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  • Palestinians reject Hamas disarmament before full Israeli withdrawal, poll finds

    Palestinians reject Hamas disarmament before full Israeli withdrawal, poll finds

    Against the backdrop of ongoing conflict and occupation in the Palestinian territories, a newly released public opinion survey from the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research has painted a stark portrait of widespread Palestinian public sentiment on security, political leadership, and long-term national aspirations. The most striking finding from the poll, published Wednesday, is that more than seven out of 10 Palestinians reject any demand for Hamas to disarm before Israel completes a full withdrawal from the Gaza Strip. A full 72% of respondents hold the conviction that if Hamas were to surrender its weapons, Israel would refuse to follow through with a full withdrawal and would resume its large-scale military offensive in the enclave, which respondents and many global observers have characterized as genocide.

    The survey comes amid recent diplomatic maneuvering: Hamas has already accepted a ceasefire and governance proposal put forward by Nickolay Mladenov, head of the U.S.-backed Board of Peace. Even with this diplomatic development on the table, however, 40% of Palestinians surveyed expect the current cycle of violence and instability to persist, with ongoing civilian casualties continuing in the months ahead. Israel has already formally rejected the U.S.-backed proposal, dimming immediate hopes for a negotiated end to the conflict. Another 30% of respondents hold a more optimistic outlook, forecasting that a period of calm will take hold, a new interim Gaza administration led by the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza will take power, and long-delayed reconstruction of war-ravaged Gaza can finally begin.

    Notably, widespread opposition to early disarmament does not equate to broad satisfaction with existing Palestinian political institutions. The poll documents deep and persistent public anger at the Palestinian Authority (PA) and its long-serving leader, President Mahmoud Abbas. Nearly 79% of all respondents believe Abbas should step down from his position, a figure that has held between 79% and 89% over the past three years, showing consistent public dissatisfaction with his leadership. Corruption is also a top concern: 83% of Palestinians agree that corrupt practices are widespread within PA institutions, and 65% view the authority itself as more of a burden on the Palestinian people than a historic national achievement.

    When it comes to picking Abbas’ successor, the clear favorite among the public is Marwan Barghouti, a prominent Palestinian political leader who has been imprisoned by Israeli authorities for more than 20 years. Barghouti earned the support of 39% of respondents as the preferred next leader, outpacing all other potential candidates. Hamas leader Khalil al-Hayya came in second with 16% support, followed by former PA official Mohammed Dahlan at 15%, and independent politician Mustafa Barghouti at 6%. In a hypothetical head-to-head presidential election, the gap grows even wider: Barghouti would secure 54% of the vote, compared to 26% for al-Hayya and just 14% for the incumbent Abbas.

    The survey results also underscore the pervasive sense of insecurity that shapes daily life for Palestinians across both Gaza and the occupied West Bank. Three-quarters of respondents – 76% – reported that they and their immediate family members do not feel safe in their current homes, with only 23% saying they feel secure. Public trust in international diplomatic bodies involved in Middle East peace efforts remains extremely low: only 24% of Palestinians express trust in the Board of Peace, which oversees the Trump administration’s Gaza peace plan, while 66% say they distrust the body entirely.

    In the West Bank, fears of Israeli settlement expansion are near-universal: 87% of respondents there worry that growing Israeli settlements and outposts will eventually force them off their land or out of their homes. Palestinians also remain deeply skeptical that any change in Israel’s leadership will bring meaningful improvement to their conditions. Thirty-four percent believe Israeli policy toward Palestinians would remain unchanged even if the opposition took power, 33% expect policy to worsen under a new Israeli government, and just 28% hold out hope that policy would improve if Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu were removed from office.

    Even amid the catastrophic destruction of Gaza and accelerating Israeli annexation of West Bank land, the core national aspiration of the Palestinian people remains clear: 43% of respondents identified achieving a full Israeli withdrawal to the 1967 armistice lines and establishing an independent Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital as the highest priority for the Palestinian people moving forward.

  • UK withholds information on Israeli firm accused of targeting Scottish first minister in elections

    UK withholds information on Israeli firm accused of targeting Scottish first minister in elections

    Allegations of foreign digital meddling in Scotland’s parliamentary elections have sparked a new wave of transparency debate, after the UK government formally declined to release classified records related to an Israeli cybersecurity firm accused of election interference, citing risks to diplomatic relations and national security.

    The controversy first emerged in June this year, when France’s leading disinformation monitoring body Viginum publicly named Israeli cyber company BlackCore as a suspect in coordinated digital interference operations targeting multiple elections across the globe. These include France’s own local elections, New York City’s 2025 municipal elections, and the parliamentary elections in Scotland.

    Viginum head Marc-Antoine Brillant confirmed that ongoing investigations have linked BlackCore to a pattern of foreign digital interference in sovereign elections across regions ranging from West Africa to North America and Europe. However, the watchdog has so far been unable to identify who commissioned the firm to carry out the alleged operations. Investigators also confirmed that social media accounts tied to BlackCore specifically targeted Scotland’s First Minister John Swinney, the leader of the pro-independence Scottish National Party (SNP).

    Swinney has emerged as one of the most prominent Western political critics of Israel’s military campaign in Gaza, publicly stating in August 2025 that he believes Israel is committing genocide in Palestinian territory. “It’s quite clear that there is a genocide in Palestine – it can’t be disputed,” Swinney said at the time. “I have seen reports of terrible atrocities which have the character of being genocide. I’ve expressed that and obviously it’s not reached all those individuals, but that’s my feeling.”

    This week, Scotland-based newspaper The National submitted two separate Freedom of Information (FOI) requests to both the UK national government and the devolved Scottish administration. The requests sought full access to all internal correspondence – including emails and official memos – that referenced Viginum, its findings on BlackCore, and any alleged influence operations targeting Scottish elections.

    In its formal response, the UK Cabinet Office stated that it would not disclose any of the requested information, arguing that publication would threaten UK national security. The department outlined that it had conducted a formal balancing test between public interest in transparency and the need to protect sensitive state security information. “We have weighed these public interests against a very strong public interest in safeguarding national security. It is important that this sensitive information is protected, as disclosure of information would damage national security. This interest could only be overridden in exceptional circumstances,” the Cabinet Office said in its response. “Taking into account all the circumstances of this case, we have determined that the balance of the public interest favours withholding this information.” The UK government also cited an additional legal exemption for disclosure: that releasing the records could “prejudice relations between the United Kingdom and any other state.”

    The devolved Scottish government took a partial approach to the request: it withheld a portion of the requested records on national security grounds, but released a series of unredacted documents that show senior Scottish officials debating how to respond to Viginum’s original report. Among the released materials is a note from the principal private secretary to First Minister Swinney, which reads: “I have shared this with FM – anticipating that he will want to understand more about this report, what we/UKG and security apparatus know/knew about it, and what actions remedial and future / proactive are being taken.”

    The refusal to fully disclose information has renewed questions about the UK government’s handling of foreign interference claims, particularly amid already heightened tensions over Scotland’s political relationship with the UK and ongoing global divisions over the Israel-Gaza conflict. The case also underscores growing global concerns about unregulated private cyber firms engaging in foreign electoral interference, with little transparency over their clients or activities.

  • Iranian press review: Tehran says it will no longer wait to be attacked

    Iranian press review: Tehran says it will no longer wait to be attacked

    In a series of recent public announcements that have dominated Iranian domestic political discourse, top military and political figures have formally cemented a fundamental shift in the country’s long-standing military doctrine, moving from a historically defensive posture to an active, offensive strategy targeting U.S. military assets across the Middle East. This policy shift follows a key leadership reshuffle ordered by new Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei, who appointed six new senior military commanders to replace officers killed in recent strikes carried out by Israel and the United States. While low-level discussions of a potential doctrine change had circulated for months, the new appointments have pushed the topic to the forefront of national media coverage and public debate.

    Brigadier General Alireza Sheikh, deputy commander of Iran’s regular army, outlined the new strategic framework to reporters this Wednesday, pointing to recent cross-border strikes on bases belonging to Kurdish opposition groups as a tangible example of the new approach in action. Dismissing former U.S. President Donald Trump’s recent political statements as empty bluffs designed to mislead Iranian public opinion and disrupt strategic planning, Sheikh emphasized that the updated doctrine allows Iran to respond proportionally to threats and, critically, to take pre-emptive action when necessary. “This marks a clear evolution from our previous purely defensive posture to a doctrine centered on deterrence through proactive action,” Sheikh explained.

    Weeks before the army’s official announcement, Mehdi Mohammadi, a senior advisor to Iran’s parliament speaker, had already previewed the new strategy, citing the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ (IRGC) unprompted strike on U.S. military bases in Jordan on July 29 as proof of the policy change. “Iran no longer confronts its adversaries according to the old rules of engagement,” Mohammadi stated. “Surprise, rapid strikes targeting enemy sensitive infrastructure are now core components of our national war strategy.” He also rejected widespread speculation of an unwritten ceasefire between Tehran and Washington, tied to ongoing bilateral talks mediated by Oman over navigation governance in the Strait of Hormuz. “Over the past week, many analysts assumed that ongoing Omani-mediated talks would leave Iran unwilling to take action unless attacked first,” Mohammadi noted. “Events on the ground have proven that calculation completely wrong.”

    The Omani-mediated talks, which aim to establish a new navigation oversight mechanism for the strategically critical strait, are unfolding against growing pressure from Iran’s powerful conservative and ultraconservative political blocs. These factions are pushing for Tehran to leverage its geographic control over the Strait of Hormuz — through which roughly 20% of the world’s traded oil passes — as a economic and military weapon against the U.S. and its regional allies. On Tuesday, Tehran’s principlist mayor Alireza Zakani, a former IRGC member with close ties to the country’s conservative establishment, reiterated calls for abandoning all talks with the U.S. and weaponizing the strait immediately. “If America wants to enjoy unimpeded access to the Strait of Hormuz, it must pay appropriate compensation,” Zakani argued. “If Qatar wants to use this waterway, it must release our frozen sovereign funds. Tightening access to this vital route will force Europe to think twice before imposing new sanctions on Iran.”

    Leading conservative outlet Resalat Daily doubled down on this position in a recent front-page report headlined “The Drawn Sword of Hormuz in Iran’s Hand”, arguing that the strait should not return to the pre-attack status quo that existed before recent U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iranian targets. The publication framed a potential closure of the strait as a fully proportional response to repeated military aggression from the U.S. and what it called the “Zionist regime”, as well as the ongoing U.S. naval blockade of Iranian ports. In its conclusion, the report stressed that unchallenged Iranian control over the waterway must be maintained permanently: “This drawn sword must always remain in Iran’s hands, so that peace and security are guaranteed through strength, not through begging.”

    Not all Iranian political analysts and public figures support the new offensive doctrine and conservative push to weaponize the strait, however. Majid Tafreshi, a prominent independent political analyst and researcher of contemporary Iranian history, drew a parallel between today’s domestic political tensions and the period leading up to Iran’s 1988 acceptance of UN Resolution 598, which ended the eight-year brutal war with Iraq. Backed by Western military and intelligence support, Saddam Hussein’s Iraq invaded Iran’s oil-rich southern provinces in 1980, starting a conflict that killed hundreds of thousands of people on both sides before Iran agreed to a ceasefire in 1988 under the leadership of founding Supreme Leader Ruhollah Khomeini. Tafreshi criticized hardline factions pushing for open, continuous conflict with the U.S. today, noting that identical factions pushed to continue the war with Iraq long after it became clear that a negotiated end was in Iran’s national interest.

    Tafreshi also pushed back against the hardline portrayal of legendary Quds Force commander Qassem Soleimani — who was assassinated in a U.S. drone strike in Baghdad in 2020 — as a figure who exclusively favored military confrontation. This popular narrative among hardliners contradicts Soleimani’s actual political record, Tafreshi argued. “Even Qassem Soleimani believed in dialogue and negotiation. He was first and foremost a diplomat who only took up arms when no other option remained,” he explained. “Yet some factions have reinvented him as a fictional action hero — a Rambo, Zorro, or Spider-Man who solves all problems exclusively through war.”

    As the debate between factions over how to confront the U.S. and Israel drags on, leaving the country stuck in a prolonged “neither war nor peace” status quo, reformist-leaning outlet Sazandegi Daily has sounded the alarm over growing economic harm inflicted on ordinary Iranians by the U.S. naval blockade. The outlet’s recent on-the-ground reporting found that cargo activity at Shahid Rajaee Port, Iran’s largest maritime import and export terminal, has plummeted in recent weeks, leaving the facility far quieter and emptier than at any point in recent memory. If the blockade continues, the report warned, the impact will soon reach household kitchen tables, with store shelves quickly running out of essential imported goods.

    While Iran shares extensive land borders with neighboring states that can be used to import goods, the report noted that overland transport is exponentially more expensive and time-consuming than maritime shipping, a cost difference that will disproportionately harm working-class Iranian households. “Store shelves are the last place a supply crisis becomes visible to ordinary people,” the report concluded. “The first warning signs appear much earlier, along the waterfront, among idle cranes, empty berths, and missing containers. If cargo does not arrive today, that absence will show up on Iranian dinner tables in just a few months.”

  • Families of Egyptian political prisoners launch UK advocacy group

    Families of Egyptian political prisoners launch UK advocacy group

    On Thursday, a new advocacy organization dedicated to representing the families of Egypt’s political detainees officially launched its operations in London, according to an official press statement shared exclusively with Middle East Eye.

    Named the Families of Egyptian Detainees Association, commonly shortened to Feda, the group says it will build communication and coordinate efforts with governmental and civil society institutions both within Egypt and across the global community. Its core mission is to push for the safe release of thousands of people detained for political reasons in the North African country.

    In its founding statement, Feda emphasized it is open to collaboration with any individual or entity that shares its goal of ending the mass political detention crisis, which it describes as a deeply painful chapter in modern Egyptian history. “We will work with anyone who can contribute to closing this painful chapter and securing the release of political detainees from prison,” the statement reads.

    The mass expansion of political detentions in Egypt traces back to 2013, when current President Abdel Fatah el-Sisi led a military coup that ousted Mohamed Morsi, the country’s first democratically elected head of state. In the decade that followed, human rights organizations have recorded a steady surge in the number of people imprisoned for political dissent. Independent rights groups estimate that more than 60,000 prisoners of conscience are currently held in Egyptian correctional facilities, over 1,000 of whom are women. The vast majority of detainees are young students, youth organizers, and political activists from across the full spectrum of Egyptian political life.

    Data from the Arabic Network for Human Rights Information places the total prison population in Egypt at 120,000 as of March 2021, with an estimated 65,000 of those detainees being held for political reasons. At least 26,000 of those political detainees remain in pre-trial detention, a practice that rights groups say is often used to indefinitely hold political opponents without formal conviction.

    Documentation from multiple independent rights monitors has also confirmed that inadequate care and inhumane prison conditions have led to the deaths of dozens of detainees, including former President Mohamed Morsi and multiple high-profile opposition figures.

    Feda’s mandate extends to supporting families of detainees regardless of where they currently reside, whether inside Egypt or in diaspora communities around the world. Outlining its core objectives, the organization said its work will focus on four key pillars: keeping the political detention crisis at the top of both national and international policy agendas, advocating for Egyptian detainees in global and regional forums, pushing for guaranteed fair trials and humane living conditions for all detainees, and pursuing every available legal and diplomatic channel to secure their release.

    To advance these goals, Feda plans to engage directly with United Nations bodies focused on detention and enforced disappearance, pursue legal action in competent international courts against documented human rights violations against detainees, organize public awareness and solidarity events globally, and build partnerships with international institutions, religious and political leaders, media outlets, and global human rights organizations.

    For years, global rights groups have systematically documented widespread abuses inside Egyptian prisons. Common violations reported by detainees and their families include a lack of access to adequate medical care, poor nutrition and insufficient ventilation in cells, repeated denials of family visitation rights, extreme overcrowding, and bans on access to reading materials, news, and even outdoor exercise.

    In response to mounting international pressure, the Egyptian government launched a national human rights strategy in September 2021 that included explicit provisions outlining reforms to prisoners’ rights. The strategy publicly committed to goals including humane treatment of all detainees, protection from torture and abuse, expanded judicial oversight of prison facilities, and regular independent inspections of conditions by Egypt’s national human rights council. It also outlined plans to reduce overall prison populations through periodic detainee releases, including conditional release programs, presidential pardons issued during national holidays, and the early release of detainees with serious chronic illnesses.

    However, Feda says that despite these public pledges, detainees and their families have yet to see any meaningful improvement in conditions on the ground. “Detainees and their families had hoped that this strategy would be implemented, but they say they have yet to see its impact inside prisons,” the organization noted. “They continue to await the implementation of the strategy and the legislative amendments that followed it as a step toward closing this dark chapter.”

  • Iran attacks US failures as scepticism grows over Israeli role in Trump ‘assassination plot’

    Iran attacks US failures as scepticism grows over Israeli role in Trump ‘assassination plot’

    Fresh controversy has erupted over Western intelligence credibility and regional security tensions in the Middle East, with Iran publicly accusing the United States of repeatedly making catastrophic decisions driven by flawed and unreliable intelligence—including the full-scale war Washington launched against Tehran. The accusations come amid new reporting that confirms Central Intelligence Agency analysts themselves dismissed as unconvincing an Israeli warning that claimed Iran planned to assassinate former president Donald Trump during his NATO summit visit to Ankara, Turkey, yet the unsubstantiated tip still triggered a dramatic emergency security operation.

    Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi laid out the country’s criticism in a post on the social platform X Thursday, arguing that Washington has a long track record of dangerous miscalculations rooted in systemic intelligence failures. “Worse than fake news is fake intelligence,” Araghchi wrote, adding that recent U.S. moves in the strategically critical Strait of Hormuz amount to “an even bigger miscalculation” than past errors.

    The new details of the flawed intelligence tip were first broken by Middle East Eye and later confirmed by The Washington Post. Turkish national security officials, for their part, have privately labeled the Israeli warning a deliberate ruse, crafted to derail ongoing diplomatic negotiations between Turkey and Iran, according to the reporting. Israel passed the unvetted intelligence to the CIA, but agency analysts concluded the claim lacked credibility and explicitly warned senior Trump administration officials of its low reliability. Despite that internal assessment, the warning still prompted an urgent security scramble: Trump was secretly moved from his scheduled aircraft to an alternate military plane on the Ankara tarmac and flown out of the country immediately. Trump has since publicly confirmed the operation, saying he simply followed the guidance of his security detail.

    Beyond the intelligence dispute, conflicting claims over control of the Strait of Hormuz—one of the world’s most vital global energy chokepoints, through which roughly a fifth of the world’s daily oil supplies pass—have amplified regional tensions. Just one day after Trump claimed the U.S. holds “total control” over the waterway, Hossein Taeb, commander of the Basij paramilitary unit linked to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, pushed back sharply on the assertion. “Today you see that the Strait of Hormuz is under the management and control of the Islamic Republic, and our country continues on its path in complete security,” Taeb stated, according to Iran’s semi-official Fars News Agency. “The Americans saw the power of the Islamic revolution,” he added.

    In a separate rebuke of Western powers, Araghchi also called out France and other European governments for what he described as blatant hypocrisy on human rights. These nations have repeatedly condemned Iran’s response to domestic anti-government protests, he noted, while offering unwavering support to Israel amid its military campaign in Gaza that Iran and many other global actors have labeled a genocide. “Countries like France should stop lecturing the world about ‘human rights’ and international law. The hypocrisy is blatant and embarrassing,” Araghchi wrote. “Your backing of Israel’s genocide in Gaza, and aggression against Iran, has destroyed whatever moral high ground you imagined you had.”

    Separately from the regional diplomatic clashes, a separate controversy has emerged over the prolonged deployment of the U.S. Navy aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln, which has been deployed to the Middle East for nine consecutive months, with 250 straight days spent at sea without a port call—marking the longest uninterrupted deployment of any modern U.S. aircraft carrier. The carrier was redirected from planned exercises in the South China Sea to the Middle East in late January, as the Trump administration built up its military footprint ahead of launching its war on Iran. In recent weeks, reports of unacceptable living and mental health conditions aboard the vessel have sparked bipartisan concern in Washington.

    Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal has publicly demanded answers from U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and Navy leadership over the deteriorating situation. “The Trump Admin must explain what they are doing to support sailors on the USS Abraham Lincoln who have been continuously at sea for nearly 7 months,” Blumenthal wrote on X. “Widespread reports of supply shortages, plumbing issues, deteriorating mental health & more demand immediate attention.”

    Military media outlets including Navy Times and Stars and Stripes have documented the severity of the crisis, reporting that multiple sailors have already attempted to jump overboard as harsh conditions and unrelenting psychological pressure pushed crew members to their breaking point. Stars and Stripes also shared the account of one military spouse, who told officials her husband had sent her a message saying “he hopes he doesn’t wake up tomorrow.” More than 5,000 sailors and Marines are currently assigned to the vessel, and military family advocacy groups and members of Congress have repeatedly raised alarm over the prolonged deployment’s impact on personnel wellbeing.

  • Exclusive: UK Charity Commission gives ‘regulatory advice’ to synagogue that hosted Great Israeli Real Estate Event

    Exclusive: UK Charity Commission gives ‘regulatory advice’ to synagogue that hosted Great Israeli Real Estate Event

    An investigation by independent news outlet Middle East Eye (MEE) has uncovered that the UK Charity Commission has issued formal regulatory advice to the trustees of London’s Edgware United Synagogue, after the charitable venue hosted a real estate event in June that advertised properties in illegally built Israeli settlements in occupied Palestinian territories.

    The controversy first came to public light on June 15, when MEE published its initial report revealing that units in illegal Israeli settlements were promoted as part of the Great Israeli Real Estate Event, held at the synagogue one day prior. After the report was published, event organizers acknowledged that the promotion of settlement properties did occur, but claimed the incident was an accidental oversight.

    Hours after MEE’s publication, the International Centre of Justice for Palestinians (ICJP) – a UK-based legal organization focused on Palestinian rights – filed a formal complaint with the UK’s national charity regulator. The complaint called for an urgent compliance investigation into the synagogue over its role in hosting the event, arguing that the charity had allowed both its premises and institutional resources to be used for a commercial activity that promoted properties in territory widely recognized as illegally occupied. The filing emphasized that organizers and the synagogue had already been notified of serious legal, regulatory and reputational risks tied to promoting settlement properties before the event went ahead. The complaint stated that by allowing the event to proceed, trustees linked the synagogue’s charitable status and reputation to illegal activity that violated UK regulatory standards for charitable organizations.

    On July 28, the Charity Commission issued its formal response to the complaint, a copy of which has been viewed by MEE. In its response, the regulator confirmed that it had reviewed all evidence submitted, held discussions with the synagogue’s trustees, and ultimately issued formal regulatory advice and guidance under Section 15(2) of the 2011 UK Charities Act. This section of legislation grants the commission authority to issue binding, formal guidance to charity trustees to ensure future compliance with charity law. The commission noted that trustees are required to incorporate this guidance into their future decision-making, and confirmed that the case is now formally closed. The regulator also thanked ICJP for bringing the issue to its attention.

    In an interview with MEE, an ICJP spokesperson acknowledged that the commission’s action sends a clear signal to UK charities that they cannot dismiss credible legal warnings over the use of their premises or resources to support activities tied to illegal Israeli settlements. However, the organization also criticized the regulator for stopping short of opening a full statutory inquiry, arguing that the response was insufficient given the severity of the incident. The spokesperson noted that while the guidance requires all UK charity trustees to conduct more thorough legal due diligence, assess regulatory and reputational risks, and prevent charitable assets from being used in ways that violate legal obligations, the commission failed to take the robust action needed to uphold charity law and maintain public trust in the UK charitable sector. ICJP believes the gravity of the conduct should have warranted stronger regulatory intervention.

    MEE has reached out to Edgware United Synagogue requesting comment on the commission’s decision, and had not received a response at the time of publication. The controversy extends beyond the charity investigation: in June, UK’s then-Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper announced that government ministers had asked the UK Advertising Standards Authority to open its own separate investigation into the Great Israeli Real Estate Event.

    Multiple Israeli developers and real estate firms participated in the June event, openly advertising units in settlements universally recognized as illegal under international law. Israeli developer Harey Zahav promoted projects in Kfar Eldad, an illegal settlement located south of Bethlehem in the occupied West Bank, and Teneh Omarim, another illegal settlement near Hebron. Leading Israeli agency Tivuch Shelly included listings for the illegal West Bank settlement of Ma’ale Adummim in its event brochure, marketing a new development as just 10 minutes from Jerusalem. Another firm, Jerusalem Real Estate, advertised projects in French Hill and Ramat Eshkol, both illegal settlements in occupied East Jerusalem.

  • Turkey backs Saudi-led maritime defence coalition in Red Sea

    Turkey backs Saudi-led maritime defence coalition in Red Sea

    In a landmark confirmation issued Thursday, Turkey has for the first time publicly announced its participation in a newly formed multinational maritime security coalition tasked with protecting unimpeded navigation in the strategically critical Red Sea. This formal commitment marks a tangible deepening of cooperation between Ankara and Riyadh, coming just one week after the two nations signed a landmark trilateral defence agreement with Pakistan during a summit held in Mecca.

    Turkey’s Ministry of National Defense laid out the step-by-step progression of coordination on the initiative in an official public statement. The process began with a technical working session hosted in Riyadh on July 28, focused specifically on safeguarding free passage through the Bab al-Mandab Strait— a chokepoint that connects the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden and handles roughly 10 percent of global traded goods. That initial discussion was followed by a high-level meeting of the three nations’ joint chiefs of staff on July 30, the statement confirmed. On the same day Turkey issued its formal confirmation, a new coordination meeting focused on finalizing the coalition’s structure was underway in Jeddah, with Turkish representatives in attendance.

    The defence ministry emphasized that ongoing collaborative work with Saudi authorities is centered on two core goals: de-escalating long-running tensions across the broader Gulf region and guaranteeing that global trade flows through the waterway remain uninterrupted. The trilateral security pact signed last week between Ankara, Riyadh and Islamabad includes binding collective security commitments, meaning an attack on one member is considered an attack on all. Multiple diplomatic sources based in Ankara told Middle East Eye that the Red Sea coalition is set to be the first major area where the new Turkey-Saudi security partnership is put into practice.

    Saudi Arabia first announced the formation of the 13-nation alliance last month, a response to rising security threats in the region. The move came shortly after Yemen’s Houthi movement declared a maritime blockade targeting Saudi shipping in mid-July, a move that disrupted oil shipments that had been rerouted through the Red Sea following temporary disruptions at the Strait of Hormuz. In addition to the three founding trilateral pact members, the coalition counts Bahrain, Bangladesh, Comoros, Djibouti, Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, Qatar, Somalia and Yemen as participating members. The headquarters of the new security alliance will be based in Riyadh, the Saudi capital.

  • In Christian village of Taybeh, Israeli military order fails to stop settler violence

    In Christian village of Taybeh, Israeli military order fails to stop settler violence

    In the occupied West Bank, just east of Ramallah, the predominantly Christian Palestinian village of Taybeh has become the latest flashpoint for worsening settler violence, with a recent Israeli military order declaring the surrounding area a closed military zone doing little to shield local communities from persistent assault. The failure of this purported protective measure has left residents trapped in daily intimidation, cut off from their core livelihoods, and raised alarm that the restricted zone will block outside observers from documenting unfolding human rights abuses.

    Local residents and activists recorded a new wave of targeted attacks against multiple families in eastern Taybeh on August 11, with the Naif al-Kaabneh family emerging as one of the most affected groups in recent days. This surge of violence comes even after the Israel Defense Forces announced the closed military zone designation covering Taybeh and the nearby southern village of Rammun, framing the order as a measure to bar unauthorised Israeli entry and protect Palestinian residents.

    For Taybeh’s population, agriculture, particularly the cultivation of olive groves and production of olive oil, forms the backbone of the local economy. But over recent weeks, residents and international solidarity activists have documented a sharp escalation in settler incursions. Attackers have repeatedly approached residential properties and working farmland, damaged infrastructure, cut off access to water and electricity, and left residents facing growing barriers to reaching their own agricultural holdings.

    Despite the military closure coming into force on the Monday before the August 11 attacks, local accounts confirm no meaningful shift in conditions on the ground. Beyond the ongoing attacks and harassment, the new designation has sparked urgent fears that it will restrict access for international journalists, human rights monitors, and solidarity activists who have worked to document abuses and support vulnerable communities.

    Naif al-Kaabneh, a Bedouin resident of the community east of Taybeh, described settler aggression as relentless, occurring nearly every day. Speaking to Middle East Eye, he explained that a new unauthorised settlement outpost has been built on land that previously belonged to his extended Bedouin community. Settlers launched a sustained campaign of violence to force the entire community off the land, he said.

    “The settlers tear down the fences we build around our homes, steal our sheep, and bring their own cattle to graze on our land. If we attempt to defend ourselves and our property, it is us that the Israeli army arrests,” al-Kaabneh said. Twenty people, including al-Kaabneh’s immediate family and his brother’s household, currently live in the community, facing constant daily hardship under the threat of permanent displacement and land seizure.

    “We face the worst attacks imaginable, and we cannot even lift a hand to defend ourselves. We beg someone to help us, to amplify our voices to the world. Our lives have become completely miserable,” he added.

    As attacks have grown more frequent, residents say the threat has expanded beyond targeted assaults on homes and property to systematically block access to agricultural land that sustains the village. Father Jack Abed, parish priest of Taybeh’s Melkite church, explained that settler groups, particularly younger attackers, have targeted the village consistently for years.

    “They attack our village constantly, and we have not been able to reach our olive trees in peace for three years,” Father Abed said. For Taybeh, olive cultivation and olive oil sales are a critical source of household income, and Father Abed called for an immediate end to the ongoing incursions.

    “We simply want to live in peace. We ask that the illegal settlers who attack us, seize our land, and block us from reaching our farms to cultivate our olives be removed,” he said. He also joined local residents in questioning the purpose of the closed military zone order, echoing widespread skepticism about its stated goal of protecting Palestinians.

    “We have to ask ourselves and we have to ask the Israeli army: what does this closure actually mean? If Israelis are forbidden from entering this area, why are settlers still able to operate here with impunity?” Father Abed noted that the order has, in practice, given settlers free rein to attack while making it far harder for human rights defenders to reach the area and support residents claiming their rights.

    The accounts from Taybeh are supported by international activists who maintain a regular “protective presence” alongside vulnerable families in the village. Avital, an activist who visits Taybeh every week, told Middle East Eye that she has personally observed a sharp escalation in attacks against one vulnerable family and their property in recent weeks.

    She confirmed that settlers travel to the family’s home every day, tear down perimeter fences, and bring their own herds of sheep and goats onto the family’s land. On the same morning she spoke to reporters, settlers destroyed multiple items of property at the home.

    “They broke a security camera, tore through an electricity cable, and cut the water hose, spilling all of the family’s stored water. Their behaviour is extremely intimidating and openly violent,” Avital said. She added that in previous incidents, solidarity activists have been beaten by attackers, and while Israeli police were called following the most recent incident, they often fail to respond to reports from Palestinian residents.

    The ongoing crisis in Taybeh is part of a broader regional surge in settler violence across the occupied West Bank this year. Data from the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) records more than 1,000 settler attacks that caused injury or property damage across the West Bank in the first half of 2026, affecting more than 230 separate Palestinian communities.

    By early July 2026, OCHA reported that more than 2,200 Palestinians had been displaced from their homes in the West Bank since the start of the year — an average of roughly 10 people displaced every single day. Displacement has been driven by both settler attacks and Israeli home demolitions carried out under the pretext of unapproved construction. The agency confirmed that settler attacks and the associated access restrictions have become the single primary driver of Palestinian displacement in the West Bank during 2026.

  • Romania shuts its only nuclear plant as Danube water levels drop

    Romania shuts its only nuclear plant as Danube water levels drop

    A record-breaking, climate-fueled drought that has parched much of Central and Southern Europe has forced the complete shutdown of Romania’s sole nuclear power facility at Cernavodă, triggering urgent concerns about energy shortages and economic fallout across the continent. The plant, whose two 706-megawatt reactors normally generate roughly 20% of Romania’s total electricity output, relies on water from the Danube — Europe’s second-longest river, where water levels have dropped to 30-year lows across multiple riparian nations. The second and final operating reactor at Cernavodă was taken offline just before midday Thursday, following the shutdown of the first reactor back in July.

    Plant director Romeo Urjan confirmed to AFP that no restart is planned for at least the next 10 days, marking only the second time the facility has been fully shut down since it began operations, with the only previous full shutdown occurring in 2003. In a last-ditch effort to raise water levels around the plant’s cooling intake infrastructure, Romanian authorities sank rock-loaded barges in the Danube earlier this week, but the intervention failed to reverse the falling water levels enough to keep the reactors running.

    Neighboring Hungary, which also operates its only nuclear plant — the Soviet-era Paks facility with four reactors — on the Danube, has so far avoided a similar shutdown, but the threat remains imminent. Last month, Hungarian Prime Minister Péter Magyar warned that Paks could be forced to shut down entirely for the first time in its history if water levels continue to drop. Plant officials have already noted that Danube levels are so low that some of the facility’s water intake suction nozzles are no longer fully submerged.

    The full shutdown of Cernavodă has created an immediate gap in Romania’s energy grid that officials are scrambling to fill. While solar and wind generation are able to offset most of the shortfall during hot, windy daylight hours, evening demand requires increased output from coal and gas-fired power plants, as well as additional energy imports from neighboring countries. Romania’s large hydropower sector, which could otherwise fill the gap, has also seen its output slashed dramatically by the same low river levels that forced the nuclear shutdown.

    Beyond energy security, the ongoing drought and accompanying extreme heat waves are causing widespread disruption across the European continent. Key waterways including the Rhine are seeing record-low levels that have severely restricted commercial shipping traffic, while the agricultural sector has suffered billions of euros in damage. Italy’s largest agricultural trade association Coldiretti estimates that climate-related damage from drought, hailstorms and wildfires this year could exceed €3 billion. In France, Environment Minister Monique Barbut warned that recent heat waves could result in between €10 billion and €15 billion in combined direct and indirect economic losses.

    The extraordinary conditions have even revealed long-submerged remnants of history: dozens of sunken World War II ships that have sat hidden beneath the Danube’s waters for decades have now re-emerged as levels have dropped. Across Western Europe, the heat wave has pushed temperatures to record levels. On Thursday, temperatures at London’s Kew Gardens provisionally reached 38.1°C (100.6°F), which would mark the hottest day recorded in the United Kingdom so far this year if confirmed. Some parts of England already saw temperatures top 37°C (99°F) earlier the same day.

    Scientists from the European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service confirm that climate change is the primary driver of these extreme conditions, noting that Europe is warming twice as fast as the global average, making it the fastest-warming continent on Earth. This accelerated warming is leading to more frequent and intense summer heat waves, increasing water scarcity, and spurring more severe wildfire seasons across the continent. Economists warn the extreme conditions could already erase much of the European Union’s projected economic growth for the year. Dutch bank Triodos noted that the EU’s projected 1.1% annual growth, and the International Monetary Fund’s 0.9% growth forecast for the euro area, are at severe risk from the cascading impacts of the drought and heat wave.

  • Presidential pardon for French alleged spy accused of plotting Mali coup

    Presidential pardon for French alleged spy accused of plotting Mali coup

    In a surprise move announced Thursday, Malian President Assimi Goïta has issued a presidential pardon to Yann Vezilier, a French national who was sentenced to 20 years in prison last year for his alleged role in plotting to overthrow Goïta’s ruling junta.

    Vezilier was originally accused alongside a group of Malian army generals and dozens of soldiers of attempting to destabilize the current administration, with Malian officials claiming he was acting on behalf of French intelligence services. A year after the charges were laid, the clemency grant comes as a sudden reversal of the West African nation’s previous legal position, and no official explanation has yet been provided for what drove the policy shift.

    The French foreign ministry, which previously dismissed the espionage allegations against Vezilier as completely unfounded, has remained silent on the pardon announcement to date. In an official statement posted to its Facebook page, the Malian government clarified that the act of mercy does not challenge the guilty verdict reached during the defendant’s trial, which the government says followed all legal procedures and fully protected Vezilier’s right to a defense. As a condition of the pardon, Vezilier is being immediately expelled from Malian territory.

    The pardon unfolds against a backdrop of deepening political instability and unrelenting security crisis in Mali, a former French colony that has been grappling with a violent Islamist insurgency since 2012. Goïta, who seized power in a 2021 military coup that he justified by citing the ongoing security failure, has overseen a period of worsening violence, with jihadist attacks growing in frequency and reach across the country.

    When Vezilier and other co-defendants were arrested last year, then-Security Minister General Daoud Aly Mohammedine confirmed that authorities had detained what he called “fringe elements of the Malian armed security forces” for conspiring to undermine the country’s republican institutions. He asserted at the time that the group of accused soldiers and civilian co-conspirators had received backing from foreign powers, specifically naming Vezilier as a proxy for French intelligence that had worked to recruit Malian political leaders, civil society figures and military personnel to the plot.

    In the months since Vezilier’s conviction, political and security conditions in Mali have continued to deteriorate. In April, a suicide truck bombing targeting the defense minister’s residence on the outskirts of the capital Bamako killed the top defense official during a surge of militant attacks across the country. Shortly after the attack, Goïta appointed himself to the vacant defense minister post, a move widely interpreted as an effort to consolidate control over the security sector amid growing threats. Later that same month, Islamist fighters advanced on Bamako, enforcing a partial blockade of the capital and full blockades of other major population centers including the central city of Ségou.

    In May 2025, the ruling military junta moved to dissolve all registered political parties in the country, a decision that came in response to rare large-scale anti-government protests. Former Malian Prime Minister Moussa Mara described the crackdown as a devastating blow to national reconciliation efforts that had been initiated by the junta itself after seizing power. When Goïta took power in 2021, he pledged to hold democratic elections within two years to transition back to civilian rule. That commitment has since been abandoned: last July, the junta extended the country’s political transition by an additional five years, extending Goïta’s rule until at least 2030.

    In recent years, Mali has cut diplomatic and security ties with its former colonial ruler France, joining neighboring Niger and Burkina Faso in turning to Russian military allies for support to counter the regional jihadist insurgency. To date, the security partnership has failed to deliver meaningful improvements in stability across the Sahel, with attacks on civilian and government targets continuing to rise.