The topic of the meeting was:

Request by the Libyan Arab Republic and Pakistan for consideration of the serious situation arising from recent developments in the occupied Arab territories: Letter dated 19 March 1976 from the Permanent Representatives of the Libyan Arab Republic and Pakistan to the United Nations addressed to the President of the Security Council (S/12017)

See also:

• Security Council official records, 31st year, 1893rd meeting, 22 March 1976, New York. - Full text of meeting record
• Letter dated 19 March 1976 (the contents are substantially re-stated in the text quoted below)
• From The Past Pages Of Dawn: 1976: Fifty Years Ago: Al-Aqsa protest - Newspaper - DAWN.COM - I had a hard time actually finding information about the specific topic of this UN Security Council meeting without resorting to a book
• Ben Gvir raids Al-Aqsa as Israel plans to reopen mosque to settler incursions | Middle East Eye (April 7 2026) - Situation update

Speaker: Mansur Rashid Kikhia, Permanent Representative of Libyan Arab Republic to the United Nations

28. The delegation of Pakistan and my delegation in our letter . of 19 March [S/12017], requested an urgent meeting of the Security Council in order to consider the serious situation arising from recent developments in the occupied territories of Palestine. The situation has continued to deteriorate in Jerusalem and other parts of the occupied West Bank.

29. In his letter dated 23 February [§/12017], the Acting Permanent Observer of the Palestine Liberation Organization drew attention to the widespread protests and demonstrations against the terrorism of the occupation authorities by the Palestinians living in Jerusalem and other major West Bank towns and to the large-scale arrests and other repressive measures ordered by the Zionist authorities.

30. Later, in his letter dated 12 March [§/12012)] to you, Mr. President, and to the Secretary-General, Mr. Baroody, Ambassador of Saudi Arabia, conveyed a statement by the members of the Islamic Conference concerning these serious developments in the occupied Arab territories. The members of the Islamic Conference requested the Council to keep under urgent attention the situation in Jerusalem and in the rest of the occupied territories and warned that it might be further aggravated.

31. On 19 March, the Secretary-General expressed his concern over the serious situation in the occupied territories, and the following statement was issued:

The Secretary-General is concerned over the recent incidents in Israeli-occupied territory which have resulted in human suffering and casualties.

These incidents underline once again the danger inherent in the present situation in the: Middle East and the urgent need for increased efforts in the search for a just and lasting peace: m the area.

32. Those recent incidents were provoked by the ruling of an Israeli magistrate last 28 January concerning prayer by Jews in the Al-Aqsa Mosque, which is revered by Moslems throughout the world as one of our holiest shrines.

That ruling cannot be considered in isolation but must be seen, along with recent actions and aggressions, as part of the Zionist policy of absorbing occupied Jerusalem and changing its cultural and demographic character in wilful and calculated defiance of Security Council and General Assembly resolutions on the subject.

The deliberate Zionist policy aims at radically changing the cultural, religious, demographic and political status of the land and undermining the spiritual values of the Holy City and its universal sacred character; in violation of Council resolutions concerning the status of Jerusalem and the profanation and desecration of the Al-Aqsa Mosque—resolutions 252 (1968), 267 (1969), 271 (1969) and 298 (1971)—as well as of Assembly resolutions 2253 (ES-V) and 2254 (ES-V).

How a UK arms shipment to Israel was seized in Belgium

JOHN McEVOY

An investigation has been launched after we discovered a suspicious military transfer from Britain to Israel.

Two shipments of military components bound for Israel from the UK have been seized in Belgium, it can be revealed.

This follows an alert issued to authorities in Brussels by Declassified, Belgian NGO Vredesactie, Irish news outlet The Ditch, and the Palestinian Youth Movement.

Belgium has strict laws on the transhipment of military items to Israel through its ports and airports, including a ban on overflights carrying weaponry through its airspace.

Customs officials were notified last month of a suspicious military shipment travelling from Britain to Israel through Liege airport.

The cargo was subsequently searched by a specialised engineer who found “the presence of fire control systems and spare parts for military aircraft”.

Walloon minister-president Adrien Dolimont said: “We have to see if the legislation has been respected. Here, in this case, it’s clear that it hasn’t”.

Another Belgian government spokesperson told Declassified: “No transit licence request was issued; if it had been, it would have been refused”.

The shipment

The two consignments arrived in Liege on 24 March and were scheduled for onward air transport to Tel Aviv on a Challenge Airlines service two days later, according to shipping documents seen by Declassified.

The UK arms export codes associated with the goods were ML10 and ML5, which relate to military aircraft and fire control components.

Hans Lammerant, a spokesperson for Vredesactie, said: “We also have information on 17 transits in the past. So it was clearly a regular transit from Bierset [Liege] to Israel”.

The Belgian authorities have refused to name the arms firms who exported the goods amid the opening of a criminal investigation into the matter.

However, a spokesperson for the Walloon government confirmed that the initial complaint focussed on Moog, a US aerospace firm with factories across Britain, and did not refute that some of the seized items may have belonged to that company.

Customs brokerage documents seen by Declassified indicate that some of the earlier shipments from Britain to Israel via Liege airport were sent by Moog.

A postcode associated with the company’s factory in Wolverhampton, for instance, sent items to Israel through Belgium last December with goods description “servo actuator”.

Moog manufactures actuators for the M-346, an aircraft which is used to train Israeli pilots to fly advanced fighter aircraft including the F-35 and F-16.

Actuators are machines that control the movement of other components, and can be used to help steer an aircraft.

It is unclear whether the arms producers would have been aware of the cargo carriers’ shipping routes.

A Walloon government spokesperson told Declassified: “In our view, the goods do indeed require a transit licence, which must be applied for either by UPS or by Challenge Airlines…

“We have already contacted our lawyers. We wish to… take all necessary steps to ensure that the law is upheld”.

Moog and UPS were approached for comment.

Legal concerns

After finding the shipment, Walloon minister-president Adrien Dolimont said: “It’s not always easy to identify whether or not it’s military equipment”.

For instance, cargo carriers appear to be consolidating military items with civilian goods into shared airway bills, meaning arms components can be shipped alongside games consoles and medical items, potentially making enforcement controls more challenging.

In addition to this, arms shipments seem to have been given customs codes commonly associated with civilian goods (such as “valves and similar components”) instead of ones more closely linked to military goods (like “aircraft parts”).

Declassified asked Britain’s trade department whether it has made an assessment of UK-origin military items being illegally transhipped via Belgium, and if it has discussed this with the Belgian authorities.

A spokesperson said: “We have suspended all licences for equipment for Israel that might be used in military operations in Gaza, with the exception of the special measures relating to the global F-35 programme.

“Exports of controlled equipment are subject to strict licensing requirements. It would be a criminal offence for an exporter not to have the required licences in place before exporting such items”.

Preview: From starship captain to civil rights hero, Avery Brooks plays Paul Robeson

Phil Kloer

March 21, 2011

Avery Brooks is known to his fans mainly as Commander Sisko on “Star Trek: Deep Space Nine” and as Hawk on the TV series “Spenser: For Hire.” But since 1982, the imposing actor has also been playing Renaissance Man Paul Robeson in a one-man show, “Paul Robeson: A Play With Music” by Phillip Hayes Dean.

Brooks has performed the show only once in Atlanta in all those years, at the National Black Arts Festival in the early 1990s. He returns for a four-day run March 24-27 at Georgia Shakespeare, to kick off its 26th season. The shows will be performed in Oglethorpe University’s Conant Performing Arts Center.

Brooks is passionate about Robeson (1898-1976), a protean figure who was successful as an athlete, singer, actor and author, but most of all as an outspoken political activist. He traveled to the Soviet Union in 1934 and said he was treated as a human being there for the first time in his life. His long association with communism and strong statements about the treatment of African-Americans caused him to be stripped of his passport and hounded by the FBI. Brooks also sings many of the songs that Robeson made famous, accompanied by Ernie Scott on piano.

In a recent telephone interview, Brooks spoke in his rich baritone, and with as much gravitas as the man he portrays.

ArtsATL: How did you first get interested in Paul Robeson?

Avery Brooks: I grew up understanding the history of the great people of my culture. Not only from my parents, but the community that nurtured me. The importance of history and our relationship to history is all a part of our upbringing, you see. My grandfather on my mother’s side graduated from Tougaloo College in Tougaloo, Mississippi, in 1901. I mention that by way of explaining that history and education are as important to me as drinking water or breathing air.

ArtsATL: Do you think that young people today are as aware of Paul Robeson and what he meant?

Brooks: No. There are a couple of reasons why. First, the concerted effort to erase his memory that happened in his lifetime. His books were taken off the shelves; his records were not played; he was vilified by the government.

The other part of it is that in this country we can’t remember what happened last week. When one looks at some of the finest people this nation has produced, we cannot tell the story of this country without talking about people like Paul Robeson. That’s the responsibility not just of the theater, not of the schools, not of the community, but of everyone. It is our responsibility to tell the stories and keep repeating the stories about the struggle. And Paul Robeson is one of them.

ArtsATL: Does the play go into his mental breakdown and suicide attempt?

Brooks: No. If you think about the theater, one of the questions when a public figure has been launched to us is: What are our responsibilities in terms of theater? What do we want to do in this story?

What we want to do is evoke the memory of this incredible human being. I think the more important thing to talk about in the latter years of his life, rather than talk about that, let us talk about the magnificent arc of his life. There are more important things to learn, to glean, than to try to find the small, the mean-spirited, the questionable stuff. Instead of what he said about freedom, justice and equality.

When we think about Paul Robeson, we have to think about not just a magnificent American, but a world figure. He had audiences with heads of state. He was talking about apartheid in 1947. He talked about the embracing of mankind, the elimination of oppression, which we are looking at right now. I can celebrate all those things. This is not a mimicking of Paul Robeson. This is a portrait of one artist to another.

'We're fighting wars, we can't take care of daycare': Trump

• By Al Mayadeen English
• Source: Axios
• Today 01:19

US Donald Trump’s proposed budget ramps up military spending amid the war on Iran while slashing domestic programs, raising concerns over economic priorities and public backlash.

US President Donald Trump's administration has unveiled a new federal budget proposal that significantly expands military spending while imposing deep cuts on domestic programs, reflecting a shift toward a war-focused economic agenda.

The proposed budget allocates $1.5 trillion to the Pentagon, alongside an additional $200 billion earmarked for costs related to the war on Iran, as Trump faces declining approval ratings and rising fuel prices.

War drains resources

The sharp increase in military spending comes as the United States remains engaged in a war on Iran that has driven up costs and placed a growing strain on financial and military resources. The war cost Washington more than $11 billion in its first six days alone, with estimates placing daily expenditures at between $1 billion and $2 billion, while munitions stockpiles have been drawn down significantly, raising concerns about sustainability and replenishment.

The scale of the war has also prompted the Pentagon to seek more than $200 billion in additional funding and pushed defense officials to accelerate weapons production, as high-end systems are being consumed faster than they can be replaced. The proposed increase also aligns with a broader military buildup that includes investments in missile systems, naval assets, and advanced fighter jets, signaling preparations that extend beyond immediate battlefield needs.

Against this backdrop, the proposed budget reflects a broader reallocation of resources toward sustaining prolonged military operations, while partially offsetting rising military expenditures through cuts to domestic spending. The shift also comes as rising war-related expenditures add to fiscal pressures, with analysts warning that sustained military operations could further strain US public finances and contribute to broader economic uncertainty.

Domestic programs face major cuts

To fund the surge in military expenditure, the administration proposes a 10% reduction in non-military spending, equivalent to $73 billion, affecting sectors such as public health, education, housing, and scientific research.

Among the most significant cuts:

• Environmental Protection Agency: -52%
• National Science Foundation: -55%
• Small Business Administration: -67%

In contrast, the Justice Department would see a 13% increase to expand law enforcement capabilities.

'We're fighting wars'

During a closed-door Easter event that was briefly livestreamed, Trump outlined the administration’s priorities, stating: “We’re fighting wars… We can’t take care of daycare, Medicaid, Medicare… We have to take care of one thing: military protection.”

He added that individual states may need to shoulder the burden of funding social programs through higher taxes.

House Majority Leader Steve Scalise told Axios that they are "looking at fraud and waste and abuse," but other proposals under discussion include reducing Affordable Care Act subsidies and other spending that could leave hundreds of thousands without coverage while increasing premium costs, and saving the government over $30 billion.

The effort increases pressure within the GOP to finance the war on Iran and ICE, even as it risks political backlash over prioritizing military spending over healthcare access.

Political risks and internal tensions

The budget reflects a broader strategic vision centered on sustained US military aggression, with spending projected to rise by 42%, a pace exceeding that of the Reagan era and approaching levels seen before World War II.

The proposal raises concerns that working-class Americans, who once voted for Trump believing he would "end forever wars", will bear the cost of war through reduced social services.

The administration has justified the cuts by citing “fraud, waste, and abuse,” with Trump appointing Vice President JD Vance as a “Fraud Czar” tasked with targeting alleged misuse of funds, particularly in Democrat-led states. However, similar claims in the past, such as those associated with initiatives backed by Elon Musk, have faced criticism for overstating potential savings.

The proposal underscores a growing contradiction between expanding US military engagement abroad and tightening domestic spending, at a time when public support for the war on Iran remains low.

US-Israeli attacks on Iran nuclear sites carry severe risks: Araghchi

• By Al Mayadeen English
• 5 Apr 2026 14:08

Iran’s foreign minister warns that US-Israeli attacks on nuclear facilities, including Bushehr, risk radioactive contamination and threaten regional security.

Warnings are mounting over the consequences of the ongoing attacks on Iran's nuclear facilities, as US-Israeli airstrikes targeting civilian nuclear sites raise fears of radioactive contamination across the region.

In identical letters sent to United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and members of the Security Council, Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi stressed that the targeted facilities are devoted exclusively to peaceful purposes and operate under the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) safeguards regime.

“These unlawful attacks expose the entire region to the risk of radioactive contamination with grave humanitarian and environmental consequences, and as such shall not be left unattended,” the letters read.

Bushehr nuclear power plant at center of concerns

Particular concern has been directed at the Bushehr nuclear power plant, where repeated attacks on the active facility have heightened fears of a radiological disaster that impacts not only Iran, but the wider region.

Strikes carried out in close proximity to such a site represent a significant escalation, given the potential for catastrophic environmental and humanitarian fallout.

“The aggressors’ repeated strikes in the vicinity of the active nuclear power plant in Bushehr is extremely alarming; their proximity to an active nuclear facility constitutes an intolerable escalation entailing a grave risk of radiological release,” Araghchi said.

UN and IAEA response slammed

He also sharply criticized the IAEA's lack of response to the US-Israeli attacks, particularly as international bodies fail to take a clear stance. While this has been the precedent, as seen during the 12-day war on Iran, Aaraghchi blasted the nuclear agency and the United Nations for their lack of action. 

Over the past nine months, he noted, Iran has faced two wars of aggression involving the US and "Israel", despite Washington’s role as a depository of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) and "Israel’s" non-inclusion in the treaty.

Throughout both onslaughts, nuclear facilities designated for peaceful use were targeted. Yet, the United Nations Security Council, the IAEA Board of Governors, and the agency’s leadership have not issued formal condemnations or taken preventive action, Araghchi added.

“With grave disappointment, [they] have flatly failed even to condemn the illegal attacks, let alone undertake effective measures within their mandate to prevent their recurrence,” the letter stated.

Escalation risks and radioactive contamination warning

Araghchi also raised concerns over statements by US officials suggesting that nuclear facilities remain potential targets, which further escalates tensions.

“Now the US senior officials, who label international humanitarian law as ‘stupid,’ have gained the audacity to state that nuclear facilities are among their targets,” the letter noted.

The US permanent representative to the United Nations has also indicated that a strike on Bushehr is “not off the table,” reinforcing fears of continued escalation.

Such developments significantly increase the radioactive contamination risk in the region, with potential consequences extending beyond Iran’s borders.

Read more: Israeli regime says awaits US green light to bomb energy facilities

Iran warns of consequences for global non-proliferation regime

The continued lack of response from international institutions has raised broader concerns about accountability and global nuclear governance.

Failure to address attacks on safeguarded nuclear facilities, he said, risks undermining the credibility of the United Nations, the IAEA, and the wider non-proliferation framework.

If left unchecked, such actions could erode trust among member states and weaken mechanisms designed to prevent nuclear escalation. “The consequences of such inaction would not be confined to Iran,” Araghchi's letter concluded.

Read more: Aggressors aim to trigger nuclear catastrophe at Bushehr: Russia FM

Yig Nissan Hashfa (31.03.26) 69 "likes" 0 "dislikes"

The Death Penalty Law for Terrorists: Those Who Choose to Kill Should Not Watch for Life

Yesterday, the death penalty law was passed for terrorists. Now he's left to be implemented, too. And precisely in these difficult times, when we lose fighters on the battlefield, we must stop and look at the new reality that was built here. We are no longer afraid: not from threats, not from pressure, not what they will say in the world, not from the frightened Europeans, not from sanctions. The days of the European Union are over to dictate to us how to defend ourselves. We are the leading lion, the one who manages the battle – also inward, with us.

Voting on the Death Penalty Law for Terrorists | Photo: Haim Goldberg, Flash 90

Because there is one thing that matters more than anything: the lives of our soldiers, the lives of our citizens. And this law is not just punishment, it's a leading line. A line that says: We choose life, we protect life, and we stop containing those who come to take it. It's the sanctification of life of normalcy versus a culture that sanctifies death.

Now the claims have begun that the death penalty for terrorists is a reward for terrorism. For example, such jurists who publish articles in Israel: “The death penalty is a thirst for blood under a racist law that will not comply with judicial review.” Kremnitzer and his friends forgot that on October 7th there was no death penalty law for terrorists, and still the terrorists slaughtered our citizens indiscriminately: children, women, old people.

Terrorist during the October 7 Massacre | Photo: IDF Spokesperson

And there's a clear message here: Those who are pursuing death have a price. Untheoretical, real price. Because a country that doesn't protect its life is losing itself. And if there is one terrorist, only one, who will think twice before he goes out to slaughter us – it’s worth it. So it's time to stop confusing compassion with weakness. Mercy for cruelty is cruelty to our lives. Because those who choose death cannot expect to be given life.

A lot of the dots under the charecters got washed out, I don't know what they are for, but trying to OCR the image as-is was totally unproductive.

Palestinians in the West Bank Are Now Experiencing Multiple Settler Attacks Per Day

Since the onset of the Iran War, routine settler violence to expel Palestinians from their land has exploded in frequency.

Naqaa Hamed

Mar 27, 2026

Drop Site is a reader-funded, independent news outlet. Without your support, we can’t operate. Please consider becoming a paid subscriber or making a 501(c)(3) tax-deductible donation today.

RAMALLAH, Occupied West Bank—As Palestinians in al-Fandaqumiya, a village south of Jenin in the occupied West Bank, celebrated Eid al-Fitr on Saturday evening, dozens of Israeli settlers raided the area, physically assaulting residents and torching homes and cars. “They attacked at midnight,” Ghassan Qararyeh, the head of al-Fandaqumiya village council, told Drop Site News. “It was Eid evening, so everyone was trying to feel any kind of joy under the overall difficult situation, but the attack destroyed that.”

Qararyeh described what happened as “rapid and horrifying.” The marauding settlers came from the Homesh settlement, located three miles from al-Fandaqumiya on the main road that connects Jenin, Tulkarm, and Nablus in the northern West Bank. At least 13 people were injured in less than an hour before the settlers moved on to neighboring villages, terrorizing nearby Palestinian communities in what has been a continuously escalating campaign of violence across the territory in recent weeks.

The weekend attacks were organized by settlers through public social media groups on Telegram and WhatsApp in apparent revenge for the death of Yehudan Sherman, an 18-year-old settler from the settlement outpost of Shuva Yisrael Farms, who was killed in a car accident earlier that day. Settlers also cited the Iran war and continued missile attacks as motivations. An online page for the Shuva Yisrael Farms outpost describes its mission as being “the spearhead for activities throughout northern Samaria with the goal of seizing the lands and leaving them in Jewish hands.”

The wave of settler raids spread into Sunday with at least 25 attacks reported across the West Bank with settlers attacking several villages near Nablus, including Beita, Qaryut, Deir Sharaf, Huwara, and Deir al-Hatab, which was described by the Palestinian Red Crescent Society as the most severe assault, with nine Palestinians injured. Settlers burned cars and homes, attacked residents, stole herds of sheep, pepper-spraying Palestinians while sleeping, and attacked a secondary school. In the village of Burqa, east of Ramallah, settlers attacked and burnt down a health care clinic during one of multiple attacks on the village.

Qararyeh says the wave of violence may have been sparked by Sherman’s death but that routine settler attacks had long been a feature of life in the West Bank. “This is not the first attack on our village, nor on the surrounding communities like Burqa and Beit Imrin,” he said, while noting that “these attacks have become frequent.” “They usually happen late at night, when people are asleep in their homes with their families,” he added. “They take advantage of that moment, when everyone is tired and resting.”

Violence by Israeli settlers and soldiers, that had already reached record levels in 2025 alongside the genocide in Gaza, has escalated further since the U.S. and Israel launched a war on Iran last month. Since the beginning of 2026 through to March 16, a total of 26 Palestinians, including six children, have been killed by Israeli forces or settlers, according to the UN, including 18 by Israeli forces and seven by Israeli settlers. More than 260 Palestinians have been injured by Israeli settlers alone.

More than half the killings and over 100 of the injuries were inflicted between February 28, when the Iran war began, and March 16. The Colonization and Wall Resistance Commission (CWRC), a Palestinian governmental body, has documented over a thousand attacks on Palestinians by Israeli settlers from the beginning of January through to mid-March, with more than 200 of them occurring in the first two weeks after the Iran war began.

Since December 2025, Israeli authorities have unleashed a series of measures “deliberately designed to dispossess Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and to make the annexation of the territory an irreversible reality,” according to Amnesty International. The measures include authorizing a record number of new settlements, expanding existing ones, and formalizing registration of land in the West Bank as Israeli state property in what Amnesty described as “turbocharged” and illegal efforts by Israel to dispossess Palestinians. “The accelerating expansion of unlawful settlements and the rise in state-backed settler violence and crimes across the occupied West Bank are a direct indictment of the international community’s catastrophic failure to take decisive action,” Erika Guevara-Rosas, Amnesty International’s Senior Director for Research, Advocacy, Policy and Campaigns, said in a statement.

The relentless violence has made life all but impossible for Palestinians in the West Bank. “I have a family of nine. They burnt my car, this is how I make a living,” Fadi Issa, a taxi driver, told Drop Site after a settler attack on his village of Qaryoot south of Nablus. “They came in one second and burned everything down, destroyed everything in a minute. They came at night and after the people around noticed them, it was already too late.”

Displacement of Palestinians from attacks by Israeli soldiers and settlers in the first two and half months of 2026 has already reached about 95 per cent of the total recorded in the whole of 2025, the UN said. Israeli authorities have also severely intensified restrictions on movement since the start of the Iran war, effectively putting the West Bank on lockdown with more barriers and checkpoints, while settlers have also been closing entrances to many Palestinian villages and towns.

“I didn’t know what to do, should I stay with my family and protect them or go to put out the fire?” Issa said. “My children are in such a bad psychological condition, they are in constant fear, I keep distracting them, and comforting them but what do my words mean in front of the daily reality that they see?”

Israeli soldiers, who frequently attack Palestinian communities themselves, have stood by during settler attacks. Unarmed Palestinians have taken to trying to patrol their villages themselves to try and protect their communities. “The world has turned a blind eye—we were left alone long before the [Iran] war, these attacks especially here in Jaloud and Qaryoot were vicious and continuous, the settlers do whatever they want because they are supported. We have been left alone,” Issa said.

The situation is worse in the southern part of the West Bank. Hebron governorate has had the highest number of settler attacks, according to the CWRC, with 47 in the two weeks after the Iran war began. Many of those attacks are concentrated on Masafer Yatta, a cluster of Palestinian villages in the South Hebron Hills that has been turned into a place of “unbearable suffering,” according to Mohammad Rabai, the head of the Al-Twane village council. During a 10-minute phone interview, Rabai was interrupted five times by phone calls from people in the village reporting attacks.

In the Hawara area of Masafer Yatta, Adel Hamamdeh lives with his wife and children on land that has belonged to his family for 80 years. Settlers now attack communities in the area more than once a day, Hamamdeh said, trying to drive them off their land.

“Everyday we have attacks. We ask them why are you doing this? The attacks went through the roof after the beginning of the war. We are living in constant fear, and our children are terrified,” Hamamdeh told Drop Site.

“They use every tactic they can think of. They have pepper-sprayed us, beat us, detained us, taken my children’s IDs, beaten women, and stolen our sheep. They threatened to kill me and my family recently and told me I have a couple of days to leave to Mecca or Jordan as these lands have been promised to them by God.”

DOJ confirms FBI Director Kash Patel’s personal email was hacked

Hackers claimed the attack was retaliation after Patel vowed to “hunt” them.

Mar 27, 2026 4:24 p.m.

Iran-linked hackers successfully broke into FBI Director Kash Patel’s personal email, the Department of Justice confirmed to Reuters on Friday.

Reuters could not authenticate the leaked emails themselves but noted that the Gmail address matched an email account “linked to Patel in previous data breaches ⁠preserved by the dark web intelligence firm District 4 Labs.” The DOJ suggested the emails appeared to be authentic.

On their website, the Handala Hack Team boasted that Patel “will now find his name among the list of successfully hacked victims.” The hacker group taunted Patel by sharing photos of him sniffing cigars and holding up a jug of rum, along with other documents that Reuters reported were from 2010 to 2019.

“Soon you will realize that the FBI’s security was nothing more than a joke,” the group posted, as documented in screenshots from the website shared widely on X.

The hack came after the DOJ disrupted some of the hacker group’s websites earlier this month. In a press release, Patel threatened to “hunt” down the group, which Reuters reported “calls itself a group of pro-Palestinian vigilante hackers.” After detailing four attacks this month that the group had taken credit for, Patel offered rewards of up to $10 million for information on its members.

“Iran thought they could hide behind fake websites and keyboard threats to terrorize Americans and silence dissidents,” Patel said. “We took down four of their operation’s pillars and we’re not done. This FBI will hunt down every actor behind these cowardly death threats and cyberattacks and will bring the full force of American law enforcement down on them.”

The group, which Western researchers believe is “one of several personas used by Iranian government cyberintelligence units,” opposes US support for Israel, Reuters reported. Their cyberattacks on US entities followed a major military attack from the US and Israel that killed Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. In their press release, the DOJ quoted from emails in which the group sent death threats to dissidents in the US.

“We the Handala Hack team, the loyal followers of the supreme leader Ali Hosseini Khamenei, declare war on all the enemies of Islam in the West,” the group said.

On Friday, the group confirmed on their website that the hack on Patel’s email was in retaliation against the domain seizures:

Today, once again, the world witnessed the collapse of America’s so-called security legends. While the FBI proudly seized our domains and immediately announced a $10 million reward for the heads of Handala Hack members, we decided to respond to this ridiculous show in a way that will be remembered forever.

Hackers claimed that their data grab included confidential information about Patel, but that could not be independently verified.

“The so-called ‘impenetrable’ systems of the FBI were brought to their knees within hours by our team,” the group said on their website. “All personal and confidential information of Kash Patel, including emails, conversations, documents, and even classified files, is now available for public download.”

The FBI has yet to comment on the hack, and Patel has not posted about it on his X account as of this writing.

Ashley Belanger Senior Policy Reporter

Ashley is a senior policy reporter for Ars Technica, dedicated to tracking social impacts of emerging policies and new technologies. She is a Chicago-based journalist with 20 years of experience.