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By CIVICUS
Aug 15 2025 (IPS)

CIVICUS speaks with a West Bank-based Palestinian activist about her family members currently enduring the war in Gaza. She has asked to remain anonymous for security reasons.

Israel’s war on Gaza has killed over 60,000 people and displaced more than two million. The Israeli government’s prolonged obstruction of humanitarian aid has now pushed people to starvation. Although people worldwide have protested in solidarity with Gazans, many states have failed to act or continue to support Israel. Civil society continues to play a crucial role in documenting human rights violations despite facing criminalisation and persecution.

What was life like in Gaza before the current war?

Before the war began following Hamas’s 7 October attack, life in Gaza embodied resilience, vitality and unwavering hope, even as the area had been deeply scarred by years of Israeli blockade and hardship. Economic and living conditions were precarious, characterised by high unemployment – particularly among young people – and heavy reliance on humanitarian aid and UNRWA, the United Nations refugee agency for Palestinians.

Though many families lived below the poverty line, strong community bonds ensured mutual support. People had strong family ties and celebrated weddings and religious occasions such as Eid Al-Fitr and Ramadan, gathering to share joy despite adversity. Art, music and theatre were powerful tools for expression and resistance, with young people and artists defying the blockade through their creative endeavours.

Education was still a priority, with universities such as Al-Azhar and the Islamic University continuing despite limited resources and schools running double shifts due to overcrowding. Health services struggled with severe shortages of medicines and equipment, yet dedicated medical staff persevered.

Electricity was limited to just four to eight hours per day, and clean drinking water was scarce due to the lack of desalination facilities. Nevertheless, Gaza’s young people brimmed with creativity and ambition, working in fields such as design, e-commerce and programming, freelancing and connecting with the world through digital platforms. Despite overwhelming challenges, Gaza’s markets, cafés, coastline, universities and even refugee camps pulsed with life. People were determined to live fully and joyfully even under oppression.

How has displacement affected your family?

Like countless others across Gaza, my family has been in a state of constant displacement, having moved yet again just two days ago. Since the current war began, they have been forced to flee 16 times, moving from north to south and east to west, each time leaving behind more of their belongings until they possessed nothing.

Displacement drains physical, emotional and mental energy, and now they have none left. Forced evacuations often follow instructions from the Israeli Defence Forces, delivered through websites, social media or leaflets dropped over shelters and neighbourhoods.

Tragically, during my family’s ninth displacement, as they evacuated a shelter under threat of bombing and headed towards the beach area, a soldier shot my mother. She was killed as she was fleeing for safety.

What’s daily life like in the shelters?

It’s a daily struggle for survival. Life is marked by overcrowding and deprivation, but also by the quiet endurance of human dignity. Entire families – often 10 to 15 people if not more – squeeze into single classrooms or tents, stripped of privacy, comfort or adequate sleeping space. Even sleep offers little relief, as people sleep on bare floors or cardboard without mattresses, exposed to extreme temperatures, under the constant threat of bombing. True rest is impossible.

Women lack basic dignity, unable to find private spaces to change clothes or use toilets. When available, food – simple staples such as rice, canned goods, lentils and bread – comes from charity or someone’s generosity. But quantities remain insufficient, with some families going days without a proper meal. Drinking water is scarce and sometimes contaminated, so it’s consumed sparingly. Mothers often go hungry to feed their children, sometimes surviving on water alone.

Bathrooms are overcrowded, poorly maintained and insufficient for the massive numbers of displaced people. Women and children endure long queues, and due to inadequate facilities, families resort to using buckets as makeshift toilets. This has fuelled the spread of skin diseases, diarrhoea and infections, particularly among children, while medicines and medical care remain almost non-existent. Pregnant women receive no proper care, and some are forced to give birth in tents or on the ground.

How are communities responding, and what support exists?

Amid this suffering, solidarity persists. People have assumed active roles in organising and distributing humanitarian aid alongside local and international organisations and individual donors, united in a collective effort to preserve life amid devastation.

Families share their meagre food supplies, distribute extra bread to neighbours and lend cooking gas when possible. Mothers exchange nappies, medicines and clothes. Young people organise simple games, songs or drawing sessions to comfort children. Neighbours console each other, and nights fill with whispered conversations, Quran recitations and collective prayers that bring moments of peace. Some women teach children to read or recite the Quran to ease their sense of loss.

However, securing even minimal aid has become increasingly difficult, often needing what feels like a miracle. Simply searching for food can prove deadly – people risk being shot or trampled in desperate crowds of hundreds of thousands seeking relief. Just two days ago, I lost my cousin while he was collecting aid. My sister’s husband and other relatives have also been killed in similar circumstances.

Despite the heartbreak, I’ve been fortunate to receive support from friends, both directly and through a GoFundMe campaign I established to raise donations for my family.

How do you assess the international response?

The international response to Gaza’s crisis has both positive and negative aspects. Many voices worldwide rejected the ongoing violence from the outset, demonstrated through widespread marches, protests and various expressions of solidarity with Gaza’s people. Conversely, others openly support the war and its devastating consequences.

Ultimately, however, political decisions continue to override popular will. The international stance remains notably weak, whether due to inability to stop the war, hold Israel accountable or propose meaningful, long-term solutions. This is also reflected in the failure to consistently deliver humanitarian aid to those most in need.

What has been keeping you and your family going?

My family and I appear destined to survive, but survival itself has become our inescapable reality – a life defined by hardship and loss. Despite all current difficulties and those yet to come, we continue clinging to fragile hope that nothing remains unchanged forever. Change is inevitable. It will come, whether through the war’s end or through our deaths.

But even if the war ends, regardless of how – whether through a deal, withdrawal or declarations of defeat or victory – this will not end our suffering. What we endure now represents one phase of torment likely to be followed by many more. Nothing in Gaza remains fit for life anymore. History seems to repeat itself in endless cycles of pain. Perhaps the only way to endure is accepting that this is our fate, something we must experience, whether we choose it or not.

SEE ALSO
‘The lesson from Gaza is clear: when AI-powered machines control who lives, human rights die’ CIVICUS Lens | Interview with Dima Samaro 16.Jul.2025
Israel vs Iran: new war begins while Gaza suffering continues CIVICUS Lens 19.Jun.2025
Gaza: a year of carnage CIVICUS Lens 07.Oct.2024

 

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Credit: alliance/Anadolu/Moiz Salhi
 
The time for hand-wringing and empty declarations is over. The EU has ample tools at its disposal to pressure Israel to end its brutal war in Gaza

By Sven Kühn von Burgsdorff
FREIBURG, Germany, Aug 15 2025 (IPS)

The EU likes to think of itself as a normative power — a community of values, committed to upholding international law, promoting peace, protecting civilians and building a rules-based global order. These are not just lofty ideals; they are enshrined in EU treaties, declarations and Council conclusions.

But when it comes to the brutal, drawn-out destruction of Gaza and the continued illegal occupation of Palestine, these principles seem to have become hollow rhetoric. Worse, they are being actively undermined by the craven inaction of the EU’s institutions and the blockage of governments like Germany, Italy, Hungary and the Czech Republic.

The European Commission has been shamefully absent as well. Only as a result of recent pressure from many Member States did it propose the most tepid of measures by asking the Foreign Affairs Council to suspend access for Israeli SMEs that have applied for financial support under the dual-use technology EIC Accelerator window of Horizon Europe.

Even this minor proposal of the Commission has so far been blocked by several EU countries, including Germany and Italy, thereby failing – again – to enforce the existing conditionality clauses of the EU-Israel Association Agreement, which require respect for human rights and international law.

While hundreds of thousands of Palestinian civilians are being killed, maimed, starved and displaced, the European Union dithers. The International Court of Justice has not only issued provisional measures towards Israel because of the plausible risk of genocide in Gaza – orders the Netanyahu government has flatly ignored – but also declared that Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territory is unlawful and constitutes the crime of segregation or apartheid.

The International Criminal Court (ICC) has issued arrest warrants for Prime Minister Netanyahu and former Defence Minister Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity. The UN, human rights organisations, as well as most former Israeli top military and intelligence officials, have sounded the alarm about Israel’s catastrophic actions in Gaza and its dehumanising policies in the West Bank.

The time for hand-wringing and empty declarations is over. The EU has ample tools at its disposal to pressure Israel to end its brutal war in Gaza, dismantle the occupation, and move towards a viable two-state solution, with an independent and democratic Palestinian state living side by side in peace with Israel.

What individual states can do

If the European Union remains unable to muster the political will for collective action to apply EU-wide restrictive measures, such as suspending the Association Agreement, banning trade with Israel’s illegal settlements, applying sanctions on government officials and military commanders, halting arms supplies or suspending Horizon Europe, then the moral, political and legal burden falls on individual Member States.

Countries like Spain, Ireland and Slovenia have already taken encouraging steps in recognising the State of Palestine and demanding accountability for Israeli crimes. But so much more is needed now. European countries that claim to support human rights and uphold international law must lead by example and start acting within their own prerogatives.

This can include actions such as unilaterally suspending or revoking arms export licenses to Israel under their own national export control laws, including for dual-use equipment and technology.

Secondly, with respect to Horizon Europe, any Member State can stop funding national co-financed projects involving Israeli entities or withdraw from joint research agreements with Israeli institutions. Universities and research bodies can also be directed not to cooperate with certain Israeli institutions.

Moreover, Member States can impose their own national sanctions regimes on human rights grounds, including visa bans and asset freezes. While the UK and some Nordic countries have such laws, others could use anti-money laundering or counterterrorism laws to freeze assets. States can also deny entry to individuals under national immigration law, as done by France and Slovenia.

While a comprehensive trade ban on settlements falls under exclusive EU competence, Member States can exclude settlement-linked companies from public procurement and state investment funds. State-owned enterprises or sovereign wealth funds can divest from settlement-linked companies, as done by Norway. Furthermore, national authorities can ban port calls or airspace use for Israeli military vessels and aircraft.

Lastly, Member States with universal jurisdiction provisions (such as Germany, Spain, Belgium, France and Sweden) can prosecute suspected Israeli and Palestinian war criminals if they enter their territory, or in some cases even in absentia.

The Baltic countries and the Czech Republic can apply sanctions for human rights violations even outside the EU’s global human rights framework. All Member States are, of course, obliged to support the ICC in arrest warrants and investigations.

In the absence of a collective EU response, individual countries should establish coalitions of the willing that take matters into their own hands. This would not only neutralise European spoilers but also create a critical mass of support within the EU and beyond, including in the Arab world and wider Global South, in the pursuit of protecting and enforcing international law.

Undermining European unity and standing

And yet, the EU itself remains frozen — paralysed by the political obstruction of a few Member States and an indefensible unwillingness to confront Israel’s government with meaningful consequences. This failure to act is not only a betrayal of the Palestinian people.

It is a direct threat to Europe’s own credibility and standing in the world. How can the EU expect to be taken seriously when it demands accountability for Russian war crimes in Ukraine, while shielding Israel from any form of sanction, scrutiny or effective pressure?

This hypocrisy is not lost on the international community — particularly the Global South, where memories of colonialism and double standards run deep. African, Latin American and Arab leaders see the EU’s selective outrage for what it is: a continuation of Eurocentric foreign policy that privileges geopolitical allies and punishes adversaries, regardless of the principles at stake.

Europe’s image as a principled, reliable and rules-based actor is being destroyed, not by autocratic Russia and China, or other adversaries with dictatorial regimes, but by its own refusal to enforce international law when the perpetrator is an ally.

At the heart of this disgraceful paralysis are governments that have chosen to side with impunity. While Germany undoubtedly has a historical responsibility to protect Jewish life and the security of the Jewish people, this in no way justifies placing the actions of the Israeli government above international law.

Under the highly problematic political premise of unconditional support for Israel as part of Germany’s ‘Staatsräson’, Berlin has become the Israeli government’s chief enabler in Europe, delivering weapons, blocking EU measures and silencing domestic dissent. It was only thanks to growing public pressure – two-thirds of Germans want their government to take effective measures against Israel – that on 8 August, Chancellor Merz announced the unprecedented step of temporarily stopping the supply of weapons that the IDF can use in Gaza. However, he later underlined that Germany would not support commercial sanctions against Israel.

If the German government were truly serious about securing Israel’s future and preventing another 7 October from happening, it would have to work tirelessly to end the illegal occupation of Palestine and the ongoing genocidal military campaign in Gaza. Berlin could even help rescue the remaining Israeli hostages from their terrible fate by pressuring Netanyahu to resume meaningful negotiations with Hamas towards hostage release, ceasefire and massive entry of humanitarian aid — negotiations that the Israeli Prime Minister abandoned in March only to salvage his own political survival when threatened by the openly racist far-right parties of his coalition.

Germany is unfortunately not alone in its embarrassing lack of engagement and action among EU Member States. Under Meloni’s far-right government, Italy has become an echo chamber for the Israeli war narrative. And Hungary and the Czech Republic, for far too long loyal to nationalist authoritarianism, have consistently obstructed EU consensus on Palestine.

Dr Sven Kühn von Burgsdorff is a diplomat who has been working in the field of EU external relations since 1992. He has served as the European Union’s official representative in various locations, including Jerusalem. He has also been a senior advisor on mediation in the European Union’s External Action Service.

Source: International Politics and Society (IPS) published by the Global and European Policy Unit of the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung, Hiroshimastrasse 28, D-10785 Berlin.

IPS UN Bureau

 

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A UNESCO treasure in Egypt’s Sinai could get a tourism boom around it, if Greece and Cairo can agree on how to protect it

Tisztelet a hősöknek!

Zord

The 6-Member SEDE delegation mission to the United Kingdom organised in close co-operation with AFET and INTA, was a very timely visit following the announcement by the President of the European Commission and the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom to enhance strategic cooperation after their leaders’ meeting of 2 October 2024. The UK in particular has set out its ambition for an “enhanced EU-UK defence cooperation,” in light of Russia’s continuing war of aggression in Ukraine.
Location : London, United Kingdom
Press release
SEDE mission report including the programme
Source : © European Union, 2025 - EP

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The origin of COVID-19 remains a mystery, hampered by secrecy, stalled research and global inaction.

By Shreya Komar
UNITED NATIONS, Aug 14 2025 (IPS)

More than four years since Covid-19 upended the world, the question of how it began remains unanswered. Did SARS-CoV-2 originate from animals to humans naturally, or did it accidentally escape from a laboratory? The World Health Organization’s latest report offers little new clarity and raises serious concerns about international cooperation and scientific transparency. On June 27, 2025, the WHO Scientific Advisory Group for the Origins of Novel Pathogens (SAGO) released its second report examining how the virus emerged. Despite years of work and renewed international focus, the findings have been widely criticized for failing to break new ground. Much of the blame lies in what wasn’t included. Critical data requested from China was never provided, leaving glaring holes in the investigation.

“The report adds almost nothing to what a few talented independent investigators found several years ago,” said Viscount Ridley, co-author of Viral: The Search for the Origin of Covid-19.

“That it has taken five years and 23 people to produce this ‘all but useless’ addition to the literature on the origin of Covid-19 is frankly a disgrace.”

The search for COVID-19’s origin is not simply an academic exercise. Understanding how this virus entered the human population is crucial for preventing the next pandemic. Scientists agree that future coronavirus outbreaks are not only possible but also likely. Knowing whether SARS-CoV-2 came from a wildlife market or a laboratory accident informs how humanity prepares for the next spillover.

While the SAGO report acknowledges both the zoonotic spillover and lab-leak theories as plausible, it stresses the need for further evidence. That evidence remains frustratingly out of reach.

“If China had been transparent all along, we would have been able to pinpoint what happened,” said Dr. Deborah Birx, who served as the White House Coronavirus Response Coordinator from 2020 to 2021.

Most virologists continue to believe that the virus has a natural origin, a view reinforced in a new documentary titled “Unmasking COVID-19’s True Origins” released by Real Stories on July 15. “The vast majority of virologists understand the virus had a natural origin,” one expert says in the film. Still, without access to early samples and full records, both theories remain scientifically viable, and political tensions continue to cloud the inquiry.

This latest WHO report comes just weeks after a major development in global health policy. On May 20, 2025, the World Health Assembly adopted the long-anticipated WHO Pandemic Agreement, a legally binding treaty intended to strengthen preparedness for future outbreaks. The agreement aims to fix the deep weaknesses revealed by the COVID-19 pandemic: sluggish coordination, delayed data sharing, and unequal access to vaccines and treatments.

The treaty commits countries to share information on emerging pathogens faster, to improve cooperation on disease surveillance, and to distribute medical tools like vaccines more equitably. It also respects national sovereignty, meaning that countries will not be forced to relinquish control of their public health decisions. Still, some provisions, particularly those concerning the sharing of pathogen samples and related benefits, remain under negotiation and are expected to be finalized in 2026.

The WHO’s first SAGO report, released on June 9, 2022, also found that both leading origin theories were possible and called for further data from Chinese authorities. The absence of transparency since then has only hardened frustration among scientists. The call for cooperation is not just about this virus but about preparing for what comes next.

Meanwhile, research vital to fighting COVID-19 and future respiratory diseases has quietly stalled. In 2024, Ohio State University was awarded USD 15 million to study new treatments for SARS-CoV-2 and long COVID. One promising clinical trial focused on a drug to treat hypoxemic respiratory failure, a leading cause of death among hospitalized patients. But halfway through, the National Institutes of Health abruptly terminated the funding.

The cancellation saved USD 500,000 but came after USD 1.5 million had already been spent. As a result, researchers were forced to abandon the trial entirely, delaying possible treatments that could have helped the nearly one million people hospitalized annually for respiratory failure caused by COVID, flu, and other infections. “This is a disaster for all of us,” said a veteran scientist at Ohio State.

“We’re all depressed and living on a knife-edge, because we know we could lose the rest of our grants any day. These people really hate us, yet all we’ve done is work hard to make people’s health better. A flu pandemic is coming for us; what’s happening in cattle is truly scary and all we have is oxygen and hope for people.”

Scientific leaders argue that the world must do the opposite of what is currently happening: invest more, not less, in pandemic-related science. Research that has languished or been underfunded must be revived and expanded. More international partnerships are needed, especially with researchers in hotspot regions such as China, to ensure the global community is better equipped to face the next threat.

As the WHO itself notes, “The work to understand the origins of SARS-CoV-2 remains unfinished.”

But without transparency, funding, and political will, it may remain that way for years to come. And if that happens, the world could be left just as vulnerable when the next pandemic emerges.
IPS UN Bureau Report

 

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