ZIONIST INVASION; NAKBA II
'Ours forever': would-be Israeli settlers march on GazaNir Am (Israel) (AFP) – Within sight of Gaza, the devastated Palestinian enclave ravaged by nearly 22 months of war, hundreds of Israeli settlers marched Wednesday to stake their claim to the battered territory.
Issued on: 30/07/2025 - FRANCE24
Israeli settlement activists gather on a hill overlooking war-devastated Gaza to stake their claim to the battered territory. © Menahem KAHANA / AFP
Waving Israeli flags alongside the orange banners of Gush Katif -- a bloc of settlements dismantled in 2005 -- the marchers went from the town of Sderot to the Asaf Siboni observation point, overlooking the ruins of Beit Hanun.
Israel's withdrawal from Gaza 20 years ago ended 38 years of military presence. About 8,000 settlers were evacuated and 21 communities demolished.
But a vocal fringe never gave up the dream of return -- and now, amid war with Hamas and with hardliners in government, some believe the time is ripe.
Veterans of Gush Katif have been joined by a new generation of would-be settlers ready to move in if the army gets out of their way.
"As a movement, 1,000 families -- you see them today marching -- we are ready to move now, as things stand, and to live in tents," said 79-year-old Daniella Weiss, a former mayor of the West Bank settlement of Kedumim.
"We are ready with our children to move into the Gaza area right away, because we believe this is the way to bring quiet, peace, to put an end to Hamas," she told AFP.
"It's only when we hold on to the soil, to the grains of sand, that the army will raise a white flag," she said.
Far-right groups joined the protest, marching toward the border chanting: "Gaza, ours forever!" Loudspeakers blared: "The way to defeat Hamas is to take back our land."
Waving Israeli flags alongside the orange banners of Gush Katif -- a bloc of settlements dismantled in 2005 -- the marchers went from the town of Sderot to the Asaf Siboni observation point, overlooking the ruins of Beit Hanun.
Israel's withdrawal from Gaza 20 years ago ended 38 years of military presence. About 8,000 settlers were evacuated and 21 communities demolished.
But a vocal fringe never gave up the dream of return -- and now, amid war with Hamas and with hardliners in government, some believe the time is ripe.
Veterans of Gush Katif have been joined by a new generation of would-be settlers ready to move in if the army gets out of their way.
"As a movement, 1,000 families -- you see them today marching -- we are ready to move now, as things stand, and to live in tents," said 79-year-old Daniella Weiss, a former mayor of the West Bank settlement of Kedumim.
"We are ready with our children to move into the Gaza area right away, because we believe this is the way to bring quiet, peace, to put an end to Hamas," she told AFP.
"It's only when we hold on to the soil, to the grains of sand, that the army will raise a white flag," she said.
Far-right groups joined the protest, marching toward the border chanting: "Gaza, ours forever!" Loudspeakers blared: "The way to defeat Hamas is to take back our land."
'God and the government'
Much of Gaza has been ruined by the Israeli offensive launched in response to the Hamas attacks of October 7, 2023, which left 1,200 dead and more than 250 taken hostage.
More than 60,000 Palestinians have been killed since, according to the Hamas-run territory's health ministry. International NGOs have accused Israel of forcibly displacing civilians and committing war crimes -- with some alleging genocide, a charge Israel fiercely rejects.
The official policy of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government is that the Gaza operation was launched to destroy Hamas and rescue Israeli hostages -- not to restore settlements.
But the would-be settlers say they have been in talks with hardline members of the ruling coalition and believe there may be a political opening, despite the fact that reoccupation is deemed illegal under international law.
They were further buoyed this week when Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, in a speech at the Gush Katif museum, declared: "It's closer than ever. It's a realistic work plan.
"We didn't sacrifice all this to transfer Gaza from one Arab to another Arab. Gaza is an inseparable part of the land of Israel.
"I don't want to go back to Gush Katif -- it's too small. It needs to be much bigger. Gaza today allows us to think a little bigger."
The marchers heard him.
"I have faith in God and in the government," said Sharon Emouna, 58, who came from her settlement in the occupied West Bank to support the Gaza return movement.
"I'm just here in support, to say that the land of Israel is promised to the Jewish people and it's our right to settle there," she said.
And if any Palestinians want to remain in Gaza, Emouna added, they would benefit from living alongside the settlers.
On Wednesday, however, it was Israeli soldiers who blocked the final short walk to Gaza, across a parched landscape of low brush scorched by the summer sun.
A continuous stream of families approached the border, close enough to glimpse the apocalyptic silhouette of smashed Palestinian homes left by the fighting -- and, perhaps, what they hope will become home again.
© 2025 AFP
Palestinian activist Owdeh Hathaleen killed by Israeli settler in West bank
Issued on: 30/07/2025 -
Owdeh Hathaleen, a 31-year‑old Palestinian activist, teacher, and filmmaker behind the Oscar-winning documentary No Other Land, was shot dead by an Israeli settler near the village of Umm al‑Khair in the South Hebron Hills. Witnesses say settler Yinon Levi, previously under EU and U.S. sanctions, opened fire during a confrontation sparked by land seizure and bulldozer activity. Hathaleen fell after being hit in the chest and later died in hospital.
Issued on: 30/07/2025 -
Owdeh Hathaleen, a 31-year‑old Palestinian activist, teacher, and filmmaker behind the Oscar-winning documentary No Other Land, was shot dead by an Israeli settler near the village of Umm al‑Khair in the South Hebron Hills. Witnesses say settler Yinon Levi, previously under EU and U.S. sanctions, opened fire during a confrontation sparked by land seizure and bulldozer activity. Hathaleen fell after being hit in the chest and later died in hospital.
'It's too late: We have not prevented this genocide, but pressure is building to stop it'
Issued on: 30/07/2025 - FRANCE24
When two human rights groups became the first major voices in Israel to accuse the state of committing genocide in Gaza, breaking a taboo in a country founded after the Holocaust, they were prepared for a backlash. B'Tselem and Physicians for Human Rights Israel released reports at a press conference in Jerusalem, saying Israel was carrying out "coordinated, deliberate action to destroy Palestinian society in the Gaza Strip". For in-depth analysis and a deeper perspective, FRANCE 24's Delano D'Souza welcomes Tirza Leibowitz, Deputy Director at Physicians for Human Rights Israel (PHRI) and Deputy Director at Open Society Foundations.
Video by: Delano D'SOUZA
Issued on: 30/07/2025 - FRANCE24
When two human rights groups became the first major voices in Israel to accuse the state of committing genocide in Gaza, breaking a taboo in a country founded after the Holocaust, they were prepared for a backlash. B'Tselem and Physicians for Human Rights Israel released reports at a press conference in Jerusalem, saying Israel was carrying out "coordinated, deliberate action to destroy Palestinian society in the Gaza Strip". For in-depth analysis and a deeper perspective, FRANCE 24's Delano D'Souza welcomes Tirza Leibowitz, Deputy Director at Physicians for Human Rights Israel (PHRI) and Deputy Director at Open Society Foundations.
Video by: Delano D'SOUZA
From skies over Gaza, Jordanian crew drops lifeline to civilians
Amman (AFP) – Aboard a Jordanian military plane, aid crates are parachuted into Gaza, where war and blockade have pushed more than two million Palestinians to the brink of famine.
Issued on: 30/07/2025 - FRANCE24
'Tragic'
This latest round of airdrops, authorised by Israel last week, is led by Jordan and the UAE.
The United Kingdom carried out its first drop on Tuesday, while France plans to deliver 40 tonnes of aid starting Friday.
Inside the aircraft, crew members whispered prayers as the packages were released.
Amman (AFP) – Aboard a Jordanian military plane, aid crates are parachuted into Gaza, where war and blockade have pushed more than two million Palestinians to the brink of famine.
Issued on: 30/07/2025 - FRANCE24
A Royal Jordanian Air Force C-130 Hercules military transport prepares to take off from King Abdullah II airbase with a consignment of aid to airdrop over Gaza.
© Ahmad SHOURA / AFP
The Jordanian Air Force C-130's crew of eight soldiers pushes pallets of food out of the rear hatch.
Parachutes unfurl, and the crates -- stamped with the Jordanian flag -- drift toward the devastated Gaza Strip, nearly 22 months into the war, an AFP journalist on board reported.
Journalists were only allowed to film the airdrop operation but not the vast swathes of destruction during the two-hour flight, which overflew Palestinian territory for just a few minutes.
The flight departed a base near Amman and was joined by a second plane from the United Arab Emirates.
Approaching Gaza by sea, the aircraft released aid packages containing sugar, pulses and baby milk.
Aid agencies, while grateful, stress that airdrops -- first launched in early 2024 -- are no substitute for overland access.
The Jordanian Air Force C-130's crew of eight soldiers pushes pallets of food out of the rear hatch.
Parachutes unfurl, and the crates -- stamped with the Jordanian flag -- drift toward the devastated Gaza Strip, nearly 22 months into the war, an AFP journalist on board reported.
Journalists were only allowed to film the airdrop operation but not the vast swathes of destruction during the two-hour flight, which overflew Palestinian territory for just a few minutes.
The flight departed a base near Amman and was joined by a second plane from the United Arab Emirates.
Approaching Gaza by sea, the aircraft released aid packages containing sugar, pulses and baby milk.
Aid agencies, while grateful, stress that airdrops -- first launched in early 2024 -- are no substitute for overland access.
'Tragic'
This latest round of airdrops, authorised by Israel last week, is led by Jordan and the UAE.
The United Kingdom carried out its first drop on Tuesday, while France plans to deliver 40 tonnes of aid starting Friday.
Inside the aircraft, crew members whispered prayers as the packages were released.
In this photo taken during a tour organised by the Jordanian military, airmen ready aid pallets to be dropped by parachute over Gaza. © Ahmad SHOURA / AFP
"There's a big difference between what we see of Gaza on television and what we see now, and what (Gaza) was like before," said the captain, peering down at the landscape from 2,000 feet (600 metres).
"It's a tragic and very sad scene -- entire neighborhoods are being razed."
The pilot, who asked not to be identified, said he could see people on the ground tracking the plane's path.
"It shows how bad their situation is," he said.
Israel imposed a total blockade on aid entering Gaza in March, before allowing very limited quantities in late May.
Jordan's King Abdullah II on Wednesday said the "humanitarian catastrophe" in Gaza was the worst in modern history, and said current levels of aid were far from sufficient.
- 'Humanitarian catastrophe'-
UN-backed experts warned Tuesday that a "worst-case scenario" famine was happening in Gaza that cannot be reversed unless humanitarian groups get immediate and unimpeded access.
The Rome-based Integrated Food Security Phase Classification Initiative (IPC) said airdrops over Gaza, announced by various countries in recent days, would not be enough to avert the "humanitarian catastrophe".
"The worst-case scenario of famine is now unfolding in the Gaza Strip," the IPC said in a statement.
The World Food Programme, UNICEF and the Food and Agriculture Organisation warned time was running out and that Gaza was "on the brink of a full-scale famine".
"We need to flood Gaza with large-scale food aid, immediately and without obstruction, and keep it flowing each and every day to prevent mass starvation," WFP executive director Cindy McCain said in a joint statement by the three UN agencies.
Facing intense international pressure, Israel announced on Sunday a daytime pause in hostilities in certain areas for humanitarian purposes.
© 2025 AFP
"There's a big difference between what we see of Gaza on television and what we see now, and what (Gaza) was like before," said the captain, peering down at the landscape from 2,000 feet (600 metres).
"It's a tragic and very sad scene -- entire neighborhoods are being razed."
The pilot, who asked not to be identified, said he could see people on the ground tracking the plane's path.
"It shows how bad their situation is," he said.
Israel imposed a total blockade on aid entering Gaza in March, before allowing very limited quantities in late May.
Jordan's King Abdullah II on Wednesday said the "humanitarian catastrophe" in Gaza was the worst in modern history, and said current levels of aid were far from sufficient.
- 'Humanitarian catastrophe'-
UN-backed experts warned Tuesday that a "worst-case scenario" famine was happening in Gaza that cannot be reversed unless humanitarian groups get immediate and unimpeded access.
The Rome-based Integrated Food Security Phase Classification Initiative (IPC) said airdrops over Gaza, announced by various countries in recent days, would not be enough to avert the "humanitarian catastrophe".
"The worst-case scenario of famine is now unfolding in the Gaza Strip," the IPC said in a statement.
The World Food Programme, UNICEF and the Food and Agriculture Organisation warned time was running out and that Gaza was "on the brink of a full-scale famine".
"We need to flood Gaza with large-scale food aid, immediately and without obstruction, and keep it flowing each and every day to prevent mass starvation," WFP executive director Cindy McCain said in a joint statement by the three UN agencies.
Facing intense international pressure, Israel announced on Sunday a daytime pause in hostilities in certain areas for humanitarian purposes.
© 2025 AFP
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