Netanyahu, Trump cheer on ethnic cleansing plan

Philippe Lazzarini, head of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), has renewed his call for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza (screenshot)

Compilation of news reports – IAK staff

Israel killed at least 60 Palestinians in Gaza on Monday, including at least 6 aid-seekers.

For detail on Israeli attacks in Gaza on Monday, go here.

GAZA NEWS & HEADLINES:

(To understand what’s going on right now between Gaza and Israel, go here. For a bit more critical background, skim this, this, and this. To read about a remarkable but underreported, 20-month-long peaceful protest in Gaza against Israel, go here.)

When Israel Attacks Gaza, These People Run to Save Lives

In the besieged Gaza Strip, three professions have emerged as a lifeline, their practitioners heroic in their efforts to alleviate the worst of the humanitarian catastrophe that is unfolding under Israel’s constant attacks on civilians and civic infrastructure.

The rescuers, the healers, and the witnesses — civil defense responders making unimaginable sacrifices to try and save people from the rubble of bombed buildings; medical professionals fighting an impossible battle with poor supplies in hospitals; and journalists risking their lives to expose the truth — are all supporting the entire population enduring genocide and famine.

According to the Health Ministry, the Israeli military has killed at least 113 civil defense responders, around 228 journalists, and at least 1,411 medical workers since October 7, 2023 (read the stories of three of these heroes here).

RELATED: Heroic and traumatized: A volunteer paramedic’s story

Proposal outlines large-scale ‘Humanitarian Transit Areas’ for Palestinians in Gaza

A proposal seen by Reuters and bearing the name of a controversial U.S.-backed aid group described a plan to build large-scale camps called “Humanitarian Transit Areas” inside – and possibly outside – Gaza to house the Palestinian population, outlining a vision of “replacing Hamas’ control over the population in Gaza.”

The $2 billion plan, created sometime after February 11 and carrying the name of the U.S.-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, or GHF, was submitted to the Trump administration, according to two sources, one of whom said it was recently discussed in the White House.

The plan, reviewed by Reuters, describes the camps as “large-scale” and “voluntary” places where the Gazan population could “temporarily reside, de-radicalize, re-integrate and prepare to relocate if they wish to do so” (continue reading here).

NOTE: There is nothing “voluntary” about this (or any) scheme for removal of Gazans from their homeland. Israel has destroyed the means of survival for the people of Gaza; their “choice” now is between leaving their homeland to survive alone and stateless, and staying to struggle and die. Forced population transfer is a crime against humanity, and a form of ethnic cleansing. If world leaders truly want to offer Gazans a good life outside Gaza, the just solution would be to return them to their homes in historic Palestine.

OVER 17K STUDENTS KILLED IN GAZA: The Palestinian Education Ministry says at least 17,175 students were killed and 26,264 injured in Gaza since the beginning of Israel’s war on Gaza in October 2023. At least 252 public schools in Gaza have suffered severe damage, including the destruction of 118.

MENINGITIS CASES ON THE RISE IN GAZA: “There’s been a rise in meningitis cases in children,” said Dr Rik Peeperkorn, World Health Organization (WHO) representative in the occupied Palestinian territories. “We are very concerned.” At Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, nearly 40 cases of newly admitted viral and bacterial meningitis have been reported in the last week. In Gaza City to the north, the pediatrics department at al-Rantisi Children’s Hospital has recorded hundreds of cases in recent weeks. Hospitals still operating are overwhelmed with beds full and severe shortages of vital antibiotics. “There is no space in the hospitals,” said Dr Mohammed Abu Mughaisib, deputy medical coordinator for MSF in Gaza. “There is no space to isolate.”

SMALL AMOUNT OF MEDICAL SUPPLIES EXPECTED TUESDAY: The Health Ministry has said trucks carrying medical supplies are scheduled to enter hospitals in Gaza via the World Health Organization on Tuesday. The shipments do not contain any food items. “The expected items are of critical importance and urgently needed to continue providing medical care to the wounded and sick and to save lives,” the ministry said in a statement.

Palestinians resort to eating grass as hunger deepens in Gaza

‘Cemeteries of Memory’ – Childhood Buried beneath Gaza Rubble

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CEASEFIRE NEWS:

(To get an idea about past ceasefires between Gaza and Israel and how they ended, check out this and this.)

Netanyahu describes Gaza displacement plan as “good idea”; Trump hails “excellent cooperation” with neighboring countries

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has described the idea of displacing Palestinians from Gaza as a “good idea”, while Trump revealed he has co-operation from countries neighboring Israel.

This came during a joint meeting between Trump and Netanyahu at the White House early on Tuesday.

The meeting unveiled that the plan for forced displacement, which Trump proposed in February and was later adopted by the Netanyahu government, remains actively under consideration.

In response to a question directed to Trump about his February proposal to relocate Gaza’s population, Netanyahu said: “The idea of evacuation from Gaza is a good idea.” He added, “Whoever wants to leave, let them leave. Whoever wants to stay, let them stay,” and continued, “We are working with the United States to find countries that can offer Palestinians a better future, and we are getting closer to achieving that.”

NOTE: There is nothing “voluntary” about this scheme for removal of Gazans from their homeland. Israel has destroyed the means of survival for the people of Gaza; now they suggest giving them a “choice” between leaving their homeland to survive, and staying to struggle and die. Forced population transfer is a crime against humanity, and a form of ethnic cleansing. If world leaders truly want to offer Gazans a good life outside Gaza, the just solution would be to return them to their homes in historic Palestine.

“Zero” Progress in Ceasefire Talks, Hamas Official Says

People mourn loved ones during the funeral ceremony held at al-Shifa Hospital after the Israeli attacks in Gaza City, Gaza on July 8, 2025 (Ali Jadallah/Anadolu)

Israeli plan for forced transfer of Gaza’s population ‘a blueprint for crimes against humanity’

Defense Minister Israel Katz said Monday that he has instructed the IDF to prepare a plan to establish a “humanitarian city” on the ruins of Rafah, which would eventually house the entire population of the Gaza Strip.

Acording to Katz, the plan involves moving 600,000 Palestinians, primarily from the al-Muwasi area, into the new zone after security screening. Once inside, residents would not be allowed to leave, the defense minister said. Israel would then initiate “the emigration plan, which will happen.” He added that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is already leading efforts to explore countries willing to absorb Gazans. According to a Ha’aretz source, no state has agreed to the plan (continue reading here).

Katz’s scheme breaks international law, said Michael Sfard, one of Israel’s leading human rights lawyers. It also directly contradicted claims made hours earlier by the office of Israel’s military chief, which said in a letter that Palestinians were only displaced inside Gaza for their own protection.

“(Katz) laid out an operational plan for a crime against humanity. It is nothing less than that,” Sfard said. “It is all about population transfer to the southern tip of the Gaza Strip in preparation for deportation outside the strip.

“While the government still calls the deportation ‘voluntary’, people in Gaza are under so many coercive measures that no departure from the strip can be seen in legal terms as consensual.

“When you drive someone out of their homeland that would be a war crime, in the context of a war. If it’s done on a massive scale like he plans, it becomes a crime against humanity,” Sfard added (continue reading here).

Many Palestinians, including children, form a stampede to get food distributed by a charity organization, on July 7, 2025 in Gaza City, Gaza. (Abdalhkem Abu Riash – Anadolu Agency)

WEST BANK/EAST JERUSALEM NEWS AND HEADLINES:

(For background on the West Bank, read this and this.)

140 STUDENTS KILLED IN WEST BANK SINCE OCT 7: The Palestinian Education Ministry says 140 students were killed and 927 wounded in the West Bank since the beginning of Israel’s war on Gaza in October 2023. During the period, 768 students were arrested in the West Bank, as well as 199 teachers and administrative staff. 152 schools, eight universities and colleges were raided and damaged, with fences at several schools in Jenin, Tulkarem, Salfit, and Tubas also destroyed. In East Jerusalem, Israeli forces have killed 10 Palestinians, detained 404, and carried out 186 demolition and bulldozing operations.

Palestinians fear razing of villages in West Bank, as settlers circle their homes

Israel seizes land near Ramallah to expand illegal outpost

Israeli Soldiers Shoot Palestinian in Nablus

Soldiers Set Fire to Home in Nur Shams Refugee Camp In Tulkarem

Settlers dance in Al-Aqsa Mosque compound:

مستوطنون يرقصون في المسجد الأقصى “قبلة المسلمين الأولى”. pic.twitter.com/ysEXNlB13p

— شبكة قدس الإخبارية (@qudsn) July 7, 2025

OTHER NEWS AND HEADLINES:

TONY BLAIR INSTITUTE IN BED WITH TRUMP, ISRAEL: Staff from the Tony Blair Institute (TBI) participated in a post-war Gaza real estate venture aiming to turn the enclave into a for-profit trade zone, according to the Financial Times (FT). The project envisioned artificial islands, blockchain-based real estate, and what was branded the “Trump Riviera.” The plan, titled “The Great Trust,” was led by Israeli businessmen and used financial models developed inside Boston Consulting Group (BCG). It was shared with US President Donald Trump’s administration and proposed “paying half a million Palestinians to leave the area and attracting private investors to develop Gaza” – an ethnic cleansing incentive framed as economic relief (more).

The National Education Association just voted to cut all ties to the Anti-Defamation League

‘New York Times’ Mamdani smear shows how out of touch the paper is with progressives, especially on Palestine

Iranian president says Israel tried to assassinate him

Yemen strikes Israeli-linked vessel in Red Sea, vows continued operations

US revokes terror designation for Al-Qaeda-linked HTS

Activists launch hunger strike to protest Belgium’s ties with Israel

Palestinians grieve as those killed, including a five-month-old baby, are transferred to al-Shifa Hospital’s morgue after an Israeli air strike in the Gaza Strip (Saeed MMT Jaras /Anadolu)

STATISTICS OCTOBER 7, 2023 – JULY 7, 2025:

At least 58,581 Palestinians killed, 146,109 injured – including:
at least 57,575 killed in Gaza (~16,500 children)
at least 1,006 killed in the West Bank (~202 children)
at least 136,879 injured in Gaza
at least 9,230 injured in the West Bank

According to Palestinian authorities, during the ceasefire Jan. 19 – March 18 2025, Israeli attacks killed at least 170 Gazans, and Israel committed at least 962 ceasefire violations.

Since the Israeli army resumed its assaults on Gaza on March 18, it has killed at least 7,013 people. 40 Israeli soldiers (most recent July 4) have been killed during the same time period.

At least 766 Palestinians have been killed while trying to access aid parcels from the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, which started operating on May 26, 2025.

Thousands of those killed in Gaza have yet to be identified, and an estimated 14,000 more are still buried under rubble.

Reported Israeli death toll from October 7, 2023 – July 7, 2025: ~1,627 – including ~1,139 on October 7, 2023 (~36 children), 444 military forces since the ground invasion began in Gaza, 46 military and civilians in the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and Israel. (72 soldiers have reportedly died due to “operational incidents.”)

By one count, Israeli attacks have killed approximately 223 Palestinian journalists and media workers; Palestinians have killed 4 Israeli journalists (other groups have tallied between 185 and 291 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