Jailed Palestinian leader Barghouti’s writings to be collected in new book

Writings and correspondence from jailed Palestinian leader Marwan Barghouti will be collected in a new book due out later this year, with his family expressing hope that it would give a new audience insight into his mindset.

“Unbroken: In Pursuit of Freedom for Palestine” will be published in November and feature “private letters to his family, letters to public figures, press interviews, public statements, important historical documents” and personal photos, according to publisher Penguin Random House’s Vintage division.

It will also include excerpts from his previous book, 2011’s “1000 Days in Solitary Confinement”, which was previously only available in Arabic, Vintage said.

Barghouti has been jailed by Israel since 2002. A senior leader in President Mahmoud Abbas’s Fatah group, Barghouti was a prominent figure in the first and second Intifadas, and was convicted by an Israeli court on five counts of murder in 2004, two years after he was jailed. He has denied the charges.

His imprisonment by Israel has been among the most high-profile, and his release has long been a key aim of several of the groups opposing Israel’s occupation of Palestine.

Indian writer Arundhati Roy pulls out of Berlin Film Festival over Gaza row

Indian writer Arundhati Roy says she was cancelling her planned participation in the Berlin Film Festival over comments from jury president Wim Wenders that the festival had to “stay out of politics”.

The Booker Prize-winning author said in a statement sent to AFP that she was “shocked and disgusted” by the celebrated German director’s response to a question on Gaza at a press conference on Thursday, adding: “With deep regret, I must say that I will not be attending the Berlinale.”

Tons of movies are full of propaganda, what do you mean "stay out of politics".

Palestine Action HUMILIATE Government In High Court

Dropping bombs on women and children is "self defence", opposing genocide is "terrorism"


Well at least not all the judges have been bought / replaced (yet)

UN says threats against its officials ‘unacceptable’

The UN says it rejects any threats made against Special Rapporteur Francesa Albanese.

Earlier this week, an online campaign targeted her using doctored video to manipulate comments she made during the Al Jazeera forum in Doha.

“UN officials across the board face increasingly personal attacks, whether online or in real life, and that remains a concern, and in that sense, we, of course, share the concern of the high commissioner’s office,” Stephane Dujarric, spokesperson for the UN secretary-general, said.

“People can disagree, people can criticise, but threats are unacceptable on any target.”

Albanese ‘must be protected’

UN special rapporteur Francesca Albanese “must be protected” amid calls for her resignation from Czechia, France and Germany, Patrick Zahnd, president of the Lawyers for the Respect of International Law, tells Al Jazeera.

“She’s an independent expert elected by the Human Rights Council, and she has to be protected”, he said.

Instead, she is actually being sanctioned, he said. “We are in a situation where representatives of the special procedures of the human rights council are under attack and have been under attack for quite some time”.

He said this includes sanctions against judges at the International Criminal Court.

He said threats and intimidation against such figures have been commonplace in the past, but “what is very strange is that now the very European states and the US are using such pressure, intimidation and threats against such a person, who must be protected”.

Ben-Gvir visits Ofer prison as tear gas fired in cells housing Palestinians

Israel’s far-right National Security Minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, visited the cells of Palestinian prisoners at Ofer Prison near Ramallah in the occupied West Bank, according to Wafa.

It said video footage released by Israeli media showed assaults on prisoners with the use of gas and stun grenades, as well as the forced removal and mistreatment of prisoners in the prison yard.

Ben-Gvir, who is in charge of the Israeli prison system, is reported to have threatened prisoners before the month of Ramadan, as he boasted about the changes he has made to prison conditions since taking office and warned of potential executions.

In November, Ben-Gvir bragged about the harsh treatment of Palestinian prisoners in a video filmed next to bound prisoners lying blindfolded on the floor.

A few days later, Ben-Gvir was seen carrying sweets in Israel’s parliament as it advanced a bill that would allow the death penalty for “terrorists” and is seen as targeting Palestinians.

Israeli army chief visits Rafah

Eyal Zamir said on his visit that the Israeli army is ready to resume its attacks on Gaza if ordered to do so.

“We are not relinquishing the objectives of the war – the full demilitarization of the Gaza Strip and the disarmament of Hamas,” he said.

As reported by Israeli outlet Haaretz, the Israeli army released two separate statements about Zamir’s visit, one in English and one in Hebrew. In the English statement, it quoted him as saying soldiers “stand ready to act defensively as required”. The Hebrew statement, however, said the army is “prepared to act offensively as necessary”.

UN says Israel blocked several humanitarian missions in Gaza

The UN says Israeli authorities blocked several humanitarian missions in the Gaza Strip, including one aimed at reaching a wastewater treatment plant in Khan Younis, limiting aid to civilians in urgent need.

Citing the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said during a news conference that the UN teams “attempted to coordinate eight humanitarian missions, five of which were fully facilitated”.

“The three other missions, including one to reach a wastewater treatment plant in Khan Younis, were denied by the Israeli authorities,” he said.

“Four months since the ceasefire agreement came into effect, the humanitarian scale-up has saved countless lives and pushed back famine in Gaza.” However, he said, many Palestinians live in “extremely harsh conditions”, and the “humanitarian response faces significant obstacles”.

Diplomat overseeing Gaza says ‘violations of ceasefire’ threaten transitional governance

The top diplomat overseeing the US-brokered “ceasefire” deal in Gaza says that continued violations of the agreement pose major obstacles to the Palestinian committee expected to oversee postwar governance and reconstruction.

Nickolay Mladenov, who serves as high representative for Gaza for the US-established Board of Peace, spoke during a panel discussion at the Munich Security Conference. The international board, established by US President Donald Trump, is set to meet next week.

“We need to make sure that what is happening now with the violations of the ceasefire stops,” Mladenov said. “We’re only embarrassing the committee and ultimately making it ineffective.”

Mladenov didn’t lay out a specific timeline but said “all of this needs to move very fast”.

Unusual activities at Iranian nuclear sites; US warships collide in Caribbean

Satellite photos have captured movements at Iran’s nuclear facilities, including those that Donald Trump had claimed to have obliterated last year. This came after Trump seemingly hardened his stand on Iran following his meeting with Benjamin Netanyahu. Rifat Jawaid analyses this development alongside news of two US warships colliding in the Caribbean.

AU calls for end to ‘extermination’ of Palestinians, decries African wars

The “extermination” of the Palestinian people must end, the chairman of the African Union Commission, Mahmoud Ali Youssouf, has said, as dozens of heads of state gather for the regional body’s 39th summit in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa.

“In the Middle East, Palestine and the suffering of its people also challenge our consciences. The extermination of this people must stop,” said Youssouf, who was elected to head the institution a year ago, declared on Saturday.

The annual meeting is expected to focus on ruinous wars and security in the region as well as governance challenges around the world, threats to democracy and climate change, including water sanitation and water‑linked climate shocks.

“International law and international humanitarian law are the basis of the international community,” Youssouf added, as he called for the lifting of the Israeli blockade of humanitarian goods into the besieged Palestinian territory.

Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza has killed at least 72,045 people and wounded 171,686 since October 2023, and continues despite a “ceasefire”.

Youssouf also touched on the multiple conflicts raging in Africa, calling for the “silencing of the guns” across the continent. “From Sudan to the Sahel, to eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), in Somalia and elsewhere, our people continue to pay the heavy price of instability,” Youssouf said.

The summit brings together heads of state from the 55 member states of the African Union over two days.

In his speech at the summit, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres praised the AU as a “flagship for multilateralism” at a time of global “division and mistrust”.

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/2/14/au-calls-for-end-to-extermination-of-palestinians-decries-african-wars

MSF suspends some Gaza hospital work over presence of gunmen, suspected weapons transfers, group says

'HOSPITALS MUST REMAIN NEUTRAL SPACES'

MSF said it had expressed concern to the relevant authorities, without detailing whom the reports were submitted to. "Hospitals must remain neutral, civilian spaces, free from military presence or activity, to ensure the safe and impartial delivery of medical care," MSF said.

Israel last month ordered MSF and 30 other international organisations to stop its work in Gaza and the Israeli-occupied West Bank if they did not meet new rules, including sharing details about their staff.

Doctors say MSF endangering lives of Gaza healthcare workers with ‘false allegations’

A group called Doctors Against Genocide says the international organisation Doctors Without Borders, known by its French acronym MSF, has made “false allegations” by accusing the Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Younis of harbouring weapons or armed groups within the hospital.

“We, as a medical community, and humanity at large are enraged by these outrageous accusations and urge medical organisations and healthcare workers to bring attention to the claims made by MSF,” the group said.

“The consequences of these false accusations have placed healthcare workers and patients at Nasser Hospital Complex at risk of attacks and loss of life.”

The doctors are calling on MSF to retract the allegations, “cease and desist from issuing or circulating any statements that compromise the hospital’s civilian and protected status” and “publicly reaffirm commitment to medical neutrality grounded in verified facts”.

https://www.instagram.com/p/DUwoGScFfL4

Why would MSF lie? Then again why would Human Right's watch block a report on the situation in the West Bank... 

Gaza’s Nasser Hospital calls on MSF to reconsider decision to halt operations

In a new statement, the hospital in Khan Younis has asked Doctors Without Borders (MSF) to reconsider its decision to suspend some operations at the medical complex, saying that it “will only exacerbate the suffering of our people under the current circumstances”.

The statement said that Gaza “is experiencing a number of phenomena that are alien to the behaviour of our people” due to the war, including “some families resorting to carrying weapons and resorting to violence”.

It said that the Nasser Medical Complex has been subjected to attacks on several occasions by these families and other groups, leading the institution to have police presence to guard the hospital, ensuring the safe delivery of services and protection of medical staff.

“Some violations by rogue elements still occur from time to time, and they are being pursued immediately,” it also said, concluding: “We emphasise the safety of the hospital and its protection from any armed presence.”

MSF announced its decision on Saturday after its staff and patients saw “armed men, some masked” posing “serious security threats” inside the building. The Geneva-based medical charity reported on its website that non-essential work at the hospital in Khan Younis was halted on January 20.

Over 100 artists back UN’s Albanese after resignation calls

More than 100 prominent musicians, actors and writers have signed an open letter in support of the UN special rapporteur for the occupied Palestinian territory, who faces international calls to step down.

In a letter from the group Artists for Palestine on Saturday, the signatories offered “full support to Francesca Albanese, a defender of human rights and, therefore, also of the Palestinian people’s right to exist”.

At last week’s Al Jazeera Forum, Albanese, an outspoken critic of Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza, said “we as humanity have a common enemy”, but a fake video that was later debunked had her accusing Israel of being the “common enemy”.

She later explained in a social media post that she was referencing “the system that has enabled the genocide in Palestine” as the “common enemy”.

Western states failing to prevent Gaza genocide, analyst says

Frank Barat, an author and film producer, discusses how Western governments have responded to allegations of genocide in Gaza. He highlights the targeting of Francesca Albanese, a UN special rapporteur, for exposing failures in international law enforcement.

They're not only failing to stop genocide, they're actively participating and supporting genocide.

People in Gaza feel forgotten after ‘ceasefire’

Only 20 people are able to leave the Gaza Strip every single day through the Rafah crossing.

We know that there are a lot of restrictions on Palestinians who leave and also on the Palestinians who return. We’ve heard a lot of testimonies from Palestinians returning to the Gaza Strip, saying that they were blindfolded, interrogated, and that the journey back to the Gaza Strip was definitely not easy.

People don’t really see change on the ground after the “ceasefire”. They are still waiting for humanitarian aid, and they still don’t have any source of income. Their tents are ruined and not suitable for them to continue the summer that is coming, after they have been flooded during the winter months.

So, a lot is going on, and people here feel that they are forgotten and nothing on the ground has been implemented since the “ceasefire” started.

_{A Palestinian child looks on as he stands next to a tent at a makeshift camp for displaced people during a dust storm in az-Zawayda, in the central Gaza Strip, February 14}

Rafah crossing must reopen for patients on ‘permanent and regular’ basis, Gaza’s Health Ministry says

Gaza’s Ministry of Health is demanding the “permanent and regular” opening of the Rafah land crossing with Egypt “in a way that guarantees the free movement of patients and the wounded without restrictions”.

More than 20,000 patients and wounded people are waiting to travel for treatment, and the partial operation of the Rafah crossing does not rise to the scale of the catastrophe, it said.