A document I obtained through a freedom of information request illustrates that more than two years after the Gaza genocide began, the Israel lobby is still writing the script which key Brussels officials follow.

Hélène Le Gal, head of the Middle East division in the EU’s diplomatic service, appears particularly willing to have the script written for her.

The document shows that Le Gal has agreed to be a host of a “strategic dialogue” organized jointly by the diplomatic service and the pro-Israel group called the European Leadership Network (Elnet). Scheduled for 12-13 May, the event will feature “30 high-level policy and opinion makers – 15 from the EU and 15 from Israel,” says the invitation for the event.

Le Gal agreed that the invitation could be issued in her name, just requesting “tiny tweaks,” according to email messages exchanged between Elnet and her colleagues at the diplomatic service.

A document I obtained through a freedom of information request illustrates that more than two years after the Gaza genocide began, the Israel lobby is still writing the script which key Brussels officials follow.

Hélène Le Gal, head of the Middle East division in the EU’s diplomatic service, appears particularly willing to have the script written for her.

The document shows that Le Gal has agreed to be a host of a “strategic dialogue” organized jointly by the diplomatic service and the pro-Israel group called the European Leadership Network (Elnet). Scheduled for 12-13 May, the event will feature “30 high-level policy and opinion makers – 15 from the EU and 15 from Israel,” says the invitation for the event.

Le Gal agreed that the invitation could be issued in her name, just requesting “tiny tweaks,” according to email messages exchanged between Elnet and her colleagues at the diplomatic service.

Pakistan has delivered some weapons to Libya's eastern government led by military ruler Khalifa Haftar, as part of a deal financed by Saudi Arabia, western and Arab officials familiar with the matter told Middle East Eye.

At least five cargo planes from Pakistan carrying armaments were unloaded at Benghazi airport in March, one official who witnessed the deliveries told MEE.

A second official confirmed that the shipments from Pakistan had taken place, but did not say what type of arms were provided.

Reuters first reported that Haftar’s eastern-based government had sealed a $4bn arms deal with Pakistan - the country’s largest - following a trip in December to Benghazi by Pakistan's army chief, Field Marshal Asim Munir.

The delivery of Pakistani arms to Libya has not been previously reported, but comes against the backdrop of rising skepticism about the fate of other Pakistani arms deals in Africa.

Hamas spokesperson Hazem Qassem said Israel is continuing to tighten its blockade on the Gaza Strip by closing crossings and controlling the entry of aid and the number of travellers through the Rafah crossing.

In a video statement on Monday, Qassem said the Rafah crossing had been closed while severe restrictions on aid deliveries remain in place. He added that Israel had not met the agreed number of aid trucks allowed into Gaza, with fewer than half entering, alongside continued limits on the number of travellers.

Qassem said Israel is pursuing a policy of “engineering starvation” in Gaza, pointing to rising prices of basic goods as hunger deepens, as well as ongoing violations including shelling and killings, such as those reported early on Monday.

He added that what is happening reflects a systematic Israeli policy of violations, calling for a “genuine stance” from mediators and guarantor states, as well as what he described as the “Board of Peace”, to put an end to these actions and lift the blockade on Gaza after two years of what he described as genocide.

The United Arab Emirates apparently dropped a hint the dollar’s dominance isn’t assured in the global oil trade if fallout from the Iran war gets worse.

To be sure, the UAE has plenty of money, including $270 billion in foreign-exchange reserves and trillions of dollars across its sovereign wealth funds.

If the Iran war triggers a deeper economic downturn, a swap line with the U.S. would provide the UAE’s central bank with a cheap supply of dollars that could back the dirham, which is pegged to the greenback, or beef up foreign-exchange reserves in the event liquidity runs low, the report said.

UAE officials also pointed out the U.S. started the Iran war and said they may be forced to use China’s yuan or other currencies for oil transactions if the availability of dollars gets tight, sources told the Journal.

About 150 residents from Kiryat Shmona near Israel’s northern border with Lebanon have travelled to West Jerusalem to demonstrate against the ceasefire in Lebanon.

The 10-day ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon was announced by Trump and began on Friday. It is meant to shore up a broader ceasefire between the US and Iran.

The Global Sumud Flotilla has once again set sail for Gaza, more than six months after its previous mission was obstructed by Israel, aiming to draw attention to the worsening humanitarian crisis in the Palestinian enclave.

Following a delay of several days due to weather conditions, 39 boats carrying around a thousand activists from around the world have now set sail from the Spanish coastal city of Barcelona, organizers said Wednesday.

The pro-Palestinian activists intend to make another attempt to break through the Israeli naval blockade of the Gaza Strip with dozens of boats and deliver aid supplies to the conflict region.

The court heard that Elbit had initially supplied the police with footage from nine cameras on a USB stick, however the footage was not playable on police computers so Grant was instructed to attend the site in person to recover it.

When asked by Menon how she conducted this process, Grant said she was initially shown footage from nine cameras and then requested to see more. She said she viewed the footage from all 53 cameras on multiple monitors on a video wall in the Elbit Systems' security control room.

She said that she tried to download footage from all 53 cameras, but this proved to be impossible as it would take around 24 days.

Grant said she subsequently chose to download footage from the initial nine, and then from a further three cameras she had identified as relevant.

When questioned by prosecutor Deanna Heer KC, Grant said that in the 11 years she had served in her role she had "never come across a system as frustrating and as difficult to download".

Menon noted that Grant did not obtain footage from two cameras on the factory floor. When asked if she had asked anyone in the Elbit Systems control room to explain the absence of the footage from these cameras, she responded "no".

Menon suggested that Grant was perhaps never shown the footage from the two cameras.

In what is just the most recent instance of a reality tv ‘personality’ appearing to nail their hard-right colours to the wall, Sharon Osbourne has declared she will be attending an anti-immigration march organised by Tommy Robinson.

The response has been just as polarised as you’d expect – but there was one reaction that I would have loved to be able to witness firsthand that of Belfast rappers Kneecap, who must feel vindicated after their spat with Osbourne last year.

Because Osbourne’s attendance at Robinson’s march will prove that she’s despicable, and that Kneecap were right about her all along.

In the wake of their 2025 Coachella appearance, which ended with images including ‘F*** Israel’ and ‘Free Palestine’, Osbourne publicly called for the Belfast rap-group’s visas to be revoked, claiming their performance included ‘projections of anti-Israel messages and hate speech’.