Gaza ceasefire hopes, US July 4 reflections, and Trump's spending bill
As temperatures soar above seasonal averages, residents already facing dire conditions are now grappling with extreme heat, further straining access to water, shelter, and medical care. We are joined by a former hostage negotiator and a spokesperson from a leading humanitarian organization.
We also speak with Amanda Makki, a Republican strategist, on this US Independence Day. She reflects on key developments in American politics this week, including July 4th commemorations and growing discussions around Donald Trump's proposed bill that's stirring debate ahead of the 2024 election.
Stay tuned for comprehensive global coverage, political insights, and on-the-ground reporting you won't find anywhere else.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Al Arabiya
24 minutes ago
- Al Arabiya
Trump says Hamas response ‘good', signals possible Gaza deal next week
President Donald Trump said on Friday it was good that Hamas said it had responded in 'a positive spirit' to a US-brokered Gaza ceasefire proposal. He told reporters aboard Air Force One there could be a deal on a Gaza ceasefire by next week, but that he had not been briefed on the current state of negotiations. 'We have to do something about Gaza — we're sending a lot of money and a lot of aid,' Trump told reporters, as Hamas said it was ready to start negotiations 'immediately' on a US-backed truce proposal. The announcement comes ahead of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's visit to Washington on Monday. The conflict in Gaza began with Hamas's unprecedented attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, which sparked a massive Israeli offensive aimed at destroying Hamas and bringing home all the hostages seized by the group. Two previous ceasefires brokered by Qatar, Egypt, and the United States resulted in temporary halts in fighting, coupled with the return of Israeli hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners. Netanyahu earlier on Friday vowed to bring home all the hostages held in Gaza after coming under intense domestic pressure over their fate.
Al Arabiya
38 minutes ago
- Al Arabiya
In July 4 ceremony, Trump signs tax and spending bill into law
US President Donald Trump signed into law a massive package of tax and spending cuts at the White House on Friday, staging an outdoor ceremony on the Fourth of July holiday that took on the air of a Trump political rally. With military jets flying overhead and hundreds of supporters in attendance, Trump signed the bill one day after the Republican-controlled House of Representatives narrowly approved the signature legislation of the president's second term. The bill, which will fund Trump's immigration crackdown, make his 2017 tax cuts permanent, and is expected to knock millions of Americans off health insurance, was passed with a 218–214 vote after an emotional debate on the House floor. 'I've never seen people so happy in our country because of that, because so many different groups of people are being taken care of: the military, civilians of all types, jobs of all types,' Trump said at the ceremony, thanking House Speaker Mike Johnson and Senate Majority Leader John Thune for leading the bill through the two houses of Congress. 'So you have the biggest tax cut, the biggest spending cut, the largest border security investment in American history,' Trump said. Trump scheduled the ceremony on the South Lawn of the White House for the July 4 Independence Day holiday, replete with a flyover by stealth bombers and fighter jets like those that took part in the recent US strikes on nuclear facilities in Iran. Hundreds of Trump supporters attended, including White House aides, members of Congress, and military families. After a speech that included boastful claims about the ascendance of America on his watch, Trump signed the bill, posed for pictures with Republican congressional leaders and members of his Cabinet, and waded through the crowd of happy supporters. The bill's passage amounts to a big win for Trump and his Republican allies, who have argued it will boost economic growth, while largely dismissing a nonpartisan analysis predicting it will add more than $3 trillion to the nation's $36.2 trillion debt. While some lawmakers in Trump's party expressed concerns over the bill's price tag and its hit to healthcare programs, in the end just two of the House's 220 Republicans voted against it, joining all 212 Democrats in opposition. The tense standoff over the bill included a record-long floor speech by House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries, who spoke for eight hours and 46 minutes, blasting the bill as a giveaway to the wealthy that would strip low-income Americans of federally backed health insurance and food aid benefits. Democratic National Committee Chair Ken Martin predicted the law would cost Republicans votes in congressional elections in 2026. 'Today, Donald Trump sealed the fate of the Republican Party, cementing them as the party for billionaires and special interests, not working families,' Martin said in a statement. 'This legislation will hang around the necks of the GOP for years to come. This was a full betrayal of the American people. Today, we are putting Republicans on notice: you will lose your majority.'
Al Arabiya
2 hours ago
- Al Arabiya
Hamas says ready to start Gaza ceasefire talks ‘immediately'
Hamas on Friday said it was ready to start talks 'immediately' on a proposal for a ceasefire in Gaza, where the civil defense agency said Israel's ongoing offensive killed more than 50 people. The announcement came after consultations with other Palestinian factions and ahead of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's visit to Washington on Monday, where US President Donald Trump is pushing for an end to the war, now in its 21st month. 'The movement is ready to engage immediately and seriously in a cycle of negotiations on the mechanism to put in place' the terms of a draft US-backed truce proposal received from mediators, the armed group said in a statement. Hamas ally Islamic Jihad said it supported ceasefire talks but demanded 'guarantees' that Israel 'will not resume its aggression' once hostages held in Gaza are freed. The conflict in Gaza began with Hamas's unprecedented attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, which sparked a massive Israeli offensive aimed at destroying Hamas and bringing home all the hostages seized by the group. Two previous ceasefires brokered by Qatar, Egypt, and the United States resulted in temporary halts in fighting, coupled with the return of Israeli hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners. Netanyahu earlier on Friday vowed to bring home all the hostages held in Gaza after coming under intense domestic pressure over their fate. 'I feel a deep commitment, first and foremost, to ensure the return of all our abductees, all of them,' he said. Trump said on Thursday he wanted 'safety for the people of Gaza.' 'They've gone through hell,' he said. A Palestinian source familiar with the negotiations told AFP earlier this week that the latest proposals included 'a 60-day truce, during which Hamas would release half of the living Israeli captives in the Gaza Strip' — thought to number 22 — 'in exchange for Israel releasing a number of Palestinian prisoners and detainees.' Out of 251 hostages seized by Palestinian militants during the October 2023 attack, 49 are still held in Gaza, including 27 the Israeli military says are dead. Nearly 21 months of war have created dire humanitarian conditions for the more than two million people in the Gaza Strip, where Israel has recently expanded its military operations. The military said in a statement it had been striking suspected Hamas targets across the territory, including around Gaza City in the north and Khan Yunis and Rafah in the south. Gaza civil defense official Mohammad al-Mughayyir said Israeli strikes and gunfire killed at least 52 people on Friday. The Israeli military said it was looking into the reports, except for a handful of incidents for which it requested coordinates and timeframes. Media restrictions in Gaza and difficulty accessing many areas mean AFP is unable to independently verify the tolls and details provided by the civil defense agency. In a separate statement, the Israeli military said a 19-year-old sergeant 'fell during combat in the southern Gaza Strip.' Mughayyir said the Palestinians killed included five people shot while waiting for aid near a US-run site in Rafah in southern Gaza, and several more near the Wadi Gaza Bridge in the center of the territory. They were the latest in a series of deaths near aid distribution centers in the devastated territory, which UN agencies have warned is on the brink of famine. At Nasser Hospital in Khan Yunis, crowds mourned 16 people killed on Thursday by what the civil defense agency said was shooting near a nearby aid center. 'I lost my brother in the American distribution center that they set up to feed people,' cried one mourner, Narmin Abu Muammar. 'They are killing people, not feeding them.' Medical aid charity Doctors Without Borders (MSF) said Abdullah Hammad, who recently finished a contract working for it, was among those killed in Thursday's shooting. It said he was the 12th colleague the group had lost in the Gaza war. 'We demand an end to this bloodshed,' MSF said in a statement. The US- and Israeli-run Gaza Humanitarian Foundation has distanced itself from reports of deadly incidents near its sites. Mughayyir told AFP that eight people, including a child, were killed in an Israeli airstrike on the tents of displaced civilians near Khan Yunis. The civil defense official said eight more people were killed in two other strikes on camps on the coast, including one that killed two children early Friday. The Israeli military said it was operating throughout Gaza 'to dismantle Hamas military capabilities.' The Hamas attack of October 2023 resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli official figures. Israel's retaliatory military campaign has killed at least 57,268 people in Gaza, also mostly civilians, according to the Hamas-run territory's health ministry. The United Nations considers the figures reliable.
