An attack on a mosque in southern England is being treated as arson and a hate crime by police, after men in balaclavas were filmed attempting to enter the premises and sparking a fire while people were inside late on Saturday.
Emergency services were called to the fire at the mosque in Peacehaven at about 9.50pm last night, soon after worshippers left following evening prayers.
Speaking to media on Sunday outside the damaged centre on the UK’s south coast, a trustee of the mosque said the community was in shock and traumatised by the attack.
“It is definitely hate crime related. The fire did go inside the main area of the building just before the prayer hall.”
A vehicle belonging to a mosque trustee parked outside was set on fire and destroyed in the incident, which was caught on surveillance camera.
“It could have been much worse,” another trustee, who did not want to be named, said. “There were two people inside. We think there were three attempts to get inside.
“We think it may be much more than a hate crime incident. The police are investigating and I wouldn’t want to say much more at this point.
“The person inside smelt the flames and came outside in good time before the serious explosion,” he added.
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✍️ Joe Gill in Peacehaven, England / MEE
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The recorded death toll in Gaza since the genocide began in October 2023 has surpassed 67,000, the Palestinian health ministry reported on Saturday.
A further 169,430 Palestinians have been wounded during the same time period.
Meanwhile, the Israeli government has said there is no ceasefire in effect in Gaza, as US President Donald Trump warned Hamas would face “complete obliteration” if it did not give up power and control of Gaza.
A spokesperson for Israel said that what was taking place in Gaza was just a temporary halt to some of the bombing, which chimes with Palestinian reports that Israel has continued to attack the enclave even as hopes emerged of an agreement to end the assault.
Israeli negotiators are set to visit Egypt on Sunday for indirect talks with Hamas, which are expected to begin on Monday
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A drone attack targeting the Gaza flotilla last month was approved by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, an investigation has revealed.
CBS news cited a number of American intelligence officials who confirmed that the attack on the Global Sumud Flotilla in Tunisia on 8 and 9 September was launched from a submarine by Israel.
The officials, speaking anonymously to the outlet, said the attack was a "deliberate and unnecessary provocation" that coincided with attempts by US President Donald Trump to end the war on Gaza.
The report dismisses suggestions by pro-Israel commentators that the fires on board the flotilla came from misuse of a flare gun by the activists.
In a statement on Friday, the flotilla said they had suspected Israel was responsible for the attack, which caused no casualties.
"Confirmation of Israeli involvement would not surprise us; it would simply lay bare a pattern of arrogance and impunity so grotesque that it cannot escape eventual reckoning," they said.
"Whether the purpose of these attacks was to kill us, scare us away or disable our boats, they recklessly endangered civilians and humanitarian volunteers. The world must take note: attempts to silence, intimidate or obstruct our commitment to the Palestinian cause and people will not succeed. We call for urgent, independent investigations into these attacks and full accountability for those responsible."
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Israel continued military operations in Gaza on Saturday even after US President Donald Trump ordered them to "immediately" stop their assault on the enclave.
Gaza's civil defence agency said Israel carried out dozens of air strikes and artillery shelling on Gaza City and other areas in the strip.
Spokesman Mahmud Bassal told AFP that 20 homes were destroyed in the overnight bombardments.
"The situation is very serious in Gaza City," he said, adding that his teams were not able to reach all the casualties due to the "presence of tanks and the ongoing bombardment".
Gaza City's Baptist Hospital said it received at least four dead from a strike on a home in Tuffah neighbourhood, while Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis reported two children killed and eight people wounded in a drone strike on a tent in a camp for displaced people.
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From the islands of Socotra in the Indian Ocean to the coasts of Somalia and Yemen, satellite imagery analysed by Middle East Eye reveals a greatly expanded network of military and intelligence bases built by the United Arab Emirates.
This ring of control, in and around one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes, has escalated rapidly since the 7 October Hamas-led attacks on Israel and the subsequent war in Gaza.
The UAE’s allies, including Israel and the US, have been party to the creation and expansion of the bases.
Israeli officers have been on the ground in the islands and Israeli radar systems and other military and security apparatus allow the UAE to monitor and thwart attacks launched by the Houthis, the Iran-aligned movement that has fired missiles at Israel in solidarity with the Palestinians and targeted ships going through the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden.
The UAE and Israel have an intelligence-sharing platform known as Crystal Ball, whereby they “design, deploy and enable regional intelligence enhancement” in partnership, according to a slide show designed to promote the pact.
“The relationship between the UAE and Israel was very developed even before formal diplomatic relations were established, but it was kept quiet. Not secret, just quiet,” Alon Pinkas, an Israeli diplomat who served as an adviser to four foreign ministers, told MEE.
The bases have not been constructed on territory formally held by the UAE.
Instead, they are to be found in areas nominally controlled by its allies, including Yemen’s Southern Transitional Council (STC), the Yemeni military commander Tareq Saleh, and the regional administrations of Somaliland and Puntland, which are both part of Somalia, whose government is at odds with the UAE.
✍️: MEE/Oscar Rickett
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Morocco has been rocked by huge demonstrations since 27 September, calling for better government services and an end to corruption.
During the first three days, the rallies, which have been banned and suppressed by the authorities, were largely non-violent - a principle that the organisers have repeatedly insisted on.
However, on Tuesday clashes erupted with law enforcement in several cities across the North African kingdom.
They continued on Wednesday, leading to the killing of two young men by the police and hundreds of people being injured.
Behind what is being described as some of the country’s largest demonstrations in years is a grassroots movement named GenZ 212, born online and driven by young people angered by social injustices in the kingdom.
Middle East Eye sheds some light on who they are, what they want, and how the movement could evolve.
✍🏻: MEE/Elodie Farge
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United Nations human rights and legal experts on Friday warned that the proposed US-sponsored peace plan for Gaza risks entrenching violations of international law.
US President Donald Trump on Monday revealed a 2o-point ceasefire plan, which envisions Gaza becoming a demilitarised zone under a transitional technocratic Palestinian committee with international oversight chaired by Trump himself, until the Palestinian Authority (PA) is ready to govern.
The plan has yet to be accepted by Hamas, and has been widely criticised by Palestinians as a prelude to continuing Israeli apartheid and genocide.
The plan includes a staged ceasefire and prisoner exchange, amnesty and safe passage for Hamas members who disarm, massive flows of international aid, economic redevelopment zones, and the deployment of a US-backed International Stabilisation Force to replace the Israeli army. It promises that Israel will not annex Gaza, and gestures toward a future pathway to realising Palestinian self-determination.
While the 36 UN experts welcomed certain elements, such as a permanent ceasefire, humanitarian aid under UN supervision, the release of unlawfully detained persons, and commitments against forced displacement and annexation, they stressed that these measures are already required under international law and should not depend on the success of a peace plan.
“Imposing an immediate peace at any price, regardless of, or brazenly against law and justice, is a recipe for further injustice, future violence and instability,” they said.
The experts identified a wide range of concerns, raising questions about the plan’s compatibility with international law and with the International Court of Justice’s 2024 Advisory Opinion, which affirmed that Israel’s presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory is unlawful and must end unconditionally.
Swipe through the 15 reasons the UN experts condemned Trump's proposal 👉🏻
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After what it describes as “in-depth consultations” with leadership ranks, Palestinian factions, and mediators, Hamas on Friday has agreed to release all Israeli captives held in Gaza, whether dead or alive.
The announcement comes just hours after US President Donald Trump warned on his TruthSocial account that Hamas should “RELEASES THE HOSTAGES, ALL OF THEM, INCLUDING THE BODIES OF THOSE THAT ARE DEAD, NOW! An Agreement must be reached with Hamas by Sunday Evening at SIX (6) P.M., Washington, D.C. time”.
It also comes five days after Trump announced his 20-point plan for Gaza alongside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
“The movement announces its agreement to release all Israeli prisoners, both living and dead, according to the exchange formula contained in President Trump’s proposal, provided the field conditions for the exchange are met,” Hamas said in a statement.
“In this context, the movement affirms its readiness to immediately enter into negotiations through the mediators to discuss the details of this. The movement also renews its agreement to hand over the administration of the Gaza Strip to a Palestinian body of independents (technocrats), based on Palestinian national consensus and Arab and Islamic support,” the group added.
Hamas did not specify that it agreed to the 20-point plan as presented, and has, over the past week, repeatedly said that it needed to negotiate a number of points further.
“The other issues mentioned in President Trump’s proposal regarding the future of the Gaza Strip and the inherent rights of the Palestinian people are linked to a comprehensive national position based on relevant international laws and resolutions, and are being discussed within a national framework,” the Hamas statement said.
Trump has since posted Hamas’ official letter on the matter to his TruthSocial account without additional commentary. This marks the first time a US president has presented to the American public the full wording of Hamas correspondence.
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"What US President Donald Trump unveiled in Washington this week was not a peace plan, but a parody of one; a deal proclaimed as a breakthrough, yet negotiated between an American enabler and an Israeli perpetrator - with the very people whose fate it decides erased from the stage.
Trump sat beaming beside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, thanking him for 'agreeing' to a plan he had written himself, while Palestinians were nowhere in the picture. No Hamas, no Palestinian Authority - not even a token presence to lend the charade a hint of credibility.
It continues the same colonial logic that birthed the Abraham Accords: strike deals over Palestine without Palestinians. Celebrate 'peace' while ignoring occupation, blockade and ethnic cleansing. Parrot the language of reconciliation while systematically excluding the only people who have the right to speak for themselves.
This deal is not negotiation; it is imposition. It is surrender dressed up as statesmanship."
✍️ Opinion by Soumaya Ghannoushi*
*The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Eye
🔗 www.middleeasteye.net/opinion/palestine-now-consci…
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Earlier this week, a draft plan of what Gaza's governance would look like under former British prime minister Tony Blair was leaked.
Blair, who took Britain into the war in Iraq and has spent his life since leaving office travelling around the world making money and building influence, is being considered to lead a transitional authority in the Palestinian enclave.
The plan for the Gaza International Transitonal Authority (Gita) reveals a hierarchy in which an international board of billionaires and businesspeople sit at the top, while highly vetted “neutral” Palestinian administrators are at the bottom.
The administration would work closely with Israel, Egypt and the US, and, according to Israeli sources cited by Haartez, has the backing of the White House.
According to the draft, Gita will be run by an international board that has “supreme political and legal authority for Gaza during the transitional period”.
There are four names mentioned in the document as potential candidates for this board. None of them are Palestinian. One is Sigrid Kaag, the UN’s special coordinator for the Middle East peace process.
The others are referred to as “leading international figures with executive and financial expertise”.
These are Marc Rowan, a billionaire who owns one of America’s largest private equity firms, Naguib Sawiris, an Egyptian billionaire in the telecommunications and technology sector, and Aryeh Lightstone, chief executive of the Abraham Accords Peace Institute.
There is no indication that any of these figures has been approached about such a role.
Middle East Eye takes a closer look at Blair's would-be band for Gaza.
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Middle East Eye is an independent online news organisation founded in April 2014. We aim to be the primary portal of Middle East news.