What We’re Tracking
A forum for aggregating stories Jewish Currents staffers are tracking, with plenty of links to other publications so you can keep up with everything happening on our beats.
Mar
26
2024
- The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) voted 14-0 to pass a resolution calling for a ceasefire in Gaza during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, which began about two weeks ago; the resolution also demanded the release of hostages held by Palestinian militant groups. The US, which has vetoed every previous UNSC ceasefire resolution, instead abstained from voting on this one, allowing it to go through on Monday. “We did not agree with everything in the resolution, for that reason we were unfortunately not able to vote yes,” said Linda Thomas-Greenfield, the US ambassador to the UN. However, Thomas-Greenfield added that “we fully support some of the critical objectives in this nonbinding resolution, and we believe it was important for the Council to speak out and make clear that any ceasefire must come with the release of all hostages.” (Thomas-Greenfield’s claim that the resolution was “nonbinding” was likely intended to soften its impact, but the deputy UN spokesperson later clarified that UNSC resolutions are binding under international law.) In response to the US’s decision to abstain, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered the cancellation of Israeli officials’ planned visit to Washington, DC, to discuss Israel’s invasion of Rafah, the southern Gaza city where 1.4 million Palestinians are living in crowded and unsanitary conditions following Israel’s campaign to drive them from the northern part of the Strip.
- Israel told the UN it would no longer allow food convoys organized by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) into northern Gaza, according to Philippe Lazzarini, the head of UNRWA. Lazzarini said on Sunday that the move was an “outrageous” and “intentional” attempt to “obstruct lifesaving assistance during a man-made famine,” adding, “These restrictions must be lifted.” Israel’s decision comes a week after international food security experts released a report stating that famine is imminent for tens of thousands of people in northern Gaza.
- Video from an armed Israeli drone obtained by Al Jazeera last week shows the aircraft stalking four unarmed Palestinian men walking in the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis before blowing all of them up in an attack. The footage, which was taken in January, provides a glimpse into how the Israeli army is targeting noncombatants in what experts have called a genocide. In response to the leaked footage, the Israeli military said that it was opening a probe into the incident.
- On Friday, Israel announced the seizure of nearly four square miles of Palestinian land in the occupied West Bank, the largest single confiscation of territory since 1993. Israel declared the land—located in the Jordan Valley and near Jerusalem-area settlements—to be “state land,” which will allow Israel to build settlements there. Bezalel Smotrich, the far-right deputy defense minister who manages the expansion of settlements, said when announcing the move that “we are promoting settlement through hard work and in a strategic manner all over the country.”
- Last Tuesday, the Canadian foreign minister announced that her country would halt weapons exports to Israel. The move followed a non-binding vote calling for such a policy in the Canadian legislature. “Since January 8th, the government has not approved new arms export permits to Israel and this will continue until we can ensure full compliance with our export regime,” the minister said in a statement on Wednesday. Israel’s foreign minister slammed the decision, saying it would undermine “Israel’s right to self-defense against Hamas terrorists” and that “history will judge Canada’s current action harshly.” While Canadian arms exports to Israel are relatively small—last year, Canada delivered about $15 million worth of weapons to Israel, and in the two months after October 7th, it authorized at least $21 million in new permits for military exports to Israel—Israeli officials are worried the shift sets a precedent that other nations may follow.
