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Israel commits 6 ceasefire violations in Lebanon despite Rome talks

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A motorcade enters the U.S. Embassy in Rome on August 4, 2026. Lebanon and Israel began the seventh round of U.S.-mediated direct negotiations, scheduled to run through Thursday, August 6, following talks held in Rome on June 14 and 15. [Riccardo De Luca – Anadolu Agency]

The Israeli army committed six ceasefire violations Tuesday in Lebanon, according to Lebanese state-run National News Agency, despite a new round of direct negotiations between Beirut and Tel Aviv in Rome, Anadolu reports.

The reported violations came as the seventh round of US-mediated talks between the two sides opened in the Italian capital, despite the two countries signing a framework agreement in June.

In southern Lebanon, the news outlet reported that Israeli military vehicles advanced from the town of Haddatha toward the outskirts of Aita al-Jabal in the Bint Jbeil district, while Israeli forces carried out artillery shelling and operated drones and reconnaissance aircraft above the area.

It added that Israeli troops also fired machine guns toward Haddatha as military vehicles moved inside the town toward Haris.

In the east, Israeli fighter jets flew at low altitude above Baalbek and the Bekaa Valley, according to the National News Agency.

Israeli warplanes also flew above the northern Bekaa region, while additional aircraft were reported in the mountainous areas of Akkar and Hermel along the Syrian border at medium altitude.

In central Lebanon, Israeli drones maintained continuous flights above Beirut and its southern suburbs.

Before the Rome meeting, five previous rounds had been held in Washington as part of a US-sponsored negotiating process.

Despite a ceasefire agreement that took effect April 16, Israel has continued its offensive in Lebanon, which began March 2, killing 4,333 people and injuring 12,250, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry.

The agreement calls for a gradual Israeli withdrawal from all occupied Lebanese territory in exchange for the deployment of the Lebanese army and the disarmament of armed groups, in reference to Hezbollah.

Israel continues to occupy areas in southern Lebanon, some held for decades and others seized during the 2023-2024 war, while advancing more than 10 kilometers (6.2 miles) into Lebanese territory during the current offensive.

READ: Lebanon says Beirut port blast indictment to be issued ‘within months’

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Donald Trump calls for help from NATO allies in securing the Strait of Hormuz despite saying on 7 March 2026 that they don't need people to join wars after they've already won. He's challenged with the claim that he lies as much as the IDF.
Donald Trump calls for help from NATO allies in securing the Strait of Hormuz despite saying on 7 March 2026 that they don’t need people to join wars after they’ve already won. He’s challenged with the claim that he lies as much as the IDF.
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 commits 6 ceasefire violations in Lebanon despite Rome talks

Anti-Zionism is not anti-Semitism, UK appeal tribunal confirms in landmark ruling

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People, including a young woman holding a sign that reads: ‘Anti-Zionism is not anti-Semitism,’ chant slogans and carry Palestinian flags as they arrive at Potsdamer Platz during a ‘Freedom for Palestine’ protest march that drew thousands of participants on November 04, 2023 in Berlin, Germany. [Sean Gallup/Getty Images]

The UK Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) has upheld a landmark ruling that anti-Zionism is not anti-Semitism and constitutes a protected philosophical belief under the Equality Act 2010. The judgment rejects the University of Bristol’s attempt to overturn the central findings in favour of its former professor, David Miller.

The ruling reinforces a distinction which pro-Palestine campaigners, Jewish anti-Zionists and civil liberties advocates have defended for years: opposition to Zionism as a political ideology is not inherently the same as hostility towards Jewish people.

In its judgment, handed down on today, the EAT upheld the findings that the university’s decision to dismiss Miller and its refusal of his internal appeal constituted unlawful direct discrimination. It also preserved the conclusions that his dismissal was unfair and wrongful.

“ANTI-ZIONISM PROTECTED BY UK LAW”, said Miller following his victory. “Anti-Zionism is now a protected philosophical belief under the Equality Act 2010. Full stop.

The Employment Appeal Tribunal finally handed down its judgment this morning. The University of Bristol’s attempt to overturn my 2024 Employment Tribunal victory has been comprehensively dismissed. We won on every single count”

The judgment marks the latest development in a dispute going back years.

In early 2021, pro-Israel organisations and figures describing themselves as “proud Zionists” mounted a campaign demanding Miller’s dismissal over his criticism of Israel and Zionism. At the time, students at the University of Bristol defended the academic⁠, warning that allegations of anti-Semitism were being used to silence legitimate criticism of Zionism and Israeli violations of Palestinian rights.

The university dismissed Miller summarily in October 2021, despite an independent investigation clearing him of allegations of anti-Semitism.

Despite those findings, the university proceeded with disciplinary action and dismissal. The case became a prominent example of what Palestine Legal has called the “Palestine exception to free speech”: the tendency of institutions which otherwise champion freedom of expression to restrict it when the subject is Israel or Palestinian rights.

Read: The war for Israel on British campuses

Miller challenged his dismissal before the Employment Tribunal and secured a landmark victory in February 2024. The tribunal ruled that the university had discriminated against him because of his protected anti-Zionist beliefs and had dismissed him unfairly and wrongfully.

Bristol University appealed, advancing nine lengthy grounds and multiple sub-grounds against the findings. The EAT has now rejected the university’s challenges to liability.

Read: Dr Swee Ang, founder of Medical Aid for Palestinians, deplatformed by the BMA

The principle established in his case will be seen as being relevant to other employment disputes. A former Arsenal employee has sued the club, alleging that it dismissed him for expressing anti-Zionist views and supporting Palestine⁠. His representatives characterised the dismissal as political censorship rather than action against anti-Semitism.

An NHS doctor has also brought a High Court challenge over the use of the controversial International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance definition following his suspension for political speech.

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Orcas discuss Genocide-supporting and complicit Zionists. Donald Trump, Keith Starmer, David Lammy, Rachel Reeves, Angela Rayner and Wes Streeting are acknowledged as evil genocide-complicit and supporting cnuts.
Orcas discuss Genocide-supporting and complicit Zionists. Donald Trump, Keith Starmer, David Lammy, Rachel Reeves, Angela Rayner and Wes Streeting are acknowledged as evil genocide-complicit and supporting cnuts.
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. New Labour UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham continues Labour party policy of active support and complicity in Israel's genocide.
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. New Labour UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham continues Labour party policy of active support and complicity in Israel’s genocide.

Continue ReadingAnti-Zionism is not anti-Semitism, UK appeal tribunal confirms in landmark ruling

6 Saudi-flagged oil carriers reroute around Africa, avoiding Bab el-Mandeb

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A view of an oil tanker.[Morteza Nikoubazl/NurPhoto via Getty Images]

Six Saudi-flagged very large crude carriers (VLCCs) sailing in ballast have turned away from the Bab el-Mandeb route and are heading south through the Indian Ocean, ship-tracking platform MarineTraffic said Tuesday, Anadolu reports.

MarineTraffic wrote on US social media platform X that the first Automatic Identification System (AIS) destination changes for five of the six vessels were recorded July 30 as the tankers continued southward.

The Ghinah and Laynah updated their destinations to Durban, South Africa, while the Burqan initially signaled Durban before switching to Algoa Bay and later Port Elizabeth.

The Dilam and Hazm initially listed Gibraltar as their destinations. The Hazm subsequently changed its destination to Durban at 2220GMT on July 31, according to the platform.

READ: Yemen’s Houthis claim drone attack on Saudi airport

The Salam was the sixth tanker identified among the group and was also signaling a destination in South Africa.

The vessels are sailing without cargo after completing previous voyages to Asia and appear to be routing around the Cape of Good Hope instead of entering the Red Sea through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait.

The longer route around southern Africa could add at least two weeks to the journey compared with passage through Bab el-Mandeb and the Red Sea.

The diversions come amid increased security concerns after Yemen’s Houthi group threatened vessels linked to Saudi ports, prompting some shipowners to reassess voyages through the strategic waterway.

Bab el-Mandeb, between Yemen and the Horn of Africa, connects the Gulf of Aden with the Red Sea and serves as a major route for vessels traveling between Asia, the Middle East and Europe through the Suez Canal.

READ: Saudi Arabia and Iran discuss efforts to reduce regional tensions

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Donald Trump calls for help from NATO allies in securing the Strait of Hormuz despite saying on 7 March 2026 that they don't need people to join wars after they've already won. He's challenged with the claim that he lies as much as the IDF.
Donald Trump calls for help from NATO allies in securing the Strait of Hormuz despite saying on 7 March 2026 that they don’t need people to join wars after they’ve already won. He’s challenged with the claim that he lies as much as the IDF.
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 Reading6 Saudi-flagged oil carriers reroute around Africa, avoiding Bab el-Mandeb

Israel allocates $37M to develop alleged Jewish heritage sites in occupied West Bank amid intensified settlement expansion

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Bezalel Smotrich, Israel’s finance minister, during an interview in Tel Aviv, Israel on, 5 December 2024 [Kobi Wolf/Bloomberg/ Getty Images]

Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich announced Tuesday the allocation of $37 million to develop alleged Jewish heritage sites in the West Bank, amid intensified illegal settlement expansion in the occupied territory, Anadolu reports.

“For the first time in history, 113 million shekels ($37 million) will be allocated to develop more than 70 heritage sites in Judea and Samaria,” Smotrich said on the US social media company X, using Israel’s biblical term for the West Bank.

Smotrich, leader of the far-right Religious Zionism party, did not identify the targeted sites.

In May, the Knesset approved the first reading of a bill to establish the so-called “Judea and Samaria Heritage Authority,” which would place Roman, Byzantine and Crusader-era sites under the authority of Israel’s Heritage Ministry.

READ: Israeli occupiers burn 3 Palestinian vehicles, damage power grid in West Bank

The bill also allows for the confiscation and purchase of real estate related to such sites, prompting the Palestinian Authority to warn that the measure aims to expand Israeli control and deepen illegal settlement activity in occupied Palestinian territory.

According to Smotrich, 104 illegal settlements and 160 outposts have been approved in the West Bank since the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu took office in late 2022.

Around 750,000 occupiers live in 156 illegal settlements and 360 settlement outposts in the occupied West Bank, including occupied East Jerusalem, according to Palestinian figures.

UN Security Council Resolution 2334, adopted in 2016, states that Israeli settlements in Palestinian territory occupied since 1967, including East Jerusalem, have “no legal validity” and constitute a flagrant violation of international law.

​​​​​​​In a landmark advisory opinion in July 2024, 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 defense minister backtracks on West Bank commander’s dismissal amid army row

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

Donald Trump calls for help from NATO allies in securing the Strait of Hormuz despite saying on 7 March 2026 that they don't need people to join wars after they've already won. He's challenged with the claim that he lies as much as the IDF.
Donald Trump calls for help from NATO allies in securing the Strait of Hormuz despite saying on 7 March 2026 that they don’t need people to join wars after they’ve already won. He’s challenged with the claim that he lies as much as the IDF.
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
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. New Labour UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham continues Labour party policy of active support and complicity in Israel's genocide.
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. New Labour UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham continues Labour party policy of active support and complicity in Israel’s genocide.

Continue ReadingIsrael allocates $37M to develop alleged Jewish heritage sites in occupied West Bank amid intensified settlement expansion