Media Digest #3 - The Situation in Occupied Palestine
Media Digest #3
The Situation in Occupied Palestine
[24 - 29 April 2025]
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Featured in this Digest:
- High-Level Meeting of Palestinian and UK Government Officials
- State of Palestine to UN Security Council: "We want peace"
- UN Chief: The world can’t afford to watch the two-State solution disappear
- Amnesty International: Israel is committing "a live-streamed genocide"
- ActionAid: Mass starvation in Gaza "a completely avoidable & entirely man-made crisis"
- "Help us deliver justice": Palestine at the ICJ Public Hearings
- UNRWA: “The Last Hope of the Palestinian People”
- Ending Israel's Genocidal Aggression on Gaza a National Priority
- Ministry of Education: Israel has killed 14,784 students in Gaza
- PLO Calls for International Probe into Israeli War Crimes in Gaza
- Husein Al Sheikh Appointed as Vice President of State of Palestine
High-Level Meeting of Palestinian and UK Government Officials
On 28 April, high-level talks were held between Palestinian and British government officials in London to address urgent regional developments, including the ongoing Israeli aggression and humanitarian crisis in Gaza and Israeli actions in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem. Key outcomes:
- Ceasefire & Humanitarian Access: Both sides called for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and unimpeded delivery of humanitarian aid, stressing full adherence to international humanitarian law.
- Two-State Solution: UK and Palestine reaffirmed mutual commitment to advancing a two-state solution and ending the Israeli occupation, with Britain reiterating its intention to recognize the State of Palestine.
- Condemnation of Settlements: The UK condemned Israeli settlement expansion and settler violence, calling for an immediate end to all colonial activities.
- Palestinian Governance & Unity: Both parties agreed to coordinate future efforts in Gaza, building on Palestinian, Egyptian, and wider Arab initiatives, and stressed the urgent need for Israel to release withheld Palestinian clearance revenues. The Palestinian government reaffirmed its commitment to implementing its reform and development agenda.
- Strategic Partnership: A Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) was signed to establish a strategic cooperation framework, institutionalize high-level dialogue, and reinforce mutual support for a two-state solution. It reaffirms the Palestinian Authority as the sole legitimate governing body of the occupied Palestinian territories, and seeks to enhance bilateral cooperation in areas such as trade, education, climate change, culture, and other fields of shared interest.
- UK Aid Commitment: The UK announced a £101 million aid package for 2025/2026, to support humanitarian relief, economic growth, governance reform, and capacity building in Palestine.
State of Palestine to UN Security Council: "We want peace"
On 29 April, H.E. Ambassador Riyad Mansour, Permanent Observer of the State of Palestine to the UN, addressed the UN Security Council at a ministerial-level meeting:
- Israel’s ongoing punitive siege of Gaza is deliberately depriving of an entire civilian population of all essentials for life, while Israeli authorities are openly advancing plans for forcible displacement and annexation.
- Palestinian leadership remains committed to non-violence, the two-State solution, rule of international law, implementing reform, and peaceful coexistence.
- Israeli leadership, in contrast, is committed to violence, the destruction of the two-State solution, impunity for its crimes, rejecting reform, and the false belief "that the existence of one people requires the destruction of another."Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu has reaffirmed this once again with his delusional insistence that the two-State solution means the destruction of Israel.
- Viable pathways to just and lasting peace do exist, and are being actively pursued by international partners "determined to uphold international law, to end this most painful and historic injustice." The June International Peace Conference offers a critical opportunity in this regard.
All states are urged to:
- Uphold international law;
- Recognize the State of Palestine without delay, "as a clear signal that they will not tolerate its destruction and the destruction of the two-State solution."
- Take measures against settlement, annexation, and forced displacement, and to end Israel's unlawful occupation
- Support the Palestinian government and support UNRWA.
UN Chief: The world can’t afford to watch the two-State solution disappear
UN Secretary-General Guterres addressed the Security Council at a ministerial-level meeting on 29 April, warning that “the promise of a two-State solution is at risk of dwindling to the point of disappearance.”
- He stressed that Member States must “go beyond declarations" and take “irreversible action” towards implementing a two-State solution.
- The UN Chief also highlighted the upcoming high-level conference in June, co-chaired by France and Saudi Arabia, as an important opportunity to revitalize international support.
“The Palestinian Authority needs stepped-up and sustained support – politically and financially. This is crucial to ensure the continued viability of Palestinian institutions, consolidate ongoing reforms, and enable the PA to resume its full responsibilities in Gaza.” – UNSG António Guterres
Amnesty International: Israel is committing "a live-streamed genocide"
In its annual report, Amnesty International affirmed that Israel has committed acts prohibited under the Genocide Convention “with the specific intent to destroy Palestinians in Gaza” including by causing “some of the highest known death tolls among children, journalists, and health and humanitarian workers of any recent conflict in the world,” and “deliberately inflicting on Palestinians conditions calculated to bring about their physical destruction.”
“States watched on as if powerless, as Israel killed thousands upon thousands of Palestinians, wiping out entire multigenerational families, destroying homes, livelihoods, hospitals and schools.”
Having long warned of “double standards undermining the rules-based order” Amnesty called on all governments to support international justice mechanisms such as the International Criminal Court (ICC), enforce ICC warrants, and stop all arms transfers to Israel.
ActionAid: Mass starvation in Gaza "a completely avoidable and entirely man-made crisis"
More than 50 days after Israeli authorities shut all border crossings into Gaza to prevent any food, medicines, and other life-saving humanitarian aid from entering, ActionAid staff report skyrocketing prices for the few food items that are left to buy: "Let us be clear: this is a starvation campaign and amounts to collective punishment of the population in Gaza."
ActionAid and partners emphasise that the most vulnerable in Gaza – women, children, the elderly, and people with disabilities – are suffering the most.
“We are calling on the international community - on every government, every humanitarian actor, and every person who still believes in human rights - to act. […] Words are not enough.”
"Help us deliver justice": Palestine at the ICJ Public Hearings
On 28 April, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) began public hearings with the purpose of establishing an advisory opinion clarifying Israel’s obligations as the occupying power in Gaza and the wider occupied Palestinian territories.
Oral arguments by representatives of the Government of the State of Palestine presented evidence of Israel’s violations and the destructive consequences on the Palestinian people, their fundamental rights, and their continued existence.
“This legal and moral crisis is not merely 18 months old. Israel has been systemically dispossessing, uprooting, slaughtering, and imprisoning Palestinians in absolute, flagrant disregard for international law and the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people for nearly 80 years. It has done so with the intent to destroy our people and to thwart their realization of self-determination in their homeland.” – Palestinian Ambassador Ammar Hijazi
The representative of the UN Secretary-General confirmed that Israel has obligations as an occupying power, including ensuring the safety of medical workers and facilitating the work of humanitarian organizations to safeguard civilian lives.
UNRWA: “The Last Hope of the Palestinian People”
Also highlighted in the International Court of Justice (ICJ) public hearings were Israel’s obligations towards UNRWA.
Representatives of the State of Palestine clarified that Israel’s efforts to undermine and destroy UNRWA serve short-term and long-term objectives:
- In the short-term: “Quite simply, UNRWA is the last hope that the Palestinian people, particularly in the Gaza Strip, have of surviving Israel’s genocide.”
- In the long-term: the purpose rests in Israel’s complete denial of the existence of the Palestinian people, and in particular the status, rights and claims of millions of Palestine refugees to return, to restitution and to compensation: “The prime minister of Israel has openly admitted as much on multiple occasions, including - it must be stressed - years before 7 October 2023.”
UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini welcomed the ongoing ICJ hearings and stressed that “unlawful restrictions on the work of UNRWA and other organisations hamper the delivery of assistance to people in need.”
Ending Israel's Genocidal Aggression on Gaza a National Priority
The Palestinian Central Council (PCC)/PLO affirmed that ending the Israeli genocidal aggression on the Gaza Strip is the foremost national priorities of the Palestinian struggle.
The Council stated that the national Palestinian priorities also include:
- Securing the withdrawal of Israeli occupation forces from the Gaza Strip,
- Opening the crossings and guaranteeing unimpeded access to and provision and distribution throughout Gaza of humanitarian aid.
- Halting the Israeli aggression and settler-colonialism in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem,
- Rejecting any and all attempts to forcibly displace Palestinians or annex Palestinian territories, and
- Restoring a political horizon to end the Israeli occupation that began in 1967 based on international law and legitimacy.
The Council further stressed:
- The unification of all occupied Palestinian territories (i.e. the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem) under a single political, administrative, and legal system in a unified State of Palestine.
- The need to adhere to the political program and international commitments of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) as the sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people.
- The Palestinian people will continue to resist the Israeli occupation until they recover their inalienable rights.
Ministry of Education: Israel has killed 14,784 students in Gaza
In a statement, the Palestinian Ministry of Education and Higher Education reported the enormous toll on students, teachers, and education since the onset of Israel's genocidal aggression against the Gaza Strip in October 2023.
In the Gaza Strip, Israeli occupation forces (IOF) have:
- Killed > 14,649 students
- Injured > 23,936 students
- Prevented ~ 788,000 students from attending their schools and universities
In the West Bank during the same period, IOF have:
- Killed 135 students
- Injured 830 students
- Arrested and detained 724 students and at least 193 educational staff
- Raided and vandalized 146 schools and 8 universities
PLO Calls for International Probe into Israeli War Crimes in Gaza
In a statement, the Department of Human Rights and Civil Society of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) called for the formation of an independent international commission of inquiry to document the crimes committed by the Israeli occupation forces in the Gaza Strip and bring the perpetrators to justice before the International Criminal Court. The Department further called for:
- Accountability for countries that support the Israeli occupation and its crimes.
- Backing legal and humanitarian efforts aimed at prosecuting and bringing occupation leaders to justice for their crimes.
- Free people around the world to take urgent mass organized action to break the silence, expose moral complicity with Israeli crimes, and advocate for the rights and dignity of the Palestinian people.
Husein Al Sheikh Appointed as Vice President of State of Palestine
On 26 April, the nomination of Hussein Al-Sheikh as Deputy Chairman of the Executive Committee of the PLO and Vice President of the State of Palestine was officially approved.
In the same meeting, President Abbas also reaffirmed the Palestinian government's commitment to launching a comprehensive national dialogue, led by a joint committee from the PLO Executive Committee and Fatah's Central Committee, engaging all Palestinian factions to achieve reconciliation and reinforce national unity.
Further Reading & Links
- Situation Report #34 [29 April] Weekly Situation Report issued by the Government Communication Center
- PLO [2024] Annual Report on Annexation Policies in the Occupied Palestinian Territory
- PLO [March 2025] Monthly Report on Israel’s Aggression Against Occupied Palestine
- WAFA News [29 April] Israel's Netanyahu appears before court for 27th time in his corruption trial
- ICRC [29 April] The International Committee of the Red Cross stressed the need to provide adequate, safe, and timely health care in the West Bank, as humanitarian needs increase.
- Gaza Governorate Chamber of Commerce and Industry [27 April] Gaza's economic system has collapsed; prices soar by 527%
- UN News [26 April] "The coming days in Gaza are going to be critical."
- UNRWA [25 April] Half a million newly displaced in Gaza due to Israeli 'evacuation' orders; remaining areas are "fragmented, unsafe, and barely livable."
- ICC [24 April] Appeals Chamber of the International Criminal Court (ICC) rejects Israel's request to suspend arrest warrants issued against Israeli officials
- Report [23 April] Horrific testimonies from Gaza detainees in the "Negev Prison and "Ofer Camp."