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  10.  <title>Turkish billionaire’s yacht hosts Trump’s daughter while father-in-law seals oil deals: Report</title>
  11.  <link>https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/tiffany-trump-and-michael-boulos-sailed-yacht-turkish-billionaire-trading-libyan-oil-report</link>
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  15. &lt;article data-history-node-id="428839" about="https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/tiffany-trump-and-michael-boulos-sailed-yacht-turkish-billionaire-trading-libyan-oil-report" class="story default clearfix"&gt;
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  20. &lt;span class="field field-title"&gt;Turkish billionaire’s yacht hosts Trump’s daughter while father-in-law seals oil deals: Report&lt;/span&gt;
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  28.        Submitted by
  29. &lt;span class="field field-uid"&gt;&lt;a title="View user profile." href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/users/mee-staff" lang about="https://www.middleeasteye.net/users/mee-staff" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype&gt;MEE staff&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;
  30. on
  31. &lt;span class="field field-created"&gt;&lt;time datetime="2025-09-18T21:26:23+01:00" title="18 September 2025 21:26 BST"&gt;Thu, 09/18/2025 - 21:26&lt;/time&gt;
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  38.                &lt;div class="field field-field-subhead"&gt;Massad Boulos, father-in-law to US president's daughter and a US official, has courted controversy for discussing the unlocking of frozen Libyan assets&lt;/div&gt;
  39.                  &lt;div class="field field-field-main-image"&gt;    &lt;picture&gt;
  40.                  &lt;source srcset="https://www.middleeasteye.net/sites/default/files/styles/article_page/public/images-story/Tiffany-Boulos-AFP-2025.jpg.webp?itok=d8h8TwC5 1x" type="image/webp" width="1400" height="786"&gt;
  41.                  &lt;img srcset="https://www.middleeasteye.net/sites/default/files/styles/article_page/public/images-story/Tiffany-Boulos-AFP-2025.jpg.webp?itok=d8h8TwC5 1x" width="1400" height="786" src="https://www.middleeasteye.net/sites/default/files/styles/max_2600x2600/public/images-story/Tiffany-Boulos-AFP-2025.jpg.jpg?itok=O4MlzXKU" alt typeof="foaf:Image" fetchpriority="high"&gt;
  42.  
  43.  &lt;/picture&gt;
  44.  
  45. &lt;/div&gt;
  46.                  &lt;div class="field field-field-cutline"&gt;Tiffany Trump and her husband, Michael Boulos, walk to Marine One before departing from the White House in Washington, DC, as they travel with her father, US President Donald Trump, to the UK, on 16 September 2025 (Saul Loeb/AFP)&lt;/div&gt;
  47.                  &lt;div class="field field-field-wide-photo-video"&gt;Off&lt;/div&gt;
  48.                  &lt;div class="field field-body clearfix"&gt;&lt;p&gt;Tiffany Trump and her husband, Michael Boulos, spent the summer cruising on a luxury yacht owned by a Turkish billionaire with interests in Libyan oil while her father-in-law and&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/countries/us" target="_blank"&gt;US&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;envoy Massad Boulos worked on&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href="https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&amp;amp;source=web&amp;amp;rct=j&amp;amp;opi=89978449&amp;amp;url=https://www.middleeasteye.net/countries/libya&amp;amp;ved=2ahUKEwj7yNacrpSNAxUvFlkFHeXmC5MQFnoECBUQAQ&amp;amp;usg=AOvVaw3OJHS8-Wm73v5RaakQGC7H" target="_blank"&gt;Libyan&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;energy matters, a New York Times&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/09/18/world/europe/tiffany-trump-yacht-oil.html" target="_blank"&gt;report&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;said on Thursday.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
  49.  
  50. &lt;p&gt;The report is the latest to showcase an interlocking web of interests between the Boulos family and Libya - an oil-rich and war-wracked country in North Africa - which diplomats in the region have long told Middle East Eye could be a source of conflict of interest for the Trump administration.&lt;/p&gt;
  51.  
  52. &lt;p&gt;Tiffany and Michael cruised in the French Riviera aboard the Phoenix 2, a super yacht owned by Turkish billionaire Ercument Bayegan and his wife, Ruya Bayegan. The report did not say whether the Boulos family paid for use of the yacht, but the last time the Phoenix 2 was chartered, it was rented for over $1.4 million per week.&lt;/p&gt;
  53.  
  54. &lt;p&gt;Tiffany is the fourth child of US President Donald Trump. She most recently appeared by her father’s side, along with Michael, at a state dinner on Wednesday hosted by the British royal family.&lt;/p&gt;
  55.  
  56. &lt;p&gt;Massad is a Lebanese-American businessman. He played a leading role lobbying the US Arab community - especially in Michigan - to vote for Trump during the 2024 presidential election.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;div class="block-adsense block-adsense-managed-ad-block"&gt;&lt;div&gt;
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  66. &lt;/div&gt;
  67.  
  68. &lt;p&gt;Trump named Massad as a senior advisor to the Middle East and later as an envoy to Africa.&lt;/p&gt;
  69.  
  70. &lt;p&gt;Massad has irritated rank-and-file US diplomats by floating above the established bureaucracy, at first in Lebanon, where he held informal meetings with Lebanese political operators and more recently in Africa. The Trump administration has also become frustrated with what they view as his sloppiness in mixing personal business and politics, a source familiar with the matter told MEE.&lt;/p&gt;
  71.  
  72. &lt;p&gt;&lt;span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"&gt;MEE was the first to&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/libya-and-trump-administration-discussed-sharing-billions-dollars-frozen-funds-sources-say" target="_blank"&gt;reveal&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;that Massad held secret discussions in Doha, Qatar, with a powerful Libyan official about a plan for the Trump administration to unlock tens of billions of dollars in frozen funds in return for some of that money being channelled back to US companies working in Libya on energy and infrastructure.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  73.  
  74. &lt;p&gt;The New York Times on Thursday confirmed the report.&lt;/p&gt;
  75.  
  76. &lt;p&gt;The funds have been frozen in the United States since 2011, when a Nato-backed uprising ousted former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi. Such a move could violate UN Security Council sanctions on Libya.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;div class="block-adsense block-adsense-managed-ad-block"&gt;&lt;div&gt;
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  85. &lt;/div&gt;
  86. &lt;/div&gt;
  87.  
  88. &lt;h3&gt;Massad Boulous' record as envoy&lt;/h3&gt;
  89.  
  90. &lt;p&gt;Libya has been riven by war since Gaddafi’s removal and death in October 2011.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
  91.  
  92. &lt;p&gt;The country is divided into two, with an internationally recognised government in Tripoli and a government in the east led by former general Khalifa Haftar.&lt;/p&gt;
  93.  
  94. &lt;div class="mee-readmore mee-readmore-article-story mee-readmore-type-image align-right"&gt;
  95.  &lt;a class="mee-readmore-img-link" href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/libya-and-trump-administration-discussed-sharing-billions-dollars-frozen-funds-sources-say"&gt;&lt;img class="mee-readmore-image" src="https://www.middleeasteye.net/sites/default/files/styles/read_more/public/images-story/Massad-Boulos-AFP.jpg.webp?itok=gonLKhO-" width="400" height="250" alt loading="lazy" typeof="foaf:Image"&gt;
  96.  
  97. &lt;/a&gt;  &lt;div class="mee-readmore-description"&gt;Libya and Trump administration discussed sharing billions of dollars in frozen funds, sources say&lt;/div&gt;
  98.    &lt;a class="mee-readmore-link" href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/libya-and-trump-administration-discussed-sharing-billions-dollars-frozen-funds-sources-say"&gt;Read More »&lt;/a&gt;
  99. &lt;/div&gt;
  100.  
  101. &lt;p&gt;The two sides fought a bloody war in 2019, with Haftar attempting to conquer Tripoli. The fighting devolved into a proxy battle with Turkey backing the United Nations-recognised government, and Russia, Egypt, and the UAE supporting Haftar.&lt;/p&gt;
  102.  
  103. &lt;p&gt;Both sides are&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/crumbling-libyas-warring-factions-dig-fight-over-oil-profits"&gt;jockeying&lt;/a&gt; for influence and access to Libya’s oil riches.&lt;/p&gt;
  104.  
  105. &lt;p&gt;Massad has had several engagements in Libya with Ibrahim Dbeibeh, the powerful national security advisor and a relative of the Tripoli-based Prime Minister, Abdul Hamid Dbeibeh.&lt;/p&gt;
  106.  
  107. &lt;p&gt;The New York Times reported that Ibrahim and Massad had a private dinner at a seaside villa in Libya in July after Massad publicly discussed energy deals in the country.&lt;/p&gt;
  108.  
  109. &lt;p&gt;MEE also &lt;a href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/libya-senior-official-secret-talks-israel-resettle-palestinians-gaza"&gt;reported&lt;/a&gt; in August that Ibrahim was involved in discussions with the US about accepting forcibly displaced Palestinians from Gaza. Massad denied taking part in those discussions to MEE.&lt;/p&gt;
  110.  
  111. &lt;p&gt;Michael and Tiffany’s trip aboard the Phoenix 2 is not the first time the family has come under the spotlight for extravagant yachting ventures.&lt;/p&gt;
  112.  
  113. &lt;p&gt;The New York Times reported in August that the US president's other son-in-law and former Middle East advisor, Jared Kushner, was overcharged $2.5m for a yacht by an international yacht brokerage firm owned by a Boulos family cousin, for whom Michael worked.&lt;/p&gt;
  114.  
  115. &lt;p&gt;Massad has also struggled to find his diplomatic feet among Arab leaders, despite coming from the region. He has irked Egyptian officials over his actions in Libya, MEE has reported.&lt;/p&gt;
  116.  
  117. &lt;p&gt;In July, he appeared to be caught flat-footed when &lt;a href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/countries/tunisia"&gt;Tunisian&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;President Kais Saied greeted him in Tunis with photos of starving &lt;a href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/countries/palestine"&gt;Palestinian&lt;/a&gt; children in Gaza, saying it was "time for all of humanity to wake up”.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;div class="block-adsense block-adsense-managed-ad-block"&gt;&lt;div&gt;
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  126. &lt;/div&gt;
  127. &lt;/div&gt;
  128.  
  129. &lt;p&gt;The Trump administration has provided unparalleled support for Israel’s genocide in Gaza and usually forcefully pushes back against such claims.&lt;/p&gt;
  130.  
  131. &lt;p&gt;Massad also lobbied for a meeting with King Mohammed VI of Morocco this summer, according to the New York Times. US officials told their Moroccan counterparts to deny his request.&lt;/p&gt;
  132. &lt;/div&gt;
  133.                  &lt;div class="field field-field-topic"&gt;&lt;a href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/topics/inside-libya" hreflang="en"&gt;Inside Libya&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
  134.            &lt;div class="field field-field-coauthor-location"&gt;
  135.              &lt;div&gt; &lt;/div&gt;
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  141.                  &lt;div class="field field-field-section"&gt;&lt;a href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/all" hreflang="en"&gt;News&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
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  148.              &lt;div&gt;&lt;time datetime="2020-05-04T21:19:45+01:00"&gt;Mon, 05/04/2020 - 21:19&lt;/time&gt;
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  157.  
  158. &lt;/article&gt;
  159. </description>
  160.  <pubDate>Thu, 18 Sep 2025 22:17:08 +0100</pubDate>
  161.    <dc:creator>MEE staff</dc:creator>
  162.    <guid isPermaLink="false">428839 at https://www.middleeasteye.net/</guid>
  163.    </item>
  164. <item>
  165.  <title>Germany weighing sanctions on Israel for next month: Merz</title>
  166.  <link>https://www.middleeasteye.net/live-blog/live-blog-update/germany-weighing-sanctions-israel-next-month-merz</link>
  167.  <description>
  168.  
  169.  
  170. &lt;article data-history-node-id="428840" about="https://www.middleeasteye.net/live-blog/live-blog-update/germany-weighing-sanctions-israel-next-month-merz" class="live-blog-update default clearfix"&gt;
  171.  
  172.  
  173.      &lt;h2&gt;
  174.      &lt;a href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/live-blog/live-blog-update/germany-weighing-sanctions-israel-next-month-merz" rel="bookmark"&gt;
  175. &lt;span class="field field-title"&gt;Germany weighing sanctions on Israel for next month: Merz&lt;/span&gt;
  176. &lt;/a&gt;
  177.    &lt;/h2&gt;
  178.    
  179.  
  180.        
  181.    &lt;div class="content"&gt;
  182.                &lt;div class="field field-field-text"&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;meta charset="UTF-8"&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  183.  
  184. &lt;p&gt;Germany will reach a decision on whether to back sanctions against&amp;nbsp;Israel&amp;nbsp;before a European Union meeting in Copenhagen in October, Chancellor Friedrich Merz said on a visit to Madrid on Thursday.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
  185.  
  186. &lt;p&gt;Merz said&amp;nbsp;Israel's actions in Gaza were not proportional to its stated goals, but said Germany did not share the view that the actions amounted to genocide. He added that for Germany, the recognition of Palestinian statehood was not currently up for debate.&lt;/p&gt;
  187.  
  188. &lt;p&gt;- &lt;em&gt;Reporting by Reuters&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  189. &lt;/div&gt;
  190.      
  191.  &lt;/div&gt;
  192.  
  193. &lt;/article&gt;
  194. </description>
  195.  <pubDate>Thu, 18 Sep 2025 21:39:44 +0100</pubDate>
  196.    <dc:creator>Yasmine El-Sabawi</dc:creator>
  197.    <guid isPermaLink="false">428840 at https://www.middleeasteye.net/</guid>
  198.    </item>
  199. <item>
  200.  <title>Mahmoud Khalil challenges judge's order that he be deported to Syria or Algeria</title>
  201.  <link>https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/mahmoud-khalil-challenges-judges-order-to-deport-syria-or-algeria</link>
  202.  <description>
  203.  
  204.  
  205. &lt;article data-history-node-id="428829" about="https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/mahmoud-khalil-challenges-judges-order-to-deport-syria-or-algeria" class="story default clearfix"&gt;
  206.  
  207.  
  208.      &lt;h2&gt;
  209.      &lt;a href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/mahmoud-khalil-challenges-judges-order-to-deport-syria-or-algeria" rel="bookmark"&gt;
  210. &lt;span class="field field-title"&gt;Mahmoud Khalil challenges judge's order that he be deported to Syria or Algeria&lt;/span&gt;
  211. &lt;/a&gt;
  212.    &lt;/h2&gt;
  213.    
  214.  
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  218.        Submitted by
  219. &lt;span class="field field-uid"&gt;&lt;a title="View user profile." href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/users/mee-staff" lang about="https://www.middleeasteye.net/users/mee-staff" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype&gt;MEE staff&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;
  220. on
  221. &lt;span class="field field-created"&gt;&lt;time datetime="2025-09-18T15:12:33+01:00" title="18 September 2025 15:12 BST"&gt;Thu, 09/18/2025 - 15:12&lt;/time&gt;
  222. &lt;/span&gt;
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  226.      
  227.    &lt;div class="content"&gt;
  228.                &lt;div class="field field-field-subhead"&gt;Due to a federal court ruling that remains in effect, the Palestinian activist cannot be deported while his civil case is ongoing&lt;/div&gt;
  229.                  &lt;div class="field field-field-main-image"&gt;    &lt;picture&gt;
  230.                  &lt;source srcset="https://www.middleeasteye.net/sites/default/files/styles/article_page/public/images-story/US_Mahmoud-Khali_kena-betancur_AFP.jpg.webp?itok=sZGTx70B 1x" type="image/webp" width="1400" height="788"&gt;
  231.                  &lt;img srcset="https://www.middleeasteye.net/sites/default/files/styles/article_page/public/images-story/US_Mahmoud-Khali_kena-betancur_AFP.jpg.webp?itok=sZGTx70B 1x" width="1400" height="788" src="https://www.middleeasteye.net/sites/default/files/styles/max_2600x2600/public/images-story/US_Mahmoud-Khali_kena-betancur_AFP.jpg.jpg?itok=CacQkf9z" alt typeof="foaf:Image" fetchpriority="high"&gt;
  232.  
  233.  &lt;/picture&gt;
  234.  
  235. &lt;/div&gt;
  236.                  &lt;div class="field field-field-cutline"&gt;Former Columbia University student and Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil speaks to the press at Newark airport in New Jersey, on 21 June 2025 (Kena Betancur/AFP)&lt;/div&gt;
  237.                  &lt;div class="field field-field-wide-photo-video"&gt;Off&lt;/div&gt;
  238.                  &lt;div class="field field-body clearfix"&gt;&lt;p style="margin-bottom:11px"&gt;Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil’s legal team on Wednesday submitted a letter to a New Jersey federal judge saying that a deportation order issued to him last week is evidence of retaliation by the US government for standing "against an ongoing genocide in Palestine".&lt;/p&gt;
  239.  
  240. &lt;p&gt;In a letter to judge Michael Farbiarz, who is overseeing Khalil’s civil case, Khalil’s lawyers said that a 12 September ruling made by an immigration judge in Louisiana ordered the permanent legal resident to be deported to either Algeria or Syria, over claims he omitted information on his green card application.&lt;/p&gt;
  241.  
  242. &lt;p&gt;Khalil’s lawyers said judge Jamee Comans denied Khalil a waiver of removability because of “baseless” charges the government added after the former Columbia University student was detained, without hearing the evidence as is required by due process.&lt;/p&gt;
  243.  
  244. &lt;p&gt;The lawyers also noted in their letter that it is rare for an immigration judge to deny a waiver to a lawful permanent resident with an American spouse and a child, and no criminal record.&lt;/p&gt;
  245.  
  246. &lt;p&gt;The letter concluded that the decision was further evidence of retaliation by the administration of US President Donald Trump, and they will argue in the ongoing civil case that these charges are unlawful.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;div class="block-adsense block-adsense-managed-ad-block"&gt;&lt;div&gt;
  247.  &lt;div class="adsense responsive"&gt;
  248.    &lt;script async src="https://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/js/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-6114695881218027" crossorigin="anonymous"&gt;&lt;/script&gt;
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  251. &lt;script&gt;
  252.     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});
  253. &lt;/script&gt;
  254.  &lt;/div&gt;
  255. &lt;/div&gt;
  256. &lt;/div&gt;
  257.  
  258. &lt;p&gt;In a public statement, Khalil said he wasn’t surprised the Trump administration was continuing to retaliate against him for exercising his free speech rights and called the immigration court a “kangaroo court”.&lt;/p&gt;
  259.  
  260. &lt;p&gt;“When their first effort to deport me was set to fail, they resorted to fabricating baseless and ridiculous allegations in a bid to silence me for speaking out and standing firmly with Palestine, demanding an end to the ongoing genocide,” he said, referring to the war on Gaza that began in October 2023.&lt;/p&gt;
  261.  
  262. &lt;p&gt;“Such fascist tactics will never deter me from continuing to advocate for my people’s liberation,” he added.&lt;/p&gt;
  263.  
  264. &lt;h3&gt;'Bid to silence'&lt;/h3&gt;
  265.  
  266. &lt;p&gt;Khalil cannot currently be deported, as a &lt;a href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/judge-orders-immediate-release-mahmoud-khalil-bail"&gt;ruling&lt;/a&gt; made by the federal district court in New Jersey in June, which prohibits the government from deporting or detaining him as his federal court case proceeds, remains in effect.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
  267.  
  268. &lt;p&gt;The federal court ruled that the government’s original justification for Khalil’s detention was likely unconstitutional and blocked his detention and deportation on that basis.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
  269.  
  270. &lt;div class="mee-readmore mee-readmore-article-story mee-readmore-type-image align-right"&gt;
  271.  &lt;a class="mee-readmore-img-link" href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/palestinian-activist-mahmoud-khalil-barred-attending-birth-his-son"&gt;&lt;img class="mee-readmore-image" src="https://www.middleeasteye.net/sites/default/files/styles/read_more/public/images-story/mahmoud%20khalil%20columbia.jpg.webp?itok=HVGvyg3p" width="400" height="250" alt loading="lazy" typeof="foaf:Image"&gt;
  272.  
  273. &lt;/a&gt;  &lt;div class="mee-readmore-description"&gt;Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil barred from attending birth of his son&lt;/div&gt;
  274.    &lt;a class="mee-readmore-link" href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/palestinian-activist-mahmoud-khalil-barred-attending-birth-his-son"&gt;Read More »&lt;/a&gt;
  275. &lt;/div&gt;
  276.  
  277. &lt;p&gt;Since then, the government has appealed, alleging that Khalil lied on his green card application.&lt;/p&gt;
  278.  
  279. &lt;p&gt;Ramzi Kassem,&amp;nbsp;one of Khalil's lawyers and co-director of the CLEAR Project at the City University of New York, said in a press release: “When the immigration prosecutor, judge, and jailor all answer to Donald Trump, and that one man is eager to weaponize the system in a desperate bid to silence Mahmoud Khalil, a US permanent resident whose only supposed sin is that he stands against an ongoing genocide in Palestine, this is the result."&lt;/p&gt;
  280.  
  281. &lt;p&gt;Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials detained Khalil in March as part of a government crackdown on alleged antisemitism accusations across US campuses.&lt;/p&gt;
  282.  
  283. &lt;p&gt;Khalil was a negotiator between students and administrators during the Gaza encampments at Columbia University in the spring of 2024, which sought to support Palestinians, pressure universities to divest from Israeli companies and help end the war on Gaza. He did not participate in the encampments himself.&lt;/p&gt;
  284.  
  285. &lt;p&gt;Khalil was transferred to an immigration facility in Louisiana for three months - thousands of miles away from his pregnant wife and legal counsel - before judge Farbiarz said his detention was unconstitutional and ruled he must be released.&lt;/p&gt;
  286.  
  287. &lt;p&gt;Khalil became a father in detention and was denied the opportunity to attend his wife’s birth.&lt;/p&gt;
  288. &lt;/div&gt;
  289.                  &lt;div class="field field-field-topic"&gt;&lt;a href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/topics/us-politics" hreflang="en"&gt;US Politics&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
  290.            &lt;div class="field field-field-coauthor-location"&gt;
  291.              &lt;div&gt; &lt;/div&gt;
  292.              &lt;div&gt; &lt;/div&gt;
  293.              &lt;div&gt; &lt;/div&gt;
  294.              &lt;div&gt; &lt;/div&gt;
  295.          &lt;/div&gt;
  296.              &lt;div class="field field-field-article-location"&gt; &lt;/div&gt;
  297.                  &lt;div class="field field-field-section"&gt;&lt;a href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/all" hreflang="en"&gt;News&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
  298.        &lt;div class="field field-field-post-date-override"&gt;
  299.    &lt;div&gt;Post Date Override&lt;/div&gt;
  300.              &lt;div&gt;0&lt;/div&gt;
  301.          &lt;/div&gt;
  302.  &lt;div class="field field-field-update-date-override"&gt;
  303.    &lt;div&gt;Update Date&lt;/div&gt;
  304.              &lt;div&gt;&lt;time datetime="2020-05-04T21:19:45+01:00"&gt;Mon, 05/04/2020 - 21:19&lt;/time&gt;
  305. &lt;/div&gt;
  306.          &lt;/div&gt;
  307.  &lt;div class="field field-field-update-date-check"&gt;
  308.    &lt;div&gt;Update Date Override&lt;/div&gt;
  309.              &lt;div&gt;0&lt;/div&gt;
  310.          &lt;/div&gt;
  311.  
  312.  &lt;/div&gt;
  313.  
  314. &lt;/article&gt;
  315. </description>
  316.  <pubDate>Thu, 18 Sep 2025 21:14:13 +0100</pubDate>
  317.    <dc:creator>MEE staff</dc:creator>
  318.    <guid isPermaLink="false">428829 at https://www.middleeasteye.net/</guid>
  319.    </item>
  320. <item>
  321.  <title>Israel kills 50 in Gaza since dawn on Thursday</title>
  322.  <link>https://www.middleeasteye.net/live-blog/live-blog-update/israel-kills-50-gaza-dawn-thursday</link>
  323.  <description>
  324.  
  325.  
  326. &lt;article data-history-node-id="428838" about="https://www.middleeasteye.net/live-blog/live-blog-update/israel-kills-50-gaza-dawn-thursday" class="live-blog-update default clearfix"&gt;
  327.  
  328.  
  329.      &lt;h2&gt;
  330.      &lt;a href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/live-blog/live-blog-update/israel-kills-50-gaza-dawn-thursday" rel="bookmark"&gt;
  331. &lt;span class="field field-title"&gt;Israel kills 50 in Gaza since dawn on Thursday&lt;/span&gt;
  332. &lt;/a&gt;
  333.    &lt;/h2&gt;
  334.    
  335.  
  336.        
  337.    &lt;div class="content"&gt;
  338.                &lt;div class="field field-field-text"&gt;&lt;p&gt;Health officials have confirmed that Israel has killed 50 Palestinians across Gaza since dawn on Thursday, bringing the total number of deaths since 7 October 2023 to nearly 65,200.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
  339.  
  340.  
  341. &lt;/div&gt;
  342.      
  343.  &lt;/div&gt;
  344.  
  345. &lt;/article&gt;
  346. </description>
  347.  <pubDate>Thu, 18 Sep 2025 20:44:24 +0100</pubDate>
  348.    <dc:creator>Yasmine El-Sabawi</dc:creator>
  349.    <guid isPermaLink="false">428838 at https://www.middleeasteye.net/</guid>
  350.    </item>
  351. <item>
  352.  <title>For sixth time, US vetoes United Nations Gaza ceasefire resolution</title>
  353.  <link>https://www.middleeasteye.net/live-blog/live-blog-update/sixth-time-us-vetoes-united-nations-gaza-ceasefire-resolution</link>
  354.  <description>
  355.  
  356.  
  357. &lt;article data-history-node-id="428837" about="https://www.middleeasteye.net/live-blog/live-blog-update/sixth-time-us-vetoes-united-nations-gaza-ceasefire-resolution" class="live-blog-update default clearfix"&gt;
  358.  
  359.  
  360.      &lt;h2&gt;
  361.      &lt;a href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/live-blog/live-blog-update/sixth-time-us-vetoes-united-nations-gaza-ceasefire-resolution" rel="bookmark"&gt;
  362. &lt;span class="field field-title"&gt;For sixth time, US vetoes United Nations Gaza ceasefire resolution&lt;/span&gt;
  363. &lt;/a&gt;
  364.    &lt;/h2&gt;
  365.    
  366.  
  367.        
  368.    &lt;div class="content"&gt;
  369.                &lt;div class="field field-field-text"&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;meta charset="UTF-8"&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  370.  
  371. &lt;p&gt;The US on Thursday vetoed for the sixth time a United Nations Security Council resolution demanding&amp;nbsp;an immediate, unconditional and permanent ceasefire in Gaza, and that&amp;nbsp;Israel&amp;nbsp;lift all restrictions on the delivery of aid into the enclave.&lt;/p&gt;
  372.  
  373. &lt;p&gt;The resolution received 14 votes in favour, all ten of the rotating members and four of the permanent members: the UK, France, Russia, and China.&lt;/p&gt;
  374. &lt;/div&gt;
  375.      
  376.  &lt;/div&gt;
  377.  
  378. &lt;/article&gt;
  379. </description>
  380.  <pubDate>Thu, 18 Sep 2025 20:35:59 +0100</pubDate>
  381.    <dc:creator>Yasmine El-Sabawi</dc:creator>
  382.    <guid isPermaLink="false">428837 at https://www.middleeasteye.net/</guid>
  383.    </item>
  384. <item>
  385.  <title>Outcry over ExpressVPN ownership: What the Israeli connection means for user privacy</title>
  386.  <link>https://www.middleeasteye.net/trending/outcry-erupts-over-expressvpn-ownership-what-israeli-connection-means-user-privacy</link>
  387.  <description>
  388.  
  389.  
  390. &lt;article data-history-node-id="428835" about="https://www.middleeasteye.net/trending/outcry-erupts-over-expressvpn-ownership-what-israeli-connection-means-user-privacy" class="trending default clearfix"&gt;
  391.  
  392.  
  393.      &lt;h2&gt;
  394.      &lt;a href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/trending/outcry-erupts-over-expressvpn-ownership-what-israeli-connection-means-user-privacy" rel="bookmark"&gt;
  395. &lt;span class="field field-title"&gt;Outcry over ExpressVPN ownership: What the Israeli connection means for user privacy&lt;/span&gt;
  396. &lt;/a&gt;
  397.    &lt;/h2&gt;
  398.    
  399.  
  400.          &lt;footer&gt;
  401.      
  402.      &lt;div class="author"&gt;
  403.        Submitted by
  404. &lt;span class="field field-uid"&gt;&lt;a title="View user profile." href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/users/reem-aouir" lang about="https://www.middleeasteye.net/users/reem-aouir" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype&gt;Reem Aouir&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;
  405. on
  406. &lt;span class="field field-created"&gt;&lt;time datetime="2025-09-18T18:43:54+01:00" title="18 September 2025 18:43 BST"&gt;Thu, 09/18/2025 - 18:43&lt;/time&gt;
  407. &lt;/span&gt;
  408.        
  409.      &lt;/div&gt;
  410.    &lt;/footer&gt;
  411.      
  412.    &lt;div class="content"&gt;
  413.                &lt;div class="field field-field-subhead"&gt;ExpressVPN users are calling for a boycott after reports surfaced linking ownership to an Israel cybersecurity firm&lt;/div&gt;
  414.                  &lt;div class="field field-field-main-image"&gt;    &lt;picture&gt;
  415.                  &lt;source srcset="https://www.middleeasteye.net/sites/default/files/styles/article_page/public/images-story/2025-05-20T164449Z_31003256_MT1SOPA000YRY5MN_RTRMADP_3_SOPA.JPG.webp?itok=oCoYrOpW 1x" type="image/webp" width="1400" height="933"&gt;
  416.                  &lt;img srcset="https://www.middleeasteye.net/sites/default/files/styles/article_page/public/images-story/2025-05-20T164449Z_31003256_MT1SOPA000YRY5MN_RTRMADP_3_SOPA.JPG.webp?itok=oCoYrOpW 1x" width="1400" height="933" src="https://www.middleeasteye.net/sites/default/files/styles/max_2600x2600/public/images-story/2025-05-20T164449Z_31003256_MT1SOPA000YRY5MN_RTRMADP_3_SOPA.JPG.jpg?itok=-Sy7VZ55" alt typeof="foaf:Image" fetchpriority="high"&gt;
  417.  
  418.  &lt;/picture&gt;
  419.  
  420. &lt;/div&gt;
  421.                  &lt;div class="field field-field-cutline"&gt;The ExpressVPN logo on a phone screen (Thomas Fuller/SOPA Images via Reuters Connect)&lt;/div&gt;
  422.                  &lt;div class="field field-field-wide-photo-video"&gt;Off&lt;/div&gt;
  423.                  &lt;div class="field field-body clearfix"&gt;&lt;p&gt;Social media users are calling for the mass cancellation of ExpressVPN subscriptions after it was revealed that&amp;nbsp;&lt;span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"&gt;a cybersecurity firm with&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/countries/israel" target="_blank"&gt;Israeli&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;ties owns the popular privacy service&lt;/span&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;
  424.  
  425. &lt;p&gt;In 2021, The Times of Israel &lt;a href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/israeli-cybersecurity-firm-buys-expressvpn-for-close-to-1b/"&gt;reported&lt;/a&gt; that Kape Technologies, a British-Israeli digital security company, acquired ExpressVPN, one of the world’s largest virtual private network (VPN) providers, for nearly $1bn.&lt;/p&gt;
  426.  
  427. &lt;p&gt;The calls for cancellation intensified after social media&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href="https://x.com/SallyMo70506324/status/1968647192500937037"&gt;users&lt;/a&gt; began &lt;a href="https://x.com/Lowkey0nline/status/1911004949716033766"&gt;circulating&lt;/a&gt; information about Teddy Sagi, the Israeli billionaire and owner of Kape Technologies. Many shared that in 2023, as reported by The Jerusalem Post, Sagi donated $1m to transport soldiers during the Israeli war on &lt;a href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/topics/israel-genocide-gaza"&gt;Gaza&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;
  428.  
  429. &lt;p&gt;This is not the first time the calls have been made since the acquisition, but they are more widespread now, given Israel's ongoing genocide in Gaza.&lt;/p&gt;
  430.  
  431. &lt;p&gt;A VPN is a tool that encrypts internet traffic and masks identities by routing connections through secure servers. VPNs are widely used for privacy, anonymity, and bypassing censorship. Ownership of such services is considered highly sensitive by privacy advocates.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;div class="block-adsense block-adsense-managed-ad-block"&gt;&lt;div&gt;
  432.  &lt;div class="adsense responsive"&gt;
  433.    &lt;script async src="https://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/js/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-6114695881218027" crossorigin="anonymous"&gt;&lt;/script&gt;
  434. &lt;!-- responsive --&gt;
  435. &lt;ins class="adsbygoogle mee-auto-ad-wrapper " style="display:block" data-ad-client="ca-pub-6114695881218027" data-ad-slot="8690493793" data-ad-format="horizontal" data-full-width-responsive="true"&gt;&lt;/ins&gt;
  436. &lt;script&gt;
  437.     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});
  438. &lt;/script&gt;
  439.  &lt;/div&gt;
  440. &lt;/div&gt;
  441. &lt;/div&gt;
  442.  
  443. &lt;p&gt;Kape Technologies, based in &lt;a href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/countries/uk"&gt;London&lt;/a&gt; and founded in 2010, has previously acquired VPN services, including CyberGhost, ZenMate, and Private Internet Access.&lt;/p&gt;
  444.  
  445. &lt;p&gt;People across social media have urged users to delete the app, citing concerns over surveillance, military ties, and ethical complicity.&lt;/p&gt;
  446.  
  447. &lt;p&gt;“Do yourself a favor and delete ExpressVPN. You don’t want Israel to have your information,” one person&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href="https://x.com/RealNetTechNerd/status/1968276737621729520"&gt;wrote&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;
  448.  
  449. &lt;p&gt;“Please unsubscribe from ExpressVPN and notify everyone you know who uses it. Boycott, isolate, expel from the family of human,” another post &lt;a href="https://x.com/avigail_caspi/status/1967951958012203383"&gt;read&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;
  450.  
  451. &lt;blockquote class="twitter-tweet"&gt;
  452. &lt;p dir="ltr" lang="zxx"&gt;&lt;a href="https://t.co/ybl9QVrDbS"&gt;https://t.co/ybl9QVrDbS&lt;/a&gt; &lt;a href="https://t.co/RdlloCXIvw"&gt;pic.twitter.com/RdlloCXIvw&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  453. — 🏴‍☠️ (@calvinfroedge) &lt;a href="https://twitter.com/calvinfroedge/status/1967959200652464490?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"&gt;September 16, 2025&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/blockquote&gt;
  454. &lt;script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"&gt;&lt;/script&gt;
  455.  
  456. &lt;p&gt;People have also been sharing &lt;a href="https://x.com/phantompain1984/status/1967952994902872480"&gt;lists&lt;/a&gt; of VPNs owned by Israeli companies, warning against services that benefit Israel.&lt;/p&gt;
  457.  
  458. &lt;p&gt;The controversy underscores the tension between digital privacy and geopolitics. For many social media users, particularly amid Israel’s ongoing &lt;a href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/israel-gaza-why-experts-say-genocide-international-law"&gt;genocide&lt;/a&gt; in Gaza, the idea of entrusting personal data to an Israeli-owned company has become unacceptable.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;div class="block-adsense block-adsense-managed-ad-block"&gt;&lt;div&gt;
  459.  &lt;div class="adsense responsive"&gt;
  460.    &lt;script async src="https://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/js/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-6114695881218027" crossorigin="anonymous"&gt;&lt;/script&gt;
  461. &lt;!-- responsive --&gt;
  462. &lt;ins class="adsbygoogle mee-auto-ad-wrapper " style="display:block" data-ad-client="ca-pub-6114695881218027" data-ad-slot="8690493793" data-ad-format="horizontal" data-full-width-responsive="true"&gt;&lt;/ins&gt;
  463. &lt;script&gt;
  464.     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});
  465. &lt;/script&gt;
  466.  &lt;/div&gt;
  467. &lt;/div&gt;
  468. &lt;/div&gt;
  469.  
  470. &lt;p&gt;Whether through the use of Israeli software used to spy on heads of state, journalists and activists, as revealed through the Pegasus scandal, or using facial recognition to &lt;a href="https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2023/05/israel-opt-israeli-authorities-are-using-facial-recognition-technology-to-entrench-apartheid/"&gt;"entrench apartheid"&lt;/a&gt;, Israel has earned a notorious reputation for its spyware industry.&lt;/p&gt;
  471.  
  472. &lt;p&gt;As one widely shared &lt;a href="https://x.com/Kathleen_Tyson_/status/1967955607551607123"&gt;X post &lt;/a&gt;put it: “Most VPNs are owned by Israelis. Be careful out there. Do your research before downloading.”&lt;/p&gt;
  473.  
  474. &lt;p&gt;Many also emphasised that the boycott is not only a matter of privacy but also a matter of principle.&lt;br&gt;
  475. “Time to boycott ExpressVPN then. For both moral reasons and security reasons.” One social media user&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href="https://x.com/peanutbutter067/status/1968183134891159843"&gt;wrote&lt;/a&gt;. &amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
  476.  
  477. &lt;p&gt;“Anyone who wants to boycott Israeli companies, we should be pushing for a buycott. This is not just a war on the ground. We have a war online, too,” &lt;a href="https://x.com/TameTheZionist/status/1968667203978297657"&gt;another&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;person added.&lt;/p&gt;
  478.  
  479. &lt;p&gt;The calls for boycotts of Israeli products reflect broader digital solidarity campaigns that have emerged during the Israeli genocide on Gaza since October 2023, with users increasingly scrutinising the ownership structures of the online services they rely on.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;div class="block-adsense block-adsense-managed-ad-block"&gt;&lt;div&gt;
  480.  &lt;div class="adsense responsive"&gt;
  481.    &lt;script async src="https://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/js/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-6114695881218027" crossorigin="anonymous"&gt;&lt;/script&gt;
  482. &lt;!-- responsive --&gt;
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  484. &lt;script&gt;
  485.     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});
  486. &lt;/script&gt;
  487.  &lt;/div&gt;
  488. &lt;/div&gt;
  489. &lt;/div&gt;
  490.  
  491. &lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="https://x.com/nawagadj/status/1911026637052821786"&gt;Posts&lt;/a&gt; calling ExpressVPN complicit in violence have circulated heavily, such as: “ExpressVPN supports genocide. Boycott genocide.”&lt;/p&gt;
  492.  
  493. &lt;p&gt;Another social media&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href="https://x.com/ButcherMar36299/status/1886695731299274920"&gt;user&lt;/a&gt; wrote simply: “Boycott! Israeli company supporting genocide.&lt;/p&gt;
  494. &lt;/div&gt;
  495.                  &lt;div class="field field-field-topic"&gt;&lt;a href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/topics/boycott" hreflang="en"&gt;Boycott&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
  496.                  &lt;div class="field field-field-section"&gt;&lt;a href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/trending/all" hreflang="en"&gt;Trending&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
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  498.    &lt;div&gt;Post Date Override&lt;/div&gt;
  499.              &lt;div&gt;0&lt;/div&gt;
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  501.  &lt;div class="field field-field-update-date-override"&gt;
  502.    &lt;div&gt;Update Date&lt;/div&gt;
  503.              &lt;div&gt;&lt;time datetime="2020-05-04T21:29:16+01:00" title="4 May 2020 21:29 BST"&gt;Mon, 05/04/2020 - 21:29&lt;/time&gt;
  504. &lt;/div&gt;
  505.          &lt;/div&gt;
  506.  &lt;div class="field field-field-update-date-check"&gt;
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  509.          &lt;/div&gt;
  510.  
  511.  &lt;/div&gt;
  512.  
  513. &lt;/article&gt;
  514. </description>
  515.  <pubDate>Thu, 18 Sep 2025 19:51:40 +0100</pubDate>
  516.    <dc:creator>Reem Aouir</dc:creator>
  517.    <guid isPermaLink="false">428835 at https://www.middleeasteye.net/</guid>
  518.    </item>
  519. <item>
  520.  <title>US Senator Bernie Sanders calls Israel's war on Gaza a genocide</title>
  521.  <link>https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/us-senator-bernie-sanders-says-israel-war-gaza-genocide</link>
  522.  <description>
  523.  
  524.  
  525. &lt;article data-history-node-id="428824" about="https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/us-senator-bernie-sanders-says-israel-war-gaza-genocide" class="story default clearfix"&gt;
  526.  
  527.  
  528.      &lt;h2&gt;
  529.      &lt;a href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/us-senator-bernie-sanders-says-israel-war-gaza-genocide" rel="bookmark"&gt;
  530. &lt;span class="field field-title"&gt;US Senator Bernie Sanders calls Israel's war on Gaza a genocide&lt;/span&gt;
  531. &lt;/a&gt;
  532.    &lt;/h2&gt;
  533.    
  534.  
  535.          &lt;footer&gt;
  536.      
  537.      &lt;div class="author"&gt;
  538.        Submitted by
  539. &lt;span class="field field-uid"&gt;&lt;a title="View user profile." href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/users/mee-staff" lang about="https://www.middleeasteye.net/users/mee-staff" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype&gt;MEE staff&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;
  540. on
  541. &lt;span class="field field-created"&gt;&lt;time datetime="2025-09-18T15:02:45+01:00" title="18 September 2025 15:02 BST"&gt;Thu, 09/18/2025 - 15:02&lt;/time&gt;
  542. &lt;/span&gt;
  543.        
  544.      &lt;/div&gt;
  545.    &lt;/footer&gt;
  546.      
  547.    &lt;div class="content"&gt;
  548.                &lt;div class="field field-field-subhead"&gt;Progressives have criticised the senator from Vermont for refusing to use the term before&lt;/div&gt;
  549.                  &lt;div class="field field-field-main-image"&gt;    &lt;picture&gt;
  550.                  &lt;source srcset="https://www.middleeasteye.net/sites/default/files/styles/article_page/public/images-story/US_Sanders_Kevin-Dietsch%20.jpg.webp?itok=EQWlJXax 1x" type="image/webp" width="1400" height="787"&gt;
  551.                  &lt;img srcset="https://www.middleeasteye.net/sites/default/files/styles/article_page/public/images-story/US_Sanders_Kevin-Dietsch%20.jpg.webp?itok=EQWlJXax 1x" width="1400" height="787" src="https://www.middleeasteye.net/sites/default/files/styles/max_2600x2600/public/images-story/US_Sanders_Kevin-Dietsch%20.jpg.jpg?itok=dQMYmvkp" alt typeof="foaf:Image" fetchpriority="high"&gt;
  552.  
  553.  &lt;/picture&gt;
  554.  
  555. &lt;/div&gt;
  556.                  &lt;div class="field field-field-cutline"&gt;Bernie Sanders speaks during a hearing with the US Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions in the Dirksen Senate Office Building in Washington, DC, on 17 September 2025 (Kevin Dietsch/AFP)&lt;/div&gt;
  557.                  &lt;div class="field field-field-wide-photo-video"&gt;Off&lt;/div&gt;
  558.                  &lt;div class="field field-body clearfix"&gt;&lt;p style="margin-bottom:11px"&gt;Almost two years after &lt;a href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/countries/israel"&gt;Israel’s&lt;/a&gt; war on &lt;a href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/topics/israel-war-gaza"&gt;Gaza&lt;/a&gt; began, progressive Democratic Senator Bernie Sanders said on Wednesday that Israel is guilty of committing genocide against the Palestinians.&lt;/p&gt;
  559.  
  560. &lt;p&gt;Sanders' acknowledgement came after the United Nations (UN) released a report on Tuesday saying that Israel was committing a genocide in the besieged enclave, where over 65,000 Palestinians have been killed.&lt;/p&gt;
  561.  
  562. &lt;p&gt;&lt;span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"&gt;In an&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href="https://www.sanders.senate.gov/op-eds/it-is-genocide/" target="_blank"&gt;opinion&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;article on his website, Sanders, who identifies as a Democratic Socialist, wrote that he agreed with the UN and the assessments of other human rights organisations, such as Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, B’Tselem, and Physicians for Human Rights-Israel.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  563.  
  564. &lt;p&gt;“The conclusion is inescapable: Israel is committing genocide in Gaza.&lt;/p&gt;
  565.  
  566. &lt;p&gt;“Israeli leaders have made their intent clear,” he added, quoting statements from Israeli politicians and lawmakers.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;div class="block-adsense block-adsense-managed-ad-block"&gt;&lt;div&gt;
  567.  &lt;div class="adsense responsive"&gt;
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  569. &lt;!-- responsive --&gt;
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  571. &lt;script&gt;
  572.     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});
  573. &lt;/script&gt;
  574.  &lt;/div&gt;
  575. &lt;/div&gt;
  576. &lt;/div&gt;
  577.  
  578. &lt;p&gt;Progressives who have championed Sanders over the years have criticised the senator from Vermont for refusing to use the term "genocide" before the UN's declaration.&lt;/p&gt;
  579.  
  580. &lt;p&gt;Sanders had avoided using the term despite its widespread use by numerous human rights experts and scholars. In interviews, he had previously said that he refused to be drawn into definitions, opting to describe the atrocities Israel is committing against the Palestinians as “&lt;a href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/us-bernie-sanders-lone-senator-oppose-trumps-call-clean-out-gaza"&gt;ethnic cleansing&lt;/a&gt;” and “war crimes”.&lt;/p&gt;
  581.  
  582. &lt;p&gt;In his article, Sanders wrote: “Genocide is defined as actions taken with the 'intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group'. The actions include killing members of the group or 'deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part'. The legal question hinges on intent."&lt;/p&gt;
  583.  
  584. &lt;p&gt;While some supporters breathed a sigh of relief at his admission, others said it was a little too late and he lacked a nuanced understanding that Israel’s war on Gaza did not begin on 7 October 2023, but decades before, with no mention of the Israeli occupation of Palestine.&lt;/p&gt;
  585.  
  586. &lt;p&gt;“Hamas, a terrorist organization, began this war with its brutal attack on October 7, 2023, which killed 1,200 innocent people and took 250 hostages. Israel, as any other country, had a right to defend itself from Hamas,” Sanders wrote.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;div class="block-adsense block-adsense-managed-ad-block"&gt;&lt;div&gt;
  587.  &lt;div class="adsense responsive"&gt;
  588.    &lt;script async src="https://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/js/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-6114695881218027" crossorigin="anonymous"&gt;&lt;/script&gt;
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  591. &lt;script&gt;
  592.     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});
  593. &lt;/script&gt;
  594.  &lt;/div&gt;
  595. &lt;/div&gt;
  596. &lt;/div&gt;
  597.  
  598. &lt;p&gt;“But, over the last two years, Israel has not simply defended itself against Hamas. Instead, it has waged an all-out war against the entire Palestinian people.”&lt;/p&gt;
  599.  
  600. &lt;h3&gt;Track record&lt;/h3&gt;
  601.  
  602. &lt;p&gt;Sanders has&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/us-bernie-sanders-lone-senator-oppose-trumps-call-clean-out-gaza"&gt;spoken out&lt;/a&gt; about Trump’s proposal to "clean out" Gaza and forcibly relocate Palestinians living there to neighbouring countries. Sanders said in a post on X in January, “There is a name for this - ethnic cleansing - and it’s a war crime”.&lt;/p&gt;
  603.  
  604. &lt;p&gt;Sanders has also been a vocal advocate against the US selling weapons to Israel and has repeatedly &lt;a href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/sanders-says-he-plans-force-votes-block-8billion-military-aid-israel-0"&gt;forced votes&lt;/a&gt; to block military aid to Israel.&lt;/p&gt;
  605.  
  606. &lt;div class="mee-readmore mee-readmore-article-story mee-readmore-type-image align-right"&gt;
  607.  &lt;a class="mee-readmore-img-link" href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/sanders-says-he-plans-force-votes-block-8billion-military-aid-israel-0"&gt;&lt;img class="mee-readmore-image" src="https://www.middleeasteye.net/sites/default/files/styles/read_more/public/images-story/2025-03-27T212045Z_116179094_RC2ZHDAHX9HB_RTRMADP_3_ISRAEL-PALESTINIANS-USA-CONGRESS.jpg.webp?itok=YBUwU72E" width="400" height="250" alt loading="lazy" typeof="foaf:Image"&gt;
  608.  
  609. &lt;/a&gt;  &lt;div class="mee-readmore-description"&gt;US Senator Sanders says he will force votes to block $8b in military aid to Israel&lt;/div&gt;
  610.    &lt;a class="mee-readmore-link" href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/sanders-says-he-plans-force-votes-block-8billion-military-aid-israel-0"&gt;Read More »&lt;/a&gt;
  611. &lt;/div&gt;
  612.  
  613. &lt;p&gt;Representative Rebecca Balint of Vermont became the first Jewish member of Congress to use the term “genocide” to describe Israel’s war in Gaza.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
  614.  
  615. &lt;p&gt;Balint said, "I believe the Israeli government is committing a genocide against the Palestinian people,” in an &lt;a href="https://couriernewsroom.com/news/rep-becca-balint-i-believe-israel-is-committing-a-genocide-in-gaza/"&gt;opinion article&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;in the Courier Newsroom.&lt;/p&gt;
  616.  
  617. &lt;p&gt;Representatives Rashida Tlaib, Marjorie Taylor Greene, and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez have all called Israel’s war on Gaza a genocide.&lt;/p&gt;
  618.  
  619. &lt;p&gt;Sanders also added that while people might disagree on definitions, he said it was important that the US ends its “complicity”.&lt;/p&gt;
  620.  
  621. &lt;p&gt;“I recognize that many people may disagree with this conclusion,” he wrote. “The truth is, whether you call it genocide or ethnic cleansing or mass atrocities or war crimes, the path forward is clear. We, as Americans, must end our complicity in the slaughter of the Palestinian people”.&lt;/p&gt;
  622.  
  623. &lt;p&gt;He urged Americans to “use every ounce of our leverage” to demand an immediate ceasefire, a huge increase in humanitarian aid facilitated by the UN, and investing in efforts to provide Palestinians with their own state.&lt;/p&gt;
  624.  
  625. &lt;p&gt;“The starvation of children cannot be tolerated, he added. “The flattening of cities must not become the norm. Collective punishment is beyond the pale. The very term genocide is a reminder of what can happen if we fail”&lt;/p&gt;
  626.  
  627. &lt;p&gt;He warned against the rise of barbarism worldwide and that stopping Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his “fellow war criminals” was critical to preventing genocide from happening again.&lt;/p&gt;
  628. &lt;/div&gt;
  629.                  &lt;div class="field field-field-topic"&gt;&lt;a href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/topics/us-politics" hreflang="en"&gt;US Politics&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
  630.            &lt;div class="field field-field-coauthor-location"&gt;
  631.              &lt;div&gt; &lt;/div&gt;
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  636.              &lt;div class="field field-field-article-location"&gt; &lt;/div&gt;
  637.                  &lt;div class="field field-field-section"&gt;&lt;a href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/all" hreflang="en"&gt;News&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
  638.        &lt;div class="field field-field-post-date-override"&gt;
  639.    &lt;div&gt;Post Date Override&lt;/div&gt;
  640.              &lt;div&gt;0&lt;/div&gt;
  641.          &lt;/div&gt;
  642.  &lt;div class="field field-field-update-date-override"&gt;
  643.    &lt;div&gt;Update Date&lt;/div&gt;
  644.              &lt;div&gt;&lt;time datetime="2020-05-04T21:19:45+01:00"&gt;Mon, 05/04/2020 - 21:19&lt;/time&gt;
  645. &lt;/div&gt;
  646.          &lt;/div&gt;
  647.  &lt;div class="field field-field-update-date-check"&gt;
  648.    &lt;div&gt;Update Date Override&lt;/div&gt;
  649.              &lt;div&gt;0&lt;/div&gt;
  650.          &lt;/div&gt;
  651.  
  652.  &lt;/div&gt;
  653.  
  654. &lt;/article&gt;
  655. </description>
  656.  <pubDate>Thu, 18 Sep 2025 19:33:04 +0100</pubDate>
  657.    <dc:creator>MEE staff</dc:creator>
  658.    <guid isPermaLink="false">428824 at https://www.middleeasteye.net/</guid>
  659.    </item>
  660. <item>
  661.  <title>We cannot negotiate if Israel continues attack on Gaza City: Hamas official</title>
  662.  <link>https://www.middleeasteye.net/live-blog/live-blog-update/we-cannot-negotiate-if-israel-continues-attack-gaza-city-hamas-official</link>
  663.  <description>
  664.  
  665.  
  666. &lt;article data-history-node-id="428836" about="https://www.middleeasteye.net/live-blog/live-blog-update/we-cannot-negotiate-if-israel-continues-attack-gaza-city-hamas-official" class="live-blog-update default clearfix"&gt;
  667.  
  668.  
  669.      &lt;h2&gt;
  670.      &lt;a href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/live-blog/live-blog-update/we-cannot-negotiate-if-israel-continues-attack-gaza-city-hamas-official" rel="bookmark"&gt;
  671. &lt;span class="field field-title"&gt;We cannot negotiate if Israel continues attack on Gaza City: Hamas official&lt;/span&gt;
  672. &lt;/a&gt;
  673.    &lt;/h2&gt;
  674.    
  675.  
  676.        
  677.    &lt;div class="content"&gt;
  678.                &lt;div class="field field-field-text"&gt;&lt;p&gt;Senior Hamas official Basem Naim on Thursday told Al-Araby TV that his side "cannot engage" in any ceasefire and captive swap negotiations "while the occupation continues to expand its aggression on Gaza City".&lt;/p&gt;
  679.  
  680. &lt;p&gt;"We affirm the Qatari position that negotiations are futile in light of the ongoing aggression," he added.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
  681.  
  682. &lt;p&gt;Israel, Naim said, "was deceiving everyone into engaging in negotiations to cover up its crimes and schemes".&lt;/p&gt;
  683.  
  684. &lt;p&gt;He warned that the Israeli captives held in Gaza City will meet the same fate as its residents.&lt;/p&gt;
  685.  
  686. &lt;p&gt;"What happened to our people during the Israeli aggression on Gaza City will happen to the Israeli prisoners, and resistance to the incursion will be fierce," Naim said.&lt;/p&gt;
  687. &lt;/div&gt;
  688.      
  689.  &lt;/div&gt;
  690.  
  691. &lt;/article&gt;
  692. </description>
  693.  <pubDate>Thu, 18 Sep 2025 19:11:38 +0100</pubDate>
  694.    <dc:creator>Yasmine El-Sabawi</dc:creator>
  695.    <guid isPermaLink="false">428836 at https://www.middleeasteye.net/</guid>
  696.    </item>
  697. <item>
  698.  <title>Israel says Yemeni projectile landed in Eilat</title>
  699.  <link>https://www.middleeasteye.net/live-blog/live-blog-update/israel-says-yemeni-projectile-landed-eilat</link>
  700.  <description>
  701.  
  702.  
  703. &lt;article data-history-node-id="428834" about="https://www.middleeasteye.net/live-blog/live-blog-update/israel-says-yemeni-projectile-landed-eilat" class="live-blog-update default clearfix"&gt;
  704.  
  705.  
  706.      &lt;h2&gt;
  707.      &lt;a href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/live-blog/live-blog-update/israel-says-yemeni-projectile-landed-eilat" rel="bookmark"&gt;
  708. &lt;span class="field field-title"&gt;Israel says Yemeni projectile landed in Eilat&lt;/span&gt;
  709. &lt;/a&gt;
  710.    &lt;/h2&gt;
  711.    
  712.  
  713.        
  714.    &lt;div class="content"&gt;
  715.                &lt;div class="field field-field-text"&gt;&lt;p&gt;The Israeli military on Thursday posted to X that sirens were sounding in Eilat following "a hostile aircraft infiltration", which they later determined to be a projectile launched from Yemen.&lt;/p&gt;
  716.  
  717. &lt;p&gt;The projectile landed in Eilat's hotel zone, Israeli media reported.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
  718. &lt;/div&gt;
  719.      
  720.  &lt;/div&gt;
  721.  
  722. &lt;/article&gt;
  723. </description>
  724.  <pubDate>Thu, 18 Sep 2025 17:44:07 +0100</pubDate>
  725.    <dc:creator>Yasmine El-Sabawi</dc:creator>
  726.    <guid isPermaLink="false">428834 at https://www.middleeasteye.net/</guid>
  727.    </item>
  728. <item>
  729.  <title>Israel confirms four soldiers killed in Gaza</title>
  730.  <link>https://www.middleeasteye.net/live-blog/live-blog-update/israel-confirms-four-soldiers-killed-gaza</link>
  731.  <description>
  732.  
  733.  
  734. &lt;article data-history-node-id="428833" about="https://www.middleeasteye.net/live-blog/live-blog-update/israel-confirms-four-soldiers-killed-gaza" class="live-blog-update default clearfix"&gt;
  735.  
  736.  
  737.      &lt;h2&gt;
  738.      &lt;a href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/live-blog/live-blog-update/israel-confirms-four-soldiers-killed-gaza" rel="bookmark"&gt;
  739. &lt;span class="field field-title"&gt;Israel confirms four soldiers killed in Gaza&lt;/span&gt;
  740. &lt;/a&gt;
  741.    &lt;/h2&gt;
  742.    
  743.  
  744.        
  745.    &lt;div class="content"&gt;
  746.                &lt;div class="field field-field-text"&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;meta charset="UTF-8"&gt;The&amp;nbsp;Israeli military announced on Thursday that four of its soldiers have been killed in Gaza, the Reuters news agency reported.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
  747. &lt;/div&gt;
  748.      
  749.  &lt;/div&gt;
  750.  
  751. &lt;/article&gt;
  752. </description>
  753.  <pubDate>Thu, 18 Sep 2025 17:40:53 +0100</pubDate>
  754.    <dc:creator>Yasmine El-Sabawi</dc:creator>
  755.    <guid isPermaLink="false">428833 at https://www.middleeasteye.net/</guid>
  756.    </item>
  757. <item>
  758.  <title>Israeli captives in Gaza can't be saved if Netanyahu kills them during attacks: Qassam Brigades</title>
  759.  <link>https://www.middleeasteye.net/live-blog/live-blog-update/israeli-captives-gaza-city-cant-be-saved-if-netanyahu-will-kill-them</link>
  760.  <description>
  761.  
  762.  
  763. &lt;article data-history-node-id="428831" about="https://www.middleeasteye.net/live-blog/live-blog-update/israeli-captives-gaza-city-cant-be-saved-if-netanyahu-will-kill-them" class="live-blog-update default clearfix"&gt;
  764.  
  765.  
  766.      &lt;h2&gt;
  767.      &lt;a href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/live-blog/live-blog-update/israeli-captives-gaza-city-cant-be-saved-if-netanyahu-will-kill-them" rel="bookmark"&gt;
  768. &lt;span class="field field-title"&gt;Israeli captives in Gaza can't be saved if Netanyahu kills them during attacks: Qassam Brigades&lt;/span&gt;
  769. &lt;/a&gt;
  770.    &lt;/h2&gt;
  771.    
  772.  
  773.        
  774.    &lt;div class="content"&gt;
  775.                &lt;div class="field field-field-text"&gt;&lt;p&gt;The military wing of Hamas, the al-Qassam Brigades, issued a statement on Thursday saying that it will not attempt to save the lives of Israeli captives in Gaza City "as long as Netanyahu has decided to kill them" with his latest military operation in the area.&lt;/p&gt;
  776.  
  777. &lt;p&gt;"We say to the enemy's military and political leadership: Your prisoners are scattered throughout the neighbourhoods of Gaza City, and we will not spare their lives as long as Netanyahu has decided to kill them. Initiating and expanding this criminal operation means that you will not obtain a single prisoner, neither living nor dead, and their fate will be the same as that of Ron Arad," the Qassam Brigades said.&lt;/p&gt;
  778.  
  779. &lt;p&gt;Arad is a member of the Israeli air force who has officially been declared missing since October 1986.&lt;/p&gt;
  780.  
  781. &lt;p&gt;"Gaza will not be an easy prey for your mighty army. We do not fear you and are prepared to send the souls of your soldiers to hell," the Brigades said. "We have prepared for you an army of martyrs and thousands of ambushes and engineering bombs."&lt;/p&gt;
  782.  
  783. &lt;p&gt;"Gaza will be a graveyard for your soldiers".&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
  784.  
  785. &lt;p&gt;The statement added that Israel will only be going into "a harsh war of attrition" and that the Brigades have trained their fighters "to place explosive devices inside the cabins of your vehicles. Your bulldozers will be prime targets".&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
  786.  
  787.  
  788. &lt;/div&gt;
  789.      
  790.  &lt;/div&gt;
  791.  
  792. &lt;/article&gt;
  793. </description>
  794.  <pubDate>Thu, 18 Sep 2025 17:03:31 +0100</pubDate>
  795.    <dc:creator>Yasmine El-Sabawi</dc:creator>
  796.    <guid isPermaLink="false">428831 at https://www.middleeasteye.net/</guid>
  797.    </item>
  798. <item>
  799.  <title>Bedouin families left homeless as Israel demolishes Negev village</title>
  800.  <link>https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/bedouin-families-homeless-israel-demolishes-negev-village</link>
  801.  <description>
  802.  
  803.  
  804. &lt;article data-history-node-id="428817" about="https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/bedouin-families-homeless-israel-demolishes-negev-village" class="story default clearfix"&gt;
  805.  
  806.  
  807.      &lt;h2&gt;
  808.      &lt;a href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/bedouin-families-homeless-israel-demolishes-negev-village" rel="bookmark"&gt;
  809. &lt;span class="field field-title"&gt;Bedouin families left homeless as Israel demolishes Negev village&lt;/span&gt;
  810. &lt;/a&gt;
  811.    &lt;/h2&gt;
  812.    
  813.  
  814.          &lt;footer&gt;
  815.      
  816.      &lt;div class="author"&gt;
  817.        Submitted by
  818. &lt;span class="field field-uid"&gt;&lt;a title="View user profile." href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/users/oren-ziv" lang about="https://www.middleeasteye.net/users/oren-ziv" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype&gt;Oren Ziv&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;
  819. on
  820. &lt;span class="field field-created"&gt;&lt;time datetime="2025-09-18T13:56:51+01:00" title="18 September 2025 13:56 BST"&gt;Thu, 09/18/2025 - 13:56&lt;/time&gt;
  821. &lt;/span&gt;
  822.        
  823.      &lt;/div&gt;
  824.    &lt;/footer&gt;
  825.      
  826.    &lt;div class="content"&gt;
  827.                &lt;div class="field field-field-subhead"&gt;Israeli authorities offered no alternative housing, forcing residents of al-Sir into uncertain future&lt;br&gt;
  828. &lt;/div&gt;
  829.                  &lt;div class="field field-field-main-image"&gt;    &lt;picture&gt;
  830.                  &lt;source srcset="https://www.middleeasteye.net/sites/default/files/styles/article_page/public/images-story/palestinian-bedouin-israel-destroys-homes-oren-ziv-17-sept-2025-mee.jpg.webp?itok=GTAxIwce 1x" type="image/webp" width="1400" height="787"&gt;
  831.                  &lt;img srcset="https://www.middleeasteye.net/sites/default/files/styles/article_page/public/images-story/palestinian-bedouin-israel-destroys-homes-oren-ziv-17-sept-2025-mee.jpg.webp?itok=GTAxIwce 1x" width="1400" height="787" src="https://www.middleeasteye.net/sites/default/files/styles/max_2600x2600/public/images-story/palestinian-bedouin-israel-destroys-homes-oren-ziv-17-sept-2025-mee.jpg.jpg?itok=Oscfk6Pu" alt="A Palestinian Bedouin woman screams as she watches Israeli police raze her village, al-Sir, in southern Israel, on 17 September 2025 (Oren Ziv/MEE)" typeof="foaf:Image" fetchpriority="high"&gt;
  832.  
  833.  &lt;/picture&gt;
  834.  
  835. &lt;/div&gt;
  836.                  &lt;div class="field field-field-cutline"&gt;A Palestinian Bedouin woman screams as she watches Israeli police raze her village, al-Sir, in southern Israel, on 17 September 2025 (Oren Ziv/MEE)&lt;/div&gt;
  837.                  &lt;div class="field field-field-wide-photo-video"&gt;Off&lt;/div&gt;
  838.                  &lt;div class="field field-body clearfix"&gt;&lt;p style="line-height:1.38"&gt;A large contingent of &lt;a href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/countries/israel"&gt;Israeli&lt;/a&gt; police forces on Wednesday raided the unrecognised &lt;a href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/countries/palestine"&gt;Palestinian&lt;/a&gt; Bedouin village of al-Sir in the Negev (Naqab) desert and destroyed al-Omrani neighbourhood, including 40 homes and other structures.&lt;/p&gt;
  839.  
  840. &lt;p&gt;Plumes of dark smoke rose over the village as residents, who had tried until the last moment to reach a compromise with the authorities, set fire to most of the homes using tyres.&lt;/p&gt;
  841.  
  842. &lt;p&gt;Hundreds of police officers - some riding dirt bikes, all-terrain vehicles&amp;nbsp;and horses - stormed the neighbourhood, where residents had been relocated by the authorities in the 1950s from a nearby area.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
  843.  
  844. &lt;p&gt;Al-Sir is the largest village in the country to be subject to demolition orders so far.&lt;/p&gt;
  845.  
  846. &lt;p&gt;Residents were informed by the police the day before that the cost of the demolition, which would be charged to them, was 3 million shekels (nearly $900,000).&lt;/p&gt;&lt;div class="block-adsense block-adsense-managed-ad-block"&gt;&lt;div&gt;
  847.  &lt;div class="adsense responsive"&gt;
  848.    &lt;script async src="https://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/js/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-6114695881218027" crossorigin="anonymous"&gt;&lt;/script&gt;
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  851. &lt;script&gt;
  852.     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});
  853. &lt;/script&gt;
  854.  &lt;/div&gt;
  855. &lt;/div&gt;
  856. &lt;/div&gt;
  857.  
  858. &lt;p&gt;Before police forces arrived, Tawfiq al-Omrani, 50, was clearing out the home of his 85-year-old mother, who relies on an oxygen tank.&lt;/p&gt;
  859.  
  860. &lt;p&gt;"I was born here. My whole history is here. It's hard when they destroy everything you’ve known. Soon my mother won’t even have a roof over her head," Omrani told Middle East Eye.&lt;/p&gt;
  861.  
  862. &lt;p&gt;"If only they had given us an alternative place until they sort out the new neighbourhood, but they just tell you to manage on your own."&lt;/p&gt;
  863.  
  864. &lt;p&gt;Even when the new neighbourhood is built, according to the Israeli government’s plan, Omrani said authorities don’t guarantee the people who had been displaced a home.&lt;/p&gt;
  865.  
  866. &lt;p&gt;"They don’t care," he said.&lt;/p&gt;
  867.  
  868.  &lt;figure role="group" class="align-center media-block"&gt;
  869.  &lt;div class="group-inner"&gt;
  870.    &lt;div alt="Israeli police attack a resident of the village protesting the demolition of his home in al-Sir village on 17 September 2025 (Oren Zif/MEE)" data-embed-button="file_browser" data-entity-embed-display="image:image" data-entity-embed-display-settings="{" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="a3bc3fe4-fbff-4d2b-9061-218d58962cdb" data-langcode="en" class="embedded-entity"&gt;  &lt;img loading="lazy" src="https://www.middleeasteye.net/sites/default/files/israeli-forces-attack-palestinian-sir-village-negev-17sep2025-mee-oren-ziv.jpg" width="1750" height="984" alt="Israeli police attack a resident of the village protesting the demolition of his home in al-Sir village on 17 September 2025 (Oren Zif/MEE)" typeof="foaf:Image"&gt;
  871.  
  872. &lt;/div&gt;
  873.  
  874.    &lt;figcaption&gt;Israeli police attack a resident protesting against the demolition of his home in al-Sir village on 17 September 2025 (Oren Ziv/MEE)&lt;/figcaption&gt;
  875.  &lt;/div&gt;
  876. &lt;/figure&gt;
  877.  
  878.  
  879. &lt;p&gt;&lt;span style="background:rgba(220,220,220,0.5);background-image:url(https://www.middleeasteye.net/modules/contrib/ckeditor/vendor/plugins/widget/images/handle.png);display:none;"&gt;&lt;img height="15" role="presentation" src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAPABAP///wAAACH5BAEKAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAICRAEAOw==" title="Click and drag to move" width="15" loading="lazy"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;div class="block-adsense block-adsense-managed-ad-block"&gt;&lt;div&gt;
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  886. &lt;/script&gt;
  887.  &lt;/div&gt;
  888. &lt;/div&gt;
  889. &lt;/div&gt;
  890.  
  891. &lt;p&gt;&lt;span style="background: url(&amp;quot;https://www.middleeasteye.net/modules/contrib/ckeditor/vendor/plugins/widget/images/handle.png&amp;quot;) rgba(220, 220, 220, 0.5); top: -15px; left: 0px;"&gt;&lt;img alt height="15" role="presentation" src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAPABAP///wAAACH5BAEKAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAICRAEAOw==" title="Click and drag to move" width="15" loading="lazy"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  892.  
  893. &lt;p&gt;&lt;span style="background:rgba(220,220,220,0.5);background-image:url(https://www.middleeasteye.net/modules/contrib/ckeditor/vendor/plugins/widget/images/handle.png);display:none;"&gt;&lt;img alt height="15" role="presentation" src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAPABAP///wAAACH5BAEKAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAICRAEAOw==" title="Click and drag to move" width="15" loading="lazy"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  894.  
  895. &lt;p&gt;&lt;span style="background:rgba(220,220,220,0.5);background-image:url(https://www.middleeasteye.net/modules/contrib/ckeditor/vendor/plugins/widget/images/handle.png);display:none;"&gt;&lt;img alt height="15" role="presentation" src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAPABAP///wAAACH5BAEKAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAICRAEAOw==" title="Click and drag to move" width="15" loading="lazy"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  896.  
  897. &lt;p&gt;&lt;span style="background: url(&amp;quot;https://www.middleeasteye.net/modules/contrib/ckeditor/vendor/plugins/widget/images/handle.png&amp;quot;) rgba(220, 220, 220, 0.5); top: -15px; left: 0px;"&gt;&lt;img alt height="15" role="presentation" src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAPABAP///wAAACH5BAEKAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAICRAEAOw==" title="Click and drag to move" width="15" loading="lazy"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  898.  
  899. &lt;p&gt;&lt;span style="background: url(&amp;quot;https://www.middleeasteye.net/modules/contrib/ckeditor/vendor/plugins/widget/images/handle.png&amp;quot;) rgba(220, 220, 220, 0.5); top: -15px; left: 0px;"&gt;&lt;img alt height="15" role="presentation" src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAPABAP///wAAACH5BAEKAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAICRAEAOw==" title="Click and drag to move" width="15" loading="lazy"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;div class="block-adsense block-adsense-managed-ad-block"&gt;&lt;div&gt;
  900.  &lt;div class="adsense responsive"&gt;
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  904. &lt;script&gt;
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  906. &lt;/script&gt;
  907.  &lt;/div&gt;
  908. &lt;/div&gt;
  909. &lt;/div&gt;
  910.  
  911. &lt;p&gt;&lt;span style="background:rgba(220,220,220,0.5);background-image:url(https://www.middleeasteye.net/modules/contrib/ckeditor/vendor/plugins/widget/images/handle.png);display:none;"&gt;&lt;img alt height="15" role="presentation" src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAPABAP///wAAACH5BAEKAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAICRAEAOw==" title="Click and drag to move" width="15" loading="lazy"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  912.  
  913. &lt;p&gt;&lt;span style="background:rgba(220,220,220,0.5);background-image:url(https://www.middleeasteye.net/modules/contrib/ckeditor/vendor/plugins/widget/images/handle.png);display:none;"&gt;&lt;img alt height="15" role="presentation" src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAPABAP///wAAACH5BAEKAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAICRAEAOw==" title="Click and drag to move" width="15" loading="lazy"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  914.  
  915. &lt;p&gt;&lt;span style="background: url(&amp;quot;https://www.middleeasteye.net/modules/contrib/ckeditor/vendor/plugins/widget/images/handle.png&amp;quot;) rgba(220, 220, 220, 0.5); top: -15px; left: 0px;"&gt;&lt;img alt height="15" role="presentation" src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAPABAP///wAAACH5BAEKAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAICRAEAOw==" title="Click and drag to move" width="15" loading="lazy"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  916.  
  917. &lt;p&gt;Around 8am, police began pushing back men who had gathered to protest at the entrance to the neighbourhood, knocking some to the ground and throwing stun grenades and gas grenades at the crowd. Several residents were wounded.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
  918.  
  919. &lt;p&gt;On the hill overlooking the neighbourhood, women and children of the village gathered, crying out in protest towards the armed police and bulldozers.&lt;/p&gt;
  920.  
  921. &lt;p&gt;Fadi, a 24-year-old Bedouin, said: "They want the kids here to grow up with racism and hatred. People save money to build a home, and then it gets destroyed."&lt;/p&gt;
  922.  
  923. &lt;p&gt;"My brother paid 160,000 shekels, got married, and now he’ll be on the street," he said.&lt;/p&gt;
  924.  
  925. &lt;h3&gt;'Where will we go?'&lt;/h3&gt;
  926.  
  927. &lt;p&gt;Nearby, a 61-year-old woman cried over her house that was destroyed before her eyes.&lt;/p&gt;
  928.  
  929. &lt;p&gt;"Where will we sleep, eat and shower? What does [National Security Minister] Itamar Ben Gvir want from us?" said the woman, who asked not to be named.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
  930.  
  931. &lt;p&gt;"He only cares about settlers. We were here before the state, we lived here before the Zionists - this is our village."&lt;/p&gt;
  932.  
  933. &lt;p&gt;The woman said that the people of the village have spent their entire lives working in agriculture to build their homes only for Israeli authorities to destroy them without offering alternative housing.&lt;/p&gt;
  934.  
  935. &lt;blockquote&gt;
  936. &lt;p&gt;'We’ll pitch tents and live in them. I’m not afraid of the police. They destroy, we build'&lt;/p&gt;
  937.  
  938. &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;- Maliha, village resident&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  939. &lt;/blockquote&gt;
  940.  
  941. &lt;p&gt;"We’re old women. How will we live without a roof over our heads and a floor under our feet?"&lt;/p&gt;
  942.  
  943. &lt;p&gt;Throughout the morning, the women huddled under a makeshift shade made from blankets and looked on in anger as the demolition continued.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
  944.  
  945. &lt;p&gt;Maliha, 55, sat watching her house being destroyed: "We’ll pitch tents and live in them. I’m not afraid of the police. They destroy, we build."&lt;/p&gt;
  946.  
  947. &lt;p&gt;So far, about 200 homes have been destroyed in the village, and this week's operation marks the fourth wave of demolitions there.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
  948.  
  949. &lt;p&gt;Several residents have carried out self-demolitions to avoid violence, humiliation, and heavy fines from the Israeli demolition operations. The village of al-Sir includes about 600 families, half living west of Route 40 and half east - the area where homes have been destroyed since May.&lt;/p&gt;
  950.  
  951. &lt;h3&gt;'I'm speechless'&lt;/h3&gt;
  952.  
  953. &lt;article data-scroll-anchor="true" data-testid="conversation-turn-10" data-turn="assistant" data-turn-id="request-WEB:902c860e-78e7-4095-b005-1b9be193ae88-23" dir="auto" tabindex="-1"&gt;
  954. &lt;p data-end="272" data-is-last-node data-is-only-node data-start="31"&gt;More demolitions are expected soon. The Israel Land Authority says some evacuations are to make way for a new neighbourhood in Shaqib al-Salam, or Segev Shalom, which residents do not oppose - so long as they are included in the plans.&lt;/p&gt;
  955. &lt;/article&gt;
  956.  
  957. &lt;p&gt;Shaqib al-Salam is a Bedouin town and a local council in the Southern District of Israel, southeast of Beersheba.&lt;/p&gt;
  958.  
  959. &lt;p&gt;So far, the state has not provided alternative housing.&lt;/p&gt;
  960.  
  961. &lt;p&gt;According to the Regional Council for Unrecognised Villages in the Negev, since the current government took office, five entire villages and neighbourhoods have been demolished, including Wadi Khalil and Umm al-Hiran.&lt;/p&gt;
  962.  
  963. &lt;p&gt;Based on a combination of state data and council estimates, since early 2023, 11,000 structures have been demolished, including 2,500 homes, leaving an estimated 10,000 people homeless.&lt;/p&gt;
  964.  
  965.  &lt;figure role="group" class="align-center media-block"&gt;
  966.  &lt;div class="group-inner"&gt;
  967.    &lt;div alt="Bedouin families watch as Israeli police demolish their village of al-Sir in the Negev desert on 17 September 2025 (Oren Zif/MEE)" data-embed-button="file_browser" data-entity-embed-display="image:image" data-entity-embed-display-settings="{" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="167f3720-add1-429f-88c8-01709a3e249f" data-langcode="en" class="embedded-entity"&gt;  &lt;img loading="lazy" src="https://www.middleeasteye.net/sites/default/files/israeli-forces-demolish-bedouin-village-al-sir-oren-zif-mee-17sep2025.jpg" width="1700" height="956" alt="Bedouin families watch as Israeli police demolish their village of al-Sir in the Negev desert on 17 September 2025 (Oren Zif/MEE)" typeof="foaf:Image"&gt;
  968.  
  969. &lt;/div&gt;
  970.  
  971.    &lt;figcaption&gt;Bedouin families watch as Israeli police demolish their village of al-Sir in the Negev desert on 17 September 2025 (Oren Ziv/MEE)&lt;/figcaption&gt;
  972.  &lt;/div&gt;
  973. &lt;/figure&gt;
  974.  
  975.  
  976. &lt;p&gt;&lt;span style="background:rgba(220,220,220,0.5);background-image:url(https://www.middleeasteye.net/modules/contrib/ckeditor/vendor/plugins/widget/images/handle.png);display:none;"&gt;&lt;img height="15" role="presentation" src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAPABAP///wAAACH5BAEKAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAICRAEAOw==" title="Click and drag to move" width="15" loading="lazy"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  977.  
  978. &lt;p&gt;&lt;span style="background:rgba(220,220,220,0.5);background-image:url(https://www.middleeasteye.net/modules/contrib/ckeditor/vendor/plugins/widget/images/handle.png);display:none;"&gt;&lt;img alt height="15" role="presentation" src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAPABAP///wAAACH5BAEKAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAICRAEAOw==" title="Click and drag to move" width="15" loading="lazy"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  979.  
  980. &lt;p&gt;&lt;span style="background:rgba(220,220,220,0.5);background-image:url(https://www.middleeasteye.net/modules/contrib/ckeditor/vendor/plugins/widget/images/handle.png);display:none;"&gt;&lt;img alt height="15" role="presentation" src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAPABAP///wAAACH5BAEKAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAICRAEAOw==" title="Click and drag to move" width="15" loading="lazy"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  981.  
  982. &lt;p&gt;&lt;span style="background:rgba(220,220,220,0.5);background-image:url(https://www.middleeasteye.net/modules/contrib/ckeditor/vendor/plugins/widget/images/handle.png);display:none;"&gt;&lt;img alt height="15" role="presentation" src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAPABAP///wAAACH5BAEKAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAICRAEAOw==" title="Click and drag to move" width="15" loading="lazy"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  983.  
  984. &lt;p&gt;&lt;span style="background: url(&amp;quot;https://www.middleeasteye.net/modules/contrib/ckeditor/vendor/plugins/widget/images/handle.png&amp;quot;) rgba(220, 220, 220, 0.5); top: -15px; left: 0px;"&gt;&lt;img alt height="15" role="presentation" src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAPABAP///wAAACH5BAEKAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAICRAEAOw==" title="Click and drag to move" width="15" loading="lazy"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  985.  
  986. &lt;p&gt;&lt;span style="background: url(&amp;quot;https://www.middleeasteye.net/modules/contrib/ckeditor/vendor/plugins/widget/images/handle.png&amp;quot;) rgba(220, 220, 220, 0.5); top: -15px; left: 0px;"&gt;&lt;img alt height="15" role="presentation" src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAPABAP///wAAACH5BAEKAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAICRAEAOw==" title="Click and drag to move" width="15" loading="lazy"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  987.  
  988. &lt;p&gt;&lt;span style="background:rgba(220,220,220,0.5);background-image:url(https://www.middleeasteye.net/modules/contrib/ckeditor/vendor/plugins/widget/images/handle.png);display:none;"&gt;&lt;img alt height="15" role="presentation" src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAPABAP///wAAACH5BAEKAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAICRAEAOw==" title="Click and drag to move" width="15" loading="lazy"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  989.  
  990. &lt;p&gt;&lt;span style="background:rgba(220,220,220,0.5);background-image:url(https://www.middleeasteye.net/modules/contrib/ckeditor/vendor/plugins/widget/images/handle.png);display:none;"&gt;&lt;img alt height="15" role="presentation" src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAPABAP///wAAACH5BAEKAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAICRAEAOw==" title="Click and drag to move" width="15" loading="lazy"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  991.  
  992. &lt;p&gt;&lt;span style="background: url(&amp;quot;https://www.middleeasteye.net/modules/contrib/ckeditor/vendor/plugins/widget/images/handle.png&amp;quot;) rgba(220, 220, 220, 0.5); top: -15px; left: 0px;"&gt;&lt;img alt height="15" role="presentation" src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAPABAP///wAAACH5BAEKAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAICRAEAOw==" title="Click and drag to move" width="15" loading="lazy"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  993.  
  994. &lt;p&gt;After police removed the residents, officers spread out between homes and on the surrounding hills, while bulldozers began the demolitions - a relatively easy task, as most buildings were constructed from aluminum sheets, which took only seconds to collapse.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
  995.  
  996. &lt;p&gt;The bulldozers didn’t spare the decades-old olive trees either.&lt;/p&gt;
  997.  
  998. &lt;p&gt;"I’m speechless," said Ziad al-Omrani, echoing the sentiments of many in the village. "It’s sad and infuriating. We were in talks with the authorities for over two months.&lt;/p&gt;
  999.  
  1000. &lt;p&gt;"They ignored us. Their only goal is destruction, not finding solutions for people. Just look at the force they brought here."&lt;/p&gt;
  1001.  
  1002. &lt;p&gt;He said he didn’t believe the state would come at them with such strength. In the past, families whose homes were destroyed would move in with relatives, but with entire neighbourhoods now being razed, community solidarity is no longer enough.&lt;/p&gt;
  1003.  
  1004. &lt;p&gt;"We’re law abiding, not criminals. They say we’re ‘invaders’ but… my family has been here for 80 years. We won’t move, we’ll pitch tents. Bedouins adapt."&lt;/p&gt;
  1005.  
  1006. &lt;h3&gt;No guarantees&lt;/h3&gt;
  1007.  
  1008. &lt;p style="line-height:1.38; margin-right:40px; margin-top:16px; margin-bottom:16px"&gt;On Tuesday, a meeting was held between the police and the Bedouin Authority, but the talks ended without any agreements.&lt;/p&gt;
  1009.  
  1010. &lt;p&gt;Village residents said that they were informed that they had less than two hours to demolish the entire neighbourhood.&lt;/p&gt;
  1011.  
  1012. &lt;p&gt;One resident, Ziad, said some villagers refused to demolish their homes the day before because no documents or guarantees were provided in writing.&lt;/p&gt;
  1013.  
  1014. &lt;p&gt;“If they had given us a paper to sign with our lawyers, we would have signed. But to give me two hours to destroy my own house without documents? They’d just use that to say, ‘you did it yourself, and that’s it,’” said Ali.&lt;/p&gt;
  1015.  
  1016. &lt;blockquote&gt;
  1017. &lt;p&gt;'We’re law-abiding, not criminals. They say we’re ‘invaders,’ but… My family has been here for 80 years'&lt;/p&gt;
  1018.  
  1019. &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;- Ziad Omrani, village resident&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  1020. &lt;/blockquote&gt;
  1021.  
  1022. &lt;p&gt;“We saw what happened to our neighbours who demolished their own homes, they weren’t given any solutions.”&lt;/p&gt;
  1023.  
  1024. &lt;p&gt;There is no guarantee that all residents whose homes were demolished will be eligible for plots in the new neighbourhood.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
  1025.  
  1026. &lt;p&gt;The new neighborhood is planned to include 1,700 housing units, mostly plots and a few apartment buildings.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
  1027.  
  1028. &lt;p&gt;Eligibility is not automatic: the Bedouin Authority must first recognise residents as eligible, then plots are allocated, and finally building permits are issued. But the last step depends on full infrastructure development, which often fails to materialise.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
  1029.  
  1030. &lt;p&gt;In recently recognised villages, only a small fraction of residents have actually received legal building permits.&lt;/p&gt;
  1031.  
  1032. &lt;h3&gt;'This too is ethnic cleansing'&lt;/h3&gt;
  1033.  
  1034. &lt;p data-end="369" data-start="44"&gt;Around 11am, police and bulldozers began to withdraw from the village. Inspectors put up yellow signs warning that construction on the site is prohibited. When residents approached the demolition area, police rushed back at the youths, threatening and pushing them away - a show of force to remind everyone who was in charge.&lt;/p&gt;
  1035.  
  1036. &lt;p data-end="369" data-start="44"&gt;Amid the ruins stood an educator from Shaqib al-Salam, who teaches children from the demolished neighbourhood. He handed out water to residents.&lt;/p&gt;
  1037.  
  1038. &lt;p data-end="468" data-is-last-node data-is-only-node data-start="371"&gt;"They [the children] didn’t know what they were waking up to, it came as a surprise. They are at an age where they are not aware of everything that’s going on," the teacher said.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
  1039.  
  1040. &lt;p data-end="468" data-is-last-node data-is-only-node data-start="371"&gt;"I, as an adult, have never seen images like this. It’s shocking and painful. We have students who now can’t do their homework, have nowhere to put their books, nowhere to shower before school."&lt;/p&gt;
  1041.  
  1042. &lt;p data-end="468" data-is-last-node data-is-only-node data-start="371"&gt;In June, thousands protested in Beersheba against the demolitions and launched a grassroots boycott of local businesses to demonstrate the power of Bedouin communities from surrounding unrecognised villages. Some businesses reported losses.&lt;/p&gt;
  1043.  
  1044.  &lt;figure role="group" class="align-center media-block"&gt;
  1045.  &lt;div class="group-inner"&gt;
  1046.    &lt;div alt="A Bedouin woman and children watch as Israeli police razes their home in al-Sir village on 17 September 2025 (Oren Zif/MEE)" data-embed-button="file_browser" data-entity-embed-display="image:image" data-entity-embed-display-settings="{" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="e16d9763-9a67-4713-a6c0-ea9cf2375664" data-langcode="en" class="embedded-entity"&gt;  &lt;img loading="lazy" src="https://www.middleeasteye.net/sites/default/files/bedouin-woman-watches-israel-police-raze-sir-village-oren-zif-mee-17sep2025.jpg" width="2200" height="1237" alt="A Bedouin woman and children watch as Israeli police razes their home in al-Sir village on 17 September 2025 (Oren Zif/MEE)" typeof="foaf:Image"&gt;
  1047.  
  1048. &lt;/div&gt;
  1049.  
  1050.    &lt;figcaption&gt;A Bedouin woman and children watch as Israeli police raze their home in al-Sir village on 17 September 2025 (Oren Ziv/MEE)&lt;/figcaption&gt;
  1051.  &lt;/div&gt;
  1052. &lt;/figure&gt;
  1053.  
  1054.  
  1055. &lt;p&gt;&lt;span style="background:rgba(220,220,220,0.5);background-image:url(https://www.middleeasteye.net/modules/contrib/ckeditor/vendor/plugins/widget/images/handle.png);display:none;"&gt;&lt;img height="15" role="presentation" src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAPABAP///wAAACH5BAEKAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAICRAEAOw==" title="Click and drag to move" width="15" loading="lazy"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  1056.  
  1057. &lt;p&gt;&lt;span style="background:rgba(220,220,220,0.5);background-image:url(https://www.middleeasteye.net/modules/contrib/ckeditor/vendor/plugins/widget/images/handle.png);display:none;"&gt;&lt;img alt height="15" role="presentation" src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAPABAP///wAAACH5BAEKAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAICRAEAOw==" title="Click and drag to move" width="15" loading="lazy"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  1058.  
  1059. &lt;p&gt;&lt;span style="background:rgba(220,220,220,0.5);background-image:url(https://www.middleeasteye.net/modules/contrib/ckeditor/vendor/plugins/widget/images/handle.png);display:none;"&gt;&lt;img alt height="15" role="presentation" src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAPABAP///wAAACH5BAEKAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAICRAEAOw==" title="Click and drag to move" width="15" loading="lazy"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  1060.  
  1061. &lt;p&gt;&lt;span style="background: url(&amp;quot;https://www.middleeasteye.net/modules/contrib/ckeditor/vendor/plugins/widget/images/handle.png&amp;quot;) rgba(220, 220, 220, 0.5); top: -15px; left: 0px;"&gt;&lt;img alt height="15" role="presentation" src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAPABAP///wAAACH5BAEKAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAICRAEAOw==" title="Click and drag to move" width="15" loading="lazy"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  1062.  
  1063. &lt;p&gt;&lt;span style="background: url(&amp;quot;https://www.middleeasteye.net/modules/contrib/ckeditor/vendor/plugins/widget/images/handle.png&amp;quot;) rgba(220, 220, 220, 0.5); top: -15px; left: 0px;"&gt;&lt;img alt height="15" role="presentation" src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAPABAP///wAAACH5BAEKAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAICRAEAOw==" title="Click and drag to move" width="15" loading="lazy"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  1064.  
  1065. &lt;p&gt;&lt;span style="background:rgba(220,220,220,0.5);background-image:url(https://www.middleeasteye.net/modules/contrib/ckeditor/vendor/plugins/widget/images/handle.png);display:none;"&gt;&lt;img alt height="15" role="presentation" src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAPABAP///wAAACH5BAEKAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAICRAEAOw==" title="Click and drag to move" width="15" loading="lazy"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  1066.  
  1067. &lt;p&gt;&lt;span style="background:rgba(220,220,220,0.5);background-image:url(https://www.middleeasteye.net/modules/contrib/ckeditor/vendor/plugins/widget/images/handle.png);display:none;"&gt;&lt;img alt height="15" role="presentation" src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAPABAP///wAAACH5BAEKAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAICRAEAOw==" title="Click and drag to move" width="15" loading="lazy"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  1068.  
  1069. &lt;p&gt;&lt;span style="background:rgba(220,220,220,0.5);background-image:url(https://www.middleeasteye.net/modules/contrib/ckeditor/vendor/plugins/widget/images/handle.png);display:none;"&gt;&lt;img alt height="15" role="presentation" src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAPABAP///wAAACH5BAEKAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAICRAEAOw==" title="Click and drag to move" width="15" loading="lazy"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  1070.  
  1071. &lt;p&gt;&lt;span style="background: url(&amp;quot;https://www.middleeasteye.net/modules/contrib/ckeditor/vendor/plugins/widget/images/handle.png&amp;quot;) rgba(220, 220, 220, 0.5); top: -15px; left: 0px;"&gt;&lt;img alt height="15" role="presentation" src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAPABAP///wAAACH5BAEKAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAICRAEAOw==" title="Click and drag to move" width="15" loading="lazy"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  1072.  
  1073. &lt;p data-end="300" data-start="58"&gt;This week, protests and calls for a boycott resumed, with around 1,500 people demonstrating on Thursday in front of the Government Complex.&lt;/p&gt;
  1074.  
  1075. &lt;p data-end="723" data-start="445"&gt;Huda Abu Obaid, executive director of the Negev Coexistence Forum, which advocates for Bedouin rights in southern Israel, said the protests reflect growing public anger.&lt;/p&gt;
  1076.  
  1077. &lt;p data-end="723" data-start="445"&gt;She also noted the close family and community ties between Palestinians &lt;a href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/topics/israel-genocide-gaza"&gt;in Gaza&lt;/a&gt; and Bedouins in the Negev.&lt;/p&gt;
  1078.  
  1079. &lt;p data-end="949" data-start="725"&gt;"We don’t always say it openly, but people are also protesting to express their anger at what’s happening in Gaza," she said.&lt;/p&gt;
  1080.  
  1081. &lt;p data-end="949" data-start="725"&gt;"They can’t always say it clearly, but this too is displacement, expulsion and ethnic cleansing."&lt;/p&gt;
  1082.  
  1083. &lt;p data-end="949" data-start="725"&gt;&lt;em&gt;This article was&amp;nbsp;originally published in Hebrew in Sikha Mekomit.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  1084. &lt;/div&gt;
  1085.                  &lt;div class="field field-field-topic"&gt;&lt;a href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/topics/occupation" hreflang="en"&gt;Occupation&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
  1086.            &lt;div class="field field-field-coauthor-location"&gt;
  1087.              &lt;div&gt; &lt;/div&gt;
  1088.              &lt;div&gt; &lt;/div&gt;
  1089.              &lt;div&gt; &lt;/div&gt;
  1090.              &lt;div&gt; &lt;/div&gt;
  1091.          &lt;/div&gt;
  1092.              &lt;div class="field field-field-article-location"&gt;al-Sir, Israel&lt;/div&gt;
  1093.                  &lt;div class="field field-field-section"&gt;&lt;a href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/all" hreflang="en"&gt;News&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
  1094.        &lt;div class="field field-field-post-date-override"&gt;
  1095.    &lt;div&gt;Post Date Override&lt;/div&gt;
  1096.              &lt;div&gt;0&lt;/div&gt;
  1097.          &lt;/div&gt;
  1098.  &lt;div class="field field-field-update-date-override"&gt;
  1099.    &lt;div&gt;Update Date&lt;/div&gt;
  1100.              &lt;div&gt;&lt;time datetime="2020-05-04T21:19:45+01:00"&gt;Mon, 05/04/2020 - 21:19&lt;/time&gt;
  1101. &lt;/div&gt;
  1102.          &lt;/div&gt;
  1103.  &lt;div class="field field-field-update-date-check"&gt;
  1104.    &lt;div&gt;Update Date Override&lt;/div&gt;
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  1106.          &lt;/div&gt;
  1107.  
  1108.  &lt;/div&gt;
  1109.  
  1110. &lt;/article&gt;
  1111. </description>
  1112.  <pubDate>Thu, 18 Sep 2025 16:42:32 +0100</pubDate>
  1113.    <dc:creator>Oren Ziv</dc:creator>
  1114.    <guid isPermaLink="false">428817 at https://www.middleeasteye.net/</guid>
  1115.    </item>
  1116. <item>
  1117.  <title>MPs demand assurances RAF Gaza spy plane footage is retained</title>
  1118.  <link>https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/mps-demand-assurances-raf-gaza-spy-plane-evidence</link>
  1119.  <description>
  1120.  
  1121.  
  1122. &lt;article data-history-node-id="428821" about="https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/mps-demand-assurances-raf-gaza-spy-plane-evidence" class="story default clearfix"&gt;
  1123.  
  1124.  
  1125.      &lt;h2&gt;
  1126.      &lt;a href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/mps-demand-assurances-raf-gaza-spy-plane-evidence" rel="bookmark"&gt;
  1127. &lt;span class="field field-title"&gt;MPs demand assurances RAF Gaza spy plane footage is retained&lt;/span&gt;
  1128. &lt;/a&gt;
  1129.    &lt;/h2&gt;
  1130.    
  1131.  
  1132.          &lt;footer&gt;
  1133.      
  1134.      &lt;div class="author"&gt;
  1135.        Submitted by
  1136. &lt;span class="field field-uid"&gt;&lt;a title="View user profile." href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/users/dania-akkad" lang about="https://www.middleeasteye.net/users/dania-akkad" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype&gt;Dania Akkad&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;
  1137. on
  1138. &lt;span class="field field-created"&gt;&lt;time datetime="2025-09-18T14:23:16+01:00" title="18 September 2025 14:23 BST"&gt;Thu, 09/18/2025 - 14:23&lt;/time&gt;
  1139. &lt;/span&gt;
  1140.        
  1141.      &lt;/div&gt;
  1142.    &lt;/footer&gt;
  1143.      
  1144.    &lt;div class="content"&gt;
  1145.                &lt;div class="field field-field-subhead"&gt;Parliamentary committee scrutinising UK arms exports to Israel presses ministers to make sure surveillance data from hundreds of flights is not destroyed&lt;/div&gt;
  1146.                  &lt;div class="field field-field-main-image"&gt;    &lt;picture&gt;
  1147.                  &lt;source srcset="https://www.middleeasteye.net/sites/default/files/styles/article_page/public/images-story/Gaza-SatelliteImage-May2025.AFP_.jpg.webp?itok=YAFY5x1K 1x" type="image/webp" width="1400" height="788"&gt;
  1148.                  &lt;img srcset="https://www.middleeasteye.net/sites/default/files/styles/article_page/public/images-story/Gaza-SatelliteImage-May2025.AFP_.jpg.webp?itok=YAFY5x1K 1x" width="1400" height="788" src="https://www.middleeasteye.net/sites/default/files/styles/max_2600x2600/public/images-story/Gaza-SatelliteImage-May2025.AFP_.jpg.jpg?itok=DeXERRuy" alt typeof="foaf:Image" fetchpriority="high"&gt;
  1149.  
  1150.  &lt;/picture&gt;
  1151.  
  1152. &lt;/div&gt;
  1153.                  &lt;div class="field field-field-cutline"&gt;Satellite image from May 2025 shows an area around Rafah in the southern Gaza where a new aid distribution centre, run by a US-backed group, was setting up (Planet Labs PBC/AFP)&lt;/div&gt;
  1154.                  &lt;div class="field field-field-wide-photo-video"&gt;Off&lt;/div&gt;
  1155.                  &lt;div class="field field-body clearfix"&gt;&lt;p style="line-height:1.38"&gt;&lt;a href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/countries/uk"&gt;British&lt;/a&gt; MPs have asked the government for assurances that any surveillance data collected by Royal Air Force flights over &lt;a href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/topics/israel-genocide-gaza"&gt;Gaza&lt;/a&gt; will not be destroyed.&lt;/p&gt;
  1156.  
  1157. &lt;p&gt;The request is among a set of demands from the &lt;a href="https://committees.parliament.uk/committee/783/business-and-trade-subcommittee-on-economic-security-arms-and-export-controls/"&gt;business and trade subcommittee&lt;/a&gt; on economic security, arms and export controls laid out in &lt;a href="https://committees.parliament.uk/publications/49540/documents/263980/default/"&gt;a letter &lt;/a&gt;to the business, defence and Middle East ministers&amp;nbsp;following a tense hearing about UK arms exports to Israel on Monday.&lt;/p&gt;
  1158.  
  1159. &lt;p&gt;The government has repeatedly said that the sole purpose of the hundreds of RAF flights sent over Gaza &lt;a href="https://ukdefencejournal.org.uk/raf-flies-250-surveillance-flights-near-gaza-in-six-months/"&gt;since December 2023&lt;/a&gt; is for locating hostages held by Hamas.&lt;/p&gt;
  1160.  
  1161. &lt;p&gt;However, experts &lt;a href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/british-government-urged-share-gaza-war-crime-evidence-and-cooperate-fully-icc"&gt;say&lt;/a&gt; it is likely that the flights will have inadvertently picked up evidence of potential war crimes.&lt;/p&gt;
  1162.  
  1163. &lt;p&gt;The defence ministry &lt;a href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/british-government-urged-share-gaza-war-crime-evidence-and-cooperate-fully-icc"&gt;said last year&lt;/a&gt; that it would consider sharing potential evidence gathered by spy planes with the International Criminal Court if asked.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;div class="block-adsense block-adsense-managed-ad-block"&gt;&lt;div&gt;
  1164.  &lt;div class="adsense responsive"&gt;
  1165.    &lt;script async src="https://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/js/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-6114695881218027" crossorigin="anonymous"&gt;&lt;/script&gt;
  1166. &lt;!-- responsive --&gt;
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  1168. &lt;script&gt;
  1169.     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});
  1170. &lt;/script&gt;
  1171.  &lt;/div&gt;
  1172. &lt;/div&gt;
  1173. &lt;/div&gt;
  1174.  
  1175. &lt;p&gt;But it has remained unclear how - or if - the information is being stored and whether it is being shared with the Foreign Office to inform its assessments of Israel’s risk of committing genocide or other serious violations of international humanitarian law in Gaza.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
  1176.  
  1177. &lt;p&gt;The MPs have asked the ministers to clarify whether the Foreign Office has asked the Ministry of Defence for the intelligence from the reconnaissance flights for the assessments.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
  1178.  
  1179. &lt;p&gt;“If the FCDO has requested this information, please detail what information was provided and how it informed the FCDO’s assessment,"&amp;nbsp;Liam Byrne, the Labour MP who chairs the committee, wrote in a letter addressed to Chris Bryant, the business and trade minister; Luke Pollard, defence minister; and Hamish Falconer,&amp;nbsp;the Middle East minister.&lt;/p&gt;
  1180.  
  1181. &lt;p&gt;"If the FCDO has not requested this information, please explain why not."&lt;/p&gt;
  1182.  
  1183. &lt;h3&gt;F-35 questions continue&lt;/h3&gt;
  1184.  
  1185. &lt;p&gt;Over the past year or so, the subcommittee has doggedly pursued answers about the government’s arms export decision-making and policies in relation to the war in Gaza.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;div class="block-adsense block-adsense-managed-ad-block"&gt;&lt;div&gt;
  1186.  &lt;div class="adsense responsive"&gt;
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  1190. &lt;script&gt;
  1191.     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});
  1192. &lt;/script&gt;
  1193.  &lt;/div&gt;
  1194. &lt;/div&gt;
  1195. &lt;/div&gt;
  1196.  
  1197. &lt;p&gt;One major focus of the subcommittee has been on F-35 fighter jets and the continued export of UK-made components to a global F-35 pool which supplies Israel with spare parts.&lt;/p&gt;
  1198.  
  1199. &lt;blockquote&gt;
  1200. &lt;p&gt;'I do not understand how you can sit there and say the F-35s are not involved in Gaza when the Israeli Air Force is saying how many hours it has done'&lt;/p&gt;
  1201.  
  1202. &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;-&amp;nbsp;Charlie Maynard MP&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  1203. &lt;/blockquote&gt;
  1204.  
  1205. &lt;p&gt;The government has repeatedly said that, while it could stop F-35 components from going directly to Israel, it could not halt the export of the parts to the global pool without quickly disrupting the global F-35 fleet, which it said would threaten global peace and security.&lt;/p&gt;
  1206.  
  1207. &lt;p&gt;Campaigners and human rights groups have accused the UK government of breaching its own human rights and international law obligations by continuing to allow their export to the pool.&lt;/p&gt;
  1208.  
  1209. &lt;p&gt;The High Court ruled in May in a challenge brought by Palestinian human rights group Al-Haq and the UK-based Global Legal Action Network that Britain’s decision to allow the parts to be sent to the global pool was lawful.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
  1210.  
  1211. &lt;p&gt;The groups announced last month that they will appeal the decision.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
  1212.  
  1213. &lt;p&gt;During Monday’s hearing, the Department for Business and Trade confirmed that there are currently 55 active licences for the export of military-use items to Israel, nine of which are related to the export of F-35 parts.&lt;/p&gt;
  1214.  
  1215. &lt;p&gt;Middle East minister Falconer said he thought 40 of the 300 combat aircraft available to the Israelis were F-35s. The UK government is not notified about the use of the F-35 by Israel, he added, saying he suspected “that the F-35 is not used regularly”.&lt;/p&gt;
  1216.  
  1217. &lt;p&gt;“I think the Israelis believed the strike in July 2024 was against a particularly high-value target, senior in the leadership of Hamas,” he said, referring to the &lt;a href="https://www.information.dk/indland/2024/09/danskudstyrede-kampfly-deltog-angreb-gaza-store-civile-tab?check_logged_in=1&amp;amp;kupon=eyJpYXQiOjE3MjUyNTUwMjEsInN1YiI6IjQ3Mjg3Njo4MjM1NzYifQ.7k2QM_MAdcaUS-pePhgxtQ"&gt;13 July attack&lt;/a&gt; which killed Mohammed Deif.&amp;nbsp;The attack killed at least 90&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palestinians" title="Palestinians"&gt;Palestinians&lt;/a&gt;, including women and children, and injured over 300.&lt;/p&gt;
  1218.  
  1219. &lt;p&gt;“We would be surprised if it were being used with any great regularity, but it is difficult to give the committee very precise answers on that, given the constraints on the information available.”&lt;/p&gt;
  1220.  
  1221. &lt;p&gt;In response, Liberal Democrat MP Charlie Maynard accused the government of being “wilfully ignorant” about the use of the fighter jet.&lt;/p&gt;
  1222.  
  1223. &lt;div class="mee-readmore mee-readmore-article-story mee-readmore-type-image align-right"&gt;
  1224.  &lt;a class="mee-readmore-img-link" href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/uk-unlikely-judge-risk-genocide-without-access-israeli-intelligence"&gt;&lt;img class="mee-readmore-image" src="https://www.middleeasteye.net/sites/default/files/styles/read_more/public/images-story/UK-Falconer-Subcommitee-15Sept2025-ParliamentTV.jpg.webp?itok=voc4HgAI" width="400" height="250" alt loading="lazy" typeof="foaf:Image"&gt;
  1225.  
  1226. &lt;/a&gt;  &lt;div class="mee-readmore-description"&gt;UK Middle East minister says assessing Israeli genocidal intent in Gaza 'difficult'&lt;/div&gt;
  1227.    &lt;a class="mee-readmore-link" href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/uk-unlikely-judge-risk-genocide-without-access-israeli-intelligence"&gt;Read More »&lt;/a&gt;
  1228. &lt;/div&gt;
  1229.  
  1230. &lt;p&gt;“The Israeli Air Force itself has tweeted that, since October 2023, the service’s F-35s have flown more than 15,000 operational flight hours, taking part in thousands of sorties in all theatres,” said Maynard.&lt;/p&gt;
  1231.  
  1232. &lt;p&gt;“I do not understand how you can sit there and say the F-35s are not involved in Gaza when the Israeli Air Force is saying how many hours it has done.”&lt;/p&gt;
  1233.  
  1234. &lt;p&gt;Falconer said: “With respect, Mr Maynard, in the year that I have been the minister, Israel has flown aircraft in lots of different places. A sortie is not the same as a strike, and it is to be expected that, with 40 aircraft, there is quite a lot done.”&lt;/p&gt;
  1235.  
  1236. &lt;p&gt;Maynard again insisted that the government was being wilfully ignorant. “We have planes going over there and can see bombs being dropped. We can join those dots, and we are choosing not to,” he said.&lt;/p&gt;
  1237.  
  1238. &lt;p&gt;“I am telling the committee,” Falconer responded, “that every piece of evidence that is before me and every piece of evidence that is before the foreign secretary, we consider.”&lt;/p&gt;
  1239.  
  1240. &lt;p&gt;In their follow up letter, the committee has asked ministers to clarify whether the UK has asked Israel if F-35s have been used in Gaza beyond the attack that killed Deif and for a detailed breakdown and description of the exports under the 55 active licences.&lt;/p&gt;
  1241.  
  1242. &lt;p&gt;The committee has asked for a response by 30 September.&lt;/p&gt;
  1243. &lt;/div&gt;
  1244.                  &lt;div class="field field-field-topic"&gt;&lt;a href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/topics/israel-genocide-gaza" hreflang="en"&gt;Israel's genocide in Gaza&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
  1245.            &lt;div class="field field-field-coauthor-location"&gt;
  1246.              &lt;div&gt; &lt;/div&gt;
  1247.              &lt;div&gt; &lt;/div&gt;
  1248.              &lt;div&gt; &lt;/div&gt;
  1249.              &lt;div&gt; &lt;/div&gt;
  1250.          &lt;/div&gt;
  1251.              &lt;div class="field field-field-article-location"&gt; &lt;/div&gt;
  1252.                  &lt;div class="field field-field-section"&gt;&lt;a href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/all" hreflang="en"&gt;News&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
  1253.        &lt;div class="field field-field-post-date-override"&gt;
  1254.    &lt;div&gt;Post Date Override&lt;/div&gt;
  1255.              &lt;div&gt;0&lt;/div&gt;
  1256.          &lt;/div&gt;
  1257.  &lt;div class="field field-field-update-date-override"&gt;
  1258.    &lt;div&gt;Update Date&lt;/div&gt;
  1259.              &lt;div&gt;&lt;time datetime="2020-05-04T21:19:45+01:00"&gt;Mon, 05/04/2020 - 21:19&lt;/time&gt;
  1260. &lt;/div&gt;
  1261.          &lt;/div&gt;
  1262.  &lt;div class="field field-field-update-date-check"&gt;
  1263.    &lt;div&gt;Update Date Override&lt;/div&gt;
  1264.              &lt;div&gt;0&lt;/div&gt;
  1265.          &lt;/div&gt;
  1266.  
  1267.  &lt;/div&gt;
  1268.  
  1269. &lt;/article&gt;
  1270. </description>
  1271.  <pubDate>Thu, 18 Sep 2025 16:36:00 +0100</pubDate>
  1272.    <dc:creator>Dania Akkad</dc:creator>
  1273.    <guid isPermaLink="false">428821 at https://www.middleeasteye.net/</guid>
  1274.    </item>
  1275. <item>
  1276.  <title>Gaza City communication blackout isolates 800,000 Palestinians</title>
  1277.  <link>https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/gaza-city-communication-blackout-isolates-800000-palestinians</link>
  1278.  <description>
  1279.  
  1280.  
  1281. &lt;article data-history-node-id="428819" about="https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/gaza-city-communication-blackout-isolates-800000-palestinians" class="story default clearfix"&gt;
  1282.  
  1283.  
  1284.      &lt;h2&gt;
  1285.      &lt;a href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/gaza-city-communication-blackout-isolates-800000-palestinians" rel="bookmark"&gt;
  1286. &lt;span class="field field-title"&gt;Gaza City communication blackout isolates 800,000 Palestinians&lt;/span&gt;
  1287. &lt;/a&gt;
  1288.    &lt;/h2&gt;
  1289.    
  1290.  
  1291.          &lt;footer&gt;
  1292.      
  1293.      &lt;div class="author"&gt;
  1294.        Submitted by
  1295. &lt;span class="field field-uid"&gt;&lt;a title="View user profile." href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/users/ahmed-dremly" lang about="https://www.middleeasteye.net/users/ahmed-dremly" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype&gt;Ahmed Dremly&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;
  1296. on
  1297. &lt;span class="field field-created"&gt;&lt;time datetime="2025-09-18T08:52:52+01:00" title="18 September 2025 08:52 BST"&gt;Thu, 09/18/2025 - 08:52&lt;/time&gt;
  1298. &lt;/span&gt;
  1299.        
  1300.      &lt;/div&gt;
  1301.    &lt;/footer&gt;
  1302.      
  1303.    &lt;div class="content"&gt;
  1304.                &lt;div class="field field-field-subhead"&gt;Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor says shutdown of internet and telecommunication is 'silencing' Palestinians voices amid Israeli assaults&lt;/div&gt;
  1305.                  &lt;div class="field field-field-main-image"&gt;    &lt;picture&gt;
  1306.                  &lt;source srcset="https://www.middleeasteye.net/sites/default/files/styles/article_page/public/images-story/palestinian-woman-cries-gaza-city-israel-kills-attacks-septermber-2025-reuters.JPG.webp?itok=dunWJ4I9 1x" type="image/webp" width="1400" height="787"&gt;
  1307.                  &lt;img srcset="https://www.middleeasteye.net/sites/default/files/styles/article_page/public/images-story/palestinian-woman-cries-gaza-city-israel-kills-attacks-septermber-2025-reuters.JPG.webp?itok=dunWJ4I9 1x" width="1400" height="787" src="https://www.middleeasteye.net/sites/default/files/styles/max_2600x2600/public/images-story/palestinian-woman-cries-gaza-city-israel-kills-attacks-septermber-2025-reuters.JPG.jpg?itok=I5MDQsLz" alt="A Palestinian woman cries during the funeral of Palestinians killed in overnight Israeli strikes at al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, 17 September, 2025 (Reuters/Dawoud Abu Alkas)" typeof="foaf:Image" fetchpriority="high"&gt;
  1308.  
  1309.  &lt;/picture&gt;
  1310.  
  1311. &lt;/div&gt;
  1312.                  &lt;div class="field field-field-cutline"&gt;A Palestinian woman cries during the funeral of Palestinians killed in overnight Israeli strikes at al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, 17 September 2025 (Reuters/Dawoud Abu Alkas)&lt;/div&gt;
  1313.                  &lt;div class="field field-field-wide-photo-video"&gt;Off&lt;/div&gt;
  1314.                  &lt;div class="field field-body clearfix"&gt;&lt;p&gt;As a result of &lt;a href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/countries/israel"&gt;Israel&lt;/a&gt;'s ongoing deadly bombardment of &lt;a href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/topics/israel-genocide-gaza"&gt;Gaza &lt;/a&gt;City's infrastructure, nearly one million &lt;a href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/countries/palestine"&gt;Palestinians &lt;/a&gt;have been left in a total internet and telecommunications blackout.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
  1315.  
  1316. &lt;p&gt;While network in a few parts of the city have been restored, such as in the Baptist Hospital area, internet access remains shut down across most of Gaza City.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
  1317.  
  1318. &lt;p&gt;The shutdown of communications in the city began on Wednesday, coinciding with the advance of Israeli army vehicles into the city's northwestern neighbourhoods&lt;/p&gt;
  1319.  
  1320. &lt;p&gt;The situation is extremely tense, with widespread fears over what will unfold in the coming days.&lt;/p&gt;
  1321.  
  1322. &lt;p&gt;Palestinians on the ground told Middle East Eye that they are going through the worst stages of genocide in Gaza.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;div class="block-adsense block-adsense-managed-ad-block"&gt;&lt;div&gt;
  1323.  &lt;div class="adsense responsive"&gt;
  1324.    &lt;script async src="https://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/js/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-6114695881218027" crossorigin="anonymous"&gt;&lt;/script&gt;
  1325. &lt;!-- responsive --&gt;
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  1327. &lt;script&gt;
  1328.     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});
  1329. &lt;/script&gt;
  1330.  &lt;/div&gt;
  1331. &lt;/div&gt;
  1332. &lt;/div&gt;
  1333.  
  1334. &lt;p&gt;The newest Israeli offensive in Gaza City and northern parts of the blockaded strip - spanning a month - is part of a wider plan to fully occupy the territory.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
  1335.  
  1336. &lt;p&gt;Since 11 August when the campaign began, 3,542 people have been killed across the besieged enclave, with over 44 percent in Israeli-designated "safe zones," to where much of the north's population is being forcibly expelled, the government media office reported on Thursday.&lt;/p&gt;
  1337.  
  1338. &lt;p&gt;Due to the danger and overcrowding in these so-called humanitarian zones in the south, many residents living north of the Gaza Strip are refusing to be displaced.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
  1339.  
  1340. &lt;blockquote&gt;
  1341. &lt;p&gt;'Relentless bombardments, collapsing high-rises, and destroyed internet infrastructure have left Gaza City in total blackout'&lt;/p&gt;
  1342.  
  1343. &lt;p&gt;- &lt;em&gt;Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  1344. &lt;/blockquote&gt;
  1345.  
  1346. &lt;p&gt;The UN’s top investigative body on Palestine and Israel ruled on Tuesday that Israel is &lt;a href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/un-concludes-israel-guilty-genocide-gaza"&gt;guilty &lt;/a&gt;of the crime of &lt;a href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/israel-gaza-why-experts-say-genocide-international-law"&gt;genocide &lt;/a&gt;in Gaza, in the most authoritative pronouncement to date.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
  1347.  
  1348. &lt;p&gt;Over&amp;nbsp;65,141 Palestinians have been killed since Israel launched its genocidal campaign on the besieged enclave more than 23 months ago.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
  1349.  
  1350. &lt;p&gt;A warning on X published by Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor (Euromed)&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href="https://x.com/EuroMedHR/status/1968312278908043271"&gt;said &lt;/a&gt;that "relentless bombardments, collapsing high-rises, and destroyed internet infrastructure have left Gaza City in total blackout".&lt;/p&gt;
  1351.  
  1352. &lt;p&gt;With Israel effectively cutting off communication in most of the city, Euromed estimates the blackout isolates around 800,000 Palestinians, saying it is "silencing their voices as Israel attacks escalate".&lt;/p&gt;
  1353.  
  1354. &lt;p&gt;Although Israel launched a number of deadly massacres within the city, the Israeli-manufactured blackout ensured that there would be little to no media coverage.&lt;/p&gt;
  1355.  
  1356. &lt;p&gt;Most journalists rely on the method of using an e-SIM to continue their reporting, which requires&amp;nbsp;seeking higher ground to receive a signal - such as connecting from rooftops of towers and high-rise buildings.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
  1357.  
  1358. &lt;p&gt;However, with Israel's latest assault on multi-storey buildings with or without expulsion threats, in the current situation, it is frightening for journalists and civilians to utilise these areas.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
  1359.  
  1360. &lt;h3&gt;Killer robots&amp;nbsp;&lt;/h3&gt;
  1361.  
  1362. &lt;p&gt;Israel's deliberate targeting of telecommunication and internet infrastructure in the besieged enclave is not the first of its kind, with at least 12 cases of complete shutdowns reported since October 2023.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;div class="block-adsense block-adsense-managed-ad-block"&gt;&lt;div&gt;
  1363.  &lt;div class="adsense responsive"&gt;
  1364.    &lt;script async src="https://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/js/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-6114695881218027" crossorigin="anonymous"&gt;&lt;/script&gt;
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  1367. &lt;script&gt;
  1368.     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});
  1369. &lt;/script&gt;
  1370.  &lt;/div&gt;
  1371. &lt;/div&gt;
  1372. &lt;/div&gt;
  1373.  
  1374. &lt;p&gt;In June,&amp;nbsp;Israel launched a &lt;a href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/israeli-attacks-gaza-kill-civilians-aid-distribution-centres-displacement-tents-and"&gt;significant attack&lt;/a&gt; on the last remaining main fiber optic route connecting Gaza, leaving the over two million population isolated from the outside world for days.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
  1375.  
  1376. &lt;div class="mee-readmore mee-readmore-article-story mee-readmore-type-image align-right"&gt;
  1377.  &lt;a class="mee-readmore-img-link" href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/israel-flood-gaza-city-explosive-laden-robots-report-says"&gt;&lt;img class="mee-readmore-image" src="https://www.middleeasteye.net/sites/default/files/styles/read_more/public/images-story/Israel-soldiers-tanks-apcs-near-Gaza-boundary-16-September-2025-Reuters.jpg.webp?itok=1F94caQl" width="400" height="250" alt loading="lazy" typeof="foaf:Image"&gt;
  1378.  
  1379. &lt;/a&gt;  &lt;div class="mee-readmore-description"&gt;Israel to flood Gaza City with explosive-laden robots, report says&lt;/div&gt;
  1380.    &lt;a class="mee-readmore-link" href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/israel-flood-gaza-city-explosive-laden-robots-report-says"&gt;Read More »&lt;/a&gt;
  1381. &lt;/div&gt;
  1382.  
  1383. &lt;p&gt;The military has regularly targeted other notable infrastructure, buildings and shelters necessary for the humanitarian livelihood of Gaza's population for the over 700 days.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
  1384.  
  1385. &lt;p&gt;Most recently, Gaza City and the northern part of the enclave have suffered immense assaults carried out by Israeli shelling and deadly robots.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
  1386.  
  1387. &lt;p&gt;According to Israeli media, the explosions are so powerful that some have been heard as far away as central Israel.&lt;/p&gt;
  1388.  
  1389. &lt;p&gt;Palestinians&amp;nbsp;say the blasts are “earth-shaking” and cause widespread terror and destruction in their wake.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
  1390.  
  1391. &lt;p&gt;At least 100 explosive robots were used in densely populated areas between 13 August and 3 September alone, according to the Gaza-based Government Media Office.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
  1392.  
  1393. &lt;p&gt;Euromed &lt;a href="https://euromedmonitor.org/en/article/6844/Around-300-Gaza-residential-units-destroyed-each-day-by-Israeli-army%E2%80%99s-explosive-laden-robots"&gt;said&lt;/a&gt; at the beginning of September&amp;nbsp;that around 300 residential units are being destroyed daily due to these explosions.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
  1394. &lt;/div&gt;
  1395.                  &lt;div class="field field-field-topic"&gt;&lt;a href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/topics/israel-genocide-gaza" hreflang="en"&gt;Israel's genocide in Gaza&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
  1396.            &lt;div class="field field-field-coauthor"&gt;
  1397.              &lt;div&gt;&lt;a href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/users/mera-aladam" hreflang="en"&gt;Mera Aladam&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
  1398.          &lt;/div&gt;
  1399.        &lt;div class="field field-field-coauthor-location"&gt;
  1400.              &lt;div&gt; &lt;/div&gt;
  1401.              &lt;div&gt; &lt;/div&gt;
  1402.              &lt;div&gt; &lt;/div&gt;
  1403.              &lt;div&gt; &lt;/div&gt;
  1404.          &lt;/div&gt;
  1405.              &lt;div class="field field-field-article-location"&gt;Gaza City, occupied Palestine&lt;/div&gt;
  1406.                  &lt;div class="field field-field-section"&gt;&lt;a href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/all" hreflang="en"&gt;News&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
  1407.        &lt;div class="field field-field-post-date-override"&gt;
  1408.    &lt;div&gt;Post Date Override&lt;/div&gt;
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  1412.    &lt;div&gt;Update Date&lt;/div&gt;
  1413.              &lt;div&gt;&lt;time datetime="2020-05-04T21:19:45+01:00"&gt;Mon, 05/04/2020 - 21:19&lt;/time&gt;
  1414. &lt;/div&gt;
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  1419.          &lt;/div&gt;
  1420.  
  1421.  &lt;/div&gt;
  1422.  
  1423. &lt;/article&gt;
  1424. </description>
  1425.  <pubDate>Thu, 18 Sep 2025 16:02:44 +0100</pubDate>
  1426.    <dc:creator>Ahmed Dremly</dc:creator>
  1427.    <guid isPermaLink="false">428819 at https://www.middleeasteye.net/</guid>
  1428.    </item>
  1429. <item>
  1430.  <title>Israel fails to comply with UN’s 12-month deadline to end occupation</title>
  1431.  <link>https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/un-12-month-deadline-israel-end-occupation-expires</link>
  1432.  <description>
  1433.  
  1434.  
  1435. &lt;article data-history-node-id="428797" about="https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/un-12-month-deadline-israel-end-occupation-expires" class="story default clearfix"&gt;
  1436.  
  1437.  
  1438.      &lt;h2&gt;
  1439.      &lt;a href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/un-12-month-deadline-israel-end-occupation-expires" rel="bookmark"&gt;
  1440. &lt;span class="field field-title"&gt;Israel fails to comply with UN’s 12-month deadline to end occupation&lt;/span&gt;
  1441. &lt;/a&gt;
  1442.    &lt;/h2&gt;
  1443.    
  1444.  
  1445.          &lt;footer&gt;
  1446.      
  1447.      &lt;div class="author"&gt;
  1448.        Submitted by
  1449. &lt;span class="field field-uid"&gt;&lt;a title="View user profile." href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/SondosAsem" lang about="https://www.middleeasteye.net/SondosAsem" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype&gt;Sondos Asem&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;
  1450. on
  1451. &lt;span class="field field-created"&gt;&lt;time datetime="2025-09-18T08:45:02+01:00" title="18 September 2025 08:45 BST"&gt;Thu, 09/18/2025 - 08:45&lt;/time&gt;
  1452. &lt;/span&gt;
  1453.        
  1454.      &lt;/div&gt;
  1455.    &lt;/footer&gt;
  1456.      
  1457.    &lt;div class="content"&gt;
  1458.                &lt;div class="field field-field-subhead"&gt;The Hague Group is set to declare collective measures against Israel at the UN General Assembly after the expiry of the one-year ultimatum of 18 September&lt;/div&gt;
  1459.                  &lt;div class="field field-field-main-image"&gt;    &lt;picture&gt;
  1460.                  &lt;source srcset="https://www.middleeasteye.net/sites/default/files/styles/article_page/public/images-story/israeli-tanks-gaza-17-sep-2025-reuters.jpg.webp?itok=YchEQAI2 1x" type="image/webp" width="1400" height="788"&gt;
  1461.                  &lt;img srcset="https://www.middleeasteye.net/sites/default/files/styles/article_page/public/images-story/israeli-tanks-gaza-17-sep-2025-reuters.jpg.webp?itok=YchEQAI2 1x" width="1400" height="788" src="https://www.middleeasteye.net/sites/default/files/styles/max_2600x2600/public/images-story/israeli-tanks-gaza-17-sep-2025-reuters.jpg.jpg?itok=c_dlQ1WZ" alt="Israeli military vehicles near the boundary with Gaza, in Israel, on 17 September 2025 (Amir Cohen/Reuters)" typeof="foaf:Image" fetchpriority="high"&gt;
  1462.  
  1463.  &lt;/picture&gt;
  1464.  
  1465. &lt;/div&gt;
  1466.                  &lt;div class="field field-field-cutline"&gt;Israeli military vehicles near the boundary with Gaza, in Israel, on 17 September 2025 (Amir Cohen/Reuters)&lt;/div&gt;
  1467.                  &lt;div class="field field-field-wide-photo-video"&gt;Off&lt;/div&gt;
  1468.                  &lt;div class="field field-body clearfix"&gt;&lt;p&gt;The United Nations' 12-month deadline for &lt;a href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/countries/israel"&gt;Israel&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;to end its &lt;a href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/topics/israel-genocide-gaza"&gt;occupation&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;of the &lt;a href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/countries/palestine"&gt;Palestinian&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;territories of Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem is expiring on Thursday.&lt;/p&gt;
  1469.  
  1470. &lt;p&gt;On 18 September 2024, the UN General Assembly (UNGA) adopted &lt;a href="https://docs.un.org/en/A/RES/ES-10/24"&gt;a resolution&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;that called on Israel to withdraw from occupied territory and for all states to take effective action against Israel’s violations of international law, including accountability, sanctions and cessation of support, within one year.&lt;/p&gt;
  1471.  
  1472. &lt;p&gt;The resolution was hailed as a “&lt;a href="https://press.un.org/en/2024/ga12626.doc.htm"&gt;historic&lt;/a&gt;” vote, with a two-third majority of states (124) voting in favour, 14 against and 43 abstentions.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
  1473.  
  1474. &lt;p&gt;The UNGA demanded Israel comply with international law by: withdrawing from all occupied Palestinian territory; ending settlement activity, discriminatory laws, and measures altering Jerusalem’s status quo; returning seized land, property, and cultural assets; allowing displaced Palestinians to return; providing reparations; fully implementing International Court of Justice (ICJ) provisional measures in the &lt;em&gt;South Africa v. Israel&lt;/em&gt; genocide case; and not obstructing Palestinian self-determination, including statehood.&lt;/p&gt;
  1475.  
  1476. &lt;p&gt;However, Israel has failed to comply and has further entrenched its occupation of Palestinian lands,&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/netanyahu-approves-e1-plan-bisect-west-bank-israeli-forces-raid-cities"&gt;expanding &lt;/a&gt;settlements in the West Bank, while continuing its &lt;a href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/topics/israel-genocide-gaza"&gt;genocide in Gaza&lt;/a&gt;, including with a new ground offensive this week.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;div class="block-adsense block-adsense-managed-ad-block"&gt;&lt;div&gt;
  1477.  &lt;div class="adsense responsive"&gt;
  1478.    &lt;script async src="https://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/js/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-6114695881218027" crossorigin="anonymous"&gt;&lt;/script&gt;
  1479. &lt;!-- responsive --&gt;
  1480. &lt;ins class="adsbygoogle mee-auto-ad-wrapper " style="display:block" data-ad-client="ca-pub-6114695881218027" data-ad-slot="8690493793" data-ad-format="horizontal" data-full-width-responsive="true"&gt;&lt;/ins&gt;
  1481. &lt;script&gt;
  1482.     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});
  1483. &lt;/script&gt;
  1484.  &lt;/div&gt;
  1485. &lt;/div&gt;
  1486. &lt;/div&gt;
  1487.  
  1488. &lt;p&gt;The UN resolution was meant to give effect to the 19 July 2024&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href="https://www.un.org/unispal/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/186-20240719-adv-01-00-en.pdf"&gt;advisory opinion&lt;/a&gt; by the ICJ, which confirmed the illegality of Israel’s continued occupation of the Palestinian territories (including the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem) and the obligations of third states not to legally recognise the situation created by Israel’s occupation.&lt;/p&gt;
  1489.  
  1490. &lt;p&gt;The ICJ ruling, affirmed by the UNGA, declared Israel’s very presence in occupied Palestinian territory a breach of fundamental international legal norms, including the Palestinians’ right to self-determination, the prohibition of racial descrimination and apartheid, as well as the absolute prohibition of annexation through the use of force.&lt;/p&gt;
  1491.  
  1492. &lt;p&gt;The breach of fundamental legal norms triggers immediate legal obligations on Israel and third states to end the occupation and cease any support or recognition for it.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
  1493.  
  1494. &lt;p&gt;However, a year later, Israel has defied the ICJ and UNGA’s recommendations, while most states have not complied with their obligations under international law as stipulated by the resolution.&lt;/p&gt;
  1495.  
  1496. &lt;p&gt;The text in particular called upon third states to take the following steps:&lt;/p&gt;
  1497.  
  1498. &lt;ul&gt;
  1499. &lt;li style="line-height: 1.38;"&gt;Prevent their citizens, companies, and authorities from recognising or assisting Israel’s unlawful presence in the occupied Palestinian territories.&lt;br&gt;
  1500. &amp;nbsp;&lt;/li&gt;
  1501. &lt;li&gt;Halt imports of goods from Israeli settlements and stop arms transfers to Israel where there is a risk they may be used in the occupied territories.&lt;br&gt;
  1502. &amp;nbsp;&lt;/li&gt;
  1503. &lt;li&gt;Impose sanctions, including travel bans and asset freezes, on individuals and entities involved in maintaining Israel’s unlawful presence, including those linked to settler violence.&lt;br&gt;
  1504. &amp;nbsp;&lt;/li&gt;
  1505. &lt;li&gt;Support accountability efforts for all victims.&lt;/li&gt;
  1506. &lt;/ul&gt;
  1507.  
  1508. &lt;p&gt;Some countries&lt;strong&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/strong&gt;have taken steps over the past year, whether independently or collectively, in response to the genocide in Gaza and the continued occupation and apartheid imposed on Palestinians.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;div class="block-adsense block-adsense-managed-ad-block"&gt;&lt;div&gt;
  1509.  &lt;div class="adsense responsive"&gt;
  1510.    &lt;script async src="https://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/js/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-6114695881218027" crossorigin="anonymous"&gt;&lt;/script&gt;
  1511. &lt;!-- responsive --&gt;
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  1513. &lt;script&gt;
  1514.     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});
  1515. &lt;/script&gt;
  1516.  &lt;/div&gt;
  1517. &lt;/div&gt;
  1518. &lt;/div&gt;
  1519.  
  1520. &lt;h3&gt;'International law must be enforced'&lt;/h3&gt;
  1521.  
  1522. &lt;p&gt;Since its launch in January, &lt;a href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/holding-israel-accountable-what-hague-group"&gt;The Hague Group&lt;/a&gt;, a bloc of eight countries from the Global South formed to hold Israel accountable under international law, has been seeking to translate the UNGA resolution into concrete measures.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
  1523.  
  1524. &lt;p&gt;It is due to hold a ministerial meeting on the sidelines of the General Assembly on 26 September in New York during Israel’s presentation to&amp;nbsp;discuss collective and coordinated measures being implemented at national and international levels.&lt;/p&gt;
  1525.  
  1526. &lt;p&gt;Later that day, Colombia and South Africa, co-chairs of the Hague Group, will present a collective plan of legal and diplomatic measures to halt the genocide in Gaza and defend the integrity of international institutions.&lt;/p&gt;
  1527.  
  1528. &lt;blockquote&gt;
  1529. &lt;p&gt;'As member states, we must collectively use our courts, our ports, our factories and financial systems to interrupt the material arteries of the genocide'&lt;/p&gt;
  1530.  
  1531. &lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;-&amp;nbsp;Varsha Gandikota-Nellutla, The Hague Group&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  1532. &lt;/blockquote&gt;
  1533.  
  1534. &lt;p&gt;“Gaza is the litmus test of our lifetime, and states' response to Israel's assault on Palestine will be the defining moment of UN General Assembly week in New York,” Varsha Gandikota-Nellutla, the group’s chair, told Middle East Eye.&lt;/p&gt;
  1535.  
  1536. &lt;p&gt;Diplomatic and legal measures against Israel over the past year have been fragmented, said Gandikota-Nellutla, and this is where the Hague Group is seeking to make a difference.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
  1537.  
  1538. &lt;p&gt;“As member states, we must collectively use our courts, our ports, our factories and financial systems to interrupt the material arteries of the genocide,” she said.&lt;/p&gt;
  1539.  
  1540. &lt;p&gt;“The Hague Group will be in New York to make that case: international law must be enforced, and only collective and coordinated state action can end the Gaza genocide."&lt;/p&gt;
  1541.  
  1542. &lt;p&gt;While most states have failed to stop Israel's genocide or implement the UNGA's resolution, the past year has seen a changing tide even among Israel's allies.&lt;/p&gt;
  1543.  
  1544. &lt;p&gt;European states have so far failed to agree on the suspension of the EU-Israel Association Agreement, which legal experts &lt;a href="https://alhaqeurope.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/ralph_wilde_icj_opt_ao_thirdstateseu_legal_opinion.pdf"&gt;argue&lt;/a&gt; is incompatible with the ICJ's advisory opinion and the UNGA resolution.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
  1545.  
  1546. &lt;div class="mee-readmore mee-readmore-article-story mee-readmore-type-image align-right"&gt;
  1547.  &lt;a class="mee-readmore-img-link" href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/turkey-bar-israel-linked-ships-after-hague-group-pledge"&gt;&lt;img class="mee-readmore-image" src="https://www.middleeasteye.net/sites/default/files/styles/read_more/public/images-story/ship%20istanbul%20turkey%20afp.jpg.webp?itok=3ThElkJO" width="400" height="250" alt loading="lazy" typeof="foaf:Image"&gt;
  1548.  
  1549. &lt;/a&gt;  &lt;div class="mee-readmore-description"&gt;Turkey bars Israel-linked ships after Hague Group pledge&lt;/div&gt;
  1550.    &lt;a class="mee-readmore-link" href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/turkey-bar-israel-linked-ships-after-hague-group-pledge"&gt;Read More »&lt;/a&gt;
  1551. &lt;/div&gt;
  1552.  
  1553. &lt;p&gt;But for the first time&amp;nbsp;the European Commission&amp;nbsp;on Wednesday&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/eu-commission-proposes-freezing-trade-pact-israel-gaza"&gt;announced&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;a proposal to suspend the free trade pillar of the Association Agreement and sanction Israeli far-right ministers Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben Gvir, in measures that represent a major blow to Israel-EU relations.&lt;/p&gt;
  1554.  
  1555. &lt;p&gt;Meanwhile, a group of EU states have taken unilateral steps against Israel over the past few months as the bloc as a whole has demurred.&lt;/p&gt;
  1556.  
  1557. &lt;p&gt;Earlier this month, Spain barred Ben Gvir and Smotrich from entering the country, and Prime Minister&amp;nbsp;Pedro Sanchez &lt;a href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/spain-declares-nine-measures-israel-full-arms-embargo"&gt;declared&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;nine measures were being taken that he said aimed to prevent Israel's genocide in Gaza.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
  1558.  
  1559. &lt;p&gt;They included a full arms embargo on Israel and banning the entry of Israeli officials suspected of involvement in the genocide.&lt;/p&gt;
  1560.  
  1561. &lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/slovenia-first-eu-country-arms-embargo-israel-gaza-genocide" target="_blank"&gt;Slovenia&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;last month became the first EU country to take action independently, imposing a full arms embargo on Israel. Later in August,&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/germany-halts-military-exports-israel-response-gaza-occupation-plan" target="_blank"&gt;Germany&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;announced the suspension of military exports to Israel that could be used in Gaza,&amp;nbsp;in response to Israel’s plan to&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/israeli-cabinet-approves-plan-occupy-gaza" target="_blank"&gt;fully occupy&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;the&amp;nbsp;Palestinian&amp;nbsp;enclave.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
  1562.  
  1563. &lt;p&gt;Sweden and the Netherlands have also called on the EU to suspend the agreement with Israel over the continued Gaza siege and its ban on the UN's humanitarian aid operations.&lt;/p&gt;
  1564. &lt;/div&gt;
  1565.                  &lt;div class="field field-field-topic"&gt;&lt;a href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/topics/occupation" hreflang="en"&gt;Occupation&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
  1566.            &lt;div class="field field-field-coauthor-location"&gt;
  1567.              &lt;div&gt; &lt;/div&gt;
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  1569.              &lt;div&gt; &lt;/div&gt;
  1570.              &lt;div&gt; &lt;/div&gt;
  1571.          &lt;/div&gt;
  1572.              &lt;div class="field field-field-article-location"&gt; &lt;/div&gt;
  1573.                  &lt;div class="field field-field-section"&gt;&lt;a href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/all" hreflang="en"&gt;News&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
  1574.        &lt;div class="field field-field-post-date-override"&gt;
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  1580.              &lt;div&gt;&lt;time datetime="2020-05-04T21:19:45+01:00"&gt;Mon, 05/04/2020 - 21:19&lt;/time&gt;
  1581. &lt;/div&gt;
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  1583.  &lt;div class="field field-field-update-date-check"&gt;
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  1587.  
  1588.  &lt;/div&gt;
  1589.  
  1590. &lt;/article&gt;
  1591. </description>
  1592.  <pubDate>Thu, 18 Sep 2025 15:57:55 +0100</pubDate>
  1593.    <dc:creator>Sondos Asem</dc:creator>
  1594.    <guid isPermaLink="false">428797 at https://www.middleeasteye.net/</guid>
  1595.    </item>
  1596. <item>
  1597.  <title>Donald Trump junior secretly met Turkey’s Erdogan</title>
  1598.  <link>https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/donald-trump-junior-secretly-met-turkeys-erdogan</link>
  1599.  <description>
  1600.  
  1601.  
  1602. &lt;article data-history-node-id="428826" about="https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/donald-trump-junior-secretly-met-turkeys-erdogan" class="story default clearfix"&gt;
  1603.  
  1604.  
  1605.      &lt;h2&gt;
  1606.      &lt;a href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/donald-trump-junior-secretly-met-turkeys-erdogan" rel="bookmark"&gt;
  1607. &lt;span class="field field-title"&gt;Donald Trump junior secretly met Turkey’s Erdogan&lt;/span&gt;
  1608. &lt;/a&gt;
  1609.    &lt;/h2&gt;
  1610.    
  1611.  
  1612.          &lt;footer&gt;
  1613.      
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  1615.        Submitted by
  1616. &lt;span class="field field-uid"&gt;&lt;a title="View user profile." href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/users/ragip-soylu" lang about="https://www.middleeasteye.net/users/ragip-soylu" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype&gt;Ragip Soylu&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;
  1617. on
  1618. &lt;span class="field field-created"&gt;&lt;time datetime="2025-09-18T15:14:40+01:00" title="18 September 2025 15:14 BST"&gt;Thu, 09/18/2025 - 15:14&lt;/time&gt;
  1619. &lt;/span&gt;
  1620.        
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  1623.      
  1624.    &lt;div class="content"&gt;
  1625.                &lt;div class="field field-field-subhead"&gt;US president’s eldest son visited Istanbul as the Turkish government seeks to arrange a meeting with Trump senior in New York next week &lt;/div&gt;
  1626.                  &lt;div class="field field-field-main-image"&gt;    &lt;picture&gt;
  1627.                  &lt;source srcset="https://www.middleeasteye.net/sites/default/files/styles/article_page/public/images-story/IMG_4368.jpeg.webp?itok=P6XI2PHl 1x" type="image/webp" width="1400" height="793"&gt;
  1628.                  &lt;img srcset="https://www.middleeasteye.net/sites/default/files/styles/article_page/public/images-story/IMG_4368.jpeg.webp?itok=P6XI2PHl 1x" width="1400" height="793" src="https://www.middleeasteye.net/sites/default/files/styles/max_2600x2600/public/images-story/IMG_4368.jpeg.jpg?itok=F7sJ4Sex" alt="Donald Trump Jr in Las Vegas, Nevada, on 27 May 2025 (Ian Maule/AFP)" typeof="foaf:Image" fetchpriority="high"&gt;
  1629.  
  1630.  &lt;/picture&gt;
  1631.  
  1632. &lt;/div&gt;
  1633.                  &lt;div class="field field-field-cutline"&gt;Donald Trump Jr in Las Vegas, Nevada, on 27 May 2025 (Ian Maule/AFP)&lt;/div&gt;
  1634.                  &lt;div class="field field-field-wide-photo-video"&gt;Off&lt;/div&gt;
  1635.                  &lt;div class="field field-body clearfix"&gt;&lt;p&gt;Donald Trump junior and an accompanying delegation met &lt;a href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/countries/turkey"&gt;Turkish&lt;/a&gt; President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Istanbul last week during an unannounced visit, sources familiar with the matter told Middle East Eye.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
  1636.  
  1637. &lt;p&gt;The visit was first revealed on Wednesday by Ozgur Ozel, chairman of Turkey’s main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), who claimed that Erdogan was engaged in “secret negotiations” with the &lt;a href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/countries/us"&gt;US&lt;/a&gt; president’s eldest son over Gaza.&amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
  1638.  
  1639. &lt;p&gt;“The protocol referred to him as a ‘businessman’, but they didn’t mention his name during the visit,” Ozel said at a rally in Istanbul.&lt;/p&gt;
  1640.  
  1641. &lt;p&gt;“While Palestine is bleeding, they are doing business with Trump’s son through lobbying companies,” he added.&lt;/p&gt;
  1642.  
  1643. &lt;p&gt;“On the Palestinian issue, Erdogan pretends to criticise Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, but does not utter a word against the real patron of the matter, Trump.”&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;div class="block-adsense block-adsense-managed-ad-block"&gt;&lt;div&gt;
  1644.  &lt;div class="adsense responsive"&gt;
  1645.    &lt;script async src="https://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/js/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-6114695881218027" crossorigin="anonymous"&gt;&lt;/script&gt;
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  1648. &lt;script&gt;
  1649.     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});
  1650. &lt;/script&gt;
  1651.  &lt;/div&gt;
  1652. &lt;/div&gt;
  1653. &lt;/div&gt;
  1654.  
  1655. &lt;p&gt;A Turkish source close to Erdogan told DW on Wednesday that Trump junior had indeed met the president but described it as only a “courtesy visit”. The source said there was no formal discussion on Gaza or any other specific topics, rejecting Ozel’s claims.&amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
  1656.  
  1657. &lt;p&gt;Although Trump junior holds no official role in his father’s administration, he is viewed as highly influential at the White House. He currently serves as executive vice president of the Trump Organization.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
  1658.  
  1659. &lt;p&gt;MEE understands that Trump junior visited Turkey alongside several like-minded businessmen.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
  1660.  
  1661. &lt;p&gt;He is no stranger to Turkey, having visited in 2016 for a hunting trip and to hold meetings in Istanbul, where the Trump Organization has a joint investment with a Turkish company in the Trump Towers project.&amp;nbsp; &amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
  1662.  
  1663. &lt;p&gt;Erdogan also maintains a good rapport with Donald Trump senior. Turkish officials told MEE that Erdogan is seeking a bilateral meeting with the US president next week on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly summit.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;div class="block-adsense block-adsense-managed-ad-block"&gt;&lt;div&gt;
  1664.  &lt;div class="adsense responsive"&gt;
  1665.    &lt;script async src="https://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/js/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-6114695881218027" crossorigin="anonymous"&gt;&lt;/script&gt;
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  1668. &lt;script&gt;
  1669.     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});
  1670. &lt;/script&gt;
  1671.  &lt;/div&gt;
  1672. &lt;/div&gt;
  1673. &lt;/div&gt;
  1674.  
  1675. &lt;p&gt;Ankara hopes to discuss the F-16 fighter jet deal, the integration of Syrian Kurds into the central government in Damascus, potential avenues to purchase F-35 aircraft, as well as recent tensions between Israel and Turkey over Syria and Gaza.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
  1676.  
  1677. &lt;p&gt;Documents also show that Trump junior is a frequent traveller in the region, having visited Riyadh and Doha while accompanying his father during official visits to the Gulf.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
  1678. &lt;/div&gt;
  1679.                  &lt;div class="field field-field-topic"&gt;&lt;a href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/topics/diplomacy" hreflang="en"&gt;Diplomacy&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
  1680.            &lt;div class="field field-field-coauthor-location"&gt;
  1681.              &lt;div&gt; &lt;/div&gt;
  1682.              &lt;div&gt; &lt;/div&gt;
  1683.              &lt;div&gt; &lt;/div&gt;
  1684.              &lt;div&gt; &lt;/div&gt;
  1685.          &lt;/div&gt;
  1686.              &lt;div class="field field-field-article-location"&gt;Ankara&lt;/div&gt;
  1687.                  &lt;div class="field field-field-section"&gt;&lt;a href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/all" hreflang="en"&gt;News&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
  1688.        &lt;div class="field field-field-post-date-override"&gt;
  1689.    &lt;div&gt;Post Date Override&lt;/div&gt;
  1690.              &lt;div&gt;0&lt;/div&gt;
  1691.          &lt;/div&gt;
  1692.  &lt;div class="field field-field-update-date-override"&gt;
  1693.    &lt;div&gt;Update Date&lt;/div&gt;
  1694.              &lt;div&gt;&lt;time datetime="2020-05-04T21:19:45+01:00"&gt;Mon, 05/04/2020 - 21:19&lt;/time&gt;
  1695. &lt;/div&gt;
  1696.          &lt;/div&gt;
  1697.  &lt;div class="field field-field-update-date-check"&gt;
  1698.    &lt;div&gt;Update Date Override&lt;/div&gt;
  1699.              &lt;div&gt;0&lt;/div&gt;
  1700.          &lt;/div&gt;
  1701.  
  1702.  &lt;/div&gt;
  1703.  
  1704. &lt;/article&gt;
  1705. </description>
  1706.  <pubDate>Thu, 18 Sep 2025 15:46:31 +0100</pubDate>
  1707.    <dc:creator>Ragip Soylu</dc:creator>
  1708.    <guid isPermaLink="false">428826 at https://www.middleeasteye.net/</guid>
  1709.    </item>
  1710. <item>
  1711.  <title>Four people die of starvation in Gaza over last 24 hours, including a child </title>
  1712.  <link>https://www.middleeasteye.net/live-blog/live-blog-update/four-people-die-starvation-gaza-including-child</link>
  1713.  <description>
  1714.  
  1715.  
  1716. &lt;article data-history-node-id="428828" about="https://www.middleeasteye.net/live-blog/live-blog-update/four-people-die-starvation-gaza-including-child" class="live-blog-update default clearfix"&gt;
  1717.  
  1718.  
  1719.      &lt;h2&gt;
  1720.      &lt;a href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/live-blog/live-blog-update/four-people-die-starvation-gaza-including-child" rel="bookmark"&gt;
  1721. &lt;span class="field field-title"&gt;Four people die of starvation in Gaza over last 24 hours, including a child &lt;/span&gt;
  1722. &lt;/a&gt;
  1723.    &lt;/h2&gt;
  1724.    
  1725.  
  1726.        
  1727.    &lt;div class="content"&gt;
  1728.                &lt;div class="field field-field-text"&gt;&lt;p&gt;Four people have died, including a child, due to starvation over the past 24 hours in the Gaza Strip, according to medical sources cited by Wafa news agency.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
  1729.  
  1730. &lt;p&gt;This brings the total number of deaths due to starvation to 435, including 147 children, since Israel's genocide began in October 2023.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
  1731. &lt;/div&gt;
  1732.      
  1733.  &lt;/div&gt;
  1734.  
  1735. &lt;/article&gt;
  1736. </description>
  1737.  <pubDate>Thu, 18 Sep 2025 15:41:53 +0100</pubDate>
  1738.    <dc:creator>Rayhan Uddin</dc:creator>
  1739.    <guid isPermaLink="false">428828 at https://www.middleeasteye.net/</guid>
  1740.    </item>
  1741. <item>
  1742.  <title>Trump avoids criticising UK over Palestine recognition</title>
  1743.  <link>https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/trump-steers-clear-criticising-uk-over-palestine-recognition</link>
  1744.  <description>
  1745.  
  1746.  
  1747. &lt;article data-history-node-id="428827" about="https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/trump-steers-clear-criticising-uk-over-palestine-recognition" class="story default clearfix"&gt;
  1748.  
  1749.  
  1750.      &lt;h2&gt;
  1751.      &lt;a href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/trump-steers-clear-criticising-uk-over-palestine-recognition" rel="bookmark"&gt;
  1752. &lt;span class="field field-title"&gt;Trump avoids criticising UK over Palestine recognition&lt;/span&gt;
  1753. &lt;/a&gt;
  1754.    &lt;/h2&gt;
  1755.    
  1756.  
  1757.          &lt;footer&gt;
  1758.      
  1759.      &lt;div class="author"&gt;
  1760.        Submitted by
  1761. &lt;span class="field field-uid"&gt;&lt;a title="View user profile." href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/users/imran-mulla" lang about="https://www.middleeasteye.net/users/imran-mulla" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype&gt;Imran Mulla&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;
  1762. on
  1763. &lt;span class="field field-created"&gt;&lt;time datetime="2025-09-18T14:13:32+01:00" title="18 September 2025 14:13 BST"&gt;Thu, 09/18/2025 - 14:13&lt;/time&gt;
  1764. &lt;/span&gt;
  1765.        
  1766.      &lt;/div&gt;
  1767.    &lt;/footer&gt;
  1768.      
  1769.    &lt;div class="content"&gt;
  1770.                &lt;div class="field field-field-subhead"&gt;Britain is set to recognise Palestinian statehood over the weekend after the US president leaves the country&lt;/div&gt;
  1771.                  &lt;div class="field field-field-main-image"&gt;    &lt;picture&gt;
  1772.                  &lt;source srcset="https://www.middleeasteye.net/sites/default/files/styles/article_page/public/images-story/000_74yh2mt%20%281%29.jpg.webp?itok=NtoZtc9b 1x" type="image/webp" width="1400" height="788"&gt;
  1773.                  &lt;img srcset="https://www.middleeasteye.net/sites/default/files/styles/article_page/public/images-story/000_74yh2mt%20%281%29.jpg.webp?itok=NtoZtc9b 1x" width="1400" height="788" src="https://www.middleeasteye.net/sites/default/files/styles/max_2600x2600/public/images-story/000_74yh2mt%20%281%29.jpg.jpg?itok=hLkWCKuz" alt="First Lady Melania Trump, US President Donald Trump, Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer and his wife Victoria Starmer at Chequers on 18 September (AFP)" typeof="foaf:Image" fetchpriority="high"&gt;
  1774.  
  1775.  &lt;/picture&gt;
  1776.  
  1777. &lt;/div&gt;
  1778.                  &lt;div class="field field-field-cutline"&gt;First Lady Melania Trump, US President Donald Trump, Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer and his wife Victoria Starmer at Chequers on 18 September (AFP)&lt;/div&gt;
  1779.                  &lt;div class="field field-field-wide-photo-video"&gt;Off&lt;/div&gt;
  1780.                  &lt;div class="field field-body clearfix"&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/countries/us"&gt;US&lt;/a&gt; President Donald Trump has steered clear of criticising the &lt;a href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/countries/uk" target="_blank"&gt;British&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;government over its plan to recognise a &lt;a href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/countries/palestine"&gt;Palestinian&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;state this weekend, saying only that he has a "disagreement" with&amp;nbsp;Prime Minister Keir Starmer.&lt;/p&gt;
  1781.  
  1782. &lt;p&gt;Asked by the BBC about the UK's plan at a joint press conference with Starmer on Thursday afternoon, Trump responded with a lengthy reflection on his desire to see &lt;a href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/countries/israel"&gt;Israeli&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;captives released from Gaza and on their treatment at the hands of Hamas.&lt;/p&gt;
  1783.  
  1784. &lt;p&gt;"I want the hostages released now," he said.&lt;/p&gt;
  1785.  
  1786. &lt;p&gt;"I want the hostages released and I think it's gonna be okay, but this has been a brutal period of time, but this has been going on for a long time," he said.&lt;/p&gt;
  1787.  
  1788. &lt;p&gt;"We want the fighting to stop and it's going to stop," the president continued.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;div class="block-adsense block-adsense-managed-ad-block"&gt;&lt;div&gt;
  1789.  &lt;div class="adsense responsive"&gt;
  1790.    &lt;script async src="https://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/js/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-6114695881218027" crossorigin="anonymous"&gt;&lt;/script&gt;
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  1793. &lt;script&gt;
  1794.     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});
  1795. &lt;/script&gt;
  1796.  &lt;/div&gt;
  1797. &lt;/div&gt;
  1798. &lt;/div&gt;
  1799.  
  1800. &lt;p&gt;Apparently referring to the UK's plan to recognise Palestine, he then said: "I have a disagreement with the prime minister on that score. One of our few disagreements, actually."&lt;/p&gt;
  1801.  
  1802. &lt;p&gt;Trump did not expand or offer further comments on the UK's position.&lt;/p&gt;
  1803.  
  1804. &lt;p&gt;Starmer said that "we absolutely agree on the need for peace and a roadmap, because the situation in Gaza is intolerable".&lt;/p&gt;
  1805.  
  1806. &lt;p&gt;He continued: "It's within that context of a plan for peace, which we're working hard on, which not only did we discuss this morning, but which our two teams have been working together on, that the question of recognotion needs to be seen.&lt;/p&gt;
  1807.  
  1808. &lt;p&gt;"So it's part of that overall package which hopefully takes us from the appalling situation which we see now to a safe and secure Israel, which we do not have, and a viable Palestinian state."&lt;/p&gt;&lt;div class="block-adsense block-adsense-managed-ad-block"&gt;&lt;div&gt;
  1809.  &lt;div class="adsense responsive"&gt;
  1810.    &lt;script async src="https://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/js/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-6114695881218027" crossorigin="anonymous"&gt;&lt;/script&gt;
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  1813. &lt;script&gt;
  1814.     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});
  1815. &lt;/script&gt;
  1816.  &lt;/div&gt;
  1817. &lt;/div&gt;
  1818. &lt;/div&gt;
  1819.  
  1820. &lt;p&gt;The&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/countries/uk" target="_blank"&gt;British&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;government intends to make good on its threat to&amp;nbsp;recognise a &lt;a href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/countries/palestine"&gt;Palestinian&lt;/a&gt; state this weekend after Trump's visit has concluded.&lt;/p&gt;
  1821.  
  1822. &lt;p&gt;According to The Times, Starmer decided to delay the announcement until after Trump leaves the country so the issue does not dominate the agenda during the state visit - although the prime minister denied this in Thursday's press conference.&lt;/p&gt;
  1823.  
  1824. &lt;p&gt;The Labour government &lt;a href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/uk-will-follow-through-threat-recognise-palestine-over-israeli-policies-lammy-says"&gt;announced&lt;/a&gt; over the summer that it would recognise a Palestinian state alongside France before the UN General Assembly in New York, which begins on Monday, if Israel did not meet a series of British conditions.&lt;/p&gt;
  1825.  
  1826. &lt;p&gt;These conditions included agreeing to a ceasefire and commiting not to annex any of the occupied West Bank.&lt;/p&gt;
  1827.  
  1828. &lt;p&gt;In response, Israel&amp;nbsp;accused the UK and other countries pledging to recognise a Palestinian state - including Australia and Canada - of siding with Hamas.&lt;/p&gt;
  1829.  
  1830. &lt;div class="mee-readmore mee-readmore-article-story mee-readmore-type-image align-right"&gt;
  1831.  &lt;a class="mee-readmore-img-link" href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/trump-west-bank-and-annexation-israel-drivers-seat"&gt;&lt;img class="mee-readmore-image" src="https://www.middleeasteye.net/sites/default/files/styles/read_more/public/images-story/Settlement-WestBank-AFP.jpg.webp?itok=UmxF7Sh4" width="400" height="250" alt loading="lazy" typeof="foaf:Image"&gt;
  1832.  
  1833. &lt;/a&gt;  &lt;div class="mee-readmore-description"&gt;Trump, the West Bank and annexation: Israel in the driver's seat&lt;/div&gt;
  1834.    &lt;a class="mee-readmore-link" href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/trump-west-bank-and-annexation-israel-drivers-seat"&gt;Read More »&lt;/a&gt;
  1835. &lt;/div&gt;
  1836.  
  1837. &lt;p&gt;The country has&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/israel-strikes-car-carrying-displaced-palestinians-fleeing-gaza-city" target="_blank"&gt;launched&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;a&amp;nbsp;full-scale ground invasion to occupy Gaza City, and is reportedly preparing to annex the West Bank.&lt;/p&gt;
  1838.  
  1839. &lt;p&gt;Last month the British government published a&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/uk-and-palestinian-strategic-cooperation-memorandum-of-understanding/memorandum-of-understanding-on-strategic-cooperation-between-the-united-kingdom-of-great-britain-and-northern-ireland-and-the-palestinian-government#two-state-solution" target="_blank"&gt;memorandum of understanding&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;with the Palestinian Authority, which said Britain is committed to "the two-state solution based on 1967 lines" and "does&amp;nbsp;not recognise the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, as part of Israel".&lt;/p&gt;
  1840.  
  1841. &lt;p&gt;The memorandum declares: "The West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and Gaza, must be reunified under its sole authority."&lt;/p&gt;
  1842.  
  1843. &lt;p&gt;It adds that "the UK affirms the inalienable right of the Palestinian people of self-determination, including to an independent state".&lt;/p&gt;
  1844.  
  1845. &lt;p&gt;In a significant statement of British support for the Palestinian Authority, the document insists that the PA "must have the central role in the next phase in Gaza on governance, security and early recovery".&lt;/p&gt;
  1846.  
  1847. &lt;p&gt;British officials have previously demanded that Hamas should disarm and end its rule in Gaza.&lt;/p&gt;
  1848. &lt;/div&gt;
  1849.                  &lt;div class="field field-field-topic"&gt;&lt;a href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/topics/uk-politics" hreflang="en"&gt;UK Politics&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
  1850.            &lt;div class="field field-field-coauthor-location"&gt;
  1851.              &lt;div&gt; &lt;/div&gt;
  1852.              &lt;div&gt; &lt;/div&gt;
  1853.              &lt;div&gt; &lt;/div&gt;
  1854.              &lt;div&gt; &lt;/div&gt;
  1855.          &lt;/div&gt;
  1856.              &lt;div class="field field-field-article-location"&gt; &lt;/div&gt;
  1857.                  &lt;div class="field field-field-section"&gt;&lt;a href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/all" hreflang="en"&gt;News&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
  1858.        &lt;div class="field field-field-post-date-override"&gt;
  1859.    &lt;div&gt;Post Date Override&lt;/div&gt;
  1860.              &lt;div&gt;0&lt;/div&gt;
  1861.          &lt;/div&gt;
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  1863.    &lt;div&gt;Update Date&lt;/div&gt;
  1864.              &lt;div&gt;&lt;time datetime="2020-05-04T21:19:45+01:00"&gt;Mon, 05/04/2020 - 21:19&lt;/time&gt;
  1865. &lt;/div&gt;
  1866.          &lt;/div&gt;
  1867.  &lt;div class="field field-field-update-date-check"&gt;
  1868.    &lt;div&gt;Update Date Override&lt;/div&gt;
  1869.              &lt;div&gt;0&lt;/div&gt;
  1870.          &lt;/div&gt;
  1871.  
  1872.  &lt;/div&gt;
  1873.  
  1874. &lt;/article&gt;
  1875. </description>
  1876.  <pubDate>Thu, 18 Sep 2025 15:41:52 +0100</pubDate>
  1877.    <dc:creator>Imran Mulla</dc:creator>
  1878.    <guid isPermaLink="false">428827 at https://www.middleeasteye.net/</guid>
  1879.    </item>
  1880. <item>
  1881.  <title>Why the EU foreign policy chief must go</title>
  1882.  <link>https://www.middleeasteye.net/opinion/why-eu-foreign-policy-chief-must-go</link>
  1883.  <description>
  1884.  
  1885.  
  1886. &lt;article data-history-node-id="428688" about="https://www.middleeasteye.net/opinion/why-eu-foreign-policy-chief-must-go" class="opinion default clearfix"&gt;
  1887.  
  1888.  
  1889.      &lt;h2&gt;
  1890.      &lt;a href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/opinion/why-eu-foreign-policy-chief-must-go" rel="bookmark"&gt;
  1891. &lt;span class="field field-title"&gt;Why the EU foreign policy chief must go&lt;/span&gt;
  1892. &lt;/a&gt;
  1893.    &lt;/h2&gt;
  1894.    
  1895.  
  1896.          &lt;footer&gt;
  1897.      
  1898.      &lt;div class="author"&gt;
  1899.        Submitted by
  1900. &lt;span class="field field-uid"&gt;&lt;a title="View user profile." href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/users/marco-carnelos" lang about="https://www.middleeasteye.net/users/marco-carnelos" typeof="schema:Person" property="schema:name" datatype&gt;Marco Carnelos&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;
  1901. on
  1902. &lt;span class="field field-created"&gt;&lt;time datetime="2025-09-15T23:12:41+01:00" title="15 September 2025 23:12 BST"&gt;Mon, 09/15/2025 - 23:12&lt;/time&gt;
  1903. &lt;/span&gt;
  1904.        
  1905.      &lt;/div&gt;
  1906.    &lt;/footer&gt;
  1907.      
  1908.    &lt;div class="content"&gt;
  1909.                &lt;div class="field field-field-subhead"&gt;Forget vision and commonsense; Kaja Kallas seems to lack even the most basic understanding of modern history&lt;/div&gt;
  1910.                  &lt;div class="field field-field-main-image"&gt;    &lt;picture&gt;
  1911.                  &lt;source srcset="https://www.middleeasteye.net/sites/default/files/styles/article_page/public/images-story/eu-kallas-brussels-september-2025-nicolas-tucat-afp.jpg.webp?itok=wuTdxgY2 1x" type="image/webp" width="1400" height="788"&gt;
  1912.                  &lt;img srcset="https://www.middleeasteye.net/sites/default/files/styles/article_page/public/images-story/eu-kallas-brussels-september-2025-nicolas-tucat-afp.jpg.webp?itok=wuTdxgY2 1x" width="1400" height="788" src="https://www.middleeasteye.net/sites/default/files/styles/max_2600x2600/public/images-story/eu-kallas-brussels-september-2025-nicolas-tucat-afp.jpg.jpg?itok=BW8Xxehy" alt="EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas speaks in Brussels on 3 September 2025 (Nicolas Tucat/AFP)" typeof="foaf:Image" fetchpriority="high"&gt;
  1913.  
  1914.  &lt;/picture&gt;
  1915.  
  1916. &lt;/div&gt;
  1917.                  &lt;div class="field field-field-cutline"&gt;EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas speaks in Brussels on 3 September 2025 (Nicolas Tucat/AFP)&lt;/div&gt;
  1918.                  &lt;div class="field field-field-wide-photo-video"&gt;On&lt;/div&gt;
  1919.                  &lt;div class="field field-body clearfix"&gt;&lt;p&gt;For a reliable metric to assess the progressive decline of the European Union, and particularly its cognitive dissonance with regards to international politics, one should look no further than the recent statements of foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas.&lt;/p&gt;
  1920.  
  1921. &lt;p&gt;The type of relentless Russophobia that Kallas displays has become, sadly, essential to the resume of any official who aspires to a successful career within the EU’s institutions.&lt;/p&gt;
  1922.  
  1923. &lt;p&gt;Indeed, degrading the relationship between Moscow and Brussels is a top priority for the EU, even as its attention is needed on other important challenges, from the Middle East to Africa and beyond. To tackle them properly requires expertise in international relations, along with a deep understanding of 20th-century history, in which many of today’s crises find their origins.&lt;/p&gt;
  1924.  
  1925. &lt;p&gt;Guiding a complex institution like the EU, in a world made ever-more complex amid the Great Power competition and a massive number of asymmetrical challenges, also requires a reasonable amount of vision and commonsense. Unfortunately, Kallas seems to lack all of these characteristics.&lt;/p&gt;
  1926.  
  1927. &lt;p&gt;After the recent Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit in Tianjin, &lt;a href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/countries/china"&gt;China&lt;/a&gt;, which was followed by a &lt;a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/world/asia/live-blog/china-parade-putin-kim-jong-un-xi-military-live-updates-rcna228503"&gt;military parade&lt;/a&gt; in Beijing celebrating the victory over fascism in World War II - attended by &lt;a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cp8z83np4xjo"&gt;dozens of dignitaries&lt;/a&gt;, including &lt;a href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/countries/russia"&gt;Russian&lt;/a&gt; President Vladimir Putin - Kallas&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href="https://x.com/tparsi/status/1963633840146072017"&gt;said&lt;/a&gt; it was news to her that China and Russia were among the countries that defeated Germany and Japan (ie, the forces of Nazism and fascism).&lt;/p&gt;&lt;div class="block-adsense block-adsense-managed-ad-block"&gt;&lt;div&gt;
  1928.  &lt;div class="adsense responsive"&gt;
  1929.    &lt;script async src="https://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/js/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-6114695881218027" crossorigin="anonymous"&gt;&lt;/script&gt;
  1930. &lt;!-- responsive --&gt;
  1931. &lt;ins class="adsbygoogle mee-auto-ad-wrapper " style="display:block" data-ad-client="ca-pub-6114695881218027" data-ad-slot="8690493793" data-ad-format="horizontal" data-full-width-responsive="true"&gt;&lt;/ins&gt;
  1932. &lt;script&gt;
  1933.     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});
  1934. &lt;/script&gt;
  1935.  &lt;/div&gt;
  1936. &lt;/div&gt;
  1937. &lt;/div&gt;
  1938.  
  1939. &lt;p&gt;If I was the president of the European Commission, I would have fired her straightaway for unfitness to the role. Should I imagine a new job for her, it would be as a library archivist obliged to dedicate at least three hours a day to 20th-century history books, with compulsory monthly exams.&lt;/p&gt;
  1940.  
  1941. &lt;p&gt;Any serious EU journalist should regularly ask their leaders how, under their watch, such a disgraceful choice was made.&lt;/p&gt;
  1942.  
  1943. &lt;h3&gt;Immense suffering&lt;/h3&gt;
  1944.  
  1945. &lt;p&gt;For the record, the Soviet Red Army crushed the German army (Wehrmacht) on the Eastern Front between 1941 and 1945 and liberated Berlin. The Soviet Union - nowadays Russia, a clarification that is necessary amid the remote possibility that Kallas may read this article - suffered more than 20 million casualties. The siege of Leningrad (now St Petersburg) - a city not far from Kallas’s Estonian hometown - alone cost the Soviets more than one million people.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
  1946.  
  1947. &lt;p&gt;While it is true that the &lt;a href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/countries/us"&gt;US&lt;/a&gt; and &lt;a href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/countries/uk"&gt;UK&lt;/a&gt; were instrumental in the victory of the Second World War in Europe, the country that literally destroyed the German war machine was the Soviet Union on the Eastern Front. It suffices to note how many German armoured divisions were deployed on the Western Front after the US/UK landed in Normandy in 1944, compared with how many were deployed on the Eastern Front between 1941 and 1945.&lt;/p&gt;
  1948.  
  1949. &lt;blockquote&gt;
  1950. &lt;p&gt;While Russian officials are accustomed to Kallas's misrepresentations of their country, Chinese dignitaries were unable to conceal their shock&lt;/p&gt;
  1951. &lt;/blockquote&gt;
  1952.  
  1953. &lt;p&gt;China endured similar immense suffering during the war, putting its death toll at 20 million. Before and throughout the Pacific War between the US and Japan between 1941 and 1945, China engaged at least one-third of the Imperial Japanese Army. Without China keeping hundreds of thousands of Japanese soldiers engaged inside its own territory, the US defeat of Japan would have been significantly more complicated and costly.&lt;/p&gt;
  1954.  
  1955. &lt;p&gt;While Russian officials are accustomed to Kallas’s misrepresentations of their country, Chinese dignitaries were unable to conceal their shock at her recent remarks. A foreign ministry spokesperson issued an unusually &lt;a href="https://responsiblestatecraft.org/kaja-kallas-history/"&gt;harsh rebuke&lt;/a&gt;, saying her comments were “full of ideological bias”. This episode will not help efforts to put relations between the EU and China back on track.&lt;/p&gt;
  1956.  
  1957. &lt;p&gt;What Kallas lacks in historical literacy, however, she makes up for in double standards. Having had no problem in severing all EU ties with Russia, she is now attempting the same with China - while apparently feeling no embarrassment in maintaining close relations with &lt;a href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/countries/israel"&gt;Israel&lt;/a&gt;, which is under scrutiny for &lt;a href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/explainers/meaning-definition-what-genocide-israel-gaza"&gt;genocide&lt;/a&gt; at the International Court of Justice, and whose leader has been indicted by the International Criminal Court.&lt;/p&gt;
  1958.  
  1959. &lt;h3&gt;Diplomacy abandoned&lt;/h3&gt;
  1960.  
  1961. &lt;p&gt;If double standards could be monetised, the EU would have enough resources for the green transition, post-Covid recovery plans, and defence spending on par with the astronomical American budget - while still maintaining intact all its social programmes.&lt;/p&gt;
  1962.  
  1963. &lt;p&gt;Under the watch of Kallas and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, the EU has become totally irrelevant on the world stage.&lt;/p&gt;
  1964.  
  1965. &lt;div class="mee-readmore mee-readmore-article-opinion mee-readmore-type-image align-right"&gt;
  1966.  &lt;a class="mee-readmore-img-link" href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/opinion/russia-ukraine-war-european-leaders-should-listen-trump"&gt;&lt;img class="mee-readmore-image" src="https://www.middleeasteye.net/sites/default/files/styles/read_more/public/images-story/ukraine-tank-training-october-2024-genya-savilov-afp.jpg.webp?itok=xy7dqBvl" width="400" height="250" alt loading="lazy" typeof="foaf:Image"&gt;
  1967.  
  1968. &lt;/a&gt;  &lt;div class="mee-readmore-description"&gt;Russia-Ukraine war: European leaders need to wake up to Trump's peace plan&lt;/div&gt;
  1969.    &lt;a class="mee-readmore-link" href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/opinion/russia-ukraine-war-european-leaders-should-listen-trump"&gt;Read More »&lt;/a&gt;
  1970. &lt;/div&gt;
  1971.  
  1972. &lt;p&gt;It followed the US and UK down a very dangerous slope on the Ukraine war, by completely forgetting a political tool known as diplomacy and conventional wisdom, which cautions against demonising an adversary with whom, amid hard military realities, one must ultimately reach an understanding - particularly when the alternative is devastating and potentially catastrophic warfare.&lt;/p&gt;
  1973.  
  1974. &lt;p&gt;Then, as often happens, the combative EU leaders were left in the lurch by their increasingly unreliable ally across the Atlantic Ocean, who recently &lt;a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/live/c2kzn1nw1d4t"&gt;rolled out the red carpet&lt;/a&gt; for Putin.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
  1975.  
  1976. &lt;p&gt;After having endured this humiliation, European leaders inexplicably doubled down by &lt;a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eCFoM715R6A"&gt;accepting a summons&lt;/a&gt; to the Oval Office, and sat around President Donald Trump’s desk like turbulent high schoolers whose principal has &lt;a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/trump-meeting-photos-starmer-macron-meloni-merz-b2810525.html"&gt;gathered them&lt;/a&gt; for a reprimand. This is not even to mention the deal Von der Leyen agreed to earlier in the summer with the US president after he played a &lt;a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c93dpl0p200o"&gt;round of golf&lt;/a&gt; in Scotland.&lt;/p&gt;
  1977.  
  1978. &lt;p&gt;Unfortunately, it seems this is not over yet. EU leaders should brace for the next - and far bigger - shock they could face when the Trump administration issues its new national security strategy, which according to some&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2025/09/05/pentagon-national-defense-strategy-china-homeland-western-hemisphere-00546310?fbclid=IwY2xjawMwAaFleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHtpsKaRof6lqYtiv1iNxIELQ-0PvrmYgBUFdgcW3rJNTVt3sJcZJvjznkYQS_aem_Xx5l2uFbbP6wOQBIDmbTJQ"&gt;rumours&lt;/a&gt;, will primarily focus on domestic and regional threats, reversing course on the last 80 years of US commitments abroad.&lt;/p&gt;
  1979.  
  1980. &lt;p&gt;Hopefully, one day historians will shed light on the arcane reasons which, last year, and in such a critical moment of the old continent’s geopolitical position, pushed the EU leaders to hand he architecture of their common foreign policy to such an unskilled and untalented personality.&lt;/p&gt;
  1981.  
  1982. &lt;p&gt;&lt;i&gt;The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Eye.&lt;/i&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  1983. &lt;/div&gt;
  1984.                  &lt;div class="field field-field-topic"&gt;&lt;a href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/topics/politics" hreflang="en"&gt;Politics&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
  1985.                  &lt;div class="field field-field-section"&gt;&lt;a href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/opinion/all" hreflang="en"&gt;Opinion&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;
  1986.        &lt;div class="field field-field-post-date-override"&gt;
  1987.    &lt;div&gt;Post Date Override&lt;/div&gt;
  1988.              &lt;div&gt;0&lt;/div&gt;
  1989.          &lt;/div&gt;
  1990.  &lt;div class="field field-field-update-date-override"&gt;
  1991.    &lt;div&gt;Update Date&lt;/div&gt;
  1992.              &lt;div&gt;&lt;time datetime="2020-05-04T21:29:16+01:00"&gt;Mon, 05/04/2020 - 21:29&lt;/time&gt;
  1993. &lt;/div&gt;
  1994.          &lt;/div&gt;
  1995.  &lt;div class="field field-field-update-date-check"&gt;
  1996.    &lt;div&gt;Update Date Override&lt;/div&gt;
  1997.              &lt;div&gt;0&lt;/div&gt;
  1998.          &lt;/div&gt;
  1999.  
  2000.  &lt;/div&gt;
  2001.  
  2002. &lt;/article&gt;
  2003. </description>
  2004.  <pubDate>Thu, 18 Sep 2025 15:25:48 +0100</pubDate>
  2005.    <dc:creator>Marco Carnelos</dc:creator>
  2006.    <guid isPermaLink="false">428688 at https://www.middleeasteye.net/</guid>
  2007.    </item>
  2008. <item>
  2009.  <title>Arab and Islamic airspace blockade would damage Israel, finds UAE think tank</title>
  2010.  <link>https://www.middleeasteye.net/live-blog/live-blog-update/arab-and-islamic-airspace-blockade-would-damage-israel-finds-uae-think</link>
  2011.  <description>
  2012.  
  2013.  
  2014. &lt;article data-history-node-id="428825" about="https://www.middleeasteye.net/live-blog/live-blog-update/arab-and-islamic-airspace-blockade-would-damage-israel-finds-uae-think" class="live-blog-update default clearfix"&gt;
  2015.  
  2016.  
  2017.      &lt;h2&gt;
  2018.      &lt;a href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/live-blog/live-blog-update/arab-and-islamic-airspace-blockade-would-damage-israel-finds-uae-think" rel="bookmark"&gt;
  2019. &lt;span class="field field-title"&gt;Arab and Islamic airspace blockade would damage Israel, finds UAE think tank&lt;/span&gt;
  2020. &lt;/a&gt;
  2021.    &lt;/h2&gt;
  2022.    
  2023.  
  2024.        
  2025.    &lt;div class="content"&gt;
  2026.                &lt;div class="field field-field-text"&gt;&lt;p&gt;An&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/countries/uae" target="_blank"&gt;Emirati&lt;/a&gt;-owned think tank has published a paper assessing the economic, political and security impact of a potential coordinated airspace blockade against&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/countries/israel" target="_blank"&gt;Israel&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;by Arab and Muslim-majority countries.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
  2027.  
  2028. &lt;p&gt;The paper,&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href="https://www.habtoorresearch.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Arab-Airspace-Blockade-After-Doha-Attack-v3.pdf" target="_blank"&gt;published&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;by Al Habtoor Research Centre on Wednesday, said the catalyst for such a coordinated action would be Israel’s&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/explosions-heard-qatari-capital-doha" target="_blank"&gt;strike on Doha on 9 September&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;that targeted Hamas officials.&lt;/p&gt;
  2029.  
  2030. &lt;p&gt;Al Habtoor Research Centre concluded that a coordinated airspace blockade in response to Israeli actions would inflict severe damage on Israel across multiple sectors of its economy.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
  2031.  
  2032. &lt;p&gt;The report estimated that it would cause Israel’s GDP to contract between 4.8 and 5.7 percent, which would trigger a recession.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
  2033.  
  2034. &lt;p&gt;A wide-scale blockade including OIC members such as&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/countries/turkey" target="_blank"&gt;Turkey&lt;/a&gt;,&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/countries/pakistan" target="_blank"&gt;Pakistan&lt;/a&gt;&amp;nbsp;and Indonesia would sever direct flights to Israel’s east and south, creating a significant barrier to high growth markets in Asia and Africa.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
  2035.  
  2036. &lt;p&gt;It estimated that detours which added four to six hours to flights could cost between $30,000 to $60,000 per flight. Israeli airline El-Al would likely suffer a reduction of revenue of between 60 to 75 percent, according to a “conservative estimate”.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;
  2037.  
  2038. &lt;h3&gt;Read more:&amp;nbsp;&lt;a href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/arab-and-islamic-airspace-blockade-would-damage-israel-finds-uae-think-tank"&gt;Arab and Islamic airspace blockade would damage Israel, finds UAE think tank&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/h3&gt;
  2039.  
  2040.  &lt;figure role="group" class="media-block"&gt;
  2041.  &lt;div class="group-inner"&gt;
  2042.    &lt;div alt="A picture taken on 31 August 2020 shows the El Al's airliner at the Ben Gurion Airport near Tel Aviv (AFP/Jack Guez)" data-embed-button="file_browser" data-entity-embed-display="image:image" data-entity-embed-display-settings="{" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="cdad6fd7-142d-4056-b696-1874b37a4cae" data-langcode="en" class="embedded-entity"&gt;  &lt;img src="https://www.middleeasteye.net/sites/default/files/el-al-flight-israel-afp.jpg" width="1920" height="1080" alt="A picture taken on 31 August 2020 shows the El Al's airliner at the Ben Gurion Airport near Tel Aviv (AFP/Jack Guez)" typeof="foaf:Image" fetchpriority="high"&gt;
  2043.  
  2044. &lt;/div&gt;
  2045.  
  2046.    &lt;figcaption&gt;A picture taken on 31 August 2020 shows the El Al's airliner at the Ben Gurion Airport near Tel Aviv (AFP/Jack Guez)&lt;/figcaption&gt;
  2047.  &lt;/div&gt;
  2048. &lt;/figure&gt;
  2049.  
  2050.  
  2051. &lt;p&gt;&lt;span style="background: url(&amp;quot;https://www.middleeasteye.net/modules/contrib/ckeditor/vendor/plugins/widget/images/handle.png&amp;quot;) rgba(220, 220, 220, 0.5); top: -15px; left: 0px;"&gt;&lt;img height="15" role="presentation" src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAPABAP///wAAACH5BAEKAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAICRAEAOw==" title="Click and drag to move" width="15" loading="lazy"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
  2052.  
  2053. &lt;section&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/section&gt;
  2054. &lt;/div&gt;
  2055.      
  2056.  &lt;/div&gt;
  2057.  
  2058. &lt;/article&gt;
  2059. </description>
  2060.  <pubDate>Thu, 18 Sep 2025 15:22:27 +0100</pubDate>
  2061.    <dc:creator>Rayhan Uddin</dc:creator>
  2062.    <guid isPermaLink="false">428825 at https://www.middleeasteye.net/</guid>
  2063.    </item>
  2064.  
  2065.  </channel>
  2066. </rss>
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