PALESTINE’S LEGAL SCENE – Issue.273

Your weekly survey of the most important publications and activities related to Palestine and law, from local and international sources

23-29 March 2025

Issued every Sunday by Law for Palestine

Prepared by: Razwan Issa, Nour Kharouf, Arwa Abdel Moniam, Kamal Abdulkarim, Murad Abu Murad

Translation: Maisaa Abdelqader and Ferdous Abdul Hamid

Editing: Ihsan Adel

This weekly report reviews the legal dynamics of the Palestine question, and everything related to international law and Palestine. The report includes an account of the most important publications, activities and conferences related to Palestine at the local, regional, international levels. The report further covers decisions, decrees, and judicial orders affecting the Palestinian cause, whether made at the official, academic or public levels. The report aims to be a reference for monitoring, documenting and archiving the latest human rights developments related to Palestine, and to present them to individuals, researchers, study centers, and official, academic and legal institutions concerned.

To view this Issue of Palestine’s Legal Scene, please click here (5 minutes read)

Judicial decrees, decisions, positions, and orders issued by official Palestinian bodies

• Mu’ayyad Shaa’ban, head of the Colonization and Wall Resistance Commission, revealed that Israel has recognized 13 colonial neighborhoods as official settlements, further entrenching settler colonialism. He urged international action, while the Palestinian Foreign Ministry condemned the move as a step toward annexation. (March 23, 2025)..
• The Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Palestinian National Council denounced Israel’s creation of a military administration to facilitate forced displacement from Gaza. They urged the ICC to prosecute those responsible and called for international protection. (March 23/25, 2025)
• The Commission of Detainees and the Palestinian Prisoners’ Society reported new Israeli prison rules requiring lawyers to wear bracelets displaying the prison’s name, Israeli flag, and “visitor.” They warned of increasing legal barriers and the enforced disappearance of hundreds of Gaza detainees. With family and Red Cross visits suspended, legal teams remain detainees’ only link to the outside world. (March 23, 2025)
• On the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, the PLO’s Anti-Apartheid Department urged the world to denounce Israel’s systemic racism. (March 23, 2025)
• On World Water Day, President Mahmoud Abbas reaffirmed that Israel’s use of water as a tool of coercion and collective punishment is a long-standing, systematic policy. The Palestinian Water Minister called on the UN to intervene, citing that 85% of Gaza’s water and sanitation facilities are out of service, urging the international community to pressure Israel to end its policy of starvation and deprivation. (March 23-24, 2025)
• The Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs warned of the grave dangers posed by Israel’s expanded military incursion into the Gaza Strip, describing it as an escalation of genocide and forced displacement against the Palestinian people. It also warned of intensified ethnic cleansing in the West Bank. Prime Minister Mohammad Mustafa called for Israel to be held accountable. (March 24, 2025)
• The Civil Affairs Authority reported the death of 17-year-old detainee Walid Khaled Abdullah Ahmed in Israel’s Megiddo Prison. The Detainees’ Commission called it a crime amid rising deaths due to torture and starvation and urged sanctions to end Israel’s impunity. The head of the Commission for Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs warned of the deteriorating conditions faced by minor prisoners in Megiddo Prison and urged child rights organizations and the World Health Organization to take immediate action to protect detained minors. (March 25, 2025)
• The Foreign Ministry denounced Israeli massacres in Gaza, including the execution of civil defense teams, medics, and journalists in Rafah, urging a UN investigation. It also condemned armed settler violence in Masafer Yatta, under the protection and supervision of the Israeli army. It also warned against Israel’s targeting of the institutions of the State of Palestine, considering the Israeli Ministry of Regional Cooperation’s move to halt its engagement with Palestinian institutions as part of a broader aggression. (March 28, 2025)
• Ahmed Abu Holi, head of the PLO’s Refugee Affairs Department, urged the UN to reverse its decision to withdraw staff from Gaza and the West Bank, stressing their role in protecting civilians and documenting Israeli crimes. (March 28, 2025)
• Mu’ayyad Sha’ban, head of the Colonization and Wall Resistance Commission, reported that since October 7, 2023, Israel has seized over 52,000 dunams of Palestinian land, issued 13 military orders for buffer zones, and established 60 new settlement outposts. (March 29, 2025)

Judicial decrees, decisions, positions, and orders issued by official Israeli bodies

• Israel’s security cabinet approved a proposal by Defense Minister Israel Katz to establish a new administration within the Defense Ministry aimed at facilitating the “voluntary” departure of Palestinians from the Gaza Strip. (March 23, 2025)
• The security cabinet approved a decision to separate 13 so-called “neighborhoods” of existing West Bank settlements from their parent settlements, effectively turning them into 13 independent settlements. Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich described this move as a significant step toward achieving “de facto [Israeli] sovereignty” over the West Bank (March 23, 2025)
• The Israeli Knesset’s Constitution, Law, and Justice Committee approved an amendment to the Legislation (Judea and Samaria) Bill for 2024, which mandates replacing the term “West Bank” with “Judea and Samaria” in all Israeli legislation. (March 24, 2025)
• Israel’s Supreme Court unanimously rejected a petition demanding that the government refrain from cutting off humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip. The court ruled that Israel is acting in accordance with the directives of its political leadership and its obligations under both Israeli and international law, claiming that the law of belligerent occupation does not apply to Israel. Rights organizations that filed the petition expressed disappointment, arguing that the ruling amounts to unconditional support for the Israeli government, contradicting a broad international consensus. They warned that the decision effectively grants Israel a green light to continue committing war crimes and harming civilians in Gaza. (March 27, 2025).

Judicial decrees, decisions, positions, and orders issued by Arab, European, and international bodies

• The Arab-Islamic Ministerial Committee met in Cairo with the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, H.E. Kaja Kallas, to discuss recent developments in the Occupied Palestinian Territory. Both parties expressed grave concern over the breakdown of the ceasefire in Gaza, condemning the resumption of hostilities and the targeting of civilians and civilian infrastructure. They called for the full implementation of the ceasefire agreement, including the release of all hostages and a permanent end to hostilities. (March 23, 2025)
• Pope Francis expressed deep sorrow over the resumption of heavy Israeli bombardment in the Gaza Strip, calling for an immediate end to the violence. He urged the international community to support renewed dialogue to secure the release of all hostages and achieve a final ceasefire. (March 23, 2025)
• The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) warned that over one million people in Gaza could soon be left without food aid. It reported that 124,000 people had been displaced within days following Israel’s decision to end the ceasefire. UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini stated that Israeli authorities had blocked the entry of humanitarian supplies into Gaza for the past three weeks, imposing a siege even tighter than during the initial phase of the war. He stressed that withholding aid constitutes collective punishment against Gaza’s population. (March 23, 2025)
• The Jordanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates condemned Israel’s establishment of a special agency aimed at facilitating the so-called “voluntary departure” of Palestinians from Gaza. This coincided with Israel’s approval of the separation of 13 illegal settlement outposts in the West Bank in preparation for their formal recognition as settlements. The foreign ministries of Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Egypt also issued similar condemnations. (March 23-24, 2025)
• The Arab Parliament, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) denounced Israel’s decision to separate 13 illegal outposts in the West Bank as a step toward their formal recognition as settlements. Meanwhile, the OIC issued a strong condemnation of Israel’s establishment of an agency to facilitate the “voluntary departure” of Palestinians, reiterating its absolute rejection of all forms of forced displacement. (March 23–25, 2025)
• The Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO) condemned the attack on the Nasser Medical Complex, which severely damaged the surgical ward, killed two people, and injured eight others. The strike also destroyed 35 in-patient beds, further straining an already overwhelmed healthcare system. He reaffirmed that healthcare facilities must be protected and must not be militarized or targeted. (March 24, 2025)
• The United Nations announced the withdrawal of approximately one-third of its international staff from Gaza following repeated Israeli strikes on its facilities. The latest incident involved an Israeli tank shell hitting a U.N. compound in the Deir al-Balah neighborhood, killing a Bulgarian staff member and injuring six others. U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres clarified that “The U.N. is not leaving Gaza” and reaffirmed the organization’s commitment to providing lifesaving aid. (March 24, 2025)
• The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) warned of the rapid deterioration of humanitarian conditions in Gaza as intense hostilities entered their second week. It emphasized that essential supplies were critically low, with some expected to run out within days unless humanitarian aid deliveries resumed. (March 25, 2025)
• France condemned the escalating violence perpetrated by Israeli settlers against Palestinian communities across the West Bank, particularly in Masafer Yatta and Susiya. Paris called on Israeli authorities to hold the perpetrators accountable and to ensure the protection of Palestinian civilians. France also denounced the attack on filmmaker Hamdan Ballal, co-director of No Other Land, and reaffirmed its opposition to settlement expansion, which it considers a violation of international law, citing the International Court of Justice’s July 19th Advisory Opinion. France also imposed sanctions on extremist settlers responsible for violence against Palestinian civilians. (March 25, 2025)
• During a phone call with Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, King Abdullah II of Jordan urged intensified international efforts to immediately halt Israeli attacks on Gaza. The King reaffirmed Jordan’s absolute rejection of any attempts to forcibly displace Palestinians from Gaza and the West Bank, stressing that lasting peace and stability in the region can only be achieved through a just resolution of the Palestinian cause based on the two-state solution. (March 25, 2025)
• Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel warned that Israel continues to commit crimes against the Palestinian people in Gaza with impunity, under the protection of the United States. (March 25, 2025)
• The United Nations warned that the ongoing blockade on Gaza is endangering the lives of women and newborns, exacerbating shortages of medicine and medical equipment amid continued attacks on hospitals. Reports indicate increasing malnutrition rates among pregnant women, while several hospitals have been forced to halt full operations due to relentless bombardment. (March 25, 2025)
• The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) highlighted the devastating impact of Israel’s ongoing bombardment, daily evacuation orders, and blockade on more than two million people in Gaza. UN spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric stated that everything in Gaza is running out, supplies, time, and life. He noted that evacuation orders in just one week have affected 17% of Gaza’s territory, displacing 142,000 people. (March 26, 2025)
• UNRWA reported that resumed Israeli airstrikes across Gaza have resulted in hundreds of deaths, including over 180 children reportedly killed in a single day. Bodies remain trapped under the rubble of destroyed buildings, while doctors describe their inability to save the wounded due to a severe lack of medical resources. The agency renewed its call for an immediate ceasefire. (March 26, 2025)
• German Foreign Ministry spokesperson Christian Wagner described the situation in Gaza as “catastrophic, extremely dangerous, and extremely difficult” for civilians and journalists alike, emphasizing the urgent need for a change in circumstances. Wagner stressed that attacks on journalists are unjustifiable and must be prevented. (March 26, 2025)
• According to a Hebrew media report, Israel has initiated a pilot program to encourage the voluntary migration of Palestinians from Gaza, with an initial group of 100 Gazans set to fly to Indonesia for work. The report claims that Israel hopes to expand the program if successful, aiming to facilitate the migration of thousands more. However, Indonesia has categorically denied the existence of such an agreement. (March 26, 2025)
• The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) warned that hundreds of thousands of people in Gaza are once again at risk of severe hunger and malnutrition as humanitarian food stocks in the Strip dwindle and borders remain closed to aid. No food supplies have entered Gaza for over three weeks. The organization added that the escalation of military operations in the territory is severely disrupting the delivery of food assistance and putting the lives of aid workers at daily risk. (27 March 2025)
• UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini warned that Gaza has gone without humanitarian aid for over three weeks, marking the longest period without supplies since the war began. Lazzarini also referenced the killing of eight Agency members by Israeli fire, expressing concern over the growing risk of hunger and disease. He reported that more than 500 people have been killed, making this the deadliest period in the past year and a half. (March 28, 2025)
• UN Human Rights Office spokesperson Thameen Al-Kheetan expressed deep concern about the shrinking space for civilians in Gaza, who are being forcibly displaced by the Israeli army from large areas of the territory since the resumption of military operations on March 18. He clarified that more than half of northern Gaza is affected by these evacuation orders, while tens of thousands of Palestinians are reportedly trapped in Khan Younis and Rafah. Al-Kheetan stressed that these evacuations violate international humanitarian law, as Israel has not provided accommodation for those displaced. The spokesperson called for an immediate ceasefire, the lifting of the Israeli blockade on humanitarian aid, and an end to actions amounting to the forcible transfer of Gaza’s population. (March 28, 2025)

Publications of human rights NGOs

• Peace Now stated that the Israeli government’s decision to seperate 13 settlements in the West Bank, considering them independent settlements, increases the number of officially recognized settlements to 140, up from 127. The movement noted that this move exposes Israel’s long-standing claim that it does not establish new settlements but only “neighborhoods” within existing settlements. Establishing independent settlements, Peace Now argued, implicitly acknowledges war crimes. (March 23, 2025)
• On World Water Day, Al-Haq published an article titled “Deprivation of Water and destruction of water installations are tools of Israel’s Genocide against the Palestinian people.” The report addressed Israel’s deliberate actions to create conditions intended to destroy the Palestinian people, including cutting off water supplies to Gaza, imposing an electricity blackout, and preventing the construction of sewage treatment plants by blocking materials needed for their construction, labeling them as “dual-use.” Al-Haq called on the international community to pressure Israel to lift its blockade, dismantle its occupation, hold Israeli officials accountable for weaponizing water, and impose sanctions on Israel. (March 24, 2025)
• Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) strongly condemned Israel’s strike on Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis on March 23, describing the attack as a total disregard for the protection of medical facilities, which endangered patients, medical staff, and the provision of healthcare. MSF stated that Gaza’s healthcare system had fully collapsed amid the escalation of Israeli military operations, with no hospital in Gaza currently fully operational. MSF also warned of a looming water crisis as Israeli authorities blocked access to water by cutting electricity and fuel, disrupting the water system. The organization raised concerns over the mass displacement of people in northern parts of the West Bank, where over 40,000 Palestinians from Jenin, Tulkarem, and Nur Shams camps have been left homeless or without essential services. (March 24-25, 2025)
• The Egyptian Journalists Syndicate condemned the Israeli occupation’s crime resulting in the deaths of journalists Mohammad Mansour (Palestine Today) and Hossam Shobbat (Al Jazeera Mubasher), calling it a war crime aimed at silencing the truth. The Palestinian Journalists Syndicate urged the UN, ICC, and human rights organizations to hold Israel accountable and impose sanctions. Drop Site News condemned the attack, highlighting that over 200 Palestinian journalists have been killed since 2023, and criticized Western media’s silence on these crimes.
• The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights asserted that Israeli forces continue to target journalists in an attempt to obscure the truth and eliminate witnesses to the genocide. The Centre emphasized the legal protection granted to journalists under international law and called on the international community to fulfill its legal and moral responsibilities by taking urgent measures to ensure their protection. (24 March 2025)
• In a position paper titled “Gaza’s Healthcare Collapse: The Obstruction of Medical Evacuations from Gaza”, Physicians for Human Rights warned of the catastrophic consequences of the renewed Israeli assault and the ongoing closure of the Rafah crossing. The organization called for the immediate opening of humanitarian corridors to transfer patients to the West Bank and East Jerusalem, as well as for an end to the war. (24 March 2025)
• Peace Now stated that the Israeli Higher Planning Council has approved more construction plans in the past three months than in all of 2024. Following the election of President Trump in November 2024, the rate of plan approvals surged, with the Higher Planning Council transitioning from quarterly to weekly meetings, allowing hundreds of housing units to be approved at once. (March 24, 2025)
• An investigation by Investico, in collaboration with the Nederlands Dagblad and BOOS, revealed that the Dutch foundation Israel Heartland, which raises donations for Jewish settlers in the West Bank, finances the purchase of weapons. (March 23, 2025)
• The Palestine Red Crescent Society condemned the Israeli occupation forces’ siege and targeting of four ambulances and ten of their crews while they were carrying out their humanitarian duties in Rafah. The Society held the occupation fully responsible for the fate of the personnel, whose whereabouts remain unknown. (March 24, 2025)
• In a press release titled “ Israel’s siege and new airstrikes are cutting the lifeline to Gaza”, the Norwegian Refugee Council stressed that the reimposition of a total siege and the resumption of Israeli hostilities in Gaza exacerbated the humanitarian crisis. The council warned of food shortages, hospital disruptions, and a lack of clean water, pointing to an imminent catastrophe. (March 25, 2025)
• Al Mezan Center for Human Rights reported that an Israeli court upheld the detention order of Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya, the director of Kamal Adwan Hospital, for six months under the Unlawful Combatants Law. This law allows Israeli authorities to detain Palestinian residents of Gaza without charge or fair trial, circumventing basic protections under international law. The court has not disclosed the charges or the purported secret evidence, effectively denying the defense an opportunity to contest the allegations. (March 25, 2025)
• A group of legal jurists in Spain has proposed that the Spanish government take measures against Israel, including implementing a real and effective arms embargo, imposing trade and economic sanctions, and suspending diplomatic, political, and cultural relations. The proposal has been signed by over a thousand prosecutors, judges, lawyers, law professors, and other individuals, as well as nearly 40 associations. (March 25, 2025)
• A coalition of ten Palestinian and Dutch civil society organizations has filed a legal appeal against the ruling of the District Court of The Hague, which dismissed the coalition’s lawsuit regarding Dutch arms exports to Israel. The coalition has called on the Dutch judiciary to enforce international law, align the state’s actions with its legal obligations, suspend active arms export licenses to Israel, and prevent trade relationships between Dutch companies and unlawful Israeli settlements. (March 25, 2025)
• The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) issued a report titled: “Severed Bodies , Shatterd Souls : Women in Gaza Victims of Genocide”. The report highlights widespread amputations among women caused by Israeli military aggression, resulting in both bodily harm and profound psychological pain amid a devastated healthcare system and an ongoing Israeli siege. (March 26, 2025)
• The Harvard chapter of the American Association of University Professors filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration for allegedly violating its members’ First Amendment rights by arresting and attempting to deport noncitizens for expressing pro-Palestine views. (March 26, 2025)
• The Palestinian Non-Governmental Organizations Network (PNGOs) expressed its shock at the UN Secretary-General’s decision to reduce the number of UN employees in the Gaza Strip, while the Israeli occupation continues to commit widespread war crimes and crimes against humanity. PNGOs has called on the United Nations to reverse this decision. (March 27, 2025)
• Harvard School of Public Health suspended its research partnership with Birzeit University in the West Bank and dismissed the faculty leaders of the Center for Middle Eastern Studies following criticisms of the center’s programming on Israel and Palestine. (March 27–29, 2025)
• The Palestinian Human Rights Organizations Council (PHROC) urged the UN Special Advisers Ms. Virginia Gamba and Ms. Mô Bleeker to provide more considered and concrete recommendations, using all available means to stop the genocide in Gaza. (March 27, 2025)
• Over 200 Human Rights Organisations urge the government of South Africa to return to the International Court of Justice for Provisional Measures. (28 March 2025)

Research and academic studies (in Arabic and English):

• Law and Justice Review published a research article by Oğuzhan Öztürk titled, “A Decolonial Analysis Of Israel’s Actions In The Occupied Palestinian Territories” (2025)

Opinion Pieces and features

• The Jordan Times published an article by Amer Al Sabaileh titled: “Phase two of the conflict: Objectives in Gaza and beyond?” (March 24, 2025)
• The Institute for Palestinian Studies published an article by Maher Charif titled: “What to Expect After the Resumption of Israel’s War on Gaza?” (24 March 2025)
• Arab News published an article by Ramzy Baroud titled: “Ben-Gvir, Netanyahu and Israel’s deadly dance of power.” (March 24, 2025)
• Middle East Eye published an opinion piece by Jonathon Cook titled, “The new fascism: Israel is the template for Trump and Europe’s war on freedom” (March 24, 2025)
• Al Jazeera published a report titled: “A timeline of Israel’s weaponisation of aid to Gaza.” (25 March 2025)
• Mondoweiss published an opinion piece by Ahmad Abbsais titled: “How Western media silence enables the killing of Palestinian journalists.” (25 March 2025)
• WAFA News Agency published an article by Israa Ghorani titled: “Restructuring the Colonial Framework in West Bank Governance: New Realities for Implementing Annexation.” (March 26, 2025)
• The Nation published an article by Grant Miner titled: “Columbia Expelled Me for My Palestine Activism, but I Won’t Be Silenced.” (26 March 2025)
• Institute For Palestinian Studies published an article Moayad Taneenah titled: “What Does Colonial Israel See in Its Dropping Leaflets That We Do Not?” ( March 27, 2025)
• Al Jazeera published a report titled: “Who are the students Trump wants to deport?” (27 March 2025)
• Drop Site published an article by Amil Ghotatfi titled: “The Target is Unmistakable”: The Shooting of Gaza’s Children” (27 March 2025)
• Al Jazeera published a report by Matt Nashed titled: “The many ways Israeli settlers steal Palestinian homes.” (28 March 2025)

Legal Achievements/Impacts for Palestine

• Oxford City Council voted unanimously to cut ties with companies involved in supporting genocide, military occupation and apartheid regime by Israel. ( March 25, 2025)

Upcoming human rights opportunities and events

• The UN Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People (CEIRPP) announced that it will hold its 422nd meeting on Thursday, 3rd April. The meeting will include briefings on the situation in the occupied Palestinian Territory, as well as the screening of excerpts from the Oscar-winning documentary “No Other Land,” in the presence of Palestinian co-Director Basel Adra. The meeting will be broadcast live via UN Web TV [Here].