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.

The two most senior church leaders in the Holy Land on July 14 toured the Christian Palestinian town of Taybeh in the West Bank, which has been the scene of repeated attacks by Israeli settlers in recent weeks. In a joint statement, the Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem, Theophilos III, and Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, Pierbattista Pizzaballa, called the settler attacks a threat to Christian heritage, and demanded an investigation into the failure of Israeli authorities to respond to the ongoing assaults. Taybeh, the biblical Ephraim, has three churches—Greek Orthodox, Roman Catholic and Melkite—whose pastors have issued an joint appeal calling on Israeli authorities to prevent further settler violence. They charged that the violence—including arson attacks that have threatened the Byzantine-era Church of Al-Khader (St. George)—has often taken place in the presence of passive Israeli soldiers. The settlers have also damaged the olive groves that are Taybeh's primary source of income, and are preventing farmers from accessing and working their lands. (VaticanNews, ToI, Al Jazeera)

The Israeli government on May 29 announced the establishment of 22 new settlements in the illegally occupied West Bank—including the recognition and expansion of several already existing "wildcat" outposts, built without government permission. Defense Minister Israel Katz said that building the settlements was "a strategic move that prevents the establishment of a Palestinian state that would endanger Israel." The announcement comes amid expanding Israeli military operations and settler violence on the West Bank, and open calls from Israeli officials—including cabinet members such as Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich—to annex the territory. (TNH, ToI, Reuters)

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) held hearings this week on Israel's ban on cooperation with UNRWA, the UN's agency for Palestine refugees. It could take some time for a (non-binding) ruling on Israel's move to cut ties with UNRWA, and it has already been two months since Israel reinstated its full siege on Gaza, blocking the entry of aid and commercial goods while bombarding the territory. In a graphic illustration of the extent of the siege, organizers of a vessel carrying aid and activists to Gaza said it was bombed by Israeli drones, leaving the ship disabled off the coast of Malta.

Speaking at an International Conference on Combating Antisemitism held in Jerusalem last week, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned against "the fires of anti-Semitism" in Europe and blamed stateside campus protests against Israel's bombardment of Gaza on "a systemic alliance between the ultra-progressive left and radical Islam."

The ceasefire between Israel and the Lebanese political and militant group Hezbollah is on shaky ground following an Israeli air-strike on Beirut's southern suburbs March 28. It was the first strike on Lebanon's capital since a pause in hostilities came into effect on Nov. 27 last year. Israel—which has bombed southern Lebanon almost daily despite the ceasefire—said it was retaliating for a rocket attack into northern Israel. (TNH)

Israeli police raided two branches of a renowned bookshop in occupied East Jerusalem early this week, seizing books and arresting the owner and his nephew. Mahmoud and Ahmed Muna were accused of selling books that incite terrorism, and later charged with disturbing public order. The family-owned Educational Bookshop is a Jerusalem landmark and cultural hub, and publishers, academics, and rights groups came out to protest and support the Munas and their shop. The rights watchdog B'Tselem said in a statement that "the attempt to crush the Palestinian people includes the harassment and arrest of intellectuals… Israel must immediately release [Mahmoud and Ahmed Muna] from detention and stop persecuting Palestinian intellectuals." The Munas were held for two nights and released on five days' house arrest—but the family re-opened the shop even before that.

With UN aid agencies and humanitarian organizations warning of an "apocalyptic" scenario in North Gaza, the Biden administration faces a lawsuit charging complicity with genocide. The "pause" that the White House has imposed on some arms shipments to Israel by no means absolves the administration of moral (or legal) culpability. However, it may have had the effect of restraining Benjamin Netanyahu's maximalist plans to cleanse the Gaza Strip of Palestinians altogether. President Trump meanwhile recognized Israeli annexation of the Golan Heights, recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, and launched the "Abraham Accords"—predicated on betrayal of the Palestinians by the Arab leadership. His 2019 executive order officially embraced the propagandistic conflation of anti-Zionism and anti-Semitism, and he now calls for complete repression (including by the military) of Palestine solidarity protests. Jared Kushner, Trump's son-in-law who was his Middle East pointman, is now openly backing the cleansing of Gaza of all Palestinians, while his ultra-Zionist former ambassador to Israel, David Friedman, is an open advocate of Israeli annexation of the West Bank and destruction of al-Aqsa Mosque. As Trump accuses Biden of "holding back" Israel, it is clear that Netanyahu and his most hardline cabinet members like Itamar Ben-Gvir are openly rooting for him—as is the Israel Lobby in DC.