Welcome to the Palestine Policy Roundup, a weekly publication of the IMEU Policy Project.
THE HUMAN COST OF WAR: BY THE NUMBERS:
🇵🇸 GAZA: 1,522 killed since the beginning of Trump's Gaza plan (Palestinian Ministry of Health); at least 5,474 Israeli violations of Trump's Gaza plan (Gaza Government Media Office); 74,555 killed during Israel's genocide (Palestinian Ministry of Health)
🇮🇷 IRAN: 3,468 killed (Iran Ministry of Health)
🇱🇧 LEBANON: 4,389 killed (Lebanon Ministry of Public Health)
🇮🇱 ISRAEL: 26 killed (Israel Ministry of Health)
🇺🇲 US: 23 service members killed; 861 service members injured
🏛️ LEG UPDATES
Sen. Peter Welch led 11 Senators in a letter to Secretary of State Marco Rubio that demands that the Trump administration take action to secure the release of Abdelkareem Safi—a Palestinian American citizen and high school student detained by the Israeli military without charge.
🏠 ISRAELI MILITARY FORCES THOUSANDS OF PALESTINIANS OUT OF HEBRON
Last Friday, the Israeli military launched an invasion of the Palestinian city of Hebron following an attack on Israeli soldiers, while Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered a lockdown of the West Bank. Netanyahu has promised to destroy part of Hebron in response to the attack—blatantly exposing the invasion as part of Israel's ethnic cleansing campaign.
PALESTINIANS FORCED OUT: More than 3,000 Palestinians have been forcibly displaced from their homes by Israeli military raids in the city.
The Israeli military has either destroyed or plans to destroy 86 acres of the neighborhood of Ein Deir Baha in Hebron as they flattened the nearby neighborhood of Farsh al-Hawa. Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich published a video of himself standing in front of a demolished Palestinian home.
In other parts of Hebron, Israeli soldiers are invading Palestinian homes and using them as barracks and observation posts.
Hebron Mayor Yousef Jaabari said on Friday that the Israeli military imposed a siege on the city and that Palestinians are not allowed to enter or leave the area. Israel has also restricted the movement of Palestinian workers throughout much of the West Bank and planned to close all crossings in the area during Israel's election.
MAKING ROOM FOR SETTLEMENTS: As Israel imposes restrictions on Palestinian movement, Israeli settlers have established new outposts on Palestinian land south of Hebron.
DEPLOYING THE GAZA/JENIN PLAYBOOK: Both Netanyahu and Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz have explicitly invoked Israel's destruction of the Jenin refugee camp in their descriptions of plans for Hebron. Katz also invoked Israel's destruction of Gaza and Lebanon.
In January 2025, Israel launched an invasion of the Jenin, Tulkarem, and Nur Shams refugee camps in northern Gaza just days after agreeing to a ceasefire in Gaza. That invasion forced more than 40,000 Palestinians from their homes through airstrikes, blocking humanitarian and medical access, and the deliberate destruction of civilian infrastructure and homes.
Human Rights Watch found that Israel's invasion amounted to war crimes and crimes against humanity. A recent UN Human Rights report found that Israel's actions in the invasion of the refugee camps suggested a "deliberate strategy" of the forced displacement of Palestinians from the area—a crime against humanity under international law—and appeared to amount to collective punishment and ethnic cleansing.
⚠️ CONGRESSIONAL CANDIDATE BRAD LANDER, AMERICANS DETAINED BY ISRAELI MILITARY AMID SETTLER ATTACKS
Last Wednesday, the Israeli military detained congressional candidate Brad Lander along with dozens of American and Israeli rabbis and other activists in the West Bank. Lander and the delegation were helping Palestinian olive farmers access their land near an Israeli settlement and harvest olives amid a surge of Israeli settler attacks against Palestinians.
ARBITRARY MOVEMENT RESTRICTIONS: The delegation had harvested olives for about two hours when Israeli soldiers arrived and began checking the IDs of the activists. Soldiers then declared the area a closed military zone and began detaining them.
The soldiers detained the group and began photographing their ID cards and passports despite their offer to comply with the order and leave the area following the declaration. The delegation had no way of knowing about the order in advance.
The Israeli military is able to make these kinds of arbitrary decisions because the West Bank has been under its occupation since 1967. The use of closed military zones is a key strategy in the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians from their homes and land, according to Amnesty International.
WHY WERE THEY THERE? Palestinians who owned the land which the delegation was harvesting told reporters that this was the first time that they had been able to access their land since the beginning of Israel's genocide of Palestinians in Gaza. Attacks by mobs of violent Israeli settlers had made the area too dangerous to harvest.
The olive harvest is a key source of income for many Palestinians, and Israeli settler attacks and restrictions on Palestinian movement imposed by the Israeli military prevent Palestinian farmers from accessing their land.
Amnesty International found that settler attacks, which are often enabled and supported by the Israeli military, are also part of Israel's strategy to force Palestinians from their homes and land.
OLIVE HARVEST ATTACKS CONTINUE: Lander and the activists were also there as Israeli settlers escalate their attacks against Palestinians—according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), Israeli settlers have perpetrated nearly 300 attacks against Palestinians attempting to harvest olives since September 1.
OCHA reported that the number of attacks this year has already surpassed the total number of attacks during last year's olive harvest season. The olive harvest season is a historically dangerous time for Palestinians, who are attacked by Israeli settlers while trying to access their land.
OCHA also reported that more than 3,000 Palestinian-owned olive trees have been damaged by settler attacks.
⛓️ ISRAELI SOLDIERS USE AMERICAN-MADE WEAPONS TO TORTURE PALESTINIANSA new investigation published by The Guardian and Arab Reporters for Investigative Journalism revealed that Israeli soldiers and prison authorities used tasers likely made by the American company Axon to torture imprisoned and abducted Palestinians.
PALESTINIANS RECOUNT TORTURE: Essa, a Palestinian who was imprisoned at Israel's Ofer Prison, alleged that Israeli soldiers tied him up tightly and violently beat him before repeatedly using a stun gun on his body. The article notes that "more than a year and a half later, the scars from the electric shocks remain visible on his body."
Another Palestinian who was interviewed told The Guardian that Israeli soldiers poured water over his body before using a taser on him in an apparent effort to intensify the torture. He "still suffers from severe visual impairment, spasms and recurrent fainting spells."
TORTURE VIOLATES US LAW: These allegations are just the latest in mounting evidence of Israel's systemic torture of Palestinians and others, including Americans, held in Israeli detention. This systemic practice violates Section 502(b) of the Foreign Assistance Act, which prohibits the delivery of weapons—whether or not they are taxpayer funded—to countries that engage in such violations of human rights.
The Israeli human rights NGO B'Tselem has documented the torture of Palestinians in Israeli detention, including incidents in which tasers were used.
The export of these weapons to Israel also likely violates Department of Commerce export controls which restrict the delivery of certain crime control items, including stun guns, to countries that violate internationally recognized human rights.
👀 ICYMI: MEMBERS OF CONGRESS SPEAK OUT
Sen. Chris Van Hollen: "Today, while protecting Palestinians, Brad Lander & a group of American rabbis & others were taken by the IDF. Releasing Brad isn't enough, the Israeli govt must release them all. If this is how they treat Americans, imagine how they treat Palestinians. Trump & Rubio's silence fuels this impunity."
Rep. André Carson: "At least 33 Americans—including Rabbi Jill Jacobs and congressional candidate Brad Lander—were detained by Israeli forces today while helping Palestinian farmers harvest olives. All those detained for peacefully participating in this harvest must be released immediately. Palestinians shouldn't have to risk their lives to harvest their own land. Settler violence terrorizes families and drives Palestinians from their homes and livelihoods, attacks that are enabled by a culture of impunity that treats Palestinian lives as expendable. The U.S. must protect Palestinian lives by demanding an end to settler violence and the enforcement of real consequences for those carrying out and enabling these attacks."
Rep. Joaquin Castro: "Today, Israeli forces detained dozens of volunteers, including a congressional candidate and rabbis, in the West Bank. Days earlier, settlers attacked European diplomats and a Washington Post journalist. If American public servants, diplomats, and journalists are targeted, imagine what Palestinian families face every day. Congress should take up my bill, the Stop the Settlements Act, to impose sanctions on anyone driving settlements in the West Bank or Gaza, including construction companies and banks."
Rep. Chuy García: "I'm glad @bradlander was released from IDF custody, and I call for the rest of his delegation to be released immediately. This is just a glimpse of the horrific reality Palestinians face in their homeland every day, terrorized by Israeli soldiers and settlers and unable to live freely. And it's why I continue to demand that the Israeli government release all arbitrarily detained Palestinian prisoners, and for the U.S. government to stop enabling occupation and genocide of the Palestinian people."
Rep. Pramila Jayapal: "I am appalled that Brad Lander, the Democratic nominee for NY-10, was detained by the IDF in the West Bank alongside rabbis and other activists in the annual olive harvest. It is a stark reminder of the abuses Palestinians face on a near daily basis doing even the simplest of tasks, like harvesting olives on the land their families have cultivated for centuries. Next Congress, Democrats must pass the Stop Settlements Act to demand our government use its leverage to bring the illegal settlement movement to an end."
Rep. Delia Ramirez: "Israel is committing a genocide against Palestinians, paid for by American taxpayers. As Israeli airstrikes continue to kill children and families in Gaza, half a million Palestinians are set to lose access to food and assistance. Whether by bombs or through starvation, the genocide has not ended. We must end it. We can start by passing my Block the Bombs Act."
Rep. Rashida Tlaib: "Regardless of which war criminal becomes prime minister, Palestinians living under Israeli apartheid will continue to face genocide, land theft, and erasure. We cannot accept lies, excuses, or half-measures from our leaders. We must impose a full arms embargo and sanctions until Palestine is free."
Photo: Jose HERNANDEZ Camera 51, via Shutterstock. Stock Photo ID: 2739314275