Majority of Jewish Israelis oppose prosecution of soldiers for raping Palestinian detainees: Poll
The Cradle | August 19, 2024
A new poll conducted by the Institute for National Security Studies (INSS) at Tel Aviv University has revealed Israeli Jews’ opinions regarding whether Israeli soldiers should be prosecuted for raping Palestinian detainees and whether Israel should launch a wide-scale war against Hezbollah and Iran.
The poll asked a question regarding the five soldiers recently accused of torturing and sexually assaulting a Palestinian detainee at the notorious Sde Teiman camp.
The poll stated, “If it is found that there is a basis for suspicion against the five suspects, how should they be treated?”
A large majority of Israeli Jews, 65 percent, responded, “They should be disciplined at the command level only.”
In contrast, only 21 percent said they should be prosecuted. The remaining 14 percent said, “I don’t know.”
The poll also asked, “Do you think Israel should or should not obey international law and maintain moral values in war?”
In response, 47 percent of Israeli Jews said the army “Doesn’t have to obey.” Only 42.5 percent said it “Must obey.” The remaining 10.5 percent said, “I don’t know.”
The poll also asked, “What do you think Israel’s response to Hezbollah’s attacks should be?”
In response, 52 percent of Israeli Jews said, “Israel must initiate broad military activity even at the cost of regional war.”
This included the 27 percent who said the regional war should also include “the occupation and certain control of the territories of southern Lebanon.”
In contrast, 17 percent of Israel Jews responded that “Israel should respond locally to all attacks and avoid an escalation and deterioration into a wide-scale war as much as possible.”
A further 26 percent of Israeli Jews said, “Israel should initiate military activity limited to harming Hezbollah.”
The poll further asked, “Under the current circumstances, is it advisable for Israel to take direct military action against Iran?”
In response, 52 percent of Jewish Israelis answered positively with “yes” or “I think so.”
In contrast, 37.5 percent said “no” or “I don’t think so.” The remaining 17.5 percent said they didn’t know.
In another question, the poll asked, “What worries you more, security threats to Israel from outside, or socio-religious tensions within Israel?”
In response, 39 percent said security threats to Israel from outside worry them more. Some 51 percent said socio-religious tensions within Israel are more worrying.
Colombia bans coal exports to Israel
MEMO | August 19, 2024
Colombia’s President Gustavo Petro signed a decree banning coal exports to Israel, Bloomberg reported, adding that this is an effort “to pressure the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to end the conflict in Gaza.”
The Columbian president said that Israel uses Colombian coal to make bombs to kill Palestinian children.
Since the beginning of the war on Gaza, the Colombian president has repeatedly stressed that Israel is committing genocide, calling on the world to put an end to Netanyahu’s violations.
At the end of February, Petro announced the suspension of arms purchase deals from the occupation, following the flour massacre in Gaza when 118 Palestinians were martyred while waiting for an aid convoy near the Nabulsi roundabout in the northern Gaza Strip.
Petro also announced in May that his country has severed its diplomatic relations with Israel and that the countries of the world should not be passive towards what is happening in Gaza.
Colombia is Israel’s biggest coal supplier, having sold it about $450 million of the fuel in 2023, according to Bloomberg News.
It had suspended coal exports in June.
Vast majority of Brits blame immigration for unrest – poll
RT | August 18, 2024
Two-thirds of Brits believe the country’s immigration policy is responsible for the recent wave of right-wing riots, according to a poll published on Sunday. The riots triggered a nationwide crackdown on disorder and online dissent.
Dozens of British towns and cities were rocked by right-wing protests and riots earlier this month after a British teenager of Rwandan descent stabbed three children to death and injured ten others in the town of Southport, near Liverpool. Initially sparked by a false rumor that the knifeman was a Muslim immigrant, the demonstrations spiraled into a wider backlash against Islam and mass immigration, culminating in an arson attack on a hotel housing asylum seekers in the town of Rotherham.
According to a survey of 2,237 people carried out by polling firm Savanta and published by The Telegraph, 82% of Britons believe that the rioters themselves were responsible for the unrest, followed by 75% who pin the blame on far-right groups and influencers.
However, 64% believe that Britain’s immigration policy is ultimately to blame, while 59% say the Southport stabbings triggered the crisis.
British authorities responded to the riots in draconian fashion, with more than 1,000 people arrested, 480 charged, and 99 sentenced for their role in the disorder, according to figures published by the BBC on Friday. Around 30 people have been charged for online offenses, with a 34-year-old man sentenced to three months in jail for sharing what the BBC called a “derogatory meme about migrants,” and a 55-year-old woman arrested for sharing “inaccurate” information about the identity of the Southport killer.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer is reportedly considering toughening up hate speech legislation, while London’s Metropolitan Police commissioner, Sir Mark Rowley, warned last week that foreign “keyboard warriors,” including X owner Elon Musk, could be investigated and charged for allegedly encouraging the riots.
Participants in the Savanta poll were split on this heavy-handed response, with 49% saying the government handled the situation well, and 43% saying that it was handled badly. Meanwhile, 44% blamed the riots on Starmer. In a public address at the height of the unrest, Starmer refused to mention the stabbings, instead accusing all those rioting of being motivated by “far-right hatred.”
Immigration to the UK soared during the premiership of Tony Blair. An adviser to the former prime minister, Andrew Neather, admitted in 2009 that Blair wanted to “open up the UK to mass migration” and “rub the Right’s nose in diversity.” With legal and illegal immigration combined, some 1.2 million people moved to the UK last year, 85% of them from outside the EU.
Hamas reveals details of latest US proposal for Gaza ceasefire: Report
The Cradle | August 18, 2024
Sources in the Hamas movement revealed details of the newest US proposal for a Gaza ceasefire between the Palestinian resistance movement and Israel, Al-Sharq newspaper reported on 18 August.
An official source in the movement told Al-Sharq that the US proposal included reducing the presence of the Israeli army on the strategic Gaza-Egypt border area known as the Philadelphia Corridor but not a full withdrawal of the Israeli army. The proposal also included the returning management of the Rafah crossing to the Palestinian Authority (PA) under Israeli supervision.
The source added that the US proposal also includes allowing Israel to monitor displaced Palestinians at the Netzarim Corridor as they return to the north of Gaza.
Washington’s proposal also includes deporting outside of Palestine a large number of Palestinian prisoners who will be released by Israel in the exchange deal, according to a source in the Hamas movement.
The source also pointed out that the proposal gives Tel Aviv the right to refuse the release of at least 100 Palestinian prisoners now held in Israeli prisons in any exchange for the remaining Israeli captives held by Hamas.
The US proposal additionally states that “a permanent ceasefire will be discussed in the second phase within a specific limit, and if Hamas does not agree to the Israeli demands, the army will return to the war and carry out its military operations,” according to the source.
He explained that according to the proposal, an agreement on the reconstruction of Gaza and lifting of the 17-year blockade on the enclave would be discussed only after the implementation of the first phase of the deal.
The US proposal comes as Israel continues to carry out regular massacres of women and children in Gaza and amid reports that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is seeking to sabotage a possible ceasefire deal.
Documents cited by the New York Times (NYT) on 13 August confirmed that Netanyahu has continued to add new conditions to Israel’s demands each time a deal for a ceasefire is close to being reached.
The unpublished documents show that Israel “relayed a list of new stipulations in late July to American, Egyptian, and Qatari mediators that added less flexible conditions to a set of principles it had made in late May,” NYT reported.
It added that the documents “make clear that the behind-the-scenes maneuvering by the Netanyahu government has been extensive.”
Hamas has stated that Netanyahu continues to delay a ceasefire agreement to give the Israeli army more time to kill Palestinians and destroy homes and infrastructure in Gaza. The resistance movement called in a statement on 12 August for mediators to push Israel into accepting the proposal it had agreed to in early July, which was an updated version of Biden’s May proposal.
“We demand that the mediators submit a plan to implement what they presented to the movement and that we agreed to on 2 July 2024, based on Biden’s vision and the Security Council resolution, and oblige the occupation to do so, instead of going to more rounds of negotiations or new proposals that provide cover for the occupation’s aggression and give it more time to perpetuate the war of genocide against our people,” Hamas said on 11 August.
This week, the number of Palestinians killed by Israel in Gaza exceeded 40,000, according to the health ministry. The number may be much higher due to indirect deaths from the destruction of Gaza’s health and sanitation infrastructure and due to those people who remain missing, buried under the rubble of buildings and homes destroyed by Israeli bombs.
Hamas responds to Doha proposal, says Netanyahu ‘obstructing’ ceasefire deal
Press TV – August 18, 2024
Hamas has squarely blamed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for the failure to reach a ceasefire agreement in Gaza, following two days of talks in Doha that concluded on Friday, in which the Palestinian resistance movement did not participate
Hamas gave its official response in a statement on Sunday after reviewing the outcomes of the negotiations, mediated by Qatar and Egypt as well as the United States.
Hamas called on the mediators to present a concrete plan to implement the proposals agreed upon on July 2, emphasizing the need to avoid a continuous cycle of stalled negotiations due to Netanyahu’s delaying tactics and new conditions.
The resistance movement accused Netanyahu of employing a strategy to buy time and prolong the aggression in Gaza.
“We became certain that Netanyahu is still putting obstacles in the way of reaching an agreement,” Hamas said in its statement.
The group emphasized that the latest proposal presented during the talks aligns with Netanyahu’s conditions, which notably include his rejection of a permanent ceasefire and any withdrawal from Gaza.
The resistance movement highlighted that the proposal also reflects Netanyahu’s insistence on maintaining control over strategic areas of Gaza, including the Netzarim Junction, the Rafah Crossing, and the Philadelphi Corridor.
Furthermore, Hamas criticized the new conditions that Netanyahu imposed on the prisoner exchange negotiations.
“We hold Netanyahu fully responsible for thwarting the mediators’ efforts and obstructing the path to an agreement,” it reiterated.
Hamas asserted that they have approached the mediation efforts in Qatar and Egypt responsibly, and have considered all proposals intended at stopping the aggression against Palestinians and concluding a prisoner exchange deal.
This approach, Hamas noted, is driven by a desire to spare the blood of their people and end the ongoing violence and genocide against Palestinian civilians in the Gaza Strip.
The movement also reaffirmed its commitment to what it agreed upon on July 2, which was outlined by US President Joe Biden at the end of May and approved by the UN Security Council.
“We call on the mediators to fulfill their responsibilities and oblige the occupation to implement what has been agreed upon,” it added.
The latest round of ceasefire talks on Gaza concluded in Doha without a breakthrough on Friday, but a new date has been set for further discussions next week.
A statement from the White House, issued by co-mediators Qatar and Egypt, described a fresh proposal that they said builds “on areas of agreement” and seeks to bridge remaining gaps, allowing for “a swift implementation of the deal.”
In a separate statement late Friday, President Biden expressed optimism about a deal, saying that the “bridging proposal” provides a foundation for a final agreement on a ceasefire and a prisoner exchange deal.
Despite the optimistic tone, dozens of rounds of indirect talks between Hamas and Israel have failed to produce an agreement since a short-lived truce collapsed in December.
The mediation efforts have suffered several setbacks, chief among them the assassination of Hamas’ political leader and chief negotiator, Ismail Haniyeh, in an Israeli strike in Tehran late in July.
US universities impose ‘police state’ rules to prevent campus protests over Gaza war
Press TV – August 18, 2024
US universities have imposed “police state” rules to avoid a repeat of campus protests against Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza, with students and faculties warning of the chilling effect they would have on free speech.
Reports indicate that as summer break ends, university administrations across the United States are imposing tougher measures to avoid a new wave of campus protests, which led to nationwide police crackdowns on campuses last semester.
Large protest encampments set up last semester eventually ended after a nationwide police crackdown on campuses in different US universities led to more than 3,100 arrests.
Scores of students faced criminal charges and disciplinary measures, and several schools scaled back graduation ceremonies for protesting against the Israeli war which has killed more than 40,000 Palestinians so far.
Columbia University students, who were at the vanguard of the movement, may encounter the most changes.
The university president, Minouche Shafik, resigned this week in the wake of criticism for her handling of the protests, but not before overseeing the installation of fencing around the lawns of the school’s quad – the heart of campus life and the site of large protest encampments.
According to the Wall Street Journal, university administrators are also considering bringing in “peace officers” with the authority to arrest students – something Columbia’s current 290 security personnel cannot do.
In an email sent to students last month, the administration also announced a “color-coded campus status” system, with varying levels of access restrictions “based upon the potential disruption to our academic mission and/or campus operations.”
To further confront protesting students, some universities have banned the use of “event tents, tables, walls, outdoor displays, inflatables, freestanding signs, huts, sculptures, booths, facilities, flashing or rotating lights, illuminated signs, or similar objects and structures.”
Students say despite new draconian rules the pro-Palestine rallies will continue as long as Israeli atrocities go on in occupied Palestinian lands.
“The war is still there … nothing has changed in Palestine,” said Jonathan Ben-Menachem, a sociology PhD student who participated in the Columbia University students’ campus protests.
He said universities’ efforts to quash the protests when students return from summer vacation will fail.
“It’s going to be more of a police state than it was, but I don’t think that means no one’s going to do anything,” the graduate student pointed out.
Human rights advocates and student activists as well as university faculty members have sounded the alarm about the new policies, warning that the restrictions in addition to endangering free speech, run counter to educational institutions’ mission to foster debate, risk deepening tensions on campuses, and – in the case of public universities – may run foul of schools’ constitutional obligations.
Last week, the American Association of University Professors issued a statement condemning the harsh anti-protesting rules at universities.
The tougher new rules “impose severe limits on speech and assembly that discourage or shut down freedom of expression”, wrote the group, which represents more than 44,000 faculty members nationwide.
“Those who care about higher education and democracy should be alarmed.”
Israel’s creation and exploitation of Palestinian human shields
By Ramona Wadi | MEMO | August 17, 2024
How many times have Israeli officials justified massacring Palestinian civilians because Hamas uses them as human shields? Israeli media has now reported the opposite – the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) using Palestinian civilians as human shields in areas slated for incursion. “It is better that they explode and not the soldiers,” an Israeli soldier was told by an IDF commander. According to testimonies given to Haaretz by soldiers, senior IDF staff are aware of the practice.
In Israeli narratives of Palestinian human shields, the context is completely stripped away. There is no mention of the fact that Gaza is blockaded, that people have no way out and that a densely populated strip of land is home to both civilians and the resistance movement, including their weapons. Israel using the term “human shields” to describe Hamas’s limitations in terms of resistance in Gaza is not only misleading, but also completely wrong. It is Israeli colonial violence that has created Palestinian human shields.
After creating Palestinian human shields, Israel found a way to use them. First, to build its narrative justifying each aggression against Gaza. In the genocide, Israel used Palestinian human shields to save the lives of soldiers tasked with killing Palestinians in Gaza.
While Israel’s colonial narrative deems Hamas a terror group, it is interesting to note how the Israeli media specified that the human shields used by the IDF “are not terror suspects”. The phrase itself speaks volumes about Israel’s genocidal intent and action in Gaza – every Palestinian is a target, not just Hamas. Palestinian civilians, Israeli media reported: “Are detained specifically to be sent into buildings and tunnels that troops believe may be booby-trapped.” Briefly, the IDF will explore any avenue to kill Palestinians in one way or another, and human shields make for convenient collateral damage for Israel, which doesn’t even need to justify its atrocities, not even in genocide, thanks to the impunity the international community bestowed upon the settler-colonial entity.
“These are just reports at this point,” US State Department spokesperson Vedant Patel stated in reply to reporters’ questions about Israel using Palestinian civilians as human shields. Yet the Haaretz report quotes Israeli soldiers confirming the IDF’s knowledge, which points to a practice legitimised by Israeli military officials.
Patel, however, found it pertinent to mention the Israeli propaganda, which states Hamas uses civilian infrastructure to operate from, as well as using civilians as human shields. “That is not hyperbole,” he added. There has never been greater hyperbole than Israel’s colonial narratives unless we are speaking about the US that disseminates hyperbole as truth.
Just a day prior to Haaretz’s report, Ynet News ran an article justifying Israel’s killing of civilians taking shelter in schools by blaming Hamas for using the premises and, therefore, civilians as human shields, quoting IDF spokesperson Daniel Hagari. “Israel views civilian casualties as a tragedy, while Hamas sees them as a strategy,” Hagari stated.
Israel’s use of Palestinian human shields as part of its military strategy clearly contradicts Hagari’s words and Netanyahu’s narrative. The only tragedy for Israel is the exposure of its crimes. Although with allies such as the US, which constructs its own definitions of what constitutes truth and hyperbole, tragedy is quickly exploited for PR opportunities, while Palestinian civilians – human shields created by Israel – decay in the genocide the world has learnt to accept.
Gaza Ceasefire Talks in Doha Concluded: New Proposal Said to Be on Table
Al-Manar | August 16, 2024
Two days of negotiations in Doha failed to end Gaza woe caused by a Zionist genocidal war ongoing for the 315th consecutive day despite the various political statements and media reports which claim a remarkable progress in this regard.
Political and security officials representing Qatar, Egypt, US and ‘Israel’ met amid the absence of Hamas representatives in order to mull a US truce proposal.
The U.S. presented a new bridging proposal to Israel and Hamas on Friday in an effort to close the remaining gaps in the Gaza hostage and ceasefire deal, the U.S., Qatar and Egypt claimed in a joint statement.
US President Joe Biden told reporters in the Oval Office on Friday that “we are closer to a deal than we have ever been,” adding he doesn’t want “to jinx” it but “we might have something there.” Biden said, “we are not there yet but we are closer than we were three days ago.”
Biden also spoke on the phone with the Emir of Qatar and the President of Egypt on Friday about the deal.
The U.S., Qatar and Egypt said in the statement that the talks over the last two days in Doha “were serious and constructive and were conducted in a positive atmosphere.”
“The U.S. with support from Egypt and Qatar, presented to both parties a bridging proposal that is consistent with the principles laid out by President Biden on May 31, 2024 and Security Council Resolution No. 2735,” they said.
“This proposal builds on areas of agreement over the past week, and bridges remaining gaps in the manner that allows for a swift implementation of the deal.”
A source with knowledge of the talks told Axios : “We got more progress over the last two days than the last six weeks combined.”
Working teams from the U.S., Qatar, Egypt and Israel will continue technical work over the coming days on the details of implementation of the deal, the statement said.
According to the statement, the issues that still need to be concluded are the arrangements for extensive humanitarian provisions to Gaza and the specifics relating to the hostages and Palestinian prisoners who will be released as part of the deal.
Another summit between the senior mediators and negotiators — CIA director Bill Burns, the Qatari prime minister, director of the Israeli Mossad and the Egyptian head of intelligence — will take place in Cairo before the end of next week “with the aim to conclude the deal under the terms put forward today,” the statement said.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken is expected to travel to the region on the weekend to continue pushing for a deal, sources briefed on the trip said.
On Sunday, Blinken is expected to land in Israel and meet Prime Minister Netanyahu on Monday, the Israeli Prime Minister’s office said.
Israeli evacuation orders shut 10 wells, worsening water crisis in Gaza
MEMO | August 17, 2024
The new Israeli evacuation orders for areas in eastern Gaza have resulted in the shutdown of 10 water wells, Deir al-Balah Municipality in the central Gaza Strip announced on Saturday, Anadolu reports.
Ismail Sarsour, head of the municipality’s Emergency Committee, told Anadolu : “The new Israeli evacuation orders for eastern Deir al-Balah have effectively taken 10 out of 19 wells out of service.”
“Access to three other wells west of Salah al-Din Street has become hazardous,” Sarsour stated.
He emphasized that the water situation in Deir al-Balah will become extremely dire in the coming days, especially with the shutdown of the eastern wells, which serve as a critical water supply for areas west of Salah al-Din Street, including the city center.
Deir al-Balah is currently home to hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinians, particularly in the city center and its western areas.
Residents in the Gaza Strip are already facing significant challenges in accessing potable water, often traveling long distances to secure just a few liters. In various parts of the strip, displaced people are rationing drinking water in fear of future shortages.
According to the Government Media Office in Gaza, the ongoing Israeli war has displaced nearly 2 million people out of a total population of 2.3 million.
The Israeli army issued immediate evacuation orders on Saturday for residents of Deir al-Balah.
On Tuesday, the UN Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA) reported that approximately 84% of Gaza’s territory has been under evacuation orders since Oct. 7.
Israel’s continued onslaught on Gaza has drawn international condemnation for violating a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire.
The ongoing war has resulted in over 40,000 Palestinian deaths and has left vast areas of Gaza in ruins, exacerbated by a severe blockade of food, clean water, and medicine.
Israel is accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which ordered it to immediately halt its military operation in the southern city of Rafah, where more than 1 million Palestinians had sought refuge from the war before it was invaded on May 6.
Senior UK diplomat resigns over London’s ‘complicity’ in Gaza war crimes
The Cradle | August 17, 2024
Mark Smith, the head of the Africa Programmes and Expertise Department and the UK Foreign, Commonwealth, and Development Office (FCDO), formally resigned on 16 August, citing London’s continued arms sales to Israel.
In a letter titled “FCDO complicity in War Crimes,” Smith – an expert on the legality of UK arms sales – laments ending his long diplomatic career “in the knowledge that this Department may be complicit in War Crimes.”
“As [a] former penholder on the arms exports licensing assessment in [the Middle East and North Africa Department] MENAD, I am a subject matter expert in the domain of armed sales policy. Each day we witness clear and unquestionable examples of War Crimes and breaches of International Humanitarian Law in Gaza perpetrated by the State of Israel,” Smith writes.
“Senior members of the Israeli government and military have expressed open genocidal intent, Israeli soldiers take videos, deliberately burning destroying, and looting civilian property and openly admit to the rape and torture of prisoners,” the letter continues.
He also highlights that Israel’s wholesale destruction of Gaza’s infrastructure, their continued restrictions on the entry of humanitarian aid, plus attacks on ambulances, schools, and hospitals all constitute war crimes.
“There is no justification for the UK’s continued arms sales to Israel yet somehow it continues. I have raised this at every level in the organization including through an official whistle-blowing investigation and received nothing more than ‘thank you we have noted your concerns.’”
Smith also criticizes UK authorities for misrepresenting London’s arms export licensing regimes as “robust and transparent,” saying, “This is the opposite of the truth.”
Although falling well behind Israel’s top suppliers of deadly armament – the US and Germany – the UK granted more than 100 weapon export licenses to Tel Aviv between 7 October and the end of May.
Between 2008 and the end of 2023, London granted export licenses for arms deals to Israel worth 576 million pounds ($740m).
Earlier this month, British news outlets reported that the new Labour government “[appears] to have suspended the processing of arms export licenses for sales to Israel pending the completion of a wider government review into the issue.”
The suspension is reportedly part of a review “of the risk of weapons sales to Israel in light of allegations of breaches of humanitarian law in the Gaza conflict.”
Israel expects US and other allies to help bomb Iran
RT | August 17, 2024
Israel’s Foreign Minister, Israel Katz, has stated that his country expects not only the United States but also its allies, including Britain and France, to assist in offensive operations against Tehran in the event of direct conflict.
Katz made these comments during a meeting with British Foreign Secretary David Lammy and French Foreign Minister Stéphane Séjourne in Jerusalem on Friday, according to a Hebrew-language statement from his office.
”Israel expects France and Britain to publicly clarify to Iran that it is unacceptable for it to attack Israel, and that if Iran attacks, the US-led coalition will join Israel not only in defense but also in an attack against significant targets in Iran,” the statement said, as cited by the Times of Israel.
Katz reiterated in a post on X that he made it “clear” to his colleagues that they should publicly announce their countries “will stand with Israel not only in defense but also in striking targets in Iran.”
The French and British diplomats downplayed these assertions, with Sejourne telling reporters that it would be “inappropriate” to discuss any “retaliation or preparation for an Israeli retaliation” amid diplomatic efforts to negotiate a deal to end the Gaza war. A joint French-British statement following the meeting also made no mention of any anti-Iran coalitions.
“We have urged Iran and its proxies to stand down the ongoing threats of military attack against Israel. We have also stressed to all parties that the spiral of escalating reprisals must end,” they said in their only reference to Tehran.
The meeting in Jerusalem occurred shortly before the latest round of indirect ceasefire talks ended without breakthroughs, though there were promises to return to the negotiating table next week. The war between Israel and Hamas has dragged on for 10 months since the militant group staged a deadly incursion, resulting in approximately 1,100 deaths and around 200 hostages. The massive Israeli response has claimed over 40,000 Palestinian lives, according to Gaza health officials.
The risk of wider conflict in the Middle East was drastically exacerbated by the assassination of Hamas Political Bureau Chief Ismail Haniyeh, who served as the Palestinian armed group’s lead negotiator in indirect talks with Israel. He was killed in Tehran on June 31, hours after attending the inauguration of Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian. Iran promised to inflict a “harsh punishment” on Israel, which has neither acknowledged nor denied any involvement in the killing.
The US has deployed additional warships and a submarine to the Middle East to protect the Jewish state from potential attacks, but it remains unclear whether Washington has agreed to any plans to bomb Iran.
In April, when Iran fired hundreds of missiles and drones at Israel in retaliation for the bombing of its embassy in Damascus, US fighter jets and warships helped intercept many of the incoming projectiles. However, this was a purely defensive operation, with no direct counterstrike on targets inside Iran.
Norway closes its Palestine office after Israel revokes status of diplomats
Press TV – August 16, 2024
Norway has announced the closure of its Representative Office in al-Ram, Palestine, after Israel’s “extreme” decision to revoke the diplomatic status of several Norwegian diplomats.
Norwegian Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide said it was an “extreme and unreasonable” decision made by the regime.
“This decision seeks to target the Palestinians and the Palestinian Authority and all those who defend international law, the two-state solution and the Palestinians’ legitimate right to self-determination.”
The minister vowed that his country will continue to support the Palestinian people “with full force.”
“We will do our utmost to ensure that this does not affect our work for Palestine and for a viable Palestinian state. Our commitment will continue with full force.”
He noted that the Israeli decision obviously “has consequences for our work in Palestine.”
“It affects our locally employed staff. Many of them have worked at the representative office for several years. It also affects our diplomats and their families. We are now fully focused on how to safeguard our employees and our work in the best possible way,” Eide said.
Earlier this month, Israel revoked the diplomatic status of eight Norwegian diplomats who had been working in Norway’s representative office to the Palestinian Authority.
Ties between Oslo and Tel Aviv have been deteriorating since Norway recognized the state of Palestine in May.
More than two-thirds of the United Nations, approximately 140 countries, already recognize a Palestinian state.
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UAE tortured, killed journalist for opposing Israel normalization
The Cradle | October 31, 2026
UAE security officers detained, tortured, and killed Emirati poet and news editor Habib al-Sayegh in August 2019, shortly after he published a column opposing UAE normalization with Israel, according to a newly published book.
“Princes and Thieves,” a book by investigative journalist Matthew Cole published on 25 October, alleges that UAE security officers raided Sayegh’s Abu Dhabi home shortly after the publication of the column, hooded him in front of his wife and took him to a detention facility where he was tortured to death.
His interrogators reportedly pulled out several of his teeth with pliers and beat him repeatedly with a sharp metal object.
On 11 August 2019, Sayegh criticized the UAE’s plan to normalize relations with Israel as part of the Abraham Accords in his weekly column for Khaleej newspaper. The column was titled “Israel Is Our Real Enemy and A Dangerous Project.”
Sayegh described Israel as “a real and natural enemy” while questioning “who authorized the normalizers to speak on behalf of everyone?”
Nine days after the column was published, Emirati state media announced his death, without stating a cause. … continue
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