Crackdown on Palestinian civil society: Union of Agricultural Work Committees raided by Israel

 https://reliefweb.int/report/occupied-palestinian-territory/crackdown-palestinian-civil-society-union-agricultural-work-committees-raided-enar

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Originally published

3 Dec 2025

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Crackdown on Palestinian civil society: Union of Agricultural Work Committees raided

On Monday, 1 December, Israeli security forces raided and vandalised the offices of the Union of Agricultural Work Committees (UAWC), a Palestinian non-governmental organisation, in Ramallah and Hebron. This comes amidst an escalating Israeli targeting of Palestinian civil society and human rights defenders, most recently in the context of the olive harvest season.

UAWC is one of six leading Palestinian civil society organisations designated as “terrorist” by Israeli authorities in 2021 based on an Israeli legislation that has vague and broad definitions of terrorism and terrorist organisations, which not only risks but has demonstrably led to unjustifiable restrictions on human rights. To date, no evidence was provided to substantiate the accusations. Licensed under Palestinian law, UAWC has long provided support to Palestinian rural communities and Palestinian farmers facing settler violence and the risk of forced displacement. The attack on UAWC followed weeks of harassment and public incitement by Israeli settlers and leaders of settler groups, particularly citing UAWC’s work during the olive harvest season.

This year’s olive harvest season is the most violent on record, with 167 settler attacks affecting 87 Palestinian communities recorded as of 12 November. Increasingly, attacks by settlers and Israeli security forces targeted not only farmers, but also human rights defenders and organisations supporting them against settler violence. Since 1 October, the UN Human Rights Office in the Occupied Palestinian Territory has recorded 81 violations by Israeli security forces and/or settlers against human rights defenders, protective presence activists and NGOs supporting Palestinians against settler violence and settlement expansion, including 48 cases of arrest and detention and 22 acts of physical assault.

Unnecessary or disproportionate use of force, arbitrary detention, and torture or other forms of ill-treatment are permanent features in the conduct of Israeli security forces against Palestinians and Palestinian activists. During the raid, Israeli security forces reportedly kept the people who were present at UAWC premises blindfolded and handcuffed, kneeling down, or with their faces down on the floor for several hours and detained eight men.

The conduct of Israeli settlers and Israeli security forces in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, is massively shrinking both the physical and the civic space available to Palestinians, while Israel continues to advance its unlawful annexation of the occupied West Bank.

“The legal way forward is clear: Israel must end its unlawful presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory and remove all settlers in accordance with the conclusions of the International Court of Justice,” said Ajith Sunghay, the Head of the UN Human Rights Office in the Occupied Palestinian Territory. “In the meantime, Israel is an occupying power with extensive duties under international law, including respecting, protecting and ensuring the fulfilment of Palestinians’ human rights, such as the rights to earn a living, and to freedom of expression and association.”

For more information and media requests, please contact:

Mayy El Sheikh – mayy.elsheikh@un.org

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At the General Assembly debate on the Question of Palestine, Ambassador Riyad Mansour said: "Everywhere in the region the same policy, land grab disguised under security pretexts. In Palestine, in Lebanon, in Syria. This is a recipe for perpetual occupation, perpetual bloodshed, perpetual war, instead of shared peace, shared security, shared prosperity.""

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Israel is holding 6,000 trucks, enough supplies for Gaza for 3 months - Monday, December 1st 2025

Adnan Abu Hasna, the media adviser for UNRWA, said that the Israeli occupation authorities are holding 6,000 agency trucks loaded with food supplies sufficient for the Gaza Strip for three months, in addition to hundreds of thousands of tents and blankets designated for about 1.3 million Palestinians as the humanitarian crisis worsens.

Abu Hasna explained, in an interview with Al Jazeera, that the number of trucks currently entering Gaza exceeds the average that used to enter before the ceasefire. However, he stressed that these quantities do not match the enormous level of need inside the Strip.

He added that the occupation authorities continue to ban the entry of hundreds of vital items, including health, sanitation, water, and food supplies, noting that they allow more materials to enter for the commercial sector than for humanitarian and relief organizations.

Abu Hasna confirmed that most of Gaza’s population relies entirely on humanitarian aid, as residents have lost their purchasing power, except for a limited number of UN agency employees and what remains of Palestinian Authority staff.

He explained that humanitarian organizations submit requests to bring in essential materials such as spare parts for desalination and sewage plants, medical equipment, and international teams and staff. However, Israel rejects most of these requests, limiting its approvals to basic supplies such as canned food, flour, and some medicines.

Abu Hasna warned that the continuation of this situation will push Gaza back to square one, noting that limited rainfall over the past two days caused rainwater to mix with sewage due to the destruction of infrastructure, leading to widespread collapse of tens of thousands of tents.

Meanwhile, waste continues to pile up, and sewage water floods the narrow streets near displaced persons’ tents in the southern part of the Strip, while children live in an environment rife with diseases and epidemics, according to testimonies from the displaced.

Municipal officials told Al Jazeera correspondent Hani Al-Shaer that the current fuel crisis is the worst since the war began two years ago and has paralyzed all aspects of municipal work. Municipal vehicles, already in poor condition, have stopped operating due to fuel shortages, while the occupation authorities have not allowed new vehicles to enter.

The Civil Defense also faces extreme challenges due to the severe fuel shortage, preventing its teams from reaching distress areas in time, whether for rescue operations during weather depressions or for retrieving victims and removing dangers threatening the population.

https://english.palinfo.com/news/2025/12/01/352753/ 

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UNRWA Situation Report #199 on the Humanitarian Crisis in the Gaza Strip and the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem

Tuesday, December 2, 2025

All information updated for 24 - 30 November 2025 [1]
Days 777 - 783 since the start of the war in the Gaza Strip

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Highlights

The Gaza Strip

• The Ministry of Health (MoH) reported, according to OCHA, that since the ceasefire, 347 Palestinians have been  killed, 889 injured and 596 bodies have been retrieved from under the rubble.
• On 24 November 2025, an UNRWA school-turned-shelter in Jabalia camp was reportedly impacted due to a quadcopter strike by Israeli forces. No casualties were reported, although the facility sustained minor damage.
• Describing severe destruction and the struggle facing women, especially the more than 57,000 who now head their households, amid high prices and lack of income, UN Women’s Chief of Humanitarian Action reported that women are facing hunger, fear, repeated displacement and winter conditions in makeshift shelters that offer little protection.
• According to the Shelter Cluster, collective efforts to prepare for the winter season are under strain due to new winter storms, driving a cycle of renewed emergency needs. Most people in Gaza continue to reside in a range of inadequate shelter types that fail to meet basic emergency standards, including tents, makeshift tents, and partially or heavily damaged buildings.
• UNRWA is continuing to respond to flooding impacts across 32 UNRWA schools-turned-shelters, mostly in Middle Area and Khan Younis (27). First response operations are in progress, including water removal from flooded yards and clearance of blocked manholes and drainage collectors, in addition to repairs to damaged tents and distribution of tarpaulins to affected families. Efforts remain focused on closing outstanding gaps to ensure safe and adequate shelter conditions.
• Amid immense humanitarian needs, UNRWA operations continue to face severe challenges, including restrictions on bringing aid and vital supplies directly into the Gaza Strip. Despite these constraints, UNRWA is scaling up its response, including in education and health sector. Over 50,000 students are now engaged in in-person learning activities across all areas of Gaza. Health services have been significantly expanded in the north, with five active medical facilities in Gaza City and North Area, providing primary healthcare to around 1,800 patients daily. On 30 November, the Muawiya health centre in Mawasi reopened, strengthening access to essential care in the area.
• The joint catch-up immunization campaign reached 15,895 children in November (the first of three phases), with MoH and PRCS, and with support of UNICEF and WHO. As part of this joint effort, UNRWA teams vaccinated 4,624 children (29 per cent of the total). UNRWA participated with 32 teams out of 141 teams in total (22.6 per cent of the medical workforce involved).

The West Bank including East Jerusalem

• On 26 November, Israeli Forces launched a large-scale operation in Tubas governorate, so-called operation ‘Five Stones’. The operation has to date included the use of advanced weaponry and war-like tactics, with Israeli Forces entering El Far’a Camp early on 28 November.
• A new demolition order was issued by Israeli Forces against Jenin Camp on 25 November. This marks the latest in a series of demolitions rendering parts of the de-populated camp uninhabitable.... READ MORE  https://www.unrwa.org/resources/reports/unrwa-situation-report-199-situation-gaza-strip-and-west-bank-including-east-jerusalem

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On the last day of the Pope’s journey, a rainbow graces the shrine of Our Lady of Lebanon in Harissa.

Fr Joseph Hudson

 

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On the last day of the Pope’s journey, a rainbow graces the shrine of Our Lady of Lebanon in Harissa. 

 

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Andrea Tornielli

 

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Harîssa, this morning, Shrine of Our Lady of Lebanon, a rainbow greets the last day of Pope Leo’s journey

 

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Israeli settlers attack and rob Italian and Canadian volunteers in West Bank- Group beaten in early hours of morning in village where they volunteered to help protect Palestinians from settler violence

Israeli forces in the West Bank. The pace and intensity of attacks in Ein al-Duyuk have increased substantially over the past two months since the establishment of a new settler outpost. Photograph: APAImages/Shutterstock

West Bank

Israeli settlers attack and rob Italian and Canadian volunteers in West Bank

Group beaten in early hours of morning in village where they volunteered to help protect Palestinians from settler violence

Julian Borger in Jerusalem

Mon 1 Dec 2025 11.40 EST

Italy and Canada have raised concerns about the treatment of their citizens who were beaten and robbed by Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank.

Three Italians and a Canadian were attacked early on Sunday morning in the village of Ein al-Duyuk, near Jericho, where they had volunteered to help protect the Palestinian population from intensifying settler violence.

All four were hospitalised and one, an Italian man, was still receiving care in Ramallah on Monday for more substantial injuries.

In a written account, the Canadian said: “At 4.30am on 30 November, 10 masked settlers, two carrying army-issued rifles, burst into the home where we were sleeping after night-watch.

“They beat us for about 15 minutes. I was repeatedly kicked in the head, ribs, hips and thighs. They shouted insults at us in Arabic and told us we had no right to be there. They smashed the interior of the house and destroyed the solar batteries before leaving.”

The woman, who did not want her name published for safety reasons, added: “This is not about us. We were beaten for 15 minutes. Palestinians here endure this violence every day, every hour, a thousand-fold.”

The pace and intensity of attacks in Ein al-Duyuk have increased substantially over the past two months since the establishment of a settler outpost nearby and the arrival of young and aggressive settlers.

Activists say that violent incidents have become an almost daily occurrence. Attacks have included settler mobs breaking into homes and beating villagers, stealing 200 sheep, two cars and destroying solar panels.

While all settlements on occupied territory are illegal under international law, irregular outposts are illegal under Israeli law. Ein al-Duyuk is in Area A of the West Bank, which means it is meant to be administered by the Palestinian Authority and illegal for Israelis to enter.... READ MORE  https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/dec/01/italian-canadian-volunteers-beaten-robbed-israeli-settlers-west-bank

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"It’s not just Gaza. From the West Bank to Syria and Lebanon, Israel’s onslaught continues- Broken ceasefires, bombing, ground incursions and mounting deaths: Israeli imperialism is now expanding across the region" Nesrine Malik

It is clear now that the ceasefire in Gaza is only a “reducefire”. The onslaught continues. There are near-daily attacks on the territory. On a single day at the end of October, almost 100 Palestinians were killed. On 19 November, 32 were killed. On 23 November, 21. And on it goes. Since the ceasefire, more than 300 have been killed and almost 1,000 injured. Those numbers will rise. The real shift is that the ceasefire has reduced global attention and scrutiny. Meanwhile, Israel’s emerging blueprint becomes clearer: bloody domination not only in Gaza, but across Palestine and the wider region.

A “dangerous illusion that life in Gaza is returning to normal”, is how Amnesty International’s secretary general, Agnès Callamard, described this post-ceasefire period. Israeli authorities have reduced attacks and allowed some aid into Gaza, she said, but “the world must not be fooled. Israel’s genocide is not over.” Not a single hospital in Gaza has returned to being fully operational. The onset of rain and cooling weather has left thousands exposed in dilapidated tents. Since the ceasefire on 10 October, almost 6,500 tonnes of UN-coordinated relief materials have been denied entry into Gaza by Israeli authorities. According to Oxfam, in the two weeks after the ceasefire alone, shipments of water, food, tents and medical supplies from 17 international NGOs were denied.

The result is that a population whose homes, livelihoods and stable shelter have been eliminated still are not allowed to secure safer tents or adequate food. Israeli authorities hold people in Gaza in a painful purgatory, continuing collective punishment, preventing the conditions for a normal life from emerging and establishing Israel as sole unaccountable overlord, with unlimited power over the people of the territory.

Gaza is at the sharp end of an expansion of Israeli imperialism, one that stretches to the West Bank and beyond.... READ MORE  https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/dec/01/gaza-west-bank-syria-lebanon-israel-ceasefire

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Nesrine Malik is a Guardian columnist and the author of We Need New Stories: Challenging the Toxic Myths Behind Our Age of Discontent