Yana is ten. She’s one of four children I have just met in a Ukrainian hospital.
A week ago she was in Kramatorsk train station trying to escape the war when it was hit by missiles.
She has lost both her legs. And her mother.
(At the request of docs we aren’t showing her face)
I saw a lot more instances of entirely unnecessary, provocative behavior by Israeli police/military today. At Damascus Gate (stun grenades thrown at peaceful Palestinian group), in Sheikh Jarrah (skunk water fired on Palestinian homes) & Bethlehem (volleys of tear gas)
The Israeli police pushing around accredited news correspondent
@bencnn
and his
@cnni
crew. It’s happened to us all this week.
Today I walked past a policeman. I smiled and said hello. “F*ck off” he said.
Israeli officials have claimed for weeks that the south of Gaza is safe. It plainly is not.
They have been focusing on an area called Mawasi in the southern coastal area. A sheltered safe area
@TzipiHotovely
told
@TrevorPTweets
Here’s what
@SkyNews
teams found in the south
So
@BorisJohnson
’s kipper story turns out to be cobblers.
@EU_Commission
confirms that it’s UK not EU rules that determine how the kipper is transported:
“The case described by Mr Johnson falls outside the scope of the EU legislation and it's purely a UK national competence.'
The images filling up my Instagram & Twitter are beyond anything imaginable.
Gaza. The dead, everywhere. Dead babies held high by survivors who pulled them from the rubble. Blooded children, women, men. Screaming. Limbless bodies. Whole streets flattened. It’s truly apocalyptic.
.
@EstherMcVey1
- this is simply (and demonstrably) NOT TRUE.
You are an elected member of Parliament with responsibilities. Are you really so ignorant of the facts or are you knowingly misleading the public with nonsense? Genuine question.
Hearing that western diplomats at the Security Council are increasingly confident that they have peeled China away from Russia in the imminent vote, persuading Beijing to abstain rather than vote against the resolution. In the quest to isolate Russia this would be significant.
An Israeli minister here insisting there will never be a Palestinian state:
“We live here, this is our country. The historical estate of our ancestors. There will be no Palestinian state here. We will never allow another state to be established between the Jordan & the sea.” 👇
מכבדים ומוקירים את נשיא ארצות הברית ג'ו ביידן שיצא מגדרו בתקופתה הקשה ביותר של מדינת ישראל. זוהי ידידות אמת.
אבל אנחנו חיים כאן, זוהי ארצנו. נחלת אבותינו ההיסטורית. לא תהיה כאן מדינה פלסטינית. לעולם לא נאפשר להקים מדינה נוספת בין הירדן לים. לעולם לא נחזור על אוסלו.
ובמילותיו של…
I can retweet it because I saw the behavior. And countless other moments through the last week and last few years. It’s happening. I see it with my own eyes. And it’s my job as a journalist to tell this story.
@DanielSeidemann
@Stone_SkyNews
What's 'Barur'? Why are we only shown one angle. And how can
@Stone_SkyNews
retweet this? He has gone into full propaganda mode. He is meant to be a journalist, not an anti Israel propaganda activist.
I was astonished at how China’s bike sharing scheme had ballooned when I returned there in the summer. Now these remarkable
@guardian
photos show the boom is bust
Just arrived at the location for the big news conference announced by President Trump.
Slightly surreal location... not the Four Seasons Hotel but a landscaping business in an industrial estate on edge of Philadelphia... more
@SkyNews
Palestinians say they are often humiliated by Israeli police/army. I’ve watched it too. From shoves to skunk water to stun grenades, ostensibly for ‘crowd control’.
Another video here.
@MickyRosenfeld
&
@LTCJonathan
say they investigate - we await results.
NEW: The Turkish authorities have sent us this video which they claim was filmed at 0726 this morning off Bodrum. It shows Greek coastguard carrying out ‘pushbacks’ of migrant dinghies. Shots are also fired into the water. More
@SkyNews
I have seen the ‘trigger happy, pumped’ solders many times and reported on the consequences of their actions.
And this video, from just yesterday in Jerusalem, is another case in point
If this is how the IDF treat hostages imagine what the Palestinians are suffering every day.
Israeli organisations like
@BtSIsrael
and others have been warning about IDF tactics for years.
Trigger happy, pumped with hatred and out of control - the videos from Gaza, some filmed…
🇺🇸🎥 I asked the Democrat mayor of Philadelphia, Jim Kenny to respond to the allegations of mass fraud. “What the president needs to do is put his big boy pants on...”
@SkyNews
More Israeli police tactics that require investigation. A journalist here in Sheikh Jarrah.
@MickyRosenfeld
- we have asked you in private, in person and on Twitter for the progress on the investigations you say you carry out.
This, from President Biden, tells us something about how the negotiations between Israel & Hamas are going.
It also, frankly, shows why so many in America and beyond are concerned about the age of the American president who is insisting on running again.
More Israeli police actions that defy understanding. Unless it’s simply to silence.
I’ve watched the same tactics over the past month here. We ask why? They only say they will investigate. We hear nothing.
We hold authority to account globally. It must be no different in Israel.
#SheikhJarrah
: This afternoon as Nabil Al Kurd, father of Muna & Mohammad gave a press conference and as Muna appeared outside the police station where she'd been detained arrested the police set off stun grenades and tear gas. For no reason.
.
@WaelDahdouh
has unimaginable strength and courage. Back reporting what’s happening to his Gaza, after losing his son (yet another journalist killed). Wael has already lost his wife, two other children and grandchildren in Israel’s bombardment.
His nickname in Arabic: the mountain (Al Jabal). Calm and strong, Wael Dahdouh, live from Gaza, after burying his eldest son, Hamza, killed in an Israeli strike. Wael had lost members of his family, including wife, 2 kids and grandchild earlier. He himself got injured too. Jabal
It’s driving rain right now in Tel Aviv. Gaza will get it later this afternoon. Winter will come soon. And a whole population is displaced; a lack of shelter away from destroyed homes, food & fuel low.
The humanitarian crisis is already catastrophic. It will get worse still.
The moment anti-Brexit protester
@MarkJohnstonLD
jumps in front of
@theresa_may
’s motorcade as it arrives in Brussels.
“Foolish” I ask?
“Not as foolish as
#Brexit
- holding a placard in front of a limo is nothing compared to the economic chaos if we crash out.”
@SkyNews
Another one to add to the ‘too many British politicians don’t get the EU’ pile.
1. I think it’s the Commission President you‘re after rather than a commissioner.
2. The new Commission President (& indeed the commissioners) take over on 1 Nov, a day *after* brexit has happened.
In today’s
@ObserverUK
I’m urging the new PM to sit down with the new EU Commissioner and secure a new deal for Britain.
This moment is too important to rush, and we’ve got to think about how Britain will look in 90 years, not 90 days.
#Marr
👇
Hind’s story and her pleas for help made no difference in the end. She was killed with her family and the rescuers who tried to save her.
A devastating reflection of experiences across Gaza.
As
#Brexit
talks go on & become ever more bitter, I’ve been listening to concerns of Brits living in continental EU. Don’t dismiss them & assume they’re happy, retired on the 🏖. Listen to them in this
@SkyNews
THREAD. Many different worries but all in limbo, stressed, forgotten
Sources in EU institutions v clear tonight that Brexit extension to May 22 (which was first offered at the last EU summit & is back in play if TM can convince EU that her new plan can deliver the deal) is ONLY an option if the UK commits to European Elections. /1
Come on
@KateHoeyMP
- this is inaccurate dog whistle stuff.
@guyverhofstadt
is an *MEP* - elected. He is not an unelected bureaucrat. Yes, he was appointed to chair the
@Europarl_EN
Brexit Steering group - but that’s how it works. Just like u were appointed a Sports Minister once
Can anyone imagine PM Thatcher’s reaction to these unelected bureaucrats ? What more does it take for
@10DowningStreet
just to say “enough is enough”.
#GoWTO
I was talking about the peaceful protests I have seen. And the police behavior I have seen.
@mishtal
- where are you? In Israel? On the ground? Observing? Forgive me if you are. Forgive me for ignoring you if you are not.
Sky news literally just called the Palestinian self titled 'day of rage' a 'peaceful protest'.
They've lost the plot
@skynews
and
@Stone_SkyNews
is leading the charge off the cliff.
China abstains in UN resolution on
#Ukraine
. Western diplomats successfully peeled it away from Russia. Diplomatically v v significant. Russian isolation.
India abstained too. The fact that UAE also abstained is remarkable and will strain tight relations with America.
Spotted by a colleague in the local supermarket - European Council President
@donaldtusk
queuing for eggs ahead of a big weekend. Tonight he will meet
@theresa_may
on the eve of a summit to sign off the
#Brexit
agreement.
EU official also confirms that UK nationals will no longer be able to use EU lanes at airports & ports in ‘no deal’
#Brexit
. Duration / purpose of visit / means of subsistence will also be asked for.
None of this should be a surprise.
Remember: for 6 months, as the most brutal of conflicts rages in
#Gaza
, reporters have been prevented from entering by Israel & Egypt.
The reporting has come from dwindling number of extraordinary Palestinians who can’t rest.
Eyewitness journalism intentionally restricted.
The focus is Gaza.
But what’s happening in the West Bank is of profound importance to what happens next.
Israeli government policy in the West Bank + the immunity given to settlers over many years is shaping the future.
Israeli settlers demolished a school in Zamuta, a village in the Occupied
#Palestinian
Territory.
The school was built by EU funds - because every child, everywhere has a right to education.
This destruction is intolerable and a violation of International Humanitarian Law.
#IHL
#Hamas
co-founder has told
@SkyNews
the current ceasefire should hold for now but said there’s no chance of peace with
#Israel
yet.
We tackle Mahmoud Zahar on firing missiles from civilian areas into civilian areas, on accepting a Jewish State and more.
Extended 🎥 on Sky later
My guess is that the owner of the business will be a witness with a story of alleged fraud. The evidence is the key part lacking in
@realDonaldTrump
’s allegations.
The Saudi Foreign Minister
@FaisalbinFarhan
tells me “the Arabs are serious” when it comes to restarting the peace process…
“If we are not willing to overcome all the difficulties, all the challenges, all the history, then we will never have a real peace…”
V good question. Yes - impossible.
There’s total control over the strip & a long-established fence all the way round. If it was possible to sneak in, it would’ve been done.
You’re right - from junta-run-Burma to gang-run-Haiti to Taliban-run-Afghanistan we’ve got in.
Not Gaza
🎥🇹🇷🇬🇷 Video emerges of migrants being shot, injured & in one case killed on Turkish/Greek border.
The video is graphic.
The Turkish governor says the shots were fired by Greek border guards. 6 injured - 3 in legs/feet, 1 in groin, 1 in leg, 1 in chest - he later died.
Discussed with 🇵🇸 Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas the need for all sides to respect the ceasefire in Israel and Gaza. Reaffirmed UK support for a two-state solution as the only way to bring sustainable peace.
The Bank of England governor, Andrew Bailey, just left the G20 finance ministers meeting at the IMF.
I asked him if he knew why the chancellor wasn’t in attendance.
“That’s a question for the chancellor” he told me.
We sadly confirmed today that 11 of over 60 children killed by Israeli air strikes in
#Gaza
over the last week were participating in our programme helping them deal with trauma.
All of the children between 5 and 15 years old were killed in their homes
I just travelled with the family back home to Jerusalem after 5 weeks in the UK.
It was a bit of an eye-opener.
Deserted airports,
#COVID
ー19 tests, the seeming impossibility of social-distancing on planes, the awkward conversations...
Some reflections and 📸 in this *thread*
They “sweep” into Switzerland (actually it’s far from a sweep but it is efficient) because they have been doing it for years. As we discovered and pointed out to our viewers a few years ago
It’s
#WorldPangolinDay
today. Ever heard of a
#Pangolin
? It’s an extraordinary little creature & the most trafficked / endangered mammal in the world. Could be extinct soon experts say. I was lucky enough to meet one 2 years ago.👇
@SkyNews
1/2
🇺🇸
#USElections2020
@realDonaldTrump
’s son Eric and lawyer Rudy Giuliani both about to speak in Philadelphia we understand. Event was to be on street corner near convention centre where the Philly count is taking place. Hecklers have forced a to move to airport. Watch
@SkyNews
BREAKING: sources in DC have confirmed that UK jets have joined US Air Force conducting strikes in Yemen tonight.
30+targets at least 10 locations
Missiles launched from ships and jets from US carrier.
24+ aircraft launched. Some carrying 2k pound bombs.
3rd time UK involved
.
@markaustintv
’s exchange with Israel’s ambassador to UK is hugely significant. It ends 🇮🇱’s pretence of 2 states.
It’s clear now that 🇺🇸 is backing 🇮🇱 militarily (with weapons & funding) despite two starkly different end-point objectives.
More here👇
An EU diplomat to
@guardian
: “It is very clear that we are running out of time and that you are dealing with a partner preventing solutions to non-existent problems...”
“We are confronted with absolute populism and that is hard to deal with,”
Security staff are guarding the gate but beyond it I have spotted
@CLewandowski_
, Mr Trump’s 2016 campaign manager &
@PamBondi
, Florida’s former Attorney-General + Trump loyalist discussing the rearranging of landscaping equipment in preparation for their news conference.
Very angry letter from
@BritishInEurope
to
@theresa_may
after she chose not to mention the 1.2+ million Brits who live in the EU. “You appear willing to take the UK out of the EU with a no deal and no thoughts for your own nationals”
@SkyNews
👇
Disputed
#Catalan
President
@KRLS
talks exclusively to
@SkyNews
from exile in Brussels. Why he insists he’s still President, why
#Catalonia
is persecuted, why it’s
#Spain
, not him, damaging the economy & why he is disappointed with the EU.
.
@Arron_banks
- if you cared to look at how many ‘lousy Europeans’ died resisting and fighting in those two World Wars you might appear less of a disgusting ignorant halfwit.
Remarkable images of a North Korean soldier attempting to escape his country across the border with South Korea. Defections are not unusual. Witnessing them is.
#DPRK
This is wrong Mr Raab. You have no control over protecting the rights of UK citizens living in the EU. Even if you offer reciprocal rights it’s in the gift of 26 individual states to match that - and even if they do (and it’s no guarantee in no deal scenario), they still lose FoM
The vibe from conversations tonight is that the EU has lost any faith in the UK government or parliament to deliver on anything.
There’s huge scepticism that 22/5 is enough time to achieve a deliverable cross-party compromise. “I don’t believe in miracles” said one source. /5
Colleagues at
@Channel4News
have fact checked that random ‘female cyclists’ claim in
@BorisJohnson
resignation letter and discovered that he was fibbing. Important to hold politicians to account even as they quit
"It's not about the numbers, it's about eliminating evil" an Israeli
@idf
commander tells
@skynews
when pushed on the 11,000+ who have been killed in 4 weeks.
Not about the numbers….
Inside
#Gaza
🦠💉Just received dose one of my vaccine. I live in Israel where they are now vaccinating my age group. Pleased and grateful to have received it but feels strange too...
📸Alaa Abu Hatib & his daughter Maria. Maria’s mother & 4 siblings were among 10 who died last week when a
#Gaza
home was hit.
The
@IDF
tell
@skynews
a misfired
#Hamas
rocket hit the building.
Yet no
#Hamas
rockets which hit Israel in the past 11 days have caused damage like this
This image from
@rami_rizk
shows the area of the
#Beirut
explosion. The initial fire and explosion was behind this large white building / silo on the dockside as seen in the maps.
Mass shooting at a shopping mall in Texas. 8 dead. 7 injured. Gunman dead.
In America, in the 125 days of 2023, there have been:
❌ 199 mass shootings
❌ 6,100+ gun deaths
❌ 11,400+ gun injuries
❌ 8,250+ gun related suicides
So, after 4 extraordinary & fascinating years covering Europe, it’s time to move on. I’ll soon be moving patches to the Middle East
An interesting time to be there but I’ll miss Brussels hugely
The wonderful
@adamparsons
is taking over in België with his Europe adventure ahead!
G20 Finance Ministers & Bank Chiefs are in a long meeting at IMF now.
BoE Governor Bailey there but Chancellor is not.
Treasury team seen outside meeting telling organisers that Kwarteng’s deputy will stand in.
We know that Kwarteng did meet G20 counterparts for breakfast.
Of all the stories coming out of
#Gaza
, one in particular is so terribly tragic:
@NRC_Norway
’s news that 11 children being treated for trauma from previous conflicts had died in the latest one.
Today I met family & friends of one of them. Her name was Dima
The scrapping of the £65 for EU citizens living in the UK and wanting to stay will be hugely welcoming for 3 million EU citizens in UK.
But the fact that this is the headline of her plan B speech so far suggests that plan B is alarmingly thin on an actual plan B.
My five year old son to me just now:
“Dad - I don’t like it when
@theresa_may
is here in Brussels.”
“Why?” I ask.
“Because it means you be at work for ages for Brexit”.
#Brexit
even in the mind of a 5-year-old... 😳
🎥 Have a watch of this little collection of voices I’ve gathered today - the tangible impact of continued uncertainty over
#Brexit
with just 99 days to go...
The 🇬🇧 & 🇪🇺 politicians often claim
#CitizensRights
is sorted. It is not. More:
@SkyNews
A succinct explanation from Latvia’s Foreign Minister
@edgarsrinkevics
on why 🇪🇺 says it’ll back Ireland to the hilt despite risk of cliff edge
#brexit
. It’s about a word 🇪🇺 holds dear - ‘solidarity’. (It’s also, of course, about maintaining the integrity of Single Market)
The reason for this is simple.
If her plan doesn’t work & deal not done by 22/5 then there is a legally unavoidable cliff-edge ‘no deal’ at midnight on 22nd.
Why? Because the UK can’t remain a member if it hasn’t taken part in European Parliament elections. /2
Matthew lives in The Netherlands and works in the pharmaceutical industry.
“I am appalled by the British government. They seem absolutely unconcerned about the 1.3m British people living in the EU”
#Brexit