NEW FROM FMEP
Unveiling AIPAC & the Israel Lobby (New podcast episode)
FMEP Fellow Ahmed Moor speaks with Omar Shakir, Executive Director of Democracy in the Arab World Now (DAWN), about DAWN’s new report on the revolving door between AIPAC (the American Israel Public Affairs Committee) and U.S. and Israeli governmental institutions and the roles AIPAC plays in U.S. politics and public discourse. They also look at instances of conflation between Jewish people and AIPAC (including, for instance, by Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro), as well as new and growing toxicity of the AIPAC brand and how that toxicity affects other political groups, such as J Street.
Settlement & Annexation Report: May 28, 2026 (Kristin McCarthy)
West Bank: Israel Expropriates Nabi Samwil Antiquity Site Currently Managed by the Muslim Waqf; Israel Takes Another Step Towards Forcible Transfer of Khan Al-Ahmar; Bibi Requests Review of Annexation via Antiquities Bill; Israel Launches Online West Bank Land Registration System; Israel Seizes Area A Land Inside Jenin for Army Base; Bonus Reads; See also Settlement & Annexation Report: May 22, 2026
GLOBAL/REGION
Donald Trump shares draft Iran peace agreement with Israel and other allies (The Guardian 5/28/26)
“Donald Trump has circulated a draft peace agreement for the war with Iran among allies including Israel as both sides try to prevent fresh breaches of the ceasefire escalating out of control and scuppering any deal….Tehran targeted a US airbase in Kuwait on Thursday after Washington struck what it described as an Iranian drone operation near the strait of Hormuz, highlighting the fragile situation as both sets of negotiators refuse to cede ground on final points of disagreement…The draft Trump has shared is not vastly different to the one that has been circulating across the Middle East for days, under which the strait of Hormuz would be opened to commercial shipping, the US blockade of Iranian ports would be lifted and Iran would be given access to as much as $12bn (£9bn) in frozen assets.” See also US and Iran exchange strikes as Israel intensifies attacks on southern Lebanon (The Guardian 5/28/26); Trump asked Muslim leaders to join Abraham Accords after Iran war ends (Axios 5/24/26); ‘Very bad news’: Israel alarmed as Trump pushes ahead toward Iran deal (Al Monitor 5/27/26); Trump ‘hit the brakes’: Netanyahu’s circle faults US president for failed Iran regime change, looming deal (Al Monitor 5/29/26); Iran to Israel: You hit Lebanon, and we’ll hit the UAE (Trita Parsi//Responsible Statecraft 5/26/26)
Tyre is Now the Epicenter of Israel’s Assault on Lebanon (Lylla Younes//Drop Site 5/28/26)
“Tyre has become the latest epicenter of Israel’s relentless military assault on Lebanon, which has continued to escalate despite a nominal ceasefire declared last month. Over the past few days, the Israeli military has issued repeated displacement orders for the entire city and has pounded it with waves of airstrikes.The fourth largest city in Lebanon, home to around 160,000 people, Tyre has experienced violent waves of bombardment throughout the latest phase of Israel’s assault. Yet tens of thousands continued to reside in the coastal city and its surrounding municipalities, both in apartment buildings and in the densely packed schools that have been converted into shelters for the displaced.” See also Israeli strikes on southern Lebanon kill at least 14 (Drop Site 5/28/26); Israeli strikes kill at least 31 across southern Lebanon on Tuesday (Drop Site 5/27/26); Israeli military tells residents of swathe of southern Lebanon to leave (The Guardian 5/27/26); Israeli bombardment reduces buildings to craters in southern Lebanon (Guardian 5/23/26); ‘It’s the West Bank’: Lebanese villagers describe life inside Israel’s ‘yellow line’ (The Guardian 5/27/26); Israel escalates strikes in Lebanon as Netanyahu vows to ‘crush’ Hezbollah (Guardian 5/25/26); US gave Israel ‘tacit agreement’ to target senior Hezbollah figures (Al Monitor 5/26/26);
Israel Strikes Beirut, Expanding Offensive in Lebanon (NYT 5/28/26)
“Israel widened its offensive in Lebanon on Thursday, striking Beirut for the first time in almost a month and pushing deeper into the country’s south, as its escalating conflict with Hezbollah threatens negotiations to end the U.S.-Israeli war in Iran.” See also Dozens killed in Lebanon as Israel intensifies strikes (BBC 5/29/26);
Gaza flotilla activists allege sexual assault and rape in Israeli detention (Guardian 5/22/26)
“Activists released from Israeli custody after being detained on a flotilla trying to take aid to Gaza were subjected to abuse, organisers have alleged, with several hospitalised with injuries and at least 15 reporting sexual assaults, including rape…Germany said some of its nationals had been injured and that some accusations were “serious”, without giving further details. A legal source in Italy said prosecutors there were investigating possible crimes, including kidnapping and sexual assault.” See also Australian flotilla activists arrive home alleging sexual assault and beatings in Israeli detention (The Guardian 5/25/26); Ireland joins EU push to ban trade with Israeli settlements amid flotilla backlash (Al Monitor 5/22/26); France to Investigate Israel’s Treatment of Gaza Flotilla Members (Haaretz 5/29/26); I Was Detained by Israel: Here’s What Ben-Gvir Didn’t Want You to See (Alex Colston//Zeteo 5/28/26);
The U.S. re-sanctioned a U.N. legal expert critical of Israel. (NYT 5/28/26)
“The Treasury Department on Wednesday placed Francesca Albanese, a United Nations legal expert on the occupied Palestinian territories and a critic of Israel’s conduct there, back on a financial blacklist amid a court battle over the unusual move. Last week, the U.S. government had removed Ms. Albanese from the sanctions list to comply with a federal court order. The judge in the case, Richard J. Leon, had issued a preliminary finding that the sanctions had violated Ms. Albanese’s First Amendment right to free speech, and ordered they be removed while the case played out.”
With Hungary’s ICC U-turn, Israel loses a key European ally (Al Monitor 5/27/26)
“Hungary’s parliament voted Wednesday for the country to remain a member of the International Criminal Court, reversing a withdrawal process initiated under former Prime Minister Viktor Orban and signaling that Israel, under Hungary’s new leadership, has lost one of its closest allies in Europe.”
GAZA
Netanyahu orders Israeli army to seize ‘70% of Gaza Strip’, violating ceasefire deal (The Guardian 5/28/26)
“Benjamin Netanyahu has said he has given orders to the Israeli army to seize control of 70% of the Gaza Strip in a move that threatens to torpedo an already fragile ceasefire and create catastrophic humanitarian conditions in the already devastated territory…In recent days, Israeli-backed armed militias have taken a leading role in emptying the territory along the ceasefire line, telling residents to vacate their homes or shelters. Throughout the eight months of the ceasefire, Israeli forces have continued to open fire on Palestinians within range of the “yellow line” splitting the strip, and carry out airstrikes deeper inside western Gaza, killing more than 900 Palestinians since the truce began.” See also Israel Has Physically Divided Gaza With Over 25 Kilometers of Earthen Barriers (Forensic Architecture & Drop Site 5/25/26); Hamas military chief Mohammed Odeh killed by Israel, 11 days after predecessor slain (TOI 5/29/26)
Israeli minister confirms goal of large-scale expulsion of Palestinians from Gaza (The Guardian 5/28/26)
“Israel’s defence minister has said he is committed to the ethnic cleansing of Gaza through large-scale migration of Palestinians as part of Israel’s long-term plans for the territory. Israel Katz said the government would implement a plan for large numbers of Palestinians to leave Gaza “at the right time and in the right manner”, in a statement on Wednesday marking the targeted killing of Mohammed Odeh, Hamas’s most recent military commander.”
Rats, raw sewage, skin diseases: Israel’s siege is ravaging Gaza’s displaced (Ahmed Dremly and Ibtisam Mahdi//+972 Magazine 5/29/26)
“While the disease remained unidentified, it was clearly linked to conditions in the camp — potentially transmitted by a rodent bite or an ectoparasitic infestation. In just the first four months of 2026, according to the UN, there have been over 70,000 cases of similar infestations across Gaza, where parasites live on or under the skin and become a vector for disease. More than 80 percent of displacement sites report visible pests alongside rampant skin infections like scabies, lice, and bedbugs, while Save the Children recently noted that two in three children in Gaza live in displacement sites plagued by these risks. Dr. Ayman Abu Rahma, director of the Preventive Medicine Department at the Ministry of Health, told +972 that solid waste — including medical waste — sewage, and corpses buried under the rubble are all contributing to the spread of rodents and disease.”
Hungry Palestinians in Gaza Protest World Central Kitchen Scaling Back Amid Rising Food Costs and Israeli Blockade (Abdel Qader Sabbah and Sharif Abdel Kouddous//Drop Site 5/28/26)
“Earlier this month, World Central Kitchen (WCK), the biggest provider of hot meals in Gaza, made the decision to cut its distribution in half, from around one million meals a day to 500,000…In a statement earlier this month, WCK said its decision was “driven entirely by financial pressure” and did not “reflect any reduction in need on the ground.”…This week, Israel’s supreme court upheld draconian government registration rules for international aid groups operating in Gaza and the occupied West Bank, making it near impossible for anyone to fill the vacuum left by WCK…Beyond WCK scaling back and the Iran war sending global food prices soaring, Gaza’s Government Media Office has repeatedly warned the number of aid trucks Israel allows into Gaza has routinely fallen far below the levels agreed upon in the October “ceasefire” deal…The United Nations, too, has documented the steadily worsening food crisis…The UN placed the blame squarely on Tel Aviv. “Israel’s intermittent closure of crossings, restrictions on the flow of humanitarian aid, and continued ban on the entry of essential supplies have produced chronic shortages of food, medicine, and basic goods across Gaza,” the UN reported last week.”
Israeli strike in Gaza City kills at least ten (Drop Site 5/28/26)
“An Israeli strike hit a home in Gaza City on Wednesday evening, killing at least ten, including five children, and wounding more than 20 others, according to the Palestinian Red Crescent. Videos filmed by journalists at the scene show residents pulling bodies from the rubble, children covered in blood being rushed into ambulances, and crowds screaming in panic as flames and smoke fill the area.” See also Israeli strikes kill 14 on eve of Eid Al-Adha (Drop Site 5/27/26); Who was Mohammed Odeh, Hamas military commander killed by Israel in Gaza? (Al Monitor 5/27/26);
How clans are organizing to fill Gaza’s leadership void (Mohamed Solaimane//+972 Magazine 5/26/26)
“Families that once relied on a single mukhtar — a community leader who is nominated rather than elected — are restructuring into tiered representative bodies, with general assemblies, elected family councils, and formal charters governing how decisions are made and who gets to make them…This acceleration is occurring against the backdrop of the collapse of Hamas’ governing apparatus, the continued absence of the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza (which was supposed to take charge of the Strip in accordance with the so-called ceasefire), and the growing dependence of major aid organizations on clan-supplied registries to determine who receives assistance. Following Israel’s crackdown on the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) and the broader international aid apparatus, Gaza’s family networks have started filling a void that formal institutions were forced to vacate.” See also Israel’s Shin Bet chief meets Mohammed Dahlan in UAE: What to know (Al Monitor 5/26/26)
UN Secretary-General Report Accuses Israeli Forces of Rape, Sexual Abuse of Palestinian Detainees (Haaretz 5/29/26)
“A UN report says Secretary-General António Guterres has added Israeli security forces to a UN list of parties accused of sexual violence in conflict, according to an annual document submitted to the Security Council and seen by Haaretz. The report says Israel Defense Forces, Israel Prison Service and the border police Counter Terrorism Unit are responsible for alleged abuses against Palestinians, primarily in detention settings, and calls on Israel to prevent such violations and hold those responsible to account. According to the Secretary General’s report on conflict-related sexual violence, in 2025 the United Nations verified numerous cases of sexual violence linked to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, including through torture. The report states that the United Nations identified 31 victims from the Gaza Strip and the West Bank: 14 men, seven women, nine children and one girl. Thirteen of the cases occurred in 2025, while 18 took place in 2023 and 2024…According to the report, nine victims, most of them Gaza residents, were subjected to rape and gang rape, in some cases repeatedly.” See also Israel cuts ties with UN chief for adding IDF to war-zone sexual violence blacklist (TOI 5/29/26); Ben-Gvir Blocking State Inspectors From Israeli Prisons, Preventing Oversight (Haaretz 5/27/26);
RIVER TO THE SEA
In first since Oslo, Israel seizing land for army base inside West Bank city (Shatha Yaish//+972 Magazine 5/27/26)
“The seizure order, near Jenin refugee camp, is the latest move aimed at expanding military and settler presence in the north of the occupied territory…While Israeli land seizure orders are certainly not uncommon in the occupied West Bank, this case has alarmed residents and human rights organizations because the plots are located in Area A. This is the section of the West Bank where, under the Oslo Accords, the Palestinian Authority officially maintains full civil and security control; in Area B, the PA must coordinate security with Israel, while Area C, which comprises more than 60 percent of the territory, remains under full Israeli control.”
The Four Steps Israel Is Taking to Clear Palestinians From West Bank’s E1 Area (Matan Golan//Haaretz 5/27/26)
“Israel is currently advancing several construction plans in the section of the West Bank known as E1, and the effect could completely erase Palestinians from the area…Last weekend, 11 Western countries announced their intention to impose sanctions against contractors who participate in the Construction and Housing Ministry’s bidding process for construction in the area, which is expected to open on June 1. A joint statement by the leaders of Italy, Britain, France, Germany, Norway, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Spain, Belgium and the Netherlands said that contractors should “be aware of legal and reputational consequences of participating in settlement construction including the risk of involving themselves in serious breaches of international law.”’ See also IDF Ramps Up Enforcement Against Palestinians Who Live in Firing Zones, Ignores Settler Builds (Haaretz 5/29/26); ‘They stole our sheep, killed my son’: Israeli settlers, soldiers attack and loot West Bank villages (Middle East Eye 5/27/26)
The Secret Israeli Unit Spying on Teachers Who Criticize the Government (Haaretz 5/21/26)
“Internal documents reveal how an Education Ministry committee, headed by a former Shin Bet operative, monitors left-wing and Arab educators over social media posts, protest activity and political speech”
U.S. SCENE
The Hard Truth My Party Needs to Face (Senator Chris Van Hollen//NYT 5/26/26)
“Democrats need to face a hard truth. While Republicans’ approach to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has failed, so has ours. The Democratic Party has provided reflexive and unconditional support to Israeli governments, even as their actions have increasingly undermined American interests and values. For decades, we have called for a two-state solution, but we’ve failed to use our leverage to make it real. It’s past time that we use that leverage to end the occupation and achieve two states with full political and legal rights for all. That means withdrawing taxpayer support from Israel and conditioning arms sales…In addition to ending taxpayer-funded support, that president should enforce the same terms and conditions for Israel that we apply to other countries when they purchase arms. Israel must also comply with international law and U.S. policy. That means no offensive weapons should be sold unless Israel agrees to a time-bound plan to end the occupation and enact a two-state solution. At the same time, the United States should reinstate and expand Mr. Biden’s sanctions on people and organizations that threaten the stability and security of the West Bank.”
This isn’t about a few ‘bad apples.’ Israel is annexing the West Bank (Rep. Rosa DeLaura & Rep. Sean Casten//Responsible Statecraft 5/29/26)
“Israel’s support for settlements means the continuation of displacement and forced statelessness. Continuing to give Israel’s far-right government free rein over the West Bank is also a catastrophe for both Israel and the U.S…The drive toward annexation coddles an extremist strain of Israeli society that benefits from chaos and shares no values with the United States…Additionally, as long as the Israeli government continues to incentivize Israelis to move to the West Bank, we should prevent Israelis living there from being part of the United States’ visa waiver program, which permits them to travel to the United States for up to 90 days without obtaining a visa.”
Congress quietly moves to integrate US and Israeli militaries (Ben Freeman//Responsible Statecraft 5/29/26)
“At a time when the American public is expressing unprecedented levels of distrust in the Israeli government, Congress just proposed tying the U.S. to the Israeli military more than ever before. Buried in the House’s version of the 2027 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) released on Tuesday, is section 224, entitled “United States-Israel Defense Technology Cooperation Initiative.” The provision would arguably do more to intertwine the U.S. military with the Israeli military than the more than $200 billion (inflation adjusted) in military assistance Israel has received from the U.S. since its founding in 1948.”
Nearly half of young U.S. Jews want to replace Israel with binational state, poll finds (Arno Rosenfeld//Forward 5/27/26)
“Almost half of American Jews under 35 say the Israeli-Palestinian conflict should be solved by creating a single country in Israel, the West Bank and Gaza with a government elected by both Israelis and Palestinians, according to a poll conducted by the Jewish Voter Resource Center. The findings signal a generational shift in U.S. support for a binational state in Israel, reflecting a core demand of anti-Zionist protests on college campuses and beyond — even as most major Jewish organizations classify calls for a single state as an expression of antisemitism.” See also Trump administration again sues UCLA over antisemitism, alleging ‘hostile educational environment’ (JTA 5/26/26);
Split Decision (Josh Nathan-Kazis//Jewish Currents 5/28/26)
“A poll out this month from the Jewish Voters Resource Center has been drawing lots of attention for its finding that 24% of American Jews—and, according to the Forward, 44% of those under 35—support a single binational state “that is neither Jewish nor Palestinian.” But there’s another data point that’s just as startling: 22% of American Jews, according to the survey, support “Israeli annexation of the West Bank and Gaza that establishes one state as the national homeland of the Jewish people, and allows Palestinians to vote for their municipal leaders but not vote for Israel’s national government.” In other words, permanent apartheid. The poll’s margin of error is +/- 3.5 points, which suggests that among American Jews, support for anti-Zionism and apartheid are roughly equal.”
Appeals court temporarily blocks re-detention of Mahmoud Khalil (The Guardian 5/26/26)
“A federal appeals court has temporarily blocked the re-detention of Mahmoud Khalil as his legal team prepares to petition his case with the US supreme court. The decision on Tuesday from the third circuit court of appeals gives the 31-year-old activist and US green card holder a temporary reprieve as the broader legal fight over his detention and immigration status continues.”
With “Fighting Factions,” IfNotNow Zeroes in on Mainstream Synagogues (Josh Nathan-Kazis//Jewish Currents 5/26/26)
“This month, the group announced plans to spend the next two-and-a-half years on a campaign aimed at strengthening support among US Jews for ending US arms sales to Israel. A central part of the campaign, the group’s leaders say, is an effort to organize what it’s calling “fighting factions” willing to go to bat for blocking bombs to Israel inside of liberal synagogues.These “fighting factions,” said Morriah Kaplan, IfNotNow Movement’s executive director, are a “group of congregants that the clergy knows is going to make a huge stink if they sign on to a letter that says Zohran Mamdani is a danger to the Jewish people,” referring to a letter opposing the progressive mayor that circulated widely among liberal rabbis during his campaign last fall. A “fighting faction,” Kaplan said, “complicates the calculus for what may have previously been an easy decision for the board or for the senior rabbis about where to throw their weight around politically.” Kaplan said that the group is involved with members at around 20 different congregations across the US thus far.” See also Mamdani has made ample efforts for Jews. How come no one is telling that story? (Libby Lenkinski//Forward 5/28/26)
Company Behind California Chemical Leak Was Building F-35 Parts Amid Rush of Orders From U.S. and Israel (The Intercept 5/28/26)
“The military contractor responsible for a Southern California chemical leak that forced as many as 50,000 people to evacuate their homes over the weekend manufactures parts of F-35 fighter jets likely bound for Israel, The Intercept has learned…
Ex-Trump Campaign Chief Funneled Millions of Israeli Government Money to His Longtime Allies’ Companies (The Intercept 5/28/26)
“A company run by former Trump campaign manager Brad Parscale, hired by the Israeli government to push pro-Israel views on a major conservative media network, has directed $13 million from Israel to several Republican digital strategy firms and allies, according to a previously unreported document filed under the Foreign Agents Registration Act.”
Storied New York food co-op votes to boycott Israeli products after contentious campaign (The Guardian 5/26/26)
“Members of a storied food co-operative in Brooklyn have voted to boycott about a dozen products from Israel and Israeli settlements in occupied Palestine – capping years of contentious debate over a conflict half a world away that has threatened to rip apart a landmark institution for liberal New Yorkers.” See also Mari Cohen Explains Why I Should Care About the Boycott Vote at the Park Slope Food Coop (Josh Nathan-Kazis//Jewish Currents 5/28/26); Netanyahu Pushes for Far-right Adviser Caroline Glick to Become New York Consul General, Source Says (Haaretz 5/27/26);
PERSPECTIVES//LONG READS
Palestine, Iran, and the Unraveling of Western Hegemony (Yara Hawari & Tareq Baconi//Al Shabaka 5/26/26)
“People across the world are living through a moment of profound crisis. The ongoing genocide in Gaza, the US-Israeli war on Iran and Lebanon, the resulting energy and economic shocks, and the erosion of the international legal order are unfolding alongside the fragmentation of the Western-led global system. Together, these converging tremors are exposing the limits of US hegemony, reshaping the strategic positions of Arab Gulf states and China, and intensifying debates over multipolarity, regional realignment, and South-South solidarity. In this roundtable, Yara Hawari and Tareq Baconi reflect on this impasse, highlighting the centrality of Palestine to understanding the historic transformations the world is witnessing today. They discuss the bankruptcy of the liberal international order, the changing dynamics of the US-Israeli imperial power in West Asia, and the ways Palestine has emerged as a converging point through which a different global order may be forced into being.”
After living through Gaza’s carnage, now it consumes me from outside (Ahmed Dremly//+972 Magazine 5/28/26)
“Two weeks ago, I evacuated the Gaza Strip after receiving a scholarship to study International Relations at an Italian university. Physically, my body sits safely in a quiet city in southern Italy. But after enduring two and a half years of genocide, my mind lives entirely in Gaza.”
The Many Equivocations of Curt Mills (Will Alden//Jewish Currents Spring 2026)
“The MAGA journalist wants to bring respectability to “America First” opposition to Israel. Just don’t ask him about the Groypers at his heels.”
‘Israelis Are More Genocidal Than People Think’: Meet Andrey X, the ‘Counter Hasbara’ TikToker (Haaretz 5/25/26)
“Khrzhanovskiy – a native of Saint Petersburg, Russia – didn’t arrive in Israel in 2022 with the intention of staying and becoming an activist. On the day he was supposed to fly back to Russia after visiting his grandparents in Tel Aviv, Russian forces invaded Ukraine. So he stayed in Israel, because it “was the easiest passport for me to get,” and he has not returned since…he first joined Israeli activists for protective presence shifts in the West Bank. He soon started shooting, editing and posting videos documenting state-backed settler violence and the forced displacement of dozens of Palestinian communities. Before long, the videos “started blowing up.” Khrzhanovskiy started getting requests all over the West Bank to cover settler attacks; he says he rarely sleeps in the same bed for more than two days.”
Written under collapsing ceilings, typed on phones: the poetry bringing Palestine to the world (The Guardian 5/25/26)
“Two new poetry collections tackle themes of trauma, exile, resistance and love amid conflict in Gaza”
What I did in Gaza: an Israeli soldier’s reckoning (The Economist 5/29/26)
“In Gaza, all men of military age were deemed legitimate targets. “And military age is really open to interpretation,” said Jonathan. “It could be from 16 to 60 or even younger…Most of the people that my unit killed were not armed…We had cases when my unit killed a lot of people, and we didn’t check if they had uniforms or weapons.” They often couldn’t tell who they were fighting: figures scuttling through the rubble hundreds of metres away could be anyone. Someone on guard duty “sees someone, shoots him, kills him, and now there’s a dead person—we wouldn’t know what his story was or what he did.” Other testifiers talked about the “dog line”, an invisible boundary around a position. Any Palestinian who crossed it would be shot; dogs gathered along it to eat the corpses.”
The farce of Israel’s ‘liberal’ investigative journalism (Sebastian Ben Daniel (John Brown)//+972 Magazine 5/22/26)
“A recent exposé on the killing of three hostages by Israeli soldiers highlights how even critical news programs form part of an architecture of public denial.”
Israel Conditioning Gaza’s Survival on Hamas’ Disarmament Is Collective Punishment (Tania Hary//Haaretz 5/25/26)
“Conditioning Gaza’s rebuilding on Hamas disarmament isn’t realpolitik; it’s a moral failure, and the international community is complicit. More than seven months into what can hardly be called a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas, not a single home in the Strip has been rebuilt. Over two million Palestinians are now concentrated into less than half the territory, hardly surviving amid more than 61 million tons of rubble where their homes, schools, hospitals, businesses and roads once stood…According to Nickolay Mladenov, the envoy overseeing U.S. President Donald Trump’s Board of Peace, and many others, the reason for all this is straightforward: Hamas has not yet agreed to disarmament…The conditioning of reconstruction on disarmament perpetuates the same collective punishment that has characterized Israel’s war on Gaza since October 7. It treats the rebuilding of civilian life, of Gaza’s homes, hospitals, water and sanitation systems, as a reward rather than an obligation owed to a civilian population that has endured more than two years of catastrophic destruction. Israel, as the occupying power in Gaza, bears legal and moral responsibility for the welfare of the population under international humanitarian law.”