France to try Chinese captain of Russia 'shadow fleet' vessel

Rennes (France) (AFP) – A French court is to try the Chinese captain of a tanker from Russia's "shadow fleet" early next year, prosecutors said Thursday, after it was intercepted off the coast of France.


Issued on: 02/10/2025 - RFI

French military personnel remained on board the tanker.

 © Damien MEYER / AFP/File

Boracay, a Benin-flagged vessel blacklisted by the European Union for being part of Russia's sanction-busting "shadow fleet" of ageing oil tankers, was stopped by French authorities on Saturday, according to a military source who asked not to be named.

Shipping data analysed by AFP has shown it was positioned off Denmark during mysterious drone flights over the country last month, including over military sites, that prompted brief closures at several airports.

French President Emmanuel Macron on Thursday urged Europe to "increase the pressure" on Russia's shadow fleet and follow his country's lead in detaining vessels used to fuel Moscow's war in Ukraine.

"You kill the business model by detaining, even for days or weeks, these vessels and forcing them to organise themselves differently," Macron told a leaders' gathering in Denmark.

He said on Wednesday France was probing the ship for "serious offences", but stopped short of confirming reports of a connection to the Denmark drone flights.

The captain and first mate of the Boracay were detained on Tuesday over refusing to provide evidence of nationality or cooperate with French authorities, according to the public prosecutor's office in the northwestern city of Brest.

The captain has been summoned to appear in court in February, but the first mate has been released, it said.

Russia's shadow fleet is estimated to include up to 1,000 ships 

© Damien MEYER / AFP

It was not immediately clear if the captain would be released under certain conditions or if the Russia-linked ship could go on its way.

French military personnel remained on board the tanker on Thursday, another military source who spoke on the condition of anonymity said.

'Navy commandos'

French Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu on X thanked "navy commandos and the crews of the French navy who intervened this weekend aboard the tanker belonging to the Russian ghost fleet".

Estimated to include up to 1,000 ships, the shadow fleet is thought to represent "tens of billions of euros of Russia's budget" and make up "40 percent of the Russian war effort", according to Macron.

The vessels -- which fly flags of convenience, have opaque ownership, and often turn their transponders off -- enable Moscow to keep exporting its crude oil for much-needed revenue despite curbs on exports.

The first military source told AFP that Russian ships were common off the French coast.

"Every day between 10 and 15 vessels from the shadow fleet sail off the coast of Brest," the source said.

The tanker left the Russian port of Primorsk on September 20 

© Damien MEYER / AFP


The Boracay -- which has also been named the Pushpa or the Kiwala -- was positioned off Denmark from September 22 to 25, according to data from the maritime website VesselFinder analysed by AFP.

According to the specialist website The Maritime Executive, the 244-metre (801-foot) vessel is suspected of being involved in the drone flights over Denmark.

The publication said the tanker and other ships could have been used either as launch platforms or as decoys.

The tanker left the Russian port of Primorsk outside Saint Petersburg on September 20, shipping data showed.

Data from the Marine Traffic tracker showed the tanker was scheduled to arrive in Vadinar in northwestern India on October 20.

France detains two crew members of Russia-linked tanker off western French coast

France on Wednesday detained two crew members of a Russian "shadow fleet" tanker seized off the coast of the French western port of Saint-Nazaire, according to the Brest prosecutor.


Issued on: 01/10/2025 - 
By: FRANCE 24

Navigator Second Master Timonier, Quentin, takes measures on a map of the North Sea on board of French Navy frigate Bretagne ahead of NATO Neptune Strike 2025 exercise on September 22, 2025. © Jonathan Klein, AFP

Two crew members of a Russian "shadow fleet" tanker seized off the French coast were taken into custody on Wednesday, according to the prosecutor for the western French port city of Brest.

The tanker is suspected of being involved in drone overflights in Denmark, and the two detained crew members "presented themselves as the ship's captain and his first mate", said Brest prosecutor Stéphane Kellenberger.

The prosecutor said the preliminary investigation is focused on "failure to provide proof of the vessel's nationality" and "refusal to comply" with instructions, for which the maximum penalty is one year in prison and a €150,000 ($175,000) fine.

Earlier Wednesday French armed forces boarded the Boracay, a Benin-flagged vessel blacklisted by the European Union for being part of Russia's sanction-busting fleet of ageing oil tankers.

France is probing the tanker, anchored off Saint-Nazaire in western France, for "serious offences", said President Emmanuel Macron – stopping short of confirming reports of a connection to mysterious drone flights in Denmark.

French authorities have opened a probe into the Boracay, a Benin-flagged vessel anchored off France's Atlantic Coast that has been blacklisted by the European Union for being part of Russia's sanction-busting "shadow fleet".

"There were some very serious offences committed by this crew, which justify the current judicial procedure," Macron told reporters at an EU leaders' summit in Copenhagen.

Read moreEU leaders meet to plan defence strategy after drone incursions over Denmark

Built in 2007 and variously known as Pushpa and Kiwala, the Boracay has been anchored off Saint-Nazaire in western France for several days.

According to the specialist website The Maritime Executive, the vessel is suspected of being involved in mystery drone flights that disrupted air traffic in Denmark in September.

The publication said the tanker and other ships could have been used either as launch platforms or as decoys.

But when asked about those claims, Macron said he would "remain very careful", as it was not for him to establish a link between the Boracay and the drone flights.

Read moreDenmark drone incursions: All signs point to Russia?

The French operation, however, underscored the importance of European efforts to stop the "shadow fleet" of vessels aiding Russia to circumvent Western sanctions.

The EU has sanctioned hundreds of ageing tankers used by Russia to circumvent oil export curbs imposed after the 2022 invasion of Ukraine to sap Moscow's war chest.

Among them is the Boracay, which was blacklisted in February under the name Kiwala.

The public prosecutor's office in the northwestern French city of Brest said it had opened an investigation following a report from the navy.

The probe was launched over the crew's "failure to justify the nationality of the vessel" and "refusal to cooperate", public prosecutor Kellenberger told AFP.

The tanker left the Russian port of Primorsk outside Saint Petersburg on September 20 and was due to arrive in Vadinar in northwestern India on October 20, according to data from the Marine Traffic tracking website.

(FRANCE 24 with AFP)

Fuel leak blows cover for alleged Russian submarine Novorossiysk off Gibraltar


At the end of September, a Telegram channel known for its network of Russian intelligence sources reported that a Black Sea fleet submarine had run into “serious technical problems” while on a mission off Gibraltar, in the Mediterranean. The Novorossiysk submarine was at risk of exploding, it said, and according to online sleuths, later surfaced, giving away its location. But the question remains, what was a Russian sub even doing there? This is what we know so far.


Issued on: 01/10/2025 - 
FRANCE24
By: Sébastian SEIBT

Russia’s Novorossiysk submarine, pictured in 2015, has reportedly experienced “serious technical problems” off Gibraltar’s coast and could be at risk of explosion. 

© Russian army/ File picture

The news that a short-range Russian stealth hunter was circling in the Strait of Gibraltar first came to public attention on September 27. The anti-Kremlin Telegram channel VChK-OGPU reported that the 74-metre-long Kilo-class Novorossiysk “currently on combat duty in the Mediterranean” had experienced a technical failure, and that fuel was leaking into the bilge, the very bottom of the vessel hull.

“The submarine has neither the spare parts nor the qualified specialists onboard to fix the malfunction,” VChK-OGPU wrote, and warned that the sub “now poses an explosion hazard”.

An alleged September 26 sighting of a submarine surfacing in the Strait of Gibraltar appeared to confirm its location. According to online sleuths, a US Navy maritime patrol plane also flew over the area where the submarine was spotted for several days in a row.

Neither Russian authorities nor state-controlled media have confirmed the sub’s presence in the Mediterranean.

FRANCE 24 takes a closer look at why the Novorossiysk was in one of the busiest and most strategic naval corridors in the world.

What kind of submarine is it?

The Novorossiysk is 74 metres long and can carry a crew of around 50 people. Alexandre Vautravers, a defence expert and editor-in-chief of the Swiss Military Review, said the diesel-electric sub is relatively modern.

“It was developed in the 1980s. It doesn’t belong to the submarines from the 1940s and 1950s which were frequently subject to breakdowns.”

The Kilo-class – a name given to these types of Soviet-era submarines by NATO – “isn’t very sophisticated”, he said.

“It was designed to be produced in large numbers rather than to give the Russian fleet a cutting edge. Russia has also exported a lot of these submarines because they don’t contain any secret technology.”

Sailors line up during a ceremony launching the Novorossiysk, a diesel-electric submarine, at the Admiralteiiskiye Shipyard in Saint Petersburg, on November 28, 2013.

 © Alexander Demianchuk, Reuters/file picture


The Novorossiysk belongs to one of the more recent Kilo-class models, and was put into service in August 2014. It joined Russia’s Black Sea fleet in September 2024.

Like other submarines in its category, the Novorossiysk’s main purpose is to “operate in coastal waters where the seas are not too deep”, Vautravers explained.

It is equipped with torpedoes, however, which would make a potential fire onboard particularly dangerous, and is capable of carrying Kalibr cruise missiles – the Russian equivalent of US Tomahawk missiles. It can also deploy naval mines.

Prior to its sighting near Gibraltar, the Novorossiysk was spotted off the French coast of Brittany in 2022, prompting authorities there to dispatch a vessel to follow it. In July this year, it was spotted again – this time in the English Channel – and was subsequently tailed by the British navy.
What was the Novorossiysk doing in the Strait of Gibraltar?

Although VChK-OGPU claims the Novorossiysk was on a “combat mission”, it does not necessarily mean it was intending to target British positions on Gibraltar, or anything else for that matter.

“Most often, these types of missions are about intelligence gathering or the discreet transport of personnel and equipment," Vautravers said.

The Strait of Gibraltar is perfect for these types of covert operations. It is the only maritime gateway between the Atlantic and the Mediterranean, and all vessels passing through it are closely monitored.

On top of that, Russia has a tradition of maintaining a naval presence in the Mediterranean, explained Basil Germond, an international security expert and maritime affairs at Lancaster University.

“It’s long-term naval deployments to achieve political, economic and strategic objectives by projecting its military influence in a region,” he said.

He described Russia’s ability to exert influence in the Mediterranean as “very limited” at the moment, however, pointing to the war in Ukraine and its recent loss of the naval base in Tartus, Syria.

“It was a major setback for the Russian navy,” he said.

This means that the Novorossiysk is likely one of the few Russian warships still operating in the Mediterranean, showcasing Moscow’s waning influential power in the region.

How serious is the damage to Novorossiysk?

With no official confirmation from the Kremlin, the extent of the reported damage – or whether there is any at all – remains unclear.

But in line with VChK-OGPU’s claim that Novorossiysk lacked both spare parts and competent staff to repair the potentially explosive fuel leak, Germond noted that: “Russian warships are known to be poorly maintained, with crews that are untrained to handle these types of situations."

Russia’s war efforts in Ukraine have resulted in even less spare parts and specialised staff being available.

Vautravers underscored that the Novorossiysk “is not a nuclear sub. So the environmental and safety impact of an explosion [of the ship itself] would be limited.” The risks, he said, are rather tied to the type of arms that might be onboard. Mines and missiles would make the situation much more dangerous.

Another challenge the crew faces, Germond said, is that Russia has no ports nearby and the Novorossiysk would have to be towed all the way to Saint Petersburg to be repaired. “Considering the current climate, Russia definitely won’t ask a NATO country for help if it isn’t able to resolve the problem by itself,” he said.

One of the few remaining solutions, a source told the VChK-OGPU channel, would be for the crew members to “start pumping out the bilge” themselves, into the sea.

This article was adapted from the original in French by Louise Nordstrom.

Hollywood performers union slam debut of AI-generated 'actress' Tilly Norwood

The debut of an AI-generated “actress” named Tilly Norwood drew sharp condemnation on Tuesday from the SAG-AFTRA actors union, which warned against replacing human performers with “synthetics.” Producers touted interest from studio executives after unveiling Norwood at a Zurich film industry conference.


Issued on: 01/10/2025 
By: FRANCE 24

The iconic Hollywood Sign is pictured in Los Angeles, California, September 17, 2024

 © Mario Anzuoni, Reuters

The recent debut of an AI-generated "actress" dubbed Tilly Norwood, and its producer's boasts of interest from studio executives, sparked a backlash on Tuesday from the SAG-AFTRA actors union, condemning the replacement of human performers with "synthetics."

The Hollywood buzz around Tilly Norwood, introduced on Saturday at a film industry conference in Zurich, and the union's scathing reaction to it reflected the dread many in the creative community feel about the intersection of artificial intelligence and show business.

The official Tilly Norwood launch consisted of a 20-second appearance of the photo-real character - a twenty-something fictional ingénue bearing no particular resemblance to any real celebrity - in a brief video parody about making an AI-generated television show.

Dutch actor-producer Eline Van der Velden, whose London-based AI production studio Particle 6 created Tilly Norwood, said during her presentation at the Zurich Summit the project was starting to turn heads.


After months of facing boardroom skepticism, talent agents were starting to tell her: "'We need to do something with you guys,'" Hollywood trade paper Variety quoted Van der Velden as saying. She said an announcement of a first-of-its-kind talent agency deal was a few months away, Variety reported.

Read more  French films tackle AI, nuclear science and the 'it' couple of 1960s cinema

Concerns about Hollywood actors and writers being exploited, and even supplanted, by AI-generated scripts and performers was a major issue SAG-AFTRA's most recent round of contract talks with studios and streaming services.

Computer-generated imagery is nothing new to the film and television industry, and AI-enhanced software has more recently emerged in various effects such as "de-aging" technology allowing actors to portray younger versions of themselves.

The ability to convincingly replicate a feature-length human film performance with AI stand-ins is still seen as far off.

'VERY REAL EMOTIONS'

Nevertheless, the prospect of talent agents suddenly showing interest in AI-created figures stirred a swift denunciation from SAG-AFTRA, representing 160,000 actors, announcers, recording artists, stunt performers and other talent.

"Creativity is, and should remain, human-centered," the union said in a statement. "The union is opposed to the replacement of human performers by synthetics."

The parody video, which first appeared in July, actually comprises 16 AI-generated characters in all. But Tilly Norwood - a winsome figure with shoulder-length brown hair, brown eyes, a British accent and her own social media profile - was the star.

A separate Facebook post attributed to the character exclaims: "I may be AI generated, but I'm feeling very real emotions right now. I am so excited for what's coming next!" SAG-AFTRA officials were not amused.

"To be clear, 'Tilly Norwood' is not an actor," the union said in its statement. "It's a character generated by a computer program that was trained on the work of countless professional performers - without permission or compensation."

Read more How AI is reinventing misogyny

Van der Velden sought to assuage such concerns in an Instagram message, saying Tilly Norwood "is not a replacement for a human being, but a creative work - a piece of art. Like many forms of art before her, she sparks conversation, and that in itself shows the power of creativity."

Van der Velden was more provocative in an interview in July with the publication Broadcast International, which quoted her as saying: "We want Tilly to be the next Scarlett Johansson or Natalie Portman, that's the aim of what we're doing."

Not everyone is convinced Tilly Norwood packs such potential. Yves Berquist, director of AI in media at the University of Southern California's Entertainment Technology Center, called the hoopla "nonsense."

"There is a lot of very understandable nervousness and fear out there about talent being replaced," he said. But judging from his own daily interactions with Hollywood executives, Berquist said there was zero interest from "serious people" in developing entirely synthetic characters.

"Scarlett Johansson has a fan base. Scarlett Johansson is a person," he said.

(FRANCE 24 with REUTERS)

Workers, civil servants in Greece hold 24-hour strike over labor bill

Unions argue proposed law weakens workers' rights

Melike Pala |01.10.2025 - TRT/AA



BRUSSELS

Workers and civil servants across Greece staged a 24-hour nationwide strike on Wednesday to protest a new labor bill, which unions say undermines workers' rights.

The strike, called by the General Confederation of Greek Workers (GSEE) and the Civil Servants' Confederation (ADEDY), brought thousands of people to the streets of Athens and other major cities, according to daily Kathimerini.

Protesters rallied against the government’s proposed measures to regulate working time, calling instead for shorter working hours and the full restoration of free collective bargaining.

"Working time is not a commodity - It is our life," read the main slogan of the rally in Athens, where demonstrators marched to Syntagma Square in front of the parliament.

Union leaders condemned the draft legislation, saying it prioritizes profits over human dignity and risks worsening job insecurity.

The strike disrupted public transport, schools, and other public services across the country.

Airport workers strike across South Korea

Around 2,000 staff at 15 airports walk out over working conditions, but flights continue with no major disruptions

Berk Kutay Gökmen |01.10.2025 - TRT/AA



ISTANBUL

Airport workers at 15 airports across South Korea, including the country’s main international hub Incheon, launched an indefinite strike Wednesday, local daily the Korea Herald reported.

The walkout comes just days before the Chuseok holiday in early October, when record passenger traffic is expected. About 2,000 employees — spanning sanitation, traffic control, fire safety, mechanical facility management and terminal operations — joined the action.

Workers are demanding a four-team, two-shift system to replace the current three-team, two-shift rotation, more staff hires and improved treatment for employees of airport subsidiaries.

While flights ran normally Wednesday, industry officials warned that a prolonged stoppage could cause major disruptions. At Incheon Airport alone, nearly 900 employees joined the strike. Authorities deployed 408 replacement staff to keep passenger check-in and flight operations running without major delays.

Officials cautioned that an extended strike might create serious bottlenecks, with 5.26 million passengers expected to pass through the nation’s 15 airports over the three-day Chuseok holiday.

Korea Airports Corp. and Incheon International Airport Corp. said they were working with partners and subsidiaries to minimize inconvenience for travelers.

Italian dockworkers block ships bound for Israel amid Gaza flotilla tensions

October 2, 2025 

https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/

Dockworkers and citizens at the garrison outside the Tuscan dock pose for a photo and rejoice at the news that Israeli ship Zim is preparing to leave the port of Livorno without unloading or loading after Italian dockworkers on strike, block the Darsena Toscana terminal during a protest in support of Gaza, Palestine and Global Sumud Flotilla on September 29, 2025 in Livorno, Italy.

 [Photo by Laura Lezza/Getty Images]


Dockworkers in several Italian ports are stepping up actions to block shipments to Israel as tensions mount over the approach of the “Sumud Flotilla” to Gaza.

Labour unions across Europe have pledged coordinated efforts to disrupt maritime trade with Israel if the flotilla comes under attack. In a meeting held in Genoa, union representatives said they had set up an alert system to monitor shipments and respond rapidly by halting the loading or unloading of vessels.

Italy has become the epicenter of the movement. Genoa was the first port to act, followed by Livorno, where union-led strikes have already disrupted operations. The container ship Zim Virginia was kept waiting for five days off the Tuscan coast after dockworkers refused to allow it to dock.

Another vessel, the Zim Iberia, is expected to arrive in Livorno on 3 October and is likely to encounter similar resistance, according to union organizers.

In Genoa, tensions escalated last week when about 2,000 protesters gathered at the port. The demonstration forced the Zim New Zealand to leave without loading any cargo after reports that several containers were suspected of being linked to Israeli shipments.

Union leaders said their campaign is aimed at putting pressure on Israel and demonstrating solidarity with Gaza. They warned that actions would intensify if the flotilla is obstructed.

Spain Summons Israeli Envoy Over Flotilla Arrests

Spain's Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares. Photo Credit: Spanish Foreign Ministry

 October 3, 2025 

By EurActiv

By Inés Fernández-Pontes

(EurActiv) — Spanish Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares summoned Israel’s chargé d’affaires in Madrid on Thursday after the arrest of Spanish nationals aboard a Gaza-bound aid flotilla the previous night.

Speaking on national television, Albares demanded the “immediate release” of the the dozens of Spaniards detained by Israel.

“They posed no threat and had no intention of harassing anyone or carrying out any kind of illegal action. They should not be charged with anything at all,” he said.

Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez echoed the call upon arriving at the European Political Community summit meeting in Copenhagen on Tuesday. “Spain will guarantee diplomatic protection and the rights of its members,” he said, stressing that his government would “now consider any type of action” against Israel.

The episode comes amid escalating tensions between Madrid and Tel Aviv, after Spain imposed a full arms embargo on Israel in early September to “stop the genocide in Gaza.” Spain and Italy dispatched naval vessels last week to provide cover for the flotilla and assist in potential rescue operations.

Defence Minister Margarita Robles, however, warned that Spanish ships were barred from entering the Israeli-declared “exclusion zone” off Gaza, urging those on board to avoid “dangerous waters.”

Dutch pension fund sells Caterpillar shares over US firm's alleged arms supply to Israel

ABP divests $455.3B worth of Caterpillar shares on ethical grounds as American manufacturer’s construction machines, other equipment suspected of being used in Israel’s genocide against Palestinians

Bahattin Gonultas, Emir Yildirim |01.10.2025 - TRT/ AA

BERLIN

The Netherlands’ largest civic pension fund said it sold off its Caterpillar shares due to the alleged involvement of the American equipment manufacturer in supplying the Israeli army, according to a statement issued on Wednesday.

The fund, representing 3 million Dutch citizens, stated that it sold its Caterpillar shares on ethical grounds. ABP is also Europe’s largest and the world’s fifth-largest pension fund, with assets totaling €534 billion ($628.2 billion).

“Our investment approach must ensure good returns while being socially responsible,” the statement read, referring to its policy on investing in conflict zones like Gaza, where Israel has been committing genocide against Palestinians.

The fund said its investment portfolio changed due to the Israeli military attacks on Palestinians. ABP previously held around $455.3 billion worth of Caterpillar shares.

The Dutch fund's decision came after Norway's sovereign wealth fund, worth $2 trillion, divested its shares in Caterpillar and five Israeli banking groups on August 26 due to ethical reasons.

“There is no doubt that Caterpillar’s products are being used to commit extensive and systematic violations of international humanitarian law,” the Norwegian central bank said last month.

Before the sovereign fund, Norway’s largest pension fund KLP said on June 30 that it would not invest in US-based Oshkosh Corporation and German firm ThyssenKrupp. In 2021, the fund had also divested in some 16 companies based in Europe, Israel, and the US due to their links to illegal Israeli settlements in the West Bank.

Who profited off 7 October?


Jim DeBrosse 

The Electronic Intifada 

25 September 2025

Short sellers made hay just a few days before the 7 October attack.

 Rafael Ben-Ari  Chameleons Eye

As Israel’s military invasion, indiscriminate slaughter and forced starvation in Gaza continue, questions as to how some 3,000 Hamas-led fighters were able to breach Israel’s security barriers on 7 October 2023 remain unanswered.

Israel’s government continues to reject an independent investigation, and evidence is mounting that the state’s top civilian and military leaders didn’t just miss the signs of an imminent assault, but may have purposely ignored them. The motive was to justify the ethnic cleansing of Gaza, the annexation of the West Bank and the creation of a larger Israel in occupied Palestine.

In addition, and surprisingly underreported, suspicious stock market activity just days before the October attack lends weight to the theory that someone somewhere knew something.

Earlier this month, a Haaretz investigation found that the top Israeli military leader for the Gaza area on 7 October had visited the site of the Supernova rave just an hour before the attack and took no precautions.

Lieutenant Colonel Haim Cohen, commander of the Northern Brigade in the Gaza Division, saw that only a handful of police officers were on duty at the crowded festival but told military investigators he had no information suggesting that he should have dispersed the crowd or beefed up security.

The Supernova rave, where 378 people were killed and 44 were taken hostage, was the deadliest single site on a day that saw 1,139 people killed in total and 240 people taken captive.

It is still unclear how many of the dead were killed by Palestinian fighters and how many were killed by Israel itself, due to its deadly Hannibal Directive.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s immediate response to the crisis has also come under scrutiny. His chief of staff and closest confidant, Tzachi Braverman, is accused of having altered Netanyahu’s phone logs to make them appear as if his first orders to his military on the morning of 7 October came earlier than they actually did.
The night before

The Israeli military had its strongest warnings the night before 7 October, however, but chose at the highest levels to ignore those warnings.

According to reports obtained by Ynet, Israel’s largest news website, a military intelligence unit had noted signs of impending rocket fire on Israel and “unusual activity of the Hamas aerial force” that should have set off alarm bells. Instead, the military “opted to avoid exposing sensitive intelligence sources rather than [taking measures for] preparedness.”

Really? The protection of a few agents was worth the risk of a major rocket attack on Israeli territory without warning civilians?

Ten days after those reports became public knowledge, Netanyahu’s office acknowledged that it had failed to pass on the memo detailing suspicious activity the night before 7 October, but was justified in not doing so because the alert was labeled “non-urgent.”

Israel’s leaders seem to have been better prepared to expel Palestinians in Gaza than thwart a possible assault. Just months after the October attack, they were already calling for the “voluntary migration” of Gaza’s 2.3 million residents while negotiating with several countries for their resettlement.

Such thoughts were swiftly rejected by Egypt, Jordan and a raft of other Arab nations, but Israel continues to eye other countries for the forced deportation of Palestinians in Gaza, including Indonesia, Ethiopia and Libya, with the help of the US administration under Donald Trump.

Even more mind-boggling is that Israeli officials had in their possession a year ahead of time a copy of the 40-page assault plan and watched as Hamas openly trained and prepared for the breakthrough, as the The New York Times reported in November 2023.

Topping off the suspicion that Israel’s top leaders willfully ignored the staggering number of warning signs, Netanyahu’s office has refused to countenance an inquiry into its own failings on 7 October while allowing an investigation into the military’s role and response. Netanyahu remains opposed to an independent state commission inquiry that would look at “the full picture” of political, civilian and military involvement.

If detailed plans and even public video recordings of Hamas training exercises weren’t enough, Israel’s fiscal sleuths also failed to notice another red flag – a sudden spike in trades in the days before 7 October, betting that the values of key Israeli stocks would soon plummet.

The most likely reason for the bet was that the investors knew war would soon break out and stress the Israeli economy.
Suspicious trading

The suspicious timing of the stock market activity was revealed in a 67-page study first reported in the US by CNN.

The authors of the study found that unidentified investors in Israel and the US had sold their stocks in key Israeli companies just days before the Hamas attack. In a practice known as “short selling,” the investors later repurchased their stocks at a much lower price, reaping millions of dollars in profit.

The study – titled “Trading on Terror?” – was written by former Securities and Exchange Commission head Robert Jackson Jr., now a professor at New York University, and Columbia law professor Joshua Mitts, an expert in monitoring short selling activity on stock markets.

“Our findings suggest that traders informed about the coming attacks profited from these tragic events,” the authors wrote, adding “days before the attack, traders appeared to anticipate the events to come.” The study found that on 2 October, “nearly 100 percent of the off-exchange trading volume in the [Israeli equity market] … consisted of short selling.”

Neither author of the report, or the university media relations offices at Colombia, replied to requests for interviews.

In CNN’s 4 December 2023 story, Jonathan Macey, a professor at Yale Law School, told the news channel the findings were “shocking.”

“The evidence that informed traders profited by anticipating the terrorist attack of October 7 is strong,” Macey said. “Regulators appear to lack the ability to discover the entities responsible for this trading, which is unfortunate.”

A story the same day in Haaretz speculated that it was Hamas-linked investors who had pulled their money, not Israelis or pro-Israelis, even though the authors of the paper said they couldn’t identify the investors.

If the short sellers did have connections to Hamas, however, it’s likely the Israelis would have known.

Since at least 2015, The New York Times reported, Israeli intelligence has been tracking the financing that supports Hamas and looking the other way. Critics believe the strategy of Israel’s leaders was that, by propping up Hamas’ leadership in Gaza against the Palestinian Authority’s limited control over parts of the occupied West Bank, the two factions would continue to divide the Palestinian people and head off a unified Palestinian state.
Who profited?

US regulators at the Securities and Exchange Commission and on Wall Street told CNN their policy is neither to confirm nor deny any investigation. That was 19 months ago.

Israeli regulators promised to investigate the unusual activity but, just a day later, said they found no proof of short-selling. Officials at the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange criticized the “Trading on Terror?” report as inaccurate and irresponsible and pointed out that a currency miscalculation by the authors inflated the potential short sale profits from about $9.5 million to just under $1 billion.

Regardless of the miscalculation, the authors of the report told Institutional Investor they stood by the gist of their report.

Yaniv Pagot, head of trading for the Tel Aviv exchange, told Reuters it was unlikely that investors linked to Hamas could have breached the exchange’s security regulations against “money laundering or something like that.”

Perhaps, then, the short sale was the work of Israeli or pro-Israeli investors who had been tipped off by Israel’s intelligence officials or political leaders. Or perhaps, too, Israeli officials who knew of the impending attack were themselves the short sellers.

Given that Israel has so far systematically eliminated five senior Hamas military leaders, 11 members of its political bureaus and attempted to assassinate more in a military strike on US ally Qatar just this month, finding out who profited from 7 October would seem to be a high priority for Israel’s leaders.

Or – judging by the Israeli government’s reluctance to investigate its own role – maybe not.

Jim DeBrosse, Ph.D., a veteran reporter and a retired assistant professor of journalism, is the author of See No Evil: The JFK Assassination and the US Media.

BOYCOTT CAT

Israeli bulldozers in West Bank carve up hopes for Palestinian state

Excavators expand an Israeli bypass road connecting Israeli settlers in the Israeli-occupied West Bank with Jerusalem, near Ramallah in the West Bank on Sept. 29, 2025. (Reuters)


https://arab.news/mw86e

Reuters
October 02, 202507:00


Israel builds bypass roads, isolating Palestinian villages

New roads seen as land grab, expanding occupation


NEAR RAMALLAH, West Bank: As US President Donald Trump announced a plan this week to end the Gaza war and suggested a possible path to a Palestinian state, Ashraf Samara in the Israeli-occupied West Bank watched bulldozers around his village help bury his hopes for statehood.

Surrounded by armed security guards, the Israeli machinery shoved aside earth to create new routes for Jewish settlements, carving up the land around Samara’s village of Beit Ur Al-Fauqa and creating new barriers to movement for Palestinians.

“This is to prevent the residents from reaching and using this land,” said Samara, a member of his village council.

He said the move would “trap the villages and the residential communities” by confining them exclusively to the areas they live in.

With each new road that makes movement for Jewish settlers easier, Palestinians in the West Bank who are usually barred from using the routes face fresh hurdles in reaching nearby towns, workplaces or agricultural land.

More nations recognize Palestinian state as settlements expand

While several major European countries, including Britain and France, in September joined an expanding list of nations recognizing a Palestinian state, Israeli settlements on the West Bank have been expanding at an increasingly rapid pace under Prime Minister Netanyahu’s government as the Gaza war has raged.

Palestinians and most nations regard settlements as illegal under international law. Israel disputes this.

Hagit Ofran, a member of the Israeli activist group Peace Now, said new roads being bulldozed around Beit Ur Al-Fauqa and beyond were a bid by Israel to control more Palestinian land.

“They are doing it in order to set facts on the ground. As much as they have the power, they will spend the money,” she said, adding that Israel had allocated seven billion shekels ($2.11 billion) to build roads in the West Bank since the October 2023 Hamas attacks that sparked Israel’s war in Gaza.

Israeli settlements, which have grown in size and number since Israel captured the West Bank in the 1967 war, stretch deep into the territory, backed by a system of roads and other infrastructure under Israeli control.

Israeli rights group B’Tselem, in a 2004 report, described this network of roads and bypasses to settlements built over several decades as “Israel’s Discriminatory Road Regime.” The group said some roads aimed to place a physical barrier to stifle Palestinian urban development.

Netanyahu’s office and the Israeli military did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The Yesha Council, a body that represents West Bank settlers, also did not immediately reply to a request for comment.

Before Trump’s Gaza plan was announced, Netanyahu declared: “There will never be a Palestinian state,” speaking as he approved a project last month to expand construction between the West Bank settlement of Maale Adumim and Jerusalem.

His finance minister, Bezalel Smotrich, said of the same project that it would “bury” the idea of a Palestinian state.

Trump’s Gaza plan to end the war, which Netanyahu approved, outlines a potential pathway to Palestinian statehood, but the conditions it lays down to achieve that mean such an outcome is far from guaranteed, analysts say.

“What the government is now doing is setting the infrastructure for the million settlers that they want to attract to the West Bank,” Ofran said. “Without roads, they cannot do it. If you have a road, eventually, almost naturally, the settlers will come.”

OPINION 

 E1 project as a gateway to annexation: A decisive test for international law

E1 project is no longer a hypothetical plan but an unfolding measure. This reality constitutes a decisive test for the international community’s seriousness in upholding international law and the 2-state solution

Mutaz M. Qafisheh and Mazen Zaro |01.10.2025 - TRT/ AA 

Israel is advancing its E1 plan to render it impossible for Palestine to form a state and to exclude East Jerusalem as its capital. This puts legality at odds with reality: Binding norms are systematically undermined while international resolutions remain unenforced

Mutaz M. Qafisheh is a professor of international law and diplomacy at Hebron University, Palestine, and Mazen Zaro is an independent international law researcher.

ISTANBUL

This Sept. 11, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu signed the official approval for a settlement expansion plan in the E1 area, located between East Jerusalem and the settlement of 1Ma’ale Adumim1 in the central West Bank in occupied Palestine. The plan includes the construction of approximately 3,400 housing units. Israel considers this move the de facto beginning of its virtual annexation of the entire West Bank, after the project has been frozen for years due to international pressure. Netanyahu declared that “there will be no Palestinian state,” giving the project a declarative character in which settlements become a political tool to sever the possibility of Palestinian statehood rather than mere residential construction.

Then on Sept. 12, the UN General Assembly overwhelmingly adopted (142-10, with 12 abstentions) the New York Declaration that calls for concrete, time-bound, and irreversible steps toward establishing an independent Palestinian state. The resolution emphasizes the illegality of settlements and the urgent need to end the occupation as part of a two-state solution. Such a vote represents a growing recognition of Palestine's legitimacy while the expansion of settlements poses existential threats to this trajectory.


Strategic danger of the E1 project

The E1 project is not simply a plan to build houses for Israeli illegal settlers. It is part of a broader strategy to entrench Israeli control over Jerusalem. The plan isolates East Jerusalem from its Palestinian surroundings and cuts off the northern West Bank from its south, rendering any future Palestinian entity into fragmented cantons lacking the elements of an integral and viable state.

According to international law, the project constitutes an explicit breach of the principles of territorial integrity and the right to self-determination, both enshrined in the UN Charter and reaffirmed by Security Council Resolution 2334 (2016), which states clearly that “no Israeli settlement in the Palestinian territory occupied since 1967 has legal validity.” Israel’s attempt to impose permanent territorial facts by force can only be viewed as an illicit act of aggression that contravenes the principle of the inadmissibility of acquiring territory through force. That runs counter to the July 19, 2024 International Court of Justice verdict that instructed Israel to terminate its illegal occupation.



Growing international recognition of Palestine

Recently, waves of official recognition of Palestine have grown steadily, including from major states such as the UK and France. The New York Declaration represents the culmination of this process, with nearly three-quarters of UN member states supporting Palestine's statehood.

This growing recognition provides Palestine with stronger legal and diplomatic legitimacy, enhancing its standing in international institutions such as the UN, the International Court of Justice, the International Criminal Court, and specialized agencies. The more states recognize Palestine, the harder it becomes for Israel to ignore Palestinian rights. Yet recognition alone is insufficient if the material foundations of statehood (contiguous territory, natural resources, freedom of movement, and East Jerusalem as a capital) remain undermined by occupation and settlement policies.



Paradox of statehood recognition and settlement expansion

Here lies the central paradox: Whereas the international community reaffirms support for a two-state solution through declarations and statements, Israel is advancing its E1 plan to render it virtually impossible for Palestine to form an effective state and to exclude East Jerusalem as its capital. This puts legality at odds with reality: Binding norms are systematically undermined while international resolutions remain unenforced. The continued expansion of settlements amounts to a grave breach of international law and undermines the credibility of diplomatic initiatives.

This contradiction must be reconciled through a combination of measures. International accountability needs to be accelerated by precisely sanctioning the construction of settlements by the International Criminal Court. States should combine recognition with action through transforming the statehood ideal into tangible backing to Palestine’s territorial integrity. Diplomatic, military, and economic pressure should be intensified, by not only adopting symbolic stands like labeling settlement products and visa bans on far-right Israeli Cabinet ministers, but also imposing a full boycott on Israel as a state, a complete arm and aviation embargo as well as full economic sanctions, and preventing the travel of all Israeli officials, including ambassadors and diplomatic staff. Lastly, states should strengthen Palestinian institutions, the resilience of local communities, and mobilize global civil society to rescue the statehood project.

The E1 project is no longer a hypothetical plan but an unfolding measure. This reality constitutes a decisive test for the international community’s seriousness in upholding international law and the two-state solution. The New York Declaration may be significant, but without concrete judicial, diplomatic, economic, and even military measures, it will merely replicate the previous symbolic moves. Palestinian control over the E1 should be rescued before it becomes a gateway for annexation.

*Opinions expressed in this article are the authors' own and do not necessarily reflect Anadolu's editorial policy.