Flotilla Day 15: Onwards to Gaza – with Rima Hassan
Palestinian groups accuse Israel of “liquidating” prisoner before release
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![Palestinian prisoners are transported by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital for medical examinations after months-long detention by Israeli army, on September 2, 2025, in Deir al-Balah, Gaza. [Mohammed Nassar - Anadolu Agency]](https://i0.wp.com/www.middleeastmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/AA-20250902-39000355-39000346-PALESTINIAN_PRISONERS_RELEASED_AFTER_BEING_HELD_FOR_MONTHS_BY_ISRAEL.jpg?fit=920%2C613&ssl=1)
Two Palestinian organisations said Sunday that a Palestinian detainee was subjected to a “liquidation operation” while in Israeli custody before being released in critical condition.
In a joint statement, the Palestinian Commission of Prisoners’ Affairs and the Palestinian Prisoners’ Club accused Israeli authorities of carrying out an assassination inside interrogation cells against Mahmoud al-Wardian, 48, from Bethlehem. The groups said he was released only after his health deteriorated severely.
According to the statement, Israeli forces arrested al-Wardian on 18 August at his home in Bethlehem and transferred him to Ofer Prison, west of Ramallah, for interrogation, while denying him access to his lawyer.
On 25 August, he was moved from Ofer Prison to Hadassah Hospital in Jerusalem in critical condition. The statement added that he arrived unconscious and was admitted to intensive care, despite having had no prior health issues before his arrest.
READ: Israeli forces raid primary school in Bethlehem, assault mayor and other officials
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Qatar’s emir urges concrete steps to confront Israeli ‘bloodlust,’ calls for united regional stance
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![Reporters follow Qatar's Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani's address at the media centre, during the opening of the 2025 ArabIslamic emergency summit in Doha on September 15, 2025. [Photo by MAHMUD HAMS/AFP via Getty Images]](https://i0.wp.com/www.middleeastmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/GettyImages-2235059760-1-1.jpg?fit=920%2C613&ssl=1)
Reporters follow Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani’s address at the media centre, during the opening of the 2025 ArabIslamic emergency summit in Doha on September 15, 2025. [Photo by MAHMUD HAMS/AFP via Getty Images]
Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani called Monday for “concrete steps” to confront the Israeli government’s “bloodlust,” urging a united regional stance, Anadolu reports.
Addressing an Arab-Islamic summit in Doha, Tamim said Israel’s strike in the Qatari capital last week that killed five Hamas members and a Qatari officer “proved that freeing hostages is not a priority for the Israeli government.”
He said Israel’s “extremist settlers’ government wants sending aircraft to the region to become routine, as it dreams of making the Arab region its sphere of influence.”
The Qatari leader said Israel is working to divide Syria, “but its plans will not succeed.”
READ: ‘Israel must be very, very careful in its dealings with Qatar,’ warns Trump
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To advance ethnic cleansing, Israel wants to make Gaza City ‘unlivable’: UN rapporteur
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![UN Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese attends a press conference at the Italian Chamber of Deputies in Rome, Italy, on July 29, 2025. [Riccardo De Luca - Anadolu Agency]](https://i0.wp.com/www.middleeastmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/AA-20250729-38697333-38697297-FRANCESCA_ALBANESE_MEETS_THE_PRESS_IN_ROME.jpg?fit=920%2C613&ssl=1)
UN Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese attends a press conference at the Italian Chamber of Deputies in Rome, Italy, on July 29, 2025. [Riccardo De Luca – Anadolu Agency]
Israel’s ongoing assault on Gaza City aims to render the area uninhabitable as part of a broader plan of ethnic cleansing, UN Special Rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territories Francesca Albanese warned Monday, Anadolu reports.
Speaking at a press briefing in Geneva, Albanese said Israel’s offensive on Gaza’s largest urban center amounts to “full destruction.”
“The ongoing assault to take the last remnant of Gaza will not only devastate the Palestinians but also endanger the remaining Israeli hostages,” she said.
Albanese said the attack on Gaza City is already displacing hundreds of thousands. “Israel is bombing using unconventional weapons… trying to forcibly evacuate the 800,000 Palestinians who were seeking refuge there. Why? Because this is the last piece of Gaza that needs to be rendered unlivable before advancing the ethnic cleansing of that piece of land. And then probably they will move to the West Bank,” she said.
READ: Zamir says Hamas will not be defeated even if Israel occupies Gaza
She stressed the offensive is not about securing territory but about erasing its viability for residents. “It’s happening already. It’s not that this is a future and uncertain event … destroying entire neighborhoods, remnants of buildings where people were seeking shelter,” she said.
Calling the operation “unlawful,” the rapporteur said Israel has no legal grounds to continue its military presence in Gaza. She cited the International Court of Justice’s advisory opinion requiring Israel to dismantle settlements, withdraw troops, stop exploiting Palestinian resources, pay reparations, and facilitate the return of displaced Palestinians.
Albanese warned that some states are attempting to shift focus away from these legal obligations, without specifying which countries.
The Israeli army has continued a brutal offensive on the Gaza Strip, killing nearly 65,000 Palestinians since October 2023. The military campaign has devastated the enclave, which is facing famine.
READ: 80 Israeli economists warn Gaza reoccupation to spark ‘severe economic crisis’
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Far-right London rally sees record crowds and violent clashes with police
More than 110,000 people join Tommy Robinson-organised protest featuring racist conspiracy theories and hate speech
More than 110,000 people have taken part in a far-right street protest organised by the activist Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, known as Tommy Robinson, in what is thought to be the largest nationalist event in decades.
Marchers travelled to London by train and coach for a demonstration, which was billed as a “festival of free speech”, but by its conclusion had amplified racist conspiracy theories and anti-Muslim hate speech across Whitehall.
The scale of the protest vastly outgrew police estimates resulting in tense and at times violent clashes between protesters and police.
The Metropolitan police said at least 25 people were arrested and 26 officers were injured, including four who were seriously hurt. Marchers were arrested for a range of offences, including affray, violent disorder, assaults and criminal damage.
The crowds were addressed by Elon Musk, who dialled in via video link and spoke of “the rapidly increasing erosion of Britain”, before calling for the dissolution of the UK parliament.
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