Urgent Health Update: Consequences of war on Gaza, West Bank/East Jerusalem, Syria, Lebanon, and Yemen - July 19, 2025
Action Items
1. A report by UN Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese exposed the big tech companies profiting from Israeli apartheid, occupation, and genocide: Alphabet (Google), Amazon, Microsoft, HP, IBM and Palantir. But UN Secretary General António Guterres is ignoring the report by hosting the UN’s annual AI for Good Summit in Geneva honoring big tech execs. Write him to change his mind! here
2. 450,000 people from around the world think UN human rights expert Francesca Albanese and the doctors of Gaza deserve a Nobel Peace Prize. As the Trump administration sanctions Francesca, show the world stands with the voices speaking truth. Add your name: sign here
3. Doctors Against Genocide is launching an emergency campaign to rebuild care by constructing a 140-bed field hospital at the former Al-Shifa hospital site. This is solidarity, not charity. Donate: here
4. Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya, Director of Kamal Adwan Hospital has been imprisoned by Israel since 12/27/24, “enduring starvation, torture, solitary confinement, and total deprivation, buried underground, with no exposure to sunlight.” Keep speaking up for Dr. Safiya and all political prisoners. Share this post: here
Journal articles
Conflict and Health: A cross-sectional study of 500 women and newborns delivered at the 3 largest Gaza obstetric centers, Oct-Nov/2024. Low birth weight prevalence 10.8% (median weight = 3100 g). Nearly 2/3 women lacked sufficient food; OVER ½ reported only 2 meals a day. Nearly all women (n=90%) reported moderate to high levels of stress. “Targeted interventions to safeguard maternal nutrition, ensure continuity of antenatal care, and provide psychosocial support are urgently needed.” here
Conflict and Health: A cross-sectional survey of Gazan adults (n=405) Nov.2024 – Jan.2025, found “alarmingly high” levels of depression (73%), anxiety (65%), and PTSD (84%). Nearly ½ of participants experienced death of a family member (46%) and 81% had witnessed someone being killed or injured. “The urgent need not only for medical and psychosocial support, but more critically, for an end to the ongoing violence that continues to devastate lives and communities.”
Asia Pacific Journal of Public Health: The Asia-Pacific Academic Consortium for Public Health issued a statement on the humanitarian and public health crises in Gaza, calling on governments, international organizations, and public health institutes to ensure unrestricted humanitarian access, protect health care workers and facilities, rebuild health infrastructure, address mental health needs, and strengthen regional collaboration among Asia-Pacific nations to address public health emergencies. here
Preprint: A retrospective review of 362 Gazan trauma patients between June-Oct.2024. Leading causes of trauma were blast injuries (48%) and gunshot wounds (31%). The most common injuries were femur fractures (37%) and acute open fractures (36%). The “importance of targeted trauma care protocols and resource planning in conflict zones.” here
OpinioJuris: The Systematic Destruction of Healthcare in Gaza. here
Videos
West Bank Forced Displacement Emergency, moderated by Shaina Low, Communication Adviser, Norwegian Refugee Council: here, Passcode: sR^gsg35
Mental Health During Genocide: Hilary Rantisi and Dr. Yasser Abu Jamei, psychiatrist and Director of the Gaza Community Mental Health Program (GCMHP) discuss how they continue to serve Gazans, train mental health providers, and offer critical services and knowledge under genocidal conditions. here
Gazafication of the West Bank with Diana Buttu. JVP Health Advisory Council webinar recording here.
GAZA
Israeli forces continue air, land and sea bombardment, issued 2 additional displacement orders (86% of Gaza is now “off-limits”), reinstated bans on fishing and swimming, and expanded ground attacks. Strikes on people sheltering in schools and tents and those seeking food, water and healthcare cause mass casualties. Since its inception, the mercenary Gaza Humanitarian Foundation has killed 851 and injured 5,634 people seeking food. The Israeli ban on fuel entry remains, but a tiny amount entered this week; lack of fuel puts hospitals and water systems on the verge of shutdown. Lack of food means 1 in 3 people go without food daily.
This week: 648 Palestinians killed, 2,198 injured
Since Israel broke the ceasefire: 7,750 Palestinians killed, 27,566 injured
Killed since 10/07/2023: 58,573+ of whom 31% children, 16% women, 46% men, and 7% elderly.
Injured since 10/07/2023: 139,607+
Israeli soldiers killed in Gaza: 449 (5 this week)
Israeli soldiers injured in Gaza: 2,803 (22 this week)
Hostages in Gaza: 50
For more information: here
United Nations
7/12, joint statement by OCHA, OHCHR, UNDP, UNFPA, UNICEF, UNOPS, UNRWA, WFP and WHO warned that Gaza’s fuel shortage has reached critical levels, crippling hospitals, water systems, sanitation networks, ambulances, transport, bakeries and kitchens, and every aspect of humanitarian operations keeping 2.1 million people alive. Without adequate fuel, UN agencies will likely be forced to stop operations completely, meaning no health services, no clean water, and no capacity to deliver aid. For the first time in 130 days, a small amount of fuel entered Gaza this week, only a small fraction of what is needed to keep daily life and critical aid operations running. Fuel must be allowed into Gaza in sufficient quantities and consistently to sustain life-saving operations. See the complete statement here:
7/16, Tom Fletcher, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs presented the Security Council with a briefing characterized by frustration bordering on despair: “Food is running out. Those seeking it risk being shot. People are dying trying to feed their families. Field hospitals receive dead bodies, and medical workers hear stories firsthand from the injured. Day, after day, after day. Starvation rates among children hit their highest levels in June, with over 5,800 girls and boys diagnosed as acutely malnourished. Last week, amid this hunger crisis, children and women were killed in a strike while waiting for the food supplements to keep them alive.”
He emphasized the precarious fuel situation due to the Israeli enforced fuel shortage; the increase in violence, displacement and movement restrictions in the West Bank; and the deadly practices of the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, without it using its name.
“Each time that we report on what we see, we face threats of further reduced access to the civilians we are trying to serve. We face that tension everywhere but nowhere is that tension between our advocacy mandate and delivering aid greater than in Gaza. Visas are not renewed or reduced in duration, explicitly in response to our work on protection of civilians. Security clearances are not granted for staff to enter Gaza to continue their work. Humanitarian partners are increasingly denied entry to Gaza. In 2025, 56% of the entries denied were for Emergency Medical Teams.”
He then described the bureaucratic barriers Israel has imposed to bringing “a simple bag of flour” into the Gaza Strip, and the proven alternatives of established UN aid mechanisms and humanitarian principles.
He then reminded the Security Council, “the International Court of Justice has demanded that Israel take immediate and effective measures to enable the provision of urgently needed basic services and humanitarian assistance” and challenged them “to assess whether Israel is meeting its international legal obligations… Is this allowing and facilitating rapid, unimpeded passage of impartial humanitarian relief, as the rules of war demand? Or is it obstruction?”
He recognized the Israeli use of starvation of civilians and the forcible displacement of Palestinians as war crimes, emphasizing that: “States and armed groups must uphold the rules – forged because of the horrors of conflict and hatred – that protect civilians in war…We hold all parties to the standards of international law in this conflict. We don’t have to choose – and in fact, we must not choose – between demanding the end to the starvation of civilians in Gaza and demanding the unconditional release of all the hostages… And we must reject antisemitism… But we must also hold Israel to the same principles and laws of all other states. Humanitarian aid must be allowed to enter at scale. And humanitarian workers must be protected.”
See the complete statement here:
Killing of Civilians in Gaza Waiting in Line for Humanitarian Aid Must End, Relief Chief Tells Security Council, Urging Return to UN-Led Delivery Mechanism here
Israeli attacks
· “The Israeli military continues to kill and gravely injure hundreds of Palestinians as they desperately seek the little shelter and food available, raising further concerns that Israel is inflicting on Palestinians conditions of life increasingly incompatible with their continued existence in Gaza,” stated OHCHR. Among 21 attacks on IDP tents documented by OHCHR on 7/8-9, 9 were in the Al Mawasi area (Khan Younis), where families are in such close quarters that “any strike on them often results in the killing of entire families.” OHCHR highlighted the unlawful limitations on the entry of food and other items essential for the survival of the civilian population, the poor modes of operation at militarized distribution sites where people, mainly young men and boys, continue to be shot and killed, and the rising violence involving Palestinian armed and criminal groups in a context of destroyed law enforcement and judicial systems. Regarding “reported plans by Israeli authorities to concentrate much of the population in a so-called ‘humanitarian city’ in Rafah,” OHCHR called on Israel to “refrain from taking any steps aimed at, or which may result in, the forcible transfer of the Palestinian population within Gaza or its deportation outside of the Strip.”
· Satellite data analyzed by Hebrew University shows 70% of buildings in Gaza are so severely damaged they are no longer habitable. In Rafah, 89% of buildings are destroyed. "The residents of Gaza have nowhere to return to. The world they knew, and their daily lives are simply gone. The devastation is on every level, from homes that have been demolished to public institutions, workplaces, schools and agricultural lands – everything has been destroyed." here
· IDF repeated its ban on Palestinians accessing the Mediterranean Sea, in place since 10/7/2023 but rarely enforced. Amid high temperatures and an almost entirely destroyed water network, the Mediterranean is one of the only remaining places for Gazans to cool off, bathe, and fish for food. A mother shared: “I'm literally dizzy from hunger, thirst and the heat. Gaza is going through the worst famine, we haven't eaten, and we can't even find a piece of bread…We are camped by the sea. Where else can we go? Are they going to ban the air from us next?" here
· In Act of 'Brutal Sadism,' Israel Bans Gazans From Entering Sea Under Pain of Death. "This is not about security," said the head of Gaza's fishers' union. "It's economic, social, and psychological warfare, a weapon of slow, deliberate suffocation." here
· Israeli army is weaponizing Chinese-made drones to police expulsion orders across Gaza, with soldiers saying they deliberately target so others will “learn” not to return, an investigation revealed. (+972 News 7/13)
· 7/10, airstrike hit an area in front of Project HOPE’s Altayara health clinic in Deir al Balah, where patients had gathered to “receive treatment for malnutrition, infections, chronic illnesses, and more,” killing 15 (9 children) and injuring 30 (19 children). Also in Deir al Balah, on 7/13, 17 were killed (7 children) and others were injured while queuing to receive water.
· 7/10 July, an airstrike struck the Orphans Department of Human Appeal’s North Gaza office, killing 3 staff at their desks and injuring 3.
· 7/16, the Red Cross (ICRC) reported a staff member killed while attempting to reach and assist an injured family member.
· 7/10 Red Cross/ Red Crescent rescue mission coordinated with Israel, came under attack despite travelling in illuminated and clearly marked vehicles, wounding 2.
· 7/8-10, 3 schools sheltering IDPs were hit in Khan Younis and Jabalya, killing 17 and injuring others.
· 7/11, 10 Palestinians were killed and 60 injured at a militarized food distribution site in Rafah. 7/12, Red Cross Field Hospital in Rafah received 132 patients, 31 declared dead upon arrival, wounded while attempting to access food distribution sites.
· 7/11 & 13, 3 journalists were killed: 1 at home in Deir al Balah; another while checking his home near Gaza City; another killed with his pregnant wife and 3 children in their IDP tent in Al Mawasi. In June, PJS reports 7 journalists killed and 16 injured.
· 7/10-11, 5 killed and others injured in a residential building in Al Bureij Camp, Deir al Balah, and 6 killed sheltering in a gas station.
· 7/11, 9 killed (4 children) in an IDP tent in Khan Younis.
· 7/12 & 14, 29 killed, and dozens missing under the rubble, in 3 residential buildings in North Gaza.
· 7/12-14, 36 killed, including a surgeon, and dozens injured in hits on a home, market and IDP shelters in and around Gaza City.
· 7/16, 21 killed, including 15 who died from tear gas poisoning and stampede, at a militarized distribution site in Khan Younis.
Aid
· 7/9-15, of 66 aid movements coordinated with Israeli authorities, 17% were denied, 33% were impeded, 45% were facilitated, and 5% were withdrawn.
· Israel has banned critical medical equipment from entering Gaza, including operating tables, scalpels, vaporizers, and components for ultrasound machines, labeling the items “dual use” and claiming they could be used by Hamas. Aid organizations must also contend with prohibitions on tents, solar panels, and fire extinguishers. here
· At Least 20 Killed in Stampede Outside a Gaza Food Site, Aid Group Says. Gazan health ministry said that tear gas had been fired into a crowd gathered at the distribution site, causing the stampede. 21 people were killed, 15 of whom suffocated. The deaths bring the number of people killed while trying to get food from the foundation, which is backed by Israel and the United States, to about 700 since late May, according to data provided this week by the United Nations. here
Health Care & Hospitals
· A survey revealed the mortality for MSF staff and families to be 5 times higher than mortality estimates prior to 10/7/2023. More than 2% of MSF staff and their families died, 74% from war injuries, overwhelmingly blast injuries. 40% of blast injuries were among children <10 and mortality rates for children <5 and neonates were, respectively, 10 and 6 times higher than pre-war levels. Only 2% of staff had a house that remained untouched; 39% were damaged and 59% destroyed. Half of MSF staff families were forced to change residence 5+ times, and 41% currently live in tents. MSF noted that results cannot be generalized to the whole population given that “medical staff and their families, including MSF, could be considered as having better access to healthcare than the rest of the people in Gaza.”
· Gaza City reports 200% over capacity in maternity and neonatal ICU beds. “Due to widespread malnutrition among pregnant women and poor water and sanitation, many babies are being born prematurely,” said an MSF doctor. “Our neonatal ICU is severely overcrowded, with four to five babies sharing a single incubator [at Al Helou Hospital]. This is my third time in Gaza, and I’ve never seen anything like this. Mothers are asking me for food for their children, women who are 6 months pregnant often weigh no more than 40 kilos. The situation is beyond critical.”
· “War on Children”: Dr. Tarek Loubani, an emergency room medical doctor who has been volunteering in Nasser Hospital in Gaza since June speaks on Massacres, Starvation and Israel’s Plan for Concentration Camps, He’s the medical director of the Glia Project. “Every day seems to be a new exercise in the depths of human depravity targeting of men, boys, women and children, especially in terms of the youngest children… I think every doctor that operates and works in Gaza will tell you that that’s the most jarring, the most terrible part of our job.” Transcript here Video here
· Israeli strike killed 15 people, including women and children, gathered outside a health center in the central Gazan city of Deir Al Balah , according to medical staff and officials in the enclave. here
· Gaza babies' lives at risk as Israel blocks fuel used in hospitals. "The situation is very catastrophic because the electricity will abruptly go off within 24 hours," one doctor warned. here
· A Gaza teen joins a generation of young amputees facing an unimaginable future. here
· No Cancer Care, No Dialysis, No Power: Gaza's Health System Is on the Brink of Collapse. Hospital beds and operating rooms have been cut by half, essential medicines have run out, and not a single MRI machine remains in Gaza. Only a third of hospitals are still functioning - and even those are barely holding on. Two of the largest hospitals have now announced that they will soon shut down, signaling the system's imminent collapse. here
Food & Nutrition
· Persistent famine and challenges accessing food, due to limited aid entry and ongoing looting and militarized distributions, cause most families to survive on a single nutritiously poor meal daily; but some people go entire days without eating. Many households report family members risk their lives trying to secure food, often unsuccessfully, from militarized distribution sites.
· In a briefing to journalists, WFP’s Deputy Executive Director, Carl Skau, stated that about 500,000 Gazans are starving. “I met many families who told me that there are days that their children are not eating at all and I heard mothers telling me how they're trying to have kids not play so that they don't draw more energy than they are able to provide them with through food.” He noted that people dying every day trying to get food is “the starkest illustration of how desperate this situation is.” He described WFP teams spending 15-20 hours at checkpoints, insufficient fuel supplies and spare parts for vehicles, and while there is enough food at the borders to feed the entire population for about 2 months, incoming supplies are not “enough to turn the tide of hunger.”
· MSF teams report an unprecedented rise in acute malnutrition among people in Al Mawasi and Gaza City, with >700 pregnant and breastfeeding women, and nearly 500 children with severe and moderate malnutrition, enrolled in outpatient therapeutic feeding programs at both clinics. Patient enrollment in Gaza City quadrupled in <2 months. “This is the first time we have witnessed such a severe scale of malnutrition cases in Gaza.”
· Medical officials warn of an imminent rise in deaths due to famine. Hospitals report an increase in patients suffering from severe malnutrition, exhaustion, and memory loss—symptoms of prolonged starvation. 17,000 children are suffering malnutrition; the starvation death toll has increased to 620, including 69 children. here
· Dr. Munir Al Borsh, General Director of the MoH, reported that 17,000 births were recorded in the first 6 months of 2025, a 41% decline from the 29,000 births during the same period in 2022. Of the 17,000 births, 15% were miscarriages, 15% were admitted to neonatal ICUs, 9% were underweight, and 9% were premature.
· Acute watery diarrhea now accounts for 44% of all reported illness, up from 39% last week; hospital visits confirm a sharp rise in admissions for severe dehydration. Acute jaundice syndrome and bloody diarrhea are on the rise due to lack of vaccination, rising malnutrition, water scarcity, accumulation of solid waste, and overburdened or damaged sewage systems. 7/1-9, 178 suspected cases of meningitis were reported, mostly among children <1. Most cases were of probable viral origin, though 29% were bacterial, with cases concentrated in Gaza City and Khan Younis. Hospitals report up to 3 patients sharing a bed, and limited diagnostic and isolation capacity. 5 new cases of acute flaccid paralysis were reported last week, bringing the 2025 total to 28. A new Vaccine-Derived Poliovirus Type 2 variant was found in environmental samples collected in May.
· MSF reported Israeli incursions forced the suspension of activities at Al Attar clinic and stopped ambulances from getting to Nasser Medical Complex. An MSF Supervisor at Al Attar said: "The quadcopter and the military vehicles stationed near the clinic were firing. Several bullets penetrated the facility. Then, we heard multiple explosions around the clinic, and shrapnel hit the building. We were stuck for over 30 hours, we continued working after a 24-hour shift.” Medical teams could not refer 2 boys in critical condition to any nearby hospital as they were either too dangerous to reach or already full.
Water & Sanitation
· Fuel supplies remain insufficient to operate water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) facilities. Ongoing sewage overflow reported in Gaza City and southern areas.
· Municipality of Gaza issued a warning about an imminent threat of overflow of a rainwater collection pond. Infrastructure damage and fuel shortages have led to the inflow of untreated sewage, significantly increasing the risk of flooding, environmental contamination, and public health hazards. The water level in the pond has risen to approximately 6.10m, increasing about 30cm daily. Drainage pump operation is reduced due to lack of fuel.
Child Protection & Birth Registration
· Unaccompanied and separated children (UASC) and those without parental care are among the most vulnerable groups in Gaza, facing neglect, exploitation, abuse, emotional distress, and social isolation. Separation from parents or caregivers – often due to death, detention, evacuation, or forced displacement – has devastating effects on children's mental health and development. Many UASC are now in the care of adults who themselves are facing health challenges or disabilities, placing both children and caregivers in fragile situations. Movement restrictions and security risks have severely limited the ability of families to reunite. UNICEF remains one of the few actors with capacity to facilitate reunifications, but delays and the denial of such missions by the Israeli authorities prolong separation and retraumatize children.
· The ongoing conflict and collapse of infrastructure have severely disrupted the birth registration system, leaving thousands of children without documentation (ID numbers or birth certificates). Estimates are about 10,000 newborns have not been registered since 10/7/2023, leaving them without documentation which could limit their access to health care, education, and humanitarian aid. Unregistered children are also more vulnerable to exploitation and trafficking. Unregistered children may grow up without any formal recognition of their existence, deepening cycles of marginalization and statelessness in an already fragile society.
WEST BANK, INCLUDING EAST JERUSALEM
In the past week, 7 Palestinians killed (1 child) and 115 (10 children) injured.
161 West Bank Palestinians have been killed so far in 2025.
For more West Bank information: here
· While the genocide in Gaza rages, the Israeli military and Israeli settlers are not-so-quietly carrying out a massive, increasingly coordinated campaign of ethnic cleansing across the Occupied West Bank. Tens of thousands of Palestinians have been forced to flee their homes and entire towns have been emptied: mass displacement on a scale not seen in the West Bank since 1967. here
Israeli attacks
· 7/10, during a 6-hour raid on Rummana village (Jenin), Israeli forces shot, killed and withheld the body of a Palestinian man who Israeli military say stabbed a soldier.
· 7/10, a settlement security guard was shot at, stabbed and killed by 2 Palestinian police officers in a shopping center in the Gush Etzion settlement (Hebron). Israeli military reports the 2 officers were shot by Israeli forces at the scene. Their bodies were withheld and Israeli forces closed town and village entrances and established checkpoints (Bethlehem and Hebron).
· 7/11, 2 Palestinians were killed (1 by gunshots; the other, 20-year-old US citizen Saifullah Musallet, beaten to death) and 58 injured in a settler attack on farmers working their land in Sinjil and Al Mazra’a ash Sharqiya towns (Ramallah). Settlers damaged and prevented an ambulance from reaching the wounded. Israeli forces arrived and fired ammunition and tear gas, injuring 13 Palestinians, before escorting settlers out of the area. In the same area on 6/25 & 27, settlers injured 4 Palestinians, and damaged agricultural structures and land, and vandalized 1 vehicle and stole another.
· American 'Brutally' Beaten To Death By Israeli Settlers In The West Bank. 20-year-old Tampa, Florida, native Sayfollah Musallet's family is calling the incident an “unimaginable nightmare." here, here, here
· ‘Why are you not preventing settler terrorism’: Palestinians call out IDF following beating death of American man. here, here
· 7/14, Israeli military shot, killed and withheld the body of a Palestinian man near Mevo Dotan checkpoint (Jenin).
· For hundreds of thousands of Palestinians across East Jerusalem, when Israel is at war, they have no place to go. With a near complete absence of shelters and reinforced safe rooms throughout East Jerusalem, Palestinians resort to hiding in stairwells or standing in areas of their homes that are farthest away from windows when missiles are aiming for the city. here
Demolitions, displacement and movement restrictions
This week, Israeli authorities demolished 29 Palestinian-owned structures for lack of Israeli-issued building permits, displacing 9 households (34 people, 8 children) and affecting the livelihoods of 100+ people.
· 7/8, the Palestinian District Coordination & Liaison Office (PAL DCO) requested Israeli military to give access to 50 Palestinian women to collect belongings before their Jenin refugee camp homes were demolished. Israeli forces allowed 1-hour access to 22 women, extensively searched by female soldiers. Home demolitions in Jenin camp continue.
· 7/15, a OHCHR statement denounced Israeli settlers and military who “have intensified their killings, attacks and harassment of Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, in the past weeks. This includes the demolition of hundreds of homes and forced mass displacement of Palestinians, contributing to the ongoing consolidation of annexation of West Bank territory by Israel, in violation of international law... [Israeli forces] have often used unnecessary or disproportionate force, including lethal force against Palestinians who did not pose an imminent threat to life,” including “unarmed Palestinians… attempting to go back to their homes in the refugee camps of Jenin, Tulkarem and Nur Shams.”
Intensification of Settler Attacks and Settlement Activities
Last week, 30 settler attacks caused casualties, property damage, or both, with both settlers and Israeli military killing 2 and injuring 92 Palestinians. 450 fruit, nut and olive trees were vandalized. 188 Palestinians were injured since June 1, the highest monthly figures since documentation began in 2005. 2/3 of injuries caused by settlers have occurred in NE Ramallah.
· 7/11, settlers attacked residents at a wedding in Sair village (Hebron), injured a 3-year-old girl. 7/13, settlers raided Sair again, storming the village as the military guarded the entrance, and injured 3, broke windows of 8 homes, set a vehicle on fire, and damaged solar panels, water tanks, a house under construction, and 2,200 plants and 27 almond trees.
· 7/8, Israeli settlers illegally installed 2 mobile housing units on Palestinian land bordering the closed H2 military zone in Hebron city, adjacent to a government school and Palestinian homes. 7/13, the military installed a gate at the main entrance to the neighborhood, used daily by 100 people. The gate and outpost are expected to affect 640 students and 35 school staff when the academic year begins mid-August.
· 6/1-7/14, Israeli settlers carried out multiple attacks targeting water springs and infrastructure in the Ramallah, Salfit, and Nablus governorates, including property belonging to the Palestinian Water Authority. Sometimes with military support they have bulldozed land, damaged water and telecommunications lines, prevented repairs, restricted access to agricultural lands, and attempted to take over water resources.
· Israeli human rights organizations Ir Amim and Peace Now report the resumption of the E1 settlement plan to expand Ma’ale Adumim settlement and connect it to Jerusalem. The plan includes construction of 3,412 housing units on 2,100 dunams (513 acres). The Israeli Security Cabinet approved 22 new settlements (49 since 10/7/2023) and approved road and barrier wall construction to divert Palestinian traffic between the central and southern West Bank away from Road 1, that links Jerusalem to Jericho via the area slated for E1 settlement. The humanitarian community has long objected to this fragmentation of the West Bank, and forcible transfer of 18 Palestinian Bedouin communities.
· Since January 2023, at least 2,895 Palestinians from 69 West Bank communities– primarily herding and Bedouin communities – have been displaced by settler violence and access restrictions. 45% of displaced families are from Ramallah governorate.
ISRAEL
· Israeli Minister: ‘Gaza must be in Ruins for Decades,’ as Airstrike Kills Children seeking Water. here
· IOF's Payment Model Exposes the True Aim of the Systematic Gaza Demolitions. While Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “negotiates” a cease-fire with Hamas, hundreds of Israeli bulldozers, excavators and Caterpillar D9 armored bulldozers press on with efforts to render Gaza uninhabitable for years to come. here
· Israel Unveils a Concentration Camp in Southern Gaza. Israel would create a ghetto which would quickly become a concentration camp on the ruins of the southern Gaza city of Rafah. here
· Israel's Military Lawyers Raise Concerns About New Plan to Move Hundreds of Thousands of Gazans. The military's legal branch has questioned whether the plan would expose Israel to accusations of forced displacement, which is illegal under international law. here
UNITED STATES
· I’m a Genocide Scholar. I Know It When I See It. My inescapable conclusion has become that Israel is committing genocide against the Palestinian people. Having grown up in a Zionist home, lived the first half of my life in Israel, served in the I.D.F. as a soldier and officer and spent most of my career researching and writing on war crimes and the Holocaust, this was a painful conclusion to reach, and one that I resisted as long as I could. here
· The fracturing of Project Esther: Project Esther assumes that Americans will indefinitely accept the conflation of criticism of Israeli policies with hatred of Jews. However, as images of Gaza's destruction have filled our social media feeds and as young Americans witness the systematic dismantling of Palestinian society, this conflation becomes increasingly untenable. When institutions invoke "Jewish safety" to justify censoring opposition to genocide, the cynicism becomes too obvious to ignore. here
· Mahmoud Khalil filed a claim detailing the harm he suffered as a result of his politically motivated arrest and detention. The claim is a precursor to a federal lawsuit against the Trump administration to be brought under the Federal Tort Claims Act, which allows individuals to sue the U.S. government for damages for civil law violations. (Center for Constitutional Rights 7/14)
· A growing movement is calling on Illinois to divest $100 in Israeli Bonds, and has filed an ethics complaint against Treasurer Michael Frerichs, alleging abuse of authority, corruption, improper use of state time, and misuse of public assets. (Mondoweiss 7/15)
· California AB 17, a state bill to silence Palestinian education in California K-12 schools, was pulled from consideration after tens of thousands of people flooded lawmakers with calls and emails. The bill would have censored criticism of Israel, erased Palestine from the curriculum, and criminalized public school teachers. (Arab Resource and Organizing Center)
US Universities
· How a Shadowy Online Blacklist Became a Legal Threat to Pro-Palestinian Activists. “Are you familiar with the Canary?” Senior ICE official testified in court that the Department of Homeland Security created a team to investigate student protesters “based on a list of 5,000 people identified on the Canary Mission website.” here
· Barnard College Vows to Stop Engaging With Some Student Activists to Settle a Lawsuit Brought by Jewish Students. here
· Columbia Expands Efforts to Fight Antisemitism as Trump Deal Seems Near. The university plans to offer additional anti-discrimination training in partnership with Jewish organizations. It will make additional “reforms” to combat antisemitism on campus, including by formally adopting a contentious definition of antisemitism that classifies some criticisms of the state of Israel as antisemitic. here
· Four adjunct professors at the City University of New York say the university fired them because of their activism for Palestine. here
· Jewish CUNY faculty and staff letter to condemn the firing of at least four fellow faculty members after they were duly vetted and reappointed by their departments’ appointment committees. These terminations violate departmental academic autonomy to determine staffing of scheduled classes. We write as Jews because efforts to suppress speech and protest that is critical of Israel are often taken up in our name. here
· Urgent Message from CUNY, Berkeley, and Georgetown Jewish Faculty. here
SYRIA, LEBANON, YEMEN
· According to Aljazeera, this week Israel has attacked and killed people in Syria & Lebanon and Yemen’s Houthi militia attacked Ben Gurion airport.
INTERNATIONAL
· British Medical Association passed a series of motions calling for action and accountability amid the destruction of Palestinian healthcare services. here
· At least 84 parliamentarians across 9 political parties called on the British government to impose widespread sanctions on Israel over its repeated violations of international law. Slovenia said it will blacklist far-right Israeli ministers Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich as “persona non grata”, accusing them of inciting violence against Palestinians. here
· A multilateral coalition, The Hague Group, arrived in Bogotá to take action to stop Israel’s genocide, despite US condemnation and sanctions against the UN and international courts. They are charging Israel with genocide. Representatives of Bolivia, Cuba, Indonesia, Iraq, Libya, Malaysia, Namibia, Nicaragua, Oman, and South Africa announced sanctions against Israel to cut the flow of weapons facilitating genocide and war crimes in Gaza. here
SOURCES
+972News, AA.COM, AlJazeera, Arab Resource and Organizing Center, Asia Pacific Journal of Public Health, Center for Constitutional Rights, Chronicle of Higher Education, CNN, Democracy Now, DropSite News, Haaretz, Huffington Post, Intercept, Jewish Voice for Peace, Juan Cole, Mondoweiss, New York Times, OCHAOPT, OpinioJuris, Portside, MiddleEast Eye, Mother Jones, Prepress, Wall Street Journal, War and Conflict,