What role has UK played in Israel’s war on Gaza?
[Easily watched/heard at X 1.5 speed]
UN warns of “ethnic cleansing” as 36,000 Palestinians displaced in West Bank
This work by Middle East Monitor is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
The United Nations has warned of “ethnic cleansing” committed by Israel in the occupied West Bank, citing the displacement of more than 36,000 Palestinians over the past year.
In a report released on Tuesday, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights said the scale of displacement represents “forced displacement on an unprecedented scale”, raising concerns about a coordinated policy of mass transfer.
The report stated that the developments suggest efforts aimed at permanent displacement of Palestinians from parts of the occupied territories.
It also documented a sharp rise in Israeli settler violence, recording 1,732 attacks causing injuries or property damage in the past 12 months, compared with 1,400 incidents in the previous period.
According to the report, these attacks have included intimidation, destruction of homes, and damage to agricultural land, contributing to worsening living conditions for Palestinian communities.
READ: Spain condemns ‘unacceptable’ escalation of violence in occupied West Bank
The UN described the violence as “coordinated, strategic and widespread”, adding that it often occurs with near-total impunity. It also stated that Israeli authorities play a “pivotal role” in enabling or facilitating such actions.
The report highlighted a significant escalation during the olive harvest season in October, when 42 attacks injured 131 Palestinians, including women and children — the highest monthly toll recorded since 2006.
It added that increasing restrictions on farmers’ access to their land, alongside the involvement of armed settlers and soldiers, have made the most recent harvest season the worst in decades.
The UN called on Israeli authorities to immediately halt settlement expansion and take steps to prevent further displacement and violence, warning that continued developments could further destabilise the situation in the occupied West Bank.
READ: Israeli forces prevent worshippers from performing Tarawih prayers in Jerusalem neighbourhoods
This work by Middle East Monitor is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
- Iranian gas supply to Iraq stops after South Pars gas facilities attack
- Trump and Hegseth Cannot Define the Truth of the US-Israeli War on Iran
- Israeli violence in West Bank surges as Iran war shifts global focus
- Trump suggests ‘finishing off what’s left’ of Iran
- Russia condemns ‘murder’ of Iranian officials amid killing of Tehran’s security chief
- Israeli army arrests 16 Palestinian women in West Bank raids
- Indonesia suspends Gaza troop deployment amid Middle East tensions
- When diplomacy nears the threshold: What two wars in nine months reveal about how the Iran war will end
- Hezbollah says resistance proven effective as conflict rages in Lebanon
- UN warns of “ethnic cleansing” as 36,000 Palestinians displaced in West Bank
- Iran’s Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei rejects ceasefire proposals, source says
- Egypt warns regional war must not overshadow Gaza’s humanitarian catastrophe
- Tunisian rights groups demand release of Gaza flotilla activists
- Macron rejects sending navy to Hormuz as Europe urges Trump to halt war
- Gaza security’s ambush kills suspected collaborators in Khan Younis
- Israel exploiting regional crises to expand illegal settlements in West Bank: Palestinian foreign minister
- Iran’s political system ‘strong’ despite killing of officials: Foreign minister
UK Government must make clear it will not accept Trump and Netanyahu’s breaches of international law, say Greens
Responding to recent international developments in the Middle East, Latin America and the Caribbean, Dr Ellie Chowns, leader of the Parliamentary Green Party, said:
“Just weeks ago we saw Trump and Netanyahu launch illegal strikes against Iran in the midst of ongoing negotiations, endangering countless civilian lives and dragging the entire surrounding region into chaos. Despite the clear human cost of this flagrant breach of international law, the UK Government did not condemn the initial attacks made by the US and Israel. On the contrary, Keir Starmer has continued to stress Britian’s allyship with these two nations – and in allowing the US to use UK military bases for ‘defensive’ action, has risked dragging the UK further into an illegal war.
“The US and Israel have continuously flouted international law with apparent impunity. Whether concerning Israel’s genocide in Gaza and illegal settlement expansion in the West Bank or the US’s unilateral attacks on Venezuela in the name of oil imperialism, the UK Government has refused to pursue appropriate action against these nations for breaching international law or to re-evaluate their status as allies to Britain.
“This permissiveness has not tempered the two countries. Following the strikes on Iran, Israel has expanded their ground campaign in Lebanon, displacing a million people throughout the country and seemingly preparing for prolonged occupation of southern Lebanon. Trump has intensified his threats against Cuba following the collapse of the island nation’s energy grid under a US-imposed oil blockade, declaring just yesterday that he believes he will ‘take’ the country and ‘could do anything [he] want[s] with it.’
“This cannot continue. The Green Party calls on the UK Government to make clear to Trump and Netanyahu the UK will not accept breaches of international law, to withdraw permission for the US to use UK military bases, and to refuse any further complicity in this illegal war. Furthermore, we reiterate our calls for the UK to halt all arms sales to and military cooperation with the Israeli Government, to drive independent investigations into war crimes committed and support justice mechanisms for victims, and to impose sanctions on government officials responsible for breaches of international law.”
Corbyn writes to Starmer urging co-operation into war crimes investigation
Jeremy Corbyn takes part in a Palestine Coalition march in central London, January 31, 2026JEREMY Corbyn asked Sir Keir Starmer today if he will co-operate with any investigation into British complicity in war crimes following the publication of the Gaza Tribunal Report.
The former Labour leader wrote to the PM, Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper and former foreign secretary David Lammy after the tribunal found ministers should face investigation by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for failing to prevent a genocide in Gaza.
The letter urged the government to end all military co-operation with Israel as well as impose economic sanctions and suspend its trade agreement with the state.
The tribunal calls for a full investigation by the ICC into Britain’s actions in response to the conflict, as well as an independent public inquiry into any co-operation between Britain and Israel since October 2023.
It says that Britain was complicit in Israel’s actions, which a UN commission found to have constituted a genocide last year.
A ‘ludicrous misuse of state power against civil liberties’
https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/ludicrous-misuse-state-power-against-civil-liberties
Lawyer slams prosecution on final day Palestine Solidarity Campaign director Ben Jamal and Stop the War Coalition vice-chair Chris Nineham’s trial
THE Crown’s case against two leaders of the Palestine movement was called a “ludicrous invitation to criminalise legitimate protected political speech about the misuse of state power against people’s civil liberties” today.
Defence barrister Mark Summers KC castigated the prosecution on the final day of the trial of Palestine Solidarity Campaign director Ben Jamal and Stop the War Coalition vice-chair Chris Nineham at Westminster magistrates’ court.
He described their actions in the run up to the January 18 2025 Palestine protest as nothing more than those of civic organisations engaging in political campaigning in a democracy.
…
Officers in the control room and on the ground were in complete ignorance of the plan for a “flower delegation” to walk towards the BBC to lay flowers, even though it had been announced by Mr Jamal from the stage.
If stopped by police, the delegation would lay the flowers at their feet.
This Mr Summers said was a “sensible, symbolic proposal” and could only have succeeded with police permission.
He said: “From beginning to end, events had been a humourless Ealing comedy. At no point did either side understand the intentions of the other.”
At the police cordons the delegation believed they had been permitted to walk through police lines.
In footage from a police body-worn camera, not previously disclosed by the prosecution, an officer was heard telling the delegation: “You’ve got to filter through. Filter, Take your time getting through.”
Mr Summers asked: “Why would it occur to them that they were being instructed by the police to do something unlawful?”
…
https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/ludicrous-misuse-state-power-against-civil-liberties