Urgent health update: Consequences of war on Gaza, West Bank/East Jerusalem, Lebanon, Yemen - May 9, 2025
ACTION ITEMS FOR THE WEEK
1. The Israeli starvation of Gaza is targeted by the UK-based Doctors in Unite in this emergency statement. Especially if you are a HealthCareWorker, please sign and share widely: here
2. HAC stalwart Alice Rothchild published this OpEd here in the Seattle Times. 3 things to do: share it widely, use it to submit your own OpEd to your local paper, and write the Seattle Times [letters@seattletimes.com] to thank them for publishing it.
3. Start a vigil for the release of abducted students: Simultaneous Monday noon vigils at Boston University, Columbia, Georgetown, Harvard and Tufts demand the release of Mahmoud Khalil, Rümeysa Öztürk (now freed!), Badar Khan Suri and other captives of ICE. Organizing made easier with this toolkit: here
Webinars
The Crisis of UNRWA in Gaza: A Report from Sam Rose, Acting Director of UNRWA Affairs, Gaza. Presented by JVP Health Advisory Council & JVP Academic Council. Sunday, May 18, 2025, 9 am Pacific/12 pm Eastern. Register here.
After Humanitarianism: Professor Nadia Abu El-Haj, Dept. of Anthropology at Barnard College and Columbia University, and Co-Director of the Center for Palestine Studies. Presented by Bisan Lecture Series: In the ruins of Gaza lie not just the destruction of the post-war “International Order,” but also an exposure of fatal contradictions built into its very foundation. Wednesday May 14 th, 8pm Palestine/ 6 pm GMT, 1 pm Eastern/ 10am Pacific. Register here.
The Attack on Health Care in Gaza, presented by Physicians for Human Rights Israel, with Aseel Aburass, Len Rubenstein, Maha Loulou. Tuesday May 13, 7pm Palestine, 5pm GMT, 12pm Eastern, 9am Pacific. Register here.
Echoes of Resilience: Mental Health Under Occupation, presented by Eyewitness Palestine, will share experiences and learnings from their recent trip to Palestine and meetings with organizers, activists, academics, and medical professionals. Tuesday, May 20, 7:30pm EST, 4:30 Pacific. Register here:
Medical Journals
New England Journal of Medicine: Severing the long-standing ties and scientific collaborations between the US and WHO, and slashing US financial support to WHO will have catastrophic effects on domestic and global health. here
UN Statements
Statement on Gaza by Tom Fletcher, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, 1 May 2025
“Two months ago, the Israeli authorities took a deliberate decision to block all aid to Gaza, and halt our efforts to save survivors of their military offensive… But international law is unequivocal: As the occupying power, Israel must allow humanitarian support in… Blocking aid starves civilians. It leaves them without basic medical support. It strips them of dignity and hope. It inflicts a cruel collective punishment. Blocking aid kills. The humanitarian movement is independent, impartial and neutral… We remain ready to save as many lives as we can, despite the risks. But as the UN Secretary-General has made clear, the latest modality proposed by Israeli authorities does not meet the minimum bar for principled humanitarian support. To the Israeli authorities, and those who can still reason with them, we say again: lift this brutal blockade. Let humanitarians save lives.”
See the complete statement here:
Statement by the Humanitarian Country Team of the Occupied Palestinian Territory – on principled aid delivery in Gaza, 4 May 2025
“For 9 weeks now, Israeli authorities have blocked all supplies from entering Gaza, no matter how vital to people’s survival. Bakeries have shut. Community kitchens have closed. Warehouses stand empty. Children have gone hungry.
“Israeli officials have sought to shut down the existing aid distribution system run by the United Nations and its humanitarian partners and have us agree to deliver supplies through Israeli hubs under conditions set by the Israeli military, once the government agrees to re-open crossings.
“The design of the plan presented to us will mean large parts of Gaza, including the less mobile and most vulnerable people, will continue to go without supplies. It contravenes fundamental humanitarian principles and appears designed to reinforce control over life-sustaining items as a pressure tactic – as part of a military strategy. It is dangerous, driving civilians into militarized zones to collect rations, threatening lives, including those of humanitarian workers, while further entrenching forced displacement.
“The UN Secretary-General and the Emergency Relief Coordinator have made clear that we will not participate in any scheme that does not adhere to the global humanitarian principles of humanity, impartiality, independence and neutrality. In the Occupied Palestinian Territory, the heads of all UN entities and non-governmental organizations under the Humanitarian Country Team have unanimously affirmed this position. Humanitarian action responds to people’s needs, wherever they are.
“Our teams remain in Gaza, ready to again scale up the delivery of critical supplies and services: food, water, health, nutrition, protection and more. We have significant stocks ready to enter as soon as the blockade is lifted. We urge world leaders to use their influence to make that happen. The time is now.”
GAZA
Israel’s siege of Gaza continues; no food or supplies have entered for 9 weeks (since 3/2/25). The Palestinian Prime Minister, Dr. Mohammad Mustafa, declared Gaza a “famine zone” as malnutrition is now the norm and starvation has killed over 60 children. Escalated air, land, and sea bombardment and expanded ground operations have increased the toll of genocide as Israel targets remaining buildings and tent camps. 428,000 people have been displaced with no safe place to go. Israel has declared 69% of the Gaza Strip “off-limits” to Palestinians.
This week: 230 Palestinians killed, 883 injured
Since the breaking of the ceasefire: 2,545 Palestinians killed, 6,856 injured
Killed since 10/23/2023: 52,653+
Injured since 10/23/2023: 118,897+
16,278 children have been killed in Gaza since October 2023.
Israeli soldiers killed in Gaza: 412 (2 this week)
Israeli soldiers injured in Gaza: 2,643
Hostages in Gaza: 59
For more detail on Gaza: here
The Israeli campaign of starvation and removal
Hundreds of truckloads of life-saving supplies are prohibited from entering Gaza as children, half the population, face the worst humanitarian crisis since October 2023: starvation, illness and death from Israeli bombardments, forced displacement and the aid blockade, according to UNICEF. 75% of households report deteriorating access to water, with families “forced to choose between showering, cleaning and cooking.” Acute watery diarrhea now accounts for a quarter of disease cases recorded in Gaza. WHO Director-General Tedros Ghebreyesus stated: “we don’t need to see photos of emaciated children to know people are hungry, and that children are weak and malnourished, with life-long consequences.” Even CNN feels compelled to acknowledge the famine in Gaza. here
Between 4/27-5/6, 1/3 of all community kitchens closed, leading to a 25% reduction in daily meal production. These hot meals constitute one of the last remaining lifelines. According to the Food Security Sector, overcrowding plagues all remaining kitchens, leading to increased safety concerns and social tensions. Markets are also running out of commodities, and prices are very high and fluctuate constantly. A 25-kilo bag of wheat flour costs 1,500 ILS (US$415), a 3000% increase from the end of February. Most families no longer have access to bread.
After 9 weeks of Israel’s full aid blockade of Gaza, 15 UN and 200 non-governmental organizations have rejected Israeli proposals to occupy Gaza and dismantle the existing UN coordinated humanitarian aid distribution system, replacing it with an Israeli-directed, US-staffed mercenary alternative. Human rights and aid groups say the plan “makes a mockery of international humanitarian law.” (Mondoweiss 5/8) The Israeli plan entails moving most of the population to the southern part or out of Gaza, which the Israeli military would retain. Then the Rafah model would be replicated in other parts of the Strip. Jan Egeland, Norwegian Refugee Council, said: “They want to manipulate and militarize all aid to civilians, forcing us to deliver supplies through hubs designed by the Israeli military.” (Democracy Now 5/5)
Janan Saleh Al-Saqafi, a young Palestinian girl, died 5/3 at Al-Rantisi Hospital in Gaza City from severe malnutrition and dehydration. (Palestine Chronicle 5/4). The same day, Al Jazeera reported that at least 57 people have starved to death due to the Israeli denial of aid entry. The denial of entry to medicines also kills: Muneer Alboursh, Director General of Gaza’s Health Ministry, takes calls from doctors looking for medicine to keep patients alive. “There’s no advice I can give them,” he said. “In most cases, those patients die.” here
UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk warned that "Israel’s reported plans to forcibly transfer Gaza’s population to a small area in the south of the strip and threats by Israeli officials to deport Palestinians outside of Gaza further aggravate concerns that Israel’s actions are aimed at inflicting on Palestinians conditions of life increasingly incompatible with their continued existence in Gaza as a group."
Gaza’s medical system is overwhelmed by traumatic injuries, damaged infrastructure, and shortages of specialists, supplies, and equipment. Care for everyone is problematic, but is virtually absent for persons with disabilities and other vulnerable groups.
The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) confirms that the ongoing Israeli military assault on Gaza has deliberately and extensively targeted Gaza’s agriculture and food production systems, resulting in the near-total collapse of the essential agricultural sector. PCHR links this destruction to the longstanding and systematic Israeli strategy to exterminate the Palestinian people. This objective is now the central policy of the Israeli government, which uses destruction and starvation as weapons of war within the broader framework of the crime of genocide—seeking to eliminate Palestinians and strip them of the basic means of survival. here
Israeli attacks
Between 5/2-7, at least 12 attacks on residential buildings, IDP tent camps, UNRWA schools, a restaurant and a funeral killed over 160 (7 children) and injured hundreds in Deir al Balah, Jabalya al Balad, Gaza City, Khan Younis, and Beit Lahiya. In Gaza City, Israeli soldiers shot at people attempting to rescue those trapped under the rubble. 23 people were killed when Israeli warplanes targeted a Gaza City restaurant, frequented by people for its internet access, located in a crowded civilian area.
5/3, one fisher killed off the coast of Gaza City and another 5 (1 child) injured on 5/3 & 5/6 in Beit Lahiya. A fisherman described the deadly gamble he is forced to take because his “family’s survival depends on the money [they] can get out of selling the fish in the market.”
5/2, World Press Freedom Day, the UN Human Rights Office in the OPT stated: “Palestinian journalists continue to be killed or injured at an alarming rate with impunity, along with widespread attacks on their work and freedom.” The Israeli military continues to refuse entry to foreign journalists, except for army-controlled visits. The Palestinian Journalists Syndicate (PJS) reported that since 10/7/23, 210 journalists and media workers have been killed, 90 in their homes and 29 killed in tents and inside IDP shelters. Many have suffered amputations. 5/7, 2 journalists reportedly killed in Gaza City and Deir al Balah, raising the total to 212, according to PJS.
Water & Sanitation
In April, the WASH Cluster survey found that 90% of households experienced water insecurity. 75% reported worsening levels of drinking water due to: accessibility (73%); fewer water points (68%); and the growing number of families at displacement sites (42%). In addition, the majority of households reported inadequate sanitation, due to a decreasing number of functional latrines (57%), lack of cleanliness (57%), and the growing number of families at displacement sites (49%). Households also reported reduced access to soap.
The Joint Service Council (JSC) for Solid Waste Management in southern Gaza has collected 140,000 kilos of medical waste from 32 health-care facilities, storing it near the Al Amal dump. In Gaza and North Gaza governorates they are looking for a medical waste storage location.
The Municipality of Deir al Balah issued a warning about severe water shortages due to a lack of maintenance and repair materials, limited access to fuel, the cut-off of electricity to the Southern Gaza Desalination Plant, and damage to the Bani Saeed Mekorot water pipeline.
The Municipality of Jabalya an Nazla stated that a widespread sewage overflow is due to the destruction of over 90% of their equipment and machinery by Israeli airstrikes in April. The situation is exacerbated by the growing infestation of rodents and insects in overcrowded displacement shelters, and the municipality warns of a major public health disaster, heightening the risk of disease outbreaks amid limited medical services.
The Municipality of Khan Younis announced fuel shortages resulted in a 30% reduction in all essential water and sanitation services. This has further worsened solid waste accumulation in the streets, the proliferation of unregulated garbage dumps, sewage overflow, and the inability to operate water wells and desalination plants, negatively affecting about 700,000 people.
Bombing plants, severing pipelines: Israel pushes Gaza water crisis to the brink. Since March, the army's intensified targeting of water infrastructure has left Gazans no choice but to drink seawater and ration contaminated supplies. here
Aid
5/6, 55 international and local NGOs in Israel and the OPT issued a statement calling on the international community to oppose Israeli measures threatening to shut down humanitarian operations and undermine international law. Under the new rules, registered international, non-governmental organizations (INGOs) face the risk of de-registration or rejections of new registration "based on arbitrary, politicised allegations, such as ‘delegitimising Israel’ or expressing support for accountability for Israeli violations of international law,” among others. The organizations warned “[t]hese new rules are part of a broader, long-term crackdown on humanitarian and civic space, marked by heightened surveillance and attacks, and a series of actions that restrict humanitarian access, compromise staff safety, and undermine core principles of humanitarian action.”
Between 4/30-5/6, of 63 requests to coordinate aid movements with Israeli authorities, 43 were denied outright; 4 were impeded; 14 were facilitated; and 2 were withdrawn. The majority of the denied missions had the objective of retrieving humanitarian cargo left in warehouses in Rafah and at Kerem Shalom crossing, repairing roads to improve accessibility to Kerem Shalom crossing, or retrieving commodities stored in Rafah that are either in the Israeli-militarized zone or under displacement orders. Since 3/2, only 7 requests to retrieve fuel from Rafah and Gaza City were facilitated, while 35 were denied, 2 were withdrawn, and 1 was impeded; not a single attempt to retrieve fuel from Rafah has been facilitated since 4/18 .
A New Yorker interview with Louise Wateridge, senior emergency officer for UNRWA, discusses denial of aid and that Israel has not allowed UNRWA’s international staff into Gaza for several months despite trying to continue its work.
The freedom flotilla ship Conscience, carrying human rights activists and humanitarian aid bound for Gaza, was attacked by drones while anchored in international waters awaiting permission to dock at Malta. here
Access to health care
Before Israel abrogated the cease fire (3/18), 149 ambulances were operational; now there are only 48 due to damage and lack of fuel. The injured are forced to rely on makeshift transport, donkey carts being the most common. This situation is especially dire for vulnerable groups: the elderly, persons with disabilities and pregnant women.
Displacement orders closed 6 hospitals and 2 field hospitals.
About 350,000 people suffer from chronic diseases, including 71,000 living with diabetes. 1,000 patients have Type 1 Diabetes and require insulin therapy and regular medical attention.
Health facility capacity is shrinking. Services available are minimal and insufficient to meet the vast scale of needs. Since 3/18, 2 trauma hospitals have closed, leaving 5. International medical staff supporting emergency medical teams (EMT) have been denied entry by Israel, resulting in a 45% reduction from 97 to 53, and Israeli approval of internal trauma and emergency care missions declined from 40% to 25% between 3/18-5/5.
The Palestinian NGO Network (PNGO) and the Disability Working Group raised urgent concerns regarding increased vulnerability for 321,000 seniors (60 yrs and older), many of whom live with disabilities, physical impairment, chronic illness, and limited mobility, and require regular access to care, psychosocial support, and hygiene. Extensive infrastructure destruction -- health facilities, roads and shelters -- has severely impacted this population.
A new assessment report on Level 4 specialized rehabilitation services at Hamad, Al-Wafaa, and Al-Amal hospitals finds Gaza’s rehabilitation system unable to handle the surge in traumatic injuries caused by the ongoing hostilities, destruction of health infrastructure, limited bed capacity, mass displacement, destruction of shelter, and shortages of specialized health personnel. Some indicators:
-- ¼ of people injured in Gaza require sustained rehabilitation support
-- More than 2,000 people are living with spinal cord and traumatic brain injuries, and there are an estimated 15,000 cases of extremity injuries, driving the number of persons with disabilities in the Gaza Strip to over 80,000.
-- More than 4,000 people (920 children) have undergone amputations since October 2023.
-- 1/3 of rehabilitation beds are occupied by patients with pressure sores, retained beyond regular timelines due to the inadvisability of discharge into the prevailing poor shelter and sanitation conditions. This reduces hospital capacity and results in the de-prioritization of non-traumatic rehabilitation cases (stroke or cerebrovascular accident survivors, cerebral palsy, unaccompanied minors needing mental health care, etc.).
-- Outreach and follow-up is disrupted due to ongoing hostilities and lack of fuel. As of March, 61% of home visit services were unavailable.
-- Rehabilitation equipment such as wheelchairs, mobility and hearing aids are scarce or damaged, and raw materials for making prosthetics are running out. Over 3,330 wheelchairs are sequestered at the border, as 4,250 patients are on waiting lists to use them. Another 1,900 people await walkers and 7,400 await crutches.
-- 6,000 prosthetics are currently needed, but there are only 9 prosthetics and orthodontics technicians in Gaza.
THE WEST BANK, INCLUDING EAST JERUSALEM
In the past week, Israeli forces killed 2 Palestinians and injured 57 (6 children). Also, 1 West Bank Palestinian died in Israeli custody under unclear circumstances.
For more West Bank information, here:
A short video on the Gazification of the West Bank. here
Israeli Attacks
5/1, Israeli forces shot and killed a Palestinian man during confrontations with Palestinian stone throwers in Beita (Nablus) responding to the Israeli invasion of the town. The previous day, a roadside explosive injured an Israeli soldier.
5/2, undercover Israeli forces shot, killed and withheld the body of a Palestinian man during a raid into Balata refugee camp (Nablus).
5/4, the Palestinian Civil Affairs Authority, the Commission for Prisoners and Ex-Detainees Affairs, and the Palestinian Prisoners' Club announced that a man from Jenin, imprisoned under administrative detention since 8/8/23, died at Soroka Hospital in Israel.
Demolitions & Displacement
This week, Israeli authorities demolished 73 Palestinian-owned structures for lack of Israeli-issued building permits, displacing 20 households (104 Palestinians, 58 children), and affecting the livelihoods of at least 90 people.
5/5, Israeli authorities demolished 39 structures (85%) of the herding community of Khallet Athaba’, Masafer Yatta (Hebron). These included 14 inhabited and 1 uninhabited residential structures, 5 animal shelters, 7 latrines, 6 cisterns, 2 storage rooms, a kitchen, a community center, and the communal water and solar electric networks, leaving the community without access to water, electricity or the internet. Some of those displaced had been twice displaced this year by demolitions on 2/10 & 2/26.
Two clusters of demolitions were carried out in the herding communities of Ad Deir and ‘Ein al Hilwa in the northern Jordan Valley, where Israeli authorities demolished 14 structures (2 residences, 5 agricultural structures, 4 water and sanitation, and 3 others). Nearly 1/5 of structures demolished in the Jordan Valley (Area C) this year were for water and sanitation; Israel prevents most communities from connecting to the water network, making them extremely vulnerable.
So far this year, OCHA documented 187 demolitions in Palestinian Bedouin and herding communities, and a total of 580 demolitions in West Bank Area C, more than half in the Jordan Valley and 70% of which (130) were agricultural, livelihood, and water and sanitation structures. This is a 500% increase over the same period in 2024.
Settler violence, settlement expansion, movement restrictions
In the past week, settlers carried out 13 attacks that injured 4 Palestinians, displacing 2 families (6 people) and destroying 2 residential tents, damaging 3 vehicles, 3 water tanks, property and 50 olive and fig trees.
Four Palestinians were injured in a single incident on 4/30 when settlers from an outpost near Shilo settlement raided Duma (Nablus). Approximately 20 settlers (3 armed) attempted to establish a new outpost on the village’s agricultural land. Israeli forces arrived and dispersed the settlers, who returned in a larger group and set fire to agricultural land and vandalized olive trees. When Palestinian residents attempted to put out the fire, mutual stone throwing erupted between them and the settlers. A settler stabbed a Palestinian man multiple times in the back, and another Palestinian sustained a serious head injury; no settler injuries were reported.
5/4, in Kharbatha Bani Harith (Ramallah), 2 Palestinian herding families (6 people, 2 children) were displaced when armed Israeli settlers from a newly established nearby outpost raided the area, forcing them to flee with their livestock. The settlers burned 2 tents, vandalized a fence and solar lighting, and stole tools. The same day in Yanun (Nablus), a guard from Itamar settlement detained 2 herders grazing sheep near their home. Israeli forces arrived and handcuffed the herders, assaulting one and claiming that grazing was not allowed in the area. This occurred while a settler grazed his sheep on the family’s 4 dunums of cultivated land, which a settler outpost had made inaccessible to the landowner.
12 of these 13 settler-related incidents involved damage to Palestinian property. Israelis from settlements and outposts set fire to a wheat field, vandalized fig trees, destroyed a fence and water tanks, damaged vegetable fields, and bulldozed land planted with olive trees. Settlers took the uprooted olive trees to their settlement.
5 of the settler attacks included the abduction and detention of Palestinians in Nablus, Ramallah, and Hebron governorates. Israelis from Itamar settlement entered Beit Furik (Nablus) wielding knives and stones and chased children, abducting a 13-year-old girl and her 3-year-old brother, eventually tying them to a tree. 4/26, settlers injured and abducted at gunpoint 2 Palestinian men during a raid on Kobar (Ramallah). Israeli forces called by the Palestinian DCL released one of the injured men and detained the other 24 hours. Since 10/7/ 2023, OCHA documented 36 cases where Israeli settlers, some in military uniform, abducted or detained 50 Palestinians (3 children).
Developments in the northern West Bank
5/1, Israel issued military orders to demolish 106 Palestinian-owned structures in Tulkarm and Nur Shams refugee camps. Residents were given 24 hours to evacuate or submit a legal challenge. UNRWA’s Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini stated: “These demolition orders, if enacted, would further entrench the displacement of thousands of Palestine Refugees in the northern West Bank... They serve punitive and coercive objectives, targeting entire communities. This practice constitutes collective punishment, categorically prohibited under the 4th Geneva Convention.” A previous March mass demolition in Tulkarm destroyed dozens of structures. Lack of access has prevented a systematic assessment of the demolitions.
5/2, Israeli forces detained several families attempting to return home and 3 journalists as they gathered at the entrance of Tulkarm camp. Israeli forces raided the camp, using stun grenades and rubber bullets to disperse crowds. They forced people to leave their homes, injuring one journalist. 5/4, Israeli forces raided Nur Shams camp and forced 5 families out. A legal petition by an Israeli NGO to stop the demolitions was rejected by the courts, citing military necessity. 5/5, Israeli forces began demolishing 6 homes (17 families) in Nur Shams camp. 5/6, Israeli forces set times (08:00-10:00, and 10:30-13:00) during which over 50 families in 18 structures were to retrieve their belongings ahead of further demolitions.
In Jenin, displacement around refugee camps continues as do water shortages. 7 families, 6 who were previously displaced from Jenin camp, were forced to evacuate homes near Jenin Governmental Hospital on 5/3. Jenin Municipality managed to restore water to homes of 15,000 city residents; however, water was cut off to 20,000 other residents.
Israeli forces continue to limit access and conduct raids in and around northern West Bank cities. Palestinian journalists are regularly denied access to refugee camps, detained and injured, most recently (5/2 & 5/4) detaining 3 journalists and injuring another in Tulkarm. In April, they assaulted a photojournalist, confiscating his press card and phone; they also fired tear gas at 2 journalists at the entrance to Jenin camp. These attacks prompted the UN Human Rights Office (OHCHR) to release a statement on World Press Freedom Day (5/2): OHCHR “has monitored multiple cases of journalists detained, a significant number of whom appear to have been detained arbitrarily. Many are held under administrative detention...Both Palestinian and Israeli security forces have banned or limited journalists’ entry to the Jenin and other refugee camps in northern West Bank. They injured, detained, threatened and in some cases subjected journalists to ill-treatment.”
Israel
Netanyahu declared Israel is “on the eve of a forceful entry to Gaza” after his security cabinet approved a plan for tens of thousands of additional soldiers to seize and hold territory and relocate Palestinians to the south. here
Israel boycotted a hearing at the UNs’ top court on its decision to ban UNWRA, investigating Israel’s obligations as a UN member and as an occupying power. here
Israel’s Uranium bombs: Evidence from Beirut. A neutron bomb is ideal for killing those behind concrete walls or in bunkers and tunnels, as in Fallujah, Gaza, and Lebanon. Neutrons kill without any obvious clinical signature: people just cough and their lung, kidney, and blood cells and tissues die. Then they die in a few days. The Israeli bomb that killed Hassan Nasrallah was a Uranium bomb of some kind. The particles we imaged using the CR39 become airborne, which means that they contaminate the area of Dahiye & will travel downwind. —Christopher Busby (a controversial and noted) British scientist of health effects of Internal Ionizing Radiation. here
United States
Biden staffers admit what we all knew: White House lied about ceasefire efforts. We can lay to rest the notion that the Biden administration ever did anything to stop the Gaza genocide. (Mondoweiss 5/2)
The Trump administration has decided UNWRA is not immune from being sued, reversing the longstanding US position that it was protected from civil liability. The Justice Dept filed a letter in a NY federal court as part of a lawsuit holding UNWRA accountable for the 10/7 attacks. here
US Universities
Columbia: The NYPD arrested dozens of pro-Palestinian activists who occupied their library on 5/7, ending an hours-long standoff a year after student anti-war protests began. (Guardian 5/8)
Harvard has fashioned itself as a free-speech warrior for refusing to negotiate with the Trump administration on its demands to drop diversity, equity and inclusion and punish student protesters. Yet Harvard’s President Alan Garber oversees the systematic erasure of teaching, research and scholarship about Palestine. here
NYU: NYU Law reversed course on its demand that students renounce protests to take finals, but they are still banned from most school buildings. here
Rutgers: 2 Rutgers professors went out on a limb to write a “mutual defense compact” for Big Ten schools. Their effort is gaining steam. here
Tufts: Judge orders Rumeysa Ozturk released from ICE detention. here
Although we reject their definition of antisemitism, the American Jewish Committee joined university groups urging the White House to combat antisemitism with a careful, lawful process, not hasty, ill-advised actions. here
Lebanon
10/23-12/24, Israeli attacks in Lebanon killed more than 4,000 people and displaced over one million. Since the 11/27 ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah came into effect, Israeli attacks have killed at least 146 people in Lebanon, including 26 returning to villages from which Israeli forces had not yet withdrawn. Human Rights Watch has previously documented the unlawful use of US weapons, unlawful attack on aid workers, and deliberate attacks on journalists in Lebanon. here
Israeli airstrikes in Lebanon continue as Lebanon is threatening to disarm Palestinians in the refugee camps. Residents fear this is a prelude to an all-out assault on the camps. here
Yemen
Following a US-Yemeni nonaggression agreement, on 5/6, Israel conducted a series of airstrikes on the Yemeni capital, Sanaa and the Sanaa International Airport, which was struck multiple times. (Palestine Chronicle 5/6)
Europe
The International Criminal Court of Justice takes its next steps on investigating and prosecuting war crimes in Israel’s war on Gaza. U.N. special rapporteur for the occupied Palestinian territories Francesca Albanese calls for EU officials to face charges of complicity in war crimes over their support for Israel during its 18-month assault on Gaza. here
SOURCES
OCHAOPT, 972 Magazine, Al-Jazeera, Democracy Now!, The Guardian, Human Rights Watch, The Intercept, Mondoweiss, The New Yorker, New York Times, Palestine Chronicle, Palestinian Centre for Human Rights , The Progressive, Seattle Times, Truthout, Washington Post