Urgent health update: Consequences of war on Gaza, West Bank/East Jerusalem, and Lebanon 2/21/25
Journal Article
What is the Responsibility of Healthcare Workers? by Alice Rothchild.
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. here
Webinar
Join the next JVP Health Advisory Council webinar: The Hospital as a Social Institution and Refuge during the Gaza Genocide, a conversation with Faris Giacaman, Palestine Editorial Director at Mondoweiss.
Saturday March 8, 2025, 9 am Pacific/ 12 pm Eastern
Sign up here:
Podcast
Conversation with Dr. Mads Gilbert on Decolonizing Solidarity here
GAZA
Since the Gaza ceasefire began on 1/19, food security partners through the UN have brought 57,000 metric tons of food into Gaza. 7 exchanges have released 26 hostages to Israel and 1,135 Palestinian detainees. Another exchange scheduled for 2/22 delivered 6 hostages to Israel but has yet to release the Palestinian prisoners.
A World Bank assessment estimates that more than $50 billion is needed to rebuild Gaza. here
Killed: 48,219 + (72 this week, 62 of whom were corpses unearthed in the rubble)
Injured: 111,722+ (57 this week)
Israeli soldiers killed in Gaza: 407 (0 this week)
Israeli soldiers injured in Gaza: 2,579 (0 this week)
Hostages in Gaza: 70
The Gaza Information Ministry said that more than 14,000 people are still missing in Gaza, adding that it has decided to classify the missing as killed, which by their estimate brings the updated death toll in the Strip to over 62,000.
February 2025 Israel Prison Service (IPS) data lists: 9,846 Palestinians in Israeli custody, including 1,734 sentenced prisoners, 2,941 remand detainees, 3,369 administrative detainees (held without trial), and 1,802 “unlawful combatants.” These figures do not include Palestinians from Gaza detained by the Israeli military since 10/2023.
For more Gaza data: here
Israeli attacks
• 2/11-12, man was shot and killed, and another was killed (1 injured) in an airstrike in Rafah
• 2/13, child was shot and killed near Al Bureij refugee camp, Deir al Balah.
• 2/16, 3 Palestinian police officers delivering aid and another man were killed in Rafah
Health and Hospitals
• 2/11: Caroline Seguin, emergency coordinator for Doctors Without Borders, stated from north Gaza: “the level of destruction is total, it’s a flat land. I’ve never seen anything like it in my life. Our Palestinian colleagues are no longer able to recognize their own neighborhoods, some were in shock, others literally collapsed. We were utterly shocked to observe that in Indonesian Hospital every medical machine seemed to have been deliberately destroyed; they were smashed to pieces, one by one, to make sure no medical care could be provided anymore. You have to ask, what is the motivation of such action? These machines are made to save people’s lives, mothers, fathers, children. It’s devastating to see the state of these hospitals.”
• Gaza’s health system in Gaza continues to face significant challenges in delivering care to thousands of trauma and chronic patients due to shortages in oxygen supply, equipment and ICU bed capacity. Only 4 oxygen stations function in southern Gaza and 1 serves 7 hospitals in the north, where 20 machines operated prior to the escalation of hostilities.
• According to the Health Cluster, there are currently 108 ICU beds across Gaza: 23 in Gaza, 28 in Deir al Balah, 48 in Khan Younis, 9 in Rafah and 0 in North Gaza.
• About 350,000 chronically ill patients face critical shortages of essential medications and treatments, including 60,000 patients with raised blood glucose, 45,000 patients with cardiovascular disease, and 1,500 in need of dialysis. Anera reported that many have developed non-communicable diseases at unusually young ages due to war-related stress, limited access to food, and the consumption of salty or contaminated drinking water. There are only 102 hemodialysis machines in Gaza (compared to 182 in October 2023). Equipment shortages are exacerbated by 0 stock levels of kidney medications and supplies at MoH warehouses, the destruction of 6 of 7 dialysis centers, and reduced treatments—generally two 2-hour sessions instead of three 4-hour sessions weekly. here
• WHO: between 12-14,000 people (5,000 children) remain in urgent need of medical evacuation. 2/13- International Childhood Cancer Day, WHO reported that hundreds of children need to be evacuated to receive lifesaving treatment. Of the 405 children with cancer referred to pediatric facilities outside Gaza since 10/2023, “only 10 were approved“; in some cases, “children died before receiving approval.” The UNDP supplied the hematology and oncology department at the European Gaza hospital with a year’s supply of essential cancer medications, including chemotherapy, and supplied Nasser medical complex in Khan Younis with advanced screening and diagnostic capabilities for breast cancer. Such procedures were suspended after the only Gaza cancer hospital (the Turkish-Palestinian Friendship Hospital) was put out of operation by Israel in November 2023; its fuel supply was depleted and it sustained heavy damage. The breast cancer survival rate in Gaza is about 65% due to the denial of screening and treatment, increasing the risk of slow death.
• “We have confirmed with multiple patient reports that in the last 1-2 weeks, the Israeli government has unilaterally & sneakily begun forcing patients medically evacuating from Gaza to sign paperwork at the exiting checkpoints saying they cannot return to Gaza. None of the NGOs helping with the coordination of the medical evacs were informed by the entity or any governing body this would happen.”
• Mobile clinics and primary health care centers (PHCs) opened this week include:
-- MSF-Belgium established mobile comprehensive clinics (including SRH-sexual and reproductive health) in Beit Hanoun and Jabalya; and a PHC in Beit Lahiya to provide prenatal and postpartum care and family planning.
-- UNRWA opened 5 medical points in North Gaza and Gaza governorates and, re-opened the Al Naser PHC in Rafah on 2/12.
-- Al-Awda, with support from UNFPA, opened 3 temporary PHCs in Gaza governorate and a temporary medical point in Jabalya, North Gaza.
-- MDM-France opened a PHC in Rafah (including SRH) and the minimum PHC package.
• UNRWA delivered 400 pallets of essential medicines (including an 8-month supply of insulin for 17,000 diabetics) as well as lab and dental supplies to UNRWA-run facilities in Deir al Balah, Nuseirat, and Al Mawasi and the Beach Health Center in Gaza governorate.
Food & Nutrition
• As of 2/17, over 57,000 metric tons (MT) of food entered Gaza, providing 1.8 million people with food parcels in addition to distributions of hot meals, wheat flour and bread. 25 WFP-supported bakeries are in operation. 7 million hot meals have been served since the ceasefire began, including meals distributed at hubs in Beit Lahiya (in North Gaza) and Rafah serving 20,000 and 1,500 meals per day, respectively.
• In the first half of February, 11,251 children were screened for malnutrition, and 296 entered treatment. In January, over 83,106 children and 14,530 pregnant and breastfeeding women (PBW) were screened for acute malnutrition, identifying 2,504 cases of acute child malnutrition and 925 cases of acute PBW malnutrition. All entered treatment.
• The massive movement of IDPs led to a decline in child screening and enrollment in nutrition programs: 83,000 were screened in Jan. compared to 130,000 in Dec. Treatment has extended from 1 to 2 weeks and services are scaling up, particularly in northern Gaza.
• 1/19-2/13, 3,000 livestock holders received 550 tons of animal feed in Rafah and Deir al Balah, and about 2 tons of animal feed were distributed to a poultry farm in Khan Younis. Israeli restrictions on the entry of agricultural inputs (other than seeds and animal feed) hamper the resumption of agricultural activities, such as vegetable and fruit production and small-scale home, community and school gardening. There is an urgent need for seed kits, organic fertilizers and nylon sheets for greenhouses.
Water & Sanitation
• 46,000 cases of infectious diseases, mostly among children, are reported weekly due to the destruction of water infrastructure. here
• There are currently more than 1,500 water points across the Gaza Strip, compared with 750-850 points operational prior to the ceasefire. They supply 17,000 cubic meters of drinking and domestic water per day, serving 1.1 million people, half trucked in. Water production and supply remain about ¼ of water supply prior to October 2023. About 43% of drinking water is produced by 2 operational desalination plants or supplied by Israel through 2 of the Mekorot lines, while 57% comes from municipal ground water wells.
• WASH partners have developed 2 initiatives to increase water availability through strategic management of fuel resources. One subsidizes fuel supply for 8 private sector water providers, ensuring common pricing for NGOs and purchasers of bulk water for water trucking. The second partners NGOS with local institutions or well owners, providing fuel for water production so long as the water is made available for end users free of charge.
• Challenges to the WASH supply chain: 1) WASH equipment is classified as “dual-use” and Israel denies it entry; 2) the various access corridors and complex entry processes complicate delivery of essential WASH materials; 3) pipes, generators, prefabricated structures and other WASH materials are bulky, making them difficult to transport and pass Israeli screening processes.
• Israeli authorities continued denial of access to the Sofa landfill, located in a “no-go zone,” prevents the transfer of solid waste from 30 temporary dump sites and numerous persistent ad-hoc sites. Half the temporary dump sites are already full. Access to the Sofa landfill is necessary to a sanitary environment in southern Gaza and Juhor al Dik area in northern Gaza.
Protection
• The Protection Cluster and the Protection from Sexual Abuse and Exploitation (PSEA) Network are training and deploying teams at aid distribution points, to ensure safe and dignified access to humanitarian aid and adherence to the do no harm principle during the rapid scale-up of humanitarian assistance. 50 teams operate in the north and 50 in the south, covering a total of 68 distribution points. Teams identified gaps, including limited accessibility for persons with disabilities, limited capacity to prioritize vulnerable cases, and the absence of a clear complaint mechanism. About 25% of sites were staffed solely by men, and 30% lacked separate queues for men and women, raising concerns about gender-sensitivity in aid delivery.
• Mine Action (MA) partners continue to carry out explosive hazard assessments and accompany aid convoys to ensure safety from explosive ordnance. MA groups are unable to conduct life-saving disposal operations, due to the lack of necessary equipment (classified as “dual-use,” and prohibited by Israel from entering Gaza). As a result, contaminated sites remain inaccessible and pose an imminent threat to the community. So far in 2025, ordnance has killed 2 and injured 38 (15 children).
Education
• According to the Education Cluster, the unprecedented learning loss and destruction of educational institutions have deepened the critical mental health crisis among children and youth. According to UNICEF, nearly all of Gaza’s 1 million children require mental health support. As of 2/16, 212,539 learners are enrolled in e-school program, with 187,400 actively attending classes. 251,691 learners are enrolled in UNRWA’s distance learning program, with 71% able to participate. There are also 405 Temporary Learning Spaces across Gaza. The presence of unexploded ordnance remains a major challenge due to the lack of clearance capacity, and efforts are underway to improve sanitation and hygiene at schools previously used as IDP shelters.
• 2/9-10, 8 schools serving as shelters in Khan Younis received educational supplies for over 2,800 students and recreational kits for 3,250. These supplies mark the 1st support provided to eastern Khan Younis since the onset of large-scale displacement there in Dec. 2023.
• Israeli restrictions on entry of education supplies continue. Despite obtaining pre-approval, one partner still has 4 trucks carrying education supplies denied entry; another partner reports being prevented from bringing in PSS (psychosocial support) kits. Additionally, 465,000 individual educational kits remain stuck in Jordan due to restrictions.
• Limited internet access, a shortage of electronic devices, and an unreliable power supply further undermine efforts to facilitate children’s learning, including e-learning programs provided by UNRWA and the Ministry of Education and Higher Education (MEHE).
Aid
• Calling UNRWA's financial situation "more precarious" than ever, UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini said the agency will either "implode" or "progressively conclude its mandate" in Gaza, following a ban by Israel causing it to halt its services.
• 2/2-15, the Logistics Cluster facilitated 9 convoys of 180 trucks from Amman to Erez West Crossing (Zikim), carrying 1,658 tons of food, health, nutrition, shelter items, and WASH. The Logistics Cluster continues to facilitate transport from the Gaza entry points (Erez West, Erez, Kerem Shalom/Karem Abu Salem) to partners' warehouses and common storage facilities. A new consolidation warehouse was set up in Amman with a capacity of 3,500 pallets and an additional 5350 sq.m. of warehouse space in northern Gaza.
• An Egyptian firm that monopolizes permits is run by powerful tribal leader Ibrahim al-Organi and charges commercial trucks entering Gaza $20,000 in bribes despite the ceasefire deal. here
• An abrupt reduction by Israeli authorities of pallet height allowance from 170 to 160 cm has led to multiple truck rejections. At least 22 partners have 40,994 pallets affected by this arbitrary change, significantly increasing costs due to re-palletizing cargo.
THE WEST BANK, INCLUDING EAST JERUSALEM
This week, Israeli forces killed 6 Palestinians (1 child) and injured 18 (7 children).
Killed since October 2023: 1053 (222 children) and injured: 16,549 (2,552 children).
For more detail: here
Israeli attacks
• 2/11, Israeli forces shot and killed 1 and injured 3 (1 child) during a raid in Sa’ir village, north of Hebron. Palestinians threw stones at Israeli forces, who responded with live ammunition, rubber coated bullets and tear gas.
• 2/12, Israeli forces shot and killed 3 (1 child) during the ongoing operation in Nur Shams refugee camp, near Tulkarm.
• 2/13, Israeli forces shot and killed a man near Huwwara checkpoint (Nablus), alleging he used a road to the checkpoint prohibited for Palestinians. No Israeli casualties were reported. The man’s family reported he had a mental health condition. Israeli forces withheld his body.
• 2/14, Israeli forces shot and killed a man during a raid in Askar refugee camp, east of Nablus. Palestinians threw stones at Israeli forces, who responded with gunfire.
• 2/17, a boy died of wounds sustained on 2/1 in Qabatiya, south of Jenin, after an airstrike targeted the vehicle he was in, killing 2 and injuring 7.
Settler Attacks
This week, settlers carried out 34 attacks against Palestinians, injuring 5 and damaging property (176 olive and fruit trees).
• 2/11, settlers cut and disconnected 1,500m. of water pipes in Area C, An Nazla ash Sharqiya village, Tulkarm, harming 12 Palestinian farmers dependent on the irrigation network.
• 2/12, Israeli forces raided the Al ‘Arrub refugee camp, north of Hebron, invading and damaging homes, and turning an UNRWA health center into an interrogation and detention site. 26 Palestinians were detained (5 elders); 22 were released and 4 arrested. Israeli forces assaulted and used pens to number the foreheads of detainees. Schools were disrupted for 1,800 students. UNRWA stated that the takeover of its health center was “a blatant disregard for the inviolability of UN facilities” and “follows a pattern of forcible entries into UNRWA installations in the West Bank since October 2023.”
• 2/13, armed settlers cut and disconnected a 450m. water network in Area B, Kisan village, Bethlehem, harming 20 families.
• 2/14-17, settlers injured 4 Palestinians on their agricultural land in the West Bank. In Mikhmas, Jerusalem, 2 farmers were assaulted with clubs and stones by armed settlers who then stole belongings from their vehicle. In Surif, Hebron, armed settlers assaulted and injured a Palestinian man and damaged his greenhouse and crops. In Rantis, Ramallah, settlers attacked a farmer, punctured his vehicle’s tires, and pepper-sprayed his face. They subsequently grazed their sheep on his land, damaging 20 olive saplings.
• 2/15, settlers cut down about 155 olive and fruit trees on farmland in Yasuf village, Salfit.
• 2/16, settlers threw stones at a Bethlehem Municipality solid waste collection truck transporting garbage, shattering the windshield and injuring the eyes of a man seated next to the driver. He was rushed to a medical center.
Demolitions & Displacement
This week, Israeli authorities demolished 11 Palestinian-owned structures for lack of Israeli-issued building permits, displacing 12 people (5 children) and affecting 35 people (13 children).
• 2/14, 7 Palestinian herding households (39 people, 17 children) were forcibly displaced from Barriyet Al Minya, east of Al Manila village, Bethlehem. Israeli settlers from a newly established outpost near Bariyat Tuqu’ attacked the community 20 times in the past year causing casualties, damage and limiting access. The last attack occurred on 2/14 when some 40 armed settlers raided dwellings, vandalized structures, and assaulted them with clubs, stones, and tear gas, wounding 16. 6 were transported to hospital and 10 were treated by Red Crescent paramedics. Settlers destroyed 4 residential structures, 2 solar panel systems, and 2 water tanks before Israeli forces arrived and evacuated them. The assault lasted 6 hours, forcing residents and their livestock to flee for safety, leaving behind their belongings. Only 4 families remained in the community, struggling to stay despite the ongoing violence.
• Herding communities in the northern Jordan Valley face increasing restrictions on access to grazing lands due to settler violence. For example, in Ad Deir community (Tubas), documented settler-related incidents rose from none in 2020- 2021, to one in both 2022 and 2023, and surged to 14 in 2024. Similarly, in Al Farisiya-Nab'a al Ghazal (Tubas), documented settler-related incidents increased from two in 2020, to 12 in 2023, and then to 29 in 2024.
• 2/15, an Israeli military training exercise caused a fire that destroyed a Palestinian-owned agricultural structure in Az Za’ayyem Bedouin community, Area C, Jerusalem governorate. Tear gas fired from a Israeli military base ignited agricultural land, a residence and its furniture, and 10 trees. The fire affected a household of 6 (2 children). Since 2009, the community has been subject to 106 demolitions, displacing 122 people (77 children).
UNRWA
• 2/18, Israeli forces forcibly entered the Kalandia Training Center (KTC), next to Qalandia refugee camp on the West Bank side of the Barrier, and ordered its immediate evacuation presenting no legal documentation. After deploying sound bombs and tear gas in the refugee camp, they left following discussions with UNRWA officials invoking UN privileges and immunities.
• 2/18, Israeli Ministry of Education officials visited 3 East Jerusalem UNRWA schools in Wadi al Joz, Silwan, and Sur Baher, in one instance accompanied by the Israeli police. They were denied entry, based on UN privileges and immunities. UNRWA Commissioner General Philippe Lazzarini condemned the breach of UN premises and called for access to education to be upheld, noting that the incidents affected 250 children in the 3 UNRWA schools in East Jerusalem and more than 350 trainees at the KTC. Director of UNRWA Affairs in the West Bank, Roland Friedrich, emphasized that UNRWA was committed to stay to deliver services in East Jerusalem, comments later echoed by the UN Secretary General. UNRWA runs 6 schools, 2 health centers and 1 vocational training center in the Israeli-defined East Jerusalem municipal boundary. For more information on UNRWA services in East Jerusalem, please see here.
Access restrictions
• Educational access for hundreds of thousands of Palestinian children in the West Bank is severely harmed by access restrictions, home demolitions, settler violence and Israeli forces’ operations in 2024, according to a recent report by the Education Cluster. In 2024, the Palestinian Ministry of Education recorded:
--2,274 incidents of violence targeting the education system with 109 schools attacked or vandalized
--incidents include armed settlers entering schools, detention of students or school staff, and harassment of some 806,000 students on their way to school.
--In affected areas, more than half of the students reported that they had faced delays or harassment on the way to school.
--Increasing poverty and food insecurity have also forced families to deprioritize education: 40% report they cannot afford school-related costs, such as transportation or textbooks. Older children, particularly boys, are often required to work to support their families, increasing dropout rates. Girls and young women are twice as likely to drop out of school after the age of 12 compared to boys, particularly in rural areas where travel to school entails long or unsafe commutes.
• Since mid-January, Israeli forces have intensified access restrictions across the West Bank, impeding access to markets, workplaces, emergency services, and health and educational facilities. At least 20 new gates have been installed at the entrances of towns and villages, alongside new roadblocks, earth mounds, and trench fences, further restricting movement on secondary access routes. Some examples:
--In Jerusalem governorate, between 2/11-16, Israeli forces repeatedly closed Qalandiya and Jaba’ checkpoints, major crossings connecting the central West Bank with both East Jerusalem and the southern West Bank, severely disrupting movement for tens of thousands of Palestinians. At Qalandiya checkpoint, forces physically assaulted and arrested 3 Palestinians. 2/14, Israeli forces closed Wadi an Nar checkpoint, which controls all Palestinian traffic between the southern and northern West Bank, for 3 hours, causing 8-hour delays, during which a Palestinian was assaulted and injured by the military.
--In Jenin governorate, Israeli forces installed a metal road gate on the main road south of Silat adh Dhahr village. When the gate is closed, it restricts movement between Jenin, Tulkarm and Nablus governorates, affecting hundreds of thousands.
--In the Israeli-controlled H2 area of Hebron, Israeli forces closed 3 checkpoints on 2/12, 16 & 17 for up to 5 hours. This prevented 170 students and teachers from reaching Al Ibrahimiya Basic School, forcing classes online.
• 2/18, the World Bank, European Union, and UN issued findings of the latest Gaza and West Bank Interim Rapid Damage and Needs Assessment (IRDNA), which analyses damages and losses as well as recovery and reconstruction needs across almost all sectors of the Palestinian economy, based on data between October 2023 and October 2024. Recurring Israeli military operations, airstrikes, and closures have caused widespread damage and disruption across the West Bank, particularly in and around densely populated refugee camps in Jenin, Tulkarm and Tubas.
• Damage to the housing sector in the West Bank is estimated at US$16 million. In the health sector, only 61% of facilities in conflict-affected governorates—Hebron, Nablus, Ramallah, Jenin, and Bethlehem—remain fully functional, further delaying critical health care services. Access to education has forced 602,000 public school students into home-based learning up to 3 days a week throughout the 2023-2024 academic year. In a statement, UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator for the Occupied Palestinian Territory, Muhanned Hadi, reaffirmed that the “UN stands ready to support the Palestinian people both on humanitarian assistance and a future recovery and reconstruction process.”
Developments in the northern West Bank
• The Israeli military operation began on 1/21 in Jenin refugee camp and spread to Tulkarm and its refugee camps (Tulkarm and Nur Shams), Tubas (Tammun town and El Fara’a refugee camp). As of 2/20, 51 Palestinians have been killed in Jenin, Tulkarm and Tubas governorates, including 7 children. 3 Israeli soldiers were killed by armed Palestinians, 1 during an exchange of fire in Jenin and 2 in a shooting attack at Tayasir checkpoint (Tubas).
• This week, Israeli forces notified the Palestinian District Liaison Office that 2 structures in Jenin—one in the camp and one in the city—and 14 residential structures in Tulkarm refugee camp are slated for demolition.
• 2/19, In Jenin refugee camp, residents were granted 2 hours to retrieve their belongings. During this period, a 50-year-old woman was critically injured after using a route outside the paths set by Israeli forces. In Tulkarm refugee camp, residents of the 14 homes set for demolition were similarly given 2 hours to collect their things. Red Crescent teams assisted 14 families in moving their belongings, after being allowed by Israeli forces to enter the camp; however, Israeli forces opened fire and fired smoke grenades at them. At least 9 structures were demolished by Israeli forces on 2/18 & 19.
• As of 2/20, 60 families (300 people) are in 6 public shelters in Tulkarm and 44 families (173 people) are in 4 public shelters in Jenin; 2 more shelters will be set up in Jenin schools.
• The Israeli operations have severely damaged infrastructure. In Jenin refugee camp and surrounding areas, over 3.3 km. of sewage networks and 21.4km. of water pipelines have been severely damaged, over 5,000m. of roads have further impacted water and sewage, leaving 5,000 water connections unconnected. Heavy damage has been recorded in Tulkarm and Nur Shams refugee camps, where 8.4km. of sewage and stormwater networks and 15km. of water pipelines have been severely damaged, disrupting access to safe water for 27,000 people. In Tammun and El Fara’a refugee camp, over 4km. of damaged water and sanitation lines affects 10,000 people. This damage and displacement has heightened the risk of waterborne diseases and other public health concerns.
Israel
• Many 10/7 hostages in Gaza are being held in tunnels and—based on accounts of those released—are likely to be malnourished and to have experienced psychological and in some cases physical abuse. 2 hostages released a week ago told the family of hostage Alon Ohel that he has been shackled in a tunnel, with shrapnel embedded in his eye, and subsisting on 1 pita bread a day. Interviews with 3 hostages released over a year ago, as well as with family members and psychologists, indicate that many struggle to recover. Recovery might prove even tougher for those held longer. here
• Israel used an 80-year-old Gazan as a human shield. Then they killed him. Soldiers put an explosive cord around the man's neck and forced him to scout buildings for 8 hours. After his release, another division shot him dead. here
• Multiple Bus Explosions in Israel Put Country on Terrorism Alert. The explosions on 2/20 injured no one but shut down buses and trains across the country. They occurred amid Israel’s ongoing raids in the West Bank and as part 1 of the cease-fire agreement with Hamas nears its end. here
• Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich has decided to confiscate an additional $90 million from Palestinian Authority tax revenues to transfer to Israeli families allegedly killed in attacks by Palestinians. TV7 Israel News, cited by the Anadolu news agency, said the move was to prevent the PA from “continuing to reward terrorists and murderers” and to redirect the funds to “terror victims” and their families.
• 5 IOF reservists were charged with abuse and causing serious bodily harm to a Gazan detainee at the Sde Teiman military base in July. The indictment said they "collectively caused serious bodily harm to a security detainee who was in their custody... while he was handcuffed and blindfolded, including by using a... weapon."
• The Knesset advanced a bill banning Israeli citizens, authorities, and public bodies from "cooperating with the International Criminal Court in The Hague" and proposes a penalty of up to 5 years in prison for anyone "providing services to the ICC or offering resources," unless they prove they were unaware their action was for the court's activities. An international law expert warned that journalists investigating IDF crimes could also face imprisonment. Another draft law seeks to strip judicial protection and tax-exempt status from Israeli human rights groups funded by foreign governments.
Lebanon
• 2/17, IOF withdrew from most of southern Lebanon, leaving forces at 5 points in Lebanon near the border, a move coordinated with the US. Lebanon will consider any remaining Israeli presence on its lands an occupation and has the right to use all means to ensure Israeli withdrawal, a spokesperson for the Lebanese presidency said.
United States
• The ADC welcomes the news that the Dept. of Education’s Office for Civil Rights cleared our client, Dr. Lara Sheehi, of all specious and politically motivated claims lodged by pro-Israel activist organization StandWithUs in their January 2023 Title VI complaint against George Washington University. This decision not only establishes a significant precedent in the fight against politically motivated McCarthyism, but also underscores the serious repercussions that arise from ideological exclusion. here
• Doctors Against Genocide (DAG) planned to bring more than 100 medical professionals from across the US to the US Senate on 2/19 to demand an end to the genocide and forced displacement of Palestinians in the Occupied Territories. They also demand the release of Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya and all other healthcare workers in Israeli detention. Dr. Abu Safia has endured severe torture and mistreatment at the hands of Israel after being kidnapped from the hospital in December. Kept in solitary confinement for 24 days, he was then transferred to Ofer Prison. Dr. Abu Safia suffers from an enlarged heart and hypertension; he has lost 15 kilos in detention.
• In a tweet attacking the Climate Justice Alliance, EPA head Lee Zeldin linked it to the group’s protected speech about Palestine.
International
• Egypt and Jordan believe they have successfully dissuaded Trump from backing a forced displacement of Palestinians from Gaza and that the US has gotten behind an Egyptian post-war plan for the enclave. here
• Egypt is developing a plan for rebuilding Gaza without depopulating it, the state-run Al-Ahram newspaper reported, adding that the proposal calls for establishing "secure areas" within Gaza where Palestinians can live as Egyptian and international construction firms remove and rehabilitate the Strip's infrastructure. Egyptian officials discussed the plan with European diplomats, as well as with Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and the UAE, according to diplomats cited in the report. The proposal, the report said, is designed to "refute Trump's logic" while countering "any other visions or plans that aim to change the geographic and demographic structure of the Gaza Strip."
SOURCES
OCHAOPT, ADC, ANERA, Cradle Media, The Electronic Intifada, Haaretz, Middle East Eye, Palestine Chronicle, Wall Street Journal, WHO