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 31-08-2024 STAAN HIER

16 september 2024

Humanitarian Situation Update #218
Gaza Strip

Children in Gaza searching through scattered waste. Photo by OHCHR/Olga Cherevko

Key Highlights

• According to new data published by the Ministry of Health in Gaza (MoH), of 34,344 fatalities who were killed as of 31 August and whose full information has been identified, over 11,000 were children.
• Humanitarian actors specializing in health, water, sanitation, and hygiene urgently call for increased access to soap, detergents, and other cleaning materials to combat diarrhea and skin infections.
• As of 23 July, about 22,500 people who have been injured – a quarter of the all MoH-reported injuries – are estimated to have life-changing injuries that require rehabilitation, according to the World Health Organization.
• Multiple Israeli-issued evacuation orders in recent months have delayed or interrupted support to people facing gender-based violence (GBV), including medical care to GBV survivors, by forcing the closure or relocation of service delivery points.

Humanitarian Developments

• Israeli bombardment from the air and land continues to be reported across the Gaza Strip, resulting in further civilian casualties, displacement, and destruction of houses and other civilian infrastructure. Ground operations, particularly in Beit Hanoun, southwest Gaza city, eastern Khan Younis and Deir al Balah, and east as well as south Rafah, with heavy fighting, also continue to be reported, alongside Palestinian rocket fire at Israel.
• Between the afternoons of 12 and 16 September, according to the Ministry of Health (MoH) in Gaza, 108 Palestinians were killed and 288 were injured. Between 7 October 2023 and 16 September 2024, at least 41,226 Palestinians were killed and 95,413 were injured, according to MoH in Gaza. The MoH documents the full identification details of casualties and has recently published the breakdown of 34,344 out of 40,738 fatalities as of 31 August for whom full details have been documented by MoH (also available on the Health Cluster’s Unified Dashboard here); according to MoH, these reportedly include 11,355 children, 6,297 women, 2,955 elderly, and 13,737 men. The documentation process is ongoing by the MoH.
• The following are some of the deadly incidents reported between 12 and 14 September:
  • On 12 September, six Palestinians, including four women, a girl, and a boy, were reportedly killed and others injured when a house was hit in northern An Nuseirat, in Deir al Balah.
  • On 12 September, four Palestinian men were reportedly killed and others injured when a house was hit near the European Hospital in eastern Khan Younis.
  • On 13 September, five Palestinians, including two men, one woman and two children were reportedly killed and others injured when a house was hit in Al Mawasi area, in western Rafah.
  • On 14 September, ten Palestinians, including three children and a woman, were reportedly killed and others injured when a house was hit near Ash Shuja’iyeh School in At Tuffah area, northeast of Gaza city.
  • On 14 September, five Palestinians were reportedly killed and others injured when a fuel-filling facility was reportedly hit near Dar al Arkam school in An Nasr area northwest of Gaza city.
• Between the afternoons of 13 and 16 September, no Israeli soldiers were reportedly killed in Gaza, according to the Israeli military. Between 7 October 2023 and 16 September 2024, according to the Israeli military and official Israeli sources cited in the media, more than 1,542 Israelis and foreign nationals were killed, the majority on 7 October and its immediate aftermath. The figure includes 342 soldiers killed in Gaza or along the border in Israel since the beginning of the ground operation. In addition, 2,281 Israeli soldiers were reported injured since the beginning of the ground operation.
• At least 22,500 people, or one-quarter of all MoH-reported injuries in Gaza by 23 July, are estimated to have life-changing injuries that require rehabilitation services “now and for years to come,” highlights the World Health Organization (WHO) in a recent analysis. Severe limb injuries – estimated to be between 13,455 and 17,550 –are the main driver of long-term rehabilitation needs. WHO also assesses that between 3,000 and 4,000 limb amputations have occurred, in addition to about 2,000 spinal cord and severe traumatic brain injuries and at least 2,000 major burns. Amid a decimated health-care system, “acute rehabilitation services are severely disrupted and specialized care for complex injuries is not available, placing patients’ lives at risk,” warned WHO. Gaza’s only limb reconstruction and rehabilitation centre, located in the Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Younis, became non-functional in December 2023, and was damaged in February 2024. Most of the rehabilitation workforce in Gaza has been displaced and 39 physiotherapists have reportedly been killed as of 10 May. No in-patient rehabilitation and prosthetic services are present, and even the most essential assistive devices, like wheelchairs and crutches, are lacking due to the restricted flow of aid. Tens of thousands of Palestinians in the Strip were already living with pre-existing chronic conditions and impairments before the latest escalation, making it even more critical to integrate rehabilitation services in the ongoing response. Beyond the lack of acute trauma care options, stocks of the most essential medical supplies continue to decrease in Gaza due to persistent obstacles hampering the entry of aid. According to the Health Cluster, public health facilities in southern Gaza are reporting an over 70 per cent shortage of critical health items, including consumables, complete blood count kits and laboratory equipment.
• On 14 September, the Israeli military issued an evacuation order affecting three neighbourhoods in central Beit Lahia in northern Gaza. According to the order, it followed rocket launches into Israel from the area, and the orders excluded health facilities in the neighbourhoods. According to the Site Management Working Group, this order affects two IDP collective centres and one makeshift site, hosting a total of 850 people. Initial mapping indicates that before 7 October, over 17,500 people were residing in these areas, with most reportedly forced out by ongoing hostilities and previous evacuation orders, the most recent ones affecting these neighbourhoods issued on 7 and 16 August. The ongoing issuance of mass evacuation orders without ensuring that those displaced have safe and adequate places to stay, is worsening the humanitarian crisis for hundreds of thousands, especially those who are repeatedly forcibly displaced. As of 16 September, more than 55 evacuation orders remain in effect, covering about 86 per cent of Gaza.
• Repeated forced displacement has resulted in the separation of families, eroding social protection systems, specifically for women and children in Gaza. According to UNFPA, this, compounded with the lack of law enforcement, is exposing women and girls to heightened risks of violence, including gender-based violence (GBV). Severe overcrowding in shelters, coupled with abysmal water and sanitation conditions and the scarcity of soap and hygiene products (see below), are also depriving women and girls of their privacy and dignity, while making them more vulnerable to infections and diseases. Despite the high surge in needs, aid workers are facing immense challenges in reaching women and girls. The multiple Israeli-issued evacuation orders in recent months have forced GBV-response service delivery points to close or relocate, while displacing beneficiaries, making them difficult to trace and ultimately delaying or interrupting service provision, including medical care for GBV survivors. The shortage of tents and facilities that may be converted into safe operational spaces is also hampering partners’ efforts to scale up GBV prevention and response services, including case management and specialized mental health and psychosocial support. These obstacles are exacerbated by unstable internet connection and the ongoing electricity outage, transport restrictions and the lack of cash liquidity, which are further constraining efforts to engage with communities, strengthen GBV-response referral pathways and increase protection activities.

• The upcoming rainy season, along with the already-poor shelter conditions in Gaza, requires immediate, intensive interventions. With the magnitude of destruction to urban areas, roads, and critical infrastructure this year, flooding patterns can be expected to be unpredictable and disastrous for those seeking shelter. Most displaced people are sheltering in small, overcrowded makeshift shelters on self-settled sites, typically having deteriorated plastic sheeting for roofing, while the remaining live in tents, many of which are overcrowded. Others are sheltering in damaged or unfinished buildings which are unsafe. The Shelter Cluster has reported that 1.13 million people need sealing-off kits for makeshift shelters or tents and 1.34 million people need bedding kits. Despite the ongoing efforts to bring shelter items into Gaza, there is a gap of 760,000 people who will not receive aid in the south, where the vast majority of IDPs are currently sheltering. With an average of only two truckloads of shelter-related items per week entering south Gaza in August, the Shelter Cluster is estimating that partners would need two years to deliver the equivalent of the most basic winterization support needed now. At least 25,000 sealing-off kits (25 truckloads) need to be delivered per week to south Gaza for people to be supported before more significant rainfall and lower temperatures arrive in November.
• On 13 September, the WASH and Health Clusters published an urgent call on the lack of access to soap, shampoo, and detergent to combat diarrhea and skin infections in Gaza. Ongoing constraints by the Israeli authorities on the entry of essential supplies are particularly harmful for children, pregnant women, and people with compromised immune systems and are increasing stress and anxiety in overcrowded shelters. Currently, shampoo, detergent (including laundry detergent), and dishwashing liquid are largely absent from the market. As a result, community kitchens cannot thoroughly clean pots, shelters are left unclean, and families are struggling to wash their clothes, vegetables, and cooking utensils or shower. Health-care facilities also struggle to find essential cleaning materials to protect patients, staff, and caregivers. The Clusters emphasized that handwashing with soap is crucial for preventing diseases and can reduce diarrheal diseases by up to 40 per cent and respiratory infections by about 20 per cent. However, soap is either unavailable or sold at unaffordable prices.
• Ongoing hostilities, access constraints, and damaged infrastructure, along with the deteriorating security situation, including looting and frequent Israeli-issued evacuation orders, are obstructing the delivery of life-saving aid across the Gaza Strip. Between 1 and 15 September of the 94 planned humanitarian missions coordinated with the Israeli authorities for northern Gaza, only 37 (39 per cent) were facilitated and 25 (27 per cent) were denied access. In southern Gaza, out of 243 coordinated humanitarian movements, 129 (53 per cent) were facilitated, and 41 (17 per cent) were denied access. OCHA has not been able to access northern Gaza for 28 days. Israeli access denials or impediments alongside other obstacles are preventing humanitarian missions to assess needs, to coordinate response, to take supplies and to prepare for the rainy season in the north. Aid convoys are being fired on or otherwise exposed to life-risking conditions, stopped, and delayed for hours in combat zones. The limited access to northern Gaza continues to affect hundreds of thousands of vulnerable people, leaving them in dire conditions with a severe shortage of essential supplies and restricted access to basic services.

567.

16 september 2024

Today's headlines

Neither monsters nor superheroes, Palestinians in Gaza ask to be seen as ‘just people’

The new book "Daybreak in Gaza: Stories of Palestinian Lives and Culture" seeks to push back against the dehumanization at the heart of the Gaza genocide by illuminating the human spirit of a place under attack.

When the sun sinks over Gaza

Before the genocide in Gaza, Haidar Eid performed a rendition of Ahmad Fouad Negm's "If the Sun Sinks," a poem that beautifully mirrors the contradiction Palestinians now face between the ongoing horror and the hope for liberation.

566.

15 september 2024

Mail met 1 klik naar de provincie Gelderland!

Al sinds onze oprichting voeren wij campagne tegen deelname van Egged Bus Systems (EBS) aan Nederlandse aanbestedingen. Het toelaten van deze volle dochter van Egged, belangrijke logistieke schakel in Israëls nederzettingenbeleid, was altijd al in strijd met nationaal en internationaal beleid en recht.

Het oordeel van het Internationaal Gerechtshof van 19 juli jongstleden bevestigt dit. Het Hof benoemt expliciet de verplichting van alle landen om te voorkomen dat overheden, instellingen, bedrijven en rechtspersonen onder hun jurisdictie op enige wijze bijdragen aan het bestaan en voortbestaan van de illegale bezetting en kolonisatie. Dat houdt in dat alle politieke, militaire en economische banden met Israëls activiteiten in bezet Palestijns gebied verbroken moeten worden.

Egged staat sinds 2020 op de VN-lijst van bedrijven die profiteren van en bijdragen aan de kolonisatie van Palestijns land. Het lijdt daarom geen twijfel dat het toelaten van volle dochter EBS in strijd is met de uitspraak van het Internationaal Gerechtshof, het hoogste gerechtelijke orgaan van de Verenigde Naties.

Momenteel beslist de provincie Gelderland welk bedrijf de komende 10 tot 17 jaar het OV in de regio Achterhoek-Rivierenland mag uitvoeren.

Stuur een mail aan de portefeuillehouder van de Gedeputeerde Staten in Gelderland en de leden van de Provinciale Staten om ze aan hun verplichtingen te herinneren en te voorkomen dat reizigers in Achterhoek-Rivierlanden medeplichtig worden gemaakt aan kolonisatie en apartheid.

565.

14 september 2024

Today's headlines

Man reportedly lit himself on fire outside Boston’s Israeli consulate to protest Gaza genocide

A man in Boston reportedly lit himself on fire outside the Israeli consulate in Boston on September 11, making him the third person in the U.S. to self-immolate outside an Israeli consulate since the Gaza genocide began nearly one year ago.

564.

14 september 2024

    “AID” TO  ISRAEL  =   BOMBING PALESTINIANS

563.

13 september 2024

Terwijl illegale Israëlische kolonisten het oogstseizoen weer zijn begonnen met brandstichting en vernielingen van olijfbomen van Palestijnse boeren, en het Israëlische leger zes medewerkers van VN-hulporganisatie UNRWA heeft gedood bij een bombardement op Gaza, is in Nederland het nieuwe politieke jaar volop begonnen.

En hoe doet de regering dat? Door weg te duiken voor de verantwoordelijkheid voor het Internationaal Strafhof.

Noorwegen
Zo ontweek minister Veldkamp van Buitenlandse Zaken deze week vragen van Kamerleden Paternotte (D66) en Piri (GroenLinks-PvdA) over Israëls beslissing om Noorse diplomaten uit te wijzen. Aanleiding was de positieve reactie van Noorwegen op mogelijke arrestatiebevelen van het Strafhof voor onder andere Israëlische leiders zoals premier Netanyahu. Het land heeft aangegeven dergelijke bevelen uit te zullen voeren.

Hoe meer (westerse) landen het voorbeeld van Noorwegen volgen, hoe nauwer het net zich om de Israëlische politici zal sluiten. Dat wil Israël uiteraard voorkomen, door bijvoorbeeld diplomaten uit te zetten.

Een demonstrant houdt een bord op met de tekst 'Strafhof, klaag Netanyahu aan. Bezwijk niet onder Amerikaanse druk', Manchester, 11 mei 2024. © Alamy 

'Uiterste urgentie'
Ondertussen laat hoofdaanklager van het Strafhof Karim Khan zich niet van de wijs brengen. Na zijn aanvankelijke verzoek tot arrestatiebevelen, afgelopen mei, heeft hij op 10 september de rechters van het Strafhof gemaand de arrestatiebevelen ‘met uiterste urgentie’ uit te vaardigen.

In een interview met het Japanse The Yomiuri Shimbun heeft Khan bovendien zijn zorg uitgesproken over de Amerikaanse druk op het Strafhof. Het Amerikaanse Congres nam in juni een wet aan om sancties in te stellen tegen het Internationaal Strafhof wegens Khans onderzoek naar oorlogsmisdaden door Netanyahu en andere Israëlische officials. Khan: ‘Je kunt een aanval op het Hof niet toestaan. Dan heb je geen rules-based system.’

Lees hier het hele artikel over minister Veldkamp, Noorwegen en het Internationaal Strafhof.

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

'De bezette Westelijke Jordaanoever mag geen tweede Gaza worden'

In een redactioneel commentaar heeft de NRC zogenaamde zorgen uitgesproken over de situatie op de bezette Westelijke Jordaanoever. Aanleiding waren de grootschalige aanvallen van het Israëlische leger op vluchtelingenkampen bij Palestijnse steden in het noorden van de Westoever. Met de van Gaza inmiddels maar al te bekende massaslachtingen, ethnic cleansing, totale vernietiging van infrastructuur en behuizingen en talloze verdere oorlogsrechtelijke barbaarsheden

'De situatie in de kampen wordt door de inwoners daar al ‘Gaza in het klein’ genoemd,' schrijft de krant. 'Het is verstandig die vergelijking serieus te nemen en als waarschuwing te zien. De internationale gemeenschap mag en kan niet wegkijken bij opnieuw schendingen van mensenrechten en mogelijke oorlogsmisdaden.'

De NRC eindigt hier met louter open deuren:

'De conclusie van het Internationaal Gerechtshof dat de bezetting illegaal is, heeft ook implicaties voor Nederland. Volgens het hof hebben derde staten de plicht om de onwettige situatie niet in stand te houden. Ook dienen zij het Palestijnse recht op zelfbeschikking te beschermen. Nederland heeft, zeker als gastland van het Internationaal Gerechtshof, de plicht om het internationaal recht hoog te houden en geen uitzondering te maken voor Israël.'

Maar over het hoe en wat tot dusver geen boe of ba!

Agenda | Palestijns Film Festival, boekbespreking en meer

17 september 2024 | Avond met schrijfster Anja Meulenbelt over Gaza
Stichting Groningen-Jabalya organiseert dinsdag 17 september een avond met schrijfster Anja Meulenbelt. Meulenbelt is al jaren sterk betrokken bij de Palestijnse zaak. Zij schreef verschillende boeken over het onderwerp, en met name over haar betrokkenheid bij de Gazastrook. Naast reisverslagen publiceerde zij in 2010 Oorlog als er vrede dreigt, Israël en het Palestijnse probleem. In 2015 volgde het boek Kwart over Gaza: over zionisme, antisemitisme en islamfobie. En recent publiceerde zij het boek Nooit meer is nu: over Israëlisch kolonialisme en Palestijns verzet.

Waar: De Holm, Folkingestraat 9B Groningen
Wanneer: dinsdag 17 september 2024
Aanvang: 20:00 uur

Klik hier voor meer informatie.

26 september 2024 | Boekbespreking Een tuin voor verloren benen
Podium voor Palestina organiseert op donderdag 26 september een online boekbespreking van Een tuin voor verloren benen van de Palestijnse auteur Mahmoud Jouda. De Nederlandse vertaling, van de hand van Djûke Poppinga, verscheen dit jaar bij uitgeverij Jurgen Maas.

Alle Gazanen hebben een verhaal, of beter een rugzak vol verhalen. Die verhalen vormen een zware last maar zijn ook belangrijk om de herinneringen levend te houden en de menselijkheid niet te laten uitwissen. In Een tuin voor verloren benen is de verteller ook een verhalenverzamelaar. Hij luistert naar mede-Gazanen, veelal jonge mannen, die meededen aan de Marsen van de Terugkeer in 2018, documenteert hun ervaringen en schrijft tot ‘hij kramp heeft in zijn vingers en vermoeidheid in zijn hoofd.’

Klik hier voor meer informatie en om je aan te melden.

10 - 13 oktober 2024 | Palestinian Film Festival Amsterdam
De vierde editie van het Palestinian Film Festival Amsterdam, dit jaar met als thema 'Dissident Voices & Queer Palestinian Cinema'. Het festival speelt zich af verspreid over vijf bioscopen in Amsterdam: filmtheater Kriterion, filmtheater De Uitkijk, Lab11, Ventilator Cinema en Studio/K.

Het programma van het festival is nog niet bekend, maar wordt binnenkort gepubliceerd op de website van het festival.

Klik hier om onze volledige agenda te bekijken voor meer evenementen rondom Israël/Palestina in Nederland.

562.

13 september 2024

The Israeli government, security heads and mainstream media have for months peddled the false and deadly axiom that “only military pressure” will bring the hostages back home safely. In reality, the IDF offensive is bringing them back in body bags while killing countless Palestinians.

Up until now 117 have returned home alive. 4 were released by Hamas. 105 were released in the only deal struck up until now, which included temporary ceasefires. How many were released due to military operations during the past 11 months? Only 8. These numbers don’t lie.

So far, the IDF has retrieved the bodies of 37 hostages from different parts of the Strip. 23 of them were taken into Gaza alive. At least 4 are thought to have died in captivity due to injuries suffered on October 7th, or lack of medical treatment and supplies.

But it’s estimated that at least 15 hostages were killed directly or indirectly by IDF attacks.

Take 53 year old Yossi Sharabi, who was killed after the Air Force bombed the building where he was being held, even though they knew that hostages were being held in the area.

Just this week, the IDF confirmed that Ron Sherman, Nick Beiser and Alia Toledano were suffocated to death in the Hamas tunnel they were held in after inhaling toxic gasses released by exploded IDF bombs. They’ve known this since February yet chose not to make it public until now.

Then there's also the erroneous shooting of the 3 Israeli hostages - Yotam Haim, Alon Shamriz and Samer Talalka - by IDF soldiers back in December. The IDF’s own internal investigation found that the force in question was instructed to shoot at any “fighting age male".

5 of the 6 bodies retrieved on August 20th were also killed in all probability due to the military pressure. The IDF said it was looking into the possibility Yoram Metzger, Chaim Peri, Nadav Popplewell and another hostage were killed by its own troops.


Even in the very rare situations when an IDF operation successfully rescues hostages alive, the Palestinian casualties resulting from those raids are unimaginable. Hundreds were killed or injured during the rescue operation of 4 hostages in the Nuseirat Refugee Camp in June.

More and more Israelis are finally starting to understand this. It’s too late for tens of thousands of Palestinians as it is for many of the hostages, but a ceasefire and hostage deal can still save so many innocent lives. This requires finally embracing the facts: Military pressure kills.

Soldiers’ testimonies we received and were published by Haaretz last month substantiated and detailed the IDF's use of Palestinian civilians as human shields, who are sent into potentially booby-trapped tunnels and buildings in the Gaza Strip.

More information, including testimonies from soldiers who chose to break their silence, are available in the following links:

Haaretz | Israeli army uses Palestinian civilians to inspect potentially booby-trapped tunnels in Gaza

The independent | Stripped and held at gunpoint, the Gaza schoolboys ‘forced to be Israel’s human shields’

561.

13 september 2024

Today's headlines

Palestinians in the West Bank are completely unprepared for the coming genocide

We need to build an infrastructure of confrontation to resist Israel's coming onslaught on the West Bank. The first step to doing so is by building self-reliance and reclaiming food sovereignty.

Israel bombs two displacement shelters in Gaza, kills 11 Palestinians in West Bank

The UN Secretary-General condemned Israel’s massacre of dozens of Palestinians in Nuseirat after six UNRWA workers were among the slain. Meanwhile, Israeli forces killed 11 Palestinians in the West Bank within two days.

Israel’s lie about a U.S. activist’s murder has exposed the Biden-Harris double standard on Palestine

Israel’s lie over the murder of U.S. activist Aysenur Ezgi Eygi has been exposed, and in the process, so has Joe Biden and Kamala Harris's double standard on the worth of Palestinian lives.

560.

13 september 2024

Humanitarian Situation Update #217
Gaza Strip

Heavily damaged school in Gaza. Photo by UNRWA.

Key Highlights

• Violence and obstruction continue to undermine humanitarian efforts. Israeli forces held a UN convoy at gunpoint, preventing it from fulfilling its humanitarian mission. In a separate incident, a school, and its surroundings in Nuseirat in the middle areas was hit leading to at least 18 deaths, including aid workers.
• Over 560,000 children aged below ten years of age were vaccinated against polio during the first round of an emergency vaccination campaign in Gaza.
• On 12 September, the World Health Organization successfully evacuated the largest number of patients from Gaza since the escalation of hostilities in October 2023. About 12,000 patients continue to wait, unable to exit.
• About 68 per cent of Gaza's cropland and road network have been severely degraded by hostilities, with significant damage increases reported since July.

Humanitarian Developments

• Israeli bombardment from the air and land continues to be reported across the Gaza Strip, resulting in further civilian casualties, displacement, and destruction of houses and other civilian infrastructure. Ground operations, particularly in Beit Hanoun, southwest Gaza city, eastern Khan Younis and Deir al Balah, and east as well as south Rafah, with heavy fighting, also continue to be reported, alongside Palestinian rocket fire at Israel.
• Between the afternoons of 8 and 12 September, according to the Ministry of Health (MoH) in Gaza, 146 Palestinians were killed and 364 were injured. Between 7 October 2023 and 12 September 2024, at least 41,118 Palestinians were killed and 95,125 were injured, according to MoH in Gaza.
• The following are some of the deadly incidents reported between 8 and 11 September: 
  • On 8 September, five Palestinians were reportedly killed and at least seven others injured when a house was hit in northern An Nuseirat, in Deir al Balah.
  • On 9 September, six Palestinians, including a baby girl, were reportedly killed and others injured when a residential building was hit in Jabalya city, in north Gaza.
  • On 9 September, five Palestinians including three women were reportedly killed and others injured when a residential building was hit near the Jordanian Hospital in Tal Al Hawa, Gaza city.
  • On 10 September, nine Palestinians, including six children and women were reportedly killed when a residential building was hit in Jabalya city, in northern Gaza.
  • On 11 September, 13 Palestinians, including nine women and girls, were reportedly killed and others injured when a house was hit in Khuza’a area, in eastern Khan Younis.
  • On 11 September, five Palestinians including two children were reportedly killed and others injured when a residential building was hit in Ash Shamaa area, in Gaza city.
• Between the afternoons of 9 and 13 September, two Israeli soldiers were reportedly killed in a helicopter accident in Gaza, according to the Israeli military. Between 7 October 2023 and 13 September 2024, according to the Israeli military and official Israeli sources cited in the media, more than 1,542 Israelis and foreign nationals were killed, the majority on 7 October and its immediate aftermath. The figure includes 342 soldiers killed in Gaza or along the border in Israel since the beginning of the ground operation. In addition, 2,280 Israeli soldiers were reported injured since the beginning of the ground operation.
• On 10 September, Israeli airstrikes hit a makeshift site that was hosting thousands of internally displaced people. The site was in the area where the Israeli military had instructed civilians to take shelter for their safety, in Al Mawasi part of Khan Younis. People staying there had evacuated from the eastern parts of Khan Younis and Rafah. According to the UN Human Rights Office, the attack that involved weapons with wide area effects killed at least 19 civilians and 60 others were wounded. According to a Shelter Cluster assessment conducted on 11 September, 68 families comprising 413 people lost their shelters in the attack, requiring new tents and other items. The Secretary-General of the United Nations, António Guterres, condemned the air strikes stressing that “the use of heavy weapons in densely populated areas is unconscionable.” The UN Human Rights Office deplored the strikes and further indicated that safety of civilians as well as food, shelter and life necessities were not ensured in the unilaterally designated zone, where people have been forced to move to over the past 11 months.
• On 30 August, the United Nations Satellite Centre (UNOSAT) and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) cropland damage assessment, based on satellite imagery collected in August 2024, revealed that 68 per cent of permanent crop fields in the Gaza Strip (102 out of 150 square kilometres) exhibited a significant decline in health and density compared with the average over the previous seven years. This marks a 4-percentage point increase in damaged cropland since July 2024, driven by razing, heavy vehicle activity, bombing, shelling, and other conflict-related dynamics. In Gaza Governorate, 75 per cent of cropland was observed to be damaged in August, up from 73 per cent in July, while Deir al Balah saw a five-percentage point increase in the same period. Simultaneously, a satellite-based assessment of the road network, conducted by UNOSAT on 18 August 2024, revealed that about 68 per cent of Gaza’s road network has been damaged, with 1,190 kilometre of roads destroyed, 415 kilometre severely affected, and 1,440 kilometre moderately affected.

• Violence and obstruction continue to impede humanitarian aid workers' ability to support those in need. “What's happening in Gaza is totally unacceptable,” stated the Secretary-General of the UN, António Guterres after the killing at least 18 Palestinians, including six UNRWA staff members on 11 September in an Israeli airstrike on a UN school, which was sheltering about 12,000 people in An Nuseirat Refugee Camp in Deir Al Balah. According to UNRWA, this incident represents the highest death toll among its personnel in a single event since the escalation of hostilities, with the manager of the UNRWA shelter and other team members among those killed. According to UNRWA, the school has been hit five times since October 2023.
• On 9 September, Israeli forces stopped, threatened and attacked a UN aid convoy of 12 staff members at Al Rasheed checkpoint en route to northern Gaza to support the third phase of the polio vaccination campaign. The movement had been fully coordinated with the Israeli authorities. The situation escalated quickly, with soldiers pointing their weapons directly towards the convoy personnel. Live shots were fired, and tanks and bulldozers engaged with, and damaged UN vehicles, endangering the lives of UN staff inside the vehicles. The convoy remained held at gunpoint while senior level UN officials engaged with the Israeli authorities to de-escalate the situation. Two staff were questioned, one by one, and then released. After seven and a half hours at the checkpoint, the convoy returned to base without being able to fulfil its humanitarian mission to support the polio campaign. The Humanitarian Coordinator for the Occupied Palestinian Territory, Muhannad Hadi, stated, “the United Nations and humanitarian organizations face continuous obstruction and insecurity in their efforts to provide humanitarian assistance to the devastated population in Gaza.” This incident follows at least 16 instances of UN convoys being hit since the beginning of the year.
• The third and last phase of the polio vaccination campaign took place in northern Gaza between 10 and 12 September. More than 231 teams were deployed in the North Gaza and Gaza governorates, with a total of 112,311 children immunized in the three-day effort. The first round of the campaign has thus officially concluded across Gaza, with round two, aimed at administering the second dose of the vaccine, set to commence in four weeks’ time. Meanwhile, following the successful conclusion of the four-day vaccination efforts in south Gaza on 8 September, five health facilities are continuing to offer polio vaccines to ensure that no child is missed. As of 13 September, over 560,000 children aged below ten years of age were vaccinated against polio during the first round of an emergency vaccination campaign in Gaza.
• In another significant development, on 12 September, the World Health Organization (WHO), jointly with partners and the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs, managed to evacuate 97 critically injured and sick patients, along with 155 caretakers, from Gaza to the UAE. This was the largest single medical evacuation since October 2023. The patients comprised 45 children and 52 adults with injuries, cancer, cardiovascular disease, and other conditions. Despite severe operational challenges and insecurity, WHO and its partners were able to transfer all patients from their initial locations across the Strip to the European Gaza Hospital (EGH) in Khan Younis, where a facility was set up to gather the patients before departure. Overall, only 221 patients and their 292 caretakers have been evacuated from Gaza on five separate occasions since the closure of the Rafah crossing on 7 May. All other evacuations remain halted and an estimated 12,000 patients are still unable to exit the Strip.
• UNFPA has warned about an alarming increase in high-risk pregnancies, birth and postpartum complications in the Gaza Strip. Beyond a marked rise in pre-term births and sexually transmitted, urinary and reproductive tract infections, other severe complications like eclampsia, sepsis and postpartum hemorrhage are being increasingly reported by health workers and Sexual and Reproductive Health (SRH) service providers. The number of neonatal complications and admissions to Neonatal Intensive Care Units (NICUs) has also increased. Nearly one in 10 pregnant and breastfeeding women screened by the Nutrition Cluster in June and July were found to be acutely malnourished – a condition contributing to severe anemia, infections and delayed recovery after delivery. The lack of adequate water and sanitation services further exacerbates the risk of maternal and newborn infections. Currently, 11 hospitals and field hospitals across the Strip offer comprehensive Emergency Obstetric and Newborn Care (EmONC) - four in northern Gaza, two in Deir al Balah, four in Khan Younis, and one in Rafah - and seven facilities have NICUs. The Health Cluster, and the SRH Technical Working Group are endeavoring to expand EmONC services and NICUs in partially functioning hospitals and UNFPA has also established six maternal health units in Deir al Balah and Khan Younis, which are mobile and can be relocated as the situation evolves. Moreover, to alleviate the pressure on overstretched hospitals, ten primary health-care centres have been equipped to provide specialized gynecological services, and to address human resource shortages, qualified SRH personnel, including midwives, are being recruited, trained and deployed across the Strip. Yet, despite all efforts made, ongoing insecurity, exacerbated by repeated evacuation orders, and chronic shortages of essential medical supplies, equipment, generators and fuel continue to undermine access to and the functionality of SRH facilities. 

559.

13 september 2024

With the stakes higher than ever, we push for an arms embargo, reinstatement of funding for UNRWA, and a halt to U.S. support for Israel’s war crime

In solidarity,

Americans for Justice in Palestine Action

558.

12 september 2024

Today, Adalah Justice Project is releasing new research along with our partners LittleSis and the Action Center on Race and the Economy (ACRE). Over the last few months, we’ve worked together to document the connections between executives and board members at major weapons manufacturers, and educational and cultural institutions in the U.S.
 

What we discovered is a deep web of complicity, granting these war profiteers singular influence within our cultural spheres and academia – despite their connections to the U.S.-backed Israeli genocide in Gaza.

Meet the Genocide Gentry.

The new research found that executives and board members at six top weapons companies have been granted prominent positions at 54 prestigious universities, colleges, and cultural institutions.

These six top weapons companies are:

• Lockheed Martin

• Boeing

• Northrop Grumman

• General Dynamics

• RTX/Raytheon

• Elbit Systems of America

Our universities, museums, educational and cultural institutions shouldn’t be taking money or guidance from war profiteers.

Since October 2023, Israel has targeted universities and cultural centers across Gaza, destroying campuses, museums, libraries, and more. That this is all backed by the United States means U.S. educational and cultural institutions have a responsibility to consider their role in helping to end these war crimes.

That starts with reconsidering their connections with the weapons companies profiting from war and genocide. When they give voice and cultural respectability to arms dealers, they are themselves enabling mass destruction.

Our hope is that, with this data, you can find more opportunities to organize within your communities, and chip away at the influence of the Genocide Gentry.

Visit the Genocide Gentry website to get acquainted with the key players and the institutions that host them.

In solidarity,

Shona Clarkson
Adalah Justice Project

Adalah Justice Project is a Palestinian-led advocacy organization based in the U.S.

Our mailing address is:
Adalah Justice Project

557.

12 september 2024

Carrefour is complicit in Israel’s genocide against 2.3 million Palestinians in Gaza and in its apartheid against Palestinians everywhere.

Earlier this month, we exposed the French retailer’s lies to its shareholders and the general public. During Carrefour’s AGM 2024, it assured its shareholders that it had not opened stores in the occupied Palestinian territory (OPT). Carrefour has at least one open branch in Modi'in-Maccabim-Re'ut — an Israeli settlement classified by the UN and even the EU as partially located on occupied Palestinian territory, a war crime under international law.

The ICJ historic ruling in July, finding Israel guilty of apartheid against Palestinians and maintaining an illegal occupation and annexation of Palestinian territory, has confirmed that ending the complicity of states, corporations and institutions with Israel’s regime of illegal occupation and apartheid is not just a moral obligation but also a legal one.

Carrefour has shamelessly supported Israel's genocidal war against the Palestinian people by donating thousands of food packages to Israeli forces. In October 2023, its Jerusalem store held a fundraiser, calling for donations "for the brave soldiers" involved in Israel’s unfolding Gaza genocide. 

Carrefour’s complicity did not begin with the genocide in Gaza. Since 2022, the BDS movement has called for #BoycottCarrefour. Carrefour is already feeling the heat!

The 2024 biannual report by Majid Al Futtaim, which operates Carrefour stores in the Arab world, shows a 47% profit drop in Majid Al Futtaim Retail, citing “geopolitical conflict” and “declining consumer confidence.” In other words, our #BoycottCarrefour campaign has played a crucial role, forcing store closures and lost revenue across the region.
 

With Israel's declining economy and investors withdrawing, Carrefour Group’s investments in apartheid Israel are not only unethical and illegal, but financially reckless as well.

556B.

12 september 2024

Op 7 oktober aanstaande is het een jaar geleden dat Israël de genocide tegen de Palestijnen in Gaza begon. Een genocide die door de grootmachten het liefst wordt doodgezwegen, rechtgeluld of verduisterd. Verzet tegen de genocide wordt als antisemitisme neergezet in klassiek fascistische traditie.

Bijna één jaar na het begin van de gelivestreamde genocide publiceert het BDS National Committee, (de breedste Palestijnse coalitie van het maatschappelijk middenveld die zich inzet om de BDS beweging voor Palestijnse rechten te leiden en te ondersteunen), strategische richtlijnen voor actie om zoveel druk uit te oefenen dat Israël en zijn vrienden wel moeten stoppen.

In deze nieuwsbrief geven wij  een voorzet. Het hele artikel staat zoals gebruikelijk op onze website. Lees het en organiseer je tegen de koloniale genocide van het Westen in Gaza.

Blijf BDS'en!

Een strijdbare groet van het BDS-team

Een jaar genocide door Israel.

Sta op voor bevrijding!

Palestina staat verenigd in verzet tegen de genocide en de apartheid. Dagelijks moordt de bezetter, maar de strijd heeft zin; we hebben al veel successen behaald! De door Palestijnen geleide BDS beweging komt met richtlijnen waar we prioriteit moeten leggen.

Het feit dat de Amerikaans-Israëlische as deze genocide een jaar lang heeft voortgezet ondanks mondiale veroordeling en druk mag niet verdoezelen wat we allemaal hebben bereikt in deze periode van uitzonderlijke strijd en de ongekende, aanhoudende golf van strategische solidariteitsmobilisaties:

1. De enorme verandering in het opbouwen van macht van het volk, in het verwezenlijken van ons strategisch radicalisme, isoleert het genocidale regime van Israël en maakt internationale bedrijven en instellingen medeplichtig als nooit tevoren. Reguliere Israëlische analisten voorspellen nu al dat Israëls regime van kolonialisme en apartheid “misschien zijn honderdjarig bestaan ​​niet zal vieren”!
2. Deze people power heeft ertoe bijgedragen het nog ergere bloedbad en de verwoesting van Israël te voorkomen, en heeft onder meer de daadwerkelijke uitvoering van zijn plan voor massale etnische zuivering van de Palestijnen tegengewerkt.
3. De macht en het discours van de basis om gerechtigheid te eisen, evenals concrete beleidsmaatregelen en acties, waaronder sancties, om genocide te beëindigen, hebben regeringen (vooral in het Mondiale Zuiden), lokale raden en een toenemend aantal staatsfondsen ertoe aangezet hun medeplichtigheid aan en zelfs op ongekende wijze sancties tegen Israël opleggen.

Kijk voor meer acties op de website!

556A.

12 september 2024

Today's headlines

Free Khalida Jarrar, end the global prison-industrial genocide

Palestinian Feminist Collective

The Palestinian Feminist Collective demands the immediate and unconditional freedom of Palestinian political prisoner and revolutionary leader Khalida Jarrar, who teaches us that “hope in prison is like a flower that grows out of stone.”

Read more

Following criticism for repeating Israeli claims, Biden now says he’s ‘outraged’ over killing of U.S. citizen

Michael Arria

Joe Biden released a new statement condemning the killing of Aysenur Eygi the day after repeating an Israeli claim that she was killed accidentally by a bullet that had "ricocheted off the ground."

Cal State professors targeted for exposing school’s ties to Israel’s genocide in Gaza

Five Cal State Long Beach professors are being reprimanded by the school for their role in a Palestine solidarity protest. The move appears to be retribution for an article exposing the school’s ties to the Gaza genocide.

556.

11 september 2024

An American was killed in the West Bank.

Arms embargo now.

This is genocide, and it’s being funded using your tax dollars. Email your members of Congress and tell them: Stop arming Israel.

554.

11 september 2024

Humanitarian Situation Update #216
West Bank

An elderly Palestinian woman in a wheelchair navigates a destroyed street in Jenin on her way to a hospital, following a ten-day operation by Israeli forces. Photo by OCHA, 8 September 2024

Key Highlights

• Between 3 and 9 September, Israeli forces killed 10 Palestinians of whom three were children, and one foreign national, in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem. Additionally, a Jordanian national killed three Israeli security officers and was then shot and killed by Israeli forces.
• Israeli forces withdrew from Jenin and Tulkarm cities and refugee camps on 5-6 September, concluding a ten-day operation—the longest in the West Bank since 2002. It resulted in 36 Palestinian deaths, including eight children, 87 injuries, and at least 60 arrests. One Israeli soldier was killed during the operation.
• At least 163 Palestinian households, comprising 624 people, including 232 children, remain displaced following the recent large-scale operation in the northern West Bank. As of 8 September, about 2,400 housing units had been damaged, of them, 106 were rendered uninhabitable.
• Eighty Palestinians, including 41 children, were displaced due to Israeli settler violence and harassment, and the takeover of Palestinian property between 3 and 9 September.

Latest Developments (after 9 September)

• On 11 September, initial reports indicate that an Israeli airstrike killed five Palestinians in Tubas city, in northern West Bank.
• On 11 September, initial reports indicate that Israeli forces shot and killed a Palestinian whose vehicle hit and critically injured an Israeli settler in the West Bank.

Humanitarian Developments (3-11 September)

• During the reporting period, Israeli forces killed 10 Palestinians, including three children. Israeli forces and settlers injured 59 Palestinians, including nine children. During the same period, a Jordanian national killed three members of the Israeli officers, after which he was shot and killed by Israeli forces at the Allenby Bridge crossing between Jordan and the West Bank. In addition, Israeli forces killed one female foreign national.
• On 3 September, Israeli forces shot and killed a 16-year-old girl in Kafr Dan, southwest of Jenin city. According to eyewitnesses and Palestinian families that were displaced, Israeli forces raided Kafr Dan and surrounded a two-storey house in the eastern part of the town, fired at it and called for the residents to come out via loudspeakers. Two families exited the house. An hour later, additional reinforcements accompanied by two bulldozers arrived at the scene. An exchange of fire ensued between Palestinians and Israeli forces in the vicinity of the house, and Israeli forces fired off-shoulder missiles. Once the exchanges of fire ceased, the bulldozers began demolishing the besieged house. According to the Palestinian Red Crescent Society (PRCS), they were called to assist an injured girl, but Israeli forces opened fire on the ambulance when they arrived. The girl was dead by the time the medical team was able to reach her. According to the girl's brother who was with her during the incident, she was shot while passing by a window inside her house. During the operation, Israeli forces shot and injured five Palestinians, including four journalists who were at the scene.
• On 3 September, Israeli forces shot and killed two Palestinians during an operation in Dhinnaba neighbourhood, east of Tulkarm. According to eyewitnesses, Israeli forces surrounded a house and called the women and children to leave through loudspeakers. At least two women and four children left the house and were forced to stand against a wall outside. Eyewitnesses reported that the two men, who were armed, refused to surrender and remained in the yard of the house. Israeli forces then forced a young boy (the nephew of one of the armed men) to go inside and urge the men to surrender, but they refused. During the two-hour standoff, an exchange of fire erupted between the besieged men and Israeli forces. Israeli forces fired two shoulder-launched missiles at the house. Eyewitnesses and relatives at the scene reported that Israeli forces took the bodies of the armed men after they were killed.
• On 5 September, an Israeli airstrike killed five Palestinians and injured three others in Tubas city during an Israeli forces’ operation in the El Far'a refugee camp. According to local sources, two Israeli airstrikes struck two cars parked in Tubas city. PRCS reported that the injured were transported to a nearby hospital. According to the Israeli military, they struck armed Palestinians who posed a threat to their forces.
• On 5 September, Israeli forces shot and killed a 16-year-old Palestinian boy and injured one other Palestinian in El Far'a refugee camp, Tubas. According to local sources, the boy was outside the camp and attempting to return home when he was shot three times in the leg. Israeli forces denied medical teams from assisting the injured boy. According to PRCS who witnessed the incident, the boy cried out "do not shoot me" and Israeli forces then ordered him to remove his clothes. When he failed to do so, Israeli forces shot the boy in the chest. PRCS then reported that after he was killed, an Israeli bulldozer dragged his body to another location within the camp, resulting in the mutilation of his body. According to UNRWA, an exchange for fire between Israeli forces and Palestinians, and the use of explosive devices by the latter was reported.
• On 6 September, Israeli forces shot and killed a female foreign national and injured a Palestinian boy on Mount Sbeih in Beita town, southeast of Nablus city. According to local sources, Palestinian villagers staged their weekly protest against the Evyatar settlement expansion, where Israeli forces fired tear gas canisters and live ammunition at the protesters. According to an eyewitness, the foreign national was shot while she was standing about 250 meters away from the demonstration. Medical sources reported that the activist was shot in the head by live ammunition and that a boy was injured in his leg by shrapnel and transferred to the hospital.
• On 8 September, a Jordanian truck driver shot and killed three Israeli officers, at the Allenby Bridge crossing which connects Jordan to the West Bank. The Jordanian man was shot and killed by Israeli forces at the scene. Following the shooting, Israeli authorities closed the Allenby Bridge crossing in both directions. According to local sources, Israeli forces physically assaulted and interrogated Palestinian and Jordanian workers who were present during the incident. Furthermore, Palestinian travellers attempting to pass through were denied access and forced to leave the area. The Allenby Bridge was reopened to travellers later that day.
• Between 7 October 2023 and 9 September, 674 Palestinians were killed in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, in addition to two who died of wounds sustained prior to 7 October. These include 658 killed by Israeli forces, eleven by Israeli settlers, and seven where it remains unknown whether the perpetrators were Israeli forces or settlers. In the same period, 57 Israeli airstrikes have killed 156 Palestinians and injured 57 others. By contrast, six Palestinians were killed in airstrikes in 2023 (up till October) and none in the preceding 3 years. During the same period, 22 Israelis, including 15 members of Israeli forces and five settlers, were killed by Palestinians in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem. In Israel, attacks by Palestinians from the West Bank resulted in the killing of ten Israelis and seven Palestinian perpetrators.

Humanitarian Needs and Responses to Israeli Operation in Northern West Bank

• Between 5 and 6 September, Israeli forces withdrew from Jenin and Tulkarm, including their refugee camps, following a ten-day large-scale operation, during which Israeli forces used lethal, war-like tactics that raised concerns over excessive use of force. On 7 September, OCHA, UNRWA, and humanitarian partners initiated an inter-cluster needs assessments in Jenin and Tulkarm governorates to assess the humanitarian impact of the operation.
  • In Kafr Dan, Jenin refugee camp, and on the eastern side of Jenin, the operation resulted in 19 Palestinian fatalities, 58 injuries, and at least 44 Palestinians arrested, along with significant damage to civilian infrastructure, residential, and livelihood shelters. The operation led to the internal displacement of over 1,000 Palestinian families. Most of these displaced have since returned, however at least 74 households, comprising 297 people, including 102 children, remain displaced from 45 houses, which are now uninhabitable. As of 8 September, at least 1,900 housing units had been damaged. Approximately 25 kilometres (70 per cent) of the city’s roads and the underlying water and sewage networks were bulldozed, severely impacting the safety of movement and access to essential services of water, sanitation, healthcare, education, and markets. As a result, since 28 August, water has been cut to approximately 35,000 residents of the camp and its surrounding neighbourhoods, who have also experienced sewage overflows.
  • In Tulkarm and Nur Shams refugee camps, the operation led to seven Palestinian fatalities, and 14 injuries, and extensive damage to infrastructure and residential shelters. Over 400 housing units had been damaged in and around the two camps. Of them, 61 were rendered uninhabitable, displacing a total of 89 households, comprising 327 people, including 123 children. More than 2.6 kilometres of the water and sewage networks in the camps were bulldozed, severely impacting the safety of movement and access to essential services of water, sanitation, healthcare, education, and markets. As a result, since 28 August, water has been cut to approximately 33,000 residents of the camp and its surrounding neighbourhoods, who have also experienced sewage overflows.

• Humanitarian partners, including PRCS, UNRWA, and the Ministry of Social Development (MoSD), have been responding to the operation's aftermath. They have distributed food parcels and water bottlers to affected populations and are coordinating with OCHA and other partners to assess needs and deliver additional assistance. On a related note, UNRWA, and PRCS, in cooperation with MoSD, initiated a distribution process aiming to reach 1,500 families in Jenin. Meanwhile, in Tulkarm, the World Food Program (WFP), in coordination with UNRWA and MoSD, distributed one-time cash assistance of 1,000 NIS to 2,300 families in Tulkarm refugee camps. Efforts include offering mental health and psychosocial support services (MHPSS), supporting local water authorities, and supplying educational materials. The WASH cluster, in collaboration with UNRWA, and the Palestinian Water Authority, has been coordinating urgent interventions in Jenin and Tulkarm, including water trucking, hygiene kit distribution, installing PE tanks, setting up water distribution points, providing water pipes, bottled drinking water, and sewage vacuuming. The Shelter Cluster, in coordination with OCHA and UNRWA, is working closely with Cash Working Group partners to provide necessary assistance for both refugees and non-refugees, including Emergency Multi-Purpose Cash Assistance (EMPCA) These efforts will continue for the next 2-3 weeks.
• During the Israeli forces’ wide-scale operation in the northern West Bank, access to hospitals and medical facilities was severely restricted. In Jenin, Israeli forces surrounded both Jenin Governmental Hospital and Ibn Sina Hospital, blocking ambulances and hindering medical teams. In Tulkarm, medical teams were unable to reach casualties in Nur Shams refugee camp. Similarly, in Tubas, restricted access following an airstrike hampered medical assistance, and a damaged generator caused a temporary power outage across the camp. PRCS has expressed deep concern over the shrinking humanitarian space, particularly in Jenin and Jenin refugee camp. According to PRCS, Israeli forces have directly targeted their ambulances, injuring two Emergency Medical Team (EMT) members and a volunteer doctor. These obstructions have hindered the delivery of essential supplies and medical services, worsening conditions for civilians. The PRCS urges the international community to ensure adherence to international humanitarian law and address the escalating humanitarian crisis.

Settler-related Violence and Displacement

• During the reporting period, Israeli settlers perpetrated 43 attacks against Palestinians, resulting in one fatality and 10 injuries, and damage to property. Palestinians perpetrated two attacks against settlers in this period, resulting in one injury. Between 7 October 2023 and 9 September 2024, OCHA recorded about 1,350 attacks by Israeli settlers against Palestinians, of which about 130 led to Palestinian fatalities and injuries, about 1,080 led to damage to Palestinian property, and over 140 led to both casualties and property damage. During the reporting period, at least 17 Palestinian households comprising at least 80 people, including 41 children, were displaced due to Israeli settler violence and harassment, and the takeover of Palestinian property. Since 7 October 2023, 276 Palestinians households comprising 1,627 people, including 794 children, have been displaced in the context of incidents related to Israeli settlers.
• The following are some of the key incidents documented by OCHA during the reporting period:
  • On 3 September, eight Palestinian Bedouin herders including a woman from the Baryet Hizma community, located on the eastern outskirts of Hizma village, were forcibly displaced due to escalating violence by Israeli settlers. Since the establishment of a new Israeli settler outpost on 8 October, which was constructed on the remains of a Palestinian residential structure demolished by Israeli forces, the community has reported an increase in settler-related violence. Video footage shows armed Israeli settlers harassing Palestinian residents daily, including firing live ammunition, burning vehicles, and damaging property. On 1 August, due to intensified nightly settler attacks, the community began limiting their presence to the hours between 17:00 and 21:00. On 23 August, Israeli settlers launched a violent attack; ransacking homes, burning one residential structure, damaging, and stealing property. In addition, settlers from the outpost twice placed earth mounds at the entrance of the community, preventing access. The families did not dismantle their shelters and left all their structures behind in hope of being able to return to their location.
  • On 5 September, two Palestinian Bedouin households, comprising 20 people, including eight children and seven women were displaced from the Ein al Hilwa–Wadi al Faw, Tubas governorate. On 4 September, armed Israeli settlers forcibly entered the community with their livestock, threatening the families at gunpoint and demanding they leave. The settlers also attacked the families, using pepper spray, which injured two men. Hours later, Israeli police arrived, detained one of the Palestinian men and a foreign activist, confiscating their mobile phones and releasing them later that night. While the families were relocating, Israeli forces physically assaulted and injured two Palestinians who were helping the families relocate to Khirbet ‘Atuf, after which they detained one of the men and transported him to a military base, where he was later released.
  • On 6 September, Israeli forces shot and killed a 13-year-old Palestinian girl in Qaryut village, south of Nablus city. According to local sources, Israeli settlers believed to be from Shilo settlement, escorted by Israeli forces, attacked the village by throwing stones and attempting to burn houses. Palestinian villagers responded by throwing stones at the settlers, and Israeli forces responded by firing live ammunition at them. The 13-year-old girl was shot and killed inside her house, which was approximately 150 meters away from where the confrontations were taking place. PRCS reported that it responded to three casualties, the girl who was shot with live ammunition in the chest, one Palestinian man who was injured by live ammunition and one who was physically assaulted. Additionally, Israeli settlers burned hundreds of olive trees on a space of about 20 dunums belonging to villagers. The Village Council reported that they are unable to access these burned lands to assess the damage and are in the process of identifying the damages to the houses.
  • On 7 September, Israeli settlers believed to be from Evyatar injured four Palestinians, including one elderly man in Beita town, southeast of Nablus. According to the municipality and the affected families, a group of masked Israeli settlers threw stones at two houses in the town. One group broke into one house, threw stones, and injured a 60-year-old woman, while others pepper sprayed a 68-year-old man and then hit him with a stone. Another Israeli settler assaulted a Palestinian woman, injuring her head and face. The settlers broke the windows of four vehicles and caused external damage to one car. One of the affected families reported that the stones thrown at their house broke three windows.
  • On 7 September, Israeli settlers physically assaulted and injured a Palestinian man near At Tuwani, Hebron governorate. The Palestinian, the Head of the Susiya Council, was driving on Road 316 when three settlers driving a vehicle, forced him to stop and assaulted him with the butt of a gun, while telling him that they knew who he was. The settlers left the man with fractures, but he managed to drive himself to the nearest hospital.
  • On 8 September, Palestinians threw stones and injured an Israeli female settler while she was traveling near Masu'a settlement on Road 90, Jericho governorate. The stones also damaged her vehicle.

Demolitions

• During the reporting period, at least 17 Palestinian households comprising at least 80 people, including 41 children, were displaced due to Israeli settler violence and harassment, and the takeover of Palestinian property. Since 7 October 2023, 276 Palestinians households comprising 1,627 people, including 794 children, have been displaced in the context of incidents related to Israeli settlers.
• Between 3 and 9 September, Israeli authorities demolished, destroyed, or forced the demolition of 38 Palestinian-owned structures. Two houses were bulldozed in an operation carried out by Israeli forces in Kafr Dan village (Jenin), which displaced 14 people, including seven children. The remaining 36 structures included a forced self-demolition in East Jerusalem and 35 demolitions in Area C due to the lack of Israeli-issued building permits, which are almost impossible to obtain. A total of 42 people, including 24 children, were displaced.
• On 3 September, Israeli forces demolished six structures, including three residential buildings, two livelihood buildings, and one WASH structure in Area C in the village of Duma, south of Nablus. As a result, two households, comprising 15 people, including nine children, were displaced. These families originated from the Ein ar Rashash community and had previously been displaced. This is the third demolition affecting these families within Duma village in less than six months.
• On 5 September, the Israeli Civil Administration, along with Israeli forces, demolished an inhabited residential building and a water cistern, citing a lack of an Israeli-issued permit in Qalqas community (Area C) near Hebron city. As a result, one family comprising eight people, including four children were displaced for the second time. The first displacement took place on 11 July 2024. The new structure was built near the old house that was demolished previously. No written demolition orders were handed to the owners prior to the demolition.
• Between 7 October 2023 and 9 September 2024, Israeli authorities demolished, confiscated, or forced the demolition of 1,598 Palestinian structures across the West Bank, displacing more than 4,023 Palestinians, including about 1,689 children, which is more than double compared with the same period before 7 October, where about 1,370 Palestinians were displaced, including 640 children. The demolitions after 7 October include over 500 inhabited structures, more than 300 agricultural structures, more than 100 water, sanitation and hygiene structures, and 200 livelihood structures.

Funding

• As of 11 September, Member States have disbursed about US$1.6 billion out of $3.42 billion (47 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. (*2.3 million reflects the projected population of the Gaza Strip upon issuance of the Flash Appeal in April 2024. As of July 2024, the UN estimates that about 2.1 million people remain in the Gaza Strip, and this updated number is now used for programmatic purposes.)
• During August 2024, the occupied Palestinian territory Humanitarian Fund (oPt HF) managed a total of 93 ongoing projects, totalling U$79.7 million. These projects aimed to address urgent needs in the Gaza Strip (89 per cent) and the West Bank (11 per cent). The projects were strategically focused on education, food security, health, protection, emergency shelter and non-food items, water, sanitation, and hygiene, coordination and support services, multi-purpose cash assistance and nutrition.
• Of these projects, 52 projects are being implemented by international non-governmental organizations, 29 by national NGOs and 12 by UN agencies. Notably, 32 out of the 64 projects implemented by INGOs or the UN are being implemented in collaboration with national NGOs.
• Monthly updates, annual reports, and a list of all funded projects per year, are available on the oPt Humanitarian Fund webpage, under the financing section.

553.

11 september 2024

Readers’ Recommendation

• Israeli airstrikes on Palestinian territories kill dozens more (AP)

552.

11 september 2024

Today's headlines

Sanders says he’ll introduce resolution to block $20 billion arms sale to Israel as support for arms embargo grows

Support for an arms embargo on Israel among Democratic Party voters has grown enormously due to the Gaza genocide. But will this shift in popular opinion translate into policy change in Washington?

No, Israel does not have a right to defend itself in Gaza. But the Palestinians do.

Basic morality and simple logic dictate that the right of self-defense belongs to the Palestinian people, not to their oppressor. And international law fully agrees, according to the International Court of Justice 

551.

11 september 2024

550.

10 september 2024

In 12 Days We’re Bringing The Fight For Palestinian Freedom To The Halls of Congress

We’re nearly a year into Israel’s genocide in Gaza, funded and unchecked by Washington, D.C. As Israel continues to kill hundreds more Palestinians, including American citizen Aysenur Eygi, and spikes its repression into the West Bank, your advocacy is critical.

President Biden doesn’t need time to “gather the facts”—the facts are already known. The Israeli and U.S. militaries, as well as the U.S. government, are fully aware of who assassinated U.S. citizen Aysenur Eygi on September 6, 2024. They know which Israeli unit was present at the peaceful demonstration in Beita, and the names of the snipers who fired the shots. The Israeli military keeps detailed records of the units deployed in Beita, the names of the soldiers involved in the killings, and who fired live ammunition. Every time a shot was fired, soldiers were interviewed, and those responsible often took credit for their actions.

Regardless if Kamala Harris or Donald Trump becomes President, we cannot give up and let Congress think that at this critical point, they can abdicate their responsibility to stop funding the genocide and hold those who kill Americans responsible. What happens in D.C. affects every Palestinian and American. This is our chance to demand Congress impose an arms embargo on Israel. We must push this demand with determination.

In solidarity,Americans for Justice in Palestine Action

549.

10 september 2024

Quick Takes: Gaza

Video: Gaza

548.

10 september 2024

Today's headlines

Biden administration refuses to acknowledge an Israeli soldier killed U.S. activist in the West Bank

Biden administration officials are refusing to publicly acknowledge that an Israeli soldier killed Aysenur Ezgi Eygi, an American citizen, in the occupied West Bank, saying they would let Israel's investigation "play out."

Israel winds down West Bank operation, continues blockade

Palestinians in Nablus held a funeral procession for a Turkish-American activist killed by Israeli forces in Beita. Meanwhile, Israel continued to close its borders with Jordan for the second day in a row following a shooting at Allenby bridge.

For The New York Times, not all Americans killed in Palestine are equal

When a foreign government and its citizens kill American nationals, it usually raises media outrage in the U.S. But, Israel’s recent spate of violence against Americans, including the killing of Ayşenur Ezgi Eygi, has barely received coverage.

547.

9 september 2024

Today's headlines

Former Jewish Voice for Peace leaders reflect on the lessons of anti-Zionist organizing

Mondoweiss speaks with Rebecca Vilkomerson, co-author of the book "Solidarity Is the Political Version of Love: Lessons from Jewish Anti-Zionist Organizing," about the evolution of Jewish Voice for Peace and the state of anti-Zionist organizing.

Palestine defines us

Palestine is the perfect illustration of the West's staggering hypocrisy. The Gaza genocide defines us because it is us.

546.

9 september 2024

Humanitarian Situation Update #215
Gaza Strip

A Palestinian girl wiping the floor of a heavily damaged house in Abasan Al Kabira, area of Khan Younis. Photo by OCHA/Themba Linden, 7 September 2024.

Key Highlights

• The second phase of the Gaza’s polio vaccination campaign concluded on 8 September, reaching 256,572 children in Khan Younis and Rafah over four days. Preparations are now ongoing for the third phase, which is scheduled to take place in northern Gaza from 10 to 13 September.
• A new Israeli evacuation order in northern Gaza, the first in over two weeks, includes areas where local pauses had been agreed for polio vaccination.
• The number of humanitarian missions and movements within Gaza denied access by the Israeli authorities has nearly doubled in August compared with July (105 vs. 53).
• Half of all essential medicine is not available in Gaza, with life-saving medication, like insulin, running out.

Humanitarian Developments

• Israeli bombardment from the air and land continues to be reported across the Gaza Strip, resulting in further civilian casualties, displacement, and destruction of houses and other civilian infrastructure. Ground operations, particularly in Beit Hanoun, southwest Gaza city, eastern Khan Younis and Deir al Balah, and east as well as south Rafah, with heavy fighting, also continue to be reported, alongside Palestinian rocket fire at Israel.
• Between the afternoons of 5 and 8 September, according to the Ministry of Health (MoH) in Gaza, 94 Palestinians were killed and 307 were injured. Between 7 October 2023 and 8 September 2024, at least 40,972 Palestinians were killed and 94,761 were injured, according to MoH in Gaza.
• The following are some of the deadly incidents reported between 6 and 8 September: 
  • On 6 September, six Palestinians, including four women, were reportedly killed and five others injured when a residential building was hit near Bader Mosque in Az Zaytoun area, in Gaza city.
  • On 6 September, seven Palestinians were reportedly killed when a house was hit in An Nuseirat Refugee Camp in northern Deir al Balah.
  • On 6 September, five Palestinians were killed, including two women and two unidentified corpses recovered in pieces, and at least 10 others were injured when an apartment was hit in Al Yarmouk street, in central Khan Younis.
  • On 7 September, five Palestinians, including two children and two women, were reportedly killed, and others injured, when a house was hit in Al Bureij Refugee Camp in northern Deir al Balah.
  • On 7 September, at least eight Palestinians, including a boy, were reportedly killed and others injured in western An Nuseirat Refugee Camp, in northern Deir al Balah.
  • On 7 September, six Palestinians, including two children and three women, were reportedly killed and others injured when a house was hit near the entrance of Al Bureij refugee Camp, in northern Deir al Balah.
  • On 8 September, five Palestinians including the Deputy Director for the Civil Defence (PCD) were reportedly killed and others injured when their house was hit in Jabalya. According to the PCD, the number of PCD staff killed so far has risen to 83.
• Between the afternoons of 6 and 9 September, no Israeli soldiers were reportedly killed in Gaza, according to the Israeli military. Between 7 October 2023 and 9 September 2024, according to the Israeli military and official Israeli sources cited in the media, more than 1,540 Israelis and foreign nationals were killed, the majority on 7 October and its immediate aftermath. The figure includes 340 soldiers killed in Gaza or along the border in Israel since the beginning of the ground operation. In addition, 2,271 Israeli soldiers were reported injured since the beginning of the ground operation.
• The second phase of the polio vaccination campaign concluded on 8 September in southern Gaza, with a total of 256,572 children reached in Khan Younis and Rafah over four days. Meanwhile, following the completion of the first phase in central Gaza on 3 September, four large health facilities continued to administer vaccines to cover any additional needs, with a total of 195,555 children immunized in Deir al Balah to-date. Overall, the first round of the campaign is almost 70 per cent complete, with 446,163 children (229,324 males and 216,839 females) already vaccinated out of the 640,000 targeted throughout the Strip. Preparations are now ongoing for the third phase, which is scheduled to take place in northern Gaza from 10 to 13 September. This will conclude the first vaccination round, with the second set to commence in four weeks’ time. The use of text messages (SMS) has been key in informing the population about the campaign, with the two national mobile network operators (MNOs) - Wataniya and Jawwal - having worked closely with humanitarian partners to support the polio response. On 31 August, the first SMS addressing all people in Gaza was successfully delivered to some 1.2 million users across the two mobile networks. The message by the Ministry of Health announced the onset of the campaign in three phases across the Strip and the corresponding dates in each location. Three other targeted text messages were subsequently sent to people in central Gaza on 2 September and in southern Gaza on 4 and 6 September, providing further details about the vaccination roll-out in each area. Social media groups also served as an important source of information regarding the campaign.
• Aid operations in Gaza continue to be disrupted by network outages, with local MNOs and internet service providers (ISPs) facing significant challenges due to increased movement restrictions, damaged infrastructure, and lack of fuel and spare parts. On 8 September, internet service was cut off for about five hours in the central and southern Gaza Strip, according to a statement from the Palestine Telecommunications Company (Paltel). The Emergency Telecommunications Cluster (ETC) is also struggling to deliver services due to severe limitations pertaining to the import of equipment. Since 7 October 2023, the import of only 20 satellite phones, 30 digital VHF radios, four VHF repeaters, and four solar power solutions has been approved by Israeli authorities. Damaged or destroyed equipment, along with lengthy import processes, further hampers ETC’s operations. Limited communication services do not only hamper the ability of humanitarian partners to deliver services, but also poses a significant risk for people in Gaza to access services, be aware of Israeli-issued evacuation orders and more.
• Humanitarian access remains severely hindered, as the denial of missions by the Israeli authorities within Gaza almost doubled in August, compared with July (105 vs. 53). Other factors affecting access include ongoing hostilities, a lack of internal security (including looting) and attacks on aid convoys, the presence of unexploded ordnance (UXOs), the destruction of key connecting roads, and conditions at Israeli checkpoints. In southern Gaza, despite an overall increase in planned humanitarian movements submitted for the Israeli authorities to facilitate, from 543 in July to 603 in August, the number of facilitated missions in southern Gaza dropped by 28 per cent, from 250 in July to 179 in August. In northern Gaza, the number of facilitated aid missions increased by 10 per cent, from 67 to 74. However, the number of missions denied access rose by 140 per cent, from 30 to 72. These trends have severely disrupted the delivery of life-saving assistance, including water, sanitation, and hygiene services, health care, and fuel urgently needed for the operation of critical health facilities.
• For the second consecutive school year, over 600,000 students in Gaza are being deprived of accessing formal education, as 9 September would have marked the beginning of the new study year. According to the Palestinian Ministry of Education, over 10,000 school students have been killed, and 90 per cent of school buildings have been damaged since October 2023. Furthermore, according to an assessment conducted by the Education Cluster, UNICEF and Save the Children, 53 per cent of schools sheltering IDPs have been directly hit. Recent examples include incidents on 6 and 7 September, when 12 Palestinians were reportedly killed when a tent housing internally displaced persons in Halima Al Sadia School in Jabalya Camp and a prayer hall inside Amr Ibn Al Aas school in Gaza city, were hit. According to UNRWA, no official schooling is available in any of their 200 schools, but recreational activities and psychosocial support are provided in some of them.

• On 9 September, the Israeli military issued a new evacuation order, the first since 25 August, affecting four neighbourhoods in northwest Beit Lahia and Jabalya in northern Gaza. According to the Israeli military, the order was issued because Palestinian armed groups launched rocket fire from these areas into Israel. These localities had already been subjected to previous evacuation orders and residents have been instructed to move southwards. Initial mapping indicates that, before 7 October, over 28,000 people were residing in these areas, with most reportedly forced out by previous evacuation orders and ongoing hostilities. Additionally, parts of these areas have been designated to be included in the ongoing polio vaccination campaign. The continuing issuance of these orders is deepening the humanitarian crisis for hundreds of thousands of people, especially those who have been displaced multiple times. As of 9 September, and since October 2023, more than 55 evacuation orders remain in effect, covering up to 86 per cent of Gaza. As of 9 September, only 11 per cent of the Gaza Strip has not been placed under evacuation orders.
• The health-care system remains in dire condition. The Health Cluster reports that about 50 per cent of essential medicines are not available, and primary health-care centres are facing critically low levels of insulin. Routine vaccines such as Bacille Calmette-Guérin (BCG) to protect infants from tuberculosis, and DTP to immunize them against diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis, are also nearly exhausted; further risking newborns. On 1 September, after facing many challenges, the World Health Organization (WHO) was able to reach the Kamal Adwan and Indonesian hospitals in northern Gaza to provide medications and supplies as well as 20 Intensive Care Unit (ICU) beds to expand inpatient capacity at the Indonesian Hospital. Items delivered included oncology medication for 200 patients, immunosuppressants covering the needs of 500 patients for three months and psychotropics to support 400 patients with mental health disorders. The mission also facilitated the deployment of a new Emergency Medical Team (EMT) to the Indonesian Hospital and the rotation to different medical facilities of an EMT pediatric surgeon, who had performed over 300 specialized surgeries, including tumor resections, from the Kamal Adwan Hospital to southern Gaza. Additionally, the WHO team transported one critical patient with below-knee and above-elbow amputations and his accompaniers from the Kamal Adwan Hospital to the International Medical Corps (IMC) Field Hospital in Deir al Balah, pending further referral abroad. Despite all efforts made by humanitarian partners, health facilities in northern Gaza continue to face severe fuel shortages. On 9 September, the Director of the Indonesian Hospital warned that, due to the acute scarcity of diesel fuel, the facility was forced to suspend several services to prolong operating hours. The Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS)similarly informed that its teams in the Gaza and North Gaza governorates are operating at minimum capacity due to critical fuel shortages which have been ongoing for nearly three weeks.

545.

9 september 2024

In today's Daily Brief:

• Video: Gaza

544.

9 september 2024

Israel’s attacks on Palestinian sports know no bounds.
Israel has killed at least 410 Palestinian athletes in its Gaza genocide against 2.3 million Palestinians and destroyed or damaged all sporting facilities there.

Last week, in its ongoing violent military assault on the occupied Palestinian West Bank, the Israeli occupation forces killed at least 36 Palestinians, including children. One of those children was 15-year-old Mohammad Kanaan of Premier League Markaz Tulkarem youth team, shot in the head by an Israeli sniper in the Tulkarem refugee camp.

Israeli bulldozers also destroyed the Jenin Municipal Football Stadium as they stormed the city.

Meanwhile, fans of the Palestinian team in the Israeli Premier League Bnei Sakhnin were violently attacked by Jewish Israelis, armed with batons, before the start of a match on September 1. The reason? They peacefully turned their backs during genocidal apartheid Israel’s anthem, something akin to US football players taking a knee to protest systemic racism and police violence against Black Americans.

Israel’s National “Security” Minister Ben Gvir, a convicted supporter of terrorism who has spewed a constant string of genocidal statements for nearly a year and incited against Indigenous Palestinians for decades, called for Bnei Sakhnin to be removed from Israel’s Premier League. This government interference in football constitutes yet another breach of FIFA’s statutes that the corrupt FIFA continues to ignore in the case of Israel.  

Today, during the Nations League match between Israel and Italy, make your voice heard.

­

FIFA can’t ignore us! Call on FIFA to ban Israel now!

At every chance, we will make our voices heard.

As the Palestinian national team competed in the World Cup Qualifier in South Korea, fans held enormous Palestinian flags and called for an end to Israel’s Gaza genocide.

Italian groups are preparing for protests at the Nations League return match on October 14 in the northern city of Udine.

The City of Udine confirmed in July that it will not sponsor the match, defining Israel as a “State of war.”

We will continue to peacefully disrupt UEFA and FIFA matches, wherever they take place, until FIFA stops enabling Israel’s genocide and apartheid regime.

Stay tuned for more actions during the Nations League matches against Belgium, France and Italy.
 

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

543.

8 september 2024

Today's headlines

CNN’s Jake Tapper slanders pro-Palestine protesters, but continues to ignore shocking systematic bias at his own network

Jake Tapper, the prominent CNN journalist, lied yesterday on X. Pro-Palestinian protesters had confronted his CNN colleague Dana Bash at a literary event in Washington, D.C., and he told his 3 million followers that they had “targeted” her because she is “Jewish.”

‘The world has gotten used to our blood’: Israeli massacres in Gaza continue

Israel committed nine massacres in Gaza in just the first three days of September while the media’s attention shifts to regional developments.

542.

7 september 2024

Today's headlines

‘Days filled with terror’: Palestinians in Jenin recount harrowing 10-day Israeli army invasion

Israeli occupation forces withdrew from the occupied West Bank city of  Jenin, including the Jenin refugee camp, early on Friday, after a 10-day military operation that resulted in the killing of dozens of Palestinians in Jenin and left significant destruction to the city and camp’s streets and infrastructure.

The genocide in Gaza is as American as it is Israeli. The U.S. won’t stop it.

After long months and rivers of Palestinian blood in Gaza and the West Bank, it´s worth finally noting that it all is the United States’ war, hand in hand with Israel. It is not pursuing this genocide against its will and it is not dragged into it by Israel or its Lobbyists.

And it is also worth finally noting that the United States needs no lobbyists to engage in murderous wars where civilians are the primary targets. The thousands of drones launched by the administrations of Obama and Donald Trump, the invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan, the massive bombing and man-made famine in Yemen, and the complete destruction of Libya are just a few of the most recent examples. The massive interventions in Southeast Asia and Latin America of earlier years, whose effects are still profoundly felt, show the long-term term dominance of this criminal approach in American foreign policy. Indeed, the two – Israel and the United States - are completely intertwined. Together they represent the western capitalist power in the Middle East. And their only joint obsession is an endless prolongation of this power.

Israeli army kills American activist in occupied West Bank

An American woman was shot and killed by Israeli forces during a protest in Beita near Nablus in the northern occupied West Bank on Friday. On Friday morning the State Department confirmed that Aysenur Eygi, a 26-year-old American citizen born in Turkey, had died.

541.

6 september 2024

We are 11 months in to resisting the current ongoing genocide in Palestine, on top of over 75 years of steadfast Palestinian resistance to Israel’s violent colonialism.

I want to be real with you: It’s clear that our movement is making real gains, with significant shifts in public opinion, media coverage, and divestment victories, all despite massive censorship and repression. Several countries such Canada, Spain, Belgium, Italy and the Netherlands have cut off weapons to Israel, with a partial suspension in the UK.

But we haven’t yet seen U.S. weapons policy change, and our Palestinian people who are living through the extreme horrors of this genocide cannot wait another hour. We must agitate and escalate.

Keep fighting through every path available to you to struggle for justice. Read the latest updates below.

• Israel has launched the largest-scale military invasion of the West Bank since 2002, violently attacking Palestinians and bulldozing infrastructure with our U.S. tax dollars. Read more about Israel’s genocidal plans.
• In a CNN interview, Vice President Kamala Harris said her position on arming Israel is no different than Biden’s, doubling down on fueling genocide.
• Israeli soldiers have killed 26-year-old Turkish-American activist Aysenur Ezgi Eygi, who they shot in the head today while she was protesting settlement expansion in Beita near Nablus. Aysenur is one of multiple U.S. citizens murdered by Israel in the past year, largely ignored by the Biden-Harris administration.

WHAT'S HAPPENING IN THE WEST BANK 

WHAT YOU CAN DO NEXT

540.

6 september 2024

This past year has brought us profound heartbreak and inspiring solidarity. As we navigate these challenging times together, I want to take a moment to ask for your support for the Adalah Justice Project. This vital organization needs our help right now to defend their work from relentless repression, and keep the focus where it should be: the fight for a free Palestine.

Together, we are championing justice, equity, and opportunity for all. Whether we are advocating for affordable healthcare, demanding accountability from our government, or standing against the genocide in Gaza, our mission remains unwavering: to create a future where everyone can live with dignity, peace, and security.

Yet, the path ahead is fraught with obstacles: We are acutely aware of the repression we face. Our opponents are powerful, and ruthless.

We are witnessing targeted attacks in the media, in Congress, and soon, in the courts aimed at silencing Palestinian organizing and erasing our calls for justice.

And we have seen AJP do critical work as facilitators of the movement - providing strategic direction, campaign research, popular education trainings from skilled Palestinian organizers, and most importantly, bringing in leaders from disparate struggles to fight together towards common goals.

Together, we can make a meaningful difference.

With solidarity,

539.

6 september 2024

President Biden and Congress Must Hold Israel Accountable and Investigate Israel’s Murder of Aysenur Ezgi Eygi, an American Citizen

Today, an American woman was murdered by the IDF at a protest against Jewish settlement expansion in the town of Beita, near Nablus in the West Bank. IDF soldiers brazenly shot Eygi in the head, and shortly after she was rushed to the hospital before being pronounced dead. According to reports by Palestinian media, the 26-year-old had been involved in a campaign to protect farmers from Israeli settler violence. It is likely that Eygi was murdered by an American-made weapon subsidized by our tax money and an investigation should be conducted to confirm if so.

TAKE ACTION: DEMAND The Biden Administration and Congress PROTECT American Citizens FROM Israel

This is not the first time Israeli forces have murdered American citizens. Israel has a long history of killing Americans and facing no consequences from the United States. In 2003, the Israeli military ran over and crushed Rachel Corrie, an American citizen, with a bulldozer and faced no repercussions. In 2010, a U.N. fact-finding mission determined that Israeli commandos executed U.S. citizen Furkan Dogan during the Gaza flotilla, which was attempting to deliver aid to Gaza. Israel faced no repercussions. More recently, Israeli forces murdered Shireen Abu Akleh, shooting her in the head while she was reporting on a raid in Jenin, and killed Omar Assad, a 78-year-old American man, by handcuffing, beating, and leaving him to die.​ Israel faced no repercussions. 

The United States is failing to protect its citizens—this must end. Our government must prioritize the safety of American lives over the interests of a foreign government. If the most powerful country in the world cannot defend its citizens from being murdered by Israel, it is abdicating its responsibility. This cannot continue!

The Biden Administration can stop Israel from massacring Americans at will today if it wants to. However, they’ve proved time and time again that they care less about Americans than they care about the approval of a foreign government. This is not right. President Biden must open an investigation into Eygi’s murder.

Let know we will not let out until they PROTECT AMERICANS FROM ISRAEL 

In solidarity,

Ayah Ziyadeh

AJP Action

538.

6 september 2024

Deze week kwam het zomerreces van de Tweede Kamer ten einde en is de Nederlandse politiek weer aan het werk gegaan. De verhoudingen met betrekking tot Israël-Palestina werden tijdens het eerste vragenuur van het parlementaire jaar al direct pijnlijk duidelijk toen Kamerlid Stephan van Baarle (DENK) voorstelde een debat te voeren over de situatie op de bezette Westelijke Jordaanoever. De Kamer zag daar de noodzaak niet van in en stemde tegen.

Oordeel Internationaal Gerechtshof
De directe aanleiding voor het door van Baarle gewenste debat is het door ons veelvuldig beschreven oordeel van het Internationaal Gerechtshof over de juridische consequenties van de Israëlische bezetting en kolonisering van de bezette Palestijnse gebieden. Het oordeel luidt dat Israëls aanwezigheid in de Palestijnse gebieden in strijd is met het internationaal recht.

Demonstratie bij het Internationaal Gerechtshof in Den Haag, 12 januari 2024. [c] AlamyVoor Nederland brengt dit juridische consequenties met zich mee. De Nederlandse regering moet direct een eind moet maken aan elke vorm van steun aan de illegale aanwezigheid van Israël in bezet gebied. Het oordeel van het Gerechtshof zou daarom zonder meer moeten leiden tot een grondige herziening van het Nederlandse beleid. Nu blijkt zelfs een Kamerdebat daarover te veel gevraagd voor de Nederlandse politiek.

Regering zwijgt
Ook de regering hult zich wat het oordeel van het Gerechtshof betreft in stilzwijgen. Een brief van Minister van Buitenlandse Zaken Veldkamp, waarin de regering reageert op het oordeel van het hof, laat al weken op zich wachten.

Ook liggen er nog meerdere onbeantwoorde Kamervragen op de plank, die gezien de aanhoudende oorlog tegen de burgerbevolking in Gaza en de escalatie van geweld op de Westoever een snelle reactie van het kabinet vereisen.

Dat gaat onder meer om vragen van Sarah Dobbe, Kamerlid voor de SP. Op 5 juli vroeg zij minister Veldkamp naar de illegale annexatie door Israël van een groot stuk Palestijns land op de Westoever, en of hij onderschrijft dat deze annexatie illegaal is volgens het internationaal recht. Met het oordeel van het Gerechtshof op zak zouden dit voor minister Veldkamp gemakkelijke vragen moeten zijn om te beantwoorden.

De stilte regeert
Zo regeert de stilte in Den Haag, terwijl Israël in Gaza dood en verderf blijft zaaien, en de Westoever gebukt gaat onder een golf van geweld en repressie. Ook het komende politieke jaar zullen wij bij The Rights Forum weer alles op alles zetten om die stilte te verbreken.

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

Lees | Pleidooi voor de Hoge Raad in F-35-zaak

Het Haags Gerechtshof oordeelde op 12 februari dat de Nederlandse regering de export van onderdelen van F-35-gevechtsvliegtuigen naar Israël moest staken. Volgens het hof bestaat er een duidelijk risico dat met die vliegtuigen ernstige schendingen van het humanitair oorlogsrecht worden gepleegd in Gaza.

Met de uitspraak stelde het hof Oxfam Novib, PAX en The Rights Forum in het gelijk. De rechtstreekse export van F-35-onderdelen naar Israël ligt dan ook sinds februari stil. De Nederlandse Staat ging echter tegen de uitspraak in cassatie bij de Hoge Raad.

Die zitting vond vandaag plaats. Voor degenen die de livestream hebben gemist stellen wij het pleidooi van onze advocaten hier beschikbaar.

Oorlogsmisdaden | Hoofdaanklager Internationaal Strafhof wil tempo met arrestatie Netanyahu

Vertraagd en overbodig
De vertraging ontstond nadat de Britse regering onder Rishi Sunak de rechters op 10 juni verzocht een zienswijze over de door Khan gevraagde arrestatiebevelen te mogen indienen. Eind juni werd dat verzoek gehonoreerd, waarop tientallen regeringen, organisaties en individuen besloten een eigen zienswijze in te dienen.

Aansluitend werd Khan verzocht om op alle ingediende zienswijzen te reageren. Dat deed hij op 23 augustus, duidelijk geërgerd door de vertraging en de overbodigheid ervan. Het enige voordeel is dat Khan in zijn reactie genadeloos afrekent met de repeterende argumenten waarom de twee Israëlische leiders niet aanspreekbaar zouden zijn op hun daden.

Palestijnse ambassadeur neemt afscheid

'It has been an honour to represent my country and people in the International City of Peace and Justice, the place where the Palestinian people seek justice and accountability. During the past seven years and eight months, we have knocked on every door in our quest towards ending the injustice that has for too long deprived us of our homeland, our inalienable rights, and our freedom. While we have achieved pivotal milestones in The Hague for our just cause, international law and humanity, there is still a long and difficult road ahead of us.'

Jasper van Dijk in gesprek met Koos van Dam

In een aflevering van De Nieuwe Wereld gaat voormalig SP Kamerlid Jasper van Dijk in gesprek met Koos van Dam, voormalig topdiplomaat en lid van de raad van Advies van The Rights Forum. Zij hebben het over de kwestie-Israël/Palestina, de rol van Nederland, de kansen op vrede in het Midden-Oosten en meer.

Agenda | Herdenkingsprotest in Rotterdam, vertoning I Shall Not Hate en meer

7 september 2024 | Herdenkingsprotest in Rotterdam
Plant een Olijfboom en andere organisaties organiseren op 7 september tussen 12.00 en 17.00 uur een herdenkingsprotest op het Schouwburgplein in Rotterdam. Opnieuw zullen bekende en minder bekende Nederlanders de namen van vermoorde kinderen lezen en duizenden kinderschoenen neerzetten om de kinderen te herdenken en op te roepen tot een einde aan de genocide in Gaza.

536.

6 september 2024

Humanitarian Situation Update #214
Gaza Strip

Vaccinating children in Gaza for polio. Photo by UNICEF.

Key Highlights

• After the successful completion of the polio vaccination campaign in central Gaza, the second phase of the campaign commenced in the south, where vaccination teams aim to reach 340,000 children in four days.
• Medical evacuations of critically ill and injured patients out of Gaza remain generally suspended since the closure of the Rafah crossing on 7 May, with an estimated 12,000 patients waiting to leave the Strip to receive urgently needed medical care.
• Daily meals provided to families in need dropped by 35 per cent across the Gaza Strip, from July to August, due to Israeli-issued evacuation orders in August.

Humanitarian Developments

• Israeli bombardment from the air and land continues to be reported across the Gaza Strip, resulting in further civilian casualties, displacement, and destruction of houses and other civilian infrastructure. Ground operations, particularly in Beit Hanoun, southwest Gaza city, eastern Khan Younis and Deir al Balah and east as well as south Rafah. Heavy fighting and rocket fire were also reported.
• Between the afternoons of 2 and 5 September, according to the Ministry of Health (MoH) in Gaza, 110 Palestinians were killed and 230 were injured. Between 7 October 2023 and 5 September 2024, at least 40,878 Palestinians were killed and 94,454 were injured, according to MoH in Gaza.
• The following are some of the deadly incidents reported between 1 and 5 September:
  • On 1 September, six Palestinians were reportedly killed and others injured in an airstrike in Beit Lahiya, in north Gaza.
  • On 2 September, eight Palestinians were reportedly killed and others injured when a group of Palestinians was hit in front of Al Fakhoura School’s main gate in Jabalya Camp, in north Gaza.
  • On 3 September, nine Palestinians, including at least one woman and five children, were reportedly killed and others injured when a residential building was hit in central Gaza city.
  • On 3 September, seven Palestinians were reportedly killed and others injured when a children’s nursery was hit in western Jabalya, north Gaza.
  • On 4 September, six Palestinians were reportedly killed and eight others injured near At Taalim Roundabout in Beit Lahiya, in north Gaza.
  • On 4 September, six Palestinian men were reportedly killed and others injured in Ash Sheihkh Zaied buildings, north Gaza city.
  • On 4 September, five Palestinians, including two children, were reportedly killed and others injured when a house was hit in Ash Sheikh Redwan neighborhood in Gaza city.
  • On 5 September, five Palestinians were reportedly killed, and 15 others were injured, including children, when internally displaced people’s (IDP) tents were hit near the external clinics of Al Aqsa Hospital, in eastern Deir al Balah. The strike resulted in the destruction and burning of many tents located in the area.
• Between the afternoons of 2 and 6 September, no Israeli soldiers were reported killed in Gaza, according to the Israeli military. Between 7 October 2023 and 6 September 2024, according to the Israeli military and official Israeli sources cited in the media, more than 1,540 Israelis and foreign nationals were killed, the majority on 7 October and its immediate aftermath. The figure includes 340 soldiers killed in Gaza or along the border in Israel since the beginning of the ground operation. In addition, 2,270 Israeli soldiers were reported injured since the beginning of the ground operation.
• On 5 September, the second phase of the polio vaccination campaign commenced in southern Gaza, where some 517 teams, including 384 mobile teams, have been deployed, aiming to reach 340,000 children in four days. The campaign moved to the south after the successful completion of the first phase in central Gaza on 3 September, where over 187,000 children under the age of 10 were vaccinated in a three-day effort. This exceeded the estimated target of 157,000 children. Vaccines were provided at 143 fixed sites, including hospitals and primary healthcare centres, IDP camps, key transit routes and public gathering spaces such as temporary learning sites, food, and water distribution points. Mobile teams also conducted tent-to-tent visits and conducted special missions to access families who, due to insecurity, would have otherwise been unable to immunize their children. To ensure that no child is missed, four large health facilities in central Gaza are continuing to offer vaccines for a few more days. The World Health Organization’s (WHO) representative for the occupied Palestinian territory, Dr Richard Peeperkorn, continued appealing to all parties to the conflict to uphold a commitment for area-specific humanitarian pauses that are critical for the success of the campaign. The current phase in southern Gaza should conclude on 8 September, with the third and last phase set to take place in northern Gaza from 9 to 11 September, targeting around 150,000 children. UNICEF reports that all 1.6 million doses of Oral Polio Vaccine Type 2 (nOPV2) are necessary to immunize all children under the age of 10, with the second shipment having arrived on 3 September.

• Medical evacuations of critically ill and injured patients outside Gaza remain generally suspended since the closure of the Rafah crossing on 7 May, with few exceptions allowed in recent months. WHO reports that on 15 August, 11 children suffering from cancer, alongside 17 accompaniers, were evacuated to Jordan through the Kerem Shalom Crossing. Five other children with cancer and two who had suffered amputations, alongside their 10 accompaniers, were evacuated from the Strip on 26 August. Overall, only 124 patients and 137 accompaniers have been evacuated from Gaza on four separate occasions since 7 May, while an estimated 12,000 patients have been unable to leave and receive urgently needed medical care abroad since then, stresses WHO. The Health Cluster has warned that, without a systematic mechanism for the medical evacuation of severely sick and injured patients outside Gaza, the waiting list “keeps growing while the clinical conditions of many of them continue to deteriorate.”
• The ongoing escalation of hostilities is resulting in widespread contamination by Explosive Ordnance (EO). While the exact number of EO-related casualties is unknown, there have been cases of people who died due to the explosion of EO, according to humanitarian partners. On 3 September, a Palestinian girl was reportedly critically injured by the explosion of an EO in southwestern Khan Younis and succumbed to her wounds on 4 September. Children face a heightened risk of being exposed to EO, as they usually play outside, tend to search for scraps amongst rubbish and rubble, and lack an awareness on the dangers of EO. Despite ongoing efforts by humanitarian partners to conduct in-person and digital Explosive Ordnance Risk Education (EORE) campaigns, educational material as well as minimum standard Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) equipment are refused entry into Gaza by Israeli authorities, therefore limiting the capacity of the mine action response. Furthermore, according to the Protection Cluster’s monitoring system, mine action remains one of the most critical needs for emergency life-saving activities. In a survey conducted by the cluster covering July and August, 89 per cent of respondents had not received EORE awareness material in their community and 72 per cent did not know where to report the discovery of EO or an incident where someone is affected by one. Despite continuous efforts by the cluster to raise awareness, the lack of material and multiple Israeli-issued evacuation orders have forced them to temporarily suspend their in-person EORE sessions following the evacuation orders in Deir al Balah and Khan Younis. The restrictions on humanitarian partners to assist with mine-action related programmes will increase the risk to people’s lives.
• The food security situation in the Gaza Strip is deteriorating due to the critical shortages of aid commodities as well as ongoing hostilities, insecurity, damaged roads, access limitation and breakdown of law and order. Despite the ongoing efforts of humanitarian partners, more than one million people did not receive any food rations in southern and central Gaza during August; families will only be able to receive one food parcel during the September distribution cycle. In northern Gaza, food distribution was suspended in July and August due to the evacuation orders in Gaza city and North Gaza. As a result, each family will receive a monthly ration of two food parcels, excluding wheat flour which is prioritized for supporting bakeries. According to the Food Security Cluster, as of 2 September, 14 bakeries supported by humanitarian partners were operational in the Gaza Strip including four in Gaza city, two in Jabalya, seven in Deir al Balah and one bakery in Khan Younis which reopened recently after almost eight months of closure due to the hostilities. The multiple Israeli-issued evacuation orders have forced around 70 kitchens to either suspend cooked meal provision or relocate. As a result, around 450,000 cooked meals prepared in 130 kitchens were provided daily to families across the Gaza Strip by the end of August, which is a 35 per cent decrease compared with up to 700,000 meals provided at more than 200 kitchens in early July.

• The Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) Cluster is concerned with the staggering increase in the cost of basic hygiene items. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS), in July, the price of soap has increased 1,177 per cent and shampoo has increased 490 per cent across the Strip, compared to July 2023. The WASH Cluster warned that the lack of affordable hygiene items, combined with limited access to clean water and sanitation facilities, poses a growing risk of severe health impacts. This is especially true for families who have been displaced, as they face extreme difficulties maintaining basic hygiene in overcrowded shelters and displacement sites, while critical facilities—such as health centres, community kitchens, child-protection spaces, nutrition centres, and schools—lack the necessary tools to ensure safe and sanitary conditions. These conditions are all likely to deteriorate further during the winter.
• WASH partners are attempting to restore wells that were damaged due to fighting in Deir al Balah. On 26 August, Israeli-issued evacuation orders in Deir al Balah had caused the loss of access to 15 out of the 18 groundwater, resulting in a 75 per cent reduction in groundwater production (12,000 to 3,000 cubic metres a day) for the remainder of the month. Once WASH partners were able to return to parts of the evacuated area, they identified eight wells that were significantly damaged, four of which cannot be repaired at present. Plans are underway to utilize materials recovered from these four wells to repair the remaining four. The long-term impact on Deir al Balah's water production capacity is still being evaluated. Despite the evacuation orders and widespread destruction of WASH assets, the cluster reported that from 19 August to 1 September, an average of 114,901 cubic metres of water were produced daily for safe drinking and domestic use across the Gaza Strip. This volume represents about 30 per cent of the potential production capacity of 378,500 cubic metres per day, leaving hundreds of thousands of people with insufficient water resources. In an additional challenge, the cluster notes that water is also lost due to infrastructure leaks, damage, and spillage during transport and at collection points. In a positive development, the volume of water transported through trucking operations between 19 August and 1 September doubled to 13,881 cubic metres a day. Despite the substantial increase in trucking efforts, the efficiency of water distribution remains severely hampered by fuel shortages and persistent traffic congestion in the Al Mawasi area, where thousands of IDPs reside.

Funding

• As of 5 September, Member States have disbursed approximately US$1.60 billion out of the $3.42 billion (48 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. (*2.3 million reflects the projected population of the Gaza Strip upon issuance of the Flash Appeal in April 2024. As of July 2024, the UN estimates that about 2.1 million people remain in the Gaza Strip, and this updated number is now used for programmatic purposes.)
• During August 2024, the occupied Palestinian territory Humanitarian Fund (oPt HF) managed a total of 93 ongoing projects, totalling U$79.7 million. These projects aimed to address urgent needs in the Gaza Strip (89 per cent) and the West Bank (11 per cent). The projects were strategically focused on education, food security, health, protection, emergency shelter and non-food items, water, sanitation, and hygiene, coordination and support services, multi-purpose cash assistance and nutrition. Of these projects, 52 projects are being implemented by international non-governmental organizations, 29 by national NGOs and 12 by UN agencies. Notably, 32 out of the 64 projects implemented by INGOs or the UN are being implemented in collaboration with national NGOs. Monthly updates, annual reports, and a list of all funded projects per year, are available on the oPt Humanitarian Fund webpage, under the financing section.

Online version

Recent publications

• Humanitarian Situation Update #213 | West Bank
• Humanitarian Situation Update #212 | Gaza Strip
• Reported impact snapshot | Gaza Strip (4 September 2024)
• Gaza Humanitarian Response Update | 19 August - 1 September 2024
• Gaza Strip access and movement | July 2024
• Humanitarian Situation Update #211 | Gaza Strip

534.

6 september 2024

Just since genocide enabler FIFA postponed, yet again, a vote on banning Israel from international football, Israel’s brutal attacks on Palestinian sports and the Palestinian people have only escalated.

Last Monday, an Israeli airstrike on the Jabalia refugee camp in Gaza killed Palestinian footballer Mohammed Al-Baaz.

Mohammad is among more than 297 Palestinian footballers and the fourth player for Premier League team Ahli Gaza FC to be killed by Israel’s Gaza genocide, along with more than 40,000 Palestinians in Gaza.

During its violent onslaught against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank this week, Israel destroyed the Jenin Municipal Football Stadium. As it has destroyed or damaged  ALL sporting facilities in Gaza!

FIFA’s latest shameful and digusting decision allows Israel to play in the UEFA Nations League matches, starting today with Belgium.

FIFA’s previous shameful and outrageous act allowed Israel to compete in Olympic football matches.

FIFA thinks it can quietly continue to cover for genocidal Israel. Let’s prove it wrong!

­   

We won’t stop calling for Israel to be banned from FIFA and international sport.

We won’t allow Israel’s participation in the Nations League matches to pass in silence.

It’s time to peacefully disrupt UEFA and FIFA matches, wherever they take place, until FIFA stops enabling Israel’s genocide and apartheid regime.

Stay tuned for more on Nations League matches against Belgium, France and Italy.
 

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

533.

6 september 2024

Today's headlines

Contrived charges of antisemitism are the new ‘Red Scare’

How an evidence-free smear is being used to suppress those fighting for justice in Palestine: “Israël – No Criticism is Allowed”!

Israeli objective in West Bank is not to ‘mow the lawn,’ but ‘pull out the roots’.

Mondoweiss Palestine Bureau

The UN has said that Israel is now using "war-like tactics" against Palestinians in the northern West Bank. Meanwhile, Netanyahu has reiterated his insistence on maintaining an Israeli military presence along the Philadelphi Corridor.

532.

5 september 2024

Israel has made its goal extremely clear: to steal native Palestinian land and to annihilate Palestinian life.

This is textbook genocide, and it’s not confined to Gaza. Israel has taken the next step in its genocidal plans, launching the largest-scale military invasion of the West Bank since 2002.

The deliberate genocidal conditions that Israel created in Gaza are now replicated in the West Bank: Forced displacement. The destruction of infrastructure, with over 70% of roads bulldozed in Jenin. Abductions of Palestinian boys and men. The blocking of water, food, electricity, medical supplies, and aid. Violent attacks, including bombings.

Hands off the West Bank! Hands off all of Palestine! We must endure in this struggle, just as our people in Palestine have remained steadfast.

JOIN THE OCT. 5TH DAY OF ACTION

531.

5 september 2024

Today's headlines

Testing the boundaries for ethnic cleansing in the West Bank

The current operation in the West Bank is meant to test the boundaries of what Israel will be allowed to get away with. It is setting the stage for the forced ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian people.

The war on Palestine within U.S. education isn’t just happening in colleges, but in K-12 schools as well

K-12 educators around the U.S. who show support for Palestine have been targeted with false charges of antisemitism and have faced a clear pattern of punishment without due process based on disturbing double standards.

531.

4 september 2024

In 19 days, Washington Won’t Be Able to Ignore Us: Join the Movement to End U.S. Support for Israel

As we approach one year of Israel’s genocidal assault on Gaza and witness escalating colonial violence in the West Bank, it’s crucial to recognize the U.S.’s role in flagrantly defying both international and domestic laws by funding this ongoing genocide. 

We’re at a pivotal moment where the actions taken in Washington, D.C. will have profound and irreversible effects on the lives of millions of Palestinians. This is our chance to demand Congress to impose an arms embargo on Israel. We must press this demand with unwavering resolve and relentless determination.

• A United Front for Justice: This year, we are assembling the most powerful and diverse coalition yet. Picture hundreds of voices, unified in their demand to end U.S. support for Israel’s war crimes. Our collective presence will ensure that Congress continues to feel pressure from every angle, making it clear that we will not back down until our demands are heard and we will not let the Israeli lobby continue to hijack the conversation and drown out our call for justice.

530.

4 september 2024

Humanitarian Situation Update #213
West Bank

Destruction in Nur Shams refugee camp, Tulkarm, caused during a a large-scale operation carried out by Israeli forces utilizing lethal war-like tactics. Photo by OCHA, 28 August 2024

Key Highlights

• For over a week, Israeli forces have been using lethal, war-like tactics across the northern West Bank, deepening people’s humanitarian needs and raising concerns over excessive use of force.
• Between 27 August and 2 September, Israeli forces killed 30 Palestinians in the West Bank, including seven children, marking the highest weekly death toll since November 2023.
• Four members of the Israeli forces were killed by Palestinians in Hebron and Jenin governorates.
• Ten of the Palestinian fatalities were hit by airstrikes. In August, Israeli airstrikes increased sharply, killing 41 Palestinians, representing 44 per cent of the total fatalities (95) from airstrikes in the West Bank in 2024.
• Since 7 October 2023, Israeli forces have intensified movement restrictions in the Israeli-controlled area of Hebron city (H2). These restrictions have disrupted access to livelihoods and services for thousands of Palestinians. Furthermore, multiple incidents of detention have taken place at these checkpoints, alongside allegations of sexual harassment.

Latest Developments (after 2 September)

• On 3 September, initial reports indicate that Israeli forces shot and killed a 16-year-old girl in Kafr Dan, Jenin. Separately, Israeli forces exchanged fire with and killed two Palestinians in Tulkarm.

Humanitarian Developments (27 August - 2 September)

• During the reporting period, Israeli forces killed 30 Palestinians, including seven children. Israeli forces and settlers injured 79 Palestinians, including 11 children. This is the highest weekly toll for fatalities since November 2023. During the same period, Palestinians killed four members of the Israeli forces and injured three Israeli soldiers.
• Overnight between 27 and 28 August, Israeli forces initiated a wide-scale operation in the northern West Bank, focusing on Jenin, Tulkarm and Tubas. Israeli aerial and ground strikes, exchanges of fire, and detonations of explosive devices have been reported, resulting in mass casualties and the destruction of infrastructure, especially with the use of bulldozers in all governorates. Twenty-seven (27) out of the 30 Palestinian killed during the reporting period were in these operations, including 10 by airstrikes. On 31 August, the UN Human Rights Office in Occupied Palestinian Territory (OHCHR) condemned the Israeli forces' “use of unlawful force during militarized operations in the occupied West Bank and calls for an immediate end to the current attack on Jenin refugee camp.”

In Jenin governorate

• On 28 August, Israeli forces shot and killed two Palestinians in Jenin Refugee Camp. According to local sources and UNRWA, undercover Israeli forces raided the camp and killed two Palestinian men. Subsequently, Palestinians used live ammunition and explosive devices against Israeli forces, who fired live ammunition at the Palestinians. UNRWA and medical sources reported that Israeli forces had surrounded and restricted access to the Jenin Governmental Hospital and Ibn Sina Hospital, including by searching ambulances. In addition, an electric generator was damaged, causing a power outage across the camp.
• On 28 August, three Palestinians were killed by an Israeli airstrike while travelling between Jenin and Sir village, southeast of Jenin, according to the Ministry of Health (MoH). The Israeli military stated that the people killed were responsible for attacks on Israeli towns and that weapons were found on their bodies and in the vehicle. On 29 and 31 August, Israeli forces killed four Palestinians in Jenin city. On 30 August, Israeli forces shot and killed an 82-year-old Palestinian man, according to the man’s family, while attempting to buy bread. Additionally, according to PRCS, Israeli forces opened fire at an ambulance in the eastern parts of Jenin city, injuring a doctor and damaging the vehicle. The Jenin Governor estimates that about 70 per cent of Jenin’s roads and infrastructure have been damaged. During the operation, one Israeli soldier was killed by live ammunition fired by Palestinians.
• On 30 August, an Israeli airstrike killed two Palestinians and Israeli forces shot and killed a third Palestinian in Az Zababida village. According to an eyewitness testimony given to OCHA, undercover Israeli forces raided the town, surrounded a Palestinian vehicle, and exchanged fire with the three Palestinian men inside. Two of the men attempted to flee and an airstrike from a drone hit and killed them. The third man tried to drive away, but Israeli forces shot at the vehicle, and it ceased to move. According to the eyewitnesses, Israeli forces then advanced towards the vehicle and shot him, took the three bodies and blew up the vehicle.
• On 1 September, an Israeli airstrike killed a 16-year-old Palestinian boy in Silat al Harithiya village. Israeli forces raided the village, where Palestinians threw explosive devices at Israeli forces, who fired live ammunition at them.
• On 1 September, Israeli forces shot and killed two Palestinian boys, aged 13 and 16, riding a motorcycle at the entrance of Kafr Dan. According to the local sources, the two boys were being chased by Israeli forces while attempting to distribute bread to besieged families near the eastern neighbourhood of Jenin city.
• On 2 September, Israeli forces physically assaulted and killed a Palestinian man at Salem checkpoint. According to local sources, he was detained from Kafr Dan village. When a medical team was called to pick up the man, they received his corpse with signs that he had been handcuffed and had severe bruising.
• On 3 September, after the reporting period, multiple organizations mobilized by OCHA were set to carry out an assessment mission to Jenin but were denied access by Israeli security forces. OCHA has warned that access impediments are impacting the ability to provide meaningful humanitarian response.

In Tubas governorate

• On 28 August, an Israeli airstrike killed four Palestinians, including two children, and injured eight others in Al Far'a Refugee Camp. The airstrike hit a house while the two children were inside, causing significant damage. According to UNRWA, the access of medical staff to the area was restricted, and PRCS reported that Israeli forces physically assaulted medical personnel nearby. Israeli forces also damaged an electric generator, which led to a temporary power outage across the camp. OCHA’s interagency assessment reports significant destruction to the main road around the camp and that power was restored to most of the homes. The Israeli army stated that it was targeting armed Palestinians.

In Tulkarm governorate

• On 28 August, Israeli forces shot and killed one Palestinian man with a mental disability and injured three other people while operating for 48 hours in Tulkarm city and Nur Shams Refugee Camp. An Israeli airstrike hit a residential structure, injuring two Palestinians, who were transported to a nearby hospital. Subsequently, Palestinians fired live ammunition at Israeli forces, who shot live ammunition and shoulder-fired explosive projectiles at the Palestinians. The man with a mental disability, aged 64, was in his home when killed, and his body was discovered following the end of the operation. Israeli forces destroyed 22 residential structures using airstrikes and explosives, displacing 32 families, comprising 111 people, including 43 children and 38 women. According to UNRWA, at least 350 residential and livelihood structures were destroyed or damaged. Movement within the camp was severely restricted during the raid, making it difficult for medical staff teams to reach the casualties.
• On 29 August, Israeli forces shot and killed three Palestinians in Tulkarm Refugee Camp. Israeli forces initially surrounded a house with three Palestinians inside, fired an off-shoulder explosive projectile at it, after which two of the Palestinians fled into the street exchanged fire with Israeli forces and were killed. The third Palestinian man jumped from the roof of the house into an adjacent building. According to the owner of the adjacent house, Israeli forces called him and threatened that if the injured Palestinian did not turn himself in, the house would be hit by an airstrike. The Palestinian eventually turned himself in and was detained. Clashes erupted in the camp, where exchanges of fire took place between Palestinians and Israeli forces. During this exchange of fire, Israeli forces shot one other Palestinian. Israeli forces then withheld the bodies of the three Palestinians. The house that was struck by an explosive projectile sustained severe damage, resulting in a fire that destroyed a two-storey building and displaced two families, comprising nine people, including two children. According to UNRWA, at least 35 residential and livelihood structures within the camp were damaged.
• On 2 September, Israeli forces shot and killed a 14-year-old boy and injured six Palestinians, including a 12-year-old girl. Overall, during the operation in Tulkarm Refugee Camp, an airstrike injured three, including a female paramedic. Throughout the camp, Palestinians shot and deployed explosive devices against Israeli forces, who fired live ammunition at Palestinians. According to UNRWA and a neighbour, during these clashes, a father and his child attempted to leave their house, believing that the Israeli forces had withdrawn, and were shot by Israeli forces when they opened their door. The boy was killed, and the father was injured. Additionally, medical resources said that one Palestinian was treated for wounds sustained from physical assault.
• On 31 August, OCHA mobilized humanitarian organizations from the UN and beyond, in coordination with UNRWA, and together they visited locations in Tubas and Tulkarm, where they assessed damages and people's needs, to provide adequate responses.

Hebron Governorate

• During the reporting period, three members of Israeli forces and three Palestinians were killed in three Palestinian attacks against Israelis in Hebron governorate:
  • On 30 August, two Palestinian attacks took place overnight in close proximity to one another; a Palestinian detonated a booby-trapped vehicle at a gas station near the Gush Etzion settlement Junction north of Hebron city. Israeli forces shot and killed the Palestinian man, who according to Israeli sources, attempted to attack them after the explosion. According to Israeli media, the explosion injured an Israeli soldier, and one other was hurt mistakenly by fellow members of Israeli forces. In the other incident, a Palestinian man drove a vehicle containing an explosive device into the Karmei Tzur settlement, also north of Hebron city, before he was shot and killed by the security officer of the settlement. The explosive device detonated, causing light injuries to the security officer.
  • On 1 September, a Palestinian man carried out a drive-by shooting on Road 35 near Tarqumiya Checkpoint, killing three Israeli police officers. He fled the scene and abandoned the vehicle. Later that day, Israeli forces killed the alleged perpetrator during an exchange of fire, hitting a house where he was located with a shoulder-fired explosive projectile. The house was damaged.
• Following the three incidents, Israeli forces conducted extensive search-and-arrest operations and imposed intensified access restrictions around the Hebron governorate for three days, limiting vehicle movement. This impeded and delayed the movement of ambulances and medical teams. It also prevented the municipality from collecting solid waste and disrupted fuel supplies at gas stations, affecting the livelihoods of Palestinian residents.
• Since October 2023, Israeli forces have imposed a new system regulating the movement of Palestinian residents into and from the closed area of H2 (the Israeli-controlled part of Hebron city) through designated checkpoints. This has worsened residents' access to basic services, further exacerbating the already difficult living conditions. Since 7 October, at least 290 Palestinians, including 37 children, across H2 have been arrested at checkpoints, during search-and-arrest operations, or through ad-hoc detentions by Israeli forces. This figure is more than double the weekly average of arrests recorded between 1 January and 6 October 2023.
• Since 7 October 2023, Palestinian residents have noted a rise in humiliating treatment. A recent Israeli media report revealed multiple allegations by Palestinian women of sexual harassment by Israeli soldiers at checkpoints in Hebron during August. Allegations of harassment have included physical exposure by the soldiers, unwanted advances, intrusive searches, sexual comments, unwanted searches through women’s photos on their phones and verbal abuse. The Israeli authorities have launched an investigation into these harassment claims.

Summary of Fatalities

• Between 7 October 2023 and 2 September, 652 Palestinians were killed in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, in addition to two who died of wounds sustained prior to 7 October. Of them, 146 Palestinians have been killed and 54 injured in 55 airstrikes. By contrast, six Palestinians were killed in airstrikes in 2023 (up till October) and none in the preceding 3 years. The Palestinian fatalities since 7 October 2023 include 634 killed by Israeli forces, eleven by Israeli settlers, and seven where it remains unknown whether the perpetrators were Israeli forces or settlers. During the same period, 18 Israelis, including 13 members of Israeli forces and five settlers, were killed by Palestinians in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem. In Israel, attacks by Palestinians from the West Bank resulted in the killing of ten Israelis and seven Palestinian perpetrators.

Settler Violence

• During the reporting period, Israeli settlers perpetrated 16 attacks against Palestinians, resulting in 11 injuries, and damage to property. Palestinians perpetrated one attack against settlers in this period, with no injuries reported. Between 7 October 2023 and 2 September 2024, OCHA recorded about 1,300 attacks by Israeli settlers against Palestinians, of which over 120 led to Palestinian fatalities and injuries, about 1,050 led to damage to Palestinian property, and over 140 led to both casualties and property damage. The following are some of the key incidents documented by OCHA during the reporting period:
  • On 31 August, masked Israeli settlers, believed to be from Migdalim settlement, accompanied by Israeli forces, raided Qusra village in Nablus. They threw stones at Palestinian homes and vandalized water meters. Palestinian residents threw stones, and Israeli forces fired live ammunition and threw teargas canisters at the Palestinians. Ten of them, including a boy, were injured. Three of those injured were hit by live ammunition, six others required treatment after inhaling teargas, and one Palestinian was injured from settler stone-throwing.
• On 2 September, Israeli settlers believed to be from Itamar Kahan settlement, physically assaulted a Palestinian herder and stole 230 sheep from his herd in Tell al Khashaba herding community, Nablus.

Demolitions

• Between 27 August and 2 September, Israeli authorities demolished, destroyed or forced the demolition of 26 Palestinian-owned structures. Some 23 of them were destroyed during the large-scale operation carried out by Israeli forces in Tulkarm, and the remaining three – all in East Jerusalem – were demolished due to the lack of Israeli-issued building permits, which are almost impossible to obtain.
• Two demolitions took place in Silwan, in East Jerusalem on 27 and 28 August, displacing 13 Palestinians, including six children. The Israeli authorities carried out one of the demolitions, whereas the second was implemented by the owner, after receiving a demolition order from Israeli authorities. The demolitions were in Al Bustan and Wadi Qaddum areas. In Al Bustan, where a family of four was displaced, the house was demolished in a location that is part of a plan to build and expand an Israeli settlement project by establishing public spaces predominantly designated for tourists and Israelis. Israeli forces did not allow the family to gather their belongings before the demolition started and, as a result, they were destroyed during the demolition. In Wadi Qaddum, the owners were forced to carry out the demolition after their petition in the Israeli courts was rejected. As a result, nine people, including four children were displaced.
• Between 7 October 2023 and 2 September 2024, Israeli authorities destroyed, demolished, confiscated, or forced the demolition of 1,478 Palestinian structures across the West Bank, displacing more than 3,477 Palestinians, including about 1,485 children, which is more than double the displacement recorded during the equivalent period before 7 October, where 1,363 Palestinians were displaced, including 637 children. The demolitions after 7 October include over 500 inhabited structures, more than 300 agricultural structures, more than 100 water, sanitation and hygiene structures, and 200 livelihood structures. Some 28 incidents of demolitions and destruction of infrastructure, mostly in Tulkarm and Jenin, account for the majority of those affected, as water, sewage and electricity infrastructure was recurrently damaged there in Israeli operations, affecting entire neighbourhoods and beyond.

Funding

• As of 28 August, Member States have disbursed about US$1.6 billion out of $3.42 billion (47 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. (*2.3 million reflects the projected population of the Gaza Strip upon issuance of the Flash Appeal in April 2024. As of July 2024, the UN estimates that about 2.1 million people remain in the Gaza Strip, and this updated number is now used for programmatic purposes.)
• During August 2024, the occupied Palestinian territory Humanitarian Fund (oPt HF) managed a total of 93 ongoing projects, totalling U$79.7 million. These projects aimed to address urgent needs in the Gaza Strip (89 per cent) and the West Bank (11 per cent). The projects were strategically focused on education, food security, health, protection, emergency shelter and non-food items, water, sanitation, and hygiene, coordination and support services, multi-purpose cash assistance and nutrition.
• Of these projects, 52 projects are being implemented by international non-governmental organizations, 29 by national NGOs and 12 by UN agencies. Notably, 32 out of the 64 projects implemented by INGOs or the UN are being implemented in collaboration with national NGOs.
• Monthly updates, annual reports, and a list of all funded projects per year, are available on the oPt Humanitarian Fund webpage, under the financing section.

529.

4 september 2024

Gaza Humanitarian Response Update

19 August - 1 September 2024

An OCHA staff member dispatching polio vaccines in Deir al Balah area of the Gaza Strip. Photo by OCHA/Themba Linden, 2 September 2024

Health

Response

• During the reporting period, 52 Health Cluster partners were active in Gaza, with 27 reporting on their response activities. As of 1 September, there were 15 Emergency Medical Teams (EMTs) supporting the local healthcare workforce, including three in northern Gaza.
• The first round of the polio vaccination campaign commenced in central Gaza on 1 September, aiming to immunize 156,583 children under the age of 10 in the area. A total of 510 teams have been deployed across central Gaza to facilitate the vaccination effort. During the first day, a total of 86,683 children were vaccinated. The campaign will be undertaken in phases, focusing on one zone at a time - starting in central Gaza, before shifting to the south, and finally to the northern governorates. The campaign will last three consecutive days in each zone and will be extended by a fourth day if needed. Round two of the campaign will aim to administer the second dose of the vaccine in four weeks’ time. The overall objective is to reach over 640,000 children under 10 across the Gaza Strip in each of the two rounds. In total, 40 Health partners are participating in this joint endeavor; 17 of them operate health service points where vaccinations are being administered, while another 23 are involved in outreach efforts to inform communities about the campaign.
• The restoration of health services continues at the European Gaza Hospital in Khan Younis, with the emergency and outpatient departments and two operating theatres having now resumed functionality. An EMT will also be deployed to the facility in the upcoming weeks.
• At the Al Shifa Hospital in northern Gaza, the new emergency department and the hemodialysis unit are currently operational.
• A hemodialysis unit comprising 18 dialysis machines has been established at the new Az Zawaida Field Hospital in Deir al Balah, which was hastily opened by Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), jointly with the Ministry of Health (MoH), in late August, to provide urgent care to patients who fled from the Al Aqsa Hospital.

Challenges

• Health partners continue to face challenges in accessing health facilities in northern Gaza, which are now at risk of becoming non-functional due to severe fuel and supply shortages.
• Persistent obstacles hampering the entry of humanitarian trucks through the Kerem Shalom Crossing are causing shortages of medical supplies throughout the Gaza Strip.
• The lack of a systematic mechanism for the medical evacuation of critically ill and injured patients out of Gaza means that the waiting list of patients keeps growing while the clinical conditions of many of them continue to deteriorate.

Nutrition

Response

• Nutrition Cluster partners continue to conduct Mid-Upper Arm Circumference (MUAC) screenings in shelters and healthcare facilities across the Gaza Strip. Since mid-January, a total of 280,591 children aged 6-59 months have been screened for malnutrition, including 168,000 in the last three months. Despite the significant scale up in the number of screenings conducted, the target to screen every child in Gaza at least once every three months is still far from being achieved. Of all screened children, 18,239 have been diagnosed with acute malnutrition, of whom 14,243 with Moderate Acute Malnutrition (MAM) and 3,811 with Severe Acute Malnutrition (SAM), including 145 suffering from SAM with medical complications. Cases identified have been receiving treatment in four Stabilization Centres and 102 Outpatient Programme sites supported by WHO, UNICEF and their partners.
• Partners strive to expand the screening of pregnant and breastfeeding women (PBW). Some 36,587 PBW have been screened since January, of whom 30,113 in the last three months; a total of 2,110 PBW have been enrolled for treatment.
• During the reporting period, frequent evacuation orders have limited partners’ capacity to implement humanitarian programmes. Between 17 and 31 August, only 20,788 children under the age of five and 9,757 PBW received a 30 day-allocation of Lipid-based Nutrient Supplements (LNS-MQ), compared to 26,825 children (22 per cent decrease) and 12,728 PBW (23 per cent decrease) in the first two weeks of August. In total, out of all 346,000 children aged 6-59 months targeted in Gaza, 70,000 (about 20 per cent) received some type of supplementary feeding – either Lipid-based Nutrient Supplements or High Energy Biscuits (HEB) – during the month of August.
• Despite the challenges of bringing Ready to Use Infant Formula (RUIF) into Gaza in a temperature-controlled environment, 1,721 non-breastfed children received breast milk substitute (BMS) compared to 569 children in July and only 120 in June.

Challenges

• The limited entry of humanitarian supplies and the loss of access to warehouses are rendering the transport and adequate storage of heavy nutrition supplies challenging, particularly in areas with limited infrastructure and resources, and for supplies that need to be stored in temperature-controlled environments (e.g., RUIF).
• Continuous displacement is disrupting access to nutrition sites and distribution cycles; hindering partners’ ability to maintain consistent service delivery. Due to recurrent evacuation orders, coordinating nutrition support for newly displacement populations arriving at new shelters is becoming complex. Monitoring malnutrition cases, especially children, is challenging when they are forced to move locations for safety.

Food Security

Response

• As of 2 September, 14 bakeries supported by humanitarian partners were operational in the Gaza Strip - one in Khan Younis, seven in Deir al Balah, four in Gaza city and two in Jabalya. One bakery in Deir al Balah resumed operations on 26 August after being closed for over two weeks due to cooking gas shortages. Another bakery in Khan Younis reopened on 21 August, after almost eight months of closure due to the hostilities.
• As of the end of August, about 450,000 cooked meals prepared in 130 kitchens were provided daily to families across the Strip - a 35 per cent decrease compared with up to 700,000 meals provided at more than 200 kitchens in early July. This is attributed to the multiple evacuation orders issued by Israeli forces, with at least 70 kitchens forced to either suspend cooked meal provision or relocate. Partners’ personnel have also been displaced, further contributing to the disruption in food response. Moreover, the limited entry of humanitarian aid in central and southern Gaza continues to result in severe shortages of food supplies and cooking gas.
• In the north, following the disruption in food distribution coverage in July and August due to the evacuation orders issued in Gaza city and North Gaza, partners have slightly increased the number of distribution points. Each family will receive a monthly ration of two food parcels (without wheat flour, as the latter is prioritized for supporting bakeries).
• Partners have resumed cooked meal provision for more than 40,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs) who recently returned to the Asda area of Khan Younis. Partners had previously lost access to this area due to evacuation orders. The Food Security and Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) Clusters have conducted joint visits to community kitchens to develop a set of technical guidance to enhance hygiene and sanitation practices in the kitchens and improve the quality of cooked meals.
• The two clusters are also working together to provide fodder and veterinary medications for surviving livestock in Gaza, including animals used for solid waste management, water transportation and other domestic uses.
• In support of the ongoing polio vaccination campaign, some food distribution points are presently being used as vaccination sites to maximize coverage.
• In late August, partners secured the entry of over 80 metric tons of gluten-free flour in northern Gaza through the Erez Crossing, while efforts continue to bring gluten-free food assistance to the central and southern parts of the Strip. As most of the food rations provided contain gluten, a significant gap persists across the Strip in supporting hundreds of people with celiac disease, Phenylketonuria and other medical conditions that require special diets.

Challenges

• More than one million people did not receive any food rations in August in southern and central Gaza. If the flow of humanitarian aid and access conditions do not immediately improve, the food security response will be further jeopardized.
• Partners lack sufficient food stocks to meet requirements for the second consecutive month and will only be able to provide one food parcel to families in central and southern Gaza during the September distribution cycle. Insecurity, damaged roads, the breakdown of law and order, and access limitations have resulted in critical shortages of aid commodities to sustain operations, increasing the risk of spoilage and infestation of stranded food supplies due to high temperatures.
• A multi-sectoral integrated response is essential to address food insecurity, particularly during the upcoming winter season. The winterization needs of other clusters, including Shelter, WASH, Health, and Logistics, must be urgently addressed to improve the food security response. If physical road access, healthcare provision, as well as energy, water, sanitation, hygiene, and shelter conditions are further compromised, there is a high risk that the food insecurity and malnutrition situation will worsen beyond the already alarming rates observed across the Strip.
• It is anticipated that the energy crisis will further worsen in upcoming months as winter and the rainy season approach. Protracted shortages of cooking energy continue to force displaced families to burn wood from waste, which hinders proper food preparation and nutrition intake, exacerbates health and protection risks, and causes environmental hazards.
• The lack of entry of commercial supplies into northern Gaza for more than three months has resulted in a severe absence of protein sources such as meat and poultry, with only a few types of vegetables available at unaffordable prices.
• The shortage of animal feed and essential veterinary materials in the Strip affects animal health and welfare. This hinders local production of fresh nutritious food like meat and dairy products, which are key to a healthy and nutritious diet, especially for children.
• The lack of entry of seeds, fertilizers and other livestock and crop production inputs is a key obstacle hampering the restoration of local food production in Gaza. There is an urgent need to strengthen advocacy for, and implementation of, a dual-track approach to food assistance and emergency livelihood interventions. Agricultural activities, including small-scale gardening that is critical to enhance dietary diversity, remain largely suspended. The implications of missing the upcoming agricultural season will devastate people’s livelihoods.

Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH)

Response

• Between 19 August and 1 September, the Coastal Municipalities Water Utility/Palestinian Water Authority (CMWU/PWA) reported that the average water supply for safe drinking and domestic purposes was approximately 114,901 cubic metres per day across the Gaza Strip, or just over a quarter of water supply provided prior to October 2023. This includes 69,000 cubic metres of water produced by water wells (municipal, UNRWA, private).
• During the reporting period, WASH Cluster partners received about 18,500 litres of fuel per day, which represents only 26 per cent of the minimum daily threshold of 70,000 litres required to meet critical needs and ensure the public health objectives of the WASH sector.
• In northern Gaza, the CMWU received 12,000 litres of sodium hypochlorite solution (chlorine bleach), which are essential for water disinfection. The solution has been distributed to water production facilities across the region: 6,000 litres to Gaza city, 4,000 litres to Jabalya, and 2,000 litres to Beit Lahia.
• Additionally, the Municipality of Khan Younis, in collaboration with the CMWU, has conducted emergency repairs to the main water transmission line running from Israel to Khan Younis, which was damaged during recent military operations. This has restored water access to several areas, including Al Mawasi, where hundreds of thousands of IDPs are living under challenging conditions.
• In Deir al Balah, four out of the eight previously inaccessible water wells have been rehabilitated using materials and supplies salvaged from another four water wells destroyed in the area.

Challenges

• WASH partners have been facing nearly impossible working conditions due to repeated evacuation orders issued by Israeli forces. These orders have led to the loss of access to warehouses and offices, staff evacuations, the relocation of programmatic activities, and weakened community connections and engagement.
• Transportation of essential items to northern Gaza are being repeatedly rejected by the Israeli authorities. These materials are essential to mitigate flooding in already flooded stormwater basins in the north.
• Fuel accessibility issues are also severely impacting operations. Fuel stations required for solid waste management are inaccessible, as are previously deconflicted temporary solid waste dumping sites. Additionally, there is a significant shortage of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) for solid waste collection workers.
• The flow of water from the main transmission line running from Israel remains at 80 per cent of capacity, with several critical water facilities lost in the past few weeks. Repair operations are urgently required to return to full capacity as soon as possible.

Shelter and Non-Food Items (NFI)

Response

• Between 19 August and 1 September, despite Israeli-issued evacuation orders and minimal resources, Shelter Cluster partners provided 293 family tents and 256 sealing off kits to people displaced within Khan Younis or from parts of Deir al Balah to other locations. The small numbers of people assisted in comparison to the thousands in need is due to the lack of stocks and logistical constraints, with few partners having any items to support households with emergency shelter and essential items. 
• In northern Gaza, partners provided 100 tents and a small number of sealing-off kits to support some of the people affected by evacuation orders and those attempting to return to their damaged homes.

Challenges

• The severe lack of shelter materials and NFIs, which is particularly acute in central and southern Gaza, continues to hamper the Cluster’s ability to implement a meaningful response, mainly due to access and logistical impediments and the breakdown of law and order. The inability to use the Kerem Shalom Crossing to bring humanitarian items into Gaza is a key obstacle.
• Restrictions imposed by Israeli authorities on the transport of shelter materials between northern and southern Gaza means that partners cannot cover needs as they develop. 
• Recurrent displacement and access impediments continue to hinder the ability of Cluster partners to carry out assessments and acquire a comprehensive understanding of needs.

Site Management Working Group (SMWG)

Response

• During the reporting period, SMWG partners monitored 36 sites in the Khan Younis, Deir al Balah, Gaza, and North Gaza governorates, where more than 60,396 people are estimated to be residing.
• On 22 and 29 August, the outcomes of site monitoring assessments were shared with other Clusters to help them direct the response where gaps have been identified.
• For the first time, SMWG partners gathered data that will help geographically map the responses, existing gaps and devote more resources to underserved areas.

Challenges

• Toolkits, including solar lighting, and construction materials like cement and bricks, which are necessary to implement site improvement and maintenance, are either absent from the market or available at exorbitant prices, limiting partners’ ability to implement site-level works.
• Constant population movement across Gaza due to evacuation orders and the rapid pace of developments on the ground make it challenging for partners to implement an effective site management response.

Protection

Response

• The multiple evacuation orders issued in Khan Younis and Deir al Balah since mid-August have deeply impacted the Protection Cluster’s operations, with many partners forced to suspend their activities until further notice. Some service providers had to close service delivery points due to acute security or access constraints, while others were unable to relocate to alternative places.
• In particular, two Child Protection partners relocated out of Deir al Balah, while another two suspended activities as their offices were in areas designated for evacuation. This also disrupted their supply chain and case management.
• Six Gender-Based Violence (GBV) service providers had to suspend operations in Khan Younis and Deir al Balah, including medical care for GBV survivors. One safe space providing support to women and girls at risk of GBV was forced to shut down. The GBV Sub-Cluster is working on updating the map of available services to reflect changes on the ground.
• In-person Explosive Ordnance Risk Education (EORE) sessions were temporarily suspended following the evacuation orders in Deir al Balah and Khan Younis but have now largely resumed. Digital EORE campaigns using SMS, radio and social media have continued without disruptions. During the reporting period, one Explosive Hazard Assessment (EHA) was also completed.

Challenges

• Insecurity, the disruption of aid flows, the breakdown of law and order, and the denial of entry of critical items continue to hinder the Protection response. Denied items include sanitary pads, dignity, and Menstrual Hygiene Management Kits (MHM) for women and girls, recreational materials for children, as well as assistive devices for persons with disabilities. Minimum standard Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) equipment and EORE materials are still unable to be imported into Gaza, therefore limiting the capacity of the Mine Action response.
• Shortage of tents affects the ability to expand group-based psycho-social support and provide safe spaces or temporary accommodation for unaccompanied children. The limited availability of supplies on the local market, including MHM and dignity kits has disproportionate impact on women and girls at risk of GBV and increases their vulnerability to diseases and violence.
• Widespread blackouts, poor connectivity, and limited access to communications services, coupled with fuel shortages and damage to key infrastructure continue to curtail mobility.
• Repeated evacuation orders, ensuing displacements, and limited access to areas affected by hostilities, including in northern Gaza, place vulnerable groups, such as women, children, and the elderly, at heightened risk of family separation and GBV. They also continue to constrain community outreach, referral pathways, and protection activities, including proper case management for GBV and child protection.
• Cash shortages continue to hinder the use of Cash and Voucher Assistance (CVA) by some recipients, negatively impacting living conditions, increasing the risk of exposure to violence or exploitation for women and girls, and hampering the ability of partners to pay local service providers and staff salaries.

Education

Response

• During the reporting period, Education Cluster partners have made remarkable efforts to reach more than 40,000 students and teachers across Khan Younis, Deir al Balah, Gaza, and North Gaza (57 per cent females and 43 per cent males), providing them with recreational and Mental Health and Psychosocial Support (MHPSS), as well as informal learning opportunities.
• During the reporting period, 43 new Temporary Learning Spaces (TLSs) were established in Khan Younis and Deir al Balah to expand informal learning opportunities to an additional 10,000 students. Cumulatively, Cluster partners have established 91 TLSs. This is in addition to the 84 community-led initiatives mapped across the Gaza Strip to date, that continue to provide children with opportunities to access some form of learning. (Details: Education Cluster 5W dashboard).

Challenges

• The conflict continues to have a devastating impact on education. As of 27 August, 9,839 students and 411 educational staff had been killed, while more than 15,394 students and 2,411 teachers had been injured since 7 October.
• Repeated evacuation orders issued by the Israeli military are severely hampering the Cluster response. During the reporting period, at least 21 partner-led TLSs located in areas designated for evacuation were forced to shut down; as a result, 2,975 students have lost access to learning opportunities.
• Restrictions on educational supply entry are also limiting learning activities' effectiveness. In the TLSs, teachers lack teaching aids and children do not have learning kits, which hinders their engagement in learning. Additionally, there is a lack of recreational and MHPSS supplies, reducing children’s participation in planned activities.

Emergency Telecommunications (ETC)

Response

• The first batch of 25 “Truck24” satellite-based devices, which allow real-time monitoring of UN mission movements inside Gaza, was delivered to the World Food Programme (WFP) office in Jerusalem on 21 August. The ETC Cluster is engaging to obtain approval from the Israeli authorities to transport these devices into Gaza. An additional 73 devices are currently being procured. In total, 98 Track24 devices are needed to support 12 UN agencies operating in Gaza.
• On 20 August, the Cluster collaborated with UNRWA and WFP to establish internet connectivity at a new UN inter-agency residence set up in Gaza city to support the expansion of humanitarian response efforts in northern Gaza. The ETC team is planning to provide internet connectivity at this hub as part of the ETC's common services for humanitarian responders in Gaza.
• On 19 August, the ETC Cluster handed over to UNRWA one of the four solar-powered solution kits imported to Gaza to support the humanitarian operations of UN agencies in Khan Younis. Previously, on 27 July, another kit had been provided to the United Nations Department of Safety and Security (UNDSS) to ensure uninterrupted power supply at the Gaza Security Operations Centre (SOC), ensuring 24/7 operations.
• The ETC Cluster continues to advocate for the need to import more telecommunications equipment into Gaza to set up common communications services. For more information on ETC activities, please visit: Conflict | Emergency Telecommunications Cluster (ETC) (etcluster.org).

Challenges

• Due to increased restrictions on the movement of commodities, damaged infrastructure and lack of fuel and spare parts, local Mobile Network Operators and Internet Service Providers in the Gaza Strip are experiencing network outages and are unable to conduct the necessary repairs. Current conditions also continue to render it difficult to maintain the functionality of the remaining network and have resulted in the loss of connectivity in Rafah.
• The availability of telecommunications equipment is severely limited, hampering the delivery of ETC services. A significant amount of equipment has been damaged or destroyed, and the import of new equipment is lengthy and challenging. Only 20 satellite phones, 30 VHF digital radios, four VHF repeaters and four solar power solutions have been coordinated for importation into Gaza with the Israeli authorities since 7 October 2023.
• Increasing insecurity, displacement, and relocation of staff from Rafah to Deir al Balah have rendered it difficult to deploy shared ETC communications services or provide face-to-face technical support for humanitarian responders.
• The lack of funding has limited the ETC Cluster’s capacity to address immediate communications needs for humanitarian responders in Gaza. Thus far, less than 32 per cent of funding requested by the Cluster (US$1.8 million) under the updated OPT Flash Appeal has been received.

528.

4 september 2024

527.

4 september 2024

In today's Daily Brief:

• Quick Takes: Gaza/Israel
• Videos: Gaza

Quick Takes: Gaza/Israel

Gaza/Israel: On Monday, a Telegram channel belonging to Hamas’s military wing, the Qassam Brigades, released videos of six Israeli hostages whose bodies were recovered Saturday, filmed before their death. The Israeli government says the four men and two women were fatally shot by their captors shortly before its troops reached the tunnel in Gaza where they were held.The Palestinian Resistance Movement Hamas stated that these detainees were killed due to the ongoing bombings in Gaza.

Readers’ Recommendations

 Videos: Gaza

526.

4 september 2024

Today's headlines

The indignities of humanitarian aid in Gaza

Humanitarian aid in Gaza seeks to preserve human dignity, but dignity cannot be achieved without liberation.

From reading the NY Times you would think Gaza’s polio outbreak was just a natural disaster

Unfortunately, the New York Times is easily the most important U.S. media outlet covering Palestine. So it’s time for another up-to-date dissection of ongoing Times bias.

525.

4 september 2024

Deze maand is polio uitgebroken in Gaza. Een catastrofe wordt voorkomen als kinderen nu worden gevaccineerd. Daarom zijn wij direct na ontvangst van de vaccins gestart met een vaccinatiecampagne vanuit onze CARE-gezondheidscentra.

CARE heeft inmiddels al duizenden kinderen kunnen vaccineren tegen polio en we gaan door tot alle kinderen beschermd zijn tegen deze dodelijke ziekte.

“De polio-uitbraak is opnieuw een vreselijk voorbeeld van de gevolgen van ernstig beperkte humanitaire toegang en het uitblijven van een staakt-het-vuren. Dit leed had voorkomen kunnen worden.”, zegt Jolien Veldwijk, landendirecteur van CARE Palestina.

524.

4 september 2024

Every life is precious.

As Jews, our tradition teaches us b’tzelem elohim — every life is precious. Every person is an entire world, and every death is a world extinguished.

This past weekend, 106 people were killed in Palestine – 100 of those were Palestinians, and six were Israelis. 

We mourn each and every life. That’s why we’ve spent eleven months mobilizing our immense grief into action.

Because every life is precious — equally so — we refuse the systems that treat some lives as more worthy of grief and protection than others. This past weekend, Biden spoke only of six Israeli deaths, and said nothing about the daily genocidal death and destruction the Israeli military is carrying out on Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank...

Israel's assault on the occupied West Bank.

We can’t become numb to Gaza’s destruction.

523.

3 september 2024

The last week has added to the devastation we feel. 

Over the past seven days, the Israeli military launched a full-scale invasion into the West Bank putting at risk millions more Palestinians. Cynically calling it “Operation Summer Camp,” Israeli forces have targeted communities in the northern part of the West Bank, including refugee camps.

This work to end Israel's war crimes is deeply personal.

For the Palestinians within our organization, this is about our friends, our families, our communities—people we love, living under bombs funded by our own tax dollars.

Our organizing has exposed the undeniable links between corporate and governmental collusion in the ongoing genocide in Gaza.

We have exposed the corruption of representatives who prioritize profit over human life.

And because we speak the truth, those in power are now scrambling to criminalize our movement, to silence our pursuit of justice.
 
We owe it to our loved ones and our people to fight on, to keep up our movement’s momentum, and to transform the energy of this crisis moment into long-term power, capable of changing the conditions that allowed this horror.

Going forward, Adalah Justice Project has a plan for continuing to build power:

• Organizing labor union members to fight for an arms embargo of Israel

• Publishing data on the connections between the officers of major weapons companies and educational and cultural institutions to inform boycott and divestment campaigns

• Creating educational videos on how to engage in campaigns to divestment from Israeli bonds

The atrocities unfolding in Palestine demand immediate action, and we are on the front lines of the movement in the United States, to stop our government from enabling Israel’s genocide of the Palestinian people.

But our enemies are doing everything they can to shut down our work – from smearing us in the press to launching government inquiries into our work to filing potential legal action in the courts. 

But we won’t back down. We need to be ready to defend our work.

We cannot, and will not, remain silent while the U.S. government continues to bankroll this violence.

We are prepared to intensify our fight for accountability.

We will continue to organize and hold corporations, academic and cultural institutions, and our politicians accountable.

The majority of Americans want this genocide to end and for the U.S. to stop sending weapons to the genocidal Israeli regime. We are their voice, and we will not be silenced.

However, because we refuse to back down, we are preparing for the inevitable legal backlash from those who wish to see us silenced.

This is why we urgently need your help.

We are aiming to raise $75,000 by September 13 to fund our legal defense as we continue this vital work. If we can do it, two of our funders will match every gift up to $75,000.

We will not be deterred by the forces seeking to crush our movement.

We will not be silenced while families in Gaza and the West Bank flee from bombs paid for by our taxes.

522.

3 september 2024

Today's headlines

U.S. universities spent the summer strategizing to suppress student activism.

Schools across the U.S. have altered policies and even landscapes in an attempt to make a repeat of last spring’s Palestine protests impossible. The result is a far-reaching war on free expression and the increased militarization of higher education.

West Bank resistance attacks carried out in Hebron

Mondoweiss Palestine Bureau

As the Israeli assault on the northern West Bank enters its sixth day, Palestinians launched two attacks on Israelis in Hebron to the south.

521.

3 september 2024

In today's Daily Brief:

Gaza

Far from Enough on Gaza

Readers’ Recommendations

 Videos: Gaza

520.

2 september 2024

Strike Two: SJP Rutgers- New Brunswick suspended (again)

Students for Justice in Palestine at Rutgers - New Brunswick

Rutgers University has suspended the New Brunswick SJP chapter for the entire upcoming academic year. We recognize this as an act of repression and anti-Palestinian racism, and therefore refuse to adhere to the guidelines of the suspension.

How cartoonist Naji al-Ali told the story of Palestine

In reprinting "A Child in Palestine: The Cartoons of Naji al-Ali," Verso Books introduces al-Ali and his most famous creation, "Handala," to a new generation fighting for justice in Palestine.

519.

2 september 2024

Humanitarian Situation Update #212
Gaza Strip

A Palestinian girl receiving the first dose of polio vaccination in central Gaza. Photo by UNRWA

Key Highlights

• Local humanitarian pauses enabled the launch of the emergency polio vaccination campaign, with nearly 87,000 children vaccinated in central Gaza during the first day.
• With water borne disease on the rise, and despite challenges, water services have been partially restored in several areas, and essential supplies for water disinfection have been delivered.
• Since January 2024, 16 incidents involving UN vehicles being directly hit have been recorded in Gaza.

Humanitarian Developments

• Israeli bombardment from the air and land continues to be reported across the Gaza Strip, resulting in further civilian casualties, displacement, and destruction of houses and other civilian infrastructure. Ground operations, particularly in Beit Hanoun, southwest Gaza city, eastern Khan Younis and Deir al Balah and east as well as south Rafah, with heavy fighting, also continue to be reported.
• Between the afternoons of 29 August and 2 September, according to the Ministry of Health (MoH) in Gaza, 184 Palestinians were killed and 369 were injured. Between 7 October 2023 and 2 September 2024, at least 40,786 Palestinians were killed and 94,224 were injured, according to MoH in Gaza.
• The following are some of the deadly incidents reported between 29 and 1 September:
  • On 29 August, nine Palestinians, including three children (of whom two were newborn), and two women (of whom one was pregnant), were reportedly killed when the upper floor of a residential tower was hit in western An Nuseirat Refugee Camp, in Deir al Balah.
  • On 29 August, five Palestinians were reportedly killed and at least 13 others injured in Deir al Balah.
  • On 29 August, five Palestinians were reportedly killed and others injured when internally displaced people’s (IDP) tents were hit in Wadi Saber area, east Khan Younis.
  • On 31 August, seven Palestinians from the same family were reportedly killed when a house was hit in As Sabra neighbourhood in Gaza city.
  • On 31 August, five Palestinians, including three females and a doctor, were reportedly killed when a house was hit in southern Khan Younis.
  • On 31 August, five Palestinians, including four females, were reportedly killed and 15 others injured when a house was hit in southern Khan Younis.
  • On 1 September, 11 Palestinians were reportedly killed and tens others injured when Safad school hosting IDPs was hit in Az Zaitoun neighbourhood, east of Gaza city.
• Between the afternoons of 30 August and 2 September, no Israeli soldiers were reportedly killed in Gaza, according to the Israeli military. Between 7 October 2023 and 2 September 2024, according to the Israeli military and official Israeli sources cited in the media, more than 1,539 Israelis and foreign nationals were killed, the majority on 7 October and its immediate aftermath. The figure includes 339 soldiers killed in Gaza or along the border in Israel since the beginning of the ground operation. In addition, 2,266 Israeli soldiers were reported injured since the beginning of the ground operation.
• On 1 September, Israeli forces recovered the bodies of six Israeli hostages from a tunnel within the Gaza Strip. According to the Israeli military, an initial assessment indicates they were killed a short while before being discovered. As of 2 September, it is estimated that 101 Israelis and foreign nationals remain captive in Gaza, including hostages who have been declared dead and whose remains are withheld in Gaza.
• Area-specific humanitarian pauses have enabled the first round of the emergency polio vaccination campaign on 1 September in central Gaza. Nearly 87,000 children were reached on the first day, according to World Health Organization (WHO). The WHO Representative in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, Dr. Richard Peeperkorn, stated that the joint effort among the Ministry of Health, WHO, UNICEF, UNRWA and partners would be undertaken in phases, focusing on one zone at a time - starting in central Gaza, before shifting to the south, and finally to the northern governorates. Some 2,180 health workers and community outreach workers have been trained to provide vaccinations and inform communities about the campaign which is being rolled out through 392 fixed points and almost 300 mobile teams. Dr. Peeperkorn welcomed the area-specific humanitarian pauses during the campaign and appealed to all parties to “pause the fighting to allow children and their families to safely access health facilities and [enable] community outreach workers to get to children who cannot access health facilities for polio vaccinations.” The campaign will last three consecutive days in each zone and will be extended by a fourth day if needed. Round two of the campaign will aim to administer the second dose of the vaccine in four weeks’ time. The overall objective is to reach more than 640,000 children under the age of 10 across the Gaza Strip in each of the two rounds. This is a “massive, massive effort, we've had thousands upon thousands of people working around the clock over the past several weeks to get ready for the launch of the campaign today”, stressed the UNRWA Director of Planning, Sam Rose, on 1 September, adding that UNRWA alone had over 200 teams administrating the vaccines in UNRWA clinics and health points; going tent-to-tent to reach the most vulnerable children.
• On 1 September, the Ministry of Health in Gaza announced the completion of the new Emergency Department at the Al Shifa Hospital in northern Gaza. With a capacity of 70 beds, the new department includes a triage section with three resuscitation rooms, two operating theatres, a sterilization room, as well as a laboratory, a blood bank and a radiology section with basic X-ray and ultrasound capabilities. The Al Shifa Medical Complex was the largest hospital in Gaza and was destroyed during a two-week long Israeli military siege that began on 18 March. The Health Cluster also reports that a haemodialysis unit comprising 18 dialysis machines has been established at the Az Zawaida Field Hospital in Deir al Balah, after the facility had been hastily opened in late August by Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), jointly with the MoH, to provide urgent care to patients who had to evacuate Al Aqsa Hospital. Despite these achievements, Health Cluster partners continue to face challenges delivering fuel and essential supplies to health facilities in the north. WHO reports that in recent weeks, only two out of six planned missions to hospitals in the north were approved. Fuel shortages may force Al Awda Hospital to suspend maternity services and daily surgeries, including C-sections. The Al Helou International Hospital is also facing considerable operational limitations.

• Insecurity and access restrictions continue to jeopardize humanitarian efforts. On 30 August, Anera reported that an Israeli airstrike killed four Palestinians at the front of its aid convoy carrying food and fuel to the Emirati Red Crescent Hospital. This follows an incident in which a World Food Programme (WFP) convoy was directly fired upon on 28 August resulting in the temporary suspension of staff movements. Since 1 January 2024, UN partners in Gaza have recorded 16 incidents in which UN vehicles have been hit.
• Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH) services and responses are severely hampered by the ongoing destruction of water and sanitation facilities, restricted access, and limitations on the entry of essential resources and items. The approaching rainy season will exacerbate these challenges. The Council for Northern Gaza Municipalities and the Municipality of Gaza City have reported the destruction of 97 water wells, 13 major sewage pumps, 57 generators used for wells, 204 waste collection vehicles and 255,000 metres of water and sewage lines since October 2023. The Council has warned that as winter sets in, extensive damage to rainwater and sewage networks is likely to result in severe flooding, particularly in Jabalyia Camp and Beit Lahia where humanitarian needs are already acute. The WASH Cluster has highlighted the near impossible conditions partners are operating under, including access challenges that disrupt the transfer of essential items.
• The Coastal Municipalities Water Utility (CMWU) informed UN partners that a dedicated direct electricity line to power the southern Gaza seawater desalination plant was successfully established during August. However, electricity provision through that line – which is meant to come from an Israeli provider has not yet started, impeding the plant’s provision of clean water to hundreds of thousands of people in southern Gaza. In a positive development, CMWU, in collaboration with UNICEF and local municipalities, has repaired and maintained the main water transmission line running from Israel to Khan Younis, which was damaged during recent military operations. This has restored water access to several areas, including Al Mawasi, where hundreds of thousands of IDPs are living under challenging conditions. Additionally, 12,000 litres of sodium hypochlorite solution (chlorine bleach), essential for water disinfection, were supplied by UNICEF to the municipalities of Gaza city and Jabalya for the first time in three months. Furthermore, in collaboration with the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), CMWU installed 41 integrated water chlorination and injection units across Gaza. These efforts aim to address some of the immediate public health risks.

Funding

• As of 30 August, Member States have disbursed approximately US$1.60 billion out of the $3.42 billion (48 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. (*2.3 million reflects the projected population of the Gaza Strip upon issuance of the Flash Appeal in April 2024. As of July 2024, the UN estimates that about 2.1 million people remain in the Gaza Strip, and this updated number is now used for programmatic purposes.)
• During July 2024, the occupied Palestinian territory Humanitarian Fund (oPt HF) managed a total of 98 ongoing projects, totalling $81.4 million. These projects aimed to address urgent needs in the Gaza Strip (89 per cent) and the West Bank (11 per cent). The projects were strategically focused on education, food security, health, protection, emergency shelter and non-food items, water, sanitation, and hygiene, coordination and support services, multi-purpose cash assistance and nutrition. Of these projects, 55 projects are being implemented by international non-governmental organizations (INGOs), 31 by national NGOs and 12 by UN agencies. Notably, 32 out of the 67 projects implemented by INGOs or the UN are being implemented in collaboration with national NGOs. Since 7 October, the oPt HF has mobilized over $112 million from Member States and private donors to support urgent humanitarian and life-saving programmes across the Occupied Palestinian Territory. Of the total funding, 89 per cent has been allocated to projects in Gaza. A summary of the oPt HF activities and challenges in July 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 oPt HF. For an overall picture of the OCHA-managed pooled funds response since October 2023, please see link.

518.

1 september 2024

Today's headlines

An arms embargo on Israel is not a radical idea — it’s the law

Halting military aid to Israel is the bare minimum the U.S. can do to stop the Gaza genocide. An arms embargo is not only supported by 80% of Democratic Party voters, it is demanded by international and U.S. law !

For the federal law is clear – countries that receive U.S. military funding must meet human rights legal standards. Or risk that military funding. In U.S. Law system, the Leahy Law prohibits the provision of weapons “to any unit [...]of a foreign country if the Secretary of State has credible information that such unit has committed a gross violation of human rignhts.” Gross violations include “torture, cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment, prolonged detention without charges and trial, [...] and another flagrant denial of the right to life or liberty”, all acts Israel is found to have committed by the ICJ, United Nations and even Israel´s own human rights experts and courts.

Our U.S. laws, therefore, demand that we pause military funding to Israel until it remedies its human rights record by agreeing to a permanent ceasefire in Gaza and complying with the ICJ order to end the occupation of Palestinian territories.

In March, the State Department admitted there were “credible reports of all alleged human rights abuses by Israeli security forces, including arbitrary or unlawful killings, enforced disappearance, torture, and serious abuses in conflict.” Still, the Department rubberstamped Israeli government´s “assurances” and the White House continued to approve billions of dollars in weapons transfers despite recognized violations of international law. According to a recent Israeli Defense Ministry report, the US has send over 50.000 tons of arms and military equipment to Israel since October 7, an average of 2 shipments per day. So we ask you, Vice President Harris – if you were elected President, wil you “take care” that the laws of the U.S. “be faithfully executed”, as required by the U.S Constitution? Wil you consistently uphold federal laws that ban funding foreign governments that commit human rights violations, regardless of how powerful those governments or their lobbies are? Pausing military funding to Israel is the bare minimum needed to stop the bombing of innocent people and to remind ourselves that we are, after all, a nation of laws.

OSPACA NIEUWSDIENST 3

Er is dus een op de wet gebaseerde uitweg mogelijk voor Kamala Harris om de genocidale bewapening van Israël te stoppen. 

In dit verband berichtte de Volkskrant van 21 augustus 2024 over deze Amerikaanse Leahy-wet, en de toepasselijkheid daarvan als mogelijkheid, ja zelfs noodzakelijkheid en wettelijke verplichting voor Kamala Harris om deze wet toepassing te geven, als zij tot president zou worden gekozen.

In de Volkskrant wordt dit dan als volgt aan de orde gesteld, waarbij het dan allereerst de vraag is:

“...hoe Harris afstand kan nemen van Bidens [genocidale] politiek, zonder de pro-Israëlische [machtsgroep binnen haar Democratische Partij] tegen haar in het harnas te jagen. Dat kan door de toepassing van de zogenoemde Lehay-wet. Die verbiedt de VS landen militair te steunen wanneer zij  ‘op grote schaal’ mensenrechten schenden. De wet is sinds 1997 honderden keren toegepast, ook tegen bondgenoten. Maar nooit tegen Israël. Ook Patrick Leahy (84), naamgever van de wet en voormalig senator namens Vermont, pleitte met een opiniestuk in The Washington Post voor het gebruik van ‘zijn’ wet tegen Israël.” 

Why Democrats refused to allow a Palestinian speaker at the DNC

The Democrats did not allow a Palestinian speaker at the DNC because they did not want to encourage any possible sympathy for the Palestinian people who are facing a genocide fully supported by the Biden-Harris administration.

517.

1 september 2024

Just as the British Foreign Secretary arrived in Jerusalem last week to call for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, he was met with the sight of war resistance activists chaining themselves to the gate of the British Consulate. Amid a choir of Western diplomats whimsically calling for an end to the war with little to show for their efforts, activists backed by the Refuser Solidarity Network reminded the UK that it’s their weapons being fired in Gaza !. Israel's chief international backers – and weapons supplier – cannot charade between sensible calls for “peace” and continuous weapons shipments streaming into Israel’s ports. Activists’ message was simple: you can either stop the war or continue to profit from it. Join us in calling on the UK and the world to immediately cease weapons sales to the Israeli military by sharing activists’ powerful words on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
 

"We’re here today to demand that the British government pressure the Israeli government to cease its relentless bombings and the killing of civilians that are cynically called collateral damage,”war resisters declared outside the British consulate. “We call on the UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy to do the job that he has come here for today. To reach a ceasefire in Gaza, to release the hostages, and to stop a regional war. This cannot happen whilst war profiteering continues.”

The UK has already begun to pivot on its support for the war on Gaza, vowing to restore funding to UNRWA and backing down on challenging the International Criminal Court’s right to issue arrest warrants for Israeli leaders. The British government’s recent moves are welcome, yet it remains among several nations publicly calling for a ceasefire while providing Israel with a steady flow of weapons deals. Cutting off the West’s unchecked stream of arms, which travel from Israel’s ports to the mass graves of Gaza, is the most important tool that the UK, Germany and U.S.’s immediate disposal to put a direct halt to these crimes. Our lives, Palestinians and Israelis, depend on it.

"Look at these women, men, children and elderly people in the eye, and stop being accomplices to the Israeli military machine. We demand that the British government stop arming Israel, put pressure on Israel to reach a ceasefire deal, allow Gaza to recover, bring back the hostages and start the process that will bring us all security, peace and justice from the river to the sea."

Activists’ target was not just the British government per se, but the very sloganism emanating from world leaders which is costing us our lives; in Gaza, on the Lebanon border and in the Golan Heights. Refuser Solidarity Network will continue to back those on the front lines of our struggle against genocide and unfettered war profiteering built on Palestinian death, and we will continue to hold the powerful to account, both on the ground in Jerusalem and across the world with your help. We support activists logistically and financially, providing them the infrastructure to confront the Israeli war machine from within.

By sharing their call to your networks, you can amplify their collective rejoinder that the war in Gaza is in fact not very far from any of us. Whether in New York, Berlin, London or Tel Aviv, we are all part of the economic flows funding this genocide. The flip side of this ominous fact is our collective ability to stop this genocide and so much more, with complicity comes the reverse ability to withhold and to actively refuse. Wherever you might be, you can join Israeli activists' calls for a total arms embargo. We are counting on you to spread their call abroad through your networks: Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Our lives depend on it.

In solidarity,

Tal
International Solidarity Coordinator
Refuser Solidarity Network

516.