Washington reportedly mulls expanding Trump’s Board of Peace beyond Gaza to Ukraine and Venezuela;
Archiv: Palestine (East Jerusalem / West Bank / Gaza) / Palästina
Trump wants nations to pay $1bn to join Gaza ‚Board of Peace‘: report
A draft charter for the group, seen by Bloomberg, establishes Trump as its inaugural chairman, who would have a veto over membership.
The document stipulates that states‘ membership will be limited to three years, unless they “contribute more than USD $1,000,000,000 in cash funds to the Board of Peace within the first year of the Charter’s entry into force“, guaranteeing them permanent membership.
The charter opens by stressing the need for „a more nimble and effective international peace-building body“, adding that lasting peace requires „the courage to depart from … institutions that have too often failed“.
The language has prompted concerns that Trump is seeking to build a rival to the United Nations.
Demand the full suspension of the EU-Israel Association Agreement in view of Israel’s violations of human rights
According to the European Commission, the State of Israel is responsible for an unprecedented level of killing and injury of civilians, a large-scale displacement of population and the systematic destruction of hospitals and medical facilities in Gaza. [1] Israel also implemented a blockade of humanitarian aid that could amount to starvation as a method of war. Israel is in breach of multiple rules and obligations under international law and fails to prevent the crime of genocide as ordered by the International Court of Justice.[2]
Yet the European Union has still not suspended its association agreement with Israel, which is the cornerstone of EU-Israel bilateral trade, economic, and political cooperation.
EU citizens cannot tolerate that the EU maintains an agreement that contributes to legitimize and finance a State that commits crimes against humanity and war crimes.
Therefore, we call on the Commission to put forward the proposal to the Council for the full suspension of the EU-Israel Association Agreement.
150,000 signatures collected calling for the suspension of European relations with Israel
Just two days after the start of the European Citizens’ Initiative to call for the suspension of European Union relations with Israel, 150,000 signatures have already been collected out of the million needed to present the initiative to the European Parliament under the established popular consultation mechanism. The signature collection campaign will last one year, and any European citizen can sign online at this address.
To survive Trump, Starmer must think the unthinkable
Britain can no longer avoid the costs of appeasing America’s predatory president
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The word “crisis” is rooted in the Greek New Testament, referring to a decision, or judgement, in an unstable moment that forces a new clarity into being. While Trump’s exact motives for his aggression in our hemisphere remain opaque, our own predicament is now clearer. It is this: such is the new emerging order around us that we can no longer muddle through, finessing Trump’s instincts, hoping for the best so governments can focus on domestic political problems. Britain must choose.
Israel Is Still Demolishing Gaza, Building by Building
More than two months ago, Israel and Hamas signed a cease-fire agreement that offered Palestinians in Gaza a hope of respite after a punishing two-year Israeli bombardment that left much of their enclave in ruins.
The destruction has continued.
Israel has demolished more than 2,500 buildings in Gaza since the cease-fire began, according to a New York Times analysis of satellite imagery from Planet Labs.
Gaza ‚board of peace‘ will hold first meeting at Davos, Palestinian American intermediary says
Trump plans to serve as head of the board alongside other world leaders. The board will interact with a committee of Palestinian technocrats in Gaza through Mladenov.
Bahbah said that the “main entities” responsible for “managing” Gaza’s reconstruction will be established within 30 days. He added that Palestinian factions are expected to meet in Cairo next week, where the names of an independent technocratic committee to manage Gaza’s affairs will be announced.
An urgent appeal to save the lives of Palestine Action hunger strikers
The Suffragettes, despite being force-fed and labelled as terrorists, are today celebrated as heroes and freedom fighters. The Long Kesh prisoners, despite the smears they faced, are now seen as a vital part of the peace achieved under the Good Friday Agreement. The Guantánamo Bay prisoners, despite their inhumane treatment and public consent for torture, remained untried and were largely released without conviction.
Just as they were all vindicated, history will too vindicate the Palestine Action prisoners who sought to stop the slaughter of innocent people, against the wishes and interests of the British government.
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Signatories:
Shadi Zayed Saleh Odeh, Palestine
Mahmoud Radwan, Palestine
Othman Bilal, Palestine
Mahmoud Sidqi Suleiman Radwan, Palestine
Loay Odeh, Palestine
Tommy McKearney, Ireland
Laurence McKeown, Ireland
Tom McFeely, Ireland
John Nixon, Ireland
Mansoor Adayfi (GTMO441), Guantanamo
Lakhdar Boumediene, Guantanamo
Samir Naji Moqbel, Guantanamo
Moath Al-Alwi, Guantanamo
Khalid Qassim, Guantanamo
Ahmed Rabbani, Guantanamo
Sharqawi Al-Hajj, Guantanamo
Saeed Sarim, Guantanamo
Mahmoud Al Mujahid, Guantanamo
Hussein Al-Marfadi, Guantanamo
Osama Abu Kabir, Guantanamo
Abdul Halim Siddiqui, Guantanamo
Ahmed Adnan Ahjam, Guantanamo
Abdel Malik Al Rahabi, Guantanamo
Ahmed Elrashidi, Guantanamo
ICE‘s killing in Minneapolis shows American empire has come home
The US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency was created in the shadow of the so-called Global War on Terror that followed the attacks of 11 September 2001.
It became a key pillar of the architecture of repressive surveillance and militarised tactics that emerged during the invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq.
ICE itself was specifically designed to pursue „national security threats“ within the United States, granting agents sweeping discretion over who could be deemed to „pose a threat to public safety or national security“.
Since then, it has come to represent a rogue operation, its reputation clouded by harrowing stories of abuse, impunity and a near total lack of oversight.
Its close association with Palantir, a surveillance firm accused of helping generate kill lists for Israel, has also further embedded it within the US military-industrial complex.
Scalawag Magazine described Palantir‘s partnership with ICE as „one of the many links comprising the military-industrial surveillance connections between ICE and Israel Defense Forces“.
These links, it wrote, illustrate the ideological and practical ties between the two bodies, as they work to advance the militarisation of policing through the weaponisation of surveillance technology.
ICE has also participated in several exchanges with the Israeli military, and during the student protests for Gaza, it lifted names from the blacklisting website Canary Mission to identify and arrest protesters.
Cuba denounces attack on Venezuela as an act of state terrorism
“This is not about fighting narco-terrorism, as they falsely claim, but about destroying a project of integration and resistance that was born with Commander Hugo Chávez,” he asserted.
The Cuban president categorically rejected the Monroe Doctrine and any extraterritorial claims over Latin American territory, while demanding that the United States provide immediate proof of life for Nicolás Maduro and his wife.
Diaz-Canel also compared the action to the crimes against humanity committed by Israeli Zionism in Gaza, emphasizing its illegal, immoral, and international law violations.
“This is not just an attack against Venezuela; it is a threat against all of humanity,” he warned, and called on the international community to mobilize unequivocally against the advance of modern fascism, disguised as foreign policy.
Cuba, he reaffirmed, is prepared to defend, “with its own blood if necessary, the independence of Our America.”
Gaza: Drohung der israelischen Regierung, NGOs die Registrierung zu verweigern, ist ein schwerer Schlag für humanitäre Hilfe
Jerusalem/Berlin, 2. Januar 2026. Die Drohung der israelischen Regierung, Ärzte ohne Grenzen und anderen internationalen Nichtregierungsorganisationen (INGOs) die Registrierung zu verweigern, ist ein zynischer und kalkulierter Versuch, die Organisationen daran zu hindern, im Gazastreifen und im Westjordanland Hilfe zu leisten. Damit verstößt Israel gegen seine Verpflichtungen nach dem humanitären Völkerrecht.
Der Zivilbevölkerung medizinische Hilfe zu verweigern, kann unter keinen Umständen akzeptiert werden. Es ist empörend, humanitäre Hilfe als politisches Instrument oder als Mittel kollektiver Bestrafung zu missbrauchen. Die israelischen Behörden verschärfen damit ihre schweren Angriffe auf die humanitäre Hilfe und bedrohen direkt die medizinische Versorgung der Menschen im Gazastreifen und im Westjordanland.
Ärzte ohne Grenzen weist die Vorwürfe, die von den israelischen Behörden in den vergangenen Tagen erhoben worden sind, entschieden zurück. Die medizinische Hilfsorganisation würde niemals wissentlich Personen beschäftigen, die an militärischen Aktivitäten beteiligt sind – dies widerspricht ihren grundlegenden Werten und ihrer Ethik. Die Berichte darüber, was Teams von Ärzte ohne Grenzen mit eigenen Augen in Gaza sehen – Tod, Zerstörung und die Folgen genozidaler Gewalt – mögen schwer erträglich sein, die Verantwortung dafür liegt aber bei jenen, die diese Gräueltaten begehen, und nicht bei jenen, die darüber Zeugnis ablegen.
Israel’s threat to withhold registration for NGOs: A grave blow to humanitarian aid in Gaza and the West Bank
Israel’s threat to withhold registration from Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) and other international non-governmental organisations (INGOs) is a cynical and calculated attempt to prevent organisations from providing services in Gaza and the West Bank, Palestine, in breach of Israel‘s obligations under international humanitarian law.
Denying medical assistance to civilians is unacceptable under any circumstances and it is appalling to use humanitarian aid as a tool of policy or collective punishment. Now is the time for action. Israel is escalating its grave attack on humanitarian response, directly threatening medical care and humanitarian aid to civilians.
MSF unequivocally refutes the allegations made by the Israeli authorities in recent days. MSF would never knowingly employ anyone involved in military activities, which contradicts our core values and ethics. If the descriptions of what our teams see with their own eyes in Gaza – death, destruction and the human consequences of genocidal violence – are unpalatable to some, the fault lies with those committing these atrocities, not with those who speak of them.
LIVE: Israel’s ban on 37 aid groups kicks in, Gaza starts 2026 with despair
Israel’s decision to revoke the licences of 37 international NGOs, including Doctors Without Borders, known by its French initials MSF, has come into effect as the Israeli government pushes to demonise organisations that assist Palestinians, among them United Nations agencies, with unproven accusations of links to Hamas.
People in Gaza have started 2026 not with hope or certainty, but with despair as they face more Israeli restrictions amid a humanitarian catastrophe, Al Jazeera’s Hani Mahmoud reports from Gaza City.
Another child dies in extreme conditions in Gaza: UNICEF
A sixth child has died in Gaza this month as the enclave’s people continue to endure dire living conditions linked to freezing rains and the Israel-Hamas war, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has announced. The development comes as aid agencies urged Israeli authorities to reconsider revoking the licences of dozens of humanitarian partners that provide assistance across the devastated enclave from 1 January.
Outrageous suspension of numerous aid agencies from Gaza
Delivered by
UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk
At
Geneva
Israel’s suspension of numerous aid agencies from Gaza is outrageous.
This is the latest in a pattern of unlawful restrictions on humanitarian access, including Israel’s ban on UNRWA (the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees in the Near East), as well as attacks on Israeli and Palestinian NGOs amid broader access issues faced by the UN and other humanitarians.
I urge all States, in particular those with influence, to take urgent steps and insist that Israel immediately allows aid to get into Gaza unhindered. Such arbitrary suspensions make an already intolerable situation even worse for the people of Gaza.
Israel’s NGO ban sets ‘dangerous precedent’ for humanitarian work: UNRWA
Philippe Lazzarini, the commissioner-general of UNRWA, says Israel’s suspension of 37 aid organisations in Gaza shows “a troubling pattern of disregard for international humanitarian law”.
“This is a dangerous precedent,” Lazzarini wrote on social media platform X…..
Israel announces shock move to ban dozens of aid organizations from Gaza
Israel has singled out international medical charity Doctors Without Borders (MSF), alleging that it had two employees who were members of Palestinian militant groups Islamic Jihad and Hamas
Israel to ban 37 aid groups operating in Gaza
„They refuse to provide lists of their Palestinian employees because they know, just as we know, that some of them are involved in terrorism or linked to Hamas,“ spokesman for the Ministry of Diaspora Affairs and Combating Antisemitism, Gilad Zwick told AFP, naming 37 NGOs that had so far failed to meet the new requirements
Deadly Israeli attacks continue in Gaza despite ceasefire – Government Communication Center Situation Report No. 68
RAMALLAH, December 28, 2025 (WAFA) – Deadly Israeli attacks continue in Gaza despite the ceasefire, as Israel has killed 401 Palestinians in the Strip, bringing the total number of Palestinians killed since the genocide began to 70,925, according to the Government Communication Center at the Prime Minister’s Office in Situation Report No. 68, covering the period between December 22 and December 29, 2025, until 08:00 a.m.
– Ceasefire in Place, Yet Israeli Violations Persist: Eighty days after the ceasefire, Israel continues large-scale military operations in Gaza, including systematic demolitions, airstrikes, blockade, and restrictions on humanitarian access, resulting in additional Palestinian casualties and widespread destruction.
– Continued Humanitarian Collapse: Severe food insecurity, winter exposure, blocked reconstruction, and restrictions on temporary housing continue to place hundreds of thousands of Palestinians at risk, underscoring Israel’s ongoing collective punishment of civilians.
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After 2025 recognition of a Palestinian state, what‘s next ?
After years of rhetorical support for a Palestinian state, conditioned on prior peace with Israel, Paris ultimately decided to move to formal recognition on September 22, when President Emmanuel Macron addressed the UN General Assembly.
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France’s recognition formed part of a wider diplomatic push, including an international conference co-chaired with Saudi Arabia that culminated on September 12 in the UN General Assembly’s adoption of the New York Declaration, which described recognition of the Palestinian state as „essential and indispensable“.
Somalia demands Israel withdraw Somaliland recognition
The sharp rebuke came a day after Israel became the first nation in the world to formally recognise Somaliland, triggering swift condemnation across African and Arab nations, and raising concerns about whether the move was part of an alleged Israeli plan to forcibly displace Palestinians.
Somaliland broke away from Somalia in 1991 following a brutal civil war but has never secured recognition from any United Nations member state. The self-declared republic has established its own currency, flag and parliament, though its eastern territories remain disputed.
Israel becomes first country to recognize Somaliland
It wasn‘t known why Israel made the declaration now or whether it was expecting something in return.
Earlier this year, U.S. and Israeli officials told The Associated Press that Israel had approached Somaliland about taking in Palestinians from Gaza as part of Donald Trump’s plan at the time to resettle that territory’s population.
Human Rights Expert Sounds Alarm Over Israeli Firm’s ‘Dystopian’ Video-Altering Tech
(December 27, 2022)
The company, whose activities are overseen by the Israeli Defense Ministry, “was set up in 2018 and has offices in Tel Aviv and Washington,” Haaretz reported. “It works solely with state clients in government, intelligence bodies, and law enforcement agencies, almost exclusively—but not just—in the West. According to the internal documents, as of 2021, the company had contracts with Israel valued at $6 million, and had also planned an ‘expansion of existing deployment’ in Israel.”
Toka can tap into web-connected cameras found virtually everywhere—intersections, parking lots, malls, hotels, airports, and even homes. Haaretz compared the firm’s “cyberoffense” capabilities to the 2001 heist movie Ocean’s Eleven.
Israel’s defense minister vows continued offensives in Lebanon, Syria, Gaza, Yemen
Addressing its conflict with Tehran, Katz claimed that Israel had inflicted “significant damage on Iran’s nuclear and strategic capabilities.”
“I am following reports regarding Iran, which we struck strongly in cooperation with our American partners, and the security establishment is closely monitoring developments. Naturally, I cannot provide further details,” he added.
The Israeli army has launched a brutal offensive in Gaza, killing more than 71,000 people, mostly women and children, and injuring over 171,000 others since October 2023.
Israeli security cabinet approves recognition of 19 new settlements
Israel‘s security cabinet has approved a new proposal by Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and Defence Minister Israel Katz to recognise 19 new settlements in the occupied West Bank.
The settlements are spread across five regional councils. A total of 69 settlements have been recognised under Smotrich.
„Willkommen in der Hölle“
Im Bericht werden einige der in Israel teils seit Jahrzehnten gängigen Folterpraktiken aufgezählt: die Opfer werden oft tage- oder wochenlanger Isolationshaft ausgesetzt, sie werden in käfigähnlichen Einrichtungen festgehalten, über längere Zeit nackt ausgezogen und müssen Windeln tragen. Zudem werden ihre Augen verbunden und der Entzug von Nahrung, Wasser, Schlaf und medizinischer Behandlung sind an der Tagesordnung. Hinzukommt Folter mit elektrischen Schocks, dem Verbrennen mit Zigaretten, mit Waterboarding (simuliertem Ertrinken) und dem Aufhängen an den Händen oder Füßen an der Decke. Die Rede ist außerdem von Hunden, die auf Gefangene losgelassen wurden – und immer wieder auch von sexueller und geschlechtsspezifischer Gewalt. Inzwischen existieren mehrere Berichte, dass Hunde für die sexuelle Folter Gefangener eingesetzt wurden.[4] Anlässlich der Veröffentlichung des Berichts sprach der UN-Menschenrechtsbauftragte Volker Türk, der zugleich auch die palästinensische Autonomiebehörde wegen willkürlicher Verhaftungen, Folter und Misshandlungen kritisierte und bewaffnete palästinensische Gruppen wegen des 7.Oktober verurteilte, von eklatanten Verletzungen der internationalen Menschenrechtsnormen und des humanitären Völkerrechts seitens Israel.
Prisoners’ institutions: 9,300 Palestinian detainees held in Israeli occupation prisons
RAMALLAH, December 16, 2025 (WAFA) – Prisoners’ institutions said on Tuesday that the number of Palestinian detainees and prisoners held in Israeli occupation prisons has reached around 9,300, the majority of whom are detainees and administrative detainees.
In a joint statement, the institutions said the figures are based on data provided by prisoners’ institutions and information released by the Israeli Prison Service up to the beginning of the current month of December, noting that the total does not include detainees held in camps run by the Israeli occupation army.
Gaza death toll rises to 70,667 since Oct. 07
Thousands of others are still missing and buried under rubble in the Gaza Strip.
Since the ceasefire was established on October 11, 2025, 393 people have been martyred and 1,074 others have been injured. Also, the bodies of 634 martyrs have been recovered from the rubble during this period.