Int’l Court of Justice condemns Israel; Israel and US scoff – This is ceasefire? Day 14

Int’l Court of Justice condemns Israel; Israel and US scoff – This is ceasefire? Day 14

Compilation of news reports – IAK staff

(It is difficult to characterize the current situation in Gaza a “ceasefire,” when Israel has killed nearly 100 Palestinians. If Americans Knew considers Wednesday to be Day 747 of Israel’s war on Gaza)

14 martyrs (including one as a result of direct Israeli targeting and 13 recovered) and two injuries arrived at Gaza Strip hospitals over the past 24 hours.

Since the “ceasefire” went into effect on October 11, Israel has reportedly killed at least 89 Palestinians and injured 317 others, and violated the truce agreement at least 80 times.

Additional statistics below. 


GAZA NEWS & HEADLINES:

(For some basic info on the Palestine-Israel conflict, go here. For more critical context, skim thisthis, and this. To read about a remarkable but underreported, 20-month-long peaceful protest in Gaza against Israel, go here.) 

Gaza’s Health Ministry says newly received bodies have signs of ‘torture, beating’

Gaza’s Health Ministry on Wednesday received the remains of 30 more Palestinians transferred by Israel. According to a statement, “Several bodies showed clear signs of abuse, including beatings, bound hands, and blindfolded eyes.”

Since Oct. 14, Israel has handed over 195 bodies of Palestinians, of whom only 57 bodies have been identified. Families have been trying to identify their relatives based on remaining physical marks or clothing, as Israel’s years-long blockade and the destruction of Gaza’s laboratories have made forensic testing impossible.

NOTE: Many of the almost 200 Palestinian remains have had signs of torture and/or execution.

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ICJ orders Israel to allow aid into Gaza and says restrictions breached international obligations

The UN’s top court ruled Wednesday that Israel must allow aid into Gaza, and its restrictions on doing so over the past two years have put it in breach of its obligations; Israel also had a duty not to impede the supply of aid by UN organizations.

The ruling that Israel has violated the UN’s immunities as set out in the UN charter, as well as ignored its humanitarian obligations as an occupying power under the Geneva conventions is bound to lead to further calls for Israel’s suspension from the UN (continue reading here).

Israel has allowed only 15% of the promised aid trucks into Gaza since the ceasefire took effect, a fact that the Gaza Media office described as a  “policy of strangulation, starvation, and human blackmail” against the almost 2 million residents in Gaza.

Advisory opinions of the ICJ, also known as the world court, carry legal and political weight, but they are not binding, and the court has no enforcement power. For this reason, Norway announced Wednesday that it will introduce a resolution in the UN General Assembly “to ensure the effective implementation of Israel’s obligations under international humanitarian law” – however, history has shown that Israel holds little regard for United Nations resolutions.

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After Int’l Court of Justice ruling, can UNRWA resume full Gaza operations?

  • ICJ states that Israel must allow aid into Gaza, ensuring food, water, medicine, and shelter for the Palestinian population – but it is an advisory opinion, and the world court has no power to enforce it.

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Francesca Albanese, Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories
Francesca Albanese, Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories (UN Human Rights Council/Sérine Meradji )

Israel’s genocide in Gaza impossible without global complicity, UN report says

A new United Nations report, the second this year by UN special rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territories Francesca Albanese, reveals that more than 60 countries are complicit in the “collective crime” of enabling Israel’s genocide against the Palestinians in Gaza. 

Albanese called the genocide a “collective crime, sustained by the complicity of influential Third States that have enabled longstanding systemic violations of international law by Israel,” adding, “Framed by colonial narratives that dehumanize the Palestinians, this livestreamed atrocity has been facilitated through Third States’ direct support, material aid, diplomatic protection and, in some cases, active participation.”

The report names countries, without whose support Israel would not have been able to sustain its full-pronged assault on Gaza (continue reading here; find the full report here).

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Israel Advances Trump Plan Amid Gaza Ruins, “Yellow Line” Controversy

An Israeli political source confirmed that the primary objective at this stage is to complete the first phase of President Donald Trump’s Gaza “peace initiative,” adding that implementation is now imminent.

Israel has reportedly informed the Trump administration that it does not oppose immediate reconstruction efforts in Gaza, specifically in areas south and east of the so-called “Yellow Line.” 

While Israeli officials describe these zones as “unpopulated and free of Hamas presence,” Gaza’s Government Media Office warns that the line has become a “death zone”, with Israeli forces forcibly displacing residents from eastern districts and opening fire on civilians who approach it.

What was intended as a ceasefire boundary has become a de facto border of occupation. As of mid-October, Israel retains control over nearly 58% of Gaza’s territory, including key neighborhoods in Gaza City, Beit Lahia, Khan Younis, and Rafah (continue reading here).

Screenshot (Al Jazeera)

About 15,000 patients in Gaza waiting to be evacuated: WHO

World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has announced that 41 critical patients and their 145 family members have been evacuated from Gaza for the first time since the ceasefire began.

“Around 15,000 patients are still waiting for approval to receive medical care outside Gaza,” Tedros said in a statement. “We continue to call on countries to show their solidarity and for all routes to be opened to expedite the medical evacuation.”

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Pregnant women and their babies are starving

A senior UN official warned on Wednesday that the hunger crisis in Gaza is deadly for mothers and infants:”One in four people is starving. That includes 11,500 pregnant women for whom starvation is particularly catastrophic.”

“Premature and low-birth weight babies now make up around 70% of newborns, and one in three pregnancies is high risk,” he added.

RELATED: Gaza malnutrition to have ‘generational’ impact on newborns, UN warns

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No aid looting reported in Gaza since start of ceasefire: WFP

World Food Program spokesperson Abeer Etefa said, “we are not seeing any looting by armed groups on the ground who had [previously] taken part in looting events,” and that aid trucks are now moving “in an organized and dignified manner,” although the amount of fuel is “critically insufficient.”

Earlier looting incidents were widely attributed to outlaw gangs and Israeli-backed militias that had targeted aid shipments, including near the Kerem Shalom Crossing (read about these gangs here and here).

However, the number of trucks Israel is allowing into Gaza is still a fraction of what is needed, and a fraction of what Israel agreed to in the ceasefire agreement.

Note: trucks carrying supplies from ICRC, IMC, Unicef, WCK and WFP; excludes those delivered by Gaza Humanitarian Foundation. The promised number of truckloads per day is 600.
Note: trucks carrying supplies from ICRC, IMC, Unicef, WCK and WFP; excludes those delivered by Gaza Humanitarian Foundation. The promised number of truckloads per day is 600. (Guardian graphic, source UNOPS)

OCCUPIED WEST BANK/EAST JERUSALEM NEWS & HEADLINES:

(Every day, Palestinians in the West Bank and East Jerusalem endure dozens of incidents like the ones below, at the hands of Israeli soldiers and/or settlers. For background on the West Bank, read this and thisFor information on the significance of Israeli settlers in the West Bank, read this and this.)

UNRWA: “Systematic Displacement, School Closures, In West Bank”

The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) confirmed Wednesday that refugee camps in Jenin, Tulkarem, and Nur Shams have been forcibly emptied, with residents barred from returning.

The agency described the situation as a “cyclical displacement crisis,” driven by military incursions, settler violence, and the expansion of illegal paramilitary Israeli colonies.

These actions, UNRWA warned, are laying the groundwork for formal annexation of Palestinian land (continue reading here).

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WEST BANK HEADLINES:

Israeli Forces Demolish a Citizen’s Home Near Slafit

  • The home belongs to the family of 2 Palestinian prisoners – the demolition is a violation of international law.

Israel deports 32 foreign activists for supporting Palestinian farmers against settler violence in West Bank

Israel arrests 45 people in latest West Bank raids: Prisoner group

  • While making the arrests, Israeli forces vandalized homes and repeatedly assaulted detainees and their relatives.

Israeli Forces Shoot 2 in Nablus and Jerusalem

  • One, an 18-year-old, was shot in the neck and injured seriously.

Israeli colonizers attack homes Near Hebron

  • The colonizers reportedly approached houses and threw stones, then withdrew while occupation forces observed.
Israeli soldiers in Hebron in the occupied West Bank
Israeli soldiers in Hebron in the occupied West Bank (Mamoun Wazwaz/Anadolu)

NEWS & HEADLINES ABOUT ISRAEL

(Get a glimpse inside Israel and the turmoil and contradictions within the country. Many of our news items and headlines are taken from Israeli media.)

‘Hogwash’ that Israel is a US client state, says Netanyahu

Despite the US providing an estimated 68% of Israel’s foreign-sourced weapons, Netanyahu, when asked on Wednesday if Israel was beholden to Washington, said: “One week they say that Israel controls the United States. A week later they say the United States controls Israel. This is hogwash.” 

He added later, “We have a partnership, an alliance of partners, who share common values and common goals. We can have discussions, we can have disagreements here and there, but on the whole I have to say that in the past year we’ve had agreement – agreement not only on goals but how to reach them” (continue reading here).

U.S. President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu talk in the White House, Sept. 29, 2025.
U.S. President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu talk in the White House, Sept. 29, 2025. (Daniel Torok/White House)

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JD Vance condemns Knesset vote on West Bank annexation as ‘very stupid’

  • Trump, meanwhile, said Israel would “lose all support” from the United States if it goes forward with annexation. [The law would “apply the sovereignty of the State of Israel to the territories of Judea and Samaria (West Bank),” which is a violation of international law.]

Israeli drone attack kills one in southern Lebanon

  • Despite a ceasefire, an Israeli drone-fired missile has killed a person on their motorcycle in the southern Lebanese town of Ain Qana, reports Lebanon’s National News Agency.

NEWS & HEADLINES FROM ISRAELI MEDIA:

Ben Gvir boasts on camera about depriving Palestinian detainees of necessities of life

Guess Who the Netanyahu Government Is Blaming for October 7?

For two full years, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his ministers insisted that the country would certainly, absolutely, definitely investigate the deadly failures of various authorities for October 7 – but that the formal inquiry would have to wait until after the war.

Now, with a U.S.-imposed cease-fire in place, the time for reckoning is drawing near. So are Israeli elections, now one year away from the scheduled date, or possibly sooner.

With a postponed state inquiry hanging over his head, Benjamin Netanyahu is already leading his ministers and media mouthpieces to proactively deflect any blame for October 7 and the two-year war onto the hostage families, pro-democracy protesters and the judicial system (continue reading here).

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Is the Boycott Threat to Israel’s Arms Industry Over?

  • Probably yes, now that the Gaza war has ended. The world’s appetite for weapons is growing, and Israel makes some of the best equipment.

Smotrich: If Saudi Arabia conditions normalization on a Palestinian State, then no thank you, ‘keep riding your camels’

  • Israeli Finance Minister said that Israel should reject normalization with Saudi Arabia if it conditions it on the establishment of a Palestinian state.


NOTABLE QUOTE: “We bow our heads in immeasurable sorrow”

From an open letter in which Jewish figures across the globe call on UN and world leaders to sanction Israel (read more about it here; see the open letter here):

We bow our heads in immeasurable sorrow as the evidence accumulates that Israel’s actions will be judged to have met the legal definition of genocide. Attempts are already underway to deny accountability and reassert the same broken playbook of impunity. That cannot pass.

We therefore issue this appeal as Jews from all walks of life and across the world. We affirm our belief in the universality of justice and the fair and equal application of international law. We have not forgotten that so many of the laws, charters, and conventions established to safeguard and protect all human life were created in response to the Holocaust.

Those safeguards have been relentlessly violated by Israel. Accountability for the Israeli leadership’s grievous violations of international law is necessary. It is time to do everything possible to definitively end the Israeli government’s collective punishment of the Palestinians and to pursue peace for the sake of both peoples.

As Jews and as human beings, we declare: Not in our name. Not in the name of our heritage, our faith, or our moral tradition. The monumental scale of the killing and destruction, the forced displacement, the deliberate withholding of life-sustaining necessities, and the ongoing criminal actions in the West Bank must end and never be repeated.

Jewish
Reform Jewish leader Rick Jacobs speaking to JVP members at the Presbyterian Convention in 2014. (social media)

OTHER NEWS & HEADLINES:

Most Americans support US recognition of Palestinian state, Reuters/Ipsos poll shows

Most Americans – including 80% of Democrats and 41% of Republicans – think the U.S. should recognize Palestinian statehood, a sign that President Donald Trump’s opposition to doing so is out of step with public opinion, a Reuters/Ipsos poll found.

About half of Trump’s Republicans – 53% – opposed doing so, while 41% of Republicans said they would support the U.S. recognizing a Palestinian state.

Some 60% of poll respondents said Israel’s response in Gaza was excessive, compared to 32% who disagreed.

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AIPAC has become so politically toxic that even centrist Dems are abandoning the group

  • As support for Israel plummets among U.S. voters, Democrats are distancing themselves from AIPAC, and the Israel lobby group is on the defensive.

In a landslide vote, McGill University professors and librarians endorse the academic and cultural boycott of Israel

  • In a 114-8 vote, the McGill Association of University Teachers endorsed the academic and cultural boycott of Israel. The win came after years of organizing, demonstrating the collective power of professors, librarians, and students against genocide.

UN expert urges end to double standards against ICC as judges sanctioned for warrants against Israeli officials

Democrats call on Rubio to help secure release of Palestinian-American teen held in Israeli prison

  • Group of 27 Congress members wrote to Marco Rubio to call for ‘swift release’ of 16-year-old Mohammed Ibrahim.

Child rights champion promotes German-Israeli arms trade

  • Wounded child, no surviving family. The acronym WCNSF serves as a shocking reminder of the extremes to which Israel has gone in Gaza. When Israel commits such horrors, how can any defender of the young act as an apologist for that state?

Britain Joins U.S.-Led Force to “Stabilize Gaza”

  • They will join up to 200 US troops to assist in coordinating efforts in post-war Gaza.

ICYMI (IN CASE YOU MISSED IT) – A SELECTION OF YESTERDAY’S HEADLINES:

(Read yesterday’s daily update here.)

10-year-old Muhammed Omar Selim Muslih, who was wounded in an Israeli attack and got amputated due to shrapnel injuries, in Gaza City, Gaza on July 08, 2025.
10-year-old Muhammed Omar Selim Muslih, who was wounded in an Israeli attack and got his leg amputated due to shrapnel injuries, in Gaza City, Gaza on July 08, 2025. (Ahmed Jihad Ibrahim Al-arini – Anadolu Agency)

STATISTICS OCTOBER 7, 2023 – OCTOBER 22, 2025*:

  • At least 69,336 Palestinians killed, 180,375 injured – including:
  • At least 68,280** killed in Gaza (~20,000 children, 23,000 women) 
  • At least 1,056 killed in the West Bank (~212 children)
  • At least 170,375 injured in Gaza
  • More than 10,000 injured in the West Bank
  • At least 463 have died from malnutrition in Gaza, including 157 children
  • About 449 bodies have been recovered since the ceasefire began

*NOTE: Thousands of those killed in Gaza have yet to be identified, and an estimated 9,500 more are still buried under rubble. Additionally, the numbers of injured and starved are very conservative estimatesOnly the dead who are brought to hospitals are included in the official fatality count.

**Note: 32 bodies have been added to the cumulative number of martyrs from the identified bodies.

Reported Israeli death toll from October 7, 2023 – October 22, 2025: ~1,661 – including ~1,139** on October 7, 2023 (~36 children), 470 military forces since the ground invasion began in Gaza, about 52 military and civilians in the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and Israel. 

By one count, Israeli attacks have killed approximately 272 Palestinian journalists and media workers; Palestinians have killed 4 Israeli journalists (other groups have tallied between 206 and 326 Palestinian journalists killed – depending on the criteria used).

**NOTE: It is unknown at this time how many of the deaths and injuries of Israelis on October 7 were caused by Israeli soldiers.

Hover over each bar for exact numbers. Source: IsraelPalestineTimeline.org

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