Yearly Archives: 2026

Israel tops UN list of grave violations against children in 2025

Spread the love

This work by Middle East Monitor is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Children cling to life by playing despite harsh living conditions in the west of Khan Yunis, Gaza, on January 27, 2026. [Hani Alshaer – Anadolu Agency]

Israel was responsible for the highest number of verified grave violations against children in the occupied Palestinian territories in 2025, according to a new UN report, which recorded a sharp rise in abuses against children in conflict zones worldwide.

The report, titled Children and Armed Conflict 2025 and prepared by UN Secretary-General António Guterres, found that grave violations against children increased by 34 per cent compared with the previous year.

According to the 47-page report, parties to armed conflicts committed a record number of grave violations against children in 2025, marking “the highest number of children affected since the establishment of the Children and Armed Conflict mandate”.

The UN documented 38,558 grave violations against children worldwide during 2025.

These violations included killing and maiming, recruitment and use of children, abduction, rape and other forms of sexual violence, attacks on schools and hospitals, and the denial of humanitarian access.

READ: Palestinian female prisoner Lama Khater details alleged abuse in Israeli prisons

The report said the UN verified a total of 12,445 grave violations against children linked to Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories, including 12,436 cases in the occupied Palestinian territories and nine in Israel.

Of these, 5,452 violations were recorded in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and 6,984 in the Gaza Strip.

The report said Israeli forces were responsible for 9,465 grave violations against children, while 326 additional violations were attributed to Israeli settlers seeking to seize Palestinian land.

According to the report, Israeli forces detained 981 Palestinian children in 2025, including 973 boys and eight girls. It said 180 children were held without charge or trial, while 66 reported being subjected to physical violence and other forms of ill-treatment during detention.

The report also recorded the death of one Palestinian child in detention and said the UN had verified three cases in which Israeli forces used children as human shields in Gaza and the West Bank.

It added that 2,223 children were injured in the Gaza Strip and 2,921 others in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, by Israeli forces and Israeli settlers seeking to take over Palestinian land.

READ: US envoy says ‘without Israel, there would be no America’

This work by Middle East Monitor is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Experiencing issues with this image not appearing. I suspect because it's so critical of Zionist Keir Starmer's support of and complicity in Israel's genocides.
Genocide denier and Current UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer is quoted that he supports Zionism without qualification. He also confirms that UK air force support has been essential in Israel’s mass-murdering genocide. Includes URLs https://www.declassifieduk.org/keir-starmers-100-spy-flights-over-gaza-in-support-of-israel/ and https://youtu.be/O74hZCKKdpA
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.
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.
Orcas discuss rotting brain, front Orca says Sundown Syndrome is a dead givaway and he wishes someone would Lock Him Up
Orcas discuss rotting brain, front Orca says Sundown Syndrome is a dead givaway and he wishes someone would Lock Him Up

Continue ReadingIsrael tops UN list of grave violations against children in 2025

50 Palestinian Bedouin, herding communities displaced since late 2023, rights body says

Spread the love

This work by Middle East Monitor is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Israeli army continue attacks on the El-Halayil Bedouin community, forcing 11 Palestinian families to leave their homes in Ramallah, West Bank on February 21, 2026. [Issam Rimawi – Anadolu Agency]

The Independent Commission for Human Rights (ICHR) said Israel’s settlement expansion and military restrictions have led to the displacement of 50 Palestinian Bedouin and herding communities since late 2023.

According to the official Palestinian news agency WAFA, the findings were contained in a special survey on Bedouin and herding communities in the occupied West Bank conducted by the ICHR in cooperation with the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics.

The survey found that around 300 violations targeting individuals and institutions in these communities were recorded in April 2025 alone.

The results were presented on Wednesday during a conference attended by representatives of government institutions, relevant ministries, international and UN organisations, and civil society groups, WAFA reported.

READ: Israel tops UN list of grave violations against children in 2025

Speaking at the event, ICHR Director-General Ammar Dweik called for the adoption of a national plan for Bedouin and herding communities based on a comprehensive development and human rights approach.

He stressed the need for greater investment in these communities across the occupied West Bank, alongside legal protection, on-the-ground support, and access to essential services.

Dweik said such measures were necessary to strengthen the communities’ ability to remain on their land amid Israeli policies and practices, including home demolitions, repeated demolition orders, the seizure of land and grazing areas, movement restrictions, settler violence, and the undermining of livelihoods.

OPINION: When the Iran War is over: Why the West Bank may be Netanyahu’s next front

This work by Middle East Monitor is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Experiencing issues with this image not appearing. I suspect because it's so critical of Zionist Keir Starmer's support of and complicity in Israel's genocides.
Genocide denier and Current UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer is quoted that he supports Zionism without qualification. He also confirms that UK air force support has been essential in Israel’s mass-murdering genocide. Includes URLs https://www.declassifieduk.org/keir-starmers-100-spy-flights-over-gaza-in-support-of-israel/ and https://youtu.be/O74hZCKKdpA
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.
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.
Orcas discuss rotting brain, front Orca says Sundown Syndrome is a dead givaway and he wishes someone would Lock Him Up
Orcas discuss rotting brain, front Orca says Sundown Syndrome is a dead givaway and he wishes someone would Lock Him Up
Continue Reading50 Palestinian Bedouin, herding communities displaced since late 2023, rights body says

Hezbollah chief: Resistance thwarted ‘Greater Israel’ project, disarmament will not pass

Spread the love

This work by Middle East Monitor is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

A screen grab from a video shows Hezbollah Secretary General Naim Qassem in Beirut, Lebanon on October 30, 2024. [Stringer – Anadolu Agency]

Hezbollah Secretary-General Naim Qassem said on Wednesday that the resistance had succeeded in “thwarting the Greater Israel project” and protecting what he described as Lebanon’s existence from plans of “extermination and displacement”.

In a recorded speech, Qassem said that the basis of any negotiations with Israel should be “mutual security”, reiterating the group’s firm rejection of any proposal to disarm Hezbollah. He described such proposals as an “Israeli prescription” that would not be accepted.

He called on the Lebanese authorities and political forces to engage in internal dialogue to organise national affairs away from external dictates or any direct negotiations, stressing Hezbollah’s readiness to cooperate on efforts to protect Lebanon’s sovereignty.

READ: Israel cannot stop home demolitions in southern Lebanon: Ben-Gvir

Discussing the conflict, Qassem said developments since 1948 reflected what he described as Israeli expansionist ambitions, which he said reached their peak with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s announcement of what he called the “Greater Israel” project.

He added that the issue was not about future intentions but rather “an ongoing aggression and continuous crimes against civilians”, claiming that women and children were being targeted under international cover.

Qassem said the Israeli project aimed to eliminate Hezbollah militarily, culturally and socially, arguing that this would amount to “the destruction of a large segment of Lebanese society”. He added: “We are not fighting only for land, but in defence of our existence and our future.”

He also reviewed what he described as the resistance’s achievements against Israeli occupation, saying they had helped prevent Israel from achieving stability or expanding its influence in the region.

OPINION: When the Iran War is over: Why the West Bank may be Netanyahu’s next front

This work by Middle East Monitor is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Experiencing issues with this image not appearing. I suspect because it's so critical of Zionist Keir Starmer's support of and complicity in Israel's genocides.
Genocide denier and Current UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer is quoted that he supports Zionism without qualification. He also confirms that UK air force support has been essential in Israel’s mass-murdering genocide. Includes URLs https://www.declassifieduk.org/keir-starmers-100-spy-flights-over-gaza-in-support-of-israel/ and https://youtu.be/O74hZCKKdpA
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.
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.
Orcas discuss rotting brain, front Orca says Sundown Syndrome is a dead givaway and he wishes someone would Lock Him Up
Orcas discuss rotting brain, front Orca says Sundown Syndrome is a dead givaway and he wishes someone would Lock Him Up
Continue ReadingHezbollah chief: Resistance thwarted ‘Greater Israel’ project, disarmament will not pass

Palestinian female prisoner Lama Khater details alleged abuse in Israeli prisons

Spread the love

This work by Middle East Monitor is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Palestinian prisoner and political activist Lama Khater

Palestinian prisoner and political activist Lama Khater has described what she said were harsh conditions during her detention in Israeli custody, alleging systematic abuse inside interrogation centres and prisons.

According to a statement relayed by her lawyer following a recent visit, Khater said Palestinian female prisoners face ongoing violations, including beatings, humiliation, strip searches and solitary confinement.

Khater was arrested after Israeli forces raided her home in Hebron in the early hours of 23 March 2026. She was then transferred to the Al-Moskobiya interrogation centre in occupied Jerusalem.

READ: Israeli Security Minister Ben-Gvir appoints relatives of slain Israelis as prison inspectors: Reports

She described Al-Moskobiya prison as “hell,” stating that guards subjected her to a full strip search upon arrival followed by a severe beating and violent physical assault.

Khater said she was later thrown into a dark and extremely cold cell, where she faced what she described as further punitive and degrading treatment. She alleged that guards forcibly removed her hijab, confiscated her prescription glasses, repeatedly insulted her and her family, and deliberately poured water on her mattress, worsening her suffering in the cold conditions.

Her testimony comes amid growing reports from Palestinian prisoners’ and human rights organisations regarding the conditions of female detainees in Israeli prisons. These reports allege the use of strict punitive measures and repeated violations, including solitary confinement, degrading searches, and deprivation of basic rights and healthcare.

READ: ‘I would have burned’: US citizen recounts Israeli occupier attack in West Bank town

This work by Middle East Monitor is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Experiencing issues with this image not appearing. I suspect because it's so critical of Zionist Keir Starmer's support of and complicity in Israel's genocides.
Genocide denier and Current UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer is quoted that he supports Zionism without qualification. He also confirms that UK air force support has been essential in Israel’s mass-murdering genocide. Includes URLs https://www.declassifieduk.org/keir-starmers-100-spy-flights-over-gaza-in-support-of-israel/ and https://youtu.be/O74hZCKKdpA
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.
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.
Orcas discuss rotting brain, front Orca says Sundown Syndrome is a dead givaway and he wishes someone would Lock Him Up
Orcas discuss rotting brain, front Orca says Sundown Syndrome is a dead givaway and he wishes someone would Lock Him Up

Continue ReadingPalestinian female prisoner Lama Khater details alleged abuse in Israeli prisons

Iran to charge ships for services in Strait of Hormuz, parliament speaker says

Spread the love

This work by Middle East Monitor is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Speaker of the Iranian Parliament Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf in Tehran, Iran on April 16, 2026. [Iranian Parliament Speaker Office – Anadolu Agency

Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said Iran has sovereign rights over the Strait of Hormuz as a coastal state overlooking the strategic waterway.

Ghalibaf said the Strait of Hormuz “will not return to what it was before”, but stressed that Iran does not intend to act in violation of international law.

He added that Iran has sovereign rights in the strait and that it is natural for the country to charge fees for services provided to vessels passing through it, clarifying that these are service fees rather than tolls.

Ghalibaf also said that Article 13 of the memorandum of understanding stipulates that commitments will be implemented on a “step-for-step” basis.

READ: Trump says US will have to give Iran’s money back

He stated that the memorandum includes provisions related to reconstruction and development, adding that the United States does not acknowledge itself as the aggressor in order to avoid paying compensation.

According to Ghalibaf, the memorandum also provides for the establishment of a $300 billion investment fund.

He further said there are no legal barriers under Iranian law preventing American companies from operating or investing in Iran.

Ghalibaf added that the memorandum formally recognises Iran’s right to receive payments for services provided to ships transiting the Strait of Hormuz.

READ: US envoy says ‘without Israel, there would be no America’

This work by Middle East Monitor is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Experiencing issues with this image not appearing. I suspect because it's so critical of Zionist Keir Starmer's support of and complicity in Israel's genocides.
Genocide denier and Current UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer is quoted that he supports Zionism without qualification. He also confirms that UK air force support has been essential in Israel’s mass-murdering genocide. Includes URLs https://www.declassifieduk.org/keir-starmers-100-spy-flights-over-gaza-in-support-of-israel/ and https://youtu.be/O74hZCKKdpA
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.
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.
Orcas discuss rotting brain, front Orca says Sundown Syndrome is a dead givaway and he wishes someone would Lock Him Up
Orcas discuss rotting brain, front Orca says Sundown Syndrome is a dead givaway and he wishes someone would Lock Him Up

Continue ReadingIran to charge ships for services in Strait of Hormuz, parliament speaker says