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Middle East Eye
an hour ago
- Politics
- Middle East Eye
'If Egypt is free, Gaza will be free,' says activist who locked Cairo embassy
An Egyptian activist who chained shut the gates of Egypt's embassy in The Hague has told Middle East Eye that he did so in protest against Cairo's 'complicity' in Israel's genocide in Gaza. Last week, Anas Habib filmed himself attaching a bicycle lock around the gates of the embassy in the Netherlands, as a symbolic gesture in solidarity with Palestinians besieged by Israel and Egypt in Gaza. He went on to do the same act at the Jordanian embassy in response to the kingdom's response to Israel's war. The action went viral on Arabic social media, prompting similar demonstrations in other countries, including Turkey and the UK, where activists also chained shut the gates of Egyptian embassies. 'I know for 100 percent sure that the Egyptian regime is complicit in the genocide,' Habib told MEE's live show on Tuesday. 'This is just not an accusation; it's a fact.' New MEE newsletter: Jerusalem Dispatch Sign up to get the latest insights and analysis on Israel-Palestine, alongside Turkey Unpacked and other MEE newsletters He said that in the first two months of Israel's war, in late 2023, before Israeli forces had occupied the Rafah crossing between Gaza and Egypt, Cairo had the ability to allow aid and food into the enclave but refused to do so. 'After it got occupied by the [Israeli military], now they are saying: 'No, it's closed',' said Habib. He added that the late former Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi's role in ending a previous Israeli war on Gaza in 2012 showed what the country was capable of achieving. 'It's something that we can do. Egypt is capable of stopping this genocide, stopping this war very easily, but he does not want that to happen,' Habib added, referring to President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi. At the age of 15, Habib was detained by Egyptian authorities for two years as a political prisoner. He said that if he were to return there now, he would be arrested or killed. Around 60,000 political prisoners are currently being held in Egyptian jails. As further evidence of Egyptian complicity, Habib questioned why Egyptians were being arrested for showing solidarity with Palestinians. 'Why do you arrest the people trying to send money to Gaza?' he asked. 'Why, if anyone tries to hold [the] Palestinian flag in Egypt, will [they] be vanished?' 'If you really love Palestine so much, why are you doing this to your people?' 'Hurts me so much as an Egyptian' The UN agency for Palestinian refugees (Unrwa), the largest humanitarian provider in Gaza, has had 6,000 trucks loaded with food and medical supplies waiting in Egypt and Jordan for four and a half months. Israel has yet to allow them entry. Hundreds of international activists attempting to march to the Gaza Strip through Egypt have been violently attacked, detained and deported since the beginning of the conflict. They were among 4,000 activists from 80 countries who sought to break Israel's total siege. Habib said he holds Jordan and Egypt accountable for Israeli crimes in Gaza. 'If it was not for Sisi, if it was not for the king of Jordan… this genocide wouldn't last for two years,' he said. 'I'm Egyptian. It hurts me so much to see that my country is doing this to Palestine.' He said that freedom within Egypt from autocratic rule would ensure that 'Gaza will never face this type of genocide'. 'If it was not for Sisi, if it was not for the king of Jordan… this genocide wouldn't last for two years' - Anas Habib, activist 'If Egyptian people are free, Gaza also will be free,' Habib said. 'That's why [Israel and the US] want someone like Sisi in power.' Nearly 150 Palestinian children and adults in Gaza have died from starvation since Israel's onslaught on Gaza began in October 2023. The blockade on the Palestinian enclave has fluctuated in intensity. However, since 2 March, Israel has prevented all food and aid from reaching starving Palestinians. Last week, more than 100 international human rights and humanitarian organisations called for an end to the siege, citing widespread starvation affecting their staff. Unrwa communications director Juliette Touma also told MEE last week that several of the organisation's staff fainted on duty due to malnutrition. More than 58,000 Palestinians have been killed as a result of Israel's war on Gaza, which several countries, as well as many international rights groups and experts, now classify as genocide.
Middle East Eye
5 hours ago
- Politics
- Middle East Eye
Exclusive: Spain and Ireland to join more than 30 states to declare ‘concrete measures' against Israel
More than 30 countries are convening in Bogota next week to declare 'concrete measures against Israel's violations of international law', diplomats told Middle East Eye. The 'emergency summit' is due to be held on 15-16 July, 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 Hague Group's formation in January marked a turning point in the global response to exceptionalism and the broader erosion of international law,' Roland Lamola, South Africa's minister of international relations and cooperation, told Middle East Eye. 'That same spirit will animate this Bogota conference, where the assembled states will send a clear message: no nation is above the law, and no crime will go unanswered,' he added. New MEE newsletter: Jerusalem Dispatch Sign up to get the latest insights and analysis on Israel-Palestine, alongside Turkey Unpacked and other MEE newsletters 'Together, we will work to introduce concrete legal, diplomatic and economic measures that can urgently halt Israel's destruction of the Palestinians.' 'The assembled states will not only reaffirm our commitment to resist the genocide, but devise a series of specific measures to move from words to collective action' - Mauricio Jaramillo Jassir, Colombia's vice-minister of multilateral affairs Israel's war on Gaza, increasingly condemned by experts and governments as a genocide, has killed more than 57,000 Palestinians and displaced almost the entire population since October 2023. The onslaught has left the Palestinian enclave barely habitable and left two million people starving. 'The Palestinian genocide threatens our entire multilateral system,' Mauricio Jaramillo Jassir, Colombia's vice-minister of multilateral affairs, told MEE. 'Colombia cannot be indifferent in the face of apartheid and ethnic cleansing. "In Bogota, the assembled states will not only reaffirm our commitment to resist the genocide, but devise a series of specific measures to move from words to collective action.' The founding members of the group included Bolivia, Colombia, Cuba, Honduras, Malaysia, Namibia, Senegal and South Africa. UN urged to take legal action at ICJ to uphold Francesca Albanese's immunity Read More » In addition to Colombia and South Africa as co-chairs, states due to take part in 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. Officials attending include UN special rapporteur for Palestine Francesca Albanese; the head of the UN's agency for Palestinian refugees Philippe Lazzarini; UN special rapporteur on the right to health, Tlaleng Mofokeng; the chair of the UN working group on discrimination against women and girls, Laura Nyirinkindi; and Andres Macias Tolosa, UN working group on mercenaries mandate holder. Speaking to Middle East Eye ahead of the summit, Albanese, who was sanctioned on Wednesday by the US for her work documenting human rights abuses in Palestine, welcomed the summit as "the most important thing that we can do right now politically." "We need to focus on the emergency measures, how to break the blockade, and how to create the conditions to disable the system that is strangling the Palestinians." 'The Bogotá conference will go down as the moment in history that states finally stood up to do the right thing,' she said. Concrete steps Members of The Hague Group have already taken major steps over the past 20 months to defend and enforce international law. Holding Israel accountable: What is The Hague Group? Read More » South Africa, for example, brought a landmark case against Israel at the International Court of Justice for alleged violations of the Genocide Convention in Gaza. Several states in the coalition later joined South Africa's case at the ICJ, including Bolivia, Colombia and Namibia. Additionally, Namibia and Malaysia blocked ships carrying arms to Israel from docking at their ports, while Colombia has cut diplomatic ties with the Israeli government. Since these efforts have been taken independently, The Hague Group aims to coordinate action amongst its member states and supporters for a stronger impact. According to the group's coordinator Varsha Gandikota-Nellutla, the group has been formed in part as a reaction to the non-compliance of states with binding international legal obligations. This is a reference to the pushback by a number of western states against the International Criminal Court's arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former defence minister Yoav Gallant in November 2024, and Israel's failure to comply with multiple orders by the ICJ to ensure the Genocide Convention is not violated in Gaza.
Middle East Eye
a day ago
- Politics
- Middle East Eye
Two men forcibly disappeared in Egypt after storming police station over Gaza blockade
Two men have been forcibly disappeared in Egypt following their alleged participation in the storming of the State Security headquarters at the Ma'asara police station in Helwan in southern Cairo in protest of Egypt's alleged complicity in the Gaza siege, Middle East Eye has learned. Twenty-seven-year-old Mohsen Mustafa and his 23-year-old cousin Ahmed Sherif Ahmed Abdel Wahab have not been heard from since Mustafa posted on Facebook claiming responsibility for the raid, shortly before his profile was removed. The men were reportedly involved in the storming of the police station on 25 July, where a group who identified themselves as 'Iron 17' raided the facility and detained several security personnel for hours. Footage of the raid showing the young men holding the officers captive went viral. The videos, which were published on a Telegram channel and viewed millions of times, showed the men condemning the closure of Egypt's Rafah border crossing with Gaza and the arrests of activists collecting aid for Palestinians in the territory. In one clip, a detained officer said that the opening of the crossing was 'impossible'. New MEE newsletter: Jerusalem Dispatch Sign up to get the latest insights and analysis on Israel-Palestine, alongside Turkey Unpacked and other MEE newsletters Egypt's interior ministry promptly issued two statements claiming the footage was fabricated as part of a Muslim Brotherhood-led plot, and that those involved in circulating it had been arrested. The ministry accused the Muslim Brotherhood of attempting to undermine Egypt's support for Palestine. The Telegram channel disappeared shortly after. Police station stormed in Egypt as outrage over Gaza blockade reaches boiling point Read More » The Egyptian Network for Human Rights (ENHR) said the videos had been verified by former detainees who were held at the facility, while Egyptian news outlet Mada Masr cited lawyers who said documents visible in the footage belong to detainees who are currently under surveillance. Hours before the channel disappeared, the group released an audio statement, attributed to Mustafa and Wahab, claiming responsibility for the operation. In the statement, they rejected any political affiliations and described themselves as 'heirs of Omar ibn al-Khattab and Amr ibn al-As', in reference to early Islamic military and political leaders. A friend of the men's families told Middle East Eye that the pair were last heard from on the morning of the raid, when they said Mustafa was due to report to the station as part of his probation - Wahab accompanied him. The family then saw a post by Mustafa on his Facebook page, claiming that he had seized the police station. Shortly after, his Facebook profile was taken down, and he and Wahab disappeared. 'Full of Anger' Mustafa and Wahab's involvement in the raid came as a shock to the family - particularly Wahab, who they said had no history of political activity and had never even entered a police station. Mustafa, however, was previously detained and forcibly disappeared for months in 2020, during which time he was subjected to torture. According to the family friend, he was detained while security forces raided his home searching for one of his relatives. As he was the only male at home, they detained him to force his relative to hand himself in. The authorities denied his detention, and banned him from travel following his release. In the five years since his release, he was required to report to the police station on a monthly basis. The family friend said Mustafa was 'full of anger' over his treatment by the authorities - his detention had interrupted his last year of university, forcing him to repeat the academic year. Second detainee death in Egypt police custody recorded within 24 hours Read More » Since the storming of the police station, all male members of the family have been arrested, and the whole family is now under informal house arrest and subject to 24/7 surveillance. With no news of Mustafa and Wahab's whereabouts, and the total refusal by the authorities to acknowledge that the raid ever happened, the families are fearing for the young men's lives. 'There is no chance of accountability for something that never happened,' the family friend told MEE. Meanwhile, Mada Masr reported a surge in arrests in the aftermath of the raid, with security forces setting up a security cordon around the area. Rights lawyer Nabih al-Genady reported an uptick in arrests in Helwan even before the footage was circulated. He noted that the arrests did not appear to be targeting a specific group, and that some of them were in connection with content posted on personal Facebook pages. The storming of the police headquarters comes amid mounting public anger against the Egyptian authorities for failing to do more to open the Rafah crossing and ensure the entry of aid into the besieged Gaza strip, where dozens are dying of Israeli-imposed starvation. The action follows a wave of protests the previous week outside Egyptian embassies in European capitals, sparked by activist Anas Habib in the Netherlands, who symbolically locked embassy gates to protest the Rafah closure. The men's disappearances also come after rights groups reported that two detainees had died in Egyptian police custody within 24 hours.
Middle East Eye
a day ago
- Politics
- Middle East Eye
Israeli settlers repeat attack on Palestinian Christian village in occupied West Bank
Israeli settlers have launched an attack on the Christian village of Taybeh, east of Ramallah, in the occupied West Bank. The incursion began at dawn on Monday. They set fire to two cars owned by Palestinian residents and spray painted racist graffiti on walls in the village. 'You'll regret it later,' read one message, not clarifying what the villagers had done to earn the settlers' wrath. Once the settlers left, the Israeli military raided the village spreading further panic among residents. The campaign of settler intimidation, with Israeli army backing, coincides with the establishment of a new Israeli settlement near Taybeh in June. New MEE newsletter: Jerusalem Dispatch Sign up to get the latest insights and analysis on Israel-Palestine, alongside Turkey Unpacked and other MEE newsletters Monday's attack is the second on this small Palestinian village in as many weeks. Just a fortnight earlier on 14 July, settlers set the village's historic Church of Saint George alight, along with its adjoining graveyard. That attack was severe enough to prompt rare condemnation of Israeli settlers by the American ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee. 'It's my desire to do everything possible to let the people of this peaceful village know that we will certainly insist that those who carry out acts of terror and violence in Taybeh - or anywhere - be found and be prosecuted,' he said. Living in danger 'When I saw them, I started screaming loudly,' said Taybeh resident Farid Kawneh about the latest settler attack. He told Middle East Eye that his neighbour called him just after 2am to tell him that his car was on fire. His initial thought was that the cause was a technical fault with the car but as Kawneh rushed towards it, he found a group of settlers speaking to each other in Hebrew. "They were surprised by me and ran towards the Khalleh area,' he said. 'At the sound of my shouting, a number of villagers arrived at the scene.' The earlier attack on the Church of Saint George had drawn international condemnation and visits to the village by senior Christian figures, as well as Huckabee. Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem Pierbattista Pizzaballa and Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem Theophilos III during a visit of solidarity to Taybeh on 14 July (AFP/Zain Jaafar) Harsh condemnation, even by a normally committed Christian Zionist like Huckabee, was not enough to deter further settler violence. Taybeh resident Kamal Taye also had his car set alight by the settlers. He told Middle East Eye that the village's residents felt a sense of abandonment and were living without a sense of safety. 'No one is capable of protecting us in our homeland' - Kamal Taye, resident of Taybeh "My family and I were scared because our lives were in danger," he said. He added: "My elderly mother lives with me in the house, and she was terrified. There are no elements of safety in this country under the current circumstances." Taye explained that the psychological impact of the attacks far outweighed the immediate material damage to their homes and property, as they had no idea what the settlers would do next. "No one is capable of protecting us in our homeland. We are forced to protect ourselves," Taye said. "I demand that state officials assume their responsibility to protect us and make us feel safe in our homes." Settler intimidation Taybeh is an ancient village, believed to have its origins during the Canaanite period more than 3,000 years ago. It has a predominantly Christian population of 1,340, according to the 2017 census conducted by the Palestine Central Bureau of Statistics. The area boasts abundant pastoral land and the village's residents primarily make their living raising sheep. But that abdundance has drawn the attention of settlers who have encroached on the village's territory with the backing of the Israeli military. Israeli settlers beat Palestinian-American to death, fatally shoot another Read More » Israel initially appropriated huge tracts of land surrounding the village for the construction of roads and the settlers soon followed. Small bands of settlers, known as the "Youths of the Hills" have set up outposts in the land surrounding Taybeh. These outposts include "agricultural barracks", which Palestinians cannot approach, restricting their ability to graze their animals freely. Through a mixture of intimidation of Palestinian shepherds and protection by the Israeli military, the settlers then use Taybeh's land to graze their own animals. Palestinian farmers and shepherds are subjected to other forms of routine harassment, including the burning of trees, the theft of tools, the demolition of homes and pastures, the arrest of shepherds, and the imposition of heavy fines by the Israeli authorities. The Israeli humans rights group B'Tselem and the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) have documented more than 1,200 incidents of violence by Israeli settlers against Palestinians in 2024 alone, an average of three attacks per day, according to an OCHA report issued in December 2024.
Middle East Eye
a day ago
- Politics
- Middle East Eye
Turkey to follow The Hague Group's measures against Israel 'to stop the genocide'
Turkey on Tuesday said it was taking six measures against Israel, following commitments agreed earlier this month by a cohort of countries seeking to stop the Israeli war on Gaza. By endorsing The Hague Group's joint statement of the Bogota Emergency Conference on Palestine, Turkey has become the first country to sign on to the commitments since the summit on 16 July. The Bogota summit culminated in a joint declaration by states demanding international sanctions against Israel and legal accountability for what participants described as "grave violations of international law" in Gaza. The six measures include suspending military exports to Israel, refusing the transit of Israeli weapons through their ports and airspace, reviewing all public contracts to prevent state institutions and pension funds from supporting Israeli companies or the occupation of Palestinian territories. They also included a vow to actively support universal jurisdiction cases and International Criminal Court (ICC) warrants to pursue accountability for alleged war crimes. New MEE newsletter: Jerusalem Dispatch Sign up to get the latest insights and analysis on Israel-Palestine, alongside Turkey Unpacked and other MEE newsletters 'Children are not only dying from bombings, but also from starvation. This is a man-made humanitarian disaster pointing to a moral and systemic collapse. Israel is inventing genocide in the 21st century," Turkish Deputy Foreign Minister Nuh Yilmaz said in a statement shared with Middle East Eye. 'It is evident that under its current course, Israel will not stop its genocidal attacks," Yilmaz said, announcing his government's decision to endorse the Bogota declaration. "We support the Hague Group's righteous call for upholding international law and announcing measures against Israel for its violations." The Hague Group is a bloc of eight states - Bolivia, Colombia, Cuba, Honduras, Malaysia, Namibia, Senegal and South Africa - launched on 31 January in the eponymous Dutch city with the stated goal of holding Israel accountable under international law. UN's Albanese calls out 'appalling' EU failure to sanction Israel as 32-nation summit in Bogota kicks off Read More » The Bogota summit, co-hosted by Colombia and South Africa, brought together representatives from more than 30 countries across Latin America, Africa, Asia, Europe and the Middle East, marking the most coordinated diplomatic effort yet by a coalition of states opposing Israel's ongoing military onslaught in Gaza. Middle East Eye understands that more states will join The Hague Group within the coming weeks. Israel is coming under increased scrutiny as its strategy of starvation is killing more Palestinians in Gaza every day. Almost 150 Palestinians have died of malnutrition since October 2023, which Gaza's health ministry on Tuesday said the overall death toll had topped 60,000 people. On Monday, two major Israeli human rights groups said Israel is waging genocide in Gaza and on Tuesday the world's top hunger monitor said the "worst-case scenario of famine" is unfolding in Gaza due to the starvation and siege. Yildiz said Turkey reiterates its calls for unhindered humanitarian aid flow to Gaza, as well as "a coordinated reconstruction process led by Palestinians, and, finally, a concrete roadmap toward a just and lasting peace based on the two-state vision". 'We should not ignore Israel's continuing aggression and violations in the West Bank. This is what can be called deepening the colonisation," he added. "The recent declaration, adopted by the Israeli parliament, openly calling for the extension of Israeli sovereignty over the West Bank, is a dangerous step." South Africa welcomes Turkey's decision At the Bogota conference held on 15-16 July, all 30 participating states agreed on the need to end the 'era of impunity' and called for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza. To kickstart that process, the group said that 12 states from across the world - Bolivia; Colombia; Cuba; Indonesia; Iraq; Libya; Malaysia; Namibia; Nicaragua; Oman; Saint Vincent and the Grenadines; and South Africa - have committed to implementing the six measures immediately through their domestic legal and administrative systems. The measures seek to "break the ties of complicity with Israel's campaign of devastation in Palestine", the group said. A date has been set for 20 September 2025, coinciding with the 80th UN General Assembly, for additional states to join them in adopting the measures, the statement added. 'The steps taken by Türkiye today are a powerful affirmation that international law must be enforced, not merely referenced. We invite others to follow suit before the September deadline, to end impunity and defend humanity,' Varsha Gandikota-Nellutla, Executive Secretary of The Hague Group, said on Tuesday. Ronald Lamola, South Africa's Minister for International Relations and Cooperation, also welcomed Turkey's announcement. 'South Africa welcomes the signing of the joint statement by Türkiye. This is a welcome development to strengthen and continue the fight against injustice and ensure accountability.'
