Families disrupt PM Netanyahu’s testimony in corruption trial

Captive family members entered the court where Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu is testifying while on trial for corruption charges.

They loudly protested the grim situation of the abductees in Gaza during a break in proceedings and were removed by security officers, Israel’s public broadcaster Kan reported.

Netanyahu dismissed the protest as an example of the “level of incitement against me as prime minister and against my family”, it quoted him as saying.


_{Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at an Israeli court}

UN Conclusively Rules Israel Is Committing Genocide In Gaza

The United Nations has definitively ruled that Israel is committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza.

Plus: More Tories defect to Reform, and Keir Starmer absconds from an emergency debate on the Jeffrey Epstein scandal.

UN inquiry finds Israel is committing genocide in Gaza

A commission established by the United Nations has said that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza. The report said there are reasonable grounds to conclude that four of the five genocidal acts defined under international law have been carried out since the start of the war with Hamas in 2023.

“The Commission finds that Israel is responsible for the commission of genocide in Gaza,” said Navi Pillay, Chair of the UN Commission set up to investigate war crimes in the occupied Palestinian territories.

Israel's foreign ministry rejected the report, denouncing it as "distorted and false" and saying it is based on ‘lies’. In response, Israel said “Hamas is the party that attempted genocide in Israel - murdering 1,200 people, raping women, burning families alive, and openly declaring its goal of killing every Jew.”


"David Lammys last act in a disgraceful time as foreign secretary was to release a statement saying there is no gen0cde in Gaza. 6 Days later the UN confirms it is. Yet another stain on this shambles of a government."

No ‘military logic’ to Israel’s ground invasion of Gaza City

An analyst says Hamas has now reverted to guerrilla warfare and it remains unclear when the tens of thousands of Israeli soldiers will be able to finally wrest control of northern Gaza from the armed Palestinian group.

“I don’t think you’ll see that kind of pitched battle military warfare that would necessitate so many soldiers to be deployed,” said Rob Geist Pinfold from King’s College London, noting an estimated 20,000 Israeli soldiers are engaged in the ground invasion of Gaza City.

“Hamas has basically gone back to its roots as a so-called resistance movement conducting a guerrilla or insurgency campaign against Israeli troops.” The problem for Israel’s army is “it doesn’t have any targets left to hit” in the area, Geist Pinfold told Al Jazeera.

“This [attack] does not have military logic, it does not have strategic logic. It’s got political logic for Netanyahu to stay in power, to deflect from his corruption trial.”

The point is ethnic cleansing, force out all the remaining people to the south.

‘Extreme pressure’: Israel ramps up attacks on towers in Gaza City

Judging from the patterns and pace, the Israeli military is scaling up bombardment of areas where thousands of Palestinians are sheltering inside the remaining standing buildings or nearby in makeshift tents.

More people were recently pushed from their neighbourhoods in Zeitoun, Shujayea, and the northern, eastern and western parts of Gaza City, namely the Sheikh Radwan district, a densely populated area.

The Israeli military is deliberately intensifying attacks on these areas. Over the past few days, it’s interesting to note many of these displaced people were actually living in the vicinity of residential high-rises, believing they provided a level of safety.

The Israeli army has carried out these attacks in order to apply an extreme level of pressure that gives the impression there is nowhere safe, not even near these large residential towers.

Leaflets ordering residents to evacuate are dropped over Gaza City


_{Leaflets dropped by Israeli forces ordering residents of Gaza City to evacuate}

Israel ‘paying lip service to international law’ with Gaza City leaflet drops

Israel has been trying to make it more difficult to hold it legally accountable for its abuses in Gaza, says Sultan Barakat, professor of public policy at Hamad Bin Khalifa University in Qatar.

“They try to make sure that they tick [off] the principles – just a very light tick – to make it much more difficult to pin them down as having breached the law itself,” he said.

He cited Israel’s aerial drops of leaflets with evacuation orders for residents of Gaza City as an example. “The throwing of leaflets to warn the population is actually in line with international requirements,” he said.

“But what the international law actually says is that you have to give them the warning, but it has to be feasible – feasible in terms of time … and most importantly, alternative shelter elsewhere.”

“They don’t do the whole package,” he added. “What they do is they throw the leaflets and they say, ‘Well, we warned them.’”

Gaza death toll exceeds 65,000 since war began in 2023

At least 65,062 people have been killed and 165,697 wounded in attacks on Gaza after nearly two years of Israel’s war, the Health Ministry reports.

In the past 24 hours, the bodies of seven aid seekers and 87 wounded Palestinians were taken to hospitals across Gaza, it said. The latest toll raises the number of people killed at aid sites since the establishment of the GHF at the end of May to 2,504 with more than 18,381 injuries.

Four deaths recorded were caused by famine and malnutrition, increasing the number of dead from the Israeli-induced hunger crisis to 432, including 146 children.

Since the UN-backed IPC declared famine in Gaza last month, 154 deaths from malnutrition have been recorded, including 31 children.

Israel’s objective ‘to destroy Gaza City and make it unliveable’

Israeli political scientist Menachem Klein says that Israel’s actions in Gaza show that its main priority is not recovering Israeli captives held by Hamas, but to render the territory “unliveable”.

Klein, a senior lecturer at Israel’s Bar-Ilan University, told Al Jazeera that returning the captives “may be a byproduct of the Israeli operation but not the main goal”.

“About 70 percent of the Strip was already destroyed by Israel systematically, not by accident,” he added. “Even after the fighting, Israel destroys systematically the infrastructure.”

He said that, having devastated Gaza, Israel’s aim was to then “move the population to a concentration zone and then offer them a better life outside Gaza Strip to push them outside”.

Palestinians forced to flee under heavy bombardment

We’re in an area where, about nine months ago, we documented how people made their way back to Gaza City, returning to their homes in the north after almost a year and a half of devastation and destruction.

Particularly, we’re seeing thousands of people being pushed into further internal displacement, coming to the south and central part of the Gaza Strip. But they’re not fleeing voluntarily; they’re fleeing under heavy bombardment, air strikes, heavy artillery and a ground invasion.

Something we want to point out is that for the past few minutes, air strikes have been going on coming from particularly southwestern Gaza City, the Tal al-Hawa district, where thousands and thousands of residents and displaced families have been seeking shelter in that area.

The Israeli military has been following this pattern of attack, applying extreme pressure on residents in order to force them out of their homes in that area.

_{Palestinians flee to southern Gaza as Israeli attacks intensify}

UN warns no supplies for northern Gaza after Israel closes crossing

The UN voices grave concerns about food and other supplies running out in northern Gaza, where hundreds of thousands of people are already experiencing famine. Israel began its long-expected ground assault on Gaza City in the north on Tuesday and is stepping up efforts to empty the city of civilians by opening an additional route southwards.

Hundreds of thousands of people are sheltering in the city and refuse to follow Israel’s orders to move because of the dangers from Israeli attacks along the way, dire conditions, a lack of food in the southern area and fear of permanent displacement. Exhausted and hungry, many thousands have already been displaced multiple times throughout Israel’s assault.

“There are grave concerns over fuel and food stock depletion in a matter of days as there are now no direct aid entry points into northern Gaza and resupply from south to north is increasingly challenging due to mounting road congestion and insecurity,” the UN humanitarian office (OCHA) said in a statement.

The Zikim Crossing was shut on September 12 and no aid groups have been able to import supplies since, it said.

A global hunger monitor said last month that Gaza City and surrounding areas were officially suffering from famine and that it was likely to spread.

Israel controls all access to Gaza.

Thirteen killed in Israeli attack near al-Shifa Hospital

Thirteen people have been killed, and others wounded, in an Israeli attack carried out in front of the gate of al-Shifa Hospital in the west of Gaza City, a source at the hospital tells Al Jazeera.

Israel uses booby-trapped vehicles to displace people and destroy homes in Gaza City: NGO

The Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor says the Israeli army has intensified its use of booby-trapped armoured vehicles loaded with explosives to demolish residential neighbourhoods in Gaza City.

The NGO reported the detonation of 10 booby-trapped vehicles today in the Tal al-Hawa neighbourhood of Gaza City.

At least three other vehicles were detonated among homes in al-Nafaq Street, in the east of the city, along with several more in the vicinity of Sheikh Radwan Pool in northern Gaza City, according to the report.

The Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor added: “Beyond mass killing and forced displacement, these methods aim to obliterate entire neighbourhoods and infrastructure, erasing the possibility of life returning to the city and undermining the Palestinian people’s right to remain on their land and return to their homes.”

The group also said “the unprecedented scale of destruction” highlights Israel’s determination to carry out its plan of erasing Gaza City.

“This has been enabled by the absence of any meaningful international pressure or accountability, reinforcing impunity and undermining international law’s capacity to protect civilians from crimes of genocide,” the report stressed.

At least 75 Palestinians killed in Israeli detention since October 7: OHCHR

The occupied Palestinian territory branch of the UN Human Rights Office (OHCHR) says that Israel must “urgently end the systematic torture and … ill-treatment” of detained Palestinians, as it revealed that at least 75 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli detention since October 7, 2023.

In a statement, OHCHR said that between Hamas’s attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, and August 31 this year, at least 75 Palestinians, including a 17-year-old, had died in Israeli detention.

They included 49 individuals from Gaza, 24 from the West Bank and two Palestinian citizens of Israel.

“Israeli authorities have deliberately imposed conditions of detention that amount to torture or other forms of ill-treatment and that have contributed to the deaths of detainees,” said the statement, adding that the “culture of impunity and the denial of International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) access have predictably fostered extreme violence against Palestinians in Israeli jails”.

In addition to the 75 identified deaths, OHCHR said that Israeli authorities had released information indicating the deaths of another 19 detainees, but without enough data to verify their identities.

At least five more Palestinians, including a 16-year-old, had died in Israeli custody shortly after being shot by Israeli forces, in some cases after a failure to ensure prompt medical attention.

European Commission proposes suspension of trade concessions with Israel

The European Commission has presented a much anticipated and delayed proposal to “suspend certain trade-related provisions of the Association Agreement between the EU and Israel” in response to the war on Gaza.

The sanctions, however, do not currently have enough support among the EU’s 27 member countries to pass. The proposals include suggested sanctions on “extremist” Israeli ministers and violent settlers as well as Hamas.

Kaja Kallas, the EU’s foreign policy chief, urged EU members to increase tariffs on some Israeli goods and impose sanctions on 10 Hamas leaders, Israeli settlers and two far-right members of Netanyahu’s cabinet: National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich.

The commission also said it was pausing its bilateral support to Israel with the exception of support to civil society and Yad Vashem, the World Holocaust Remembrance Center.

“The proposals follow a review of Israel’s compliance with Article 2 of the Agreement, which found that actions taken by the Israeli government represent a breach of essential elements relating to respect for human rights and democratic principles. This entitles the EU to suspend the Agreement unilaterally,” the commission said.

‘Cannot continue like this’: Israeli industry leader criticises EU sanction plan

The president of Israel’s Manufacturers Association, an umbrella organisation representing all industrial sectors, has criticised an EU proposal to sanction the country over its war on Gaza.

Ron Tomer warned the punitive measures announced by the EU’s leadership may also harm the trade bloc.

In a report picked up by Israel’s public broadcaster, Tomer said “we cannot continue like this when Israeli exports are being hit day after day, sometimes from within and sometimes from without.

“If the European Union chooses to implement ‘economic sanctions’, it will also harm itself,” he added.

Israel condemns proposed EU sanctions, warns of consequences for supporters

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar calls the sanctions proposed to EU member states “morally and politically distorted”. Saar said he hopes the plan isn’t adopted when it reaches EU member states, who have to vote on it.

“Israel will continue to fight, with the help of its friends in Europe, against attempts to harm it while it is engaged in an existential war,” Saar said in a post on X.

He also appeared to threaten states that back the move, saying: “Steps against Israel will be answered accordingly and we hope we will not be required to take them.”

‘Appropriate and proportionate’: EU trade commissioner defends sanctions on Israel

The EU’s Commission proposed a package of wide-ranging sanctions on Israel, including trade. In 2024, trade between Israel and the EU amounted to 42.6 billion euros ($50.45bn), 37 percent of which is covered by the preferential trade agreement.

The EU said it regrets having to take the step, but it believes it’s “both appropriate and proportionate given the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Gaza”, said EU trade commissioner Maros Sefcovic.

“In light of these figures and the principles at stake, the proposed partial suspension is a carefully considered response to an increasingly urgent situation,” he added.

The announcement doesn’t mean it will go into effect, and it will need to be voted on. The EU has been divided on the issue, with countries such as Germany, the Czech Republic, and Hungary opting to avoid harsh measures on Israel, while others like Spain and Ireland push for them.

What the EU decided to do today is basically to suspend some of the aspects of the trade agreement between the EU and Israel. This means that the EU is looking at imposing tariffs on Israeli imports into its territory, which are estimated to be about 5.8 billion euros ($6.87bn).


It is a GENOCIDE, still the EU refuses to use the word. It is your moral and legal obligation to end the genocide. A couple tarifs aren't going to do it.

‘No genocide on the pitch’: Campaign calls for European football boycott of Israel

Campaigners have issued a call for European football federations to boycott the Israeli national team and ban Israeli players from domestic competitions in response to its actions in Gaza.

The #GameOverIsrael campaign, which is directing its appeal to football federations in Belgium, England, France, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Norway, Scotland and Spain, launched its campaign with a billboard in New York’s Times Square that reads: “Soccer federations: Boycott Israel. No genocide on the pitch”.

Norwegian media reported that a huge banner was unfurled over Oslo’s Ullevaal Stadium, the home ground of the national football team, that read: “Your pitch, your choice: Boycott Israel”.

Asked by the Reuters news agency for comment, the Israel Football Association called the campaign “pathetic” and said the “group of hypocrites” behind it should condemn the October 7 attack by Hamas and call for the release of Israeli captives.