November 12, 2024- Americans for Peace Now President and CEO Hadar Susskind said: The priority of the United States vis-a-vis Israel right now should be to secure a ceasefire and ensure the release of hostages. Security experts in Israel and the United States agree that can only come about through diplomatic measures.

November 11, 2024- As we near the end of the 30 day period for Israel to significantly increase humanitarian aid allowed into Gaza on Wednesday, it is clear that Israel continues to fall short of its obligations under Section 620I of the US Foreign Assistance Act.

The humanitarian crisis in Gaza remains dire. Last week, the UN’s Famine Review Committee stated that it could be "assumed that starvation, malnutrition, and excess mortality due to malnutrition and disease, are rapidly increasing" in northern Gaza, warning that "famine thresholds may have already been crossed or else will be in the near future.”

November 6, 2024- Americans for Peace Now remains deeply committed to our values, our country’s democracy, and the struggle for peace and justice for Israelis and Palestinians alike, and we will fight for them. Whatever challenges may arise, we will push the incoming Congress and the Trump administration to respect our democracy, and we will never surrender in our struggle to make our world a better place.

November 5, 2024- Earlier today, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, for the second time, fired Defense Minister Yoav Gallant. Netanyahu has replaced Gallant with Israel Katz, the current Foreign Minister, and said that Gideon Sa'ar would replace Mr. Katz as Foreign Minister.

APN President and CEO Hadar Susskind said: “On a day when the corruption of his administration is the talk of Israel, Netanyahu has fired his Defense Minister. Gallant, who deserves his large share of the blame for his role in the war, is at least qualified to serve as Defense Minister. He will be replaced by Israel Katz, a longtime Likud party minion who was a feckless Foreign Minister and has no qualifications to serve as Defense Minister.

October 29- Americans for Peace Now strongly condemns the passage of two bills in the Knesset yesterday to bar the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) from operating within Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories.

In the months following the horrific attacks on October 7, troubling allegations about the involvement of a handful of United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) employees came to light. UNRWA and the UN responded swiftly to the accusations by immediately terminating the employees allegedly involved, ordering an independent outside review of the agency’s neutrality practices, and directing a review of the allegations by the UN’s highest investigative body, the Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS).

We remain deeply troubled by the affiliation of individual UNRWA employees with Hamas, but we cannot allow the actions of a handful of people, however heinous, to overshadow the critical role UNRWA plays in Gaza’s survival. UNRWA is the primary aid organization in Gaza, and its work there is crucial.

October 21, 2024- Today, Representative James P. McGovern (D-MA), Ranking Member of the House Rules Committee and Co-Chair of the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission, led 64 of his colleagues in calling on the Biden Administration to push for Israel to allow American and international journalists unimpeded access to Gaza.

Americans for Peace Now strongly supports Representative McGovern and his colleague’s push for increased press access to Gaza, which amplifies a call from over 70 media and civil society organizations from this past July.

As the Members wrote, “The absence of foreign media reporting has created significant challenges in obtaining accurate, verifiable information from Gaza, leading to increased skepticism about the limited reports that do emerge. At a time when reliable information is more critical than ever, the restrictions on independent reporting undermine the very foundation of press freedom and democratic accountability.”

October 17, 2024- While it is yet to be confirmed, reports indicate that Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar was killed by the IDF earlier today in Gaza. If those reports are accurate, the Israeli government, Hamas, the United States, and all interested parties should seize this moment to declare an immediate ceasefire. This must of course include the return of all hostages and the admission of a massive influx of aid to the people of Gaza.

After more than a year of the horror of war, the Netanyahu government has still never offered any strategic vision or definition of success beyond their meaningless slogan of “total victory.” Certainly, from the Israeli perspective, the killing of Sinwar is a victory. Now is the moment for Israelis and Palestinians, with support from the United States and others, to demand of their leaders an end to this war. Additionally, we urge the Biden Administration to exert every ounce of leverage it has with the Israeli government and Hamas’s leadership, and bring this bloody conflict to an end. There is no “total victory” for Israel and certainly none for Hamas. There can only be respite for long-suffering innocent Palestinians and Israelis, who deserve the chance to begin to rebuild their shattered societies before it is too late.

October 16, 2024- Americans for Peace Now welcomes the recent letter from the Biden administration to the Israeli government, emphasizing the urgent need to address the humanitarian crisis in Gaza within the next 30 days. But it is not enough.

The government of Israel has been arbitrarily impeding humanitarian access to the Gaza Strip for over a year, in violation of both Section 620I of the US Foreign Assistance Act and the Biden administration’s own National Security Memorandum 20. These actions not only exacerbate the suffering of civilians but also undermine US commitments to human rights and international law.

It is time for the Biden administration to translate its strong language into meaningful action. We urge the administration to impose real consequences for these violations, rather than allowing a cycle of statements to be followed by inaction.

October 1, 2024- Americans for Peace Now welcomes the new sanctions imposed by the U.S. Treasury Department on violent Israeli settlers and organizations in the occupied West Bank. The nationalist violence against Palestinians has reached the point where even the Israeli government is taking action against the most notorious settlers. Avichai Suisa, the leader of extremist group HaShomer Yosh, Eitan Jordani from the illegal outpost Havat Ma'on and Hilltop Youth certainly deserve to be sanctioned, by both Israel and the U.S.

But individual sanctions against local leaders are not enough. Two powerful Ministers in the Israeli government, Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben-Gvir, control much of the civilian administration in the West Bank and the police, respectively. Their incitement to violence, land theft and de facto annexation as well as measures taken to protect violent settlers makes them ultimately responsible – along with Prime Minister Netanyahu – for the immense upsurge in anti-Palestinian lawlessness. The Biden Administration should not shrink from sanctioning these Ministers because of their official positions, which only heighten their dangerous irresponsibility.