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Amnesty International on Tuesday published its Silencing Dissent report, which found that UK universities actively worked together to stop students protesting their universities’ ties to Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza.
Freedom of Information (FOI) disclosures examined in the report found that universities “were not acting in isolation when responding to Palestine solidarity protest, but are operating within a network which encouraged repressive responses”.
FOI-obtained messages showed university administrators discussing disciplinary measures, including injunctions to stop protests and referring student protesters to the UK’s Prevent counterterrorism programme.
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The report notes that at least nine universities received threat briefings from private intelligence firms, including Horus Security Consultancy Ltd, Mitie Intelligence Hub and the risk specialist Global Situational Awareness (GSA).
Intelligence updates routinely classified non-violent student actions with severe threat levels.
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Original article at https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/uk-universities-worked-together-suppress-pro-palestine-activism-report-reveals


https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cq4g1p974wxko

The Israeli military has begun demolishing Palestinian buildings in the city of Hebron, after two Israeli soldiers were killed in an attack by two Palestinian gunmen.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the military would “destroy” the neighbourhood where the two attackers came from, and that Israel was ready for “extensive action” in the occupied West Bank.
Three other soldiers were wounded in the attack at a checkpoint outside Hebron, before the gunmen were shot dead, officials say.
It comes at a time of high tensions, with extremist Jewish settlers targeting Palestinians during the annual olive harvest, and Israel’s general election taking place in four days’ time.
Footage verified by the BBC shows an intense gun battle between soldiers and the gunmen. Other footage shows two gunmen exit a car armed with what appears to be a handgun and an assault rifle and start firing on soldiers at the checkpoint, before coming under return fire.
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Speaking later from the scene, Netanyahu said that the military would “demolish this place and completely transform it,” referring to the Hebron neighbourhood where the attackers are said to have come from.
It is common for Israeli forces to demolish the homes of Palestinians who are suspected of carrying out attacks on Israelis -a practice Israeli rights groups have criticised as collective punishment.
Netanyahu likened his plans to previous operations in West Bank refugee camps where residential buildings were demolished and thousands were displaced.
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See the original article at https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cq4g1p974wxko

https://www.declassifieduk.org/uk-boosts-saudi-support-after-it-kills-yemeni-civilians/

Britain is expanding its aerial refuelling of Saudi fighter jets to include bombing raids on Yemen, despite a major spike in civilians being killed in these airstrikes.
Wes Streeting initially said the UK would only provide air-to-air refuelling for Saudi jets patrolling the kingdom’s skies to ward off drone and missile attacks on airports and oil infrastructure by Yemen’s Houthi movement.
The defence secretary is now letting British fighter jets join those patrols, as well as providing refuelling for Saudi airstrikes on “Houthi military targets in Yemen”.
It comes as last month saw more civilian casualties resulting from Saudi airstrikes on Yemen than any other since 2022, according to the Yemen Data Project.
At least 66 civilians were killed and a further 90 injured, with eight children among the dead.
One of the deadliest strikes came on 22 September, when six civilians including a woman and two children were killed in the bombing of a residential home in the city of Mokha.
That same day, Britain agreed to provide air-to-air refuelling support to the Saudi air force, supplementing the deployment of air defence equipment and UK personnel already in the region.
Saudi forces struck a market in the Al-Taiziyah district of Taiz governorate five days later, killing seven civilians and injuring 40 others, including five children.
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Article continues at https://www.declassifieduk.org/uk-boosts-saudi-support-after-it-kills-yemeni-civilians/



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At least 1,574 people have been killed and 6,939 others injured in Yemen since the latest military escalation began in August, the World Health Organization (WHO) said Thursday.
In a report seen by Anadolu Agency, the UN health agency said it had recorded 8,513 casualties since the beginning of August.
The figure included 1,574 deaths and 6,939 injuries as of Oct. 19, the WHO said, without specifying whether the casualties were civilians, military personnel or both.
The agency said 292 people were killed and 1,048 others injured during the latest eight-day reporting period.
READ: US envoy says ground intervention in Yemen ‘appears pointless,’ urges regional alliances
Last Thursday, the WHO said it had recorded 1,282 deaths and 5,891 injuries since the escalation began on Aug. 6, 2026, before the toll rose to the latest figures.
Yemen has been engulfed in conflict since the Houthis seized Sanaa and several other provinces in 2014, prompting a Saudi-led coalition to intervene in March 2015 in support of the internationally recognized government.
The Houthis control much of northern and western Yemen, while government forces and their allies hold Aden and large parts of the country’s southern and eastern provinces.
READ: More than 250,000 displaced in Yemen since August as fighting escalates: UNHCR


