Urgent Health Update: Consequences of war on Gaza, West Bank/East Jerusalem - August 30, 2025

ACTION ITEMS

1. Stop Starving Gaza and Block the Bombs. Join with the US Campaign for Palestinian Rights by calling your genocidal Congresspeople and telling them to change their votes, stop starving Gaza. here

2. JVP HAC webinar: Fast and Slow Genocide: Gaza and the West Bank, 9/7, 1 pm EDT, with Drs. Sara Aly and Mark Perlmutter. This is our first webinar to be available bilingually, in English and Spanish! Please share with your Spanish-speaking compañeros so we can continue this practice. Register: https://zoom.us/meeting/register/uf-w-kLATm-9PsieZztshg#/registration

3. Share JVP’s “explainer” on Project Esther, the Project2025 plan to destroy the movement for Palestine solidarity and liberation in the US. Especially if you are a student, send this to 5 friends so you know more about what you’re up against. here

4. Attend the Doctors Against Genocide 2nd Annual Conference, 9/20-21, U of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Genocide and mass atrocities inflict devastating public health consequences: destruction of healthcare systems, starvation, denial of care, and the resurgence of preventable disease. This conference will bring together medical professionals, academics, advocates, and humanitarian leaders to confront these urgent challenges. Register Now: here

Failure to act will have irreversible consequences

·       8/7, Joyce Msuya, Assistant Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, briefed the UN Security Council regarding the confirmed and expanding famine in Gaza. “Over half a million people currently face starvation, destitution and death. By the end of September, that number could exceed 640,000…Virtually no one in Gaza is untouched by hunger.

·       “At least 132,000 children under the age of 5 are expected to suffer from acute malnutrition between now and mid-2026. The number of those at risk of death among them has now tripled to over 43,000. For pregnant and breastfeeding women, that number is predicted to surge from 17,000 to 55,000. Let us be clear: This famine is not a product of drought or some form of natural disaster. It is a created catastrophe – the result of a conflict that has caused massive civilian death, injury, destruction and forced displacement.” 

·       After enumerating other markers of the emergency, Ms Msuya acknowledged the uptick in aid entering Gaza and resumption of limited commercial traffic, but noted: “These are important developments, but they will neither reverse famine nor stop it in its tracks. To meet the needs of 2.1 million starving and hungry people, we need much, much more…”

·       She reminded the SC that international humanitarian law prohibits the use of starvation of civilians as a method of warfare, forbids attacks on survival essentials (food, water and agricultural infrastructure), demands that military operations spare civilians and humanitarian personnel, and that humanitarian relief be unimpeded. After linking the destruction in Gaza with West Bank military operations, settler violence and discriminatory policies, she demanded the SC and Member States work to ensure an immediate end to humanitarian disaster in Gaza.

See full text here: here

REPORTS

The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights launches 204-page report documenting four acts of genocide allegedly carried out by Israel in Gaza: The genocide in Gaza is unfolding live, broadcast for the world to see, a scene that shames humanity, supported by the US and numerous Western countries that arm Israel with weapons, military equipment, financial assistance, and unwavering political support, making them partners in genocide. The lack of accountability and the impunity enjoyed by Israel have emboldened its blatant disregard for international law. The genocide in Gaza is the bitter harvest and culmination of decades of Western support for Israel’s crimes and impunity. It is long overdue for the international community to step up, take responsibility, and put an end to this brazen violation of international law by the occupying state. here, here

GAZA

Israeli forces continue air, land and sea bombardment of homes, schools and IDP tents, and intensified the offensive against the ~1 million people crowded into northern Gaza, especially Gaza City. Since Israel broke the ceasefire in March, 833,000 people have been displaced, 23,000 last week. They have abandoned the (fictional) daily halt in hostilities for aid distribution. Since 5/27, Israeli targeting (with US mercenary support) of Palestinians seeking food has killed 2,158 and injured 15,843. Famine was officially declared on 8/22 in Gaza governorate, is projected to expand to Deir al Balah and Khan Younis governorates in September. The Israeli strategy of starvation achieved a total of 313 malnutrition deaths (119 children) by 8/27.

·       This week: 475 Palestinians killed, 2,169 injured

·       Since 10/07/2023: 62,895+ killed, 158,927+ injured. 

·       Israeli soldiers in Gaza: 455 killed (1 this week), 2,883 injured (9 this week)

·       Hostages in Gaza: 49

For more information: here

Israeli attacks

·       Ahead of Israel’s planned assault on Gaza City, approximately 1.2 million residents have been ordered to relocate to areas in southern Gaza—many of which are overcrowded, unsafe, or unsuitable for shelter. Humanitarian organizations warn that this mass displacement could trigger a severe humanitarian crisis, as Israel intends to restrict Gaza’s entire population to less than 20% of Gaza’s territory. Moreover, mapping experts emphasized that Israel currently designates several of these areas as unsafe for civilians. Aid groups emphasize that even before the evacuation, residents are already enduring extreme hardship—many have been displaced multiple times and lack the financial, physical, and emotional resources to relocate yet again. here

·       Israel believes Hamas has 40,000 fighters in Gaza, with a substantial portion likely concentrated within Gaza City. Shaiel Ben-Ephraim, an international diplomacy expert specializing in the Arab-Israeli peace process, places the number in the city between 5,000 and 10,000. here

·       8/24, Israel’s assault on Gaza City killed at least 64 Palestinians  including 14 struck while seeking aid, as bombardment and demolitions continued to displace residents to the coast. Tanks closed in on the city center after destroying more than 1,000 buildings since 8/6, while Netanyahu vows to “take control” of Gaza City and Hamas rejects further displacement orders saying that “there is no safe place in any part of the Strip.” (Drop Site 8/25)

·       8/25, Israeli forces hit Nasser Medical Complex (Khan Younis) twice, killing 22: 5 journalists, a Palestinian Civil Defense (PCD) driver, a doctor and 3 medical staff, and injured over 30 people, including a doctor and a nurse, critically ill patients,  2 journalists, a  Red Crescent paramedic, and 7 PCD officers, injured on live news while rescuing victims of the 1st strike. WHO said Israel struck the main hospital building -- the ER, inpatient ward and surgical unit. here, here

·       Journalists Israel killed were Hossam El-Masry, Mohamed Salama, Mariam Abu Daqqa, Moaz Abu Taha, and Ahmed Abu Aziz. An initial strike on the fourth floor of the hospital that killed several people, including journalist Hossam El-Masry, was followed by a second strike minutes later that killed additional journalists, Civil Defense workers, and doctors who had rushed to the scene. Daqqa, 33, was a visual journalist who reported for multiple outlets from Nasser Hospital, including a recent AP story on doctors struggling to save children from starvation. Drop Site

·       US contractors in Gaza reportedly pursued journalist Mohammad Salama, with one of his sources interrogated at a GHF aid center about Salama’s identity and whereabouts days before he was killed at Nasser Hospital. here

·       Israel bombed the fourth-floor hospital staircase because it had Wi-Fi. That staircase was the lifeline between the truth tellers of Khan Younis to the world. (US Campaign for Palestinian Rights Action 8/26)

·       “Double-tap” strikes are designed for maximum killing and specifically aimed at wiping out not just those targeted by the first missile, but those that come to the rescue like medics and those who come to document it like journalists. (Portside/The New Republic 8/27)

·       UN Secretary-General condemned the Nasser strikes: “these latest horrific killings highlight the extreme risks that medical personnel and journalists face as they carry out their vital work amidst this brutal conflict” and called for “a prompt impartial investigation into these killings.”

·       Nasser Hospital in southern Gaza's Khan Yunis is the last functioning hospital in the area, where doctors are trying to treat malnourished and starving Palestinian children and adults. here

·       Palestinian Journalists Syndicate (PJS) stated: since October 2023, 245 journalists have been killed (as have 800+ of their family members), 520 injured, and 39 arrested (22 remain in detention). Israeli airstrikes and tank assaults have destroyed 115 media outlets.

·       8/25,  58 Palestinians were killed and 308 injuries arrived at Gaza hospitals over the previous 24 hours, including 28 killed and 184 injured while seeking aid. An unknown number of victims are still trapped under the rubble, and rescue crews are unable to reach them. The Ministry also reports that 11 more people, including 1 child, have died from malnutrition in the past 24 hours, raising the total of deaths due to famine to 300, including 117 children. Drop Site

·       8/20-26, 35 killed (1 child) and dozens injured in 4 attacks on IDP shelters and homes in Gaza City.

·       8/23-26, 24 killed (10 children, 1 journalist) and others injured in 3 attacks on IDP tents, near Khan Younis. 

·       Attacks on people seeking food: 8/23, 1 killed (a journalist) near Zikim crossing; 8/24, 10 killed and 50 injured awaiting aid near Beit Lahiya.

·       8/23, Palestinian journalist Khaled al-Madhoun, who worked for Palestine TV, killed in a direct Israeli attack while covering events in the Zikim area of northern Gaza. Palestinian Journalists Syndicate said it “mourns with deep sorrow and grief the loss of our colleague, journalist Khaled al-Madhoun.” Al-Madhoun was killed “while fulfilling his professional duty of covering events in the Zikim area in the northern Gaza Strip, following a direct attack by Israeli occupation forces.” (Palestine Chronicle 8/23)

·       8/28, Gaza Civil Defense reported that over 1,500 residential buildings in Al-Zaytoun have been completely destroyed since Israel’s ground operation began on August 6, leaving the area flattened. Spokesman Mahmoud Basal said similar devastation is unfolding in Jabaliya, with the army using heavy machinery, explosives, and drones to accelerate demolition. About 80% of Al-Zaytoun’s residents have been displaced to other parts of Gaza City. (Drop Site 8/28)

·       8/29, Israel announced that it would revoke the previously scheduled daily 10-hour "humanitarian pauses" in Gaza City, [ed note: which never really happened] in preparation for its upcoming military assault intended to seize control of the area. Israel’s labeling of Gaza City as a "dangerous combat zone" stands in direct contrast to last month's pledge to implement daily pauses in hostilities, intended to ensure the safe delivery of humanitarian aid coordinated by the UN. here

Famine 

·       The Israeli strategy of starvation has caused 313 malnutrition deaths (119 children) by 8/27.

·       8/22, the IPC confirmed famine is present in Gaza governorate and is projected to expand to Deir al Balah and Khan Younis governorates. Conditions in North Gaza are believed to be as severe – or worse – than in Gaza, but limited data prevent classification. Rafah, largely depopulated, was not analyzed. Of the 1.98 million people in Gaza, Deir al Balah and Khan Younis governorates, IPC projects that by the end of September: 640,000 people will be in catastrophe (Phase 5), 1.14 million in emergency (Phase 4), and 198,000 in crisis (Phase 3). Through June 2026, 132,000 children <5 will suffer acute malnutrition (double the estimate of May 2025), including 41,000 severe cases (heightened risk of death), up from 14,100 cases estimated in May. Nearly 55,500 malnourished pregnant and breastfeeding women will require urgent nutrition response by mid-2025, triple the estimate of May.

·       Famine Review Committee (FRC) made 2 main recommendations: to “act without delay to put in place an immediate humanitarian response at a large enough scale to prevent further deepening of suffering and avoidable mortality from this entirely man-made catastrophe;” and to “exert maximum pressure to achieve a ceasefire… to allow for restoration of essential, lifesaving services at the scale required” to reverse famine conditions.

·       Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, Tom Fletcher, stated: “It is a famine within a few hundred metres of food, in a fertile land. It is a famine that hits the most vulnerable first. Each with a name, each with a story. That strips people of dignity before it strips them of life. That forces people to risk their lives to seek food. It is a famine that we repeatedly warned of. But that the international media has not been allowed in to cover. To bear witness. … It is a famine on all of our watch. … It is a predictable and a preventable famine.”

·       The FAO, UNICEF, the WFP, and WHO underscored that famine must be stopped, noting “the extreme urgency for an immediate and full-scale humanitarian response given the escalating hunger-related deaths, rapidly worsening levels of acute malnutrition and plummeting levels of food consumption.” They expressed grave concern regarding the military offensive on famine-struck Gaza City, and that aid entering Gaza “remained vastly insufficient, inconsistent and inaccessible compared to the need.” WHO Director-General, Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said: “The world has waited too long, watching tragic and unnecessary deaths mount from this man-made famine. Widespread malnutrition means that even common and usually mild diseases like diarrhea are becoming fatal, especially for children. The health system, run by hungry and exhausted health workers, cannot cope. Gaza must be urgently supplied with food and medicines to save lives and begin the process of reversing malnutrition.”

·       UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk assailed Israel’s responsibility: “It has unlawfully restricted the entry and distribution of humanitarian assistance and other goods necessary for the survival of the civilian population. The Israeli military has destroyed critical civilian infrastructure and almost all agricultural land, banned fishing, and forcibly displaced the population – all drivers of this famine… Israeli authorities must take immediate steps to end the famine in the Gaza governorate and prevent further loss of life across the Gaza strip.”

·       UNFPA noted that famine is “a death sentence for pregnant and breastfeeding women and their newborn,  “For mothers in Gaza, it means being forced to give birth while malnourished, exhausted and at heightened risk of death. It means their babies are born too small, too weak or too early to survive. It means mothers unable to breastfeed because they, too, are starving. And it forces mothers to make the impossible choice between which of their children to feed, and which must be left to perish. 1 in 5 babies are born prematurely or underweight, 1 in 7 newborns need emergency neonatal care. Children who survive will be marked by stunting, developmental delays, weakened immunity, and increased risk of adult chronic disease, ruining the health of Palestinians for generations.

·       Save the Children found 61% of pregnant women and new mothers screened at its 2 clinics in Khan Younis and Deir al Balah in the first half of August were malnourished. Acute malnutrition for children <5 has surged. Confirmed by: here

Health & Hospitals

·       WHO reports Al-Shifa and Al-Ahli hospitals (Gaza City) are operating 300% over capacity, with a constant influx of complex trauma injuries. Al-Ahli, close to displacement areas, risks becoming nonfunctional if not protected. WHO’s Dr. Richard Peeperkorn said Al-Shifa was “one massive trauma ward,” with trauma patients all over the hospital, including floors, stairs and even in the new maternal and child health department. If the Israeli-announced offensive on Gaza City happens, the Gaza Strip would lose half of its hospital bed capacity.

·       WHO reports infectious disease in Gaza is driven by overcrowding, poor WASH conditions, and malnutrition-weakened immunity. Acute respiratory infections and acute watery diarrhea are the most frequently reported conditions, accounting for 58% and 41% of all illnesses reported 8/3-9. Between 8/1-22, 115 cases of meningitis were reported, bringing the total since May to 1,043. Suspected Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS) cases has increased to 94, with 25% requiring ICU treatment and 10 associated deaths reported. GBS treatment remains out of stock.

·       8/27, WHO evacuated 19 patients (18 children) with 62 companions to Jordan. More than 15,800 patients remain in urgent need of evacuation. 

·       According to Dr. Ahmad Al-Farra, Pediatric Department Head at Nasser Medical Complex (Khan Younis), hospitals cannot accommodate the growing number of children suffering from malnutrition. The hospital’s malnutrition clinic, operating 2 days/ week, is receiving 10 times the previous caseload.

·       Nutrition Department Head at Al-Shifa (Gaza City), Dr. Mohammed Kuhail, said that the hospital is treating over 800 cases of malnutrition. 

·       In interview with Al Jazeera, Dr. Munir Alborsh, the director general of the Ministry of Health in Gaza, emphasized that beyond the physical devastation, Israel has launched a psychological war on pregnant women—whose number he estimates to be around 60,000 inside Gaza today. Strategy aims to instill fear among Gazans, while pushing them toward demographic collapse. In fact, the birthrate has plummeted 41% over the past three years. That decline itself is a component of Israel’s genocide against the Palestinian population. (Drop Site 8/25)

Aid

·       8/20-26, of 89 movements coordinated with Israeli authorities, 53 were facilitated (59%), 23 impeded (26%), 7 (8%) denied, and 6 (7%) withdrawn. Denied movements included missions aiming to repair water pipes, roads, and relocate WASH chemical supplies. 

·       While Israeli authorities recently issued limited approvals for the entry of shelter materials, none have yet entered Gaza. 5 partners report that their requests for the entry of shelter items have been rejected at the pre-clearance stage (prior to entry to Israel or the OPT). 1.4 million people desperately require basic emergency shelter – needs which will increase due to ongoing bombardments and Israeli military calls on people in northern Gaza to evacuate southward. 

·       Since 3/2, Israel has been blocking essential foods from reaching Palestinian civilians, including eggs, meat, fish, dairy, fruits, vegetables, and nutritional supplements. Dozens of other items, such as nuts and supplements for pregnant women and people with chronic illnesses, have also been prohibited. (Drop Site 8/28)

·       8/21, MSF reported that the lack of equipment and fuel to repair and operate damaged water pipes and desalination plants denies people sufficient water and increases disease. Since 6/2024, only 1 in 10 import requests for water desalination items has been approved by Israeli authorities; efforts to deliver 9 treatment units to Gaza have faced continued denials for months. MSF has been forced to stop providing water at 137 distribution points so far this year.

·       UN human rights experts, including the Working Group on Enforced Disappearances and Special Rapporteurs Francesca Albanese and Michael Fakhri, are alarmed by reports of enforced disappearances at Gaza Humanitarian Foundation aid distribution sites, warning that the reported acts constitute torture and a war crime. They cited cases in Rafah—including a child—where people vanished after seeking food. UN urged dismantling the “inhumane” GHF system, restoring UN-led aid, and launching immediate investigations to hold those responsible accountable. (Drop Site 8/29)

WEST BANK, INCLUDING EAST JERUSALEM

In the past week, 1 Palestinians was killed and 25 (11 children) injured. For more West Bank information: here

Israeli attacks

·       8/21, Israeli forces shot 20-year-old Musab Abdul-Munim al-Eida  at Tel Rumeida checkpoint, Hebron, after he drew a pistol on soldiers. Israeli military took him to an Israeli hospital, where he died on 8/25.

·       For the past three years, a growing group of Palestinian women has been visiting the homes of families who lost their sons to Israel’s occupation, offering support and solidarity to grieving mothers and sharing their own stories of loss. Known as the Mothers of Martyrs and Prisoners League, the group was founded in early 2021 by Wafaa Jarrar, 50. What began as a handful of mourning women in Jenin refugee camp soon expanded into an effort spanning Jenin and several other cities across the occupied West Bank. Dr. Samah Jabr, a psychotherapist and former head of the Mental Health Unit at the Palestinian Ministry of Health, says the Mothers of Martyrs and Prisoners League plays a unique role in providing psychological support in a way that no psychiatrist could. here

Demolitions, displacement & movement restrictions

This week, Israeli authorities demolished 60 Palestinian-owned structures for lack of Israeli-issued building permits, displacing 32 people (12 children) and affecting 2000 others. 

·       8/21, Israeli authorities demolished 23 structures in Ein al Hilwa herding community, Area C (Tubas) after an unsuccessful 10-year struggle in Israeli courts to obtain building permits and challenge demolition orders. During the demolition, several water tanks, trees, a surveillance system, and an internet network were also destroyed. Following the demolition, the displaced families tried to install a shade, but Israeli forces ordered them to remove it.

·       Among the 27 structures demolished in East Jerusalem, 18 in Sur Bahir were agricultural -- primary sources of income for 9 households (47 people, 17 children). 

·       So far this year, 272 inhabited homes and 60 uninhabited residential structures were demolished across the West Bank, 71% in Area C, displacing 873 Palestinians, half of whom were children. This marks a 39% increase over last year and is double the number for 2023.

The attack on Al Mughayyir Village

·       8/21-24, Israeli forces launched a 4-day operation in Al Mughayyir village (Ramallah), following a Palestinian shooting attack near Road 458, in which an Israeli settler was injured. Israeli forces imposed a near-total closure of the village, long subject to attacks, 40 so far this year, by Israeli settlers from the Adei Ad outpost  

·       Soldiers raided the village, ransacked homes, and assaulted residents with tear gas and beatings. For 4 days, they allowed only a few humanitarian cases to leave on foot (ambulances were denied entry), including a woman in labor attacked with tear gas. 

·       They detained 14 Palestinians, including a child and the head of the village council; 4 remain in custody. They seized about 300 dunums of land, bulldozed fields and uprooted thousands of olive trees, damaged structures, and began to build a new road. They also damaged or confiscated dozens of vehicles and were filmed allowing settlers to steal one.

For more detail and to see a map showing incidents in this area, see: here, here

Intensification of Settler Attacks and Settlement Activities

Last week, 15 settler attacks caused casualties, property damage, or both, in 13 communities, displacing 6 households (34 people, 19 children), and injuring 8 Palestinians (1 child, 1 elder). 

·       8/21, armed settlers from Ma’ale Amos settlement raided Barriyet Kisan (Bethlehem), attacking and forcibly displacing 6 families (34 people, 19 children) to Ar Rashaydeh Bedouin community. Settlers searched homes and stole generators, forcing the families to leave at gunpoint with no belongings. 

·       10/2023-8/2025, 64 Palestinian herding families (191 people, 84 children) were forcibly displaced from communities in and around Barriyet Kisan by settler violence and intimidation.

·       8/21, armed settlers from Susiya settlement raided Susiya village (Hebron), attacking and injuring a family, including a 70-year-old man and a child. They also broke windows, slashed tractor tires, and smashed a windshield.

·       8/21, in Al Minya village (Bethlehem), settlers were grazing sheep on planted fields. When the Palestinian farmers (a man and wife) tried to drive the sheep off, settlers attacked and injured them. Israeli police intervened, evacuating the settlers and arresting the Palestinian. 

·       8/24, settlers attacked and injured 2 farmers harvesting their grapes in Halhul village (Hebron). August is grape harvest season in the southern West Bank, and 11 settler attacks were reported this month in Halhul alone, injuring 6 Palestinians. Settler harassment has left many dunums of grapevines unharvested, causing significant financial losses for farmers.

·       8/25, settlers accompanied by Israeli forces raided the Jaba’ Bedouin community (Jerusalem), ransacking homes and beating residents. Israeli forces delayed an ambulance from reaching an injured man for about 20 minutes.

·       Of 15 settler attacks reported 8/19-25, 11 involved property damage, mostly agricultural. Settlers, sometimes supported by Israeli military, destroyed olive trees, stole animals, crops, mobile latrines, cut fences, and denied Palestinian farmers access to their lands.

Israeli Military Operations in the Northern West Bank

·       Israeli military operations continue in and around Jenin, Tulkarm and Nur Shams refugee camps, where access is limited or denied. 8/23 & 27, they were conducting house-to-house searches in Al Hadaf, west of Jenin Camp. During an earlier search (7/26), they temporarily forced 8 families from their homes but later allowed them to return. 8/25, ongoing demolitions caused 3 explosions and fires in Jenin camp. 

·       Israeli forces installed a military observation tower in Tulkarm city near Nur Shams refugee camp. Israeli forces have been conducting multiple house raids and searches, on 8/23, closed all commercial shops in the eastern part of the city for the day.

·       Israeli soldiers near Nablus detained a Palestinian child who allegedly threw stones and a paint bottle at an armored vehicle, a day after a major raid in the area. In footage circulated by Israeli accounts, troops are heard questioning the boy and saying he would receive “a lesson in discipline” to prevent him from throwing stones again. (Drop Site 8/29)

ISRAEL

·       In a joint investigation by +972 Magazine, Local Call, and The Guardian, Yuval Abraham reveals that, according to classified Israeli intelligence data from May, Israel believed it had killed some 8,900 militants in its attacks on Gaza. Measured against the Gaza Health Ministry’s death toll of 53,000 — which the army itself considers reliable — that figure implies a civilian death rate of at least 83 percent, a proportion with few parallels in modern warfare.

·       Israel’s military announced that the evacuation of Gaza City is “inevitable,” claiming families moving south will receive aid in tent camps and distribution centers, despite reports that no space remains and no new shelter equipment has entered Gaza since March. Human rights groups warn that the plan amounts to concentration camps, aimed to control and ultimately expel over two million Palestinians. (Drop Site 8/28)

·       Israel plans to open two additional Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) “aid” centers. Critics warn the militarized hubs force civilians to risk their lives for minimal food, with over 2,000 killed seeking aid since the program began. (Drop Site 8/28)

·       Vast majority of Israelis believe there are 'no innocents' in Gaza, says poll. Survey comes amid rising racist attacks against Palestinians in occupied territories and Palestinian citizens of Israel. here

·       Thousands of protesters blocked roads around the country, including a major highway in Tel Aviv, burning tires, calling for the return of the hostages still held in Gaza and an end to Israel’s war on the besieged strip. Protests were led by families of hostages, part of a nationwide “Day of Disruption.”  Israel’s military chief clashed with far-right ministers Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben-Gvir about Israel’s Gaza City operation, with Smotrich reportedly saying, “Whoever doesn’t evacuate, don’t let them. No water, no electricity, they can die of hunger or surrender.” (Democracy Now 8/26)

·       In a Haaretz op-ed, an Israeli pediatrician wrote about the jarring disparities between the health care she is able to provide to children in Israel and the horrific starvation and murder of Palestinian children “just a few dozen kilometers” away. “Thousands of children in the Strip are suffering from severe, life-threatening malnutrition and more than 270 people have already died from hunger. The health services have been so badly damaged by attacks on hospitals, sieges, a dire shortage of basic medical equipment and medications, and the killing or detention of about 1,800 medical professionals, that there is no way to help these children. They will die or remain with severe neurological deficits for the rest of their lives…. The power is in our hands only. We must put a stop to the atrocities that are being committed in our name.” here

US

·       Democratic National Committee panel has rejected a resolution calling for an arms embargo on Israel and a ceasefire in Gaza. The vote came during a DNC meeting in Minneapolis. A second resolution on Israel was initially approved but then withdrawn by its author, DNC Chair Ken Martin. Martin then called for a task force to be formed to help build party unity on the issue. (Democracy Now 8/27)

·       Egyptian government employees wielding a chain and stick detained and assaulted a 22-year-old man and his 15-year-old brother at the Egyptian Mission to the UN during a pro-Palestinian protest in New York. NYC Police Department then arrested the two brothers on assault charges, and strangulation for the younger one, according to their parents and an NYPD spokesperson. Yasin Elsamak, 22, and Ali Elsamak, 15, both US citizens, were protesting the Egyptian government’s role in blockading the Rafah crossing into Gaza, cutting off essential food aid amid Israel’s ongoing genocide. (Drop Site 8/25)

·       8/26, Microsoft employees and the No Azure for Apartheid movement occupied the office of company president Brad Smith, declaring a “Liberated Zone” inside the executive Building 34, renamed the Mai Ubeid Building after a Palestinian engineer killed in an Israeli strike. Bloomberg reported the company has spent the past year trying to crush worker dissent over its ties to Israel’s war on Gaza—enlisting the FBI, working with police, censoring posts, and firing employees. Despite repression, organizers say they will not stop until Microsoft ends its Azure and AI contracts with Israel’s military, pays reparations to Palestinians, and halts workplace discrimination. (Drop Site 8/27)

·       In a Haaretz op-ed, two US Jewish health professionals emphasize the dire need for their community to stand in solidarity with Palestinian health workers. “As Jewish professionals in the medical and public health community, we are ashamed that so many of our Jewish American colleagues remain silent in the face of devastating human loss in Gaza. We are ashamed that so many have chosen silence as Israel continues to decimate Gaza's entire health system, including this week's strike on the last remaining hospital in the Strip's south. And we are ashamed that even as images and reports of the horrors in Gaza continue to emerge, our collective silence persists.” here

·       NPR show featured interviews with Gazan writers from We Are Not Numbers talking about their experiences. here

·       Half of US voters believe Israel committing genocide in Gaza, poll says. Six in 10 US voters also oppose Washington sending more military aid to Israel, according to a Quinnipiac poll. here

US Universities

·       Academic Council of Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) condemns the cancellation of the Harvard Educational Review’s (HER) special issue on Palestinian education. We know that the cancellation occurred after (i) HER’s editorial board solicited the articles from scholars of unquestioned expertise, (ii) the HER editorial board accepted the completed manuscripts using its established and extensive internal review process, and (iii) contracts had, in most cases, been signed.  We also understand that this is the first time since 1945 that the decisions of the independent editorial board, comprised of graduate students, has been overruled by the publisher. here

·       The Silence of the Scholars: How leading Academics gave Cover to Genocide in Gaza.  The true measure of a scholar is not the number of books they publish or the titles they hold. It is whether they speak when human beings are starved, bombed, and erased as a people. By that measure, some of America’s most visible academics have failed. here

INTERNATIONAL

·       All members of the Dutch government belonging to the New Social Contract (NSC) party stepped down, one day after Foreign Minister Kaspar Veldkamp resigned over the government’s refusal to impose sanctions on Israel for its ongoing war on Gaza since 10/ 2023. Resignations include the acting deputy prime minister, the interior and education ministers, the health minister, and four other cabinet members. They acted in solidarity with Veldkamp, who left office citing deep cabinet divisions over sanctions on Israel’s war and settlement expansion. (Palestine Chronicle 8/23)

·       Australia, Mass protests against Israel’s war on Gaza continue across the globe. In Australia, an estimated 300,000 participated in protests last weekend across the country. (Democracy Now 8/25)

·       Canadian photojournalist Valerie Zink has resigned from Reuters after 8 years, denouncing the news agency’s coverage of Gaza as a “betrayal of journalists” and accusing it of “justifying and enabling” the killing of 245 media workers in the enclave. Zink, who has worked as a Reuters stringer with her photographs published in outlets including The New York Times and Al-Jazeera, sharply criticized the agency’s reporting after the killing of Palestinian journalist Anas al-Sharif and his colleagues on 8/10. She accused Reuters of amplifying Israel’s “entirely baseless claim” that al-Sharif was a Hamas operative, “one of countless lies that outlets like Reuters have dutifully repeated and dignified.” (Palestine Chronicle 8/26)

·       Former UN speechwriter Mark Seddon urges member states at the UN General Assembly to invoke the Uniting for Peace resolution and establish a protective international force to defend Gaza. here

·       8/29, Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan Turkey had severed all economic and commercial ties with Israel and imposed an airspace ban due to the war in Gaza. He said Turkey does not allow its ships to sail to Israeli ports. here

SOURCES

OCHAOPT, Mondoweiss, Palestine Chronicle, +972, Drop Site, Democracy Now, (US Campaign for Palestinian Rights Action, Portside, The New Republic, People’s Dispatch, Haaretz, Middle East Eye, New Arab, New York Times, The National, Aljazeera, Palestinian Center for Human Rights, The Cradle