Friday, July 11, 2025

Polaris of Enlightenment

Turkey arrests Israeli agents

Published 11 January 2024
– By Editorial Staff
Pictures from some of the arrests.
2 minute read

A Turkish court decided late last week to formally arrest 15 people and deport eight others suspected of being linked to the Israeli intelligence agency Mossad and allegedly targeting Palestinians living in Turkey.

Turkish authorities arrested 34 people earlier last week after warning Israel of “serious consequences” if it tried to hunt down Hamas members living in Turkey.

There are currently no details on the court’s decision regarding the remaining 11 people originally detained.

Turkey, unlike most of its Western allies and some Arab countries, does not consider Hamas a terrorist organization – instead, Turkish leaders have repeatedly expressed support for the Palestinian cause since Israel’s invasion of Gaza.

Police raided eight provinces to arrest the suspected Israeli agents as part of an investigation by the MIT intelligence agency and the Istanbul prosecutor’s anti-terrorism office.

Israel’s Foreign Ministry declined to comment on the arrests, the Times of Israel reported.

“The butcher of Gaza”

Last month, several media outlets reported that Israeli intelligence had begun targeting Hamas officials for assassination around the world. Israeli officials have openly declared their intention to kill Hamas members “anywhere” in the world – including Turkey.

Turkish leaders responded by warning Israel of “serious consequences” if it attempted to kill Palestinians on Turkish soil.

Since 2022, it has been revealed that several Mossad cells are operating in Turkey – the latest revelation came last July when Turkey arrested seven Arabs allegedly working for Mossad with targets in Lebanon and Syria.

It should also be noted that Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan has recently launched harsh verbal attacks on Israel, calling it a “terror state” and referring to prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu as the “butcher of Gaza. He has referred to Hamas as “freedom fighters”.

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Ukraine reports record civilian casualties in June

The war in Ukraine

Published today 7:27
– By Editorial Staff
The number of civilian casualties continues to rise on both sides in the Ukraine war. The image shows victims of a Russian shelling attack against the Kharkiv region in northeastern Ukraine in June this year.
3 minute read

The number of civilian casualties in Ukraine reached its highest level since 2022 during June 2025, according to a new report from the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in the country. At least 232 civilians were killed and 1,343 injured during the month – figures that testify to a dramatic escalation in how the war affects the civilian population.

The UN report shows that Russia conducted 10 times more missile attacks during June 2025 compared to the same month the previous year. The attacks hit 16 regions in Ukraine, including the capital Kiev, and caused deaths and injuries far from the front lines.

“Civilians across Ukraine are facing levels of suffering we have not seen in over three years”, says Danielle Bell, head of the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine.

According to the report, almost half of all civilian casualties were caused by missiles and aerial bombs in densely populated areas. Meanwhile, short-range drone attacks continued to kill and injure civilians near the front lines.

Targets of the Russian attacks

Based on reports from the conflict, Russian attacks primarily target energy infrastructure such as power plants, gas storage facilities, and power lines. Russia has systematically attacked Ukraine’s energy supply in an attempt to paralyze the country, with over 2,400 attacks on energy facilities since February 2022.

Military recruitment centers and other strategic targets have also been subject to Russian attacks. The Russian Defense Ministry often justifies attacks on energy and fuel facilities by claiming they are used by the Ukrainian military.

Despite these facilities potentially having military significance, the civilian population is severely affected when they are attacked. Civilian casualties occur both from direct hits and from debris from downed missiles when Ukrainian air defenses respond.

Several of the civilian deaths have occurred in nighttime attacks on the capital Kiev, where attacks were previously uncommon. During massive attacks during the night against Thursday in the Kiev region that lasted almost ten hours, Russian forces used 397 Shahed drones and 18 missiles against Ukrainian targets. At least two people were killed and 22 injured in that attack on Kyiv.

Woman who became a victim of heavy Russian bombing in northeastern Ukraine on June 7 this year.

Sharp increase during 2025

The total number of civilian deaths and injuries during the first half of 2025 is 6,754 people, which is 54 percent more compared to the same period in 2024. During the first six months of 2025, the number of civilian deaths increased by 17 percent and injuries by 64 percent.

Since the war broke out on February 24, 2022, the UN monitoring mission has registered at least 13,580 civilian deaths, including 716 children. Additionally, 34,115 injured civilians were reported, including 2,173 children.

The UN monitoring mission warns that the actual figures for civilian casualties may be significantly higher than what is reported, given the challenges and time required for adequate verification of all deaths and injuries.

“No place in Ukraine is completely safe”

Danielle Bell from the UN monitoring mission has previously warned: “Almost half of the civilian casualties over the past three months have died far away from the front lines. We can conclude that no place in Ukraine is completely safe”.

No peace is yet in sight in the over three-year-long armed conflict between Russia and Ukraine that continues with Western involvement.

Von der Leyen remains EU chief

Published yesterday 17:48
– By Editorial Staff
Von der Leyen can be pleased to keep her job for a while longer.
1 minute read

Improper influence on the election in Romania and suspicious procurement processes worth billions via text messages with Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla. This was part of the criticism in connection with the vote of no confidence against European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Thursday.

Behind the no-confidence initiative is Romanian MEP Gheorghe Piperea from the ECR (European Conservatives and Reformists), who cited “lack of leadership and transparency” partly following von der Leyen’s concealed text message conversations with Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla regarding billion-euro purchases of the pharmaceutical giant’s criticized COVID vaccine Comirnaty.

She has also been accused of improper attempts to influence Romania’s presidential election, where liberal NATO advocate Nicusor Dan ultimately defeated nationalist George Simion in May. Dan’s electoral victory came only after a previously nationalist and EU-critical candidate, Calin Georgescu, was disqualified and accused of crimes without evidence after winning the first round of voting.

The vote ended with just under a quarter, 175 votes, in favor of no confidence. 360 voted against and 18 members abstained, according to the European Parliament’s press release. For von der Leyen to have been removed, a two-thirds majority would have been required. Von der Leyen herself dismissed the no-confidence motion as primarily driven by conspiracy theories promoted by “anti-vaxxers” and “Putin apologists”.

Covid vaccines, weapons and control

Ursula von der Leyen has led the European Commission since 2019 and during her time in EU leadership has not only managed to profile the union as a major customer to pharmaceutical giants but also to the weapons industry, where one of her key priorities has been procurement of weapons for the war in Ukraine while simultaneously minimizing diplomatic exchange with Russia. Her politics have otherwise been totalitarian in nature and focused on increased supranational control over the union's member states and surveillance of EU citizens, as well as with a strong focus on continuing to enable non-European mass migration to all of the union's countries.

Israel’s latest attack: Ground troops in Lebanon

The escalation in the Middle East

Published yesterday 14:44
– By Editorial Staff
2 minute read

Israel has conducted almost daily attacks against targets in southern Lebanon and also against the capital Beirut since the ceasefire was concluded in November 2024 between Israel and Hezbollah. During the night, they have also deployed ground troops in the neighboring country.

As recently as Tuesday, Israel fired on a vehicle in the Lebanese city of Tripoli in an attack that killed three people and injured 13 according to Lebanon’s health ministry. According to Israel, a Hamas officer was killed in the attack.

During last night, Israel also deployed ground troops in the neighboring country in what is described as a “special operation”. The Israeli military IDF communicates this in a press release and a statement on Telegram as reported by, among others, the Qatari channel Al-Jazeera. They also show a video of soldiers in the operation.

 

 

Despite the agreed ceasefire, Israel has justified continued attacks in Lebanon by claiming that the paramilitary Shia Muslim political party Hezbollah, which is part of the country’s complex coalition government together with Christian, Druze and socialist politicians, continues to pose a threat and that the Lebanese state has not fulfilled its commitments under the agreement.

Lebanon has for its part condemned the attacks as flagrant violations of the ceasefire and has also requested help from the UN Security Council to get Israel to cease the attacks. Lebanese President Nawaf Salam has repeatedly also addressed the US and Israel directly to get the Netanyahu government to refrain from further attacks.

US issues sanctions against UN investigator who criticized Israel

The situation in Gaza

Published yesterday 13:41
– By Editorial Staff
Francesca Albanese is the UN Special Rapporteur on human rights in the occupied Palestinian territories since 2022.
4 minute read

The Trump administration has decided to sanction Francesca Albanese, the UN Special Rapporteur for the West Bank and Gaza, as part of the American campaign to silence critics of Israel’s actions in the ongoing war. This is reported by The Guardian.

In a text message to Al Jazeera, Albanese accuses the US of “mafia style intimidation techniques”.

The US State Department announced on Wednesday that the country is issuing sanctions against the independent official who is tasked with investigating human rights violations in the Palestinian territories. The decision comes after American pressure on the UN to remove Albanese from her position previously failed.

Francesca Albanese, who is a human rights lawyer, has been open with her criticism of what she describes as the “genocide” that Israel is carrying out against Palestinians in Gaza. Both Israel and the US, which provides Israel with military support, have firmly denied these allegations.

International legal scrutiny

Israel faces allegations of genocide at the International Court of Justice and war crimes at the International Criminal Court following the country’s devastating military assault on Gaza. Albanese’s position has also received support from leading genocide scholars and human rights organizations.

In a post on X late Wednesday evening, Albanese wrote that she stands “firmly and convincingly on the side of justice, as I have always done,” without directly mentioning the American sanctions. In a text message to Al Jazeera, she was quoted dismissing the US actions as “mafia style intimidation techniques“.

In recent weeks, Albanese has sent out a series of letters urging other countries to pressure Israel, including through sanctions, to end its deadly bombing of the Gaza Strip. The Italian citizen has also been a strong supporter of the International Criminal Court’s prosecution of Israeli officials, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, for war crimes.

Harsh American criticism

Most recently, she issued a report that named several American corporations among the companies helping with what she described as Israel’s occupation and war against Gaza.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio commented on the sanctions on social media:

– Albanese’s campaign of political and economic warfare against the United States and Israel will no longer be tolerated. We will always stand by our partners in their right to self-defense.

Albanese has been targeted for criticism by pro-Israeli officials and groups in the US and Middle East. Last week, the US UN mission issued a sharp statement demanding her removal for “years-long pattern of virulent antisemitism and unrelenting anti-Israel bias”.

The statement claimed that Albanese’s allegations that Israel is committing genocide or apartheid are “false and offensive”.

Part of broader campaign

The sanctions represent the culmination of an extensive campaign over nearly six months by the Trump administration to silence criticism of Israel’s handling of the deadly war in Gaza, which is approaching two years. Earlier this year, the Trump administration began arresting and deporting faculty members and students at American universities who participated in pro-Palestinian demonstrations and other political activities.

Human rights experts have sharply criticized the US sanctions against Albanese. Dylan Williams, vice president for government affairs at the think tank Center for International Policy, described them as “rogue state behavior”, while Amnesty International said that UN Special Rapporteurs must be supported and not sanctioned.

Agnes Callamard, Secretary General of Amnesty International and former UN Special Rapporteur, stated:

– Governments around the world and all actors who believe in the rule-based order and international law must do everything in their power to mitigate and block the effect of the sanctions against Francesca Albanese and more generally to protect the work and independence of special rapporteurs.

Background to the conflict

Israel’s retaliation campaign after the events of October 7, 2023, has killed more than 57,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which says women and children make up most of the dead but does not specify how many were combatants or civilians. The figure is generally considered to be a significant underestimate.

Nearly 21 months into the conflict that has displaced the vast majority of Gaza’s 2.3 million people, it is almost impossible for the critically injured to receive the care they need, say doctors and aid workers.

Albanese said in a recent post on X:

We must stop this genocide, whose short-term goal is completing the ethnic cleansing of Palestine, while also profiteering from the killing machine devised to perform it.

No one is safe until everyone is safe.

Francesca Albanese is an Italian jurist and human rights expert who has served as the UN Special Rapporteur for the occupied Palestinian territories since 2022. She has a background in international law and has worked on issues concerning human rights, humanitarian law and conflict resolution. Albanese is known for her critical reports and analyses of the situation in Gaza and the West Bank, where she highlights the consequences of the Israeli occupation for the civilian population. Her work aims to promote justice, accountability and respect for international law in the region.

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