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Israeli settler attacks shift focus to West Bank areas under direct Palestinian rule

Violent Israeli settler attacks in the two areas of the occupied West Bank under direct Palestinian rule have almost doubled since 2025, as settlers pursue a self-proclaimed “great settlement revolution” in the very heart of the territory earmarked for a Palestinian state. According to a report by the Israeli human rights organisation Yesh Din, shared with the Guardian, data shows that almost two-thirds of incidents of settler violence so far in 2026 have taken place in the so-called Areas A and B – placed under Palestinian Authority governance in the 1995 Oslo accords. The report, The Next Frontier, Violence by Israeli Civilians in Areas A and B, describes the “rapid shift” in “violence and pressure exerted by the government, military and settlers on Palestinians … from Area C into Areas B and even A”. While all three designated administrative areas on the West Bank were intended under the Oslo peace deal to encompass the shape of a future Palestinian state, successive Israeli governments, driven by the settler movement, have pursued a long-term policy of undermining Palestinian claims. In Area C, accounting for 60% of the West Bank, Israel was initially given what was supposed to be temporary responsibility for all civil and security affairs pending a final status agreement for a Palestinian state. This arrangement was exploited for settlement. All government-approved Israeli settlements (regarded as illegal under international law) are located in Area C, as are the main roads and traffic arteries of the West Bank. In Area A, which makes up about 18% of the West Bank and includes the major Palestinian cities, the Palestinian Authority became responsible for civil affairs and internal security. In Area B (22%), which includes the built-up areas in Palestinian rural spaces, the PA became responsible for civil affairs and public order. Since 2024, Israel’s settlement movement has explicitly and violently expanded its efforts by establishing new farming “outposts” in areas A and B. Settler leaders have said openly that these are designed to “gain a foothold” in “very strategic” Palestinian locations. As the report says: “Most Palestinian daily life occurs in these areas.” According to the report’s analysis, the percentage of violent West Bank incidents taking place in Area B stands at 55% so far this year, compared with 25% last year, while attacks in Area C declined in the same period from 67% to 37% of the overall figure, indicating a deliberate change in strategy. “As settler and state violence against Palestinian communities in Area C has intensified in recent years, Palestinians have been forcibly pushed into Areas A and B, making these areas increasingly critical for maintaining safety and a semblance of normal everyday life,” said Yesh Din, which has been documenting settler violence for more than two decades. A map posted earlier this summer in the WhatsApp group of the Hilltop Foundation, an organisation that supplies equipment, support and funding for the establishment of Israeli outposts in the West Bank, showed 16 outposts between the major Palestinian cities of Ramallah and Nablus alone. The map was accompanied by text boasting of “the great settlement revolution under way in the Oslo areas” and pledging the foundation’s continuing support for the establishment of outposts in Area B. The Yesh Din report said that “the successful establishment of so many outposts in obvious violation of Israeli law, demonstrates that Israel is deliberately choosing not to effectively address the issue and that the settlers’ openly declared goals align with government policy”. “Senior ministers Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich [who have both called for the cancelling of the Oslo accords] openly speak of their ambition to gain control of Area B and abolish the division created under the Oslo accords.” There is increasing international concern over the escalating pace of settler violence on the West Bank. Sanctions have been placed in the US and Europe on settlers and pro-settler figures, including Ben-Gvir, Israel’s national security minister. Announcing France’s sanctions against Ben-Gvir on Wednesday, the French foreign, minister, Jean-Noël Barrot, said what was happening on the West Bank was “ utterly disgraceful and should fill us all with revulsion”. According to the UN’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, as of 20 July, 18 Palestinians had died during attacks involving settlers, of whom 12 were killed by settlers and three by Israeli forces. Responsibility for the remaining three deaths was disputed, OCHA said. According to the UN agency, there were about 190 attacks a month in the first four months of 2026, putting the West Bank on a trajectory to reach more than 2,000 attacks by the end of this year. Yesh Din concludes: “This Israeli strategy, implemented in part through the expansion of outposts and the settler violence launched from them into new areas, pushes Palestinian residents into the centres of towns and villages and empties surrounding areas of Palestinian presence. “In doing so, it advances Israel toward the realisation of a policy, already reflected in ministers’ public statements, that seeks to annex as much West Bank territory as possible with as few Palestinians as possible living there. “The path to this goal is paved with systematic, organised criminality, backed and supported by state institutions, revealing a clear intent: to make the area Palestinian free, in other words, to carry out ethnic cleansing.” The Israeli military has been approached for comment.

Thursday briefing: What does the mass closure of charity shops tell us about Britain?

Good morning. I could mark the phases of my life through my charity shop purchases: the tweedy jackets of my student days, the nearly new hiking boots (a tenner!) I bought out of necessity when I first arrived back in Scotland, the battered guitar now re-strung for my son to practise Nirvana’s About a Girl. Since they became a fixture of high streets after the second world war, charity shops have rolled with the punches of wider retail trends. In the 80s, they were showered with tax breaks to take up vacant space as supermarkets put grocers and butchers out of business. At the end of the noughties, after the global financial crash, retail legend Mary Portas promoted charity shops as a vehicle for reviving the high street. And as awareness grows of the planetary penalty of throwaway textiles, next month heralds Second Hand September, Oxfam’s annual campaign to highlight fashion’s environmental damage. But recent headlines about shop closures – including the potential closure of 100 Oxfam outlets – and sustained pressures from the boom in secondhand selling online suggest a deeper crisis in the sector. For today’s newsletter, I spoke to Vicki Burnett, a charity retail expert who has volunteered in charity shops since the age of 15, about why community is key to the sector’s continued success. That’s after the headlines. Five big stories UK news | Racism and sexism have become normalised in Britain, the equalities minister has said, as she warned that young men were being sucked into violent misogyny by the “cesspit” of social media. UK politics | The government’s plans to make young people continue studying maths and English if they fail GCSEs could be demotivating and ineffective, according to education experts and school leaders after retake pass rates slumped this year. Israel | Far-right national security minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, has posted a video of a gallows complex where Palestinians convicted of terror offences will be hanged. US news | The United States sent 20 deportees to Liberia, who arrived on Thursday as part of 1,200 migrants that the African country will receive under a new deal. Climate crisis | Aerial footage of an estate in Somerset has revealed the benefits of rewilding land in the face of extreme weather brought about by the climate crisis. In depth: ‘With the glut of fast fashion quality donations have reduced’ When “Everybody’s Thrift Shop”, one of Britain’s earliest recorded charity shops, was opened at 79a Nicholson Street, Edinburgh, in 1937, the Scotsman reported queues outside and police on hand to manage restive shoppers. “One woman went off triumphant with a handsome suit once worn, it was whispered, by a professor. Another secured a real bargain: 10 shirts for half-a-crown.” The second world war spurred the popularity of temporary fundraising shops, and the escalating humanitarian crisis led to the formation of Oxfam, which opened its first permanent outlet on Broad Street, Oxford, in 1947. By the 1960s many other charities had done the same, as the demise of wartime “make do and mend” saw the secondhand clothing market expand, and over subsequent decades the sector was increasingly professionalised, with specialist shops opening for music and books. There are now 10,000 charity shops across the UK, staffed by about 223,000 volunteers and 24,900 paid employees, and raising over £300m profit in 2024/25. But their future is not secure. *** What are the pressures on charity retail? Oxfam is considering closing up to 100 of its 500-plus UK retail outlets, the Guardian reported earlier this week. In June, the British Heart Foundation announced plans to close about 150 stores over the next two financial years “to ensure our retail network remains commercially sustainable,” and last October, Cancer Research confirmed it would be shutting 90 shops across the UK. Costs have increased across retail in recent years. While charities don’t have to pay business rates, they are still hit by increases in national insurance and wage bills. The drop in town centre footfall, accelerated by Covid, is well documented. And indeed the decline of the British high street, with its dispiriting template of boarded up premises, betting shops and vape outlets, has become a political shorthand for a far wider malaise. An Oxfam insider told the Guardian that shops were facing a fall in donations, as well as competition from online sellers of secondhand goods such as Vinted, now the fourth largest clothing retailers in the country, eBay and Depop. This proliferation of alternative places to buy pre-loved fashion offers ease, often at a more competitive price point. With only a cameraphone and decent wifi needed to join the market, a public seeking to monetise every last unwanted item amid the ongoing cost of living crisis has become less willing to donate, particularly more profitable items. Charity shops are also facing a slump in recycling income. The price of “rag” – poor quality, unsellable clothing that is sold on in bulk for recycling to use as shredded fibres for mattress or insulation, for example – has dived in recent years, and a substantial source of profit has evaporated. *** How is charity retail evolving? Beyond these headline closures, those working within the sector suggest a more layered analysis. The Charity Retail Association reports an increase in overall sales space among its members – but a significant trend towards closing smaller shops in favour of larger stores, especially among bigger charities. With the glut of fast fashion, all across the sector agree that quality donations have reduced – but there has been no reduction in quantity. In fact, the advent of resellers – people who are coming to the shops to buy stock to resell themselves online at profit – is now providing charity shops with significant income and creating a virtuous circle: as outlets like Vinted normalise the secondhand clothing market, it encourages people to explore charity shops themselves. *** Communities offline and online The charity retail sector has faced tough times before, says Vicki Burnett, a senior consultant for the Charity Retail Consultancy, who advises clients of different sizes on how to go with the grain of evolving tech and remain rooted in local communities. All charities need to keep their retail entities under constant review, Burnett tells me, but assessing a shop’s contribution goes well beyond the financial, as communities themselves recognised during the pandemic. “People had really missed their charity shops. They don’t just bring in cash,” she says. When she moved from Leeds to Argyll, Burnett started volunteering in her local Oxfam “as a way to get myself into my community, to understand a bit more about it”. A charity shop is a place where youngsters struggling with fragile mental health and a brutal jobs market – who Hettie wrote about yesterday – can gain CV skills alongside some gentle interaction. Many charities now deliver an element of their service through their shops, whether that’s healthcare education or details of animals available for rehoming nearby, something that’s easier to do in the larger format “one-stop” stores that are now emerging. Charity retailers have been selling online for many years, Burnett reminds me. Ebay, for example, has mentored many charities through online selling and there’s the hope that Vinted and other commercial resellers will follow suit. What is new is the volume of resellers and content creators. There are now so many working semi-professionally that the Charity Retail Association is about to launch an expanded directory of hundreds of charity shop influencers based around the country ready to collaborate with retailers. One of them, Emily London, offers charity shops tours and second hand personal styling alongside her own online resale shop. “Influencers are a fantastic resource for charities and great advocates for pre-loved clothing,” says Burnett (If you’re looking for advice, then vintage maven and new Guardian style columnist Stephen Libby – might be worth a read). Burnett tells me a story: when she was deputy manager of an Oxfam shop in the early 90s, lads from the local school would shove each other over the threshold, such was the teenage shame of setting foot in a charity shop. “Now I see younger and younger generations 100% embracing secondhand clothing. It’s fantastic for charity shops and it’s great for the planet,” she says. What else we’ve been enjoying I appreciated this thorough investigation by Hannah Marriot on how fashion brands are scaling back plus-sizes, in the latest iteration of the body positivity backlash trigged by Ozempic. Libby I’ve been interested for a while in how the humble shipping container revolutionised global trade. This FT story (£) on how this network is now being pushed to its limits is fascinating. Michael Here in Glasgow, the schools are back and there’s a distinctly autumnal vibe, so I was glad to be taken through Zan Brooks’s top 20 summer movies. Libby This rundown of Women’s Super League club cashflow is a great insight into the finances of top-tier women’s football. How many clubs have a single male player who earns more than their entire women’s team …? Michael This is not something I “enjoyed”, but wanted to share anyway. Last week I wrote about the staggering increase in recalls to prison, reporting on a young man who was about to be released for the second time, having been recalled a mere six days into his first release due to a drug relapse. This week I learned he’s been recalled a second time. Libby Sport Cricket | England had four half-centurions on day two at Headingley but there were a few regrets on their failure to reach three figures. Football | Gianni Infantino wants to split the European and North American coalition that is seeking to oust him by attending a junior tournament in the Dominican Republic this weekend. Formula One | Max Verstappen has ended speculation about his future in Formula One by signing a new contract with Red Bull that will extend to the end of 2030. Something for the weekend Our critics’ roundup of the best things to watch, read, play and listen to right now TV Little Bird | ★★★★☆ Few dramas will enrage you as much as Little Bird. Not because it’s in any way hokey or problematic. On the contrary. Based on the real story of the Sixties Scoop – a period in Canada from the mid-1950s to the 1980s, when an estimated 20,000 First Nations children were forcibly removed from their families and adopted by non-Indigenous families – this heartbreaking tale is restrained and carefully measured. Melodrama is swerved, letting the injustice at this story’s core slowly metastasise. Little Bird is an impressive and heartfelt work, tender and moving. It cleaned up at the Canadian Screen Awards. For it to be ignored globally would be a crime. Patrick Smith Music Lambchop: Punching the Clown | ★★★★☆ Thirty-two years on from their debut album, Lambchop find themselves in a curious position. Their sole continuous member Kurt Wagner has displayed an admirable disinclination to rest on his laurels. Their last album, 2022’s The Bible, threw up everything from house music to glitchy rhythms to ambient drift to accompany Wagner’s pained ruminations on mortality and faith. Punching the Clown, pares back their sound to bare essentials: acoustic guitar and banjo and the very occasional deployment of bass or piano, the faintest smear of electronics on Weakened. Wagner’s voice appears stripped of Auto-Tune, distortion, even reverb: he sounds as if he’s singing directly in front of you. Alexis Petridis Film Over/Under | ★★★★☆ Practically any woman who had a best female friend in early adolescence will be able to relate to this fragile, thoughtful drama about two American children, Violet (Emajean Bullock) and Stella (Anastasia Veronica Lee), living through the ages of nine to 13. As the film starts, the two are nine-year-old besties, spending their summers together in New England where they go to camp. But when both girls go home at the end of the summer, Violet to Los Angeles and Stella to San Diego, life is not so dreamy and blissful. Violet is bullied at school. Plus, it looks like her parents’ marriage is on the rocks. Stella too has worries, especially around the survival of her mother (Madeline Wise) who copes throughout with breast cancer, while her father (Adam David Thompson) is contending with an off-screen mother with dementia. Leslie Felperin Game Agent 64: Spies Never Die (PC) | ★★★☆☆ In lieu of any high-budget flash, Agent 64’s big special effect is nostalgia. From the title onwards, this retro shooter is one long homage to nineties James Bond shoot-em-up GoldenEye, and to its un-Bonded successor, 2000’s Perfect Dark. Enemies have pinched facial features – a result of taking photographs of real people’s faces and wrapping them around diamond-shaped heads – and roll acrobatically from behind cover to take their next potshot, just as they used to. And yes, there’s a Big Head mode that swells those diamonds into enormous target-practice balloons. The fantasy on offer here isn’t really being James Bond. It’s being young again, with one illicitly acquired copy of GoldenEye to last you the summer and all the time in the world to pick the cartridge clean. For all its rough edges, that’s a mission Agent 64 pulls off with aplomb. Alex Spencer. The front pages “Racism and sexism normalised in UK, says equalities minister”, is the Guardian’s front page today. Prince Harry’s return dominates most titles, with the Telegraph writing “Harry hopes to win back King’s trust” and the Mirror splashing “No way back to royal life”. The Times leads with “King puts William first as Harry heads home”, the Mail has “Sussexes’ security could cost taxpayers £5M a year”, and the Sun says “Royal Harry summit at Balmoral”. The i Paper’s headline is “Sussexes fly back to UK without a deal for taxpayer funded security”, while the Express’s take is “Back in the fold but not in the firm”. Elsewhere, the FT has “US bonds slide after Bessent’s buybacks fail to calm jitters”, and Metro says “Hosepipe hero of fire ‘murder’”. The Latest Why are Prince Harry and Meghan moving back to the UK? The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are planning to return to live in Britain, six years after leaving for the US: a decision that was subject to intense media scrutiny. The couple and their two children are expected to relocate later in August to a non-royal residence. Nosheen Iqbal speaks to senior national news editor Aaron Sharp. Cartoon of the day | Rebecca Hendin The Upside A bit of good news to remind you that the world’s not all bad James Reed McGuire and Crystal Fritz were novice gardeners when they made the move from inner-city Chicago out to the Illinois suburbs. They knew one thing, though: that they didn’t simply want their front garden to be a piece of turf – so they set about transforming it through rewilding. What was once a boring lawn is now a thriving ecosystem that attracts and supports birds, butterflies, bees, rabbits, bats, foxes and more, while their efforts have been recognised by the National Wildlife Federation, who designated the space a Certified Wildlife Habitat. “It’s really a stunning environment,” says McGuire. “It brings us a lot of peace and tranquility in a very troubled world.” Sign up here for a weekly roundup of The Upside, sent to you every Sunday Bored at work? And finally, the Guardian’s puzzles are here to keep you entertained throughout the day. Until tomorrow. Quick crossword Cryptic crossword Wordiply

Russia’s missile tests around disputed islands anger Japan

Japan has criticised missile tests carried out by Russia’s navy around the disputed islands visited by Vladimir Putin last week amid continuing tensions between the two countries. Russia’s Pacific fleet said on Thursday that it had fired Bastion surface-to-ship missiles from Etorofu, the largest island in the disputed archipelago, simulating an attack on enemy vessels, hitting all of its targets approximately 300km away. Officials said the drills included a nuclear-powered submarine and a guided-missile cruiser, according to reports. Putin sparked a tit-for-tat summoning of ambassadors in Tokyo and Moscow with his first visit last week to Etorofu, the largest of the group of four islands. They are referred to as the Northern Territories or Four Northern Islands in Japan, and as part of the Kuril Islands in Russia. Toshimitsu Motegi, Japan’s foreign minister, said on Thursday during a trip to Oman: “We cannot tolerate moves to strengthen military power on the Four Northern Islands because they go against our country’s stance [on the territories].” Territorial rows over the islands go back to the 19th century. The Soviet Union seized them from Japan at the end of the second world war. Exercises by the Russian fleet began on 4 August and Japan was informed in advance that they would include live-fire drills. Japan lodged a protest against the large-scale manoeuvres on 5 August. According to the Russian news agency Tass, the drills involved “approximately 60 surface ships, submarines, and support vessels, about 30 aircraft, helicopters, and unmanned aerial systems of the Pacific fleet’s naval aviation, as well as over 13,000 service members”. Putin observed some of the exercises from the Varyag on 12 August as part of his trip to the disputed islands and to Sakhalin, the large undisputedly Russian island north of Hokkaido. “The region is unfortunately becoming increasingly prone to conflict, with Nato seeking to gain a foothold here and the emergence of new military and political blocs,” said Putin, speaking aboard the flagship. “There are efforts and plans to deploy new weapons systems here, which creates threats for our country.” The Russian drills are scheduled to continue through 29 August.

Python named Jodie Foster first snake to receive pioneering cancer treatment

A 15ft (4.5-metre) python is believed to be the first snake in the world to be given a pioneering, life-saving cancer treatment normally used on humans. The 50kg reticulated python, named Jodie Foster after the Hollywood star, has just turned 23 and lives at Chester zoo. Keepers first became concerned that she may be unwell when she began eating less and spending more time inactive in her habitat. She was diagnosed with a fibrosarcoma – a malignant tumour – in her jaw, which was removed with surgery but later returned and began to invade her jawbone. With her life at risk, she underwent electrochemotherapy. Now, months after the procedure, she is said to be eating normally and “back to her usual bright and feisty self”. Pythons can unhinge their jaws to swallow prey many times the size of their head, and in the months since her surgery zoo staff have observed that Jodie continues to strike, grip and swallow food without difficulty. Ian Ashpole, a veterinary officer at the zoo, said: “When the tumour came back and started destroying part of her jawbone, we knew more surgery on its own probably wasn’t going to be enough. “We were facing the possibility of losing her as the tumour made it more and more difficult for her to eat, so we worked with cancer specialists to see whether we could adapt electrochemotherapy for a snake. As far as we’re aware, this is the first time it’s ever been used in one.” Jodie, whose name derives from when she first arrived and staff noticed her paperwork was marked “JF” – shorthand for “juvenile female” – is so big that no single operating table would have been able to accommodate her. Two were pushed together, making a platform the size of a double bed. She was anaesthetised in her own habitat and carefully carried to the zoo’s veterinary centre where she underwent the 90-minute procedure. Ashpole first removed the tumorous mass as well as part of Jodie’s diseased jawbone, before electrochemotherapy was administered to target any remaining cancerous cells. Electrochemotherapy combines the cancer drug bleomycin with a series of carefully controlled electrical pulses delivered directly to the tumour site. The pulses temporarily make cancer cells more permeable, allowing the drug to enter more effectively. Jose Alvarez Picornell, of the University of Liverpool’s department of small animal clinical science, said: “Electrochemotherapy is an emerging treatment and this was the first time it had been used in a snake. The success of this treatment is a testament to the power of collaboration. By working closely with Ian, we were able to develop a plan that not only benefited Jodie Foster but will also contribute to the wider veterinary community.” A final check this week confirmed that Jodie remained free of any signs of the cancer returning. Picornell added: “We will be formally publishing details of the procedure so that veterinary colleagues around the world can learn from and build upon our approach. This has been a very special career highlight for me and a fantastic opportunity to expand the work we do within the department to support high-quality veterinary and translational research.”

Anxiety over war, wildfires and cyber-attacks leads to growth in cash stocks in EU

The number of banknotes in circulation in the EU is increasing despite widespread smartphone payments, new data shows, with wildfires ripping through parts of Europe fuelling demand for an emergency stash of cash. While cash plays second fiddle to contactless payments in many cities across Europe, the amount in circulation is actually going up, Philip Lane, the chief economist of the European Central Bank (ECB), said at the MacGill summer school conference in Ireland. The rise of cash has been linked to anxiety over wars and the impact of cyber-attacks on online and contactless payment systems, say experts. “The total stock of banknotes is continuing to grow. In transactions, it [the number of notes] is coming down, but in terms of the stock [it is increasing],” Lane said. Last year Marks & Spencer in the UK suffered a sustained cyber-attack which stopped the retailer taking online orders for weeks. In 2025 EU residents were advised to stockpile enough food, water and essentials for 72 hours in case of an emergency such as this summer’s catastrophic wildfires in France and Spain, floods or storms as well as potential cyber-attacks or other hostile events. Households were encouraged to have a crisis pack including bottled water, a transistor radio, canned food and, critically, cash. ECB data, which has been tracking the number of bank notes in circulation since 2002, shows that their value has gone up from about €1bn in 2016 to €1.6bn in June 2026. More than 31m notes are in circulation compared with 24m just before the pandemic in 2019, with the €50 note the most popular in 2025 followed by the €100. European countries including Austria, Finland, Germany, Sweden and the Netherlands have already recommended that citizens keep between €70 and €100 per household, enough to pay for essentials for 72 hours should online and mobile apps go down. In a “use it or lose it” warning, Olive McCarthy, professor at University College Cork with an interest in financial inclusion, said the continued use of cash was vital for society. “While advice to maintain cash for emergencies is well made, and serves to remind us all to be prepared when digital systems let us down, it is essential that cash does not become viewed merely as a backup measure. If we stop using it when there isn’t a crisis, it might not be easy to use it when there is.” The ECB says cash is a critical part of “national crisis preparedness”, describing its shrinking use for day-to-day purchases amid an increase in people keeping banknotes as a “paradox”. Lane also referenced the need for legislation to ensure networks of cash machines remain a feature of every high street across the EU. “Some consumers prefer the privacy and convenience of cash. We are also seeing more talk about the importance of cash in a crisis,” said McCarthy, pointing to the fact it was “inclusive”, available to elderly and vulnerable citizens including victims of domestic abuse who may depend on cash if their partner is controlling their spending. It was also a great tool to help children with financial literacy and budgeting, she added.

Tiananmen Square vigil organisers found guilty in Hong Kong of ‘inciting subversion’

Two Hong Kong activists who organised annual vigils marking China’s deadly Tiananmen crackdown in 1989 were found guilty of “incitement to subversion”, in one of the most high-profile cases in Hong Kong since Beijing imposed its national security law in 2020. Lee Cheuk-yan, 69, and Chow Hang-tung, 41 “incited other persons to organise, plan, commit or participate in acts by unlawful means with a view to subverting the state power”, a press summary handed out to reporters said. The defendants face a maximum penalty of 10 years in jail. Sentencing is expected on a later date. Lee and Chow’s trial began in January and took place over 24 days. A third defendant, 74-year-old former lawmaker Albert Ho, pleaded guilty in January. Chow, who represented herself, told the court in May that the law itself was on trial. Lee and Chow were leaders of a now disbanded group – Hong Kong Alliance – that organised the city’s annual vigil in memory of those killed in the crackdown on pro-democracy protesters in Beijing in 1989. In court, Lee and Chow waved to supporters from the dock surrounded by correctional officers. Lee appeared solemn as the judge handed down the verdict. He made a heart shaped gesture with his hands and waved to supporters before being led out of the court. Hong Kong and Macau were formerly the only places on Chinese soil that permitted public vigils to mourn those killed on 4 June 1989, when Chinese sent troops and tanks to crush protests calling for political reform in and around the capital’s Tiananmen Square. However, public commemoration has been effectively banned since Beijing imposed a national security law on Hong Kong in 2020, after huge and sometimes violent pro-democracy protests the year before. The Alliance’s leaders were charged in 2021 and have been behind bars since. Ahead of the verdict, Chow wrote a message from prison seen by the Guardian addressed to UK prime minister Andy Burnham. “They are trying to re-write Hong Kong history … they certainly want to erase some memories, or memories of some chapters in our history,” the Cambridge-educated barrister wrote. In the letter, Chow said “Britain has a non-delegable duty to adopt a more robust stance in the face of the growing threat from a totalitarian and aggressive China.” The case centred on the Alliance’s slogan demanding an “end to one-party rule.” The court found that the defendants “intended to cause others to lose confidence in the Chinese Communist party by stirring up hostility and causing division”. The defence argued that the Alliance was exercising its freedom of speech. Rights group Amnesty International has said Lee and Chow’s case “relies on vague, overly broad and arbitrary definitions of ‘subversion’”. Dozens of police officers gathered outside the courthouse and ushered reporters away as they stopped to film audience members queueing outside before the hearing began on Friday. Members of the public had queued for days to secure a seat in the Hong Kong court, with some staying overnight. “To me, this case illustrates the absolute power of Beijing in reshaping Hong Kong’s civil society through the national Security Law,” one supporter told the Guardian. “This outcome highlights the central government’s total control regarding national security enforcement in the region,” another supporter said. Hong Kong was promised certain political freedoms not granted in the rest of the country when it was returned to China in 1997. Critics say the national security law has decimated civil society. Most of the city’s opposition leaders have been detained or have fled the city. Authorities say the law was needed to restore order after a year of protests rocked the international financial hub in 2019.

Ukraine war briefing: Kyiv protest organiser disowns Mykhailo Fedorov’s call for elections

The leader of weeks of protests against Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s sacking of Mykhailo Fedorov as defence minister appeared to call them off after Fedorov demanded elections. The pro-Fedorov movement’s chief ‌organiser, veteran combat medic Dmytro Koziatynskyi, said he “cannot imagine” how to hold polls with troops at the front and the protests had been about seeking dialogue with the government. Elections are considered impossible and illegal under Ukrainian law because of the war. “I’m also deeply concerned about the societal divisions during the election process and how that could affect the course of the war,” Koziatynskyi said. “In any case, street protests are definitely not the place for electoral discourse.” The Reuters news agency said that on Wednesday only a few dozen people remained in a central Kyiv square where thousands once protested. “When we came out to protest, we did not come with the idea that elections should be held,” said 22-year-old Iryna Vasyliaka. “That is ⁠not what we were here for.” Fedorov’s call for elections appeared to be a clumsy misstep, one opposition lawmaker told Reuters. “This demonstrates that [Fedorov] doesn’t have a presidential-level feel for the country.” Olena Prokopenko from the German Marshall Fund said Fedorov’s move was a “false start” that could burn his political capital before elections would realistically be held. “With this statement, he pretty much played on Ukrainians’ most sensitive pain points.” Ukraine’s parliament this week strongly endorsed Zelenskyy’s new defence minister and Fedorov’s successor, Yevhenii Khmara; but the protests did force Ukraine’s president to replace Oleksandr Syrskyi, the disliked “Soviet-style” head of Ukraine’s military, with a younger military reformer, Mykhailo Drapatyi. A Russian-Australian man has been arrested for allegedly passing information on Ukrainian military activity to Russian intelligence. The Australian federal police (AFP) arrested the man, 27, on Thursday night in the Australian city of Brisbane, charging him with attempting to engage in foreign interference. Commissioner Krissy Barrett of the AFP said it was alleged the man travelled to Russia in October 2024 for military-style training before returning to Australia and keeping in contact with “individuals he believed were connected to Russian intelligence services”. “Investigators will allege the man then travelled to Ukraine in May 2025, where he joined the Ukrainian armed forces, gaining access to information relating to military personnel, units, and locations.” Information was then passed on to Russia, Barrett said. Ukraine reeled on Thursday from a heavy Russian missile and drone bombardment that killed at least 16 people in and around Kyiv in one of the most intense aerial attacks on Ukraine’s capital since the start of the war. Vitali Klitschko, the city’s mayor, said homes, a school and a children’s medical centre were among the buildings damaged in an attack that began at about midnight and continued throughout the day. Volodymr Zelenskyy urged a global response to the attacks. “While Moscow is investing in ballistic missiles and escalation, such strikes do not always receive the response they should. And as long as Ukraine does not have enough anti-ballistic defence, Russia will not consider peace seriously.” A Romanian F-16 fighter jet on Thursday destroyed an explosives-laden Russian marine drone near an offshore gas project. “I strongly condemn the escalation of such irresponsible incidents on the part of the Russian Federation,” said the Romanian president, Nicușor Dan. The drone had been “loaded with explosives” and did not originate from Ukraine, said Romania’s defence minister, Radu Miruță. Hundreds of people are working at the gas project, Neptun Deep, according to Romania’s government. Neptun Deep is due to start production in 2027. Nato has shot down four aerial drones in Romania recently. Ursula von der Leyen, the European Commission chief, slammed the “hybrid warfare” campaign by Russia against the EU after the marine drone incident. “An escalating campaign of threats is under way, unsettling our citizens and seeking to divide our union,” von der Leyen said, warning the EU must step up its defence push to be able to “deter provocation and aggression”. Poland on Thursday announced the arrest of a Ukrainian man suspected of an attempt in Kyiv to assassinate a representative of Ukraine’s arms industry on behalf of Russian intelligence services. “The investigation revealed that Serhii P planted an improvised explosive device under a car used by a potential victim,” said Poland’s internal security agency, the ABW. “The device was intended to be detonated ‌remotely using a cellphone. The mechanism did not detonate due to a malfunction.” The suspect fled to Poland where he was arrested in Warsaw. He was charged with attempted murder using explosives and illegal possession of explosives. Ukraine’s ⁠military hit ⁠Russia’s Taneco ⁠oil refinery in the Tatarstan ⁠region, as well ⁠as the Tamanneftegaz ‌oil terminal ‌in the ‌Krasnodar region, the Ukrainian General Staff said on ‌Thursday. The strikes caused fires at both sites. Disgruntled motorists in Moscow are sitting for hours in gasoline station queues of up to a kilometres to fill their cars with rationed amounts of fuel, Reuters reported. Videos showed fistfights erupting at the pumps, as Vladimir Putin’s regime reportedly ordered that people who complain about the shortages face fines and arrest. “We have been to five petrol stations already and there was no fuel. ‌Last week, fuel was available. And now, there is no fuel again,” one Moscow resident told Reuters. Russia attacked ⁠gas infrastructure in Ukraine’s northern ⁠Chernihiv ⁠region as well as a border ⁠crossing with Moldova in the ⁠southern Odesa region, ‌Volodymyr Zelenskyy ‌said.

Zomi Frankcom did not deserve to die. Israel’s refusal to investigate her death and its failure to apologise is despicable | Geoffrey Robertson

Zomi Frankcom did not deserve to die. She and her six colleagues were traveling in a clearly marked humanitarian convoy to distribute food to starving Palestinians on a route that had been communicated well in advance to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). It bombed them deliberately and repeatedly. Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, announced the next day that the attack was a “mistake” and a few days later its two commanders were forced to retire, and three others were disciplined. An internal inquiry followed, but this week – well over two years later – the IDF announced that there would be no further investigation because there could be no suspicion that any crime had been committed: it was merely a mistake. This is a serious misunderstanding of the law of war. Mistakes may have fatal consequences and, if they are the result of gross negligence or reckless or irresponsible conduct, they are culpable and deserving of punishment. The crime of manslaughter in Australian and English law reflects this grave level of criminality. In war law, under article 8 of the statute of the international criminal court (ICC) “intentionally launching an attack in the knowledge that such an attack will cause loss of life to civilians” and “directing attacks against personnel or vehicles involved in humanitarian assistance” are serious war crimes which may be committed by mistakes made through negligence or blind eyes turned to their foreseeable consequences. The IDF decision not to investigate Zomi’s killing on the grounds that it was merely a “mistake” is not a legitimate reason and the Israeli government’s refusal even now to apologise is despicable. Not that an investigation by the IDF is likely to lead to an indictment of those who ordered the attack. According to statistics provided by a UN inquiry into “Operation Cast Lead”, the 22-day war in 2009, more than 1,000 Palestinians were killed, but no indictments were brought against those responsible for this exercise in urban military aggression (provoked by Hamas rocket attacks). There were many war crime allegations including attacks on hospitals and mosques, and the IDF commenced 400 investigations against individual soldiers but only two were ever brought to trial and the only prison sentence – of seven months – was imposed on a soldier for stealing a credit card. The refusal to act over Zomi’s case and on two other atrocities involving the killing of workers for Médecins Sans Frontières was seemingly balanced by the decision to allow investigations into two other killings to go ahead – the murder of two doctors in a Red Crescent ambulance while they were tending to victims of an IDF strike, including five-year-old Hind Rajab, and another attack on ambulances that killed 15 medics. What was the difference that required an investigation in these two cases but not in the others? There is one simple explanation: the lies told by the IDF (that the ambulances were advancing without lights or markings) had been authoritatively refuted by phone footage and the evidence of survivors. Since there was unequivocal evidence that these were war crimes, the IDF was forced to agree that the inquiries would continue – but not necessarily to a court. So what can Australia do to vindicate the memory of the murder of a good citizen? It could fund her family to hire lawyers in Israel to sue the IDF in courts with judges who are not biased in favour of the Israeli government, but they are likely to find that access to justice against the IDF is too difficult because of time bars (hence the delays) and immunities. It could ask the ICC to investigate – although Israel is not a member, Palestine is and this court has held that it has jurisdiction over war crimes committed in Gaza (since the current proceedings against Netanyahu and his war minister for actions that have led to starvation and attacks on civilian residences). But invoking international justice for Zomi and her colleagues will be opposed by our major ally, the United States. Only last month the state department announced a campaign to “disable the court’s ability to operate” by putting pressure on its 125 national members to withdraw. Marco Rubio has falsely accused it of “maliciously abusing its authority” and has authorised sanctions against its chief justice and those of its judges to have ruled on Netanyahu’s case. Australia, like many other decent democracies, has been a stalwart supporter of the ICC but has vulnerabilities (especially over Aukus) if these irresponsible threats were carried out. The government has called for disclosure by Israel of the evidence on which the IDF has decided not to proceed, but this is unlikely to be forthcoming. The Israeli ambassador has been quoted as claiming that “a court came to a decision that there’s no criminal liability” but there is no evidence that any court – certainly not a court that is open and independent – has ever been involved. The secretly and illegally mistaken way in which her arbitrary killing has been covered up will have to be commemorated here, in a tribute to her compassion and her work for a better world. Geoffrey Robertson AO KC is a former UN war crimes judge and author of World of War Crimes – Eyeless in Gaza and Beyond (Penguin)