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He celebrated Oct. 7 and criticized Israel. Now, ICE has detained him.
A British political commentator known for his vocal criticism of Israel was detained Sunday in California by federal immigration authorities and is now facing deportation.
Sami Hamdi was in the middle of a speaking tour with the Council on American-Islamic Relations when he was taken into custody by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement at San Francisco International Airport.
CAIR said the detainment was “because he dared to criticize the Israeli government’s genocide.” The development is the latest in a string of deportations carried out by the Trump administration that civil rights groups have characterized as an attack on political speech, particularly pro-Palestinian activism.
CAIR positions itself as the leading civil rights organization for Muslims in the U.S. The nonprofit has long been criticized by the political right and groups like the Anti-Defamation League as trafficking in “openly antisemitic and anti-Zionist rhetoric.”
The press secretary for the Department of Homeland Security, Tricia McLaughlin, posted to X in reference to Hamdi’s detainment that “those who support terrorism and undermine American national security will not be allowed to work or visit this country.”
Days after the attacks of Oct. 7, 2023, Hamdi told a crowd to “celebrate the victory” while speaking at a mosque and Islamic community center in London.
“How many of you felt the euphoria?” Hamdi asked, declaring that Hamas brought “a huge victory” that banished the despair Palestinians had felt since 1948, when Israel was founded. The Oct. 7, 2023, attacks by Hamas killed about 1,200 people in Israel, with about 250 taken to Gaza, where Israel’s response has since killed an estimated 67,000 Palestinians in the strip.
Laura Loomer, the Jewish right-wing political activist who has played an influential role in the Trump administration’s deportation campaigns, celebrated Hamdi’s detainment.
“We’ve said it before, we’ll say it again: The United States has no obligation to host foreigners who support terrorism and actively undermine the safety of Americans,” The State Department posted to X. “We continue to revoke the visas of persons engaged in such activity.”
In previous deportation cases, the Trump administration has cited the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952, a McCarthy-era law that allows the government to deport individuals whom the Secretary of State “has reasonable ground to believe would have potentially serious adverse foreign policy consequences for the United States.” Some legal scholars have argued the law is intended to apply to exceptional cases where someone’s presence in the U.S. could cause diplomatic turmoil, rather than people who use inflammatory rhetoric.
The post He celebrated Oct. 7 and criticized Israel. Now, ICE has detained him. appeared first on The Forward.
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Lebanon Plans UN Complaint Against Israel Over Border Wall
A UN vehicle drives near a concrete wall along Lebanon’s southern border which, according to the Lebanese presidency, extends beyond the “Blue Line”, a U.N.-mapped line separating Lebanon from Israel and the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, as seen from northern Israel, November 16, 2025. REUTERS/Shir Torem
Lebanon will file a complaint to the U.N. Security Council against Israel for constructing a concrete wall along Lebanon’s southern border that extends beyond the “Blue Line,” the Lebanese presidency said on Saturday.
The Blue Line is a U.N.-mapped line separating Lebanon from Israel and the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights. Israeli forces withdrew to the Blue Line when they left south Lebanon in 2000.
A spokesperson for the U.N. secretary-general, Stephane Dujarric, said on Friday the wall has made more than 4,000 square meters (nearly an acre) of Lebanese territory inaccessible to the local population.
The Lebanese presidency echoed his remarks, saying in a statement that Israel’s ongoing construction constituted “a violation of U.N. Security Council Resolution 1701 and an infringement on Lebanon’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.”
Dujarric said the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) had requested that the wall be removed.
An Israeli military spokesperson denied on Friday that the wall crossed the Blue Line.
“The wall is part of a broader IDF plan whose construction began in 2022,” the spokesperson said, referring to the Israel Defense Forces.
“Since the start of the war, and as part of lessons learned from it, the IDF has been advancing a series of measures, including reinforcing the physical barrier along the northern border.”
UNIFIL, established in 1978, operates between the Litani River in the north and the Blue Line in the south. The mission has more than 10,000 troops from 50 countries and about 800 civilian staff, according to its website.
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Iran Says US Is Not Ready for ‘Equal and Fair’ Nuclear Talks
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi speaks during a meeting with foreign ambassadors in Tehran, Iran, July 12, 2025. Photo: Hamid Forootan/Iranian Foreign Ministry/WANA (West Asia News Agency)/Handout via REUTERS
Washington’s current approach toward Tehran does not indicate any readiness for “equal and fair negotiations,” Iran’s foreign minister said on Sunday, after US President Donald Trump hinted last week at potential discussions.
Following Israel’s attack on Iran in June, which was joined by U.S. strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities, attempts at renewing dialogue on Tehran’s nuclear program have failed.
The United States, its European allies and Israel accuse Tehran of using its nuclear program as a veil for efforts to develop the capability to produce weapons. Iran says its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes only.
Tehran and Washington underwent five rounds of indirect nuclear talks prior to the 12-days-war, but faced obstacles such as the issue of domestic uranium enrichment, which the U.S. wants Iran to forego.
“The U.S. cannot expect to gain what it couldn’t in war through negotiations,” Abbas Araqchi said during a Tehran conference named “international law under assault.”
“Iran will always be prepared to engage in diplomacy, but not negotiations meant for dictation,” he added.
During the same conference, deputy foreign minister Saeed Khatibzadeh accused Washington of pursuing its wartime goals with “negotiations as a show.”
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Israeli Government Decides ‘Independent’ Commission to Investigate Oct. 7 Failures
The Israeli Supreme Court in Jerusalem. Photo: Wikimedia Commons.
i24 News – The Israeli government has approved the creation of an “independent” commission of inquiry to examine the failures that enabled the Hamas assault of October 7, 2023.
However, in a move sharply criticized by the opposition and contrary to the recommendation of the Supreme Court, the panel will not be a formal state commission of inquiry. Instead, its mandate, authorities, and scope will be determined directly by government ministers.
According to the decision, the commission will receive full investigative powers and must be composed in a way that ensures “the broadest possible public trust.”
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will form a special ministerial committee tasked with defining what the inquiry may investigate, the time periods to be reviewed, and the authority it will receive. The committee has 45 days to deliver its recommendations.
For the past year, the government has repeatedly resisted calls to establish a state commission, arguing at first that such a body could not operate during wartime. Later, some ministers accused Supreme Court President Isaac Amit of being incapable of appointing an impartial chairperson.
But on October 15, the High Court of Justice ruled that there was “no substantive argument” against forming a state commission, giving the government 30 days to respond.
Netanyahu maintains that responsibility for the October 7 failures lies primarily with Israel’s security agencies rather than with political leaders.
His critics accuse him of creating a weaker, government-controlled inquiry designed to limit scrutiny of his decisions, undermining the prospect of full accountability for the deadliest attack in Israel’s history.