Urgent health update: Consequences of war on Gaza, West Bank/East Jerusalem, Yemen, Syria, & Lebanon-March 29, 2025
ACTION ITEMS FOR THE WEEK
There are so many fires to put out and so many ways we must take action...
1. March and Rally on April 5: Many Indivisible and other groups protesting the fascist takeover of the US are organizing April 5 protests. Find an action near you here. Make sure to highlight opposition to genocide in Palestine by bring signs and banners: Stop Arming Israel, End the Genocide, Ceasefire NOW, Hands Off Students and Universities, etc.
2. If you can get to DC for April 5, join the Palestine/Gaza Action march and rally organized by the Palestine Youth Movement, proudly endorsed by JVP.
3. Gaza petitions: Genocide by bombing and starvation--Demand an immediate and permanent ceasefire NOW. Sign these urgent and active petitions from:
Doctors Against Genocide: Here
Friends of Sabeel North America: Here
JVP: here
4. Next JVP Health Advisory Council webinar: Crimes of Deprivation and the Rule of Law with Alexander Smith, Saturday, April 5, 2025, 9 am Pacific/12 pm Eastern, Register here or scan QR code in image below, for more information here
4. Attend the JVP National Meeting in Baltimore, May 1-4. Deadline extended to April 4, so register now! for this important gathering of Jews and allies for Palestine justice. Amazing speakers! Inspiration! A Health Advisory Council panel and informal gathering can help you connect with other health workers committed to justice in Palestine. To register and for more information, here
International meeting
1st Palestinian Health Alliance Symposium 2025: Health Research and Practice in Conditions of War: Capacity to Endure and Resist. Registration deadline: 31 March 2025, here
The PHA is an informal network of Palestinian, regional and international researchers, committed to describing, analyzing, and evaluating the health and health care of Palestinians, to contributing to the international scientific literature, and to developing local evidence-based policy and practice.
The remote symposium will be on Zoom on Tuesday, April 8, 2025 from 1:00 pm - 5:00 pm (Palestine/Lebanon Time). For updates, follow our LinkedIn page. For inquiries, contact us at here
Journals
The New England Journal of Medicine published a wholly inadequate article on the genocide in Palestine: “Health Care Bridges — Pathways toward Trust in Gaza and Beyond” here
The essay attempts to maintain neutrality while omitting the intentional bombing and assaults on the Gaza health care system and personnel, and repeats tropes such as the falsehood that Hamas used Gazan hospitals as command and control centers, and uses language that minimizes Palestinian injuries and death and maximizes Israeli traumas. [Three of the authors have appointments at Harvard Kennedy School’s Middle East Initiative, which last year hosted Jared Kushner. One has worked for the IDF Special Intelligence Unit and has no background in medicine, public health, or health policy.]
The Nation published an excellent critique: “World’s top medical journal is giving cover to genocide.” As Frantz Fanon warned in his 1959 essay “Medicine and Colonialism,” the medical profession is often an “integral part of colonization, of domination, of exploitation.” Whether through silence or selective narrative framing, institutions like the NEJM play a crucial role in making colonial violence appear reasonable, unfortunate, or at worst, a regrettable tragedy rather than intentional, preventable, and beneficial to a version of medicine aligned with empire. here
3/26 British Medical Journal: Feroze Sidhwa, a US trauma surgeon who is volunteering in Gaza with MedGlobal, told a press conference: the horrors he has witnessed since entering Gaza on 3/6 far exceed anything he has seen during his humanitarian career, including during his three stints in Ukraine since the Russian invasion. “Doctors feel alone. They feel abandoned by the world, and I think rightly so. When Russia bombs a children’s hospital in Kiev, everybody loses their mind, and rightly so,” Sidhwa said. “But what’s going on here is far more severe and they see that the world, and especially the West, just doesn’t seem to care and actually, more so than the attack, I think that’s what’s hurting.” here
Reports
A new study by the Institute for the Understanding of Anti-Palestinian Racism (IUAPR) documents systemic anti-Palestinian racism against US healthcare providers. Anti-Palestinian racism is pervasive and nationwide, affecting Americans regardless of ethnicity, faith and age. IUAPR has shared its latest findings with the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Right to Health, urging global action. here
Key Findings
• Widespread Discrimination: 80% of healthcare providers reported witnessing anti-Palestinian racism, either directly or online.
• Personal Impact: 54% experienced it personally. Healthcare providers are facing harassment or silencing for advocating Palestinian rights.
• Healthcare Workplace Challenges: 42% experienced anti-Palestinian racism from colleagues, 27% from supervisors who can hire or fire them.
• Health Consequences: 74% of 387 healthcare provider respondents reported negative mental or physical health impacts.
UN reduces humanitarian personnel in Gaza
Stéphane Dujarric, Spokesman for the Secretary-General, spoke to the press on 3/24:
In the past week, Israel carried out devastating strikes on Gaza, claiming the lives of hundreds of civilians, including UN personnel, with no humanitarian aid being allowed to enter the Strip since early March. As a result, the Secretary-General has taken the difficult decision to reduce the Organization’s footprint in Gaza, even as humanitarian needs soar and our concern over the protection of civilians intensifies. The UN is not leaving Gaza. The Organization remains committed to continuing to provide aid that civilians depend on for their survival and protection.
More than 3 weeks ago, the Israeli Government cut off the entry of humanitarian aid into Gaza – the longest such suspension since 7 October 2023. Israeli officials have indicated that they intend to continue their military activities in Gaza.
Based on the information currently available, the strikes hitting a UN compound in Deir Al Balah on 3/19 were caused by an Israeli tank. The strikes claimed the life of a UN colleague from Bulgaria and left 6 others – from France, Moldova, North Macedonia, Palestine and the United Kingdom – with severe injuries, some of them life-altering. The location of this UN compound was well known to the parties to the conflict. I reiterate that all parties to the conflict are bound by international law to protect the absolute inviolability of UN premises. Without this, our colleagues face intolerable risks as they work to save the lives of civilians.
The Secretary-General strongly condemns these strikes and demands a full, thorough and independent investigation on this incident.
All parties must comply fully with international law at all times. Civilians must be respected and protected. The denial of lifesaving aid must end. The hostages must be released immediately and unconditionally. All States must use all their leverage to stop the conflict and ensure respect for international law – by applying diplomatic and economic pressure and combating impunity.
UN is withdrawing 1/3 of its international workers. here
Professor Paola Manduca
We want to share news of the death of Professor Manduca, an Italian geneticist and longtime activist, who has worked tireless, including with members of the health advisory council, educating and advocating for Palestinian liberation.
GAZA
Israel officially rejected the ceasefire agreement and resumed their genocidal war on Gaza on 3/18, with hundreds killed and 142,000 people newly displaced between 3/18-23. This military terror is intensified by the complete Israeli ban on entry of humanitarian aid and supplies since 3/2, creating devastating humanitarian conditions. Hamas continues to offer to release all hostages in exchange for a ceasefire and removal of Israeli troops.
Killed this week: 792 Palestinians
Injured this week: 1,663 Palestinians
Killed since 10/23/2023: 50,144+
Injured since 10/23/2023: 113,274+
3/24, the MoH published a list of 50,021 killed in Gaza since 10/7/2023: 15,613 children (31%), 8,304 women (17%), 22,265 men (44%) and 3,839 elderly (8%). Among the children, 825 were under 1 year old; 274 were born and killed since 3/18/25. In addition, 33,900 (30%) of all injured were children. MoH General Director Dr. Munir Al Bursh stated that 7% of Gaza’s total population have been either killed or injured. Over 25,000 injured people require rehabilitation and long-term treatment, including 4,700 with amputations (850 children).
Israeli soldiers killed in Gaza: 407 (0 this week)
Israeli soldiers injured in Gaza: 2,583 (0 this week)
Hostages in Gaza: 59
Small protests of frustrated, traumatized Gazans have occurred demanding the end of Hamas rule. here
March 2025 Israel Prison Service (IPS) data lists: 9,406 Palestinians in Israeli custody, including 1,486 sentenced prisoners, 2,960 remand detainees, 3,405 administrative detainees (held without trial), and 1,555 “unlawful combatants.” These figures do not include Palestinians from Gaza still detained by the Israeli military since 10/2023.
For more Gaza data: here
Israeli attacks
• The UN accused the IOF of targeting reproductive health facilities, “genocidal attacks intended to prevent births. here
• 3/18, Israeli airstrikes and shelling killed 180 children, the highest single-day death toll according to UNICEF. The UN Human Rights Office emphasized: “Using explosive weapons with wide-area effects in such densely populated areas will almost certainly have indiscriminate effects and is very likely to be in violation of international humanitarian law rules on the conduct of hostilities. Conducting hostilities using such means and methods in densely populated areas causes civilian casualties at a mass scale and is not consistent with Israel’s obligations under international humanitarian law, including abiding by the fundamental principles of distinction, proportionality, and precautions in attack.”
• Dr Feroze Sidhwa, speaking from Gaza, said that he saw many children lose limbs that could have been saved under other circumstances. He cited the destructiveness of the weapons, the high rates of infection given the sanitary conditions at hospitals, the scarcity of necessary medical equipment, and malnutrition as leading contributors to amputation.
• From 3/18-25, Israel killed 8 aid workers: a staff member of Al Awda Health and Community Association; a staff member of Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF); a staff member of UN Office for Project Services (UNOPS) in Deir al Balah, where a tank strike also injured 6, including 3 UN Mine Action Service (UNMAS) workers; and 5 staff from UNRWA. The Red Cross (ICRC) office in Rafah was “damaged by an explosive projectile despite being clearly marked and notified to all parties;” thankfully, no staff were injured. Since 10/2023, at least 399 aid workers, including 289 UN staff, 34 Red Crescent staff, and at least 76 other NGO staff have been killed in Gaza.
• Palestinian Journalists Protection Committee (PJPC) condemned the 3/24 killing of 2 journalists (7 this month). Hossam Shabat, who reported for Al Jazeera, was killed in northern Gaza, and Mohamed Mansour, a reporter for the Pal Today channel and Hebron University's Radio Alam, was killed in the country's south.
• The journalists’ union (PJS) stated: “these attacks are part of a systematic policy against Palestinian journalists, who have become direct targets as they fulfil their duty of reporting the truth.” Since 3/18, more than 206 journalists, media professionals and media workers, including 27 women, have been killed.
• 3/18, 26 killed when 2 houses belonging to a single family were hit in Gaza City.
• 3/18, 10 killed in a house hit near Al Aqsa Hospital, Deir al Balah.
• 3/18, 16 killed (2 children) and dozens injured in IDP tents in Al Mawasi area, Khan Younis.
• 3/18, 9 killed and 8 injured in a house in eastern Khan Younis.
• 3/18, 17 killed in a house in eastern Rafah.
• 3/18, 10 killed (1 child) in a house in Rafah.
• 3/18, 25 killed and others injured in a school IDP shelter in Gaza City.
• 3/19, 24 killed (2 children) and others injured during a funeral in Beit Lahiya.
• 3/20, 15 killed (6 children) in a house in Beit Lahiya.
• 3/20, 12 killed (1 child) and others injured in Khan Younis.
• 3/20, 10 killed and others injured in northern Rafah.
• 3/20, 9 killed in eastern Khan Yunis.
• 3/22, 2 killed (1 child) and others injured while evacuating Beit Lahiya.
• 3/20-22, Gaza Health Ministry reported at least 130 Palestinians were killed and 263 were wounded in the past 48 hours of Israel's offensive on Gaza.
• 3/23, 3 Khan Younis municipal workers killed when their Coastal Municipalities Water Utility (CMWU) sewage vehicle was hit in western Khan Younis.
• 3/24, 4 killed (1 child) and 18 injured in a tent in an UNRWA school was hit in Deir al Balah. 16 killed overnight including 5 in a strike on Nasser Hospital in Khan Yunis
Health & Hospitals
• 3/21, Israeli forces destroyed the Turkish-Palestinian Friendship Hospital, Gaza’s only specialized cancer hospital, in Gaza City. Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP) notes it could treat up to 30,000 patients annually. The IOF launched an investigation into the explosion at the Turkish Hospital in central Gaza, which had ceased to function as a hospital, amid suspicions that a senior commander ordered the building's demolition without the required authorization.
• 3/23, a strike on the surgical ward of Naser Medical Complex (Khan Younis), Gaza’s largest hospital, killed 2 patients (one a 16-year-old boy) and injured 8. WHO reported the surgical ward and 35 in-patient beds were destroyed. Patients were relocated to other departments and a recently established field unit. MSF supports a burn and trauma unit and the emergency, pediatric, and maternity departments. Ismail Barhoum, a member of Hamas’ political bureau, and his nephew Ibrahim were killed in the strike. Barhoum was receiving medical treatment for injuries sustained during an Israeli strike on 3/18.
• WHO has tracked 670 attacks on health care, affecting 122 facilities and 170 ambulances, between 10/2023 and 3/2025.
• UN’s Tom Fletcher stated: "Horrific reports from Gaza indicate that health workers, ambulances, and hospitals are being targeted as they strive to save lives” and demanded protection for medical personnel and facilities. The ICRC stated: “International Humanitarian Law affords special protection to humanitarian relief and medical personnel, medical facilities, and objects used for humanitarian relief operations. They must be respected and protected in all circumstances to ensure the continuity of care. They must never be attacked.”
• Gaza's health-care system is overwhelmed, struggling to provide treatment amid an increase in casualties, a shortage in medical stocks due to refusal to allow resupply, a lack of medical equipment, blood units, and specialized personnel. More than half the hospitals now receiving trauma cases have bed occupancy rates over 80% and issue constant calls for blood donations. Less than 500 blood units are available at Gaza’s blood banks, while MoH estimates 8,000 blood units are required monthly. The existing stock of anesthesia–critical for surgeries, labor & delivery, pain management, and ICU care – and key medical supplies for safe birth are running low. Stocks of Rotavirus vaccine are exhausted.
• Since 3/18, no new emergency medical teams (EMTs) have entered Gaza. An inbound rotation on 3/25 included only 6 EMT members, denying entry to 34. The surge in denial rates particularly affects specialized personnel and severely undermines EMT operations.
• UNFPA activated urgent delivery services at 14 primary health-care centers and medical points for pregnant women unable to reach hospitals. Lifesaving maternal health medicines and critical supplements (folic acid and multivitamins) have nearly run out. Portable incubators, ultrasound devices, and oxygen pumps, essential for newborns with complications, are held by Israel at the border. UNFPA noted that 1 in 2 pregnant Gazans face a high-risk pregnancy, malnutrition is high, and 1 in 5 born in February had complications, such as low birth weight. There are about 50,000 pregnant women in Gaza, some 130 give birth daily, about 35 via C-sections, amid extreme stress which heightens risk of premature birth.
• Red Crescent announced the reopening of its Al Quds Hospital in Gaza City on 3/21. Two operating rooms, emergency and radiology departments, outpatient clinics, an ICU, and laboratories have been set up despite shortages of medicines and supplies.
• 3/17, the Al Thani Hospital for Rehabilitation and Prosthetics, funded by Qatar, resumed out-patient services at a reduced capacity of 70%.
• 22 hospitals and 5 field hospitals are now partially functional; 4 field hospitals are fully functional; and 13 hospitals and 5 field hospitals are non-functional.
• 3/19, WHO evacuated 22 patients and 49 caregivers for medical treatment. About 11-13,000 (4,500 children) urgently need medical evacuation. “Lives hang in the balance. We urgently call for the immediate resumption of daily medical evacuations through all possible routes, including the restoration of medical referrals to the West Bank and East Jerusalem," WHO added.
• 3/23, Israeli military operations trapped and encircled over 50,000 people in Rafah who have been left without water, food or medicine, under continuous bombardment. Communication with them has been lost. A Red Crescent ambulance, responding to an airstrike in Rafah, came under fire from Israeli forces, and the crew were injured. 3 additional ambulances were dispatched, but Israeli forces besieged the area, leading to the loss of communication with PRCS teams. Israeli forces released one team member that evening after the assault. 3/24, PCD said 6 rescue team members have not returned since and communication with them has been lost. 3/25, PRCS stated “for the 3rd consecutive day, the fate of 9 Red Crescent ambulance crew members remains unknown,” adding that Israeli forces targeted the teams, expressing concern for the safety of all their teams, and holding Israeli authorities responsible for their fate.
• How do medics describe the horrors of last week? “There was just wave after wave,” said Tanya Haj-Hassan, a pediatric intensive care doctor at Nasser hospital. “As soon as patients had died or been sent elsewhere and we cleared some space, more would come in. It was chaos. One doctor stepped on a corpse on the ground as he tried to do a life-saving procedure on a child.”
• As rubble removal continues across Gaza, concerns are mounting over airborne dust that may carry asbestos fibers, posing health risks, including asbestosis, cancer and chronic respiratory diseases, health officials in Gaza say. Dr. Shadi Awad, a consultant in pulmonology and bronchoscopy at Al-Shifa Hospital, warns that Gaza residents are inhaling air polluted with smoke and destruction residues daily. Reports from the United Nations indicate that massive amounts of debris in Gaza contain asbestos.
Displacement & Evacuations
• In 2024, UN partners estimated that 1.9 million Gazans were internally displaced – 9 out of 10 people, many multiple times. The Site Management Cluster (SMC) estimated that 142,000 people have been newly displaced between 3/18-23. Fleeing with only a few personal belongings, many people are now staying on the streets, in desperate need of food, water, shelter, and essentials.
• Since 3/18, the Israeli military issued 6 displacement orders, covering 55sq.km. (15% of Gaza ). 5 additional displacement orders were issued between 3/20-24, ordering immediate evacuation to Al Mawasi area shelters, covering approximately 34.7 sq.km. and 265,000 people and including water stations, wells, desalination plants, medical points, field hospitals and primary care centers, and therapeutic feeding centers treating hundreds of malnourished children.
Food & Nutrition
• The lack and high price of cooking gas limits family food preparation and increases reliance on community kitchens. Amid dwindling food supplies, FSS partners are maximizing production of cooked meals and bakery bread production. Between 3/18- 24, 10 kitchens have closed, due to hostilities and shortages. As of 3/25, 18 bakeries remain operational. However, the remaining flour stock can only sustain production for a limited time.
• Malnutrition screening and distribution of ready-to-use foods are threatened by the closure of 21 outpatient malnutrition treatment sites due to insecurity or displacement orders, disrupting life-saving assistance to over 350 acutely malnourished children. With the depletion of food supplies and deterioration of water and sanitation conditions, malnutrition has increased.
• World Central Kitchen working in Gaza reported that "Israeli strikes hit near one of our WCK-supported community kitchens just as meals were being distributed."
• Bread lines, salty drinking water, and hunger return. here
Women & Girls
• The end of the ceasefire has worsened conditions for women and girls, UNFPA warns. The Beit Hanoun Women and Girls’ Safe Space (WGSS) was closed by displacement orders, while several WGSS services across the Gaza Strip have been suspended. Gender-based violence (GBV) has escalated amid mass displacement, inadequate shelters, and the collapse of basic protections. Worsening living conditions –poverty, overcrowding, limited privacy, poor sanitation, and continuous exposure to violence and insecurity –create significant barriers to women and girls seeking help. Hygiene supplies – on the local market and as aid stocks – are rapidly running out.
Aid
• Weaponizing starvation, Israel seeks full control over Gaza aid distribution. The acute hunger crisis in the Strip is part of a deliberate Israeli strategy to cripple Hamas’ governance capabilities and banish humanitarian groups. here
• Since Israel resumed hostilities on 3/18, the military has expanded requirements for advance coordination of humanitarian movements. Between 3/18- 24, of 49 efforts coordinated with Israeli authorities, 82% (40) were denied, 4% (2) were impeded, and 14% (7) were facilitated. Of 26 coordinated missions in the North, only 4 were facilitated and 22 were denied. Of 27 missions in the South, only 3 were facilitated, 22 were denied, and 2 were impeded.
Prelude to mass expulsion
• Israel’s return to war is a prelude to mass expulsion. With Trump’s green light for ethnic cleansing, Israel’s renewed attack on Gaza threatens to become an all-out effort to empty the enclave of Palestinians. here
THE WEST BANK, INCLUDING EAST JERUSALEM
This week, Israeli forces killed 2 Palestinians and injured 33 (4 children).
Killed since October 2023: 1,064 (224 children) and injured: 16,683 (2,576 children).
For more detail: here
Israeli attacks
• 3/18, undercover Israeli forces raided Qalqiliya, surrounded a café, and fired live ammunition and tear gas cannisters, killing 1 (body withheld) and injuring 3. 2 Palestinians were arrested. Red Crescent (PRCS) was temporarily prevented from reaching the wounded.
• 3/19, Israeli forces attacked Ein Beit el Mai refugee camp (Nablus) for 14 hours, killing 1 (body withheld) and injuring 2. One Palestinian was arrested. Troops forced multiple families from their homes to use them as military posts. They returned after Israeli forces withdrew.
• 3/18, a Palestinian man died in a Beit Jala (Bethlehem) hospital, from wounds sustained during a on 2/22/24 attack near Az Za’ayem checkpoint (Jerusalem).
• 17-year-old Palestinian from Silwad (Ramallah) died in unclear circumstances after being held in an Israeli detention center since September 2024. According to the Palestinian human rights organization Defense for Children International – Palestine (DCIP), he is the 1st Palestinian child known to have died in an Israeli prison. Israeli authorities are withholding Walid's body from his family.
Settler violence
This week, settlers carried out 7 attacks against Palestinians, injuring 7, and damaging 180 olive trees, 3 vehicles, 3 houses, 4 animal structures, and 2 water tanks.
• 'No Other Land' Co-director was freed from Israeli custody after settler, IOF soldier attacks. In testimony to his attorney, Hamdan Ballal recounted documenting a settler riot, during which a settler assaulted him while IOF soldiers stood by. In IOF custody, he and two other Palestinians were beaten by soldiers and left outside overnight in freezing temperatures.
• 3/24, armed settlers raided Susiya (Hebron) and attempted to steal sheep. A scuffle erupted, more settlers arrived and injured 6 Palestinians and a foreigner, and damaged 2 water tanks and 3 vehicles. 3 Palestinians were arrested.
• 3/19, a group of settlers raided Al Matwi area, set fire to four animal tents, attacked the owner and ordered him to evacuate within 2 days, a demand he refused.
• 3/23, settlers took over a 2-story building in the Israeli-controlled H2 area of Hebron while the Palestinian family inhabiting 2 apartments was away visiting relatives. Settlers displaced a Palestinian couple, their 3 children, and a grandmother. Upon returning, Israeli forces prevented them from approaching the building. The settlers falsely claimed to have purchased the property. Two days later, the family was able to return to one apartment, while settlers remained in the other. The settlers also sealed the original entrance connecting the two apartments and opened a new external entrance.
• Israeli settler violence is rapidly emptying Jordan Valley of Palestinians. Khirbet Samra is one of the last Palestinian shepherding communities in the West Bank’s eastern flank. State-backed settler militias are driving them out.
Demolitions & Displacement
This week, Israeli authorities demolished 27 Palestinian-owned structures for lack of Israeli-issued building permits, affecting 167 people (90 children).
• 3/18, Israeli forces destroyed 6 farming structures, uprooted hundreds of trees and saplings, and destroyed farming equipment in Rafat (Area C, Jerusalem). They also demolished 2 animal pens and 2 solar systems (18 panels) in the Bedouin community Al Mu’arrajat (Jericho).
• Since Ramadan began 3/1, 106 structures were demolished in the West Bank, compared to 77 structures demolished during all of Ramadan in 2024. This year surpasses the equivalent period in 2024, with a 33% increase in structures demolished and a 197% increase in displacement.
Movement Restrictions
• 3/22, the 3rd Friday of Ramadan, about 10,000 Palestinians holding West Bank ID cards passed through checkpoints to reach Al Aqsa Mosque in East Jerusalem, a similar number as the 3rd Friday in 2024 but only ¼ the number for 2023, before 10/7. Access to holy sites during Ramadan, particularly to Al Aqsa Mosque in East Jerusalem and Al Ibrahimi Mosque in Hebron, is limited by Israeli authorities to Fridays and is subject to gender and age restrictions. In addition, access to East Jerusalem requires an Israeli-issued permit, difficult to obtain for Palestinians holding West Bank ID cards, and impossible for Palestinians in Gaza.
Developments in the northern West Bank
• The Israeli military operation in the northern West Bank has been ongoing for 9 weeks. Tens of thousands of people have been displaced: 16,600 people from Jenin camp, 12,100 people from Tulkarm camp, and 10,000 people from Nur Shams camp, as of 2/2. 3/18, the Israeli forces expanded the attack to the Ein Beit al Mai refugee camp (Nablus).
• 3/25, undercover Israeli forces surrounded a shop in Qalqilya, ordering a man to surrender. Armed clashes ensued and Israeli forces used an explosive drone inside the shop to kill the man (body withheld) and injuring another.
• 3/26, Israeli forces shot and killed a man in Beita (Nablus) throwing stones at settler vehicles on Road 60 (body withheld).
• 3/22, UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini marked 60 days of the Israeli military operation, calling it the “longest and most destructive operation in the occupied West Bank since the second intifada… [it] has caused systematic destruction of civilian infrastructure and homes, aiming to permanently change the character of Palestinian cities and refugee camps at a scale unjustifiable by any purported military or law enforcement aims.” He warned that displaced Palestinians face “uncertain prospects for return.” UNRWA continues to provide emergency assistance and urges the restoration of essential services, including education and health care.
• Since February, Israeli forces have prevented humanitarian groups from entering the area to assess the damage. In Jenin camp, more than 600 residential units have been rendered uninhabitable, in addition to 66 residential structures slated for demolition by Israeli military, affecting 280 families. In Tulkarm and Nur Shams camps, at least 40 homes are demolished or slated for demolition. Red Crescent teams helped 200 Tulkarm families (850 people) to evacuate after the military ordered them to leave.
• The military operation has disrupted education, closing 10 UNRWA schools (4,400 students). 2/23, UNRWA initiated remote learning for displaced students. Remote learning is also the only option for 40 government schools (32 in Tulkarm, 8 in Jenin). Movement restrictions, displacement, and the destruction of schools have limited access to education for nearly 12,000 displaced children. Between 1/1-3/21, there have been 3,752 incidents involving Israeli forces affecting governmental schools, along with 25 incidents involving Israeli settlers, 77% taking place in the northern West Bank. In 2024, 2,274 incidents were recorded for the entire year.
SYRIA
• Israel Sends More Troops Into Syria, Launches Airstrikes on Multiple Sites, some injuries reported, no official casualty data. here
YEMEN
• The 47 air strikes the US launched on Yemen 3/15-16 killed 53 people, 25 of whom were civilians, (4 children). The strikes damaged a newly built cancer hospital that the U.S. bombed again this week, destroying it. here
LEBANON
• Israel launched airstrikes near Beirut for the first time since the “ceasefire, ” after rockets were fired from Lebanese territory at northern Israel, creating pandemonium and killing at least three. here
ISRAEL
• Israel is building agency to steer Palestinian ‘voluntary departure’ from Gaza. Under the proposal, the displacement of Palestinians from Gaza will be under the control of the Defense Ministry. here
• David Roet, Israel’s ambassador to Austria, was recently shown in a secretly recorded video suggesting that Palestinian minors involved in the resistance should face execution, particularly those found “holding a gun” or “a grenade.” He stated, “There should be a death sentence to be killed off in war if you are holding a gun, even if you are a 16-year-old.” Roet also questioned whether Europe should continue investing in Gaza’s reconstruction, stating, “If Europe be crazy enough to invest money again in Gaza? So we will have to destroy it the next time.”
• Dozens of reserve soldiers serving in the Israeli Medical Corps have declared their unwillingness to return to participate in the fighting in Gaza, according to a report by the Israeli Broadcasting Authority (KAN). In a petition submitted by the reservists, Israeli soldiers holding ranks up to lieutenant colonel—including doctors, paramedics, and combat medics—reportedly expressed their opposition to continuing their service. According to Al-Jazeera, they stated that their refusal was primarily driven by increasing calls within Israeli political and military circles to seize Palestinian land in Gaza and establish settlements there. The signatories argued that such actions constitute a violation of international law, and they did not want to be complicit in policies that could deepen the conflict and further escalate tensions.
US
• The AI-generated vision of postwar Gaza that Trump posted on social media was only thirty-three seconds long, but it spoke volumes [in a horrifying manner] about how his administration sees the world. here
• The Trump administration’s targeting of pro-Palestinian activists is central to its effort to drain college and university campuses of their contentious, democratic life. here
• Columbia University student who took part in pro-Palestinian protests at the university is suing Donald Trump’s administration for attempting to deport her. Attorneys for Yunseo Chung, a 21-year-old who has legally resided in the US since childhood, filed a complaint describing the government’s actions as “shocking overreach” and an “unprecedented and unjustifiable assault” on her rights.
• Professor Rashid Khalidi writes in The Guardian that Columbia has long been run more as a business empire than as an educational institutionIt was never about eliminating antisemitism. It was always about silencing Palestine. After Friday’s capitulation, Columbia barely merits the name of a university, since its teaching and scholarship on the Middle East, and soon much else, will soon be vetted by a “senior vice provost for inclusive pedagogy”, in reality a senior vice provost for Israeli propaganda. Partisans of Israel, infuriated that scholarship on Palestine had found a place at Columbia, once named it “Bir Zeit on the Hudson”. But if it any longer merits the name of a university, it should be called Vichy on the Hudson. here
• The Harvard School of Public Health suspended its research partnership with Birzeit University in the West Bank, bowing to longstanding calls to sever the collaboration. here
• Harvard’s Center for Middle Eastern Studies’ director, professor of Turkish Studies Cemal Kafadar, and its associate director, History professor Rosie Bsheer, were both forced to leave their posts, according to the faculty member. here
INTERNATIONAL
• Arab Failures: The Unspoken Complicity in Israel’s Genocide. Explaining Arab political failure to challenge Israel through traditional analysis—such as disunity, general weakness, and a failure to prioritize Palestine—does not capture the full picture. The Arabs have, in fact, played a more significant role in the Israeli atrocities in Gaza than we often recognize. Some through their silence, and others through direct collaboration with Israel. While some Arab governments are genuinely outraged by Israel’s criminal behavior and growingly frustrated by the US’ irrational policies in the region, others are driven by self-interest: their animosity toward Iran and fear of rising Arab non-state actors. They are equally concerned about instability in the region, which threatens their hold on power amid a rapidly shifting world order. here
SOURCES
OCHAOPT, Truthout, Haaretz, Institute for the Understanding of Anti-Palestinian Racism, Palestine Chronicle, Gaza MOH, Palestine Chronicle, +972, The Guardian, Electronic Intifada, The Guardian, The Harvard Crimson, New York Times, Aljazeera, American Association of University Professors