My understanding is that I am unable to mention many issues contained in this article due to secret court orders: UK judge Gags Palestine Action Defendants to Secure ‘Terror’ Stitch-Up so I won’t do that. What I will say is that the UK government and state has gone to considerable lengths to restrict the rights of Palestine Action defendants and supporters of Palestine Action persecuted for holding signs.
At Woolwich Crown Court, there has been a shocking development in the Filton case, five of the six defence barristers have left the trial following judicial rulings which cannot be reported until the end of the trial.
A spokesperson for Defend Our Juries said today:
“In recent years we have seen judicial rulings that banned climate campaigners from saying the words ‘fuel poverty’ and ‘climate change’ in their trials.
Today we understand a judicial ruling has been given that goes even further, and as a response the legal professionals representing five of the six defendants on trial in the Filton case have no choice but to leave the trial because they have been left with literally nothing they can say in closing arguments.
We should all be alarmed to hear that the legal process has been so corrupted that, today we have lawyers in the UK walking away from a trial because it is impossible for them to do their job of defending their clients.”
The trial of the first six defendants from the group known as the ‘Filton24’ has reached the stage of closing arguments. Five of the six defendants will now be giving their own closing speeches as they have no legal representation.
This is a retrial on charges of criminal damage, after the 6 Filton defendants were acquitted in February 2026 by a jury for the charges of aggravated burglary and violent disorder. The case relates to an action against Elbit’s weapons ‘research and development’ hub in Filton, Bristol, in which they are accused of destroying Israeli quadcopter drones.
Zarah Sultana Exposes ‘Attack on Civil Liberties’ That British Media Can’t Report
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The Palestine Centre for Prisoners’ Studies has reported a sharp rise in the detention and abuse of Palestinian children since the outbreak of the war on the Gaza Strip in October 2023, documenting more than 1,800 arrests of minors, including some as young as 10.
In a recent report, the centre said these arrests are not random but part of a systematic policy targeting Palestinian children, within a broader escalation of repression. It added that tens of thousands of children have been detained since the beginning of the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories.
The report noted a significant increase in violations since the start of the war, with harsher forms of abuse and torture against children. It highlighted serious practices such as starvation, which it said led to the death of 17-year-old detainee Walid Ahmad from the town of Silwad, inside Megiddo prison, after his health deteriorated due to lack of food and medical care.
According to the centre, arrests are often carried out in “violent and brutal” ways, including night raids on family homes, destruction of property, and the forcible detention of children. They are then transferred to interrogation centres, where they face beatings and humiliation, and are held in conditions lacking basic health standards.
READ: 2 children among 4 Palestinians killed in attacks by Israeli army, occupiers in West Bank
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This work by Middle East Monitor is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
The International Commission to Support Palestinian Rights has said Israel is carrying out a “slow genocide” in Gaza Strip, warning that famine continues to spread as humanitarian access remains severely limited.
Speaking in a televised interview, the commission’s head, Salah Abdel-Aati, said the situation has deteriorated sharply, with aid entering Gaza over the past six months not exceeding 40 per cent of residents’ needs. “Famine continues to take hold in the Strip,” he said.
Abdel-Aati added that Israeli actions have included violations of the ceasefire and the targeting of civilians, stating that 823 people have been killed over the past six months, most of them women and children, with a further 2,280 reported injured.
READ: Global Sumud flotilla sets sail from Sicily to break Gaza blockade
He said Israeli forces have expanded areas under their control inside Gaza, describing a “yellow line” that now encompasses more than 55 per cent of the territory, with an additional 10 per cent being brought under control, raising the total to around 65 per cent.
He also pointed to recent attacks, including the killing of a mother and two children, and said that 32 civilian police officers and civilians had been killed within a 48-hour period.
Abdel-Aati stated that around 90 per cent of Gaza has been destroyed due to the use of more than 250,000 tonnes of explosives, which he said was equivalent to “12 atomic bombs like those dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki”, across an area of roughly 360 square kilometres.
He further said Israel is preventing the entry of caravans and temporary housing, leaving residents living in tents under what he described as catastrophic conditions in both summer and winter, with famine worsening as aid remains far below required levels.
READ: UK-based group urges sanctions on 62 Israeli lawmakers over death penalty bill
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Article by Ana Vračar republished from peoples dispatch under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 (CC BY-SA) license.
Israeli authorities are reportedly pursuing another six-month extension to the imprisonment of Palestinian pediatrician Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya, taken by Israeli occupation forces from Kamal Adwan Hospital over two years ago, ahead of a hearing announced for Tuesday, April 28. Dr. Abu Safiya has been held in administrative detention – a status that allows Israeli authorities to imprison Palestinians for an undefined amount of time without charge or trial – ever since he was taken captive in December 2024.
Over the past months, family members, health workers, and UN experts have raised the alarm over Dr. Abu Safiya’s condition, warning of torture and deteriorating health. “Dr. Abu Safiya’s lawyer has not been allowed to meet him for more than two months, ever since his transfer to Ketziot Prison and despite reports of violence, significant weight loss and medical neglect,” Physicians for Human Rights Israel recently wrote.
Ahead of the hearing date, the pediatrician’s family appealed again for the international community to mobilize and secure Dr. Abu Safiya’s release. “We cannot understand how a man who saves children can be tortured and imprisoned in a place where children are killed,” his son, Ilyas Abu Safiya said. “We cannot understand how a doctor who dedicated his life to protecting and healing them, can be locked away in a place known for injustice, violence and the death of children.”
“The fear for my father’s fate grows inside us every day,” Ilyas Abu Safiya stated, adding that the feeling is shared by families of all Palestinian political prisoners. The fears have only grown worse, various sources document, since the Israeli Knesset adopted death penalty legislation that foresees death by hanging for Palestinians.
According to information published by Healthcare Workers Watch on April 17, Dr. Abu Safiya is among 83 health workers confirmed to be still imprisoned by Israel. The network documented nearly 446 cases of doctors, nurses, paramedics, and other health workers being seized by the occupation since October 7, 2023, of which 323 have apparently been released. Healthcare Workers Watch noted that of the health workers still held, 75 were from Gaza: including 27 senior, 41 mid-level, and 7 junior staff. Sixty among these health workers were kidnapped from inside health facilities.
On average, each of the Gazan health workers “has so far spent 670 days in detention,” Healthcare Workers Watch wrote, with some held for over 880 days. “The currently detained healthcare workers have spent collectively over 152 years in Israeli detention,” the network emphasized.
People’s Health Dispatch is a fortnightly bulletin published by the People’s Health Movement and Peoples Dispatch. For more articles and to subscribe to People’s Health Dispatch, click here.
Article by Ana Vračar republished from peoples dispatch under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 (CC BY-SA) license.
