Nakba Resolution Introduced as Israel Begins Potential Ethnic Cleansing in Gaza | Palestine Policy Roundup 05.19.25
Welcome to the Palestine Policy Roundup, a weekly publication of the IMEU Policy Project.
👀 ICYMI: MEMBERS OF CONGRESS SPEAK OUT
Rep. Rashida Tlaib: “My sity's [grandmother’s] only crime in the eyes of the Israeli government is that she was born Palestinian. Today, to honor her and Palestinians all over the world, I introduced a resolution to recognize 77 years of the ongoing Nakba. It continues to this day with the genocide in Gaza.”
Sen. Peter Welch: “It has been over 2 months since the Israeli Government has been using its power to withhold food, medicine, lifesaving cancer treatments, dialysis systems, formula, and more from starving and suffering families across Gaza. Half a million Palestinians in Gaza are facing starvation, and that number is rising…We cannot have or sanction a government's intentional policy of starvation.”
Sen. Chris Van Hollen: “Today marks 3 years since Palestinian-American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh was shot and killed while reporting in the West Bank—and we've yet to see accountability for her death. As I told her brother Tony, her niece Lina & her nephew Victor last week, I won't rest until we do.”
Rep. Ilhan Omar: “I’m proud to join @RepRashida in co-sponsoring this resolution to recognize the Nakba and affirm the rights of Palestinian refugees. The Nakba never ended. We must acknowledge the truth, end the genocide in Gaza, and restore funding to UNRWA.”
Rep. Jim McGovern: “Tons of food, medicine, water, shelter and other urgent humanitarian aid remains blocked from entering Gaza by Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu. The world must speak out and demand the rapid, unimpeded, impartial, neutral, and independent delivery of humanitarian aid. Now!”
DC DEVELOPMENTS
📣 REP. RASHIDA TLAIB INTRODUCES NAKBA RESOLUTION AS ISRAEL PREPARES FOR POTENTIAL ETHNIC CLEANSING IN GAZA
Last week, Rep. Rashida Tlaib led eight original cosponsors in introducing a resolution that commemorates the 1948 Palestinian Nakba (“catastrophe” in English) and recognizes the ongoing Nakba as Israel prepares for the potential further ethnic cleansing of Palestinians from their homeland.
The Nakba refers to the forced displacement of Palestinians before, during, and after the creation of the state of Israel in 1948, which was carried out by Zionist militias and the Israeli military. During this phase of the Nakba, 750,000 Palestinians were expelled. The Nakba not only refers to this displacement in 1948, but is also ongoing, as Israel continues to displace Palestinians.
This resolution is more important than ever: Israel is very clearly preparing to carry out the latest phase of the Nakba in Gaza. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu recently announced Israel’s plan to flatten all infrastructure in Gaza, to seize the territory, and permanently control Gaza through violent military rule.
Under this plan nearly all Palestinians would be forcibly displaced into southern Gaza near the border with Egypt. This has sparked concerns that this plan is a prelude to the forced transfer of Palestinians to Egypt or another third country–a potential war crime for which Israel has well-documented and long-standing plans.
Last week, during remarks to a Knesset committee, Netanyahu admitted that the purpose of Israel’s destruction of Gaza is for the eventual ethnic cleansing of Palestinians from Gaza, and doubled down on Israel’s threat to invade and violently control the territory.
In his announcement, Netanyahu set a deadline of May 15–the day Palestinians commemorate the Nakba–before this newest phase of Israel’s genocide of Palestinians in Gaza would begin. On the day of this deadline, President Donald Trump reiterated his proposal for the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians from Gaza and a US takeover of the area.
Both Netanyahu and many other Israeli ministers have also repeatedly committed to carrying out President Trump’s ethnic cleansing proposal since he first outlined it during a press conference with the Israeli prime minister in February.
Israel has had well-documented and long-standing plans for the forcible transfer of Palestinians from Gaza since the early days of its genocide there–President Trump’s proposal provided US support for these existing plans. These plans would likely be carried out using US-provided weapons, likely deepening US complicity in potential war crimes committed by Israel.
As Israel and the Trump administration threaten to launch this newest phase of the Nakba, this resolution sends a clear message of opposition to the forced displacement of Palestinians from their homeland.
💡 POLICY ASK: IMEU Policy Project strongly urges Representatives to cosponsor this resolution, H.Res.409.
📖 LEARN MORE: Check out IMEU Policy Project’s policy memo on why Representatives should support this resolution.
📺 WATCH: Check out the IMEU Policy Project’s webinar on the resolution and the history of the ongoing Nakba, featuring Rep. Rashida Tlaib and Profs. Maha Nassar and Ilan Pappe.
⚠️ REPORT: TRUMP ADMINISTRATION CONSIDERING PLAN TO DISPLACE 1 MILLION PALESTINIANS TO LIBYA
According to a report published by NBC News last Friday, the Trump administration is considering a plan to permanently displace 1 million Palestinians to Libya and has discussed this plan with Libyan officials. While State Department officials have denied the existence of the plan, it would fit into President Donald Trump’s ethnic cleansing proposal for Gaza.
Reports of the Trump administration discussing plans to displace Palestinians outside of Gaza are not new: earlier this year the administration reportedly considered proposals to displace Palestinians to Sudan, Somalia, and a breakaway region of the latter country–Somaliland. After President Trump initially proposed the forced displacement of Palestinians from Gaza during a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu earlier this year, he suggested displacing Palestinians to Jordan and Egypt.
Any forced displacement of Palestinians outside of Gaza would be a violation of international law, whether it is committed by the Trump administration or Israel. Israeli ministers, including Prime Minister Netanyahu himself, have repeatedly vowed to implement President Trump’s ethnic cleansing proposal.
❌ 29 SENATORS DEMAND END TO ISRAEL’S STARVATION OF PALESTINIANS IN GAZA
Last week nearly 30 senators, led by Sen. Peter Welch, introduced a resolution in response to Israel’s blockade on humanitarian aid entering Gaza. The resolution identifies the dwindling food supplies in Gaza caused by the blockade and calls on the Trump administration to use diplomatic tools to end it.
For more than 2 months, Israel has obstructed the entry of all humanitarian aid from entering Gaza with the support of the Trump administration. At least 57 Palestinians have died of starvation, and more than 9,000 children were treated for malnutrition during the first four months of 2025.
As Israel continues to starve Palestinians in Gaza with the support of the Trump administration, Senators are sending a clear message of opposition to Israel’s blockade of humanitarian aid. It is crucial that members of Congress continue to speak out against Israel’s starvation policy as Palestinians face famine as a result of the blockade.
PALESTINE/ISRAEL DEVELOPMENTS
🚨 ISRAEL LAUNCHES LATEST PHASE OF DISPLACEMENT CAMPAIGN AFTER DAYS OF INTENSE BOMBING
Israel began its large-scale invasion of Gaza to seize control of the territory and displace Palestinians last Friday. Israel’s plan calls for it to seize all of Gaza and to permanently control it through violent military rule. It calls for the Israeli military to destroy all infrastructure, essentially flattening the remaining buildings in Gaza, and to concentrate all 2 million people in the south of the territory near the border with Egypt.
This plan is a potential prelude to Israel’s long-standing plans to forcibly transfer Palestinians from Gaza, possibly by pushing them into Egypt. Since the launch of the invasion, both Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich have confirmed Israel’s intention to violently seize all of Gaza and expel Palestinians from there.
Last week, before Israel launched its invasion, it escalated its bombing campaign across Gaza, killing hundreds of Palestinians in dozens of attacks across the territory. According to the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza, more than 53,000 Palestinians have been directly killed by Israeli attacks since October 2023. The Israeli human rights NGO B’Tselem said that “Israel is carrying out a deliberate, systematic campaign of ethnic cleansing” in response to Israel’s killing of 600 Palestinians since Wednesday.
🔑 KEY TAKEAWAY: Speaking about Israel’s escalation of bombing before its invasion of Gaza, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk identified Israel’s actions as part of its ethnic cleansing campaign: “This latest barrage of bombs, forcing people to move amid the threat of intensified attacks, the methodical destruction of entire neighborhoods, and the denial of humanitarian assistance underline that there appears to be a push for a permanent demographic shift in Gaza that is in defiance of international law and is tantamount to ethnic cleansing.”
Last Tuesday, Israel attacked Nasser Hospital and the European Hospital, both in southern Gaza, in separate attacks. Israel’s strike on Nasser Hospital targeted Palestinian photojournalist Hassan Islayeh, who was recovering from injuries sustained during an Israeli strike on a media tent near Nasser Hospital in April. Horrifying video of Palestinian journalist Ahmed Mansour burning alive in the aftermath of that strike went viral. Mansour later died from his injuries.
On the same day that Israel struck Nasser Hospital, it also struck the Gaza European Hospital, presumably with 2,000-pound bombs provided by the Trump administration, killing 28 Palestinians. This attack shut down the hospital, including Gaza’s last facility providing cancer treatment, depriving 10,000 Palestinians of crucial cancer treatment.
Israel dropped nine of these US-provided bombs onto the courtyard of the European Hospital, creating deep craters that buried vehicles across the hospital compound. Attacks on medical facilities are a violation of international law, and the use of US-provided weapons in such attacks would violate US law governing weapons transfers.
Israel’s attacks on hospitals continued throughout the week: Israeli soldiers reportedly laid siege to the Indonesian Hospital in northern Gaza yesterday and effectively forced it out of service by blocking patients and staff from arriving at the hospital. With this effective shut down, the Palestinian Ministry of Health announced that all public hospitals in northern Gaza are out of service.
🍎 REPORT: ISRAELI BLOCKADE OF AID PUTS PALESTINIANS IN GAZA ON THE BRINK OF STARVATION
Last week, a report found that Palestinians in Gaza are at a “critical risk of famine” over the next few months as Israel’s blockade of humanitarian aid entering Gaza continues and Israel threatens to carry out its ethnic cleansing plans through an invasion of the territory. The report, published by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, also said that one in five Palestinians in Gaza–half a million people–are at risk of starvation, and that three-quarters of Palestinians overall are projected to deal with emergency or catastrophic levels of food insecurity.
The report also found that more than 70,000 Palestinian children under the age of five are projected to struggle with malnutrition by next March if current conditions continue. More than 14,000 of these children are projected to struggle with severe malnutrition, and more than 17,000 pregnant and breastfeeding mothers will require treatment for malnutrition. This could be catastrophic as Palestinians in Gaza suffer from Israel’s destruction of their healthcare system.
Over the last month, the report found that approximately 250,000 Palestinians are already living with the most severe level of food insecurity before famine, known as catastrophic food insecurity. This is characterized by an “extreme lack of food” and an inability to meet other basic needs. Starvation and death are also present in this phase. Nearly half of all Palestinians are in the next highest level of food insecurity, which is marked by acute malnutrition and excess death. One-third of Palestinians in Gaza are resorting to selling garbage for food and many more are resorting to other extreme coping mechanisms.
The report makes clear that the Israeli blockade of aid entering Gaza is the reason behind the reversal of the alleviation of hunger that was observed during the ceasefire. It also called Israel’s announced aid plan, backed by the Trump administration, highly insufficient to meet the needs of Palestinians and said that it could create significant access barriers for large parts of the population.
Before Israel broke the ceasefire on March 18, it began its blockade on the entry of aid to Gaza on March 2. It has been more than 2 months since any aid–including food, fuel, medical supplies, and more–has entered Gaza. In late March, the World Food Programme was forced to close all 25 of its bakeries in Gaza because of its inability to supply them with flour and fuel. On April 25, the agency announced that it had run out of food in Gaza. Other aid groups have also run out of food that they stockpiled during the ceasefire and meal kitchens have been forced to close.
The use of starvation as a method of warfare is a war crime. Since they started the blockade, Israeli officials have made it clear on many occasions that Israel is using this blockade on aid as a part of its broader genocide of Palestinians in Gaza and to extract concessions in any further ceasefire negotiations. This is illegal under international law, and is a clear violation of Section 620I of the Foreign Assistance Act, which necessitates an immediate halt to the transfer of weapons to a country in response to the obstruction of humanitarian aid.
The urgency of the situation in Gaza is startlingly clear, and without action it will continue to worsen. Members of Congress can meet the urgency of this moment by exercising their oversight authority over weapons transfers and halting weapons shipments to Israel.
Photo: Anas-Mohammed, via Shutterstock. Stock Photo ID: 2616478627