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5 februari 2026
The 1967 Naksa: Zionist Expansionism & Domination
Last month, AMP launched a special 5-week teach-in series titled “Contextualizing The Palestinian Relationship With Zionism,” live on Zoom with our education coordinator, Tarek Khalil, where each session will have a particular focus.
Join us tonight, February 5th @ 7:30 PM EST, for our 4th episode “The 1967 Naksa: Zionist Expansionism & Domination."
Zionist logic is premised on conquest, but in 1948 the Zionist project did not achieve the complete takeover of historic Palestine. In 1967, an opportunity was present for Israel to launch a preemptive strike against Egypt and spark a 6 Day War that heavily increased its territorial takings. The Palestinian quest for liberation took on a new diplomatic framework while Israel consolidated its land grab and entrenched its occupation. This session is a great segway to our last session dealing with the Oslo period.
Please register here to get access to the teach-in link.
In solidarity,
American Muslims for Palestine (AMP)
2065.
5 februari 2026
Last week, the Israeli regime suddenly admitted to the conservative death toll estimates of the Gaza Ministry of Health. This comes after more than two years of using every opportunity they got to undermine, discredit, dismiss, and disparage Palestinian data, facts and testimonies. Such a pattern has unfortunately been followed by most mainstream media outlets.
This acknowledgement is not a sudden act of good faith. It is part and parcel of the disinformation playbook.
The harm caused by widespread Palestinians' invalidation has already been done: it has manufactured consent for genocide. Israel is choosing to acknowledge this conservatively estimated death toll, fully aware that the real figures are far higher.
These are the patterns we are helping to fight and reframe through Communicating Palestine.
From the “Hamas-run” qualifier to the “Pallywood” trope, what harmful narratives and tactics are being used, and how can they be effectively countered?
2064.
5 februari 2026
Humanitarian Situation Update #356
West Bank
5 February 2026
A Palestinian resident of Al Jiftlik-Abu al 'Ajaj, in Jericho governorate, following the demolition of his home for lacking building permits that are nearly impossible for Palestinians to obtain, 21 January 2025. Photo by OCHA
Key Highlights
- Nearly 700 Palestinians in nine communities have been displaced due to settler attacks so far in 2026, including 600 displaced from Ras Ein Al Auja Bedouin community in Jericho governorate.
- Large-scale operations by Israeli forces have significantly expanded beyond the northern West Bank to include the central and southern governorates, including in Qalandiya refugee camp and Kafr Aqab in Jerusalem governorate.
- Repeated Israeli settler attacks on the Ein Samiya wells east of Ramallah damaged critical infrastructure and blocked repairs, cutting the main water supply intermittently for three days and affecting an estimated 100,000 Palestinians across eastern Ramallah governorate.
- About 170 Palestinians have been displaced since the beginning of 2026 by the demolition of homes for lack of Israeli-issued building permits, following a record year in 2025 when more than 1,700 Palestinians were displaced due to lack-of-permit demolitions in Area C and East Jerusalem.
Humanitarian Developments
- Between 20 January and 2 February 2026, Israeli forces killed three Palestinians, including a child, in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem. Another 111 Palestinians, including 12 children, were injured, including 78 by Israeli forces and 33 by Israeli settlers. These include four Palestinians shot with live ammunition by Israeli forces while they attempted to cross the Barrier to reach East Jerusalem and Israel. During the same period, three Israelis were injured, including one by Palestinians and two by settlers. The following are details of the incidents that resulted in fatalities during the reporting period:
- On 23 January, Israeli forces shot, killed and withheld the body of a Palestinian farmer while he was reportedly working his land in Madama village, in Nablus governorate. The exact circumstances of the incident remain unclear. The Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) reported that Israeli forces obstructed medical access.
- On 27 January, Israeli forces shot and killed a 17-year-old Palestinian child and injured another during a raid in Adh Dhahiriya town, south of Hebron city. According to the Israeli military, the boy had thrown a Molotov cocktail at the soldiers and another threw stones and was shot. No injuries among Israeli forces were reported. According to eyewitnesses, there were no clashes at the time of the incident and the child was walking with his friend when Israeli forces opened fire.
- On 28 January, Israeli forces killed and withheld the body of a Palestinian man at the Tunnels checkpoint on Road 60, near Beit Jala, in Bethlehem governorate, who was reportedly attempting to carry out a stabbing attack against Israeli soldiers. The man’s family reports that he had special needs.
- On 3 February, outside the above reporting period, Israeli forces shot and killed a Palestinian man near Ras at Tira village in Qalqiliya, reportedly after he crossed the Barrier towards Israel. On 3 February, Israeli forces shot and killed a Palestinian man during a raid in Jericho city. This brings the total number of Palestinians killed by Israeli forces between 1 January and 3 February to eight.
- Between 20 January and 2 February, OCHA documented the demolition of 69 Palestinian-owned structures for lacking Israeli-issued building permits, which are almost impossible for Palestinians to obtain, including 63 in Area C of the West Bank and six in East Jerusalem. Demolished structures included 22 residences (of which 21 were inhabited), 32 agricultural and livelihood structures, and 15 water and sanitation and other structures. Ten of the demolished structures had been provided as humanitarian assistance. In addition, Israeli forces demolished at least 35 (mainly livelihood) structures in Kafr Aqab on the West Bank side of the Barrier on 26 February (please see below). In total, 131 Palestinians, including 74 children, were displaced, of whom 32 were in East Jerusalem and 99 in Area C. The highest levels of displacement were in Shuqba village in Ramallah (24 people), Silwan in East Jerusalem (15 people), Khashem ad Daraj and Mirkez in Hebron (15 and 10 people, respectively), Tell al Khashaba in Nablus (11 people), and Al Khader in Bethlehem (10 people). Since 1 January, Israeli authorities demolished or forced owners to demolish 101 structures, including 33 homes, across the West Bank for lacking building permits, resulting in the displacement of 184 people, 98 of whom were children. In 2025, more than 1,700 Palestinians were displaced by lack-of-permit demolitions – the highest annual total on record since OCHA began to systematically document demolitions in 2009.
- On 2 February, Israeli authorities demolished with explosives on punitive grounds a residential apartment in a four-storey building in Area A of Halhul town near Hebron city. The apartment belongs to the family of a Palestinian man who carried out a stabbing and shooting attack with another Palestinian in Gush Etzion settlement block on 10 July 2025, killing an Israeli security guard. Both Palestinians were killed by Israeli forces on the spot. As a result, six people, including two children, were displaced.
- On 27 and 28 January, electricity and water were cut from a number of UNRWA facilities across East Jerusalem including Shu’fat refugee camp, as provisions of the Israeli legislation amended in December 2025 targeting UNRWA came into effect. The cuts affect UNRWA schools, health centres, and other vital service provision points for Palestine refugees. In the previous week, a fire broke out in the UNRWA headquarters in East Jerusalem, which was demolished by Israeli authorities on 20 January.
- On 1 February, Israeli forces extended a military order titled “Restriction of Movement and Traffic” for Tulkarm, Nur Shams and Jenin refugee camps and areas within the surrounding neighbourhoods until 31 March 2026. The order designates “closure areas,” as delineated on annexed maps, where entry and exit are prohibited without a permit issued by the Israeli military commander or an authorized official; such permits may be personal or general and limited by area, time, purpose, or route.
- In the context of these restrictions, for over two months, Israeli forces have repeatedly and temporarily displaced 11 Palestinian refugee families comprising 41 people from the Az Zahra neighbourhood, adjacent to Jenin refugee camp. According to local community sources, these families have been forced to leave their homes almost daily, typically between 06:00 and 20:00, severely disrupting their daily life and access to basic services. During these periods, the families have relied primarily on relatives and friends for shelter while Israeli forces reportedly occupied their homes and consumed food, health and hygiene supplies. Ongoing daily raids, repeated displacement and uncertainty have also heightened psychosocial distress, underscoring the need for psychological support for affected residents.
Raids and Operations by Israeli Forces
- Large-scale Israeli operations observed throughout 2025 continued into early 2026, with an expanded geographic spread beyond the northern West Bank to include the central and southern areas. Between 20 January and 2 February, OCHA documented at least 130 raids as well as search and other operations by Israeli forces across the West Bank, which entailed mass detentions, temporary home evacuations, and movement restrictions, including a large-scale operation in Qalandiya refugee camp and Kafr Aqab.
- In the northern West Bank, between 20 January and 2 February, Israeli forces took over at least 16 Palestinian homes for military use and temporarily evacuated at least 100 Palestinian families, alongside mass detentions, house searches, and widespread disruption of access to basic services in at least five communities, as follows:
- On 20 and 21 January, Israeli forces carried out operations in Ajja and Ya’bad towns, in Jenin governorate. In Ajja, the forces searched about 40 houses, detained about 30 Palestinians, and took over a two-storey residential building, using it for several hours as an interrogation site. In Ya’bad, Israeli forces evacuated eight residential houses after nearly two and a half months of military use and simultaneously occupied a new three-storey residential building, forcibly displacing three families of eight people and leaving extensive damage in the vacated homes.
- On 26 January, during operations in Tulkarm governorate, Israeli forces took over one house in Seida village and four houses in Illar town, using them as interrogation sites. In Illar, five families were evacuated, about 70 Palestinians were detained, and seven men were injured, while schools and municipal services were suspended in both communities for one day, affecting about 1,900 students.
- On 27 January, in Madama village, south of Nablus, Israeli forces carried out an overnight operation that lasted eight hours, taking over an uninhabited residential house to interrogate dozens of detained Palestinians.
- On 29 January, Israeli forces raided Nablus city ahead of an Israeli settler visit to Joseph’s Tomb, temporarily evacuating about a dozen Palestinian families from their homes for approximately four hours, before allowing them to return following the withdrawal of forces and settlers.
- On 30 January and again on 2 February, in Tulkarm city, Israeli forces ordered large-scale evacuations of residential areas near Nur Shams refugee camp ahead of planned detonations of explosive devices reportedly present in the streets, temporarily displacing nearly 30 families in the first incident and over 50 families in the second. Most families were allowed to return the same day.
- Since 26 January, Israeli forced have carried out an operation in Qalandiya refugee camp and Kafr Aqab, dubbed operation “Capital Shield,” aimed to reinforce control over the “seam line” areas, strengthen the Barrier and increase security measures. OCHA documented the demolition of at least 35 Palestinian-owned (mainly livelihood) structures in the area. Daily life has been severely disrupted, particularly on the first two days, with schools suspended and restrictions imposed on residents’ movements and access to livelihoods and basic services.
- Also in Jerusalem governorate, Israeli forces carried out an operation in Hizma village for three days, between 27 and 29 January, closed the town’s two main entrances, blocked alternative roads, and imposed restrictions on the movement of the town’s 8,000 residents. The operation included dozens of home raids, during which numerous residents were subjected to field interrogations. As a result, daily life was paralysed, all schools serving hundreds of students were closed, and residents faced restricted access to livelihoods, services, and essential goods. Although forces withdrew after two days, they re-entered the town shortly thereafter and reportedly fired stun grenades near commercial shops, forcing businesses to close temporarily.
- On 27 January, Israeli forces raided a residential building in Jabal Johar, in the H2 area of Hebron city, and issued a military order authorizing its use as a military post. As a result, three of the building’s 10 apartments were forcibly evacuated, and the affected families, comprising 17 people, temporarily relocated to other apartments belonging to extended family members within the same building. As of the time of reporting, Israeli forces continue to control the building’s main entrance, restricting residents’ movement and allowing exits only intermittently for essential needs, such as food purchases or medical care, affecting a total of 47 people, including 23 children. OCHA is working with humanitarian partners to identify priority needs of the families and ensure they receive the needed support.
Israeli Settler Attacks
- Between 20 January and 2 February, OCHA documented at least 52 Israeli settler attacks against Palestinians that resulted in casualties, property damage, or both. The attacks led to the displacement of 134 people (see the below section for additional details), the injury of 42 Palestinians, including four children. Of the wounded Palestinians, 33 were injured by Israeli settlers and nine by Israeli forces. In addition, three Israelis were injured, including a settler by Palestinians and two Israeli activists who were pepper-sprayed by Israeli settlers. Most incidents (33 out of 50 incidents) occurred in Nablus and Ramallah governorates. Settler attacks, threats, and harassment predominantly affected communities located near old or newly established settlement outposts and involved repeated assaults, raids and damage to residential structures and denied access to agricultural areas.
- During the reporting period, almost half of Palestinian injuries (15 out of 33) were recorded in communities in southern Hebron governorate, particularly in Masafer Yatta, reflecting a sustained escalation in settler-related violence in the area. Since early 2023, Masafer Yatta has witnessed a sharp increase in the frequency and severity of settler attacks, resulting in casualties, widespread damage to homes, livestock and agricultural assets, and growing displacement risks for affected communities. Only 18 settler incidents were documented in the area between 2006 and 2020, compared with 318 incidents between 2021 and 2025, and the monthly average of settler attacks rose from about three between 2021 and 2022 to about seven between 2023 and 2025, reflecting a sustained deterioration in the protection environment.
- Key settler incidents resulting in casualties during the reporting period include:
- In Nablus governorate, on 24 January, Israeli settlers reportedly from a newly established outpost broke into Palestinian homes in Qusra village, triggering confrontations with residents. Settlers allegedly opened fire, while Palestinians threw stones. Israeli forces subsequently raided the village, fired tear gas, searched several houses, and physically assaulted and injured one Palestinian. On the same day, in Beit Furik town, armed Israeli settlers broke into a Palestinian home and physically assaulted six Palestinians, including a woman. Israeli forces later raided the town and fired tear gas canisters. Six Palestinians were treated for tear gas inhalation. According to local sources, the same family has been repeatedly threatened by Israeli settlers to leave their home in the area.
- In Ramallah governorate, on 24 January, in one of four settler attacks in Birzeit town, four Palestinians, including an elderly woman, were injured and hospitalized, and a residential structure was damaged. According to local sources, settlers grazed livestock adjacent to the home, and when the elderly woman asked them to leave, settlers pushed her and threw stones, causing a head injury. Her son intervened and threw stones at the settlers, injuring one. The settlers then physically assaulted him and both he and his mother were subsequently transported to hospital. Israeli forces and settlers later raided the home, damaged doors and windows, and detained and assaulted male family members; two were hospitalized with fractures and bruises after their release. Following the incident, the affected family, including the elderly woman, temporarily relocated to relatives’ homes, citing fear of further settler attacks.
- This attack reflects a broader pattern observed since the establishment of a new Israeli settlement outpost in Area B on the eastern outskirts of Atara village in Ramallah governorate in August 2025. Since then, settler attacks resulting in casualties, forced displacement, and extensive property damage have sharply increased, with at least 30 such attacks documented by OCHA between August 2025 and January 2026, compared with only one incident recorded between January 2020 and July 2025. During this period, 12 Palestinians were injured, and 31 Palestinian herders across Atara, Birzeit and Ein Siniya were forcibly displaced, following sustained threats, trespassing and violence. Property damage has been widespread, including the vandalism of at least 15 vehicles, racist graffiti, damage to surveillance camera systems, theft of water tanks and agricultural equipment, and systematic grazing of livestock on cultivated lands, resulting in damage to hundreds of olive and fruit trees, as well as agricultural structures, fodder and fencing. Over time, attacks expanded from surrounding agricultural and grazing areas into residential spaces, cutting off farmers and herders from their livelihoods and triggering displacement from more densely populated village areas, as illustrated by the incident above.
- In Hebron governorate, on 24 January, Israeli settlers raided a Palestinian home in Masafer Bani Na’im, physically assaulting residents and injuring three Palestinians, including a woman. The settlers vandalized the house, breaking windows and damaging kitchen furniture. On 25 January, armed Israeli settlers attacked Palestinian herders grazing sheep in an area near Khallet al Maiyya, injuring three Palestinian children, including a 17-year-old girl. The settlers ran over two children with a vehicle, pepper-sprayed the girl, and threatened the group with weapons. On 27 January, about 100 Israeli settlers raided four communities in Masafer Yatta located in Firing Zone 918, namely: Khirbet al Fakhiet, Halaweh, Mirkez and At Taban. Settlers attacked residents with sticks fitted with knives, stole about 300 sheep, burned approximately three tons of firewood, and vandalized two homes and two vehicles. Six Palestinians were physically assaulted and injured, including one child and two women.
- On 25 and 26 January 2026, Israeli settlers carried out repeated attacks on water infrastructure in the Ein Samiya area, which serves as the main water supply to communities in the eastern Ramallah governorate, and assaulted water maintenance staff. On 25 January, for the third time in one month, settlers broke into the Ein Samiya wells site and destroyed key components of the water network, including the control panel and connecting cables belonging to the Jerusalem Water Undertaking (JWU), forcing maintenance staff who attempted to carry out repairs to leave the site following threats and intimidation; as a result, the water supply was cut at around 16:00 on 25 January. On 26 January, following coordination with the Palestinian DCL, a repair team returned to the site, but Israeli settlers again approached the staff and attacked them with a weapon, physically assaulting and injuring one worker, who was subsequently transferred to a clinic for treatment; settlers also erected metal fences, blocking the road leading to the wells. According to JWU, the water supply was cut intermittently for at least three days between 25 and 27 January, affecting the primary water source for about 20 villages and a partial source for additional communities, impacting an estimated 100,000 Palestinians in eastern Ramallah governorate.
Displacement due to Settler Violence
- Between 20 January and 2 February, 24 herding families comprising 134 people, including 76 children, were displaced due to settler attacks and access restrictions, all in the Jordan Valley area.
- On 26 January, following repeated attacks and threats by Israeli settlers from four surrounding settlement outposts, the remaining 100 residents of Ras Ein al ‘Auja Bedouin community were forced to leave their community. This follows the displacement of 98 Palestinian households comprising 485 people on 8 and 19 January. The community, one of the largest Bedouin communities in the West Bank with a total population of about 600, has now become fully displaced. Over the past two years, settlers repeatedly trespassed into the community, grazed livestock among residential shelters, intimidated residents, damaged or blocked herders’ access to surrounding pastures, and prevented them from using the nearby Al ‘Auja Spring, severely undermining their livelihoods. This was in addition to incidents of livestock theft and frequent attacks resulting in injuries and property damage.
- On 24 January, 19 people, including 17 children, were forced to leave Al Hadidiya herding community, in Tubas governorate, following repeated settler attacks that escalated following the establishment of an outpost near the community in late November 2025. Since then, four attacks that resulted in damage to property in the community have been recorded. These included cutting off electric cables and stealing water tanks. In addition, settlers forced shepherds out of grazing areas and broke into houses on several occasions.
- Since the beginning of the year, 694 Palestinian, including about 350 children, were displaced, affecting nine villages and herding communities. These include 600 displaced from Ras Ein al ‘Auja Bedouin community, marking the highest single-community displacement due to settler attacks and access restrictions over the past three years (see chart below). January 2026 marks the second highest singleโmonth displacement since the October 2023 peak, with displacement due to settler attacks exceeding the total for all of 2024 (621) and comprising over 40 per cent of the 2025 total (1,658).
- In a statement on 28 January, the UN Human Rights Office (OHCHR) stated that settler violence has become a key driver of forced displacement in the West Bank, particularly in Area C and parts of Area B, including the Jordan Valley. OHCHR noted that recurrent settler attacks, intimidation, destruction of property, and restrictions on access to land, water and grazing areas, often in the vicinity of newly established settlement outposts, have created a coercive environment that compels Palestinian Bedouin and herding communities to leave their homes and emphasized that the “[f]orcible transfer of Palestinians within the occupied West Bank is a war crime and may amount to a crime against humanity.”
- For key figures and additional breakdowns of casualties, displacement and settler violence between January 2005 and December 2025, please refer to the OCHA West Bank December 2025 Snapshot.
Funding
- As of 30 January 2026, Member States disbursed approximately US$211 million out of the $4 billion (5 per cent) requested to meet the most critical humanitarian needs of nearly 3 million out of 3.6 million people identified as requiring assistance in Gaza and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, under the 2026 Flash Appeal for the OPT. Nearly 92 per cent of those required funds are for the humanitarian response in Gaza, with just over eight per cent for the West Bank. In January, the oPt Humanitarian Fund managed 102 ongoing projects, totalling $56.4 million, to address urgent needs in the Gaza Strip (89 per cent) and the West Bank (11 per cent). Of these projects, 49 are being implemented by international NGOs, 43 by national NGOs and 10 by UN agencies. Notably, 48 out of the 59 projects implemented by international NGOs or the UN are being implemented in collaboration with national NGOs. For more information, please see OCHA’s Financial Tracking Service webpage and the oPt HF webpage.
2063.
AVAAZ
5 februari 2026
Precies twee jaar na haar moord stonden we zij aan zij met Hinds moeder en onthulden we een portret van haar dochter ter grootte van 1.000 m². Daarmee stuurden we een boodschap die ver voorbij de oevers van de Middellandse Zee reikte: “Vergeet Gaza niet. Laat de kinderen van Gaza niet in de steek.”
Terwijl Hinds moeder sprak, waren de emoties zichtbaar. Er waren 350 Avaazers nodig om het portret van Hind omhoog te houden, en een helikopter om dit beeld vanuit de lucht vast te leggen.
Te midden van een tragisch verlies hebben we samen ruimte gemaakt voor hoop en lieten we Hinds moeder zien dat zij er niet alleen voor staat.
Hier een video van hoe de actie eruit zag:
Maar het was niet eenvoudig. Achter de schermen ging er een maandenlange organisatie aan vooraf. In de laatste fase kregen we te maken met een reeks tegenslagen: last-minute wijzigingen in het helikopterschema, logistieke uitdagingen rondom het gigantische portret en een harde wind die elk onderdeel van deze operatie op de proef stelde.
Maar het ging door. Dankzij jou. Zonder deze gemeenschap was deze actie, een van onze moedigste ooit, niet mogelijk geweest. Jullie doneerden, stuurden boodschappen om jullie solidariteit te tonen aan Hinds moeder, en stonden op dat strand om Hinds portret, tegen de wind in, omhoog te houden.
Ons doel was om een moment te creëren dat krachtig genoeg was om het stilzwijgen te doorbreken -- en dat is gelukt.
Jullie lieten de wereld zien dat Palestina niet is vergeten. Zelfs nu Gaza van de voorpagina’s verdwijnt, zullen wij altijd gerechtigheid blijven eisen voor Gaza’s kinderen.
Ontdek hoe we samen dit moment tot stand brachten – neem een kijkje achter de schermen:
Hinds verhaal inspireerde een voor een Oscar genomineerde film, maar het onrecht gaat door. Sinds 2023 zijn minstens 20.000 kinderen zoals Hind gedood door Israël. Het zorgsysteem in Gaza is ingestort onder de aanhoudende aanvallen, en kinderen sterven nog steeds aan vermijdbare verwondingen en ziektes, omdat de toegang tot levensreddende zorg wordt geweigerd.
Daarom stonden we Hinds moeder bij tijdens haar ontmoetingen met ministers en riepen we overheden op om te handelen – voor Gaza’s kinderen.. In haar toespraak zei Hinds moeder:
“De kinderen van Gaza vragen niet om medelijden.
Ze vragen om hun recht om te leven,
om te slapen zonder angst,
om te spelen zonder bommen.
Om op te groeien – simpelweg op te groeien.
Vergeet Gaza niet.
Laat haar kinderen niet in de steek.”
Zonder jou zouden we niets van dit alles kunnen doen.
Met verdriet, en met trots,
Het hele Avaaz-team
2062.
4 februari 2026
AMP calls on the Trump administration to immediately restrain Israel and hold it to its obligations
Over the last week, Israel has killed dozens of Palestinians in Gaza. Since early this morning, Israeli attacks have claimed the lives of at least 23 more people, including two children.
The Trump administration claims it brokered a ceasefire and a so-called “peace plan.” That claim collapses the moment you look at the facts. Israel has continued bombing, killing, and collectively punishing Palestinians without interruption. There has been no enforcement, no restraint, and no accountability. What the administration has actually imposed is political cover, allowing genocide to continue under the empty label of a ceasefire that the entire world can see through. What is being sold as “peace” bears no resemblance to the reality Palestinians are living through.
More than 550 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli attacks since the U.S.-brokered “ceasefire” came into effect in October. Israel has not fulfilled a single obligation under the so-called peace plan the administration brokered. There has been no sustained halt to attacks, no protection for civilians, no lifting of the siege, and no guarantee of humanitarian access.
Instead, Israel’s blockade of Gaza remains fully in place, in direct violation of its obligations under the so-called peace plan. Humanitarian aid is still being obstructed, delayed, and deliberately restricted. Food, fuel, medical supplies, and basic necessities remain subject to Israeli control and denial. The reopening of the Rafah crossing was presented as relief after 18 months of complete siege, but in reality, it has only further exposed how calculated, cruel, and dehumanizing Israel’s policy toward Palestinians truly is.
Movement through Rafah remains tightly controlled by Israel, even for medical evacuations. Only a small number of patients have been allowed to leave, while thousands are still trapped. Even cases classified by the World Health Organization as urgent and life-saving are subjected to a slow, invasive Israeli military screening process that routinely delays or blocks care altogether. Patients are notified, canceled, re-notified, and left in limbo while their conditions worsen.
Deliberate suffering continues to be imposed on Palestinians, while the world watches and Trump continues to boast about brokering peace. Under both U.S. and international law, continued violations of this scale should trigger accountability and the withholding of military aid. Instead of doing that, the United States approved yet another ($6.7 billion) weapons deal for Israel just last week, once again making clear how little Palestinian life is valued by this administration.
AMP calls on the Trump administration to immediately restrain Israel and hold it to its obligations. That means withholding military aid to Israel, enforcing a real ceasefire, lifting the blockade, guaranteeing full and unhindered humanitarian access, and allowing urgent medical evacuations without delay or political interference. Anything less is continued U.S. complicity and a deliberate choice to enable ongoing atrocities.
In solidarity,
American Muslims for Palestine (AMP)
2061.
3 februari 2026
How the NYT manufactured consent for genocide.
Displaced Palestinians sit in a camp in the Al-Raqab neighbourhood, east of Khan Yunis, Gaza Strip, as they just received evacuation orders for the area, 19 January 2026. Photo: Doaa Albaz
On Saturday, Israeli military airstrikes across Gaza killed at least 32 Palestinians, adding to the at least 509 killed during the so-called ceasefire. On Monday, the Rafah crossing to Egypt was partially opened, but Israel will only allow 150 Palestinians to leave Gaza each day. “At this rate, it would take over a year for the 20,000 awaiting evacuation to leave,” observed an emergency medic.
As Israel’s genocide drags on into its 28th month, Western media has been central to maintaining U.S. political and military support for these atrocities. Nowhere is that complicity more apparent than in the New York Times’ now thoroughly-debunked story “Screams Without Words.”
The false claims made in this story were parroted by top U.S. officials and used to justify U.S. government support for the slaughter of tens of thousands of Palestinian men, women, and children.
In this Wire, we’ll break down how “Screams Without Words” has been debunked and take action together to demand that the New York Times retract it.
Email the NYT: Retract “Screams Without Words”
What is “Screams Without Words”?
On December 28, 2023, the New York Times published “'Screams Without Words’: How Hamas Weaponized Sexual Violence on Oct. 7.” The investigation claimed to document a deliberately deployed and systematic pattern of widespread sexual violence against Israeli women on October 7. No such evidence existed.
The story has since been thoroughly debunked by its own sources, medical professionals, and independent journalists. But that didn’t stop Western media outlets, members of Congress, and even President Biden from parroting the NYT’s unverified claims, further fueling the Israeli government’s genocidal war on Palestinians in Gaza.
Email the NYT: Retract “Screams Without Words”
How has “Screams Without Words” been debunked?
In its investigation into the reporting behind “Screams Without Words,” the Intercept raises questions about witness testimonies central to the story. These now-debunked testimonies were attributed to members of the widely discredited ZAKA group, other individuals with “track records of making unreliable claims,” and Israeli officials and soldiers with a vested interest in painting Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza as a fight against supposed “barbarism.”
It was ZAKA that originated the racist and Islamophobic lie about “beheaded babies.” A second source for the story, American architect and IDF reservist Shari Mendes, had claimed that a “baby was cut out of a pregnant woman and beheaded and then the mother was beheaded," yet another sensationalist claim that had already been proven false by the time Mendes was interviewed for the article. “Screams Without Words” opens with the story of Gal Abdush, but two of her family members have since come forward to say that they were pressured to participate in the story and adamantly refuted the claim that Abdush was raped.
One of the story’s co-authors, former Israeli intelligence officer Anat Schwartz, has admitted openly that she had no reporting experience. Yet at the behest of the NYT, Schwartz was “convinced” — in her own words — to write the story with her partner’s nephew, freelancer Adam Sella. Schwartz has since come under fire for liking an explicitly genocidal tweet that called to “turn the [Gaza] strip into a slaughterhouse.”
The third co-author, longtime NYT reporter Jeffrey Gettleman, stated publicly after the story was published that he did not feel confident using the word “evidence” to describe what the story contained. The story set off an internal “firestorm” at the NYT, and even their own podcast, The Daily, declined to platform “Screams Without Words” for failing to meet its editorial standards — though the NYT has since claimed that isn’t the case.
“Screams Without Words” relies on sparse, unverified testimonies because no forensic evidence of systematic sexual violence during October 7 exists — a fact even the story’s co-authors admitted. In a podcast interview with Israel’s Channel 12, Schwartz says she spoke with Israeli hospitals and sexual assault hotlines, tracked down survivors of the attacks, and contacted Kibbutzim that had been targeted. None could produce evidence of widespread sexual assault. Though Israeli investigators claimed to have been gathering “tens of thousands” of witness testimonies to sexual violence in December 2023, this evidence “never materialized,” according to the Intercept’s investigation.
Email the NYT: Retract “Screams Without Words”
“A predetermined narrative”
For generations, the New York Times has borne a reputation as the nation’s paper of record: a standard-bearer for rigorous, verified journalism that shapes public understanding of world events. When the NYT speaks, policymakers listen, other media outlets follow, and public opinion crystallizes around the narratives it presents.
This has happened before. After its falsified reporting of “weapons of mass destruction” helped spur on the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq, the NYT catalogued the many unverified claims it repeated and apologized for printing biased commentary as fact. “The failure was not individual,” the NYT’s former public editor wrote, “but institutional.”
Today, history repeats itself. In commissioning a former Israeli intelligence official and her nephew to write one of the most consequential stories of this century, editors at the NYT weren’t just being irresponsible; instead, the botched reporting process suggests that the NYT sought to “bolster a predetermined narrative,” describes the Intercept.
Despite the clear lack of evidence that widespread sexual violence had taken place, the claims at the center of “Screams Without Words” had far-reaching consequences.
In the weeks immediately after the article appeared, Biden, Blinken, and other officials escalated references to sexual violence in public messaging as they defended continued military aid “without conditions.” Shortly after the article was released, Congress passed a resolution echoing its conclusions, which directly cited the story as evidence. And major outlets amplified the NYT's unverified claims, creating a narrative that portrayed any criticism of Israel's military campaign as minimizing sexual violence. All of this reinforced U.S. material support for Israel’s genocide and, by extension, resulted in the deaths of untold numbers of Palestinians.
2060.
3 februari 2026
Americans don’t want our tax dollars funding genocide - Tell Congress to Block the Bombs
Last week, the United States approved a $6.6 billion weapons deal to Israel.
This decision was made while Israel continues to bomb Gaza, despite repeated claims that a “ceasefire” is in place. We all know the ceasefire is little more than a talking point, a rhetorical shield meant to distract from the continued reality of genocide.
Tell your members of Congress to Block the Bombs
Over this past weekend alone, at least 31 Palestinians were killed by Israeli bombardment across Gaza, including attacks in Rafah.
Earlier last week, the Israeli Occupation Force (IOF) publicly acknowledged that Gaza’s death toll has, in fact, reached at least 70,000 Palestinians killed over the past two and a half years, a figure long reported by Gaza’s Health Ministry and previously dismissed and denied. Palestinians have documented this genocide in real time for over two and a half years. They did not need the IOF to validate their deaths. But even with that admission, Israel continues to carry out strikes, enforce collective punishment, and entrench mass death under the cover of a so-called ceasefire. Since the ceasefire agreement on October 11, 2025, Israel has violated it over 1,400 times, killing 526 Palestinians and injuring at least 1,447. Israel also continues to refuse to implement many of its obligations under the agreement, most notably allowing the agreedโupon levels of humanitarian aid and the entry of mobile housing units.
As if that wasn’t enough, Israel is accelerating land theft and forced displacement across the occupied West Bank. Settlements are expanding at record speed. Armed settlers are burning Palestinian farmland, attacking villages, destroying olive groves, and driving families off their land. Entire communities are being erased through organized terror and state-backed impunity.
And the U.S. response? More weapons. More money. More political cover.
The weapons being sent, including Apache attack helicopters, are the same types of arms used repeatedly in attacks on Palestinian civilians, residential areas, hospitals, and refugee camps. Sending them now is yet another explicit endorsement of continued violence.
U.S. law is clear: weapons cannot be transferred when there is a credible risk they will be used to commit human rights abuses or war crimes. International law is clear: collective punishment, targeting civilians, and indiscriminate bombardment are crimes. And morally, this could not be clearer. Yet Congress and the Trump administration continue to act as though Palestinian lives are disposable.
We refuse to accept that. Take action now and tell your members of Congress to Block the Bombs and stop arming genocide.
In solidarity,
Americans for Justice in Palestine Action
2059.
3 februari 2026
This year, Israeli Apartheid Week (IAW) is returning to its roots on campuses around the world. IAW will launch on the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination on March 21st, 2026 and will include Palestinian Land Day on March 30th, continuing into April in different parts of the world.
This year’s theme is “Palestine Frees Us All.” In the face of Israel’s ongoing genocide, illegal occupation, settler colonialism, and apartheid against the Indigenous Palestinian people, this IAW is more important than ever.
Register your IAW event now.
The US imperialist aggression in Venezuela and globally shows that the ongoing US-Israeli livestreamed genocide in Gaza is only the first “experiment” of a horrific might-makes-right order. Building a global, intersectional wave of resistance to all forms of oppression, racism, colonialism, and apartheid has therefore become an existential need, not just a moral duty, for the global majority.
For this IAW, we are counting on the campus movement, which has played a vital role in our struggle, as the global campus mobilizations calling for boycotting and divesting from Israel have shown. Anti-war campus actions were instrumental in the struggles against the US genocidal wars in Vietnam and Iraq, as well as against the apartheid regime in South Africa, among others.
For 21 years, IAW has been crucial for amplifying and enhancing grassroots BDS campaigning thanks to the inspiring solidarity of many, mainly students, academics and trade unions. We encourage you all to organize IAW activities to amplify the call for Palestinian liberation in your communities.
Share our "Save the Date" message now.
2058.
2 februari 2026
We're excited to see the growing use of UpScrolled, a new social media founded by a Palestinian and incubated at Tech4Palestine, as social media communities seek platforms built on people's power and organizing rather than Bigtech and imperialist interests. When targeted censorship continues to silence the oppressed through malicious algorithms and bias, the most powerful response isn't just to protest within those spaces, but to build an alternative infrastructure.
With that, it is also essential to reflect on how we fill these new spaces with ethical conversations and engagement, on Palestine and on issues affecting oppressed and marginalized people everywhere.
This is where Communicating Palestine (CP) comes in! Your essential communications guide on how to engage in conversations about Palestine and with Palestinians, with tools and tips to debunk tropes, propaganda and harmful practices.
Whether you're discussing online or face-to-face, CP empowers every person to speak up and engage collectively responsibly and with dignity.
Our path forward requires both the right spaces and the right tools. Join us in building a future where Palestinian voices are understood, respected, and valued.
2056.
2 februari 2026
OCHA OPT Product Survey
Dear partners,
Please take a moment to provide feedback on OCHA's regular publications covering the humanitarian situation in Gaza and the West Bank. You can access the survey at https://surveys-kobo.unocha.org/single/fdgdeISC. The survey is anonymous and available in three languages.
Your feedback will help us better understand your perspectives, assess the quality, clarity, timeliness and usefulness of our updates, and inform improvements to the content, format and periodicity of our regular products.
Kindly note that the deadline for sharing your feedback has been extended to 6 February 2026.
Best,OCHA oPT Team
2055.
1 februari 2026
The U.S. reconstruction plan leaves Palestinian rights off the table
The Rafah crossing from Egypt into Gaza may reopen within days, albeit with tight restrictions from Israel on what and who can pass through it. At the same time, Israel has carried out expanded attacks within Gaza, despite the ceasefire still being in place. The remains of the final Israeli held captive in Gaza from the October 7, 2023, attack were recovered after a similar violation of the ceasefire. There was a lot to cover this week.
Mitchell Plitnick wrote about the Trump administration's plans for the so-called Board of Peace and what they imply for Gaza. He argues that the proposed structure is not a transition plan but a framework for permanent American control.
Qassam Muaddi broke down the U.S. reconstruction plan and what it is designed to produce on the ground. He shows how the plan treats Palestinians as a population to be managed while leaving basic political rights off the table.
Tareq S. Hajjaj reported on reactions from Gazans to the announcement of the Palestinian technocratic committee that is supposed to oversee Gaza under Donald Trump and the Board of Peace.
Michael Arria reported on Mahmoud Khalil and the Trump administration's effort to deport him to Algeria over a pro-Palestine speech. Immigration enforcement is being used to punish political activity and send a chilling message to the wider movement.
Rafaela Cortez and Ricardo Esteves Ribeiro accompanied Palestinians during the 2025 olive harvest in the West Bank. Their reporting shows how settler violence and military protection work together to make ordinary life and work on the land dangerous.
Mondoweiss is a founding member of the Movement Media Alliance. That organization released a statement about the arrest of journalists Georgia Fort and Don Lemon in Minnesota after they reported on the anti-ICE protests there.
David Reed, Publisher
๐น Video
Israel's military chief just declared the "Yellow Line" will become Israel's new border—cutting Gaza in half. But this isn't a new idea. It's a decades-old colonial strategy. Featuring Bisan Owda reporting from Gaza.
๐ซ The Board of Peace and the new imperial court
Trump formally announced the "Board of Peace" at Davos, pitching it as a path to stability while critics describe it as a direct attempt to undermine the U.N. and replace international law with a pay-to-play club of vassals, billionaires, and strongmen.
READ MORE → Trump unveils so-called "Board of Peace"
READ MORE → A world on its knees: Trump's "Board of Peace" and the darkness it promises
READ MORE → The Middle East is at a tipping point as the U.S. fuels crisis across the region
๐ต๐ธ Gaza and the Board of Peace
The Trump administration is moving to formalize U.S. control over Gaza's political and economic future while keeping Palestinians outside the decision-making.
READ MORE → As Trump's Board of Peace presses forward, Palestinians in Gaza fear what lies ahead, Tareq S. Hajjaj
READ MORE → The U.S. plan for Gaza has nothing in it for Palestinians, Qassam Muaddi
READ MORE → The U.S. occupation of Gaza has begun, Mitchell Plitnick
๐ฎ๐ฑ Jerusalem and the West Bank
Israel continues to use settler organizations, courts, and military force to drive Palestinians off their land. Settler expansion advances through law and violence, and Palestinian life is treated as an obstacle to be cleared.
READ MORE → A Palestinian neighborhood's last stand against Israeli settler takeover in Jerusalem, Qassam Muaddi
READ MORE → A bloody season the olive harvest in the West Bank, Rafaela Cortez and Ricardo Esteves Ribeiro
๐จ U.S. Crackdown on dissent
The U.S. state is expanding its use of immigration enforcement and detention while targeting Palestine solidarity. Punishment for dissent is being normalized, whether it is deportation threats for political speech or family detention and intimidation under the banner of security.
READ MORE → Mahmoud Khalil vows to oppose Trump efforts to deport him to Algeria over pro-Palestine speech, Michael Arria
READ MORE → Power and Pushback: Soliman family members recount harsh details of being held in ICE detention for 8 months, Michael Arria
READ MORE → 'We cannot separate imperialism from domestic militarization': Understanding the links between ICE, Gaza, and U.S. foreign policy, Michael Arria
๐บ๐ธ U.S. politics and the pro-Israel lobby
AIPAC and the Israel Lobby are adjusting to a political environment where unconditional support for Israel is increasingly unpopular with Democratic voters. The New Jersey race shows how the lobby is trying to enforce discipline while disguising its actions.
READ MORE → The Shift: AIPAC targets former ally in New Jersey, Michael Arria
โ๏ธ Palestinian Christians and Christian Zionism
Church leaders in Jerusalem issued a rare and direct rejection of Christian Zionism, drawing a backlash from U.S. Ambassador Mike Huckabee. This is about political control and representation, and about silencing Palestinian Christian voices that refuse Zionist theology.
READ MORE → Mike Huckabee is interfering with the work and witness of churches in the Holy Land with a goal of silencing Palestinian Christians, Rifat Kassis
๐ต๐ธ Palestine 36
This week's Palestine Letter newsletter looks at Annemarie Jacir's film Palestine 36 and what it reveals about the continuity between the past and the present under colonial rule.
READ MORE → Palestine Letter: Palestine 36 is a movie about the Palestinian past that tells the story of today, Qassam Muaddi
2055.