Hi everyone—welcome to the first installment of my weekly roundup of essential Israel/Palestine stories. The aim is simple: to help those who want to stay informed without drowning in the volume—and sheer horror—of the news. I seem to have taken on the burden of reading everything so you don’t have to. My cross to bear.

Each edition will feature quick-hit summaries of both major developments and overlooked stories, along with standout longread recommendations and the occasional deeper dive. Over time, I’ll also feature interviews and conversations with the writers and subjects of the pieces I highlight, plus others worth hearing from. When relevant, I’ll link to background reading—archival reporting, essays, books, interviews, documents, or anything else that helps make sense of the present. My hope is that the comment section becomes a space to flag what I’ve missed, ask questions, share thoughts, and invite debate. I’ll continue publishing longer essays and reported pieces on an irregular basis.

Alongside the devastation, I’m going to try to include pieces of the joy and humanity that still persist in Palestine—like this video of children playing on the streets in Deir al Balah in Gaza, sent to me by my friend Afeef Nessouli, a Lebanese American humanitarian aid worker currently on the ground. (Question for readers: What is this playground Ferris wheel? Do we have these in America?)

A note on perspective: I’ve never pretended to be a neutral observer. I write from a humanist point of view, which—right now—means speaking plainly about Israel’s war crimes and standing in solidarity with the Palestinian struggle for liberation. But I trust readers know I’m committed to grounding my work in rigorous reporting—my own and others’—and shaping it with convictions I don’t hide, but lay bare for direct engagement.

Lastly, this newsletter will remain free for now. But if you find it valuable, I ask two things: (1) share it widely—forward the email, text the link, and post it on Instagram or Twitter—and (2) consider pledging a paid subscription for the future. Right now, this is a side hustle, but one that requires an enormous amount of time and emotional energy.

PS — If you’ve got a better name for this newsletter, drop it in the comments—The Weekly Reckoning is definitely a placeholder, and I’m afraid Infinite Jaz may have run its course.

(Article Image by Clayton Dalton)

Gaza

The Ceasefire That Wasn’t

Israeli military sources said on Wednesday they were limiting Gaza combat to “create conditions” for a hostage deal with Hamas. That night, the IDF bombed refugee tents in a designated safe zone, killing at least 37 people—mostly children. (Haaretz, BBC)

The next day, Hamas rejected Israel’s offer for a 45-day ceasefire, which would’ve freed 10 hostages and required Hamas to disarm—without guaranteeing an end to the war. With Netanyahu still vowing to fight until Hamas is eradicated, the offer effectively amounted to: Put down your weapons and give up your leverage so we can destroy you without resistance. Hamas’s leadership maintains it is ready to negotiate a permanent ceasefire that would include the release of captives on both sides. (BBC)

Notably, Israeli forces killed 170 Palestinians during the last “ceasefire,” and nearly 1,783 in the month since they unilaterally broke it—including at least 25 people while I was writing this newsletter on Easter Sunday. (Al Jazeera)

Counting the Dead

That brings the total number of Palestinians killed by the IDF in Gaza since October 7 to at least 51,157—including 17,400 children. Gaza’s life expectancy has dropped by 46%. (Al Jazeera)

These numbers don’t include the countless still buried under 50 million tons of rubble—dead or alive—because Israel continues to block heavy machinery, despite a ceasefire deal requiring it. A Sky News report described 15 family members trapped beneath rubble, alive and calling for help for three days. They all died. (Sky News via Drop Site)

Another Journalist Murdered

The IDF killed its 206th journalist in Gaza—Fatima Hassouna, a photojournalist days away from her wedding—along with 10 relatives, including her pregnant sister. Hassouna had said: “If I die, I want a loud death… a timeless image that cannot be buried by time or place.” (Al Jazeera)

Hospitals in Ruins

Emergency physician Clayton Dalton traveled to Gaza in January and offered a harrowing firsthand account of the destroyed healthcare system: amputations without anesthesia, wounds irrigated with pool chlorine, children dying on the floor, and medical equipment methodically shot and destroyed. (The New Yorker)

Israel Justifies

To justify the renewed assault, new IDF Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir claimed Hamas used the last ceasefire to “recruit and train more young people”—another sign that Israeli leadership considers ‘peace’ and ‘Palestinian children’ to be among their gravest threats. (Haaretz)

Regarding the alternative, Defense Minister Israel Katz declared Israeli forces will remain indefinitely in Gaza, Lebanon, and Syria, having already carved out massive “buffer zones” in Gaza. He promised the war would soon escalate “with tremendous force,” alongside a prolonged humanitarian blockade. (Al Jazeera, NY Times)

Katz defended using aid as a tool against Gaza’s population by saying it was “one of the main pressure levers preventing Hamas from using it as a tool with the population” (??). The U.N. says Israel is “driving what is likely the worst humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip since October 2023.” (Middle East Eye, NY Times)

The Israeli Toll

On Saturday, the IDF reported its first combat fatality in Gaza since fighting resumed last month: 35-year-old Arab-Israeli officer G’haleb Sliman Alnasasra, killed by an IED in northern Gaza. Total Israeli military fatalities now stand at 848—about half from October 7. (Haaretz)

The Israeli pro-war consensus is showing cracks, with over 100,000 reservists failing to report—the army’s largest refusal crisis in decades. A Sunday Haaretz editorial reads: “IDF Reservist Letters Calling for War’s End All Miss One Thing – Gazans.” (+972, Haaretz)

The Captives

Hamas says it lost contact with the group holding Israeli-American captive Edan Alexander after a “direct Israeli bombardment” of the area. Israel says 59 captives remain in Gaza, 35 presumed dead. A Netanyahu spokesman said: “Bringing back everyone will bring back Hamas.” (Reuters, Haaretz)

“For every Palestinian freed in the ceasefire deal, Israel apprehended 15 more.” Nearly 10,000 Palestinians are now held in Israeli prisons—400 of them children, and around 3,500 without charge under Administrative Detention. (Al Jazeera, Addameer)

Since October 7, 64 Palestinians have died in Israeli custody, including a 20-year-old who died last week under unknown circumstances, three days before his scheduled release. Elsewhere, Israel released a prisoner with a Star of David shaved into his head. (Middle East Eye)

Rescue Worker Massacre

Israel released the results of its “investigation” into the killing and burial of 15 rescue workers and their ambulances in Gaza, concluding that an “operational misunderstanding” caused by “poor nighttime visibility” led soldiers to fire on the paramedics for seven minutes straight. They admitted failing to “fully report the incident” but denied any executions or cover-up. One officer was dismissed. As I noted last week, of the 573 internal reviews from three major Gaza offensives over the past decade, just one led to a criminal indictment: a rate of 0.17%. (AP)

The Palestine Red Crescent says one of its missing medics is now in Israeli detention. (BBC)

What Remains

Eighty-eight percent of Gaza’s schools and all universities have been damaged or destroyed. Over 645,000 students have been deprived of classrooms; 90,000 university students have had their education disrupted. (Al Jazeera)

Technicians in Gaza are crafting prosthetics from scrap to meet the amputee crisis. In Qatar, a 9-year-old boy who lost both arms to an Israeli drone strike asked, “How do I live like this?” He still dreams of returning to Gaza to help rebuild. (Al Jazeera, Al Jazeera)

After surviving an Israeli airstrike, a lost baby was raised by a displaced family for over a year, until a TV interview led to his reunion with his father. (Al Jazeera)

A Gaza mother of a 13-year-old girl with Down Syndrome recounted a traumatic moment during the war:

“As the sound of a nearby explosion rang out, R. came running—her clothes stained with blood. ‘Her heart was pounding,’ her mother recalled. ‘She clung to me, terrified by the blood on her clothes. She thought she had been injured by the bombing … After the initial panic, I began to realize what had happened,’ her mother said. ‘My daughter had just started her first period. I gasped—how would I explain this to her? Would she understand? How could I manage this difficult moment without the basic supplies or resources?’” (Palestine Chronicle)

News No One Asked For

Israeli startups in the Gaza border region are making a huge comeback! (Haaretz)

The West Bank

Annexation Accelerates

In just the first three months of 2025, plans moved forward for 14,335 new settler homes, surpassing the 9,971 approved in all of 2024. Israel is accelerating its annexation of the West Bank through land grabs and legislation, in what Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich has called the “year of sovereignty in Judea and Samaria.” (Haaretz)

I spoke with the folks at Bad Hasbara about Israel’s use of archaeology legislation to expedite the annexation.

Israeli settlers, accompanied by construction equipment and a military escort, began establishing a new outpost near the Palestinian village of Turmusaya. While all settlements violate international law, outposts are illegal even under Israeli law. (Times of Israel)

Settler Mobs

On Wednesday, hundreds of military-backed Israeli settlers stormed the Al-Aqsa Mosque in occupied East Jerusalem—a provocation echoing the one Hamas named its October 7 attack after: the “Al-Aqsa Flood.” (The New Arab)

Settlers attacked a family near their home in Masafer Yatta on Thursday, beating a teenager and shooting his father, 60-year-old Sa’eed Rabaa, as he rushed to help. Last year, Sa’eed served me tea and cookies in his home before settlers and soldiers arrived to terrorize the village. On Friday, doctors amputated his leg. Both he and his son are being held by Israeli forces. (Salem Al-Adra)

The Other War on Children

The IDF killed two Palestinian teenage cousins it “suspected of throwing stones” and confiscated their bodies—a standard practice in the Occupied Territories. (Times of Israel)

A B’Tselem investigation found that an Israeli sniper killed 14-year-old Ahmad Rasheed Sholi in Sebastia in January for pointing a toy laser from over 300 meters away. The IDF had previously told me he was a “terrorist throwing stones.” (B’Tselem)

Since October 7, Israeli forces have killed 185 children in the West Bank. (B’Tselem)

Easter in Bethlehem

Easter celebrations in Bethlehem, the birthplace of Jesus, were subdued for the second year in a row, as Christian Zionists continue backing Israel’s efforts to steal the land out from under their Palestinian Christian counterparts.

Now Streaming

No Other Land, the Oscar-winning documentary about Israel’s destruction of Masafer Yatta, is streaming for the next three weeks. (Save Masafer Yatta)

The U.S.

Test for Visitors

Foreign applicants for U.S. visas who’ve visited Gaza in the past 18 months will now have their social media screened. (Reuters)

New McCarthyism

Mahmoud Khalil, the first pro-Palestine student activist detained by ICE, penned an op-ed from prison asking what his detention says about democracy in America. Turkish Fulbright scholar Rümeysa Öztürk—snatched off the street by ICE after signing an op-ed opposing the war—was denied bail. The Trump administration has now revoked nearly 1,500 student visas. (Washington Post, Guardian)

Trump officials cribbed language from a November 2023 Columbia University statement describing pro-Palestine protests as “threatening”—language quietly walked back by university leaders—to justify the arrest of Palestinian student activist Mohsen Mahdawi. It’s a reminder that the moral panic around campus protests helped lay the groundwork for Trump’s crackdown long before he took office. (Drop Site News)

Longread of the Week

After Nonviolence: The end of peaceful resistance in Palestine, by Ben Ehrenreich.

Writer Ben Ehrenreich returns to the West Bank—six years since his last visit, ten since he lived there—and reports on a deepening sense of despair, and what it might signal for the future.

Describing Israel’s crackdown on public displays of dissent, he recalls Gaza’s Great March of Return, the mass protest movement in 2018 and 2019, when thousands of civilians gathered near the border fence to demand an end to the blockade and the right of return. Israeli forces killed at least 214 Palestinians and injured more than 36,000. Many were shot in the legs with high-velocity rounds and left permanently disabled.

Back in the present, Ehrenreich meets two older men sitting near a graveyard in Jenin:

The taller man said that his son had been killed in a drone strike on August 28, the first day of that ten-day siege. He was twenty-one years old.

“An ordinary guy,” he said, “with ordinary dreams.” His son had worked as a baker before joining the Jenin Brigade in 2023. The thinner man pushed his phone in front of me to show me a photo of a young man who might have been sleeping except that his face and shirt were covered in blood. I asked the tall man what had led his son to take up arms. Some of his friends had been killed in an air strike in 2021, he said, one of the first to hit the camp since the end of the Second Intifada. He had seen them literally blown to pieces—“like we see in Gaza,” he said. “What effect would you expect that to have on him?” Not long before he joined the brigade, soldiers had raided their house. “They beat me, his father, in front of him. How would you expect a son to react?” Beyond any individual incident, though, the logic, he said, was easy to understand. The camp’s young men had seen enough to believe that they would be killed whether they fought or not. “So they started asking themselves, ‘Why wait for them to kill us?’”

Make of that what you will.

That’s it for the first edition. If you found it valuable, I’d be grateful if you shared it—and if you’re able, consider pledging to become a paid subscriber down the line.

The comments are open for questions, suggestions, reflections, newsletter name ideas, or anything else on your mind.