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.

September 25, 2024- Yesterday, Representative Adam Smith (D-Wash) was joined by 102 of his colleagues in sending a letter to President Biden, Secretary Blinken and Attorney General Garland requesting a thorough, independent, and transparent US-led investigation to determine the facts surrounding the killing of American citizen Aysenur Ezgi Eygi.

Americans for Peace Now strongly supports the continued push for accountability and an investigation into her killing, which Secretary of State Antony Blinken has called “unprovoked and unjustified.” Given the evidence, and the reality of the unreliability of previous Israeli investigations, the United States must conduct its own independent inquiry. There must be clarity about what happened to Aysenur Ezgi Eygi and accountability for her death.

September 23, 2024- Americans for Peace Now is extremely concerned by the escalation of military hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah. For almost a full year Hezbollah has been firing rockets into the north of Israel, leaving tens of thousands displaced from their homes. Last week’s massive pager attack and the subsequent bombings deep into Lebanon have killed hundreds and wounded thousands. And today, Hezbollah is firing rockets deep into Israel while Israel has now again bombed Beirut. Millions of people, men, women and children, on both sides of the border, are looking for shelter and living in fear.

The failures in Gaza, the failure to bring the hostages home, the failure to defeat Hamas, and the failure to fight this war without killing tens of thousands and creating a humanitarian disaster have led Netanyahu to escalate on Israel’s northern front in order to distract from the failures in the south.

September 6, 2024- Americans for Peace Now is outraged by the death of American citizen Aysenur Eygi at the hands of the IDF in the occupied West Bank and urges a swift and independent investigation of the circumstances that caused her death. APN conveys its deepest condolences to Eygi’s family.

This heartbreaking event underscores the urgent need for a thorough, independent, and transparent US-led investigation to determine the facts surrounding her death, including whether US-supplied weapons or materiel were involved –in violation of the Leahy Law. Eygi’s family deserves justice and the American people deserve accountability. 

Ori Danino

Carmel Gat

Hersh Goldberg-Polin

Alexander Lobanov

Almog Sarusi

Eden Yerushalmi

Six hostages, murdered in cold blood by Hamas. Six hostages each of whom survived 11 terrible months of captivity only to be killed before they could be reunited with their families. Six souls, kidnapped and murdered by Hamas, and abandoned by their own government.

August 28 2024- Americans for Peace Now strongly supports the Biden Administration’s imposition of new sanctions on extremist West Bank settlers and the institutions of Occupation. 

The sanctions on “farm outpost” Hashomer Yosh are long overdue: as our sister organization Peace Now reported in 2021, “the association supports at least 28 illegal outposts across the West Bank…Thus, with a relatively small investment (one family and a few young boys who herd sheep or cows upon a hill), settlers are able to take over huge amounts of land and dispossess Palestinian farmers from that same land.” The organization receives Israeli government funding and has been involved in violence against Palestinians.

Yitzhak Filant, “security officer” for the Yitzhar settlement, has played a major role in coordinating similar violent attacks against the residents of Palestinian villages.

August 27, 2024- Americans for Peace Now welcomes the successful rescue of Israeli citizen Kaid Farhan Al-Qadi by the IDF from Hamas captivity. As his brother said, “May all the hostages return, and may all the families feel this feeling.”

For that to happen, Prime Minister Netanyahu and Hamas leader Sinwar must stop stonewalling a ceasefire agreement with Hamas. Despite intensive efforts by the U.S., Egypt, Qatar and the international community, the Israeli government and Hamas are apparently still insisting on conditions that delay or forestall an agreement. Many hostages remain alive in captivity under terrible circumstances; conditions in Gaza are desperate and more aid shipments and rebuilding must commence; and both Palestinians and Israelis are still dying and living in the terror and misery of an ongoing war.