NEW FROM FMEP
FMEP Legislative Round-Up April 4, 2025 (Lara Friedman)
- Bills, Resolutions; 2. Letters; 3. Hearingsl; 4. Selected Members on the Recordl 5. Selected Media & Press releases/Statements
Settlement & Annexation Report: April 4, 2025 (Kristin McCarthy)
East Jerusalem Settlement News; West Bank Settlement News; Gaza “Resettlement” News; Israeli Politics; New Reports
Why are there so many child amputees in Gaza? (New Occupied Thoughts episode)
FMEP Fellow Peter Beinart speaks with FMEP Fellow Ahmed Moor about child amputees in Gaza, now estimated to number 3,000-4,000, the highest number of child amputees per inhabitant in the world. They discuss how Israel’s denial of medical supplies leads to amputation and what it’s like to be a doctor in Gaza, and they analyze the effect these devastating injuries will have on Palestinian society.
Protect Students, Don’t Repress Them: The Hostile Environment for Human Rights on College Campuses (New Occupied Thoughts episode)
FMEP Fellow Hilary Rantisi speaks with Gina Romero, United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Rights to Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and of Association, about the many human rights – including freedom of expression, assembly, association, and the right to education – that have been both invoked and repressed as part of the protests against Israel’s war in Gaza on college campuses in many countries and the reactions to them. Gina Romero authored a comprehensive report that covers these protests, human rights, and campus repression, and includes recommendations for the protection of students, rights, and democracy itself.
Analyzing & Shifting U.S. policy towards Israel and Palestine (New Occupied Thoughts episode)
FMEP Fellow Ahmed Moor speaks with Josh Paul, former State Department official who resigned in October 2023 in protest against the Biden Administration’s military support for Israel. They discuss Josh’s decision to resign as well as how defense and foreign lobbying work in the United States. They also speak about US and European policy towards Palestine and what it will take to create shifts towards Palestinian self-determination.
GAZA
Israel expands military operations to ‘seize large areas’ of Gaza (WaPo 4/2/25)
“Israel will “seize large areas” of the Gaza Strip in a major expansion of military operations, the defense minister said Wednesday, as airstrikes continued to pound the blockaded territory where supplies are quickly dwindling…Katz did not specify which areas Israeli forces intend to take or how much of the territory, but his statement came after the Israeli military on Monday ordered the full evacuation of the southern city of Rafah and some surrounding areas.” See also Israel is ‘seizing territory’ and will ‘divide up’ Gaza, Netanyahu says (Guardian 4/2/25); Scoop: Israeli Mossad asks African countries to take Palestinians from Gaza (Axios 3/28/25); Israeli military orders the evacuation of Gaza’s southern city of Rafah (AP 3/31/25); 35 Killed in Israeli Strikes in Gaza Friday, 16 From One Family, Gaza Health Ministry Says (Haaretz 4/4/25)
Why I and thousands of my fellow Gazans say Hamas’s tyranny must end (Moumen Al-Natour//WaPo 3/30/25)
“The resumption of hostilities is a crushing blow to everyone in Gaza — except for Hamas, which cynically sees it as an opportunity to further entrench itself and resist being removed from control. With nothing left to lose, many of us Gazans in the past week have taken what little power we have to protest in the streets against the group that has dictated every aspect of our lives for 18 years. The message of our movement is clear: The people of Gaza want to live, so Hamas must go, the hostages taken from Israel must be released, and this war must then finally come to an end. Thousands of Gazans have joined the protests so far, and I believe we represent the sentiment of a large majority of people who have long been too afraid to stand openly against Hamas. I know that Hamas will probably come for us, and there is much danger ahead. But should we succeed, then Israel must recognize our existence and our rights as Palestinians, allowing us to live like other people around the world.” See also Gazan man murdered by Hamas after joining protests against terror group, family says (Times of Israel 3/30/25)
Israel killed 15 Palestinian paramedics and rescue workers one by one, says UN (The Guardian 3/31/25)
“Fifteen Palestinian paramedics and rescue workers, including at least one United Nations employee, were killed by Israeli forces “one by one” and buried in a mass grave eight days ago in southern Gaza, the UN has said. According to the UN humanitarian affairs office (Ocha), the Palestinian Red Crescent (PRCS) and civil defence workers were on a mission to rescue colleagues who had been shot at earlier in the day, when their clearly marked vehicles came under heavy Israeli fire in Rafah city’s Tel al-Sultan district. A Red Crescent official in Gaza said that there was evidence of at least one person being detained and killed, as the body of one of the dead had been found with his hands tied…“We’re digging them out in their uniforms, with their gloves on. They were here to save lives. Instead, they ended up in a mass grave,” [Head of the UN Humanitarian Office (OCHA) in Palestine, Jonathan] Whittall said. “These ambulances have been buried in the sand. There’s a UN vehicle here, buried in the sand. A bulldozer – Israeli forces bulldozer – has buried them.” See also Palestinian paramedics shot by Israeli forces had hands tied, witnesses say (Guardian 4/1/25); Red Crescent Worker Who Survived Israeli Massacre Recounts Horror (Kavitha Chekuri//Drop Site 4/4/25); UN Recovers 15 Aid Workers’ Bodies in Gaza, Say Some Found Bound and Shot (Haaretz 4/1/25)
Israel’s latest vision for Gaza has a name: Concentration camp (Meron Rapoport//+972 Magazine 4/1/25)
“Connecting all these dots leads to a fairly clear conclusion: Israel is preparing to forcibly displace the entire population of Gaza — through a combination of evacuation orders and intense bombardment — into an enclosed and possibly fenced-off area. Anyone caught outside its boundaries would be killed, and buildings throughout the rest of the enclave would likely be razed to the ground. Without mincing words, this “humanitarian zone,” as Magal so kindly put it, in which the army intends to corral Gaza’s 2 million residents, can be summed up in just two words: concentration camp. This is not hyperbole; it is simply the most precise definition to help us better understand what we are facing.” See also Israel to reoccupy 25% of Gaza to press Hamas to release hostages, official says (Axios 3/31/25); Israel flouting international law with forced evacuations in Gaza, UN says (Reuters 3/28/25); Netanyahu Promises the “Final Stage” of Gaza Genocide Will Lead to Implementation of “Trump’s Plan” (Jeremy Scahill 3/31/25)
In Gaza, Almost Every IDF Platoon Keeps a Human Shield, a Sub-army of Palestinian Slaves (Haaretz 3/30/25)
“In Gaza, human shields are used by Israeli soldiers at least six times a day…Today, almost every platoon keeps a “shawish,” [human shield], and no infantry force enters a house before a “shawish” clears it. This means there are four “shawishes” in a company, twelve in a battalion, and at least 36 in a brigade. We operate a sub-army of slaves. The procedure is simple. Innocent Palestinians are forced to enter houses in Gaza and “clear” them, to make sure there are no terrorists or explosives.” See also School strike kills dozens, officials say, as Israel expands north Gaza operation (WaPo 4/4/25); As Israel Resumes Its War on Hamas, Gazan Civilians Find They Have Nowhere to Run (Nagham Zbeedat & Rawan Suleiman//Haaretz 3/30/25); Israel restarts ground operations in northern Gaza Strip in renewed campaign (Guardian 4/4/25); At least 27 killed in Israeli bombing of shelter in Gaza City, rescuers say (Guardian 4/3/25);
Marked for Assassination: Gaza Journalists on Israeli Hit List Refuse to Stop Reporting (Sharif Abdel Kouddous//Drop Site 3/31/25)
“The day after the assassination of Palestinian journalist Hossam Shabat, the Israeli military openly celebrated his killing. A correspondent for Al Jazeera Mubasher and a contributor to Drop Site News, Shabat was killed on March 24 when the Israeli military targeted him as he was driving in his car in Beit Lahia. He was 23 years old. Earlier that day, journalist Mohamed Mansour of Palestine Today was killed, along with his wife and son, in an Israeli airstrike on his home in Khan Younis. On its official X account the following day, the Israeli military confirmed it had “eliminated” Shabat, claiming they had “exposed” his role within Hamas six months earlier, and the statement concluded with the haunting words: “Don’t let the press vest confuse you, Hossam was a terrorist.” Shabat’s killing entails a troubling new development to Israel’s approach: they preemptively accused him and five other journalists of being terrorists prior to attacking them, effectively putting them on a hit list. Drop Site News reached out to four of the five surviving journalists on the list to ask them how Shabat’s murder affected them, and how they continue to report from Gaza under explicit threats by the Israeli military.”
50,000 Palestinians Have Been Killed in Gaza.This Is How It Happened, Day by Day (Sheren Falah Saab and Rawan Suleiman//Haaretz)
‘”There isn’t anyone in Gaza who hasn’t lost someone close to them: a child, a sister, a partner, a parent, a friend. Death touches everybody. Those who went back to their homes sometimes find bones there; you don’t always know whose they are.” This is how Asma, 42, a resident of Khan Yunis, described the reality of life in Gaza, after 17 months of war. The numbers are almost inconceivable. As the fighting resumed after a two-month cease-fire collapsed, the Hamas-controlled Gaza Health Ministry reported on Sunday that, since October 7, 2023, the death toll passed 50,000 deaths – an almost unprecedented figure considering the war’s duration and the enclave’s population size. Though a significant proportion of those killed were terrorists, the majority were not, including many women and children, whose deaths Israel terms “collateral damage.”…This is the death trap in which Gazans found themselves since the war broke out. This has been their daily reality – day by day, report by report.” See also Netanyahu could visit the U.S. soon, Trump says as dozens killed by strike on school in Gaza (NBC 4/4/25); In Gaza’s devastated hospitals, treatable patients face ‘slow, quiet death’ (Mahmoud Mushtaha//+972 Magazine 4/3/25); ‘I’m Here! Can You Hear Me?’: One Family’s Story of Death in Gaza (NYT 4/2/25)
REGION/GLOBAL
Germany moves to deport four foreign residents for pro-Palestine activism (Hanno Hauenstein//+972 Magazine 4/1/25)
“Berlin’s immigration authorities are moving to deport four young foreign residents on allegations related to participation in protests against Israel’s war on Gaza, an unprecedented move that raises serious concerns over civil liberties in Germany. The deportation orders, issued under German migration law, were made amid political pressure and over internal objections from the head of the state of Berlin’s immigration agency. The internal strife arose because three of those targeted for deportation are citizens of European Union member states who normally enjoy freedom of movement between E.U. countries…In an unprecedented move, said Gorski, three of the four deportation orders cite Germany’s national pledge to defend Israel – the country’s Staatsräson, German for reason of state – as justification. Oberhäuser, of the Bar Association’s immigration committee, said Staatsräson is a principle rather than a meaningful legal category. And a parliamentary body recently argued that there are no legally binding effects of the provision. The distinction, said Oberhäuser, makes the use of Staatsräson in deportation proceedings legally dubious: “That’s impermissible under constitutional law.”’
Hungary to pull out of ‘political’ ICC as Netanyahu visits Budapest (Guardian 4/3/25)
“Hungary will leave the international criminal court because it has become “political”, the country’s prime minister, Viktor Orbán, said as he welcomed his Israeli counterpart, Benjamin Netanhayu – the subject of an ICC arrest warrant – to Budapest for an official visit…Netanyahu hailed “a bold and principled” decision. “I thank you, Viktor … It’s important for all democracies,” the Israeli prime minister said. “It’s important to stand up to this corrupt organisation.” Netanyahu has been under an international arrest warrant since November over allegations of war crimes in Gaza.” See also Israel’s Netanyahu to visit Hungary, defying ICC arrest warrant (Reuters 3/30/25);
RIVER TO THE SEA
Israeli settlers attacked this Palestinian village — then came back in army uniform (Oren Ziv//+972 Magazine 4/2/25)
“On March 28, Israeli settlers carried out a pogrom in the Palestinian village of Jinba, with the full backing — and later, participation — of the Israeli army…[She] described the army’s nighttime raid: “There were 18 women in the house because the men had been arrested,” she recounted. “We opened the door and saw [soldiers]. I told them the little children were sleeping, but they forced us out of the house at gunpoint. We recognized them: in the morning, they had come in civilian clothes, and in the evening, they came in military uniforms. They were the same people. “They didn’t just search; they destroyed,” she continued. “They entered our room, threw around the furniture, the mattresses, everything. They smashed the windows and tore down part of the roof. Then they locked us in a room, left one soldier to guard the door, and moved on to the other rooms. We have a cave where we store food, and they dumped it all — the ghee, the cheese, everything — onto the ground.” See also ‘There’s no justice’: Palestinian villagers reel after brutal settler, IDF rampage (TOI 4/1/25); Pogromists Rule the West Bank (Haaretz 4/3/25); This Is What Violent Israeli Settlers Really Want to Do to West Bank Palestinians (Haaretz 4/3/25); Following violent raid of West Bank village, IDF reprimands brigade commander, jails two soldiers (Haaretz 3/31/25); Israeli settlers seen on camera assaulting a Palestinian village. Police arrest only Palestinians (AP 3/28/25)
Autopsy on Palestinian who collapsed and died in Israeli prison last week said to reveal signs of starvation (TOI 4/4/25)
“The autopsy of a Palestinian minor who collapsed and died last week in Israel’s Megiddo Prison reportedly revealed signs of starvation and medical neglect. The family of Waleed Ahmad tells the Haaretz daily that the 17-year-old was healthy, athletic and had no pre-existing conditions…The Palestinian Authority says Ahmad is the first Palestinian under 18 to die in Israeli detention — and the 63rd Palestinian from the West Bank or Gaza since the start of the war.” See also Autopsy of Palestinian Minor Detainee Raises Suspicion of Starvation, Severe Medical Neglect (Haaretz 4/3/25)
What Is ‘Qatargate,’ the Latest Furor Embroiling Israel? (NYT 4/3/25)
“Known as “Qatargate,” the case hinges on the claim that Mr. Netanyahu’s media advisers were paid by a representative of Qatar to promote Qatari interests in the Israeli news media. That claim has angered many Israelis because it created the perception of a conflict of interest; for years, Qatar has hosted leaders of Hamas. Mr. Netanyahu’s recent efforts to fire the head of the Shin Bet, the Israeli internal security agency, has compounded the furor. It was the Shin Bet that first instigated the investigations into Mr. Netanyahu’s aides.” See also Billionaire Netanyahu Confidant Expedited Qatari Cash Deliveries to Gaza, at Hamas’ Request (Haaretz 3/29/25); Why Netanyahu’s Aides Became Suspects, Potential Charges, and Their Qatar Connection (Haaretz 4/2/25); Netanyahu is rocked by a new scandal linking his close advisers to Qatar (AP 4/2/25)
Aid groups struggle to provide for thousands displaced in West Bank (WaPo 3/30/25)
“The [months-long Israeli military operation in the West Bank] operation has resulted in the forced displacement of more than 40,000 people from the refugee camps and surrounding communities in Jenin and Tulkarm, according to the United Nations…The scale of the displacement now is unprecedented since the start of Israel’s occupation in 1967, according to Roland Friedrich, the West Bank director of UNRWA, the U.N. Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian refugees. About a third of Palestinians living in the West Bank — or roughly 900,000 people — are formally registered as refugees, after their families fled or were pushed from their homes during the 1948 war that established the state of Israel. Local authorities have put thousands of the most vulnerable residents up in temporary shelters and, along with donors and international organizations, have provided emergency assistance. But Israeli restrictions, insecurity and funding shortfalls are hampering their ability to provide relief to the newly homeless — and funding for shelters may soon run out.” See also IDF Soldiers Vandalize Property in West Bank Refugee Camp, Settlers Set Israeli Police Car on Fire (Haaretz 4/4/25); Mapping how Israel’s land grabs are reshaping the occupied West Bank (Al Jazeera 3/31/25)
U.S. SCENE
15 Senate Dems vote to cancel billions in Israeli military aid (Axios 4/3/25)
“Fifteen Senate Democrats backed a pair of resolutions from Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) to withhold billions of dollars in offensive weapons sales and other military aid to Israel…The votes split the party, revealing continued internal divisions over Democrats’ views on the war in Gaza and support for the Israeli government. The measures failed 15-82 and 15-83. Sanders wants to cancel the Trump administration’s proposed sales of $8.8 billion in bombs and other munitions to Israel. In addition to Sanders, Democratic Sens. Richard Durbin (Ill.), Martin Heinrich (N.M.), Mazie Hirono (Hawaii), Ben Ray Luján (N.M.), Tim Kaine (Va.), and Andy Kim (N.J.) voted in favor. So did Ed Markey (Mass.), Jeff Merkley (Ore.), Chris Murphy (Conn.), Brian Schatz (Hawaii), Tina Smith (Minn.), Chris Van Hollen (Md.), Elizabeth Warren (Mass.) and Peter Welch (Vt.). No Republicans supported the measures.” See also Trying to Block Arms to Israel, Bernie Sanders Denounces AIPAC’s Massive Election Spending (The Intercept 4/3/25)
The New Face of Christian Zionism (Frederick Clarkson & Ben Lorber//In These Times 3/31/25)
“A rapidly growing Christian Right movement has become a driving force behind unqualified U.S.—and global—support for Israel.”
Trump’s Fight Against Antisemitism Has Become Fraught for Many Jews (NYT 4/2/25)
“Rabbi Sharon Brous was growing increasingly alarmed at the Trump administration’s strong-arm tactics, like its attacks on higher-education funding and bullying of law firms, all in the name of protecting Jews. So early last month, she delivered an impassioned sermon titled “I Am Not Your Pawn” to her Los Angeles congregation. Hours later, the next shoe dropped. Immigration agents began detaining activists and foreign students who had been involved in pro-Palestinian protests. “This is not going to protect Jews,” Rabbi Brous said in an interview. “We’re being used.” Across the country, American Jews have watched with alarm or enthusiasm as an effort to address campus unrest over the war in Gaza has transformed into a campaign to deny elite universities billions of dollars in funding, to press major law firms into pro bono work on “antisemitism” and to deport foreign students even tangentially involved in the protests last spring.” See also ‘Gone Off the Rails’: U.S. Orthodox Jews Take a Stand Against Occupation and War in Gaza (Haaretz 3/31/25); Antisemitism watchdog offers alternative to Trump’s campus crackdown (Axios 3/31/25); Canary Mission’s Newest Funders (Alex Kane//Jewish Currents 4/4/25); We must fight for Jewish students — and our values (ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt//eJewishPhil 4/3/25)
The Deportation Dragnet (Tanvi Misra//Jewish Currents 4/2/25)
“With universities’ collaboration, the Trump administration is targeting noncitizens on campus—and paving the way for an expansive immigration crackdown.” See also Families of October 7 victims claim Columbia student organizations are ‘Hamas’ propaganda arm’ in lawsuit (Columbia Spectator 4/1/25); In Trump’s America, You Can Be Disappeared for Writing an Op-Ed (The Intercept 3/30/25)
Trump Administration Conditions Harvard’s Funding on Eliminating DEI, Restricting Protests (The Crimson 4/3/25)
“In the last week, Harvard has ousted personnel at its Center for Middle Eastern Studies, suspended programming focused on Israel and Palestine at the Harvard Divinity School, and terminated its partnership with the oldest university in the West Bank.” See also If Powerful Places Like Harvard Don’t Stand Up to Trump, Who Can? (Lawrence Summers//NYT 4/3/25)
PERSPECTIVES//LONG READS
Parsing Anti-Hamas Protests and Pro-Israel PR (Mari Cohen interviews Muhammad Shehada//Jewish Currents 4/1/25)
“MS: What Israel is doing is setting up Gazans to fail by giving them an impossible task. Israel has failed to topple Hamas over 17 months of unprecedented warfare—Gaza has been bombed significantly more than Dresden, Berlin, or London [during World War II], and even more than Mosul—and now it expects Gazans to do that for them by taking to the streets. Usually demonstrations achieve their goals by disrupting the normalcy of life: shutting down the economy, shutting down government functions, making it impossible for government leaders and politicians to leave their homes. But Israel has already done all of this in Gaza. There is no life to disrupt in the first place—there’s no economy, there’s no government. The demonstrations’ potential to topple Hamas is negligible, and Israel knows this. Israel plans to blame them for that failure, by insisting that the war will continue until Gazans topple Hamas.”
Fighting Side by Side in Israel-Palestine (Leena Dallasheh & Nimrod Ben Zeev//Jacobin 4/1/25)
“Rather than relitigating the definition of normalization or summarizing the debate, we focus here on the practice of co-resistance, its viability, and historic meanings in Israel-Palestine by examining several key historical examples of Jewish-Palestinian co-resistance from the period of British rule until the early 2000s. This is by no means an exhaustive list of such struggles. But it illuminates the historical dynamics, challenges, and limitations of co-resistance. These examples show that co-resistance was historically practiced in a wide range of ways in the region, from political parties to direct action, depending on the particular circumstances. What unites these instances is the principle of shared and active opposition to the colonial order, first under the British and subsequently under Israeli rule. Co-resistance focuses on protecting Palestinian existence on the land, exposing Israeli colonial crimes, and making inroads within the Jewish community to oppose Israeli repressive mechanisms, pushing Jewish activists to use their structurally privileged position in the region to aid Palestinian rights and liberation. It is of particular value in the context of Palestine/Israel because of the settler colonial context in the land.”
You Don’t Get Trump Without Gaza (Ben Ehrenreich//The Nation 4/3/25)
“Like the devil, vampires, and the more timid varieties of ghost, fascism must be invited in. The Trump administration’s first political persecutions have all targeted individuals who were bold enough to believe that constitutional guarantees of free expression extended to solidarity with Palestine. This was hardly an accident. In the time-honored practice of predatory bullies everywhere, Trump’s minions went after the defenseless first, and specifically those made vulnerable not only by their immigration status but by a 15-month-and-running bipartisan campaign to repress opposition to the ongoing slaughter in Gaza, an effort in which nearly every political, educational, and cultural institution in American society has taken part.”
A Palestinian Oscar-winner’s arrest shocked the world. For these Jewish activists, it was terrifyingly normal (The Forward 3/28/25)
“Raviv Rose was sitting down to the iftar meal on Monday with their hosts in Umm al Kheir, a Palestinian village in the West Bank, when they got a call that the village of Susya, home of Hamdan Ballal, one of the Oscar-winning directors of the documentary No Other Land, was being attacked by settlers. Rose and their fellow Jewish solidarity activists received at least three such calls per day, about settlers menacing shepherds and their flock, vandalizing schools, slashing tires and attacking people. Their job when those calls come: Peacefully advocate for Palestinians, and document any violence that ensues.
So Rose and three other Center for Jewish Nonviolence activists rushed to their car and drove to the scene…Jewish activists like Rose and Lippman have long taken the role of nonviolent observers and witnesses in these altercations, documenting and alerting the world of the state and settler violence Palestinians experience on a daily basis. Here is their account of what happened that now-infamous night, and the challenges and rewards of their work in the West Bank.” See also Academy apologizes for muted response to Palestinian director’s assault (WaPo 3/29/25)
If the ADL thinks Trump’s thuggery is protecting Jews, it’s wrong (Matt Bai//WaPo 4/1/25)
“You can’t call yourself a civil rights organization in the United States right now — let alone a civil rights organization for a minority that has been brutally evicted all over the world — and not loudly oppose the cruel and unlawful removal of foreigners whose views happen to be out of fashion. Or rather, you can, but no one should take you seriously when you then complain about threats to free speech.”