The ceasefire is of course good news, and we hope it will hold out for as long as possible. But it's only a matter of time until the next round of fighting; a question of when, not if. Because as long as we continue holding Palestinians under occupation, violence is inevitable.
We may no longer be dropping bombs on Gaza from the sky—for the time being—but today, like every day for years now, we control who enters/leaves the Strip, imports/exports, airspace & sea access. Gaza is still under our control not only during the operations but between them too.
Israel sees operations in Gaza as a necessary evil—having to periodically "mow the lawn" to keep the 2million people there under control. And every time, the red lines we crossed in the previous operation become the starting point of the next one. An endless spiral of violence.
None of this absolves Hamas of responsibility for attacking civilians. But as an Israeli org & as former soldiers who perpetuated the occupation, we have a responsibility to speak out against it before the next time soldiers are sent to kill and be killed to uphold this reality.
There's a lot to say about Gaza, but the events of the last few days took place in Israel too. Horrific violence between Israeli Jews & Palestinians erupted on the streets, much of it due to the active encouragement & flame-fanning of Kahanist (Jewish Supremacist) politicians.
There were even calls for the military to be brought into Israeli towns, after settlers & Kahanists played a vital role in shaking up the fragile coexistence. Their model: Hebron in the West Bank, where they've largely succeeded in making segregation the norm in the city center.
The international community has shown great interest, solidarity and involvement over the last ten days. Now is the time to take that message one step further and demand that the occupation — of the Gaza Strip and the West Bank — is brought to a full stop.
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Friday morning, a mob of settlers descends on the small village of Jinba in Masafer Yatta, injuring 5 Palestinians, including a 15-year-old boy and a 64-year-old man. The IDF quickly responded - arresting over 20 Palestinians.
From there, it got worse 🧵
Early Saturday morning, over 140 Israelis, soldiers and settlers alike, raided Jinba. They broke TVs, refrigerators, and toilets, ripped out faucets, and dumped large amounts of food onto the ground, preventing them from eating before the day’s fast.
The IDF excuse? “Looking for weapons.” No mention of finding any. And it doesn’t seem to matter. The residents have for years been suffering from IDF raids. In 2012, soldiers turned Jinba “upside down” while failing to find an alleged headquarters for smuggling “infiltrators.”
The assault on Oscar winner Hamdan Ballal this week was horrifying, but it wasn’t a rarity. Similar assaults have become routine in Masafer Yatta. There have been at least 11 serious assaults by settlers on just the small village of Susiya in 2025 alone (!)
Let’s dive deeper 🧵
Last week, another partner of ours, @btselem researcher Naser Nawaj’ah, was also assaulted in Susiya. Police were seen on video letting the assailants escape. At least one assailant was also identified by activists on Monday night as one of the settlers who assaulted Hamdan.
In this video from last August, a settler was seen telling Hamdan he’d like to take him to the infamous Sde Teiman detention facility, for some “rape by the will of god.” Back then, Hamdan’s film hadn’t yet won an Oscar, so this event didn’t make the news
Last night, over 400 Palestinians were reportedly killed by IDF airstrikes. Many were civilians. Children, men, women - gone. A one-sided violation to bury the ceasefire deal.
Nothing justifies this. The usual excuse of “defeating Hamas” is remarkably unconvincing. Here’s why 🧵
First of all, Hamas’ manpower has reportedly bounced back to over 25,000 combatants, around the same as was estimated before October 7th. 15 months of all-out destruction, countless thousands of innocent deaths written off as “collateral damage” - but our government survived.
We say this since Netanyahu’s govt is in danger of dissolving. To stabilize his chances at political survival, he needed far-right messianic settler Itamar Ben-Gvir back in his coalition. And one of Ben Gvir’s conditions for this return was a renewal of fighting in Gaza.
Those of us who served in the oPt know the reality in the South Hebron Hills. Last night, it was exposed to the whole world on the big screen—yet remains hidden and censored from those who live right next door to it and are extremely affected by it: Israelis.
In Israel, there is a deep fear of confronting this reality. Soldiers are sent to maintain the occupation, then silenced when they speak out about what they did. They are not allowed to talk about the immorality, violence, or oppression. But burying the truth doesn’t erase it.
Thanks to people like @basel_adra , @yuval_abraham, Rachel Szor and Hamdan Ballal, more and more eyes are being opened to this reality. Israelis are beginning to understand—if we want a different future for this land, we have no choice but to face the truth. Even when it hurts.
Last Friday, we set out with five buses carrying nearly 200 Israelis and foreigners as part of a routine tour to Hebron. But the army and police worked together to prevent us from seeing the reality for ourselves &🧵
A. We were denied entry for political reasons. While the army and police waved the magic wand of “security concerns” at us, settlers were free to come and go as they like. Those who joined us saw something fundamental about the occupation: it’s not about security.
B. As Israelis, we can never fully grasp the impact of these tactics on Palestinians—violence, restrictions, arbitrary arrests. If this is how citizens and tourists are treated, it’s terrifying to imagine what Palestinians endure every day across the occupied territories.
Today, in the West Bank, tying your shoes outside could be a death sentence.
The IDF has recently admitted multiple times to “mistakenly” killing innocent civilians in the West Bank. But these killings can be traced back to specific orders, all of which were imported from Gaza🧵
Central Command Chief Maj-Gen Avi Bluth recently decided to make a change to the IDF’s rules of engagement in the West Bank - issuing a shoot-to-kill order for anyone who “messes with the ground,” soldiers told @yanivkub of @haaretzcom. This had dire and immediate consequences.
Last week, a 7-year-old boy died of his wounds, 10 days after being shot by IDF forces, who said he was “handling something on the ground.” The IDF gave the same excuse last month after a drone strike killed the Bsharat cousins - ages 8, 10 and 21.