Isabel Hunter

BBC Scotland journo— formerly news, docs and investigations STV/C4/Independent/Guardian/MailOnline — Syria/Turkey 2012-2018

[Paris Gourtsoyannis @PGourtsoyannis]

Exclusive:

Douglas Alexander's first external meeting as Trade Minsiter was with lobbyists Global Counsel, following an introduction by Peter Mandelson - and was only declared a year and a half later, after MPs demanded publication of text messages

https://t.co/PyoE5q6vQp

[Nicholas Kristof @NickKristof]

Critical take from Israel's Foreign Ministry on my column about sexual assaults of Palestinian men, women and children. You can read my piece here through a gift link: https://t.co/SL0oxguNmi

[Wazz @WazzCrypto]

DL News was one of the only crypto news sources that reported on the $WAVES fraud that stole more than $500M of investors' money.

Most other publications either ignored it or were running paid puff pieces on its founder Sasha

You are gone but will never be forgotten, legends

[Dimi Reider | dimireider.substack.com @reider]

The zero-sum "debate" around Golders Green is pretty staggering. Yes, a person w mental health issues, a danger to himself and others, can be as susceptible to antisemitism as anyone. No, it doesn't make antisemitism any less of a problem.

[Sky News @SkyNews]

Sky's special correspondent @AlexCrawfordSky reports on the dozens of villages in southern Lebanon which have been virtually wiped out by Israel in a matter of weeks

[Reuters @Reuters]

Israel quietly issued new maps that show its forces now control nearly two-thirds of Gaza, with a new orange line extending beyond the area agreed to in the October ceasefire https://t.co/GFfiVoGhbg

[Alex Crawford @AlexCrawfordSky]

Horrifying video which totally contradicts the Israeli military claims that the ambulances are being used for ‘military purposes’. The attacks killed 4 medics in Nabatieh in south Lebanon including a young father we interviewed a few weeks ago, Mahdi Abou Zeid. I’ll repost the report in this thread. His last words to us:’ If we rest, who will do the job’ 🧵

[shaul Arieli שאול אריאלי @shaulari]

There are moments when reality leaves no room for interpretation. The cabinet’s decision of April 1, made in the midst of the war with Iran, is precisely such a moment. While the Israeli public is preoccupied with existential threats and security distractions, the government chose to approve the establishment of 34 new settlements in the West Bank. It is difficult not to see this as a cynical use of war as a smokescreen, intended to create facts on the ground in preparation for future annexation.

Anyone still struggling to grasp the priorities need only examine the details: although most of the planned settlements are located within established settlement blocs, some are situated in northern Samaria—an area notably characterized by the absence of settlements. This indicates not merely expansion, but a deliberate move into new territories aimed at reshaping the geographic and political reality on the ground.

Equally troubling is the fact that 32 of the 34 settlements are planned outside the route of the existing security barrier. This exposes the gap between the security rationale long presented to the public and the reality on the ground. If the barrier was built to ensure security, why insist on expanding settlement activity beyond it? The answer is clear: ideology, not security, lies at the heart of this policy.

It should also be emphasized that these locations remain approximate, as no official map has been published and no final coordinates have been determined. This ambiguity is hardly incidental; it enables the advancement of far-reaching policies away from public scrutiny, avoiding real-time criticism.

Thus, while soldiers fight on the front lines and Israeli society bears the burden of war, the conflict is being exploited to shape an irreversible reality on the ground. This decision is not a security measure but a unilateral political move—one that deepens the conflict and distances any prospect of a future agreement. For those seeking proof that war is also being used as a political instrument, it appears plainly in this cabinet decision.

[Timour Azhari @timourazhari]

DAMASCUS, March 17 (Reuters) - The United States has encouraged Syria to consider sending forces into eastern Lebanon to help disarm Hezbollah, but Damascus is reluctant to embark on such a ​mission for fear of being sucked into the war in the Middle East and inflaming sectarian tensions, five people briefed on the matter said.

[Julia Macfarlane @juliamacfarlane]

Maybe it wasn’t such a great idea to fire all your foreign correspondents

[Isaac Stanley-Becker @isaacstanbecker]

If you're canceling your Washington Post subscription but still have an Amazon Prime membership, you're doing it wrong.

[Lindsey Hilsum @lindseyhilsum]

Unbelievable that a man who spent US$75m on a film no-one wants to see about Melania Trump has just fired almost all the foreign correspondents on the newspaper he owns. You might think nothing was happening in this world. @JeffBezos @washingtonpost #SaveThePost

[Haaretz.com @haaretzcom]

IDF accepts Gaza Health Ministry estimate of over 70,000 killed in war https://t.co/47F5Bv5TAR

[Vera Bergengruen @VeraMBergen]

Scoop: Reporter does reporting

[wave (returning to the bay arc) @0xWave]

As a vanilla white guy, man what the fuck

The world’s richest man being a conspiracy brained white power poster is fucked

Is it the ketamine? The trans daughter? The racist parents? Coming from post-apartheid South Africa?

His own algorithm?

Sick stuff

[Bricky🧱 @Bricky67_]

Can’t get this video out my head

[Charles Lister @Charles_Lister]

BIG financial news for #Syria, as @Mastercard announces an official license for @QNBGroup to begin issuing/receiving digital financial transactions in #Syria.

All facilitated by #Syria's Central Bank & the repeal of the #CaesarAct.

[Hassan I. Hassan @hxhassan]

Syria unveils new currency:
• Zeroes removed to simplify transactions
• Assad portraits replaced with local nature/produce, echoing ancient trade
• 6 denominations:
10 Damask rose
25 mulberry
50 orange/coast
100 cotton/gazelle
200 olive/horse/north
500 birds/crops/east/south

[Oz Katerji @OzKaterji]

Seymour Hersh admitting his atrocity denial in defence of Assad was wrong, and that one of his sources for that atrocity denial was Assad himself.

Once again, another vindication for those of us who spent years fighting against the filth Hersh was publishing on Syria.

[Dimi Reider | dimireider.substack.com @reider]

I'm an Israeli who lived through both intifadas - as a school kid in the first, as an anti-occupation activist in the second. Palestinian & Israeli activists - & respective allies - understandably focus on different aspects of both eras: the largely unarmed mass actions of the First..