‘There is no one who has clean hands when it comes to Palestine’: UN’s Albanese
Francesca Albanese, the UN’s special rapporteur for the occupied Palestinian territory, has called on countries to cut all ties with Israel over its genocide in Gaza while speaking at a two-day conference in Colombia focused on ending Israel’s war on the territory.
European missile group MBDA selling parts for bombs used in Gaza: Report
An investigation by a journalism consortium has found that Europe’s top missile manufacturer is supplying Israel with essential parts of bombs, which may have killed hundreds of Palestinian civilians in Gaza.
A joint investigation by British newspaper The Guardian, European watchdog Follow the Money, and French investigative journalism nonprofit Disclose found that MBDA produced a key component for the so-called GBU-39 Small Diameter Bomb – a glide bomb often used by Israel’s Defense Ministry.
The company has its headquarters near the French capital, Paris, and is owned in part by the French commercial aircraft manufacturer Airbus. It has a contract with US commercial aircraft manufacturer Boeing to produce a key component known as the Diamond Back, according to the report.
MBDA has major subsidiaries in France, Germany and Italy. The UN Arms Trade Treaty, which these countries are signatories to, prohibits the export of weapons where there is an “overriding risk” that they could be used for serious breaches of international humanitarian law.
Hague Group meeting on Gaza gives hope Israel’s ‘era of impunity’ will end
Delegates in Bogota call it the most ambitious multilateral action since the start of the war in Gaza.
Thirty-two countries, mostly from the Global South, came together not just to condemn Israel’s actions but to adopt coordinated steps to try to stop it.
To launch the process, 12 of the countries from different regions pledged to immediately implement six concrete steps, including preventing the provision or transfer of arms to Israel, stopping the transit of vessels that might be used to carry arms to Israel, and ensuring public funds are not used to support Israel’s illegal occupation of the Palestinian territory.
The group also set September 20 – during the UN General Assembly – as a target date for the other countries to join.
Palestine’s ambassador to the UN called the move “historic”. But others warned that without the participation of Western powers and the imposition of diplomatic and political sanctions, the initiative risks falling short.
Now the real test will be whether these promises can translate into enforcement, and if this will be the beginning of the dismantling of what many here called an era of impunity for Israel.
