Hamas release video of Israeli hostage Evyatar David looking emaciated in a tunnel
Saturday 2 August 2025 16:43, UK
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The Independent
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Israel euthanises group of crocodiles after repeated escapes
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The Guardian
27 minutes ago
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Spotlight on Keir Starmer's recognition of Palestine
I'm puzzled by the conditions Keir Starmer has set for Israel to meet, failing which he'll recognise Palestine as a state (UK to recognise state of Palestine in September unless Israel holds to a ceasefire, 29 July). Why does recognition depend on Israel's actions? Surely it should depend on Palestine's: commitments to abjure terrorism, disarm Hamas, hold democratic elections and, of course, to release the hostages. As for Israel, UK policy should be to impose draconian sanctions: if Israel continues to act like a pariah state, let it be treated as one. Without sanctions, there would probably still be an apartheid regime in South Africa. The UK must act now, not half-heartedly in September; thousands of children in Gaza can't wait until MaughanDunblane, Perthshire Like so many people in the UK, I thought that my despair and shame over the situation in Gaza could not be deepened. Keir Starmer achieved that. How like this prime minister to obfuscate further and kick any sense of decisiveness into the long grass of contingency. One might think that Britain has some special responsibility for recognising the state of Palestine, whose population it abandoned to the predations of its neighbour in 1948. What will be left of Gaza, the West Bank and its people by September? A genocide? A diaspora? The UK doesn't negotiate with terrorists, just with war Prof Graham MortLancaster University Soon after the atrocities of 7 October 2023 I heard someone on the radio say, with respect to Israel's imminent invasion of Gaza, 'Beware of being goaded by your enemy into doing what your enemy wants you to do.' Nearly two years on, the Israeli government seems hell-bent on creating a moral equivalence between itself and Hamas. If you become like your enemy, then your enemy has won. Thus, despite what it says about recent moves to recognise a Palestinian state, the Israeli government, more than any other, is 'rewarding' Hamas for its terrorist actions. The Rev Rob KelseyBerwick-upon-Tweed, Northumberland It is impossible for us to know the depth of despair Palestinians must feel to hear western nations pontificating that we will not recognise them as a nation if their oppressors stop killing them. It seems this is the ultimate acknowledgment that they have no rights except those we deem to give them. We have expelled them from the land in which they lived to ensure that Europe didn't have the problem of resettling the thousands displaced by a European war. They are being attacked in Gaza and the West Bank with weapons supplied by western governments. They are being starved in Gaza to keep their oppressor-in-chief in office. And now our governments are praised for condescending to recognise the fact that they are a nation (that has existed for more than 1,000 years). How can we think we have any integrity left in our dealings with the oppressed?Michael McLoughlinWallington, London What will give greater weight to the call for a two-state solution is outlining the building blocks for establishment of a Palestinian state: for example, Gaza would be placed under UN control to allow for demilitarisation, the physical reconstruction and drawing up a basic law to guide the development of a constitutional WeirCape Town, South Africa Have an opinion on anything you've read in the Guardian today? Please email us your letter and it will be considered for publication in our letters section.
Telegraph
27 minutes ago
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Gaza student leaves France after ‘death to Jews' posts row
A student from Gaza in France on a scholarship has left the country after her anti-Semitic remarks on social media were branded 'unacceptable' by the government. Nour Attaalah, who arrived in France on July 11, called for the killing of Jews in posts made online in the past two years, it is claimed. In a statement by the foreign ministry Jean-Noel Barrot, the French foreign minister, 'stressed the unacceptable nature of the comments made by Ms Attaalah, a Gazan student, before she entered French territory'. The posts, which have since been deleted, led to a judicial investigation for condoning terrorism, and an inquiry to determine why they had not been detected in advance. The Sciences Po Lille school said Wednesday that her social media comments had been confirmed, without elaborating. Ossama Dahmane, the student's lawyer, said the 'alleged facts are largely based on shared tweets, taken out of context'. But the foreign ministry said: 'Given their seriousness, Ms Attaalah could not remain on French territory. She left France today to go to Qatar to continue her studies there.' Her lawyer said Ms Attaalah had chosen to 'pursue her studies in another country in a spirit of appeasement and to guarantee her security', even though 'she firmly denies the accusations made against her'. The young woman, who had received a student visa and a government scholarship as part of a programme for Gaza students, had been due to join Sciences Po Lille in the autumn. She arrived in France on July 11, according to a French diplomatic source. Last Friday, France said it would suspend a programme receiving Palestinians from Gaza until an investigation into how the student accused was allowed into the country was concluded. 'No evacuation of any kind will take place until we have drawn conclusions from this investigation,' Mr Barrot told Franceinfo radio. All Gazans who have entered France will undergo a second screening, he added. The foreign ministry would not say how many students have been affected, citing privacy reasons. But France has helped more than 500 people leave Gaza since the latest war between Palestinian militant group Hamas and Israel started, including wounded children, journalists, students and artists. The conflict, triggered by Hamas's October 7 2023 attack on Israel, has seen Israel retaliate with a deadly military campaign and an aid blockade in Gaza that some rights groups have qualified as 'genocide'. Following the suspension, Arthur Delaporte, spokesman for the opposition Socialist Party, said a blanket ban was inappropriate. 'France cannot suspend its policy of welcoming evacuated Gazans: our common humanity is at stake,' he said on X. Last Thursday, Lille's general prosecutor that a judicial probe has been opened against the student for allegedly trying to 'justify terrorism' and 'justify a crime against humanity'. The controversy erupted shortly after Emmanuel Macron, the French president, announced France would recognise a Palestinian state at the UN General Assembly in September. Last week, Sir Keir Starmer said the UK would do the same unless Israel takes 'substantive' steps, including agreeing to a ceasefire in Gaza.
