We are told the ‘war’ against Gaza is finally ‘over’. Is it?
I am not celebrating the end of the ‘war’ because this was not a war – and it’s not over, either
Again, I am thankful that the killing has slowed down. But let us not be naive here. Gaza has been rendered uninhabitable for a reason; settler attacks and home demolitions in the West Bank have ramped up for a reason. When people like the Israeli prime minister talk about “peace” in the region, the peace they appear to be referencing is the peace of finally being able to ignore the existence of Palestinians. A peace in which Palestinians have been expelled from their homeland. In May, for example, as Haaretz noted, the Israeli daily Maariv reported that Netanyahu told the Knesset foreign affairs and security committee: “We are destroying more and more homes. They have nowhere to return to. The only expected outcome will be the desire of Gazans to emigrate out of the Strip.” Netanyahu has made frequent references to the idea of mass population transfer from Gaza, the so-called “Trump plan”. This is the “peace” that Israel and the US seem to be working towards.
Read more at: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/oct/16/is-gaza-war-over
Portlanders Join Flotilla Aiming to Break Israel's Blockade of Aid to Gaza
A Global Sumud Flotilla coalition is headed to Gaza with hopes of delivering much-needed supplies and food. Local residents say they’ve already been hit with drone attacks.
Paul Reid and Stephen, both Portland residents, are among the hundreds of people from around the world who set sail in the Mediterranean Sea late last month. The two Portlanders joined the Global Sumud Flotilla, a fleet of civilian boats currently en route to Gaza in an attempt to deliver aid to Palestinians amid Israel’s ongoing siege on the enclave.
Approaching nearly a month at sea, the flotilla has faced rough seas, multiple drone attacks, and coordinating complications due to the vast size of the coalition. Many members have endured persistent sea sickness, especially on smaller sail boats.
Stephen is on a motorized boat with about 25 people, and has volunteered to work in the engine room. Reid is on a smaller sail boat where they take shifts at the helm.
Read more at Portland Mercury
You can see Paul's Instagram Posts here.
See more at The Global Sumud Flotilla's website and Instagram page
Statement by the Humanitarian Country Team in the occupied Palestinian territory
With no safe place left in Gaza, UN and NGOs demand ceasefire and protection from forced displacement
Statement by the Humanitarian Country Team in the occupied Palestinian territory*
10 September 2025
We are witnessing a dangerous escalation in Gaza city, where Israeli forces have stepped up their operations and ordered everyone to move south. This comes two weeks after famine was confirmed in the city and surrounding areas. While Israeli authorities have unilaterally-declared an area in the south as “humanitarian,” it has not taken effective steps to ensure the safety of those forced to move there and neither the size nor scale of services provided is fit to support those already there, let alone new arrivals.
Nearly one million people are now left with no safe or viable options – neither the north nor the south offers safety.
Leaving northern Gaza means paying prohibitive costs for transport and safe passage, sums that most families simply cannot afford. It means navigating roads that are barely passable. It means finding a place to sleep either in the open air or in overcrowded displacement sites. And it means continued struggles to secure food, water, medical care, and shelter, and live without dignified and safe sanitation. Survivors in Gaza are exhausted.
Civilians, including humanitarian personnel, remain present throughout Gaza. They and the civilian infrastructure they depend on, such as health facilities, must never be targeted. Civilian sites must also never be used to shield military operations, but even if they are, this does not in itself render them lawful targets. The looming destruction of Gaza city sounds the gravest of alarms.
Amid ongoing Israeli impediments, the current levels of humanitarian support are wholly insufficient.
Humanitarian access must be expanded and sustained to include direct routes to both the north and the south. Critical supply lines of fuel and water must remain open and uninterrupted. Any further disruption will have devastating consequences for civilians.
To families in Gaza: The humanitarian community will remain in Gaza city for as long as we can and will remain across the Strip, doing all we can to bring aid and deliver lifesaving services.
To the international community: Act. Call for an immediate ceasefire. Uphold international humanitarian law, including the release of hostages and those arbitrarily detained.
This catastrophe is human-made, and responsibility rests with us all.
* The Humanitarian Country Team (HCT) is a strategic decision-making forum led by the Humanitarian Coordinator for the Occupied Palestinian Territory. It brings together heads of UN entities and over 200 NGOs – both international and local – all working on humanitarian affairs in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip under internationally agreed humanitarian principles.
Senators Merkley and Van Hollen say US is complicit in Israel’s ethnic cleansing of Gaza
Democrats Chris Van Hollen and Jeff Merkley reach ‘inescapable conclusion’ after fact-finding trip to region
Read the full report here: https://www.vanhollen.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/van_hollen_merkley_report_following_2025_codel_to_gaza_border_israel_west_bank_jordan_and_egypt.pdf
Two Democratic senators claim they have reached the “inescapable conclusion” that Israel is acting on a systematic plan to destroy and ethnically cleanse Palestinians from Gaza to force locals to leave, and they say the US is complicit.
Chris Van Hollen of Maryland and Jeff Merkley of Oregon, both members of the Senate foreign relations committee, released their findings in a report on Thursday after returning from a congressional delegation to the Middle East where, they note, the destruction goes beyond bombs and bullets. They say they also found a systematic campaign to strangle humanitarian aid, which they call “using food as a weapon of war”.
“The Netanyahu government has gone far beyond targeting Hamas to imposing collective punishment on all the people of Gaza,” Van Hollen said at a Thursday press conference. “What they’re doing, and what we witnessed, is putting those goals into action.”
Read more at: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/sep/11/democratic-senators-gaza-ethnic-cleansing
US reportedly suspends visa approvals for nearly all Palestinian passport holders
The United States has suspended visa approvals for nearly everyone who holds a Palestinian passport, the New York Times reported on Sunday.
The restrictions go beyond those Donald Trump’s administration had previously announced on visitors from Gaza. They would prevent Palestinians from traveling to the United States for medical treatment, attending college and business travel, the newspaper reported, citing unidentified officials.
The state department said two weeks ago that it was halting all visitor visas for individuals from Gaza while it conducts “a full and thorough” review, a move that has been condemned by pro-Palestinian groups.
Read more at: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/aug/31/palestine-passport-visa-approval-suspension