Justices rule state is legally obliged to ensure ‘basic level of existence’ and orders authorities to improve nutrition
Israel’s supreme court has ruled that the government has failed to provide Palestinian security prisoners with adequate food for basic subsistence and ordered authorities to improve their nutrition.
Sunday’s decision was a rare case in which the country’s highest court ruled against the government’s conduct during the nearly two-year war.
Continue reading...Exclusive: Activist spoke while onboard aid flotilla aiming to deliver food, baby formula and medical supplies to territory
Keir Starmer must obey his “legal duty to act to prevent a genocide”, Greta Thunberg has told the Guardian while travelling onboard an aid flotilla heading for Gaza.
The Swedish activist said there was a “huge absence of those whose legal responsibility it is to step up” under international law, and called out the UK prime minister before a potential meeting this week with Israel’s president, Isaac Herzog.
Continue reading...Unicef expects August malnutrition cases to top 15,000, as famine declared in Gaza City spreads south
More than 7,000 children under the age of five were put on recovery programmes for acute malnutrition at clinics run by Unicef in Gaza in just two weeks last month, figures reveal.
The overall total for August is being compiled by Unicef but is expected to exceed 15,000 new patients, more than seven times the total in February.
Continue reading...Unicef expects August malnutrition cases to top 15,000, as famine declared in Gaza City spreads south
More than 7,000 children under the age of five were put on recovery programmes for acute malnutrition at clinics run by Unicef in Gaza in just two weeks last month, figures reveal.
The overall total for August is being compiled by Unicef but is expected to exceed 15,000 new patients, more than seven times the total in February.
Continue reading...The Swede has has not necessarily become a fan of Irish football, as she sports a club jersey made with help from Fontaines DC
The humanitarian aid flotilla to Gaza is a serious mission with an incongruous detail: Greta Thunberg sporting a jersey of the Dublin football club Bohemians.
The Swedish activist wore the pale blue shirt during an earlier flotilla in June and again this week as vessels prepared to leave Barcelona.
Continue reading...Exclusive: Isaac Herzog to visit London for expected talks with ministers, with UK on brink of recognising Palestinian statehood
The president of Israel will travel to London next week for a controversially timed trip amid outcry from Labour MPs who have urged Keir Starmer not to meet with the visiting delegation.
The arrival of Isaac Herzog is fraught with complication for ministers, with the UK government on the brink of recognising the state of Palestine at the UN general assembly.
Continue reading...Europe’s ability to help bring peace to the Middle East has long come under question, with Spain’s PM this week saying it had failed on Gaza
In 1980 when Leonid Brezhnev ruled the Soviet Union and Donald Trump was a property developer, the nine leaders of the then European Community made their first major foray into joint diplomacy. The cause: the Middle East, including a Palestinian state.
“The time has come to promote the recognition and implementation of two principles universally accepted by the international community: the right to existence and to security of all states in the region, including Israel … [and] recognition of the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people,” stated the Venice declaration calling for Palestinian self-determination.
Continue reading...Devolved government says contractors seeking support must prove products will not be used by Israeli military
The Scottish government has banned arms companies which supply the IDF from getting grants and investment support, and will freeze support for trade with Israel.
John Swinney, the first minister, said on Wednesday any defence contractors who wanted financial help in Scotland would have to prove their products would not be used by the Israel Defense Forces.
Continue reading...Unifil condemns ‘serious attack’ on Tuesday morning as it was clearing a road and adds that no one was hurt
Israeli drones dropped four grenades near UN peacekeepers in south Lebanon, the agency’s force said on Wednesday, in what it described as “one of the most serious attacks” on its personnel since a November ceasefire.
The UN peacekeeping force in Lebanon, Unifil, said the Tuesday morning attack came as it was clearing a road to a UN position close to the Israeli border, adding that no one was hurt.
Continue reading...Latest attack comes as Israel’s military urges people to leave Gaza City with 60,000 more reservists to be called up
At least nine people, including five children, have been killed in an Israeli strike while fetching water in al-Mawasi, an area of southern Gaza which Israel has designated as a safe zone, health officials said.
A doctor from al-Nasser hospital shared a picture of the children’s bodies in the hospital, as well as a picture of water jugs left in a pool of blood at the site of the attack on Tuesday.
Continue reading...Foreign minister says move is not aimed at Israeli people but ‘ensuring their government respects international and humanitarian law’. This live blog is closed
At least 63,633 Palestinian people have been killed and 160,914 others injured in Israeli attacks on Gaza since 7 October 2023, the Gaza health ministry said in a statement on Tuesday.
At least 76 Palestinian people, including 12 aid seekers, were killed in the last 24 hours alone, the ministry said.
Continue reading...International Association of Genocide Scholars resolution backed by 86% of members who voted
An overwhelming majority of members of the world’s leading genocide scholars’ association have backed a resolution stating that Israel’s actions in Gaza meet the legal definition of the crime.
Eighty-six per cent of those who voted in the 500-member International Association of Genocide Scholars (IAGS) supported the motion. The resolution states that “Israel’s policies and actions in Gaza meet the legal definition of genocide in article II of the United Nations convention for the prevention and punishment of the crime of genocide (1948).”
Continue reading...Toll includes 13 people trying to get food near distribution point, as Israeli cabinet to discuss next stages of offensive
Israeli airstrikes and gunfire killed at least 30 people in and around Gaza City, local health authorities said, as a 20-boat humanitarian aid flotilla carrying activists including Greta Thunberg set sail from Barcelona for the stricken territory.
Authorities said the toll from Israeli tank and gunfire included 13 people who died trying to get food near a distribution site in the Gaza Strip, two in a house in Gaza City and 15, including five children, in a strike on a residential building on Saturday.
With Reuters and Agence France-Presse
Continue reading...Ahmed al-Rahawi killed alongside several ministers gathered for prerecorded speech by rebel group’s leader
An Israeli airstrike killed the prime minister of the Houthi rebel-controlled government in Yemen’s capital, Sana’a, the Houthis have said.
Ahmed al-Rahawi was killed in a strike in Sana’a on Thursday along with a number of ministers, the rebels said in a statement on Saturday. Other ministers and officials were wounded, the statement added without providing further details.
Continue reading...Internal letter also calls on UN member states to suspend arms sales, saying ‘criticising Israel is not enough’
Hundreds of employees of the United Nations’ leading human rights agency have backed an internal letter telling its leadership to declare Israel’s offensive in Gaza a genocide and to call on UN member states to suspend arms sales to Israel.
The 1,100-word letter, signed by about a quarter of the 2,000 staff of the Geneva- and New York-based Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), says the Israeli offensive in Gaza meets the legal threshold of genocide and that this means “arms sales, transfers and related logistical or financial support to Israeli authorities” constitutes a clear breach of international law by all those involved.
Continue reading...Unifil mandate extended but troops patrolling Lebanon-Israel border to be withdrawn in December 2026
The UN security council has voted to extend the body’s peacekeeping mission in Lebanon for a further 16 months, but ordered it finished at the end of 2026 under Israeli and US pressure.
UNSC members voted unanimously on Thursday to extend the mandate for the UN interim force in Lebanon (Unifil) ahead of its expiration on Sunday, prompting relief from Lebanese officials who rely on it. The approved resolution said Unifil would begin an “orderly and safe withdrawal” of its 10,800 peacekeepers from Lebanon in December 2026.
Continue reading...Around one million Palestinian people expected to be displaced in shattered city where famine has been declared
A spokesperson for the Israeli military said earlier this week that the evacuation of Gaza City is “inevitable”. Benjamin Netanyahu has said Israel will launch its Gaza City assault while simultaneously pursuing a ceasefire, though talks have stalled.
The Israeli prime minister has claimed the assault is the best way to weaken Hamas and return hostages, but many hostage families disagree and fear it will endanger hostages lives.
In accordance with the situational assessment & directives of the political echelon, starting today at 10:00, the local tactical pause in military activity will not apply to the area of Gaza City, which constitutes a dangerous combat zone.
The IDF continues supporting humanitarian efforts while conducting operations to protect Israel.
Continue reading...Human Rights Watch says US military personnel could face criminal prosecution for assisting Israel’s war in Gaza
Human rights groups and activists who protest against continued US support for Israel have focused primarily on the flow of US weapons, warning that continuing to send weapons to a state which has been documented using them in probable war crimes makes the US complicit.
However, this week, Human Rights Watch (HRW) highlighted another facet of US military support for Israel: military cooperation and intelligence sharing.
Continue reading...Israel says Britain’s decision to exclude it from military weapons showcase is a ‘regrettable act of discrimination’
The UK has banned Israeli officials from attending the country’s flagship defence event next month.
Israeli industry, including UK subsidiaries of Israeli companies, will be able to attend London’s Defence & Security Equipment International (DSEI) show in September but the UK government will not invite representatives of the Israeli government to the major industry event.
Continue reading...In today’s newsletter: Former PM returns to Middle East politics as civil society groups argue that any real solution must begin with Palestinian agency
Good morning. Tony Blair is back and he has plans for the Middle East.
No, you have not woken up and jumped back two decades in time. The former Labour leader, who was put under pressure to resign after the disastrous decision to go to war with Iraq – which led to the death of a million Iraqis and created a vacuum later filled by the brutal Islamic State – is back in the headlines this week.
Ukraine | The UK and European Union have summoned their Russian envoys after missile strikes on Kyiv killed at least 18 people and damaged British Council and EU offices.
UK news | The Treasury is reportedly considering a tax on landlords in the autumn budget that would target income from rents. The proposals are centred on the expansion of national insurance to include rental income.
Iran | The UK, France and Germany have formally notified the UN that they have triggered the restoration of sweeping UN sanctions against Iran, giving Tehran 30 days to make concessions on access to its nuclear sites.
US news | The White House named non-scientist Jim O’Neill, a deputy of Robert F Kennedy Jr, to serve as acting head of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), amid a standoff over the firing of director Susan Monarez whose lawyers said she could only be removed by Donald Trump himself.
Environment | The collapse of a critical Atlantic current can no longer be considered a low-likelihood event, a study has concluded, making deep cuts to fossil fuel emissions even more urgent to avoid the catastrophic impact.
Continue reading...