Israel indicts soldier on charges he spied for Iran
The statement said the soldier, who was not named, had sent the Iranians videos of Israeli missile interceptions and sites hit by Iranian rocket fire in last month's 12-day war between the arch enemies.
The security service said he had not sent material collected during his duties with the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and added that none of the information given to Iran had been classified.
However, the statement said: "This is considered a particularly grave incident involving direct contact between an IDF soldier and hostile foreign elements."
A military court ordered that he should remain in custody until next week.
News of the indictment came just one day after Israel launched an unusual, nationwide media campaign warning citizens against spying for Iran. The ads said people who took Iranian cash in return for information faced up to 15 years in prison.
For its part, Iran has executed several people over the past month after they were convicted of collaborating with Israel and facilitating covert operations in the country.
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The Guardian
an hour ago
- The Guardian
Donald Trump's envoy Steve Witkoff visits Gaza aid ‘death trap'
Donald Trump's envoy Steve Witkoff has visited Gaza and been shown one of the controversial food distribution sites around which hundreds of Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces. Witkoff, the US president's special envoy for the Middle East, had earlier met the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, amid mounting international horror over conditions of starvation in Gaza occurring after months of Israeli-imposed aid restrictions. Witkoff – a former real estate lawyer with no background in foreign policy or humanitarian aid – wrote on X that he had spent more than five hours inside Gaza in order to gain 'a clear understanding of the humanitarian situation and help craft a plan to deliver food and medical aid to the people of Gaza'. Chapin Fay, a spokesperson for the Israeli and US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), said the visit reflected Trump's understanding of the crisis and that 'feeding civilians, not Hamas, must be the priority'. The apparent absence of senior international aid officials during a visit accompanied by senior Israeli figures raises questions over the credibility of Israeli and US plans to increase aid flows amid the continuing debacle around the GHF operations. Trump echoed his intention to increase aid reaching Gaza in a phone call with the US news site Axios, saying: 'We want to help people. We want to help them live. We want to get people fed. It is something that should have happened long time ago.' It remains unclear whether Trump intends to double down on an expansion of the GHF operations or envisages a new way of doing things. Hours after Witkoff's visit to the site in Rafah, Palestinian medics reported Israeli forces had shot dead three Palestinians near one of the group's other sites on the southern edge of Gaza City – although it was not clear whether it was the same location. Witkoff visited as Human Rights Watch described the sites run by the GHF as 'death traps' which had become the scene of regular 'bloodbaths'. The UN has said that Israeli forces have killed almost 900 Palestinians who were attempting to reach the sites. Belkis Wille, the associate crisis and conflict director at Human Rights Watch, said on Friday: 'US-backed Israeli forces and private contractors have put in place a flawed, militarised aid distribution system that has turned aid distributions into regular bloodbaths.' Coverage of the war in Gaza is constrained by Israeli attacks on Palestinian journalists and a bar on international reporters entering the Gaza Strip to report independently on the war. Israel has not allowed foreign reporters to enter Gaza since 7 October 2023, unless they are under Israeli military escort. Reporters who join these trips have no control over where they go, and other restrictions include a bar on speaking to Palestinians in Gaza. Palestinian journalists and media workers inside Gaza have paid a heavy price for their work reporting on the war, with over 180 killed since the conflict began. The committee to protect journalists has determined that at least 19 of them 'were directly targeted by Israeli forces in killings which CPJ classifies as murders'. Foreign reporters based in Israel filed a legal petition seeking access to Gaza, but it was rejected by the supreme court on security grounds. Private lobbying by diplomats and public appeals by prominent journalists and media outlets have been ignored by the Israeli government. To ensure accurate reporting from Gaza given these restrictions, the Guardian works with trusted journalists on the ground; our visual teams verify photo and videos from third parties; and we use clearly sourced data from organisations that have a track record of providing accurate information in Gaza during past conflicts, or during other conflicts or humanitarian crises. Emma Graham-Harrison, chief Middle East correspondent She added: 'Israeli forces are not only deliberately starving Palestinian civilians, but they are now gunning them down almost every day as they desperately seek food for their families.' The UN said on Friday that Israeli forces had killed 1,353 Palestinians who were waiting for food – 859 around GHF sites and another 514 along the route of UN aid convoys. The health ministry in Gaza said that 83 people had been killed and 554 wounded by IDF fire in the territory in the past 24 hours. According to the announcement, 53 were killed and more than 400 were wounded while seeking humanitarian aid. A UN spokesperson said Israeli policies had led to the widespread desperation in Gaza that meant arriving UN trucks were overwhelmed and stripped before they could reach warehouses. The UN says longstanding Israeli restrictions on the entry of aid has created an unpredictable environment, and that means, while a pause in fighting might allow more aid in, Palestinians are not confident aid will reach them. Olga Cherevko, a spokesperson for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (Ocha), said: 'This has resulted in many of our convoys offloaded directly by starving, desperate people as they continue to face deep levels of hunger and are struggling to feed their families. The only way to reach a level of confidence is by having a sustained flow of aid over a period of time.' While a number of countries have resumed airdrops of aid into Gaza in recent days, aid experts have warned that the amount of food that can be dropped by air is insufficient to counter starvation inside the Palestinian territory. On Friday, Hamas released a brief video of an emaciated and bearded Israeli hostage held in a narrow concrete tunnel in Gaza. Israeli media identified as Evyatar David, who was seized at the Nova music festival on 7 October 2023. Of the 251 hostages taken during the Hamas attack, 49 are still being held in Gaza, including 27 the Israeli military says are dead. Israeli officials have said that if there is no progress in the coming days on a deal with Hamas to release the hostages, Israel will expand its operations in Gaza. International humanitarian agencies and experts say that famine has gripped Gaza after Israel blocked food from entering the territory for two and a half months starting in March. Since it eased the blockade in late May, Israel has only allowed in a trickle of aid trucks for the UN, about 70 a day on average, according to Israel's own figures. That is far below the 500-600 trucks a day that UN agencies say are needed – the amount that entered during a six-week ceasefire earlier this year. While Netanyahu and other officials have claimed that there is 'no hunger in Gaza' or that it is the fault of Hamas looting or the UN's failings, incontrovertible evidence has been offered by the UN's food security monitor of the spread of famine amid Israel's choking of the entry of aid, a policy critics say amounts to the crime of using starvation as a weapon.
Daily Mail
an hour ago
- Daily Mail
Loyal Afghan commando who helped recover British hero's body is tortured amid mounting Taliban revenge attacks after UK data breach disaster - as top MOD figure prepares to quit
An Afghan hero who risked enemy fire carrying the body of a British special forces soldier down a mountain alongside the now-Veterans Minister Al Carns has been attacked and tortured while fleeing from the Taliban. It comes amid further horrific executions this week of Afghans who worked with British forces, as the 'revenge of the Taliban' steps up pace since it was revealed the Government had lost a database and put 100,000 people 'at risk of death'. Ministers obtained a super-injunction to hush-up the blunder for two years. Ahmad was an Afghan soldier who worked with the SAS and SBS. He is in hiding in Iran where he and his family fled from Taliban revenge squads. He faces deportation back to Afghanistan where, he says, 'certain punishment, likely execution' awaits. Yet in the past few days, while waiting to hear if he can relocate to safety in the UK as a reward for his loyalty fighting with British forces, he has been tortured by thugs linked to the Taliban who broke and cut the fingers on his right hand. The Daily Mail has seen gruesome photos, which are too shocking to publish, of Ahmad's injuries. The 34-year-old married father served with Afghan commandos 'the Triples' – who were trained and paid by UK forces - for nearly a decade. He was part of a brave detachment of British and Afghan special forces who stormed the Intercontinental Hotel in Kabul and helped free Western hostages in 2018. And in 2013, Ahmad was on an operation with UK Special Forces in which two members of the elite British commandos the SBS were shot. He helped carry the body of one of them down a mountain, determined to ensure he was returned to his family. Alongside him was Al Carns, their commanding officer at the time, one of Britain's most distinguished special forces soldiers - and who is now an MP and the Veterans' Minister. The commanding officer that night was Al Carns, one of Britain's most distinguished special forces soldiers and who is now an MP and the Veterans' Minister. Ahmad, which is not his real name, said: 'My life and that of my family are in great danger. I would appeal to the minister to help me, he knows what happened, and of our bravery beside the British – because of that work, I will never be safe. 'My work for Britain and for Afghanistan makes me a top target for the Taliban, they have been looking for me. Nowhere is safe. The leak of data makes it more dangerous.' Meanwhile there have been at least two murders. The families of both men killed – one an officer with the Afghan special forces, the other an intelligence officer – have been ordered by the warlords in charge of the country not to discuss their assassinations. But friends said they had been waiting to hear if they could move to the UK, under the ARAP scheme which was set up to reward those who had worked alongside British forces. The first victim, Bashir, was a 38-year-old officer with the Triples. As he walked near his home, he was followed by three gunmen in a car. One gunman climbed from the car and shot him several times at point blank range, witnessed, friends said, by his terrified wife and two young children. The second victim, Abdul, was a former intelligence officer with the National Directorate of Security (NDS) which worked closely with MI6, diplomats and UK forces. Earlier this week, he was shot dead and his body handed over to his family. It showed fresh signs of torture, friends said. It is not confirmed whether the details of the men and their families were among the 100,000 'at risk of death' impacted by the data breach that was discovered by the Daily Mail in August 2023. The newspaper was prevented from revealing the data disaster by the Government's unprecedented super-injunction which was lifted in mid-July after the Mail fought a two-year battle for justice in secret courts. Today the MOD said: 'The independent Rimmer Review concluded that it is highly unlikely that merely being on the spreadsheet means an individual is more likely to be targeted, and this is the basis on which the court lifted its super injunction.' Taliban assassins are said to have carried out dozens of killings, including the executions of at least four former members of the Afghan military deported from Iran in one brutal operation. One Afghan, who worked for Britain and is still in hiding, suggested between 50-60 had been killed in July. Meanwhile Aftab, who worked for six years for the UK, said a colleague had been arrested at an internet café – where Afghan go to check the UK government's website about their cases. Aftab, 28, said: 'It is a disgrace that we were not told of the data leak when the government of the UK found out two years ago. It has left us terrified, and watching the number of killings rise while wondering if we will be next. I have moved home twice in a week.' Aftab said he believed it was 'only a matter of time' until he was found by the Taliban. He said: 'At best I will be beaten and tortured by the Taliban…they are monsters. At worst I will be killed.' Amid the fallout from the data leak and the Government's super-injunction scandal, the Ministry of Defence's top civil servant will stand down later this year. The Permanent Secretary David Williams (who is no relation to the author of this article) told staff at the department that he will quit in autumn. Tan Dhesi, chairman of the House of Commons' Defence Committee, said: 'David Williams' many years of dedicated public service deserve respect. It's not yet clear whether his decision to step down is linked to the recently revealed Afghan data breach. However, what is clear is that this grave failure of data protection demands proper scrutiny, which the Defence Committee certainly intends to provide. 'The fact that this breach has put at risk our courageous British service personnel and the Afghans who bravely supported them, makes the situation even more shocking. I am sure the committee will want to investigate and understand how this could have been allowed to happen.' When he announced the data breach to Parliament, Defence Secretary John Healey told MPs his 'first concern has been to notify as many people as possible who are affected by the data incident and to provide them with further advice'. He said the MOD had a new dedicated website offering security advice. The MoD said: 'Permanent secretary David Williams will step down this autumn and the recruitment process for his successor is under way. 'Since 2021, David has led the department through a period of significant activity, and we thank him for his contribution.' The covert airlift of thousands of Afghans – codenamed Operation Rubific – was launched after the UK military catastrophically lost a database of details of those who had applied for sanctuary in the UK to flee the murderous put 100,000 'at risk of death', in the Government's own words. It also exposed British officials, special forces and MI6 spies whose details were on the list. The Ministry of Defence's top civil servant, permanent secretary David Williams (no relation to the author of this article), is to step down from his post in the autumn The confidential database that the British government lost, putting '100,000 people at risk of death' and triggering the evacuations mission Operation Rubific How ministers signed up to a £7billion scheme to relocate Afghans to the UK, without asking or telling taxpayers or MPs. The MOD says the figure has since been revised to around £6billion After the Mail was the first newspaper in the world to discover the data breach, in August 2023, the Ministry of Defence mounted a cover-up and successfully hushed up our exclusive. They obtained a super-injunction and, cloaked by the unprecedented news blackout, ministers have been clandestinely running one of the biggest peacetime evacuation missions in modern British history to rescue people the UK had imperilled – smuggling thousands out of Afghanistan and flying them to Britain at vast cost, with taxpayers being neither asked nor informed. The Daily Mail revealed how the projected £7billion cost was signed off while taxpayers and MPs were kept in the dark.
The Guardian
an hour ago
- The Guardian
Israeli author David Grossman says his country is committing genocide in Gaza
The award-winning Israeli author David Grossman has described his country's campaign in Gaza as a genocide and said he now 'can't help' but use the term. 'I ask myself: how did we get here?' the celebrated writer and peace activist told the Italian daily La Repubblica in an interview published on Friday. 'How did we come to be accused of genocide? Just uttering that word – 'genocide' – in reference to Israel, to the Jewish people, that alone, the fact that this association can even be made, should be enough to tell us that something very wrong is happening to us.' Grossman said that for many years he had refused to use the term. 'But now I can't help myself – not after what I've read in the papers, not after the images I've seen, not after speaking with people who've been there. This word is an avalanche: once you say it, it just gets bigger, like an avalanche. And it adds even more destruction and suffering,' he said. Grossman's comments come days after two major Israeli rights groups said Israel was committing genocide in Gaza, amid growing global alarm over starvation in the besieged territory. The author, who has long been a critic of the Israeli government, told La Repubblica he was using the word 'with immense pain and with a broken heart'. 'Reading in a newspaper or hearing in conversations with friends in Europe the association of the words 'Israel' and 'hunger' – especially when this comes from our own history, from our supposed sensitivity to human suffering, from the moral responsibility we've always claimed to hold toward every human being, not just toward Jews – this is devastating,' said Grossman, who won the country's top literary prize, the Israel prize, in 2018 for his work spanning more than three decades. 'The occupation has corrupted us,' he said. 'I am absolutely convinced that Israel's curse began with the occupation of the Palestinian territories in 1967. Maybe people are tired of hearing about it, but that's the truth. We've become militarily powerful, and we've fallen into the temptation born of our absolute power, and the idea that we can do anything.' Asked what he thought of France and the UK being among the latest countries preparing to formally recognise a state of Palestine, Grossman said: 'I actually think it's a good idea, and I don't understand the hysteria around it here in Israel. Maybe dealing with a real state, with real obligations, rather than a vague entity like the Palestinian Authority, will have its advantages. Of course, there would need to be very clear conditions: no weapons, and the guarantee of transparent elections from which anyone who advocates violence against Israel is excluded.' He said he remained 'desperately committed' to the two-state solution. 'It will be complex, and both we and the Palestinians will need to act with political maturity in the face of the inevitable attacks that will come.' He added: 'There is no other plan.'
