UK defends decision to suspend some arms deliveries to Israel

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer defended his government’s decision to suspend certain arms deliveries to Israel in Parliament on Wednesday, September 4, following criticism of the announcement. “Of course, we will continue to defend Israel’s right to defend itself, but it is important that we are a state committed to international law.”said Starmer, questioned by opposition leader and former prime minister Rishi Sunak during the weekly question session in the House of Commons.

London announced on Monday the suspension of thirty arms export licences to Israel, out of a total of 350, citing the findings of a legal review which found that there are “a risk” which are used in violation of international humanitarian law in the conflict between Israel and Hamas in Gaza. “ It is a difficult issue, I admit, but it is a legal decision, not a political one.”he insisted. “The legal framework is clear (…) We need to examine arms export licenses” AND “We have reached a clear legal conclusion”He also explained how to justify this decision, which was criticised by the Israeli government and by voices within the British Jewish community and the conservative opposition.

The attack carried out by Hamas commandos infiltrated from Gaza in southern Israel on October 7 killed 1,205 people, most of them civilians, according to an Agence France-Presse count based on official Israeli data. Of the 251 people kidnapped that day, 97 are still being held in Gaza, of whom 33 have been declared dead by the army. In retaliation, Israel launched a military offensive against Gaza that has so far killed at least 40,861 people, according to the Ministry of Health of the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip. Most of the dead are women and children, according to the UN.

Spain will continue to “put pressure” on Netanyahu, PM promises

Pedro Sánchez, the Socialist Prime Minister, presented the main orientations of his policy for the coming year during his back-to-school speech on Wednesday. Sánchez, whose government recognised the State of Palestine on 28 May, at the same time as Ireland and Norway, also announced that “The first bilateral summit between Spain and Palestine” would take place “before the end of the year”.

“We will continue to support the people of Gaza, supporting UNRWA [l’agence des Nations unies pour les réfugiés palestiniens]to press [le premier ministre israélien Benyamin] Netanyahu at the International Criminal Court »declared. “We will strengthen our ties with the Palestinian state that we recently recognized”Sánchez continued, who specified that the first bilateral Spanish-Palestinian summit should culminate with the signing of a “various collaboration agreements”.

Erdogan welcomes Sissi to Ankara for a reconciliation visit

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan received his Egyptian counterpart Abdel Fattah Al-Sissi in Ankara on Wednesday, in an unprecedented visit aimed at burying a decade of estrangement between their two countries. In mid-February, in Cairo, MM. Sissi and Erdogan had registered the opening of a “new page” in relations between their countries, brutally severed after Sissi came to power in 2013.

“In addition to bilateral relations, there will be an exchange of views on current regional and global issues, in particular the Israeli attacks on Gaza and the occupied Palestinian territories.” The Turkish presidential press service said in a statement on Tuesday. Turkey, which has condemned Israel for its war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip, has sent large amounts of aid to Palestinians in Egypt and praised Cairo’s humanitarian efforts and its role as a negotiator in ceasefire talks.

Israeli national security minister opposes continuing Gaza truce talks

Itamar Ben Gvir, the national security minister, a far-right figure and key member of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s governing coalition, spoke out on Wednesday against continuing negotiations for a truce in Gaza aimed at freeing the hostages. “A country where six hostages are murdered in cold blood does not negotiate with the murderers, but ends the talks, stops the transfer of fuel and electricity and crushes them into collapse.”wrote Itamar Ben Gvir in X. He was referring to the deaths of six Israeli hostages who were killed at point-blank range, according to the Israeli army, in a tunnel in the Gaza Strip.

These statements come as the United States estimated on Tuesday that it was “it’s time to finish” a truce agreement, after Netanyahu refused to bow to pressure on the issue. One sticking point is Benjamin Netanyahu’s insistence that Israeli troops maintain control of the Philadelphia Corridor on the border between the Gaza Strip and Egypt, considered by Israel to be a crucial crossing point for supplying weapons to Hamas.

The Israeli army will use “all its force” to “eradicate terrorist organizations” in the occupied West Bank

The Israeli army is continuing its operation launched a week ago in the north of the occupied West Bank, where at least thirty Palestinians have been killed since then, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health, controlled by the Palestinian Authority.

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said on Wednesday that the military “terrorist organizations eradicated” in the occupied West Bank, threatening to use “all the strength” necessary to achieve this goal, according to a press release from his office.

Greta Thunberg arrested in Denmark during pro-Palestinian action

Greta Thunberg and a group of activists were arrested on Wednesday after occupying a building at the University of Copenhagen to call for a boycott of Israeli universities, Danish media reported. The 21-year-old environmental activist appears in daily footage Extra Bladet She wore a black and white keffiyeh over her shoulders and was escorted out of the building by police. Greta Thunberg, meanwhile, posted photos on Instagram of riot police entering a building where the Students Against the Occupation group was demonstrating.

The six people arrested were released a few hours later, according to a police spokesman, and videos posted by Extra Bladet It shows Greta Thunberg leaving the police station.