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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (2nd R) meets with US President Donald Trump’s Special Representative for the Middle East Steve Witkoff (2nd L) and Trump’s son-in-law and former advisor Jared Kushner (L) in West Jerusalem on October 9, 2025. [Ma’ayan Toaf / GPO – Anadolu Agency]
The Israeli Prime Minister’s Office announced early on Friday that the government had officially approved a proposal by US President Donald Trump to end the war in Gaza and secure the release of captives.
The PM office said the government had “approved the framework for the release of all hostages.”
Before the announcement, Netanyahu stated that his government continued to work towards achieving the goals of the war, with the main objective being the return of all those held captive.
Netanyahu added that “Israel is in the midst of a decisive development,” stressing that such progress would not have been possible without the “exceptional assistance” provided by President Donald Trump and his team.
He extended special thanks to Trump’s envoys to the region, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, noting that they had “worked tirelessly for many hours and did their utmost to make this happen.”
Netanyahu concluded that “these efforts serve the interests of Israel and the United States, as well as honourable people everywhere, with the aim of reuniting families with their loved ones.”
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Current UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer is quoted that he supports Zionism without qualification. He also confirms that his active support and that of UK’s air force has been essential in Israel’s mass-murdering genocide.Vote Labour for Genocide.
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Aid trucks loaded with humanitarian supplies remain stranded at the Rafah Border Crossing on the Egyptian side due to Israeli attacks and closed border crossings, the delivery of aid is limited and delayed in Rafah, Egypt on August 6, 2025. [Mohamed Elshahed – Anadolu Agency]
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said Thursday that around 170,000 tons of humanitarian aid are waiting to enter the Gaza Strip, pending approval from the Israeli occupying authorities that control all border crossings.
Speaking after the announcement of the first phase of US President Donald Trump’s plan to end the war on Gaza, an OCHA spokesperson said the aid—comprising medicines, tents, and other critical supplies—could reach nearly two million Palestinians facing severe shortages of food and basic necessities once access is granted.
OCHA reported earlier this week that Israel has blocked the entry of 45 per cent of registered aid convoys since the genocide began in October 2023, severely limiting relief efforts. The spokesperson emphasised that effective delivery requires open crossings, security guarantees for aid workers and civilians, visas for international staff, and unrestricted entry of supplies. He also underlined the need to revive Gaza’s private sector to restore minimum living conditions.
At dawn Thursday, Trump announced that Israel and Hamas had agreed to the first stage of his proposed peace plan, which includes a prisoner exchange and an Israeli withdrawal to the so-called “Yellow Line” as an initial step.
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Keir Starmer objects to criticism of the IDF. He asks how could anyone object to them starving people to death, forced marches like the Nazis did, bombing Gaza’s hospitals and universities, mass-murdering journalists, healthworkers and starving people queuing for food, killing and raping prisoners and murdering children. He calls for people to stop obstructing his genocide for Israel.Vote Labour for Genocide.
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Smoke rises after Israeli airstrikes targeted residential areas in the Gaza Strip, as seen from Israel near the border, on October 07, 2025. [Mostafa Alkharouf – Anadolu Agency]
A new report has accused London’s £34 billion ($45.43 billion) public sector pension fund of investing billions in companies allegedly complicit in Israel’s human rights abuses against Palestinians, Anadolu reports.
The Blood Money report, released Thursday by the campaign group Shake The CIV, claims that the London Collective Investment Vehicle (LCIV) — which manages £34.2 billion on behalf of 32 London local authorities — has over £7 billion ($9 billion) invested in firms “enabling Israel’s violations of Palestinian human rights.”
The fund represents the deferred wages of around 700,000 Londoners.
According to the report, LCIV’s investments include almost £1 billion ($1.4 billion) in arms manufacturers, such as £10 million ($13 million) in Israeli weapons producer Elbit Systems and £228 million ($305 million) in British firm BAE Systems.
The report also highlights £5.2 billion ($7 billion) in technology companies accused of facilitating Israel’s surveillance and control of Palestinians, including over £2.5 billion ($3.3 billion) in Microsoft.
For the first time, the report reveals the names of elected councilors who sit on LCIV’s Shareholder Committee — information the organization has refused to make public despite multiple Freedom of Information requests.
LCIV, which quietly sold £6.7 million ($9 million) in Israeli government bonds in 2024, has faced growing protests and says it is reviewing its investments in 12 unnamed companies.
However, the fund has refused to disclose the names of those companies, even to the councilors representing the local authorities whose pension funds it manages.
The report also criticizes LCIV for deleting a July 2024 statement on Gaza from its website, later replacing it in July 2025 with a post claiming to be “neutral” on the issue.
Campaigners say this stance “belies its claims to be a responsible investor,” noting that LCIV took “swift action” over the Russian invasion of Ukraine but not in response to Israel’s actions in Gaza.
Shake The CIV is calling on LCIV to “immediately, completely, and permanently divest from all companies complicit in Israel’s genocide and apartheid against Palestinians.”
Cllr Liam Shrivastava, a member of Lewisham Council’s Pension Committee, said in a statement: “At stake here are not only the lives of millions of human beings but also local authorities’ right to make democratic decisions about financial matters. In the 1980s, many London councils made history by cutting financial ties with apartheid South Africa and recently, many have divested from fossil fuels. Genocide is the crime of crimes — we have to do whatever we can to stop it.”
Five boroughs — Waltham Forest, Islington, Tower Hamlets, Southwark and Lewisham — have announced plans to divest following local campaigns.
However, their pension funds remain invested through LCIV portfolios, and campaigners say progress has been slow.
Since October 2023, Israeli attacks have killed over 67,000 Palestinians in the enclave, most of them women and children.
The relentless bombardment has left Gaza largely uninhabitable, leading to widespread starvation and diseases.
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Keir Starmer objects to criticism of the IDF. He asks how could anyone object to them starving people to death, forced marches like the Nazis did, bombing Gaza’s hospitals and universities, mass-murdering journalists, healthworkers and starving people queuing for food, killing and raping prisoners and murdering children. He calls for people to stop obstructing his genocide for Israel.
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Franciszek Sterczewski speaks at a press conference in Warsaw, Poland, on September 8, 2025, following the arrival of Polish activists from the Global Sumud Flotilla deported from Israel. [Photo by Marek Antoni Iwanczuk/NurPhoto via Getty Images]
Four Polish activists detained by Israel after a Gaza-bound aid flotilla was raided last week returned to Warsaw on Wednesday, accusing Israeli forces of brutality and rebuking Poland’s foreign minister for downplaying the assault, Anadolu reports.
The delegation, arriving on a flight from Athens, included ruling Civic Platform (PO) lawmaker Franciszek Sterczewski, activists Omar Faris and Nina Ptak, and journalist Ewa Jasiewicz. Faris, Ptak, and Sterczewski were deported to Greece on Monday, while Jasiewicz had left Israel earlier.
Sterczewski sharply criticized both Israel and Poland’s foreign minister, Radoslaw Sikorski.
“Why, at a time when we were doing everything we could to end this genocide and draw the world’s attention to what was happening there, did Minister Sikorski downplay the situation?” Sterczewski said, adding that he had learned firsthand that “Israel is a barbaric and terrorist state, just like, for example, Russia.”
“We expect that if Sikorski can accuse Putin of his war crimes, we expect him to be consistent and accuse Benjamin Netanyahu of the same crimes, or even worse,” he added.
Sterczewski said the five days he spent in Israeli detention were marked by mistreatment. “It wasn’t pleasant. We weren’t allowed to sleep. Guards shone flashlights in our eyes for hours and played music from Israeli propaganda films. We were set on by dogs. We were spat on. We were threatened with weapons,” he said.
The MP added that around 11,000 Palestinians, including more than 400 children, remain in Israeli detention. “We point out that they are treated even worse there. They are often murdered, and all human rights are violated,” he said.
The four Poles were among 470 activists from 47 countries participating in the Global Sumud Flotilla (GSF), a humanitarian convoy attacked in international waters by the Israeli navy last week. Forty-two ships were seized during the overnight raid from Wednesday to Thursday.
At Warsaw Airport, Faris told reporters: “We must all stand together against the genocidal war in the Gaza Strip.”
“They treated us absolutely brutally. For several hours, I’m 73 years old, they tied my hands behind my back and put me on rocks,” Faris said.
He added that during interrogation in an Israeli prison, the activists were questioned about possible links to Hamas. “Our problem is the occupation, which began 42 years before the founding of Hamas,” he said. “You won’t be able to kill us. And we don’t want to kill you either. We want a solution like in South Africa — a democratic state for all, regardless of religion.”
The BBC’s decision to scrap a planned Zack Polanski interview on the channel’s flagship Laura Kuenssberg show has caused fury within the Green Party
The BBC’s decision to cancel a planned conference interview with new Green leader Zack Polanski on the Laura Kuenssberg show on Sunday has caused fury within the party.
As I report today for Byline Times, the decision to scrap the interview came after the show also refused to have him on last month, following his election as party leader, choosing to instead invite Nigel Farage.
Green party sources are particularly furious with the reason they were given for this week’s cancellation, which is that the show needed more time to cover the Manchester synagogue terror attack.
This is particularly galling for Polanski, who is both Jewish and from Manchester, and yet was denied his chance to have his voice heard.
Polanski suggested on social media that the decision to cancel may have been due to his position on Gaza. The BBC declined to comment on their reason, saying only that he had been interviewed elsewhere on the BBC during the Green party conference and would be invited on the show in “the coming weeks”.
However, it is not the first time that the BBC has been accused of ignoring the Greens and others on the left of British politics.
Nigel Farage urges you to ignore facts and reality and be a climate science denier like him. He says that Reform UK has received £Millions and £Millions from the fossil fuel industry to promote climate denial and destroy the planet.
