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 31-12-2024 STAAN HIER

OSPACA NIEUWSDIENST 14

31 januari 2025

Israeli Member of the Government Taken to Western (Belgium) Court

Brussels- Belgium

The Hind Rajab Foundation has initiated a groundbreaking legal action in Belgium by filing a formal criminal complaint against Amichai Chikli, Israel's Minister for Diaspora Affairs and the Fight Against Antisemitism. The complaint, submitted by Dyab Abou Jahjah, president of the foundation, accuses Minister Chikli of making terrorist threats against him, a Belgian national, with the intent to intimidate and suppress the foundation's advocacy for justice and accountability for war crimes.

A Clear Case of Terrorism

The complaint underscores that Chikli's threat, posted on January 6, 2025, via social media, constitutes an act of terrorism under Belgian law. His message, "Hello to our human rights activist. Watch your pager," refers to a deadly incident in September 2024 when Israeli intelligence detonated 5,000 pagers in Lebanon, killing 12 and injuring at least 2,800 people. By evoking this event, Mr. Chikli threatens Mr. Abou Jahjah with death or at least with the intentional infliction of blows and injuries resulting in mutilation, with the unmistakable intention of intimidating him and instilling fear to compel him to cease his activities aimed at the effective prosecution of international crimes committed by Israeli soldiers during the war in Gaza.

The message is therefore not only directed at Mr. Abou Jahjah but also at that part of the population engaged in the fight against impunity. Such a threat is aimed at causing serious fear to a (part of a) population and can cause significant harm to Belgium, particularly in light of the obligation of the Belgian State under international law to effectively address international crimes. This obligation was reaffirmed in paragraph 11 of the resolution adopted on September 18, 2024, by the United Nations General Assembly, following and implementing the advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice dated July 19, 2024.

If Belgian nationals or residents of Belgium are threatened with attacks on their lives and/or physical integrity because of their activities in this domain, it undoubtedly causes significant harm to the country, especially if such threats are made by a minister of a foreign government that has demonstrated it does not shy away from the actions being threatened.

Thus, the conditions set out in Article 137 §1 and §2 1° and §3 6° of the Criminal Code concerning terrorist offenses are fulfilled. Mr. Chikli's message also constitutes a violation of Article 327 of the Criminal Code, which in its second paragraph states: "The threat of an attack on persons or property punishable by a criminal penalty, made in an anonymous or signed document, without order or condition, shall be punished with imprisonment of three months to two years and a fine."

The Immunity Argument: Why It Doesn't Apply

The complaint firmly establishes that Minister Chikli does not enjoy immunity from prosecution under international law. While serving as Israel's Minister for Diaspora Affairs and the Fight Against Antisemitism, his portfolio does not qualify him for the immunity generally reserved for heads of state, heads of government, or foreign ministers performing official functions.

This position is reinforced by the landmark ruling of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in the 2002 Arrest Warrant Case (Democratic Republic of Congo v. Belgium).

Moreover, Belgian jurisdiction applies because:

- The victim, Mr. Abou Jahjah, is a Belgian national and resident.

- The threats were disseminated through publicly accessible channels in Belgium.

- The threats have a tangible impact on Belgian citizens and the broader human rights community in Belgium.

Broader Implications

This complaint has far-reaching implications, emphasizing that no individual, regardless of their position, is above the law when engaging in acts of terrorism and intimidation. By targeting Mr. Abou Jahjah, Minister Chikli sought to discourage efforts to hold Israeli soldiers accountable for war crimes committed during the recent conflict in Gaza. This attack is not isolated; it is part of a larger campaign to silence voices demanding justice for Palestine.

The Hind Rajab Foundation has filed this complaint to assert the principle that terrorism, even when wielded by high-ranking officials, will not be tolerated. It sends a strong message that Belgium, as a state bound by international legal obligations, will uphold justice and protect those working to combat impunity for international crimes.

Cancellation of Visit

Upon hearing of the complaint against Mr. Chikli, the Israeli government inquired whether he was entitled to diplomatic immunity. In response, the Belgian authorities clarified that Mr. Chikli does not enjoy immunity and that his arrest is legally possible. This led to the cancellation of Chikli's planned visit to Brussels tomorrow.

This underscores Belgium's commitment to upholding its international obligations to address crimes effectively and sends a clear message that no individual, regardless of their position, is above accountability.

For More information on the legal aspects, contact Mr. Abou Jahjah’s legal counsel Mr. Jan Fermon

31 januari 2025

Het Israëlische verbod op de VN-hulporganisatie UNRWA is op donderdag 30 januari van kracht gegaan. De achterliggende wet, die in oktober door het Israëlische parlement werd aangenomen, verbiedt UNRWA om op Israëlisch grondgebied te opereren, inclusief in het bezette Oost-Jeruzalem waar het hoofdkantoor zetelde. Ook is contact met de Israëlische autoriteiten verboden.

Philippe Lazzarini, het hoofd van UNRWA, noemt het verbod 'desastreus'. 'Sinds oktober 2023 hebben we twee derde van alle voedselhulp geleverd, onderdak geboden aan meer dan een miljoen ontheemden en een kwart miljoen kinderen ingeënt tegen polio.'

UNRWA-medewerkers tijdens een polio-vaccinatiecampagne in Gaza, 2024. [c] UNRWAHet is nog onduidelijk wat de consequenties van het verbod zullen zijn op de humanitaire hulp van UNRWA in Gaza, maar de toch al gigantische uitdaging zal er in ieder geval niet makkelijker op worden. Ook zal nog moeten blijken wat de impact is op de talloze scholen, ziekenhuizen en klinieken die de organisatie runt op de bezette Westoever en in Oost-Jeruzalem. Of wat er moet worden van de Palestijnse burgers die afhankelijk zijn van voedselhulp, de patiënten, en de medewerkers.

'UNRWA is de long waarmee de Palestijnse bevolking ademt,' zegt de 74-jarige Abu Nael Hamouda uit Gaza in gesprek met Al-Jazeera.

Inmiddels hebben de internationale medewerkers van de hulporganisatie de bezette Westoever, inclusief Oost-Jeruzalem, verlaten. Israël weigerde hun visa te verlenen of verlengen. 

Negen landen uit het Globale Zuiden nemen maatregelen tegen Israëls straffeloosheid

Commentaar | Nederlandse pro-Israëlpolitiek heeft nu ook de genocide-horde genomen

In reactie op het akkoord tussen Hamas en Israël zei premier Schoof te hopen dat dit de spanningen binnen de Nederlandse samenleving zal verminderen. Kennelijk is in politiek Den Haag nog niet doorgedrongen dat het daar zelf een primaire oorzaak van is. Als de premier geen polarisatie wil, doet hij er goed aan Nederland geen partij te maken, en te handelen conform Nederlands verplichtingen onder het internationaal recht. Dat hebben de kabinetten-Rutte en Schoof echter nadrukkelijk nagelaten.

De bal ligt bij hemzelf, te beginnen met de erkenning van het aandeel van de regering in de aangerichte schade. En met zijn bekering tot de internationale rechtsorde. De samenleving kan niet wachten.

Lees verder op de site

Interview | Nadia Bouras: 'Als Palestina vrij is, zijn we allemaal vrij'

The Rights Forum interviewt Nadia Bouras, sinds kort lid van de Raad van Advies. Bouras vertelt over haar verbondenheid met de Palestijnse kwestie, en hoe de nieuwe generatie zich tot het onderwerp verhoudt.

Nadia Bouras is historicus gespecialiseerd in de geschiedenis van Marokkaanse migratie. Zij is universitair docent aan de Universiteit Leiden, waar ze in 2012 promoveerde.

Hoe de woordspelletjes van minister Veldkamp Israël buiten schot houden

Op dinsdag 21 januari hervatte de commissie Buitenlandse Zaken het debat over het Midden-Oosten. Tijdens de vorige ronde, op 18 december 2024, waarover we eerder berichtten, bleven veel vragen over het beleid van minister van Buitenlandse Zaken Caspar Veldkamp (NSC) onbeantwoord.

Het debat kenmerkte zich echter opnieuw door het ontwijkende gedrag van minister Veldkamp en de weigering van het kabinet om in te grijpen. Dat gold voor alle onderwerpen, of het nu het rapport van Amnesty International over genocide in Gaza, humanitaire hulp aan Gaza of de Amerikaanse bedreigingen aan het adres van het Internationaal Strafhof betrof.

Onder de streep
Wat het debat daarmee opnieuw aantoonde, is hoe diep de politieke onwil is geworteld om het probleem – Israëls op vele vlakken onwettige optreden – bij de kern aan te pakken. Het adresseren van de verwoestende impact van Israëls beleid in Gaza wordt door het kabinet bewust vermeden.

Ondertussen groeit de kloof tussen degenen die oprecht verontrust zijn, en een politiek die zich verschuilt achter strategische terughoudendheid. Die kloof ondermijnt niet alleen het vertrouwen in de overheid, maar toont vooral een pijnlijk selectief moreel kompas.

Zwitserland deporteert bekende Palestijnse journalist Ali Abunimah

987.

31 januari 2025

Today's headlines

Top Hamas military chief Muhammad Deif confirmed dead

Qassam Muaddi

The military spokesperson of Hamas confirmed the deaths of several top military leaders in its armed wing, the Qassam Brigades, including its commander-in-chief, Muhammad al-Deif.

Third prisoner exchange takes place amid Israeli condemnation

110 Palestinians were freed from Israeli captivity in exchange for three Israeli captives in Gaza, after Israel initially tried to suspend releasing the Palestinian prisoners over complaints of "chaos" during the handover of the Israeli captives.

987.

31 januari 2025

LIVE BLOG: Zakaria Zubeidi, Dozens to Be Released | Israeli Massacre in Tubas – Day 481

Avenging the Dawabsheh Family Massacre: Who is Zaid Amer – Profile

Dear World: This is What Palestinian Unity Looks Like

Dear World: This is What Palestinian Unity Looks Like

THE FLOODGATE PODCAST: Who Really Won the War in Gaza?

SUPPORT THE PALESTINE CHRONICLE

We are driven by hope: that collective solidarity will end the genocide in Gaza, and that you, the conscientious people of the world, will continue to stand with the Palestinian people until freedom is achieved.

 

For 25 years, The Palestine Chronicle has been an independent voice, standing firm when the truth about Palestine is silenced or distorted. Our work is sustained by supporters like you—helping us amplify Palestinian voices and challenge misinformation.

 

Please continue to stand with us in this fight for justice.

 

The Palestine Chronicle Team

986.

30 januari 2025

Humanitarian Situation Update #260
West Bank

Crews of Tulkarm Municipality repairing water lines destroyed during an operation carried out by Israeli forces. Photo courtesy of Tulkarm Municipality

Key Highlights

 

• Since the beginning of 2025, Israeli forces have killed 53 Palestinians, including eight children, in the West Bank. These include 30 Palestinians killed in Jenin governorate.
• Nearly all of Jenin refugee camp’s 20,000 residents have been displaced over the past two months and an estimated 150-180 homes have sustained severe damage.
• Israeli forces’ operations have become a primary cause of displacement in the West Bank, accounting for 42 per cent of all displacement documented by OCHA between January 2023 and December 2024, compared with less than two per cent in the two years prior.
• Access restrictions have intensified, with prolonged delays at checkpoints, at least 12 new road gates installed by Israeli forces at the entrances of towns and villages across the West Bank and new roadblocks and earthmounds placed on secondary access routes.

Latest Developments (after 27 January 2025)

 

• On 28 and 29 January, initial reports indicate that 12 Palestinians were killed by Israeli forces in the West Bank, including one in Jenin city, one in Tulkarm city and 10 in Tammun town in Tubas. Since 27 January, the Israeli forces’ operation in Tulkarm has caused infrastructure damage, disrupting access to water and electricity, and has resulted in the displacement of nearly 1,000 people according to initial estimates. According to information gathered by the UN Human Rights Office (OHCHR), “several Palestinian families were already forced to leave their homes by the Israeli military for the duration of the operation, despite the fact they have nowhere to go in the middle of the winter.”
• On 30 January, initial reports by the Israeli military indicate that one Israeli soldier was killed and another injured during an operation in Jenin governorate.

Humanitarian Developments (21-27 January 2025)

 

• During the reporting period, Israeli forces killed 20 Palestinians, including two children, and injured 81 others, including 11 children, across the West Bank, including East Jerusalem. Four Israeli soldiers were injured during operations in Jenin. For more information on casualties and further breakdowns of data, please see the monthly West Bank Snapshot. Incidents resulting in fatalities during the reporting period include:
  • On 21 January, Israeli forces shot and killed two Palestinians, including a 17-year-old child, in Ti'innik village, north of Jenin.
  • On 22 January, Israeli forces shot and killed two Palestinians in an exchange of fire in the village of Birqin, west of Jenin. Israeli forces surrounded one house and demanding that occupants turn themselves in, after which an exchange of fire between two Palestinians and Israeli forces ensued. In addition, Israeli forces conducted air and ground strikes, demolished the house with a bulldozer, and shot and injured the owner of the building, a 60-year-old man.
  • On 24 January, an Israeli airstrike killed two Palestinians in Qabatiya town, south of Jenin city, and caused damage to at least one residential building and several cars.
  • On 25 January, Israeli forces shot and killed a two-year-old Palestinian baby in Ash Shuhada village, south of Jenin city. Undercover Israeli forces raided the village, followed by military reinforcements, and exchanged fire with armed Palestinians. The girl and her mother were struck while taking shelter inside a relative's house. The mother was wounded by live ammunition shrapnel in the head and hand. According to the Ash Shuhada village council, Israeli forces detained dozens of Palestinian men and women, interrogating them separately in two locations. The operation lasted about three hours.
  • On 25 January, Israeli forces shot and killed a Palestinian in Balata refugee camp, Nablus. The fatality occurred when Israeli forces raided the camp while residents were celebrating the release of a Palestinian detainee under the Gaza ceasefire agreement. The forces fired tear gas canisters at the crowds, and, subsequently, live ammunition. Video footage shows a Palestinian shopkeeper hit and killed while attempting to close his shop.
  • On 26 January, Israeli forces shot and killed an 18-year-old Palestinian and injured two children near Qalandiya checkpoint, north of Jerusalem. According to eyewitnesses, Palestinians threw stones and shot fireworks towards soldiers in a military tower, and the latter fired live ammunition at them.
• During the reporting period, OCHA documented 17 incidents involving Israeli settlers that led to casualties, property damage or both. As a result, nine Palestinians were injured, and eight vehicles and over 120 trees, mostly olive, were damaged. During the same period, one Israeli settler was injured while driving in Ramallah governorate due to stone throwing believed to be by Palestinians. The following are some of the key settler attacks that took place during the reporting period:
  • On 22 January, armed Israeli settlers physically assaulted and injured five Palestinians while they were grazing their sheep on land belonging to residents from Qawawis community, in Hebron governorate. After raiding the community and throwing stones at homes, Israeli settlers engaged in scuffles with Palestinians and reportedly used pepper spray and iron rods. Israeli forces subsequently arrived at the scene and dispersed the settlers.
  • On 26 January, Israeli settlers physically assaulted and injured a Palestinian man in his house in ‘Ein al Hilwa – Um al Jmal herding community, in Tubas in the northern Jordan Valley. According to the injured man, masked Israeli settlers broke into his house and physically assaulted him with bats. Palestinians in the community called an ambulance, which transported him to the hospital.
  • On 27 January, Israeli settlers believed to be from outposts near Ras 'Ein al 'Auja Bedouin community, in Jericho governorate, broke into the community and grazed their livestock between houses. According to residents, Israeli settlers have been raiding their community daily, often for extended hours, whereby settlers attempt to mix their livestock with those owned by families in the community and then claim ownership. Additionally, settlers have been regularly harassing Palestinians at the community’s water spring, reportedly chasing them with vehicles and threatening to ram anyone approaching the spring.

• During the reporting period, OCHA documented the demolition of nine Palestinian-owned structures across the West Bank due to the lack of Israeli-issued building permits, which are nearly impossible to obtain. These included four structures demolished in East Jerusalem and five in Area C, resulting in the displacement of 11 people, including five children. Over 30 people, including 13 children, were otherwise affected. In East Jerusalem, a family of four, including two children, was displaced after being forced to demolish its residence by Israeli authorities. In Furush Beit Dajan, in Nablus governorate, Israeli forces demolished one residential and four other structures, displacing two families of seven people, including two children.
• On 26 January, the Jerusalem Municipality issued 32 stop work orders on all homes and other structures in Khallet an Nu’man village, in Bethlehem governorate. The village is located within the Israeli-defined East Jerusalem boundaries, but its residents continued to hold West Bank identification cards and have been unable to freely access other parts of East Jerusalem. Concurrently, the construction of the Barrier has physically separated the village from service centres in other parts of the West Bank, which residents can only access via Mazmouriya checkpoint. The orders affect 42 homes, where the village’s 150 residents reside. According to the village council, not a single construction activity has taken place in the village since the erection of the Barrier, and they are unable to transport construction materials from the West Bank side of the Barrier through the checkpoint.

Developments in Jenin

 

• On 21 January, Israeli forces launched an operation in Jenin involving ground forces, helicopter gunfire and airstrikes. The ongoing operation in Jenin city and its refugee camp has resulted in 17 fatalities, widespread destruction of homes and infrastructure, and forced displacement. The operation expanded to nearby villages and towns and, since 27 January, extended to Tulkarm city and its two refugee camps. Jenin Municipality reports that nearly three kilometres of roads inside and near the camp have also been bulldozed by Israeli forces, including those leading to Jenin Hospital, causing damage to critical water and sewage infrastructure as well as telecommunication networks.
• Operations in Jenin refugee camp over the past two months have caused widespread destruction of homes and infrastructure. Some 150 -180 houses in Jenin camp have so far sustained severe damage, including about 120 houses during the ongoing operation by Israeli forces and 50 during the operation by Palestinian forces. Moreover, access to Jenin camp has been heavily restricted by both Palestinian and Israeli forces, exacerbating humanitarian conditions. UNRWA has been forced to suspend schools and health services. Solid waste collection and management efforts have been similarly suspended, leading to waste accumulation and worsening hygiene conditions in the camp.
• According to UNRWA, nearly all of Jenin refugee camp’s 20,000 residents have been displaced. More than 3,200 families have been displaced, UNRWA estimates, including 2,000 families displaced to Jenin city and surrounding villages during the Palestinian forces operation that began in early December. Nearly 2,600 families have sought shelter in Jenin city, with the remaining families scattered across 17 villages and towns in the governorate, mainly staying with relatives or renting temporary accommodation. At least 100 families have been sheltering in buildings belonging to charitable and other local institutions in Jenin city.
• Between January 2023 and December 2024, Jenin governorate was among the areas most affected by displacement in the West Bank, recording the second-highest number of people displaced (1,500 people). Tulkarm governorate saw the highest level of displacement, with approximately 2,050 Palestinians displaced due to extensive destruction of homes caused by Israel forces’ operations. During the same period, more than 3,600 Palestinians, including over 1,400 children, were displaced across the West Bank due to home demolitions within the course of Israeli forces’ operations. As such, these operations have become a primary cause of displacement in the West Bank, accounting for 42 per cent of all displacement documented by OCHA between January 2023 and December 2024. This is a sharp increase compared to the two years prior (January 2021 to December 2022), when displacement during Israeli forces’ operations accounted for less than two per cent of total displacement.

Access and Movement Restrictions

• Since mid-January, Israeli forces have intensified access restrictions across the West Bank, impeding Palestinians’ access to basic services and workplaces. Restrictions have entailed prolonged delays at checkpoints, the installation of at least 12 new gates at the entrances of towns and villages as well as placing new roadblocks and earthmounds on secondary access routes.  In a statement issued on 28 January, OHCHR said that “suffocating restrictions on Palestinians’ freedom of movement across the West Bank …[have been] practically tearing communities apart and largely paralyzing daily life.” Below are key examples of developments that have aggravated the movement of Palestinians across the West Bank:
  • In the Israeli-controlled H2 area of Hebron city, Israeli forces closed As Salaymeh checkpoint (Checkpoint 160) for five days, restricting access for approximately 2,500 Palestinian residents, who were forced to take a longer detour to reach their homes.
  • In Jericho governorate, three road gates were installed and closed in Al 'Auja town as well as Ras Ein al 'Auja and An Nuwei'ma Al Fauqa Bedouin communities, cutting access to main roads and a water spring.
  • In Jerusalem governorate, on 22 and 25 January, Israeli forces repeatedly closed Qalandiya and Jaba’ checkpoints, two major checkpoints connecting the central West Bank with both East Jerusalem and the southern West Bank. These closures severely disrupted the movement of tens of thousands of Palestinians, with some stranded for hours before managing to cross.
  • In Nablus governorate, Israeli forces blocked four secondary routes in Zawata village and three in Deir Sharaf village with earth mounds. Two road gates were also installed at Awarta’s northern entrance, significantly limiting movement towards Jenin and Tulkarm.

Funding

 

• As of 30 January 2025, Member States have disbursed approximately US$145.6 million out of the $4.07 billion (3.6 per cent) requested to meet the most critical humanitarian needs of three million out of 3.3 million people identified as requiring assistance in Gaza and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, in 2025 under the 2025 Flash Appeal for the OPT. Nearly 90 per cent of the requested funds are for the humanitarian response in Gaza, with just over 10 per cent for the West Bank. Moreover, during December 2024, the oPt Humanitarian Fund (oPt HF) managed 111 ongoing projects, totalling $82.2 million, to address urgent needs in the Gaza Strip (86 per cent) and the West Bank (14 per cent). These include 64 projects implemented by international non-governmental organizations (INGOs), 34 by national NGOs and 13 by UN agencies. Of the 77 projects implemented by INGOs or the UN, 46 are being implemented in collaboration with national NGOs. For more information, please see OCHA’s Financial Tracking Service webpage and the oPt Humanitarian Fund webpage.

Recent publications

• Humanitarian Situation Update #259 | Gaza Strip
• Humanitarian Situation Update #258 | West Bank
• Reported impact snapshot | Gaza Strip (28 January 2025)
• West Bank Monthly Snapshot - Casualties, Property Damage and Displacement | December 2024
• Gaza Humanitarian Response Update | 22 December 2024 - 4 January 2025
• Humanitarian Situation Update #257 | Gaza Strip

986A.

30 januari 2025

President Trump signed a blatantly authoritarian Executive Order on Wednesday that promises to use the whole of government to attempt to crush the Palestinian rights movement. The order lays the groundwork for a potential wave of deportations of non citizen activists, especially students.

 

This is a vile attempt to crush opposition to the U.S.-backed Israeli genocide of Palestinians in Gaza, and to further the far-Right’s broader anti-immigrant and anti-education agenda.

 

Over the last year and a half, tens of thousands of students across the country, including many Jewish students, led historic protests calling for an end to the Israeli military’s genocide in Gaza. This shameful Executive Order is the first step in the administration’s plans to retaliate against the most vulnerable among them.

 

As the largest public university system in the U.S., the UC administration has the opportunity to set a precedent for protecting students nationwide.

 

Will you write to the University of California regents right now to demand that they commit to concrete action to protect their students and freedom of speech on their campus?

 

986B.

30 januari 2025

Today's headlines

Trump to cancel student visas for Palestine protesters

Donald Trump will reportedly sign an executive order to deport non-citizen university students who have participated in protests opposing the Gaza genocide.

The U.S. appears to be pushing for more ethnic cleansing in Gaza. Will it succeed?

Donald Trump has brought back a plan to ethnically cleanse Palestinians from Gaza that was pushed by the Biden administration and the Israeli far right. Although these plans have been rebuffed so far, there are signs Trump might be more successful.

Inside the Hind Rajab Foundation, the organization hunting Israeli war criminals around the globe

A year ago today, six year old Hind Rajab was killed by an Israeli tank as she hid for safety in Gaza. Today, a Belgian foundation is hunting Israeli war criminals in her name.

986C.

29 januari 2025

Today's headlines

Palestinians brace for more violence as Israel expands its offensive on the West Bank

Qassam Muaddi

The Israeli army is launching offensives in the northern West Bank as Israeli politicians, emboldened by Donald Trump, seek to realize their dreams of annexation.

The Right of Return is still the issue

Palestinians brace for more violence as Israel expands its offensive on the West Bank

Qassam Muaddi

The Israeli army is launching offensives in the northern West Bank as Israeli politicians, emboldened by Donald Trump, seek to realize their dreams of annexation.

The Right of Return is still the issue

Israel has never understood Palestinian resilience. We survived the Gaza Genocide, like catastrophes before it, through the call to Return home, the fuel for Palestinian survival. For Palestinians, the Right of Return is and will always be the Issue.

Yes Elon Musk, you can be both a Zionist and a Nazi

After igniting outrage for raising a Nazi salute at a Trump inauguration event, Elon Musk tweeted: “So I am both a zionist AND a nazi?” He meant it mockingly, but the historical and ideological affinities between Zionism and white supremacy run deep.

985.

29 januari 2025.

This week, we turn our focus on Gaza, where hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinians have returned to the devastated north for the first time since the start of Israel’s war.

984.

29 januari 2025

Trump would turn Gaza into beachfront property.

Organizing victory: Senate blocks ICC sanctions bill

What we're reading.

For the Nation, Eman Alhaj Ali takes the moment of ceasefire to reflect on the last 15 months of horrors, remembering the beauty of Gaza before the genocide and discussing what the future holds for Palestinians returning to a Gaza that "has become a graveyard."

984A.

28 januari 2025

Humanitarian Situation Update #259
Gaza Strip

Displaced people returning to northern Gaza. Photo by OCHA, 27 January 2025

Key Highlights

 

• Over 376,000 people are estimated to have returned to their places of origin in northern Gaza, following the withdrawal of Israeli forces from the two main roads along the Netzarim corridor.
• A surge in aid supplies and improved access conditions have enabled humanitarian partners to meaningfully expand the delivery of lifesaving assistance and services across the Gaza Strip, including in areas that were previously impossible to access.
• Field assessments reveal massive levels of destruction of water and sanitation infrastructure, particularly in northern Gaza, underlining the critical need to ramp up rehabilitation and repair efforts to meet basic human needs.
• Over 50 million tonnes of debris in Gaza can take up to 20 years to remove, the UN estimates, as efforts continue to scale up explosive hazard assessments.

Humanitarian Developments

 

• On 25 January, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) facilitated the second release operations under the first 42-day phase of the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Palestinian armed groups in Gaza that came into effect on 19 January. Four Israeli hostages were transferred from Gaza to Israeli authorities and 200 Palestinian detainees were released from Israeli prisons. This includes 128 Palestinian detainees released to the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip and 72 detainees released to Egypt. As of 28 January, it is estimated that 90 Israelis and foreign nationals remain captive in Gaza, including hostages who have been declared dead and whose bodies are being withheld in Gaza. As of January 2025, according to data provided by the Israel Prison Service (IPS) to Hamoked, an Israeli human rights NGO, there are 10,221 Palestinians in Israeli custody, including 2,025 sentenced prisoners, 2,934 remand detainees, 3,376 administrative detainees held without trial, and 1,886 people held as “unlawful combatants.” These figures do not include Palestinians from Gaza who have been detained by the Israeli military since 7 October 2023.
• Between the afternoons of 22 January and 28 January, the Ministry of Health (MoH) in Gaza reported that 193 Palestinians were killed and 397 were injured. This includes 171 bodies retrieved across the Gaza Strip. Since the ceasefire came into effect on 19 January, and as of 28 January, a total of 354 bodies were retrieved from areas that were previously inaccessible, MoH reported. Between 7 October 2023 and 28 January 2025, at least 47,354 Palestinians were killed and 111,563 were injured, according to MoH in Gaza.
• Palestinian casualties during the reporting period include cases where Israeli forces opened fire at Palestinians, including in areas in or near the identified buffer zones under the ceasefire agreement, as well as due to the explosion of unexploded ordnance. For example, on 27 January, a girl was reportedly killed and others injured when an animal-driven cart was hit on Al Rashid Road, northwest of An Nuseirat while returning towards the north. On the same day, a man was reportedly killed and others injured when a bulldozer was hit in An-Nuweiri area, northwest of An Nuseirat. Earlier, on 22 January, one Palestinian was reportedly killed and two were injured by an explosive remnant of war in At-Twam area, west of Jabalya, in North Gaza.
• Between the afternoons of 22 January and 28 January, no Israeli soldiers were killed in Gaza, according to Israeli forces. Between 7 October 2023 and 19 January 2025, according to Israeli forces and official Israeli sources cited in the media, more than 1,605 Israelis and foreign nationals were killed, the majority on 7 October 2023 and its immediate aftermath. This includes 405 soldiers killed, in addition to 2,570 soldiers injured, in Gaza or along the border in Israel since the beginning of the ground operation in October 2023.
• Since the ceasefire entered into force, a surge in the daily entry of supplies into Gaza, through Erez and Zikim crossings in the north and Kerem Shalom crossing in the south, and improved access conditions have enabled humanitarian partners to meaningfully expand the delivery of lifesaving assistance and services across the Gaza Strip. While the bulk of incoming supplies currently consist of food items, an increase in the entry of shelter, medical, water and sanitation, and other essential supplies is planned. The World Food Programme (WFP) said that it brought more food to people in Gaza during the first four days of the ceasefire than what it could previously dispatch on average per month. On 28 January, following assessments by partners and the entry of a sufficient flour supply, 13 WFP-supported bakeries began operating at full capacity, of which eight are in Deir al Balah and five in Khan Younis; these include eight bakeries that had previously closed due to flour shortages and five new ones. Free bread distributions at community kitchens have resumed, in addition to making bread available for purchase through five retailers. Moreover, to help families regain their stability following months of food shortages, WFP and partners are providing two food parcels and one 25-kilogramme bag of flour per family and UNRWA is providing each assisted family two food parcels sufficient for one and a half months.
• On 22 January, 274,350 litres of fuel were delivered to northern Gaza for the first time since the ceasefire began, enabling the functioning of back-up generators needed to restore critical humanitarian facilities and services, while additional fuel flows, including cooking gas, are needed over the coming period to avoid service disruption. On 23 January, Food Security Sector (FSS) partners opened a kitchen in North Gaza governorate to support returnees and the five bakeries in Gaza city continued to operate at full capacity. Similarly, as part of its scaled-up health response, the World Health Organization (WHO) delivered 70,000 litres of fuel to Gaza city to sustain 20 partially functional health facilities and ambulances. In addition, the delivery of 10,000 litres of fuel, through the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), has enabled the Palestinian Water Authority (PWA) to support the operation of sewage pumps and 13 water wells in northern Gaza for the first time in more than three months, including five wells in Gaza city and eight in North Gaza (three in Beit Hanoun and five in Beit Lahiya). This is expected to improve water provision given the complete collapse of the water supply system in northern Gaza. Overall, on 22 January, the UN Office for Project Services (UNOPS) reported that it had already delivered nearly three million litres of fuel to address humanitarian needs in Gaza, noting that “current daily volumes represent more than ten-fold increases,” compared with the period prior to the ceasefire when, ”the bare minimal amount of fuel needed to power only the most critical needs was estimated to be 100,000 litres per day.”

• UNRWA, the backbone of the humanitarian operation in the Gaza Strip, has been able to significantly scale up its operations since the ceasefire began. The improved operating environment has allowed UNRWA to reach 550,0000 people with food parcel distributions in nine days. This is in contrast, for instance, to October 2024, when food parcel distributions in central and southern Gaza had barely taken place due to significant shortages of supplies. Nearly 370 pallets of essential medications – including insulin syringes sufficient for over 17,000 people suffering from diabetes for eight months – as well as laboratory and dental supplies have also been dispatched to UNRWA-run health facilities, including in Deir al-Balah, Nuseirat, and Al Mawasi and the Beach Health Centre in Gaza governorate where services have been restored this week. At these centres, temporary clinics and medical points, over 1,000 UNRWA health staff provided 13,768 health consultations on 25 January alone. Furthermore, UNRWA teams have supported, in collaboration with the Coastal Municipalities Water Utility (CMWU) and the Joint Services Council, a scale-up in solid waste collection efforts by municipalities in Gaza, Deir al Balah, Khan Younis, and Rafah, as well as distributed to hundreds of families across Gaza hygiene items, potable and domestic water and shelter supplies, such as tarpaulins and blankets, while about 22,000 tents are in the pipeline ready to enter the Strip. Mental health and psycho-social support (MHPSS) services provided by UNRWA teams have continued, with nearly 12,500 sessions and activities provided between 20 and 26 January. Over 5,500 children, including about 200 children with disabilities, also participated in basic literacy, numeracy and recreational activities between 20 and 26 January as part of UNRWA’s Back to Learning Programme, which has reached more than 18,000 children.
• As of 24 January, WHO delivered essential medical supplies to six hospitals and medical points and to 21 emergency medical teams in northern and southern Gaza, which “will support 50,000 patients with maternal care needs, malnutrition, treatment for trauma, malnutrition, noncommunicable diseases… [as well as] improve infection prevention at health facilities.” Likewise, UNICEF has accelerated the distribution of supplies and services, reporting that trucks filled with water, hygiene kits, malnutrition treatments, warm clothes, tarpaulins and other critical humanitarian assistance are being distributed via partners to families in need. UNICEF teams have also been ramping up the provision of critical services such as immunization catch-up activities to prevent disease outbreaks, expanding screening and treatment of malnutrition, and scaling up child protection services including MHPSS, “especially in areas not reached before the ceasefire due to operational challenges or restrictions.” Highlighting the immense challenges ahead, UNICEF Executive Director, Catherine Russell, said: “UNICEF teams continue to encounter children in desperate need. The ceasefire has provided some relief, but families are returning to areas that have been completely destroyed. Physical and emotional scars run deep.” Earlier on 23 January, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, Tom Fletcher, briefed the Security Council on the plight of children who comprise nearly half of the population in the Gaza Strip. “A generation has been traumatized,” the OCHA chief stated, noting that one million children require MHPSS services.
• After midnight on 27 January, the Israeli army announced a series of instructions to residents of the Gaza Strip, including that residents would be allowed to return on foot through Ar Rasheed Road starting at 7:00 or by vehicles through Salah Ad Din Road starting at 9:00, stressing that transportation of militants or weapons via these roads to northern Gaza would be considered a breach of the ceasefire agreement. The Israeli army additionally warned residents not to approach all areas where Israeli forces are deployed, the Rafah Crossing area, the Philadelphi Corridor, the buffer zone or the maritime area.
• On the morning of 27 January, as part of the ceasefire agreement and ongoing negotiations through the mediators, Israeli forces withdrew from parts of the Netzarim corridor, allowing tens of thousands of displaced Palestinians to return to their homes and reunite with their families in northern Gaza. People returned both on foot via Ar Rasheed Road and in vehicles after undergoing a security inspection conducted by an international consortium of foreign private companies at a checkpoint on Salah Ad Deen Road, as stipulated in the ceasefire agreement. Starting on 25 January, when people began queuing in anticipation of the corridor’s re-opening, humanitarian actors have established humanitarian service points, mainly along Ar Rasheed Road, to monitor population movements, provide emergency medical services and distribute high-energy biscuits, bread and hot meals. Over 200 volunteers from 20 protection partners were also present along routes, providing people with psychological first aid and informational materials on explosive remnants of war. In addition, 25 ambulances were deployed, including 10 in the north and 15 in the south, by the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS), MoH, Palestinian Civil Defense (PCD), Al Awda Association and Public Aid. As of 12:00 on 28 January, the Site Management Working Group (SMWG) reported that over 376,000 people were observed crossing northward on 27 January and between 6:00 and 12:00 on 28 January, with men accounting for about half of returnees and women and children each accounting for approximately a quarter. Pregnant or lactating women, the elderly, persons with disabilities, people suffering from chronic illnesses or in need of urgent medical support and unaccompanied minors were key vulnerable groups observed among the returnees making the arduous journey by foot, according to SMWG. Media reports citing medical sources indicate that 250 displaced people had been admitted to the hospital for exhaustion during their return to the north and one elderly Palestinian man reportedly died along the journey, which is at least a seven-kilometre walk only to cross the Netzarim corridor itself.

Funding

 

• As of 28 January 2025, Member States have disbursed approximately US$145.3 million out of the $4.07 billion (3.6 per cent) requested to meet the most critical humanitarian needs of three million out of 3.3 million people identified as requiring assistance in Gaza and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, in 2025 under the 2025 Flash Appeal for the OPT. Nearly 90 per cent of the requested funds are for the humanitarian response in Gaza, with just over 10 per cent for the West Bank. Moreover, during December 2024, the oPt Humanitarian Fund (oPt HF) managed 111 ongoing projects, totalling $82.2 million, to address urgent needs in the Gaza Strip (86 per cent) and the West Bank (14 per cent). These include 64 projects implemented by international non-governmental organizations (INGOs), 34 by national NGOs and 13 by UN agencies. Of the 77 projects implemented by INGOs or the UN, 46 are being implemented in collaboration with national NGOs. For more information, please see OCHA’s Financial Tracking Service webpage and the oPt Humanitarian Fund webpage

983.

28 januari 2025

In today's Daily Brief:

• Podcast: Can the ICC Survive 2025?

Punishing the Pregnant in Gaza

982.

28 januari 2025

Tomorrow, Join us in Rahat for a Virtual Delegation

Pictured above: Eyewitness Palestines Programming Coordinator, Larry McCullough with D74 delegates, Jae and Sophia with Palestinian Bedouin children in Rahat - December 2024

Nancy Mansour

Eyewitness Palestine

nancy@eyewitnesspalestine.org

981.

28 januari 2025

Late on Monday, 300,000 forcibly displaced Palestinians returned to Gaza City and northern Gaza for the first time since the start of Israel’s genocidal war.

Trump lifts hold on 2,000-pound bombs to Israel, removes sanctions on settlers

In recent days, President Trump has overturned some of the small restrictions that the Biden administration had placed on Israel, garnering high praise from Israel's far-right.

The NY Times double-standard: Israelis are humanized while Palestinians, like Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya, are ignored

The New York Times is running glowing human interest profiles of Israelis being released from Hamas captivity while ignoring Palestinians who have been released from Israeli prisons or hostages whose condition is unknown, like Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya.

980.

27 januari 2025

“[I]t’s like a massive demolition site.”

It’s been a tumultuous week. The fragile ceasefire in Gaza seems to be mostly holding – for now. Seven Israeli captives, three civilians, and four soldiers, all female, have been released. In exchange, nearly 300 Palestinians have been released from Israeli prisons. Many of them are women and children. Meanwhile, tens of thousands of Palestinians in Gaza are waiting to be allowed to return to their homes in the north. Israeli forces have not allowed them to cross the so-called “Netzarim Corridor” into the north after accusing Hamas of violating the ceasefire agreement by not releasing one civilian captive according to the agreed-upon schedule. There is news today that Arbel Yahud, the civilian in question, will be released before next week’s scheduled exchange.

In the U.S., Donald Trump’s first week brought chaos and disruption to U.S. and global politics, as promised. He signed a number of executive orders to lay the foundation for his immigration crackdown and plan to deport perhaps millions of people. Included in that plan may be foreign students involved in pro-Palestine protests. Critics are warning that punitive actions based on the exercise of free speech will be the first step toward criminalizing protests across the country.

Yesterday, Trump told reporters he spoke to King Abdullah of Jordan and told him, “I’d love you to take on more [Palestinian refugees from Gaza] because I’m looking at the whole Gaza Strip right now and it’s a mess, it’s a real mess.” Trump continued, “You’re talking about probably a million and a half people, and we just clean out that whole thing and say: ‘You know, it’s over.'” Palestinian figures have rejected this call for ethnically cleansing Gaza, while Israel rightwingers like Bezalel Smotritch welcomed it and are eager to get started. Trump is also sending along 2,000 lb. bombs the Biden administration was holding on to in a vain effort to get Israel to lighten up on Gaza, or to at least pretend to.

Oh, and Elon Musk threw up the Nazi salute at a rally after Trump was inaugurated, then told the German AfD party not to “focus on past guilt.”

It’s been a wild week. Try not to get overwhelmed.

David Reed, Publisher

Must Read: How the U.S. brokered ceasefire shows us Israel is a pet project, not an ally

Yazan Zahzah: The Gaza genocide revealed imperial tensions between the U.S. and Israel which show the U.S. will sacrifice Zionist demands for its own interests.

Catch-up

= As Palestinians find some respite in the midst of a ceasefire in Gaza, many families have one important job to do before returning back to their homes: giving their loved ones, many who were buried in mass or temporary graves, a proper burial.

= Israeli society continues to wrestle with the incompetence, imperial hubris, and lack of accountability that contributed to Israel’s humiliating failures on October 7.

= Amid the many tragedies in Gaza, far too many go untold. We must not forget those who lost their lives while simply trying to get a loaf of bread or a sack of flour.

= A new report details the shipping and logistics giant Maersk’s role in sustaining illegal Israeli settlements in occupied Palestine and Syrian territories.

= Abdaljawad Omar: The recent ceasefire celebrations with Hamas fighters in the heart of Gaza City exposed Israel’s military failures, and also showed how Palestinian joy is a direct affront to the petty gods who seek to rule over us.

= Qassam Muaddi: Israel is continuing an offensive on the West Bank city of Jenin that analysts say is meant to appease the settler movement as it pushes the government to exert more control over the occupied territory in preparation for annexation.

= Some are hoping for a great “Trump effect” on U.S. policy toward Palestine after his envoy brokered the Gaza ceasefire. But Trump was only operating out of self-interest, and these same interests will lead him right back to full support for Israel.

= The Shift: The ADL’s reaction to Elon Musk’s “awkward gesture” proves that they’re not concerned with antisemitism. The group exists to defend Israel.

= Budget documents obtained by Mondoweiss show how the JNF supports the same violent Israeli settlers who were recently sanctioned by the Biden administration. Advocates say the organization itself should come under U.S. government scrutiny as well.

= When I applied to Medical School at Emory University, I was open about my dedication to Palestine activism, and was told it would never impact my studies. But now, the school has suspended me for that very reason.

= Although trained as a social researcher, when the war began in October 2023 I joined the search and rescue team in the Gaza City neighborhood of al-Shuja’iyya. Here are some of my stories of being a first responder during the Gaza genocide.

= Donald Trump’s first administration proposed what it called the “Deal of the Century” which would have redrawn Israel’s borders to include major swaths of the West Bank. As Trump reenters office there are fears the annexation plan is back.

980A.

27 januari 2025

Ceasefire or not, our work has only started

The scenes unfolding in Gaza today as hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinians are returning to their homes in the north of Gaza are magnificent. Seeing the smiles on their faces after 15 months of genocide is heartwarming and a demonstration of the incredible attachment the Palestinian people have to their homeland.

The people of Gaza have done their part. This is why we must not rest.

It is this exact homeland that continues to be pillaged, burned, and stolen. For more than 13 years, AMP has led a national date boycott campaign to end the sales of date fruits grown on stolen Palestinian using stolen Palestinian water and exploited Palestinian labor.

Since 2012, AMP’s National Israeli Date Boycott Campaign has made a massive dent in the market share of dates imported from Israel. In 2015, 25% of all fresh dates imported to the US came from Israel. Today, that share has dropped to 12.9%. This is a testament to the power and effectiveness of the campaign, which has stores around the county refusing to stock Israeli dates on their shelves.

We must continue!  

979.

27 januari 2025

Today's headlines

Israel continues to wrestle with the humiliating failure of its second October surprise

Israeli society continues to wrestle with the incompetence, imperial hubris, and lack of accountability that contributed to Israel’s humiliating failures on October 7.

Gaza, where bread means life — and death

Shurooq Ahmed

Amid the many tragedies in Gaza, far too many go untold. We must not forget those who lost their lives while simply trying to get a loaf of bread or a sack of flour.

979A.

26 januari 2025

Today's headlines

With a ceasefire in Gaza, families find a rare opportunity to bury their dead with dignity

Tareq S. Hajjaj

As Palestinians find some respite in the midst of a ceasefire in Gaza, many families have one important job to do before returning back to their homes: giving their loved ones, many who were buried in mass or temporary graves, a proper burial.

How the U.S. brokered ceasefire shows us Israel is a pet project, not an ally

The Gaza genocide revealed imperial tensions between the U.S. and Israel which show the U.S. will sacrifice Zionist demands for its own interests.

979B.

25 januari 2025

Today's headlines

‘I’m looking through the skulls to find my sons’: Palestinians dig through Gaza’s rubble to search for their missing loved ones

Tareq S. Hajjaj

Palestinians across Gaza are returning to the rubble of their homes to search for their missing loved ones. “I’m looking through the skulls the Civil Defense collects trying to identify my sons,” Rafah resident Mahmoud Al-Qatati tells Mondoweiss.

Read more

Palestinian joy is a direct challenge to those who would rule over us. And it cannot be contained.

Abdaljawad Omar

The recent ceasefire celebrations with Hamas fighters in the heart of Gaza City exposed Israel's military failures, and also showed how Palestinian joy is a direct affront to the petty gods who seek to rule over us.

Read more

Before you go

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

 Join our supporters and become a Mondoweiss donor today.

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977.

24 januari 2025

Chevron supplies energy and millions of dollars in revenue to apartheid Israel, despite its livestreamed genocide against 2.3 million Palestinians in the besieged Gaza Strip, which continues in less visible forms even after the ceasefire announcement. In parallel, Chevron is destroying our planet. Chevron’s next earnings call will take place on January 31st - and Chevron needs to hear from you!

We’re calling for a weekend of action on January 31st - February 2nd. You can join in by picketing Chevron gas stations and peacefully protesting at Chevron offices and other Chevron associated locations, including corporate sponsorships and partnerships.
 

Join the campaign to pressure Chevron to withdraw from its business in genocidal Israel by participating in the weekend of action on January 31st - February 2nd. Find campaign resources and a form to register your action below.

­

Already, tens of thousands of consumers have taken the pledge to boycott Chevron gas stations; dozens of groups around the world have led pickets at Chevron, Caltex, and Texaco gas stations; and at least 3 cities have divested from Chevron.

Chevron CEO Mike Wirth admits that Chevron’s gas fields in the Eastern Mediterranean have been targeted during Israel’s aggressions and genocidal violence in the region. Investing in apartheid and genocide is not just unethical and illegal; it is also bad for business!

976.

24 januari 2025

• As Trump took office this week, he issued a series of repressive executive orders. That included lifting sanctions on violent Israeli settlers and reinstating the Muslim ban, with “stateless people” language presumably intended to ban Palestinians.
• Trump made disturbing comments about colonizing native Palestinian land. He called Gaza a “massive demolition site” in a “phenomenal location” on the sea that should be “rebuilt in a different way.”
• In her UN Ambassador nomination hearing, Elise Stefanik claimed Israel has a “biblical right” to steal the entire West Bank—which Israel is currently invading, blocking roads and expelling thousands of Palestinians.

= Our steadfast Palestinian people in Gaza have resisted 475 days of genocide, achieving a ceasefire and the freedom of political prisoners. Keep fighting alongside them until total liberation and return.

        

         = McDonald’s has lost over $7 billion in revenue due to the boycott for Palestinian rights.

 

          =  USCPR Organizing & Advocacy Director Iman Abid spoke out against U.S.-funded genocide at the People’s March in DC this past weekend.

 

975.

24 januari 2025

Passing H.R.23 Will Undermine International Law and Shield War Criminals from Accountability

The U.S. Senate is now considering H.R.23, the illegitimate Court Counteraction Act.

This bill has already passed the House and threatens to impose harsh sanctions on the International Criminal Court (ICC) for investigating credible war crimes, including genocide, committed by Israeli officials in Gaza.

If passed, this legislation would shield war criminals from accountability.  And would dangerously undermine international law.

The ICC’s investigations into Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant are based on undeniable evidence of war crimes in Gaza, where more than 180,000 Palestinians have been killed and injured since October 2023. H.R.23 is a blatant attempt to obstruct justice and protect perpetrators of mass atrocities.

This bill goes beyond shielding Israeli officials. It seeks to sanction anyone assisting ICC investigations into U.S. or allied officials, effectively promoting a culture of impunity. Such actions erode America’s credibility and commitment to human rights and international justice.

In solidarity,
Americans for Justice in Palestine Action

974.

24 januari 2025

Tours & Delegations

We give tours of Hebron to international visitors to inform them about the situation, connect them with local volunteers and families, and call for action internationally.

A few days ago, we led a delegation with the European Union Representative on a tour of Hebron to inform them of the arbitrary restrictions and human rights abuses in the city.

On Wednesday, we received foreign activists with the Sabeel organization and connected them with our own local volunteers.

Our Community Center

Ceasefire in Gaza: What it means for the West Bank

 

Now that a ceasefire has taken effect in Gaza, the Israeli occupation has increased its militant activities in the West Bank. This calls for increased international awareness and for the empowerment of local peace activists in Palestine. Please listen to the message from our Executive Director Issa Amro.

973.

24 januari 2025

Today's headlines

Jenin is ‘only the beginning’: Israel moves its war on Palestinians to the West Bank

Qassam Muaddi

Israel is continuing an offensive on the West Bank city of Jenin that analysts say is meant to appease the settler movement as it pushes the government to exert more control over the occupied territory in preparation for annexation.

The Shift: The ADL exists to defend Israel, not combat antisemitism

The ADL's reaction to Elon Musk's "awkward gesture" proves that they're not concerned with antisemitism. The group exists to defend Israel.

Report: Danish company Maersk exports cargo from illegal Israeli settlements to the U.S.

A new report details a shipping and logistics giant’s role in sustaining illegal Israeli settlements in occupied Palestine and Syrian territories.

972.

24 januari 2025

STOP DE MISLEIDENDE WARTAAL!

ER ZIJN DUIZENDEN, NEE TIENDUIZENDEN, PALESTIJNSE GIJZELAARS!

 

Op 7 oktober 2023 namen Hamas en andere Palestijnse verzetsgroepen zo'n 250 Israëli’s gevangen. Sindsdien worden die omschreven als ‘gijzelaars’. Onder de voorwaarden van het staakt-het-vuren in Gaza worden zij uitgeruild tegen Palestijnen die door Israël gevangen worden gehouden. Die worden omschreven als ‘gevangenen’, terwijl ook zij in gijzeling worden gehouden. Het is de hoogste, allerhoogste tijd, om het jargon aan te passen aan deze realiteit!!

Israëlische troepen arresteren een Palestijnse man die demonstreert tegen de kolonisatie van Palestijns land op de Westoever, 7 januari 2017. [c] Mohammed Turabi / Alamy

Verdubbeling
Op 7 januari zaten tienduizenden Palestijnen in Israëlische gevangenissen. Van hen werden er 3.376 in ‘administratieve detentie’ gehouden, zonder aanklacht of proces, en op basis van ‘geheime informatie’.

Uit de statistieken blijkt dat het aantal gevangenen sinds 7 oktober 2023 is verdubbeld. Uit Gaza zijn duizenden Palestijnen afgevoerd naar Israël, waar zij terechtkwamen in ‘ondervragings- en detentiecentra’ zoals Sde Teiman, een martelkamp waarover gruwelijke getuigenissen bestaan.

Een demonstrant in Londen roept op tot de vrijlating van Palestijnse gijzelaars uit Sde Teiman, 18 januari 2025. [c] ZUMA Press / Alamy

Westoever
Ondanks het grote aantal recente gijzelaars uit Gaza, is de door Israël bezette Westelijke Jordaanoever van oudsher het voornaamste jachtgebied voor Israëlische troepen. Zo werden maandag in het stadje Azzun bij Qalqiliya 64 Palestijnse burgers opgepakt en afgevoerd naar een militair kamp (video). De meeste Palestijnen worden echter opgepakt tijdens zogeheten search and arrest missions, zoals Israël zijn nachtelijke razzia’s noemt.

Begin 2023 schatten wij het aantal Israëlische razzia’s op de bezette Westoever sinds het jaar 2000 conservatief op ten minste 50 duizend. Uit VN-cijfers bleek echter een jaargemiddelde van 3.655, wat dat aantal op 80 duizend zou brengen.

Controle
Volgens de ngo Military Court Watch werden sinds het begin van de bezetting in juni 1967 circa 800 duizend Palestijnen gevangen gezet. Uit dat aantal blijkt ook het doel: controle, angstzaaien, en het door intimidatie en terreur afdwingen van onderwerping of vertrek. Een bekende praktijk is ook het gevangen zetten van familieleden van Palestijnen die actief zijn in het verzet – een pregnant voorbeeld van gijzeling.

Dries van Agt-lezing 2025 met Francesca Albanese

Ter ere van onze vorig jaar overleden oprichter Dries van Agt organiseren we ieder jaar een lezing in zijn naam, waar u bij aanwezig kunt zijn. Francesca Albanese - VN-Speciaal Rapporteur voor de mensenrechten in de sinds 1967 bezette Palestijnse gebieden - zal de eerste editie verzorgen.

Albanese staat bekend om haar scherpe analyses waarbij ze de vernietigende impact van de Israëlische bezetting op de Palestijnse bevolking bekritiseerd. Ze confronteert politici en media die de Israëlische genocide in Gaza bagatelliseren, ontkennen of goedpraten. Met haar moedige, standvastige en altijd op feiten gebaseerde benadering is ze uitgegroeid tot een van de meest invloedrijke stemmen in de strijd voor rechtvaardigheid en tegen de illegale bezetting van Palestina.

• Datum: woensdag 12 februari 2025
• Tijd: inloop: 19:30, start: 20:00, einde: 22:00
• Locatie: Nieuwe Kerk, Spui 175, Den Haag
• Prijs: €25,-, inclusief drankje na afloop.

Met de ticketverkoop wordt een klein deel van de kosten voor deze lezing gedekt. De overige kosten worden door onze donateurs gedekt.

De kaartverkoop voor de lezing begint op woensdag 29 januari, om 12.00 uur. De pagina waar tickets te koop zijn zal op dat tijdstip in een aparte nieuwsbrief worden rondgestuurd.

Tent of Nations | Daoud Nassar bezoekt Nederland

No Other Land genomineerd voor een Oscar

In onze vorige nieuwsbrief en een artikel op onze website besteedden wij aandacht aan de documentaire No Other Land. Daarin leggen vier Palestijnse en Israëlische activisten het Israëlische regime van onderdrukking, verdrijving en apartheid op de bezette Westoever vast.

De film won al meerdere prijzen, en daar kan binnenkort een hele prestigieuze bij komen. Deze week werd bericht dat No Other Land genomineerd is voor een Academy Award ('Oscar') voor beste documentaire.

Ondanks de positieve kritieken is het moeilijk gebleken om distributiebedrijven te vinden die de film in de VS willen vertonen. Dit wordt toegeschreven aan censuur van kritiek op Israël in de Amerikaanse entertainmentindustrie.

Op 10 maart wordt duidelijk of No Other Land daadwerkelijk de Oscar voor beste documentaire wint.

 

Uit onze agenda
Vrijdag 24 januari 2025 t/m zaterdag 1 februari
 Demonstraties en wakes
• Wake op zaterdag 25 januari in Nijmegen, Koningsplein - Marienburg (14.00 uur)
• Demonstratie voor Palestina op donderdag 30 januari in Zaandam, Stationsplein (17.30 uur)
• Sit-in rijksambtenaren op donderdag 30 januari in Den Haag, Ministerie van Buitenlandse Zaken, Rijnstraat 8 (12.00 uur)
• Sit-in voor Palestina op donderdag 30 januari in Utrecht, Centraal Station, Centrumzijde (18.00 uur)
• Wake op zaterdag 1 februari in Maastricht, Markt, achter het Stadhuis (16.00 uur)
• Wake op zaterdag 1 februari in Groningen, Waagplein (13.00 uur)

971.

23 januari 2025

Humanitarian Situation Update #258
West Bank

Dozens of Israeli settlers set fire to three houses, a nursery, a carpentry shop, and to at least five vehicles in Jinsafut, Qalqilya. Photo: OCHA

Key Highlights

 

• Since the beginning of January, Israeli forces killed 34 Palestinians, including six children, in the West Bank. These include 12 Palestinians killed since the onset of the Israeli forces’ operation in Jenin city and camp on 21 January.
• A surge in Israeli settler attacks against Palestinians and their property resulted in the injury of at least 17 Palestinians and damage to multiple structures, including houses, and vehicles over the past week.
• Severe movement restrictions by Israeli forces across the West Bank, characterized by road closures, prolonged delays at checkpoints, and installation of new gates at village entrances, are impeding Palestinians’ access to basic services and workplaces. 
• Access to health care in the West Bank is deteriorating due to a fiscal crisis and movement restrictions, with 68 per cent of health service points now unable to function for more than two or three days a week, and hospitals functioning at only 70 per cent of their capacity.

Latest Developments (after 20 January 2025)

 

• On 21 January, the Israeli military announced the beginning of operation “Iron Wall” in Jenin, which included helicopter gunfire and airstrikes alongside ground force operations. Multiple airstrikes were carried out on Jenin city, camp, and nearby locations. The Ministry of Health (MoH) confirmed that 12 Palestinians were killed and at least 50 others were injured. According to the MoH, Jenin Governmental Hospital is surrounded by Israeli forces, with damage to the road infrastructure around it. Patients, medical staff, and companions are trapped inside the hospital, unable to leave. The main roads to the hospital have been destroyed, and rubble blocks the entrance, preventing the delivery of food, medical supplies, and urgent necessities. The Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) reported that Israeli forces have obstructed the movement of its ambulances. There are some 600 people, including women, children, elderly and patients who are currently seeking shelter within the premises of Jenin Governmental Hospital, primarily in its yard. The hospital’s facilities are overwhelmed and unable to provide adequate shelter or food for the displaced people. The operation continued in Ti’nnik (Jenin) where multiple houses were encircled by Israeli forces, resulting in the killing of a 29-year-old Palestinian from Jenin refugee camp, whose body was withheld, and the arrest of two others, including a 17-year-old child. On 22 January, operations also extended to Birqin village, west of Jenin city, where Israeli forces killed another two Palestinians.

Humanitarian Developments (14-20 January 2025)

 

• During the reporting period, Israeli forces killed 13 Palestinians, including two children, and injured 99 others, including 26 children, across the West Bank, including East Jerusalem. In total, as of 20 January, 22 Palestinians and four Israelis, including one soldier, have been killed in the West Bank in direct conflict incidents since the beginning of 2025. For more information on casualties and further breakdowns of data, please see the monthly West Bank Snapshot. Incidents resulting in fatalities during the reporting period include:  
  • On 14 January, an Israeli airstrike killed six Palestinians, including a 15-year-old child and an UNRWA staff member, and injured two others, including an UNRWA staff member, in Jenin refugee camp. 
  • On 15 January, an Israeli airstrike killed six Palestinians in the Al Damaj neighbourhood in Jenin refugee camp. Local reports indicate that one of the fatalities was a Palestinian who had been injured during exchanges of fire between Palestinian forces and armed Palestinians in the camp. 
  • On 19 January, Israeli forces shot and killed a 15-year-old Palestinian boy in Sabastiya village, in Nablus. According to the Palestinian District Coordination Liaison Office and the municipality, Israeli forces raided the village, where a group of Palestinian boys were shining laser pointers toward the forces, who opened fire toward the boys. Local sources and human rights organizations reported that no confrontations occurred during the raid. 
  • On 20 January, one Israeli soldier was killed, and four others were injured by an improvised explosive device (IED) in Tammun, Tubas, during a patrol in Tammun town, in Tubas. 
  • On 18 January, a 22-year-old Palestinian man from Ad Duheisha refugee camp (Bethlehem) reportedly died while under administrative detention (not counted in this week’s fatalities) in an Israeli prison. According to the Palestinian General Authority for Civil Affairs, the man had been in detention since 12 November 2023 and reportedly suffered from an injury a year and a half before his detention.
• Mass detentions of Palestinians by Israeli forces are taking place across the West Bank. In one incident on 20 January, Israeli forces reportedly detained over 60 Palestinians, for at least five hours during a raid in Azzun town, in Qalqilya. The forces raided residential buildings, businesses, and mosques. Other incidents involving the detention of dozens of Palestinians in villages and towns across the West Bank were also reported.
• Severe access restrictions are being imposed by Israeli authorities across the West Bank, impeding the movement of tens of thousands of Palestinians and their access to basic services and workplaces. Some checkpoints at main road arteries have been closed, and Israeli forces have installed new gates at the entrances of villages and closed some alternative secondary roads with roadblocks and earthmounds. There are communities, such as Al ‘Arrub refugee camp, which has become isolated from the main cities, paralyzing the daily movement of Palestinians and leaving them unable to access essential services, such as emergency health care, education, and livelihoods. These restrictions resulted in prolonged delays at checkpoints, including of first responders who have reported being stuck at checkpoints for hours. On 20 January, hundreds of Palestinians were caught at checkpoints surrounding Nablus, with some reportedly spending over ten hours and even sleeping at the checkpoints, waiting to return home. In the restricted areas of the Israeli-controlled H2 part of Hebron city, night curfews, detentions and physical assaults at checkpoints have prevented residents from entering or leaving their homes, affecting about 2,500 Palestinians.
• The Palestinian Authority’s fiscal crisis and Israeli forces’ movement restrictions are gravely affecting access to health care in the West Bank, according to the Health Cluster. A reduced capacity to pay health workers’ salaries or procure medical supplies and equipment has significantly diminished the ability of health facilities to fully operate. According to the Ministry of Health (MoH), 68 per cent of health service points in the West Bank are partially functional and are unable to open for more than two or three days a week, and hospitals are functioning at only 70 per cent of their capacity. Furthermore, checkpoints, closures, and the high rates of denial by Israeli authorities of patient and companion permits to access health facilities in East Jerusalem and Israel since October 2023 continue to severely disrupt access to health care. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), between October 2023 and December 2024, 44 per cent of the 67,116 patient permit applications and 47 per cent of the 61,914 companion permit applications for medical care in East Jerusalem and Israeli health facilities, were either denied or remain pending. These impediments not only delay the transfer of patients to hospitals but also render challenging the delivery of medical supplies and access to specialized medical care. This is particularly true during operations by Israeli forces, whereby the denial of access by authorised emergency medical teams has been regularly documented. Between 7 October 2023 and December 2024, WHO documented 694 attacks on healthcare, affecting 62 medical facilities and 475 ambulances. Compounding these conditions, Palestinian forces’ operations and access restrictions around Jenin refugee camp have entailed the suspension of services at UNRWA’s health clinic and restricted access to ambulances.

• During the reporting period, OCHA documented a sharp increase in settler raids that targeted 11 Palestinian towns and villages in four governorates, causing injury, damage to property or both. In total, Israeli settlers injured 17 Palestinians, including two children, and two Israeli settlers, including one child, were injured by Israeli forces. During the reporting period, OCHA documented a total of 37 incidents perpetrated by Israeli settlers that led to casualties and/or property damage. At least 30 vehicles and over 440 trees, mostly olive, were damaged by settlers during these incidents. The following are the key settler raids that took place during the reporting period:  
  • In Qalqiliya governorate, hundreds of settlers arrived in buses and raided the villages of Jinsafut, Al Funduq, and Hajja, setting fire to houses and other structures as well as vehicles. When Israeli forces arrived, they shot live ammunition and tear gas canisters at Palestinian residents, resulting in the injury of 21 people due to tear gas inhalation. According to Israeli media, two Israeli settlers were reportedly shot and seriously injured by an Israeli police officer after they attacked him with pepper spray near Al Funduq. In Jinsafut, settlers set fire to three houses, a nursery, a carpentry shop, and to at least five vehicles. In Al Funduq, a vehicle was torched, and houses and a commercial shop sustained damage from stone throwing. 
  • In Ramallah governorate, hundreds of settlers, believed to be from outposts near Shilo settlement, raided the towns of Sinjil and Turmus’ayya on 19 January. On the same day in a separate incident, a group of settlers raided Ein Sinya. In Sinjil, Israeli settlers, hurled stones and Molotov cocktails at Palestinian homes and set three houses on fire. One person suffered burns to his hands while trying to extinguish the flames in one of the houses and three others, including an 85-year-old elderly man, suffered from smoke inhalation due to the fires. In addition, a storage room and four Palestinian vehicles were burned. Settlers also stormed and attacked the residents of one home with stones, injuring two children who sustained fractures. In Turmus’ayya, settlers burned a charging station for electric cars and a livelihood structure, after which Israeli forces intervened and dispersed the settlers. One hour later, the settlers returned and burned an agricultural room. In Ein Siniya, dozens of Israeli settlers, some armed, stoned houses, caused damage to glass windows, and burned three cars and a kiosk.
  • In Nablus governorate, settlers raided Burin, Qusra, Huwwara and Yatma villages, separately between 14 and 18 January. In Yatma, settlers assaulted and injured a Palestinian with a disability with stones and pepper spray, while he was sitting in front of his house. In Huwwara, Israeli settlers injured two Palestinians with stones and Israeli forces, who accompanied the settlers, shot and injured a Palestinian and physically assaulted another. In Qusra, settlers attacked Palestinian residential buildings with stones and attempted to set some on fire. Israeli forces then arrived and fired tear gas cannisters into the village, injuring seven Palestinians (a mother and her six children) who were treated for tear gas inhalation. As a result of the attack, the windows of six houses sustained damage, as did two vehicles, several solar panels, floodlights, security cameras and other property. In Burin, settlers, accompanied by Israeli forces, raided the village, threw stones at houses and damaged three vehicles.

• During the reporting period, OCHA documented the demolition of 14 Palestinian-owned structures across the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, due to the lack of Israeli-issued building permits, which are nearly impossible to obtain. These include an asphalt road connecting three homes in the Jabal al Mukabbir area of East Jerusalem to the main road and 13 others in Area C. No displacement took place this week, but over 80 people, including 35 children, were affected by demolitions. In one incident on 14 January, Israeli forces demolished nine livelihood structures in Al Khalayleh community, which is located in Area C on the East Jerusalem side of the Barrier, affecting the income sources of 12 households comprising 58 people, including 26 children. The demolished structures included a grocery shop, a fast-food restaurant, a butchery, an aluminium factory, a glass cutting workshop, a marble and granite workshop, a building supplies store, a furniture and material transportation company, and a chicken coop.  

Funding

 

• As of 23 January 2025, Member States have disbursed approximately US$123.2 million out of the $4.07 billion (three per cent) requested to meet the most critical humanitarian needs of three million out of 3.3 million people identified as requiring assistance in Gaza and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, under the 2025 Flash Appeal for the OPT. Nearly 90 per cent of the requested funds are for the humanitarian response in Gaza, with just over 10 per cent for the West Bank. Moreover, during December 2024, the oPt Humanitarian Fund (oPt HF) managed 111 ongoing projects, totalling $82.2 million, to address urgent needs in the Gaza Strip (86 per cent) and the West Bank (14 per cent). These include 64 projects implemented by international non-governmental organizations (INGOs), 34 by national NGOs and 13 by UN agencies. Of the 77 projects implemented by INGOs or the UN, 46 are being implemented in collaboration with national NGOs. For more information, please see OCHA’s Financial Tracking Service webpage and the oPt Humanitarian Fund webpage.

970.

23 januari 2025

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

Because Smotrich has also vowed his party will leave the government if the 2nd phase of the deal goes ahead as planned. He said Netanyahu agreed to his request, committing to changing the war's course, aiming for full Israeli control of Gaza, and assuring him no aid will get to Hamas. Last week, Netanyahu said that Trump and Biden both gave “full backing to Israel’s right to return to fighting if Israel concludes that the negotiations on the 2nd phase are going nowhere.”

And so, as we speak, the IDF is again “Gazafying” Jenin, complete with airstrikes and destruction of infrastructure, after blockading checkpoints all throughout the West Bank. Their stated reason? "To continue preserving the IDF's freedom of action throughout Judea and Samaria.”

The IDF also said the operation was meant “to destroy and neutralize terrorist infrastructure and 'ticking time bombs.'" But “terrorist infrastructure” for a guerilla organization embedded within a civilian populace - is also just regular infrastructure. If militants drive on a civilian road, is that road now “terrorist infrastructure”?

These aren’t hypothetical situations. For example, look at what the IDF did to the road which leads to Jenin Government Hospital. Patients were reportedly given 8 hours to evacuate. On foot, of course, since the road was just peeled away by bulldozers. This is Gazafication.

When Smotrich says “Funduq, Nablus and Jenin need to look like Jabalya,” he means it. In the 2 years since this government formed, the IDF has been escalating normalizing brutal war tactics in the West Bank, against a population living under direct military occupation. Now, the same Gazafication has an added ‘bonus’ for Smotrich - endangering the ceasefire.

The aftermath of IDF Operation "Home and Garden" in Jenin, July 4th, 2023.
Photo: Wahaj Bani Moufleh, Activestills

But all of this happened only after the ceasefire went into effect. The period between the ceasefire’s announcement and the moment it went into effect saw a depressingly predictable amount of IDF strikes throughout the Gaza Strip. At least 77 Palestinians were killed in IDF airstrikes in a single day after the announcement. 19 more were killed in just the few hours on Sunday morning in which the deal’s start was delayed due to technical difficulties.

"After we left I heard a boom. We looked back and saw an air bombardment, and they told us, ‘Yeah, there’s going to be a ceasefire, so we want to have ‘the final word’ before we leave.’ [...] It’s hard not to notice a half-ton bomb getting dropped on a house. And after that three more bombs, and then five more, and then another 20. It was impossible to sleep, really. At a certain point there was this crazy thing, the only thing left standing was one wobbly house.”

First Sergeant | Infantry | Northern Gaza Strip | 2014

“There was a humanitarian ceasefire that went into effect at 6:00 AM.  I remember they told us at 5:15 AM, ‘Look, we’re going to put on a show.’ It was amazing, the air force’s precision. The first shell struck at exactly quarter past five on the dot, and the last one struck at 5:59 AM and 59 seconds, exactly. [...] Nonstop. Just nonstop. The entire Beit Hanoun compound – in ruins.”
First Sergeant | Infantry | Northern Gaza Strip | 2014

“The entrance happened at midnight, and everyone knew that at eight the next morning it will be over, apparently. And because they knew that, there was pressure to go in and finish the job very, very quickly. And also, because of that, they went in just to destroy stuff. Just to purposelessly destroy stuff, to finish the job, until they were told to stop.”
Lieutenant | Infantry | Rafah | 2014

Israelis were told we could "manage the conflict," as every “round” brought a higher death toll. We were told that “military pressure” would save Israel hostages, as we saw it kill more hostages than it rescued. We were told this was a just war, as we saw the IDF cross every possible red line.

We can't afford to blink. Now is the time for public pressure to ensure we can finally start repairing some of what has been broken. This ceasefire deal has been on the table since May. This could and should have ended long ago, and with much less death and destruction. The path to ending the occupation is no different. It's long, complex, fragile and painful, but it's the only path that can bring peace and security to all who live between the River and the Sea.

Additional reading and viewing suggestions

969.

23 januari 2025

Today's headlines

There will be no ‘Trump effect’ when it comes to U.S. policy toward Palestine

Some are hoping for a great "Trump effect" on U.S. policy toward Palestine after his envoy brokered the Gaza ceasefire. But Trump was only operating out of self-interest, and these same interests will lead him right back to full support for Israel.

Is Trump’s ‘Deal of the Century’ back on the table?

Donald Trump's first administration proposed what it called the "Deal of the Century" which would have redrawn Israel's borders to include major swaths of the West Bank. As Trump reenters office there are fears the annexation plan is back.

968.

22 januari 2025

Today's headlines

I was suspended from Emory over my Palestine activism. I will not let it stop me.

Umaymah Mohammad

When I applied to Medical School at Emory University, I was open about my dedication to Palestine activism, and was told it would never impact my studies. But now, the school has suspended me for that very reason.

How the Jewish National Fund abets U.S.-sanctioned settlers

Budget documents obtained by Mondoweiss show how the JNF supports the same violent Israeli settlers who were recently sanctioned by the Biden administration. Advocates say the organization itself should come under U.S. government scrutiny as well.

967.

22 januari 2025

Humanitarian Situation Update #257
Gaza Strip

Displaced people returning to Jabalya following the start of the ceasefire, 19 January 2025. Photo by UNRWA

Key Highlights

 

• A ceasefire came into effect in Gaza at 11:15 on 19 January 2025. Aid organizations from the UN and beyond immediately began dispatching critically needed goods and scaling up response efforts across the Gaza Strip
• A surge of supplies has entered Gaza since the beginning of the ceasefire, enabling an increase in the humanitarian response to critical needs. Distributions have increased, repairs to critical infrastructure have begun and fuel has been distributed.
• Debris management, retrieval of bodies, and addressing explosive ordnance contamination in Gaza remain critical to enable safe population movements, the further scale up of humanitarian aid and reinstatement of essential services.
• The Protection Cluster underlines the traumatic pattern of child and forced family separation in Gaza and the need for continued tracing of unaccompanied or separated children and unifying them with their families.

Humanitarian Developments

 

• On 19 January 2025, at 11:15, a ceasefire between Israel and Palestinian armed groups came into effect, through mediation by Egypt, Qatar and the United States. The first 42-day phase entails the gradual release of some Israeli hostages in exchange for the release of some Palestinian detainees, withdrawal of Israeli forces from population centres except for identified buffer zones, a gradual withdrawal from the Netzarim corridor between northern and southern Gaza, and the large-scale expansion of aid delivery into Gaza. On 18 January, the Humanitarian Coordinator for the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT), Muhannad Hadi, thanked mediators and all involved parties for entrusting the UN and its partners with contributing to the delivery of humanitarian assistance. He emphasized the UN’s readiness to contribute to collective efforts for large-scale relief in Gaza, “guided by the shared goal of saving lives and addressing people’s needs efficiently, meaningfully and in line with humanitarian principles.”
• As part of the first phase of the ceasefire agreement, on 19 January, three Israeli female hostages were released from Gaza and handed over to the Israeli authorities via the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), which subsequently facilitated the release of 90 Palestinian detainees, including 69 women and 21 children, from Israeli prisons. Noting that this marks the beginning of a multi-phase operation agreed by the parties to bring hostages and detainees home, ICRC stated: “The operation was complex, requiring rigorous security measures to minimize the risks to those involved. Navigating large crowds and heightened emotions posed challenges during the transfers, and in Gaza, ICRC teams had to manage the dangers posed by unexploded ordnance and destroyed infrastructure.”
• As of 22 January, it is estimated that 94 Israelis and foreign nationals remain captive in Gaza, including hostages who have been declared dead and whose bodies are withheld in Gaza.
• As of January 2025, according to data provided by the Israel Prison Service (IPS) to Hamoked, an Israeli human rights NGO, there are 10,221 Palestinians in Israeli custody, including 2,025 sentenced prisoners, 2,934 remand detainees, 3,376 administrative detainees held without trial, and 1,886 people held as “unlawful combatants.” These figures do not include Palestinians from Gaza who have been detained by the Israeli military since 7 October 2023.
• The announcement of an imminent ceasefire on 15 January was welcomed by UN agencies and humanitarian organizations, who expressed hope for a rapid scale-up of aid using all possible crossings. Stressing that the scale of humanitarian needs is enormous, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), for instance, called for “unimpeded access to reach all children and families with essential food and nutrition, health care and psychosocial support, clean water, and sanitation, education, and learning, as well as cash assistance and the resumption of commercial trucking operations.” The agency added that this would enable it to “increase the screening and treatment of children suffering from malnutrition, facilitate vaccination catch-up for 420,000 children under 5 years, and support the prevention of disease outbreaks, including polio, measles, and cholera.” Moreover, in the coming period, tracing and unifying unaccompanied or separated children (UASC) with their families will remain critical; in its latest analysis, the Protection Cluster underlined the traumatic pattern of child and forced family separation due to the escalation of hostilities since October 2023, with conservative estimates pointing to at least 17,000 UASC cases and a further 35,000 children estimated to have lost one or both parents over the past year.
• With the implementation of the ceasefire on 19 January, large volumes of humanitarian aid have been entering Gaza through Erez and Zikim crossings in the north and Kerem Shalom crossing in the south. Movement within southern and northern Gaza has become largely unhindered, allowing for the movement of aid cargo and humanitarian personnel, including to areas that were previously hard to reach, while access between southern and northern Gaza remains restricted. In the first four days of the ceasefire, partners on the ground report that the significantly improved operating environment, in terms of movements as well as the surge in the daily entry of supplies that have entered into Gaza due to an improvement in law and order, has enabled humanitarian partners to meaningfully scale up the delivery of lifesaving assistance and services. Whereas the bulk of incoming supplies currently consist of food items, an increase in the entry of medicines, shelter materials, as well as WASH and other supplies is anticipated over the coming days.
• Over the first four days of the ceasefire, the UN and its partners have been dispatching incoming aid to warehouses, designated emergency shelters and distribution centres as well as scaling up distributions and services across Gaza. For example, in central and southern Gaza, partners have resumed monthly food distributions with full rations, have adjusted the volume, portions and content of meals at community kitchens, and are preparing for the safe re-opening of subsidized bakeries. In addition, fuel deliveries in central and southern Gaza have enabled the sustained operation of functional water wells, desalination plants, and sewage pumps, while critical repair works of roads and water infrastructure are already underway. Solid waste collection by local municipalities has similarly resumed, with support from the UN. Efforts are additionally ongoing to establish trauma stabilization points to handle emergency cases, resume services at primary health care centres, and expand disease surveillance. To ensure an effective response, the UN and its partners are also conducting a wide range of rapid assessments in areas that were previously hard to reach in order to evaluate needs and guide response efforts, including in relation to water and sanitation facilities, non-functioning health facilities, emergency shelters, Explosive Ordnance Risk Education, and unexploded ordnance (UXO) surveys. These have included three inter-agency assessments carried out between 20 and 22 January to Beit Hanoun, Jabalya and Beit Lahiya, in North Gaza, which aid actors had been unable to access over the past three months and where massive levels of destruction and need were witnessed.

• Noting that the full scale of UXO contamination is yet to be fully determined, the Mines Advisory Group (MAG) stressed that it will take many years to remedy, highlighting the importance for the international community to mobilize resources and expertise to support Explosive Ordnance (EO) risk education work and begin UXO survey and clearance in Gaza so reconstruction and the restoration of services can take place. In a recent analysis, the Protection Cluster highlighted that the high levels of EO contamination in Gaza, provided there is an enabling environment, “will require approximately US$500 million over 10 years to clear and will have critical impacts on human lives. Furthermore, EO is likely buried in the more than 42 million tons of rubble, created by the destruction of buildings, roads, and other infrastructure… [which] contains asbestos and other hazardous contaminants… [and] human remains” and has also affected markets and cropland.
• In a press conference on 20 January, the Palestinian Civil Defense (PCD) in Gaza stated, that it incurred severe losses after 470 days of escalation, with 99 personnel killed, 319 injured of whom many have suffered permanent disabilities, and 27 detained and their whereabouts remain unknown. According to PCD, 17 out 21 PCD centres were reportedly targeted, of which 14 were destroyed, and 85 per cent of PCD vehicles, including fire trucks and ambulances, were destroyed. Amid immense challenges, PCD has continued to carry out life-saving operations, responding to over 500,000 distress calls, recovering more than 38,300 fatalities, rescuing 97,000 injured people, and extinguishing over 22,000 fires. At the same time, PCD teams were unable to respond to around 50,000 distress calls due to insecurity, denied access and fuel shortages, leaving hundreds of bodies unrecovered. PCD said that there were no traces of around 2,840 people whose bodies were reportedly incinerated due to the alleged use of Israeli forces’ weapons that generate extreme levels of heat. After 15 months of unprecedented devastation, PCD urged Arab and foreign civil defense crews to support body retrieval efforts in Gaza as more than 10,000 people are estimated to remain under the rubble.
• Between the afternoon of 14 January and the morning of 19 January, before the ceasefire came into effect, Israeli bombardment from the air, land and sea was reported across the Gaza Strip, resulting in civilian casualties, displacement, and destruction of civilian infrastructure. Rocket fire by Palestinian armed groups towards Israel was also reported. During this period, according to the Ministry of Health (MoH) in Gaza, 268 Palestinians were killed and 738 were injured. Moreover, on 20, 21 and 22 January, MoH reported a total of 65 additional Palestinians killed and 416 injured, mostly in attacks that occurred prior to the ceasefire, and 183 bodies were retrieved. Between 7 October 2023 and 22 January 2025, at least 47,161 Palestinians were killed and 111,166 were injured, according to MoH in Gaza.
• Between the afternoon of 14 January and the morning 19 January, no Israeli soldiers were killed in Gaza, according to Israeli forces. Between 7 October 2023 and 19 January 2025, according to Israeli forces and official Israeli sources cited in the media, more than 1,605 Israelis and foreign nationals were killed, the majority on 7 October 2023 and its immediate aftermath. This includes 405 soldiers killed in Gaza or along the border in Israel since the beginning of the ground operation in October 2023. In addition, 2,571 Israeli soldiers were reported injured since the beginning of the ground operation. On 19 January, the Israeli military announced that the body of an Israeli soldier who was killed in Ash Shujai’yeh area in Gaza city on 20 July 2014 was recovered from Gaza.

• Deadly incidents reported between 13 and 18 January 2025 include:
  • On 13 January, at about 12:40, seven Palestinians including two children were reportedly killed and others injured when a group of people was hit in Ad Daraj neighbourhood in central Gaza city.
  • On 14 January, at about 02:15, ten Palestinians, including four women and two children, were reportedly killed when a house, sheltering internally displaced people (IDPs), was hit near Khalidiya Clinic in Al Manara neighbourhood in eastern Khan Younis city.
  • On 14 January, at about 22:15, ten Palestinians, including three women, a child and an unborn child whose pregnant mother was injured, were reportedly killed when a house was hit in Al Naser area in northern Rafah.
  • On 14 January, at about 23:30, at least seven Palestinians, including two children and one woman, were reportedly killed and at least seven others injured when a house was hit in An Nuseirat refugee camp in Deir al Balah.
  • On 15 January, at about 01:00, seven Palestinians were reportedly killed and others injured when a school, sheltering IDPs, was hit on Al Yarmouk Street in Gaza city.
  • On 15 January, at about 17:00, five Palestinians, including a photojournalist were reportedly killed and six others injured when a vehicle was hit in Camp 2 of An Nuseirat refugee camp in Deir al Balah.
  • On 15 January, at about 19:30, three Palestinians, including a journalist and a man recently released from Israeli detention, were reportedly killed when a community kitchen was hit in Al Mawasi area in western Khan Younis.
  • On 15 January, at about 23:30, 20 Palestinians including women and children were reportedly killed and tens of others injured when several houses in a residential block were hit in the vicinity of Ash Sheikh Radwan pool in Gaza city.
  • On 16 January, at about 11:00, two children were reportedly killed and 30 others injured when a school, sheltering IDPs, was hit in Az Zaytoun neighbourhood in southern Gaza city.
  • On 16 January, at about 04:00, five Palestinians were reportedly killed and ten others injured when a house was hit in Al Rimal neighbourhood in Gaza city.
  • On 16 January, at about 22:30, nine Palestinians were reportedly killed when a residential building was hit in Al-Jurn area, northeast of Gaza city.
  • On 16 January, at about 16:30, five Palestinians, including two children and two women, were reportedly killed when a residential building was hit in the vicinity of Al Nazla roundabout, west of Jabalya in North Gaza.
  • On 18 January, at about 00:35, five Palestinians, including a married couple and their three children were reportedly killed when an IDP tent was hit in western Al Qarara, in Khan Younis.
• As of 19 January, according to data received by the UN and its partners, at least 377 aid workers, including 270 UN staff and at least 73 NGO staff have been killed in the Gaza Strip since October 2023. On 14 January, a female staff working for Ma’an Development Center succumbed to her wounds sustained in a 6 January attack on a World Food Programme (WFP) warehouse operated by Ma'an in Deir Al Balah. On 14 January, 20 Palestinians, including a lawyer working for the Independent Commission for Human Rights, his wife who worked for Al-Awda Health and Community Association and their children, were killed when a house in which they were sheltering was hit in Deir al Balah. On 16 January, a staff working for the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) was killed along with his wife and two children when a house in which they were sheltering was hit in Gaza city. According to PCHR, this was the third PCHR staff member killed since October 2023.

• On 16 January, 12 patients, most of them suffering from cancer and immunological disorders, were evacuated to Albania, France, Norway and Romania, accompanied by 35 family members and caregivers, to receive specialized medical treatment. In total, since the closure of the Rafah crossing on 7 May 2024, only 458 patients including 276 children have been exceptionally evacuated to receive life-saving treatment outside Gaza. Describing some of the challenges in evacuating patients from Gaza, especially over the past eight months, MSF reported on 14 January that three critically injured children were medically evacuated to the MSF hospital in Jordan on 8 January “after months of delays and rejections by the Israeli authorities,” two other patients continued to be denied medical evacuation from Gaza with no clear explanations, and in November the Israeli authorities had denied the evacuation of eight children and their caretakers from Gaza to the MSF facility in Jordan, including a two-year-old with leg amputations. Noting that MSF was only able to evacuate 13 children from Gaza to its hospital in Jordan since October 2023, MSF Country Director in Jordan, Moeen Mahmood, stressed that “timely treatment is critical to avert life-long disabilities or death from infections.” Following the announcement of the ceasefire deal, the WHO Director-General emphasized that this “offers an opportunity for expedited medical evacuations for over 12,000 people, including many children, who urgently need lifesaving care outside Gaza,” and later highlighted the challenging task of restoring the health system in Gaza and addressing the massive health needs “given the scale of destruction, operational complexity and constraints involved.”
• On 14 January, UNICEF reported that it distributed in January over 500 wheelchairs to children with injuries across the Strip, adding that only a single centre in Gaza city continued to work around the clock to address the overwhelming demand for prosthetic supplies, which are scarce throughout the Gaza Strip. In its latest Protection Analysis Update, issued on 16 January, the Protection Cluster shed light on the rising numbers of persons with disabilities (PwD) in Gaza due to hostilities, displacement and EO. Conservative estimates indicate that 20 per cent of the population have permanent disabilities and thousands of children have lost one or both legs, reports the Cluster. According to cited doctors at the European Gaza and Al Aqsa hospitals in Khan Younis and Deir al Balah, respectively, they have performed “numerous operations on children wounded by tiny fragments of shrapnel, which often leave barely visible entry points but cause extensive internal damage, and appear to be intentionally designed to increase the number of casualties.” Moreover, the Cluster estimates that the hostilities resulted in an 83 per cent loss of assistive devices, such as wheelchairs, prosthetic limbs and hearing aids, while the only two specialized rehabilitation hospitals – Al Wafa Medical Rehabilitation and Specialized Surgery Hospital in Gaza city and the Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani Hospital for Rehabilitation and Prosthetics in North Gaza – have sustained severe damage.
• A joint study by the Danish Refugee Council (DRC), Agricultural Development Association (PARC) and Women’s Affairs Centre (WAC) finds that in addition to active hostilities and evacuation orders issued by the Israeli military over the past 15 months, lack of access to basic supplies, overcrowding, lack of privacy and the associated rise in tensions in makeshift sites have emerged as new drivers of displacement. On average, people in Gaza were displaced six times and up to 19 times between October 2023 and October 2024, often being forced to flee on foot and facing lengthy, dangerous journeys, according to the study, which is based on discussions held in October and November 2024 with 112 displaced people (74 women and 38 men) across four governorates as well as data from 19 DRC-managed displacement sites sheltering over 32,000 people. Forced to flee on average once every two months, people have been unable to find or retain even temporary employment, and small businesses – primarily women-led – have struggled to survive, also due to supply shortages. The study further highlights that that the loss of personal, housing, land, and property documentation during forced displacement or active bombardment has aggravated people’s access to aid or prevented them from applying to jobs and will pose long-term threats to people’s rights and stability in the future. Drawing attention to the profound ways in which women’s roles have been affected by repeated displacement, the study notes that women and girls, while having little control over critical matters affecting their safety and wellbeing and being far more vulnerable to gender-based violence (GBV), have borne the brunt of caring for ill and injured family members and taken on more responsibilities, such as ensuring the availability of food and water for their families.
• Between 1 and 18 January, before the ceasefire came into effect, out of 301 planned aid movements requiring coordination with Israeli authorities across the Gaza Strip, 39 per cent (117) were facilitated, 38 per cent (115) were denied, 14 per cent (43) were interfered with or initially agreed to but then faced impediments, and nine per cent (26) were cancelled by the organizers due to logistical and security challenges. Movements facing impediments were accomplished either partially or not at all. Of the coordinated movements, 52 needed to cross from southern Gaza through the Israeli military-controlled checkpoints on Al Rashid or Salah ad Din roads to areas north of Wadi Gaza (including both North Gaza and Gaza governorates); of these, only 29 per cent (15) were facilitated, 38 per cent (20) were denied, 23 per cent (12) faced impediments, and ten per cent (five) were cancelled. These include 21 attempts to reach the formerly besieged area in North Gaza, of which two were impeded. Coordinated aid missions to areas in the Rafah governorate, where there has been an ongoing Israeli military operation since early May, have faced similar challenges. Twenty-four out of 33 planned movements submitted to the Israeli authorities to access Rafah governorate between 1 and 18 January were denied, five were facilitated, and three were initially agreed to, but faced impediments and one was cancelled. This excludes 20 coordinated movements to Kerem Shalom crossing, of which 50 per cent (10) were facilitated, 15 per cent (three) were denied, ten per cent (two) were impeded, and 25 per cent (five) were cancelled. Since the ceasefire came into effect, such coordinations are no longer required except for crossing Netzarim corridor or entering the buffer zone.

Funding

 

• As of 22 January 2025, Member States have disbursed approximately US$123.2 million out of the $4.07 billion (three per cent) requested to meet the most critical humanitarian needs of three million out of 3.3 million people identified as requiring assistance in Gaza and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, in 2025 under the 2025 Flash Appeal for the OPT. Nearly 90 per cent of the requested funds are for the humanitarian response in Gaza, with just over 10 per cent for the West Bank. Moreover, during December 2024, the oPt Humanitarian Fund (oPt HF) managed 111 ongoing projects, totalling $82.2 million, to address urgent needs in the Gaza Strip (86 per cent) and the West Bank (14 per cent). These include 64 projects implemented by international non-governmental organizations (INGOs), 34 by national NGOs and 13 by UN agencies. Of the 77 projects implemented by INGOs or the UN, 46 are being implemented in collaboration with national NGOs. For more information, please see OCHA’s Financial Tracking Service webpage and the oPt Humanitarian Fund webpage.

966.

22 januari 2025

Readers’ Recommendations

 

= At least 10 Palestinian killed as Israel launches operations in Jenin         (BBC)

= Israel's scorched earth campaign leaves Gaza in ruins ( Al Jazeera)

965.

22 januari 2025

This week, we focus on the implementation of a fragile ceasefire in Gaza and the return of Donald Trump to the White House.

 

After more than 15 months of relentless Israeli attacks, Palestinians in Gaza can finally breathe a sigh of relief as a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas holds. Yet, this sliver of hope is tempered by fear and grief as the scale of loss and the overwhelming challenges of rebuilding loom large.

 

Meanwhile, Donald Trump has been sworn in for a second term as president of the United States, completing a stunning political comeback.

 

But as supporters thronged Washington, DC, tech billionaire Elon Musk came under fire for making a gesture at a pro-Trump rally which critics likened to a Nazi salute.

964.

22 januari 2025

Why is the ADL defending Nazi salutes?

Trump and the far-Right are waging a war on higher education. Act now.

Stop U.S. sanctions against the ICC.

Power Half Hours for Gaza.

964.

CARE

22 januari 2025

Wij kijken naar de hoopvolle beelden van Gaza, waar nu vrachtwagens binnenrijden. Vrachtwagens met hulpgoederen, onze hulpgoederen. Vrachtwagens vol levensreddende hulp.

De bevolking in Gaza heeft maandenlang te weinig hulp gekregen. Vrouwen en kinderen zijn het hardst geraakt. Ook CARE-hulpverleners werken dag en nacht om levensreddende noodhulp te verlenen. Er is geen tijd te verliezen. Alle hulp is nog steeds enorm nodig.

 

Vrouwen in Gaza proberen te overleven in omstandigheden die bijna niet voor te stellen zijn. Ze dragen een zware verantwoordelijkheid voor hun gezin, terwijl er nog steeds nauwelijks toegang is tot voedsel, schoon water of veilige schuilplaatsen. Voor deze vrouwen is elke dag een strijd.

 

Hulpverleners zetten zich in om deze vrouwen te helpen. Met uw hulp zorgen wij ervoor dat zij niet alleen hoop, maar ook de gezondheidszorg en bescherming krijgen die ze zo hard nodig hebben.

Helpt u samen met ons vrouwen in Gaza? Alvast hartelijk dank.

 

Met vriendelijke groet,

Jojanneke Spoor

Hoofd humanitaire actie bij CARE Nederland

963.

21 januari 2025

Readers’ Recommendations

 

Palestinians in Gaza look ahead with hope and fear amid uncertain ceasefire (Al Jazeera)

962.

21 januari 2025

Today's headlines

First prisoner exchange brings scenes of celebration to West Bank streets

Qassam Muaddi

Scenes of celebration overtook the streets of Ramallah as the first group of Palestinian prisoners, mostly women, were released as part of the Israel-Hamas ceasefire deal. Despite the joy many felt, tensions remain high in the West Bank.

What is the first thing you will do after the truce?

In the final hours before the Gaza ceasefire I asked my friends and family, “What’s the first thing you’ll do?” Through their answers, I came to understand the truce was not a moment of joy but a chance for our postponed grief to finally surface.

Unknown heroes: Memories of a Gaza first responder

Although trained as a social researcher, when the war began in October 2023 I joined the search and rescue team in the Gaza City neighborhood of al-Shuja’iyya. Here are some of my stories of being a first responder during the Gaza genocide.

Despite our universities and hospitals lying in ruins, my generation will rebuild Gaza

Hend Salama Abo Helow

I always wanted to become is doctor, and my dream was coming true at Al-Azhar University. But Israel left our campus in ruins and has destroyed a generation. Those of us who survive vow to carry the legacy of those martyred forward, and rebuild Gaza.

962A.

20 januari 2025

The ceasefire is in effect. 90 Palestinian political prisoners have been freed. No matter what happens next, the unbreakable spirit of Palestinian resistance and steadfastness will live on forever.

Now, take a moment to return to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s radical anticapitalist teachings, because we are in a class struggle in the U.S.

 

 Politicians, bribed with dark money, abuse our tax dollars to fund genocide—even after a ceasefire agreement—and accelerate climate catastrophe. Health insurance companies kill Americans by cutting them off from life-saving care while the pandemic continues. The working class faces surging rent and grocery prices.

And corporate-owned media outlets are peddling the lie that everything is fine.

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. knew justice could not wait for any marginalized community. He fought against anti-Black racism, segregation, and the Vietnam War. He advocated for redistributing wealth to the masses.

He wanted to fund care for our communities—not billions of dollars for killing in the Vietnam War. The same principle applies to the genocide in Palestine today, which doesn’t stop when the bombs stop dropping.

The Biden administration sent $17.9 billion of our tax dollars to the Israeli military in 2024 alone. All of which could have funded local community care instead.

Trump will be inaugurated today, and he’ll likely move to carry out Project 2025’s massive funding for militarism, policing, and immigration detention.

It doesn’t have to be this way. The world we’re fighting for is the opposite of Project 2025.

Nico, take a look at the Not My Tax Dollars collective vision to fund care, not killing, formed in collaboration with our partners.

WHERE DO MY TAX DOLLARS GO?

961.

20 januari 2025

Today's headlines

My two genocides

In my life, I have been enmeshed in two genocides. The first was when I survived the Holocaust in World War II. The second is the Gaza genocide, which is being carried out in my name and which is exploiting my story to justify the slaughter.

960.

20 januari 2025

I enlisted in the Israeli army almost 10 years ago as a combat medic.But today, I refuse to return to serve and have joined a group called “Soldiers for the Hostages” in an act of resistance against this war of destruction

I served in reserves for the first 2 months of the war. As the days turned into weeks and then months, the rhetoric among my comrades became more extreme and disturbing. .

On September 2, the day after the news of the murders of 6 hostages who were betrayed by our own government, I sent the following message to my commander:

Hi my friend, I am letting you know that I’m not returning to reserves anymore. I’m not willing to serve under this government. It has lost all semblance of legitimacy in leading this war.

Stay safe,

Max

Today, 4 months later, we have all signed an open letter expressing that under the current reality where the government prioritizes continuing the war, wiping out Palestinians, and settling Gaza over their duty to return the hostages home alive, we will no longer continue to serve.

Since our letter was published, I found myself in the limelight which is definitely not a place I feel comfortable. I came here to make a change, and I've come to understand that this issue is far bigger than sticking to what I feel comfortable with, or even qualified for. People are dying, people are killing, people are suffering, and as long as that is happening in my name, the discomfort that I feel from stepping in the limelight is next to meaningless compared to the discomfort I feel every day that this war continues.

In the past month we have been making big strides, we have been signing new signatories to our movement, we held a “Resisting the War” conference which was broadcast across the Israeli media. We have had our signatories speak at many protests across the country. We have adopted a new “uniform”- IDF fatigues and  a black t-shirt with the words “ONE HAS A MORAL RESPONSIBILITY TO DISOBEY UNJUST WARS”.

 

With gratitude,
ֿ
Max Kresch
Soldiers for the Hostages

959.

19 januari 2025

Ceasefire

After more than 15 months of a brutal, genocidal war on Gaza, a ceasefire has arrived. As we write this, the first exchange of captives is happening. Three women, held by resistance groups in Gaza since October 7, 2023, have been released, and dozens of Palestinian prisoners will shortly be released from Israeli prisons. These include children and many who have been held in “administrative detention” without charges or access to legal counsel.

The political jockeying to define what this ceasefire means is underway. Prime Minister Netanyahu claimed victory when it is plainly obvious he failed in his stated goals to destroy the resistance in Gaza. The far-right in Israel claims they have been assured this first phase of the ceasefire agreement is temporary and a return to all-out war is imminent. That is a possibility, but the reality of the ceasefire will change these calculations.

Joe Biden, in a fever dream, said his strategy was proven correct. Again, everyone can plainly see this is nonsense. The agreement signed just days ago is essentially the same one from last May. Thousands of lives could have been saved had Biden forced Israel to concede to it. But Biden was, as always, wrapped up in his own narrative of foreign policy genius, dreaming of remaking the world in his own image. The people, particularly the Palestinian people, do not figure into that vision. But, as we have seen time and time again, the Palestinian people simply refuse to be erased. They have not acquiesced to their own removal from history. There is no other path forward but their liberation. How many more politicians will pursue this fantastical and brutal course?

Trump, who is less than 24 hours from returning to the White House, forced this deal when Biden could not. We should not interpret this as compassion or interest in peace and coexistence from him. Trump seeks power and glory, full stop. In this instance, even before officially taking office, he showed how power can be used and he collected the glory of doing what Biden could not. There is a lesson in the realpolitik of our current day if the left is willing to investigate it.

 

David Reed, Publisher

 

Must Read: Gaza ceasefire reveals Israel’s fragility and the transformative power of resistance

Abdaljawad Omar: In the wake of a ceasefire, many will try to force the discourse into a binary of victory and defeat. But as the dust settles, a true picture emerges: one of the fragility of the Israeli colony and the transformative power of resistance.

Catch-up

= A ceasefire deal was announced on Wednesday, promising an end to more than a year of Israel’s genocidal war on the Gaza Strip. The ceasefire is planned to take effect on January 19, pending a vote from the Israeli security cabinet.=  It has been 3 weeks since Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya was abducted by Israeli forces from north Gaza. New information obtained by Mondoweiss reveals details about the first hours of the doctor’s detention at the Sde Teiman prison camp.

= A recent 60 Minutes report featured State Department officials exposing the horrors of Biden’s policy in Gaza. Why did they wait until he was leaving office to run it?

=  Now that a ceasefire has been agreed to in Gaza, the bombs will stop falling, and the world will breathe a sigh of relief. Yet, for those of us who survived, the war hasn’t ended—it has merely transformed.

= A ceasefire deal to finally stop the genocide in Gaza and bring about an exchange of captives appears to be at hand, but many questions remain. Among them is the role the incoming Trump administration played and what this says for his policy in the region.

=  In the wake of the ceasefire in Gaza, a poem about maintaining militant clarity on what the last year of Zionist genocide means for writers and people of conscience across the world.

= Palestinians are suing the Biden administration over the failure to evacuate U.S. citizens from Gaza. “I hope that we’ll finally get these people out under Biden’s watch,” says attorney Maria Kari. “This is blood on Biden’s hands.”

= The Israeli onslaught has disfigured space and time in Gaza leaving a physicist like me no other choice but to use my understanding of the universe, as well as the wisdom of the ages, to navigate and survive the genocide.

=  In my life, I have been enmeshed in two genocides. The first was when I survived the Holocaust in World War II. The second is the Gaza genocide, which is being carried out in my name and which is exploiting my story to justify the slaughter.

=  The Biden administration could have delivered the same ceasefire agreement last year, but they refused to exert pressure on Netanyahu.

= For more than a year, Israeli authorities have refused to give any information about what has happened to Haitham Abd Elwahed since October 7, 2023 — leaving his family in heartbreaking limbo.

=  Basma may have lived through the Gaza genocide, but she doesn’t feel she survived. Now studying at a university in New Jersey, separated from her family, the genocide hasn’t ended, it has just shifted its location.

958.

19 januari 2025

Today's headlines

Biden could have delivered this ceasefire agreement last year

Despite reports of potential snags, and looming threats to tank the deal from extreme right politicians, Israel’s security cabinet voted Friday to approve the recent ceasefire agreement and pause the attacks on Gaza.  The deal will cement the release of Israeli hostages held in Gaza, as well as Palestinians currently being held in Israeli jails.

Under Israeli bombardment, Palestinians in Gaza anxiously await the ceasefire to take effect

Since the ceasefire was announced, Israel has continued to bomb Gaza, and Israeli ministers have promised to sabotage the deal. Fear and skepticism have overtaken celebrations in Gaza, as millions wait anxiously for the deal to take effect on Sunday.

957.

19 januari 2025

After 471 days of Israeli genocide against our steadfast people, the long-awaited ceasefire enters into effect today Sunday 19 January. Over 120 Palestinians have been killed by the Israeli genocidal machine since the ceasefire was announced on Wednesday 15 January.

The ceasefire comes 15 months too late, with similar proposals accepted by Palestinian factions as early as November 2023 and with the exact deal proposed in May 2024, showing the complete dehumanization of Palestinian lives.

The ceasefire offers a temporary and necessary respite but it does not end colonial violence, it does not end oppression, it is not a solution.

The Current Reality Requires Urgent Action to Address the Root Causes of Oppression: 

The colonial fragmentation of Palestine and Palestinians is a strategy. Gaza has been under total blockade for the past 16 years.  However, for the past 16 months Israel has committed one of the most atrocious genocides in history, carrying out  massacres, annihilating entire families, forcibly displacing 90% of the population, using starvation as a weapon of war, and destroying 65% of homes and infrastructure, along with all universities, schools and hospitals. To date, Israel has killed over 46,913 Palestinians, including more than 20,000 children, and injured over 110,750. The true death toll in Gaza could well surpass 200,000 Palestinians. Keeping in mind our colonial interest now that a ceasefire is in place, we fear an aftermath of mass expulsion and a further ethnic cleansing. 

In the West Bank, Palestinians are confronting entrenched annexation, with or without ceasefire with over 24,000 dunams of land confiscated for jewish-only settlements. More than 6,635 Palestinians have been forcibly displaced due to demolitions and settler violence. Military raids have escalated, particularly in refugee camps, with over 824 Palestinians killed across the West Bank since October 2023.

While the ceasefire foresees an exchange of prisoners, over 7000 Palestinian political prisoners still remain in Israeli jails and many Palestinian residents in Gaza remain forcible disappeared, enduring systemic torture and the most brutal conditions ever witnessed in the history of Palestinian political imprisonment.

In the region Israel has repeatedly said that its strategy is to “ reshape the Middle East”. In Lebanon, Israel's military invasion has claimed over 3,189 lives, injured 14,078, and forcibly displaced more than 1.2 million people. Exploiting the fall of the Assad regime, Israel has launched unprecedented military aggression into Syrian territory, deepening its occupation in the territory.

What Needs to Happen Now?

1. Push for the respect of the ceasefire and subsequent phases

The current deal, divided into three phases, includes full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza and a complete ceasefire only in the final stage—an outcome Israel is unlikely to pursue, based on historical patterns. However, with sanctions and arms and energy embargo Israel might reconsider its decisions. Collective and immediate action is needed to hold the perpetrator accountable.

2. Reject the Weaponizing of Aid

Ongoing efforts to replace UNRWA and the UN coordination humanitarian system - despite its many flaws - with private contractors aligned with U.S. and Israeli interests undermine the integrity of humanitarian efforts, and advance Israeli colonial objectives. Reject any governance or aid delivery plans, void of Palestinian agency and sovereignty, that seek only to entrench colonization. Humanitarian aid needs to be fully allowed to the entire Gaza Strip. 3.

3. Sanction Israel and Hold Criminals Accountable

Demand justice for war crimes, apartheid, genocide, and atrocity crimes. Advocate for arms embargoes, energy embargoes, and sanctions. This is not only a moral duty but also a legal one. Sanctions and ending complicity with Israel were voted for by a global majority of 124 states at the UN General Assembly and reaffirmed by the International Court of Justice this year. These legal obligations do not end with the ceasefire.

 Support Campaigns for justice:

- Demand Justice against the Military who have participated in the genocide

- Demand an Arms embargo

- Demand a Global Energy Embargo for Palestine

- Hold Complicit corporations accountable. Databases and campaigns: BDS List / Don't Buy into Occupation List / AFSC Investigate Database / WhoProfits database / The WaterMelon Index 

4. Protect Palestinian Civil Society

The global suppression of Palestinians' right to resist oppression, from censorship to silencing to intimidation is escalating. From journalists in Gaza to teachers in Germany, all social forces must push back against anti-Palestinian racism that only promotes Israeli impunity.

At the same time, many political and civic actors are trying to promote “peacebuilding”  initiatives, a return to a “two-state solution”, all smokescreen to shield Israel from accountability, undermine legal obligations of international actors and force Palestinians to negotiate their rights instead of rightfully fighting for them and change the unjust reality.

5. Demand immediate Political Processes and governance mechanism that ensures Palestinian agency

Now more than ever, political processes must center Palestinian liberation, return and self-determination. From the partition of Palestine to the Oslo Accords to Trump’s plan, history has repeatedly shown that Palestinians are asked to surrender their fundamental rights. The ceasefire negotiations, their aftermath, and discussions about the "day after" and "rebuilding Gaza" are no exceptions.

"Rebuilding Gaza” must not perpetuate dependency on humanitarian aid or indirectly contribute to further forced displacement. True rebuilding must be a Palestinian-owned process —both in decision-making as well as in implementation. A Palestinian-owned process must include representatives of all political and social stakeholders without being captured by foreign-sponsored individuals or authorities. 

The “day after” is not only about the rebuilding of infrastructures and livelihoods but about a liberatory rebuilding that reclaims Palestinian dignity and unity, ends the blockade and occupation, and enables the right of return.

In the coming months, our team and our coalitions will redouble their efforts to continue supporting the strengthening of the Palestinian international movement for liberation and lobby strategically for accountability.

Until liberation, Until return.

Inès Abdelrazek & Rula Shadeed

PIPD Co Directors

 

956.

18 januari 2025

Today's headlines

Gaza ceasefire reveals Israel’s fragility, and the transformative power of resistance

In the wake of a ceasefire, many will try to force the discourse into a binary of victory and defeat. But as the dust settles, a true picture emerges: one of the fragility of the Israeli colony, and the transformative power of resistance.

As ceasefire inches closer, Israeli ministers are already making plans to break it

As of Friday a ceasefire deal still hung in the balance. After delays by Netanyahu, Israel's cabinet finally convened to deliberate on a vote. But even if the deal goes through, all signs are pointing to Israeli plans to sabotage it after phase one.

955.

17 januari 2025

With immense feeling these last 48 hours, I have watched:

• Gazawi journalist Anas Al-Sharif take off his press vest while announcing the ceasefire, and lifted into a cheering crowd.
• An injured man vow to rebuild his home, even if the columns are built with his eyelashes.
• A mother give glory to the people of Gaza, and the people of Gaza only, for enduring genocide.

One hour later, I watched the very same journalist Anas Al-Sharif (wearing his press vest) pan the camera to the tiny bodies of Palestinian children who Israel murdered while they were celebrating the ceasefire announcement.

I’m full of grief, rage, and a firm hope and determination to keep fighting. In this moment and the days ahead, our work becomes even more critical. A ceasefire is only the beginning of the fight for Palestinian liberation within the imperial core.

Next week, our monthly Mass Movement Call will focus on what’s required of Palestine supporters in this next phase. Join us Thursday, January 23 at 7PM ET / 4PM PT.

 

Reflecting on the past 15 months, we’ll explore how Palestine’s resistance has globalized intifada, revolution, and anti-imperialism, while exposing Zionism as an inherently genocidal project.

JOIN THE MASS MOVEMENT CALL

 

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17 januari 2025

This is a fragile ceasefire. We must ensure it holds. 

Tell the CU Board of Regents: Stop weaponizing Jewish pain.

We’re still fighting for Gaza.

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17 januari 2025

This Month's Feature: RAHAT

953.

17 januari 2025

Hopelijk gaat het staakt-het-vuren in Gaza zondag echt in, en houdt Israël zich er helemaal aan. Maar het is duidelijk dat instituties en conferenties gedwongen moeten worden om zich aan de ICJ-uitspraken te houden.Zo zal bijvoorbeeld een belangrijke institutie als het World Economic Forum er geen been in zien om een waarschijnlijke oorlogsmisdadiger Israël te laten vertegenwoordigen.

De EU is ook zo'n weigerachtige institutie. Daarom de oproep het Associatieverdrag met Israël op te schorten; uit zichzelf doen ze het niet.

En zonder massale druk blijven militaire transporten naar Israël ook gewoon doorgaan. Dus blijf je inzetten, juist ook na de ingang van een wapenstilstand. En blijf boycotten.

Tot slot geven we een overzicht van alle successen waar jullie ook aan meerwerken! BDS werkt!

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

Na wapenstilstand: verhoog de druk de genocide te stoppen

De door Palestijnen geleide BDS-beweging verwelkomt het nieuws van een staakt-het-vuren-overeenkomst met immense opluchting. Een staakt-het-vuren is echter slechts de belangrijkste eerste stap om de genocide op de 2,3 miljoen Palestijnen in Gaza te beëindigen.

Werkt de boycot tegen Israël?

 

Al Jazeera’s Fatima Bhutto praat in haar programma Reframe met Omar Barghouti over de vraag hoe goed de boycots werken. En of ze niet antisemitisch zijn, wat Israël en zijn vrienden zeggen. Hij legt uit hoe de Palestijnse rechten niet gerealiseerd kunnen worden zonder einde aan de medeplichtigheid van staten, bedrijven en instituties.

 World Economic Forum, sluit Israel uit of anders boycot

PACBI, mede-oprichtende organisatie van de BDS-beweging, roept het World Economic Forum en Global Shapers in Davos op om Israel uit te sluiten. Op het risico anders geboycot en mogelijk vervolgd te worden.

Schort EU-Israel Associatieverdrag op!

Voor een onmiddellijk en blijvend staakt-het-vuren, voor het einde van de genocide, voor de bescherming van het Palestijnse volk: onmiddellijke opschorting van de associatieovereenkomst tussen de EU en Israël! Gaza,

Teken de petitie: Stop NU de doorvoer van illegale militaire goederen naar Israel

Aan de Leden van de Tweede Kamer der Staten Generaal,

Wij, Nederlandse burgers, zijn zeer verontrust over de doorvoer van wapens, munitie en dual-use goederen met bestemming Israel. Deze militaire goederen worden namelijk gebruikt in de voortdurende genocide aangaande 2.3 miljoen Palestijnen in Gaza, apartheid en illegale bezetting. Dit is strafbaar en immoreel.

Gids voor BDS boycots

Het Palestijnse BDS Nationaal Comité (BNC) gelooft er sterk in dat het beëindigen van medeplichtigheid de snelste manier is om de voortdurende Gaza genocide en het koloniale apartheidsregime van Israel te ontmantelen. De steun van staten, bedrijven en instellingen moet stoppen. Met strategisch gekozen campagnes willen we dat bereiken.

BDS successen van 2024

Hoe pijnlijk en verwoestend de aanhoudende bloedbaden ook zijn, het falen van de live gestreamde genocide van Israël om Palestijnen tot overgave te dwingen, in combinatie met de snel groeiende wereldwijde isolatie, is een teken dat het 76 jaar oude regime van kolonialisme en apartheid aan het wankelen is.

952.

17 januari 2025

Eindelijk is er goed nieuws. Voor de Israëlische en Palestijnse gegijzelden en hun families, voor de 2,3 miljoen Palestijnen in de Gazastrook die al 15 maanden blootstaan aan Israëls genocidale geweld, en voor de rest van de wereld. Eindelijk lijkt een akkoord over een staakt-het-vuren bereikt tussen Hamas en Israël. Naar verluidt gaat het zondag 19 januari in. Dat biedt hoop en wordt terecht over in Gaza en over de hele wereld gevierd.

Een pro-Palestijnse demonstratie in New York op 16 januari 2024: 'de beweging gaat door totdat Palestina vrij is'. [c] William Volcov/ZUMA Press Wire via AlamyTegelijkertijd is er het besef dat een staakt-het-vuren al lange tijd geleden gesloten had kunnen en moeten worden; dat Nederland in de Verenigde Naties meerdere keren tegen een voorstel heeft gestemd; en dat de voorwaarden van de huidige overeenkomst niet veel lijken af te wijken van een voorstel dat er acht maanden geleden al lag.
 
Ondertussen zijn als direct gevolg van de oorlog meer dan 50.000 Gazanen gedood en meer dan 100.000 gewond geraakt. Talloze andere zijn gestorven of zullen nog sterven als indirect gevolg van de oorlog. En miljoenen Palestijnen, inclusief toekomstige generaties, zullen de psychische gevolgen hun hele leven met zich meedragen. De enorme fysieke schade aan gebouwen en de infrastructuur in Gaza is daarnaast niet te overzien.
 
Uiteraard zal er, als er daadwerkelijk een einde komt aan het geweld in Gaza, nog altijd gewerkt moeten worden aan de grondoorzaken van het “conflict”: de illegale bezetting en annexatie van de Westelijke Jordaanoever, apartheid en onderdrukking van de Palestijnse bevolking. Die problemen zijn niet op 7 oktober 2023 begonnen, en zullen onze voortdurende aandacht en inzet vereisen.
 
Maar voor nu is het aangekondigde staakt-het-vuren het goede nieuws waar inwoners van Gaza, de gijzelaars en iedereen in Palestina en Israël al zo lang naar snakten. Het is eindelijk een stap in de goede richting. Een eerste stap van een lang traject dat partijen richting een duurzame oplossing en vrede in Palestina en Israël moet leiden.

Internationaal Strafhof | Tien jaar ondermijning door Israël en de VS

Gisteren precies tien jaar geleden, op 16 januari 2015, kwam het onderzoek van het Internationaal Strafhof naar Israëlische (en Palestijnse) misdaden in de door Israël bezette Palestijnse gebieden op gang. Na decennia van onderdrukking konden de Palestijnen hoop koesteren op gerechtigheid.

Tien jaar later is die ver weg. Met maffia-achtige methodes hebben Israël en de VS het onderzoek gesaboteerd. Nu bereiden de Amerikanen de genadestoot voor, met de door president Trump aangekondigde sancties tegen het Strafhof zodra hij op 21 januari het stokje van Joe Biden overneemt.

Bekijk hier een overzicht van de belangrijkste gebeurtenissen van de afgelopen tien jaar >

De sancties die Trump tegen het Strafhof wil instellen zijn een vergelding voor de arrestatiebevelen van het Hof tegen Israëlische leiders, en voor zijn onderzoek naar Israëlische misdaden in Palestijns gebied. De verkiezingsoverwinning van Trump werd in Israël dan ook groot gevierd. © Alamy / Georgy Dzyura

 

Tweede Kamer, is de verdediging tegen Trumps sancties op orde?
The Rights Forum spreekt zijn ernstige zorgen uit over de aangekondigde sancties. Nederland heeft als gastland de verplichting om het Strafhof en zijn medewerkers in bescherming te nemen. Maar niets wijst erop dat de Nederlandse politiek die verplichting en verantwoordelijkheid serieus neemt.

Daarom stellen wij de politieke fracties in de Tweede Kamer een negental vragen, met de aansporing die met spoed voor te leggen aan de verantwoordelijke minister, en toe te zien op adequate maatregelen.

Lees hier onze vragen >

The Rights Forum Podcast | Aflevering 5

Documentaire | No Other Land: Apartheid op de Westelijke Jordaanoever

Basel Adra (1996) woont met zijn familie in Masafir Yatta, een landstreek in de South Hebron Hills op de door Israël bezette Westelijke Jordaanoever. Al sinds zijn kindertijd documenteert hij hoe zijn dorp door het Israëlische leger huis voor huis wordt vernietigd, en protesteert hij tegen de Israëlische bezetting. Yuval Abraham, een Israëlische journalist, steunt hem in zijn inspanningen, waardoor er een vriendschap ontstaat. Samen besluiten ze een documentaire te maken: No Other Land. De documentaire is nu te zien in de Nederlandse bioscopen.

Basel en Yuval in de documentaire ‘No Other Land’.No Other Land geeft een inkijk in Basels leven en toont de schrijnende realiteit van de ongelijkheid tussen Basel en Yuval, tussen Palestijnen en Israëli’s, die is ontstaan uit het jarenlange apartheidsbeleid van Israël. In een nieuw artikel op onze website leggen we, aan de hand van vijf thema’s uit de film, uit wat de effecten zijn van dit beleid op het leven van de inwoners van Masafir Yatta.

Lees het artikel >

'Must-see'
De documentaire toont de indrukwekkende en inspirerende moed, volharding en levenslust van Basel en zijn dorpsgenoten – eigenschappen waar de Palestijnen om bekend staan. En dat dankzij een vijf jaar lange samenwerking tussen Palestijnse en Israëlische activisten, die een meesterwerk hebben afgeleverd. NRC beschreef No Other Land als ‘de must-see docu van 2024’, en bekroonde hem met vijf sterren.

Interview | Jan Pronk: Nederland kijkt weg van de verplichting om genocide te voorkomen

The Rights Forum interviewt Jan Pronk over Nederland, Palestina en Israël. Over de Nederlandse plicht om genocide in Gaza te voorkomen, de lessen van apartheid in Zuid-Afrika, en meer.

Pronk is lid van de Raad van Advies van The Rights Forum. Hij was minister voor Ontwikkelings­samen­werking, minister van VROM, en lid van de Tweede Kamer. Pronk bekleedde de post van bijzonder VN-gezant voor Soedan. Hij is emeritus hoogleraar aan het Institute of Social Studies, voorzitter van het Inter­kerkelijk Vredes­beraad (IKV) en voorzitter van de Society for Inter­national Development (SID) te Rome.

Aantal doden in Gaza ligt 41 procent hoger dan gedacht

Het aantal Palestijnse doden door het Israëlische geweld in de Gazastrook ligt waarschijnlijk 41 procent hoger dan aangenomen. Dat blijkt uit een wetenschappelijke studie waarvan de resultaten op 9 januari werden gepubliceerd in het medisch-wetenschappelijke tijdschrift The Lancet.

De peer-reviewed analyse betreft het dodental in de periode tussen 7 oktober 2023 en 30 juni 2024. De studie werd uitgevoerd door academici aan de London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine en de universiteiten van Cambridge, Nagasaki en Yale. Zij maakten gebruik van gegevens en onderzoek van het Gazaanse ministerie van Volksgezondheid, ziekenhuiscijfers en overlijdensberichten.

Lees verder >

Petitie | Israëlische burgers voor internationale sancties tegen Israël

Een groep van meer dan 3700 Israëlische burgers, zowel in Israël als daarbuiten, heeft een dringende oproep gedaan aan de internationale gemeenschap om sancties in te stellen en aan te dringen op een onmiddellijk staakt-het-vuren in Israël/Palestina.

Indieners bekritiseren het gebrek aan zinvolle internationale actie, ondanks verbale veroordelingen van de Israëlische operaties. Ze wijzen erop dat voortdurende wapenleveranties en politieke partnerschappen Israël hebben laten geloven dat zijn acties wereldwijd worden gesteund.

Uit onze agenda
Vrijdag 17 januari 2025 t/m zaterdag 25 januari
 

Demonstraties en wakes
• Mars en wake bij kaarslicht voor Gaza op zaterdag 18 januari, Station Utrecht Centraal, centrumzijde (18.00 uur)
• Demonstratie voor Palestijnse bevrijding en klimaatrechtvaardigheid, tegen oorlog en fascisme op zondag 19 januari in Amsterdam, De Dam (14.00 uur)
• Sit-in rijksambtenaren op donderdag 23 januari in Den Haag, Ministerie van Buitenlandse Zaken, Rijnstraat 8 (12.00 uur)
• Wekelijkse demonstratie voor Palestina op donderdag 23 januari in Zaandam, Stationsplein (17.30 uur)

951.

17 januari 2025

Today's headlines

The ceasefire agreement, explained

Qassam Muaddi

A ceasefire deal was announced on Wednesday, promising an end to more than a year of Israel's genocidal war on the Gaza Strip. The ceasefire is planned to take effect on January 19, pending a vote from the Israeli security cabinet.

Released Gaza prisoners say they were held at notorious torture camp with Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya

It has been 3 weeks since Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya was abducted by Israeli forces from north Gaza. New information obtained by Mondoweiss reveals details about the first hours of the doctor's detention at the Sde Teiman prison camp.

Palestinian Americans sue Biden administration over failure to evacuate families from Gaza

Palestinians are suing the Biden administration over the failure to evacuate U.S. citizens from Gaza. "I hope that we'll finally get these people out under Biden's watch," says attorney Maria Kari. "This is blood on Biden's hands."

950.

16 januari 2025

Humanitarian Situation Update #256
West Bank

Khatima stands amidst the ruins of her greenhouse, destroyed by Israeli forces on 13 January, in Al Funduq village, east of Qalqiliya city. Photo: OCHA

Key Highlights

 

• In the first two weeks of 2025, nine Palestinians, including four children, were killed by Israeli forces, five of whom were killed by airstrikes.
• About 14 per cent of settler attacks in 2024 that resulted in casualties or property damage involved the use of flammable liquids, Molotov cocktails and other incendiary material.
• A surge in access restrictions and attacks by Israeli settlers has been documented in several communities located in Area B of the West Bank, following the establishment of new settlement outposts near them.
• More than 40 Palestinian-owned structures were demolished by Israeli authorities across the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, between 7 and 13 October.

Latest Developments (after 13 January 2025)

 

• According to initial information, two Israeli airstrikes on Jenin refugee camp, on 14 and 15 January, killed 12 Palestinians, including a 15-year-old child.
• According to initial information, at night on 15 January, Israeli settlers carried out multiple attacks across the Nablus governorate, targeting homes and other properties in Huwwara, Qusra, Madama, and Burin villages. In Huwwara, settlers injured four Palestinians and damaged a commercial shop by stone-throwing, and in Burin, settlers set fire to a Palestinian-owned vehicle and an under-construction, livelihood structure.

Humanitarian Developments (7-13 January 2025)

 

• During the reporting period, Israeli forces killed six Palestinians, including three children, and injured 38 others, including eight children, across the West Bank, including East Jerusalem. A Palestinian woman was killed in Jenin city within the context of the ongoing operation by Palestinian forces in the nearby Jenin camp. For more information on casualties and further breakdowns of data, please see the monthly West Bank Snapshot.
• Incidents resulting in fatalities during the reporting period include:
  • On 7 January, two Palestinians, including a 17-year-old boy, were killed by an Israeli airstrike in Tammun, south of Tubas. The airstrike was part of a 12-hour operation by Israeli forces that involved military jeeps and bulldozers. According to community and medical sources, the body of the child was transported to hospital while the second body was reportedly run over by a bulldozer and withheld by Israeli forces. The raid caused extensive damage to infrastructure, particularly roads.
  • On 7 January, undercover Israeli forces shot and killed a Palestinian man in front of his house in the village of Talluza, east of Nablus. His body was transported to hospital by the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS).
  • On 8 January, an Israeli airstrike killed three Palestinians (cousins), including two children aged nine and 10 years, in the village of Tammun, south of Tubas. Local sources reported that the three cousins were in the backyard of their home at the time of the airstrike. Israeli forces subsequently raided the targeted house and withheld the bodies for six hours, before handing them over to the Palestinian District Coordination Office and PRCS. Between 7 October 2023 and 13 January 2025, OCHA documented 152 Palestinians from the West Bank whose bodies were withheld by Israeli forces, of whom five were returned to their families and 147 remain withheld.
  • On 9 January, a 50-year-old Palestinian woman from Ya’bad, in Jenin governorate, succumbed to her injuries sustained earlier that day after being hit by a stray bullet in Jenin city within the context of the operation by Palestinian forces in the nearby Jenin refugee camp. The source of the gunfire remains unknown.
  • On 13 January, a 35-year-old Palestinian detainee from Dura, in Hebron governorate, died in an Israeli prison. According to the Palestinian Commission of Detainees' Affairs, his death has raised to 18 the number of Palestinian detainees from the West Bank who have died in Israeli custody since 7 October 2023. As of January 2025, according to data provided by the Israel Prison Service (IPS) to Hamoked, an Israeli human rights NGO, there are 10,221 Palestinians in Israeli custody, including 2,025 sentenced prisoners, 2,934 remand detainees, 3,376 administrative detainees held without trial, and 1,886 people held as “unlawful combatants.”

• Since the start of the Palestinian forces' operation in Jenin refugee camp on 5 December 2024, access to the camp has been heavily restricted. About 2,000 families have been displaced from Jenin camp to Jenin city and surrounding villages, UNRWA estimates, and the remaining 3,400 residents are struggling to meet basic needs. Residents continue to face critical shortages of food, water, and electricity while the four UNRWA schools have been closed since 9 December, affecting 1,600 students. Widespread damage to homes, water networks, and electricity generators continues to be reported, with UNRWA recently estimating that at least 42 homes have been severely damaged.
• During the reporting period, OCHA documented 22 incidents perpetrated by Israeli settlers against Palestinians that led to casualties and/or property damage. Eight Palestinians, including two children, were injured within this context, all by Israeli settlers. Four of the documented incidents involved arson by Israeli settlers, three of which caused property damage. In 2024, OCHA documented 1,432 Israeli settler attacks against Palestinians that resulted in casualties or property damage, 14 per cent of which (204 incidents) involved the use of flammable liquids, Molotov cocktails and other incendiary material, primarily affecting agricultural land and equipment, vehicles and homes.
• Key settler attacks that took place during the reporting period include:
  • On 9 January, Israeli settlers, believed to be from Shilo settlement, set fire to an agricultural structure in Khirbet Abu Falah village, in Area B of Ramallah governorate.
  • On 10 January, Israeli settlers believed to be from a newly established settlement outpost near Bardala village, in the northern Jordan Valley, vandalized at least 100 Palestinian-owned olive trees and harassed Palestinian farmers while they were examining damage caused to their trees on the western outskirts of the village. Israeli settlers subsequently contacted Israeli forces, who arrived at the scene, detained four Palestinians, and forced famers out of the area on the grounds that it is designated as a military zone.
  • On 11 January, Israeli settlers, some armed, raided the outskirts of Turmus'ayya in Ramallah governorate, caused damage to two homes, and broke into several agricultural structures. When settlers entered deeper into the town, stone-throwing between Palestinians and Israeli settlers was reported. As a result, four Palestinians, including a child, were injured and transported to hospital. No injuries were reported among settlers.
  • On 11 January, armed Israeli settlers raided Barriyet Kisan, in Bethlehem governorate, threw stones at Palestinian houses, and threw a Molotov cocktail at one house. One house sustained partial damage, and three sacks of fodder were destroyed after a section of another house caught fire.
  • On 7 January, sewage overflow from Keidar settlement, which has reportedly been an issue for more than a year but intensified in recent months, forced the relocation of at least one family within the nearby Al Muntar Bedouin community, in eastern Jerusalem governorate. Local community sources reported that recurrent sewage overflow from the settlement, reportedly due to irregular maintenance, has caused unsanitary conditions and triggered an outbreak of bluetongue disease, which laboratory tests have confirmed as the cause of death of dozens of sheep in the community in the past five months.

• Since the 6 January shooting attack by Palestinians against Israeli settlers near Al Funduq village in Qalqiliya governorate, which resulted in the killing of three Israeli settlers, Israeli forces have imposed extensive movement restrictions on thousands of Palestinians in the northern West Bank, particularly in Nablus, Qalqiliya and Salfit governorates, disrupting access to services and workplaces. These restrictions, accompanied by recurrent house raids, search operations, physical assault and detentions, have also been reported following the injury of a settler woman by glass shrapnel due to stone throwing by Palestinians at the vehicle she was driving near Haris village, in Salfit governorate, on 12 January. For example, the two entrances to Marda village, in Salfit, were closed by Israeli forces for four consecutive days, severely restricting vehicular movement for the village’s 2,400 residents, while one remained closed through the end of the reporting period. Moreover, Israeli forces blocked with earthmounds a secondary entrance to Immatin village (pop. 3,700), in Qalqilya, and the main entrance to Odala village (pop. 1,700) in Nablus.
• Since mid-2024, OCHA has documented a surge in Israeli settler attacks and access restrictions imposed against Palestinians near seven newly established settlement outposts in Area B of the West Bank, including two in Ramallah governorate and five in Bethlehem governorate. Area B of the West Bank falls under Palestinian civilian control and Israeli security control according to the Oslo Accords. The five outposts in the Bethlehem governorate are located in the area referred to as the "Agreed-Upon Reserve," where Palestinian construction was prohibited under the 1998 Wye River Agreement, and where jurisdiction was unilaterally transferred to the Israeli Civil Administration (ICA) through a military order issued on 18 July 2024, according to the Israeli organization Peace Now. Illustrative incidents include:
  • In the Ramallah governorate, following the establishment in June 2024 of two new settlement outposts in Area B of Ein Yabrud and Turmus’ayya villages, OCHA documented between June and December 2024 about 30 incidents where settlers attacked or harassed Palestinians or caused damage to Palestinian property. This is compared with 12 such incidents in the first six months of 2024. These incidents included inter alia multiple cases of arson that resulted in damage to three farmhouses and the burning of 100 olive trees, theft of furniture and agricultural equipment, and the destruction of water tanks and solar systems. Palestinians have also reported facing heightened restrictions in accessing their agricultural lands in the area.
  • In the Bethlehem governorate, where five settlement outposts were established in mid-2024 in Area B, within the so-called “Agreed-Upon Reserve,” Israeli settlers have paved roads, built observation posts, and significantly increased their presence in the area. Between July and December 2024, OCHA documented nine incidents of attacks or harassment against the nearby communities of Barriyet Tuqu’ and Barriyet Kisan, compared with five such incidents in the first half of the year. These incidents entailed inter alia the vandalism of 80 olive trees, crops and water pipelines, theft of livestock, solar panels and agricultural equipment, and the displacement of a Palestinian family of eight, including six children, following recurrent settler attacks and access restrictions.
• During the reporting period, OCHA documented the demolition of 43 Palestinian-owned structures across the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, including one on punitive grounds. Thirty-four of the targeted structures were in Area C of the West Bank, six in East Jerusalem, and three in areas A and B of the West Bank. Eleven of the targeted structures in Area C were provided as humanitarian aid. Overall, these incidents resulted in the displacement of 55 people, including 28 children, and otherwise affected the livelihoods, or access to services, of over 2,000 people.

• • On 13 January, the Israeli Civil Administration demolished four agricultural structures in Area C of Al Funduq village, east of Qalqiliya, affecting two families comprising 18 people, including eight children. One of the structures was a 1,000--square-metre greenhouse, which housed a project run by a Palestinian woman, who started it, with her daughters, after the passing of her husband. The greenhouse had 2,500 tomato plants, ready to be harvested within a week, and would have provided the family with a revenue of at least 90,000 NIS (over $US24,000) for 30 tons of tomatoes. According to the affected families, the demolished structures were located in an area designated for the expansion of a road leading to Kedumim settlement.
  • On 8 and 9 January, Israeli forces, carried out a 21-hour military operation in the Tulkarm refugee camp and surrounding areas, where they punitively demolished the home of a Palestinian prisoner accused by the Israeli authorities of involvement in the fatal shooting of an Israeli soldier in November 2023. The affected home, which is located in a multi-story building, was demolished with explosives, rendering uninhabitable two other housing units in the same building. As a result, three registered refugee families, comprising 15 people including seven children, were displaced. Another nearby refugee family, comprising five people including a child, was temporarily displaced due to the bulldozing of a structural element that affected the safety and stability of their house. In addition, the operation caused extensive infrastructure and road damage, resulting in electricity outages and disruptions to the water network. Four UNRWA schools in the camp were forced to close for a day while schools in Tulkarm city shifted to remote learning, affecting approximately 1,400 students. In 2024, 33 homes were demolished on punitive grounds across the West Bank, compared with 37 in 2023 and 14 in 2022. Punitive demolitions are a form of collective punishment and are illegal under international law.

948.

16 januari 2025

Dear Community,

We are all anxiously awaiting the end of the war in Gaza, while we continue the fight against settler violence. As we conclude a year marked by widespread violence, and particularly by settler violence, Yesh Din has published a new datasheet revealing a troubling reality:

94% of criminal investigations into ideological offenses committed by Israelis against Palestinians in the West Bank are closed without indictments. This reflects the ongoing failure of Israeli authorities to enforce the law against Israeli citizens who commit serious crimes against Palestinians and their property.

For two decades, we have monitored this phenomenon and provided legal assistance to Palestinian victims. The new data underscores the lack of deterrence and the lenient policies of Israeli law enforcement toward ideological crimes. Most investigations are closed on grounds such as "unknown perpetrator" or "lack of evidence," highlighting negligent and ineffective investigations. Only 3% of cases resulted in convictions, giving offenders a sense of immunity from accountability for their actions while Palestinians whose rights are violated remain unprotected by the law.
 

As a result, there has been a sharp increase in the number of Palestinian victims unwilling to report crimes to the police over the past two years. Yesh Din's data for 2024 shows that 66% of Palestinian victims chose not to file complaints against Israeli offenders. The majority cited a lack of faith in the Israel Police and trust that the Israeli authorities would take action.
 

The picture is clear: violence is a policy. Settler violence is part of a systematic approach aimed at expanding control over West Bank territory by making Palestinian lives unbearable and pushing them off their lands.

 

We Invite You to Support Our Struggle Against Policies that Enable Impunity for Offenders.
 

Together, we can continue documenting events, sharing information and data, standing with victims, and taking action to challenge figures like Ben Gvir and Smotrich while combating settler violence.

947.

17 januari 2025

Corrigendum
Humanitarian Situation Update #256
West Bank

Please note that we have fixed three mistakes in Humanitarian Situation Update #256 on the West Bank.

1. The reference to nine people killed in the first two weeks of January in fact refers to the first 13 days of January.
2. The reference to 40 Palestinian-owned structures demolished by Israeli authorities refers to the period 7-13 January.
3. The incident in Al Muntar forced the relocation of livestock rather than the displacement of a Palestinian family.

The correct version is available here: https://www.ochaopt.org/content/humanitarian-situation-update-256-west-bank. As a rule, we mark any corrections to our reports with asterisks.

 

Thank you for understanding.

 

Best regards,

 

OCHA OPT team

847A.

16 januari 2025

Yesterday we sent you our statement on the ceasefire agreement in Gaza. Today - as Israel continues to drop bombs and kills more Palestinians - we need you to take action.

While we hold onto hope that the ceasefire will bring some relief to Gaza, we know the real end to the genocide requires more than a temporary pause in violence. A lasting ceasefire can only happen when the U.S. stops fueling Israel’s war machine.

Yet, as Biden nears the end of his term, he’s quietly trying to push through a new $8 billion weapons deal with Israel.

The news of a ceasefire offers a glimmer of relief, but a ceasefire alone will not end the genocidal conditions imposed on Palestinians' daily reality: the intentional mass starvation, the restriction of necessary aid, and the decimated medical infrastructure.

And our government’s response? More weapons to fuel future massacres.

Congress needs to hear that the people demand investments in our communities here at home—not weapons used to massacre children abroad.
 

A ceasefire means nothing if the U.S. continues to arm Israel.

The era of Israel’s impunity must end—and it starts with stopping the flow of U.S. weapons.

In solidarity,

Sumaya Awad
Adalah Justice Project

Adalah Justice Project is a Palestinian-led advocacy organization based in the U.S. that builds cross-movement coalitions to achieve collective liberation.

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

946.

16 januari 2025

A ceasefire in Gaza is due to take affect on Sunday after nearly 500 days of genocidal warfare. Yet this is only the first step toward achieving peace and equality, and we must seize this opportunity to restore Gaza and carry out social justice projects all over Palestine. The ceasefire marks the beginning of a new year where we can expect many changes in Palestine and beyond.

Help keep our volunteers active in 2025! We are planning many activities this year for creating positive change. As a small organization, we depend on people like you to keep us going. Here is an overview of what your donation will help make happen this year!

Family Aid campaign

Families in Hebron are struggling under the economic devastation of the war in Gaza. We help the families support themselves during this time by providing household essentials to Palestinian mothers tailored to the individual needs of the families. Since last winter, we have provided food and essentials to around 800 struggling families in Hebron. Our volunteers carry the aid through checkpoints and bring it directly to the families' doorsteps.

Legal Support and Aid

Our volunteers in Palestine live under Israeli military law, which means that that they are considered guilty until proven innocent. The Israeli military court system has been internationally condemned as an apparatus of occupation. Peaceful protest is illegal and any community engagement comes with the risk of wrongful arrest and imprisonment. Meanwhile, violent attacks on our volunteers by Israeli settlers and soldiers are rarely prosecuted. Palestinians can be held indefinitely without charge. We are here to support innocent Palestinians through an unjust system and provide legal aid to uphold their innocence while seeking justice for the crimes committed against them. Most famously, we helped support Issa Amro through his internally condemned trial in military court. We also won a defamation lawsuit against an alt-Right Israeli news outlet and have secured other legal victories.

Help us provide legal aid to our volunteers to provide justice and secure their continued freedom!

Family Protection & Countersurveillance

We are fundraising to equip families with fences, fortified windows and doors, fire alarms and security cameras to protect them from Israeli settler and soldier violence. We expect a new wave of attacks and we need to act now to protect the lives and wellbeing of the vulnerable families living next to settlements in Hebron.

With the new U.S. administration coming into power, we fear that Israeli settlers will attack families in their homes to drive them out. There is a high risk of violent break-ins, assault, vandalism, and armed settlers shooting toward Palestinian houses. We will protect families by securing their homes with fortified doors and windows, fences, CCTV cameras, and alarm systems. All the money raised for Giving Tuesday (throughout December) will go toward this security equipment. Our team on the ground will access the homes in the restricted area and install the security measures.

Open Shuhada Street

Help support our annual call for the opening of Shuhada Street in Hebron, an end to the closures and restrictions in the city, and an end to the system of apartheid. We commemorate the Ibrahimi Mosque massacre in February, 1994, in which an American-born Israeli settler opened fire on Muslim worshippers inside the historic Cave of the Patriarchs mosque in the city. This led to the closure of Shuhada Street for Palestinians while Israeli settler roam freely. We organize peaceful activities on the ground to highlight the restrictions and system of segregation in the city. We also send volunteers on speaking tours in Europe and the U.S. to talk about their work and the situation in the city, build a stronger network, and raise awareness about Palestine with Hebron as the case study.

We help strengthen the resilience of Palestinian families and help them remain in their homes. We call this an act of Sumud or steadfastness in the face of occupation and land-taking.

Olive Harvest 2025

Help Palestinian familie carry out the ancient practice of the Olive Harvest. Every year, we protect families and help them harvest their olives in the occupied neighborhoods in Hebron. Families are vulnerable to settler attacks during the harvest, and soldiers often prevent families from managing their olive trees and harvesting the olives. This year, we hope to organize a strong international delegation to come to Hebron and take part of the harvest.

International advocacy

To achieve freedom, justice and equality we need to raise awareness of Palestine and the situation in Hebron to the international community. Our advocacy work aims to engage all layers of a society to achieve real change on the issue of Palestine. From university campuses and community centers to European parliaments and Congress, as well as media outreach, we create spaces for Palestinian voices. We seek to amplify voices from the most vulnerable people living under apartheid and occupation as well as the volunteers committed to nonviolent resistance, and bring these voices into international forums and tell the story of Hebron to the world. Help us raise our voices for peace and justice!

With peace,

Friends of Hebron

Working for Peace and Justice

Friends of Hebron
https://www.hebronfriends.org/

945.

16 januari 2025

Today's headlines

The Gaza ceasefire will not cure the wounds of genocide

Now that a ceasefire has been agreed to in Gaza, the bombs will stop falling, and the world will breathe a sigh of relief. Yet, for those of us who survived, the war hasn’t ended—it has merely transformed.

Did Donald Trump force the ceasefire deal the Biden administration refused to?

A ceasefire deal to finally stop the genocide in Gaza and bring about an exchange of captives appears to be at hand, but many questions remain. Among them is the role the incoming Trump administration played and what this says for his policy in the region.

944.

16 januari 2025

As news of a ceasefire spread today, Abubaker Abed, a young journalist and genocide survivor, wrote “The sun will rise again over Gaza.”

His words capture the bittersweet relief we all feel—a flicker of light in the endless darkness Gaza’s people have endured.

For over a year, Palestinians in Gaza have lived through relentless bombardment, grief etched into every corner of their lives.

The announcement of the long-awaited ceasefire offers a moment to breathe, to celebrate, to grieve, to process, and to prepare for what’s ahead.

We hear the sighs of mothers—joy and sorrow interwoven. We see families returning to the rubble, searching for remnants of what they lost, including the bodies of their loved ones.

But we know this moment is fragile. What Gaza needs is a permanent ceasefire, not a fleeting reprieve.

And we know that a permanent ceasefire won’t happen until the U.S. stops fueling Israel’s genocidal war machine.

Palestinians deserve to live with dignity and safety, free from walls, bombs, and checkpoints. They deserve the right to determine their own future.

Anything less means prolonging the apartheid and occupation that have brutalized them for decades.

The last 15 months of Israel’s attacks have been catastrophic. Hundreds of thousands of lives lost. Entire neighborhoods reduced to rubble. Hospitals, schools, places of worship—nothing has been spared. The impact of this destruction doesn’t end when the bombs stop falling.

This devastation was only possible with the full backing of the U.S. government. Our taxpayer dollars funded this massacre. Our leaders delayed a ceasefire while Israel mercilessly slaughtered tens of thousands of children, wiped entire families off the map, and starved millions of people. We meet this moment with the horrific knowledge that none of this had to happen.

Today, families in Gaza dare to breathe again. They will begin to pick up the pieces of their lives, mourn the unimaginable losses they’ve suffered, sift through the ruins of their homes, and start rebuilding. But the road ahead will be long and hard.

Now is a critical moment for us to support the Palestinian people in their recovery and rebuilding.

The genocide will not truly end until Israel’s occupying rule is dismantled and Palestinians are free. We all have a duty to continue organizing at all levels to put an end to all military, political, and financial support for Israel - whether in the White House, Congress, or the institutions in our local communities.

It’s our responsibility to ensure that genocide never happens again. We must rise to meet this moment.

Let’s make sure that the hope rising over Gaza never fades.

Together in grief and hope,

The Adalah Justice Project Team

16 januari 2024

World on the Brink of Doom (or Maybe Not)

 

In their foreign policies in 2024, some governments that claim to champion human rights – and occasionally even follow through on their commitments – very obviously failed to do so last year, when it came to abuses committed by allies.

The most obvious example was the double standard shown by many western countries. Germany, the US, and others continue to provide weapons to Israel despite widespread violations of international law in Gaza, while condemning Russia for similar violations in Ukraine.

In the face of rising authoritarianism, repression, and armed conflict, the need to respect and defend universal human rights takes on more urgency than ever. Civil society should remain steadfast in holding governments to account.

942.

15 januari 2025

AMP Calls on UN Oversight to Guarantee Commitments and End Impunity

Today marks a long-awaited and bittersweet moment of solemn relief after 15 months of unimaginable suffering. The announcement of a ceasefire in Gaza is an opportunity to acknowledge the end of the genocide that has devastated the Palestinian people. It’s a day to honor and grieve the over 100,000 Palestinians murdered and the countless injured and to confront the complete destruction of Gaza’s infrastructure, ranging from entire villages to individual homes, schools, universities, and hospitals. For survivors, this is a moment where they can finally mourn their losses; meanwhile, their scars — physical and emotional — will remain an enduring testament to this atrocity, reverberating through generations to come.

While we celebrate this moment of reprieve, we must remind ourselves that the work is far from done. This ceasefire does not mark the end of the catastrophe perpetuated by Israel, made only possible with President Biden’s unconditional support. Returning to a pre-2023 occupation status quo is not only unacceptable but a betrayal of the very idea of justice. True peace demands a complete departure from Israel’s system of oppression, which has defined Palestinian lives for decades. Justice means ensuring that every Palestinian displaced by Israel’s apartheid regime can return home to rebuild their lives with dignity, security, and the freedom that has been denied to them for far too long. Justice also demands accountability — every Israeli and American official complicit in these war crimes must face credible international mechanisms. Peace is inseparable from justice, and justice cannot exist without the dismantling of systems that uphold apartheid and occupation.

 

The United States and Israel bear both a moral and legal obligation to rebuild the homes, infrastructure, and lives destroyed by U.S.-made bombs. Gaza’s reconstruction must not be delayed, nor should it be contingent upon political conditions. The international community must establish credible mechanisms to ensure that Israel is held accountable, not only by paying for the reconstruction but also by compensating Palestinians for their immense loss and suffering. Above all, the future of Gaza, and all of occupied Palestine, must be determined by its people, for its people. It cannot be shaped by American and Israeli coercion or any attempt to perpetuate the occupation, injustice, and oppression that Palestinians have endured for decades.

Israel’s track record makes it clear that it cannot be trusted to honor its agreements. Likewise, the United States has demonstrated, over decades, that it is not an impartial or honest broker. To ensure that commitments are upheld and violations are met with proper accountability, there must be an independent international mechanism under the supervision of the United Nations. Only through such credible oversight can we guarantee that Israel is held to its obligations and that justice and fairness are guaranteed.

American Muslims for Palestine (AMP) extends its gratitude to everyone who tirelessly advocated for this ceasefire. From those who filled the streets in protest, wrote letters, made phone calls, and amplified Palestinian voices — this moment is a testament to your unwavering commitment and solidarity. But above all, this ceasefire would not have been possible without the unparalleled courage, survival, and efforts of Palestinians in Gaza. They are the heart of this moment. It is their steadfast determination to endure Israel’s oppression that has made this reprieve possible. To the people of Gaza, your strength inspires the world and reminds us all of the true meaning of courage and perseverance.

We do not have the right to rest. As the genocide ends and Palestinians begin the arduous journey of rebuilding their homes and lives, we must recognize that this is not enough. The work must continue to end Israel’s occupation and apartheid, systems of oppression that have persisted for far too long, fueled by unwavering American complicity. Let this day be a rallying cry — a call to action to pursue the hard but necessary work of achieving lasting justice and true liberation. This ceasefire must not be a temporary pause but the foundation for a future where Palestinians can live free from occupation, apartheid, and oppression.

The path ahead is steep, but together, we will walk it. For those whose lives were taken, for those who endure, and for generations yet to come, we commit to continuing this fight until justice prevails. This is only the beginning of the hard work required to dismantle oppression and build a future rooted in equity and freedom. Let us honor the dead not only with remembrance but with relentless action.

In solidarity,
American Muslims for Palestine (AMP)

941.

15 januari 2025

First ceasefire, then Palestinian liberation.

 

941A.

15 januari 2025

Did you see the news? An official ceasefire deal has been reached, and the first of the three-phase plan is due to go into effect on Sunday, Jan. 19.

We want to be very clear: this is good news. We’ve advocated for a permanent ceasefire as the bare minimum demand from the very beginning. This news is an urgently needed relief for Palestinian people in Gaza fighting to survive each day of this horrific genocide, as we see live scenes of their joyful celebrations.

At the same time, you may have noticed that midway through last year, we shifted our focus from a permanent ceasefire to our long-held North Star goal to end military funding to Israel from the U.S. war machine.

This was very intentional. We know the genocide doesn’t end when the bombs stop dropping. The genocide ends when UNRWA can operate freely. When every destroyed hospital is rebuilt. When unfettered aid, food, water, and gasoline can enter Gaza.

Even then, true Palestinian liberation—essential for the collective liberation of all oppressed peoples globally—only comes when Israel’s apartheid regime, supported by tens of billions in military funding from the U.S., comes to an end.

I wish those changes were possible in the next few months and that I could share a roadmap with you for it, but that would be a lie.

So today, we keep fighting against another $8 billion in weapons to Israel.

And tomorrow—through power building, organizing, and investing in our infrastructure, we will continue the long-term work to force a U.S. arms embargo on Israel and end U.S. complicity in Israel’s apartheid regime once and for all.

STOP $8 BILLION IN WEAPONS TO ISRAEL

941B.

15 januari 2025

AJP Action Welcomes Ceasefire Announcement, Urges Our Fellow Americans To Continue Advocating For Palestine

[WASHINGTON D.C., January 15, 2025] – Americans for Justice in Palestine Action (AJP Action) welcomes today’s long-overdue announcement of a ceasefire in Gaza. After 465 days of unrelenting genocide, Palestinians have secured a vital moment of reprieve with the announcement of a three-phase ceasefire, the first phase offering 42 days of relative peace. This outcome is a testament to the unyielding resilience of the Palestinian people, who have endured the Biden-backed Israeli campaign of genocide that began on October 7, 2023. Gaza, the most dangerous place on earth for children, with over 90% of its population forcibly displaced, more than an estimated 186,000 killed, nearly 110,000 injured, and more than 11,000 still missing, stands as a haunting testament to the atrocities committed. Even under these dire circumstances, Palestinians have shown extraordinary fortitude. The most profound lesson from all that has transpired is this: oppression and crimes committed by an occupier cannot extinguish the will of the oppressed to live with freedom and dignity.

A ceasefire, however, will not undo the devastation wrought by Israel, made possible by the unyielding financial and political backing of President Biden and the United States. A return to the pre-2023 status quo of occupation and apartheid is NOT an option. Temporary pauses of genocide are not enough; this moment demands the dismantling of the entrenched systems of oppression that have dictated Palestinian lives for generations. Justice calls for the unconditional right of return for every displaced Palestinian, granting them the opportunity to rebuild their lives with dignity, security, and freedom. It also necessitates accountability—Israeli and American officials complicit in these atrocities must face credible international mechanisms. Without dismantling apartheid and ending the occupation, peace remains an illusion.

This moment underscores the critical role we, as Americans, have played in pressuring the administration and Congress for this moment. By amplifying the voices of Palestinians and demanding an end to the genocidal war funded and supported by our government, we made it clear: “We, Americans, do NOT consent to our tax dollars funding genocide.” This ceasefire agreement is also a reflection of the American public not approving of this genocide. A recent national poll from YouGov and IMEU Policy found that 29% of voters who supported President Biden in 2020 and did not support Kamala Harris in 2024 identified “ending Israel’s violence in Gaza” as the top issue affecting their vote, ranking higher than the economy, health care, immigration, and even abortion policy. These results, also indicated by a poll we conducted with YouGov prior to the elections in May 2024, reflect a growing awareness and demand among Americans for a foreign policy rooted in justice, accountability, and human rights.
The fight for justice in Gaza and for Palestinians everywhere is far from over. The Israeli occupation persists, and the United States’ complicity in sustaining it continues. We must stay engaged—write to your members of Congress, attend protests, amplify the truth on social media, and get involved in politics to continue your advocacy. Despair is not an option. To backslide or remain silent in the face of injustice is to be complicit in it. This moment calls for renewed determination, not complacency.

Let us honor this moment by deepening our commitment to the fight for a free Palestine. Ending the occupation is the only path to a just and lasting resolution. We urge incoming President Donald Trump to build on this ceasefire and ensure that Palestinian rights are prioritized. Most importantly, Gaza’s future—and that of all occupied Palestine—must be determined by Palestinians themselves. The path forward is clear: liberation, accountability, and justice for all Palestinians.

In solidarity,

Dr. Osama Abu IrshaidExecutive Director, AJP Action

941C.

15 januari 2025

940.

14 januari 2025

Humanitarian Situation Update #255
Gaza Strip

Children playing near a flooded area at a site for internally displaced people (IDPs) in Gaza city. Photo: OHCHR

Key Highlights

 

• The fuel crisis continues to threaten the operation of critical health services, from ventilators in Intensive Care Units to hemodialysis machines.
• Critical water, sanitation and hygiene facilities and activities are at risk of grinding to a halt if no additional fuel is urgently received, warns the WASH Cluster.
• Explosive weapons in 2024 left an average of 15 children a day in Gaza with potentially life-long disabilities, according to Save the Children.
• Less than 450 patients have been medically evacuated outside Gaza since May 2024, out of just over 5,000 evacuated in total since October 2023 and more than 12,000 still in need of urgent, life-saving evacuation, according to the Health Cluster.
• Women and girls in overcrowded and poorly lit shelters face heightened vulnerability to violence, including sexual exploitation and abuse, warns UNFPA.

Humanitarian Developments

 

• Israeli bombardment from the air, land and sea and detonation of residential buildings continues to be reported across the Gaza Strip, resulting in further civilian casualties, displacement, and destruction of civilian infrastructure. Rocket fire by Palestinian armed groups towards Israel has also been reported.
• Between the afternoons of 8 and 14 January 2025, according to the Ministry of Health (MoH) in Gaza, 210 Palestinians were killed and 738 were injured. Between 7 October 2023 and 14 January 2024, at least 46,645 Palestinians were killed and 110,012 were injured, according to MoH in Gaza. According to the Ministry, the cumulative figure includes 499 fatalities that were retroactively added as of 11 January 2025 after their identification details were consolidated and approved by a ministerial committee.
• Attacks on schools-turned-shelters continue to be reported. On 7, 9 and 11 January, strikes impacting schools or school yards with tents sheltering IDPs in Jabalya, in the North Gaza governorate, reportedly killed 15 people, including three women and three children, and injured over 30 others, including 19 children. On 13 January, a school was also reportedly hit in the Ad Daraj neighbourhood in central Gaza city, resulting in five people killed and others injured.
• Other deadly incidents reported between 7 and 13 January 2025 include:
  • On 7 January, at about 19:15, five Palestinians, a mother and her four children, were reportedly killed and several others injured when a tent sheltering IDPs was hit in Al Mawasi area in western Khan Younis.
  • On 7 January, at about 19:00, eight Palestinians including children were reportedly killed and others injured when a house was hit in Jabalya Al Balad in southern North Gaza.
  • On 7 January, at about 20:15, seven Palestinians, including a couple and their three children, were reportedly killed and others injured when a house was hit in southern Khan Younis.
  • On 8 January, at about 12:00, staff of a telecommunication company were reportedly hit while working to fix connection lines in Ash Shuja’iyeh neighbourhood in eastern Gaza city, resulting in several casualties.
  • On 10 January, in the afternoon hours, a Palestinian journalist was shot and killed in An Nuseirat refugee camp, in Deir al Balah, bringing the total number of journalists and media workers killed since October 2023 to 195, according to the Palestinian Journalists Syndicate (PJS). On 14 January, PJS condemned the killing of two additional journalists in Gaza city on 13 and 14 January 2025.
  • On 10 January, at about 12:10, at least one Palestinian child was reportedly killed and several others injured in an explosion, reportedly caused by an explosive remnant of war, in Al Mawasi area in western Khan Younis.
  • On 11 January, at about 16:10, three Palestinians, including a girl, were reportedly killed and four others injured when a tent sheltering IDPs was hit in Al Heker area, south of Deir al Balah.
  • On 12 January, a Palestinian ambulance officer reportedly succumbed to his injuries after being hit by an airstrike while on duty in Jabalya. According to MoH, 1,060 health sector staff have been killed in Gaza since October 2023.
• Between the afternoons of 8 and 14 January 2025, 12 Israeli soldiers were killed in Gaza, according to the Israeli military. Between 7 October 2023 and 14 January 2025, according to the Israeli military and official Israeli sources cited in the media, more than 1,605 Israelis and foreign nationals were killed, the majority on 7 October 2023 and its immediate aftermath. This includes 405 soldiers killed in Gaza or along the border in Israel since the beginning of the ground operation in October 2023. In addition, 2,561 Israeli soldiers were reported injured since the beginning of the ground operation. On 10 January, the Israeli authorities, as cited in the media, confirmed the death of an Israeli hostage whose body was recently recovered along with another hostage from a tunnel in Rafah. As of 14 January, it is estimated that 98 Israelis and foreign nationals remain captive in Gaza, including hostages who have been declared dead and whose bodies are withheld in Gaza.

• “For the children of Gaza, the new year has brought more death and suffering from attacks, deprivation, and increasing exposure to the cold,” stated the UNICEF Executive Director, Catherine Russell, stressing that in the first seven days of 2025 alone, at least 74 children were reportedly killed in several mass casualty events across Gaza, “including nighttime attacks in Gaza City, Khan Younis, and Al Mawasi.” At the same time, the continued lack of basic shelter amid winter temperatures, with nearly one million children living in makeshift tents, coupled with lack of access to nutrition and healthcare and the dire sanitary situation, all pose extreme risks for children, with newborns and children with medical conditions being particularly vulnerable, added the UN official. On 14 January, Save the Children reported that the use of explosive weapons in Gaza throughout 2024 left “an average of 475 children each month – or 15 children a day - with potentially lifelong disabilities,” including loss of limbs, sight and hearing. This calculation is based on previous estimates by the Protection Cluster and the Health Cluster’s Trauma Working Group suggesting that in the first 11 months of 2024, at least 5,230 children sustained conflict-related injuries requiring significant rehabilitation support that is inaccessible in Gaza due to the decimation of the health system and restrictions on entry of critical supplies, “leaving them with a high likelihood of disability,” explains the NGO. According to specialized surgeons cited by Save the Children, rising child malnutrition is aggravating the situation, hampering the healing of wounds, and thousands of children who lack prosthetics for their injured limbs face the risk of also developing deformities on their back or issues on the opposite limb, including early osteoarthritis in the hip or knee joint.
• On 11 January, the Palestinian Civil Defense (PCD) stated that several firefighting and rescue vehicles in Gaza, Deir al Balah, and Khan Younis governorates have stopped working due to the lack of maintenance parts and equipment needed to repair and operate them. PCD indicated that their stockpile of these supplies, along with equipment and repair parts that were available on the local market and had allowed PCD to maintain a minimum level of maintenance for their vehicles, have been destroyed. This has come at a time when, according to PCD, more than half of Civil Defense vehicles across Gaza remain out of service due to the lack of fuel to operate them.
• The Health Cluster reports that all still partially functional hospitals have exhausted their reserve fuel stocks and are relying on piecemeal quantities of fuel delivered daily by partners in an attempt to safeguard the most critical services. The fuel crisis, which has been exacerbated by the looting of fuel trucks, continues to threaten the operation of health facilities, directly affecting about 2,000 patients in Deir al Balah, Khan Younis and Rafah, 10 per cent of whom are in Intensive Care Units (ICUs), and around 220 patients in the northern Gaza governorates, 70 of them in ICUs. The fuel crisis is also threatening the continued operation of 75 haemodialysis machines across the Strip that represent a lifeline for approximately 700 patients suffering from kidney diseases, the majority of them being in central and southern Gaza. At present, due to the critical shortage of both haemodialysis machines and supplies, these patients are only receiving sub-optimal treatment, undertaking an average of 10 dialysis sessions of three-to-four hours each per month, compared to the 12 sessions of four hours each required according to international standards. Prior to the current hostilities, 198 dialysis machines were available across the Strip.
• On 8 January, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) warned that all three key hospitals in Deir al Balah and Khan Younis - the Nasser Medical Complex, the Al-Aqsa and European Gaza hospitals - were “on the verge of closure due to a lack of fuel,” placing at imminent risk the lives of hundreds of patients, including newborns in incubators who depend on mechanical ventilators to stay alive, and disrupting the treatment of patients with burns and trauma. Furthermore, Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP) reports that the Nasser Medical Complex, which as of 10 January had 13 patients, including three children, relying on mechanical ventilation and 17 newborns depending on incubators for survival, has been forced to prioritize power for operating theatres, paediatric and neonatal ICUs, while other hospital facilities have minimal lighting and are relying on a smaller generator and solar systems during daylight hours. In the Gaza governorate, the last fuel delivery took place on 4 January, with efforts ongoing to plan a resupply mission early next week to maintain critical health services. In North Gaza, where there is only one barely functional health facility, the situation is similarly critical; as of 13 January, Al Awda Hospital has been striving to provide care to 36 patients amid severe shortages of medicines, medical supplies, fuel and food, warns the World Health Organization (WHO, with the hospital’s Director reporting that the facility has been without fuel for 95 days. Despite all the efforts of the Health Cluster, continuous insecurity in the area surrounding the hospital, damaged infrastructure that has rendered the road impassable, and access impediments continue to prevent access to the facility.

• The lack of fuel is threatening to cause an abrupt halt to critical WASH services across the Gaza Strip. The WASH Cluster warns that - unless fuel is urgently received - all WASH services both north and south of Wadi Gaza will imminently cease functioning, with the sole exception of the Southern Gaza Desalination Plant, which in November was reconnected to an electric feeder line from Israel and no longer relies on fuel to operate. WASH partners also would be unable to truck and distribute water, and all sewage and solid waste management operations would grind to a halt. The present crisis is only the apex of a long-standing fuel shortage that has severely compromised all WASH operations throughout 2024; according to the WASH Cluster, the daily quantity of fuel received by WASH partners has plummeted to an average of 8,746 litres in November and less than 12,000 litres in December, compared to the 70,000 litres required per day at a minimum for critical WASH activities, such as production, treatment and distribution of water, pumping, desludging and transfer of sewage, and solid waste management. Moreover, since 6 October 2024, access to water production points in North Gaza and eastern Gaza governorate has also been consistently denied by the Israeli authorities, further curtailing the Cluster’s ability to provide people with water. Combined, the lack of fuel and access restrictions have forced WASH actors to make impossible choices, having to decide daily between providing water, pumping sewage, repairing water or sewage leaks, or transferring solid waste. Displaced people, particularly in northern Gaza, have been forced to either survive on extremely limited quantities of water for drinking, cooking and personal hygiene, or to take long dangerous trips for collection, or even resort to using unsafe water sources. Aggravating these conditions is the lack of fuel for sewage and solid waste management, which continues to cause sewage spills and a mounting accumulation of solid waste in or near displacement sites, exacerbating the spread of vermin, infectious diseases and other public health risks.
• Amid immense challenges, efforts have continued to rehabilitate key healthcare facilities in Gaza governorate, with the Al-Rantisi Paediatric Hospital and the Ophthalmic Hospital resuming partial functionality on 1 and 7 January, respectively. Overall, 18 out of 36 hospitals are at present partially functional in Gaza, 10 of them in the Gaza governorate, four in Khan Younis, three in Deir al Balah and only one in the North Gaza governorate. On 12 January, WHO also conducted a mission to the Al-Shifa Hospital to inter alia deliver 9,700 litres of fuel, provide blood and plasma units for onward distribution to other health facilities in Gaza city, facilitate the rotation of an Emergency Medical Team hitherto deployed at the Al Ahli Hospital to southern Gaza, and deliver training on a new disease surveillance system.
• On 8 January, six children and their five companions were evacuated to the United States to receive specialized medical treatment, while four other patients and their five companions were transferred to Jordan. As of 8 January 2025, according to the Health Cluster, 446 patients, including 266 children, have been exceptionally evacuated outside Gaza since the closure of Rafah Crossing on 7 May 2024, out of just over 5,000 evacuated in total since October 2023, while more than 12,000 patients are estimated to require urgent medical evacuation abroad.
• The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) reports that over 40,000 pregnant women are experiencing emergency levels of food insecurity (IPC Phase 4) and more than 8,000 are enduring catastrophic food insecurity conditions (IPC Phase 5). Amid severe access impediments to maternal and neonatal care, rising malnutrition continues to drive up rates of preterm births and neonatal complications, UNFPA warns. At present, emergency obstetric and newborn care is only available at seven out of 18 partially functional hospitals across Gaza, four out of 11 field hospitals, and a community health centre. Three of these field hospitals, two in Khan Younis and one in Deir al Balah, as well as the community health centre in Deir al Balah host six containerized health units procured by UNFPA. These units continue to address gaps in maternal healthcare in displacement cites, supporting over 2,000 deliveries per month. Despite access and resource challenges, partners are doing their utmost to expand sexual and reproductive health (SRH) services across Gaza, delivering essential medical supplies, clean delivery kits, and postpartum kits, and continue to train midwives on urgent delivery and neonatal resuscitation. Particularly in northern Gaza, where access remains severely limited, UNFPA relies on mobile SRH teams, including midwives, to provide care through home and shelter visits.
• On 12 January, the Israeli military issued an evacuation order for An Nuseirat refugee camp in Deir al Balah, covering approximately 0.86 square kilometres. Several evacuation orders had already been issued for the designated area. An estimated 4,100 people living in the area were affected, including those sheltering at two UNRWA shelters, so were three medical points, two water trucking points and two Temporary Learning Spaces (TLSs). Aid organizations report that limited displacement movements were subsequently observed towards other areas in Deir al Balah.
• Between 4 November and 16 December, the Site Management Working Group (SMWG) assessed 565 displacement sites in southern Deir al Balah and Khan Younis, hosting a total of 171,505 households, or nearly 842,000 people, the majority of whom had been displaced from Gaza and North Gaza governorates since October 2023. Eighty per cent of the sites were makeshift shelters while the remaining 19 per cent were collective centres. The assessment, which relied on data collected through interviews with Key Informants (KIs), highlighted that 82 per cent of the sites had some type of site committee and 70 per cent had women involved either in the management of the site, the distribution of aid or in specific women’s committees. According to KIs, access to sufficient food and adequate drinking water was absent or extremely limited at 87 and 51 per cent of the sites, respectively. Nearly all sites (95 per cent) had no source of lighting, and 36 per cent had people staying in the open without shelter. Over 60 per cent of KIs reported that none of the households have had access to adequate hygiene items. Overall, the five most critical needs highlighted by residents across all sites were food, shelter, household items, personal hygiene supplies and latrines, with the most urgent NFIs being clothing, bedding items and washing supplies.

• Gender-based violence (GBV) is surging, according to UNFPA, with women and girls in overcrowded and poorly lit shelters facing increasing denial of access to resources within households and heightened vulnerability to emotional and physical violence, including sexual exploitation and abuse. The lack of privacy and safe spaces, hygiene facilities and menstrual supplies only exacerbates risks and further undermines safety and dignity, with hygiene-related infections being on the rise. In December, over 37,000 people received specialized GBV services across Gaza, including Mental Health and Psychosocial Support (MHPSS), case management, safety and legal aid. UNFPA also distributed 1,248 dignity kits and a two-month supply of menstrual pads to 27,600 women and girls, as well as 5,202 hygiene kits to frontline professionals, including health and social workers, and youth volunteers.
• Between 1 and 13 January, out of 204 planned aid movements requiring coordination with Israeli authorities across the Gaza Strip, 41 per cent (83) were facilitated, 34 per cent (70) were denied, 15 per cent (31) were interfered with or initially agreed to but then faced impediments, and ten per cent (20) were cancelled by the organizers due to logistical and security challenges. Movements facing impediments were accomplished either partially or not at all. Of the coordinated movements, 32 needed to cross from southern Gaza through the Israeli military-controlled checkpoints on Al Rashid or Salah ad Din roads to areas north of Wadi Gaza (including both North Gaza and Gaza governorates); of these, only 28 per cent (nine) were facilitated, 38 per cent (12) were denied, 22 per cent (seven) faced impediments, and 12 per cent (four) were cancelled. These include ten attempts to reach the besieged area in North Gaza, of which eight were denied and two were withdrawn. Coordinated aid missions to areas in the Rafah governorate, where there has been an ongoing Israeli military operation since early May, have faced similar challenges. Fifteen out of 22 planned movements submitted to the Israeli authorities to access Rafah governorate between 1 and 13 January were denied, four were facilitated, and two were initially agreed to, but faced impediments. This excludes 16 coordinated movements to Kerem Shalom crossing, of which 56 per cent (nine) were facilitated, 12 per cent (two) were impeded, and 31 per cent (five) were cancelled.
• A study published by the medical journal The Lancet estimates that between 7 October 2023 and 30 June 2024, a total of 64,260 people died due to traumatic injury in Gaza, representing 2.9 per cent of Gaza’s pre-conflict population, or one in 35 inhabitants. This mortality rate is 41 per cent higher than the one estimated by MoH during the same timeframe, which stood at 37,877 deaths. The study also infers that, while the official MoH estimate as of 6 October 2024 stood at 41,909 deaths, “assuming that the level of under-reporting of 41 per cent continued from July to October 2024, it is plausible that the true figure now exceeds 70,000.” Further details on the methodology and additional findings can be found in the report.

Funding

• As of 14 January 2025, Member States have disbursed approximately US$123.2 million out of the $4.07 billion (three per cent) requested to meet the most critical humanitarian needs of three million out of 3.3 million people identified as requiring assistance in Gaza and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, in 2025 under the 2025 Flash Appeal for the OPT. Nearly 90 per cent of the requested funds are for the humanitarian response in Gaza, with just over 10 per cent for the West Bank. Moreover, during December 2024, the oPt Humanitarian Fund (oPt HF) managed 111 ongoing projects, totalling $82.2 million, to address urgent needs in the Gaza Strip (86 per cent) and the West Bank (14 per cent). These include 64 projects implemented by international non-governmental organizations (INGOs), 34 by national NGOs and 13 by UN agencies. Of the 77 projects implemented by INGOs or the UN, 46 are being implemented in collaboration with national NGOs. For more information, please see OCHA’s Financial Tracking Service webpage and the oPt Humanitarian Fund webpage.

939.

13 januari 2025

938.

 This is taken from the Hind Rajab Foundation Site

13 januari 2025

The Hind Rajab Foundation focuses on offensive legal action against perpetrators, accomplices and inciters of war crimes and crimes against humanity in Palestine. We also  invest in awareness campaigns to challenge Israeli impunity and an honor to memory of the victims. The Hind Rajab Founadation is devoted to breaking the cycle of Israeli impunity and honoring the memory of Hind Rajab and all those who have perished in the Gaza genocide. We are driven by a profound commitment to justice, seeking to hold perpetrators accountable and ensuring that the stories of the victims are never lost to history. Through our efforts, we aim to build a world where such tragedies are not only remembered but prevented, fostering a future rooted in accountability, dignity, and justice for all.    

Hind's Story

Hind Rajab, was a five-year-old Palestinian girl, in Gaza. As her family sought to escape the relentless bombardment in Tel al-Hawa, their car was mercilessly targeted by an Israeli tank in an attack that can only be described as a war crime. Hind survived the initial barrage, only to be left alone in the blood-soaked car, surrounded by the bodies of her loved ones. Her desperate cries for help, as she begged for rescue on the phone with emergency services, moved hearts around the world. The ambulance that was sent to save her, after hours of negotiation, was obliterated by the Israeli army, ensuring that Hind's life was cruelly and deliberately extinguished.

​This horrific act is not an isolated incident but part of a systematic and intentional campaign of extermination targeting Palestinian civilians in Gaza. Hind's death stands as a damning indictment of the genocidal killers who perpetrate these atrocities with impunity. The Hind Rajab Foundation is committed to honoring her memory by holding these perpetrators accountable and shining a light on the truth of the ongoing genocide in Gaza. We refuse to let Hind's story be forgotten or dismissed; Her story is that of all the victims of this genocide.

About Us

 

The Hind Rajab Foundation is a branch of the March 30 Movement mainly dedicated to the quest for justice in response to the crimes against humanity, war crimes and human rights violations perpetrated by the Israeli state against Palestinians. Established during the ongoing Gaza genocide, our foundation honors the memory of Hind Rajab and all those who have perished or suffered under the Israeli genocidal campaign.

Our core mission is to actively pursue legal action against those responsible for these atrocities, including perpetrators, accomplices, and inciters of violence against Palestinians. Through offensive litigation, we aim to hold these actors accountable in both international and national courts, challenging the culture of impunity that has allowed such crimes to persist.

Beyond our legal efforts, we are committed to raising global awareness about the ongoing injustices faced by Palestinians. Our campaigns aim to confront and dismantle the narratives that obscure the reality of these crimes, ensuring that the voices of the victims are heard and remembered.

The Hind Rajab Foundation is resolute in its pursuit of a future where accountability prevails, and justice is not merely an aspiration but a tangible reality. We stand firm in our commitment to ending Israeli impunity, achieving justice, and ensuring that the legacy of those lost is honored.

Ghassan Alian Head of COGAT is responsible for the weaponizing of famine in Gaza.

Major General Ghassan Alian, Head of the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT), is currently in Rome, Italy. The Hind Rajab Foundation (HRF) has filed cases with the International Criminal Court (ICC) and Italian authorities, urging his immediate arrest for genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes. Alian, who publicly referred to Palestinians in Gaza as "human animals," has no immunity from prosecution. Time is of the essence to ensure accountability for his actions.

Hind Rajab Foundation Files Legal Complaint Against Israeli Sniper Boaz Ben David in Sweden

9/1/2025

​Stockholm- Sweden - The Hind Rajab Foundation has taken another significant step in its quest for justice by filing a legal complaint against Boaz Ben David, an Israeli sniper from the 932 Battalion of the Nahal Brigade. The complaint, filed with Swedish authorities, accuses Ben David of committing war crimes, crimes against humanity, and possible acts of genocide during the recent military operations in Gaza. This move follows growing international calls to hold perpetrators of grave crimes accountable, ensuring justice for victims of the ongoing genocide in Gaza.

Alert: Hind Rajab Foundation Files Complaint Against Lieutenant Amit Nechmya, Now Suspected of Fleeing Justice

6/1/2025

Buenos Aires- Argentina
On January 2, 2025, the Hind Rajab Foundation filed a legal case against Lieutenant Amit Nechmya, a platoon commander in the Latak Platoon of the Givati Brigade’s Rotem Battalion (435). Led by our lawyer Rodolfo Yanzón in Argentina, the case charges Nechmya with war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide.

Breaking: Brazilian Court Orders Police to Act on Israeli War Crimes Suspect Following HRF Complaint

3/1/2025

Brasilia/Brasil
In a historic legal development, Brazilian authorities have taken decisive action on a criminal complaint filed a week ago by the Hind Rajab Foundation (HRF) against an Israeli soldier currently in Brazil on tourism. The Federal Court of the Federal District, following the Federal Prosecutor’s agreement, has issued an urgent order for the police to investigate and take action against the suspect, marking a pivotal step toward accountability for crimes committed in Gaza.

From a Year of Impunity to a Year of Justice

31/12/2024

On December 31, 2023, Omri Nir, a soldier in the Israeli Defense Forces' Combat Engineering Battalion 601, posted a photo on Instagram where he is seen posing inside a house in Gaza—a house that once belonged to a Palestinian family killed or displaced during Israel's genocide. The photo, a chilling display of impunity, was meant to be a personal trophy of sorts, showcasing his role in the Gaza genocide.
Fast forward to this year, as Omri Nir travels to Thailand to celebrate New Year’s Eve once again, the world looks very different for him. The Hind Rajab Foundation, committed to bringing perpetrators of war crimes to justice, has detected his presence in Thailand and acted decisively.

Hind Rajab Foundation Files Cases and Demands Immediate Arrest of Israeli War Criminal Saar Hirshoren in Argentina and Chile, Targets Entire 749 Combat Engineering Battalion at the ICC

26/12/2024

Buenos Aires/Argentina
Santiago/Chile
The Hague/ The Netherlands

The Hind Rajab Foundation has initiated legal actions in Argentina and Chile against Saar Hirshoren, a member of Israel's 749 Combat Engineering Battalion who is currently present there. Mr. Hirshoren is accountable for war crimes committed in Gaza, the HRF is demanding his immediate arrest. Simultaneously, a comprehensive complaint has been filed with the International Criminal Court (ICC) targeting the entire battalion and its leadership for war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide.

Hind Rajab Foundation: Legal Pursuit of Israeli War Criminal in Thailand

20/12/2024

The Hind Rajab Foundation has formally filed a detailed complaint with the International Criminal Court (ICC) against Israeli war criminal Lidor Kandalker, demanding his immediate arrest and prosecution. Kandalker, currently in Thailand, is a member of the Rovait Gaesh (Volcano Company), a combat engineering unit notorious for the systematic and deliberate destruction of civilian infrastructure in Gaza.
Key evidence submitted to the ICC includes a video in which Kandalker is seen counting down before detonating explosives that destroy a civilian home in Gaza. The footage captures him celebrating with his comrades afterward, boasting about the destruction. This shocking display underscores his direct involvement in war crimes and crimes against humanity.
In addition to filing the ICC complaint, the Hind Rajab Foundation has notified Thai authorities, including the police, the Ministry of Justice, and the Thai Embassy in The Hague. The foundation has urged them to apprehend Kandalker, prevent his escape, and fulfill their international obligations to ensure accountability for his crimes.

Israeli Soldier Responsible for the Death of a Palestinian Civilian Located in Colombo, Sri Lanka: Hind Rajab Foundation Files Urgent Complaint. Demands Arrest and Prosecution

17/12/2024

​Colombo- Sri Lanka,
The Hind Rajab Foundation has located Gal Ferenbook, an Israeli soldier responsible for the death of a Palestinian civilian and the degrading treatment of their body, in Colombo, Sri Lanka. The Foundation has formally demanded that Sri Lankan authorities arrest him immediately and cooperate with the International Criminal Court (ICC). A formal complaint has also been submitted to the ICC, and the case has been communicated to Interpol to issue an international Red Notice for his apprehension.

Hind Rajab Foundation Files Urgent Legal Complaint in France Against Israeli Soldier for Acts of Torture and War Crimes

6/12/2024

December 6, 2024 – The Hind Rajab Foundation is filing an urgent legal complaint in France against Roi Hakimi, an Israeli soldier implicated in acts of torture and enforced disappearances during the recent Israeli assault on Gaza. Mr. Hakimi is currently on a tourism visit in France.

Hind Rajab Foundation Urges Belgium to Deny Accreditation to Moshe Tetro Amid ICC Complaint

3/12/2024

The Hind Rajab Foundation, in collaboration with the March 30 Movement, has taken a firm stance against the appointment of Colonel Moshe Tetro as Israel’s military attaché to Belgium. Citing his direct involvement in war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide during his tenure as the head of the Coordination and Liaison Administration for the Gaza Strip (CLA), the foundation is calling on the Belgian government to deny his accreditation. The Hind Rajab Foundation has also filed a detailed complaint with the International Criminal Court (ICC), demanding immediate action against Tetro.

​The Hind Rajab Foundation
Boulevard Louis Mettewie 46
1080 Brussels, Belgium
Registered Non-Profit under Belgian law
Registration number: 1013306540

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DE BEER IS LOS !!                                                                   

- Palestine Chronicle October 11, 2024:   ‘Unprecedented’ – Rights Group Files Case against 1,000 Israeli Soldiers for War Crimes in Gaza

The “meticulously collected evidence demonstrates the extent of their participation in violations of international law”

A Belgium-based rights group, the HindRajab Foundation, has filed “an unprecedented and historical complaint” with the International Criminal Court (ICC) against 1,000 Israeli soldiers for war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide in the Gaza Strip. “These individuals, all of whom have been identified by name, are accused of participating in systematic attacks against civilians during the ongoing genocide”, the organization, affiliated with the March 30 Movement, said in a statement this week.

The HindRalabfoundation just filed a complaint against 1,000 Israeli soldiers, supported by over 8,000 pieces of evidence, this case is a game changer in the efforts for ending Israeli impunity and achieving JusticeforGaza. hindrajabfoundation.org/perpetrators/. “This complaint, supported by over 8000 pieces of verifiable evidence – including video's, audio recordings, forensic reports, and social media documentation – demonstrates the soldiers’ direct involvement in these atrocities”, the organization explained. “All the named soldiers were located in Gaza during the genocidal assault, and the evidence reveals of international law”, it added. The foundation is named after the six-year-old Hind Rajab who was killed, along with six of her family members and two paramedics, by Israeli forces in Gaza. The meticulously collected evidence demonstrates the extent of this participations in violations of international law. Among the targeted soldiers, who have all been “identified individually” are high-ranking officers and commanders responsible for planning and executing military operations in Gaza. In addition, numerous individuals with dual citizenship, including 12 from France, 12 from the United States, 4 from Canada, 3 from the United Kingdom, and 2 from the Netherlands, as well as several soldiers “who have openly boasted about their war crimes on social media, sharing photos and videos of their participation in the destruction and occupation of Palestinian homes and properties.” “By meticulously identifying the perpetrators and detailing their crimes, we are establishing a historical record that will ensure the individuals responsible are remembered ans held accountable”, the organization stated.

Call for Arrest, Prosecution

“The submission of this complaint represents a significant  moment in the fight for justice. We honor the memory of Hind Rajab and the countless victims who have perished in the ongoing genocide”, the group emphasized. “Their stories will not be forgotten, and their voices will be heard through our persistent legal action. The organization called on every country linked to the dual nationals named in the complaint “to immediately arrest and prosecute these individuals for their involvement in war crimes, genocide, and crimes against humanity”. 

“We call on the international community to not only support this complaint but to actively pursue the prosecution and arrest of the accused, upholding the principles of international law and justice”, the rights group said.

 

- Palestine Cronicle January 6, 2025:  ‘War Crimes in Gaza – Around 50 Cases Filed against Israeli Soldiers Worldwide

 The “Israeli newspaper Haaretz said cases have been filed in South Africa, Sri Lanka, Belgium, France, and Brazil against Israeli soldiers”

Pro-Palestinian organizations have filed 50 complaints in courts around the world against Israeli soldiers for committing war crimes in the Gaza Strip, according to Israel´s public broadcaster KAN. “About 50 complaints have been filed against reserve soldiers, 10 of which have been investigated without any arrests recorded so far, KAN, cited by the Anadolu News Agency, reported. KAN did not name these countries. However, the Israeli newspaper Haaretz said cases have been filed in South Africa, Sri Lanka, Belgium, France and Brazil against Israeli soldiers. “No official instructions have been issued to ban travel to specific countries, but special cases are being dealt with cautiously”, KAN reportedly added.

‘High Risk Trips’

According to the channel, Israeli security authorities have recommended re-evaluating “high-risk” trips. “Assessing legal risks has become an essential part of the decision-making process, with directives issued to reduce  on social networks”, it added. Haaretz reported that active-duty soldiers “must have their travel destinations approved by senior commanders. However, the report added, “the Military Advocate General´s Corps has expressed concern over the lack of oversight for reservists.” Citing the army´s information security department, KAN said Israeli soldiers publish nearly one million posts every day on social media platforms that document their involvement in war crimes in Gaza, according to Anadolu.

Soldier Flees Brazil

On Sunday, an Israeli soldier under investigation for alleged war crimes committed in Gaza, reportedly fled Brazil to avoid arrest. The incident follows a federal court ruling Brazil to avoid arrest. The incident follows a federal court ruling in Brazil ordering the investigation of the soldier, based on charges brought by the Belgian-based human rights organization, the Hind Rajab Foundation (HRF).

Israeli Soldier Flees Brazil amid War Crimes investigation

This Israeli soldier facing war crimes charges related to the Gaza genocide has fled Brazil to avoid arrest, highlighting the growing possibility of international legal action against Israeli personal involved. The soldier who was on vacation in Brazil, is accused of participating in massive demolitions of civilian homes in Gaza “during a systematic campaign of destruction”. “These acts are part of a broader effort to impose unbearable living conditions on Palestinian civilians, constituting genocide and crimes against humanity under international law”, the HRF said in a statement on Friday. The evidence presented includes video footage, geolocation data, and photographs showing the suspect ‘personally planting explosives and participating in the destruction of entire neighborhoods”. These materials prove beyond doubt the suspect´s direct involvement in these heinous acts’, said the organization.

Government Involvement

The HRF said on Sunday that the Israeli army radio confirmed that the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs “has facilitated Yuval Vagdani´s escape from Brazil.” Citing a post from the army radio, the HRF said the intervention was “obstructing justice and undermining accountability for war crimes.” “Brazil and the global community must take a firm stand against this blatant evasion. Justice cannot be selective or optional. War criminals must be held accountable”, stressed the organization.

According to Israeli newspaper Haaretz, “a joint task force of the Military Advocate General´s Corps, the Foreign Ministry, the National Security Council and the Shin Bet is now analyzing risks tot soldiers in various countries and monitoring potential investigations, like the one launched in Brazil.”

‘Unprecedented Complaint’

Last October, the HRF filed “an unprecedented and historical complaint” with the International Criminal Court (ICC) against 1,000 Israeli soldiers for war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide in the Gaza Strip. “This complaint, supported by over 8,000 pieces of verifiable evidence – including videos, audio recordings, forensic reports and social media documentation – demonstrates the soldiers’ direct involvement in the these atrocities”, the organization explained. “All of the named soldiers were located in Gaza during the genocidal assault, and the evidence reveals their participation in violations of international law”, it added.

13 januari 2025

Today's headlines

‘Rain doesn’t last forever, habibi’: A long winter night in a tent in Gaza

In Gaza, survival is a daily act of defiance. Finding moments of laughter and warmth in a tent battered by rain is nothing short of a miracle.

Despite repression, the campus movement for Palestine remains strong

Attacks on Dr. Tiffany Willoughby-Herard at the University of California Irvine reflect the repression facing the Palestine campus movement across the country. But like other liberation movements before, activists remain strong and need our support.

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12 januari 2024

Today's headlines

From Gaza to California: the flames that connect us all

The fires burning in Palestine and Los Angeles today are symptoms of the same disease: a system that values conquest over conservation, profit over people, and expansion over existence.

In Gaza, a child’s simple, impossible wish

All young Omar wanted for his birthday was for his father to come home with some meat for a simple celebratory meal. Almost a year later, his father is still missing after being abducted by Israel, and his birthday wish is yet to come true.

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12 januari 2024

Biden fuels Israel’s genocide with $8B in aid as Trump prepares his return

Over the past week, the Biden Administration announced it would send an additional $8 billion in military equipment to Israel. Our reporting covers the devastating impact these weapons shipments have on Gaza, where civilians are enduring relentless Israeli airstrikes, widespread hunger from severe shortages of food, and a public health system that has essentially collapsed, among other indignities caused by the genocidal Israeli war. With both the outgoing and incoming U.S. presidential administrations committed to supporting the Israeli government’s use of military force in Gaza and across the region, there is little expectation that the international community will be able or willing to intervene and enforce de-escalation. There are some bright spots, however, as Ireland officially joined South Africa’s case at the International Court of Justice, charging Israel with committing genocide.

In the U.S., we are hurtling toward Donald Trump’s second term in office. In his latest public statements, Trump doubled down on his hostility toward Palestinian rights, threatening to undermine advocacy efforts and to punish Palestinians unless hostages in Gaza are released prior to his inauguration on January 20. Michael Arria warned in November that Trump’s renewed push to stigmatize dissent, coupled with his track record of targeting the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement, signals an even harsher climate for activists and nonprofits ahead.

Your ongoing support fortifies our ability to expose injustice, elevate marginalized voices, and advocate for the fundamental rights and dignity of Palestinians. Together, we will remain steadfast in our commitment to deliver the critical news and analysis you rely on, without fear or favor.

David Reed, Publisher

Must Read: Tensions rise in the West Bank as PA ‘siege’ on Jenin continues

Israeli leaders are calling for ‘Gaza-like’ operations in the West Bank, and to cut all ties with the PA.

Catch-up

= Residents of Jabalia refugee camp recount their harrowing experience during the latest Israeli assault on northern Gaza.

= The Biden Administration has done more damage to the international norms of humanitarian law and food security than any other U.S. government in recent history.

= It has been one week since the Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya, Director of the Kamal Adwan Hospital, was detained by Israeli forces. Reports indicate he is being held inside a notorious torture facility, but Israeli officials won’t confirm where he is.

= There are still a lot of questions to answer about a recent car attack in New Orleans that killed 14 people, but that hasn’t stopped the media and lawmakers from declaring the return of “radical Islam” — and demanding draconian policies in response.

= The Biden administration is attempting to foster a fake dispute over famine numbers in Gaza to obscure the reality of genocide.

= A recent Haaretz editorial claimed, “Israel Is Losing Its Humanity in Gaza,” but this ignores the brutal history of the Zionist colonization of Palestine, of which the Gaza genocide is just the latest chapter.

= With less than two weeks left in his administration, the Biden White House has notified Congress of a new $8 billion arms deal with Israel. The sale comes as multiple human rights organizations report Israel is committing genocide in Gaza.

= Chef Fadi Kattan’s new Toronto restaurant, Louf, offers creative haute cuisine from Palestine and has ambitions that go far beyond serving food.

= Israeli lawmakers are urging the military to intensify the genocide in Gaza by destroying any possible sources of energy, food, and water in the territory.

= For over one year, Germany has been actively participating in the killing and dehumanization of Palestinians by providing political, financial, military, and legal support to Israel. Germany’s complicity in Israel’s atrocities must stop.

= In less than a month, Joe Biden’s presidency will be over, and his legacy will be cemented as one of genocide. With Trump on the way in, it’s becoming more clear what his second term will look like for Palestine. And it’s not going to be good.

= The shame of Israel’s genocide in Gaza will haunt the international moral conscience and the Israeli psyche for the coming century. Though Israelis, accustomed to the perpetual shaming of Germany, are unprepared for the shame they must now confront.

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11 januari 2025

What a new Lebanon might mean for Palestinians and the region

Joseph Aoun's election this week as Lebanon's new president reflects a new push toward a unified Lebanon. As the ceasefire time frame between Israel and Hezbollah ends there are signs Lebanon will be more capable of resisting Israeli aggression.

934A.

10 januari 2025

We’re entering an important phase in our struggle for holding Israeli war criminals accountable. Israeli soldiers are increasingly concerned that they could face arrest for war crimes committed in Gaza.

Palestinian organizations like the Hind Rajab Foundation have collected evidence of war crimes and filed complaints against them in several countries, seeking legal action under international law.

While the Israeli government has downplayed these concerns, the threat of prosecution is real for those who participated in the genocide in Gaza.

On January 7, reports emerged that an Israeli reservist was forced to leave Brazil after a federal judge in Salvador opened an investigation into allegations of war crimes.

The case in Brazil has highlighted the potential vulnerability of individual soldiers. Military officials have warned that even personal social media activity could lead to legal challenges, potentially subjecting soldiers to arrest abroad.

So far, complaints have been filed in countries like South Africa, Sri Lanka, Belgium, France, and Brazil, with Israel warning soldiers traveling abroad that they could face detention.

 

Meanwhile, the U.S. government isn’t just bankrolling genocide — it’s actively targeting the International Criminal Court (ICC).

Yesterday, the House voted to sanction ICC officials for issuing an arrest warrant against Netanyahu.

The vote reflects mounting fears among genocide supporters in Congress about the incoming wave of arrest warrants and prosecution initiatives to hold Israeli war criminals accountable – and the risk of them reaching the U.S. next.

This is just one of many upcoming votes on whether the U.S. holds Israel accountable, or whether it continues to enable Israel’s genocide and war crimes. It’s critical we show our representatives that we are watching.

Across the country, U.S. citizens who serve in the Israeli military are returning home to “brag” about their despicable acts of violence in Gaza.

Last week, the Jewish Federation of St. Louis and the Jewish Community Center of St. Louis planned to host a talk with Myles Rosenblum, an Israeli "lone soldier" serving in the Israeli Defense Forces’ Paratroopers 101. Myles, a St. Louis native, was set to be hailed as a hero upon his return.

However, the community of St. Louis made it clear that they would not tolerate the glorification of individuals involved in war crimes.

Hundreds of calls flooded the event organizers, demanding that the city refuse to provide a platform for those who support genocide. The event was swiftly canceled.

This is a powerful example of how we stand resolute in holding genocide supporters accountable.

There is no refuge for those who commit or endorse such atrocities—we will never allow them to evade justice.

Find out if there are similar upcoming events in your community that glorify Israel’s war crimes, and organize your neighbors to take action. Let us know if you do.

 

Alia El-Assar
Director of Media Organizing
Adalah Justice Project

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

933.

10 januari 2025

We call on you to take immediate action to pressure the repressive Moroccan authorities to immediately release Moroccan human rights defender and agricultural engineer Ismail Lghazaoui, who is unjustly imprisoned for exercising his constitutional right to freedom of expression. His tireless advocacy for Palestinian rights has made him a target of repression by the authoritarian Moroccan regime, which is complicit in Israel’s ongoing genocide against the Palestinian people through its shameful normalization and military alliance with apartheid Israel.
 

Ismail’s crime? Calling for protests against the docking of ships carrying American military equipment for Israel’s genocidal forces—ships that were denied entry by the Spanish state but welcomed by Moroccan ports.
 

On December 10, International Human Rights Day, Ismail was sentenced to a year in prison, following an unfair trial aimed at silencing voices of dissent against the Moroccan regime’s complicity in Israeli apartheid and genocide. His next appeal session is scheduled for January 15, 2025, it is crucial to intensify our pressure now.

   

We must not remain silent while human rights defenders like Ismail are criminalized for standing up against complicity in genocide. His detention is part of a broader crackdown by the Moroccan regime on activists who reject normalization with Israel and stand in solidarity with Palestine.

 

The absolute majority of the people of Morocco have steadely supported the Palestinian liberation struggle

Take Action Now:
 

1. Join the postcard initiative of our Moroccan BDS partners: Download the postcard calling for Ismail’s release. Send it by post, as an email, or via social media to Moroccan embassies worldwide, demanding his immediate freedom and an end to the repression of Palestine supporters.
2. Find your own ways to protest: send petitions, make calls or organize protests in front of Moroccan embassies to
   demand Ismail’s immediate release and an end to Morocco’s complicity in Israel’s atrocity crimes.
3. Let’s make more noise about Ismail — and all prisoners of conscience arrested for defending Palestinian human rights and protesting against complicity in genocide!

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10 januari 2025

We know we’ve been sending a lot of fundraising emails over the last few weeks, so thank you for bearing with us. It’s all been for a good reason.

Because of your support, we now have the funds to:

• Hire and retain experienced Palestinian organizers with deep roots in a range of justice movements
• Research and identify winnable local campaigns at the city and state level
• Develop and provide political education on the Palestinian freedom movement and Palestinian history
• Investigate and pursue ways to challenge illegitimate “lawfare” attacks on our movement
• Provide intersectional Palestinian leadership where it’s needed most

Thank you for being a vital part of our mission to end the genocide in Gaza!

Sandra Tamari

931.

10 januari 2025

‘We all became ghosts’: survivors recount Israel’s deadly siege of Jabalia refugee camp

Residents of Jabalia refugee camp recount their harrowing experience during the latest Israeli assault on northern Gaza.

The Biden administration’s shameful weaponization of food aid

The Biden Administration has done more damage to the international norms of humanitarian law and food security than any other U.S. government in recent history.

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10 januari 2025

Trump op ramkoers met Nederland over sancties tegen Strafhof

Voor de VS gelden die als ongewenst: ze ontnemen de VS en zijn bondgenoten de vrijheid om naar eigen inzicht militair op te treden.

Volgens Israel Hayom zal het Strafhof door de VS worden aangemerkt als ‘bedreiging voor Amerikaanse belangen’. Daarmee wordt de weg vrijgemaakt voor een behandeling vergelijkbaar met die van terroristische organisaties.

Nederlandse verantwoordelijkheid
Als gastland van het Strafhof heeft Nederland de bindende verplichting om het Hof tegen de Amerikaanse bedreiging te beschermen. Die verplichting is vastgelegd in het zogenoemde Zetelverdrag, waarin staat dat Nederland 'doeltreffende en adequate maatregelen' moet treffen die nodig zijn om het Strafhof, zijn medewerkers en zijn functioneren te beschermen.

De regering heeft nog elf dagen om maatregelen te treffen om de Amerikaanse sancties te neutraliseren. Het is de taak van de Tweede Kamer te controleren of dit tijdig en afdoende gebeurt.

Lees hier het hele artikel

The Rights Forum Podcast | Aflevering 4

NooitMeerIsNu | Ambtenaren delen oproep aan kabinet uit op 4 grote stations

Maandag 13 januari zijn ambtenaren en oud-diplomaten in de ochtendspits te vinden op de vier grote stations waar ze ansichtkaarten uitdelen aan het publiek met een oproep aan premier Schoof om de Nederlandse beleidslijn op Gaza te herzien.

Zij doen dit in gezelschap en met de steun van onder andere mensenrechtenadvocaat Liesbeth Zegveld en Een Ander Joods Geluid-voorzitter Jaap Hamburger (beide op Amsterdam CS), voorzitter van het bestuur van The Rights Forum Berber van der Woude, directeur van Oxfam-NOVIB Michiel Servaes en Save the Children-directeur Pim Kraan (alle drie op Den Haag CS).

De actie vindt plaats op Amsterdam CS, Urecht CS, Rotterdam CS en Den Haag CS van 08.00 uur tot 09.30 uur.

De tragedie van Samih al-Asali

Op de avond van 1 oktober 2024 ging de 38-jarige Palestijn Samih al-Asali op weg naar de moskee in de Palestijnse stad Al-Ariha (Jericho), zich niet bewust van wat hem boven het hoofd hing. Een paar minuten later was hij dood, getroffen door een brokstuk van een uit Iran afgeschoten raket. Zijn verhaal is het tragische voorbeeld van hoe de Israëlische campagne Palestijnen op tal van manieren treft.

Lex Bolhmeijer in gesprek met Berber van der Woude

Campagne | Dokter Hussam Abu Safiya moet vrij!

Demonstraties
• Sit-in rijksambtenaren op donderdag 16.01 in Den Haag, Ministerie van Buitenlandse Zaken, Rijnstraat 8 (12.00 uur)
• Demonstratie voor Palestina op donderdag 16.01 in Zaandam, Stationsplein (17.30 uur)
• Sit-in Utrecht for Palestine op donderdag 16.01, Station Utrecht Centraal, centrumzijde (18.00 uur)

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9 januari 2025

Action Alert: Urgent Evacuation of Americans Trapped in Gaza

Israel’s genocide in Gaza has been ongoing for nearly 500 days, and U.S. citizens and their immediate relatives remain trapped within the Gaza Strip. Americans for Justice in Palestine Action (AJP Action) is calling on the Biden Administration and Congress to act urgently to ensure the safety of these individuals before the end of this administration, just as they would for Americans trapped in any other conflict zone across the world.

complicicaused. 

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9 januari 2025

Humanitarian Situation Update #254
West Bank

A two-storey residential building demolished by its Palestinian owners due to the lack of an Israeli-issued building permit, in Silwan, East Jerusalem. Six households, comprising 39 people were displaced. 5 January 2025. Photo: OCHA.

Key Highlights

 

• Three Palestinians were killed by Israeli forces and three Israeli settlers were killed by armed Palestinians in the West Bank. 
• About 2,000 families have been displaced from Jenin refugee camp since the operation by Palestinian forces began in early December 2024, UNRWA estimates, while the remaining residents are struggling to meet basic needs amid access restrictions. 
• In the first week of 2025, Israeli settlers injured 18 Palestinians across the West Bank, including nine in Silwad village in Ramallah governorate.
• More than 50 Palestinians were displaced by home demolitions across the West Bank, the majority in Silwan in East Jerusalem.  

Latest Developments (after 6 January 2025)

 

• According to initial information, five Palestinians, including at least three children aged eight, 10 and 17 years, were killed in Israeli airstrikes on Tammun, in Tubas, on 7 and 8 January, which also resulted in significant damage. Another Palestinian was shot and killed by Israeli forces who surrounded his house in Talluza, in Nablus, on 7 January.   

Humanitarian Developments (31 December 2024 – 6 January 2025)

 

• During the reporting period, Israeli forces killed three Palestinians, including one child, and injured 38 others, including six children, across the West Bank, including East Jerusalem. Armed Palestinians shot and killed three Israeli settlers and injured eight others near Qalqiliya. Three Palestinians, including one child and a member of Palestinian forces, were killed in Jenin refugee camp within the context of the ongoing operation by Palestinian forces. For more information on casualties and further breakdowns of data, please see the monthly West Bank Snapshot. 
• Incidents resulting in fatalities during the reporting period include:  
  • On 3 January, Israeli forces shot and killed an 18-year-old Palestinian male and injured seven others during a raid in Balata refugee camp, east of Nablus, that involved armed clashes with Palestinians who reportedly used explosive devices. 
  • On 3 January, three Palestinians were killed in Jenin refugee camp: a man and his 14-year-old son, where it remains disputed whether they were killed by Palestinian forces or armed Palestinians; and a member of Palestinian forces who was killed in unclear circumstances. Moreover, the man’s 10-year-old daughter sustained a serious neck injury from live ammunition (see below for more information on the situation in Jenin refugee camp). 
  • On 5 January, Israeli forces shot and killed a 17-year-old Palestinian boy during a raid in Askar refugee camp in Nablus that involved clashes between Israeli soldiers and Palestinian stone throwers. 
  • On 5 January, Israeli forces shot and killed a Palestinian man in Meithalun village, south of Jenin, after he stepped out of his house that was surrounded by Israeli forces.  According to community sources, he was left on the ground, bleeding, without medical attention for around two hours. His body has since been withheld by Israeli forces. Between 7 October 2023 and 6 January 2025, OCHA documented 152 Palestinians from the West Bank whose bodies were withheld by Israeli forces, of whom five were subsequently handed over and 147 remain withheld. 
  • On 6 January, armed Palestinians shot and killed three Israeli settlers and injured eight others in an attack targeting a bus and two cars on Route 55, near Al Funduq village in Qalqiliya. Israeli forces subsequently carried out search operations and closed roads and village entrances in the surrounding area. 

• In a recent legal analysis, Diakonia stresses that the use of force against Palestinians in the West Bank has intensified since 7 October 2023, arguing that: “While Israel appears to be applying the more permissive rules on the conduct of hostilities to its use of force in the West Bank …Israel as the occupying power in effective control of territory in the West Bank is bound by the more restrictive rules regulating use of force in law enforcement, emanating from international human rights law (IHRL).” Among other issues, Diakonia highlights the semi-daily raids into Palestinian communities, the use of heavy weaponry such as airstrikes, bulldozers and armoured vehicles, particularly in refugee camps in Jenin, Tulkarm and Tubas, and the resultant widespread destruction of infrastructure, significant civilian casualties and displacement. Emphasizing that Israel’s use of force in the West Bank should comply with the law enforcement framework, the analysis notes that: “[t]here are insufficient grounds to hold that armed individuals and groups in the West Bank against whom Israel is using force are part of the same organisational hierarchy as the organised armed groups in the Gaza Strip….[and] the level of organisation of armed actors in the West Bank and the intensity  of confrontations between them and Israeli forces do not seem to meet the threshold required to establish a separate non-international armed conflict (NIAC).”
• Since the onset of the operation by Palestinian forces in Jenin refugee camp on 5 December 2024, access to the camp has been heavily restricted. Palestinian forces have engaged in clashes with armed Palestinians and detained 247 Palestinians, according to official sources cited in the media. In total, 14 Palestinians have been killed, including three children, a female journalist and three other bystanders, six members of Palestinian forces and one armed Palestinian. UNRWA estimates that about 650 families, or 3,400 people, currently remain in the camp and face dire conditions, with over 2,000 families displaced to Jenin city and surrounding villages. Key humanitarian concerns include:  
  • Residents have been struggling to meet basic needs, supermarkets are running out of supplies, and access to water and electricity has been minimal. The inability to work or access workplaces has also rendered residents without the financial means to support their families or buy food.
  • The four UNRWA schools in the camp have been closed since 9 December 2024, resulting in the loss of more than 20 learning days for 1,600 students. Repeated and long-term incursions by Israeli forces over the past two years have already affected the mental health of camp residents, particularly children.
  • A power outage led to the spoilage of approximately 1,600 vials of insulin in UNRWA’s health clinic, which has been non-operational since the operation began. UNRWA offered camp residents health services five days a week at the nearby Qabatiya health center, but they have largely been unable to visit it, likely due to access difficulties. As a result, about two-thirds of non-communicable disease patients have missed their appointments.
  • The UNRWA health center inside the camp was temporarily occupied by armed Palestinians until 31 December 2024. 
  • Property and infrastructural damage have been widespread, with reports of the burning of about 29 houses, damage to water tanks and generators, and substantial damage of the laboratory room in the UNRWA health centre when it was hit with a rocket-propelled grenade on the night of 31 December 2024.
  • The rehabilitation of water networks, which were significantly damaged by previous Israeli military operations, has been on hold, affecting access to water for over 60 per cent of the camp's population while several generators have reportedly been hit, causing intermittent electricity and communication outages in multiple neighbourhoods inside the camp.
  • UNRWA has been forced to suspend solid waste management operations, leading to the accumulation of solid waste and unhygienic conditions.

• During the reporting period, OCHA documented 14 incidents perpetrated by Israeli settlers that led to the injury of 18 Palestinians, mainly farmers, and the vandalism of houses and tents, and at least ten vehicles. Key incidents include: 
  • On 3 January, dozens of Israeli settlers, some armed and escorted by Israeli forces, attacked Palestinian farmers on the western outskirts of Silwad village, in the Ramallah governorate. According to local sources, Israeli settlers threw stones at the farmers, who responded by throwing stones, after which additional settlers arrived, fired live ammunition, physically assaulted Palestinians with clubs, sticks and stones, set fire to eight vehicles, and closed off the road between the village and the agricultural land. Nine Palestinian farmers were injured, all due to physical assault. The perpetrators are believed to be from a settlement outpost established in early December 2024 near Silwad; over the past month, OCHA documented eight incidents of attacks and intimidation by Israeli settlers believed to be from this outpost against Palestinians in the village. While the outpost was dismantled by Israeli forces on 2 January, it was rebuilt by Israeli settlers on the same day. 
  • On 3 January 2025, Israeli settlers physically assaulted with sticks and stones Palestinian farmers near Masafer Bani Na'im community, in the Hebron governorate. Six Palestinians were injured. Claiming that farmers had attempted to steal a settler's weapon, the settlers then called Israeli forces, who detained five of the injured Palestinians for four hours. The injured farmers subsequently received medical treatment at a hospital.
  • On 3 January, Palestinian herders from Burqa village, in Ramallah governorate, found that six of their tents, including three residential structures, had been destroyed, resulting in the displacement of four people. According to the herders, they believe that Israeli settlers from one of the outposts established near their community in mid-December 2024 had perpetrated the attack. 
  • On 6 January, Israeli settlers, believed to be from a newly established outpost near Bardala village in the northern Jordan Valley, raided the village and one of the settlers broke into a primary school, claiming that the students threw stones at them. When teachers and residents gathered to protest the attack, Israeli forces intervened, shot tear gas canisters and live ammunition into the air, and arrested one Palestinian. 

• During the reporting period, OCHA documented the demolition of 15 Palestinian-owned structures across the West Bank. These include 14 demolished due to the lack of Israeli-issued building permits, which are nearly impossible for Palestinians to obtain, and one on punitive grounds. As a result, 52 people were displaced, including 23 children, and at least 47 people were otherwise affected. The majority of displacement took place in one incident in Silwan, in East Jerusalem, on 5 January, when a Palestinian family was forced to self-demolish its two-storey residential building comprising six apartments for lacking building permits. As a result, an extended family of six households comprising 39 people, including 18 children and two people with disabilities, were displaced. The punitive demolition incident, the first such incident since November 2024, took place on 2 January when Israeli forces demolished a two-storey house in Bal'a town, in Tulkarm governorate, belonging to the family of a Palestinian prisoner accused of involvement in a fatal attack near Beit Lid village in Tulkarm, which resulted in the killing of an Israeli reserve soldier in November 2023. The demolition, which involved about 30 military jeeps and two bulldozers, displaced a family of eight people, including two girls. 
• According to a recent report by Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), the organization's mobile clinic in the H2 area of Hebron city was forced to cancel 7 out of 26 planned visits to the area between September and November 2024 due to movement restrictions and overall insecurity in the area. The mobile clinic, which provides primary healthcare and mental health support to residents twice per week, treats about 60 to 70 patients per day and has become a critical lifeline for Palestinian residents of H2, where access to healthcare has been seriously compromised due to movement restrictions, settler violence, and military incursions. According to MSF, these disruptions to health care have profound effects on the Palestinian residents, hampering access to vital healthcare services in an area heavily affected by movement restrictions and violence and where MSF teams are seeing a dramatic decline in children’s mental health and rising symptoms of trauma, including hyperactivity, bed-wetting, nightmares and academic struggle.

927.

9 januari 2025

AJP Action Blasts Biden Administration for Enabling Israel’s Genocide in Gaza

[WASHINGTON D.C., JANUARY 09, 2025] – Americans for Justice in Palestine Action (AJP Action) condemns President Joe Biden and members of his administration for continuing their unwavering support for Israel as it continues to commit genocide against Palestinians. Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, B’Tselem, the International Court of Justice (ICJ), and even former Israeli military officials have recognized what the president and Israel have done as much. 

Despite this, White House spokesperson John Kirby on Wednesday had the audacity to claim that no genocide is occurring in Gaza. “The IDF isn’t waking up every day and putting their boots on the floor, saying, ‘Hey, we’re going to go kill some innocent people because they happen to be Palestinian,” Kirby stated, as videos have appeared online of Israeli soldiers doing exactly that. This flippant dismissal not only ignores mountains of evidence but underscores the administration's complicity in whitewashing war crimes.

But perhaps Kirby’s words are an admission in and of themselves: acknowledging genocide in Gaza would mean admitting the U.S. role in enabling it. The Biden administration has funneled more than $17.9 billion to Israel, including $8 billion just this month—financing the bombs, missiles, and bulldozers that have turned Gaza into a graveyard. By defending these actions, the administration isn’t just an accomplice; it’s a perpetrator. 

Admitting genocide in Gaza would mean admitting that the billions of dollars in military aid the U.S. provides to Israel have been used to annihilate an entire population. It would also expose them to criminal liability under international law. This is not just a failure of leadership; it is an active complicity. The administration’s refusal to condemn genocide in Gaza while rushing to arm Israel is a stain on Biden’s presidency that will never wash away.

“15 months of genocide have unfolded, and the Biden administration’s hands are covered in blood,” said Dr. Osama Abu Irshaid, Executive Director of AJP Action. “Their excuses don’t just ring hollow—they expose their complicity. History will not be kind to those who enabled this slaughter.”

In solidarity,
Americans for Justice in Palestine Action

926.

8 januari 2025

Right now, as Israel bombs hospitals, homes, universities, and UN schools in Gaza, Chevron's gas fields in the Mediterranean Sea keep their genocide machine running. Without Chevron's power supply, this devastation couldn't continue.

But on the weekend of January 31 - February 2, we're partnering with the BDS Movement to take coordinated action to stop them.

The numbers tell a clear story: In 2022 alone, Chevron funneled over $462 million in tax revenue to Israeli government coffers. That money fuels the bombing of Gaza and the violent displacement of Palestinians¹. The time for action is now.

RESOURCES FOR THE WEEKEND OF ACTION

Later this month (January 31-February 2), communities Worldwide are mobilizing to:

• Hit Chevron where it hurts: their profits and public image.  Picket a Chevron location, or join or organize a march between gas stations. Join our training on Sunday, January 26th  to learn how! The fight against colonialism and corporate destruction of our planet are intrinsically linked—Chevron has been sued for violence against Indigenous communities in over 30 countries, including 13 accusations of genocide².

 

925.

8 januari 2024

Humanitarian Situation Update #253
Gaza Strip

One of the makeshifts sites established in Gaza city in December 2024 to accommodate displaced families from North Gaza. Photo: OCHA

Key Highlights

 

• Child Protection partners are facing severe challenges in bringing needed winter clothing kits into Gaza; only 19,000 kits have been distributed out of 220,000 procured. 
• At least 369 aid workers, including 263 UNRWA staff, have been killed since October 2023, according to data received by the UN and its partners.
• Zero fuel reserves to operate electricity generators at hospitals across Gaza are placing the lives of patients and newborns at grave risk. 
• The UN attempted to reach the besieged area in North Gaza 165 times between 6 October and 31 December 2024, of which 149 attempts were denied by the Israeli authorities and 16 faced impediments.

Humanitarian Developments

 

• Israeli bombardment from the air, land and sea and detonation of residential buildings continues to be reported across the Gaza Strip, resulting in further civilian casualties, displacement, and destruction of civilian infrastructure. Rocket fire by Palestinian armed groups towards Israel has also been reported. 
• Access to North Gaza governorate, which has been under intensified siege since 6 October 2024, continues to be largely denied by the Israeli authorities. From 6 October to 31 December 2024, the UN attempted to reach the area 165 times, of which 149 attempts were denied and 16 were allowed to proceed but faced impediments. Coordinated aid missions to areas in the Rafah governorate, where there has been an ongoing Israeli military operation since early May, have faced similar challenges. Overall, in 2024, the UN and its partners carried out 5,321 coordinated humanitarian movements across the Gaza Strip, including 3,707 in the south and 1,614 in the north. Of these, 48 per cent (North: 621, South: 1,936) were facilitated, 24 per cent (North: 398, South: 864) were denied, 19 per cent (North: 434, South: 567) were interfered with or initially agreed to but then faced impediments, and nine per cent (North: 161, South: 340) were cancelled by the organizers due to logistical and security challenges. Movements facing impediments were accomplished either partially or not at all.
• Between the afternoons of 30 December 2024 and 8 January 2025, according to the Ministry of Health (MoH) in Gaza, 395 Palestinians were killed and 936 were injured. Between 7 October 2023 and 8 January 2024, at least 45,936 Palestinians were killed and 109,274 were injured, according to MoH in Gaza. 
• Key deadly incidents reported between 1 and 4 January 2025 include: 
  • On 1 January, at about 02:00, 11 Palestinians, including children and women, were reportedly killed and others injured when a house was hit in Jabalya Al Balad in North Gaza.
  • On 2 January, at about 01:15, at least 11 Palestinians, including four children and three women, were reportedly killed and others injured when tents sheltering internally displaced people (IDP) were hit in Al Mawasi area in western Khan Younis. The attack reportedly caused a fire in the tents.
  • On 2 and 3 January, three journalists and media workers were reportedly killed in separate incidents in Gaza city and Deir al Balah. On 2 January, one journalist was reportedly killed in a drone airstrike in western Gaza city. On 3 January, three Palestinians, including a press photographer and her mother, were reportedly killed and eight others injured when two houses, including the photographer’s house, were hit in northern An Nuseirat refugee camp in Deir al Balah. On the same day, four Palestinians, including a journalist, were reportedly killed and others injured when the journalist’s family house was hit in Az Zawayda in Deir al Balah. 
  • On 4 January, at about 02:00, 11 Palestinians including seven children were reportedly killed and others injured when a house was hit in Ash Shuja’iyeh neighbourhood in eastern Gaza city. 
  • On 4 January, around 17:30, 11 Palestinians were reportedly killed and others remained missing when a house was hit in Ash Sheikh Redwan neighbourhood in northern Gaza city.
  • On 4 January, at about 02:40, five Palestinian men, reportedly belonging to a security company that protects aid convoys, were reportedly killed when an aid-security car was hit on Salah Ad-Deen Street in Khan Younis. 
  • On 4 January, at about 16:00, at least five Palestinians were reportedly killed, several others were injured, and some remain missing when an entire residential block, comprising several multi-story buildings, was hit and levelled in eastern Al Saraya yard in central Gaza city. 

• Between the afternoons of 31 December 2024 and 8 January 2025, three Israeli soldiers were killed in Gaza, according to the Israeli military. Between 7 October 2023 and 8 January 2025, according to the Israeli military and official Israeli sources cited in the media, more than 1,593 Israelis and foreign nationals were killed, the majority on 7 October 2023 and its immediate aftermath. This includes 393 soldiers killed in Gaza or along the border in Israel since the beginning of the ground operation in October 2023. In addition, 2,535 Israeli soldiers were reported injured since the beginning of the ground operation. On 8 January, the Israeli military said that the body of one hostage was recovered from a tunnel in Rafah. As of 8 January, it is estimated that 99 Israelis and foreign nationals remain captive in Gaza, including hostages who have been declared dead and whose bodies are withheld in Gaza. 
• Between 1 and 3 January, the Israeli military issued three evacuation orders for parts of Gaza city and North Gaza and Deir al Balah governorates. Several evacuation orders had already been issued for the designated areas. Two of the orders, on 1 and 3 January, affected the same areas of Al Bureij refugee camp in Deir al Balah, covering approximately 1.23 square kilometres in two neighbourhoods. An estimated 23,1000 people were affected by the order, including 10,300 people sheltering at three IDP sites. In addition, three medical points, three water trucking points and one distribution centre were affected. The third order, on 1 January, affected parts of Jabalya in North Gaza and Sheikh Radwan neighbourhood in Gaza city, covering approximately 3.04 square kilometres in two neighbourhoods. While thousands of families are estimated to have been affected by the orders, there were no reports on observed displacement movements. 
• Attacks on humanitarian workers, convoys and facilities continue to take place, further hindering humanitarian operations and jeopardizing the safety of aid workers. On 5 January, a World Food Programme (WFP) convoy, consisting of three clearly marked vehicles carrying eight staff members, was shot at by Israeli forces near Wadi Gaza checkpoint. No injuries were reported, but at least 16 bullets struck the vehicles. According to WFP, the convoy had received all the necessary clearances from the Israeli authorities. “Security conditions in Gaza must urgently improve for lifesaving humanitarian assistance to continue,” WFP emphasized in a statement. Also on 5 January, a WFP flour distribution warehouse operated by MA’AN Development Center in Deir al Balah was hit, killing one humanitarian worker and seriously injuring two others. Care Palestine, Ma’an’s partner, stated that this “is yet another stark reminder of the daily threats to the safety and security of all humanitarian workers in Gaza, including our staff.” In a 7 January statement, Médecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) also highlighted the killing of eight of its staff as well as a series of incidents affecting MSF or MSF-supported medical facilities, shelters and movements that have been hit or attacked, but  is “yet to receive accountability or admission of responsibility for the killing, maiming, or dehumanization of [its] staff and patients.” According to data received by the UN and its partners, at least 369 aid workers, including 263 UNRWA staff, have been killed since October 2023.
• On 4 January, the WHO Director-General and the UNICEF Deputy Executive Director called on the Israeli authorities to immediately release the Director of Kamal Adwan Hospital, Dr Hussam Abu Safiya. The Health Cluster has equally stressed concern for the recent detention of Dr. Abdullah Albadawi, who works for PANZMA, one of the partner organizations for the Emergency Medical Team (EMT) programme. According to MoH, as of 11 December 2024, at least 330 health care workers from Gaza have been detained by the Israeli authorities and 1,057 have been killed, including three physicians who have reportedly died in Israeli custody.
• A report published on 31 December by the UN Human Rights Office stresses that “Israel’s pattern of deadly attacks on and near hospitals in Gaza, and associated combat, pushed the healthcare system to the brink of total collapse, with catastrophic effect on Palestinians’ access to health and medical care.” Between 7 October 2023 and 30 June 2024, OHCHR verified 136 strikes on at least 27 hospitals and 12 other medical facilities, which resulted in damage, destruction and casualties among health workers and other civilians. With shrinking access to healthcare and basic supplies, “many injured patients reportedly died while waiting to be hospitalized or treated,” while some “were often discharged prematurely due to a lack of space,” highlights OHCHR. Attacks on hospitals have also deterred women and girls from seeking assistance, with information received by OHCHR pointing to newborns having died, “because their mothers were unable to attend postnatal check-ups or reach medical facilities to give birth.” The report explains that, while “in most instances, Israel alleges that the hospitals were being improperly used for military purposes by Palestinian armed groups, insufficient information has so far been made available to substantiate these allegations, which have remained vague and broad.” The report adds that, “even in the exceptional circumstances when medical personnel, ambulances, and hospitals lose their special protection because they fulfil the strict criteria to be considered military objectives, any attack on them must still comply with the fundamental [international humanitarian law] principles of distinction, proportionality and precautions in attack.” 

• Ongoing hostilities and besiegement of North Gaza have severely disrupted healthcare services for the population remaining in the area. After the Indonesian and Kamal Adwan Hospital were rendered out of service on 24 and 27 December, respectively, Relief International (RI) reports that, on 3 January, also the Al Awda Hospital, the last partially functioning hospital in North Gaza, was ordered by Israeli forces to immediately evacuate patients and staff. While Al Awda continues to operate, access to the facility, where 34 patients and 63 staff remain, is very limited amid ongoing hostilities in the area. The hospital’s fuel tank and last remaining generator were also recently destroyed after it was directly targeted, according to RI, and it is struggling to operate due to severe shortages of medications, medical supplies and fuel. 
• Across Gaza, the lack of fuel to operate electricity generators continues to severely affect the already decimated health system, placing the lives of patients at risk. On 7 January, the European Gaza Hospital in Khan Younis warned that the electricity generators would cease functioning in the space of 24 hours due to the depletion of fuel reserves, with the lives of premature babies and patients in the intensive care unit and other hospital departments being under imminent threat, appealing to the international community and WHO for urgent support. Similarly, on 8 January, the Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Younis announced that all the generators at the facility have stopped, and only a small generator is currently operating with an amount sufficient for three hours.  In a press conference on 8 January, MoH stated that there is no fuel stock in hospitals due to the restrictions imposed on fuel entry and looting, warning that, if not additional fuel is received, this will cause a real catastrophe affecting the functioning of oxygen generators, medicine refrigerators and incubators. MoH also announced that a patient died due to the lack of fuel needed to operate kidney dialysis machines. As of the time of reporting on 8 January, MoH stated that a small amount of fuel to operate hospital generators was received, which would allow for the continuation of services until tomorrow, 9 January.   
• On 31 December, 55 patients, alongside 72 companions, were medically evacuated from Gaza to the United Arab Emirates through the Kerem Shalom Crossing. This brings the number of critical patients evacuated outside of Gaza to receive life-saving treatment since October 2023 to 5,383, of whom only 436 were evacuated since the closure of the Rafah crossing in May 2024, a pace that remains, “excruciatingly slow,” stressed WHO. At this rate, it would take 5-10 years to evacuate the over 12,000 critically ill and injured patients, including thousands of children, who require urgent, life-saving treatment outside Gaza, but currently remain trapped in the Strip, explained WHO, urging the Israeli authorities to increase and expedite the approval rate, not to deny requests for child patients, and, “allow all possible corridors and border crossings to be used for safe medical evacuations.” WHO also appealed to all countries to help, “by receiving patients and offering specialized health care to prevent more suffering and deaths.”
• Food insecurity continues to deteriorate across the Gaza Strip while assistance equivalent to food rations sufficient for the whole population for more than three months (about 120,000 metric tonnes) continues to remain stranded outside the Strip. Moreover, there are restrictions on the official entry of commercial cargo, armed lootings of humanitarian supplies that partners collect from crossings, predominantly unaffordable basic commodities on local markets, and North Gaza has remained largely cut off from food assistance for three consecutive months. In central and southern Gaza, key Food Security Sector (FSS) partners had exhausted all supplies in their warehouses as of 5 January, and requests to transport food assistance entering through Erez West Crossing to areas south of Wadi Gaza have generally been denied by the Israeli authorities except in exceptional circumstances. According to FSS, if no additional supplies are received, food parcel distributions will remain severely limited, the re-opening of subsidized bakeries will be rendered impossible, and more than 50 kitchens providing over 200,000 meals a day to people in central and southern Gaza would be at risk of shutting down in the coming days. The resumption of operations of WFP-supported bakeries in Deir al Balah and Khan Younis requires at least 1,000 metric tonnes of flour to be available and regularly replenished in the warehouses whereas current stocks remain limited and are depleted almost daily. Attempts to facilitate the resumption of local food production also face challenges; while around 200 metric tonnes of animal feed were distributed to 3,800 livestock owners in December, attempts to bring in agricultural supplies to resume even small-scale agricultural activities continue to be denied by the Israeli authorities.

• On 6 January, MoH announced the death of a 35-day old baby due to the cold and lack of warm shelter in Gaza, adding that this had brought the total number of deaths due to hypothermia to eight across the Strip. MSF reports that, between October and December 2024, the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) of the Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Younis had admitted 325 infants, with MSF teams embedded in the unit treating “newborns and premature babies with potentially life-threatening respiratory infections, dehydration, and other complications.” According to Dr. Mohammed Abu Tayyem, a pediatrician at Nasser, the pediatric ward is seeing an increased number of children with acute bronchiolitis, pneumonia, upper respiratory tract infections and even bronchial asthma exacerbations. The doctor attributes these rising cases to the harsh winter weather, dire conditions in tents and limited heating supplies, all of which render premature and low-birth-weight babies more vulnerable to hypothermia. Commenting on the death of at least seven newborns due to hypothermia in December, the WHO Director-General warned that “more children are in danger,” and that, while “every child deserves a healthy and safe start in life… the children of Gaza are paying the price of war with their own lives.” Likewise, on 8 January, UNICEF Executive Director, Catherine Russell, reiterated that “inadequate shelter, lack of access to nutrition and healthcare, the dire sanitary situation, and now the winter weather put the lives of all children in Gaza at risk,” with newborns and children with medical conditions being especially vulnerable. 
• In a statement on 3 January, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) expressed deep alarm at the “devastating impact of winter rains and freezing temperatures on displaced Palestinians in Gaza,” adding that tragic deaths due to hypothermia underscore the critical need for shelter and other assistance to immediate reach people in the Strip. Since mid-November, IOM has delivered nearly 180,000 emergency shelter items to partners inside Gaza, but due to severe access restrictions, it remains unable to distribute over 1.5 million additional winter supplies, including sealing-off kits, tents and bedding kits, which are currently at warehouses and entry points. The Shelter Cluster explains that the limited cargo capacity at the crossings, the lengthy coordination requirements imposed by the Israeli authorities to bring shelter items into the Strip and the frequent rejection of such items, alongside the high risk of armed looting continue to severely hamper the scaling up of shelter assistance in Gaza to address the needs of at least 945,000 people who urgently need thermal clothing, blankets, and tarps to seal-off shelters from the rain and cold. Meanwhile, heavy rains and flooding continue to severely affect displacement sites and makeshift shelters, with the Palestinian Civil Defence reporting the flooding of 1,542 tents on 30 and 31 December in Gaza, Khan Younis, Deir al Balah and Rafah governorates.
• Child Protection (CP) partners continue to prioritize the procurement and distribution of winter clothing kits for the most vulnerable children but face severe challenges in bringing needed supplies into Gaza that have hampered their ability to scale up the distribution of winter items. These include delays in approvals by the Israeli authorities, complex procedures and customs clearance processes in Jordan, Egypt and Israel, and armed looting of aid supplies.  For instance, for over a month, about 13,000 children’s clothing kits have been awaiting entry into Gaza from the West Bank and more than 11,000 children's clothing kits have already been lost due to looting. CP actors estimate that -- if this trend continues -- around 25 per cent of the overall number of procured clothing kits will be lost to looting. As a result, only 19,000 children’s clothing kits out of a total of 220,000 procured kits have so far entered Gaza and were distributed to the most vulnerable groups, including inter alia newborn babies in hospitals, children in residential care, many of whom have lost their parents, children with disabilities, and child survivors of gender-based violence.  
• The Education Cluster highlights similar challenges in bringing winterization supplies into Gaza. Only 72 High-Performance Tents could so far be imported into the Strip as part of the UN Winterization plan, which have been used to establish 56 new, winter-proof Temporary Learning Spaces (TLSs) in Deir al Balah and Khan Younis, and 16 in the Gaza governorate. An additional 146 tents made available by one Cluster partner have been stranded outside Gaza for several months due to continued restrictions by the Israeli authorities on the entry of education supplies. In October, 140 prefabricated structures that had been procured by the Education Cluster to establish TLSs within Palestinian Authority schools were redirected for use in the health sector by the Israeli authorities and, as of the time of writing, these items have not yet been granted approval to enter Gaza. Presently, only 105,700 children, or 16 per cent of the total school-age population, have access to some form of learning in Gaza, with limited resources to establish winter-proof TLSs and shortages in winter clothes significantly contributing to low enrollment rates. The continued lack of access to education for the majority of children in Gaza not only jeopardizes their future, but also exposes them to immediate protection risks, including child labour, early marriage and physical injuries in the streets, warns the Cluster.   

924.

8 januari 2024

923.

7 januari 2024

Today's headlines

The US is manufacturing doubt about Gaza’s famine

The Biden administration is attempting to foster a fake dispute over famine numbers in Gaza to obscure the reality of genocide.

Read more on Mondoweiss site

Biden administration plans one last $8 billion arms sale to Israel

Michael

With less than two weeks left in his administration, the Biden White House has notified Congress of a new $8 billion arms deal with Israel. The sale comes as multiple human rights organizations report Israel is committing genocide in Gaza.

922.

5 januari 2024

Thank you for being a loyal Mondoweiss reader!

THE CLASSIC

Free Palestine T-Shirt

921.

YESH DIN

5 januari 2025

Stop Ben-Gvir and Smotrich – Join the Struggle
Against Settler Violence

For two decades, Yesh Din has been documenting offenses committed in the West Bank by Israeli citizens - settlers and others - against Palestinians and their property, while providing legal assistance to Palestinian victims of these offenses.

Palestinians affected by settler violence approach Yesh Din through our field researchers, seeking help in response to attacks, which are often recurring. Alongside the field researchers are Yesh Din's dedicated volunteers, who travel across the West Bank every day, in all weather conditions, to meet with those seeking assistance and document their cases. They then help those who wish to file complaints with the Israeli police, accompany them to police stations and courts as needed, and keep victims updated on the status of investigations and cases.

Yesh Din's volunteers and field researchers are extraordinary individuals and true professionals, equipped with the patience, sensitivity, and compassion to navigate complex encounters with Palestinian victims of violence, many of whom suffer not only from physical harm but also from trauma and anxiety. In the face of escalating settler violence.

920.

5 januari 2025

Today's headlines

Israeli lawmakers demand military destroy all food and energy resources in Gaza

Israeli lawmakers are urging the military to intensify the genocide in Gaza by destroying any possible sources of energy, food, and water in the territory.

Open Letter: Germany must stop supporting the annihilation of Palestinians

Open Letter

For over one year, Germany has been actively participating in the killing and dehumanization of Palestinians by providing political, financial, military, and legal support to Israel. Germany’s complicity in Israel’s atrocities must stop.

Read more on Mondoweiss Site

919.

4 januari 2024

Today's headlines

Where is Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya, and what is Israel doing to him?

It has been one week since the Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya, Director of the Kamal Adwan Hospital, was detained by Israeli forces. Reports indicate he is being held inside a notorious torture facility, but Israeli officials won't confirm where he is.

918.

3 januari 2025

 OUR GOVERNMENT'S GUILT

DEMAND DR. ABU SAFIYA'S RELEASE

YOUR IMPACT

 Onward to liberation,

917.

3 januari 2025

Nearly 500 Days of Genocide: Will President Biden Leave with a legacy of facilitating genocide?

 

As the world welcomes 2025, Palestinians are facing yet another harrowing chapter in their struggle for survival. The New Year has already been marked by relentless violence, underscoring the reality of Israel's continued genocide and systematic oppression, now stretching into nearly 500 days of unbridled devastation. Israel’s genocidal campaign, enabled by unwavering U.S. support, shows no sign of abating.

While Israelis celebrated New Year's Eve in Tel Aviv, Palestinians in Gaza were fleeing relentless Israeli bombardments. Families mourned the loss of loved ones, sought shelter from the destruction, and salvaged what little they could from flooded tents. As of January, Gaza's population has fallen by at least 6% since October 2023, a statistic that highlights the scale of Israel’s extermination campaign. Entire neighborhoods have been leveled, families displaced, and an already devastated healthcare system pushed to the brink.

One of the most horrifying events of the New Year was the Israeli military's raid on a Gaza hospital, targeting the very spaces meant to provide sanctuary and healing amid destruction. This brazen attack on medical infrastructure is not an isolated incident but part of a pattern of targeting healthcare workers, first responders, journalists, and all those responsible for sustaining vulnerable lives in Gaza. Those on the front lines of truth and survival are systematically silenced, wounded, or killed—an unmistakable tactic to erase both Palestinian lives and their narratives.

In the West Bank, the situation is also dire. The New Year has brought reports of escalated settler violence, continued land theft, and military raids targeting Palestinian communities. In East Jerusalem, home demolitions and forced displacements show no signs of abating as Israel deepens its apartheid regime. These actions reflect a calculated and systematic effort to erase Palestinians from their homeland.

The silence—or worse, complicity and partnership—of the international community, particularly the U.S., has more than emboldened Israel's atrocities. Billions of U.S. taxpayer dollars continue to fund the genocide, broader occupation, military campaigns, and violations of international law. The Biden administration's refusal to act over the last year, paired with Congress's failure to hold Israel accountable, sends a clear statement: Palestinian lives are expendable, and international law has been thoroughly discredited and overlooked.

As we enter 2025, AJP Action reaffirms its demand on the U.S. government to immediately suspend all military aid to Israel in accordance with international law and to facilitate an end to the ongoing genocide in Gaza. From the very beginning, the United States has held the power to stop Israel’s atrocities—but only if it were to choose justice over complicity. With just days remaining in the current administration, President Biden can decide how history will remember him: A president who attempted to redeem himself through a final demand for accountability–or one who served as an executioner of the Palestinian people until his last day in office.

 

In solidarity,
Americans for Justice in Palestine Action

916.

3 januari 2025

Na een voor ons positief advies van de advocaat-generaal aan de Hoge Raad verwachten we in ieder geval op korte termijn goed nieuws van de Hoge Raad over onze F-35 rechtszaak.  

School in Gaza

Campagne | Dokter Hussam Abu Safiya moet vrij!

Op sociale media voeren dokters wereldwijd inmiddels ook actie voor de vrijlating van dokter Abu Safiya

Aanstaande zondag 5 januari om 17.00 uur vindt op het Spui in Amsterdam een demonstratie plaats.

Adviescommissie Tilburg University: beëindig samenwerking met Israëlische universiteiten

De Tilburgse commissie, onder leiding van mensenrechtenspecialist Prof. Dr. Nicola Jägers, legt in haar rapport de nadruk op de bijzondere verantwoordelijkheid van universiteiten als getuigen en omstanders van mensenrechtenschendingen. Academische vrijheid en respect voor mensenrechten mogen niet beperkt blijven tot retoriek, maar vereisen een actieve, principiële houding.

Lees het hele artikel op onze site ! 

Opinie | Wat doen we met Gaza?

Jan Keulen houdt op Bukraa.com een blog bij, waar hij onlangs schreef over het vluchtelingenkamp Mawasi in het zuiden van de Gazastrook. Daar bivakkeren momenteel honderdduizenden Palestijnse vluchtelingen in de kou in tenten, onder wie zijn vriend Mohammed Abu Afash. Jan heeft wekelijks contact met hem over de omstandigheden in het kamp, die erbarmelijk zijn en met de winterkou alleen maar erger worden. Om zijn familie uit Gaza te helpen heeft Jan een Go Fund Me opgezet.

In zijn Oudejaarsconference zong cabaretier en columnist Pieter Derks een ontroerend lied over Hind Rajab, het zesjarige Palestijnse meisje dat in januari 2024 met haar familie door het Israëlische leger werd vermoord. Het is belangrijk dat we haar naam niet vergeten, en prijzen Pieter Derks voor zijn bijdrage.

915.

3 januari 2025

Today's headlines

Israel cannot lose a ‘humanity’ it never had

A recent Haaretz editorial claimed, "Israel Is Losing Its Humanity in Gaza," but this ignores the brutal history of the Zionist colonization of Palestine, of which the Gaza genocide is just the latest chapter.

Even if the war ends, Gaza will no longer be home

For many of us, the idea of leaving Gaza feels like a quiet betrayal. But how do you stay when the weight of loss grows heavier each day?

914.

2 januari 2025

Humanitarian Situation Update #252
West Bank

A Palestinian boy carrying water through a heavily damaged street of Tulkarm refugee camp, following an Israeli operation that involved drone strikes and road bulldozing. Photo by OCHA

Key Highlights

 

• Between 24 and 30 December, eleven Palestinians, including two women and two children, were killed by Israeli forces. Ten of these fatalities occurred within 48 hours between 24 and 25 December in the northern West Bank, with eight killed in airstrikes by Israeli forces.
• Since the beginning of the operation by Palestinian forces in Jenin refugee camp on 5 December, nine Palestinians were killed, including two children, one woman and three members of Palestinian forces. For the past 26 days, access to basic services, including education, water and health, has been severely disrupted.
• At least 21 Palestinian households, comprising 94 people remain displaced following a two-day operation by Israeli forces in Tulkarm and Nur Shams refugee camps, which resulted in damage to about 1,050 housing units.
• The year 2024 has recorded the highest numbers in nearly two decades since OCHA began documents such incidents, with approximately 4,250 Palestinians displaced 1,760 structures destroyed, and about 1,400 incidents involving Israeli settlers across the West Bank, including East Jerusalem.
• Since 7 October 2023, Israeli forces have intensified movement restrictions in the Israeli-controlled area of Hebron city (H2), including the recent installation of a barbed wire barrier in one of the neighbourhoods. This has further disrupted access to livelihoods, essential services, and education for thousands of Palestinians.

Humanitarian Developments (24-30 December)

 

• During the reporting period, Israeli forces killed eleven Palestinians, including two children and two women, and injured 49 others, including 19 children and four women, across the West Bank. In Israel, a Palestinian from the West Bank stabbed and killed an Israeli woman. Five Palestinians, including a female journalist and three members of the Palestinian forces, were killed in Jenin refugee camp within the context of the ongoing operation by Palestinian forces. For more information on casualties and further breakdowns of data, please see the monthly West Bank Snapshot. All the incidents resulting in fatalities and other key incidents are as follows:

Israeli Palestinian conflict related incidents:

• In the early hours of 24 December, Israeli forces launched an operation in Tulkarm Refugee Camp, which later extended to Nur Shams refugee camp, both located in Tulkarm Governorate. The operation, lasting over 40 hours between 24 and 25 December, involved two drone strikes, exchanges of fire, detonations of explosive devices, and extensive destruction of civilian infrastructure by military bulldozers in and around both camps (see below the initial assessment of reported damages). Eight Palestinians were killed, including two women and one child (boy). Seven fatalities were reported in Tulkarm refugee camp, all but one were killed in drone-strikes, while the remaining killing was reported in another strike in Nur Shams refugee camp.
• On 25 December, Israeli forces killed a Palestinian man during a raid in Qaffin town, north of Tulkarm city. Israeli forces besieged a house for approximately three hours, during which armed clashes between Palestinians and Israeli forces were reported. Israeli forces fired multiple anti-tank rifle grenades at the house, killing a Palestinian man inside. His body was later withheld by Israeli forces.
• On 25 December, Israeli forces conducted a raid in Tammun village, southeast of Tubas city. The operation, which lasted over an hour, involved exchanges of fire and a drone strike. The strike hit and killed a 17-year-old boy and injured at least one other person. The drone strike also partially damaged some nearby buildings.
• On 26 December, Israeli forces shot and killed an 18-year-old Palestinian during a raid in the town of Ya'bad in Jenin. Palestinians reportedly threw stones and explosive devices, and Israeli forces fired live ammunition. Human rights organizations stated that the injured youth, who was shot in the chest, did not receive first said from Israeli forces and was left unattended for approximately 10 minutes before withdrawing.
• On 27 December, a Palestinian man from Tulkarm in the West Bank stabbed and killed an elderly Israeli woman before being injured by an Israeli security guard in Herzliya city in Israel.

Intra-Palestinian clashes involving Palestinian forces:

• Since 5 December, Palestinian forces have been carrying out an operation in Jenin refugee camp, exchanging fire with armed Palestinians, and closing off the camp’s entrances. Nine Palestinians have been killed, including two children. Among the fatalities, three were caused by Palestinian forces and one by either armed Palestinians or Palestinian forces. Three members of Palestinian forces were killed, including two while dismantling an IED and one by armed Palestinians. UNRWA has suspended its services in the camp for 19 days including at four schools serving about 1,700 students. On 20 December, UNRWA called for respect for the inviolability of its facilities, protected under international law, after becoming aware that armed Palestinians were occupying its health centre in the camp. UNRWA later confirmed that the health center was vacated by armed Palestinians on 31 December after 12 days. About 12,000 residents in the camp have had limited access to water and electricity. The rehabilitation of water networks, which were significantly damaged by previous Israeli military operations, remains on hold, affecting over 60 per cent of the camp's population. On 30 December, parts of the electricity network were repaired. However, several generators have reportedly been damaged, causing intermittent electricity and communication outages in multiple neighbourhoods inside the camp. All the incidents resulting in fatalities are as follows:

• • On 24 December, a Palestinian man was shot and killed reportedly by Palestinian forces while attempting to leave the camp along with his wife, according to human rights groups.
  • On 25 December, a member of Palestinian forces succumbed to injuries sustained on 22 December while attempting to dismantle an IED in Jenin refugee camp.
  • On 26 December, a member of the Palestinian forces was killed during armed clashes with Palestinians near Al Damj neighbourhood on the outskirts of Jenin refugee camp. According to a statement by Palestinian forces, the fatality occurred after Molotov cocktails were thrown at a house where members of the Palestinian forces were stationed.
  • On 28 December, two Palestinians—a female journalist and a member of the Palestinian forces —were killed. The Palestinian forces member died in clashes with armed Palestinians. The journalist was reportedly shot outside her home while holding her nephew. It remains unclear whether she was shot by Palestinian forces or armed Palestinians.

Humanitarian needs and responses to Israeli operation in Tulkarm and Nur Shams refugee camps

• On 31 December, OCHA, UNRWA, and humanitarian partners initiated an inter-cluster needs assessments in both refugee camps in Tulkarm governorates to assess the humanitarian impact of the operation by Israeli forces between 24 and 25 December. Key findings include:
  • In Tulkarm refugee Camp, 12 refugee families, comprising 61 people, were temporarily displaced as their homes sustained substantial damage from explosions and bulldozing during the operation. Additionally, ten families previously displaced during operations in recent months, experienced further damage to their homes. At least 828 housing units were partially or moderately damaged, requiring immediate rehabilitation. Electricity was cut off across most neighbourhoods for approximately 43 hours and is currently being restored intermittently, affecting the Dinnabeh and Al-Salam neighbourhoods of Tulkarm city. The water supply was disrupted, forcing residents to rely on mobile water tankers, with an estimated 33 mobile tankers distributed across the camp’s neighbourhoods. These disruptions have significantly exacerbated the humanitarian situation for over 11,000 camp residents. Additionally, an estimated 100 livelihood shops sustained varying degrees of damage, further undermining the economic stability of affected families and compounding the challenges faced by the population.
  • In Nur Shams refugee camp, nine families, comprising 33 people, were displaced as their homes sustained substantial damage from explosions and bulldozing during the operation. Additionally, seven families previously displaced during operations in the past three months, experienced further damage to their homes. The operation caused widespread destruction, including the bulldozing of the camp's main street and several surrounding roads. Initial assessments by UNRWA and local authorities report 222 housing units were partially or moderately damaged, requiring immediate rehabilitation. The bulldozing and flooding of roads with sewage water have severely disrupted movement within and around the camp, restricted access to medical and educational services, and further deteriorated living conditions for the camp’s population (7,000 resident). The bulldozing has also impacted the main road connecting Tulkarm and Nablus, hindering safe access for commuters and exacerbating the challenges faced by residents. The destruction of roads, coupled with disruptions to infrastructure, has significantly undermined the dignity and safe access to basic services for the population of Tulkarm and Nur Shams Refugee Camps.
• The WASH cluster, in collaboration with UNRWA, and the Palestinian Water Authority, has been coordinating urgent interventions in both camps, including water trucking, hygiene kit distribution, installing Polyethylene tanks and sewage vacuuming. They have identified the need for water storage tanks (1m³ each) to 200 households, alongside 750 hygiene kits for families whose shelters sustained major or partial damage. OCHA mobilized operating clusters for immediate responses, including the Cash Working Group partners who will provide necessary assistance, including Emergency Multi-Purpose Cash Assistance (EMPCA). These efforts will continue for the next 2-3 weeks.

Settler-related Violence

• During the reporting period, OCHA documented 19 incidents perpetrated by Israeli settlers that led to casualties and/or damage of Palestinian-owned property. The incidents led to the injury of nine Palestinians, including two children, and the vandalism of two animal shelters, three vehicles and over 170 olive saplings and grape vines.
• Since the beginning of 2024, OCHA has recoded about 1,420 incidents of Israeli settler violence. These incidents include settlers reportedly killing five Palestinians, including a child, and injuring 360 other Palestinians, including 35 children, and vandalising more than 26,100 Palestinian-owned trees. This year has seen the highest numbers of incidents related to settler violence that reportedly led to casualties, damage to property or both, since OCHA started recording such incidents in 2006. Additionally, incidents of intimidation and attacks on Palestinian Bedouin communities, have led to the displacement of over 300 families comprising 1,762 people, including 856 children, further highlight the severe humanitarian impact of settler violence.

Key incidents during the reporting period include:

• On 29 December, Israeli settlers believed to be from the newly established outpost, west of Silwad village in Ramallah governorate, physically assaulted Palestinian farmers with bats while working their land, injuring four. One of the injured sustained severe injuries and all were transported to hospital. The settlers also vandalized two vehicles.
• Since the establishment of this settlement outpost on 5 December 2024, agricultural land west of Silwad have been subjected to repeated attacks and destruction. Israeli settlers have broken into farming units, damaged property, and seized Palestinian belongings. Furthermore, Israeli settlers under the protection of Israeli forces, have blocked access roads, preventing farmers from reaching their own lands and forcing them to leave.
• On 26 December, Israeli forces escorting Israeli settlers to conduct religious ceremonies near Halhul village (Hebron), shot tear gas canisters and live ammunition towards Palestinians who gathered and threw stones at them, injuring three Palestinians, including two children.
• On 24 December, Israeli settlers believed to be from Sde Efrayim settlement outpost raided a Palestinian land in Area B in the outskirts of Kaft Ni’ma village (Ramallah). The settlers damaged the construction material and seized other items from a Palestinian-owned house under construction. The northern outskirts of the village have been repeatedly targeted by settlers from this outpost with frequent attacks on Palestinians and their properties.
• On 28 December, armed Israeli settlers believed to be from Magnazi Farm outpost raided Palestinian land in the northeast of Ni’lin village (Ramallah). The settlers set fire to an agricultural structure made of wood and plastic sheets, vandalized fences and destroyed around 70 olive saplings. Additionally, the settlers also broke into the shelter of Bedouin families living in the area, intimidated them, and as reported by the families, threatened them to leave within two weeks.
• On 29 December, Israeli settlers believed to be from Karmei Tzur settlement raided agricultural land near the settlement belonging to Halhul (Hebron) near the settlement and uprooted 100 grape vines. Since 7 October 2023, prior coordination has been required from Palestinians to access the area. The damage was discovered by the landowner when he came to his land after he was granted access.
• During night hours on 25 December, a group of armed Israeli settlers believed to be from a newly established outpost near the Halaweh community in the Israeli-declared firing zone 918, raided the community claiming that they lost sheep. Shortly after the settlers were evacuated by Israeli forces, they raided the community again and vandalizied a vehicle and physically assaulted a Palestinian and stole his identification card and mobile phone. After that, the settlers vandalised an animal shelter and attacked sheep, killing three lambs.

Demolitions

• During the reporting period, OCHA documented the demolition of 16 Palestinian-owned structures across the West Bank, including two in East Jerusalem and 14 in Area C, due to the lack of Israeli-issued building permits, which are nearly impossible for Palestinians to obtain. As a result, 13 people were displaced, including eight children, and around 50 people were otherwise affected.
  • During the reporting period, two families were forced to demolish their two residential structures in East Jerusalem in the areas of Sur Bahir and Jabal al Mukabbir on 26 and 30 December. These demolitions displaced 12 people, including seven children. Since the beginning of the year, 65 per cent of the structures demolished in East Jerusalem (140 out of 215 structures) were demolished by their owners following the issuance of demolition orders, compared with 42 per cent in the previous five years. The proportion of structures destroyed by their owners represents around 5052 per cent, compared with all of 2022 and 2023, respectively.
• Overall, in 2024, Israeli forces demolished or forced the demolition of 1,762 Palestinian-owned structures, displacing 4,253 Palestinians, including 1,712 children, and affecting around 165,000 others.
• The year2024 has recorded the highest numbers of displaced people, and destroyed structures, in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem since OCHA began documenting demolitions and displacement in 2009. This surge is primarily attributed to the extensive destruction of Palestinian homes and infrastructure caused by Israeli forces. These operations, often involving air and land bombardments as well as armed clashes with Palestinians, have predominantly occurred in Jenin and Tulkarm cities and their refugee camps.

H2 movement restriction update

• On 15 December, Israeli forces installed a barbed wire barrier in the As Salaymeh neighbourhood in the designated restricted area of H2 of Hebron city, entirely blocking the only pedestrian path for residents from four neighbourhoods to access essential services, including one of four educational facilities and the only healthcare clinic. This directly affects approximately 2,500 residents in the designated restricted and prohibited area of H2 area of Hebron city. On 17 December, residents of the As Salaymeh and Jaber neighbourhoods held a sit-in demanding the removal of the barrier. The protest was met with a response by Israeli border police, who deployed stun grenades and tear gas and arrested three Palestinians. The detainees were reportedly subjected to severe physical assault before being released them three hours later.
  • Impact on Education: The barbed wire installation has further impeded access to the Ziyad Jaber School, which serves 285 boys from first to seventh grades. Students from affected neighbourhoods are now forced to take significantly longer detours along settler-dominated roads and through checkpoints. Since the imposition of movement restrictions in H2 area on 7 October 2023, school attendance has dropped by 25 per cent. Some families have opted to transfer their children to other schools, resulting in 50 students transferring within the restricted zone, 12 enrolling in schools in the unrestricted area of H2, and eight relocating with their families outside of H2 entirely.
  • Impact on Healthcare: healthcare access has also been severely disrupted following the installation of the barbed wire. Approximately 2,500 residents in the restricted area now face significant barriers in reaching the Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) clinic, the only medical facility in this part of H2 area. Although MSF resumed operations in May 2024 following a six-month closure, the October restrictions have made it increasingly difficult for residents to access medical care, leaving many without consistent healthcare and further compounding their vulnerability.
• Palestinians residing in the H2 area of Hebron city face a coercive environment characterized by settler violence, frequent raids and incursions by Israeli forces and severe access restrictions. Following the escalation of hostilities in Gaza since 7 October 2023, Israeli authorities imposed a full closure on the H2 area, accompanied by a curfew on Palestinian residents until 22 October 2023. Since then, a new system regulating movement has been enforced through designated checkpoints, further restricting access to basic services and exacerbating already difficult living conditions. Residents now face extensive movement barriers, including 80 physical obstacles, such as 24 permanently staffed checkpoints.

Funding

 

• As of 2 January 2024, Member States have disbursed about US$2.34 billion out of the $3.42 billion (70 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.)
• On 11 December 2024, the UN and humanitarian partners launched a Flash Appeal for nearly $4.07 billion to address the humanitarian needs of three million out of 3.3 million people identified as requiring assistance in Gaza and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, in 2025. Nearly 90 per cent of those funds are for the humanitarian response in Gaza, with just over 10 per cent for the West Bank. The $4.07 billion ask is significantly less than what is needed for a full-scale humanitarian response, which would require $6.6 billion. This shortfall reflects the expectation that aid organizations will continue to face unacceptable constraints on their operations in 2025. These operational challenges are expected to drastically limit the amount of assistance that humanitarians are able to provide, exacerbating the already dire conditions and suffering of the Palestinians. The appeal underscores the urgent need for Israel to take immediate and effective measures to ensure the essential needs of civilians are met. This includes lifting all impediments to aid and fully facilitating humanitarian operations, including the distribution of essential goods to Palestinians in need. Such actions are critical to enabling the implementation of the full scale of the urgently required humanitarian response.
• During November, the oPt Humanitarian Fund (oPt HF) managed 124 ongoing projects, totalling $91.7 million. These projects aimed to address urgent needs in the Gaza Strip (89 per cent) and the West Bank (11 per cent) and are strategically focused on education, food security, health, protection, emergency shelter and non-food items, water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH), coordination and support services, multi-purpose cash assistance and nutrition. Of these projects, 70 are being implemented by international non-governmental organizations (INGOs), 40 by national NGOs and 14 by UN agencies. Notably, 50 out of the 84 projects conducted 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.

913.

2 januari 2025

Today's headlines

A year of shame, and many more to come

The shame of Israel's genocide in Gaza will haunt the international moral conscience and the Israeli psyche for the coming century. Though Israelis, accustomed to the perpetual shaming of Germany, are unprepared for the shame they must now confront.

912.

Yesh Din

2 januari 2025

911.

1 januari 2024

Today's headlines

Two voices on Israeli apartheid and genocide at the Oxford Union

In November, the Oxford Union held a debate on the topic of Israeli apartheid and genocide. It sparked a backlash from Zionists and even an investigation by British police. A speaker and audience member who attended tell us what really happened.

Read more on the Mondoweiss-site

’60 Minutes’ program on Lebanon pager attack was nothing more than Israeli propaganda

60 Minutes's story on Israel’s pager attack that killed dozens and injured thousands of Lebanese featured no Lebanese voices and was told completely from the Israeli perspective. In the process, it justified war crimes in Lebanon and Gaza.

910.

1 januari 2025

Mai Hanukkah - “What is Hanukkah?” asked the rabbis of the Talmud. In answer to their own rhetorical question, they chose not to tell the story of the Maccabean victory over the Seleucid empire in 160 BCE. Rather, they offered the famous story of the rededication of the Temple and the miracle of the oil that burned for eight days. For the rabbis, the oil of the menorah symbolized hope and faith in the face of overwhelming odds, not the spoils of war.

They also understood the dangers of glorifying violence, having seen the devastating effects of the Bar Kochba revolt against the Roman empire in 132 CE. They were particularly mindful that the independent Jewish commonwealth founded in the wake of the Maccabean victory - led by the priestly Hasmonean Dynasty - was corrupt and oppressive. In the end, their reign would last a little more than one hundred years before falling to the Roman Empire.

Read and share

 

 

909.