to the Israeli media citing official Israeli sources, over 1,200 Israelis and foreign nationals, including 33 children, have been killed in Israel, the vast majority on 7 October. As of 3 June, it is estimated that 125 Israelis and foreign nationals remain captive in Gaza, including fatalities whose bodies are withheld.  On 3 June, the Israeli military stated that it has found, in Israel, the body of an Israeli killed in the attacks of 7 October 2023. According to media reports, he was thus far believed to be held hostage in Gaza.
• On 1 June, the Israeli military ordered residents of two blocs in Beit Hanoun, in North Gaza governorate, to evacuate to the area west of Gaza city. With an area of two square kilometres, the two blocs were home to 7,284 Palestinians before 7 October and encompass two UNRWA schools, one UNRWA distribution centre, and one health facility. To date, 285 square kilometres, or about 78 per cent of the Gaza Strip, have been placed under evacuation orders by the Israeli military; this encompasses all areas north of Wadi Gaza, whose residents were instructed to evacuate in late October, as well as specific areas south of Wadi Gaza designated for evacuation by the Israeli military since 1 December.
• On 2 June, the head of the Emergency Committee for North Gaza municipalities declared Jabalya town, Jabalya Refugee Camp, Beit Lahya and Beit Hanoun as “disaster zones,” following the withdrawal of Israeli forces from the area on 31 May.  They appealed to the international community and UN aid agencies to provide immediate relief and shelter assistance as well as support the municipalities in repairing damaged water wells and other critical infrastructure. According to the same source, the most recent three-week ground operation in northern Gaza resulted in the destruction of 50,000 housing units, UNRWA shelters, and more than 15 water wells and other public infrastructure. The central market in Jabalya Refugee Camp, the fifth floor of Al Awda Hospital, and the main electricity generator at Kamal Adwan Hospital were also destroyed, reported the Palestinian Civil Defense (PCD) in a statement on 31 May. PCD teams have recovered tens of bodies, mostly women and children, from Jabalya Refugee Camp, including 30 people from the same family of whom 22 were women and children, and rescue operations are still ongoing. Highlighting the challenges facing PCD teams due to the lack of equipment, the director of Kamal Adwan Hospital, Dr. Husam Abu Safiyeh, noted in a media interview that over 120 bodies had been recovered by medical teams from under rubble, and that work was underway to repair damages and restore services at the hospital despite limited capacities. 

• The intensification of hostilities and evacuation orders in Rafah have forced Protection Cluster partners, like other humanitarian actors, to evacuate their premises, with many providers, themselves displaced, unable to re-establish services due to the lack of tents, exorbitant rent costs, fuel shortage and rising transportation costs. This has resulted in a limited number of frontline staff in Al Mawasi area in Khan Younis, reports the Protection Cluster, and negatively affected the availability and accessibility of protection services, including for the provision of psycho-social support, awareness raising activities, and the re-establishment of referrals for Gender-Based Violence (GBV) cases. It has also heightened the cost of accessing services, disproportionately affecting women and girls. The SOS Children’s village, the only currently functional shelter for children without parental care, had to relocate the children and their caregivers from Rafah to central Gaza but has a limited number of tents and no capacity to receive more children. According to UNRWA, the “humanitarian space continues to further shrink,” with all 36 UNRWA shelters in Rafah now empty and the agency having had to stop health and other critical services in the governorate.  
• WFP is currently able to reach only 27,000 people with hot meals in Rafah, nowhere near what is required, noted the World Food Program (WFP) Country Director in Palestine, Matthew Hollingworth, in a press briefing on 31 May following a ten-day mission to Gaza. Six bakeries remain functional in Deir al Balah and Khan Younis, while those in Rafah have ceased operations due to the lack of fuel, he added. Deir al Balah and Khan Younis, where almost a million people have fled, are highly congested; people face dire shortages of food, clean water, medical supplies and healthcare services and “public health concerns are beyond crisis levels,” WFP stressed. WFP and its partners are currently providing 400,000 hot meals per day in the area but lack supplies to scale up the delivery of ready-to-eat rations while commercial supplies are generally unaffordable. Hollingworth observed that many families were resorting to leaving their identification cards as collateral to pay for food supplies from the market, “putting their own safety and future in jeopardy because they need those identification cards to register for aid in the future.” In northern Gaza, about 12,000 tons of aid, primarily food, that has arrived via the northern crossings since 1 May has provided some relief, but lack of access to clean water, nutritious foods, health care and sanitation continue to devastate the area. 
• In Deir al Balah, Al Aqsa Hospital announced on 30 May that one child had died in the facility due to malnutrition and lack of medical treatment, and another 13-year-old child also reportedly died of malnutrition on 1 June. “If nutrition supplies, especially ready-to-use therapeutic food, used to address malnutrition among children, cannot be distributed, the treatment of more than 3,000 children with acute malnutrition will be interrupted,” stated the UNICEF Chief of Communications in Palestine, Jonathan Crickx, underscoring that the “ongoing situation in Rafah is a disaster for children.” 
• “With hostilities escalating due to the ongoing military operation, the lack of health care will lead to increased unnecessary deaths and suffering,” stressed the World Health Organization (WHO) on 1 June. The Health Cluster reports that, as of 3 June, there are 15 partially functional hospitals and five field hospitals, including two that are partially functional and three that are fully functional. In North Gaza, WHO informs, Kamal Adwan Hospital had resumed partial functionality and access to Al Awda Hospital has now been restored. In late May, Al Awda became inaccessible due to the intensification of hostilities while 14 health workers, 11 patients and two mothers accompanying their children remained inside the facility. The Indonesian Hospital in the same governorate is still out of service and the hospital has recently been impacted by shelling, according to MoH in Gaza. In Rafah, all three hospitals remain non-functional, WHO reports, and out of six field hospitals, only two are functional; the International Medical Corps (IMC) field hospital remains fully operational while the UAE Field Hospital is only partially functional, continuing to provide services to 37 patients inside the facility but is inaccessible to new patients. 
• Access constraints continue to undermine the safe delivery of life-saving humanitarian assistance throughout Gaza, exacerbating the needs of hundreds of thousands of people. With hostilities escalating in both northern and southern Gaza, particularly in Rafah, security and humanitarian access conditions have further deteriorated in May. Despite the presence of a system to notify and coordinate humanitarian movements, impediments, delays, and denials of missions continue to frequently restrict the movement of humanitarian personnel and the delivery of assistance. Between 1 and 31 May, out of the 78 coordinated humanitarian assistance missions to northern Gaza, 35 (45 per cent) were facilitated by Israeli authorities, 5 (6 per cent) were denied access, 27 (35 per cent) were impeded, and 11 (14 per cent) were cancelled due to operational or security reasons. In addition, out of 270 coordinated humanitarian assistance missions to areas in southern Gaza, 138 (51 per cent) were facilitated by Israeli authorities, 33 (12 per cent) were denied, 52 (19 per cent) were impeded, and 47 (17 per cent) were cancelled. Many missions classified as “impeded” have experienced extended delays imposed by Israeli authorities at holding points, with some lasting up to nine hours at sensitive locations, significantly increasing the security risks for humanitarian personnel. 

Funding

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

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2 juni 2024

Today's headlines

‘Jabalia is the birthplace of uprisings’: Israeli army withdraws, but the camp remains

The Israeli army withdrew from Jabalia refugee camp after a three-week invasion, leaving destruction and a new generation of resistance fighters in its wake.

Understanding Biden’s proposal for a Gaza ceasefire

While the details of Joe Biden’s proposal for a Gaza ceasefire remain vague it does make one outcome of the fighting clear: Israel and the United States lost.

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2 juni 2024

Last Friday, the first concrete move in this refuser wave went public. 41 Israeli reserve soldiers published a letter declaring that they refuse to take part in the assault on Rafah, endangering uninvolved civilians, the hostages, and themselves. Below is the full text of their letter.

We are reserve soldiers who have been called up for duty since October 7. We enlisted out of a deep feeling of commitment and necessity. We took part in the war effort in order to protect our home, and to ensure the security and wellbeing of our lives, the lives of our families, and the lives of all Israel’s citizens.

For over half a year we've been in a state of war, and yet more than 120 are still held in Gaza by Hamas. The half year in which we took part in the war effort has proven to us that military action will not bring the hostages home. Every day that passes endangers the lives of the hostages and the soldiers still in Gaza, and does not restore security to those living on the Gaza and northern borders.

As we write this letter, the invasion of Rafah has begun. This invasion not only endangers our lives and those of innocent civilians in Rafah, but will also not bring back the hostages – whose rescue is one of the main reasons we enlisted – alive. It’s either Rafah or the hostages, and we choose the hostages.

Therefore, following the decision to prefer the invasion of Rafah over a hostage deal, we, reservist soldiers, declare that our conscience will not allow us to enlist, and that we will not lend a hand to the abandoning of the lives of the hostages and the torpedoing of another deal. 

The time has come to choose life, to invest all our efforts and resources in negotiating a deal that will bring back the hostages and restore the security of the State of Israel.

It's important to remember that this letter is directed at Israelis, using language that resonates within internal Israeli discourse. As such, it has the power to influence change and ultimately help end the horrors in Gaza. Refusal, regardless of the reason behind it, has the potential to end the war.
  

This initiative marks the start of a refusal wave and others will follow. 

In solidarity,

Mattan Helman
Executive Director
Refuser Solidarity Network

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1 juni 2024

On Nov. 16, 2023, hundreds of protesters shut down the Bay Bridge in protest of genocide, bringing traffic to a halt for four hours.

It was a powerful direct action viewed on social media around the world—so effective, in fact, that the state tried to repress their activism. 78 protesters faced charges for their civil disobedience.

In the days that followed, the Bay Area community rallied to defend activists from repression. They launched a Drop the Charges campaign for the Bay Bridge 78, which successfully lowered charges to protect

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1 juni 2024

Today's headlines

The question of Hamas and the Left

The Left must confront this basic fact. One cannot claim solidarity with Palestine and dismiss, overlook, or exclude Hamas.

Biden won’t set red lines for Israel so long as AIPAC is ‘top’ Democratic campaign funder

AIPAC has spent $12 million in just two congressional races. Joe Biden notices even if the media doesn’t.

A Texas company is providing the jet fuel for Israel’s assault on Gaza

San Antonio-based Valero Energy Corporation has been one of Israel's leading suppliers of jet fuel for its genocidal attack on Gaza. A new report says the company may be liable for war crimes.

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