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Tag: Israel

  • Trump’s election win filled Hamas with ‘fear,’ hostage held like ‘slave’ for 505 days recounts

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    Omer Shem Tov was dancing with friends at the Nova Music Festival in Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, when Hamas terrorists launched a devastating attack, killing hundreds and loading Shem Tov and dozens of others onto the backs of pickup trucks bound for Gaza.

    The 20-year-old Israeli spent the next 505 days in Hamas captivity, serving as a slave in the terrorist group’s elaborate tunnels until “fear” filled their eyes on Nov. 5, 2024 — when President Donald Trump won the presidential election, he told Fox News Digital.

    Shem Tov recounted his months living in Hamas’ captivity in Gaza as war raged between the terrorist group and Israel, during a recent Zoom interview with Fox News Digital. He was released from captivity in February and traveled to the U.S. shortly afterward to meet with Trump in the Oval Office.

    “As soon as Trump was elected, I saw the fear in their eyes,” Shem Tov said. “They knew that everything on ground is gonna change, that something else is gonna happen, and they were scared. They were very scared.”

    AMERICAN-ISRAELI HELD HOSTAGE IN GAZA FOR OVER 580 DAYS SENDS MESSAGE TO HAMAS: ‘I’LL GIVE YOU HELL’

    Omer Shem Tov spoke with Fox News Digital, recounting his 505 days in Hamas captivity before his February release. (Amir Levy/Getty Images)

    Shem Tov said that for roughly the last five months of his captivity, he lived in Hamas’ tunnel system beneath the Gaza Strip, where he was worked mercilessly.

    “I was digging for them, and I was cleaning for them, and I was moving around bombs from place to places, and (carrying) food. I can tell you, just so you know, crazy amounts of food. Amounts of food that I’ve never seen before,” he recounted. 

    Shem Tov learned about the American presidential election from his Hamas captors, who watched Al Jazeera on a TV kept in the tunnels.

    “The last five months, the terrorists, they brought TV to the tunnel and most of the time they watched Al Jazeera. That’s the only thing they watch. And… they wouldn’t let me watch TV, yeah, but sometimes I would overhear the TV,” he said.

    Omer Shem Tov's release from Hamas captivity

    Hamas militants parade newly-released Israeli hostage Omer Shem Tov on stage in Nuseirat in the central Gaza Strip, as part of the seventh hostage-prisoner release on Feb. 22, 2025. (Eyad Baba/Getty Images )

    He said he overheard the terrorists discussing the election and “how they want Kamala to win.”

    Once the election was decided, Shem Tov said, the terrorists changed the way they treated him, even offering him more food. He said he mostly survived on small biscuits throughout his captivity, despite Hamas controlling large amounts of food.

    IDF ANNOUNCES TRANSFER OF DECEASED ISRAELI HOSTAGE REMAINS THROUGH RED CROSS

    Trump family victory

    President-elect Donald Trump gestures during an election night event in West Palm Beach, Florida. (Eva Marie Uzcategui/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

    “So everything changed,” he said of how Hamas reacted to Trump’s win. “The amount of food that I got changed. The way they treated me changed. I could see just them preparing for something bigger.”

    Shem Tov recounted that he spent his 21st birthday in captivity, just weeks after he was first kidnapped. He said that between Oct. 7 and Oct. 30 of 2023, he did “not cry once,” but that he felt a swell of emotion when remembering his family on his birthday. 

    Israeli reacting to release of hostages

    The sister of Omer Shem Tov reacts at a family watch event as he appears on stage in Gaza before his release on Feb. 22, 2025 in Tel Aviv, Israel. (Amir Levy/Getty Images)

    “At my birthday, it was the 31st of October, it was the first time that I broke down, I cried. It’s for me, thinking of my family, that’s something that really hits me. Understanding that my family, they’re back home, they’re safe, yeah, but they have to worry about me.… They don’t know if if I’m alive, if I’m starving… they had no idea. And I can tell you that while I was there, I suffered. I truly suffered. I was abused, I was starved in the most extreme way,” he said. 

    Since his release, Shem Tov has praised Trump for his role in freeing the hostages and pursuing peace in the Middle East. He told Fox News Digital that he had long heard Trump’s name and knew he was a “big supporter of Israel,” but had largely stayed out of politics before his kidnapping.

    There is currently a cease-fire between Israel and Gaza after Trump rolled out a 20-point plan to secure peace in the region in September. The plan included the release of all the hostages. All hostages have been released from Hamas captivity except one, slain police officer Ran Gvili, whose body remains in Gaza.

    TRUMP MEETS FREED ISRAELI HOSTAGES, CALLS THEM ‘HEROES’ IN WHITE HOUSE CEREMONY

    Shem Tov was among a handful of hostages who traveled to the White House to meet with Trump earlier in 2025, where he relayed that he and other hostages are “so grateful to him.”

    Trump with hostage survivors

    President Trump meets with Hamas hostage survivors in the Oval Office on March 5, 2025. (POTUS/X)

    “I personally told him that me and my family, and I would say all of Israel, believe that he was sent by God to release those hostages and to help Israel,” Shem Tov recounted of what he told Trump during his meeting in February. “And he made that promise. He made that promise, he said that he will bring back all the hostages.”

    For Shem Tov, freedom after captivity has meant keeping close ties with fellow hostage survivors.

    CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

    “I would say they become like my family, like my brothers and sisters. We have many group chats and we see each other every once in a while and there are some who really become like brothers of mine,” Shem Tov said. 

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  • What courts rule on genocide?

    Email interview with Shannon Fyfe, a law professor and international criminal law expert at Washington and Lee University’s School of Law, Oct. 7, 2025

    Email interview with Laura Rusu, national director of marketing and communications for Amnesty International USA, Oct. 6, 2025

    Email interview with Yair Dvir, a spokesperson for B’Tselem, Oct. 4, 2025 and Nov. 4, 2025

    Interview with Michael Lynk, law professor at Western University, in London, Ontario, Oct. 8, 2025

    Interview with A. Dirk Moses, professor of international relations at the City University of New York, Oct. 9, 2025

    Interview with Sara E. Brown, genocide scholar and regional director at the American Jewish Committee, Oct. 13, 2025

    Email interview with Omer Bartov, Brown University Holocaust and genocide studies professor, Oct. 7, 2025

    Email interview William Schabas, professor of international law at Middlesex University, Oct. 9, 2025

    ABC News, As Israel warned Gaza civilians to evacuate, IDF bombs struck city described as sanctuary, Jan. 25, 2024

    Al Jazeera, Foreign doctors say Israel systematically targeting Gaza’s children: Report, Sept. 14, 2025

    Al Jazeera, Israel still blocking most Gaza aid as military carries out more attacks, Nov. 1, 2025

    Al Jazeera, Israel’s genocide in Gaza has not stopped, despite the ceasefire: Analysts, Dec. 2, 2025 

    Al Jazeera, The last 30 minutes inside a Gaza City tower before it is bombed by Israel, Sept. 11, 2025

    Al Jazeera, Trump ally Marjorie Taylor Greene decries ‘genocide’ in Gaza, July 29, 2025

    Al Jazeera, Trump announces Israel-Hamas ceasefire deal: What we know and what’s next, Oct. 13, 2025

    American Jewish Committee, 5 Reasons Why the Events in Gaza Are Not “Genocide,” Sept. 16, 2025

    American Jewish Committee, AJC Statement on Outrageous ICJ Order on Provisional Measures, May 24, 2024

    American Jewish Committee, What You Need to Know About the Latest International Court of Justice Action in the Case Against Israel, accessed Dec. 8, 2025

    American Society of International Law, World Court finds Serbia Responsible for Breaches of Genocide Convention, but Not Liable for Committing Genocide, April 3, 2007

    American University, What Do ICC Arrest Warrants Mean for Israel and the War in Gaza? Nov. 25, 2024

    Amnesty International, Amnesty International investigation concludes Israel is committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza, Dec. 5, 2024

    Amnesty International, Israel’s genocide against Palestinians in Gaza continues unabated despite ceasefire, Nov. 27, 2025

    Amnesty International Israel, Amnesty Israel Does not Accept the Main Findings of the Report by Amnesty International Global Movement which Accuses Israel of Genocide, May 12, 2024

    Amnesty International Israel, The alternative hypothesis to Israeli intent to commit genocide, Aug. 12, 2024

    Anadolu Ajansı, OPINION – Trump’s Gaza plan through the lens of international law, Feb. 19, 2025

    Associated Press, Live updates: Hamas frees living hostages and Israel releases prisoners as Trump visits the region, Oct. 13, 2024

    Associated Press, Photos show Palestinians enduring war and hunger in Gaza, July 22, 2025

    Associated Press, Top genocide scholars accuse Israel of genocide as strikes across Gaza kill at least 31 Palestinians, Sept. 1, 2025 

    Associated Press, UN assembly votes overwhelmingly to back two-state solution to Israel-Palestinian conflict, Sept. 12, 2025

    Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research, Half believe Israel’s military response in the Gaza Strip has gone too far, Sept. 18, 2025

    Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research, Public opinion of the Israel and Hamas conflict nearly a year after the October 7th attacks, October 2024

    Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research, The November 2023 AP-NORC Center Poll, November 2023

    Axios, No. 2 House Democrat Katherine Clark calls Gaza war a ‘genocide’, Aug. 15, 2025

    BBC, ‘I’m calling from Israeli intelligence. We have the order to bomb. You have two hours,’ Nov. 8, 2023

    BBC, Five killed in Israeli air strikes on tents near Khan Younis, medics say, Dec. 3, 2025 

    BBC, Gaza: Israel allows aid in after 11-week blockade but UN calls it ‘drop in ocean,’ May 19, 2025

    BBC, Gaza evacuation warnings from IDF contain many errors, BBC finds, April 5, 2024 

    BBC, Israel committing genocide in Gaza, world’s leading experts say, Sept. 1, 2025

    BBC, Israeli double strike on Gaza hospital – what we know, Aug. 26, 2025 

    BBC, Israeli rights groups accuse Israel of genocide in Gaza, July 28, 2025

    BBC, Khmer Rouge: What did a 16-year genocide trial achieve? Sept. 22, 2022

    BBC, Palestinians say ‘there’s no place left’ as Israel orders all residents to evacuate Gaza City, Sept. 9, 2025

    BBC, What did ICJ ruling mean in South Africa’s genocide case against Israel?, May 17, 2024 

    BBC, What does ICJ ruling on Israel’s Rafah offensive mean?, May 28, 2024

    B’Tselem, Our Genocide, July 2025

    CBS News, Israel says Gaza ceasefire back on after dozens of Palestinians killed in airstrikes, Oct. 29, 2025

    CNN, Gaza starvation warning from aid agencies as Israel urged to end blockade, July 24, 2025

    CNN, Israel shows alleged Hamas ‘armory’ under children’s hospital in Gaza. Local health officials dismiss the claims, Nov. 14, 2023

    CNN, They followed evacuation orders. An Israeli airstrike killed them the next day, Oct. 17, 2023

    Commentary, Closing the Book on ‘Genocide,’ ‘Deliberate Starvation’ and other Modern Libels – Commentary Magazine, Oct. 23, 2025

    Deputy Director General of the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs Lior Haiat’s X post, Jan. 11, 2024 (Archived) 

    Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia, About, accessed Dec. 8, 2025

    Gallup, 32% in U.S. Back Israel’s Military Action in Gaza, a New Low, July 29, 2025

    Harvard Human Rights Journal, Reading Lemkin Today: Is Genocide Law Fit for the Purpose He Intended? June 25, 2025

    Human Rights Watch, Extermination and Acts of Genocide: Israel Deliberately Depriving Palestinians in Gaza of Water, Dec. 19, 2024

    Human Rights Watch, No Exit in Gaza, April 1, 2024

    Indiana University Bloomington’s Institute for the Study of Contemporary Antisemitism, The Genocide Libel: How the World Has Charged Israel with Genocide, February 2025

    International Association of Genocide Scholars, IAGS Resolution on the Situation in Gaza, passed Aug. 31, 2025

    International Court of Justice, (Bosnia and Herzegovina v. Serbia and Montenegro), accessed Dec. 8, 2025

    International Court of Justice, (Croatia v. Serbia), accessed Dec. 8, 2025

    International Court of Justice, (South Africa v. Israel), accessed Dec. 8, 2025

    International Court of Justice, (South Africa v. Israel) Application Initiating Proceedings, Dec. 29, 2023

    International Court of Justice, (South Africa v. Israel) Initiating proceeding press release, Dec. 29, 2023

    International Court of Justice, (South Africa v. Israel) Modification of provisional measures, March 28, 2024

    International Court of Justice, (South Africa v. Israel) Modification of provisional measures, May 24, 2024

    International Court of Justice, (South Africa v. Israel) Order extending time limits, Oct. 20, 2025

    International Court of Justice, (South Africa v. Israel) Provisional Measures, Jan. 26, 2024 

    International Court of Justice, (South Africa v. Israel) Provisional Measures summary, Jan. 26, 2025 

    International Court of Justice, (The Gambia v. Myanmar), accessed Dec. 8, 2025

    International Court of Justice, (Ukraine v. Russian Federation), accessed Dec. 8, 2025

    International Court of Justice, Cases, accessed Dec. 8, 2025

    International Court of Justice, Home, accessed Dec. 8, 2025

    International Court of Justice, Members of the Court, accessed Dec. 11, 2025

    International Court of Justice, Oral proceedings (South Africa v. Israel), Jan. 12, 2024

    International Court of Justice, The Court, accessed Dec. 8, 2025

    International Criminal Court, Al Bashir Case, accessed Dec. 8, 2025

    International Criminal Court, Home, accessed Dec. 8, 2025

    International Criminal Court, ICC Pre-Trial Chamber I issues warrant of arrest for Mohammed Diab Ibrahim Al-Masri, Nov. 21. 2024

    International Criminal Court, ICC Pre-Trial Chamber I rejects the State of Israel’s challenges to jurisdiction and issues warrants of arrest for Benjamin Netanyahu and Yoav Gallant, Nov. 21, 2024

    International Criminal Court, State of Palestine, accessed Dec. 8, 2025

    International Criminal Court, The Judges of the Court, accessed Dec. 11, 2025 

    International Criminal Court, The States Parties to the Rome Statute, accessed Dec. 8. 2025

    Israel Foreign Ministry’s X post, Sept. 16, 2025 (archived)

    Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s X post, Aug. 25, 2025 (archived)

    Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs Spokesperson Oren Marmorstein’s X post, Sept. 1, 2025

    Just Security, Mapping State Reactions to the ICC Arrest Warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant, March 6, 2025

    L’Unione Sarda English, Netanyahu: “The genocide accusations are baseless.” Boos and empty seats at the UN, Sept. 26, 2025

    Legal Information Institute, crime against humanity, accessed Dec. 8, 2025

    Médecins Sans Frontières, or Doctors Without Borders, Gaza genocide, Sept. 3, 2025

    Michigan Advance, McMorrow clarifies stance on Gaza, joins Michigan Democrats calling situation a genocide, Oct. 7, 2025

    Middle East Eye, Israel’s genocide in Gaza: Whatever happened to South Africa’s case at the ICJ? Sept. 23, 2025

    MSN.com, Israeli Amb. To United Nations: ‘There is no genocide in Gaza,’ Aug. 4, 2025

    NBC News, Rep. Rashida Tlaib accuses Biden of supporting ‘genocide’ of Palestinian people, Nov. 3, 2023

    NPR, A fragile Gaza ceasefire is tested after Israel and Hamas swap detainees and hostages, Oct. 14, 2025

    NPR, A question of intent: Is what’s happening in Gaza genocide?, Sept. 25, 2025

    NPR, The Geneva Conventions protect hospitals during war. But the safeguard isn’t absolute, Nov. 10, 2023 

    NPR, U.K., Canada and Australia recognize a Palestinian state, despite U.S. opposition, Sept. 21, 2025

    NPR, War scholar discusses why he does not think there is a genocide in Gaza, July 29, 2025

    PBS, Israel says Rafah crossing will stay closed ‘until further notice’ as it pushes Hamas for hostages’ remains, Oct. 18, 2025

    PBS, More Americans feel Israel has ‘gone too far’ in Gaza, AP-NORC poll shows, Sept. 18, 2025

    PBS, U.S. again vetoes UN Security Council resolution demanding Gaza ceasefire, hostage release, Sept. 18, 2025

    PBS News, Israel rejects genocide charges, claims ‘legitimate’ self defense at United Nations’ top court, Jan. 12, 2024 

    PBS News, Israel says its strikes on a Gaza hospital were targeting what it called a Hamas surveillance camera, Aug. 26, 2025

    Physicians for Human Rights-Israel, Destruction of Conditions of Life: A Health Analysis of the Gaza Genocide, July 2025

    Physicians for Human Rights-Israel, Genocide in Gaza | רופאים לזכויות אדם, July 28, 2025

    Politico, MAGA is turning on Israel over Gaza, but Trump is unmoved – POLITICO, July 29, 2025

    PolitiFact, Netanyahu’s ‘no starvation in Gaza’ statement contradicts extensive evidence of hunger crisis, July 29, 2025 

    PolitiFact, One year after Oct. 7, 2023, attack: The evolution of misinformation about Israel and Gaza, Oct. 4, 2024

    Quinnipiac University Poll, Support Drops For U.S. Military Aid To Israel As 50% Think Israel Is Committing Genocide In Gaza, Aug. 27, 2025

    Scholars for the Truth about Genocide, Call to retract IAGS resolution, accessed Dec. 8, 2025

    The BMJ, ​​Gaza “genocide has not stopped,” charities warn, as Israel continue to block aid, Oct. 24, 2025 

    The Chicago Council on Global Affairs, South Africa’s Case Against Israel is the Fifth Time UN Genocide Law has Been Used this Way, Jan. 17, 2024

    The Conversation, With 83% of its buildings destroyed, Gaza needs more than money to rebuild, Oct. 16, 2025

    The Ezra Klein Show’s YouTube channel, Is Israel Committing Genocide in Gaza? Aug. 13, 2025

    The Guardian, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez calls Israeli Gaza campaign an ‘unfolding genocide’, March 23, 2024

    The Guardian, Israel never targets innocents intentionally, July 4, 2024

    The Guardian, Marjorie Taylor Greene joins Bernie Sanders in urging US to end Gaza famine, Aug. 23, 2025

    The Guardian, ‘No place is safe’: families flee Gaza City as Israel vows to press on with offensive, Aug. 24, 2025 

    The Jerusalem Post, IDF spokesperson Daniel Hagari publishes op-ed in Wall Street Journal, Feb. 26, 2024

    The New York Times, How Can the I.C.C. Prosecute Leaders of Israel, Which Is Not a Member? Nov. 22, 2024

    The New York Times, Israel Marks Two-Year Anniversary of Oct. 7 in Subdued Fashion, Oct. 7, 2025

    The New York Times, I’m a Genocide Scholar. I Know It When I See It, July 15, 2025

    The New York Times, No, Israel Is Not Committing Genocide in Gaza, July 22, 2025

    The Oxford Handbook of Historical and International Relations, Chapter 19: The Diplomacy of Genocide, accessed Dec. 8, 2025

    The Times of Israel, Herzog, Netanyahu tour north as UN warns of ‘apocalyptic’ war with Hezbollah, June 26, 2024

    The Wall Street Journal, The Media-Savvy Murderers of Hamas, Feb. 25, 2024 

    The Washington Post, Many American Jews sharply critical of Israel on Gaza, Post poll finds, Oct. 6, 2025

    The Washington Post, Sept. 2-9, 2025, Washington Post Jewish Americans poll, Oct. 6, 2025

    The Washington Post, Why it’s wrong to call Israel’s war in Gaza a ‘genocide,’ June 3, 2025

    The White House, Imposing Sanctions On The International Criminal Court, Feb. 6, 2025 

    U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders’ website, It Is Genocide » Senator Bernie Sanders, Sept. 17, 2025

    U.S. State Department, Veto of the United Nations Security Council Resolution on Gaza, June 4, 2025

    United Nations, Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, accessed Dec. 8, 2025

    United Nations, Current UN Member States Resources, accessed Dec. 8. 2025

    United Nations, Definitions of Genocide and Related Crimes, accessed Oct. 2, 2025

    United Nations, Gaza: World court orders Israel to halt military operations in Rafah, May 24, 2024

    United Nations, Gaza City suffering escalates as Israeli strikes inflict more heavy casualties, Sept. 25, 2025

    United Nations, Ratification of the Genocide Convention, accessed Oct. 2, 2025

    United Nations, War against Hamas in Gaza is act of self-defence, Israel tells world court, Jan. 12, 2024

    United Nations Human Rights, Israel has committed genocide in the Gaza Strip, UN Commission finds, Sept. 16, 2025

    United Nations Human Rights Council, The Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and Israel, accessed Dec. 8, 2025

    United Nations Human Rights Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Gaza: ICJ ruling offers hope for protection of civilians enduring apocalyptic conditions, say UN experts, Jan. 31, 2024

    United Nations Human Rights Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Legal analysis of the conduct of Israel in Gaza pursuant to the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, Sept. 16, 2025

    United Nations Human Rights Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Prof. S. Michael Lynk, Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian Territory occupied since 1967, accessed Dec. 8, 2025 

    United Nations International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals, International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, accessed Dec. 8, 2025

    United Nations International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals, Srebrenica: Timeline of Genocide, accessed Dec. 8, 2025

    United Nations International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals, “International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda,” accessed Dec. 8, 2025

    United Nations News, Aid blockade deepens Gaza crisis as malnutrition deaths rise, warns UNRWA, Aug. 9, 2025

    United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, Humanitarian Situation Update #345 | Gaza Strip, Dec. 4, 2025

    United Nations Security Council, Vetoes, accessed Dec. 8, 2025

    United Nations Treaty Collections, Chapter IV Human Rights: Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, accessed Oct. 2, 2025

    University of Maryland, 2025 Public Opinion Polling, September 2025

    University of Maryland, The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict and Russia-Ukraine War, September 2025

    Vice, Israeli Intelligence Has Deemed Hamas-Run Health Ministry’s Death Toll Figures Generally Accurate, Jan. 25, 2024

    World Health Organization, People in Gaza starving, sick and dying as aid blockade continues, May 12, 2025

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  • Irish Minister Defends ‘Limited’ Trade Curbs on Israeli Settlements

    By John O’Donnell and Padraic Halpin

    DUBLIN, Dec 12 (Reuters) – Ireland’s planned curbs on trade with Israeli settlements ‌will ​be limited strictly to goods, a minister told Reuters, offering ‌the first clear signal on the scope of the contested legislation and rejecting accusations that the country is antisemitic.

    Ireland has been preparing ​a law to curb trade with settlements in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, facing pressure at home to widen the scope of the ban from goods to services, while Israel and the United States want ‍the bill scrapped.

    Ireland has been one of the European ​Union’s most outspoken critics of Israel’s assault in Gaza, which authorities in the Palestinian enclave say has killed more than 67,000 people.

    ‘EXTREMELY LIMITED MEASURE’, SAYS MINISTER

    But Thomas Byrne, Ireland’s Minister of State for ​European Affairs and Defence, ⁠told Reuters that the bill is limited to the import of goods and that it would not become law this year.

    “It’s an extremely limited measure, which would prohibit imports of goods from illegally-occupied territories,” he said in an interview. “Similar measures have already been brought in in a number of European countries.”

    Byrne’s comments give insight into Dublin’s thinking as Ireland seeks to deflect pressure, including from U.S. companies based in the country, to soften its criticism of Israel. Ireland’s bill is expected to help shape how other European nations launch similar ‌curbs on trade with Israeli settlements.

    The Irish government has signalled the bill is imminent but has yet to publicly announce its scope.

    Byrne declined to say when it would be ​sent ‌to parliament, as the government weighs the ‍bill’s implications. “It’s certainly not going to ⁠be implemented this year,” he said.

    Earlier this year, sources told Reuters that the government intended to blunt the law, curbing its scope to just a limited trade of goods, such as dried fruit, and not services.

    That more ambitious move could have entangled companies in technology and other industries in Ireland doing business in Israel. Business lobby groups had sought to kill the idea.

    Limiting the bill to goods only would catch just a handful of products imported from Israeli-occupied territories such as fruit that are worth just 200,000 euros ($234,660) a year.

    LAWMAKER BLACK SAYS SHE STILL WANTS SERVICES BAN

    Most of the international community considers Israeli settlements in the West Bank illegal under international law.

    Israel disputes this, citing historical and biblical ties to the area. It says the settlements provide strategic depth and security.

    On Gaza, Israel says it acted in ​self-defence following the deadly October 7, 2023, Hamas attack that killed 1,200 people and resulted in 251 hostages, according to Israeli tallies. Israel has repeatedly said it is committed to international law and tries to minimize harm to the civilian population of Gaza.

    Frances Black, the lawmaker who proposed the Irish bill, told Reuters she would push to include a ban on services. “It will take a lot of work in the new year to get services included but that’s exactly what I’m prepared to do.”

    Byrne also defended Ireland’s government, after Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar recently posted a video online where he accused the Irish government of having an “antisemitic nature”.

    Saar said the Irish government’s response had been slow to a local proposal to rename a park bearing the name of Chaim Herzog, the former president of Israel who was raised in Dublin.

    Irish ministers had roundly criticised the idea and Dublin City Council has since delayed a decision on whether to remove the name.

    U.S. senator Lindsey Graham had also labelled Ireland a “cesspool of antisemitism”.

    EU LAWMAKER REJECTS ANTISEMITISM CHARGE AS ‘NONSENSE’

    “I reject outright that the country is in any way antisemitic,” said Byrne. “We’re deeply conscious of the ​contribution that Jewish people have made in Ireland.”

    Ireland’s relations with Israel have been fraught. Last December, Israel shut its embassy in Dublin amid a row over Ireland’s criticism of its war in Gaza, including Ireland’s recognition of a Palestinian state last year.

    Barry Andrews, an Irish member of the European parliament, urged Dublin to go ahead with its occupied territories bill. “Claims that Ireland is antisemitic are nonsense,” he said. Ireland has nothing to fear. We are no longer the only ones doing this.”

    On Wednesday, ​Ireland’s central bank governor Gabriel Makhlouf was forced to abandon a public speech in Dublin by pro-Palestinian protesters objecting to the central bank’s earlier role in the sale of Israeli bonds.

    (Additional reporting by Conor Humphries, Editing by William Maclean)

    Copyright 2025 Thomson Reuters.

    Photos You Should See – December 2025

    Reuters

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    Calls grow for video of second U.S. strike on alleged drug boat; Russia praises Trump’s national security plan.

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  • Emergency services search for five people last seen in missing Jeep

    The IDF received over 100 reports about the vehicle, which was spotted driving through floodwaters near the Beit Zayit Dam.

    The Israel Fire and Rescue Authority announced that they are currently searching for a Jeep last seen carrying five passengers in the Jerusalem area on Thursday.

    The IDF received over 100 reports about the vehicle, which was spotted driving through floodwaters near the Beit Zayit Dam.

    Israel Fire and Rescue stated that they are currently scanning the dam area to locate the Jeep and its passengers.

    Separately, emergency services rescued passengers trapped in a vehicle that was swept away by floodwater in the Kiryat Gat area. The rescued passengers were then taken away from the scene for medical examination.

    Storm Byron makes landfall, causing extreme flooding

    Storm Byron, an extremely powerful thunderstorm, made landfall in Israel on Wednesday night.

    Vehicles are seen driving amid heavy flooding across the central Israeli city of Yavne, December 11, 2025 (VIA SECTION 27A OF THE COPRIGHT ACT)

    High winds and severe flooding were reported across the country, with storm conditions causing major transportation disruptions.

    Israel Railways announced on Thursday evening that train traffic between Lod and Beersheba has been temporarily halted, “due to a signaling fault in the Kiryat Gat area caused by weather conditions.”

    Sections of highways 90 and 4370 were closed due to flooding, Israel Police and local municipalities announced.

    In Tel Aviv, two young men were rescued by Magen David Adom paramedics when their car sank into mud near Eitan Livni Street.

    In Yavne, at least 14 Israelis were rescued from vehicles stuck in floodwater, according to the Fire and Rescue Service.

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  • Rain Has Flooded Gaza Tents and a Baby Died of Exposure, Medics Say

    By Nidal al-Mughrabi and Ramadan Abed

    CAIRO/GAZA, Dec 11 (Reuters) – Torrential rain swept across the Gaza ‌Strip ​on Thursday, flooding hundreds of tents sheltering families displaced ‌by two years of war, and leading to the death of a baby girl due to exposure, local health ​officials said.

    Medics said eight-month-old Rahaf Abu Jazar died of exposure to cold after water inundated her family’s tent in Khan Younis, in the south of the enclave.

    Weeping and holding Rahaf in ‍her hands, her mother Hejar Abu Jazar said ​she had fed the girl before they went to sleep.

    “When we woke up, we found the rain over her and the wind on her, and the girl died ​of cold suddenly,” she ⁠told Reuters.

    “There was nothing wrong with her. Oh, the fire in my heart, the fire in my heart, oh my life,” she said in tears.

    GAZA LACKS EQUIPMENT TO COPE WITH DELUGE DUE TO THE WAR

    Municipal and civil defence officials said they were unable to cope with the storm because of fuel shortages and damage to equipment. They said Israel destroyed hundreds of vehicles, including bulldozers and others used to pump water, during the war, which displaced most of the over ‌two million population and left much of Gaza in ruins.

    The civil defense service said most of the tent encampments across the enclave were flooded, and ​it ‌received more than 2,500 calls for ‍help. Some of the belongings of ⁠displaced people were seen floating on top of pools of rainwater that filled the alleys of the tent encampments.

    A U.N. report said 761 displacement sites hosting about 850,000 people are at high risk of flooding and thousands of people had moved in anticipation of heavy rain.

    U.N. and Palestinian officials said at least 300,000 new tents are urgently needed for the roughly 1.5 million people still displaced. Most existing shelters are worn out or made of thin plastic and cloth sheeting.

    Gazans have resorted to ripping out iron rods from the debris of bombed houses and using them to prop up tents or to sell for a few dollars.

    A ceasefire has broadly held since October, but the war destroyed much of ​Gaza’s infrastructure, leaving grim living conditions.

    Hamas-led authorities say Israel is not allowing in as much aid as promised under the truce. Aid agencies say Israel is blocking essential items. Israel says it is meeting its obligations and accuses agencies of inefficiency and failing to prevent theft by Hamas, which the group denies.

    “We hold the Israeli occupation fully responsible for exposing displaced families to climate hazards as it continues closing crossings and preventing the entry of relief items and shelter materials,” said Ismail Al-Thawabta, head of the Hamas-run Gaza government media office.

    The U.N. Palestinian refugee agency UNRWA said flooded streets and soaked tents are worsening already dire conditions.

    “Cold, overcrowded and unsanitary environments heighten the risk of illness and infection,” it said on X.

    “This suffering could be prevented by unhindered humanitarian aid, including medical support and proper shelter,” it added.

    In Gaza City, three houses collapsed as a result of the rainstorm in areas that had been devastated by Israeli bombardment, the civil emergency service said.

    The October 10 ceasefire has enabled hundreds ​of thousands of Palestinians to return to Gaza City’s ruins. Israel has pulled troops back from city positions, and aid flows have increased.

    But violence has not completely halted. Palestinian health authorities say Israeli forces have killed 383 people in strikes in Gaza since the truce. Israel says three of its soldiers have been killed since the ceasefire began, and it has attacked scores of fighters.

    On Thursday, medics said two Palestinian women were killed, ​and some other people were wounded in Israeli tank shelling in Jabalia in the northern Gaza Strip. The Israeli military didn’t offer immediate comment.

    (Reporting by Nidal al-Mughrabi and Ramdan Abed; Editing by Alexandra Hudson)

    Copyright 2025 Thomson Reuters.

    Reuters

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  • Desperate Gazans Pull Iron Bars From Rubble to Construct Tents and Scratch Out a Living

    GAZA, Dec 11 (Reuters) – As winter bites in Gaza, displaced Palestinians set ‌out ​every day to homes destroyed by Israel. There they ‌rip out iron rods from the walls and use them to prop up their flimsy tents or sell ​to scratch out a living in an enclave that will take years to recover from war.

    The rods have become a hot item in Gaza, where they are twisted ‍up in the wreckage left by an Israeli military ​campaign that spared few homes. Some residents spend days pounding away at thick cement to extract them, others do the back-breaking work for a week or ​more.

    With only rudimentary tools ⁠such as shovels, pickaxes and hammers, work proceeds at a snail’s pace.

    UN SAYS WAR GENERATED 61 MILLION TONNES OF RUBBLE

    Once the bars helped hold up cement walls in family homes, today they are destined for urgently-needed tents as temperatures at night fall. Heavy rainstorms have already submerged many Gazans’ meagre belongings, adding to their misery.

    Palestinian father-of-six Wael al-Jabra, 53, was putting together a makeshift tent, trying to hammer together two steel bars.

    “I don’t have money to ‌buy wood, of course. So, I had to extract this iron from the house. The house is made of five floors. We don’t ​have ‌anything apart from God and this house ‍that was sheltering us,” he ⁠said.

    In November, the U.N. Development Programme said that the war in Gaza had generated 61 million tonnes of rubble, citing estimates based on satellite imagery.

    Most of it can be cleared within seven years under the right conditions, it said.

    A 10-meter metal rod costs displaced families $15 – a steep amount because many barely have cash.

    The Palestinian militant group Hamas triggered the conflict after attacking Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing 1,200 people and taking 251 back to Gaza as hostages, according to Israeli calculations. Israel responded with a military campaign that killed over 70,000 people and laid waste to Gaza.

    Carrying heavy buckets of rubble and pushing a wheelbarrow, Suleiman al-Arja, 19, ​described a typical day in the quest for iron rods.

    “We pass by destroyed houses and agree with the house owner. He gives us a choice, whether to clean the house (clear the rubble) in exchange for iron or clean the house for money. We tell him that we want the iron and we start breaking the iron. As you can see, we spend a week, sometimes a week and a half,” he said.

    FOCUS IS ON DAILY STRUGGLE TO LIVE

    U.S. President Donald Trump promised to put together an international stabilisation force and an economic development plan to rebuild and energise Gaza, which was impoverished even before the war. Palestinians in Gaza can’t look so far ahead even though a ceasefire was reached in October. Every day is a struggle for Palestinians who have seen peace plans come and go over many decades.

    Their minds are focused on finding ways to survive, every single day.

    “We do this work to get our food and ​drink, to cover our living expenses and not need anyone, so we earn a living through halal (legitimate) means and effort. These are my hands,” said Haitham Arbiea, 29.

    Palestinians accuse Israel of depriving Gaza of the iron bars.

    An Israeli official told Reuters that construction materials are considered dual use items – items for civilian but also potential military use – and will not be allowed into Gaza until the second phase of ​the U.S.-led peace plan. The official cited concerns that the materials could be used for the building of tunnels, which have been used by Hamas. 

    (Writing by Michael Georgy; Editing by Alexandra Hudson)

    Copyright 2025 Thomson Reuters.

    Reuters

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  • Eurovision crisis: Portuguese artists announce boycott if they win national contest

    Could Portugal’s participation in next year’s Eurovision Song Contest be at risk?

    Following the news that Iceland has joined Ireland, Spain, the Netherlands and Slovenia in dropping out of Eurovision 2026, 17 Portuguese artists and performers in the country’s song selection contest, Festival da Canção, have announced they are refusing to represent Portugal if they win.

    The entrants in the internal contest to elect a representative put forward a statement, protesting Israel’s controversial participation in the contest.

    The signatories include Cristina Branco, Bateu Matou, Rita Dias, DjoDje, Beatriz Bronze (Evaya), Francisco Fontes, Gonçalo Gomes, Inês Sousa, Jorge Gonçalves (Jacaréu), Marquise, Nunca Mates o Mandarim, and Pedro Fernandes.

    “With words and with songs, we act within the possibilities we are given. We do not accept complicity with the violation of Human Rights,” they said.

    “Despite Russia’s ban from Eurovision 2022 for political reasons (the invasion of Ukraine), we were surprised to see that the same stance was not taken towards Israel, which, according to the United Nations, is committing acts of genocide against Palestinians in Gaza.”

    Portugal’s broadcaster RTP has issued a statement in response to the artists’ words, saying: “Regardless of the decision of the artists who subscribe to the statement, RTP will once again organise Festival da Canção and reaffirms its participation at the Eurovision Song Contest 2026.”

    Salvador Sobral, the only Portuguese artist to win Eurovision, criticised RTP’s position in a video on social media, in which he accused of the Portuguese broadcaster of “political cowardice.”

    The outrage has also reached the Portuguese public, who have launched a petition calling for Portugal’s immediate withdrawal from Eurovision.

    Already signed by more than 22,000 people, the document highlights RTP’s vote in favour of Israel’s participation “puts Portugal on the wrong side of history”.

    “This stance is unacceptable in the face of the ongoing humanitarian catastrophe and military offensive in the Gaza Strip, and in the face of the vote rigging scandals that marred the 2025 edition in Basel, proving the inability of the organisation (EBU) to curb the politicisation of the event,” it reads.

    Related

    Last week, Israel’s participation in Eurovision 2026 was confirmed by the EBU. There was no vote held on Israel’s participation at the EBU’s general assembly, and as a result, Ireland, Spain, the Netherlands and Slovenia confirmed they would boycott the event for good.

    Yesterday, following a board meeting of the broadcaster RÚV, Iceland became the fifth country to join the boycott.

    They said in a statement that Israel’s participation “has created disunity among both members of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and the general public.”

    The broadcaster went on to add that participating would be “neither be a source of joy nor peace” considering public opinion in Iceland and the reaction to the EBU’s general assembly last week.

    Next year’s Eurovision – the 70th edition of the contest – will take place in Vienna on 16 May 2026.

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  • UN says peacekeepers came under Israeli fire in southern Lebanon

    The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) said on Wednesday that Israeli forces fired multiple bursts of machine-gun fire near a UN peacekeeping patrol along the UN-demarcated Blue Line, causing no casualties.

    “Attacks on or near peacekeepers constitute a serious violation of Resolution 1701,” the statement said, urging Israel to halt what UNIFIL called aggressive behaviour toward forces mandated to maintain stability along the frontier. UN Resolution 1701 ended the 2006 Lebanon War.

    According to a statement, peacekeepers in vehicles were conducting a routine patrol near the village of Sarda on Tuesday when an Israeli Merkava tank opened fire.

    “One burst of 10 rounds was fired over the patrol, followed by four additional 10-round bursts landing nearby,” the statement said.

    The mission said the peacekeepers immediately contacted the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) through UNIFIL liaison channels to demand an end to the shooting.

    UNIFIL noted that both the tank and the patrol were located inside Lebanese territory at the time.

    The incident comes amid a period of Israeli military activity along the Lebanese-Israeli border, where Israel has been carrying almost daily strikes against Pro-Iranian Hezbollah positions.

    Israel and Hezbollah agreed to a ceasefire in November 2024 after more than a year of cross-border fire, though both sides have repeatedly accused each other of violating the deal since then.

    A key element of the ceasefire agreement is the disarmament of Hezbollah, a politically sensitive process that has been sought unsuccessfully in Lebanon for decades.

    Israel and its northern neighbour remain formally in a state of war. Lebanon’s president recently signalled openness to new negotiations with Israel.

    UNIFIL reiterated that its personnel remain committed to preventing further deterioration and maintaining channels of communication between the parties.

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  • Palestinian death toll has surpassed 70,000 since the Israel-Hamas war began, Gaza ministry says

    The Palestinian death toll has surpassed 70,000 since the Israel-Hamas war began, Gaza’s Health Ministry said Saturday, while a hospital said that Israeli fire killed two Palestinian children in the territory’s south.The toll has continued to rise after the latest ceasefire took effect on Oct. 10. Israel still carries out strikes in response to what it has called violations of the truce, and bodies from earlier in the war are being recovered from the rubble.The Health Ministry says the Palestinian toll is now 70,100. The ministry operates under the Hamas-run government. It is staffed by medical professionals and maintains detailed records viewed as generally reliable by the international community.The war began with the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, which killed around 1,200 people and militants taking more than 250 hostages. Almost all of the hostages or their remains have been returned in ceasefires or other deals.Staff at Nasser Hospital, which received the bodies of the children in southern Gaza, said the brothers, ages 8 and 11, died when an Israeli drone struck close to a school sheltering displaced people in the town of Beni Suhaila.Israel’s military said it killed two people who crossed into an Israeli-controlled area, “conducted suspicious activities” and approached troops. The statement didn’t mention children. The military said it also killed another person in a separate but similar incident in the south.At least 352 Palestinians have been killed across the territory since the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas took effect on Oct. 10, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which doesn’t differentiate between civilians and combatants.Israel says its strikes are aimed at militants violating the truce. Both Israel and Hamas have accused the other of violating the deal. Hamas again urged mediators on Saturday to pressure Israel to stop what it called ceasefire violations in Gaza.A U.S. blueprint outlining the future of Gaza, which has been devastated by more than two years of war, is still in the early stages. The plan to secure and govern the territory authorizes an international stabilization force to provide security, approves a transitional authority to be overseen by U.S. President Donald Trump and envisions a possible future path to an independent Palestinian state.Israeli forces have pushed forward on a number of other fronts in the region in recent weeks.Syrian officials said that Israeli forces raided a Syrian village on Friday and opened fire when they were confronted by residents, killing at least 13 people. Israel said it conducted the operation to apprehend suspects of a militant group planning attacks in Israel, and that the militants opened fire at troops, wounding six.Israel also has escalated strikes in Lebanon, saying it’s targeting Hezbollah sites and asserting that the militant group is attempting to rearm.Hezbollah called on Pope Leo XIV to “reject injustice and aggression,” in reference to the near-daily Israeli strikes, despite a ceasefire that ended the 14-month war between the two sides a year ago. The pope is visiting the region on his first foreign trip.In the Israeli-occupied West Bank, Israeli soldiers were accused by Palestinians of executing two men on Thursday after footage aired by two Arab television stations showed troops shooting the men after they appeared to surrender. The Israeli military said that it was investigating.Israeli settler violence has continued to rise in the West Bank. On Saturday, the Palestinian Red Crescent said that 10 Palestinians were injured by beatings and live ammunition during settler attacks in Khallet al-Louza village close to Bethlehem.

    DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip —

    The Palestinian death toll has surpassed 70,000 since the Israel-Hamas war began, Gaza’s Health Ministry said Saturday, while a hospital said that Israeli fire killed two Palestinian children in the territory’s south.

    The toll has continued to rise after the latest ceasefire took effect on Oct. 10. Israel still carries out strikes in response to what it has called violations of the truce, and bodies from earlier in the war are being recovered from the rubble.

    The Health Ministry says the Palestinian toll is now 70,100. The ministry operates under the Hamas-run government. It is staffed by medical professionals and maintains detailed records viewed as generally reliable by the international community.

    The war began with the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, which killed around 1,200 people and militants taking more than 250 hostages. Almost all of the hostages or their remains have been returned in ceasefires or other deals.

    Staff at Nasser Hospital, which received the bodies of the children in southern Gaza, said the brothers, ages 8 and 11, died when an Israeli drone struck close to a school sheltering displaced people in the town of Beni Suhaila.

    Israel’s military said it killed two people who crossed into an Israeli-controlled area, “conducted suspicious activities” and approached troops. The statement didn’t mention children. The military said it also killed another person in a separate but similar incident in the south.

    At least 352 Palestinians have been killed across the territory since the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas took effect on Oct. 10, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which doesn’t differentiate between civilians and combatants.

    Israel says its strikes are aimed at militants violating the truce. Both Israel and Hamas have accused the other of violating the deal. Hamas again urged mediators on Saturday to pressure Israel to stop what it called ceasefire violations in Gaza.

    A U.S. blueprint outlining the future of Gaza, which has been devastated by more than two years of war, is still in the early stages. The plan to secure and govern the territory authorizes an international stabilization force to provide security, approves a transitional authority to be overseen by U.S. President Donald Trump and envisions a possible future path to an independent Palestinian state.

    Israeli forces have pushed forward on a number of other fronts in the region in recent weeks.

    Syrian officials said that Israeli forces raided a Syrian village on Friday and opened fire when they were confronted by residents, killing at least 13 people. Israel said it conducted the operation to apprehend suspects of a militant group planning attacks in Israel, and that the militants opened fire at troops, wounding six.

    Israel also has escalated strikes in Lebanon, saying it’s targeting Hezbollah sites and asserting that the militant group is attempting to rearm.

    Hezbollah called on Pope Leo XIV to “reject injustice and aggression,” in reference to the near-daily Israeli strikes, despite a ceasefire that ended the 14-month war between the two sides a year ago. The pope is visiting the region on his first foreign trip.

    In the Israeli-occupied West Bank, Israeli soldiers were accused by Palestinians of executing two men on Thursday after footage aired by two Arab television stations showed troops shooting the men after they appeared to surrender. The Israeli military said that it was investigating.

    Israeli settler violence has continued to rise in the West Bank. On Saturday, the Palestinian Red Crescent said that 10 Palestinians were injured by beatings and live ammunition during settler attacks in Khallet al-Louza village close to Bethlehem.

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  • Israel ‘trying to drag’ Syria into a conflict, senior regime official claims

    “We will not be a launching pad for threatening neighboring countries, but we will spare no means to confront and deter Israeli aggression,” Syria’s information minister reportedly said.

    Israel is attempting to “drag” Damascus into a confrontation through multiple provocations, a senior Syrian intelligence official, Hamza al-Mustafa, claimed on Saturday, Al Jazeera reported.

    “Israel is miscalculating when it thinks it can impose facts on the ground,” he claimed. “We are not ashamed to say that we are not in a position of strength, especially after liberation, and we want to focus on rebuilding the country.

    “We will not be a launching pad for threatening neighboring countries, but we will spare no means to confront and deter Israeli aggression.”

    Syrian officials condemn Israeli operations

    Speaking on the incident inBeit Jen, in which a number of IDF soldiers were wounded while arresting two terror suspects earlier this week, Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad Hassan al-Shaibani claimed Israel “threatened regional peace and security.”

    Calling the incident a violation of Syrian sovereignty and international law, he demanded that the United Nations and Arab League put an end to the situation.

    The comments came as the minister met with his Danish counterpart.

    Syria’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Ibrahim Alabi, condemned Israel’s operation earlier.

    This is a developing story.

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  • UN panel says Israel operating ‘de facto policy of torture’

    The United Nations committee on torture says there is evidence that Israel is operating a “de facto state policy of organised and widespread torture”.

    The committee regularly reviews the records of all countries which have signed the convention against torture, taking testimony from their governments, and from human rights groups.

    During Israel’s review both Israeli and Palestinian rights groups gave harrowing details about conditions in Israeli detention centres. It is alleged that thousands of Palestinians have been detained by Israel since the Hamas attacks of October 7th 2023.

    Under Israel’s laws on administrative detention and on Unlawful Combatants – suspects who cannot be classed as prisoner of war – they can be held for long periods without access to a lawyer or family members.

    Many Palestinian families say they have waited months to even find out that a loved has been detained, amounting, the UN committee said, to “enforced disappearance”.

    The committee was particularly critical of Israel’s reported use of the Unlawful Combatants law to detain whole groups of Palestinians, including children, pregnant women, and the elderly.

    But it is the reported conditions in detention which make the grimmest reading in the committee’s conclusions, published today.

    Palestinians, the evidence suggests, are regularly deprived of food and water, and subjected to severe beatings, attacks by dogs, electrocution, water boarding, and sexual violence. Some are allegedly permanently shackled, denied access to a toilet, and forced to wear diapers.

    The committee concluded that such treatment “amounts to war crimes and crimes against humanity”. It said evidence of a “de facto state policy of organised and widespread torture” by Israel was one of the acts which constitute the crime of genocide under international law.

    Israel has repeatedly rejected accusations that it is committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza.

    One committee member, Peter Vedel Kessing of Denmark, said he and his colleagues were “deeply appalled” by what they heard. Committee members also said they were very concerned at the lack of investigations or prosecutions into allegations of torture. They called on Israel to launch independent investigations, and to ensure those responsible, including senior military officers, are held accountable.

    Israel, which has long accused the UN of bias against it, did not comment publicly today on the committee’s findings, but during the committee hearings its ambassador, Daniel Meron, described the allegations of torture as “disinformation”.

    He said that Israel was “committed to upholding its obligations in line with our moral values and principles, even in the face of the challenges posed by a terrorist organisation”.

    In its conclusions, the UN committee took care to unequivocally condemn the Hamas attack of October 2023, and acknowledged the security challenges Israel faces.

    But it also warned that violations of international law by one side did not justify the other side doing the same. Under the convention, to which Israel is a party, the prohibition on torture is absolute: it is not allowed under any circumstances.

    Israel’s domestic law is less clear however, suggesting that the convention only applies to Israeli territory, and not to the occupied territories of Gaza and the West Bank – an interpretation that many international lawyers dispute.

    The findings come amid increasing pressure on Israel over its human rights record. On Friday in Geneva, the UN Human Rights Office said the killing by Israeli soldiers of two Palestinians in the West Bank looked like a “summary execution”. Video of the killing showed the two men with their hands up, apparently surrendering to Israeli forces.

    And UN aid agencies say conditions for people in the Gaza strip remain dire, despite the ceasefire. Thousands of families are facing the winter cold and rain in tents, they warn, not enough aid supplies are getting in, and Israeli air strikes against what Israel says are Hamas targets continue.

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  • Video shows Israeli soldiers execute 2 Palestinians as they surrender in West Bank raid, rights group says

    Israeli human rights group B’Tselem shared a video on Thursday that it says shows Israeli soldiers executing two Palestinian men who had surrendered during a raid in Jenin, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

    The video, which B’Tselem credits to Palestine TV and which CBS News has not independently verified, appears to show Israeli soldiers surrounding a garage-style door on a building as two men emerge with their hands in the air. The men can be seen lifting their shirts and kneeling on the ground as the soldiers approach. 

    One of the soldiers kicks one of the men before both men start moving back into the building through the large open door, seemingly at the orders of the soldiers. Gunshots are then heard, and one of the men still visible in the doorway can be seen slumping to the floor.

    B’Tselem identified the two men as Yusef ‘Asa’sah, 39, and al-Muntaser bel-lah ‘Abdallah, 26, both of whom the group said were wanted by the Israel Defense Forces.

    The IDF says a Nov. 27, 2025 incident in which two Palestinian men were killed during an operation in Jenin, in the occupied West Bank, is being investigated.

    AP


    The IDF acknowledged an operation to apprehend wanted individuals in Jenin on Thursday, saying the men had “carried out terror activities, including hurling explosives and firing at security forces.”

    “The forces entered the area, enclosed the structure in which the suspects were located, and initiated a surrender procedure that lasted several hours. Following the use of engineering tools on the structure, the two suspects exited. Following their exit, fire was directed toward the suspects,” the IDF said in a statement shared with CBS News. “The incident is under review by the commanders on the ground, and will be transferred to the relevant professional bodies.”

    Israeli security forces have been accused on many occasions since the war in Gaza was sparked by Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023 terrorist attack of using excessive, often lethal force against Palestinians in both Gaza and the West Bank. 

    Israel’s far-right national security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, who oversees the national police, praised the Israeli forces after the release of the video showing the Thursday incident, saying they acted “exactly as they are expected to — terrorists must die!”

    The executive director of B’Tselem, Yuli Novak, said the killings were the result of “an accelerated process of dehumanization of Palestinians and the complete abandonment of their lives by the Israeli regime.”

    Israel Palestinians

    Israeli soldiers are seen during an army raid in the West Bank town of Tubas, Nov. 26, 2025.

    Majdi Mohammed/AP


    In the West Bank’s capital city Ramallah, Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas’ office issued a statement accusing Israel of executing the two men “in cold blood,” blasting the shooting as “an outright extrajudicial killing in blatant violation of international humanitarian law.”

    The shooting came amid a larger operation in the northeast of the West Bank, which has been occupied by Israel’s military for decades. The operation has seen more than 100 people detained since Tuesday in the town of Tubas alone, according to Abdullah al-Zaghari, a spokesman for the advocacy group Palestinian Prisoners’ Club.

    The IDF has called the ongoing operation a response to “attempts to establish terrorist strongholds and construction of terror infrastructures in the area.” 

    On Nov. 19, Palestinian attackers stabbed an Israeli to death and wounded three more at a West Bank intersection before being shot by security forces.

    Violence has flared in the West Bank, the much larger of the two Palestinian territories, since the war in Gaza started, and Israeli raids have continued there despite a ceasefire in Gaza.

    According to B’Tselem, Israeli security forces and settlers have killed more than 1,000 Palestinians in the West Bank since October 2023. 

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  • Wizz CEO: We’re going to invest $1 b. in Israeli market

    Passengers at the Ben Gurion International airport near Tel Aviv on September 18, 2025. (photo credit: Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)

    Váradi told the transportation minister during their meeting that “In the next three years, we will add 4,000 jobs in Israel, and about 500 employees will be hired directly by Wizz.”

    Wizz Air is pushing to establish an operational base for the Hungarian airline in Israel, which would invest $1 billion in the Israeli market and base 10 new aircraft in the country, the CEO Jozsef Varadi told Transportation Minister Miri Regev in a meeting with her on Thursday.

    Regev and representatives from the Civil Aviation Authority met with the Wizz Air CEO on to discuss negotiation the terms of the deal.

    Váradi told the transportation minister during their meeting that “In the next three years, we will add 4,000 jobs in Israel, and about 500 employees will be hired directly by Wizz.”

    In accordance with the plan, Wizz Air showed interest in building 50 runways in addition to the 20 currently in use.

    By implementing the planned expansion, the Hungarian airline aims to increase its annual passenger volume in Israel from 3 million to 7 million.

    Wizz Air. (credit: REUTERS)
    Wizz Air. (credit: REUTERS)

    Váradi added, “Our plans for the Israeli market are to launch new routes, to add more seats,” KAN News reported. The CEO confirmed that the company’s goal is to open the Ben-Gurion base in April of 2026, with a possible extension for Ramon Airport, in Eilat.

    Miri Regev emphasized that she has the prime minister’s full backing to advance this matter. “I don’t intend to blink for a second. We all want flight prices to go down,” according to KAN News.

    As a condition for Wizz Air’s establishment of services in Israel, the country requires the company to operate domestic flights to Eilat, international flights from Ramon Airport, and maintain service even during wartime, reported KAN News.

    During the meeting, Regev, to encourage airlines to fly from the southern airport, offered Wizz almost a full exemption of operational fees.

    This action encouraged Váradi to clarify that for Wizz Air, “the main interest is Ben-Gurion Airport,” but stressed that the company is “very open to operating at Ramon Airport,” adding: “There are almost two million citizens in the southern region who we want to bring into our aviation market,” reported KAN News.

    A the same time the visit took place, senior figures in Israel’s aviation industry and the Histadrut criticized the plan.

    Adv. Eyal Yadin, Chairman of the Transport and Seaports Workers Union in the Histadrut, sent a letter to Miri Regev on Thursday morning requesting that she halt the advancement of the agreement, Passport News reported.

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  • After Meeting Pope, Erdogan Praises His ‘Astute Stance’ on Palestinian Issue

    ANKARA (Reuters) -Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan praised Pope Leo’s stance on the Palestinian issue after meeting him in Ankara on Thursday, and said he hoped his first overseas visit as Catholic leader will benefit humanity at a time of tension and uncertainty.

    “We commend (Pope Leo’s) astute stance on the Palestinian issue,” Erdogan said in an address to the Pope and political and religious leaders at the presidential library in the Turkish capital Ankara.

    “Our debt to the Palestinian people is justice, and the foundation of this is to immediately implement the vision of a two-state solution based on the 1967 borders. Similarly, preserving the historic status of Jerusalem is crucial,” Erdogan said.

    Pope Leo’s calls for peace and diplomacy regarding the war in Ukraine are also very meaningful, Erdogan said.

    In September, Leo met at the Vatican with Israeli President Isaac Herzog and raised the “tragic situation” in Gaza with him.

    Turkey has emerged as among the harshest critics of Israel’s bombardment of Gaza, in its conflict there with Palestinian militant group Hamas.

    (Reporting by Huseyin Hayatsever and Tuvan Gumrukcu; Editing by Jonathan Spicer and Daren Butler)

    Copyright 2025 Thomson Reuters.

    Photos You Should See – Nov. 2025

    Reuters

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  • Why Pope Leo XIV’s Lebanon visit matters amid Israeli bombardment

    BEIRUT  — When Pope Leo XIV visits the Middle East this week, he comes to a conflict-weary region struggling to find peace even as the specter of war stalks it once again.

    In his first international trip since assuming the papacy in May, the Chicago-born pope will travel Thursday to Turkey, where he will celebrate the 1,700th anniversary of the Council of Nicaea, where the Nicene Creed — a foundational declaration of Christian belief and unity — was written in AD 325.

    But perhaps the real test of Leo’s international debut lies in Lebanon. His coming fulfills a promise to visit the country made by his boldly charismatic predecessor Pope Francis, who raised the papacy’s international profile with dozens visits abroad and a propensity for frankness in his commentary that endeared him to the faithful, especially in the Middle East.

    But Christians — estimated to be about 30% of Lebanon’s population — are not the only ones looking forward to Leo’s arrival.

    A view of the Sultan Ahmed Mosque in Istanbul, which Pope Leo XIV will see during his visit to Turkey, which begins Nov. 27, 2025.

    (Arif Hudaverdi Yaman / Anadolu / Getty Images)

    Many here hope his visit will be a portent for peace, bringing attention to this tiny Mediterranean nation as it contends with a Job-like succession of crises: First the economy, which crashed in 2019, tanking the banking system and the currency with it; then the port explosion in 2020; and the war between the Lebanese Shiite militant group Hezbollah and Israel, which flared in 2023 before intensifying late last year and left thousands dead and wide swaths of Lebanon’s south and east pulverized.

    Despite a ceasefire brokered last November, Israel has launched near-daily attacks on its northern neighbor, justifying its strikes as a bid to stop Hezbollah from reconstituting itself, even as the United Nations tallied more than 10,000 air and ground violations in Lebanese territory and 127 civilians killed in the year since the ceasefire took effect.

    Israel’s attacks have also paralyzed reconstruction efforts, meaning most residents of Lebanese border towns — whether dominated by Christians, Muslims or Druze — have been unable to piece back their prewar lives. The U.N.’s human rights office says around 64,000 Lebanese remain displaced.

    The Israeli army violated the ceasefire by launching more than ten airstrikes on the town of al-Musaylih

    The Israeli army launched more than 10 airstrikes on the town of al-Musaylih in southern Lebanon, causing extensive damage, on Oct. 11.

    (Houssam Shbaro/Anadolu via Getty Images)

    Safety concerns for the pope have been paramount in people’s minds for months. In October, in what appeared to be a hot mic moment, Jordan’s Queen Rania asked the pope during a photo-op at the Vatican whether it was safe to go to Lebanon. “Well, we’re going,” Leo gruffly replied.

    Alarms were raised again over the weekend when Israel bombed Beirut’s southern suburbs, barely two miles away from where the pope would be landing on Sunday. The attack, the first one in months near the capital, killed Hezbollah’s most senior military commander and coincided with a general uptick in Israeli strikes and drone activity in recent weeks — all indicators, observers say, of an impending all-out assault.

    Nevertheless, the trip is still on, Lebanese officials say.

    For Oumayma Farah, development director of the Order of Malta Lebanon, which aids communities of all religions and nationalities through humanitarian projects, that’s a “sign of courage and resilience to the Lebanese population and Christians in the region as a whole.”

    “Whatever happens, the pope will come,” Farah said.

    “The Church teaches us to not be afraid, so he’s the first example.”

    A woman walks her dog past a billboard displaying a picture of a man in white religious robes

    A woman walks her dog past a billboard in Beirut touting Pope Leo’s upcoming visit to Lebanon.

    (Anwar Amro / AFP/Getty Images)

    Like most of the countries where Christianity first took hold, wars and economic lethargy — not to mention a relatively easier path to emigration — have dwindled Lebanon’s Christian population over the decades.

    Across the Middle East, the number of Christians has gone from 20% of the population to a mere 5%; Lebanon remains the Arab country with the highest proportion, with Christians making up about 30% of the population, according to estimates from various research groups and the U.S. State Department.

    The pope’s insistence on coming to Lebanon, Farah said, was “re-centering the importance of this country” and a “wake-up call” for its politicians. After spending three days in Turkey, the pope will arrive in Lebanon on Sunday and depart Tuesday.

    In the Lebanese capital, Beirut, and other areas on the pope’s itinerary, signs abound of furious logistical activity and preparations: Police and security personnel have intensified their presence. A two-day holiday was announced to allow participation in public prayer events, even as parishes and schools across the country have been involved in bringing the faithful to attend Mass near the site of the Beirut port blast, which was deemed an accident caused by negligence, and elsewhere.

    Meanwhile, roadworks and maintenance, all but abrogated in recent years due to the government’s financial woes, have been in full swing. The joke around town is that people want another papal visit if only so the government finishes repaving all the country’s pothole-stricken streets. A bitter corollary is another joke that the refurbished roads will last only till the pope leaves — because they’ll be destroyed in a new Israeli campaign.

    People in dark clothes standing in the foreground of a grand white mosque with blue domed roofs

    Along with visiting the Sultan Ahmed Mosque in Istanbul, Pope Leo will travel to the Turkish city of Iznik, ancient Nicaea, to mark the 1700th anniversary of the Council of Nicaea.

    (Arif Hudaverdi Yaman / Anadolu / Getty Images)

    The gallows humor reflects the uncertainty of the moment, with the U.S. and Israel pushing the Lebanese army to fully disarm Hezbollah, even as the group insists it will disarm only in the country’s south.

    Lebanon’s government, in turn, says that it cannot persuade Hezbollah to give up its arms so long as Israel keeps occupying Lebanese territory, and that doing so by force would lead to civil war.

    The hope is that the pontiff can help break the logjam. But though few expect change to come so quickly, the visit is still important, said a Maronite parish priest, Father Tony Elias, from Rmeish, a village located just across the border from Israel.

    “When the pope visits a country that has been in pain for so long, this is truly enough to lift that pain,” Elias said.

    Rmeish, which maintained a resolutely neutral stance during the war, is relatively unscathed, an exception in the wasteland that has become Lebanon’s border area after years of Israeli bombardment.

    Elias said he would have wanted the pope to visit the south, but he wasn’t disappointed, as he and about 200 others from the village would travel to Beirut and join the pontiff.

    “If he can’t come to the south, we can come to him,” Elias said.

    Nabih Bulos

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  • Middle East officials look toward second phase of Israel-Hamas ceasefire with two hostages left in Gaza

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    Turkish, Qatari and Egyptian officials met Wednesday in Cairo to discuss the second phase of the Israel-Hamas ceasefire deal.

    The meeting is said to have included Turkey and Egypt’s intelligence chiefs, as well as Qatar’s prime minister, according to reports.

    “During the meeting, [they] also agreed to continue strengthening coordination and cooperation with the Civil Military Coordination Center to eliminate all obstacles to ensure the continuity of the ceasefire and to prevent further violations,” a Turkish source told Reuters, adding that they also discussed countering Israeli ceasefire violations.

    US-BACKED AID GROUP ENDS GAZA MISSION AFTER DEFYING HAMAS THREATS, UN CRITICISM

    Red Cross personnel wait to head towards an area within the so-called “yellow line” to which Israeli troops withdrew under the ceasefire in Gaza City on Nov. 12, 2025. (Dawoud Abu Alkas/Reuters)

    Despite Hamas and Israel accusing each other of violating the U.S.-brokered agreement, mediators are still looking to move to the next stage.

    The second phase of the deal involves the deployment of an international stabilization force and the development of an international body to govern Gaza. It also includes the disarmament of Hamas. Additionally, Israel will move further from the so-called “yellow line” ahead of the international force taking over, according to The Times of Israel.

    Israeli soldier looks into Gaza

    An Israeli soldier looks out at destroyed buildings, as seen from a guard position at an Israeli military outpost within the borders of the “yellow line” in the Shujaiya neighborhood in the eastern part of Gaza City in the Gaza Strip on Nov. 5, 2025.  (Nir Elias/Reuters)

    IDF ANNOUNCES TRANSFER OF DECEASED ISRAELI HOSTAGE REMAINS THROUGH RED CROSS

    On Tuesday, Israel returned the bodies of 15 Palestinians in exchange for the remains of Israeli hostage Dror Or. Israel has said that Or and his wife, Yonat Or, were killed during the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks on Kibbutz Be’eri. 

    The Hostages and Missing Families Forum said in a statement that as their house caught on fire, Dror and Yonat evacuated their children through a window in the safe room, saving their lives. The couple split up in an attempt to escape, but they were both murdered by the terrorists. Two of their children, Noam and Alma, were taken hostage.

    On Nov. 25, 2023, Noam and Alma were released in the first hostage exchange, exactly two years before their father’s remains would be returned to Israel.

    Israeli hostage Dror Or

    This undated photo provided by the Hostages and Missing Families Forum shows Israeli hostage Dror Or, who was abducted and brought to Gaza in the Hamas attack on Oct. 7, 2023. (Hostages and Missing Families Forum via AP)

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    The remains of two hostages — one Israeli, Ran Gvili, and one Thai national, Sudthisak Rinthalak — are still in Gaza. 

    Hamas has committed to upholding its end of the deal and returning both, but did not give a timeline on when that may happen, according to The Associated Press.

    The Associated Press contributed to this report.

    Rachel Wolf is a breaking news writer for Fox News Digital and FOX Business.

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  • Israel identifies the latest remains returned from Gaza as hostage Dror Or

    Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Wednesday that Israel had identified the latest remains returned from Gaza as hostage Dror Or.That leaves the bodies of two hostages in Gaza as the first phase of the Israel-Hamas ceasefire agreement nears a conclusion.Palestinian militants released Or’s remains Tuesday.Israel has agreed to release 15 Palestinian bodies for each hostage returned.Dror Or was killed by Islamic Jihad militants who overran his home in Kibbutz Beeri on Oct. 7, 2023, Israel’s military said. His wife, Yonat Or, was also killed in the attack.That day, Palestinian militants killed some 1,200 people across southern Israel and abducted 251 to Gaza. Kibbutz Beeri was one of the hardest-hit farming communities in that attack that started the war in Gaza.Two of Or’s children, Alma and Noam, were abducted by the militants on Oct. 7 and released in a hostage deal in November 2023.Almost all of the hostages or their remains have been returned in ceasefires or other deals. The remains of two — one Israeli and one Thai national— are still in Gaza.Gaza’s Health Ministry says more than 69,700 Palestinians have been killed and 170,800 injured in Israel’s retaliatory offensive. The toll has increased during the ceasefire, both from new Israeli strikes and from the recovery and identification of bodies of people killed earlier in the war.The ministry does not distinguish between civilians and combatants in its figures, but has said women and children make up a majority of those killed. The ministry, part of the Hamas-run government and staffed by medical professionals, maintains detailed records viewed as generally reliable by independent experts.

    Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Wednesday that Israel had identified the latest remains returned from Gaza as hostage Dror Or.

    That leaves the bodies of two hostages in Gaza as the first phase of the Israel-Hamas ceasefire agreement nears a conclusion.

    Palestinian militants released Or’s remains Tuesday.

    Israel has agreed to release 15 Palestinian bodies for each hostage returned.

    Dror Or was killed by Islamic Jihad militants who overran his home in Kibbutz Beeri on Oct. 7, 2023, Israel’s military said. His wife, Yonat Or, was also killed in the attack.

    That day, Palestinian militants killed some 1,200 people across southern Israel and abducted 251 to Gaza. Kibbutz Beeri was one of the hardest-hit farming communities in that attack that started the war in Gaza.

    Two of Or’s children, Alma and Noam, were abducted by the militants on Oct. 7 and released in a hostage deal in November 2023.

    Almost all of the hostages or their remains have been returned in ceasefires or other deals. The remains of two — one Israeli and one Thai national— are still in Gaza.

    Gaza’s Health Ministry says more than 69,700 Palestinians have been killed and 170,800 injured in Israel’s retaliatory offensive. The toll has increased during the ceasefire, both from new Israeli strikes and from the recovery and identification of bodies of people killed earlier in the war.

    The ministry does not distinguish between civilians and combatants in its figures, but has said women and children make up a majority of those killed. The ministry, part of the Hamas-run government and staffed by medical professionals, maintains detailed records viewed as generally reliable by independent experts.

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  • Gaza Strip sees flooding after heavy rainfall

    Heavy rainfall in Israel and the Palestinian Territories has caused severe flooding in the largely destroyed Gaza Strip.

    Palestinian media reported on Tuesday that many people living in temporary tent camps along the coast were particularly affected by the harsh weather conditions.

    Videos and pictures showed Palestinians moving between flooded tents and struggling to remove the water.

    A spokesman for the militant Palestinian organization Hamas called on the international community to take serious steps to support the approximately 2 million people in the devastated area.

    Winter has begun, he said, making the suffering of many displaced people unbearable.

    A ceasefire was in the war between Israel and Hamas was declared on October 10.

    Nevertheless, violent incidents continue to occur, with both sides accusing each other of violations. It is still completely unclear when reconstruction of the largely destroyed area can begin.

    The war was triggered by the unprecedented massacre carried out by Hamas and other extremist organizations in Israel on October 7, 2023, in which around 1,200 people were killed and more than 250 others were abducted to the Gaza Strip.

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  • Palestinian groups hand over more remains to Red Cross in Gaza Strip

    Militant Palestinians in the Gaza Strip have handed over another body to staff of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).

    The remains are those of a hostage abducted from Israel, Hamas and Islamic Jihad said on Tuesday.

    The Red Cross staff are on their way to representatives of the Israeli army with a coffin, the military said, adding that the identity of the remains must then be clarified at a forensic institute in Tel Aviv.

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    Before the handover, there were still three dead hostages in Gaza, including a Thai national kidnapped from Israel.

    Israel and Hamas agreed on the handover of bodies as part of the ceasefire agreement in October.

    According to the agreement, for every Israeli hostage whose remains are handed over, Israel must hand over the remains of 15 deceased Gaza residents.

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