Newspaper questions Japan gov’t delaying Palestinian state recognition

Yomiuri Shimbun, Japan’s most widely circulated newspaper, has published an editorial suggesting the country risks appearing to “tacitly condone Israel’s atrocities” if it maintains its current nonrecognition stance on Palestine.

Tokyo has decided not to join European countries in recognising a Palestinian state, but said the question is one of timing and not whether it will happen.

Japan’s Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba said at the UN General Assembly yesterday: “For our country, the question is not whether to recognise a Palestinian state but when. The continued unilateral actions by the government of Israel can never be accepted.”

The editorial said Japan was likely being cautious because it was worried about the possible impact on US-Japan relations, but said: “With even Britain — a nation sharing a ‘special relationship’ with the United States — now recognising a Palestinian state, Japan could give the impression of tacitly condoning Israel’s atrocities if it maintains its current position.”

Some accountability, the fine is peanuts, far less than then pro-Israel lobby spend on sacking him, but it's a small moral victory.

Australian national broadcaster ordered to pay journalist sacked over pro-Israel lobby outcry

The federal court has found the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) “abjectly surrendered” to pro-Israel lobbyists when it fired a journalist over sharing a social media post on Gaza.

Fill-in radio host Antoinette Lattouf was fired in December 2023 by the ABC for reposting a Human Rights Watch video report on Gaza on Instagram with the comment: “HRW reporting starvation as a tool of war.”

The journalist had already been awarded 70,000 Australian dollars ($46,400) in damages, but Justice Darryl Rangiah said the ABC needed to be punished again as it “let down the Australian public badly”.

Senior managers at the ABC were aware there was an “organised political campaign” by pro-Israel lobbyists to have Lattouf removed from the air, so they committed a serious breach of employment law, the judge said.

The broadcaster must now pay an additional 150,000 Australian dollars ($99,400).

Exposing the DISTURBING ISRAELI Lobby inside Australia | Ex-Foreign Minister Bob Carr

In this exclusive interview, former Australian Foreign Minister, the Hon. Bob Carr reveals the deep underlying influence of the Israeli lobby in Australian politics – and how it has long shaped Canberra’s stance on Israel–Palestine. Once a co-founder of the Labor Friends of Israel with Bob Hawke in 1977, Carr has undergone a dramatic transformation – from being hailed in Tel Aviv as an “honourable gentile” to now becoming one of the loudest critics of Israel’s brutality in Gaza.

Amsterdam city council moves to bar Israel’s Maccabi Tel Aviv

The Amsterdam City Council has approved a motion to declare certain foreign sports clubs – including Israel’s Maccabi Tel Aviv – unwelcome in the city if they are deemed to contribute to “occupation or racism”.

The motion – put forward by Sheher Khan, leader of the Denk party – targets clubs “established in illegal settlements, directly or indirectly contributing to the maintenance of unlawful occupations, or systematically failing to act against extremist and racist expressions among their hardcore”.

A large majority on the council supported the proposal. Khan said Maccabi Tel Aviv “is known as pro-Netanyahu and its hooligans endorse genocide”.

The move comes in the wake of violent clashes in Amsterdam last November following a Europa League match between Ajax and Maccabi Tel Aviv.

Quite the reversal from the initial claims by Halsema.

Amsterdam violence: Mayor condemns attacks on Israeli fans
https://www.espn.com/soccer/story/_/id/42263701/israel-send-rescue-planes-amsterdam-fan-violence

Amsterdam Mayor Femke Halsema condemned violence in the city on Thursday as "antisemitic hit-and-run squads" after Maccabi Tel Aviv fans were attacked after travelling for their team's Europa League game with Ajax.

"This is a very dark moment for the city, for which I am deeply ashamed," Halsema said at a news conference Friday.

Then the cctv footage of what actually happened 'mysteriously' ended up erased

A decision to drop criminal charges against fans of Maccabi Tel Aviv football club has ignited controversy in the Netherlands. Dutch prosecutors took the decision after CCTV footage showing violent behavior by Israeli hooligans toward Muslim women last November was found to have been ERASED.

Protests, heavy security ahead of Israeli football club’s Europa League match in Greece

The buildup to Israeli football club Maccabi Tel Aviv’s match against Greek side PAOK in Thessaloniki tonight has been marked by protests and a large security operation.

Protests took place in the Greek port city ahead of the Europa League clash, calling for Israeli clubs to be banned from European football competitions over Israel’s war in Gaza.

Protesters held up Palestinian flags and a banner reading: “Your pitch, your choice. Boycott Israel.”

In a separate protest, a large banner that read “Genocide” was hung from a complex housing the US consulate.

Outside the stadium, police conducted a large-scale security operation, the AP news agency reported, with travelling Israeli fans held behind a cordon before being allowed to enter the stadium.

_{Pro-Palestinian protesters, most of them PAOK fans, gather ahead of a Europa League football match between PAOK and Israeli team Maccabi Tel Aviv in Thessaloniki, Greece}

Denmark’s pension fund excludes Israeli state assets, companies from investment portfolio

A Danish pension fund has become the latest to divest from Israeli state assets and companies over human rights concerns, according to the Reuters news agency.

AkademikerPension, which manages a fund worth 157 billion Danish crowns ($24.77bn) on behalf of Danish teachers and professors, said the decision was based on Israel’s war in Gaza and the expansion of its settlements in the occupied West Bank.

“This comes as an assessment of the state of Israel’s ability to uphold human rights,” CEO Jens Munch Holst told Reuters.

The pension fund’s move follows similar action from Norway’s $2 trillion sovereign wealth fund.

Suffering of Palestinian children ‘result of choices’, ‘choices can change’: Top Belgian diplomat

Belgian Foreign Minister Maxime Prevot says the suffering of Palestinian children in Gaza and the occupied West Bank is “not inevitable”, “it is a result of choices, of actions and of inaction, and choices can change”.

Speaking at a high-level event on the Call to Action for Palestinian Children in the West Bank and Gaza, he underlined that Belgium is once again calling on the international community to protect children, respect international humanitarian law and guarantee safe and unimpeded humanitarian access.

“Children should never be collateral damage. Yet today in Gaza and the West Bank, they are paying the highest price,” Prevot said.

“I disagree with those who say that the humanitarian system is broken. It is access that is missing. It is the deliberate decision to deny access,” he added.

He concluded by urging immediate action, saying, “If these children can still find the courage to speak, what excuse do we have not to act?”

It's the UN that is broken thanks to the USA, protecting and arming Israel, creating and staffing the controversial GHF to let Israel continue blocking all legitimate humanitarian aid.

Israel and Syria near preliminary de-escalation pact: US envoy

Israel and Syria are on the brink of a preliminary de-escalation understanding that will form the foundation for a future security agreement, says the US special envoy to Syria.

Israel has carried out attacks across Syria, but especially in the southeastern regions, where it has carried out repeated raids near its shared border since ex-President Bashar al-Assad was overthrown in a lightning offensive in December last year.

US envoy Tom Barrack has been working on the issue for months and championed the idea of integrating a unified Syria into the region.

Speaking to reporters in New York City, Barrack said: “I think everybody is approaching it in good faith”.

Israeli forces invade Syrian villages in Quneitra

Footage circulating on Syrian media shows Israeli ground troops advancing on the town of Sida al-Golan in the countryside of Quneitra.

Armoured vehicles patrolled the streets, and soldiers climbed onto the rooftops of houses. Many homes were reportedly searched by Israeli troops as well.

Israel has launched hundreds of strikes targeting military sites and assets across Syria since the fall of its leader, Bashar al-Assad, in December.

It has also expanded its occupation of the Golan Heights into Syria by seizing the demilitarised buffer zone, a move that violated a 1974 disengagement agreement with Syria.

‘We stand firmly with the people of Gaza’: Syria’s president to UNGA

In his address to the UN General Assembly, Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa has called for an immediate end to Israel’s war on Gaza.

“We are among the peoples most deeply aware of the horrors of war and destruction,” he said.

“For this reason, we stand firmly with the people of Gaza, its children and women and all peoples facing violations and aggression. We call for an immediate end to the war,” he said.

Israeli surveillance drone crashes inside UN base in Lebanon

The UN’s peacekeeping force in Lebanon says an Israeli drone crashed inside its headquarters in the southern part of the country but no one was hurt and the device was neutralised.

“It was determined that the drone was not armed but was equipped with a camera,” UNIFIL spokesperson Kandice Ardiel said, adding the Israeli military later confirmed the drone belonged to the army.

She said the peacekeepers are capable of defending themselves, but the drone fell on its own.

“Like all [Israeli military] drones and other flights over south Lebanon, this is a violation of [UN Security Council] resolution 1701 and Lebanese sovereignty,” Ardiel said.

Israeli drone crashes in desert area after malfunction

The Israeli military says one of its unmanned aerial aircraft crashed in the western Negev area because of a malfunction.

The army said in a short statement the drone was recovered and there were no casualties or damage.

As we reported earlier, an Israeli surveillance drone crashed inside a UN base in southern Lebanon yesterday.

_{Wreckage of an Israeli Hermes drone}

Hmm, one could be a rogue malfunction, two starts to look like sabotage / electronic warfare / bad maintenance / incompetence (junior operators?)

Israel army says resort of Eilat hit by drone ‘launched from Yemen’

Israel’s army says a drone launched from Yemen fell in Eilat after the sirens sounded in the area “a short while ago”.

“Interception attempts were made and search and rescue teams are operating in the area where the report was received regarding the impact,” it said on Telegram in English.

“The public is requested to continue to follow the Home Front Command’s defensive guidelines and further guidelines issued.”

Remnants of drone fall in Eilat, Israeli police say

Israeli police say remnants of a drone have fallen in the southern city of Eilat, causing damage and several injuries.

Bomb disposal experts are examining the nature of the object, and the public has been warned to avoid approaching the crash site or touching any remnants that may contain explosives, a police statement said on Telegram.

The Magen David Adom emergency medical service said its teams had treated five people with shrapnel injuries.

Number of casualties in Israel’s Eilat rises to 20

Israel’s Magen David Adom ambulance service says 20 people have been injured and taken to Yoseftal Hospital after an unidentified object fell in the southern city of Eilat. It said two people suffered serious limb injuries, one was moderately injured in the upper body by shrapnel and 17 suffered minor limb injuries caused by shrapnel.

Young man shot dead by Israeli troops near Jenin

Israeli forces have shot dead a 19-year-old while raiding the town of Anzah, near Jenin, in the occupied West Bank, reports Wafa. The man, identified as Ahmed Jihad Barahmeh, was picked up by a Palestinian Red Crescent crew after being shot in the chest, but later died of his wounds.

There’s been a sharp escalation of violence this month following Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich’s call to take over most of the territory.

Children arrested during more Israeli raids on West Bank

The Palestinian Prisoners’ Media Office confirms that at least three children, all 13-year-old boys, have been arrested by Israeli forces during an incursion in the village of Deir Abu Mishal near Ramallah.

Several other schoolchildren were detained in Hebron. Local sources told Wafa that two young men riding a motorcycle were arrested in a neighbourhood of Jenin after Israeli soldiers deployed across the area.

Israeli troops also attacked other towns and villages in Ramallah and seized many vehicles.

Palestinians were assaulted during raids in several towns west of Salfit.

Knesset member calls crucial bridge closure ‘petty revenge’

Aida Touma-Sliman, a left-wing Palestinian member of the Knesset, says Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu’s decision to close the King Hussein (Allenby) Bridge, which connects the occupied West Bank to Jordan, is “petty revenge” for many nations moving to recognise a Palestinian state.

In a post on X, she also called on countries around the globe to take action to stop the far-right Israeli government’s dangerous moves.

“Netanyahu threatens further steps in the near future. The nations of the world who finally understood the danger of the transfer and extermination government must act immediately to block Netanyahu’s destructive and devastating policies.”

Palestine condemns Israel’s ‘unjustified’ closure of Allenby crossing

The Palestinian Foreign Ministry has called for international pressure on Israel to reopen the King Hussein (Allenby) Bridge – the only crossing between Jordan and the occupied West Bank – after Israel announced its indefinite closure.

In a statement, the Palestinian ministry called the closure of the Israeli-controlled crossing – which follows an attack last week by a Jordanian aid truck driver that killed two Israeli soldiers – a form of “collective punishment”.

“The crossing is the only route for the movement of more than three million Palestinians living in the West Bank to the outside world, and its closure causes massive humanitarian and economic harm, leaving thousands of Palestinians stranded, unable to return to their jobs, studies, and families, or to travel for medical treatment.”

Bombs, chemical agents, communications jamming used in flotilla attacks

Boats in the Global Sumud Flotilla heading to Gaza have come under massive attack by at least 15 drones.

The drones started carrying out reconnaissance work, collecting information above the fleet five hours before the attack. Then we began receiving news about attacks happening on several boats using explosive materials.

The attacks seem to have consisted of sound bombs that affected the sails of some of the boats. We’ve also received information about chemical substances being dropped by drones over some boats. Until now, we don’t have any reports of injuries.

Drones were hovering over one of the main boats in the flotilla that was previously targeted in Tunisia – the Alma. This vessel is one of the main ships to support other boats in the fleet and is carrying several public figures, including Mandla Mandela, the grandson of Nelson Mandela, and activist Greta Thunberg. This time, the Alma was not targeted directly by bombs or substances, but was victim to communications jamming.

The flotilla organisers have accused Israel of being behind this attack, especially as its foreign minister threatened to stop this fleet from reaching Gaza, where they are trying to break the siege and create a corridor to deliver aid to people in Gaza. At the same time, the organisers confirmed that this fleet is nonviolent and solely humanitarian.

Italy denounces attack on Global Sumud Flotilla

Italy’s Defence Minister Guido Crosetto has condemned an overnight drone attack on the flotilla headed to Gaza to deliver aid.

In a statement on Wednesday, Crosetto said he redirected an Italian navy ship towards the flotilla to offer it possible assistance. His comments came after the GSF reported explosions and communications interference.

Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said there are “Italian citizens along with members of parliament and MEPs” among the pro-Palestinian activists in the flotilla, which reported hearing more than a dozen blasts as it sailed off Greece late on Tuesday.

It also reported damage caused by “unidentified objects” dropped on deck.

“To ensure their safety, the foreign ministry had already notified Israeli authorities that any operation entrusted to Israeli forces must be conducted in compliance with international law and the principle of absolute caution,” it said in a statement.

“Minister Tajani has asked the Italian Embassy in Tel Aviv to gather information and to reiterate its previous request to the Israeli government to guarantee the absolute protection of the personnel on board.”