Pally Actioneers to be sentenced for terrorism

Samuel Corner (pictured) was found guilty of causing grievous bodily harm after he fractured a female police officer's spine with a sledgehammer during the course of the raid

 https://www.dailymail.com/news/article-15895097/Judge-rules-attack-Palestine-Action-supporters-UK-defence-factory-saw-police-officer-struck-sledgehammer-terror-connection-landmark-case.html

Judge rules Palestine Action thugs carried out 'act of terrorism' as he jails weeping weapons factory raiders while police arrest more than 100 supporters outside court

Four Palestine Action protesters who smashed their way into an Israeli-linked weapons factory carried out 'an act of terrorism', a judge ruled as he jailed the quartet today.

In a landmark case, Mr Justice Johnson said the raid on Elbit Systems in Bristol was an attempt to 'shut down' the company or influence the UK Government into blocking its operations.

Two of the defendants wept as the judge ruled they would be sentenced for carrying out an 'act of terrorism' .

The wanton violence caused £1.2 million worth of damage, left a police officer with a fractured back, and saw the Government subsequently define Palestine Action as a banned organisation.

Samuel Corner, a 23-year-old former Oxford student, was convicted of criminal damage along with three others, and was also found guilty of grievous bodily harm after he attacked Sergeant Kate Evans with a 7lb sledgehammer.

Corner was handed a sentence of seven years and eight months, while Charlotte Head, 30, and Leona Kamio, 30, each received sentences of five years, and Fatema Rajwani, 21, was jailed for four years and eight months.

The judge said the four 'sought to glorify criminality and vigilantism', and used 'extreme force and aggression'.

Activists gathered outside court in support of the four activists being sentenced for criminal damage to the Elbit Systems factory in Bristol 

The judge said all the defendants were 'well aware of the underlying sentiment and aims and strategies of Palestine Action'.

He said: 'Each defendant agreed to take part in high-level actions, and did so with the shared aim of shutting down Elbit.

He ruled: 'I'm satisfied the action was designed to influence the UK Government and also to intimidate a section of the public, and was for the purpose of advancing an ideological or political cause.'

The ruling means the activists will not qualify for early release from prison provisions, the Parole Board will assess their risk to the public when it determines when they can be set free, and they will face monitoring from counter terror policing in the future.

The Elbit raid in August 2024 was one of the triggers which caused the UK Government to proscribe Palestine Action as a terrorist organisation.

Mr Justice Johnson ruled last year in pre-trial hearings that the Elbit raid had a 'terrorist connection', and decided during a day-long hearing today to pass tougher sentences on the activists as a consequence.

Charlotte Head (pictured), 30, was driving a prison van that was used as a 'battering ram' to break into the Elbit facility, Woolwich Crown Court heard

Fatema Rajwani (pictured), 21, was among six defendants standing trial - she was found guilty of criminal damage

Leona Kamio (pictured), 30, was found guilty of criminal damage by jurors 

Sergeant Kate Evans told jurors at an earlier hearing how she believed her spine could have been 'shattered' and feared she may have been 'paralysed' after being hit by Samuel Corner

Head was behind the wheel of an old prison van that crashed through the gates of the Elbit Systems factory in Bristol on August 6 2024.

The four activists, dressed in red jumpsuits, began destroying property before ending up in a fight with security guards and police.

Prosecutor Deanna Heer KC said the attack was 'meticulously organised' to cause maximum damage and get information about the company.

Prosecutor Ms Heer KC told the sentencing hearing Palestine Action has ideological aims to 'influence government decisions and policies' in the UK and Israel.

She said the group had vowed to 'shut Elbit down' through direct action. 

She pushed for the judge to sentence the defendants for a crime with a 'terrorist connection'.

The police officer struck with the sledgehammer as she was on her knees during the attack said she still suffers from panic attacks and ongoing pain.

She has been forced to accept a demotion from Sergeant to the rank of Pc, and has received abuse on email over what happened.

Ms Evans told the court she felt 'dehumanised' by the first trial's outcome.

She said: 'I found this extremely difficult to process, particularly as the attack had been captured on CCTV and clearly showed I posed no threat.

'I struggled to understand how a verdict could not be reached given the evidence that had been presented in court.

'This left me feeling dehumanised, as though the impact on me did not matter because I am a police officer.'

A spokesman for the Avon and Somerset Police Federation, representing Ms Evans and other officers, said in a statement: 'The distressing scenes we have seen during this trial show some of the worst side of police work that our officers are faced with.

'Samuel Corner is a violent criminal - and his actions have had devastating consequences for a courageous and dedicated police officer. 

'The sentence given to the perpetrator today is a semblance of justice. Our colleague Sgt Kate Evans will have life-lasting effects from this despicable attack.

'Fracturing a brave police officer's spine with a sledgehammer is not protesting a cause - it's pure evil.'

https://www.dailymail.com/news/article-15895097/Judge-rules-attack-Palestine-Action-supporters-UK-defence-factory-saw-police-officer-struck-sledgehammer-terror-connection-landmark-case.html

Israel Funds 61 New Settlements

https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/article-899039

Israel set to approve funding plan for 61 West Bank settlements

     Sa-Nur

Israel's cabinet is expected to approve a plan to fund the de facto establishment of 61 new settlements in the West Bank on Thursday, according to Axios's Barak Ravid.

The plan involves the allocation of over 350 million dollars over several years, Ravid wrote in a post on X/Twitter citing a source familiar with the proposal, and is being promoted by far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich.

"Many of the settlements included in the proposal are located in strategically sensitive areas," Ravid wrote, "including along Highway 90 in the Jordan Valley, in the South Hebron Hills, and in locations designed to create territorial continuity between existing settlements."

The funding will cover temporary mobile homes, public facilities, community infrastructure and support services, in what Ravid called "one of the most significant settlement expansion moves in decades," adding that the funding for these structures would begin even before the planning process was fully completed.

In later stages of the proposal, the government would also fund more permanent development work for the settlements, including building roads and installing utilities.

Fiance Minsiter Bezalel Smotrich and members of the Religious Zionist Party as Knesset passes law for West Bank settlements to receive tax benefits. (credit: Religious Zionist party)

Ravid highlighted that the proposal's unusual move of allowing a temporary site to be established before planning procedures could be completed would set a significant precedent, allowing the government to set "facts on the ground" to later evolve into permanent settlements.

Right-wing pushing for Israeli sovereignty over West Bank

Right-wing ministers and lawmakers have continuously pushed for Israeli sovereignty over all areas in the West Bank, drawing sharp criticism and condemnation from leaders of various countries worldwide.

In another decision, 2,162 new housing units were approved to be developed in West Bank settlements by the Higher Planning Council, which is a body that operates under the Defense Ministry, Smotrich announced earlier this month.

Smotrich welcomed this decision, saying that “we are continuing to build the Land of Israel in practice.”

He added that the establishment of the new housing units was “not merely planning measures."

“They are national initiatives that strengthen our hold on the land, reinforce Israel’s security, and establish clear facts on the ground that prevent the creation of an Arab terrorist state in the heart of the country.”

https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/article-899039

Hamas Items Go on Exhibit

https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/defense-news/article-899014

Hamas items, including Sinwar's battle plans, put on display at new intelligence center exhibit

There is also a separate exhibit item highlighting UNRWA workers who were dual-hat operatives for Hamas, many of whom took part in the October 7 atrocities.

While there are several monuments and exhibits dedicated to Hamas’s October 7 invasion of southern Israel, the Intelligence Heritage and Commemoration Center (IICC) recently opened a new one with authentic items belonging to Gaza chief Yahya Sinwar, from invasion plans which he wrote by hand, to his actual vest, shoes, and other clothes.

The IICC is unique because it is run by former top officials from IDF intelligence, the Mossad, and the Shin Bet and has special and direct access to intelligence from those agencies at various times, in addition to its high-level open source research.

Already, IICC officials told The Jerusalem Post on a tour of the exhibits on Wednesday that since October 7, IDF intelligence has intercepted and is in the process of analyzing over one million physical Hamas internal documents as well as petabytes (quadrillion bytes) of data.

According to IICC CEO and Brig.-Gen. (res.) Yuval Halamish, his intelligence center has been hard at work analyzing waves of those documents that they receive from IDF intelligence, and will likely invest years in the endeavor.

IICC Amit Terrorism and Intelligence Research Institute Head Col. (res.) Shlomo Mofaz noted that his center has already issued many reports on these Hamas documents.

Reports shed light on Hamas members, new operatives, and recruits

One such report described from internal Hamas documents how the terror group restored its training of new “recruits” in Shejaia in northern Gaza between January and March 2025, during a temporary ceasefire.

The report details what training measures were taken, names of trainees, how they scored on the shooting range, and who passed the various combat courses and who failed, along with religious brainwashing processes.

Part of the IICC exhibit presents physical items that the Hamas Nukhba invaders held, such as their infamously precise maps of each Jewish village they were designated to attack.

IICC tour guides noted that Hamas’s intelligence was at an extremely high level regarding exactly where the most challenging security spots would be in each village, to be able to neutralize them effectively.

Also, part of the exhibit was a special edition of the Quran, which Hamas produced for the attack, with a front picture of the al-Aqsa Mosque in the theme of the attack being declared "the al-Aqsa Flood."

Further, the exhibit had a book of fatwas or Islamic sharia rulings, including from Qatari Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi, justifying the mass murder of unarmed Israeli women and children.

According to the fatwas, all Israelis are part of a militaristic cult, with a service in the IDF requirement, making them all military targets in the present or in the future.

The Sinwar documents include his August 2022 directive for the invasion in writing, connecting to the Walls of Jericho plan, which mid-level IDF intelligence officials knew about but did not pass on to senior levels, considering it a fantasy.

There is a special item listing photos and information about certain Gaza “journalists” whom the IDF intelligence later proved from Hamas’s internal documents had worked for the terror group.

Moreover, there is a separate exhibit item highlighting UNRWA workers who were likewise dual-hat operatives for Hamas, many of whom took part in the October 7 atrocities.

Hamas weapons, including some likely supplied by Egypt, on display

Another series of items at the exhibit are Hamas weapons from the invasion, including those manufactured by Iran, Russia, North Korea, Egypt, China, and self-made weapons.

The presumption is that the Egyptian weapons were either stolen or provided to Hamas from 2012 to 2013, when Muslim Brotherhood political leader Mohamed Morsi was Egypt’s president.

According to the IDF, Egypt has cooperated with Israel against Hamas, even if with varied levels of commitment, before 2012 and since Morsi was deposed in 2013.

It is unclear how weapons from some of the other countries reached Hamas, although Iran has directly and proudly provided weapons for years.

Yet another set of exhibits includes physical original examples of Hamas trucks or motorcycles used to invade Israel – over 150 trucks and over 300 motorcycles were used – as well as several mauled and bullet-hole-ridden cars from the Supernova music festival.

One arrives at the “Nova festival cars” by walking through a dark, extended tunnel, with haunting voices and noises playing as you cross over.

A large part of the exhibits focuses on Israeli suffering from the attacks.

Photos of all 1,224 Israeli victims of Hamas from October 7 are presented on an extended corridor in alphabetical order.

There are several different videos, each dealing with different aspects of the slaughter.

For example, one focuses on the Hamas invasion in the big picture, one on the hostages, one documenting how first responders found Israeli bodies mutilated and signs of rape, and another, more hopeful, is of a performance of the song “Habayita,” meaning “Come home,” for the Israeli hostages.

There is also a hopeful exhibit to record the stories of many Israeli heroes of that day, who saved countless additional potential victims.

The start of the exhibit hosts an extended, detailed painting portraying well-known Israeli figures, such as the Bibas children, on the morning of October 7, just prior to the invasion.

The IICC exhibits do not delve in depth into who was at fault for failing to prevent the October 7 failure, with very little footage regarding Israeli political officials, and only one video of former IDF chief Herzi Halevi giving a speech in which he took responsibility for the IDF’s part in the failure.

The focus in terms of substance is on Hamas’s strategy, plans, and physical representations of its tactics, and an opening video notes how completely Hamas surprised Israeli border soldiers. It does not, however, set as a goal to discuss the chaotic and critical several hours after that in which insufficient reinforcements arrived at the front.

All written items on the tour are translated from Hebrew into English, and all videos have English subtitles available.

Tours of the October 7 exhibits are targeted at persons over the age of 18 due to the extreme sensitivity and graphic nature of multiple exhibits.

Visitors must contact the center in advance to arrange tours. Small groups need to reserve a few days in advance, with larger groups requiring more advance notice.

Besides the exhibit and special publications related to the October 7 invasion, the Amit Center regularly publishes intelligence updates regarding Palestinian terror, Hezbollah, and Iran at terrorism-info.org.il

The center can be reached at (03) 547-2321, (03) 549-7019, or

mlmhida@intelligence.org.il

Most tours are given in Hebrew or English, but tours can also be scheduled in advance in Spanish or French.

https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/defense-news/article-899014

Karim Khan Suspended

https://www.dailymail.com/news/article-15884841/ICC-suspends-British-chief-prosecutor-Karim-Khan-claims-sexual-misconduct.html

ICC suspends its chief prosecutor Karim Khan over claims of sexual misconduct

The International Criminal Court has suspended its chief prosecutor, Karim Khan, over claims of sexual misconduct, in an unprecedented decision. 

Khan, who sought the arrest of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for war crimes in Gaza, stood down from his post after the court’s oversight body referred him for disciplinary proceedings. 

The 56-year-old is facing allegations of sexual misconduct with a female aide, in a scandal that has dragged on for more than two years. 

The executive committee of the court's oversight body - said in a statement that it based its decision 'on the report of an investigation undertaken by the United Nations Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS), the underlying evidence, the advice of an ad hoc Panel of judicial experts, and written submissions'.

The UN investigation found evidence that Khan had 'nonconsensual sexual contact with (the aide) in his office, at his private residence, and whilst on mission'.

Karim Khan, the barrister who sought the arrest of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for war crimes in Gaza, stood down from his post after the court’s oversight body referred him for disciplinary proceedings

The process is unprecedented for the ICC.

The allegations against Khan were first reported to the court´s independent watchdog more than two years ago. 

An AP investigation revealed that Khan was alleged to have seen the woman working in another ICC department and moved her into his office. 

She later became a regular presence on official trips, according to whistleblower documents. 

On one foreign trip, Khan allegedly asked her to rest with him on a hotel bed and then 'sexually touched her,' the documents said. 

Other alleged nonconsensual behavior cited in the documents included locking the door of his office and sticking his hand in her pocket. 

He also allegedly asked her several times to accompany him on a vacation.

https://www.dailymail.com/news/article-15884841/ICC-suspends-British-chief-prosecutor-Karim-Khan-claims-sexual-misconduct.html

Karim Khan KC spent more than five months pressuring his female colleague to retract allegations of sexual misconduct against him

Mr Khan was banned from entering the United States by President Donald Trump

Mr Khan (left) pictured with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan at the International Criminal Court (ICC)

A second misconduct investigation has been launched into the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, Karim Khan. He is now facing a separate probe into allegations he had inappropriate discussions with a judge in an earlier war crimes case.

Anti-Migrant Protests in South Africa

https://www.dailymail.com/news/article-15883181/Anti-migrant-protesters-march-South-African-streets-following-spate-violence-vigilante-threats.html

Anti-migrant protesters march through South African streets

Zulu cultural figure and anti-immigration activist Phakela uMthakathi (C) takes part in a rally against undocumented immigrants who live in the area in Benoni, east of Johannesburg

Last month, hundreds of foreign nationals, including citizens from the Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda and Somalia, sought protection in the eastern port city of Durban, saying locals had gone door-to-door ordering them to leave by the end of the month.

Ghana has arranged flights for several hundred of its citizens to leave South Africa.

More than 600 Ghanaians were processed for departure over the weekend, South Africa's border authority said, taking the tally of those who have left to 995.

The first group of Nigerians is due to leave on Wednesday.

Kenya, Lesotho and Zimbabwe are among the countries that have urged their citizens in South Africa to exercise caution.

Malawi and Mozambique organised buses to bring people home.

'Every day and almost everyone I meet, they are in fear, extreme fear,' said an Ethiopian entrepreneur who moved to South Africa in 2000 and is married to a local woman. 

'They are documented… But none of the legal documents will protect you from the violence.'

South Africa's President Cyril Ramaphosa addressed the population on national television

Anti-migrant protesters marched through the streets of South Africa

Protesters were seen donning traditional dress and carrying speared weapons.

South Africa has seen recurring bouts of anti-migrant violence, with protests intensifying this year as vigilante groups ordered undocumented foreigners to leave by June 30.

The campaign group at the forefront of the recent protests, March & March, did not specify what would happen to those who do not leave. 

Chanting and singing as they moved through the area, protesters called for tougher government action against illegal immigration.

The March & March leader, Jacinta Ngobese-Zuma, who has campaigned for mass deportation, claims that illegal immigration 'ranges from 15 million to about 30 million'.

'South Africa is currently being invaded. South Africans have become refugees in their own country,' she said last month.

Protesters gather with traditional weapons during a rally against undocumented immigrants in Springs, east of Johannesburg, South Africa

A wave of anti-immigrant protests has affected South Africa demanding undocumented immigrants leave the country

Protesters were seen donning traditional dress and carrying speared weapons

Unemployment is running at more than 30 per cent, fuelling tensions with migrant workers.

In the worst violence against immigrants in the last two decades, 62 people were killed in 2008.

Violent clashes also erupted in 2015, 2016 and 2019.

Mozambique said five of its citizens were killed at the end of May.

South African police said two Mozambicans and one South African had died during an outbreak of violence in Mossel Bay on the south coast.  

Some participants carried sticks, footage aired by the SABC public broadcaster showed

Chanting and singing as they moved through the area, protesters called for tougher government action against illegal immigration

https://www.dailymail.com/news/article-15883181/Anti-migrant-protesters-march-South-African-streets-following-spate-violence-vigilante-threats.html