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Irish Rap Group Kneecap Vows to Fight Terrorism Charge Over Band Member’s Alleged Hezbollah Support

Members of Kneecap pose on the red carpet at the Irish Film and Television Academy (IFTA) Awards in Dublin, Ireland, Feb. 14, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Clodagh Kilcoyne
A member of Irish hip hop trio Kneecap has been charged with a terrorism offense in the United Kingdom for displaying a flag in support of the Hezbollah terrorist organization, London’s Metropolitan Police said on Wednesday.
Liam O’Hanna, 27, of Belfast has been charged with displaying a flag “in support of Hezbollah, a proscribed organization” following an investigation by the Metropolitan Police’s Counter Terrorism Command.
The charge is related to a flag that O’Hanna displayed during a Kneecap concert in November 2024 at the O2 Forum in London. The Metropolitan Police said the musician displayed the flag “in such a way or in such circumstances as to arouse reasonable suspicion that he is a supporter of a proscribed organization, namely Hezbollah,” in violation of the UK’s Terrorism Act of 2000.
“Officers from the Met’s Counter Terrorism Command were made aware on Tuesday, April 22 of an online video from the event. An investigation was carried out, which led to the Crown Prosecution Service authorizing the above charge,” police said in a statement. O’Hanna is due to appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on June 18.
Kneecap said in a statement on X they believe the terrorism charge is an effort “to prosecute artists who dare speak out.” The trio claimed O’Hanna displayed a flag that had been thrown on stage, and did not mention Hezbollah by name even once in their lengthy statement.
“We deny this ‘offense’ and will vehemently defend ourselves,” Kneecap said. “This is political policing. This is a carnival of distraction. We are not the story. Genocide is. … We are on the right side of history. You are not. We will fight you in court. We will win. Free Palestine.”
In their statement, the group also condemned the British government for supporting Israel and claimed British leaders “have abetted slaughter and famine in Gaza, just as they did in Ireland for centuries.”
“The IDF [Israel Defense Forces] units they arm and fly spy plane missions for are the real terrorists,” they claimed.
The Algemeiner previously reported that counter-terrorism police in the UK were investigating the band from Northern Ireland after videos emerged online that showed a Kneecap member shout “up Hamas, up Hezbollah” while having a Hezbollah flag draped over his shoulder during the 2024 concert in London. Hezbollah and Hamas are designated by the UK as terrorist organizations, and it is illegal in the country to express support for the two Iran-backed Islamist groups.
Counter-terrorism police were also investigating footage from a 2023 Kneecap concert in which a band member called for the killing of British Members of Parliament [MPs]. A Kneecap member had shouted on stage: “The only good Tory is a dead Tory. Kill your local MP.” Two British MPs, Jo Cox and David Amess, have been murdered in the last 10 years.
In April, Kneecap apologized to the families of Cox and Amess in a released statement and said they have never supported Hamas or Hezbollah. The trio claimed videos from their concerts in 2023 and 2024 have been “deliberately taken out of all context” as part of a “smear campaign” against the group because of its criticism of Israel’s military actions in the Gaza Strip during the Israel-Hamas war. Kneecap has been publicly critical of Israel on social media and on stage during their concerts.
During the band’s set at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in April, Kneecap projected on the backdrop of their stage messages that said “F–k Israel, Free Palestine” and “Israel is committing genocide against the Palestinian people.” They also led the crowd at Coachella to chant “Free, Free Palestine.”
A number of their scheduled performances at music festivals this summer have been canceled by organizers because of the band’s controversial comments. Organizers of the Glastonbury Festival scheduled for June are also facing increasing pressure from British politicians and members of the entertainment industry to remove Kneecap from its lineup of performers. The UK’s Communities Minister Gordon Lyons said on Monday he thinks the UK and Irish governments should “consider their actions” in relation to providing any funding to Kneecap.
The post Irish Rap Group Kneecap Vows to Fight Terrorism Charge Over Band Member’s Alleged Hezbollah Support first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Israel’s Supreme Court Orders Improved Food for Security Prisoners

Israel’s Supreme Court. Photo: Wikimedia Commons.
i24 News – Israel’s Supreme Court on Sunday instructed the Prison Service (Shabas) to guarantee adequate food supplies for security prisoners, ruling that current conditions fall short of minimum legal standards. The decision followed an appeal filed by the Association for Civil Rights in Israel.
In a 2–1 ruling, the court found that the food situation posed “a risk of non-compliance with legal standards.” Justice Dafna Barak-Erez stressed that the matter concerned “basic conditions necessary for survival, as required by law,” not comfort or privilege. Justice Ofer Grosskopf agreed, noting the state had not shown the policy was consistently applied to all inmates.
Justice David Mintz dissented, maintaining that the existing policy already met legal requirements.
The court underscored that Israel’s legal obligations remain binding, even in light of the ongoing hostage crisis in Gaza and the fact that many of the prisoners include Hamas members involved in the October 7, 2023 attack.
National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir condemned the ruling, arguing that while hostages in Gaza lack protection, “terrorist murderers, kidnappers, and rapists in prison” benefit from the Court’s intervention. He added that prisoners would continue receiving only the minimum conditions required by law.
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Ukrainian Government Building Set Ablaze in Record Russian Airstrike

Illustrative. More damage caused by the Russian drone that hit the Perlina school in Kyiv, Ukraine, Oct. 30, 2024. Photo: Jewish community JCC in Kyiv, Kyiv municipality, and Yan Dobronosov
i24 News – The Ukrainian government’s main building in Kyiv was hit overnight Saturday by Russian airstrikes for the first time since the war, igniting a fire in the building, authorities said. Firefighters are working to put out the flames.
“The government building was damaged by an enemy attack — the roof and upper floors,” Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Sviridenko said. The blaze is is burning in the area of the office of the prime minister.
Ukraine’s air force said Russia launched a total of 805 drones and 13 missiles overnight on Ukraine — a record number since the start of the war.
Also as a result of the strike, a baby and a young woman were killed after a nine-story residential building was hit in the Svyatoshynsky district, also in Kyiv. Rescuers are still looking for a third body, authorities said. A woman was also reported killed in the strike in Novopavlivka village.
“The world must respond to this destruction not only with words, but also with actions. We need to increase sanctions pressure – primarily against Russian oil and gas. We need new restrictions that will hit the Kremlin’s military machine. And most importantly, Ukraine needs weapons. Something that will stop the terror and prevent Russia from trying to kill Ukrainians every day,” wrote Sviridenko after the attack.
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‘Trump’s Legacy Crumbles’: Israelis Call on US President to End Gaza War

Israeli protestors take part in a rally demanding the immediate release of the hostages kidnapped during the deadly October 7, 2023 attack on Israel by Hamas, and the end of war in Gaza, in Jerusalem September 6, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun
Thousands of Israelis rallied in Tel Aviv on Saturday night, issuing direct appeals to US President Donald Trump to force an end to the Gaza war and secure the release of the hostages.
Protesters packed a public square outside the military headquarters, waving Israeli flags and holding placards with images of the hostages. Some carried signs, including one that read: ‘Trump’s legacy crumbles as the Gaza war persists.’
Another said: “PRESIDENT TRUMP, SAVE THE HOSTAGES NOW!”
“We think that Trump is the only man in the world who has authority over Bibi, that can force Bibi to do this,” said Tel Aviv resident Boaz, 40, referring to the Israeli prime minister.
There is growing despair among many Israelis at Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu who has ordered the military to capture a major urban center where hostages may be held.
Families of the hostages and their supporters fear the assault on Gaza City could endanger their loved ones, a concern the military leadership shares, according to Israeli officials.
Orna Neutra, the mother of an Israeli soldier who was killed on October 7, 2023 and whose body is being held in Gaza by militants, accused the government of abandoning its citizens.
“We truly hope that the United States will push both sides to finally reach a comprehensive deal that will bring them home,” she told the rally. Her son, Omer, is also American.
Tel Aviv has witnessed weekly demonstrations that have grown in size, with protesters demanding that the government secure a ceasefire with Hamas to obtain the release of hostages. Organizers said Saturday night’s rally was attended by tens of thousands. A large demonstration was also held in Jerusalem.
There are 48 hostages held in Gaza. Israeli officials believe that around 20 are still alive. Palestinian terrorists abducted 251 people from Israel on October 7, 2023, when Hamas led its attack. Most of the hostages who have been released were freed after indirect negotiations between Israel and Hamas.
NO PURPOSE
Trump had pledged a swift end to the war in Gaza during his presidential campaign, but nearly eight months into his second term, a resolution has remained elusive. On Friday, he said that Washington was engaged in “very deep” negotiations with Hamas.
Israeli forces have carried out heavy strikes on the suburbs of Gaza City, where, according to a global hunger monitor, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians are facing famine. Israeli officials acknowledge that hunger exists in Gaza but deny that the territory is facing famine. On Saturday, the military warned civilians in Gaza City to leave and move to southern Gaza.
There are hundreds of thousands of Palestinians sheltering in the city that was home to around a million before the war.
A video released by Hamas on Friday featured Israeli hostage Guy Gilboa-Dalal, 24, saying that he was being held in Gaza City and feared being killed by the military’s assault on the city. Rights groups have condemned such videos of hostages as inhumane. Israel says that it is psychological warfare.
The war has become unpopular among some segments of Israeli society, and opinion polls show that most Israelis want Netanyahu’s right-wing government to negotiate a permanent ceasefire with Hamas that secures the release of the hostages.
“The war has no purpose at all, except for violence and death,” said Boaz from Tel Aviv. Adam, 48, said it had become obvious that soldiers were being sent to war for “nothing.”
Tens of thousands of Palestinians have been killed by the Israeli military since it launched its retaliatory war after Hamas fighters attacked Israel from Gaza in October 2023. Around 1,200 people were killed in that attack on southern Israel.
The terrorist group, which has ruled Gaza for nearly two decades but today controls only parts of the enclave, on Saturday once again said that it would release all hostages if Israel agreed to end the war and withdraw its forces from Gaza.
Netanyahu is pushing for an all-or-nothing deal that would see all of the hostages released at once and Hamas surrendering.
The prime minister has said Gaza City is a Hamas stronghold and capturing it is necessary to defeat the Palestinian militant group, whose October 2023 attack on Israel led to the war.
Hamas has acknowledged it would no longer govern Gaza once the war ends but has refused to discuss laying down its weapons.