Scottish First Minister says ‘clear’ there is a ‘genocide in Palestine’
Scotland’s First Minister John Swinney has told reporters “it’s quite clear that there is a genocide in Palestine – it can’t be disputed.
“I have seen reports of terrible atrocities which have the character of being genocide,” Swinney added, Scotland’s The National newspaper reported.
“I’ve expressed that and obviously it’s not reached all those individuals, but that’s my feeling,” Swinney added, in remarks he made after pro-Palestinian protesters repeatedly interrupted an event where he was speaking, at the Stand Comedy Club in Edinburgh.
Asked about Scotland’s government funding apprenticeships at companies building weapons to send to Israel, he said the government was applying “due diligence checks … unreservedly”.
EU’s Kallas slams video of emaciated Gaza captive amid forced starvation crisis
As we reported yesterday, Hamas’s military wing has released a video of Israeli captive Evyatar David appearing emaciated amid the Israeli-induced starvation crisis in Gaza.
In the four-minute video, subtitled in Arabic and English, he describes severe deprivation, saying, “I don’t know what I’m going to eat today … I haven’t eaten in days … I’ve barely got drinking water.”
The European Union’s foreign affairs chief, Kaja Kallas, has condemned the video, describing the images as “appalling”, and arguing that they “expose the barbarity” of the group.
“All hostages must be released immediately and unconditionally. Hamas must disarm and end its rule in Gaza. At the same time, large-scale humanitarian aid must be allowed to reach those in need,” Kallas added.
At least 175 Palestinians, including 93 children, have died of starvation and malnutrition across the territory since Israel’s war began in October 2023, according to the latest Gaza Health Ministry figures.
UN and other humanitarian officials say Israeli restrictions on humanitarian aid deliveries, though partially lifted in recent days, have left everyone suffering from a lack of food, with starved people struggling to find enough food to feed their families.
Earlier, Gaza’s Government Media Office reported that only 36 aid trucks entered the territory on Saturday, significantly lower than the 500 to 600 aid trucks the UN estimated were needed daily to meet the needs of the population.
Six-year-old Yusuf Abdurrahman Matar and his four-year-old brother Emir Abdurrahman Matar face life-threatening malnutrition amid the deepening humanitarian crisis in Gaza City, Gaza on July 25
‘We do not accept democracy lessons from those who kill civilians,’ Athens mayor tells Israeli envoy
The mayor of the Greek capital of Athens has verbally clashed with Israeli Ambassador to Greece Noam Katz, after the latter accused the city’s municipality authorities of not doing enough to clean up anti-Semitic graffiti.
“It is appalling that the Ambassador focuses solely on graffiti (which, obviously, is being removed) at a time when an unprecedented genocide is taking place in Gaza,” Haris Doukas said in a social media post.
“Athens, the capital of a democratic country, fully respects its visitors and upholds the right of its citizens to free expression. As the city’s municipal authority, we have proven our active opposition to violence and racism.
“We do not accept lessons in democracy from those who kill civilians and children waiting in line for food aid, from those who lead dozens of people to death every day in Gaza, through bombs, hunger, and thirst.”
