Neighbourhoods in northern Gaza ‘now completely empty of people’
Earlier this morning, the same site was relentlessly bombed twice by F-16s, forcing many of the people in the vicinity of the area [out of] makeshift tents that they set up in past weeks, as they were forced out of their homes and temporary shelters in the northern parts of the Strip.
For the past month or so, Palestinians have been on the move as evacuation orders have been issued on a daily basis – evacuating and forcing many of the people in the northern part of the Strip [to move].
Close to 14 neighbourhoods, now, in the northern part of Gaza are now completely empty of people. That includes areas where three major health facilities were rendered non-operational as they are in the line of fire of the Israeli military.
These air strikes have caused further civilian casualties, and the sheer level of destruction is quite visible everywhere.
Irish band Kneecap says ‘they are trying to silence us’ over activism against Gaza war
A member of Irish rap trio Kneecap said the terror charge he faces in the United Kingdom is an attempt to “silence us”, as the group appeared onstage for a gig they claimed was nearly “pulled”, the Press Association reports.
Liam O hAnnaidh, who performs under the stage name Mo Chara, spoke to thousands of people in Brockwell Park, south London, as the group headlined the Wide Awake Festival on Friday in London. O hAnnaidh has been charged with a terror offence by UK police over the alleged display of a Hezbollah flag at a gig the band played in November last year.
Kneecap has been outspoken against Israel’s war on Gaza. “We are being made an example of, the Israeli lobbyists are trying to prove to other artists ‘that if you speak out, we’re going to hit you where it hurts most’,” O hAnnaidh told the crowd.
“They’re trying to cancel gigs, they trying to cancel my freedom of travel,” he said. “And the fact that I’m speaking to this amount of people, and I assume the majority of you will agree, shows that we’re on the right side of history,” he said.
“I went for an interview with the counterterror police and within days they came to a verdict that they were going to charge me. Never has it been that quick,” he added.
“And the reason it was that quick was because Glastonbury is just around the corner, they’re trying to silence us.”
One of the band’s members was also heard saying: “Honestly, lads, you have no idea how close we were to being pulled off this gig.”
Members of Kneecap pose on the red carpet at the Irish Film and Television Academy Awards in Dublin, Ireland, in February 2025
