Urgent health update: Consequences of war on Gaza, West Bank/East Jerusalem - May 24, 2025
ACTION ITEM FOR THE WEEK
As part of Via Campesina’s weeks of fasting in solidarity with Palestine, join the US Food Sovereignty Alliance to collectively fast on Sunday, May 25th. If you can, plant seeds, seedlings, or a tree on that day as a symbol of our solidarity with Palestine: save lives, feed communities, defend the Earth. See more here:
Calling on all healthcare workers to join Doctors Against Genocide for an advocacy day on Capitol Hill in DC. Emergency action on June 4 to demand an end to the genocide in Gaza. Please join—it is urgent and imperative that a large number of healthcare workers come with our strong voices to demand an end to Israel’s genocide. For more information-a post about the June 4 emergency advocacy day will be up shortly here or at Doctors Against Genocide Instagram.
JVP STATEMENT ON KILLINGS IN DC
We condemn last night’s fatal shooting of two staff of the Israeli embassy in Washington D.C. We are grounded first and foremost in the belief that all human life is precious, which is precisely why we are struggling for a world in which all people can live in safety and dignity.
Health Advisory Council adds:
Such heinous acts as occurred in Washington, DC are made more likely by our nation's lack of effective gun control legislation. The availability of guns is a public health crisis. Part of the MAGA and Project 2025 agenda is the reversal of existing gun control legislation. Here is a quote from Trump, "“Every single Biden attack on gun owners and manufacturers will be terminated on my very first week back in office, perhaps my first day.” The MAGA and Project 2025 agenda propose: Allowing guns in public schools, reversing existing state protections to make firearms sales safer, diverting police resources away from gun protection programs, allowing for concealed firearms carry, reversal on protections to convert convention guns into semi-automatic weapons BradyUnited here
This incident muddles the distinction between Judaism and Zionism even further and should not be used to condemn pro-Palestine solidarity. The response to these tragic deaths has too often been a distraction from the Israeli policy of starvation, genocide, and plans for expulsion and annexation of Gaza.
RECORDING OF MOST RECENT WEBINAR
The Crisis of UNRWA in Gaza: A Report from Sam Rose, Acting Director of UNRWA Affairs, Gaza here
JOURNAL ARTICLES & ANALYSIS
A letter published in The Lancet discusses how the use of starvation as a weapon of war in Gaza constitutes a violation of international law under the Geneva Conventions. The authors call for immediate international action including unfettered humanitarian access across Gaza, the restoration of public services, guaranteed safe and sustained delivery of food and other aid, and the enforcement of accountability for violations of international law. here
Gaza has been failed by silence and impunity. Gaza is on the brink of famine. The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, a multistakeholder global initiative aimed at enhancing food security and nutrition analysis, reports that the entire population of Gaza is facing high levels of acute food insecurity. Nearly half a million people are at risk of starvation, a predicament precipitated by the Israeli Government's refusal to allow humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip for over 11 weeks, despite destruction of most agricultural, fishery, and food systems. For too long, the Israeli Government has acted with impunity. here
A recent scoping review found alarmingly high rates of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in the occupied Palestinian territories. The authors note that most studies attributed AMR to local practices and point to a gap in research on AMR’s structural and socio-political drivers. The authors describe the ways in which settler colonialism, historical and ongoing war, and political instability may impact AMR and recommend that future research frame findings within this context. here
A qualitative study examined war-related trauma and coping strategies among 30 internally displaced Palestinian women from Rafah. Major themes included the severe impact of war on everyday life, unique challenges faced by women as caregivers, the mental health effects of war, the use of adaptive coping strategies, and the presence of community-based resilience. here
In a cross-sectional study of individuals (n=207) residing in the West Bank in December 2024, 84% reported experiencing poor sleep quality. Reported sleep quality was significantly worse among women and individuals with higher educational attainment. here
Systematic Starvation: Genocide and the Engineered Collapse of Gazan Society:The deliberate destruction of food systems, water infrastructure, medical systems, and communal cohesion is not incidental, it is an intentional form of warfare aimed at inducing despair, division, and eventual displacement. here
United Nations
As the Israeli/US smokescreen called the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation pretends to use a mercenary force with no experience to distribute aid to Gaza, the UN released a 5/16 statement outlining an actual UN-Coordinated Plan to Resume Humanitarian Aid Deliveries to Gaza [https://www.ochaopt.org/content/briefing-note-un-coordinated-plan-resume-humanitarian-aid-deliveries-gaza]. It was ignored by both the US and Israel. The same day, Tom Fletcher, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, demanded: rapid, safe, unimpeded aid delivery in Gaza here
5/19, Fletcher cautiously welcomed the renewal of aid deliveries to Gaza but emphasized that the 9 trucks allowed entry were only “a drop in the ocean of what is needed… The limited quantities of aid now being allowed into Gaza are of course no substitute for unimpeded access to civilians in such dire need.” He urged Israel to: open at least 2 crossings into Gaza, one in the north and one in the south; simplify and expedite procedures; remove quotas; lift access impediments within Gaza; do not attack in areas and times of deliveries; allow entry to food, water, hygiene, shelter, health, fuel, gas and beyond. Read the entire statement here:
Secretary-General on the humanitarian situation in Gaza
5/23, the Secretary-General stated: “Palestinians in Gaza are enduring what may be the cruelest phase of this cruel conflict. For nearly 80 days, Israel blocked the entry of life-saving international aid. As the world’s leading hunger assessment found, the entire population of Gaza is facing the risk of famine. Families are being starved and denied the very basics. All with the world watching in real time.
Israel has clear obligations under international humanitarian law. It must treat civilians humanely, with respect for their inherent dignity. It must not forcibly transport, deport or displace the civilian population of an occupied territory. And as the occupying power, it must agree to allow and facilitate the aid that is needed.
Finally, a trickle of aid has crossed over. In recent days, almost 400 trucks were cleared for entry to Gaza through the Kerem Shalom crossing. But supplies from only 115 trucks have been able to be collected. And nothing has reached the besieged north.
We are working around the clock to get whatever aid we can to people in need. We managed to distribute some wheat flour, baby food, nutrition supplements and medicines. A few bakeries in south and central Gaza are operating. But let us not forget that we are operating in the middle of a military operation. In any case, all the aid authorized until now amounts to a teaspoon of aid when a flood of assistance is required.
The needs are massive –and the obstacles are staggering. Strict quotas are being imposed on the goods we distribute – along with unnecessary delay procedures. Other essentials – including fuel, shelter, cooking gas, and water purification supplies – are prohibited.
We continue to request for safety and security mitigation measures to be in place for our convoys. Our staff life is at risk if we continue to be prevented from distributing food parcels and wheat flower directly to people in desperate need. Without those, and in the absence of the rule of law and a desperate population after months of blockade, and totally insufficient supply entering, the risk of security incidents and looting remains high.
Meanwhile, the Israeli military offensive is intensifying with atrocious levels of death and destruction. Today, 80 per cent of Gaza has been either designated an Israeli-militarized zone or an area where people have been ordered to leave.
Beyond questions about the particular number of trucks at any particular moment, it is important to stay fixed on the big picture. The big picture is that without rapid, reliable, safe and sustained aid access, more people will die – and the long-term consequences on the entire population will be profound.
UN has been clear: We will not take part in any scheme that fails to respect international law and the humanitarian principles of humanity, impartiality, independence and neutrality. We have been equally clear about what is needed: A permanent ceasefire; the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages; and full humanitarian access.
UN and our partners have a detailed, principled, operationally-sound 5-stage plan – supported by Member States – to get aid to a desperate population. A mechanism to: Ensure the delivery of aid to Gaza; inspect and scan aid at crossing points; transport aid from crossing points to humanitarian facilities; prepare aid for onward distribution; And transport aid to people in need.
We have the personnel, the distribution networks, the systems and community relationships in place to act. The supplies – 160,000 pallets, enough to fill nearly 9,000 trucks – are waiting.
This is my appeal for life-saving aid for the long-suffering people of Gaza: Let’s do it right. And let’s do it right away.
Source: here
GAZA
Israel’s siege of Gaza continues, with only a smokescreen of allowed aid: 198 trucks were allowed entry between 5/18-21, although Israel permitted only 90 of them to be collected for distribution. At the same time, Israeli forces have further escalated air, land and sea bombardment in its new military operation, “Gideon’s Chariots,” killing hundreds, targeting hospitals, housing and water, and displacing more people. Now 81% of the Gaza Strip is off-limits to Palestinians.
· This week: 716 Palestinians killed, 2,104 injured
· Since the breaking of the ceasefire: 3,509 Palestinians killed, 9,909 injured
· Killed since 10/23/2023: 53,655+
· Injured since 10/23/2023: 121,950+
· Israeli soldiers killed in Gaza: 416 (2 this week)
· Israeli soldiers injured in Gaza: 2,668
· Hostages in Gaza: 58
For more detail on Gaza: here
· Israel Prison Service (IPS) data: as of 5/1, there are 10,068 Palestinians in custody, including 1,455 sentenced prisoners, 3,190 remand detainees, 3,577 held without trial, & 1,846 people held as “unlawful combatants.” These figures do not include Gazans who have been detained by the Israeli military since 10/7/23. The Palestinian Prisoners’ Society (PPS) raised the number of Gaza detainees who died in Israeli custody to 44.
Israeli attacks
· Since 5/15, 7 journalists were killed, raising the total of media workers killed since 10/2023 to 219, according to the Palestinian Journalists Syndicate (PJS). Most have been killed at home or in displacement tents along with family. An additional 430 journalists have been injured, 685 journalist family members have been killed, and over 1,000 journalists currently suffer from repeated displacement amid severe conditions.
· Attacks on 4 schools sheltering IDPs in Deir al Balah, Khan Younis, Gaza City, and Beit Lahiya killed at least 24 and injured over 58.
· 5 attacks this week killed 50 in residential buildings in Khan Younis; 6 attacks killed 55 in buildings and IDP tents in and around Beit Lahiya; 1 attack killed a family of 10 in Jabalya Al Balad.
· 5/18, attack on an IDP tent near a hospital in Al Mawasi killed 4, a father and his three sons, according to OHCHR.
· 5/19, the UN Human Rights Office (OHCHR) said in the past 48 hours, strikes intensified, especially in North Gaza, Khan Younis and Deir al Balah, killing 96 during the night and early morning of 5/17-18 alone. This included Israeli military strikes on IDP tents in Al Mawasi: “the pattern of strikes on Internally Displaced People’s (IDP) tents and residential buildings, as well as on crowded hospitals, indicates that little, if any, care is being taken to protect the lives of civilians in Gaza, while reports of the use of weapons with wide area effects suggest deliberate, indiscriminate attacks.” Since 5/1, IDP tents were targeted 55 times, killing over 160 people (over 30 children) and injuring over 100.
· 5/16, UNICEF Regional Director for MENA, Edouard Beigbeder, stated: children in Gaza “are suffering first and foremost, having to starve day after day only to be victims of indiscriminate attacks,” warning their “scars will endure a lifetime... [F]rom North to South, children are being killed and maimed in hospitals, in schools-turned-shelters, in makeshift tents, or in their parents’ arms… deprived of essential goods, services and lifesaving care.”
Health Care & Hospitals
· What happens when Israel attacks a hospital. The Israeli army is besieging yet another hospital in north Gaza, following the same playbook it has used throughout the war to invade and destroy Gaza's hospitals. here
· Director of Al Awda Hospital, Dr Mohammed Salha, described the daily horror his medical teams face as they work tirelessly under unimaginable conditions to save lives: “To say that Al-Awda Hospital in northern Gaza has been working in the most difficult and dangerous conditions, doesn’t really convey the horror of the situation on the ground… [In one night,] our teams treated 52 people. One of them was a baby girl, just a few months old. Both her legs had been shredded by bombings. We also received 9 bodies without life. 7 of them were children… Even after 19 months of this hell, I can tell you, no one gets used to the sight of innocent babies killed or mutilated for life. Our hearts break into a thousand pieces every time,” he said. “People are dying – not because we don’t know how to save them, but because we simply don’t have the basic minimum to save them…[and we] are all exhausted.” Over the past 19 months, Al Awda medical staff have been arrested without explanation, 6 killed inside the hospital and many killed at home with their families. Israel has attacked Al Awda more than 18 times, putting half of the hospital’s bed capacity out of service.
· 5/13- 20, hospitals and other health facilities across Gaza came under intense attacks, forcing many to suspend services.
· 5/13 European Gaza Hospital, in Khan Younis, was rendered non-functional by Israeli airstrikes that injured patients and other civilians and destroyed critical infrastructure. According to WHO, the hospital’s closure has cut off services including neurosurgery, cardiac care, and cancer treatment—all unavailable elsewhere in Gaza. here
· 5/15, Two Khan Younis hospitals were bombed, killing dozens, including prominent journalist Hassan Aslayeh in his clinic bed. (Electronic Intifada 5/16)
· 5/15-19, Al Awda Hospital was hit by multiple airstrikes and gunfire, endangering the hospital’s already limited ability to provide services. WHO reported on 5/20 that the hospital was overwhelmed with injuries and low on supplies. here
· 5/16 Red Crescent's Al-Qarara Medical Clinic in Khan Yunis, sustained major damage from Israeli airstrikes which shut the clinic.
· 5/16-18, Indonesian Hospital repeatedly attacked, putting it out of service. With full OR and ICU beds on 5/17, amid a shortage of blood units, Israeli forces blocked all access on 5/18 and bulldozed the courtyard. New patients were unable to enter and 2 were injured trying to leave. Israel destroyed the hospital’s backup generators on 5/19, causing a massive fire and total blackout. WHO reported the hostilities left the hospital barely functional, roads bulldozed and 15 people remaining inside in urgent need of food & water.
· 5/17, IDP tent adjacent to Al Kuwaiti Field Hospital in Al Mawasi area hit, killing 6. Surgical operations were suspended due to damage to the hospital’s generator and other departments. 5/19, partial repairs allowed the hospital to resume emergency surgeries.
· 5/19, Israel destroyed the medical supplies warehouse of Nasser Medical Complex. Medical Aid for Palestine reported that what little was left remains unusable, and described catastrophic conditions at the hospital: “patients are forced to sleep in hallways, with beds scattered across every available space. Six operating theatres are running non-stop, yet the constant influx of casualties far exceeds capacity…ICU, designed for 12 patients, now houses more than 24. An emergency extension was created after recent bombings damaged the surgical department, but it fails to meet basic standards.”
· 5/17-19 May, Al Aqsa Hospital (Deir al Balah), the Jordanian Field Hospital (Khan Younis), and Kamal Adwan Hospital (North Gaza) all damaged by Israeli strikes.
· 5/19, Sheikh Hamad Hospital for Rehabilitation and Prosthetics was hit, damaging the building and disrupting services.
· “Pregnant and breastfeeding women are engaged in a daily battle for survival,” warns UNFPA. Only 7 hospitals and 4 field hospitals provide obstetric and newborn care in face of supply shortages: more than half of essential maternal and newborn medicines are out of stock. 1/3 of pregnancies are considered high-risk, 1/5 of newborns are born preterm or underweight, requiring increasingly unavailable specialist care. Nearly 11,000 pregnant women are already reported to be at risk of famine and nearly 17,000 PBW will need urgent treatment for acute malnutrition over the coming months. Collapsing WASH infrastructure compounds suffering and complications: “With barely any access to clean water or hygiene facilities, infectious diseases and sexually transmitted infections are also reportedly on the rise, including among pregnant women, which makes them even more vulnerable to complications,” UNFPA said.
· The war where women’s bodies lost their rights. The war in Gaza is not only the story of rubble and airstrikes. It is the story of the girl getting her period under bombardment, the mother bleeding in silence and miscarrying on cold floors or giving birth under drones. here
· 2/1- 5/17, WHO supported the medical evacuation of 1,702 patients. More than 10,500 patients, including over 4,000 children, remain in urgent need of medical evacuation.
Aid
· 5/14-20, of 58 planned aid movements, 60% denied by the Israeli authorities, 10 impeded, 7 facilitated, and 5 withdrawn for logistical, operational, or security reasons. These include 11 attempts in or to northern Gaza (5 facilitated, 6 denied) and 47 attempts in southern Gaza (2 facilitated, 30 denied, 10 impeded, and 5 withdrawn).
· 5/19, foreign ministers of 24 countries and the EU representatives called on Israel "to allow a full resumption of aid to Gaza immediately and enable the UN and humanitarian organizations to work independently and impartially to save lives, reduce suffering and maintain dignity.”
· Geneva-based NGO Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor reported that 26 Palestinians died in 24 hours due to starvation and lack of treatment and called this a deliberate effort by Israel to weaken the will of the Palestinians. (Palestine Chronicle 5/18)
· Escalating strikes, displacement, and shrinking humanitarian space has caused an unprecedented disruption to protection activities, case management and counselling, suspending lifesaving services for 47,000 people in Gaza City, Khan Younis, Deir al Balah, and North Gaza. Displacement of over 52 staff has left people in need, particularly, women, children, persons with disabilities and the elderly, with little or no access to critical support. UNFPA has warned that the only safe house for women in Gaza is now inaccessible, the safe spaces women and girls that remain operational are only partially functioning despite the rise in gender-based violence: "The threats to women and girls in Gaza extend far beyond the immediate horrors of bombs, bullets and starvation. As repeated displacement forces families into overcrowded living conditions, without privacy or sanitation, the risks of gender-based violence, sexual exploitation and abuse are escalating alarmingly, further stripping them of their dignity and jeopardizing their survival.”
· 5/20, UN warned that 14,000 babies could die in Gaza in the next 48 hours without aid. The UN humanitarian chief said aid lorries, which contain baby food and nutrition, are technically in Gaza but have not reached civilians as Israel continues to block aide despite promise to lift siege. (Guardian 5/20)
· ‘Blueprint for Ethnic Cleansing’: NGOs condemn Gaza aid plan. International aid organizations are calling an Israeli-U.S. plan to bring humanitarian aid to Gaza a "politicized sham" and a "blueprint for ethnic cleansing." Meanwhile, the UN warns 14,000 babies could die within days if Gaza does not receive aid. here
· Israel's plan to handle the distribution of aid in Gaza via a U.S. private contractor is a key part of its plan to ethnically cleanse its population. Here's how. here
Displacement and Evacuation
· 5/14-20, Israel issued new displacement orders making 81% of Gaza off-limits to Palestinians. Hospitals in these areas were not ordered to evacuate but were not permitted to admit new patients. This re-escalation of attacks displaced 599,100 people (about 30% of the population), many fleeing with no belongings. Affected areas include: 212 IDP sites, 65 Temporary Learning Spaces (30,700 students and 18 teachers), 18 WASH facilities, 12 hospitals, 2 field hospital, 21 primary healthcare center (PHC) and 37 medical points. Humanitarian staff were forced to evacuate their sites with any supplies they could carry.
Food and Nutrition
· 5/20, about 304,000 daily meals were prepared and delivered by 16 partners in 70 kitchens, a slight increase compared to early May. However, 1 cooked meal daily does not meet needs for minimum calories nor dietary diversity. WFP-collected testimonies highlight the acute levels of hunger: “Parents put their children to bed early so they don’t have to try to find dinner. With the continued closure of the borders, we often hear from Palestinians here that it feels like a slow death sentence. Famine doesn’t happen overnight. You slowly lose access to food. Then you lose weight. Then you lose your strength. And what haunts us most as humanitarian workers is hearing people say they’d rather die from an airstrike than go through the suffering of a lack of food and lie to their children about their next meal.”
· Latest Integrated IPC analysis concluded the entire population is acutely food insecure, malnutrition is surging, and nearly half a million people are projected to face catastrophic levels of hunger (IPC 5) between May and September 2025. The threat to health is intensified by the deterioration in all living conditions, especially access to safe water.
· WFP's data shows shortages of key commodities, with items such as eggs and frozen meat completely absent. Prices of items that remain available have skyrocketed; wheat flour soared by over 3,000%, cooking gas over 5000%. WFP staff report: “In the market, you could only find spoiled, infested flour with the worst smell imaginable. But when that’s all there is, you use it.”
· Of 49,527 children screened for malnutrition in the first two weeks of May, 2,917 were diagnosed with acute malnutrition. As nutrition partners have been forced to suspend operations due to shortages of preventive and treatment supplies, deteriorating security, and access constraints, there are now only 4 stabilization centers remaining for the treatment of severe acute malnutrition (SAM) in Gaza: 2 in Deir al Balah, 1 in Khan Younis and 1 in Gaza City. IPC analysis estimates over 70,000 children (age 6- 59 months) will suffer from acute malnutrition between April 2025-March 2026, including 14,000 children expected to face SAM, requiring immediate, life-saving treatment and nutritional support.
Water and Sanitation
· Displacement orders place 65% of WASH assets and facilities within the Israeli-demilitarized zone or in areas that have been placed under displacement orders since 5/18. These include: 33 of 46 desalination plants (72%), 43 of 52 water reservoirs (83%), 204 of 336 water wells (61%), and 45 of 70 wastewater pumping stations (64%).
· Lack of fuel is especially dire in Al Mawasi, unconnected to the water network and entirely dependent on water trucking. Infrastructure damage has led to sewage overflows, significantly increasing the risk of flooding, environmental contamination, and deterioration of public health. Israeli authorities consistently deny access to stored fuel.
· 5/21, Gaza Municipality warned of a looming fuel-induced water crisis, worsened by ongoing displacement. Mekorot pipeline has been shut down since 5/19 due to maintenance work. Israel has damaged 115 km of water pipelines, 63 wells, 4 reservoirs, & a desalination plant that previously produced about 10,000 cubic meters of water daily.
· 5/20, Deir al Balah Municipality announced its coastal Water Well #6 had been hit, limiting or cutting off water access amid rising temperatures and growing displacement. The well was the last remaining major water source for large areas of Deir al Balah after Israel bulldozed Well #5, cut off the Mekorot water in January, and cut power to the desalination plant in March. Other wells remain inoperable due to lack of access. The municipality confirmed that Deir al Balah’s water sector is on the verge of total collapse.
WEST BANK, INCLUDING EAST JERUSALEM
· In the past week, Israeli forces killed 8 (2 children) Palestinians and injured 45.
For more West Bank information: here
Israeli attacks
· 5/15, Israeli forces surrounded a house in Tammun (Tubas), launched shoulder-fired grenades, in an exchange of gunfire killed 5 Palestinians. They withheld 4 bodies; the 5th was retrieved by residents. House was made uninhabitable, displacing 2 families (6 people).
· 5/16, Israeli forces shot and killed a 17-year-old boy who stabbed and injured an Israeli soldier near Bab as Silsileh (Chain Gate, an entrance to Al Aqsa Mosque compound). The injured boy received no medical attention for 30 minutes. Israeli forces raided his family’s house in Beit Hanina and assaulted and detained his parents and 2 of his siblings.
· 5/17, Israeli forces shot, killed, and withheld the body of a 16-year-old boy and injured 2 others near the entrance of Burqa village (Nablus). The Israeli military claimed they were throwing stones at Israeli vehicles.
Demolitions & Displacement
This week, Israeli authorities demolished 25 Palestinian-owned structures for lack of Israeli-issued building permits, displacing 8 households (42 Palestinians, 22 children), and affecting the livelihoods of at least 140 people.
· Of the total, 22 people (16 children) were displaced in East Jerusalem. The displaced family in Um Tuba received the 1st stop work order in 2003, which they have been appealing in Israeli courts for more than 20 years, paying fines of over 200,000 NIS (US$56,380). In Jabal al Mukabbir and in Wadi al Joz, 2 families were forced to demolish their own homes after appealing demolition orders issued in 2020 and 2025 respectively. Both families engaged in legal battles and paid fines in monthly instalments to the Jerusalem Municipality but resorted to demolition to avoid further financial penalties. Legal battles against demolition orders are protracted, East Jerusalem families are forced to demolish their own homes to mitigate costs and avoid additional punitive measures. The number of Palestinian East Jerusalem homes demolished by their owners has been on the rise over the past 5 years: 521 structures between 2020-2024, compared with 280 structures between 2009-2019. So far in 2025, 47 of 76 structures (62%) in East Jerusalem were demolished by their owners.
Settler violence, settlement expansion, movement restrictions
In the past week, settlers, some accompanied by soldiers, carried out 28 attacks injuring 9 Palestinians (2 children) as well as 2 Israeli activists and 1 foreign national. The attacks also damaged 26 vehicles, destroyed 100 olive trees, and killed 17 sheep.
· 5/13, settlers accompanied by Israeli forces attacked herders in Tuwani (Hebron), injuring 3 with sticks and batons, killing 17 sheep and vandalizing a vehicle.
· 5/17, settler assaulted a 2-year old girl walking with her mother in Hebron, causing her to lose consciousness and fall. Israeli forces provided first aid and transport to a hospital.
Developments in the northern West Bank
· 5/14, Israeli woman from Bruchin settlement was travelling near Bruqin (Salfit) and was shot and killed, her husband injured, in an alleged attack by a Palestinian. Woman was 9-months pregnant; doctors performed a C-section and the baby remains in critical condition.
· Afterwards, settlers from Bruchin and other settlements attacked Palestinians throughout Salfit. Settlers vandalized 17 Palestinian-owned vehicles, destroying 15 and damaging 2. Settlers in Deir Istiya broke into a home, set it on fire with a Molotov cocktail. Settlers raided Haris and threw stones at a home and damaged a vehicle. In Bruqin, settlers bulldozed over 200 dunums (49 acres) of land, erected a tent at the town’s entrance, and have been harassing and intimidating residents of buildings nearby. In one incident, hundreds of settlers gathered and threw stones at Palestinian houses, breaking windows and doors of 3 houses and burning a Palestinian-owned bulldozer. Israeli forces then confiscated 13 dunums (3 acres) near the village for military purposes, conducted widespread house-to-house searches and interrogations. They took over a residential building to use as an interrogation center for 5 days and took over 4 other residences to use as military posts, forcing families to leave.
· For 8 days, Israeli forces imposed a closure on Bruqin and Kafr ad Dik (Salfit), a population of 11,000. They imposed access restrictions on roads into Salfit and surrounding villages, setting up checkpoints and launching a large‐scale operation. A curfew allowed residents to leave their homes only 2 hours a day. OHCHR raised concerns: “Israel must take immediate steps to end the apparent collective punishment of Palestinians in the West Bank…denying them access to supplies, schools and critical health services, carried out mass arrests accompanied by physical assault, and confiscated and damaged land and property including schools.”
· 5/17, Israeli forces shot and killed a Palestinian man during their ongoing operation in Bruqin. According to the UN Human Rights Office (OHCHR), the man was arrested and detained for more than an hour before being killed in custody. Israeli forces said he was killed while running toward them with a bag.
· 5/16, OHCHR called on Israel to end unlawful use of force and extrajudicial killings and instead find recourse in the justice system: “Over the last 2 weeks, Israeli security forces have killed 2 Palestinian men in planned summary executions, while 7 Palestinians were killed in conditions that raise concerns of the use of unnecessary or disproportionate lethal force. An Israeli woman was shot and killed on a highway in the occupied West Bank by as yet unidentified assailants. Israel must ensure that all those responsible for unlawful killings are brought to justice in fair trials.”
· 5/15 incident drove 5 families (25 people) from their homes and prevented their return for 48 hours.
· 5/19, Israeli forces demolished a 3-story Bruqin residential building with 6 apartments (3 inhabited, 3 under construction), displacing 3 households (16 people, 7 children). The families were given 24-hour notice before the demolition and lost all personal belongings. Israeli forces announced the building was demolished due to its “illegality and security threat” that over the next few weeks they would demolish more buildings near Road 446.
· 5/14, In Kafr ad Dik (6,600 residents), Israeli forces started large-scale, search-and-arrest operations. They systematically entered 90% of residences and vandalized property, including vehicles. The town has been completely sealed off for 7 days. Multiple men have been arrested.
· The Palestinian District Coordination and Liaison Office (PAL-DCO) serves as the channel coordinating access from and to Bruqin and Kafr ad Dik, particularly for urgent medical cases, including dialysis and food supply. Coordination with Israeli authorities takes up to 2 hours. 5/18, a 4-hour window for residents of both towns to access essential goods from local markets and pharmacies was arranged; Israeli forces have not allowed bread delivery to either town.
· Israeli forces continue to prevent the access of residents in Tulkarm refugee camps and in and around Jenin refugee camp. 5/17, Israeli forces shot and injured two Palestinians, including a man in his sixties, as they attempted to return to their homes in Jenin refugee camp. 5/18, two Palestinians attempted to retrieve their belongings from their homes in Tulkarm refugee camp, where Israeli forces have issued an order to demolish 58 structures. While attempting to enter, Israeli forces shot and injured both men. 5/20, Israeli forces displaced three refugee families, comprising about 15 people, from their homes in the "Tal'at al Ghubaz" area, near Jenin refugee camp. These families had previously been ordered to leave during the initial stages of the operation on 1/21but had later returned to their homes from their own volition. Some 40,000 Palestinians remain displaced in the northern West Bank.
· Movement restrictions in Jenin, Tulkarm, Tubas and Qalqiliya hinder ambulances and health care worker access. In the 1st 4 months of 2025, 108 attacks on health care were recorded by WHO in the West Bank. From 10/7/2023- 5/7/2025, WHO documented 791 attacks on health care across the West Bank, affecting 62 health facilities, 22 mobile clinics, and 526 ambulances.
· Ongoing Israeli operations in the northern West Bank refugee camps have closed UNRWA clinics, interruption services at health facilities, and damaged infrastructure causing electricity and water cuts and compromising vaccine cold chains, denying access to 161,400 women of reproductive age and 71,000 adolescent girls of access to sexual and reproductive health services. While 61% of health facilities in Jenin and Tulkarm remain functional, access to care has been restricted due to damage to roads, insecurity, & access restrictions imposed by Israeli forces, leading to increases in maternal risk and mortality.
· 5/21, Israeli forces fired at a diplomatic delegation’s visit to Jenin. Diplomats from 32 countries visited the Governor of Jenin before proceeding to 2 locations: a metal road gate and earth mounds at entrances to Jenin refugee camp. When preparing to leave, Israeli forces began firing live ammunition. No casualties were reported. The Israeli military stated that its forces fired warning shots after the delegation deviated from the approved route.
· Over 90% of 132 Palestinians killed by Israeli forces in the West Bank this year were in the 6 northern West Bank governorates: Jenin, Tubas, Tulkarm, Nablus, Qalqilya and Salfit. 4 soldiers and 4 settlers were killed by Palestinians in the northern West Bank during the same period.
ISRAEL
· Israel announced the initial phase of “Gideon’s Chariots,” the expanded ground invasion to permanently “conquer” Gaza, amid reports that Trump reneged on his deal with Hamas to lift the blockade, and will reportedly expel 1 million Gazans to Libya. (Haaretz 5/18) here
· This article presents an overview of the ways in which Israel’s High Court has repeatedly denied all requests to protect Gazans, which has enabled the withholding of medical treatment, the disappearing of people, the denial of media access, and the denial of food aid leading to widespread hunger and starvation. here
· 5/18, Zaher Shushtari, a West Bank resident being held without trial in an Israeli prison, was denied hospitalization for more than three weeks despite diagnoses of multiple sclerosis, diabetes, and severe weight loss. The medical recommendation for hospitalization was denied because he had contracted scabies, which is widespread in Israeli prisons. A medical opinion submitted as part of a petition to the High Court indicated that the discontinuation of his treatment could result in irreversible consequences, including paralysis and blindness. here
US
· Ben Cohen, co-founder of Ben and Jerry’s, was removed from the Senate floor after protesting military aid to Israel and calling for humanitarian aid to Gaza. (Palestine Chronicle 5/15)
· Microsoft says it provided AI to Israel for Gaza War but denies use to harm Palestinians. (Haaretz 5/17)
· How does a genocide end? And specifically, how do people of conscience, acting with majority support of the U.S. public, organize to end it? here
US universities
· NYU withholds diploma from graduation speaker and pursues discipline for graduation speaker who condemned Gaza atrocities (WaPo 5/16)
· Twenty-five students across four California State campuses have launched hunger strikes in solidarity with Palestine. They join a wave of protests demanding an immediate end to U.S. support for the genocide in Gaza. here
· Anna Feder is suing Emerson College for firing her over her Palestine activism, which included running the Bright Lights Cinema Series, a free public exhibition program prioritizing social justice cinema at Emerson College in Boston that included screening the film Israelism. here
· Faculty at Columbia and other campuses around the nation continue their weekly vigils for students and scholars abducted or forced to flee by ICE. Important toolkit: here
· Judge Blocks Trump Effort to Bar International Students at Harvard. Harvard sued and asked for a restraining order less than 24 hours after the Trump administration had said it would block current and future international students from attending the university. here
SOURCES
OCHAOPT, Palestine Chronicle, Washington Post, Haaretz, Electronic Intifada, Guardian, Common Dreams, Lancet, ASM Journals, Sage, Sleep, Mondoweiss, New York Times