Jerusalem

Palestine

Israel’s election and the Gaza genocide

A new report from the UN Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territories finds that Israel has continued to commit “genocidal acts” in the Gaza Strip since the signing of a ceasefire with Hamas last October, and continues to carry out war crimes and crimes against humanity throughout the occupied territories. The situation, alas, seems unlikely to fundamentally change regardless of the eventual outcome of the Israeli elections. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party received the most seats, but does not have enough support to form a government with its far-right allies. The anti-Netanyahu bloc led by former IDF commander Gadi Eisenkot also fell short of a majority. This puts Palestinian citizens of Israel—who constitute some 20% of the population, and who voted in record numbers—in the position of potential kingmakers. However, most parties in Eisenkot’s bloc are refusing to enter a coalition with the Arab parties. Pro-coexistence activists have marched in Tel Aviv to demand such a coalition, including in a mobilization outside Eisenkot’s home in the suburb of Herzliya, chanting “There is no change without partnership.” (Photo: Shane Burley via Facebook. Banner reads: “Israel is not a democracy. It’s apartheid”)

Palestine

Podcast: West Bank at genocidal threshold

The three-year commemoration of the October 7 attacks saw ugly manifestations around the world of the growing atmosphere of polarization and dogmatism on the Israel-Palestine dilemma. There is, alas, the grave potential for everything to get much worse. Benjamin Netanyahu, under siege politically within Israel, is seeking not only a re-occupation of Gaza, but to extend the eliminationist project to the West Bank. In Episode 349 of the CounterVortex podcast, Bill Weinberg takes stock. Listen on SoundCloud or via Patreon. (Photo: RJA1988 via Jurist)

Palestine

Israel’s ‘elimination project’ on West Bank advances

Israeli human rights organization B'Tselem issued a comprehensive report charging that Israel is carrying out an "elimination project" on the occupied West Bank, seeking to dismantle Palestinian "collective existence" there to establish a permanent, contiguous Jewish presence and Israeli sovereignty. A campaign of "ethnic cleansing and territorial takeover" is effected through violence and intimidation, movement restrictions, economic strangulation, and criminalization of Palestinian political organizing. These steps toward annexation are taken jointly by the Israeli military and armed settlers. (Photo via New Jewish Resistance)

Palestine

UN report sees ‘ethnic cleansing’ on West Bank

A report from the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights warned that over one year—from Nov. 1, 2024 to Oct. 31, 2025—Israel's government accelerated unlawful settlement expansion and "annexation" of large parts of the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem. This has led to the forced displacement of over 36,000 Palestinians, amid increasing violence by both Israeli security forces and settlers. The report stated: "The displacement in the occupied West Bank…at the hands of the Israeli military appears to indicate a concerted Israeli policy of mass forcible transfer throughout the occupied territory, aimed at permanent displacement, raising concerns of ethnic cleansing." (Photo: B'Tselem)

Palestine

Gaza genocide ‘spills into West Bank’

A group of UN experts warned that the genocide in Gaza is spilling into the West Bank as a wider war engulfs the region. The experts argue that Israeli policy is designed to coerce Palestinians to leave in both territories. The report also covered occupied East Jerusalem, finding: "Israel is accelerating measures that alter Jerusalem's demographic composition, religious character and legal status, destroying the remnants of the pluralistic fabric that Jerusalem has represented for centuries, for Muslims, Christians and Jews… What is being done to this world symbol of spiritual coexistence and shared heritage is irreversible." (Photo: RJA1988 via Jurist)

Palestine

Trump’s global imperial court

When US President Donald Trump first proposed establishing a so-called "Board of Peace" to oversee governance of the Gaza Strip for a transitional period back in September, the idea was quickly likened to a form of colonial takeover. The UN nonetheless adopted a Security Council resolution in November giving its blessing to the board's creation—a vote some member states may now regret. The board was just officially inaugurated in a ceremony in Davos, Switzerland, where Trump was attending the World Economic Forum. But Gaza seems almost incidental to its true mission, which appears to be creating a global strongmen's club—led by Trump, potentially for life—to rival, if not replace, the UN itself. (Image via Wikipedia)

Palestine

Israeli ‘crimes against humanity’ seen in West Bank

Israeli military operations in the northern West Bank constitute war crimes and crimes against humanity, Human Rights Watch said in a report documenting the forced displacement of approximately 32,000 Palestinians from three refugee camps beginning in January 2025. The report charges that Israeli forces carried out mass forcible displacements as part of a widespread attack on civilians, accusations that, if substantiated, would constitute crimes against humanity under international law. "The organized, forced displacement of Palestinians in the refugee camps has removed nearly the entire Palestinian population from these areas," the report stated, noting that residents of Jenin, Tulkarm and Nur Shams camps have been denied the right to return nearly a year after the operations commenced. (Photo: Wikipedia)

Palestine

Israeli strikes target Hamas in Qatar —and Greta Thunberg in Tunis?

Unprecedented Israeli air-strikes on buildings in Qatar's capital Doha apparently targeted senior members of Hamas' external leadership—precisely those involved in ceasefire negotiations. The Israel Defense Forces confirmed the operation, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu saying that the attack was "a wholly independent Israeli operation." He added: "Israel initiated it, Israel conducted it, and Israel takes full responsibility." However, the White House quickly confirmed that it was informed of the operation beforehand. On the same day as the Qatar strikes, organizers of a flotilla carrying aid for Gaza said their lead ship was hit by a drone while anchored at the port of Sidi Bou Said, Tunisia. A video posted by the Global Sumud Flotilla appears to show a lit projectile falling from the sky onto the vessel before flames erupt on the front deck. The ship sustained some damage, according to later footage posted on social media. One day later, a second vessel in the flotilla was evidently struck, causing similar damage. The Global Sumud Flotilla's most prominent member is Greta Thunberg, internationally known for her climate activism and now a leading figure in the Freedom Flotilla Coalition. (Photo: FreeGaza via Wikimedia Commons)

Palestine

Israeli cabinet meets on West Bank annexation

The Israeli cabinet will convene to discuss annexation of areas of the West Bank, local media report. The discussion has been called in light of the recently-approved settlement construction plan spearheaded by Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, which will see some 3,400 housing units built in the West Bank's contentious E1 area between Jerusalem and the Ma'ale Adumim settlement bloc. This follows approval of a Knesset resolution in favor of annexing the entirety of the West Bank. The motion, which passed 71-13, declared that the West Bank is "an inseparable part of the Land of Israel, the historical, cultural and spiritual homeland of the Jewish people," and that "Israel has the natural, historical and legal right to all of the territories of the Land of Israel." (Photo: delayed gratification via New Jewish Resistance)

Palestine

Netanyahu seeks re-occupation of Gaza: reports

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reportedly told his ministers that he will seek cabinet approval for a plan to fully occupy the Gaza Strip. According to reports in the Israeli media, several ministers said Netanyahu used the term “occupation of the Strip” in private conversations describing his plan. One anonymous official was quoted as saying: “The die is cast—we are going for a full occupation of the Gaza Strip.” Referring to IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir, who is said to oppose such plans, the official added: “If the chief of staff doesn’t agree, he should resign.” These reports come as more than a dozen former senior Israeli security officials issued a joint video message with a call to end the war in Gaza, arguing that it has become damaging to Israel’s own national interests. (Photo: Jaber Jehad Badwan via Wikimedia Commons)

Palestine

UN condemns attack on Gaza Catholic church

UN Secretary-General António Guterres strongly condemned a deadly Israeli artillery strike that damaged Gaza's Holy Family Catholic Church, calling the attack "unacceptable" and reiterating calls for an immediate ceasefire and the release of all hostages. The strike killed three civilians and injured several others, including parish priest Father Gabriel Romanelli, according to the Vatican. The Holy Family Church, Gaza's only Catholic parish, had served as a refuge for displaced civilians since the onset of the war, and held up to 600 people when it was struck by tank fire. (Photo: By Dan Palraz/Wikipedia)

Palestine

West Bank: settler attacks on Christian village

The two most senior church leaders in the Holy Land toured the Christian Palestinian town of Taybeh in the West Bank, which has been the scene of repeated attacks by Israeli settlers in recent weeks. In a joint statement, the Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem, Theophilos III, and Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, Pierbattista Pizzaballa, called the settler attacks a threat to Christian heritage, and demanded an investigation into the failure of Israeli authorities to respond to the ongoing assaults. Taybeh, the biblical Ephraim, has three churches—Greek Orthodox, Roman Catholic and Melkite—whose pastors have issued an joint appeal calling on Israeli authorities to prevent further settler violence. They charged that the violence—including arson attacks that have threatened the Byzantine-era Church of Al-Khader (St. George)—has often taken place in the presence of passive Israeli soldiers. The settlers have also damaged the olive groves that are Taybeh's primary source of income, and are preventing farmers from accessing and working their lands. (Photo: VisitPalestine)