1. New from FMEP

2. Gaza

3. Region//Global

4. River to the Sea

5. U.S. Scene

6. Perspectives//Long Reads

NEW FROM FMEP

FMEP Legislative Round-Up September 26, 2025 (Lara Friedman)

1. 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)

1. 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.”

1. New from FMEP

2. Gaza

3. Region//Global

4. River to the Sea

5. U.S. Scene

6. Perspectives//Long Reads

NEW FROM FMEP

Settlement & Annexation Report: September 19, 2025 (Kristin McCarthy)

1. 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.”

1. New from FMEP

2. Gaza

3. Region//Global

4. River to the Sea

5. U.S. Scene

6. Perspectives//Long Reads

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)

 

1. New from FMEP

2. Gaza

3. Region//Global

4. River to the Sea

5. U.S. Scene

6. Perspectives//Long Reads

NEW FROM FMEP

FMEP Legislative Round-Up September 5, 2025 (Lara Friedman)

1. 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.”

1. New from FMEP

2. Gaza

3. Region//Global

4. River to the Sea

5. U.S. Scene

6. Perspectives//Long Reads

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)

1. 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.”

 

1. New from FMEP

2. Gaza

3. Region//Global

4. River to the Sea

5. U.S. Scene

6. Perspectives//Long Reads

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)

1. 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)

1. 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.”

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1. New from FMEP

2. Gaza

3. Region//Global

4. River to the Sea

5. U.S. Scene

6. Perspectives//Long Reads

NEW FROM FMEP

FMEP Legislative Round-Up August 8, 2025 (Lara Friedman)

1. Bills, Resolutions; 2. Letters’ 3. Hearings & Markups’ 4. Selected Members on the Record; 5. Selected Media & Press releases/Statements

Destroying the Conditions of Life: Physicians for Human Rights-Israel on Israel’s Genocide in Gaza (New Occupied Thoughts episode)

FMEP Fellow Peter Beinart speaks with Aseel Aburass, Director of the Occupied Palestinian Territory Department at Physicians for Human Rights Israel and one of the authors of PHRI’s newest report: “Destruction of Conditions of Life: A Health Analysis of the Gaza Genocide.” Peter and Aseel discuss PHRI’s Israel’s genocide in Gaza, focusing on Israel’s destruction of Gaza’s healthcare system and Israel’s “deliberate destruction of conditions under which life cannot continue.” They discuss the emergency need to flood Gaza with aid disbursed by the professional aid organizations with the expertise to properly distribute it, the need to hold the perpetrators of this genocide accountable, and the Israeli medical sector’s complicity with the destruction of Palestinian healthcare.

GAZA

Israel’s approval of plan to seize Gaza City paves way for wider occupation (WaPo 8/8/25)

“Israel’s security cabinet approved Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s plan to escalate the war in Gaza and occupy Gaza City, paving the way for a phased military takeover of the enclave that could kill more Palestinian civilians and Israeli hostages being held there. “The [Israel Defense Forces] will prepare for taking control of Gaza City while distributing humanitarian assistance to the civilian population outside the combat zones,” Netanyahu’s office said in a statement sent to The Post shortly after the decision was announced on Friday. It did not elaborate on how Israel would handle deliveries of humanitarian assistance in the city, or how Israeli initiatives would interact with U.S. plans to expand aid distribution in the enclave. The statement said that the cabinet rejected an “alternative plan” that would not achieve Israel’s war aims, apparently referring to a proposal presented to Netanyahu and his ministers by the IDF that would have involved striking and besieging — but not holding — Gaza’s main city. The IDF has repeatedly warned that military maneuvering in areas where hostages are being held could endanger the lives of the captives, and that a full occupation of Gaza would put an immense strain on the military. Netanyahu had said earlier on Thursday evening that he intended to take control of all of Gaza, with the plan of eventually handing over its management to Arab armed forces…Full-scale occupation of the Gaza Strip has long been a demand of Netanyahu’s far-right coalition partners, who represent a minority in Israel and since the start of the war have argued that the only way to defeat Hamas is to reestablish Israeli settlements in the enclave.” See also Netanyahu aims to fully control Gaza despite warnings of mass death and resistance from military (The Guardian 8/7/25); Israel Says It’s Preparing to Take Control of Gaza City. What Does That Mean? (NYT 8/8/25); Bucking IDF warnings, security cabinet approves Netanyahu plan to conquer Gaza City (TOI 8/8/25); Fears for Palestinians and hostages as Netanyahu plans full Gaza occupation (The Guardian 8/7/25); Israel issues forced displacement orders amid fears of full occupation in Gaza (The Guardian 8/6/25)

Germany halts arms exports to Israel that could be used in Gaza as global outcry grows (The Guardian 8/8/25)

“The German chancellor, Friedrich Merz, has indicated a significant shift in Berlin’s staunch support for Israel by stopping the export of military equipment that could be used in Gaza, as international partners condemned Israeli plans to take control of Gaza City. Merz issued a sharply worded statement signalling the reversal after several weeks of openly criticising of Israel’s “unclear” policy goals in Gaza and the unfolding humanitarian disaster there but stopping short of concrete consequences in policy. The German leader said Israel had the right to defend itself against Hamas and press for the release of its Israeli hostages, which he stressed was Berlin’s “highest priority” along with “resolute negotiations on a ceasefire”. However, Merz added his government “believes that the even tougher military action in the Gaza Strip decided on by the Israeli cabinet last night makes it increasingly difficult to see how these goals can be achieved”. “Under these circumstances the German government will until further notice not approve any exports of military equipment that could be used in the Gaza Strip.”…After the devastating Hamas attacks of 7 October 2023, Germany strongly boosted its arms exports to Israel. Its parliament said in June that export licences for military equipment to Israel worth €485 million were granted between 7 October 2023 and 13 May 2025.” See also Netanyahu Broadly Criticized at Home and Abroad After New Gaza Plan (NYT 8/8/25); Starmer calls Gaza City takeover plan wrong and urges Israel to reconsider (The Guardian 8/8/25); Trump response muted as Israel’s Netanyahu threatens full Gaza takeover (Al Monitor 8/7/25); ‘A disaster’: Opposition, world leaders, families of hostages blast Gaza City takeover plan (TOI 8/8/25); ‘A Death Sentence’: Hostage Families, Israeli Opposition Leaders Slam Gaza Takeover Plan (Haaretz 8/8/25); Report: Trump Yelled at Netanyahu in Call on Gaza Aid, Said Advisers Showed Him Proof of Hunger (Haaretz 8/8/25); US shrugs off Gaza escalation – drifting further away from allies (BBC 8/8/25);

Microsoft storing Israeli intelligence trove used to attack Palestinians (Yuval Abraham//+972 Magazine 8/625)

“​​The Israeli army’s elite cyber warfare unit is using Microsoft’s cloud servers to store masses of intelligence on Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza — information that has been used to plan deadly airstrikes and shape military operations, an investigation by +972 Magazine, Local Call, and the Guardian can reveal. Unit 8200, roughly equivalent in function to the U.S. National Security Agency (NSA), has transferred audio files of millions of calls by Palestinians in the occupied territories onto Microsoft’s cloud computing platform, Azure, operationalizing what is likely one of the world’s largest and most intrusive collections of surveillance data over a single population group. This is according to interviews with 11 Microsoft and Israeli intelligence sources in addition to a cache of leaked internal Microsoft documents obtained by the Guardian…Microsoft has said publicly that it found “no evidence” that its technology was used to harm Palestinians in Gaza, and a spokesperson told us in response to this investigation that the company was unaware that its products had been used to aid the surveillance of civilians. But three Israeli intelligence sources stated that Unit 8200’s cloud-based intelligence trove has been used over the past two years to plan lethal airstrikes in Gaza, and that it often serves as a basis for arrests and other military operations in the West Bank.” See also ‘A million calls an hour’: Israel relying on Microsoft cloud for expansive surveillance of Palestinians (The Guardian 8/6/25); Aerial footage filmed by ITV News shows the scale of Gaza’s destruction (ITV 8/4/25); As Gaza suffers, US companies are reaping horrific payoffs (Katrina vanden Heuvel//The Guardian 7/31/25);

Starvation is spreading in Gaza — and treating it won’t be easy (WaPo 8/8/25)

“Nearly 200 people have died of starvation in the enclave, according to the Gaza Health Ministry — a number experts believe is an undercount, both because malnutrition leaves patients more vulnerable to other infections and conditions that are listed as the cause of death, as well as the difficulty of recording deaths that take place outside hospitals. The wave of starvation sweeping across Gaza is making an already desperate situation worse. Even if Israel allows a surge in aid deliveries — as rights groups and its allies have urged — a boost in food supplies alone may not be enough to save severely malnourished patients, particularly children, who are more vulnerable to the worst effects and may need specialized treatment and intensive care. Severe acute malnutrition requires careful treatment plans and monitoring — as patients may struggle to keep food down or may suffer from other health conditions.” See also Israeli forces kill at least 27 at food site while minister’s al-Aqsa visit causes outrage (The Guardian 8/3/25); Gaza hospitals say 18 killed by Israeli fire as aid site shootings continue to rise (The Guardian 8/2/25); ‘We are dying slowly, save us’: starvation takes hold in Gaza after a week of appalling milestones (The Guardian 8/2/25);

‘Survival of the Strongest’: Gaza Looters Wreak Havoc as Aid Seekers Remain Empty-handed (Haaretz 8/5/25)

“For months, Gaza’s desperate residents have described how looters intercept and steal humanitarian supplies, reselling them at inflated prices that most can’t afford. Often armed, Palestinians in Gaza tell Haaretz that while some are organized in gangs, many of the looters are unaffiliated, everyday civilians who have “lost their moral compass.”…Her voice trembles with anger and fatigue as she describes how women – especially single mothers and widows like herself – are all but absent from the scenes of aid drops. “We simply can’t reach those areas. It’s too violent, too chaotic and too dangerous. Only the strong or well-connected get through,” she says. As aid convoys are swarmed, and at times looted, the very lifeline meant to ease Gaza’s humanitarian crisis has become yet another source of risk and inequality. On July 26, the IDF announced it would create “humanitarian corridors” and allow aid to be airdropped into the Strip. Yet aid workers say the reality of the famine in Gaza has barely changed. “There’s a little more food, but it’s a drop in the ocean,” UNICEF Deputy Spokesman Ricardo Pires told Haaretz earlier this week. “Not enough trucks get in, and what enters is looted.”’ See also Let UNRWA Aid Trucks Into Gaza (Mara Kronenfeld//The Nation 8/1/25); American Victims of Hamas and Hezbollah Attacks Sue U.N. Agency (NYT 8/2/25); Israel says it will allow controlled entry of goods into Gaza via merchants (Reuters 8/5/25); Looting, chaos and Israeli gunfire prevent aid from reaching Gazans (WaPo 8/2/25);

‘Clearly Emaciated’: Former Green Beret Recounts Horrors at ‘Gaza Humanitarian Foundation’ Aid Sites (Prem Thakker//Zeteo 8/2/25)

“Anthony Aguilar, a retired US special forces officer, says the US-funded project involves unqualified US contractors serving as an “appendage” of the Israeli military’s genocidal campaign.” See also Security contractor says he witnessed ‘barbaric’ and un-American tactics at Gaza aid sites (PBS News 8/1/25); Trump plans to “take over” Gaza aid effort, U.S. officials say (Axios 8/5/25); Huckabee Says U.S.-Backed Aid Sites in Gaza Will ‘Scale Up’ (NYT 8/6/25); Pentagon awaits White House decision to help ramp up Gaza humanitarian aid (Al Monitor 8/7/25);

Starvation as a Weapon: Gaza’s Slow Death Under Siege (Eman Basher, Izzedin Shahin//Institute for Palestine Studies 8/5/25)

“The blockade on Gaza has long served as a method of collective punishment. Since October 7, however, hunger itself has been transformed into a strategic instrument of war. Starvation here is not a metaphor. It is an engineered system designed to break bodies and spirits. Food and water are no longer simple necessities. They are frontlines. Every bite is a battle. Every swallow is a defiance of death. Hunger has become a silent bomb, detonating daily in the bellies of children and in the brittle bones of the elderly. In Gaza’s remaining hospitals, where care persists against all odds, the horror of this policy is laid bare. Dr. Izeddin Shahin is not merely a witness. His testimony serves as an indictment of a system that has weaponized absence itself. He does not speak in abstractions or data points. He describes hunger as it lives in the bloodwork of patients, in the exhausted faces of nurses, in the ghostly silence of empty operating rooms.” See also Terrible thirst hits Gaza with polluted aquifers and broken pipelines (Reuters 8/6/25); Israel Blames Hamas for Malnourishment of Israeli Captives as It Deliberately Starves Gaza (Jeremy Scahill and Jawa Ahmad//Drop Site 8/5/25); Gaza Health Ministry Reports Spike in Neurological Diseases, With 95 Recent Cases (Haaretz 8/6/25)

Israel’s support for clans in Gaza puts tribal strongman in spotlight (WaPo 8/3/25)

“Yasser Abu Shabab is all over Israeli news and Palestinian social media. He describes himself as a humanitarian and a liberator. International aid workers allege he was behind the systematic looting of aid entering the Gaza Strip last fall. Some Gazans — including analysts, residents and members of his own tribe — say he is a gang leader aligned with the Israeli military. “Yasser Abu Shabab doesn’t represent us. He only represents himself,” said Adel al-Tarabin, a leader in the Bedouin Tarabin tribe to which Abu Shabab belongs. He went on to describe him as a looter and a bandit. But Israeli media is now pitching him as an alternative to Hamas. In the past few months, Abu Shabab has come to represent an Israeli initiative to empower Palestinian clans, weaken Hamas and, critics of the effort say, divide Palestinian society.” See also Family of Israeli hostage held in Gaza accuses Hamas of starving him (The Guardian 8/3/25); Hamas releases second video of Israeli hostage and says it will not disarm until Palestinian state established (The Guardian 8/2/25);

REGION//GLOBAL

‘Diplomatic tsunami’: Israel grapples with isolation from Europe, Palestine’s recognition (Al Monitor 8/3/25)

“Canada, also considered a backer of Israel, announced Wednesday that it will move to recognize a Palestinian state in September, but it said the move would be predicated on the Palestinian Authority holding elections in 2026 and committing to reforms. Macron announced last week that France would recognize a Palestinian state at the UN General Assembly summit this coming September, drawing the ire of the Israeli government, which said such a move would benefit Hamas. On Tuesday, British Prime Minister Keir Stermer announced that London will also recognize Palestine in September if Israel does not accept a ceasefire in Gaza and advance steps toward a two-state solution. Maltese Prime Minister Robert Abela also said his country will recognize Palestine at the September gathering. Subsequently, seven other Western countries — Australia, Canada, Finland, New Zealand, Portugal, Andora and San Marino — announced on Tuesday they were also considering recognizing Palestinian statehood to advance the two-state solution. Their statement was made at a UN conference in New York co-chaired by France and Saudi Arabia centered on Palestinian statehood and autonomy…The Netherlands announced on Tuesday it was banning far-right Israeli ministers Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben-Gvir from the country over their incendiary rhetoric on Gaza and the West Bank and their calls to annex the Gaza Strip…Several European countries have moved to recognize a Palestinian state since the Gaza war began, with Slovenia, Spain, the Republic of Ireland and Norway doing so in spring 2024. Iceland and Sweden did so in 2011 and 2014, respectively…On Monday, Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof said that if Israel does not allow immediate and unfettered access to humanitarian aid, his government would support suspending Israeli participation in the EU’s Horizon scientific research program.” See also How Gaza exasperation pushed three Israel allies towards recognising Palestinian state (Al Monitor 8/1/25); In Israel’s largest gas deal, Leviathan partners ink $35 billion export deal with Egypt (TOI 8/7/25);

Will the world’s largest sovereign wealth fund divest from Israel? (Magnus Fitz//+972 Magazine 8/8/25)

“On Tuesday, the Norwegian government announced that it would review its investments to make sure the Oil Fund is not supporting Israeli companies that are aiding the occupation or the war in Gaza. Set to be completed by Aug. 20, the review could be a major step on the road to divestment. But will the government follow through — and will it trigger more fundamental reforms in the Fund’s ethical investment practices?” See also Zadie Smith, Michael Rosen, Irvine Welsh and Jeanette Winterson sign letter calling for Israel boycott (The Guardian 8/7/25); UK’s Royal Ballet and Opera withdraws Tosca production in Tel Aviv (The Guardian 8/4/25); Leading global scholars sign letter urging UK to end Palestine Action ban (The Guardian 8/6/25); How a Pro-Palestinian Group Fell Foul of a Long Unused U.K. Terrorism Law (NYT 8/7/25)

Exclusive: How Karim Khan’s Israel war crimes probe was derailed by threats, leaks and sex claims (Middle East Eye 8/1/25)

“A major Middle East Eye investigation has uncovered extraordinary details of an intensifying intimidation campaign targeting the British chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court over his investigation into alleged Israeli war crimes. The campaign has involved threats and warnings directed at Karim Khan by prominent figures, close colleagues and family friends briefing against him, fears for the prosecutor’s safety prompted by a Mossad team in The Hague, and media leaks about sexual assault allegations. It has taken place against the backdrop of Khan’s efforts to build and pursue a case against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other Israeli officials over their conduct of the war against Hamas in Gaza and accelerating Israeli settlement expansion and violence against Palestinians in the illegally occupied West Bank.” See also The Aftermath of Israel’s June Bombing of Beirut (Drop Site 8/6/25); Israel closes down or leaves unresolved 88% of cases of alleged war crimes or abuse – report (The Guardian 8/2/25);

RIVER TO THE SEA

Israel’s Netanyahu, army chief face off over possible Gaza City offensive (Al Monitor 8/6/25)

“The rift between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and military chief Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir is deepening as the government weighs expanding its military campaign in the Gaza Strip and a potential push to seize Gaza City…It is increasingly evident that Netanyahu and Zamir, who Netanyahu tapped for the position in February, disagree on the next steps in Gaza…During the three-hour meeting on Tuesday, Zamir opposed the full occupation of Gaza City. According to Israel’s public broadcaster Kan, Zamir warned that such plans could endanger the hostages still held by Hamas. “You’re going to create a trap in Gaza,” he reportedly told Netanyahu, cautioning against placing further strain on an already exhausted military force after 22 months of continuous fighting.  In an apparent response to Zamir’s stance, Netanyahu’s office issued a statement Tuesday night reading that the military “is prepared to implement any decision made by the security cabinet.”…The military does not post the numbers, but according to Calcalist, at the beginning of May, only 60-70% of reservists who received orders actually showed up. Most of those who did not presented reasons for their absence and did not officially refuse to serve.” See also Netanyahu’s Gaza Takeover Plan Puts Israel Firmly on the Road to Perpetual War (Amos Harel//Haaretz 8/8/25); Netanyahu Attacks His Top General as He Runs Out of Scapegoats for Gaza Failure (Haaretz 8/5/25); Israeli Security Cabinet Approves Netanyahu’s Gaza Takeover Plan, Ignoring IDF Warnings (Haaretz 8/7/25)

‘We are on the precipice of defeat’: Former IDF chiefs of staff, intel chiefs demand end to Gaza war (TOI 8/5/25)

“More than a dozen former senior security officials put out a joint video with a call to end the war in Gaza, arguing that Israel has racked up more losses than victories, and that the fighting has dragged on for political reasons rather than being based on strategic military decisions. Among the 19 retired IDF chiefs of staff, intelligence chiefs, Shin Bet and Mossad directors and police commissioners are former IDF chief of staff and prime minister Ehud Barak, former chiefs of staff Moshe Ya’alon and Dan Halutz, and ex-Shin Bet director Yoram Cohen.” See also Netanyahu confirms intent to occupy all of Gaza, against advice of his military (JTA 8/7/25); Over 600 former Israeli security officials call on Trump to end Gaza war (Al Monitor 8/4/25)

Slain Palestinian activist involved with Oscar-winning film laid to rest (WaPo 8/7/25)

“Awdah al-Hathaleen devoted his life to defending his small Bedouin village from intensifying threats by Israeli settlers and officials. A prominent Palestinian activist and teacher with a gentle spirit, a sense of humor and a seemingly boundless capacity for optimism, he welcomed hundreds of Israeli activists and international visitors to Umm al-Kheir over the years. He contributed footage to the Oscar-winning 2024 documentary “No Other Land,” which introduced the cluster of West Bank villages known as Masafer Yatta and their struggle to survive to global audiences. Hathaleen, 31, was shot dead by an Israeli settler on the village playground last week. Hathaleen’s funeral on Thursday morning drew hundreds under a scorching sun. Israeli authorities had held Hathaleen’s body for 10 days and tried to force his family to bury him in the dead of night with few witnesses, according to Israeli activist Oneg Ben Dror, who has served as an unofficial spokeswoman for the family. The Israel Defense Forces, which was responsible for releasing the body, did not respond to written questions for this article. Hathaleen’s widow, Hanady, challenged the state at the Israeli Supreme Court. Left-wing Israeli activists beat drums and called for “justice for Awdah!” outside the high court Wednesday. Solidarity protests demanding the restitution of Hathaleen’s body were organized in Tel Aviv, Brooklyn and Cambridge, England…Early Thursday, authorities released the body and agreed that the villagers could hold a proper burial. The army surrounded the area and set up checkpoints.” See also PHOTOS: Awdah Hathaleen laid to rest after Israel withheld body for 10 days (Oren Ziv//+972 8/7/25)

Israel is holding Awdah Hathaleen’s body. His killer roams freely through his village (Sahar Vardi and Basel Adra//+972 Magazine 8/5/25)

“Yesterday, just a week after fatally shooting Palestinian activist Awdah Hathaleen, Israeli settler Yinon Levi was back at the scene of the crime, in the Palestinian village of Umm Al-Khair in the occupied West Bank. Levi was calmly directing his earthworks crew on the same private Palestinian land where he had pulled the trigger. It was as if nothing had happened…“The killer came and stood right next to our homes to oversee the continuation of the work [that was happening when he shot Awdah],” said Tariq Hathaleen, Awdah’s cousin. “It makes me feel nauseous. This is the height of oppression, something we’ve never experienced before. “If Yinon had killed a dog, he would’ve faced harsher consequences,” he added…On July 31, some 60 women of the village — ranging in age from 13 to 81 — announced a hunger strike to try to force Israeli authorities return Hathaleen’s body; the Israeli Supreme Court is also hearing a petition from the family this week…“Since the killing, they have only compounded our pain,” said Hanady Hathaleen, Hathaleen’s wife. “We will not end our strike until the body is released and we can hold a proper funeral worthy of Awdah.”’ See also American Nurse who tried to save “No Other Land” activist was detained and deported by Israel (The Intercept 8/1/25)

From Sakhnin to Ramallah, a new wave of Palestinian popular struggle takes root (Awad Abdelfattah//+972 Magazine 8/6/25)

“In recent weeks, Palestinian grassroots mobilization has gathered remarkable momentum, particularly within the 1948 territories and the occupied West Bank. This surge reflects a growing effort to reconnect with a reinvigorated wave of global solidarity that has persisted, and even expanded, despite severe crackdowns on pro-Palestinian movements across the United States and much of Europe…Palestinian protesters and their allies are closely tracking shifts in the region’s geopolitical balance of power. With Washington’s unwavering backing, Israel now acts with near-total impunity across the territory of the so-called Iranian-led “Axis of Resistance.”…with the balance of power tilted heavily toward Israel, many Palestinian activists are turning inward — toward grassroots popular resistance — in the absence of any external military force capable of reining in Israeli aggression.” See also Israeli Settlers Torch Palestinian Farmhouse, Tag Walls With ‘Revenge’ and ‘Price Tag’ (Haaretz 8/4/25); Palestinian man shot dead by settlers in West Bank, Health Ministry says (Haaretz 8/2/25); Hundreds of artists sign petition demanding Israel end ‘horrific’ Gaza war (TOI 8/3/25); Israelis Are Starting to Talk About Famine in Gaza (New Yorker 8/5/25); ‘Stop the Destruction’: 300 Israeli Architects and Planners Sign Gaza Petition (Haaretz 8/7/25);

Israel’s Ben-Gvir says he prayed at Al Aqsa mosque compound (Al Monitor 8/3/25)

“Israel’s far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir visited the flashpoint Al-Aqsa mosque compound in Jerusalem on Sunday and said he prayed there, challenging rules covering one of the most sensitive sites in the Middle East. Under a delicate decades-old “status quo” arrangement with Muslim authorities, the Al-Aqsa compound is administered by a Jordanian religious foundation and Jews can visit but may not pray there…The Waqf, the foundation that administers the complex, said Ben-Gvir was among another 1,250 who ascended the site and who it said prayed, shouted and danced.” See also Israeli Minister Smotrich Pictured Beside ‘Death to Arabs’ Graffiti During West Bank Visit (Haaretz 8/7/25); Israel bans Jerusalem grand mufti from Al-Aqsa: What to know (Al Monitor 8/6/25)

U.S. SCENE

The Week the World Woke Up to the Genocide in Gaza (Jonah Valdez//The Intercept 8/6/25)

“After 22 months of Israel’s war on Palestinians in Gaza, something changed in the last week. Israeli human rights groups and scholars for the first time called the bombardment and siege of the Palestinian territory a genocide. The governments of France, the United Kingdom, and Canada have all signaled they are prepared to join the vast majority of the world’s nations in recognizing Palestinian statehood. A majority of Senate Democrats voted last week in favor of blocking the U.S. from selling weapons to Israel, an historic first. Even the right-wing lawmaker Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., now calls Israel’s actions a genocide, the first Republican lawmaker to do so. A recent Gallup poll showed that just 32 percent of Americans approve of Israel’s military action in Gaza: a new low. The majority of Americans — 60 percent — disapprove of the offensive, and, for the first time, a majority said they disapprove of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Such shifting attitudes were most prominent among younger Americans. These recent swings have yet to materialize into policies that exert actual pressure on Israel and save Palestinian lives.” See also More than 40 arrested at protest against Gaza war at Trump hotel in New York (The Guardian 8/4/25); Dozens arrested as U.S. Jews ramp up protests against Gaza starvation (Haaretz 8/1/25); 13 House Democrats to call on Trump to recognize a Palestinian state (WaPo 8/5/25); More American Voters Than Not Say Israel Is Committing Genocide in Gaza (Zeteo 8/7/25); J Street head says he was ‘persuaded’ by arguments that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza (JTA 8/4/25); Major Diaspora philanthropists call on Netanyahu to end war and aid Gaza, in mass open letter (JTA 8/6/25); Amid budget deficit, Miami activists again call for divestment of Israeli bonds (Axios 8/5/25); Zohran Mamdani Holds Lead Among Jewish Voters for New York Mayor, New Polls Show (Haaretz 8/7/25); Many Jewish Voters Back Mamdani. And Many Agree With Him on Gaza. (NYT 8/4/25);

U.S. House Speaker Says West Bank ‘Rightful Property of the Jewish People’ at Settler Conference (Haaretz 8/4/25);

“Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson visited the West Bank settlement of Ariel, in a highly unusual move from one of America’s most powerful elected officials. Johnson has long been an ally of the Israeli right, using his perch as House speaker to lend support to efforts bolstering right-wing positions on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict (both in America and Israel)…During his trip to Ariel, he was formally welcomed by the Yesha Council (an umbrella council of Israeli settlements in the West Bank) and the U.S.-Israel Education Association, a pro-settlement advocacy group that opposes Palestinian statehood that has relied on Congressional delegations to eventually influence State Department policy.” See also US Speaker Mike Johnson dines with Netanyahu in West Bank settlement of Shiloh (TOI 8/5/25); Speaker Johnson visits Israeli settlement in occupied West Bank (Axios 8/4/25);  US reverses pledge to link disaster funds to Israel boycott stance (Reuters 8/5/25); Speaker Mike Johnson visits occupied West Bank to support Israeli settlers (The Guardian 8/4/25); Israel broadcasts Hamas’ video of hostage Evyatar David in Times Square (JTA 8/5/25);  Pro-Israel groups post strong fundraising figures in first half of 2025 (JI 8/5/25);

Trump administration freezes $584m in grants for ‘life-saving research’ at UCLA (The Guardian 8/6/25)

“In a sweeping escalation of its attacks on institutions of higher education, the Trump administration has suspended $584m in federal funding for the University of California, Los Angeles – nearly double the amount that was previously expected, the school’s chancellor announced on Wednesday. UCLA is the first public university whose federal grants have been targeted by the administration over allegations of civil rights violations related to antisemitism and affirmative action. It represents an expansion of the administration’s months-long campaign targeting largely private, Ivy League colleges…The Trump administration recently accused UCLA of violating the equal protection clause of the fourteenth amendment and Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 “by acting with deliberate indifference in creating a hostile educational environment for Jewish and Israeli students”. The announcement came as UCLA reached a $6m settlement with three Jewish students and a Jewish professor who sued the university, arguing it violated their civil rights by allowing pro-Palestinian protesters in 2024 to block their access to classes and other areas on campus.” See also Prosecutors announce hate crimes charges against D.C. museum shooter (JI 8/7/25);

PERSPECTIVES//LONG READS

Is Genocide Happening in Gaza? (Melanie O’Brien, President of the International Association of Genocide Scholars//OpinioJuris 8/4/25)

“While asking the ‘genocide question’ is important, it is also crucial to remember that myriad war crimes are being committed on an almost daily basis in this conflict, with conduct potentially amounting to war crimes including wilful killing; hostage-taking; sexual violence; indiscriminate bombing; attacks on civilians and civilian objects; starvation as a method of warfare; obstructing rapid and unimpeded passage of humanitarian relief for civilians in need; attacks on hospitals, healthcare facilities, healthcare vehicles and medical/healthcare workers; perfidy; attacks on persons hors de combat; attacks on peacekeepers and peacekeeping installations; attacks on UN and other humanitarian workers; torture and inhumane treatment; and more. Many of these acts and other acts also amount to crimes against humanity, including murder; imprisonment or other severe deprivation of liberty; sexual and reproductive violence; persecution; other inhumane acts; persecution; torture; and deportation or forcible transfer of population…As genocide scholars know, genocide is a process, not an event. While this post will focus on conduct since 7 October 2023, the genocide process did not begin on 8 October 2023. It was prefaced by decades of human rights abuses against the Palestinian people; extensive violations of international law involving discrimination, persecution, apartheid and more, some aspects of which have been clearly delineated by legal bodies as violations of international law. It is the decades of discrimination and persecution, creating a system of dehumanisation, that has permitted the escalation of destructive conduct against Palestinians since 7 October 2023…In its Provisional Measures orders in the South Africa v Israel case, the ICJ warned of a serious risk of genocide that put state parties to the Genocide Convention (including Israel) on notice that they had a duty already then in early 2024 to prevent genocide in Gaza. Whatever the exact moment was of ‘crystallisation’ of these crimes as genocide, it is without a doubt that we are witnessing a genocide now in Gaza, and state parties to the Genocide Convention are failing in their obligation to prevent and punish genocide.”

As an Israeli political scientist, I resisted thinking this war was a genocide. Here’s what changed my mind (Lihi Ben Shitrit//The Forward 8/2/25)

“For example, Israeli historian and genocide scholar Raz Segal published an article in Jewish Currents on Oct. 13, 2023 titled “A Textbook Case of Genocide.” Israel had just begun its retaliatory strikes on Gaza (which at that point had killed more than 1,800 people), and the quick jump to the assertion of genocide, which Segal was not the only one to make, seemed startling. I was taken aback by Segal’s certitude. How could he have gathered the data and performed the necessary rigorous analysis so quickly? I felt he was being alarmist and irresponsible as a scholar, jumping to a conclusion before there was clear evidence. Nearly two years later, I understand that Segal was primarily talking about Israeli leaders’ public incitement for war crimes that was “quite explicit, open, and unashamed” from day one. His article was a warning about the murderous destination that dehumanization and violent rhetoric lead to. The difference between me and Segal was that I thought the threats barked by Israeli politicians and generals were the macho bluster of panicked leaders responsible for the worst security failure in Israeli history. I didn’t believe they intended to do what they said they were going to do. He, however, believed them. I realize now, as the international community has failed to stop the total destruction of Gaza, that the speed of his and others’ prompt pronouncements was not irresponsible, knee-jerk scholarship.  If anything, when it comes to the threat of genocide, being alarmist is precisely what is needed.” See also Israeli Liberals Grapple With the G-Word (Ori Goldberg//New Lines Magazine 8/1/25)

My sweet friend Awdah Hathaleen was murdered by a West Bank settler. May his memory be a revolution (Emily Glick//The Guardian 8/8/25)

“I learned quickly that Awdah was known across the region for the unique way he built relationships. He was adamant that truly everyone was welcome in Umm al-Khair: diplomats, activists, journalists and friends. He spent uncountable days with them, giving tours and telling heartbreaking stories about his life under Israeli occupation and his unrelenting commitment to fighting for a better world for his three small children. He took these connections seriously. If you came to Umm al-Khair as a guest, Awdah expected you to stay – for tea, then dinner, then the night. And when you finally left, he’d ask with a sly smile: “But my friend, when are you coming back?” I knew these relationships were also strategic – Awdah wanted people around the world to join him in fighting for Umm al-Khair. The village, with only a few hundred residents, is surrounded on three sides by the illegal settlement of Carmel, and every built structure in it is under threat of demolition. With so few resources and limited means to resist the constant pressures of military control, settler violence and threats of displacement, Awdah believed that international attention could help fortify the villagers’ struggle to remain on the land. “Oftentimes, we want to just leave and let the pain go,” he once wrote. “But we know we have to stand in the trauma in the hopes that the story we share will change the minds of those who support the Israeli occupation.”…On Monday, I stood in the streets of Manhattan, taking pictures as thousands protested against Israel’s violence against the Palestinians, many holding signs that read “Justice for Awdah”. I can only hope the horror of his murder strengthens a collective demand for justice – not only for Awdah, but for all Palestinians living under apartheid, occupation and forced dispossession. May we carry his legacy forward not only by fighting for the destination – freedom, safety, dignity – but by insisting on the path he modeled: one built through relationships, solidarity and love.”

In this episode of Occupied Thoughts, FMEP Fellow Peter Beinart speaks with Aseel Aburass, Director of the Occupied Palestinian Territory Department at Physicians for Human Rights Israel and one of the authors of PHRI’s newest report: “Destruction of Conditions of Life: A Health Analysis of the Gaza Genocide.” Peter and Aseel discuss PHRI’s Israel’s genocide in Gaza, focusing on Israel’s destruction of Gaza’s healthcare system and Israel’s “deliberate destruction of conditions under which life cannot continue.” They discuss the emergency need to flood Gaza with aid disbursed by the professional aid organizations with the expertise to properly distribute it, the need to hold the perpetrators of this genocide accountable, and the Israeli medical sector’s complicity with the destruction of Palestinian healthcare.

Aseel Aburass is a humanitarian professional with non-profit experience, specializing in human rights and health in conflict settings. She currently serves as Director of the Occupied Palestinian Territory Department at Physicians for Human Rights Israel, where she leads legal and humanitarian interventions, documents violations, and advocates for systemic change and accountability.

Peter Beinart is a Non-Resident Fellow at the Foundation for Middle East Peace. He is also a Professor of Journalism and Political Science at the City University of New York, a Contributing opinion writer at the New York Times, an Editor-at-Large at Jewish Currents, and an MSNBC Political Commentator. His newest book (published 2025) is Being Jewish After the Destruction of Gaza: A Reckoning.

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1. New from FMEP

2. Gaza

3. Region//Global

4. River to the Sea

5. U.S. Scene

6. Perspectives//Long Reads

NEW FROM FMEP

Destroying Palestinian Life in Gaza in a Systemic, Deliberate Way: “Our Genocide” (New podcast episode)

FMEP Fellow Peter Beinart speaks with Yuli Novak, executive director of the Israeli human rights organization B’Tselem, about how and why B’Tselem has concluded that Israel is now and has been committing genocide in Gaza for nearly two years. Yuli describes Israeli leaders’ statements of intent, Israeli military officers’ orders and actions, and the catastrophic results on the Palestinian people in Gaza. Yuli and Peter discuss the urgency for international intervention to stop Israel’s brutal actions in Gaza, how Israeli Jewish society justifies the genocide, and the dangers that Palestinians face without protection from the Israeli regime, including the danger that Israel may apply its genocidal policy to other areas under its control, including the West Bank. Read B’Tselem’s new report, “Our Genocide,” here.

Music & Dance in Jerusalem: The Power of Culture in the Face of Israeli Repression (New podcast episode)

FMEP Fellow Hilary Rantisi speaks with Rania Elias, former director of  the Yabous Cultural Centre and the Jerusalem Festival. They speak about Palestinian culture in Jerusalem, both the powerful potential for activities like dance and music to revive Palestinian society as well as the challenges of maintaining culture under occupation. They discuss Israeli efforts to repress Palestinian culture, including through arrests, detention, and other forms of control, including against children. They look at the experience of child incarceration and the impact of repression on personal and collective levels.

FMEP Legislative Round-Up August 1, 2025 (Lara Friedman)

1. Bills, Resolutions; 2. Letters; 3. Hearings & Markups; 4. Selected Members on the Record; 5. Selected Media & Press releases/Statements

Settlement & Annexation Report: July 31, 2025 (Kristin McCarthy)

1. Another Palestinian Community Displaced by Settler Terrorism; 2. Settlers Takeover Ein Samiya Spring, Creating Water Crisis for Dozens of Ramallah-Area Villages; 3. Nu’man Faces Demolition As Decades of “Silent Transfer” Reach Breaking Point; 4. Smotrich Calls Gaza Settlements a “Realistic Work Plan” as Activists March to Gaza; 5. Beloved South Hebron Hills Activist Shot Dead By Sanctioned Settler; 6. Bonus Reads

GAZA

Netanyahu Is Choosing to Starve Gaza (Alex de Waal//NYT 8/1/25)

“It is a calamity that was foreseeable, and foreseen. Starvation takes time; authorities cannot starve a population by accident. Since March of 2024, international bodies have repeatedly warned that Gaza is on the brink of famine. This week, a U.N.-backed group issued yet another alert warning that “the worst-case scenario of famine is playing out.” Food-security experts haven’t had access to the data they would need to make a final judgment about whether conditions in Gaza officially constitute a famine. At this point, the distinction is irrelevant. Seasoned humanitarian-aid professionals can still bring Gaza back from the brink — if they’re given the chance…Israel’s latest measures — airdrops and daily pauses in operations to allow more aid to enter — fall far short of the full spectrum of emergency assistance that Palestinians in Gaza need. To end starvation in Gaza, Israel must allow humanitarian-aid professionals to do their job. It must facilitate the movement of U.N. aid convoys without onerous checks and delays. It must help establish the necessary monitoring measures to ensure aid reaches those who need it most. It must assist Gaza’s hospitals in setting up intensive care units for the many malnourished children at death’s door.” See also ‘Worst-case scenario of famine’ is unfolding in Gaza, UN-backed food security initiative says (CNN 7/29/25); How Food Supplies in Gaza Have Dwindled Under the New Israeli Aid Plan (WSJ 7/27/25); Trump breaks with Netanyahu on acknowledging ‘starvation’ in Gaza (JI 7/28/25); ‘A Drop in the Ocean’: Gaza Aid Workers, Locals Warn Insufficient Aid Reaching Palestinians (Haaretz 8/1/25);

Dozens of Palestinians Killed Seeking Aid as Witkoff and Huckabee Tour GHF Hub in Stage-Managed Visit (Sharif Abdel Kouddous//Drop Site 8/1/25)

“President Trump’s Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee toured an “aid distribution” site run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation in Rafah in southern Gaza on Friday. During the U.S. envoy’s highly stage-managed visit, at least 82 Palestinians were killed in Israeli attacks across the enclave, including 49 people seeking food aid with more than 270 injured. The visit came as the leading international authority on food crises—the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC)—this week said that the “worst-case scenario of famine is currently playing out in the Gaza Strip,” warning that the situation has reached “an alarming and deadly turning point” and predicting “widespread death” without immediate action.” See also At least 91 killed seeking aid in Gaza as US envoy Steve Witkoff visits Israel (The Guardian 8/1/25); Top Trump officials visit Gaza as hunger crisis draws outrage (WaPo 8/1/25); Far-right Minister Smotrich: Israeli Resettlement in Gaza Now a ‘Realistic Plan’ (Haaretz 7/29/25); Netanyahu Proposes to Annex Parts of Gaza in Attempt to Appease Far-right Minister if Hamas Does Not Agree to a Deal (Haaretz 7/28/25); Amid Chaos on the Ground in Gaza, IDF Struggles With Israeli Leaders’ Calls for Annexation (Haaretz 8/1/25); Islamic Jihad airs video of hostage Rom Braslavski; ‘They broke him,’ family says (TOI 7/31/25); Hamas issues propaganda video of hostage Evyatar David (TOI 8/1/25)

Looting, chaos and Israeli gunfire prevent aid from reaching Gazans (WaPo 8/1/25)

“Even though Israel — under mounting international pressure — on Saturday announced looser restrictions on food entering Gaza, looting, shootings and bureaucratic impediments continue to plague aid delivery efforts almost daily. And despite Israeli promises that it would create secure corridors for aid deliveries this week, U.N. officials say the operational realities on the ground remain unchanged. The result, according to humanitarian officials, is that conditions for vulnerable residents who live inside Gaza remain dire — with little of the aid being sent in ever reaching those who need it most, while injuries and deaths are rising during attempts by the United Nations to distribute food — because Israeli troops open fire to keep swelling crowds away from the convoys and from Israeli checkpoints. The Gaza Health Ministry has recorded at least at least 209 deaths among people out seeking aid since Saturday…The world’s leading body on hunger crises said this week that “the worst-case scenario of famine is currently playing out” in Gaza. At least 154 people have died of malnutrition since the start of the war, the vast majority of them in July, according to local health officials.” See also Hamas Health Ministry Says 103 Palestinians Killed, Seven From Hunger in Gaza in Past Day (Haaretz 7/30/25); At least 57 killed in Gaza in 24 hours as Israel withdraws from ceasefire talks (The Guardian 7/26/25); Israeli fire kills dozens in Gaza, officials say, as aid delivery remains chaotic after new measures (AP 7/28/25);

Famine by Design: How Israel Ignored Warnings Over Hunger and Starved Gaza (Nir Hasson//Haaretz 7/29/25)

“For anyone following the situation in Gaza closely, the surge in hunger-related deaths was not unexpected. Just weeks after the war began, international experts, aid organizations and foreign governments began issuing increasingly urgent warnings to Israel about the risk of famine. Israel, however, adopted policies that defied those warnings. The famine now unfolding in Gaza is one that was foreseen.” See also Netanyahu denies widespread reports of starvation in Gaza, blames Hamas for stealing aid (AP 7/27/25); Walking Corpses (Amjad Iraqi//LRB 7/25/25); In Gaza, Hunger Has Overtaken Bombs as Israel’s Cruelest Weapon (Drop Site 7/30/25); Israel’s aid concessions merely offer Gazans survival on a leash (Mohammed R. Mhawish//+972 Magazine 7/28/25);

60,000 Gazans have been killed. 18,500 were children. (WaPo 7/30/25)

“Gaza is the most dangerous place in the world to be a child, according to the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF). Palestinian children have been killed at a rate of more than one child per hour during the war. “Consider that for a moment. A whole classroom of children killed, every day for nearly two years,” UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell told the U.N. Security Council this month.” See also Israel Bombs Gaza School With U.S.-Made Missile During Friday Prayers (Abdel Qader Sabbah and Sharif Abdel Kouddous//Drop Site 7/25/25)

This Is How You Conduct Genocide by the Regulations (Sari Bashi//New Lines Magazine 7/31/25)

“As the Israeli military’s system for controlling the entry of food, medicine and other critical supplies veers into the realm of the absurd, shortages in Gaza have become catastrophic, with experts estimating that they have contributed to the deaths of thousands or even tens of thousands of people. Onerous, duplicative and inconsistent requirements for permitting goods into Gaza are not new but, after the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led attacks on Israeli civilians, Israeli bureaucratic obstruction of humanitarian relief morphed into a tool of genocide — committed according to detailed regulations. The seeming orderliness of a bureaucracy whose function was to limit and block lifesaving aid may make it easier for the military officers and soldiers working within it to rationalize starving a civilian population.” See also ‘Pasta Won’t Help. Gaza Is on the Brink of an Exponential Surge in Starvation Deaths’ (Haaretz 7/31/25); Gaza airdrops deliver a fraction of what trucks could, aid groups warn (WaPo 7/31/25);

No Proof Hamas Routinely Stole U.N. Aid, Israeli Military Officials Say (NYT 7/26/25)

“For nearly two years, Israel has accused Hamas of stealing aid provided by the United Nations and other international organizations. The government has used that claim as its main rationale for restricting food from entering Gaza. But the Israeli military never found proof that the Palestinian militant group had systematically stolen aid from the United Nations, the biggest supplier of emergency assistance to Gaza for most of the war, according to two senior Israeli military officials and two other Israelis involved in the matter. In fact, the Israeli military officials said, the U.N. aid delivery system, which Israel derided and undermined, was largely effective in providing food to Gaza’s desperate and hungry population.” See also Exclusive: USAID analysis found no evidence of massive Hamas theft of Gaza aid (Reuters 7/25/25)

Israel is starving Gaza. And the U.S. is complicit. (Sari Bashi//MSNBC 7/25/25)

“The Israeli government denies famine or aid obstruction and blames the United Nations and Hamas for any shortages. Israeli officials accuse aid agencies of “distributing lies,” say restrictions are needed to prevent diversion by Hamas, and argue that because tons of U.N. aid is still on the Gaza side of crossings, waiting to be distributed, there’s no need to allow more in. On Friday, Reuters revealed the existence of a U.S. Agency for International Development report finding no evidence of systematic Hamas diversion of U.S.-funded aid. Official Israeli misinformation is not particularly sophisticated, but it’s repetitive, relentless and reliant on Western dehumanization of Palestinians to help render the information Palestinians convey — with words and with images and videos they share of their emaciated bodies — suspect. Only racism — the belief that some people’s lives are worth less than others, and that some people’s statements are inherently unreliable — can explain American susceptibility to Israel’s denial of starvation in Gaza. If you block food to a besieged population, nearly half of whom are children, what do you think will happen?”

How the Israeli Right Explains the Aid Disaster It Created (Isaac Chotiner interviews Amit Segal//New Yorker 7/30/25)

“The fiercest defenders of Netanyahu’s war in Gaza continue to insist that Palestinians aren’t starving.”

‘Our genocide’: Israeli rights groups abandon their restraint on Gaza (Shatha Yaish//+972 Magazine 7/31/25)

“After 22 months of war, starvation, and systematic destruction, two of Israel’s leading human rights organizations have concluded that Israel’s actions in the Gaza Strip constitute genocide. This finding, issued Monday in two separate reports by Physicians for Human Rights-Israel (PHRI) and B’Tselem, marks a rupture within Israeli civil society. Until now, Israeli human rights organizations had largely stopped short of using the term “genocide,” even as Palestinian groups, Israeli genocide and Holocaust scholars, and international bodies like Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and Médecins Sans Frontières adopted it months ago. Drawing on nearly two years of documentation, both groups argued that Israel’s actions in Gaza meet the definition of genocide as outlined in the 1948 Genocide Convention. B’tselem’s report, titled “Our Genocide,” centers on Israel’s targeting of civilians and the systematic dismantling of Palestinian society in Gaza. PHRI’s report provides a health-based legal analysis of Israel’s deliberate destruction of Gaza’s healthcare system.” See also Israel committing genocide in Gaza, say Israel-based human rights groups (The Guardian 7/28/25); In a First, Leading Israeli Rights Groups Accuse Israel of Gaza Genocide (NYT 7/28/25); Leading genocide scholars see a genocide happening in Gaza (WaPo 7/30/25); Who Says Israel Is Committing a Genocide in Gaza? Everyone on This List (Zeteo 7/29/25); For the First Time, Israeli Human Rights Groups Say Israel Is Committing Genocide in Gaza, Call for International Intervention (Haaretz 7/28/25);

The Death of Gaza in Slow Motion (Aseel AburassTirza Leibowitz and Itamar Mann//NYT 7/30/25)

“Over more than 21 months, Israel has destroyed Gaza’s health care system. Israeli airstrikes have continuously targeted Gaza’s hospitals. Governmental policy has led to the denial of fuel, water and medical supplies. Israeli forces have not only blocked evacuation corridors but also killed and arrested over 1,800 medical personnel. These attacks have shut down trauma care, oncology, obstetrics and dialysis and dismantled public health infrastructure. As a result, Palestinians have been stripped of even the most basic forms of medical care: Routine vaccinations have all but ceased, communicable diseases have spread unchecked and preventive services have been eliminated. The question of whether the Israeli government is committing genocide against the Palestinian people in Gaza has generated intense debate. Many have asked: If Israel were truly committing this crime, wouldn’t it look different? Wouldn’t it be faster, larger in scale or more spectacular in form? At the Physicians for Human Rights Israel, an organization working to advance the right to health for all under Israel’s control, we have reached a hard but inescapable conclusion: Through the wholesale destruction of Gaza’s health care system, Israel is committing genocide, but on a longer timeline than direct killing would imply…Each aspect of Israel’s assault on Gaza’s health care system — the destruction of medical facilities, the obstruction of humanitarian access, the killing of health workers — has contributed directly to a condition in which large numbers of people are expected to die not only now but long into the future. We believe this policy of dismantling Gaza’s health infrastructure was never improvised. Our report documents recurrent patterns that show that it was cumulative, calculated and reinforced in the face of repeated international warnings. In this sense, Israel’s attacks on the health system have been just as methodical as any other genocidal policy, only carried out through different means.” See also How We at Physicians for Human Rights Israel Decided That the Gaza War Is a Genocide (Guy Shalev//Haaretz 7/28/25); ‘Double tap’ airstrikes: How Israel targets Gaza rescue efforts (Yuval Abraham//+972 Magazine 7/24/25); The Dam of Gaza Genocide Denial Has Broken (Martin Shaw//New Lines Magazine 7/21/25); As scholars of genocide, we demand an end to Israel’s atrocities (Taner Akçam, Marianne Hirsch and Michael Rothberg//The Guardian 7/29/25)

REGION//GLOBAL

Two-State Conference sets 15-month timeline for creation of Palestinian state (Al Arabiya 7/30/25)

“Participants in the Two-State Solution Conference, held in New York, on Tuesday agreed on the need to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict on the basis of a two-state solution, according to a draft of the conference’s final statement.The seven-page declaration is the result of an international conference at the UN this week – hosted by Saudi Arabia and France – on the decades-long conflict. The United States and Israel boycotted the event. The draft stated that war, occupation and displacement cannot achieve peace, adding that a two-state solution is the only way to meet the aspirations of both Israelis and Palestinians and calling for the establishment of an independent Palestinian state living in peace side by side with Israel. Conference participants said they were committed to taking time-bound steps to implement the two-state solution, noting that the timeframe for establishing a Palestinian state is 15 months…The draft also said that the war in Gaza must end now, noting that participants had agreed on collective measures to end the war in Gaza. It stressed that Hamas must release all hostages and end its rule in Gaza, condemning both Hamas’ attacks on October 7, 2023 and Israeli attacks against civilians. It also noted that taking hostages is prohibited under international law. The draft underscored the rejection of starvation as a weapon of war in Gaza, and added that participants demand the immediate and unhindered delivery of humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip…The draft added that a transitional committee must be established in Gaza immediately under the umbrella of the Palestinian Authority, expressing support for the urgent implementation of the Arab plan for Gaza’s reconstruction. It welcomed the principle of one state and one armed force under the Palestinian Authority, emphasizing the need for Hamas to fully disarm and hand over its weapons to Palestinian security forces.” See also Saudi Arabia and France to lead UN push for recognising Palestinian statehood (July 7/28/25); Canada and Malta to recognize Palestinian state, joining France and possibly Britain (NPR 7/31/25); U.K. to recognize Palestine in September if Israel doesn’t change course (Axios 7/29/25); US calls Saudi-French UN conference on Palestine ‘publicity stunt’ as Riyadh rallies behind PA (Al Monitor 7/28/24); Palestinian UN envoy: Saudi-France summit was ‘historic’ milestone, builds on France recognition (Al Monitor 7/31/25); UN conference backs two-state solution, calls on Israel to commit to a Palestinian state (AP 7/29/25); US hits Palestine officials with visa bans amid growing statehood recognition (Al Monitor 7/31/25); In EU first, Slovenia announces ban on all weapons trade with Israel (TOI 8/1/25);

Arab States Call for Hamas to Disarm Amid Push for a Palestinian State (NYT 8/1/25)

“The world’s Arab countries for the first time have joined unanimously in the call for Hamas to lay down its weapons, release all hostages and end its rule of the Gaza Strip, conditions that they said could help the establishment of a Palestinian state. The surprise declaration, endorsed on Tuesday by the 22 member nations of the Arab League, also condemned Hamas’s Oct. 7 attacks on Israel, which set off the devastating war in Gaza. The statement came at a United Nations conference in New York on a two-state solution to end the decades-long conflict between Israelis and Palestinians.

Egypt’s Hidden Refugee Crisis (Emad Mekay//Jewish Currents 7/29/25)

“Thousands of Palestinian evacuees are living in limbo on Cairo’s peripheries, neither able to return to Gaza nor allowed to build lives in Egypt.”

RIVER TO THE SEA

‘The most peaceful person’: Umm Al-Khair mourns activist slain by Israeli settler (Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham and Oren Ziv//+972 Magazine 7/29/25)

“Yesterday evening, an Israeli settler shot dead the Palestinian activist Awdah Hathaleen in his community of Umm Al-Khair, in the southern occupied West Bank. Known to many international solidarity activists and foreign diplomats for his steadfast non-violent resistance to Israel’s ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian communities of Masafer Yatta, the 31-year-old was critically wounded by a bullet that penetrated his lung, and he died before reaching the hospital. Hathaleen’s suspected killer, Yinon Levi, is also well-known to Palestinians and solidarity activists in the region…Levi has been documented carrying out violent attacks in Palestinian communities with the aim of driving them off their land…Levi has been sanctioned by the EU, the UK, France, and Canada; the Biden administration also sanctioned him last year, but U.S. President Donald Trump rescinded all sanctions on Israeli settlers soon after returning to office…Hathaleen had been a contributor to +972 Magazine since 2021, and footage he filmed appeared in the Oscar-winning documentary “No Other Land.”…In addition to being an activist, Hathaleen was an English teacher and a father of three young children. Earlier this year, he was invited to speak to several synagogues and other Jewish organizations in the United States, but had his visa revoked upon arrival. “There’s so much to say about Awdah,” Alaa, Hathaleen’s cousin, told journalists in Umm Al-Khair today. “He has the kindest, most generous heart you’ll ever know in your life. He’s a person who served his community greatly — more than anyone else. Every single day he worked for our rights. He paid for that service with his blood, and now with his life.”…Earlier today, residents set up a mourning tent outside that same community center to honor Hathaleen…This afternoon, the Israeli army came and ordered residents to dismantle the tent, and threatened to remove it by force…Some time later, soldiers used stun grenades to expel friends and activists who had come to Umm Al-Khair to offer their condolences.” See also Awdah Hathaleen Was Shot Dead on His Land in the West Bank. No Israeli Settler Will Be Held Accountable (Becca Strober//Haaretz 7/29/25); Israeli settler kills Palestinian activist who worked on Oscar-winning film (CNN 7/29/25); Settlers Shoot Palestinian Activist to Death in South Hebron Hills, Another Wounded by Excavator (Haaretz 7/28/25); The Killing of Awdah Hathaleen by a West Bank Settler (Drop Site 8/1/25);

Israeli police release settler accused of killing Palestinian activist (The Guardian 7/31/25)

“Israeli police have refused to release the body of Awdah Hathaleen, a Palestinian activist and journalist who helped make the Oscar-winning documentary No Other Land, while the settler accused of killing him, Yinon Levi, has been released from custody…Despite the release of Levi, Hathaleen’s family is still struggling to recover his body from Israeli police so that they can hold his funeral…More than 70 women from the village declared on Thursday that they were going on hunger strike until the police returned the body of Awdeh Hathaleen.”

‘No Other Land’ murder: Women in Awdah Hathaleen’s village launch hunger strike (Middle East Eye 7/31/25)

“More than 70 women in the village where Awdah Hathaleen was killed on Monday have launched a hunger strike, calling for Israeli police to return his body and release residents arrested in the wake of his murder. Their protest comes as they say Israeli forces have raided family homes in the village each night since the killing, arresting their husbands and brothers and beating other family members.”

I lead a top Israeli human rights group. Our country is committing genocide (Yuli Novak//The Guardian 7/30/25)

“To confront genocide, we must first understand it. And in order to do so, we – Jewish-Israelis and Palestinians – had to look at reality together, through the perspective of the human beings living on this land. Our moral and human obligation is to amplify the voices of the victims. Our political and historical responsibility is also to turn our gaze to the perpetrators, and to testify, in real time, to how a society transforms into one capable of committing genocide. Recognizing this truth is not easy. Even for us, people who have spent years documenting state violence against Palestinians, the mind resists it. It rejects the facts like poison, tries to spit them out. But the poison is here. It floods the bodies of those who live between the river and the sea – Palestinians and Israelis alike – with fear and unfathomable loss. The Israeli state is committing genocide. And once you accept that, the question we have asked ourselves all our lives rematerializes with urgency: what would I have done, back then, on that other planet? Except the answer is not rhetorical. It is now. It is us. And there is only one right answer: We must do everything in our power to stop it.” See also With ‘broken heart,’ author David Grossman calls Israeli actions in Gaza ‘genocide’ (TOI 8/1/25); Far-right Minister Says Hostages Aren’t Main War Goal, While Fellow Lawmakers Request Tour of Gaza (Haaretz 7/30/25); ‘We’re Feeling Their Pain’: Arab Israeli Leaders Declare Three-day Hunger Strike Over Gaza Starvation (Haaretz 7/28/25)‘The Children Haunt Me at Night’: The Protest That’s Forcing Israelis to Face Kids Killed in Gaza (Nir Hasson//Haaretz 7/26/25); Israeli public figures call for ‘crippling sanctions’ on Israel over Gaza starvation (Guardian 7/29/25); ‘Revenge Is Not a Policy’: Israelis Voice Dissent Against the War in Gaza (NYT 7/28/25);

Settlers Torch Palestinian Homes in West Bank, Residents Flee Village (Hagar Shezaf//Haaretz 7/26/25)

“Israeli settlers set fire to buildings in the Palestinian village of Deir Alla in the southern West Bank overnight Saturday, according to the Israeli military…In the wake of the attack, 17 families from the village decided to leave, with 14 fleeing on Saturday and three more expected to leave on Sunday.” See also Palestinians No Longer Live in This Valley. They’re Afraid to Even Approach It (Haaretz 7/26/25); Israel’s destroyer-in-chief in Gaza lives in a settlement home marked for demolition (Oren Ziv//+972 Magazine 7/30/25); Correspondence Reveals West Bank Police Commander Ignored Warnings of Rioting Settlers That Killed Palestinian (Haaretz 7/29/25); Israeli Soldiers’ Excrement in Cooking Pots: When the IDF Took Over Hundreds of Houses in the West Bank (Amira Hass//Haaretz 7/28/25);

U.S. SCENE

U.S. support for Israeli military action in Gaza keeps falling: Gallup (Axios 7/29/25)

“A record-low number of American adults support Israel’s military action in Gaza, per a Tuesday Gallup report. The big picture: The drop in approval and a largely unfavorable view of Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu coincide with a geopolitical sea change in attitudes toward Israel. By the numbers: 32% of U.S. adults said they approve of Israel’s military action in Gaza, per Gallup, down from 42% in the prior poll in September. This marks the lowest approval rate of Israel’s war since November 2023, when Gallup first asked the survey question. 52% of Americans view Netanyahu unfavorably, while 29% said they view him favorably…Republican approval increased since September, while Democratic approval decreased. 71% of Republicans approve Israel’s military action as of this month, compared to 8% of Democrats.”

In a First, Majority of Democratic Senators Vote to Stop Arming Israel (Prem Thakker//Zeteo 7/30/25)

“ Late Wednesday night, the US Senate once again blocked a Bernie Sanders-led effort to end certain weapons sales to Israel, which is currently starving 2 million Palestinians. The resolutions, brought by Vermont independent Senator Sanders, and Democratic Senators Jeff Merkley (Ore.) and Peter Welch (V.T.) called to stop two tranches of weapons sales…All told, twenty-seven senators voted for at least one of the resolutions. Not a single Republican voted for either of the resolutions. The figure was higher than Sanders’ attempt last year to get his colleagues on the record on arms sales to Israel, when only 19 senators supported at least one of three resolutions at the time. Tonight however, a majority of senators representing the Democratic Party voted in favor of one of the two resolutions marks.” See also Record number of Senate Democrats vote to block weapon sales for Israel (The Hill 7/30/25); Fed Up With Netanyahu and Handling of Gaza War, Democrats Rebuke Israel (NYT 7/31/25); Rep. Khanna, progressives push for U.S. recognition of Palestinian state (JI 7/31/25); 35 rabbis arrested in NYC and DC protests for Gaza food aid (JTA 7/29/25);

Greene Calls Gaza Crisis a ‘Genocide,’ Hinting at Rift on the Right Over Israel (NYT 7/29/25)

“Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, an avatar of MAGA politics on Capitol Hill, this week became the first Republican in Congress to describe the situation in Gaza as a “genocide,” breaking sharply with her party in an indication of growing skepticism on the right about Israel’s conduct of the war.” See also Gaza starvation widens MAGA’s rupture with Israel (Axios 7/31/25);

I spent decades at Columbia. I’m withdrawing my fall course due to its deal with Trump (Rashid Khalidi//The Guardian 8/1/25)

“Although I have retired, I was scheduled to teach a large lecture course on [modern Middle East history] in the fall as a “special lecturer”, but I cannot do so under the conditions Columbia has accepted by capitulating to the Trump administration in June. Specifically, it is impossible to teach this course (and much else) in light of Columbia’s adoption of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of antisemitism. The IHRA definition deliberately, mendaciously and disingenuously conflates Jewishness with Israel, so that any criticism of Israel, or indeed description of Israeli policies, becomes a criticism of Jews. Citing its potential chilling effect, a co-author of the IHRA definition, Professor Kenneth Stern, has repudiated its current uses. Yet Columbia has announced that it will serve as a guide in disciplinary proceedings. Under this definition of antisemitism, which absurdly conflates criticism of a nation-state, Israel, and a political ideology, Zionism, with the ancient evil of Jew-hatred, it is impossible with any honesty to teach about topics such as the history of the creation of Israel, and the ongoing Palestinian Nakba, culminating in the genocide being perpetrated by Israel in Gaza with the connivance and support of the US and much of western Europe.” See also “Where is my antisemitism money?”: A Columbia professor’s letter to the university president. (James Schamus//LitHub 7/28/25)

Brown University strikes agreement with Trump administration to restore lost federal funding (WaPo 7/30/25)

“Brown University will pay $50 million to Rhode Island workforce development organizations in a deal with the Trump administration that restores lost federal research funding and ends investigations into alleged discrimination, officials said Wednesday. The university also agreed to several concessions in line with President Donald Trump’s political agenda. Brown will adopt the government’s definition of “male” and “female,” for example, and must remove any consideration of race from the admissions process. Brown agreed to several measures aimed at addressing allegations of antisemitism on its campus in Providence, Rhode Island. The school said it will renew partnerships with Israeli academics and encourage Jewish day school students to apply to Brown. By the end of this year, Brown must hire an outside organization — to be chosen jointly by Brown and the government — to conduct a campus survey on the climate for Jewish students.” See also Brown University Makes a Deal With the White House to Restore Funding (NYT 7/30/25); How a Harvard initiative studying the Israeli-Palestinian conflict collapsed (NBC News 7/31/25);

University of California Settles With Jewish Students Over U.C.L.A. Protests (NYT 7/29/25)

“The University of California has agreed to settle a lawsuit contending that the university allowed pro-Palestinian protesters to block Jewish students from a section of the University of California, Los Angeles, campus during demonstrations last year. In the lawsuit, three Jewish students and a Jewish professor said that the university had countenanced antisemitic behavior at a tent encampment set up in 2024 by protesters demonstrating against the war in Gaza…The settlement, announced Tuesday, will require the university to give $6.45 million, including legal fees, to the plaintiffs and to charitable entities. The money will also support the university’s own efforts to combat antisemitism and support the Jewish community on campus.”

Inside the Crisis at the Anti-Defamation League (NY Mag 8/1/25)

“The group used to fight for justice for all. Its war against anti-Zionism has changed everything.”

PERSPECTIVES//LONG READS

What We Talk About When We Talk About the Right of Return (Sari Bashi//NYT 7/28/25)

“Those within and outside Israel who oppose forcing Palestinians out of Gaza today should also oppose the ongoing forced displacement of Palestinian refugees like my mother-in-law from their homes in what is now Israel — and support their return…Almost 77 years have passed since my mother-in-law’s first expulsion. It’s difficult to draw a legal or moral distinction between contemporary plans to empty Gaza of Palestinians and denying the right of 1948 Palestinian refugees to return.”

Is this Gaza’s ‘bomb the tracks’ moment? (Michael Schaeffer Omer-Man//+972 Magazine 7/25/25)

“With Gaza’s annihilation in plain sight, the question is what can compel global intervention to end Israel’s genocide — and what form it will take.”

Israel’s Deranged Fringes Turned a Messianic Worldview Into a Plan of Action for Gaza (Noa Limone//Haaretz 7/23/25)

“The infiltration of representatives of the extreme right into the top brass is creating a messianic military that holds occupation and settlement to be sacred.”

José Andrés: The World Cannot Stand By With Gaza on the Brink of Famine (NYT 7/30/25)

“As the occupying force, the Israelis are responsible for the basic survival of civilians in Gaza. Some people may find this unfair, but it is international law. To that end, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, an Israeli-backed aid group, put a new plan in place that distributes food from a few hubs, which forced desperately hungry people to walk for miles and risk their lives. At the time it was created, international aid groups warned this would be dangerous and ineffective. Those warnings have sadly proved true. It’s time to start over. Food cannot flow quickly enough to Gaza right now.”

Graffiti of Control (Donya Abu Sitta//Institute for Palestine Studies 7/25/25)

“After the Israeli army withdrew from Khan Yunis, I returned to the city with my father. We stood before the remnants of our home: roofs pierced by missiles, houses reduced to rubble, concrete columns standing like ghosts, and streets stripped of all familiarity. But what unsettled us most were the words. The Hebrew graffiti sprawled across our walls weren’t careless scribbles but calculated slogans, symbols of the Israeli army, and messages intended to wound the psyche… Another scrawl declared: “Instead of erasing the walls, let’s erase Gaza,” leaving no doubt about the genocidal ambition behind such words…Another message left by soldiers read: “We are all Goldstein,” invoking the name of Baruch Goldstein, the settler who massacred 29 Palestinians in the Ibrahimi Mosque in 1994…These writings are more than graffiti; they are weapons. They carry threats, contempt, and humiliation, imprinting the war on our psyches long after the soldiers leave. They deepen trauma and remind us that our homes, our last sanctuary, are no longer ours.” See also Candies, Poetry, and Love: Memories of a Life Lost to War (Shahad Ali//IPS 7/25/25)

Ms. Rachel grew up on Mister Rogers. Now she’s carrying on his legacy. (WaPo 7/31/25)

“On Instagram and her other adult-focused social media channels, Accurso has been increasingly outspoken in her advocacy for the children experiencing trauma and starvation in Gaza. Though Accurso keeps her commentary fixed on the humanity of all children — “Children deserving access to water, food, education and medical care is not controversial,” she wrote in one post — it has drawn a fervent outcry from some supporters of Israel. Accurso has seen hateful comments accumulate below her posts; she’s been the subject of derision from Fox News commentators; she’s received threatening messages. In April, the pro-Israel group StopAntisemitism published an open letter calling on Attorney General Pam Bondi to investigate whether Accurso was acting as a “foreign agent” who was being paid to “disseminate Hamas-aligned propaganda to her millions of followers.” This claim, Accurso says, is “false, hurtful and absurd.”… “I think, in time, what I’m doing won’t seem as controversial.”’

Those who cover up famine in Gaza use a familiar playbook (Alex de Waal//The Observer 7/26/25)

“Gaza’s famine is man-made. And those who are making it happen are doing their best to conceal their crime. The Israeli government is reading from the same playbook as many architects of calamity from the past 100 years.”

Germany’s angel of history is screaming (Amos Brison//+972 Magazine 8/1/25)

“As Israel obliterates Gaza with Berlin’s backing, German public support is plummeting. Yet the government is crushing dissent and refusing to change course — all in the name of atoning for Germany’s own genocidal history.”

Treating Gaza’s Collective Trauma (Mohammed R. Mhawish//New Yorker 8/1/25)

“In Gaza, where displaced children play games called “air strike” and act out death, the lack of mental-health resources has become another emergency.”

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1. New from FMEP

2. Gaza

3. Region//Global

4. River to the Sea

5. U.S. Scene

6. Perspectives//Long Reads

NEW FROM FMEP

Humanizing and Historicizing the World in a Time of Genocide (New Occupied Thoughts podcast episode)

FMEP Fellow Peter Beinart speaks with UC Berkeley History Professor Ussama Makdisi, who was personally named and targeted by Members of Congress in the recent House of Representatives hearing ostensibly on antisemitism in higher education. Beinart and Makdisi discuss the “surreal” experience of being denounced in Congress as well as the truth and power of the widespread mobilization of people from a wide range of backgrounds, faiths, and generations calling for justice and an end to the genocide in Gaza. They also discuss the long and relatively under-researched history of interconnections among Muslims, Christians, and Jewish communities in the Middle East, the importance of reading history, and the shocking brutality of the genocide in Gaza.

Settlement & Annexation Report: July 25, 2025 (Kristin McCarthy)

1. Violence, Anarchy in Northern West Bank as Outpost Settlers Reign Terror on Palestinians & Israeli Force; 2. Red Alert: Planning Committee to Convene on E-1 Settlement Plan; 3. Ramallah Area Settler Violence Reaches Extreme, Settlers Murder U.S. Citizen; 4. Another Bedouin Community Displaced in Jordan Valley By Unabated Settler Terrorism; 5. Israel Sidesteps Palestinian Authority to Renovate Ibrahimi Mosque/Cave of the Patriarchs; 6. Bonus Reads

FMEP Legislative Round-Up July 25, 2025 (Lara Friedman)

1. Bills, Resolutions; 2. Letters & Reports; 3. Hearings & Briefings; 4. Selected Members on the Record; 5. Selected Media & Press releases/Statements

GAZA

We are starving (Ruwaida Amer//+972 Magazine 7/21/25)

“I am so hungry. I’ve never meant those words in the way I do now. They carry a kind of humiliation that I can’t fully describe. Every moment, I find myself wishing: If only this were just a nightmare. If only I could wake up and it would all be over. Since last May, after I was forced to flee my home and take shelter with relatives in Khan Younis refugee camp, I’ve heard those same words uttered by countless people around me. Hunger here feels like an assault on our dignity, a cruel contradiction in a world that prides itself on progress and innovation. Every morning, we wake up thinking only of one thing: how to find something to eat. My thoughts go immediately to our sick mother, who had spinal surgery two weeks ago and now needs nutrition to recover. We have nothing to offer her. Then there’s my little niece and nephew — Rital, 6, and Adam, 4 — who ask for bread all the time. And we adults try to withstand our own hunger just to save whatever scraps we can for the kids and the elderly…Our bodies are breaking down. We feel constantly weak, unfocused, and off-balance. We grow irritable easily, but most of the time we just stay silent. Talking uses up too much energy…We rarely leave the house anymore, afraid our legs might give out. It already happened to my sister: while searching on the streets for something, anything, to feed her children, she suddenly collapsed to the ground.” See also Palestinians Are Collapsing in Gaza’s Streets From Israeli-Imposed Starvation Campaign (Abdel Qader Sabbah and Sharif Abdel Kouddous//Drop Site 7/21/25); Doctors and health officials report wave of hunger deaths in Gaza (Financial Times 7/23/25); The World Must See Gaza’s Starvation (Mohammed Mansour//NYT 7/24/25); ‘We faced hunger before, but never like this’: skeletal children fill hospital wards as starvation grips Gaza (The Guardian 7/23/25); Gaza Officials Report 9 Hunger-related Deaths in Past 24 Hours, Raising Total to 122 (Haaretz 7/25/25); As Hunger in Gaza Deepens, People Are Exchanging Their Most Prized Possessions for Food (Haaretz 7/23/25);

‘Death has more dignity than this life’: Israel’s starvation campaign ravages Gaza (Ahmed Ahmed//+972 Magazine 7/25/25)

“At least 122 people, including more than 83 children, have died of starvation in Gaza since Israel’s war began in October 2023, according to Gaza’s Ministry of Health — 54 of them since Monday alone. Now, more than 100 international aid organizations have warned that Gaza is facing “mass starvation,” with the UN reporting that one in every five children in Gaza City is malnourished, as cases continue to rise every day. Despite the limited entry of humanitarian aid trucks since late May, ongoing Israeli attacks on civilians seeking aid at Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) sites — combined with the obstruction of humanitarian organizations trying to deliver life-saving assistance — have continued to drive up the death toll and left the majority of the population without access to food.” See also UN body says Israeli forces have killed over 1,000 aid-seekers in Gaza since May, as hunger worsens  (AP 7/23/25); Nearly 100 people killed seeking aid in Gaza on Sunday, Palestinian officials say (NPR 7/20/25); Another Kind of Weapon: Our Reporter Got Into Gaza. He Witnessed a Famine of Israel’s Making. (Afeef Nessouli, Steven W. Thrasher//The Intercept 7/21/25); Eleven-minute race for food: how aid points in Gaza became ‘death traps’ – a visual story (The Guardian 7/22/25); UN Palestinian refugee staff and doctors fainting from hunger in Gaza, says UNRWA (Reuters 7/22/25); ‘For Pity’s Sake, Stop This Now’: Gaza Hunger Crisis Takes Front Page Across Global Media (Haaretz 7/24/25); Severe malnutrition in under-5s has tripled at Gaza City clinic, charity reports (The Guardian 7/25/25); ‘Hungry aid staff fainting’ as starvation spreads in Gaza and truce hopes fade (The Guardian 7/24/25); Gaza suffering man-made mass starvation, says WHO chief (The Guardian 7/23/25);

“Finish the job”: Trump says Israel must “get rid” of Hamas (Axios 7/25/25)

“President Trump signaled on Friday that after the breakdown in negotiations for a Gaza ceasefire and hostage deal, he believes Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu should escalate the war in order to “get rid” of Hamas.”

US and Israel ditch ceasefire talks as Trump envoy points finger at Hamas (The Guardian 7/24/25)

“The US is withdrawing its negotiating team from Gaza ceasefire talks in Qatar after Donald Trump’s special envoy, Steve Witkoff, pointed the finger at Hamas for a “lack of desire to reach a ceasefire”. “While the mediators have made a great effort, Hamas does not appear to be coordinated or acting in good faith,” Witkoff said on Thursday. “We will now consider alternative options to bring the hostages home and try to create a more stable environment for the people of Gaza.”…According to a Haaretz report, Israeli sources described the teams’ recall as a coordinated move designed to pressure Hamas. Hamas said it was surprised by Witkoff’s remarks, adding that the group’s position had been welcomed by mediators and had opened the door to reaching a comprehensive agreement.” See also U.S. blames Hamas for crisis in ceasefire talks, eyes “alternative” hostage plans (Axios 7/24/25)

Israel is Attacking Deir al-Balah, Gaza’s Last Standing City (Hamza M.Salha & Sharif Abdel Kouddous//Drop Site 7/22/25)

“Israel’s military campaign in Deir al-Balah on Sunday marked the first time since the beginning of the war 21 months ago that Israeli troops launched a major offensive on the city, located in central Gaza. Unlike every other major city or town in Gaza—including Gaza City, Khan Younis, Jabaliya, Rafah, Beit Lahia, and elsewhere—Deir al-Balah is the only city in Gaza that had not yet been subject to a major Israeli ground operation or suffered widespread devastation. The displacement orders issued by the Israeli military on Sunday cover about 5.6 square kilometres (2.1 miles) of Deir al-Balah, spanning four neighborhoods that house between 50,000 and 80,000 people, including some 30,000 people sheltering in dozens of displacement sites, according to UN estimates. In addition to tens of thousands of displaced Palestinians, Deir al-Balah is also where the headquarters of several UN agencies and international NGOs are based. On Monday, the World Health Organization (WHO) said Israeli forces raided its main staff residence in Deir al-Balah, forcing women and children to forcibly displace on foot toward the coast…The affected displacement area is also home to critical water infrastructure, including the Southern Gaza Desalination Plant, three water wells, a water reservoir, as well as a wastewater pumping station…The latest directive means that nearly 88% of Gaza is now under displacement orders or within an Israeli “militarized zone,” meaning that over two million people are supposed to squeeze into a fragmented 12% of the enclave.” See also WHO says Israeli forces hit its staff residence and main warehouse in Gaza (The Guardian 7/21/25); Israeli Strikes Hit W.H.O. Site After Military Expands Gaza Offensive (NYT 7/22/25);

Israel’s Destruction of Gaza: Almost Nothing Is Left of Khan Yunis, Satellite Photos Show (Haaretz 7/23/25)

“Satellite photos show that thousands of homes in Gaza’s second-largest city and its environs have been destroyed in recent months. Displaced resident: ‘This isn’t just fighting, it’s wholesale destruction. Everything is gone’” See also IDF Reiterates Ban on Gazans Entering the Sea, Last Remaining Source of Relief for Many Palestinians (Haaretz 7/13/25); ‘The Danger to His Life Is Now Acute’: Following IDF Threats, Al Jazeera Reporter Pleads for Protection (Haaretz 7/24/25);

Israel Is Now Blaming the UN for Its Famine. Here’s the Reality. (Ryan Grim//Drop Site 7/24/25)

“The Israeli government has pivoted to a new deflection: The famine in Gaza is not the result of Israel’s publicly announced March 2 blockade of all food entering Gaza, nor is it connected to the Israeli- and U.S.-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), which replaced the UNRWA aid system Israel shut down with its own militarized version in late May. Instead, according to the new Israeli campaign, the blame lies with the United Nations. “Hundreds of aid trucks have entered Gaza with Israel’s approval, but the supplies are standing idle, undelivered,” the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs declared on X. “The reason? The UN refuses to distribute the aid.”…The focal point of the Israeli accusation against the UN is a collection of some 900 aid trucks that have already crossed into Gaza but which have been unable to distribute the aid. Yet Israel has actively prevented the UN from distributing aid. Tamara Alrifai, a spokesperson for UNRWA, told Drop Site that Israeli restrictions on the movement of the organization’s staff have made distribution impossible. “Claiming that the UN isn’t picking up food and other urgent supplies, and promoting images that these goods are just sitting near the crossing is disingenuous to say the least,” she said. “Since the collapse of the ceasefire, the government of Israel tightened its already stringent restrictions even more, giving even less permission to the UN to move around the Gaza Strip.… The rule is that a UN convoy moves after getting consent. We as the UN have not been getting sufficient permission to move.”’ See also Israel Refuses to Renew Visa of Top U.N. Humanitarian Official for Gaza (NYT 7/21/25); Israel Denies Visa Extension for Top UN Official Over Gaza War Criticism (Haaretz 7/20/25); Israel trying to deflect blame for widespread starvation in Gaza (The Guardian 7/25/25); Gazans Are Dying of Starvation (NYT 7/24/25); Responding to GHF collaboration offer, UN says it won’t work with groups that place Gazans at risk (TOI 7/23/25);

Aid Groups Blame Israel’s Gaza Restrictions for ‘Mass Starvation’ (NYT 7/23/25)

“More than 100 aid agencies and rights groups, including Save the Children and Doctors Without Borders, warned on Wednesday that “mass starvation” was spreading across Gaza, adding to calls for Israel to lift restrictions on humanitarian aid to the besieged enclave. The joint statement is the latest attempt to draw attention to a growing hunger crisis in Gaza. It was released after the European Union and at least 28 governments, including Israeli allies like Britain, France and Canada, on Monday condemned the “drip feeding of aid” and said that civilian suffering had “reached new depths.”” See also USAID analysis found no evidence of massive Hamas theft of Gaza aid (Reuters 7/25/25); 28 Western nations say Gaza war ‘must end now,’ suffering has ‘reached new depths’ (TOI 7/21/25); Israel to Allow Humanitarian Airdrops Over Gaza (NYT 7/25/25); Gaza Humanitarian Foundation Head Boasts Success as Palestinians Starve (The Intercept 7/24/25); The for-profit companies behind Israeli-U.S. nonprofit Gaza aid plan (WaPo 7/21/25)

US government review found no evidence of widespread Hamas theft of Gaza aid (CNN 7/25/25)

“An internal US government review found no evidence of widespread theft by Hamas of US-funded humanitarian aid in Gaza, contradicting the State Department’s claims that were used to justify backing a controversial private organization that took over aid distribution in the enclave. The analysis, conducted by the US Agency for International Development (USAID), looked into 156 incidents of waste, fraud, and abuse reported by partner organizations between October 2023 and May 2025. The review of the incidents, which was first reported by Reuters, “found no affiliations” with sanctioned groups or foreign terrorist organizations, according to a presentation seen by CNN. “There was no indication that there was a systemic loss due to Hamas interference or theft or diversion,” a source familiar with the report told CNN.”

Hamas facing financial and administrative crisis as revenue dries up (WaPo 7/21/25)

“Hamas is facing its worst financial and administrative crisis in its four-decade history, facing stiff challenges in mustering the resources it would need to continue to fight Israel and rule Gaza.”

REGION//GLOBAL

“He’s a madman”: Trump’s team frets about Netanyahu after Syria strikes (Axios 7/20/25)

“As smoke and debris swirled over the Syrian presidential palace, the chatter in the West Wing grew louder: Benjamin Netanyahu is out of control…”Bibi acted like a madman. He bombs everything all the time,” one White House official told Axios, referring to Netanyahu by his nickname. “This could undermine what Trump is trying to do.” A second senior U.S. official also pointed to the shelling of a church in Gaza this week, which led President Trump to call Netanyahu and demand an explanation. “The feeling is that every day there is something new. What the f***?” A third U.S. official said there’s growing skepticism inside the Trump administration about Netanyahu — a sense that his trigger finger is too itchy and he’s too disruptive. “Netanyahu is sometimes like a child who just won’t behave.”’ See also Trump ‘caught off guard’ by Israeli strikes on Syria last week (The Guardian 7/22/25); White House confirms Trump objected to Israeli strikes in Syria (Axios 7/21/25); Israel, Syria hold first high-level talks in 25 years amid US de-escalation push (Al Monitor 7/25/25)

Macron: France to recognize Palestine as a state (Al Monitor 7/24/25)

“Macron said in a post on X that he will make the announcement at the United Nations General Assembly in September. He said the move is in line with France’s “commitment to a just and lasting peace in the Middle East,” and he demanded a ceasefire in Gaza, the release of hostages from the enclave, the delivery of aid to people there and the “demilitarization” of Hamas. The French leader said a Palestinian state should be demilitarized and recognize Israel.” See also U.S. slams France’s plan to recognize Palestinian state (Axios 7/24/25);

Houthi attacks take toll on Israel’s Red Sea port (WaPo 7/21/25)

“Officials at Israel’s only Red Sea port warned the government Sunday that it was at risk of a complete shutdown without financial assistance, citing the economic impact of months of attacks by Yemen’s Houthi fighters on commercial shipping in the region…Although a complete shutdown of the privately operated port would not represent a sweeping change, given its already diminished capacity and the rerouting of activity to Mediterranean ports, it would be a win for the Houthis and point to the ongoing impact of their campaign, especially relative to Israel’s other adversaries in the region.”

US to withdraw from UNESCO over ‘anti-Israel rhetoric’ (Al Monitor 7/22/25)

“The Trump administration said Tuesday it will withdraw the United States from the United Nations’ educational, science and cultural organization, citing its inclusion of Palestine as a member state. “Continued involvement in UNESCO is not in the national interest of the United States,” State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce said in a statement, describing the organization as having a “globalist, ideological agenda” at odds with the administration’s “America First” foreign policy…The Trump administration withdrew from UNESCO in 2017, citing resolutions on religious sites in Jerusalem and the West Bank it said were biased against Israel as well as a decision to label Hebron in the Israeli-occupied West Bank as a Palestinian site. The Biden administration formally rejoined the agency in 2023, citing China’s growing influence as one of the agency’s largest donors.”

Belgian police question two Israelis over war crimes accusations (The Guardian 7/21/25)

“Belgian authorities have said they briefly held and questioned two Israeli citizens who attended an electronic music festival last week, after pro-Palestinian groups accused them of war crimes.
Prosecutors said they had received legal complaints alleging that two Israeli soldiers responsible for “serious violations of international humanitarian law” in Gaza were spotted at the Tomorrowland festival near the northern city of Antwerp…The office said it had taken action after concluding that Belgian courts had extraterritorial jurisdiction over alleged war crimes.” See also I’m afraid to go home’: Canadian IDF soldiers fear fallout from war crimes probe (TOI 7/20/25); Israeli cruise ship turned away from Greek island by Gaza war protest (The Guardian 7/22/25);

RIVER TO THE SEA

Far-right Israeli politicians and settlers discuss luxury ‘Gaza riviera’ plan (The Guardian 7/24/25)

“A group of far-right Israeli politicians and settlers met in parliament this week to discuss a plan to displace Palestinians from Gaza, annex the territory and turn it into a hi-tech, luxury resort city for Israelis…The plan, seen by the Guardian, would require Gaza’s existing population of about 2 million to be emptied out. Legal experts warn that forcible displacement on such a scale would be tantamount to ethnic cleansing. Michael Sfard, one of Israel’s leading human rights lawyers, said: “This is a plan for ethnic cleansing. Under international law, this would amount to a crime against humanity because deportation is a war crime when committed on a small scale and a crime against humanity when it is committed on a massive scale.” The plan was discussed on Tuesday in the Knesset during a conference called “The riviera in Gaza: from vision to reality”. Among the speakers was the minister of finance, Bezalel Smotrich, who is one of two Israeli ministers to have had sanctions placed on them by the UK and other countries, and the settler activist Daniella Weiss.” See also [Israeli Heritage] Minister [Amichai Eliyahu] says Israel racing ahead to wipe out Gaza, will make it Jewish (TOI 7/24/25); As Gaza starves, Israel’s far right sees a dream coming true (Ishaan Tharoor//WaPo 7/24/25)

The Last Standing Palestinian Shepherding Community in This Area – Not Yet Evicted by Settlers (Hagar Shezaf//Haaretz 7/23/25)

“Since the war began, neighboring villages have faced one of the most extensive expulsion waves ever in the West Bank. One after the other, the small shepherding communities that used to live along the road between Duma and Ras Ein al-Auja – following the establishment of outposts that made their lives miserable. The last blow on the area came a couple of weeks ago, when the villagers of Muarrajat were expelled, leaving the villagers of Ras Ein al-Auja as the last shepherd community still living there. They are looking ahead in fear, and with reason: Now, left alone, settlers can devote all of their attention to them. This includes daily harassment, trespassing, preventing access to grazing pastures and stealing flocks of sheep or other livestock.”

Israeli Settlers Take Over Spring, Damage Wells That Supply Water to 30 Palestinian West Bank Villages (Hagar Shezaf//Haaretz 7/25/25)

“Israeli settlers seized the Ein Samiya spring in the West Bank and vandalized Palestinian pumping stations that supply water to 30 villages in the Ramallah area, diverting the water to a nearby pool.”

IDF Kills 14-year-old Palestinian Boy in West Bank, Health Ministry Says (Jack Khoury//Haaretz 7/24/25)

“A 14-year-old boy was killed by Israeli fire in the northern West Bank on Wednesday, the Palestinian Health Ministry in the West Bank said. The boy, reportedly killed at the entrance to the town of Arraba, west of Jenin, was named by Palestinian media as Ibrahim Hamran. Hamran is the third teenager killed by IDF fire in the past week. On Tuesday, the Palestinian Health Ministry stated that 16-year-old Ibrahim Nasser was killed by IDF fire in Qabatiya.” See also Knesset votes 71-13 for non-binding motion calling to annex West Bank (TOI 7/23/25); 8 U.S. states to advance law requiring use of ‘Judea and Samaria’ in official documents (yNet 7/20/25);

Ayman Odeh’s Failed Impeachment Is a “Win-Win” for the Right (Elisheva Goldberg//Jewish Currents 7/22/25)

“Experts say the attempt was a means of suppressing the vote of Palestinian citizens of Israel and delegitimizing their political participation.” See also ‘We and Our People in Gaza Are One’: Over 10,000 Protest Gaza War and Hunger Crisis in Major Arab Israeli City (Haaretz 7/25/25);

U.S. Nonprofits Funnel Millions to Israeli Army Volunteers (The Intercept 7/19/25)

“The Intercept reviewed five years of tax documents that show 2023 was the most lucrative year on record for lone soldier [mostly Jewish non-Israelis who serve in the IDF] programs. After Israel began calling up hundreds of thousands of reservists in the wake of Hamas’s October 7 attack, U.S. donors poured funding into the organizations. Each year from 2002 to 2020, between 3,000 and 4,000 lone soldiers served in the Israeli military, about a third of them from North America. Since October 7, 2023, it is estimated that 7,000 lone soldiers from the U.S. alone have either signed up or returned to Israel to serve.” See also ‘Israeli military says eight soldiers wounded in car-ramming attack (Al Monitor 7/24/25)

Israel brutally detaining Gaza hospital director as ‘bargaining chip,’ says lawyer (Shatha Yaish//+972 Magazine 7/22/25)

“Held without charge for 7 months, Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya has been beaten, starved, isolated, and cut off from his family. His freedom is nowhere in sight.” See also Another Doctor Is Dead in Gaza (New Yorker 7/19/25)

U.S. SCENE

Columbia University agrees to pay more than $220M in deal with Trump to restore federal funding (WaPo 7/24/25)

“Columbia University announced Wednesday it has reached a deal with the Trump administration to pay more than $220 million to the federal government to restore federal research money that was canceled in the name of combating antisemitism on campus. Under the agreement, the Ivy League school will pay a $200 million settlement over three years, the university said. It will also pay $21 million to resolve alleged civil rights violations against Jewish employees that occurred following the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel, the White House said…The school had been threatened with the potential loss of billions of dollars in government support, including more than $400 million in grants canceled earlier this year…Columbia has since agreed to a series of demands laid out by the Republican administration, including overhauling the university’s student disciplinary process and applying a contentious, federally endorsed definition of antisemitism not only to teaching but to a disciplinary committee that has been investigating students critical of Israel…As part of the agreement, Columbia agreed to a series of changes previously announced in March, including reviewing its Middle East curriculum to make sure it was “comprehensive and balanced” and appointing new faculty to its Institute for Israel and Jewish Studies. It also promised to end programs “that promote unlawful efforts to achieve race-based outcomes, quotes, diversity targets or similar efforts.” The university will also have to issue a report to a monitor assuring that its programs “do not promote unlawful DEI goals.”’ See also Trump puts pressure on Harvard and others to pay up, after Columbia deal (WaPo 7/25/25);

Columbia Deal a ‘Threat’ to Higher Ed, Experts Warn (Inside Higher Ed 7/25/25)

“The Trump administration’s landmark settlement with Columbia University threatens the institution’s independence and academic freedom, higher education experts say. Many warn that the agreement marks a threat not only to higher education, but also to democracy at large…“Columbia’s reforms are a roadmap for elite universities that wish to regain the confidence of the American public by renewing their commitment to truth-seeking, merit and civil debate,” [Education Secretary Linda McMahon] added. “I believe they will ripple across the higher education sector and change the course of campus culture for years to come.” But some higher education faculty, legal experts and free speech advocates say the settlement is unlawful, pointing to the quick investigation, vague allegations and unprecedented way federal funds were retracted before Columbia had a chance to appeal. Some went as far as to compare the executive actions to past power grabs by authoritarian leaders in countries like Hungary, Turkey and Brazil. Columbia’s capitulation “represents the upending of a decades-long partnership between the government and higher education in which colleges and universities nevertheless retained academic freedom, institutional autonomy and shared governance,” said Lynn Pasquerella, president of the American Association of Colleges and Universities. “It signals a rise in authoritarian populism in which higher education is positioned as the enemy in a fight against corrupt, inefficient and elite institutions that are out of touch with the needs of the working class.”…“Whether you applaud or despise the terms of the deal, the way in which the government is operating, and getting universities like Columbia to make these deals is fundamentally coercive,” said David Pozen, a constitutional law professor at Columbia. “Therefore, it poses a significant threat to the future of higher education as well as the rule of law.” Pozen and others fear that this will only further embolden Trump to take similar strikes at more institutions.” See also Columbia suspends, expels and revokes diplomas of students involved in Butler Library takeover (JTA 7/22/25);

Netanyahu tried to court young Trump fans — here’s why it didn’t work (Arno Rosenfeld//The Forward 7/23/25)

“Support for [Israel] is flagging among nearly every young demographic in the United States, with a recent poll finding that unfavorable views toward Israel among younger Republicans have jumped 42% since 2022. And while the loose constellation of male content creators that comprises the manosphere may be fond of Trump, their politics are increasingly aligned against Israel…The brand of hostility toward Israel among the sort of young men that cheered Trump’s multiple appearances on “Full Send” and similar podcasts is often crude and simplistic, mixing concern over civilians in Gaza with antisemitic tropes and outright hostility toward Jews.” See also ‘Modern-day Hitler’: MAGA Podcasters Slammed by Influencers on Left and Right for Hosting Netanyahu (The Forward 7/23/25);

Did Biden Really Send a Billion Dollars to Sabotage Netanyahu? Inside a Conspiratorial GOP Report From a Parallel Reality (Ben Samuels//Haaretz 7/24/25)

“ The House Judiciary Committee report alleging that the Biden administration misappropriated nearly $1 billion in taxpayer funds to fuel political dissent in Israel is riddled with misinterpretations of how federal governments distribute money to nonprofits, according to experts and an independent analysis by Israeli disinformation watchdogs. Beyond the sheer monetary figure included, the House report further directly accused the Biden administration, Israeli NGOs and American groups long supportive of Israel’s democratic aspirations of being fundamentally anti-democratic. A closer look at the report itself shows that the figures within – and subsequently promoted by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his Likud party as evidence of a Biden-backed coup do not match reality.” See also Netanyahu’s Party Accuses Biden Administration of Attempted Coup in Israel After GOP Releases NGO Report (Haaretz 7/19/25)

Democrats demand U.S. investigation of American’s death in West Bank (WaPo 7/24/25)

“Nearly 30 Senate Democrats are urging the Trump administration to investigate the recent death of a U.S. citizen in the West Bank…Sayfollah Kamel Musallet, 20, of Tampa, was killed July 11 while visiting family in the occupied West Bank. Palestinian health authorities and Musallet’s family have said Israeli settlers are responsible for his death.” See also U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee Visits Palestinian Village After Church Arson, Vows ‘Harsh Consequences’ for Those Responsible (Haaretz 7/19/25); Ocasio-Cortez’s Office Is Vandalized After Vote on Funds for Israel (NYT 7/22/25); Youth wing of the Democratic Party passes amendment opposing Israel’s ‘ongoing genocide in Gaza’ (JTA 7/22/25);

Nation’s largest teachers union rejects move to cut ties with ADL (Jacob Kornbluh//The Forward 7/20/25)

“The leadership of the nation’s largest teachers union on Friday voted to reject a resolution severing ties with the Anti-Defamation League — a move that capped weeks of internal debate over the ADL’s stance on Israel and its role in shaping how schools address antisemitism…Earlier this month, NEA members passed a resolution to stop working with the ADL and prohibit the use of any educational materials, including “its curricular materials or its statistics.” While the resolution did not mention Israel, it reflected a growing rift between progressive organizations and the longtime Jewish civil rights group related to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the war in Gaza. In response, the ADL spearheaded a show of support, rallying nearly 400 Jewish groups from across the political spectrum — including Hillel International, the Jewish Federations, the Reform movement and the Jewish Council for Public Affairs — to sign a letter defending the organization.” See also National Education Association rejects ADL boycott proposal (JI 7/20/25)

Revealed: Harvard publisher cancels entire journal issue on Palestine shortly before publication (Alice Speri//The Guardian 7/22/25)

“The Guardian spoke with four scholars who had written for the issue, and one of the journal’s editors. It also reviewed internal emails that capture how enthusiasm about a special issue intended to promote “scholarly conversation on education and Palestine amid repression, occupation, and genocide” was derailed by fears of legal liability and devolved into recriminations about censorship, integrity and what many scholars have come to refer to as the “Palestine exception” to academic freedom.”

A Columbia genocide scholar says she may leave over university’s new definition of antisemitism (WaPo 7/24/25)

“For years, Marianne Hirsch, a prominent genocide scholar at Columbia University, has used Hannah Arendt’s book about the trial of a Nazi war criminal, “Eichmann in Jerusalem: A Report on the Banality of Evil,” to spark discussion among her students about the Holocaust and its lingering traumas.
But after Columbia’s recent adoption of a new definition of antisemitism , which casts certain criticism of Israel as hate speech, Hirsch fears she may face official sanction for even mentioning the landmark text by Arendt, a philosopher who criticized Israel’s founding…“A university that treats criticism of Israel as antisemitic and threatens sanctions for those who disobey is no longer a place of open inquiry,” she told The Associated Press. “I just don’t see how I can teach about genocide in that environment.” Hirsch is not alone. At universities across the country, academics have raised alarm about growing efforts to define antisemitism on terms pushed by the Trump administration, often under the threat of federal funding cuts…Ahead of a $220 million settlement with the Trump administration announced Wednesday, Columbia agreed to incorporate the IHRA definition and its examples into its disciplinary process. It has been endorsed in some form by Harvard, Yale and dozens of other universities. While supporters say the semantic shift is necessary to combat evolving forms of Jewish hate, civil liberties groups warn it will further suppress pro-Palestinian speech already under attack by President Donald Trump.”

PERSPECTIVES//LONG READS

Do You Have a Son in the IDF? You Might Be the Parents of a War Criminal (Hagai El-Ad//Haaretz 7/20/25)

“Do you have a son who serves on an Israeli missile boat? Maybe you have a son who’s a war criminal. Artilleryman? Sniper? And of course – first and foremost, a pilot? Think about it: You might be the parents of a war criminal. If your son weren’t, he wouldn’t bomb undisciplined hungry people who showed up an hour early. People who came an hour early because they are hungry, hungry because we starved them.”

Why American Jews No Longer Understand One Another (Ezra Klein//NYT 7/20/25)

“The consensus that held American Jewry together for generations is breaking down. That consensus, roughly, was this: What is good for Israel is good for the Jews. Anti-Zionism is a form of antisemitism. And there will, someday soon, be a two-state solution that reconciles Zionism and liberalism. Every component of that consensus has cracked…Many older Jews I know are shocked and scared by Mamdani’s victory. Israel, to them, is the world’s only reliable refuge for the Jewish people. They see opposition to Israel as a cloak for antisemitism…Many younger Jews I know voted for Mamdani. They are not afraid of him. What they fear is a future in which Israel is an apartheid state ruling over ruins in Gaza and Bantustans in the West Bank…For decades, American Judaism, built on the liberalism of the diaspora, has been interwoven with Zionism. What happens when the ideals of the one become incompatible with the reality of the other?”

Why the reluctance to recognize Israel’s genocide in Gaza? (Kenneth Roth//The Guardian  7/24/25)

“Although the Netanyahu government has displayed a shocking indifference to Palestinian civilian life there, it has not tried to kill all Palestinians. Rather, it has killed enough of them, and imposed conditions of starvation and deprivation that are sufficiently severe, to force them to flee, if things go according to plan. The far-right Israeli ministers Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben-Gvir have openly articulated that goal, as has Netanyahu. There is little doubt that Israel’s actions are sufficient to meet the requirements for genocidal conduct.”

Gaza is starving. Where are the American Jewish leaders? (Rabbi Jill Jacobs//The Forward 7/23/25)

“It is time for American Jewry to take an accounting of how many of our communal institutions and leaders are continuing to defend and support a war that has left an unbearable path of death and destruction in its wake…Every person of conscience should be horrified by the death and destruction in Gaza…But our own fear must not distract us from the reality that the biggest threat to Israel, and indeed to Judaism itself, is coming from Israel’s governing coalition.”

Normalizing Israeli Impunity and Dominance: The Arab Role (Tariq Dana//Al Shabaka 7/22/25)

“​​The October 7, 2023, Al-Aqsa Flood operation aimed to revive Palestinian armed resistance and reassert the cause in Arab and global consciousness after years of marginalization. It dealt a major blow to Israel’s deterrence, rupturing its image as a secure colonial outpost entrusted with protecting Western strategic interests. It also exposed cracks in its militarized social contract that rests on the regime’s ability to protect its settler population. While the operation imposed new political realities on the Israeli regime, it has come at a staggering cost to Palestinian life: Israel’s genocidal assault on Gaza has unleashed one of the worst humanitarian crises in recent memory. Yet the anticipated wave of Arab solidarity following the operation failed to materialize or translate into concrete policy shifts. Instead, the moment laid bare the entrenched ties between Arab regimes and Israel’s settler-colonial project that are rooted in mutual interests, regime preservation, and a shared antagonism toward Palestinian resistance. This commentary argues that these alliances—sustained by repression and strategic-economic cooperation and reinforced by Western complicity—transformed a potential turning point for isolating the Israeli regime into an opening for intensified colonial expansion and regional dominance.”