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Israel war on media

The UN human rights office for Palestine has slammed Israel’s intensified repression against human rights defenders, especially journalists, across the Occupied Territories. The office said the regime’s measures severely undermine human rights of Palestinians, especially the right to freedom of expression. The UN rights office said since October 2023, Israeli forces have killed 289 journalists in Gaza. It stressed that there are strong indications that Palestinian journalists were deliberately targeted on account of their work. The office added that Israeli forces have also abducted over two hundred Palestinian journalists from both Gaza and the West Bank during the past two years. It noted that most of the abductees are held under Israel’s so-called administrative detention policy, which results in arbitrary deprivation of liberty, and exposes abductees to torture and enforced disappearance. According to the UN rights office, at least 85 Palestinians have died in Israeli jails since October 7, 2023. It emphasized that Israel’s restrictions on independent journalism are part of a broader clampdown on human rights defenders, anti-occupation activists, and civil society organizations, which has intensified since the Gaza genocide began.

Israel targeting UNRWA 

Hamas has strongly condemned a new bill approved by one of the Israeli Knesset’s committees to ban supply of basic services to facilities run by the UN agency for Palestinian refugees. The movement said cutting off water and electricity supply to UNRWA facilities represents a dangerous escalation by the regime. It added that the move is part of a systematic criminal campaign by Israel targeting the UN agency. Hamas said the regime seeks to undermine UNRWA’s humanitarian role in providing essential services to the Palestinian people, especially refugees. It urged the international community, especially the UN, to stop Israel’s systematic targeting of UNRWA. Hamas stressed that UNRWA must be supported to continue its humanitarian mission and help Palestinian refugees, especially amid the unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe caused by the Israeli aggression against Gaza. 

US-Venezuela tensions 

The government of Venezuela has sent a formal letter to the UN Security Council, condemning the United States for committing maritime piracy. The move came after American forces seized a Venezuelan oil shipment in international waters. In the letter to the Security Council’s president, Venezuela said US military units "forcibly boarded a private vessel on the high seas, subdued and kidnapped its crew, and illegally seized a shipment of Venezuelan oil." The letter stressed that the oil shipment was part of a "regular commercial operation that was legitimate and fully compliant with international law." Caracas stressed that the incident was "not an isolated event," but part of a "sustained policy of coercion and aggression" by the US that is enforced through "unilateral, illegal, and illegitimate coercive measures." It added that the US action was a "flagrant violation" of the legal regime that is meant to protect freedom of navigation and lawful international trade. Venezuela demanded that the US immediately release the detained crew, return the confiscated oil, and stop interfering in the country’s legitimate trade activities. It also urged the Security Council to publicly condemn the act, and take measures to prevent "piracy from becoming established as an instrument of political coercion."

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