A pro-Palestinian camp in Dortmund has been shut down by police.The decision was initially motivated by the planned participation of climate activist Greta Thunberg, who was described by the authorities as "violent".
Recently, Thunberg has gone from being a politically and media-acclaimed figure to a much more controversial one - after her climate alarmist actions and statements were increasingly replaced by anti-Israel activism - something rarely appreciated by Western leaders.
In Germany, police on Tuesday went so far as to shut down an entire pro-Palestinian protest camp, citing Ms Thunberg's planned presence and initially justifying the decision on the grounds that the activist was "potentiallyviolent".
For reasons that are unclear, the wording was removed the following day and instead it was stated more vaguely that "recent events related to Thunberg as a person were taken into account in the assessment".
‘Complicit in the genocide’
The police also claimed that Thunberg's celebrity and presence risked attracting more protesters than "allowed", and that this was also a factor in their decision to disband the camp.
Greta Thunberg herself is highly critical of the decision, saying that "the German state is complicit in the genocide in Gaza".
"We must all stand up against the oppression that activists face just for speaking out against the genocide and occupation in Palestine.In Dortmund, in all of Germany and all over the world.We will not be silenced; liberate Palestine", she further writes in a statement on Instagram.
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The Icelandic public broadcaster RÚV wants Israel excluded from the Eurovision Song Contest next year. Board chairman Stefán Jón Hafstein confirms that a majority of the board today voted to urge the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) to exclude Israel from the competition in spring 2026.
The resolution was adopted with five votes out of nine at RÚV's board meeting late in the afternoon.
— What happens next is that the EBU holds its annual meeting on December 4-5. My understanding is that this issue of Israel's participation and the rules around the competition will be discussed on December 4, and our resolution will have been presented before the meeting. It will therefore be completely open on the table, says Hafstein.
There is uncertainty about several countries' participation in next year's competition. Spain, Ireland and Slovenia have all declared themselves opposed to Israeli participation due to the country's military actions in Gaza.
When asked how many countries he believes will take the same position, he says he doesn't know.
— I don't know what the situation looks like right now. This discussion has been going on for quite a long time, so we'll simply have to see at the meeting since everyone has been waiting for it, he says.
Iceland's participation not decided
Whether Iceland itself will participate if Israel is not excluded has not yet been decided. That question will be addressed at a special board meeting after the EBU's meeting.
— That will be handled at a special board meeting after the EBU meeting. No decision on that was made at today's meeting, he says.
Israeli soldiers have revealed in a British TV documentary the systematic use of Palestinian civilians as human shields in Gaza. Several confirm that official rules protecting civilian populations have been abandoned.
The documentary "Breaking Ranks: Inside Israel's War" aired on the British channel ITV on Monday evening. The soldiers testify about how the Israeli Defense Forces' (IDF) code of conduct toward civilian populations has effectively ceased to apply in practice.
A tactic called the "mosquito protocol" within the IDF involved forcing Palestinian civilians to explore Hamas tunnel systems.
— You send the human shield underground. As he walks down the tunnel, he maps it all for you. He has an iPhone in his vest and as he walks it sends back GPS information, says Daniel, commander of a tank unit, according to The Guardian, continuing:
— The commanders saw how it works. And the practice spread like wildfire. After about a week, every company was operating its own mosquito.
Civilians killed
Several soldiers testify that basic military rules about when it is permissible to open fire have been abandoned. Captain Yotam Vilk says that the IDF's official guidelines are no longer being followed.
— No soldier ever mentions ‘means, intent, and ability’. It’s just: a suspicion of walking where it’s not allowed.
One soldier describes a man who was hanging laundry on his roof and whom an officer designated as a spotter.
— It’s not as if this man had binoculars or weapons. The closest military force was 600-700 metres away. So unless he had eagle eyes, how could he possibly be a spotter? And the tank fired a shell. The building half collapsed. And the result was many dead and wounded, the soldier says.
The IDF writes in a statement that the defense forces prohibit the use of civilians as human shields and that this prohibition has been emphasized throughout the war.
The extensive support for Israel that was backed by Joe Biden at the beginning of the Gaza war has continued with undiminished strength under Donald Trump, who is strongly pro-Israeli and has contributed a large number of arms deliveries during the ongoing genocide.
UN Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese identifies the United States and several European countries as complicit in the ongoing genocide in Gaza in a new report. Through military support, diplomatic protection, and economic relations, they have enabled Israel's actions, according to the report published on Tuesday.
The ongoing genocide in Gaza is a collective crime made possible through the complicity of powerful third states. This is the conclusion of UN Special Rapporteur for human rights in the occupied Palestinian territories, Francesca Albanese, in her report "Gaza Genocide: a collective crime".
"Without the direct participation, aid and assistance of other States, the prolonged unlawful Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territory, which has now escalated into a fullfledged genocide, could not have been sustained", Albanese writes in the report.
US primary supplier of weapons
The United States is identified as the primary enabler. Since October 2023, the country has sent 742 shipments of weapons and ammunition to Israel, and used its veto in the UN Security Council seven times to block ceasefire resolutions.
Germany is the second-largest arms supplier, with export licenses worth 489 million euros approved between October 2023 and July 2025. The United Kingdom has flown over 600 surveillance missions over Gaza from its bases in Cyprus and shared intelligence information with Israel.
In total, 26 states have sent weapons to Israel since October 2023, including China, India, Italy, Austria, Spain, the Czech Republic, Romania, and France.
Influential Jewish far-right figures in the Israeli government have been driving forces during the genocide and threatened countries considering sanctions with countermeasures. Montage. Photo: Yoav Keren/CC BY-SA 4.0, שי קנדלר
Diplomatic protection and economic ties
In addition to military support, Western countries have provided Israel with diplomatic protection by reproducing Israeli narratives and by avoiding demands for a permanent ceasefire. Economic relations have continued as usual – the EU is Israel's largest trading partner and accounts for nearly one-third of the country's total trade.
"With their actions and omissions, third states have enabled the oppression of the Palestinian people and their genocide. Those states have an obligation to stop their complicity and deliver justice. And We The People, have to make it happen", Albanese wrote in a statement on X when the report was published.
Only a few countries have severed or downgraded diplomatic relations with Israel since October 2023, including Colombia, Bolivia, Nicaragua, Turkey, and South Africa.
In Sweden, the Christian Democrats and Sweden Democrats have expressed their unconditional support for the Jewish state during the ongoing genocide and opposed all sanctions initiatives. Montage. Photo: Magnus Liljegren/Regeringskansliet, IDF/CC BY-SA 3.0
Nordic countries linked to Israel's warfare
The Nordic countries also have direct or indirect connections to Israel's military operations in Gaza. Sweden appears to be the country with the most extensive direct ties according to Svenska freds (Swedish Peace and Arbitration Society).
Sweden exported military equipment to Israel worth €1.6 million in 2023 and €2 million in 2024, despite the ongoing genocide in Gaza. At the same time, Sweden has imported Israeli weapons worth tens of millions between 2015-2024. In late October 2023, in the midst of the war, the Swedish Defense Materiel Administration signed a ten-year contract worth €150 million with Israel's largest arms company Elbit Systems.
Denmark, Norway, and Finland are also mentioned in the UN report as suppliers of components for the F-35 aircraft that have been central to Israel's bombing campaign. Norwegian companies manufacture critical engine parts, while Danish companies supply electronics and composite parts. In total, 19 states, of which 17 have signed the UN Arms Trade Treaty, contribute to the F-35 program.
Denmark also increased its trade with Israel by 99 million dollars during the genocide. Norway, however, has been more critical and sanctioned Israeli ministers in June 2025.
Israel's war in Gaza has killed at least 68,234 people and injured 170,373 since October 2023. A total of 1,139 people were killed in Israel during the attacks on October 7, 2023, and approximately 200 were taken captive.
The UN estimates that the reconstruction of Gaza will cost $70 billion. The amount of debris in the bombed enclave is equivalent to 13 pyramids of Giza.
The UN Development Programme describes that the amount of debris in Gaza could be stacked 12 meters high over the entire area of New York's Central Park.
The estimate was presented on Tuesday and is a joint assessment by the UN, EU and the World Bank. The cost has risen sharply since the previous calculation of $53 billion in February.
Jaco Cilliers, special representative for the UNDP administrator in a program to assist Palestinians, described the extent of the devastation at a press conference in Geneva via video link from Jerusalem.
— The estimated damage and rubble, throughout the whole of Gaza, is in the region of 55 million tons, he said.
— Another way to put it, apart from the example from Central Park that I mentioned, is also equal to 13 pyramids in Giza. That is the amount and size of the challenge.
“It is comparable to building a 12-metre wall around Central Park and filling it with debris.”
Jaco Cilliers, UN Development Programme’s special representative, says that an assessment by the UN, EU and World Bank estimates that the reconstruction of Gaza will cost around $70bn pic.twitter.com/elhZkgRdLX
According to Cilliers, $20 billion is needed over the next three years. The remaining funds are needed over a longer period – possibly decades. He pointed to "good indications" from potential donors in the Arab world, Europe and the US, without providing further details.
Trump: "The easiest part"
US President Donald Trump, who on Monday participated in the signing of the peace agreement for Gaza in Egypt, claimed that the reconstruction will be easier than achieving the ceasefire.
— Rebuilding is maybe going to be the easiest part. We know how to build better than anybody in the world.
During the two years that Gaza was bombed by Israeli missiles and tanks, between 60 and 80 percent of all buildings were damaged or destroyed. The enclave was previously home to over 2.1 million people.
The total number of affected buildings is estimated at over 170,000, including homes, businesses, hospitals and religious sites.
After the end of the war, over 500,000 Palestinians have returned to Gaza in recent days – only to find their homes and neighborhoods in ruins.
