On 3/18/2025, Israel resumed heavy bombing of Gaza, killing more than 400 Palestinians. By 3/19, Israeli ground forces retook the Netzarim corridor, essentially cutting Gaza in half and blocking all north-south passage. Netanyahu has promised "this is only the beginning." Demand that the United States stop funding this genocidal war now!

A report by the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory claimed Israel carried out "genocidal acts" against Palestinians by systematically destroying women's healthcare facilities in Gaza, and used sexual violence as a war strategy through forced public stripping and sexual assault.

Senator Bernie Sanders recently introduced a second Joint Resolution of Disapproval urging that Congress block the $8.56 billion sale of offensive weapons to Israel. Please tell your legislators that these weapons transfers are contrary to healthcare workers’ professional and moral values. Providing these weapons to a country using them against civilians also violates US and international law. Tell Congress: Block $8.5 bn in weapons to Israel. Click here

The World Bank, EU, and UN issued the Gaza and West Bank Interim Rapid Damage and Needs Assessment (IRDNA), analyzing damages and losses, and recovery and reconstruction needs. Gaza will require US$53 billion over the next decade. Housing accounts for 53% of the total, commerce and industry 20%, transport 8%, and WASH 5%.

The Israeli assault on Gaza has caused 2.3 million people extreme hunger, displacement, infectious diseases, and massive amounts of physical and mental stress and trauma. Women, children, and the disabled have been disproportionately affected. What is the responsibility of healthcare workers in the face of a horrifying live-streamed genocide? The ongoing silence of the medical profession challenges the ethics of the healing professions.

“Trump’s Plan for ‘Cleaning Out’ Gaza Didn’t Emerge in a Vacuum-it is the natural culmination of his predecessor’s policies—as well as years of dehumanization of Palestinians in U.S. political discourse.”

“Access to health care in the occupied West Bank has been severely hindered by a widespread network of Israeli checkpoints and roadblocks, which impede the movement of ambulances and emergency medical teams, according to a report published by Doctors Without Borders (MSF). The situation is reportedly worsened by violent military raids that use disproportionate tactics, making it increasingly difficult for healthcare providers to reach those in need.”

The Lancet estimates life expectancy in the Gaza Strip has been cut in half (-46.3%), dropping from a pre-war average of 75.5 years to 40.5 years.

Highlights of statement by Tom Fletcher, UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator: “The children of Gaza are not collateral damage. They are as deserving as children everywhere of security, education and hope. They tell us that the world was not there for them throughout this war. We must be there for them now.”

UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator Tom Fletcher welcomed the [ceasefire] agreement, urged that it be upheld, stated that humanitarian agencies are prepared to deliver aid, urged countries to provide the desperately needed support and UN bodies to ensure its safe and unimpeded delivery, and noted: “We call for accountability for the atrocities committed… This is a moment of hope and opportunity, but we should be under no illusions how tough it will still be to get support to survivors. The stakes could not be higher.”

Tom Fletcher, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, decried recent Israeli attacks on aid to Gaza: an airstrike injuring 3 at a known WFP food distribution point; soldiers firing on a clearly marked UN convoy at a checkpoint; armed gangs hijacking fuel tankers in the absence of Israeli control. “These incidents are part of a dangerous pattern of sabotage and deliberate disruption.

Sick From Genocide 1/6/2025: The JVP Health Advisory Council urges all to support this powerful campaign being organized by Doctors Against Genocide, Health Care Workers 4 Palestine, Labor for Palestine, The Do No Harm Coalition , and over 50 other international organizations. January 6 is a day when many will take a mental health/sick day from work to pause, reflect and organize healthcare workers and allies to END THE GENOCIDE in Gaza.

Israel weakened IDF mechanisms designed to protect civilians during combat and vastly expanded the set of military targets it sought to hit in pre-emptive airstrikes, while simultaneously increasing the number of civilians that officers could endanger in each attack. In some cases, senior commanders approved attacks on Hamas leaders despite knowing they would be risking the lives of over 100 civilians

Human Rights Watch published a report, titled 'Israel's Crime of Extermination, Acts of Genocide in Gaza,' that highlights severe water shortages in Gaza, alleging Israeli actions may amount to genocide.

The UN and partners estimate that at least US$6.6 billion is required to address the humanitarian needs of 3.3 million people in Gaza and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem.

“For more than 50 days, people in North Gaza have been under siege. North Gaza has effectively been inaccessible to the UN. Our requests for access have been repeatedly and systematically denied by Israeli forces with devastating consequences: families are trapped under rubble, the sick and wounded cannot reach hospitals, and basic supplies—water, food, medical care—have run out.”

While hoping that the ceasefire in Lebanon will take hold, the expansion of the war to the West Bank, Syria and Yemen remains a health and human rights emergency.

Muhannad Hadi, Humanitarian Coordinator for the Occupied Palestinian Territory, denounced the lack of security around aid deliveries to Gaza: “The delivery of critical aid across Gaza, including food, water, fuel and medical supplies, is grinding to a halt. The survival of two million people hangs in the balance. Bakeries are closing one after the other for lack of flour or fuel to operate power generators”.

Joyce Msuya, Acting Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, briefed the UN on 12 Nov 24. She denounced illegal and inhumane Israeli activities in Gaza and the West Bank, including attempts to close UNRWA, and urged all UN members to take action to stop it.

More than 42 people killed and others injured in multiple attacks on homes and IDP shelters in Beit Lahiya. Cadavers and wounded remain trapped under the rubble or in the street. Dozens killed in Jabalya Refugee Camp and Tal Az Za’tar area.