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Category: Palestine

  • The latest figures on the children Israel has killed in Gaza are shocking

    Israel’s war of extermination in Gaza is about to enter its third year, with children remaining the most prominent victims after more than 700 days. According to a report issued by the Government Media Office, which the Canary has seen, the figures reveal the extent of the direct and deliberate targeting of children by the Israeli occupation forces.

    Child victims in Gaza

    Since the outbreak of the aggression, 19,424 children have been killed, equivalent to 30% of the total number of martyrs, including 450 children who were born during the war and killed in it, in addition to 1,009 children who died before reaching their first birthday, in a scene that sums up the tragedy of Palestinian childhood.

    Hunger and deadly cold killing kids

    The causes of death were not limited to bombing, as 134 children died of starvation and malnutrition, while 14 children died of severe cold inside tents, in extremely harsh humanitarian conditions that were repeated throughout two years of war.

    Injuries and medical suffering

    A further 864 children suffered injuries that led to the amputation of limbs as a result of the raids, while 5,200 children are in need of urgent medical evacuation to save their lives, amid the complete collapse of the besieged health sector, which lacks even the most basic resources.

    Orphans and children at risk in Gaza

    The war has left 65,320 orphans, while 40,000 infants face starvation due to a lack of baby formula, and another 650,000 children are at risk of death from malnutrition, reflecting the scale of the humanitarian disaster threatening an entire generation.

    The children of Gaza are caught between death, hunger, and cold. The numbers of victims are not just statistics, but innocent faces and stolen dreams, as the international community is unable to stop these systematic violations.

    Featured image via the Canary

    By Alaa Shamali

    This post was originally published on Canary.

  • Far-right Israelis attack residents in West Bank – pepper spraying a 3-month-old baby

    About 30 armed, far-right colonial Israeli settlers raided the Southern West Bank village of Khallet al-Daba, in Masafer Yatta, on Thursday night, assaulting and injuring Palestinians with sticks, knives, and pepper spray – even attacking a three-month-old baby with it.

    Far-right Israelis on the rampage

    Residents reported that at least 13 Palestinians were wounded, including a three month old baby who was pepper sprayed, two elders, children and women:

    According to WAFA, the Palestinian news agency, residents of Khallet al-Daba again had their homes raided, and were injured by settlers earlier this week:

    Since the start of the genocide in Gaza, in October 2023, settler violence has become systematic in the West Bank. Attacks on Palestinians have reached an all time high, with more than 430 recorded attacks in August alone. The situation has been compounded by Trump’s lifting of sanctions on more than 30 Israeli settler groups and entities, imposed by the Biden administration, soon after he came into office.

    Settlers act with total impunity, and absolutely no accountability, and are protected by the occupation’s army and funded by the Israeli regime. Their actions aim to not only damage Palestinian land and homes, but also to harass, intimidate and terrorise Palestinians, forcing them off their land, so colonial settlements can be built there instead.

    All settlements and settlers are illegal under international law.

    Featured image and additional images/video supplied

    By Charlie Jaay

    This post was originally published on Canary.

  • Brooklyn Activists And Residents Are Banding Together Against Genocide

    Most New Yorkers are not aware that companies contributing to Israel’s genocide in Gaza operate in their backyard. That is, unless they happen to walk, bike, or drive down Flushing Avenue outside the Brooklyn Navy Yard on a Wednesday afternoon, as I did a month ago—in which case, they are absolutely aware.

    The campaign Demilitarize Brooklyn Navy Yard (DBNY) organizes weekly noise demos and pickets, demanding the eviction of two companies from the city-owned industrial park on the East River, where 550 businesses are located. Protestors bang drums, blare airhorns, picket, chalk sidewalks, fold zines, and hand out flyers reading: “MEET YOUR NEIGHBORS, EASY AERIAL & CRYE PRECISION, LOCAL WEAPONS MANUFACTURERS IN OUR BACKYARDS.”

    The post Brooklyn Activists And Residents Are Banding Together Against Genocide appeared first on PopularResistance.Org.

    This post was originally published on PopularResistance.Org.

  • Israeli Arms Maker Shuts Site After Sustained Anti-Genocide Protests

    Israeli arms producer Elbit Systems closed its site in Bristol, UK, after years of protests by Palestine Action, The Guardian reported on 6 September.

    The facility at the Aztec West business park appeared deserted when the daily visited this week, with only a security guard present outside.

    Elbit Systems UK, a subsidiary of Israel’s largest arms manufacturer, has leased the site since 2019 under a contract running until 2029. The company did not comment on the status of the facility.

    The site had been the focus of repeated protests, including one on 1 July, just days before the UK government banned Palestine Action under the 2000 Terrorism Act.

    The post Israeli Arms Maker Shuts Site After Sustained Anti-Genocide Protests appeared first on PopularResistance.Org.

    This post was originally published on PopularResistance.Org.

  • More Than 425 Arrested As Protesters Defy Ban On Palestine Action In London

    More than 425 people have been arrested at the largest demonstration yet opposing the proscription of Palestine Action. Defend Our Juries, who organised the demonstrations, said there were 1,500 sign-holders in Parliament Square on Saturday at a fresh protest in London against the ban. At the previous major demonstration last month, 532 people were arrested for taking part. Participants gathered in Parliament Square by 1pm, many holding signs that read: “I oppose genocide. I support Palestine Action.” At just after 9pm, the Metropolitan police said it had made more than 425 arrests. The Met’s deputy assistant commissioner, Claire Smart, who led the operation, said: “In carrying out their duties today, our officers have been punched, kicked, spat on and had objects thrown at them by protesters.

    The post More Than 425 Arrested As Protesters Defy Ban On Palestine Action In London appeared first on PopularResistance.Org.

    This post was originally published on PopularResistance.Org.

  • How Administrators Failed To Stop The Presses At The University Of Texas

    It would have been easy for the small team of student journalists at the University of Texas Dallas to just crash. Administrators had been throwing obstacles in front of them since October 7. But the students forged a new path. A path riddled with craters, bumps, and sometimes stars. And as for administrators…

    University administrators are not competent. They are career bureaucrats. … They’re not there because they are the best in their field. They’re there because they had good political maneuverings to get into their position. … They’re there because they make the school look good sometimes. So if there is pressure on you, it’s not because they know the law. It’s not because you did something wrong. …They will do their violations and they will move on. You’re just another student to them unless you stand up for yourself. And I think we really show that you can stand up for yourself and be successful.

    The post How Administrators Failed To Stop The Presses At The University Of Texas appeared first on PopularResistance.Org.

    This post was originally published on PopularResistance.Org.

  • Activists Work to Push Companies Complicit in Genocide Out of Brooklyn Navy Yard

    Most New Yorkers are not aware that companies contributing to Israel’s genocide in Gaza operate in their backyard. That is, unless they happen to walk, bike, or drive down Flushing Avenue outside the Brooklyn Navy Yard on a Wednesday afternoon, as I did a month ago — in which case, they are absolutely aware. The campaign Demilitarize Brooklyn Navy Yard (DBNY) organizes weekly noise demos and…

    Source

    This post was originally published on Latest – Truthout.

  • The Real Reason Trump Wants to Reshape the NYC Mayoral Race

    Politics makes strange bedfellows. This is especially true in New York, where Donald Trump seems ready to support almost anyone in an effort to defeat Zohran Mamdani. While Zohran’s opponents include the “Never Trump” Republican Curtis Silwa, the Democratic heir Andrew Cuomo, and the unpopular incumbent Eric Adams, Trump sees all of these candidates as better alternatives. Most obviously, Zohran Mamdani is a committed socialist who will oppose the interests of wealthy businessmen, such as Donald Trump. However, the mainstream media has largely ignored another reason why Trump might desperately want Mamdani to lose: Israel.

    Simply put, Zohran Mamdani is a threat to the Zionist consensus in America. The idea that all US politicians, no matter if you are a MAGA Republican or a progressive Democrat, must swear allegiance to Israel faced little challenge in the US until Israel began slaughtering innocent Palestinian civilians. Now, only 32% of Americans support Israel’s genocidal military actions in Gaza. Nevertheless, the Democratic establishment in New York is so disconnected from the average voter that every Democratic candidate besides Mamdani promised to travel to Israel if they were elected mayor. Mamdani’s message of staying in New York as mayor to work for New Yorkers has attracted broad support. He has even been able to score a 17-point lead with Jewish voters. Mamdani’s success has alarmed the political establishment, which is why figures like Andrew Cuomo and Eric Adams have been promoted as candidates to block his momentum.

    Both Cuomo and Adams are Democrats who have held prominent positions in New York politics, yet neither could secure the endorsement of the Democratic Party. On the one hand, the DOJ says Andrew Cuomo has sexually harassed 13 women, and on the other, Eric Adams is perceived as being too close to Trump. However, Eric Adams is currently polling last, and many, including the President, see him as a spoiler candidate. Because of this, Trump is attempting the “RFK Jr. approach,” i.e., offering Eric Adams a position in his administration in exchange for his withdrawal from the race. Currently, the media has reported that the Trump Administration is considering Adams for the position of Ambassador to Saudi Arabia. While Adams has denied that he is dropping out of the race, RFK Jr. also claimed that he would never drop out and endorse Trump before, eventually, doing just that. The ambassadorship gambit makes sense once you understand what’s really at stake for Trump: the survival of the pro-Israel consensus.

    Donald Trump is afraid. He has recently openly lamented the fact that the Israel lobby has lost its nearly complete control over Congress, and for good reason. Donald Trump has tied his presidency to Israel, and he is now sinking with the ship. From low approval ratings to many in MAGA criticizing his administration’s Epstein cover-up, Donald Trump needs Israel to win and on Israel’s terms. Trump needs to be able to justify his slavish support for Netanyahu to his own supporters and to the public at large. One of the worst disasters for Trump financially and politically would be the rise of an anti-Zionist leftist in America’s biggest city. Mamdani’s substantial prospect of victory lingers as a specter of anti-capitalism and anti-Zionism over many Zionist businessmen with interests in New York City. Two of these individuals happen to be President Trump and Special Envoy Steve Witkoff. While most Americans are aware that Donald Trump has over a billion dollars’ worth of real estate, with much of it located in New York, few are aware that Steve Witkoff, responsible for much of the behind-the-scenes negotiations with the Netanyahu government, also owns millions of dollars’ worth of New York City real estate. For Trump and Witkoff, politics and business are inextricably linked, which is why a Mamdani victory would be seen as a sign of weakness.

    Ultimately, a Mamdani victory would signal to the world (and to Trump’s Zionist backers) that he is unable to control the narrative regarding Israel in his country. Such an outcome is worse than a Democrat or liberal-leaning independent winning the New York mayoralty. It would embolden anti-capitalist and, more dangerously for the establishment, anti-Zionist movements. This would prove that even the wealthiest and most powerful figures cannot dictate outcomes in America’s biggest cities. It would challenge the unspoken rule that American politicians must bow to the interests of Israel over their own constituents. For Trump, for businessmen like Witkoff, and for the political establishment, a Mamdani win would be a warning shot: the old levers of influence no longer work, and the voters, not lobbyists of AIPAC or Big Business, now decide.

    The post The Real Reason Trump Wants to Reshape the NYC Mayoral Race first appeared on Dissident Voice.

    This post was originally published on Dissident Voice.

  • “We Will Not Be Silent:” Hearing Stilled Voices of the Gaza Genocide

    In his last minutes of freedom before Israeli Defense Forces arrested him, Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya, clad in a medic’s white coat, walked alone toward two Israeli tanks. His captors awaited him amid the rubble of Gaza’s Kamal Adwan hospital. An artist swiftly created a dramatic poster showing Dr. Safiya striding through the ruins of the hospital he directed. The artist, David Solnit, recently updated the poster’s caption. It now reads:   Free Dr. Abu Safiya   Eight months in prison Dec. 27, 2024 – August 27, 2025.

    Dr. Safiya had already endured agonizing losses at the Kamal Adwan hospital. In late October 2024, an Israeli drone attack killed his son, also a doctor. In a November 2024 attack on the hospital, Dr. Safiya was wounded by shrapnel, but continued working, insisting he would not close the hospital. He witnessed his colleagues being humiliated, beaten, and marched off to prison. By December 27, 2024, when Dr. Safia’s ordeal as a prisoner began, most hospitals in Gaza were non-functional.

    On August 28, 2025, Dr. Safiya’s lawyer, Ghaid Ghanem Qassem, visited him in the Ofer Prison. She reports he has lost one-third of his body weight. While imprisoned in the Sde Teiman military Detention Center, located in an Israeli military base in the Negev desert, he showed signs of torture. Subjected to beating with electric shocks and batons, he sustained blows that may also cause him to lose his right eye. Yet his message remains intact:

    “I entered in the name of humanity, and I will leave in the name of humanity… We will remain on our land and continue to provide healthcare services to the people, God willing, even from a tent.”

    Regimes conducting a genocide have more than one reason to eliminate brave professionals attempting, life by precious life, to undo their inhuman work: doctors not only seek to slow down the dying, but they, like the journalists the Israeli regime so frantically targets, are specially positioned and specially qualified to accurately report on the intensity and nature of Israel’s extermination campaign. Silencing the citizens most capable of reporting on genocidal savagery is a key objective of genocide.

    In one of the most egregious efforts to eliminate a key eyewitness, Israeli naval forces, on May 9, 2025, killed twelve-year-old Mohammed Saeed al-Bardawil, who, as a passerby alongside his father, had witnessed Israel’s March 23rd pre-dawn execution of 15 unarmed emergency rescue workers. The murdered paramedics had driven their clearly marked ambulances to a spot where they intended to retrieve victims of an earlier attack. The bullets that killed them were fired over six minutes as Israeli soldiers advanced to shoot directly into the survivors’ heads and torsos, afterwards using earth-moving equipment to bury their corpses and vehicles. On that day, Mohammed and his father were detained and made to lie face down near a burning ambulance. He is listed as a source in a well-documented NYT video on the massacre, dated May 2nd. Eleven days later, an Israeli gunboat fired on his father’s fishing boat, killing Muhammed in his father’s presence off the coast of Gaza’s southern Rafah governate.

    It was less than two weeks ago, on August 25th, that Israel killed Reuters camera operator Hussam Al Masri and nineteen others, four of them also journalists, in a series of double-tap precision-guided aerial attacks on buildings and a stairway of the Al Nasser Hospital. Al Masri was easily targetable as he broadcast a live video feed from a Reuters outpost on a top floor of the hospital. Describing the second wave of the attack,  Jonathan Cook writes:  “And when Israel struck 10 minutes later with two coordinated missiles, it knew that the main victims would be the emergency workers who went to rescue survivors from the first strike and journalists — al-Masri’s friends—who were nearby and rushed to the scene … Nothing was a “mishap.” It was planned down to the minutest detail.”

    Snipers and weaponized drone operators routinely kill Palestinians who courageously continue to don bulletproof press jackets, set up cameras, and report on Israel’s atrocities. Israel refuses entry to foreign journalists, and when brave, grieving, impassioned young Palestinians insist on carefully documenting their people’s agony for Western news outlets, Israel carefully targets them using the traceable phone and broadcasting equipment necessary to their work, before posthumously branding them Hamas operatives. Craven Western officials watch from within Israel’s patron states, discounting brown lives on whatever flimsy pretexts white authorities offer them. Almost daily, new faces appear in an assemblage of photos showing hundreds of journalists Israel has killed.

    Health care workers and journalists who are still alive do their work amid struggles to prevent their families, their colleagues, their neighbors, and, of course, themselves from deaths not just by direct massacre but by militarily imposed starvation and its handmaiden, epidemic disease. Surgeons speak of being too weak to stand throughout an operation. Reporters document their own starvation.

    Palestinians long for protection, but even the prospect of UN-mandated protective forces carries terrifying possibilities. What if “peacekeepers” assigned to monitor Palestinians collect data that the Israelis will use to control them? Weaponized “stabilizing forces,” equipped with U.S. surveillance technology, could be used to target, imprison, assassinate, and starve even more Palestinians.

    In the summer of 1942, in Munich, Germany, five students and one professor summoned astonishing courage to defy a genocidal regime to which we, reluctantly, have to look if we want to find a racist cruelty comparable to that currently seizing not just Israel’s leadership but, in poll after poll, strong majorities of its non-native population. The students’ collective, called The White Rose, distributed leaflets denouncing Nazi atrocities. “We will not be silent” was the final line of each leaflet. Hans Scholl, age 24, and his sister, Sophie Scholl, age 21, hand-delivered the leaflets to their university campus in February 1943. The Gestapo arrested them after a janitor spotted them disseminating the leaflets. Four days later, Hans and Sophie, as well as their colleague Christopher Probst, were executed by guillotine.

    With Israel’s nuclear arsenal capable of out-killing the Nazi regime over the course of a few minutes, and in the process inciting humanity’s final war; and with its leadership and populace radicalized through decades of fascist impunity to the point of endorsing not just a genocide but multiple, preemptive military strikes upon most of its neighbors at once, we may well be arriving at the moment when, as a result of our having let Israel assassinate, with impunity, the reporters of its crimes, there will be no-one in the outside world left to receive reports.

    The silence we allow ourselves today may soon be involuntary and absolute. Let us summon up a fraction of Dr. Safiya’s, of young Mohammad’s, of Sophie Scholl’s, and Hussam al-Masri’s courage and speak while we can.

    The post “We Will Not Be Silent:” Hearing Stilled Voices of the Gaza Genocide first appeared on Dissident Voice.

    This post was originally published on Dissident Voice.

  • The US just sanctioned three leading Palestinian human rights NGOs over ICC support

    On 4 September 2025, the United States Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) announced sanctions against three of the most prominent Palestinian human rights organizations: Al Haq, Al Mezan Centre for Human Rights, and the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR).

    They were added to OFAC’s Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons List, a significant economic tool that freezes all assets the groups may have within US jurisdiction and prohibits US persons and organisations from engaging with them financially or otherwise.

    This move marks a harsh escalation in Washington’s campaign against Palestinian civil society actors who cooperate with international justice mechanisms, especially the International Criminal Court (ICC).

    It also shows the US administration is not only complicit in Israel’s war crimes by providing weapons, but also by providing the political and legal cover for these practices.

    An assault on human rights and global justice

    Amnesty International told the Canary that:

    The Trump administration’s decision to impose sanctions against these three human rights organisations is a ‘deeply troubling and shameful assault on human rights and the global pursuit of justice’, and starkly exposes his administration’s ‘deliberate efforts to dismantle the very foundation of international justice and shield Israel from accountability for its crimes.

    Erika Guevara-Rosas is Amnesty International’s Senior Director for Research, Advocacy, Policy and Campaigns. She told us:

    These organisations carry out vital and courageous work, meticulously documenting human rights violations under the most horrifying conditions. They have steadfastly continued to do so in the face of war, genocide, and the oppressive reality of Israel’s apartheid regime, as well as malicious attempts to discredit their findings and cripple their funding with spurious terrorism accusations. They are the voice of Palestinian victims, amplifying stories of human suffering and injustice that would otherwise remain unheard.

    Their work is indispensable for achieving justice and accountability for decades of atrocities in the Occupied Palestinian Territory and Israel. This appalling move constitutes a brazen attack on the entire Palestinian human rights movement, and a callous attempt to fracture and weaken the whole global human rights community.

    It seeks to deny victims of human rights violations and atrocity crimes any prospect for truth, justice and reparations. The international community stands at a critical juncture. The very institutions founded to safeguard human rights and uphold international law, including the International Criminal Court, are grappling with existential threats.

    Amnesty International expresses its solidarity and support to these organisations and calls on the global human rights movement to push back against this despicable decision.  States must unequivocally oppose this flagrant assault on Palestinian civil society organisations and the communities they represent, for the sake of our shared humanity and the future of human rights worldwide.

    Sanctioned for seeking accountability for war crimes

    The United States – together with Israel – has repeatedly rejected the jurisdiction and legitimacy of the ICC, arguing strongly against investigations targeting its nationals or allies, as both countries are not parties to the Rome Statute.

    It has justified the sanctions by accusing these NGOs, which are based in Ramallah and Gaza, of being involved in the ICC investigations into Israeli war crimes in Gaza, which have issued arrest warrants, in 2024, for Netanyahu, and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant over their conduct in the genocide in Gaza, saying that each bears criminal responsibility for the war crime of starvation as a method of warfare, and the crimes against humanity of murder, persecution, and other inhumane acts.

    The ICC also found reasonable grounds to believe both Netanyahu and Gallant bear criminal responsibility for the war crime of intentionally directing an attack against the civilian population.

    Executive Order 14203, signed in February 2025, allows authorization of these sanctions blocking assets and visa restrictions on those supporting ICC investigations against US or allied nationals – such as Israel – without their consent, and enables the targeting of not only ICC officials but also those who ‘support or facilitate’ ICC activities deemed detrimental to US foreign policy, largely in response to the ICC arrest warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant.

    Al Haq, Al Mezan, and Palestinian Centre for Human Rights are not the only ones

    This has allowed Trump, since February, to sanction the International Criminal Court (ICC), ICC Chief Prosecutor Karim Khan, and four ICC personnel involved in investigations or arrest warrants targeting US or Israeli nationals: Judges Kimberly Prost (Canada), Nicolas Guillou (France), and prosecutors Nazhat Shameem Khan (Fiji) and Mame Mandiaye Niang (Senegal).

    The designation of Al Haq, Al Mezan, and PCHR reflects a new level of pressure, expanding beyond ICC judges and prosecutors to civil society organizations.

    According to OFAC’s own announcement, these Palestinian rights groups were designated for their ‘direct engagement with and support for the ICC to investigate, arrest, detain, or prosecute nationals of the United States or Israel without the consent of those governments’. This implies that their activities—ranging from expert legal advocacy, submission of evidence, and cooperation with international investigations—constitute ‘material support’ to what the US regards as illegitimate international judicial proceedings.

    Al Haq, established in 1979 in Ramallah, in the occupied West Bank, has gained international recognition for its work on monitoring human rights atrocities under occupation.

    Al Mezan likewise, founded in Gaza in 1999, has produced detailed reports documenting abuses and human rights violations. PCHR, founded in 1995, has provided legal assistance, documentation, and coordinated with international human rights and legal bodies.

    Together, these organizations have been instrumental in advocating for accountability, participating actively in ICC communications, and working to bring purported breaches of international law before global judicial forums.

    Sanctions: ‘cowardly, immoral, illegal and undemocratic’

    The applied sanctions restrict all financial and operational capabilities connected to these bodies within the reach of US law. Assets held or controlled in the US are immediately frozen, and US citizens and companies are barred from providing any goods, services, or financial support without explicit exemption by OFAC.

    Although these are US sanctions, their extraterritorial effects are often robust because the global financial system is heavily interlinked with US regulatory frameworks. Many international banks, donors, and funding agencies comply with OFAC to avoid secondary sanctions, resulting in an effective global embargo for the organisations on essential funding and partnership mechanisms.

    The ICC described the sanctions as intimidation tactics designed to undermine international justice. In a joint statement, the three NGOs condemned the sanctions as ‘cowardly, immoral, illegal, and undemocratic’, asserting that the designations aim to silence those documenting oppression and abuses against Palestinians.

    The statement said:

    These measures in times of live genocide against our People, is a cowardly, immoral, illegal and undemocratic act..Only states with complete disregard to international law and our shared humanity can take such heinous measures against human rights organisations working to end a genocide.

    US Secretary of State Marco Rubio argues that the sanctions are necessary to preserve US sovereignty and safeguard troops and allies, notably Israel, from what they see as an ‘illegitimate’ and politically motivated judicial overreach. Washington maintains that international courts, including the ICC, must not be allowed to assert authority over non-member states’ personnel without explicit consent – a position underpinned legally by Executive Order 14203.

    The US will undermine international humanitarian law and accountability for the occupations many human rights abuses

    The sanctions against these three Palestinian NGOs come three months after the US sanctioned Addameer – a Palestinian prisoner support organisation – amid a broader US crackdown targeting entities and persons alleged to support what the US and Israel deem terrorist organisations. The US has also sanctioned UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, Francesca Albanese, because of their efforts to advocate for accountability for crimes committed against Palestinians.

    At the same time, the US government announced that it has lifted sanctions previously imposed on Israeli settler groups accused of perpetrating violence in the West Bank, further solidifying the US-Israel alliance and highlighting the starkly divergent approaches to groups on opposing sides of the conflict.

    For the affected Palestinian NGOs, these sanctions jeopardize decades of painstaking work.

    Their documentation of human rights abuses underpins numerous UN inquiries, international legal processes, and advocacy campaigns. Their fieldwork frequently exposes violations of international humanitarian law, providing critical evidence and testimonies that otherwise might remain unrecorded.

    As Israel’s genocide continues in Gaza, and the occupation’s violence and land theft continue at an unprecedented rate in the West Bank, the elimination or severe curtailment of these NGOs’ ability to operate risks creating a vacuum in accountability and humanitarian response precisely when it is most needed.

    The OFAC sanctions against Al Haq, Al Mezan, and PCHR underscore an urgent and deepening rift across international justice, human rights, and geopolitics. While the United States frames these measures as defence of sovereignty and protection of its allies, the designations threaten to undermine vital instruments of accountability for grave human rights abuses.

    Featured image via the Canary

    By Charlie Jaay

    This post was originally published on Canary.

  • Israel is now holding over 11,000 Palestinians prisoner

    Yesterday, Friday 5 September, marked 700 days of the Israel’s genocide in Gaza and, to mark this day, the Ramallah-based Palestinian Prisoner’s Society issued a briefing, highlighting the key facts and figures surrounding the issue of Palestinian political prisoners in the occupied West Bank and Jerusalem, where the total number of arrests recorded has exceeded 19,000. This includes those who remain in detention as well as those who were later released. As of 5 September, there are 11,100 political detainees in Israeli occupation prisons, which does not include arrests in Gaza, estimated to be in the thousands.

    Israel holding huge numbers of Palestinians

    Women: The total number of arrests recorded among women since the beginning of the genocide has exceeded 585 cases. As of September 5, the number is 49. This figure does not include women arrested directly from Gaza, who are estimated to be in the dozens.

    Children: The number of arrests recorded among children in the occupied West Bank is no less than 1550. There are currently 400 children in Israeli prisons.

    Martyred detainees: 77 Palestinian prisoners have been killed in the Israeli occupation’s custody since the start of the genocide. This figure includes only those who have been identified, with dozens of others killed and subject to enforced disappearances, particularly from Gaza. Among the 77 killed are 46 people who were arrested from Gaza.

    The bodies of 74 of the 77 identified martyred prisoners are still held by the occupation. They are among a total of 85 identified martyred prisoners whose bodies are withheld by the occupation.

    Administrative detainees: There are currently 3577 Palestinian who are in prison under administrative detention in the West Bank, meaning they are held indefinitely, without trial or charge.

    Since the start of the genocide, there has been no clear estimate of the number of Palestinians arrested in Gaza and held in the occupation’s prisons and military camps. The only available figure is that which has been declared by the Israeli prison administration, which classifies 2662 detainees as ‘unlawful combatants’, all of whom are held without trial or charge. Human rights institutions have been unable to document the total number of arrests from Gaza, due to the crime of enforced disappearance imposed by the occupation. Their number is estimated to be in the thousands.

    Featured image via the Canary

    By Charlie Jaay

    This post was originally published on Canary.

  • 700 days of war in Gaza: resilience, pain, exhausted humanity, and life on the brink of survival

    700 hundred days of Israel’s war on Gaza have left deep scars on people and daily life. Amidst destruction, fear, and hunger, residents struggle to survive as their suffering grows and each day becomes more cruel. This report highlights the most prominent features of life under war, from stolen childhoods to human resilience amid the rubble.

    700 days of war… Life hanging on the edge of survival

    People live as if they are on a thin thread separating them from death. There is no certainty about tomorrow, no safety at night or during the day, only a heavy wait that consumes souls.

    700 days of war… Childhood withers at the threshold of the tent

    Gaza’s children have lost their joy, and the tent has become their home, school, and playground. Their games have turned into long silences and broken dreams.

    700 days of war between delayed death and delayed life

    People are stuck between bombardment and dreams of a delayed life. Time has stopped here; death is not complete, and life is not lived as it should be.

    700 days of war… and the pain grows as much as the children grow without childhood

    The children of Gaza are growing up quickly because of the war, sleeping to the sound of explosions and carrying the burden of displacement instead of playing. The pain in their hearts grows as their bodies grow.

    700 days of war… and the people of Gaza are judged simply for wanting to live.

    The right to life has become a crime. People are besieged for seeking sustenance and condemned for wanting to survive, in 700 days of continuous suffering.

    700 days of war… and the wound is deeper than words can describe.

    Words are powerless to describe the pain, for the wound is too great to be told and too heavy to be borne. There are wounds that cannot be seen, but they bleed in silence.

    700 days of war… and the survivors are alive with exhausted bodies.

    The survivors are weighed down by hunger, fear, and memories of loss. Survival here does not mean safety, but living on the edge of hope.

    700 days of war… and bread is a never-ending battle

    A loaf of bread has become a daily battle under siege and bombardment, as if hunger has become a weapon that haunts people every day.

    700 days of war… and homes are turning into silent graves

    Homes have become ruins that tell stories of endless loss, their walls bearing the silence of the dead and memories of loss.

    700 days of war… and hunger besieges empty tables

    The tables are empty and food is hard to come by, and hunger has become a daily battle for all children, women, and men.

    700 days of war… and children’s dreams are buried under the rubble

    Dreams have become stones weighing down their shoulders. Every explosion destroys a part of the future, and every day buries more childhood hopes.

    700 days of war… and the sky is filled with the smoke of death

    The sky is no longer blue, but gray with smoke and airstrikes. Every cloud carries a story of fear, and every breeze carries the smell of ashes.

    700 days of war… and the world watches in suspicious silence

    Despite the ongoing suffering, the world remains a spectator. International silence has become part of the siege and the pain.

    700 days of war… and schools with no students

    Schools are empty of life. The desks are empty, the books are covered in dust, and children are hiding from death instead of studying.

    700 days of war… and the night is a mirror of constant terror

    The night is a continuation of the horror, the sounds of explosions replace the silence, and the stars disappear behind clouds of smoke.

    Featured image via the Canary

    By Alaa Shamali

    This post was originally published on Canary.

  • The new Israeli map proposing to annex 80% of the West Bank, explained

    This story originally appeared in Mondoweiss on Sept. 04, 2025. It is shared here with permission.

    More than 80 percent of the occupied West Bank would become part of Israel, according to a new annexation proposal drafted by Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich on Monday. 

    The hardline Minister presented a map showing all of the West Bank as a part of Israel, including Bethlehem, the Jordan Valley, and the entire Palestinian countryside, while only six Palestinian cities — Jenin, Tulkarem, Nablus, Jericho, Ramallah, and Hebron — were marked as isolated ghettoes. Smotrich said that if the Palestinian Authority (PA) opposes his plan, Israel would “uproot it like it did with Hamas.” Smotrich also called on Netanyahu to implement his proposal if he wished to “enter history as a great leader.”

    On the same day as Smotrich’s presentation, Israeli forces arrested the mayor of Hebron, Tayseer Abu Sneineh. Hebron is the largest Palestinian city in the West Bank and is home to 800,000 Palestinians. Some 500 messianic Israeli settlers have been imposing their presence in the city’s old town since the 1980s, and Abu Sneineh is known for his role in a Fatah cell that planned and carried out the shooting of six Israeli and Jewish settlers in the city’s old town in 1980, locally known as the “Dabuya Operation.” After his initial arrest, Abu Sneineh was later released in a prisoner swap in 1983 alongside other members of the cell.

    Abu Sneineh’s arrest came days after Israeli media outlets reported that Israel’s Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, was considering the establishment of a tribal “emirate” in Hebron, separate from the Palestinian Authority, which first surfaced in the pages of the Wall Street Journal last July. 

    Local Palestinian media speculated as to whether Abu Sneineh’s arrest was possibly a prelude to removing potential sources of local opposition to annexation, especially given Abu Sneineh’s background and his status as a consequential local nationalist figure in Hebron.

    These events, in addition to a number of other developments in the lead-up to the Smotrich proposal, have catapulted the issue of Israel’s potential annexation of the West Bank to the top of the Israeli government’s agenda, and have left millions of Palestinians in the West Bank unsure of their future.

    The background

    The Israeli cabinet met last Sunday for the second time in two weeks to discuss options for the annexation of parts of the West Bank. It was followed by a meeting between Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar and U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio last week, in which Saar informed Rubio of Israel’s intention to “impose Israeli sovereignty” on the Palestinian territory, according to the Israeli news site, Walla.

    Meanwhile, Israel has been engaging in a show of force against the PA by launching several raids on major West Bank cities that make up Area A under the Oslo Accords, which comprise about 18% of the West Bank and are supposed to be under PA jurisdiction. The Israeli army launched the largest military raid in years on Ramallah last week, occupying the city center of the PA’s de facto capital with hundreds of troops accompanied by Israeli media crews for over three hours. The very next day, the Israeli army launched a similar raid in Nablus, the second most important PA center of power.

    Although Israel claims that its latest moves to annex the West Bank are a response to the announcement by several European states that they intend to recognize Palestine as a state, Israel’s annexation of the West Bank has been years in the making. 

    In 2019, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pledged during his election campaign to annex the Jordan Valley. The first Trump administration allegedly stopped Israel twice, in January and June of 2020, from formally announcing annexation.

    However, the same Trump administration announced its “Deal of the Century” plan in 2020, which included the annexation of most of the West Bank, including all of the Jordan Valley. Trump also recognized Israel’s sovereignty over illegal settlements in the West Bank, the occupied Syrian Golan heights, and over all of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. Palestinians overwhelmingly rejected it.

    Israel’s current plan of annexation is based on Smotrich’s 2015 “decisive plan,” which aims to prevent the establishment of a Palestinian state and expel Palestinians through encouraging so-called “voluntary migration.” Smotrich also said that Palestinians in the West Bank would either submit to Israeli sovreignty, leave the country, or “be dealt with” by Israeli forces. After October 7, Smotrich said that the annexation of the West Bank should be Israel’s response to the Hamas attack. He later said that Israel’s expulsion of half of Gaza’s population would “set a precedent” to do the same in the West Bank.

    Attacking the PA

    Over the past two years, Smotrich has been leading a campaign of financial strangulation against the PA, pirating Palestinian customs money that Israel collects on the PA’s behalf as per the Oslo Accords. Smotrich has also periodically threatened to ban Israeli banks from dealing with Palestinian banks, and in the meantime has compelled Israeli banks to limit the amount of cash that Palestinian banks can transfer to Israeli banks. 

    Both of the above measured have forced the PA into an ongoing financial crisis, unable to pay public functionaries, medics, teachers, and security staff their full monthly salaries for months on end. And if Smotrich goes through with actually banning all financial dealings between Israeli and Palestinian banks, it would spell total financial collapse in the West Bank, threatening the PA’s very existence.

    Weakening the PA to this level is meant to obviate its need for Palestinians and to pave the way for annexation. And Smotrich is just the face of this recent push to isolate and besiege the PA — he is one of many Israeli ministers key to the continuity of Netanyahu’s government, including Itamar Ben-Gvir, Amichai Elyahu, and Orit Strock, all of whom represent the religious right and control the majority in the Israeli Knesset.

    The Knesset has also been laying the legal grounds for the West Bank’s annexation for years. In 2018, the Knesset passed the Israeli Nation State Law, which states that the only right to self-determination between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean sea belongs to the Jewish people. In July of last year, the Knesset passed a bill rejecting the establishment of a Palestinian state anywhere between the river and the sea, and a year later — last July — the Knesset passed a bill enabling the annexation of the West Bank.

    The U.S. role

    The prelude to the official annexation of the Palestinian territory isn’t limited to Israeli measures, but also includes what are so far symbolic U.S. moves underwriting Israel’s intentions. As European states, including France, the UK, and Belgium, announce plans to recognize a Palestinian state during the UN General Assembly later this month, the U.S., for its part, revoked visas for Palestinian officials, including the Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas, set to attend the General Assembly. The move was followed by Washington’s decision to stop issuing visas to any Palestinian passport holders.

    In essence, this means that the U.S. is implicitly supporting Israel’s plans to erase the possibility of a Palestinian state and extending Israel’s control over all Palestinian territories. 

    Although Smotrich’s most recent plan has been described as “maximalist,” the general orientation of Israeli lawmakers, even the “pragmatic” opposition represented by Yair Lapid and Benny Gantz, does not oppose annexation in any meaningful sense. The main differences that do exist between Israelis is not over annexation per se, but over its extent. 

    The less “maximalist” Israeli lawmakers either call for the annexation of all Israeli settlements, the annexation of Area C (which makes up over 60% of the West Bank), or the annexation of the Jordan Valley. But all those versions would deprive Palestinians of any meaningful geographic continuity, control over natural resources and borders, or prospects for future population growth. In essence, the entire Israeli political class is deadset on making a Palestinian state an impossibility. This is the range of political currents the U.S. is picking between to support.

    Ultimately, the U.S. will be the one to decide whether official annexation as a whole will move forward. Axios quoted two unnamed U.S. officials that it was “unlikely” Trump would support such a move. But even if Washington halts the de jure annexation of the West Bank, it will most likely offer an “alternative” that would solidify de facto annexation.

    This post was originally published on The Real News Network.

  • Pro-Palestine Political Prisoners On Hunger Strike Are Dying

    Political prisoner T. Hoxha is dying.

    She is on her 18th day of hunger strike in HMP Peterborough in protest of the prison’s politically-targeted abuses. One of the Filton 24 detained indefinitely under the UK’s “Terrorism Act” while awaiting trial next spring, Hoxha is alleged to have participated in the heroic dismantling of an Elbit Systems weapons factory, causing €1 million in damages.

    Over two weeks into her strike, Hoxha’s loved ones report that her physical and mental health is deteriorating fast, her hair is falling out, her jaw is in pain, and her brain fog is worsening, while the prison neglects her medical care. Supporters on the outside are organizing a call-in campaign to demand the prison administration give her electrolyte sachets and meet her demands.

    The post Pro-Palestine Political Prisoners On Hunger Strike Are Dying appeared first on PopularResistance.Org.

    This post was originally published on PopularResistance.Org.

  • The World Has Failed to Stop Israel. Our Only Choices Now: Leave or Die.

    As the Israeli army launches the first phase of its latest military operation in Gaza City — aimed at fully occupying the area and displacing its roughly 1 million residents to the south — the city has descended into unending hell. Night after night, relentless and terrifying explosions rob us of sleep. Entire neighborhoods are being invaded and demolished, forcing families to flee toward an…

    Source

    This post was originally published on Latest – Truthout.

  • Trump Administration Sanctions 3 Major Palestinian Human Rights Groups

    The U.S. State Department is facing heavy criticism after it announced on Thursday it is imposing sanctions on three major Palestinian human rights groups over their participation in the International Criminal Court’s case (ICC) against top Israeli officials. Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced he’s adding Al-Haq, Al Mezan Center for Human Rights, and the Palestinian Centre for Human…

    Source

    This post was originally published on Latest – Truthout.

  • Washington Sanctions Palestinian Rights Groups For Aiding ICC

    The US has imposed sanctions on three Palestinian human rights organizations that previously petitioned the International Criminal Court (ICC) to investigate Israel for war crimes in Gaza.

    “Today, the Trump Administration is sanctioning three NGOs – Al Haq, Al Mezan, and the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights – for assisting in the ICC’s illegitimate actions against Israel. The United States will continue to protect our own sovereignty and the sovereignty of our allies from the ICC’s overreach,” US Secretary of State Marco Rubio wrote on Thursday evening on X.

    The announcement first appeared as a notice on the US Treasury Department’s website on Thursday.

    In November 2023, the organizations requested that the ICC investigate Israel for war crimes in response to its actions in Gaza, including carrying out airstrikes on heavily populated civilian areas, imposing a complete siege to cut off food, water, and electricity to the civilian population, and causing the mass displacement of residents.

    The post Washington Sanctions Palestinian Rights Groups For Aiding ICC appeared first on PopularResistance.Org.

    This post was originally published on PopularResistance.Org.

  • Jewish Holocaust descendant explains why she’ll risk arrest for Palestine tomorrow

    Many Jewish people in Britain have long been opposing Israel’s genocide in Gaza on a regular basis. They include Carolyn Gelenter – the daughter of a Holocaust survivor. Having witnessed first-hand the increasing police hostility under Keir Starmer’s government against people showing solidarity with Palestine, she firmly opposes the escalating crackdown of recent weeks. And she now plans to risk arrest as part of the protest in London’s Parliament Square on 6 September calling for the government to lift the ban on non-violent direct-action group Palestine Action.

    She explained to the Canary why she plans to take this risk.

    Gelenter: “It is more urgent than ever that Jewish people speak out”

    As the daughter of a Polish Jewish Holocaust Survivor I am proud to work with a core group of older Jewish women of conscience called ‘Jewish Peaceniks UK’ to organise support for Gaza. I am also honoured to stand under the banner ‘Holocaust Survivors and Descendants against the Gaza Genocide’ on the demonstrations for Palestine. We have been asked to stand witness on the 6th of September to the mass arrest of over 1,000 people, willing to get arrested in support of a group of mostly young people, who passionately wished to stop our government’s complicity in the genocide and starvation of the Palestinians in Gaza and the violence throughout the West Bank.

    The arrests of those who are holding up placards against genocide and in support of the proscribed group, are against the rights of democracy and free speech and are made more shocking by the fact that it is happening under the jurisdiction of a Labour government.

    I have decided to do more than stand under the banner and witness. I have chosen to get arrested. Whether others are doing this action or witnessing the arrests in solidarity or marching, it is more urgent than ever that Jewish people speak out about the falsity of the government claim of supporting Israel’s right to defend itself and that criticism of the state is antisemitic.

    Zionism is a political ideology supporting a nation state and has nothing to do with being a Jew. To claim otherwise is in itself a form of antisemitism, objectifying Jewish people as one entity with one belief. What people are doing here today is the true honouring of the memory of those victims of the Holocaust: Jewish, Roma, communists, socialists and trade unionists, the differently abled.

    Israel is far from representing the entire world’s Jewry. It does not act for me. I stand today with humanity for all.

    She is not alone

    In July, the Canary reported on a protest from the Jewish Peaceniks women in Hampstead and Highgate, London. They stood with placards highlighting that the number of children in the area is similar to the number Israel has murdered in Gaza.

    In late August, they repeated the same protest:

    People of conscience from across Britain continue to oppose genocide and the Starmer government’s support for it. And as the action on 6 September will show once again, the voices of peace will not be silenced.

    Featured image via the Canary

    By Ed Sykes

    This post was originally published on Canary.

  • EXPOSED: Google’s £33 million contract to push Israeli propaganda in the UK

    On Wednesday 3 September, investigative journalism site Drop Site published a report on a contract between Israel’s government and Google to amplify propaganda regarding the war on Gaza.

    Documents available on the Israeli Government Procurement Administration’s website detail contracts between the Government Advertising Bureau and Google running to a sum of 150 million new Israeli shekels (ILS). That’s some £33 million in pounds sterling.

    Google and the ‘Am Kalvi’ Israeli propaganda campaign

    These contracts break down into ILS90 million to Google DV360, the company’s campaign management branch, and ISL60 million to YouTube, its subsidiary. The six-month advertising contracts are already half-way through their course. They began back on 17 June 2025, and will expire at the end of the year, on 31 December.

    The adverts are part of the ‘Am Kalvi’ campaign, which ostensibly targets command centers, missile silos and nuclear infrastructure in Iran. However, Google’s own ads transparency page shows that, since 17 June, the tech giant has run 39 Israeli Advertising Bureau adverts on its platforms in the UK alone, the most recent of which focus on trying to discredit reports on Israel’s ongoing genocide in Gaza.

    One advert claims that “Palestinian Hamas fakes the story and media outlets echo it”, accompanied by a picture of Time magazine. Another shows what it claims to be “Real footage of the food scene in Gaza city July 2025”. It includes shots of a busy street food stall, and ends with the message: “There is food in Gaza. Any other claim is a lie”.

    ‘A man-made disaster’

    This claim, of course, is verifiably false.

    The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) recently reported that:

    As of 15 August 2025, Famine (IPC Phase 5)—with reasonable evidence—is confirmed in Gaza Governorate. After 22 months of relentless conflict, over half a million people in the Gaza Strip are facing catastrophic conditions characterised by starvation, destitution and death. Another 1.07 million people (54 percent) are in Emergency (IPC Phase 4), and 396,000 people (20 percent) are in Crisis (IPC Phase 3).

    The ICP also confirmed, in no uncertain terms, that the situation is worsening rapidly:

    Between mid-August and the end of September 2025, conditions are expected to further worsen with Famine projected to expand to Deir al-Balah and Khan Younis. Nearly a third of the population (641,000 people) are expected to face catastrophic conditions (IPC Phase 5), while those in Emergency (IPC Phase 4) will likely rise to 1.14 million (58 percent). Acute malnutrition is projected to continue worsening rapidly.

    Regarding the report, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres said that the famine “is a man-made disaster, a moral indictment – and a failure of humanity itself”. He added that:

    As the occupying power, Israel has unequivocal obligations under international law – including the duty of ensuring food and medical supplies of the population.

    Google – amplifying Israel’s propaganda

    Google’s position in this is not neutral on Israeli matters. It chose to accept money from a government that is actively carrying out the genocide of the Palestinian people. It continually chooses to air blatantly false propaganda about the people of Gaza.

    The internet giant’s ethical commitments are available on its website. It claims that:

    We’re committed to significantly improving the lives of as many people as possible

    The page makes big promises about “responsible data practices”, “responding to crises”, and “helping solve society’s challenges”. Amplifying lies about the famine in Gaza is not responsible. The only way in which is responding to a crisis is to make it worse.

    Seven years ago, Google quietly removed the motto “Don’t be evil” from its code of conduct. Clearly, the company has every intention of doing the opposite.

    Featured image via the Canary

    By Alex/Rose Cocker

    This post was originally published on Canary.

  • The State Of The ‘State Of Palestine’

    United Nations General Assembly sessions, held each September since 51 nations convened in a Methodist church hall in London in 1946, come and go and mostly go without event. The General Assembly is set to begin its 80th session come Sept. 9, and it is difficult to imagine this one will go off uneventfully. To put the point simply, Israel has murdered, starved and terrorized too many Palestinians for this year’s gathering at the Secretariat in Manhattan to conclude without some conclusions. It remains only what these conclusions will be.

    Several weeks ago a group of 15 nations — among them prominent members of the Atlantic alliance — stated their intention to announce their formal declaration of Palestinian statehood at this year’s session.

    The post The State Of The ‘State Of Palestine’ appeared first on PopularResistance.Org.

    This post was originally published on PopularResistance.Org.

  • Brazilian Oil Workers Join Genoa Dock Workers To Defend Global Sumud Flotilla

    Brazil’s National Federation of Oil Workers (FNP) and its various unions are demanding that the government of Brazilian president Lula guarantee the safety of Brazilian activists aboard the flotilla bound for Palestine. The Global Sumud Flotilla, the largest international humanitarian aid mission in history, is attempting to break the illegal blockade imposed by the Israeli government. In a statement, the union declared:

    Palestine is a country recognized by Brazil, and access for Brazilian and other civilians must be guaranteed by the Brazilian government. It is unacceptable that an invading force prevents civilians on a humanitarian mission from reaching Gaza to deliver aid to millions of people exposed to famine due to Israeli policy.

    The post Brazilian Oil Workers Join Genoa Dock Workers To Defend Global Sumud Flotilla appeared first on PopularResistance.Org.

    This post was originally published on PopularResistance.Org.

  • Kathmandu Declaration Of The IADL

    The 19th Congress of the International Association of Democratic Lawyers (IADL) held in Kathmandu on the theme: “The Role of Democratic Lawyers in Promoting and Defending Peoples’ Rights, Peace and International Law in the Face of Fascism, Genocide, Militarization and Wars of Aggression” has been a vibrant forum for lawyers and jurists from around the world to come together in mutual understanding and collective work towards full implementation of the principles of the United Nations Charter.

    Together we reaffirm our commitment to work for a world with peace; without wars, conflicts, oppression or repression, poverty and hunger; and with full respect for justice, equality and human dignity. We reiterate our support for the creation of a just international economic order based on the interest of the whole people and not of the few.

    The post Kathmandu Declaration Of The IADL appeared first on PopularResistance.Org.

    This post was originally published on PopularResistance.Org.

  • Israel’s Smotrich Vows to Annex West Bank: “Maximum Land, Minimum Population”

    Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich vowed that Israel will illegally annex the occupied West Bank in a press conference on Wednesday, touting a chilling principle of “maximum land” with “minimum population.” In a press conference, Smotrich presented a plan for Israel to take control of roughly 82 percent of the occupied West Bank. “Enemies should be fought against…

    Source

    This post was originally published on Latest – Truthout.

  • Nelson Mandela’s Grandson: Israeli Apartheid “Far Worse” Than South Africa’s

    Israel’s apartheid across the occupied Palestinian territories is “far worse” than the apartheid perpetrated by white nationalists for decades in South Africa, Nelson Mandela’s grandson, Mandla Mandela, said in remarks on Wednesday. “Many of us that have visited the occupied territories in Palestine have only come back with one conclusion: that the Palestinians are experiencing a far worse…

    Source

    This post was originally published on Latest – Truthout.

  • This Obscure UN Mechanism Could Spur Concrete Action for Gaza Despite US Veto

    The Trump administration is facing growing criticism for suspending visas for Palestinian passport holders, including for Palestinian officials set to attend the annual U.N. General Assembly this month. When the U.S. denied a visa to Yasser Arafat to address the U.N. in 1988, the General Assembly was moved to Geneva — the U.N. faces similar calls now. The move by the U.S. is “an indication of the…

    Source

    This post was originally published on Latest – Truthout.

  • Gaza Mental Health Professionals Warn of Urgent, Widespread Trauma Crisis

    Recently, I was running down the street, carrying food for my friend in northern Gaza, with a tank speeding behind me like a predatory beast. The ground trembled under the weight of its treads, and my breath quickened in a race I could never win. My legs began to give out, the terror heavier than my ability to keep going. I felt myself surrendering to what I thought was my inevitable fate …

    Source

    This post was originally published on Latest – Truthout.

  • Israeli Forces Only Identify 1 in 4 Palestinians They’re Imprisoning as Fighters

    Israel only identifies roughly a quarter of the thousands of Palestinians from Gaza it’s imprisoning under its combatant law as combatants, a new report of internal military documentation reveals. According to an investigation released Thursday, Israel only identified 1,450 of 6,000 Palestinians in detention under its combatant law as combatants. This means that, even under Israel’s…

    Source

    This post was originally published on Latest – Truthout.

  • Call for ‘blockades’ as Israeli president reportedly heading to the UK

    According to the Guardian, Israeli prime minister Isaac Herzog is coming to the UK on Thursday 11 September. The visit will take place in the run up to the UK recognising Palestinian statehood, leading many to suspect that Herzog is travelling here to turn government ministers off the idea. This has led to significant outrage, with many arguing that Herzog should face arrest for statements he’s made about Israel’s genocide of the Palestinian people.

    “Death, destruction, and starvation”

    The Guardian notes that there was another visit from a senior Israeli politician earlier this year, when foreign secretary David Lammy hosted an “unannounced visit” from his counterpart Gideon Sa’ar. Generally, it’s not seen as a good thing when politicians have to obscure their meetings from the public, and it speaks to the irreparable damage that Israel has done to its reputation. Speaking on this new visit, the Guardian wrote:

    However, any meeting between Herzog and Keir Starmer is likely to be hugely controversial within Labour amid the death, destruction and starvation wreaked by Israel’s war in Gaza. No 10 has not confirmed a meeting between Herzog and the prime minister.

    Downing Street has previously indicated that the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, faces arrest if he travels to the UK after the international criminal court issued an arrest warrant for him over alleged war crimes in Gaza.

    Unlike Netanyahu, the International Criminal Court (ICC) has not issued an arrest warrant against Herzog. Some, however, believe this is a mistake, with Herzog having said the following in October 2023 after Israel began its genocide against the Palestinian people (as reported by Human Rights Watch):

    It is an entire nation out there that is responsible. This rhetoric about civilians not aware, not involved, it’s absolutely not true. They could’ve risen up; they could have fought against that evil regime

    The argument is that Herzog was condoning collective punishment, which is a war crime, as Medicens Sans Frontieres explain:

    International humanitarian law posits that no person may be punished for acts that he or she did not commit. It ensures that the collective punishment of a group of persons for a crime committed by an individual is also forbidden, whether in the case of prisoners of war or of any other individuals (GCIII Art. 87, API Art. 75.2.d, APII Art. 4.2.b). This is one of the fundamental guarantees established by the 1949 Geneva Conventions and their 1977 Additional Protocols. This guarantee is applicable not only to protected persons but to all individuals, no matter what their status or to what category of persons they belong, as defined by the Geneva Conventions (GCIV Art. 33).

    Collective punishment is prohibited, based on the fact that criminal responsibility can be attributed only to individuals. Respect for this principle can be ensured solely by establishing guarantees that protect judicial procedures. This principle must also be monitored in the context of disciplinary sanctions procedures.

    Following Israel’s order for Palestinians to evacuate in 2023, the UN special rapporteur on internally displaced persons said:

    Forcible population transfers constitute a crime against humanity, and collective punishment is prohibited under international humanitarian law…

    It is inconceivable that more than half of Gaza’s population could traverse an active war zone, without devastating humanitarian consequences, particularly while deprived of essential supplies and basic services.

    “The Genocide Party”

    Zarah Sultana led the condemnation of Labour:

    X/Twitter user Saul Staniforth highlighted an example of Herzog defending the indefensible:

    Popular left voices Tom London and Craig Murray called for ‘arrests’ and ‘blockades’:

    Green politician Sian Berry referred to Herzog as an “agent of genocide” – a phrase which could equally be levied against the UK ministers who are providing weapons and support to Israel:

    Journalist Hamza Yusuf noted that Herzog committed the depraved act of signing bombs to be used against the Palestinians:

    Trade unionist Howard Beckett posted a picture of this act when Lammy met Herzog in July 2024:

    Herzog visit: this cannot stand

    Labour are obviously rattled by the public outcry against the genocide; if they weren’t, they wouldn’t be threatening to recognise Palestinian statehood. While recognising statehood is far less important than stopping the flow of money, weapons, and intelligence, it is at least something that Israel loathes the thought of happening, and as such we must step up the pressure until it is done.

    Featured image via The Economic Times

    By Willem Moore

    This post was originally published on Canary.

  • Cancer Is Another Weapon in Israel’s Ever-Increasing Arsenal

    A week after the Hamas attacks on October 7, 2023, a large explosion incinerated a parking lot near the busy Al-Ahli Arab Hospital in Gaza City, killing more than 470 people. It was a horrifying, chaotic scene. Burnt clothing was strewn about, scorched vehicles piled atop one another, and charred buildings surrounded the impact zone. Israel claimed the blast was caused by an errant rocket fired by…

    Source

    This post was originally published on Latest – Truthout.

  • Israel’s use of booby-trapped robots is a clear war crime, Gaza government tells the Canary

    The director general of the Gaza Government Media Office, Ismail al-Thawabta, confirmed to the Canary that Israeli occupation forces have resorted to using explosive robots as a tool for remote killing and destruction, in a serious violation of international humanitarian law. It follows our revelations on 2 September over Israel’s use of them in Gaza City.

    Israel using booby-trapped robots in Gaza

    In statements to the Canary, Thawabteh emphasized that what is happening reflects a clear policy based on the systematic destruction of residential and urban infrastructure in the Gaza Strip.

    Al-Thawabta said that through these practices, the occupation seeks to inflict as much destruction as possible without exposing its soldiers to danger, considering that what is happening constitutes collective punishment of the civilian population and amounts to war crimes and genocide according to the Rome Statute and the Geneva Conventions.

    According to the data presented by Al-Thawabta, the occupation has completely or partially destroyed thousands of residential units in the neighborhoods of Al-Zaytoun, Al-Sabra, Al-Shuja’iya, Al-Tuffah, Jabalia Al-Balad, and Al-Nazla, in operations aimed at wiping out entire neighborhoods and bringing about systematic demographic change.

    He considered this a flagrant violation of Article 53 of the Fourth Geneva Convention, which prohibits the destruction of private property except in cases of extreme military necessity.

    He noted that the toll of the aggression on Gaza City since its inception has reached 1,100 martyrs and more than 6,000 wounded, at a time when the occupation has used more than 100 explosive-laden robots and carried out more than 70 direct airstrikes. He described what is happening in Jabalia and Al-Nuzla as “the crime of the century,” as the occupation continues to destroy what remains of homes without any military justification.

    The ongoing genocide

    On the humanitarian front, Al-Thawabta emphasized that the situation in Gaza has reached a catastrophic stage, with an almost complete lack of food, water, and medicine, and a total collapse of infrastructure and basic services.

    He added that the ongoing displacement has forced tens of thousands of citizens to gather in cramped areas west of the city, amid dangerous health and environmental conditions, the spread of infectious diseases, and a lack of safe shelter.

    Featured image via the Canary

    By Alaa Shamali

    This post was originally published on Canary.