They’re accused of spray-painting the lawn at the property in Scotland.
Prosecutors are seeking to establish a “terrorism connection” in the case of seven Palestine Action activists who allegedly spray-painted Donald Trump’s golf course in Scotland.
The seven have been charged with malicious damage over the 8 March 2025 protest, which came weeks after Trump proposed a US-led takeover of the Gaza strip, the Guardian reported.
Activists broke into the US president’s Turnberry golf course and spray-painted the message “Gaza is not 4 sale” on the lawn. They also sprayed weed killer and daubed the clubhouse in red paint.
“The prosecution will seek to establish a ‘terror connection’, to enable terror sentences to be imposed on the defendants even though the prosecution has chosen not to charge them with any terror offences,” said campaign group Defend Our Juries (DOJ).
Trump had two phone calls with then prime minister Keir Starmer after the protest, DOJ added.
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.UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham admits to blatently lying and engaging in deception to become leader of the UK Labour Party and Prime Minister.Orcas discuss Donald Trump and the killer apes’ concept of democracy. Front Orca warns that Trump is crashing his country’s economy and that everything he does he does for the fantastically wealthy.
Article by Stephen Prager republished from Common Dreams under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0).
Displaced Palestinians, including many children, wait in long queues to receive hot meals distributed by a charitable organization in Gaza City, Gaza, Palestine on June 7, 2026. (Photo by Moiz Salhi/Anadolu via Getty Images)
“Aid is not a political tool and should not be weaponized in this way,” said an advocate at Save the Children. “The survival and needs of children in Gaza should not have to answer to airstrikes elsewhere.”
In an act described as “collective punishment” against two million Palestinians, Israel announced that it would close off the main entry points for humanitarian aid into Gaza indefinitely in retaliation for strikes launched this weekend by Iran.
Iran launched missiles at Israel on Sunday in response to Israel’s bombing of a densely populated Beirut suburb, which killed civilians and violated a June 1 agreement not to bomb Lebanon’s capital.
In addition to retaliating with new strikes on Iran, Israel’s Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) said on Sunday that “a number of necessary security measures have been implemented” following the missile fire, “including the closure of the crossings into the Gaza Strip, among them the Kerem Shalom Crossing and the Rafah Crossing, until further notice.”
COGAT claimed that closing the crossings “will not affect the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip” because “the substantial quantities of food that have entered the strip since the beginning of the ceasefire significantly exceed the nutritional needs of the population, according to [United Nations] methodologies.”
Contrary to this statement from COGAT, the UN report at this link https://t.co/2VNcUn8cBA shows clearly that the supply of food and water is precarious indeed.#Israel is responding to being restrained from killing Iranians by killing more civilians in #Gaza. https://t.co/ncjG2DR4bP
That is not what actual UN reports say. The World Food Program (WFP) estimated in June that about 1.6 million people living in Gaza, more than three-quarters of the population, were “facing high levels of acute food insecurity” despite the entry of food parcels and other aid since the October 2025 “ceasefire” between Israel and Hamas.
In the first half of May, UN workersidentified more than 2,000 cases of acute malnutrition among young children, according to a June report from the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).
That same OCHA report said about 678,000 hot meals were delivered in May, down from 1.5 million per day in mid-March as a result of underfunding and due to Israel’s closures and restrictions at certain entry points. The number of people receiving food parcels in May also dropped to about 820,000, down from 1.1 million in March. The rations that were distributed in May covered only about 75% of the average person’s minimum daily caloric needs, while those distributed in March covered about 50%.
While the amount of aid entering the strip has increased since the ceasefire went into effect, UN data has never suggested that the amount entering “exceeds” the needs of Palestinians. Since the truce began, reports haveconsistentlysaid the amount of aid entering the strip was only reaching part of the population, and that aid packages only contained part of the needed nutritional value, which did not meet the terms of the agreement.
Israel, which has been accused of using starvation as a “weapon of war” against Gaza by UN bodies and major human rights groups, previously closed all crossings into the strip at the start of its military assault against Iran in late February.
This not only halted the entry of food and medical aid but also blocked medical evacuations for sick and injured Palestinians, which were desperately needed due to Israel’s destruction of Gaza’s medical system. Even as entry points reopened in the following weeks, aid entry never returned to previous levels.
COGAT said on Monday that “the crossings will be reopened gradually, subject to an ongoing operational assessment and under security restrictions designed to ensure the safety of all personnel present at the crossings on both sides,” though it provided no clear timeframe or indication of how much aid would be allowed in.
“Aid is not a political tool and should not be weaponized in this way. The survival and needs of children in Gaza should not have to answer to airstrikes elsewhere,” said Ahmad Alhendawi, Save the Children’s regional director for the Middle East, North Africa, and Eastern Europe in a statement on Monday.
“For nearly three years, Gaza has been pummelled so hard by Israeli airstrikes that nothing can grow there and people have been reliant on the already small amount of aid crossing the border—aid that was never enough and is now totally out of reach,” he added. “Children in Gaza have already been starved by design. They should not now be denied water, medicine, shelter, and the other essentials needed to survive. The Israeli authorities must re-open these crossings immediately, lift the siege, and facilitate the safe delivery of humanitarian aid at scale.”
BREAKING: Israel has closed all crossings into Gaza and halted the entry of humanitarian aid following the Iranian missile strikes on Israel.
Why do Palestinians in Gaza have to pay the price for Iranian missiles?
With Israeli leaders openly stating their goal in recent weeks to expand the nation’s occupation of Gaza despite the ceasefire, international observers have suggested that Israel was using the escalation of hostilities with Iran as an excuse to ramp up its brutal treatment of Palestinians, nearly 1,000 of whom have been killed in the strip since the ceasefire went into effect.
The US-brokered ceasefire agreement signed by Israel and Hamas in October required the “full entry of humanitarian aid and relief” into the strip.
“The guarantors of the ceasefire must step in and force Israel to reopen the crossings, resume and triple the aid amounts, and totally stop any attacks on Gaza now,” said Palestinian journalist Abubaker Abed. “This is their job. And they must uphold the ceasefire agreement.”
Article by Stephen Prager republished from Common Dreams under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0).
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.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.
Israel’s Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich takes part in the Jerusalem Day parade at the Damascus Gate in the old city of Jerusalem on May 14, 2026. (Photo by Erik Marmor/Getty Images)
The far-right finance minister announced that he’d respond to an arrest warrant request for his forced expulsion of Palestinians by ordering the evacuation of another West Bank village.
Israel’s far-right finance minister, Bezalel Smotrich, said on Tuesday that the International Criminal Court prosecutor had requested an arrest warrant against him, reportedly in response to his illegal forced expulsion of thousands of Palestinians in the West Bank.
He said he planned to “fight back” by issuing an order to forcibly evict hundreds more Palestinians from their homes in the West Bank.
During a news conference, Smotrich said he’d been informed Monday evening that the ICC prosecutor had secretly requested a warrant for his arrest in April. A formal warrant has not been announced by the court, and the official charges have not yet been publicized.
The Wall Street Journal reported last year that the prosecutor had been considering seeking an arrest warrant against Smotrich for his role in expanding Israeli settlements in the West Bank, which the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled in July 2024 was a violation of the Geneva Conventions because it entailed the forced removal of residents in the occupied Palestinian territories.
The ICC prosecutor was also preparing to issue an arrest warrant against fellow far-right settler politician, Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, though there is not yet any reporting to suggest that this warrant has been issued.
In response to the reported warrant request for what the ICC considers a war crime, Smotrich celebrated the ongoing ethnic cleansing of Palestinians from the West Bank. He boasted of creating “over 100 new settlements” in the occupied territory and “160 farming outposts,” which he said helped Israel to control 247,000 acres of land in the territory.
The United Nationsreported in March that over the previous year, more than 36,000 Palestinians in the West Bank had been forcibly displaced by settlement expansion and by violence committed by Israeli settlers.
Smotrich said the court’s issuing of arrest warrants against him and other Israeli leaders was a “declaration of war” and said that “we will respond with war.”
“From today, every economic or other target within my authority to strike—whether as Finance Minister or as a minister in the Defense Ministry—will be attacked. Not with words or gimmicks, but with actions,” he said.
“I announce here and now the first target that will be attacked: immediately after my remarks, we will sign an order for the evacuation of Khan al-Ahmar,” he added.
He was referring to a Palestinian Bedouin village of about 200 people on the eastern outskirts of Jerusalem, which has fought a yearslong legal battle against the Israeli government following orders by Ben-Gvir for it to be demolished to make room for a settlement.
The territory is especially significant because it would link two major settlements in East Jerusalem with the Jordan Valley as part of Israel’s ongoing E1 settlement project, which is aimed at constructing settlements so that they cut the Palestinian-controlled areas of the West Bank in two.
Smotrich, who has led the E1 project, declared last year that the proposal “buries the idea of a Palestinian state because there is nothing to recognize and no one to recognize.”
On Tuesday, Smotrich said his order for Palestinians to leave Khan al-Ahmar would be “only the beginning” of his response to the reported warrant request.
Jasper Nathaniel, an American journalist who reports from the West Bank, explained that “Smotrich just announced the official ethnic cleansing of a Palestinian village in response to the ICC warrant for his arrest.”
Observers pointed out the brazenness of Smotrich’s declaration in the face of an international tribunal.
Adil Haque, a professor of law at Rutgers University and the executive editor of Just Security, noted the remarkable irony: “The ICC office of the prosecutor reportedly requested an arrest warrant for his war crimes, so he announces a new one.”
Along with Ben-Gvir, Smotrich was sanctioned last year by five countries—Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Norway, and the United Kingdom—which subjected them to travel bans and asset freezes.
Ori Goldberg, an Israeli expert on Middle Eastern studies, said international punishments against Smotrich needed to be even stronger after he announced “as stark a violation of international law as possible.”
“Make the warrants public. Sanction this man and everybody else who foots the bill. EU Leadership—stop making fools of yourselves as the world is torn asunder,” he said. “Show Israelis… the jig is up.”
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.Donald Trump sings and dances, says that it’s fun to kill everyone …
A view of Sde Teiman prison in the Negev desert near the Gaza Strip, in Negev, Israel, on January 10, 2025. (Photo by Mostafa Alkharouf/Anadolu via Getty Images)
While Israel said the claims amount to “blood libel,” a spokesperson for the UN Human Rights Office said, “torture and ill-treatment, including sexual and gender-based violence, are systematically perpetrated against Palestinian prisoners.”
As Israel attempts to discreditNew York Times reporting published last week that detailed systematic sexual abuse of Palestinian prisoners by Israeli forces, the United NationsHuman Rights Office over the weekend called for an independent probe into what a spokesperson characterized as well-documented mistreatment.
“Torture and ill-treatment, including sexual and gender-based violence, are systematically perpetrated against Palestinian prisoners under Israeli custody. This includes numerous cases of rape, involving children,” said Thameen Al-Kheetan, a spokesperson for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) on Saturday, in response to questions from the Anadolu Agency.
Al-Kheetan added that the human rights office had confirmed the deaths of at least 90 Palestinian prisoners in Israeli custody since October 7, 2023, including a 17-year-old who showed signs of starvation at the time of death.
Israel has announced that it will sue the Times for the report by opinion columnist Nicholas Kristof, which included testimony from 14 Palestinians who said they faced sexual assaults in Israeli custody or during attacks by the Israeli military or settlers. Threatening legal action, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other government officials described the reporting as “blood libel.”
But Al-Kheetan said the OHCHR had “systematically documented the practice of torture and ill-treatment, including sexual and gender-based violence, against Palestinian detainees in Israeli prisons.”
Reports from other human rights organizations, including Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and the Israeli group B’Tselem, have included similar testimonies in which Palestinian former detainees say they’ve experienced or witnessed sexual violence while in custody.
Al-Kheetan added that it was part of a “flawed Israeli detention and justice system,” which includes arbitrary detention, unfair trials, and violations of international law. “This system must end, and Israel, as an occupying power, must respect international human rights law and its obligations,” he said.
While rejecting allegations of systemic abuse, Israel has denied requests by the UN and other agencies for access to its detention facilities. Last year, Israel refused a request from the UN to investigate possible sex crimes committed by Hamas militants against Israelis on October 7, 2023, because it would have also involved a probe into its own treatment of Palestinian detainees.
Al-Kheetan said, “independent, impartial, and transparent investigations must be conducted into every death, torture, ill-treatment, and other case of inhuman or degrading treatment, and those responsible must be held accountable.”
Orcas discuss how Trump was re-elected and him being an obviously insane, xenophobic Fascist.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.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 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.