NGO Action News – 21 August 2025 

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 20 August, Gisha issued the update “The Claims Israel Makes vs. Reality”, stating how “baseless claims”, such as there is no hunger in the Gaza Strip, no blockage of humanitarian aid and that the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation can provide for the needs of the civilian population, were made by Israel to evade its responsibility for the famine unfolding in Gaza. 

• On 19 August, Al Mezan Centre for Human Rights issued the press release “On World Humanitarian Day: Dismantle Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, Restore UN-Led Humanitarian Aid System”. The NGO calls for immediate and concrete action, urging third States, UN bodies and others to pressure Israel to end the use of starvation as a weapon of war and cease all attacks on civilians, aid workers, and relief sites, and to dismantle the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation and return aid coordination and delivery to UN agencies, with restored and increased funding for UNRWA.

• On 19 August, the Palestinian Human Rights Organizations Council (PHROC) and the Palestinian NGO’s Network (PNGO) issued a joint statement “Palestinian Civil Society Call to Action: Stop the Genocide, End the Era of Impunity”. While the recognition of the State of Palestine by some Member States is a welcome step, they warned that it will not stop the mass killing, starvation and forced displacement in Gaza and that “Gaza has become the cemetery of international law.” The NGOs called for concrete actions, such as legislating to ban trade in goods and services with Israeli’s illegal settlements, to uphold obligations under the Genocide Convention and 2024 ICJ Advisory Opinion, and to enact targeted sanctions on Israel’s security cabinet and military leadership, corporations, institutions and non-profit entities found complicit in Israel’s breaches of international law. 

• On 18 August, Peace Now informed of the hearing on final approval to the E1 Plan by Israel’s Higher Planning Council of the Civil Administration to advance a total of 3,753 housing units in the occupied West Bank. Peace Now warned that by pushing this project forward, the Israeli government is sabotaging any possibility of a political solution and dragging both Israelis and Palestinians into an endless cycle of conflict. 

• On 18 August, the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) warned against the forcible transfer of around one million Palestinians to the already destroyed central and southern areas of the Gaza Strip, following the Israeli security cabinet’s approval of Prime Minister Netanyahu’s proposal to launch a full-scale military assault on the city. The NGO called on the international community to impose an immediate arms embargo and to pressure Israel to halt its planned offensive. 
• On 16 August, Al-Haq published a legal review outlining its examination of state practice as identified in legal written and oral interventions submitted to the ICJ during 2025 in response to the UN General Assembly request for an advisory opinion on the Obligations of Israel in relation to the Presence and Activities of the United Nations, Other International Organizations and Third States in and in relation to the Occupied Palestinian Territory.

Africa, Asia and Europe 

• On 14 August, the Palestinian Return Centre (PRC) held the online webinar “Who Profits from the Genocide?” discussing the dimensions of international – governmental and corporate – complicity in the war on Gaza. The discussion focused on the role of multinational corporations in facilitating the war and profiting from it, in violation of international laws and conventions. 

• On 14 August, the World Council of Churches (WCC) issued a statement following Israeli Finance Minister Smotrich’s announced plan to build some 3,400 homes in the E1 settlement project in the occupied West Bank. The NGO urged all responsible members of the international community to confront and reverse this destructive trajectory and urged all WCC member churches to scale up their advocacy and action for a just peace.

North America 

• On 20 August, Human Rights Watch issued the article “Despite Efforts to Shift the Blame, Israeli Policies are Starving Children”. The NGO highlighted the obligations of governments to press Israeli authorities to allow unimpeded, disability-inclusive humanitarian access and not leave children to suffer the consequences of intentional starvation. It called on them to use all their leverage with Israel, including an arms embargo and targeted sanctions, to stop the Israeli authorities’ mass starvation policy. 

• On 19 August, Churches for Middle East Peace issued a statement in solidarity with the Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem following the Israeli airstrike on Al Ahli Arab Hospital in Gaza City on 18 August. The NGO urgently called on all parties to ensure that hospitals remain safe, demilitarized sanctuaries for civilians. The continued targeting of medical facilities would erode the last spaces of refuge for Gaza’s population, compounding the humanitarian catastrophe and further endangering innocent lives. 

• On 15 August, Foundation for Middle East Peace (FMEP) held the podcast “No Way but Forward: Life in the Gaza Strip”. Former FMEP President Matt Duss spoke with professor and author Brian Barber, who had recently published “No Way But Forward: Life Stories of Three Families in the Gaza Strip”. The book tells the stories of day-to-day life under decades of military occupation, building on the close relationships built there through many years of academic research.

• On 14 August, J Street issued a press release following Israeli Finance Minister Smotrich’s announced approval of more than 3,000 housing units in E-1 settlement project in the occupied West Bank. The NGO stated that “E1 has always been understood for what it is: An extremist bid to split the West Bank in two, change facts on the ground and block the path to a Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital […].” It called on the international community and others to use their leverage to stop the plan before it drives Israelis and Palestinians further from peace. 

United Nations 

• On 15 August, the UN Human Rights Office in the Occupied Palestinian Territory called upon the Israeli military to immediately stop all attacks against Palestinians attempting to provide security to humanitarian and other supply convoys and their routes and to comply with its obligations under international law to facilitate and protect the delivery of humanitarian assistance and other necessities of life into and within Gaza. Such attacks have significantly contributed to spreading starvation of civilians in Gaza. 

• On 15 August, the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities concluded a public dialogue on the situation of persons with disabilities affected by war in the Occupied Palestinian Territory. Discussions focused on article 11 of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, which addresses situations of risk and humanitarian emergencies.