Araghchi says war ‘not a solution’ but Iran ‘fully prepared’ should it resume

Speaking to NBC News on Sunday, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Iran was “fully prepared” should the US resume its war on the country, “even if it comes to a doomsday war”. 

“War is not a solution … We stand ready for diplomacy. It is up to President Trump to choose,” he added. 

US President Donald Trump has rejected an Iranian proposal for a seven-day truce but told Axios that he expects negotiations to resume.

Over 100 Israeli settlers raid Palestinian village, torch homes

A mob of more than 100 Israeli settlers raided the village of Jalud in the occupied West Bank on the night of Monday to Tuesday, torching homes and vehicles. 

Settlers threw rocks at the Toubasi family as they were escorted by the Israeli army back to their home, from which they had been expelled by settler attacks for two months.

Israeli man caught trying to urinate on monastery in Jerusalem

CCTV footage shared online shows a Jewish Israeli man seemingly trying to urinate on the outer walls of the St James monastery in the Armenian quarter of Jerusalem before a man rushes out and tells him to leave. 

The monastery is frequently targeted by Jewish extremists who spit at its door as they walk by.

The question that turned an arms trade book towards Gaza | Andrew Feinstein | UNAPOLOGETIC

"I want to know who made the bomb that murdered my family, who made the plane that the bombs dropped out of that murdered my family, and who has profited from the murder of my family?"

Andrew Feinstein had spent years investigating the arms trade and was writing a book about the war in Yemen when he met Palestinian journalist Ahmed Alnaouq. One night, Ahmed learned that his family home in Deir al-Balah had been bombed. 21 members of his extended family were killed. 14 of them were under the age of 12.

Ahmed's three questions changed the book entirely. Making a Killing: How the West Profits From Slaughter in Gaza and Yemen follows the chain from the weapons to the companies that make them, the banks that finance them and the politicians who license them.

Watch the full episode: https://youtu.be/u3I8cF2pNqI

'Herd impunity' in Biden admin officials during Gaza genocide - One on One with Akbar Shahid Ahmed

How did the concept of "herd impunity" result in officials at all levels of the Biden administration repeatedly enabling some of the worst Israeli violations of international and human rights law during the genocide in Gaza?

After years of insider reporting and more than 175 interviews with Biden’s aides and closest advisers, diplomatic correspondent and author Akbar Shahid Ahmed reveals the intricacies of the injustices that shaped the Biden administration’s Gaza policy in his new book, Crossing The Red Line, out now.

The full One on One conversation with Ahmed, delving into these uncovered truths and more, is now live on Middle East Eye’s YouTube channel.

Netanyahu celebrates Lebanon pager attack anniversary as thousands are permanently scarred

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu turned the pager attacks and Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah’s killing into a party montage. @mayanoraa wonders whose story this video is telling?

Footage from FyDubai plane shows injured pilots, one restrained by crew

Footage filmed by a passenger onboard a FlyDubai flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv shows two injured pilots covered in blood, one of them being restrained by a crew member, and one Israeli passenger saying he is guarding the cockpit door to allow another pilot to land the plane. 

The flight made an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia on Wednesday after the co-pilot allegedly attempted to crash the plane after stabbing the captain. 

Passengers reportedly broke into the cockpit and intervened, and regained control of the plane.

81st UN General Assembly Highlights

The 81st UN General Assembly brought together world leaders amid wars, diplomatic divisions and growing international pressure over Gaza.

From the speeches that made headlines to the moments that unfolded away from the podium, Middle East Eye takes a look at the moments that everyone was talking about 👉

Netanyahu says West Bank settler violence is a ‘tremendous hoax’

Speaking to CNN on Thursday, prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu downplayed the severity of Israeli settler violence in the occupied West Bank, describing it as a “tremendous hoax”. 

“It’s not settlers actually, it’s about 150, 200 juvenile delinquents who are doing this. And I can’t stomach that … We’re a country of laws,” he said, adding that Palestinians who attack Israeli citizens occupying their lands are "barbarians".

In a report published last month titled ‘The Elimination Project’, Israeli human rights organisation B’Tselem concluded that settler violence in the occupied West Bank is part of a state-backed official Israeli policy aimed at forcing Palestinians off their land and cementing permanent Israeli control over it.

'Stop the game': Pro-Palestine Protesters rally ahead of second Ireland-Israel Nations League match

“I strongly object to these two games against Israel going ahead, because basically it is sports-washing a genocide.”

Palestine solidarity protesters gathered outside Dublin’s Aviva Stadium on Thursday to oppose Ireland playing its second game against Israel in the Nations League.

Demonstrators held Palestinian flags and signs reading “Stop the game” and “Show Israel the red card”.

The protest came after the Irish team defeated Israel 3-0 in Hungary last Sunday.

Ireland’s players had faced calls to boycott the match over Israel’s war in Gaza, but ultimately played the fixture. One player, Gavin Bazunu, refused to participate. 

Ireland's second game against Israel is scheduled to take place in Serbia on Sunday.

Bringing voices from Gaza to the world | The Gaza Podcast | NEW by Middle East Eye

“This podcast gives Palestinians the space to tell their own stories and relate their own experiences”

In our new podcast, Middle East Eye will give Palestinians in Gaza a platform to speak directly about their lives amid Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza.

Hosted by Hussam Tannera, a survivor of the ongoing genocide, The Gaza Podcast will centre the voices and experiences of ordinary Palestinians living in the enclave, bringing listeners closer to the people behind the headlines.

Each episode will feature conversations with Palestinians about what life is like in the strip, from displacement and destruction to shortages of food, water and medical care, as well as the struggles to maintain family life.

Stay tuned, episode 1 coming today

Flydubai pilot speaks to Indian Prime Minister Modi after cockpit attack

Indian pilot Smit Machchhar has spoken publicly for the first time since being stabbed by his co-pilot during a Flydubai flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv.
Speaking to Prime Minister Narendra Modi from hospital in Abu Dhabi, Machchhar described how he continued fighting despite being seriously wounded because he feared the safety of his passengers.

“I was trying to save myself,” he said, “but I also knew that I can't let anyone die".

Machchhar eventually opened the cockpit door, allowing people on board to enter and overpower the attacker as the plane was nose-diving. The aircraft was later diverted to Tabuk in Saudi Arabia, where it made an emergency landing. 

Modi praised Machchhar’s courage during the call, telling him prayers and chants were being offered in temples across India.

Is the arms trade builds weapons that make killing easier? | Andrew Feinstein | UNAPOLOGETIC

"Why can we get better images on our phones than these drone operators are getting? And I would suggest as a simple answer, it's easier to kill."

From drones that play the sound of a crying baby to draw families into the open, to AI targeting that marks people for sharing a taxi service or a gym, Andrew Feinstein lays out how the world's biggest tech companies are reshaping war in Gaza.

@AndrewFeinstein spoke to @ashfaaqC about the technology of killing, and why the West could stop it within a week.

Full episode on Middle East Eye YouTube channel
https://youtu.be/u3I8cF2pNqI

In this first episode of Middle East Eye's The Gaza Podcast, Palestinian doctor Maryam Youssef says that foreign doctors who come to work in Gaza quickly adapt to the mindset of local healthcare workers, changing so profoundly after just two weeks that "they are not the same" when they leave.

Speaking to host Hussam Tannera, she explains that visiting medical professionals constantly feel a desperate urge to return because Gaza feels real and true compared to a world that treats the war as "collateral damage" or "political talks".

Watch the full episode on MEE's YouTube channel now.

Palestinian doctor: We're not just numbers | The Gaza Podcast

In this first episode of Middle East Eye’s The Gaza Podcast, Palestinian doctor Maryam Youssef says that Palestinians are much more than what the media shows, insisting, "we’re not just numbers" but "human beings with a complete life".
Speaking to host Hussam Tannera, she urges people consuming the news not to treat the crisis as something distant or unrelatable, arguing that having to explain one's basic humanity to another person is "the most unjust part about it".

Tony Blair, Iraq and the JP Morgan millions | Andrew Feinstein | UNAPOLOGETIC

"Who was he representing in 10 Downing Street? The people of Britain? Or the executives at JP Morgan Bank?"

After leaving office, Tony Blair was paid millions a year by JP Morgan. Andrew Feinstein traces that relationship back to the invasion of Iraq, and the contract to rebuild its banking system.

Andrew Feinstein spoke to Ashfaaq Carim about Blair, Iraq and the revolving door between politics and profit.

Full episode on our YouTube channel
https://youtu.be/u3I8cF2pNqI

Palestinian mourns mother and grandmother killed in Israeli strike on Gaza home

Fouad al-Najjar spoke about the loss of his mother, Maria Hafez Najjar, and his grandmother, Maysa Khader Abu Daoud, who were killed while they slept when an Israeli strike hit their ground-floor apartment in the al-Asala building, west of Gaza City.

He said the loss of his mother and grandmother had come as a profound shock to the family, leaving deep pain among relatives and members of Gaza’s Christian community.

Gaza’s Greek Orthodox Church mourned Maysa Abu Daoud and her daughter Maria Najjar, whose bodies were laid to rest at a funeral attended by family members and members of the Christian community.

Green Party recognises Zionism as a form of racism and backs single Palestinian state

The Green Party of England and Wales has voted to declare Zionism a form of racism in an unprecedented move at its party conference in Brighton, Middle East Eye has learnt.

The vote by party members on Sunday makes it the first major party in the UK to recognise Zionism as a form of racism - and to back a single democratic Palestinian state with equal rights for all ethnic and religious groups, rather than a two-state solution.

1,022 members voted for the motion while 813 voted against it.

Canadian journalist documents Israeli settlers intimidation in Palestinian town

In footage posted to his social media, Canadian journalist Fin de Pencier documents armed Israeli settlers trespassing on Palestinian land in the town of Duma as part of daily settler intimidation and attacks in the occupied West Bank.

De Pencier is heard telling one of the settlers to stop pointing his gun at him.

The UK's Green Party declares 'Zionism is racism'

The UK’s Green Party declared that ‘Zionism is racism’ at its party conference in Brighton yesterday, passing the motion by 1,022 votes to 813. It has caused a media frenzy online. So what does the motion actually mean and is it useful for Palestinians?

Kieran Andrieu, a Palestinian member of the Green party and a vocal supporter of the motion, says it is “vital”.

“There's always enormous pushback against calling a spade a spade when the particular spade in question creates so much jeopardy and there's such high stakes involved” he says.