Trump Admin Blocks Palestinian Children from Receiving Medical Care | Palestine Policy Roundup 08.18.25
Welcome to the Palestine Policy Roundup, a weekly publication of the IMEU Policy Project.
👀 ICYMI: MEMBERS OF CONGRESS SPEAK OUT
Rep. Summer Lee: “Israel’s efforts to expand its occupation in Gaza mean further displacement and destruction for the Palestinians they are starving to death. This has always been the plan, and the U.S. has been complicit in this ethnic cleansing using billions of taxpayer dollars.”
Rep. Pramila Jayapal: “The Israeli military has killed more than 200 journalists and media workers. The latest strike killed 5 journalists including a prominent Al Jazeera journalist. The US must stop providing weapons for this genocide.”
Rep. Delia Ramirez: “Every member of Congress can act to stop Netanyahu's genocidal campaign and occupation of Gaza. It is time to pass my bill, the Block the Bombs Act, NOW to end the transfer of offensive weapons to Israel and save lives. Not one more bomb, one more dollar, or one more excuse for Netanyahu’s atrocities.”
Rep. Don Beyer, in response to reports of Israel’s approval of more illegal settlements: “This move, on top of civilian starvation and killing in Gaza and a disastrous Gaza City attack plan, are proof of the Israeli government's hostility to peaceful coexistence with Palestinians. I cosponsored the Block the Bombs Act in June because we can't support this.”
DC DEVELOPMENTS
⛔ TRUMP ADMINISTRATION HALTS VISAS FOR PALESTINIAN CHILDREN FROM GAZA SEEKING MEDICAL CARE
In a stunning move, the State Department announced on Saturday that it is halting the issuance of visas for Palestinians from Gaza. The announcement specifically cites medical-humanitarian visas, which are often issued to children and some members of their families as they receive medical care for injuries they received as a result of Israel’s genocidal actions in Gaza.
🔑 KEY TAKEAWAY: Palestine Children’s Relief Fund, an organization that helps bring Palestinian children to the US to receive treatment, condemned the move in a statement: “Blocking visa access for the wounded and sick children of Gaza is not merely a bureaucratic measure, it is a denial of their most basic right to access medical care. It contradicts the principles of humanitarian action and medical neutrality, and further isolates the most vulnerable at their time of greatest need…Medical evacuations are a lifeline for the children of Gaza who would otherwise face unimaginable suffering or death due to the collapse of medical infrastructure in Gaza. PCRF will never abandon its commitment to the children of Palestine.”
According to UNICEF, as of July, more than 33,000 Palestinian children in Gaza have been injured by Israel’s atrocities in Gaza and more than 17,000 have been killed.
These children and their families cannot receive the medical care they need in Gaza as Israel has decimated the health care system. As Israel continues to target medical facilities, abduct and kill medical workers, and obstruct and restrict the delivery of humanitarian aid–including crucial medical equipment, fuel, and medicine–last week the World Health Organization warned that hospitals in Gaza are overwhelmed and running out of medicines.
This move by the Trump administration is only the latest instance of anti-Palestinian racism that pervades the extremist MAGA agenda. Members of Congress should speak out against this racist attack and push the State Department to reverse this inhumane ban.
✅ DEMOCRATIC ELECTEDS, PRESIDENTIAL HOPEFULS CATCHING UP WITH PARTY BASE ON BLOCKING WEAPONS TO ISRAEL
More Democratic members of Congress and potential 2028 presidential candidates now support blocking weapons to Israel in response to its genocidal atrocities in Gaza, its starvation of Palestinians, and its threats to carry out its campaign of ethnic cleansing and forced deportation of Palestinians from Gaza.
Last week, Rep. Paul Tonko and Rep. Mike Thompson cosponsored the Block the Bombs Act, raising to seven the number of cosponsors during the month of August. During the week before last, five members of Congress cosponsored the bill. It now has 33 cosponsors total. Relatedly, Rep. Katherine Clark called Israel’s assault on Gaza a genocide and became the highest-ranking House Democratic official to do so.
As momentum for the Block the Bombs Act increases, other members of Congress and potential presidential candidates are also catching up to the party base, which poll after poll demonstrates overwhelmingly wants to block weapons to Israel.
After missing the vote on Joint Resolutions of Disapproval to block certain weapons deliveries to Israel forced by Sen. Bernie Sanders, Sen. Ruben Gallego, for the first time, indicated at a town hall in Iowa that he is looking at conditioning weapons to Israel–especially if Israel carries out its threat to violently occupy Gaza. The majority of Democratic Senators voted for those JRDs.
Former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg told Politico last week that he would have voted for Sen. Sanders’ JRDs and that he does not support the US entering another carte blanche memorandum of understanding to provide Israel with weapons.
It is becoming clearer to Democratic elected officials and presidential hopefuls that opposing Palestinian rights has become an electoral liability. AIPAC took its likeliest smallest ever Congressional delegation of freshman Democrats to Israel last week, and those who did join received negative press coverage.
The Reject AIPAC coalition–of which IMEU Policy Project is a part–stated last week that members of Congress who AIPAC supported are now calling for an end of weapons to Israel. As its statement says, AIPAC is becoming “a toxic pariah” and its endorsement will be a “political liability” in 2026 and 2028.
💡 POLICY ASK: IMEU Policy Project strongly urges all Representatives to cosponsor the historic Block the Bombs Act to ensure that US laws regarding weapons transfers are upheld.
📖 LEARN MORE Check out IMEU Policy Project’s policy memo on the need for the Block the Bombs Act.
📣 TAKE ACTION: Write to your Representative and urge them to sign on to the Block the Bombs Act, or thank them for signing on!
IN THE NEWS
⚠️ MORE THAN 100 NGOs WARN THAT ISRAEL IS RESTRICTING THEIR ABILITY TO DELIVER AID TO PALESTINIANS IN GAZA
Last week, more than 100 NGOs released a joint statement highlighting Israel’s continued obstruction of aid as Palestinians continue to starve to death as a result of its near-total blockade. The NGOs reported that most of them have not been able to deliver humanitarian aid to Gaza since March 2–when Israel began its blockade. In July, at least 60 requests for the delivery of aid were denied by Israel.
The NGOs report that these denials are tied to Israeli restrictions that are meant to censor reporting of the humanitarian situation in Gaza and silence advocacy. In March, Israel introduced NGO registration restrictions that effectively allow it to deny registration on vague and politicized criteria.
The new restrictions would also require organizations to submit details about private donors and disclose lists of Palestinian staff. This is not only unlawful, but could also put Palestinian staff at risk of being targeted by Israel.
These are far from the only restrictions imposed by the Israeli government on humanitarian aid. According to a report in the Israeli newspaper Haaretz, some more restrictions include: the Israeli military prevents trucks from securing their cargo–which makes it more likely to spill onto the damaged roads and can exacerbate dangerous situations along convoy routes, and complex coordination requirements that are caused by Israel’s closure of the Rafah border.
According to the report, Israeli authorities denied the entry of potatoes into Gaza because of their long shelf life and deemed dates a luxury item. Israel also continues to ban the entry of critical medical equipment that could be used to treat malnutrition caused by Israel’s deliberate and manufactured starvation of Palestinians in Gaza.
Last Tuesday, the foreign ministers of more than two dozen countries called on Israel to lift these restrictions and to facilitate access for the UN, NGOs, and other humanitarian actors. They also called for the protection of humanitarian and medical workers and an end to Israel’s use of lethal force on Palestinians seeking food. Countries represented in the statement include the UK, Australia, Canada, Norway, and more.
As the statement makes clear, these restrictions are designed to assist the US- and Israeli-backed plan to weaponize food by forcing independent organizations out of Gaza and forcing Palestinians to walk for miles and risk death by going to distribution sites operated by the shadowy Gaza Humanitarian Foundation in the south of Gaza. It also warns that this scheme is intended to achieve political and military objectives–like Israel’s well-documented goal of the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians from Gaza.
The NGOs statement ends with a call on states to pressure Israel to end its obstruction of the entry of humanitarian aid into Gaza and to demand that Israel drop its requirement to share personal information of its staff, and the immediate and unconditional opening of all land crossings into Gaza.
PALESTINE/ISRAEL DEVELOPMENTS
🚨 ISRAEL PREPARING TO FORCE ONE MILLION PALESTINIANS TO SOUTHERN GAZA AS IT EXPLORES FORCED DEPORTATION PLANS
On Saturday, the Israeli military announced that it is preparing to forcibly displace more than one million Palestinians from Gaza City as it prepares to invade the area. According to the announcement, Palestinians would be forced to go to southern Gaza but did not name a specific place for them to go to, nor did it say when the forcible displacement would begin.
A military spokesperson also said that tents and other shelter would be allowed into southern Gaza, but did not specify whether they were intended for Palestinians displaced from Gaza City or where they would be distributed. Depending on that information, it seems Israel may weaponize these shelters to force Palestinians to move to southern Gaza.
This announcement came just days after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is wanted for possible war crimes by the International Criminal Court, announced that Israel’s invasion of Gaza would be expanded to Nuseirat and Bureij in central Gaza and Al Mawasi in the south. These areas, along with Gaza City, are some of the only parts of Gaza that are not currently under forced displacement orders or considered military zones.
These announcements are yet more evidence that Israel is preparing for the potential forcible displacement of Palestinians to a ghetto, likely in the ruins of Rafah. This could serve as a prelude to Israel’s long-standing plans for the possible ethnic cleansing and deportation of Palestinians from Gaza, which are also supported by President Donald Trump.
Israel is also reportedly continuing to prepare for its ethnic cleansing plan of Palestinians from their homeland. According to the Associated Press, Israel is discussing the deportation of Palestinians from Gaza with South Sudan. Later last week, CNN reported that Israel is also discussing these plans with Somaliland (a breakaway region of Somalia), Ethiopia, Libya, and Indonesia. According to CNN, these deportations would be in exchange for “significant financial and international compensation.”
These conversations are clearly aimed at facilitating the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians from Gaza for the purpose of Israeli annexation or President Trump’s preposterous plans for the US to take over Gaza. Last month, Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported that Netanyahu was set to propose Israeli annexation of parts of Gaza and that the proposal had the support of the Trump administration.
Members of Congress should not only speak out against this clear plan to violate international law, but should also exercise their oversight authority over weapons transfers and immediately halt weapons to Israel in order to put a stop to this displacement and deportation plan.
✂️ ISRAEL ANNOUNCES NEW ILLEGAL SETTLEMENT CONSTRUCTION THAT DIVIDES WEST BANK IN TWO
Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich announced his intention to approve a new illegal settlement that would divide the West Bank in two and isolate occupied East Jerusalem from the rest of the occupied Palestinian territory.
The illegal E1 settlement would connect occupied East Jerusalem to Maale Adumim, another illegal settlement in the West Bank. This expansionist project was developed in the late 1990s, but US administrations had consistently opposed its construction because of its potential effects on the West Bank. Now, the Trump administration may be allowing it to move forward.
Smotrich said that the approval of this illegal construction is a direct response to the growing number of western countries, such as Canada, the UK, and Australia, vowing to recognize a Palestinian state. The E1 settlement plan would make any future Palestinian state in the West Bank non-contiguous if Israel maintained its illegal settlements there.
Smotrich also said that this approval is intended to advance the de facto annexation of the West Bank by Israel.
In July 2024, the International Court of Justice ruled that Israel’s occupation of the West Bank is illegal and that Israel must immediately cease its settlement activities there. It also found that third states, such as the US, have an obligation not to assist in the maintenance of Israel’s illegal occupation. Last September, NGOs called on states to adhere to the opinion and halt the delivery of weapons to Israel.
Israel’s advancing of the E1 settlement scheme and its threats to annex part or all of the West Bank should disabuse members of Congress about the feasibility of the establishment of a Palestinian state. Members of Congress should be clear: empty words supporting Palestinian statehood are insufficient to affect Israeli settlement and annexation plans.
Members of Congress must impose real consequences on Israel for continuing its illegal settlement construction in the West Bank by supporting ending weapons transfers to Israel.
Photo: Mohammad Bash, via Shutterstock. Stock Photo ID: 2661455567