Just before the first phase of a Gaza ceasefire agreement went into effect on Friday morning, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed a return to Israel’s slaughter if Hamas isn’t disarmed, a provision not part of the current deal for a partial withdrawal and captive exchange. In a televised address delivered just before the ceasefire went into effect, Netanyahu said that the next…
This post was originally published on Latest – Truthout.
Israel marked the first day of the supposed Gaza ceasefire yesterday by bombing a four-storey residential shelter, killing dozens, burying at least fifty people under rubble as well as inflicting horrific injuries on children, and the murder of innocents shot by tanks as they tried to return to their home areas.
Today, the second day, it has murdered at least thirty people across Gaza, according to local journalists who have survived Israel’s slaughter of Palestinian journalists so far. The bodies of more than eighty-three people murdered yesterday were recovered, seventy-three in Gaza City alone. Anti-genocide activist group Call2actionnow said:
Enough of the lies, this is not a ceasefire! Ceasefire means to stop the killing!
But to the genocidal occupier and its orange imperial sponsor, ‘ceasefire’ means ‘you cease, we fire’. Israel is a terror state.
Featured image via the Canary
By Skwawkbox
This post was originally published on Canary.
Central Command is reportedly establishing a “civil-military coordination center” in Israel, staffed with hundreds of troops, to monitor the newly implemented ceasefire in Gaza, U.S. officials have said. U.S. outlets have reported that the military is slated to send 200 troops to Israel for the effort, with some having already been sent. The troops are there, officials said…
This post was originally published on Latest – Truthout.
This story originally appeared in Mondoweiss on Oct. 10, 2025. It is shared here with permission.
As the genocide in Gaza began its third year, there was some hope — one can’t really call it optimism — that the end might finally be in sight. Wednesday evening, the United States announced that Hamas and other Palestinian factions had accepted the initial parts of U.S. President Donald Trump’s 20-Point Plan. Specifically, they accepted the exchange of hostages and the first redeployment of Israeli military forces, along with an end to Israel’s offensive actions.
Yet, while Palestinians, especially in Gaza, celebrate, hope is tempered with the experience of two years of temporary pauses, which were just limited downscales of Israel’s violence, after which the slaughter returned with even greater ferocity than before.
Trump’s “20-Point Plan” has some potential for truly ending the genocide. But that potential is limited by its vagueness and its dependence on the United States to apply and maintain pressure on Israel.
Trump’s plan explicitly disregards the rights of the Palestinian people. It establishes foreign rule over an ostensibly Palestinian technocratic administrative apparatus but requires that current Palestinian representatives — in this case, Hamas, a body that has never been, nor ever claimed to be, representative of the entire Palestinian nation — agree to that foreign rule. Vague allusions to the possibility that there might one day be a path to a mythical Palestinian state do little to mitigate this reality.
Ironically, and despite the fact that Hamas has already made it clear that they have neither the authority nor the willingness to agree to such a thing, this demand might be the very reason the plan could stop the genocide even while the broader proposals on governance are doomed to failure. The inclusion of such an overarching demand enabled Hamas, with the support of key Arab states, to respond positively to the first part of Trump’s proposal while providing the justification for “further negotiations” on the rest.
A variety of factors have influenced Trump’s most recent moves regarding Gaza, all of them being the typical, self-centered motivations we have grown accustomed to.
Trump has evinced an obsession with winning the Nobel Peace Prize. The award itself is important to him, but what it is really about is his desire to be seen as an expert diplomat and leader, however unearned such recognition may be. In his various attempts at mediation in other conflicts, the U.S. role was often minimal, and some of those he claims to have resolved have not actually ended.
By contrast, the United States under Trump has been deeply involved in international diplomacy around Gaza, and Trump believes that if he can stop the genocide, or at least appear to have done so, he will get credit for “peace in the Middle East.”
Trump’s plan, while proposing permanent subjugation for the people of Gaza, also thwarts Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s maximalist ambitions there. It explicitly states that Israel, though it may maintain a “security buffer zone” along Gaza’s northern and eastern borders, will not occupy or govern Gaza. It also surrenders the idea of ethnically cleansing the Strip.
These are major setbacks for Netanyahu and his far-right allies. Trump’s plan to have a governing board that he will head and that would include the war criminal and former UK prime minister, Tony Blair, will allow him to keep a foot in Gaza after his presidency (assuming he leaves it) and establish the beachfront resort he and his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, desire. But it leaves the maximalist Israeli dreams dead.
That’s not accidental. It wasn’t necessary for Trump to include a long-range governance plan in his proposal. He could just as easily have stuck to conditions to end the “fighting” and installed a temporary administrative body from the Arab states to administer Gaza, along with the security force from Arab and Muslim states, he had already gotten some of those states to commit to providing.
Trump’s decision to explicitly call on Israel to quit most of Gaza and exclude it from governance was a rebuke of Netanyahu’s decision to bomb Qatar, an action Trump was obviously unhappy with. He first responded by forcing Netanyahu to read a scripted apology to the Qatari Emir over the phone, in front of the media. Netanyahu denied that the Americans scripted the apology, but it was a denial that only confirmed the initial report’s accuracy. The images, released to the media by the White House, of a scowling Trump holding the phone while Netanyahu, cowed and whipped, read his lines as directed, said it all.
The question of whether or not Trump can push Netanyahu to end the genocide is clear; he can. The questions that we cannot answer are whether he will recognize it when Netanyahu acts to undermine any agreement and how far he is willing to go to stop Netanyahu from doing so.
Early returns are not promising. When Hamas responded to Trump’s proposal by essentially agreeing to exchange all of the remaining hostages and to exclude itself from the administration of Gaza after the genocide ends (something Hamas had repeatedly announced it was willing to do), Trump called on Israel to stop the bombing.
For a brief moment, Gaza was quiet. But the Israeli attacks quickly resumed, and Trump has ignored them. This is true even though ongoing Israeli attacks — which are directed toward areas where hostages are being held — make it much more difficult to gather the living hostages and the bodies of the dead. Trump tacitly acknowledged this reality by backing off his demands that the hostages be released within 72 hours, which would have been impossible even under the best conditions there can be in the devastated Strip.
That’s a bad sign. As it stands, Trump’s plan is unclear about the timeline for Israel’s withdrawal after the first phase. The initial withdrawal line does not move Israeli forces very far from where they are now, but it is supposed to happen when Hamas releases all remaining hostages.
Subsequent withdrawals are supposed to be based on “progress on the ground,” which is not clearly defined. Nor is it clear how much input Israel will have into that determination. This is currently the main sticking point for Hamas. It represents a departure — no doubt a change Netanyahu negotiated in his White House meeting—from the understandings the Arab and Muslim states had when they agreed to support the Trump plan as well.
It is also why Netanyahu is not putting up a fight. He is, of course, not eager to anger Trump again. But he also has every reason to be optimistic that Israel will be able to thwart further withdrawals and will then easily find a pretext to resume the genocide. He expects that Trump will, at that point, be willing to leave Israel to its own devices in Gaza, pocketing the perceived “credit” for freeing the hostages.
Will Trump recognize that Netanyahu is not a partner to this plan, even though the overwhelming majority of Israelis are willing, many even eager, to stop the genocide if it means freeing the hostages?
The recent report of Trump scolding Netanyahu, saying, “You’re always so fucking negative. This is a win. Take it,” indicates that Trump doesn’t understand that the genocide was always the point for Netanyahu, not the hostages, whom he wrote off as the cost of doing business on October 8, 2023.
That myopia doesn’t offer much hope that he will see through any of Netanyahu’s schemes to undermine the ceasefire.
If Netanyahu refrains from again angering any of Trump’s Gulf allies, any efforts to unravel Trump’s plan have a good chance of succeeding.
Hamas’ leaders are not stupid. They know that they are taking an enormous risk by sacrificing the last bit of leverage they have in the hostages…Hamas is taking that risk.
While Qatar and the other major Gulf players would like to see a return to a diplomatic process that can keep the Palestinian issue quiet, they have demonstrated repeatedly that they are unwilling to employ the political resources necessary to really push for an end to Israel’s dominance of the Palestinians. It simply isn’t that important to them, contrary to their frequent rhetoric that is meant more for domestic consumption and as virtue signaling to the Arab and Muslim world, rather than a reflection of actual concern for the Palestinians.
The 20-Point Plan makes no mention of the West Bank, where Netanyahu is sure to escalate if he is forced to back away from Gaza. Trump’s Gulf friends may not really care if Palestinians get a state, but they very much want to see a return to the days when a sham “peace process” allowed business to proceed and pushed the question of Palestine to the back burner, where it would only flare up for brief periods.
Netanyahu has also gotten the message from his far-right allies that they are not going to bring down the government in response to the Gaza truce, though they will not support it. They realize that if they call for new elections now, they are likely to find themselves in the opposition. That would mean they lose control over Israel’s West Bank policy, and that is something they don’t want to risk.
Still, none of this bodes well for the future in Gaza. It is very likely that Trump will press Israel for the initial withdrawal to get the hostages back. But Hamas’ leaders are not stupid. They know that they are taking an enormous risk by sacrificing the last bit of leverage they have in the hostages. Even without the most extreme far-right pressuring Netanyahu, he will still try to avoid letting control of Gaza slip away. Hamas is taking that risk.
But they also recognize that the hostages were never a real deterrent to Israel’s murderous onslaught. Since the last brief pause in the genocide ended, they have become even less of one. So, they’re not really giving up that much leverage. They don’t have any to speak of.
The situation in Gaza is desperate, even by the standards of the past two years. Everyone is simply waiting for death to claim them, whether by an Israeli weapon, by starvation, or by diseases that are flourishing in an area where the most basic standards of hygiene and sanitation are impossible. Hamas is out of options and willing to make concessions it wouldn’t otherwise make. Meanwhile, the people of Gaza are overjoyed at the potential end of the slaughter. But the injustice of their reality will quickly erode that joy, even if the ceasefire holds.
Hamas must hope that the global revulsion at Israel’s genocide—which is continuing to expand quickly and manifest in more unrest and protest than ever—will enable the kind of pressure that will be necessary to prevent a resumption of the genocide. And it just might do so.
The wild card, as always, is Trump. There is no reason to believe he is even considering threatening the arms supply to Israel, which would ensure that Israel bends to whatever demands he makes. But that’s not the only tool at his disposal, as we’ve seen with his recent pressure on Netanyahu. But will he use those others?
And even if Trump is vigilant and sincere (two very dubious assumptions), he has a notoriously short attention span and an even shorter supply of patience. If Netanyahu simply drags his feet long enough, Trump might focus elsewhere.
The Israeli captives are expected to begin getting released this weekend, in exchange for some of the Palestinians Israel holds prisoner, in addition to some of the thousands it kidnapped from Gaza over the past two years, to which the world has always been indifferent. Israel has reportedly begun an initial pullback of its troops. That will be time for the people of Gaza to perhaps catch their breath a bit. It will not yet be time to celebrate the end of the genocide.
This post was originally published on The Real News Network.
Illegal Israeli settlers have attacked and injured Agence France-Presse (AFP) photographer Jafar Ishtayeh by throwing stones at him. They then burnt his car.
The attack happened in the occupied West Bank village of Beita, South of Nablus, while Palestinian farmers were harvesting their olives. About thirty armed settlers attacked them, burned four cars, vandalised property, and punctured the tires of two other vehicles.
Several people were also injured due to beatings from the settlers, and Israeli occupation forces firing tear gas at them. Later the same morning, illegal Israeli settlers also attacked Palestinian olive harvesters in the nearby town of Aqraba.
Illegal Israeli settlers and the occupation’s military often work hand in hand, terrorising Palestinians, with the intention of driving them from their lands.
During the annual olive harvest, which is just beginning, Palestinian farmers are repeatedly assaulted by both settlers and Israeli occupation forces, who have the aim of preventing them from accessing their agricultural lands. Often a settler outpost, such as caravan, then appears on the Palestinian land and intimidation becomes constant, eventually driving Palestinians from their land. Thousands have been forcibly displaced in this way.
In October 2024 alone, during harvest season, there were 162 settler attacks on olive harvesters, 119 of which led to casualties or property damage, and many were carried out in the presence of Israeli security forces. Also in 2024, more than 96,00 hectares of olive-cultivated land across the occupied West Bank remained unharvested because of Israeli restrictions on Palestinian access. These restrictions caused an estimated £7.5 m financial loss for Palestinian farmers.
Since October 7, 2023, settlers have carried out more than 7150 attacks on Palestinians, many of which have been extremely violent, and have led to the deaths of 33 Palestinians.
Featured image via the Canary
This post was originally published on Canary.
The Director General of the Government Media Office in Gaza, Ismail Al-Thawabta, announced during a press conference that the Palestinian people ‘are holding out at a historic turning point’ after 735 days of war. During the past two years, Israel have left widespread destruction in all aspects of life. Al-Thawabta noted that the Strip has been living in continuous darkness since the first day of the war, amid a complete collapse of infrastructure and basic services.
Since 7 October 2023, the Gaza Strip has been the scene of one of the bloodiest military campaigns in modern history.
According to the statement, the Israeli army has dropped more than 200,000 tonnes of explosives – equivalent to 13 times the Hiroshima bomb – on an area of no more than 365 square kilometres. This destroyed more than 90% of the civilian infrastructure and left more than two million people in complete darkness and permanent forced displacement.
The report revealed that the number of martyrs and missing persons reached about 77,000, including more than 20,000 children and 12,500 women, while the number of wounded exceeded 170,000, including thousands of amputees and those with permanent disabilities. Al-Thawabta said that these figures are “not just statistics” but “faces, names and dreams buried under the rubble.”
During the war, 38 hospitals, 670 schools, 165 universities and educational institutions, 835 mosques, three churches and 40 cemeteries were destroyed.
More than 300,000 housing units were levelled to the ground, turning Gaza into a city of tents and dust. According to the report, initial losses in various sectors exceeded $70 billion — staggering figures for a sector that has been under siege for more than 17 years.
With the ceasefire agreement announced under the plan proposed by Washington now in effect, the government media office issued a national appeal to the residents of the Strip to co-operate with official and humanitarian agencies to ensure the success of the recovery and reconstruction phase.
Al-Thawabta said:
Discipline, cooperation and trust are the keys to moving from under the rubble towards life, calling on the international community to:
• Immediately and completely stop the extermination, siege and forced displacement.
• Lift the complete siege on the Gaza Strip and open all crossings immediately.
• Hold the leaders of the occupation accountable before the International Criminal Court.
• Form an independent international commission to investigate war crimes.
• Develop an urgent plan for the reconstruction of Gaza with Arab and international funding.
• Protect medical, media and humanitarian personnel.
• Immediately release all Palestinian prisoners and detainees.
• Urgently evacuate the sick and wounded for treatment abroad.
With the gradual withdrawal of Israeli forces from the northern and central Gaza Strip, tens of thousands of Palestinians return to their neighbourhoods to see abject destruction. Almost all homes were destroyed and razed to the ground, leaving no habitable shelters. The city, once home to families, was reduced to a map of rubble and debris.
The returning families, who had fled to escape Israeli bombardment, found themselves facing unnamed streets, houses without doors or windows, floors marred by rubble and crumbling concrete, no ready-made tents, no shelters, and no alternative housing, making sleeping on the streets and roads the only option.
Mahmoud Ismail, a resident returning to their destroyed areas, says with a voice filled with sadness:
Returning to the neighbourhood where I grew up was shocking. Everything was destroyed. The house where I used to hear my children’s laughter was gone, and the road leading to the market was reduced to rubble.
Children, who have lived in temporary displacement camps for two full years, now face complete darkness at night and stifling heat during the day. Many will be forced to sleep among the rubble for days, studying by the light of their phones or a single candle.
Women and mothers bear the responsibility of protecting their families amid this devastation, in the absence of urgent support from humanitarian agencies.
Hospitals, 38 of which were partially or completely destroyed, now operate only by the light of mobile phones. Doctors and nurses perform complex surgeries without electricity, in a scene where human courage blends with daily suffering. Medical staff have become part of the scene of collapse, trying to save lives amidst a total siege and massive destruction.
Residential neighbourhoods in northern and western Gaza have completely disappeared. Streets once teeming with life are covered in rubble. Schools and shops have been destroyed by over 90%. Public buildings and essential facilities, including water stations and electricity stations, are no longer usable, exacerbating the suffering of the population and making a return to normal life nearly impossible.
Displaced people face the scorching heat of day and the cold of night without shelter, lacking access to potable water, food, and even basic medicines. Children, women, and the sick are in a tragic situation that requires urgent intervention from the international community before the humanitarian catastrophe worsens and turns into an unmanageable crisis.
Today, Gaza is not just a devastated city; it is a vivid illustration of the suffering of a people who have lived under bombardment and despair, yet have persevered despite everything, hoping that the future will bring light after two years of continuous darkness and indescribable human suffering.
Featured image via the Canary
By Alaa Shamali
This post was originally published on Canary.
Khalil al-Hayya, head of the Hamas negotiating delegation, said on Thursday evening that the movement had received official guarantees from mediators and the US administration confirming the complete and irreversible end of the Israeli war on the Gaza Strip, in what he described as a:
historic turning point after two years of genocide.
In a televised address from Doha, al-Hayya added that the new agreement, brokered by Egypt, Qatar, and Turkey and under the direct supervision of the USA stipulates a permanent ceasefire, the withdrawal of Israeli forces from the Gaza Strip, and the start of a large-scale prisoner exchange.
Under the first phase of the agreement, 250 prisoners serving life sentences will be released. Additionally, 1,700 Palestinians arrested since the outbreak of the war in October 2023 will also be released. In exchange, the resistance will release a number of Israeli prisoners held in Gaza, approximately 48 in number, including 20 who are still alive, according to Israeli estimates.
Al-Hayya noted that Hamas dealt with the Trump plan “with great responsibility,” adding that the movement presented:
a vision that guarantees the preservation of Palestinian bloodshed and the preservation of their rights.
He emphasised that the negotiating delegation headed to Cairo were “armed with positivity and national responsibility.” Al-Hayya further explained that the agreement also includes the opening of the Rafah crossing in both directions, the return of humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip, and the commencement of reconstruction under international supervision. Meanwhile, consultations are underway to finalise subsequent provisions related to the complete lifting of the blockade.
In his speech, Al-Hayya continued:
Our people have fought a war unlike any the world has seen. The resistance fighters on the ground held firm, and our representatives at the negotiating table were loyal to the blood of the martyrs, placing the interests of our people above all else.
Al-Hayya accused Israel of procrastination and violating previous agreements, saying that Netanyahu “reneged on ceasefire agreements more than once,” but he emphasized that Hamas:
continued indirect negotiations to secure a final cessation of aggression and an end to the genocide.
On Friday, hundreds of thousands of Gaza residents returned to the northern areas from which the occupation forced them to flee south. Their return, however, was painful after they witnessed the devastating destruction left behind by the occupation following its partial withdrawal from Gaza City.
This development comes more than two years after a war that left more than 67,000 dead and 170,000 wounded in the Gaza Strip, most of them women and children, according to Palestinian government statistics. International reports indicate that 90% of the civilian infrastructure in the Strip has been completely destroyed, and that famine and epidemics threaten the lives of millions of residents.
Featured image via the Canary
By Alaa Shamali
This post was originally published on Canary.
The winner of the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize, María Corina Machado, is a staunch zionist.
BREAKING NEWS
The Norwegian Nobel Committee has decided to award the 2025 #NobelPeacePrize to Maria Corina Machado for her tireless work promoting democratic rights for the people of Venezuela and for her struggle to achieve a just and peaceful transition from dictatorship to… pic.twitter.com/Zgth8KNJk9— The Nobel Prize (@NobelPrize) October 10, 2025
When announcing the win, the Nobel Peace Prize official X account said:
In the past year, #NobelPeacePrize laureate Maria Corina Machado has been forced to live in hiding. Despite serious threats against her life she has remained in the country, a choice that has inspired millions of people.
When authoritarians seize power, it is crucial to recognise courageous defenders of freedom who rise and resist. Democracy depends on people who refuse to stay silent, who dare to step forward despite grave risk, and who remind us that freedom must never be taken for granted, but must always be defended – with words, with courage and with determination.
But funnily enough, the same woman who the prize is recognising as being a “defender of freedom” is in fact a massive Zionist.
She has always supported Israel, and in one media appearance, shared to TikTok, Machado said:
And I promise we one day will have a close relationship between Venezuela and Israel
@audace.paparazzi LA LIDER POR LOS DERECHOS HUMANOS DE LOS VENEZOLANOS “MARIA CORINA MACHADO” SE PRONUNCIA EN INGLES BREVEMENTE EN SOLIDARIDAD Y APOYO CON ISRAEL. #venezuela #mcm #ganovenezuela
♬ sonido original – Oscar III
Back in 2018, she sent a letter to terrorist butcher Netanyahu, requesting military intervention in Venezuela.
Venezuela’s far-right US-funded opposition leader María Corina Machado loves Israel. In 2018, she sent this letter asking genocidal criminal Netanyahu to militarily intervene to overthrow President Maduro.
Maduro strongly supports Palestine, condemning Israel as a fascist regime https://t.co/PMXoDMyKrn pic.twitter.com/bJVDXY8PCI
— Ben Norton (@BenjaminNorton) July 30, 2024
I think we all know that when someone requests help from a genocidal terrorist like Netanyahu, they’re not on the right side of history.
While on the surface the prize appears to be recognising an “inspiring freedom fighter”, it seems the reality is far darker. Instead, it appears to be linked to yet another US government attempt to overthrow the Venezuelan government.
The Nobel Peace Prize is garbage, they have given it to Maria Corina Machado because she is the person they want to takeover Venezuela so they can loot its oil.
Donald Trump will get it next year for Gaza, no matter how many people die there in the next year.
— BladeoftheSun (@BladeoftheS) October 10, 2025
Machado is a wealthy neoliberal privatisation fanatic who, for many years, has been linked to US efforts to destabilise the government, as the Canary’s Ed Sykes explained:
María Corina Machado is a wealthy neoliberal privatisation fanatic who’s been linked for many years to numerous US-based destabilisation projects and efforts to overthrow Venezuela’s government.
Interesting that she’d get a prize just as the US is assassinating Venezuelans… https://t.co/QmvZzGv3oE
— Ed Sykes (@OsoSabioUK) October 10, 2025
She also receives funding and support from many US groups. It seems that the US loves a modern-day Margaret Thatcher.
The bigger picture is, of course, the US attempting to take over Venezuela’s oil.
Venezuela has an oil-dependent economy, and since commercial oil extraction started in 1914, the US has shown a keen interest in the country. For decades, the US had control over the country’s resources until the election of Hugo Chávez in 1998. He was a figurehead for the country’s opposition to neoliberalism.
Since then, the country has also faced hostility from the US government. This means in recent years, Venezuela has faced an economic crisis due to drops in oil prices and brutal US sanctions.
Now, Machado’s biggest policy is privatising Venezuela’s oil reserves, which at nearly $100tn, happen to be the largest in the world. Is there any wonder the US want its paws on it?
The Nobel Peace Prize was won by María Corina Machado.
Venezuela’s opposition leader.
Her biggest policy, privatising Venezuela’s Oil Reserves, the largest in the world, worth nearly $100tn.
Hmm… I wonder why she won? pic.twitter.com/2b55Uyip97
— BladeoftheSun (@BladeoftheS) October 10, 2025
Just follow the money… https://t.co/h4rr2LXl5p
— aidan bradley (@aidso67) October 10, 2025
In recent weeks, US military strikes have killed Venezuelans in what seems to be an alternative method for the US to attempt to exert some control over the country.
As the Canary previously reported on 3 September:
Donald Trump ordered a strike against suspected drug traffickers in international waters, murdering 11 people.
However, it later transpired that none of the 11 Venezuelans killed were, in fact, drug traffickers.
In case it wasn’t immediately obvious who the next target is for US imperialism the Nobel ‘Peace’ Prize given to Venezuela’s ‘opposition leader’ should help clue you in. As well as all the extrajudicial acts of piracy and murder in the Caribbean in the last few weeks. https://t.co/oOdGRKLNXY
— Chris (@stofsk) October 10, 2025
In a statement since then, Trump appeared to threaten ‘land-based strikes’. Bearing in mind that even if these ‘drug traffickers’ were actually proven to be so – they would still be deserving of a fair criminal trial. Instead, Mr Fake Tan wants to blow them up. That’s obviously normal human behaviour.
As other media outlets have previously pointed out, the Nobel Peace Prize has nothing to do with peace.
“The Nobel Peace Prize has nothing to do with peace. It has been awarded to people who promoted war and murdered countless innocents, yet some of the greatest advocates of peace… were never given one.”https://t.co/Hs041PkXIM https://t.co/QmvZzGvBec
— Ed Sykes (@OsoSabioUK) October 10, 2025
Judges have frequently awarded the prize to leaders who have promoted war, including Barack Obama. He waged war in Afghanistan and led military strikes in at least seven countries.
Another imperialist puppet given Nobel Peace Prize to get some legitimacy in her own country. https://t.co/vAhdYyBqOb
— Machinist Marxist (@machinistmarx) October 10, 2025
It’s become more than apparent that the only people who are awarded these sort of accolades (no matter how absurd), are those compliant with, self serving, or easily manipulated by the failing capitalist economic establishment that they represent.
— Eva @TUSCoalition @Socialist_ party @NSSN_AntiCuts (@eva_evato) October 10, 2025
Now it appears that the Nobel Peace Prize may be attempting to legitimise any potential military strikes.
They are using the Nobel Peace Prize to legitimize the upcoming US attack on Venezuela. If the main export of Venezuela were broccoli, none of this would happen.
This staged award is laughable.
— M N Choudhury (@NawshadChy) October 10, 2025
Trump wanted the prize himself – but maybe he wants the oil more. I guess we’ll find out when he mysteriously finds a way to fire the prize’s judges.
Feature image via the Canary
By HG
This post was originally published on Canary.
Tens of thousands of Palestinians began returning to northern Gaza on foot on Friday 10 October, two years after a devastating war, following the entry into force of a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas at midday, according to field reporters and eyewitnesses.
Waves of people were seen walking along Salah al-Din and al-Rashid streets towards Gaza City, in a scene where tears mingled with hope, while the Israeli army continued its gradual withdrawal to new positions inside the Strip over the next 24 hours, in accordance with the first phase of US President Donald Trump’s plan to end the war.
Despite the joy of returning, many Palestinians were shocked by the widespread destruction they saw in the northern neighbourhoods that had been the scene of Israeli military operations. Populated areas appeared to have been completely razed to the ground, while some neighbourhoods were left with nothing but the remains of collapsed walls and bent electricity poles.
Local sources said that hundreds of returnees began searching for their relatives under the rubble or among the ruins, while civil defence teams were deployed on a limited scale due to a lack of equipment and fuel.
Early Friday morning, the Israeli government approved a ceasefire and prisoner exchange agreement with Palestinian factions, following four days of indirect negotiations in Sharm El Sheikh, with the participation of Egypt, Qatar and Turkey, and under direct US supervision.
According to the terms of the agreement, the first phase will begin with a comprehensive ceasefire, followed by a partial exchange of prisoners, with security arrangements paving the way for a gradual Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip.
According to Tel Aviv’s estimates, Hamas still holds 48 Israeli prisoners, including about 20 who are alive, while more than 11,100 Palestinians languish in Israeli prisons, suffering harsh humanitarian conditions and lacking medical care, as confirmed by Palestinian and international human rights reports.
These developments come as the people of Gaza experience one of the most severe humanitarian tragedies in modern history. UN reports indicate that the Gaza Strip has become uninhabitable after two years of bombing and siege, with its infrastructure completely destroyed and most basic services shut down.
Featured image via the Canary
By Alaa Shamali
This post was originally published on Canary.
On Thursday, 9 October, activists from the Palestine solidarity faction of Shut The System targeted Palantir Technology’s London office. They destroyed entrances, glass panels, security cameras and ID card readers. Activists then doused the front of the building in red paint to symbolise the blood of murdered Palestinians.
They took the action in response to the company’s intense surveillance of Palestinians and its controversial contract with the NHS.
Palantir is one of the world’s largest data mining and spy-tech companies. It provides artificial intelligence to the Israeli military to escalate its assaults on Palestinians. Meanwhile, it’s aggressively expanding its operations in British institutions, including the NHS. This faces strong opposition among health workers.
A Shut The System spokesperson said:
The UK government is deepening it’s complicity in the Palestinian genocide by encouraging Palantir to embed itself deeper into the UK’s civil infrastructure. As such, Shut The System is given no choice but to take direct action in order to materially disrupt Palantir’s operation in the UK, and raise the public’s awareness of the nature of a company that could soon be accessing our most personal data at the heart of the NHS.
In early 2024, Palantir announced a strategic partnership with the IOF, agreeing to:
harness Palantir’s advanced technology in support of war related missions.
This partnership has involved supplying the IOF with AI software that scrapes data gathered from the surveillance of Palestinians. It places them in AI-driven ‘kill chains’ which further muddies the lines of accountability, as IOF soldiers pursue the indiscriminate slaughter of Palestinians in defiance of international law. Palantir directly profits from enabling the IOF to pursue the ethnic cleansing of Palestine.
The company won a controversial £330m contract to create a centralised data management platform for the NHS. It also won contracts with British police departments and social services. The NHS contract caused outrage amongst health workers who are forced to witness the relentless killing of their Palestinian colleagues, and the targeted destruction of all health infrastructure in Palestine.
They maintain that a company with such dubious ethics should not be trusted with the sensitive personal data of the UK public. Shut The System stands in solidarity with the UK health workers resisting Palantir’s involvement in the NHS.
In-Q-Tel, the CIA’s venture capital arm, helped fund the creation of Palantir. The Co-founder, Peter Thiell, has a long history of financial support for politicians who promote Christian nationalist and white supremacist politics. The firm also plays a central role in Trump’s White House. This includes taking on a recent $10bn contract with the US army, and a $30m contract to play a central role in ICE’s brutal immigration crackdown.
This action took place a week after Shut The System took direct international action in London, Paris, Hamburg, Geneva, and Vienna. It targeted Barclays, Europe’s largest banking investor in fossil fuels and BlackRock, the world’s second largest investor in fossil fuels.
Feature image via Shut The System
By HG
This post was originally published on Canary.
Three New Zealanders, who were detained in Israel, after taking part in an international flotilla heading to Gaza, claim they were treated like animals.
Rana Hamida, Youssef Sammour and Samuel Leason arrived at Auckland International Airport this afternoon, and were greeted by a crowd of supporters and loved ones.
Among the supporters were Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson and MP Ricardo Menéndez March.
Members of the Global Sumud Flotilla, who were detained and deported from Israel last week, reported allegations of physical and psychological abuse by Israeli forces.
Video: RNZ News
Israel’s foreign ministry said the claims were “complete lies”, and the detainees rights were upheld, but Hamida and Sammour claimed conditions were harsh.
“We were there for almost a week, more or less, and we were treated like crap, to be honest,” Sammour said. “We were treated like animals.”
Hamida said: “It was a violation of what humanitarian law is.”
Guards refused medicine
Sammour said one of their fellow prisoners was diabetic, but the guards refused to give him his insulin, but Hamida admitted the hardship they faced was just a fraction of that experienced by the occupants of Gaza.
The flotilla, a group of dozens of boats carrying 500 people — including Swedish climate campaigner Greta Thunberg — had been trying to break Israel’s blockade.
Leason’s father, Adi Leason, earlier told RNZ’s Midday Report he was “immensely proud” of his 18-year-old son.
“We’ve been going to mass every Sunday for 18 years with Samuel, and he must have been listening and taking something of that formation on board. It’s lovely to see a young man with a deep conscience caring so deeply about people who he will never meet and to put himself in harm’s way for them.”
Samuel Leason felt a mix of relief and anger upon returning to New Zealand. He said it was amazing to see his family again, but he felt frustrated that the New Zealand government did not do more to intervene.
The trio said they had not been discouraged and planned to mobilise more than ever.
More than 67,000 Palestinians — mostly women and children — have been killed since Israel launched its retaliation for Hamas’ 2023 attack, which killed about 1200 Israelis.
The first stage of a Gaza ceasefire came into force today.
This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.
This post was originally published on Asia Pacific Report.
Within an hour or Israel adding its signature to the Trump ‘ceasefire‘, after Palestinian militia groups had already signed, the occupation began bombing Palestinian civilians even as they celebrated the supposed reprieve.
The occupation bombed multi-storey houses being used as shelters by refugee families, killing dozens, burying at least fifty people under rubble in each building and leaving many horrifically wounded:
A little girl, no more than four or five years old, was left with shrapnel embedded in her chest by Israel’s bombing of a four-storey residential building:
Five year old Taym’s face was ripped apart by the same bombing. Miraculously, doctors were able to keep him alive but his prospects after months of Israel’s vicious destruction of Gaza’s healthcare and blockading of medicines look grim.
WARNING: GRAPHIC CONTENT:
Israel tried to claim that the bombing of the house was a ‘mistake’. Palestinian-Canadian Pulitzer Prize winner Mosab Abu Toha’s analysis of that claim was blunt:
And as civilians tried to walk back to their homes under the supposed ceasefire, Israeli tanks opened fire on them. Another mistake?
Palestinians were shelled as they tried to celebrate the supposed truce:
The document sealing the supposed ceasefire promises a ‘comprehensive end’ to the so-called ‘war’:
But Israel lies and it lies and it lies. Within minutes of the ‘deal’ being signed, senior Israeli ministers were emphasising that they had no intention of actually ending Israel’s occupation of Gaza and slaughter of its people:
Israel is a terror state led by liars. Trump is a liar aiding the terror state. The murder continues and the war criminals can never be trusted.
By Skwawkbox
This post was originally published on Canary.
On 8 October, the Israeli occupation’s extremist government closed the Ibrahimi Mosque in Hebron – the second holiest site in occupied Palestine for Muslims, under the pretext of Jewish holiday celebrations, while denying access to Palestinian Muslim worshippers, or the ability to pray there.
The Ibrahimi Mosque, called the Cave of the Patriarch by Jews, is a sacred site for both Muslims and Jews, and both religions are equally entitled to pray there. For Muslims, it is revered as the burial place of the Prophet Ibrahim (Abraham) and other prophets, making it the fourth holiest site in Islam and a key place for worship. For Jews, the site is believed to be the burial site of the patriarchs and matriarchs of the Jewish people, and is a major place of prayer.
In July, the Ibrahimi Mosque management was transferred from the Palestinian-run Hebron municipality, to the Jewish Religious Council in an illegal Jewish settlement in Hebron.
Then, on 8 October – the second day of the Jewish holiday of Sukkot – about 1,300 illegal colonial settlers led by extremist Security Minister Ben Gvir and under heavy military protection, also broke into East Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa Mosque – the holiest Muslim site in occupied Palestine, and performed provocative rituals in its courtyards:
The raid also coincided with the 35th anniversary of the Al- Aqsa Mosque massacre, in which the Israeli occupation’s police and border guards killed 21 Palestinian civilians at the mosque, and injured more than 300:
https://twitter.com/Timesofgaza/status/1975861904368366052
https://twitter.com/Timesofgaza/status/1975849494551126204
Ben Gvir, who was declaring “we are the owners of the Temple Mount,” has long called for the destruction of the Al-Aqsa Mosque, and the building of the ‘Temple Mount’ on its ruins:
Since October 7, 2023, the occupation’s security forces have imposed strict restrictions on access not only to the occupied old City of Jerusalem and the entire grounds of the Al-Aqsa Mosque, but also on praying at the mosque. Thousands of Palestinians, including women and at least 15 journalists, have been banned, for periods of six months at a time, which is renewable.
According to an agreement between Jordan and Israel, in 1967, non-Muslims are allowed onto the site during visiting hours, but are not allowed to pray there. Jews believe the biblical Jewish temples once stood in the Al-Aqsa compound, but because the site is considered too holy to tread on, Jewish law forbids Jews from entering the compound or praying there.
These actions have been carried by the occupation as a show of force and control, not only over important sites of worship, but also the Palestinian population. They are also attempts to Judaise the occupied old City of Jerusalem and important sites, seeking to transform them, to enhance their Jewish character.
This Judaisation is carried out through government policies and actions, and also measures such as increasing the Jewish population in historically Palestinian neighbourhoods, while decreasing Muslim presence through actions such as home demolitions, evictions or restrictions, and also changing Jerusalem’s historical or religious landmarks to emphasize Jewish history, at the expense of Muslim or Christian.
Featured images and video via the Canary
By Charlie Jaay
This post was originally published on Canary.
COMMENTARY: By Gerard Otto of G News
This morning New Zealand Herald columnist and political commentator Matthew Hooton was paid to write an article justifying Foreign Minister Winston Peters’ position on denying Palestinian Statehood on the eve of the first phase of Donald Trump’s 20 point plan while in tandem Peters was interviewed by Ryan Bridge as the justifications continued and propaganda glazed the land.
Hooton wrongly suggested an out of date way of viewing international law justified Peters as he emphasised the horror endured by Israel and did not recount the genocide with at least 67,000 Palestinians killed, mostly women and children, unfolding as the mind conditioning of New Zealanders continued along the same path we’ve been sleeping under.
Hooton neglected to mention the failure of NZ First to include official advice in their cabinet paper, the secrecy and delay over the decision, and the words of the Israeli Finance Minister just this morning.
Bezalel Smotrich said the liberation movement Hamas must be destroyed after the return of Israeli hostages and recently he said this was a real estate bonanza opportunity for Israel.
He also said in August 2025 that plans to build more than 3000 homes in a controversial settlement project in the occupied West Bank will “bury the idea of a Palestinian state”.
The so-called E1 project between Jerusalem and the Maale Adumim settlement has been frozen for decades amid fierce opposition internationally. Building there would effectively cut off the West Bank from occupied East Jerusalem, the planned capital for the state of Palestine.
Smotrich is not welcome in New Zealand — but travel bans is all Christopher Luxon’s coalition government will do as they bow low before the US and Israel — calling that “Sucking up” . . . “Independence”.
We suck up independently and clap ourselves – or at least Act do.
Japan threatens sanctions
As reported yesterday, Japan has threatened to sanction Israel if they mess with the possibility of Palestinian Statehood, but back in New Zealand we are busy festering over whether it is okay to protest outside a house — be it — an apartment block which houses a political party office and residential apartments in the same building or not.
Sticking points include a hefty 3 month prison sentence and $2000 fine but some say that this is all a distraction from our obligations to act against an unfolding genocide and from the dire state of the economy for those who are not wealthy and sorted.
Khalil al-Hayya, the head of Hamas’s negotiating team, has said the group has received guarantees from the US and mediators that an agreement on a first phase of a ceasefire agreement means the war in Gaza “has ended completely”.
We will see how Israel plays this — but levels of scepticism are sky high and many have no faith in Netanyahu because he had been offered the return of hostages a year ago and chose to ignore it.
Perhaps Israel will “behave while International Eyes” are on it but time will tell . . . whether spots have changed on the leopard.
In the meantime vote in your local elections — you only have one day to go — and when it comes to the next General Election – you know what to do.
This article is extracted from Gerard Otto’s Friday Morning Coffee column with permission. Matthew Hooton visited Israel and Palestine in 2017 as a guest of the Australia/Israel and Jewish Affairs Council. The Australian news site Crikey publishes a list of politicians and journalists who have travelled to Israel on junkets.
This post was originally published on Asia Pacific Report.
The U.S. has spent over $30 billion supporting the Israeli military and conducting war across the Middle East over the first two years of Israel’s genocide in Gaza — a genocide only made possible by the U.S.’s financial support, a new report concludes.
Brown University’s Costs of War project released a series of reports on the second anniversary of the October 7, 2023 attack, finding that the U.S. has sent at least $21.7 billion in military aid to Israel between October 2023 and September 2025.
This record-breaking amount of aid is just the “tip of the iceberg,” with replenishments like Israel’s access to U.S. weapons stockpiles in the Middle East likely not included in publicly reported totals.
The post Report: US Spent Over $30B Backing Israel, Regional Wars In Two Years appeared first on PopularResistance.Org.
This post was originally published on PopularResistance.Org.
The newly announced ceasefire agreement, which was reached by mediators overnight, is set to take effect in Gaza on 9 October.
Phase one of US President Donald Trump’s 20-point plan will begin in the coming hours and days.
According to Israel’s Channel 14, the signing of the agreement will be followed by Israeli cabinet and government meetings to ratify the deal.
The Israeli army will then carry out its first withdrawal from Gaza’s population centers, in line with the agreement’s withdrawal map.
Twenty living Israeli captives will be released following 72 hours. In exchange, Tel Aviv is required to release 250 prisoners serving life sentences and 1,700 Palestinians detained from Gaza since 7 October 2023.
The post Hamas, Israel Agree To First Phase Of Gaza Ceasefire Under Trump Plan appeared first on PopularResistance.Org.
This post was originally published on PopularResistance.Org.
President Donald Trump says Israel and Hamas have agreed to the “first phase” of a U.S.-backed ceasefire deal for Gaza. The 20-point roadmap includes a swap of captives and a phased Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, though details on many of the planks remain sketchy. Democracy Now! spoke with Palestinian and Israeli analysts on how to interpret the peace plan. “We’re now at a fork in…
This post was originally published on Latest – Truthout.
Following the announcement of a ceasefire, establishment figures who opposed Palestinian liberation are celebrating the very thing they stood against:
It’s truly breath-taking to watch Jonathan Ashworth rewrite history in real time. The collective Labour position since the start of the genocide was to reject a ceasefire, whipping MPs against it while Gaza burned.
Now they claim to have “always wanted a ceasefire.” This isn’t… pic.twitter.com/igDQ7dQnZq
— The Muslim Vote (@themuslimvoteuk) October 9, 2025
one day, everyone will have always been against this.
Former Labour MP Jonathan Ashworth said this:
Jonathan Ashworth: “I’ve wanted to see a ceasefire for 2 years”
The collective position of the Labour shadow cabinet (which you were part of) for months after October 7th was to reject a ceasefire & Labour instructed its MPs not to vote for a ceasefire in Nov 2023. pic.twitter.com/lipcXlszHy
— Saul Staniforth (@SaulStaniforth) October 9, 2025
This sort of thing goes all the way to the top in Labour, as the Canary and Declassified UK highlighted:
Your government provided surveillance flights for Israel during the full 2 years of this genocide and refused to stop arm exports.
Your fake ‘relief’ is insulting to us all. https://t.co/LjsA0i2FYj
— Canary (@TheCanaryUK) October 9, 2025
In October 2023, Keir Starmer argued fervently against a ceasefire in Gaza even as the Israeli government’s genocidal intentions were being made clear. https://t.co/dBz2rEwkd9 pic.twitter.com/886pvIBlBL
— Declassified UK (@declassifiedUK) October 9, 2025
Starmer infamously said the following:
The public comment by Starmer that truly matters.
He gave support to Netanyahu
“Israel
Starmer is guilty.
Don’t let anyone forget.pic.twitter.com/488zRLF3KN
— Howard Beckett (@BeckettUnite) November 14, 2024
Starmer was a human rights lawyer too, so he understood the implication of what he was saying here.
While the media may not have transparently opposed a ceasefire, elements of it certainly did all they could to slander and inhibit Palestine’s supporters in the West.
Dan Wootton expressed a sentiment which many in the right-wing media sphere are sharing:
Zip it, loser.
You tried to fuck it up with your recognition of a Palestinian state at the height of negotiations to appease the hard left of your deranged party. https://t.co/EmXGsV6Mu2— Dan Wootton (@danwootton) October 9, 2025
The ceasefire is happening mere weeks after the UK, Canada, New Zealand, Australia, and others recognised Palestinian statehood. These depraved right wingers want you to believe the ceasefire happened despite global opinion shifting against Israel, rather than because of it.
Some, like the Mail’s Dan Hodges, are suggesting the ceasefire is the result of painstaking statescraft, and not just America finally putting its foot down and reigning in a rogue client state:
It’s possible there was some behind the scenes choreography. But if there wasn’t, the fact Britain opted for unilateral Palestinian recognition at a time when the negotiations were at such a sensitive stage is even more inexplicable and reckless. https://t.co/n8rOaKmrFg
— (((Dan Hodges))) (@DPJHodges) October 9, 2025
Shelagh Fogarty acknowledged the authoritarianism Trump is inflicting at home, and yet she thinks he should receive the Nobel Peace Prize anyway – all because he’s (potentially) ending a genocide he could have ended with a phone call 9 months ago:
‘Trump definitely deserves the Nobel Peace Prize.’
Shelagh Fogarty is aware of the ‘injustices he is carrying out in his own country’, but thinks the US president has achieved something on Gaza. pic.twitter.com/3bbyXnjqJp
— LBC (@LBC) October 9, 2025
Fogarty is another one who opposed the opposition to the genocide but now wants to act like she gives a shit:
I’ve watched a man being burned alive, kids carrying parts of other kids in a backpack and men and women shredded to pieces you absolute ghoul.
Fuck you, Shelagh Fogarty. Fuck you. https://t.co/vqfSfM7b85
— Liam Stokes-Massey (@PencilCraftsman) October 4, 2025
Maybe she should get the Nobel Peace Prize too?
The wretched Julia Hartley-Brewer tried to claim the moral high ground while denying a genocide and slandering those who stood against it:
So if this Trump peace plan does go ahead and Hamas frees the hostages while Israel ends the bombing, withdraws the IDF to agreed lines and sends in more aid, then the protesters on our streets will be happy, right?
They’ll end their marches and protests, right?
They’ll be cheering for peace, right?
They’ll stop attacking Britain Jews accusing them of responsibility for the “genocide” that isn’t happening, right?
Because it’s the innocent children in Gaza they care about, right?
Right…?
In response to messages like the above, Anita Zsurzsan said:
Be prepared for the wave of “why are pro-Palestine groups still protesting? there’s a ceasefire!” takes, because the goal was never solely a ceasefire, it’s dismantling the Zionist apartheid entity and decolonizing Palestine
— Anita Zsurzsan
(@iamjourjean) October 9, 2025
As of right now, Gaza is levelled, it’s residents are displaced, and Israel is violating what was supposed to be a ceasefire (as they have done many times in the past).
When people said ‘Palestine will be free’, they didn’t just mean from the genocide, they meant from the siege of Gaza which began in 2005; they meant from the settlers who are colonising the West Bank; they meant from the decades of tyranny which began with the Nakba in 1948, and they mean from whatever Israel and America have planned for the future.
In the meantime, it is at least refreshing to see some signs of hope.
There’s no doubt a deal that leaves Israel occupying Gaza and provides no guarantees that they won’t immediately return to genocide is a nightmare deal but my God do these people need some relief from the pain and starvation and death. https://t.co/ZQ1Qo4fN9l
— Krystal Ball (@krystalball) October 9, 2025
Featured image via ITV / Ilya Grigorik (Wikimedia) / Jaber Jehad Badwan (Wikimedia)
By Willem Moore
This post was originally published on Canary.
Note: So, the Newport News Times, AKA, Lincoln County Leader, has my op-ed below in the on-line version. So disappointed to see the print hardcopy version is missing this important Two Years going into the current genocide.
I did reference the local politician, the representative, David Gomberg, Jewish, who got an all-expenses paid trip to Israel by Adolph Bibi. Jewish, and he wrote an op-ed travel piece for the same rag two weeks ago.
Here, my DV piece: Two Men, an Evil Empire, Evil Jews of Genocide Legacy, and the Mowing of the World’s Compassion and AGENCY
Now, the editor will not tell me the truth, I am sure, why my piece today is on the on-line version. There are literally thousands of newspapers at grocery stores and other outlets today, but my piece is not in them. I have consistently had my op-eds in the paper rag, duplicated on the on-line version.
It pisses me off, yeah, and newspaper print DOES matter, even though retrograde laugh at newspapers, only good for wrapping fish. They are idiots.
This representative does get the newspaper at home and in his office and home in Salem, so, hmm, is this the reason the piece only appears on the WWW?
Here, the same piece on-line, but I can’t read it because it’s behind a paywall.
Below, the version with graphics and additions. Thanks for reading DV.
Allegiances to the Genocidaires, Military Offensive Weapons, and Finance Capital
You have to hand it to both parties – trillions of US taxpayer money sent to an occupied land that has full-throttle displayed its genocide (US-backed) on defenseless people.
Two-year anniversary.
Oh, don’t fret: we have over fifty national month of October celebratory things, from the absurd, stupid, silly and a few serious ones.
But make no mistake about it – the US, Britain and Germany are the major weapons suppliers to Israel. However, there are literally tens of billions of dollars going back and forth from and to that genocidal state.
Sort of like the good old days when Hitler and his regime had that back and forth commerce, with, hmm: German and international corporations like IG Farben, Ford, General Motors (GM), IBM, and Standard Oil. There were hundreds of smaller companies.
[Getting ready for Portland, Oregon, so why worry about Gaza?]
We have now in Lincoln County, thousands losing their Medicare Advantage plans through Samaritan Health. And what are the democrats up against the republican reprobates doing?
Well, we have two senators, one who is Israel-First and who puts his Jewish background above America, for sure, in many people’s minds: The genocide campaign has killed more than 350,000 Palestinians, almost all civilians, and left the rest of the population of Gaza in plots of land that make concentration camps look livable.
[Chicago is in the crosshairs, so forget about Gaza the day and weeks and years after Oct. 7 2023]
Sen. Jeff Merkley co-sponsored six bills in September 2024 to halt a $20 billion U.S. arms sale to Israel. Some of it: $675 million worth of bombs and a shipment of 20,000 assault rifles to Israel.
“We have a profound moral responsibility to end this collective punishment of innocent civilians,” Merkley said in a statement, adding that until the Israeli government makes critical international food and medical aid available to Palestinians in Gaza, the U.S. should not send any more weapons.
Yet, the other senator, Ron Wyden (Jewish), voted with all Republicans against stopping the military killing materiel to Israel.
[Never seen in local newspapers, and big ones either.]
Even non-Jewish Merkley drops caveats in his statement:
“Every moment the U.S. fails to demand a massive influx of food or to provide that massive influx of food ourselves, we are complicit in Netanyahu’s strategy of starving Palestinians. This breaks every moral code and every religious code. Until every child and every mother have sufficient nutrition, America should not send a single dollar or a single bomb to Netanyahu’s government. No more bombs. More aid.”
Some of us journalists go way back (since 1973) and we’ve even studied rhetoric and propaganda and taught college communications (since 1983).
Let it be known: Israel has been practicing genocide since 1948, and has been an apartheid state the same number of years. “Mowing of the grass/lawn” was a practice Israel used to murder peaceful protestors and medical workers going to the aid of wounded protestors. Before Oct 2023.
[Nah, times this by 10!]
This is not one man’s or one Israeli government’s genocide. Most Israeli Jews want Palestinians gone. Troubling, also, are these Americans supporting Israel with any sort of financial and military and non-military aid are complicit.
Just a month ago, the world’s largest association of academic scholars studying genocide passed a resolution saying Israel’s “policies and actions in Gaza meet the legal definition of genocide,” established by the U.N. in 1948.
The International Association of Genocide Scholars states that Israel’s policies and actions in Gaza amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity.
Aiding and abetting war crimes is a crime. The crime of genocide.
[All the Jewish controlled and non-Jewish controlled outlets, part and parcel, part of the genocide, incuding the IDF Frum from the Atlantic.]
[Leaked emails from former Israeli UN Ambassador Ron Prosor reveal that David Frum and Douglas Murray secretly drafted speeches for him during Israel’s 2014 military campaign in Gaza, while a CNN producer, Pamela Gross, coordinated private fundraising for Israel’s Iron Dome. Frum, then a senior editor at The Atlantic, and Murray, a Spectator contributor, offered speechwriting and strategic guidance to bolster Israel’s international messaging. Gross repeatedly sought Prosor’s help to raise funds for the missile defense system, framing her efforts as vital to the safety of Israeli citizens. The emails, published by Distributed Denial of Secrets, expose the deep behind-the-scenes collaboration between journalists and Israeli officials at a time of intense global scrutiny. Read the full report here.]
This society is broken, and has been way before Ronald Reagan, for sure, but like exponential growth of a bacteria left to grow, each year there are more deaths by 1,000 cuts to social, health, education, economic, spiritual social safety nets.
Throwing money at the MIC – Military Industrial Complex – for seventy years, and throwing money at Israel for 77 years has done its work by lining the pockets of CEOs, bankers, billionaires in finance, and now the techno fascists. Names like Ellison, Altman, Ackman, Karp, Zuckerberg, Adelson, Brin may not be on readers’ tongues, but beware of these new titans of pain.
Former CIA analyst and now activist, Ray McGovern calls that military machine the MICIMATT: Military-Industrial-Congressional-Intelligence- Media-Academia-Think-Tank Complex.
In reality, a society that has outrageous costly and failing medical care for all, let alone seniors, is a society that has been bought and sold down the river. For-profit medicine? For-profit electricity? Telecommunications? Hell, we can’t even run our own county’s school buses anymore without paying a for-profit outfit to transport our kiddos – Student First, owned by EQT Infrastructure, a Swedish private equity firm.
If you were to take one of my critical thinking writing courses from a few years ago, you’d be flummoxed with these sorts of stories. You’d be exposed to censored stories and memory-holed history. You would have learned about amazing facts that have been held back from the average American citizen.
“If the U.S. Can’t Boss the World, It Will Spitefully Destroy It,” is an article by Jeremy Kuzmarov, a community college instructor in Oklahoma and managing editor of Covert Action magazine. He was just on my radio show, Finding Fringe at KYAQ FM.
We talked about how this country is now in super dire straits – death by a thousand cuts every hour under the Trump regime. But we also delved into the history of both parties responsible for wars, invasions, coups, sanctions, false flags, and conspiracies to, well, destroy the world.
Now we have bald-faced liars admitting they hate the American people, admitting that they control the wealth, food, energy, data, water, futures, land and possessions of a majority of the world.
Read James Baldwin to understand his prescient quote:
“All of the Western nations have been caught in a lie, the lie of their pretended humanism.”
No Name in the Street is a four-page apocalyptic tour de force, in which Baldwin imagined a system built on exploitation and war collapsing on itself.
Ahh, the good old days when he wrote this – 1972!
[Note: This is the height of absurdity — one Nazi Israeli ambassador selling junk bonds to the other Nazis from history.]
Bought sold and wrapped in Billionaire Bubble Wrap.
This post was originally published on Dissident Voice.
Anti-terror police arrested four British activists on their return from attempting to break the Gaza siege on the Global Sumud Flotilla. They had already arrested Sarah Wilkinson when she returned, which takes the total to five.
BREAKING: 4 DETAINED AT HEATHROW, INCLUDING HANNAH
4 UK citizens who were detained by Israel on the Global Sumud Flotilla have arrived in the UK, and were immediately detained at Heathrow Airport.
There are reports that three have just been released, but one is still being… pic.twitter.com/8mBPxAMviV
— Just Stop Oil (@JustStop_Oil) October 8, 2025
Israel illegally abducted 13 British citizens in international waters. They were on board the Global Sumud Flotilla, attempting to deliver supplies to Gaza.
The activists detailed awful conditions in Israeli captivity, and criticised the British Government for the lack of support.
But when Malcolm Ducker, Hannah Schafer, Sid Khan, and Jim Hickey returned to the UK, authorities put them through further detention.
Waiting at Heathrow Airport for four British volunteers onboard the Global Sumud Flotilla. Just been told that all four have been detained by British Police and had their passports taken away from them. Unclear why they have been detained.
— Areeb Ullah (@are_eb) October 8, 2025
Been told that three of the volunteers will be released. Not clear who has freed. The four volunteers coming out today are Malcolm Ducker, Hannah Schafer, Sidkhan and Jim Hickey.
— Areeb Ullah (@are_eb) October 8, 2025
Authorities released two of the activists – Hickey and Khan – relatively quickly. But both Ducker and Schafer were detained for around two hours.
Malcolm Ducker – who captained the All In and got the closest to the Gaza Strip- has been released alongside Hannah Schafer. pic.twitter.com/RBYGNtJZKa
— Areeb Ullah (@are_eb) October 8, 2025
Many social media users raised questions about the IOF soldiers being able to freely return to the UK after participating in genocide.
IOF soldiers returning from Israel don’t get treated this way – only those trying to feed Gazans being starved by Israel.
Helping genocide victims must be un-British or something. https://t.co/ECZjIeW29t
— Sika_dm (@Sika_dm) October 9, 2025
So killing babies and children is okay. But trying to deliver food to starving babies is unacceptable?
IDF soldier: welcome
Peace activist delivering baby formula: detained. https://t.co/o6uqpTG4R6— JaneyMac
(@Roeburnscar) October 8, 2025
Of course if they were British IDF members who had come back to UK after killing babies and children they would be allowed straight through. https://t.co/M8A1ZLqekj
— JmRoyle #LFC #YNWA #BLM #RejoinEU (@MyArrse) October 8, 2025
Back in 2023, Conservative MP Andrew Mitchell said the following, in response to a parliamentary question:
The IDF is a recognised armed force and British nationals are both able to volunteer into the IDF and eligible for national service. For Israel, one does not have to be Israeli to serve in the IDF.
Recently, Starmer decided to ban IOF soldiers from studying at one of the UK’s “most prestigious” military academies.
Recently, the UK has recognised the state of Palestine. Since then, legal professionals have confirmed that the police can prosecute Brits for serving in the IDF in Gaza and the West Bank.
However, the law cannot be applied retrospectively. This means British soldiers who fought for the IDF in the two years before the UK recognised the state of Palestine cannot be prosecuted.
This means the government will allow countless soldiers who have spent the last two years murdering children to roam free in Britain.
When Israel initially abducted the activists, the British Government did not appear to care.
Scottish flotilla activist Sid Khan says the British embassy didn’t visit him in jail for 5 days
When they did, he says he was told: ‘The British Government has no intention of putting on any flights for you at the moment’
@MaryNazzal2 @GMTG_UKhttps://t.co/avrHuWLxGU
— Lucy Jackson (@LucyAJackson_) October 7, 2025
Starmer even said, in a statement, that:
I’ve always said that the Israeli Government must obviously act in line with international law. It’s obviously up to them to take those decisions [on detentions].”
He had no interest in getting the activists home. But as soon as they arrive? Detained.
two days ago Starmer had no interest in the flotilla activists abducted by Israel in international waters, but as soon as they land back in the UK they are detained, what the hell is going on https://t.co/aUWAYKZUxn pic.twitter.com/T5nnXmTmTS
— Cuz (@HeIsTheCuz) October 8, 2025
Starmer hits a new low, British citizens kidnapped in international waters by Israel detained on their return to Heathrow. https://t.co/eagJBT9HGq
— Richard_Alonzo STW
Starmer will oversee the detention of peaceful activists – attempting to break a decades-long, illegal siege on Gaza. Yet he will allow IDF soldiers who may well have killed hundreds of innocent people on behalf of a terrorist state to walk Britain’s streets without consequence.
Feature image via France 24 English/Youtube
By HG
This post was originally published on Canary.
This story originally appeared in Common Dreams on Oct. 09, 2025. It is shared here under a Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0) license.
Palestinian civilians and aid groups in Gaza expressed “jubilation” along with underlying caution and “skepticism,” as one local reporter said, on Thursday following the news that Hamas and Israel had come to an agreement to end Israel’s two-year assault on the exclave.
Israel is expected to withdraw troops to an agreed-upon line and to allow an influx of aid into Gaza along with releasing Palestinian prisoners in exchange for Israeli hostages.
The office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Thursday that a ceasefire would take effect later in the day, “once the government convenes and approves the deal,” but Nour Odeh reported at Al Jazeera that “that is not stopping the celebrations” of the news that Israel’s relentless destruction of Gaza was expected to soon come to a halt.
“People were screaming in the streets, because after two years of bombings and destruction and loss, finally they will sign the ceasefire [deal],” Laila Al Shana, a project manager for Palestinian grassroots aid group Humans To Be in Gaza, told Al Jazeera. “I hope they can maintain this deal.”
Tareq Abu Azzoum, a reporter for the outlet in az-Zawayda, central Gaza, said there was “an undeniable collective sense of relief seen here in Gaza” on Thursday following President Donald Trump’s announcement that Hamas and Israel had reached a deal on the first phase of the 20-point peace plan Trump proposed last week.
“People were celebrating, and there were very obvious scenes of jubilation across Gaza for families who took to the streets, cheering, waving Palestinian flags, and even launching fireworks,” reported Abu Azzoum. “But beneath that surface jubilation, there is a relative sense of skepticism, especially as families are quite afraid that Israel could resume the war in Gaza under one security pretext or another.”
Reports from Gaza’s Civil Defense suggested that the fears were not unfounded; Drop Site News reported at 9:30 am local time that according to the agency, there was “a series of intense air strikes” on Gaza City and explosions across northern Gaza after the deal was announced, while Hani Mahmoud said there were “a couple of attacks in Khan Younis.”
Mahmoud said that there was “cautious hope” in Gaza that “the truce may hold this time, despite Israel’s pattern of last-minute actions aimed at derailing agreements.”
Francesca Albanese, the UN special rapporteur on Palestinian rights, also expressed cautious optimism, noting that Israel broke a ceasefire deal in March, and stressed that “Israel’s illegal occupation and apartheid in Palestine” must ultimately be “dismantled.”
Hamas negotiators told Drop Site News that there was a risk to accepting a deal that does not include a complete withdrawal of all Israeli troops from Gaza, but rather a withdrawal to a specific line—the details of which were “still being worked out” Wednesday night.
“This is a risk, but we trusted President Trump to be the guarantor of all the commitments made,” Mousa Abu Marzouk, a senior Hamas leader, told Drop Site News on Monday.
The Palestinian negotiators have “faced unprecedented pressure from Arab and Islamic mediators over the past 48 hours to make significant concessions and to quickly reach an agreement on the aspects of Trump’s plan that address the exchange of captives, a ceasefire, and the resumption of aid,” Drop Site News reported.
But Matt Duss of the Center for International Policy emphasized that “it wasn’t pressure on Hamas that got the ceasefire, they’ve obviously been under intense pressure all along.”
Rather, with the international community increasingly expressing outrage over the human-caused humanitarian crisis in Gaza and Israel’s expressions of intent to commit genocidal violence there, “the key variable here was pressure on Netanyahu,” said Duss.
Recent polls in the United States, the largest international funder of the Israel Defense Forces, have found a major reversal in the public’s views on the war, with more respondents telling The New York Times in September that they supported the Palestinians over the Israelis—for the first time since the newspaper began polling people on the subject nearly 30 years ago.
The Washington Post also found that support for Israel has plummeted among Jewish Americans, 61% of whom told the newspaper that they believe Israel has committed war crimes in Gaza.
Aid groups expressed hope Thursday that they would be able to begin delivering humanitarian aid to Palestinians promptly. The Gaza Health Ministry has reported that more than 461 people have died of malnutrition and starvation since the war started, with most dying this year. A famine in parts of Gaza was declared by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification in August.
“We need sustained humanitarian supplies to enter. We need, as a humanitarian community, access to communities, to children. We need to be able to do our jobs, we need safe and dignified distributions,” Rachel Cummings, the humanitarian director of Save the Children in Deir el-Balah, Gaza, told Al Jazeera. “Organizations like Save the Children and obviously the [United Nations] and its partners, we know how to prevent famine. We know how to treat malnutrition, and we need these sustained supplies to enter to be able to do them.”
The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees emphasized that it has food, medicine, and other essentials ready to be distributed as soon as it is permitted to begin delivering aid, and said the progress reported Wednesday night came as a “huge relief.”
”After their excruciating ordeal, hostages and Palestinian detainees will finally join their families,” Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini wrote on X. “We have enough to provide food for the entire population for the coming three months. Our teams in Gaza are crucial for the implementation of this agreement, including to provide basic services like healthcare and education.”
James Elder, a spokesperson for the United Nations Children’s Fund, posted a video on Instagram from Gaza, where over the last two years, more than 67,000 Palestinians—including more than 18,000 children—have been killed; 90% of the population has been displace; at least 39,000 children have been left without one or both of their parents; and many children have undergone surgeries and amputations without anesthesia.
“A journalist just asked me: Did you imagine that we would reach this moment? Did you think we would reach the stage of a ceasefire?” said Elder. “My reflections were that I never thought we would reach a point where 20,000 girls and boys would be killed.”
This post was originally published on The Real News Network.
Ramez Al-Naouq, a child living in Gaza, was born with a severe congenital deformity in his upper and lower eyelids, which prevent him from closing his eyes even while he is sleeping.
His eyes constantly bleed, become ulcerated and inflamed, and put him at risk of permanent blindness.
Before the Israeli occupation’s genocide on the Gaza Strip, Al-Naouq received ointments and eye drops to keep his eyes moisturised and reduce the inflammation. But his treatment has now completely stopped because of the ongoing blockade and severe shortage of medicines. As a result his condition has dramatically worsened.
Although Ramez urgently needs complex operations to repair his eyelids and protect his vision, doctors in Gaza are not able to carry out the necessary surgeries, because of a lack of medical resources.
Rateb is a child amputee in Gaza. He has been trying hard to make a plastic limb for himself, so he can play with other children. He lost his leg after the Israeli occupation forces bombed a car a few months ago.
There are hundreds of children like Rateb in Gaza, who have lost upper or lower limbs, and are left permanently disabled because of injuries sustained during this genocide. These become infected and, because poor nutrition slows healing and antibiotics are intentionally being prevented from entering the Strip, sepsis sets in, leaving no other option but amputation.
Child amputees have a lifetime of disability and a very uncertain future ahead of them. Gaza has the highest number of child amputees per capita anywhere in the world, with 10 children, every single day for the past two years losing one or both of their legs.
Hanaa Al-Awdi, was a Palestinian child who developed brain cancer during the ongoing genocide in Gaza, and also suffered from brain atrophy which had already taken away her sight and hearing. The Israeli occupation’s complete blockade of the besieged Gaza Strip meant there was a delay in her travel for treatment abroad, so her condition became significantly worse. This left her body unable to withstand the disease, and although she was eventually able to travel to Italy for treatment, she recently passed away in an Italian hospital with stage four brain cancer, which had spread throughout her body.
These children mentioned here are not unique in Gaza. There are thousands who are suffering and left to die, slowly and painfully, without anyone hearing about them. The Israeli regime has intentionally bombed hospitals to bring about the collapse of Gaza’s health care system, while the ongoing intentional blockade prevents the entry of everything necessary for the survival of the Palestinian population, including medicine and fuel. Dozens of children have also experienced severe deterioration in their health, or have already lost their lives, because of delays in medical evacuation by the Israeli occupation authorities.
Featured image via YouTube screenshot/ABC News In Depth
By Charlie Jaay
This post was originally published on Canary.
On 9 October, Donald Trump announced that he had successfully manoeuvred Israel and the Palestinian population of Gaza into a ceasefire:
BREAKING: President Trump has announced a ceasefire. pic.twitter.com/5A2pe8oqin
— Eyal Yakoby (@EYakoby) October 8, 2025
As is now customary, Israel seemed to immediately violate the ceasefire:
Plumes of smoke from Israeli attacks were seen rising over Gaza hours after Israel and Hamas agreed to the first phase of a ceasefire plan, brokered by Donald Trump. pic.twitter.com/asekeAXM9T
— Al Jazeera English (@AJEnglish) October 9, 2025
Trump’s initial statement seemed to suggest the ceasefire was now active. At 14:11, however, the BBC reported:
More now from Israeli prime minister’s office spokesperson Shosh Bedrosian.
She says a ceasefire will begin in Gaza within 24 hours after this evening’s Israeli cabinet meeting – if those at the table agree to the terms of phase one, which was approved in Egypt this morning.
This is despite earlier reports from our Gaza correspondent that the ceasefire was expected to take effect immediately once approved by the Israeli government.
This followed widespread reporting that Israel was attacking Palestinians, many of whom presumably believed they were safe to return to their homes:
Israeli tanks bomb Gazan civilians live on camera despite Trump’s announcement of a ceasefire! pic.twitter.com/fs3WvbaFBS
— Muhammad Shehada (@muhammadshehad2) October 9, 2025
Israel has been bombing, shelling & blowing up robotic suicide vehicles in Deir Al-Balah, Khan Younis, Tal Al-Hawa, Al-Sabra, Al-Shati refugee camp… pic.twitter.com/swt5yNVSQP
— Muhammad Shehada (@muhammadshehad2) October 9, 2025
Palestinians were celebrating the ceasefire before Israel re-commenced bombing them:
Overburdened by over two years of Israeli genocide, Palestinians in Khan Younis, southern Gaza, celebrate the announcement of the ceasefire agreement. pic.twitter.com/0bFbwCb52c
— Quds News Network (@QudsNen) October 9, 2025
Starmer was among those who praised Trump:
I welcome the news that a deal has been reached on the first stage of President Trump’s peace plan for Gaza. pic.twitter.com/LIlo8103aJ
— Keir Starmer (@Keir_Starmer) October 9, 2025
He’s yet to post about Israel continuing to bomb Palestinians.
Other commentators, meanwhile, have highlighted that America always had the power to stop the genocide, because Israel is entirely reliant on them for financial, political, and military support:
This ceasefire could have happened immediately after Oct 7, when Hamas offered to return all the Israeli captives.
Biden could have achieved this ceasefire.
Trump could have done this months ago.
How many lives could have been spared?
— Dr. Annelle Rodriguez Sheline (@AnnelleSheline) October 9, 2025
Regardless of when the ceasefire should or shouldn’t commence, it’s obviously a troubling sign that Israel saw fit to shell civilians after the announcement. Sadly, however, this move wasn’t unexpected, and it certainly wasn’t unprecedented.
Senior Israeli officials, meanwhile, are already contradicting Trump on what the ceasefire means:
Israeli officials are already contradicting Trump. Here is Smotrich saying they want to “ensure that this is not, God forbid, a deal of hostages in exchange for stopping the war.”
That is, in fact, exactly the point of a ceasefire. https://t.co/bv7BnDZoEP
— Assal Rad (@AssalRad) October 9, 2025
This could be a problem for Trump in the longterm, as elements of his base are accusing him of ‘humiliating’ America:
Tucker Carlson blasted US leaders for letting Israel dictate American policy, saying Netanyahu brags about controlling Trump and the US, and called it humiliating that Americans are being forced into harmful decisions for another country.
Carlson said the “humiliation ritual” pic.twitter.com/Acjq2IDtXF
— Irlandarra (@aldamu_jo) October 4, 2025
We’ll continue to report on the situation in Gaza as it unfolds.
Featured image via Al Jazeera
By Willem Moore
This post was originally published on Canary.
Palestinian journalist Alaa Al-Rimawi was released this week after being locked up in Israeli occupation jails for the past two years. He was imprisoned under Israeli administrative detention, meaning his detention was based on secret evidence, and he was held without charges or trial.
Al-Rimawi has been recognised for his investigative reporting on Israeli policies and the challenges facing journalists under occupation. He is also manager of the J-Media Network. The news agency sells video content to media outlets, and is a prominent voice in the occupied West Bank. Al-Rimawi has worked relentlessly to expose the occupation’s abuses, often at severe personal risk. Over the span of his career, he has cumulatively spent almost a decade behind bars.
He was arrested, likely because of his social media posts, in October 2023, a time in which, according to Palestinian press freedom organisation MADA, Israeli occupation forces were carrying out an unprecedented number of serious crimes and violations against Palestinian journalists and press freedoms in Palestine.
The Israeli occupation forces raided his home in Ramallah while he was undergoing medical examinations at a hospital and detained his son, whose arrest they used to pressure Al-Rimawi to turn himself in.
For two years, Al-Rimawi endured medical neglect, repeated assaults, and physical and mental torture. His detention was part of a broader campaign targeting Palestinian journalists, often holding them for extended periods without formal charges or trial.
Al-Rimawi’s experience reflects the ongoing crackdown on freedom of expression in the occupied territories, where journalists work under constant threat of violence or imprisonment. This assault on media workers by the Israeli occupation is part of a strategy to suppress independent reporting and documentation of human rights violations.
Al-Rimawi’s liberation has been welcomed by human rights groups, and the Palestinian community. He has decided to continue his work as a journalist, saying in a statement to Palestinian media:
The freedom of our journalists is essential for the truth to reach the world. The occupation cannot silence the voice of our people.
Struggles for press freedom in the West Bank and Gaza are ongoing, with 55 Palestinian journalists still imprisoned and suffering the same conditions Al-Rimawi was forced to endure. 21 of that group are also held under administrative detention. According to the Palestinian Prisoner’s Society, nearly one-third of the approximately 11,100 Palestinian prisoners in Israeli custody are held under administrative detention.
Figures from the Government Media Office in Gaza show that 254 Palestinian journalists have been killed by the occupation and 433 journalists injured in the two years up until October 7, 2025.
As the Israeli regime aims to erase the culture, history, and future lives of Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza, reporting is not only a profession for journalists in the occupied territory, but an essential act of resistance and survival.
Featured image via the Canary
By Charlie Jaay
This post was originally published on Canary.
The legal landscape around UK citizens serving in the Israeli Defence Force (IDF) has shifted, lawyers say. Palestinian statehood means that Brits who served in Israel’s genocide can be tried and jailed.
Paul Heron of Public Interest Law Centre told Novara Media:
The legal landscape has shifted.
Now that Palestine has been recognised as a state, the legal and moral excuses for inaction have fallen away.
For the first time, it is now arguable that British dual nationals serving in the Israeli military in Gaza or the West Bank could fall foul of the Foreign Enlistment Act, a law that makes it an offence for a British subject to fight for a foreign state at war with another state with which the UK is at peace.
Technically the Foreign Enlistment Act of 1870 means Brits who served in foreign armies can be jailed or fined. But the act is very old and poorly enforced. Heron said may not serve as a basis for prosecution.
In April 2010, Public Law Interest Centre and the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights submitted evidence to British police regarding ten individuals who’d served in the Israeli military:
Our 240-page submission to the Metropolitan police highlights that the UK cannot turn a blind eye.
The police have the power, the resources and the responsibility to investigate British nationals alleged to have taken part in war crimes, wherever they occur.
In March 2024, Declassified UK reported that 80 Brits were serving in the Israeli military on 7 October 2023. However, we only know this as Declassified submitted Freedom of Information (FOI) requests to the government.
Phil Miller wrote:
They took so long to answer that the Information Commissioner threatened to have the High Court hold them in contempt.
The request was sensitive because the government had previously told parliament it does not track the number of Britons serving in the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) or living in illegal settlements.
Those figures also showed “approximately 20-30 British Citizens residing in illegal settlements in the West Bank.
The first stage of a new ceasefire started 9 October. Though as of Thursday afternoon (GMT) Israel forces still appear to be engaged:
Video shows an lsraeli tank firing at Palestinians in Gaza pic.twitter.com/b4Wfr99uxp
— Muhammad Smiry
Estimates of the Palestinian death toll vary between tens of thousands and hundreds of thousand. Israeli has hindered international reporting in the devastated enclave. A UN commission found that the settler-colonial state is committing genocide in September.
UK recognition of Palestinian statehood has also opened a legal route for colonial-era war crimes cases. Lawyers acting for Palestinian families submitted a 400-page document on 26 September.
Law scholar Victor Kattan, who speaks for the families, told the BBC:
Britain denied self-government to the Palestinian community… It empowered a high commissioner to behave like a dictator [and] Palestinian people bore the brunt.
Recognition alone does not deal with all these historic problems which for Palestinians are not history but the living reality to this day.
Featured image via the Canary
By Joe Glenton
This post was originally published on Canary.
The latest crime by the Israeli occupation against Palestinian political prisoners has been the killing of 22 year old Ahmad Hatem Mohammad Khdeirat.
Khdeirat suffered from chronic diabetes but was denied medical treatment in prison
Ahmad Khdeirat, who was from the Hebron area of the Southern occupied West Bank, died as a result of deliberate medical negligence, practiced against him by the Israeli occupation’s prison administration.
He was arrested in May, 2024, and held without charge or trial despite his chronic diabetes, and was placed in inhumane conditions in the notorious Naqab Prison for most of his detention.
In recent months, according to the Commission of Detainees’ Affairs and the Palestinian Prisoner’s Society, Khdeirat’s health severely deteriorated after he contracted scabies skin disease, which caused intense itching and repeated seizures. He also suffered from severe hunger episodes, dangerously low blood sugar levels because of his diabetes, and had extreme difficulty moving around. His weight dropped to about 40 kilogrammes. A lawyer who visited him in August, said Ahmad Khdeirat had been unable to get out of bed for two months.
Ahmad Khdeirat’s intentional killing by the Israeli occupation, brings the death toll of Palestinian political prisoners to 78, since the beginning of the genocide, with this number including only those whose identities have been confirmed, amid the ongoing crime of enforced disappearance affecting dozens of detainees.
Not a month goes by without a new death being recorded among the prisoners, and the number of martyrs is only expected to rise. Thousands are detained in conditions lacking the most basic requirements for life, with infectious diseases spreading, and systematic crimes such as torture, sexual assault, and starvation rife.
Palestinian Prisoner’s rights groups are calling for the international community to hold the leaders of the occupation accountable for war crimes committed against prisoners and the Palestinian people, and for sanctions to be imposed so as to isolate the Israeli regime and restore the role of the human rights system, while putting an end to the exceptional impunity that is granted to the Israeli occupation by international powers.
Featured image supplied
By Charlie Jaay
This post was originally published on Canary.
This post was originally published on Canary.
Workers at the Anglo-Italian arms firm Leonardo have voted to strike over pay. The firm has offered a rise of 3.2%. Unite regional officer Carrie Binnie told the BBC: “This strike is entirely the making of Leonardo. It can fix it with the stroke of a pen.”
Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said:
Our members are highly skilled and work on critical defence and aerospace systems yet are being short-changed by a company making billions.
Leonardo needs to do the right thing, return to the negotiating table and make an improved offer our members can accept.
Otherwise, they will see their workers on the picket line and their factories shutdown.
Leonardo has nine sites across the UK.
Leonardo has been implicated in war crimes in Africa, corruption scandals in Indonesia and Israel’s genocide in Gaza.
As the Canary reported in January, Leonardo has extensive ties to the Israeli state and makes parts for Apache helicopters and targeting systems for F-35 fighter jets, which have been used by Israel to drop 2000lb bombs on Gaza, destroying homes and civilian infrastructure, and killing tens of thousands of civilians. Leonardo’s site in Edinburgh has been targeted and shut down by activists multiple times since Israel’s ongoing destruction of Gaza intensified in October 2023.
And the firm is also close to Starmer’s Labour Party, having sponsored an armed forces events at the party’s conference.
There’s a contradiction between trade unionism and the arms trade. One the one hand, unions are meant to be committed to progressive causes at home and abroad. On the other, some unions organise the arms firm workers.
For example, Unite the Union organises many workers in the war industry. Following a January war spending hike, the union wrote:
In his statement to parliament yesterday prime minister Keir Starmer said: ‘We will translate defence spending into British growth, British jobs, British skills and British innovation’. Unite is committed to ensuring that pledge is fully delivered.
According to Red Pepper, Unite only passed a motion against arms sales to Israel in 2025.
That victory “was hard fought”, Red Pepper said.
In March 2024, Unite General Secretary Sharon Graham wrote:
There is no contradiction for a trade union to hold a position of solidarity with Palestinian workers, while at the same time refusing to support campaigns that target our members’ workplaces without their support.
A point which most supporters of Palestinian rights would agree is very debatable.
Featured image via the Canary
By Joe Glenton
This post was originally published on Canary.
The Public Interest Law Centre (PILC), which exists to “challenge systemic injustice through legal representation, strategic litigation, research and legal education”, has threatened the Starmer government with legal action for its refusal to do anything to protect British citizens against Israel’s attacks on humanitarian aid flotillas and abduction of their volunteer crews from many nations, including Britain.
In a short press release, PILC says that:
Update: British government threatened with legal proceedings for its inaction over citizens detained by Israel.
Our clients, 3 British nationals aboard the Thousand Madleens (TM) flotilla, were seized by Israeli forces in the early hours of 8 October while attempting to deliver humanitarian aid to Gaza.
The Freedom Flotilla Coalition (FFC) and TM fleet were the latest victims in a long line of Israel’s attacks and abductions in international waters, most notably the almost fifty boats of the Global Sumud Flotilla last week. Many of the abducted volunteers have been beaten, psychologically tortured and ritually humiliated, and all have been deprived of food, clean water and sanitation.
Despite the UK government’s clear obligations under international law to protect its citizens from attack, a Downing Street spokesperson confirmed that the Starmer regime intends to do nothing, adding that as far as Starmer is concerned the abductions are “a matter for the Israeli government”.
The government is also in court today over its continued sale of parts to Israel for the F-35 strike jets it has used to slaughter Palestinian civilians throughout its two-year genocide in Gaza. The occupation has murdered almost 700,000 civilians, including almost 400,000 children under five years of age.
Israel is also holding more than 11,000 Palestinian civilians in indefinite detention without charge. Many are tortured and starved; the bodies of those who die from the abuse are often withheld so their families cannot even bury them and grieve.
Featured image via YouTube screenshot/Guardian News
By Skwawkbox
This post was originally published on Canary.
Palestinian human rights organisation Al-Haq appeared before London’s Royal Courts of Justice on Thursday 9 October, to continue its legal challenge against the UK government’s licensing of weapons parts, specifically components for the F-35 fighter jet, which are exported from the UK to Israel, and are used in the occupation’s fighter jets carrying out the genocide in Gaza. This case addresses the UK’s role under international law concerning arms sales linked to the conflict in Gaza and the occupied Palestinian territory.
Al-Haq and the Global Legal Action Network (GLAN) first launched their challenge in December 2023, arguing that the UK’s continued licensing of weapons to the Israeli occupation contributes to serious violations of international humanitarian law, including the genocide in Gaza.
After the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office identified a ‘clear risk’ that weapons might be used to commit breaches of international law, the UK government suspended many arms export licenses to the Israeli regime, in September 2024, but made an exception for F-35 fighter jet parts, because it argued that stopping the supply of these components would disrupt the global supply chain of the F-35 programme, which it said is not only critical for Israel but also for the UK’s security and defence commitments, including NATO.
It claimed that stopping exports of these parts risked harming Britain’s national security and the operation of allied military forces.
A hearing was held at the High Court in May of this year, in which the human rights organisations claimed that allowing these parts to continue to be exported to the the Israeli occupation enables it to use its F-35 jets in military operations in Gaza, where war crimes and crimes against humanity have been documented.
The High Court judgment in June 2025 dismissed their challenge, and the court concluded that it could not review the government’s decision-making process on licensing these weapons parts, ruling that questions about the government’s assessment of genocide were outside the court’s authority to decide. The court also found no legal flaws in the government’s licensing procedures.
The Court of Appeal heard three of Al-Haq’s grounds of appeal. These are the following:
The Court of Appeal is expected to issue its judgment later this year. If it finds in favour of Al-Haq, this would be huge, and could lead to an order suspending all arms export licenses related to the F-35 parts. It would set a legal precedent confirming that the duty to prevent genocide is enforceable in UK courts and must be considered when granting export licenses.
If the appeal is rejected, Al-Haq may try and bring the case to the UK Supreme Court, though that would require further permission.
In September, 2025, a United Nations Independent International Commission of Inquiry report found the Israeli regime has committed genocide against Palestinians in Gaza. This finding has strengthened calls for a full international arms embargo against Israel. Also last month, Trump also imposed sanctions on Al-Haq, along with other Palestinian rights groups, for working with the International Criminal Court (ICC) on investigations into Israeli occupation human rights violations.
Shawan Jabarin, Director of Al-Haq, has called the UK ‘utterly complicit’ in genocide, and said in a statement:
The UK government must be held accountable for its role in enabling grave crimes. Allowing exports of F-35 components is complicity in genocide.
A spokesperson for the UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office defended the government’s export control regime, saying:
The UK operates rigorous controls and only issues licences where there is no clear risk of serious breaches of international humanitarian law”.
Over 15% by value of every F-35 aircraft produced is made in the UK, and at least 75 UK companies are involved in the production of the F-35. The fighter jet has been used in Gaza, including to bomb the Al-Mawasi ‘safe zone’, and the Israeli regime has also used the F-35 to attack Yemen, Iran, Lebanon and Syria.
All states have a legal duty to prevent and stop genocide, and this means not exporting weapons to a country which is known to be the perpetrator of these mass atrocities. The UK has a legal obligation to stop exporting weapons to the Israeli occupation.
The case has attracted support from Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, Campaign Against Arms Trade, and other international NGOs who stress the importance of enforcing legal obligations related to arms transfers and human rights protection.
Protesters gathered outside the Royal Courts of Justice, demanding that the UK Stops Arming Israel:
Campaign Against Arms Trade’s Emily Apple said:
Instead of upholding international law, this government has chosen to repeatedly repress and demonise pro-Palestinian protests. However, we will not be silenced. If our government and our courts refuse to act, it is down to ordinary people to take action to prevent the UK’s complicity in Israel’s horrendous war crimes.
This case highlights fundamental questions about the rule of law, government accountability, and the responsibilities of arms-exporting states in conflicts involving grave human rights abuses.
Featured image and additional images supplied
By Charlie Jaay
This post was originally published on Canary.
