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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

Yemen’s Houthis claim drone attack on Saudi airport

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

Security forces stand guard as Houthis gather at Sabeen Square to hold a demonstration in support of Houthi leader in Yemen Abdul Malik al-Houthi’s statements in Sanaa, Yemen on July 17, 2026. [Mohammed Hamoud – Anadolu Agency]

Yemen’s Houthi group claimed Tuesday that it carried out a drone strike on a “sensitive target” at Najran Airport in southern Saudi Arabia, Anadolu reports.

Military spokesman Yahya Saree alleged on the US social media company X that the attack accurately hit its intended target.

He said the operation was launched in response to what he described as Saudi drone violations of Yemeni airspace over the provinces of Saada and Hajjah.

Saree warned that any future violation of Yemen’s airspace “will not pass without response and punishment.”

​​​​​​​There was no immediate comment from Saudi authorities on the claim.

READ: Yemen’s army says several Houthi fighters killed, injured in Taiz attack

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
Continue ReadingYemen’s Houthis claim drone attack on Saudi airport

‘Climate change kills’: Pedro Sánchez speaks plain truth to Spain’s deniers

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https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2026/aug/02/climate-change-kills-pedro-sanchez-speaks-plain-truth-to-spains-deniers

Pedro Sánchez: ‘It’s not enough to address the consequences of the climate emergency … we have to reduce its causes.’ Photograph: Mariscal/EPA

PM has long history of speaking out on realities of global heating but political opponents remain unnmoved

Just over four years ago, Spain’s prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, visited a small town in the south-western region of Extremadura that had been affected by one of the wildfires devouring tens of thousands of hectares of land across the country.

That summer’s blazes had left two people dead in the northern region of Castilla y León and another man there fatally burned after the excavator he was using to try to dig a firebreak to protect his town was swallowed up by the flames. A street-sweeper in Madrid had collapsed and died from heatstroke while on shift in soaring temperatures that summer. The paramedics who tried to save him noted that his body temperature was 41.6C (107F).

“I want to make something very clear,” the prime minister told reporters in Extremadura that day in 2022. “Climate change kills: it kills people, as we’ve seen; it also kills our ecosystem, our biodiversity, and it also destroys the things we as a society hold dear – our houses, our businesses, our livestock.”

…

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2026/aug/02/climate-change-kills-pedro-sanchez-speaks-plain-truth-to-spains-deniers

Nigel Farage urges you to ignore facts and reality and be a climate science denier like him and his Deputy Richard Tice. He says that Reform UK has received £Millions and £Millions from the fossil fuel industry to promote climate denial and destroy the planet.
Nigel Farage urges you to ignore facts and reality and be a climate science denier like him and his Deputy Richard Tice. He says that Reform UK has received £Millions and £Millions from the fossil fuel industry to promote climate denial and destroy the planet.
Donald Trump urges you to be a Climate Science denier like him. He says that he makes millions and millions for destroying the planet, Burn, Baby, Burn and Flood, Baby, Flood.
Donald Trump urges you to be a Climate Science denier like him. He says that he makes millions and millions for destroying the planet, Burn, Baby, Burn and Flood, Baby, Flood.
Orcas comment on killer apes destroying the planet by continuing to burn fossil fuels.
Orcas comment on killer apes destroying the planet by continuing to burn fossil fuels.
Continue Reading‘Climate change kills’: Pedro Sánchez speaks plain truth to Spain’s deniers

July was driest month in southern England since records began

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https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2026/aug/03/july-driest-month-southern-england-since-records-began

A lone ice cream van is surrounded by parched grassland at Blackheath Common in London, 3 August 2026. Photograph: Neil Hall/EPA

England and Wales provisionally record driest July in nearly 200 years, Met Office says

July 2026 was the driest month in southern England since records began nearly 200 years ago, the Met Office has said.

England and Wales also provisionally recorded their driest July since records began in 1836. Wales had its joint warmest July on record for mean temperature, and England recorded its second warmest July.

The Met Office said the “remarkable conditions” this year came amid a summer marked by multiple heat records.

The heatwaves have been made more intense and more likely by the fossil fuel-driven climate crisis. The heatwave that affected western Europe at the end of June was the most severe and widespread ever.

July was the sixth consecutive month this year to have had above average mean temperatures, with only January so far experiencing mean temperatures below average.

…

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2026/aug/03/july-driest-month-southern-england-since-records-began

Nigel Farage urges you to ignore facts and reality and be a climate science denier like him and his Deputy Richard Tice. He says that Reform UK has received £Millions and £Millions from the fossil fuel industry to promote climate denial and destroy the planet.
Nigel Farage urges you to ignore facts and reality and be a climate science denier like him and his Deputy Richard Tice. He says that Reform UK has received £Millions and £Millions from the fossil fuel industry to promote climate denial and destroy the planet.
Donald Trump urges you to be a Climate Science denier like him. He says that he makes millions and millions for destroying the planet, Burn, Baby, Burn and Flood, Baby, Flood.
Donald Trump urges you to be a Climate Science denier like him. He says that he makes millions and millions for destroying the planet, Burn, Baby, Burn and Flood, Baby, Flood.
Orcas comment on killer apes destroying the planet by continuing to burn fossil fuels.
Orcas comment on killer apes destroying the planet by continuing to burn fossil fuels.
Continue ReadingJuly was driest month in southern England since records began