Waste firm Veolia pays £27k after ‘Yes It’s A Genocide’ banner taken by Greater London Authority was destroyed
The banner was unflurled in Parliament Square in London in December 2024. Photograph: Haroon Siddique/Jiri Rezac/Led by Donkeys
The campaign group Led By Donkeys has received £27,000 in compensation after a giant banner it displayed in Parliament Square saying “Yes It’s A Genocide” was seized by Greater London Authority officials and destroyed.
Representatives of the GLA arrived on the scene in central London and confiscated the 40-metre by 40-metre banner after it was unfurled on 4 December 2024, just over a year after Israel began its assault on Gaza after the 7 October 2023 attacks by Hamas.
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Ben Stewart, a co-founder of Led By Donkeys, said: “The Parliament Square banner was in collaboration with one of the world’s leading genocide scholars, but still the authorities threw process out the window and simply seized and destroyed our property. Pursuing compensation was never about the money, it was about defending space to protest Israel’s war crimes.
“Palestine protests are treated differently in Britain to all other forms of activism. Direct action is regarded as terrorism and words on a placard are rendered illegal. Over the years we’ve delivered banners, put up billboards and done guerilla projections across the country, but the only time our equipment has been seized and destroyed was when it related to Palestine.”
The banner was videoed from the air and a film created that was posted on social media featuring a voiceover from the renowned Israeli scholar Prof Amos Goldberg, a historian of the Holocaust, who said: “This is exactly what a genocide looks like.”
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.Donald Trump sings and dances, says that it’s fun to kill everyone … unless he gets distracted or falls asleep.
Issam Fadi Nabiyye, a 1-year-old Palestinian who lives with his family in the Sheikh Radwan neighborhood of Gaza City, is seen suffering from severe malnutrition in this July 6, 2026 photo. (Photo by Abdalhkem Abu Riash/Anadolu via Getty Images)
“The October 2025 ceasefire has led to measurable gains in humanitarian access and overall conditions across the Gaza Strip. However, the situation remains deeply fragile.”
Although the Gaza Strip is no longer officially enduring famine, a majority of Palestinians there are suffering “crisis or worse” levels of hunger in an emergency that is expected to worsen in the coming months if Israel’s bombardment and siege—which many experts say is a key component of an ongoing genocide—continue.
The Integrated Phase Food Security Classification—which ranks food security levels on a scale of 1 to 5—on Thursday published an analysis showing that from mid-April to the end of June, more than 1.2 million people, or 59% of Gaza’s population, were experiencing IPC Phase 3 (crisis) or worse levels of food insecurity. This included about 212,000 people in IPC Phase 4 (emergency). All five Gaza governorates were classified as being in Phase 3.
“After two years of conflict, the October 2025 ceasefire has led to measurable gains in humanitarian access and overall conditions across the Gaza Strip,” IPC said in a statement. “However, the situation remains deeply fragile, with civilians continuing to endure harsh conditions.”
#Gaza Strip The Oct 2025 ceasefire has led to measurable gains in humanitarian access & conditions across the Gaza Strip, yet the situation remains deeply fragile. 1.4 million people are facing high levels of acute food insecurity through Dec 2026. More: www.ipcinfo.org/ipcinfo-webs…
This marks an improvement from a year ago, when a “worst-case scenario” was developing into a Phase 5 (catastrophe) famine that was formally declared by the IPC in August 2025. At least hundreds of Palestinians, many of them children, have died from malnutrition since Israel launched its US-backed war on Gaza in retaliation for the Hamas-led attack of October 7, 2023.
The IPC declared last December that while Gaza was no longer in a famine, the situation remained critical for the war-ravaged Palestinians there. The new IPC report warns that two-thirds of Gaza’s population are projected to face Phase 3 crisis conditions by the end of the year.
The organization also said that 74,200 Palestinian children under the age of 5 in Gaza will likely need treatment for acute malnutrition through next April.
(Image by Integrated Phase Food Security Classification)
Responding to the new IPC data, United Nations Children’s Fund Executive Director Catherine Russell said Thursday that “acute malnutrition has fallen, but many children are still going hungry, and some children may never fully recover from prolonged lack of proper nutrition.”
“This progress shows that when humanitarian access improves and aid gets through, children can be pulled back from the brink,” she added. “But it rests on a supplementary feeding program that doesn’t reach all children, and where funding is running out.”
Israeli forces have killed or wounded more than 250,000 Palestinians since then, and forcibly displaced, starved, or sickened over 2 million others since then, resulting in worldwide allegations of genocide embodied in an International Court of Justice case filed by South Africa at the end of 2023 and now formally supported by nearly 20 nations.
Like many members of their public, Israeli and US officials under both the Biden and Trump administrations initially denied that Israel was starving Gazans. However, Israeli officials warned in private that Gaza was facing starvation, while US President Donald Trump, Vice President JD Vance, and other administration figures have acknowledged that Palestinians were starving to death in the strip. That did not stop them from continuing to give billions of dollars in US armed aid to Israel.
In response to the new IPC report, acting United Nations World Food Program Executive Director Carl Skau said that “there is progress on food security in Gaza, but it is fragile and can easily be reversed.”
“The overall humanitarian situation remains brutal: Families lack water, sanitation, and medicine,” Skau added. “We need sustained access, funding, and stability so people of Gaza can begin recovery.”
The heads of various United Nations agencies concurred that a lasting peace—which Israel is not allowing as it continues bombing and besieging Gaza despite a nominal nine-month ceasefire—is imperative for that recovery.
Despite the so-called ceasefire in Gaza, civilians continue to pay a heavy price every day.
People are being killed in their homes, in their communities, and while carrying out ordinary acts of daily life – as Israel increases its control of Gaza.
“Food security in Gaza cannot recover unless local food production starts again and farmers, herders, fishers, and other producers can rebuild their livelihoods,” UN Food and Agriculture Organization Director-General Qu Dongyu said on Thursday. “Producers need access to farmland and the sea, and to seeds, tools, livestock supplies, and other agricultural inputs, as well as technical support.”
“Restrictions on agricultural imports and humanitarian supplies must be lifted,” Qu added. “Without these essentials, food production, and security will remain a pressing situation.”
The IPC said that “recent gains remain fragile,” and that “advancing peace plans is essential to support recovery, enable the safe return of displaced populations, and help households rebuild their livelihoods.”
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.
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U.S. Navy warplane takes off from the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln during Operation Epic Fury targeting Iran in the Gulf of Oman, on March 01, 2026. [U.S. Navy / Handout – Anadolu Agency]
Bahrain and Kuwait quietly deployed fighter jets to strike targets within Iran earlier this month, marking their first known direct military response against Tehran, The Wall Street Journal reported on Friday, citing “people familiar with the matter.”
The strikes hit facilities used to store drones and missiles, along with other military installations, according to the report.
The United Arab Emirates, which had previously launched several attacks on Iran during the early stages of the conflict, reportedly contributed intelligence on potential targets and provided defensive air support, reflecting growing coordination among Arab states in countering Iran, the report said.
For several weeks, Iran has concentrated its retaliatory attacks on Bahrain and Kuwait, both home to US military bases.
Although the two Gulf nations maintain relatively modest air forces equipped with American and European-made fighter jets, they were unwilling to allow Tehran to continue striking them without responding, the report said.
Regional tensions have escalated over the past two weeks after US President Donald Trump announced on July 8 that the ceasefire outlined in the Islamabad MoU was no longer in effect.
Since then, the US and Iran have exchanged strikes, with Washington targeting sites inside Iran, while Tehran says it has attacked US military facilities and equipmnt across several countries in the region.
Orcas discuss rotting brain, front Orca says he wishes someone would lock him up, small Orca speaks bluntly.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.
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Commercial vessels and oil tankers preparing to transit through the Strait of Hormuz, one of the most critical strategic waterways for global trade flows, maintain their wait in the Gulf of Oman, on June 17, 2026. [Shady Alassar – Anadolu Agency]
An Omani diplomatic delegation arrived in Tehran for talks with Iranian officials on mechanisms governing navigation through the Strait of Hormuz, Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency reported Friday.
The report said the delegation’s visit was part of ongoing consultations between Iran and Oman aimed at establishing appropriate mechanisms for managing ship traffic through the strategic waterway.
Separately, Iran’s Foreign Ministry said Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi held a phone call with his Omani counterpart Badr Albusaidi on Friday, during which they discussed the latest regional developments, maritime security, and the movement of commercial vessels through the Strait of Hormuz and the Gulf following what Tehran described as the Iranian armed forces’ “reciprocal and proportionate” responses to US attacks against Iran.
The two ministers also stressed the importance of safeguarding maritime security and reviewed regional cooperation and initiatives aimed at preventing further escalation and promoting peace, stability, and security in the region, the ministry added.
No further details were immediately provided about the Omani delegation or the duration of its talks.
Orcas discuss rotting brain, front Orca says he wishes someone would lock him up, small Orca speaks bluntly.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.
This work by Middle East Monitor is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Israeli soldiers block the road leading to Nablus Hospital, after raiding the hospital and detaining a wounded Palestinian, and his sibling in Nablus, West Bank, Palestine on July 24, 2026. [Nedal Eshtayah – Anadolu Agency]
Israeli forces detained at least 70 Palestinians in raids across the occupied West Bank on Saturday, while eight others were injured in a separate attack by occupiers, according to Palestinian media and the Palestinian Red Crescent Society, Anadolu reports.
The official Voice of Palestine radio said Israeli forces arrested more than 40 young Palestinian men in an ongoing raid on the town of Tell, west of Nablus in the northern part of the occupied territory.
Israeli troops seized a house in the town and converted it into a field interrogation center, the broadcaster said.
It added that Israeli forces were carrying out extensive raids on homes across the town while surrounding it from all directions.
On Friday, Israeli Premier Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz ordered a “wide-scale military operation” in Palestinian villages across the West Bank following an attack near the illegal Havat Gilad settlement that killed two Israeli soldiers and wounded three others.
According to sources and witnesses, Israeli occupiers later attacked several Palestinian communities in the Nablus governorate, setting fire to Palestinian homes and other property.
Four Palestinians were killed on Friday in an attack by Israeli occupiers and Israeli forces on the town of Tell, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry.
Meanwhile, the official Palestinian news agency Wafa reported that Israeli forces launched widespread raids before dawn in the city of Jenin and several towns and villages across the governorate.
Troops also searched a number of homes and detained five Palestinians, while military operations continued in several parts of the governorate, according to local sources cited by the agency. Separately, Israeli forces detained three Palestinians in the Bethlehem governorate.
In another incident, the Palestinian Red Crescent Society said eight Palestinians were injured, including six who were shot with live fire, in an attack by Israeli occupiers on the village of Farata, east of Qalqilya in northwestern West Bank. The organization did not immediately provide further details on the attack or the condition of the injured.
In northern West Bank, the Israeli army detained at least six Palestinians during extensive raids across neighborhoods and towns in Jenin, amid a heavy military deployment and continued troop movements.
The Israeli army also raided the city of Tubas and the Al-Far’a refugee camp in northern West Bank, launching a large-scale campaign of raids on Palestinian homes.
In the central West Bank, the army detained 13 Palestinians from various areas across the Ramallah and Al-Bireh governorate.
In the southern West Bank, Israeli forces raided Hebron and detained eight Palestinians.
This work by Middle East Monitor is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Donald Trump sings and dances, says that it’s fun to kill everyone … unless he gets distracted or falls asleep.
Orcas discuss rotting brain, front Orca says he wishes someone would lock him up, small Orca speaks bluntly.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.
