Members of the National Education Union (NEU) hold a rally at Old Palace Yard, in Westminster, London, January 29, 2025
…
It is no exaggeration to say, as National Education Union (NEU) leader Daniel Kebede does, that “the classroom has become the front line of every unresolved crisis in our society… hunger walks in with the children. Anxiety takes a seat at the back of the room.”
Schools are community hubs, and their intrinsic links across each community make teachers both receptive to local feeling and persuasive local voices.
So if a union the size of the NEU finds 65 per cent of its members who voted Labour less than two years ago would not do so again, MPs need to take note — especially since every opinion poll confirms this collapse in support for the party is general.
That it also found the most popular party among NEU members is now the Greens is another warning.
The conceit that the working class has nowhere else to go, that Labour can offend every one of its natural constituencies in turn while exclusively courting Tory — and more recently Reform UK — votes, should have died with the Scottish election wipeout of 2015, but remains the default setting of the zombie Blairites — whose long domination of the party has seen a steady decline in its vote, concealed at first by the initial size of the majorities that were shrinking but now threatening its future as a party of government. Peter Mandelson, a key author of that strategy, is gone: can the party escape his influence, and listen again to working-class people instead of the filthy rich?
Keir Starmer says that the Labour Party under his leadership is intensely relaxed about assaulting those least able to defend themselves – the very poorest and most vulnerable.Keir Starmer refuses to be outcnuted by Nigel Farage’s chasing the racist bigot vote.Keir starmer warns against following the https://onaquietday.org blog.
This work by Middle East Monitor is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Displaced Palestinians, who struggle with hunger, wait to receive hot meal, distributed by charity organizations, in al-Mawasi region of Khan Yunis, Gaza on December 17, 2025. [Abed Rahim Khatib – Anadolu Agency]
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Friday warned that while famine in the Gaza Strip has been averted, the humanitarian situation remains extremely fragile, with more than 75% of the population facing acute food insecurity and critical risks of malnutrition, Anadolu Agency reports.
“Famine has been pushed back. Far more people are able to access the food they need to survive,” Guterres told a news conference at the UN headquarters in New York. “Gains are fragile, perilously so.”
He said 1.6 million people in Gaza, more than 75% of the population, are projected to face “extreme levels of acute food insecurity and critical malnutrition risks.”
“And in more than half of Gaza, where Israeli troops remain deployed, farmland and entire neighborhoods are out of reach. Strikes and hostilities continue, pushing the civilian toll of this war even higher and exposing our teams to grave danger,” he said.
Guterres also renewed calls for “a durable ceasefire,” saying: “We need more crossings, the lifting of restrictions on critical items, the removal of red tape, safe routes inside Gaza, sustained funding, and unimpeded access, including for NGOs.”
The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) released its news findings on Friday, noting that famine conditions in the enclave have been temporarily offset following a reduction in hostilities and improved access for humanitarian and commercial food deliveries. The latest report, however, warned that the overall situation in Gaza remains critical.
The UN chief also touched on Israel’s refusal to move onto the second phase of the Gaza ceasefire plan until the return of the remains of a final deceased hostage.
“It is essential to move to phase two, and I don’t think that we should have any pretext to avoid it,” said Guterres.
“It’s very important to move with the peace process as a whole. And it’s not only phase two. It’s to make sure that phase one, and namely the ceasefire, are fully implemented,” he added.
ICJ ruling on occupied West Bank ‘must be implemented’
On the situation in the West Bank, Guterres warned that “we cannot lose sight of the rapidly deteriorating situation” in the Palestinian territory occupied by Israel.
He stressed that Palestinians face “escalating Israeli settler violence, land seizures, demolitions and intensified movement restrictions.”
“Tens of thousands have been displaced following operations by Israeli forces in the northern West Bank,” he added.
Guterres emphasized that provisional measures indicated by the International Court of Justice “are binding and must be implemented.”
He also reaffirmed his support for the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA), calling it “an indispensable role in serving the Palestinian people.”
Saying that the crisis in Palestine is “born of human decisions,” the UN chief urged for an end to “perverse and prolonged suffering.”
“Palestinians need a horizon of hope. The ceasefire must be implemented in full. The endless cycle of violence must be broken,” he said.
This work by Middle East Monitor is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Vote Labour for Genocide.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.
This work by Middle East Monitor is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
People displaced from El Fasher and other conflict-affected areas are settled in the newly established El-Afadh camp in Al Dabbah, in Sudan’s Northern State, on November 09, 2025. [Stringer – Anadolu Agency]
The EU on Tuesday warned that Sudan is facing a “catastrophic” humanitarian crisis, urging all parties to grant unhindered humanitarian access and resume negotiations for an immediate ceasefire, Anadolu reports.
Addressing the European Parliament’s plenary session in Strasbourg, the EU commissioner for equality and acting commissioner for crisis management, Hadja Lahbib, said hunger, malnutrition, and disease are rapidly spreading across the country, while international humanitarian law is being violated.
Lahbib described the situation in Darfur and Kordofan as “particularly shocking,” recalling last month’s “horrific attacks” against civilians by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) during their capture of El-Fasher and Bara.
“Thousands of civilians in El-Fasher have been killed on ethnic grounds, in house-to-house raids, mass detentions. People (are) unable to leave the city,” she said.
The commissioner noted that the RSF continues to block humanitarian assistance, further shrinking the humanitarian space in Sudan.
Since the conflict erupted in April 2023, more than 120 aid workers have been killed, making Sudan “one of the deadliest places in the world” for humanitarian staff.
Lahbib stressed that 21 million people face acute food insecurity, according to the latest assessment by the UN-backed Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, and warned that bureaucratic hurdles continue to obstruct aid operations.
She recalled that EU foreign ministers last week adopted sanctions against the RSF’s second-in-command, Abdelrahim Dagalo, for human rights violations and reiterated the bloc’s call for full accountability for atrocities committed in the country.
Lahbib also stressed the need for diplomatic engagement with regional actors to apply pressure on the warring sides.
“Considering the work of Kuwait, UAE, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and the US, we have to take into account all interests and regional actors, including Türkiye,” she noted.
“Sudan has become a living nightmare for its people and a humanitarian catastrophe,” she said, adding that supporting humanitarian efforts in the country remains a priority for the European Commission.
Separately, the EU and the African Union condemned the atrocities committed by the RSF following their capture of the city of El-Fasher, and urged an immediate end to the conflict in Sudan.
Since April 2023, the Sudanese army and the RSF have been locked in a war that regional and international mediations have failed to end. The conflict has killed thousands of people and displaced millions of others.
This work by Middle East Monitor is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
This work by Middle East Monitor is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Aid workers are seen distributing aid parcels to Palestinians amid ongoing Israeli attacks during World Humanitarian Day in Khan Yunis, Gaza on August 18, 2024. [Hani Alshaer – Anadolu Agency]
A “perfect humanitarian storm” – that is how the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) describes Gaza, where aid workers endure the same hunger and fear as those they try to help, Anadolu reports.
The warning comes as Israel’s war nears its third year, following what aid agencies describe as the deadliest year on record for humanitarian workers – and 2025 is already following the same trajectory.
“Last year was the deadliest year on record for colleagues killed from different organizations – we’re talking about hundreds,” IFRC spokesperson Tommaso Della Longa told Anadolu. “The vast majority, sadly, are from Gaza, the West Bank and Sudan. And 2025 is already following the same trend.”
At least 265 aid workers had been killed worldwide as of Aug. 14, 2025, approaching the previous year’s toll of 383, according to the Aid Worker Security Database.
Latest figures from the UN show Israeli forces have killed at least 562 humanitarian workers in Gaza over the past two years, including 376 UN staff members and 54 staff and volunteers of the Palestine Red Crescent Society.
As violence against humanitarian workers reaches record levels, the IFRC warns that Gaza is at the heart of a trend threatening to make attacks on aid workers a new feature of war. “The risk here is to normalize something that should never be normalized,” said Della Longa, lamenting that people who devote their lives to saving others are instead “attacked, killed, wounded, detained.”
– Living with hunger and famine
Inside Gaza, where the UN officially declared famine in late August, the hardship is staggering. Aid workers describe colleagues telling children to go to bed early so they do not feel the hunger or holding on to a single piece of bread until the end of the day to give to their children.
“One colleague told me what it means to live with famine and hunger: you dream of food you cannot have, and when you finally get even a piece of bread, you must keep it for your child,” said Della Longa. “Then, after giving it to them, you have to say sorry and ask them to wait for more because you will not be able to provide. As a father myself, I found this absolutely shocking.”
Doctors and nurses in Gaza have been working frantically, often without rest and basic needs, enduring unimaginable personal loss and suffering while trying to save others falling prey to endless Israeli attacks.
“There was never anyone to replace them … even for a couple of days. They were killed, they were not protected, and now even they don’t know how to have meals during the day,” he said. “Weakening doctors and nurses means weakening entire communities.”
Carla Drysdale, a World Health Organization spokesperson, echoed the concern and drew attention to the attacks that not only destroyed the functionality of hospitals and ambulances, but also injured and killed thousands of health workers.
Both organizations say that without protection and access, humanitarian action in Gaza will remain paralyzed.
– ‘Impunity once risks impunity everywhere’
Over the past two years, Israel has killed more than 67,000 Palestinians in Gaza, most of them women and children, and wounded nearly 170,000, according to figures from Palestinian authorities confirmed by the UN and other international organizations.
A UN independent international commission of inquiry concluded last month that Israel is committing genocide in the enclave, where its siege and blockade on all essentials has also triggered a famine that has killed more than 450 Palestinians, including over 150 children.
Earlier in August, UN experts warned that Israel’s targeted destruction of Gaza’s health system amounts to “medicide.”
In a statement, UN special rapporteurs Tlaleng Mofokeng and Francesca Albanese said Israel was “deliberately attacking and starving healthcare workers, paramedics and hospitals to wipe out medical care in the besieged enclave.”
“In addition to bearing witness to an ongoing genocide we are also bearing witness to a ‘medicide,’ a sinister component of the intentional creation of conditions calculated to destroy Palestinians in Gaza which constitutes an act of genocide,” the experts said.
Della Longa warned that the erosion of respect for aid workers is no longer confined to war zones.
“If you think about 10 years ago, talking about the protection of humanitarians in this way would have been not understandable, because you don’t attack humanitarians. This trend is so widely spread that it is really deeply concerning and shocking.”
He called for enforcement of respect for existing laws and stressed the need for mechanisms to end impunity.
“If there is impunity once, it means there would be impunity everywhere. This is a precedent that we cannot accept,” he said.
“The issue is the political will. Humanitarians must do the humanitarian work and call on governments to take their own responsibility,” he said.
He concluded with one plea: “Don’t shoot the Red Cross. Don’t shoot humanitarians. Don’t shoot the people who are saving lives and alleviating suffering.”
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.
This work by Middle East Monitor is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Relatives and loved ones of Palestinians, who lost their lives in an Israeli attack on the ez-Zeytun neighborhood, mourn the deceased as the bodies are being taken to El Ehli Baptist Hospital for funeral in eastern Gaza City, Gaza on August 6, 2025. [Khames Alrefi – Anadolu Agency]
At least 61,258 Palestinians have been killed in Israel’s genocidal war on the Gaza Strip since October 2023, including 197 who have died from hunger, the Health Ministry said on Thursday, Anadolu reports.
A ministry statement said 100 bodies were brought to hospitals in the last 24 hours, while 603 people were injured, taking the number of injuries to 152,045 in the Israeli onslaught since October 2023.
The ministry also said that four more people died from starvation and malnutrition over the past day, pushing the death toll since October 2023 to 197, including 96 children.
A medical source told Anadolu that 16-month-old Mohammed Zakaria Asfour lost his life at the Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Younis as a result of starvation-related complications amid a severe shortage of food and medicine due to the Israeli siege.
Activists shared videos on social media showing Mohammed’s extremely frail body and protruding bones.
The ministry also said that 51 Palestinians were killed and 230 injured while trying to get humanitarian aid in the past day, bringing the total number of people killed while seeking aid to 1,706 with over 12,030 others wounded since May 27, when the controversial Gaza Humanitarian Foundation began operations.
Israel has imposed a blockade on Gaza for 18 years and, since March 2 has shut down all crossings, blocking the entry of humanitarian aid and worsening conditions for the territory’s 2.4 million population.
According to Gaza’s government media office, Israel allowed in just 92 aid trucks on Wednesday – far short of the 600 trucks needed daily to meet the needs of the residents.
The Israeli army resumed its attacks on the Gaza Strip on March 18, breaking a ceasefire and prisoner exchange agreement that took hold in January. Efforts for another truce led by the US, Egypt and Qatar have so far not yielded any results.
Members of the National Education Union (NEU) hold a rally at Old Palace Yard, in Westminster, London, January 29, 2025
