NEW FROM FMEP
FMEP Legislative Round-Up October 24, 2025 (Lara Friedman)
- Bills, Resolutions; 2. Letters; 3. Hearings & Markups; 4. Selected Members on the Record; 5. Selected Media & Press releases/Statements
Settlement & Annexation Report: October 24, 2025 (Kristin McCarthy)
- Knesset Votes to Advance Two West Bank Annexation Bill; 2. Israel Advances 248 New Settlement Units; 3. Settlers Take Over Cave in South Hebron Hills & Are Building New Outpost; 4. Settler Terrorism Targets the Olive Harvest; 5. Bonus Reads
Attacks on the First Amendment Continue (New Occupied Thoughts episode)
FMEP Fellow Ahmed Moor speaks with Jenin Younes, National Legal Director at the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC). They focus on Freedom of Speech in the United States, looking at the Covid pandemic and speech restrictions at that time and the acceleration of the assault on speech by Israel advocates. They discuss the contours of a principled speech position in the United States today.
Media, BDS, and Lessons from 25 Years of Solidarity Work (New Occupied Thoughts episode)
FMEP Fellow Ahmed Moor speaks with Mondoweiss editor Adam Horowitz about the role that Mondoweiss, an independent news organization, has played in the struggle for Palestinian rights over the past 25 years. They also discuss the moral case for the cultural boycott of Israel and what constitutes justice after genocide.
Gaza Ceasefire – Will it Last? (The Quincy Institute 10/22/25)
FMEP’s Lara Friedman interviewed by Courtney Rawlings and Alex Jordan on The Quincy Institute’s Always at War Podcast
GAZA
What Comes After Starvation in Gaza? (Clayton Dalton//New Yorker 10/18/24)
“For the severely malnourished, simply starting to eat normal meals again can cause sickness—even death. And survivors of starvation are at risk of chronic diseases and mental-health conditions for decades after they regain access to food. “You’ve stunted a generation,” Nathaniel Raymond, the director of the Humanitarian Research Lab at Yale, told me. Ruth Gibson, a scholar at Stanford’s Center for Innovation in Global Health, spoke in even starker terms. “Can this be reversed?” she said. “The answer is, it can’t be.”’
‘It’s like a nuclear bomb has hit’: shocked Palestinians return home to desolation (The Guardian 10/18/25)
“When the Gaza ceasefire took effect a week ago, tens of thousands of Palestinians began to move from the sprawling camps in the south back to their homes in Gaza City and the surrounding area…What the returnees found on arrival was complete desolation. Large swaths of the north had simply been flattened. Their homes and neighbourhoods were no longer recognisable. Their communities had been erased. The sheer scale of demolition left families with an awful dilemma: stay and seek shelter in the shattered stumps of their former homes, or return to the tented camps in the south where they had a better chance of finding food and water. And looming over that decision was the great unknown of how long the truce would last, and whether it would ever take hold as a lasting peace.”
The Genocide in Gaza (Drop Site 10/22/25)
“Since October 11, the first full day of the ceasefire, Israel has killed at least 88 Palestinians in Gaza and wounded 315, while 436 bodies have been recovered from under the rubble, according to the Ministry of Health. The Ministry also confirmed it received an additional 30 bodies of dead Palestinians handed over by Israel on Wednesday, bringing the total number of bodies received since the ceasefire went into effect earlier this month to 195. Some of the bodies show signs of abuse, beatings, handcuffing, and blindfolding…The World Food Programme reported that only 520 trucks carrying 6,700 tonnes of food have entered Gaza in the 11 days since the ceasefire began on October 10…far short of needs…Hamas has begun a large-scale internal crackdown on armed groups accused of looting aid and collaborating with Israeli forces during the two-year war in Gaza.” See also At a Mass Burial in Gaza, Palestinians Mourn the Unknown Dead (NYT 10/22/25);
Rubble, gangs, and airstrikes: What was waiting for me back in Gaza City (Ahmed Ahmed//+972 Magazine 10/23/25)
“When I arrived in Gaza City, I barely recognized it. The streets were filled with twisted metal, shattered glass, and debris from houses and towers flattened by Israel’s methodical bombing of high-rise buildings and use of explosive-laden robots. Many roads were completely blocked…After I got back home, relatives who had remained in the city warned me about dangerous groups in our neighborhood that had collaborated with Israeli troops during the last days of their operation. They have been seen looting houses and threatening to kill displaced families as they returned, as well as fighting with Hamas forces. It is unclear whether these groups had decided to remain in the area or were “abandoned” by Israeli forces during the withdrawal…Clashes between Hamas and the militias continued for three days near my house…Israeli forces continued to bomb several areas after the ceasefire came into effect, including an airstrike on Oct. 19 that killed 11 members of the Abu Shaban family as they returned to their home in eastern Gaza City.” See also Scramble to shore up ceasefire as Israel hits Gaza with deadly raids (The Guardian 10/19/25); Palestinians in Gaza fear ceasefire ‘could collapse at any moment’ (The Guardian 10/19/25); ‘We expected to die’: Freed Gazan detainees recount Israeli torture (Ibtisam Mahdi//+972 Magazine 10/17/25); At least 135 mutilated bodies of Palestinians had been held at notorious Israeli jail, say Gaza officials (The Guardian 10/20/25)
Palestinians in Gaza Struggle to Retrieve Their Dead With Little More Than Hammers (Abdel Qader Sabbah//Drop Site 10/21/25)
“An estimated 10,000 Palestinians killed by Israel remain buried under the rubble, according to Gaza’s Civil Defense, with Israel preventing the resources and equipment required to retrieve them. Among those bodies are a handful of Israeli captives killed in the war that have been the focus of the international media and U.S. and Israeli officials as part of the ceasefire agreement.” See also Israel IDs more hostages’ bodies as Hamas says return of others will be hard (WaPo 10/22/25); Israel identifies body of 10th hostage recovered from Gaza (The Guardian 10/18/25); ‘We feel betrayed’: Israeli families still seeking return of deceased hostages (The Guardian 10/17/25);
“We Estimate That Nearly One Million of Gaza’s 1.1 Million Olive Trees Have Been Destroyed” (Drop Site 10/20/25)
“Gaza’s olive groves have been bulldozed by the Israeli military, dried up from lack of water, or remain inaccessible, leaving Palestinian farmers with little to harvest.”
Gaza Operations of Much-Criticized U.S. Aid Group Unravel (NYT 10/20/25)
“The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, once pushed by Israel as an alternative to the U.N.-led aid system in the enclave, is running out of money and faces serious logistical obstacles to resuming its work. The organization, known as the G.H.F., came under heavy scrutiny from international aid organizations over the past six months, accused of running a system that endangered the lives of desperate Palestinians who came to collect aid.” See also Gaza aid still critically scarce, say agencies, as Israel delays convoys (The Guardian 10/17/25); Rafah border crossing to stay closed ‘until further notice’, says Israel (The Guardian 10/18/25);
REGION//GLOBAL
Frustrations boil over as Vance delivers ‘firm’ message to Netanyahu (Politico 10/23/25)
“The White House is growing increasingly frustrated with Israel just two weeks after President Donald Trump triumphantly announced a deal to end the war in Gaza and bring peace to the Middle East. The mounting frustrations come as a succession of senior officials are passing through Israel this week looking to keep a fragile ceasefire in place…After assuring the U.S. that its response to a Hamas attack on two Israeli soldiers would be careful and limited, the counter-attack on Sunday left more than 40 civilians dead. Senior U.S. officials expressed their frustration about the severity of the attack, telling one Arab ally that Israel was “out of control,” one of the two people familiar with the conversation said. The administration’s private exasperation has begun to emerge in public view. Trump, in an interview published on Thursday, suggested Israel could lose all U.S. support if it annexed the West Bank, which followed condemnations from Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and special envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner. That so many administration officials criticized Israel so unequivocally less than two weeks after Trump landed to a hero’s welcome and promised eternal friendship and peace underscores how frustrated the White House is with the Netanyahu government.” See also Israel Strikes Gaza and Temporarily Halts Aid, Saying Hamas Broke Truce (NYT 10/19/25); Trump says ‘rebels’ staged deadly attack on IDF troops in Gaza, echoing Hamas claim (TOI 10/20/25); ‘Out of Control’: White House Reportedly Frustrated With Israel Over Gaza Strikes, West Bank Annexation Vote (Haaretz 10/24/25);
Vance Says He’s Not in Israel to Babysit Gaza Truce and Emphasizes Partnership (NYT 10/22/25)
“Vice President JD Vance said recent visits by top American officials were to monitor the cease-fire, but not “in the sense of, you know, you monitor a toddler.”’ See also Vance says Knesset votes on annexing West Bank are an ‘insult’ as Netanyahu halts progress (The Guardian 10/23/25); Israel would lose ‘all support’ from the US if it annexes West Bank, Trump warns (TOI 10/23/25); ‘A real collision course’: Israel fumes at US takeover of policy on Gaza, West Bank (Al Monitor 10/24/25); Vance arrives in Israel to bolster fragile Gaza ceasefire (Al Monitor 10/21/25); Trump Says Israeli Annexation of West Bank Land ‘Won’t Happen’ (NYT 10/23/25);
Rubio seeks quick deployment of international Gaza force (Al Monitor 10/24/25)
“US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Friday he hopes to soon assemble an international force to police the Gaza ceasefire, adding that Israel — which objects to Turkey’s involvement — would have the power to veto potential participants. The international security force called for by the Gaza ceasefire agreement must consist of countries that Israel is “comfortable with,” Rubio said on Friday during a visit to Israel. Rubio added that the future of governance in Gaza still needs to be worked out among Israel and partner nations but cannot include Hamas, adding that any potential role for the Palestinian Authority has yet to be determined.” See also US military to start Gaza ceasefire monitoring as international force plans stall (Al Monitor 10/21/25); Rubio stresses there is ‘no plan B’ amid questions over Trump’s Gaza deal (WaPo 10/24/25); Gaza ceasefire burnishes Qatari image as global mediator (WaPo 10/20/25); U.S. Flies Drones Over Gaza to Monitor Cease-Fire, Officials Say (NYT 10/24/25); U.S. Diplomats Will Work With Troops to Maintain Gaza Cease-Fire, Rubio Says (NYT 10/24/25);
Palestinian factions say they agree to let independent technocrat committee run Gaza (The Guardian 10/24/25)
“The main Palestinian factions have said they have agreed that an independent committee of technocrats would take over the running of Gaza after Hamas said it had received “clear guarantees” from mediators that “the war has effectively ended”. A joint statement published on the Hamas website said the groups had agreed in a meeting in Cairo to hand “over the administration of the Gaza Strip to a temporary Palestinian committee composed of independent ‘technocrats’, which will manage the affairs of life and basic services in cooperation with Arab brothers and international institutions”. See also Israel will disarm Hamas and demilitarise Gaza, says Netanyahu (The Guardian 10/20/25); Trump: Hamas must ‘behave and be nice – If not, we’re going to eradicate them‘ (Haaretz 10/20/25);
Ceasefire Updates (Drop Site 10/22/25)
“Jared Kushner said reconstruction in Gaza will start only in areas under Israeli control, with no funds directed to regions still administered by Hamas. He outlined plans for a “new Gaza” to be built and secured by an international force, offering Palestinians housing and employment opportunities. Kushner added that all projects will require approval from President Trump and the newly formed “Board of Peace.”’
Wife of jailed Palestinian leader Marwan Barghouti appeals to Trump for his release (Al Monitor 10/24/25)
“The wife of imprisoned Palestinian leader Marwan Barghouti has appealed to US President Donald Trump to help secure the release of her husband, who is widely regarded as a unifying figure among Palestinians. “Mr. President, a genuine partner awaits you — one who can help fulfill the dream we share of just and lasting peace in the region. For the sake of freedom for the Palestinian people and peace for all future generations, help release Marwan Barghouti,” Fadwa Barghouti said in a statement to Time magazine.”
ICJ orders Israel to allow aid into Gaza and says restrictions breached international obligations (The Guardian 10/22/25)
“Israel must allow aid into Gaza, and its restrictions on doing so over the past two years have put it in breach of its obligations, the UN’s top court has found. The stinging advisory opinion by the International Court of Justice in The Hague also found that Israel had a duty not to impede the supply of aid by UN organisations including the beleaguered UN Palestinian relief agency Unrwa, which has been in effect banned from the territory since January. The court found Israel had not produced adequate evidence to justify ending cooperation with Unrwa on the basis it was not a neutral organisation under the Geneva conventions. The court instead found the organisation was the backbone of all humanitarian assistance in the area, requiring Israel to cooperate with the organisation in good faith.” See also ICJ says Israel obligated to work with UNRWA; Jerusalem ‘categorically rejects’ notion (TOI 10/22/25); Carney says Canada will arrest Netanyahu if he visits, in keeping with ICC warrant (TOI 10/20/25);
Jewish figures across the globe call on UN and world leaders to sanction Israel (The Guardian 10/22/25)
“Prominent Jewish figures around the world are calling on the United Nations and world leaders to impose sanctions on Israel over what they describe as “unconscionable” actions amounting to genocide in Gaza. Over 450 signatories, including former Israeli officials, Oscar winners, authors and intellectuals have signed an open letter demanding accountability over Israel’s conduct in Gaza, the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem…The signatories urge world leaders to uphold international court of justice (ICJ) and international criminal court rulings, avoid complicity in international law violations by halting arms transfers and imposing targeted sanctions, ensure adequate humanitarian aid to Gaza, and reject false claims of antisemitism against those advocating for peace and justice…The appeal follows a sharp shift in public opinion for US Jews and the wider electorate over the last few years. A Washington Post poll found that 61% of US Jews believe Israel has committed war crimes in Gaza, and 39% say it is committing genocide.” See also Far-right UK activist Tommy Robinson visits Israel on invite of Diaspora Minister Amichai Chikli (The Forward 10/19/25); EU criticised for pausing sanctions on Israel in response to Trump Gaza efforts (The Guardian 10/21/25);
RIVER TO THE SEA
Settler terror devastates West Bank olive harvest (Oren Ziv & Basel Adra//+972 Magazine 10/24/25)
“Israeli military restrictions and over 150 settler attacks in the past two weeks have prevented many Palestinians from harvesting this year’s crop.” See also As the Olive Harvest Begins in the West Bank, Israeli Settlers Attack Palestinians While the IDF Watches (Haaretz 10/22/25); The IDF Can’t ‘Protect’ Palestinians From Settler Attacks. Settlers Are IDF Auxillaries (Hanin Majadli//Haaretz 10/23/25);
Erased: Israeli Settlers’ Brutal War on Palestinian Communities in the West Bank (Hagar Shezaf//Haaretz)
“These images appear again and again – from the ground, from the air, and on maps: dozens of Palestinian communities wiped off the landscape, while illegal Israeli settler outposts continue to spread across the West Bank. Since October 7, 2023, this phenomenon has intensified significantly. Unlike the war in Gaza, there is no discussion in Israel about ending this parallel campaign of dispossession. Quite the opposite: Large quantities of weapons have been distributed to settlers, who have since carried out raids on Palestinian communities while Israeli authorities stand by. Jewish settler violence goes unchecked. So does the illegal construction of new outposts. The Judea and Samaria District Police have been reduced to irrelevance. This state of affairs has allowed for a dramatic transformation on the ground.”
Construction in the E1 Area: Preventing Palestinian Geographical Contiguity (Mtanes Shihadeh, Ikram Mohammed//Arab Center DC 10/22/25)
“The Israeli government continues to exploit the post-October 7, 2023, situation to impose a new geopolitical and demographic reality in the occupied West Bank, alongside the genocidal war in the Gaza Strip. Since the beginning of the war on Gaza, Israel has increased the frequency of military incursions into towns and camps in the West Bank. It has destroyed entire sections of these camps, expanded settlements, and disconnected the territory. Perhaps the most dangerous Israeli government decision came at the end of August 2025 when it approved plans for construction in the so-called E1 area, on the pretext of retaliating against European countries’ plans to recognize a Palestinian state…The paper argues that this decision is one of Israel’s far-right government’s most dangerous since October 7, because construction in this area will divide the West Bank, prevent the geographical contiguity between its south and north, and turn densely populated Palestinian areas into Bantustans surrounded by Israeli settlements.”
One target at a time: The logic that helped Israeli liberals commit genocide (Yuval Abraham 10/20/25)
“Over the past two years, I have published numerous investigations exposing details of Israel’s open-fire policy in Gaza, several of which have helped substantiate legal claims of genocide. When South Africa filed its case against Israel at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in January 2024, it relied in part on our November 2023 exposé that revealed Israel’s AI-driven mass assassination campaign targeting the family homes of alleged militants. When a UN committee similarly reached the conclusion last month that Israel has committed genocide, it relied in part on another of our investigations showing that more than 80 percent of Gaza’s dead were civilians according to an internal Israeli intelligence database. Yet few of the dozens of soldiers and officers I spoke to over the course of these investigations, many of whom served willingly as whistleblowers, saw themselves as participants in genocide. When intelligence officers and commanders described bombing family homes in Gaza, they often echoed the university lecturer’s logic: Sure, we may have committed crimes, but we were not murderers because every act had a specific military objective…This mission-oriented framing played a crucial role in enabling ordinary Israelis to participate in genocide — perhaps more than obedience alone, which is usually assumed to be the primary motivator in such contexts. By understanding each act of violence as a discrete task, from targeting a Hamas operative to securing a perimeter, soldiers could avoid confronting their role in the mass slaughter of civilians.” See also Hidden cost of war: 125,000 Israelis emigrated between 2022 and 2024 (TOI 10/20/25)
U.S. SCENE
Suddenly, Democratic Politicians Are Running Away From AIPAC (TNR 10/21/25)
“When he launched his campaign last week for a Massachusetts U.S. Senate seat, Representative Seth Moulton made sure that one of his first moves was to announce that he is returning campaign donations that he received from individuals affiliated with the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, and would no longer accept campaign support from the group. Also last week, popular podcast hosts Jennifer Welch and Angie Sullivan pressed Senator Cory Booker to answer whether he considered Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu a war criminal; The Ringer’s Van Lathan told Governor Gavin Newsom that Lathan would not support a 2028 candidate who took money from AIPAC…radio host Charlamagne tha God asked Governor Josh Shapiro if AIPAC donations improperly influence U.S. decisions on Israeli-Palestinian issues; and MSNBC’s Eugene Daniels asked Kamala Harris if Israel’s actions over the last two years constitute genocide. Those are the latest examples of a seismic new development in Democratic politics. For decades, Democratic politicians, particularly those running for Senate or president, have emphasized their support of Israel and commitment to maintaining strong U.S.-Israel ties, in part to woo pro-Israel center-left donors and activists. Now, we are seeing a new litmus test on Israeli-Palestinian issues: Many Democratic pundits and activists, particularly progressives, are demanding politicians rebuke Israel’s actions over the last two years and adopt a more even-handed approach to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. These progressives say they don’t want to support candidates unless those politicians declare that Israel’s recent actions are a genocide, disavow AIPAC, and pledge to condition U.S. military and diplomatic support on the Israelis treating the Palestinians better.”
Democrats call on Rubio to help secure release of Palestinian-American teen held in Israeli prison (The Guardian 10/22/25)
“More than two dozen Democratic lawmakers have written to the secretary of state, Marco Rubio, and the US ambassador to Israel urging them to help secure the release of Mohammed Ibrahim, a 16-year-old Palestinian-American citizen who has been held in Israeli military detention for nearly eight months. Ibrahim, a dual Palestinian-American teenager from Florida, was arrested in a raid on his family’s West Bank home in February when he was 15 years old. Israeli forces allegedly blindfolded and handcuffed the boy at 3am, according to the letter led by senators Chris Van Hollen and Jeff Merkley and representatives Kathy Castor and Maxwell Frost…The letter follows the Guardian’s initial reporting on Ibrahim’s detention in July, which noted that he lost a significant amount of weight and contracted scabies, according to state department correspondences obtained by the Guardian…The lawmakers also point to the March death of Walid Ahmad, a 17-year-old Palestinian who collapsed and died in Megiddo prison after six months of detention for allegedly throwing rocks. His autopsy showed he died from extreme malnutrition, torture, scabies and denial of medical care. Lawmakers warned that “it is the responsibility of the US government to ensure that this recent tragedy does not repeat itself with Mohammed.”’ See also Pressure mounts for Trump to secure release of U.S. teen held by Israel (WaPo 10/23/25);
The Meaning of Trump’s $10 Million Grant to a Jewish Nonprofit (Suzanne Schneider//Jewish Currents 10/23/25)
“When the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) announced on September 15th it was awarding the Tikvah Fund a sum of $10.4 million, the largest grant in the agency’s history, to “combat the recrudescence and normalization of anti-Semitism in American society,” there was an audible groan from many Jewish studies scholars. Coming on the heels of the NEH’s decision last April to cancel over 1,000 grant projects—including, as The Forward reported last spring, multiple awards to Jewish studies scholars and Jewish institutions, with resources for Yiddish language and culture taking a particularly hard hit—the award to Tikvah is particularly notable…It’s not surprising that Trump’s NEH would turn away from the breadth of contemporary Jewish studies scholarship and toward the ideologically aligned Tikvah Fund. Founded in 1992 by the financier Zalman Bernstein to support educational projects that comport with its conservative Zionist worldview, the Tikvah Fund is rooted in a belief in the inseparability of American and Israeli interests, the righteous necessity of imperial power, and American exceptionalism, which it traces at least in part to the centrality of Jews to the American story…Tikvah’s commitment to Western civilization and American exceptionalism mirrors the NEH’s new statement of priorities.”
Suddenly, Democratic Politicians Are Running Away From AIPAC (TNR 10/21/25)
“When he launched his campaign last week for a Massachusetts U.S. Senate seat, Representative Seth Moulton made sure that one of his first moves was to announce that he is returning campaign donations that he received from individuals affiliated with the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, and would no longer accept campaign support from the group. Also last week, popular podcast hosts Jennifer Welch and Angie Sullivan pressed Senator Cory Booker to answer whether he considered Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu a war criminal; The Ringer’s Van Lathan told Governor Gavin Newsom that Lathan would not support a 2028 candidate who took money from AIPAC…radio host Charlamagne tha God asked Governor Josh Shapiro if AIPAC donations improperly influence U.S. decisions on Israeli-Palestinian issues; and MSNBC’s Eugene Daniels asked Kamala Harris if Israel’s actions over the last two years constitute genocide. Those are the latest examples of a seismic new development in Democratic politics…Many Democratic pundits and activists, particularly progressives, are demanding politicians rebuke Israel’s actions over the last two years and adopt a more even-handed approach to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. These progressives say they don’t want to support candidates unless those politicians declare that Israel’s recent actions are a genocide, disavow AIPAC, and pledge to condition U.S. military and diplomatic support on the Israelis treating the Palestinians better.”
Key takeaways from Kushner’s and Witkoff’s “60 Minutes” interview (Axios 10/20/25)
“On visiting Gaza once the ceasefire came into effect, Kushner said the area he visited “looked almost like a nuclear bomb had been set off.”…On conflicts of interest claims, Stahl noted lines appeared to be blurred on their business dealings with Gulf states and what they’re doing “in terms of foreign policy and benefiting financially” from the Middle East…After Stahl pressed that the matter had become an issue, Kushner said: “What people call conflicts of interests, Steve and I call experience and trusted relationships that we have throughout the world. “If Steve and I didn’t have these deep relationships, the deal that we were able to help get done, that freed these hostages, would not have occurred.”’ See also Kushner: Israel must improve Palestinians’ lives if it wants ‘integration’ into region (TOI 10/20/25)
PERSPECTIVES//LONG READS
My last words to Gaza (Abdallah Aljazzar//+972 Magazine 10/21/25)
“I didn’t turn back to see my family again after saying goodbye. I felt too ashamed. I was leaving for peace, and all they had was famine and war.”
The Making of a Coal Boycott (Andreas Malm & Maxy Guedes//Jewish Currents 10/20/25) and Maxy Guedes
“Inside the campaign to break the toxic relationship between Colombian mining and Israeli militarism”
Everyone in Israel Knows Who Einav Zangauker Is. Few Know What She Really Did for Her Hostage Son (Haaretz 10/20/25)
“It’s hard to imagine there’s anyone in Israel today who doesn’t know Einav Zangauker. For two years, she led a relentless and uncompromising public campaign to bring her son home from Hamas captivity…But it wasn’t just speeches and roadblocks. Behind the scenes, Zangauker used every scrap of information – whether intelligence or personal – to achieve her goal. She even sent direct messages to Matan’s captors, including a filmed plea delivered in Arabic…But all that is behind her now. From the moment the news of the deal broke, only joy has kept her awake. Until his release from Ichilov Hospital Sunday, she spent all her time with Matan and her daughters, slowly learning everything. How his command of Arabic, which he spoke even before captivity, helped him – as confirmed by other freed hostages; how he had access to television and every Saturday night watched her speaking at the rally on Begin Road (her statements weren’t just for the media, but direct messages to him). And he knew she would never give up on him.”
Protective presence doesn’t work anymore (Andrey X//Vashti 10/19/25)
“Protective presence has been practised in the West Bank for decades…The idea is to leverage the privilege of an international or Israeli passport against settlers and soldiers by placing ourselves between them and the Palestinians they attack and harass…I was once asked why there is no accountability for the settler attacks. How is Yinon Levy walking free after killing a man in front of a dozen cameras? How are the settlers able to commit daily terror attacks and not even be detained for it? Because accountability is reserved for crimes. And what counts as a crime is defined by the ruling order of the land. The ruling order in Palestine doesn’t see settler terror as a crime — settler terror is an essential part of the state project. The Hilltop Youth are the frontline soldiers of the Israeli occupation, doing their part in fulfilling the near century-long state project of the ethnic cleansing of Palestine…The question we ask ourselves over and over is what can we do in this new reality? What can we do when settlers attack us, grab our phones, push us to the ground, and drag us over rocks with an ATV, as happened to a friend of mine in late August? What about when the same settlers then assault and even choke us as the cameras roll, while the police and army both decline to intervene, as happened to another? What difference can we make when we’re no longer recognised as a barrier to violence, but just another target?”
The Gaza War Opened a Moral Chasm Between American Jews and Israel (Daniel Sokatch//Haaretz 10/23/25)
“For millions [of American Jews] For millions, Israel has long been central to identity – but so has liberalism. And as liberals, American Jews have been horrified by Israel’s extremist, ultra-nationalist turn. A Washington Post poll shows that 61 percent of American Jews say Israel has committed war crimes. A shocking 4 in 10 say Israel is guilty of genocide against Palestinians. But perhaps more to the point: liberal American Jews are stunned that so many Israelis, and too many of their own institutions, are willing to justify the catastrophic destruction of Gaza and mass killing that took place there. According to polling by the aChord Center at Hebrew University, two-thirds of Israelis (64 percent) believe there are no innocents in Gaza. That is more than a political divide; it’s a moral chasm.”
How Israeli strikes that killed 5 journalists at a Gaza hospital unfolded (WaPo 10/21/25)
“With a ceasefire in place, rights groups and press freedom advocates say they plan to redouble their calls for accountability, including by appealing to the International Criminal Court, whose chief prosecutor said crimes against journalists were being examined as part of its investigation into the conflict. “Our experience over decades is that Israeli-led investigations into killings are neither transparent, nor independent,” Jodie Ginsberg, chief executive of the Committee to Protect Journalists, said in a statement. “And in not a single case over the past 24 years has anyone in Israel ever been held accountable for the killing of a journalist.”
‘The loss of education is the loss of the future itself’: Gaza’s children and teachers on two years without school (The Guardian 10/19/25)
“With 97% of schools destroyed or damaged, 600,000 children have just begun their third year out of formal education. Three students and a teacher share their stories – and their hopes”
NEW FROM FMEP
Accountability After Genocide and the Emerging Left-Right Consensus on Israel in America (New podcast episode)
FMEP Fellow Ahmed Moor speaks with Matt Duss, Executive Vice-President at the Center for International Policy and former foreign policy advisor to Senator Bernie Sanders. They discuss the Israeli genocide in Gaza and the new ceasefire; changes in public assessments of Israel’s standing in the U.S. and political relationships with Israel, including changing relationships with Israel among prominent Trump supporters as well as Bernie Sanders’s late recognition of genocide; and what accountability looks like for the genocide, including for members of the Biden administration.
The Starvation Regime and Plausible Deniability for War Crimes (New podcast episode)
FMEP Fellow Ahmed Moor speaks with human rights attorney Sari Bashi and policy expert Bushra Khalidi about the current state of humanitarian aid in Gaza, the bureaucracy of restrictions — including the stated purpose of restricting aid — and whether international law continues to carry meaning after two years of genocide.
FMEP Legislative Round-Up October 17, 2025 (Lara Friedman)
- Bills, Resolutions; 2. Lettersl 3. Hearings & Markups; 4. Selected Members on the Record; 5. Selected Media & Press releases/Statements
Settlement & Annexation Report: October 17, 2025 (Kristin McCarthy)
- Settlers Establish New Outpost to Encircle Umm Al Kheir, Court Pauses Move-In; 2. Eviction Date Looms for Six Families Facing Displacement from Homes in Silwan; 3. As The Olive Harvest Starts, Settler Terrorism Reaches New Heights; 4. Israeli Commitment Against West Bank Annexation is Not in Final Ceasefire Deal; 5. International Crisis Group Report: “Sovereignty in All but Name: Israel’s Quickening Annexation of the West Bank”; 6. Bonus Reads
GAZA
All living Israeli hostages freed and hundreds of Palestinian detainees and prisoners released as Trump leads Egypt summit (The Guardian 10/13/25)
“Egypt’s president Abdel Fattah al-Sisi held a meeting on Monday with the presidents of France and Turkey, and Qatar’s emir and others to help coordinate the implementation of the Gaza ceasefire and reconstruction efforts for the territory, according to a statement by the Egyptian president’s office. The meeting was held on the sidelines of an international summit in Egypt’s Sharm el-Sheikh to finalise an agreement aimed at ending the war in Gaza…A last-minute plan by Donald Trump to invite Benjamin Netanyahu to a multinational Gaza summit in Egypt had to be aborted after the Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, said he would not land his plane in Sharm el-Sheikh if the invitation stood…Two busloads of Palestinian detainees were transferred from Israeli prisons to Ramallah, in the occupied West Bank, on Monday, where jubilant crowds awaited them. In total, 88 of the nearly 2,000 prisoners were sent to the West Bank, with the rest deported to Gaza, according to the Palestinian Prisoners’ Commission…Trump declared that the ceasefire agreement marks the end of Israel’s war on Gaza, as well as the end of the “age of terror and death”…Netanyahu said Trump is the greatest friend Israel has ever had. “Donald Trump is the greatest friend that the State of Israel has ever had in the White House,” he told the Knesset. “No American president has ever done more for the state of Israel, and as I said in Washington, it ain’t even close,” the Israeli prime minister said.” See also Release of Israeli hostages and Palestinian detainees: how the day unfolded (The Guardian 10/13/25); Blair, Kushner, Trump: who are the key people behind the Gaza ceasefire? (The Guardian 10/10/25);
Trump, in Egypt, signs Gaza peace deal, vows war ‘is over’ (Al Monitor 10/13/25);
“US President Donald Trump, along with the leaders of Egypt, Qatar and Turkey, signed a peace deal to end the war in the Gaza Strip during a ceremony in Egypt on Monday…Trump arrived in Sharm el-Sheikh earlier on Monday to co-chair, along with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, the Gaza peace summit less than a week after Israel and Hamas agreed to proceed with the first phase of a 20-point Gaza peace plan that the US leader spearheaded last month, which includes a partial Israeli withdrawal from Gaza and a hostage-prisoner exchange. Shortly after the signing ceremony, Trump opened the summit, where dozens of world leaders convened to discuss efforts to advance the peace deal in Gaza, and he described the agreement as “historic” during his speech. “After years of suffering and bloodshed, the war in Gaza is over,” he claimed.” See also Trump and world leaders meet in Egypt on future of Gaza as Israel celebrates return of hostages (WaPo 10/13/25); Trump hails Gaza hostage deal in Knesset speech, vows to expand Abraham Accords (Al Monitor 10/13/25);
Hamas reasserts control on streets of Gaza, turning guns on its rivals (WaPo 10/15/25)
“They blindfolded eight men accused of collaborating with Israel, made them kneel and executed them at point-blank range on a busy street in Gaza City…Hamas may have stopped fighting Israel, but it has launched a new, violent campaign to reassert control over local families and militias that had challenged its power during the past two years of war — including those who, according to the leaders of two clans, had received support from Israel. Whether by carrying out armed raids in Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip or holding public executions farther north in Gaza City, Hamas is trying to send a clear message that, after months of hiding from Israeli fire, the militant group is back as the only visible authority inside the Gaza Strip, according to rival militia leaders, Palestinian officials and political analysts. Hamas’s enduring grip has significant implications for the future of Gaza and President Donald Trump’s peace plan. With Israel largely restrained from attacking Hamas under the ceasefire sponsored by Trump, the group is again ruling the streets, controlling what is left of civil administration and gaining leverage in the upcoming negotiations over whether and how it will disarm and who will rule Gaza.” See also Hamas deploys armed fighters and police across parts of Gaza (The Guardian 10/13/25);
Gaza aid still critically scarce, say agencies, as Israel delays convoys (The Guardian 10/17/25)
“Aid remains critically scarce in Gaza one week into the ceasefire, humanitarian agencies have warned, as Israel delays the entry of food convoys into the territory. The Israeli government and Hamas continue to trade blame over violations of the truce. The UN World Food Programme (WFP) said on Friday that it had brought about 560 tonnes of food a day on average into Gaza since the ceasefire began, but it was still below what was needed…As aid entry was delayed into the strip, Israel continued to fire on Palestinians. The Israeli army shelled a car which had crossed past the ceasefire line with Israel in the Zeytoun neighbourhood of Gaza, killing nine people. “They had crossed the so-called ‘yellow line’, an imaginary boundary mentioned by the Israeli army. I am certain the family couldn’t distinguish between the yellow and red lines because there are no actual physical markers on the ground,” said Mahmoud Basal, the spokesperson for the Gaza civil defence. The Israeli defence minister, Israel Katz, said on Friday that the yellow line in Gaza will soon be physically marked.” See also Infectious diseases in Gaza ‘spiralling out of control’, says WHO (The Guardian 10/17/25); Israel won’t reopen Rafah crossing, will limit aid, to press Hamas for remaining slain hostages (TOI 10/14/25); Gaza deal’s secret humanitarian annex omits GHF, which isn’t poised for postwar role (TOI 10/14/25)
Israel and Hamas trade accusations as tensions rise over hostages’ remains (The Guardian 10/16/25)
“Israel accused Hamas of violating the ceasefire agreement by failing to return the remains of deceased hostages. On Monday, Hamas returned the last 20 surviving hostages but handed back only nine of 28 deceased captives, saying it would need specialist recovery equipment to retrieve the rest from the ruins of Gaza. US advisers working on the implementation of Donald Trump’s ceasefire deal, and the Red Cross, have said there are significant practical difficulties in recovering remains of hostages amid the devastation caused by Israel’s offensive during the past 24 months.” See also Body handed over by Hamas is not hostage, says Israel, as Palestinian dead ‘arrive back in cuffs’ (The Guardian 10/15/25); Israel warns U.S. Gaza deal could stall if Hamas won’t return hostage bodies (Axios 10/15/25);
Gaza’s Broken Politics (Mohammed Mhawish//New Yorker 10/14/25)
“Whatever fragile political system existed in Gaza has collapsed, along with the institutions that once gave public life its structure. Hamas, weakened militarily and decapitated by the assassinations of its leaders, faces isolation abroad and a diminished mandate at home. The Palestinian Authority, long discredited in the West Bank, has been absent in Gaza. Leftist factions survive as symbols rather than as real organizations. Independent political figures are scattered or silenced. After two years of war, Gaza has no functioning political body with the authority or legitimacy to shape what comes next. President Donald Trump’s Gaza plan is being sold as the answer…Strip away the framing, and the design is clear. Gaza is to be managed from the outside, without a locally elected government. The P.A. is told to make reforms—anti-corruption and fiscal-transparency measures, increased judicial independence, a path to elections—before it can even be considered for a role in Gaza’s governance. Hamas is removed from political life by decree. Core questions—borders, sovereignty, refugees—are deferred. In this architecture, Gaza becomes a security-first regime, where aid, reconstruction, and “transition” are subordinated to Israeli security metrics under the oversight of the U.S. and its partners. Palestinians are offered administration without authority. The occupation is dressed in managerial language. The danger is that this “temporary” system becomes permanent, sustained by donors, monitors, and memoranda.” See also Palestinian government unveils $67 billion, five-year plan for Gaza reconstruction (AA 10/16/25)
Gaza must decide its own political future — before the world does for us (Mahmoud Mushtaha//+972 Magazine 10/16/25)
“What unfolded in Sharm El-Sheikh was not an effort to bring real change for Palestinians, but rather another act of regional choreography — a vision of a Middle East built around Israeli and U.S. interests, not Palestinian rights. Based on what we know so far, U.S. President Donald Trump’s plan for Gaza, which he touts as one that will lead to “strong, durable, and everlasting peace,” will see Israel retain control of the Strip’s borders, airspace, and aid flows, with the very international actors who armed and financed its genocidal assault now acting as mediators and monitors of compliance…Now that the outlines of the ceasefire, however shadowy, are beginning to surface, and the question of who will govern Gaza becomes relevant again, Palestinians must take responsibility — not for what was done to us, but for how we forge a path toward dignity and sovereignty. The most urgent question is who will define the direction of our national movement.” See also “We may have survived physically, but we haven’t survived mentally.” (Drop Site 10/10/25)
Palestinian bodies returned by Israel show signs of torture and execution, say doctors (The Guardian 10/15/25)
“Many of the 90 bodies of Palestinians returned to Gaza by Israeli authorities under the ceasefire deal showed signs of torture and execution, including blindfolds, cuffed hands and bullet wounds in the head, according to doctors’ accounts. As part of the US-brokered truce, Hamas has handed over the bodies of some of the hostages who died during the course of the war, and Israel has transferred the bodies of two groups of 45 Palestinians killed during the fighting. The exchange was carried out through the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). Doctors at Nasser hospital in the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis, which received the Palestinian bodies from the ICRC, said on Wednesday there was substantial evidence of beatings and summary executions, and that none of the bodies were identifiable…Farra added that the bodies had been handed over by the Israeli authorities with no identification, and the hospitals in Gaza, heavily bombed over the course of two years of war, had no means of doing DNA analysis.” See also ‘Locked up for 24 years’: release of Palestinian prisoners and detainees sparks joy and sorrow (The Guardian 10/13/25);
Why Is Trump Threatening to Let Netanyahu Restart the Gaza War? (Amir Tibon//Haaretz 10/17/25)
“In the four days since the release of the Israeli hostages from Gaza, U.S. President Donald Trump has twice implied that the war between Israel and Hamas could be renewed. First, Trump said in a television interview that Israel could send its forces back into Gaza immediately “if I said so.” A day later, he wrote in a social media post that if Hamas continues to “kill people in Gaza,” then “we will have no choice but to go in and kill them.” The president didn’t explain who exactly he meant by “we” and whether that implied that American troops would be sent to fight in the Gaza Strip. These statements contradict Trump’s triumphant celebrations earlier this week and his declarations that the war in Gaza is over and a new day has begun in the Middle East.” See also Trump says Hamas will be forced to disarm or ‘we will disarm them’ (The Guardian 10/14/25); Trump: ‘If Hamas continues to kill people … we will have no choice but to go in and kill them’ (JTA 10/17/25);
Israel’s last living hostages describe trauma of Hamas captivity (WaPo 10/17/25)
“Israeli hospitals are treating the former captives, freed this week as part of the ceasefire deal, according to protocols honed over two years of hostage releases…In addition to the living hostages, Hamas has released the remains of nine of the 28 deceased hostages. It says it has yet to locate the 19 others amid the rubble and the unexploded ordnance that now litter the Gaza Strip. Hamas’s unwillingness or inability to do so underscores how precarious the ceasefire agreement may be. For its part, Israel on Monday released 2,000 Palestinian detainees and prisoners, including 250 serving long sentences.” See also What to know about the 20 living hostages released by Hamas (Axios 10/13/25);
Returning to Shujaiya: Palestinians Are Going Back to Gaza City Despite Proximity of Israeli Troops (Abdel Qader Sabbah//Drop Site 10/16/25)
“Since the ceasefire went into effect on Friday, the Israeli military has killed at least 23 Palestinians in Gaza, at least five of them in one attack on Shujaiya on Tuesday. The Israeli military admitted to the killings, claiming a group of people approached its soldiers stationed there. That same day, the Israeli military spokesperson reiterated a warning to Palestinians not to approach certain areas in Gaza, including Shujaiya, Beit Hanoun, and Beit Lahia in the north, as well as locations in Khan Younis and Rafah in the south…Upwards of half a million Palestinians returned to the north following the ceasefire, according to Gaza’s Civil Defense, many of them to Gaza City. They returned to find much of the city in ruins. In Shujaiya—once one of the largest and most populous neighborhoods in Gaza City—every building has either been destroyed or heavily damaged. Despite the danger, a number of families have returned to the area, setting up makeshift tents on the rubble. Men, women, and children—many of them barefoot—walked the desolate streets carrying buckets, mattresses, and gas cylinders as they tried to build some sort of shelter.” See also My dream home lies in ruins. I will never forgive Israel, or the world (Ruwaida Amer//+972 Magazine 10/15/25); We Are Genocide Survivors. But Our War Is Far From Over. (Ali Skaik//The Nation 10/10/25)
A Memo in a Bunker, Intercepted Communications and Hamas’s Oct. 7 Plans (NYT 10/11/25)
“The computer held an image of a six-page memo, handwritten in Arabic, that the Israeli intelligence community believes was by his brother Yahya Sinwar, who as the powerful leader of Hamas in Gaza helped plot the Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel. Dated Aug. 24, 2022, it appears to be a directive from Mr. Sinwar with instructions for the assault, according to seven Israeli officials. The memo, a copy of which was obtained by The New York Times, calls for fighters to target soldiers and civilian communities — as well as to broadcast the violent acts so as to evoke fear in Israelis and destabilize the country. Commanders then issued similar instructions on Oct. 7, according to hours of previously unreported communications between commanders and subordinates intercepted by Israel during the assault and shared with The Times. The Israeli officials say the memo shows that Mr. Sinwar wanted his fighters to target civilians from the outset, contradicting what the group’s leadership has publicly claimed.” See also Released Israeli hostages give accounts of torture, torment and extraordinary danger (The Guardian 10/14/25)
REGION//GLOBAL
Netanyahu powerless as Trump advances Gaza plan with Arab, PA forces (Al Monitor 10/17/25)
“The Trump administration is moving ahead with the second phase of its plan to end the two-year Gaza war by cobbling together an international force to disarm Hamas and protect Gaza’s 2 million Palestinian residents. But Israel is balking both at the idea of Arab and Muslim forces on its border and at the emerging involvement of the Palestinian Authority in the plan’s implementation. “Everything now depends on Trump,” a senior Israeli diplomatic source told Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity. “Never has war in the Middle East, peace, reconstruction, negotiations, a redrawing of the geopolitical map and tens of billions of dollars all depended on the mood of one man.” “If Trump wants to advance to Stage B of his plan, we will advance to Stage B. If he loses interest, we will not,” said the senior Israeli diplomatic source, adding that everything depends on the American president because Netanyahu will not say no to him, nor will the Turks, the Qataris or the Egyptians.” See also US CENTCOM hastens to rally international force to stabilize Gaza (Al Monitor 10/16/25); Turkey’s long-sought Gaza mediator role brings high risks and high rewards (Al Monitor 10/11/25); Trump claims Saudis told him ‘yesterday’ they’re willing to join Abraham Accords (TOI 10/17/25); Steve Witkoff predicts Abraham Accords will ‘seriously expand’ after Gaza ceasefire (JI 10/17/25);
Witkoff, Kushner on Israel’s strike on Qatar: ‘Trump felt like the Israelis were getting a little bit out of control’ (Ben Samuels//Haaretz 10/17/25)
“U.S. President Donald Trump’s officials who headed the cease-fire struck between Israel and Hamas earlier this month, special envoy Steve Witkoff and his son-in-law Jared Kushner, shared details on the deal with the 60 Minutes TV show on CBS News, in a preview to an episode set to air Sunday. Regarding Israel’s strike on Qatar in September, Witkoff said that both he and Kushner felt “a little bit betrayed.” Kushner said that he believes Trump “felt like the Israelis were getting a little bit out of control in what they were doing, and it was time to be very strong and stop them from doing things that he felt were not in their long-term interests,” after Israel struck Hamas leadership in Qatar in September, in the midst of discussions to secure a hostage release and cease-fire deal. Witkoff added that the strikes “had a metastasizing effect, because the Qataris were critical to the negotiation, as were the Egyptians and the Turks. We had lost the confidence of the Qataris. So Hamas went underground and it was very, very difficult to get to them.” On Qatar’s mediation with Hamas, Witkoff said that after the strikes, “It became very evident how important that was.”’ See also Did Qatari Money Drive Trump’s Push for Gaza Ceasefire? (The Intercept 10/11/25); Mediator in chief: how role of Qatar will be central to Gaza ceasefire holding (The Guardian 10/16/25);
Arab states expanded cooperation with Israeli military during Gaza war, files show (WaPo 10/11/25)
“Even as key Arab states condemned the war in the Gaza Strip, they quietly expanded security cooperation with the Israeli military, leaked U.S. documents reveal. Those military ties were thrown into crisis after Israel’s September airstrike in Qatar, but could now play a key role in overseeing the nascent ceasefire in Gaza. Over the past three years, facilitated by the United States, senior military officials from Israel and six Arab countries came together for planning meetings in Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan and Qatar…The documents show that the threat posed by Iran was the driving force behind the closer ties, which have been fostered by the U.S. military’s Central Command, known as Centcom.” See also These countries no longer arm Israel. It’s not making much difference. (WaPo 10/16/25)
What Israeli “Victory” Looks Like (Peter Beinart//Jewish Currents 10/14/25)
“Yes, the current agreement returns all the remaining hostages—an official war aim, and an achievement that Israelis value immensely. But Israel could have retrieved all the hostages much earlier, when more of them remained alive. “This deal could have been done a long time ago,” writes longtime Israeli hostage negotiator Gershon Baskin, “Hamas agreed to all of the same terms in September 2024.” Back then, Israel justified its refusal to accept such a deal because it claimed Hamas was not yet “demolished,” which Netanyahu had pledged to do after the October 7th attacks. But if demolishing Hamas means destroying its fighting force, that goal remains unfulfilled today. Israel has killed many Hamas leaders and fighters. But by slaughtering as many as 100,000 Palestinians in Gaza, it has also pushed more Palestinians in Gaza to take up arms…The Trump deal may not destroy or disarm Hamas, but it will likely fragment Gaza, forcing the Palestinians living there into smaller and less habitable enclaves and leaving more territory in Israel’s hands. For Israel, that’s a dramatic step forward…While the new Trump deal does not propose mass expulsion from Gaza, it furthers that goal by ratifying Israel’s takeover of much of the Strip…Meanwhile, the 60% of Gaza without Israeli troops will likely remain an extremely grim place. It is almost totally destroyed: Israel has razed 90% of Gaza’s homes and 80% of its farmland. The Strip now contains 17,000 unaccompanied children…Even with additional aid, it may be difficult to provide enough food…under the Trump deal, most of Gaza’s farmland will be in Israel’s hands.” See also The Uncomfortable Truth About Netanyahu’s ‘Victory’ (Shira Efron//NYT 10/12/25);
Starmer condemns ‘wrong decision’ to ban Maccabi Tel Aviv fans from Aston Villa game (The Guardian 10/16/25)
“Fans of Maccabi Tel Aviv will not be allowed to attend the Europa League match at Aston Villa on 6 November owing to safety concerns. West Midlands police said it had classified the fixture as “high risk” based on “current intelligence and previous incidents, including violent clashes and hate crime offences that occurred during the 2024 Uefa Europa League match between Ajax and Maccabi Tel Aviv in Amsterdam”…The move was condemned by the prime minister, Keir Starmer, who said: “This is the wrong decision. We will not tolerate antisemitism on our streets.”
RIVER TO THE SEA
Israel’s hostage protest movement finally prevails — against its government (Oren Ziv//+972 Magazine 10/14/25)
“The mood in Tel Aviv’s Hostages Square on Monday morning was one of total jubilation as tens of thousands gathered to watch a live broadcast of 20 Israelis returning home from captivity in Gaza. Many of those in the crowd had participated in protests in the same square over the past two years, which gave it its name. This was the moment they had fought for and dreamed about for so long…Protests in support of a hostage deal, led by the families of hostages themselves, have been a constant feature of Israel’s wartime landscape, their numbers and intensity waxing and waning with developments in Gaza…While gratitude for the Israeli government for finally agreeing to a complete hostage deal was in short supply, appreciation for the Trump administration has been ubiquitous ever since the agreement was announced last week. Many of those celebrating on Monday arrived with American flags, while some came dressed up as Trump. The prevailing sentiment was that without U.S. intervention, Netanyahu would have continued dragging out the war indefinitely.” See also After ‘Horrors,’ Israeli Hostages Taste Freedom and Savor Family Reunions (NYT 10/17/25); Handcuffed, caged, thrown in a pit: Hostages’ families describe two years of hell (TOI 10/15/25);
At Hostage Square, Witkoff and Kushner Gave Israelis What Their Own Leaders Won’t: Empathy (Haaretz 10/12/25)
“Representing Donald Trump at Tel Aviv’s Hostage Square on Saturday evening, special envoy Steve Witkoff, Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump were received with a warm embrace, while the mere mention of Netanyahu led to resounding boos. Perhaps it needs to be asked why the hostage families feel that the U.S. cares for and listens to them more than the Israeli government.”
The Israel-Gaza War Always Had an Unacknowledged Third Front (Andrew Ross//NYT 10/15/25)
“Under the hostage-prisoner exchange agreement of the cease-fire plan, Israel released about 2,000 prisoners and detainees this week. They represent only a small fraction of the total number of Palestinians held in Israeli facilities. The vast majority are being left to rot. In the West Bank and Jerusalem, far from Hamas-controlled Gaza, more than 19,000 Palestinians were swept up since Oct. 7, according to the Palestinian Prisoners Society. Some were released, but as of early October, more than 11,000 Palestinians were still locked up in Israeli prisons, almost a third of them under “administrative detention,” without charges or a trial. Some people were arrested for nothing more than messages they posted on social media. Thousands of Gazans were also held in Israeli military detention, many as “unlawful combatants,” without any legal process. Their numbers are difficult to verify, though a recent investigation by The Guardian, +972 Magazine and Local Call found that as few as one in four of them had been classified as fighters even in Israel’s own military databases. The U.N. Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, echoing reports by Amnesty International and B’Tselem, the Israeli human rights organization, documented testimony by Palestinians who said that while incarcerated they have been subject to beatings, torture, rape and extreme deprivation…Legal experts and scholars will decide whether the alleged torture, denial of adequate food and death in these prisons meet the criteria to be termed genocide according to international law. There can be no doubt, however, that Israel’s war on prisoners was the third front in its assault on Gaza and the West Bank, and it involves possible crimes under the Geneva Conventions that have gone largely unseen by anyone but the victims. These prisoners, too, are hostages to the conflict, and they, too, deserve justice.” See also ‘Cruellest forms of torture’: freed Palestinians describe horrors of Israeli jail (The Guardian 10/14/25); Israel frees some Gaza medical staff, but a prominent hospital chief remains imprisoned (AP 10/15/25); Calls grow for release of Gaza’s Dr Hussam Abu Safia after ceasefire deal (Al Jazeera 10/13/25); Palestinian leader Marwan Barghouti assaulted by Israeli prison guards, son says (The Guardian 10/15/25)
While the eyes of the world are on Gaza, Israeli settlers in the West Bank still behave with impunity (Israeli Knesset Member Ofer Cassif//The Guardian 10/16/25)
“Nowhere is the deceit more clear than in the occupied West Bank. There, the words of peace are but a weak and distant voice, but the horrifying sounds of settler violence and terror still echo loudly. More than 30 occurrences of settler violence against Palestinians have been documented since the announcement of Trump’s 20-point plan at the end of September, including physical assaults, theft of agricultural produce and torching of vehicles and property. The rise of settler terrorism is not coincidental. This period marks the start of the harvest seasons. More than a vital economic event, it is an important social and national moment that exhibits endurance under occupation. Precisely for these reasons, year after year settlers target Palestinians during this precious time…In the occupied West Bank, settler terrorism is nothing but a tool by the government to pursue de-facto annexation.” See also At This West Bank Checkpoint, ‘It’s Not Just Movement That’s Blocked. It’s Time Itself’ (Haaretz 10/13/25); Bureaucratic Antics for Three West Bank Villages Show How an Israeli Annexation Began Long Ago (Amira Hass//Haaretz 10/12/25); I Held Up This Sign at the Knesset as a Mirror of Truth – to Trump and the Public (MK Ofer Cassif//Haaretz 10/16/25);
U.S. SCENE
US non-profits ‘lock arms’ amid Trump’s menacing of George Soros: ‘We will not be intimidated’ (The Guardian 10/17/25)
“The US justice department has reportedly instructed US attorneys to come up with plans to investigate OSF as efforts to attack the left accelerate following the killing of the rightwing commentator Charlie Kirk…The menacing of Soros comes as part of Trump’s wider agenda to defeat progressive non-profits. This month, sources told Reuters that the US president plans to deploy the nation’s counter-terrorism apparatus – including intelligence agencies, the justice department, the Internal Revenue Service and the treasury department – against some leftwing groups it claims are backing political violence…The justice department’s instructions to US attorneys to investigate OSF reportedly cited as evidence a report by Capital Research Center, a rightwing group monitoring the funding of liberal non-profits. The group’s head admitted to the New York Times this month that the paper does not include evidence that the Soros network had committed any crime. The group has since quietly updated the report, changing its title from claiming OSF funds “pro-terror groups” to claiming it funds “extremism”. The 72-page report, which claims Open Society Foundations gave more than $80m to what it calls “pro-terror” groups, lists dozens of organizations, including some of the most prominent Palestinian-rights groups in the US and abroad…It lists some of the leading groups in the Palestine solidarity movement in the US, like Jewish Voice for Peace, the US Campaign for Palestinian Rights, and the Center for Constitutional Rights…Still, [Women Donors Network president & CEO Leena] Barakat cautioned: “The Palestinian movement – they are our canaries. What they test on the Palestinian movement are strategies that will eventually impact all other movements.”’ See also The Anti-Soros Strategy at the Heart of Trump’s War on Progressive Nonprofits (Alex Kane//Jewish Currents 10/15/25)
A Test Now for Israel: Can It Repair Its Ties to Americans? (NYT 10/12/25)
“Israel’s reputation in the United States is in tatters, and not only on college campuses or among progressives. For the first time since it began asking Americans about their sympathies in 1998, a New York Times poll last month found that slightly more voters sided with the Palestinians than with Israelis. American Jews, long Israel’s strongest domestic backers, have turned sharply critical of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his right-wing government over the Gaza conflict. A majority believe Israel has committed war crimes as it has killed tens of thousands of civilians and restricted food aid, and four in 10 believe it is guilty of genocide, a new Washington Post survey found — a charge Israel denies. The shift has created new incentives for even moderate Democrats in Congress to get tough on Israel, including by curtailing U.S. military aid. The damage is also increasingly bipartisan. Despite Republican efforts to identify their party with Israel and to tag Democrats as providing aid and comfort to its enemies, younger evangelical Christians are breaking with their parents on the issue, seeing Israel as an oppressor rather than as a victim. And the breakup extends beyond evangelicals…Shibley Telhami, a pollster and scholar of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict at the University of Maryland, argues that it’s too late. “We now have a paradigmatic Gaza generation like we had a Vietnam generation and a Pearl Harbor generation,” he said. “There’s this growing sense among people that what they’re witnessing is genocide in real time, amplified by new media, which we didn’t have in Vietnam. It’s a new generation where Israel is seen as a villain. And I don’t think that’s likely to go away.”’
From Long Island to the Baltics: Drop Site Investigation Reveals New Details About Canary Mission’s Operations (Jaqueline Sweet//Drop Site 10/16/25)
“Drop Site uncovered new information about individuals, donor networks, and businesses helping Canary Mission, a pro-Israel organization serving the U.S.’s deportation and repression efforts…When Canary Mission began “doxxing” people for expressing pro-Palestine views a decade ago, the shadowy group mostly found traction among pro-Israel advocates who lobbied, with mixed success, to put a blacklist into effect. The group’s dossiers on activists and students led to firings, harassment, and death threats against its targets. Canary Mission has since risen to become an influential organ in President Donald Trump’s deportation machine, and its accumulated dossiers are now used by U.S. federal authorities and have led to immigration arrests of students.”
PERSPECTIVES//LONG READS
A ceasefire must not stall Israel’s growing isolation (Ahmed Moor//+972 Magazine 10/15/25)
“The overwhelming majority of Israelis who support the actions of their army and government seem unaware of the depth of people’s outrage and grief in response to the genocide. They do not yet understand the scale of the inevitable reckoning that awaits, or the meaning of the word “indelible,” and that memory is long and generational…after two years of genocide, and with awareness of Israel’s apartheid reality at unprecedented levels, global momentum for an arms embargo, sanctions, and cultural boycott has approached a tipping point. In the United States, the momentum for cutting off military aid to Israel has been driven in part by anger over the suppression of speech by people who prioritize Israeli interests over those of American citizens. Growing numbers on both the political left and right are increasingly resentful of this censorship — and of being made to underwrite the genocide. For a Democratic party in crisis, active resistance to the Israel lobby is beginning to look like a winning electoral strategy. Across Europe, Israel is more isolated than it has ever been…Perhaps most importantly, Jewish supremacy in Palestine — the core tenet of Zionism — is increasingly regarded as illegitimate across the globe. It is far too early to declare that the Zionist era in Palestine is over, but October 2025 portends a different future. If the genocide has rendered Gaza uninhabitable for Palestinians, it has also made the world newly inhospitable to Zionism…Israelis will not end the occupation and apartheid on their own. Therefore, individual countries must sever economic ties with Israel and Israeli companies wherever possible. States that recognize universal jurisdiction should support the effort to prosecute reservists and conscripts who participated in the genocide. Sanctions must also target the government and its cabinet ministers, along with the nightly commentators who incite mass murder.” See also The Myths of Camp David (Ahmed Moor interviews Robert Malley//The Nation 10/14/25); Boycotting Israel has gone mainstream: ‘We’ve never seen such traction before’ (The Guardian 10/11/25);
What Trump’s Peace Deal Really Means for Gaza (Diana Buttu and Daniel J. Wakin//NYT 10/15/25)
“What does President Trump’s peace deal between Israel and Hamas mean for Palestinians in the region? On this episode, the Opinion editor Dan Wakin interviews Diana Buttu, a former adviser to the Palestine Liberation Organization, about her concerns over the agreement and what it really means for Palestinians. “My fear is that in this agreement, we’re just going to go back to the way it was before,” she says. “It’s just going to be yet another papering over the harm that has been caused by these decades of occupation.”’
Can Palestinians Trust Donald Trump? (Omar Rahman//FP 10/10/25)
“While it is a positive that the people of Gaza will not have to wait out a long negotiation process to get some desperate reprieve, the durability of the cease-fire is questionable. And even if a broader agreement is somehow reached, Netanyahu may decide somewhere along the process of implementation that it serves his interests to abandon the deal and either resume his military campaign or find some other arrangement suitable to his interests. Underlying all of this, however, is a simple notion that makes even the phased negotiation and implementation structure irrelevant: Every concession made by Hamas is irreversible, while every concession made by Israel can be undone. For example, if Israel withdraws its military from Gaza one day, it can reenter the next; if it releases 1,000 Palestinian prisoners today, it can rearrest them tomorrow. On the other hand, once Hamas frees Israeli hostages, they are gone for good. If it decides to give up its weapons, a mechanism may be put in place to recover them if Israel reneges on the deal, but it will be hard-pressed to do so in practice. For Hamas, this underlying dilemma makes the guarantor of the agreement absolutely pivotal. Enter the less-than-reliable Trump. Although Hamas officials recently claimed that the group trusts the president to uphold the deal, this couldn’t be further from the truth—and with good reason.”
Will Israelis One Day Say of Their Country’s Atrocities in Gaza, ‘I Was Always Against It’? (Amira Hass//Haaretz 10/15/25)
“Optimists say that, ultimately, Israelis will grasp the scope of the atrocity they committed in the Gaza Strip. The truth will seep into their consciousness. The old videos of infants who were blown to bits by our bombs will at some point reach Israelis’ hearts and pierce them…At some point, the optimists say, Israelis will stop saying, “They deserved it, because of October 7. They attacked.” The numbers will stop being abstractions and “Who believes Hamas.” The readers will grasp that more than 20,000 children were killed – a third of all the dead – at our hands. More than 44,000 children were wounded – a quarter of all the wounded. They will realize that they abetted and supported a war of annihilation against a people and did not defeat a vicious armed organization…The daughters of decorated pilots will ask whether they dropped a proportionate bomb that killed a hundred civilians for one mid-level Hamas commander. Why didn’t you refuse? The daughter will sob…People are not born cruel; they become such. The cruelty of Palestinians towards Israelis is covered extensively in our media, articles and close-ups. It developed in response and resistance to our foreign and hostile rule. Our cruelty, that of Israeli society, is getting ever more sophisticated with the aim of protecting our spoils: the land and the water and the freedoms from which we expelled the Palestinians. The optimists believe that there is a road back. How lucky they are, the optimists.” See also Israel’s Policy of Separation Perpetuates Hamas (Amira Hass//Haaretz 10/17/25)
Be sure of this: many of the horrors the west allowed in Gaza will come closer to home (Owen Jones//The Guardian 10/14/25)
“t’s clear what Israel’s western-facilitated genocide has done to Gaza. But what has it done to us? Palestinians are the “canaries in a coalmine”, the Palestinian analyst Muhammad Shehada tells me. “We’re screaming of a major warning of what’s about to come your way. When you have a media-political class that’s relishing, delighting in the murder of our children, do you think they’re going to care about yours?”…What will boomerang back to the west from the killing fields of Gaza? Every genocide requires the total dehumanisation of its victims, and Palestinians are no exception…But this dehumanisation goes beyond its most violent expressions. There has been no pretence that a Palestinian life has even a fraction of the worth of an Israeli life. Look at what has been normalised. Hospitals bombed and destroyed, with more than 1,700 health workers killed. Civilians massacred while sheltering in schools. More than 2,600 starving Palestinians gunned down trying to collect food since May. Teenagers shot in different parts of the body “like a game of target practice”, as British surgeon Dr Nick Maynard testified…We could go on, but these are all horrors that are among humanity’s darkest moments. That they were facilitated by western governments, and cheered on or simply tolerated by western media outlets, will have profound consequences. So will the fact that westerners who protested against this wanton barbarism were demonised, sacked, deplatformed, beaten by police officers, arrested, and menaced with deportation. So too will the destruction of whatever remained of an “international order”, torpedoed to protect Israel from accountability, as was the case when international criminal court judges were sanctioned by the US after it issued arrest warrants against Israeli leaders for war crimes and crimes against humanity.”
Life in Gaza may go from utter hell to mere nightmare. What happens now? (Hussein Agha and Robert Malley//The Guardian 10/14/25)
“Israel seldom has enjoyed such unrivalled regional military dominance and has never been more isolated. The Palestinians have rarely benefited from such widespread support, and their national movement hardly ever been more adrift. Neither side managed to convert the tremendous assets they accumulated into tangible political gains. It took an American president unbound by traditional domestic constraints, immune to laws of political gravity, willing to break with convention, engage with Hamas and tackle Israel, to get this done and provide the parties with what they could accept.”
Her Optimism Has Won Her Some of the Most Powerful Enemies in the World (M. Gessen//NYT 10/16/25)
“[Francesca] Albanese became a hometown hero after the White House branded her an enemy, which it did because of her work, over the past three years, as the United Nations special rapporteur for the occupied Palestinian territories. In the course of that work, she has pursued strategies that are as legally ambitious as they are politically risky. She has documented human rights abuses, as her predecessors did. She infuriated some of her allies by condemning the Hamas violence of Oct. 7, 2023, then caused a storm when she leaped onto social media to contest a boilerplate statement by the president of France that framed the violence as antisemitic. Perhaps most explosively, she has called out the corporations, including some of the largest in the United States, that enable and benefit from human rights abuses, and which are likely to continue to do so, regardless of the cease-fire.”
PODCAST: Rethinking Palestinian public opinion (+972 Magazine 10/9/25)
“In this episode of The +972 Podcast, we speak with Zayne Abudaka, co-founder and senior fellow at the Institute for Social and Economic Progress in Ramallah. An economist and entrepreneur, Abudaka leads the institute’s efforts to collect and analyze Palestinian public opinion in the West Bank and Gaza, adapting polling methods throughout the war to reach Palestinians under extraordinarily difficult conditions. Among other issues, Abudaka discusses his team’s recent findings on Palestinians’ attitudes toward party politics, armed resistance, the two-state paradigm, and the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) Movement. He also explains how dominant polling practices often flatten or outright distort Palestinian perspectives, and how Israel and the international media have cynically used public opinion data — especially about how Gazans view Hamas’ actions on October 7 — to justify the ongoing genocide.”
Forty-Eight Hours in Israeli Captivity (Emily Wilder//Jewish Currents 10/14/25)
“A journalist captured on a flotilla mission recounts treatment at the hands of the Israeli navy, border police, and prison guards.”
NEW FROM FMEP
FMEP Legislative Round-Up October 9, 2025 (Lara Friedman)
- Bills, Resolutions; 2. Letters; 3. Hearings & Markups; 4. Selected Members on the Record; 5. Selected Media & Press releases/Statements
MAGA & the FBI Break Up with the ADL (New Occupied Thoughts podcast)
FMEP Fellow Ahmed Moor speaks with journalist Mari Cohen and researcher Emmaia Gelman about the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), including the history and current activities of the ADL and the ADL’s approach to advocacy for Palestinian rights and criticism of the state of Israel. They also discuss the ADL’s relationship with the U.S. government, including including the ADL’s role in surveilling Americans and FBI Director Kash Patel’s recent decision to suspend the ADL’s longstanding partnership with the ADL.
GAZA
What to know about the Gaza ceasefire deal as it takes effect (WaPo 10/10/25)
“The Israel Defense Forces announced Friday that civilians would be allowed to return to the north of Gaza after the ceasefire went into effect. Streets running along the enclave’s coast were thronged with people carrying belongings. With the ceasefire in place, Israeli troops began to reposition, withdrawing to an agreed line well within the borders of the Gaza Strip — a move that started the clock on a high-stakes, 72-hour timeline for Hamas to release hostages in exchange for the release of Palestinian prisoners and detainees held by Israel and a surge of aid, under the terms of the agreement’s initial phase…Many key details of the deal remain unclear. Trump said Thursday that the hostages would be released Monday or Tuesday and that he would travel to Egypt for a signing of the plan. The deal’s first phase, now in force, stems from a framework put forward by Trump to end the war in Gaza. But the initial agreement only addresses several of the 20 points in Trump’s broader proposal, much of which appears to be left for future negotiations. Here is what we know, and what we don’t, about the agreement and what could happen next.” See also Palestinians displaced to southern Gaza begin journey home as ceasefire comes into effect (The Guardian 10/10/25); Israel begins Gaza pullback (Al Monitor 10/10/25); Report: About 250,000 displaced Palestinians return to Gaza City since cease-fire began (Haaretz 10/10/25);
Gaza ceasefire deal: what has been agreed for first phase and why now? (The Guardian 10/9/25)
“An agreement was made between the two sides after indirect talks this week in Egypt and announced by Trump on his Truth Social platform. The deal, signed by both sides on Thursday, was ratified by the security cabinet of the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and the country’s coalition government on Thursday evening. Israel has said it will pause hostilities “within 24 hours” of the security cabinet meeting and that after that period, the hostages held by Hamas – of whom about 20 are thought to be alive – will be freed within a further 72 hours. The remains of the other hostages will follow. Around 2,000 Palestinian prisoners are to be freed from Israeli jails, including 250 serving long sentences for serious security offences. Israeli troops will pull back to new positions and there is expected to be an increase of desperately needed aid.” See also Israeli Cabinet approves agreement to stop the war in Gaza (Axios 10/9/25); Hamas and Palestinian Factions Agree to Gaza Ceasefire; Trump Confirms Deal Was Reached (Drop Site 10/8/25); Hamas praises Trump but says Tony Blair not welcome in post-war Gaza role (The Guardian 10/10/25); Scoop: Trump plans leaders summit on Gaza during Egypt visit next week (Axios 10/10/25); Israel publishes list of 250 security prisoners slated for release as part of Gaza deal (TOI 10/10/25); Who Are the Hostages Believed Alive in Gaza? (NYT 10/9/25)
Trump promised not to let Israel break Gaza ceasefire to get deal (Axios 10/10/25)
“As negotiations for a Gaza peace deal approached the finish line, President Trump provided a personal guarantee he wouldn’t let Israel abandon it and resume the war, two U.S. officials revealed in a briefing with reporters…Trump’s assurances were a key factor in convincing Hamas to take the deal, the sources say.” See also Trump’s ‘maximum pressure’ on Israel won Gaza ceasefire, White House says (WaPo 10/9/25);
UN is ready to surge aid into Gaza and waiting for green light from Israel after deal (AP 10/9/25)
“The United Nations said Thursday that 170,000 metric tons of food, medicine and other humanitarian aid is ready to enter Gaza and that it is seeking a green light from Israel to massively increase help for more than 2 million Palestinians following a deal to pause the war. In the last several months, the U.N. and its humanitarian partners have only been able to deliver 20% of the aid needed to address the dire situation in the Gaza Strip, U.N. humanitarian chief Tom Fletcher said. Following the announcement Wednesday of a ceasefire deal, he said all entry points to Gaza must be opened to deliver aid at “a much, much greater scale.”’ See also Aid Groups Prepare to Provide Quick Relief to Gaza Under Cease-Fire (NYT 10/10/25); UN official says scaled-up aid deliveries to Gaza will begin Sunday (Haaretz 10/10/25)
‘First Night Without Bombs in Two Years’ Gaza City Residents Return en Masse as Cease-fire With Israel Goes Into Effect (Haaretz 10/10/25)
“With the announcement of the IDF’s withdrawal from the Netzarim corridor about 20 minutes after noon, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians burst into joy and crossed the corridor – which separates Gaza City and northern Gaza from the rest of the Strip. The Palestinian Police Administration in the Gaza Strip announced that it would begin deploying police personnel in all areas from where the IDF had withdrawn…Residents who remained in the areas from which the army withdrew reported extensive destruction…At the same time, thousands of residents remaining in the Gaza City area and the northern Strip began to return to the areas from which the army withdrew earlier on Friday. A spokesperson for the Gaza Municipality said in an interview with Qatari network Al-Araby that the levels of destruction in the city are very high…”This is the first night I have spent without bombs in two years,” Yasmine Saado, 34, told the Palestinian news agency Wafa. “The nightmare is over. My children and I spent a quiet night without fear of death and destruction. A night filled with the confidence we lost during two years of terror.” She described how even her children slept safely, and “they were no longer frightened by the sound of bombs in the middle of the night.” Saado, whose son was killed in an attack on a school in the Shati refugee camp in western Gaza City, said she could now visit his grave without fear.” See also These Horrific Numbers Show the Scale of Israel’s Genocide in Gaza Two Years On (Zeteo 10/8/25);
The Genocide in Gaza (Drop Site 10/10/25)
“Over the past 24 hours, 17 dead and 71 injured Palestinians arrived at hospitals in the Gaza Strip, according to Gaza’s health ministry, while five Palestinians were injured while seeking aid. The total recorded death toll since October 7, 2023 is now 67,211 killed, with 169,961 injured. Among the Israeli attacks on Gaza on Thursday was the bombing of the Ghabboun family home in the Sabra neighborhood of Gaza City, according to the Civil Defense spokesperson. At least four Palestinians were killed and 40 trapped under the rubble. News outlets reported heavy Israeli bombing across Gaza up until the ceasefire went into effect at 12 p.m. local time on Friday, hours after Israel’s Cabinet approved the deal. The Israeli military announced that its troops have withdrawn to lines still deep within Gaza agreed upon in the plan and warned Palestinians not to approach them.” See also At least 92 Palestinians killed every day in Gaza for 2 straight years (Drop Site 10/7/25); Young lives cut short on an unimaginable scale: the 18,457 children on Gaza’s list of war dead (The Guardian 10/8/25); How Israel’s invasion has shattered lives, livelihoods and learning in Gaza (WaPo 10/8/25)
Famine’s Long Shadow (Alex de Waal//Jewish Currents 10/6/25)
“Even now, the means to end the hunger are readily at hand. The UN and experienced humanitarian agencies have the resources, expertise, and plans to provide food and medicine, and are standing ready just a few miles away. Should Israel give the signal, the basic survival needs of many Palestinians in Gaza could be met within days. But even if food is surged into Gaza today—as it must be—irreparable harms have already been done to those who have endured prolonged starvation. We know from history that a famine’s legacy is generations long, its traumas remaining imprinted on the bodies of the survivors even after sustenance is at hand. In the immediate term, severely acutely malnourished children cannot be saved by food alone—their starvation is so advanced that they need specialized hospital care. In the longer term, children who are malnourished in their first thousand days of life, or in utero, face “potentially irreparable physical and neurocognitive damage,” including increased susceptibility to a range of chronic diseases as adults. The collective harms of famine are no less grave. As humans starve, our bodies seek out and consume every reserve of fat, followed by muscle and essential organs. The drive for food then becomes all-consuming. Hunger overrides social norms as people are forced to scrabble and fight for food…Indeed, because food is not just a source of nutrition but also what binds together families and communities, scholars of mass starvation have long found that wherever famine unfolds, it threatens not just individual lives but also a society’s way of life.” See also Almost 55,000 preschool children in Gaza acutely malnourished, Lancet study estimates (The Guardian 10/9/25);
In One Month, Israeli Fire Killed Over 130 People in ‘Safe Zones’ Designated by the IDF (Haaretz 10/9/25)
“The Israeli military has killed at least 130 people in areas of the Gaza Strip that it had declared safe zones since September 12…Yet the military has continued attacking in these areas almost every day since then.”
REGION//GLOBAL
Top U.S. Officials: Mideast States to Oversee Disarming Hamas, U.S. Will Not Enter Gaza (Haaretz 10/10/25)
“Forces from Qatar, Egypt and Turkey will operate in Gaza when the cease-fire takes effect, working in collaboration with Israel and the U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM), senior U.S. officials said overnight into Friday. The officials said that the United States would not send forces to the enclave. Rather, it would assist in managing Gaza from abroad, and “initially have 200 people on the ground” to “oversee and observe” enforcement of the agreement in coordination with Israel, one of them said. They said Middle Eastern states will be responsible for disarming Hamas.” See also Pentagon bolsters Gaza ceasefire oversight with 200-troop mission to Israel (Al Monitor 10/10/25); Hamas will be disarmed, Netanyahu vows after ceasefire begins (The Guardian 10/10/25);
Gaza plan: Looks Like peace, acts like occupation (Carol Daniel-Kasbari//Responsible Statecraft 10/6/25)
“Donald Trump’s 20-point plan promises ceasefire, hostages home, Israeli withdrawal, and reconstruction. It sounds complete. It isn’t. Without enforceable mechanics, maps, timelines, phased verification, and real local ownership; it risks being a short-lived show, not a durable peace…The design breaks down where hard agreements usually do. First, it effectively treats disarmament as surrender, demanding that an armed actor relinquish leverage before credible political guarantees and security protections exist. Durable settlements don’t start with a leap of faith over a void…Second, the withdrawal language is vague. If a “pullback” arrives bundled with continuing perimeter control, airspace, crossings, or security carve-outs, residents will experience it as occupation under a new brand…There’s a deeper political absence, too. This deal does not deliver what Palestinians actually hope for: self-determination and a say in their future…If Trump is serious about peace, Jerusalem and the West Bank must be inside the plan, not promised to some later round. Facts on the ground are moving the other way.”
The Recognition Trick (Jonathan Shamir//Jewish Currents 10/6/25)
“By making Palestinian disarmament a prerequisite for statehood, Western countries are still facilitating Israel’s goals.” See also Hundreds of thousands march across Europe in support of Palestinians (AP 10/5/25); Spanish MPs back move to enshrine in law arms embargo on Israel (The Guardian 10/8/25);
Gaza flotilla members allege beatings and insults in Israeli detention (The Guardian 10/6/25)
“International activists, journalists and lawyers deported from Israel after attempting to breach the 16-year maritime blockade of Gaza as part of a humanitarian flotilla have alleged being subjected to brutal physical and verbal abuse by Israeli forces during their detention. The alleged abuses included sleep and medication deprivation, beatings, having automatic rifles pointed at their heads, dogs set upon them, having to sleep on the floor, being subjected to insults and being made to watch footage of the Hamas attacks on Israel on 7 October 2023. “I was beaten from the moment we entered the port until the very end,” said Saverio Tommasi, an Italian journalist. “Blows to my back, blows to my head – and they [the Israeli soldiers] laughed, laughed at all of it. Anyone who failed to keep their eyes down was punished with a hit to the head.”…The national security minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, has said he was “proud” of the way staff behaved at Ketziot. He said in a statement on the activists: “They should get a good feel for the conditions in Ketziot prison and think twice before they approach Israel again.”…D’Agostino and several other members of the flotilla said Israeli forces appeared to single out Thunberg for harsher treatment than the others.” See also Gaza flotilla activists allege mistreatment while being detained in Israel (AP 10/5/25); Israel Deports Greta Thunberg and 170 Gaza Flotilla Activists Amid New Abuse Allegations (Haaretz 10/6/25);
RIVER TO THE SEA
As Israelis Breathe a Sigh of Relief, Some Ask Why a Deal Took So Long (NYT 10/9/25)
“Despite the general sense of exhilaration, some Israelis expressed frustration that it had taken their government so long to reach this point. “There should be no doubt, this deal came about solely because of President Trump,” Yehuda Cohen, father of Nimrod Cohen, a 21-year-old soldier held in Gaza, told an Israeli TV channel on Thursday…Like Mr. Cohen, many Israelis say they believe that Mr. Netanyahu prolonged the war to stave off a public reckoning and to appease his far-right political partners who wanted Israel to keep fighting and establish permanent rule in Gaza.” See also Hostage families say ‘struggle is not over until all 48 hostages return’ at Tel Aviv demonstration (Haaretz 10/10/25); ‘It feels like a dream’: protests come to end as Israelis sing in ‘hostages square’ (The Guardian 10/9/25); Netanyahu gamble appears to pay off as Israelis cheer Gaza retreat, planned hostage release (Al Monitor 10/10/25); Amid Hope, Parents of Slain Gaza Hostages Fear Their Bodies May Never Be Found (Haaretz 10/10/25);
PTSD and suicides spike among Israeli troops amid devastation of Gaza war (WaPo 10/5/25)
“Two years into Israel’s conflict with Hamas in Gaza, returning soldiers are confronting post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD, in numbers unprecedented for Israel, mental health professionals say. Since the start of the war, the longest in the country’s history, more than 11,000 soldiers have been admitted to the Defense Ministry’s psychological rehabilitation program for those who are war-wounded, according to a ministry statement. Tens of thousands more are believed to have PTSD without recognition or treatment. The military is investigating at least 37 cases of suicide since the start of the war, it said — more than triple the total recorded during Israel’s last large war in Gaza in 2014, which lasted only 50 days.” See also Israel at War With Itself (Roger Cohen//NYT 10/5/25); Inside the Minds of Young Israelis Mocking Gaza’s Suffering on TikTok (Haaretz 10/4/25);
U.S. SCENE
Report on Soros Cited by Justice Dept. Does Not Show Funding for Terrorism (NYT 10/10/25)
“When the Justice Department urged federal prosecutors last month to investigate the billionaire George Soros, it cited a report by a conservative watchdog group that accused the liberal megadonor of financing groups “tied to terrorism or extremist violence.” But the report by Washington-based Capital Research Center does not show evidence that Mr. Soros’s network knowingly paid for its grantees to break the law, which legal experts said would be necessary to build a criminal case. In fact, the report does not offer proof that groups that received money from the Soros-backed Open Society Foundations used those donations to commit acts of violence or terrorism…Scott Walter, the president of Capital Research Center, agreed that his group had not found evidence that the Soros network had committed a crime.”
Trump’s war on the left: Inside the plan to investigate liberal groups (Reuters 10/9/25)
“The Trump administration plans to deploy America’s counter-terrorism apparatus – including the FBI, the Department of Homeland Security and the Justice Department – as well as the Internal Revenue Service and the Treasury Department against certain left-wing groups it accuses of funding and organizing political violence, the officials said. The effort marks an escalation in the administration’s efforts to target domestic opponents, raising alarm among civil rights groups and Democratic leaders about the use of executive power.” See also MAGA erupts after Trump doesn’t win Nobel Peace Prize (Axios 10/10/25); Here are the “8 wars” Trump says he deserves a Nobel Prize for ending (Axios 10/10/25);
Many American Jews sharply critical of Israel on Gaza, Post poll finds (WaPo 10/6/25)
“Many American Jews sharply disapprove of Israel’s conduct of the war in Gaza, with 61 percent saying Israel has committed war crimes and about 4 in 10 saying the country is guilty of genocide against the Palestinians, according to a Washington Post poll. The findings are striking given the long-standing ties between the U.S. Jewish community and Israel, suggesting the potential for a historic breach over the Gaza war…Sixty-eight percent give negative marks to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s leadership of Israel, with 48 percent rating it “poor” — a 20-percentage-point jump from a Pew Research Center poll five years ago. But Jews also overwhelmingly blame Hamas, with 94 percent saying Hamas has committed war crimes against Israelis…Many of those who spoke to The Post in follow-up interviews said they supported Israel’s military incursion at first, given the brutality of the Hamas attack and the need to respond. But as the war has dragged on, with reports of atrocities accumulating and little evident progress, they have recoiled at Israel’s actions.” See also Bari Weiss to Head CBS News as Pro-Trump, Pro-Israel Billionaire Ellison Family Expands Media Empire (Democracy Now 10/8/25); Who is Bari Weiss, the pro-Israel, iconoclast new head of CBS News? (TOI 10/6/25); Legacy Journalists from NYT, CNN Are Mentors in a Fellowship Founded for Pro-Israel “Information War” (Sharif Abdel Kouddous//Drop Site 10/8/25); See also Over 1,000 Rabbis and Jewish Peace Activists in Brooklyn Demand Gaza Ceasefire (Democracy Now 10/3/25)
How Zohran Mamdani Came to Embrace the Palestinian Cause (NYT 10/8/25)
“Mr. Mamdani’s unapologetically pro-Palestinian platform would once have been almost unimaginable for a leading mayoral candidate. Since Hamas’s Oct. 7 attack tipped the region into all-out war, he has accused Israel of committing genocide, vowed to arrest its leader and said he could not support the country as long as it is an officially Jewish state that gives lesser rights to Palestinians. On the two-year anniversary of the massacre this week, the Israeli Foreign Ministry issued an unusual denunciation, calling him “a mouthpiece for Hamas propaganda” despite his condemnation of the terrorist group’s massacre. Yet polls suggest that as the war drags on, New Yorkers are moving toward Mr. Mamdani’s position, which was once far outside the mainstream.” See also Mamdani attends Israelis for Peace vigil after his 7 October statement draws ire from Israel (The Guardian 10/7/25)
PERSPECTIVES//LONG READS
Two years after October 7, Palestine has become a graveyard of failed strategies (Muhammad Shehada//+972 Magazine 10/7/25)
“My loved ones have become ghosts of their former selves. They have been broken many times throughout 730 days of non-stop bombardment, starvation, and displacement. They have been reduced to scurrying for food and shelter while being attacked wherever they run. Every single aspect of their lives has become an excruciating struggle for survival. Those who manage to escape this concentration camp are physically transformed…For those still trapped inside, the physical toll is almost impossible to describe in words. …And that is before even considering the psychological toll of the genocide on the people of Gaza. The full scale of this will only become clear once the bombing stops, and survivors regain the mental energy required to process the memories and emotions their brains have long suppressed while in survival mode. Gaza has become a place where death is so constant and survival so compromised that even silence now speaks louder than any appeal for justice. And the legacy of this genocide will be with us for generations, because Israel has given every single Gazan a personal vendetta.”
We Are Elated by the Gaza Ceasefire News. Now, the World Must Hold Israel to Account for 2 Years of Genocide (Diana Buttu//Zeteo 10/9/25)
“No one is happier that Israel’s bombs will stop than Palestinians. No one. We can finally start to try to locate and bury our dead, collecting our loved ones from beneath the rubble, and begin to comprehend, collectively, what we went through for the past two years. Every day, for two years, we have held one another, physically and with our words, shielding one another from unending gaslighting and dehumanization. We have watched the most sophisticated technology transformed into the most merciless killing machines, shredding children’s bodies with cruelty I never imagined I would ever see. We saw anew what happened to our parents and grandparents in the last century, with this callous destruction of the remains of Palestine at the hands of people who have never cared for it. I am elated and relieved that it may be over. We all are. I can breathe. We can breathe. Yet, I am worried.”
A ‘magic pill’ made Israeli violence invisible. We need to stop swallowing it (Diana Buttu//The Guardian 10/5/25)
“As I write this, confusion swirls around Donald Trump’s plan to end the war and hope is mounting for a hostage and prisoner swap. While an end to the bombing, the freedom of captives on both sides and allowing humanitarian aid into Gaza would bring some relief in an otherwise unbearably bleak landscape, it would be a mistake to view the plan as a historic breakthrough for Palestine. Trump’s vision is yet another American-Israeli concoction cooked up without any input from Palestinians that would retain Israel’s perpetual control over Gaza’s future. The world has never listened to Palestinian voices or taken seriously the existential threat Israel poses to Palestinian life, and this has not materially changed despite the increase in performative angst. To the contrary, Palestinians have for three-quarters of a century endured the world telling us that Israeli “security concerns” – however defined by Israel – are more important than our rights and lives. As a result Palestinians live with two omnipresent forms of violence: Israeli violence directly inflicted upon our bodies, land and society, and western violence, where only our erasure prompts the world to notice us and see our humanity – but only barely…Rhetoric without consequence has been the west’s modus operandi for decades. The cost has been catastrophic.”
Disappearing people, disappearing morals – how two years has changed Gaza and Israel (Orly Noy//The Guardian 10/7/25)
“It is extremely hard to put into words the unprecedented hell these past two years have brought, but perhaps the single word that best captures their indescribable essence is this: disappearance. It feels as if everything has vanished. Not only the tens of thousands of Palestinians in Gaza erased without graves, without records, as if they had never existed – so many other things have been hollowed out: basic conceptions of morality, decency, compassion, humanity, hope, future…Two years ago, days after the massacre of 7 October, I warned of revenge that would achieve nothing but yet more violence and suffering. I feared the unbridled Israeli response I knew would follow, but even in my worst nightmares I did not imagine it could amount to such systematic, calculated annihilation. I did not believe Israel would reach the point of starving people to death. I did not believe it would, on average, erase a classroom of children every single day for two whole years. Nor did I believe the world would permit Israel to do all this – a perverse, inverted antisemitism that effectively says: the rules of humanity do not apply to this Jewish collective.”
This war of revenge has lasted two nightmare years. There’s only one hope for peace: Israel recognising Palestine (Raja Shehadeh//The Guardian 10/7/25)
“On the West Bank, we have no previous experience of what it would mean to live next to a state committing genocide against our people and the widespread tolerance of the Israeli people of these actions. We watch in horror what is taking place in Gaza, and also with trepidation. We wonder when our turn will come for the kind of attacks from the air that Gaza has been subjected to…There is no doubt about the Israeli army’s fighting capabilities. But Israel must choose between perpetual war or living in peace. This can only happen if the country recognises Palestinian self-determination – a prospect that, at present, seems remote. At the culmination of this war, Israel might end up destroying Gaza, but it will also destroy itself.”
The Zionist consensus among US Jews has collapsed. Something new is emerging (Shaul Magid//The Guardian 10/7/25)
“In fact, for the American Jewish community, the last two years have seen the collapse of a half-century-old consensus on Zionism itself…For some, that has meant a move to the right; after 7 October many American Jews defended Israel’s actions as necessary and justifiable. Witnessing Israel’s response prompted others to move to the left and question the Zionist project entirely. That is especially true for young American Jews on the left, for whom anti-Zionism has as much to do with redefining their own Jewish identity as it does with their critique of the country.”
A Time That Refuses to Pass (Abdulla Hany Daher//Jewish Currents 10/8/25)
“Two years have passed since October 7th, 2023. I wrote those words in anticipation of publishing this piece on October 7th, 2025. But that turned out to be impossible. From the night of October 6th until the morning of the 8th, the bombing in Qizan Abu Rashwan, the area south of Khan Younis where my family has been staying, was relentless—so fierce that I could no longer tell the difference between the urge to publish and the urge to survive. A hand cannot tremble and write at the same time…This land that once held streets and homes is now a blank space dotted with tents. The only shelter as far as the eye can see: thin sheets fragile enough for a stone to pierce. Walls have been replaced with fabric, entire neighborhoods erased. Will children only remember this white city? Will they know that Gaza once had doors and windows, houses brimming with life? What will remain of all that living?” See also “An Elegy for All of Palestine” (Maram Faraj//Jewish Currents 10/7/25: “The Gazan poet Adel al-Ramadi reflects on making art under genocide.”)
Between a revolution and a whisper (Thawra Abukhdeir//+972 Magazine 10/6/25)
“For Palestinians in Israel, self-censorship has long been a survival mechanism, our silence the condition of our citizenship. But encountering solidarity abroad, I realized my body forgot what it feels like to speak freely.“
These Attempts To Crush Protest Won’t Keep Jewish People Safe (Emily Hilton//British Vogue 10/6/25)
“On Yom Kippur, the holiest day in the Jewish calendar, there was an attack on a synagogue in Manchester. Two people were killed, several others injured. Our community is in shock, grief and fear…We’d barely had time to absorb what had happened in Manchester before the media kicked into gear, and politicians wasted no time in weaponising our pain to slander the pro-Palestine movement. The Prime Minister called for a Defend Our Juries vigil planned for Saturday afternoon, a protest against the ban on direct action group Palestine Action, to be called off, to “respect the grief of British Jews”…Let’s be clear: you do not keep Jewish people safe by repressing Palestinian solidarity. It is perfectly possible to stand against antisemitism and at the same time to stand against Israel’s genocide in Gaza. The rush to suggest otherwise is as harmful as it is offensive…The government’s efforts to shut down protest only further conflate Jews in the UK with the actions of the Israeli state. Politicians using us to bolster their own anti-Palestinian agenda serves only to direct empathy away from our community at a time of enormous grief and vulnerability.”
A long ‘journey’ for Nobel chemistry winner born to Palestinian refugees (WaPo 10/8/25)
“U.S. chemist Omar Yaghi, who on Wednesday became the first Palestinian scientist to win a Nobel Prize, reached the pinnacle of his profession after “quite a journey,” he said in remarks posted to X from the official Nobel account, recorded just after he learned the news. He was born into a family of refugees, he told the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, which awarded him the Nobel Prize in chemistry for groundbreaking work in molecular architecture, along with collaborators Susumu Kitagawa and Richard Robson. “My parents could barely read or write,” he said. Yaghi grew up in Amman, Jordan, where his parents moved after fleeing Gaza in 1948, when hundreds of thousands of Palestinians were forced from their homes amid the war of 1948 that led to the creation of the Jewish state.”
NEW FROM FMEP
FMEP Legislative Round-Up October 3, 2025 (Lara Friedman)
- Bills, Resolutions; 2. Letters; 3. Hearings & Markups; 4. Selected Members on the Record; 5. Selected Media & Press releases/Statements
On the new 20-Point-Plan, Recognition of Palestinian Statehood, and Popular Pressure to End the Genocide (New Occupied Thoughts podcast)
FMEP Fellow Hilary Rantisi speaks with analyst Mouin Rabbani about political and diplomatic developments relating to the Israeli genocide in Gaza. They discuss the “20 Point Plan” that President Donald Trump released today, as well as his joint press conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, asking about actual provisions to limit Israel’s genocidal behavior and noting the colonial structure of the internationally-headed “Board of Peace” that will rule Gaza, according to the proposal. They discuss the symbolic measure of many countries recognizing Palestinian statehood at the UN last week; Mouin notes that this recognition is the first time that Western governments have taken steps for Palestinians in response to pressure from their own constituencies, and suggests that this action demonstrates that popular pressure can affect policy. Finally, Hilary and Mouin look at current initiatives, including the “United for Peace” proposal and the Gaza Sumud Flotilla, that aim to intervene directly in the genocide, and talk about the importance of replacing impunity with accountability.
GAZA
As Israel Pounds Gaza City, an Overwhelming Exodus (NYT 10/1/25)
“The hundreds of thousands of Palestinians fleeing Israel’s expanded ground offensive are further straining services, aid groups say. Hospitals are overflowing, water is low and diseases are spreading.” See also Red Cross temporarily suspends Gaza City operations due to hostilities (Reuters 10/1/25); IDF: Over 750,000 Palestinians have fled Gaza City to Strip’s south amid offensive (TOI 9/27/25); Water ‘more precious than gold’: Palestinians fleeing Gaza City face perilous journey south (Rasha Abou Jalal//Al Monitor 9/27/25)
I vowed never to flee Gaza City. But Israel’s assault has left me no choice (Ahmed Ahmed//+972 Magazine 10/2/25)
“On Tuesday, I left Gaza City for the first time in two years. Until then I had refused Israel’s orders throughout the genocide to flee to the so-called “humanitarian zone” in the south, even as I was forced at times to move between neighborhoods within Gaza City to escape Israeli tanks and heavy aerial bombardment. I was also committed to remain in the north as a journalist. I felt a duty to document the stories of the voiceless in the face of Israel’s ban on foreign journalists entering the Strip and its systematic targeting of local reporters, which has often forced me to write anonymously. Even in recent weeks, when the army ordered the evacuation of all of Gaza City’s residents and ramped up its attacks on my surroundings, I vowed to stay put. But it soon became clear that this operation is like no other, and I had to take my survival into my own hands. The assault began in the city’s most densely populated neighborhoods — Zeitoun and Al-Sabra in the west, where I grew up — before advancing north into Jabalia, Sheikh Radwan, and Al-Jalaa. Residential towers are being systematically leveled to strike fear into people’s hearts and drive families south. Unmanned, explosive-laden vehicles are sent in to demolish entire residential areas in massive blasts.” See also “More Dangerous by the Hour”: A Report From Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City (Abdel Qader Sabbah and Sharif Abdel Kouddous//Drop Site 9/29/25); “Death is Better Than This Life”: Displaced Palestinians in Gaza Are Being Bombed in Their Tents (Abdel Qader Sabbah//Drop Site 10/2/25);
Genocide in Gaza (Drop Site 10/3/25)
“At least 49 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli attacks across Gaza today, including 31 in Gaza City, according to Al Jazeera. Over the past 24 hours, 63 dead and 227 injured arrived at hospitals in the Gaza Strip, according to Gaza’s health ministry, while 15 Palestinians were killed and 80 injured while seeking aid. The total recorded death toll since October 7, 2023 is now 66,288 killed, with 169,165 injured. Two Palestinians, including a child, died of starvation and malnutrition over the past 24 hours, according to the Gaza health ministry, bringing the total since the start of the war to 457 Palestinians, including 152 children. Meanwhile, northern Gaza has been effectively cut off from aid as Israel closed the main coastal road, disallowing travel north, and there are no aid distribution sites in the north. UNRWA warned that statements by Israel officials labeling the roughly 250,000 civilians remaining in Gaza City and northern Gaza as “terrorists or terror supporters” suggest Israel may be planning large-scale massacres…On October 1, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said, “This is the last opportunity for Gaza residents who wish to do so to move south. Those who remain in Gaza will be considered terrorists and terror supporters.”’ See also Genocide in Gaza (Drop Site 10/2/25): “At least 45 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli attacks across Gaza today, according to Al Jazeera. Over the past 24 hours, 77 dead and 222 injured arrived at hospitals in the Gaza Strip, according to Gaza’s health ministry, while two Palestinians were killed and 44 injured while seeking aid. The total recorded death toll since October 7, 2023 is now 66,225 killed, with 168,938 injured.” See also Genocide in Gaza (Drop Site 10/1/25): “Over the past 24 hours, 51 dead and 180 injured arrived at hospitals in the Gaza Strip, according to the Gaza’s health ministry, while four Palestinians were killed and 57 injured while seeking aid…The health ministry reported that two Palestinians, including a child, died of starvation and malnutrition over the past 24 hours, bringing the total to 455, including 151 children. Israel’s defense minister Israel Katz on Wednesday issued a final warning for Palestinians in Gaza City to flee.” See also Israeli Fire Kills 77 in Gaza in Past Day, Health Ministry Says, as Death Toll Passes 66,000 (Haaretz 9/28/25); Israel says ‘last opportunity’ for Gaza City residents to leave (The Guardian 10/1/25);
The destruction of Gaza City is a crime against history (Baker Zoubi//+972 Magazine 9/30/25)
“As residents scramble to escape death, there is little capacity to mourn the destruction of their city. But the Israeli army’s systematic erasure of Gaza City — flattening one neighborhood after another, as it did already in Rafah, Jabalia, Beit Hanoun, Beit Lahiya, and much of Khan Younis — is wiping out thousands of years of Palestinian and Arab heritage, representing a crime against history itself. Many of the Gaza Strip’s multi-civilizational treasures have already been obliterated over the course of Israel’s two-year genocide. But Gaza City’s ancient origins, along with its centrality in the formation of Palestinian national identity and resistance against the Israeli occupation, make its ruination more than simply a human tragedy. The city’s history dates back many thousands of years, and it is referenced in the Book of Genesis as having been inhabited by Canaanites. Its strategic location between Africa and Asia has made it a vital port and a target of conquest for the Assyrians, Babylonians, Greeks, Persians, Hasmoneans, Romans, and Ottomans.”
‘Will my baby be born in a tent? Will it have food?’: what it’s like to be pregnant in Gaza (Nour Ziad al-Batash//The Guardian 10/1/25)
“In Gaza these days, I can only wonder whether I can find food to keep my baby healthy and how it will be to give birth in a tent…Displacement has made us bankrupt. I have run out of food. My health condition is critical because of pregnancy. I have bleeding due to blood formation inside the uterus as a result of extreme fatigue. I went to Doctors Without Borders and was classified as a malnourished patient. I was transferred to a specialised clinic to examine my pregnancy. The result was they say my pregnancy is high-risk. I will most likely lose my baby. I need to stay in the hospital. But the hospital does not have the capacity for me to stay. I constantly have questions for myself about where I will give birth and whether the baby will be healthy. Will I find healthcare when I need it and will there be food for the baby?…We used to live a beautiful life. My husband was an optician in a leading hospital. We have two children aged six and four. Then the war came and destroyed our home and my husband’s work. We have been displaced and have had to live through weeks in areas besieged by Israeli forces bombing and shelling around us. My children do not eat enough and have become malnourished, making it easy for them to fall ill and hard for them to move.”
As Hamas and Islamic Jihad Decry Trump Plan, Many Gazans Say ‘Anything Is Better Than Bloodshed’ (Haaretz 9/30/25)
“After nearly two years of war, many Palestinians in Gaza say they want the fighting to end at almost any cost – even if that means Hamas loses power – while political factions remain divided over the U.S. President Donald Trump’s proposal to halt the war. While residents describe living through relentless bombardment, displacement and food shortages, their overriding demand is for the violence to stop. “Frankly, the proposal is very bad, but it is better than nothing. Anything is better than the bloodshed,” one displaced father sheltering in Khan Yunis told Haaretz. Yet among Palestinian leaders, reactions to the White House plan have been fractured: Islamic Jihad rejected it as an American-Israeli dictate, Hamas offered mixed signals and the Palestinian Authority cautiously endorsed Washington’s mediation.”
REGION//GLOBAL
Hamas agrees to some of Trump’s plan but seeks negotiations (Al Monitor 10/3/25)
“Hamas said on Friday it would agree to some aspects of U.S. President Donald Trump’s plan to end the Gaza war, including releasing hostages and handing over administration of the enclave, but that it would seek negotiations over many of its other terms. In a copy of the statement seen by Reuters, Hamas issued its response to Trump’s 20-point plan after the U.S. president gave the Palestinian militant group until Sunday to accept or reject the proposal…Notably, Hamas did not say whether it would agree to a stipulation that it disarm, a demand by Israel and the U.S. that it has previously rejected.” See also Hamas agrees to release all Israeli hostages as it accepts part of Trump’s plan (The Guardian 10/3/25); Hamas Says It Agrees to Release All Israeli Hostages, Begin Negotiations Over Trump’s Gaza Cease-fire Proposal (Haaretz 10/3/25); Trump posts Hamas’s statement announcing its response to his proposal to end Gaza war (TOI 10/3/25); Trump says if Hamas does not accept proposed peace deal by Sunday, ‘all hell’ will break out (PBS 10/3/25)
How Hamas Is Navigating Trump’s Gaza Ultimatum (Jeremy Scahill and Jawa Ahmad//Drop Site 10/2/25)
“Hamas officials are conducting an intense series of meetings with Palestinian factions and regional mediators to formulate the Palestinian response to the 20-point Gaza plan announced by President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House on Monday. On Tuesday, Trump gave Hamas “three or four days” to respond to what is effectively an ultimatum, threatening the U.S. would empower Israel to indefinitely continue its war of annihilation on Gaza if Hamas did not agree to the plan wholesale. When asked if there is room for Hamas to negotiate the terms, Trump replied, “not much.”…While [Mohammed] Nazzal [a veteran Hamas official and longtime member of its political bureau] said some aspects of the proposal may be acceptable to Hamas and closely align with principles the group had previously agreed to, he described most of the terms as Israeli edicts. “Public opinion within the Palestinian factions is uncomfortable with the plan that was presented. There are some positives in the plan, but the negatives outweigh them,” he said. “Unless the plan is changed or significant modifications are made to certain points, I believe it will be difficult to accept it as it stands.”’ See also Egypt foreign minister urges Hamas to accept Trump Gaza plan and disarm (The Guardian 10/3/25)
How Ramallah sees Trump’s Gaza plan (Daoud Kuttab//Al Monitor 10/1/25)
“Palestinian leaders welcomed the US announcement of a plan to end the Gaza war, noting that despite lingering questions about the timeline and Ramallah’s involvement, recent international backing for statehood has shifted the balance of power and strengthened the position of the Palestinian Authority (PA) in postwar governance.” See also Trump’s 20-Point Gaza Plan: A Rubber Stamp of Legitimacy on Israel’s Subjugation of Palestine (Jeremy Scahill and Jawa Ahmad//Drop Site 9/30/25); The Trump–Netanyahu Gaza Peace Deal Promises Indefinite Occupation (Jonah Valdez//The Intercept 10/1/25); Trump’s peace proposal welcomed by world leaders but Palestinians remain sceptical (The Guardian 9/30/25)
Trump and Netanyahu to Hamas: accept Gaza peace plan or face consequences (The Guardian 9/29/25)
“Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, have delivered an ultimatum to Hamas, warning the militant group to accept their 20-point peace plan for Gaza or face the consequences. The two leaders met at the White House in Washington on Monday then held a joint press briefing in which they hailed their proposal as a historic breakthrough and new chapter for the Middle East…Both Trump and Netanyahu made clear that they were not offering Hamas a choice in the matter. If the group refused, Trump told reporters, “Israel would have my full backing to finish the job of destroying the threat of Hamas. “But I hope that we’re going to have a deal for peace, and if Hamas rejects the deal … Bibi, you’d have our full backing to do what you would have to do.” The Israeli prime minister said ominously: “If Hamas rejects your plan, Mr President, or if they supposedly accept it and then do everything to counter it, then Israel will finish the job by itself. This can be done the easy way or it can be done the hard way, but it will be done.”’ See also What’s in Trump’s 20-point peace plan for Gaza? (The Guardian 9/29/25); Postwar Gaza authority potentially led by Tony Blair ‘would sideline Palestinians’ (The Guardian 9/29/25);
Trump gives Qatar unprecedented security guarantee after Israeli attack (Axios 10/1/25)
“President Trump signed on Monday an executive order to provide Qatar a U.S. security guarantee with conditions similar to NATO’s Article 5, according to the text of the order published by the White House…This is an unprecedented security agreement between the U.S. and an Arab country. It says the U.S. will treat any “armed attack” on the country “as a threat to the peace and security of the United States” and respond accordingly. The upgraded U.S. security guarantee is part of the “compensation” to Qatar for the failed Israeli strike against Hamas officials in Doha three weeks ago…The U.S. move shows how Qatar managed to leverage the crisis to both isolate Israel and get a strategic breakthrough no other Arab country has managed. Under pressure from Trump, Netanyahu had to apologize to Qatar both in private and in public for the strike — a major political humiliation. Trump’s advisers also leveraged the Israel-Qatar crisis to get Netanyahu to accept a plan for ending the war in Gaza for the first time since the Hamas Oct. 7 attacks.” See also Israel may have underestimated Trump’s links with Qatar (Susannah George//WaPo 10/2/25); Qatari Diplomat Was Present in Trump-Netanyahu White House Meeting (Haaretz 10/3/25); Qatar to continue mediation after Israel expresses regret over strike on Hamas (BBC 9/30/25); How Trump Used Fury Over Israel’s Qatar Attack to Push Netanyahu on Gaza (NYT 10/3/25);
Israeli naval forces board pro-Palestinian flotilla 75 miles from Gaza (The Guardian 10/1/25)
“A number of boats from a pro-Palestinian flotilla have been boarded by Israeli forces roughly 75 miles off the coast of Gaza, as the vessels attempted to breach the maritime blockade of the war-torn territory and bring aid. The raid began with the flotilla’s leading vessel, Alma, whose crew were detained by Israeli soldiers on Wednesday. A video from the Israeli foreign ministry showed the most prominent of the flotilla’s passengers, Swedish climate campaigner Greta Thunberg, sitting on a deck surrounded by soldiers.” See also Israel’s Gaza flotilla interception triggers protests, diplomatic expulsions and calls for strikes (The Guardian 10/2/25); Final boat of 42-strong pro-Palestinian flotilla intercepted by Israel (The Guardian 10/3/25); Israel seizes last flotilla boat, readies to deport hundreds, as more ships set sail for Gaza (TOI 10/3/25); What It’s Like on the Gaza-Bound Flotilla Attacked by Drones (The Intercept 9/26/25); Israel Illegally Boards Humanitarian Flotilla Heading to Gaza (Drop Site 10/1/25); Israel intercepts Gaza aid flotilla, detains Thunberg and other activists (WaPo 10/1/25); Italian union says 2 million joined general strike over Gaza, as masses march nationwide (TOI 10/3/25);
Labour conference backs motion saying Israel is committing genocide in Gaza (The Guardian 9/29/25)
“The Labour conference has backed a union-led motion accepting a UN finding that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza and urging the British government to act to prevent it.” See also Manchester synagogue attack: what do we know so far? (The Guardian 10/3/25); Home secretary denies the recognition of Palestine has emboldened antisemites (The Guardian 10/3/25)
RIVER TO THE SEA
How Netanyahu Aims to Obstruct the Gaza Plan He Was Forced to Accept From Trump (Amos Harel//Haaretz 10/1/25)
“Netanyahu – intimately familiar with Trump and fully aware of the power imbalance between them – has, for the moment, been compelled to flatter and comply. In the studios of his loyal media outlets, some pundits appeared apoplectic. How to reconcile promises of annihilation and dreams of population transfer in Gaza with a humiliating apology to the Qatari prime minister, following Israel’s botched assassination attempt on Hamas’ negotiating team in Doha just three weeks ago?…The fact that the drafters of the plan didn’t set a binding timetable for the IDF’s withdrawal could complicate things down the line. At the same time, Netanyahu will leverage objections from the messianic right-wing parties in his coalition and scatter hints and declarations aimed at stressing Hamas and making the organization’s leaders believe that Israel will violate the agreement when the opportunity arises.” See also Thousands Rally in Israel Demanding Netanyahu Accept Trump’s Gaza Cease-fire and Hostage Deal (Haaretz 9/27/25); Deputy Knesset Speaker From Netanyahu’s Likud: ‘Israeli Interest Is No Arabs’ in the West Bank, All Should Be Expelled (Haaretz 9/28/25);
The Israeli right’s ‘time of miracles’ is over. The Palestinians are going nowhere (Meron Rapoport//+972 Magazine 10/2/25)
“While problematic for many reasons, Trump’s 20-point plan to end the war in Gaza appears to spell the end of the Israeli government’s expulsion fantasies…Much has been left ambiguous in the White House’s 20-point plan, but when it comes to the question of migration, the language is unequivocal. “No one will be forced to leave Gaza, and those who wish to leave will be free to do so and free to return,” Article 12 states. “We will encourage people to stay and offer them the opportunity to build a better Gaza.” The “time of miracles,” that once-in-a-century opportunity to eliminate the Palestinians from Gaza once and for all, is over. Battered and bruised, the Gazans remain. Article 16 further states that “Israel will not occupy or annex Gaza.” Together with Trump’s comments last week implying that West Bank annexation is also off the table for the time being, the government’s wish list is fast slipping away.”
U.S. SCENE
Americans’ Support for Israel Dramatically Declines, Times/Siena Poll Finds (NYT 9/29/25)
“Nearly two years into the war in Gaza, American support for Israel has undergone a seismic reversal, with large shares of voters expressing starkly negative views about the Israeli government’s management of the conflict, a new poll from The New York Times and Siena University found. Disapproval of the war appears to have prompted a striking reassessment by American voters of their broader sympathies in the decades-old conflict in the region, with slightly more voters siding with Palestinians over Israelis for the first time since The Times began asking voters about their sympathies in 1998…A majority of American voters now oppose sending additional economic and military aid to Israel, a stunning reversal in public opinion since the Oct. 7 attacks. About six out of 10 voters said that Israel should end its military campaign, even if the remaining Israeli hostages were not released or Hamas was not eliminated. And 40 percent of voters said Israel was intentionally killing civilians in Gaza, nearly double the number of voters who agreed with that statement in the 2023 poll…Nearly two years ago, Democrats were evenly divided, with 34 percent sympathizing with Israel and 31 percent with Palestinians. Now, rank-and-file Democrats across the country overwhelmingly side with Palestinians — 54 percent said they sympathized more with Palestinians, while only 13 percent expressed greater empathy for Israel…Republicans still sympathize with Israel more than Palestinians, 64 percent to 9 percent. But those numbers indicate a drop in support of 12 percentage points since 2023, when 76 percent sided with Israel.” See also An Entire Generation of Americans Is Turning on Israel (Politico 9/29/25); Democrats Pull Away From AIPAC, Reflecting a Broader Shift (NYT 10/2/25);
Judge issues blistering opinion against Trump policy to deport pro-Palestinian students (The Guardian 9/30/25)
“A federal judge has ruled that the Trump administration’s policy to detain and deport foreign scholars over their pro-Palestinian views violates the US constitution and was designed to “intentionally” chill free speech rights. The case was brought by the national American Association of University Professors (AAUP); its Harvard, Rutgers and New York University chapters; and the Middle East Studies Association (Mesa), following the arrest and detention of several non-citizen students and scholars who have spoken out for Palestinian rights. In a 161-page ruling issued on Tuesday, the judge, William G Young, a Ronald Reagan appointee, called the case “perhaps the most important ever to fall within the jurisdiction of this district court”. “This case … squarely presents the issue whether non-citizens lawfully present here in United States actually have the same free speech rights as the rest of us,” Young wrote in the ruling. “The Court answers this Constitutional question unequivocally ‘yes, they do’…Several state department officials testified in court that they had been instructed by higher-ups to compile allegations about the individuals targeted, sometimes relying on dossiers from the rightwing Canary Mission, a secretive, pro-Israel group dedicated to doxing thousands of pro-Palestinian scholars.” See also Larry Ellison Vetted Marco Rubio for Fealty to Israel, Hacked Emails Reveal (Drop Site 10/2/25)
U.S. used a transnational crime unit to secretly target campus protesters (WaPo 10/2/25)
“When Rumeysa Ozturk was grabbed by masked federal agents outside her Massachusetts home in March, the video of the Turkish graduate student being handcuffed and hustled into an unmarked vehicle spread around the world. A federal trial that ended Tuesday revealed for the first time the story behind the images, showing how the government assigned a special team to target Ozturk and other pro-Palestinian activists, laying the groundwork for their highly unusual arrests. Ozturk had committed no crime, yet her detention was a priority for the new Trump administration. U.S. officials used the immigration system in unprecedented ways to covertly research and detain noncitizen students, relying on an investigative arm of the Department of Homeland Security whose work traditionally has focused on crimes such as drug smuggling and human trafficking.”
Trump’s Blueprint to Crush the Left Draws from Decades of Counterterrorism Policy (Chip Gibbons//Drop Site 10/3/25)
“If there was any question as to whether his Executive Order was merely bluster, Trump clarified the matter three days later when he issued National Security Presidential Memorandum 7 (NSPM-7). Bearing Trump’s signature, NSPM-7 was clearly drafted with a deep understanding of the U.S. counterterrorism bureaucracy. It seeks to “disrupt” not just those allegedly carrying out left-wing violence, but those who fund it and those who “radicalize” and recruit individuals to partake in it. It declares domestic terrorism to be a top priority and defines domestic terrorism priorities to include “civil unrest” and “doxing.”…At the heart of the strategy lies the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF).”
Targeting OSF, Trump Aims for a Chilling Effect on Liberal Funders (Connie Mathiessen//Inside Philanthropy 9/26/25)
“According to a New York Times report yesterday, the Department of Justice is now formulating plans to open a criminal investigation into the Open Society Foundations. A department directive obtained by the Times laid out how the DOJ may proceed: “Possible charges [against Open Society Foundations] included racketeering, arson, wire fraud and material support for terrorism.” Also yesterday, Trump issued a presidential memorandum seeking to establish “a new law enforcement strategy that investigates all participants in these criminal and terroristic conspiracies — including the organized structures, networks, entities, organizations, funding sources and predicate actions behind them.” As evidence to support the Department of Justice’s investigation of OSF, a DOJ lawyer pointed to a report by the Capital Research Center (CRC), according to the Times…Open Society Foundations issued a statement in response to the administration’s reported investigation that reads, in part, “The Open Society Foundations unequivocally condemn terrorism and do not fund terrorism. Our activities are peaceful and lawful, and our grantees are expected to abide by human rights principles and comply with the law. These accusations are politically motivated attacks on civil society, meant to silence speech the administration disagrees with and undermine the First Amendment right to free speech.”…It is still unclear how far the administration plans to go to target philanthropy, or exactly what strategies it will pursue beyond its apparent moves against OSF…as Georgetown Law Professor David A. Super told Kavate, the administration’s threats will have a chilling effect — and that is the goal. “The pattern we’ve seen in the other areas suggests that they can get a great deal of results from a relatively modest amount of intimidation, and that model is attractive to them,” Super said. Targeting big names like Ford and Open Society, he believes, will serve to silence other organizations and encourage them to keep their heads down.” See also The Philanthropy-Backed Think Tank Behind Trump’s Soros Investigation (Inside Philanthropy 10/3/25);
Judge Rejects Trump’s Argument and Throws Out Suit Against U.N. Agency (NYT 10/2/25)
“A federal judge, rejecting the Trump administration’s position, has dismissed a lawsuit accusing a United Nations agency of providing more than $1 billion that enabled Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel. In a ruling this week, the judge, Analisa Torres of Federal District Court in Manhattan, said the organization, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency, was protected because it was part of the United Nations, which enjoys immunity from such lawsuits.”
FBI cuts ties with ADL after row over extremist label for Charlie Kirk’s advocacy group (TOI 10/1/25)
“The FBI has cut ties with advocacy group Anti-Defamation League, Kash Patel, the bureau’s director, says. “This FBI won’t partner with political fronts masquerading as watchdogs,” Patel says in a post on X. A day earlier, the ADL said that it took down its Glossary of Extremism and Hate after right-wing US activists assailed the online database for including an entry about Turning Point USA, the conservative advocacy group led by slain influencer Charlie Kirk. X owner Elon Musk, who has branded the US-based antisemitism watchdog an anti-Christian hate group, and Donald Trump Jr., the US president’s son, were among the prominent figures who criticized the database, which served as a resource for researchers, journalists and others.” See also Elon Musk calls ADL a ‘hate group’ that ‘hates Christians (JTA 9/29/25); FBI’s Kash Patel attacks ADL as ‘extreme group functioning like a terrorist organization’ (JI 10/1/25); ADL deletes ‘Glossary of Extremism and Hate’ amid flurry of right-wing criticism (JTA 10/1/25);
Inside Israel’s ‘Esther Project’: DOJ filings reveal paid US influencer campaign amid AI-powered PR blitz (Asaf Elia-Shalev//JTA 9/30/25)
“Newly filed records with the Department of Justice show that Israel’s government has quietly launched a two-track influence operation in the United States, blending big-budget political advertising with grassroots-style influencer campaigns. The filings reveal that a firm called Bridges Partners LLC has been hired to manage an influencer network under a project code-named the “Esther Project.” It is unclear if there is any link to Project Esther, a plan to combat antisemitism published by the Heritage Foundation, an American right-wing think tank. In its disclosure, required under the Foreign Agents Registration Act, Bridges said its work was intended to “assist with promoting cultural interchange between the United States and Israel” and specified that the engagement runs through a German division of the global PR firm Havas…There is evidence that the work is already underway: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with a group of influencers on Friday in New York City…The Bridges filings — unreported until now — add new information about Israel’s sweeping current diplomacy push, in what Israeli officials have taken to calling an “eighth front” in the country’s current war. They complement a separate, larger deal that has drawn public attention this week: Israel’s $1.5 million per month contract with Brad Parscale, a former campaign strategist for President Donald Trump.” See also Israel is paying influencers $7,000 per post (Nick Cleveland-Stout//Responsible Statecraft 9/30/25); Former Trump campaign manager registers to advocate for Israel (Axios 9/30/25);
PERSPECTIVES//LONG READS
UK, France and other Western nations recognize Palestinian state ahead of UN meetings – but symbolic action won’t make statehood happen (Dr. Maha Nassar//The Conversation 9/19/25)
“That a host of Western nations are adding their names to the near-universal list of Global South countries that already recognize a Palestinian state is a major diplomatic win for the cause of an independent, sovereign and self-governed nation for Palestinians. Conversely, it is a massive diplomatic loss for Israel – especially coming just two years after the West stood shoulder to shoulder with Israel following the Oct. 7 attack by Palestinian militant group Hamas. As a scholar of modern Palestinian history, I know that this diplomatic moment is decades in the making. But I am also aware that symbolic diplomatic breakthroughs on the issue of Palestinian statehood have occurred before, only to prove meaningless in the face of events that make statehood less likely…The U.S. remains opposed to Palestinians gaining statehood independent of the Oslo process. So long as the U.S. has a veto on the Security Council, achieving a truly sovereign Palestinian state will likewise be off the table. And that remains the case, regardless of what individual members – even fellow Security Council members like France and the U.K – do. In fact, many Palestinians and other critics of the status quo say Western nations are using the issue of Palestinian statehood to absolve them from the far more challenging diplomatic task of holding Israel accountable for what a U.N. body just described as a genocide in Gaza.”
Can the World Make Recognition of Palestine’s Statehood Matter? (Amjad Iraqi//ICG 9/26/25)
“What are the dangers of recognition? The biggest risk is twofold. First, critics note that the positive case for recognition rests largely on aspirational benefits that the Palestinians will reap only if foreign governments show a sustained political will that has deserted them in the past. They reasonably worry that recognition will prove a distraction – drawing attention away from more concrete steps that can be taken to end the war in Gaza and aid the Palestinian people amid an existential crisis. Some speculate that the recognition wave is an intentional diversion, designed to give cover to governments wishing to be seen as doing something besides issuing words of condemnation…Secondly, the Netanyahu government is essentially calling the world’s bluff…They are also demonstrating readiness to retaliate…How might recognition affect Palestinian politics? Palestinians have mixed views about recognition. Some cautiously welcome its prospective benefits, arguing that it could bolster foreign leaders’ confidence to take more concrete actions. Others believe it will make no meaningful difference. Still others believe it is dangerous – not just for the reasons noted above, but because they see it as truncating Palestinian national demands, reducing Palestine to what they describe as a shrivelled bantustan without addressing the rights of exiled refugees (who make up over half of the Palestinian people) or the injustices of the 1948 Nakba (Arabic for “catastrophe”), the mass expulsion and dispossession that enabled Israel’s creation. Virtually all, however, seem to agree that recognition alone will do little or nothing to halt the present war, which looks set to bring about even greater horrors amid the assault on Gaza City.”
Give Palestinians Something More Than Statehood Recognition (Dr. Mustafa Barghouti//NYT 9/22/25)
“Recognition of Palestinian statehood — now formalized by some 150 countries — is welcome in the face of Israel’s decades-long denial of the Palestinian right to self-determination and a settlement expansion plan that “buries the idea of a Palestinian state,” as Israel’s finance minister, Bezalel Smotrich, recently put it. However, it is empty symbolism at best, and at worst, a distraction from a lack of action to stop Israel’s war in Gaza and the starvation and forced displacement of roughly two million Palestinians living there. Any recognition of Palestinian statehood should be accompanied by concrete action to hold Israel accountable for its illegal, destructive policies…The international community must finally recognize the failures of the past and the reality on the ground. No true or lasting peace can be made without the dismantling of Israel’s apartheid system. Real pressure must be applied to Israel for this to happen.”
The Kushner-Blair Gaza plan is a moral atrocity – and a policy catastrophe (Josh Paul//The Guardian 9/30/25)
“And yet here we are again, in 2025, talking about a western occupational government imposed on a region of the Middle East – and one led by Blair, no less – complete with the same old visions of economic prosperity disconnected from the realities on the ground or the rights of the people. It will not work, and it should not be trusted. First, and most fundamentally, there is the question of legitimacy and local ownership. Self-determination is not just a right under the UN Charter – it is a fundamental desire of all peoples to shape their own affairs, and to build their own societies. The imposition of governance from the outside – a colonialist venture with a long history premised on the extraction of wealth through the repression of freedom – is simply not a sustainable path to a stable politics, because it is by nature lacking in popular support or buy-in, and incapable of an accurate and sufficiently nuanced understanding of local culture and dynamics.”
What Happened to Human Rights for Palestinians? (Agnès Callamard, secretary general of Amnesty International, & Federico Borello, acting executive director of Human Rights Watch//NYT 10/1/25)
“The Trump administration on Sept. 4 imposed sanctions on three leading Palestinian human rights organizations: Al Haq, founded in 1979 and a pioneer in documenting violations in occupied Gaza and the West Bank; Al Mezan Center for Human Rights, which for more than two decades has meticulously chronicled laws of war violations in Gaza; and the Palestinian Center for Human Rights, which has long provided legal aid to victims, particularly from Gaza. In June, the Trump administration imposed sanctions on another leading Palestinian rights group, Addameer, under a different set of measures. This is part of a broader Trump administration effort aimed at those who support justice for Palestinians…Beyond what has been done to the Palestinians, the Trump administration has undermined the rule of law, protection of human rights and international justice, which all lie at the heart of a rules-based global order…So far, other governments have carefully balanced their reactions to the U.S. sanctions for fear of provoking the Trump administration. This is a flawed strategy and out of step with the urgency the situation demands. Governments need to condemn efforts to undermine the I.C.C.’s independence and to silence those who are documenting abuses. They should use regional and national laws, like the European Union Blocking Statute, which can be employed to nullify external laws in the union, to mitigate the impact of U.S. sanctions on those working with the court. Those who helped establish the international court and claim to uphold the values underpinning it must step up to defend them.
Jeffrey Epstein Helped Broker Israeli Security Agreement (Murtza Hussain & Ryan Grim//Drop Site 9/28/25)
“Jeffrey Epstein used his political network and financial resources to help broker a security cooperation agreement between the governments of Israel and Mongolia, according to a trove of leaked emails from former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak. This new set of emails between Barak and Epstein has largely been ignored by the mainstream press, but includes crucial new context on Epstein’s operation.”
NEW FROM FMEP
FMEP Legislative Round-Up September 26, 2025 (Lara Friedman)
- Bills, Resolutions; 2. Letters; 3. Hearings & Markups; 4. Selected Members on the Record; 5. Selected Media & Press releases/Statements
Settlement & Annexation Report: September 26, 2025 (Kristin McCarthy)
- Trump Says No to Israeli Annexation; 2. United Nations Adds 68 New Companies to List of Businesses Supporting the Settlement Enterprise; 3. Bonus Reads
UC Berkeley’s Betrayal of Academic Freedom in this Time of Genocide (New Occupied Thoughts episode)
FMEP Fellow Peter Beinart speaks with UC Berkeley Professor Ussama Makdisi, who was recently informed that UC Berkeley shared his name, along with those of 159 other Berkeley faculty & students, with the federal government for “alleged incidents of antisemitism.” Peter & Ussama discuss the absurdity of experience — the accused have not been informed of any details of the allegations against them — while looking at why UC Berkeley is not defending its faculty and students, how the Berkeley experience compares with how other universities have capitulated to the Trump administration, and whether academic freedom on campus will survive. Most urgently, they discuss how the attacks on universities are meant to distract from the genocide Israel is carrying out right now against Palestinians.
FMEP Fellows Peter Beinart & Ahmed Moor on Palestinian statehood & US politics (New Occupied Thoughts episode)
FMEP Fellows Ahmed Moor and Peter Beinart speak about the new developments with Palestinian statehood and their meaning and implications. They also discuss American politics and culture, discussing the shifts on the Right regarding Israel and the conspiracy theory that Israel was involved in the assassination of Charlie Kirk.
GAZA
The Genocide in Gaza (Drop Site 9/26/25)
“Over the past 24 hours, at least 83 Palestinians were killed and 216 injured, according to Gaza’s ministry of health. Seven Palestinians were killed and 50 injured while seeking aid…The Israeli military on Thursday said its airforce struck more than 170 targets across Gaza in the past 24 hours and that it was intensifying its operations in Gaza City. At least 13 Palestinians were killed and dozens were wounded on Wednesday evening when Israeli forces bombed civilians gathered at Al-Nujoom Stadium in Nuseirat refugee camp, which was sheltering thousands of displaced people. Medical sources reported the victims were mostly women and children, with bodies arriving dismembered at Al-Awda Hospital. Israel carried out a deadly strike on a residential home north of Al-Zawaida in central Gaza, killing at least 11 Palestinians and wounding dozens more. The Israeli military said a soldier was killed by a Hamas sniper in Gaza City on Tuesday, bringing the Israeli toll in the current Gaza City offensive to two soldiers.” See also Israel kills 85 Palestinians in Gaza strikes (Al Jazeera 9/24/25); Gaza Officials Say 75 Palestinians Killed by IDF Fire, Four Died of Malnutrition in Past Day (Haaretz 9/21/25);
We Tried to Stay in Gaza City. There Are No Longer Any Means of Sustaining Life. (Rasha Abou Jalal//Drop Site 9/24/25)
“Last week, I was standing with several of my neighbors in our tent encampment in western Gaza City as we discussed the importance of remaining steadfast and staying in the city, despite Israel’s plan to seize control and empty the place of its residents. It was then that an Israeli airstrike landed nearby with deafening force, turning our gathering into a scene of overwhelming panic and fear. My six-year-old daughter, Hour, had been playing in front of our tent, but when I looked over, she had been hit by shrapnel and had blood pouring from her nose…Everyone in the area began dismantling their tents to flee to the south. Remaining here was not an option. There was no time left…We could not take most of our belongings with us, since we didn’t have any means of transporting them. We tried again and again to find any kind of ride, but drivers refused to enter western Gaza City due to the intensity of the bombardment. What was even worse was that, even if we could find transportation, we couldn’t afford it. The fare for a family to be taken to the south is now at least $1,500 for a journey; it used to cost $50 at most before the war. We had no choice but to flee on foot. My children carried backpacks containing water, food, and some clothing, while my husband and I carried a few blankets and mattresses, as well as our worn-out tent, which had become our portable home. The journey was extremely difficult. There was destruction and rubble lining both sides of the road, while trucks laden with belongings and displaced families clogged the middle. We walked for seven hours over 15 kilometers (about 10 miles)…There were hundreds of families like us, making the same trek to the south.” See also For fleeing Gazans, even renting a spot to pitch a tent can cost too much (WaPo 9/26/25); Gaza City hospitals close, patients flee as Israeli forces advance (WaPo 9/25/25); Doctors Without Borders Halts Medical Activities in Gaza City as Israel Continued to Pound (Haaretz 9/26/25); ‘We are at our limit’: Gaza’s last hospitals overwhelmed as thousands flee south (The Guardian 9/24/25)
Israel Is Flattening Parts of Gaza City (NYT 9/26/25)
“The Israeli military has razed block after block of Gaza City as part of a new ground offensive in what was once the territory’s largest urban center…Though much of the city is still standing, satellite images show Israeli forces are destroying whole areas as they sweep into Gaza City…The Israeli ground offensive has forced hundreds of thousands of Palestinians to flee their homes in Gaza City, crowding into swelling tent camps in central and southern Gaza. This has exacerbated what was already a humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza, with rampant hunger, mass displacement and a collapse of health care, schools and infrastructure.”
Israeli Strike Kills Gazans Sheltering in Warehouse, Local Reports Say (NYT 9/24/25)
“An Israeli airstrike near a market in Gaza City killed nearly two dozen Palestinians on Wednesday, according to the Palestinian Civil Defense rescue service. The civil defense said six women and nine children were among at least 22 dead in the attack near Firas Market on the eastern side of the city. The Wafa news agency, which is linked to the Palestinian Authority administration in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, said all of those killed were seeking shelter in a warehouse that was hit by the strike. An Israeli military statement said the strike had hit “two Hamas terrorists in the northern Gaza Strip,” without providing further details about who they were.” See also More and More Evidence Shows – Most of the Gaza War Deaths Are Civilians (Haaretz 9/22/25); Civilian injuries in Gaza similar to those of soldiers in war zones, study finds (The Guardian 9/25/25);
REGION//GLOBAL
Trump says he ‘will not allow’ Israel to annex West Bank after lobbying from allies (The Guardian 9/25/25)
“Donald Trump has said he will not allow Israel to annex the occupied West Bank, rejecting calls from some far-right politicians in Israel who want to extend sovereignty over the area and in doing so make impossible the establishment of a Palestinian state. “I will not allow Israel to annex the West Bank. Nope, I will not allow it. It’s not going to happen,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office, adding “There’s been enough. It’s time to stop now.”…Arab and Muslim countries warned Trump about the grave consequences of any annexation of the West Bank – a message the US president “understands very well,” according to Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al-Saud.” See also By Ruling Out West Bank Annexation, Trump Called Netanyahu’s Bluff (Haaretz 9/26/25); As states recognize Palestine, Netanyahu seeks Trump nod on annexation (Al Monitor 9/24/25); Trump pitches 21-point plan for Middle East peace (Al Monitor 9/24/25); Washington backing plan for Tony Blair to head transitional Gaza authority (The Guardian 9/25/25)
Netanyahu vows to ‘finish job’ in Gaza during UN speech as delegates walk out (The Guardian 9/26/25)
“Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to “finish the job” in Gaza and said that the recognition of a Palestinian state was “insane” as delegations walked out of his address to the United Nations. Just days after the UK, France, Canada, Australia, and other countries broke with the United States to recognise an independent Palestinian state, Netanyahu called a two-state solution “sheer madness. It’s insane, and we won’t do it.” “Giving the Palestinians a state one mile from Jerusalem after October 7 is like giving al-Qaeda a state one mile from New York City after September 11,” he said. Now 157 of 193 UN member states recognise Palestine as an independent state. More than 100 diplomats from more than 50 countries walked out as Netanyahu entered the hall, according to a tally by the Washington Post….Thousands protested the speech on the streets of New York City, including at a main rally at Times Square across midtown.” See also Israeli loudspeakers broadcast Netanyahu’s speech to UN into Gaza (The Guardian 9/26/25); Netanyahu vows retaliation ahead of more Palestine recognitions at U.N. (WaPo 9/22/25); Defiant Netanyahu Denounces Palestine Recognition, to a Mostly Empty U.N. Hall (NYT 9/26/25); Netanyahu slams ‘weak-kneed’ Western leaders who ‘appease evil,’ dismisses false genocide accusations as ‘blood libels’ (TOI 9/26/25)
UK, Canada and Australia announce formal recognition of Palestine, with wave of Israel’s allies to follow (The Guardian 9/21/25)
“A wave of Israel’s allies are announcing their recognition of the state of Palestine, as part of a wider manoeuvre designed to ostracise Hamas and challenge attempts by the Israeli government to erase the chance of a Palestinian homeland. The UK, Canada and Australia formally declared their recognition of Palestinian statehood on Sunday in separate but coordinated statements. The move marks the first members of the G7 advanced economies to take the step. Portugal announced its move late on Sunday too…Other countries also joining the list of 147 UN states that recognise Palestine are Belgium, France, Luxembourg, Malta and possibly New Zealand and Liechtenstein.” See also Netanyahu calls UK’s Palestine recognition ‘absurd prize for terrorism’ (The Guardian 9/21/25); In UN speech, Trump slams allies’ Palestine recognition as ‘reward’ to Hamas (Al Monitor 9/23/25); Macron, saying ‘the time has come, says France formally recognizes a Palestinian state. (NYT 9/22/25); At UN, Ireland says Israel’s actions in Gaza ‘an abandonment of all norms’ (TOI 9/26/25);
These Countries Recognized Palestine, but Still Send Arms to Israel (The Intercept 9/25/25)
“The U.K., France, Canada, Luxembourg, and Australia have recently recognized Palestinian statehood but continue to send arms and military equipment to Israel.” See also Dockworkers from across Europe gather to plan trade squeeze on Israel (Politico 9/26/25);Disruption across Italy as tens of thousands protest against Gaza war (The Guardian 9/22/25); Italian prime minister condemns drone attacks on Gaza aid flotilla boats (The Guardian 9/24/25);
Abbas decries Israel’s ‘genocide’ and says Hamas will have no role in future Gaza government (The Guardian 9/25/25)
“Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian Authority president, has decried Israel’s “war of genocide” and settlement expansion, while condemning Hamas and saying the armed group would hand over its weapons in any postwar settlement in a closely watched speech to the United Nations. Abbas addressed the gathering by video conference after his visa was revoked by the United States ahead of the 80th session of the United Nations general assembly.”
Microsoft revokes cloud services from Israel’s Unit 8200, following +972 exposé (Yuval Abraham//+972 Magazine 9/25/25)
“Microsoft has terminated the Israeli army’s access to technology it was using to store vast troves of intelligence on Palestinian civilians in the West Bank and Gaza, the tech giant informed Israel’s Defense Ministry in a letter late last week, according to the Guardian. The decision followed an exposé last month by +972 Magazine, Local Call, and the Guardian revealing how Unit 8200, the Israeli army’s elite cyber warfare agency, was housing intercepted recordings of millions of mobile phone calls by Palestinians on Microsoft’s cloud platform, Azure, creating one of the world’s most intrusive collections of surveillance data over a single population group. According to the joint investigation, this data has been used over the past two years to plan lethal airstrikes in Gaza, as well as to arrest Palestinians in the West Bank. As far as is known, this is the first time a major U.S. tech company has revoked the Israeli army’s access to any of its products since the start of its war on Gaza. Microsoft nonetheless continues to work with other Israeli military units that are longstanding clients…The unprecedented step comes amid growing protests against Microsoft and other tech giants whose services Israel has relied on for its two-year onslaught in Gaza, where civilians have made up the vast majority of those killed.” See also Microsoft blocks Israel’s use of its technology in mass surveillance of Palestinians (The Guardian 9/25/25)
The Consequences of New US Sanctions on Palestinian Human Rights Groups (Alex Kane//Jewish Currents 9/22/25)
“Earlier this month, Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced that he was imposing sanctions on three prominent Palestinian human rights groups over their involvement in efforts to hold Israel accountable at the International Criminal Court (ICC). The targeted groups are Al-Haq, Al Mezan Center for Human Rights (Al Mezan), and the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR), all of which document human rights violations against Palestinians, disseminate such information in reports, and work in legal forums to hold Israeli officials accountable. All three of the groups have filed evidence of Israeli war crimes with the ICC as part of their campaign to have the international court prosecute Israeli officials for abuses committed during Israel’s bombardment of Gaza, as well as during Israeli military operations and settler activity in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem. The unprecedented sanctions bar Americans from donating to the groups, or even coordinating with them to hold Israeli officials accountable for war crimes. The sanctions mark the latest Trump administration attack on both Palestinian human rights organizations and the ICC…To discuss the implications these sanctions have for free speech and political organizing, and what they mean for the effort to use the ICC to hold Israel accountable, I interviewed Shayana Kadidal, a senior managing attorney for the Center for Constitutional Rights.” See also Exclusive: US could hit entire International Criminal Court with sanctions soon (Reuters 9/22/25); For First Time, Israeli Prime Minister’s Plane Extends Flight Route to U.S., Avoiding European Airspace (Haaretz 9/25/25);
Spain imposes ‘total’ arms embargo on Israel over Gaza war: What to know (Al Monitor 9/23/25)
“The decree sets out four measures, according to Spanish reports. The first is a complete arms embargo on Israel, blocking all exports and imports of defense equipment, dual-use goods and technologies. The second bars shipments of aviation fuel through Spain if the material could be used by Israel for military purposes. The third is a ban on importing goods produced in Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories. The final is a prohibition on advertising and marketing products or services linked to those settlements.” See also Spain Cancels Third Major Defense Deal With Israel as Trade Ban Takes Effect (Haaretz 9/25/25); UN blacklists another 68 firms over alleged role in Israeli settlement rights abuses (TOI 9/26/25);
In largest strikes yet, IAF jets bomb Houthi military sites in Yemen after drone attack (TOI 9/25/25)
“The Israeli Air Force carried out strikes on Thursday against Houthi military sites in Yemen’s capital Sanaa, in response to the Iran-backed group’s repeated attacks on Israel, including a drone attack on Eilat a day prior. The Israel Defense Forces said it struck seven targets belonging to the Houthis’ “security and intelligence apparatus” and army, including a top military headquarters. Defense Minister Israel Katz said the “powerful” strikes killed “many dozens of Houthi terror operatives, and destroyed stockpiles of UAVs and weaponry.” Hours later, the Houthis fired a ballistic missile that set off sirens across central Israel, sending hundreds of thousands of people to bomb shelters. The military said it successfully intercepted the missile.” See also At least 20 people reported injured after drone strike on Israeli city of Eilat (The Guardian 9/24/25) Children among 5 killed in Israeli drone ‘massacre’ in southern Lebanon (Al Jazeera 9/21/25);
Italy and Spain deploy ships to help Gaza aid flotilla targeted in drone attack (CNN 9/24/25)
“Italy and Spain say they are sending vessels to help a flotilla that was targeted by drones while trying to deliver aid to Gaza, with activists claiming that Israel was behind the strikes. Volunteers from the Global Sumud Flotilla (GSF) – an organization trying to get aid into the besieged enclave using ships setting sail from ports across the Mediterranean – say that some of their vessels were targeted by drones. The organization claimed the attacks are part of a sustained Israeli campaign of intimidation.” See also Gaza aid flotilla hit by drone attacks and explosions, activists say (Al Jazeera 9/24/25); On the Global Sumud Flotilla Heading for Gaza (FMEP Podcast with Peter Beinart & David Adler 9/18/25); We are sailing to Gaza. Here’s why (David Adler//The Guardian 9/25/25)
Where Mideast Envoy Pitched Peace, His Son Pitched Investors (NYT 9/26/25)
“As Steve Witkoff, President Trump’s envoy to the Middle East, conducted delicate cease-fire negotiations between Israel and Hamas this year, his son Alex was on another mission. He was quietly soliciting billions of dollars from some of the same governments whose representatives were involved in peace talks with his father.”
RIVER TO THE SEA
‘They intended to kill us’: Masafer Yatta reels from bloody settler assaults (Basel Adra and Mohammad Hesham Huraini//+972 Magazine 9/26/25)
“A series of pogroms in four West Bank villages left residents and solidarity activists hospitalized with head wounds, broken bones, and internal bleeding…Since the murder of our friend and activist Awdah Hathaleen in his village of Umm Al-Khair on July 28, settlers have carried out at least four bloody attacks across Masafer Yatta, leaving dozens injured and entire communities traumatized. These are not “rogue mobs”: they are one violent arm of Israel’s state policy of systematically driving Palestinians from their land. Masafer Yatta today is a microcosm of Palestine as a whole: villages under siege, lands stolen, people targeted simply for resisting their erasure. Yet despite the bloodshed and the destruction, we remain. On this land, passed down to us by our grandparents, we resist with our very existence. Masafer Yatta bleeds, but we are still here.” See also Israeli Police Didn’t Actually Investigate the Settler Incident, but Still Made a Firm Conclusion (Haaretz 9/26/25)
Palestinians Say Israel Shut West Bank’s Main Crossing to Jordan Over State Recognition (Haaretz 9/25/25)
“Palestinian officials told Haaretz that Israel’s closure of the West Bank’s main border crossing to Jordan amounted to “collective punishment” intended to apply political pressure after several countries recognized a Palestinian state. “Israel is trying to remind the world that it exclusively controls Palestinians’ movement, even after the international community recognized their right to a state,” said one source. He added that the total closure prevents the movement of patients who need urgent medical care outside the West Bank, as well as the movement of goods and businesspeople…The Allenby border crossing is the sole transit point between the West Bank and Jordan and other countries, and it only resumed full operations early this week, after it closed following a terrorist attack that killed two IDF soldiers. It has now been closed again indefinitely.”
Israeli settlers blamed for attack on Palestinian mayor as West Bank roils (Al Monitor 9/24/25)
“The Israeli military recently laid siege to Tulkarm, a center of militant activity, as Palestinian officials report daily attacks by settlers. The Palestinian Authority said settlers attacked a mayor on Wednesday, shortly after a Palestinian teen was killed in an Israeli military raid near Jenin, as violence continues to escalate in the West Bank. The PA’s WAFA news agency reported that the settlers assaulted Beita Mayor Mahmoud Barham and a member of the town’s municipal council.”
U.S. SCENE
Trump signs memo targeting ‘domestic terrorism’ amid fears of crackdown on the left (The Guardian 9/26/25)
“At a signing ceremony in the Oval Office, the memorandum was presented as aimed at “establishing a comprehensive strategy to investigate, disrupt and dismantle all stages of organized political violence and domestic terrorism”…Surrounded by members of his cabinet, Trump said the goal was to target “the funders of a lot of these groups”, some of whom he claimed to know. But he was vague when asked which groups he meant or who the funders were…“This is the first time in American history that there is an all-of-government effort to dismantle leftwing terrorism, to dismantle antifa, to dismantle the organizations that have been carrying out these acts of political violence and terrorism,” [White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen] Miller said. The joint terrorism taskforce, a unit inside the FBI, would be “the hub” of the effort, he added.”
Justice Dept. Official Pushes Prosecutors to Investigate George Soros’s Foundation (NYT 9/25/25)
“A senior Justice Department official has instructed more than a half dozen U.S. attorney’s offices to draft plans to investigate a group funded by George Soros, the billionaire Democratic donor whom President Trump has demanded be thrown in jail…Mr. Soros began his global grant network, now known as the Open Society Foundations, decades ago to fund democratic initiatives around the world, particularly in communist and formerly communist countries. In the 1990s, the organization expanded its work to the United States. It provides grants to groups that work for human rights, democracy and equity, but Mr. Trump and some Republicans contend, without providing evidence, that it is a shadowy network promoting civil unrest, violent protests and property destruction. Liberals say the assertions are falsehoods aimed at stifling dissent.”
Democrats in Congress are breaking with Israel like never before (Axios 9/25/25)
“Some of Israel’s staunchest Democratic supporters on Capitol Hill are wavering like never before as progressives grow more emboldened in their defense of the Palestinian cause…The humanitarian crisis unfolding in Gaza has soured U.S. public opinion on Israel, and while members of Congress have been something of a lagging indicator, they are now shifting as well…A staggering 178 of House Democrats’ 212 members signed onto a Thursday letter to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu saying they are “deeply opposed” to Israeli annexation of territory in the West Bank…The letter, led by staunchly pro-Israel Rep. Brad Schneider (D-Ill.), was signed by House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.), Minority Whip Katherine Clark (D-Mass.) and Democratic Caucus chair Pete Aguilar (D-Calif.)…It’s not just centrists and establishment Democrats shifting. Progressives are growing more and more strident in their demands for the U.S. to support a Palestinian state…A progressive House Democrat who spoke on the condition of anonymity said there are “more people who are thinking about” publicly calling the war a genocide because it has been “excruciating to watch.” “And there are definitely people who won’t say genocide but will tell you, ‘I know you’re right, but I can’t use that word,'” the lawmaker said.” See also House Democrats to send letter to Trump on Friday urging US to recognize Palestinian statehood (The Guardian 9/25/25); The Last Two New England Democratic Senators Unconditionally Supporting the Gaza Genocide (Drop Site 9/23/25)
NYC mayor meets Netanyahu, thanks him for ‘defending the Western world’ (TOI 9/26/25)
“Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu meets with New York City Mayor Eric Adams, after Netanyahu delivered a speech to the UN General Assembly…“That is why, of all the world leaders we have greeted this week, I was particularly proud to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu after his address to the United Nations, to thank him for defending the Western world and our way of life,” Adams says.”
PERSPECTIVES//LONG READS
Performance over Progress (Yousef Munayyer//Arab Center DC 9/24/25)
“As more western nations recognize the state of Palestine this week, joining the vast majority of the world that largely did the same back in the late 1980s, it is fair to ask what if anything this recognition will do. While these proclamations are historic, they leave many Palestinians bewildered and bitter. Not only did these western nations wait years to catch up with much of the rest of the world, they recognized a Palestinian state at a time when many of them are actively enabling the continued genocide of the Palestinian people by the State of Israel. Publics in these nations are outraged over the policies of their governments which have either directly contributed to the genocide or failed to challenge it. Instead of addressing the ongoing genocide and the continued daily killing of scores of Palestinians, these governments have instead chosen a more performative route, likely hoping to mollify domestic dissent. The right decision would be to immediately follow this recognition with an end to all support for Israel’s military until such time when it ends all violations of international law. Until then, these proclamations remain merely performative exercises than being paths toward progress.” See also Recognizing a Palestinian State as Gaza Still Burns (Susan Akram, Imad K. Harb, Khalil E. Jahshan, Laurie King, Yousef Munayyer, Isabel Ruck//Arab Center DC 9/24/25)
Gaza’s Medical Crisis and the US Visa Freeze (Yara M. Asi//Arab Center DC 9/25/25)
“In August 2025, the Trump administration suspended the visa process that organizations like HEAL Palestine had used to bring children such as Adam to the United States. After the far-right social media influencer Laura Loomer (who has described herself as a “proud Islamophobe” and has called Islam a “cancer on society”) reportedly contacted Secretary of State Marco Rubio, the Department of State announced that the process required a “full and thorough review.” Loomer claimed that a video of Palestinian children arriving at American airports for medical care showed the United States “importing” Gazans as “Islamic invaders” and that groups like HEAL Palestine were connected to Hamas…For decades, Israel’s medical permit system for Gaza and the West Bank has been a mechanism of oppression—a blunt administrative barrier that routinely denies Palestinians—including infants, people with disabilities, and elderly adults—access to essential medical care that is unavailable in the under-resourced and heavily restricted Palestinian territories. The new restrictions on the United States visa process are built on the same foundations upon which Israel has built its own system: namely, the dehumanizing idea that Palestinians are inherently dangerous. Israel has used this same justification to devastate nearly the entire humanitarian system upon which Palestinians have been forced to depend for decades.” See also Under Trump, Palestinians seeking U.S. asylum face new hurdle, documents show (WaPo 9/20/25);
‘Tunnel vision’: how Israel is using archaeology to win US support for goals (The Guardian 9/25/25)
“When the US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, visited Jerusalem this month, the itinerary his Israeli hosts laid on involved more archaeology than anything else. On his first day, Benjamin Netanyahu took Rubio underground to excavations near the Western Wall. On the second day, Israel’s prime minister gave his American visitor the honour of inaugurating a tunnel burrowed under a Palestinian district, along a Roman-era street nicknamed the Pilgrimage Road, in a “City of David” archaeological park established by an Israeli settler organisation. Both events were intended to emphasise Jerusalem’s Jewish roots and its status, Netanyahu stressed, as “our eternal and undivided capital”. While Rubio was on this tour of ancient Jerusalem, Israeli planes bombed the most important storage depot of ancient artefacts in Gaza City, pulverising three decades of archaeological work…Rubio’s tour was designed to underline a shared Judeo-Christian history focused on Jerusalem that binds the evangelical base of the Republican party to the state of Israel…To underpin the pursuit of absolute Israel conquest as the solution to the Middle East conflict, independent archaeologists say, Netanyahu and his US backers are seeking to construct a history shorn of all the complexities of a land that has been disputed and shared over millennia.” See also A Rush to Save Ancient Artifacts in Gaza Highlights All That Has Been Lost (NYT 9/21/25)
Collaborate or leave: Israel’s cruel ultimatum to humanitarian groups in Gaza (Lee Mordechai & Liat Kozma//+972 Magazine 9/24/25)
“In March, Israel’s Ministry of Diaspora Affairs and Combating Antisemitism launched a six-month re-registration process for all humanitarian organizations operating in the occupied Palestinian territories. The process — whose deadline has since been extended to the end of the calendar year — may sound mundane, but in fact it poses an existential threat to the activities of scores of international aid groups, many of which have worked to improve the lives of Palestinians under Israeli occupation for decades. As a condition of the re-registration, Israel is demanding that these organizations provide a list of all their staff members, including Palestinians…The aid groups know that giving Israel a list of their Palestinian employees could place them at risk of increased surveillance, pressure, and reprisals, particularly in Gaza. But refusing to do so and opting instead to protect their employees’ privacy and safety would jeopardize their ability to keep providing essential services to Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank. This dilemma has deepened existing rifts within the humanitarian community — well in line with Israel’s longstanding divide-and-rule policies — and left aid organizations fearing for the future of their work. While Israel seemingly prefers to maintain the presence of some humanitarian organizations in Gaza for international legitimacy, the aim of the re-registration process is to expel the majority of aid groups and co-opt those that remain into the Gaza Humanitarian Fund (GHF) scheme — which, since May, has had a near monopoly over the distribution of aid in the Strip, with extremely deadly consequences. In doing so, Israel seeks to accelerate the dissolution of the needs-based model of humanitarian assistance in Gaza, replacing it with one that instrumentalizes aid flows in ways that align with the government’s broader agenda of ethnic cleansing.”
NEW FROM FMEP
Settlement & Annexation Report: September 19, 2025 (Kristin McCarthy)
- Israel Advances Plans for 1,276 New Settlement Units; 2. Israel Tells PA It Will Act Unilaterally on Al-Ibrahimi Mosque/Cave of the Patriarchs in Hebron; 3. Escalating Attacks, Violence, Dispossession and Takeover in Ramallah Area; 4. U.S. Secretary of State Attends Settler Archaeology Event in Silwan; 5. Bonus Reads
Poetry of the Camps: Poems from Gaza on Homeland, Miracles, and Freedom (New Occupied Thoughts episode)
FMEP Fellow Hilary Rantisi speaks with zehra imam, who launched Poetry of the Camps, a poetry program in Gaza with young writers. Basman Aldirawi and Duha Hassan Al Shaqaqi, former participants in the program who have become co-leaders of it, joined in the conversation. Basman and Duha shared what it meant for each of them to be writing poetry in Gaza during the genocide. They discussed the process of bringing students together virtually from all over the Gaza Strip, with different backgrounds and experiences, to write poetry. The themes of their sessions were miracles, homeland, the concept of colorism, love letters to Palestine, and freedom. They share a poem titled “Balsam” written by a student participant about her friend who was killed in the Israeli assault and discuss their experiences during the genocide: Basman, who was in Egypt on 10/7/23 and could not return to Gaza and Duha, who survived the genocide and was evacuated from Gaza just a few weeks ago.
On the Global Sumud Flotilla Heading for Gaza (New Occupied Thoughts episode)
FMEP Fellow Peter Beinart speaks with David Adler, co-general coordinator of the Progressive International, who is currently on the Global Sumud Flotilla, a humanitarian convoy currently on its way to Gaza. They discuss the remarkable cross-section of people who have joined the flotilla and what they hope to achieve by it while also looking at different ways Israel works to discredit and undermine this effort.
GAZA
More than 250,000 displaced from Gaza City in past month, UN figures show (The Guardian 9/18/25)
“More than a quarter of a million people have been displaced from Gaza City in the last month, according to figures from the UN, with tens of thousands more forced to flee makeshift homes and shelters daily in the face of a new Israeli offensive. Strikes by Israeli artillery, tanks and warplanes hit Gaza City again on Thursday as a UN official said “new waves of mass displacement” were under way, after about 60,000 fled the new assault in 72 hours earlier this week…An unbroken column of traffic heavily laden with household utensils, blankets, mattresses, gas cylinders and often entire families packed Gaza’s narrow coastal road on Thursday as a steady stream of Palestinians headed south towards areas designated by Israel…Swathes of Gaza City, once a busy commercial and cultural hub, have been reduced to uninhabitable ruins. Until weeks ago, more than a million people were living there, many already displaced numerous times.” See also IDF tries to force civilians out of Gaza City as ground offensive continues (The Guardian 9/17/25); The Forced Displacement of Gazans, in Pictures and Maps (WaPo 9/19/25); Gaza City’s communications cut amid widening Israeli ground invasion (WaPo 9/17/25)
Smotrich says Gaza a ‘real estate bonanza,’ talking to the US about dividing it up (TOI 9/17/25)
“Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich says that the Gaza Strip is a “real estate bonanza,” and that he is in talks with the Americans on how to divide it up the coastal enclave after the war. There is “a real estate bonanza” in Gaza that “pays for itself” and he has “already started negotiations with the Americans,” Hebrew media quotes the far-right minister saying at a real estate conference in Tel Aviv. “We have poured a lot of money into this war. We have to see how we are dividing up the land in percentages,” Smotrich says, adding that “the demolition, the first stage in the city’s renewal, we have already done. Now we just need to build.”…Last month, the Washington Post reported that Trump administration was weighing a proposal for the postwar reconstruction of Gaza that would put the Strip under US control for a decade and pay roughly a quarter of its population to relocate, many of them permanently.” See also Israel’s ‘Real Estate Bonanza’ Involves Wiping Gaza Off the Face of the Earth (Haaretz 9/19/25); Israel launches ‘significant’ Gaza City operation (Al Monitor 9/16/25)
My U.N. Commission’s Finding: Israel Is Committing Genocide (Navi Pillay, Chair of the U.N. Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and Israel//NYT 9/16/25)
“Today the United Nations commission that I lead is publishing its legal analysis of Israel’s conduct in the Gaza Strip. Our conclusion is stark: Israel has committed genocide against Palestinians in Gaza. This finding is based on investigations and extensive evidence into the period between Oct. 7, 2023, when the war began, and July 31, 2025. It has been corroborated by multiple sources and assessed through the rigorous legal framework of the U.N. Genocide Convention of 1948, to which Israel is a party…The scale of destruction is devastating. More than 64,000 Palestinians have been killed, including over 18,000 children and nearly 10,000 women, according to Gazan health officials. Estimated life expectancy in Gaza has collapsed from 75 years to just over 40 in a single year, one of the steepest declines recorded. Hospitals, schools, churches, mosques and entire neighborhoods have been destroyed. Our analysis found that starvation has been used as a weapon of war and that the medical system has been deliberately destroyed. Maternal health care has been severely undermined. Children have been starved, shot and buried under rubble. According to UNICEF, one child has died every hour in Gaza. These are not the accidents of war. They are acts calculated to bring about the destruction of a people…
What does this mean for the international community? It means its obligations are not optional. Every state has an obligation to prevent genocide wherever it occurs. That obligation requires action: halting the transfer of weapons and military support used in genocidal acts, ensuring unimpeded humanitarian assistance, stopping the mass displacement and destruction, and using all available diplomatic and legal means to stop the killing. To do nothing is not neutrality. It is complicity.” See also Israel has committed genocide in Gaza, says UN commission of inquiry (The Guardian 9/16/25); UN inquiry finds top Israeli officials incited genocide in Gaza (Reuters 9/16/25); This Is What Malnutrition Does to Children’s Bodies (NYT 9/14/25);
The Genocide in Gaza (Drop Site 9/19/25)
“At least 33 Palestinians killed and 146 injured in the past 24 hours, according to Gaza’s ministry of health. One Palestinian was killed and 17 injured while seeking aid. The total recorded death toll since October 7, 2023 is now 65,174 killed, with 166,071 injured. Four more deaths, including one child, were recorded over the past 24 hours due to starvation and malnutrition, bringing the total since the start of the war to 440, including 147 children. Nearly a quarter of a million Palestinians have been displaced since mid-August when Israel launched its offensive on Gaza City, with around half fleeing in the past week alone, according to the UN. The UN also said that Gaza City’s lifelines are collapsing as 11 UNRWA shelters have been hit in the past five days and aid continues to be severely restricted. The Israeli military warned on Friday it will operate with “unprecedented force” in Gaza City.” See also How Israel is using robots, exploding vehicles and paratroopers to erase Gaza City (Middle East Eye 9/19/25); 32 Palestinians killed by IDF fire in Gaza over past 24 hours, Health Ministry says (Haaretz 9/19/25); Four IDF soldiers killed in roadside bomb attack in southern Gaza’s Rafah (TOI 9/18/25); Gaza Officials Say 98 Palestinians Killed in Israeli Strikes in Past Day, Four Died of Malnutrition (Haaretz 9/17/25)
Key aid groups suspend work, face tough choices as Israel invades Gaza City (WaPo 9/16/25)
“Key aid groups suspended or greatly curtailed what remains of their operations in eastern Gaza City on Tuesday after Israeli tanks arrived at the city limits as part of a ground offensive to seize the city. “Our staff and a million more people in Gaza are facing a harrowing, untenable decision: Stay and maybe be killed, or leave their homes, maybe never to return,” said Sean Carroll, president and CEO of American Near East Refugee Aid, known as Anera, a Washington-based nonprofit. Anera suspended all work in Gaza City on Tuesday. Carroll said staff members are planning to move south. Tens of thousands of residents could lose access to vital water delivery, among other basic services, aid organizations warned. For months, groups have labored to deliver food, water and medical care to Gaza City, where the enclave’s starvation crisis is at its worst. Staff members at more than a dozen humanitarian aid sites, including three health clinics, have been instructed to shelter in place or leave their headquarters since Thursday, according to U.N. security announcements reviewed by The Washington Post…Aid workers warned that many people did not have the financial resources to comply with Israel’s relocation orders.” See also $1k for a Tent, $2k for a Ride to Khan Yunis: The Extraordinary Cost to Evacuate Gaza City (Haaretz 9/17/25);
Civilians made up 15 of every 16 people killed by Israel in Gaza since March, data suggests (The Guardian 9/19/25)
“About 15 of every 16 Palestinians the Israeli military has killed since its renewed offensive in Gaza began in March have been civilians, data collected by the independent violence-tracking organisation Acled indicates…Researchers from Acled, which is backed by western governments and the UN, tracked reports of losses sustained by Hamas and allied armed groups in Gaza from the Israeli military, reliable local and international media, statements from Hamas and other sources over a six-month period…More than 16,000 Palestinians have been killed since Israel broke a two-month ceasefire in March with a huge wave of airstrikes across the devastated territory, according to statistics published by the UN…The Guardian revealed last month that internal data from the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) indicated a civilian death toll of 83% between the outbreak of war in October 2023 and May of this year.” See also Gaza’s Hunger Crisis Dominates Headlines, but Most Deaths Come From Israel’s Airstrikes (Haaretz 9/5/25); ‘The bombing has been insane’: Gaza City Palestinians scramble to flee Israeli assault (BBC 9/16/25); Panic as Israel Warns High Rises in Gaza City Will Be Struck With Minutes to Get Out (Abdel Qader Sabbah//Drop Site 9/15/25)
IDF, Shin Bet Using Gazan Militias for Military Operations in Exchange for Pay and Territory (Haaretz 9/17/25)
“The IDF and Shin Bet security service are using Gaza-based militias to carry out military operations in exchange for pay and control over territory in the enclave, according to testimonies from Israeli soldiers and commanders serving in Gaza. Haaretz reported last year that Gaza civilians had been used by the IDF since the start of the war for targeted tasks, primarily scanning tunnels and inspecting suspicious buildings. In recent weeks, however, soldiers say recruitment has grown into organized groups that Israeli field forces must coordinate with – sometimes without having actual control over them. Each militia consists of dozens of armed men, most from prominent Gaza clans, including the Abu Shabab family. In addition to receiving cash payments, the militias are allowed to carry weapons, which enables them to profit by controlling aid truck routes and charging for the right to set up tents in areas with high civilian presence.”
REGION//GLOBAL
Rubio says Netanyahu has full support of US over plans to destroy Hamas (The Guardian 9/15/25)
“The US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, has put the Trump administration’s full support behind Benjamin Netanyahu in a visit to Jerusalem, saying Washington’s priorities were the liberation of Israeli hostages and the destruction of Hamas. In public remarks standing alongside Netanyahu, Rubio did not mention the possibility of a ceasefire, and did not repeat his earlier criticism of Israel for carrying out an airstrike last week aimed at Hamas leaders in Doha, the capital of another close US ally, Qatar.” See also Trump’s Laissez-Faire Stance Gives Netanyahu Free Pass for Gaza Escalation (NYT 9/16/25); Gulf leaders call on Trump to rein in Israel after Qatar emergency summit (The Guardian 9/15/25); Trump tells aides Netanyahu ‘f—king me,’ but won’t break publicly with him – report (TOI 9/18/25); Rubio, in Israel, Says a Diplomatic Solution to Gaza War May Not be Possible (NYT 9/15/25);
As the world frets over Palestine’s status, Israel flattens Gaza (Ishaan Tharoor//WaPo 9/18/25)
“At the United Nations next week, Palestine is top of the agenda. On Monday, a day before President Donald Trump strides to the dais of the General Assembly, the chamber will reconvene a special summit on the two-state solution. The meeting is a diplomatic initiative launched jointly by France and Saudi Arabia in the shadow of Israel’s almost 2-year war in the Gaza Strip, where its campaign to root out militant group Hamas has killed tens of thousands of Palestinians and destroyed the majority of the densely populated territory…“For those recognizing Palestine, it is an attempt to respond to domestic demands to do something about the genocide in Gaza by reaching for outdated policy tools precisely because the leaders do not have the courage to reach further,” Yousef Munayyer, senior fellow at the Arab Center Washington, a think tank, told me. “At the same time, for [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu it underscores the new depths of isolation Israel finds itself in.” On the ground, the conditions needed for a viable Palestinian state are nowhere in sight: Jewish settlements proliferate across the West Bank, while Israeli forces are in the midst of a punishing offensive on Gaza City, forcing hundreds of thousands of residents into yet another desperate scramble for safety in an enclave where there are no safe places to go. But diplomats believe that recognition of Palestine, as Spanish Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares told me last year, is “the best tool right now to protect the two-state solution.”’ See also From Palestine push to Sharaa’s UN debut: What to watch at UN summit (Al Monitor 9/18/25); US vetoes UN Security Council resolution demanding immediate Gaza ceasefire and hostage release (AP 9/19/25); Palestinian Authority President Abbas to Address United Nations Through Video After U.S. Visa Denial (Haaretz 9/19/25); Starmer to recognise Palestinian state ‘after Trump state visit’ (The Guardian 9/17/25); 142 back, 10 oppose French-Saudi roadmap for two-state solution at UN: What to know (Al Monitor 9/12/25); EU lays out new tariffs and sanctions on Israel over war in Gaza (AP 9/17/25);
Two [Israeli] soldiers killed by knifeman driving Gaza-bound aid truck at West Bank-Jordan crossing (TOI 9/18/25)
“Two Israeli soldiers were killed in a shooting and stabbing attack near Allenby Crossing between the West Bank and Jordan on Thursday. The assailant was a Jordanian who had been driving a humanitarian aid truck headed for the Gaza Strip.” See also Assailant Kills 2 Israeli Soldiers at West Bank-Jordan Border (NYT 9/18/25); After deadly attack, IDF chief halts Gaza aid entering from Jordan; Allenby Crossing shut (TOI 9/19/25);
Staggering Death Toll Rises to 32 in Single-Deadliest Israeli Strike on Journalists (Drop Site 9/18/25)
“Last Wednesday, on September 10, the Israeli military carried out a wave of bombings in Yemen’s capital of Sana’a, killing dozens of people at several locations. Among the targets hit was a building that Israeli officials referred to as “the Houthis’ military public relations headquarters.” Videos and images of dead and wounded civilians, including several children, quickly began to disseminate on social media after the attack. Among the dead were reported to be a large number of journalists and media workers—with as many as 32 killed in the strike. In a report on the aftermath of the Sana’a bombings, Human Rights Watch cited experts who noted that the office building struck by Israel was home to the media headquarters of Ansarallah, which is the de facto government of the region, as well as the offices of two local newspapers.” See also Houthi drone smashes into entrance of Eilat hotel (TOI 9/18/25); See also Israel killed 31 journalists in Yemen strike, press freedom group says (WaPo 9/19/25); Scoop: Israel presented Syria with proposal for new security agreement (Axios 9/16/25);
Israel’s Qatar attack was a costly failure (Barak Ravid//Axios 9/16/25)
“A week after Israel’s missile strikes in Qatar, it’s clear not only that the assassination attempt against Hamas leaders failed, but that it backfired…The strike increased the feeling inside the Trump administration and around the world that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government is reckless and has become a destabilizing force in the region…Israel’s plan was to take out several of Hamas’ top leaders all at once as they met to discuss President Trump’s Gaza peace proposal. Five Hamas members were killed, along with a Qatari security officer, but the key targets all survived…Instead, the failed attack led to the indefinite suspension of negotiations. Hamas’ negotiators went underground, and the outraged Qatari mediators suspended their efforts. A senior Israeli official told Axios Hamas had been moving “in the direction of a deal” and “we could have reached a breakthrough within days.” Instead, the official argued, the strike sabotaged the talks…Netanyahu wanted to apply more pressure on Qatar to squeeze Hamas, but the attack led to a swell of international solidarity with the Gulf emirate.” See also Scoop: Netanyahu spoke to Trump before Israel bombed Qatar (Axios 9/15/25); Hamas leader gives first TV interview since Israel’s Doha attack: What to know (Al Monitor 9/17/25); Scoop: Netanyahu spoke to Trump before Israel bombed Qatar (Axios 9/15/25);
RIVER TO THE SEA
Israel Is Orchestrating an Economic Collapse in the West Bank (Jessica Buxbaum//Foreign Policy 9/17/25)
“Rauf, who didn’t want his last name used to protect his identity, had his permit revoked when Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, as with the other approximately 115,000 Palestinians from the West Bank who also held work permits. Nearly two years into the war, only about 8,000 permits have been reinstated. With hundreds of thousands of Palestinians out of work, unemployment has skyrocketed to over 30 percent in the West Bank, as of the last time unemployment data was gathered in September 2024—approaching the highest it’s ever been…Not only is work scarce in the occupied territory, but Israeli-imposed economic restrictions in place from before the war—like withholding Palestinian tax revenues—have strangled the West Bank’s job market…In the first year of the war, a survey conducted by the International Labour Organization found that over 50 percent of West Bank employees had their hours decreased, more than 60 percent had their incomes reduced, and 65 percent of businesses slashed their workforce. The lack of available jobs in the West Bank together with legal options to work in Israel cut off means more workers are potentially endangering their lives just to earn a living.”
We Are ‘Super Sparta’: Netanyahu Says Israel Faces Isolation, Must Shift to Self-reliance (Haaretz 9/15/25)
“Israel is currently in a “type of isolation,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu admitted on Monday, acknowledging that nearly two years into its war in Gaza, Israel must adapt. Speaking at the “Fifty States – One Israel” economic conference hosted by the Finance Ministry’s Accountant General’s Department, with the largest delegation of American legislators to ever visit Israel, Netanyahu said Israel needs to adjust to said isolation, including by producing weapons, to lessen its dependence on foreign nations…However, Netanyahu added that Israel will need to behave like “Sparta,” famous for its wars with ancient Athens. “We’ll need to develop weapons industries here. We’re going to be Athens and super Sparta. Over the next few years, we’ll have no other choice. We’ll have to defend ourselves and know how to attack our enemies.”’ See also Netanyahu admits Israel is economically isolated, will need to become self-reliant (TOI 9/15/25);
Israeli intelligence agency balked at Netanyahu’s strike in Qatar (WaPo 9/12/25)
“When Israel announced Tuesday that it had launched a strike on senior Hamas leaders in Qatar, one security agency was notably missing from the official statements: the Mossad. That’s because Israel’s external intelligence agency had declined to carry out a plan it had drawn up in recent weeks to use agents on the ground to assassinate Hamas leaders, according to two Israelis familiar with the matter who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive information. The Mossad director, David Barnea, opposed killing the Hamas officials in Qatar partly because such an action could rupture the relationship he and his agency had cultivated with the Qataris, who had been hosting Hamas and mediating ceasefire talks between the militant group and Israel, these people said. The Mossad’s reservations about a ground operation ultimately influenced how the strike was carried out and perhaps its likelihood of success. They reflected a broader opposition within the Israeli security establishment to the attack ordered by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.”
Smotrich Isn’t Bluffing: Israeli Minister’s Plan to Annex 82% of the West Bank Is a Road Map (Amira Hass//Haaretz 9/4/25)
“In some 20 years of political activity, Bezalel Smotrich has proven himself to be goal-oriented and highly capable of executing his intentions. From his opposition to the Gaza disengagement, to leading the right-wing organization Regavim, and now as the minister responsible for settlements – he was also the first to openly say that the release of hostages is not the top priority – many of his positions have become government policy. That’s why Smotrich’s announcement earlier this week, at a press conference alongside senior figures from the settlement establishment, must be taken seriously: the formal annexation of 82% of the West Bank…As early as late 2016, in an interview with Ravit Hecht in Haaretz, Smotrich laid out his goal: to extinguish Palestinian hopes for a state between the river and the sea. He described three options for the Palestinians: voluntary mass emigration (his preferred choice); remaining in the land as subjects without rights or national aspirations; or full-scale war against those who refuse to accept the decree…When it comes to anti-Palestinian policy, Smotrich is not a fringe figure. He is in the mainstream. That’s why his annexation plan is not a fantastical delusion.”
Israel Demolishes Palestinian Village Attacked by Settlers in West Bank (Haaretz 9/18/25)
“The Israeli army began demolishing buildings and infrastructure in a Palestinian village in the southern West Bank, less than two weeks after it was attacked by Jewish settlers…A villager said that the security forces cut cables belonging to security cameras that were repaired after a settler riot there two weeks ago, which defense officials say was one of the worst nationalist crimes in recent times…One of the homes demolished by an order of the Civil Administration was owned by a resident who was stabbed in the abdomen during the raid, while settlers assaulted his wife and children…Jewish suspects in the riot have not yet been arrested.” See also Bedouin families left homeless as Israel demolishes Negev village (Middle East Eye 9/18/25); Israel Demolishes Dozens of Bedouin Homes as Residents Set Houses Ablaze in Protest (Haaretz 9/17/25);
How Israel’s War Economy Defied Economic Predictions (Assaf Bondy & Adam Raz//Jacobin 9/16/25)
“Many observers thought that years of prolonged war would cripple Israel’s economy. But the opposite has happened. By giving billions of shekels in compensation to reservists, Israel has managed to keep its citizens spending while Gaza burns.” See also Netanyahu is only obstacle to bringing hostages home, families say (BBC 9/14/25);
Israel’s culture minister threatens national film awards after Palestinian story takes top prize (The Guardian 9/17/25)
“Israel’s culture minister, Miki Zohar, has announced that funding for the Ophirs, the country’s national film awards, would be cancelled after The Sea, a film about a 12-year-old Palestinian boy, won the best feature film prize.” See also Oscar-winning Palestinian says home in West Bank raided by Israeli soldiers (The Guardian 9/13/25);
U.S. SCENE
Seven Senate Dems call for recognition of a Palestinian state (JI 9/19/25)
“The resolution was led by Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-OR) and co-sponsored by Sens. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Tim Kaine (D-VA), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Peter Welch (D-VT), Tina Smith (D-MN), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) and Mazie Hirono (D-HI). The resolution came in conjunction with plans by several U.S. allies to recognize a Palestinian state and alongside a similar push from progressive House lawmakers. Merkley and Van Hollen recently traveled to Israel and released a scathing report accusing Israel of deliberate ethnic cleansing and collective punishment…Van Hollen said in a statement that Congress should assert its own stance on the issue because “the Netanyahu government has obstructed that goal [of a two-state solution] and the Trump Administration has abandoned it.”’ See also Democratic Senators Call for U.S. Recognition of Palestinian State (NYT 9/18/25); Senators say US is complicit in Israel’s ethnic cleansing of Gaza (The Guardian 9/11/25); One year after Ayşenur Ezgi Eygi was killed, the US has not investigated. Her family wants answers (The Guardian 9/6/25); Growing number of Americans say U.S. supports Israel too much in Gaza war, poll shows (WaPo 9/18/25);
For the first time, Bernie Sanders calls Israel’s war in Gaza a genocide (WaPo 9/17/25)
“Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) said Wednesday that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza — becoming one of the highest-profile elected U.S. officials to do so and marking the first time he has used the term to describe Israel’s nearly two-year military campaign in the enclave, which has come under growing international criticism. In an op-ed published on his website, Sanders wrote: “The intent is clear. The conclusion is inescapable: Israel is committing genocide in Gaza.” While acknowledging Israel’s right to defend itself following Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, attack, Sanders said that “over the last two years, Israel has not simply defended itself against Hamas” but has “waged an all-out war against the entire Palestinian people.”’ See also Bernie Sanders accuses Israel of ‘genocide’ in Gaza, the first US senator to do so (TOI 9/17/25)
UC Berkeley shares 160 names with Trump administration in ‘McCarthy era’ move (The Guardian 9/12/25)
“The University of California, Berkeley has given the Trump administration the names of 160 faculty members and students as part of an investigation into “alleged antisemitic incidents”, a move a targeted scholar likened to a “practice from the McCarthy era”…UC Berkeley officials confirmed on Friday that 160 people, including faculty, students and staff, had received letters warning of the disclosures and said the decision to send the information to the Trump administration was made by the University of California’s systemwide general counsel…[Professor Judith] Butler [whose name was among those shared by UC-Berkeley with the Trump administration] questioned why the university was not resisting the government’s inquiries, citing other institutions’ presidents, who have said they would not capitulate to certain federal demands in an effort to maintain academic freedom. “It’s shocking … did you consider not complying with this request?” Butler said.” See also University leaders among 100+ signatories to Jewish letter decrying Trump’s campus antisemitism wars (JTA 9/18/25); A Statement From US Jews Opposing Trump’s Attacks on Colleges and Students (The Nation 9/18/25);
Immigration judge orders Mahmoud Khalil deported to Syria or Algeria (Politico 9/17/25)
“An immigration judge in Louisiana has ordered pro-Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil, a legal permanent resident of the U.S., deported to Syria or Algeria for failing to disclose certain information on his green card application, according to documents filed in federal court Wednesday by his lawyers. Khalil’s lawyers suggested in a filing that they intend to appeal the deportation order, but expressed concern that the appeal process will likely be swift and unfavorable.”
Trump Sanctions Palestinian Human Rights Groups for Doing Their Job. Anybody Could Be Next. (Sarah Leah Whitson//The Intercept 9/16/25)
“For decades, the Treasury Department has politicized its authority to impose sanctions. Now, however, with the Trump administration sanctioning three Palestinian human rights organizations, civil society activists around the world are shocked and terrified: Could they be next? The alarm is due to the brazen willingness of President Donald Trump to sanction the staff of these Palestinian groups specifically because of their advocacy with the International Criminal Court to hold Israeli war criminals accountable. It’s the first time the U.S. has levied sanctions against an organization specifically for its efforts to use lawful, peaceful tools of advocacy in pursuit of legal accountability. There is no pretense other than the groups’ work on legal issues that the administration doesn’t like.”
Google Secretly Handed ICE Data About Pro-Palestine Student Activist (The Intercept 9/16/25)
“Google handed over Gmail account information to ICE before notifying the student or giving him an opportunity to challenge the subpoena.”
ICE Gains Access to Israeli Spyware Maker Paragon’s Tool (Haaretz 9/3/25)
“The contract between the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the Israeli spyware company Paragon has been reactivated, in what some say is the first sign of a shift in the current administration’s policies towards offensive cyber. Last year, a $2 million contract was signed between Paragon and ICE, which is part of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), for its Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) unit. However, it was frozen a month later amid the Biden administration’s policy to clamp down on the offensive cyber industry, which sells technologies that allow states access to encrypted smartphones and has been misused across the globe over the past decade.”
Cuomo, Staunch Supporter of Israel, Says ‘Horrific’ Gaza War Must End (NYT 9/15/25)
“Former Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo of New York has long cast himself as a “hyper-aggressive” supporter of Israel, not only defending its war in Gaza but actively confronting fellow Democrats who do not. But as his lagging campaign for mayor of New York City enters its final weeks, there are signs that Mr. Cuomo’s stance has begun to shift. In an interview with The New York Times on Monday, Mr. Cuomo said the situation in Gaza had become “horrific,” called for an immediate end to the war and gently distanced himself from Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, a man he had signed up to defend in the International Criminal Court less than a year ago.” See also Mamdani reiterates vow to arrest Netanyahu as poll shows NYers prefer him over any opponent on Israeli-Palestinian conflict (JTA 9/12/25);
An Israeli Group Aiding Gaza Becomes a New Favorite of US Pro-Israel Groups (Alex Kane//Jewish Currents 9/18/25)
“Last month, the United Jewish Appeal–Federation of Jewish Philanthropies of New York (UJA) announced that it had donated $1 million to the Israeli humanitarian organization IsraAID to assist relief efforts in Gaza…The UJA donation arrived amid increasing Jewish communal criticism of starvation in Gaza…The gift also highlighted a relatively new endeavor for IsraAID itself, an independent nonprofit which was founded in 2001 and is mostly funded by private donors and foundations, though it has worked with the Israeli foreign ministry to provide relief in particular international contexts…IsraAID says that it has provided aid to 100,000 Palestinians in Gaza, and that it hopes to increase its work in the Strip. But it has not provided many details about how it carries out this work. Unlike most other aid groups, IsraAID does not have its own staff working directly inside Gaza. Instead, it says it works with other organizations that are vetted and trusted by the Israeli military, but does not name them due to security concerns…This secrecy, however, has raised concerns among other humanitarian groups.”
Ben & Jerry’s co-founder quits over Gaza battle with owner Unilever (Al Monitor 9/17/25)
“One of the co-founders of Ben & Jerry’s has resigned following a dispute and lawsuit between the US ice cream company and its owner, Unilever, over its public stance on the Gaza war…In a post on the X platform late Tuesday, Jerry Greenfield announced the news of his resignation after 47 years at the company, saying he could no longer “in good conscience” remain an employee of Ben & Jerry’s and that the company had been “silenced” by Unilever.”
Candace Owens’ Israel allegations derail MAGA unity over Charlie Kirk (Axios 9/17/25)
“MAGA swiftly coalesced in grief and anger after Kirk was assassinated last week. The fact that disagreements over Israel pierced that unity underscores how divisive the issue has become — and how much foreign policy orthodoxy is evolving on the right.”
Pro-Israel donors unload on Trump’s toughest GOP critic (Axios 9/18/25)
“The Republican Party’s pro-Israel allies are going all-out to unseat Rep. Thomas Massie. He’s responded by making those attacks a centerpiece of his campaign…Pro-Israel donors are funneling money to MAGA Kentucky, a Trump-aligned super PAC that’s aired several anti-Massie ads.”
PERSPECTIVES//LONG READS
Israel is waging a holocaust in Gaza. Denazification is our only remedy (Orly Noy//+972 Magazine 9/18/25)
“What Israel is doing in Gaza City is not the tragic byproduct of chaotic events on the ground, but a well-calculated act of annihilation, executed in cold blood by “the people’s army” — that is, the fathers, sons, brothers, and neighbors of us Israelis. How is it that, despite the mounting testimonies from Gaza’s concentration and extermination camps, no mass refusal movement has taken root in Israel? That after two years of this carnage barely a handful of conscientious objectors sit in prison is truly inconceivable…Who are these obedient souls who keep this system running? How can a society so deeply fractured — between the religious and the secular, settlers and liberals, kibbutzniks and urbanites, veteran immigrants and new arrivals — unite only in its willingness to slaughter Palestinians without a moment’s hesitation?…Israel is unleashing a holocaust in Gaza, and it cannot be dismissed as the will of the country’s current fascist leaders alone. This horror runs deeper than Netanyahu, Ben Gvir, and Smotrich. What we are witnessing is the final stage in the nazification of Israeli society. The urgent task now is to bring this holocaust to an end. But stopping it is only the first step. If Israeli society is ever to return to the fold of humanity, it must undergo a deep process of denazification.”
Israeli Soldiers’ Vulnerability Is a Healthy Reaction From People Who Have Committed Horrific Acts (Amira Hass//Haaretz 9/18/25)
“The soldiers who took their own lives and will take their own lives, or those who tried and will try, the conscripts who strive to be released from combat duty and those who are emotionally scarred – they’re all the sane ones. Their bodies and souls refuse to consider obeying an order a supreme value. And it makes no difference how many of them view their military service and the acts of their commanders, army and state as crimes…While Israeli society is normalizing the annihilation of the Gaza Strip in all the news broadcasts and over a cup of coffee on upscale boulevards, the soldiers who wake up shouting and go to their mental health officer for an exemption are a straw to grab onto in the heavy darkness we’re immersed in.”
When Universities Become Informants (Judith Butler//Chronicle of Higher Education 9/13/25)
“In this case, we were each informed of the existence of a file passed to the government without access to the file itself. We were not allowed to know the substance of the allegation nor were we provided with a review process where our own accounts could be considered. In the missive, Robinson does say that the incidents of antisemitic harassment or discrimination are “alleged,” implying that the allegations were not necessarily reviewed or adjudicated but left to stand on their own. Instead of treating the allegations according to established Title VI procedures, the university forwarded the allegation to an office of the federal government. Some of the allegations are anonymous, according to the university’s legal counsel. The fact that someone somewhere, protected by anonymity, has made allegations of this kind is apparently sufficient to forward the names to an office of the federal government that has demonstrated contempt for civil rights and established university procedures. We are all due the equivalent of protections offered by the Sixth Amendment of the Constitution — the right to a lawyer, the right to an impartial jury, the right to know who your accusers are, the nature of the charges, and the evidence provided. We are also due the opportunity to rebut such an allegation with our own evidence…Will those of us on the list be branded by the government as “terrorist sympathizers”? Will our travel be restricted? Will our email be surveilled? Students on the list are now potentially exposed to abduction, deportation, termination of employment, expulsion from the university, harassment, and detention by a government that has already shown its willingness to do all of the above.” See also Kafka-land at UC Berkeley (Judith Butler//The Nation 9/16/25)
China and the Gaza Genocide: A Strategic Distance (Razan Shawamreh//Al Shabaka 9/16/25)
“This policy memo shows how China’s “biased impartiality,” which privileges the Israeli regime, drives its strategic distancing from the genocide in Gaza. This position is not simply the result of US dominance over Israel-related affairs but a calculated decision to protect China’s long-term interests. By calling for Palestinian unity without exerting pressure on the Israeli government, Beijing shields its ties with the Zionist state under the guise of restraint. In addition, it deflects responsibility for stopping the genocide onto the UN Security Council (UNSC), casting ceasefire, humanitarian access, and prisoner release as obligations for others in order to absolve itself of direct accountability.”
In the West Bank, Trump Is Not Standing in Israel’s Way (Philip Gordon, National Security Advisor to VP Kamala Harris//NYT 9/18/25)
“The Trump administration has not officially given its blessing to Israeli annexation of the West Bank. But it appears to be doing nothing to stand in Israel’s way…Given America’s apparent acquiescence, only international action can prevent a coming disaster.” See also Netanyahu and an Israel Without Restraint (Roger Cohen//NYT 9/17/25)
Israel’s opposition is plotting a return to power. But it remains its own worst enemy (Joshua Leifer//+972 9/15/25)
“Despite a strong showing in the polls, Israel’s center-left camp is still in denial about its only trump card: joining forces with Palestinian-led parties.”
NEW FROM FMEP
Apartheid, Genocide, and the Growing Chasm in the Right’s Support for Israel (New podcast episode)
FMEP Fellow Ahmed Moor speaks with Daniel Levy, President of the U.S./Middle East Project (USMEP). They discuss Levy’s argument that the way that Israel withdrew Israeli settlements from Gaza in 2005 set the stage for today’s genocide; as Levy put it in a recent +972 Magazine piece, the current Israeli paradigm is “not just separating from the Palestinians, relegated to shrinking Bantustans, but annihilating and erasing them.” Moor and Levy also discuss the impact of Israel’s attacks in Qatar this week both in the near and longterm, the need for Netanyahu to formally deny Israeli involvement in the assassination of Charlie Kirk, and shifting political approaches to Israel/Palestine.
FMEP Legislative Round-Up September 12, 2025 (Lara Friedman)
Bills, Resolutions; Letters; Hearings & Markups; Selected Members on the Record; Selected Media & Press releases/Statements
Settlement & Annexation Report: September 12, 2025 (Kristin McCarthy)
Netanyahu Signs Final Approval of E-1, Celebrates End of Palestinian State; Netanyahu Delays Discussion of Plan to Annex the Jordan Valley; ‘Formalizing Apartheid’: Smotrich Presents Plan to Annex 82% of the West Bank; State Land Declaration to Legalize Havat Gilad Outpost; Settlers Establish New Enclave on Key Hebron Street (Currently) Open to Palestinians; West Bank News & Analysis; East Jerusalem News & Analysis; Bonus Reads
GAZA
Palestinians in Gaza City Confront Brutal Israeli Displacement Campaign with Nowhere to Go (Abdel Qader Sabbah//Drop Site 9/11/25)
“Palestinians in Gaza City are facing the full brunt of Israel’s military campaign to ethnically cleanse the entire city, once the largest in historic Palestine, with nowhere to go. On Wednesday, the Israeli military extolled its escalating assault on Gaza City, with a spokesperson saying dozens of Israeli warplanes hit over 360 targets in the city, including high-rise buildings and infrastructure…Since the Israeli military launched its offensive to seize and take control of Gaza City last month, it has issued multiple displacement orders for different neighborhoods in the area, culminating in a mass expulsion order on Monday for the entire city of nearly 1 million Palestinians. Many are simply unable to leave. Multiple displaced Palestinians in Gaza City told Drop Site News they cannot flee south because of the exorbitant travel costs, which can run as high as 4,000 shekels (around $1,200); the lack of space or shelter in severely overcrowded areas in the south; and the lack of safety from Israeli attacks anywhere in Gaza, including in so-called “humanitarian zones.”’ See also The Frontline of Israel’s Ethnic Cleansing Campaign: Report from Gaza City (Abdel Qader Sabbah and Rasha Abou Jalal//Drop Site 9/8/25); Facing Israeli Assault, Many in Gaza City Say Fleeing Again Is Worse (NYT 9/10/25); Israel orders Gaza City residents to leave as military prepares to occupy city (The Guardian 9/9/25); Where Will Everyone in Gaza City Go? (NYT 9/11/25);
The Genocide in Gaza (Drop Site 9/12/25)
“Israeli attacks across Gaza killed at least 50 Palestinians today, including at least 37 in Gaza City and the north, according to Al Jazeera…Fourteen Palestinians were killed and 143 injured while seeking aid. The total recorded death toll since October 7, 2023 is now 64,756 killed, with 164,059 injured. Two more deaths, including one child, were recorded over the past 24 hours due to starvation and malnutrition, bringing the total since the start of the war to 413, including 143 children…The total number of Palestinians killed seeking aid since GHF [Gaza Humanitarian Foundation] took over aid distribution in May is over 2,400.” See also More than 7,000 under-fives in Gaza put in malnutrition recovery in two-week period (The Guardian 9/6/25); Anti-Islamic US biker gang members run security at deadly Gaza aid sites (BBC 9/10/25); U.S. Nonprofit Fundraising to Buy Drones for Israeli Military in Gaza Genocide (Drop Site 9/6/25);
I’m in Gaza City, my bag is packed, but I refuse to leave my home (Ahmed Ahmed//+972 Magazine 9/9/25)
“As I write this, I can hear the rumble of Israeli tanks and bulldozers only a few kilometers away from my home. Hundreds of families in the neighborhood have already fled out of fear, including many who refused to do so during previous invasions. When I think about the dozens of my friends, relatives, and neighbors already killed during this genocide, I wonder how many more I will lose in the coming days, whose faces I will see for the last time, and whether I myself will make it to the end. I watch my neighbors leaving, knowing it may be the last time I see them. Perhaps they will be killed on the road. Perhaps I will. By sheer luck, I have managed so far to escape injury and death. I have learned to adapt to what feels like a permanent survival state: I move quickly, stay close to walls, and walk under trees to avoid being spotted by quadcopters. I always keep my hands empty to show I pose no threat, though for many of Israel’s victims this was not enough. I never return the same way I came, and I often walk in a zigzag pattern to make it harder for snipers to target me. I’m constantly ready to drop to the ground at any moment. My greatest fear is that a missile will tear my body to pieces, leaving me unrecognizable, or that I will be wounded with no one able to reach me, my body left to the stray animals…Contrary to Israel’s claims, there is nowhere safe for us to go: once it destroys all of Gaza City, it will continue southward to the very “humanitarian zone” it is currently directing us to.” See also Israel Bombs Hamas Office in Doha, Issues Displacement Order for 1 Million in Gaza City (Drop Site 9/9/25); Israel escalates attacks on Gaza City as Qatar strike scuttles ceasefire talks (WaPo 9/10/25); Israeli military kills at least 41 people as it continues to order evacuation of Gaza City (The Guardian 9/10/25); IDF says some 200,000 Palestinians have left Gaza City as it gears up for offensive (TOI 9/10/25);
The Gaza family torn apart by IDF snipers from Chicago and Munich (The Guardian 11/9/25)
“Five-month investigation reveals how four members of one family were shot and killed in a single day and highlights a pattern in which Israeli troops target unarmed civilians.” See also Criminal Complaint Filed in Germany Against Munich-born IDF Sniper Over Alleged Gaza War Crimes (Haaretz 9/11/25)
‘We took the gloves off’: ex-IDF chief confirms Gaza casualties over 200,000 (The Guardian 9/12/25)
“A former Israeli army commander, Herzi Halevi, has confirmed that more than 200,000 Palestinians have been killed or injured in the war in Gaza, and that “not once” in the course of the conflict were military operations inhibited by legal advice. Halevi stepped down as chief of staff in March after leading the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) for the first 17 months of the war, which is now approaching its second anniversary. The retired general told a community meeting in southern Israel earlier this week that more than 10% of Gaza’s 2.2 million population had been killed or injured – “more than 200,000 people”. That estimate is notable as it is close to the current figures provided by Gaza’s health ministry, which Israeli officials have frequently dismissed as Hamas propaganda, though the ministry figures have been deemed reliable by international humanitarian agencies…However, Halevi denied that legal advice had ever affected his or his immediate subordinates’ military decisions in Gaza or across the Middle East.“Not once has anyone restricted me….”…Michael Sfard, an Israeli human rights lawyer, said Halevi’s remarks “confirm that the legal advisers serve as rubber stamps”. “The generals see them as ‘regular’ advisers whose advice one can adopt or dismiss, not as professional lawyers whose legal positions present the boundaries of what is permissible and what is prohibited,” Sfard said.” See also IDF Chief Ignores Top Military Lawyer in Ordering Full Gaza City Evacuation (Haaretz 9/10/25); Former IDF chief Eisenkot denounces Gaza City takeover ahead of security cabinet meeting (Haaretz 9/12/25);
Archaeologists scramble to evacuate Gaza artefacts threatened by Israeli strike (The Guardian 9/11/25)
“An official in charge of nearly three decades of archaeological finds in Gaza has described how the artefacts were hurriedly evacuated from a Gaza City building threatened by an Israeli strike. “This was a high-risk operation, carried out in an extremely dangerous context for everyone involved – a real last-minute rescue,” said Olivier Poquillon, director of the French Biblical and Archaeological School of Jerusalem (EBAF), which housed the relics. On Wednesday morning, Israeli authorities ordered EBAF – one of the oldest academic institutions in the region – to evacuate its archaeological storehouse on the ground floor of a residential tower in Gaza City that was due to be targeted.
The Disappearance of Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya (Amel Guettatfi//Drop Site 9/12/25)
“A photo of Dr. Abu Safiya approaching the tank has become an iconic symbol of Israel’s merciless assault on Gaza—and of Palestinian resilience. He returned to the hospital shortly afterwards. By nightfall, Kamal Adwan [Hospital] had been emptied and shut down by the Israeli military. Dr. Abu Safiya and all the men inside were detained. Dr. Abu Safiya has been in Israeli custody ever since without formal charge or trial in inhumane conditions…Dr. Abu Safiya wasn’t allowed a lawyer for 47 days. When one of his lawyers, Gheed Kassem, a Palestinian human rights attorney, finally managed to see him, he was shackled, forced to kneel, and flanked by prison guards. All of their visits, which take place behind glass, are recorded on video. Kassem told us that Dr. Abu Safiya has several broken ribs, indicating he has endured repeated beatings….At Ofer Prison, where Dr. Abu Safiya is now held, former detainees report being deprived of medical care and enough food.” See also Israeli military database indicates only a quarter of Gaza detainees are fighters (The Guardian 9/4/25); Israel’s top court says government is not giving Palestinian prisoners enough food (The Guardian 9/7/25);
REGION//GLOBAL
Israeli airstrikes ‘killed any hope’ for hostages in Gaza, says Qatari prime minister (Guardian 9/10/25)
“Qatar’s prime minister has said that Benjamin Netanyahu “killed any hope” for the remaining hostages in Gaza following Israel’s extraordinary strike on Hamas negotiators in Doha on Tuesday. In an interview with CNN on Wednesday, Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim al-Thani called the deadly strike in the Qatari capital an act of “state terror”. Israel’s attack the previous day killed six members of Hamas who were negotiating a ceasefire deal brokered by the US and other Gulf countries. “He needs to be brought to justice,” al-Thani said of the Israeli prime minister.” See also Israel threatens ‘enemies everywhere’ after strike against Hamas in Qatar (WaPo 9/10/25); Israel says it’s bombing its way to peace. The region fears more chaos. (Ishaan Tharoor//WaPo 9/9/25);
Israel launches airstrikes against top Hamas members in Qatar for Gaza ceasefire talks (The Guardian 9/9/25)
“Israel has launched a strike on Hamas officials meeting in Qatar’s capital, Doha, reportedly including the group’s chief ceasefire negotiator, in an attack the White House said “does not advance Israel or America’s goals”. Hamas said six people had been killed, including the son of its exiled Gaza chief, Khalil al-Hayya. It said its top leadership, including the negotiations team, had survived. The Israeli strike came hours after its military warned all of Gaza City’s residents to evacuate before a planned offensive to take control of what it portrays as Hamas’s last remaining stronghold, where hundreds of thousands of people are living under famine conditions. White House officials confirmed that the US had been informed in advance of the attack, which took place on the soil of an important regional US ally and a key mediator in attempts to reach a ceasefire in Gaza.” See also ‘Whoever Attacks Us, We Will Reach Them’: After Qatar, Israel Fires on Yemen (NYT 9/10/25);
Hamas: Chief negotiator Khalil al-Hayya is alive, was not killed in Israel’s strike on Qatar (Haaretz 9/12/25)
“Hamas announced Friday evening that the group’s chief negotiator, Khalil al-Hayya, was not killed in Israel’s strike on Thursday, which targeted a building housing Hamas leadership in Doha, Qatar, and killed six people…Five of the casualties of Tuesday’s strike were Hamas members, including Khalil al-Hayya’s son and his chief of staff, while the sixth was a member of Qatar’s security forces.” See also Qatari emir attends Hamas members’ funeral in Doha after Israeli strikes (Al Monitor 9/11/25);
‘Every time they’re making progress, it seems like he bombs someone’ (Politico 9/11/25)
“Although the White House is pushing to resume ceasefire talks between Israel and Hamas, President Donald Trump and his closest aides are worried that Israel’s brazen strike against Hamas leaders in Qatar this week has derailed such negotiations — possibly for good. The administration’s frustrations with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have deepened since the Israeli strike Tuesday, according to a person close to the president’s national security team and a U.S. official familiar with the situation, both granted anonymity to discuss internal deliberations. In fact, Trump and top aides have come to question whether Netanyahu, who authorized the strike and has threatened more, was trying to sabotage the talks, according to the person close to Trump’s team.” See also Report: Trump Sees Netanyahu’s Doha Strike as Possible Attempt to Derail Talks (Haaretz 9/12/25); Israel’s strike in Qatar scrambles Trump’s ceasefire plans (WaPo 9/11/25); Israeli activist Gershon Baskin conveys US truce plan to Hamas (Al Monitor 9/8/25);
Israel’s attack in Qatar infuriated Trump advisers, officials say (Axios 9/9/25)
“The news stunned the White House and infuriated some of Trump’s top advisers because it came as the U.S. was waiting for Hamas to respond to President Trump’s new proposal for peace in Gaza. In fact, the Hamas officials were meeting to discuss that proposal. The White House expected to receive Hamas’ response by the end of the week…Once Trump was briefed on the imminent strike, he instructed White House envoy Steve Witkoff to notify the Qataris. A U.S. official said by the time Witkoff reached them the bombs had already hit their target…On Tuesday, Trump called Netanyahu, expressed concern about the attack and stressed the need to move toward peace in the region, Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said. She added that Netanyahu responded that he wants peace and that he thinks this attack could help achieve it. Trump also called the emir and prime minister of Qatar and vowed to ensure such a strike on Qatari soil will not happen again in the future, Leavitt said…The strike in Doha took place not far from the biggest U.S. military base in the region, which only a few months ago was attacked by Iran in response to joint U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities. U.S. officials were particularly upset that they were notified so late that they had no opportunity to weigh in on Israel’s plans…Trump wrote on Truth Social: “This was a decision made by Prime Minister Netanyahu, it was not a decision made by me.” He added that he directed Secretary of State Marco Rubio to finalize a U.S-Qatar defense agreement.” See also Israeli strike targeting Hamas in Qatar ‘does not advance Israel or America’s goals,’ Trump says (WaPo 9/9/25); U.S. Joins U.N. Security Council’s Criticism of Israeli Strike in Qatar (NYT 9/11/25); White House said ‘frustrated’ with Netanyahu, fears he wants to tank ceasefire talks (TOI 9/12/25); Netanyahu scrambles as Gulf states push Trump to sanction Israel over Doha strikes (Al Monitor 9/12/25); Rubio to visit Israel less than a week after Qatar strike (WaPo 9/12/25); Trump to meet Qatar’s PM Friday in aftermath of Israeli strike in Doha (Axios 9/11/25);
Gulf countries question value of U.S. protection after Israeli attack (WaPo 9/12/25)
“Israel’s apparent comfort in carrying out the strike, which targeted senior Hamas leaders in a villa in the Qatari capital, Doha, has stirred both outrage and an acute sense of insecurity in the gulf. If Qatar could be attacked — despite hosting the largest American military base in the region, a hub for U.S. Central Command — neighboring countries might reason they could also be vulnerable…A joint funeral for all the victims held in Doha on Thursday was a state affair, attended by hundreds of people as well as Qatar’s emir, Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani. The attack, which apparently encountered no resistance from American defenses, was the second to rattle the gulf in less than three months…Most attacks that have stirred gulf anxiety in recent years have been carried by Iran or Yemen’s Houthi rebels — viewed as adversaries by both the U.S. and its Arab partners. But the attack this week on Qatar was carried out by Israel, a stalwart U.S. ally, and the strike crossed a bright line, signaling that Washington was unwilling or unable to restrain Israel, even when it threatened or attacked other American allies.” See also Pentagon OKs $14.2M for Lebanon’s army to dismantle Hezbollah sites (Al Monitor 9/10/25); With Qatar attack, which countries has Israel struck since October 2023? (WaPo 9/10/25) Trump, Netanyahu, and Qatar: Who Knew What Before Israel Struck Hamas in Doha (Haaretz 9/10/25); UAE president visits Qatar, bans Israel from Dubai Airshow after Doha strikes (Al Monitor 9/10/25);
UN general assembly votes to back Hamas-free government for Palestine (The Guardian 9/12/25)
“The UN general assembly has voted to back a Hamas-free government for Palestine as part of a carefully crafted compromise that sees Arab states go further in condemning its October 2023 attack on Israel in return for clear support for a Palestinian state. The aim is to show that Israel and the US are isolated in opposing a long-term solution to the Gaza war, and how countries such as Germany, a strong supporter of Israel, are backing a solution in which the Palestinian Authority governs the West Bank and Gaza. The 142-10 vote on Friday was to endorse the so-called New York declaration, a statement calling for a two-state solution, crafted by France and Saudi Arabia in July. It includes some of the sharpest criticism of Hamas ever endorsed by the UN. The text states: “We condemn the attacks perpetrated on 7 October by Hamas against civilians,” and “Hamas must release all hostages” held in Gaza. Israel, the US, Hungary and Argentina were among the countries voting against. There were 12 abstentions.”
‘There will be no Palestinian state’: PM [Netanyahu] signs plan cementing E1 settlement expansion (TOI 9/11/25)
“Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared on Thursday evening that “there will be no Palestinian state,” as he signed an agreement to push ahead with the controversial E1 settlement expansion plan that will cut across West Bank land Palestinians seek for a state. “We are going to fulfill our promise that there will be no Palestinian state; this place belongs to us,” Netanyahu said during a visit to the Ma’ale Adumim settlement in the West Bank, on the outskirts of Jerusalem, where thousands of new housing units would be added.”
As the world recognizes a Palestinian state, Israel’s E1 plan moves to bury it (Shatha Yaish//+972 9/12/25)
““The Palestinian state is being erased from the table not by slogans but by deeds,” proclaimed Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who advanced the project, after its approval. And yesterday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu added his official signature to the plan at a symbolic ceremony inside Ma’ale Adumim…Last week, Smotrich went further, unveiling a plan to annex 82 percent of the West Bank into Israel that would leave only six fragmented Palestinian population centers — Ramallah, Nablus, Jenin, Tulkarem, Jericho, and Hebron — as isolated bantustans. “Preventing a Palestinian state is an Israeli consensus,” read a statement attached to a map of the plan, which was emblazoned with the Israeli Defense Ministry logo. Smotrich has framed the decision to move forward with construction in E1 as retaliation to the recent announcements by Western states, among them Australia, Canada, and France, that they plan to recognize Palestine at the United Nations General Assembly meeting in September.”
Ursula von der Leyen calls for suspension of EU free trade with Israel (The Guardian 9/10/25)
“The European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, has called for a suspension of free trade with Israel, as she spoke of Europe’s “painful” inability to respond to the war on Gaza and ensuing humanitarian disaster. In her most extended condemnation yet of the Israeli government, von der Leyen criticised plans for illegal settlements that would split the occupied West Bank in half, as well as incitement of violence by extremist Israeli ministers, as a “clear attempt to undermine the two-state solution”.’ See also EU Commission chief seeks sanctions, partial trade freeze on Israel: What to know (Al Monitor 9/10/25); EU Leader Calls to Sanction Israel as U.S. Progressives Push to End Arms Sales (The Intercept 9/10/25); Spanish PM Pedro Sánchez says Israel is ‘exterminating a defenceless people’ (The Guardian 9/8/25);
Sanctions on Palestinian rights groups expand Trump’s fight with ICC (WaPo 9/7/25)
“The Trump administration is expanding its campaign against the International Criminal Court with new sanctions on three Palestinian human rights groups that have asked the ICC to investigate Israel over allegations of genocide in Gaza. Analysts say the designations by Secretary of State Marco Rubio could impede the court’s efforts to gather evidence of Israel’s conduct in its war against Hamas in Gaza. The designations Thursday prohibit U.S. entities from doing business with the Palestinian Center for Human Rights, the Al Mezan Center for Human Rights and Al-Haq…Without rights groups to help document war crimes, analysts say, ICC investigators could struggle to meet the evidentiary threshold to prosecute suspects. Brad Parker, an attorney for the New York-based Center for Constitutional Rights, described last week’s designations as “a cynical attempt to punish advocates leading the charge for accountability at the height of Israel’s U.S.-backed genocide against the Palestinian people.” Now, Parker said, the Palestinian-led groups will probably struggle to pay staff or raise money, and employees could risk civil and criminal penalties. “Everything will potentially grind to a halt,” he said. “It’s a vengeful attack intended to create an existential problem.” Analysts warned that U.S. sanctions could chill the entire human rights sector, dissuading groups from working with Palestinian organizations or the court.” See also FMEP Statement on the Sanctioning of Three Prominent Palestinian Human Rights Groups (9/12/25)
Secret Report Undercuts U.K. Condemnations of Pro-Palestinian Group (NYT 9/12/25)
“The British government has fiercely defended its decision to ban a pro-Palestinian group under a decades-old terrorism statute, a designation reserved mainly for Islamic militants and neo-Nazis. The rationale to outlaw the group, Palestine Action, was based on “clear advice and intelligence” after an “escalating campaign involving intimidation and sustained criminal damage,” Dan Jarvis, the security minister, said on Monday. Activists from the group have vandalized weapon factories and military equipment…Hundreds protesting the ban were arrested last weekend under the law, which also criminalizes public displays of support for groups categorized as terrorist organizations. Typically, such forms of expression are protected in Britain. But an intelligence assessment that helped shape the government’s decision to ban Palestine Action undercuts some officials’ broad claims about why it named the group a terrorist organization. A declassified version of the report obtained by The New York Times said a “majority of the group’s activity would not be classified as terrorism” under Britain’s legal definition.”
RIVER TO THE SEA
‘Show of humiliation’ as Israeli army lays siege to West Bank’s Tulkarem (Al Jazeera 9/12/25)
“Israeli forces have sealed off entrances to Tulkarem in the northern occupied West Bank, further escalating a campaign of raids, arrests and collective punishment that has displaced thousands of Palestinians as the military relentlessly destroys Gaza. Footage from Thursday night shared by residents showed soldiers marching Palestinians in lines through the streets in what many described as a humiliating show of force. Tulkarem Governor Abdullah Kamil appealed to the international community on Friday, urging the United Nations General Assembly, the Human Rights Council, and humanitarian groups to act against what he called “crimes” being committed against the city’s nearly 100,000 residents. Kamil said Israeli forces were “arbitrarily and unjustly” carrying out mass arrests, storming homes, destroying property and “terrorising children and women”, according to the Palestinian news agency Wafa. On Thursday, Israeli forces in Tulkarem were allegedly struck by what Israel called an explosive device that injured two Israeli soldiers.” See also Israel lays siege to West Bank’s Tulkarm after military vehicle hit by explosive device (Al Monitor 9/11/25)
Palestinian gunmen kill six people at Jerusalem bus stop (The Guardian 9/8/25)
“Palestinian gunmen opened fire at a crowded bus stop in the northern outskirts of Jerusalem on Monday, killing six people and injuring 12 others before being shot dead by an off-duty soldier and a civilian at the scene.” See also Hamas Fighters Claim Responsibility for Bus Stop Shooting in Jerusalem (NYT 9/9/25); 2 people are stabbed at a hotel outside Jerusalem. Israeli police say it’s a militant attack (AP 9/12/25);
Israeli-Russian graduate student freed after 903 days in captivity of Iraqi militant group (The Guardian 9/9/25)
“Israeli-Russian academic and Princeton student Elizabeth Tsurkov has been released after being kidnapped by an Iraqi Shia militia group and spending more than two years in captivity, Donald Trump said in a post on social media…Tsurkov went missing for months in Iraq in early 2023 and was confirmed alive in July 2023. She holds Israeli and Russian passports and entered Iraq using her Russian passport, according to the Israeli government, to do academic research on behalf of Princeton. Israel said she was abducted in Baghdad by pro-Iranian militants in March 2023. A video featuring Tsurkov was broadcast on Iraqi television in November of that year. The circumstances of Tsurkov’s release were not immediately clear.” See also Struggling to walk, Elizabeth Tsurkov embraces loved ones after return to Israel from captivity (TOI 9/11/25) and see also FMEP’s podcasts with Elizabeth Tsurkov: Israeli & Palestinian Response(s) to Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine (March 2022); The Extremist Through-Line in Israel’s Domestic & Regional Policies (June 2021); The Implications of the Israel-UAE Deal (Sept 2020); Thinking bigger about Israel’s role in a changing Middle East (Feb 2019)
Israeli army refusers defy harsher backlash to protest genocide (Oren Ziv//+972 Magazine 9/8/25)
“In total, 17 young Israelis have been jailed for publicly refusing the draft since the war started…While conscientious objection among drafted teens remains rare in Israeli society, Israel’s onslaught on Gaza has sparked a broader wave of refusal among reservists who have already completed their mandatory service.” See also Why some Israeli journalists only now are turning a lens on Gaza devastation (Dina Kraft//Christian Science Monitor 9/7/25); While Israeli Reservists Call to End Gaza War, These Diaspora Jews Are Gung-ho to Fight (Haaretz 9/9/25);
U.S. SCENE
Senators say US is complicit in Israel’s ethnic cleansing of Gaza (The Guardian 9/12/25)
“Two Democratic senators claim they have reached the “inescapable conclusion” that Israel is acting on a systematic plan to destroy and ethnically cleanse Palestinians from Gaza to force local people to leave, and they say the US is complicit. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland and Jeff Merkley of Oregon, both members of the Senate foreign relations committee, released their findings in a report on Thursday after returning from a congressional delegation to the Middle East where, they note, the destruction goes beyond bombs and bullets. They say they also found a systematic campaign to strangle humanitarian aid, which they call “using food as a weapon of war”. “The Netanyahu government has gone far beyond targeting Hamas to imposing collective punishment on all the people of Gaza,” Van Hollen said at a Thursday press conference. “What they’re doing, and what we witnessed, is putting those goals into action.”’
The chilling effect of Title VI investigations: the professors accused of antisemitism (The Guardian 9/11/25)
“Since the beginning of Israel’s war in Gaza, the federal government has launched 99 antisemitism investigations into universities – with a steep increase following Trump’s inauguration, according to the Middle East Studies Association (Mesa), which has been tracking them for a forthcoming study. Already, leading universities have reached settlements with the administration – including millions in payouts and a slew of measures ostensibly aimed at fighting antisemitism, even as a federal judge ruled last week in a suit brought by Harvard that the administration “used antisemitism as a smokescreen for a targeted, ideologically-motivated assault on this country’s premier universities”. Since October 2023, another 28 lawsuits have been filed against universities by students or outside groups accusing them of violating civil rights law by enabling antisemitism on campuses, and some have already resulted in multimillion-dollar settlements. As they have come under growing pressure, some schools have responded, advocates say, by throwing faculty under the bus – including by launching lengthy investigations over allegations they might have dismissed in the past.” See also A Bad Deal: By Adopting the IHRA Definition of Antisemitism, Universities are Sacrificing Academic Freedom (Kenneth Stern//Knight First Amendment Institute @ Columbia University 9/5/25)
LA Holocaust museum retracts social media post that said, ‘Never again can’t only mean never again for Jews’ (JTA 9/8/25)
“Amid sharp criticism, Los Angeles’ Holocaust museum deleted an Instagram post over the weekend that proclaimed, ”’Never again’ can’t only mean never again for Jews.” The museum apologized for the post and shot down speculation that it had been intended to suggest that Israel was committing genocide in Gaza.” See also Never Again for All, or for No One (Sean Pergola//Jewish Currents 9/12/25)
Murdered for speaking truth’: Netanyahu and US Jewish leaders mourn Charlie Kirk (The Forward 9/10/25)
“Kirk frequently characterized himself as a defender of the Jews and Israel, even as he faced criticism from across the spectrum over his comments about Jews and from the Anti-Defamation League and others over his role in the mainstreaming of the far right…In a backgrounder about Turning Point USA from the Anti-Defamation League, the ADL accused Kirk of creating a “vast platform for extremists and far-right conspiracy theorists” and promoting Christian nationalism. Rejecting the criticism, Kirk long framed himself as a defender of the Jews. “No non-Jewish person my age has a longer or clearer record of support for Israel, sympathy with the Jewish people, or opposition to antisemitism than I do,” he posted on X in April…But as recently as this April, he went on a rant on his show saying that Jews deny their whiteness and accusing them of anti-white hatred. “Jewish communities have been pushing the exact kind of hatred against whites that they claim to want people to stop using against them,” he said…In July, he posted a segment from his show on X in which he defended the country against allegations that it is starving Palestinians.”
Gaza War Turns New Yorkers Against Israel, With Mayor’s Race as Backdrop (NYT 9/10/25)
“The yawning gap of perspectives toward the conflict — 44 percent of registered New York City voters sympathized more with Palestinians; 26 percent sympathized more with Israel — is particularly stark given that the city is home to the largest Jewish population outside Israel. The poll also found that voters broadly think that criticizing Israel is not inherently antisemitic, 51 percent to 31 percent…These views have filtered down to the mayor’s race, which is currently led by Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani, the Democratic nominee who has aligned himself firmly with the plight of Palestinians, calling Israel’s actions in Gaza a “genocide.”…Mr. Adams and Mr. Cuomo have relentlessly criticized Mr. Mamdani’s stance on Israel, calling him an antisemite and terrorist sympathizer. The poll’s findings underscore just how much Mr. Adams and Mr. Cuomo may have misread the electorate by expending energy to attack Mr. Mamdani’s views on Israel. In fact, Mr. Mamdani had a slim lead among the poll’s relatively small sample of Jewish likely voters with about 30 percent support, closely followed by Mr. Adams and Mr. Cuomo…Overall, Mr. Mamdani leads the pack in terms of who voters think has best addressed the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, with 39 percent preferring his approach.” See also NYC voters say Mamdani best addressed the Israel-Palestinian conflict, poll shows (The Forward 9/9/25);
PERSPECTIVES//LONG READS
How Israel’s Gaza ‘disengagement’ planted the seeds of today’s genocide (Daniel Levy//+972 Magazine 9/10/25)
“In August 2005, when Israel implemented its “unilateral disengagement plan” in Gaza, it came as a rude jolt to the settler movement. The plan entailed the removal of 21 settlements in the Gaza Strip and an additional four in the northern West Bank, with a total of approximately 9,000 settlers relocated. The atmosphere in the country at the time felt as if a tipping point had been reached: it was Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, a stalwart of the Israeli right, who ordered the withdrawal of the Israeli military and illegal settlements from occupied Palestinian territory. Twenty years later, how Israel conducted the withdrawal of its settlements from Gaza — and subsequently narrated the fallout — can be understood as a critical juncture in the demise of the two-state paradigm. It was also a harbinger of what is now replacing it: not just separating from the Palestinians, relegated to shrinking Bantustans, but annihilating and erasing them…today, “Gaza First” has taken on a new meaning: Gaza as the opening site of messianic redemption and Palestinian annihilation, or in the current Israeli parlance, “total victory.” It is no surprise that the Israeli human rights group B’Tselem warns in its recent report that what is happening in Gaza is already being planned for the West Bank. The path from 2005 to 2025 was not preordained, but the contours are now clear — the consequences of political choices that were made then and now need to be unmade or reshaped. Describing this trajectory brings into sharper relief the need for a new political vision for all of historic Palestine, one that will have to come from outside the Zionist consensus.”
A Rogue State: Israel’s Strikes on Qatar and Regional Escalation (Yousef Munayyer//Arab Center DC 9/9/25)
“The strike on Doha this morning is the latest in a series of bombings that illustrate Israel’s increasingly brazen behavior as a rogue state. Qatar joins a growing list of countries— including Palestine, Iran, Lebanon, Syria, Tunisia, and Yemen—which Israel has targeted with military strikes in blatant disregard of national sovereignty and international law. The Doha strike fits a well established pattern of Israel breaking taboo after taboo, relentlessly pushing the boundaries of violence and destruction to normalize its policy of perpetual warfare. Israel’s failure to resolve the grievances of Palestinians has mushroomed into a policy of constant destabilization and destruction that reaches far beyond tiny, besieged Gaza, currently suffering genocidal assault and occupation by the Israeli armed forces…A key ally of Washington that hosts the largest US airbase, al-Udeid, in the Middle East, in May 2025 Qatar also welcomed a visit from President Donald Trump himself. None of this deterred the Israeli strike. As a rogue state, Israel is willing to cross any red line and break any international law. For governments in Amman, Cairo, Riyadh, and Ankara, Israel’s strike against a US ally this morning should sound major alarms. Currently led by an indicted war criminal, Benjamin Netanyahu, and governed by a coalition government hell-bent on expansionism and ethnic cleansing, Israel shows no signs of stopping its ever-expanding war on the region—and on the very notion of peace and stability.” See also: Striking a US Ally: Israel’s Attack on Qatar and the Erosion of Regional Stability (Hanna Alshaikh, Charles W. Dunne, Khalil E. Jahshan, Tamara Kharroub, Yousef Munayyer, Kristian Coates Ulrichsen//Arab Center DC 9/9/25)
Thank You for Boycotting Me: As an Israeli Filmmaker, Here’s Why Global Pressure Amid Gaza Matters (Avigail Sperber//Haaretz 9/10/25)
“This week, a letter signed by thousands of my international colleagues in the film industry appeared in The Guardian calling for a boycott of Israeli filmmakers, film festivals and Israeli films over the war in Gaza. I am a documentary film maker who has been working in Israel for over 30 years. This boycott would affect me and my colleagues. But following my defensive reaction, I understood the truth. What we Israelis need most from the world is to boycott us…Perhaps the pain of cultural isolation is a necessary price to pay to end this horrific war and start healing this wounded and bleeding region. International pressure challenges our comfortable identity as “the good Israelis,” which allows us to continue operating within the state-funded systems, while maintaining a sense of moral opposition. Boycotts re-frame our participation in state-sponsored festivals not as independent creators, but as complicit representatives of the State of Israel. They hold up a mirror and ask us: Is your state-sanctioned dissent a meaningful act of resistance, or is it merely a licensed and harmless way for the state to maintain a façade of acceptability in the world of democratic nations?…We need to topple our government. We need to refuse to serve in the army. We must go on a general strike, stop making films, stop sending our children to school, stop buying things, stop functioning. Shut it all down until the horror that is being done in our name stops.
Peter Beinart: ‘What Israel Is Doing in the Name of the Jewish People Is a Desecration’ (Haaretz 9/12/25)
“From liberal Zionist to one of Zionism’s fiercest critics: The Jewish American commentator discusses his radical shift”
Gaza aid flotilla carrying Greta Thunberg reports second drone attack in 24 hours (The Guardian 9/10/25)
“A flotilla seeking to break Israel’s aid blockade of Gaza has said it was attacked by a drone for the second time in less than 24 hours. The Global Sumud Flotilla (GSF), which is carrying pro-Palestinian activists, including Greta Thunberg, said in a statement early on Wednesday that it had been attacked by another drone, which dropped an incendiary device on one of its boats, the Alma, as it was moored in the port of Sidi Bou Said in Tunisia. None of the passengers or crew were harmed and no structural damage was caused, it said…The reported attack came a day after GSF said that another one of its vessels had been struck by a drone in Tunisian waters…The flotilla is supported by delegations from 44 countries, including Thunberg and the leftwing Portuguese politician Mariana Mortágua. Four Italian politicians– an MP, a senator and two MEPs – are expected to join the flotilla.”
Actors and directors pledge not to work with Israeli film groups ‘implicated in genocide’ (The Guardian 9/10/25)
“Thousands of actors, directors and other film industry professionals have signed a new pledge vowing not to work with Israeli film institutions they say are “implicated in genocide and apartheid against the Palestinian people”…Signatories include film-makers Yorgos Lanthimos, Ava DuVernay, Asif Kapadia, Boots Riley and Joshua Oppenheimer; and actors Olivia Colman, Mark Ruffalo, Tilda Swinton, Javier Bardem, Ayo Edebiri, Riz Ahmed, Josh O’Connor, Cynthia Nixon, Julie Christie, Ilana Glazer, Rebecca Hall, Aimee Lou Wood and Debra Winger…On Wednesday, the letter surpassed 3,900 signatories. Among the new signatories are Joaquin Phoenix, Rooney Mara, Emma Stone, James Schamus, Peter Sarsgaard, Lily Gladstone, Nicola Coughlan, Harris Dickinson, Bowen Yang, Guy Pearce, Jonathan Glazer, Ebon Moss-Bachrach, Fisher Stevens, Abbi Jacobson, Eric Andre, Elliot Page, Payal Kapadia and Emma D’Arcy, Variety reported. The pledge, shared exclusively with the Guardian, claims to draw inspiration from the cultural boycott that contributed to the end of apartheid in South Africa.” See also Jerry Seinfeld says people who say ‘Free Palestine’ are worse than the Ku Klux Klan (NBC 9/10/25);
Homeless and Hungry, Gazans Fear a Repeat of 1948 History (Raja Abdulrahim//NYT 9/7/25)
“Israel’s war in Gaza has displaced most of the 2.2 million Palestinian residents from their homes. Many of them fear it will be permanent, a reprise of the Nakba….For many Palestinians, the Nakba is not only a traumatic memory but also a matter of identity. About 1.7 million of the 2.2 million people in Gaza are either refugees from the war surrounding the establishment of Israel in 1948 or their descendants, according to the U.N. And while most have never lived outside Gaza, many consider themselves refugees from the lands their families fled — including villages nearly wiped off the map. Survivors of the 1948 war say that hundreds of thousands of Palestinians were told at the time that they would be allowed to return to their villages in what is now Israel after a few days or weeks. Many just took a few belongings and the keys to their front doors. They were not allowed back…In the current war in Gaza, incendiary comments by Israeli leaders raised Palestinian fears that history was about to repeat itself. “We are now rolling out the Gaza Nakba,” the Israeli agriculture minister, Avi Dichter, said a few weeks into the war. “Gaza Nakba 2023.”…Human rights groups counter that the war has rendered so much of Gaza uninhabitable that it is leading to permanent displacement, a potential war crime. Some, like Human Rights Watch, call the displacement an intentional part of Israeli policy that amounts to a crime against humanity. Two prominent Israeli groups have joined some other international organizations in accusing the government of committing genocide for killing tens of thousands of Palestinians, razing huge areas, displacing nearly all of Gaza’s population and restricting food.” See also Zionism: 77 Years of Expulsion (Hagai El-Ad//Haaretz 9/10/25)
NEW FROM FMEP
FMEP Legislative Round-Up September 5, 2025 (Lara Friedman)
- Bills, Resolutions; 2. FY26 NDAA – House & Senate Versions; 3. Letters; 4. Hearings & Markups; 5. Selected Members on the Record; 6. Selected Media & Press releases/Statements
Weaponizing Antisemitism to Advance Authoritarianism with Lara Friedman and Yousef Munayyer (Political Research Associates podcast)
“Political commentators and rights advocates Lara Friedman and Yousef Munayyer discuss ongoing efforts to suppress criticism of the Israeli government’s oppression of Palestinians under the guise of fighting antisemitism—efforts which are fueling authoritarianism and pushing shared safety further from grasp. Lara and Yousef lay out how the Israeli government and its supporters have championed a contentious definition of antisemitism in order to dismiss criticism of Israel and conflate said criticism with prejudice against Jews. They also explain how the increasingly fraught conversation about antisemitism is doing little to actually make Jews safer—and is being exploited to distract from Israel’s ongoing genocide in Gaza, annexation of the West Bank, and expansionist war across the region.”
GAZA
The Genocide in Gaza (Drop Site 9/5/25)
“The Israeli military launched intensified attacks across Gaza on Friday, killing at least 44 people, including seven children in attacks on Gaza City, according to Al Jazeera. Gaza’s Ministry of Health reports at least 69 Palestinians killed and 422 injured in the past 24 hours. Six Palestinians were killed and 190 injured while seeking aid. The total recorded death toll since October 7, 2023 is now 64,300 killed, with 162,005 injured. Three more deaths were recorded over the past 24 hours due to starvation and malnutrition, bringing the total since the start of the war to 376, including 134 children. The Israeli military destroyed a high-rise building in a densely populated part of Gaza City on Friday…The Israeli army said it now controls 40% of Gaza City and signaled that its offensive will grow even more ferocious in the coming days. UNICEF warned that “the unthinkable” is unfolding in Gaza City as Israel intensified its assault on homes and displacement camps. To mark 700 days of genocide, Gaza’s health ministry released an updated breakdown of the death toll in Gaza: more than 19,000 children have been killed—among them over 4,800 under the age of five and more than 1,000 infants. For nearly two years, on average, a child has been killed every 52 minutes.” See also Israel intensifies attack on Gaza City (Drop Site Daily 9/4/25); Gaza Officials Say 98 Palestinians Killed by IDF in Past Day, Including 9 From Hunger and 46 Waiting for Aid (Haaretz 9/1/25); Medics say 73 Palestinians in Gaza killed by IDF since morning (Haaretz 9/2/25); Children killed by Israeli strike while getting water in area Palestinians were told to go (NBC 9/3/25); Israel says it killed longtime spokesman of Hamas’s military wing (WaPo 8/31/25);
Hamas to Trump: We Are Ready to Release All Israeli Captives in Comprehensive Ceasefire Deal (Jeremy Scahill//Drop Site 9/4/25)
“Hamas’s political leadership is reaffirming its willingness to make a deal that would see all Israeli captives released immediately in return for a ceasefire agreement that would bring an end to Israel’s genocidal war against the Palestinians of Gaza and a withdrawal of Israeli troops. “The movement reiterates its readiness to enter into a comprehensive deal under which all enemy prisoners held by the resistance will be released in exchange for an agreed-upon number of Palestinian prisoners held by the occupation,” Hamas said in a statement on Wednesday night. The statement added that Hamas has made clear its willingness to relinquish governance of Gaza to pave the way for “an independent national administration of technocrats to manage all Gaza Strip affairs and assume its responsibilities immediately in all areas.” Hamas’s statement came hours after President Donald Trump posted a message on TruthSocial. “Tell Hamas to IMMEDIATELY give back all 20 Hostages (Not 2 or 5 or 7!), and things will change rapidly. IT WILL END!” Trump wrote.” See also After Trump Comments, Hamas Says It’s Ready for Deal on All Hostages (NYT 9/4/25); Israeli Official Calls Hamas Statement on Willingness to Accept Comprehensive Hostage Deal a ‘Trivial Event’ (Haaretz 9/5/25); Hamas took 251 hostages from Israel into Gaza. Where are they? (WaPo 9/2/25)
Gaza postwar plan envisions ‘voluntary’ relocation of entire population (WaPo 8/31/25)
“A postwar plan for Gaza circulating within the Trump administration, modeled on President Donald Trump’s vow to “take over” the enclave, would turn it into a trusteeship administered by the United States for at least 10 years while it is transformed into a gleaming tourism resort and high-tech manufacturing and technology hub. The 38-page prospectus seen by The Washington Post envisions at least a temporary relocation of all of Gaza’s more than 2 million population, either through what it calls “voluntary” departures to another country or into restricted, secured zones inside the enclave during reconstruction…Called the Gaza Reconstitution, Economic Acceleration and Transformation Trust, or GREAT Trust, the proposal was developed by some of the same Israelis who created and set in motion the U.S.- and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) now distributing food inside the enclave. Financial planning was done by a team working at the time for the Boston Consulting Group.” See also Leaked ‘Gaza Riviera’ plan dismissed as ‘insane’ attempt to cover ethnic cleansing (The Guardian 9/1/25); Egypt vows to block Palestinian displacement, hardens rhetoric on Gaza (Reuters 9/5/25);
‘The Winter Will Be a Catastrophe’ | Gaza Faces Deadly Respiratory Outbreak Amid War, Hunger, and Medicine Shortage (Haaretz 9/31/25)
“In Gaza, health officials are warning of a sharp rise in respiratory infections – likely flu or COVID – that have already sickened thousands. The outbreak is spreading fastest among displaced families crowded into tents and shelters without sanitation, where children and the chronically ill are especially vulnerable. The Hamas-run Information Ministry said Sunday the surge comes amid severe shortages of medicine and deteriorating sanitary conditions. Hospital directors warned that the lack of medical equipment, blood, clean drinking water and food is driving up death rates, especially among children.” See also Gaza’s Last Functioning Children’s Hospital (Abdel Qader Sabbah//Drop Site 9/2/25)
Seven common tropes used to deny Gaza’s famine, debunked by an expert (Jeremy Konyndyk//The Telegraph 8/26/25)
“For months, a chorus of denial has sought to drown out the reality of famine in Gaza. The Israeli government and an online army of arm-chair “experts” have insisted that images of emaciated children in Gaza are staged, reports of hunger are exaggerated, and claims of famine are hyperbolic. As someone who has directed famine response efforts for South Sudan, Yemen, Ethiopia, and Nigeria, I can tell you plainly: this is more than false, it is active disinformation. Last week, the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification system (IPC) formally confirmed famine in Gaza for the first time. Famine is a technical classification under the IPC, the gold-standard system used by governments, aid agencies, and the UN for decades to assess hunger emergencies. It relies on rigorous data and established benchmarks from malnutrition screenings, mortality surveys, market analyses, and food availability studies. When famine is declared, it means large numbers of people are unable to access enough food, child malnutrition is rising sharply, and people are dying as a direct result. That is the reality of Gaza today. A famine declaration is not an anticipatory warning; it means that a deadly trajectory has already taken hold. Here are seven common tropes the famine deniers are parroting – and why they’re wrong.” See also Google’s $45 Million Contract With Netanyahu’s Office to Spread Israeli Propaganda (Jack Poulson & Lee Fang//Drop Site 9/3/25); LEAKED: Israel Is Considered a “Genocidal, Apartheid Country” Abroad, According to Israel’s Own Research (Ryan Grim//Drop Site 9/5/25); Trump on Israel: ‘They’re not winning the world of public relations’ (The Forward 9/3/25); Gazans are starving. Here’s what lack of food does to the human body. (WaPo 9/4/25);
Israeli intelligence data: Militants account for only 1 in 4 Gaza detainees (Yuval Abraham//+972 Magazine 9/4/25)
“Only one in four Palestinians captured by Israeli forces in Gaza were identified by the army as militants, with civilians making up the vast majority of “unlawful combatants” detained in Israeli prisons since October 7, a joint investigation by +972 Magazine, Local Call, and the Guardian can reveal. This is what emerges from figures obtained from a classified database managed by Israel’s Military Intelligence Directorate (known by the Hebrew acronym “Aman”), in addition to official Israeli prison statistics disclosed in legal proceedings. Testimonies from former Palestinian detainees and Israeli soldiers who served in detention facilities further indicate that Israel has knowingly abducted civilians en masse and held them for long periods in appalling conditions.”
A Rogue Force Operates in Gaza Under IDF Cover, Endangering Soldiers and Unarmed Palestinians (Haaretz 9/3/25)
“You can see them across the Gaza Strip, almost everywhere. Teams of people operating heavy equipment for one purpose: demolition. They aren’t part of a regular military unit, but rather small groups that form through independent initiatives. They are civilians, many of them settlers, who are mobilized into the reserves through contracting companies. The goal is to destroy buildings and tunnels, or in the common words of those involved: “to flatten Gaza.” Conversations with many commanders, officers and reservists reveal that the road to implementing their mission is wide open. There’s little or no supervision. The army doesn’t always know who these people are, they don’t take security precautions and, on more than one occasion, they have endangered the lives of soldiers or unarmed Palestinians.” See also Israeli military says it controls 40% of Gaza City, plans to expand operation in coming days (Reuters 9/2/25); New Satellite Images Show: Gaza City Neighborhoods Have Already Been Destroyed (Haaretz 9/3/25); Israel bombs high-rise buildings in Gaza City ahead of massive offensive (Axios 9/5/25)
REGION//GLOBAL
US sanctions Palestinian rights groups who asked top court for Israel war crimes investigation (CNN 9/4/25)
“The US State Department has imposed sanctions on three Palestinian human rights groups that asked the International Criminal Court to investigate and arrest Israeli leaders over accusations of war crimes in Gaza…Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Thursday the US will sanction the three NGOs – Al Haq, Al Mezan Center for Human Rights (Al Mezan), and the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) – for engaging in what he called the ICC’s “illegitimate targeting of Israel.”…In November 2023, the three groups filed a lawsuit with the ICC asking the prosecutor to investigate Israel for airstrikes on densely populated areas in Gaza, the siege of the territory, the forced displacement of its population, the use of toxic gas and the denial of necessities, including food and water. The organizations also urged the ICC to issue arrest warrants for the Israeli leaders involved in actions they said amounted to “war crimes and crimes against humanity, including genocide.” In November 2024, the ICC issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu and former defense chief Yoav Gallant for war crimes, including “starvation as a method of warfare” and crimes against humanity…Al Haq, Al Mezan Center, and PCHR condemned the “draconian” sanctions in their joint statement, which was posted to each of their X accounts. “Only states with complete disregard to international law and our shared humanity can take such heinous measures against human rights orgs working to end a genocide,” the organizations said. “As the world moves to impose sanctions and arms embargoes on Israel; its ally, the US is working to destroy Palestinian institutions working tirelessly for accountability for the victims of Israel’s mass atrocity crimes,” the statement went on.” See also State Department sanctions NGOs tied to International Criminal Court’s Israel probe (Politico 9/4/25); US imposes sanctions on Palestinians for requesting war crimes inquiry (The Guardian 9/5/25);
UAE warns White House that Israeli annexations could unravel Abraham Accords (Axios 9/3/25)
“The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has told the Trump administration that Israeli annexation of the occupied West Bank would harm the Abraham Accords and undermine the president’s hopes of expanding them, according to two sources with knowledge of the matter…Israel is considering annexing large portions of the West Bank later this month in response to the recognition of a Palestinian state by several western countries. President Trump is likely the only foreign player who could stop it. The UAE message is that if he doesn’t, a key aspect of his foreign policy legacy could unravel.” See also UAE warns Israel: Annexing West Bank is a ‘red line’ that would ‘end regional integration’ (TOI 9/3/25); Israel weighs West Bank annexations in response to Palestine recognition push (Axios 8/31/25); Huckabee: ‘The US has never asked Israel to not apply sovereignty’ to the West Bank (TOI 9/5/25); Rubio: US warned recognizing Palestine would lead to ‘reciprocal’ Israeli response (TOI 9/5/25); Palestinian FM: US visa bans will not derail statehood drive (Al Monitor 9/4/25); Far-Right Israeli Minister Calls for West Bank to Be Annexed (NYT 9/3/25);
Scotland bans arms companies that supply IDF from receiving financial aid (The Guardian 9/3/25)
“The Scottish government has banned arms companies which supply the IDF from getting grants and investment support, and will freeze support for trade with Israel. John Swinney, the first minister, said on Wednesday any defence contractors who wanted financial help in Scotland would have to prove their products would not be used by the Israel Defense Forces. He said governments around the world needed to take urgent action in response to the humanitarian “catastrophe” in Gaza, where there was now plausible evidence of genocide…After urging the UK government to support the genocide case against Israel at the international court of justice, Swinney said his devolved government in Edinburgh had decided to change its rules on financial support for defence companies.” See also Senior EU official says Israel’s war in Gaza is genocide (Reuters 9/4/25); Finland joins declaration on two-state solution between Israel, Palestinians (Reuters 9/5/25); Belgium to recognise Palestinian state at UN and sanction Israel (The Guardian 9/3/25); ‘The Voice of Hind Rajab’ Stuns Venice With Its Longest Standing Ovation of 22 Minutes Amid Tears and ‘Free Palestine’ Chants (Variety 9/3/25)
Israel is committing genocide in Gaza, leading scholars’ association says (WaPo 9/1/25)
“The resolution, by the International Association of Genocide Scholars, added to a growing chorus from human rights organizations and academics concluding that Israel is committing genocide, a crime outlined in a 1948 convention and defined by acts intended to “destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group, as such.”…The resolution states that the Oct. 7, 2023, attack by Hamas against Israel that killed more than 1,200 people and prompted the Israeli military campaign in Gaza “constitutes international crimes.” But it also concludes that Israel’s response violates all five conditions set out in the 1948 convention, including “killing members of the group” and “deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part,” according to Emily Sample, a member of the association’s executive board. Any one of the conditions would be sufficient for a finding of genocide…“If we wanted to commit genocide, it would have taken exactly one afternoon,” [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu] told Israeli reporters in August.”
Houthis detain at least 11 UN workers in raids on two agencies in Sana’a (The Guardian 8/31/25)
“The Iranian-backed Houthis raided offices of the UN’s food, health and children’s agencies in Yemen’s capital, detaining at least 11 employees, as the rebels tightened security across Sana’a after the Israeli killing of their prime minister and several cabinet members.” See also Houthi missile, 3rd in 24 hours, falls short of Israel; [Israeli Defense Minister] Katz threatens ‘all 10 plagues’ (Times of Israel 9/4/25); Yemen health crisis spikes after aid cuts and U.S., Israeli airstrikes (WaPo 9/5/25); Inside Israel’s Yemen operation that decapitated Houthi leadership (Al Monitor 9/5/25);
How Israel’s arms exports have made it sanctions-proof (The Economist 9/4/25)
“Nowadays, though, its most ubiquitous product is not a gun but its missile-defence system widely known as Iron Dome (though this is the name of just the lowest of its layered defences). These systems have also become a major source of income for its defence contractors, contributing to what was a record-breaking year of $14.8bn of arms export deals in 2024. This puts Israel, a country of only 10m, in the eighth place of the world’s arms-exporters’ league, just one spot behind Britain and well ahead of the other rising stars of weapons sales, South Korea and Turkey. Israeli figures don’t disclose the total sales to each country, but according to its defence ministry, over half were to Europe. Israel’s arms exports offer the country far more than just commercial benefits. They also help shield it from arms embargoes or other penalties over its conduct of the war in Gaza. “These deals tie countries into a long-term relationship with Israel which helps curb moves towards sanctions against Israel,” says an Israeli diplomat. “These countries are invested in Israel for their national security.” Israel’s main competitive advantage is that its weapons are battle-tested and in production.” See also Lebanon to move on Hezbollah disarmament after testy cabinet meeting: What to know (Al Monitor 9/5/25); Attack, concede, stall: Hezbollah’s options as Lebanon advances disarmament plan (Al Monitor 8/30/25)
RIVER TO THE SEA
Armed settlers said to injure at least 14 Palestinians, including infant, elderly couple (TOI 9/5/25)
“Extremist settlers injured at least 14 Palestinians in a raid on a West Bank village overnight Thursday-Friday, Arabic outlets reported. According to the reports, armed settlers entered the village of Khallet al-Daba in the South Hebron Hills and assaulted residents with pepper spray, sticks and sharp tools…Among the Palestinians reportedly hurt were a three-month-old infant girl and an elderly couple. The infant had been exposed to the pepper spray, while the elderly man and his wife both sustained fractures, cuts and trauma to the head, according to Wafa, the Palestinian Authority’s official news agency…Five others had sustained bruising, bone fractures and lacerations as a result of the attack, including the infant girl’s parents and two older brothers, the agency reported.” See also Reports: Around 30 Israeli Settlers Wound at Least Three Palestinians in Raid on West Bank Village (Haaretz 9/5/25);
Hundreds of IDF Reservists Sign Statement Opposing Gaza City Takeover, Saying They Won’t Report to Duty (Haaretz 9/2/25)
“Some 350 IDF reservists on Tuesday signed a statement opposing the security cabinet’s decision to capture Gaza City, further escalating their opposition to the government. At a press conference in Tel Aviv, Ron Feiner, a reservist and member of the organization Soldiers for the Hostages, said, “The decision to launch a military operation for the complete occupation of Gaza City is blatantly illegal and will put hostages, soldiers and civilians at risk.”’ See also ‘We are dying for no reason’: Israeli reservists face fresh call-up for a war dividing their nation (The Guardian 9/2/25); Hostage families rally to demand deal on 700th day of loved ones’ captivity (TOI 9/5/25); Hamas publishes video of hostages Guy Gilboa-Dalal, Alon Ohel ahead of IDF’s Gaza City op (TOI 9/5/25);
Israel arrests Hebron mayor, launches West Bank crackdown: What to know (Al Monitor 9/2/25)
“Israeli forces conducted a series of raids across the occupied West Bank on Tuesday, arresting several Palestinians — including the mayor of Hebron — as Israel weighs the annexation of parts of the territory…Meanwhile, the Israeli military intensified its raids across the West Bank on Tuesday, arresting dozens of Palestinians…Elsewhere, in Nablus, Israeli forces arrested 13 Palestinians during large-scale raids across the governorate on Tuesday. WAFA also reported a series of Israeli measures on Tuesday to obstruct the movement of Palestinians in the West Bank, reporting that Israeli forces closed the main entrance to the town of Turmus Ayya, north of Ramallah, with an iron gate.”
Israel Has Seen Extremists in High Office. But Nothing Like Netanyahu’s Shin Bet Pick (Haaretz 9/4/25)
“This is Netanyahu’s most alarming appointment to date. Anyone familiar with the environment in which his prospective Shin Bet chief David Zini was raised knows exactly why” See also Top IDF Commander Opted Not to Boost Security After Visiting Nova One Hour Before October 7 Hamas Massacre (Haaretz 9/2/25);
U.S. SCENE
U.S. Suspends Visas for Palestinian Passport Holders, Officials Say (NYT 8/31/25)
“The Trump administration has enacted a sweeping suspension of approvals of almost all types of visitor visas for Palestinian passport holders, according to American officials. The new policy goes beyond the restrictions announced by U.S. officials recently on visitor visas for Palestinians from Gaza. Last week, the State Department also said it would not issue visas to Palestinian officials to attend the annual U.N. General Assembly in New York next month. The more sweeping measures, laid out in an Aug. 18 cable sent by State Department headquarters to all U.S. embassies and consulates, would also prevent many Palestinians from the Israeli-occupied West Bank and in the Palestinian diaspora from entering the United States on various types of nonimmigrant visas, according to four U.S. officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive information. The new measures affect visas for medical treatment, university studies, visits to friends or relatives and business travel, at least temporarily.” See also A 22-Year-Old Palestinian Has Been Locked Up in ‘High-Security’ ICE Detention for 16 Months
Harvard secures win in fight with Trump over federal research funding (Politico 9/3/25)
“A federal judge ruled Wednesday the Trump administration’s attempt to freeze more than $2 billion in federal research grants from Harvard University was illegal. U.S. District Judge Allison Burroughs, a Barack Obama appointee, in an 84-page opinion, acknowledged the university “could (and should) have done a better job of dealing with” antisemitism on campus. But Burroughs said research grant terminations and antisemitism are not particularly connected. “A review of the administrative record makes it difficult to conclude anything other than that Defendants used antisemitism as a smokescreen for a targeted, ideologically-motivated assault on this country’s premier universities,” Burroughs wrote.” See also Jewish judge overturns Trump administration’s Harvard funding freeze, ruling antisemitism allegations were a ‘smokescreen’ (The Forward 9/4/25)
President of Northwestern, a School Attacked by the G.O.P., Will Resign (NYT 9/4/25)
The president of Northwestern University, Michael H. Schill, announced Thursday that he would resign, ending a difficult tenure that included attacks on the school from Republicans in Congress and cuts in funding by the Trump administration that forced the university to lay off hundreds of employees…Mr. Schill faced withering questions during a Congressional hearing last year, when Republicans accused the university of not doing enough to address antisemitism during campus protests over the war in Gaza. They have argued that the school was still not aggressive enough in protecting Jewish students from harassment. Jewish groups including the Anti-Defamation League and the Brandeis Center have called for Mr. Schill to resign, faulting him for negotiating with the protesters. In April, the federal government abruptly froze at least $790 million in federal research funding that had been planned for Northwestern, a Big Ten school with campuses in Evanston, Ill., and downtown Chicago.”
PERSPECTIVES//LONG READS
In Gaza, Israel has turned food aid into a death trap (Hani Almadhoun//The Hill 9/2/25)
“My cousin Sameeh Mohamad Hilmi Almadhoun was just 18 when an Israeli soldier allegedly killed him at an aid site in Khan Younis, southern Gaza. He was a young man searching for food, a simple act that became his death sentence… Israel blocks access as part of its forced takeover and weaponization of aid, while foreign governments fixate on airdrops that make for good headlines but leave families starving. The real problem is not the humanitarian actors — over 400 aid workers have been killed since October 2023. The true enablers are those who, through their silence, allow a far-right Israeli government to deliberately starve children and turn lifesaving aid into a death trap…Now, with Israel recently approving a plan to fully occupy Gaza City and expel its residents to the south, the largest concentration of displaced Palestinians is trapped between the Mediterranean coast and the city itself. Nearly 1 million people live there, families paralyzed by fear of what’s still to come. After 22 months of relentless bombing, destruction and forced displacement, the threat of yet another displacement — for some, the 20th — hangs heavily over them. Families don’t know where to flee, if anywhere is safe, or if they will survive another round of violence. The U.S. government is actively aiding and abetting Israel’s genocide in Gaza…The administration’s failure is not one of inaction, but of active complicity. With every veto and every new arms shipment, Washington makes a statement: Palestinian lives are expendable, and the pursuit of a meal is a valid pretense for murder.”
We Israelis Are Part of a Mafia Crime Family. It’s Our Job to Fight Against It From Within (Michael Sfard//Haaretz 8/31/25)
“So how can one go on living as part of a collective that is carrying out annihilation? How do you wake up in the morning and look in the eyes of the grocer just back from reserve duty, the soldier at the café, or the neighbor hanging up a “Together We Will Win” sign?…Like recruits to the mafia, who at the boss’s command must shoot a shopkeeper who didn’t pay protection money, thereby sealing a blood pact – with someone else’s blood – with “the family,” so too did hundreds of thousands of Israelis rally to the calls to bomb, crush, erase and starve. Hundreds of thousands on whom the responsibility for the annihilation rests directly, and millions indirectly, bound by the criminal pact, bound to its denial, and – when denial is no longer possible – to its justification. Today, there is no doubt, and there cannot be any doubt, about what is happening in Gaza. Israel is committing crimes against humanity on a spine-chilling scale. It is wiping out all infrastructure that enables life in the Strip and starving its people. It officially declares its intent to ethnically cleanse Gaza, or, as Netanyahu – the Israeli Darth Vader, who has surrendered completely to the dark side of the force – calls it, to implement “Trump’s vision.” And even now, when everything is already clear, when the claim that we are committing genocide has become very difficult to reject, Israelis as a whole draw the curtain and continue with daily life. Note this: not a single Israeli professional association dares to cry out morally against the annihilation of Gaza…One does not choose his or her family, and Israel is my family. And it is a crime family. So how does one go on living with such a family? Everything is contaminated. Rot has consumed all…But – and this is crucial – there are also rebellious family members…We are few, but not insignificant… In today’s terms: support refusers, encourage international investigations and call for sanctions and political isolation.”
Hunger, looting and lost childhoods: Gaza’s engineered collapse (Ahmed Abu Artema//Middle East Eye 9/3/25)
“t seems that here in Gaza, we have been changed forever. Could something in the anatomy of our brains have shifted over two years of living beyond the limits of human endurance? Whenever a friend from outside Gaza asks me how we are doing, I answer: our situation defies words…I ran into a friend on the street, once a university professor before this genocidal war. His face was pale, and his clothes looked as though they hadn’t been changed in months. His expression bore the weight of a lifetime of burdens. I greeted him: “How are you?” It was a banal, hollow question, just to start a conversation. He replied: “Our dignity has been humiliated. We live in a time where thieves and looters thrive, while the honourable die of hunger and despair.”’
A Map to a Place That No Longer Exists (Abdullah Hany Daher//Jewish Currents 9/5/25)
“In Gaza, the landscape changes faster than memory can keep up. Every neighborhood carries its own scars, some fresh, some already fading into dust. Places once familiar become unrecognizable overnight; streets you walked yesterday may not be there tomorrow. On this shifting ground, home is not just a structure. It is a fragile anchor to a previous version of life, one that can vanish without warning. Losing this place means losing the map inside you.”
I Fought in Gaza. Here Is Why I Would Not Go Back. (Yotam Vilk//NYT 8/30/25)
“Our own state had lost its way. If we went to war on Oct. 7 to save what was dearest to us, it soon became clear to me that we were fighting because our leaders were never planning to stop. It was a war waged by nationalist populists who refused to pay the political price necessary to make the decisions to bring an end to the war, and instead demanded that we, the soldiers, the hostages and the Palestinians, pay it in blood…Today, as the government calls on tens of thousands of reservists to participate in the cruel re-occupation of Gaza City, I implore my fellow soldiers: Refuse to report. Thousands have already stopped showing up. Some have been sent to prison. Many remain silent. This is the time to speak. It is your duty.”
What Killed the Two-State Solution? (Hussein Agha and Robert Malley//New Yorker 8/22/25)
“How deceit, delusion, and the inexorable pull of the past have transformed an idea once seen as a possible means to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict into a dangerous gimmick.”
How Zohran Mamdani Achieved Escape Velocity from Politics as Usual (Dania Rajendra and Rebecca Vilkomerson//In These Times 8/31/25)
“As we move into the general election season, the joy of primary night may already feel distant. But as Zohran Mamdani moves closer into not just winning campaigns but governing, it is worth looking at how the groundbreaking coalition building of his campaign can be a model for future governance — and open space for more Left power…Mamdani’s momentum suggests that only bold left visions can achieve escape velocity from politics as usual. The new model: discuss an optimistic left vision by way of concrete policy ideas with hundreds of thousands of unlikely voters. Invite them to join the canvass; thousands did. Finally, trust voters to understand consistent ethical positions, including around Palestine.”
2,500 miles from home, Gazan culture takes center stage (Alice Austin//+972 Magazine 9/5/25)
“A mini-festival at this year’s Edinburgh Fringe provided a rare space amid the genocide for Palestinian artists to connect, heal, and resist.”
Forget symbolic statehood — the world must recognize Israeli apartheid (Alaa Salama//+972 Magazine 8/29/25)
“The push to recognize a Palestinian state creates the illusion of action, but delays the real remedies: sanctioning and isolating Israel’s apartheid regime.”
“At the rate journalists are being killed in Gaza by the Israeli army, there will soon be no one left to keep you informed” (Reporters Without Borders & Avaaz 9/1/25)
“Hundreds of media outlets, brought together by the campaigning platform Avaaz and Reporters Without Borders (RSF), are waging a campaign calling for the protection of Palestinian journalists in Gaza, the emergency evacuation of reporters seeking to leave the Strip, an end to impunity for Israeli crimes against Gaza’s reporters and that foreign press be granted independent access to the territory. According to RSF data, 220 journalists have been killed by the Israeli army in the Gaza Strip in less than 23 months. On the night of 10 August alone, the Israeli army killed six journalists in a targeted strike against Al-Jazeera correspondent Anas al-Sharif. Less than a week ago, on Monday, 25 August, the Israeli army killed five journalists in two consecutive strikes. Today, hundreds of media outlets in over 50 countries are mobilising in solidarity with Palestinian journalists in the Gaza Strip, alongside RSF and Avaaz. This international operation consists of an entire or partial blackout of the front pages of print media, banners on online news sites, and audio or video messages broadcast by radio and television stations.”
NEW FROM FMEP
The Holocaust, the Nakba, the Genocide in Gaza & How the I.H.R.A. Definition of Antisemitism Censors Scholars (new podcast episode)
FMEP Fellow Ahmed Moor speaks with Marianne Hirsch, Professor Emerita of English and Comparative Literature at Columbia University. Professor Hirsch made news recently when she withdrew from classroom teaching because Columbia instituted the IHRA Definition of Antisemitism, telling the Associated Press that “‘A university that treats criticism of Israel as antisemitic and threatens sanctions for those who disobey is no longer a place of open inquiry…I just don’t see how I can teach about genocide in that environment.”’ In this podcast, Ahmed Moor and Professor Hirsch discuss the IHRA definition of antisemitism and its impact on teaching and learning as well as the changes in academia and the changing balance of influence and power between administrators and scholars. Digging into Prof. Hirsch’s areas of expertise, they discuss genocide scholarship and Germany, looking at the achievements and failures of German “memory culture” and comparing the Holocaust, the Nakba, and the genocide in Palestine today.
How Israel Targets Palestinian Journalists in Gaza (new podcast episode)
FMEP Fellow Peter Beinart speaks with Laila Al-Arian, the executive producer for Fault Lines, an award-winning current affairs program on Al Jazeera English. They discuss what it’s like to be a journalist in Gaza and how Western journalists have failed their Palestinian colleagues. They also talk about remembering the journalists Israel has killed. On August 25, 2025, the day Peter & Laila spoke, Israel killed at least five Palestinian journalists in Gaza, including an Al Jazeera cameraman. Israel has killed nearly 200 Palestinian journalists in Gaza since 10/7/23.
Necroviolence: On Israel’s Corpse Captivity Policy and Palestinian Practices of Dignity & Defiance (new podcast episode)
FMEP Fellow Hilary Rantisi speaks with researcher Randa Wahbe about the Israeli policy and practice of holding Palestinian corpses as part of the broader Israeli regime of control over Palestinians. At present, Israel holds more than 740 Palestinian bodies. Randa describes this practice of control, which can be defined as “necropolitics” and/or “necroviolence,” and which includes desecration of burial sites and cemeteries. She also describes Palestinian practices of defiance and dignity that aim to counter the impact that this particular form of violence has on Palestinian families and communities. FMEP initiated this conversation after FMEP’s partner and friend Awdah Hathaleen was murdered on 7/28/25 by an Israeli settler who invaded Awdah’s village, Umm al Khair in Masafer Yatta, and Israel then held Awdah’s body, refusing to return it to his family for burial. Women in Umm al Khair, including Awdah’s mother, widow, and extended family, launched a hunger strike to demand that Israel return his body for burial without conditions. 10 days after the murder, Israel returned Awdah’s body and allowed his family to bury him.
FMEP Legislative Round-Up August 29, 2025 (Lara Friedman)
- Bills, Resolutions; 2. Letters; 3. Recess Travel; 4. Selected Members on the Record; 5. Selected Media & Press releases/Statements
Settlement & Annexation Report: August 29, 2025 (Kristin McCarthy)
Settlers Continue to Terrorize & Take Over South Hebron Hills Communities; 2. Senior Israeli Officials Appear to be Making Rounds to Illegal Outposts; 3. The IDF’s Collective Punishment of Al-Mughayyir Spurs Fears of West Bank Genocide; 4. Bonus Reads
GAZA
UN-backed experts declare famine in and around Gaza City (The Guardian 8/22/25)
“An “entirely man-made” famine is taking place in Gaza’s largest city and its surrounding area amid deteriorating conditions that threaten an exponential increase in deaths across the devastated territory, UN-backed experts have declared. The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), a globally recognised organisation that classifies the severity of food insecurity and malnutrition, found that three key thresholds for famine had been met, signalling a major escalation of the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. Only four famines have been declared by the IPC since it was established in 2004, most recently in Sudan last year. “This famine is entirely man-made, it can be halted and reversed,” the report says. “The time for debate and hesitation has passed, starvation is present and is rapidly spreading. There should be no doubt in anyone’s mind that an immediate, at-scale response is needed. Any further delay – even by days – will result in a totally unacceptable escalation of famine-related mortality. “If a ceasefire is not implemented to allow humanitarian aid to reach everyone in the Gaza Strip, and if essential food supplies and basic health, nutrition and [sanitation and water] services are not restored immediately, avoidable deaths will increase exponentially.”’ See also GAZA STRIP: Famine confirmed in Gaza Governorate, projected to expand (IPC – Integrated Food Security Phase Classification); Israel Is Forcing Parents in Gaza to Watch Their Children Die of Hunger (Abdel Qader Sabbah and Sharif Abdel Kouddous//Drop Site 8/22/25); ‘There’s No Hunger in Gaza,’ Say Netanyahu, the Israeli Army and Media. Meanwhile, Starvation Worsens (Haaretz 8/14/25); Gazans are starving. Here’s what lack of food does to the human body. (WaPo 8/22/25); Famine confirmed in Gaza City region, global hunger monitor says (WaPo 8/22/25);
Netanyahu’s office calls Gaza famine declaration a ‘modern blood libel’ (TOI 8/23/25)
“After a UN hunger monitor on Friday declared for the first time that famine had struck northern Gaza, Israel vehemently denied the reports as “lies” and “modern blood libel,” and the United States appeared to dismiss the declaration as part of a “false narrative of deliberate mass starvation” from Hamas.” See also After Gaza Famine Report, U.S. Is Mostly Silent and Israel Is Defiant (NYT 8/23/25);
“This is Eternal Displacement”: Israeli Onslaught on Gaza City Forcing Thousands to Flee With Nowhere to Go (Abdel Qader Sabbah//Drop Site 8/27/25)
“Israeli tanks backed by warplanes and quadcopters are pushing deeper into Gaza City, destroying entire neighborhoods and leaving people with nowhere to go. The escalating assault comes amid a widening famine, with Palestinians starving to death every day. Airstrikes continue to pound civilians in central and southern Gaza. It has been one of the deadliest periods for journalists since Israel’s assault began, with at least 11 journalists killed in two bombardments just two weeks apart. Palestinians are describing the assault by the Israeli military to seize and ethnically cleanse Gaza City—Gaza’s largest city, where up to a million people are currently seeking shelter—as the end game.” See also ‘Gates of Hell Will Open’: Israel’s Defense Minister Vows to Level Gaza City After IDF Takeover Plan Approved (Haaretz 8/22/25); Israel tells Gaza City hospitals to ready for mass evacuations as war plans advance (TOI 8/21/25); Netanyahu: Israel will conquer Gaza regardless of whether Hamas accepts hostage deal (TOI 8/21/25); As Israel seeks to empty Gaza City, its residents weigh whether to leave (WaPo 8/29/25); Europe and Arab States Are Asleep. Soon, Anything That Moves in Gaza City Will Be Killed (Amira Hass//Haaretz 8/22/25); Israel pounds neighborhoods as operation to take Gaza City underway (WaPo 8/21/25); Gaza famine likely to worsen as Israel ends pauses for aid deliveries in capital (The Guardian 8/29/25)
Israeli army database suggests at least 83% of Gaza dead were civilians (Yuval Abraham//+972 Magazine 8/21/25)
“Data from an internal Israeli intelligence database indicates that at least 83 percent of Palestinians killed in Israel’s onslaught on Gaza were civilians, an investigation by +972 Magazine, Local Call, and the Guardian can reveal. Figures obtained from the classified database — which records the deaths of militants from Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) — contradict by a huge margin the public statements of Israeli army and government officials throughout the war, which have generally claimed a 1:1 or 2:1 ratio of civilian to militant casualties. Instead, the classified data backs up the findings of several studies suggesting Israel’s bombardment of Gaza has killed civilians at a rate with few parallels in modern warfare. The Israeli army confirmed the existence of the database, which is managed by the Military Intelligence Directorate (known by the Hebrew acronym “Aman”). Multiple intelligence sources familiar with the database said the army views it as the only authoritative tally of militant casualty figures. In the words of one of them: “There’s no other place to check.”…The overall death tolls published daily by the Gaza Health Ministry (which Local Call revealed last year are considered reliable even by the Israeli military) do not distinguish between civilians and militants. But taking the militant casualty figures obtained from the internal Israeli army database in May and lining them up against the Health Ministry’s total death toll, it is possible to calculate an approximate civilian casualty ratio for the war up until three months ago, when the death toll stood at 53,000. Assuming that all of the certain and probable militant deaths were counted in the death toll, that would mean over 83 percent of Gaza’s dead were civilians. If the probable deaths are discounted and only the certain deaths included, the proportion of civilian deaths rises to more than 86 percent…Both Hamas and PIJ have been severely weakened by Israel’s offensive over the past two years, which has killed most of the groups’ senior command and significantly damaged their military infrastructure. Still, the data obtained from the intelligence database shows that Israel has killed only one-fifth of those it considers to be militants. American intelligence estimates suggest Hamas has recruited 15,000 operatives during the war — twice as many as Israel killed…The result of this firing policy and the broader culture of revenge following October 7 is a civilian casualty ratio in Gaza that is extremely high for modern warfare, experts say, even compared with conflicts notorious for indiscriminate killing such as the Syrian and Sudanese civil wars.” See also Revealed: Israeli military’s own data indicates civilian death rate of 83% in Gaza war (The Guardian 8/21/25)
Israel’s killing of journalists follows a pattern of silencing Palestinian media that stretches back to 1967 (Maha Nassar//The Conversation 8/25/25)
“Five journalists were among the 22 people killed on Aug. 25, 2025, in Israeli strikes on the Nasser Hospital in the Gaza Strip. Following global condemnation, the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued a statement saying Israel “values the work of journalists.” But the numbers tell a different story. Those deaths bring the total number of journalists killed in Gaza in almost two years of war to 197. The Committee to Protect Journalists, which collates that data, accuses Israel of “engaging in the deadliest and most deliberate effort to kill and silence journalists” that the U.S.-based nonprofit has ever seen. “Palestinian journalists are being threatened, directly targeted and murdered by Israeli forces, and are arbitrarily detained and tortured in retaliation for their work,” the committee added. As a scholar of modern Palestinian history, I see the current killing of reporters, photographers and other media professionals in Gaza as part of a longer history of Israeli attempts to silence Palestinian journalists. This history stretches back to at least 1967, when Israel militarily occupied the Palestinian territories of the West Bank, East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip following the Six-Day War. Beyond the humanitarian toll, what makes matters even more drastic now is that, with Israeli restrictions on foreign media entering Gaza, local Palestinian journalists are the only people who can bear witness to the death and destruction taking place – and report it to a wider world.” See also Israel’s unprecedented slaughter of journalists in Gaza (Ishaan Tharoor//WaPo 8/27/25); ‘Hamas in disguise’: Israel’s tried-and-true tactic to smear Palestinian journalists (Muhammad Shehada//+972 Magazine 8/15/25); Reuters stopped sharing Gaza locations with Israel after ‘so many journalists’ killed by IDF (NBC 8/28/25); He Was the Face and Voice of Gaza. Israel Assassinated Him. (Lydia Polgren on journalist Anas al-Sharif//NYT 8/21/25); Israeli unit tasked with smearing Gaza journalists as Hamas fighters – report (The Guardian 8/15/25)
Maryam was my friend. Israel killed her and four other Gaza journalists (Ruwaida Amer//+972 Magazine 8/27/25)
“Maryam Abu Daqqa was my friend. She was a photojournalist and a mother. On Monday, she was killed by the Israeli army in a “double tap” attack on Nasser Hospital, along with four other journalists. She was 32 years old…It’s been more than 680 days of continuous work, with constant internet outages, no proper electricity, no safe shelter, and no transportation. I’ve continued to report since the beginning of the war because I believe in its mission, but I do it knowing that every day could very well be my last. No words can capture what we feel as journalists with the successive loss of colleagues. Why is Israel targeting Palestinian journalists in Gaza? Simple. We are the only ones able to document and transmit what is actually happening on the ground. Every image, every testimony, every broadcast we produce pierces through the wall of Israel’s official narrative. That makes us dangerous: by recording the displacement, the starvation, and the relentless bombardment, we expose Israel’s actions to the world.” See also Israeli strikes kill 22, including 5 journalists, in a Gaza hospital (NPR 8/25/25); Israel Says It Attacked Gaza Hospital to Destroy Camera Placed by Hamas (NYT 8/26/25); Israel bombed Gaza hospital a second time, killing rescuers, say health officials (The Guardian 8/25/25); Mariam Abu Dagga: Gaza journalist killed in Israeli strike ‘carried her camera into the heart of the field’ (The Guardian 8/25/25); See photos by Palestinian photojournalist Mariam Dagga, killed on the job (WaPo 8/27/25); UK among 27 countries to demand press given immediate access to Gaza (The Guardian 8/21/25);
Under growing Arab pressure, Hamas signals new willingness to compromise (WaPo 8/20/25)
“The decision this week by Hamas to accept a proposed ceasefire deal with Israel comes amid heightened pressure on the group from Arab governments and other Palestinian factions, which are eager to avert a planned Israeli invasion of Gaza City. Hamas announced Monday that it had signed off on a new ceasefire agreement, following a flurry of diplomacy in Egypt, where Qatari and Egyptian mediators huddled with Hamas representatives in recent days. The Israeli government, which voted this month to expand the war and occupy more of Gaza, has yet to agree to the proposal.” See also Scoop: Inside Trump’s Gaza meeting with Tony Blair and Jared Kushner (Axios 8/28/25); Israel Is in Talks to Send Gazans to South Sudan, Officials Say (NYT 8/18/25); Egypt warns Israel that mass displacement of Gazans is a ‘red line’ (CNN 8/18/25)
How much of Gaza is left standing? (The Economist 8/6/25)
“From above, much of Gaza appears flattened. But the full scale of the destruction and the number of people killed remain uncertain. Daily death tolls are issued by local authorities run by Hamas, the Islamist group that still controls parts of the strip, but many doubt their accuracy. Foreign journalists are barred unless embedded with Israeli forces. In the absence of access, independent researchers have turned to satellite images, surveys and public records to estimate what has been lost. Their findings suggest the toll may be even greater than suggested by official reports.” See also A Gaza City Neighborhood Is Now a Wasteland, Satellite Images Show (NYT 8/28/25);
REGION//GLOBAL
IDF said to believe entire Houthi cabinet was likely killed in yesterday’s strike (TOI 8/29/25)
“The IDF currently assesses that the entire cabinet of the Houthi cabinet — including the prime minister and 12 other ministers — were likely killed in yesterday’s strike in Yemen, Channel 12 reports without citing any sources. The network says the assessment is not definitive and that the IDF is still working to reach a more definitive understanding of the strike’s results.” See also IDF Strikes Yemen After Houthis Launch Two Drones at Israel; Report: Top Leaders Targeted (Haaretz 8/28/25);
U.S. denies Palestinian officials visas to attend UN General Assembly (Axios 8/29/25)
“The Trump Administration announced Friday that it won’t issue visas to senior Palestinian officials who wish to travel to New York to attend the UN General Assembly in September, and will revoke visas that were previously granted…The U.S. move comes in response to a planned initiative by several Western countries to recognize a Palestinian state during the annual global gathering. It underscores that on policy toward Gaza and the Palestinians more generally, it is the U.S. and Israel vs. nearly all the rest of the world…It was not immediately clear whether the State Department’s announcement will prevent Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas from attending next month’s assembly. Such a move would be unprecedented. According to its host country agreement with the UN, the U.S. government is obligated to allow delegations from around the world to visit New York to participate in the General Assembly.” See also Israel launches diplomatic attacks on its Western allies ahead of Palestinian statehood recognition (CNN 8/20/25);
With Palestine recognition, Europeans gave Israel ‘green light to take more pieces’ of West Bank (TOI 8/21/25)
“US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee says Israel’s decision to approve the controversial E1 settlement project, preventing Palestinian contiguity in the West Bank, was a response to the decisions by Western countries to announce plans to recognize a Palestinian state…“I don’t know what the Europeans thought they were going to accomplish, but by their actions, they’re accomplishing something that I don’t think they wanted to do, and that is to essentially to give a green light or encourage the Israelis to go ahead and take more pieces of Judea and Samaria, either by declaring sovereignty or annexation,” Huckabee says, referring to the West Bank by its biblical name.” See also Over 20 nations join EU, UN in opposing Israel’s illegal E1 settlement plan (Al Jazeera 8/22/25)
Germany inks $408M arms deal with Israel despite pledge to curb exports over Gaza (Al Monitor 8/26/25)
“Despite recently announcing an embargo on weapons sales to Israel that could be used in Gaza, Germany has signed a new deal worth more than 350 million euros ($408 million) with Israeli defense company Rafael. The new agreement comes after Chancellor Friedrich Merz vowed on Aug. 8 that offensive weapons would not be sold to Israel due to the humanitarian crisis in the Palestinian enclave…Merz said that Germany would stop supplying weapons to Israel that could be used in the Gaza war. Though the new deal involves imports rather than exports, it has raised questions about the broader consistency of Germany’s defense policy, as the government has sought to distance itself from Israel’s actions during the Gaza war.” See also UK bans Israeli officials from major defense fair: What to know (Al Monitor 8/29/25); Norway wealth fund sells Caterpillar stake over Israel allegations (The Guardian 8/26/25);
Dutch foreign minister quits over failure to secure sanctions against Israel (The Guardian 8/23/25)
“The Dutch foreign minister, Caspar Veldkamp, has resigned after a cabinet meeting failed to secure sanctions against Israel, weakening the Netherlands’ already fragile caretaker government. Veldkamp’s colleagues from the centrist New Social Contract (NSC) party also walked out after the cabinet debate late on Friday reached an impasse over adopting harsher measures against Israel. The discussions about taking further steps against Israel came after the Netherlands joined 20 other countries in signing a joint declaration on Thursday condemning Israeli plans to build an illegal settlement in the occupied West Bank. Critics say the 3,400-home settlement would split the territory in half. The Netherlands barred the far-right Israeli ministers Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich from entering the country in July.” See also Far-right Israeli politician barred from Australia ahead of speaking tour (Guardian 8/18/25); Australia accuses Iran of antisemitic arson attacks, expels ambassador (WaPo 8/26/25); Netanyahu Calls Australian PM Albanese a ‘Weak Politician Who Betrayed Israel’ (Haaretz 8/19/25);
The Growing Consensus over Israel’s Genocide in Gaza (Yara Asi//Arab Center DC 8/19/25)
“Despite growing recognition that Israel’s current campaign meets the legal definition of genocide, there is also an emerging agreement that the Palestinian people have in fact been suffering a protracted genocide for decades. Legal and academic definitions of genocide, after all, recognize that it is not a one-off event, but a much longer process of human rights violations. Although the conversation about genocide in Palestine has accelerated since the start of current assault on the Gaza Strip, it is by no means new. Unfortunately, history suggests that the growing consensus on genocide recognition will mean little for Palestinians if it is not accompanied by meaningful political action.” See also Accountability for War Crimes in Gaza: Where We Are (Sarah Leah Whitson//Arab Center DC 8/13/25); See also UN human rights staff urge leadership to declare Israel’s war in Gaza a genocide (The Guardian 8/29/25); Pope demands ‘collective punishment’ end in Gaza as 10 more die of hunger (The Guardian 8/27/25);
Israel, US rift with France widens as Paris rebukes US envoy: What to know (Al Monitor 8/25/25)
“srael and the United States have intensified efforts against France’s intention to recognize Palestine at the upcoming United Nations General Assembly summit in September, with senior Israeli and American officials accusing French President Emmanuel Macron of fueling antisemitism in Europe…The latest episode in the widening diplomatic conflict began with a letter sent to Macron Aug. 25 by American ambassador to France Charles Kushner. The letter, published in the Wall Street Journal one day before it was sent, denounced the rise of antisemitism in France, saying that “public statements haranguing Israel and gestures toward recognition of a Palestinian state embolden extremists, fuel violence, and endanger Jewish life in France.”…The words sparked a diplomatic row, and Kushner was summoned by the French Foreign Ministry for a reprimand on Sunday. One week earlier, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sent a letter to the French president, rebuking him for his intention to recognize a Palestinian state in September.” See also France summons US ambassador Charles Kushner over his antisemitism allegations (JTA 8/25/25); See also Macron, in Letter to Netanyahu, Defends Call for Palestinian Statehood (NYT 8/26/25); In a first for an Israeli leader, Netanyahu says he recognizes the Armenian genocide (JTA 8/27/25); Netanyahu makes ill-timed Armenian genocide nod as Yerevan courts Turkey (Al Monitor 8/27/25);
Scoop: U.S. asks Israel to scale down Lebanon strikes after decision to disarm Hezbollah (Axios 8/21/25)
“The Trump administration has asked Israel to reduce “non-urgent” military action in Lebanon to bolster the Lebanese government’s decision to start the process of disarming Hezbollah, two sources with direct knowledge tell Axios…The Lebanese cabinet’s unprecedented decision to prepare to disarm Hezbollah came at the urging of the U.S., but many in the region doubt the government will be able to carry it out. The Trump administration thinks reciprocal steps by Israel would give Beirut more space and credibility to follow through.” See also Lebanon begins disarming Palestinian factions after refugee camp hands over weapons (Al Monitor 8/21/25); Israeli activists briefly cross Syria border in bid to establish settlement (TOI 8/19/25); Syria says six soldiers killed in Israeli drone strike as US pushes for security deal (Al Monitor 8/27/25)
‘The Lord Is Counting on Me to Stand on the Side of Israel’: ICJ Judge Reveals Her Bias (Zeteo 8/18/25)
“On July 19, 2024, Judge Julia Sebutinde of Uganda shocked the legal world by casting the sole dissenting vote to the International Court of Justice’s (ICJ) finding that Israel was “under an obligation to cease immediately all new settlement activities, and to evacuate all settlers from the Occupied Palestinian Territory.” Her finding came despite that for decades – until a recent Trump-led U-turn – the notion that Israeli colonial settlements in the occupied West Bank were illegal under international law had been a largely unanimous, undisputed fact, even among Israel’s staunchest allies. The academic community had been baffled by her determination, unable to explain such an unusual vote. But according to recent revelations, Sebutinde, who was also the only judge to vote against all six provisional measures the ICJ issued in South Africa’s genocide case against Israel, has admitted she did it because “the Lord” was counting on her “to stand on the side of Israel.” To Sebutinde, like many Christian Zionists, what is happening in the Middle East is a sign that the “End Times” are here. “I have a very strong conviction that we are in the End Times,” she said, according to the independent Ugandan newspaper, the Daily Monitor. “I want to be on the right side of history. I am convinced that time is running out…I am humbled that God has allowed me to be part of the last days.” The legal world is now shocked all over again. What happens when a judge at one of the highest judicial offices in the world admits she has a religious duty to side with one of the parties in a dispute?” See also Trump expands sanctions against ICC officials over Israel, U.S. investigations (WaPo 8/20/25); Washington sanctions 4 more ICC officials over cases against Israel and US (TOI 8/20/25);
RIVER TO THE SEA
The Spread of Settlement Outposts and the Killing of Palestinians in the West Bank Are the Same Thing (Hagar Shezaf//Haaretz 8/14/25)
“A real war is underway in the West Bank. It’s being waged by settler militias – including reserve and active-duty soldiers – against Palestinians. It has several fronts: One targets shepherding communities, which constitute the weakest link in Palestinian society. These communities are small in number, rely on grazing flocks in open areas, and are therefore easy to impoverish and isolate – and have been expelled at a rapid pace since the beginning of the war. The second front – manifested in recent weeks by numerous killings of Palestinians in clashes with settlers – targets the larger, more populated villages. Within this framework, settlers establish outposts on the villages’ agricultural land, conduct patrols, provoke residents, or work to expand the outposts by building roads and establishing satellite outposts that absorb increasing swaths of land. Residents of the Palestinian villages who come to defend their land from seizure inevitably find themselves on the losing side: Not only are the settlers armed with weapons provided to them by the army or the National Security Ministry, but experience shows that the Israeli authorities always justify this use of force – whether the Palestinian shot had thrown a rock or was merely present in the area without interfering, as in the case of Awdah Hathaleen in Umm al-Khair. The fact that violent takeovers of Palestinian land precede these cases is typically ignored by the authorities.” See also Settlers in West Bank’s Hebron Set Up Trailers on Land That Previously Had No Israeli Presence (Haaretz 8/17/25); Israeli Settlers Set Up Four Trailers Near Village Where Settler Killed Palestinian Last Month (Haaretz 8/28/25); The Other Territory (This American Life 8/22/25: “Since October 7th, while the world has focused its attention on Gaza, the Israeli government has tightened the screws on the three million Palestinians in the West Bank in all sorts of dramatic ways. We travel to the West Bank to see these changes in person.”)
Israeli army, settlers unite in collective punishment of Al-Mughayyir (Oren Ziv & Shatha Yaish//+972 Magazine 8/27/25)
“On Friday, Aug. 22, a convoy of bulldozers rolled into the olive groves of Al-Mughayyir, a Palestinian village east of Ramallah in the occupied West Bank. Most were civilian machines operated by settlers, with several armored military bulldozers in support. By Sunday, thousands of olive trees, many of them decades old and belonging to local families, had been torn from the ground. The order came from Maj. Gen. Avi Bluth, head of the Israeli army’s Central Command…“Shaping operations” is the army’s euphemism for a policy of physically re-engineering areas where Palestinian resistance has emerged. Earlier this year, the tactic was applied in refugee camps across the northern West Bank, where soldiers demolished hundreds of homes, displaced tens of thousands of residents, and leveled structures to ease military access — leaving three camps, one in Jenin and two in Tulkarem, effectively deserted…Following Bluth’s remarks, two leading Israeli human rights groups, Yesh Din and the Association for Civil Rights in Israel, demanded that the Military Advocate General open a criminal investigation into the general on suspicion of war crimes.”
Israeli protesters stage ‘day of disruption’ calling for end to war in Gaza (The Guardian 8/26/25)
“Tens of thousands of people took part in demonstrations across Israel on Tuesday, blocking highways on a “day of disruption” that aimed to push Benjamin Netanyahu into agreeing a deal to end the war and calling off plans to attack Gaza City. Relatives of hostages led the biggest march and rally in Tel Aviv, while in Jerusalem hundreds of people gathered outside the prime minister’s office as the security cabinet met to discuss the war. There were dozens of other protests around the country, including on the main highway to the northern city of Haifa and inside Ben Gurion airport.” See also Hundreds of thousands demonstrate in Tel Aviv at end of nationwide day of hostage protests (TOI 8/18/25); Mass protests erupt in Israel as IDF readies plans to occupy Gaza City (WaPo 8/17/25); Protests in Tel Aviv, army reservists refusing to serve: in Israel, more of us are saying no to this endless war (MK Ofer Cassif//The Guardian 8/25/25); Ben-Gvir Pressures Top Israel Police Commanders to Use Force Against Anti-gov’t Protesters, Senior Officers Say (Haaretz 8/29/25); Netanyahu says nationwide strike is ‘distancing the release of our hostages’ (TOI 8/17/25); Netanyahu: Hostage Deal Protests Guarantee Repeat of Oct. 7 Atrocities and Forever War (Haaretz 8/17/25); A death sentence’: Relatives of hostages urge Netanyahu not to ‘torpedo’ deal to free captives (TOI 8/21/25)
Israel’s Exhausted Soldiers Complicate Plans for Gaza Assault (NYT 8/28/25)
“Israel is preparing to call up tens of thousands of reserve soldiers for its Gaza City offensive, but military officials say it’s not clear how many of them will return to the fight after nearly two years of grinding war. Over the past few months, an increasing number of Israeli reserve soldiers have not been showing up for military service. Some cite exhaustion, as well as the need to save strained marriages or foundering careers. Others say they are increasingly disillusioned with the war.” See also The War in Israel Over Serving in War (NYT 8/24/25); As Israel begins offensive on Gaza City, an exhausted military may face a manpower problem (CNN 8/21/25); Israel to mobilize 60,000 reservists ahead of an expanded Gaza City operation (AP 8/20/25); The Zionist Left Never Stood in the Way of Transfer (Hagai El-Ad//Haaretz 8/24/25)
U.S. SCENE
Majority of Americans disapprove of US-Israel military alliance, new poll shows (Politico 8/27/25)
“A Quinnipiac University survey found 60 percent of voters disapprove of the U.S. sending military aid to Israel, while 32 percent support additional aid — the highest level of opposition and lowest level of support for the U.S. military alliance with Israel in a Quinnipiac poll since the Oct. 7, 2023 attacks against Israel by Hamas…Half of the voters surveyed, including 77 percent of Democrats, said they believe Israel is committing genocide. Sixty-four percent of Republicans said they do not believe Israel is committing genocide.” See also Half of Registered U.S. Voters Say Israel Committing Genocide in Gaza, Poll Finds (Haaretz 8/28/25)
U.S. halts visitor visas for Gazans, including humanitarian medical visas (WaPo 8/17/25)
“The move comes after far-right activist Laura Loomer criticized the visa program in recent days, describing it as a “national security threat” in a social media post.”
Democrats Edge Away From Unwavering Support for Israel (NY Mag 8/16/25)
“Support for Israel’s war among rank-and-file Democrats is quickly evaporating, and Democratic politicians are slowly but surely following. The biggest sign of a vibe shift on the issue occurred when a majority of Democratic senators (24 of 47) suddenly joined Bernie Sanders’s latest effort to cut off offensive military weapons sales to Israel (an additional three backed a separate Sanders amendment to block assault-rifle sales to Israel). A similar Sanders effort in April gained just 15 votes…It’s gotten to the point where Politico is calling the issue a “litmus test” for potential 2028 aspirants.” See also Israel’s Gaza Campaign Is Making It a Pariah State (Thomas Friedman//NYT 8/25/25); Even Former AIPAC Democrats Are Signing On to Block Arms Sales to Israel (The Intercept 8/27/25); DNC blocks resolution calling for recognition of Palestinian statehood and halting arms sales to Israel (JTA 8/26/25); Jewish Democrat Jamie Raskin joins list of lawmakers backing bill to restrict arms transfers to Israel (JTA 8/18/25); House Minority Whip Katherine Clark calls war in Gaza a ‘genocide’ — then walks it back (JTA 8/18/25); ADL chief attacks Zohran Mamdani, but gets his facts wrong (Jacob Kornbluh//Forward 8/18/25)
Jake Sullivan says he now supports withholding weapons from Israel (JI 8/28/25)
“Former National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said on Wednesday that the “case for withholding weapons from Israel today is much stronger than it was one year ago,” adding that he now backs such efforts…“The case for withholding weapons from Israel today is much stronger than it was one year ago,” Sullivan added. “One, they don’t face the same regional threats. Two, there was a ceasefire hostage deal in place and the ability to have negotiations, and it was Israel who just walked away from it without negotiating seriously. Three, there is a full-blown famine in Gaza. And four, there are no more serious military objectives to achieve. It’s just bombing the rubble into rubble.” Sullivan, who was tapped as the inaugural Kissinger Professor of the Practice of Statecraft and World Order at the Harvard Kennedy School, suggested that the political makeup of the Israeli government could affect the future of the U.S.-Israel relationship. “If nothing changes in their government — if it continues to be a far-right government that pursues the same policies — then it won’t be the Israel we’ve known,” Sullivan said.” See also How Former Biden Officials Defend Their Gaza Policy (Isaac Chotiner interviews former US Ambassador to Israel Jacob Lew//New Yorker 8/26/25)
Israel’s iron grip on the American right is slipping away (Ben Lorber//+972 Magazine 8/20/25)
“Since October 7, a panoply of prominent far-right pundits, including Tucker Carlson, Jack Posobiec, and Steve Bannon, as well as MAGA politicians such as Marjorie Taylor Greene have grown increasingly critical of U.S. support for Israel. They fiercely opposed the prospect of U.S. military intervention in Israel’s 12-day war on Iran. And while some pivoted to praise the strikes once it seemed that a longer war had been averted, voices like Carlson and Greene remain wary that Trump may still be swayed to plunge the U.S. into war in the Middle East. Carlson and others are joined by an array of popular voices across the right-leaning YouTube and podcasting ecosystem, including commentators like Joe Rogan and Theo Von and libertarian comedian Dave Smith. The more radical corners, meanwhile, have adopted increasingly hard-edged and openly antisemitic critiques of Zionism, such as popular misogynist “manosphere” voices like Andrew Tate and Jake Shields, conspiracy-mongers like Alex Jones and Candace Owens, and outright white supremacists like Nick Fuentes. Some of these figures have rejected Trump entirely, insisting he has been utterly compromised by Zionists and that an authentic nationalist movement can only arise from the ashes of Trumpism.” See also MAGA erupts after Israeli official charged in child sex ring flees U.S. (Axios 8/20/25)
Microsoft Asked FBI for Help Tracking Palestinian Protests (Bloomberg 8/26/25)
“For the better part of a year, Microsoft Corp. has failed to quell a small but persistent revolt by employees bent on forcing the company to sever business ties with Israel over its war in Gaza. The world’s largest software maker has requested help from the Federal Bureau of Investigation in tracking protests, worked with local authorities to try and prevent them, flagged internal emails containing words like “Gaza” and deleted some internal posts about the protests, according to employees and documents reviewed by Bloomberg. Microsoft has also suspended and fired protesters for disrupting company events. Despite those efforts, a steady trickle of employees, sometimes joined by outside supporters, continue to speak out in an escalating guerilla campaign of mass emails and noisy public demonstrations…Last week, 20 people were arrested on a plaza at Microsoft’s Redmond, Washington, headquarters after disregarding orders by police to disperse…On Tuesday, protesters occupied the office of Microsoft President Brad Smith, sharing video on the Twitch livestreaming platform that showed them chanting, hanging banners and briefly attempting to barricade a door with furniture…An employee group called No Azure for Apartheid says that by selling software and artificial intelligence tools to Israel’s military, the company’s Azure cloud service is profiting from the deaths of civilians. Microsoft denies that, but the protests threaten to dent its reputation as a thoughtful employer and reasonable actor on the world stage.” See also Microsoft fires four workers for on-site protests over company’s ties to Israel (Reuters 8/29/25); Microsoft employee protests lead to 18 arrests as company reviews its work with Israel’s military (AP 8/20/25); Microsoft launches inquiry into claims Israel used its tech for mass surveillance of Palestinians (The Guardian 8/15/25);
On WhatsApp, Palestinians in the U.S. look for food for Gaza — and mourn (WaPo 8/24/25)
“As famine has descended on Gaza, hundreds of Palestinian Americans have gathered on a WhatsApp group chat to make desperate pleas on behalf of relatives and friends in the enclave, many trapped and starving. “Every other day, somebody will say: ‘We have 10 families in this neighborhood. Can somebody get food for them?’” said Hani Almadhoun, a Virginia aid worker and naturalized U.S. citizen who started the group chat years ago and whose parents, multiple siblings and many close friends live in Gaza. “I’m talking to Palestinians who are upper-class, asking me to get their family a pot of soup,” Almadhoun said.
In Gaza, virtually every system of modern life has either collapsed or become unreliable: The banks. The stores. The internet. Cellphone service. Food distribution is intermittent and hundreds have been killed trying to collect aid. On Friday, the world’s leading authority on food security officially declared a famine is happening in Gaza City. For anguished Palestinians living in the United States with relatives and friends trapped in the enclave, the group chat has become a lifeline — a sort of communal bulletin board of urgent appeals for help, but also for information about who might be left alive in neighborhoods that have been bombed. The group — which has grown to nearly 500 people — offers a supportive space for people trying to live with the desperation and grief of war, as well as the guilt that comes with watching the horrors unfold from America.”
The Troubling Lines That Columbia Is Drawing (Eyal Press//New Yorker 8/18/25)
“The ability to threaten and extort universities is surely one of the reasons that the Trump Administration has embraced the I.H.R.A. definition. Another is the definition’s usefulness in framing antisemitism as primarily a problem of the left, flourishing on campuses teeming with young people who have been indoctrinated by radical Israel-hating professors. You would never know from reading the headlines in recent months that the evidence does not support this picture…The curtailment of academic freedom, the deportation of foreign students, the banning of protests: all of this is being done under the pretext of protecting Jews, who alone are entitled to protections that other groups apparently don’t merit. It is hard to imagine a more effective way to breed anti-Jewish animus.” See also The IHRA definition of antisemitism is anti-intellectual and cannot serve as Columbia’s standard (Gil Eyal & Peter Bearman//Columbia Spectator 8/6/25); Beverly Hills Unified School District board members vote to fly Israeli flags inside schools (CBS News 8/27/25); Columbia Will Make Direct Payments to Jewish Employees. Not All of Them Are Happy About It. (Chronicle of Higher Ed 8/15/25)
State Dept. fires official after internal debates over Israel (WaPo 8/20)
“The State Department fired its top press officer for Israeli-Palestinian affairs following multiple disputes over how to characterize key Trump administration policies, including a controversial plan to relocate hundreds of thousands of Palestinians from the Gaza Strip that critics consider ethnic cleansing, according to U.S. officials and documents reviewed by The Washington Post. Monday’s firing occurred days after an internal debate about releasing a statement to the news media that said, “We do not support forced displacement of Palestinians in Gaza.” Shahed Ghoreishi drafted the line, which resembled previous remarks made by President Donald Trump and Middle East special envoy Steve Witkoff, who said in February that the United States would not pursue an “eviction plan” for Gaza. State Department leadership vetoed the move, instructing officials to “cut the line marked in red and clear,” according to a memo dated last week. U.S. officials said Ghoreishi’s firing has sent a chilling message to State Department employees that communication straying from ardent pro-Israel messaging — even if it’s in line with long-standing U.S. policy — will not be tolerated.” See also Trump Calls Netanyahu a ‘War Hero’ and Adds: ‘I Guess I Am, Too’ (NYT 8/20/25);
US groups demand release of American-Palestinian teen imprisoned by Israel (The Guardian 8/26/25)
“More than 100 US human rights, faith-based and civil rights groups have demanded that the secretary of state, Marco Rubio, immediately secure the release of a 16-year-old dual American-Palestinian citizen who has been in an Israeli prison for six months over allegations of rock throwing. The coalition, which includes the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC), the Center for Constitutional Rights and Pax Christi USA, warned that Mohammed Zaher Ibrahim’s deteriorating health puts “his life on the line” and demanded urgent US intervention in the most significant organized pressure campaign on the imprisoned teenager’s case yet… The teen, who splits his time between Palm Bay, Florida, and the West Bank, was 15 when Israeli soldiers arrested him from his home in the West Bank in February. He has since developed scabies, according to state department emails to the family, and lost at least 25lbs, his lawyer says.”
PERSPECTIVES//LONG READS
In Gaza City, I Have Surrendered to an Unknown Fate (Rasha Abou Jalal//Drop Site 8/29/25)
“We refuse to move south. We have made our decision. Like so many other Palestinians in Gaza, I have ended up in a tent—the enduring symbol of displacement. I am camped out on the rubble with my husband and five children in western Gaza City. The merciless Israeli military machine is bearing down on us, getting closer every day and there is nothing we can do. But we won’t leave here…We were displaced to southern Gaza before—it was a bitter experience that lasted 15 months. We were forced from our home in October 2023, after Netanyahu ordered all Palestinians to displace to the south a few days after the war began. Like hundreds of thousands of others, we were only able to return to the north after the January 2024 ceasefire agreement. That ceasefire only lasted until March 2024, when Israel broke it and resumed its scorched earth campaign. Our experience in the south will never fade from my memory. We never knew any kind of stability. We were forced to move no less than 13 times between different neighborhoods and cities—fleeing bombardment, or searching for water, or privacy, or a semblance of life in overcrowded shelters.Our decision not to go south again was not driven by courage as much as it was by a refusal to repeat this tragedy. Do you know that feeling when you’re stuck between two non-choices?”
Remembering Awdah Hathaleen (Maya Rosen & Erez Bleicher//Jewish Currents 8/21/25)
“For Awdah, the Bedouin tradition of hospitality was a primary strategy and cherished value in the work of countering the ongoing Nakba, and he had the remarkable ability to befriend every guest who ever passed through Umm al-Khair. As our lives became more and more imbricated with the life of Umm al-Khair—hosting delegations, actions, gatherings, or work days together nearly every week—we watched Awdah develop his graciousness and charm into a principle technology in the practice and process of liberation and in defense of his community. In his hands, hospitality became a tool of exquisite sabotage against an ever more refined system of partition—an offensive mechanism deployed like a carefully placed wrench in the gears of the bulldozers and a crowbar prying apart the stone wall of the state’s supremacist logics.”
Gaza Uninhabitable: Challenging Colonial Frames of Erasure (Abdalrahman Kittana//Al Shabaka 8/27/25)
“The erasure of Indigenous populations lies at the core of settler-colonial narratives. These narratives aim to deny existing geographies, communities, and histories to justify the displacement and replacement of one people by another. The Zionist project is no exception. Among Zionism’s founding myths is the claim that it “made the desert bloom” and that Tel Aviv, its crown jewel, arose from barren sand dunes—an uninhabitable void transformed by pioneering settlers…This same settler-colonial discourse drives the ongoing genocidal war on Gaza, where destruction is reframed through the narrative of “uninhabitability.” Gaza is increasingly depicted as a lifeless ruin—a framing that is far from neutral. This commentary contends that “uninhabitable” is a politically charged term that masks culpability, reproduces colonial erasure, and shapes policy and public perception in ways that profoundly affect Palestinian lives and futures. It examines the origins, function, and implications of this discourse within the logic of settler colonialism, calling for a radical shift in language from narratives that obscure violence to those affirming Palestinian presence, history, and sovereignty.”
How Israelis turned atrocity denial into an art (Ron Dudai//+972 Magazine 8/22/25)
“Israel’s ongoing genocidal campaign in Gaza may be the most thoroughly documented atrocity in recent history, measured both by the sheer volume of evidence and the speed of its circulation…And yet, faced with an unending flood of photos and videos of dead civilians, starving children, and entire neighborhoods reduced to rubble, much of the Israeli public — and a significant portion of Israel’s supporters abroad — responds in one of two ways: either it is all fake, or else the Gazans deserved it. Often, paradoxically, it is both at once: “There are no dead children in Gaza, and it’s good that we killed them.”’
Gaza under Siege (Tareq Baconi//LRB July 2025)
“A few years ago I had a meeting with a European diplomat in Brussels. He was a well-intentioned mid-career official looking for ways to get more aid into the Gaza Strip. At the time Israel was limiting the number of trucks allowed in, as it had been doing since tightening the blockade on Gaza in 2007. The diplomat was trying hard to increase that number. I praised his work, but said that the real issue was not the number of trucks entering, but the fact that Israel controlled that number in the first place. I argued that the goal of the international community shouldn’t be to make life under the blockade liveable, but to challenge the illegal and immoral blockade itself. Such conversations are constrained by notions of what is ‘possible’ and ‘pragmatic’; any proposals that fall outside those parameters are deemed ‘utopian’ and ‘idealistic’…’What can be done?’ the European diplomat might ask me today. For a start, call a spade a spade. This is an apartheid regime carrying out a genocide on a captive population. End military assistance. Suspend arms exports to Israel and stop buying Israeli weapons (Israel’s arms exports increased 14 per cent last year to a record $14.8 billion, more than half of which went to Europe). Impose sanctions: end financial and economic co-operation in trade and banking relations; stop all cultural links and diplomatic partnerships. Support the ICC and the ICJ and meet third-party obligations under international law. Bring criminal investigations against dual nationals who have committed war crimes in Gaza. Stop demonising the Palestinian struggle to end apartheid. The diplomat would no doubt tell me that none of this is possible or pragmatic.”
NEW FROM FMEP
Palestinian Citizens of Israel, the Future, and Inconsequential Palestinian State Recognition (New Occupied Thoughts episode)
FMEP Fellow Hilary Rantisi speaks with Palestinian-Canadian lawyer and analyst Diana Buttu. They discuss Palestinian citizens of Israel, who have long navigated Israeli racism and have faced accelerated repression over the last 22 months that has included arrests, threats, and efforts to impeach Palestinian Knesset Member Ayman Odeh and undermine Palestinian political participation inside of Israel. They talk about responses to the Israeli genocide in Gaza, including recent protests and hunger strikes led by Palestinian citizens of Israel as well as growing numbers of Jewish Israelis who are naming Israeli actions in Gaza as genocide. They also look at the new diplomatic wave led by many Western states promising to recognize a Palestinian state and, specifically, how that state recognition is juxtaposed against the International Court of Justice’s rulings on Israeli occupation. Finally, Diana reflects on the legacy of the Oslo Accords and the reckoning on those agreements that has never occurred.
“No Way But Forward”: Life in the Gaza Strip (New Occupied Thoughts episode)
Former FMEP President Matt Duss speaks with professor & author Brian Barber, who recently published No Way But Forward: Life Stories of Three Families in the Gaza Strip. The book tells the stories of day-t0-day life under decades of military occupation, building on the close relationships Brian built there through many years of academic research. Brian maintains close contact with the families and finishes the book with a section on each family’s harrowing efforts to survive the current genocide in Gaza. Brian and Matt discuss the book — how Brian came to write it, the contents of it, and the challenge of publishing it — as well as Brian’s experience of encountering Palestinian communities, overcoming unconscious biases, and withstanding direct challenges to the legitimacy of Palestinian voices in order to fulfill a promise and share Palestinian stories.
FMEP Legislative Round-Up August 15, 2025 (Lara Friedman)
- Bills, Resolutions; 2. Letters; 3. Recess Travel to Israel & West Bank (to show support for/solidarity with Israel & Greater Israel); 4. Selected Members on the Record; 5. Selected Media & Press releases/Statements
Settlement & Annexation Report: August 14, 2025 (Kristin McCarthy)
- Israel to Approve E-1 Settlement Next Week; 2. Israel Published Tenders for Huge Expansion of Ma’ale Adumim Settlement; 3. Israel Publishes Tenders for Construction of a New Settlement, Ariel West; 4. Plan for Yeshiva in Sheikh Jarrah Advances Again As Israel Seeks New Ways to Expel Palestinian Residents; 5. Israel Advances Plan for New Settlement “Nofey Rachel” in East Jerusalem; 6. Another West Bank Communities Have Been Expelled By Settler Terrorism; 7. Bonus Reads
GAZA
With chaotic airdrops, Israel’s engineered starvation of Gaza enters new phase (Ahmed Ahmed & Ibtisam Mahdi//+972 Magazine 8/15/25)
“Israel has only allowed a trickle of aid to enter the enclave, as Gazans describe risking their lives for a sack of flour or moldy bread…On Aug. 10, Gaza’s Government Media Office announced that just 1,210 aid trucks had entered the Strip over the past two weeks, 14 percent of the 8,400 trucks required to meet the basic needs of the population. Over that same period, Israel and several Arab and Western nations have airdropped an even smaller amount of food and supplies into Gaza — what aid groups have criticized as an inadequate and unnecessarily expensive distribution method, meant to distract from Israel’s starvation campaign. In some cases, the falling aid has crushed and killed Palestinians on the ground, including a 14-year-old boy and a 32-year-old medic. Meanwhile, in early August, the UN estimated that since the establishment of GHF sites in May, 1400 Palestinians have been killed and more than 4000 injured while seeking food across the Strip. Alongside the danger of direct fire by Israeli troops, there is also the risk of being attacked by others desperate for food. In the absence of any functioning government, gangs and individuals have begun targeting people leaving aid areas, seizing their food to eat or sell at exorbitant prices. Many in Gaza see this as part of Israel’s engineered starvation strategy: allowing in only a trickle of trucks each day, while targeting the security personnel meant to protect distribution.” See also Gaza Health Ministry Says 51 Palestinians Killed by IDF in Past Day, Including 17 Waiting for Aid (Haaretz 8/15/25); ‘A deadly scheme’: Palestinians face indiscriminate gunfire at food sites (The Guardian 8/9/25); Israel must give U.N. full access to Gaza to halt starvation, allies say (WaPo 8/12/25); Doctors detail the daily deluge of Gazans shot while seeking food (WaPo 8/10/25); Heat and thirst drive families in Gaza to drink water that makes them sick (AP 8/15/25)
The Genocide in Gaza (Drop Site 8/15/25)
“Over the past 24 hours, at least 51 Palestinians were confirmed killed, with four recovered from the rubble, while 369 injured arrived at hospitals in the Gaza Strip, according to the Gaza Ministry of Health. The toll includes 17 people seeking humanitarian aid. The Ministry has reported one child who died due to famine and malnutrition in the past 24 hours, raising the total death toll due to famine to 240, including 107 children.” See also The Genocide in Gaza (Drop Site 8/14/25): “Over the past 24 hours, at least 54 Palestinians were confirmed killed, with four recovered from the rubble, while 831 injured arrived at hospitals in the Gaza Strip, according to the Gaza Ministry of Health. The toll includes 22 people seeking humanitarian aid. The Ministry has reported four people who died due to famine and malnutrition in the past 24 hours, raising the total death toll due to famine to 239, including 106 children.” And The Genocide in Gaza (Drop Site 8/13/25): “Over the past 24 hours, at least 123 Palestinians were confirmed killed and 437 injured by the Israeli military, according to the ministry of health in Gaza. Eight Palestinians, including three children, died of famine and malnutrition. 21 of these were killed and 185 of these were injured while seeking aid, bringing the aid-site death toll to 1,838 killed and 13,409+ injured since Oct. 7. The total number of victims of famine and malnutrition to 235, including 106 children…On Sunday, seven young children—most appearing to be toddlers—were killed in an Israeli strike on a building in Gaza City’s al-Zeitoun neighborhood. The attack was overlooked by nearly every major media outlet.” See also Israel intensifies bombing of Gaza, killing 89 Palestinians in 24 hours (The Guardian 8/12/25); Israeli gunfire kills at least 25 in Gaza as Netanyahu says he will allow Palestinians to leave (AP 8/13/25); Israel steps up Gaza City bombing after Netanyahu vow to expand offensive (Reuters 8/11/25); The Trauma of Childhood in Gaza (NYT 8/15/25);
The Israeli Assassination of Journalist Anas al-Sharif and Five Colleagues in Gaza City (Abdel Qader Sabbah and Sharif Abdel Kouddous//Drop Site 8/11/25)
“The prominent Palestinian journalist Anas al-Sharif was buried in Gaza City on Monday, a broken slab of rock used as a headstone, one day after his assassination by the Israeli military. Five other journalists —four from Al Jazeera, Mohammed Qraiqeh, Ibrahim Zaher, Moamen Aliwa, and Mohammed Noufal, and one from media outlet Sahat, Mohammed Al-Khalidi—were killed alongside him and also laid to rest. All six were killed on Sunday night in an Israeli airstrike on their media tent outside Al-Shifa hospital in what the Israeli military proudly proclaimed was an assassination targeting al-Sharif. Israel has now killed 238 journalists in Gaza, according to the Government Media Office. At just 28 years old, Anas had emerged as the most recognized Palestinian journalist still alive and reporting from Gaza…Israel’s murder of the entire Al Jazeera team in Gaza City is seen by Palestinian journalists as an opening salvo in the coming invasion and a warning to the remaining journalists in the city—signaling that Israel can and will eliminate the most prominent journalistic voices on the ground…Facing no consequences for its actions—other than occasional words of condemnation from foreign governments and human rights organizations—the Israeli military has acted with increasing levels of brazenness in its killing of journalists in Gaza over the past 22 months.” See also The Guardian view on Anas al-Sharif and Gaza’s journalists: Israel is wiping out the witnesses (The Guardian 8/12/25); Israel’s Targeting of Palestinian Reporters in Gaza Isn’t Collateral Damage. It’s Strategy (Member of Knesset Ahmad Tibi//Haaretz 8/12/25)
‘Legitimization Cell’: Israeli unit tasked with linking Gaza journalists to Hamas (Yuval Abraham//+972 Magazine 8/14/25)
“The Israeli military has operated a special unit called the “Legitimization Cell,” tasked with gathering intelligence from Gaza that can bolster Israel’s image in the international media, according to three intelligence sources who spoke to +972 Magazine and Local Call and confirmed the unit’s existence. Established after October 7, the unit sought information on Hamas’ use of schools and hospitals for military purposes, and on failed rocket launches by armed Palestinian groups that harmed civilians in the enclave. It has also been assigned to identify Gaza-based journalists it could portray as undercover Hamas operatives, in an effort to blunt growing global outrage over Israel’s killing of reporters — the latest of whom was Al Jazeera journalist Anas Al-Sharif, killed in an Israeli airstrike this past week. According to the sources, the Legitimization Cell’s motivation was not security, but public relations.”
Israel said in talks with Indonesia, Libya, 3 more countries about taking in Gazans (TOI 8/13/25)
“Israel is in talks with five countries or territories — Indonesia, Somaliland, Uganda, South Sudan and Libya — about potentially accepting resettled Palestinians from the Gaza Strip, Channel 12 reported Wednesday. “Some of the countries are showing greater openness than before to accepting voluntary immigration from the Gaza Strip,” a diplomatic source told the outlet, naming Indonesia and Somaliland as particularly open to the idea. However, no concrete decisions have reportedly been made. Somaliland is a breakaway region of Somalia that is reportedly hoping to secure international recognition through the deal.” See also Netanyahu vows to take Gaza City ‘quickly’ (WaPo 8/10/25); Clash over Gaza plan exposed rift between Netanyahu and military brass (WaPo 8/11/25); As Trump tacitly backs Gaza City offensive, Netanyahu–army rift widens (Al Monitor 8/12/25); Israeli spy chief visits Doha for Gaza talks (Axios 8/14/25); South Sudan says no talks with Israel to resettle Palestinians from Gaza (Reuters 8/13/25); Trump to Axios on Israel’s offensive: Hamas “can’t stay” in Gaza (Axios 8/11/25); Senior Israeli Commanders Openly Contradict Netanyahu Claim On Gaza Destruction (Younis Tirawi//Drop Site 8/10/25)
A wasteland of rubble, dust and graves: how Gaza looks from the sky (The “Guardian 8/5/25)
“Seen from the air, Gaza looks like the ruins of an ancient civilisation, brought to light after centuries of darkness. A patchwork of concrete shapes and shattered walls, neighbourhoods scattered with craters, rubble and roads that lead nowhere. The remnants of cities wiped out. But here, there has been no natural disaster and no slow passage of time. Gaza was a bustling, living place until less than two years ago, for all the challenges its residents endured even then. Its markets were crowded, its streets were full of children. That Gaza is gone – not buried under volcanic ash, not erased by history, but razed by an Israeli military campaign that has left behind a place that looks like the aftermath of an apocalypse.” See also Only 1.5% of Gaza cropland left for starving Palestinians due to Israel’s war, UN says (The Guardian 8/6/25); Trump: Journalists should be allowed into Gaza (Reuters 8/14/25);
Aid groups say Israel’s new registration rules are ‘weaponising aid’ (The Guardian 8/14/25)
“More than 100 aid organisations working in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank have accused Israel of dangerously “weaponising aid” in its application of new rules for registering groups involved in delivering humanitarian assistance. The letter represents the latest broadside from the international aid community against Israel after the EU, Britain and Japan on Tuesday called for urgent action to stop “famine” spreading in the Gaza Strip…The letter, signed by organisations including Oxfam, Médecins Sans Frontières and Care, was written in response to registration rules announced by Israel in March that require organisations to hand over lists of their donors and Palestinian staff for vetting.” See also New Israeli rules stopping critical aid getting into Gaza, charities say (BBC 8/14/25); 100+ Doctors Who Worked in Gaza Demand Global Action as ‘Colleagues Are Starved and Shot by Israel (Zeteo 8/13/25); Israel’s Diaspora Ministry Says It Revoked Permits From 10 Humanitarian NGOs Aiding Palestinians (Haaretz 8/13/25);
REGION//GLOBAL
Australia to recognize a Palestinian state, joining France, Canada and U.K. (WaPo 8/11/25)
“Australia became the latest U.S. ally Monday to announce plans to recognize a Palestinian state in response to the dire humanitarian situation in Gaza, following the recent moves by Canada, France and Britain…A key commitment sought by Australia, Albanese said, is that Hamas will play no role in a future Palestinian state. The Palestinian Authority also agreed that state would be demilitarized and hold general elections, and undertake governance reforms including financial transparency and international oversight to guard against incitement to violence and hatred, he added.”
EU staff revolt over Gaza stance (Politico 8/12/25)
“A growing number of staff argue that the bloc’s failure to exert pressure on Israel while it’s accused of committing war crimes in Gaza makes it impossible for them to perform their duties without breaching EU and international law.” See also Middle East crisis: 25 foreign ministers issue joint call for ‘flood’ of aid into Gaza (The Guardian 8/12/25); Norway sovereign fund expects to sell more Israeli stocks over Gaza, West Bank (Reuters 8/12/25); At least 450 protesters arrested in London for backing banned Palestine Action group (The Guardian 8/9/25); Oct. 7 documentary is reinstated at Toronto film festival after cancelation brouhaha (JTA 8/15/25)
UN Blacklists Hamas for Sexual Violence on Oct. 7 and Against Hostages, Warns Israel May Be Next (Haaretz 8/13/25)
“Hamas has been placed on a blacklist of groups suspected of committing patterned rape or other forms of sexual violence in armed conflicts, according to an advanced draft of a UN report obtained by Haaretz. The report, scheduled to be presented by UN Secretary-General António Guterres to the Security Council on Thursday, also warns that Israel could be placed on the blacklist in the next report, set for release in 2026, if it does not implement a series of measures. In the report, Guterres calls on Israel to apply accountability to those responsible for alleged sexual crimes committed by its security forces, particularly against Palestinians in detention facilities. He adds that the Israeli government must allow relevant UN bodies to carry out “fully fledged and independent investigations,” including on claims that Hamas committed similar crimes. The document marks the first time Hamas has been included on the UN’s formal annex that lists parties credibly suspected of committing or being responsible for patterns of rape or other forms of sexual violence in situations of armed conflict on the agenda of the Security Council, even though the previous annual report presented by Guterres also mentioned sexual violence committed by Hamas on October 7, 2023. In the draft report, the secretary-general also addresses sexual violence against Israeli hostages held in Gaza, noting that the UN independent investigative commission operating in Israel and the West Bank since 2021 has received credible information indicating that some hostages were subjected to sexual violence, including sexualized torture, while in captivity.”
Microsoft launches inquiry into claims Israel used its tech for mass surveillance of Palestinians (The Guardian 8/15/25)
“Microsoft has launched an “urgent” external inquiry into allegations Israel’s military surveillance agency has used the company’s technology to facilitate the mass surveillance of Palestinians. The company said on Friday the formal review was in response to a Guardian investigation that revealed how the Unit 8200 spy agency has relied on Microsoft’s Azure cloud platform to store a vast collection of everyday Palestinian mobile phone calls. The joint investigation with the Israeli-Palestinian publication +972 Magazine and the Hebrew-language outlet Local Call found Unit 8200 made use of a customised and segregated area within Azure to store recordings of millions of calls made daily in Gaza and the West Bank. In a statement, Microsoft said “using Azure for the storage of data files of phone calls obtained through broad or mass surveillance of civilians in Gaza and the West Bank” would be prohibited by its terms of service.” See also Hundreds of Former Israeli Spies Are Working in Big Tech, Database Shows (Murtaza Hussain//Drop Site 8/13/25)
RIVER TO THE SEA
Palestinian activist killed by settler filmed his shooting, footage shows (The Guardian 8/11/25)
“Awdah Hathaleen, the prominent Palestinian activist who was killed late last month by an extremist Jewish settler in the West Bank, filmed the moment he was shot, newly released video footage reveals. Hathaleen, who worked on the filming of the Oscar-winning documentary No Other Land, which examined settler violence against the Palestinian community of Masafer Yatta, was killed by Yinon Levi, a settler who was already under sanctions in the UK and EU for violent acts against Palestinians. The footage – released by the Israeli human rights group B’Tselem – appears to offer clear evidence of Levi’s direct involvement in the killing of Hathaleen, an English teacher and activist resident in Umm al-Khair in the south Hebron hills, on 28 July, in an incident that sparked international outrage. Levi was arrested over the killing but quickly released by a court after a ruling that the evidence he had fired at Hathaleen had “weakened”. Levi has denied he fired the shot that killed Hathaleen. However, the footage filmed by Hathaleen himself shows Levi draw his weapon and fire in Hathaleen’s direction.”
Israel’s Emerging Occupation Consensus (Dahlia Scheindlin//Foreign Affairs 8/13/25)
“In direct contrast to the government’s determination to prolong and expand operations, a consistent and growing majority—more than 70 percent in some recent surveys—supports a hostage deal and an end to the war as soon as possible…Since the new Gaza plan was announced, demonstrations have swelled, and the hostage families have called for a general strike. All of which has contributed to the perception that the country has been hijacked by a fanatical religious far-right minority—one that has gained extraordinary leverage and influence by helping Netanyahu cling to power despite his legal predicaments. Seemingly bearing out the image that the country has been captured by extremists, polls have consistently found that, if new elections were held today, Israelis would oust the current leadership. In other words, if only the government were more aligned with public opinion, the country would be taken in a decidedly different direction. But the assumption that a post-Netanyahu Israel can chart a new course misses the extent to which Israelis concur with the government on many deeper, longer-term issues. Based on a number of surveys over the years and throughout the current war, both the anti-Netanyahu public and the main opposition parties differ little from the current leadership on the future status of Palestinians, the inevitability of ongoing Israeli occupation in general, and the acceptability of denying self-determination, or alternately, democracy and civil rights to Palestinians in the territories, among other issues. Polls show that, like their current leaders, the large majority of Israeli Jews do not empathize with the suffering of Palestinians in Gaza, which Israeli television and mainstream newspapers barely cover. Many believe civilian deaths and harms are the fault of Hamas and are exaggerated or even fabricated, as government and Israeli commentators constantly claim. This underlying reality points to some hard truths. Removing Netanyahu from power might well help bring an end to the unfolding disaster in Gaza and could even cause the religious right to relinquish its grip on Israeli politics. But it is unlikely to fundamentally reorient Israeli policies toward the Palestinians or to present a true alternative to the decades-old policies of expanding Israeli control and suppressing Palestinian self-determination…No matter how much politicians and commentators in the United States—or the Israeli opposition for that matter—focus on Netanyahu, the fact is that when it comes to Israeli intransigence regarding Palestinians, the prime minister alone is not the problem. The problem is Israeli society, politics, and culture as it has evolved over decades.” See also Don’t Be Fooled Again: Netanyahu Is Planning a Full-blown Occupation of Gaza (Dahlia Scheindlin//Haaretz 8/12/25); Thousands of Israelis Marched to Gaza – Not to Free It, but Rather to Call for Renewed Jewish Settlement (Haaretz 8/4/25)
With Arson and Land Grabs, Israeli Settler Attacks in West Bank Hit Record High (NYT 8/14/25)
“With the world’s attention on Gaza, extremist settlers in the West Bank are carrying out one of the most violent and effective campaigns of intimidation and land grabbing since Israel occupied the territory during the Arab-Israeli war of 1967. Settlers carried out more than 750 attacks on Palestinians and their property during the first half of this year, an average of nearly 130 assaults a month, according to records compiled by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. That is the highest monthly average since the U.N. started compiling such records in 2006.” See also Settlers said to injure several Palestinians, torch property in overnight attacks (TOI 8/15/25); Two Palestinians Reportedly Attacked by Israeli Settlers in Southern West Bank (Haaretz 8/15/25);
Israel announces a settlement that critics say will effectively sever the West Bank in two (AP 8/14/25)
“Israel’s far-right finance minister announced approval Thursday of contentious new settlement construction in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, which Palestinians and rights groups worry will scuttle plans for a Palestinian state by effectively cutting the territory into two parts. Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich boasted that the construction, which is expected to receive final approval later this month, could thwart Palestinian statehood plans…The construction on a tract of land east of Jerusalem named E1 has been has been under consideration for more than two decades, and is especially controversial because it is one of the last geographic links between the major West Bank cities of Ramallah and Bethlehem…“This reality finally buries the idea of a Palestinian state, because there is nothing to recognize and no one to recognize,” Smotrich said during a ceremony on Thursday. “Anyone in the world who tries today to recognize a Palestinian state — will receive an answer from us on the ground,” he said.” See also Israel appears set to approve highly controversial 3,400-home West Bank settlement (The Guardian 8/14/25); Israel’s Smotrich to approve E1 settlement plan that ‘buries idea of Palestinian state’ (Al Monitor 8/14/25); UN human rights office: E1 plan is illegal, settling occupied land is a war crime (TOI 8/15/25);
Meanwhile in the West Bank, Every Israeli Soldier ‘Does Whatever He Wants’ (Amira Hass//Haaretz 8/14/25)
“In July alone, the Israeli army conducted over 1,300 raids on Palestinian neighborhoods. Residents endure constant harassments, knowing every soldier acts with impunity, and no one will intervene. ‘We see that every soldier behaves like a commander, doing whatever he wants, with no fear of higher rank’” See also From Children’s Piggy Banks to Heirloom Gold: Reports of Israeli Soldiers Looting Surge in the West Bank (Amira Hass//Haaretz 8/7/25); With IDF Soldiers and Settlers Expelling Palestinians, the West Bank Is Seeing a Creeping Nakba (Haaretz 8/13/25); Off-duty IDF Soldier Shoots Palestinian Man Dead in West Bank Amid Clashes With Settlers (Haaretz 8/13/25); Resident of Israeli-Arab City of Nazareth Shot Dead by IDF During West Bank Vacation (Haaretz 8/10/25);
Thousands in Tel Aviv protest against Netanyahu’s plan to escalate Gaza war (The Guardian 8/10/25)
“Saturday’s demonstration in Tel Aviv attracted more than 100,000 protesters, according to organisers. Attenders demanded an immediate end to the military campaign and for the release of hostages…Public opinion polls show an overwhelming majority of Israelis favour an immediate end to the war to secure the release of the remaining 50 hostages held by militants in Gaza.” See also Israelis Protest Nationwide for Hostage Deal, End of Gaza War (Haaretz 8/13/25); Israeli Hostage Families Call for Nationwide Walkout (NYT 8/12/25); Hundreds of retired air force officers protest Israel’s war in Gaza (NPR 8/14/25); Israeli Activists Disrupt Live Big Brother TV Broadcast to Demand Gaza Cease-fire (Haaretz 8/10/25); ‘Jews, Rebel!’: Ex-Knesset Speaker Calls on World Jews to Take Israel to ICJ Over Gaza War Crimes (Haaretz 8/10/25); Israeli universities, tech firms, cities to join strike over Netanyahu’s Gaza takeover plan (Al Monitor 8/12/25); Hostage families call for nationwide strike as Israel prepares to escalate war (CNN 8/10/25);
Far-right Israeli minister taunts jailed Palestinian leader in prison visit (The Guardian 8/15/25)
“Israel’s national security minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, has posted video footage in which he is seen taunting the imprisoned Palestinian leader Marwan Barghouti in jail, prompting strong condemnation from Barghouti’s family and Palestinian leaders. The 13-second clip shows Ben-Gvir, a far-right politician on whom the UK and several other countries imposed sanctions this year for incitement to violence against Palestinians, making threatening remarks to Barghouti while Israel’s prisons minister, Kobi Yaakobi, an ally of Ben-Gvir stands nearby. Barghouti, 66, who was jailed by an Israeli court in 2002 for his role in planning several killings during the second Intifada, appears gaunt after being held in solitary confinement for years. He is detained in Ganot prison, in central Israel, and is almost unrecognisable.” See also Israel Hasn’t Prosecuted a Single Suspect for the Oct. 7 Attack (NYT 8/13/25);
U.S. SCENE
She’s a Democratic Bellwether, and She’s Changing Her Position on Israel (Lydia Polgreen//NYT 8/8/25)
“Amy Klobuchar, the senior senator from Minnesota, appeared last month in a photograph with Benjamin Netanyahu…The picture, snapped as alarm was growing over looming famine in Gaza and Israel pursued its pitiless military assault on the enclave, struck me as a maddening but apt illustration of the yawning gulf between the steadfast pro-Israel stance of leading Democratic politicians and their voters. It was, sadly, par for the grisly course. Then last week Klobuchar did something that genuinely surprised me: She voted in favor of a pair of resolutions put forward by Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont, a leading critic of Israel’s prosecution of the war, that would block the transfer of key offensive weapons to Israel, including 1,000-pound bombs and automatic assault rifles. She was joined in one of the votes by 24 other Democrats and two independents, a majority of the Democratic caucus. Many were seeking to block weapons for Israel for the first time. And not just any Democrats. The ranking members of crucial committees — Foreign Relations, Appropriations and Armed Services — voted to block the transfers as well. A number of notable moderates joined the vote, including one of the most vulnerable in the 2026 midterms, Georgia’s Jon Ossoff…Klobuchar’s vote in particular seemed a meaningful change from a powerful and canny operator who is among the most ambitious of her generation of Democratic politicians. It was a signal, belated but significant, that the Democrats are finally shifting their position on Israel.” See also Growing number of pro-Israel Democrats voice opposition to Israel’s Gaza City plan (JI 8/9/25); Two AIPAC-backed Dems announce support for ban on offensive weapons for Israel (JI 8/11/25); Progressive U.S. Jewish orgs: military takeover of Gaza ‘morally indefensible’ (Haaretz 8/14/25); Buttigieg’s about-face on Israel signals possible shift in Democratic politics (JI 8/15/25); Buttigieg discovers Dems’ 2028 litmus test: Israel (Politico 8/14/25); Israel courts MAGA influencers amid Gaza backlash (Axios 8/14/25);
The Incredible Disappearing Human Rights Reports (Nick Turse//The Intercept 8/14/25)
“The State Department released its annual reports on human rights around the world on Tuesday, and revealed an administration set on whitewashing the records of some of the world’s worst violators of human rights. The hollowed-out reports on roughly 200 countries and territories omit references to LGBTQ+ discrimination and curtail information on government abuses, including gender-based violence and government corruption. They no longer include sections focused on systemic racial or ethnic discrimination and violence, child abuse, or child sexual exploitation. The congressionally mandated human rights reports, which are used to guide U.S. decisions on diplomacy and aid, have been turned into wholly political documents that target countries with whom the Trump administration has clashed and soft-pedal abuses by the administration’s allies. Israel, and countries like El Salvador, South Sudan, and Eswatini, which have agreed to accept and in some cases imprison U.S. deportees as part of Trump’s growing global gulag, got a soft touch. South Africa, which has led the war crimes case against Israel at The Hague, received a more pointed report.”
Mount Sinai Hospital Fired Social Worker Over “Gaza Must Live” Postcard (Alex Kane//Jewish Currents 8/13/25)
“Mount Sinai employees say that other hospital workers routinely wear symbols or post signs that advance political positions, such as the transgender pride flag or yellow ribbons showing support for Israeli hostages in Gaza. “There’s never any repercussions for that,” said a second Mount Sinai employee…Raizen’s firing is one of the latest examples of how workplaces around the country have repressed activism and speech in solidarity with Gaza, even as experts and human rights organizations have increasingly warned that Israel is perpetuating a genocide… Nurses, museum workers, tech employees, and professors, among others, have been fired for opposing Israel’s bombardment of Gaza at their jobs. Since 2023, the civil and constitutional rights group Palestine Legal received 286 reports of workers being fired in retaliation for pro-Palestine advocacy.”
After crushing dissent, U.S. universities are deepening ties with Israeli academia ( Dikla Taylor-Sheinman and Georgia Gee//+972 Magazine 8/11/25)
“On July 28, Harvard announced two new initiatives with Israeli institutions: a study abroad program with Ben-Gurion University in the Negev and a postdoctoral fellowship for Israeli scientists at Harvard Medical School. The move comes amid a wave of U.S. universities launching or expanding partnerships with their Israeli counterparts in recent months. In December, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) launched a program that will allow scholars at Israel’s nine public, state-accredited universities to come to MIT for collaboration and training. In March, Clemson College in South Carolina announced a partnership with Hebrew University and Sapir College to bring new agricultural technologies to Israel’s western Negev region, and Columbia University committed to expanding its academic initiatives with Tel Aviv University. And in May, the University of Utah signed an “academic cooperation” deal with Ariel University — an Israeli institution located in an illegal West Bank settlement…As U.S. universities deepen ties with Israeli institutions, a new comprehensive Hebrew-language report by New Profile, an Israeli anti-militarization movement, sheds light on the extent to which those institutions are embedded in the country’s military apparatus — with Israel expanding its assault on Gaza and spiraling settler and army violence throughout the West Bank.” See also ‘Censorship’: over 115 scholars condemn cancellation of Harvard journal issue on Palestine (The Guardian 8/14/25); Trump administration seeks $1 billion settlement from UCLA, a White House official says (Ap 8/8/25);
PERSPECTIVES//LONG READS
Palestinians don’t need a state. We need justice (Ahmed Moor//The Guardian 8/11/25)
“Now, in the midst of a genocide, the Palestinians are best served by abandoning any effort to attain self-rule in the Occupied Territories. A reorientation towards basic rights is overdue, along with recognition the Palestinian struggle was never really about a seat at the United Nations, representation in Unesco, or Fifa. The force of the Palestinian cause rests in one principle: justice. Two years ago I thought justice meant a single state with equal rights between the River Jordan and the Mediterranean Sea. But now, the Palestinians are confronted by a difficulty: no one is able to articulate what justice means in the wake of so much slaughter, of so many dead men, women and children, dead babies. The genocide has changed my perspective on the majority of Jewish Israelis, and once they retire their guns and mortars – as one day they surely will – we will have to reckon with the moral, and actual, wreckage of their century-long Sturm und Drang, their violent ejaculations, in Palestine.”
Statehood Without Liberation: Europe’s Response to Genocide (Inès Abdel Razek, Yara Hawari, Diana Buttu//Al Shabaka 8/14/25)
“In response to this Israeli-manufactured catastrophe, several European states have begun recognizing or signaling their intent to recognize the State of Palestine…The recent wave of symbolic recognitions that began in 2024 now appears to be the only step many European powers are willing to take in the face of genocide, following nearly two years of moral, material, and diplomatic support for the Israeli regime as well as near-total impunity. This roundtable conversation with Al Shabaka policy analysts Diana Buttu, Inès Abdel Razek, and Al Shabaka’s co-director, Yara Hawari, asks: Why now? What political or strategic interests are driving this wave of recognition? And what does it mean to recognize a Palestinian state, on paper, while leaving intact the structures of occupation, apartheid, and the genocidal regime that sustains them?”
The Betrayal of Light (Abdullah Hany Daher//Jewish Currents 8/12/25)
“I used to wake up to sunlight shining through the window. Now a missile striking two blocks away wakes me. There is no morning anymore—no work, no school, no mealtime. There is only the next instant, and the fear we won’t survive it…I am afraid of light. I am afraid of darkness. I am afraid of stillness. I fear noise. When the blasts stop, I grow more afraid. The silence is only a prelude. Every second feels like waiting. What are we waiting for? We do not know. At the precipice of each instant, two voices speak to me. One says, “You survived.” The other, “It will begin again…I wonder who I’ll be if this ends. If I will ever again sit near a lamp without flinching. If my children’s children will ever trust the light. There are no metaphors in Gaza. There is only what is gone and what remains—this life between shadows, and the memory of another light.”
Israel’s War on Journalists (Jennifer Zacharia//Boston Review 8/11/25)
“To nearly all who watched him, al-Sharif’s reporting has been nothing short of heroic and awe-inspiring. But to the Israeli government, he is culpable for having the audacity to document the starvation campaign it has engineered and imposed by brute force. It is not enough to enjoy the impunity afforded by U.S. and European cover: there should be no bad optics, either. Given the history of Israel’s smearing of journalists in Gaza as a precursor to assassinating them, the Committee to Protect Journalists publicly called for al-Sharif’s protection. But on August 10, an Israeli airstrike assassinated him and four other Al Jazeera journalists in a targeted attack on a tent outside al-Shifa Hospital…What is the role of intellectuals when the erasure of words is matched by the erasure of bodies? During a genocide, everything takes on new significance. Palestinian writers, journalists, and poets have demonstrated the urgency of creating meaning while faced with existential precarity. Palestinian educators, and artists also do this work, as do the health care providers, rescue workers, and civil defenders who hold press conferences, conduct interviews, and insist on remaining in besieged hospitals despite the risk, their very presence a testament to the ongoing horrors. Palestinians facing extermination navigate language and insist on survival and representation.”
The Israeli Left Is Not Going To Save Gaza (Ori Goldberg//New Lines Magazine 8/6/25)
“Why a recent call for a ceasefire by 600 retired military and intelligence officials will have no impact on the Netanyahu government’s policy”
The Reasons Israelis Have Closed Their Eyes to Gaza (Shira Efron//NYT 8/12/25)
“Worse than showing indifference, many Israelis deny the clear realities: that Gaza is in chaos and teetering on the edge of widespread starvation, and that Israel has played a major role in bringing about this terrible state. The attitude is projected from the top. “There is no starvation in Gaza,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel has declared. In a news conference on Sunday he blamed Hamas and the international media for perpetuating a “global campaign of lies.” He added that “the only ones being deliberately starved” are the Israeli hostages in Gaza. This sentiment is widely shared in Israel. A poll in late July found that almost 80 percent of Jewish Israelis believe that Israel is making an effort to avoid causing suffering to Gazans. The same percentage — though primarily on the right and center — said they are not troubled by reports of famine…When it comes to Gaza, Israelis live in an echo chamber, relying largely on local media, which often enacts self-censorship regarding Israeli wrongdoing and Palestinian suffering in Gaza. But it is also important to understand the powerful underlying emotions that have led many Israelis to close their eyes and ears to the suffering of Gazans and accept a different version of reality.”
Our Marriage Includes an Emergency Backpack (Sari Bashi//NYT 8/15/25)
“As an Israeli-Palestinian couple in the West Bank with family in Gaza, we have learned that love isn’t enough to save us, or anyone.”
The Interview: The Head of the A.D.L. on Antisemitism, Anti-Zionism and Free Speech (NYT 8/9/25)
Jonathan Greenblatt: “Criticism of Israel is not antisemitic. If you’re looking for an organization that criticizes the Israeli government, Israeli politicians, Israeli policies, I’d point you to ADL.org, because we do it…So Zionism is, simply put, the right of the Jewish people to self-determination in their ancient homeland. That’s what it is. Zionism is essential to the Jewish tradition. The idea of Jews returning to Israel, we’ve been talking about it since Moses, literally. Political Zionism is newer, 125 years, but that notion of self-determination in the homeland doesn’t exclude Palestinians, doesn’t exclude any other group. It’s saying Jews have the right, this sort of liberation movement, to go back to where they’re from. Anti-Zionism is the belief that Jews do not have that right. It is an ideology which is committed to saying we will do what we can to prevent Jewish self-determination in their homeland. Anti-Zionism is an ideology of nihilism, Lulu, which would literally seek to not just delegitimize but eliminate the Jewish state…But let me tell you what anti-Zionism doesn’t mean to me but what it results in: It’s a lunatic trying to burn down the governor’s mansion with his family sleeping in it because of his, quote, position on Palestine. It is, again, firebombing elderly people because you want to “end all Zionists.”’
California Democrats Are Fighting Trump’s Battle for Him (Lily Greenberg Call//NYT 8/15/25)
“But in my home state of California, Democratic leaders are pushing a bill that would make dissent harder, riskier and in some cases punishable. Assembly Bill 715 is framed as a measure to combat an “antisemitic learning environment.” In reality, it imports one of the most troubling censorship tactics from the Trump era into a deep-blue state. Democrats are the ones leading the charge. What constitutes antisemitism? A.B. 715 would require California’s K-12 public schools to adopt a definition that largely falls in line with the one developed by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance. On its face, this might seem like a common sense measure to fight prejudice. But the alliance’s definition goes far beyond identifying antisemitic tropes or hate crimes. It includes political speech critical of Israel — such as calling it an apartheid state or advocating Palestinian rights — as potential examples of antisemitism, too. By writing a version of that definition into law, California would blur the line between hate speech and political speech, empowering institutions to investigate, punish or even ban expression that is supposed to be constitutionally protected. That could silence not only the many who oppose Israel’s government policies but also people like me — in particular Jewish people like me — who see criticism of state power as a moral obligation.”
Israel Is Fighting a War It Cannot Win (Ami Ayalon//Foreign Affairs 8/5/25)
“The absence of any long-term Israeli vision has left Israel, Gaza, and the broader region in a protracted state of chaos. Wars without a clear political goal cannot be won. They cannot be ended. The longer the vacuum in Israel’s planning persists, the more international actors will have to come together to prevent an even worse catastrophe than the one currently unfolding. They must do so not only for the sake of Israelis and Palestinians but for the region’s stability and their own interests. The war that followed Hamas’s October 7 slaughter was just. Today it is becoming unjust, immoral, and counterproductive, shifting responsibility for the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza from Hamas to Israel.”
How Liverpool’s Salah spotlighted the killing of the ‘Palestinian Pelé’ (WaPo 8/14/25)
“Suleiman al-Obeid was among the most recognizable and beloved figures in Palestinian soccer. The scissors kick he scored against Yemen in the 2010 West Asian Football Federation Championship became a career-defining moment, while former opponents and soccer officials say he was an inspirational figure in Gaza, where the sport commands a devoted following. Last week, the 41-year-old father of five was killed by shrapnel from an Israeli tank shell while seeking aid in Khan Younis, according to his family — and the fate of the “Palestinian Pelé” drew global attention after a pointed social media post by Liverpool’s star forward Mohamed Salah. When UEFA — European soccer’s governing body — tweeted a farewell to Obeid on Aug. 8 without mentioning the circumstances of his death, Salah wrote a day later: “Can you tell us how he died, where, and why?”…“To see athletes like Mo Salah, with a huge influence, talk about Palestinian athletes creates pressure for UEFA, FIFA to take actions against the killing of Palestinian athletes,” [Dima Said, a spokeswoman for the Palestine Football Association (PFA)] said.”
What Is Benjamin Netanyahu Really After? (Isaac Chotiner interviews Israeli defense analyst Amos Harel//New Yorker 8/10/25)
“The main difference between [Israel invading Rafah] and now is that Hamas is no longer a military organization. It used to be that there was a hierarchy. There were tight command-and-control networks. There were people in charge who made the decisions and so on. This is no longer the case. What you have now is a terrorist organization using guerrilla methods. Most of its leaders were killed. Most of its fighters are either injured or dead. They now have replacements who are younger, sometimes kids who get basic training and are sent to the front. How do you defeat such an organization? There’s no Iwo Jima moment. My suspicion is that he’s not really after that. What he is interested in, for his political survival, is prolonging the war. It’s the best excuse for not doing anything else domestically, including not launching an independent investigation of October 7th. His corruption trial would probably be delayed if there’s hectic fighting going on. And the extreme, messianic right-wing parties would be happy with a new attempt to occupy the Strip.”