Legal move in Brazil to seek former Israeli PM’s arrest during São Paulo visit
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Former Israeli prime minister Naftali Bennett faces legal action in Brazil after the Brazil–Palestine Institute (IBRASPAL) submitted an official request to the federal judiciary calling for his arrest during his planned visit to São Paulo yesterday. His visit was scheduled for an event at what is known as the Hebraica Club of São Paulo, a Brazilian-Jewish social and recreational community centre.
The request is based on accusations of war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide against Palestinian civilians, particularly in the Gaza Strip.
In an interview with Quds Press, the institute’s president, Ahmed Shahada, said Bennett’s entry into Brazilian territory “opens a clear legal window that allows the state to take judicial action if suspicion of his involvement in serious international crimes is confirmed”. He added that Brazilian legislation, along with the country’s international commitments, gives the federal judiciary the authority to open investigations and pursue such cases.
Shahada explained that “the legal grounds for the arrest request are based on Brazil’s commitment to prosecuting major international crimes under its legislative framework”, noting that the incorporation of the Geneva Conventions and the Rome Statute into national law “allows investigations to be opened against anyone entering the country who is suspected of committing serious crimes”.
READ: Israeli chief of staff skipped key security meeting despite Netanyahu’s instruction
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France, Germany, Italy, UK call on Israel to ‘abide by international law,’ protect Palestinians in West Bank
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France, Germany, Italy, and the UK called on Israel on Thursday to comply with international law and take immediate steps to protect Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, as illegal Israeli settler attacks reached their peak in nearly two decades, Anadolu reports.
In a joint statement, the four countries, known collectively as the E4, “strongly condemn the massive increase of settler violence against Palestinian civilians and call for stability in the West Bank.”
The ministers said they are “deeply alarmed” by what they described as a surge in attacks by Israeli settlers, warning that the escalating violence is destabilizing the West Bank and increasing the risk of wider regional tension.
Citing UN figures, the statement noted that 264 settler attacks were recorded in October, the highest monthly number since systematic monitoring began in 2006.
The E4 called on the Israeli government to “abide by its obligations under international law and protect the Palestinian population of the occupied territories,” stressing that authorities must ensure accountability.
“We therefore urge the Government of Israel to hold those accountable who are responsible for those crimes and to prevent further violence by addressing the root causes of this behaviour,” the statement said.
32,000 Palestinians displaced by Israeli assault in northern West Bank: UN agency
Reiterating long-standing positions on the conflict, the four governments said they remain opposed to “any form of annexation – whether partial, total or de facto – and settlement policies violating international law.”
They also reaffirmed their support for a negotiated, peaceful settlement to the conflict, stating: “We reaffirm our commitment to a… two-state solution… living side by side in peace and security and mutual recognition.”
The ministers stressed that the ongoing attacks must come to an end.
“These attacks must stop,” they said. “They sow terror among civilians, undermine ongoing peace efforts and ultimately harm the lasting security of the State of Israel itself.”
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32,000 Palestinians displaced by Israeli assault in northern West Bank: UN agency
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More than 32,000 Palestinians have been displaced by an ongoing Israeli offensive in refugee camps in the northern West Bank, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) said Thursday, Anadolu reports.
The Israeli army launched a large-scale military offensive in the Jenin refugee camp on Jan. 21, which later spread to the Tulkarem and Nur Shams camps and other areas in the northern West Bank.
Rolan Friedrich, Director of UNRWA Affairs for the West Bank, said the Israeli assault emptied the Jenin, Tulkarem, and Nur Shams refugee camps, displacing some 32,000 residents.
“And yet, even in these ghost towns that were once vibrant camps, Israeli forces still see the need to order demolitions for the sake of so-called ‘military purposes,” Friedrich added in a statement.
He noted that the Israeli authorities issued two mass demolition orders for over 190 buildings in the Jenin refugee camp, while 12 more buildings will be demolished in the upcoming days, which marks “the newest episode in continued efforts to re-engineer the topography of refugee camps in the northern West Bank.”
READ: Israeli forces launch new operation in northern occupied West Bank
The UNRWA official said Israel’s systematic destruction violates the basic principles of international law and expands the army’s control over the refugee camps in the long term.
Friedrich called for the rebuilding of the refugee camps and the return of the displaced residents.
“They must not be trapped in interminable displacement,” he added.
On Wednesday, the Israeli army began another military campaign in the Tubas governorate in the northern West Bank, arresting over 60 Palestinians and injuring 10 others.
Alongside the two-year war in Gaza, where nearly 70,000 people have been killed, assaults by the army and illegal settlers in the West Bank have killed at least 1,083 Palestinians and injured about 11,000, while more than 20,500 have been detained, according to official Palestinian figures.
In a landmark opinion last July, the International Court of Justice declared Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territory illegal and called for the evacuation of all settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
READ: Israeli army detains 32 Palestinians, injures 10 amid large-scale operation in northern West Bank
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With over 112,000 killed, new study links Gaza’s massacre to past genocides
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A devastating new study has found that more than 112,000 Palestinians have been killed in the Gaza Strip since Israel launched its assault in October 2023. This figure, drawn from the most extensive demographic analysis conducted to date, far exceeds the official death toll and reveals a pattern of killing that researchers say mirrors past genocides documented by the United Nations.
The study, carried out by researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research in Germany and the Centre for Demographic Studies Spain, was published in the peer-reviewed journal Population Health Metrics. The researchers estimate that between 99,997 and 125,915 Palestinians died in Gaza between 7 October 2023 and 6 October 2025, with a median estimate of 112,069.
The findings are based on a wide range of data sources, including hospital records, household surveys and public death notices, and take into account the thousands of unregistered deaths caused by families being buried under rubble or unable to reach medical care.
The researchers found that the overwhelming majority of deaths are among civilians. Children under the age of 15 account for an estimated 27 per cent of the dead, while women make up 24 per cent. Elderly people, particularly those over 60, are also heavily undercounted in official figures.
Gaza death toll could be over 186,000: Report
This distribution of deaths across women, children and the elderly, rather than combat-aged men, is not typical of warfare. It is, the authors note, consistent with what the United Nations Inter-agency Group for Child Mortality Estimation has observed in previous genocides. The study states explicitly that the age-sex pattern of deaths in Gaza closely resembles those seen during genocidal violence, not battlefield engagements between military forces.
In addition to the sheer scale of the killing, the study found that Gaza’s life expectancy has collapsed. Before Israel’s onslaught, Palestinian women in Gaza could expect to live to the age of 77 and men to 74. By the end of 2024, these numbers had plunged to 46 for women and just 36 for men.
According to the researchers, this represents one of the most dramatic drops in life expectancy ever recorded, and reflects the unprecedented threat to life facing the entire population.
Crucially, the study’s findings contradict claims by Israeli officials and their allies that Palestinian health authorities have inflated casualty figures. While the Gaza Health Ministry had reported around 67,000 deaths during the same period, the Max Planck research indicates that this figure likely captures only a portion of the actual death toll.
Unlike the Ministry, which counts only confirmed deaths, the study incorporates those who were unrecorded due to the collapse of Gaza’s medical infrastructure or the total destruction of family units in Israeli airstrikes. Researchers stress that rather than being exaggerated, official numbers from Gaza are more likely conservative and incomplete.
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