Category: 2. World

The United Nations special rapporteur for the occupied territories has warned that moves to recognise a Palestinian state should not distract member states from stopping mass death and starvation in Gaza.

“Of course it’s important to recognize the state of Palestine,” Francesca Albanese told the Guardian after several more countries responded to the mounting starvation in Gaza by announcing plans to recognize an independent Palestine. “It’s incoherent that they’ve not done it already.”

But she argued that the prolonged debate around Palestinian statehood has so far yielded no political progress, and instead enabled the spread of illegal Israeli settlements in occupied territory which have all but precluded the possibility of a Palestinian state.

“The territory has been literally eaten out by the advancement of the annexation and colonization,” she said.

This week, Australia joined the United Kingdom, Canada, France and other countries in pledging to recognize a Palestinian state at the United Nations general assembly next month. The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, (no relation) described the two-state solution as “humanity’s best hope to break the cycle of violence in the Middle East”.

But the special rapporteur cautioned that the renewed push for Palestinian statehood should not “distract the attention from where it should be: the genocide”.

She called for an embargo on all arms sales to Israel and a cessation of trade agreements – as well as accountability for the war crimes and crimes against humanity with which the international criminal court has charged top Israeli officials. She also called for a complete Israeli withdrawal from occupied territory by the 17 September deadline set by the UN general assembly.

“Ending the question of Palestine in line with international law is possible and necessary: end the genocide today, end the permanent occupation this year, and end apartheid,” she said. “This is what’s going to guarantee freedom and equal rights for everyone, regardless of the way they want to live – in two states or one state, they will have to decide.”

In her three years as rapporteur, but especially since the beginning of Israel’s war in Gaza following the 7 October 2023 Hamas attacks, Albanese has become one of the most outspoken and recognizable advocates for Palestinian rights. Her technical reports accusing Israel of operating an “apartheid regime” and committing “acts of genocide” have often anticipated major international and Israeli rights groups reaching the same conclusions.

Last month, the Trump administration sanctioned Albanese over her outspoken support for Palestinian rights and what US officials called her “shameful promotion” of ICC action against Israeli officials.

While Albanese has described herself as a reluctant “chronicler of genocide”, and others have called her “the voice of the global conscience”, she has also drawn condemnation and attacks – including accusations of antisemitism so persistent that she at one point sat down for a TV interview in which the first question posed to her was: “Are you an antisemite?”

“Antisemitism and discrimination against Jews as Jews is gross,” Albanese told the Guardian in an earlier interview in December. “But frankly I couldn’t care less if Israel were run by Jews, Muslims, Christians or atheists… All I want is for Israel to conduct itself in line with international law.”

Albanese described the growing global split over Israel’s actions in Gaza as “the ultimate struggle” and a matter of “light and darkness”. She characterized the US’s sanctions against her as a sign not of strength “but of guilt”.

“The US is a country of contradictions, full of ideals and principles and still, plotting against democratic values,” she said. “Those in power – Democrats or Republicans – have always been led by this kind of supremacist logic toward others, and this strategy is openly betraying the US values of democracy, of fundamental freedoms, and really leveling everything that they have been preaching.”

She also criticized the UN secretary general, António Guterres, for failing to more forcefully condemn the “unprecedented violation” of the privileges and immunities traditionally afforded to UN representatives.

A spokesperson for Guterres said earlier that the sanctions against her set a dangerous precedent, but noted that Albanese does not report to him. The rapporteur’s mandate is entrusted by the UN Human Rights Council.

Albanese described the recent gathering of the Hague Group – a 30-nation conference held in Colombia to set out practical steps for UN member states to take measures in support of Israel ending the occupation, as “an ethical force inside the system”, which she said was “premised upon a basic respect of international law and the honoring of multilateralism, which seems to me the basic ingredient to have a functioning international community”.

That stands in contrast to a UN that Albanese believes is living a “moment of existential crisis”.

“[The UN] needs to decide whether to be a real, multilateral platform,” she said. “We are no longer in the settler-colonial bloc kind of mentality that conceived the birth of the UN. Now there are 193 member states, and all of them have agency and all of them must be respected. Now is the time to cut the umbilical cord from the veto-power mentality and put the emphasis on the general assembly.”

Albanese noted that Israel’s 21-month war in Gaza had prompted a “profound shift” in global views of the conflict, as well as “brutal repression”.

“We see millions of people taking to the streets and asking for an end to the genocide, and they’re being beaten and arrested and held on counts of terrorism, while those who are wanted by the ICC for war crimes are being received and allowed to fly over European and western space,” she said. “This is absurd. This is the end of the rule of law.”

International law, she added, “is not a prophecy … It is a tool that must be used in order to fix things. And in fact, when people use it in court, they generally win.”

But she sounded a note of optimism about the shifting discourse around Israel’s actions. “An entire new generation now speaks the language of human rights,” she said. “For me, this is a success in and of itself.”

The widening gap between those in power and millions of people that have taken to the streets worldwide in support of Palestinians is in part why her most recent report focused not on Israeli actions but on the global corporations that she says are “profiting from genocide”.

“The occupation is profitable, and so is the genocide, and this is shocking, but it is to be known in order to be seen and to be stopped,” she noted. “The power is not just with the prime ministers or with the governments. The power is with us, and we can start choosing through our wallet.”

As for Palestinians, despite their monumental suffering and the ever-mounting death toll, “they have already won the legitimacy battle,” Albanese said.

“Everyone knows what Israel has done to them for the past 77 years,” she said. “They’ve already made history – and not through violence as some try to portray them – but with their perseverance and principles and trust in the justice system, which has not been their ally.”

Major European powers have informed the United Nations they are ready to reimpose UN-mandated sanctions on Iran over its nuclear programme if no diplomatic solution is found by the end of August, according to a joint letter obtained by AFP.

The letter to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and the UN Security Council says the three European powers are “committed to use all diplomatic tools at our disposal to ensure Iran does not develop a nuclear weapon” unless Tehran meets the deadline.

The foreign ministers from the so-called E3 group threaten to use a “snapback mechanism” that was part of a 2015 international deal with Iran that eased UN Security Council sanctions.

Under the deal, which terminates in October, any party to the accord can restore the sanctions.

All three have stepped up warnings to Iran about its suspension of cooperation with the UN nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency.

That came after Israel launched a 12-day war with Iran in June, partly seeking to destroy its nuclear capability. The United States staged its own bombing raid during the war.

“We have made clear that if Iran is not willing to reach a diplomatic solution before the end of August 2025, or does not seize the opportunity of an extension, E3 are prepared to trigger the snapback mechanism,” foreign ministers Jean-Noel Barrot of France, David Lammy of Britain and Johann Wadephul of Germany said in the letter.

All three countries were signatories to the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action with the US, China and Russia that offered the carrot and stick deal for Iran to slow its enrichment of uranium needed for a nuclear weapon.

President Donald Trump pulled the US out of the accord in 2018 during his first term and ordered new sanctions.

The European countries said they would stick to the accord. But their letter sets out engagements that the ministers say Iran has breached, including building up a uranium stock more than 40 times the permitted level under the 2015 deal.

“The E3 remain fully committed to a diplomatic resolution to the crisis caused by Iran’s nuclear programme and will continue to engage with a view to reaching a negotiated solution.

“We are equally ready, and have unambiguous legal grounds, to notify the significant non-performance of JCPOA commitments by Iran […] thereby triggering the snapback mechanism, should no satisfactory solution be reached by the end of August 2025,” the ministers wrote in the letter first reported by the Financial Times.

Cooperation with IAEA

The US had already started contacts with Iran, which denies seeking a weapon, over its nuclear activities.

But these were halted by the Israeli strikes in June on Iran’s nuclear facilities.

Even before the strikes, the international powers had raised concerns about the lack of access given to IAEA inspectors.

Iran halted all cooperation with the IAEA after the strikes, but it announced that the agency’s deputy chief was expected in Tehran for talks on a new cooperation deal.

Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi sent a letter to the UN last month saying that the European countries did not have the legal right to restore sanctions.

The European ministers called this allegation “unfounded”.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to meet President Donald Trump during a visit to the United States next month to attend the UN General Assembly meeting, the Indian Express newspaper reported on Wednesday, citing sources.

India’s foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment. An Indian official familiar with the matter said a decision has not yet been taken, and that countries usually reserve slots for the General Debate at the assembly, which is why India’s “head of government” features in a provisional list of speakers on September 26.

“The list will go through revisions,” the official said, adding that it had not yet been decided if Modi would be going to the assembly.

The General Assembly kicks off on September 9, but the debate, the annual meeting of heads of state and government, will be held from September 23-29.

Although the reason for the potential visit will be to attend the UN meeting in New York, a key objective will be to hold talks with Trump and iron out trade and tariff issues that have led to some souring of ties between the two countries, the newspaper reported.

News of a possible Modi trip to the US comes days after Trump announced an additional 25% tariff on Indian goods to penalise New Delhi for continuing to buy Russian oil.

The penalty took the total levy on Indian goods exported to the US to 50%, among the highest levied on any US trading partner.

Trade talks between New Delhi and Washington collapsed after five rounds of negotiations over disagreement on opening India’s vast farm and dairy sectors and stopping Russian oil purchases.

On Tuesday, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said several large trade agreements were still waiting to be completed, including with Switzerland and India, but New Delhi had been “a bit recalcitrant” in talks with Washington.

Bessent told Fox Business Network‘s “Kudlow” he hoped the Trump administration could wrap up its trade negotiations by the end of October.

“That’s aspirational, but I think we are in a good position,” he said, adding, “I think we can be, we will have agreed on substantial terms with all the substantial countries.”

DUBAI: Sudan is now ground zero for the world’s largest — and most overlooked — humanitarian catastrophe.

Since fighting broke out in April 2023 between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, more than 12 million people have been forcibly displaced, including 4 million forced to flee across borders, according to Refugees International. 

The vast majority are women and children, many of whom have been displaced multiple times, arriving at informal settlements with nothing but the clothes on their backs — and receiving little to no aid or protection.

“This is the largest displacement and humanitarian crisis in the world,” Daniel P. Sullivan, director for Africa, Asia, and the Middle East at Refugees International, told Arab News.

“More than half the population is facing severe food insecurity, with several areas already experiencing famine.”

Amid this deepening humanitarian disaster, Sudan is also edging toward political fragmentation. The paramilitary RSF has declared a rival administration called the “Government of Peace and Unity” across Darfur and parts of Kordofan. 

Meanwhile, the SAF has retaken Khartoum and retains control over the eastern and central regions.

Experts warn that this emerging divide could either lead to a protracted power struggle similar to Libya’s fragmentation or result in a formal split, echoing South Sudan’s independence.

Inside Sudan, the situation is rapidly deteriorating. The country’s health system has collapsed, water sources are polluted and aid access is severely restricted. Cholera is spreading and children are dying of hunger in besieged areas.

Aid groups have accused the RSF and SAF of weaponizing food and medicine, with both sides reportedly obstructing relief efforts and manipulating access to humanitarian corridors.

In East Darfur’s Lagawa camp, at least 13 children have died due to complications associated with malnutrition.

The site is home to more than 7,000 displaced people, the majority of them women and children, who are grappling with acute food insecurity.

The UN children’s fund, UNICEF, reported a 46 percent increase in cases of severe child malnutrition across Darfur between January and May, with more than 40,000 children receiving treatment in North Darfur alone.

Several areas, including parts of Darfur and Kordofan, are now officially experiencing famine.

With ethnic tensions fueling a separate but parallel conflict, allegations of genocide are mounting once more in Darfur.

“Sudanese in Darfur face genocide,” said Sullivan. “And those in other parts of the country face other atrocity crimes including targeting of civilians and widespread sexual violence.”

Elena Habersky, a researcher and consultant working with Sudanese refugee-led organizations in Egypt, told Arab News the violence is not just wide-reaching but also intimate in its brutality.

“There is widespread cholera and famine within Sudan and the threat of the RSF burning villages, sexually abusing and raping civilians, and killing people by shooting them, burning them or burying them alive, is very much a reality,” she said.

The RSF has routinely denied targeting civilians and accused its rivals of orchestrating a media campaign, using actors and staged scenes, to falsely incriminate it.

Those who flee across borders face a new set of challenges. Sudanese refugees in Egypt often struggle to obtain residency, work permits or access to health care and education.

In Chad and South Sudan, refugee camps are severely overcrowded, and food shortages are worsening due to global funding cuts. In Libya and the Central African Republic, they are at the mercy of smuggling networks and armed groups.

“Sudanese in Egypt face discrimination and the risk of forced repatriation,” said Sullivan. “Others in Ethiopia, Uganda and South Sudan face their own risks of abuse and lack of support.”

All the while, international attention is limited. The few headlines that break through are usually buried beneath coverage of other global crises.

Despite the scale of the catastrophe, donor fatigue, budget cuts and political disinterest have left Sudanese aid groups carrying the bulk of the humanitarian response.

“It truly feels like the international community is basically non-existent or only existent in words,” said Habersky.

“Most of the work I see being done is by refugee-led organizations, grassroots efforts by the diaspora, and community aid kitchens inside Sudan,” she said.

Groups such as the Emergency Response Rooms — local networks of doctors, teachers and volunteers — have been on the front lines. But they lack consistent funding and are increasingly targeted by both warring factions.

“Local Sudanese groups have become targets of abuse,” said Sullivan. “The most critical funding gap is in the amount of support going directly to them.”

Aid efforts are not only underfunded, but actively blocked. In areas such as Khartoum, humanitarian deliveries are hampered by bureaucratic hurdles and security threats.

“Even if aid enters Khartoum, it then faces other blocks to go to Darfur,” said Habersky. “There’s destruction of infrastructure, political infighting and looting.”

In February, UN officials launched a $6 billion funding appeal for Sudan — a more than 40 percent increase from the previous year — citing what they described as the world’s worst hunger crisis and displacement emergency.

The call for aid comes as global humanitarian budgets are under immense pressure, further strained by a recent US funding freeze that has disrupted life-saving programs worldwide.

Earlier this year, Tom Fletcher, UN under-secretary-general for humanitarian affairs and emergency relief coordinator, urged donors to answer the appeal on behalf of nearly 21 million Sudanese in need, while describing Sudan as “a humanitarian emergency of shocking proportions.”

“We are witnessing famine, sexual violence and the collapse of basic services on a massive scale — and we need urgent, coordinated action to stop it.”

While some aid agencies say they have received waivers from Washington to continue operations in Sudan, uncertainty remains around how far those exemptions extend — particularly when it comes to famine relief.

The UN’s 2025 humanitarian response plan is the largest and most ambitious proposed this year. Of the $6 billion requested, $4.2 billion is allocated for in-country operations, with the rest earmarked for those displaced across borders.

However, the window for action is closing, with the rainy season underway and famine spreading.

Experts warn that unless humanitarian access is restored and the conflict de-escalates, Sudan could spiral into a catastrophe on a par with — or worse than — Rwanda, Syria or Yemen.

“There needs to be a surge in humanitarian assistance to areas of greatest need,” said Sullivan. “Diplomatic pressure must also be mobilized to urge external actors to stop enabling atrocities and to press for humanitarian access.”

Sullivan believes that failure to act now could result in hundreds of thousands of preventable deaths.

Meanwhile, Habersky stressed the urgency of the situation, adding that “non-earmarked funding must be given to all organizations working to better the situation within Sudan and the region.”

“Refugee rights in host countries must be protected — we are seeing too many cases of abuse and neglect,” she added.

The stark reality is that while global attention drifts elsewhere, Sudan continues to collapse in real time. Behind the statistics are millions of lives — waiting for aid that has yet to arrive.

By Laure Delacloche, CNEWA

At the entrance of St. Anthony Community Health Center, some 6 miles north of Beirut, a sticker reads, “USAID – From the American People – International Medical Corps.” It is a designation that no longer applies.

On 20 January, the U.S. administration issued an executive order freezing all government foreign assistance, initially for three months, through several departments and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). The order was accompanied by a statement indicating the “foreign aid industry and bureaucracy are not aligned with American interests and in many cases antithetical to American values.”

The sudden freeze in U.S. government funding, vital for thousands of humanitarian projects — U.S. foreign assistance in 2024 totaled $56 billion worldwide — reverberated across the globe and stunned nonprofit agencies and their beneficiaries.

The decision reached St. Anthony Community Health Center quickly. Run by the Sisters of the Good Shepherd, the center received a stop-work order from International Medical Corps, which had been directing U.S. government funding to the health center since 2008.

Iraqis affected “will be pushed to emigrate, which is a big problem for the Christian community.” 

“On a Sunday night, they sent us a message telling us that from Monday onward, they would stop covering the consultations, the blood tests, the medicines, the medical equipment and the medical imaging,” said Dr. Joelle Khalife, the dispensary’s medical director.

Initially, International Medical Corps only paused the funding, which represented a third of the health center’s annual budget.

“Two weeks later, the team explained to us, in a very courteous way, that our contract with them was terminated,” she said.

The consequences for the health center, which cares for 2,000 people monthly, were immediate.

“When we started charging our patients for what International Medical Corps used to cover, some of them stopped coming,” said Dr. Khalife. “Our patients come to us because they don’t have the financial means to access health care in private hospitals.”

“It was hard to explain to our patients how a decision taken in the United States leads to their health care expenses not being covered anymore,” she said. “But the Lord is with us. We will not close because of this funding problem.”

Good Shepherd Sister Antoinette Assaf, who manages international partnerships in Lebanon for her community, said these cuts have made an already difficult situation more challenging. Access to funding has become “increasingly hard” since the COVID-19 pandemic, she explained, and donor requirements have increased across the board as funding has decreased.

In mid-March, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced 83 percent of USAID contracts were canceled and those remaining were integrated into the State Department, which had absorbed USAID in February. A month later, a final list of terminated grants had not yet been made public. 

However, Geneva Solutions, an online news site that covers the work of international aid organizations, reported on 4 April that a leaked document indicated 77 percent of USAID grants — or “6,239 awards, worth $36bn in aid” — were terminated.

On the list, the World Health Organization, United Nations Development Program, Mercy Corps and UNICEF were slated to lose from one-third to 98 percent of their U.S. government funding. U.N. Women and U.N.-Habitat were slated to lose all U.S. government funding.

The administration reconsidered a few cuts and, on 9 April, restored funding to World Food Program projects in Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Jordan, Ecuador and Somalia and at least four awards to the International Organization for Migration.

Christian organizations also were impacted: Caritas, the humanitarian and development organization of the Catholic Church, was slated to lose 25 percent of its U.S. government funding; World Vision, 16 percent.

“These budget cuts in development aid and international cooperation are detrimental to human development, especially affecting programs supporting refugees and other vulnerable groups,” said Karim el-Mufti, professor of political science, international affairs and international law at the Jesuit-run St. Joseph University of Beirut.

This change in U.S. policy sheds light on the weight of U.S. assistance globally and throughout the Middle East, he said.

“Lebanon holds the prize of dependency on foreign aid, which is the price of having a collapsed state,” said Mr. Mufti. “The Lebanese struggle to access basic services. Programs that were supported by the United States were very useful in terms of access to health care, education and basic amenities.”

In 2024, the country plunged from a war limited to the South and the Beqaa valley into an all-out war between Hezbollah – a powerful Lebanese political party and a Shiite militia – and Israel, lasting two months. That year, Lebanon had received nearly $390 million in U.S. assistance, 63 percent for economic development and the rest for aid to support the nation’s underfunded military. The U.S. also funded 20 percent of all U.N. projects in the country.

CNEWA has not received funding from the U.S. government since 2008, so its ability to maintain current funding commitments to partners remains intact.

“Out of 100 projects we support in Lebanon, so far only St. Anthony Community Health Center and another medical center are directly affected by the U.S. cuts,” said Michel Constantin, CNEWA’s regional director for Lebanon, Syria and Egypt. 

However, since January, other humanitarian organizations have contacted his office with “requests to discuss funding issues.”

“I doubt we will be able to support them in a significant way, as our budget for 2025 is already finalized,” said Mr. Constantin. 

Mr. Constantin said while he thinks most Church institutions may find alternative funders, “the cuts will certainly affect the whole social situation of the country in terms of the level and quality of services provided.”

In Lebanon, U.S. government funding supported education, health care and nutrition programs, said Laith Alajlouni, a research associate at the International Institute for Strategic Studies in Manama, Bahrain.

Programs for Palestinian and Syrian refugees in Lebanon, as well as internally displaced Lebanese, will be affected. The funding cuts also are expected to “slow down the humanitarian recovery and the reconstruction of Lebanon,” he said, which the World Bank has estimated at $11 billion.

Iraq and Jordan are also long-term recipients of U.S.-government assistance. In 2024, Iraq received $333 million, while the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, which enjoys “most-favored-nation trade” status with the United States, received $1.75 billion in U.S. assistance.

The impact of the funding cuts on each country is likely to differ vastly, but the case of Jordan stands out, said Mr. Alajlouni.

“Half of U.S. foreign assistance [to Jordan] goes to [Jordan’s] national budget, and the other half is channeled toward the development sector through USAID,” he said.

An increased national deficit and a major decrease in access to health care, education and potable water are expected as a result. According to The National, a state-run newspaper in the United Arab Emirates, 35,000 people in Jordan had lost their jobs to the funding cuts by early February, adding to the 21.4 percent unemployment rate at the end of 2024.

“Thirty-five thousand people in Jordan had lost their jobs to the funding cuts by early February, adding to the 21.4 percent unemployment rate.”

In Iraq, half of U.S. government assistance was directed to the military. The stoppage “will likely impact Iraq’s ability to defend itself against ISIS,” said Mr. Alajlouni, and may likely “push the country toward Iran.” 

In Iraq’s development sector, the projects impacted are tied chiefly to democratization programs and refugees. According to the latest figures available from the UNHCR in April 2023, Iraq had 280,000 refugees and 1.2 million internally displaced people.

Ra’ed Bahou, CNEWA’s regional director for Jordan and Iraq, said CNEWA’s more than 100 projects across Jordan and Iraq were untouched by the funding cuts, but the impact on other organizations is evident.

“Key organizations, such as the World Food Program, Catholic Relief Services, Jesuit Refugee Service, are affected, with reduced capacity for food aid, education and emergency response,” he said.

Mr. Bahou anticipates “a lot more financial pressure” on his office, “especially within the health care sector,” without having the financial means “to fill the gap.”

CNEWA is among a small group of Catholic organizations, including L’Oeuvre d’Orient, an initiative of the Catholic Church in France, whose projects were left unscathed by the cuts.

Vincent Gelot, country director for L’Oeuvre d’Orient in Lebanon, Syria and Jordan, said his agency’s partners — religious congregations, dioceses and local associations — “are almost never helped by large international organizations and large funding bodies because they are private or because they are faith-based.”

However, Karam Abi Yazbeck, regional coordinator for Caritas Internationalis in the Middle East and North Africa, said “40 percent of our budget globally comes from the U.S. government.” Another major donor was Catholic Relief Services, which reportedly lost 62 percent of its funding in the government cuts. 

He said Caritas had “a lot of concerns, as some communities rely heavily on our services.” In April, it was in the process of identifying new sources of funding and considering whether to reduce activities or close its office in Jordan.

Caritas Iraq lost about 20 percent of its annual budget — nearly $700,000 overnight. In response, it laid off 25 employees and was shifting its activities toward “projects that are less costly in order for our office to survive,” said Nabil Nissan, executive director of Caritas Iraq.

The funding cuts will impact the minority Christian communities in Iraq and Jordan — respectively less than 2 percent and 8 percent of the population. 

“This happens in a context of high unemployment and difficult socioeconomic conditions for all segments of Iraqi society,” said Mr. Nissan. 

“There are only rare opportunities of employment within state institutions, so [people affected] will be pushed to emigrate, which is a big problem for the Christian community.

“Implementing a project strengthens the presence of the church in the community,” he added. “It sends a message that Christianity is here in Iraq, and we demonstrate our values.”

Church-run organizations in the Middle East are in the process of adapting to the new funding context and are looking to Europe for additional assistance.

However, Mr. Alajlouni in Bahrain believes, even if European partners jump in, “gaps will remain” because “U.S. funding was significant.”

This article was originally published in ONE, the magazine of Catholic Near East Welfare Association (CNEWA). All rights reserved. Unauthorized republication by third parties is not permitted.

For days, social media has been buzzing with a shocking video claiming that a killer whale killed marine trainer Jessica Radcliffe during a live show. The shocking video sparked outrage and sadness, but there is only one issue. It never occurred. Investigators claim that the entire story, from the trainer’s name to the marine park, was fabricated. They used AI-generated images and voices to fabricate a story that duped millions of people. The event brought up the topic of real-life orca attacks again.

Who was Jessica Radcliffe supposed to be?

The now-famous video shows a young woman named “Jessica Radcliffe” dancing on top of an orca at Pacific Blue Marine Park. People cheer when the whale comes out of the water, but then the mood changes. The orca lunges, pulling the trainer under the water in a scene that looks like it will end badly, as quoted in a report.

People online say that Radcliffe, 23, died just minutes after being pulled from the water, and people who saw her last moments were shocked. The video quickly went viral on TikTok, Facebook, and other sites, starting heated debates about keeping animals in cages and the safety of marine parks, as per a report.
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How did they prove that the viral video of the orca attack was fake?

Digital forensic experts and fact-checkers quickly found signs that something was wrong. First, no reliable news sources, obituaries, or official statements from the marine park matched the event. In real cases of animals dying, local authorities and marine facility management usually confirm things quickly. None of this happened here.Second, the voices in the video sound flat and have strange pauses, which is what AI-generated audio sounds like. The analysis of the movement showed that the water splash patterns and character motions were not consistent, which is another sign that the images were made by a computer. The name of the park also made people suspicious. There is no registered marine park with the name “Pacific Blue Marine Park.”It was clear that the so-called tragedy was just a very realistic AI hoax with all these red flags.

What attacks by orcas have really happened?

Jessica Radcliffe’s story is made up, but killer whales have been involved in deadly events, especially when they are in captivity.

Tilikum, a huge male orca who killed three people, is one of the most famous cases. In 1991, Keltie Byrne, a trainer, fell into Tilikum’s tank at Sealand of the Pacific and drowned. The whale pulled her down into the water over and over again, while other orcas stopped rescue attempts.

Daniel Dukes was found dead on Tilikum’s back in 1999. Investigators think he may have entered the pool at night. The most talked-about attack happened in 2010, when Tilikum killed Dawn Brancheau, a SeaWorld trainer with a lot of experience, during a show in Orlando. He pulled her underwater in a long, violent fight.

There have been other deaths as well. For example, in 2009, an orca named Keto killed Spanish trainer Alexis Martinez during a rehearsal.

Why do these fake news stories keep spreading?

Experts say that one reason these AI-generated tragedies spread so quickly is that they play on real fears. Orcas are smart, strong top predators, and there have been many deadly encounters with them in marine parks in the past. People are more likely to believe things when fiction and bits of truth are mixed together.

The viral hoax about Jessica Radcliffe may have been made up, but the danger of captive orcas is real.

FAQs

Was Jessica Radcliffe an actual person?
There are no official records or credible sources that prove her existence.

Did the orca attack actually happen?
The video was entirely created using artificial intelligence.

LONDON: While global attention remains focused on the war in Gaza, the occupied West Bank has been sliding deeper into crisis, largely out of sight. Israeli military raids and settler violence against Palestinians have escalated sharply, intensifying tensions across the territory.

The UN Human Rights Office has warned of growing settler violence “with the acquiescence, support, and in some cases participation of Israeli forces.”

In a July 30 statement, the UN agency described “a pattern of the use of unnecessary and disproportionate force that resulted in the unlawful killing and injury of Palestinians” in the West Bank.

The report further alleged that Israeli authorities are pursuing a wider strategy of displacement and annexation — claims the government rejects, insisting instead that its actions are a response to security threats posed by Palestinian militants.

“State policy and legislative actions appear aimed at emptying certain areas of the West Bank of the Palestinian population, advancing the settlement enterprise, and consolidating the annexation” of large parts of the territory, the statement added.

That warning was followed almost immediately by a significant political development, as Israeli Justice Minister Yariv Levin and Defense Minister Israel Katz publicly declared that the current moment offered an opportunity to annex the West Bank — a move long opposed by much of the international community.

“Ministers Katz and Levin have been working for many years to implement Israeli sovereignty in Judea and Samaria,” their offices said in a joint statement on July 31, using the biblical name for the West Bank. “At this very moment, there is a moment of opportunity that must not be missed.”

The statement did not explain why now is the right opportunity, but it came on the heels of recent announcements by Western governments, including France and the UK, that they are prepared to recognize a Palestinian state.

Just two days earlier, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced that the UK would recognize a Palestinian state at the UN General Assembly in September unless Israel moved to end the crisis in Gaza, commit to a ceasefire, and revive a two-state solution.

“There is an understandable focus on Gaza given the genocide that is going on, the horrific amount of destruction, loss of life, the starvation of a civilian population,” Chris Doyle, director of the London-based Council for Arab-British Understanding, told Arab News.

“Of course, that is far, far worse than anything that is currently happening in the West Bank.” But, he warned, the difference in scale does not diminish the danger.

“I think what is scary about the West Bank is that many Palestinians there feel that they are next — that what has happened in Gaza will be happening to them.”

That fear is not unfounded.

“We’ve already seen an uptick in Israeli military operations, particularly in the north of the West Bank, inside refugee camps,” said Doyle.

“We’ve seen demolitions at record levels, record levels of settler violence, all helped by the Israeli military, and the forced displacement of so many communities.”

He added that ultra-nationalist elements within the Israeli government, “particularly those who are really engaged with the ultra-nationalist settler movement,” are “doing everything they can to exploit the situation in Gaza to push forward with their plans in the West Bank.”

That concern is echoed by Israeli rights group B’Tselem, which warned in July of “clear and imminent danger that the genocide will not remain confined to Gaza.”

In its report, titled “Our Genocide,” B’Tselem warned that the assault on Gaza is inseparable from escalating violence against Palestinians in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and within Israel.

Indeed, violence in the West Bank has spiked since the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led attack on southern Israel triggered the war in Gaza, and escalated further after Israel launched Operation Iron Wall on Jan. 21, which the Israeli government says is aimed at tackling militant groups in the territory’s north.

International monitors, including the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs and Human Rights Watch, say the campaign has become increasingly indiscriminate, killing numerous noncombatants, including children.

Save the Children reports at least 224 children were killed by Israeli forces or settlers between January 2023 and early 2025. OCHA says that from Oct. 7, 2023, to mid-July 2025, some 968 Palestinians — including 204 children — were killed in the West Bank.

Civilians killed during this period include foreign nationals, such as Palestinian-American Khamis Al-Ayyad, whose family is seeking an investigation into his death in a settler attack on July 31.

UN figures show around 40,000 Palestinians have been displaced — the largest such movement since the 1967 war — most of them from three refugee camps in Jenin and Tulkarem.

Settler violence and military-imposed access restrictions have uprooted more than 2,200 more.

House demolitions are also climbing. A new directive by the Israeli Civil Administration allows the military to raze Palestinian structures and expel around 1,200 residents from long-inhabited areas.

The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights has warned such actions could constitute “forcible transfer, which is a war crime.”

The UN agency said in late June that such actions “could also amount to a crime against humanity if committed as part of a widespread or systematic attack directed against any civilian population, with knowledge of the attack.”

Israel says demolitions target unpermitted buildings, though Palestinians and the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs note that such permits are nearly impossible to obtain.

In June, the UN recorded the highest monthly injury toll from settler attacks in over 20 years. OHCHR counted 757 such attacks in the first seven months of 2025 — a 13 percent rise compared to the same period last year.

UN General Assembly President Philemon Yang called these developments “a critical moment in the long history of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.”

On July 28, he warned that “while the situation in Gaza is dramatic, we must not lose sight of the deeply concerning and equally urgent situation in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem.”

Indeed, on Aug. 6, the Israeli government discussed building thousands of new housing units in the E1 area, east of occupied East Jerusalem. The project would link the Ma’ale Adumim settlement to Jerusalem, effectively bisecting the West Bank and isolating Palestinian communities.

“Not only would implementing the E1 doomsday settlement project split the West Bank into north and south, but also cement the separation of Jerusalem from the rest of the West Bank, as well as displacing around 12,500 Palestinians,” said Doyle.

“All of this, therefore, amounts to an extremely serious situation in the West Bank, which already exists under a regime of apartheid, where Israeli Jewish citizens of the State of Israel in settlements enjoy superior rights to Palestinians who are their neighbors.”

The E1 plan, stalled since 2021 under US and EU pressure, envisions building more than 3,000 homes to the east of Jerusalem and is widely seen as a death blow to a future contiguous Palestinian state.

In a joint statement in July, 31 Western nations, including the UK and France, announced their “strong opposition” to the project, calling it “a flagrant breach of international law” that would “critically undermine the two-state solution.”

However, the international community should be doing far more, said Doyle.

He warned that the escalating situation in the West Bank “does point to a fundamental failure of the international community, not just over the last 21-22 months, but actually over decades, to put an end to the settlement project — to reverse it.

“All of this, of course, has now been ordered by the International Court of Justice that says that Israel must withdraw from the settlements and pay reparations. And it is incumbent upon international actors to back that up and to take action to ensure that they are in no way complicit with Israel’s regime of occupation.”

The ICJ ruled in July 2024 that Israel’s occupation of the West Bank, Gaza, and East Jerusalem is illegal under international law. It found that Israeli settlements and use of natural resources in the occupied Palestinian territories are unlawful.

The court ordered Israel to end its occupation, dismantle settlements, provide full reparations to Palestinians, and facilitate the return of displaced people.

With the West Bank facing ever-increasing violence, mass displacement, and aid restrictions, the question looms: Will the world act to prevent it becoming another Gaza?