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U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance (L) and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (R) speak to the media before the interdelegational meeting at the Prime Minister’s Office in West Jerusalem, on October 22, 2025. [POOL / Marc Israel Sellem – Anadolu Agency]
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has ordered his ruling coalition not to advance bills for annexation of the occupied West Bank in the Knesset following US criticism, a lawmaker said Thursday, Anadolu reports.
Coalition Chairman Ofir Katz said Netanyahu instructed him “not to advance proposals regarding applying sovereignty in Judea and Samaria (West Bank) until further notice,” the daily Yedioth Ahronoth reported.
On Wednesday, the Knesset approved in a preliminary reading two bills to annex the West Bank and the Ma’ale Adumim settlement bloc. Both drafts still must pass three additional readings to become law.
The move drew US fire with US President Donald Trump saying that he would not allow Israel to annex the West Bank. His Vice President JD Vance, who concluded a 3-day visit to Israel on Thursday, also called the Knesset vote “a stupid political stunt.”
Netanyahu, for his part, called the vote on the West Bank annexation bills “a deliberate political provocation by the opposition to sow discord during Vice President JD Vance’s visit to Israel.”
In a statement by his office, Netanyahu said that the two bills were sponsored by opposition members of the Knesset.
“The Likud party and the religious parties (the principal coalition members) did not vote for these bills, except for one disgruntled Likud member who was recently fired from the chairmanship of a Knesset committee,” Netanyahu said. “Without Likud support, these bills are unlikely to go anywhere.”
Annexing the West Bank would effectively end the possibility of implementing a two-state solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict as outlined in UN resolutions.
In a landmark opinion last July, 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.
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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.Genocide denier and Current UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer is quoted that he supports Zionism without qualification. He also confirms that UK air force support has been essential in Israel’s mass-murdering genocide. Includes URLs https://www.declassifieduk.org/keir-starmers-100-spy-flights-over-gaza-in-support-of-israel/ and https://youtu.be/O74hZCKKdpAOrcas 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.
This work by Middle East Monitor is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance gives a speech in West Jerusalem, on October 22, 2025. [POOL / Marc Israel Sellem – Anadolu Agency]
US Vice President JD Vance on Thursday ruled out Israel’s annexation of the West Bank, calling a Knesset vote for annexing the occupied territory “a stupid political stunt,” Anadolu reports.
“If it was a political stunt, it was a very stupid political stunt, and I personally take some insult to it. The West Bank is not going to be annexed by Israel,” Vance told reporters in Tel Aviv.
“The policy of the Trump administration is that the West Bank will not be annexed by Israel. That will continue to be our policy,” he added.
Vance said that he was told that the Knesset voting was “a symbolic vote.”
“If people want to take symbolic votes, they can do that. But we certainly weren’t happy about it,” he added.
On Wednesday, the Knesset approved in a preliminary reading two bills to annex the West Bank and the Ma’ale Adumim settlement bloc. Both drafts still must pass three additional readings to become law.
Annexing the West Bank would effectively end the possibility of implementing a two-state solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict as outlined in UN resolutions.
In a landmark opinion last July, 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.
Regarding the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip under US President Donald Trump’s 20-point ceasefire plan, Vance said some parts of the enclave with no Hamas presence can be rebuilt “quickly.”
“We can actually have tens of thousands of Gazans moving into southern Gaza, where you have the Hamas free zone, in the next couple of months,” he said.
“I think the hope is to rebuild Rafah over the next two to three years. And theoretically, you can have half a million people live in a rebuilt Rafah,” the vice president added.
Vance said “a lot of progress” was made regarding the understandings of the composition of an international task force in Gaza.
“No American troops on the ground,” he said, but rather they will be “supervising and mediating the peace.”
The vice president arrived in Israel on Tuesday for a three-day visit to oversee the implementation of the truce that came into force on Oct. 10 in Gaza and discuss the second phase of Trump’s plan with senior Israeli officials.
Phase one included the release of Israeli hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners. The plan also envisages the rebuilding of Gaza and the establishment of a new governing mechanism without Hamas.
Since October 2023, the Israeli genocidal war has killed over 68,200 people and injured more than 170,300, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.
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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.Genocide denier and Current UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer is quoted that he supports Zionism without qualification. He also confirms that UK air force support has been essential in Israel’s mass-murdering genocide. Includes URLs https://www.declassifieduk.org/keir-starmers-100-spy-flights-over-gaza-in-support-of-israel/ and https://youtu.be/O74hZCKKdpAOrcas 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.
This work by Middle East Monitor is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
US President Donald Trump during a meeting with Mark Rutte, secretary general of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), not pictured, in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, US, on Wednesday, Oct. 22, 2025.[Aaron Schwartz/CNP/Bloomberg via Getty Images]
US President Donald Trump said he would decide whether to push for the release of imprisoned Palestinian leader Marwan Barghouti, a figure many see as capable of uniting Palestinians behind a two-state solution, Anadolu reports.
“I am literally being confronted with that question about 15 minutes before you called … That was my question of the day,” Trump told Time magazine in an interview published Thursday. “So, I’ll be making a decision.”
The comments came as Trump discussed Palestinian leadership, saying Palestinians “don’t have a leader right now, at least a visible leader.”
When asked about Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas’s potential role in post-war Gaza governance, Trump said, “I’ve always gotten along with him. I’ve always found him reasonable, but he’s probably not.”
Barghouti is a prominent Fatah leader often called the “Palestinian Mandela” for his influence and leadership qualities.
He was arrested by Israel in 2002 and sentenced to five life terms plus 40 years for allegedly directing deadly attacks against Israelis.
Barghouti tops most polls among Palestinians for whom they would vote for in a presidential election, making him a potentially unifying figure for a two-state solution.
This work by Middle East Monitor is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
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.Genocide denier and Current UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer is quoted that he supports Zionism without qualification. He also confirms that UK air force support has been essential in Israel’s mass-murdering genocide. Includes URLs https://www.declassifieduk.org/keir-starmers-100-spy-flights-over-gaza-in-support-of-israel/ and https://youtu.be/O74hZCKKdpAOrcas 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.
A US Navy missile destroyer docks at the Amador International Cruise Terminal in Panama City, Panama on September 2, 2025 amid a broader US military buildup in the Caribbean. (Photo by Daniel Gonzalez/Anadolu via Getty Images)
“The long history of external interventions in Latin America must not be repeated.”
A group of United Nations experts on Tuesday condemned US President Donald Trump’s recent threats to wage war on Venezuela and said his decision to bomb at least seven boats in international waters—killing dozens of people accused without evidence of drug trafficking—amounted to “extrajudicial executions.”
Trump’s repeated threats against Venezuela “violate the fundamental international obligations not to intervene in the domestic affairs or threaten to use armed force against another country,” said the trio of experts, warning that the US president’s belligerence represents “an extremely dangerous escalation with grave implications for peace and security in the Caribbean region.”
Even if the Trump administration had substantiated its drug trafficking claims, the experts continued, “the use of lethal force in international waters without proper legal basis violates the international law of the sea.”
The statement from the UN’s special rapporteur on extrajudicial executions, expert on the promotion of a democratic and equitable international order, and special rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms while countering terrorism came amid growing alarm over Trump’s actions and posturing against Venezuela.
Earlier this month, Trump authorized covert CIA operations in the country and declined to answer when asked whether the move amounted to a green light for the agency to assassinate the nation’s president, Nicolás Maduro.
The Trump administration has also amassed an “unusually large force” in the Caribbean consisting of thousands of troops, at least eight warships, and a squadron of jets.
“Trump has said nothing to dispel concerns that the United States could launch a full-scale military operation,” The Washington Postreported Tuesday.
In their statement, the UN experts called Trump’s warmongering against Venezuela a violation of the UN Charter, which they note “prohibits the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state.”
“The long history of external interventions in Latin America must not be repeated,” the experts said. “The lessons from history must be learned and not repeated. The international community must stand firm in defending the rule of law, dialogue, and the peaceful settlement of disputes.”
Donald Fuhrump says that Amerikkka doesn’t bother with crimes or charges anymore, not being 100% Amerikkkan and opposing his real estate intentions is enough.Orcas discuss how Trump was re-elected and him being an obviously insane, xenophobic Fascist.
Federal agents wrestle an individual to the ground during a raid on the Canal Street area of New York City on Tuesday, October 21, 2025. (Image: Screengrab/FreedomNews.TV)
“Once again, the Trump administration chooses authoritarian theatrics that create fear, not safety,” said NYC mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani.
More scenes of chaos and community anger erupted Tuesday night in downtown New York City as federal agents under the orders of President Donald Trump targeted a popular area for street vendors, many of them immigrants struggling to get by, and shoppers looking for more affordable bags, clothing, and other accessories than what’s available in retail stores.
Illegal street vending is a well-known practice in the Canal Street area of Chinatown. Still, the arrival of masked agents and military-style vehicles on Tuesday devolved into another episode of violence in Trump’s America, with frightened vendors running for their lives and passersby expressing outrage over the violence being used against the unlicensed retailers.
NewsCopter 7 showed arrests taking place between Lafayette and Center streets in Chinatown, an area typically busy with merchants selling T-shirts, handbags, perfumes, and designer knockoffs, as New Yorkers faced off against federal agents.
The scene grew chaotic as vendors packed up their tables and attempted to flee, with several people seen running and falling as authorities from multiple agencies, including Homeland Security, ICE, DEA and the FBI, pursued them.
As agents tried to detain individuals, crowds of New Yorkers gathered, shouting and pushing in an attempt to intervene. Some bystanders were heard cursing at officers, one officer was seen pointing his taser at the angry crowd, and several arrests were made.
Footage from Canal Street posted online showed agents tackling vendors and the angry response from the crowds witnessing the heavy-handed raid:
Trump's Nazi ICE Gestapo has come to Canal Street in New York City to kidnap residents — and New Yorkers are having none of it. 😳👇 pic.twitter.com/olGgtLvjli
“Trump’s Nazi ICE Gestapo has come to Canal Street in New York City to kidnap residents—and New Yorkers are having none of it,” saidsocial justice activist Bill Madded in a social media post, pointing to the footage.
New York City Democratic mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani also condemned the raid.
“Federal agents from ICE and HSI—some in military fatigues and masks—descended on Chinatown today in an aggressive and reckless raid on immigrant street vendors,” Mamdani said in a statement. “Once again, the Trump administration chooses authoritarian theatrics that create fear, not safety. It must stop.”
Tricia McLaughlin, a spokeswoman for DHS, told the New York Times that the operation was led by ICE and others, including the FBI and Border Patrol, but did not, the newspaper reported, “immediately indicate the number of people arrested or disclose their immigration status.” Witnesses said agents were demanding proof of immigration status from those detained.
don't let anybody tell you ICE is underfunded, they're conducting an armed military raid on the Canal Street vendors right now and they brought a bearcat to combat the knockoff hermes bags pic.twitter.com/eHIbPPd7vo
The surprise raid, noted many observers, came just days after right-wing political commentator Savanah Hernandez, a Trump loyalist, posted a video of herself on Canal Street documenting the street vending scene and denigrating many of the immigrants who find work there.
“A few days ago, this far-right poverty tourist and provocateur discovered Canal Street,” noted Justin Brannan, a member of the New York City Council, referencing Hernandez’s recent video segment. “Today, Trump’s ICE cowboys marched in. They’re not hiding it. They’re telegraphing it now.”
As masked federal agents target street vendors on Canal Street, THE CITY watched one street vendor being detained.
As the operation carried on, agents were confronted with a spontaneous crowd of protesters.
While members of the New York community denounced the raid, Hernandez, who is not from New York City, took a bow for what she accepted as her role in instigating it.
“Illegal immigration and the crime tied to it have been plaguing your city,” Hernandez said with pride. “I make no apologies for reporting on what real New Yorkers have to deal with every single day.”
A statement from the office of New York’s Democratic Governor, Katherine Hochul, described Hernandez as “a bigot” and denounced the operation in the city.
This bigot @sav_says_ posts a video about Canal Street and less than 48 hours later, Trump sends in ICE.
Who this administration chooses to uplift and who they choose to attack says it all. pic.twitter.com/N10vR4Kua4
The afternoon raid sparked an impromptu protest in lower Manhattan outside federal buildings that lasted late into the evening, with residents denouncing Trump and the behavior of the agencies operating in the city.
“I am so angry. What are they doing to our city? It’s terrible,” Nicole Parcher, a New York City resident who attended the protest, told WABC.
Donald Fuhrump says that Amerikkka doesn’t bother with crimes or charges anymore, not being 100% Amerikkkan and opposing his real estate intentions is enough.Orcas discuss how Trump was re-elected and him being an obviously insane, xenophobic Fascist.
