Israeli military surrounds house of freed Palestinian prisoner, calls on him to surrender
The Israeli military has stormed the occupied West Bank village of Deir Abu Mishal, west of Ramallah, and surrounded the house of a freed Palestinian prisoner, the Wafa news agency reports.
Israeli forces have called on the man, who was released three months ago after spending 21 years in Israeli prisons, to surrender himself, warning they will arrest his family members until he does. On Monday, Israeli forces arrested his brother during a raid on the village.
Israeli forces have also stormed the town of Beit Kahil, northwest of Ramallah, and arrested a second former Palestinian detainee who was released two weeks ago.
West Bank-Jordan border crossing reopens to travellers
The border crossing between Jordan and the occupied West Bank – the King Hussein (Allenby) Bridge – has reopened to travellers but remains closed to commercial activity, the Israel Airports Authority said.
The closure came after a shooting on Sunday when a Jordanian truck driver killed three Israeli guards at the cargo area of the crossing operated by Israel.
Israeli media said the authority’s move followed orders by security officials.
UK lord resigns as patron of Lawyers for Israel over arms exports
Alex Carlile, a member of the UK’s House of Lords, has resigned as a patron of UK Lawyers for Israel (UKLFI) after the group said it planned to challenge the government’s partial suspension of arms exports to Israel, Middle East Eye reports.
Carlile confirmed his resignation to Middle East Eye after he published an article in the Independent newspaper saying Prime Minister Keir Starmer had shown “courage and conviction” by acting on the “clear legal advice” regarding arms sales to Israel and “deciding that the right thing must be done”.
On the same day his opinion piece was published, UKLFI said it had sent a formal letter to the government “threatening legal action unless it cancels the decision to suspend around 30 licences for the export of arms to Israel”.
Australia backs UK curb on Israel arms sales
Australia has said that it supports a decision by the UK government to suspend some of the country’s weapons sales to Israel over concerns about violations of international law.
“I welcome the decision of my UK counterpart,” Foreign Affairs minister Penny Wong told the Guardian Australia. “It reflects what we have been advocating throughout this conflict. Palestinian civilians cannot be made to pay the price of defeating Hamas.”
Wong added that Australia is “working with partners – including the UK – to put pressure to see a real change in the situation in Gaza”.
British Foreign Secretary David Lammy said on September 2 that the newly-installed Labour government had suspended 30 of 350 arms export licences with Israel due to a risk the equipment could be used to commit serious violations of international humanitarian law in Gaza.
With British arms exports amounting to less than 1 percent of the total Israel receives, critics, including former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, have labelled the move as just for show.
Just as Australia's 'backing' is just for show.
