麻豆APP

This newsletter informs about recent and upcoming activities of Civil Society Organizations working on the question of Palestine. The Committee and the Division for Palestinian Rights of the UN Secretariat provide the information “as is” without warranty of any kind, and do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, or reliability of the information contained in the websites linked in the newsletter.

Middle?East?

• On 3 June,? issued a press release announcing that it has demanded Israel immediately halt a new plan to issue additional tenders for natural gas exploration in maritime areas off the coast of Gaza, arguing that Israel has no legal authority to operate there. The organization states that roughly 1,000 square kilometers of the designated exploration zones fall inside the Palestinian exclusive economic zone, making the move an unlawful exploitation of resources belonging to the Palestinian people and a violation of their right to self?determination. Adalah emphasizes that international humanitarian law prohibits?an occupying?power from extracting resources for its own benefit.?
• On 3 June,??welcomed?the UN?Secretary?General’s?decision to place Israel on the UN blacklist for?conflict?related?sexual violence, calling it an important but?long?overdue?acknowledgment of abuses against Palestinian detainees, while stressing that it falls far short of real accountability.?It?details extensive evidence of torture, sexual assault, humiliation, enforced disappearance, medical neglect, and lethal detention conditions?–?violations it says have sharply escalated since October 2023.?The NGO?calls for independent international investigations, prosecutions at the International Criminal Court, and the imposition of effective sanctions to end what it describes as decades of impunity.
• On 31 May,??informed?that?a new Knesset bill to create a “Judea and Samaria Heritage Authority” would amount to the most?far?reaching?act of de facto annexation since 1967 by transferring control over all archaeology and antiquities in the?occupied?West Bank,?and potentially Gaza,?from the military-run Civil Administration to Israel’s civilian Ministry of Heritage. The proposed authority would have sweeping powers to excavate, manage, and expropriate land at archaeological sites across Areas A, B, and C, overriding the Oslo framework and undermining Palestinian?jurisdiction.
• On 28 May,??warned?that Israel’s talk of a “ceasefire” is an illusion masking the continuation of policies that amount to genocide, apartheid, and forced displacement of Palestinians, particularly in Gaza, where ongoing military operations, mass starvation, and systematic destruction of civilian life persist despite diplomatic language suggesting de-escalation.?The NGO?emphasizes that Israel’s action,?including blocking aid, targeting civilians, expanding settlements, and pursuing legal measures like special tribunals,?demonstrate?an intent to permanently fragment and depopulate Palestinian society.
• On?22?May,?the??condemned?Israel’s creation of a special military tribunal empowered to impose the death penalty on Palestinians, calling it an illegal, discriminatory, and openly punitive measure that violates international law and?facilitates?further atrocity crimes.?PHROC?says the tribunal’s structure, lowered evidentiary standards, political rhetoric surrounding its creation, and its placement under the Defense Minister’s authority all point to a system intended to produce predetermined outcomes and further entrench apartheid.?It calls on the international community to impose sanctions, enact?an arms?embargo, and support accountability mechanisms such as the ICC and ICJ.
• On 22 May,??urged?the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights?(CESCR)?to ensure that its forthcoming General Comment on the application of the ICESCR in armed conflict fully addresses how economic, social, and cultural rights apply under conditions of occupation, apartheid, and genocide, drawing on recent International Court of Justice advisory opinions that reaffirm these rights as integral to?self?determination?and to assessing the illegality of Israel’s policies in the occupied Palestinian territory.
• On 21 May,??issued?a?statement warning?that Israeli Finance Minister Smotrich’s threat to forcibly evacuate the Palestinian community of Khan al-Ahmar?demonstrates?Israel’s ongoing impunity and escalating violations of international law, including forced displacement, settlement expansion, apartheid, and potentially genocide. The organization stresses that such displacement has long been recognized as a war crime and may?indicate?genocidal intent, citing past ICC and ICJ findings. Al-Haq argues that the international community has failed to enforce its legal obligations despite clear guidance from the ICJ and UN resolutions, enabling continued collective punishment of Palestinians.
• On 16 May,?the??published its?2025 Annual Report. The latter?describes an unprecedented collapse of human rights conditions across the?OPT, detailing ongoing mass killing, destruction, starvation, and coercive living conditions in Gaza that it characterizes as part of a continuing genocide, alongside intensified Israeli military operations and settler violence in the?occupied?West Bank that it says amount to ethnic cleansing. The report documents?large?scale?raids, home demolitions, forced displacement, and widespread torture and sexual violence against detainees, including women and children. It also highlights sanctions imposed in 2025 on PCHR,?Al?Haq, and Al?Mezan?for their work with the International Criminal Court, arguing these measures aim to undermine accountability efforts even as ICC arrest warrants have been issued for senior Israeli officials.?

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Africa,?Asia?and Europe?

• On?3 June,?’s release?announced?that it has joined a coalition of Belgian human rights groups in filing a criminal complaint against FedEx Belgium for the unlawful transit of U.S.-origin arms,?specifically F?35?fighter?jet?components,?through Liège Airport to Israel, arguing the company violated Walloon licensing laws and contributed to weapons transfers used in?the Gaza war.?The NGO?stresses that international law?obligates?states and companies to prevent arms transfers where there is a clear risk of serious violations, citing the ICJ’s 2024 advisory opinion and the Arms Trade Treaty, and warns that Belgian authorities’ failure to enforce regulations enables a pattern of illegal shipments.
• On?1 June,?the??issued?a?story following?children in Masafer Yatta?in the?occupied?West Bank,?who try to carve out moments of joy despite living under constant threat of Israeli settler and military violence. It?describes?a small community kindergarten where teachers and parents work to give kids a sense of normalcy,?through play, songs, and celebration,?even as families face home demolitions,?roadblocks?and?school closures. NRC?underscores the urgent need for protection and humanitarian support as violence and restrictions continue to intensify.?
• On 20 May, the??informed?of its commemoration of?78 years since the Nakba, where hundreds gathered to denounce the ongoing displacement and violence faced by Palestinians and to affirm that the Nakba is not a past event but a continuing process. Speakers from Belgian civil society, Palestinian organizations, and solidarity groups condemned Israel’s current military assault on Gaza, settlement expansion, while?also criticizing European governments for complicity through arms sales.?

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North America?

• On 29 May, the??podcast episode?was?a conversation between Ahmed Moor and Omar Shakir about?DAWN’s new report on AIPAC, focusing on how the organization?operates?as a powerful political force through a “revolving door” with US?and Israeli government institutions. They discuss how AIPAC shapes U.S. policy, influences public discourse, and mobilizes vast financial resources to support candidates aligned with its agenda.
• On 27 May,??issued?a statement urging the UN Human Rights Council to?establish?a standing Commission of Inquiry to address both immediate violations and the root causes of recurring violence in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territory. It argues that decades of military occupation, systematic discrimination, land seizures, settlement expansion, and the confinement of Palestinians amount to apartheid and persecution, which HRW identifies as crimes against humanity. The organization stresses that without ending impunity, particularly the political shielding of Israeli authorities by powerful states, cycles of violence will continue. HRW calls on the Council to take a principled stand, confront structural abuse, and ensure accountability for violations by all parties.
• On 19 May,??issued the news release “Gaza: Israel Curbs Aid, Kills Civilians During Ceasefire,”?stating?that humanitarian infrastructure in Gaza remained in peril more than six months after the October 2025 ceasefire agreement. The organization linked aid access, medical?care?and civilian protection to the implementation of the Comprehensive Plan and forthcoming Security Council discussions.
• On 15 May,??reflected?on?The Voice of Hind Rajab, an?Oscar?nominated?documentary?drama?that forces viewers to confront the human reality of the war in Gaza through the final hours of 5?year?old Hind Rajab, who was trapped in a car surrounded by her dead relatives after Israeli fire.?Ultimately, it frames the documentary as a call to “walk with the excluded” and to act for justice, echoing Hind’s mother’s plea that her daughter’s voice?moves?the world to recognize that Gaza’s children have the right to live, grow, and dream like any others.?

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麻豆APP?

• On 4 June,?the Bureau of the?UN Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People?condemns Israel’s order to begin evicting the Palestinian community of Khan?al?Ahmar, warning that the move?constitutes?forcible transfer, a war crime under international law. The Bureau reiterates that the eviction and the broader E1 settlement plan entrench Israel’s illegal occupation, advance de facto annexation, and violate the territorial integrity and unity of the occupied Palestinian territory, as affirmed by the International Court of Justice. It denounces escalating settler violence and impunity, describing these actions as part of a deliberate policy aimed at?consolidating?domination and perpetuating the ongoing Nakba. The Committee urges Israel to halt all settlement activity and violence against Palestinians and calls on the international community to take concrete steps to ensure Israel’s compliance with its legal obligations.?
• On 1 June,??warned?that Israeli settler violence in the occupied West Bank has escalated to unprecedented levels, describing it as a form of?state?supported?terror that is forcibly displacing Palestinian communities and posing an “existential risk” to their continued presence on the land. The experts highlight cases like Umm?al?Kheir, now encircled by settlements and outposts and threatened with erasure, and note that new outposts since 2023 have consistently preceded forcible transfers. They?call on Israel to halt all support for settlements, ensure accountability, protect Palestinian communities, and allow displaced residents to return safely.?
• On 21 May,?the??briefed?the Security Council,?describing?the situation across the Occupied Palestinian Territory as increasingly precarious, citing settlement expansion, settler-related violence and incitement in the West Bank, as well as violence, humanitarian constraints and delayed implementation of Security Council resolution 2803?(2025)?in Gaza.?