London: A British investigative newspaper reported on Saturday that the British Air Force carried out 50 reconnaissance flights over the skies of the Gaza Strip to provide intelligence information to Israel.
Declassified UK, which conducts research on the work of military and intelligence institutions, added that British planes took off from the British Akrotiri air base in southern Cyprus and carried out 50 reconnaissance sorties in the skies of Gaza since the beginning of last December, one sortie per day, to provide intelligence information to Israel.
The British newspaper reported that the British Army used “Shadow R1” aircraft used in the fields of reconnaissance and surveillance in its air sorties.
She explained that the first British air sorties over Gaza began on December 3, and conducted 3 sorties on January 3, each of which lasted 6 hours.
The British Ministry of Defense stated in a statement on December 3 that reconnaissance flights would be conducted over Gaza “to provide intelligence information to Israel with the aim of supporting the process of rescuing prisoners in Gaza.”
Declassified UK reported on November 26 that American and British military aircraft took off from the Akrotiri base, and that 33 military flights took place between Akrotiri and Tel Aviv, including C-17A cargo planes, from October 13 to 26.
Hundreds of Israelis demand an end to the “genocide” in Gaza
Haifa: Hundreds of Israelis demanded, on Saturday, an end to the war and “ genocide” in Gaza and an agreement to be reached to release detainees in the Strip.
This came during a demonstration of hundreds of Israeli Jews and Arabs in Paris Square in the city of Haifa (north), which the police tried to prevent, but a judicial decision allowed it to be organized in a limited manner, according to the Hebrew newspaper “Haaretz”.
The demonstrators carried banners reading “No to war,” “All for all” (release all Israeli detainees in exchange for Palestinian prisoners) and “Stop genocide.”
The “Democratic Front for Peace and Equality” party (Hadash - the strongest and largest Arab party represented in the Knesset) and the “Civil Rights Association” (independent) had submitted a petition to the Supreme Court (the highest judicial body) against the police decision to refuse to organize the demonstration, and the matter ended. By agreeing to organize it, not allowing more than 700 demonstrators to participate.
Before the protest began, some of the demonstrators and organizers who spoke to Haaretz said that “the large number of police officers present at the site raised their concerns.”
Hadash member Gaia Dan said: “Our only fears are not from citizens or opposition demonstrators, but from the police. Do not think for a moment that they are here to protect us.”
For his part, Hadash Party leader Issam Makhoul told Haaretz that the demonstration, “which is the first major protest held in the city against the war since its beginning, indicates a turning point in the struggle” to stop it.
Makhoul added: “There was an attempt to silence the voices of all forces opposing the war and create an artificial consensus (on the war in Gaza). This is not the truth.”
In turn, the Secretary-General of the party, Amjad Shubita, said in his speech during the demonstration, “This is a struggle that is more sincere than stopping the war immediately.”
According to him, the demonstrators “came to raise the cry of all true peace activists, the bereaved families in the Gaza envelope, and the mothers whose children were sent to be killed in an unnecessary war.”
For its part, the Hebrew newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth said, “Dozens of right-wing Jews angry at the organization of the anti-war protest demonstrated not far away (from the demonstration calling for stopping the war).”
Massive demonstrations in Spain to demand an end to the genocide in Gaza
Madrid: On Saturday, Spanish cities witnessed huge demonstrations in which hundreds of thousands participated in solidarity with the Gaza Strip and to demand an end to the “genocide in Palestine.”
The demonstrations came in response to the call of the “Solidarity Network Against the Occupation of Palestine,” which includes more than 100 non-governmental organizations in Spain, and spread to more than 90 cities and provinces.
In the capital, Madrid, more than 50,000 demonstrators answered the call in a protest that was the largest since the start of the Israeli war on Gaza.
The demonstrators carried Palestinian flags and banners with phrases such as “Boycott Israel,” “Killer Netanyahu,” “Free Palestine,” “Justice,” and “Israel shoots, and the United States and the European Union are sponsors.”
The demonstration received the support of left-wing representatives. The participants observed a minute of silence in honor of the lives lost in the ongoing war on Gaza since October 7.
The leader of the left-wing Podemos party, Ione Pillara, said, “The situation is not reassuring and more worrying than ever because the government (in Madrid) is very close to involving Spain in a war against Yemen to protect the state of Israel, which is practicing genocide.”
On January 12, the White House announced in a joint statement from 10 countries that “in response to the Houthi attacks against commercial ships in the Red Sea, the American and British armed forces carried out joint attacks against targets in areas controlled by the Houthis in Yemen".
Pilara called for concrete measures to be taken to stop this “genocide,” and to provide legal and public support for the case brought by South Africa before the International Court of Justice to sue Israel for “committing genocide” in Gaza.
A march begins from Paris to Brussels demanding “punishment” of Israel
Paris: A march in support of Palestine was launched on Saturday from the French capital, Paris, aiming to reach the Belgian capital, Brussels, by next February 1, to demand the imposition of sanctions against Israel due to its “violations” in Gaza.
The demonstrators gathered in Place de la République in Paris, raising Palestinian flags, as they called for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.
The demonstrators chanted slogans such as “Israel kills Palestinian children” and “Long live the struggle of the Palestinian people,” carrying banners reading “Free Palestine,” “Let’s march for Palestine,” and “Stop genocide.”
The march began at one in the afternoon, Paris time, heading to Brussels, which will host the European Union Council meeting on February 1.
The march participants are scheduled to head to the city of Aubervilliers, a suburb of Paris, at the beginning of their stop, with rest periods in various cities until arriving in Brussels.
Alaa El-Din Taqtak, a member of the French-Palestinian Solidarity Association, said that the demonstrators in Brussels will demand that European Union officials impose political and economic sanctions on Israel.
He added that the march participants will demand that the European Union stop the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories, Tel Aviv stop imprisoning Palestinian women and children, an immediate ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, and the delivery of humanitarian aid to it.
Taqtaq stressed that the European Union’s position on the Israeli attacks on Gaza is “shameful.”
He said: “It is our duty to put pressure on the European Union, which talks about Israel’s right to defend itself, and in reality the occupier does not have the right to defend itself.”
He added that Israel is an apartheid regime, and stated that European Union officials are on the wrong side of history regarding what happened in Gaza.
Thousands of Israelis demonstrate in Tel Aviv demanding early elections
Tel Aviv: Thousands of Israelis demonstrated in central Tel Aviv on Saturday to demand the return of detainees in the Gaza Strip and the holding of early elections to oust Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
The demonstrators marched in Habima Square, some carrying banners criticizing Netanyahu with slogans such as “The Face of Evil” and “Elections Now.”
The Israeli Prime Minister has been facing intense pressure to return detainees in Gaza, since October 7, during the unprecedented Hamas attack on Israeli settlements.
Of the approximately 250 people detained, about 100 of them were released during a truce at the end of November, and 132 are still detained in Gaza, 27 of whom died without their bodies being returned.
“The way things are going now, everyone will die,” Avi Lolo Shamrez, the father of one of the detainees killed in Gaza, said on Saturday. “It is not too late to free them.”
A while ago a demonstration by the families of Israeli prisoners in Tel Aviv to demand a prisoner exchange deal now and a cry.
About 1,140 people were killed in the Hamas attack, most of them civilians, according to an official tally.
Israel is launching a relentless attack that has resulted in the death of about 25,000 Palestinians, most of them women and children, according to the latest toll from the Palestinian Ministry of Health.
On Saturday, demonstrator Yair Katz (69 years old) criticized Benjamin Netanyahu, saying, “Everyone in the country, except for his toxic coalition, knows that his decisions are not made for the good of the country, and that he is only trying to stay in power We all want him to resign.”
Benjamin Netanyahu headed the Israeli government from 1996 to 1999 and then from 2009 to 2021, before assuming the position again after the 2022 elections after forming a coalition with religious and right-wing extremist parties.
Even before October 7, Netanyahu faced massive demonstrations against the judicial reform that his government was trying to pass.