JERUSALEM: Israel was set to expel the country director of Human Rights Watch on Monday after a lengthy court battle over claims he supports a boycott of the Jewish state.
US citizen Omar Shakir, the New York-based rights group’s director for Israel and the Palestinian territories, denies the claims and accuses the Israeli government of seeking to suppress dissent.
Shakir’s deportation, expected in the afternoon, would be the first from inside the country under Israel’s controversial 2017 law allowing the expulsion of foreigners who support a boycott, according to authorities.
The European Union, United Nations and others have criticized the looming expulsion, with the UN warning of a “shrinking space for human rights defenders to operate” in Israel and the Palestinian territories.
But the United States, Israel’s closest ally, declined to do so, saying Sunday only that it supported freedom of expression.
The rights group said Shakir would continue in his position despite being expelled, working from neighboring Jordan.
Israel refused to extend Shakir’s work permit in May 2018 after parliament passed a law mandating the expulsion of foreign supporters of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement.
BDS activists call for a broad-ranging embargo of Israel over its treatment of the Palestinians.
Israel sees the movement as a strategic threat and accuses it of anti-Semitism. Activists strongly deny this and compare it to the economic isolation that helped bring down apartheid in South Africa.
Shakir, who started in the HRW Israel post in 2017, appealed but Israel’s supreme court backed the government’s decision earlier this month.
The case against Shakir was initially based on statements he had made supporting a boycott before joining HRW.
But the government also highlighted work he did with rights groups, including criticizing Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank.
“The Israeli government pretends it is only deporting Omar Shakir and that it is not penalizing Human Rights Watch,” its executive director Ken Roth said Sunday.
“But in fact it is deporting him for the core message of Human Rights Watch with respect to the settlements.”
More than 600,000 Israelis live in settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories, communities considered illegal under international law.
Israel disputes this, and the United States last week broke with decades of international consensus and announced it no longer considered the settlements illegal.
Roth contended that US President Donald Trump’s support for Israel’s fellow right-wing government had emboldened it to crack down on human rights groups.
“It is hard to imagine Omar’s deportation going ahead if the US government hadn’t given a kind of implicit green light,” he said.
The US embassy said only it had raised Shakir’s case with Israel and that it supports “freedom of expression.”
“At the same time, our strong opposition to boycotts and sanctions of the State of Israel is well known,” it said.
Israel’s Ministry of Strategic Affairs, which led the campaign to expel Shakir, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The right-wing group NGO Monitor meanwhile charged that HRW’s record was anti-Israel.
“It’s the singling out we disagree with,” said Gerald Steinberg, head of the organization which argues that international organizations put a disproportionate focus on Israel and the Palestinians.
“They are not saying ‘we disagree with Israeli policy but we believe in the Jewish people’s right to self-determination’,” he said.
“It is about ‘we don’t believe in the Jewish state’s right to exist’,” he argued.
HRW strongly denied the claim.
NGO Monitor provided evidence to the government’s case and Steinberg argued that not renewing a visa was “standard practice” in democracies.
Yet Steinberg admitted that Israel’s move had created negative publicity that helps its critics.
“This is playing into their hands,” he said. “Shakir is milking this, they are going to dance their way out of the airport.”
Roth agreed that Israel’s move had actually intensified scrutiny of Israel’s occupation of the Palestinian territories.
“The world isn’t fooled,” he said. “When you try to censor something, the first thing you do is say ‘well what is it you are trying to censor?’”
Israel expels Human Rights Watch official over boycott accusations
Israel expels Human Rights Watch official over boycott accusations
- Rights group says US citizen Omar Shakir would continue in his position despite being expelled
- Israel refused to extend Shakir’s work permit in May 2018
Israel attacks Yemen’s Hodeidah after evacuation warnings, Houthis say
- Strikes came shortly after Israel warned residents of Ras Isa, Hodeidah and Salif to leave, saying the ports were being used by the Iranian-backed Houthis
HODEIDAH: Israel attacked Hodeidah in Yemen after the Israeli army said it had warned residents of three ports under Houthi control to evacuate, the Houthi interior ministry said on Sunday.
The strikes came shortly after Israel warned residents of Ras Isa, Hodeidah and Salif to leave, saying the ports were being used by the Iranian-backed Houthis.
There was no immediate comment on the attack from Israel.
The strikes came a few days after a missile launched toward Israel by the Houthis was intercepted.
The attack came ahead of US President Donald Trump’s visit to the Middle East this week.
Trump, who had launched an intensified military campaign against Houthi strongholds in Yemen on March 15, agreed to an Oman-mediated ceasefire deal with the group, who said the accord did not include Israel.
The Houthis have been launching missiles and drones at Israel as well as attacking vessels in global shipping lanes, in a campaign that they say is aimed at showing solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza.
Israel has carried out numerous retaliatory airstrikes on Houthi targets in Yemen.
Hamas says Edan Alexander, last living US hostage in Gaza, to be released in truce efforts
- Alexander is an Israeli-American soldier who grew up in the United States
- Trump has frequently mentioned Alexander, now 21, by name in the past few months
GAZA CITY: Hamas says Edan Alexander, the last living American hostage in Gaza, will be released as part of efforts to establish a ceasefire, reopen crossings into the territory and resume the delivery of aid.
The Hamas statement Sunday night does not say when the release will happen.
The announcement comes shortly before US President Donald Trump visits the Middle East this week. Trump is not planning to visit Israel.
Alexander is an Israeli-American soldier who grew up in the United States. He was abducted from his base during the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led attack that ignited the war in Gaza.
Khalil Al-Hayyah, a Hamas leader in Gaza, said the group has been in contact with the US administration over the past few days.
He said in a statement Hamas is ready to “immediately start intensive negotiations” to reach a final deal for a long-term truce which includes an end to the war, the exchange of Palestinian prisoners and hostages in Gaza and the handing over of power in Gaza to an independent body of technocrats.
Alexander’s parents did not immediately return requests for comment, and there was no immediate response from the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Trump has frequently mentioned Alexander, now 21, by name in the past few months.
“Every time they say Edan’s name, it’s like they didn’t forget. They didn’t forget he’s American, and they’re working on it,” Edan’s mother, Yael Alexander, told The Associated Press in February.
Bombardment continues
Israeli strikes overnight and into Sunday killed 15 people in the Gaza Strip, mostly women and children, according to local health officials.
Two of the strikes hit tents in the southern city of Khan Younis, each killing two children and their parents, according to Nasser Hospital, which received the bodies. Another seven people were killed in strikes elsewhere, including a man and his child in a Gaza City neighborhood, according to hospitals and Gaza’s Health Ministry.
The Israeli military says it only targets militants and tries to avoid harming civilians. It blames Hamas for civilian deaths in the 19-month-old war because the militants are embedded in densely populated areas. There was no immediate Israeli comment on the latest strikes.
Israel has sealed Gaza off from all imports, including food, medicine and emergency shelter, for over 10 weeks in what it says is a pressure tactic aimed at forcing Hamas to release hostages. Israel resumed its offensive in March, shattering a ceasefire that had facilitated the release of more than 30 hostages.
The UN and aid groups say food and other supplies are running low and hunger is widespread.
Children carrying empty bottles raced after a water tanker in a devastated area of northern Gaza on Sunday. Residents of the built-up Shati refugee camp said the water was brought by a charity from elsewhere in Gaza. Without it, they rely on wells that are salty and often polluted.
“I am forced to drink salty water, I have no choice,” said Mahmoud Radwan. “This causes intestinal disease, and there’s no medicine to treat it.”
COGAT, the Israeli military body in charge of Palestinian civilian affairs, says enough aid entered during a two-month ceasefire this year and that two of the three main water lines from Israel are still functioning. Aid groups say the humanitarian crisis is worse than at any time in the 19-month war.
Qatar delivers more than 60,000 tonnes of fuel to Lebanese army
- Delivery is third and final shipment of fuel for 25
- Qatar’s actions indicate its support for the Lebanese people
LONDON: Qatar dispatched more than 60,000 tonnes of fuel to Lebanon on Sunday as part of ongoing efforts to strengthen the country’s security capabilities.
The Qatar Fund for Development delivered the third and final fuel shipment for 2025, which comprised 62,000 tonnes of fuel, to the northern Lebanese port of Tripoli.
The fund stated that the shipment is intended to strengthen the Lebanese army’s operational capabilities and contribute to Lebanon's security and stability, the Qatar News Agency reported.
The delivery is a sign of Qatar’s support for the Lebanese people, as well as a contribution to prosperity and stability in the country, the QNA added.
Palestinian vice president discusses Gaza, West Bank with Qatar’s prime minister
- Hussein Al-Sheikh calls for Palestinian Authority to take on civil, security responsibilities in Gaza
- Qatari official briefed on latest developments in West Bank
LONDON: Hussein Al-Sheikh, the vice president of Palestine, has discussed in Doha the latest developments in the Gaza Strip and West Bank with Qatar’s Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al-Thani.
Al-Sheikh spoke of the Palestinian stance on Gaza, calling for the complete withdrawal of Israeli forces from the enclave to allow the Palestinian Authority to take on civil and security responsibilities, the Palestine News Agency reported.
The officials looked at the preparations for the upcoming Arab League Summit in Baghdad and the anticipated visit of US President Donald Trump to the region this week.
Al-Sheikh also briefed the Qatari official on the latest developments in the West Bank, highlighting the urgent need for a ceasefire and the immediate delivery of humanitarian aid to Gaza.
Qatar’s prime minister reaffirmed his country’s strong support for the Palestinian cause, emphasizing the importance of international law and the establishment of a Palestinian state, the WAFA Agency added.
Al-Sheikh was appointed vice president by Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas after being selected as the deputy chairman of the executive committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization in April.
He met Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, and Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan in Jeddah last week during his first regional visit following his appointment.
UK maritime agency reports incident northwest of UAE port
CAIRO: The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) said on Sunday it received a report of an incident 80 nautical miles off the United Arab Emirates’ Jebel Ali port.
UKMTO said a vessel in the area reported a small craft colliding with it and was seen attempting to collide with other vessels in the area, adding that all crew were safe.
