The US has approved a $510m arms sale to Israel, with the deal including thousands of bomb guidance kits, the Pentagon announced.
In a statement, the US Defence Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) said the sale includes 3,845 Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM) guidance kits and additional guidance kits for the MK 82 bomb.
An Israeli naval strike targeted a seaside cafe in Gaza, killing more than 30 civilians, including women, children and journalists, as they sought respite from displacement camps. The attack—which hit without warning—turned the cafe, a vital hub for internet access and leisure, into a scene of horror: bloodstained tables, scattered shoes, and body parts wrapped in tablecloths. Survivors condemned the strike as part of a systematic „war on life“ in Gaza, where at least 85 Palestinians were killed in total on Monday amid relentless assaults. Simultaneously, 15 Palestinians died at an aid distribution centre, while evacuation orders raised fears of further attacks. The cafe, hosting a children’s birthday party, had no military ties—only civilians torn apart by what witnesses called an „unpredictable foreign bomb.“ With flesh still clinging to shattered furniture, the attack epitomised Gaza’s daily reality under siege.
(June 6, 2025)
It is my understanding that since February 2025, the Berlin authorities have imposed restrictions on the use of the Arabic language and cultural symbols in the context of the protests. In some cases, such as an assembly in Berlin on 15 May 2025, marches have been restricted to stationary gatherings. Furthermore, protestors were allegedly subject to intrusive surveillance, online or in person, and arbitrary police checks. I am also concerned by reports of excessive use of force by police against protesters, including minors, sometimes leading to injuries.
(…)
I understand that restrictions have been justified on the basis that events, symbols, or other forms of expression “disrupt public order” or “disturb public peace”. The case-law of the European Court of Human Rights’ (the Court) establishes that freedom of expression “applies not only to ‘information’ and ‘ideas’ that are favourably received, regarded as inoffensive, or which leave one indifferent […] – it implies pluralism, tolerance and openness, without which there is no ‘democratic society’”. In assessing the necessity of the interference, member states have little scope to impose restrictions on political speech or on debate on matters of public interest, unless the views expressed comprise incitements to violence, and must always carry out such an assessment case by case.
I observe that other justifications invoked for the restrictions on rights include the prevention of antisemitism. I note with concern reports indicating that the working definition of antisemitism of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) has been interpreted by some German authorities in ways which lead to the blanket classification of criticism of Israel as antisemitic. In that regard, I urge you to be vigilant that the IHRA working definition is not distorted, instrumentalised or misapplied to stifle freedom of expression and legitimate criticism, including of the state of Israel
(June 19, 2025)
In a letter addressed to the Federal Minister of the Interior of Germany published today, Commissioner O’Flaherty raises concerns about restrictions to freedom of expression and freedom of peaceful assembly of persons protesting in the context of the conflict in Gaza, as well as about reports of excessive use of force by police against protesters, including children.
Commissioner O’Flaherty also observes restrictions on events, symbols, or other forms of expression in this context. He recalls that member states have little scope to impose restrictions on political speech or on debate on matters of public interest, in line with the case-law of the European Court of Human Rights and the Council of Europe standards on freedom of expression, hate speech and hate crime. He urges the German authorities to be vigilant that the working definition of antisemitism of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance is not distorted, instrumentalised or misapplied to stifle freedom of expression and legitimate criticism, including of the state of Israel.
Recalling that member states have legal obligations to refrain from undue interference with human rights and to ensure the effective enjoyment of the rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly for all, the Commissioner asks the German authorities to avoid taking measures that discriminate against persons based on their political or other opinions, religion or belief, ethnic origin, nationality or migration status.
Der Menschenrechtskommissar des Europarates, Michael O’Flaherty, hat in einem am 19. Juni veröffentlichten Brief an Bundesinnenminister Alexander Dobrindt seine Besorgnis über Einschränkungen der Meinungs- und Versammlungsfreiheit in Deutschland zum Ausdruck gebracht. Explizit verweist er in dem Schreiben auf die behördliche Repression von Protesten gegen Israels Vorgehen in Gaza sowie eine Instrumentalisierung des Antisemitismusvorwurfs, „um legitime Kritik, auch am Staat Israel, zu unterdrücken.“
The motion will now move to the Knesset’s plenary session for a majority vote of 90 members out of 120 to complete Odeh’s impeachment.
Even if his impeachment is approved, the Arab MK will still be able to file a petition against the decision with the Supreme Court.
Palestinians of 1948 (Arabs inside Israel) constitute 21% of Israel’s nearly 10 million population.
While a similar effort to oust Hadash-Ta’al MK Ofer Cassif failed in the Knesset plenum in February 2024 due to insufficient support from the opposition, opposition representatives on the committee were very much in favor of the motion this time around, with both Yesh Atid MK Simon Davidson and National Unity lawmaker Pnina Tamano-Shata voting in favor of impeachment.
A day after Trump called to „Make the deal in Gaza, get the hostages back“, Israel‘s strategic affairs minister Ron Dermer, a confidant of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu‘s, was travelling to Washington for talks on Iran and Gaza, according to an Israeli official and a source familiar with the matter.
GAZA, 30 June 2025 (Wafa) – At least 33 civilians, including a journalist, were killed and around 50 others were wounded this evening in an Israeli airstrike targeting a beachfront rest area in Gaza.
Medical sources reported that Israeli warplanes struck al-Baqa rest area along the coast of Gaza, resulting in the killing of at least 33 people and the wounding of nearly 50 others, including some seriously.
Among the fatalities was journalist Ismail Abu Hatab. Journalist Bayan Abu Sultan was also injured in the attack, though the nature and severity of her injuries remain unclear.
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EDM (Early Day Motion) 695: tabled on 24 January 2025
Tabled in the 2024-25 session.
This motion has been signed by 10 Members. It has not yet had any amendments submitted.
Motion text
That this House expresses deep concern regarding the efforts of Israeli coalition and opposition politicians to oust MK Ayman Odeh from the Knesset; joins Odeh in welcoming the Israel-Hamas ceasefire deal which enabled the exchange of Israeli and Palestinian hostages and abductees; supports the sentiment of Palestinians and Israelis being freed from the burden of occupation and building a shared future; notes that, of the 90 Palestinians hostages most recently released by Israel, 69 were women, 21 were children, and most had been held without charge or trial; acknowledges the existence of myriad political mechanisms that enable the targeting, exclusion, and marginalisation of Palestinian-Israeli members of the Knesset, including the conflation of one’s support for Palestinian rights with support for terrorism or incitement to violence; further notes the similar employment of the impeachment process against MK Ofer Cassif, as a result of his signing a petition in support of the South Africa’s case forwarded in the International Court of Justice, accusing Israel of committing genocide against the Palestinians in Gaza; believes in the value of maintaining a representative democracy that encompasses a broad array of political, social, and ethnic creeds; and calls on the Government to vehemently oppose any efforts by Israeli parliamentarians to further solidify an ethnocratic, apartheid state, and deny the Palestinian population’s right to self-determination through the rooting out of democratically elected officials that represent their cause.
(June 27, 2025)
In a display of open hostility, Committee Chair Ofir Katz declared to MK Odeh: “You won’t be in the Knesset—we will remain, and you won’t. Not in the Knesset, not in Israel.” Other MKs shouted that he should “keep shouting from jail,” while another told him: “You all should go to Gaza”. Right-wing MKs accused him of promoting a “violent Palestinian ideology,” said an indictment should already have been filed, and called him an “enemy from within.”
Chair Katz escalated the incitement further, stating: “While the soldiers are fighting on seven fronts, the eighth front needs to be cleared, and Ayman Odeh is our eighth front… He is continuously working to weaken the State of Israel, to discredit it, to undermine it and to strengthen its enemies.” When MK Odeh repeated that the Israeli military is committing war crimes—a statement for which he was already sanctioned by the Knesset Ethics Committee—the chair threatened: “If you continue to defame IDF soldiers, you will not be allowed to speak here.”
The committee blatantly ignored the Knesset legal advisor’s determination that only one statement—MK Odeh’s January tweet concerning the Israel-Hamas deal—could be legally considered. Instead, MKs used the hearing to dredge up unrelated political positions and to launch personal attacks, in open defiance of the law and the legal advisor’s position.
MK Odeh’s January statement was a tweet that read: “Happy about the release of the hostages and prisoners. From here, we must free both peoples from the burden of occupation. We were all born free.” During the hearing, he reaffirmed his support for this statement and others, including his position that Israel is committing crimes against humanity against Palestinians in Gaza.
On last Tuesday, June 24, during wars in Gaza and Iran, the Knesset House Committee began the process of expelling MK Ayman Odeh (Hadash). Why? He protected free speech and called for the end of war and occupation. But in a so called “Israel democracy” a political speech by a Hadash MK is grounds for dismissal. Dr Hassan Jabareen of Adalah—The Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights, who is serving as Odeh’s legal counsel and is arguing as such.
Att. Jabareen, condemned the process as fundamentally flawed and unlawful, noting that the MKs’ refusal to follow the legal advisor’s ruling violated Odeh’s rights and rendered the entire procedure illegitimate. He emphasized that Odeh’s speech is fully legal and protected. The proceedings confirmed what has been clear from the outset of this process: the expulsion attempt is a dangerous, inciteful escalation in the ongoing political assault against Hadash and Arab Palestinian lawmakers in Israel.
As former Executive Director of Breaking the Silence Avner Gvaryahu wrote, Ayman “proves that it is possible to be a proud Palestinian Arab and still work for a better Israeli society for everyone.”
He continued:
Jewish-Arab partnership is not just a matter of social justice or a historical correction. It is the basis of any genuine vision of change in the Middle East. As long as we continue to live in the reality of separation, suspicion and dominance of one group over another, we will continue to walk in the same circles of violence and oppression. Partnership offers another way—a way through, in which the national conflict does not have to define every relationship between Jews and Arabs.
Therefore repelling Ayman from the public sphere is not only an expulsion of an Arab citizen [from the Knesset], but also a continued expulsion of the ideas of the left. This is a clear message [from the government] that the politics of partnership is undesirable, that the public space is only for those willing to remain silent about the occupation and settle for crumbs. It’s part of a broader process of narrowing democratic space and revoking the legitimacy of critical votes.
MK Ayman Odeh, the Hadash lawmaker facing impeachment proceedings, called for unity and a ceasefire at mass anti-war protest in Kfar Saba, central Israel. “We must reach a comprehensive deal. We must bring back all the hostages. We must end the war on Gaza,” said Odeh, who leads the Hadash-Ta’al faction. “Enough! Enough with the wars!”
In an appeal to the crowd, Odeh said, “I am your partner. And you are my partners. Yes, there are differences, there are disagreements, but I want you to know: I am your partner, because my soul still yearns for freedom. I am your partner, because I still believe in humanity.” Odeh, who was invited to speak by the organizers of the protest, concluded his remarks by calling to continue the demonstrations. “After so much death, suffering, and tears, better days will come. We will bring them,” he told the crowd.
Streamed live 17 hours ago #TelAviv #AntiNetanyahuProtest #Netanyahu
Mass protests erupted in Tel Aviv‘s Habima Square, with thousands calling for Netanyahu‘s resignation over corruption, judicial issues, and leadership failures.
(June 29, 2025)
Tens of thousands of people rallied across Israel on Saturday, calling for the release of hostages held in the Gaza Strip, according to local media reports, Anadolu reported.
Demonstrations were held in Tel Aviv, Jerusalem and other cities, according to the Haaretz newspaper.
Protests followed a 12‑day conflict between Israel and Iran, which erupted June 13 when Tel Aviv launched airstrikes on Iranian military, nuclear and civilian sites, killing at least 606 victims and injuring 5,332, according to the Iranian Health Ministry.
ANKARA (AA) – At least 56,500 Palestinians have been killed in Israel’s genocidal war on the Gaza Strip since October 2023, the Health Ministry said on Sunday.
A ministry statement said that 88 bodies were brought to hospitals in the last 24 hours, while 365 people were injured, taking the number of injuries to 133,419 in the Israeli onslaught.
At least 72 people have been killed in Gaza today as Israeli forces continue their assault, according to medical officials speaking to Al Jazeera reporters on the ground.
Hospitals across the territory are overwhelmed as the death toll climbs amid relentless bombardment