A US appeals court ruled on Friday that President Donald Trump's administration is not required under the US Constitution to give detained immigrants a chance to seek release on bond.

In a 10-7 ruling powered by its conservative majority, the New Orleans-based 5th US Circuit Court of Appeals decided that the Constitution's Fifth Amendment due process protections do not require that immigration detainees receive bond hearings.

"To the extent petitioners seek to vindicate a liberty interest to be free from physical restraint in the most abstract sense, they can do so at any moment by agreeing to leave the country," US Circuit Judge Cory Wilson, a Trump appointee, wrote in the decision.

The ruling, if left to stand, would eliminate a key avenue for detained migrants in the three states under the 5th Circuit's jurisdiction — Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi — to argue for release, especially if the US Supreme Court decides the administration's detention practice complies with immigration law.

The Supreme Court this month agreed to consider the issue, which has divided lower courts. Numerous lawsuits by migrants arguing they were being unlawfully detained have flooded the courts as US Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, implemented Trump's mass deportation agenda.

The Supreme Court is considering only whether such hearings are required by statute, not by the Constitution, the issue the 5th Circuit addressed with Friday's decision.

While the 5th Circuit in February had adopted the administration's reading of immigration law as requiring mandatory detention, a 2-1 panel of the court in July held that ICE could not constitutionally detain people for more than 90 days without providing hearings to argue for release on bond.

The decision, which came in lawsuits by two Mexican citizens and one Honduran, carried particular importance because Texas and Louisiana, within the 5th Circuit's jurisdiction, house the nation's largest numbers of immigration detainees.

But the full 5th Circuit agreed to rehear the case, and on Friday reversed course, concluding that detained immigrants are not constitutionally entitled to proceedings in immigration court beyond what Congress provided by statute.

"This ruling opens the door to more people being locked up for no reason, with devastating consequences for them, their loved ones and their community," Ellie Norton, a lawyer for the non-US citizens in the case at the National Immigration Project, said in a statement.

James Percival, the general counsel for the US Department of Homeland Security, in a social media post hailed what he called a "big win in the 5th Circuit on mandatory detention for illegal aliens."

Among the dissenting judges was US Circuit Judge Dana Douglas, an appointee of Democratic President Joe Biden, who wrote that "unchecked, executive authority to arrest and detain, indefinitely, echoes fearfully from history."

Time is running out to get aid into Taiz, besieged by pro-Iran Houthi fighters who are preventing supplies from reaching Yemen's third-largest city, the United Nations said Friday.

Houthi fighters have encircled Taiz since early October, blocking the road that links it to Aden, interim capital of the Saudi-backed, internationally-recognised government.

"Safe, sustained and unimpeded humanitarian access is urgently needed so that essential supplies and life-saving assistance can reach people in need," said the UN humanitarian agency OCHA.

"It's 20 days and counting since Taiz has been cut off," said OCHA spokesman Jens Laerke.

"We are seeing increasingly that the fighting makes it impossible for us to get in and impossible for people to get out," he told a press conference in Geneva.

Laerke said the dwindling water supply was a growing concern, as most residents depended on water brought in by trucks.

"With the roads closed and the diesel to run the trucks very scarce, water production in the city has fallen by about half," he said.

"The cost of the truck water has roughly tripled. You can imagine what that does to these people who are trapped there."

Laerke said that while local humanitarian groups were distributing their remaining supplies, including fuel to keep water pumps and hospitals running, "it comes with a time code: the clock is running out".

"Cooking gas is another item that is largely unavailable, and the shortage is already threatening community kitchens that provide hot meals to families," he added.

Hospitals struggling: WHO

The Houthis, from Yemen's rugged north, seized the capital Sanaa in 2014, sparking a brutal civil war with a Saudi-led coalition fighting for the government.

The civil war reignited in July, months into the US-Iran conflict that has plunged the Middle East into crisis.

The World Health Organisation said hospitals in Taiz governorate were struggling to maintain life-saving services, faced with critical shortages of fuel, oxygen, medicine and medical supplies.

"With hospital services severely disrupted and stocks running dangerously low, urgent action is needed to sustain life-saving care for thousands of patients," the UN health agency's spokesman Christian Lindmeier said.

"In Taiz city alone, 42 health facilities are reporting acute shortage," he said.

Fuel shortages were threatening oxygen production, emergency transport and vaccine cold chains, he added.

The UN children's agency UNICEF said that in Taiz alone, it had screened more than 168,000 children this year, with over 52,000 found to be acutely malnourished, including more than 11,500 suffering from severe acute malnutrition -- the worst form.

The malnutrition situation "remains extremely concerning", spokesman Ricardo Pires said.

The United States appears to be preparing to resume large-scale strikes against Iran, but there is unlikely to be a military solution for either side in the devastating conflict, experts say.

Washington and Tehran's forces have settled into a pattern of strikes on commercial ships, with the United States seeking to enforce a blockade of Iran's ports and the Islamic republic trying to exert control over the key Strait of Hormuz waterway.

Neither country has engaged in major attacks on land-based targets since early September, but that may soon change.

"I'm banking now on the likelihood of strikes shortly after the midterms," said Suzanne Maloney, director of the foreign policy program at the Brookings Institution, referring to November 3 elections in the United States.

She pointed to potential signs including the movement of additional US military assets and troops to the Middle East, warnings issued to Americans in the region, and a high alert status for Israeli forces.

Additionally, President Donald Trump "came out publicly and said that he wouldn't strike before the midterms," and "it wouldn't seem to help him at the polls to do so," Maloney said.

The US-Israeli war against Iran -- launched in late February -- is largely unpopular in the United States, especially because it has sharply driven up fuel prices, and is likely to be a drag on Trump's Republican Party in the key vote.

"Fundamentally, the situation isn't sustainable in its current state," Maloney said, noting that the US blockade is "creating greater pain for the Iranians," while Washington has a large number of naval assets tied up in enforcing it.

"There has to be some kind of a resolution, either through diplomacy or through military action," she said.

Asked about the Iran on Friday, Trump told journalists that "we could end it very quickly," but said the question is "do we want to finish it off, or... do we just want to let it wither?"

Tom Barrack, the US ambassador to Turkey and special envoy for Syria and Iraq, meanwhile said Friday that there could "absolutely" be a strike this weekend, ahead of Tuesday's Israeli elections.

'Impossible to predict' 

Jason Campbell, a senior fellow at the Middle East Institute, said there have "certainly been recent signs that renewed strikes may be in the offing," or that "the US is expecting strikes carried out by Iran" or their Houthi allies in Yemen.

He noted the planned deployment of the USS Theodore Roosevelt to the Middle East -- which could at least temporarily bring the number of carrier strike groups there to three -- as well as the decision to dispatch another Marine Expeditionary Unit to the region.

Campbell also said Israeli warplanes recently carried out a "show of force" mimicking previous strikes on Iran, and noted that US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth had met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Israel.

However, "timing here is impossible to predict," he said of renewed strikes, while noting that "this is admittedly an expansive set of actions to take if the intent is to simply pressure Iran to the negotiating table."

Campbell said Trump's options are more limited than they were earlier in the conflict, with damage to US bases in the region having made any potential ground operation more difficult.

"At this point, there is no safe place to stage the thousands (in some scenarios tens of thousands) of forces that would be required for such an operation," he said.

Maloney meanwhile said that "most of the conventional military sites (in Iran) have already been heavily degraded" by previous strikes, meaning any new campaign will likely "entail more strikes on civilian infrastructure and targets that impact the Iranian population."

But that -- or any type of military action -- is unlikely to bring about a resolution to the conflict.

"From the start... this has been a war that can't be ended with further escalation on either side," Maloney said.

Campbell agreed, saying: "I do not see how renewed strikes on Iran akin to the first fifty days of the war will move the strategic needle for the Iranian regime."

"They have demonstrated a willingness to absorb a significant amount of physical pain and even some alterations to targeting that includes key mixed or even civilian infrastructure will not significantly change this," he added.

The United Nations said Friday drone attacks in Sudan had killed more than 300 people so far in October, accusing both sides of launching such attacks, often on civilian targets.

"The increasing use of drones, already accounting for the majority of conflict-related civilian deaths in Sudan this year, is deeply disturbing and is exacting a horrifying toll," UN rights chief Volker Turk said in a statement.

"Scores of civilians have been killed and vital infrastructure and services on which they depend eviscerated, driving further displacement and deepening the already severe humanitarian crisis."

Aid workers estimate that the war between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), which erupted in April 2023, has killed more than 200,000 people.

They say the conflict has forced more than 13 million to flee their homes, creating the world's largest hunger and displacement crisis.

In the first three weeks of October, the UN Human Rights Office said it had documented at least 306 deaths and hundreds of injuries from drone strikes.

The attacks, attributed to both sides in the conflict, hit homes, markets, hospitals, displacement sites, as well as power stations and water sources, it added.

Civilian sites attacked

The office said that a strike on a transport truck Sunday had killed at least 139 people and wounded dozens more in Al-Dibab town in the southwestern RSF-controlled state of West Kordofan.

On Tuesday, AFP gave the death toll as 80.

The UN rights office also highlighted a "particularly disturbing trend" of drone attacks on displacement camps.

Between October 6 and 10, drone strikes on displacement shelters in Ghubeish and El Nuhud in West Kordofan, attributed to the SAF, killed at least 25 civilians, it said.

On October 9 in Abu Shendi in Blue Nile state, a suspected RSF drone struck just outside a displacement camp, near an informal gold mining site.

A person involved in burying the victims told AFP that 26 women and four children had been killed.

Suspected RSF drones hit the Bajaun gold mining area in Gadeer, South Kordofan this month, killing 42 civilians, the rights office said.

"Attacks on gold mining areas are tied to the war economy sustaining the conflict," it said.

Markets are being hit with drones "with alarming regularity", it said, citing three recent strikes that reportedly killed 23 civilians.

Turk called again for both sides to commit to a ceasefire.

"Broader peace efforts must squarely address the continued influx of arms that is fuelling the conflict and press for an end to the transfer of arms that are used in manifest disregard of the international humanitarian law obligations protecting civilians," he said.

Reports of increased Israeli drone activity over Beirut and its southern suburbs have raised questions about whether Israel is preparing for a new escalation against Hezbollah.

But while the flights have become more conspicuous in recent days, analysts told The New Arab that their presence alone does not establish that a wider offensive is imminent.

A report by local Lebanese news outlet Lebanon Files said Israeli reconnaissance flights had "returned" to Beirut and Mount Lebanon’s airspace. However, there is no publicly available evidence establishing that the flights had stopped before recently becoming more noticeable.

Israeli drones have continued to be reported over Beirut and its southern suburbs in recent months, including in reports published in September and footage circulated this week.

The question, therefore, is not simply whether the drones are present, but whether there has been a meaningful change in the frequency, duration or scope of their operations.

Surveillance and pressure on Hezbollah

Elijah J. Magnier, a veteran war correspondent and political analyst, told The New Arab that the activity should be taken seriously, while cautioning against treating visible drone flights as evidence of an imminent attack.

"Local reporting today documented a drone flying at low altitude over the southern suburbs. That establishes a visible presence; it does not, by itself, establish a sustained increase in surveillance or an imminent offensive," he said in comments to The New Arab on 21 October.

Magnier said Israeli drone flights could serve several purposes at once, including gathering intelligence, updating potential targets, monitoring movements and exerting psychological pressure on residents. A conspicuous presence over the capital can also serve as a reminder of Israel’s ability to strike south of Beirut.

If Israel were preparing another operation, surveillance could help it locate commanders, monitor weapons movements and identify suspected military infrastructure. But Magnier stressed that these remained possible objectives rather than evidence of a decision to launch an attack.

"Nor does identifying a target establish that a political decision to strike has been taken," he said. Without comparative flight data or intelligence about operational orders, he added, it was difficult to distinguish routine surveillance from preparations for a particular attack.

Nasser Khdour, an analyst at the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project (ACLED), also said Israeli drone activity over Beirut was not new.

"Israel has continued gathering intelligence and identifying possible targets in preparation for another round of fighting," he told The New Arab.

Khdour suggested the more conspicuous drone presence was likely intended to increase pressure on Hezbollah and the Lebanese government during negotiations between Lebanon and Israel, with the Iran-backed militant group’s disarmament remaining a central point of disagreement.

The latest round of US-mediated military talks between Lebanese and Israeli delegations began in Tampa, Florida, on 20 October. The talks came amid continued Israeli attacks and demolitions in southern Lebanon, as well as renewed threats by Israeli officials against Hezbollah.

Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz has warned Hezbollah against joining Iran in an attack on Israel, threatening a "powerful response" against Beirut’s southern suburbs, which would include a forced evacuation of the whole area. He has also threatened to expand the invasion towards Nabatieh and the Litani River in the south.

Hezbollah has refused to disarm as long as Israeli forces remain in Lebanon.

Could tensions with Iran draw Hezbollah into a wider war?

The risk of escalation also extends beyond Lebanon. With Israel’s general election scheduled for 27 October, renewed threats involving Iran have added another layer of uncertainty to the regional picture.

Magnier said electoral considerations were relevant to the analysis, but cautioned against presenting speculation about a war being launched for political reasons as an established plan. He said there was no publicly established evidence that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu intended to initiate a war to disrupt an election he expected to lose.

A renewed confrontation between Israel and Iran could, however, create a separate decision point for Hezbollah. Magnier said the group’s involvement would become a more serious possibility in such a scenario, but would remain a choice rather than an automatic consequence.

He also cautioned against assuming that Hezbollah’s weakened deterrence meant it had no remaining military capabilities. The group could seek to preserve its personnel and organisational structure while continuing to impose costs on Israel over time, rather than responding to every attack with a major escalation.

That calculation could change, he added, if civilian casualties mounted, senior leaders were targeted or Israel expanded its ground operations.

The conflict between Hezbollah and Israel began in October 2023 and was dramatically escalated by Israel into a full-scale war in September 2024. Fighting resumed on 2 March this year, alongside the US-Israeli war on Iran. Much of Hezbollah’s senior command structure has been eliminated over the past three years, and thousands of its fighters are believed to have been killed.

The drone flights therefore need to be viewed alongside the wider military and political context, rather than in isolation. Israel’s continued strikes, its threats against Beirut’s southern suburbs and the unresolved dispute over Hezbollah’s weapons all contribute to an already volatile situation.

For Magnier, the distinction remains between sustained pressure and a decision to launch a broader campaign. The visible presence of drones demonstrates Israel’s ability to monitor and threaten Hezbollah and its stronghold in Beirut's southern suburbs, but it does not reveal what Israeli leaders intend to do next.

"The drone flights show exposure and pressure. They do not yet tell us whether the next step will be surveillance, a targeted strike or a wider campaign," he said.

Tehran has drawn up detailed plans to target undersea communications cables in the Gulf if the United States and Israel attack Iran again, two senior Iranian security officials told Reuters.

Their comments followed warnings by Iranian officials that undersea cables in the region could become targets in any renewed conflict if diplomacy with Washington collapses.

The two Iranian security officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, gave few details and did not say how or where exactly Tehran would carry out such attacks. But one of them said Iran would aim to prevent repairs after any attacks to prolong disruptions to communications, including internet connections.

"If Iran is attacked, there will be no more red lines ... from undersea cables to military bases, including covert ones," one of the officials said.

The official warned Washington not to "play with fire", and said Iran had full access to the undersea cables and could easily destroy them.

Yadollah Javani, the deputy head of political affairs for Iran's Revolutionary Guards (IRGC), said on Wednesday that Iran could target seven major internet cables beneath the Strait of Hormuz if Iranian infrastructure came under attack.

Undersea cables carry around 99% of global internet traffic, according to the International Telecommunication Union, a UN agency. But the global impact of such attacks by Iran could be limited as less than 1% of international bandwidth passes through the Strait of Hormuz, said Alan Mauldin, research director at telecommunications research firm TeleGeography.

The strait separates Iran and Oman, linking the Gulf to the Gulf of Oman and Arabian Sea.

The US Department of State and Iran's Foreign Ministry did not respond to Reuters' requests for comment on the Iranian security officials' remarks. There was no immediate comment from Gulf states.

'Stronger response'

The plans for possible attacks on undersea cables reflect a conviction in Iran's ​leadership that a renewed US military campaign would have to be met with a stronger response than before.

Top security official Mohsen Rezaei warned this month that US-linked digital infrastructure across the Gulf, including data centres and AI facilities, could be targeted in a renewed conflict.

Washington's Gulf allies have invested heavily in such infrastructure and they "should hold Washington, not Tehran, responsible for any damage to undersea cables," the second Iranian security official said.

Alex Vatanka, director of the Iran program at the Middle East Institute in Washington, said such threats were intended to deter renewed conflict and put pressure on Washington by making Gulf governments and US companies fear for their investments in the region.

"Tehran wants Gulf states and corporate executives to press (US President Donald) Trump over the risks his policies pose to their investment plans," said Vatanka.

Multiple cable cuts could slow internet services and disrupt financial transactions, e-commerce and cloud computing, analysts said. The impact would depend on how operators rerouted traffic and the capacity available on alternative connections, Mauldin said.

Restoring connections during wartime could be difficult, experts said, and higher insurance costs and delays in obtaining permits to enter territorial waters could further complicate repairs.

The Red Sea could offer a more significant target than the Strait of Hormuz, particularly if Iran had support from its Houthi allies in Yemen, though Tehran has made no public statement indicating it plans to target cables there.

The Red Sea carries data between Europe, East Africa and Asia, with capacity routed through it accounting for about 3% of global international demand and around 10% of traffic travelling between regions, Mauldin said.

Gulf governments have been investing heavily in technology to diversify beyond oil and become global artificial intelligence hubs, deepening ties with US technology firms.

Iranian strikes directly hit two Amazon Web Services facilities in the UAE in March and damaged infrastructure near one of its facilities in Bahrain. The IRGC named US tech companies including Microsoft, Google, Apple and Nvidia as legitimate targets at the height of the war in March.

Land-based connections can provide alternative routes for internet traffic, and Gulf states and US technology companies are investing in additional infrastructure to improve resilience.

Microsoft plans to invest more than $400 million in subsea and terrestrial connectivity across the Middle East by 2030.

Authorities on the Thai island of Koh Phangan have revoked an Israeli woman’s visa following reports of alleged misconduct and aggressive behaviour on several occasions while she was working there. 

The woman, identified as 33-year-old Ensav Ashual, was accused of directing abusive remarks and using offensive language towards authorities, according to The Bangkok Post, which cited a committee reportedly established to monitor the behaviour of foreigners on the island of Koh Samui. 

Ashual also allegedly refused to pay for accommodation and entrance fees at Than Sadet Ko Phangan National Park, known for its wildlife, the newspaper reported. 

The committee responsible for her case did not explicitly identify the type of visa Ashual held. 

She is reported to have worked on Koh Phangan as an art therapist and breathwork guide, although it has not been independently confirmed whether she held a work visa.  

Israeli nationals can visit Thailand visa-free for tourism for up to 30 days, but this exemption does not permit them to work. 

Ashual is the third Israeli national on Koh Phangan to have had her visa revoked. Ten foreign nationals on the island have had their visas withdrawn since January this year. 

The latest incident comes amid growing anger in Thailand over a series of incidents involving Israeli tourists since the outbreak of Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza on 7 October 2023. 

Thailand, along with other Southeast Asian countries, has become a popular destination for Israeli travellers, including many former soldiers.  

Reports have documented Israeli military veterans travelling in the region after their service, including individuals who took part in Israel's onslaught on Gaza, where more than 74,000 Palestinians have been killed since 2023.

Critics in Thailand have raised concerns about alleged illegal land acquisition, breaches of local laws and behaviour perceived as disrespectful towards local communities. 

Despite maintaining warm relations with Israel, the Thai government has raised concerns with Israeli officials, stressing that Israeli nationals must respect the country’s laws and culture. 

In September, Thai Foreign Minister Sihasak Phuangketkeow said he had held a “frank discussion” with Israeli Ambassador Alona Fisher-Kamm about concerns involving some Israeli nationals.  

These included businesspeople suspected of using Thai nominees to circumvent foreign ownership restrictions, as well as tourists accused of causing friction with local communities on Koh Phangan, Koh Samui and Phuket. 

“Thailand is a country that welcomes tourists, but at the same time, that doesn’t mean tourists, regardless of nationality, can do whatever they want,” Sihasak told reporters at a press briefing in Bangkok following the meeting. 

He stressed that visitors must “respect Thai traditions, culture and local ways of life”, adding that Thailand would enforce its laws against foreign nationals regardless of nationality. 

Fisher-Kamm acknowledged the concerns and agreed to step up efforts to inform Israeli visitors about appropriate conduct in Thailand, Sihasak said. 

The New Arab contacted the Israeli embassy in Thailand and the Department of South Asian, Middle East and African Affairs under Thailand’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs for comment, but did not receive a response by the time of publication. 

Israeli arrivals in Thailand have increased in recent years, with more than 277,000 recorded in the first eight months of 2026 - a 7% rise compared with the same period last year. This followed a reported 45% increase in 2024. 

Growing criticism has also fuelled local protests, with members of the Thai public condemning recent incidents.  

The Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement in Thailand has called on the government to stop sending Thai migrant workers to Israel, to screen Israeli tourists, and arrest those suspected of war crimes.  

It has also urged Thailand to end arms trading and military agreements with Israel, impose sanctions, and ultimately sever diplomatic relations. 

Late last month, Thai authorities announced an investigation into as many as nine Jewish centres, known as Chabad houses, across the country. 

The investigation has brought renewed attention to the Chabad-Lubavitch movement, a global Jewish religious movement headquartered in the United States.

Scores of people gathered in several parts of Tunisia’s capital late on Thursday to protest the killing of two people in separate security incidents as well as deteriorating living conditions.

The protests grew and quickly turned into clashes with security forces, while police used tear gas to disperse protesters.

The violence spilled out into the Ettadhamen neighbourhood of Tunis, as people expressed anger over the death of a man who was arrested by police on suspicion of drug dealing.

However, his family said he was subjected to violence at the hands of the police, causing his death, and demanded that those responsible for his killing be held accountable.

Local media have reported that the man died after swallowing drugs.

The protesters blocked roads in the neighbourhood, set alight rubber tyres and threw stones at security forces.

According to local media, security forces were deployed to the area when the clashes broke out.

In the south of the country, clashes broke out in the town of Jebniana, following the death of a man whose relatives say died during a police chase.

Protesters set fire to a police vehicle, while further clashes took place in the nearby city of Agareb.

Elsewhere in the Sfax governorate, students demonstrated against a student dying from a heart attack, with many accusing ambulance crews of being slow to respond. The protest shortly after grew into a bigger demonstration against the lack of medical facilities in the country.

University students have since called for a strike across higher education institutions on Friday.

The developments come amid a worsening economic, social and political crisis in Tunisia, as well as escalating public anger over worsening living conditions and declining public services.

Last week, thousands of Tunisians took part in a large-scale demonstration in the capital, which has been determined to be the largest in the country against President Kais Saied in years.

Protesters accuse him of undermining democracy and failing to manage the economic crisis in the country.

Human rights activists have also highlighted his expansion of his powers in 2021 and 2022, the dissolving parliament, and dismissing dozens of judges. They have also documented authorities increasingly clamping down on civil society and journalists.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to carry out collective punishment against a Palestinian neighbourhood in the city of Hebron after an attack on an Israeli army checkpoint in the occupied West Bank killed two soldiers.

Speaking during a visit to the city with Defence Minister Israel Katz, Netanyahu said: "First of all, we will act to destroy this place, to change it completely."

"But we are going to do something that has not been done until now: We will implement the successful and aggressive model we used in the refugee camps, which are essentially terrorist strongholds," he added, according to the Times of Israel.

Netanyahu's comments refer to Israel's policy of forcibly expelling thousands of Palestinians from several northern West Bank refugee camps, including Jenin, Tulkarm and Nur Shams, that occurred in early 2025, with around 33,000 being expelled.

Laying out the plan for the neighbourhood, Netanyahu said: "We will evacuate the residents, we will go house to house, we will remove the weapons there as well, and all the terrorist infrastructure will be dealt with and destroyed."

He added that the Israeli military would carry out a major operation in the occupied West Bank, the largest since it first occupied the area following the 1967 war when it first took control of the area.

The announcement comes in response to the killing of two Israeli soldiers and wounding three others at an Israeli army checkpoint in the occupied West Bank, with two Palestinian gunmen also killed in the incident.

Israel Katz confirmed Netanyahu's comments, saying "the Jenin refugee camp model arrives in Hebron."

The attack comes days before Israel's Knesset elections that could see the formation of a new government, with polling suggesting that both the pro-Netanyahu and opposition bloc led by Gadi Eisenkot are both under the threshold to form a majority government, with many politicians putting out statements on the incident.

Zizette Darkazally, an Associate Fellow at Chatham House's Middle East and North Africa Programme, told The New Arab that the reactions from Israel's politicians confirm the preexisting positions that they already held.

This includes Bezalel Smotrich, the far-right finance minister who also oversees Israel's military occupation in the West Bank, who announced he had already ordered the destruction of several buildings near the site of the shooting, and approved new farms in the area of Masafer Yatta, where Palestinian residents have long fought against Israeli attempts to destroy Palestinian homes.

Far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir also weighed in, again calling for the government to dismantle the Palestinian Authority that governs parts of the West Bank, while opposition politicians Eisenkot, Naftali Bennett, and Yair Golan praised the Israeli military's response.

Darkazally said that Netanyahu's announced policies were an attempt to exploit the attack to gain more votes and further his self-proclaimed image as 'Mr Security', but that it's unlikely to change the base of voters between the two blocs.

"I don't think the attack will change votes of the base in any of the two blocs," she said, adding, "most of the 'undecided' at this stage are undecided within the same camp, meaning that they are undecided between parties in the same bloc", Darkazally said.

‘Restrictions on top of restrictions’

Restrictions announced by Netanyahu have immediately come into effect, according to Amir Daoud, Director of Publishing and Documentation at the Colonisation and Wall Resistance Commission, who told The New Arab that the city has been cordoned off, with preparations for wider closures occurring across the West Bank.

Hebron is the largest city in the occupied West Bank, with 250,000 Palestinians calling it home.

Daoud noted that these restrictions come on top of the plethora of restrictions, checkpoints, and barriers that are already in place across the area that impede freedom of movement for its three million Palestinian residents.

"According to the latest figures documented by the Colonisation and Wall Resistance Commission, there were 942 movement obstacles across the West Bank as of September 2026," he said, adding that "these restrictions have transformed Palestinian movement between cities, villages and communities into a process controlled by Israeli military decisions."

Israel's ever-tightening policies in the occupied West Bank have occurred in conjunction with its expansion of settlements and parallel infrastructure allowing them freedom of movement across the territory.

The policy, which rights groups have labelled apartheid, comes alongside an uptick in settler terror attacks against Palestinians that have escalated dramatically since the start of Israel's genocide in Gaza.

Daoud said that the restrictions mean Palestinians will be unable to reach their jobs or get medical treatment, with farmers losing access to land and markets to sell produce. This is set to impact the olive harvest season, already disrupted by widespread settler violence.

Medical Aid for Palestinians warned on Friday that, following announced restrictions and an Israeli military escalation in the occupied West Bank, its staff are reporting increased obstacles to reaching Palestinians in need of care.

The aid group noted that settler attacks in the village of Umm Safa, north of Ramallah, illustrate the risks posed to Palestinians amid the heightened security.

Aseel Baidoun, the group's Deputy Director of Advocacy and Communications in the West Bank, warned that both settler attacks and ministerial threats of collective punishment and forcible displacement meant "the risk of atrocity crimes is acute." 

There is also a risk of these measures becoming permanent, adding to the layers of restrictions that already impact life in the occupied West Bank.

"Our concern is that measures initially introduced as temporary security responses frequently become prolonged restrictions or are incorporated into the existing system of military control," Daoud told The New Arab.

“From our perspective, the fundamental issue is the cumulative effect of these measures,” he said, adding, “what we are witnessing is not merely a temporary interruption of movement, but the continued consolidation of a system in which freedom of movement is increasingly treated as an exception rather than a basic right.”

The United Arab Emirates reported an oil spill from a tanker off its coast on Friday, as vessels in Gulf waters come under attack during the Middle East war.

Frequent attacks on ships have been reported in recent weeks near the Strait of Hormuz, at the heart of the conflict between Iran and the United States.

The authorities "detected a tanker oil spill affecting Umm Al Quwain's beaches," the Ministry of Climate Change and Environment said in a statement, referring to an emirate north of Dubai.

It said "teams immediately began containment, cordoning, clean-up and remediation... to limit environmental impacts," adding that the emirate's beaches had been closed.

Access to the area in Umm Al Quwain was restricted by police, AFP journalists who went there said.

The neighbouring emirate of Sharjah also closed one beach, Al Hamriyah, "as a proactive precautionary measure", the local government said.

Satellite images analysed by AFP showed a hydrocarbon slick on October 19 surrounding a vessel, likely the tanker GEM NO.2, located about 20 kilometres (12 miles) off the coast of Umm Al Quwain.

Images from October 21, analysed by Wim Zwijnenburg from Dutch NGO PAX, revealed a slick about 40 kilometres long and covering an area of 190 square kilometres, stretching to just six kilometres from shore.

The British maritime security agency UKMTO reported on October 9 that a vessel had been hit by a projectile off the UAE coast, causing a fire that was later brought under control.

Maritime security company Vanguard also identified the vessel as the oil tanker GEM NO.2, sailing under a Panamanian flag.

Owned by Taiwan's Global Energy Maritime, the ship loaded 2 million barrels of oil in early March from a Saudi port.

Since then, it has been regularly transferring cargo with other ships along the Emirati and Omani coasts near the Strait of Hormuz, according to tracking data from maritime company Kpler.

The images do not make it possible to determine whether it is thick crude oil or "a thin light oil sheen," Zwijnenburg said.

"If it is crude oil, then it is a serious pollution risk as this will end up on the beaches, affect marine ecosystems, including birds and turtles that can get stuck," he said.

"If it is a light oil sheen and mostly diluted oil, the hope is that it evaporates fast, and (you) only have short-term risks," Zwijnenburg added.

Foul odours 

Many residents in the north of the country have reported chemical smells on social media in recent days, including residents in northern districts of Dubai, the largest city in the UAE.

"For the past two days it smelled like 10 gas stations spilled their gas everywhere," a Sharjah resident told AFP, asking to remain anonymous.

"I was on my balcony and panicked thinking gas was leaking in my house and I will blow up everyone."

The UAE says the odours "pose no health risks to residents".

Beyond efforts to contain the oil spill, "monitoring and assessing its environmental impact will also be essential to protecting marine ecosystems and the communities that depend on them," Inesaf Benzaki, campaigns lead at Greenpeace MENA, told AFP.

Since the start of the Middle East war in February with US-Israeli strikes on Iran, Tehran has claimed control over the Strait of Hormuz and regularly targets ships that transit there without its authorisation.

Washington, in response, has imposed a blockade on Iranian ports and escorts tankers through the passageway.

Some fifteen years ago, I was lucky enough to be in Palestine during the olive harvest season. So much about what I saw on that visit was overwhelmingly sad and infuriating. The ugly infrastructure of apartheid was everywhere—the huge concrete apartheid wall with the looming Israeli sniper towers, checkpoints seemingly at every turn, menacing armed soldiers and hilltops dotted with settlements. But a visit with farmers in a village outside Jenin felt like stepping into an alternate universe, full of joy and beauty.

Multiple generations of Palestinian families all gathered together in varying degrees of work and play. Teenagers, usually glued to their mobile phones, were getting gentle lessons from their elders on the best way to shake the tree branches to loosen the crop. Joyful toddlers waddled around their grandmothers and mothers, who made tea while chatting and preparing the freshest, most delicious bread I’ve ever eaten, filled with fresh cheese and za’atar.

If you could train your eyes on this scene, you could imagine, for a moment, what a free Palestine might look and sound like.

The olive harvest season is not just a time for Palestinians families to gather and celebrate their heritage. It is traditionally the economic lifeblood of Palestine, already under significant pressure because of decades of Israel’s land grabs, not to mention restrictions on exports which benefit Israeli settlers and harm Palestine’s indigenous olive economy under occupation.

The olive harvest used to be a significant part of the economy in the Gaza Strip, where olive trees are now largely a memory of a time past, before endless expanses of rubble dominated the terrain.

A site of existential threat

In recent years, on top of the ordinary hardship of occupation, the olive harvest in the West Bank has increasingly been hit with violence and danger. Gone are the days when the olive groves could offer a glimpse of a possible future life — now they are a site of existential threat and fear.

The UN reported that last week, the official week starting the olive harvest, saw nearly 200 settler attacks across the expanse of the West Bank, with casualties, property damage or both, including damage to 2,500 trees and saplings. This is already more than the 185 comparable incidents recorded during the entire olive harvest season last year in 2025, which was already the worst many could remember.

These settler attacks don’t come out of nowhere. UN human rights experts raised alarm that the Israeli military had issued orders in September for the removal of vegetation, including provisions to uproot olive trees, from approximately 339,000 square metres (84 acres) of Palestinian agricultural land in the West Bank.

In what has now become a predictable pattern, the Israeli military provided a blueprint for settler attacks on the olive harvest through its policies. It is the same military, of course, which provides armed cover for the settlers when they wage their violent attacks.

When Palestinians report that the settlers and the army are working hand in hand, this is what they mean.

News footage from Palestine this week shows this starkly. Farmers work as quickly as possible before the mobs of settlers arrive, armed with clubs or worse. For Palestinian farmers, the thought of bringing family members who aren’t able to work quickly is unimaginable now, because of the looming danger in every minute.

The settler attacks are ruthless and don’t spare any man, woman or child. Mainstream news outlets globally showed videos last weekend of settlers beating and attacking a Washington Post journalist covering the West Bank, as well as European diplomats who had been on an official visit. One journalist who tried to help his colleague reported the difficulty of reaching her. This was not only because of the settlers, but also because the Israeli military was firing tear gas and live ammunition into the area, forcing the Palestinian farmers to flee their own fields.

You don’t need much more information to guess that if that is how white Americans and Europeans are being treated, Palestinians are confronted with violence that is ten times worse.

Weaknesses in the UK government’s response

Here in Britain, Israel’s colonial settlements have had more media exposure in the past few months than possibly ever before, as the British government announced new measures last month to ban the import of settlement goods and some limited sanctions, along with other measures designed to curb the actions of what Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband called “settler terrorists”.

Whilst these measures are certainly a step in the right direction, they don’t go nearly as far as they should. This month’s spike in attacks on Palestinians harvesting their olives shows both the weaknesses of the British sanctions as they are currently formulated, but also the possibilities that could be pushed if the government is serious about tackling settler violence.

The weakness of the British government’s position is that it has rhetoric that is tough on settler violence but treats that phenomenon as its own isolated problem. Understanding the inextricable link between the settler movement, the colonial settlements already established for decades, and Israel’s military occupation itself is key to intervening in the violence.

The settlers couldn’t function as they do without the full-throated support they enjoy from the Israeli military. And despite commitments to curb the flow of arms that enable the occupation, no additional arms exports to Israel have been halted since Miliband’s announcement last month.

The problem goes even further if one understands the link between the settler movement and the Israeli government itself. The British government seems to be still entertaining the fantasy that the settler movement can be isolated and treated separately from the Israeli state.

Of course it is the Israeli state itself which, over decades and across parties, has enacted policy and funded the settlements. Nowadays top Israeli government ministers come directly from the far-right settler movement, but this is a result of decades of normalisation of settlements, rather than the start of it.

Even if you could magically remove the far-right settler movement in isolation, many of Israel’s earliest West Bank settlements are now major hubs of the Israeli agricultural industry. They profit from land grabs from Palestinians, enriching themselves from Palestinian land and water, and dominating the exports of produce abroad, whilst Palestinian olive farmers struggle, and still would even without the violent settler attacks.

In order to really tackle settler violence, the British government must extend its sanctions proposal to be state sanctions on Israel. There is no separating out the settlements from the state, and there is no legitimate trade with a state committing apartheid and genocide.

These sanctions must include, but not be limited to, a full two-way arms embargo on Israel.

Stemming from this, the tasks of the solidarity movement are clear. We must continue to push the British government to strengthen its sanctions on Israel, through lobbying and protesting, but also by exposing the contradictions in what is currently in place.

None of these actions will stop the horror of settler attacks during this olive harvest season. The coming month will be a painful time for Palestinians who are being forced to defend themselves, their families, their livelihoods and their lands.

Whilst political debates within our solidarity movement rage on, certainly we can all agree that we absolutely cannot lose sight of the stakes for Palestinians, and the horrible costs they are paying every day. But this urgency must compel our solidarity forward to push our government to enact full sanctions on Israel now.

Ryvka Barnard is the Deputy Director of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign UK.

Have questions or comments? Email us at: editorial-english@newarab.com

Opinions expressed here are the author's own, and do not necessarily reflect those of their employer, or of The New Arab and its editorial board or staff.

Determined to bring home gold and make her family and country proud, Fatima Hassan stepped into the ring for the final fight of the Muay Thai world championships in Kosovo last month.

Despite feeling unwell, the 27-year-old Lebanese fighter from Baalbek pushed through and launched a relentless attack in the final round. With just 30 seconds left, she delivered the decisive blow to secure her second gold medal of the competition.

Fatima had already won gold in the technical discipline before claiming the title in the main Muay Thai competition, making her the first Lebanese athlete to achieve the double at the IFMA Senior Muay Thai World Championships.

But the medals meant far more to her than sporting success. They represented years of dedication, her family's support, and her determination to prove that women can thrive in a sport long dominated by men.

"Honestly, I'd never been as happy as I was then. I'd worked towards this dream for so long," Fatima tells The New Arab. 

Discovering what she loved

Fatima's father introduced her to sport at a young age, encouraged her to try different activities, and taught her the basics of self-defence. She eventually joined a gym near his workplace, where she discovered Muay Thai.

"I didn't really know much about it at the time. They told me it was a nice sport and encouraged me to try it. I went, tried it and loved it," she continues. 

At first, she had no ambitions to compete. She simply enjoyed training, but her coaches soon noticed her skills and encouraged her to enter her first competition.

"It hadn't even crossed my mind. I wasn't interested in fighting or hitting people. I didn't like that sort of thing," she recalls. 

Her father encouraged her to try it, and after watching another Lebanese female fighter compete, Fatima decided to take the plunge.

She won all three of her first fights, giving her the confidence to pursue Muay Thai more seriously.

But not everyone understood her choice.

As a woman who wears the hijab, Fatima encountered comments from people who considered combat sports unsuitable for girls.

"As long as my father was happy with what I was doing and supporting me, I didn't care what society said or what anyone else thought," Fatima says.

"People would say it was a sport for boys, that I was behaving like a boy, or ask how I could play such a sport when it wasn't meant for girls. But none of it affected me. I loved the sport, and that was what mattered."

Her family's acceptance also took time. Initially uncomfortable with the idea of her competing, they gradually came to understand the sport as they watched her train and fight.

Today, she says, they are among her biggest supporters.

Two gold medals

Fatima's road to the world championships was not straightforward. She had stopped competing for three years because of injuries, although she continued to train and teach Muay Thai.

When the opportunity to compete in Kosovo came along, she knew it was a chance to fulfil a dream she had pursued for years.

Despite her experience, she had only three months to prepare specifically for the tournament.

She worked with several coaches, sought help from a physiotherapist and a doctor, and focused on preparing mentally to return to competition.

She also followed a strict routine, running every day and keeping up with her exercises.

"I went there feeling comfortable and confident. I knew I wanted to come back with an achievement that reflected all the work I'd put in. I kept telling myself that I was going to compete, win and come back with the result I wanted," she tells The New Arab.

Fatima competed in two disciplines: the technical competition and traditional Muay Thai, the main IFMA discipline.

The technical category, in which she competed for the first time, focuses on speed, movement, and technique rather than full-force contact.

She secured her first gold medal there. But the moment she stepped up to receive it stayed with her most.

"When I saw the Lebanese flag being raised, it was a completely different feeling. I actually started crying. I felt such pride. I can't really explain what went through me, but I remember thinking: I want to experience this feeling again in the main competition," she says. 

The next day, she entered the main competition with a second gold medal in sight.

Friends and family back home followed her progress, while Lebanese and Arab supporters in Kosovo gathered to cheer on their athletes.

Fatima was also unwell. She had been sick for the three days leading up to the final, with a cough and difficulty breathing.

With each fight consisting of three three-minute rounds, she feared her condition could affect her performance.

"I knew this was my dream, and I was so close to achieving it. This was my last fight, and I had the chance to win a gold medal and make history for Lebanon," she shares. 

When she entered the ring, she put her trust in God and focused on the fight. She spent the first round assessing her opponent before becoming more aggressive in the second.

"I was exhausted and struggling to breathe, but I wasn't thinking about that. My mind was focused on winning. The adrenaline was carrying me through."

By the third round, Fatima had decided she needed to finish the fight. Seeing her opponent struggle, she kept attacking, landing powerful punches until she knocked her out with about 30 seconds remaining.

"I had fought over the previous four or five days, competing every day, and I had made it all the way to the final. I told myself that this last fight had to be mine, and I did it," she says.

The two gold medals culminated years of training, setbacks, and a dream she refused to abandon.

"Honestly, I'd never been as happy as I was then. I'd worked towards this dream for so long," she says.

"This was the final dream I had set for myself: winning a world championship."

The physical toll became clear after the fight. Fatima said she struggled to breathe for around three and a half hours after leaving the ring and remained unwell for about a week.

But her focus had been on bringing two gold medals home to Lebanon.

Fighting for recognition

For Fatima, the achievement also highlighted the challenges women athletes in Lebanon face, where she says support remains scarce and male athletes tend to receive more recognition.

"There is practically no support. If someone is able to support themselves, or if they find someone willing to support them, that's already a very good thing," she says.

"I have to be strong and fight for every single achievement I make. And I'm not just talking about one fight. I have to fight for everything."

She believes women are just as capable as men, but their achievements are too often overlooked.

"Look at what I've achieved. No male athlete has done what I've done in this particular category. A woman has achieved it. I'm the first Lebanese athlete to do this, and I think people should pay attention to that. Why shouldn't they recognise women as well?"

Fatima hopes her success will encourage other girls to pursue their ambitions without allowing social expectations or fear of criticism to hold them back.

"I want girls to believe in themselves and have confidence in themselves. Set yourself a goal and pursue your dream," she shares. 

"Whatever you do, people will criticise you. But when you succeed, everyone will applaud you and celebrate your achievement. So go after your dream and work towards it. Believe in yourself, have confidence, and give yourself the strength you need. If you do that, I promise you, you will achieve incredible things."

A win for Lebanon

Fatima's achievement carries particular meaning against the backdrop of years of conflict and uncertainty in Lebanon. She says many young people have struggled to imagine a future for themselves amid the country's difficulties.

"We've all felt at times that we can't do anything anymore, that we can't achieve our dreams or build our futures. I think all of us young people, girls and boys, have felt that," she tells The New Arab. 

We're trying to pursue our dreams, our goals and our futures, but then everything comes to a standstill because of what's happening in the country," she adds. 

Fatima says she eventually stopped following the news as closely, choosing instead to concentrate on her training and future.

"Despite everything we've been going through, I continued training and working towards my goals," she says.

"When I stood there and received the medals, I was overwhelmed. I tried not to cry because there were cameras around, but I felt that Lebanon deserved this. There is so much talent in Lebanon, and we are capable of achieving so much."

Looking ahead, Fatima hopes to fight one or two professional bouts, potentially competing for a title belt, before ending her competitive career.

She also plans to focus on architecture and develop her own gym, where she hopes to train a new generation of young fighters.

Louay Faour is a journalist at The New Arab focusing largely on the Levant, with a particular interest in Lebanese affairs

Follow him on X: @LouayFaour

A multi-storey building collapsed mid-construction in the Kenyan capital on Friday, with many feared trapped in the rubble and accusations of dangerous building work.

Videos shared online showed a dramatic crash and huge clouds of dust as the building -- thought to have been around 18 storeys high -- came down in the densely populated business and residential area of Eastleigh.

The building was reduced to a pile of rubble as search and rescue teams arrived on the scene, but struggled to start accessing the site which was jammed between other high-rise buildings.

Police said they had already rescued one woman from the rubble, and could hear the voice of another.

"There are lots of people trapped here," Bibiye Mahmoud, president of the Institution of Engineering Technology of Kenya, told AFP at the site of the disaster.

"The contractors and the engineers are supposed to ensure that the works are followed by professionals. But most are not. This is why we are seeing these catastrophes... There is no accountability," she added.

Kenya's National Building Inspectorate report found that 87 percent of buildings audited nationwide last year failed to meet standards or lacked the required approvals.

"Our concern is to save lives," Nairobi Governor Johnson Sakaja told reporters, adding: "This building has no occupation certificate...this has potentially cost lives."

An occupation certificate is essentially the authority's formal sign-off that a building is safe and legally fit to be occupied.

John Ogallo, vice-president of the Institution of Engineers of Kenya, who was also at the site, said there were warning signs about the building.

"People here are saying distresses were observed, like cracks," before it collapsed, he told reporters.

If you build with the wrong materials, "it becomes a time bomb," he added.

Nairobi is undergoing a rapid construction boom, with high-rise buildings appearing all over the city, particularly in Eastleigh which is known for its busy market areas and as a hub for the Somali community.

Local media reported looting immediately after the collapse, which happened around lunchtime. AFP saw police use tear gas to disperse crowds gathering near the site.

There have been many concerns over safety over the years.

There were 86 building collapses between 2009 and 2019 in Nairobi, killing an estimated 200 people, according to a report by the Kenya Institute for Public Policy Research and Analysis.

The number of buildings completed annually in Nairobi has risen from 20,025 in 2022 to 25,090 last year, according to its statistics bureau, as east Africa's leading business hub sucks in people from rural areas and neighbouring countries.

Corruption has allowed contractors to cut corners or bypass regulations.

Five people were killed when a six-storey building collapsed in a town on the outskirts of Nairobi in September 2022.

In April 2016, 49 people were killed when a six-floor apartment building crumbled in the northeast of the capital after days of heavy rain caused floods and landslides.

Algeria has instructed urea producers to stop exporting the fertiliser to France in an intensification of trade curbs that have followed a diplomatic rift between Algeria and its former colonial ruler, according to diplomats and industry sources.

Ties between Paris and Algiers, which have been complicated for decades, deteriorated in 2024 when French President Emmanuel Macron backed a plan for autonomy for the Western Sahara region under Moroccan sovereignty.

The two countries sought to repair relations last year, even at one point declaring that the relationship was back to normal, but the ties have since soured again.

Information about a halt to urea exports emerged early last week and could put at risk Algerian supplies that account for around 30% of French urea imports, French fertiliser industry association Afcome and wheat growers group AGPB said.

Three diplomats also said they were aware of an instruction by Algeria to suspend urea shipments to France. They were among six French and European diplomats who also said that Algiers had in late July imposed a near-blanket ban on French imports.

The diplomats requested anonymity to discuss the issue.

Any disruption to Algerian urea supplies could create fresh concerns for French farmers, who rely on nitrogen-based fertilisers to maintain crop yields and who have already faced higher costs.

Beyond the agricultural impact, the dispute could become politically sensitive for President Emmanuel Macron's government, which is under pressure to shield households and producers from rising costs while managing a sharp deterioration in relations with Algeria, a topic that often polarises the French political landscape.

France experienced some of the worst unrest in years last weekend and a potential confrontation with farmers over fertiliser supplies could only add to that pressure.

Like with previous trade restrictions, including a halt to Algerian imports of French wheat since 2024, the sources said there had been no formal announcement by the Algerian government regarding either urea exports or imports of French goods.

The Algerian embassy in Paris did not immediately respond to emailed questions from Reuters. Algeria's trade and foreign ministries were also not immediately available for comment on Friday, a non-working day in the country.

France's foreign ministry said it had not received notification of such trade restrictions.

Trade matters were a competence of the European Union, it said, adding: "We will, of course, remain particularly vigilant on this issue."

This live blog has now ended. Make sure to follow us for the latest news on Facebook, X, and Instagram.

Here were the key updates:

• At least six people have been killed and 28 injured in a shooting at a funeral in Jordan's Karak.
• In France, at least one person has been killed in a attack labelled "racist, probably Islamophobic" by mayor of La Verriere, Nicolas Dainville.
• US President Donald Trump suggested possible further military action against Iran, claiming that the US has knocked the "hell out" of it.
• Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said  Israel would lock down Hebron in the occupied West Bank, go house to house and demolish homes after the Israeli military said Palestinian attackers killed two soldiers at a military checkpoint near the city. 

This week on The New Arab Weekly podcast, we discuss the recent settler terrorist attacks that have targeted Palestinians harvesting the annual olive crop, journalists, and EU diplomats, the rumours of a potential bridging deal between the US and Iran, and the comments made by Egypt's President Sisi that his country should aid Saudi Arabia in Yemen, and that he won't be standing again in 2030. 

Picks of the Week

⁠Waiting for an Israel that doesn’t exist⁠

⁠'I won't accept it': Syria's camp closures leave displaced families facing uncertain returns⁠

⁠The end of UNIFIL: What next for south Lebanon?⁠

Featured on this episode are Amr Salahi and Issy Maple.

Hosted and produced by Hugo Goodridge.

Filmed and edited by Sohaib el-Nahla.

If you have any questions for the panel, or any stories that you'd like us to cover, you can email the team podcast@newarab.com.

A number of prominent Irish figures from film, television and music, including Kneecap, Hozier, Aisling Bea, Siobhán McSweeney and Christy Moore, have urged Taoiseach Micheal Martin to intervene on behalf of 55 Gazan students who have been refused study visas. 

The appeal comes amid ongoing legal challenges to the visa refusals, with a High Court hearing examining the government's handling of applications from Palestinian students who secured fully funded scholarships at Irish universities. 

In an open letter published by the Irish Examiner on Friday, the artists joined other signatories in urging Martin to “do the decent thing” by the students. 

The letter cited Martin’s remarks to the United Nations last month, when he said the international community had failed Palestine, and called on him to intervene on the students’ behalf. 

“You have the power to act, to stay true to our principles and promises, and grant these young Palestinians the opportunity of an education far from the rubble of Gaza,” the signatories said. 

They added that the students were not taking places away from anyone else and had undergone rigorous vetting. 

“They provided every document available to them in a warzone, and yet the minister for justice is refusing to grant them study visas. They are caught in a breakdown of co-ordination between Government departments that they did nothing to cause.” 

The open letter follows similar appeals earlier this month from academics and the Ireland-Palestine Alliance Sadaka, who urged Martin, also Ireland’s Minister for Foreign Affairs, to intervene to resolve what they described as an “appalling injustice”. 

They called for the applications of all affected students to be reconsidered properly and in time for the students to be evacuated from Gaza.

 

High Court challenges visa refusals 

The continuing appeals come as legal proceedings challenge the Irish government's refusal of study visas to Palestinian students from Gaza. 

During a High Court hearing on Tuesday, lawyers representing the students argued that the decisions were unlawful and irrational, highlighting the difficulties applicants faced in obtaining documentation amid the destruction caused by Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza. 

The government argued that the refusals were based on applicants’ inability to provide documentary evidence required for the visas. 

The case centred on Shaymaa Abudalu, a survivor of the Gaza genocide who reportedly lost several family members, including her mother and siblings.  

She had secured a fully funded place on a four-year engineering degree programme at University College Cork (UCC), but was refused a visa. 

During the hearing, the court heard that documents confirming Abudalu’s English-language proficiency had been received by the Department of Justice but had not been considered by the official who rejected her application. 

Judge Anthony Barr described this as a “substantial hole” in the government’s case. 

However, the proceedings were ongoing, and the court had not yet issued a final ruling that the visa refusal was unlawful or ordered it to be set aside. 

Following the hearing, Abudalu’s lawyer, Sarah Jane Hillery, said she hoped the case would clarify the issues affecting all the students. 

The Irish Examiner reported that the Irish embassy in Tel Aviv processed Palestinian study visa applications last year, rejecting 13 per cent of them. 

This year, the Department of Justice has reportedly refused 114 of 138 applications- a rejection rate of 83 per cent- including 55 applications from students in the Gaza Strip. 

Lewis Hamilton on Thursday called for a "Free Palestine" in comments made during a conference discussing Formula One’s return to Africa this week.

The 41-year-old British driver pushed for the race to return to Africa, despite the proposal garnering backlashing, stating it would create huge economic opportunities for the continent.

During the conference, he noted there were some reservations over Rwanda hosting the continent’s first Grand Prix in over three decades, but said he wanted to stay in racing in the next decade so he would be able to fulfil his dream of racing in an African Grand Prix.

When quizzed about if he had any other comments or thoughts, he said: "I guess I'll finish it off with, you know. I think we need to make sure we're pushing to free Congo, free Sudan, free Syria, free Palestine. I think there's a lot of peace that I'm hoping that some stage we get to".

The development comes after Formula One last week announced a 10-year agreement with Rwanda, with the race set to commence after the circuit has been built in the early 2030s.

He acknowledged that there were problems in Africa as well as all over the world, but defended the decision saying, “I think we really have to approach it with humility”.

“Growing up in England, they never taught us anything about Africa. It needs to be on the curriculum,” he said.

"A lot of the problems they have there are still the results of colonialism and the West intervening, but if you see the people, you see so many designs that are out there today. Top brands come from Africa, and it’s got all the richest resources,” he continued.

He also stated that the culture across Africa is rich and having Formula One there would allow the continent to shine.

Conversations surrounding Rwanda hosting Formula One started in May 2024 when officials met leaders of the International Automobile Federation during the Monaco Grand Prix. Months later, Formula One President and CEO Stefano Domenicali confirmed that Rwanda submitted a proposal and discussions would be underway.

The decision has garnered opposition, with Congolese Foreign Affairs Minister Thérèse Kayikwamba Wagner arguing that the event could improve President Paul Kagame’s international image while conflict rages on.

This is not the first time Hamilton has called for a free Palestine. He has previously called for a ceasefire in Gaza amid Israel’s onslaught which has killed over 74,000 people. He has also used his social media platforms to shed light on the destruction in Gaza as a result of fierce Israeli bombardment.