MintPress News

12/19/2025

In 2025, official government figures revealed that terrorism-related arrests in the UK surged by 660% year-on-year, primarily due to the proscription of the activist group Palestine Action. 

In 2025, there were 1,886 terrorism-related arrests, compared to 248 in the previous year. Of these, 1,630 (86%) were linked specifically to supporting Palestine Action.

The vast majority of arrests (1,706) occurred between July and September 2025, representing a 2,608% increase over the previous quarter following the ban on July 5.

12/19/2025

On December 18, 2025, dozens of far-right Israeli activists breached the Gaza border at multiple locations to hold symbolic flag-raising ceremonies, calling for the re-establishment of Jewish colonies in the Palestinian territory. 

Two groups from the Nachala settlement movement successfully entered the Gaza Strip. One group drove several hundred meters into central Gaza to the ruins of Kfar Darom, a settlement evacuated in 2005. A second group reportedly raised a flag near the site of the former Morag settlement in southern Gaza.

The groups included men, women, and young children. They were part of an event titled “Raising the Flag in Gaza,” timed to coincide with the fifth night of Hanukkah.

12/19/2025

The United States government imposed sanctions on two additional judges of the International Criminal Court (ICC) in response to the court’s ongoing investigation into Israeli war crimes in Gaza.

The sanctions target two judges from the ICC’s Appeals Chamber: 

Gocha Lordkipanidze (Georgia)

Erdenebalsuren Damdin (Mongolia) 

Secretary of State Marco Rubio stated the judges were designated for their role in the “illegitimate targeting of Israel”.

Specifically, they were penalized for voting in the majority to reject Israel’s appeal on December 15, 2025, which sought to halt the investigation and cancel arrest warrants for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant.

12/19/2025

It was revealed that the United Arab Emirates (UAE) is the secret buyer behind a $2.3 billion defense contract with Israeli defense giant Elbit Systems—the largest deal in the company’s history.

When the deal was first announced in November 2025, Elbit only identified the customer as a “confidential international client” at the buyer’s request. The identity of the UAE was first reported by the French outlet Intelligence Online on December 15, 2025. 

The deal reportedly involves a large-scale, upgraded version of Elbit’s J-MUSIC DIRCM (Directional Infrared Counter Measures). This is an advanced laser-based system designed to protect civil and military aircraft by disabling the sensors of incoming surface-to-air missiles.

This is the second-largest Israeli arms export deal ever, surpassed only by the $3.5 billion sale of the Arrow-3 system to Germany in 2023. This marks the first major defense contract signed by an Arab country with an Israeli contractor since October 7, 2023.

12/19/2025

On December 18, 2025, a 6-year-old Palestinian boy was killed when unexploded Israeli ordnance detonated inside his family home in the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza.

The boy was identified as Ahmad Abdullah Mahmoud Al-Souri, 6 years old. The explosion occurred in the Al-Souri family residence located on Al-Jaouni Street. The boy’s brothers were moderately wounded in the same explosion. 

Gaza’s Civil Defense reported two other incidents of leftover ordnance detonating on the same day, causing fires and material damage but no further reported injuries.

12/19/2025

Organizers of the 2026 Eurovision Song Contest have announced they will no longer use artificial audience sounds to mask negative reactions during Israel’s performance, a major shift in policy aimed at showing events “as they are”.

The host broadcaster for the 2026 contest, Austria’s ORF, confirmed several changes following accusations of censorship during the 2024 and 2025 competitions:

Programming director Stefanie Groiss-Horowitz stated that the broadcaster will not drown out the sound of crowd booing and will not play artificial applause over the broadcast at any point.

Organizers will allow “all official flags that exist in the world” to be displayed by the audience, provided they meet security requirements. This is widely interpreted as a reversal of previous bans on the Palestinian flag.

Executive producer Michael Kroen emphasized that the task of the show is to be an honest representation and not to “sugarcoat anything”.

12/19/2025

Democrats on the US House Oversight Committee have released a new batch of 68 photographs obtained from the estate of Jeffrey Epstein. 

At least one photograph depicts philosopher and activist Noam Chomsky seated and speaking with Jeffrey Epstein aboard what appears to be a private aircraft.

Media reports and the House Oversight Committee have noted that appearing in these photographs is not evidence of illegal activity. Chomsky has previously acknowledged meeting with Epstein occasionally to discuss financial transactions and academic matters.

These photos are part of a larger tranche of approximately 95,000 images acquired by Congress from the Epstein estate. This specific release occurred just before a December 19, 2025, deadline for the Department of Justice to release its own extensive investigative files under the Epstein Files Transparency Act.

12/19/2025

As part of a release of 68 photographs by Democrats on the US House Oversight Committee, Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates was pictured in images alongside at least one unidentified woman. 

The face of the woman (or women) pictured with Gates was redacted by committee members to protect potential victims’ identities.

While the committee stated the photographs were released to provide insight into Jeffrey Epstein’s “extremely disturbing activities” and his network of contacts, they did not explicitly identify the woman in the photo with Gates as a confirmed victim.

The photographs were part of a larger collection of roughly 95,000 images obtained from Epstein’s estate through a subpoena. They were made public just ahead of the December 19, 2025, deadline for the Department of Justice to release its own files under the Epstein Files Transparency Act.

12/18/2025

Stop The Hate UK, an Israel-aligned pressure group, has been targeting MintPress News graphic designer and field photographer, Ibrahim Abul-Essad, attempting to have him prosecuted under the Terrorism Act for attending a peaceful protest against Israeli prime minister, Ehud Olmert.

Stop the Hate UK were co-founded by two Israelis, Itai Galmudy and Yochy Davis. Galmudy is a former IDF soldier who participated in Operation protective Edge, Israel’s 2014 bombardment of Gaza. Davis previously worked with the group, “My Truth”, an organization that sends Israeli soldiers on PR trips in order to improve the military’s image around the world. Stop the Hate UK is closely aligned with the Israeli government, who have endorsed its practices of interrupting pro-Palestine protests and surveiling demonstrators.

Galmudy and Davis traveled to the occupied Golan Heights this year, where they were filmed liaising with IDF troops.

How is it that such a controversial pro-Israel group can pressure UK authorities to arrest and imprison a journalist. And who gets to decide who and who is not a terrorist: British citizens or pressure groups allied to a foreign nation carrying out a genocide?

Read the full report exclusively at MintPressNews.com (link in bio).

12/18/2025

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12/18/2025

On December 17, 2025, Julian Assange filed a criminal complaint in Sweden against 30 individuals associated with the Nobel Foundation. 

Assange’s legal action centers on the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize, which was awarded to Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado. The complaint, submitted to the Swedish Economic Crime Authority and the Swedish War Crimes Unit, alleges that awarding the prize to Machado violates Alfred Nobel’s 1895 will, which requires the prize to fund those working for “fraternity between nations” and the “abolition or reduction of standing armies”.

The filing accuses Nobel Foundation officials, including Chair Astrid Söderbergh Widding and Executive Director Hanna Stjärne, of breach of trust, gross misappropriation of funds, and conspiracy.

12/18/2025