Mourners gather around the flag-draped remains of Palestinians killed by Israeli strikes after they were recovered from the rubble, during their funeral in Gaza City, October 1, 2026
CAMPAIGNERS have accused Prime Minister Andy Burnham’s government of being “hot on talk but cold on action” when it comes to weapons sales to Israel.
Campaign Against Arms Trade (CAAT) spoke out today after it emerged that the “double lock” on arms sales to Israel announced by Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband on September 8 had no impact whatsoever.
In response to a parliamentary question, the government confirmed that the first lock, a review of arms sales to ensure compliance with UK and international law, introduced in September 2024 had led to 29 licences being suspended and 56 licences being refused.
The same answer, however, reveals the new second lock, which aims to weed out exports used in illegal activities such as Israel’s occupation of the West Bank, has seen no further licences suspended since it was introduced last month, despite Mr Miliband’s claims at the Labour conference his government had reset its approach.
CAAT spokesman Leo Verity said: “Government recognition of ethnic cleansing, Israeli settler-terrorism and of the illegality of the occupation is the first step to ending UK complicity.
“But for the brutalised Palestinian people, all that matters is action, on arms sales and beyond.
“Right now it seems that the Burnham government is hot on talk but cold on action, with the ‘double lock’ on arms to Israel looking more like ‘doubling down’.”
Ed Miliband claims that he and Andy Burnham have reformulated Blair’s triangulation strategy. Their new formulation entails acknowledging that they were wrong on Israel and Palestine but entails doing absolutely nothing about it and continuing exactly the same policies hoping that you’re too stupid to notice.UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham admits to blatently lying and engaging in deception to become leader of the UK Labour Party and Prime Minister.
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Smoke rises after Israeli forces carried out air and artillery attacks on towns in Nabatieh, southern Lebanon, despite a ceasefire, on September 21, 2026. [Ramiz Dallah – Anadolu Agency]
The Israeli army continued attacks Thursday in southern Lebanon, carrying out airstrikes, blowing up homes, firing artillery and conducting machine-gun sweeps, according to Lebanon’s official National News Agency (NNA), Anadolu reports.
The attacks targeted the towns of Al-Mansouri and Majdal Zoun in the Tyre district; Zawtar al-Sharqiyah and Nabatieh al-Fawqa in the Nabatieh district; Haddatha in the Bint Jbeil district; and the Zahrani area in Sidon district.
In the Tyre district, Israeli warplanes struck Al-Mansouri as Israeli forces carried out massive explosions in the town, according to the agency.
The blasts caused powerful tremors and were heard in the city of Tyre and surrounding villages, it said.
Israeli forces had earlier rigged several homes in Al-Mansouri with explosives before blowing them up, the agency added.
The Israeli army also carried out a large explosion in the town of Majdal Zoun in the district.
In the Nabatieh district, NNA said Israeli warplanes struck the outskirts of Zawtar al-Sharqiyah overnight and carried out another strike near the Scout City on the town’s outskirts.
The Ali al-Taher heights on the outskirts of Nabatieh al-Fawqa also came under intermittent Israeli artillery fire.
In the Bint Jbeil district, Israeli forces carried out machine-gun sweeps toward the town of Haddatha as Israeli military vehicles moved through the area.
An Israeli drone was also seen flying at low altitude above the Zahrani area in the Sidon district.
The agency did not report casualties from the Israeli attacks.
On June 26, Beirut and Tel Aviv signed a US-sponsored “framework formula” in Washington providing for a gradual Israeli withdrawal from Lebanese territory and the deployment of the Lebanese army in areas vacated by Israeli forces.
Despite the agreement, Israeli attacks on southern Lebanon have continued, while Israel still occupies areas in the south, some for decades and others seized during recent wars and military operations.
Since March 2, Israel’s offensive on Lebanon has killed at least 4,386 people, injured 12,413 and displaced more than 1 million, according to Lebanese authorities.
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Orcas discuss Donald Trump and the killer apes’ concept of democracy. Front Orca warns that Trump is crashing his country’s economy and that everything he does he does for the fantastically wealthy.
Ed Miliband says that he and the Labour Party are full of shit criminalising people holding signs as terrorists despite anything he says.UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham admits to blatently lying and engaging in deception to become leader of the UK Labour Party and Prime Minister.
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Global Alliance for Palestine
LONDON — More than 200 civil society organisations, trade unions, student federations, human rights networks and grassroots groups across six continents will mobilise for Palestine on Saturday, 10 October, in a coordinated day of action spanning more than 60 countries.
Convened by the Global Alliance for Palestine, with the support of the Anti-Apartheid Movement (AAM) and the Global Coalition against Occupation of Palestine (SANED), this coordinated action seeks to create a unified, direct civil intervention intended to interrupt public complicity and demand systemic accountability against Israel’s war crimes and crimes against humanity. The Global Day of Action brings together markedly different forms of mobilisation under a shared international framework.
The scale of the mobilisation is reflected not only in the number of countries taking part, but in the variety of actions being organised. From major demonstrations in cities including London, Sydney/Warrane, Cape Town, São Paulo, Rabat, Quito, Mexico City, Istanbul, Santiago, Reykjavík and Bangkok, to blockades and interventions targeting government and commercial sites, multi-day cultural programmes, teach-ins, film screenings, vigils and student-led educational actions, the mobilisation will take markedly different forms across the countries taking part.
In Athens, Modena and Kuala Lumpur programmes will extend over several days and include cultural sit-ins, public teach-ins and visual projections. Elsewhere, mass street mobilisations will take place alongside locally organised community, cultural and educational actions, from film screenings in Nigeria and commemorative vigils in the Democratic Republic of Congo to student-led educational activities in Trinidad and Tobago. Other participating groups are planning direct civil interventions around government institutions, public spaces, companies and financial institutions linked by organisers to military supply chains.
The 10 October mobilisation connects movements already organising for Palestine in their own countries, bringing ongoing local campaigns together through a coordinated global weekend of action by providing a shared framework through which organisations can act in ways that reflect their own political and social contexts. This is intended to make visible both the scale of existing Palestine solidarity organising and the connections between movements operating across different regions.
The mobilisation is organised around two linked calls: Defend the Land and End the Genocide, addressing both Israel’s ongoing assault on Gaza and escalating state-sponsored settler violence, land seizures and military raids across the occupied West Bank. Organisers cite official records showing at least 73,000 Palestinians killed in Gaza, while published independent studies have reported substantially higher estimates.
‘After three years of relentless genocide and mounting state-sponsored settler violence, the fiction of restraint and the hollow promises of international diplomacy stand completely exposed. 10 October is a decisive intervention built upon the tireless work of our global movement. We are assembling across every continent under one clear mandate: to defend the land, end the genocide, halt military supply lines, and enforce universal international law.’
Dr. Anas Altikriti, Secretary-General, Global Alliance for Palestine
Alongside public mobilisation, the Global Alliance for Palestine is also calling for coordinated legislative action. Participating organisations have taken up the campaign by calling on lawmakers to receive constituent delegations, submit parliamentary inquiries on arms exports, push for emergency debates, and support arms, energy and trade restrictions against Israel.
Participating organisations include established anti-war, Palestine solidarity, human rights and grassroots organisations from across the globe. Participants include the Stop The War Coalition and Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament in the United Kingdom; the Federation of Palestinian Entities of Latin America; the Australian Palestine Advocacy Network; Viva Palestina Malaysia and MyCare in Southeast Asia; CODEPINK and Labor for Palestine in North America; and the Palestine Solidarity Alliance in South Africa.
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Orcas discuss Donald Trump and the killer apes’ concept of democracy. Front Orca warns that Trump is crashing his country’s economy and that everything he does he does for the fantastically wealthy.
Ed Miliband says that he and the Labour Party are full of shit criminalising people holding signs as terrorists despite anything he says.UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham admits to blatently lying and engaging in deception to become leader of the UK Labour Party and Prime Minister.
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Activists gather to stage a protest demanding the release of Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya, director of Kamal Adwan Hospital, in Tel Aviv, Israel on July 06, 2026. [Saeed Qaq – Anadolu Agency]
Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya, the detained director of Gaza’s Kamal Adwan Hospital, has been nominated for the European Parliament’s 2026 Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought, the parliament announced Thursday, Anadolu reports.
Abu Safiya was nominated by the Greens and The Left political groups as one of six candidates for the annual award, which recognizes individuals and organizations defending human rights and fundamental freedoms.
Abu Safiya, a Palestinian pediatrician and former director of Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza, has been held in Israeli custody since his detention by Israeli forces in December 2024.
He has been detained without charge or trial, with Israel alleging that Abu Safiya is affiliated with Hamas, an allegation his lawyers and family have denied.
Rights groups have also raised concerns about his health and treatment in custody.
The parliament’s Foreign Affairs and Development committees are due to vote on a shortlist of three nominees on Oct. 19 in Strasbourg, while the laureate is scheduled to be selected on Oct. 22.
The other 2026 Sakharov Prize nominees are El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele, nominated by the Europe of Sovereign Nations group; the International Criminal Court and its officials, nominated by the Socialists and Democrats; and Tanzanian opposition figure Tundu Lissu, nominated by the European People’s Party and European Conservatives and Reformists.
The remaining nominees are Iranian activists Taraneh and Romina Rahimi, nominated by Patriots for Europe, and Standing Together, an Israeli Jewish-Palestinian grassroots movement, nominated by Renew Europe.
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Orcas discuss Donald Trump and the killer apes’ concept of democracy. Front Orca warns that Trump is crashing his country’s economy and that everything he does he does for the fantastically wealthy.
Ed Miliband says that he and the Labour Party are full of shit criminalising people holding signs as terrorists despite anything he says.UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham admits to blatently lying and engaging in deception to become leader of the UK Labour Party and Prime Minister.
This work by Middle East Monitor is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
United States President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hold a joint press conference in the East Room at the White House in Washington, D.C., United States on February 04, 2025. [Celal Güneş – Anadolu Agency]
US President Donald Trump declined to endorse Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for another term in office ahead of upcoming elections, avoiding direct backing of his long-time ally in an interview published on Thursday, Anadolu reports.
“Well, I can only say that I’m not involved in politics anymore, except that we’re popular—,” Trump told TIME magazine when asked whether the premier should be given another term in Oct. 27 elections.
Pressed again, he responded: “No, my primary thing—I do want to help them defend Israel,” pivoting away from an explicit endorsement in the interview conducted on Monday.
Trump pointed instead to his personal standing among the Israeli public, claiming his popularity reaches “like 99%” due to past policies.
Asked whether Washington could work more effectively with opposition contender and former military chief Gadi Eisenkot, Trump said he did not “hear bad things about him,” but cautioned against dismissing Netanyahu.
“People have written off Bibi (Netanyahu) many, many times, just like they’ve written off me many, many times,” Trump said. “I wouldn’t underestimate Bibi.”
Trump’s relationship with Netanyahu is said to have become more strained in recent months due to the war in Iran, and Israel’s continued attacks in Lebanon and Gaza.
Trump also cast doubt on reports that Netanyahu received advance intelligence warnings ahead of the Oct. 7 attacks, arguing that Israeli forces would have been placed on alert. “I don’t think so. I think … if he would have known, he would have done something about it,” he said.
Expanded Iran war and maritime control
Addressing the Iran war, now into its seventh month, Trump said he deliberately broadened military operations to dismantle Tehran’s armed and nuclear infrastructure after initial estimates projected a four- to eight-week campaign.
“Only because I wanted to go further,” Trump said, explaining why strikes continued past early targets. “I could have stopped there, and I felt it was just inappropriate.”
Trump acknowledged Iran’s closure of the Strait of Hormuz “worked for a little while” but claimed the US later took control of the strategic waterway through which a fifth of global oil consumption flowed before the war on Feb. 28.
The US president also confirmed rejecting an Iranian truce offer that proposed reopening the strait, dismissing the terms as “not good enough.” Asked whether Washington plans to intensify air strikes following the upcoming US congressional midterm elections, Trump first said it is “possible” before quickly changing course. “I can’t tell you that.”
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Orcas discuss Donald Trump and the killer apes’ concept of democracy. Front Orca warns that Trump is crashing his country’s economy and that everything he does he does for the fantastically wealthy.
Ed Miliband says that he and the Labour Party are full of shit criminalising people holding signs as terrorists despite anything he says.UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham admits to blatently lying and engaging in deception to become leader of the UK Labour Party and Prime Minister.
Mourners gather around the flag-draped remains of Palestinians killed by Israeli strikes after they were recovered from the rubble, during their funeral in Gaza City, October 1, 2026
