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Israeli Forces Detain Veteran Journalist in West Bank

Israeli Forces Detain Veteran Journalist in West Bank

UAE Moments08-07-2025
Israeli forces have detained Nasser Laham, a prominent Palestinian journalist, during an overnight raid in Al Duha, near Bethlehem. According to local media, the raid damaged his home.
Laham is the editor-in-chief of Ma'an news agency and heads the West Bank operations for Lebanon's Al Mayadeen channel. He is expected to face a military court hearing on Thursday.
Part of Ongoing Crackdown on Journalists
Laham's arrest comes amid an ongoing Israeli crackdown on Palestinian journalists, which intensified after the Gaza war began in 2023. Rights groups and press freedom advocates have condemned these arrests, saying they endanger journalists' safety and freedom of speech.
Dozens of Journalists Still Detained
According to Wafa news agency, 55 Palestinian journalists are currently held in Israeli prisons, with 49 arrested since the Gaza conflict started. Other cases include journalist Ali Al Samoudi, who remains in detention and is reportedly not receiving adequate medical care.
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UN's Albanese calls out 'appalling' EU failure to sanction Israel as 32-nation summit in Bogota kicks off
UN's Albanese calls out 'appalling' EU failure to sanction Israel as 32-nation summit in Bogota kicks off

Middle East Eye

time2 hours ago

  • Middle East Eye

UN's Albanese calls out 'appalling' EU failure to sanction Israel as 32-nation summit in Bogota kicks off

Over 30 states from around the world convened in Bogota on Tuesday for a two-day summit to declare 'concrete measures against Israel's violations of international law'. The 'emergency summit' is co-hosted by the governments of Colombia and South Africa as co-chairs of The Hague Group, to coordinate diplomatic and legal action to counter what they describe as 'a climate of impunity' enabled by Israel and its powerful allies. The Hague Group is a bloc of currently eight states, launched on 31 January in the eponymous Dutch city with the stated goal of holding Israel accountable under international law. The group is working on a joint declaration outlining a series of proposed actions to be announced at the end of the conference on Wednesday. At the opening on Tuesday, the UN special rapporteur on Palestine, Francesca Albanese, denounced the failure of the international system to protect the Palestinian people. New MEE newsletter: Jerusalem Dispatch Sign up to get the latest insights and analysis on Israel-Palestine, alongside Turkey Unpacked and other MEE newsletters 'For too long, international law has been treated as optional - applied selectively to those perceived as weak, ignored by those acting as the powerful,' Albanese said. 'This double standard has eroded the very foundations of the legal order. That era must end. The law must either be universal, or it will cease to mean anything at all. No one can afford this selective approach.' Albanese also addressed the sanctions imposed against her last week by the US. 'These attacks shall not be seen as against me personally. They are a warning to everyone who dares defend international justice and freedom. This is not about me or any other single individuals, but about justice for the Palestinian people at the most critical juncture in their history.' 'Enough impunity' Framing the Bogota Conference as a watershed moment, the special rapporteur said: 'Here in Bogota, a growing number of states have the opportunity to break the silence and revert to a path of legality by finally saying: enough. Enough impunity. Enough empty rhetoric. Enough exceptionalism. Enough complicity. The time has come to act in pursuit of justice and peace - grounded in rights and freedoms for all, and not mere privileges for some, at the expense of the annihilation of others.' Albanese concluded that the UN Charter and universal human rights instruments must remain everyone's compass. 'I trust that more States will align their policies with these fundamental principles as we move forward in this existential hour - for both the Palestinian and the Israeli people, and the integrity of the international legal order itself.' Riyad Mansour, Palestine's UN envoy, expressed his support for The Hague Group in his opening remarks. 'Israel must not be allowed to actively and practically take over the occupied territory of Palestine and ethnically cleanse the Palestinian people while some states debate whether or not to recognise Palestine,' he said. 'Recognising Palestine is not a symbolic act – it is a concrete act of defence against erasure and an unequivocal rejection of colonial expansionism. State representatives attend the opening conference of The Hague Group summit in Bogota, 15 July 2025 (Progressive International) 'I stand here amongst many friends, representing states that took this principled step, understanding its significance – and importantly, matching this recognition with actions to curb illegal Israeli acts, including stopping the sales of arms and banning the trade in stolen goods from illegal settlements.' In addition to Colombia and South Africa, states attending the summit include Algeria, Bolivia, Botswana, Brazil, Chile, China, Cuba, Djibouti, Honduras, Indonesia, Iraq, Ireland, Lebanon, Libya, Malaysia, Mexico, Namibia, Nicaragua, Norway, Oman, Pakistan, Palestine, Portugal, Spain, Qatar, Turkey, Slovenia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Uruguay and Venezuela. EU stance 'appalling' At a press conference following the opening speeches, Albanese sharply criticised the EU's failure to reach a consensus on imposing new sanctions against Israel. 'It is clear the EU, for whatever reasons – be it affinity with Israel and its ideology, political convenience, or other interests including those of companies, as Europe is a huge trade partner of Israel – is putting the right to life of millions of people to the side,' Albanese said in response to a question by Middle East Eye. On Tuesday, the EU's 27 foreign ministers in Brussels failed to agree on the suspension of the EU-Israel Association Agreement. They also failed to agree on nine other possible measures against Israel put forward after it was found to have breached the human rights provisions of the trade agreement. Exclusive: Spain and Ireland to join more than 30 states to declare 'concrete measures' against Israel Read More » The measures that would have been agreed on Tuesday included full suspension of the agreement, suspension of its preferential trade provisions, an arms embargo, sanctions on Israeli ministers, or imposing a ban on trade with Israeli settlements in occupied Palestine. While countries such as Spain, Ireland, and Slovenia have publicly supported imposing sanctions, others, including Germany, Austria, Czechia and Hungary, have expressed opposition. 'It is appalling. That agreement was a disgrace the moment the EU entered it,' Albanese said at the press conference in the Palacio de San Carlos, seat of the Ministry of Foreign Relations of Colombia. 'The fact that it has been renewed in the face of the total destruction of Gaza marks probably the lowest point of the EU towards a policy, the celebration of double standards, and the betrayal of European values.' During her opening speech in Bogota, where members of The Hague Group - Bolivia, Colombia, Cuba, Honduras, Malaysia, Namibia, Senegal and South Africa - were joined by representatives from 25 additional nations and various UN agencies, Albanese called out the EU for its silence on Israel's onslaught on Gaza, which she has labelled a genocide. 'As a European, I fear what the region and its institutions have come to symbolise to many: a sodality of states preaching international law yet guided more by colonial mindset than principle, acting as vassals to the US empire, even as it drags us from war to war, misery to misery and when it comes to Palestine: from silence to complicity,' she remarked. Francesca Albanese, UN special rapporteur for the occupied Palestinian territories, has called on all states to cut ties with Israel during a meeting in Colombia's capital, Bogota, on Tuesday — Middle East Eye (@MiddleEastEye) July 16, 2025 'The importance of this meeting convened by The Hague Group lies in moving from words to action and halting the genocide, drawing the world's attention to Palestine, defending the human rights system, multilateralism, and ensuring justice for the perpetrators of the genocide in Palestine,' said Colombia's vice minister of multilateral affairs, Mauricio Jaramillo Jassir, on Tuesday. The group will discuss pushing for actions that include enforcing International Criminal Court (ICC) arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defence Minister Yoav Gallant, halting arms supplies to Israel and blocking Israeli military-linked ships from their ports. The conference is co-chaired by South Africa and Colombia, the latter being amongst the most vocal global leaders in denouncing Israel's war on Gaza. Last year, Colombian President Gustavo Petro severed diplomatic relations with Israel, suspended coal exports to Israeli power plants, and swore in the first Colombian ambassador to the State of Palestine. In response, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has since labelled the Colombian president an 'anti-Semite' and a 'Hamas supporter'. South Africa initiated a genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in December 2023, a move supported by approximately two dozen other countries. Israel's war on Gaza, increasingly condemned by experts and governments as a genocide, has killed more than 58,000 Palestinians and displaced almost the entire population since October 2023. The onslaught has left the Palestinian enclave barely habitable and has left two million people starving.

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