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‘A stain on our city’: UK urged to ban Israeli property fair selling stolen Palestinian land

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Israeli heavy duty machines carry out excavation work, damaging Palestinian-owned lands to build an illegal Jewish settlement in the Jabal Juheihan area of Hebron, West Bank on October 27, 2025.[ Wisam Hashlamoun – Anadolu Agency]

UK ministers are under mounting pressure to ban a London real estate event accused of marketing land in illegal Israeli settlements, after several MPs challenged the government in Parliament and Green Party leader Zack Polanski warned that allowing it to proceed would be a “stain” on the capital.

The Great Israeli Real Estate Event 2026 is scheduled to take place in London on Sunday 14 June. Its website says attendees will be able to meet consultants on Aliyah, higher education, finances, taxation, mortgages, transferring funds and home management, and invites them to “explore the best Anglo neighbourhoods to find your dream home”. It lists areas including Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, Ramat Beit Shemesh, Netanya, Raanana, Modiin, Herzliya, Haifa, Ashdod, Beersheva and Ashkelon, while offering “special deals exclusive to event participants”.

The event promotes property in illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, including Gush Etzion, alongside homes inside Israel. During a debate in Parliament on Tuesday, Liberal Democrat foreign affairs spokesman Calum Miller described the event  as “Palestinian land being advertised, bartered and sold on the streets of our capital.”

Addressing the Commons, Richard Burgon, the Labour MP for Leeds East, urged Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper to stop the event, drawing a direct comparison with Russia’s occupation of Ukraine.

“Let us just imagine that, this weekend in our capital city, there was a ‘great Russian real estate event’ selling off Ukrainian land. Quite rightly and without hesitation, the Government would move to ban such an illegal event. This weekend in London, there is the Great Israeli Real Estate Event, openly advertising the illegal sale of land in the illegally occupied Palestinian territories. Given that the Government rightly recognised the state of Palestine, surely we should now move to ban this event, which is selling off land illegally in Palestine.”

READ: 140 Labour MPs urge UK to ban trade with illegal Israeli settlements

Cooper did not commit to banning the event, but said the government was looking into it. “We are pursuing that particular event. If we find any cases where there are breaches of UK law, we will also pursue them,” she told MPs. “The wider issue is that nobody in the UK should be advertising illegal settlements. Nobody should be pursuing illegal settlements. No businesses or organisations should be getting involved in them.”

Polanski, leader of the Green Party of England and Wales, also wrote to Cooper and Mayor of London Sadiq Khan demanding urgent intervention, describing the planned event as “deeply disturbing”.

“This is obscene,” Polanski wrote on X. “I’ve called on @MayorofLondon and @YvetteCooperMP to stop the event and for this govt to take real action on illegal settlements.”

In his letter, Polanski said the event is due to come to London “to auction stolen Palestinian land to the highest bidder” and “proudly promotes the sale of land in settlements like ‘Gush Etzion’ in the occupied West Bank, marked as illegal under international law”.

Polanski warned that “many Londoners are rightfully concerned that an event promoting land confiscation and the destruction of homes is set to take place in our city.”

Addressing Khan, Polanski said: “Sadiq, you have previously stood with campaigners and Londoners of conscience in condemning the DSEI arms fair, and I welcomed your leadership on that issue. I ask that you now take the same principled stance against this proposed land sale, which would be a stain on our city if allowed to proceed.”

READ: 6 nations impose sanctions on networks financing, enabling occupiers’ attacks in West Bank

Polanski also called on Cooper to move beyond statements of concern. “Your government has a moral and legal responsibility to take action against illegal settlements,” he wrote. “This must include banning the import of settlement goods and imposing further sanctions on all Israeli Government officials responsible for authorising illegal settlements. Empty condemnation is not enough — we need to see action.”

The Green Party leader also highlighted Bank Leumi’s sponsorship of the event, saying the Israeli bank had been identified by Human Rights Watch for directly supporting settlement expansion through mortgage loans and work with construction companies building on stolen Palestinian land, including in Gush Etzion.

Cooper used the wider debate to announce new sanctions against organisations accused of supporting illegal settlements and settler violence, and said the government had strengthened business guidance to make clear that British citizens and businesses should not conduct economic or financial activity in illegal settlements.

“The expansion of the illegal settlements is not only deeply wrong, because Palestinians are being forced from their own land, sometimes in the most brutal of circumstances, but deliberately designed to try to make it impossible to ever get to a two-state solution,” Cooper told MPs. “That is the purpose for some of those involved, and we should be very clear on that and call it out for what it is.”

However, Cooper stopped short of backing a formal trade ban. She said the government wanted to target illegal settlements and activity linked to them, while avoiding an impact on what she described as “long-standing, legitimate trade” with Israel.

READ: Israel allocates $51M to build 69 illegal settlements in occupied West Bank, watchdog says

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Keir Starmer explains that UK is actively supporting Israel's genocidal expansion and repeats his previous quotation that he supports Zionism "without qualification". Keir Starmer said “I said it loud and clear – and meant it – that I support Zionism without qualification.” here: https://www.jewishnews.co.uk/keir-starmer-interview-i-will-work-to-eradicate-antisemitism-from-day-one/
Keir Starmer explains that UK is actively supporting Israel’s genocidal expansion and repeats his previous quotation that he supports Zionism “without qualification”. Keir Starmer said “I said it loud and clear – and meant it – that I support Zionism without qualification.” here: https://www.jewishnews.co.uk/keir-starmer-interview-i-will-work-to-eradicate-antisemitism-from-day-one/
Climate science denier Donald Trump confirms that he knows nothing about democracy and that more liquid gold is being secured according to his policy of global privateering.
Climate science denier Donald Trump confirms that he knows nothing about democracy and that more liquid gold is being secured according to his policy of global privateering.
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 Reading‘A stain on our city’: UK urged to ban Israeli property fair selling stolen Palestinian land

Keir Starmer explains that UK is actively supporting Israel's genocidal expansion and repeats his previous quotation that he supports Zionism "without qualification". Keir Starmer said “I said it loud and clear – and meant it – that I support Zionism without qualification.” here: https://www.jewishnews.co.uk/keir-starmer-interview-i-will-work-to-eradicate-antisemitism-from-day-one/
Keir Starmer explains that UK is actively supporting Israel’s genocidal expansion and repeats his previous quotation that he supports Zionism “without qualification”. Keir Starmer said “I said it loud and clear – and meant it – that I support Zionism without qualification.” here: https://www.jewishnews.co.uk/keir-starmer-interview-i-will-work-to-eradicate-antisemitism-from-day-one/
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.
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.
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Iran says nearly 3,500 people killed in US-Israel attacks since February

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A symbolic classroom is set up at Vanak Square in memory of students who lost their lives in attacks carried out on February 28 in Minab, Hormozgan province, with photographs of students from Shajarat al-Tayyiba Girls Primary School placed on desks and the phrase “Today’s lesson: defense of the homeland” written on the blackboard, highlighting the impact and losses caused by the attacks, in Tehran, capital of Iran, on March 29, 2026. [Fatemeh Bahrami – Anadolu Agency]

Iran’s Foundation of Martyrs and Veterans Affairs said on Wednesday that nearly 3,500 people have been killed in attacks by the US and Israel since the outbreak of hostilities on Feb. 28, Anadolu Agency reports.

According to statistics released by the foundation, 3,499 people have been killed so far in the war launched by Washington and Tel Aviv.

The dead included 2,988 men and 511 women, the foundation said, adding that 1,609 of those killed were unmarried.

The region has remained on edge since the US and Israel launched the airstrikes on Iran, triggering Iranian retaliation against Israel and other regional countries hosting US assets.

READ: 2 high-ranking military personnel killed in Monday’s Israeli strikes on Iran

A temporary ceasefire was reached on April 8, but a permanent deal to end the conflict has yet to be signed.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards on Wednesday said they carried out attacks on US assets in Kuwait, Jordan, and Bahrain after American strikes on southern Iran.

The drone and missile strikes came after US President Donald Trump said Iran had downed a US Apache helicopter a day earlier.

Trump later said in a social media post that Iran took “too long” to negotiate an agreement and will now “have to pay the price.” He, however, did not elaborate on the status of the truce.

WATCH: 100 Days In: Palestine, Iran, and the War Remaking the Middle East | Palestine This Week with Mouin Rabbani

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

Keir Starmer explains that UK is actively supporting Israel's genocidal expansion and repeats his previous quotation that he supports Zionism "without qualification". Keir Starmer said “I said it loud and clear – and meant it – that I support Zionism without qualification.” here: https://www.jewishnews.co.uk/keir-starmer-interview-i-will-work-to-eradicate-antisemitism-from-day-one/
Keir Starmer explains that UK is actively supporting Israel’s genocidal expansion and repeats his previous quotation that he supports Zionism “without qualification”. Keir Starmer said “I said it loud and clear – and meant it – that I support Zionism without qualification.” here: https://www.jewishnews.co.uk/keir-starmer-interview-i-will-work-to-eradicate-antisemitism-from-day-one/

Keir Starmer confirms that he doesn't know anything about democracy.
Keir Starmer confirms that he doesn’t know anything about democracy.
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 ReadingIran says nearly 3,500 people killed in US-Israel attacks since February

Israel conducting ‘state-led annexation’, ‘ethnic cleansing’ in West Bank: Amnesty International

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

A group of Palestinians gather in the Khirbet Hamsa area holding a protest against Israel’s plan in the region near the city of Hebron in the West Bank, Palestine, on June 09, 2026. [Mamoun Wazwaz – Anadolu Agency]

Amnesty International accused Israel on Wednesday of accelerating a state-driven campaign of “ethnic cleansing” and forcible transfer of Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, in a new 150-page report focused on Bedouin and herding communities in Area C of the territory, Anadolu reports.

“Over the past three and a half years Israeli authorities have accelerated a state-sponsored campaign of ethnic cleansing in the West Bank, uprooting, dispossessing and forcibly transferring Palestinian communities,” Agnes Callamard, Amnesty International’s secretary general, said in a statement.

“This is not the work of rogue actors or what the international community has repeatedly labelled as extremist settlers, organizations or one or two ministers. What we are witnessing is deliberate, state-led annexation, in complete violation of international law unfolding before the eyes of the entire world,” said the report.

“The international community has either been complicit in or far too passive in the face of Israel’s repeated and gross violations of international law, and its flouting of UN General Assembly and Security Council resolutions. It must clearly signal that the era of tacit acquiescence to Israel’s ethnic cleansing and annexation is over,” it added.

At least 117 predominantly Bedouin and herding communities have faced full or partial displacement between January 2023 and April 2026, according to UN data that was cited by Amnesty.

The rights group noted that Israeli policy has increasingly enabled settlement expansion, land seizures and settler violence, which together have created conditions forcing Palestinians from their homes. By April 2026, at least 5,910 people had been forcibly displaced, it said.

Amnesty also points to a sharp rise in settlement outposts and demolitions, citing 363 outposts established in the West Bank, many since 2023, and the demolition of 3,407 Palestinian homes and structures between 2023 and 2026.

READ: Former European leaders urge tougher EU action against Israel over Gaza and West Bank

The report claims evidence of coordinated state policy aimed at “formal annexation” of Area C — a section of the territory that remains under full Israeli security and civil control under the Oslo Accords, and which makes up more than 60% of the West Bank — alongside financial and political support for settlements and increased transfers of authority from military to civilian control.

Israel did not immediately respond to the report’s core allegations, though a Defense Ministry response cited in the report said forces act against settler violence and investigate failures to intervene.

Amnesty said it examined 27 communities, interviewed dozens of Palestinians and reviewed hundreds of images and videos.

The report also criticizes the UK, with Amnesty UK urging it to ban trade linked to settlements and impose broader sanctions.

Kerry Moscogiuri, Amnesty International UK’s chief executive, said that “the current UK government position of condemning Israeli settlements while continuing to allow trade with them is not just incoherent but is encouraging the Israeli authorities to escalate its brutal ethnic cleansing campaign in the West Bank.”

BLOG: Settlers, sanctions and impunity

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

Keir Starmer explains that UK is actively supporting Israel's genocidal expansion and repeats his previous quotation that he supports Zionism "without qualification". Keir Starmer said “I said it loud and clear – and meant it – that I support Zionism without qualification.” here: https://www.jewishnews.co.uk/keir-starmer-interview-i-will-work-to-eradicate-antisemitism-from-day-one/
Keir Starmer explains that UK is actively supporting Israel’s genocidal expansion and repeats his previous quotation that he supports Zionism “without qualification”. Keir Starmer said “I said it loud and clear – and meant it – that I support Zionism without qualification.” here: https://www.jewishnews.co.uk/keir-starmer-interview-i-will-work-to-eradicate-antisemitism-from-day-one/

Keir Starmer confirms that he doesn't know anything about democracy.
Keir Starmer confirms that he doesn’t know anything about democracy.
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 conducting ‘state-led annexation’, ‘ethnic cleansing’ in West Bank: Amnesty International

Former European leaders urge tougher EU action against Israel over Gaza and West Bank

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

Palestinians inspect the destruction after an Israeli airstrike targeted tents sheltering displaced Palestinians and a residential building in the Al-Mawasi area of Khan Yunis, Gaza, Palestine on June 07, 2026. [Abed Rahim Khatib – Anadolu Agency ]

A group of more than 460 former European political figures has written an editorial calling on the EU to take tougher action against Israel over its military operations in Gaza and the occupied West Bank, Anadolu reports.

The signatories include former Irish leaders Leo Varadkar and Eamon Gilmore, as well as former European Parliament President Pat Cox. Other former prime ministers include Italy’s Massimo d’Alema and Romano Prodi, Slovenia’s Robert Golob and Sweden’s Stefan Lofven, according to a report by Irish broadcaster RTE on Wednesday.

The op-ed comes ahead of a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Luxembourg next week and an EU summit in Brussels, where proposals to curtail trade with Israel and suspend parts of the EU-Israel Association Agreement will be discussed.

The 27-member bloc has so far not imposed any measures against the state of Israel, which has continued its genocide in Israel since October 2023 despite a ceasefire, and also attacked Lebanon, Iran and Syria.

READ: UN warns of ‘immense’ humanitarian needs as Israel allows only one crossing into Gaza

The group set out its demands in strong terms, writing: “The European Union cannot stand aside.

“It must now act urgently to implement recommendations such as those repeatedly made since July 2025 in a series of public statements by a group of now over 460 European former ministers, ambassadors and senior officials.”

It added: “Specifically, the EU must suspend Israel’s preferential trade access under the EU-Israel Association Agreement, thereby impacting one third of Israel’s total trade in goods with the world.

“This requires leadership from the European Commission and the European External Action Service who, in line with past practice, should propose that these measures be enacted through a qualified majority vote by EU member states.”

Kaja Kallas, the EU’s foreign policy chief, says sanctions on Israel have not been imposed due to a lack of consensus among the member states of the union.

READ: European countries warn Israeli NGO law threatens humanitarian response in Gaza, West Bank

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

Keir Starmer explains that UK is actively supporting Israel's genocidal expansion and repeats his previous quotation that he supports Zionism "without qualification". Keir Starmer said “I said it loud and clear – and meant it – that I support Zionism without qualification.” here: https://www.jewishnews.co.uk/keir-starmer-interview-i-will-work-to-eradicate-antisemitism-from-day-one/
Keir Starmer explains that UK is actively supporting Israel’s genocidal expansion and repeats his previous quotation that he supports Zionism “without qualification”. Keir Starmer said “I said it loud and clear – and meant it – that I support Zionism without qualification.” here: https://www.jewishnews.co.uk/keir-starmer-interview-i-will-work-to-eradicate-antisemitism-from-day-one/

Keir Starmer confirms that he doesn't know anything about democracy.
Keir Starmer confirms that he doesn’t know anything about democracy.
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 ReadingFormer European leaders urge tougher EU action against Israel over Gaza and West Bank