Traffic crawls as people try to leave the southern suburbs of Beirut [Mohamed Azakir/Reuters]
Archiv: Einheimische / Indigene / locals / natives / indigenous people
2026 WAN-IFRA Golden Pen of Freedom to be awarded to the professional photo and video journalists of Gaza
Wider understanding of the war “has been shaped by reliance on their sacrifice, dedication, and professionalism in desperate circumstances,” continues the award citation. “Their work has fuelled coverage of the devastation of Gaza and its people that has reached around the globe; their documentation will remain a visual testimony.”
The award will be received by representatives of the three main international news agencies operating in Gaza — Agence France-Presse, The Associated Press, and Reuters — whose local journalists continue to provide consistent, professional coverage under extremely challenging conditions.
Israel‘s secret base in Iraq: what happened in the western desert and why Baghdad couldn‘t respond
(May 16, 2026)
The physical record is not seriously in dispute, and it begins with a shepherd. On March 4, a local herder in the remote desert southwest of Najaf and Karbala reported unusual helicopter activity to military authorities in Najaf. Iraqi forces were dispatched. They came under fire from the air. One soldier was killed, and two were wounded. Baghdad submitted a protest note to the Global Coalition without naming who had fired, and the incident was quietly classified —until the Wall Street Journal named the party responsible on May 9.
In Iraqi Desert, Two Israeli Outposts Were Kept Secret for Months
The presence of an Israeli outpost in Iraq was previously reported by The Wall Street Journal. Iraqi officials told The Times there was another undisclosed second base also in Iraq’s western desert.
The base Mr. al-Shammari came across predated the current war between the United States, Israel and Iran, the regional security officials said, and was used during the 12-day war against Tehran in June 2025.
Israeli forces began preparing to build the makeshift base as far back as late 2024, one of the regional officials said — identifying remote sites from which to operate in future conflicts.
Iraqi farmer killed to hide evidence of two Israeli bases in country: Report
The presence of two secret Israeli bases in Iraq may have led to the death of a shepherd who discovered them, according to an investigation by The New York Times (NYT).
The Wall Street Journal reported last week that Israel set up a covert outpost in Iraq’s western desert during the conflict with Iran. The site was reportedly used to support air operations and housed special forces units.
Israeli military orders residents of 8 Lebanese towns, villages to flee
The towns and villages under the Israeli military’s latest forced displacement orders are Libbaya, Yohmor, Ayn al-Tineh and Sohmor in the Bekaa Valley, and Kfer Melki, Houmin al-Fawqa, Tefahta and Mazraat Sinay in the south of the country.
Israel uproots thousands of grapevines in Hebron to expand settler road
Zuhur Tarwa stood in shock as Israeli army markers appeared across her vineyard, declaring it confiscated.
The 68-year-old Palestinian had spent years tending the land with her two daughters in the fertile Baqa’a Valley, east of Hebron in the occupied West Bank.
Their 200 grapevines once filled the plot with broad green leaves, promising a strong harvest.
Before that could happen, the confiscation order arrived – followed soon after by bulldozers.
“They razed the entire land, uprooting the grapevines and other crops,” Tarwa told Middle East Eye.
CAIR Says Congress, Trump Admin Must Act After New NYT Revelations of Israel’s Widespread Sexual Abuse of Palestinian Prisoners
The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, today called on Congress and the Trump administration to take immediate action after a New York Times report detailed horrifying allegations of widespread sexual abuse, rape, torture, and humiliation of Palestinians held in Israeli detention facilities.
This is a hard article to read, but I hope you‘ll do so.
(May 11, 2026)
I‘ve spent some time reporting on widespread rape and other sexual violence of Palestinian male and female prisoners by Israeli authorities, and the article is now published. The assault victims were warned not to give speak of what they endured — they were sometimes told they would be killed or raped if they gave interviews — but they found the courage to do so. One man described being raped three times in a single day in Israeli prison, the third time after he tried to protest. A young woman said the guards would come in at the beginning of each shift and strip her naked and abuse her. Another reported that she was shown photos of herself being raped and warned they would be released unless she cooperated with Israeli intelligence. Even three children who had been detained told me they had been sexually abused. Look, whatever our position on the Middle East, we should be able to agree on being anti-rape. Sexual assaults were horrific when Israeli women were targeted on Oct. 7, and they‘re equally horrific when Israeli authorities use them against Palestinians day after day after day. We should be able to find common ground in opposing rape. Here‘s a gift link to the article:
Israeli Officials Denounce NYT Report on Systemic Sexual Abuse of Palestinians
The article in question, “The Silence That Meets the Rape of Palestinians,” by Nicholas Kristof, recounts the stories of 14 Palestinians who experienced sexual violence at the hands of Israeli soldiers and settlers. A majority of the interviews discuss sexual violence inflicted by soldiers and interrogators on Palestinians in Israeli detention, but others speak of attacks by Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank — attacks that are “increasingly protect[ed]” by the Israeli military, according to Kristof. The interviews are reinforced by testimony from Israeli and international human rights organizations, and demonstrate that sexual violence is systemic, used on a daily basis against Palestinians, and effectively Israeli state policy.
The Horror of Sexual Assault in Israeli Prisons
(transcript)
I’m appalled by this pattern of abuse, partly because our American tax dollars subsidize the Israeli security forces. I fear that leaves us complicit. The United States has leverage, and we could use it to insist on an end to the impunity and to demand that Red Cross visits be restored for Palestinian detainees. Look, whether you consider yourself pro-Israeli or pro-Palestinian, here’s one thing we should be able to agree on: We’re anti-rape. The horrific abuse inflicted on Israeli women on Oct. 7 now happens to Palestinians day after day after day.
The Silence That Meets the Rape of Palestinians
It’s a simple proposition: Whatever our views of the Middle East conflict, we should be able to unite in condemning rape.
Supporters of Israel made that point after the brutal sexual assaults against Israeli women during the Hamas-led attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. Donald Trump, Joe Biden, Benjamin Netanyahu and many U.S. senators, including Marco Rubio, condemned that sexual violence, and Netanyahu rightly called on “all civilized leaders” to “speak up.”
And yet in wrenching interviews, Palestinians have recounted to me a pattern of widespread Israeli sexual violence against men, women and even children — by soldiers, settlers, interrogators in the Shin Bet internal security agency and, above all, prison guards.
Israeli forces demolish dozens of commercial and industrial facilities in al-Eizariya southeast of occupied Jerusalem
According to available data, these shops are threatened with removal as part of the occupation’s dangerous colonial project known as the “Fabric of Life” plan, which represents a practical implementation of the Israeli annexation plan for the area known as “E1,” aiming to establish full geographical contiguity between the colony of Ma’ale Adumim and occupied Jerusalem.
This would result in the separation of the northern West Bank from its southern part and the seizure of nearly 3% of the occupied Palestinian Territory for formal annexation under the so-called “Greater Jerusalem” plan.
Occupation Soldiers Detained Solidarity Delegations Supporting Palestinian Victims of Settlers Terror
he delegations to Bethlehem and the Jordan Valley, were stopped by soldiers and police officers, and activists held protests on the scene. In other areas, activities proceeded as planned. “While settler terror gangs operated across the West Bank unhindered, the police and army blocked hundreds of activists this morning who came to demonstrate solidarity with the victims,” one of the participants told Zo Haderekh.
Hundreds of activists from a wide range of organizations took part in the protest, including Partnership for Peace, Rabbis for Human Rights, Peace Now, Hadash, Zazim, The Parents Circle-Families Forum, Standing Together, Jordan Valley Activists, Looking the Occupation in the Eye, Women Wage Peace, A Land for All, Combatants for Peace, Breaking the Silence, and Mothers Against Violence.
Partnership for Peace stated: “Hundreds of Israelis who set out to oppose terror and demand the state enforce the law in the occupied territories were detained at all checkpoints. It was proven that when the army wants to, it can act efficiently. We expect authorities to show the same determination in protecting innocent people who undergo daily violent pogrom attacks. We will not stop striving for peace, justice, and equality for all residents of the region.” “We will continue the struggle against the occupation and ethnic cleansing! They will not succeed in stopping us!” they emphasized.
WATCH: The Palestinian shot dead hours before his son was born
Nayef Samaro left work in Nablus to run errands for his wife, who was hours away from delivering their first son by caesarean section.
The 26-year-old soon-to-be father was excited, despite the Israeli army raiding his city.
But before the birth, an Israeli soldier shot Nayef in the head, leaving him to bleed out in the street.
He never saw his son.
Watch our report here:
‚Killing like we haven‘t since 1967‘: Top Israeli general brags about shooting Palestinians in occupied West Bank
“A plasterer in [the West Bank city of] Ramallah earns 1,500 shekels ($510) a month and a plasterer in [the Israeli town of] Ramle earns 7,000 shekels a month, so of course he‘s willing to risk being shot in the knee or a week of detention, if he succeeded in crossing over and can work in a bakery,” Bluth explained.
“There are a lot of ‘limping monuments’ in Palestinian villages, of those who tried to [cross the barrier], so there is a price being paid,” he boasted.
The Israeli general also said Palestinians throwing rocks were engaged in “terrorism,” while bragging about how many his troops had killed last year.
Israel killing Palestinians ‘like we haven‘t since 1967’, top commander says
Israel’s top commander in the occupied West Bank has said the army is killing Palestinians at levels “not seen since 1967”, according to Haaretz.
Avi Bluth, head of the Israeli army’s Central Command, made the remarks in a closed forum, where he also defended looser rules of engagement allowing troops to fire at unarmed Palestinians.
He acknowledged a discriminatory approach whereby Jewish Israeli stone-throwers are not targeted while Palestinians carrying out similar acts are fired at.
„In three years, we have killed 1,500 terrorists,“ he said, referring to Palestinians.
„So how is there no intifada? Why aren’t they taking to the streets? Why is the Palestinian public indifferent? Why are there no disturbances?“ Bluth, a settler who has been the Israeli army commander in the West Bank since 2024, added.
Death toll in occupied West Bank from Israeli attacks rises
Israeli army and settler attacks killed at least 1,151 and wounded more than 11,885 Palestinians across the occupied West Bank since Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza began in October 2023, Al Jazeera reported.
Three-day General Strike Planned Over Crime in Arab Society
(February 7, 2026)
The Higher Follow-Up Committee for Arab Citizens of Israel announced on Thursday, February 5, that it has begun preparations for a comprehensive, three-day general strike affecting all workers and institutions in Arab towns and communities in Israel.
According to Al-Ittihad and Zo Haderekh, this move is part of an escalating response to the rampant spread of crime and violence and a protest against the far-right government’s policies toward Arab Palestinian citizens of Israel. The decision was made during a meeting of the Committee’s Secretariat held at the Kafr Qara municipality hall and the committee clarified that the strike would last for three consecutive days, during which all economic activities will be halted, while ensuring communication with unions and social organizations to guarantee the success of the move and protect strikers from the risk of dismissal.
The Follow-up Committee also approved organizing a “Disruption March”, tomorrow morning (Sunday), where convoys of cars will set off from various regions in the Galilee and merge with groups from Highways 2 and 1 towards Jerusalem, followed by a demonstration and a press conference at the Prime Minister Office to highlight the issue internationally and locally.
Arab-Israeli Protest Convoy Over Police Inaction Ends With Rally Outside Netanyahu‘s Office
The so-called Disruption Convoy was delayed by police en route to Jerusalem, and some participants said they were issued traffic tickets. Protest leaders planned to give Netanyahu a letter describing the toll gun violence and crime has taken on the Arab community in Israel, but were turned away by his office
How reconstruction became Israel’s new weapon of ‘silent transfer’ in Gaza
With UN assessments indicating that removing debris alone could last until 2032 and a full reconstruction of Gaza stretching to 2040, the “wait” becomes a policy of displacement.
“Time decomposes societies,” Jabareen said.
He said Israel is betting on “rational emigration” – after living for years in tents, Palestinians will leave, not because they were forced by tanks, but because they were exhausted by fears over their future.
What the Joint List’s revival signifies for Palestinian politics in Israel
(January 28, 2026)
This is a historic event in a volatile political moment. Even before the publication of polls gauging the Joint List’s electoral strength — predicting that it could secure 15-16 of the Knesset’s 120 seats, making it the third largest force in Israeli politics — the popular demand for unity suggests the possibility for unprecedented voter turnout in Arab society.
Israeli news outlets described the renewal of the Joint List as “drama in the political system,” and rightly so. Such a scenario would alter the balance between opposing blocs and force Zionist parties across the spectrum — from Yair Golan’s center-left Democrats to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud — to recalibrate their strategies.
Minneapolis Residents Wear Their Passports, Desperate to Ward Off ICE
In the past two months, federal immigration agents have arrested thousands in the Twin Cities, detaining citizens, asylum-seekers, refugees and the undocumented. They have killed two American citizens, Renee Good and Alex Pretti. And they have stopped people seemingly at random, asking for identification or simply demanding: “Where were you born?”
Now, many people here are asking a question that is a novel one in America: Is it safe to leave home without proof of citizenship? Has the United States turned into a show-me-your-papers nation?
For many Minnesotans, the answer has been an unequivocal yes.
„Federal Invasion“: Minnesota Officials Condemn Violent ICE Raids, Arrests
(January 14, 2025)
Trump‘s immigration enforcement surge continues to rock Minnesota, just a week after the ICE shooting of Renee Good, a mother of three and U.S. citizen in Minneapolis. The Minnesota Star Tribune reports that the number of federal agents now in Minneapolis and Saint Paul outstrips the 10 largest Twin Cities metro police departments combined. „We don‘t want ICE in our neighborhoods. They are violent, they are creating chaos and terrorizing our immigrant neighbors, and they are not keeping anyone safe,“ says vice president of the Saint Paul City Council, Hwa Jeong Kim, who comments on the city‘s new lawsuit against the Trump administration, the loss of temporary protected status for thousands of Somali immigrants in the United States, plans for a general strike in Minneapolis and more.
Another shooting involving federal agent in Minneapolis sparks new protests
At least 200 protesters gathered Wednesday night near the scene of the most recent incident, according to The New York Times’ estimates.
Video footage shows protesters taunting and throwing rocks and other objects at law enforcement, as gas clouds filled the streets. Officers wearing gas masks and helmets fired tear gas and grenades in protesters’ direction, The Associated Press reported.
Federal Agent Shoots Man in Minneapolis, Prompting Tense Protests
Tricia McLaughlin, a spokeswoman for the Department of Homeland Security, said in a statement that federal agents were trying to arrest a man from Venezuela who was in the country illegally in a “targeted traffic stop” at around 6:50 p.m. She said that he fled from agents.
When the officer caught up to him, Ms. McLaughlin said he “began to resist and violently assault the officer.” She said two people came out of a nearby building and, along with the man being sought, attacked the officer with a snow shovel and a broom handle.
PHOTOS: Scenes from Sokoto communities hit by US strikes
Residents of Tangaza and Tambuwal local government areas of Sokoto State have confirmed separate drone attacks on their communities, carried out by the United States military.
Findings by our correspondent indicate that one of the attacks occurred in Jabo District of Tambuwal Local Government Area, a community previously not affected by insecurity.