Court Imposes Lengthy Prison Sentences
A British court on Friday sentenced four Palestine Action activists for their involvement in a 2024 break-in at an Elbit Systems UK facility in Filton, Gloucestershire, The Guardian reported.
Charlotte Head, 30, and Leona Kamio, 30, were each sentenced to five years in prison. Fatema Rajwani, 21, received a sentence of four years and eight months.
Samuel Corner, 23, was sentenced to seven years and eight months after also being convicted of causing “grievous bodily harm” without intent during the incident.
According to evidence presented by prosecutors, the action caused an estimated £1.2 million in damage, including damage to drone systems and other military equipment manufactured by Elbit Systems, one of Israel’s largest arms companies.
British judge Justice Johnson described the operation as a “carefully planned and highly sophisticated attack” and ruled that the offenses carried a terrorist connection under Section 69 of the Sentencing Act.
The finding means the activists will be required to serve at least two-thirds of their sentences before becoming eligible for release and will remain subject to terrorism notification requirements for 15 years.
Detained in Pre-Dawn Raid
According to a report by The Guardian, Sama Safi, a psychology student at Birzeit University in the occupied West Bank, was detained during a pre-dawn Israeli military raid on her family’s home on June 2.
Her family told The Guardian that Israeli soldiers entered the house at approximately 3 a.m. and arrested Safi alongside three other Birzeit University students in a wider operation targeting university activists.
Israeli occupation authorities later claimed the women had been arrested for allegedly promoting what they described as “hostile terrorist activity and additional terrorist-related activities.” No formal charges have been filed against Safi.
The four students are currently being held at an Israeli detention and interrogation facility in Jerusalem.
Among those detained is a member of the Palestinian women’s national football team. Another player was arrested separately and later released.
2026.6.13 Palestine Action activists jailed over factory raid
Four Palestine Action activists have been jailed after causing £1.2m of damage at a UK site of an Israel-based defence firm.
Charlotte Head, 30, Samuel Corner, 23, Leona Kamio, 30, and Fatema Rajwani, 21, were convicted of criminal damage in a retrial after they broke into the Elbit Systems factory near Bristol in August 2024.
Corner was jailed for seven years and eight months for criminal damage and inflicting grievous bodily harm on a police sergeant. The judge, Mr Justice Johnson, said Corner had had no justification for the “extreme and gratuitous force” used.
The case is believed to be the first time that convictions for criminal damage have been classified as being connected to terrorism.
The judge said their actions had aimed to influence the government.
Head, who drove the prison van into the compound, was sentenced to five years in prison, Kamio was also handed a five-year jail term, and Rajwani received a prison sentence of four years and eight months.
The offenders will not qualify for early release from prison provisions and the Parole Board will assess their risk to the public when it determines when they can be set free.
All four will also serve an additional one year on a licence in the community at the end of their terms.
Green Party Leader Zack Polanski said it was “gut-wrenching to see four young people jailed for direct action against an arms supplier to Israel”.
He added that the sentence was a “truly dangerous attack on the right to protest”.
Labour MP John McDonnell said the scale of the sentences was “truly shocking”.
Johnson said two of the activists had livestreamed the raid and posted the footage to social media, as part of an effort to “glorify criminality and vigilantism”.
He added that they had been “reckless” about who would be injured and had been heavily involved in organising the raid with the right of veto over each part of the plan.
Corner, a former student at the University of Oxford, was also convicted of causing grievous bodily harm after he fractured Sgt Kate Evans’ spine with a sledgehammer in the raid.
Sgt Evans held back tears as she read an impact statement to the court which revealed she was still receiving medical treatment and had been forced to give up her rank after struggling in the aftermath of the attack.
“The emotional impact of this incident has been profound and ongoing.
“I experience disturbed sleep, often waking in a panicked state or after distressing dreams,” she said.
She also told the court that Corner had shown “no sign of shock or regret” after he hit her and that he had only attempted to “justify his actions with baseless and offensive claims that [she] was complicit in genocide”.
In a statement released after sentencing, Avon and Somerset Police’s Chief Constable, Sarah Crew, said: “What happened that night changed the life of one of our officers. For Sgt Evans, this has been deeply personal, painful and lasting.
“It is important everyone realises that behind every uniform is an ordinary person.
“Someone with a family, with responsibilities, and a life beyond the job.”
Rajiv Menon KC, defending barrister for Head and leading for all the defendants, previously told the court the prosecution’s application for the case to have a terrorist connection “undermines the integrity of the criminal justice system and amounts to chilling and creeping authoritarianism”.
“It would be wholly wrong and unfair for this court to reach any conclusions as to the reasons or underlying motivations of the defendants in doing what they did given the prosecution applied for that evidence to be excluded,” he said.
Menon pointed out that Head had been cleared of aggravated burglary during a first trial of the case, while prosecutors had then dropped a charge of violent disorder before a second trial went ahead only on the criminal damage charge.
The barrister said it would be unprecedented for a defendant to be sentenced on the basis of a terrorist connection when found guilty of a non-violent offence.
Menon added that it would be “laughable” if any Palestine Action activist actually believed direct action would achieve the group’s stated aim to “shut Elbit down”.
He said activists in the raid on the Elbit Systems factory had wanted to destroy equipment they believed would be sent to Israel and then used against Palestinians.
2026.6.12 Palestine Action activists sentenced as terrorists
The ruling marks the first time in UK legal history that protesters convicted of criminal damage face a ‘terrorism connection’ upon sentencing
A British judge has sentenced four Palestine Action protesters as terrorists, handing them custodial sentences ranging from four to eight years.
The unprecedented ruling came despite jurors convicting them of criminal charges not connected to terrorism during the prosecution.
Last month, jurors convicted Leona Kamio, Samuel Corner, Fatema Rajwani, and Charlotte Head of criminal damage in connection with a raid on an Elbit Systems UK plant near Bristol on 6 August 2024.
Two other activists, Jordan Devlin and Zoe Rogers, were cleared of the charges.
Elbit Systems is an Israeli arms manufacturer whose UK headquarters are based in Bristol.
2026.6.12 Video of visually impaired Palestinian boy crying over broken glasses draws global attention
Ayoub Junaid, seven, given new pair but needs surgery as Gaza’s children remain unable to access treatment
A video of a seven-year-old Palestinian boy in Gaza who suffers from a severe visual impairment crying over his shattered glasses has drawn widespread attention across social and international media.
The footage of Ayoub Junaid has shone a light on the plight of the many visually impaired children in Gaza who, because of Israel’s blockade and the devastation caused by the war, have been unable to access eye examinations, corrective lenses or specialist ophthalmic surgery.
After the clip was viewed by tens of millions of people, Ayoub received a new pair of glasses. This good news, however, does not solve the underlying problem, as he urgently needs surgery.
Ayoub’s mother, Eman Junaid, 30, displaced in the Gaza City port area, tells the Guardian her son’s problem began when he was two.
“Ayoub suffers from very severe nearsightedness after having a fever illness,” she says. A doctor told Junaid that Ayoub’s vision would gradually improve as he got older, but the opposite happened – the prescription he required increased and the lenses he now needs are not available in Gaza.
“We were preparing to travel for treatment, but the war started and everything stopped,” she adds.
2026.6.7 War Turned Him Into a Parent: A 20-Year-Old Gazan Raises His Siblings Alone
Standing amid the ruins of what was once his family home, 20-year-old Yousef Al-Shafee searches for traces of a life that disappeared during the war.
The house in Beit Lahiya, northern Gaza, has been reduced to piles of concrete and twisted metal. Nothing remains to suggest that eight family members once lived there.
“I feel like I came back to introduce myself to the rubble,” Al-Shafee said quietly as he looked across the debris.
Before the war, Al-Shafee’s future seemed clear. He planned to travel to Egypt on Oct. 20, 2023, to continue his medical studies. Instead, he remained in southern Gaza with his grandmother while waiting for the border crossing to open.
As fighting intensified and northern Gaza became increasingly isolated, Al-Shafee lost contact with his family, who remained in Beit Lahiya.
Communication became sporadic. Phone calls stopped. Messages arrived less frequently. Then came the news he feared most.
“On Nov. 13, my father and older brother were killed,” he said.
Two weeks later, he learned that his mother and younger brother had also been killed in an airstrike.
“I received the news piece by piece,” he said. “Each time it felt like losing them all over again.”
Before the war, the Al-Shafee family lived a modest life. His father worked to support the household, while his mother cared for the family’s daily needs. Al-Shafee, the second son, spent much of his time studying and memorizing the Quran, hoping one day to become a doctor.
The war changed everything.
2026.4.15 Prominent Palestinian prisoner Marwan Barghouti assaulted three times in a month, family says
The family of the most prominent Palestinian prisoner, Marwan Barghouti, says that he has again been subjected to physical violence behind bars in Israel.
Arab Barghouti told the BBC he was “shocked and appalled” to hear from his father’s Israeli lawyer that he had been assaulted three times by Israeli prison guards in the past month.
The Israeli Prison Service (IPS) said that “the allegations made are false and baseless”.
Marwan Barghouti was convicted by an Israeli court in 2004 for his role in directing deadly attacks on Israeli civilians during the Palestinians’ second intifada, or uprising. He led the Tanzim, an armed wing of the Fatah political faction.
He was found guilty of the murder of four Israelis and a Greek monk, attempted murder and belonging to a terrorist organisation and is currently serving five consecutive life sentences plus 40 years.
He was arrested exactly 24 years ago, at the height of the Palestinians’ second intifada, or uprising. He had set up the Tanzim, an armed wing of the Fatah political faction.
Opinion polls indicate that despite his imprisonment, Barghouti is the most popular Palestinian leader. He remains a member of the Fatah Central Committee.
Many Palestinians view the 66-year-old as their equivalent of South Africa’s Nelson Mandela and point to his ability to unite different political factions and his past rapport with Israeli leaders.
Arab Barghouti argued that his father’s prominence had led to him being singled out for attacks and abuse.
“He’s someone who represents hope for unity, for democratic renewal, for a better future for the Palestinian people,” he said. “He’s a target because he gives hope to the Palestinian people.”
The Israeli lawyer, Ben Marmarelli, visited Marwan Barghouti in prison on Sunday.
He wrote on X that, three weeks earlier, guards entered his client’s cell in Megiddo Prison and repeatedly attacked him with a guard dog. He said that he was then beaten during his transfer to another Israeli jail.
One week ago, in Ganot Prison, Marmarelli said that Barghouti was “severely beaten and left bleeding for more than two hours. He requested medical care and was denied treatment”.
The IPS said it was “not aware of any incidents as described, and to the best of our knowledge, no such acts have occurred in its facilities”.
“All inmates receive medical treatment in accordance with the professional judgement of medical officials and subject to the guidelines of the Ministry of Health,” it wrote in a statement.
Since the deadly Hamas-led attacks on Israel on 7 October 2023, which triggered the Gaza war, UN agencies and Israeli rights groups have reported an increase in claims of abuse of Palestinian prisoners and detainees, including routine beatings, sexual violence, starvation and severe medical negligence. Dozens of Palestinians are reported to have died in detention as a result.
Human rights groups put this down to an established Israeli policy, pointing out how some Israeli officials, including the far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, have called for harsher conditions.
Last year, the United Nations Committee against Torture said it was deeply concerned about reports indicating a “de facto state policy of organised and widespread torture and ill treatment” of Palestinian detainees in Israeli jails.
The IPS denies claims of systematic abuse and states that incidents of individual misconduct are investigated.
In September, Israel’s Supreme Court ruled that Israeli prisons were failing to provide enough food for Palestinian inmates and ordered conditions be improved.
There are currently 9,560 Palestinians held in jail whom Israel classes as security prisoners, according to IPS figures. They include more than 3,500 in administrative detention without trial or charge.
Marwan Barghouti is understood to have been kept in solitary confinement for the past two-and-a-half years. His family says he has previously been severely beaten by Israeli guards, and that on one occasion he suffered four broken ribs and head injuries.
Last year, Ben-Gvir shared a short clip on social media of him confronting Marwan Barghouti in his cell.
It was the first time that the famous prisoner had been seen publicly in years, and he appeared aged and gaunt.
Arab Barghouti said he was “enraged” that Western leaders did not speak out against the “disgusting” treatment of prisoners, saying this led to “the dehumanisation of Palestinians”.
Clarification 24 April: An earlier version of this story said Barghouti was convicted of planning deadly attacks and is serving five life sentences plus 40 years. This has been amended to make clear that Barghouti was found guilty of five murders, attempted murder and membership of a terrorist organisation.x1200
The bill’s passage marked the culmination of a yearslong push by Israel’s far right to escalate punishment for Palestinians convicted of nationalistic offenses against Israelis.
Israel’s Parliament on Monday passed a law approving the death penalty for Palestinians convicted of murdering Israelis.
The bill’s passage marked the culmination of a yearslong push by Israel’s far-right to escalate punishment for Palestinians convicted of nationalistic offenses against Israelis. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu came to the chamber to vote yes in person.
The law makes the death penalty — by hanging — the default punishment for West Bank Palestinians convicted for nationalistic killings. The law also gives Israeli courts the authority to impose either the death penalty or life imprisonment on its own citizens. It is not retro-active and will apply only to future cases.
The measure has been harshly condemned by Israeli and Palestinian rights groups, who say it is racist, draconian and unlikely to deter attacks by Palestinian attackers.
When the measure passed, the chamber erupted into cheers. Israel’s firebrand minister of national security, Itamar Ben-Gvir, who spearheaded the push for the legislation, brandished a bottle in celebration. Netanyahu sat motionless.
Far-right lawmaker Limor Son Har-Melech, one of the bill’s original sponsors, wiped tears from her eyes. Har-Melech’s first husband was killed by a Palestinian militant attack in the West Bank.
Within minutes, the Association of Civil Rights in Israel said it had petitioned Israel’s highest court challenging the law, calling it “discriminatory by design” and “enacted without legal authority” over West Bank Palestinians.
The legislation calls for the death penalty to go into effect within 30 days.
Directly before voting began, Ben Gvir made a bellowing speech from the podium, describing the law as long overdue and a sign of strength and national pride.
“From today, every terrorist will know, and the whole world will know, that whoever takes a life, the State of Israel will take their life,” he said.
On his lapel he wore the pin that has become his signature: a small metal noose.
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Four citizens were injured by gunfire and beating today, Saturday, as a result of an attack by settlers on Kisan village east of Bethlehem. They also seized dozens of sheep belonging to one of the citizens.
The head of the Kisan village council, Musa Abayat, reported that a group of settlers attacked the citizens in the aforementioned village and fired live ammunition at them, resulting in injuries to two citizens from gunfire, while two others were beaten, and all injuries were described as moderate.
He added that the settlers also confiscated about 100 sheep belonging to citizen Attallah Ibrahim Abayat, as part of the repeated assaults targeting citizens and their properties in the Kisan area.
2026.3.14 الشرطة تقبض على مشتبه به بالتشهير بمواطن وعائلته في طوباس
طوباس – قبض فرع المباحث العامة اليوم السبت، على مشتبه به بالتشهير بمواطن وعائلته عبر مواقع التواصل الاجتماعي في طوباس، بعد تلقي شكوى من مواطن حول قيام مجهول بذلك، وبالبحث والتحري الالكتروني من قبل دائرة الجرائم الإلكترونية تم حصر الاشتباه بشخص والقبض عليه.
2026.3.13 الشرطة تقبض على مشتبه به بتقطيع أشجار حرجية في طوباس
طوباس – تمكن فرع شرطة السياحة والآثار، اليوم الجمعة، من القبض على شخص يُشتبه بقيامه بتقطيع أشجار حرجية داخل أحراش بلدة عقابا شمال المحافظة
وتم التحفظ على المشتبه به لإحالته إلى النيابة العامة، لاستكمال الإجراءات القانونية بحقه.
2026.3.10 Occupation Forces Arrest Several Citizens in the West Bank and Jerusalem
The Israeli occupation forces arrested a young man from the village of Al-Aqaba east of Tubas this evening, Tuesday.
The director of the Prisoners Club in Tubas, Kamal Bani Ouda, reported that the occupation arrested the young man Owais Abdul Hadi Ahmad Jaber from the village of Al-Aqaba east of Tubas.
Additionally, other forces arrested a citizen from the town of Bir Nabala northwest of Jerusalem.
Local sources reported that the occupation forces arrested citizen Hassan Khalil Al-Owaidat after storming the town.
Occupation forces also arrested two young men near the town of Al-Eizariya southeast of occupied Jerusalem.
Local sources indicated that the occupation forces stopped the vehicle carrying the two young men at the entrance of Al-Eizariya, searched it, and arrested them.
The towns and villages of Jerusalem are experiencing repeated incursions by the occupation forces, accompanied by raids, searches, and arrests among the citizens.
A magistrate court in Haifa released five members of the Dalasha family from the city on Sunday, while extending the detention of the sixth detainee for an additional ten days, following their arrest the day before after being subjected to an assault by the Israeli police.
The occupation police had arrested six family members, including a woman, on Saturday after assaulting them during a search of a vehicle belonging to the family in Haifa. The events escalated into confrontations involving police violence, before transferring the family members to court for their case review.
The family reported that after hours of detention, police released the young man Samer Dalasha, while his wife and two sons, Asil (22 years old) and Bassem (16 years old), along with his brothers Ali and Hamza, were brought before the court. Yesterday, the court decided to release the wife and the two sons, along with brother Ali, who was released due to suffering from a psychological condition, while extending the detention of brother Hamza for ten days.
Samer Dalasha stated that the police arrested his wife, two sons, and brothers during a search of the family vehicle, indicating that around 35 police officers were present at the scene and assaulted family members, including his brother who suffers from a mental illness.
He added that the police “used excessive force against everyone,” noting that the court decided to release his wife, two sons, and brother Ali, while keeping brother Hamza detained under the pretext of finding a knife in his possession, a claim the family denies and considers an attempt to justify the assault they endured.
Dalasha emphasized that the assault on his family members, including his wife, aims to “break their spirits,” considering what happened to fall within what he described as arbitrary policies and practices exercised by the police against the residents of Haifa.
He concluded by stating that the government’s and police’s treatment of Arab citizens has “entered a new phase of violence,” affirming that “the family will remain attached to its land and Palestinian identity despite what they are subjected to.”
The police have not issued any official comment on the incident or the family’s statements until the time of preparing this news report.
2026.3.9 الشرطة تكشف ملابسات ابتزاز مالي لمواطنة في جنين
جنين – كشفت المباحث العامة اليوم الإثنين، ملابسات ابتزاز مالي لمواطنة وقبضت على 3 أشخاص مشتبه بهم في جنين .
وبعد ورود شكوى للمباحث العامة من مواطنةً حول تعرضها للابتزاز مالي وتهديها بنشر صورها وفيديوهات خاصة بها عبر مواقع التواصل الاجتماعي من قبل مجهولين في حال لم تقم بدفع مليون شيكل لهم، على الفور باشرت دائرة الجرائم الإلكترونية في المباحث العامة إجراءات البحث والتحري، وتم حصر الاشتباه بثلاثة أشخاص والقبض عليهم .
وتم التحفظ على المشتبه بهم لإحالتهم للنيابة العامة لاستكمال الإجراءات القانونية اللازمة بحقهم
2026.3.9 كشف لغز سرقة مصاغ ذهبي بقيمة مليون و200 ألف شيقل في طولكرم
طولكرم – صرّح الناطق الإعلامي باسم الشرطة العميد لؤي إرزيقات، اليوم الإثنين، أن المباحث العامة نجحت في كشف لغز سرقة مصاغ ذهبي من أحد المنازل في بلدة بلعا شمال شرق طولكرم، وذلك عقب متابعة دقيقة لحركة بيع وشراء الذهب داخل محلات المجوهرات في المحافظة.
وأوضح إرزيقات، أنه وبناءً على التحريات المكثفة وجمع المعلومات، جرى حصر الاشتباه بشخصين قاما ببيع جزء من المصاغ، حيث تم إحضارهما والتحقيق معهما، وبسماع أقوالهما أقرا بسرقة المصاغ من منزل أحد أقاربهما.
وأضاف إرزيقات أن المشتبه بهما حاولا تضليل العائلة إلا أن التحقيقات الدقيقة كشفت حقيقة ما جرى، وتمكنت الشرطة من ضبط جزء من المصاغ مخبأً في منطقة زراعية داخل البلدة.
وأكد إرزيقات أنه جرى التحفظ على المشتبه بهما والمضبوطات، تمهيداً لإحالتهما إلى النيابة العامة لاستكمال الإجراءات القانونية اللازمة بحقهما.
2026.3.8 الشرطة تقبض على مشتبه به بسرقة 3 فلل في الخليل
الخليل – قبضت الشرطة، اليوم الأحد، على مشتبه به بسرقة ثلاثة فلل في بلدة ترقوميا غرب محافظة الخليل .
وبعد تلقي الشرطة عدة شكاوى خلال الفترة الماضية حول قيام مجهول بسرقة محتويات الفلل الخاصة بهم، على الفور باشرت المباحث العامة إجراءات البحث والتحري وجمع المعلومات، وتمكنت من القبض على المشتبه به والتحفظ عليه لإحالته للنيابة العامة لاستكمال الإجراءات القانونية اللازمة بحقه.
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