Rikkert Horemans

Policy officer Palestine-Israel @broederlijkdele | PhD on Iran-Hezbollah relationship @UAntwerpen

[Dorien Vanden Boer @DorienVdb50]

@alemannoEU and more than 40 legal scholars call upon the @EU_Commission to end trade with the illegal Israeli settlements as a trade measure. No unanimity is needed. What are you waiting for @vonderleyen and @MarosSefcovic?

[Brigitte Herremans @BriHerremans]

Dat Israël de oorsprong van zijn landbouwproducten verbergt, weten we al decennia. Ngo's wezen in talloze rapporten op de risico's vh passieve Europese beleid hierover. Mho op een invoerverbod v nederzettingsproducten, doen Belgische politici er goed aan zich te informeren.

[Claudio Francavilla @ClaFrancavilla]

Our groceries are bankrolling occupation and apartheid.

A new Global Echo report exposes *massive* EU imports of agricultural goods from Israel's illegal settlements: https://t.co/juljUC8q4a

A full, EU-wide ban is needed, @vonderleyen @MarosSefcovic: https://t.co/yOsG1Y8QAP

[Martin Konečný @MartinKonecny]

Italian FM Tajani: "We are ready to evaluate, with our European partners, measures on products from illegal settlements. ... We are awaiting the European Commission's proposals."

Time for the Commission to do its job! @MarosSefcovic @vonderleyen

https://t.co/Lw6HX0wlpT

[Dahlia Scheindlin @dahliasc]

You have to be daft to think this conditionality has any logic, & I can't even think of a precedent. "Conditioning Gaza's Survival on Hamas' Disarmament Is Collective Punishment" @taniahary @Gisha_Access https://t.co/pmEAEA6ymH

[Martin Konečný @MartinKonecny]

In other words, probably more than 90% of EU imports from the occupied Palestinian territory are illegal settlement products. But the EU Commission, mandated to ensure that EU trade relations respect international law, claims it's too little to bother with as a trade matter?

[Claudio Francavilla @ClaFrancavilla]

🔴 Important update: 🇮🇹 is open to restricting EU trade with settlements: https://t.co/9ct8r954nc

Given Italy's weight in the EU's "Qualified Majority Voting" mechanism, measures are finally within reach

A full ban is required. Hopefully we're getting there 🧵⤵️ 1/9

[Amnesty EU @AmnestyEU]

🇪🇺🇮🇱 "The EU’s decision to maintain its trade agreement with Israel represents a moral failure and illustrates brazen contempt for civilian lives, particularly in the Occupied Palestinian Territory and in Lebanon," says @ErikaGuevaraR

Read 👉https://t.co/JYqVeKbgE8

[Martin Konečný @MartinKonecny]

🚨Dutch parliament votes in support of suspending the trade part of the EU-Israel association agreement 👇

[Danny (Dennis) Citrinowicz ,داني سيترينوفيتش @citrinowicz]

This move reflects President Trump’s interest in advancing peace between Israel and Lebanon, but it signal a broader effort to reach a ceasefire understanding with Iran.

This comes from a recognition that Iran is likely to remain firm in its positions, making a a freameork agreement difficult to achieve.

While the move should not be underestimated, it will probably wont increase the chances of an Israel, Lebanon agreement. Instead, it could actually improve the prospects for a future understanding between the United States and Iran, one that Tehran will likely frame as a success for its own deterrence strategy.

#iran

[Anshel Pfeffer אנשיל פפר @AnshelPfeffer]

Trump forced Netanyahu to accept a ceasefire in Lebanon and didn’t even wait for him to inform cabinet.
Half an hour has passed since Trump’s announcement and not a word yet from Jerusalem.
Bibi still figuring out how to spin his latest Total Victory

[Rikkert Horemans @RikkertHoremans]

Staakt-het-vuren lijkt er te komen vóór Israël het omsingelde Bint Jbeil kan innemen. Hezbollah hield daar in 2006 ook stand, wat het dorp onder aanhangers een bijna mythische status gaf. Symbolische overwinning dus, zeker omdat Netanyahu gisteren nog beweerde dat Bint Jbeil op het punt stond te vallen.

[Barak Ravid @BarakRavid]

🚨🚨Trump on Truth Social: I just had excellent conversations with the Highly Respected President Joseph Aoun, of Lebanon, and Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu, of Israel. These two Leaders have agreed that in order to achieve PEACE between their Countries, they will formally begin a 10 Day CEASEFIRE at 5 P.M. EST. On Tuesday, the two Countries met for the first time in 34 years here in Washington, D.C., with our Great Secretary of State, Marco Rubio. I have directed Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Rubio, together with the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Dan Razin' Caine, to work with Israel and Lebanon to achieve a Lasting PEACE. It has been my Honor to solve 9 Wars across the World, and this will be my 10th, so let's, GET IT DONE!

[Breaking the Silence @BtSIsrael]

It was the only investigated case of torture from Sde Teiman. These soldiers will now return to service, despite video evidence and documented severe injuries to the detainee, including a punctured lung, broken ribs, and rectal damage. Sde Teiman is a torture camp. It’s a policy.

[Yesh Din English @Yesh_Din]

During the 40 days of the war with Iran, an average of ten incidents of settler violence took place every single day.

These incidents include harassment and intimidation, property damage, arson, takeover of buildings and land, assaults, and killings. In one out of every ten incidents, settlers used live fire.

The attacks took place in 148 Palestinian communities across the West Bank.

The map of Palestinian communities affected by settler violence under the cover of war clearly illustrates the objective of this state-backed violence: the displacement of Palestinians from their land and their confinement to small, densely-populated enclaves.

Israel can stop settler violence if it chooses to. Instead, government policy encourages criminal settlers and fuels the spread of violent farm outposts across the West Bank.

Settler violence is not an exception. It’s policy!

[Elizabeth Tsurkov @LizHurra]

Israeli Ch 15 (i24 News): the Israeli Army is besieging several dozens of Hezbollah militiamen inside several holdouts in Bint Jbeil. The Army expects to clear the town within days.
Israel failed to take the town in the 2006 War and in 2000, Nasrallah gave his famous victory speech from the town's football field (now occupied by Israel). The town's symbolism makes the battle a highly watched one in Lebanon and in Israel, as can be seen from social media discourse and media coverage.

[Trita Parsi @tparsi]

Here's the Iranian delegates to the talks. Never during the JCPOA did I see such a large & senior Iranian delegation. And Qalibaf may meet directly w/ Vance(!)

Before, the Iranians refused such meetings.

They agree now because they see themselves in a far stronger position.

[Itay Epshtain @EpshtainItay]

BREAKING: In 2021, Israel designated Defence for Children International – Palestine @DCIPalestine, offered no evidence, and moved against its lawyers and that of five other Palestinian civil society groups to prevent effective appeal.

By July 2022, nine EU States (Belgium , Denmark, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Spain and Sweden) publicly concluded that Israeli claims were unsubstantiated and continued their support to the NGOs.

DCIP endured. But institutions do not break overnight; they are worn down, incrementally, by accusation without proof and pressure without recourse.

What we are now witnessing is not an isolated episode, but a method of frivolous allegations and repression. One that will not stop at Palestinian organisations and will affect Israeli and international NGOs.

Measures framed as security regulation operate, in practice, to constrict humanitarian space, undermine human rights protection, and erode the institutional capacity through which Palestinians exercise agency and pursue self-determination.

[Defense for Children @DCIPalestine]

Onward.

[Séamus Malekafzali @Seamus_Malek]

Trump throwing his support behind the privatization policies of President Mohammad Khatami and his Dialogue Among Civilizations initiative

[Ali Vaez @AliVaez]

Grim @UNDP assessment of war's impact on Iran's already struggling economy: 8.8-10.4% drop in GDP growth compared to no-war baseline, ~4m people falling below poverty line, strains on health sector, rising food prices.