Breaking: new @hrw report documents another apparent Israeli war crime—Oct 31 strike on central Gaza apartment building killing 106+ civilians, including 54 kids, many playing football. No evidence of military target—making strike unlawfully indiscriminate hrw.org/news/2024/04/0…
350 people lived in building—including 150 who were displaced. When Israel struck, many kids were playing football outside building; others gathered to charge their phones in rare grocery store that had power amid Israeli electricity cuts. Members of 14 families killed in instant

This week's momentous Int'l Court of Justice hearings on legal consequences of Israel's 57-year occupation highlight the growing global consensus that Israel's repression of Palestinians amounts to apartheid. A🧵of excerpts from the proceedings (to be updated as statements go up) South Africa "beseeches @CIJ_ICJ to examine the institutionalized régime of discriminatory laws, policies & practices applied by Israel alongside the definition of the crime of apartheid & to find that Israel subjects Palestinians to what constitutes an apartheid régime" (Feb 20)

Israeli authorities are signaling their intent to commit mass atrocities. They must be stopped. A thread 1/10 The Hamas-led massacre shook Israelis to their core—many know someone killed when fighters shot up crowds, taken as hostages/paraded about or narrowly survived by barricading themselves as militants infiltrated homes. They committed heinous crimes & should be held to account 2/10

With today’s landmark @amnesty report, Israeli apartheid is now a matter of wall-to-wall consensus. As more & more recognize reality for what it is, our challenge is to take action to change it & #EndIsraeliApartheid 1/10

https://twitter.com/amnesty/status/1488439916828704769

Amnesty thoroughly exposes a “system which operates w varying levels of intensity & repression based on Palestinians’ status in the separate enclaves where [they] live.. but ultimately seeks to establish & maintain Jewish hegemony wherever Israel exercises effective control” 2/10

Breaking: @hrw finds that Israeli strikes in May killed scores of civilians in Gaza, wiped out entire families w/ no evident military targets in area & amount to apparent war crimes that @IntlCrimCourt should probe. Hear the harrowing accounts of survivors hrw.org/news/2021/07/2… In one strike @hrw investigated, guided missile witnesses saw approach from Israel killed 6 kids as they played & 2 adults near Beit Hanoun. Israel said it was a Palestinian rocket, but offered no evidence & included one victim among ppl they said were killed. All were civilians.

Major escalation taking place right now in Israel & Palestine, with significant human rights implications. @hrw is investigating these events. Some preliminary takeaways based on what we know now & years of our reporting. 1/7 Israeli gov moving to evict Palestinians in Sheikh Jarrah under law allowing Jewish Israelis to takeover their homes based on prior ownership claim. This would displace families who are refugees barred by law from reclaiming land gov took from them as recent @hrw report shows 2/7

Almost all responses by Israeli officials & their supporters to @hrw apartheid/persecution report have tried to change the topic, often by name calling. Almost none have engaged on merits. A thread laying out our largely unchallenged apartheid finding. 1/6 hrw.org/news/2021/04/2… Legal treatises, including the Rome Statute to @IntlCrimCourt, identify apartheid as a crime against humanity consisting of three elements: (1) an intent by one group to dominate another; (2) systematic oppression by dominant group over marginalized one; & (3) inhumane acts. 2/6

Breaking: @hrw finds that Israeli authorities are committing crimes against humanity of apartheid & persecution. Thread w findings in 213pg report on Israel's rule of Palestinians. Time to recognize reality for what it is, find #Courage2FightApartheid 1/27 hrw.org/news/2021/04/2… While coined in relation to South Africa, legal treatises recognize apartheid as a universal legal term. Apartheid is prohibited as a matter of customary international law & is also a crime against humanity consisting of three primary elements. 2/27

Today @hrw released its most significant piece of research on rights abuses inside Israel in years, looking at discriminatory land policies that treat Palestinian & Jewish communities in starkly unequal terms. A thread with some highlights 1/11 93% of land in Israel is state land. Nearly 1/2 seats of gov body that allocates state land belongs to Jewish Nat Fund, whose mandate is to develop land for Jews & no-one else. Palestinians makeup 21% of pop, but only ~3% of land belongs to Palestinian towns where most live 2/11

Israel regularly denies entry to those who challenge its policies & seek to see the occupation for themselves. But that’s not full story. Those who make it in face systematic harassment at Ben Gurion, particularly those of Arab descent. A thread on my experience today 1/14 Israel revoked my work permit in May 2018 over my rights advocacy, but court-ordered injunctions froze enforcement of deportation. I’ve only traveled since when gov permits me & guarantees my re-entry. Ahead of my Sep 24 Supreme Court appeal, I was permitted to visit family 2/14

Brilliant investigative piece by @jrosyfield on how Israel-PA security coordination fostered by US translates into double repression for Palestinians & how US sees maintenance of this ugly status quo as the solution. Thread of damning nuggets uncovered 1/6 thedailybeast.com/how-trump-help… Palestinian police hold mtgs w/ ‘Volunteer Units of Judea & Samaria’, Israeli settlers who guard illegal outposts on confiscated Palestinian land. So as PA officials rail against settlements & call for dismantling them, their police effectively coordinating w settler militias 2/6