We stand firmly against injustice in all its forms. Nothing can justify the current war crimes committed by Israel in occupied Palestine. Equally, nothing can excuse the continued support offered by other nations to this apartheid regime. If you believe in human rights, dignity, and justice, then we urge you to boycott this rogue state. Silence is complicity, do what’s right.
The zoo, part of the Al-Bisan recreational park in Jabalya, was hit multiple times during Israeli airstrikes. The three monkeys were some of the few lucky animals to survive the blitz in Gaza as many were killed in explosions or starved to death.
Al-Bisan’s zoo, a battlefield’s cruel feast, Explosions echo, innocence released. Species shattered, haven obliterated, Occupation’s rain, where anguish is narrated.
Rare lives extinguished, a tragic lore, A lion’s hunger, a cage of war. Colors drained, sorrow etched, A plea for rescue in a world wretched.
Germany presents itself as a global defender of human rights, a nation that learned the lessons of its bloody past. Yet its actions tell a far different story. From the colonial genocide in Africa, to the Holocaust in Europe, and now to the devastation of Gaza, Germany’s history reveals a pattern of complicity in mass violence—one it continues today through unwavering support for Israel’s assault on Palestinians.
Long before the Holocaust, Germany committed what historians recognize as the first genocide of the 20th century. Between 1904 and 1908, German colonial forces in present-day Namibia carried out a campaign of extermination against the Herero and Nama peoples. Tens of thousands were driven into the desert to die of starvation and thirst. Concentration camps were established, where survivors were subjected to forced labor, starvation, and medical experiments—grim foreshadowings of what was to come decades later in Europe.
Then came the Holocaust, the most infamous crime of the modern era. Six million Jews, along with Polish people, Roma, disabled people, and political dissidents, were systematically murdered. The phrase “Never Again” emerged as both a warning and a vow. Germany pledged eternal vigilance against the forces of hatred and genocide.
But “Never Again” has become selective. Today, as Gaza faces relentless bombing, starvation, and mass displacement, German leaders continue to supply Israel with weapons and diplomatic protection. Human rights organizations, UN experts, and legal scholars confirmed that Israel is carrying out genocide in Gaza, weaponising starvation and ethnic cleansing, yet Berlin stands firmly behind Tel Aviv. German officials invoke “Israel’s right to self-defense” while refusing to acknowledge the scale of Palestinian suffering.
Criticism of Israeli policy is often met with accusations of antisemitism in Germany, effectively silencing debate and criminalizing solidarity with Palestinians. This weaponization of Holocaust guilt allows Germany to posture as a protector of Jewish life while ignoring the universal lesson of its own history: that no people should face collective punishment or extermination.
Germany’s moral obligation should be clear. True reckoning with the past means opposing genocide and apartheid everywhere, not selectively. Supporting a government accused of war crimes in Gaza is not atonement for the Holocaust—it is a betrayal of the very principle of “Never Again.”
From the killing fields of Namibia to the death camps of Europe to the ruins of Gaza, Germany’s pattern of enabling mass atrocities cannot be ignored. History will judge Berlin not by its memorials or speeches, but by its actions. And today, those actions place it on the wrong side of justice, once again.
Jeffrey Epstein was a Jewish American whose story is one of power, privilege, and predation. The financier and convicted sex offender moved easily among the world’s elite — from presidents to princes — until his arrest in 2019 exposed the dark underbelly of his global network. Though his death in custody that same year officially ended the criminal case against him, the mystery surrounding his operations only deepened.
A Network of Power and Access
Epstein’s social circle included an astonishing roster of influential men. His flight logs and visitor records from his private island and New York mansion have revealed connections to:
• Bill Clinton, former U.S. President, who flew several times on Epstein’s jet for philanthropic trips;
• Donald Trump, U.S. President, who knew Epstein socially in Florida during the 1990s;
• Prince Andrew, Duke of York, accused by Virginia Giuffre of sexual abuse — allegations he denied but later settled in a civil case;
• Les Wexner, billionaire founder of L Brands, who was Epstein’s primary financial client;
• Bill Gates, who met Epstein several times after Epstein’s 2008 conviction, later calling those meetings “a mistake”;
• Ehud Barak, former Prime Minister of Israel, who acknowledged visiting Epstein’s properties but denied any wrongdoing;
• Alan Dershowitz, Harvard law professor, who represented Epstein legally and was accused by one of Epstein’s accusers — allegations he has consistently denied.
These names come from publicly available documents, flight logs, and testimony, but it is crucial to note: being associated with Epstein does not necessarily mean participation in his crimes.
Kompromat and Intelligence Allegations
One of the most persistent theories about Epstein’s power is that he acted as a collector of kompromat — blackmail material used to control or influence powerful men.
Several former intelligence officers and investigative journalists have suggested that Epstein’s pattern of recording guests, his unusually lenient legal treatment, and his ties to figures in Israel, the U.S., and Europe may indicate intelligence involvement, likely linked to Mossad and other services.
No conclusive evidence has verified these claims, but they have persisted because of the structure of Epstein’s network: an operation that mixed money, sex, politics, and secrecy — the ideal conditions for leverage and manipulation.
The Money Trail
Epstein’s financial empire was equally suspicious. Despite lacking a major investment firm, he controlled vast sums of money through offshore accounts, shell companies, and real estate holdings. He managed funds for Les Wexner and reportedly moved money for other ultra-wealthy clients, leading some investigators to believe he was a money-laundering conduit for global elites or intelligence-linked financial channels.
The Scandal’s Reach
Court filings and unsealed documents have revealed the existence of a broader network of enablers — assistants, pilots, socialites, and corporate figures — who facilitated Epstein’s lifestyle or benefited from his access. Ghislaine Maxwell, a Jewish American was his close associate, was convicted in 2021 for sex trafficking minors, confirming that a deliberate system of recruitment and exploitation existed. Her father, Robert Maxwell, a former Labour Party member, faced accusations of disloyalty to Britain because of his alleged connections with Israel and Mossad.
Unanswered Questions and Continuing Investigations
Epstein’s death in a federal detention center — ruled suicide but surrounded by anomalies — left behind troves of documents, recordings, and witness testimony. The “Epstein Files,” still being processed and released through ongoing lawsuits, continue to raise unsettling questions:
• How did Epstein avoid serious consequences for decades?
• Who protected him — and why?
• What happened to the alleged blackmail materials he reportedly kept?
Jeffrey Epstein’s downfall exposed a world where wealth insulated criminal behavior, where connections could obscure justice, and where the boundaries between power and exploitation blurred beyond recognition. Whether he was acting as a lone manipulator or as part of a larger intelligence-linked web, the Epstein case remains a chilling example of how secrecy, sex, and power can converge — and how little the public still knows about what really happened.
This audit examines how time itself has functioned as an instrument of Israeli governance over Palestinians from 1948 to 2026. It does not revisit intent or legal classification addressed elsewhere. Instead, it analyses how delay, deferral, provisional arrangements, repetition, and non-enforcement have extended and compounded harm across years and generations. Immediacy governs destruction; duration governs remedy. This temporal asymmetry has enabled dispossession, territorial consolidation, and structural permanence.
The mass expulsion of 1948 did not remain a single historical rupture. It evolved into a durable legal and political condition. UNRWA, established in 1950 to address what was presented as a temporary emergency involving roughly 750,000 displaced Palestinians, now serves about 5.9 million registered refugees across Gaza, the West Bank, Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria. Large-scale return has not been permitted, and comprehensive restitution for confiscated property has not been implemented. As a result, displacement has solidified into an inherited status shaping access to citizenship, residency, work, and housing across successive generations.
The occupation that began in 1967 evolved from a declared temporary measure into a long-term governing system. Military orders issued in the first months after June 1967 remain foundational to land use, movement regulation, and civil administration in the West Bank. Palestinian communities continue to require Israeli-issued permits for construction in large areas and face military courts for a broad range of offences. Settlement expansion proceeded throughout negotiations. By 2024 there were more than 700,00 Israeli settlers in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. In 2025 authorities issued tenders for more than 9,600 new settlement housing units and advanced the E1 project for 3,401 units east of Jerusalem. As negotiations deferred final status indefinitely, irreversible changes advanced on the ground. Each year of non-enforcement increased the political and logistical difficulty of reversal.
The Oslo process institutionalised deferral. Phased negotiations and interim arrangements repeatedly postponed final status issues while international actors treated dialogue as evidence of restraint. Violations were deferred to hypothetical future agreements that never materialised. Negotiation delayed enforcement while territorial transformation continued.
Time also structured demolition and displacement. In 2025 alone Israeli occupation demolished 1,288 Palestinian structures in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, displacing 1,414 people and affecting more than 38,000 others. Tens of thousands of demolition orders remain outstanding. Destruction occurs within hours; permits to rebuild are denied or stalled for years. Construction becomes provisional; demolition becomes enduring.
Movement restrictions operate on similar timelines. Checkpoints, permits, and closures transform short distances into prolonged waiting. Passage to work, school, or hospital can require hours and remains uncertain. The occupying power retains territorial continuity and rapid mobility, while Palestinians remain confined within provisional arrangements without sovereignty or recourse. Waiting becomes a daily form of governance.
Since 2007 Gaza has been subject to a closure regime described by UN agencies and human rights organisations as unlawful collective punishment. Over more than nineteen years the blockade restricted movement, constrained imports of construction materials and industrial inputs, and suppressed economic activity. Before the 2023 assault unemployment frequently exceeded 40 percent, electricity was limited to a few hours daily, and most groundwater was unfit for human consumption. A generation grew up knowing only blockade.
Israeli military operations in Gaza have recurred at intervals that turned major assaults into repetitive cycles. Each involved high civilian casualties and widespread destruction of housing and infrastructure. Reconstruction was delayed or restricted by import controls, only for rebuilt homes, schools, and hospitals to be destroyed again in subsequent operations. Harm accumulated across time for the same communities.
The 2023–2025 war accelerated this deterioration into systemic collapse. UN, World Bank, and UNCTAD assessments recorded massive economic contraction, with GDP per capita falling to a fraction of pre-war levels and most productive capacity rendered inoperable. Housing damage reached hundreds of thousands of units, with tens of thousands fully destroyed. Most schools and all universities were reported damaged or destroyed. Health infrastructure was heavily degraded. Recovery is projected to require many years or decades even under optimal conditions, which remain absent. Destruction was immediate; reconstruction remains indefinite.
Detention practices further extend harm across time. Administrative detention has held Palestinians for months or years without charge based on secret evidence. After October 2023, large-scale arrests in Gaza and the West Bank included incommunicado detention and reported torture. In 2025 Physicians for Human Rights Israel documented an unprecedented number of Palestinian deaths in detention since October 2023, approaching one hundred cases. Families frequently received delayed or no information about detainees’ whereabouts, and bodies were withheld. Arrest occurs instantly; resolution is uncertain.
Legal and investigative processes consistently trail events. Military operations are followed by fact-finding missions, reports, statements, and calls for restraint, none of which have produced binding enforcement capable of reversing harm. Advisory opinions and resolutions have recorded illegality of occupation, settlement policy, blockade, and recent genocidal acts, yet states with enforcement capacity have largely avoided material consequences. Arms transfers and trade continue. Humanitarian funding increases while coercive measures remain limited. Relief stabilises crisis; enforcement is deferred.
This audit concludes that from 1948 to 2026 the Israeli occupation has weaponised time as a governing method. Harm is imposed rapidly and remedied slowly or not at all. Displacement, occupation, blockade, repeated wars, annexation measures, demolition regimes, and prolonged detention are not isolated episodes but time-based mechanisms. Non-enforcement deepens each layer. Palestinians inherit unresolved harm as a structural condition of ordinary life.
The attacks by Hamas in Israel on October 7 and the military response by Israeli forces in Gaza have tested the system of international law to its limits. This is why, as international lawyers, we felt compelled to assist when the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, Karim Khan, asked us to advise whether there was sufficient evidence to lay charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity. Today, the prosecutor has taken a historic step to ensure justice for the victims in Israel and Palestine by issuing applications for five arrest warrants alleging war crimes and crimes against humanity by senior Hamas and Israeli leaders. These include applications for a warrant of arrest against the political and military commanders of Hamas and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
For months, we have engaged in an extensive process of review and analysis. We have carefully examined each of the applications for arrest warrants, as well as underlying material produced by the prosecution team in support of the applications. This has included witness statements, expert evidence, official communications, videos and photographs. In our legal report published today, we unanimously agree that the prosecutor’s work was rigorous, fair and grounded in the law and the facts. And we unanimously agree that there are reasonable grounds to believe that the suspects he identifies have committed war crimes and crimes against humanity within the jurisdiction of the ICC.
It is not unusual for the prosecutor to invite external experts to participate in an evidence-review, under appropriate confidentiality arrangements, during the course of an investigation or trial. And this is not the first time an international prosecutor has formed a Panel of Experts to advise on potential charges related to a conflict. But this conflict is perhaps unprecedented in the extent to which it has given rise to misunderstandings about the ICC’s role and jurisdiction, a particularly fractured discourse and, in some contexts, even antisemitism and Islamophobia.
It is against this backdrop that, as lawyers specialised in international law hailing from diverse personal backgrounds, we felt we had a duty to accept the invitation to provide an impartial and independent legal opinion based on evidence.
We were selected because of our expertise in public international law, international human rights law, international humanitarian law and international criminal law, and, in the case of two of us, experience as former judges of international criminal tribunals. Our common goal is advancing accountability and we have reached our conclusions based on an assessment of the warrant applications against an objective legal standard. We have reached these conclusions unanimously. And we believe it is important to publish them given the extent to which discourse has been politicised, disinformation has been rife and international media has been denied access to the front lines.
The Panel unanimously agrees with the prosecutor’s conclusion that there are reasonable grounds to believe that three of Hamas’s most senior leaders — Yahya Sinwar, Mohammed Deif and Ismail Haniyeh — have committed war crimes and crimes against humanity for the killing of hundreds of civilians, the taking of at least 245 hostages and acts of sexual violence committed against Israeli hostages.
The Panel also unanimously agrees that the evidence presented by the prosecutor provides reasonable grounds to believe that Netanyahu and Israel’s minister of defence Yoav Gallant have committed war crimes and crimes against humanity. This includes the war crime of intentionally using starvation of civilians as a method of warfare and the murder and persecution of Palestinians as crimes against humanity. Our reasons for reaching these conclusions are set out in our legal report. It is important to understand that the charges have nothing to do with the reasons for the conflict. The charges concern waging war in a manner that violates the long-established rules of international law that apply to armed groups and the armed forces in every state in the world. And, of course, the warrant applications announced today are just the first step.
We hope that the prosecutor will continue to conduct focused investigations including in relation to the extensive harm suffered by civilians as a result of the bombing campaign in Gaza and evidence of sexual violence committed against Israelis on October 7. There is no doubt that the step taken today by the prosecutor is a milestone in the history of international criminal law.
There is no conflict that should be excluded from the reach of the law; no child’s life valued less than another’s. The law we apply is humanity’s law, not the law of any given side. It must protect all the victims of this conflict; and all civilians in conflicts to come. The judges of the ICC will ultimately determine which warrants, if any, should be issued. And as investigations continue, we hope that state authorities, witnesses and survivors will engage with the judicial process.
Ultimately, we hope that this process will contribute to increased protections for civilians and sustainable peace in a region that has already endured too much.
The ceasefire came like a rumor — soft, uncertain, and almost impossible to believe after so 2 years of Israeli genocide. In the refugee camps, in the crowded tents along the southern border, people did not cheer at first. They simply listened. For the first time in nearly two years, the skies were quiet.
When word spread that it was safe to return north, families gathered their few belongings: a pot, a blanket, a bag of bread. Children clung to their parents as they began the long walk back to what was once home.
What they found was silence and ruin. Streets that had once been filled with laughter and markets were unrecognizable — whole blocks turned into gray deserts of rubble. The air carried the sharp smell of dust and smoke. Somewhere beneath the broken walls, a piece of each family’s history was buried — a wedding dress, a Qur’an, a photograph.
“We’re Home, Even in the Rubble”
In the shattered remains of Shuja’iyya, Umm Khaled stood where her kitchen had been. Only the iron frame of a window was left. She picked up a cracked teacup from the ground and wiped it with the edge of her scarf. “We will make tea again,” she said, her voice trembling, “even if there are no walls around us.”
Around her, neighbors worked together — clearing debris, patching holes with scraps of plastic, building temporary roofs from metal sheets. There was no government, no electricity, no clean water, and yet there was a fierce determination. “They thought we would leave,” one young man said, “but where would we go? This is our land. We are not guests here.”
For many Gazans, simply staying has become a form of resistance. Through bombardment, siege, and hunger, they have held on to their small piece of earth, believing that survival itself is defiance.
The Shadow of Occupation
In parts of northern Gaza, residents returning to their homes still faced Israeli patrols and checkpoints. Some reported soldiers entering houses, searching rooms, shouting orders. People were told not to gather, not to sing, not to celebrate.
It felt, many said, as though even their relief was forbidden. “They destroyed everything we love,” said Yusuf, a schoolteacher, “and when we finally stopped running, they told us not to smile. It is as if only their joy matters, and ours must be silent.”
The war had ended on paper, but the occupation — its presence, its weight — remained everywhere: in the shattered power lines, in the absence of clean water, in the haunted eyes of the children who wake up screaming at night.
The Unanswered Questions
Human rights workers walking through the ruins documented the same patterns of Israeli war crimes seen before: bombed schools, collapsed hospitals, entire families buried beneath their homes. International law was supposed to prevent this — to protect civilians, to hold armies accountable. Yet for Gaza, justice has been a promise too often broken.
Many ask: how can a people be both victim and prisoner, starved and bombed, while the world looks on? How can law exist if those who violate it never face consequence? The rubble seems to whisper those questions louder than any voice can.
The Spirit That Endures
And yet, somehow, Gaza breathes. Children run through the ruins, chasing kites made of torn plastic bags. A few women bake bread in makeshift ovens, the smell of warm dough cutting through the scent of smoke. Artists paint the broken walls with doves, keys, and words of hope.
When asked how they endure, one young mother smiled faintly and said, “Because if we stop living, they win. Every breath we take here is our answer.”
Even amid the ruins, there is a stubborn beauty — a refusal to surrender the soul of a people.
Epilogue
Night falls over Gaza. The city glows dimly under candlelight. Families gather to share stories, their voices weaving together the memory of what was and the dream of what might still be.
No one knows what tomorrow will bring. But one thing is certain: Gaza remains. Its people, scarred but unbroken, continue to live — not as ghosts of genocide , but as witnesses of endurance, proof that even in the darkest places, humanity refuses to die.
If you find yourself alone, tell yourself:
Exile has altered its features…
Wasn't Abu Tammam afflicted before you
when he met himself:
'You are not you and
home is not home…'
Things carry your patriotic feelings for you:
A wild flower grows in your deserted corner,
a sparrow pecks the letter 'H'
of your name into the broken bark
of a fig tree
and a bee stings your outstretched hand
as you reach for the goose down
on the other side of that fence.
And as for you:
The mirror has let you down,
you…and not you, say:
'Where have I left my face? '
You search beyond everyday things
for your feelings,
a happiness that cries and
a disappointment that chuckles…
Have you found yourself now?
Tell yourself: I found myself alone,
missing two moons,
but home is home.
The world is busy having fun while people in Palestine are being traumatized on a daily basis, their blood is the same as ours, don't let their memories fade away amidst the hustle and bustle of our every day life 💔 pic.twitter.com/TxRBOisDY5
