Israel vs Palestine/Lebanon/Iran/Yemen/Syria: a New Middle East War

[Rizotto]

"The IDF is using white phosphorous, aerial herbicide and forest fires to cause destruction in Southern Lebanon."

Benjamin Netanyahu Is RAZING Lebanon

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=aMZwgloXFEg

[Arcturian108]

A young Iranian woman, now a U.S. citizen, tells her story of rape and torture, that is normal for young female children in Iran: https://twitter.com/Khan_Fatimaa1/st...22788217573625

[Ravenlocke]

Clash Report

BREAKING: Twelve countries issued a joint statement announcing national bans on trade in goods from illegal Israeli settlements:

🇫🇷 France
🇬🇧 United Kingdom
🇨🇦 Canada
🇩🇰 Denmark
🇪🇸 Spain
🇫🇮 Finland
🇮🇪 Ireland
🇮🇸 Iceland
🇳🇴 Norway
🇵🇱 Poland
🇵🇹 Portugal
🇸🇪 Sweden

Macron, UK PM Burnham, and Canadian PM Carney agreed the situation is deteriorating with "unprecedented" settler violence and settlement expansion, specifically calling the E1 project "inadmissible."

They salute measures already taken by Ireland, Spain, Netherlands, Norway, and Belgium.

The statement demands Israel immediately stop settlement expansion, hold violent settlers accountable, and investigate allegations against Israeli forces.

They "firmly oppose any action resulting in the annexation of Palestinian lands or forced displacement."

https://x.com/clashreport/status/2097303276161032312

[Ravenlocke]

DD Geopolitics

🇮🇷🇺🇸 IRGC seizes advanced U.S. underwater drone

Iranian sources report that the IRGC Navy has seized an Anduril Dive-LD autonomous underwater vehicle in the Strait of Hormuz.

The 5.8-meter U.S.-made underwater drone can operate autonomously for up to 10 days and dive to depths of 6,000 meters. Its modular payload system allows it to perform ISR, undersea reconnaissance, mine warfare and seabed-mapping missions.

The Dive-LD was selected for the Pentagon’s Replicator initiative, and the first system was delivered to the U.S. Navy’s Unmanned Undersea Vehicle Squadron One (UUVRON-1) in 2025.

https://x.com/DD_Geopolitics/status/2097350500295274641

IRIB (Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting)

The Dive-LD, an autonomous submarine by US-based Anduril Industries, was delivered to the US Navy in 2025. Measuring 5.8m and weighing nearly 3 tons, it is designed for long-duration deep-sea missions, capable of operating underwater for 10 days at depths of up to 6,000 meters.

🚨BREAKING
Iranian Navy: One of the US military's most advanced unmanned underwater vehicles was seized by Iranian armed forces at the entrance to the Strait of Hormuz during a complex intelligence and field operation and brought into Iran.

https://x.com/iribnews_irib/status/2097343414119399784

[Eric J (Viking)]

Posted by Ravenlocke (here)
Clash Report

BREAKING: Twelve countries issued a joint statement announcing national bans on trade in goods from illegal Israeli settlements:

🇫🇷 France
🇬🇧 United Kingdom
🇨🇦 Canada
🇩🇰 Denmark
🇪🇸 Spain
🇫🇮 Finland
🇮🇪 Ireland
🇮🇸 Iceland
🇳🇴 Norway
🇵🇱 Poland
🇵🇹 Portugal
🇸🇪 Sweden

Macron, UK PM Burnham, and Canadian PM Carney agreed the situation is deteriorating with "unprecedented" settler violence and settlement expansion, specifically calling the E1 project "inadmissible."

They salute measures already taken by Ireland, Spain, Netherlands, Norway, and Belgium.

The statement demands Israel immediately stop settlement expansion, hold violent settlers accountable, and investigate allegations against Israeli forces.

They "firmly oppose any action resulting in the annexation of Palestinian lands or forced displacement."

https://x.com/clashreport/status/2097303276161032312

This is big news it needs its own thread….

[Ravenlocke]

Tehran Times

Sep 7
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov:

🔻 There is an agreement in Mecca between Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, and Türkiye.

🔸 They emphasize the concept of collective security and a defensive alliance, stressing that the doors are open to other countries as well—not just the countries of the Persian Gulf.

🔻 Egypt is often mentioned in this regard. I am sure that if Algeria also expresses interest, it could, at some point, have a positive impact.

🔸 If an agreement is reached on the conditions under which Iran could participate in this process, I believe this could be the most practical step toward advancing the concept that we ourselves have developed.

https://x.com/TehranTimes79/status/2096936359625720293

Sputnik

🇷🇺 Russia hopes Mecca Alliance will boost regional stability, dismisses concerns — Peskov

Russia hopes that the newly-created Mecca Defense Alliance will contribute to regional stability and security. This was stated by Russian Presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov at a press briefing organized by Sputnik India.

💬"If it is really a contribution to regional security, then of course we would welcome participating in other countries, very important regional players in this process," Peskov said.

Earlier, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov stated that Moscow would consider it a step in the right direction if Iran were to join the Mecca Agreement. "I am confident that if Algeria also shows interest, that will also work towards a positive outcome," he noted.

Lavrov recalled that Russia had proposed more than two decades ago that Gulf countries, including Arab states and Iran, consider holding a meeting to develop a regional security concept.

The Mecca Joint Defense Agreement was signed by Saudi Arabia, Turkiye, and Pakistan on August 7, 2026. It stipulates that an armed attack against any single member is treated as an attack against all three. According to Pakistani Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar, six or seven more Muslim countries may join the alliance soon

https://x.com/SputnikInt/status/2097309730410545443

[Ravenlocke]

Posted by Ravenlocke (here)
Clash Report

BREAKING: Twelve countries issued a joint statement announcing national bans on trade in goods from illegal Israeli settlements:

🇫🇷 France
🇬🇧 United Kingdom
🇨🇦 Canada
🇩🇰 Denmark
🇪🇸 Spain
🇫🇮 Finland
🇮🇪 Ireland
🇮🇸 Iceland
🇳🇴 Norway
🇵🇱 Poland
🇵🇹 Portugal
🇸🇪 Sweden

Macron, UK PM Burnham, and Canadian PM Carney agreed the situation is deteriorating with "unprecedented" settler violence and settlement expansion, specifically calling the E1 project "inadmissible."

They salute measures already taken by Ireland, Spain, Netherlands, Norway, and Belgium.

The statement demands Israel immediately stop settlement expansion, hold violent settlers accountable, and investigate allegations against Israeli forces.

They "firmly oppose any action resulting in the annexation of Palestinian lands or forced displacement."

https://x.com/clashreport/status/2097303276161032312

Insider Paper

BREAKING: Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Iceland, Ireland, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and the UK said they would slap sanctions on trade with Israeli settlements in the West Bank

https://x.com/TheInsiderPaper/status...09597451301296

https://insiderpaper.com/12-countrie...i-settlements/

UK, France, Canada to ban imports from Israeli settlements

Britain, France and Canada said Tuesday they will ban imports from Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, with a UK minister accusing Israel of turning a blind eye to the “ethnic cleansing” of Palestinians there.

The moves prompted a furious Israel to unveil immediate counter-measures targeting Britain.

The trio of Western allies revealed the trade curbs in response to Israel’s West Bank settlements policy and reports of increasing attacks by settlers there against Palestinians.

“The British government agrees that there is ethnic cleansing of Palestinians in areas of the West Bank — perpetrated by settler terrorists,” said Britain’s foreign minister Ed Miliband, announcing the import ban and other measures in parliament.

“All too often the Israeli government has turned a blind eye to this and worse, members of it have made statements and taken actions to support the forced displacement of Palestinians.”

London, Paris and Ottawa joined nine other European countries in issuing a joint statement saying they planned to introduce or support restrictions on trade with Israeli settlements.

Within hours, Israel announced its angry response, ordering the closure of Britain’s consulate in Jerusalem and banning 12 Britons from visiting the country, including lawmakers from the governing Labour party.

Israel said it would also expel British diplomats at a centre monitoring the US-brokered ceasefire plan in Gaza and bar British training for Palestinian Authority forces.

“The accusations made today by the foreign secretary in the British parliament were outrageous lies,” said Israel’s Foreign Minister Gideon Saar.

The settlements mainly export agricultural products, including dates, grapes, avocados, citrus fruits, and some vegetables and aromatic herbs. They also market wine, Dead Sea cosmetics and various industrial products.

Trade between the UK and the occupied Palestinian Territories was only around £38 million ($51 million) in 2025, according to the British government.

– ‘End trade’ –

Ireland and Spain have already taken measures against trade with Israeli settlements, and France has for weeks been pushing for a similar decision from the European Union, Israel’s leading trading partner, but has been blocked by some members.

Tuesday’s joint foreign ministers’ statement was also signed by Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Ireland, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain and Sweden.

They said “unprecedented levels of settler violence and settlement expansion” in the West Bank threatened prospects for a two-state solution to the conflict.

The E1 settlement plan — approved by Israel last year after decades of being frozen — would see 1,200 housing units built and further isolate Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem from the rest of the West Bank.

Addressing MPs flanked by new Prime Minister Andy Burnham, Miliband — the son of Jewish immigrant parents — also vowed “action against specific companies and individuals who provide services such as construction, infrastructure, financing, or real estate for settlement expansion”.

In a statement posted on X, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said France “will end trade” with settlements in the occupied territories.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the United States would not join the new sanctions, saying Washington does not want to destabilise the West Bank.

– Toughening UK stance –

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to continue establishing the settlements — illegal under international law.

Israel has already faced intense international criticism over its relentless offensive that flattened much of Gaza following the October 7, 2023, attack on Israel by Hamas militants.

The UK government’s move and hardening rhetoric signals a toughening of its stance towards Israel under Burnham, who replaced Keir Starmer in July.

Starmer’s government last year formally recognised a Palestinian state and announced sanctions on selected entities.

More than 500,000 Israelis live in illegal settlements in the West Bank, among some three million Palestinians.

According to an AFP tally based on data from the Palestinian health ministry, Israeli forces or settlers have killed at least 1,105 Palestinians in the territory since the start of the Gaza war.

[Ravenlocke]

DD Geopolitics

Do Not Let Europe Wash Its Hands of Gaza by Blaming Netanyahu

Suddenly, Europe and friends have discovered their outrage.

After years of destruction in Gaza, mass displacement, starvation, demolished hospitals, dead journalists and children pulled from beneath concrete, governments that armed Israel, traded with Israel and provided it diplomatic protection now want the world to believe they have finally found their moral compass.

Britain, France and others are announcing measures against illegal Israeli settlements. European politicians increasingly condemn Benjamin Netanyahu and members of his government and the language is becoming harsher. The distance between European capitals and Jerusalem is becoming more conspicuous.

Do not mistake this for absolution, European governments cannot erase the material and political support they provided while Gaza was being destroyed. The European Union remained Israel’s largest trading partner.

Even after the EU’s own review found indications that Israel was violating the human-rights provisions of its Association Agreement, Europe could not bring itself to impose the kind of sweeping economic measures it has demonstrated elsewhere that it is perfectly capable of imposing.

Now we are expected to applaud because settlement dates and wine may disappear from European shelves.

This creates a convenient political escape hatch: make Netanyahu the story.

Netanyahu deserves accountability for the policies carried out under his government. So do the ministers who have openly advocated displacement and collective punishment.

But reducing what happened to Gaza to the personality of Benjamin Netanyahu is an extraordinarily convenient fiction.

Israel’s assault was not conducted by Netanyahu personally. It was conducted by state institutions, an enormous military apparatus and a government that initially included figures from Netanyahu’s political opposition. Nor did European support begin with Netanyahu or depend entirely upon him.

If Netanyahu loses Israel’s coming election and is replaced by a leader who speaks more politely in European capitals while maintaining occupation, settlement expansion and Palestinian subjugation, Europe must not be permitted to declare the crisis solved.

A different prime minister does not resurrect the dead.

A different coalition does not rebuild Gaza.

A different face does not absolve the governments that supplied weapons, maintained economic relations and offered diplomatic cover while Palestinians were being killed.

This is why today’s European outrage deserves scrutiny rather than applause.

Perhaps some countries have genuinely changed their position. If so, they can demonstrate it through policy: suspend military assistance, impose meaningful restrictions on trade connected to violations of international law, demand accountability regardless of who governs Israel, and support the same legal standards for allies that they demand for adversaries.

But if their objective is merely to isolate Netanyahu, wait for an Israeli election and then embrace a more presentable government pursuing substantially the same policies, this is not accountability.

It is reputation management.

Palestinians do not need Europe to find a more palatable administrator of their dispossession.

They need the policies that enabled it to end.

And Europe should not be allowed to rewrite the last several years as though it spent them standing helplessly on the sidelines.

It did not. It was there.

https://x.com/DD_Geopolitics/status/2097362618264531198

[Ravenlocke]

Tehran Times

Spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs:

On the very day that the U.S. president, disrespecting Canada’s sovereignty and independence, portrayed the entire country as part of U.S. territory, Canada’s foreign and finance ministers once again decided to move down the path of appeasing their bullying neighbor.

Canada must understand that it cannot present itself as a champion of “peace and security,” “freedom of navigation,” and “international law,” while at the same time supporting U.S. military aggression and its illegal actions in our region.

This is neither diplomacy nor a sign of responsible governance; rather, it is a sign of strategic confusion and submission to bullying

https://x.com/TehranTimes79/status/2097261557889572921

[Ravenlocke]

Anadolu English

US officials discuss potential cuts to permanent Middle East military presence if Trump administration ends Iran conflict, according to US media reports

➡️ Potential move would reduce US military footprint in region, where about 50,000 troops are currently deployed http://v.aa.com.tr/4050360

https://x.com/anadoluagency/status/2097233480946200665

https://www.aa.com.tr/en/middle-east...ct-cnn/4050360

US officials discuss smaller Mideast footprint after Iran conflict: CNN
Informal discussions include potential troop, facility cuts and hardened defenses, CNN reports

US military and intelligence officials have begun discussing a potential reduction in personnel and facilities permanently stationed in the Middle East if the Trump administration succeeds in ending the conflict with Iran, CNN reported, citing six sources.
The informal discussions could lead to another shift in Washington's military and intelligence posture in a region where the US dramatically expanded its presence following the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, according to the report.
Officials are considering possible cuts even as about 50,000 US troops remain deployed across the Middle East alongside significant military assets, including two aircraft carriers and more than a dozen guided-missile destroyers.
The US military has developed several possible options for changing its force structure in the region as early as next year, two sources told CNN. No formal force posture review has been ordered, however.
Shifting defense burden to regional partners

Senior Pentagon officials have also privately indicated that they want to reduce troop levels in several Gulf countries while shifting more of the defense burden to regional partners, the report said.
At the same time, the Pentagon is examining ways to strengthen defenses for forces expected to remain in the region, including potentially moving some installations underground to protect them from Iranian missile and drone attacks.
The idea gained urgency after Iranian strikes during the conflict exposed vulnerabilities at US facilities, according to CNN.
"The vulnerabilities were always known, but the US never acted on it with urgency," a US official told the network.
Iranian attacks have caused significant damage to American facilities across the region, the report said. A CIA outpost in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, was effectively destroyed, while US military installations in Bahrain, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait were also struck, according to CNN.
Officials are considering whether some intelligence and special operations missions could be conducted without permanent regional bases, with personnel and equipment instead deployed from the US for specific missions before returning home.
May choose not to rebuild damaged facilities

Washington may also choose not to rebuild some facilities severely damaged or destroyed in Iranian attacks because of the costs involved.
Pentagon comptroller Jules "Jay" Hurst III said in April that decisions on repairing damaged facilities would depend partly on Washington's future regional posture.
Despite discussions about a smaller footprint, the US and Iran remain far from a settlement. Tehran continues to target US forces and bases, including attacks on American installations in Jordan and the United Arab Emirates last week.
Pentagon officials broadly expect the US to retain some large permanent bases in the Middle East, though reconstruction could depend on host countries contributing to costs that could reach billions of dollars.
US forces are also expected to remain vulnerable to Iranian attacks in the near term.
Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Daryl Caudle said last week that US Navy personnel would not return soon to Bahrain, the traditional home of the 5th Fleet.
"We're not getting back in there anytime soon," Caudle said.

[Eric J (Viking)]

HUGE!!! Israel to shut down UK consulate in Jerusalem.

Foreign minister Gideon Saar says Israel will close the British consulate in Jerusalem - one of four "counter-measures" against the UK
Israel is also banning 11 MPs from entering the country, including Zarah Sultana, Jeremy Corbyn, and Diane Abbott
The move comes after Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband told Parliament the UK would ban the import of goods from Israeli settlements in the illegally occupied West Bank
Miliband said "ethnic cleansing" was being carried out by "settler terrorists" and accused the Israeli government of turning a "blind eye"
Eleven countries - including France, Canada, Spain and Poland - will implement the same sanctions on Jewish settlements in the West Bank, which are illegal under international law
PM Andy Burnham says the "targeted measures" are in support of "the prospect of Israelis and Palestinians living side by side in peace"
Israel has been planning to develop 1,200 new homes in the occupied West Bank and there has been a rise in settler attacks on Palestinians this year


https://www.bbc.com/news/live/cmp8djn8983gt

[shaberon]

Posted by Eric J (Viking) (here)

Posted by Ravenlocke (here)
Clash Report

BREAKING: Twelve countries issued a joint statement announcing national bans on trade in goods from illegal Israeli settlements:


This is big news it needs its own thread….

Big in the sense of unprecedented, yes...years late and extremely weak also.

Notice the conspicuous absence of Germany.

It's talking about exports from certain settlements, and not really a reciprocation against the country, per se.

Maybe it is a tiny little step at the beginning of a long walk.

Usually when there is ongoing death and destruction, there is a military response; Turkey appears to be on the cusp of it. At least they, personally, are trying to arrest 35 Likud. Not sure anyone else has taken it to that point.

None of this would be happening without extensive Euro-American support for Zion, which has been a bad idea for decades, and yes I suppose everyone would rather deny responsibility and say they never heard of the Nakba.


Worse still:

US ambassador to the Israeli occupied territories said on Tuesday that Washington could retaliate if the sanctions are approved.

Mike Huckabee suggested that individual US states, specifically Florida, might take trade action against Britain.

A few additional remarks about the big broom:

What happened in the targeting of US warships and the destruction of their commanders’ deployment centers was only a fraction of our capabilities,” Ali Nikzad said while addressing parliament during his pre-agenda speech on Tuesday.

He urged the US administration to withdraw from West Asia and the Persian Gulf, warning Washington against further losses of its already diminished credibility.

Nikzad further slammed the US military presence in the region, saying American bases had been established to project power and offer neighboring countries the "dream of security."

“You built bases in this region, and today, after our powerful armed forces destroyed them, you are forced to take refuge in hotels. You displayed your power with your warships and sold our neighbors the dream of security, but today, faced with the depression and suicide of your soldiers, you are forced to anchor off the coast of Thailand,” he said.

He also slammed the United States for interfering with Iranian vessels and said American warships had subsequently faced ballistic-missile strikes.

“You harassed Iranian ships and were then confronted with ballistic missiles striking your warships. Leaving a war that is no place for flies is the best choice for you,” Nikzad said.

On Saturday, the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC)’s Navy announced striking three United States-linked vessels and three trespassing oil tankers in retaliation for earlier American attacks on Iranian tankers.

Meanwhile, Major General Mohsen Rezaei, secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, said on Sunday that Iran had successfully tested a new anti-ship missile above a US warship in regional waters.

“For the first time, we tested our anti-ship missile above an American warship,” he said. “This special missile created hell for the Americans, and they fled.”

Whole thing's caving in while making the world a worse place for everybody. Usual gang of idiots. The cleaning needs to hit home, here.

There goes one 2025 super spy sub, good riddance.

[Ravenlocke]

DD Geopolitics

🇾🇪🇸🇦 BREAKING: Yemeni attacks intensify across Saudi Arabia

Major explosions are being reported now in Najran, Jazan and Abha as Yemen launches another wave of missile and drone attacks against Saudi Arabia.

Saudi authorities have confirmed strikes on energy infrastructure across the south, with fires breaking out and operations halted at some facilities.

Meanwhile, regional sources report that air operations at King Abdulaziz International Airport in Jeddah have stopped, with flight-tracking data showing aircraft holding and diverting around the city.

https://x.com/DD_Geopolitics/status/2097371761884987503

[Ravenlocke]

DD Geopolitics

🇬🇧 BREAKING: Flights grounded across Britain after air traffic control failure

Hundreds of flights have reportedly been cancelled across the UK following a major technical failure affecting Britain’s air traffic control system.

According to The Telegraph, equipment at NATS headquarters in Swanwick has failed, disrupting controllers responsible for managing aircraft across UK airspace.

Arrivals into London Heathrow and Gatwick have been halted until at least 7 p.m., with disruption also reported at Manchester, Stansted, London City, Birmingham, East Midlands and Belfast City airports.

The cause of the technical failure has not yet been established.

https://x.com/DD_Geopolitics/status/2097357457399885910

Truth-Seeker84

Just a coincidence that Israel are pissed off with the uk though! 🤔

Travel chaos as departures at airports across the UK are grounded over air traffic control 'failure' https://mol.im/a/16114565 via https://dailym.ai/android


https://x.com/TruthSeeker84x3/status...53063895806292

[Rizotto]

The Iranians should be very careful about that USA submarine they captured. What if it was some sort of Trojan Horse, e.g. loaded with explosives that can be remotely detonated, even nukes?

[Eric J (Viking)]

By JILL LAWLESS
Updated 2:18 PM EDT, September 8, 2026
Leer en español

LONDON (AP) — The United Kingdom on Tuesday banned trade with Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, where it says “settler terrorists” are carrying out “ethnic cleansing” of Palestinians, in a significant toughening of Britain’s stance toward a longtime ally.

France and Canada announced they would take similar action in an attempt to prevent expanding settlements and growing violence from making it impossible to establish a future Palestinian state.

Israel responded angrily and said it would close the British consulate in Jerusalem.

Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband said the U.K. will ban imports of all goods from the settlements and bar companies from providing services for the settlements, including financing, construction, infrastructure, real estate and advertising.

“I do not believe the British people want us supporting the occupation by accepting products from settlements in our shops and supermarkets,” Miliband said.

In a joint statement, British Prime Minister Andy Burnham, French President Emmanuel Macron and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said settlement expansion and settler violence in the West Bank “pose a direct and urgent threat” to the two-state solution. They said they decided to act “before it is too late.”

The economic impact is likely to be limited, since the settlements produce only a small amount of largely agricultural exports. But the move is a symbolic expression of displeasure with Israel by some of its closest allies, and it offers a new sign of the Israeli government’s growing isolation as a result of the Gaza war.

Miliband said that he feels “a deep sense of shame about what has unfolded in Palestine under the eyes of the international community.”

“We will not acquiesce in the destruction of the two-state solution,” he said.

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar condemned the “despicable” move. He said Israel would expel U.K. representatives from a joint military center monitoring the Gaza ceasefire and end U.K. training of the Palestinian Authority’s security forces in the West Bank. In addition, Israel barred entry to a dozen British lawmakers and other U.K. citizens whom Sa’ar said were “involved in antisemitic and anti-Israel activity.”

Settlements have expanded under Netanyahu

Under the ultranationalist government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, settlement construction in the West Bank — seized by Israel in the 1967 Mideast war — has surged. Netanyahu’s government views the West Bank as the biblical and historical homeland of the Jewish people and is opposed to the creation of a Palestinian state.

The international community overwhelmingly considers such construction to be illegal. Britain and other countries have voiced particular concern about the E1 settlement project approved by Israel, which would effectively cut the territory in two.

There have been marked increases in attacks by settlers on Palestinians, evictions from Palestinian towns, Israeli military operations and checkpoints that choke freedom of movement, as well as several Palestinian attacks on Israelis.

“The British government agrees that there is ethnic cleansing of Palestinians in areas of the West Bank, perpetrated by settler terrorists,” Miliband said. He said there had been “houses bulldozed, roads and public infrastructure destroyed, families displaced from their homes.”

The ban on trade will be in place in six to nine months, Miliband said. He said Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Poland, Portugal and Sweden have pledged to “support further action.”

The Netherlands, Ireland, Belgium, Spain and Norway have either banned goods from settlements or are in the process of doing so, he said.

Miliband also tightened Britain’s embargo on weapons sales to Israel for use in Gaza to include arms “that materially contribute to the occupation” of Palestinian territories.

Move follows UK recognition of a Palestinian state

Britain recognized Palestinian statehood last year in an attempt to revive dwindling efforts to achieve a two-state solution.

In a change of Britain’s position, Miliband said Tuesday that the U.K. regards Israel’s occupation of the West Bank, and not just the settlements, as illegal.

The new position is likely to be welcomed by many Labour voters and lawmakers, who have urged the government to go further in sanctioning Israel and supporting the Palestinians.

But some expressed concern that the sanctions could boost support for Netanyahu, who is facing a tough battle for reelection in October, or lead to attacks on British Jews. The U.K.’s chief rabbi, Ephraim Mirvis, said it was “a dark day for British Jews.”

Opposition Conservative Party foreign affairs spokesman Tom Tugendhat said that “turning Israel into a pariah will risk sectarian division in our own country and risk a further rise in antisemitic violence on our own streets.”

Announcement sparks anger in Israel

Before Miliband’s announcement, Itamar Ben-Gvir, Israel’s hard-line public security minister and a settler leader, called on Netanyahu to recognize Argentina’s claim to the Falkland Islands, a British overseas territory in the South Atlantic known in Argentina as the Malvinas.

Israeli President Isaac Herzog called the ban “a grave miscalculation, a decision that will fall on the wrong side of history.

“In the current context, it would be a gross interference in the democratic elections of a sovereign nation,” he said.

The move was also criticized by the U.S. ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, a longtime supporter of the settlements, who said that it was “discrimination against the Jewish people.” He said the U.K. could face “repercussions or retaliations” from the U.S. if it imposed the sanctions.

Several U.S. states have laws banning contracts or investments with businesses that boycott Israeli firms, including those based in the West Bank.

Burnham’s office said he spoke with U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday and set out “the U.K.’s commitment to working toward peace and security in the region” and achieving a two-state solution. There was no word on how Trump responded.

Miliband, whose parents came to the U.K. as refugees from the Nazis, told lawmakers he spoke “as a proud British Jew” and supporter of Israel.

“Our argument is not with the people of Israel, with whom the U.K. has unshakable bonds,” Miliband said. “Our argument is with the conduct of its government.”

___

Associated Press writers Sylvia Hui in London and Megan Mineiro in Jerusalem contributed.

____
https://apnews.com/article/uk-west-b...4bfce7a3b7624b

[shaberon]

Incoming:

Two U.S. vessels and eight tankers were targeted, sustaining heavy damage, the force said.

It said ten more vessels, attempting to cross the prohibited and unsafe zone of the Strait of Hormuz with the encouragement and support of the U.S. military, were also targeted.

The IRGC attacked U.S. guided-missile destroyers DDG-119 and DDG-53 with powerful ballistic missiles in retaliation for U.S. harassment of Iranian oil tankers and vessels.

In a statement, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said the destroyers, which carry cruise missiles and the Aegis combat system, came under attack in a punitive operation codenamed "Ya Haidar Karrar."

The strike inflicted significant damage on both warships, the statement said.

Iranian missiles targeted the Muwaffaq Salti airbase in the Azraq area and the Prince Hassan base in Jordan on Wednesday, with explosions also reported in Bahrain.

Arab sources reported hearing explosions across Jordan. The Jordanian army scrambled fighter jets to intercept Iranian ballistic missiles because U.S. air defence systems were reportedly unable to engage them, the reports said.

Al Jazeera correspondents reported interceptions over Irbid in northern Jordan, Amman and other eastern and northern cities. Syrian television said Iranian missiles were tracked over Sweida and targeted Jordan.

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said it targeted the maintenance, preparation and deployment hangars of U.S. F-35, F-16 and F-15 fighter jets at the al-Azraq base in Jordan in retaliation for attacks on Iranian tankers.

In a statement, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said the "defeated, desperate terrorist and aggressor American army" had attacked several Iranian commercial and oil tankers.

In retaliation, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Aerospace Forces launched a punitive operation against the U.S. al-Azraq base in Jordan with heavy missile strikes, using solid- and liquid-fuel ballistic missiles. The operation targeted the repair and maintenance hangars, preparation areas and deployment positions of F-35, F-16 and F-15 warplanes, as well as fighter jet hangars, inflicting heavy damage on the enemy.

[Rizotto]

https://www.rt.com/news/645274-pack-...-israels-gaza/

‘Pack your suitcases’: Israel’s far right unveils its blueprint for emptying Gaza
Ben-Gvir’s party is demanding a new ministry dedicated to “voluntary migration.” Those living amid the rubble say they will not leave.

September 8, 2026

Israel’s far-right national security minister has put a seven-year timetable on emptying Gaza of most of its people, and dressed it up as choice. Gazans RT spoke to call it what international law already names it: forced displacement.

Last week, Jewish Power chairman and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir unveiled ‘Disengagement 710’, a policy blueprint for what he calls the voluntary migration of Gaza residents to countries willing to take them. Destinations floated by his party include Türkiye, unspecified Arab states, Ethiopia, and Congo.

The numbers are not modest. The plan foresees the departure of about 250,000 people in the first year, 1.11 million within three years, and some 1.86 million within seven, encompassing the bulk of the Strip’s population.

To run it, Jewish Power wants the next government to create a dedicated ministry for “voluntary migration,” complete with a minister, a director-general, its own budget, an international negotiating team, and an implementation apparatus.

Ben-Gvir vows to make the ministry a coalition demand after Israel’s October 27 election. “Instead of illusions of peace now, we need actions of emigration now,” he said. “Instead of them digging tunnels, it’s time to pack suitcases.”

This idea is not new for the Jewish state.

A Zionist through-line
In 1937, David Ben-Gurion, then a leading Zionist figure, promoted the transfer of Palestinians and argued they should be moved to Transjordan. In the 1980s, the same ‘voluntary’ formula was championed by far-right politicians Rehavam Ze’evi – nicknamed ‘Gandhi’– and Meir Kahane. Their schemes never left the drawing board.

Ben-Gvir now presents his version as newly realistic, citing earlier public backing from US President Donald Trump. Trump floated mass relocation from Gaza in early 2025, then walked the idea back under Arab and international pressure.

His later 20-point framework stated that no one would be forced to leave and that residents should be encouraged to stay. Ben-Gvir treats the first Trump remark as political cover and the second as an inconvenience.

Gazans RT interviewed rejected the initiative as illegal under international law and a crime against humanity.

”People in Gaza and across Palestine know Ben-Gvir’s plans go far beyond our existence in the Strip,” said Abdallah Ali, a resident of central Gaza.

“He wants people out of Gaza, then out of West Bank villages, then out of West Bank cities toward Jordan. He believes in transfer and an ‘alternative homeland’.”

Ali said that is why Gazans, himself included, intend to stay put.

Rami Al Meghari, from Al-Maghazi camp in central Gaza, reached the same conclusion for a different reason: memory of exile.

“Many Palestinians found life in other countries, especially Arab states, awkward and humiliating,” he said. “They will not leave Gaza for a destination that cannot guarantee dignity, whether an Arab capital or some African country Israel has long suggested, like Somalia.”

Polls, rubble, and the meaning of ‘voluntary’
A PCPSR poll last year found 56% of Gazans interviewed unwilling to emigrate. A substantial minority, some 43%, said they would.

Ali and Al Meghari were not surprised. Despair is real, and the findings of various UN reports show it clearly.

As of June 16, 2026, satellite analysis by the UN Satellite Centre found 201,290 structures damaged, an estimated 82% of all buildings in Gaza. Of those, 134,422 were assessed as destroyed, 13,848 severely damaged, 28,096 moderately damaged and 24,924 possibly damaged.

Most of Gaza’s 2.1 million people remain displaced. The Shelter Cluster, surveying in June 2026, said 1.98 million people, 94% of the population, need shelter and household items.

Food and water continue to be an issue. Between mid-April and June 30, 2026, more than 1.2 million people (59%) were still in dire need of assistance.

Assessments in 2026 found 43% of households below the 15-liter humanitarian minimum per person per day, and 62% below the 6-liter drinking-water floor.

But Ali and Al Meghari insist the pull of the land is much stronger.

“Whatever the suffering, even with around 97 percent of cropland destroyed and most of the built environment gone, people are putting up tents and staying in displacement camps. They are not packing to leave,” Ali said.

“They lived through the 1948 catastrophe and the 1967 Nakba. They will pull through again.”

Al Meghari still hopes the political weather will change. “Life can move forward in Gaza if there is serious international and Arab pressure to implement the second phase of the ceasefire. The United States has a particular responsibility to make that happen. Russia also needs to play a pivotal role to bring the suffering of the Palestinians to an end.”

Reconstruction as leverage
There is little movement on reconstruction. Israel is blocking construction materials, demanding that Hamas disarm and demilitarize first. The Board of Peace has pushed for weapons to be collected and placed under international supervision, a formula Israel rejects.

Ali sees the stalled effort as a policy, not an accident. “This is taking a very long time. I do not think Israel will accept Gaza’s reconstruction anytime soon. It will keep complicating reality until leaving becomes the only realistic option.”

Ahmed Al-Masri, a lawyer in Gaza, argues Israel has played this hand before and lost. “We lived this in 2014 [Operation Protective Edge – ed.]. Israel said Gaza should not be rebuilt. Then, under international pressure and with UN supervision, it was forced to comply.”

And he also pins some hope on Israel’s October 27 parliamentary vote. “If the far-right government is removed, there might be a beginning, a glimmer on the horizon, and a better political reality for people here, if Palestinians also insist on rebuilding political, social and economic life.”

That is the wager Gaza is making: that endurance outlasts a plan that needs other countries to open their doors, Washington to revive an idea it already shelved, and two million people to accept that ‘voluntary’ means leaving home because the alternative has been made unlivable.

Ben-Gvir is betting the opposite – that the wreckage, a ministry, and a slogan about suitcases can finish what earlier transfer schemes could not. Gazans say they have heard that speech before.

[Vicus]

Iran retaliates after US strikes on oil tankers (VIDEOS) - Published 8 Sep, 2026 21:25

The IRGC claims that “significant damage” was done to two US vessels and eight tankers in the Persian Gulf

Iranian forces have struck eight oil tankers in the Persian Gulf and targeted two US Navy vessels in retaliation for attacks on Iranian shipping, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said on Wednesday. It claimed the strikes inflicted “significant damage” on the ships.

US Central Command later rejected the claim that American warships were hit, saying, “no US Navy warship has been struck” and all IRGC attacks failed. CENTCOM added that US forces destroyed ten Iranian tankers over the past week, describing the vessels as part of a multi-billion-dollar network funding the IRGC.

The IRGC said it also targeted ten other ships that allegedly attempted, with US military support, to pass through an area of the Strait of Hormuz that Tehran declared prohibited and unsafe. The IRGC said it remains in control of shipping through the strategic waterway. The claims have not been independently verified, and there has been no immediate US confirmation of damage to the vessels.

The attacks came after the IRGC Navy issued an “urgent warning” late Tuesday, telling tanker crews around the docks and anchorages of Bahrain and Kuwait to immediately abandon their ships.

“We warn all crew members of the tankers in the vicinity of the docks of Kuwait and Bahrain... to immediately leave their vessels, whether at anchor or at the docks, as they will be targeted,” the IRGC Navy Command said.

The statement accused Bahrain and Kuwait of hosting US forces and being “partners” in Washington’s attacks on Iranian shipping.

continue: https://rtrunews.com/news/645293-ira...anker-attacks/

[Rizotto]

https://www.rt.com/news/645365-netan...n-iran-defeat/

Netanyahu threatens Iran from occupied Syrian mountain (VIDEO)
The Israeli prime minister visited IDF troops at the strategic summit of Mount Hermon

September 9, 2026

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claimed that Israel is “very close” to defeating Iran, during a visit to Israeli troops stationed atop Mount Hermon in Syrian territory, which was seized by the IDF following the collapse of former President Bashar Assad’s government.

Netanyahu traveled to the strategic summit on Wednesday accompanied by Defense Minister Israel Katz and IDF Deputy Chief of Staff Maj. Gen. Tamir Yadai.

“Damascus is right here, Lebanon is right there, the Syrian Golan Heights are right there,” Netanyahu said in a video released by his office, claiming that Israel now exercises “absolute control the likes of which has never been seen before” over the surrounding area.

He said Israel will not allow a “terrorist army” to establish itself along the border, before turning his remarks toward Tehran.

“From these peaks, there is still work to do: The main task is to defeat the terrorist regime in Iran,” Netanyahu said. “We are very close to it. We know that the entire axis will ultimately fall. We are committed to doing this, and we will do it.”

Syria condemned Netanyahu’s visit as “illegal entry” into its territory. The Foreign Ministry called the trip “provocative” and a “blatant violation” of Syrian sovereignty, territorial integrity, and international law, and urged the UN and other international actors to press Israel to end its incursions.

Israel seized the Syrian side of Mount Hermon and other positions inside the UN-monitored buffer zone in December 2024, after Assad’s government fell. Israel initially described the deployment as temporary, but has since entrenched its presence. Katz said during Wednesday’s visit that Israeli troops are “not moving” from the “security zone.”

A UN commission warned just a day earlier that Israeli military activity inside Syria has become “increasingly sustained and entrenched,” describing Israel’s presence as a “belligerent occupation” and saying some actions against Syrian civilians could amount to war crimes. Israel rejected the findings, insisting it has no territorial ambitions in Syria and maintains the buffer zone solely for security purposes.

The continued military presence in Syria and southern Lebanon has also put Netanyahu at odds with Washington. In July, President Donald Trump reportedly urged the Israeli leader to withdraw from both countries, saying, “they don’t want you there.”