Jerusalem

‘A stain on our city’: UK urged to ban Israeli property fair selling stolen Palestinian land

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Israeli heavy duty machines carry out excavation work, damaging Palestinian-owned lands to build an illegal Jewish settlement in the Jabal Juheihan area of Hebron, West Bank on October 27, 2025.[ Wisam Hashlamoun – Anadolu Agency]

UK ministers are under mounting pressure to ban a London real estate event accused of marketing land in illegal Israeli settlements, after several MPs challenged the government in Parliament and Green Party leader Zack Polanski warned that allowing it to proceed would be a “stain” on the capital.

The Great Israeli Real Estate Event 2026 is scheduled to take place in London on Sunday 14 June. Its website says attendees will be able to meet consultants on Aliyah, higher education, finances, taxation, mortgages, transferring funds and home management, and invites them to “explore the best Anglo neighbourhoods to find your dream home”. It lists areas including Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, Ramat Beit Shemesh, Netanya, Raanana, Modiin, Herzliya, Haifa, Ashdod, Beersheva and Ashkelon, while offering “special deals exclusive to event participants”.

The event promotes property in illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, including Gush Etzion, alongside homes inside Israel. During a debate in Parliament on Tuesday, Liberal Democrat foreign affairs spokesman Calum Miller described the event  as “Palestinian land being advertised, bartered and sold on the streets of our capital.”

Addressing the Commons, Richard Burgon, the Labour MP for Leeds East, urged Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper to stop the event, drawing a direct comparison with Russia’s occupation of Ukraine.

“Let us just imagine that, this weekend in our capital city, there was a ‘great Russian real estate event’ selling off Ukrainian land. Quite rightly and without hesitation, the Government would move to ban such an illegal event. This weekend in London, there is the Great Israeli Real Estate Event, openly advertising the illegal sale of land in the illegally occupied Palestinian territories. Given that the Government rightly recognised the state of Palestine, surely we should now move to ban this event, which is selling off land illegally in Palestine.”

READ: 140 Labour MPs urge UK to ban trade with illegal Israeli settlements

Cooper did not commit to banning the event, but said the government was looking into it. “We are pursuing that particular event. If we find any cases where there are breaches of UK law, we will also pursue them,” she told MPs. “The wider issue is that nobody in the UK should be advertising illegal settlements. Nobody should be pursuing illegal settlements. No businesses or organisations should be getting involved in them.”

Polanski, leader of the Green Party of England and Wales, also wrote to Cooper and Mayor of London Sadiq Khan demanding urgent intervention, describing the planned event as “deeply disturbing”.

“This is obscene,” Polanski wrote on X. “I’ve called on @MayorofLondon and @YvetteCooperMP to stop the event and for this govt to take real action on illegal settlements.”

In his letter, Polanski said the event is due to come to London “to auction stolen Palestinian land to the highest bidder” and “proudly promotes the sale of land in settlements like ‘Gush Etzion’ in the occupied West Bank, marked as illegal under international law”.

Polanski warned that “many Londoners are rightfully concerned that an event promoting land confiscation and the destruction of homes is set to take place in our city.”

Addressing Khan, Polanski said: “Sadiq, you have previously stood with campaigners and Londoners of conscience in condemning the DSEI arms fair, and I welcomed your leadership on that issue. I ask that you now take the same principled stance against this proposed land sale, which would be a stain on our city if allowed to proceed.”

READ: 6 nations impose sanctions on networks financing, enabling occupiers’ attacks in West Bank

Polanski also called on Cooper to move beyond statements of concern. “Your government has a moral and legal responsibility to take action against illegal settlements,” he wrote. “This must include banning the import of settlement goods and imposing further sanctions on all Israeli Government officials responsible for authorising illegal settlements. Empty condemnation is not enough — we need to see action.”

The Green Party leader also highlighted Bank Leumi’s sponsorship of the event, saying the Israeli bank had been identified by Human Rights Watch for directly supporting settlement expansion through mortgage loans and work with construction companies building on stolen Palestinian land, including in Gush Etzion.

Cooper used the wider debate to announce new sanctions against organisations accused of supporting illegal settlements and settler violence, and said the government had strengthened business guidance to make clear that British citizens and businesses should not conduct economic or financial activity in illegal settlements.

“The expansion of the illegal settlements is not only deeply wrong, because Palestinians are being forced from their own land, sometimes in the most brutal of circumstances, but deliberately designed to try to make it impossible to ever get to a two-state solution,” Cooper told MPs. “That is the purpose for some of those involved, and we should be very clear on that and call it out for what it is.”

However, Cooper stopped short of backing a formal trade ban. She said the government wanted to target illegal settlements and activity linked to them, while avoiding an impact on what she described as “long-standing, legitimate trade” with Israel.

READ: Israel allocates $51M to build 69 illegal settlements in occupied West Bank, watchdog says

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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 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/
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.
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.
Orcas discuss rotting brain, front Orca says Sundown Syndrome is a dead givaway and he wishes someone would Lock Him Up
Orcas discuss rotting brain, front Orca says Sundown Syndrome is a dead givaway and he wishes someone would Lock Him Up

Continue Reading‘A stain on our city’: UK urged to ban Israeli property fair selling stolen Palestinian land

Israeli forces remove worshippers from a mosque in Jerusalem, bar evening prayers

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Israeli authorities prevent Palestinians from entering Jerusalem from the West Bank to perform the first Friday prayers of Ramadan at Al-Aqsa Mosque in East Jerusalem, on February 20, 2026. [Issam Rimawi – Anadolu Agency]

Israeli forces on Sunday evening forced worshippers out of a mosque in the Old City of occupied East Jerusalem and prevented them from performing the Isha and Taraweeh prayers.

Local sources said troops entered Sheikh Lulu Mosque shortly before the call to the Isha prayer and forced worshipers to leave the place, and prevented prayers, including Tarawih prayers, in what was described as part of ongoing restrictions on places of worship.

The incident came as Al-Aqsa Mosque remained closed for a second consecutive day under what authorities described as a state of emergency. Strict closures were also imposed on the Old City and its entrances.

Since Saturday evening, Israeli authorities have completely shut Al-Aqsa Mosque and forced worshippers to leave immediately, citing the declaration of a state of emergency following Israel’s attack on Iran. The measures have further tightened restrictions on freedom of worship and movement in the city.

READ: Mosque entrance set on fire, racist graffiti sprayed in West Bank village

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 forces remove worshippers from a mosque in Jerusalem, bar evening prayers

Israel arrests 22,000 Palestinians in West Bank, Jerusalem since start of the genocide war

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Israeli forces detain Palestinians following an explosion in Tulkarm, West Bank, on September 11, 2025. ( Nedal Eshtayah – Anadolu Agency )

Israel has arrested around 22,000 Palestinians in the West Bank, including Jerusalem, since the start of what has been described as a war of genocide, according to the Ramallah-based Palestinian Prisoner’s Club.

The rights group said the figure covers all cases of arrest during this period, including those who remain in detention and those who were later released. It described the number as an unprecedented record for arrests over just two and a half years.

The Prisoner’s Club stressed that the total does not include arrests in the Gaza Strip, which it said amount to thousands, nor arrest campaigns in the territories occupied in 1948.

In a statement issued on Thursday, the group added that arrest operations in the West Bank are continuing at an increasing pace. It said that at least 40 Palestinians were arrested between Wednesday evening and Thursday morning, including four women, one of them a child, as well as former prisoners. 

READ: Palestinian mother, daughter recount strip searches, harsh conditions in Israeli detention

The organisation said the arrest operations have been accompanied by what it described as serious and unprecedented violations. These include severe beatings, organised intimidation against detainees and their families, widespread damage to homes, and the seizure of vehicles, money and gold jewellery.

It also accused Israeli forces of destroying infrastructure, demolishing the homes of prisoners’ families, taking relatives hostage, using detainees as human shields, carrying out field executions, and using arrest campaigns as cover to expand settlements in the West Bank.

The Prisoner’s Club further stated that extensive field interrogations have affected thousands since the start of the war, adding that soldiers committed abuses during these interrogations which it said were no less serious than torture carried out in official detention and interrogation centres.

READ: Prisoners’ office reveals assault on Abdullah Barghouti in Israeli jail

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 ReadingIsrael arrests 22,000 Palestinians in West Bank, Jerusalem since start of the genocide war

US envoy, Trump son-in-law set to arrive in Israel to meet Netanyahu

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President Donald Trump’s Middle East Special Envoy Steve Witkoff makes a speech during the signing ceremony of the Peace Charter for Gaza as part of the 56th World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland on January 22, 2026. [Harun Özalp – Anadolu Agency]

US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff is set to arrive in Israel on Saturday evening, accompanied by Jared Kushner, the son-in-law of US President Donald Trump, according to Israeli media.

Channel 12 reported that Witkoff and Kushner will arrive in Tel Aviv in preparation for a meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

On Friday, Channel 12, citing unnamed sources, reported that Netanyahu is expected to meet Witkoff and Kushner in Jerusalem to discuss the second phase of the Gaza ceasefire agreement.

The sources added that Israel’s security and political Cabinet will convene on Sunday to review developments related to the Gaza Strip.

On Thursday, Netanyahu’s office announced that the Cabinet would discuss early next week the issue of reopening the Rafah border crossing between the Gaza Strip and Egypt.

The crossing was scheduled to reopen in October as part of the first phase of the ceasefire agreement, which came into effect on Oct. 10, but Israel did not comply.

READ: Head of US Central Command arrives in Israel

While Ali Shaath, head of the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza, announced that the Rafah crossing would reopen next week during a televised speech following the signing of the “Board of Peace” charter in Davos, the Israeli side has not confirmed this.

An Israeli official linked the reopening of the Palestinian side of the Rafah crossing to the recovery of the remains of their last captive from Gaza, said to belong to a police officer, according to Yedioth Ahronoth.

The second phase of the agreement also stipulates the disarmament of Hamas and other Palestinian factions, an additional withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza, and the launch of reconstruction efforts, which the United Nations estimates will cost about $70 billion.

The first phase included a ceasefire and a prisoner exchange involving the release of Israeli captives in return for Palestinian prisoners. However, Tel Aviv has continued to violate the agreement on a daily basis.

The Israeli army has killed more than 71,000 people, most of them women and children, and injured over 171,000 in a brutal offensive since October 2023 that left Gaza in ruins.

Despite a ceasefire that began Oct. 10, Israel has continued to carry out attacks, killing 481 Palestinians and wounding 1,313, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.

READ: Gaza power plant on track to resume operations after 2-year-plus shutdown: Administrator

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 ReadingUS envoy, Trump son-in-law set to arrive in Israel to meet Netanyahu

Israeli settlers vandalise Muslims gravestones in occupied Jerusalem

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Israeli forces are seen at Bab al-Rahmeh cemetery in East Jerusalem on 10 December, 2017 [Mostafa Alkharouf/Anadolu Agency]

Israeli settlers vandalised several gravestones at an Islamic cemetery in occupied Jerusalem in the early hours of Monday, according to local sources.

Residents said a group of settlers stormed an Islamic cemetery near the Old City of Jerusalem, damaging and defacing a number of graves before leaving the area.

The attack comes amid repeated incidents targeting the Bab al-Rahma cemetery, located east of the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound. Settlers vandalised gravestones at the cemetery twice earlier in 2025, according to local documentation.

Bab al-Rahma is one of the oldest and most significant Islamic cemeteries in Jerusalem, dating back around 1,400 years. It contains the graves of companions of the Prophet Muhammad, as well as fighters who took part in the historic conquest of Jerusalem during the eras of Caliph Umar ibn al-Khattab and later under Saladin.

Palestinian residents and religious authorities say the cemetery has been subjected to sustained Israeli violations, including attempts to seize parts of it. They warn that such actions aim to alter the cultural and religious character of the area and facilitate greater Israeli control over the Old City of Jerusalem and its surroundings, particularly the Al-Aqsa Mosque complex.

READ: Israeli court postpones trial of Al-Aqsa preacher

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 settlers vandalise Muslims gravestones in occupied Jerusalem