UK prisoner on 42-day hunger strike says he fears death but will continue

An imprisoned Palestine Action activist who has been on hunger strike for 42 days has said he fears dying but believes the protest is worthwhile, according to an interview with The Sunday Times.

Kamran Ahmed, 28, spoke by telephone from HMP Pentonville in north London, where he is being held on remand. He is one of six Palestine Action activists refusing food while facing charges they deny, linked to alleged break-ins and criminal damage carried out before the group was banned under UK terrorism legislation.

In the interview, Ahmed described a worsening physical condition, saying he has experienced chest pains, shaking and dangerously low blood sugar levels. He said prison medical staff had warned him that he might not wake up if he continued to refuse food.

“Every day I’m scared that potentially I might die,” he said, adding that the risks were outweighed by what he described as a wider political cause and solidarity with his co-defendants.

Ahmed was arrested in a dawn raid by counterterrorism police in November 2024 and later charged in connection with an action at Elbit Systems’ research facility in Filton, southwest England, which caused more than one million pounds ($1.3m) in damage, according to prosecutors.

Supporters say Ahmed has faced restrictive prison conditions, including limits on visits and correspondence, while he has been held without a trial for over a year.

Australian Prime Minister booed as Bondi Beach attack victims honoured

https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/australia-honours-bondi-beach-attack-victims-pm-albanese-booed-2025-12-21/

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese was booed by an angry crowd gathered at the famous Bondi beach on Sunday to honour the victims of a gun attack a week earlier that targeted a seaside Jewish Hanukkah festival event.

The nation marked a day of reflection on Sunday to honour the 15 people killed and the dozens wounded in the attack by two gunmen. With security tight and flags at half-staff on government buildings, a minute of silence was held at 6:47 p.m. (0747 GMT), the time the attack began.

Television and radio networks paused for a minute’s silence.

Tens of thousands, including Albanese and other leaders, attended the memorial that was guarded by a heavy police presence, including snipers on rooftops and police boats in the waters.

Albanese was booed by the crowd on arrival, and later when the speaker mentioned his name during the memorial. He sat on the front row wearing a kippah, the traditional Jewish cap.

The government has said it has consistently denounced antisemitism over the last two years and passed legislation to criminalise hate speech. It expelled the Iranian ambassador earlier this year after accusing Tehran of directing two antisemitic arson attacks.

"We have lost our innocence....last week took our innocence," David Ossip, the president of the New South Wales Jewish Board of Deputies said in a speech to start the proceedings at Bondi.

"Like the grass here at Bondi was stained with blood, so, too, has our nation been stained. We have landed up in a dark place. But friends, Hanukkah teaches us that light can illuminate even the bleakest of places. A single act of courage, a single flame of hope, can give us direction and point the path forward."

Also present at the memorial was the father of Ahmed al Ahmed, hailed as the 'Bondi Hero' for wrestling a gun from one of the attackers.

RECLAIMING BONDI

New South Wales Premier Chris Minns, who was cheered and praised at the memorial, said the attack was an attempt to marginalise, scatter, intimidate and cause fear.

"You have reclaimed Bondi Beach for us," he said.

Albanese announced a review of the country's law enforcement and intelligence agencies earlier on Sunday. He said the review, to be led by a former chief of Australia's spy agency, would probe whether federal police and intelligence agencies have the "right powers, structures, processes and sharing arrangements in place to keep Australians safe".

The attack exposed gaps in gun-license assessments and information-sharing between agencies that policymakers have said they want to plug. Albanese has announced a nationwide gun buyback, while gun safety experts say the nation's gun laws, among the world's toughest, are riddled with loopholes.

Israeli High Court sets final deadline for state to respond to petition for press access to Gaza

Israel’s High Court has given the state until January 4 to respond to a petition filed by the Foreign Press Association seeking free media access to Gaza, saying this will be the final deadline after several delays.

“If the respondents [Israeli authorities] do not inform us of their position by that date, a decision on the request for a conditional order will be made on the basis of the material in the case file,” the court said, adding it would “not be possible” to agree to any more extensions if the state requests.

Since the start of the war in October 2023, Israeli authorities have blocked foreign journalists from independently entering the territory. Instead, they have allowed, on a case-by-case basis, a handful of reporters to accompany Israeli troops into the blockaded Palestinian territory.

This year alone, Israeli attacks in Gaza have killed 29 Palestinian reporters, a higher toll for journalists than in any other country, according to a report by Reporters Without Borders (RSF).

Foreign Press Association ‘pleased’ with Israeli High Court petition deadline

The Foreign Press Association (FPA) in Jerusalem has welcomed the Israeli High Court of Justice’s move to require the Israeli state to respond by January 4 to its petition on media access to Gaza.

“After two years of the state’s delay tactics, we are pleased that the court’s patience has finally run out,” said the association, which represents hundreds of foreign journalists in Israel and the Palestinian territories.

“We renew our call for the state of Israel to immediately grant journalists free and unfettered access to the Gaza Strip,” it added. “And should the government continue to obstruct press freedoms, we hope that the supreme court will recognise and uphold those freedoms.”

Israeli death penalty bill violates international law: Palestinian analysts

In early November, the Israeli parliament passed the first reading of a bill that would introduce the death penalty for those convicted of killing Israelis if they had “racist” motives or were doing it “with the aim of harming Israel”. The bill clearly targets Palestinians, even as Israelis carry out deadly attacks against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, and Israel continues its killing of Palestinians in Gaza.

Alarm is widespread among Palestinian lawyers and activists. They claim that the law fundamentally undermines judicial safeguards, and warn that it seeks to erase the status of Palestinian detainees as protected under international law.

“The Israeli Knesset [parliament], dominated by the far-right, is working to turn killing into official legislation,” said Hassan Breijieh, who is the head of the Bethlehem office of the Wall and Settlements Resistance Commission. “[The proposed law] is an attempt to erase international recognition of the Palestinian fighter … and turn him into a criminal defendant.”


_{Israeli Ministers Wear Noose Pins to Symbolize Support for Killing Palestinians}

Israeli warplanes hit Khan Younis

Al Jazeera’s correspondent on the ground in the Gaza Strip reports that Israel has carried out at least one air strike on the southern city. This attack happened in coordination with an operation to demolish buildings in the city, an activity Israel is still carrying out regularly despite the ongoing ceasefire.

We do not have any information on casualties resulting from this strike at this time.

WHO notes 100,000 children in Gaza projected to suffer acute malnutrition through next April

World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has said that while conditions have improved in Gaza since the October ceasefire took effect, “progress remains extremely fragile” and 100,000 children are still on track to “suffer acute malnutrition through April next year”.

He noted that only half of Gaza’s health facilities are “partially functional and they face shortages of essential supplies and equipment” due to Israeli restrictions.

“To scale up life-saving services and expand access to care, the WHO calls for the urgent and expedited approval and entry of essential medical supplies, equipment and prefabricated hospital structures,” he said.

The latest @theIPCinfo analysis for #Gaza confirms that no areas of the Strip are currently classified as being in famine following the recent October ceasefire and improved humanitarian and commercial access.

But this welcome progress remains extremely fragile as the… pic.twitter.com/e0XrH0cujy

— Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus (@DrTedros) December 21, 2025

UNRWA chief says ‘myth’ that dismantling agency would help Palestinains

Philippe Lazzarini says on X that there is a need to dispel the “myth” that the agency keeps Palestinians in refugee status “limbo”. “The truth is that, wherever they are, refugees remain refugees in the absence of just and lasting political solutions to their plight,” he said.

He hit out at calls to dismantle the agency, which have largely come from the Israeli government, saying that Palestinian refugees would pay the price.

“Their [Palestinian refugees] only alternative is a genuine investment in peace and in future empowered [and] capacitated Palestinian institutions.”

Israel has repeatedly stymied efforts to work towards a Palestinian state, and has made it an official position over the course of its two-year genocide to stop one from being created.

Israeli army chief says more soldiers needed form ultra-Orthodox community

Eyal Zamir says Israel’s current troop level does not match up to its “extensive” security needs.

Speaking at a Hanukkah event with soldiers from a brigade composed of ultra-Orthodox jews, he said that the army is moving to integrate more Haredi soldiers. The issue of military conscription for the ultra-Orthodox community has been hotly debated and protested in Israel for years.

He said that the brigade, called the Hashmonaim Brigade, “proves that it is possible to integrate combat service while maintaining an ultra-Orthodox way of life”.

In late October, around 200,000 members of this community rallied in Israel against mandatory military service. Last year, Israel’s Supreme Court ruled unanimously that the military must begin drafting ultra-Orthodox men for service.

And the reason why Israel is stoking up anti-semitism around the world, the IDF needs more soldiers to keep killing Palestinians.

Israeli foreign minister calls on Jews worldwide to move to Israel

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar has urged Jews living in Western countries to immigrate to Israel following last week’s deadly shooting at a Hanukkah celebration in Australia.

“I call upon Jews in England, in France, in Australia, in Canada, in Belgium: Ascend to the Land of Israel! Come home! Waiting for you here with open arms,” Saar said on X.

Israeli law allows any Jewish person in the world to settle in Israel and gain Israeli citizenship.

For the small price of having to serve in the IDF and commit genocide. Israel depends on anti-semitism.

Israeli arms companies’ revenues soared in 2024

Israeli arms companies made record-high revenues last year, as weapons manufacturers market some of their products as “battle-tested” after their deployment in Israel’s genocidal war against the Palestinian people in Gaza.

Israel’s defence exports increased by 13 percent in 2024, compared with the previous year, to a record of almost $15bn, dominated by missiles, rockets and air-defence systems, the Israeli government said in a statement in June.

More than half the deliveries in 2024 went to European militaries, while other shipments went to countries in the Asia Pacific region, led by India.

Fuck Europe, complicit all the way.

Three people killed in Israeli strike near Lebanon’s Sidon

The air strike has targeted a car on the Aqtnit-Qantara road in the Sidon district of southern Lebanon, Lebanon’s National News Agency reports. The Israeli military said it struck several Hezbollah members in the Sidon area but did not provide details.

Sidon lies on Lebanon’s coast about 50km (about 30 miles) south of Beirut.

Italy seeks to keep military in Lebanon after UN forces leave

The UN peacekeeping force Italy is also a part of will complete its mission and leave as planned on December 31, 2026.

“Even after [the peacekeeping force] UNIFIL, Italy will continue to do its part, supporting with conviction the international presence and supporting the capacity development of the Lebanese armed forces,” Defence Minister Guido Crosetto said during a visit to Lebanon, according to a statement.

The United  Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) has acted as a buffer between Israel and Lebanon since 1978, remaining after Israel ended an occupation of southern Lebanon in 2000.

Lebanon had wanted UNIFIL to stay.

But the UN Security Council voted in August to allow only one final extension for UNIFIL after pressure from Israel and its US ally to end the mandate.

UNIFIL is currently led by Italian Major-General Diodato Abagnara and numbers 9,923 troops from 49 countries, according to the force’s website.

Italy is the second biggest contributing country with 1,099 soldiers deployed after Indonesia, which has 1,232 soldiers.

Under a truce between Israel and Hezbollah, the long-fledgling Lebanese national army has been deploying in southern Lebanon and dismantling Hezbollah’s infrastructure.

Israel army says it returned citizens who crossed into Syrian-controlled territory

Israeli citizens passed the illegal de facto fence in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights into the territory controlled by Syria, according to the military.

The armed forces “located the citizens and returned them safely” to the territory controlled by Israel, a military update said.

“The suspects who were captured will be transferred to the Israeli police for further processing,” it also said, stressing that it “is a serious incident that constitutes a criminal offence”.

The Israeli media reported that the people involved in the incident were a group of Israeli settler activists who seek to build settlements in southern Syria.

The army did not specify the identity or the ideology of the group.

But no, Israel has to protect itself from Syria, not Syria having to protect itself from Israel...

Turkiye’s Fidan urges Israel not to pursue expansionist policies

In his remarks during a visit to Damascus, Turkiye’s top diplomat says instead of pursuing “expansionist” policies in the region, Israel’s engagement in a mutually agreed-upon understanding with the countries around it would contribute to the region’s stability and global security.

Fidan said Ankara expects the negotiations between Syria and Israel over unresolved issues to produce results, stressing their importance for the stability of Syria and the region.

Israel approves closing of military radio

Israel’s cabinet has approved the closure of the country’s military radio station, dismissing objections from the attorney general, who warned that the move threatened media freedom.

Founded in 1950, Galei Tzahal is renowned for its flagship news programmes, which have been followed for decades, including by foreign correspondents. According to a government survey of audiences, it is Israel’s third most listened-to station, with a market share of 17.7 percent.

“The government unanimously approved the proposal put forward by Defence Minister Israel Katz to shut down the military radio station Galei Tsahal,” Katz’s office said in a statement, adding that the closure would take effect before March 1, 2026.

Israel’s Lapid slams cabinet decision to shut down Army Radio

Opposition leader Yair Lapid has condemned the shutdown on X, saying it “is part of the government’s effort to suppress freedom of expression in Israel during an election period”.

“They cannot control reality, so they try to control minds,” Lapid added.

As we reported earlier, Israel’s cabinet voted to shut down the popular national radio station, one in a series of measures by Prime Minister Netanyahu’s right-wing coalition that critics see as blows to democracy.

Israel demolishes four-storey building in east Jerusalem

Israeli bulldozers have demolished a residential building in East Jerusalem, displacing dozens of Palestinians. Activists called it the largest such demolition in the area this year.

The building, containing 13 apartments, was in the Wadi Qaddum neighbourhood of the Silwan district, south of Jerusalem’s Old City. Residents were told the demolition order was issued because the building had been constructed without a permit.

The Jerusalem governorate, affiliated with the Palestinian Authority, condemned the demolition and said that Israel has undertaken roughly 370 such operations in the city this year alone.

“The building’s destruction is part of a systematic policy aimed at forcibly displacing Palestinian residents and emptying the city of its original inhabitants,” the governorate said in a statement.


_{Heavy machinery operates as Israeli forces demolish a residential building where Palestinian families lived, near the Silwan neighbourhood of occupied East Jerusalem, December 22}

Israeli soldiers shot and killed a West Bank teen they say ‘hurled a block.’ Video shows them shooting him point blank

https://www.cnn.com/2025/12/21/middleeast/israeli-soldiers-west-bank-teen-killed-latam-intl

The Israeli military said it shot dead a Palestinian “suspected of hurling a block” at soldiers on Saturday during an operation in the occupied West Bank town of Qabatiya.

Video reviewed by CNN shows a soldier shooting the teen when he is just feet away. In an earlier statement, the military did not use the word “suspected,” and said the person “hurled a block toward the soldiers.”

The Palestinian was identified as 16-year-old Rayan Muhammad Abdul Qader Abu Mualla by the Ministry of Health, citing the Palestinian General Authority of Civil Affairs (PGACA), who said his body is still being held by Israel after he was killed in the Al-Sab’aneh neighborhood in Qabatiya.

A 26-second security camera video shared on social media and geolocated by CNN to Al-Sab’aneh, shows what appears to be the moment Israeli troops shot Abu Mualla.

In the video, a person walks down an alley towards two helmeted soldiers crouched partially behind a corner. The person is just about to reach the corner when one soldier raises his rifle and fires at point blank range, causing the person to collapse backwards.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said in its initial statement that its soldiers had been attacked by a “terrorist.” The video shows the 18 seconds before the shooting, in which time nothing appears to be thrown from the alley the Palestinian teenager comes from. His left hand, however, is obscured. It was not immediately clear who captured the footage, who initially released it, or what happened before the video begins.

On Saturday, the Israeli news site Ynet published what it says is a photo of Abu Mualla’s left hand clutching a chunk of concrete, taken after his death. CNN could not verify whether the photo is of the same person in the security footage.

So he got shot point blank range and held on to a chunk of concrete? How stupid do they think people are.

The Palestinian Red Crescent said that Israeli troops blocked its emergency workers from reaching the scene of the shooting. A set of videos geolocated by CNN show an ambulance, with its emergency lights on, stopped about 650 feet away from the site of the shooting.

Asked for comment on the video and the allegation that emergency workers were blocked from reaching Abu Mualla, the IDF said: “Yesterday (Saturday), a Palestinian suspected of hurling a block at IDF soldiers was shot. The incident is under review.”

Under review meaning, don't bother asking any more questions, nothing will come from it.

Death toll rises in Gaza

The territory’s Health Ministry says the war’s overall Palestinian death toll has now reached at least 70,937 and the number of wounded people has risen to 171,192. Over the latest 24-hour reporting period, 12 Palestinians were reported killed, including eight who had died earlier but whose deaths had previously been unreported.

Since a ceasefire began on October 10, at least 405 Palestinians have been killed and 1,115 injured, according to data from the ministry.

Israeli forces kill 2 Palestinians in Gaza

Two Palestinian civilians were killed by Israeli forces near the Shujayea court, in the east of Gaza City, according to medical sources cited by the Wafa news agency.

They are among the 12 Palestinians reported killed in the latest 24-hour reporting period, including eight who had died earlier but whose deaths had previously been unreported.

The death toll in the territory has now risen to at least 70,937 since October 7, 2023.

Gaza Media Office says Israel has violated truce 875 times

A statement by the media centre says the Israeli army continues “to commit serious and systematic violations of the agreement” since it took effect in October.

According to the statement, the violations have included:

More European complicity

Israel agrees to deepen security cooperation with Greece, Cyprus

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made the announcement as he was speaking during a joint news conference with Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides in West Jerusalem.

Netanyahu also said the three countries intended to advance the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor, an initiative to connect India to Europe via the Middle East by sea and rail.

Over this summer, dock workers and other protesters at Piraeus port in Athens rallied against unloading a shipment they claim included steel destined for Israeli military projects. Other ships tied to Israel were blocked as well.


Abbas in on the Israeli payroll, he sold the Palestinians out before in 1993 with the Oslo accords. Abbas has now 'served' nearly 21 years of his initial 4 year term. He has no right to speak for Palestine.

Abbas says he is ready to work with Trump to achieve peace

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas made the remarks during a joint news conference with Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis in Ramallah, occupied West Bank.

According to the Wafa news agency, the president said that his government is ready to work with US President Donald Trump, mediators and partners to achieve a just and comprehensive peace in Palestine in accordance with international resolutions and the Arab peace initiative.

Abbas also said that Greece, supported by the European Union, can play a role in advancing peace and stability in the region.

He stressed the need to pressure Israel to stop its actions undermining Palestinian national institutions, attacks on Christian and Islamic holy sites, and the erosion of the two-state solution through settlement expansion and violence, according to Wafa.

He called for the implementation of Trump’s Gaza plan and UN Security Council Resolution 2803, which adopted the ceasefire roadmap.

Netanyahu is pushing for war against Iran again, practically announcing the next false flag attack

Any Iranian action against Israel will be met with harsh response: Netanyahu

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says Israel is aware Iran has been conducting “exercises” recently, adding that Tehran’s nuclear activities will be discussed with US President Donald Trump.

In his remarks alongside the Greek and Cypriot leaders in West Jerusalem, Netanyahu was quoted as saying by the Israeli media: “We are monitoring this and making the necessary preparations. I want to make it clear to Iran: any action against Israel will be met with a very harsh response.”

Netanyahu did not elaborate on his reference to Iranian exercises.

Iran has no desire to go to war, but will defend themselves.