reason

PROSECUTORS at the helm of the murder case against Nick Reiner have a chance to pull a “historically uncommon” move if they pursue the death penalty, an attorney has warned.

Nick was charged with the horrific double murders of his parents, Rob Reiner and Michele Singer Reiner, who were found with multiple stab wounds in their home in the affluent enclave of Brentwood in Los Angeles on December 14.

A shackled Nick, 32, wore a blue anti-suicide vest during his initial appearance in court days after the gruesome killings.

A plea was not entered, as defense attorney Alan Jackson told the judge that the case against Nick was premature.

Eric Faddis, a criminal defense attorney based in Colorado, believes Nick’s legal team is teeing up for an insanity defense down the road, which he suspects they could have a hard time trying to prove.

“In order to prove that, how that works is that the defense would have to prove it’s more likely than not that [Nick] Reiner had a mental disease or defect, which caused him to not know the difference between right or wrong or to not understand the nature of his conduct,” Faddis, who is not associated with the case, told The U.S. Sun.

Read more in The U.S. Sun

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“So, that’s a high bar. It’s not like in the movies where people get off on insanity regularly. Prevailing on a not guilty by reason of insanity defense is uncommon. But it’s still certainly possible.”

Nick had been diagnosed with schizophrenia some time before he allegedly slaughtered his parents, according to TMZ.

The troubled middle child of Reiner, 78, and Singer, 68, was reportedly being treated by a psychiatrist for his condition, but in the month before the murders, Nick’s behavior became “alarming” as doctors switched his medication.

Weeks before the murders, Nick’s prescription was changed, making him “erratic and dangerous,” TMZ reported.

Nick had been open about his struggles with drug addiction, and admitted in a 2016 interview with People that he had been to rehab dozens of times since he was 15 years old.

Faddis said the claims of Nick’s reported mental health disorder could be “supportive of a not guilty by reason of insanity defense.”

“Doesn’t mean he’ll win, but it sounds like they’re compiling evidence in support of that defense,” he added.

UNCOMMON PURSUIT

Nick has been charged with two counts of first-degree murder.

Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman said he has not decided whether his office will pursue the death penalty against Nick.

However, Faddis said with Hochman at the helm, it would not be surprising if the district attorney sought to sentence Nick to death.

“It’s hard to say. Historically, Los Angeles has not been the most death penalty-friendly county,” Faddis said.

“It’s not something they pursue commonly, as compared to like Utah or something like that.

“But, with Nathan Hochman at the helm, you know, he has made some unexpected moves on different cases, including the Menendez brothers’ case that he was on.

“There was sort of this social movement to try and get the Menendez brothers released. And I think a lot of people thought perhaps Hochman would go along with that, but he didn’t.”

Hochman was critical of the outpouring of supporting to free Erik and Lyle Menendez following the release of Netflix’s Monsters crime drama, which dramatized the brothers’ infamous 1989 double murders of their parents.

“So, if he did pursue the death penalty in this case, it would be historically uncommon, but not totally unexpected just based on how Hochman has made decisions in other cases.”

HOLLYWOOD NIGHTMARE

Reiner and Singer died minutes after they were allegedly brutally attacked by their son, according to their death certificates.

The iconic filmmaker’s time of death was recorded as 3:45 pm on December 14, while his wife’s was noted as 3:46 pm.

The grisly scene at Reiner’s Brentwood home was only uncovered after a massage therapist arrived at the couple’s front gate for a scheduled appointment on the afternoon of December 14, according to The New York Times.

After the therapist received no answer at the front gate, she decided to call the couple’s daughter, Romy, who reportedly lived in the area.

When Romy, 27, arrived and entered her parents’ home, she stumbled upon the gruesome scene and reportedly came across her father’s body first.

Reiner and Singer were found in their bed with their throats slashed and could have been asleep when they were murdered, the Daily Mail reported.

When Los Angeles police arrived at the scene at around 3:30 pm, Romy told authorities that her brother Nick lived in their parents’ home.

However, authorities were unable to locate Nick on the property.

Nick was eventually arrested at around 9:15 pm near Exposition Park, about 14 miles from where his parents were found dead, Alan Hamilton, the deputy police chief at the LAPD, said.

About an hour before his arrest, Nick was captured on a gas station surveillance footage acting nervously while buying a Gatorade.

Moments later, after exiting the gas station, the video captured three police cruisers swarming Nick at a nearby sidewalk.

Nick was seen raising his hands and surrendering to police as multiple officers approached him and took him into custody.

Timeline of Rob and Michele Reiner’s death

Rob Reiner and his wife of Michele Singer Reiner were found dead in their Los Angeles home on December 14, 2025.

Timeline:

• December 13, 2025: Reiner and his wife Michele attended a holiday party on the evening of December 13 with their son, Nick.
• Sources conveyed to The U.S. Sun that the couple and their son were engaged in a heated public argument while at the event.
• December 14, 2025: Reiner and Michele were found dead in their Brentwood home in Los Angeles at around 3:30 pm PST.
• The couple’s daughter, Romy, reportedly discovered her parents’ bodies.
• Online police records show Reiner and Michele’s 32-year-old son, Nick, was arrested at 9:15 pm PST on December 14.
• December 15, 2025: Authorities in Los Angeles announce that Nick Reiner was arrested and charged with murder.
• Nick was booked into a Los Angeles jail at 5:04 am and was being held on $4 million bail, which was later revoked.
• December 16, 2025: Los Angeles District Attorney Nathan Hochman formally charged Nick Reiner with two counts of first-degree murder.
• Hochman said his office would consider the death penalty in Nick’s case.
• Nick’s scheduled court appearance on December 16 was postponed due to what his attorney said was a procedural issue.
• December 17, 2025: Nick Reiner briefly appeared in court. A plea was not entered.
• December 23, 2025: The death certificates of Rob Reiner and Michele Singer Reiner disclosed that the couple died of multiple sharp force injuries caused with “a knife, by another.”

BROOKLYN Beckham blocked his family on social media after mum Victoria “liked” a post of his about roasting a chicken, The Sun can reveal.

The budding chef, 26, saw red after Posh showed her approval of a self-shot video in which he discusses beer-brining a bird to give it extra flavour.

Former Spice Girl Posh’s response was soon followed with comments from fans urging estranged Brooklyn to build bridges with his family.

But it is believed that he got annoyed at his worried mum’s public display of affection as she bids to heal the family rift.

David and Victoria are understandably heartbroken by what’s gone on here

Source

Within hours of her olive branch, Brooklyn had blocked Victoria, 51, dad David, 50, brothers Romeo, 23, Cruz, 20, and his 14-year-old sister Harper.

It means they cannot see any Instagram posts he uploads from his LA home where he lives with actress wife Nicola Peltz, 30.

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It was initially thought that the Beckham family had “unfollowed” Brooklyn’s account, as The Sun on Sunday reported yesterday.

Cruz soon put things straight.

Pulling no punches, he shared a post which read: “Not true.

“My mum and dad would never unfollow their son.

“Let’s get the facts right.

“They woke up blocked  . . .  as did I.”

It marked the first time any of the image-conscious Beckhams had directly addressed the family feud.

Despite wall-to-wall coverage of the row, it was business as usual until Cruz’s blunt contribution.

Unsurprisingly, Cruz and Romeo are furious

A source

A source said: “David and Victoria are understandably heartbroken by what’s gone on here.

‘PUBLIC ATTACK’

“This came out of the blue for them, and in the lead-up to Christmas when families are supposed to come together, it’s devastating.”

The source added: “All they want is for things to be fixed but with every week they just seem to be getting worse.

“Unsurprisingly, Cruz and Romeo are furious that Brooklyn would make such a public attack.

“As for Brooklyn, he wants things fixed in private and not played out on social media, although his actions have resulted in quite the opposite.”

Brooklyn, who married Nicola in a lavish wedding in April 2022, has had nothing to do with his family since the start of the year.

It is thought the feud may have somehow been triggered during the lead-up to Brooklyn and heiress Nicola’s big day.

He swerved his dad’s 50th birthday celebrations in May and the proud ex-England football captain’s knighthood investiture at Windsor Castle last month.

In between, none of the Beckhams were present when the couple renewed their wedding vows in August.

The Beckhams have not been pictured together as a family since Boxing Day last year.

THE UK’s most isolated island celebrates Christmas on January 6 – despite the rest of Britain packing away the decorations weeks earlier.

Foula, a tiny Scottish island 20 miles off the west coast of Shetland, follows its own festive timetable.

The unusual timing is down to the calendar the island follows.

While the rest of the UK adopted the Gregorian calendar in 1752, Foula’s residents chose to keep using the older Julian calendar.

That decision means key dates slowly drifted, and after a leap year change in 1900, Christmas and New Year ended up falling 12 days later than elsewhere.

Home to just 35 people, Foula is often described as one of the most remote places in the country.

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With no pubs, shops, bars, Wi-Fi or National Grid connection, supplies arrive only by boat or small plane, weather permitting, yet despite its isolation the island still offers plenty to see.

Foula covers around five square miles and is dominated by five dramatic peaks, including Da Kame, which is believed to be one of the highest sheer sea cliffs in Britain.

The island is also one of the best places in the UK to spot the Northern Lights.

Known locally as the Mirrie Dancers, they are most often seen between mid-October and mid-March, depending on conditions.

Wildlife is another major draw. Foula is famous for its native sheep, which are unique.

Foula is also popular with scuba divers due to several shipwrecks around its shores, notably the RMS Oceanic, launched in 1899, later used during the First World War, and wrecked just three miles east of the island.

Those who prefer to stay on dry land can join guided walks run by the Foula Ranger Service, or explore independently using maps provided by Foula Heritage.

The island can be reached by ferry or flight from the Shetland Mainland, with ferries running three times a week and taking about two hours, while visitors stay in self-catering accommodation and must bring all supplies.

Two other little-known islands to visit in the UK

HERE are two other little-known islands to visit in the UK.

The Isle of Erraid, Scotland

The tiny Inner Hebridean Isle of Erraid is a tidal island, just off the tip of the Ross of Mull.

For an hour or two either side of low tide, the Isle of Erraid is linked to the mainland by a broad expanse of sand that you can cross.

But Erraid’s major claim to fame is its inspiration for the famous novel Kidnapped by Robert Louis Stevenson.

Erraid is one of the driest and sunniest places in Scotland, with less than 1,000 millimetres of rain and 1,350 hours of sunshine annually, so you’re virtually guaranteed great days out on the beach.

Unst, Scotland

Unst is roughly 178 miles away from the Scottish mainland.

There are thought to be just 600 people living on the tiny island, making it the most northerly inhabited place in the UK.

Unst has just one pub, one hotel, one school, three shops and a lone bus route.

Skaw Beach, the most northerly in the UK, is packed with golden sand, and it’s backed by a meadow that’s home to an array of wild flowers in the spring and summer.

Because of its shape, the beach is fairly sheltered from the winds.

There are limited facilities at the beach, so holidaymakers should aim to pack everything they need before visiting.

Despite its remote location, around 100 people have reviewed the beach on Google, with one person writing: “Wild and wooly, with nobody around. The water was freezing, as you would expect.”

It’s also a haven for birds including corncrake, lapwing, peregrine, hen harriers and sandpipers and you’ll also see plenty of deer, hedgehogs and Black Face sheep.

ZOE Ball has bid her final farewells to her BBC Radio 2 show today.

The radio presenter, 55, announced she would be leaving her beloved Saturday show earlier this month, with today being her final time on air.

She was greeted by fans outside Broadcasting house before taking to the airwaves.

It comes just a year after Zoe stepped down from her breakfast programme on the same station, after hosting it for six year.

Though Zoe won’t be completely absent from the airwaves – continuing to host specials on the station less frequently.

Presenter Romesh Ranganathan today handed over to Zoe before her show kicked off at 1pm.

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Romesh compared Zoe leaving to a “death in the family” and shared heartfelt messages from fans, before adding: “It’s your last show! I’m gonna miss seeing you every Saturday.

“How are you feeling?”

Zoe replied: “It’s my last Saturday show … I’m feeling like everybody else is feeling at this time of year …

“Don’t worry I won’t be a stranger.”

Romesh also teased the rumours that Zoe is taking over from Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman as the host of Strictly Come Dancing next year.

He said: “Is it true you’re leaving your Saturday show because of …”

He then quipped: “Sally on traffic, it’s that, let’s put that down now.”

Zoe played along and said: “Sally and I have been in love with each other for a long time and we’ve decided we can’t possibly work in the same building anymore because the magnetism is too much.”

Zoe’s announcement comes after she was included in the BBC’s “Golden Ten” shortlist of presenters tested for the perfect on-screen partnership to replace Claudia Winkleman and Tess Daly.

The Sun revealed that Zoe Ball was one of the ten stars put through their paces in order to find the perfect on screen partnership in a top-secret chemistry test.

The news has sparked excitement that Ball could be in the running to replace Tess and Claudia as Strictly Come Dancing host.

PinkPantheress broke out in 2021 with a series of charming and inventive singles that placed her high, breathy vocals over skittering beats built around easily recognizable samples. It was as though the English singer and producer were trying to insert herself into pop-music history from behind a laptop in her bedroom — which is pretty much what ended up happening.

In 2023, her song “Boy’s a Liar Pt. 2,” a collaboration with Ice Spice, went to No. 3 on Billboard’s Hot 100; several months later, she landed a song on the hit soundtrack of Greta Gerwig’s “Barbie.” Last year she went on the road as an opening act for Olivia Rodrigo, and now she’s nominated for her first two Grammy Awards: dance/electronic album for this year’s “Fancy That” and dance pop recording for the project’s opening track, “Illegal.”

With nine songs in only 20 minutes, “Fancy That” maintains the TikTok-era economy of PinkPantheress’ early work. It’s also full of samples from the likes of Underworld, Basement Jaxx and Panic! at the Disco — one reason, perhaps, the singer, 24, describes it as a mixtape rather than an album. (An accompanying remix set, “Fancy Some More?,” features appearances by Basement Jaxx, Kylie Minogue, Sugababes, Ravyn Lenae and Groove Armada, among many others.)

Yet “Fancy That” showcases an expanding emotional palette too — it’s by turns funny, wistful, horny, melancholy and unimpressed. She spoke about it over matcha lattes in Los Angeles, where she lives when she’s not back home in London. “If you’re a musician, it’s sold as the place to be,” she says of L.A. “I was trying not to like it, but I really do.”

You’re enjoying the city despite yourself.
I think for me, it was just a case of: When I’m comfortable somewhere, I don’t enjoy exploration. What I know to be safe is where I stay.

Why?
It’s something with the way my brain works — I don’t think it’s a choice. My brain associates change — different environments and travel — with fear. I don’t go on holiday because of that reason. I find it very difficult because I genuinely don’t feel safe. Doesn’t matter where I am.

What do you do in L.A.?
I hang out with my friends. I get food. I do all the regular things. But it’s taken me years. When I first got here, I wasn’t like, Oh my God — the Hollywood sign! It was just like, Lemme find my footing. I think getting my house was when I was OK. I don’t like the stress of going out somewhere and being worried about how I come across to people.

If you’re at a restaurant, it’s hard for you not to think about the fact that someone might know who you are.
On occasion, if I’m not disguised well enough.

What are the disguises?
I think I’m gonna stop wearing my hair out in public.

So pop stardom — enjoyable or not?
It’s as absurd as everyone says. But it is 100% what I’ve always wanted to be. So I can’t complain now.

I mean, you could.
But I shan’t.

That would be poor form?
I’m a big believer of my words having an effect on everything I do going forward. So if I was to become comfortable complaining about my job — when I worked so hard to get here — then it’s gonna carry with me and it’ll come out in my behavior.

Do you drive?
I love driving. That’s another reason I like it here, because I can drive.

You like driving here more than in London?
I have a nicer car here. Well, actually, I don’t have a car in London anymore. The police took it.

Why?
Don’t know.

You must know.
I actually just don’t know. I literally got there and it was gone, and I was like, Fine. It was so cheap — like 2,000 pounds.

What kind of car was it?
A Peugeot 208.

In a recent interview with Zane Lowe, you named the people you called your blueprints: M.I.A., Kelela and Tinashe. All are well–regarded trailblazers, but none of them, I would say, is a pop superstar. That made me wonder: Do you want to be top of the pops?
I feel like in order to be top of the pops, I’d have to compromise a lot about my artistic choices. However, if the post-“Brat” era has taught us anything about music, it’s that you can actually be as experimental as you want, and if it translates, it will translate. So actually it’s not necessarily a recipe that’s too formulaic, as one would think.

Do I want to be top of the pops? I think that might be too much pressure. I don’t enjoy having to explain myself, and I worry that being big would make me have to explain a lot about myself. However, I do want to be well-regarded. I do want to be influential. And I do want to not have to worry, How well will this do? It’s less about top of the pops and more about having a very loyal fan base, which I prioritize above everything else.

I spoke with Lorde recently, and she told me she aches to be understood even though she wishes she didn’t. You said you don’t like explaining yourself. But do you feel compelled to?
I would say I definitely under-explained myself early on. And unfortunately that was a crucial error because — had I been on top of explaining my music and my musical mind from the jump — maybe now I’d be taken more as a producer. But because I didn’t, and because of the way I present myself, I do think people take me as more surface-level pop, and I’m actually not — I’m actually fully an art girl, like all the women I’ve mentioned.

So it’s kind of gone from not explaining myself to explaining too much. I hated that, too, because then it got people asking me more questions. Now I don’t want to explain anything anymore.

You’ve got the Sugababes on your remix album. Great example of an act that’s beloved in England but couldn’t get arrested in the States. Why do you think some U.K. acts cross over and some don’t?
If you have someone on your marketing team that prioritizes America, then I’m 99% sure you can always do it. I don’t think American people are put off by Britishness — I don’t think the music is too crazy for them to get it. The reason I did well in America was because I used a platform where the majority of users are American.

You mean TikTok. Did you use TikTok because that was the platform you were good at or because you knew it was the platform with the broadest reach?
I had no idea how it worked — I just thought about what has the most reach. I’m a child of the internet. I’ve always been online.

What’s bad about the internet?
There was a time when I would have said nothing.

At what age?
Sixteen — even older, honestly. The whole push of generated stuff has made it so unbelievably different. Back when I was on the internet, you wouldn’t have to second-guess any post you saw.

Whereas now you have to question whether something is real or AI.
Is this propaganda or is this not? That’s bad.

Is TikTok still fun?
I don’t really go on social media at all, so I don’t know.

You just make your posts —
And dip. Or I interact with people that help me towards my craft. People that make fan edits, I love it, so I’ll interact with them. But I don’t really scroll.

Did someone say to you, “Listen, you need to stop scrolling”?
No. I actually have no vices, so I didn’t have a problem with it.

Everyone’s addicted to scrolling.
Hell no — I’m not. If I want to stop something, I can stop right now.

Do you drink? Smoke weed?
I can’t do any drugs. I get drunk once or twice a month, and that’s my limit. I make sure to count that.

Why no drugs?
I’m a hypochondriac.

What are you afraid of happening?
Dying. Also, it’s just not enjoyable for me. When I get drunk, that’s the best amount of chaos I can experience in my inner self.

Dying?
Too much coke could kill you — cause an arrhythmic heart. And as I’ve said, if I fear something, I’m not gonna step foot towards it.

“I don’t think American people are put off by Britishness,” says PinkPantheress. “I don’t think the music is too crazy for them to get it.”

(Jason Armond / Los Angeles Times)

Who said no to being on the remix album?
No one said no. But I don’t ask people that I know are gonna say no — I just refuse to ask them. There was one person that was like, “Oh, I saw this too late” [makes “Yeah, right” face]. And one person didn’t reply. Maybe two people didn’t reply.

Were your feelings hurt?
No. Yeah. Maybe. When it comes to features and everything like that, I very much understand — I get how the mind of a singer works. I think people that get hurt are maybe not putting themselves in their shoes.

Surely you’ve said no to people at this point.
It’s a horrible feeling. And I try and make it work as much as possible. But sometimes it just doesn’t make sense. The vibes are off.

Have you heard the Lily Allen album?
Yes.

Thoughts?
Really good. And earnest.

She’s just laying out all her business.
She’s a Brit — that’s what we do.

Are Brits essentially earnest?
I think there’s something in our music that’s extremely earnest. That’s why you get someone like an Adele or someone like a Raye right now. You can feel them bleed. They’re bleeding out onto the stage — bleeding out onto the pieces of paper.

Beyond what we’ve talked about, I know virtually nothing about your personal life.
Exactly.

Whereas now I know a tremendous amount about Lily Allen’s. What do you make of that impulse to dump everything out into the world?
What I love about Lily Allen is that she’s always been very honest from Day 1. She’s an open book in interviews — she’s an open book everywhere. It works for her because it makes her very personable and makes her music all that more enjoyable because we feel like we’re actually experiencing her as a human being.

I would love to be that earnest. I simply don’t think I’ve gone through half the amount she’s gone through in her life. Because I fear so much, I end up not being in very exciting or controversial situations, and that could translate as boring. But I wouldn’t say I was a boring person. I relish in the mundaneness of interacting with others and the excitement of being myself. I’m actually obsessed with myself. When I’m with my best friend, we’re just so fun together. Other people, they’re like, “The f—?”

You’re on Coachella next year. You’ve talked about festivals not being your ideal performance venue.
I’m definitely better now, for sure. Two years ago, I was pretty s—.

What’d you learn from the tour you just finished?
Oh, a lot. I learnt that I’m in control of my body. I learnt that I’m in control of pretty much every element when I’m onstage. One thing I’m realizing as I talk is that the reason I don’t like drugs is because I like full control. When I’m onstage, for some reason, I always imagine that I’m gonna lose control — I’m gonna have to faint or have to run. I don’t know why, but that’s my biggest fear with performing, and hence why I’ve always been quite nervous.

But doing that tour made me realize that I can choose if I want to have a good time right now. And I chose to have a really good time — it was a really fun experience. I’m still learning how to dance. I’m still learning how to look good onstage. I think I’m built in quite a funny way, which makes me look long. And when you’re shaped in a long way and you have long limbs, you look bad at dancing.

You’re taller than I expected.
Every single person says that.

Why do we all think you’re going to be shorter?
My voice is quite high. I also think I shrink myself — less in physical ways and more in how I portray myself. I’m not like [shouts], “I’m here!” I’m more like [whispers], “I’m here.”

Actress Lily Collins, 36, plays the central character, Emily Cooper, in comedy drama series Emily In Paris, the fifth season of which drops on Netflix on Thursday

Lily Collins admitted she might “not have been on her game” during the filming for the fifth series of Emily in Paris.

The actress gave birth to her daughter Tove earlier this year ahead of the recording for the comedy drama programme. Lily, 36, had to alter her schedule ahead of preperation for Emily in Paris, in which she players central character Emily Cooper.

And, as a result, the star believes her performance may have suffered — although previews have been positive ahead of the new series. In a candid interview, the mum said: “I took my hands off perfectionism. You cannot focus on perfectionism when your focus is on all these other hats you’re wearing.

“I said to everyone this year, ‘I’m really good with memorisation, I’m really good with knowing my lines, but this year give me some grace. I’ve not slept, I’m very tired and I may not be on my game.’

“And you know what? Who was in the blooper reel more this year? Me. Who had more fun this year? Me, because I let go of perfectionism and I was so grateful.”

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The fifth series drops on Netflix on Thursday, around 15 months after the fourth season aired on the platform. The programme, which also stars Philippine Leroy-Beaulieu and Ashley Park, has been widely praised.

Lily, daughter of singer Phil Collins, has balanced work and motherhood since welcoming Tove in January via surrogacy. She returned to work with little Tove when filming for Paris in Emily commenced in June.

Speaking to The Sun, Lily said: “When we started shooting this season my daughter was about three and a half months. How does she change my approach to filming? I mean, schedule!

“You have a different purpose and it’s really tough. I have a greater purpose now and I miss her so much. She visited the set but I’m still figuring it out in real time. It’s a struggle and I’m just so grateful to be able to do both.”

Emily in Paris has attracted a huge global audience that has continued to grow since it launched in 2020. The central character moves from Chicago to Paris for a temporary social media strategy job and becomes a fashionista.

Lily, from Guildford, Surrey, was cast in April 2019 after impressing in the miniseries of Les Misérables. She also was in crime drama, Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile, another Netflix hit, which starred Zac Efron.

Alongside the usual drama, Emily in Paris fans can also look forward to a host of new actors signing on for Emily’s Roman adventure. These include Bryan Greenberg, best known for his part in HBO’s How to Make It in America and more recent role in Suits LA. He plays Jake, an American living in Paris.

On December 3, Israel announced that the Rafah border crossing with Egypt would reopen “in the coming days”, allowing Palestinians to leave Gaza for the first time in months. The statement was, of course, framed as a humanitarian gesture that would allow those in urgent need to travel for medical care, education or family reunification to leave.

However, Israel’s announcement was met almost immediately with Egypt’s denial, followed by a firm rejection from several Arab and Muslim states.

To the rest of the world, this response may seem cruel. It may seem like Arab states want to forcibly keep in Gaza Palestinians desperate to evacuate to safety. This fits right into the Israeli narrative that neighbouring Arab countries are responsible for Palestinian suffering because they would not “let them in”.

This is a falsehood that has unfortunately made its way into Western media, even though it is easily disproved.

Let us be clear: No, Arab states are not keeping us against our will in Gaza, and neither is Hamas.

They want to make sure that when and if some of us evacuate temporarily, we are able to come back. We want the same – a guarantee of return. Yet, Israel refuses to grant it; it made clear in its December 3 announcement that the Rafah crossing would be open only one way – for Palestinians to leave.

So this was clearly a move meant to jump-start forced displacement of the Palestinian population from their homeland.

For Palestinians, this is not a new reality but part of a long and deliberate pattern. Since its inception, the Israeli state has focused on the dispossession, erasure, and forced displacement of the Palestinians. In 1948, 750,000 Palestinians were expelled from their homes and were not allowed to return. My 88-year-old grandfather was among them. He still keeps the Tabu (land registry document) for the dunams of land he owns in his village of Barqa, 37km (23 miles) north of Gaza, where we are still not allowed to return.

In 1967, when Israel occupied Gaza, it forbade Palestinians who were studying or working abroad from returning to their homes. In the occupied West Bank, where colonisation has not stopped for the past 58 years, Palestinians are regularly expelled from their homes and lands.

In the past two years alone, Israel has seized approximately 55,000 dunams of Palestinian land, displacing more than 2,800 Palestinians. In Jerusalem, Palestinians whose families had lived in the holy city for centuries risk losing their residency there if they cannot prove it is their “centre of life”. In the past 25 years, more than 10,000 Palestinian residencies have been revoked.

Since October 2023, Israel has repeatedly attempted to engineer forced mass displacement in Gaza – dividing the Strip into isolated zones separated by military corridors and “safe” axes and launching successive operations to push residents of the north towards the south. Each wave of mass bombing carried the same underlying objective: to uproot the people of Gaza from their homes and push them towards the border with Egypt. The most recent push occurred just before the latest ceasefire took effect.

According to Diaa Rashwan, chairman of the Egyptian State Information Service, Cairo rejected Israel’s proposal because it was an attempt to shun its commitments outlined in the second phase of the ceasefire. That phase requires Israel to withdraw from Gaza, support the reconstruction process, allow the Strip to be administered by a Palestinian committee, and facilitate the deployment of a security force to stabilise the situation. By announcing Rafah’s reopening, Israel sought to bypass these obligations and redirect the political conversation towards depopulation rather than reconstruction and recovery.

That Israel wants to create the conditions to make our expulsion inevitable is clear from other policies as well. It continues to bombard the Strip, killing hundreds of civilians and terrorising hundreds of thousands.

It continues to prevent adequate amounts of food and medicines from getting in. It is allowing no reconstruction materials or temporary housing. It is doing everything to maximise the suffering of the Palestinian people.

This reality is made even more brutal by the harsh winter. Cold winds tear through overcrowded camps filled with exhausted people who have endured every form of trauma imaginable. Yet despite hunger, exhaustion, and despair, we continue to cling to our land and reject any Israeli efforts to displace and erase us.

We also reject any form of external guardianship or control over our fate. We demand full Palestinian sovereignty over our land, our resources, and our crossings. Our position is clear: the Rafah crossing must be opened in both directions; not as a tool of displacement, but as a right to free movement.

Rafah must be accessible for those who wish to return, and for those who need to leave temporarily: students seeking to continue their education abroad, patients in urgent need of medical treatment unavailable in Gaza, and families who have been separated and long to be reunited. Thousands of critically ill Palestinians have been denied life-saving care due to the siege, while hundreds of students holding offers and scholarships from prestigious universities around the world have been unable to travel to pursue their education.

Rafah should also be open to those who simply need rest after years of trauma – to step outside Gaza briefly and return with dignity. Mobility is not a privilege; it is a basic human right.

What we demand is simple: the right to determine our future, without coercion, without bargaining over our existence, and without being pushed into forced displacement disguised as a humanitarian project.

The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeera’s editorial stance.