‘No one should leave Gaza’: Returnees’ message from Rafah crossing sparks social media debate

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A video clip of one of the 12 people who recently returned to the Gaza Strip has triggered wide interaction on social media, after a woman described her harsh journey through the Rafah crossing and the humiliating treatment and arbitrary procedures she faced at the hands of the Israeli occupation authorities.

In an emotional message, the woman urged Gaza’s residents not to emigrate. She described the return journey through Israeli checkpoints as being “like death”, saying that staying in Gaza — despite the destruction — is better than forced displacement. She said: “No one should leave Gaza.”

Commenting on the scene, writer Turki Al-Shalhoub said: “The people of Gaza’s attachment to their land is extraordinary.” He noted that after the Rafah crossing was reopened, Palestinians living abroad began returning to Gaza, even though large parts of the territory have become unfit for living due to the brutality of the occupation. Despite this, he said, the choice to return remained stronger than all fears.

Political writer and analyst Yassin Ezzedine also wrote: “No one should go outside Gaza,” describing the phrase as the advice of those who returned after the crossing was opened. He said this message frightens the occupation and its allies, who for years have promoted the idea that Gaza’s people want to leave. For this reason, he added, the occupation allowed only 12 Palestinians to return, out of around 80,000 waiting in Egypt.

READ: Israel reopens Gaza’s Rafah crossing ‘in pilot operation’ after nearly 2 years of closure

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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 Reading‘No one should leave Gaza’: Returnees’ message from Rafah crossing sparks social media debate

Israel releases 9 Palestinians from Gaza after months of unlawful detention

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9 Palestinian prisoners released by Israeli forces are transferred to Al Aqsa Martyrs Hospital via International Committee of the Red Cross, in Deir al Balah, Gaza on February 03, 2026. [Screengrab/AA]

Israel released nine more Palestinians, including a woman, from the Gaza Strip after months of unlawful detention on Tuesday, Anadolu reports.

The freed captives were transported by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in the central city of Deir al-Balah for medical examinations.

Speaking to reporters, ICRC spokesperson in Gaza Emani Nauk said the organization has been unable to access Palestinians held in Israeli prisons since October 2023, and called for information on the fate and whereabouts of all captives, as well as renewed access to detention facilities.

Palestinians previously released from Israeli detention have shown signs of abuse, severe malnutrition and injuries consistent with torture, according to medical staff and human rights organizations.

The releases are part of sporadic Israeli actions involving Palestinians detained from Gaza who were held for months in Israeli prisons in the absence of minimum humanitarian standards, according to documented testimonies from former detainees and rights organizations.

READ: Gaza is not piece of land waiting to be grabbed, says Palestinian UN envoy

Former detainees have said many of those released suffer from malnutrition and injuries caused by severe physical abuse during detention.

According to the Palestinian Commission of Detainees Affairs and the Palestinian Prisoner Society, Israel has killed more than 100 prisoners and detainees since the start of the Gaza genocide, with the identities of 87 announced, while dozens of detainees from Gaza who died in custody had been subjected to enforced disappearance.

Palestinian, Israeli and international reports have repeatedly warned of the torture of Palestinians in Israeli prisons, including severe beatings, medical neglect, starvation and sexual assault.

Recently released Palestinian detainees have also reported systematic torture and cases of rape, appearing emaciated, with some showing symptoms of mental illness due to abuse.

READ: Gaza civil defense halts recovery of Palestinian bodies due to fuel shortage

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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 ReadingIsrael releases 9 Palestinians from Gaza after months of unlawful detention

Indonesia may exit Trump’s ‘Board of Peace’ if Palestine independence unmet: Report

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U.S. President Donald Trump signs the Peace Charter for Gaza during the 56th World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland on January 22, 2026. [Harun Özalp – Anadolu Agency]

Indonesia may exit US President Donald Trump’s “Board of Peace” if Palestine’s independence goals are not advanced, according to the state-run news agency Antara.

President Prabowo Subianto, while responding to concerns on the issue during a meeting at the State Palace in Jakarta on Tuesday, stated: “’If we join the BoP, we are not obliged to go along when they do not align with our views. Second, if no changes can be made, he (President Prabowo) is prepared to withdraw from the BoP.’ That is how I understood his remarks,” Indonesian Ulema Council Vice Chairman Cholil Nafis told reporters, quoting the president.

Prabowo said that “if BoP policy later involves steps that are not in line with our position, we (Indonesia) will abstain and be absent from participation. Then, if it truly does not suit us and Indonesia cannot do anything, he is ready to withdraw from the BoP,” Nafis added.

READ: Italy, Indonesia to send forces to Gaza under strict conditions

Separately, Foreign Minister Sugiono said the Indonesian president had opened the option of withdrawal if the board’s direction did not align with Indonesia’s goals.

“If it does not match what we want: First, peace in Gaza in the immediate term; then peace in Palestine more broadly, and ultimately Palestinian independence and sovereignty,” he said. “That is the trajectory we aim to achieve, and I think those are the corridors.”

Trump announced the establishment of the “Board of Peace” on Jan. 15 as part of his broader plan for Gaza, under which a ceasefire agreement was reached on Oct. 10, 2025. The board was later authorized by UN Security Council Resolution 2803 in November 2025.

OPINION: Indonesia should not join Trump’s Board of Peace

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Donald Trump explains why he established his Bored of Peace
Donald Trump explains why he established his Bored of Peace
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 ReadingIndonesia may exit Trump’s ‘Board of Peace’ if Palestine independence unmet: Report

Gaza is not piece of land waiting to be grabbed, says Palestinian UN envoy

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Palestine’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations (UN) Riyad Mansour makes a speech after the adoption of the Gaza draft resolution submitted by the United States to the UN Security Council (UNSC) in New York, United States on June 10, 2024 [Selçuk Acar – Anadolu Agency]

Palestinian UN envoy Riyad Mansour said Tuesday that the Gaza Strip is an inseparable part of the occupied Palestinian territory and belongs to the Palestinian people, Anadolu reports.

“Gaza is not a piece of land that is hanging in the air for anyone to grab. It belongs to its people. It belongs to the Palestinian people,” Mansour said at the opening session of the UN Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People.

Mansour welcomed the Gaza ceasefire and noted the cooperation of all parties involved, including the US, but emphasized that it must be lasting.

Saying that the ceasefire must “not be fragile,” he said, “Israel should not continue to go and kill our people as they wish in the Gaza Strip and other parts of the occupied Palestinian territory.”

READ: ‘Unlawful’ Israeli E1 settlement plan would sever northern, southern West Bank, warns UN chief

He stressed the importance of humanitarian access. “Humanitarian assistance has to be allowed to reach all corners of the Gaza Strip,” and “humanitarians, including the United Nations, including UNRWA (UN Palestinian refugee agency), should be allowed to continue carrying their mandates and their responsibilities.”

“We want to see the beginning of the withdrawal of the Israeli forces to be out completely of the Gaza Strip,” he said, welcoming the move into the second phase of the ceasefire that was signed in late October.

He reaffirmed that the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and Gaza “constitute a single territorial unit” that must be unified under the Palestinian Authority, and stressed that Israel “must fully and without delay, withdraw from the Gaza Strip,” calling it essential for any international stabilization effort.

READ: Israeli prime minister attacks Gaza technocratic committee’s use of Palestinian Authority logo

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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 ReadingGaza is not piece of land waiting to be grabbed, says Palestinian UN envoy

Treatment of Palestinians crossing Rafah is ‘collective punishment,’ Hamas says

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https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/treatment-palestinians-crossing-rafah-collective-punishment-hamas-says

 A UN vehicle escorts ambulances and a bus carrying Palestinian patients in Khan Younis as they travel to the Rafah crossing to leave the Gaza Strip for medical treatment abroad, February 3, 2026

HE treatment of Palestinians attempting to use the Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt amounts to “collective punishment,” Hamas said today.

Palestinians are suffering “mistreatment, abuse and deliberate extortion” at the crossing, which was opened on Monday, the resistance group said, adding that such treatment “constitutes fascist behaviour and organised terrorism” and amounts to “collective punishment.”

Hamas said: “Painful field testimonies have revealed degrading practices, including the abduction of women from among the travellers, blindfolding them, subjecting them to lengthy interrogations with irrelevant questions, threatening some with their children and attempting to extort one of them into collaborating.

“This confirms that what is happening is not ‘crossing procedures’ but rather systematic violation aimed at instilling fear and deterring people from returning to their homes,” the group added.

The long-awaited reopening of the territory’s southern border crossing with Egypt was supposed to alleviate the punishing military siege of Gaza. 

But Israeli authorities have continued to enforce strict security restrictions and a complex bureaucratic process that allows only a small number of people to travel in either direction.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) confirmed that only five ​patients from Gaza had passed ‍through the Rafah crossing on Monday. 

Continues at https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/treatment-palestinians-crossing-rafah-collective-punishment-hamas-says

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 ReadingTreatment of Palestinians crossing Rafah is ‘collective punishment,’ Hamas says