TV News LIES

Amid an unforgiving global news cycle – and as nations weigh their options in responding to the yet unbuilt West Bank settlement project that would “bury the idea of a Palestinian state” – a telling sanctions-related development in Israel passed largely unnoticed outside Israeli media. In Tel Aviv, the new year began with a protest by a violent extremist settler group that has faced UK sanctions since October 2024.

The trigger was a new Israeli banking directive, rushed out to placate Israel’s hardliners, that they said did too little to shield Israelis from international sanctions.

The protest – and the response from the pro-settlement extremist finance minister Bezalel Smotrich, who himself faces sanctions from Australia, Canada and the UK – makes one thing clear: sanctions on extremist Israelis are working, and this remains true even after the Trump administration rolled back all Biden-era sanctions on Israeli settlers last year.

That lesson carries immediate relevance as governments now have an opportunity to give teeth to their long-standing opposition to the E1 settlement plan – a move that would fracture the territorial contiguity of the West Bank and the viability of a Palestinian state. The tenders, which seek bids from developers, call for proposals to develop 3,401 housing units in E1 – a stretch of land east of Jerusalem – and are expected to be awarded on 16 March.

Smotrich, who oversees the West Bank settlement planning body that approved the E1 settlement plan, has simultaneously waged war on the settler sanctions movement since its inception two years ago. In February 2024, Smotrich publicly browbeat Israeli banks and regulators for complying with sanctions on Israeli settlers, vowing to use “all available tools” to prevent banks from enforcing the sanctions

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DUBAI – In a bold move, Emirati businessman Khalaf Ahmed Al Habtoor has sent an open letter to US President Donald Trump and Senator Lindsey Graham, expressing his strong opposition to involving Arab states in a potential war with Iran.

Al Habtoor criticized the push from some US officials for Arab countries to attack Iran. He emphasized that the region is being pressured into conflicts without consulting its own leaders.

He stated that Senator Lindsey Graham encouraged Arab nations to strike Iran, but thankfully, countries like the UAE and other Gulf states remain secure.

Al Habtoor warned that risking American lives and soldiers for Israel’s interests is a choice made by Trump and Graham, not by the UAE.

He stated that Senator Lindsey Graham encouraged Arab nations to strike IrAl Habtoor warned that risking American lives and soldiers for Israel’s interests is a choice made by Trump and Graham, not by the UAE.

He also highlighted that Senator Graham, while a US lawmaker, acts more in favor of Israel than the American people. He stressed that the UAE does not need American protection and is capable of making its own decisions.

Al Habtoor warned that risking American lives and soldiers for Israel’s interests is a choice made by Trump and Graham, not by the UAE.“While Iran’s threat is real, using Arab nations as fuel for others’ conflicts is unacceptable,” Al Habtoor wrote. He criticized attempts to control Iranian oil and reshape the Middle East, calling such strategies “dangerous and deceptive.”

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As President Trump gives conflicting statements about the length and objectives of the war he launched with Israel against Iran, fears are growing that the conflict could continue to expand throughout the region and beyond. Lawrence Wilkerson, retired U.S. Army colonel and former chief of staff to Secretary of State Colin Powell, says the U.S. and Israel are committing wanton “war crimes” in Iran.

“We have bombed civilians relentlessly. We have bombed a school. We have bombed a hospital,” says Wilkerson, who also suggests Western media outlets are downplaying the extent of the damage in Israel and how successful Iran has been in defending itself.

“This is a war with long legs. Trump has completely misinterpreted it,” says Wilkerson. “The only one who’s interpreted it correctly is Bibi Netanyahu, and I think he’s ready to use a nuclear weapon, should it become as bad as it looks like it might right now, because Iran has not even began to shoot its most sophisticated missiles.”

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Democrat Shawn Harris is among the candidates who will advance to a runoff election in Georgia's crowded Congressional 14th District race to replace Taylor Greene, according to the Associated Press and NBC News.

Harris captured 40% of the vote in a special election on March 10, as one of the top two vote-getters to run in an April 7 runoff. Greene retired from Congress in January after a very public spat with Trump.

Harris, who ran foMore...r Greene's seat in 2024 and received about 36% of the district vote, is a retired Brigadier General who spent 40 years in the military before becoming a cattle producer in Polk County.

Harris will now face Republican challenger Fuller, who received 34% and a key endorsement from Trump.

Harris emerged from a field of 17 candidates in the traditionally conservative 14th Congressional District, situated in the northwest corner of Georgia and bordering Alabama and Tennessee.

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Video released by Iranian media shows what appears to be a Tomahawk cruise missile strike near an Iranian school where up to 175 people were reportedly killed, most of them school-age girls.

As more information about the strike emerged, Iranian officials blamed the United States and Israel. U.S. defense officials said they were investigating the incident. Israel has said it was not aware of an attack in that area and is also investigating what happened. The United States is the only force involved in the conflict that uses this type of missile, according to The New York Times.

Photos of missile fragments that bore the markings of an American cruise missile and described as “the remains of the American missile that landed on the children of Minab school” were posted to Telegram by Iranian media.

We have annotated the video below and slowed it down to make it easier to see the apparent missile and landmarks:

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The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued a warning to Novo Nordisk over its alleged failure to report adverse side effects, including death, in patients who took its GLP-1 medications, popularly known as Ozempic and Wegovy.

The FDA wrote in a March 5 letter that it observed “serious violations” of reporting requirements during an inspection at a Novo facility in early 2025.

The letter cited three deaths among patients using semaglutide, the active ingredient in several of its weight-loss medications, which it said were not properly investigated or reported. One of those cases involved suicide, according to the FDA.

The agency accused Novo of violating procedures that required the company to perform follow-ups in cases where death occurred. The FDA also said the company failed to report adverse reactions to the medication within the required 15-day timeframe.

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Yosef, an Iranian Jew who studied history at university, is talking to Middle East Eye about the distinction between Judaism and Zionism.

Part of a small community that now numbers less than 10,000 in a country of 90 million, Yosef – like other Iranian Jews – is trying to stay safe from air and missile strikes that often originate in Israel, a country he is supposed to feel some affinity with.

“It is Zionism that has damaged Israel’s reputation around the world,” he says. “Today there is hardly any influential left-wing movement left in Israel. The competition is between hard-right politicians and even more radical ones.”

Yosef describes himself as a strong critic of Zionism, which he believes has played a major role in destabilising the entire Middle East. 

“What happened in Gaza will remain in history,” he says, referring to Israel’s genocide. “The shame of it will stay with Zionism and those who supported it.”

With Israeli strikes on oil sites now turning the skies above Tehran black, Yosef is frustrated with Iranians who support Israel’s actions.

“When I see some of my fellow Iranians believing Netanyahu’s speeches, it makes me very sad,” he says. “They should listen carefully to his messages to the people of Syria, Lebanon and Palestine to understand who they are dealing with.”

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As the US-Israel war on Iran began last week and Gaza’s crossings were shut, panic spread through the densely populated enclave, raising fears of a famine returning. 

Palestinians rushed to markets to stock up on essentials, as soaring prices and shortages of key items, particularly vegetables, signalled the impact of the closures.

Gaza depends almost entirely on border crossings for the entry of food and essential goods, meaning any sudden closure is quickly reflected in local markets and household budgets.

For Ibrahim Madoukh, a father of eight from al-Sahaba neighbourhood in Gaza City, the price surge has already begun to affect his family’s fragile livelihood.

Since the October ceasefire, Madoukh has been selling falafel from a small stall to support his family. Demand had been steady, he said, largely because he kept his prices low.But rising ingredient costs have forced him to increase prices, while customers - many already struggling financially - are buying less.

“The economic situation in Gaza has been deteriorating since the war,” Madoukh said. “Many people can no longer afford what is available in the market.”

After hearing about the crossing closures, Madoukh rushed to buy supplies before they disappeared. Instead, he found markets crowded with residents trying to do the same.

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