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 30-11-2024 STAAN HIER

7 december 2024

Een nieuw rapport van Amnesty International maakt de conclusie dat Israël in Gaza genocide pleegt onvermijdelijk. Amnesty roept op tot direct ingrijpen en vraagt het Internationaal Gerechtshof strafrechtelijk onderzoek in te stellen.

Voor het rapport You Feel Like You Are Subhuman: Israel’s Genocide Against Palestinians in Gaza onderzocht Amnesty Israëlische acties in Gaza tussen 7 oktober 2023 en begin juli 2024. De organisatie nam daarnaast ruim tweehonderd interviews af, voerde veldwerk uit en analyseerde een uitgebreide reeks visueel en digitaal bewijs, waaronder satellietbeelden.

Palestijnen in Gaza vluchten voor het onophoudelijke Israëlische geweld. Sommigen zijn al tien keer tot ‘evacuatie’ gedwongen, maar in Gaza is het nergens veilig. © OCHA

'Dit is genocide'

Amnesty concludeert dat sprake is van genocide. Volgens het 295 pagina’s tellende rapport maakt Israël zich schuldig aan drie van de vijf criteria die in het Genocideverdrag worden benoemd: het doden van leden van de groep; het toebrengen van ernstig lichamelijk of geestelijk letsel aan leden van de groep; en het opzettelijk aan de groep opleggen van levensvoorwaarden die gericht zijn op haar gehele of gedeeltelijke vernietiging.

‘Aangezien deze daden zijn gepleegd in een al bestaande context van onteigening, apartheid en onwettige militaire bezetting, kunnen we maar één conclusie trekken: de bedoeling van Israël is de fysieke vernietiging van Palestijnen in Gaza’, zegt Agnès Callamard, secretaris-generaal van Amnesty International. 

Actieweek | NIET IN MIJN NAAM

Op 12 december start Oxfam Novib een actieweek waarin van de regering een echte koerswijziging wordt geëist. Iedere dag vallen er doden door het Israëlische geweld. Ondertussen kijkt onze regering weg en weigert zich zelfs hard te maken voor een staakt-het-vuren. Niets doen is medeplichtigheid. 'Laat dit niet gebeuren in jouw naam,' luidt de oproep van Oxfam.Dit is het moment om te laten zien dat wij niet langer medeplichtig willen zijn aan het doden van tienduizenden vrouwen, mannen en kinderen, en aan het vernietigen van een volk.

De ‘stille diplomatie’ van Nederland staat voor een keiharde pro-Israëlkoers

De jaarlijkse begrotingsdebatten vormen traditioneel een moment om de koers van de Nederlandse politiek onder de loep te nemen. Wat betreft het Israël/Palestina-beleid bevestigden de debatten dit jaar vooral wat we al wisten: onder het mom van stille diplomatie en pragmatische keuzes vaart Nederland een rechtlijnige pro-Israëlkoers.

Moties die opriepen tot onderzoek en sancties, zoals die van DENK-Kamerlid Van Baarle, werden zonder meer verworpen. ‘Overbodig’, aldus minister Reinette Klever van Buitenlandse Handel en Ontwikkelingshulp (PVV), ‘want Nederland doet al genoeg’.

Kamerleden die tijdens de debatten vervolgens om resultaten vroegen, hoorden vooral irritatie en retoriek van minister Klever en minister van Buitenlandse Zaken Caspar Veldkamp (NSC).

Terwijl de ministers zich verschuilen achter verklaringen dat de situatie hen ‘na aan het hart ligt’, zet hun beleid in werkelijkheid de bijl aan de wortel van concrete hulp.

UNRWA
Hoe dat gebeurt, wordt geïllustreerd door het debat over de Nederlandse steun aan UNRWA, de enige VN-organisatie die bij machte is de Palestijnen hulp te bieden.
Om de begroting van het ministerie van Buitenlandse Handel en Ontwikkelingshulp - waar de financiering van UNRWA onder valt - aan te nemen, moet steun van de oppositie worden gevonden in de Eerste Kamer. De regering heeft daar geen meerderheid.

SGP en JA21 gebruiken deze situatie om de Nederlandse steun aan UNRWA steeds verder af te knijpen. Zij willen de begroting alleen goedkeuren als de al jaren bestaande steun voor UNRWA radicaal wordt afgebouwd. De partijen eisen dat de Nederlandse steun voor UNRWA volgend jaar wordt teruggebracht van 19 naar 15 miljoen euro, en in de jaren daarna verder wordt afgewaardeerd naar 1 miljoen euro. Met deze radicale voorstellen behartigen de twee partijen Israëls politieke agenda. 

Openbaar Ministerie moet Israëlische inmenging Strafhof onderzoeken

Op initiatief van The Rights Forum roepen zes organisaties het Openbaar Ministerie op een strafrechtelijk onderzoek te openen. Een brief met deze oproep is deze week verzonden aan het Openbaar Ministerie en het Strafhof. De coalitie – bestaand uit de Nederlandse organisaties European Legal Support Centre, Een Ander Joods Geluid, Artsen voor Gaza, en The Rights Forum; en de Palestijnse organisaties Al-Mezan en Al-Haq – reageert op de Israëlische inmenging en bedreiging van het Internationaal Strafhof in Den Haag. Bijna tien jaar werd het onderzoek van het Hof naar Israëlische misdaden in de bezette Palestijnse gebieden ondermijnd. Deze ongekende inbreuk op de integriteit van het Hof en de veiligheid van zijn medewerkers moet gevolgen krijgen.

Lees meer over onze oproep >

Teken de petitie | Bescherm het Strafhof

Gezien de ernst van de situatie is The Rights Forum een petitie gestart om de eis tot strafrechtelijk onderzoek kracht bij te zetten. Intussen is die al bijna 6.000 keer getekend.

De boodschap: als Nederland geen veilige plek is, kan het Internationaal Strafhof zijn belangrijke werk niet doen. De petitie loopt tot eind januari en zal worden aangeboden aan het Openbaar Ministerie.

SGP promoot etnische zuivering in Europees Parlement

Europarlementariër Bert-Jan Ruissen (SGP) ontving deze week Amit Halevi, lid van het Israëlische parlement voor de Likud-partij van premier Netanyahu. In die rol pleitte Halevi onder meer voor de etnische zuivering en annexatie van Gaza, stelde hij dat Palestijnen ‘from the river to the sea’ geen rechten hebben, en bestempelde hij baby’s in Gaza als terroristen.

Halevi sprak in het Europees Parlement tijdens een conferentie over Iran, die werd georganiseerd door Israel Allies Foundation (IAF). Deze organisatie zet zich in om de steun voor Israël bij christelijke politici wereldwijd aan te wakkeren.

Protestbrief
Een brief van 36 Europarlementariërs aan de voorzitter van het Parlement Roberta Metsola om Halevi de toegang tot het parlement te weigeren, haalde niets uit. Het initiatief voor de brief kwam van GroenLinks-PvdA-Europarlementariër Tineke Strik. Haar fractiegenoten Thijs Reuten, Kim van Sparrentak en Bas Eickhout tekenden ook. Zij voerden aan dat haat en discriminatie geen plek mogen hebben in het Europees Parlement, en dat Halevi’s aanwezigheid de waardigheid en reputatie van het Parlement ondermijnt.

Opinie | Staten komen en verdwijnen. Wat zal Israëls toekomstige nalatenschap zijn?

Israël koerst af op eindeloze oorlog. Om te voorkomen dat het land een erfenis opbouwt van massamoord moet het gedwongen worden tot vrede, schrijft Nikolaos van Dam in een opiniestuk op onze website. In zijn opiniestuk gaat deze Van dam nader in op het feit dat 'Israël  aanvallen op de Palestijnen veelal rechtvaardigt met het argument dat het een ‘recht op zelfverdediging’ toekomt. En zich bedreigd voelt. Maar het is niet Israël dat hier een recht op zelfverdediging heeft. Het is daarentegen juist de Palestijnse bevolking die het recht heeft op gewapend verzet. Zolang de gewapende onderdrukking van het Palestijnse volk, die nu al 75 jaar gaande is, door Israël wordt voortgezet. Deze Van Dam had dan ook in zijn geschrift allereerst moeten onderstrepen dat primair hier Palestina het recht op gewapend verzet toekomt. Zoals dit ook in uitdrukkelijk in het internationale recht wordt bepaald.

Uit onze agenda

zaterdag 7 december t/m zaterdag 14 december

Neem deel aan wakes en demonstraties
• Wake op zaterdag 07.12 in Amsterdam, Spui (12.45 uur)
• Wake op zaterdag 07.12 in Groningen, Waagplein (13.00 uur)
• Wake op zaterdag 07.12 in Maastricht, op de Markt, achter het Stadhuis (16.00 uur)
• Herdenking voor omgekomen kinderen in Gaza, bij het Geuzenmonument in Vlaardingen (16.00 uur)

827.

7 december 2024

Today's headlines

Might the new Gaza ceasefire talks succeed?

In the wake of the ceasefire deal between Israel and Lebanon, there has been speculation about a similar deal between Israel and Hamas to finally bring about an end to the genocide in Gaza. But are there reasons to think this time may be different?

U.S. mainstream media downplays Amnesty International’s finding that Israel is committing genocide

Pressure is mounting on the international community over Israel's genocide in Gaza. With the latest report from Amnesty International, the mainstream U.S. media faced an excruciating dilemma. How could it downplay the damning report this time?

826.

6 december 2024

Today's headlines

Israel is committing a genocide in Gaza, Amnesty International says

Qassam Muaddi

Amnesty International joined a growing chorus of human rights experts who say Israel is carrying out a genocide in Gaza. The group called on states and arms suppliers of Israel to "bring Israel’s atrocities...to an immediate end.”

Israel’s genocide Day 426: Israel bombs tents in Gaza as international condemnation grows

Qassam Muaddi

Hamas accepts Egypt’s proposal to form an independent Palestinian committee to run Gaza after the war, while Israel bombs another tent encampment for displaced Palestinians in Khan Younis. Amnesty International declares Israel is committing genocide.

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6 december 2024

824.

5 december 2024

Today's headlines

What does Trump’s return mean for the Middle East?

Mouin Rabbani discusses what Donald Trump's return could mean for the Lebanese ceasefire, normalization efforts in the region, and the prospect of Israeli annexation of the West Bank.

Genocide as Charity: a critical look at the Mizrachi Organization of Canada

M

The work of the Mizrachi Organization of Canada shows how Israeli war crimes and crimes against humanity are embedded within the Canadian charitable sector.

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5 december 2024

In today's Daily Brief:

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5 december 2024

Humanitarian Situation Update #244
West Bank

Two elderly Palestinian Bedouin preparing to dismantle their structures and leave with their families from the outskirts of Ni'lin in Ramallah governorate, due to threats and attacks by Israeli settlers. Photo: OCHA

Key Highlights

• Israeli settlers vandalize more than 700 Palestinian-owned trees and saplings, mostly olive, in three locations in the West Bank within three days. 
• Three Palestinian Bedouin households, comprising 14 people, including eight children and two elderly, residing on the outskirts of Ni’lin village (Ramallah) were displaced, citing settler violence as the main cause. 
• Since 7 October 2023, some 300 Palestinian households comprising 1,757 people, including 855 children, have been displaced in Palestinian Bedouin and other herding communities, primarily citing attacks by Israeli settlers and access restrictions.  
• In 2024, the proportion of structures self-demolished in East Jerusalem by their owners following receipt of demolition orders from the Israeli authorities has sharply increased.

Latest Developments (after 2 December)

• On 3 December, initial reports indicate that an Israeli airstrike targeted a vehicle in Aqqaba (Tubas), killing two Palestinians and injuring another. Israeli forces raided the Turkish Hospital, where the three casualties were transported, sealed all its entrances and opened fire inside, including in the emergency room, causing widespread panic and damage. At least five medical staff, including doctors, were detained and interrogated for at least one hour as Israeli forces searched for the injured Palestinian, who had already been transferred to another hospital upon his arrival. Efforts by Palestinian District Coordination and Laison Office and ICRC were made to secure the release of the detained medical personnel.
• On 3 December, initial reports suggest that Israeli settlement guards shot and killed a 15-year-old Palestinian boy near his home in Silwan (Jerusalem). According to Israeli media, the boy was throwing stones at passing vehicles. According to local sources, Israeli settlements’ guards passed through the Ein al Louzeh neighbourhood and fired toward Palestinian houses, injuring the boy. Shortly after, Israeli forces arrived in the area and arrested the injured boy. Later on, the boy was pronounced dead, and his body was withheld.
• On 4 December, initial reports indicate that Israeli settlers injured a Palestinian man and members of the Israeli forces during a raid on Huwwara and Beit Furik (Nablus). During these attacks, settlers set fire to a number of homes and vehicles in these communities.

Humanitarian Developments (26 November-2 December)

• During the reporting period, Israeli forces killed five Palestinians and injured 27 others, including seven children, across the West Bank, including East Jerusalem. Eight Israelis, including four soldiers, were injured as a result of an attack perpetrated by an armed Palestinian in the West Bank. For more information on casualties and further breakdowns of data, please see the monthly West Bank snapshot. All the incidents resulting in Palestinian fatalities and other key incidents by Israeli forces are as follows:  
  • On 29 November, Israeli forces shot and killed a Palestinian man who perpetrated a shooting attack that injured four Israeli settlers and four Israeli soldiers at a bus stop near Ariel settlement. According to Israeli media, the Palestinian man (from Einabus village, Nablus) stopped his vehicle on the side of the road near the bus stop and opened fire at an Israeli bus. In response, Israeli forces shot him and withheld his body.
  • On 30 November, Israeli forces shot and injured a Palestinian boy and physically assaulted, and injured another one in the village of ‘Asira al Qibliya, southwest of Nablus. According to the Head of the Village Council, Israeli forces raided the village, and Palestinians threw stones at the military vehicles. Israeli forces then fired tear gas canisters, sound bombs, and live ammunition at the stone-throwers. A 15-year-old boy sustained a gunshot wound to the leg and a 16-year-old boy was physically assaulted by the forces. Both injured boys were transported to the hospital by medical teams in the area.
  • On 1 December, Israeli forces killed four Palestinians during an operation that involved airstrikes and exchanges of fire between armed Palestinians and Israeli forces in Sir village (Jenin). The operation lasted about seven hours, during which Israeli forces struck armed Palestinians near a cave on the outskirts of the village. The Palestinian District Coordination Office and Ministry of Health reported that Israeli forces have withheld the four Palestinian bodies. Medical teams reported that Israeli forces prevented them from reaching the targeted area. It remains uncertain whether the fatalities resulted from an Israeli drone strike or occurred during an exchange of fire.

• During the reporting period, OCHA documented 45 incidents involving settlers and affecting Palestinians, including 21 attacks that resulted in casualties, property damage or both. In total, two Palestinians were injured by Israeli settlers and six others were injured by Israeli forces during these attacks. Five Israeli settlers were injured in two separate Palestinian-perpetrated attacks; four by live ammunition and one by stone throwing. About four incidents affecting Palestinians took place within the context of the olive harvest season, which resulted in the vandalism of about 700 trees and saplings, mostly olive. 
• The following are some of the key settler incidents that took place during the reporting period, which entailed intimidation, harassment, physical injury, property damage or a combination thereof, and include cases where Israeli forces were present: 
  • Israeli settlers vandalized more than 700 Palestinian-owned trees and saplings, mostly olive, in three locations on 27 and 29 November in the Palestinian villages of Yasuf (Salfit), Turmus’ayya (Ramallah) and Zif (Hebron). The vandalism included the uprooting and cutting of trees and herding of their flocks in Palestinian-owned land which damaged crops.
  • On 1 December, a group of armed and masked settlers physically assaulted and injured two Palestinians in the village of Umm Safa (Ramallah). According to local sources, the settlers raided the village and attacked Palestinian workers with metal sticks and a rifle. In addition, they vandalized one car and a bulldozer, stole their keys, and damaged some work equipment. Israeli forces arrived after the attack and fired live ammunition, tear gas and sound grenades at Palestinians who had gathered in the village after the attack.
  • On 1 December, masked and armed Israeli settlers believed to be from Yitzhar settlement raided Madama village, south of Nablus city. Villagers gathered to try to repel the settlers, after which Israeli forces intervened by firing live ammunition, tear gas canisters, and sound grenades at the Palestinians. According to medical sources, six Palestinians, including two children, were treated on-site for gas inhalation. 
  • On 30 November, armed Israeli settlers believed to be from the Magzazi Farm settlement outpost, attacked Palestinian Bedouin families residing on the eastern outskirts of Area C in Ni'lin village (Ramallah). According to video footage, armed settlers raided the community, intimidated the families, and threatened further attacks if they do not leave the area. Later that day, the settlers returned with dogs, which attacked and injured one of the community’s cows. On 2 December, three Palestinian Bedouin households comprising 14 people, including eight children and two elderly persons, residing on the outskirts of the village began relocating to a different location. According to the families, they have been forced to leave due to recurrent threats and attacks by Israeli settlers. The settlement outpost expanded near the community in May 2024 and since then settler violence has intensified in the area. Since 7 October 2023, some 300 Palestinian households comprising 1,757 people, including 855 children, have been displaced in Bedouin and other herding communities, primarily citing attacks by Israeli settlers and access restrictions.

• Since the start of the olive harvest season in October, Palestinian farmers have faced a sharp increase in settler-related violence, with their livelihoods and safety severely jeopardized. Between October and November, OCHA documented about 260 settler-related incidents directly related to the season across 89 West Bank communities, the majority of which resulted in casualties, property damage or both. This is at least a three-fold increase compared to each of the preceding three years. These incidents resulted in 57 Palestinians injured by settlers, 11 injured by Israeli forces, over 3,100 trees and saplings, mostly olive, burned, sawed-off, or vandalized, and significant theft of crops and harvesting tools. Nearly 60 per cent of these incidents occurred in the northern West Bank, with Nablus governorate alone accounting for over a quarter. The central West Bank, mainly Ramallah governorate, witnessed around a fifth of the incidents, while 18 per cent took place in Bethlehem and Hebron governorates in the south. This geographic distribution aligns with previous years' trends; however, the volume of incidents has significantly increased.
• The Israeli authorities demolished, forced people to demolish, or seized 27 Palestinian-owned structures across the West Bank, including East Jerusalem. This resulted in the displacement of 11 people, including seven children, and otherwise affected the livelihoods, or access to services, of over 200 others. All but four of targeted structures were demolished due to a lack of Israeli-issue building permits, which are nearly impossible for Palestinians to obtain. Twenty of the targeted structures were in Area C of the West Bank, five were in East Jerusalem, and two were in Area B of the West Bank.
• On 27 November, Israeli forces raided Idhna village (Hebron) in Area B of the West Bank and demolished a two-storey house and a water cistern, on punitive grounds. The house belonged to the Palestinian man who committed a shooting attack near Tarqumiya (Hebron) killing three Israeli police officers on 1 September 2024; he was killed on the same day in Hebron city in an exchange of fire with Israeli forces. Since the beginning of 2024, 33 structures have been demolished on punitive grounds, compared with 37 structures in all of 2023 and 14 in 2022. Punitive demolitions are a form of collective punishment and are illegal under international law.
• From 1 January to 30 November 2024, 64 per cent of structures demolished in East Jerusalem (121 out of 189 structures) for lacking Israeli-issued building permits were destroyed by their owners following the issuance of demolition orders by the Israeli authorities. These demolitions accounted for around 60 per cent of people displaced in East Jerusalem within this context until end of November 2024 (289 out of 481 people). The rate of demolitions by owners of structures served with demolition orders has increased and stood at about 53 per cent in each of 2022 and 2023. More than half of homes and other structures demolished by their owners (63 out of 121) during this period took place in Jabal Mukabbir (23), Al Isawiya (22), and Silwan (18). Jabal Al Mukabbir alone accounts for 28 per cent of people displaced after being forced to demolish their own homes for lacking building permits.  These demolitions are supported by Israeli legislation, which limits the authority of Israeli courts to intervene, exerting additional pressure on families to demolish their properties themselves. In one such incident documented by OCHA in August 2024 in Silwan, the affected family had been paying over 100,000 NIS ($27,700) in fines since 2014 for adding a new section to their home, built before the year 2000 without a permit. In August 2024, they received a final demolition order, after which Jerusalem Municipality officials reportedly stormed their house regularly, pressuring the family to demolish the property within 21 days. This incident displaced two households, comprising nine people, including four children. 
• In February 2024, Israeli authorities issued military orders to requisition approximately 30 dunums of Palestinian-owned land from the towns of Sinjil (with an estimated population of 6,500, PCBS 2024 population projections) and Turmus’ayya (with an estimated population of 2,800, PCBS 2024 population projections), both north of Ramallah along Road 60. According to local sources, the Israeli Civil Administration informed the towns’ residents months earlier that the seized land would be used to construct a fence to protect Israeli settlers passing along Road 60 from stone-throwing. Reportedly, the planned fence wall, approximately 1,500 metres long and four metres high, would close off lands overlooking Road 60—which is the main road connecting the northern, central, and southern West Bank—from both the Sinjil and Turmus’ayya sides, severely restricting access to agricultural land and homes. Additionally, according to the Sinjil Municipality, 13 houses lie in the path of the fence wall, and 8,000 dunums of agricultural land near settlements in northeastern Sinjil are at risk of being isolated. In August 2024, Israeli authorities issued an additional order to requisition 15 more dunums of land for the fence construction. By late September, Israeli forces had begun levelling privately-owned Palestinian land in Sinjil, demolishing one uninhabited residential house, uprooting over 200 trees (including 135 olive trees), destroying retaining walls, and bulldozing fields cultivated with vegetables. These actions affected approximately 162 people, including 94 children. The Sinjil Municipality petitioned the Israeli Civil Administration against the fence construction plans, but their objections were dismissed. Field observations by the municipality suggest that bulldozing activities have extended beyond the areas specified in the original plans. Furthermore, on 22 November 2024, Israeli settlers believed to be from nearby settlements attacked the requisitioned areas, cutting down and stealing two ancient olive trees before fleeing the scene.

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MONDOWEISS

4 december 2024

 "From The River, To The Sea" T-Shirts

Our iconic "From The River, To The Sea" t-shirts are a must-have for advocates of justice and truth. Available in both short-sleeve and long-sleeve styles, these shirts let you wear your values proudly while staying comfortable and stylish.

From The River, To The Sea

Long-Sleeve T-Shirt

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4 december 2024

New Map of the West Bank

Today, we are releasing an updated poster-size map of the West Bank, focusing on movement and access.

The new West Bank map is a revision to the May 2023 poster-size map, providing updated information on movement obstacles where a policy of physical barriers, permit requirements and other administrative restrictions are used to control Palestinian pedestrian and vehicular movement across the West Bank. Key figures include:

• 3.3 million Palestinians live in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem
• 614 obstacles continue to impact access and movement
• Ramallah, Hebron and Nablus governorates have the highest number of obstacles (142, 129, 128).
• 700,000 Israeli settlers live in 350 settlements established in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, in contravention of international law.
• Palestinian access to land located behind the Barrier continues to be subject to Israeli requirements, including special permits.
• In the prohibited areas of H2 Hebron, only Palestinians registered as residents of this area are allowed to enter. In the restricted areas, where Palestinian houses are located immediately adjacent to one of the settlement compounds, Palestinian access is controlled by a checkpoint.

The updated map includes detailed information on the movement obstacles by governorate and by type. These vary between checkpoints, road gates, earth mounds and earth walls, partial checkpoints, trenches among other categories, restricting movement and access. The map also features the West Bank Barrier, civil infrastructure, closed and restricted areas, Israeli settlements, and the built-up areas of the Palestinian communities. Additionally, inset maps and infographics provide an overview of East Jerusalem, Hebron H2 areas, and the West Bank Barrier construction status.

As the situation remains highly dynamic and volatile, the map reflects the situation as of November 2024 and may thus not reflect changes that have occurred after this period.
We are happy to offer poster-size printouts to those able to visit any of our offices across the Occupied Palestinian Territory. For partners unable to visit our offices, we encourage them to use the linked digital version.

We hope you find this product useful.

Best regards,
The OCHA OPT Team

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4 december 2024

On November 19, 2024, Yesh Din published a new report addressing Israel’s policy of roadblocks in the West Bank, focusing on the case study of the Abu Awwad family from Turmusaya in the West Bank. For over a year, the sole access road to the family’s homes, located on the outskirts of the town, has been obstructed by an earth mound of stones and dirt placed by soldiers and settlers. Under the cover of Israel’s war in the Gaza Strip, soldiers imposed even harsher restrictions on the family’s freedom of movement. These include prohibiting cultivating the agricultural lands surrounding their homes, which serve as a central source of income, banning them from leaving the compound after dark, and forbidding guests from visiting.

In January 2024, settlers attacked the family compound and caused substantial damage to property while soldiers stood idly by. Shortly thereafter, settlers threatened the family, demanding they leave the area.

After Yesh Din filed a petition to the Israeli High Court of Justice on the family’s behalf, some restrictions were lifted. However, to this day, the blockade remains in place, and a military order prevents the family from accessing their agricultural lands even for the purpose of harvesting their olives during the peak harvest season.

The family’s story, with its dramatic transformation of daily life, serves as a case study illustrating the destructive impact of Israel’s blockade policy, which has intensified since October 2023, on the lives of many Palestinians. It also highlights the collaboration - whether overt or covert - between the State of Israel and settlers, employing various means to forcibly displace Palestinians from their lands.

New Petition to the High Court of Justice Demanding Public Tenders for Land Allocations in the West Bank

On November 28, 2024, Yesh Din submitted a petition through Attorneys Shlomy Zachary and Lior Tzur against the Military Commander of the West Bank and the Civil Administration addressing the order regarding the obligation to publish public tenders for allocation of West Bank land. This order, issued by the Military Commander of the West Bank in August 2020, established a mechanism stipulating that there is no binding obligation for allocations of lands in the West Bank to be equitable, transparent, or impartial until appropriate regulations are enacted by the Head of the Civil Administration. Sadly, according to the order, the authorities in the West Bank wish to continue the ongoing policy of blatant discrimination in the allocation of lands in the West Bank, so that lands are allocated, without public tenders, only to Israeli settlements and to serve Israeli interests alone.

As we have demonstrated in the past, findings reinforced by the Supreme Court ruling in the Regularization Law case and, to a significant extent by the ICJ's advisory opinion - during 57 years of occupation only a negligible portion of land has been allocated to Palestinians. In contrast, approximately 99.3% of the lands allocated by the Civil Administration were designated for the benefit of Israeli settlements.

The ICJ's advisory opinion aligns with our position in many areas, particularly regarding the core issue of this petition: the obligation of the Head of the Civil Administration to enact regulations to meet the standards that the Military Commander himself proclaimed. The petition additionally demands that, until such regulations are enacted, no allocations or transactions involving land should take place.

This is a principled petition addressing systemic inequality, which is characteristic of the crime of apartheid, and therefore carries significant public importance.

After months of collaborative work with the SITU studio, Bimkom, Adam Maloof and Ryan Manzuk of Princeton University Department of Geoscience, Yesh Din is proud to present its innovative project in the Pinakothek Der Moderne Museum in Munich, Germany. Presented publicly for the first time as part of the exhibition, this ongoing investigation aims to document and analyze changes in land possession and land use in the West Bank. Since the Israeli occupation is carried out in the form of land dispossession (among others), this work examines the spatial representation of systematic discrimination, and whether remote sensing tools show patterns of dispossession over time and space concerning areas in the West Bank which Yesh Din has been monitoring for years.

Several dynamic teams, including architects, filmmakers, and computational engineers, used spatial analysis and 3D modeling to uncover and visualize human rights abuses, thus creating a reliable basis for independent assessment and legal prosecution. The project is part of a wider exhibition using the emergent field of Visual Investigations to create a series of case studies and research to show how the role of architecture operates between advocacy, journalism, and law in the pursuit of justice and accountability.

The exhibition is called In Plain Sight: Remote Sensing and Land Dispossession in the West Bank.

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4 december 2024

MORE ABOUT NAZARETH

The Stones Cry Out: The Story of Palestinian Christians is a 2013 documentary that tells the story of Palestinian Christians from the Nakba of 1948 to the present day: The documentary highlights the history of Christianity in Palestine, which is considered the birthplace of Christianity.

It also explores the experiences of Palestinian Christians, who have lived in the region for almost 2,000 years.

The documentary highlights how the history of Palestine has been shaped by displacement, wars, occupation, and oppression.

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4 december 2024

Quick Take: Belgium Good News! DutchCourts of Appeal should take the same way!

Belgium: Good news. The Brussels Court of Appeal has found the Belgian government guilty of crimes against humanity in Congo during Belgian colonial rule and ordered it to pay compensation as a form of reparation. It’s a landmark win for the reparations movement, achieved thanks to a tireless struggle for justice.    

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4 december 2024

Today's headlines

Cautious optimism as Gaza ceasefire talks resume in Cairo

Qassam Muaddi

Ceasefire negotiations have resumed in Egypt between Hamas and Israel. A new push for unity between rival Palestinian factions could offer a new path forward, but internal Israeli political strife could once again prevent a deal from taking shape.

Targeted aid killings: How Israel starved a population and sowed chaos in northern Gaza

Riley Sparks, Hajar Harb, Omar Nabil Abdel Hamid and Eric Reidy

A new investigation reveals the chilling military strategy behind Israel’s attempts to starve northern Gaza. Experts say Israeli attacks, which used targeted killings to promote social disintegration, show “a pattern of apparent war crimes."

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4 december 2024

Ceasefire Consequences and Annexation Plans

Leaked documents revealed a disturbing partnership between UK Lawyers for Israel and the Israeli government, aimed at undermining human rights organizations like Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International.

This collaboration is part of a larger effort to stifle accountability for Israel’s violations of international law. Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich announced plans to annex the West Bank by 2025. With the possibility of a Trump administration returning to power in the U.S., this timeline underscores Israel’s long-term strategy to entrench its control over occupied Palestinian territories.

The recently brokered ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah has temporarily eased fears of a regional war, but its implications are deeply troubling for Palestinians:

= The agreement furthers Israel’s goal of isolating Gaza from Lebanon and decoupling the Axis of Resistance. Meanwhile, in Gaza, families fleeing Israeli evacuation orders were targeted in an airstrike on a school, killing 18 people. As Tareq Hajjaj writes, “there is no safe choice” for Palestinians forced to leave their homes amid relentless violence.

= Tech giants like Google and Amazon are facing growing scrutiny for their role in Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza. Tauriq Jenkins highlights their complicity in violations of international law through advanced technologies used in Israel’s assaults.

= White House condemns the ICC’s arrest warrants for Netanyahu and Yoav Gallant, U.S. complicity in shielding Israel from accountability remains perhaps the key obstacle to ending the bloodshed in Gaza.

Diaries from North Gaza: One Woman’s Story of Survival

Since October 7, 2023, Sondos Sabra has kept a diary of the genocide. These entries serve as a window into her life and the universal Gazan story of what it means to survive. “I remember that I remember, and I will not have that memory erased.”

Palestinians inspect the damage in the Nuseirat refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip after Israeli shelling of the camp stopped on November 29, 2024. (Photo: Omar Ashtawy/APA Images)

Catch up:

= Leaked documents show the extent of collaboration between the pro-Israel legal advocacy group UK Lawyers for Israel and the Israeli government, in their attempt to “counter” the work of human rights organizations such as Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International.

= Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich has announced that 2025 will be the year Israel annexes the West Bank. With the Trump administration entering the White House, the stage is set for Israel to finally take total control over the occupied territory.

= The media’s censorship of the facts of the Amsterdam soccer hooligan violence was more than just bad reporting. It was yet another example of the ideological fiction that Jewish actions can never be blamed for the violence they cause.

= Georgia Senator Jon Ossoff is getting attacked for his support of a resolution to block future U.S. arms sales to Israel, but we will likely be hearing more Democrats sounding like him as the party shifts on the issue of U.S. aid to Israel.

= Unpacking the ceasefire deal reached between Israel and Hezbollah and what it means for a potential regional war and the ongoing genocide in Gaza.

= The ceasefire agreement between Hezbollah and Israel has accomplished Israel’s goal of decoupling Gaza from Lebanon. But while the future of the Axis of Resistance remains unclear, so does Israel’s own strategic path forward.

= This week, families in Gaza City followed orders to evacuate to a nearby school, and then Israel bombed it, killing 18 people. There is no safe choice for Palestinians when they are forced to decide whether to leave their homes.

= The role of tech giants like Google and Amazon Web Services in perpetrating the plausible genocide in Gaza is coming under increasing scrutiny. Their involvement in advanced military operations implicates them in violations of International Humanitarian Law and International Human Rights Law.

= The White House joined lawmakers across both parties in condemning the ICC’s arrest warrants for Benjamin Netanyahu and Yoav Gallant. Senator Tom Cotton even suggested that the U.S. should take military action against the court over the warrants.

= I am an obstetrician and gynecologist who has worked in Gaza throughout the Israeli genocide. I have seen the destruction of Gaza’s medical sector firsthand. My patients’ stories tell the story of the genocide.“

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Humanitarian Situation Update #243
Gaza Strip

Destruction in Gaza city. Photo credit: Olga Cherevko, OHCHR.

Key Highlights

• An Emergency Medical Team was successfully deployed to Kamal Adwan hospital, in North Gaza, for the first time in 60 days.
• A severe shortage of medical supplies and consumables is hindering the provision of essential healthcare across the Gaza Strip, and UNRWA warns that at least 60 medications will be depleted at its health facilities by the end of the year. 
• Water production decreased by nine per cent in November, mainly due to critical fuel shortages that have resulted in a 43-per-cent drop in production by groundwater wells across Gaza.  
• Humanitarian access continued to be partly denied or impeded during November, and UNRWA had to suspend the collection of aid supplies from Kerem Shalom crossing due to insecurity and looting of humanitarian cargo.

Humanitarian Developments

• Israeli bombardment from the air, land and sea continues to be reported across the Gaza Strip, resulting in further civilian casualties, displacement, and destruction of civilian infrastructure. In the North Gaza governorate, the Israeli military has been carrying out a ground offensive since 6 October 2024, with fighting reported between Israeli forces and Palestinian armed groups. Israeli forces have continued to impose a tightened siege on Beit Lahiya, Beit Hanoun and parts of Jabalya and humanitarian assistance has been largely denied for about 60 days (see data below), leaving between 65,000 and 75,000 people without access to food, water, electricity or reliable health care, as mass casualty incidents continue.
• Between the afternoons of 26 November and 3 December, according to the Ministry of Health (MoH) in Gaza, 253 Palestinians were killed and 708 were injured. Between 7 October 2023 and 3 December 2024, at least 44,502 Palestinians were killed and 105,454 were injured, according to MoH in Gaza.
• Between the afternoons of 26 November and 3 December, two Israeli soldiers were killed in Gaza, according to the Israeli military. Between 7 October 2023 and 3 December 2024, according to the Israeli military and official Israeli sources cited in the media, more than 1,580 Israelis and foreign nationals were killed, the majority on 7 October 2023 and its immediate aftermath. The figure includes 380 soldiers killed in Gaza or along the border in Israel since the beginning of the ground operation. In addition, 2,463 Israeli soldiers were reported injured since the beginning of the ground operation.
• Representing the last lifeline for over two million Palestinians in Gaza, humanitarian workers continue to operate under challenging conditions that undermine their ability to meet humanitarian needs while facing risks to their personal safety. On 30 November, three World Central Kitchen (WCK) staff members were killed by an Israeli airstrike on their vehicle near an aid distribution site in Khan Younis, forcing the organization to pause its operations. On the same day, a Save the Children staff member, who is deaf, was killed in a separate Israeli airstrike in Khan Younis while returning home from a mosque. Save the Children condemned the attack in the strongest possible terms and demanded an investigation. On 27 November, UNRWA reported that two additional agency staff had been killed in Gaza, bringing the total fatality toll among UNRWA staff to 249. Overall, since 7 October 2023, at least 343 humanitarian workers have been killed in the Gaza Strip, including 253 UN staff. Calling for accountability and an immediate ceasefire to end the suffering, the Humanitarian Coordinator for the OPT, Muhannad Hadi, emphasized: “Humanitarians must be granted safe, sustained, and unimpeded access to all those in need. The continued killing of humanitarian workers is an unacceptable violation of international law and further intensifies the catastrophic humanitarian situation.”
• On 28 November, over 75 Palestinians including children and women were reportedly killed in two strikes on two residential buildings in Beit Lahiya, in North Gaza, according to the Palestinian Civil Defense (PCD) that remains blocked by the Israeli authorities from operating in the governorate. PCD further stated that the houses near one of the targeted buildings are inhabited and their residents may have also been killed or injured but their destiny remains unknown. On 29 November, PCD spokesperson described conditions in North Gaza governorate as a “total catastrophe” whereby many people are trapped under rubble for days until they die of their injuries or due to the lack of food and water. According to PCD, more than 2,700 people are estimated to have been killed in North Gaza since 6 October, half of whom have not been retrieved, and more than 10,000 have been injured.

• The following are some of the other deadly incidents reported between 26 November and 1 December:  
  • On 26 November, at about 14:50, 15 Palestinians were reportedly killed and others injured when Al Hurriya School, sheltering Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs), was hit in Az Zeitoun neighbourhood in southeastern Gaza city.
  • On 27 November, at about 02:00, at least nine Palestinians including six females were reportedly killed and 20 others were injured when two floors of a building of Al Tab’aeen School, sheltering IDPs, was hit in central Gaza city.
  • On 28 November, at about 08:40, nine Palestinians including at least one woman were reportedly killed and several others injured when a group of Palestinians sitting outside a house was hit in the New Camp, north of An Nuseirat refugee camp in Deir al Balah.
  • On 29 November, at about 23:05, at least ten Palestinians, including two women and two children, were reportedly killed when an apartment was hit in a building in Ash Sheikh Radwan neighbourhood in northern Gaza city.
  • On 29 November, the head of the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) at Kamal Adwan Hospital, in North Gaza, was reportedly killed in an Israeli airstrike in North Gaza.
  • On 30 November, at about 11:35, at least eight Palestinians were reportedly killed when a five-story residential building was hit in Ash Shuja’iyeh neighbourhood, in eastern Gaza city. 
  • On 30 November, at about 13:00, at least 12 Palestinians were reportedly killed and others injured when an area near an aid distribution point was hit in Qizan an-Najjar Village in southern Khan Younis.
  • On 30 November, at about 16:25, over 40 Palestinians were reportedly killed or injured, according to PCD, when a house sheltering tens of IDPs was hit in Tal Az-Za'atar in North Gaza. Many people are still trapped under the rubble due to very limited resources for retrieval and rescue.
  • On 1 December, at about 19:00, 25 Palestinians, including women and children, were reportedly killed when a house was hit in Beit Lahiya Project in North Gaza.
• On 1 December, following the denial of several requests to deploy Emergency Medical Teams (EMTs) at Kamal Adwan Hospital, an EMT made up of six staff from Medical Emergency Rescue Committee (MER-C) Indonesia was deployed to the hospital as part of a medical mission from the World Health Organization (WHO) that delivered a fuel tank and medical supplies. The hospital, which now hosts 63 patients including nine in the ICU, has been functioning with extremely limited resources and has been under attack several times. Also in North Gaza, on 26 November, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) facilitated the medical transfer of patients from Al-Awda hospital in Beit Lahiya, which also suffers from an acute shortage of supplies, to Al-Shifa hospital in Gaza city.
• A severe shortage of medical supplies and the lack of food and water for patients continue to hinder the provision of much needed healthcare across the Gaza Strip. Coupled with soaring medical needs due to the onset of winter and hunger, these conditions have forced health workers to turn people away at some facilities and could “push people over the edge,” warned Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) on 29 November. At Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, basic supplies like gauze and bandages are running out, forcing MSF teams to extend dressing change intervals and heightening infection risks. Also at Nasser, MSF teams have not been able to set up a clinical bacteriology laboratory because the cold chain to operate it has been constantly “opened and damaged by Israeli officers at the crossing point," according to MSF. In Deir al Balah, the MSF field hospital is struggling due to a lack of painkillers and antibiotics, hindering pain management and the treatment of low respiratory infections among children. Medications for hypertension, or high blood pressure, are similarly in short supply, leaving many people untreated and at risk of acute complications. According to WHO, of the estimated 350,000 people who live with chronic diseases in the Gaza Strip, about 225,000 have hypertension. Likewise, UNRWA recently reported that its health facilities, including seven health centres and 54 medical points that remain operational, have limited stocks of medicine and shortages of laboratory supplies have rendered only three tests available for patients compared with 35 tests prior to 7 October 2023. According to UNRWA, under current conditions, at least 60 medications, including inter alia 19 mental health and non-communicable disease medications, 17 antimicrobials and antiparasitic medicines, eight anti-inflammatory and gastrointestinal drugs, will run out at its health facilities by the end of December 2024. In addition, MSF teams have been relying on expensive water trucking due to the lack of authorization from the Israeli authorities to import desalination units or generators. However, last week they were forced to reduce water trucking activities by half due to the high cost and limited availability of fuel.
• Attacks on health facilities across the Gaza Strip continue to take place, further hindering the provision of services and placing additional strain on an already overwhelmed healthcare system. On 28 November, Al Awda Health and Community Association reported that one of its ambulances had been hit while evacuating injured people in An Nuseirat refugee camp, in Deir al Balah, resulting in the injury of one paramedic. On the same day, quadcopters reportedly dropped small diameter bombs outside the reception and emergency ward of Al Awda Hospital in An Nuseirat, injuring four people, including two staff.  In addition, on two occasions on 30 November, Israeli forces reportedly opened fire and fired shells towards the Indonesian Hospital, in North Gaza governorate, resulting in the injury of one doctor, the destruction of three electricity generators, and damage to the hospital's third floor and water tanks. Moreover, Oxfam’s partner, Juzoor, which continues to operate in North Gaza, reported that it had its homeless shelter, food and medical storage facility and one of its 15 health points hit by recent Israeli bombardments, “destroying equipment and burning medicines” at the health point.

• On 27 November, six cancer patients and 11 trauma patients, along with 17 companions, were evacuated by WHO from Gaza to receive specialized medical treatment in the United States and Jordan. As of 27 November, 352 patients have been exceptionally evacuated from Gaza abroad since early May, following the Israeli ground operation in Rafah and subsequent closure of Rafah crossing. With the decimation of Gaza’s health care system and a severe shortage of supplies and specialized care, thousands of patients remain on the waiting list. According to the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), “at the current rate of medical evacuations, it would take seven years to rescue 2,500 children in urgent need of medical evacuation,” and some children have died while waiting for approvals. One such case took place recently when an 11-year-old boy died of Leukaemia, after six requests for his medical evacuation from Gaza were denied, UNICEF reported.  
• Water supply in the Gaza Strip continues to be limited and dependent on fuel supplies since the shut-off of the main electricity supply lines by Israel and the forced shut-down of the Gaza power plant in October 2023. Overall, gross water production reported by the Palestinian Water Authority (PWA) and the Coastal Municipalities Water Utility (CMWU) has dropped by nine per cent in November, from an average of 96,394 to 87,358 cubic metres per day, and there is a high percentage of losses through the network due to damaged networks. On 14 November, the Southern Gaza Desalination Plant was reconnected by the Israeli authorities to an electric feeder line from Israel -- which marked the first time the Israeli authorities have allowed any electricity connection to Gaza since October 2023 – allowing it to operate at a maximum capacity. At present, the plant is producing an average of 15,000 cubic metres of water per day, three-fold the production level when it was connected to a back-up diesel generator, according to the Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) cluster. Concurrently, drinking water supplied to southern Gaza from Israel through the two Mekorot pipelines has dropped from an average of 21,000 cubic metres per day to 14,000 cubic metres per day for unclear reasons whereas the third pipeline to northern Gaza continued to operate at near full capacity, supplying an average of 20,000 cubic metres per day. Finally, over the course of November, critical fuel shortages have resulted in a 43-per-cent decrease in water production by groundwater wells, from 61,000 to about 35,000 cubic metres per day, while fuel deliveries to operate water and sanitation facilities in North Gaza governorate have remained blocked since 1 October 2024. 
• On 3 December, PWA stated that damage to Gaza's water sector has exceeded 80 per cent, affecting wells, pumping stations, desalination plants, distribution networks, and sewage treatment plants. Only 19 per cent of water wells are considered functional at present while two-thirds (208 out of 306) have become fully non-operational and 39 only partially operational. Small desalination plants, which are at present a primary source of potable water, have incurred similar damage; 80 out of 103 plants have been destroyed and 15 plants have been partially damaged. Meanwhile, only two of the three major desalination plants are operational and the third one (the North Desalination Plant) has been damaged and out of service since the escalation of hostilities in October 2023. In addition, nearly all the sewage pumping stations except two (76 out of 78) have been either destroyed (58) or partially damaged (18). 
• On 29 November, two young girls and one woman suffocated to death while queuing among large crowds to get bread at a bakery supported by the World Food Programme (WFP) in Deir al Balah, amid severe flour shortages and reduced food distributions due to access constraints and insecurity.  Mourning this tragic loss, WFP stressed that “the lack of food aid and the absence of the commercial sector are driving people into hunger,” urging authorities to provide the secure conditions necessary to ensure that humanitarian aid can reach people in need. As of 3 December, five out of 19 WFP-supported bakeries are operational across the Gaza Strip, including four in Gaza city and one in Khan Younis. The four bakeries in Gaza city have been functioning since 30 November at half capacity due to fuel shortages. In Khan Younis, one WFP-supported bakery re-opened on 3 December after two days of closure due to overcrowding. Seven WFP-supported bakeries in Deir al Balah have remained closed since the 29 November incident due to flour shortages and overcrowding, of which six were operating at full capacity on 27 and 28 November, while seven remained closed in North Gaza and Rafah due to ongoing hostilities
• Between 1 and 30 November, out of 578 planned aid movements across the Gaza Strip requiring coordination with Israeli authorities, 41 per cent (237) were facilitated, 35 per cent (204) were denied, 16 per cent (93) were impeded, and eight per cent (44) were cancelled due to logistical and security challenges. These included 132 aid movements needed to pass through the Israeli military-controlled checkpoints on Al Rashid or Salah ad Din roads to reach areas north of Wadi Gaza (including both North Gaza and Gaza governorates), of which only 26 per cent (34) were facilitated by the Israeli authorities, 24 per cent (32) were impeded, 42 per cent (56) were denied, and eight percent (10) were cancelled. Aid missions to the North Gaza governorate were particularly disrupted, especially those seeking to reach Jabalya, Beit Lahiya and Beit Hanoun. Between 1 and 30 November, the UN attempted to reach these besieged areas 53 times, of which 48 attempts (90 per cent) were denied, five were initially approved but then severely impeded on the ground, and none were facilitated.

• Coordinated aid missions to areas in Rafah governorate, where there has been an ongoing Israeli military operation since early May, have faced similar challenges. Thirty out of 36 coordinated requests submitted to the Israeli authorities to access Rafah governorate were outright denied, one was cancelled, one was impeded and four were facilitated. This excludes 81 coordinated movements to Kerem Shalom crossing, of which 65 per cent (53) were facilitated, 17 per cent (14) were impeded, three per cent (two) were denied and 15 per cent (12) were cancelled.   
• On 1 December, UNRWA announced that it has paused aid delivery through Kerem Shalom, the main crossing point for the passage of humanitarian aid into Gaza due to a breakdown in public order and safety that has rendered humanitarian operations unnecessarily impossible. UNRWA attributes these conditions to the “ongoing siege, hurdles from Israeli authorities, political decisions to restrict the amounts of aid, lack of safety on aid routes and [the] targeting of local police.”  According to UNRWA, the road out of Kerem Shalom crossing has not been safe for months and aid supplies have been stolen by armed gangs on multiple occasions, including most recently on 30 November. UNRWA chief, Philippe Lazzarini, stressed that this difficult decision comes at a time when hunger is rapidly deepening, calling on the State of Israel as the occupying power to ensure that aid flows into Gaza safely and to refrain from attacks on humanitarian workers.
• On 2 December, the Israeli military issued an evacuation order affecting about three square kilometres in northern Khan Younis governorate and parts of Deir al Balah, which were previously placed under evacuation on four occasions between December 2023 and August 2024. The area includes about two square kilometres for which an evacuation order had been rescinded in October 2024. The next morning, according to humanitarian partners, about 400 families or 2,000 people are estimated to have moved from largely destroyed buildings in this area to Al Mawasi, noting that the majority previously had tents in Al Mawasi and regularly moved between the two areas. The area to which they moved includes Al Qarara seaport, where high tides had displaced many families in recent days. Since October 2023, about 80 per cent of the Gaza Strip’s territory has been placed under evacuation orders that remain active, excluding orders that were subsequently rescinded.
• The Cairo Ministerial Conference, titled "A Year Since the Humanitarian Catastrophe in Gaza: Urgent Needs, Lasting Solutions," was held on 2 December 2024 under the auspices of President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi of Egypt and UN Secretary-General António Guterres. Co-convened by Egypt's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, UNRWA and OCHA, the conference brought together foreign ministers and high-ranking representatives to discuss urgent humanitarian needs, early recovery, and long-term reconstruction efforts for Gaza. Deputy Secretary-General, Amina J. Mohammed presented the SG’s remarks at the conference, calling for compliance with international law, strong defense of the humanitarian aid system, especially UNRWA, and intensified efforts for a political solution to end the crisis.

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The struggle to free Palestine is inseparable from our broader fight for justice. And right now, our movement needs you more than ever.

As we approach a dark chapter in U.S. politics under the incoming Trump administration, we’re facing increased threats to our non-profit status, institutional funding, and—ultimately—our ability to organize for justice.

Right now, the situation in Gaza is dire. Families are trapped, with no aid getting in, no food reaching the North or South, and no relief in sight. The need for a ceasefire and arms embargo has never been more urgent. But we know that change doesn’t happen without serious pressure and people power. This is the offense we need to keep up, alongside our defense against the political forces that want to silence us.

We can’t afford to wait. Every moment counts.

In solidarity,
Sandra Tamari

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Today's headlines

UNRWA suspends aid delivery through main Gaza crossing after ‘looting’ goes unfettered under Israeli watch

Qassam Muaddi

UNRWA announced Monday that it is halting aid shipments through the Karam Abu Salem crossing into Gaza citing “hurdles from Israeli authorities” as a reason for a “breakdown in law and order.”

Israel’s Genocide Day 423: Israeli siege of north Gaza intensifies as it enters 60th day

Qassam Muaddi

Gaza ceasefire talks resume in Cairo as Israel continues to besiege the north of Gaza for the 60th day, and UNRWA announces that it will be halting aid shipments due to dangerous conditions and the continued looting of aid trucks.

Former Israeli minister says army is carrying our ‘ethnic cleansing’ in north Gaza

Qassam Muaddi

Former Israeli minister Moshe Ya'alon said in a TV interview that Israel was committing ethnic cleansing in Gaza. Meanwhile, Israel’s siege on the north continues, further crippling the remaining hospitals and healthcare systems.

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This Giving Tuesday, as we reflect on the strides we’ve made for Palestinian justice, we also prepare for the hurdles ahead. The political climate in 2025 will demand more from all of us—more advocacy, more organizing, and more education to push back against a system complicit in Palestinian oppression.

The stakes have never been higher. From new legislation attempting to silence Palestinian voices to increased misinformation campaigns targeting our work, AMP is your frontline organization, steadfastly advocating for Palestinian rights and amplifying the call for justice.

Mohamad Habehh

Development Director

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In today's Daily Brief:

• Videos: The ICC; Israel/US

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Dina* is 19 years old and grew up right next to extremist Israeli settlers. Her family is a target because they live in a house that Israeli extremists want for settlement expansion. She was harassed on the way to school as a child and has had machine guns pointed at her many times. A fanatic Israeli settler once held down her brother and tried to crush his teeth with a rock. When Dina's uncle died from illness, the neighbor settlers celebrated his death. She now fears for her family's safety more than ever.

*Names have been changed for anonymity.

What Does Protection Look Like?

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 on Giving Tuesday will go toward this security equipment. Our team on the ground will access the homes in the restricted area and install the security measures.

Last year we fundraised to provide aid to families in Hebron who were struggling under the severe restrictions in the city economic repercussions of the war on Gaza. Families reach out to us and told us that were going hungry, and our team mobilized to raise the funds to help families in need. Our volunteers on the ground distributed the aid through the restrictions.

Our Executive Director Issa Amro is meeting with Swedish parliament members today to tell them about the situation in Hebron and the West Bank and call for them to help end the system of apartheid. Tomorrow Wednesday he will formally receive the the Right Livelihood Award, the "alternative Nobel Prize" for human rights. Sign up to join the live broadcast!

Issa has just lived through a year filled with beatings, detention, torture, assassination attempts, death threats and oppression. Your presence will mean a lot to him to support him as he represents Palestine.

In Memorial

Yesterday marked one year since the passing of our beloved friend and brother Ahmad Amro who died after a long battle with illness on December 2nd, 2023.

Ahmad was a brave and humble volunteer who worked tirelessly for the rights of his people. His steadfastness, humor and kindness stay with us as we keep his memory in our hearts.

Until next time

We wish you all the best and happy holidays from our team on the ground in Hebron and our team internationally. We are in this together for the struggle for freedom, justice and equality for all.

With peace,

Friends of Hebron

www.hebronfriends.org/

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3 december 2024

Our website has been under unprecedented massive attacks, please be patient as every page will take longer to open, due to our heightened security measures to protect the website.

 
No, the ICC will “not end Israel’s genocide,” let alone “liberate Palestine.” Nor can the ICJ or even the UN, and I do not know any sane adult who has claimed otherwise. This does not mean, however, to dismiss the piling, unprecedented, far-reaching legal and diplomatic blows to Israel as “nothing” or as “merely symbolic.” Doing so would reflect a serious misreading of history or utter ignorance.

Justice is always won, not gifted. In all liberation struggles, human agency and revolutionary movements are the driving force. Only with seemingly endless organizing, planning, mobilizing, resisting, disrupting, coalescing, connecting struggles, and always learning can the oppressed ultimately prevail.
 

All these massive legal wins against apartheid Israel are making the ground so much more fertile than ever, finally allowing our long-planted seeds of liberation to grow into fruitful trees of freedom, justice, equality and comprehensive emancipation.

But first we must stop the US-Israeli genocide against 2.3 million Palestinians in Gaza. No one act, battle, campaign, demonstration, disruptive action, book, or song alone can end the genocide or significantly weaken Israel’s 76-year-old regime of settler-colonialism and apartheid. But each one of them, if strategic, principled and persistent, invigorates and contributes to the vibrant stream that can eventually breach the daunting, overbearing walls of Israeli oppression.

When the BDS movement first called for a comprehensive military embargo on Israel, for instance, States were too terrified of US wrath to consider it.

Now the global majority at the UN General Assembly supports it!!

Multiple ports across continents have been blocked for Israel-bound military supplies, and more port workers are refusing to handle such illegal supplies. Major European and Latin American universities are cutting ties with complicit Israel universities, and thousands of writers and artists have joined those supporting the cultural boycott of apartheid Israel. Major funds have divested from Israel Bonds, and massive US tech and energy projects have been canceled in apartheid Israel. The tide is turning. Israel is fast becoming an isolated, rogue state, and BDS is showing what our collective power can do and has indeed done.

The tide is turning ! Israel is fast becoming an isolated, rogue state. Collective action is showing what our collective power can do and has indeed done already!

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Today's headlines

Leak reveals UK lawyers, Israeli government planned ‘special unit’ to counter human rights reporting. Here’s what we know.

Leaked documents show the extent of collaboration between the pro-Israel legal advocacy group and the Israeli government, in their attempt to “counter” the work of human rights organizations such as Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International.

Leak reveals UK lawyers, Israeli government planned ‘special unit’ to counter human rights reporting. Here’s what we know.

Leaked documents show the extent of collaboration between the pro-Israel legal advocacy group and the Israeli government, in their attempt to “counter” the work of human rights organizations such as Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International.

Blocking humanitarian medical aid in Gaza is a death sentence

Bilal Irfan, Abdullah Ghali, Sarah Siddiqui, Abeerah Muhammad and Shraddha Shah

As healthcare workers who have recently participated in medical missions to Gaza, the West Bank, and Lebanon, we are greatly alarmed by Israel's decision to bar at least eight medical organizations to Gaza. The medical community must speak out.

Read more

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Support the Court

The International Criminal Court (ICC) has been in the news in recent weeks like never before. And, as its big yearly meeting kicks off today, the institution is under unprecedented pressure.

The annual session of the ICC’s Assembly of States Parties (ASP) takes place in The Hague this week. This is the gathering of the court’s 124 member countries – those that have signed up to the Rome Statute, the founding treaty of the ICC. They’ll discuss various issues concerning the court, its direction, and difficulties, as well as its all-important budget for next year.

Looming over all the deliberations, no doubt, will be the extreme pressure the ICC has been facing after judges issued arrest warrants last month for senior Israeli leaders as well as a Hamas official in the Palestine investigation.

The court is currently operating in 16 countries around the globe, but this is the investigation that gets most attention internationally – the arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in particular.

In the wake of the arrest warrant decision last month, disturbing threats have come from lawmakers in the US, which is not an ICC member. US Senator Lindsey Graham called for the US Senate and President Joe Biden to enact a bill passed by the House of Representatives on June 4, aimed at imposing sanctions against the ICC, its officials, and those supporting its work.

The bill is modeled on a sanctions program put in place by then-US President Donald Trump in 2020.

We’ve also seen some wobbling of support for the court and its mission from ICC member state France.

If there’s an ICC arrest warrant outstanding on someone, all ICC member states are obligated to arrest them. Last week, however, the French government apparently claimed Netanyahu has immunity from arrest as the head of state of a country that is not a member of the ICC.

ICC judges have rejected this view before, most recently in relation to an ICC member country, which had an obligation to arrest Putin, but didn’t.

Of course, when it comes to the  ICC arrest warrant for Putin , in relation to Russia’s mass abduction of children in Ukraine, countries like the US and France have been rightly supportive of the court. The West’s double standard is obvious to the entire world. As we’ve said many times before:

If you only care about war crimes when your enemies commit them, then you don't really care about war crimes.

As the Assembly of States Parties kicks off today, all these many pressures will be weighing on the minds of those taking part. ICC members need to take this opportunity to redouble their support for the court.

This means demonstrating the ICC has the political backing and resources it needs. It also means all member countries should reiterate their obligation to execute the court’s arrest warrants, regardless of whom they target.

The ICC has an ambitious global mandate to deliver justice for the most serious atrocity crimes. Victims of those atrocities need ICC member countries to support the court in all its work everywhere.

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Within minutes of the International Criminal Court issuing arrest warrants against Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu and former Security Minister Gallant last month, came a flood of condemnations, an array of whataboutisms and countless allegations of antisemitism and “blindness.” But the true blindness is our society’s insistence, even now, to not see what we are doing in Gaza.

Starvation as a weapon, high-rise buildings bombed to take down an alleged “lookout,” lax rules of engagement and disproportionate use of firepower. We got to this point as a society by closing our eyes, covering our ears and shutting down any and every opposing voice.

This disastrous reality of endless bloodshed should’ve ended with a ceasefire and hostage deal long ago. Not because of the International Criminal Court’s decision, but because the reality is immoral and unbearable.

“WE ARE NOW BEING DRAGGED TO OCCUPY, ANNEX, ETHNICALLY CLEANSE – LOOK AT THE NORTH OF THE GAZA STRIP – TRANSFER, CALL IT WHATEVER YOU WANT, AND TO SETTLE IN JEWISH SETTLEMENS. THAT IS THE MATTER.

The former soldier who made the statement above is not one of our testifiers. Far from it. These are the words of Moshe Ya’alon, the former IDF chief of staff and Israel’s former defense minister. And he didn’t misspeak, either.

When pressed, he only reiterated and reaffirmed his statements. "I stand behind the phrase 'ethnic cleansing.' I must warn you about what is happening here and is being hidden from us. War crimes are being committed here," he said, adding that he was speaking "on behalf of commanders who operate in the northern Gaza Strip and have been approaching me with dread."

His comments were quickly pounced on by many in Israel’s right. A former defense minister and chief of staff accusing the IDF of ethnic cleansing? This is a man who, during the Second Intifada, spoke of "searing the consciousness" of Palestinians. While he’s an opponent of the current government, he’s about as far from a Palestinian rights advocate as one can be.

A cynical word of advice for Ya'alon: if you want to say the IDF is ethnically cleansing northern Gaza without drawing the ire of the Israeli right, all you have to do is endorse what you're describing. Minister Bezalel Smotrich did exactly that last week, telling the heads of local councils in the West Bank that “We can occupy Gaza and decrease the population by half within two years.”

No one in the room called Smotrich delusional. No one there called him a traitor or a disgrace to the state of Israel. When Minister Avi Dichter called for a second Nakba, the only consequence he saw was Prime Minister Netanyahu telling him to "be sensitive."

But even had Netanyahu punished him for saying that, he would only still be shooting the messenger. The double standard around criticizing the IDF's actions exposes that all sides are seeing the same calamitous picture, but any who call on the calamity to stop are publicly berated in order to intimidate anyone else from further dissent.

The reality is that we are starving the residents of northern Gaza. Entire neighborhoods have been wiped out. Buildings that weren't bombed or shelled were torched by soldiers. The rest were scraped away by bulldozers. The fact that even someone like Ya’alon understands this only emphasizes what we all already know - stopping this is a moral imperative.

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

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1 december 2024

Today's headlines

Vietnam, Algeria, Palestine: Passing on the torch of the anti-colonial struggle

No discussion of decolonization can be complete without understanding the importance of Vietnam and Algeria, and how their liberation struggles inspire oppressed people all over the world, including the Palestinians.

How coverage of the Amsterdam soccer violence exposed the media’s ‘antisemitism’ fiction

The media’s censorship of the facts of the Amsterdam soccer hooligan violence was more than just bad reporting. It was yet another example of the ideological fiction that Jewish actions can never be blamed for the violence they cause.

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1 december 2024

My name is Atalya, I am a refuser who served jail time in 2018 for refusing to participate in the Israeli military’s crimes. I am also behind our growing online community Voices Against War, one of the only platforms where people the world over can hear the voice of internal Israeli dissent and resistance to the genocide in Gaza and the occupation. From protest actions to civil disobedience against the war, Voices Against War covers what the mainstream media will not. As the Israeli government is now preparing to permanently occupy the Gaza Strip, resistance to the war is growing. Refuser Solidarity Network (RSN) is stepping up our grassroots coverage to bring this wave of activism to our supporters around the world.

From left to right: Demonstrators outside of an Israeli airforce; Protesters march in Tel Aviv against Israel's assault on Gaza and Lebanon.

That is why we created Voices Against War, to give the Israeli resistance a voice, amplify it and provide international support. Thanks to Voices Against War, the voice of the Israeli resistance reached people around the world over the last year, with thousands joining our network in support of the antiwar movement.  We documented protest actions and provided a stage for activists to share their message, building a crucial link between international support and the antiwar movement in Israel in dire need of backing.

With more and more atrocities being committed in Gaza, we’re seeing a growing wave of resistance and war refusal that could bring this war to an end. This is the voice we at RSN want to bring to the globe: That another reality is possible, and that there are more and more people working tirelessly to make it happen.

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