Palestinian Activist’s Family Seeks International Justicehttps://english.aawsat.com/home/article/3155091/palestinian-activist%E2%80%99s-family-seeks-international-justice
Palestinian Activist’s Family Seeks International Justice
The death in custody of Nizar Banat, a leading critic of the Palestinian Authority, sparked angry demonstrations in the West Bank to demand justice ABBAS MOMANI AFP/File
Palestinian Activist’s Family Seeks International Justice
The death in custody of Nizar Banat, a leading critic of the Palestinian Authority, sparked angry demonstrations in the West Bank to demand justice ABBAS MOMANI AFP/File
The family of Palestinian activist Nizar Banat, who died in Palestinian custody in June, stepped up its quest for international justice on Thursday, turning to British police and the UN, AFP reported.
Banat -- a leading critic of the Palestinian Authority and its 86-year old president Mahmoud Abbas -- died after security forces stormed his home in the flashpoint city of Hebron and dragged him away.
A post-mortem found he had been beaten on the head, chest, neck, legs and hands, with less than an hour elapsing between his arrest and his death.
Banat's family has said it has no confidence in the PA's capacity to deliver justice, and called for an international probe.
A statement from the family's lawyers, the British firm Stoke White, said they have asked Britain's Metropolitan Police to open an investigation under the principle of universal jurisdiction.
For a small number of serious offences, Britain's courts can hear cases even if the alleged crimes were committed abroad.
Stoke White also said it had asked multiple branches of the United Nations human rights system to open investigation, including the Working Group on Arbitrary Detentions and four special rapporteurs.
Ghasan Khalil Banat said his brother's "murder" was a "tragedy for our family, but also a tragedy for the Palestinian people."
"The so-called investigation that was carried out into his murder is an embarrassment and the PA should feel ashamed of it," he said in the statement.
The head of international law and Stoke White, Hakan Camuz, said: "Responsibility for the murder of Nizar Banat very clearly lies with the senior leadership of the Palestinian Authority including President Mahmud Abbas and Prime Minister Mohammed Shtayyeh."
Shtayyeh and the PA have promised accountability over Banat's death.
Camuz accused the PA of a long-standing bid to silence dissent.
"They cannot be allowed to get away with this and this is why we are submitting these complaints and petitions to the British police and the UN," he said in the statement.
After 'Blank Ballot' Round, Hamas Resumes Vote for New Leaderhttps://english.aawsat.com/arab-world/5284797-after-blank-ballot-round-hamas-resumes-vote-new-leader
After 'Blank Ballot' Round, Hamas Resumes Vote for New Leader
Hamas leaders, from right: Rawhi Mushtaha, Saleh al-Arouri and Ismail Haniyeh (all of whom were killed), alongside Khaled Meshaal and Khalil al-Hayya (file photo - Hamas-affiliated media).
Hamas has resumed voting to elect the head of its political bureau, the movement’s highest leadership position, after an initial round last month failed to produce a winner. The process was delayed after some voters submitted blank ballots rather than backing any candidate.
Former political bureau chief Khaled Meshaal and Khalil al-Hayya, the movement’s chief in Gaza and head of its negotiating team in ceasefire talks, are competing for the post.
Two Hamas sources in Gaza told Asharq Al-Awsat that voting in the runoff round has begun in the enclave. One source said eligible voters are participating through a more secretive and complex process because of difficult security conditions and ongoing targeted killings.
Hamas is facing its most severe crisis since its founding in 1987. Israeli operations launched after the October 7, 2023 attack have targeted the movement across multiple levels and branches, creating significant organizational and financial challenges.
The two sources, speaking separately, said ballots are being delivered to eligible voters in sealed envelopes. After selecting a candidate, voters return their ballots through channels governed by strict security procedures designed to protect both participants and those overseeing the election process.
The political bureau chief is elected by the movement’s Shura Council, a 71-member body representing Hamas’s three main constituencies: Gaza, the West Bank, and the external leadership. The council had 50 members about a decade ago, but its size was later expanded following amendments to the movement’s internal regulations.
The sources said voting is also expected to take place in the West Bank and among Hamas officials abroad, although neither could confirm whether the process has already begun in those arenas.
Fighters of the Al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of the Hamas movement, stand guard as they search for the bodies of Israeli hostages alongside Red Cross workers in Jabaliya refugee camp in the northern Gaza Strip, 01 December 2025. EPA/MOHAMMED SABER
A More Secretive Runoff
On May 16, Hamas announced that the first round of voting had failed to determine a winner and said a second round would be held in accordance with the movement’s internal rules.
Under Hamas regulations, the runoff was expected to take place within 20 days. However, sources within the movement said security and political developments, including assassinations in Gaza and meetings between Hamas leaders abroad and regional mediators, delayed the process. They said the new round is being conducted under tighter secrecy than the first to prevent security breaches or media leaks.
Hamas leaders agreed to elect only a political bureau chief for now, postponing broader elections for the political bureau, the Shura Council, and other administrative bodies until early next year.
Israel killed Hamas political bureau chief Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran in July 2024. He was succeeded by Yahya Sinwar, who was killed in Gaza in October of the same year.
For roughly the past year and a half, Hamas has been run by a collective leadership council. Earlier this year, the movement launched a new effort to elect a leader to serve out the remainder of the current political bureau’s term, which was due to end in 2025 but was extended by an additional year, pending broader elections expected late this year or early next year.
Sources told Asharq Al-Awsat on May 21 that some voters had cast blank ballots as a way of declining to endorse either candidate, al-Hayya or Meshaal. According to the sources, this was the first known instance of blank ballots being used in a vote for the movement’s top leadership post.
At the time, some sources interpreted the blank ballots as a sign of dissatisfaction with both candidates and possibly with the movement’s handling of certain issues, as well as an effort to encourage the emergence of a younger generation of leaders. Others said the move was not necessarily directed at the candidates themselves but reflected broader objections to some existing policies, or a preference for postponing the election of an interim leader until comprehensive elections are held and the current leadership council remains in place.
Trump Says Syria ‘Will Do the Job’ with Hezbollah if Israel Unablehttps://english.aawsat.com/arab-world/5284732-trump-says-syria-%E2%80%98will-do-job%E2%80%99-hezbollah-if-israel-unable
A Hezbollah flag flutters amid rubble of destroyed buildings, in Deir Qanoun al-Nahr, Tyre district, southern Lebanon, June 15, 2026. (Reuters)
TT
TT
Trump Says Syria ‘Will Do the Job’ with Hezbollah if Israel Unable
A Hezbollah flag flutters amid rubble of destroyed buildings, in Deir Qanoun al-Nahr, Tyre district, southern Lebanon, June 15, 2026. (Reuters)
US President Donald Trump said Tuesday he had suggested to Israel that Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa should deal with Lebanon's Tehran-backed Hezbollah group as the Israeli campaign was causing too many casualties.
Praising Sharaa as doing an "amazing job", Trump said at a G7 summit: "If Israel can't do the job (against Hezbollah) without killing everyone else, than he (Sharaa) will do the job. Syria will do the job."
Sharaa last week quelled renewed speculation that Syria could become involved in the war in Lebanon, saying reports that Damascus intends to intervene militarily are “mere rumors.”
Sources in Damascus told Asharq Al-Awsat at the time: “So far, there has been no official US request to Damascus related to any form of Syrian military intervention in Lebanon.”
They said Tom Barrack, Trump’s envoy to Syria and Iraq and Washington’s ambassador in Ankara, had previously asked Damascus “to take a clear, explicit and serious position against Hezbollah.”
They added that “entering the quagmire of war and sending military forces unilaterally is completely ruled out,” and that it was “very, very early” to discuss the possibility of Syrian forces entering Lebanon in support of the Lebanese army.
Syria’s Interior Ministry said, “Lebanon is a sovereign state and not a backyard, as the former regime viewed it,” stressing that “coordination with Lebanon is the basic pillar for any assistance Syria provides to Lebanon.”
Brigadier General Hassan Abdul Ghani, commander of the Border Guard Forces in the Syrian Arab Army, met last Thursday with a Lebanese army delegation headed by liaison official Brigadier General Michel Boutros.
The talks focused mainly on “enhancing cooperation and coordination between the two sides in border control and combating smuggling activities, in a way that contributes to strengthening border security between the two countries.”
Israeli Supreme Court Rejects Appeal for Release of Gaza Doctor Held without Chargehttps://english.aawsat.com/arab-world/5284718-israeli-supreme-court-rejects-appeal-release-gaza-doctor-held-without-charge
Palestinian doctor Hussam Abu Safiya, who was captured by the Israeli military in Gaza in late 2024 and still held in detention, appears via video link at the Israeli Supreme Court hearing in Jerusalem, June 10, 2026. (Reuters)
TT
TT
Israeli Supreme Court Rejects Appeal for Release of Gaza Doctor Held without Charge
Palestinian doctor Hussam Abu Safiya, who was captured by the Israeli military in Gaza in late 2024 and still held in detention, appears via video link at the Israeli Supreme Court hearing in Jerusalem, June 10, 2026. (Reuters)
Israel's Supreme Court on Tuesday rejected an appeal to release a prominent Palestinian doctor who has been held without charge since he was captured in Gaza in late 2024.
Hussam Abu Safiya, the director of the Kamal Adwan hospital, is among at least 14 doctors from Gaza who have been detained in Israel without charge for more than a year.
The court based its decision on "confidential materials" that were not shared with Abu Safiya or his lawyer, Naji Abbas, director of the Prisoners and Detainees Department at the Israeli rights organization Physicians for Human Rights Israel (PHRI), told Reuters on Tuesday.
A spokesperson for the Supreme Court declined to comment.
"The message sent by this decision is unmistakable: a medical professional can be deprived of his liberty indefinitely without being charged and without the authorities presenting evidence against him in open court," Abbas said in a statement.
Abu Safiya's lawyer and human rights groups say the medic has been denied sufficient food and assaulted in prison.
Israel's prison service has denied the allegations.
Abu Safiya appeared by video link at a Supreme Court hearing in Jerusalem last Wednesday, looking noticeably thinner.
For the past 13 days, Abu Safiya has also been held in solitary confinement, PHRI said.
The Israeli military has accused Abu Safiya of being a member of the Palestinian group Hamas. It has not provided evidence and Gaza's health ministry and Hamas have denied the allegation.
In 2023, Abu Safiya was among the doctors who refused to leave the dozens of newborn infants they were treating after the Israeli military ordered them to leave.
لم تشترك بعد
انشئ حساباً خاصاً بك لتحصل على أخبار مخصصة لك ولتتمتع بخاصية حفظ المقالات وتتلقى نشراتنا البريدية المتنوعة
