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The war in Sudan threatens to spiral further as the strategically-important town of El Obeid continues to face “relentless” drone attacks by advancing paramilitary militias, the UN’s human rights chief, Volker Türk, said on Friday.

military · geopolitical

Settler project for 'Greater Israel' sets its eyes on Syria Submitted by Reem Aouir on Thu, 07/02/2026 - 10:46 As Israel deepens its hold in southern Syria, settlers want to transform the occupied territory into a new frontier Israeli settlers gather along the fence separating the occupied Golan Heights from southern Syria on 17 May (X/HaluzeyHabashan) Off A group of Israeli settler activists gathered along the fence separating the occupied Golan Heights from southern Syria in mid-May. Some chained themselves to the barrier while at least ten crossed into Syrian territory near the town of Majdal Shams, at the foot of Mount Hermon (Jabal al-Sheikh). Organised by Halutzei HaBashan (Pioneers of Bashan), the act was the latest in a series of provocations demanding that Israel authorise Jewish settlements beyond the 1974 ceasefire line. Israel's military later confirmed that "[soldiers] returned the civilians to Israeli territory and apprehended them," transferring them to the Israeli police. Since its founding, Halutzei HaBashan has emerged as one of the most prominent movements advocating for permanent settlement in Syria beyond the 1974 ceasefire line. The Golan Heights have been occupied since 1967 and Israel's annexation of the Syrian territory has been recognised by Washington. Over the past year, the movement has evolved from a fringe group into a larger and more coordinated movement with ministers and members of the Israeli parliament lending it public support. Following the May incursion, the movement told the Israeli news outlet Srugim that they "will not back down and will not stop until the right-wing government allows families who wish to do so to enter and settle in Bashan in an organised and legal manner." Who are the 'Pioneers of Bashan'? Halutzei HaBashan was founded in April 2025, months after Israeli forces rushed to grab land inside southern Syria by capitalising on the fall of Bashar al-Assad's government in December 2024. The movement takes its name from Bashan, the biblical region east of the Jordan River that, according to the Hebrew Bible, stretched from Mount Hermon in the north to Gilead in the south. According to the Greater Israel project, the State of Israel has no defined borders and, according to religious Zionists, the boundaries promised to them in the Bible stretch from the Nile river in Egypt to the Euphrates in Iraq, as far north as Hatay in Turkey and as far south as the Hejaz in Saudi Arabia. 'All the sons of the Sunnah and the Shia that are in the Bashan area will be expelled and destroyed until they are worthless and powerful as the dust of the earth' - Halutzei HaBashan, Israeli settler group The movement therefore views Syria not as foreign territory but as part of the ancestral Jewish homeland with southern Syria being the immediate objective. According to Murad Mohammed al-Hamwi, an open-source investigative journalist, while the group's public activity is recent, its members are far from amateurs taking advantage of the chaotic situation after the Assad dynasty's demise. "These are unarmed and veteran settlers, many coming directly from the West Bank and the occupied Golan, with a long-term objective of establishing permanent Jewish settlements in the country's south," he told Middle East Eye. The group's public ideology often crosses into explicit calls for ethnic cleansing of its local population. In an April Facebook post reviewed by MEE, it called for the expulsion of all Sunni and Shia from the Bashan region, declaring that the area would "flourish" only under Israeli rule. It read: “All the sons of the Sunnah and the Shia that are in the Bashan area will be expelled and destroyed until they are worthless and powerful as the dust of the earth, and the Bashan rope will flourish and achieve in the regime of the sons of Israel to their land!” The movement's leading public figure is Amos Azaria, an Israeli academic, religious-nationalist activist and long-time advocate of Jewish settlement beyond Israel's internationally recognised borders. In interviews and public statements, Azaria has argued that Israel's military presence in southern Syria should be followed by permanent Jewish civilian settlement, presenting Bashan as both a strategic security buffer and a biblical inheritance. Azaria also serves as a key ideological bridge between various radical expansionist movements. His ambitions are not limited to the Syrian border; he is also a prominent leader in Uri Tzafon, a far-right, religious Zionist movement, an officially registered Israeli organisation that campaigns for Jewish settlement in southern Lebanon . Alongside Azaria, the group is led by Jonathan Levy, the field coordinator who provides the strategic rationale for the incursions, and spokesperson Yosef Luria, who focuses on lobbying the Israeli state to facilitate the administrative framework for these outposts. Military gates. New bases. Land seizures. Israel has been steadily expanding its footprint beyond the occupied Golan Heights. Drawing on data from Sijil, our investigation examines more than 1,600 alleged violations and the strategy behind Israel’s growing presence in Syria pic.twitter.com/w0JePt7TfF — Middle East Eye (@MiddleEastEye) July 1, 2026 After Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa took power, Levy argues that civilian settlement is the "only true deterrent" against the "new Syrian threat”. The movement draws much of its support from religious-nationalist communities in the occupied Golan Heights and settlements in the occupied West Bank . "Azaria has made it clear they will not stop at a narrow strip. They are now openly discussing expanding control deep into the Syrian south, including the province of Daraa," Hamwi added. Halutzei HaBashan is also closely connected to other religious-nationalist settlement organisations pursuing similar projects beyond Israel's recognised borders. Azaria is a senior figure in Uri Tzafon, which campaigns for Jewish settlement in southern Lebanon. At the same time, the movement has cultivated ties with Nachala, the organisation leading efforts to re-establish Jewish settlements in the Gaza Strip . Together, the three movements reveal growing cooperation between settlement movements operating across multiple fronts, each advocating Jewish settlement in territory captured or occupied during recent conflicts. Political support For Azaria, southern Syrian is not just a site for settlements, but the centrepiece of a broader expansionist project. In a February interview with the right-wing platform Hakol Hayehudi, Azaria described Syria as the "most ripe arena for change," explicitly rejecting the idea of a narrow buffer zone. 'The real danger begins when they move closer to populated Syrian towns, where the potential for violent friction becomes almost inevitable' - Murad Mohammed al-Hamwi, journalist Instead, he has called for a deeper occupation that would extend as far as Daraa, betting that persistent border incursions will eventually force the Israeli government to accept these settlements as reality. According to Hamwi, this legitimisation reached a symbolic peak in early 2026, when the movement was officially honoured in the Israeli Knesset at an event titled "Tribute to the Pioneers of Settlement". During the event, the Knesset officially honoured the Halutzei HaBashan movement and its founder Azaria, presenting them with what Hamwi describes as “special certificates of appreciation”. These awards were signed by National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, a figure who is known to be one of the most prominent supporters of settler activities, signalling a new level of state endorsement. Minister of Diaspora Affairs Amichai Chikli has emerged as a key supporter, publishing a video in February in which he declared: "This is our land, and returning to Bashan is essential." He also openly expressed his approval of the movement’s actions. Lobbying for the infrastructure of permanence, the movement has shared a photo on X of Azaria with Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi, who has been approached to facilitate the extension of Israeli cellular networks into the "Bashan" region. בשבוע שעבר נפגשנו עם שר התקשורת @shlomo_karhi . בפגישה הצגנו את עקרונות התנועה, ושוחננו על קידום הקליטה הסלולרית בחבל הבשן ובכתר החרמון. אנו מודים לו על הזמן שהקדיש וממשיכים לפעול למען ההתיישבות במקום. כי הגיע הזמן לחזור לבשן! 🏡 pic.twitter.com/PFNXiwuBtG — תנועת חלוצי הבשן (@HaluzeyHabashan) April 27, 2026 The movement’s influence is further bolstered by key figures within the ruling Likud party, led by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Ariel Kallner, a member of the Knesset, has emerged as an advocate, bridging his support for the Lebanese front with the push into Syria. In a video published in March, Kallner explicitly endorsed the Pioneers of Bashan, asserting that "security is resolved through settlement". ביטחון נקבע ע"י התיישבות! גם ח"כ אריאל קלנר מביע את תמיכתו בהתיישבות בבשן! 🏡 pic.twitter.com/oc2DZGTQJj — תנועת חלוצי הבשן (@HaluzeyHabashan) March 7, 2026 Rabbi Yitzchak Ginsburgh, one of Israel’s most influential and controversial religious figures, has also lent his support to the movement. He called on his followers to back those seeking to reclaim what he called the "eternal inheritance of the people of Israel" in Bashan, further legitimising their efforts in the eyes of his audience. Despite this growing domestic momentum, the movement remains in a precarious diplomatic position. 'They are openly advocating for a full-scale expansion of settlements across the Syrian south' - Murad Mohammed al-Hamwi, journalist "So far, there is no declared international support or official state-level recognition from the Israeli government as a whole," al-Hamwi notes. Instead, the movement operates through a decentralised network of high-level allies. "Their strength lies in the backing of specific ministers who provide a political cover, even if the state hasn't officially crossed that line yet," he adds. According to an earlier report by Alhamwi for Arabic Post, the movement has increasingly turned to digital platforms to mobilise supporters and raise funds. It launched a dedicated WhatsApp group to recruit participants, using the slogan: "Together, we will turn the vision of settlement in Bashan into reality." The group also set up a unique donation link to fund activities related to attempts to cross into Syrian territory. Timeline of incursions The movement’s strategy is one of calculated escalation. "The discourse has evolved from goal to goal," Hamwi explains. "When they first entered Syria, their messaging focused on establishing small outposts near the border. "Now, they are openly advocating for a full-scale expansion of settlements across the Syrian south, and linking the continued presence of the occupation army there to the need to establish settlements.” Halutzei HaBashan employs semi-military tactics, frequently cutting border fences and live-streaming their incursions to project a sense of "sovereignty" to their followers online. These operations are not limited to young radicals; they often involve entire families and children, a deliberate tactic to present the settlement project as a humanitarian, civilian endeavour. For the pioneers, the occupied Golan is no longer a static border but a gateway for expansion into the Syrian south, a move they justify as both a security necessity and a step toward a "Greater Israel". The following timeline, based on Sijil Centre and local reports, tracks the movement’s rapid escalation: August 2025: The first documented incursion into Syrian territory, aimed at establishing the "Bashan Oasis" settlement. October 2025 : Activists conduct a large-scale tour of the border; three families attempt to breach the fence carrying tents and camping equipment. November 2025 : A coordinated two-pronged incursion occurs from Mount Hermon (seized by the Israeli occupation following the fall of the Assad regime) and Bir Ajam in the Quneitra Governorate. December 2025 : Members carried out multiple attempts to cross the ceasefire line throughout the month. One settler was seen standing inside the village of Bir al-Ajam. January 2026 : Approximately 20 members are apprehended just meters from the border after attempting to cross via the Quneitra crossing. February 2026 : Settlers enter Syria to hold a ceremony laying the foundation stones for a "Bashan Nature Reserve" settlement. April 2026 : A major breach near Majdal Shams village allows settlers to penetrate hundreds of meters into Syrian territory. May 6, 2026 : Activists posted videos from within Israeli-controlled areas of Mount Hermon, demanding the immediate establishment of a settlement. May 17, 2026: The movement held a high-profile demonstration at the Majdal Shams fence, with members chaining themselves to the barrier to demand state authorisation for settlement. Since the fall of the Assad regime, the central Damascus authorities have struggled to assert control over the restive southern provinces, leaving a security vacuum that both the Israeli military and settler movements have been quick to exploit. Hamwi highlights that "there is no clear, announced strategy from the government to counter these incursions". Crucially, despite the increasing frequency of these incursions, direct physical confrontations between the Bashan movement and local Syrian residents have yet to break out. Hamwi notes that, for now, the Pioneers of Bashan appear to be adopting a "non-armed" entry strategy to lower the threshold for their incursions. "To date, all the settlers associated with the movement who have crossed the border have done so unarmed," he says, adding: "While they insist on this non-military image, there is no guarantee it will last." For the residents of Daraa and Quneitra, the settler movement’s incursions are not just political abstractions; they are a direct threat to their land and lives. The recent escalation in the village of Abdin on 28 June, where Israeli forces launched a raid supported by helicopters and artillery, sparked huge resistance from local residents who took to the streets, blocking roads with rocks and debris to prevent Israeli military vehicles from advancing. "The real danger begins when they move closer to populated Syrian towns," Hamwi says, "where the potential for violent friction becomes almost inevitable." Syria after Assad News Post Date Override 0 Update Date Mon, 05/04/2020 - 21:19 Update Date Override 0

military · geopolitical

The Security Service of Ukraine (SSU) has said it has carried out a successful drone strike on the Saky and Hvardiiske military airbases in Russian-occupied Crimea. The SSU has not yet released any official photos or videos of the attack.

military · geopolitical

Palantir: How a US spy-tech firm with links to Israel’s genocide infiltrated the British state Submitted by Fleur Hargreaves on Sat, 06/27/2026 - 16:20 MPs and advocacy groups warn UK government’s £670m worth of contracts with Palantir is an ‘unacceptable point of weakness’ Police officers patrol past the Palantir's booth during the World Economic Forum in Davos on 19 January 2026 (Ina Fassbender/AFP) Off Since 2020, Palantir, the controversial US data surveillance firm with links to Israeli abuses in occupied Palestine , has won over £670m in contracts with British civil and defence industries, raising both ethical and national-security concerns among politicians and campaigners. Chief among those are a £330m contract with the NHS and a £240m deal with the Ministry of Defence (MoD), alongside a £15m contract related to Britain’s nuclear deterrent. Despite a lack of transparency around the extent of Palantir’s deals in the UK’s public services, at least 34 contracts have been uncovered within sectors including the police, child social care, refugee schemes and the environment . In January 2024, Palantir announced a partnership with the Israeli Ministry of Defence to deploy its technology in support of “war related missions” that use drone-fired missiles to target civilians in Gaza , including journalists and aid workers. In April 2025, Palantir's chief executive Alex Karp responded to accusations that Palantir technology had enabled the killing of Palestinians in Gaza by saying “mostly terrorists, that’s true”. A report by UN Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese suggested this indicates the firm had “executive-level knowledge and purpose vis-a-vis the unlawful use of force by Israel” in Palestine. The Pentagon is reportedly investigating if Maven, the AI system run by Palantir to identify and target military victims, played a role in the US “double-tap” missile strike on an Iranian girls’ school in February which killed over 170 people, mainly children. Kristyan Benedict, Amnesty International UK’s crisis response manager, told Middle East Eye that “Palantir’s software has been used to support Israel’s ongoing genocide and apartheid in occupied Gaza… a company profiting from human rights abuses should have no place in British public services, including in our NHS. 'Palantir’s software has been used to support Israel’s ongoing genocide and apartheid in occupied Gaza… a company profiting from human rights abuses should have no place in British public services' - Kristyan Benedict, Amnesty International UK “The contracts should be terminated and replaced with providers that are not contributing to genocide, apartheid and other international crimes.” Palantir is also controversial for its reactionary rhetoric. In a 22-point manifesto published on social media detailing the company’s goals, Palantir drew criticism for broadcasting ethnic supremacy in writing “Some cultures have produced vital advances; others remain dysfunctional and regressive” and “No other country in the history of the world has advanced progressive values more than [the US]”. Another point read: “The question is not whether AI weapons will be built; it is who will build them and for what purpose.” Partially funded by the CIA at its inception, Palantir was founded by right-wing tech billionaire Peter Thiel, who famously stated “I no longer believe that freedom and democracy are compatible” and is known for his obsessive quest for the Antichrist who will usher in the end of the world. Thiel is a major US Republican donor with a close relationship with Donald Trump, having thrown a celebration party for the president's 2024 inauguration at his DC home, attended by US Vice President JD Vance as well as Silicon Valley CEOs like Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg and OpenAI’s Sam Altman. A recent website leak exposed the invitation list to Thiel’s secret “Dialog” society retreats, including 200 of the world’s rich and powerful, which featured panels on cult-building, sex and prepping for World War III. Mandelson and the MoD contract An audio recording released as part of the Jeffrey Epstein files revealed that it was the late financier and convicted sex offender who first introduced former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak to Thiel, advising Barak to “look at” Palantir in 2013. The files also documented the close relationship between Epstein and the disgraced former British ambassador to the US, Peter Mandelson , whose lobbying company, Global Counsel, counted Palantir among its clients. Mandelson accompanied Starmer on a visit to Palantir’s Washington headquarters in February 2025. No minutes from their meeting have been published, and the unredacted contracts are yet to be released, despite public pressure and multiple Freedom of Information (FOI) requests, including from MEE, citing exemptions under defence and commercial interests. A few months later, in December, the company entered a strategic partnership with Britain's MoD, pledging £1.5bn to “boost military AI” and develop a “kill chain” to “transform lethality on the battlefield”, and was awarded a £240m contract, without competition - three times more than a previous contract signed in 2022. How Keir Starmer supported Israel throughout its genocide in Gaza Read More » When asked why the February 2025 Palantir briefing was not declared, Starmer said : “That was a routine meeting in the course of a visit I was on in the US”; meanwhile Mandelson called his Washington DC visit and the US-UK Technology Prosperity Deal containing the partnership with Palantir that followed "my personal pride and joy". The Nerve investigative outlet revealed that Palantir also has a contract with AWE Nuclear Security Technologies, the agency underpinning Britain’s nuclear deterrence programme. Rights groups have pointed out that the UK's use of Palantir is particularly problematic given the British government's support - particularly in intelligence matters - to Israel throughout its genocidal war in Gaza. "The British government is already deeply complicit in the genocide in Gaza. In making public services dependent on Palantir's proprietary technology, successive UK governments will be less able to break free from this sordid company, and from its alignment with US foreign policy and militarism more broadly," Sam Perlo-Freedman, research coordinator at Campaign Against the Arms Trade (CAAT), told MEE. "The willingness of the British government to embrace Palantir shows their prioritisation of the interests of the arms industry, and of corporate power more generally," he added. An MoD spokesperson told MEE: “There are robust processes in place to ensure government contracts are awarded fairly and transparently, including for the direct award of contracts. Commercial decisions are a matter for individual departments made based on their individual needs.” When asked about the company’s involvement in Gaza, Palantir referred MEE to a Channel 4 interview in which its UK CEO, Louis Mosley, said that none of Israel's military systems “publicly reported” to have provided targeting in Gaza used Palantir software - though he acknowledged that the company does supply software to the Israeli army. NHS contract fears Palantir faced heavy scrutiny for receiving a £330m contract with NHS England in 2023 to collate and centralise patient data, which is up for renewal in 2027. Thiel has previously said that the NHS “makes people sick” and labelled British affection for the health system “Stockholm syndrome”. In early June, MPs urged the government to trigger the 2027 break clause in the contract and develop an in-house replacement or seek an alternative UK provider. War on Gaza: UK healthcare workers 'blockade' Palantir office over support for Israel Read More » The cross-party Science, Innovation and Technology Committee report warned that the increasing reliance on Palantir in the UK’s public sector is an “unacceptable point of weakness” which could leave services potentially “at the mercy” of foreign actors. Palantir long had its eye on the NHS’s world-renowned data set, but was able to finally secure this contract during Covid, when it offered a cash-strapped NHS a £1 deal. The then-secretary of state for health and social care, Matt Hancock, used special ministerial powers to bypass patient confidentiality rules and allow the company to process patient data. A National Audit Office report noted the concerns of the government's chief commercial officer that the firm’s nominal-cost initial offer to gain a commercial foothold was contrary to public procurement principles requiring open competition. Donald Campbell, director of advocacy at tech campaign group Foxglove, called this a “land and expand” strategy which allows Palantir to win further contracts down the line and increase their prices as reliance on their services grows - similar to a free-trial, subscription-based model. “This might seem like a good deal, but with Big Tech there’s no such thing as a free lunch,” Campbell told MEE. The Financial Times recently reported that Samantha Jones, permanent secretary at the Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC), was forced to apologise for breaching lobbying rules over failing to declare her consultancy contracts with a Palantir partner firm. Palantir won its first contract with the NHS while Jones was both the lead non-executive director on the DHSC board, and advising Carnall Farrar, a healthcare consultancy, part of a consortium with Palantir. 'Ultimately, if Palantir is embedded across our vital public services, and one day Trump decides he wants to exert some pressure by threatening to pull the plug, who are they going to listen to?' - Donald Campbell, tech campaign group Foxglove The AI company also hired more than 30 senior government officials in what critics say poses an “acute corruption risk” in establishing a “revolving door” between the firm and the British state, including NHS England’s former head of AI who helped launch the first NHS project using Palantir’s product. A DHSC spokesperson told MEE that the department’s permanent secretary "had no involvement" in selecting Palantir for the NHS Federated Data Platform (FDP) and had already stepped away from all private‑sector roles before taking up her post. On its website , NHS England says that Palantir won the FDP contract through a "rigorous, competitive" tender assessed against "clear criteria". Mosley, Palantir’s UK CEO, accused critics of choosing “ideology over patient safety” in their criticisms of the deal, despite multiple NHS hospitals rejecting the technology on the grounds they would “lose functionality rather than gain it”. However, Campbell added that ideology becomes important when Palantir openly aligns itself with the Trump administration’s desire for the US to secure “unquestioned and unchallenged global technological dominance”. “Ultimately, if Palantir is embedded across our vital public services, and the UK’s defence and security, and one day Trump decides he wants to exert some pressure by threatening to pull the plug, who are they going to listen to?” Palantir's work with ICE Palantir’s role in the UK health sector has also raised concerns over the cross‑sector sharing of data. In April 2025, Palantir signed a $30m contract with the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), whose use of lethal force led to the fatal shootings of two American citizens, Renee Nicole Good and Alex Pretti, as well as 17 deaths among detainees held in custody so far this year. According to evidence uncovered by 404 Media , Palantir was working on a tool for ICE called "Elite", which uses data from the US Department of Health and Human Services and other sources to find people’s addresses for deportation. The Doctors’ Association UK raised concerns around the sharing of data between Palantir’s NHS data system, Foundry, and Gotham, the Palantir software used for military operations. Local government and police Beyond the NHS, Palantir’s growing presence in other parts of the UK public sector has prompted further questions about its expanding role and the safeguards around its use of sensitive data. Labour-run Coventry City Council renewed a £750,000 contract with Palantir in May to extend their original 12-month pilot scheme for work in the children’s services department, despite opposition from councillors and trade unions, who said it posed “serious ethical questions”. How Palantir is becoming embedded in major newsroom operations Read More » The contract allows Palantir to provide AI solutions to summarise social worker notes and enhance the systems for children with special needs. A spokesperson for Coventry City Council told MEE the decision was made following a "comprehensive strategic review". “Strong safeguards are in place," they said. "The Council is data controller and retains full control over all data. No data is shared with third parties or used to train AI models. AI supports staff but does not replace professional judgement - there is no automated decision-making about residents.” The question of the financial burden that Palantir represents for local authorities is also raised. The IT firm previously ran a Homes for Ukraine scheme, set up by the UK government in 2022 for those wanting to host refugees after Russia ’s invasion of Ukraine . It did it for free for six months, before being awarded subsequent 12-month contracts rising from £4.5m to £5.5m year on year. In May 2026, a government department said that millions of pounds were saved when Palantir’s IT system for the scheme was replaced with one built by its own experts. As well as funnelling public money into private companies, Palantir is also a corporation which paid an effective tax rate of only 8 percent into the UK economy in 2024, compared to the standard rate of 25 percent for businesses with profits over £250,000, despite recording £25.3m in pre-tax profits. Policing and surveillance Mayor of London Sadiq Khan recently decided to block a £50m Metropolitan Police (Met) deal with Palantir in May, citing a “clear and serious breach” of procurement rules. Khan’s office said London’s police force risked becoming locked into Palantir’s technology, adding that the proposed deal had not “ensured or demonstrated value for money”. Before that, Khan had said he had “concerns about using public money to support firms who act contrary to London’s values”. Khan has since backtracked on the decision, granting Palantir a 12-month pilot project with scope for extension after the company launched legal action against his veto. London's Met Police not investigating Great Israeli Real Estate Event Read More » In 2025, Liberty Investigates revealed that Palantir’s contract with UK police in the East of England would develop a “surveillance network that will incorporate data about citizens’ political opinions, philosophical beliefs, health records, and other sensitive personal information”, including “trade union membership, sexual orientation and race”. In 2024, Palantir signed a contract worth over £800,000 with Leicestershire Police to supply an “intelligence and investigation platform” in a deal made with the East Midlands Special Operations Unit, which was released in April by the Leicester Gazette after an FOI dispute. Rupert Matthews, police and crime commissioner for Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland, told MEE he was satisfied that the procurement had been carried out properly, adding that Palantir is the Home Office’s sole authorised provider for the programme. Met Police Assistant Commissioner Rachel Williams also told MEE she welcomed the decision to let the Met continue using the system for another year, arguing it would help strengthen professional standards, tackle misconduct and bolster public confidence. However, when The Good Law Project, a UK legal campaign group, reached out to all 45 police forces in the UK, three quarters refused to divulge if they had a contract with Palantir, raising concerns about transparency. The Guardian reported in 2024 that the US spy tech firm had been in talks with the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) about using its technology to predict the likelihood of prisoners’ “reoffending risks”, which Amnesty International warned could “lead to people being discriminated against, unfairly targeted and other miscarriages of justice”. The MoJ does not currently hold a contract with Palantir. Palantir’s predictive policing project in Los Angeles was cancelled in 2019 after accusations that it entrenched racism and did not reduce crime. “A world where all the governments want hyper surveillance is a world where Palantir is super profitable,” Duncan McCann, head of tech and data at The Good Law Project, told MEE. McCann said that the concern is less that the company will sell our data, but rather that it will “enable the government to use the data”, which becomes particularly concerning when faced with the possibility of a Reform government that wants to roll out mass deportation programmes. “Ultimately, surveillance works well with the new far right, and it works really well for Palantir, and that is why they seem such great bedfellows,” McCann said. This is also why, he added, it has evolved into a firm which is “turbocharging fascism and authoritarianism”. UK Politics News Post Date Override 0 Update Date Mon, 05/04/2020 - 21:19 Update Date Override 0

military · geopolitical

Gaza genocide: How many UN findings will the West ignore? Submitted by Hossam Shaker on Wed, 07/01/2026 - 13:44 Successive United Nations investigations have documented Israel's genocide, yet western regimes still refuse to name it or deliver the accountability their own institutions demand Chris Sidoti of the UN Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory speaks at a press conference in Geneva on 16 September 2025 (Fabrice Coffrini/AFP) On Once again, the United Nations reminds us that genocide is taking place in the Gaza Strip. A report issued on 23 June 2026 by the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory documented what Israel has committed against the Palestinian people , especially children . This followed an earlier report from the same commission on 16 September 2025, which found that genocide was taking place, as well as the report of the UN special rapporteur issued on 20 October 2025. But what can meticulously documented international reports do in the face of those who have insisted on averting their eyes from declared Israeli intentions to commit genocide, ethnic cleansing, comprehensive destruction and horrific starvation - not to mention the torrent of live images transmitted around the clock to mobile devices from the field of atrocities over the course of two full years? Specialised UN reports, testimonies by international rapporteurs and experts, assessments by the most prominent global human rights organisations, and even Israeli testimonies have followed one another, all confirming the reality of the genocide committed by Israel under the eyes of the world since October 2023. In contrast, most European and western states have clung to a rigid position that ignores this glaring truth, despite genocidal intentions being openly expressed in advance by senior Israeli leaders, who continued to boast of what their army and authorities were doing on the ground. Official western comments on those reports were often absent, unlike what would have happened in other cases Official western comments on those published reports were often absent, unlike what would have happened in other cases. Is it not worthy of condemnation that senior European and western officials have persistently avoided using the term "genocide" in relation to these systematic and horrific Israeli practices? It is as though the word were a firmly established taboo in European and western political, media and cultural discourse whenever Israel is concerned. This taboo exerts its power over those officials and commentators who, in this way, give reason to suspect that acknowledging genocide depends on the identity of the perpetrator and the status of the victims. Double standards It is entirely understandable that the allies of a regime of occupation and genocide, or those who consider themselves Israel's partners and friends, would avoid issuing a clear condemnation of conduct they themselves helped support and encourage, directly or indirectly, even if only through silence and denial of its atrocities. Throughout this prolonged season of horrors, the Israeli side has enjoyed military and political backing, as well as propagandistic cover, through carefully crafted formulas uttered by senior European and western officials. These amounted to evasive justifications for whatever war crimes and grave violations an occupying authority and its military forces might commit against a population left utterly exposed to continuous bombardment. Those who still deny the Gaza genocide are complicit in Israel's atrocities Read More » This may be inferred from the phrase that has become a staple of western speeches: "Israel has every right to defend itself" - words that Israeli leaders understand simply as advance legitimation for a policy of mass killing and comprehensive destruction on the ground. Naturally, no mention is made in this context of any right of the Palestinian people to defend themselves, for example, or of their right under international humanitarian law to resist the military occupation entrenched on their land. States, governments and political leaderships - joined by elites in the fields of thought, culture and media - insist on ignoring the reality of genocide against the Palestinian people, or conceal it through a tendency toward genocide denial, as though all the serious international efforts of documentation and investigation had no value for them. Denying a genocide that has unfolded before everyone's ears and eyes simply means minimising its confirmed atrocities. It also entails direct or indirect encouragement of this pattern of horrific violations, so long as they are met with such shocking laxity. Moreover, clinging to outright denial encourages the perpetrators to resume committing appalling war crimes, so long as these crimes are not named as such. Which western leaders - apart from a handful, such as Spain - have described what the Israeli leadership and its army have committed as "genocide" or "war crimes"? It must be recalled that the centres of western decision-making, including the European Union and its leading bodies crowned with slogans of noble values and human rights, became implicated in a sweeping display of bias when they chose very mild or evasive terms to describe Israeli war crimes that the entire world followed in images, sound and live broadcasts. Leaders and spokespersons resorted to cold expressions such as the ploy of "expressing concern" and voicing "sorrow" over the victims, often without naming the perpetrator, because the perpetrator was the Israeli leadership and its army, whose brutal policies and measures were visible to all. Observers around the world have noted how the charge of "double standards" clings to European and western political discourse. Follow Middle East Eye's live coverage of Israel's genocide in Gaza This is precisely what the former vice-president of the European Commission, Josep Borrell, warned his EU colleagues against - in full view of a world that notices the grave moral gap between European positions on Ukraine and Palestine. He issued that warning days into the war, at a Foreign Affairs Council in Luxembourg on 23 October 2023. One would not be exaggerating to conclude from these contradictory positions that they place some human beings above others in status, degree of concern and human dignity, so that the lives, safety and security of Palestinians are placed lower in rank than those of others. Thus comes the tolerance of the crushing of children, mothers, the sick and the elderly in the Gaza Strip, without serious positions being taken to restrain the machinery of genocide. The margins, not the centre Those faltering positions gave the strong impression that they were conferring moral immunity on the perpetrator, namely the Israeli leadership and its regular army. Prevailing European and western criticism was limited to only two reckless ministers from the Israeli government, which amounts to little, since Itamar Ben Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich are already constantly criticised within Israeli circles. The narrative has been shifted into familiar terms about a 'humanitarian crisis', as though the programmed genocide were merely a natural disaster Meanwhile, the government and the political leadership more broadly continue to escape direct criticism, even after the accumulation of filmed atrocities and the issuance of an International Criminal Court arrest warrant for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu himself. This evasion becomes even clearer when criticism, along with some sanctions of limited effect, has been confined to settler gangs and their leaders, without any verbal reproach or punitive gesture directed toward the Israeli army. The latter not only sponsors and protects settlers on the ground but also directly commits grave violations, appalling war crimes and campaigns of ethnic cleansing within the context of a horrific genocide. This contradiction betrays a firmly rooted European and western position intent on exempting the state, its leadership and its regular military and security apparatuses from any clear criticism, explicit condemnation or accountability, while merely formal positions are issued concerning the margins rather than the centre: some settlers instead of the army, and only two ministers instead of the government. Political Europe, and many elites in public life across western states, have even evaded confronting a simple question: does what Israel has committed against the Palestinian people constitute genocide? Denying the genocide committed in Gaza requires wilful disregard. It begins by brushing aside these war crimes and behaving as though they merit no attention. The adopted narrative has been shifted into familiar terms about a "humanitarian crisis" and "alarming" conditions, or a show of concern for "civilian suffering" - as though the programmed genocide, reinforced by declared intentions to commit it, were merely a natural disaster that befell the place. Sanctioned ICC judges sue Trump in US over 'attack on judicial independence' Read More » The states and governments that boast of their commitment to moral positions, human values, international law and human rights were supposed to honour those commitments. They should have warned against the campaign of genocide in its earliest stages, stripped it of political and propagandistic cover, and supported the enforcement of international justice and the cases filed over genocide against the Palestinian people. Foremost among these is the case brought by South Africa before the International Court of Justice, on the basis of Israel's violation of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. Instead, campaigns of moral targeting, incitement, intimidation and even the imposition of unjust sanctions on prosecutors have escalated, affecting international justice bodies and their personnel, as well as UN rapporteurs. Thus, it becomes clear that complicity with the genocide committed against the Palestinian people goes ever further in undermining international law and threatening the foundations of international action and the protection afforded to its institutions and authorities. The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Eye. Israel's genocide in Gaza Opinion Post Date Override 0 Update Date Mon, 05/04/2020 - 21:29 Update Date Override 0

military · geopolitical

Sanders says billionaire-funded groups like Aipac threaten US democracy US Senator Bernie Sanders has criticised the influence of major political action committees and lobbying groups, warning that the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (Aipac) and other “billionaire-funded super PACs” are preparing to spend heavily in Michigan’s Senate race. “Whether it is AIPAC, AI or crypto, billionaire-funded super PACs will spend unlimited amounts of money to undermine democracy and defeat candidates who stand with working people and challenge their power. We cannot allow them to succeed,” Sanders wrote on X. The Vermont senator voiced support for Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed, who has criticised US military aid to Israel and described Israel’s war in Gaza as a genocide. Sanders said El-Sayed believes the United States should not be spending “billions of dollars supporting the genocidal Netanyahu government in Israel” while domestic needs remain unmet. ARE WE STILL LIVING IN A DEMOCRACY? AIPAC, and other billionaire-funded super PACs, are preparing to spend tens of millions of dollars to defeat Dr. Abdul El-Sayed in the Michigan U.S. Senate race. Why are they so determined to defeat him? As a doctor, he believes in… — Bernie Sanders (@BernieSanders) July 2, 2026

military · geopolitical

Israeli drone strikes injure two people in southern Lebanon Two consecutive Israeli drone strikes left two people injured in the Seddiqine area of the Tyre district in southern Lebanon overnight, Lebanon’s National News Agency reported. Lebanon’s Health Ministry has said that 4,298 people have been killed and 12,196 wounded in Israeli attacks across the country since 2 March. An Israeli soldier was, meanwhile, “seriously injured” during an “encounter” in southern Lebanon on Thursday. “The soldier was evacuated to receive medical treatment at a hospital, and his family was notified,” the military posted on X.

military · geopolitical

Military command issues threat a day after Qatari mediators hailed 'positive progress' in indirect US-Iranian talks.

military · geopolitical

Nadia Massih is pleased to welcome Dr. Volodymyr Yermolenko, Ukrainian philosopher, journalist, author and President of PEN Ukraine. According to Dr Yermolenko, the war is not simply a military confrontation, Europe's future hangs in the balance. Speaking hours after a devastating missile attack on Kyiv, he juxtaposes the intimate experience of civilian vulnerability with a broader strategic analysis, arguing that Russia's continued attacks on residential areas reflect military frustration rather than momentum. He contends that Ukraine's comparative advantage lies in asymmetric warfare, technological innovation, and the mobilisation of civil society, while warning that European support is not merely an act of solidarity but a matter of continental self-preservation.

military · geopolitical

François Picard is pleased to welcome Dr. Gershon Baskin, Middle East Director of the International Communities Organisation and former hostage negotiator. One thousand days after the outbreak of the Gaza war, Gershon Baskin shares a stark assessment of Israel's political and strategic trajectory. Rather than framing the anniversary solely as a military milestone, he argues that it represents a profound failure of political leadership, strategic planning and institutional accountability. His analysis moves beyond battlefield developments to examine the deeper dynamics shaping the conflict: the absence of a national inquiry into October 7, the growing disconnect between military operations and political objectives, the psychological distance separating Israelis and Palestinians, and the failure of Israeli politics to seriously confront the Palestinian question. At the same time, Baskin advances an explicitly strategic rather than purely moral argument for peace. He contends that Israel's long-term security and Palestinian freedom are mutually dependent, and suggests that an emerging regional economic agenda, backed by Gulf states and potentially driven by an unusually influential American administration, could create a rare opening for a negotiated two-state settlement. Whether one agrees with his conclusions or not, he offers a comprehensive critique of prevailing assumptions and a vision that reframes peace not as idealism, but as geopolitical necessity.

military · geopolitical

Trump: US removed 22 tankers from Hormuz in one night and 'nobody knew' "We did something nobody knew," Trump told CNBC in an interview. "Every night, we were taking ships out, with no lights, for a month and a half. We had one night when we took 22 ships out. We escorted them out, and nobody knew. The lights were off, everything was off." "We blew up Iran's radar, they had no radar, they still don't. We blew it up again the other night. They have to start all over again for a third time." Claiming that Iran has “agreed to just about everything we need” in negotiations over a final accord between the two countries, Trump said the US military action had prevented a surge in global oil prices that could have triggered a worldwide recession. "They thought it was going to go to $300 a barrel," he said. "If you have 300, then I become Herbert Hoover. I don't want to be Herbert Hoover." Trump said the US campaign was focused solely on preventing Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons. "This is not a war per se. This is the denuking of Iran. You can't let them have a nuclear weapon."

military · geopolitical

The Nato summit beginning on Tuesday in Turkey is expected to be low-key as European members track their progress towards increased defence spending goals and Beijing watches intently from afar. Low-key, that is, with one major caveat. Will the get-along US President Donald Trump show up, or the raging Trump who slammed the alliance, questioned its purpose and threatened repeatedly to take his military and head home? Early indications suggested it would be the raging one. “The United States...

military · geopolitical

Iran's Gharibabadi: 3 July reminder of crime in which American took 290 lives Iran’s deputy foreign minister Kazem Gharibabadi wrote on X that "July 3rd is a reminder of the crime in which America took the lives of 290 innocent people, including 66 children”. “This crime will never be erased from the memory of the Iranian nation. The second crime began after the shooting down of the plane: denying responsibility, failing to issue an official apology, and awarding a medal to the commander of the criminal ship,” Gharibabadi said. Iran Air Flight 655 was en route from Bandar Abbas to Dubai on 3 July 1988 when it was shot down over the Persian Gulf by the USS Vincennes. The United States said the aircraft had been mistaken for an attacking military jet, but never issued a formal apology, maintaining that the crew acted in self-defence. In 1996, Washington agreed to pay compensation to the victims' families as part of a settlement at the International Court of Justice without admitting legal liability. In another tweet, Gharibabadi said that “alongside commemorating the martyrs of Flight 655, the Iranian nation honours the memory and name of its martyred mujahid Imam.” “The martyrdom of Imam Khamenei, the immensely dignified Leader of the Revolution, serves for Iranians as a symbol of the continuity and depth of America's enmity toward the Iranian nation, and also as an enduring symbol of their steadfastness and resistance against American enmity.” این روزها، در کنار یاد شهدای پرواز ۶۵۵، ملت ایران یاد و نام امام مجاهد شهید خود را گرامی می‌دارد. شهادت امام خامنه‌ای، قائد عظیم الشان انقلاب، برای ایرانیان نماد استمرار و عمق دشمنی آمریکا با ملت ایران و همچنین، نماد همیشگی ایستادگی و مقاومت آنان در برابر دشمنی آمریکاست. (۲) — Gharibabadi (@Gharibabadi) July 2, 2026

military · geopolitical

Speaking with FRANCE 24's Mark Owen, Frank Ledwidge, Senior Lecturer in Strategy at Portsmouth University, says that "Ukraine's allies are doing as much as they realistically can" adding that "they all suffer from the same problem: the density, the frequency and the numbers involved in Russian attacks and the West simply doesn''t possess enough interceptor missiles at the moment to deal with those".

military · geopolitical

According to the report by the Advisory Council on International Affairs, the prospects for a ceasefire in the Ukraine conflict depend directly on maintaining large-scale military assistance to Kiev

military · geopolitical

Starmer is leaving Burnham with a massive bill for defence. But why the war fever? Submitted by Joe Gill on Thu, 07/02/2026 - 10:28 There is a concerted campaign to prepare the public for war with Russia. Cutting back on essential spending in order to fund the army is the last thing the UK needs right now Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer on a visit to a British army base in the west of England on 22 April 2025 (AFP) Off If you were to only listen to the BBC and read the Daily Telegraph, you might believe that Britain was facing an imminent invasion that only a full switch to a war economy could prevent. We are apparently defenceless against attack by Vladimir Putin. Defence of the nation is the first job of government, the opinion makers say. The UK public is being psychologically prepared for war with Russia . Outgoing Prime Minister Keir Starmer has always had the priorities of Nato and the military industrial lobby close to his heart. But that lobby’s mouthpieces in the media decided long ago that Starmer had failed to ramp up defence spending with enough hard cash. Because enough is never enough when it comes to the military. "Putin will be laughing at Starmer’s pitiful defence plan," says a Telegraph opinion headline in response to Starmer’s latest plans for adding an extra £15bn ($20bn) to the Defence Investment Plan (DIP). “We must hope that whoever leads the country in the coming years fully appreciates the scale of the threat our nation faces,” wrote Hamish de Bretton-Gordon, a chemical weapons expert and former army officer, and now defence consultant. “The long-awaited defence investment plan places considerable emphasis on headline-grabbing drone capabilities, yet it fails to address the single most important requirement for delivering them: adequate funding,” he rails. A week ago, he wrote : “[Andy] Burnham will be toast if he doesn’t give the Armed Forces what they need… If the Makerfield MP cannot provide the resources required to defend Britain, it will be time to find someone that can.” Pay up Andy, or you are out – because what the military needs, it must get, or else. These kinds of warnings are on something of a loop, day in, day out, in the British establishment media. For the right-wing political-media complex, there is no such thing as waste in defence spending, but every penny spent on supporting welfare is wasted. UK military lobby never rests Many of the military experts and former generals who are wheeled out to warn of Britain’s alleged woeful military spending – actually the sixth highest in the world – are themselves working for the military industrial complex . John Healey, Starmer’s former defence secretary, resigned because he couldn’t get the government to agree to commit the vast sums that the UK armed forces and big arms companies wanted for new military hardware in the coming years. Starmer's 'all guns, no butter' policy will cost him dearly Read More » They want five percent of GDP spent on the military, and they want massive cuts to welfare spending to pay for it. Spending five percent of national income on defence and national security in the UK would equal roughly £140bn ($185bn) to £150bn ($200bn) per year. This figure represents a massive shift from historical norms. It is part of a Nato commitment made by the UK government to hit a 3.5 percent national security spending target by 2035, under pressure from US President Donald Trump, who has threatened to pull US troops out of Europe. The latest statement from the government, released jointly by Starmer, Chancellor Rachel Reeves and Defence Secretary Dan Jarvis, says it will spend "nearly £300 billion in funding over next four years to transform the UK military with cutting edge equipment," rising to £80bn ($107bn) annually. For the UK to reach 5 percent of GDP on weapons and "resilience" would mean starving the rest of the overall budget on the things that are vital to the nation, such as housing, transport, education and health. And yet, a recent poll shows that the majority in the UK oppose slashing support for disabled people to fund the army – instead, they back taxing the rich for it. Is Britain under threat? The UK, like other powers, is catching up with the military revolution that emerged in the 2020s, first in Nagorno-Karabakh , and most decisively in the Russia-Ukraine war. This revolution is defined by the rise of cheap, mass-produced autonomous drones, and artificial intelligence. This shift has shattered traditional cost-exchange ratios, turning basic infantry into precision-strike forces, and exposed expensive heavy armour to low-cost, grenade-carrying drones. This new reality was also seen in the recent US-Israeli war on Iran , in the Gulf, and in Hezbollah’s tactics in Lebanon . Iranian drones cost a fraction of air defences. How long can Gulf states last? Read More » But what is all this hullabaloo and drumbeat about a nation that must prepare for imminent war? Is Britain at imminent threat of being attacked? This does not seem to be a question that the media asks; rather, the assumption is that Russia is coming for us. If we look at the wars Britain has been involved in this century, all have been overseas military adventures as allies of the US, overthrowing Iraq’ s Saddam Hussein and Libya ’s Muammar Gaddafi, a 20-year failed war in Afghanistan , fighting Islamic State and al-Qaeda in Syria (both groups created in the wake of the invasion of Iraq), and aiding in Saudi Arabian and US attacks on Yemen . The "War on Terror" morphed into wars against Middle East countries that posed no direct threat to the UK, including Iraq and Libya. Did these wars make the UK safer? The UK suffered a number of terror attacks related to our involvement in these regime change wars. In a word, no. Hunting for enemies In 2026, the main threat scenarios that British military planners focus on are Russia, Iran , North Korea and China. UK military planners are preparing for conventional land warfare in the Arctic and Eastern Europe, as well as action to counter the so-called Russian "shadow fleets" of oil tankers and other vessels at sea. The UK navy recently raided an oil tanker carrying 700,000 barrels of Russian oil and sailing under a Cameroonian flag in the English Channel. The UK has provided billions in military aid to Ukraine both before and since the full-scale invasion by Russia in 2022. This includes training, missile defence, ammunition, and special operations support for Ukrainian forces. China has not started any wars in the last 45 years, and poses no direct military threat to the UK China is seen as a long-term “threat” due to its vast technological, economic and cyber capabilities, with the UK joining the Aukus nuclear submarine programme and other initiatives focused on China. Let’s be clear: China has not started any wars in the last 45 years, and poses no direct military threat to the UK. The UK, by contrast, has been involved in several wars against sovereign states in the Middle East in recent decades, and most recently aided Israel during its genocide in Gaza. None of these "threats" – including Iran and North Korea – are an immediate danger to the people of the UK; rather, they challenge the UK’s strategic and economic interests as part of the western capitalist order with interests in Africa, the Middle East and Asia. When we are told that we need to tighten our belts and cut back on vital investment to modernise a creaking British economy , with poorly performing infrastructure, underfunded schools and hospitals, we should push back and ask: why? Why are we investing tens of billions into preparation for more overseas wars? Preparing for war The most likely theatre for a major war is in Europe against Russia. The UK is a member of Nato and under Article 5 must defend its allies if they are attacked. That extends to countries along Russia’s borders who joined Nato after 1999, from the Baltic states to Poland. But that does not include Ukraine, which is not a Nato member, and never will be if there is to be peace with Russia. From Moscow’s perspective, Ukraine is merely a front for Nato, and it is already at war with the western bloc, which has provided vast military aid to Kyiv. The UK should oppose Russian aggression, but that does not mean putting British troops in Ukraine The UK should oppose Russian aggression, but that does not mean putting British troops in Ukraine – a plan frequently promoted by Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron. Putin is a mercurial imperialist who, after 26 years in power and almost five years of a war that has cost hundreds of thousands of Russian lives, increasingly acts like an ageing paranoid dictator. With Ukrainian drones hitting Moscow, his time may be running out . The UK has to ask itself seriously how best to bring an end to the Ukraine-Russia conflict, and to plan strategically for the day after Putin, however far away that may seem now. Listening to the military lobbyists, a major war with Russia is now inevitable – or has already started – and Britain must move onto a war footing. This is war fever – of course war cannot be ruled out, but our rulers should seek to avoid it by all means, not run towards it. Most of all, we should not sacrifice our society on the altar of war. The UK is domestically fragile, its social contract threadbare, its politics toxic, its government increasingly authoritarian, using anti-terror laws to arrest thousands of peaceful protesters, and journalists, while denying free trial rights to anti-war activists. Cutting back on essential spending to prepare for more overseas wars is the very last thing we should be doing. The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Eye. UK Politics Opinion Post Date Override 0 Update Date Mon, 05/04/2020 - 21:29 Update Date Override 0

military · geopolitical

Birmingham University weakens restrictions on investing in arms companies Submitted by Imran Mulla on Thu, 07/02/2026 - 12:28 Birmingham is the first British university to weaken rather than strengthen restrictions on arms investments amid Gaza genocide The University of Birmingham photographed in September 2018 (Wikimedia Commons) Off The University of Birmingham has significantly weakend its restrictions on investing in weapons companies, Middle East Eye has learnt. The British university has replaced a policy committing to "minimise" investments in arms, tobacco and alcohol companies with weaker "investment principles" that require the consideration of "financially material" environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors. This makes Birmingham the first British university to weaken rather than strengthen restrictions on arms investments amid Israel's genocide in Gaza. The university's responsible investment policy adopted in 2022 committed to incorporating "ESG issues into investment analysis and decision-making processes". Investment managers were required to "give consideration" to "investment exclusion criteria" including "companies where revenues exceed 10% of revenues with activities connected to weapons systems", as well as "companies manufacturing whole weapon systems, cluster munitions and anti-personnel landmines". Also excluded were tobacco, oil and mining companies. The university further said it would "seek to minimise indirect investment in companies which would fall below the ESG standards and exclusion principles". However the university's updated investment policy, adopted in June and seen by MEE, does not contain these exclusions. Instead, it says: "Financially material ESG factors should be considered in manager selection, monitoring, and stewardship." It also says the university has appointed the bank JP Morgan as its outsourced chief investment officer (OCIO). The policy requires the OCIO to comply with "UK legal prohibitions relating to anti-personnel mines and cluster munitions" and "UK obligations that implement prohibitions on chemical and biological weapons". 'Sends a devastating message' The policy says "the University expects compliance with sanctions regimes and legal prohibitions". "Beyond that baseline, where investments have material exposure to elevated-risk activities, the University expects the OCIO to be able to explain the investment rationale, the controls in place and the stewardship approach used to manage the relevant ESG risks." A University of Birmingham spokesperson said: "We have not made any changes to our investment portfolio due to the change in policy and our responsible investment expectations are not being lowered. "We still set the objectives and constraints for our portfolios, while the Outsourced Chief Investment Officer (OCIO) manages day-to-day decisions within them. The spokesperson added: "Our updated policy strengthens how we explain, oversee and evidence that approach, moving from a fixed list of exclusions to clear, principles-based expectations covering legal compliance, ESG integration, stewardship, voting, climate, human rights and governance. "We’ve been a United Nations Principles for Responsible Investment (UNPRI) signatory since December 2019, and this update simply better reflects how our delegated, pooled-fund investment model works in practice.”’ 'This sends a devastating message to students and staff who believe our university should uphold human rights and invest in education, not the arms trade' - Antonia Listrat, president of the Guild of Students But Antonia Listrat, the president of the Guild of Students, the university's recognised student union, said: "This sends a devastating message to students and staff who believe our university should uphold human rights and invest in education, not the arms trade. "Students voted for their university to strengthen its ethical standards, not make it easier to profit from companies connected to armed conflict." The previous restrictions on investing in outright weapons companies did not prevent the University of Birmingham from partnering with Rolls-Royce, which mostly manufactures civilian equipment but also makes military equipment - including for the Israeli army. Birmingham also joined four other universities in entering a strategic partnership with BAE Systems, Britain's largest arms company, in 2019. BAE Systems manufactures components for F-35 fighter jets used by the Israeli military in Gaza. During Israel's genocide in Gaza, some universities have tightened restrictions on investing in arms manufacturers in response to student protests. For example, Queens University Belfast announced it would divest from all investments in Israel in June 2025. Inside the Oxford Union debate where Tommy Robinson lost to a Palestinian student from Gaza Read More » But not all universities have adopted the same approach. The University of Birmingham took student protesters to court over their pro-Gaza encampment on the university campus in July 2024. The London School of Economics evicted its student protesters from a pro-Gaza encampment that same year. MEE revealed last October that the University of Oxford was indirectly invested in at least 49 companies flagged by the UN and human rights organisations for their involvement in illegal Israeli activities in occupied Palestinian territories. MEE further revealed in February that the University of Cambridge's endowment fund had invested more than £140m ($189m) in a fund that owned shares in companies linked to Israeli human rights violations, including Palantir Technologies, Caterpillar and GE Aerospace. The British government itself imposed a partial arms embargo on Israel in September 2024. But the government also green-lit $169m in military goods to Israel, including 8,630 separate munitions exports in the category of "bombs, grenades, torpedoes, mines, missiles and other similar munitions". Israeli forces have killed more than 73,000 Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank since the Hamas attack on 7 October 2023 which killed 1,200 people, with a further 170,000 wounded. Education News Post Date Override 0 Update Date Mon, 05/04/2020 - 21:19 Update Date Override 0

military · geopolitical

Israeli press alarmed as criticism of Israel becomes winning recipe in US politics Submitted by Elis Gjevori on Thu, 07/02/2026 - 12:37 Primary defeats for pro-Israel Democrats have deepened fears about the state's declining popularity in the US Congressional candidate Brad Lander (left) with New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani after declaring victory in Brooklyn on 23 June 2026 (AFP/Spencer Platt) Off A string of primary victories by left-wing Democratic candidates has triggered alarm across Israeli media and pro-Israel circles, with commentators warning that support for Israel no longer guarantees "political success". The victory of democratic socialist Melat Kiros over 15-term pro-Israel US Representative Diana DeGette in Colorado’s primary election on Tuesday added to a series of wins by candidates who have challenged Israel’s influence over US politics, opposed the genocide in Gaza and described Israel as an apartheid state. Kiros's win followed wins by three Democratic Socialist candidates backed by New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani, as well as another in a Philadelphia congressional primary and one in the Democratic primary for mayor of Washington DC. The Democratic Socialists are a left-leaning faction that often contests primary elections with the Democratic Party and is becoming a formidable force within the US left. Israeli outlets have treated the results as more than a domestic US political story. They have framed them as another sign that Israel’s standing in the US – particularly among Democratic voters – is collapsing amid its wars on Gaza, Lebanon , Syria and Iran . In an editorial published on Thursday, The Jerusalem Post, whose owner has been closely associated with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, warned that the Democratic Party was moving further away from Israel. “Who would have thought that we would ever be looking back nostalgically on the days when the anti-Israel “Squad” in the US Congress numbered only four people?” the editorial said. Gaza emerges as a defining issue for Gen Z voters in New York Democratic primaries Read More » The Squad refers to a group of progressive Democratic lawmakers in the US Congress, originally made up of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ilhan Omar, Ayanna Pressley and Rashida Tlaib. They became known for pushing the party left on healthcare, climate justice, racial justice and Palestinian rights. Many of the latest primary winners have campaigned on platforms that include universal healthcare, a universal basic income, publicly owned grocery stores, ending US military aid to Israel, stopping the genocide in Gaza and recognising Israel as an apartheid state. The Jerusalem Post described the latest wave of Democratic victories as “an Israel problem”. The paper said the danger lies in how these candidates are “already changing the party’s priorities, changing how Democratic politicians approach Israel, and changing the tenor of the debate surrounding Israel”. 'A new generation have turned on Israel' The Times of Israel also reflected the anxiety spreading through Israel’s political and media establishment. One writer described the recent democratic socialist wins in New York as a “cautionary tale” and compared them to the “Russian Revolution of 1917”, which ushered in the Soviet Union. Another writer at the outlet said the ”resounding victories… signify that a new generation of Democrats have turned on Israel”. The results mirror a sharp shift in public opinion. Polling by the Pew Research Center has found that almost 80 percent of Democrats and independents hold critical views of Israel. 'Being staunchly anti-Israel is no longer a road block to success in Democratic politics' - Jewish Telegraphic Agency Among Democratic voters, support for Israel has eroded sharply. A Quinnipiac University survey released on 24 June found that 48 percent of American voters believe the United States is “too supportive” of Israel, while 38 percent said US support is about right and 7 percent said Washington is not supportive enough. The Jewish Telegraphic Agency said New York's primary results felt “more seismic” than Mamdani’s rise to City Hall last November. “Being staunchly anti-Israel is no longer a road block to success in Democratic politics… This is the first time that incumbent congressmen have lost their seats in campaigns in which they were repeatedly attacked for being too supportive of Israel,” the outlet said. The agency added that, whatever local issues shaped each race, the success of candidates who criticised Israel and the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (Aipac) sent a powerful message. Worries for pro-Israel media outlets The pro-Israel outlet The Free Press, founded by Bari Weiss, who is now the controversial editor-in-chief of CBS News, cast the results as part of a wider struggle inside the Democratic Party. It presented the battle as one between the party’s pro-Israel old guard and an insurgent grassroots left that it described as “virulently anti-Israel”. In Haaretz, one opinion piece said : “The new mayor [Mamdani] has remade his city's politics, at the expense of pro-Israeli incumbents who were tossed aside”, and added that much of the “political ammunition” used against those incumbents was “Made in Israel”. Another analysis in Haaretz said victories by Israel-critical Democrats demanding a break from the status quo in the US-Israel relationship were “now a feature of Democratic Party demands rather than a bug”. “Not only are Democrats fed up with the Israeli policies AIPAC defends, but also by its leading role as an outside spender in primary races – often fueled by Republican megadonor money – in determining Democratic races,” it added. Inside Israel News Post Date Override 0 Update Date Mon, 05/04/2020 - 21:19 Update Date Override 0

military · geopolitical

Ukraine has stepped up long-range drone attacks inside Russia in recent weeks, targeting energy infrastructure and military targets. Russian officials have reported repeated strikes in border regions, while Moscow has said its air defences had intercepted hundreds of drones from Ukraine in recent days. This comes as a new study shows that Russia is bearing the brunt of military losses, with a Russia/Ukraine casualty rate of 8 to 1 in 2026. FRANCE 24's Kethevane Gorjestani tells us more on what to know.

military · geopolitical

Trump's Board of Peace says Unrwa has 'no place' in Gaza Submitted by MEE staff on Thu, 07/02/2026 - 09:19 US ambassador Jeff Bartos called on nations to stop funding Unrwa and instead direct their financial support at the annual UN pledging conference on Tuesday A displaced Palestinian woman uses a piece of cardboard to fan her sleeping daughter as they shelter at a school on a hot day, in Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip, 1 July 2026 (Reuters) Off US President Donald Trump's Board of Peace has said that the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (Unrwa) "has no place in new Gaza". In a post on X , the Board said that: "We are turning a page on the complex of perpetual aid dependency and conflict. The people of Gaza deserve better." The board retweeted a speech by US ambassador Jeff Bartos at the annual UN pledging conference on Tuesday, calling on nations to stop funding Unrwa and instead direct their financial support. "You can choose to fund incitement, terrorism, and stagnation, or you can choose to fund the Board of Peace, giving Gazans a path to peace, prosperity and real, durable change," Bartos said. Unrwa serves around 5.9 million Palestinian refugees across Gaza, the West Bank, Jordan, Syria and Lebanon. It is the main UN agency operating in the occupied West Bank and Gaza, overseeing the majority of aid distribution in the enclave. In Gaza, much of the strip’s 2.2 million population depends on Unrwa for food, shelter, healthcare and education. Smaller aid groups rely on their distribution networks to operate. But since March 2025, an Israeli ban on the agency's operations in Israel and the occupied Palestinian Territories has effectively barred the organisation from directly bringing in staff and aid into Gaza, severely curtailing its activities in the besieged enclave. Unrwa said that as a result, it has been unable to distribute warehouses full of aid waiting outside Gaza, including "enough food parcels, flour, and shelter supplies for hundreds of thousands of people". The Palestinian Authority rejected the board's comments, affirming that the agency remains “an indispensable lifeline” for Palestinians, and plays an "essential role" in the provision of education, healthcare, and emergency assistance across the occupied Palestinian territories. In February, an Israeli High Court temporarily halted a ban on 37 international aid groups - including Medecins Sans Frontieres, Oxfam, Save the Children, ActionAid and the Norwegian Refugee Council. The organisations had been informed in December that they would need to fulfil stringent new regulations, including the disclosure of details of their staff members, in order to continue operating in Gaza. A report by the UN humanitarian office, OCHA, in June described the situation in Gaza as "volatile and insecure", with the majority of the population confined to "shrinking and overcrowded spaces where essential services are overstretched", with limited acces to safe water and "solid waste accumulating in residential areas". The report added that the situation is further exacerbated by tightening Israeli restrictions on the passage of aid into the strip, with the Kerem Shalom crossing remaining the only entry point for approved cargo to reach the enclave. It noted that on 1 June, Israeli forces began re-routing humanitarian convoys through a new checkpoint where they have been held up by delays, congestion, malfunctions and slow screening. Concentration camps On Tuesday, Israeli media revealed that the Board of Peace is set to launch “Hamas-free humanitarian zones” in Gaza, where Palestinians will be herded while the Israeli military expands its control over the rest of the territory. Israeli newspaper Israel Hayom reported that the first site will open in Tel Sultan, near Rafah, “within weeks”, and house civilians “with no weapons or affiliation with Hamas”. It added that the zone will be policed by a “multinational force”, known as the International Stabilisation Force (ISF), which will be equipped with “non-lethal weapons” and operate from the Israeli Amitai Camp near Gaza under the command of the board. According to the report, aid will be supplied to the zones, but no detail was given on how this will be distributed and by whom. Israel's genocide in Gaza News Post Date Override 0 Update Date Mon, 05/04/2020 - 21:19 Update Date Override 0

military · geopolitical

Iranian press review: Calls grow to maintain military pressure on Gulf states Submitted by MEE correspondent on Thu, 07/02/2026 - 09:58 Mothers mark Ashura by mourning children killed in protests, lawmakers challenge Ghalibaf over suspension of parliament, and the national football team is praised abroad but criticised at home The sun sets over a vessel off the coast of Dubai on 2 June 2026 (AFP) Off Military pressure is key to Gulf trade deals, says analyst A younger generation of analysts close to Iran's ruling establishment says the only way to reach trade deals with the Arab states of the southern Gulf is to maintain military pressure on them. The group has gained more space to express its views after many senior Iranian political and military figures were killed in this year's US-Israeli war on Iran. Speaking on a television roundtable, Majid Shakeri, an analyst close to Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, said there was no way to secure a practical trade agreement with the United Arab Emirates (UAE) without continued military pressure. "Having a trade agreement with the Persian Gulf countries is not incompatible with continuing military pressure on them because previous experiences have shown that pursuing a neighbourhood policy with them leads nowhere," he said. Shakeri said the same approach should apply to Qatar and Saudi Arabia . "If we want to reach economic deals, we must keep up the [military] pressure because we have seen many times that the Emiratis, Qataris and Saudis promise investment in official meetings, but later it becomes clear that those promises were only meant to influence Iran's behaviour," he said. He also argued that Iran should continue attacking US military bases in the region to strengthen its position in economic negotiations. "The only way to make such agreements happen is to continue targeting American bases in the UAE to force them to leave the region and, at the same time, maintain pressure on the UAE," he said. Remembering victims of protests during Ashura Mothers whose children were killed in the Iranian government's crackdown on nationwide protests in January have used a mourning period for Shia Muslims to commemorate their loved ones and denounce the authorities. In the shadow of Minab: Inside the US testing of 'new missiles' on Iran’s Lamerd Read More » For Shias, Ashura commemorates the killing of Imam Hussein, the grandson of the Prophet Muhammad, who was slain by the forces of Yazid ibn Muawiyah at the Battle of Karbala in 680 CE. The month has long symbolised both mourning and resistance against injustice. Videos circulated by Persian-language media in recent days show grieving mothers publicly remembering their children, while in other cases , mourning processions stopped outside victims' homes to pay tribute. One video shows the mother of 18-year-old Mani Safarpour, who was killed in southern Tehran, holding her son's photograph as mourners beat drums. In the video, she repeatedly cries, "My son, my dear son," while striking her head and chest in mourning. Another video shows the mother of 22-year-old university student Matin Parvizi, who was shot dead in Zanjan, speaking at her son's graveside. "The Yazids of our time shot my son in the back while his hands were in his pockets," she says. "He had nothing with which to defend himself." According to Iranian authorities, 3,117 people were killed during the unrest. Human rights organisations have disputed the official figures, reporting significantly higher death tolls. The US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency, Hrana , says it has identified 6,488 protesters who were killed. Anger over Ghalibaf's closure of parliament Several lawmakers have accused Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf of acting unilaterally by keeping parliament closed, saying he has sidelined the legislature and concentrated decision-making in his own hands. Parliament has not held a public session since 28 February, when the US and Israel launched a new war on Iran. In recent days, criticism has grown over the continued suspension of parliamentary sessions, with lawmakers protesting the decision. The war on Iran was a strategic disaster for America and Israel Read More » Critics argue that Ghalibaf has effectively stripped parliament of its role during a time of war and has instead been making decisions on his own. Kamran Ghazanfari, a conservative lawmaker, was among those criticising the speaker, saying , "We have repeatedly said that Mr Ghalibaf has been illegally keeping the parliament's public sessions closed for the past four months." He also rejected Ghalibaf's claim that the closure was based on a decision by the Supreme National Security Council, calling it "a complete lie". Another lawmaker, Ali Akbar Alizadeh, also questioned the legal basis for suspending parliament. "According to our follow-ups, neither the Supreme National Security Council nor its secretariat issued a decision to close parliament," he said. National football team criticised at home Despite being eliminated from the 2026 World Cup after drawing all three of its group-stage matches, Iran's national football team has received praise from many experts and fans outside the country. Inside Iran, however, football experts have sharply criticised the team's tactical performance and the way it is managed by government-backed football officials. 'In terms of tactics and style of play, our team did not perform well... our national team had no plan to build attacks from the beginning to the end of the matches' - Mohammad Kalhor, football coach Much of the praise the team received abroad was linked to the obstacles it faced during the tournament. As one of the World Cup hosts, the United States did not allow the Iranian team to hold its training camp in the country, refused visas to some members of its technical and managerial staff, and required the team to leave the United States and return to Tijuana, Mexico, after each match. In Iran, however, some football experts dismissed those issues as off-field matters and blamed the team's failure to reach the next round on tactical weaknesses and what they described as the "mafia-like management" of Iranian football. Mohammad Kalhor, a former player and football coach, was among those who blamed the national football federation for the team's elimination, saying, "There is a mafia in our football." Although Kalhor did not elaborate on the claim in an interview with the Etemad newspaper, he suggested that it influenced both the selection of the national team's ageing squad and the appointment of its head coach. Assessing the team's performance, Kalhor said: "In terms of tactics and style of play, our team did not perform well. The reason is that our national team had no plan to build attacks from the beginning to the end of the matches, except when we received a goal and had to attack. We had the ability to attack before that, but I do not know why it did not happen." *Iranian press review is a digest of news reports not independently verified as accurate by MEE. Iranian Press Review News Post Date Override 0 Update Date Mon, 05/04/2020 - 21:19 Update Date Override 0

military · geopolitical

Israel's largest oil refineries to undergo years of repairs after Iranian strikes, report says Submitted by Nadav Rapaport on Thu, 07/02/2026 - 10:31 Channel 12 says Haifa refineries suffered more damage than officials admitted and will be under reconstruction until 2028 Firefighters tackle a fire at a refinery in Israel's northern city of Haifa on 30 March 2026, following a projectile impact (Jack Guez/AFP) Off Israel 's largest oil refineries sustained far heavier damage from Iranian missile strikes during the US-Israeli war on Iran than authorities previously acknowledged, Israeli media reported. Reconstruction works at the refineries in Haifa Bay, in the north of Israel, are expected to be completed in 2028. Israel's Channel 12 News reported on Monday that they sustained severe damage after two separate Iranian strikes earlier this year, despite Minister of Energy Eli Cohen and Bazan, the company operating the site, claiming no material damage had been recorded. Bazan told the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange in March that the roof of a distillate tank had sustained "localised damage" and that all production facilities were operational. "The company estimates that the damage is not significant. As of the time of this announcement, all the company's facilities remain operational," Bazan said at the time. But according to Yeshiva World, citing the official report by the interior ministry, damage was reported at gas turbines, steam boilers, electrical rooms and other auxiliary systems that had not previously been publicly reported. Channel 12 News reported that the Ministry of Interior had approved large-scale reconstruction works. One oil derivatives storage tank struck during an attack in March is beyond repair. The channel reported that the refineries had also sustained damage last year, during Israel's 12-day war with Iran. It said three Bazan employees were killed after Iranian missiles pierced the US-backed Iron Dome mobile air defence system in June 2025. At the time, Bazan estimated the losses at $150-200m, while Israeli officials maintained that fuel supplies would not be affected. Military censorship The Bazan refineries are among Israel's most strategically important industrial sites, supplying oil products for industry, agriculture, infrastructure and domestic consumption. According to the company's website, the refineries have the capacity to produce approximately 26,000 tonnes of oil per day and can process about 9.8m tonnes of crude oil annually. The refineries in Haifa Bay were built during the British Mandate over Palestine , with the British authorities using the facilities to transport crude oil from Iraq through the Kirkuk-Haifa pipeline. Israel's 'kill first' strategy is now aimed at Turkey. Will the region respond? Read More » After Israel occupied Haifa and established the State of Israel during the 1948 war, the Israeli government took control of the refineries, with the Bazan cooling towers becoming one of the city's most recognisable landmarks. In recent years, Israel has refused to disclose the full extent of the damage caused by Iranian missile strikes, applying strict military censorship. According to +972 Magazine, Israeli military censorship reached its highest level in 2024 since the outlet began collecting data in 2011, with approximately 8,000 articles either banned outright or partially censored. While military censorship declined last year, with around 5,000 articles banned or partially censored, +972 Magazine still recorded the second-highest annual total of censored articles since 2011. During the war, Iran is alleged to have struck several strategic sites across Israel, including the Kirya in Tel Aviv, the Weizmann Institute, the Nevatim airbase and the Haifa port area. Earlier this month, the Times of Israel reported that a hangar at the Ramat David airbase had been damaged, citing low-resolution satellite imagery. War on Iran Tel Aviv News Post Date Override 0 Update Date Mon, 05/04/2020 - 21:19 Update Date Override 0

military · geopolitical

EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas has said that she will propose expanding sanctions against companies supporting Russia's military industry following a Russian large-scale attack on Kyiv on the night of 1-2 July.

military · geopolitical

During a recent conference on the People’s Liberation Army, I heard the same question posed to attendees and paper writers: “How would China react to U.S. force posture change X, Y, or Z?” or “How would the Chinese military respond to U.S. strikes in certain locations?” Having participated in dozens of unclassified wargames at the RAND Corporation and elsewhere, I hear a similar refrain when playing the “red team.”This is a reasonable and legitimate question. Policymakers and war planners should understand likely Chinese responses in studying and preparing for possible contingencies between China and the United States.To make well-grounded assessments The post The Blind Spots in Chinese Military Studies appeared first on War on the Rocks .

military · geopolitical

Iran tells UN Israel is normalising ‘state terrorism’ Iran has filed a protest at the United Nations after Israel’s Defence Minister Israel Katz threatened to assassinate Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei. Iran’s UN ambassador, Amir-Saeid Iravani, raised the issue in a letter to Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, the Security Council and the General Assembly. He described Katz’s threat as “part of a deliberate and systematic policy of state terrorism” aimed at Iranian officials. Iravani said the threat formed part of the “Israeli regime’s illegal acts of aggression against Iran, including the assassination of the late Iranian leader, Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, and other senior political and military officials, carried out with the participation, coordination, and support of the United States”. He also accused the Security Council of enabling Israeli impunity and warned that Tehran would respond to any hostile action. “Unfortunately, the failure of the Security Council to fulfill its responsibilities under the UN Charter has reinforced the climate of impunity and has made the Israeli regime more brazen in normalising state terrorism, which sets a very dangerous precedent and poses a serious threat to international peace and security."

military · geopolitical

RSF committed crimes against humanity in Sudan's el-Fasher, Amnesty says Submitted by MEE staff on Wed, 07/01/2026 - 19:47 Children were deliberately recruited, raped, and killed, the report said, confirming findings by other organisations Displaced Sudanese who escaped el-Fasher sit in the shade at the Rwanda camp reception point, in Tawila, Sudan, on 17 December 2025 (STR/AFP) Off Amnesty International has concluded that the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in Sudan have committed crimes against humanity and ethnic cleansing in North Darfur state's el-Fasher, a report released on Wednesday showed. The findings support mounting evidence from the past year that the RSF carried out widespread atrocities in its 18-month siege of el-Fasher, based on an analysis of images and videos by Middle East Eye. Agnes Callamard, Amnesty International’s secretary general, called the findings of the new report "a stain on the conscience of humanity". "Children were not collateral damage of this violence - often, they were deliberately targeted and have suffered immensely. They have been killed, injured, raped, abducted, and forcibly recruited on a massive scale," she said in a statement. “A nationwide ceasefire is immediately needed," the statement added, and also called for an independent international force to be deployed to Sudan. Amnesty found that non-Arab communities, particularly the Zaghawa ethnic group, were deliberately targeted, and that investigators documented the use of ethnic slurs and references to slavery - such as "falangay" - during those attacks. The RSF also burned villages after residents fled in order to prevent their return, actions Amnesty said are consistent with ethnic cleansing. The organisation relied on interviews with 247 people, the vast majority of whom witnessed or experienced violent abuses in North Darfur state, which borders Libya and Chad. Among them were nine men who were held in Mina al-Bari detention centre, on the eastern outskirts of el-Fasher, for periods of up to five months between mid-2024 and early 2026, Amnesty said. They said they were detained in shipping containers, which were kept closed most of the time, and so the stifling heat and minimal air circulation made it difficult to breathe. "My body was [drying out] completely, other people as well as myself lost consciousness," one man recounted. "[The RSF] thought we had died, so they just threw us out of the container. After a while, they realized we were still alive. They tortured us again and took us [back] inside the container." International community Amnesty's report identifies three RSF leaders it accused of "serious violations of international law". They include RSF commander Al-Fateh Abdullah Idris, known by his nom de guerre Abu Lulu, who has been seen on video executing captives wearing civilian clothing. Senior RSF commanders identified at the Mina al-Bari detention facility include Major General Gedo Hamdan Ahmed Mohamed, known by his nom de guerre Abu Shouk, and Lieutenant Colonel Abbas Khater Bakhit, both of whom are reported to have tortured captives. "The international community must move beyond statements of concern," Callamard said. She blamed humanitarian funding cuts by high-income countries - a move spurred by the return of the Trump administration to power in the US last year - and the lack of support for accountability mechanisms such as the United Nations and the International Criminal Court (ICC), both of which have been undermined and threatened, with US sanctions targeting officials from the international bodies. Sudan remains the site of the largest continuous humanitarian and displacement crisis in the world, the non-profit Refugees International said last month. During the siege of el-Fasher from May 2024 until October 2025, famine also spread quickly, forcing families to consume ambaz, a byproduct of peanut oil production normally used as animal feed, the report said. UAE and US role The Janjaweed , which carried out genocide in Darfur more than two decades ago, is where the RSF finds its roots. In March 2025, based on intelligence shared by the former Biden administration, Maryland Democratic Senator Chris Van Hollen introduced a bill to stem Washington's inadvertent pipeline to the RSF. How the UAE continued supporting Sudan's RSF through Haftar and Libya Read More » It was blocked by Republicans some six months later, just after the RSF moved into el-Fasher and took over the Sudanese military's outpost. Since the civil war began in April 2023, Washington - under two different administrations - has continuously authorised weapons sales to its ally Abu Dhabi. The UAE hosts the Al-Dhafra Air Base and has cultivated particularly close ties with the Trump family. Though Emirati officials deny it, extensive reporting from MEE using satellite imagery, flight and ship tracking data, video evidence, weapons serial numbers and multiple sources from across the region indicates that the UAE has supplied weapons to the RSF throughout the war. Late last year, Sudan's ambassador to the US, Mohamed Abdalla Idris, citing a bipartisan effort led by Idaho Republican Senator Jim Risch, called on the Trump administration to designate the RSF as a terrorist organisation to spur sanctions, and by extension, a call to action to protect its victims. "Boko Haram was designated. Al-Qaeda was designated. IS was designated... why not the Janjaweed? What the Janjaweed are doing is far even worse than what some of those organisations have done," he said. Sexual violence Amnesty's findings follow a UN report that last month said the RSF is responsible for the majority of sexual crimes committed by warring parties in Sudan over the past three years. The trend analysis report on conflict-related sexual violence in Sudan since the outbreak of war between the RSF and the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) in April 2023 found that rape, gang rape and sexual slavery have been used systematically as weapons of war, and warned that impunity risks entrenching cycles of violence for years to come. UN: RSF used rape and sexual slavery as weapons of war in Sudan since 2023 Read More » Around 87 percent of verified incidents were attributed to men in RSF uniforms, its affiliates and allied Arab militias. Incidents were also attributed to the SAF, affiliated security actors, the Joint Forces and other armed movements. MEE has reported extensively on the RSF's primary financial and logistical backer, the UAE. Despite the pressure brought on Abu Dhabi by the US-Israel war on Iran and an Egyptian bombing campaign targeting RSF weapons convoys that originate in Libya, the UAE and Khalifa Haftar’s Libyan Arab Armed Forces (LAAF) are still supporting the Sudanese paramilitary group. Fighters from the RSF are also being trained to use weapons supplied by the UAE at military camps across Libya, a joint investigation from Lighthouse Reports, Sudan War Monitor, and Evident revealed on Monday. Defectors from the RSF and sources from the LAAF said that the five camps identified by investigators were also used to provide the Sudanese paramilitary with logistical support, including fuel and pickup trucks. That same day, a coalition of rights groups requested that the ICC investigate the role of high-level officials from the UAE and Sudan’s neighbouring countries in allegedly aiding and abetting atrocity crimes in Darfur. The submission was filed on Monday by the Raoul Wallenberg Centre for Human Rights and a broad coalition of legal, investigative and civil society organisations. Sudan war News Post Date Override 0 Update Date Mon, 05/04/2020 - 21:19 Update Date Override 0

military · geopolitical

Lebanon’s president defends Lebanon-Israel framework agreement Lebanon’s President Joseph Aoun has pushed back against criticism of the country’s ceasefire framework with Israel signed last week in Washington after Hezbollah supporters took to the streets in protest against the agreement. “Lebanon’s problem is with Israel, and it is a sovereign state that decided to negotiate on its own behalf,” Aoun is reported as saying by Lebanon's National News Agency, adding that “it has not relinquished its legal, political or field principles in the framework agreement, as some are claiming.” The framework was criticised by Hezbollah for not making the withdrawal of Israeli troops from occupying southern Lebanon contingent on the disarmament of Hezbollah. The president warned that “discord is forbidden” and discouraged people from taking to the streets in an address delivered to delegations from the Lebanese bar association and economic bodies. Signing ceremony of a trilateral framework agreement between Israel and Lebanon mediated by the US at the US Department of State in Washington, DC, on 26 June 2026 (Saul Loeb/AFP)

military · geopolitical

Israeli press review: Netanyahu says wars will never end Israel's wars across the Middle East will never end, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told Channel 14 News on Tuesday. In a rare and lengthy interview with a channel that is widely seen in Israel as his mouthpiece, Netanyahu responded to a question about whether Israel’s wars in the region are concluding by indicating that military operations will continue. “We have achieved tremendous accomplishments,” the Israeli prime minister said, citing the assassinations of Hamas and Hezbollah leaders and the occupation of parts of Gaza, Lebanon and Syria. “We broke the barrier of fear. For 47 years, no one dared attack Iran,” he said, referring to the two wars begun by Israel and the US against Iran. Asked whether the goal of “total victory”, a term Netanyahu coined immediately after the Hamas-led attack of 7 October 2023, was still achievable, the prime minister replied that “it never ends”. “If you want to live in the Middle East, and in the world, you have to be very strong,” Netanyahu said, adding that now “Israel is stronger than ever”. Read more: Israeli press review: Netanyahu says wars will never end Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attends the funeral of Gal Meir Eisenkot, on 24 June 2026 (Reuters)

military · geopolitical

Nadia Massih is pleased to welcome Benedict Vigers, Senior global news writer at Gallup. For much of the war in Ukraine, conventional wisdom suggested that Russians had largely rallied behind the state despite mounting international sanctions and military costs. Gallup's latest research challenges that picture. Drawing on more than two decades of continuous polling, Benedict Vigers argues that Russia is experiencing not merely a deterioration in economic sentiment, but a broader psychological turning point. After years in which public confidence remained unexpectedly resilient, the latest data indicate simultaneous declines in perceptions of the economy, trust in key state institutions, confidence in the military, faith in elections, and even perceptions of media freedom.

military · geopolitical

State-backed UAE and Bahrain teams under scrutiny ahead of Tour de France Submitted by Rayhan Uddin on Wed, 07/01/2026 - 13:53 Cycling authorities urged to suspend licenses of two teams financed by Gulf states over human rights concerns UAE Team Emirates - XRG team's Slovenian rider Tadej Pogacar celebrates in Villars-sur-Ollon on 21 June 2026 (AFP/Harold Cunningham) Off As the Tour de France is set to begin this weekend, the participation of two teams linked to Gulf states - the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain - is coming under the microscope. The favourite to win this year’s tour is the undisputed best male bike rider in the world, Tadej Pogacar, from Slovenia. He has won four of the last six Tour de France titles, all of which were for UAE Team Emirates XRG (previously known as UAE Team Emirates). The team has sat at the top of the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) world ranking since 2023, and is the dominant force in sport. As well as the Tour de France, its star rider Pogacar has also won the Giro d’Italia, two World Championship Road Races and a string of one-day classics. But ahead of the Tour de France, human rights groups have written to the UCI calling for it to suspend UAE Team Emirates XRG’s licence over the Gulf state’s connection to war crimes and genocide in Sudan. They also called for Team Bahrain Victorious’ suspension over rights abuses in the kingdom. Fair Square, Sudan Unlimited, Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy (Bird) and Christian Solidarity Worldwide co-signed the letter, seen by Middle East Eye. MEE reached out to the UCI, UAE Team Emirates XRG and Team Bahrain Victorious for comment. Team 'represents entire nation of UAE' The letter notes that the UAE Team is under the financial and political control of the Emirati state. On its LinkedIn page, the team says it “has the aim of representing an entire nation, the UAE”. After Pogacar won the Tour de France last year, he and his teammates in Paris chanted in unison “U-A-E! U-A-E!”. The team's main sponsors are state controlled: Emirates is owned by the Dubai government, while XRG - the investment wing of the country’s main oil company - is owned by the Abu Dhabi government. Saudi Arabia to pull investment from LIV Golf tour Read More » The joint letter notes that when the team was set up in 2017, one of its founding sponsors was International Golden Group, a UAE military contractor. That contractor was four years earlier identified by a UN panel of experts as having provided weapons to arms groups in Libya, in breach of a UN arms embargo. International Golden Group does not currently appear to be a sponsor of the UAE Team, though its logo featured on the team’s jerseys as late as 2021 - well after the UN report. The rights groups refer to “irrefutable evidence” that the UAE - which controls the team - is the main financial and military backer of the Rapid Support Forces paramilitary group in Sudan. MEE has reported on how the UAE has supplied the RSF with weapons through a complex network of supply lines and alliances stretching across Libya, Chad, Uganda, and Somalia. Since Sudan's war began in April 2023, RSF fighters have been accused of widespread massacres and abuses, including of committing a genocide in Darfur. “We know that the UAE uses sports teams to project a positive, sanitised image of itself while at the same time offering material and political support to the RSF in Sudan, who stand accused of genocide, and who may commit further atrocities in El-Obeid,” Alex Carlen, of Fair Square, told MEE. The rights groups wrote that the participation of the team in UCI events acted “as a vehicle for the international branding and promotion of the UAE”. “Cycling’s most prominent and celebrated races have become a very public platform that the UAE state is using to project a positive image of the UAE, which stands in marked contrast to the violence and repression that underpins its power,” the letter states. Bahrain team founded by senior royal The groups also call for the suspension of Team Bahrain Victorious, which will also compete at this month’s Tour de France. That team was founded by Nasser bin Hamad Al Khalifa, a prominent member of Bahrain’s royal family who is commander of Bahrain’s royal guard, and head of the country’s youth and sports council. 'The UCI cannot continue to allow state-backed teams to use its highly popular and historic competition to advance their own political interests' - Alex Carlen, Fair Square According to its website, the cycling team “represents a powerful platform for showcasing the ambition, optimism and global outlook of the Kingdom of Bahrain”. Rights groups noted in the letter to UCI that Bahrain has for over a decade, since protests in 2011, cracked down on dissent, arrested opposition figures and effectively ended freedom of expression in the country. Bird wrote to the UCI in 2019 calling for it to disclose the findings of an ethical review conducted into the Bahrain team and to consider human rights concern in future renewals of licences. The UCI responded at the time that “the question of whether the government of Bahrain mistreats its citizens and its athletes in particular, is clearly beyond the jurisdiction of our Commission”. Carlen said that the UCI could not continue to allow state-backed teams to “use its highly popular and historic competition to advance their own political interests”. “Cycling as a sport has an opportunity here to set a precedent and put the focus back on the competition rather than an association with human rights violations,” he said. Sport News Post Date Override 0 Update Date Mon, 05/04/2020 - 21:19 Update Date Override 0