Statement on Rafah by Martin Griffiths, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator

There has been nothing limited about the suffering and misery that Israel's military operation in Rafah has brought to the people of Gaza.

As feared, it has been a tragedy beyond words. 

The ground incursion in Rafah has displaced more than 800,000 people, fleeing once again in fear for their lives and arriving in areas without adequate shelter, latrines and clean water. 

It has cut off the flow of aid into southern Gaza and crippled a humanitarian operation already stretched beyond its breaking point. 

It has halted food distributions in the south and slowed the supply of fuel for Gaza's lifelines – bakeries, hospitals and water wells – to a mere trickle. 

Though Israel dismissed the international community's appeals to spare Rafah, the global clamor for an immediate stop to this offensive has grown too loud to ignore. 

With today’s adoption of Security Council resolution 2730 calling for the protection of humanitarian workers and the International Court of Justice’s order to open the Rafah crossing to provide aid at scale and stop the military offensive there, this is a moment of clarity. 

It is a moment to demand respect for the rules of war to which all are bound: Civilians must be allowed to seek safety. Humanitarian relief must be facilitated without obstruction. Aid workers and UN staff must be able to carry out their jobs in safety. 

At a time when the people of Gaza are staring down famine; when hospitals are attacked and invaded; when aid organizations are blocked from reaching people in need; when civilians are under bombardment from north to south; it is more critical than ever to heed the calls made over the last seven months: 

Release the hostages. Agree a ceasefire. End this nightmare. 

Combatting Israel’s Water Apartheid

Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, June/July 2024, pp. 60-61

Waging Peace

“People know about land grabs, they know about demolitions,” said Jeff Halper, director of the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions, “but they know less about the water issue, including what’s called ‘the water grab.’”

Halper was speaking at a March 17 online film salon, “Israeli Apartheid in Action: Water Control,” organized by Voices From the Holy Land. The panelists explored how Israel uses water as a weapon of ethnic cleansing in the West Bank and “slow genocide” in Gaza.

As described in a 2023 report by panelist Eyal Hareuveni, researcher at the Israeli human rights organization B’Tselem, Israel maintains near-complete control over the region’s freshwater aquifers, severely restricting Palestinians’ ability to drill wells, install pumps, build water tanks, access piped water and even collect rainwater.

and later in the article, our own Nancy Murray, one of the panelists is quoted:

What can activists do to combat water apartheid? As models for local action, Nancy Murray, co-founder of the Alliance for Water Justice in Palestine, pointed to the work of the Alliance, which successfully interrupted a water partnership between Israel and Boston, and Milwaukee 4 Palestine, which is campaigning against a partnership between Israel and Milwaukee. Such partnerships give Israeli companies with technological expertise in areas such as wastewater treatment and storm water management access to U.S. markets. According to Murray, these local campaigns require a range of efforts, including demonstrations, lobbying members of the state legislature and the governor, and educating the public.

Murray noted that the water crisis in Palestine intersects with water justice issues in U.S. cities such as Jackson, MS, and Flint, MI, and in Mexico, where the Israeli company IDE Technologies plans to build a desalinization plant and pipe the water 200 miles north, through Native American lands, to Arizona. The North American contexts present opportunities to foster public discussion of water as a human right, as acknowledged by the United Nations in a 2010 resolution.

Read the article here.

Half of Gaza water sites damaged or destroyed, BBC satellite data reveals

Hundreds of Gaza's water and sanitation facilities have been damaged or destroyed since Israel began military action against Hamas, satellite analysis by BBC Verify has found.

Damage to a major supplies depot has also severely disrupted repairs.

The lack of clean water and flows of untreated sewage pose a serious threat to health, say aid agencies.

The Israel Defense Forces told the BBC that Hamas cynically exploits civilian infrastructure for terror purposes.

The destruction comes despite Israel's duty to protect critical infrastructure under the rules of war, unless there is evidence sites are being used for military reasons, say human rights lawyers.

Read the article & see the photos

More than 1,000 Stage Walkout at Harvard Commencement Ceremony

More than 1,000 people walked out of Harvard’s 373rd Commencement while chanting “Let them walk,” in reference to the 13 Harvard College seniors who were denied degrees after their participation in the pro-Palestine encampment in Harvard Yard.

As interim Harvard President Alan M. Garber ’76 began to confer degrees upon the 9,262 graduates, beginning with students receiving degree of Doctor of Philosophy from the FAS, hundreds of students rose from their seats and began to walk out, protesting the University’s response to the war in Gaza and sanctions on students who participated in the encampment.

As the protesters exited Harvard Yard, several Palestinian flags flew toward the back of the ceremony.

David C. Parkes, Dean of the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, continued to speak, raising his voice slightly over the chants of the protesters.

The administrators continue the conferral as usual, not acknowledging the chants, which continued for the duration of the ceremony.

Read the entire article from The Harvard Crimson.

Pro-Palestine Harvard graduates lead a walkout of the University's commencement ceremonies. By Jina H. Choe

A female student holds up a graduation cap with the message "End the Occupation" during Harvard's Commencement ceremonies Thursday. By Addison Y. Liu

A doxxing truck circles Harvard Yard on Commencement morning. Police officers outside Harvard Yard warned the truck drivers that the truck cannot park outside Johnston Gate. By Frank S. Zhou

THE ABOVE PHOTOS ARE FROM THE CRIMSON ARTICLE.