Just 27 minutes ago
Iran blasts US and West after UN Security Council refers Tehran nuclear watchdog
Iran condemned Wednesday the International Atomic Energy Agency’s decision to refer Tehran to the U.N. Security Council for violations of Iran’s nuclear nonproliferation commitments, which included failing to co-operate over its undeclared nucleonic activities.
Kazem Garibabadi, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs said that the U.S. as well as other Western nations used the disruptions created by the strikes against Iran’s nuclear facilities to justify their resolution.
In a shared post on X, Gharibabadi stated that “they attack Iran’s nuclear facilities and disrupt the verification process. They then use this disruption to justify a Board of Governors resolution.”
He added, “You cannot compensate for your failures in policies and actions by such maneuvers nor can you achieve anything on the Security Council.”
The Iranian mission in Vienna to the international organisations warned that the resolution could lead to “further erosion of non-proliferation as a regime and its ultimate collapse.”
IAEA board of 35 members approved resolution that was backed by the U.S., Britain, France and Germany with a vote of 23-3. There were eight abstentions. China, Russia and Niger were the only three countries to vote against it.
This could result in further U.N. sanctions, although Russia and China can use their vetoes as a way to stop any such measures.
Emma Bussey posted a message
Just 1 hour earlier
IAEA notifies UN Security Council for the first time since 20 years that Iran has violated nuclear regulations.
For the first time since 20 years, the United Nations’ atomic watchdog has reported Iran to its Security Council for failing to cooperate in an investigation of Tehran’s nuclear activities.
In a vote of 23-3, the 35 members of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), which includes the United States, Britain France, and Germany, voted in support the resolution. Eight countries abstained.
This move is the result of a long-running IAEA probe into uranium trace inspectors found at unreported sites in Iran. In June 2025, the agency’s board found Iran to be in breach of its obligations regarding nonproliferation due to Tehran’s failure of cooperation in the investigation.
Iran maintains that its nuclear programme is peaceful, and it does not seek nuclear weapons.
Since the U.S. attacked several key Iranian nuclear enrichment facilities in June, the IAEA has not been able to confirm the stockpile’s status.
Referrals bring the matter before the Security Council which can take additional action including freezing assets or imposing further sanctions. Russia and China could oppose punitive U.N. actions, as they voted against IAEA’s resolution and have veto powers on the Security Council.
This report was contributed by The Associated Press.
Stephen Sorace
Just 1 hour earlier
UKMTO: Merchant ships hit by “disabling” fire in Gulf of Oman and Persian Gulf
According to United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations, (UKMTO), several merchant vessels have been damaged and disabled overnight during military activities in Middle East water.
UKMTO stated that the incidents concerned ships in northern Persian Gulf, and Gulf of Oman which were “disabled fire” by military forces. It said that it was unable to confirm whether any injuries or damage had occurred.
UKMTO reported separately an incident on Wednesday, about 24 nautical mile from Port Rashid (United Arab Emirates), where a ship was seen to list while at anchor.
According to the agency, there is a possibility that the vessel may have taken in water following a possible projectile strike.
The perpetrators of the incident were not known immediately.
This report was produced in collaboration with Reuters and the Associated Press.
Stephen Sorace
Just 1 hour earlier
Netanyahu says defeating Iran remains Israel’s ‘main task,’ victory ‘very close’
Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, said that victory against Iran was “very near” and declared on Rosh Hashanah eve that the main task of the country is to bring down Tehran’s government.
The main goal is to destroy the Iranian terrorist regime. In a message sent to X via video during a trip to Mount Hermon, Syria, Netanyahu stated that we are “very close”. We know the whole axis is going to fall. “We are determined to do this and will.”
Netanyahu received a briefing about Israeli military operations from Maj. Gen. Tamir Yaidai and Israel Defense Minister Israel Katz.
Netanyahu, standing at an IDF post overlooking Syria and boasting of Israel’s territorial control in the region, also vowed to prevent what he termed a terrorist army from establishing itself on Israel’s borders.
In closing, the prime minister wished Israelis a Happy New Year and the soldiers of Israel a prosperous Rosh Hashanah.
Stephen Sorace
Three hours ago
Trump administration sanctions 27 Iranian Airlines in Latest Push to Squeeze Tehran
Treasury Department said on Tuesday that the Trump administration has imposed economic sanctions against 27 Iranian Airlines as part of an effort to put more pressure on Tehran.
These sanctions are part a broad action that targets 36 entities and people tied to Iran’s aviation industry, which “the regime uses to transport weapons, staff and illicit cargo,” according to the Department.
This action targets “covert companies, foreign intermediators and deceptive shipping routes”, which Treasury has described as helping Iran acquire U.S. made aircraft and technology.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent stated that the measures are intended to stop financial support of the Iranian Government and warn foreign companies not to do business with sanctions Iranian airlines.
Bessent warned: “Anyone doing business with the remaining Iranian airlines that we have sanctioned will be cut off from global financial systems.”
Treasury suspended the authorizations for certain flights to Iran, and allowed non-U.S. carriers to fly into Iran some U.S. origin or U.S. controlled commercial aircraft.
These measures are part of the “Operation Economic Outcast” campaign, which Washington claims is aimed at further isolating Tehran by cutting off revenue sources that Washington believes support the Iranian Government and Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
Stephen Sorace
Three hours ago
As summer vacations end, the midterms approach and Iran War rages on, Americans are squeezed by record gas prices.
The summer travel season was coming to an end, and Americans were faced with the highest-priced Labor Day in history, which put a strain on the household budgets of millions.
AAA estimates that 40 million Americans will drive during the holidays, and pay unprecedented gasoline prices.
On Tuesday, the national average price for gasoline was $4.15 per mile. This is up nearly 96 cents compared to a year ago. This price broke the Labor Day 2012 record, which was $3.82. It also marked the first occasion that the average national gasoline prices topped the $4 mark during the long holiday weekend.
This spike occurred despite the seasonal tendency that usually brings relief following Labor Day when travel slows down in summer and gas demand drops. The Iranian conflict has caused crude oil to rise, which offset the usual decline.
Amanda Macias, Fox News Digital, has written an article that you can read here.
Stephen Sorace
Five hours ago
Houthis say Saudi-backed forces have launched 32 airstrikes in Yemen
The Houthis, backed by Iran, claimed that Saudi Arabian-backed forces had launched 32 airstrikes in four provinces of Yemen over the past night. As fighting intensified between both sides and threatened to disrupt shipping and energy markets in the area.
Nasruddin Amer, a spokesman for the Houthi, said that strikes were carried out in Taiz and Hodeida. Saudi Arabia is yet to confirm the attacks, but a Pakistani source — who signed a Mutual Defense Pact last month with Riyadh — has told Reuters Saudi Arabia carried out retaliatory airstrikes in Yemen.
Retaliation was reported after Houthis had attacked Saudi Arabia’s four largest cities on Tuesday. The Houthis set off massive fires in oil installations that could be seen from space. Saudi authorities reported that 73 people had been injured.
Saudi-backed southern Yemeni government has launched an offensive in multiple directions against Houthi controlled territory. Houthis, meanwhile, have threatened Saudi shipping on the Red Sea.
This escalation of fighting in Yemen has broken a four-year ceasefire in that country’s civil conflict and created new uncertainties for the global energy market, which is already dealing with Middle East disruptions.
This report was produced in collaboration with Reuters and the Associated Press.
Stephen Sorace
6 Hours Ago
Iran says it has captured an unmanned US sub-marine drone near the Strait of Hormuz
The Pentagon claimed that the drone had been malfunctioning for more than a week before the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said it was captured.
Reuters reports that Iranian state media has identified the drone in question as a Dive LD, a 19 foot autonomous underwater vehicle manufactured by Californian defense company Anduril.
According to the company, this vessel is capable of mapping seafloors, collecting intelligence, and inspecting submerged infrastructure.
According to Reuters, a Pentagon spokesperson said that the drone was surveying local waters “more than a week ago” when it malfunctioned.
The spokesperson stated that the defective drone was an old model which did not collect sensitive data or carry classified radars and sonars.
Anduril has confirmed that a Dive LD was lost to an outlet, but added that the system is designed for use in hazardous environments where the possibility of losing a vehicle “is expected.”
Stephen Sorace
Seven hours ago
As Middle East supply is threatened, oil prices reach $100 per barrel
The price of oil surpassed $100 per barrel on Wednesday, the first time it has done so in almost six weeks. This was due to the escalating attacks against tankers and other energy infrastructure in the Middle East.
Brent crude oil, which is the benchmark international for oil, rose to $100 per barrel during early trading. The U.S. benchmark also reached above $95 a barrel.
This jump was made after U.S. forces struck five Iranian oil tanks in response to a missile attack on an American Navy warship. The Houthi Rebels, backed by Iran, have attacked Saudi oil facilities and set them ablaze.
Fighting has severely limited shipping in the Strait of Hormuz. This critical waterway handled one fifth of world oil supplies before the conflict.
The higher crude oil prices will eventually affect consumers by increasing the price of gasoline, jet fuel and diesel. Transport costs can be affected by higher crude prices, from furniture to fresh foods.
This report was produced in collaboration with Reuters and the Associated Press.
Stephen Sorace
Seven hours ago
Iran fires ballistic missiles at US bases in Jordan; US officials say the attack was ‘ineffective.
On Wednesday, Iran launched ballistic missiles at a U.S. base in Jordan. An American official told Fox News that the attack had been ineffective and the U.S. military personnel present in Jordan were all safe.
The response of Iran was not effective in the face integrated air and missile defences. Iran launched missiles at Jordan. “American forces are 100% accountable at all Jordanian locations,” said the U.S. official to Fox News.
According to The Associated Press, Jordanian military officials said that their air defenses had intercepted eighteen of twenty ballistic missiles fired at its territory. Two missiles landed in areas that were not populated, but no injuries or damage was reported.
Reuters cites a statement by Iran’s state-run media that the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps claimed to have targeted a U.S. base near Al Azraq. The IRGC claims that the missiles did heavy damage. However, this assertion is in conflict with assessments by U.S. officials and Jordanian authorities.
Reuters reports that the IRGC claimed to have attacked 10 vessels, including two U.S. ships and eight oil tanks. They were reportedly trying to enter what they called a “prohibited” and “unsafe” part of the Strait of Hormuz.
After the U.S. Military said that it had destroyed five Iranian Oil Tankers on Tuesday, in response to Iranian attempts at attacking a U.S. Navy Warship with Ballistic Missiles the two previous days.
Marco Rubio, Secretary of State, warned on Tuesday that Iran would face further punishment if it attacks American warships.
Rubio, during his visit to Colombia, told journalists that Iran continues to attempt to strike U.S. navy ships. “For every time that they do this or try to, they will lose tankers.”
Emma Bussey, Fox News Digital contributor to this story.
Stephen Sorace

The largest dinosaurs that ever lived were able to reproduce at high latitudes — or regions far from the equator — and came up with a clever strategy to keep their eggs warm, a study of a trove of titanosaur eggs unearthed in Argentina has revealed.
Most titanosaur eggs and eggshells, like those of other dinosaurs, have been found in lower-latitude regions closer to the equator, where warmer temperatures would have made incubating the eggs easier.
Scientists think these long-necked, small-brained, plant-eating giants — part of a group known as sauropods — lived in herds and may have migrated over long distances, nesting in the same place for millennia.
“We know their bones have turned up in places as far south as Antarctica and southern Argentina, and as far north as Mongolia and Texas,” said Darla Zelenitsky, a paleontologist and associate professor at the University of Calgary in Alberta. Zelenitsky is a senior author of the new research, which published Tuesday in the journal Royal Society Open Science.
“They clearly spent time in higher latitude areas, but until now it wasn’t known whether they were also nesting there,” Zelenitsky added.
Unlike some smaller dinosaur species and birds today, paleontologists are pretty certain titanosaurs did not brood their own eggs. Their huge size “would have turned the nest into one giant omelette,” Zelenitsky said via email.
As such, it’s doubtful that titanosaurs were doting parents. Like most reptiles, they likely laid their eggs and left any resulting offspring to fend for themselves.
Eggs, however, need warmth to develop and hatch, and sunlight is in shorter supply at higher latitudes. The study suggests that titanosaurs found a way to deal with lower temperatures in the planet’s southernmost reaches.
“The most likely scenario is that these titanosaurs laid their eggs in mound nests made of vegetation and soil, where incubation heat came mostly from rotting plant material,” Zelenitsky said.
“Their eggshells were very porous, which means if the eggs were left out in the open, they would lose water, dry out, and the embryos would die. Buried in sand, soil, or vegetation, the nest would stay humid or damp enough for the eggs to survive,” she added.
Nests the size of picnic tables
Researchers discovered the 255 eggshell fragments in the Chorrillo Formation in southern Argentina 200 miles (322 kilometers) north of the Strait of Magellan — the sea route at the southern tip of South America — in 2020 and 2024. They date back 68 million years, when they would have been at latitudes between 55 degrees and 60 degrees south. The clutches of eggs represent the highest-latitude nesting environment known for sauropods worldwide, the study said, and the southernmost definitive evidence of dinosaur eggs.
“What is particularly important about this new discovery, though, is that these dinosaur eggs belonged to titanosaurs, giant potbellied long-necked dinosaurs,” said Steve Brusatte, a professor of paleontology and evolution at the University of Edinburgh. He wasn’t involved in the research.
“Some of the very largest animals in Earth’s history were laying eggs and hatching their babies at high latitudes in the Cretaceous, which is a new fact about dinosaur biology and behaviour that makes us better appreciate their adaptability and resiliency.”
Paul Upchurch, a professor of paleobiology at University College London said that sauropod remains are rare at high latitudes and it had been thought that the giants moved to these areas during warm summers before returning closer to the equator.
“Now that we have eggs from a high latitude, this suggests that they might have stayed there all year, or at least were able to go through their reproductive cycle during the warm part of the year at those high latitudes,” Upchurch, who also wasn’t part of the research team, added.
Titanosaurs include the largest known dinosaurs, with individuals estimated to weigh up to around 75,000 kilograms (more than eight times bigger than a Tyrannosaurus rex). Dinosaur eggs are rare in the fossil record because the eggshell is relatively thin and fragile, and it breaks down quickly into tiny pieces and is difficult to preserve.
It’s not clear to which species of titanosaur the eggs belonged, but teeth found at the same site were those of colossosaurian dinosaurs, some of the biggest titanosaurs although not the largest.
“If these eggshells belong to colossosaurians, the hatchlings had to have had plenty of nutritious food resources in that environment to start packing on the tonnes to eventually reach their colossal body sizes,” Zelenitsky said.
Even though these dinos were huge, their eggs were tiny — about 1/18,000 the size of the adult dinosaur— and could have contained about 4 liters of liquid, with hatchlings weighing around 4 kilograms (about 9 pounds).
Nonetheless, the titanosaur nests would have been large enough to make a distinct impression on the landscape, especially if the dinosaurs nested communally.
“I envision the nest as a picnic table size mound of dirt and vegetation with the egg clutch buried inside … so it probably wasn’t an inconspicuous structure,” Zelenitsky said.

A study on a collection of giantosaur fossil eggs found in Argentina revealed that the largest dinosaurs were capable of reproducing at high latitudes, or areas far away from the equator. They also devised a strategy for keeping their eggs warm.
The majority of titanosaur eggshells and eggs, as well as those from other dinosaurs have been discovered in regions with lower latitudes closer to the Equator where the warmer temperatures could have made it easier for the eggs to incubate.
Scientists believe that these plant-eating, long-necked giants were part of the sauropod group. They may have lived in large herds or migrated long distances.
Darla Zelenitsky is a professor and paleontologist at the University of Calgary, Alberta. “We are aware that their remains have been found in locations as far away as Antarctica, southern Argentina and Texas, as well as Mongolia, in Canada. Zelenitsky, a paleontologist and associate professor at the University of Calgary in Alberta, is the senior author on the research that was published by Royal Society Open Science Tuesday.
Zelenitsky said that they “clearly spent time at higher latitudes, but it was not known until recently whether or not nesting occurred there.”
Paleontologists believe that titanosaurs, unlike some other dinosaur species or birds of today did not lay their own eggs. Zelenitsky wrote in an email that their size would have made the nest look like a giant omelette.
It’s unlikely that the titanosaurs had devoted parents. They likely laid eggs, and then left their offspring on their own.
The eggs need heat to hatch and develop, but sunlight is less abundant at higher latitudes. This study shows that titanosaurs adapted to the lower temperatures at planet’s southmost regions.
Zelenitsky stated that the most probable scenario was that titanosaurs laid eggs in nests of soil and vegetation, with incubation heated primarily by rotting plants.
The eggshells of these birds were porous. This meant that if they were exposed to the air, the eggs would dry up, lose moisture, and die. “If the nest is buried in soil or vegetation or sand it will stay moist or humid enough to allow the eggs survive,” added she.
The size of a picnic table
The 255 fragments of eggshell were discovered by researchers in the Chorrillo Formation of southern Argentina, 200 miles (320 kilometers) north of Strait of Magellan, the route of sea at the southernmost tip of South America. This discovery was made between 2020 and 2024. The eggs date back to 68 million year ago, at a latitude between 55 and 60 degrees South. According to the study, these clutches represent the world’s highest latitude for nesting sauropods, as well as the most definitive proof of dinosaur eggs.
Steve Brusatte is a professor of Paleontology and Evolution at the University of Edinburgh. The research was not done by him.
The Cretaceous period saw some of the largest dinosaurs ever to have lived on Earth laying their eggs at higher latitudes. This is an important new discovery about their biology and behavior that helps us appreciate their resilience and adaptability.
Paul Upchurch is a professor at University College London. He said sauropods are rarely found at higher latitudes. It was thought the giants would move to high-latitudes during the summer months before moving back closer to the Equator.
Upchurch who was not part of this research team added, “Now that eggs have been found from high latitudes, it suggests they may have lived there year-round, or were at least able to complete their reproductive cycle in the warmer months of the year.”
Titanosaurs are the biggest dinosaurs known. Individuals can weigh as much as 75,000 kg (over eight times larger than Tyrannosaurus Rex). The fossil record is rare because dinosaur eggs are fragile and break down into small pieces.
The eggs are not clearly identified, however, the teeth that were found on the site belonged to colossosaurian dinos – some of the largest titanosaurs, although they weren’t the biggest.
Zelenitsky stated that “if these eggshells are from colossosaurians then the hatchlings must have been able to pack on tons of food in this environment for them to reach their massive body size.”
The eggs of these dinosaurs, although huge, were tiny. They were only 1/18th the size of an adult dinosaur. Their liquid content was estimated to be 4 liters, and the hatchlings would have weighed around 9 pounds (4 kilograms).
The nests of titanosaurs would still have made a distinctive impression, particularly if they nested collectively.
Zelenitsky stated that he pictured the nest to be a mound the size of a picnic-table, with the eggs buried within.

Exclusive — DALLAS – In an effort to energize the GOP’s MAGA constituency, the Republican National Committee announced on Tuesday the order of speakers and the times for this week’s inaugural GOP midterm convention. President Donald Trump is the primetime speaker both nights.
The list was first shared with Fox News Digital the night before the convention. According to it, President Obama will give the keynote speech on Wednesday, tentatively set to begin at 9:00 p.m. ET.
Trump’s remarks will follow Vice President JDVance’s second-night keynote address at the American Airlines Center, in Downtown Dallas.
Trump and Republicans have gathered in Texas to hold their historic conference. They are hoping to motivate the GOP’s supporters ahead of the key elections that will decide whether they keep control of Congress. When Trump isn’t on the ballot, Trump supporters are less likely to vote.
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Traditionally, both Democrats and Republicans hold large conventions to nominate candidates during the presidential election year. Trump floated a similar idea last year to highlight the policy accomplishments he, along with Republicans in Congress, have made over the past two-years.
When he announced it earlier this summer, the president called it “a truly Historic Event”, and “a Rally like no other!” When he first announced the convention earlier in this summer.
As Republicans defend their narrow House and Senate majority in midterm elections, they face an energized Democratic Party and stiff political opposition.
Republicans will use this convention as a way to highlight the Democrats’ shift to the left and to tie them to socialist and far-left proposals.
The midterm elections are about our future. “President Donald Trump and Republicans want to bring America into a golden age, while liberal Democrats are out of touch and anti-American and they’re trying to create a failed liberal state,” RNC Chair Joe Gruters said in a Fox News Digital statement.
These 12 midterm races will determine which party controls the Senate
Gruters stressed that the “choice is clear and in November, the American people are going to reject liberal policies” and bring historic victories for Republicans throughout the United States.
The DNC is still in debt, and has decided not to hold a convention similar. They see the GOP gathering as an opportunity to bash Republicans.
The DNC’s Director of Rapid Response, Kendall Witmer, charged that “while everyday Americans are struggling to pay bills, fill their gas tanks or feed their families, Republicans host a multimillion-dollar celebration in order to appease an ageing and unpredictable Trump, and to tie the vulnerable Republican candidates to his failed political agenda ,”,”
Witmer said that Americans don’t desire a “Trumpapalooza” — but rather lower healthcare costs.
It will serve also as the GOP’s final argument before November. The convention will feature Republican candidates who are in the race for Senate Majority.
On the first night, Texas Attorney-General Ken Paxton will be speaking. He is the GOP candidate in Texas, who faces off with Democratic State Rep. James Talarico, in the race for the Republican Senate seat to be replaced by John Cornyn. Former RNC chair Mike Whatley will also speak, as he defends retiring GOP senator Thom Tillis in a battleground state like North Carolina.
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The crowd will hear from Sen. Jon Husted, the Ohio Republican who has been in an intense battle with the former Democratic Senator Sherrod brown, and Rep. Mike Collins, the Georgia Republican challenging Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff, in the swing state of Georgia.
Mike Rogers, a former Michigan congressman, spoke on Thursday night. He is running against Abdul El-Sayed of the far-left Democratic Party to try and flip a Democrat-held seat.
The battle for the House will feature both incumbents in tight races and those running in competitive contests.
On Wednesday, they included Reps. Monica De La Cruz from Texas, Dershaan Van Orden from Wisconsin, Rob Bresnahan from Pennsylvania, as well as candidates Mike LiPetri and Jay Feely, both of Arizona and New York.
Ryan Mackenzie, Mike Lawler, Greg Cunningham, Derrick Merrin, and Eric Flores are among the House Republican candidates and incumbents who spoke on Thursday.
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According to the RNC’s schedule, Speaker Mike Johnson is scheduled to speak Thursday night.
The RNC’s list of speakers is notable for the absence of Johnson’s Senate colleague, Senate Majority leader John Thune (R – South Dakota). Fox News Digital reports that a source with knowledge of the plans says that Thune is expected to be in Dallas with a busy schedule, including helping Senate candidates raise money.
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Texas Gov. Greg Abbott speaks Thursday. He is running for his fourth term as Governor of the Lone Star State. Ted Cruz, the fiery conservative from Texas who may not be on the ballot for this election but is a possible candidate to run again in the White House 2028.
Some of Trump’s most prominent cabinet members are set to give speeches, including Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Attorney General Todd Blanche on Wednesday night, and Health and Human Services Sec. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on Thursday, the man who led the Make America Healthy Again movement.

Ed Miliband, Foreign Secretary of the United Kingdom said that the decision marked “the beginning of a brand new approach” towards the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict. This “not only condemns injustice and suffering, but also acts”.
In a statement issued jointly with the UK, France and Canada said that the sanctions “mark a new turning point in the way we approach protecting the two state solution.”
Miliband told MPs: “The British Government agrees there has been ethnic cleansing in West Bank areas, committed by terrorist settler settlers.
The Israeli government is guilty of turning a blind-eye to the Palestinians’ forced relocation. Worse, its members have issued statements or taken action to encourage this.
According to him, ethnic cleansing is defined by the UN’s definition as “a deliberate policy by which one ethnic group or religion removes another ethnic group or religion from certain areas by using violent means”.
Miliband stated that Israel’s occupation of West Bank is illegal because it “intensifies its control and extends permanent sovereignty” as well as its “expansionist agenda through the use of illegal settlements.”
This position should reflect in “economic relations” between the UK and the West Bank occupied. It is also in accordance with an advisory opinion 2024 from the International Court of Justice.
He said that the UK would introduce “a comprehensive new sanctions regime” over the course of the next 6 to 9 months.
On Tuesday afternoon, Andy Burnham, the Prime Minister, said that the measures targeted were not “aimed at the Israeli population, but to support the two-state solutions”.
Israel’s foreign minister Saar told a news conference that the UK consulate in Jerusalem, West Bank and Gaza would be closing. “We have many British friends,” he said.
The Labour Party government has consistently acted against Israel and we are left with no other choice than to react to their hostile acts.
Israel had opened tenders to build 1,200 homes for settlements in the E1 zone, a strategic area located east of Jerusalem. International condemnation of the plans has been widespread. Israel has been under international pressure for years to delay plans to build there.
Miliband said that the UK needed a “new approach”, because the plans for E1 in the West Bank “would make a two state solution unviable” as they “cut through the heart” of Palestine.
He also said that the Hamas attack against southern Israel in 2023 which led to the Gaza War had “terrible echos” of centuries of Jewish persecution and Israel has “the right of protecting its people and defending its territory”.
He stated: “International human rights law has clear guidelines for warring states, such as ensuring access to medical and food supplies, avoiding mass displacements of civilians and preventing the use of weapons against civilians. If proven, serious and international violations amount to crimes of war.
The UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry, among others, has examined the events, and the IDF’s (Israel Defense Forces) actions, in detail.
He stated: “My story, along with that of thousands British Jews, is just one of many reasons I tell anyone who doubts Israel’s existence as the homeland of the Jewish people. You are wrong and we will expose you whenever you attempt to erase Israel.”
The UK Chief Rabbi, Sir Ephraim mirvis, said that it was “truly dark for British Jews”, and the sanctions are “little more” than a political banner for anti-Israel propaganda. This would encourage people to “use hate as a tool against Jews”.
Board of Deputies of British Jews (BDBJ) expressed its “deep regret” about the announcement made on Tuesday and called upon both UK and Israeli government to avoid “pursuing party interests above national interest”.
He acknowledged that the illegal settlements are wrong, and that “some Israeli Ministers have engaged in hateful propagandist and incitement”, but he added: “This is not about Israel only and certainly it isn’t about simplifying the complex region into a single phrase.” Unfortunately, this is what the government intends to do.
Israel’s Foreign Minister Saar announced on Tuesday that he spoke with Tugendhat, Tory leader Kemi Bademoth and the Labour party’s hostile announcement of today’s anti-Israel policy.
The Israeli leader also announced that British personnel from the International Gaza Support Center, located in Kiryat Ghat in the south of Israel, would be withdrawn. UK training activities for Palestinian Authority Forces in Judea Samaria (the West Bank) would cease.
Isaac Herzog, President of the nation, said earlier that day the decision “would fall on the wrong sides of history”. He added: “In this context, it’d be an gross interference with the democratic election of a sovereign country.”
US Secretary of state Marco Rubio said that the White House did not comment on the action. He added, “Obviously, we aren’t going to do the same thing as the UK”.
Israel does not accept a solution with two states. Israel says that any settlement should be reached through negotiations with Palestinians and the statehood of the Palestinians is not a prerequisite.
Hamas, a Palestinian militant group that is against Israel’s existence, does not support a solution with two states.
Hamas has said that it would accept a Palestinian interim state with de facto 1967 borders without recognising Israel if the refugees had the right to go home.
Since 1967, when Israel occupied East Jerusalem and the West Bank during the Middle East War, Israel built around 160 settlements that house 700,000. Around 3.3 millions Palestinians also live with them.
Since the Gaza War, which began on October 7, 2023 after the Hamas attack against Israel triggered the war in Gaza, there has been an increase in attacks on Palestinians in the West Bank.