Urgent health update: Consequences of war on Gaza, the West Bank/East Jerusalem, and Lebanon - August 8, 2026

‍In Gaza, the humanitarian situation remains critical amid intense military activity causing civilian casualties, hitting health & education infrastructure, overall structural damage continues to rise. ‍ ‍

In the West Bank, operations by Israeli military, settler attacks, demolitions, & movement restrictions continue to drive displacement, undermine livelihoods, & restrict access to services. ‍ ‍

Across Palestine, civilians also face disruptions to health care, education, water supply, & food. Humanitarian partners struggle to deliver assistance despite growing insecurity, movement restrictions, & funding constraints. ‍ ‍

ACTION ALERT‍ ‍

PLEASE JOIN US BY SIGNING THIS LETTER OF SUPPORT  FOR MOHSEN MAHDAWI. From Not In Our Name‍ ‍

[Watch Mohsen Mawdawi on Democracy Now!] ‍ ‍

The letter will be submitted as part of Mahdawi's legal fight to remain in the US and for free speech.‍ ‍

United Nations‍ ‍

7/27: UN entities & NGOs decried Israeli incursions into Kalandia training center in East Jerusalem, second incursion in less than a month into UNRWAs oldest vocational training center. UNRWA‍ ‍

Reports & Essays‍ ‍

On Gaza:‍ ‍

·       A new report has warned that Israel’s ongoing genocide in the Gaza Strip is inflicting catastrophic harm on pregnant women, breastfeeding mothers, and newborns, leaving pregnancy increasingly dependent on “luck rather than care.” Published by the UK-based Palestinian Return Centre (PRC), the report, Pregnancy Under Fire: Reproductive Violence and the Destruction of Maternal Life in Gaza, draws on data from UN a gencies and international humanitarian and medical organizations to document what it describes as the systematic destruction of maternal healthcare in the besieged enclave. According to the report, the consequences of the genocide will extend far beyond the current military assault, with malnutrition, forced displacement, and psychological trauma likely to shape the health and development of an entire generation of Palestinian children. (Palestine Chronicle)

·       Genocide scholar Omer Bartov has a powerful piece in the NYT about how: “If the plans that are being elaborated for Gaza go forward, genocide may come to be seen by some nations as the legitimate and lucrative extension of politics by other means.” New York Times

‍·       Statistics collected by the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights’ (PCHR) researchers indicate that the bombardment and destruction of homes have become a daily pattern, targeting entire residential blocks. Palestinian Center for Human Rights

‍·       Amid tight Israeli restrictions, new remote research is starting to make visible the scale of toxic fallout across the Gaza Strip. New York Review of Books

‍‍‍On Israeli prisons:‍ ‍

·       UN Human Rights Office in the OPT has documented what it describes as a systematic pattern of torture, starvation, sexual violence, and degrading treatment against Palestinians held in Israeli detention, publishing the first installment of a new series reconstructing “a day in the life of a Palestinian in Israeli detention.” Drawing on dozens of testimonies from released detainees, the UN says the accounts reveal remarkably consistent patterns of abuse across multiple Israeli detention facilities, indicating that torture and ill-treatment have become “widespread and systematic” since October 2023. (Palestine Chronicle 7/26)‍ ‍

·       “Hussam Abu Safiya: The Medical community cannot remain passive as a senior paediatrician is left to die in an Israeli prison.”British Medical Journal

·       BMJ Rapid Response: Gaza: Imprisoned Palestinian paediatrician’s health deteriorates—“They brought me here to kill me” British Medical Journal ‍ ‍

On West Bank:‍ ‍

·       Overview and analysis of settler takeover and annexation of West Bank Al Shabaka ‍ ‍

Palantir‍ ‍

·       In a mini-documentary, the Financial Times examines Palantir which openly supports Israel’s genocide in Gaza. It also helps ICE target people for deportation. The company’s AI software centralizes vast amounts of personal data so that governments can track and surveil people. “People should be able to live free of state surveillance and state violence,” says AFSC’s Kenny Morris. “One company should not be sitting at the nexus of all of this different personal information that we have.” AFSC is part of a global movement pushing back. Watch the video.(Financial Times) ‍ ‍

·       Two data analytics employees at Mass General Brigham were gobsmacked by what the organization’s chief information and digital officer told hundreds of IT workers at a 7/23 staff meeting that was also streamed: The state’s biggest health care system was considering hiring Palantir for artificial intelligence services. The blowback was swift. Boston Globe

GAZA

As of 8/5/26: 73,381fatalities, 174,231 injuries reported‍ ‍

596 aid workers killed (UN, NGOs, PRCS, ICRS)‍ ‍

July: 150 fatalities, highest monthly death toll since beginning of year‍ ‍

Since “ceasefire” 10/10/25, 1,254 killed, 4,121 injured, 804 retrieved from rubble‍ ‍

For more info: OCHAOPT

‍Israeli attacks‍ ‍

·       7/27-8/3: Daily air attacks, shelling gunfire, naval fire, mostly west of the the “Yellow Line” where the entire population is concentrated. Recent airstrikes resulted in civilian casualties, damage to critical medical supplies, & civilian infrastructure.  ‍ ‍

Examples: ‍ ‍

8/2 strike in the vicinity of Al Aqsa Hospital in Deir al Balah, ‍ ‍

8/3 forces demolished homes & last remaining school, ‍ ‍

8/4 6th grader hit by bullet‍ ‍

·       Meanwhile: The Israeli forces, along with Israeli civilian contractors, are conducting a wide and organized operation to process and clear the rubble from neighborhoods and facilities they have destroyed in the Gaza Strip and relocate it from areas under their military control to outside the Strip. This is occurring without any official record of the quantities removed or independent oversight, and before international and local investigative committees have had the chance to survey, examine, and document the sites. This risks destroying crucial evidence of genocide and the remains of victims still unaccounted for under the rubble. Euro-Med Monitor ‍ ‍

Mines

·       Explosive ordinance is widespread & significant. Since 10/2023, 3,199 missions across Gaza to identify & mark explosive hazards, informing civilians about risk. But they lack authorization to move or safely dispose of these hazardous materials. ‍ ‍

·       Since 10/2023, 274 people have been killed & 1,134 injured in 580 incidents. All identified survivors referred from medical care, rehab, psychosocial support, specialized assistance‍ ‍

Aid‍ ‍

·       In July, humanitarian access coordinated with Israeli authorities: 125 faciliated,17 impeded, 4 denied, 10 withdrawn.‍ ‍

·       In July 55,800 pallets of aid offloaded at Kerem Shalom, (increased from June), 360 trucks at Ashdod‍ ‍

·       But the percentage successfully offloaded declined from 90% the previous 3 weeks to 77%, primarily driven by offloading through Egypt. Of those denied, 94% were returned by Israeli authorities with no reason provided.‍ ‍

·       7/27-8/2: 824 truckloads from the private sector, 28% carried non-essential items at the expense of more critical supplies. ‍ ‍

·       Gaza’s Government Media Office rejected a UN statement accusing Hamas-linked forces of obstructing aid in the Strip, calling it a “false” account of what it says was a routine police operation against smuggling at a World Food Program site in Jabalia, in northern Gaza. (Drop Site 7/14)‍ ‍

Food security‍ ‍

·       6/2-6/16 Nutrition survey:‍ ‍

       1.3% of children acutely malnourished‍ ‍

       12.2% of children suffer from stunting‍ ‍

9.4% of non-pregnant or non-lactating women & 7.2% of pregnant & lactating women had maternal malnutrition‍ ‍

37% of children had diarrhea & 31.9% had fevers in past 2 weeks

‍ 20.4% of infants under 6 months are exclusively breast fed (dramatic drop likely reflecting maternal malnutrition)

‍ 30.3% of infants and young children achieve minimum dietary diversity

75.9% received measles vaccination, 69.8% received vit A supplementation

‍·       67% of population expected to face crisis or worse levels of acute food insecurity 7-12/2026 (OCHAOPT, Drop Site 7/27, Al Jazeera)

‍·       90% will face high levels of food insecurity in absence of humanitarian assistance

‍·       2 meals per day average, 20% consume 1 meal per day

‍·       73% use waste burning to prepare food

·       7.2% of pregnant and breastfeeding women acutely malnourished

·       ~74,200 children 6-59 months and ~24,600 pregnant and breastfeeding women will require nutrition treatment or support between 5/2026 and 4/2027

‍Water sanitation and Hygiene (WASH)

‍·       A makeshift sewage pit collapsed inside a displacement camp in Gaza, flooding tents with wastewater, damaging families’ belongings, and creating serious health risks, according to Gaza journalist Tamer Nahed. (Drop Site 7/24)

‍·       Gaza’s groundwater is becoming too salty and contaminated to drink, [ed note: this has been a problem for a long time but is getting worse] according to the Gaza Ministry of Health. Groundwater now contains an average of 3,588 mg of dissolved salts per liter, more than three times the level generally considered acceptable. 19% of municipal wells are bacterially contaminated and 40% are not effectively chlorinated. Nearly half of reported diseases are now linked to unsafe water and environmental conditions. (Drop Site 7/28)

Health

‍·       31 emergency medical teams working

‍·       7/29-8/4, 194 patients evacuated via Rafah

·       Of 686 hospitals, PHCs, medical points, ambulance centers, emergency centers, mobile clinics: 38 fully functioning, 271 partially functioning

‍·       Medical staff have documented more than 9,300 cases of chickenpox in Gaza in the past two weeks, with a two-year-old dying from complications related to the disease 7/19. (Drop Site 7/20)

‍·       More than 53,000 chickenpox cases have been recorded since the start of the year, the surge is “record-breaking and alarming” and signals a dangerous loss of epidemic control. Severe overcrowding in displacement camps, shortages of clean water, collapsing sanitation, and the breakdown of primary health care due to Israeli attacks on hospitals and restrictions on the entry of medical supplies are accelerating transmission. (Drop Site 7/24)

‍·       Dr. Bassam Zaqout, the director of Palestinian Medical Relief, also pointed to Israel’s refusal to allow sodium bicarbonate, which is necessary for kidney dialysis treatment, into the Strip and noted that anemia rates in Gaza had risen from 20% before the war to 50-60% today. (Drop Site 7/20)

‍·       Gaza recorded 3,958 miscarriages among pregnant women in the first half of 2026, according to Bassam Zaqout, director of Medical Relief in the Strip. Zaqout attributed the unprecedented rise to pregnant women being forced to travel over rough roads in unsafe transport, these same women facing constant terror from Israeli bombardment, being forced to sleep on the ground, and the lack of hot water and hygiene supplies in the Strip. (Drop Site 7/22) more on this topic: Progressive‍ ‍

‍·       Medical officials in Gaza say they are treating a surge in miscarriages, which they link directly to Israel’s genocidal war and blockade. The trend has worsened as Gaza’s health system has collapsed under bombardments and Israeli ground operations with malnutrition and psychological strain cited as key drivers. Dr Yasser Saadeddine, the maternity director at al-Awda Hospital in Deir el-Balah in central Gaza: roughly 70% of pregnancy losses his team treats are linked to the war and blockade. Some attribute the trend to malnutrition or psychological; others suggest exposure to heavy metals from Israeli bombs.  (Al Jazeera 7/31, Al Jazeera, Haaretz)

‍·       Gaza’s Health Ministry warned that an unprecedented shortage of cancer drugs has forced the suspension of chemotherapy protocols for breast, colorectal, gastrointestinal, head and neck cancers, sarcomas, and other tumors. Some life-saving drugs have been completely depleted, the ministry said, amid continued Israeli restrictions on the entry of aid and medical supplies into Gaza. Of Gaza’s 11,000 cancer patients, 4,000 have referrals for treatment abroad but remain waiting for Israeli approval to leave. (Drop Site 7/22 PCHR)

‍·       An attack near Al-Aqsa Martyrs hospital in Deir Al-Balah destroyed two central medicine warehouses, including critical equipment for kidney dialysis, and nearby tents sheltering displaced families. One resident asked, “What did we do to deserve this?” (Drop Site 8/3, Mondoweiss‍ ‍

‍Shelter

‍·       Housing units continued to be destroyed, largest increases in Gaza & North Gaza governates with 381 & 258 additional structures damaged respectively.

WEST BANK/EAST JERUSALEM

‍No casualty and damage updates since 6/30/26. For more info: OCHAOPT

‍Health care

‍·       With schools closed for the summer, child protection partners carried out mental health, psychosocial support, & recreation.

‍·       Education partners supported 303 summer learning camps.

·       Partners addressing GBV continued services through safe spaces for women & girls despite movement restrictions & funding constraints

‍·       Palestinian Authority has reportedly begun providing medical treatment to members of armed groups accused of collaborating with Israel, according to a report published by Quds News Network. The move followed an Israeli decision to refuse treatment for members of the militias in hospitals inside Israel, prompting PA hospitals in the occupied West Bank to receive the wounded and coordinate their medical care. (Palestine Chronicle 7/11)

Access barriers

‍·       An Israeli checkpoint delayed an ambulance carrying a Palestinian woman who was six months pregnant and suffering from heavy bleeding. Soldiers held the ambulance for more than 30 minutes at Nablus, searched the woman despite her condition, and ordered the crew to switch off the vehicle’s engine, shutting down its medical equipment. The woman survived after reaching hospital, but lost her baby. (Drop Site 7/27)

‍Demolitions and displacement

‍·       As of 8/7, in 1 week, demolitions displaced 22 people and affected over 100

·       In Jenin, Tulkarm, & Nur Shams refugee camps, increased movement restrictions from 8/20-9/30, >33,000 displaced refugees unable to return to their homes

·       7/28-8/3: Israeli authorities demolished or forced Palestinians to self-demolish 39 structures in Area C and East Jerusalem for lacking impossible to obtain permits. Many families had pursued legal avenues for years and in Area C some demolitions were carried out despite pending legal proceedings. In East Jerusalem, the family had lived in the building since the 1930s. Following the eviction, settlers affiliated with Ateret Cohanim took over.

Settler attacks & Israeli military operations

‍·       Israeli settlers have begun to escalate their colonization of Palestinian homes and lands in areas of the West Bank under ostensible Palestinian control, setting a dangerous precedent for Israel to completely take over the territory. Mondoweiss

‍·       7/28-8/3: 37 Palestinians injured, 35 settler attacks resulted in casualties, property damage or both

‍·       7/30: in Beita village (Nablus governate) Israeli forces shot and seriously injured 59-year-old man, forces also temporarily overtook homes in Tell & Jalud for military purposes, other search & arrest operations in the area all produced more injuries & disruption

·       Settler attacks continued across the West Bank, particularly in Ramallah, Nablus, & Jerusalem governates resulting in injuries & extensive damage to homes, vehicles, agricultural land, & civilian property. (OCHAOPT, Zeteo 8/1)

‍·       6/21, the Health Work Committees, a prominent Palestinian non-governmental health and development organization operating in the West Bank since 1985, has been subjected to a sweeping arrest campaign Israeli forces. IOF stormed the headquarters of the organization in Ramallah and shut it down under a one-year military closure order, arresting all of the organization’s board members, including its chairperson, Dr. Mazen Rantisi and financial director, Tayseer Abu Sharbak in their homes and on J7/1 arrested other HWC staff after raiding their homes in different parts of the occupied West Bank. Breakthrough News

‍·       7/23, more than 4,200 Israeli settlers, alongside members of the Israeli Knesset, stormed the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in East Jerusalem to mark Tisha B’Av in one of the largest incursions this year. National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir also entered Al-Aqsa under heavy police protection. Ben-Gvir praised the people who took over the site, saying they “felt like owners.” As part of the incursion, Israeli forces restricted Palestinian worshippers’ access to the site, assaulting several. (Drop Site 7/23, Democracy Now 8/5)

‍·       Israeli forces raided Nablus Specialized Hospital and stormed the emergency department. Hospital officials said soldiers tied the hands of doctors and nurses and detained two brothers, including one who was being treated for a gunshot wound sustained during an attack on Tal in the West Bank. (Drop Site 7/24)

Education

‍·       The restrictive planning regime in Area C & East Jerusalem places homes, schools, & other essential structures at risk for demolition, undermining access to basic services and exacerbating displacement pressures on communities.

Water

‍·       A breakdown at the Beit Iba well on7/24 disrupted water to 11 communities across Nablus, Qalqilya, & Jenine governates. Partners & Palestinian Water Authority have initiated and emergency response.

‍LEBANON

‍·       At least 135 healthcare workers in Lebanon have been killed by Israel since 3/2 – many of them in so-called double-tap strikes – according to the Lebanese health ministry. Israel has claimed that ambulances were used to transport weapons for Hezbollah – an allegation that human rights groups such as Amnesty International say is not supported by evidence. (Guardian 8/5)

‍·       Israeli ceasefire violations continued across south Lebanon with shelling, a drone attack, and home demolitions. A coalition representing residents of Lebanese border villages called for urgent action. More than 60 villages remain occupied and that Israel is changing their “geographic, topographic and demographic” character. It urged President Joseph Aoun to halt any negotiations until the “bulldozing, demolitions and burning” stop. Israel Katz, Israeli Minister of Defense said the IOF had applied the “Rafah model” used in Gaza. “I said that Southern Lebanon would become Gaza…We would destroy everything there. And that is what we did.” (Drop Site 7/13)

·       7/18, Lebanese soldier killed and two others wounded in an explosion in southern Lebanon, as Lebanese officials accused Israeli forces of looting and demolishing three schools in areas affected by continued Israeli military operations despite the ceasefire. Lebanese Army Command announced one soldier was killed while an officer and another soldier were injured after a suspicious object exploded near an army vehicle in the town of Mansouri, in the Tyre district. (Palestine Chronicle 7/18)

‍·       7/30-31, Israeli demolitions in southern Lebanon generated seismic waves the equivalent of a 3.8-magnitude earthquake, despite the US-brokered “ceasefire.” (Drop Site 7/31)

‍·       An Israeli strike which killed Lebanese journalist Amal Khalil and injured photojournalist Zeinab Faraj in southern Lebanon in April amounted to a war crime, Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, and Legal Agenda said in separate reports on August 6 that all concluded Israeli forces deliberately and directly targeted the two women despite knowing they were civilians. (Drop Site 8/6)

ISRAEL

‍·       Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said the widespread destruction of the Gaza Strip gave him “a good feeling,” describing the devastation as the outcome of a “deliberate policy,” while unveiling plans to establish three new military-linked settlement outposts in northern Gaza. Katz openly defended the destruction caused by Israel’s ongoing genocide in Gaza and suggested it represented a permanent shift in Israeli strategy. (Palestine Chronicle 7/14)

‍·       Israeli authorities are increasingly preventing Palestinians from returning to the Gaza Strip, including women, children, patients and elderly people, as part of a broader policy aimed at entrenching forced displacement and reshaping the enclave’s demographic reality, according to the Gaza Human Rights Center. Israeli authorities have increasingly relied on unexplained ‘security’ refusals, preventing Palestinians from re-entering their homeland despite obtaining the necessary travel registrations through the Palestinian Embassy in Cairo or authorized coordination companies. (Palestine Chronicle 7/15)

‍·       An Israeli court on 8/2 imposed a temporary injunction freezing a plan by National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir to place crocodiles in moats around Ketziot Prison where Palestinians are held following a petition by the animal rights group Let Animals Live. The petition requested that crocodiles be reclassified as a protected species. (Drop Site 8/3)

‍·       Israeli arms sales broke record for 5th year in row, reaching $19.2 billion in 2025. Defense Ministry says European demand still high despite Gaza war sanctions, exports to Asia nearly double; officials concerned by competition, shekel’s appreciation. Times of Israel ‍ ‍

‍Prisoners

‍·       New testimony from imprisoned Gaza physician Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya has revealed that he remains subjected to repeated beatings, prolonged solitary confinement, and medical neglect inside Israeli detention, prompting renewed calls from human rights organizations for urgent independent intervention. His latest testimony describes worsening conditions inside the underground Rekefet prison, where he says the abuse continued even after his lawyer previously documented allegations of violence. Prison guards assaulted him again shortly after his previous legal visit, after which he was placed in solitary confinement, where he has remained ever since. (Palestine Chronicle 7/16)

‍·       In response to a High Court of Justice petition filed by PHRI seeking the release of the 14 Gazan doctors whom Israel is holding without charge,Israel's government said Dr. Abu Safiya's life was not in danger,and "is under continuous medical supervision, treated by medical personnel according to their professional discretion and at no stage was there any indication of danger to his life." The petition was largely based on an affidavit by Dr. Abu Safiya's lawyer, who said the doctor struggled to breathe and speak during the visit, appeared extremely weak and seemed close to losing consciousness several times. (Haaretz 7/17)

·       More from Dr. Abu Safiya’s son: Zeteo and from UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry (Drop Site 8/5) 

‍·       Israeli prison authorities have intensified the use of rotating solitary confinement against Palestinian women held in Damon Prison, according to the Prisoners’ Media Office, which said the practice forms part of a broader policy of psychological punishment and abuse inside Israeli prisons. The reports come amid mounting concern over conditions faced by Palestinian prisoners and renewed calls for the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to resume regular humanitarian visits. (Palestine Chronicle 7/19)

‍·       7/23, Dr. Murad Al-Qouqa, 47, head of orthopedic and spine surgery at Al-Shifa Medical Complex, has lost roughly 45 kilograms and suffered a serious eye injury affecting his vision since Israeli forces seized him from the hospital. Israeli forces arrested Al-Qouqa on 3/19/24, during their raid on Al-Shifa while he was treating the wounded. Several other medical staff were taken with him. Since then, the center said, he has been subjected to torture and physical and psychological abuse, was denied blood pressure medication, and has a herniated disc and stomach ulcers. He has been denied visits from his lawyers and the Red Cross. (Drop Site 7/24)

‍·       Dr. Mazen Al-Rantisi, nicknamed the “doctor of the poor,” was imprisoned by Israeli forces during a raid on 6/21, and was indicted for chairing a health nonprofit previously outlawed by Israel. Al-Rantisi told a lawyer from the Public Committee Against Torture in Israel that guards force blindfolded prisoners to beat him and other detainees during repeated raids and fired tear gas into their cells. Younger prisoners surround him during the beatings in an effort to shield him. Israel withheld all of his regular prescriptions for his first 10 days at Ofer Prison and continues to deny him one medication. His requests to see a doctor have been ignored, and his lawyer said he has lost significant weight. (Drop Site 8/5)

‍UNITED STATES

‍·       US House of Representatives rejected a measure to eliminate aid to Israel, but almost half of House Democrats supported the move, reflecting a rapid and dramatic shift within the party away from decades of unequivocal support. (NYT 7/15)

·       House of Representatives has passed a $1 trillion bill that includes a provision critics say amounts to integrating the US and Israeli militaries. Human rights groups and lawmakers are sounding the alarm as the bill now advances to the Senate. Mondoweiss

‍·       An administration that has been on a global rampage, perpetrating gross violations of human rights at home and abroad, is now seeking to claim that the international institutions set up to protect human rights (like the International Criminal Court), rather than the US itself, are the real threats to human rights. The Trump administration has publicly announced an illegal campaign to obstruct justice and, to that end, to persecute judges, court personnel, and cooperating witnesses and experts; Marco Rubio has promised pressure on states to withdraw from the ICC. (Mondoweiss 7/16)

‍·       Trump administration is threatening people in the US with up to 20 years in prison for conduct that can include sharing evidence of Israeli crimes with sanctioned International Criminal Court officials or working with Palestinian human rights groups targeted by US restrictions. That is the central claim in a lawsuit filed on 15 July in federal court in Manhattan by Democracy for the Arab World Now (DAWN) and the Taxpayer Alliance Against Genocide (TAAG). The lawsuit asks the court to declare that the sanctions violate the First Amendment rights to freedom of speech and association and exceed the president’s powers under federal law. The plaintiffs also want a court order preventing the government from enforcing the restrictions against their human rights advocacy. Electronic Intifada

‍·       Former Trump campaign manager Brad Parscale has been quietly overseeing an operation posting hundreds of blog posts on behalf of Israel. One article, titled “The Reality Behind Gaza’s ‘Journalists’: Terror Ties, Propaganda, and the Laws of War,” asserts that a majority of journalists in Gaza were linked to terrorist organizations. Another casts doubt on the killing of Hind Rajab, a five-year-old Palestinian girl killed by the Israeli military in 2024. The key intended audience is not even humans. Parscale and his firm, Clock Tower X, created them as part of a $46.5 million contract with the Israeli government to try and influence artificial intelligence-powered chatbots, tools like Claude or ChatGPT. (Drop Site 7/28)

‍·       7amleh (pronounced “Hamleh”), the Arab Center for Social Media Advancement, gathered more than 3,500 documented cases of Meta restricting Palestinian content over the past five years, on platforms including Facebook and Instagram. They gave this phenomenon a name, “platformicide,” describing the deliberate erasure of Palestinian existence and narratives in the digital sphere. The consequences, especially in Gaza, have been life or death. Social media is one of a few avenues for Gazans to document attacks, issue warnings, and communicate information that can determine whether others survive. Yet Meta has repeatedly restricted their accounts, blocked them from live-streaming, and removed footage under policies related to violence or dangerous organizations, even when the material was clearly journalistic. (+972 7/31)

‍·       Abdul El-Sayed, a progressive who won the Democratic nomination for US Senate in Michigan, is a MD and epidemiologist, opposes “unconditional” US military aid to any country, including Israel.“There are Leahy laws against dealing arms to countries who are engaged in human rights abuses, and I don’t want to fund a foreign military that does genocide, apartheid or has taken us to a war we don’t need to fight. …I believe in equal rights to peace, dignity, and self-determination for Jewish Israelis and Palestinians alike.” (Drop Site 8/6)

‍Universities

‍·       Mahmoud Khalil sues Trump administration officials and anti-Palestinian groups for conspiracy to persecute. Center for Constitutional Rights

‍·       A US appeals court overturned a lower court’s 2025 ruling that ordered the Trump administration to release pro-Palestinian advocate Mohsen Mahdawi from immigration detention. Mahdawi was one of several non-citizen students who were placed in deportation proceedings last year after taking part in protests against Israel’s military campaign in Gaza. New Nation Now

‍·       Academic Council of Jewish Voice for Peace condemns Carnegie Mellon University’s decision to curtail student speech, investigate students under the threat of expulsion, and ban these students and campus community members from campus under threat of arrest. here‍ ‍

‍INTERNATIONAL

‍·       Netherlands will ban the import of goods from Israeli settlements starting 9/22. The move is intended to bring the Netherlands' trade policy in line with international law, which considers Israeli settlements in the West Bank illegal. (Haaretz 7/22)

‍·       In interviews, more than 20 people who tried to break an Israeli blockade with the Gaza Flotilla, described beatings, electric shocks and other abuse after being captured. Israel denied the accusations. here

SOURCES

OCHAOPT, Palestine Chronicle, Drop Site, New York Times, Mondoweiss, Haaretz, Break Through News, Financial Times, Zeteo, Haaretz, New York Review of Books, Electronic Intifada, Al Jazeerz, +972, Guardian, British Medical Journal, Democracy Now, Center for Constitutional Rights, PCHR, News Nation Now, The Progressive Magazine, UNRWA, Times of Israel, Euro-Med Monitor, Boston Globe

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