NGO Action News 13 March 2025

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This newsletter informs about recent and upcoming activities of Civil Society Organizations working on the question of Palestine. The Committee and the Division for Palestinian Rights of the UN Secretariat provide the information “as is” without warranty of any kind, and do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, or reliability of the information contained in the websites linked in the newsletter.

Middle East

• On 12 March, Physicians for Human Rights published the “Annual Impact Report 2024 –
  A Year of Struggle for Survival and Hope”. The NGO stated that the year 2024 was marked by unprecedented suffering and destruction in Gaza. The healthcare system, already fragile after years of blockade and occupation, has been rendered almost completely dysfunctional. In addition, medical facilities and professionals were targeted, while essential medicines were unavailable throughout the year, and critical services have been severely disrupted.
• On 11 March, 7amleh published its annual report “Racism and Incitement Index 2024: Unprecedented Surge in Hate Speech Against Palestinians on Digital Platforms”, revealing an alarming increase in digital hate speech and incitement against Palestinians, particularly on X and Facebook. The report highlights a strong correlation between the rise in hate speech and political and military developments, especially during what it considers to be a genocide targeting Palestinian people in Gaza. The NGO called for urgent measures by social media platforms, the international community, and policymakers to curb the rise of hate speech against Palestinians.
• On 11 March, Al-Haq published the report “Ensuring Genocide – The Insurance Industry and Israel’s War Machine”. The NGO argued that major insurers underwrite and invest millions of dollars in companies selling military equipment to Israel, enabling what it considers to be a genocide in Gaza, and sustaining a violent ethnic cleansing and colonisation of Palestine.
• On 10 March, B’Tselem published an article warning that the Israeli government had ramped up its oppression of Palestinians in the occupied West Bank following the ceasefire agreement in Gaza. The NGO stated that Israeli forces adopted more extreme measures, including arbitrary violence against innocent civilians, further loosening of the permissive open-fire policy, severe movement restrictions and disruption of daily life, blanket cancellation of permits to enter Israel, limitations on access to farmland, and mass arrests. Along with the intensified oppression, Israel had begun replicating in the northern West Bank the kind of tactics and combat doctrines used during its war on Gaza. This includes increased use of airstrikes in civilian population centers, widespread and deliberate destruction of homes and civilian infrastructure, and displacement of civilians from areas designated by the military as combat zones.
• On 8 March, the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights marked International Women’s Day by drawing attention to the situation faced by Palestinian women. The NGO stated that women in Gaza bore the consequences of the crime of genocide, including the loss of their loved ones, severe injuries, lack of shelter, destruction of livelihoods, collapse of the healthcare system, starvation policy and the absence of bare necessities for a decent life.
• On 6 March, the Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies published an article on the emergency Arab Summit held on 4 March in Cairo, and the announcement of the adoption of a reconstruction plan for the Gaza Strip introduced by Egypt. The NGO highlighted that the Arab Summit’s concluding statement called for an end to Israel’s aggression in the occupied West Bank and its blockage of aid into Gaza. The NGO underscored that this position must be translated into action with sustained pressure to immediately end Israeli attacks and guarantee the unimpeded entry of humanitarian aid.

Africa, Asia and Europe

• On 12 March, the Palestinian Return Centre participated in the interactive dialogue with the UN Special Rapporteur on the right to adequate housing during the 58th session of the UN Human Rights Council, highlighting the catastrophic housing crisis in Gaza. The NGO emphasised that more than 1.8 million people are in need of emergency shelter and household essentials, as over 90% of Gaza’s homes have been destroyed by the Israeli bombardment. On 9 March, the NGO published an article on its oral statement delivered during the same session, under agenda item 2, addressing the human rights situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem. The NGO underscored the alarming rise in Israeli human rights violations in the occupied West Bank, including collective punishment, gender-based violence, arbitrary detention, torture and ill-treatment.
• On 10 March, Amnesty International published an article in response to Israel cutting off the electricity supply to a desalination plant for drinking water in Gaza a week after it blocked the entry of vital humanitarian aid to the Strip. The NGO considered that this decision was a clear indication that Israel was continuing its policy of deliberately imposing on Palestinians in Gaza conditions of life calculated to bring about their physical destruction – an act prohibited under the Genocide Convention. The Australia Palestine Advocacy Network published an article on this topic as well, condemning Israel’s cutting of electricity to Gaza as an act of collective punishment, and describing it as an escalation of Israel’s ongoing genocide against the Palestinian people.

North America

• On 19-20 March, Churches for Middle East Peace will organise its annual Advocacy Summit in Washington, D.C. The event will include remarks from several expert speakers, updates from staff and advocacy training, as well as meetings with the offices of US senators and representatives.
• On 19 March, The Jerusalem Fund and the Institute for Palestine Studies-USA will organize a discussion with Brian Barber, author of the book “No Way But Forward: Life Stories of Three Families in the Gaza Strip”, in conversation with Said Arikat, a Palestinian journalist.
• On 7 March, the Foundation for Middle East Peace (FMEP) published the webinar “Ceasefire Possibilities, Political Dynamics, Regional Aspirations, and the Trump Administration”. Peter Beinart, FMEP Fellow, spoke with analyst Mouin Rabbani about the current state of affairs, including the potential for Gaza ceasefire negotiations, Palestinian political dynamics and possibilities, and the Trump administration’s policymaking.

United Nations

• On 13 March, the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and Israel submitted a conference room paper to the Human Rights Council on the systematic use of sexual, reproductive and other gender-based violence by the Israeli Security Forces since 7 October 2023. In the paper, the Commission examined Israel’s widespread destruction of Gaza and the disproportionate violence against women and children resulting from Israel’s methods of war, including the targeting of residential buildings and the indiscriminate use of heavy explosives in densely populated areas. It described the destruction of Palestinians through reproductive violence and harm resulting from the Israeli Security Forces’ deliberate attacks on sexual and reproductive health care facilities and the collapsed health care infrastructure in Gaza.
• On 10 March, Deputy Special Coordinator, Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, Muhannad Hadi, issued a statement on the halt to the entry of humanitarian supplies into Gaza. Mr. Hadi stressed that humanitarian aid in Gaza was a lifeline for over two million Palestinians who have endured unimaginable conditions for many months, and called for the entry of lifesaving aid to resume immediately. UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini issued a statement on this issue as well.