No Peace without a Free Palestine
People power has been crucial in achieving the latest ceasefire breakthroughs: Massive protests, boycotts, and relentless efforts by citizens worldwide have played a crucial role in pressuring the United States, Israel’s closest ally and largest funder, to take steps to end the ongoing slaughter of the Palestinian people that the world has been witness to for the last two years. When people harness their voices, platforms and resources to demand justice, powerful things can happen.
The humanitarian disaster continues amid the so-called ceasefire
However, this ceasefire has so far followed the pattern of those in the region: Israel unilaterally breaks peace agreements and continues the aggression without heeding international and humanitarian law. The killings and bombings have not ceased at all. The news that continues to emerge from the ground reveals that while more aid has been allowed to enter, and some people have been allowed to return to their homes, everything else is business as usual.
Trump’s claim that the genocide has ended does not hold up against the facts, given the evidence that atrocities continue to occur. And crucially, while an entire territory has been bombed to ruin and rendered almost unlivable, there is no clear indication the perpetrators will face justice while meaningful discussions on accountability remain absent.
Thousands of people are still displaced, living amid the rubble without access to food, water, or electricity. Settlers are deliberately blocking aid trucks from entering Gaza, worsening the suffering of civilians and deepening the humanitarian disaster. The environmental damage is beyond measure: contaminated water, polluted air, and toxic debris are threatening both the land and the health of future generations. In short, the humanitarian situation remains catastrophic, and the Palestinians who have survived two years of a genocide continue living in intolerable conditions.
For Palestinians, Survival Has Become an Act of Resistance
Across the West Bank, settler and military violence is escalating. Daily raids, arrests, and assaults on Palestinian communities continue with impunity. Farmers are attacked during the olive harvest; crops are burned, and livelihoods are destroyed. Since early October 2025, there have been 158 attacks against olive harvesters by settlers and occupation forces across the West Bank. Settlers have stolen olive harvests and attacked dozens of farmers, youth, and women who tried to defend their land. Movement between cities and villages has become extremely difficult due to closures, checkpoints, and the newly installed gates that block main roads and village entrances, isolating communities, disrupting daily life, and severely impacting environmental and social work. Despite this harsh reality, Palestinian people continue to stand firm, rebuilding what can be rebuilt, defending their land, and refusing to be erased.
No Peace without Justice
We are demanding an end to the atrocities in Palestine, and insist on a concrete, actionable plan to achieve Palestinian justice, sovereignty and liberation. We yearn for genuine peace and will not rest until it is realized. The Trump plan is an attack on the right of the Palestinian people to live on their land. A true and meaningful peace plan should come with a complete cessation of the killings and attacks from both sides, with no exceptions, as well as real accountability for the horrific crimes committed in the last 48 months, not just in Gaza but also in the West Bank. Humanitarian law must be upheld and promises kept in order for there to be any trust in this process.
The Israeli occupation of Palestine and the displacement of Palestinian people must end. The Palestinian people must receive full recognition and complete sovereignty over their state. This is a fundamental requirement for any hope of a successful and lasting peace. Terms must not leave one party in a vulnerable position and open to attack. None of this can be based on the decisions or willingness of the occupying power, but must be unconditionally based on justice, equality, and freedom.
We, as Friends of the Earth International, reaffirm that the struggle for a free Palestine is inseparable from the struggle for human dignity and environmental justice everywhere. One thing is clear: our movement must continue its fight for justice. As long as Gaza and the West Bank remain under occupation, it is the responsibility of the world to continue speaking out, protesting, and standing in unwavering internationalist solidarity with the Palestinian people.
