Watermelon Wednesday #41: Economic Oppression

“Bismillaahir-rahmaanir raheem”

(In the name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful)

Watermelon Wednesday is a weekly brief shared with our elected officials to ensure they are aware of Israel’s aggression, the Palestinian experience, and our country’s complicity in this genocide and international war crimes.

TL;DR:

• Israel has violated the ceasefire 969 times, killing 439 Gazans. The Gazan economy drops by at least 87%, as it continues barring aid staff.
• A West Bank university is raided, as Israel finally approves 4G for it, as Israelis enjoy 5G, and Gazans are left with 2G.
• Qatar calls out Israel’s closure of Rafah as blackmail, Bangladesh states its intention to aid Gaza, and the UN demands Israel dismantle all settlements.
• Trump freezes $10B in federal childcare and family assistance to Illinois, as a federal judge dismisses a case to rescue Palestinian-Americans in Gaza.

Takeaways:

• The stats show Israel’s effect on Gaza, from health to economy.
• Israel is oppressing the West Bank, and it’s where many companies operate.
• Several countries have called out Israeli crimes, except America.
• Trump’s administration is avoiding helping the American people.

As your constituents we urge you to:

• Call for a complete end to the ceasefire violations, and a stronger flow of aid.
• Push for assistance of Palestinian-Americans and otherwise in Gaza.
• Divest from Israeli companies operating on violently occupied land, and use those funds at home.

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969 Violations, 439 Killed

• Amidst a winter without aid, the Gazan economy collapses
  • 1/10 – Since the ceasefire, Israel has killed 439 Palestinians, violating the truce 969 times. [IAK]
    • 1/4 – Israel shoots and kills at least 3 Gazans. [Reuters]
    • 1/4 – Israel launches more attacks into parts of Gaza outside of its military control. [Al Jazeera]
    • 1/5 – Israel kills at least 2 Gazans, wounds four. [Reuters]
    • 1/5 – Israel extends the Gaza occupation beyond the “yellow line” in the north, squeezing Gazans into smaller plots of land. [Al Jazeera]
    • 1/7 – Israeli airstrike kills at least 2 Gazans. [Reuters]
    • 1/8 – Israeli attacks kill at least 14 Gazans, including 5 children. [Al Jazeera]
  • 1/7 – UNRWA report: [UNRWA]
    • 71,266 Gazans killed since Oct. 7th 2023
    • 1,046 West Bank Palestinians, 229 children, killed since Oct. 7th, 2023
  • 1/4 – Gaza’s economy has dropped by 87% in the past two years, leaving thousands without income. [Al Jazeera]
  • 1/6 – Gaza’s unemployment rate reaches 80%. This is the fastest economic collapse on record, and enabled by America. [Al Jazeera]
  • 1/7 – Gazans are experiencing respiratory infections, skin diseases, and other health problems. Israel continues to curb aid inflow. [Al Jazeera]
  • 1/8 – Israel says it is barring foreign medical and humanitarian staff whose orgs were ordered to cease operations from entering Gaza. [Reuters]
  • 1/10 – A seven-day-old infant dies due to extreme cold in Gaza. [Al Jazeera]
• Israel terrorizes West Bank students, while treating the rest as second-class
  • 1/7 – OCHA update on the West Bank: [OCHA]
    • “In 2025, more than 830 Palestinians were injured by Israeli settlers in settler attacks – an average of two Palestinians injured per day.
    • “Over the past two weeks, Israeli authorities demolished 50 structures in Area C and East Jerusalem for lacking building permits.
    • “Israeli authorities forcibly evicted two Palestinian families from their homes in Batn al Hawa area of Silwan, in East Jerusalem, in favour of an Israeli settler organization.
    • “The six last remaining families were displaced from Khirbet Yanun in Nablus governorate, where they had lived for more than 60 years, due to settler attacks.”
  • 1/6 – Israel approves 4G for the West Bank, while it has already approved 5G for Israelis and only 2G for Gaza. [Reuters]
  • 1/6 – Israeli forces raid Birzeit University in the West Bank, where they opened fire with “live rounds, sound grenades, and tear gas”. [Al Jazeera]

Birzeit University, West Bank, was raided by Israeli troops to stifle resistance. [Al Jazeera]

Counters, Demands, and Hindrances

• Countries continue speaking for Palestine, Israel continues terrorizing Lebanon
  • 1/5 – Israel begins striking Hezbollah and Hamas “targets” in Lebanon. [Reuters]
  • 1/6 – Qatar calls Israel’s hindrance of the Rafah border “political blackmail”. [Al Jazeera]
  • 1/7 – The Foreign Press Association (FPA) expresses its “disappointment” at Israel’s refusal to lift its ban on media access to Gaza. [Al Jazeera]
  • 1/7 – The UN demands Israel to “dismantle all” West Bank settlements, calling out its “systematic discrimination” against Palestinians. [Al Jazeera]
  • 1/10 – Bangladesh wants to join the international stabilization force that would be deployed in Gaza. [Reuters]

“Protest organised by the Palestinian Journalists Syndicate in Ramallah in the occupied West Bank” [Al Jazeera]

Frozen Courthouses

• Trump’s administration continues harming its own people and pandering to Israel
  • 1/7 – Trump to freeze more than $10B in federal childcare and family assistance funds to Illinois and four other states. [Reuters]
  • 1/8 – Federal judge dismisses a lawsuit demanding the US conduct emergency rescues of Palestinian-Americans trapped in Gaza. [Reuters]
  • 1/10 – Netanyahu says that he aims to gradually “taper off” Israeli dependence on US military aid. [Reuters]

Trump to freeze ~$10B in childcare and family assistance to Illinois. [Reuters]