Thirty-nine Palestinians were released from Israeli prisons on Friday, as aid trickles back into Gaza amid calls for a full-fledged ceasefire to address the full scope of humanitarian devastation. Spain, Belgium, and the UK have strong words for Israel.

The Israeli military has admitted its policy of punitive demolitions does not work as a deterrent measure, and human rights groups have declared the policy violates international law. So, why does Israel continue doing it?

If the Nakba was the catastrophe that laid the foundation for Israel’s settler colonial state, the Naksa was the defeat that finished the job, setting off a chain of events that has come to define the reality on the ground in occupied Palestine over the past 56 years. 

Armed with assault rifles and other weapons, thousands of Israeli settlers took over the streets of the northern occupied West Bank this week to declare: this land belongs to us and we want all of it. 

Palestinian armed confrontation continues to spread across the West Bank, while the Israeli settler movement, backed by hardline extremists in government, push for more settlements.

The New York Times barely mentions that the latest settler rampage in Huwwara was a state-sponsored pogrom, presided over by the Israeli army. They don’t want to destroy the two-state illusion.

Hamza Ashqar, 16, reportedly threw a piece of metal towards the army vehicles almost 100 feet away, when an Israeli soldier fired two fatal shots at him from inside one of the vehicles.

The military assault on the refugee camp in Jericho came after a week-long manhunt for armed fighters that had allegedly been responsible for shooting at a restaurant in the illegal settlement of Almog near Jericho on January 29th, while successfully withdrawing from the scene, evading arrest.

Two Palestinians were shot and killed by Israeli forces in separate events in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem. Israeli forces shot and killed 20-year-old Aref Lahlouh was shot and killed near the city of Qalqilya in the West Bank, claiming that he attempted to stab soldiers. 17-year-old Mohammad Ali was killed during confrontations in the Shu’fat refugee camp.

Adam Ayyad, 15, was shot and killed by Israeli forces during a raid on the Dheisheh refugee camp in the occupied West Bank city of Bethlehem. Ayyad is the third Palestinian killed by the Israeli army in 24 hours, and the first Palestinian child killed in 2023.

In his final handwritten will, Ayyad left behind a message to the world:

“Martyrdom is the end. It’s true that your life ends, but it ends with your happiness, and I want to send this message to the entire world, like [Ibrahim] al-Nabulsi said: ‘I just wish that the people will wake up.’ 
And now I’m telling you all, set your compass and point it towards the occupation.”