Frederik Vossenaar

Gaza is the most well-documented genocide in history, yet the most denied.

One of the most brutal scenes in human history has been leaked. Here, in this land that is unfit for human life, among the rubble and ruins of homes, hundreds of thousands of people holding Palestinian nationality live without any of the basic necessities of life. Even beasts could not survive here. A video the world must never forget.

This is not a scene from a movie. These are our homes in Gaza, being destroyed live on camera. Criminals usually try to conceal their crimes. But here in Gaza, the crime itself has become “content.” The destruction of civilians’ homes and the devastation of their lives have become moments of entertainment, filmed and shared for the world to see. A video that the world must never forget.

Nu #Netanyahu verwoesting van Palestijns leven aankondigt op de Westoever, moeten westerse regeringen in actie komen. Mijn stuk in de Volkskrant. volkskrant.nl/columns-opinie…

B’Tselem urgently calls on governments and international institutions to act now, using all means available under international law, to prevent the forcible displacement of Palestinian civilians, collective punishment and extensive unlawful destruction in Hebron. Israeli leaders are openly declaring their intentions, and actions on the ground have already begun. Following the shooting near Hebron on 23 October, in which two Israeli soldiers were killed, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz openly announced plans to forcibly displace Palestinian residents and carry out extensive destruction in the area. In a statement, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared: “We will apply in the cities the successful offensive model we implemented in the refugee camps.” That same model has already displaced more than 33,000 Palestinians in the northern West Bank. Now, Israeli leaders are threatening to bring the same mass displacement and destruction to Hebron. Implementation has already begun. Israeli forces imposed a cordon on Hebron and Halhul, while the Civil Administration began demolishing Palestinian structures in the neighborhood of Farsh al-Hawa. At the same time, Minister Bezalel Smotrich announced the establishment of four new settlement farming outposts in the South Hebron Hills. Israeli leaders are openly announcing plans for collective punishment and acts that could constitute war crimes. These plans echo Israel’s devastating operations as part of the genocide in Gaza and mark a further escalation of its ongoing campaign of ethnic cleansing as part of the Elimination Project in the West Bank: the systematic dismantling of Palestinian collective life while expanding settlements and entrenching permanent Israeli control. The world cannot stand by as Israel continues its assault on Palestinians, waiting for yet more neighborhoods to be emptied and erased before intervening, despite what we have already witnessed in Gaza and the northern West Bank. Governments and international bodies must act now to prevent these crimes and protect Palestinian civilians.

Israeli forces have detained more than 2,000 Palestinian children since October 2023, the Palestinian Prisoner’s Society said, with at least 350 Palestinian children currently facing “harsh conditions” in Israeli prisons. 🔗: aje.news/1nybp0

The New York Times article My UN Commission’s Findings: Israel is Committing genocide By Navi Pillay In 1995 President Nelson Mandela of South Africa asked me to serve as a judge on the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda. The judicial panel over which I presided convicted three Rwandans of genocide. So I understand the word “genocide,” and it is not one I use lightly. It is the deliberate attempt to destroy, in whole or in part, a people. It represents the most serious violation of our shared humanity and the gravest breach of international law. Today the United Nations commission that I lead is publishing its legal analysis of Israel’s conduct in the Gaza Strip. Our conclusion is stark: Israel has committed genocide against Palestinians in Gaza. This finding is based on investigations and extensive evidence into the period between Oct. 7, 2023, when the war began, and July 31, 2025. It has been corroborated by multiple sources and assessed through the rigorous legal framework of the U.N. Genocide Convention of 1948, to which Israel is a party. My organization, the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, was established by the United Nations’ Human Rights Council in 2021. It is overseen by appointed experts who are supported by staff from the U.N. secretariat. The Commission reports its findings to the Human Rights Council and General Assembly. The scale of destruction is devastating. More than 64,000 Palestinians have been killed, including over 18,000 children and nearly 10,000 women, according to Gazan health officials. Estimated life expectancy in Gaza has collapsed from 75 years to just over 40 in a single year, one of the steepest declines recorded. Hospitals, schools, churches, mosques and entire neighborhoods have been destroyed. Our analysis found that starvation has been used as a weapon of war and that the medical system has been deliberately destroyed. Maternal health care has been severely undermined. Children have been starved, shot and buried under rubble. According to UNICEF, one child has died every hour in Gaza. These are not the accidents of war. They are acts calculated to bring about the destruction of a people. Establishing genocide requires not only the act but also the intent. Here, too, the evidence is clear. Senior Israeli leaders, including the president, the prime minister and the former defense minister, have dehumanized Palestinians. Yoav Gallant, the defense minister at the time of the Oct. 7 attacks, said, “We are fighting human animals,” while President Isaac Herzog proclaimed that the entire Palestinian nation was responsible. Their words have been matched by deeds: indiscriminate bombardment making Gaza uninhabitable, the blocking of humanitarian aid, sexual and gender-based violence and a siege we concluded was designed to starve the population to death. Together these constitute a pattern that demonstrates genocidal intent. The commission also found that Palestinians have been killed while seeking food at distribution sites run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, the Israel and U.S.-backed entity that largely replaced the existing aid network. Hundreds, including children, have been shot while trying to access aid. Some argue that the term “genocide” is too grave to apply while Israel’s war continues. But the law is explicit: The obligation to prevent genocide arises the moment a serious risk is evident. That threshold was crossed long ago in this war. In January 2024 the International Court of Justice put all states on notice that there was a serious risk that genocide was being committed in Gaza. Since then, the evidence has only deepened, and the killing has multiplied. What does this mean for the international community? It means its obligations are not optional. Every state has an obligation to prevent genocide wherever it occurs. …

Thousands are held in Israeli torture camps. This is what happens inside haaretz.com/israel-news/isra…

In occupied East Jerusalem and across the West Bank, Israeli forces and settlers are escalating home demolitions, raids and land pressure, with Palestinian olive farmers near Nablus and Ramallah attacked and intimidated during harvest. Al Jazeera’s Nida Ibrahim reports.

Israeli occupation forces kidnap and abuse Palestinian farmers in Nablus, the occupied West Bank

Israeli settlers, under the protection of the Israeli army, have attacked olive pickers, burned olive trees and detained dozens of people in the occupied West Bank. 🔗: aje.news/oage1a

Today Israeli terrorist settlers have set fire to hundreds of olive trees in Deir Sharaf, west of Nablus in the West Bank.

Since 2023, over 6,500 Palestinians have been displaced due to settler attacks and access restrictions in the #WestBank, with 49 communities fully displaced. On top of casualties and other destruction, 88,000 trees and saplings have been damaged. Full map: ochaopt.org/content/west-ban…

This endless destruction is why Netanyahu does not allow journalists into Gaza. If he actually believed that Israeli had shown great restraint and that public perceptions were mistaken, we'd all be invited in with cameras. But Bibi doesn't want the devastation documented or the survivors interviewed.

*Uprooting trees to uproot the people* Weeks before the olive harvest, Israel orders uprooting Palestinian olive trees across the occupied West Bank. Thousands have already been destroyed since October 2023. Environment destruction is part of the accelerated ethnic cleansing.