Gaza Strip
Israeli rights groups accuse Israel of genocide
Two of Israel's leading human rights organizations charged on July 27 that government practices and policies in the Gaza Strip amount to an ongoing genocide against the Palestinian people. B'Tselem and Physicians for Human Rights–Israel (PHRI) each published a report and jointly announced their findings. It marks the first time that any Israel-based rights group has labeled state actions as genocide. Both organizations invoked the "legal and moral duty" of Israel's Western allies to bring a halt to Israel's conduct.
Israel again intercepts Gaza-bound aid vessel
The Israeli military on July 27 intercepted a civilian vessel, detaining 21 international activists and journalists who were aiming to break Israel's naval blockade of Gaza. In a statement, the Freedom Flotilla Coalition, an international grassroots network of human rights and civil society organizations, declared that its vessel Handala was "violently intercepted" by Israeli forces, seizing all cargo, including essential food, medical supplies and baby formula.
UN condemns attack on Gaza Catholic church
UN Secretary-General António Guterres has strongly condemned a deadly Israeli artillery strike that damaged Gaza's historic Holy Family Catholic Church, calling the attack "unacceptable" and reiterating calls for an immediate ceasefire and the release of all hostages. The strike, which occurred on July 17, killed three civilians and injured several others, including parish priest Father Gabriel Romanelli, according to the Vatican.
EU in 'cruel and unlawful betrayal' of Gaza
At a meeting of European Union foreign ministers in Brussels July 15, the bloc opted not to take punitive action against Israel over widespread evidence of war crimes and atrocities committed in Gaza. For weeks, the EU had been discussing a range of potential actions, including: suspending its free trade agreement with Israel, an arms embargo, banning the import of products from Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, and ending visa-free travel for Israeli citizens. Instead of taking any of these measures—which advocates argue are necessary to avoid complicity in serious violations of international law—EU ministers pointed to an aid deal for Gaza struck on July 10 as justification for inaction. The details of that deal remain vague, and it has so far shown little on-the-ground impact. Amnesty International assailed the apparent quid pro quo as a "cruel and unlawful betrayal" of the Gazans.
Podcast: Orwell in Gaza
Amid starvation and horrifically escalating atrocities in Gaza, Israel announces plans to build a giant concentration camp on the ruins of Rafah, an evident preparation for forced "transfer" of the Palestinian population from the Strip entirely—an idea Trump enthusiastically embraces. On the West Bank, amid growing settler attacks, more Palestinian land is enclosed behind separation walls built to protect Israeli settlements. Amid all this, Benjamin Netanyahu (wanted for war crimes by the ICC) meets with Trump in Washington to openly discuss the "transfer" plan—and announces that he has nominated the American president for the Nobel Peace Prize. In Episode 286 of the CounterVortex podcast, Bill Weinberg argues that Trump could in fact get get the Nobel prize while facilitating genocide in Gaza and instating a mass detention state in the US—a fitting inauguration of the fascist world order.
UN warns of 'weaponized hunger' in Gaza
The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) announced June 24 that the recent killing of Palestinians trying to receive food from aid hubs may constitute a war crime, warning of a policy of "weaponized hunger" in the Gaza Strip. Jonathan Whittall, the head of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in Gaza and the West Bank, reported that more than 400 people have now died in the process of trying to reach food distribution points. "We see a chilling pattern of Israeli forces opening fire on crowds gathering to get food," Whittall said, adding that "Israel's militarized humanitarian assistance mechanism is in contradiction with international standards on aid distribution."
State Department imposes sanctions on ICC judges
The US Department of State imposed sanctions on June 5 on four individuals serving as judges on the International Criminal Court (ICC) for their involvement with the ICC's investigations into the US and Israel. The sanctions were imposed pursuant to Executive Order No. 14,203, "Imposing Sanctions on the International Criminal Court," which President Donald Trump signed on Feb. 6. The order was signed in response to the ICC's warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former defense minister Yoav Gallant. The stated purpose of the order was to underline the position that the US and Israel are not within the jurisdiction of the ICC under the Rome Statute, and therefore any investigation into the actions of the two countries is invalid.
Podcast: in defense of dissident minorities
Amid the massive war crimes committed by Russia in Ukraine and Israel in Gaza, there are dissident Russians and dissident Israelis who are courageously protesting, and resisting the consolidation of a pro-genocide consensus. Recent violent and deadly attacks on perceived Israeli or pro-Israel human targets in the US meanwhile point to the dangers of the notion of collective guilt. In Episode 281 of the CounterVortex podcast, Bill Weinberg urges that dissident minorities must not be dismissed as irrelevant, but encouraged and offered solidarity.

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