Click here to subscribe to this newsletter. 

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.”