The National Interest Foundation Newsletter

Issue 295, August 1, 2025

Welcome to our NIF Newsletter. In this week’s edition, we provide analysis regarding how while eyes are on Gaza, Israel is moving fast to steal more land in the West Bank, examine the starvation of Gaza and the United States’ moral responsibility, and look into Iran’s nuclear talks with European countries and the possibility of another round of hostilities between Israel/U.S. and Iran.

Editor: Bassam Tarbush

While Eyes Are on Gaza, Israel is Moving Fast to Steal More Land in the West Bank

With much of the world fixated on Israel’s horrific human rights abuses and war crimes in Gaza, there has been a notable increase in military operations, state-backed settler violence, unlawful land seizures, arbitrary arrests, and other violations in the occupied West Bank. Rights organizations have outlined how Israeli authorities are exploiting and intentionally using the focus on what is taking place in Gaza as an opportunity to commit egregious transgressions elsewhere, in the aim that they will fly under the radar. These groups have sought to document the undeniable phenomenon along with its blatantly systematic and calculated nature. In light of this, they have implored governments to prevent further violations from being committed by imposing sanctions, suspending arms transfers, and banning trade with illegal Israeli settlements. These and other potentially impactful mechanisms are needed to uphold international law and ensure accountability that is aligned with universally agreed upon standards of state conduct. Without them, violations will continue to go unchecked and are likely to worsen.

Following the onset of the Gaza War back in October of 2023, there were a record number of illegal Israeli land seizures in the West Bank last year. Watchdog organizations noted that this surpassed what was taken over the previous two decades combined and represented the largest unlawful land confiscation in more than 30 years. Alongside this, there has been a spike in both Israeli settlement expansion and violence against Palestinians in the West Bank. The latter has included killings, arson, property damage and theft, and the poisoning of water sources and crops, resulting in the forced displacement of Palestinians from their communities and generational homes. Alarmingly, Israeli security forces not only fail to stop this violence but have been found to actively protect the perpetrators who carry out attacks and even collaborate with them. It is the climate of impunity and enablement that allows this violence to persist and emboldens further criminal acts, especially in conjunction with attention being diverted to other places, which has given offenders more license to engage in this type of unethical behavior. Just a few days ago, an Israeli settler murdered Palestinian activist and teacher Awdah Hathaleen, whose work was featured in the Oscar-winning documentary “No Other Land.” The perpetrator had been sanctioned by the United States under the Biden administration over past violence against Palestinians, but President Trump lifted those sanctions earlier this year upon his return to office. Despite visual evidence of the killing and the sanctions, Israeli authorities released him to house arrest.

During the past week, the Israeli Knesset has gone as far as overwhelmingly approving a motion calling for annexation of the occupied West Bank. While a non-binding and symbolic measure, the action demonstrates how pervasive and out in the open support for what would be a blatant violation of international law has become under the current Israeli government. With the vote, lawmakers are indicating their desire to pursue an illegal plan that in many ways is already in motion, given the de facto annexation that is taking place on a regular basis and at heightened levels since the onset of the Gaza War. As such, rights activists have pointed to how the Knesset vote simply signals the intent to formalize, normalize, and legitimize this at a point in time when the Netanyahu government is garnering increased condemnation for its actions in Gaza – which have sparked new calls for the recognition of a Palestinian state.

One of the latest of these came last Thursday, with French President Emmanuel Macron announcing that France would officially recognize Palestine as a state when the United Nations meets in September. In recent days following this, United Kingdom Prime Minister Keir Starmer expressed that the U.K. will also move to do so by September unless Israel agrees to a lasting ceasefire in Gaza, takes substantive steps to end the appalling humanitarian crisis there, and halts its plans to annex parts of the occupied West Bank, among other conditions. Canada and Malta have since joined the list of new countries to convey their plans to recognize a Palestinian state as well. The developments involving both France and the U.K. in particular – two of the major powers in Europe – mark a significant shift in position and ironically come while reports indicate that the Israeli government has presented a plan to annex parts of Gaza if a ceasefire agreement is not reached with Hamas. To date, more than 140 countries – including several in Europe – already recognize Palestinian statehood, but such moves from France and the U.K. would be noteworthy given their influence on the global stage and might potentially serve to further diplomatically isolate and add increased pressure on Israel and its primary backer, the United States.

The Starvation of Gaza and the United States’ Moral Responsibility

Global food security experts have expressed that the worst-case scenario of famine is currently playing out across Gaza, with mounting evidence that widespread starvation, malnutrition, and disease are propelling a huge rise in hunger-related deaths among the civilian population. This comes after humanitarian agencies have repeatedly warned of the man-made mass starvation in Gaza, largely blaming the crisis on Israel which controls the entry of all supplies into the territory. In addition to the indisputable culpability that Israeli authorities hold for the abhorrent conditions that have unfolded, others – most notably the United States government – warrant moral responsibility as well. Human rights analysts have pointed to how it is clear that Israel has only been able to carry out its starvation of Gaza because of the lack of action and enabling at the hands of the United States, and that it is primarily this that has allowed the calamity to reach the degree it has. For months, aid agencies have been pleading to be allowed to deliver food and other critical supplies that are sitting in nearby warehouses or waiting just outside of Gaza. Yet despite this, the U.S. government has failed to end its complicity in Israel’s mass starvation – something that could be done if it was to compel Israel to change course in light of the enormous levels of outrage at its actions in Gaza.

As observers have outlined, to end its moral responsibility in Israel’s starvation of Gaza, the United States should simply use its political leverage to force Israeli authorities to open all crossings into Gaza and allow independent and legitimate aid groups to carry out relief operations. This, combined with the United States ending its support for the universally condemned Gaza Humanitarian Foundation’s (GHF) militarized aid distribution scheme, would pave the way for immediate and drastic alleviation of the dire humanitarian conditions in Gaza. The fact that the killing of hundreds of desperate aid-seeking civilians by Israeli forces at these GHF sites has not prompted the U.S. to end its support for them is deeply troubling. On top of this, the GHF scheme has forced civilians to walk miles to reach the few highly militarized and deadly sites, compared to before when impartial humanitarian agencies operated hundreds of aid distribution sites across Gaza that were accessible to those in need.

The increasingly disturbing conditions in Gaza have even recently prompted multiple leading Israeli human rights groups to voice that the country is committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza and that other nations have a legal and moral duty to put an end to this. The reports released by the Israeli organizations detail crimes such as the intentional killing of tens of thousands of civilians, mass forced displacement and starvation, and the destruction of infrastructure that has deprived Gazans of housing, healthcare, education, and other basic rights. They also explicitly cited how Israel’s allies were enabling its genocidal campaign, and that as a result, they too shared responsibility for the catastrophic suffering in Gaza. As the groups noted, namely the United States and several countries in Europe have a legal and moral obligation to take stronger action. Furthermore, the well-documented impacts of Israel’s actions on Gazan civilians as well as genocidal statements from Israeli politicians and military leaders are proof of their intent, as the Israeli government is unable to claim that it was not aware of the horrific consequences of its behavior.

Due to the ever-growing evidence and acknowledgement of Israel’s heinous human rights violations in Gaza, countries like the United States who possess tremendous leverage over the Israeli government have a moral and legal imperative to act. The failure to do so, given the blatant crimes taking place in plain sight, would be a shameful abandonment of humanity.

Iran Nuclear Talks with European Countries and the Possibility of Another Round of Hostilities Between Israel/U.S. and Iran

Late last week, Iranian diplomats held nuclear talks in Turkey with their European counterparts from Germany, the United Kingdom, and France – the first such meeting since Israel’s mid-June attack on Iran that prompted a 12-day conflict which drew in the United States. The European nations, known as the E3, have threatened to trigger the so-called “snapback mechanism” under the terms of the 2015 nuclear deal which if done, would reinstate United Nations sanctions on Iran. This was one of the main points of discussion between the parties, where it was agreed that consultations would continue as the option to trigger the mechanism expires in October. Tehran has warned of consequences should the E3 decide to activate it, including the possibility that it could withdraw from the global nuclear non-proliferation treaty. The latest round of talks between Iranian and European diplomats in Istanbul ended last Friday with both agreeing to meet again to try and break the diplomatic deadlock. They also acknowledged that there is no prospect of Iran re-engaging with the United States at the negotiating table for now.

During the course of previous U.S.-Iran nuclear talks prior to these being derailed as a result of Israel’s unprovoked attack on Iran in June, experts largely pointed to the issue of uranium enrichment as the main obstacle to progress towards a potential new nuclear agreement. Iran has described uranium enrichment as a non-negotiable right for civilian purposes and a matter of national sovereignty, while the United States under the Trump administration has labeled it as the “red line” surrounding nuclear talks. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has stated that Iran is enriching uranium above the cap which was placed on it under the 2015 deal, but well below the 90 percent needed for weapons-grade levels. Additionally, it is important to note that before the United States unilaterally withdrew from the 2015 nuclear deal during Trump’s first term in office, Iran had been found to be consistently abiding by the terms set out in it and only began increasing its enrichment levels following Trump’s abandonment of the agreement.

On top of the main issue holding back the prospect of progress on the nuclear talks, there is also significant concern regarding the possibility of another round of hostilities between Israel/the United States and Iran. The recent conflict back in June – which dragged in the United States – ultimately resulted in a fragile truce, but this has highlighted the potential for future escalation, particularly if diplomatic efforts falter and sanctions are reinstated on Iran. The lack of a diplomatic breakthrough and military preparations on both sides contribute to the sense of a highly volatile situation, as do reports of continued Israeli covert operations and acts of sabotage against Iran. Despite the ceasefire that ended the 12-day conflict, there are suggestions that Israel and Iran are engaged in strategic military planning and that a surprise attack could occur. Ultimately, a single incident has the potential to trigger a new round of hostilities, and many analysts have therefore voiced that the risk of yet another confrontation will persist with a chance of this transpiring at any moment under the current state of affairs.

One of the reasons for this is the belief that Israel is actively looking for an opportunity to destabilize the Iranian regime. As such, the Netanyahu government hopes that ongoing attempts at diplomacy between Iran and Europe fail, as this and European countries’ possible reimposing of sanctions on Tehran could give Israel pretext for initiating future attacks against Iran. Should this scenario unfold, whether or not another round of hostilities takes place between Israel and Iran may very well come down to a green light being given – or lack thereof – from the United States. All told, observers seem to be indicating that Iran is expecting Israel to continue its belligerence, even as most hold out hope that a deal on its nuclear program can be achieved through diplomacy.