
Israel rejects critical EU report ahead of ministers' meeting
BRUSSELS, June 22 (Reuters) - Israel has rejected a European Union report saying it may be breaching human rights obligations in Gaza and the West Bank as a 'moral and methodological failure,' according to a document seen by Reuters on Sunday.
The note, sent to EU officials ahead of a foreign ministers' meeting on Monday, said the report by the bloc's diplomatic service failed to consider Israel's challenges and was based on inaccurate information.
"The Foreign Ministry of the State of Israel rejects the document ... and finds it to be a complete moral and methodological failure," the note said, adding that it should be dismissed entirely.
European nations have been increasingly critical of the massive civilian toll of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's military campaign against Palestinian militant group Hamas since its October 7, 2023 attack on Israeli communities.

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Daily Mirror
an hour ago
- Daily Mirror
Donald Trump's defence chief claims Iran attack was shared with lawmakers
US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth was asked when congress was informed that President Trump had taken executive action to launch an offensive on Iran US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth revealed to journalists that Congress was not informed about Saturday's strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities until after they had taken place. In a press briefing on Sunday morning, the former Fox News pundit turned Trump ally responded to reporters' queries about the surprising move. When one journalist asked the 45-year-old when Congress was notified that the president had taken executive action, he answered, "They were notified after the planes were safely out." After a brief pause, he added, "Uh, we complied with the notification requirements of the War Powers Act." Then, a moment later, he stated: "They were. ..immediately thereafter" Several politicians from both parties have criticised Trump's action, accusing the president of acting unconstitutionally. Congressman Thomas Massie, a Kentucky Republican and vocal opponent of U.S. involvement in the Israel-Iran conflict, reacted on X just minutes after Trump announced the offensive, stating, "This is not Constitutional." Massie has been a key figure behind a bipartisan war powers resolution aimed at preventing American military engagement in the ongoing Middle East tensions, reports the Mirror US. Others were more restrained in their criticism while still expressing concern about executive overreach, with Republican Warren Davidson, a congressman for Ohio tweeting: "While President Trump's decision may prove just, it's hard to conceive a rationale that's Constitutional." Marjorie Taylor Greene, a staunch Trump supporter, has openly criticised the President for siding with Israel in its conflict against Iran. On social media, she fumed: "Every time America is on the verge of greatness, we get involved in another foreign war." She also pointed out the cause and effect of the hostilities: "There would not be bombs falling on the people of Israel if Netanyahu had not dropped bombs on the people of Iran first." The political sphere was caught off guard by Trump's sudden move, especially since he had previously declared that he would take "two weeks" to decide on US involvement in Israel's conflict with Iran. Trump had earlier indicated a period of contemplation, saying, "Based on the fact that there's a substantial chance of negotiation that may or may not take place with Iran in the near future, I will make my decision whether or not to go in the next two weeks," as read by White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt last Thursday. In a surprising admission, Trump acknowledged his collaboration with Israel and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in orchestrating the strikes, expressing gratitude towards Netanyahu for his backing. Netanyahu reciprocated the sentiment on Fox News, stating, "Tonight, President Trump and the US acted with a lot of strength. President Trump, I thank you. The people of Israel thank you." According to the Iranian state-affiliated news agency, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard issued a stern response: "Today's act of aggression by the terrorist American regime has granted the Islamic Republic of Iran the legitimate right to act in self-defense, including through options that go beyond the delusional calculations of the aggressor coalition." The comments were somewhat enigmatic regarding the specific 'options', but the menace was unmistakable. With an air of defiance, they continued: "The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps is well-versed in the realities of this full-scale hybrid war and will never be intimidated by the noise of Trump or the criminal gangs ruling Washington and Tel Aviv."


The Sun
an hour ago
- The Sun
US might have killed any immediate threat of an Iranian nuke but here's why it may not have won the war yet
PRESIDENT Donald Trump's surprise attack on Iran's three main nuclear sites is a dramatic escalation of the Middle East crisis. By neutralising the places where it was enriching uranium to A-bomb grade, the Americans have almost certainly killed any immediate threat of an Iranian nuclear weapon. 3 3 3 But Washington has not necessarily won the war yet. Israel's extraordinary decapitation strikes on military leaders and nuclear scientists ten days ago battered the Islamic Republic but it did not back down. Even taking out Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei himself would not necessarily collapse the regime or make Iran give in. America can do vastly more harm to the Iranians than Israel, but will they back off? More importantly, could Iran's leaders survive giving in to Trump's demand they abandon any nuclear enrichment project to Washington's satisfaction? Cutting their losses by accepting Trump's demands would be wisest for the sake of 90million ordinary Iranians. Remember, Trump had ominously ordered the ten million people of the capital, Tehran, to evacuate the city for their own safety. But Iran's leaders are drenched in the cult of martyrdom. Suicide bombing was promoted by the ayatollahs' regime from the beginning. Their proxies in Lebanon blew up 242 US Marines there in 1983 with the first 'spectacular' suicide truck bomb. Watch Trump hail 'very successful' bombing on Iran's nuke bases Next month in their religious calendar is Muharram, which is when Iran's Shiites celebrate what cynical secular Westerners regard as past futile sacrifices. So making the case for cutting losses goes against the grain. Even if Khamenei and the official Iran government go for a deal with Trump, they could face a backlash from hardline fanatics. They could argue America and Israel are never going to risk a ground invasion. Trump's supporters won't accept body bags coming back from Iran as they did from Afghanistan and Iraq for years for nothing. They can sit out an air war and absorb the bombs and casualties, they hope. And they can shoot and hang any Iranians who protest. As the Revolutionary Guards controlling Iran's missiles showed immediately after the American air strikes, they can hit back hard — at least against Israel. They may be shrewd enough to avoid US targets so Trump won't retaliate against Iran, but hit Washington's allies. Israel was already in their sights and, however effective its defences, even a handful of missiles getting in paralyses a port like Haifa or the main airport, Ben Gurion Israel is losing money hand over fist, if mercifully few lives. The Iranians would be wise to find a way to calm things rather than stirring up more death and destruction. Mark Almond Let's not ignore that Britain could find itself in the line of fire. Long before the current crisis, Iranian propaganda demonised us as the Little Satan scurrying along beside the American Great Satan. So when Keir Starmer voiced the British government's support for the US and Israel's right to nullify the Iranian nuclear threat, that will have been 'proof' enough for Iran's fanatical missile controllers. Only the day before Trump's salvo of bunker busters and cruise missiles on Iran, a man was arrested for allegedly scouting the British base at Akrotiri, apparently as a target for a potential terrorist attack. Although a British passport holder, he is reported to be an ethnic Azeri, the second-biggest part of Iran's population mix. The Ayatollah himself is half-Azeri through his mother. Iran could have 'sleeper cells' of similar saboteurs waiting for the signal to go into action against Britain and other US allies — or even inside the US itself. The Iranians would be wise to find a way to calm things rather than stirring up more death and destruction. But that was true long before this war broke out.


Sky News
an hour ago
- Sky News
Iranian threat to UK could increase after US strikes, says cabinet minister
The threat to the UK from Iran is already at a "significant level" and could increase following the US strikes on Iranian nuclear sites, a cabinet minister has told Sky News. Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds said that "not a week goes by" without an Iranian cyberattack on the country's critical national infrastructure. Speaking on Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips, Mr Reynolds said: "There is Iranian activity on the streets of the UK, which is wholly unacceptable." And he said it would be "naive" to think the threat will not escalate as Tehran could seek to retaliate against the US, Israel and their allies. Early on Sunday, the American military struck three sites as it joined Israel 's effort to destroy Iran 's nuclear programme. B-2 bombers dropped 14 bunker-busting GBU-57 Massive Ordnance Penetrators, each weighing 30,000lbs. Iran has maintained its programme is for peaceful purposes only. He called on Iran not to retaliate, saying the government "must now make peace. If they do not, future attacks would be far greater and a lot easier". Mr Reynolds said Iran had a choice - "Do they want to continue being an agent of instability in the region and the wider world? Where has that got them? Where has it got the Iranian people? "There's a better course of action for Iran to take here, and I think they should consider that." Last October, MI5 chief Ken McCallum said authorities had stopped 20 state-backed plots hatched by Iran in the UK since 2022. In February 2023, a London-based Iranian news station said it was forced to shut its UK headquarters over alleged threats from Tehran and fears for the safety of its journalists. Iran International TV said it "reluctantly" closed its west London studios and moved the operation to its offices in Washington DC. The broadcaster said the move followed warnings from the Metropolitan Police that there were "serious" and "grave" concerns about "hostile intentions of foreign states". In December 2023, a Chechen-born man was sentenced to three years and six months in prison after being found guilty of spying on the London-based dissident Iranian TV station to help terror plotters. Magomed-Husejn Dovtaev, 31, was accused of conducting surveillance on the west London headquarters of Iran International as part of a plan by others to carry out a terror attack. He was found guilty of one charge of attempting to collect information useful for terrorism. Meanwhile a British-Iranian journalist, who was told by the Metropolitan Police to leave her UK home for her own safety last year after Iran International presenter Pouria Zeraati was stabbed in the leg in London, has warned of the "dangers" if the "regime survives". Sima Sabet, who also worked for the Persian-language television news channel, told Sky's Emma Birchley: "What I want, and what I hope, is this Islamic Republic is gone, because the more this regime survives, the more danger to the world it would be, the more danger to international peace, and also… the more danger to the Iranian people." She added: "There has to be a way that this transition is going to be peaceful. Iran cannot be bombed and then left on its own. So there must be an answer for it. There must be an international effort for us. So Iranian people can have a very smooth transition into democracy." Ms Sabet also spoke of her life being under threat in the UK. She said she is not "back to my normal life", adding: "I have to still cover my face. I have to still be very mindful of where I go, who I see." Two men will face trial next year accused of attacking Mr Zeraati in Wimbledon in March 2024. The defendants are charged with wounding him with intent to cause grievous bodily harm and wounding. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz have called on Iran's leaders to enter negotiations and "not to take any further action that could destabilise the region". Sir Keir urged Britons in Israel and Palestinian territories to make contact with the Foreign Office as it prepares for an evacuation flight early next week. Speaking to Sky News, the prime minister said: "I urge all citizens to make contact with the Foreign Office so that we can facilitate whatever support is needed." The Israeli government said about 22,000 tourists are seeking to board evacuation flights but it is unclear how many of those are from the UK.