Secunder Kermani

Foreign Correspondent @Channel4News, ex BBC Pakistan & Afghanistan Correspondent / Newsnight

[Secunder Kermani @SecKermani]

We spent a week in the Occupied West Bank:

We saw bloody settler attacks, Palestinian homes demolished & tense interactions with Israeli soldiers

Here's a short clip ⬇️

Including our attempt to reach a Palestinian family besieged by "hilltop youth" settlers - before we were violently stopped

With @MillyTeasdale @MackesonPaul Ayman Abu Ramouz & Nava Mizrahi

[Valerie Hopkins @VALERIEinNYT]

I was at the Novaya Gazeta yesterday as its reporters and editors packed up and held their final editorial meeting at Potapovsky Pereulok. The newspaper survived so much, but it could not survive Russia's war in Ukraine.
One reader I talked to described the disappearance of the Novaya as a "spiral of silence," saying:
“When voices like these disappear from public life, it starts to feel like there are fewer and fewer people who think differently, like you’re alone in what you believe,” said a 21-year-old reader, Danila, a recent university graduate with a degree in computer programming. He asked that his last name not be published, to avoid trouble with the authorities.
“The less you hear people expressing views different from the official narrative,” he said, “the harder it gets to speak up yourself.”
https://t.co/0BQ6UIwHpe

[Lindsey Hilsum @lindseyhilsum]

A Russian missile killed two teenage girls in the #Ukraine city of #Chernihiv. We tell their story. And learn why their headteacher can’t forgive. @Channel4News @JoshHoNews @Amelia_Dunn1
https://t.co/tHfTJkRegs

[Ramy Abdu| رامي عبده @RamAbdu]

🚨 BREAKING: The bodies of two children and two women have been recovered from beneath collapsed sand that buried tents sheltering displaced families near Al-Baraka water reservoir, west of Deir al-Balah, central Gaza.

Rescue teams are still searching for missing people beneath the sand.

[Joshua Landis @joshua_landis]

Horrid scenes from Gaza where heavy rains have flooded most tents and left 2 million Gazans cold and wet with no dry mattresses or bedding.

[Secunder Kermani @SecKermani]

These violent settlers are still besieging this Palestinian family home - *one month* after they first set themselves up outside Yousef Shanaran’s front door… the Israeli army still not forcing them out the area

A new Israeli govt could be formed fairly soon - led by Gadi Eisenkot who has promised to crack down on settler violence (even though he supports settlement expansion - deemed illegal internationally)

For now, high levels of attacks still continuing

[Channel 4 News @Channel4News]

This is the moment Channel 4 News Foreign Affairs Correspondent Secunder Kermani was charged at by a group of Israeli settlers in the Occupied West Bank.

The settlers have laid siege to a Palestinian home, while nearby Israeli soldiers keep watch but do not intervene.

Violent attacks by Israeli settlers against Palestinians in the West Bank have risen dramatically over the past two years, while Israel's government has approved a record number of new settlements.

[Secunder Kermani @SecKermani]

Nazareth last week

[Tom Bateman @tombateman]

In September the US waived human rights conditions on $320m of US military assistance to Egypt; days later a fresh crackdown began on journalists in the country. Several members of Congress say the two are linked, calling for their release.
https://t.co/biEq4jAqG3

[Channel 4 News @Channel4News]

In Michigan, the debate over America’s relationship with Israel is dividing Democrats and families - including the state’s Jewish community.

Lauren is volunteering for Abdul El-Sayed’s Senate campaign. Her dad, David, is a lifelong Democrat who hasn’t decided where he stands.

We brought them together for an honest conversation about Israel, politics and the issues dividing people who might otherwise agree.

You can watch the film here, on YouTube: https://t.co/ME3507XJFE

Or here on Instagram: https://t.co/NFiLFFcl99

[Lindsey Hilsum @lindseyhilsum]

'Leave Iran alone’ – My exclusive @Channel4News interview with @badralbusaidi, the Omani Foreign Minister, as he calls for Israel and the US to pull back from further conflict in the region, and for a new Gulf non-aggression pact that includes Iran.
https://t.co/NZ6wKhx4SX

[Secunder Kermani @SecKermani]

@AlgazyNadav @Channel4News 🙏🏽🌺 thank you for sharing

[Esther Solomon @EstherSolomon]

Israel elex results: I hope they will force a genuine reckoning that each citizen's vote is equal; none is more kosher than another. My fear: An external shock like war with Iran over which only Netanyahu has control
@Channel4News Fourcast with @SecKermani https://t.co/b5t1gV50QS

[Secunder Kermani @SecKermani]

Unpacking Israel’s election results with analysis from @EstherSolomon @UberPollster & Hassan Jabareen from @AdalahEnglish

https://t.co/cA7XKi7c2q

[Eylon Levy @EylonALevy]

If Israel were the "State of Tel Aviv", the "Change Bloc" would have won a landslide of 101 out of 120 seats.

The Likud would be the only coalition party to get past the electoral threshold. Ben-Gvir, Smotrich, Haredim—all out.

But Israel is not Tel Aviv.

[Anshel Pfeffer אנשיל פפר @AnshelPfeffer]

So no olive branch from Netanyahu to the opposition, but he isn’t claiming either that his coalition is going to win. Instead he’s stressing his camp’s “Zionist” and “Jewish” majority and delegitimising any idea of a government supported by the Arab parties.
It’s not a victory speech. It’s an election speech. The election isn’t over. It could be just beginning.
He still hopes the numbers and a few defectors can somehow add up to a majority, or one of the opposition parties caves, but he’s already preparing the ground for the next election campaign in early 2027.
The other main element in the speech was of course Iran. Which, together with his friend Trump, Israel has a “one-off opportunity” to defeat “once and for all.”
Netanyahu’s strategy now is clear.
1. He’s lost his Knesset majority but he’s going to make sure no-one else can form a government
2. Launch a 3rd war with Iran, which of course will finally topple the regime
3. Then a quick election which he will win handily.

[Secunder Kermani @SecKermani]

Previous predictions are now being revised - seems the Netanyahu bloc is level with / ahead of the opposition bloc (excluding the Arab parties)

Though neither side still have an overall majority

[Adam Parsons @adamparsons]

Netanyahu: "Likud is the largest party in Israel. The propaganda channels have been constantly engineering public consciousness, while knowing it was a lie.
"The right-wing bloc holds a clear and decisive majority among the Zionist public. We must form a strong, national, right-wing government."

[Secunder Kermani @SecKermani]

Scene in Netanyahu’s party HQ right now - despite trailing the opposition alliance according to most predictions

[Secunder Kermani @SecKermani]

Yes he has ruled it out - though Arab parties were anticipating a change in approach after the elections

Just speaking to (fairly rightwing) supporters of the opposition in Jerusalem - they seem split as to whether they would want a govt formed with Arab support or not

[Shelley Holohan @SHolohan87]

@SecKermani Hasn’t Eisenkot point blank said he wouldn’t go into coalition with any Arab parties?

[Secunder Kermani @SecKermani]

Exit polls in Israel show more seats for the Eisenkot alliance than Netanyahu’s coalition - but with no overall majority

Significant number of seats (around 17) to the Arab parties - who could prop up an Eisenkot govt

[Secunder Kermani @SecKermani]

@dianascrivener Thank you for watching!

[Secunder Kermani @SecKermani]

Today, Israel votes in one of its most consequential elections ever

Our report looking at the debates within the country ⬇️

https://t.co/5X8Ov8Wtg9