Middle East Eye

Sky News anchor Belle Donati challenges Israeli politician, Danny Denon's remarks about Gaza. Denon co-authored an article that was published in The Wall Street Journal that called for "countries around the world to accept limited numbers of Gazan families who have expressed a desire to relocate". Belle Donati challenged the remark, suggesting that Denon was inciting ethnic cleansing and then drawing an analogy to the Holocaust. Sky News later issued a statement of apology for the comments made by Belle Donati.

Israelis and Palestinian citizens of Israel gathered in an anti-war protest in Haifa, Israel’s third-largest city, demanding a ceasefire in Gaza. Police initially refused to approve the protest, as reported by Haaretz. However, following a petition to the Supreme Court of Justice by Hadash and the Association for Civil Rights in Israel, they eventually authorised it with attendance limitations. The protest, which took place in Haifa's Paris Square, was the first licensed anti-war demonstration in the area since October 7th.

Zarah Sultana, a Labour member of Parliament for Coventry South, tried to propose a bill in the UK Parliament to suspend arms sales to Israel. However, the bill was not allocated time for debate or voting. Sultana said that she’s not surprised at the government's reluctance to discuss this matter, pointing out that the British government continues to approve arms sales to Israel amid what she describes as Israel's genocidal war on Gaza. The British lawmaker announced her intention to bring the bill back to Parliament on the 1st of March. She called for support by encouraging people to sign her petition. As she stated, this effort is to “keep raising these issues until our government takes human rights and international law seriously.”

Everything is ours" In an interview with Israel's Ynet news, Israel's Minister of National Security, Ben Gvir, advocated the "occupation of Gaza" and the emigration of the Palestinian people living in the besieged territory.

US National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby refuses to condemn Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's son during a press briefing at the White House on Wednesday over using the phrase "from the river to the sea".

"Khaled alone was stronger than the propaganda machine of Israel. Just him all by himself. There's no lie that the American media or Israel could ever tell that would be stronger than Khaled." During his speech at the Oasis of Dialogue in Doha, Qatar, social justice activist Shaun King talked about Khaled Nabhan, a Palestinian grandfather who lost his three-year-old granddaughter Reem along with her five-year-old brother Tareq in an Israeli air strike that demolished their home in southern Gaza. King stressed that the gentleness in Khaled’s manners runs counter to the stereotypical portrayals of Arabs and Muslims in mainstream media.

‘Despite prior approval, we were targeted by a direct missile. This is the occupation’s behaviour.’ Al Jazeera's Gaza bureau chief and journalist Wael al-Dahdouh speaks at his slain colleague Samer Abu Daqqa’s funeral emphasising them being on an official and approved mission in Khan Younis southern Gaza while directly targeted by an Israeli missile on Friday where Samer lost his life.

“Over 800 of us have signed a letter to the president, vice president and cabinet members demanding a ceasefire and de-escalation.” Staff members of US President Joe Biden’s administration gathered outside the White House on Wednesday to call for a ceasefire on the 7th night of Hanukkah, demanding an end to the war in Gaza.

Israel's president, Isaac Herzog, spoke out against the two-state solution after the war in Gaza, in line with other Israeli officials. Herzog said: “What I want to urge is against just saying two-state solution. Why? Because there is an emotional chapter here that must be dealt with. My nation is bereaving. My nation is in trauma.” Speaking to The Associated Press, Isaac Herzog said now is not the time to talk about an independent state due to Israel's recent pain from the Hamas attack on the seventh of October. He added, “In order to get back to the idea of dividing the land, of negotiating peace or talking to the Palestinians, etc., one has to deal first and foremost with the emotional trauma that we are going through and the need and demand for a full sense of security for all people.”

Israel attacks 3 journalists in one day, including a drone strike that wounded Al Jazeera’s Gaza bureau chief along with another cameraman. Wael al-Dahdouh and videographer Samer Abu Daqqa were hit while covering the aftermath of an earlier strike on a UN school sheltering displaced people in Khan Younis. And in Jerusalem, Anadolu photojournalist Mustafa Haruf was beaten and kicked by Israeli forces and hospitalised with head injuries. Update: Samer Abudaqa has died due to his injuries from an Israeli drone strike

Heavy rainfall has been pummelling parts of Gaza, compounding horrific living conditions for its displaced population and worsening the humanitarian crisis. In this video, the rain has muddied an area with makeshift tents, making it harder for people to sleep. This scene is not uncommon in Gaza. More than 90 percent of Gaza’s population are now displaced, according to the United Nations.

A Jewish activist was arrested while peacefully protesting at the Royal Society of Arts in London, UK, where a fundraiser for Israel was being held. The London Metropolitan Police said the arrest was made for a “public order offence.” The fundraiser featured the President of Israel, Isaac Herzog, and the Israeli ambassador to the United Kingdom, Tzipi Hotovely. Earlier this week, Hotovely publicly dismissed the idea of Palestinian statehood.

The chief of the United Nations Agency for Palestine refugees (Unrwa), Philippe Lazzarini, described the situation in Gaza as “a living hell” during the Global Refugee Forum in Geneva, Switzerland. He added: “It is unrealistic to think that people will remain resilient in the face of unlivable conditions of such magnitude.” During the event, Filippo Grandi, the high commissioner for refugees, called for a ceasefire and expressed his concerns about an exodus of the Palestinians in Gaza towards neighbouring Egypt."

US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller was challenged by Sky News’ US correspondent Mark Stone on Israeli forces detaining a number of Palestinian men who were stripped to their underwear and blindfolded, and what conversations the US has had with Israeli officials on this matter

The Palestine Festival of Literature published a video on Wednesday of Scottish actor Brian Cox reading "If I Must Die", the final poem by Palestinian scholar and poet Refaat Alareer. Alareer was killed by an Israeli air strike on 7 December along with his brother, sister and four of her children.

“Inside the living room, there were other young men who screamed in agony and distress as they were being beaten on their heads, backs, and legs.” Palestinians living in the occupied West Bank village of Silwad recounted how Israeli soldiers violently raided their homes and arrested locals on Tuesday. Violence has surged in the occupied West Bank and at least 270 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli soldiers and settlers since 7 October.

A UK politician called her country’s decision to abstain from a UN ceasefire vote in Gaza 'unforgivable.' She warned parliament that the UK’s inaction would only lead to more violence and destruction in Gaza. Caroline Lucas, an MP for the Green Party, said that through creative diplomacy and political boldness, significant pressure could be applied to Israel to end its massive incursion into Gaza, while also halting attacks from both sides. She stressed that there is no military solution to the conflict and that a political solution is the only viable option.

Abu Khadija’s Cafe in Jerusalem has had multiple offers from Israeli authorities due to its prime location and the tunnel that runs underneath, connecting the cafe to the major holy sites in Jerusalem. He has been offered millions of dollars to give up his family cafe, but he has always refused. Palestinian business owners have always challenged giving up their generational shops to Israel, as a form of resistance in maintaining their presence in Palestine.

“They would have liked me to move forward and not get stuck behind, so I try. But I cry at night, no doubt.” Israeli soldiers who were injured while fighting Palestinian fighters recounted their experiences as they undergo rehabilitation at the Hadassah Mt. Scopus hospital in Jerusalem. One soldier described losing his friends on the battlefield, while another said he had to relearn how to breathe and walk on his own after being injured in a burning tank while fighting in Gaza.