Angela Rayner

Israeli president seeks clarifications from Netanyahu over Trump pardon broadside: Reports

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

US President Donald Trump is welcomed by Israeli President Isaac Herzog and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at Ben Gurion International Airport on October 13, 2025 in Tel Aviv, Israel. [Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images]

Israeli President Isaac Herzog is seeking clarifications from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over whether he incited US President Donald Trump to issue an “insult” amid controversy over a pardon request, local media said Sunday.

On Thursday, Trump said that the Israeli president’s hitherto refusal to pardon Netanyahu of his corruption charges is “shameful,” a day after the US president met with Netanyahu at the White House.

Herzog “is seeking clarifications from Netanyahu following sharp criticism directed at him by US President Trump,” the daily Yedioth Ahronoth said.

The Israeli president “wants to know whether Netanyahu was behind the remarks, which officials described as a serious affront to Israel’s sovereign institutions,” it added.

“If it emerges that Netanyahu encouraged Trump to make the comments, it would constitute a ‘red line’,” the paper said, citing sources close to Herzog.

READ: Trump says Israeli president should be ashamed over Netanyahu pardon, Herzog responds: ‘Israel operates by the Law’

According to the sources, Herzog received dozens of inquiries over the weekend from within the US and Israel, making it necessary to demand clarifications from Netanyahu.

“There is a difference between criticism and insult, and what we heard from Trump was an insult. Someone clearly stirred him up,” an official told Yedioth Ahronoth.

Last November, Trump sent a letter to Herzog asking him to pardon Netanyahu, who is on trial in corruption cases.

Netanyahu formally submitted a pardon request on Nov. 30 last year, seeking relief from the corruption charges without admitting wrongdoing or withdrawing from public life.

Since his trial began, Netanyahu has consistently denied all accusations. Under Israeli law, however, a presidential pardon can only be granted following an admission of guilt.

Beyond the domestic proceedings, Netanyahu is also facing international legal scrutiny. In November 2024, the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant against him over war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in Gaza, where more than 72,000 people have been killed, mostly women and children, and over 171,000 others injured in a brutal assault since October 2023.

OPINION: Two scorpions in a jar: How Trump and Netanyahu’s alliance became a cage

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

Experiencing issues with this image not appearing. I suspect because it's so critical of Zionist Keir Starmer's support of and complicity in Israel's genocides.
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/O74hZCKKdpA
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.
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.

Continue ReadingIsraeli president seeks clarifications from Netanyahu over Trump pardon broadside: Reports

Israeli government approves proposal to register West Bank lands as ‘state property’ for 1st time since 1967

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

Israeli authorities construct a new settlement road north of East Jerusalem, a Jerusalem governorate official reportedly said on February 5, 2026. [Issam Rimawi – Anadolu Agency]

The Israeli government approved a proposal on Sunday to register large areas of the occupied West Bank as “state property,” for the first time since the Israeli occupation of the territory in 1967.

The public broadcaster KAN said the proposal was submitted by far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, Justice Minister Yariv Levin, and Defense Minister Israel Katz.

“The initial goal is the gradual settlement of 15% of Area C by 2030,” Israel Hayom newspaper commented ahead of the government decision.

Under the Oslo II Accord signed in 1995, Area A is under full Palestinian control, Area B is under Palestinian civil control and Israeli security control, while Area C, accounting for about 61% of the West Bank, remains under full Israeli control.

According to the paper, the main implication of the government decision is “the conversion of very large areas into state land, provided that no other ownership is proven.”

READ: UN says all Israeli settlements in the West Bank are illegal

“In this sense, even in the absence of a political decision to apply the law, Israel significantly strengthens its hold on the land by registering plots that are not owned by other parties in the land registry,” it added.

The Oslo II Accord limits land registration by the Palestinian Authority to Areas A and B, while prohibiting it in Area C.

If approved, the Israeli government’s Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) will be responsible for organizing and registering land ownership in Area C.

The process includes issuing sale permits, collecting fees, and overseeing registration procedures, while preventing the Palestinian Authority from carrying out such tasks in those areas.

The move is part of a series of measures approved by Israel’s Security Cabinet last week aimed at expanding illegal settlement building and increasing Tel Aviv’s control of the occupied West Bank.

READ: Trump says he opposes Israeli annexation of West Bank

According to Israeli media, the measures include repealing a law that barred the sale of land in the West Bank to illegal Israeli settlers, unsealing land ownership records, and shifting authority for building permits in a settlement bloc near Hebron from a Palestinian municipality to Israel’s civil administration.

Israel has intensified operations in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, since launching its military campaign in Gaza on Oct. 8, 2023. Palestinians view the escalation — including killings, arrests, displacement and settlement expansion — as a step toward formal annexation of the territory.

In a landmark 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.

OPINION: A silent annexation swallows the West Bank while attention turns to Iran, why?

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

Experiencing issues with this image not appearing. I suspect because it's so critical of Zionist Keir Starmer's support of and complicity in Israel's genocides.
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/O74hZCKKdpA
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.
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.
Continue ReadingIsraeli government approves proposal to register West Bank lands as ‘state property’ for 1st time since 1967

UK Palestine Action ban ruled unlawful, in humiliating blow for ministers

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https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026/feb/13/uk-ban-palestine-action-unlawful-high-court-judges-rule

Thousands arrested for supporting group since proscription are now in legal limbo as Mahmood says she will appeal

Three senior judges have ruled that the ban on the direct action group Palestine Action under anti-terrorism laws was disproportionate and unlawful, handing the home secretary a humiliating defeat.

Shabana Mahmood was urged to respect the court’s decision after the judges said the ban, introduced by her predecessor Yvette Cooper, impinged on the right to protest and should be quashed.

However, the fate of more than 2,500 people, arrested for supporting Palestine Action since proscription, remained in limbo after Mahmood said she would appeal against the ban. Additionally, the three judges, led by the president of the king’s bench division, Dame Victoria Sharp, said the banning order would not be quashed until both sides had been allowed to make representations.

In the meantime, the Met police said they would stop arresting people immediately for showing support for Palestine Action after the high court ruling but would gather evidence for potential future prosecution.

…

The judges allowed the challenge on two of four grounds. They were that there was “a very significant interference” with the rights to freedom of speech and freedom of assembly and that the then home secretary, Cooper’s decision to proscribe Palestine Action was not consistent with her own policy, which required her to take into account factors including the nature and scale of the organisation’s activities, and the specific threat that it posed to the UK.

…

See the original article at https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026/feb/13/uk-ban-palestine-action-unlawful-high-court-judges-rule

Palestine Action joke that appeared in the UK satirical magazine 'Private Eye'.
Palestine Action joke that appeared in the UK satirical magazine ‘Private Eye’.
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.
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.

Continue ReadingUK Palestine Action ban ruled unlawful, in humiliating blow for ministers

Swiss lawyers file ICC complaint accusing government of complicity over Gaza

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

A general view of the International Criminal Court (ICC) building in The Hague, Netherlands on April 30, 2024. [Selman Aksünger – Anadolu Agency]

A group of Swiss lawyers has filed a complaint with the International Criminal Court, accusing their government of failing to meet its international legal obligations in relation to Israel’s genocide in the Gaza Strip.

The complaint relies on reports issued by United Nations bodies and independent international human rights organisations in characterising events in Gaza as genocide.

According to sources familiar with the filing, the complaint places particular emphasis on Switzerland’s status as the depositary state of the Geneva Conventions, arguing that this role carries heightened legal and moral responsibilities.

The plaintiffs include 25 lawyers from both French- and German-speaking regions of Switzerland, a move they say reflects broad concern within parts of the country’s legal community.

READ: Legal case in Switzerland seeks arrest of Israeli minister Barkat

The complaint contains direct accusations that policies pursued by Swiss Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis facilitated Israeli military operations in Gaza.

The lawyers argue that Switzerland’s official position did not adequately reflect the gravity of Israel’s crimes in the occupied Palestinian territories and instead provided political and legal cover for their continuation.

According to the filing, Swiss exports of military equipment and dual-use materials to Israel during the war totalled approximately 16.7 million Swiss francs in 2024, rising to around 25 million francs the following year. The complainants described these exports as direct material support contributing to the ongoing conflict.

READ: Netanyahu may seek Trump’s backing for Gaza relocation plan: Hebrew newspaper

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

Experiencing issues with this image not appearing. I suspect because it's so critical of Zionist Keir Starmer's support of and complicity in Israel's genocides.
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/O74hZCKKdpA
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.
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.

Continue ReadingSwiss lawyers file ICC complaint accusing government of complicity over Gaza

International campaign demands the resumption of ICRC’s visits to political detainees in Israeli jails

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Original article by Aseel Saleh republished from peoples dispatch under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 (CC BY-SA) license.

Protest at ICRC building in Gaza in support of Palestinian political prisoners in 2024. Photo: AA

The Israeli occupation authorities have banned the international organization from visiting political detainees held in its prisons since October 7, 2023, which many say reflects Israel’s collective punishment policy.

A press conference was held in front of the office of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in Al-Bireh city, in the central occupied West Bank on Tuesday, February 10.

The event was organized as part of an international campaign to gather one million signatures demanding that the ICRC resume its visits to Palestinian and Lebanese prisoners in Israeli jails.

A number of press conferences were held in parallel in nine other cities across the world, including Beirut, Gaza, Cairo, Rabat, Tunis, Brussels and Paris in coincidence with the one held in Al-Bireh.

It is worth mentioning that Israel has banned the international organization from visiting the prisoners since October 7, 2023.

The political detainees held by Israel have also been deprived of family visits, and their lawyers have rarely been able to meet them for 28 months, amid continuously deteriorating humanitarian conditions inside the prisons.

The brutal crackdown against the Palestinian Prisoners’ Movement pre-dates the genocide in Gaza, but began in January 2023, by Israel’s Minister of National Security, Itamar Ben-Gvir.

Read more: The Palestinian Prisoners’ Movement: the struggle behind bars

Israel has misused the presence of the ICRC in the occupied territories to whitewash its crimes, says Qadura Fares

During the conference, former head of the Commission of Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs, Qadura Fares, highlighted the key role that the ICRC has played in safeguarding various humanitarian issues internationally and inside occupied Palestine, including the prisoners’ issue.

“We know that the ICRC operates in accordance with international conventions, and in a way that is consistent with its mission as an international humanitarian organization. We are not asking the ICRC to do anything beyond its capacity, but to exert pressure on Israel through the appropriate international legal channels,” Fares noted.

“Nobody can expect Itamar Ben-Gvir, Netanyahu or Smotrich as racist fascist leaders to reconsider their decisions and permit the visits to the prisoners again on their own,” the prominent Palestinian political leader added.

Fares emphasized that this goal will be reached only with pressure being exerted on the Israeli authorities in order to cancel the arbitrary measures against the prisoners.

He also affirmed that the ICRC is able to exert such pressure, but it opted to work “within the limits of the authorization given to it by the Israeli occupation government.”

Fares further pointed out that Israel is misusing the presence of the ICRC and other international organizations in the occupied territories to whitewash its image, by showing that these international bodies are allowed to operate there, while their jurisdiction is extremely restricted and confined by the unlawful Israeli regulations.

The prisoners’ issue is a concern of people of conscience worldwide

Meanwhile, director of the Center for the Defense of Liberties and Civil Rights (Hurryyat), Helmi Al-Araj, asserted that the fact that the campaign has been launched from many cities around the world, including European cities “provides a conclusive evidence that the segregation of the detainees in ghetto-like prisons led to an uprising by the people of conscience all over the globe to support them.”

“This once again proves that all the peoples who struggle for freedom worldwide consider the issue of the Palestinian prisoners, in particular, and the Palestinian cause, in general, their own cause,” Al-Araj maintained. 

For his part, Palestinian political activist, freedom fighter, and former prisoner in Israeli jails, Omar Assaf, indicated that Lebanese and Syrian nationals have also been held in Israeli prisons, while the majority of the prisoners detained by Israel are Palestinians.

Original article by Aseel Saleh republished from peoples dispatch under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 (CC BY-SA) license.

Experiencing issues with this image not appearing. I suspect because it's so critical of Zionist Keir Starmer's support of and complicity in Israel's genocides.
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/O74hZCKKdpA
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.
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.
Continue ReadingInternational campaign demands the resumption of ICRC’s visits to political detainees in Israeli jails