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palestine
'Every Atrocity Imaginable': Litany of Israeli War Crimes Continues
"Genocide, ecocide, mass infanticide, rape, sexual assault, torture, slavery, sniping children, bombing hospitals, executing aid workers," said one critic. "We are funding an endless nightmare and it should haunt us forever."
Mar 31, 2025
As Israel Defense Forces bombing continued to kill and maim large numbers of Palestinians across the Gaza Strip over the weekend and into Monday, the discovery of the bodies of medical workers who were apparently executed by their captors and the publication of several reports in which Israeli soldiers admit to torturing prisoners and using civilians as human shields have drawn renewed war crimes accusations and calls for accountability.
On Sunday, the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) said it had recovered the bodies of 15 Palestinian first responders from a mass grave, including eight Red Crescent workers and six Civil Defense personnel, who were killed by Israeli forces on March 23 while traveling "on duty" in five ambulances, a fire truck, and a United Nations vehicle in the al-Hashashin area of southern Gaza.
Jonathan Whittall, head of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in Gaza, said Sunday that the vehicles were picked off "one by one."
"Their bodies were gathered and buried in this mass grave," Whittall added. "We're digging them out with uniforms, with their gloves on. They were here to save lives. Instead, they ended up in a mass grave."
The IFRC condemns the killing of eight Palestine Red Crescent Society medics in Gaza. We are heartbroken. These dedicated humanitarians, killed while responding to the wounded, should have been protected. We mourn their loss and stand with the Palestine Red Crescent. Full statement: bit.ly/427LXxp
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— IFRC (@ifrc.org) March 30, 2025 at 11:47 AM
The Gaza Health Ministry said that "some of these bodies were bound and shot in the chest" before being "buried in a deep hole to prevent their identification."
Accusing Israel of a "heinous crime," the ministry called on U.N. agencies "and relevant international bodies to conduct an urgent investigation into these crimes and hold the occupation accountable for committing them."
An Israel Defense Forces (IDF) spokesperson said troops opened fire on the convoy because it was "advancing suspiciously" toward their position.
"Following an initial assessment, it was determined that the forces had eliminated a Hamas military operative, Mohammad Amin Ibrahim Shubaki, who took part in the October 7 massacre, along with eight other terrorists from Hamas and the Islamic Jihad," the spokesperson claimed.
Israeli officials routinely claim—often with little or no evidence—that Palestinian first responders, United Nations workers, journalists, and other civilians that it kills are members of Hamas or other militant resistance groups.
The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) said in a statement Sunday that it is "outraged" by the killings, which it called "the single most deadly attack on Red Cross Red Crescent workers anywhere in the world since 2017."
"After seven days of silence and having access denied to the area of Rafah where they were last seen, the bodies of ambulance officers Mostafa Khufaga, Saleh Muamer, and Ezzedine Shaath and first responder volunteers Mohammad Bahloul, Mohammed Al-Heila, Ashraf Abu Labda, Raed Al Sharif, and Rifatt Radwan were retrieved today," the statement noted. "Ambulance officer Assad Al-Nassasra is still missing."
Noting that at least 30 Red Crescent workers and volunteers have been killed by Israeli forces during the war, IFRC secretary general Jagan Chapagain said: "I am heartbroken. These dedicated ambulance workers were responding to wounded people. They were humanitarians. They wore emblems that should have protected them; their ambulances were clearly marked. They should have returned to their families; they did not."
"Even in the most complex conflict zones, there are rules," Chapagain stressed. "These rules of international humanitarian law could not be clearer—civilians must be protected; humanitarians must be protected. Health services must be protected."
"Our network is in mourning, but this is not enough," he added. "Instead of another call on all parties to protect and respect humanitarians and civilians, I pose a question: When will this stop? All parties must stop the killing, and all humanitarians must be protected."
Journalist Mohammad Alsaafin compared the killings to last year's IDF massacre of 6-year-old Hind Rajab, five of her relatives, and two PRCS medics who rushed to the site of the attack in a doomed bid to rescue the wounded child after she called for help.
On Sunday, the British newspaper The Independent published an investigation into alleged Israeli torture of Palestinians detained at facilities including Ofer Prison in the illegally occupied West Bank and the notorious Sde Teiman base in the Negev Desert.
The report begins:
Handcuffed and cowering on the floor of a cell in a military base in southern Israel, the Palestinian found himself surrounded by five soldiers. Armed with dogs, the five reservists allegedly kicked, punched, and stamped on the man as he lay on the ground. Continuing their assault, they are accused of attacking him with Taser guns and sharp objects, sexually abusing him with these instruments. At one point, the soldiers allegedly stabbed him so hard that they pierced his buttocks and anus. The brutal alleged assault left the man hospitalized with a punctured lung, cracked ribs, and a tear in his rectum needing surgery for a stoma. He had not been charged with any crime.
The Independent noted details regarding some of the dozens of Palestinian detainees who have died in Israeli custody. The IDF is currently conducting its own probe into the deaths of at least 36 Sde Teiman prisoners, including one who died after allegedly being sodomized with an electric baton.
"The fact that we see some signs of abuse means that this is probably the tip of the iceberg," said one Israeli physician who has overseen multiple autopsies on dead detainees.
In an anonymous testimony leaked to The Independent, one Sde Teiman guard described a prevailing attitude of "Yes, they need to be beaten, it must be done."
"We began looking for opportunities to do so," the soldier said, adding that when he spoke out against the beating of one detainee, he was told, "Shut up, you leftist, these are Gazans, these are terrorists, what's wrong with you?"
One former Sde Teiman detainee said that "every meter you moved, they beat you, they hit you, they insulted you; they used dogs, tear gas, and electric shock."
IDF troops and veterans who were posted at Sde Teiman have provided similar details about "Israel's Abu Ghraib," a reference to the U.S. torture prison outside Baghdad during the Iraq War. Israeli doctors and medics have described forced starvation and 24-hour shackling so severe that prisoners have had limbs amputated.
A number of Sde Teiman guards were arrested last year following the leak of a video allegedly showing them raping a Palestinian detainee. The arrests outraged far-right Israelis, a mob of whom stormed Sde Teiman in a failed bid to free the accused guards.
As The Independent noted, "Among those held in [Israeli] detention are many of Gaza's healthcare workers, including doctors, nurses, and paramedics." Some of these prisoners have died in custody, including the renowned surgeon Dr. Adnan al-Bursh, who may have been raped to death, according to Francesca Albanese, the U.N. special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territory occupied since 1967.
Earlier this month, an independent U.N. panel found that Israel has "systematically" used reproductive, sexual, and other forms of gender-based violence against Palestinian men, women, and children during the war.
The IDF has responded to these and other allegations by claiming it "operates in accordance with international law."
However, the International Criminal Court last year issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant—who ordered a "complete siege" of Gaza blamed for deadly starvation and disease there—for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity. Israel is also the subject of an ongoing International Court of Justice genocide case brought by South Africa.
Also on Sunday, Haaretz, Israel's oldest newspaper, published a piece by an anonymous Israel soldier who said that "in Gaza, almost every IDF platoon keeps a human shield."
"We operate a sub-army of slaves," the soldier said, describing how innocent Palestinians are used to check buildings for Hamas fighters or booby traps before IDF troops enter.
"I recently saw that the IDF's Military Police Criminal Investigation Division opened six investigations into the use of Palestinian civilians as human shields, and my jaw dropped," he wrote. "I've seen cover-ups before, but this is a new low."
Previous reporting has detailed the IDF's widespread use of Palestinian civilians—including children—as human shields in Gaza. The IDF even has a name for the practice—the "mosquito protocol." In one case, an 80-year-old man was used as a human shield before being shot dead by Israeli troops.
The IDF's thoroughly documented use of noncombatants as human shields stands in start contrast with mostly baseless claims of Hamas using Palestinian civilians in such a manner.
The new reports come as Israeli forces continued their assault on Gaza. Health and medical officials in Gaza said at least 41 Palestinians were killed in airstrikes throughout the strip on Monday, the second day of the Muslim holiday Eid al-Fitr. This followed the killing of at least 64 Palestinians across Gaza on Sunday.
Approximately 1,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since Israel resumed its assault on the embattled coastal enclave on March 18,
including hundreds of children. Israel's 542-day annihilation of Gaza has left more than 175,000 Palestinians dead, wounded, or missing since October 7, 2023, when Hamas led the deadliest-ever attack on Israel.
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65+ Progressive Groups Urge Senate to Reject Mike Huckabee as Israel Envoy
"Huckabee uses his Christianity to justify ethnic cleansing," said one protestor at Huckabee's confirmation hearing.
Mar 25, 2025
Dozens of progressive, faith, and human rights groups on Monday sent a letter to U.S. Senate leaders and the top lawmakers on the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee, urging them to oppose the nomination of former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee as ambassador to Israel, calling him "unfit" and citing his "extreme views supporting the Israeli government's genocide of Palestinians."
The letter was led by MPower Change Action Fund, the policy and advocacy arm of the Muslim organizing group MPower Change, and was released a day prior to Huckabee's confirmation hearing before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. The hearing on Tuesday was interrupted by protestors who had messages such as: "Huckabee uses his Christianity to justify ethnic cleansing." Huckabee is an evangelical Christian and longtime supporter of Israel who has pushed Christian Zionist views.
Huckabee, who has taken more than 100 trips to Israel since 1973, has "consistently engaged in inflammatory and discriminatory statements that demonize Palestinians and Muslims," according to the letter.
On the campaign trail in 2008, Huckabee told a rabbi in Massachusetts that "there's really no such thing as a Palestinian." During a trip to the West Bank in 2017, Huckabee said: "there is no such thing as a West Bank... There's no such thing as a settlement. They're communities, they're neighborhoods, they're cities. There's no such thing as an occupation."
The letter, which was from over 65 organizations including Jewish Voice for Peace Action, CodePink, and Hindus for Human Rights, argues that Huckabee's "Christian nationalist beliefs are also inherently a form of antisemitism, as it is predicated on the expulsion of Jews from the diaspora to the land of Palestine and the demonization of Palestinians and Muslims as enemies of God."
"At a time when the United States should strive to rebuild its credibility, appointing an individual with a history of extremist, apocalyptic, and hateful views to such a critical role would be a grave mistake," the letter states.
Israel's deadly campaign on the Gaza Strip that began in October 2023 has now killed over 50,000 people, according to local health officials. Last week, Israel resumed strikes following a cease-fire that last roughly two months after Israel refused to hold talks regarding a permanent end to the war.
At the confirmation hearing, Huckabee attempted to distance himself from his past statements about Palestinians, according to The Associated Press, and said he would "carry out the president's priorities, not mine."
The groups who sent the letter Monday are not alone in opposing Huckabee's nomination. Pro-Israel voices have also said he is not right for the role.
Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.), who is Jewish, said in a statement Monday that Huckabee is "woefully unfit" to serve as ambassador to Israel and a "vote for Huckabee is a vote to empower a Christian nationalist vision for American foreign policy."
Jeremy Ben-Ami, president of the pro-Israel group J Street, said in a statement Monday that Huckabee's views "would undermine American interests and the administration's own stated commitment to pursuit of long-term regional peace and security."
"Mr. Huckabee's embrace of annexation, extremist settlers, and fanatical Christian Zionism stands in stark contrast to the Jewish, democratic values held by the overwhelming majority of our community—and in stark contrast to Israel's founding values of justice, equality and peace," he also said.
This article was updated on March 26, 2025 to include that the letter was organized by MPower Change Action Fund.
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'This Is a Witch Hunt': Trump Admin Demands Colleges Provide Name and Nationality of Student Protesters
"There is no doubt that it can be used improperly," said one attorney.
Mar 25, 2025
Critics are raising grave civil liberties concerns after the Washington Postreported Tuesday that the Trump administration is seeking to collect the names and nationalities of "students who might have harassed Jewish students or faculty" as part of a U.S. Department of Education probe into alleged antisemitism on multiple college campuses.
In January, U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order with the purported aim of rooting out antisemitism at higher education institutions, and has vowed to target foreign-born students who have engaged in demonstrations against Israel's genocidal assault on Gaza, but which the president describes as "pro-jihadist" protests.
In January, U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order with the purported aim of rooting out antisemitism at higher education institutions, and has vowed to target foreign-born students who have engaged in "pro-jihadist" protests.
His administration has already moved to deport multiple students involved in pro-Palestine organizing, including former Columbia University graduate student and green-card holder Mahmoud Khalil. A South Korean-born junior at Columbia University sued the Trump and other high-level Trump administration officials after immigration agents tried to arrest and deport her, according to a complaint filed on Monday.
According toThe Post, attorneys with the Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights were instructed to collect students' names and nationalities in addition to information that is routinely gathered during a civil rights investigation, citing documents and three attorneys with direct knowledge of the situation who were quoted anonymously.
"My first thought was, 'This is a witch hunt,'" one attorney told the paper.
The schools under probe are Columbia University; Northwestern University; Portland State University; The University of California, Berkeley; and The University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, according to a statement from the Department of Education released on February 3.
Last week, Columbia agreed to a number of demands from the Trump administration as part of negotiations over $400 million in federal grants and contracts that the Trump administration had pulled due to the school's alleged "inaction in the face of persistent harassment of Jewish students."
When investigating whether a school erred when handling complaints of discrimination and harassment, the Office for Civil Rights isn't responsible for disciplining students who may have been behind harassment, so it does not usually collect student names or nationalities, per the Post.
Attorneys who spoke to the outlet said they "immediately wondered whether the list was meant as a tip sheet that the administration might use to target or deport foreign students who participated in protests."
"The request asked for a list of all students that the university notified of potential violations of the code of conduct or who were referred for suspension, suspended, expelled and/or referred to law enforcement for harassment of, or violence toward, students and faculty 'on the basis of their Jewish ancestry,'" according to the paper.
The request also asked for the students' "national origin/ethnicity/shared ancestry," per the Post. According to the outlet, it is not clear whether the five universities haver provided the students' names or information on their ethnicities.
"There is no doubt that it can be used improperly," a separate attorney told the Post.
In addition to the five schools named above, the Department of Education in early March sent letters to 60 universities "warning them of potential enforcement actions" if they do not take adequate steps to protect Jewish students.
Critics have argued that efforts to weaponize accusations of antisemitism against pro-Palestinian voices is part of a familiar playbook that aims to distract from serious war crimes and human rights abuses being carried out by the Israeli government against the Palestinian people.
Lawyer and historian Fernando Oliver characterized the effort by Trump's Education Department as a continuation of the president's "campaign to end free speech," adding: "This is what dictators do."
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