Friday, August 1, 2025

HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH: US-backed Israeli forces and private contractors have put in place a flawed, militarized aid distribution system that has turned aid distributions into regular bloodbaths. -> The dire humanitarian situation is a direct result of Israel’s use of starvation of civilians as a weapon of war—a war crime—as well as Israel’s continued intentional deprivation of aid and basic services, which amounts to the crime against humanity of extermination, and acts of genocide. -> States should press Israeli authorities to immediately stop using lethal force as crowd control against Palestinian civilians, lift Israel’s unlawful sweeping restrictions on the entry of aid, and for the United States and Israel to suspend this flawed distribution system.

Kenneth Roth

It is a war crime -- part of its genocide -- for Israel to starve Palestinian civilians in Gaza. It is also a war crime for Israeli forces to repeatedly shoot and kill hungry Palestinians as they seek food at Israeli-organized food distribution points.

August 1, 2025 12:00AM EDT | Report

Gaza: Israeli Killings of Palestinians Seeking Food Are War Crimes

Abandon US-Backed ‘Death Trap’ Scheme, Press Israel to End Mass Starvation

Palestinians at a US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation distribution site for humanitarian aid in the “Netzarim Corridor, "central Gaza Strip, May 29, 2025.  © 2025 Ahmad Salem/Bloomberg via Getty Image

US-backed Israeli forces and private contractors have put in place a flawed, militarized aid distribution system that has turned aid distributions into regular bloodbaths.
The dire humanitarian situation is a direct result of Israel’s use of starvation of civilians as a weapon of war—a war crime—as well as Israel’s continued intentional deprivation of aid and basic services, which amounts to the crime against humanity of extermination, and acts of genocide.
States should press Israeli authorities to immediately stop using lethal force as crowd control against Palestinian civilians, lift Israel’s unlawful sweeping restrictions on the entry of aid, and for the United States and Israel to suspend this flawed distribution system.

(Jerusalem, August 1, 2025) – Israeli forces at the sites of a new US-backed aid distribution system in Gaza have routinely opened fire on starving Palestinian civilians in acts that amount to serious violations of international law and war crimes, Human Rights Watch said today.

Mass casualty incidents have taken place on a near-daily basis at or near the four sites operated by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), which operates in coordination with the Israeli military. At least 859 Palestinians have been killed while attempting to obtain aid at GHF sites between May 27 and July 31, 2025, most by the Israeli military, according to the United Nations. The dire humanitarian situation is a direct result of Israel’s use of starvation of civilians as a weapon of war—a war crime —as well as Israel’s continued intentional deprivation of aid and basic services, ongoing actions that amount to the crime against humanity of extermination, and acts of genocide.

“Israeli forces are not only deliberately starving Palestinian civilians, but they are now gunning them down almost every day as they desperately seek food for their families,” said Belkis Wille, associate crisis and conflict director at Human Rights Watch. “US-backed Israeli forces and private contractors have put in place a flawed, militarized aid distribution system that has turned aid distributions into regular bloodbaths.”

States should press Israeli authorities to immediately stop using lethal force as a method of crowd control against Palestinian civilians, lift unlawful sweeping restrictions on the entry of aid, and suspend this flawed distribution system, Human Rights Watch said. Instead, the UN and other humanitarian organizations should be permitted to resume aid distributions across Gaza at scale and without restrictions, as they have proven able to feed the population in line with humanitarian standards and as required by binding rulings by the International Court of Justice in South Africa’s genocide case against Israel.

In May, after more than 11 weeks of an Israeli-imposed total blockade on Gaza, the GHF distribution mechanism began operating. The aim of the Israeli authorities was reportedly to ultimately replace humanitarian aid delivery by the UN and other aid organizations... READ MORE https://www.hrw.org/news/2025/08/01/gaza-israeli-killings-of-palestinians-seeking-food-are-war-crimes

AS ALWAYS PLEASE GO TO THE LINK TO READ GOOD ARTICLES (or quotes) IN FULL: HELP SHAPE ALGORITHMS (and conversations) THAT EMPOWER DECENCY, DIGNITY, JUSTICE & PEACE... and hopefully Palestine, or at least fair and just laws and policies]

The Washington Post has published the names of 18,500 Palestinian children killed by the Israeli army in Gaza

The Washington Post has published the names of 18,500 Palestinian children killed by the Israeli army in Gaza.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/interactive/2025/israel-gaza-war-children-death-toll/

The cry for freedom’s echoes: From Selma to Gaza By Lisa D. Bender in the Patriot News Jul. 31, 2025

Martin Luther King, Jr. and civil rights marchers cross the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Ala., heading for the capitol in Montgomery, Ala., March 21, 1965. (AP Photo, File)AP

Guest Editorial

By Lisa D. Bender

“Freedom is a constant struggle,” sang Rutha Mae Harris in Albany, Ga., during the recent Civil Rights Journey sponsored by the Susquehanna Conference of The United Methodist Church.

Harris, an original Freedom Singers, bellowed out inspiring gospel music from the Civil Rights Movement.

Walking across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Ala., we imagined we were with John Lewis. We heard his words: “Freedom is the continuous action we all must take, and each generation must do its part to create an even more fair, more just society.”

In Birmingham, we remembered the words of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr: “Freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed.”

I heard the words about the struggle for freedom of Black Americans and recalled the cries of many oppressed people. I heard the cries of Gazans being starved and bombed, and stories of those in the West Bank, Palestine who face attacks from Israeli settlers.

Slavery in the United States ended in 1865. The Israeli occupation of Palestine has not ended.

Persecution of Black Americans has continued for decades. Palestinian people have suffered many of the same indignities for the past 77 years.

Over 4,000 lynchings of Black Americans have been documented in the United States. Over 60,000 Gazans have been killed by Israeli bombs, drones and snipers in the past 21 months. Over 180 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank this year.... READ MORE https://www.pennlive.com/opinion/2025/07/the-cry-for-freedoms-echoes-from-selma-to-gaza-opinion.html

Thursday, July 31, 2025

United Nations: With Gaza smouldering, ministers renew push for two-State solution at UN. The High-level International Conference for the Peaceful Settlement of the Question of Palestine and the Implementation of the Two-State Solution took place in New York from 28 to 30 July.

UN Photo/Loey Felipe

Foreign Ministers Jean-Noël Barrot (right) of France and Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud of Saudi Arabia, the co-chairs of the conference.

By Vibhu Mishra

30 July 2025 Peace and Security

With Gaza in ruins and the two-State solution in jeopardy, ministers convened at the United Nations this week to jumpstart political momentum toward ending the Israeli-Palestinian conflict – a crisis Secretary-General António Guterres warned is “at a breaking point.”

The High-level International Conference for the Peaceful Settlement of the Question of Palestine and the Implementation of the Two-State Solution took place in New York from 28 to 30 July.

The United States and Israel did not participate.

France and Saudi Arabia, co-chairs of the Conference, called on all UN Member States to support a declaration urging collective action to end the war in Gaza and to achieve a just, peaceful and lasting settlement of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

The New York Declaration on the Peaceful Settlement of the Question of Palestine and the Implementation of the Two-State Solution outlines political, humanitarian, and security steps to be taken on a timebound and irreversible basis.

The co-chairs urged countries to endorse the declaration by the end of the 79th session of the General Assembly, in early September, should they so wish.

Act before it is too late

In his stark opening remarks on Monday, Secretary-General Guterres stressed that the two-State solution is the only viable path to ending the longstanding conflict and achieving lasting peace in the region, warning that there is no alternative.

“A one-State reality where Palestinians are denied equal rights and forced to live under perpetual occupation and inequality? A one-State reality where Palestinians are expelled from their land? That is not peace. That is not justice. And that is not acceptable,” he said.

He condemned both Hamas’ 7 October 2023 attacks and the scale of Israel’s military response, reiterating his call for an immediate and permanent ceasefire, the unconditional release of hostages, and unfettered humanitarian access.

“This conflict cannot be managed. It must be resolved,” Mr. Guterres concluded. “We must act before it is too late.”

UN Photo/Evan Schneider

Secretary-General António Guterres addresses the high-level conference on the peaceful settlement of the question of Palestine and the implementation of the two-State solution.

Calls for peace

Over the three days, more than 125 speakers took the floor during the general debate, including high-level representatives from across the globe and major regional and international organizations such as the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).

Delegates underscored the urgency of concrete steps to realise a two-State solution, highlighting the need to empower and reform the Palestinian Authority, reconstruct Gaza and ensure accountability for violations of international law.

France, which co-chaired the Conference, recalled its support for Israel as it joined the community of nations and affirmed that Palestinians deserve the same right to a homeland.

“At a time where the two-State solution is more threatened than ever, France is ready to fully recognise the State of Palestine,” said Jean-Noël Barrot, Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs. That recognition, he added, would come in September when leaders reconvene for the General Assembly’s 80th session.

Co-chair Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister, Faisal bin Farhan al Saud, emphasised the suffering of thousands of civilians in Gaza under bombardment, while Israeli settlements expand in Jerusalem and the West Bank to alter the region’s demographic nature.

“Peace and security do not take place through deprivation of rights or force,” he said, underscoring the need for a genuine and irreversible peace process.

UN Photo/Loey Felipe

Foreign Secretary David Lammy of the United Kingdom addresses the high-level conference.

The United Kingdom’s Foreign Secretary, David Lammy, outlined recent UK actions – including the suspension of arms exports and sanctions on extremist settlers, and restoring of funding to the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees.

“It is with the hand of history on our shoulders that His Majesty’s Government therefore intends to recognise the State of Palestine when the UN General Assembly gathers in September here in New York,” he declared.

“We will do this unless the Israeli Government acts to end the appalling situation in Gaza, ends its military campaign and commits to a long-term sustainable peace based on a two-State solution.”

https://news.un.org/en/story/2025/07/1165536

Yusuf / Cat Stevens #Peace #Gaza #Palestine #Jesus

Photo: A two-year old child in Al-Shati Refugee Camp in Gaza Strip by Ali Jadallah

Yusuf / Cat Stevens

@YusufCatStevens

Child tormentors are damned by the tongue of Jesus (peace be upon him) Jesus invited a little child to stand among them. “Truly I tell you,” He said, “unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And whoever welcomes a little child like this in my name welcomes me. But if anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in me to stumble, it would be better for him to have a large millstone hung around his neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea.” (Matthew 18:2) Photo: A two-year old child in Al-Shati Refugee Camp in Gaza Strip by Ali Jadallah #Peace #Gaza #Palestine #Jesus

https://x.com/YusufCatStevens/status/1950812007231541345

It should't have got this bad to alert the world to what’s been going on #Peace #Gaza #Palestine #Children https://x.com/YusufCatStevens/status/1949863843351458277

What 60,000+ people looks like - it’s mind blowing... now consider the number killed in Gaza. #Peace #Gaza #Perspective https://x.com/YusufCatStevens/status/1946188107755253990

DO SOMETHING

Yusuf / Cat Stevens

@YusufCatStevens

#Peace #Gaza #Compassion #Humanity

https://x.com/YusufCatStevens/status/1939974830192726057/photo/1

Wednesday, July 30, 2025

“The holocaust in Palestine could be stopped if the European Union, Israel's biggest trading partner, would suspend trade agreements and impose crippling sanctions and the United States would impose an arms embargo." — Rula Jebreal, Award-winning Palestinian journalist and author

dawnmena.org

“The holocaust in Palestine could be stopped if the European Union, Israel's biggest trading partner, would suspend trade agreements and impose crippling sanctions and the United States would impose an arms embargo." — @rulajebreal, Award-winning Palestinian journalist and author

United Nations experts (& international law) call for end to Israeli State and settler violence in the West Bank

The UN emblem is a symbol of hope, peace and unity around the world. As the United Nations remain committed to advancing peace, dignity and equality for all on a healthy planet

GENEVA - UN experts* today expressed grave concern over systematic and ongoing violations by Israeli settlers and Israeli security forces against Palestinian peasants and rural workers in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem.

"We are deeply troubled by alleged widespread intimidation, violence, land dispossession, destruction of livelihoods and the resulting forcible displacement of communities, and we fear this is severing Palestinians from their land and undermining their food security,” the experts said.

"The alleged acts of violence, destruction of property, and denial of access to land and resources appear to constitute a systemic pattern of human rights violations," they said.

The experts noted a disturbing pattern of attacks targeting West Bank communities, including assaults on civilians, destruction of homes and livelihoods, and the forcible displacement of families.

“Settler violence has reportedly involved arson, livestock theft, and the poisoning or destruction of water sources, severely undermining the ability of Palestinians to sustain their agricultural way of life,” the experts added. “The demolition of Palestinian-owned structures has further exacerbated the humanitarian crisis, leaving families homeless and vulnerable.”

They said the continued attacks targeting Palestinian Bedouin, peasant and rural communities do not appear to be incidental, but rather an intentional strategy to erase their presence in key agricultural areas, undermine their food security and food sovereignty and ultimately sever Palestinians from their land. Hundreds of Bedouin families, including a significant number of children, have been displaced due to settler violence and intimidation.

These attacks have caused significant economic harm, including an estimated USD $76 million in direct agricultural damages in the West Bank between October 7, 2023, and late 2024. It is estimated that the West Bank GDP declined by more than 19 per cent, and the unemployment rate rose to 35 per cent.

"Israel, as the occupying power, bears the obligation to take necessary measures to safeguard Palestinian communities at risk of displacement and violence," the experts said. "This includes stopping the violence immediately, halting illegal settlement expansion, holding effective and impartial investigations into violations, prosecuting those responsible, and guaranteeing victims access to justice and reparations."

“It is essential that the West Bank be kept under Palestinian control, based on the rights to self-determination of the Palestinian people and full respect of international law,” they said. “Israel must promptly bring to an end its unlawful presences in the West Bank, and ensure its compliance with the Advisory Opinion of the International Court of Justice issued on 19 July 2024, including by evacuating all settlers from the Occupied Palestinian Territory.”

The experts called on the international community to act with urgency to hold perpetrators accountable and ensure that violent settlers and armed forces cannot continue to operate with impunity.

“Silence and inaction only embolden further violations. We call on all States to uphold their obligations under international law—including through targeted measures, sanctions, and diplomatic pressure—to end these systematic abuses and protect Palestinian lives, livelihoods, and fundamental rights. The time for justice is now,” they said.

https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2025/07/un-experts-call-end-israeli-state-and-settler-violence-west-bank

“Thirst as a weapon”: UN experts condemn Israel’s deliberate dehydration and starvation of the Palestinian people

29 July 2025

GENEVA – UN experts* today expressed alarm at Israel’s deliberate withholding of access to safe drinking water from Palestinians in Gaza, calling it a serious violation of international law and a crime against humanity.

“Israel is using thirst as a weapon to kill Palestinians,” the experts said. “Cutting off water and food is a silent but lethal bomb that kills mostly children and babies. The sight of infants dying in their mothers’ arms is unbearable. How can world leaders sleep while this suffering continues?”

“This catastrophe was not only predictable; it was predicted. Israel’s blockade and destruction of civilian infrastructure has left most of Gaza’s two million residents displaced and without access to the minimum vital amount of drinking water,” the experts said. This has led to deaths and widespread illness caused by water pollution, and a lack of sanitation and hygiene.

Since October 2023, Israel’s military operations have repeatedly targeted water facilities, wells, pipelines, desalination units, and sewage systems. Eighty-nine per cent of Gaza's water and sanitation infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed by Israel’s forces, leaving over 90 per cent of households water insecure.

“Israel’s acts right now in Gaza are barbaric, and the related actions of Government officials constitute crimes under the Rome Statute: extermination is committed by cutting off the supply of medicine, food and water,” the experts said.

“These intentional, widespread and systematic attacks against Palestinians are a deliberate infliction of conditions of life calculated to bring about the physical destruction of a population – another act of genocide.”

In its Advisory Opinion of 9 July 2024... READ MORE https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2025/07/thirst-weapon-un-experts-condemn-israels-deliberate-dehydration-and

Owen Jones in The Guardian: Israel has deliberately starved the people of Gaza. It couldn’t have done it without the west’s help. The current hand-wringing by Keir Starmer and other western politicians is empty bluster. They knew what was happening all along.

"Israel has perpetrated the biggest slaughter of aid workers in history, killing more than 400 by the spring. It waged a relentless war against Gaza’s main humanitarian agency – Unrwa, the UN’s Palestinian refugee agency – and banned it from the occupied territories last October. Its military killed police officers charged with escorting aid and preventing looting. It’s not just the blocking of aid from entering. Israel’s onslaught has left nearly all agricultural land unusable, as well as damaging 80% of cropland. Nearly all livestock and most plant life is dead. Gaza’s port and fishing vehicles have been destroyed, and Palestinians defying Israel’s ban on fishing face slaughter.The massacre of starving Palestinians looking for aid has been a consistent theme..." Owen Jones

Wed 30 Jul 2025 03.00 EDT

Palestinians waiting for food aid from a charity in Deir al-Balah, Gaza, 29 July 2025. Photograph: Anadolu/Getty Images

What have we done? As the UN-backed monitor declares that “the worst-case scenario of famine is currently playing out in the Gaza Strip”, this should have been the question ricocheting between the walls as Keir Starmer met Donald Trump this week. Israel’s deliberate starvation of Gaza is, after all, a crime confessed to, designed and implemented in plain sight. Starmer has said the UK will recognise Palestinian statehood if Israel doesn’t agree to a ceasefire and a two-state solution, but don’t be beguiled: Palestinian national self-determination is an inalienable right, not a bargaining chip, and it’s the most symbolic action he could take rather than, say, imposing sweeping sanctions and ending all arms sales. The hand-wringing of western politicians and media outlets will not feed Gaza’s emaciated children, any more than it will absolve them of guilt.

Israel’s leaders have said, explicitly, repeatedly, from the very beginning, that they are deliberately starving Gaza’s people. “Man-made famine is not something that I’ve seen in my lifetime,” Martin Griffiths, the UN’s former humanitarian chief, tells me. On 9 October 2023, Israel’s then defence minister, Yoav Gallant, announced “a complete siege on [Gaza]: no electricity, no food, no water, no fuel”, justified on the grounds: “We are fighting human animals and we act accordingly”. The next day, the Israeli general charged with humanitarian affairs in Gaza and the West Bank – Ghassan Alian – declared that the “citizens of Gaza” were “human beasts” who would suffer “a total blockade on Gaza, no electricity, no water, just damage. You wanted hell, you will get hell.”

The following week, the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, promised “we will not allow humanitarian assistance in the form of food and medicines from our territory to the Gaza Strip”. These statements were not reported at all by many western media outlets – or, if they were, it was in passing and with no explanation given about their objectively illegal intent. It’s as though these statements were being uttered in a parallel universe, because if they were accurately covered with due prominence, then our media would have been forced to cover Israel’s onslaught as a criminal enterprise, rather than a war of self-defence.

Israel’s western allies knew exactly what it was up to.... READ MORE https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/jul/30/israel-starvation-gaza-keir-starmer-west

Patriarchs and heads of local churches of Jerusalem are gravely troubled by the prevailing climate of Israeli impunity & settler violence

Munther Isaac منذر اسحق

@MuntherIsaac

Palestinian Christian Theologian. Evangelical Lutheran Pastor in Palestine. Director of Bethlehem Institute for Peace and Justice and Christ at the Checkpoint

Christ in the Rubble: Faith, the Bible, and the Genocide in Gaza Kindle Edition

Annie's New Letters (& notes)

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