Palestinian rights group says remarks criticising a Lancet analysis on impact of the conflict are ‘sickening’
A UK-based advocacy group for Israel has been criticised for suggesting a reduction in obesity resulting from the war in Gaza may increase life expectancy there.
The comments by UK Lawyers for Israel (UKLFI), which came amid warnings of impending famine in Gaza, were condemned as “sickening” by the Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC).
Continue reading...Josep Borrell also criticises EU response to what he calls largest ethnic cleansing operation since second world war
The former EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell has launched a blistering attack on Israel, accusing its government of committing genocide in Gaza and “carrying out the largest ethnic-cleansing operation since the end of the second world war in order to create a splendid holiday destination”.
Borrell, a former Spanish foreign minister who served as the EU’s top diplomat from 2019 to 2024, and president of the European parliament from 2004 to 2007, also criticised the bloc’s failure to use all the means at its disposal to influence Israel, saying expressions of regret were simply not enough.
Continue reading...Groups say plan to resume limited humanitarian assistance under strict Israeli rules ‘risks enabling war crimes’
Aid groups have voiced alarm at US moves to pressure them into accepting an Israeli proposal to resume limited humanitarian assistance to the war-ravaged territory under strictly controlled conditions.
The Trump administration has attempted to strong-arm international agencies – including the United Nations’ World Food Programme (WFP) – into accepting Israel’s stringent rules for resuming deliveries, according to sources familiar with the discussions and news reports.
Continue reading...RTÉ asks European Broadcasting Union for talks after 72 former contestants call for ban on Israeli broadcaster
Ireland’s public broadcaster has asked the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) for a discussion about Israel’s inclusion in the Eurovision song contest, as 72 former contestants called for the Israeli broadcaster Kan to be banned from next week’s event in the Swiss city of Basel.
The director general of Ireland’s RTÉ, Kevin Bakhurst, said in a statement on Wednesday that he was “appalled by the ongoing events in the Middle East and by the horrific impact on civilians in Gaza, and the fate of Israeli hostages”.
Continue reading...Home secretary says raids across UK last weekend reflected some of biggest terrorism threats in recent years
Israel’s embassy in London was the target of an alleged terror plot involving a group of Iranian nationals who were detained by police after a series of dramatic raids across England on Saturday, sources have told the Guardian.
Four men remain in custody and are being questioned by police on suspicion of preparation of a terrorist act targeting what police and politicians have so far only been willing to describe publicly as “specific premises”.
Continue reading...Lawyers say the Turkish national, who has been held in a Louisiana Ice center for two weeks, was illegally detained
A federal appeals court on Wednesday granted a judge’s order to bring a Turkish Tufts University student from a Louisiana immigration detention center back to New England for hearings to determine whether her rights were violated.
A judicial panel of the New York-based US second circuit court of appeals ruled in the case of Rümeysa Öztürk after lawyers representing her and the US justice department presented arguments at a hearing on Tuesday.
The Associated Press contributed reporting
Continue reading...More than 20 experts call on countries to act or ‘witness the slaughter of innocents’
The Dutch government, seen as one of Israel’s most loyal allies in the European Union, is calling for an urgent review of the EU Israel association agreement, the basis for the EU-Israeli free trade agreement, the Dutch foreign minister Caspar Veldkamp told the Guardian.
Veldkamp described the Israeli ban on the supply of aid into Gaza as “catastrophic, truly dismal” and in clear breach of international humanitarian law.
You cannot starve the people of the Gaza Strip. It is against international law. It’s morally wrong. It’s dangerous. I don’t think it’s in Israel’s own interest.
Continue reading...Foreign minister Caspar Veldkamp tells top EU diplomat Kaja Kallas he believes Israel is in breach of rights obligations linked to trade agreement
The Dutch government, seen as one of Israel’s most loyal allies in the European Union, is calling for an urgent review of the EU Israel association agreement, the basis for the EU-Israeli free trade agreement, the Dutch foreign minister Caspar Veldkamp told the Guardian.
Veldkamp described the Israeli ban on the supply of aid into Gaza as “catastrophic, truly dismal” and in clear breach of international humanitarian law.
Continue reading...US president reports three deaths and laments ‘terrible situation’ but does not provide further details
Donald Trump said Tuesday that three more hostages held by Hamas in Gaza have died, bringing the number still alive to 21.
At a White House swearing-in ceremony for his Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff, Trump revealed that three more Israeli hostages have died in Gaza, meaning that just 21 of the hostages taken from Israel during the 7 October attacks remain alive.
Continue reading...The common perception is that Trump has largely moved on, leaving an emboldened Netanyahu to his own devices
The Israeli plan to occupy and depopulate Gaza may not be identical to Donald Trump’s vision of a new riviera, but his inspiration and the US’s walkaway diplomacy have ushered Benjamin Netanyahu to the precipice of a dire new chapter in the Israel-Gaza war.
The common perception in both Washington and Israel is that Trump has largely moved on, leaving an emboldened Netanyahu to his own devices, while his offhand proposals for turning Gaza into a “Riviera of the Middle East” have provided cover for rightwing Israeli politicians to enthusiastically support the forced resettlement of the Palestinian population.
Continue reading...Benjamin Netanyahu announced new ‘intensified’ offensive aimed at ‘conquering’ Gaza Strip
Israel’s military has said it is today carrying out exercises at the Tel Hashomer base in central Israel, and in the area of the northern city of Nahariya, which will lead to road closures and the sound of explosions being heard.
Israeli forces are reported to have arrested one man and assaulted three others during a raid near Ramallah in the occupied West Bank, according to Palestinian news agency Wafa.
Continue reading...Rebels’ media office say at least six strikes hit the crucial Hodeida port on Monday afternoon
Israel’s military has carried out a fresh round of airstrikes against Houthi rebels in Yemen’s Red Sea city of Hodeida, a day after the Iranian-backed rebels launched a missile that hit Israel’s main airport.
The rebels’ media office said at least six strikes hit the crucial Hodeida port on Monday afternoon. Other strikes hit a cement factory in the Bajil district in Hodeida province, the rebels said. Israeli media reported that dozens of Israeli aircraft took part in the operation.
Continue reading...By going public now Benjamin Netanyahu hopes to squeeze Hamas for concessions and please the far right
The announcement of Israel’s plan to launch imminently a new, expanded offensive in Gaza and to retain the territory it seized is a significant moment, at least in terms of public rhetoric.
Throughout the nearly 19-month war, Israeli troops have carried out large and frequently bloody operations that have covered all except central parts of Gaza, but they have largely restricted their permanent presence to a buffer zone about 1km deep along the devastated territory’s perimeter and two relatively narrow east-west corridors.
Continue reading...Catholic charity says the late pontiff endorsed the idea of creating a ‘vehicle of hope’ to deliver medical aid
Just over a decade ago, the converted Mitsubishi whisked Pope Francis through the streets of Bethlehem before it was left to gather dust. Now, in keeping with one of the late pontiff’s last wishes, the popemobile is being given a second life – as a mobile health clinic for children in the Gaza Strip.
In a region ravaged by more than 18 months of war, the initiative is both symbolic and practical, said Peter Brune, the secretary general of the Catholic charity Caritas Sweden.
Continue reading...Israeli PM says operation will lead to significant displacement of the population ‘for its own protection’
Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel’s prime minister, has said a new “intensified” offensive in Gaza will involve Israeli troops holding on to seized territory and significant displacement of the population.
Speaking after officials said Israel’s security cabinet had approved a plan for “conquering” the Gaza Strip and establishing a “sustained presence” there, Netanyahu posted a video on X in which he said Israeli soldiers would not go into Gaza, launch raids and then retreat.
Continue reading...Strike by Yemen rebel group came hours before security cabinet was due to vote on plans to expand Gaza offensive
Benjamin Netanyahu has promised Israel will strike back against Yemen’s Houthis and “their Iranian terror masters” after a missile launched by the militia movement hit the perimeter of Israel’s main airport.
On X, the Israeli prime minister said on Sunday that Israel would respond to the Houthi attack “at a time and place of our choosing”. On Telegram, Netanyahu said Israel had acted against the Houthis in the past and would act again in the future.
Continue reading...Bureij, Beit Lahiya, Gaza City and Khan Younis hit as Israeli government prepares to expand offensive
Israeli airstrikes have killed at least 40 people across Gaza during the past 24 hours, civil defence officials in the devastated Palestinian territory said, as Israel’s government prepared to order an expansion of its military offensive.
Nine people were killed when a strike hit a home in the Bureij refugee camp in central Gaza; another six people died in a separate strike targeting a family home in the northern city of Beit Lahiya; six more died in a strike on a community kitchen in Gaza City, and an overnight attack on the Khan Younis refugee camp killed at least 11 people including three babies up to a year old, the officials said.
Continue reading...Syria says at least one civilian killed in latest strikes, while most Druze leaders rebuff Israeli protection
Israeli warplanes have carried out a series of airstrikes outside Damascus and across Syria, after warnings from Israeli officials that the country would intervene to protect the Syria’s minority Druze sect.
The airstrikes targeted a Syrian military site in the Damascus suburb of Harasta, as well as hitting unknown targets in Deraa province in south Syria and Hama province in north-west Syria. At least one civilian was killed and four people were injured as a result of the Israeli bombings late Friday night, according to Syrian state media.
Continue reading...Freedom Flotilla Coalition claims Israel to blame for attack on unarmed civilian vessel in international waters
A ship carrying humanitarian aid and activists to Gaza has been bombed by drones and disabled while in international waters off Malta as it headed towards the Palestinian territory, its organisers have said.
“At 00:23 Maltese time, the Conscience, a Freedom Flotilla Coalition ship came under direct attack in international waters,” the group said in a statement.
Continue reading...Ibtisam Ghalia and her four children are just one of the families living on brink of starvation with no sign of an end to blockade
Every day, Ibtisam Ghalia and her four children count their remaining stocks of food. These are meagre: a kilo or so of beans, a bag of lentils, a little salt, some herbs, spices, and enough flour for half a dozen flatbreads cooked on a griddle over a fire of wood splinters, waste plastic and cardboard.
In the two months since Israel imposed a total blockade on Gaza, stopping food, medicine, fuel and anything else from entering the devastated territory, Ghalia’s “cupboard” has slowly diminished.
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