Category Archives: Palestinian Territories

Netanyahu calls UK’s Palestine recognition ‘absurd prize for terrorism’

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Opposition leader Yair Golan blames government’s political recklessness and refusal to end the war in Gaza

Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel’s prime minister, called the UK’s recognition of Palestine on Sunday “an absurd prize for terrorism”.

In remarks to ministers released by his office, he said Israel would have “to fight both in the UN and in all the other fronts against the slanderous propaganda aimed at us, and against the calls to create a Palestinian state that will endanger our existence and constitute an absurd prize for terrorism”.

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How will recognition of Palestinian statehood be greeted in the UK?

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As well as being deeply symbolic, the move is also a major foreign policy shift for the Labour government

The UK’s formal recognition of Palestinian statehood is deeply symbolic on the world stage, but the major foreign policy shift is also a significant political step for the Labour government at home. The announcement followed mounting pressure on Keir Starmer from within the Labour party and beyond.

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UK set to recognise Palestinian state on Sunday

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Keir Starmer expected to confirm move after concluding the situation has worsened significantly in recent weeks

The UK is expected to recognise a Palestinian state on Sunday after Israel failed to meet the conditions set out by Keir Starmer in July.

The prime minister is to make the announcement after concluding the humanitarian situation has deteriorated significantly in the past few weeks. The move comes despite pressure from the US and the families of hostages held by Hamas.

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Israel attack on Yemeni newspaper was second deadliest on journalists ever recorded

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Press freedom group says ‘brutal and unjustified attack’ is deadliest since 2009 Maguindanao massacre in Philippines

Thirty one journalists and media staff were killed by Israeli strikes on newspaper offices in Yemen last week in what the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) said on Friday was the deadliest attack on journalists in the last 16 years.

Israel struck a newspaper complex in Sana’a, Yemen’s capital, which housed three Houthi-connected media outlets on 10 September. At the time, members of the Yemeni army’s press arm were finishing the weekly print edition, according to the publication’s editor-in-chief, which increased the number of journalists present during the strike.

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IDF warns aid workers only hospitals are protected sites in northern Gaza

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Israeli military says aid infrastructure could be targeted after order to ‘all Gaza residents and inhabitants’ to leave

Humanitarian workers in northern Gaza have been repeatedly warned by the Israeli military that only hospitals will be considered protected sites and all other aid infrastructure could be targeted.

In messages and conversations with aid workers in recent days seen by the Guardian, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said an order to “all Gaza residents and inhabitants” to evacuate Gaza City, the biggest urban centre in the territory, applied “to all humanitarian locations [there], except hospitals” and warned that “to defeat Hamas [Israeli troops] will operate … with great force”.

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Labour rules against dozens of motions about Palestine being debated at party conference

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Calls for sanctions on Israel and ban on trade that aids international law violations among snubbed motions

Labour has ruled out motions about Palestine being debated at its party conference later this month, triggering accusations that it is trying to stifle debate.

The conference arrangement committee, made up of Labour elected reps and officials, has ruled about 30 motions about Palestine from local parties out of order.

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UN votes to allow Palestinian president to address annual gathering via video link

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Trump had refused to grant visas for Palestinian delegation due to attend conference and UN general assembly

The United Nations general assembly has voted to allow the Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, to address next week’s annual gathering of world leaders next week in New York via video link after Donald Trump said he would not give him a US visa.

The resolution received 145 votes in favour and five votes against, while six countries abstained.

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Civilians made up 15 of every 16 people killed by Israel in Gaza since March, data suggests

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Report from independent conflict tracker Acled indicates one of the highest civilian death rates since start of war

About 15 of every 16 Palestinians the Israeli military has killed since its renewed offensive in Gaza began in March have been civilians, data collected by the independent violence-tracking organisation Acled indicates.

The civilian death rate implied by a report from Acled, which stands for Armed Conflict Location and Event Data, is one of the highest recorded during the conflict, and will increase international pressure on Israel as its forces advance into Gaza City, forcing up to a million people to evacuate and threatening further large-scale civilian casualties.

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Starmer has avoided state-visit bear traps but has he changed any of Trump’s thinking?

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PM cannot afford for US president to walk away from Ukraine crisis and must persuade him to publicly support specific Gaza plans

With bear traps avoided and fireworks unlit, Keir Starmer will be delighted that his press conference with Donald Trump lent credence to his claim to be America’s first partner in defence, trade and now technology.

Trump, for his part, got the “great pictures” he wanted and was on his best low-wattage behaviour. He said he did not disagree with his host about much, save Starmer’s plan to recognise a Palestinian state. And he teetered on the edge of being diplomatic, at least until he advised Starmer to use the military to stop small boats crossing the Channel.

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More than 250,000 displaced from Gaza City in past month, UN figures show

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Tens of thousands more forced to flee makeshift homes and shelters daily in face of new Israeli offensive

More than a quarter of a million people have been displaced from Gaza City in the last month, according to figures from the UN, with tens of thousands more forced to flee makeshift homes and shelters daily in the face of a new Israeli offensive.

Strikes by Israeli artillery, tanks and warplanes hit Gaza City again on Thursday as a UN official said “new waves of mass displacement” were under way, after about 60,000 fled the new assault in 72 hours earlier this week.

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UK preparing to recognise Palestinian state as early as Friday

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Move comes after Israel fails to meet UK conditions that would have postponed step

The UK is preparing to recognise the state of Palestine as early as Friday, after Israel failed to meet conditions that would have postponed the historic step, including a ceasefire in Gaza.

Keir Starmer insisted the timing of the UK announcement had nothing to do with Donald Trump’s visit, even though the US president said at a press conference that he disagreed with Britain’s decision, without elaborating.

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US judge orders Mahmoud Khalil deported citing ‘misrepresented facts’ on green card form

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Lawyers say pro-Palestinian activist remains protected from immigration enforcement while separate federal court case proceeds

An immigration judge in the US state of Louisiana has ordered the deportation of pro-Palestinian protest leader Mahmoud Khalil to Algeria or Syria, ruling that he failed to disclose information on his green card application, according to court documents filed on Wednesday.

Khalil’s lawyers said they intended to appeal against the deportation order, and that a federal district court’s separate orders remain in effect prohibiting the government from immediately deporting or detaining him as his federal court case proceeds. The lawyers submitted a letter to the federal court in New Jersey overseeing his civil rights case and said he will challenge the decision.

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Starmer to recognise Palestinian state ‘after Trump state visit’

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Other nations including France, Australia and Canada plan to take the same step at next week’s UN summit

Keir Starmer will reportedly recognise a Palestinian state over the weekend after Donald Trump concludes his state visit to the UK.

The prime minister has previously said he plans to recognise Palestinian statehood before the UN general assembly in New York this month if Israel does not meet a series of conditions to improve the humanitarian situation in Gaza.

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Israel’s culture minister threatens national film awards after Palestinian story takes top prize

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Miki Zohar says he will cancel funding for the Ophir awards after The Sea, about a 12-year-old Palestinian boy who is denied entry to Tel Aviv, wins best picture

Israel’s culture minister, Miki Zohar, has announced that funding for the Ophirs, the country’s national film awards, would be cancelled after The Sea, a film about a 12-year-old Palestinian boy, won the best feature film prize.

In a statement on X, translated by Israeli news media, Zohar said: “There is no greater slap in the face of Israeli citizens than the embarrassing and detached annual Ophir awards ceremony. Starting with the 2026 budget, this pathetic ceremony will no longer be funded by taxpayers’ money. Under my watch, Israeli citizens will not pay from their pockets for a ceremony that spits in the faces of our heroic soldiers.”

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Netanyahu’s ‘super-Sparta’ vision braces Israel for isolated economic future

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Israeli PM’s outline of partial autarky and more militarised society stirs up backlash and concern over pariah status

Hours before unleashing a ground offensive against Gaza City on Tuesday, Benjamin Netanyahu braced his country for a future of mounting economic isolation, urging it to become a “super Sparta” of the Middle East.

The future the prime minister laid out for Israel, of a more militarised society, a partial autarky – or economically self-sufficient country – with limited trade options and relying increasingly on homemade production, has stirred up a backlash among Israelis who are ever more uneasy at the prospect of following him down the path to a pariah state.

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Israel launches ground offensive deep inside Gaza City

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IDF says advance aims to ‘dismantle Hamas’s grip’ as UN report says Israel has committed genocide in territory

Israel unleashed its long-threatened ground offensive in Gaza City on Tuesday, sending tanks and remote-controlled armoured cars packed with explosives into its streets, in defiance of international criticism and the findings of a UN commission that it was committing genocide in the Palestinian territory.

“Gaza is burning. The IDF is striking terror infrastructure with an iron fist,” Israel’s defence minister, Israel Katz, wrote on X as the attack was launched in the early hours of the morning, adding: “We will not relent until the mission is completed.”

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First group of children from Gaza arrive in UK for life-saving NHS treatment

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Care and support package, including housing, will help 30-50 young Palestinians for an initial two years

The first group of children from Gaza have arrived in the UK for specialist life-saving treatment on the NHS, the Guardian understands.

Yvette Cooper, the foreign secretary, informed the parliamentary Labour party on Monday evening about the development. On arrival in the UK, the patients and their families have been granted access to NHS treatment, appropriate housing and comprehensive support services for an initial two-year period.

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Rubio says Netanyahu has full support of US over plans to destroy Hamas

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US secretary of state, who is visiting Jerusalem, warns of ‘Israeli counter reaction’ if allies recognise Palestine

The US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, has put the Trump administration’s full support behind Benjamin Netanyahu in a visit to Jerusalem, saying Washington’s priorities were the liberation of Israeli hostages and the destruction of Hamas.

In public remarks standing alongside Netanyahu, Rubio did not mention the possibility of a ceasefire, and did not repeat his earlier criticism of Israel for carrying out an airstrike last week aimed at Hamas leaders in Doha, the capital of another close US ally, Qatar.

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US’s Rubio says efforts to recognise Palestinian state make it harder to end war – as it happened

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This live blog is closed.

That brings the press conference to a close, as Netanyahu takes a moment to acknowledge both his and Rubio’s staff who are sat in the front row.

The main takeaways from the event, which lasted just over half an hour, are that the US views international efforts to recognise the Palestinian state as a hindrance to peace efforts and that Netanyahu refuses to rule out future strikes on Hamas leaders – wherever they are.

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Spain’s PM calls for Israel to be banned from sports events after Gaza protests force end to Vuelta race

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Speaking after Gaza protesters forced early end to cycle race, Pedro Sánchez says Israel should not be allowed to use sports to ‘whitewash’ its ‘barbarism’

Spain’s prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, has called for Israel to be barred from international sports competitions for as long as its “barbarism” in Gaza continues, saying the country should not be allowed to use high-profile events to “whitewash” its offensive.

Speaking a day after pro-Palestinian demonstrators forced a premature end to the Vuelta a España cycle race amid chaotic scenes and clashes with police, Sánchez said he had “a deep admiration” for all those who had protested peacefully against the participation of the Israel-Premier Tech team.

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