Ten long and excruciatingly painful months have passed since the events of 7 October 2023 and the genocide on the people of Gaza and attacks on Palestinians in the West Bank continue unabated. The Arab Renaissance for Democracy and Development (ARDD) has been working tirelessly to address this ongoing emergency that signals the Nakba ‘catastrophe’ of 1948-49 has never ended. Close to 40,000 have been killed with many others still under the rubble. In May, the genocide escalated to a new level with the Israeli bombing and ground invasion of Rafah, where over 1.4 million people were sheltering. This invasion quickly resulted in the closure of both the Karem Abu Salem crossing, which was the main entry point for humanitarian aid, and the Rafah border crossing, with Israeli Occupation Forces positioning tanks all around it and effectively ensuring that Palestinians can no longer escape this genocide. Protests globally have been desperately calling for an end to the genocide, particularly student encampment movements originating in universities within the United States and spreading around the globe. These student movements consistently call for divestment and boycott of Israeli institutions and companies invested in the genocide against Palestinians and have been met with violent and repressive police force. The global movement for solidarity with Palestinians, including BDS, got a tremendous push with the historic ruling of the International Court of Justice in July declaring the occupation of the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, illegal and ordering Israel to leave the OPT at the earliest opportunity.

This brief overview documents the activities of ARDD, including through its Question of Palestine Program and Global Network on the Question of Palestine over the last few months, following the last update on its activities in November.

• In November, ARDD cosigned a letter raising the alarm about the mass internal displacement of Palestinians in Gaza towards the southernmost border with Egypt, calling for international action to stop it.
• When attacks against UNRWA escalated in December 2023, The Global Network on the Question of Palestine (GNQP) immediately mobilized to write a statement urging support to this agency providing critical assistance to Palestinians in Gaza and the entire region.
•  After the International Court of Justice’s (ICJ) ruling of provisional measures to stop what the court considered is “plausible” genocide in Gaza in response to South Africa’s application instituting proceedings against Israel alleging violations of the Genocide Convention for its actions in the Gaza Strip since 7 October 2023, the GNQP quickly shared this  statement on the responsibility of third states to prevent genocide and avoid criminal complicity.
•  In light of rapidly escalating displacement towards Rafah in Gaza and concerns of forced displacement into Egypt, including reports of a ‘buffer zone’ being set up outside Rafah in anticipation of further displacement outside of Gaza in February 2024, the GNQP released this statement titled “On the Brink of another displacement crisis in the Arab world” calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.
• From the end of January, ARDD’s Senior Advisor on the Question of Palestine has given dozens of TV, radio and social media interviews providing background and context with respect to the unprecedented attacks against UNRWA, and urging donors to resume funding.
• In February 2024, ARDD’s Global Network on the Question of Palestine (GNQP) held an online emergency meeting on the current unprecedented political and funding crisis affecting UNRWA. The participants, including around 40 GNQP members and former and current UNRWA staff, recommended and undertook a Ten-point Recovery Plan to restore for UNRWA.
• On April 16, 2024, ARDD held an event  in Amman, Jordan, for Francesca Albanese to share the critical findings of her latest report titled “Anatomy of a Genocide.” Albanese is currently the UN Special Rapporteur for the Occupied Palestinian Territories and Senior Advisor in ARDD’s Migration, Forced Displacement and Statelessness in the Arab world program. Hundreds were in attendance, and ARDD CEO Samar Muhareb and Senior Advisor in ARDD’s Question of Palestine Program Lex Takkenberg shared the panel with Albanese, sharing critical perspectives on the genocide in Gaza.
• In April 2024, ARDD organized a solidarity visit to UNRWA Baqa'a camp for Palestinian refugees in Jordan. His Royal Highness Prince Hassan bin Talal, Francesca Albanese, Samar Muhareb, and Lex Takkenberg were in attendance.
• Commemorating the 76th Nakba Day, a delegation organized by ARDD including members of the GNQP visited the UNRWA Field Office in Amman in an expression of support for the embattled agency and the Palestinian refugees it serves. During the visit, the delegation visited the agency’s Relief and Social Services Department and witnessed the registration records and so-called family files that are meticulously maintained by UNRWA as a repository of evidence of the refugees’ historic rights and claims.
• On 3 June, ARDD hosted an online seminar to discuss the various recent attacks against UNRWA by the Israeli government and a number of its supporters. The event constituted a cooperation between two programs that form part of ARDD’s Renaissance Strategic Center: Migration, Forced Displacement, Asylum and Statelessness (MFDAS) and the Question of Palestine (QPP) with the question of UNRWA and the Palestinian refugees its serves intersecting between the two. To explore these developments, a number of eminent experts who have been working on UNRWA for extended periods, helped the audience to unpack the different manifestations of the various attacks against UNRWA and their implications. A report on the seminar is forthcoming.
• Following the aforementioned ICJ Advisory Opinion on declaring the occupation of the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, illegal and instructing Israel to leave the territory and dismantle its settlements in the West Bank, ARDD issued a statement as well as a note on the ruling and its implications..