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Harris shuts down pro-Palestine protestors at rally

Vice President Kamala Harris said that she is committed to “a path forward that can lead to a two-state solution…reports Asian Lite News

Vice President Kamala Harris shut down pro-Palestine protestors who interrupted her speech at a rally in Detroit. Demonstrators in the crowd repeatedly shouted out, “Kamala, Kamala you can’t hide, we won’t vote for genocide.” The crowd at the Detroit airplane hangar, however, booed and drowned out the protesters with chants of “Kamala.”

“I’m here because we believe in democracy. Everyone’s voice matters, but I am speaking now. I am speaking now,” Harris said. When the protestors did not relent, she said, “You know what, if you want Donald Trump to win then say that. Otherwise, I’m speaking.”

Harris after a meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel last month had stated that she would “always ensure that Israel is able to defend itself, including from Iran and Iran-backed militias, such as Hamas and Hezbollah.”

“I’ve said it many times but it bears repeating, Israel has a right to defend itself, but how it does so matters,” Harris said after the meeting with Netanyahu.

She also said that she is committed to “a path forward that can lead to a two-state solution.”

According to an analysis by the Hill, Michigan is home to a particularly high Arab American population, especially in the Detroit suburbs. Some Democrats have worried that the Biden administration’s handling of the war in Gaza could cost them votes in November.

Meanwhile, Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz traveled Wednesday to Wisconsin and Michigan.

At the Detroit rally, head of the United Auto Workers (UAW) Shawn Fain tore into former US President and Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump and rallied support for Harris in front “of a crowd of thousands.”

Union workers could play a key role in Michigan, the home of the US auto industry. Michigan broke from decades of steady Democratic support to elect Trump in 2016 before Biden flipped the state back in 2020.

Biden not confident of peaceful transfer of power if Trump loses

Meanwhile, President Joe Biden on Wednesday said he is not confident about a peaceful transfer of power if Republican Donald Trump loses the upcoming presidential election.

In a recent interview with US-based media house CBS News, the first after announcing his withdrawal from the Presidential race, Biden expressed doubts about a peaceful transfer of power and said, “If Trump loses, I’m not confident at all.”

The interview was conducted in the White House and will be aired on August 11. The two spoke about Biden’s decision to withdraw his candidature, his outlook on the country, his reflections on American democracy, and much more.

Biden said that he is not confident about a peaceful transfer of power if Trump loses, as a rhetoric on the former President’s comment that the only way he would lose is if “the election is stolen from him”, CBS News reported.

ALSO READ: ‘Did US play a role in Bangladesh regime change?’

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US congressional aides open site for Gaza dissent

The website was created by aides who previously organised a walkout on Capitol Hill protesting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s address to Congress….reports Asian Lite News

A group of Washington staffers has launched a website called the Congressional Dissent Channel, allowing individuals to anonymously express objections and criticisms of the US government’s stance on Gaza. Modelled after the US State Department’s dissent channel established during the Vietnam War, this platform enables staffers to voice dissent without fear of retaliation.

The website was created by aides who previously organised a walkout on Capitol Hill protesting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s address to Congress. The same group also held a flower vigil outside the Capitol last November, calling for a ceasefire in Gaza. The group describes itself as composed of “congressional aides dedicated to changing the paradigm of US support for the genocide against Palestinians in Gaza being carried out by the state of Israel.”

Congressional aides typically maintain low profiles and have limited avenues to express views differing from their employers, risking dismissal if they do. Michael Suchecki, spokesman for the Congressional Progressive Staff Association, emphasized the aides’ duty to represent alternative opinions, especially those reflecting the views of voters.

In the aftermath of the January 6, 2021, Capitol attack, a shift in attitudes occurred, leading to the formation of the Congressional Progressive Staff Association and the framework for an official workers’ union. Many aides have since focused on advocating for a ceasefire in Gaza, highlighting US arms shipments to Israel.

In a statement on the Congressional Dissent Channel’s webpage, staffers criticized current US foreign policy, highlighting the use of American-made bombs in Gaza and the marginalization of voices advocating for peace. The site, launched on Sunday, featured six memos from anonymous congressional aides by Monday morning, with provisions for submitting anonymous videos and memos for content evaluation and publication.

ALSO READ: Harris launches $50 mn ad blitz

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Blinken ‘hopeful’ on Gaza ceasefire

Yet Blinken expressed his anticipation for Hamas leaders in Gaza to provide a clear confirmation of their stance on the proposal…reports Asian Lite News

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken described Hamas’ endorsement of a United Nations resolution supporting a ceasefire in the Gaza conflict as an encouraging development.

Blinken, currently on a visit to the Middle East to sell the ceasefire deal, made the remarks after Sami Abu Zuhri, a senior Hamas spokesman, said on Tuesday that the movement accepted the ceasefire proposal, according to a report by Israel’s state-owned Kan TV news.

Earlier on Monday, Hamas announced in a statement sent via Telegram that it “welcomes” the UN Security Council resolution supporting a ceasefire in Gaza, a complete withdrawal of Israeli forces, and a swap of Palestinian prisoners for hostages held in Gaza.

Yet Blinken expressed his anticipation for Hamas leaders in Gaza to provide a clear confirmation of their stance on the proposal, Xinhua news agency reported.

“That’s what counts, and that’s what we still lack,” he said.

He met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday night and said that the latter had “reaffirmed his commitment” to the ceasefire proposal.

Blinken met with Israeli officials on Monday and Tuesday after talks with Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi in Cairo on Monday, as the Israeli hostage rescue operation, which killed more than 200 Palestinians, clouded the prospects for the ceasefire agreement.

ALSO READ: BRICS Decries Gaza Violence

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‘US doesn’t believe genocide occurring in Gaza’

Washington was using the internationally accepted term for genocide, which includes a focus on intent to reach this assessment, says Sullivan

The United States does not believe that genocide is occurring in Gaza but Israel must do more to protect Palestinian civilians, President Joe Biden’s top national security official said Monday.

As ceasefire talks stall and Israel continued striking the southern city of Rafah, White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan insisted that the responsibility for peace lay with militant group Hamas.

“We believe Israel can and must do more to ensure the protection and wellbeing of innocent civilians. We do not believe what is happening in Gaza is a genocide,” Sullivan told a briefing.

The US was “using the internationally accepted term for genocide, which includes a focus on intent” to reach this assessment, Sullivan added.

Biden wanted to see Hamas defeated but realized that Palestinian civilians were in “hell,” Sullivan said.

Sullivan said he was coming to the White House podium to “take a step back” and set out the Biden administration’s position on the conflict, amid criticism from both ends of the US political spectrum.

Biden has come under fire from Republicans for halting some weapons shipments to press his demands that Israel hold off a Rafah offensive, while there have been protests at US universities against his support for Israel.

The US president believed any Rafah operation “has got to be connected to a strategic endgame that also answered the question, ‘what comes next?’” Sullivan added.

This would avoid Israel “getting mired in a counterinsurgency campaign that never ends, and ultimately saps Israel’s strength and vitality.”

OCHA revises toll of women, children killed in Gaza

A United Nations agency tracking Gaza’s casualty figures reduced by half the number of women and children killed in the Strip since October 7, raising questions about conflict’s true death toll.

An infographic published by the UN’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) on May 8 indicated that 4,959 women and 7,797 children have been killed in Gaza since October 7. That was half the number indicated on a May 6 infographic which reported 9,500 women and 14,500 children had been killed.

Both infographics sourced the figures to “Gaza HMO” or Health Ministry officials. Gaza’s Health Ministry is run by the Hamas terror group.

OCHA did not offer any explanation for the dramatic revision. OCHA’s figures are widely sourced by international leaders, diplomats, the media and humanitarian aid organizations.

Israel’s war against Hamas is now in its eighth month and the casualty figures have not been independently verified.

Israelis have questioned the numbers, pointing out that the Gaza Health Ministry is run by Hamas, and has a record from previous conflicts of blurring distinctions between civilian and combatant casualties, or attributing natural deaths to Israeli operations.

More recently, critics have raised issues with statistical anomalies, pointing out that Hamas’s claim that 70 per cent of the victims are women and children is statistically impossible.

On April 6, the Hamas-run Health Ministry announced on its Telegram channel that it had “incomplete” data on one-third of the casualties. In response, experts told The Press Service of Israel that Hamas’s announcement needed to be treated with skepticism, and that the true number of Palestinian civilians killed in the conflict may never be known.

“The idea in psychological warfare is to get the enemy always on the worrying side, to shake its confidence and power. The Palestinians have lied all throughout the conflict with Israel. They lie about the number of Palestinians living in the West Bank, they lie about the Palestinians living in Gaza, they lie as a system,” Dr. Ron Schleifer told TPS-IL at the time.

Schleifer, who teaches communications at Ariel University said, “If you don’t want to call them liars, they’re inconsistent and dubious. But the idea is the same. You inflate your numbers depending on what image you want. You can lie to show weakness when weakness is the winning argument. That’s when they inflate the numbers of people killed. The inflated death toll is an element of psychological warfare.”

The revised figures also raise questions about OCHA. On Wednesday, TPS-IL exposed how the agency is republishing Hamas propaganda through reports written by Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor, whose current and former directors have been identified as Hamas operatives.

The reports, seen by TPS-IL accuse Israel of “genocide,” organ theft, using banned thermal weapons, burying Palestinians in mass graves, massacring Palestinians in Gaza’s Shifa Hospital, deliberately using Palestinians as human shields, and sexually assaulting Palestinian women. These reports are published on Relief Web, an information portal overseen by OCHA and widely used by the international humanitarian community.

At least 1,200 people were killed and 240 Israelis and foreigners were taken hostage in Hamas’s attacks on Israeli communities near the Gaza border on October 7. Around 30 of the remaining 132 hostages are believed dead.

ALSO READ: Indian UN Employee First Foreign Victim in Gaza Conflict

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12-truck UAE aid convoy enters Gaza

The convoy consists of 12 trucks carrying over 264 tonnes of humanitarian aid, including food, water and dates….reports Asian Lite News

An Emirati aid convoy entered the Gaza Strip on Wednesday via the Egyptian Rafah crossing as part of “Operation Chivalrous Knight 3” to support and relieve the Palestinian people during their current circumstances.

The convoy consists of 12 trucks carrying over 264 tonnes of humanitarian aid, including food, water and dates.

This brings the total number of aid trucks entering the Strip, as part of “Operation Chivalrous Knight 3”, to 440 trucks, alleviating the severe conditions faced by the people of Gaza and providing their basic needs.

As of 1st May 2024, the Emirati aid provided to the Palestinian people through “Operation Chivalrous Knight 3” exceeded 22,436 tonnes. This aid, transported via 220 cargo planes and three cargo ships, is collected in Al Arish Port before being transported into Gaza through trucks via the Rafah crossing.

The Operation also includes implementing the “Birds of Goodness” operation, which involves aerial drops of humanitarian supplies. Until yesterday, 43 drops have been conducted, delivering a total of 3,000 tonnes of food and relief materials to inaccessible isolated areas in Gaza.

Since its establishment, the UAE field hospital in Gaza has received more than 18,970 cases, with an additional 152 cases evacuated to the UAE Floating Hospital in Al Arish Port. Additionally, 166 cases have been transferred to the UAE for treatment.

The UAE had established six desalination plants with a production capacity of 1.2 million gallons per day, benefiting the Gaza population.

Egypt, France warn against Rafah op

Egypt and France have reaffirmed their complete rejection of any ground military operation in Rafah, Gaza Strip, due to its potential humanitarian risks and its threat to regional stability as a result of the presence of more than 1.4 million displaced Palestinians in the southern Gaza Strip.

This came in a statement by the Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs after Sameh Shoukry, Egyptian Foreign Minister, today received French Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs Stéphane Séjourné, who paid a flying visit to Cairo at the end of his current tour of the region.

ALSO READ: Sheikh Abdullah meets Israel’s Lapid

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UN chief calls for probe of mass graves in Gaza

The UN secretary-general also urged Israel against invading southern Gaza’s city of Rafah…reports Asian Lite News

United Nations chief Antonio Guterres has demanded an independent investigation into reports by Palestinian authorities of mass graves discovered in Gaza after bodies with hands tied or medical tubes attached to them were found in multiple sites, including two hospitals.

“It is imperative that independent international investigators with forensic expertise are allowed the immediate access to the sites of these mass graves to establish the precise circumstances under which the Palestinians lost their lives and were buried or reburied,” Guterres said on Tuesday.

The UN secretary-general also urged Israel against invading southern Gaza’s city of Rafah, the last refuge for more than 1.4 million Palestinians, after the Israeli prime minister said an offensive would go forward regardless of the outcome of truce talks with Hamas.

A military assault on Rafah would “be an unbearable escalation, killing thousands more civilians and forcing hundreds of thousands to flee,” he told reporters.

He added that while there has been “incremental progress” towards averting “an entirely preventable, human-made famine” in northern Gaza, much more is urgently needed, including for Israel to follow through on its promise to open “two crossing points between Israel and northern Gaza, so that aid can be brought into Gaza from Ashdod port and Jordan”.

He cited the lack of security for aid workers and civilians as the major obstacle to distributing aid across Gaza. “I again call on the Israeli authorities to allow and facilitate safe, rapid and unimpeded access for humanitarian aid and humanitarian workers, including UNRWA, throughout Gaza,” he said.

UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini told journalists on Tuesday that aid supplies into Gaza had improved in April, but listed a series of continuing difficulties including regular crossing closures “because they [Israel] are dumping released detainees or dumping sometimes bodies taken to Israel and back to the Gaza Strip.”

Juliette Touma, a spokesperson for the UN’s refugee agency for Palestinians, said that Israel had sent 225 bodies to Gaza in three containers since December that were then transported by the UN agency to local health authorities for burial, shutting the crossing temporarily.

She did not have details of the circumstances of their deaths and said it was not UNRWA’s mandate to investigate.

Palestinian authorities have previously said that Israel has returned bodies after confirming they were not hostages. They said they were trying to identify them and figure out where they were killed.

Israel’s allegations are being examined by UN investigators although a separate review found Israel has yet to provide evidence for accusations that hundreds of UNRWA staff are members of armed groups. More than 34,000 people have been killed in Israel’s war on Gaza since October 7, according to Palestinian authorities.

ALSO READ: Blinken Visits Israel for Gaza Ceasefire Talks

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Blinken Visits Israel for Gaza Ceasefire Talks

This is the seventh visit of Blinken since the war between Hamas and Israel broke out on October 7, 2023….reports Asian Lite News

 The US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, arrived in Israel where he will meet the country’s President Isaac Herzog and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday to push forward the Gaza ceasefire deal .

This is the seventh visit of Blinken since the war between Hamas and Israel broke out on October 7, 2023.

The Israel Prime Minister’s office in a statement on Tuesday night said that the meeting with Herzog will be held in Tel Aviv while Blinken will interact with Netanyahu at the latter’s office in Jerusalem.

The Secretary of State will also meet Israel Defence Minister Yoav Gallant and National Security Adviser Tzachi Hanegbi. Blinken will also meet the families of the hostages.

The top US diplomat arrived in the Middle East on Monday and had interactions with the Jordanian and Saudi officials regarding peace in the region.

Israel has agreed to the suggestion of the mediators for the release of 33 of its hostages (women, elderly, and those suffering from diseases) in the custody of Hamas in exchange for around 600 Palestinian prisoners languishing in Israeli jails. Many of these Palestinians kept in jails are accused in murder cases.

Blinken had earlier announced that he would not arrive in Israel during his present visit to the Middle East but sources in Israel Prime Minister’s office told IANS that there were some bottlenecks in the indirect mediatory talks being held at Cairo between Hamas and Israel.

The Secretary of State will be discussing with the Israeli leaders the issues leading to the blockade in mediatory talks.

Netanyahu had warned that if the mediatory talks being held at Cairo do not materialise, Israel would invade the Rafah region in the Gaza Strip.

ALSO READ: Blinken: Hamas received ‘extraordinarily generous’ truce offer

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NSA Sullivan, Qatar PM Discuss Gaza Hostage Release

The United States affirmed this dialogue in an official statement, indicating ongoing communication between Sullivan and Al Thani….reports Asian Lite News

White House National Security Adviser, Jake Sullivan, and Qatari Prime Minister, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani, convened on Tuesday to explore prospects for a ceasefire in Gaza, coupled with the release of hostages.

The United States affirmed this dialogue in an official statement, indicating ongoing communication between Sullivan and Al Thani.

Meanwhile, senior Hamas leader Osama Hamaden has said that the outfit will release the remaining 134 hostages only when the permanent ceasefire is in place and Israelis completely withdraw from Gaza.

Hamadan in a statement in Beirut on Tuesday said that in the past two days the organisation had clearly presented this view before the Qatari and Egyptian mediators.

He said that Hamas had reaffirmed its position that a permanent ceasefire was possible only after a full pull out of the IDF from Gaza Strip and return of displaced Palestinian families to their homes.

The tough position taken by Hamas has almost derailed the US President Joe Biden’s optimism that a temporary six week ceasefire would be reached before March 10 – the commencement of the Holy month of Ramadan.

However, the US state secretary Antony Blinken is in continuous discussions with Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed Al -Thani and the Egyptian mediator Major General Abbas Kalam. The US leader is also in communication with Israeli minister, Benny Gantz who is on a visit to the US.

Highly placed sources in the Israel defence ministry told IANS that if the Hamas backs out of truce talks then Israel will have to go for an all-out attack to release and rescue its hostages. It may be noted that Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has been restrained from an all-out ground invasion in Rafah border after an appeal from mediators, including the US ,Qatar and Egypt.

US Airdrops More Aid into Gaza

Amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas, the US for the second time, airdropped humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip on Tuesday, The New York Times reported.

US Air Force cargo planes, in a joint operation with the Jordanian Air Force dropped 36,800 ready-to-eat meals “to provide essential relief to civilians affected by the ongoing conflict,” according to US Central Command statement.

In a statement, US Central Command said that army troops trained in aerial delivery were part of the airdrop. The US forces further said that they were planning more such missions. However, the Pentagon said on Tuesday that the US did not intend to send its troops into Gaza to strengthen the aid distribution process.

While addressing a news conference, Pentagon spokesperson Major General Patrick Ryder said, “At this time, there are no plans to put U.S. forces on the ground in Gaza,” The New York Times reported.

The US’ operation on Tuesday comes days after the first round of airdrops on Saturday. US airdropped the first round of humanitarian aid into Gaza, two days after more than 100 Palestinians were killed as Israeli forces opened fire around a convoy of aid trucks in northern Gaza. Doctors at Gaza hospitals said the majority of casualties were from gunfire.

The Israeli military said the majority of the victims were trampled as they attempted to take control of the cargo. Israeli officials, however, admitted that troops had fired on some people who they said had threatened them, according to The New York Times report.

Following the convoy casualties in Gaza, US President Joe Biden said the US would find new ways to provide aid to Palestinians in desperate need due to Israel’s counter-offensive against Hamas, which began after the terrorist group’s attack on October 7.

On Sunday, US Vice President Kamala Harris called for an “immediate ceasefire” in Gaza, which she stressed must last for at least the next six weeks. Terming the conditions in Gaza as “inhumane,” Harris said that people in the region were “starving.”

Harris, who was in Alabama’s Selma, to commemorate the 59th anniversary of Bloody Sunday, said, “The threat of Hamas poses to the people of Israel must be eliminated. And given the immense scale of suffering in Gaza, there must be an immediate ceasefire for at least the next six weeks, which is what is currently on the table.”

The US Vice President noted that the ceasefire will allow the release of hostages and aid will enter Gaza. She stressed that Hamas needs to agree to that deal. (ANI)

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Egyptian Wall Construction Near Gaza Border Raises Tensions

The images show cranes, trucks and what appear to be precast concrete barriers being set up along the road….reports Asian Lite News

 Egypt is building a wall and is levelling land near its border with the Gaza Strip ahead of a planned Israeli offensive targeting Rafah city, satellite images showed on Thursday as quoted by media reports.

Egypt hasn’t publicly acknowledged the construction but has warned Israel not to forcibly expel the Palestinians now displaced in Rafah into Egypt, The Times of Israel reported.

But the images from the Egyptian side of the border in the Sinai Peninsula suggest Cairo is preparing for just that scenario, something that could threaten its 1979 peace deal with Israel.

Cairo officials did not respond to requests for comment on Friday from media reports.

The satellite images, taken Thursday by Maxar Technologies, show construction ongoing on the wall, which sits along the Sheikh Zuweid-Rafah Road nearly 3.5 km (2 miles) west of the border with Gaza.

The images show cranes, trucks and what appear to be precast concrete barriers being set up along the road.

ALSO READ: Egypt Opens Rafah for Gaza Aid