Tag: israel

IDF escalates efforts to prevent civilian return to southern Lebanon after ceasefire

The next big “battle” for southern Lebanon has started, though it is one that does not involve bombs or rockets.

As of April 17, the Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire had kicked in. By Sunday, large numbers of Lebanese civilians attempted to return to southern Lebanon, despite IDF instructions not to.

Foreign media reports and social media showed videos and included interviews of Lebanese civilians using a variety of makeshift means to cross the Litani River into southern Lebanon, even at points where the IDF had destroyed the existing bridges.

Some said that they succeeded in reaching their villages and found significant amounts of damage.

Others said that though they were able to get into southern Lebanon, the IDF blocked the road to their village or used warning fire to make them turn back.

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‘Predators’: Amnesty slams Netanyahu, Putin, Trump as human rights decline

The heads of Israel, Russia and the United States are leading the destruction of global human rights, Amnesty International has said, describing them as “voracious predators” intent upon economic and political domination.

“A global environment where primitive ferocity could flourish has been long in the making,” Agnes Callamard, the head of the global rights group, wrote in an annual report on the state of the world’s human rights that was released on Tuesday.

In 2025, “sharp U-turns were taken away from the international order that had been imagined out of the ashes of the Holocaust and the utter destruction of world wars, and constructed slowly and painfully, albeit insufficiently, over these past 80 years,” she said.

In a news conference on Monday in London, Callamard said that most governments tend to appease the “predators” rather than confront them.

“Some even thought to imitate the bullies and the looters,” she said.

Spain, however, which is an outlier in Europe for its criticism of Israel’s genocide against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and US-Israeli attacks on Iran, “is standing above the double standard that is destroying the international system”, Callamard said.

She argued that Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, US President Donald Trump and Russia’s President Vladimir Putin, who in 2022 sent his forces into neighbouring Ukraine, have had an “absolutely dramatic” impact on the world.

Their conduct is “emboldening all of those that are tempted by similar behaviours,” said Callamard. “It is allowing for the multiplication of copycats around the world, and therefore what we are confronting now is much more aggressive and ferocious than what we had to confront three or four years ago.”

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British universities paid security firm to ‘spy’ on pro-Palestine students

Twelve British universities paid a private firm run by former military intelligence officials to “spy” on student protesters and academics, including those who have expressed solidarity with Palestine, it can be revealed.

A joint investigation by Al Jazeera English and Liberty Investigates has uncovered evidence that Horus Security Consultancy Limited trawled through student social media feeds and conducted secret counter-terror threat assessments on behalf of some of Britain’s most elite institutions.

Horus, which describes itself as a “leading intelligence” firm, has been paid at least 440,000 pounds ($594,000) by universities since 2022.

Among those monitored were a Palestinian academic invited to give a guest lecture at Manchester Metropolitan University and a pro-Gaza PhD student at the London School of Economics, according to internal documents.

In October 2024, the University of Bristol provided the firm with a list of student protest groups it wished to receive alerts about, an internal university email suggests. It included pro-Palestinian and animal rights activists.

In total, 12 universities paid the firm to monitor campus protest activity. Others include the University of Oxford, Imperial College London, University College London (UCL), King’s College London (KCL), the University of Sheffield, the University of Leicester, the University of Nottingham and Cardiff Metropolitan University.

There is no suggestion that this activity is illegal.

These findings have come to light after Al Jazeera English and Liberty Investigates submitted freedom of information (FOI) requests to more than 150 universities.

All the institutions named in this article were approached for comment by Al Jazeera and Liberty Investigates.

The University of Oxford, UCL, KCL, the University of Leicester and the University of Nottingham did not respond to requests for comment.

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‘Iran’s Enemy is Our Enemy: Russia Detains 40 Israelis at Moscow Airport – Report

Israelis Detained at Moscow Airport

Russian authorities detained at least 40 Israeli citizens at Moscow’s Domodedovo Airport after their arrival from Tel Aviv, according to official Israeli sources cited in the Times of Israel. 

The outlet reported that the Israeli Foreign Ministry confirmed that the group was held before later being released following diplomatic intervention.

According to reports cited by Times of Israel, the Isreali citizens were detained on suspicion of having connections to Israel’s military aggression against Iran.

Russian security personnel reportedly told detainees that Iran is an ally of Moscow and that anyone who is an enemy of Iran is “our enemy as well.”

Conditions of Detention

The Times of Israel also cited a source cited by the Russian outlet Mediazona, which said that the detainees were interrogated for several hours under these suspicions.

According to the same source, detainees were asked to unlock their mobile phones. When they refused, they were instructed to turn the devices off.

The group reportedly included both Israeli nationals and individuals holding dual citizenship.

They were eventually released after signing documents stating the “inadmissibility of violating the law,” according to the report.

Diplomatic Intervention

The Israeli Foreign Ministry said it intervened immediately after learning of the incident.

“Immediately upon learning of the incident, at the instruction of Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar, the Foreign Ministry acted both with the foreign ministry in Moscow and with the Russian embassy in Israel,” the ministry said.

“Following this intervention, the incident was resolved, and the Israelis’ entry was approved,” it added.

The ministry also said that Russian authorities were informed that the conduct was “completely unacceptable” and that Israel views the matter seriously.

The detentions come amid heightened geopolitical tensions linked to the war involving Iran, a key ally of Russia.

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Hungary’s New PM Says He Would Arrest Israel’s Netanyahu For War Crimes

Hungary’s prime minister-elect Péter Magyar said Monday that he would order the arrest of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for war crimes.

The International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Netanyahu in November 2024 over alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity during the Israeli military’s operations in Gaza as it waged war against the Islamic terrorist group Hamas.

Member states are expected to detain individuals named in such warrants.

Hungary previously refused to arrest Netanyahu during a visit in April 2025 under then-Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, who is an ally of the Israel leader.

Ahead of that visit, Orbán moved to withdraw Hungary from the ICC and guaranteed Netanyahu immunity. The withdrawal process takes one year to complete.

Magyar said he intends to reverse that decision and keep Hungary in the ICC.

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The Consequences of Incompetence

For nearly 40 days, Israel and the United States carried out an extensive aerial campaign against Iran designed to topple the government and suppress Iran’s ability to defend itself. This campaign failed to achieve any of its stated objectives. Instead, it devolved into a numbers game where inflated outcomes were sold to an unquestioning public by military professionals and politicians alike. The Iranian government not only withstood the efforts at decapitation-induced regime change, but actually strengthened its hold on power when the people of Iran, instead of turning on the Islamic Republic, rallied to its cause. Moreover, rather than suppressing Iran’s ability to launch ballistic missiles and drones against US military bases, critical infrastructure in the Gulf Arab States, and Israel, Iran not only sustained its ability to strike, but deployed new generations of weapons that readily defeated all missile defense systems while, using intelligence information that permitted accurate targeting, destroyed critical military infrastructure worth tens of billions of dollars.

Regional experts had long warned about the consequences of entering an existential conflict with Iran, noting that Iran would not simply allow itself to be erased as a viable nation state without ensuring that the other nations of the region were subjected to similar existential threats to their survival, and that global energy security would be disrupted in such a manner as to trigger a world economic crisis. These assessments were backed up by a belied that Iran would not only be able to shut down shipping transiting the Strait of Hormuz, but also effectively target and destroy the major energy production potential of the Gulf Arab States.

It wasn’t that the politicians and military planners in the US and Israel doubted Iran’s ability to impact global energy markets or strike targets in Israel and the Gulf region.

They knew Iran had the potential.

They just believed that they would be able to achieve regime change in Tehran in relatively short order, thereby mooting any threat Iran might pose to energy supplies and infrastructure.

They were wrong, which is why the US was looking for an offramp from the war soon after it started.

The end result was this current ceasefire, which was ostensibly entered into to buy time for US and Iranian negotiators to hammer out a lasting peace plan.

There is a fundamental problem, however.

While Iran has approached the current negotiations from a practical, reality-based posture predicated on resolving the actual major points of difference between the US and Iran, the US is being held hostage by the politicized whim of an American President who needs to shape domestic public opinion in a way which transforms the reality of a humiliating defeat into the perception of a bold victory.

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Ohio University referendum demanding divestment from Israel garners 86% support from student body

Ohio University students recently voted in favor of a referendum demanding the school divest from Israel despite state law prohibiting such action.

The Student Senate voted unanimously in favor of Senate Bill 2526-11 on March 18, which calls on the school to both divest from Israel bonds and companies related to the country and make information pertaining to its investments publicly available, according to the student newspaper The Post.

The bill, drafted in part by the school’s chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine, received unanimous support from the Student Senate before going to a referendum put before the student body, in which it garnered 86 percent support.

Prior to the vote, the SJP chapter hosted an “Educational Forum,” during which it informed students about “OU’s investments into genocide, repressive laws, and the referendum vote.”

The legislation was also endorsed by a number of other left-wing groups, including Amnesty International OU, OU Ohio Student Association, OU Black Panther Party Legacy, Sunrise Athens, OU Young Democratic Socialists of America, OU Publius, Southeast Ohio Jewish Voice for Peace, and OU Faculty and Staff for Justice in Palestine.

“This issue is not exclusive to Students for Justice in Palestine,” SJP board member Henry Turner said ahead of the vote. “There are many, many community and student organizations that are passionate about this issue and want to end the university’s complicity in acts of genocide and apartheid.”

SJP celebrated the passage of the measure, writing on Instagram, “This fight is not over. We must keep pressure on the university to listen to student voices. Stay transparent. End complicity in genocide.”

Despite the results of the vote, school officials have pointed out that Section 9.76 of the Ohio Revised Code prohibits Israeli-related divestments.

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Zionist Doxxing Campaigns Upended Their Lives. Now They’re Suing for Damages.

Areckoning could be coming for pro-Israel groups known for doxxing Palestine advocates. In March, the Chicago chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-Chicago) filed a class-action lawsuit in Illinois state court against the organizations Canary Mission and StopAntisemitism, as well as groups and individuals identified as their funders or board members.

“This case represents addressing a broader harm caused by organized doxxing and harassment campaigns,” Laila Ali, a Chicago-based artist and activist and one of six named plaintiffs in the lawsuit, told Truthout. “I’m hoping that it’ll establish clear consequences for those who engage in those tactics.”

StopAntisemitism and Canary Mission have histories of systematically posting the personal information of individuals (known as doxxing or doxing) who engage in pro-Palestine speech, or criticize Israel’s assaults on Palestine and the United States’ involvement, on their websites and social media channels to whip up attack campaigns. Many of those targeted have been Arab, Muslim, or Palestinian young professionals who have faced backlash on university campuses or in their workplaces, as well as online harassment and threats to their personal safety.

Alongside Ali, the named plaintiffs in the new case include two physicians, an IT professional, a former University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign student organizer, and an English lecturer at Loyola University Chicago. The class includes anyone residing in Illinois who has had their personal information shared by StopAntisemitism or Canary Mission without their consent and experienced harm as a result. CAIR-Chicago Staff Attorney Noah Halpern told Truthout his organization expects the group to include about 300 people. The organization is still soliciting outreach from Illinois residents who may be part of this class.

“The goal is to have relief for everyone and do that through this vehicle of a class action,” Halpern explained to Truthout. The lawsuit seeks injunctive and declaratory relief and damages, meaning CAIR-Chicago would like to secure a judgment prohibiting the defendants from doxxing Illinois residents, requiring the defendants to remove existing content about Illinois residents from their social media channels and websites, awarding damages to compensate for harms to the plaintiffs, and assessing punitive damages.

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IDF Confirms Viral Photo of Soldier Smashing Jesus Statue Is Real After Swift Backlash

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) confirmed the authenticity of a viral image showing one of its soldiers smashing the face of a Jesus statue with a sledgehammer in southern Lebanon, vowing to take “appropriate measures” against the soldier and to help locals repair the damage.

The image, which first surfaced on Sunday, appeared to show the uniformed soldier striking the fallen statue’s head in what local reports say is the Maronite Christian village of Debel, near the Israeli border, where Israel is waging a campaign against Hezbollah.

It spread rapidly online and prompted backlash from Christian communities in the region as well as prominent conservatives in the U.S., while the IDF said it was investigating.

The initial image drew rebuke from prominent conservatives in media and politics, including from Alex Bruesewitz, an adviser to President Donald Trump.

Right-wing critics of the Trump administration, recently attacked by the president for speaking against his conflict with Iran, also weighed in to slam the image, including ex-Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene and commentator Candace Owens.

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The destruction of Gaza has not ended

As the war in Iran absorbs the world’s attention, with its images of dead school girls and flattened buildings, it may be easy to overlook Gaza. It has been a full five months since a ceasefire went into effect. It did not stop the bloodshed and intense suffering: Israeli forces have killed hundreds of Palestinians since October, and the enclave remains in dire need of food and medicine. Yet Gaza has disappeared from America’s front pages as the Trump administration’s Board of Peace, mostly bereft of Palestinian leadership, attempts to steer a peace plan to its second phase.

Moving on implies that one was once preoccupied with something. It is true that people all over the world intently watched Israel’s war of annihilation unfold on their smartphone screens. They were appalled by the indiscriminate violence that killed tens of thousands of Palestinian civilians following the Hamas atrocities of Oct. 7, 2023. Campuses erupted in protest.

Their governments, however, had abandoned Gaza long before. As Israeli bombs and missiles killed and maimed Palestinians and leveled hospitals and refugee camps, Washington kept the weapons flowing to Tel Aviv while providing an Israeli veto at the U.N. Security Council. European and Arab governments protested, some more vehemently than others, but lacked either the will or the influence to stop what a growing consensus of historians, jurists, human rights groups, and international legal bodies considered genocide.

In “A Historian in Gaza,” eminent historian Jean-Pierre Filiu shows us the consequences of this international indifference, drawing on his monthlong visit to the shattered strip in early 2025. “Gazans know the world has abandoned them,” Filiu writes. “At first they believed that images of the slaughter would so horrify the international public that they would demand action to end it. The realization that this was not going to happen compounded the wounds of the injured with its own pain.”

Filiu teaches Middle East Studies at Sciences Po in Paris. Before becoming a scholar about 20 years ago, he served as a diplomat for the French government, holding several high-level positions, including postings in Tunisia, Jordan, and Syria. He has written extensively about jihadism, authoritarianism, and the centrality of Gaza to any enduring peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinians.

If the process of forgetting has already begun, Filiu’s experience, recorded in a compact 197 pages, is meant to refocus our minds on what some might prefer to erase from memory. Hospitals under siege, patients operated on without anesthetics, infants dying of hypothermia, children mutilated by bombs and missiles, women too exhausted and malnourished to breastfeed, journalists mowed down for the crime of reporting, and entire families crushed under the weight of their collapsing apartment blocks. “Nothing had prepared me for what I saw and experienced in Gaza,” Filiu writes. “Nothing at all.”

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