Urgent health update: Consequences of war on Gaza and West Bank/East Jerusalem [and now Lebanon] - October 12, 2024

Israeli air, land, & sea bombardment continues across Gaza, causing further civilian casualties, displacement, & destruction of houses & other civilian infrastructure. Ground incursions and heavy fighting continue, especially in Beit Hanoun, Beit Lahiya, and Jabalya, Deir al Balah, Gaza City, & Khan Younis. New evacuation orders were issued in the North Gaza and Gaza governorates. 

The extension of the war to the West Bank, Lebanon, Syria and Yemen is a health and human rights emergency, and an escalation that threatens world war. 

Of all the grim distinctions of the yearlong war in Gaza that followed the Hamas attack on Israel last Oct. 7, one may stand out for its deadly singularity: Palestinian civilians there have nowhere to go. Barricaded by barbed-wire fences, tanks and soldiers, they have been effectively imprisoned for 12 months in a 141-square-mile strip of land between Egypt and Israel that has become a killing zone.

The bill in the Israeli Knesset to destroy UNRWA will be even more catastrophic for the population.

REPORTS AND JOURNALS

With 3.5 million people in need, a doctor exodus, and some regions served by the very military group that Israel seeks to rout, Lebanon’s healthcare system is in crisis. British Medical Journal

The Killing, Detention and Torture of Healthcare Workers in Gaza, Important source of information on killings and detentions of health care workers in Gaza.  Health Care Workers Watch

PODCAST

Can Gaza’s children survive its “colonial trauma”? For Gaza’s children, there’s no “post” in post-traumatic stress disorder. The trauma is constant and relentless. Many who survived have lost parents, limbs, or both. These kids aren’t playing or going to school - they’re fighting to survive, scavenging for food amid the rubble. So, what future does that trauma leave the children of Palestine with? Dr. Samah Jabr (@drsamahjabr), Chair of the Mental Health Unit at the Palestinian Ministry of Health.  The Take

GAZA 

Due to a changed OCHA-OPT reporting schedule, these numbers are cumulative through 10/8:

·       Killed: 41,965 (163 this week) 

·       Injured: 97,590 (737 this week)

·       Israeli soldiers killed: 348 (1 this week)

·       Israeli soldiers injured: 2,299

·       Hostages: 101 

One year of unimaginable suffering 

• The Health Advisory Council of Jewish Voice for Peace statement demanding a ceasefire, an end to military aid to Israel, and the recognition of Palestinian self-determination. 

• The UK-Palestine Mental Health Network statement: A year of genocide: decades of impunity

• Healthcare Workers Watch released their report: The Killing, Detention and Torture of Healthcare Workers in Gaza, on October 7, covering the past year.

• The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) statement. (OCHA produces the comprehensive, reliable information upon which this update relies.)

“No statistics or words can fully convey the extent of the physical, mental and societal devastation that has taken place,” said Joyce Msuya, the Acting Under-Secretary-General and Emergency Relief Coordinator. “But we know what must happen: The hostages must be released and treated humanely. Civilians must be protected, and their essential needs met. Palestinians arbitrarily detained must be released. Humanitarian workers must be safeguarded, and their work facilitated. Perpetrators must be held accountable for any serious violations of international humanitarian law. And the assault on Gaza must stop.
“It has been 12 months of unrelenting tragedy – this must end. Member States must wield their influence to ensure respect for international humanitarian law and human rights and compliance with the rulings of the International Court of Justice. They must also work to end impunity. An immediate ceasefire and durable peace are long overdue.”

·       The War on Hospitals: Israel’s attacks on health care workers and facilities in Gaza are unprecedented. “Medical doctors must refuse to be blinded by ideology and partisanship.” Written in December 2023, but still relevant. Boston Review

·       To mark one year since 10/7 and the start of the ongoing Israeli genocide, Mondoweiss had special coverage including new reporting from correspondents in the West Bank and an interview with Hamas official Mousa Abu Marzouk. Mondoweiss

·       The Nation magazine also published a curated set of testimonies from Gazans to commemorate a year of suffering. The Nation

·       Looking at some of the legal questions surrounding Israel’s invasion. NYT

Israeli Attacks

On 10/7, the UN Human Rights Office stated:  “attacks in northern Gaza, combined with mass evacuation orders, which are inconsistent with international humanitarian law, raise serious concerns about the forced displacement and forced transfer of Palestinian residents of Gaza.”

·       10/4, 5 killed, others injured in a house hit in Al Bureij refugee camp, Deir al Balah.

• 10/4, 7 killed and others injured in a house hit in Ash Shati’ (Beach) camp, Gaza City.

• 10/4, 6 killed, others injured in a home near An Nuseirat refugee camp, Deir al Balah.

• 10/5, 6 killed and others injured in Beit Hanoun.

• 10/5, 10 killed and others injured in a house hit in Jabaliya.

• 10/5, 9 killed and others injured in a house near Jabalya refugee camp.

• 10/5, 5 killed (2 children) and others injured in a house hit in Beit Lahiya.

• 10/6, 21 killed, many injured, in a mosque hit near Al Aqsa Hospital, Deir al Balah. 27 buildings were hit in different IOF strikes across the Strip in the past 48 hours, including schools and refugee centers

• 10/6, 5 killed (1 child) and others injured in a house was hit in Ash Shati' (Beach) camp, Gaza City. The Palestinian Civil Defense reports others remain under the rubble.

·       Within three days of 10/7, Israel bombed a mosque, a school, a hospital, and several homes. Over the previous weekend Israeli tanks again encircled, then invaded, Jabaliya refugee camp in northern Gaza. Al Jazeera correspondent Anas al-Sharif said.“The situation is very very difficult. Occupation forces are currently carrying out horrific massacres in Beit Lahia, Beit Hanoun, Jabalia camp, and Jabalia al-Balad. Dozens lay dead in the streets, with people trapped in their homes under sniper bullets and artillery shells, while ambulance crews are unable to reach them due to the continuous targeting.”

• 10/8 Israel sent tanks deeper into Jabalya in the northern Gaza Strip on Tuesday and advised people to leave amid airstrikes, residents said. Palestinian medics said casualties had been reported in Jabalya but that they were unable to reach areas under fire. 

• 10/9 At least 60 people were killed in Israeli military strikes as Israeli forces pressed on with a raid in the enclave's north where a UN aid official said hunger is spreading again. The Israeli military says the raid, now in its fifth day, is intended to stop Hamas fighters staging further attacks from Jabalia and to prevent them regrouping.

Evacuations

• Between 10/5-7, Israeli military issued 4 evacuation orders for parts of: Al Bureij and An Nuseirat refugee camps, Deir Al Balah; Beit Hanoun, Jabalya and Beit Lahiya (including Kamal Adwan Hospital); and Khan Younis. Residents were ordered to relocate immediately to Al Mawasi area near Khan Younis. As of 10/7, the Israeli-designated area for relocation is estimated to include 15% of Gaza while the area covered by evacuation orders is about 84% of Gaza.

• These orders affect hundreds of thousands of people, particularly in northern Gaza, where >400,000 people are under pressure to move south to Al Mawasi, already overcrowded, lacking basic services and supplies. 

• 12 IDP sites are affected in northern Deir al Balah, as are >300 patients in the Indonesian, Kamal Adwan and Al Awda hospitals, and dozens of critical health, water, hygiene, sanitation, and education facilities.

• WHO reports that 10 hospitals (730 beds), 19 primary healthcare centers, and 32 medical points in North Gaza and Gaza governorates are affected, threatening closure due to lack of fuel for ICUs, ORs, maternity wards, dialysis units and ERs. Additionally, supplies, blood and medications desperately require resupply.

·       Director of the besieged Kamal Adwan hospital in northern Gaza is refusing Israeli orders to shut the hospital down and evacuate. “As long as there are patients, I won't leave,” Dr. Hossam Abu Safia. “I’ve been here since the genocide started, and I am determined to continue helping my people.” The attack on the hospital comes amid a wider, vicious assault, with Israeli forces issuing new displacement orders for nearly all of northern Gaza, where at least 400,000 people remain.

·       A new Israeli map labels nearly all of northern Gaza ‘new evacuation zones.’

Food & Nutrition

• UNICEF reports the lowest volume of supplies entering Gaza since March 2024. A recent survey noted the dietary diversity for children 6-23 months and pregnant and breastfeeding women decreased across all areas of Gaza, compared to July: >35% of children and 40% of P&BF women had eaten only 1 food type the day prior to the survey, and only 30% in both groups had consumed 2 food types. Only 5% of P&BF women consumed dairy, and 6% of children had eaten meat. These percentages fell to 1% and 3% in northern Gaza. 

• WFP reports that wheat flour and canned food are the only readily available foods in northern markets. Dairy is unavailable, and vegetables, fruits, eggs, and oil are in short supply and inaccessibly priced. Pulses and rice are sometimes available. Media reports suggest price spikes are due to increased costs of import permits and security. A Chistian Aid analysis shows that bread and flour prices decreased since March, but other prices soared: onions cost 700% more than 5 months prior. Bottled water is unavailable, forcing people to buy drinking water from mobile tanks.

• No cooking gas has entered northern Gaza for 1 year (FSS), and the price of firewood is inaccessible. The high price of firewood in the market (from demolished homes, furniture and electric poles), reports WFP, “is pushing more people into energy poverty.” Displaced families are forced to cook with wood and plastic waste which hinders food preparation, exacerbates health risks, causes environmental hazards, and risks fires in severely overcrowded tent sites.

• The latest FAO and UNOSAT assessment shows 67.6% of Gaza’s cropland is damaged, up from 57.3% in May and 42.6% in February. The greatest damage is in North Gaza: 78.2%. Over 71% of orchards, 67% fields, and 58.5% of vegetables are damaged. 52.5% of agricultural wells and 44% of greenhouses are damaged. Most Gaza City port infrastructure and vessels were destroyed in 10/23.

• Israeli-limited entry of fertilizers and food production inputs prevents the restoration of food production in Gaza. Coupled with the “unprecedented levels” of agricultural damage in Gaza, FAO Deputy Director-General Beth Bechdol stressed this “raises serious concerns about the potential for food production now and in the future” and “compounds the imminent risk of famine in the whole Gaza Strip.”

Humanitarian Aid

• Over 300 aid workers have been killed, the majority UNRWA staff, making Gaza the most dangerous place for aid workers globally. MoH reported 986 health workers have been killed. Palestinian Civil Defense (PCD), currently operating at 20% capacity, report that 85 staff have been killed and 292 injured. 52 PCD vehicles are destroyed or damaged, and a lack of fuel and spare parts caused 15,600 appeals to go unaddressed.

Health Care

·       ‘I had to evacuate 5 times’: a year in the life of a Gaza doctor battling to help victims. Moving from hospital to hospital as conflict spreads, medic describes fear of constant attack while treating children who have lost limbs. The Guardian

·       “There are half a million scheduled surgeries on the waiting list in Gaza hospitals,” Dr. Abdul Latif al-Hajj, of the health ministry, told The Electronic Intifada. With just 17 out of 36 hospitals still functioning, and then just partially, across the Gaza Strip, all put out of commission in Israeli bombings, al-Hajj estimated that Gaza had lost 70 percent of their hospital bed capacity, further complicating matters for those needing surgery.

·       ‘Postapocalyptic’: British surgeons Ammar Darwish and Nizam Mamode have been to Gaza as part of a medical team organized by the charity Medical Aid for Palestinians. They describe fearing for their safety and said the level of casualties and conditions were ‘unlike anything’ they had seen before. The Guardian

·       UNICEF said a second round of polio vaccinations targeting 590,000 Gazan children under 10 will start on 10/14.

·       Desperate people place trust in Gaza’s streetside pharmacists. Falling sick is terrifying because illness in Gaza now means possibly facing death, not from the disease itself but from the complete lack of medical care.

·       10/9 Israeli forces targeted and killed Dr. Soma Baroud in a taxi in Khan Younis. Dr. Baroud now joins her husband, Dr. Hamdi Baroud, who was killed by Israeli forces in January. 2024 while in Khan Younis. Dr. Baroud was a prominent Obstetrician-Gynecologist in Gaza who dedicated herself to serving women and those in need across the Gaza Strip. She worked at the now-destroyed Al-Shifa and Nasser Hospitals and ran her own medical clinic in Al-Qarara prior to the genocide.

Other

·       Gazans are advising Lebanese what to do. One influencer advised evacuees to start with a lightweight pouch for valuables and important documents — gold, cash, diplomas and birth certificates. Make one member of the family responsible for holding onto it at all times. Everyone should have their own small bag of clothes, books, hygiene products and a reusable water bottle. And make sure everyone has a coat, she says, because “winter is coming.”

WEST BANK, INCLUDING EAST JERUSALEM 

This week, Israeli forces killed 24 Palestinians (4 children) and injured 130 (16 children and 6 paramedics) including 18 in an airstrike on Tulkarm Refugee Camp, the deadliest Israeli attack on the West Bank since 2005. Since 10/7/23, 719 Palestinians were killed: 702 by Israeli forces, 12 by settlers, 7 unclear. Injuries due to physical assaults by Israeli forces requiring medical treatment rose 400% over the past year: 800 cases compared to 200 the preceding year.

Israeli Attacks

• 10/1 Israeli forces raided Balata Refugee Camp (Nablus) and shot and killed 1 man and injured 6 paramedics. A Palestine Red Crescent (PRCS) ambulance was damaged, its crews fired on and prevented from evacuating the injured for 1 hour. 3,500 students and 50 UNRWA staff members were trapped for 2 hours during the operation.

• 10/1 a Palestinian died in Israeli custody after being shot and killed in Nablus. PRCS paramedics were prevented from providing emergency care.

• 10/3 Israeli forces shot and killed a man for carrying a knife near an army base near Hebron. They detained 3 journalists and destroyed their footage before releasing them.

• 10/3 18 Palestinians (3 children) were killed in an Israeli airstrike on a residential building in the densely populated Tulkarm refugee camp. A missile penetrated the roof of the multi-story building and exploded in a ground-floor café, supposedly targeting the leader of an armed group. 4 households (18 people, 9 children) were displaced. On 10/4, the OHCHR noted:  this “strike is part of a highly concerning pattern of unlawful use of force by… [Israeli forces] during military-like operations in the West Bank that have caused widespread harm to Palestinians and significant damage to buildings and infrastructure… [such] incidents cannot become normalized as an acceptable method of law enforcement.”

• 10/5 a Palestinian died in Israeli custody after he was taken from his home in Tubas.

• 10/7 a 66-year-old Palestinian man was killed in his home by Israeli forces during a search-and-arrest operation in Dura (Hebron). So far in 2024, 3 Palestinians have been killed after being severely assaulted by Israeli forces compared with 5 cases in the previous 2 decades.

• 10/7, Israeli forces killed a 13-year-old Palestinian boy and injured 18 others (9 children) during a 13-hour raid on Qalandia refugee camp (Jerusalem). Snipers were positioned on rooftops as Israeli soldiers assaulted and detained 24 Palestinians, damaged several homes, and shot at Palestinians.

• 10/8 and 10/9, 5 Palestinians were killed by Israeli forces, one in Aqqaba village (Tubas) and 4 in an undercover operation in Nablus.

Israeli destruction of infrastructure.

·       Israeli military operations have caused massive infrastructure damage by bulldozing water connections, manholes, water tanks and hygiene facilities, leading to floods of sewage and interrupted waste collection. They have destroyed more than 20,000 meters of water pipelines, sewer networks and stormwater drainage systems.

·       As a result, nearly 92,000 people’s access to clean drinking water, wastewater management and solid waste disposal has been affected, including thousands now left without reliable water and sanitation services.

·       WASH cluster partners have trucked water and distributed hygiene kits, storage tanks and temporary water points to address immediate needs.

·       With winter approaching, the WASH Cluster and UNRWA estimate that US$1.8 million will be necessary to meet emergencies and warn that flooding and stormwater contamination pose severe public health risks.

Settler Violence
This week, settlers carried out 23 attacks against Palestinians, resulting in 37 injuries (2 children), and property damage. Since 10/7/23, OCHA documented 1,454 attacks by settlers against Palestinians, causing 144 injuries, 1,158 cases of property damage, and 152 leading to both. Settler violence displaced 277 households (1,628 people, 794 children) in Bedouin and herding communities.

• 10/5, 40 settlers from "Avichai Farm" settlement, armed with guns, poles, knives and pepper spray, attacked 15 Palestinian families picking olives outside Al Lubban al Gharbi village (Ramallah) causing bruises and broken bones for 20 Palestinians (1 child). Settlers damaged 5 Palestinian vehicles, stole tools and a mobile phone. Israeli forces fired sound grenades and live bullets, and media report 3 settlers injured.

• 10/5, settlers raided a home in Burqa village (Ramallah) and stole a donkey, later shooting a man in the leg when his family tried to retrieve the animal.

• 10/7, 8 Palestinians (1 child) were attacked and beaten by armed settlers, leaving 1 in critical condition, while harvesting olives in Jamma'in village (Nablus). 

Demolitions

This week, Israeli authorities demolished 9 Palestinian-owned structures, displacing 19 (9 children) due to lack of Israeli-issued building permits, almost impossible to obtain. Since 10/7/23, Israeli authorities destroyed 1,777 Palestinian structures across the West Bank, displacing 4,574 Palestinians (1,919 children). For more on demolitions and displacement, see the OCHA demolition dashboard.

• Due to lack of a building permit, Israeli forces demolished a 500-meter road linking the Wadi al Amayer herding community to services in As Samu’ town (Hebron), hindering access for 20 families (100 people, 43 children).

Olive Harvest 

• Since October 2023, Israeli authorities have almost completely blocked Palestinian access to farmlands behind the Barrier or near Israeli settlements. In Sept., the Israeli NGO HaMoked petitioned the High Court of Justice to revoke these restrictions, but the State announced limited gate openings might occur only after 10/23, subject to security assessments, and only individual permits will be issued.

• This will complicate land access for Palestinians, causing significant economic losses. In 2021, farmers produced approximately 108,000 tons of olives and 23,000 tons of olive oil. For 2024, the MoA forecasts a decline to 81,200 tons of olives and 17,700 tons of oil.

ISRAEL

·       Attacks on Arab citizens of Israel are not news. The case of the Arab girl attending a Be'er Sheva middle school who dared to say that "young children are suffering from hunger and dying in Gaza" – after which her classmates began attacking her, accusing her of supporting Hamas, cursing her and singing "may your village burn" – has gone virtually uncovered by the Israeli media. 

·       10/6 The Israeli Knesset's Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee approved two bills aimed at ending the activity and privileges in Israel of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency  (UNRWA) for Palestine Refugees in the Near East. Both bills are an amalgamation of a larger number of bills proposed by MKs from both the coalition and the opposition.

·       “This isn’t a country I’ll sacrifice my life for.” Physically and mentally exhausted from the war, appalled by what they see as a far-right spirit sweeping the army, and feeling anger at the abandonment of the hostages, 130 reservists and conscripts say they will no longer report for duty if Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu fails to strike a deal with Hamas

·       Israel is planning a “lethal retaliation” on Iran in response to the Iranian missile attack on Israel which was in response to Israel’s assassination of Hezbollah leader, Hassan Nasrallah, which was in response to Israel’s attack on Gaza which was in response to… [add “triggering offense” here].

LEBANON

Killed since 10/8/23: 2,100

Injured: 11,000

·       Hashem Safieddine, the front-runner to succeed Hezbollah's assassinated former head Hassan Nasrallah, was reportedly killed in an Israeli strike on Beirut 10/4. Two senior Hamas leaders in Lebanon were killed in IOF strikes per the IOF.

·       A fourth IOF division has joined Israel’s ground offensive in Lebanon. Hezbollah's deputy leader said the organization backs a cease-fire with Israel, and for the first time in the war did not condition it on a truce in Gaza. US is reportedly not pursuing efforts for a cease-fire along the Israel-Lebanon border at this moment. 

·       As Israeli forces push deeper into Lebanon by land, they will be vulnerable to greater risks, including sophisticated weapons used by Hezbollah. If the Israeli government fails to develop a clear exit strategy, as it has struggled to do in Gaza, the military could end up fighting a protracted war that stretches its resources to the limit.

·       World Health Organization official warned that "there is a much higher risk of disease outbreaks" in Lebanon, "such as acute watery diarrhea, hepatitis A, and a number of vaccine preventable diseases."

·       UN peacekeepers' HQ and nearby positions in southern Lebanon have been repeatedly hit amid recent escalation along the Blue Line, UNIFIL said, adding that two peacekeepers were injured by Israeli tank fire. Italian Defense Minister Guido Crosetto said that firing on UNIFIL bases was "totally unacceptable" and clearly flouts international law.

·       Spokesperson for UN peacekeepers in Lebanon said Israel had requested it leave its positions in south Lebanon where Israel is clashing with Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, but they had refused. The UN Interim Force in Lebanon (Unifil) said unknown gunfire a day earlier hit a peacekeeper, the fifth wounded in south Lebanon near the Israeli border in just two days. “Last night, a peacekeeper at Unifil’s headquarters” in Naqura “was hit by gunfire due to ongoing military activity nearby … We do not yet know the origin of the fire,” the peacekeeper was “stable”.

·       Israeli attacks have moved north to the Dahiya, south of Beirut, and into northern Lebanon near Tripoli in its stated campaign against Hezbollah which keeps firing rockets into Israeli.

US

·       Nearly 100 American physicians and medical professionals who volunteered in the Gaza Strip have called on US President Joe Biden to immediately withhold military, economic, and diplomatic support for Israel to prevent “an even worse catastrophe” in the enclave. “Every day that we continue supplying weapons and munitions to Israel is another day that women are shredded by our bombs and children are murdered with our bullets,” health workers said in a letter addressed to Biden and Vice-President Kamala Harris dated October 2, 2024. NYT

·       In These Times interviewed 18 Jewish professionals with 16 different Jewish organizations across the country, all of whom describe being fired, quitting under pressure, or seeing their roles disappear since October 7 for issues surrounding criticism of Israel or support for a permanent cease-fire. These stories are just a snapshot of what appears to be a growing trend across the Jewish professional world.

·       In January, BDS National Committee (BNC) renewed its call for a boycott of the fossil fuel company Chevron. The organization had originally called for a boycott of Chevron in 2020 after it became the main operator of fossil gas claimed by Israel in the Eastern Mediterranean. However, the new call has expanded the boycott to Chevron gas stations and the company’s affiliates, which include Texaco and Caltex.

·       Ithaca, New York, a PhD student is no longer at risk of deportation for his Gaza solidarity activism after Cornell allowed him to reenroll, thereby extending his visa. Cornell had suspended Momodou Taal for taking part in a campus protest calling on Cornell to divest from Israel, but a public pressure campaign demanded the school end their political campaign against Taal.

·       More than 60 colleges and universities are still under federal investigation over “antisemitic” and “Islamophobic” incidents during the campus protests that swept the United States after the Oct. 7 attacks in Israel, according to the Department of Education.

·       Dr. Feroze Sidhwa, a trauma and general surgeon who worked at the European Hospital in Khan Younis, Gaza, for two weeks in March and April, writes: “I’ve seen violence and worked in conflict zones. But of the many things that stood out about working in a hospital in Gaza, one got to me: Nearly every day I was there, I saw a new young child who had been shot in the head or the chest, virtually all of whom went on to die. Thirteen in total.” Using questions based on his own observations and conversations with fellow doctors and nurses, He worked with [NY] Times Opinion to poll 65 health care workers about what they had seen in Gaza; 57, including himself, were willing to share their experiences on the record.  NYT, Democracy Now

·       US State Department said it was “aware and alarmed” about reports of the death in Lebanon of Kamel Ahmad Jawad, an American citizen killed in an Israeli airstrike.

·       US military struck Iranian-backed Houthi targets in Yemen.

INTERNATIONAL

·       UN investigators accused Israel of engaging in “relentless and deliberate attacks” on health care facilities, medical workers and wounded civilians in the Gaza Strip and said the actions amounted to war crimes and extermination, a crime against humanity. Report does not have the force of law.

·       A Japanese group of atomic bomb survivors, Nihon Hidankyo, won the Nobel Peace Prize on 10/11 as fears grow of a new nuclear arms race. The head of the group has compared Gaza today to Japan when the US bombed Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Toshiyuki Mimaki, co-chair of Nihon Hidankyo, wept as he spoke: “In Gaza, bleeding children are being held [by their parents]. It’s like in Japan 80 years ago.

·       Belgium-based rights group, the Hind Rajab Foundation, has filed “an unprecedented and historical complaint” with the International Criminal Court (ICC) against 1,000 Dutch- and Belgian-Israeli soldiers for war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide in the Gaza Strip. “These individuals, all of whom have been identified by name, are accused of participating in systematic attacks against civilians during the ongoing genocide in Gaza,” the organization, affiliated with the March 30 Movement, said in a statement this week.

·       President Emmanuel Macron of France said that shipments of weapons to Israel that could be used in Gaza should be halted. “Lebanon cannot become another Gaza.” 

·       Survivor’s guilt is overwhelming: the grief of losing 21 relatives in one airstrike in Gaza. London-based journalist Ahmed Alnaouq channels grief by giving young Palestinian writers a voice through his platform, We Are Not Numbers

SOURCES

OCHAOPT, Palestine Chronicle, Haaretz, The Guardian, Boston Review, Mondoweiss, The Nation, Electronic Intifada, Jerusalem Post, The New York Times, In These Times, Drop Site News, American Muslims for Palestine, Palestine Chronicle, Health Workers Watch, Reuters