Britain’s Labour government has ordered 100 spy flights over Gaza to aid Israeli intelligence, it can be revealed.
This amounts to an average of more than one a day since Keir Starmer became prime minister on July 5.
Starmer’s administration suspended 30 arms export licences for Israel last month, citing “a clear risk” the weapons might be used in a “serious violation” of international law.
But the spy flights, which began in December under the previous Conservative government, have continued apace.
Although the Ministry of Defence (MoD) refused to give details, Declassified independently found the flights departing from Akrotiri – Britain’s sprawling air base on Cyprus – to fly over Gaza on Starmer’s watch.
During Labour’s first full month in office, in August, the Royal Air Force (RAF) flew 42 flights over the devastated Palestinian territory.
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Current UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer is quoted that he supports Zionism without qualification. He also confirms that his active support and that of UK’s air force 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/O74hZCKKdpAUK Foreign Secretary David Lammy says that UK is suspending 30 of 350 arms licences to Israel. He also confirms the UK government’s support for Israel’s Gaza genocide and the UK government and military’s active participation in genocide.
People attempt to extinguish a fire at the site of an Israeli strike on tents sheltering displaced people at Al-Aqsa Hospital in central Gaza, October 2024. Ramadan Abed/Reuters
Editor’s note: This article was commissioned by the Guardian US as part of its Rise against fascism series, which was published in September. It was spiked by editor-in-chief Katherine Viner following a disagreement about the author’s use of the term “holocaust” to describe Israel’s actions in Gaza – the Guardian suggested she amend it to “genocide” and she refused. The context of the incident is documented in this report.
Novara Media has decided to publish the piece in full, including the term “holocaust”, following consultation with several scholars of genocide and Jewish history.
The author spells her name in lower case.
Content note: This piece contains explicit references to torture and sexual assault.
United Nations Resolution 3379 defined Zionism as “a form of racism” because at its core it is a supremacist ideology that seeks to privilege Jews at the expense, even detriment and demise, of non-Jews (the resolution passed in 1975 and was revoked in 1991 following pressure from Israel and the United States). Regardless of how one defines Zionism, it manifests, among other myriad ways, in the subjugation or displacement of indigenous Palestinians.
For the past 12 months, Israel has been implementing a long-held colonial fantasy of not only “finishing the job,” but doing so with a gleeful sadism that echos the social media posts of Tzipi Navon, Sara Netanyahu’s close advisor and office manager, who called for residents from Gaza who participated in the [7 October] massacre to be tortured live on broadcast television: “First removing the nails from the hands and feet … cut off [their] genitals and let [them] see [their testicles] fried in canola oil and [force them] to eat them … Keep the tongue to the end, so that it pleases us with its screams, the ears so that [they] can hear [their] own screams and the eyes so that [they] can see us smile.”
Polling data from Israel’s Institute for National Security Studies suggests that a majority of Jewish Israelis do not think that soldiers accused of torturing Palestinians should face criminal charges.
In a rare moment of candour, the New York Times reported UN findings of systematic torture, including sexual torture. According to the UN’s report, Israeli soldiers have allegedly kept Palestinian captives in severely overcrowded prison cells, subjected them to sleep deprivation and forced nudity, threatened them with gang-rape, and penetrated or electrocuted male and female prisoners’ genitals and anuses with electrified batons and other objects. Released Palestinian hostages and Palestinian civilians in Gaza have reported being mauled and sexually assaulted by trained dogs. A lawyer who has been granted rare access to a Palestinian captive inside an Israeli detention centre reported the activation of a fire extinguisher inside the body of a 27-year-old man through a hose inserted into his rectum.
Many of those who were kidnapped, including prominent surgeons such as Dr Adnan Al-Bursh, director of the orthopaedic department at Al-Shifa Hospital, may have died after torture. Some emerged from Israeli gulags with such trauma that they have reportedly suffered memory loss; some were unable to speak; all of them broken by unspeakable torment in Israeli captivity. And they were the lucky ones who got out.
Khalida Jarrar is one of 10,000 Palestinians that has been arrested by Israel in the last year as part of a massive crackdown. Photo: Archive
Legal experts and human rights advocates renew their call for solidarity with Palestinian prisoners detained by Israel since October 2023
Since October 7, 2023, approximately 10,000 Palestinians from across the West Bank and other occupied territories have been imprisoned by Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) in what human rights lawyers describe as an unprecedented assault on all branches of the resistance movement. Thousands more have been forcibly disappeared from the Gaza Strip, with little information available about their whereabouts.
Amid the increased use of torture and detention of the Palestinian people by Israel, international solidarity movements have intensified campaigns calling for their release.
Among those recently detained from the occupied West Bank is Khalida Jarrar, a prominent human and women’s rights activist, who has faced persecution by Israel on multiple occasions, and is now being held in Neve Tirza prison.
At a briefing on Palestinian political prisoners, organized by the International Peoples’ Assembly (IPA), Tala Nasir from Addameer Association for Prisoner Support and Human Rights, along with human rights lawyer Bilal Naammeh, highlighted the IOF’s violations of basic human rights among prisoners. Nasir pointed out that many arrests in the past year have targeted specific groups of professionals who play an important role in building the material basis of the community, including engineers and health workers. However, anyone can face arrest for something as minor as posting on social media, which occupation forces often manipulate into allegations of supporting resistance groups, including Hamas.
Israel is attempting to practically ban all political participation by Palestinians, Naammeh noted, a threat reinforced through military courts and remote trials designed to instill fear in the population. Since October 2023, these practices have become even more severe than before. Naammeh described how, in court, Israeli lawyers often accuse defendants of being involved in the resistance. When defense lawyers challenge these accusations due to insufficient evidence, they can be sanctioned or temporarily barred from representing clients.
As lawyers are currently the only point of contact between prisoners and the outside world, restricting their access—whether through sanctions or lengthy delays—has profound consequences.
Conditions inside Israeli prisons have also worsened significantly. Access to prisoners is limited, even for representatives of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). Prisoners face severe shortages of food and water, which has led to weight loss of up to 30 kilograms per person, and are allowed only one hour outside their cells each day, leaving them isolated for the rest of the time, according to Nasir.
The lack of water and hygiene has led to mass outbreaks of disease and infection, including scabies. According to Naammeh, some prisoners with scabies have been tied to their beds to prevent them from scratching. Other reports indicate that the IOF moves prisoners with scabies between sections in order to purposely exacerbate the contagion. Despite the widespread health crisis, medical care remains out of reach for most. Naammeh highlighted that even the most pressing health issues can take up to two months to receive basic medical attention, leaving prisoners in prolonged suffering.
Conditions in the camps where Palestinians from Gaza are held are even worse, the two advocates suggested, but up-to-date information is nearly impossible to obtain. The only reports come from Israeli media or the testimonies of those who have been released. Nasir recounted stories of prisoners enduring extreme torture, including rape. Witnesses described prisoners being forced to bark for food and given only thin mattresses for six hours a day, making proper rest impossible. This treatment extends even to those who are supposed to enjoy specific protection under international law, such as health workers. Nasir explained that dozens of health workers abducted from Gaza are being held under the Unlawful Combatants Law, meaning they could remain imprisoned until the end of the conflict under such conditions.
In response to Israel’s blatant disregard for human rights and international law, Addameer and the IPA renewed their call for the immediate release of all political prisoners and urged international activists to escalate solidarity efforts, including by insisting on adherence to recent International Court of Justice rulings. The organizers reminded participants that even the simplest acts of solidarity can contribute meaningfully to the broader struggle for liberation.
Palestinian Red Crescent crews mourn fellow paramedics Haitham Tubasi and Suhail Hassouna, killed by Israeli forced (Photo via PRCS)
A new report from the Palestinian Ministry of Health warns that over 1,000 health workers in Gaza have been killed by Israeli forces since October 2023. Meanwhile, a severe shortage of essential hygiene supplies continues to exacerbate the health crisis
Israel has killed 1,151 workers in Gaza’s healthcare system since October 2023, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health. Among the dead are 260 nurses, 184 health associates, 165 physicians, and 76 pharmacists, along with hundreds of management and support staff. While most of the victims’ names have been confirmed by health authorities, over 150 confirmations are still pending due to Israel’s refusal to release the martyrs’ bodies.
In addition to those killed, hundreds of health workers remain imprisoned, where they face abuse and torture, as documented by international organizations. Ziad Muhammad Al-Dalu, a physician from Al-Shifa Hospital, was among those who died in Israeli custody, as reported by the Ministry of Health. His death serves as yet another example of Israel’s deliberate targeting of Gaza’s healthcare workers and infrastructure, actions that violate international humanitarian law.
The ongoing attacks on healthcare have left tens of thousands of people with life-altering injuries. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), approximately 25% of those injured between October 2023 and July 2024 have suffered burns, severe limb injuries, or amputations, with no access to rehabilitation services. Dozens of physiotherapists were killed in the attacks, and inpatient rehabilitation services have been shut down for months. “Even the most essential assistive devices, like wheelchairs and crutches, are lacking due to the restricted flow of aid,” the WHO said.
Israel’s blockade on humanitarian aid continues to choke Gaza’s healthcare system. At the moment, one of the most urgent problems is the shortage of soap and detergents. With the cost of a small bar of soap reaching USD 10—a price that could buy approximately 2 kilograms of soap in Germany—many families in Gaza are unable to afford basic hygiene supplies. “A family relying on cash-for-work income would spend 60% of the unskilled income on consumable hygiene products,” warned organizations monitoring water and sanitation in Gaza.
With soap being an omnipresent product, it might be difficult to imagine how severe the effects of a shortage might be, particularly for children. Health and hygiene officials estimate that adequate access to soap in the Gaza Strip could reduce respiratory infections by 20% and diarrheal diseases by up to 40%. This would potentially prevent illness in at least one in three children currently suffering from diarrhea. However, humanitarian organizations estimate that delivering the 5 million soap bars needed each month to meet demand in Gaza is basically impossible under the existing restrictions.
Despite this situation, Gaza recently completed the first phase of its polio vaccination campaign, with an 87% coverage rate among children—just below the 90% benchmark. The campaign is set to resume in the coming weeks, but incidents of Israeli forces obstructing access to those taking part in it persist, jeopardizing future public health efforts.
As winter approaches, the need for essential medicines, hygiene supplies, and nutritious food in Gaza becomes even more urgent. Concerns about potential floods and worsening living conditions highlight once again the critical need for an immediate ceasefire and rebuilding of the health system.
A Palestinian woman surveys the destruction by Israeli forces of her home and neighborhood in Khuza’a, which is located near Gaza’s border with Israel, on November 25, 2023. (Photo: Mustafa Hassona/Anadolu via Getty Images)
“The creation of any ‘buffer zone’ must not amount to the collective punishment of the Palestinian civilians who lived in these neighborhoods,” warned one Amnesty campaigner.
Amnesty International said Thursday that the Israeli military should be investigated for the “war crimes of wanton destruction and of collective punishment” over its destruction of entire communities along Gaza’s border with Israel.
“Using bulldozers and manually laid explosives, the Israeli military has unlawfully destroyed agricultural land and civilian buildings, razing entire neighborhoods, including homes, schools, and mosques,” the London-based rights group said in a new investigation.
Amnesty analyzed satellite imagery, as well as photos and videos posted online by invading Israel Defense Forces troops between October and May, and found that the IDF has cleared wide swathes of land up to 1.2 miles (1.8 km) wide along Gaza’s eastern border.
“In some videos, Israeli soldiers are seen posing for pictures or toasting in celebration as buildings are demolished in the background,” the report states.
The Israeli military’s campaign to significantly expand a “buffer zone” along the eastern perimeter of #Gaza should be investigated as the war crimes of wanton destruction and collective punishment.
Israeli forces laid waste to much of Khuza’a in Khan Younis governate, under the pretext that Hamas-led militants attacked southern Israel from the town on October 7.
Salem Qudeih, a teacher who lived in Khuza’a about a mile from the border, told Amnesty that “around my family home we had a three dunam (0.7 acre) orchard full of fruit trees. They were all destroyed. Only an apple tree and a rose were left.”
“I had bees and produced honey. All of it is gone now,” he added. “Out of the 222 houses of my relatives in the area, only about a dozen remain. My home—where I lived with my wife, my five daughters, and one son—was completely destroyed.”
Erika Guevara-Rosas, Amnesty’s senior director for research, advocacy, policy, and campaigns, said in a statement: “The Israeli military’s relentless campaign of ruin in Gaza is one of wanton destruction. Our research has shown how Israeli forces have obliterated residential buildings, forced thousands of families from their homes, and rendered their land uninhabitable.”
“Our analysis reveals a pattern along the eastern perimeter of Gaza that is consistent with the systematic destruction of an entire area,” she continued. “These homes were not destroyed as the result of intense fighting. Rather, the Israeli military deliberately razed the land after they had taken control of the area.”
“The creation of any ‘buffer zone’ must not amount to the collective punishment of the Palestinian civilians who lived in these neighborhoods,” Guevara-Rosas added. “Israel’s measures to protect Israelis from attacks from Gaza must be carried out in conformity with its obligations under international law, including the prohibition of wanton destruction and of collective punishment.”
“The Israeli military deliberately razed the land after they had taken control of the area.”
Other experts—including United Nations officials and scholars—have previously highlighted what Robert Pape, a U.S. military historian and University of Chicago professor, described as “one of the most intense civilian punishment campaigns in history.”
In the 335 days since October 7, Israeli forces have killed or maimed more than 145,000 Palestinians in Gaza while forcibly displacing almost all of the embattled strip’s 2.3 million people and destroying hundreds of thousands of homes and other structures, according to Palestinian and international officials. Rebuilding after Israel’s obliteration of Gaza’s civilian infrastructure is expected to cost over $18.5 billion, or nearly Palestine’s entire annual gross domestic product.
Israel is currently on trial for genocide at the International Court of Justice in The Hague. Meanwhile, International Criminal Court (ICC) Prosecutor Karim Khan has applied for warrants to arrest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, and Hamas leaders for alleged war crimes including extermination.
“International humanitarian law, which applies in situations of armed conflict, including during military occupation, is comprised of rules whose central purpose is to limit, to the maximum extent feasible, human suffering in times of armed conflict,” Amnesty explained Thursday.
The group noted that under the Fourth Geneva Convention, “extensive destruction and appropriation of property, not justified by military necessity and carried out unlawfully and wantonly,” is a war crime.
Additionally, the treaty bans collective punishment of civilians, stating that “no protected person may be punished for an offense he or she has not personally committed.”
Amnesty has repeatedly accused Israel of committing war crimes in Gaza and has urged the ICC to open investigations into multiple “indiscriminate” and “disproportionate” IDF massacres, as well as torture and other alleged human rights violations.
