Democracy Now!

Israeli troops detained and reportedly beat the acclaimed Palestinian poet and author Mosab Abu Toha after he was stopped at an Israeli military checkpoint Sunday while heading toward the Rafah border crossing with his family in Gaza. His whereabouts had been unknown until today, when news emerged that he had been released. According to the Palestinian lawyer Diana Buttu, Abu Toha was taken to an Israeli prison in the Naqab, where he was interrogated and beaten along with more than 200 other Palestinians who remain in detention. We play excerpts from Abu Toha's recent appearance on Democracy Now! and speak to Buttu, who says, Mosab's story is like that of so many Palestinians in Gaza."

The Committee to Protect Journalists reports that at least 50 journalists and media workers have been killed in Israel's ongoing assault on Gaza. Forty-five of the slain journalists have been Palestinian. Others have been arrested or injured. According to CPJ, this has been the deadliest period for journalists covering conflict since the media group began tracking deaths over 30 years ago. Meanwhile, journalists in Israel and the West Bank have been confronted with cyberattacks, physical assault and other forms of censorship for allegedly harming national morale and harming national security" while reporting on Israel. It's a news blackout," says CPJ's program coordinator for the Middle East and North Africa Sherif Mansour, under which the Israeli government is blocking essential media coverage" and withholding lifesaving information" from Gaza in order to win its Western propaganda war.

WHO Says Israeli Attacks Have Taken All of Northern Gaza's Hospitals Out of Service, U.N. Chief Condemns Israel's Unparalleled and Unprecedented" Attacks on Civilians, Israeli Attacks Kill Palestinian Journalists in Gaza and Media Workers in Lebanon, Palestinian Poet Mosab Abu Toha Abducted by Israeli Troops at Gaza Checkpoint, Families of Israeli Hostages Blast Bill to Impose Death Sentence on Hamas Members, Sen. Jeff Merkley Calls for Gaza Ceasefire: Too Many Civilians and Children Have Died", Protesters Rally at Seattle Space Needle to Demand Gaza Ceasefire, Federal Judges Block Private Plaintiffs from Suing to Enforce Voting Rights Act, Gunman Wielding Assault Rifle Wounds Four at Ohio Walmart, Labor Unions Step Up Campaign Against Tesla in Solidarity with Striking Swedish Mechanics, Oil-Producing Countries Stall Talks on U.N. Treaty to Curb Plastic Waste

Israeli and Palestinian peace activists are mourning 74-year-old Canadian Israeli peace activist Vivian Silver after she was confirmed killed on October 7 during the Hamas attack on Kibbutz Be'eri, where she lived. She was previously thought to be held hostage. Silver co-founded the Arab-Jewish Center for Equality, Empowerment and Cooperation, sat on the board for the human rights group B'Tselem and was an active member of Women Wage Peace. Silver's friend and colleague Samah Salaime, a Palestinian feminist activist, says Silver would have pushed for dialogue to find a peaceful solution to the conflict. This was her legacy, and this is what we have to march for and fight for after her death."

We continue our coverage of Israel's unrelenting 45-day bombardment of Gaza, where health officials say the overall death toll has topped 13,000 since October 7. Writer and analyst Muhammad Shehada joins Democracy Now! to discuss the global protests calling for a ceasefire, the ongoing hostage negotiations, and Israel's failure to prove Hamas ran a command post underneath Al-Shifa Hospital.

Over the weekend, at least 82 Palestinians were killed in Israeli strikes on Jabaliya refugee camp, including multiple United Nations schools sheltering Palestinians. At least 85 incidents of Israeli bombing have impacted 67 facilities run by the United Nations relief agency for Palestine refugees (UNRWA) in the last two months. We speak with Tamara Alrifai, spokesperson for UNRWA, about the organization sheltering close to a million Palestinians from Israel's assault, which has killed 104 of her colleagues since the beginning of the war - the highest number of United Nations aid workers killed in a conflict in the history of the United Nations. Alrifai says her agency is only getting half of the fuel they need to serve people in Gaza, being forced to choose between clean water, food and transport. If UNRWA ceases to exist tomorrow, then there is a huge layer of stabilizing and stability that UNRWA usually offers in a very, very volatile area that also collapses."

IDF Attacks Gaza's Indonesian Hospital After Forcing Al-Shifa to Shutter, U.N. Helps Evacuate Babies, Israeli Airstrikes Kill Dozens of Gazans Sheltering at U.N. School as Death Toll Soars Above 13,000, Families of Hostages Complete March to Jerusalem as Int'l Talks Indicate Possible Progress, Houthi Fighters Seize Israeli-Linked Japanese Ship in Red Sea, Israeli Forces Continue Deadly Raids in West Bank; Residents of Hebron's H2 Under Harsh Lockdown, Protesters Disrupt Harvard-Yale Football Game to Call for Gaza Ceasefire, Activists Shut Down Event for California Candidates to U.S. Senate, American Public Health Association Calls for Ceasefire in Gaza, Far-Right Libertarian Javier Milei Elected as Argentina's Next President, Joseph Boakai Elected President of Liberia, Texas GOP Bills Turn Police into Immigration Enforcers, Criminalize Asylum Seekers, U.K. Supreme Court Rejects PM Sunak's Plan to Deport Asylum Seekers to Rwanda, Average Global Temperature Rises 2C Above Pre-Industrial Levels for First Time on Record, Flooding Kills at Least 130 Across Horn of Africa with 770,000 Displaced, Climate Crisis and Slash-and-Burn Agriculture Drive Record Wildfires in Bolivia, Colorado Judge Won't Bar Donald Trump from 2024 Ballot, Former First Lady Rosalynn Carter Dies at 96

Protesters in Atlanta held a week of action to stop the construction of the massive $90 million police training complex known as Cop City" in the Weelaunee Forest. This comes as activists have been organizing for a citywide referendum on the project which officials have tied up in court. Meanwhile, 61 people facing RICO, or racketeering, and domestic terrorism charges appeared in court this month as the state tries to characterize them as militant anarchists." We get an update from Kamau Franklin, founder of the Atlanta-based grassroots organizing collective Community Movement Builders, who describes Atlanta's repression of peaceful civil disobedience as part of an effort to protect cops and capitalism." We also feature excerpts from Al Jazeera's new Fault Lines documentary on the Stop Cop City" movement and speak with correspondent Sharif Abdel Kouddous, who calls the mass charges against protesters unprecedented."

As the United Nations calls again for a ceasefire in Gaza, Palestinian health officials are warning thousands of women, children and sick people could soon die as Israel continues its bombardment of Gaza. Gaza is also facing a second day of a communications blackout. Gaza City itself is a hollow shell" where the streets have been turned into graveyards" and the smell of death is everywhere," says independent journalist Sharif Abdel Kouddous. It increasingly seems that Israel is trying to push Palestinians into Egypt, which is a long-standing colonial fantasy," he says of Israel's campaign of Palestinian displacement in Gaza. Kouddous also calls out the journalism community's silence in the face of what is the deadliest conflict for journalists in decades, noting the bias being laid bare."

As protests for a ceasefire in Gaza continue around the United States, the Jewish-led peace organization IfNotNow helped organize Wednesday's protest at the Democratic National Committee's headquarters in Washington, D.C. The protesters held hands to block the entrance to the building and were met with pepper spray and police use of force. Let's be clear that police escalated the protest," says Eva Borgwardt, national spokesperson for IfNotNow. Our Jewish values and our safety as Jews is extremely, extremely contingent on calling for a ceasefire now," Borgwardt, who is Jewish, continues. She also comments on Democratic Party leaders' resistance to and suppression of public calls to rein in Israel's lethal assault on Gaza, as well as the role of the powerful lobbying group AIPAC in policing public dissent.

Israel Lays Siege to Gaza's Hospitals, Strikes Jabaliya Refugee Camp Amid Telecoms Blackout, Israeli Drone Strike Kills 3 Palestinians in Occupied West Bank, U.S. CENTCOM Commander Meets Top Israeli Officials Amid Mounting Regional Violence, Protesters Shut Down Boston and San Francisco Bridges Demanding End to U.S. Support for War on Gaza, Vermont Rep. Becca Balint Becomes First Jewish Congressmember to Call for Ceasefire, L.A. Times Calls for Gaza Ceasefire to End Israel's Indiscriminate Killing of Palestinian Civilians", Russian Artist Gets 7 Years in Prison for Replacing Grocery Price Tags with Antiwar Messages, Ismael Villagomez Becomes at Least 5th Journalist Killed in Mexico This Year, 100+ Imprisoned Immigrants in Washington State Launch Hunger Strike, Judge Declares Mistrial for Officer Who Shot into Breonna Taylor's Home During Deadly Raid, Paul Pelosi Attacker Found Guilty of Attempted Kidnapping, Assault, Disgraced NY Rep. George Santos Will Not Run in 2024 Amid Myriad Findings of Fraud, UAW Members Vote to Ratify Contracts with Big 3" Despite Some Lingering Dissent, Thousands of Starbucks Workers Walk Off the Job on Red Cup Day"

Ruth Ben-Artzi, the niece of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, joins Democracy Now! to call for the Netanyahu government to focus efforts on releasing Israeli hostages and to stop the bombing. A professor of political science at Providence College, Ben-Artzi recently joined prominent Rhode Island rabbis, Jewish leaders and Israelis demanding a ceasefire in Gaza. A ceasefire is really the only way that any solution can be achieved," says Ben-Artzi, who explains why military actions will never resolve this conflict and that finding a political solution ... is really the only way that the roughly 7 million Jews and 7 million Palestinians who live between the river and the sea will ever be able to find peace."

We speak with two experts in international criminal law about the long history of Palestinians attempting to seek justice in global institutions and the very grave crimes" for which Israel is being prosecuted regarding the country's ongoing assault and siege of Gaza. Chantal Meloni, an international criminal lawyer who represents victims in Palestine before the International Criminal Court, lays out the history of cases brought before the ICC regarding Israel's siege and collective punishment of Palestinians being denied justice for more than 14 years. The fact that there was no accountability for the last decades of occupation and crimes related to the occupation has created a sense of impunity," says Reed Brody, a war crimes prosecutor, who reports this new assault on Gaza has forced ICC chief prosecutor Karim Khan to confront Israel. Will this be followed up by real action for the first time?"

As Israel rejects growing international calls for a ceasefire in Gaza, the Center for Constitutional Rights in the United States is suing President Biden for failing to prevent genocide. The center is seeking an emergency order to block Biden, Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin from providing further military funding, arms and diplomatic support to Israel. Katherine Gallagher, a senior attorney at the Center for Constitutional Rights on the case, argues the U.S. is complicit with Israel in the crime of crimes" by aiding and abetting genocide" with military aid, advisers and political support despite clear signs of intent to collectively punish the Palestinian population.

Israel Orders Palestinians to Flee Parts of Southern Gaza, Continues Attacks on Hospitals, Without Citing Evidence, Biden Backs Israel's Claim That Hamas Used Hospital as Base, Biden Calls Xi Jinping a Dictator" After APEC Meeting, U.N. Security Council Passes Resolution Calling for Humanitarian Pauses" in Gaza, Protesters Take Over Strategic Sites in D.C., Los Angeles, Oakland to Call for End to Gaza Assault, Majority of National Book Award Finalists Call for Ceasefire During Prize Ceremony, 24 House Lawmakers Call for Gaza Ceasefire, Citing Violation of Children's Rights, Senate Passes Stopgap Spending Bill as Far-Right House Lawmakers Rebel Against New Speaker, 7 More Women Join Texas Abortion Ban Lawsuit; Judge Blocks Idaho's Out-of-State Abortion Law, African Leaders Call for Reparations for Slavery and Its Enduring Effects

Speakers at Tuesday's March for Israel" on the National Mall included Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, Christian fundamentalist House Speaker Mike Johnson and radical Christian Zionist pastor John Hagee, who once said God sent Hitler to help Jews reach the Promised Land." Sarah Posner, a reporter focused on the American Christian right, discusses Hagee and Johnson's backgrounds and explains how Hagee and other extremist evangelical Christians and Jewish Zionists use each other to advance their own movements. Rabbis for Ceasefire's Alissa Wise notes the influence of Christian Zionism on U.S. foreign policy is way understated" and should be vigorously countered by white American Christians, just as white American Jews have mobilized a high-profile opposition to Israel's genocide of Palestinians.

We speak to Rabbi Alissa Wise, an organizer with Rabbis for Ceasefire and the founding co-chair of Jewish Voice for Peace's Rabbinical Council, about Tuesday's March for Israel" in Washington, D.C., that was covered widely by the mainstream media and platformed antisemitic Christian Zionists. Wise sees a deep connection between Jewish religious principles and anti-Zionist activism and says accusations that anti-Zionists are antisemitic are a cynical strategy used to shield Israel from accountability." She says Israel cannot be uniquely exempt from political and humanitarian critique. Israel is not a Jewish person. Israel is a state. God forbid we should not be able to cry out when states are committing horrific genocidal violence in the name of Jewish people."

Peter Beinart, editor-at-large of Jewish Currents, discusses proposals for a prisoner swap with Hamas, the ongoing cycle of Palestinian oppression and resistance, censorship of pro-Palestine advocacy in the United States, what he calls a generational struggle" among American Jews over Zionism, and more on Israel's current assault of Gaza.

The Israel military raid on Al-Shifa, the largest hospital in Gaza, where thousands of Palestinians are sheltering, is an unprecedented attack on civilian society" in the darkest time in modern history," that is being justified in the West by a deep-rooted and frightening racism," says Dr. Mads Gilbert, who worked at Al-Shifa. You don't do these things to people you consider equal." Dr. Gilbert is a Norwegian physician who just spent weeks in Cairo trying to enter Gaza to help his colleagues and has worked extensively in Palestine since 1981. The civilian population of Gaza [have] done nothing wrong other than being born Palestinians in Gaza," he says. Israeli impunity has reached a new level, and we are all sinking into that abyss of disregard for human life."

Israel Raids Al-Shifa Hospital, Turning Gaza's Largest Medical Facility into War Zone, We Will Drown": Displaced Gazans in Refugee Tents Face Heavy Rain, Israeli Forces Kill 8 Palestinians, Attack Hospital in West Bank, Israel Confirms Death of Oct. 7 Hostage; Hamas Blames Israeli Airstrike, Belize Cuts Diplomatic Ties with Israel; U.N. Palestine Observer Slams Olaf Scholz's Defense of Israel, March for Israel" Brings Together Celebrities with Right-Wing Leaders, White Nationalist Pastor, Russian-Backed Attacks in Syria Ramp Up, Killing 66 People over Past Month, House Passes Stopgap Government Funding Bill to Avert Shutdown Until 2024, Biden Outlines Plans to Mitigate Climate Crisis as Federal Report Shows All of U.S. Is at Risk, U.N. Warns National Climate Plans Strikingly Misaligned with Science", Rights Groups, Lawmakers Rally to End Solitary Confinement, Union Leaders Testify Before Congress; Sen. Markwayne Mullin Challenges Teamsters Head to Fight, Presidents Biden and Xi Meeting in San Francisco as They Attend APEC Summit

Worldwide protests calling for a ceasefire are drawing attention to the role of weapons manufacturers and distributors supplying machinery to Israel's assault on Gaza, with demonstrators blocking shipping tankers and entrances to weapons factories, and unionized workers refusing to handle military materiel over the war in Gaza. There is a growing public awareness and anger" about the global connection between Western powers and the Israeli military industry, says Antony Loewenstein, who has investigated how Israeli weaponry and surveillance technology are used on Palestinians and exported around the world. Israel is already, as we speak ... live-testing new weapons in Gaza," says Loewenstein. He also discusses what he characterizes as the intelligence" and political" failures of the October 7 Hamas incursion.

Democracy Now! speaks to award-winning writers Jazmine Hughes and Jamie Lauren Keiles in their first broadcast interview since being forced out of The New York Times Magazine for signing an open letter condemning Israel's siege on Gaza. The magazine's editor Jake Silverstein said the letter violated the outlet's policy on public protest, but Keiles says there are no clear guidelines, especially for contributing writers. He explains he signed on to the letter due to his disappointment in the journalistic standards missing from mainstream coverage of the war in Gaza, saying this is an industrywide question." Both writers say their former institution's scrutiny of pro-Palestinian activism is a double standard that indicates tacit support for Israel.

One-and-a-half million residents of Gaza have been displaced by Israeli bombing and siege since October 7 in what many Palestinians are calling a second Nakba, or catastrophe, referencing the 1948 expulsion of 700,000 Palestinians to create the state of Israel. It's what has been going on for the past 75 years," says Palestinian journalist Ahmed Alnaouq, who describes how 21 members of his family were killed in Gaza, including his father and several siblings. Alnaouq had not been able to visit his family for four years prior to their deaths, due to restrictions upon entry into Gaza. He joins us from London, where historic protests calling for a ceasefire were deemed hate marches" by Home Secretary Suella Braverman, who was fired shortly thereafter. Alnaouq speaks about global support for Palestinians and responds to U.S. President Joe Biden's latest comments on Israel's targeting of hospitals in Gaza.

U.N. Says Life-Saving Operations in Gaza Will Grind to a Halt" Unless Israel Allows Fuel Shipments, Biden Says Israel Should Take Less Intrusive Action" After Attacks on Hospitals, Israeli Peace Activist Vivian Silver Confirmed Killed in Oct. 7 Attack by Hamas, Journalists Say Israeli Military Targeted Them Near Israel-Lebanon Border, Palestinians and Rights Groups Sue Biden for Failing to Prevent Genocide in Gaza, Jewish-Led Protest on Capitol Hill Demands Lawmakers Support Gaza Ceasefire, LGBTQ+ Advocate Jesus Ociel Baena Found Dead in Mexico, Scandal-Plagued Supreme Court Publishes Code of Conduct" with No Enforcement Mechanism, Ex-Attorney Says Donald Trump Did Not Plan to Leave White House Under Any Circumstances", Police Fire Tear Gas and Less Lethal" Munitions at Stop Cop City Protesters, Latin American Theologian Enrique Dussel, Who Crafted a Philosophy of Liberation," Dies at 88

We feature one of the final interviews with Palestinian doctor Hammam Alloh, who died Saturday when an Israeli artillery shell struck his wife's home, killing him, his father, brother-in-law and father-in-law. On October 31, Democracy Now! spoke to Dr. Alloh about conditions at Al-Shifa Hospital, Gaza's largest hospital, and his decision to continue working, as he called on people in the United States and the rest of the world to take action against Israel's indiscriminate assault. When asked about why he refused to leave his patients, Dr. Alloh responded, You think I went to medical school and for my postgraduate degrees for a total of 14 years so I think only about my life and not my patients?"

We speak with two physicians who knew Dr. Hammam Alloh, a Palestinian nephrologist at Gaza's Al-Shifa Hospital who was killed Saturday in an Israeli airstrike. They recall him as a committed physician, wonderful father" and beacon of light." He had refused to heed Israeli directives to evacuate in order to continue providing care to his patients. He spent a decade learning how to serve his people," says Dr. Tanya Haj-Hassan with Doctors Without Borders. He wanted his children to be able to see a day when they had a free, just, durable, free life in Palestine, without occupation," says Dr. Ben Thomson, a fellow nephrologist who worked with Dr. Alloh.

Gaza's two largest hospitals are under a complete siege by Israeli forces and no longer functioning. Palestinian health officials have also accused Israel of using snipers to shoot at people inside Al-Shifa Hospital, where thousands of displaced Palestinians have sought refuge. Israel has claimed Hamas runs a command center below the hospital, though this has been denied by hospital staff and Israel has not publicly released any evidence behind the claim. Dr. Fadel Naim of Al-Ahli al-Arabi Hospital says surgeons are forced to operate in hospital corridors with limited anesthetic supplies. Unfortunately, we couldn't help many of these patients. Many of them died because we couldn't do anything for them." We also hear from Dr. Tanya Haj-Hassan, a pediatric intensive care physician with Doctors Without Borders who has worked in Gaza and the West Bank. She is a co-founder of the social media account Gaza Medic Voices. Anyone who tries to leave the hospital is targeted," says Haj-Hassan. We have descended into a very dark era for humanity."

Gaza's Largest Hospitals Close, Premature Babies Taken Out of Incubators, as Health System Collapses, French President Emmanuel Macron Says It's Time for Ceasefire in Gaza, British PM Rishi Sunak Fires Home Sec. Who Branded Pro-Palestinian Marches Hate Crimes", President of Sinn Fein Mary Lou McDonald Calls for Israel to Be Held Accountable at ICC, 300,000 Protest in London to Demand Ceasefire in Gaza, Hezbollah Attack Injures 7 Israeli Soldiers and 10 Others Near Lebanon Border, Pentagon Says It Bombed Two More Sites in Syria in Response to Drone and Missile Attacks, Sudanese Paramilitary Group Carried Out Massacre of Masalit in Darfur, Protesters Challenge Spanish Government Deal Granting Amnesty to Catalan Separatists, Australia Agrees to Resettle Climate Refugees from Tuvalu in Exchange for Security Pact, FBI Seizes Electronic Devices of NYC Mayor Eric Adams Amid Campaign Finance Probe, Sen. Tim Scott Drops Bid for 2024 GOP Presidential Nomination, Animal Rights Defender Wayne Hsiung Convicted of Felony for Rescuing Factory Farm Animals

We speak with Palestinian human rights lawyer Noura Erakat about a new effort to hold Israel accountable at the International Criminal Court over the war in Gaza, where Israel's monthlong air and ground assault has killed more than 10,000 Palestinians. On Wednesday, three Palestinian rights groups filed a lawsuit with the international body, urging it to investigate Israel for the crimes of genocide and apartheid. The petition also calls for arrest warrants to be issued for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, President Isaac Herzog and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant. International inaction against Israeli aggression is part of a systematic failure to hold Israel to account for decades," as well as the absolute double standard" applied to war crimes committed against people of the Global South, says Erakat, who was part of a team of academics and activists who came together to support the ICC lawsuit. This is not just a crisis of international legal institutions, but also a crisis of democratic - or so-called democratic - institutions in the countries in which we live."

Israeli American scholar Omer Bartov says the two-state solution is dead after decades of Israeli settlement building in the West Bank, making the creation of an independent Palestinian state all but impossible. He says a one-state solution - a single democratic state for all Jewish Israelis and Palestinians - is also unlikely to work given the competing national visions of the two communities. The only solution is a confederation," says Bartov, describing a scenario in which two states would be closely intertwined and interdependent. He also discusses the phrase from the river to the sea," used by both Israelis and Palestinians to refer to the land.

Israeli American scholar Omer Bartov, one of the world's leading experts on the Holocaust, says Israel's brutal assault on the Gaza Strip is at risk of becoming a genocide. The monthlong air and ground war has killed more than 11,000 Palestinians in the besieged enclave, a majority of them women and children. Israel has also severely limited the movement of food, water, fuel, medicine and other essentials into Gaza. Bartov says the disproportionate killing of civilians by Israel, as well as dehumanizing statements by Israeli leaders and suggestions of mass expulsion, are of grave concern. He recently joined hundreds of lawyers and academics in signing an open letter warning about Israel's violations of international law in Gaza. There is an indication that there are war crimes happening in Gaza, potentially also crimes against humanity," says Bartov. If this so-called operation continues, that may become ethnic cleansing ... and that may become genocide."

Israeli Tanks Surround Gaza Hospitals After Repeated Strikes on Medical Facilities, A New Nakba": Palestinians Condemn Forcible Transfer from Northern Gaza, Attacks on U.S. Forces in Mideast Surge Amid Warnings Gaza War Could Spread Like Wildfire", U.S. Official Says Toll from Israeli Strikes Is Even Higher" Than Official Figure of 10,000+ Killed, Media Workers Protest New York Times for Biased, Anti-Palestinian Coverage of Israeli War on Gaza, Nan Goldin Cancels NYT Project over Its Complicity with Israel", Students at Brown, MIT, Columbia and Other Colleges Risk Arrest, Retaliation to Protest War on Gaza, 7 Million People in the Democratic Republic of the Congo Are Now Displaced, Joe Manchin Says He Will Not Seek Reelection to Senate, Jill Stein to Seek 2024 Green Party Presidential Nomination, U.S. Court Sides with Biden, Allows Willow Oil Project in Alaska to Go Ahead, Texas Executes Brent Brewer Despite Glaring Issues with His Case, DOJ Launches Federal Civil Rights Investigation into Lexington, Mississippi

We speak with analyst Matt Duss, former foreign policy adviser to Senator Bernie Sanders, about the U.S. political response to Israel's bombardment of Gaza. The third Republican presidential debate on Wednesday saw candidates pledge unwavering support for Israel with rhetoric that was frankly barbaric," according to Duss. This is just knuckle-dragging hawkishness to feed their base," says Duss, who comments on Congress censuring Palestinian American Rashida Tlaib, Bernie Sanders's stance on a ceasefire, and the parallels between Ukraine and Palestine. As a Ukrainian American, I also stand in solidarity with people under occupation."

Israel's bombing campaign in Gaza has killed more than 10,500 Palestinians, including dozens of family members of award-winning Palestinian American writer, poet and physician Dr. Fady Joudah. It is really beyond words to describe what it means to be a Palestinian in this moment," says Joudah, who calls for the humanization of the people of Gaza and allowing more Palestinian voices into the public spotlight. Palestinians in the West are only alive when they are dying, and that is abhorrent and unacceptable."

As tens of thousands flee northern Gaza amid an intensifying Israeli ground invasion, most operations have been halted at al-Quds Hospital in Gaza City due to limited fuel supplies and Israel's bombardment nearby. We have completely run out of all solutions," says Nebal Farsakh, spokesperson for the Palestine Red Crescent Society, which operates the hospital, where thousands of civilians are sheltering. Israel's evacuation order is impossible to follow without killing patients in critical care. Evacuating them means killing them."

U.N. Human Rights Chief Calls for Gaza Ceasefire, Citing Living Nightmare", Palestinian Journalists Condemn Deadly Israeli Attacks on Colleagues, CIA Director Heads to Qatar, Where Talks Are Underway to Free Hostages Held by Hamas, Israel Bans Antiwar Protests, Criminalizes Consumption of Terrorist Materials", 300 Prominent Ukrainians Show Support to Palestinians; Belgian Leader Calls for Sanctions on Israel, Activists, Congressional Staffers, USAID Employees Demand Gaza Ceasefire, Thousands Flee Sudan's Darfur Region Amid Spiraling Humanitarian Disaster, 2023 Will Be the Hottest Year on Record, Torrential Rains, Flooding in Somalia Kill Dozens After Years of Drought, Fire at Houston-Area Chemical Plant Prompts Evacuations, Shelter-in-Place Orders, Front-Runner Donald Trump Boycotts as 2024 Republican Hopefuls Hold Third Debate, SAG-AFTRA Reaches Deal with Hollywood Studios to End Actors' 118-Day Strike, Bangladeshi Garment Worker Killed by Police as Protests Continue to Demand Fair Wages

We speak with 87-year-old Holocaust survivor Marione Ingram, who has been protesting outside the White House calling for a ceasefire in Gaza. Ingram says experiencing anti-Jewish hate, losing family members to the Nazi killing machine and surviving the Allied bombing of Hamburg as a child all inspire her to speak out for peace. What Israel is doing will not end this conflict. It will only exacerbate it," says Ingram. She calls the vote to censure Palestinian American Congressmember Rashida Tlaib shameful" and describes her as a hero." We also hear from leading Holocaust scholar Omer Bartov, who recently signed an open letter warning of the potential for genocide in Israel's assault on Gaza. The refusal of the Israeli government to find any kind of compromise with the Palestinians ... is what led and keeps leading to this ongoing and increasingly violent confrontation between Israel and the Palestinians," says Bartov.

As the death toll from Israel's relentless assault on Gaza tops 10,000 and millions around the world march in the streets for a ceasefire, the U.S. House of Representatives on Tuesday voted to censure the only Palestinian American in Congress. By a vote of 234 to 188, lawmakers officially rebuked Congressmember Rashida Tlaib for her criticism of Israel, including her defense of the slogan from the river to the sea" as a Palestinian call for freedom and equality; 22 Democrats joined Republicans in the vote. The cries of the Palestinian and Israeli children sound no different to me," Tlaib said in an emotional speech before the vote. What I don't understand is why the cries of Palestinians sound different to you all."

We look at the results of Tuesday's U.S. elections with The Nation's Amy Littlefield and John Nichols, who say the results leave no doubt that protecting and expanding abortion rights is motivating voters across the country. Ohio approved a state constitutional amendment to protect reproductive access, overcoming numerous procedural hurdles from opponents, and Democrats won key races for the governor's mansion in Kentucky and the Virginia statehouse based on enduring voter anger over abortion restrictions. This is one of the best nights for Democrats in an off-year election that we've seen in a very, very long time," says Nichols, who adds that the results suggest the electorate is more progressive than pundits often claim. Littlefield notes that after decades of abortion being treated as a third rail in U.S. politics, Democrats now need the abortion rights movement more than the movement needs them."

Either Kill Us All or Let Us Live": Civilians Have Nowhere to Go as Israel Decimates Gaza, Israeli Mourners Mark One Month Since Oct. 7 Hamas Attack; Grieving Mom Slams Netanyahu, G7 Calls for Pauses" in Israeli Assault as U.S. Rebuffs Idea of Post-Conflict Occupation of Gaza, Over 150 Killed in West Bank Since Oct. 7.; Prominent Palestinian Activist Ahed Tamimi Arrested, House Censures Rashida Tlaib, Congress's Only Palestinian American, Abortion Rights and Democrats Score Major Victories One Year Ahead of National Elections, Iranian Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Narges Mohammadi Begins Hunger Strike from Prison Cell, Countries Draft Tenuous Loss and Damage Fund Plan Ahead of COP28, Facebook Whistleblower Says Meta Is Aware That Platforms Harm Kids, Ignores Warnings, California Court Convicts Captain of 2019 Scuba Boat Fire and Drowning, SAG-AFTRA Resuming Talks with Studios in Hopes of Ending 4-Month Strike, SCOTUS Hears Arguments on Guns for Domestic Abusers, Agrees to Hear Bump Stock" Case

Former President Donald Trump lashed out from the witness stand at the judge and prosecutor in his New York civil fraud case Monday. He could be forced to dissolve much of his real estate empire and bar his family from doing business in New York. The scene was pretty incredible to witness," says Lauren Aratani, reporter for the Guardian US who is covering the trial. The court is now determining how much the Trumps must pay in damages as the case enters the penalty phase.

As protests across the U.S. denounce President Biden for refusing to support a ceasefire in Gaza while arming Israel's deadly bombardment of Palestine, polls conducted by the Arab American Institute reveal Biden's support among Arab American voters is plummeting, dropping from 59% to 17% since the 2020 presidential election. Something horrible is happening to these people, and this administration is turning a blind eye to it," says James Zogby, the institute's president. There are going to be electoral consequences." He argues the United States has blown it" in the Middle East after decades of disappointments.

As the U.N. secretary-general repeats his call for an immediate ceasefire, the death toll in Gaza has topped 10,000, including 4,000 children. We speak to an American doctor who just left Gaza and the founder of the Palestine Children's Relief Fund, which runs the only pediatric cancer unit in Gaza. Israel has just ordered the hospital with the unit to be fully evacuated. They're not getting care right now because their hospitals are under attack," says PCRF founder Steve Sosebee, who describes medical workers trying to evacuate to Egypt or continuing to provide care while sheltering in the hospital. We can't heal their bodies until this conflict stops." Dr. Barbara Zind, a pediatrician who arrived in Gaza to support the PCRF a day before the Hamas attack, describes finding shelter and rationing food and clean water. After nearly a month trapped in Gaza, she was finally evacuated through the Rafah border crossing and arrived back home on Monday.

U.N. Warns Gaza Is Becoming a Graveyard for Children" as Israel Bombs Hospitals, Ambulances, Netanyahu Rules Out Ceasefire, Says Israel Will Take Responsibility for Security in Gaza, Israeli Minister Calls Nuclear Attack on Gaza An Option", South Africa Recalls Ambassador to Israel, Citing Collective Punishment" of Palestinians, Not in Our Name": Jewish Peace Activists Rally at Statue of Liberty to Demand Gaza Ceasefire, Pakistan Bulldozes Homes of Refugees to Enforce Mass Deportation of Afghan Immigrants, Zelensky Rules Out Elections in Ukraine as Russian Assault Continues, Trump Takes Witness Stand in $250 Million Civil Fraud Trial, Second Officer Acquitted of Homicide Charges over 2019 Killing of Elijah McClain, Dozens of Stop Cop City" Activists Appear in Georgia Court to Face RICO Charges, Father of Highland Park Shooter Pleads Guilty to Misdemeanors After Helping Son Obtain Assault Rifle, On Election Day, Virginia's Legislature Is Up for Grabs; Ohio Voters Will Decide Abortion Rights

Israel says it is responsible for an attack on a convoy of ambulances outside Gaza's largest hospital on Friday that killed at least 15 people. Meanwhile, doctors in Gaza lack the resources to provide adequate care to the sick and injured, thanks to Israel's blockade of water, food and fuel from entering the besieged region. For more on the rapidly deteriorating state of medical care in Gaza and Israel's illegal targeting of medical providers, we speak with Dr. Alice Rothchild, a retired OB-GYN who has long worked in Palestine and is a member of the steering committee of the Jewish Voice for Peace Health Advisory Council.

Gazan poet, journalist and peace activist Ahmed Abu Artema describes how he lost five members of his family, including his 12-year-old son, in an Israeli airstrike on his house on October 24. Abu Artema was seriously injured and sent Democracy Now! an audio message from his hospital bed. Israel didn't bombard my house, didn't kill my child by mistake. It's the Israeli strategy," he says. Israel's problem is Palestinian existence itself."

Tens of thousands marched from Washington, D.C.'s Freedom Plaza to the White House Saturday in the largest pro-Palestinian demonstration in U.S. history. Democracy Now!'s Messiah Rhodes, Maria Taracena and Hany Massoud spoke to protesters who condemned the U.S. government's support for Israel and called for a ceasefire in Gaza. We also play excerpts from speakers at the protest rally, including lawyer Noura Erakat, musician Macklemore and writer Mohammed El-Kurd.

As the Palestinian death toll in Gaza nears 10,000, calls for ceasefire are growing around the world. This is a paradigm-changing moment," says Shibley Telhami, who discusses the shifting public opinion on conflict in Israel and Palestine and its potential impact on Joe Biden's reelection campaign. Telhami is a professor of peace and development at the University of Maryland and senior fellow at the Center for Middle East Policy.

Israel Intensifies Gaza Land and Air Assault as Death Toll Tops 10,000, Israeli Airstrikes Kill 45 People in Al-Maghazi Refugee Camp, Gaza Evacuations Resume as Israel Blocks Crossing for Certain Nationalities, Israeli Drone Attack on Lebanon Kills Grandmother and Four Children, Blinken Holds Talks with Turkish Foreign Minister After Ankara Recalls Ambassador to Israel, Hundreds of Thousands March to Demand Ceasefire in Gaza, End to Israel's Occupation, 50+ Arrested at Capitol Hill Protests Demanding Gaza Ceasefire, Jazmine Hughes Leaves NYTimes After Condemning Gaza Assault in Violation of Newsroom Policy, Nonviolent Protest Temporarily Stalls Weapons Shipment to Israel from Port of Oakland, Arab Student at Stanford Struck by Hit-and-Run Driver in Suspected Hate Crime, Earthquake Strikes Western Nepal, Killing at Least 157, Toxic Haze Blankets Indian Capital New Delhi, Filipino Journalist Juan Jumalon Murdered During Live Radio Broadcast

At least 23 people were arrested in Boston on Thursday as faith leaders and clergy led a peace rally to demand a ceasefire in Gaza. The interfaith protest targeted Massachusetts Senators Elizabeth Warren and Ed Markey to pressure them to stand up for Palestinian lives. We share footage and voices from the rally.