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Israeli Survivors of Oct. 7 Massacre Detained, Mistreated by British Officials at UK Airport, Jewish Leaders Say
Two UK Border Force officers accused of discriminating against two Israeli survivors of Hamas’ Oct. 7 slaughter across southern Israel. Photo: Screenshot from X/Twitter
Two Jewish, Israeli nationals who survived Hamas’ Oct. 7 massacre across southern Israel were detained and subjected to discrimination while being processed at Manchester Airport in the United Kingdom on Sunday, a local Jewish civil rights group has charged.
The Jewish Representative Council of Greater Manchester & Region (JRC) on Monday sent a letter alleging that two Israeli men who had traveled to the UK to discuss narrowly escaping Hamas’ attack on the Re’im Music Festival — where Palestinian terrorists para-glided into the venue, murdered more than 300 young people, and kidnapped dozens of others on Oct. 7. — were singled out by multiple British Border Force officers upon presenting their Israeli passports and explaining why they were there. According to the letter, the officers forced the Israelis to submit to two hours of “detention and interrogation,” as well as abusive comments.
“The only reason for their detention and interrogation was because they are Israeli. We are in possession of a video which shows a male officer speaking in aggressive terms to the two males,” JRC alleged in the letter. “They were detained for two hours. When finally released, the same Border Police Officer said, ‘they had to make sure that you are not going to do what you are doing in Gaza over here.’”
JRC condemned the officers’ “discriminatory treatment” of the men, describing it as antisemitic “abuse” warranting an investigation by the British government and the Manchester Airport Group as a “matter of urgency.”
“We unequivocally condemn the fact that Israeli nationals were detained and subjected to abuse by a Border Police Officer,” the letter stated. “The comment upon their release proves that this individual was motivated by antisemitic intent.”
On Tuesday, a Manchester Airport communications officer told The Algemeiner that it is not the employer of the two Border Force officers in question but said that the allegations “are serious.” The airport has urged the British Home Office, which oversees the Border Force, to “ensure they are looked into,” an action which Home Secretary James Cleverly vowed to take.
“We are investigating this,” Cleverly, a Conservative Party Member of Parliament, said in a statement commenting on the incident on X/Twitter. “We do not tolerate antisemitism or any form of discrimination. This incident will be handled in line with our disciplinary procedures.”
The alleged abuse of the two Israeli men came amid a historic surge in hate crimes targeting the Jewish community around the world, including paroxysms of antisemitic sentiment and violence, following the Hamas atrocities of Oct. 7.
Indignities to which diaspora Jews have been subjected range from last week’s cancelling of the Hamilton Film Festival, which was set to take place next month, to the mobbing of Jewish college students in the US and the stabbing of a 50-year-old Jewish man in Zurich, Switzerland. The UK Jewish community is already reeling from another outrage reported earlier this month, the alleged abuse of a 9-year-old Orthodox Jewish boy by Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital nurses, clad in pro-Palestinian “badges and stickers,” who forced him to undergo a blood transfusion on the floor.
As The Algemeiner has previously reported, antisemitic incidents in the UK have occurred in unprecedented numbers since Oct. 7. In 2023 alone, there were upwards of 4,000, and in London, a city home to Europe’s largest concentration of Orthodox Jews, there were 1,177, an average of just over three per day. In one brutal case, two Black females mercilessly battered a Jewish woman, pounding her with punches and then kicking her while she lay on the ground unconscious. Aware of the damage they wrought on the defenseless woman, the assailants, still standing over her body, speculated that she was “dead.” Not 10 days later, someone graffitied a bus stop outside a Jewish girls school, spray painting a blue Star of David and defacing it with a large “X,” spray painted in black.
Follow Dion J. Pierre @DionJPierre.
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Hostage Families Reject Partial Gaza Seal, Demand Release of All Hostages
Demonstrators hold signs and pictures of hostages, as relatives and supporters of Israeli hostages kidnapped during the Oct. 7, 2023 attack by Hamas protest demanding the release of all hostages in Tel Aviv, Israel, Feb. 13, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Itai Ron
i24 News – As Israeli leaders weigh the contours of a possible partial ceasefire deal with Hamas, the families of the 50 hostages still held in Gaza issued an impassioned public statement this weekend, condemning any agreement that would return only some of the abductees.
In a powerful message released Saturday, the Families Forum for the Return of Hostages denounced what they call the “beating system” and “cruel selection process,” which, they say, has left families trapped in unbearable uncertainty for 638 days—not knowing whether to hope for reunion or prepare for mourning.
The group warned that a phased or selective deal—rumored to be under discussion—would deepen their suffering and perpetuate injustice. Among the 50 hostages, 22 are believed to be alive, and 28 are presumed dead.
“Every family deserves answers and closure,” the Forum said. “Whether it is a return to embrace or a grave to mourn over—each is sacred.”
They accused the Israeli government of allowing political considerations to prevent a full agreement that could have brought all hostages—living and fallen—home long ago. “It is forbidden to conform to the dictates of Schindler-style lists,” the statement read, invoking a painful historical parallel.
“All of the abductees could have returned for rehabilitation or burial months ago, had the government chosen to act with courage.”
The call for a comprehensive deal comes just as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu prepares for high-stakes talks in Washington and as indirect negotiations between Israel and Hamas are expected to resume in Doha within the next 24 hours, according to regional media reports.
Hamas, for its part, issued a statement Friday confirming its readiness to begin immediate negotiations on the implementation of a ceasefire and hostage release framework.
The Forum emphasized that every day in captivity poses a mortal risk to the living hostages, and for the deceased, a danger of being lost forever. “The horror of selection does not spare any of us,” the statement said. “Enough with the separation and categories that deepen the pain of the families.”
In a planned public address near Begin Gate in Tel Aviv, families are gathering Saturday evening to demand that the Israeli government accept a full-release deal—what they describe as the only “moral and Zionist” path forward.
“We will return. We will avenge,” the Forum concluded. “This is the time to complete the mission.”
As of now, the Israeli government has not formally responded to Hamas’s latest statement.
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Melbourne Police Investigate Wave of Antisemitic Attacks, Including Synagogue Arson
Illustrative. Vandals defaced the Melbourne Hebrew Congregation in Australia on June 22, 2025. Photo: Screenshot
i24 News – A wave of antisemitic incidents across Melbourne is under urgent investigation by Victoria Police, after a synagogue was set alight, a Jewish-owned restaurant targeted by protesters, and a third attack saw multiple cars torched at a business in the city’s northeast.
The third incident occurred around 4:30 a.m. Saturday at a business on Para Road in Greensborough. Offenders set fire to three vehicles and sprayed graffiti on both the cars and a nearby building wall. One car was destroyed, and two others sustained moderate damage.
“There were references of antisemitism in the graffiti,” Dunstan confirmed, adding that the business had previously been linked to pro-Palestinian activism.
While police say no direct link between the three incidents has been established yet, they are not ruling out the possibility of coordination.
The attacks began Friday night, when a man was seen pouring a flammable liquid on the entrance of the East Melbourne Hebrew Congregation and setting it alight around 8 p.m., while around 20 people were inside for Shabbat services. Worshipers quickly evacuated through the back, and the fire was contained to the front of the building. No injuries were reported.
Police have released an image of a suspect believed to be in his 30s, of Caucasian appearance, with a beard and long hair.
Just hours after the synagogue arson, a protest of around 70 people moved through Swanston Street before a smaller group gathered outside Miznon, a popular Jewish-owned restaurant in the CBD, chanting offensive slogans. One man was arrested and later released on summons for hindering police.
In response to the series of attacks, federal agencies including the Australian Federal Police (AFP) and the Australian Security Intelligence Organization (ASIO) have joined the investigation.
“This is disgraceful behavior by a pack of cowards,” said Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan. “Any attack on a place of worship is an act of hate. Any attack on a Jewish place of worship is an act of antisemitism. There should be no hesitation in calling this what it is.”
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Trump Says Iran Has Not Agreed to Inspections, Give Up Enrichment
US President Donald Trump speaks at a meeting with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte (not pictured), at the NATO summit in The Hague, Netherlands, June 25, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Brian Snyder
US President Donald Trump said on Friday that Iran had not agreed to inspections of its nuclear program or to give up enriching uranium.
He told reporters aboard Air Force One that he believed Tehran’s nuclear program had been set back permanently although Iran could restart it at a different location.
Trump said he would discuss Iran with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu when he visits the White House on Monday.
“I would say it’s set back permanently,” Trump said as he traveled to New Jersey after an Independence Day celebration at the White House. “I would think they’d have to start at a different location. And if they did start, it would be a problem.”
Trump said he would not allow Tehran to resume its nuclear program, adding that Iran did want to meet with him.
The U.N. nuclear watchdog said on Friday it had pulled its last remaining inspectors from Iran as a standoff deepens over their return to the country’s nuclear facilities bombed by the United States and Israel.
The U.S. and Israel say Iran was enriching uranium to build nuclear weapons. Tehran insists its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes.
Israel launched its first military strikes on Iran’s nuclear sites in a 12-day war with the Islamic Republic three weeks ago. The International Atomic Energy Agency’s inspectors have not been able to inspect Iran’s facilities since then, even though IAEA chief Rafael Grossi has said that is his top priority.
Iran’s parliament has passed a law suspending cooperation with the IAEA until the safety of its nuclear facilities can be guaranteed. While the IAEA says Iran has not yet formally informed it of any suspension, it is unclear when the agency’s inspectors will be able to return to Iran.
Iran has accused the agency of effectively paving the way for the bombings by issuing a damning report on May 31 that led to a resolution by the IAEA’s 35-nation Board of Governors declaring Iran in breach of its non-proliferation obligations.
The US and Israeli military strikes either destroyed or badly damaged Iran’s three uranium enrichment sites. But it was less clear what has happened to much of Iran’s nine tons of enriched uranium, especially the more than 400 kg (880 pounds) enriched to up to 60% purity, a short step from weapons grade.
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