‘It's a death trap': Palestinians describe deadly shooting at aid center in Gaza
CNN spoke to multiple witnesses who recounted the deadly chaos that unfolded at a US-backed aid center in southern Gaza after more than 30 Palestinians were killed and dozens injured on Sunday, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health. The health ministry blamed the Israeli military for the deaths while other witnesses claimed that security personnel at the distribution hub had also opened fire. Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, which runs the site, said in a statement that it was 'aware of rumors being actively fomented by Hamas suggesting deaths and injuries today.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
New York Times
an hour ago
- New York Times
Live Updates: Colorado Attack That Injured 12 Was Planned for a Year, Officials Say
An Israeli flag near the scene of the attack in Boulder, Colo., on Sunday. The attack on demonstrators in Boulder, Colo., marching in support of hostages being held in Gaza would have been disturbing to Jewish people across the country even if it were the only recent event of its kind. The suspect told investigators after his arrest that he had been planning the attack for a year, according to court documents. Eight people were hospitalized. For many, the connections to other recent outbursts of violence were impossible to miss. The attack in Boulder came less than two weeks after two Israeli Embassy employees were shot and killed as they left a reception at a Jewish museum in Washington. A month earlier, an arsonist set fire to the Pennsylvania governor's mansion on the first night of Passover while Gov. Josh Shapiro, who is Jewish, slept upstairs with his family. 'What we've seen these last few months is a shocking pattern of anti-Israel sentiment manifesting itself in antisemitic violence,' said Halie Soifer, chief executive of the Jewish Democratic Council of America. 'With each incident, there's a further shattering of our sense of security.' In Colorado and Washington, authorities said, the suspects shouted 'Free Palestine' on the scene. In Pennsylvania, the arsonist later said he had set the fire as a response to Israeli attacks on Palestinians. Ms. Soifer pointed out that the Molotov cocktails used by the attacker in Boulder were strikingly similar to the incendiary devices used by Cody Balmer, the man accused of arson in Pennsylvania. Image The Pennsylvania governor's mansion in Harrisburg, Pa., after an arsonist set a fire on the first night of Passover in April. man charged on Monday with a federal hate crime in Colorado, Mohamed Sabry Soliman, told investigators that he wanted to 'kill all Zionist people and wished they were all dead,' according to papers filed in federal court. The drumbeat of violence erupting across the country and taking an unpredictable variety of forms has deepened anxieties among many American Jews, and contributed to a sense that simply existing in public as a Jewish person is increasingly dangerous. One of the victims of the attack at the march in Boulder was a Holocaust survivor, according to a friend of the victim who was at the scene. That all three attackers alluded to political objections to Israel raised concerns among many about the threat of left-wing political violence connected to the war in Gaza. The number of antisemitic episodes in the United States in 2023, in the wake of the Hamas attack on Israel, was the highest ever recorded in a one-year period, according to the Anti-Defamation League. 'Dangerous words turn into dangerous actions,' said Stefanie Clarke, the co-executive director of Stop Antisemitism Colorado, which she founded after the attacks in Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. 'We've been sounding the alarm about the rise in antisemitism, the dangerous rhetoric and the risks of this turning violent, and now we're seeing it play out.' Ms. Clarke, who lives in Boulder, noted that conflicts about the war have boiled over in City Council meetings there. Activists have urged the passage of a resolution advocating a cease-fire in Gaza, and some meetings have devolved into cursing and what one council member described in December as 'chanting, screaming and threatening conduct.' In February, a rabbi in Boulder, Marc Soloway, wrote an open letter to the City Council in which he described being physically and verbally threatened at a council meeting. 'It is just a plain fact that many of us in Boulder's Jewish community simply do not feel safe or supported,' he wrote. 'Jews in America have mostly felt the threats of antisemitism from the far right in the form of White Supremacy, yet now many of us have experienced hatred, bigotry and intolerance from progressives, those who many of us have considered friends and allies.' In April, an opponent of Israel's war in Gaza circulated a 'Wanted' poster online that showed the faces of seven council members, writing that they were 'complicit in genocide' for not passing the resolution. Across the country, many Jews say they have observed an uptick in antisemitism, both personally and in the broader culture, in recent years. Image A memorial at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh after a gunman killed 11 worshipers in 2018. Credit... Hilary Swift for The New York Times In a survey of 1,732 Jews conducted in the fall of 2024, the American Jewish Committee found that 93 percent said antisemitism was at least somewhat of a problem, and a similar share said it had increased over the past five years. Almost a quarter of respondents said they had been the target of at least one antisemitic remark in the past year, and 2 percent said they had been physically attacked. The deadliest antisemitic attack in American history remains the assault at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh, where a gunman killed 11 worshipers and wounded six others in 2018. The Tree of Life shooter, who was condemned to death by federal jurors in 2023, seemed to be motivated by right-wing extremism. So, too, was the gunman who opened fire at a synagogue in Poway, Calif., in 2019. Experts emphasize that right-wing antisemitism remains a major threat. But the sprawling protest movement against the war in Gaza has scrambled efforts to distinguish opposition to the actions of the Israeli government, or even to the state of Israel itself, from hostility to Jews. Critics of the protesters have argued that slogans like 'globalize the Intifada' are thinly veiled calls for violence in any Jewish space. In the Anti-Defamation League's latest annual audit of antisemitic incidents in the United States, the organization found that for the first time, a majority of incidents (58 percent) had 'elements that related to Israel or Zionism.' Several Jewish organizations suggested in statements that the attacks undercut attempts to distinguish antisemitism from anti-Zionism, a distinction made by many activists critical of Israel's approach to the war in Gaza, which has killed more than 50,000 people, according to the territory's health ministry. 'Make no mistake: If and when Jews are targeted to protest Israel's actions, it should clearly and unequivocally be understood and condemned as antisemitism,' the chief executive of the Jewish Council for Public Affairs, Amy Spitalnick, said in a statement. The Trump administration has made fighting antisemitism a vocal priority, often using the issue to escalate the president's attacks on elite universities and to reinforce his goal to dramatically reduce immigration. Mr. Trump signed an executive order on Jan. 29 aimed at combating 'an unprecedented wave of vile antisemitic discrimination, vandalism and violence against our citizens, especially in our schools and on our campuses.' Mr. Trump said on social media on Monday that attacks like the one in Boulder 'WILL NOT BE TOLERATED,' criticizing former President Joseph R. Biden Jr. for letting Mr. Soliman into the country. Mr. Soliman came to the country legally on a tourist visa, according to the Department of Homeland Security. Critics say that Mr. Trump's other actions have undercut his claims of concern about rising antisemitism. A temporary freeze in funding of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, for example, paused support for a security grant program that served many synagogues and other Jewish institutions.
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Trump team emphasizes immigration in Boulder response
President Trump and his administration are leaning into immigration more than antisemitism in the wake of an attack in Boulder, Colo., that targeted a pro-Israel gathering. The administration has made it its mission to usher in tough immigration policies, and it has also gone after universities for antisemitism over campus protests related to the Gaza war. The attack on the group demonstrating in Boulder for the release of hostages held by Hamas fits into several arguments the administration is making about what needs to change in the country, particularly since the suspect behind the attack was living in the U.S. on an expired visa. So far, the response from the administration has been much more focused on highlighting that immigration status. Trump's response to the attack a day later began by ripping his predecessor President Biden for what he deems a 'ridiculous open border policy.' The Department of Homeland Security, meanwhile, was 'revamping' the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) tip line to 'report suspicious criminal activity by illegal aliens including terrorist activity, gang related crimes, and suspected sex trafficking' in its response to the event in Boulder. 'For four years, the Biden Administration allowed millions of unvetted illegal aliens—including terrorists, gang members, and other violent criminals—to pour into our country. Yesterday's terrorist attack by a suspect illegally in our country, underscores the importance of getting these illegal aliens out of our country,' assistant secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement. DHS' response to the attack on Sunday involved immediately highlighting that the suspect had been in the U.S. illegally. Similarly, Secretary of State Marco Rubio warned about deporting criminals in response to the attack. 'In light of yesterday's horrific attack, all terrorists, their family members, and terrorist sympathizers here on a visa should know that under the Trump Administration we will find you, revoke your visa, and deport you,' he said on X. The suspect, Mohamed Soliman, has been charged with a federal hate crime after he allegedly yelled 'Free Palestine' as he was attacking the group, injuring multiple people with Molotov cocktails. Soliman had entered the U.S. on a tourist visa in August 2022. That visa expired in early 2023 but Soliman stayed in the country since and he had applied for asylum during that time. DHS said he had also applied for a work permit once the tourist visa was up, but that had also expired. Soliman used a 'makeshift flamethrower' and incendiary devices Sunday to attack people demonstrating for the release of hostages held in Gaza by Hamas. The victims of the attack range in age from 52 to 88, The Associated Press reported. Deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller, one of the administration's chief immigration hawks, quickly called out Soliman's immigration status late Sunday just after the attack, calling him 'an illegal alien.' 'He was granted a tourist visa by the Biden Administration and then he illegally overstayed that visa. In response, the Biden Administration gave him a work permit. Suicidal migration must be fully reversed,' Miller said. Press secretary Karoline Leavitt, meanwhile, did highlight that Jewish Americans should 'rest assure' that 'this president has your back.' She also directed her response towards the work of the administration to crack down on border crossings and also blamed the Biden. 'I'd also like to point out that this administration has done more than any administration to curb this violence and to curb illegal immigration,' she said. 'We know that this individual, this terrorist, was allowed into this country by the previous administration… was given a tourism visa and then was illegallyl allowed to stay.' The incident in Boulder comes just a week after another antisemitic attack in Washington, D.C. A man who shouted 'free, free Palestine' while being detained fatally shot two Israeli Embassy staffers, Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Milgrim, at a reception at the Capital Jewish Museum. Following that attack in Washington, attorney general Pam Bondi said the threat level has been increased for all Americans, telling people that 'whether you are Jewish or not, be vigilant.' Some Democrats on Monday said the administration wasn't doing enough to call out antisemitism. 'It was an obviously antisemitic attack and the latest in a series of antisemitic attacks. We had that attack on that couple exiting the Jewish community center in Washington a couple of weeks ago… and the Jewish community is very on edge. And we want the federal government to do more,' Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.) said on CNN. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), meanwhile, called out the dangers of unchecked antisemitism but opted not to address the administration's response. 'Because of their Jewish identity, they were targeted by hate. When antisemitism is allowed to fester in more corners of society, it historically leads to more terrorism and violence,' Schumer said on the Senate floor. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Kshama Sawant, a Seattle socialist, to challenge veteran WA Democratic congressman
Kshama Sawant, the socialist who served on the Seattle City Council until last year, launched a campaign for Congress on Monday. Above, she is speaking at a rally in Seattle in 2017. (Photo by) Kshama Sawant, the socialist who served a decade on the Seattle City Council, launched a 'working-class, antiwar, anti-genocide' campaign Monday to unseat incumbent Democratic U.S. Rep. Adam Smith in the 2026 election. At her campaign kick-off in Seattle, Sawant called for a $25 an hour minimum wage, universal health care and a halt in U.S. military aid to Israel for its ongoing offensive against Hamas. Sawant did not seek re-election in 2023 as she established Workers Strike Back, an activist group focused on pro-labor causes and other issues. The Seattle resident vowed, if elected, to 'flip the script on how to use elected office' as she did as a city leader from 2014 to 2024. 'My socialist city council office went to war for working people to defeat the strenuous opposition from both big business and the Democratic Party,' she said in a statement. 'Our experience in Seattle shows that we can defeat the rich and their political servants.' Sawant filed as an independent with the Federal Election Commission. Smith, who's served in the U.S. House since 1997, said Sawant's candidacy will offer voters 'a clear contrast.' 'Her record on the Seattle City Council is defined by extreme, divisive tactics and policies that left lasting harm,' he said in a statement. The war in Gaza will be a major issue in the campaign. Sawant hit hard Monday, saying that because the Democrats and Republican parties have backed U.S. support of Israel 'to the hilt,' they both are 'responsible for what is in reality a new holocaust' in which thousands have died and Gaza has been reduced to rubble. Smith, the ranking Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee, has 'blood on his hands' for fully endorsing the policies, she said. He, in turn, said Sawant bears responsibility for Republican Donald Trump winning the presidency because she actively campaigned against former Vice President Kamala Harris' bid for the office, undermining Democratic efforts to defeat Trump. 'I have constantly fought against Donald Trump and the devastating policies he is forcing on the American people,' Smith said. The two will duel to represent the 9th Congressional District, which encompasses parts of Seattle and Bellevue as well as the south King County communities of Renton, Tukwila, Kent, Des Moines and Federal Way. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
