Lobbying for Zionism reviewed by David Miller
By David Miller | July 30, 2026
Did Zionism begin as a Christian project which was only later a Jewish movement?
This is what Ilan Pappé says in the book Lobbying for Zionism.
In my review of the book, I show this is wrong.
Here is an excerpt:
The contribution of the first section of the book is to unearth the hidden history of the Christian Zionist movement. This is a fascinating and useful account of the contribution of a certain fraction of practical British imperialism to the idea of the construction of a Jewish state in the historic territory of Palestine.
In the conclusion, Pappé mentions that ‘Christian fundamentalists, who, as I’ve shown, were the first Zionists in the modern era’. He also states that ‘Zionism began as a Christian project, and thus the early lobbyists were what we would call Christian Zionists today.’ He goes on to criticise Mearsheimer and Walt, saying they ‘described this Christian lobby as a junior partner in the overall lobbying effort in the USA. This appeared to be the case in 2007 — but the picture was very different nearly a decade later during the Trump era.’
But of course, the picture was not very different either during Trump’s first or second presidency. Christian Zionists do have greater numbers of foot soldiers than do Jewish Zionists, but they have only a handful of representatives at the top of the Trump power matrix (for example, Pence and Pompeo in the first period, and Hegseth and Huckabee in the second). As reporting in the Forward, or JFeed, shows, it is Jews that dominate in terms of power players and finance.
Pappé’s conclusion is predicated on his analysis at the start. The opening words of the book are: ‘Zionism began as an evangelical Christian concept and later an active project.’
The main progenitors of the idea were, according to Pappé, Lord Shaftesbury, Colonel Henry Churchill, and Sir George Gawler from the 1830s onward. Though Jewish Zionists of the time are mentioned, such as Sir Moses Montefiore, this all predates the moment when, as Pappé writes, ‘the first settlers arrived [in Palestine] on 6 July 1882’, a group of 14 Russian Jews who arrived at Jaffa Port.
But, as Pappé surely knows, Jewish settlement in Palestine long pre-dates 1882 (see below). Except for Montefiore, none of these figures are mentioned in Pappé’s index and Pappé does not mention Montefiore’s numerous visits to Palestine, or his role in financing Jewish settlement.
In the end, then, the book appears to be advancing a case which is not supported either by the known facts on Jewish settlement in Palestine or by empirically grounded research on the activities of the Zionist movement.
Read the full review via The Column, the new magazine from @ukcolumn .
With Karim Khan’s dismissal, the elimination of the war crimes court is near-complete
By Jonathan Cook | July 30, 2026
The most important question we should be asking after Karim Khan’s dismissal last week as chief prosecutor of the ICC – the international war crimes court in The Hague – is not whether he is guilty of “sexual misconduct” against another staff member, identified as “Sarah”.
That can only be decided through a legal process – one, let us note, that has already taken place. A fact-finding body carried out a lengthy investigation of Sarah’s allegations over more than a year; its thousands of pages of evidence were then evaluated in detail by three senior judges.
Though you would not know it from the media coverage, they concluded that there was no evidence to suggest any kind of misconduct by Khan, sexual or otherwise.
Strangely, that determination was largely confirmed by an extraordinarily deferential “exclusive” CNN interview with Sarah, aired earlier this month.
She declined to give any meaningful details of what Khan had allegedly subjected her to, and celebrity interviewer Christiane Amanpour delicately avoided pressing her for any clarification.
No matter. The purpose of the CNN interview was never about excavating facts. It was designed to offer face-saving cover as an entirely political body called the Assembly of States Parties, comprising diplomatic representatives of the 125 states signed up to the ICC, entirely ignored the legal findings and dismissed Khan.
Paradoxically, it was the Assembly of States Parties that appointed the judges who had concluded that there was no evidence of misconduct or breach of duty by Khan. That inconvenient judgment was simply reversed, despite the Assembly members being in no position to weigh the evidence themselves.
We should not forget that many of these states have an investment in weakening the only international court that can bring their own senior officials to trial for war crimes.
In May 2024 – shortly before Sarah made her allegations – the ICC demonstrated that it was finally ready to prosecute western leaders for war crimes, not just those from the Global South or from the West’s official enemies, such as Russia’s Vladimir Putin.
Khan issued an arrest warrant for Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former defence minister Yoav Gallant. Both are accused of crimes against humanity for starving the people of Gaza through a prolonged blockade of food, water and power.
Were Netanyahu ever to face trial – and found guilty, as he almost certainly would be – a lot of other leaders would have good reason to fear they might be found culpable next, not least for their complicity in Israel’s mass slaughter of Palestinians in Gaza.
The question that needs answering now is not whether Khan is guilty of misconduct – that has been decided at a political level, not a legal one. No, we need an answer to an equally political, and far more troubling, question.
“Cui bono?” Or “Who benefits?”
The evidence is hiding in plain sight. The evidence is revealed both in the deeply politicised process that led to Khan’s downfall, and in what that process means for the future of the court.
Covert war
Khan is not the first ICC chief prosecutor to face extreme pressures – and, as with Khan, those pressures surfaced at the very moment Khan’s predecessor tried to take on Israel over its war crimes.
Fatou Bensouda faced a “covert war” waged against her by Israel for the best part of a decade, according to an investigation by the Guardian in May 2024, just as Khan issued his arrest warrant for Netanyahu.
The Guardian’s report, published nearly three years after Bensouda had completed her nine-year term at the ICC, revealed that, during that time, she had faced threats to herself and her family, the monitoring of her communications, and an intimidating visit to her home.
More recently, Bensouda has confirmed these accounts in an interview with Al Jazeera. Bensouda notes that she repeatedly reported Israel’s campaign of intimidation to the Dutch authorities, but they did nothing to investigate the threats or protect her.
She also says certain “authorities” – she does not name them – warned her that she was going too far in investigating Israeli crimes and that “you could be harmed or you could be killed, or family members could be harmed in some way.”
The campaign of threats – instigated by Yossi Cohen, then the director of Israel’s spy agency, Mossad – intensified as Bensouda considered whether to open a formal investigation into Israeli war crimes and crimes against humanity in the illegally occupied Palestinian territories.
Israel’s crimes against the Palestinian people, we should remember, predate – by decades – Hamas’ attack on 7 October 2023. In fact, though no one is supposed to mention it, Israel’s sustained crimes of occupation are the self-evident cause of that Hamas attack.
An Israeli source told the Guardian that “the Mossad’s objective was to compromise the prosecutor or enlist her as someone who would cooperate with Israel’s demands”– that is, scrap the ICC’s investigation into Israeli crimes. Another source admitted that Cohen was acting on Netanyahu’s instructions.
During one contact, Cohen reportedly issued a Mafia-style threat to Bensouda: “You don’t want to be getting into things that could compromise your security or that of your family.”
The Guardian reported that the Mossad “took a keen interest in Bensouda’s family members and obtained transcripts of secret recordings of her husband, according to two sources with direct knowledge of the situation. Israeli officials then attempted to use the material to discredit the prosecutor”.
The paper also noted that there were fears among senior ICC officials that “Israel had cultivated sources within the court’s prosecution division” – the division Khan would inherit from Bensouda.
Cohen was described as “stalking” Bensouda, and personally “ambushed” her in a hotel room in New York in 2018. Afterwards he repeatedly phoned her, in a threatening manner that was said to have escalated over time. When Bensouda asked Cohen how he had obtained her phone number, he reportedly replied: “Did you forget what I do for a living?”
According to the Guardian :
On one occasion, Cohen is said to have shown Bensouda copies of photographs of her husband, which were taken covertly when the couple were visiting London. On another, according to sources, Cohen suggested to the prosecutor that a decision to open a full investigation would be detrimental to her career.
Between 2019 and 2020, the Mossad had been actively seeking compromising information on the prosecutor and took an interest in her family members.
The spy agency obtained a cache of material, including transcripts of an apparent sting operation against her husband.
Israel used the materials to mount a “smear campaign” against her, but one that ultimately proved unsuccessful.
Concerted backlash
When Khan took up the role of ICC chief prosecutor in June 2021, he proved reluctant to pick up where Bensouda had left off on the Palestine case. Presumably, he was only too aware of the retaliation from Israel against her.
Bensouda had announced in December 2019 that she had grounds to open a full criminal investigation into allegations of war crimes in Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
However, in the face of a concerted backlash from western states, she delayed opening the investigation. She first sought a ruling from a pre-trial chamber of ICC judges – presumably in the hope it would serve as some kind of insurance policy – on whether the court had jurisdiction over the occupied Palestinian territories.
By February 2021 the judges confirmed what was already self-evident. The court did have such jurisdiction because Palestine had been signed up to the court since 2015.
Bensouda stepped down a few months later.
The door was now open for Khan to prosecute Israeli officials for war crimes. However, the new chief prosecutor gave every appearance – perhaps understandably – of preferring to sit on his hands.
It was not just Israel that had been fearsomely opposed to its officials being tried for war crimes. Washington was equally incensed at the prospect – sometimes, it seemed, more so than over the possibility that US officials might also face arrest warrants for crimes committed by the US military in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Between 2019 and 2020, during Trump’s first presidency, the US imposed severe visa restrictions and financial sanctions on Bensouda. Mike Pompeo, then US secretary of state, linked the sanctions to the Palestine case: “It’s clear the ICC is only putting Israel in [its] crosshairs for nakedly political purposes.”
Khan might well have avoided pursuing Israel indefinitely had it not been for the events that followed 7 October 2023.
Israel’s mass slaughter of Palestinian civilians in Gaza, its devastation of the enclave’s homes and infrastructure, and its starvation of the entire population were actions so criminally abhorrent that UN agencies, major human rights groups and Holocaust scholars were soon all in agreement that they amounted to genocide.
In May 2024, Khan announced arrest warrants against Netanyahu and Gallant, as well as three Hamas leaders subsequently killed by Israel.
Tsunami of threats
Shortly before Khan made that announcement, 12 senior US Senators had sent a threatening letter to the ICC: “Target Israel and we will target you.” The letter ended: “You have been warned.”
Describing Israeli and US sovereignty as inseparable, the senators reminded Khan that Washington had demonstrated “the lengths to which we will go to protect [our] sovereignty.”
A 2002 law, popularly known as “The Hague Invasion Act”, authorises the US president “to use all means necessary and appropriate” to bring about the release US persons and any allies imprisoned or detained by the ICC. Those allies, it goes without saying, include Israeli leaders.
Such threats, it should be noted, are a violation of Article 70 of the Rome Statute.
Following the issuing of the arrest warrants, there followed a tsunami of similar threats – and presumably more that have yet to become public – against Khan and the ICC.
A British-Israeli lawyer within the ICC – one known to have ties to Netanyahu’s legal adviser – warned Khan “they will destroy you and they will destroy the court” if the warrants were not rescinded. He urged Khan to “climb down the tree” and drop the case.
The UK’s foreign secretary of the time, David Cameron, phoned Khan to tell him Britain would defund the court and withdraw from the Rome Statute that founded the ICC if Khan did not back down.
Cameron warned Khan that he was “on the brink of making a huge mistake” and urged him to “take a step back and consider things”. He added that applying for arrest warrants for Israeli officials was tantamount to “dropping a hydrogen bomb”.
Meanwhile, Trump issued an executive order imposing aggressive financial sanctions against Khan and other ICC officials, including several of its judges.
Khan himself received warnings that Israel’s Mossad was continuing its operations in The Hague, where the ICC is located, to monitor and compromise the court’s investigators as they compiled evidence on Israel – just as it had done earlier under Bensouda.
Khan publicly stated that retaliatory threats and intimidation were explicitly targeting members of his own family.
Untouchable criminals
What conclusions should we draw from all of this?
Quite aside from the matter of whether Sarah’s allegations of “sexual misconduct” are true or not, it is clear that Israel and the US have been digging for dirt – and apparently ready to fabricate such dirt – on any chief prosecutor who tries to hold them to account for their crimes.
Both have indicated that they are ready to manipulate legal and political processes to ensure the outcome they desire: that they remain untouchable.
We have a template for how this plays out. Julian Assange, founder of the whistle-blowing site Wikileaks, published details in 2010 of US and British war crimes in Afghanistan and Iraq. Almost immediately he found himself entangled in accusations of sexual misdemeanours – in his case in Sweden – that were similarly amplified by an uncritical western media.
Assange faced years in various forms of confinement while the US and UK pressured Sweden to keep alive an investigation against him Swedish prosecutors at least twice sought to drop for lack of credible evidence.
In fact, the US and UK never wanted the evidence tested – they were quite happy with a permanent, unresolved “investigation” – precisely because they knew it would have been unlikely to withstand judicial scrutiny.
The point was simply to generate constant headlines about “rape”, turning Assange into a pariah, justifying his effective disappearance from public life, severely weakening Wikileaks as a whistleblowing platform, deflecting attention from the all-too-real crimes committed by the US and Britain, and paving the way to a political show trial to extradite him to the US on entirely confected “espionage” charges.
This has been repeated in the case of Khan and the ICC. In Khan’s case, the evidence was tested and found inadequate. So the legal process has been replaced by a flagrantly political one.
Khan has been turned into a legal pariah, even stripped of his right to work as a lawyer in the UK by the British Bar Association.
The ICC has been further weakened, just as Israel and the US have expressly stated they wanted it to be. Marco Rubio, Trump’s secretary of state, has recently launched an official campaign to dismantle the ICC “brick by brick”.
He says: “Now they [the ICC] are going to see the consequences”. Consequences of what? Of seeking to enforce international law against a key US client state.
Meanwhile, accountability for the all-too-real crimes being committed by Israel in Gaza, Lebanon and the West Bank – and actively supported by western states like the US, Germany and Britain – recedes yet further into the background
As each brick protecting the ICC is dismantled, a brick is added to the wall of protection around Netanyahu and Israel’s genocidal war machine.
Israel, meanwhile, is barely concealing that it has been masterminding the effort to destroy the ICC.
According to Guy Azriel, the diplomatic correspondent for i24 News, Israeli foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar “oversaw a dedicated task force and employed intensive diplomatic efforts aimed at securing Khan’s removal from office”.
Hillel Neuer, director of the Israel apologist group United Nations Watch, cheered what he called “our campaign to remove” Khan, and warned Francesca Albanese, the UN’s legal expert on the occupied Palestinian territories, “you’re next”.
Like Khan, Albanese has been searching for practical, legal ways – not just rhetoric – to hold Israel and its western allies to account for the crimes in Gaza.
Predatory states
The ICC claims its work will not be affected by Khan’s removal and that the arrest warrants against Netanyahu and Gallant will still be pursued under new stewardship. That seems doubtful.
Israel and the US are cranking up the intimidation of the ICC, which has no tools – beyond the support of members states – to enforce its rulings or protect itself from the hostility of a rogue superpower.
Currently the court appears paralysed, allowing Israel to muddy the waters with interminable, and vexatious, appeals against the arrest warrants.
Any lawyer who takes up the post of ICC chief prosecutor will be only too aware of the fate that befell Khan and the campaign of intimidation against Bensouda as soon as each tried to enforce accountability on Israel and its western patrons.
It will take a very brave individual indeed to renew that task. Khan’s successor will understand that, in any further confrontation with Israel and Washington, the US will not hesitate to crush the ICC and, with it, remove the only effective restraint on criminality by powerful states.
More likely, however, the Assembly of States Parties – the political body that ousted Khan – will privately require from his successor reassurances that the new chief prosecutor reliably defer to the principle of Israeli and western impunity. Only someone less willing to ruffle feathers stands any chance of being appointed.
That was the clearest of messages sent by the Assembly when a majority of member states voted to be rid of Khan. The short-lived experiment in creating a mechanism for enforcing international law is over. We are back to the law of the jungle.
Hundred of thousands of people around the world – more likely millions – will now find themselves even more exposed to the criminal actions of predatory states. Unlike Khan’s accuser, they are unlikely to ever get their day in court.
UK charges over 1,500 people over signs opposing Israel’s genocide of Palestinians in Gaza
The Cradle | July 31, 2026
British authorities listed the cases of 1,579 people at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on 30 July, holding cardboard signs opposing Israel’s genocide of Palestinians in Gaza, according to the campaign group Defend Our Juries.
The group said the hearing had been pushed back to October, but that hundreds of defendants were never told, leaving them unsure whether they were required to appear, pointing to the confusion as evidence of a crisis the courts cannot absorb.
One court notice seen by Middle East Eye told the recipient they must attend on 30 July, then instructed them in the same letter not to come to court.
Defendants who arrived were handed a further letter addressed to whomever it may concern, adjourning all cases to 26 October.
The chaos came on the same day the Supreme Court ruled that Palestine Action can challenge its proscription.
Over 3,500 arrests have been made under Section 13 of the Terrorism Act 2000 of people holding cardboard signs reading, “I oppose genocide, I support Palestine Action,” Defend Our Juries said.
Those cases are tried summarily and carry a maximum of six months in prison, and include senior citizens, faith leaders, and first-time protesters.
In the past two months, 96 people have filmed videos inviting support for Palestine Action, with many also declaring membership.
The declaration of membership exposes them to Sections 11 and 12 of the same act, which are heard before juries and carry sentences of up to 14 years.
Eight of those who filmed have been arrested, seven in dawn raids on people’s homes, with another 14 detained outside New Scotland Yard on 5 July.
Home Office figures cited by the group show 92 percent of terrorism arrests in the year to March 2026 were linked to alleged support for Palestine Action, with the average demographic profile of the suspect being a 59-year-old white British woman.
A spokesperson for Defend Our Juries said UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham had inherited the crisis, asking “does he really want to be seen locking up pensioners, priests and 84-year-old Reverend Sue Parfitt while people convicted of violent offenses are released early?”
On 15 June 2026, the Court of Appeal ruled the government’s classification of Palestine Action as a terrorist entity was lawful, overturning the February 2026 High Court judgment that had called it unlawful and disproportionate.
Islamic Jihad says reported deal between Palestinian factions, Israel ‘inaccurate’
MEMO | July 31, 2026
The Palestinian Islamic Jihad movement said Friday that the announced agreement between Palestinian factions and Israel was “inaccurate,” adding that it has reservations over the deal in its current form, Anadolu reports.
In a statement, the movement’s spokesperson said: “What has been announced regarding an agreement between the Palestinian factions and the enemy (Israel) is inaccurate, and we have reservations about it in its currently circulated form.”
The Palestinian group’s statement came after US President Donald Trump announced that an agreement had been reached for the complete disarmament of Hamas and other armed groups in Gaza, with Israeli forces set to withdraw in phases as the process moves forward.
Trump also credited Egypt, Qatar, and Turkiye for helping broker what he described as a “historic breakthrough,” saying the agreement would be implemented gradually, with an International Stabilization Force working alongside a new Palestinian police force to assume responsibility for security in Gaza.
Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza has killed more than 73,000 Palestinians and injured over 174,000 others, most of them women and children, while destroying about 90% of the enclave’s infrastructure.
The ceasefire was brokered under Trump’s 20-point plan for Gaza, which is being overseen by the Board of Peace, which he chairs.
Despite the ceasefire, which took effect on Oct. 10, 2025, Israel has continued daily attacks across Gaza, killing 1,214 Palestinians and injuring 3,977 others, most of them women and children, while causing widespread destruction.
Israeli army detonates 700 tons of explosives near Lebanon’s historic Beaufort Castle
The Cradle | July 31, 2026
Israel carried out massive detonations involving around 700 tons of explosives around Lebanon’s historic Beaufort Castle – a UNESCO World Heritage site – with the huge blasts being heard across large parts of the country’s south late on 30 July.
The violent detonations were carried out under the pretext of alleged Hezbollah infrastructure under the Crusader-era fortress. This has been denied by Lebanese authorities.
“Israeli forces carried out unprecedented bombardment in southern Lebanon, triggering a series of powerful explosions that residents said were unlike anything heard in recent years,” Al Manar TV reported on Friday.
Lebanon’s National News Agency (NNA) also reported the blasts, calling them “massive” and “unprecedented,” while confirming that they were heard across the whole south.
“The blasts echoed across all of south Lebanon with unprecedented intensity, and their shockwaves reached the Iqlim al-Kharroub and Khaldeh regions,” the report said, adding that “violent explosions in the Beaufort Castle area shattered the glass of several windows in homes in the town of Qlayaa.”
Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri condemned the violent detonations.
“The shockwaves from these terrorist explosions, caused by 700 tons of explosives, registered 3.8 on seismic monitoring scales and were felt by Lebanese citizens from the South and Mount Lebanon all the way to the outskirts of Beirut,” he said.
Lebanon’s Culture Ministry released a statement saying Beaufort Castle was unharmed.
However, it stressed that because the area remains under Israeli occupation, specialized technical teams have been prevented from accessing the site in order to conduct a proper assessment of any potential damage.
Earlier in July, the castle had been placed on UNESCO’s list of sites “in danger.”
The massive detonations were announced by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Israel’s War Ministry late on Thursday evening.
In a joint statement, Netanyahu and War Minister Israel Katz claimed a Hezbollah tunnel network under the castle was destroyed.
They also confirmed the unprecedented amounts of explosives used in their “operation.”
Israeli occupation forces will “remain in the security zone in southern Lebanon and will continue to destroy all terror infrastructure to prevent any attempt by Hezbollah to restore its capabilities,” they added.
Lebanon’s Directorate General of Antiquities has previously rejected Israeli claims that the site contained Hezbollah infrastructure.
Israeli maps and videos detailing “terrorist infrastructure” are fabricated, and the fortress has been under Lebanese state administration since 2000, placing under enhanced protection in line with the 1954 Hague Convention.
Lebanese geologists have warned that demolitions of this scale near major fault lines could potentially trigger human-induced seismic activity.
Israeli forces occupied the castle in May 2026 and framed the move as a major strategic victory. Hebrew media challenged this narrative at the time.
Israeli forces were unable to maintain a consistent presence in the historic site due to constant resistance operations – namely Hezbollah’s FPV drone strikes that have inflicted heavy casualties and losses on the Israeli occupation forces since March.
Since the violent detonations near the castle on Thursday night, Israel has continued destroying civilian infrastructure across south Lebanon.
Heavy explosions were recorded in Deir Siryan on Friday, while Israeli shelling continued to target the Ali al-Taher Hill.
Over 4,300 have been killed and more than a million displaced by Israel in Lebanon since 2 March.
Tens of thousands of civilian homes and buildings – amounting to practically all of south Lebanon’s border villages – have been eradicated.
Israeli occupation forces refuse to withdraw, and the Lebanese government has signed a US-brokered deal allowing Tel Aviv to maintain its illegal presence in the country.
Ceuta crisis sparks online speculation over Israel’s role in pressuring Spain
MEMO | July 31, 2026
The emergency in Spain’s North African enclave of Ceuta has sparked an intense online debate over Israel’s possible role in efforts to punish Madrid over its outspoken support for Palestine.
The speculation intensified after social media users resurfaced articles published earlier this year by pro-Israel analysts who argued that Israel and the US should aid Morocco over its claim to Ceuta and Melilla as a means of pressuring Spain.
Israeli sources revealed that in March, Michael Rubin, a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, called on Morocco to organise a new “Green March” into the Spanish enclaves. Writing for the US-based Middle East Forum, Rubin suggested that Moroccans approach Ceuta and Melilla with bulldozers, cross into the territories unarmed and raise the Moroccan flag. He framed the proposal as a response to what he portrayed as Spain’s anti-colonial hypocrisy.
A separate article published by the Israeli outlet Ynet in April recommend that Israel could use its influence in Washington to help Morocco “recover” Ceuta and Melilla. The author, Middle East Forum fellow Amine Ayoub, presented support for Rabat’s territorial claim as a means of punishing Spain for challenging US and Israeli policies.
Ayoub proposed three ways for Israel to apply pressure: direct diplomatic signals to support Morocco, lobbying through Washington and repeatedly accusing Spain of hypocrisy over its recognition of Palestine. He concluded that helping Morocco “recover” Ceuta and Melilla would “punish” a NATO member which had challenged US and Israeli policies.
These earlier proposals have fuelled online debate over the latest crisis. Commentator Bruno Maçães drew attention to the April article, noting that pro-Israel analysts had urged Israel to help Morocco take control of Ceuta as a way of punishing Spain for its support for Palestine.
Social media users also shared a 2019 tweet by Yair Netenyahu the son of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netenyahu. “If the situation in Ceuta is the result of the “anti-Israel Spanish Left” why was Yair Netanyahu calling for Arabs and Muslims to “free Ceuta” in 2019?” asked a popular commentator on X sharing Netanyahu’s tweet calling for Muslims to take over Ceuta.
“This entire charade was orchestrated by Zionists to teach Spain a lesson and set an example for other nations if they don’t get in line.”
Details also emerged of Israel’s top diplomat in Spain, Dana Erlich, denying in April that the Israeli government was considering supporting Morocco’s claims over Ceuta and Melilla. She maintained that the matter was not among the Netanyahu government’s priorities.
The resurfacing of the articles coincided with thousands of people crossing from Morocco by land and sea, overwhelming the enclave’s reception system and prompting Spain to deploy police and military reinforcements. At least 19 bodies were recovered from the water as Spanish and Moroccan forces moved to halt further crossings.
These suspicions also drew heavily on a May 2021 row, when around 8,000 people entered Ceuta after Moroccan border controls appeared to have been relaxed during a diplomatic dispute with Spain. Spain’s defence minister at the time accused Morocco of “blackmail”, while the influx was widely interpreted as retaliation for Madrid’s decision to provide medical treatment to Western Sahara’s Polisario Front leader, Brahim Ghali.
Morocco’s close military and intelligence relationship with Israel has added to the speculation. The two countries signed a defence agreement in 2021 covering intelligence cooperation, military procurement and defence industries. Israeli-made drones and other weapons have since become an increasingly important part of Morocco’s military modernisation.
Spain, meanwhile, has become one of Israel’s most vocal critics in Europe. Madrid recognised the State of Palestine in May 2024 and subsequently imposed an arms embargo on Israel, prohibited vessels carrying fuel for the Israeli military from using Spanish ports and barred aircraft transporting weapons to Israel from Spanish airspace. Israel denounced the measures as anti-Semitic, prompting Spain to recall its ambassador for consultations.
Israeli army suicides rise again as two female soldiers die, bringing this year’s total to 16
MEMO | July 29, 2026
Two Israeli female soldiers died by suicide this week, bringing the number of serving Israeli soldiers who have taken their own lives since the start of the year to 16, amid growing concern over rising suicide rates in the military since the war in the Gaza Strip began.
Haaretz reported on Tuesday that a female soldier from the Bardelas Battalion, deployed along the Egypt-Israel border, died by suicide on Tuesday morning at a military base in southern Israel.
The newspaper said she was found injured at the base and taken to hospital, where she was later pronounced dead.
In a separate incident, Haaretz reported that a female soldier serving in Israeli military intelligence died by suicide on Sunday at the Glilot military base near Ramat Hasharon in central Israel. The report said she held a classified position.
According to Haaretz, the Israeli military has opened investigations through the Military Police into the circumstances surrounding both incidents.
Data compiled by the newspaper showed that the number of serving Israeli soldiers who have died by suicide since the beginning of this year has risen to 16.
The report added that at least nine other soldiers, including regular and reserve personnel who had taken part in the war, also took their own lives while off duty.
According to an earlier Haaretz report, 22 serving Israeli soldiers died by suicide in 2025, marking the highest annual figure recorded by the Israeli military in the past 15 years.
Israel rules out withdrawal from occupied Lebanon, wants ‘freedom of action’
Press TV – July 29, 2026
Israel has declared it will not agree to any “additional withdrawals” from Lebanon in the next round of negotiations with the Beirut government, while insisting on retaining “freedom of action” in areas transferred to the Lebanese Armed Forces.
Israel’s Channel 12 reported on Wednesday that Israeli officials conveyed the position to mediators involved in the Beirut-Tel Aviv talks ahead of the next round of negotiations, scheduled to take place in Rome on August 4.
There will be no withdrawal from the “security zone” Israel has established in south Lebanon, which includes dozens of occupied villages, the report said.
“The additional areas will not be on our side, in the defense lines that we have stabilized,” an Israeli official told the channel, claiming, “If the current pilot is successful and additional pilot areas are decided upon later, they will be beyond the Yellow Line. We will not allow further withdrawals of the area on our side. Until Hezbollah is disarmed in Lebanon – that is what was agreed upon.”
According to the report, the Israeli regime will instead insist on retaining “freedom of action” to re-enter areas recently handed over to the Lebanese Armed Forces.
The report came hours after heavy Israeli artillery shelling targeted Ali al-Taher Hill in southern Lebanon, where Israel’s Channel 12 reported that an Israeli D9 bulldozer was seen burning after it was “hit by an explosive Hezbollah drone.”
On June 26, Lebanon and Israel signed a controversial US-mediated framework agreement outlining a phased withdrawal of Israeli forces from all occupied Lebanese territories, beginning with a pilot model in two undisclosed zones.
The agreement sets no timetable for the withdrawal, making its completion contingent on the Lebanese Armed Forces assuming full security responsibility in evacuated areas and the disarmament of resistance groups, specifically Hezbollah.
Hezbollah rejected the agreement, saying the framework effectively legalizes the Israeli occupation of southern Lebanon.
Lebanon’s Amal Movement also rejected the deal, arguing that most of its provisions undermine Lebanon’s national interests while serving those of the Israeli regime.
During a meeting with US President Donald Trump at the White House earlier this month, Lebanese President Joseph Aoun reiterated Beirut’s demand for the complete withdrawal of Israeli occupation forces from Lebanese territory, saying the ceasefire agreement cannot be fully implemented as long as Israeli violations continue.
According to official Lebanese figures, Israeli aggression has killed at least 4,330 people, wounded 12,236 others, and displaced more than one million people across Lebanon since March 2.
Israel continues to occupy areas in southern Lebanon, including territories it has held for years as well as others it seized during the 2023-24 onslaught.
Netanyahu will reject US demands for withdrawal from Lebanon, Gaza, Syria if asked: Report
The Cradle | July 28, 2026
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has told cabinet ministers that Washington wants Israeli soldiers to pull back from positions in Syria, Lebanon, and Gaza, and that he does not intend to comply with US demands, Channel 13 reported on 27 July.
The report, which cites unnamed security sources familiar with the matter, states that US officials want the Israeli army to carry out a “series of withdrawals” across the three fronts.
Channel 13 does not state whether Washington is seeking full or partial pullbacks; however, Netanyahu told the ministers that he “intends to stand on my own two feet and resist.”
“I will strongly oppose this and tell them no,” he reportedly said.
The comments come as Netanyahu has set off for Washington for a meeting set for Tuesday with US President Donald Trump, after which he is scheduled to attend the funeral services for Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, one of Washington’s most persistent warmongers and an unwavering backer of Israel, who died on 11 July.
Israeli forces are currently occupying major stretches of land in Lebanon, Syria, and Gaza.
Israel maintains positions in border and hilltop areas in southern Syria, especially near the Golan frontier, where the military has established footholds inside Syrian territory, and regularly conducts raids against locals.
What began as a pretext to aid Druze communities battling Damascus’s extremist troops and Syrian government-backed Bedouin tribes after the ousting of former Syrian president Bashar al-Assad has become a so-called “buffer zone.” Israel has since used it to launch incursions into Lebanon.
In Lebanon, Israel maintains its so-called “Yellow Line” in the south that runs from the Mediterranean coast in the west to the Mount Hermon area in the east, extending around 10 kilometers inland and, in some parts, passing the Litani River.
Israel’s occupation of Lebanon has been marked by repeated ceasefire violations, including near-daily strikes, demolitions, and incursions. Beirut cited more than 2,000 violations in late 2025 alone, while hundreds of thousands of Lebanese remain displaced.
Many dozens of Lebanese villages within the Yellow Line have been completely demolished, with the intent of ethnically cleansing the area and creating a dead zone to which residents cannot return.
According to comments from February by Israeli Minister of War Israel Katz, Israeli troops will be staying in Lebanon and Syria “indefinitely.”
In Gaza, following almost three years of genocide and near-daily ceasefire violations since last October, Israel continued to slowly edge its Yellow Line in the strip further under the cover of night.
The most recent reporting says the controlled area has expanded to about 65 percent of Gaza and that the line has been shifted westward in places by hundreds of meters and, in some areas, by more than a kilometer.
Netanyahu has publicly said he wants to expand Israeli control over the strip further up to 70 percent.
Satellite imagery released on 21 July and reviewed by AP and Haaretz shows that the Israeli military has dug a 23-kilometer earthen trench along its new positions, cutting the devastated enclave in two.
In one stretch of southern Gaza, the trench sits more than a kilometer past the Yellow Line.
The synthesis of regional conflicts into WWIII has begun
By Tim Kirby | Strategic Culture Foundation | July 28, 2026
There are many people who only believe in or write about what they like. Their opinions are not so much derived from facts but are an expression of what they want to see happen. I say this because I want to be clear that the merging of the wars in Iran and Ukraine is neither ‘cool’ nor something I desire, but as they say ‘here we are’ and things will surely only get worse. Over the last two weeks we have seen news headlines demonstrating an interweaving of the conflicts into one. This is more so than just presumed (or in the case of the EU and Ukraine overt) proxy support.
One can only speculate as to why, but Zelensky with great glee has claimed responsibility for targeting an Iranian cargo vessel. There is a presumption that this was done to appease Trump or somehow win favor or attention from Washington. Trump has shown bitter disdain for Zelensky, especially after their spat at the White House early in the American President’s second term. But, we cannot forget that a president’s personal feelings on an individual do not necessarily become reflected in U.S. foreign policy. George Bush Jr. had nothing but praise for Vladimir Putin, while the Deep State was orchestrating the ultimate destruction of Russia behind the scenes. The attack on the Iranian ship has been confirmed by both Western media and RT: Iran has condemned a Ukrainian strike on a cargo ship in the Caspian Sea that killed one sailor and injured another. The Foreign Ministry summoned Ukraine’s acting chargé d’affaires over the attack.
In a post on X on Saturday, Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky boasted about what he called “very strong results” from long-range strikes targeting “vessels used in military cargo shipments involving Iran, as well as a warship.”
The Iranian Foreign Ministry condemned the attack, saying it “risks further fueling and expanding the flames of war.” It urged other nations to take a “responsible stance toward this reckless action by the Ukrainian regime” and hold its leadership accountable.
At about the same time, the Iranians have declared that they can and may hit the UK. They shared what could become an infamous image for future generations about climbing the escalation ladder to WWIII – a map showing the range of Iran’s strike capability. The key thing to note again is that Tehran wanted to make the point that they can hit the United Kingdom. This is in connection with the US attacking Iran via a British base, but perhaps there is more to this, because the U.S. has used plenty of foreign territory against Iran, but for some reason only the UK seemed marked for total destruction because of it. The City of London is a very special place indeed.
In the broader picture as time goes on the war in Ukraine and to an extent the one in Iran smells more-and-more like the vile streets of London and is even perhaps the last round of the ‘Great Game’ taking place in the 21st century. No one has been more enthusiastic for using Ukraine as one big suicide drone against Russia than the ever-rotating nosferatu that loom at 10 Downing Street. It was Boris Johnson who put the final nail in the coffin of millions of lives by destroying any sort of peace agreement back in 2022. But we should not forget that the birthplace of Zionism, the blood enemy of Iran, was the British Empire. And, at the very least the British owe the Iranians plenty of money.
At the time of writing no one has yet to be blamed for the explosion(s) at the industrial facility in Essex, but if Parliament and their overloads want, this could be the casus belli for engaging Russia, Iran or both full scale and thus the start of a true WWIII. Tehran did just threaten London after all.
It is obvious that the enemies of Russia and Iran (and China) are essentially the same, however the conflicts seemed to be fairly compartmentalized until this strike by the ‘Junkie Fuhrer’ as Dmitry Medvedev calls him. Anyone with YouTube level knowledge of geopolitics could see there is a sort of soft or compartmentalized WWIII already happening as the West goes into decline and the Monopolar World buckles under its own tremendous bulk. But each ‘front’ in this conflict, including ones that were resolved quickly like Venezuela, seemed to be at least factually separate. Yes, the EU is leading the way on the Ukrainian front and the USA on the Persian one but there’s tons of interplay behind the scenes, however ultimately they have remained separate conflicts despite this. Now, with this attack on Iran by Kiev it looks like these fronts may merge from officially separate ones to potentially turning into one big long arc along the western half of what Mackinder called the ‘rimland’ (the inter marginal crescent).
We also cannot ignore that Zelensky has attacked former supporter Turkey all while Erdogan’s anti-Israel rhetoric only continues to heat up. Interestingly, Kiev’s strike on Caspian oil infrastructure has a deep impact against seemingly neutral Kazakhstan and the United States. It was ultimately the critical infrastructure of these two countries that was effected. We also cannot forget that, although it is obvious where President Lukashenko’s allegiances lie, and that his nation has not entered the war yet, Kiev has still managed to continuously murder innocent civilians in/around Belarus including the now infamous incident against a bus filled with children. The Belorussian side is convinced, that the attack on the bus was meant to provoke them into entering the war directly.
On the other side of the big global strife the Saudis have attacked the Houthis and the other pro-western regimes of the Gulf States are waking up to the fact that if the USA loses then so do they and are trying to counter Iran’s actions to the best of their ability.
There is escalation happening everywhere across the ‘rimland’ except for Taiwan and the Korean Peninsula, probably to keep China from helping its like-minded neighbors too directly, or more importantly, too soon. Then again, the Russian rumor mill has it that the North Koreans are gathering an army of 50,000 volunteers to fight against Kiev in the Special Military Operation. This is not escalation in the east, but from the east for certain.
At the beginning of the Special Military Operation in Ukraine one could only hope and pray that something would change and that the West would go quietly into the Multipolar night on its own volition, but alas it has not. It is unclear whether Zelensky’s will is at play or that of his handlers, but Kiev’s ever growing attacks on third-parties in their war with Russia is only synthesizing the two major fights into one. We all remember how in the recent past the Iranians famously rejected Russian “help” in arming themselves, they have probably deeply reconsidered this position. If Zelensky is allowed to further attack Iran we will wake up to find ourselves no longer in a pseudo or soft WWIII but one that is very real and rock solid.
This broadening of conflict presents a danger as the rules of engagement are quite different in both conflicts. The Russians want to save the locals in Ukraine and thus they can’t just ‘nuke it’. The Iranians don’t have nukes thus they trade missiles with the American navy and its various army bases in neighboring countries along with strikes on the source of Zionism in Israel. These are two very different games: one a mission to save locals from extinction from fascists created by the West, and the other a fight back against an unprovoked Zionist bombing campaign. Ukraine is being used as a proxy, protecting Europe from retaliation, whereas Iran is directly hitting the U.S. military and Israel directly. The key take away is that if Zelensky’s authorization of anarchy, possibly planned and orchestrated by London and beyond continues, these two will merge into something truly horrific for all humanity as two wars with no immediate nuclear threat will merge into one with nukes at the ready on both sides. Regional conflicts are now synthesizing into WWIII and the dynamic of this unified war will be nuclear.
German arms exports to Israel surge sharply amid Gaza genocide
A submarine docked in a shipyard of warship maker TKMS in Kiel, Germany, on April 22, 2026. (Photo by Reuters)
Press TV – July 27, 2026
The German government has confirmed that it dramatically escalated its military material support for the occupying Israeli regime, approving a surge in arms export licenses that includes the delivery of a highly classified, nuclear-capable submarine.
Germany approved nearly $913 million in arms export licenses to Israel during the first five months of 2026, exceeding the total value approved over the previous 20 months combined, according to a government response to a parliamentary inquiry.
The figures were disclosed in a written reply by the Federal Foreign Office to a question from the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party. The response stated that almost all of the approvals were granted in April and May.
This increase marks a sharp rise in German arms export approvals to Israel, despite repeated statements by Berlin expressing concern over the humanitarian consequences of Israel’s military genocidal war in the besieged Gaza Strip.
More than 60% of the total value of the approved export licenses is allocated to a single, unnamed “major maritime project,” according to the government.
Defense analysts said the project is likely to involve a submarine built by German shipbuilder TKMS. The most probable candidate is the INS Drakon, a Dolphin II-class submarine capable of carrying nuclear weapons.
The submarine completed sea trials last year at TKMS’s shipyard in Kiel on Germany’s Baltic coast. German media reported that it was formally delivered to the Israeli Navy last week. The vessel has an estimated value of about $548 million.
According to defense reports, the INS Drakon may be equipped with a vertical launch system (VLS), allowing it to fire cruise or ballistic missiles. If confirmed, Israel would become only the second entity after South Korea known to operate a conventionally powered, air-independent propulsion submarine fitted with a VLS.
During sea trials, the submarine’s sail was covered with tarpaulins and fiberglass panels, preventing outside observers from identifying its weapons configuration.
Military analysts say submarines of this class could provide the occupying Israeli regime with a sea-based second-strike nuclear capability.
In May, TKMS signed a memorandum of understanding with Israeli company Elbit Systems on future cooperation.
Johannes Mutschler, a defense analyst, said some officials within the German government viewed exports of certain weapons to Israel as problematic in light of “numerous and credible reports” pointing to Israeli war crimes during the genocidal war on the besieged Gaza Strip. However, he noted that those concerns had not resulted in a broader policy restricting arms exports to Israel.
Germany remains one of the world’s largest arms exporters to the occupied Israeli entity. According to the Ministry for Economic Affairs’ Arms Export Report published in mid-July, Berlin approved export licenses worth $15.8 billion during the first half of 2026, more than four times the amount approved during the same period a year earlier. Ukraine remained the largest recipient of German arms exports.
Germany’s defense industry has expanded rapidly in recent years as the government has increased military spending following the Russia-Ukraine war.
Germany’s lethal arms exports to the occupied territories have seen a tenfold increase after Israel launched its war on Gaza on October 7, 2023, making Berlin not only complicit but an active participant in the genocide unfolding in the besieged Palestinian territory.
Under the shadow of the genocidal war in Gaza, Israel has accelerated its annexation drive in the West Bank. The occupied West Bank has been under Israeli military occupation since 1967.
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From the Archives
Clash of Civilization, Iran Part II
By Jamal Kanj – Intifada-Palestine.com – January 14, 2011
Israel’s survival kit is: perpetuate conflict, insecurity to rationalize collective hate and finally playing victim.
Devoid of conflict, Israel implodes internally; without hate, Zionism loses its justification; and playing eternal victim to continue blackmailing the West. Absence of this holy trinity, Israel ceases to exist. … continue
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