Urgent health update: Consequences of war on Gaza, West Bank/East Jerusalem, Lebanon, and Syria (and Yemen?) 1/4/25

"Organizing to end genocide is not only our responsibility—it is our path to healing. Join us in standing against these atrocities and building a future rooted in justice and humanity." Doctors Against Genocide LINK:

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.

What does it mean to be SICK FROM GENOCIDE? It means that for the past almost 15 months, HCWs have witnessed the destruction of Gaza's healthcare system and the targeting of our colleagues, the health workers of Gaza by Israel, with full U.S. partnership. We are taking a stand, as the students have done across the world with the following demands:

--Immediate and permanent ceasefire

--Entry of all needed humanitarian aid into Gaza immediately, including international health workers

--Immediate release and full accounting of all Palestinians arrested/abducted/detained by Israel

--Arms embargo on Israel

--End the complicity of our healthcare institutions with the war machine

--Fund healthcare NOT warfare

Please see the Doctors Against Genocide Press Release here

We encourage you to participate in local actions happening all over the world on Jan 6.

VIDEOS

Doctors Against Genocide (DAG) webinar The discussion on 12/29 highlighted the intersectionality of struggles—linking the genocide in Gaza to broader issues of eroding democracy, economic inequality, and suppression of free speech worldwide. Speakers emphasized the importance of unified movements across healthcare, legal, and civil society. here

"A Genocidal Project": Dr. Ghassan Abu-Sittah on Israel's Destruction of Gaza Health System here

Gaza hospital director held at notorious Israeli military detention center, recently released detainees say. here

ARTICLES & REPORTS

UCSF placed Dr. Rupa Marya on leave and threatened her medical license after she questioned admitting students who served in the Israeli military. She is right to raise ethical concerns about those who could have participated in genocide. (by HAC’s Alice Rothchild) here

How to Hide a Genocide: The Role of Evacuation Orders and Safe Zones in Israel’s Genocidal Campaign in Gaza here

WHO issued a statement: All the organization’s efforts to maintain the health system in Gaza were in vain. We will send a team to assess the needs in Gaza and the lack of equipment in hospitals. here

Israeli legislators have laid the groundwork to ban UNRWA with the passage of two bills set to take effect this month. If Israeli authorities enforce the new laws, U.N. officials are warning that no other group will be able to replace UNRWA and that its crucial humanitarian operations in Gaza will grind to a halt at a moment when experts say famine is threatening parts of the territory. here

By targeting hospitals—essential lifelines in a besieged region—Israel not only deepens the humanitarian crisis but also sends a chilling message: no space, not even those dedicated to saving lives, is off-limits. here and here

FACT SHEET: Genocide in Gaza — the Biden Administration’s Role and Legacy: How the Biden administration has fueled Israel's war in Gaza and made itself complicit in crimes against humanity. here

What It’s Truly Like to Sleep in a Damp, Frigid Tent: A Report From Gaza, Five newborns have died of hypothermia amid the cold in Gaza, a direct result of Israel's blockades. here

GAZA

Israeli air, land, & sea bombardment continues across Gaza, causing further civilian casualties, and destruction of houses & other civilian infrastructure. The 12-week siege of northern Gaza has choked off all humanitarian aid, denying 65-75,000 people access to food, water, electricity or reliable health care. The last remaining partially functional hospital was destroyed. Between 10/ 6 and 12/30/24, the UN attempted to reach besieged areas in North Gaza 164 times; of these, 148 attempts received outright denials by the Israeli authorities and 16 were impeded. Israeli violations of the ceasefire in Lebanon, widespread Israeli bombing of Syria and Yemen, the expanded Israeli occupation of the Golan Heights, and the expansion of the war to the West Bank constitute a regional health and human rights emergency.

Killed: 45,541+ (203 this week)

Injured: 108,338+ (574 this week)

Israeli soldiers killed in Gaza: 393 (4 this week)

Israeli soldiers injured in Gaza: 2,521

Hostages in Gaza: 100

(Numbers are cumulative through 12/31/24, per OCHAOPT) For more details: here

New data show Gaza’s population has fallen by 6% since the start of Israel’s assault in October 2023. The Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics estimates about 100,000 people have left Gaza, while more than 55,000 people have been killed by Israeli attacks or are missing and presumed dead. here

Seven people have died of hypothermia in Gaza in the past week, including six infants aged between four days to a month old. Gaza health ministry warns that the number of people dying from hypothermia is expected to rise as the result of heavy rain and difficult living conditions in flooded encampments. here and here

War vs Human Needs

• During all of 2024, UN member states provided $2.53 billion (74% of the $3.42 billion requested) to meet the most critical needs of 2.3 million people in Gaza and 800,000 people in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, according to OCHAOPT. During the 12 months from October 2023-October 2024, the US spent $17.9 billion on military aid to Israel plus an additional $4.86 billion on related U.S. operations in the region: a total of $22.76 billion, almost 10 times more! (See more at Brown University’s Costs of War Project here:

Child mental health

Previously noted here, it is worth repeating: the psychological toll of Israel’s war on Gaza’s children is severe, manifesting in symptoms such as fear, anxiety, sleep disturbances, nightmares, nail-biting, difficulty concentrating and social withdrawal.

• 73% of children (92% boys vs. 54% girls) exhibit aggressive behavior.

• 79% suffer from nightmares.

• 87% experience severe fear.

• 38% report bed-wetting.

• 90% of children express a bleak outlook due to the war.

• 55% report introversion (70% for girls).

• 49% believe they will die in the war (72% for boys).

• 77% express feelings of sadness.

• 96% feel death is imminent.

(Download the report here.)

Israeli Attacks

• 12/24, 9 killed and others injured in a residential building in Jabalya.

• 12/24, 2 Civil Defense personnel and 1 fireman killed in a bombing of a Civil Defense center in Gaza City.

• 12/25-26, 4 attacks killed 35 (2 children) in IDP tents and homes in Gaza City.

• 12/26, the day before Israeli forces destroyed Kamal Adwan Hospital, the now-kidnapped hospital director reported airstrikes across the street killed 50 people (5 health care workers). Israeli military denied the report.

• 12/26, 5 Palestinian media workers were killed in their clearly marked press van in front of Al Awda Hospital in Deir al Balah. The Committee to Protect Journalists noted that “at least 9 Gazan journalists have been killed in less than 2 weeks.” Over 190 journalists and media workers have been killed in Gaza since October 2023.

• 12/28 & 29, 17 killed and others injured in Beit Hanoun.

• 12/28 & 29, 17 killed (1 child) and others injured in Deir al Balah.

• 12/29, Israeli forces killed 7 and wounded others in an attack on the Al Wafa Rehabilitation Hospital, Gaza City.

• 12/26, the Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR) reported a significant escalation in the destruction of residential neighborhoods and civilian infrastructure, including hospitals, roads, and electricity, water and sewage networks. “Entire neighborhoods … have been rendered uninhabitable, reduced to mere rubble, compelling most residents to evacuate,” threatening the future, stability and survival of Gaza’s residents, especially in northern Gaza and Rafah where Israeli forces have deployed “advanced weaponry, including explosive-laden robots to level entire neighborhoods into rubble.”

• 1/02 Israeli airstrikes killed at least 37 Palestinians across the Gaza Strip including 11 people in a tent encampment sheltering displaced families, medics said. They said the 11 included women and children in the Al-Mawasi district, which was earlier designated as a humanitarian zone for civilians.

• Gaza’s fishing sector, which once supported 110,000 people, has incurred US$84 million in losses, as 72% of fishing assets have been destroyed.

• Gaza Rescuers Are Haunted by Voices of Those They Couldn’t Save Rescuers rushing to the scene of Israeli airstrikes save those who they can, but are forced to leave many behind. here

Prisoners

• The Palestinian Prisoner’s Society announced the death of 5 Gazan detainees (Details here). In Israeli prisons from a month to over a year, one was a Kamal Adwan Hospital patient arrested in October. So far, 35 detainees from Gaza have died in Israeli custody. 12/27-28, 45 detainees were released via the Kerem Shalom crossing and taken to the European Gaza Hospital in Khan Younis.

• According to Israel Prison Service data released to the Israeli human rights NGO, Hamoked, there are 10,154 Palestinians in Israeli custody, including 2,003 sentenced prisoners, 2,951 remand detainees, 3,428 administrative detainees held without trial, and 1,772 people held as unlawful combatants. These figures do not include Palestinians from Gaza detained by Israel since 10/7/23, an unknown number.

Aid

• Between 12/1-30, of 569 planned aid movements coordinated with Israeli authorities, 33% (189) were facilitated, 39% (224) were denied, 18% (103) were impeded, and 9% (53) were cancelled. These include 60 attempts to reach North Gaza, of which 55 were denied and 5 allowed but impeded. Israel denied 36 of 38 planned movements to Rafah during December, only 1 was facilitated, and 1 was impeded.

• 12/20, “Humanitarians are put in a situation where, because not enough aid is being facilitated into the Gaza Strip, we are having to prioritize food over shelter…[as] just last week there were women crushed at a bakery waiting for a piece of bread,” reported UNRWA Senior Emergency Officer.

• In the middle of a genocide, a girl’s first menstruation feels like yet another mountain to climb. Privacy, a simple necessity, has become an unattainable luxury in Gaza. There is no sanitation. Even when available, the price of sanitary pads is exorbitant. Shared bathrooms are another constant source of anxiety.

Hospitals

• 12/27, Israeli forces raided Kamal Adwan Hospital, severely damaging the laboratory, surgical unit, engineering and maintenance department, operating room, and the medical store. Some patients, caregivers and health-care workers were reportedly transferred by Israeli forces to the destroyed and non-functional Indonesian Hospital, forcibly evacuated by Israel on 12/24. The majority of staff, stable patients and companions were moved “to a nearby location” and some were stripped and forced to walk toward southern Gaza, WHO reported. Kamal Adwan, the last major health facility in North Gaza, is completely empty and out of service. The Israeli military stated its forces had arrested over 240 combatants using the facility and its surroundings. Kamal Adwan Hospital’s director Hussam Abu Safiya was detained and taken to the notorious Israeli prison Sde Teiman.

• Occupation soldiers flogged Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya with a street electrical wire (‘the Norwegian wire,’ worse than a whip) after they forced him and other members of the Kamal Adwan hospital staff to take off their clothes. This happened at the field investigation headquarters in the Aal-Fakhoura area before they took him to an unknown location, (testimony from Islam Badr, one of those released on 12/29 who witnessed these events)

• 1/3 Geneva-based Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor said it had received information that the health of Dr. Abu Safiya has deteriorated due to the torture he has endured during his detention, particularly while being held at the Sde Teiman detention center. “Euro-Med Monitor warns of the grave risk to his life, following patterns of deliberate killings and deaths under torture previously suffered by other doctors and medical staff arrested from Gaza since October 2023.”

• 12/29, a mission comprising OCHA, WHO, WFP, UNDSS (UN Department of Safety and Security), and the Red Crescent delivered basic medical and hygiene supplies, food and water to the Indonesian Hospital and evacuated 10 patients. Israeli forces arrested 4 patients (1 in critical condition) during the transfer; only 6 reached Al Shifa Hospital in Gaza City. 7 patients and 15 caregivers and staff remain at the severely damaged Indonesian Hospital, which has no ability to provide medical care and no water, electricity or sanitation.

• 12/29, IOF struck the top floor of the Al-Ahli Hospital in northern Gaza. IOF said it struck the Al-Wafa hospital compound in northern Gaza. Seven people were killed and others seriously wounded in the strike. ...Indonesian Hospital was then the only major functioning medical facility north of Gaza City, despite sustaining damage during recent IDF operations.

• 1/3 Israeli occupation forces have surrounded the Indonesian Hospital in Beit Lahia, northern Gaza, demanding amidst gunfire the immediate evacuation of those inside. Hundreds of civilians, patients, injured individuals, and medical staff are trapped inside, including those who were forcibly displaced from Kamal Adwan Hospital last week.

• “With Kamal Adwan and Indonesian hospitals entirely out of service, and Al-Awda Hospital barely able to function, and severely damaged due to recent airstrikes, the health-care lifeline for those in North Gaza is reaching a breaking point,” warned WHO. “We’ve seen the systematic dismantling of the health system in northern Gaza,” WHO spokesperson Margaret Harris said. “It’s been under siege for 80 days, and this is putting the lives of, we estimate, 75,000 Palestinians who remain in the area at great risk,”

• 12/29, A nurse at Gaza’s European Hospital, Ahmed al-Zaharnet, died due to extreme cold in his tent in al-Maawasi, west of Khan Younis is southern Gaza.

• 01/03, Israeli forces attacked and ordered the evacuation of Al-Awda and Indonesian Hospital, where they had earlier dumped the patients they had removed from Kamal Adwan. There are no functioning hospitals left in north Gaza. here

• UNICEF states 7,700 newborns lack access to life-saving care, as neonatal care capacity continues to shrink across Gaza. Prior to 10/2023 north Gaza accounted for 60% of total neonatal hospital beds; now there are none. In the Gaza governorate, only 2 hospitals, Patients Friends Association Hospital and Al Sahaba Medical Complex, have merely 5 neonatal beds each. Both facilities face dire shortages of incubators, high frequency ventilators, essential medications and supplies, and rely on a single oxygen plant which lacks spare parts and is insufficient to meet needs.

• The situation is equally dire in central and southern Gaza; while 64 neonatal hospital beds are present at the Nasser Medical Complex and at the European and Al Aqsa hospitals in Khan Younis and Deir al Balah, they consistently operate above capacity, with neonatal bed occupancy exceeding 100%, and with dire shortages of ventilators, equipment for phototherapy and continuous positive airway pressure, and life-saving supplies such as antibiotics, intravenous immunoglobulin, total parenteral nutrition, and surfactants for neonatal care.

• UNICEF reports: Overburdened wards and compromised infection control expose newborns to hospital-acquired infections, a situation exacerbated by the lack of neonatologists and only a few pediatricians with limited neonatal expertise.

Evacuation and displacement

• 12/2-29, Israeli military issued 2 evacuation orders for all of North Gaza governorate and parts of Gaza City, affecting thousands of families. Israeli army is pushing Gazans southward, prohibiting them from taking belongings. IDF soldiers even force residents to leave their clothes behind, despite humanitarian organizations' warning of dangerously cold temperatures.

• As temperatures continue to plummet, 5 newborns died of hypothermia in IDP tents in central and southern Gaza between 12/24- 29. UNICEF Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa Edouard Beigbeder stated: “These preventable deaths lay bare the desperate and deteriorating conditions facing families and children across Gaza. With temperatures expected to drop further in the coming days, it is tragically foreseeable that more children's lives will be lost to the inhumane conditions they are enduring.”

• 12/20 UN assessment of 4 displacement sites (1,900 families) in Gaza City, found most households displaced from North Gaza over the past 2 months, fleeing on foot, with no personal belongings, now struggling to meet even basic needs:

• There is a dire lack of latrines and hygiene supplies, growing sewage and solid waste accumulation, and open defecation was observed. Insecurity and lack of lighting force women and girls to use containers inside their tents at night. There is an urgent need for dignity kits, diapers for babies and the elderly, and infant formula.

• Access to drinking and domestic water is extremely limited. The lack of generators and fuel hampers the operation of water wells.

• While 1 site received food assistance, the other 3 have received none. Hot meals distributed at nearby community kitchens reach a fraction of households and rely on burning nylon and plastic in the absence of cooking gas and firewood.

• 3 sites lack access to medical points or basic medications, particularly affecting the health of babies, pregnant and breastfeeding women, and people in need of emergency services.

• There are no temporary learning sites serving the large number of school-aged children.

• People with disabilities, many injured in hostilities, face severe mobility challenges due to the lack of infrastructure and assistive devices.

Water & sanitation

• As of early 10/2024, 75% of WASH infrastructure for areas north of Wadi Gaza (450,000 people) were damaged, only 20% of municipal wells were even partially operational, supplying just 10% of the water produced prior to 10/ 2023. The entry of fuel supplies for WASH operations reached their lowest levels between 12/14-20 when only 5% was received of the minimum required to meet critical WASH and public health needs, including water production and distribution, critical repair works and essential sewage and solid waste management operations. No fuel was allowed into north Gaza.

• 12/30, the Gaza City Municipality issued an urgent appeal stressing that 175,000 meters of sewage networks, 15,000m of stormwater drainage systems and all sewage pumps and stations have been destroyed, making stormwater and sewage drainage impossible, risking flooding.

• Between 12/1-23, 79% of water samples collected throughout Gaza showed inadequate chlorine and 19% showed contamination by fecal coliforms, with this rate rising to 21% in healthcare facilities. Overall, nearly 73% of drinking water and over 97% of domestic water are not compliant with standards for water chlorination, due to limited access to water testing equipment, shortages of disinfecting consumables, and the overall disruption of the water quality control system.

• Between 12/21-27, the Palestinian Water Authority and Coastal Municipalities Water Utility reported that water production represented less than ¼ of the supply prior to October 2023. Only a limited portion of this reduced amount reaches people since an estimated 70% is lost due to the damaged distribution network.

WEST BANK, INCLUDING EAST JERUSALEM

This week, Israeli forces killed 11 Palestinians (2 children) and injured 49 (19 children).

Killed since October 2023: 997 (212 children) and injured: 16,195 (2,481 children)

Find more detail here:

• 12/24-25, Israeli forces attacked Tulkarm and Nur Shams refugee camps with 2 drone strikes, exchanges of fire, explosives, and extensive destruction of civilian infrastructure by military bulldozers, killing 8 (1 child). In the Tulkarm Camp, 12 families (61 people) were displaced by the operation. 828 housing units were partially or moderately damaged. Electricity was cut off for 43 hours. The water supply was disrupted, forcing residents to rely on 33 water tankers. In Nur Shams camp, 9 families (33 people) were displaced by the operation, which bulldozed the camp's main street and several roads. 222 housing units were damaged. The bulldozing and flooding of roads with sewage water have disrupted movement within and around the camp, restricted access to medical and educational services, and made life miserable for the camp’s 7,000 residents.

• 12/25, Israeli forces killed a man, firing anti-tank rifle grenades at his house in Qaffin, north of Tulkarm. His body was withheld by Israeli forces.

• 12/25, Israeli forces using drones killed a boy and injured another person during a raid in Tammun, southeast of Tubas.

• 12/26, Israeli forces shot and killed an 18-year-old in Jenin. Shot in the chest, the youth was left unattended and denied first aid.

• 12/27, a Palestinian man from Tulkarm stabbed and killed an elderly Israeli woman before being injured by an Israeli security guard in Herzliya.

Palestinian unrest

• Clashes between Palestinians and the PA continue. 12/26, a Palestinian was killed after Molotov cocktails were thrown at a house where members of the PA were stationed. 12/28, a journalist and a member of the PA were killed in separate incidents.

• A special committee involving several ministries of the Palestinian Authority has decided to temporarily halt Al Jazeera's broadcasts and suspend all its activities and offices in the West Bank, the Palestinian news agency Wafa reported. The ban was made in response to what the PA called the channel's "insistence on broadcasting inciting content, biased reports, and controversial material, as well as interfering in Palestine's internal affairs."

• 12/31 PA security forces arrested Qassim Bani Ghara, head of the emergency department of Jenin Hospital.

Settler Attacks

This week, settlers carried out 19 attacks against Palestinians, causing injuries and/or property damage. In 2024, OCHA documented 1,420 attacks by settlers against Palestinians. Since 10/7/2023, settler attacks and access restrictions displaced 300 Bedouin households (1,762 people, 856 children).

• 12/29, settlers near Silwad (Ramallah governorate) assaulted farmers with bats, injuring 4 and vandalizing 2 vehicles. These settlers, protected by Israeli forces, previously broke into farming units, damaged property, stole Palestinian belongings and blocked roads, preventing farmers from reaching their lands. The attackers reportedly came from a newly established settler outpost built on the village's lands.

• 12/26, Israeli forces escorting settlers near Halhul (Hebron) shot tear gas and live ammunition at Palestinians, injuring 3 (2 children). Days later, settlers returned to uproot 100 grape vines.

• 12/24, settlers raided lands in Area B, near Kaft Ni’ma (Ramallah), damaging and stealing construction materials.

• 12/28, armed settlers raided Palestinian lands in Ni’lin village (Ramallah), burning an agricultural structure, vandalizing fences, and destroying 70 olive saplings. They also broke into Bedouin families shelters, intimidated them, and threatened them to leave within 2 weeks.

• 12/25, armed settlers raided the Halaweh community claiming that they lost sheep. After they were evacuated by Israeli forces, they raided again and vandalized a vehicle, assaulted a man and stole his ID card and phone, vandalized an animal shelter, and killed 3 lambs.

Demolitions

This week, Israeli authorities demolished 16 Palestinian-owned structures for lack of Israeli-issued building permits, displacing 13 (8 children).

• During 2024, Israeli forces demolished 1,762 Palestinian-owned structures, displacing 4,253 Palestinians (1,712 children) and affecting 165,000 others.

• 2024 saw the highest numbers of people displaced and structures destroyed since OCHA began documenting in 2009. This surge is attributed to the extensive destruction of Palestinian homes and infrastructure caused by Israeli forces, often involving air and land bombardments as well as armed clashes, predominantly in Jenin and Tulkarm and their refugee camps.

Restrictions in the H2 area

• 12/15, Israeli forces installed a barbed wire barrier in Hebron, blocking the only pedestrian path for 4 neighborhoods (2,500 residents) to access essential services, including a school serving 285 boys from 1st-7th grades and the only healthcare clinic. Residents held a sit-in on 12/17 demanding the barrier’s removal. The police responded with stun grenades, tear gas, and arrested 3 who were beaten before being released 3 hours later.

• Palestinians residing in the H2 area of Hebron city face settler violence, frequent raids and incursions by Israeli forces, and severe access restrictions. Following 10/7, Israel imposed a full closure on the H2 area, accompanied by a 2-week curfew on Palestinian residents. Since then, a new system of 80 physical obstacles, including 24 permanently staffed checkpoints further restricts access to basic services and exacerbates already difficult living conditions.

ISRAEL

• Israeli forces have confirmed the detention of Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya, with grave concerns for his health and safety amid reports of torture. here

• The Israeli army’s increasing use of explosive bullets on Palestinians, despite being banned internationally, is leaving a devastating toll on civilians in the occupied West Bank. here

• Israel has allocated an additional $150 million to its 2025 budget in an effort to reshape global opinion over its ongoing genocidal assault in Gaza, the Middle East Monitor (MEMO) has reported, citing the Knesset. The 20-fold funding increase aims to boost Tel Aviv’s propaganda (known in Hebrew as Hasbara) and justification of its military assault on the besieged enclave, the report noted.

• A Washington Post investigation suggests that during the war, "the IDF turned to an elaborate artificial intelligence tool called Habsora – or 'the Gospel' – which could quickly generate hundreds of targets." The technology, along with other AI systems, may have led "Israel's military [to significantly expand] the number of acceptable civilian casualties from historic norms," Israeli sources said.

• Netanyahu has tasked his top adviser, Ron Dermer, the minister of strategic affairs, with designing plans to “thin” the Palestinian population in the Gaza Strip “to a minimum,” according to a bombshell new report in an Israeli newspaper founded by the late Republican billionaire Sheldon Adelson. The first would use the pressure of the war and humanitarian crisis to persuade Egypt to allow refugees to flow to other Arab countries, and the second would open sea routes so that Israel “allows a mass escape to European and African countries.” here

LEBANON

• More than 3,700 people have been killed, and nearly 16,000 others have been wounded since October 2023, according to the Lebanese Ministry of Public Health. An estimated 1.3 million people were also forced from their homes in Lebanon before a shaky cease-fire deal was announced in late November. here

US

• Following a restructuring of the rules and creation of a streamlined process to discipline specifically Palestine-centered protests, students at MIT have been subjected to discipline for everyday actions. Included are flyering, tabling for student activist organizations, and chalking anti-genocide messages on blackboards and public sidewalks. Despite this repression, the MIT Coalition for Palestine has recently released a comprehensive report exposing MIT’s scientific ties to the Zionist occupation and genocide in Gaza.

• Organizers and workers from across Alameda County, California, scored a major victory for the BDS movement on 12/10, successfully pressuring the Board of Supervisors to vote to develop an ethical investment policy that could move tens of millions of dollars in investments out of companies profiting from Israel’s genocide and system of apartheid.

• Biden administration is prepping $8 billion arms package for Israel, including heavy bombs. The deal, which still needs congressional approval, reportedly also includes supply of air-to-air missiles, artillery shells, ammunition for attack helicopters and small diameter bombs. here and here

INTERNATIONAL

• Two UN Special Rapporteurs have called for an end to Israel’s “blatant” disregard for the right to health in Gaza, following the raid on Kamal Adwan Hospital and the detention of its director, Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya. here

• UNs’ special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the oPt, Francesca Albanese, accused Israel in a press briefing of enacting an "ongoing genocide" and demanded on X/Twitter that medical professionals sever ties with Israel in response to the IDF detaining Palestinian Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya. “I urge medical professionals worldwide to pursue the severance of all ties with Israel as a critical tool of its ongoing genocide,” Albanese wrote. Her proposed boycott has been bolstered by a viral social media campaign in which doctors and nurses around the globe are demanding Israel release the northern Gaza hospital director. here

SOURCES

OCHAOPT, Doctors Against Genocide, Mondoweiss, Haaretz, Palestine Chronicle, Electronic Intifada, J post, New York Times, Common Dreams, Institute of Policy Studies, Reuters, Times of Israel, Aljazeera, Axios