Emirates’ foreign ministry rejects claims that Netanyahu visited country, describing them as ‘baseless’
Benjamin Netanyahu has claimed he made a secret trip to the United Arab Emirates at the height of the Iran war to meet the president, Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan.
“This visit has led to a historic breakthrough in relations between Israel and the UAE,” the Israeli prime minister’s office said on Wednesday night.
Continue reading...Australia Palestine Advocacy Network says criticism of Israel is routinely misrepresented as antisemitic – and that Palestinian voices are being excluded from debate
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Palestinian voices are being excluded from the debate on social cohesion, the peak body for Palestinians in Australia has said after it was refused leave to appear before the royal commission on antisemitism and social cohesion.
The Australia Palestine Advocacy Network (Apan) made detailed submissions on the issues of antisemitism – including how it is defined – as well as on racism and social cohesion, but was told it did not have a “direct and substantial” interest in the public hearings, which are under way in Sydney.
Continue reading...Knesset approves plan for livestreamed trials in military court, which has drawn comparisons to Eichmann trial
Israeli lawmakers have approved setting up a livestreamed special tribunal with the power to sentence to death Palestinians convicted of taking part in the Hamas attack on 7 October 2023 that triggered the war in Gaza.
The measure was passed by 93 votes to none in the 120-seat Knesset, Israel’s parliament, reflecting widespread support among Israel’s Jewish majority for punishing those found responsible for the deadliest single attack in Israel’s history. The remaining 27 lawmakers were absent or abstained from voting.
Continue reading...IDF says two soldiers will spend weeks in military prison over incident it said was viewed with great severity
Two Israeli soldiers will spend weeks in military prison for the desecration of a Christian object after one stuck a cigarette in the mouth of a statue of the Virgin Mary in southern Lebanon and the other photographed it.
The photo of the soldier, a cigarette dangling from his own mouth, went viral and sparked widespread outrage. It was the latest act by Israeli forces in southern Lebanon to be denounced as anti-Christian.
Continue reading...Israeli PM says he has ‘full coordination’ with US president amid reports that Washington no longer consults him
Benjamin Netanyahu interrupted an uncharacteristically long silence over the Iran conflict this week with a video commentary insisting he had “full coordination” with Donald Trump, with whom he spoke “almost daily”.
The insistence that all was rosy in the US-Israeli relationship followed weeks of reports in the domestic press that Israel was no longer being consulted over the Iran conflict, and even less over Pakistani-brokered peace talks. Such is the scepticism over Netanyahu’s trustworthiness among the general public and independent press that the immediate reaction among observers to his video statement was speculation that the reality could be even worse than they had imagined.
Continue reading...Diplomatic efforts continue despite fighting in and around contested strait of Hormuz in recent days
The US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, has said that Washington is expecting a response from Iran to its proposals for an interim deal to end the conflict in the Middle East, as Iran accused the US of breaching the increasingly fragile ceasefire announced last month.
In recent days there have been the biggest flare-ups in fighting in and around the contested strait of Hormuz since the informal truce began. The rise in violence followed Donald Trump’s announcement – then rapid pause – of a new naval mission aimed at opening the strategic waterway.
Continue reading...Letter from House Democrats to secretary of state calls for end to ambiguity over Israel’s nuclear weapons programs
House Democrats have asked the secretary of state, Marco Rubio, to publicly announce that Israel possesses nuclear weapons, arguing that Washington must end decades of ambiguity over the issue amid the conflict with Iran.
In a letter sent on Monday, 30 Democrats wrote that it was unsustainable for Donald Trump to collaborate with the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, on a military campaign against Iran – with the stated goal of preventing the country from obtaining a nuclear weapon – without publicly acknowledging the US ally’s possession of the bomb.
Continue reading...Leaked remarks by Maj Gen Avi Bluth describe fatal shootings of stone-throwers and different treatment for Jewish settlers
The Israeli army chief in the West Bank has said his troops were “killing like we haven’t killed since 1967”, including fatally shooting Palestinian stone-throwers, according to an Israeli report of his comments.
The remarks by Maj Gen Avi Bluth, head of the army’s central command, were made in a recent closed forum but were leaked to Israel’s Haaretz newspaper. Bluth has so far not denied the authenticity of the Haaretz account. The Israel Defense Forces did not respond to a request for comment.
Continue reading...Hangings are latest in wave of near-daily killings as authorities seek to instil fear amid war with US and Israel
Iran has executed three men charged in connection with political protests this January, authorities have said, the latest in a wave of hangings against the backdrop of the war against the US and Israel.
Iranian authorities have carried out executions on a near-daily basis in recent weeks in what activists have denounced as a bid to instil fear in society at a time of international and domestic tension.
Continue reading...Israeli court extends detention of two men who were among 175 people intercepted near Crete on Thursday
Spain’s foreign ministry has demanded the immediate release of a Spanish national it said was being “held illegally” by Israel after the interception of a Gaza-bound flotilla, hours after an Israeli court moved to extend his detention by two days.
Saif Abu Keshek, who lives in Barcelona, and Thiago Ávila, from Brazil, appeared in court in Ashkelon on Sunday, days after Israeli forces intercepted at least 22 boats from a flotilla that was attempting to break Israel’s maritime blockade of the devastated Palestinian territory to deliver aid.
Continue reading...US president’s post follows flurry of mixed signals including concern Tehran had not ‘paid big enough price’
Donald Trump has announced that the US will “guide” ships trapped by the Iran war out of the Gulf through the strait of Hormuz on Monday morning, and claimed his representatives were having “very positive” discussions with Iran.
Trump wrote on his social media site that the operation, called “Project Freedom”, would be a humanitarian gesture “on behalf of the United States, Middle Eastern Countries but, in particular, the Country of Iran”.
Continue reading...German government calls redeployment of 5,000 troops ‘anticipated’ and reminder of Europe’s need to invest in its own defence
Nato is seeking to “understand the details” of a US decision to withdraw 5,000 troops from Germany, a redeployment ordered by Donald Trump amid a feud with the German chancellor, Friedrich Merz.
The German government sought to play down the severity of Trump’s move, describing it as “anticipated”, and a reminder of Europe’s need to invest in its own defence. The US withdrawal, which the Pentagon said would take place over the next six to 12 months, comes after criticism from Merz over Trump’s war with Iran and his handling of subsequent talks with Tehran.
Continue reading...Israeli foreign ministry denounces ‘shameful act’ after video shows man pushing woman to ground and kicking her
A video of an attack on a French Catholic nun and archeological researcher in Jerusalem has caused widespread revulsion and been denounced as a “shameful act” by Israel’s foreign ministry.
In the video, a man runs up behind the nun as she walks down a street and pushes her over with force, so that the victim comes close to hitting her head on a block of stone. After walking away a few paces, the attacker, who appears to be Jewish, returns to kick the nun as she lies on the ground and only stops when a passerby intervenes.
Continue reading...Accusation vessel contains grain looted from Russian-occupied territories triggers diplomatic spat between both nations
Ukraine has asked Israel to seize a vessel it claims is carrying grain looted from Russian-occupied territories, triggering a rare diplomatic spat between the two countries.
The dispute spilt into public view this week when president Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that “another vessel” carrying grain “stolen by Russia” had arrived at a port in Israel and was preparing to unload.
Continue reading...Royal Navy chief says unified naval force will deter future Russian threats from the ‘open sea border’ to the north
Britain has agreed to create a unified naval force with nine European countries to deter future Russian threats from the “open sea border” to the north, the head of the Royal Navy has announced.
Gen Sir Gwyn Jenkins said that despite the ongoing crisis in the Middle East, where the strait of Hormuz remains closed after the US-Israeli war in Iran, “Russia remains the gravest threat to our security”.
Continue reading...Ceasefire frays further as Israel also carries out airstrikes and issues new displacement orders for south Lebanon
Hezbollah launched several drones at Israeli soldiers in south Lebanon on Tuesday, while Israel issued new displacement orders for south Lebanon and carried out airstrikes, as the fraying ceasefire failed to stop fighting between the two sides.
Hezbollah claimed Tuesday’s attack injured several Israeli soldiers, but no confirmation was given from the Israeli military, apart from a statement saying interceptor missiles had been fired at incoming Hezbollah drones.
Continue reading...Families say ‘Ulm 5’ have been detained under extreme prison conditions since arrest last September
Five pro-Palestinian activists have appeared in court over an attack on an Israeli arms company in Germany, charged with causing approximately €1m of damage.
Prosecutors say the defendants, aged 25 to 40, trespassed and yelled pro-Palestinian statements as they destroyed office equipment, sensitive measuring devices and smashed windows at a site linked to Elbit Systems in the southern city of Ulm.
Continue reading...The Israeli government and Hezbollah have traded blame over breaches to the truce, which is set to run for several more weeks
Lebanon’s health ministry said Israeli strikes on the country’s south killed 14 people on Sunday, the deadliest day since a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah came into force over a week ago.
The health ministry said the dead on Sunday included two women and two children, adding that 37 other people were wounded. Israel said one of its soldiers was also killed.
Continue reading...Abbas Araghchi to visit Pakistan, Oman and Russia to see if talks can be reopened, with both sides still in stalemate
The Iranian foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, is planning a tour of Pakistan, Russia and Oman in an effort to see if there is a basis to reopen peace talks that can end with a permanent US-Israeli commitment to cease its attacks on Iran, now one of Tehran’s key demands.
Araghchi is also likely to discuss a potential permanent new arrangement on governing the strait of Hormuz with Oman, which oversees the south of the strait.
Continue reading...Israeli prime minister says early-stage malignant tumour was discovered during a routine check-up
Benjamin Netanyahu has revealed that he received successful treatment for early-stage prostate cancer, without specifying when the treatment took place.
In a statement on social media, as his annual medical report was released, the Israeli prime minister said an early-stage malignant tumour had been discovered during a routine checkup. The 76-year-old said targeted treatment had removed “the problem” and left no trace of it.
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