Washington to give $30m to controversial US-Israeli aid scheme in Gaza
The US State Department has approved $30m in funding for the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, the State Department said on Thursday, calling on other countries to also support the scandal-plagued US-Israeli aid scheme in Gaza.
"This support is simply the latest iteration of President Trump's and Secretary Rubio's pursuit of peace in the region," State Department deputy spokesperson Tommy Pigott told reporters on Thursday.
More than 500 people have been killed trying to collect bags of flour distributed at four different GHF aid sites across the strip.
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Arabian Post
an hour ago
- Arabian Post
NATO Summit At Hague Shows Once Again Europe Has Surrendered To Trump
By Nitya Chakraborty The Rambo of the global diplomacy Donald Trump joined the NATO summit at Hague on June 24-25 with a triumphant smile after organizing the ceasefire between Israel and Iran in their 12 day war and strongly imparting the signal that no one matters in the world affairs now excepting the U.S. President. The major European nations which were resorting to anti-Trump rhetoric in the last four months since the last February summit of NATO completely took an about turn and agreed to what Trump wanted. The NATO declaration issued on June 25 was a total vindication of Trump line on imposing 5 per cent of the members respective national incomes on defence spending gradually by 2035. Spain was the only dissenter but Trump threatened Spain and said that he would take care of Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez later. Just remember what happened at the last meeting of NATO and later at the Munich Security Conference of European nations in February this year. US vice president J D Vance termed the European nations as freeloaders and said that USA would no longer carry the burden of defending Europe. French President Emanuel Macron as also Germany talked of independent defence arrangement without depending on USA. European Union members prepared alternative plan for a European security system on its own strength. Only NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, being a pragmatist remained silent. He knew how far the key powers of Europe could go with their plan without assistance from the USA. So this time at the Hague summit, Rutte was ecstatic at the sight of Donald Trump. He presented the joint declaration as a victory of Trump. He sent a private message saying you will achieve something which no other American President, in decades, could have done. Rutte even said that Trump had done the right thing by persuading the Europeans to do what they did not do on their own. After so much flattery and seeing the European leaders of NATO in bended knees, Trump was overwhelmed. 'This was a tremendous summit, and I enjoyed it very much,' he said at a news conference at the end of the meeting. He added that he understood the central role the United States plays in the defense of Europe. 'They want to protect their country, and they need the United States and without the United States, it's not going to be the same,' he said. The NATO declaration made no mention of Ukraine's membership though that was at the agenda. That was done as per wishes of Trump that Ukraine need not be a member of NATO. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky had a meeting with Trump at Hague but he did not come out of the meeting pleased though the NATO sources said that Ukraine will be getting arms and equipment from NATO member countries. At the G-7 meeting in Canada last week, Trump could not meet the Ukrainian President because he had to rush to Washington on account of Israel-Iran war by skipping the second day of the summit. In the last two weeks since June 13 when Israel started the war against Iran, Trump did not allow any power to take any initiative to stop the war. France, Germany and Britain talked with Iran about a formula but Trump totally ignored that. President Putin wanted to mediate but Trump just told him you look after Ukraine and nothing more. China circulated a four point proposal but it was not discussed at any level. So all through it was Trump and Trump alone who dealt with the issues of negotiations projecting himself as the only world leader who matters in the year 2025 in global diplomacy. Gaza still remains an issue and Israel is killing Palestinians consistently. All nations are talking and giving statements but no country including China and Russia are taking concrete steps to stop the killings. This should be main priority of Trump if he really wants to emerge as a peacemaker. Gaza killings by Israel is the latest humanitarian disaster. It has to be stopped. (IPA Service)
Gulf Today
3 hours ago
- Gulf Today
Popular condemnation
Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil was freed from detention at a US immigration facility last Friday after 104 days of captivity. A graduate student at Columbia University, Khalil – who is Palestinian by parentage – has an Algerian passport and permanent US residence. He was snatched without a warrant from his home in early March as he and his pregnant wife were returning from an evening out. His case attracted widespread popular condemnation. Rights groups accused the Trump administration of violation the sacrosanct First Amendment of the US Constitution which guarantees freedom of speech and assembly. Amnesty International condemned his arrest and pressed for his freedom. Amnesty's regional director Ana Piquer stated, 'We remain deeply concerned by the escalating use of detention, intimidation, deportation, and disregard to right of due process, to silence protest and chill public debate in the United States. This is not just about one student, it is about the growing pattern of authoritarian practices by the Trump administration that undermine human rights. We urge the US government to end the political targeting of students and other individuals based on their beliefs and to respect freedom of speech. Mahmoud's detention [was] a stark reminder of the human rights that are at stake in the country, and we will continue to monitor his case.' On his release, he rejoined his wife Noor Abdallah and hugged his newborn son for the first time. However, he is not a totally free man as his immigration case is ongoing and the authorities seized his passport and green card which identifies him as a legal US resident. His movements are restricted to New York and nearby states. A federal judge in Newark, New Jersey, ordered Khalil's release on bail, asserting, unconditionally: 'He is not a danger to the community. Period, full stop.' The judge accepted his lawyers' contention that his prosecution was politically motivated. Khalil had committed no crime. Officials had charged him with threatening national security by protesting US backing for Israel's Gaza war and accused him of antisemitism although Jewish students demonstrated alongside him at Columbia University and elsewhere. His high-profile arrest was the most energetically contested of multiple immigration cases levelled against foreign students who took part in these anti-war protests at US universities. Other detainees were either freed or deported from the country. His release could encourage others to fight. Khalil's release constitutes a blow to the Trump administration's campaign to dictate the US narrative and take questionable or downright illegal actions to stifle dissidence. In addition to branding protests against Israel as antisemitic and against US policies favouring Israel, Trump has nearly closed the Voice of America (VOA) by firing thousands of journalists on its staff. The administration claimed the VOA was 'riddled with dysfunction, bias, and waste. The VOA was established during World War II to counter Nazi propaganda and played the same role during the Cold War between the West and the Soviet Union. Trump has followed up by cutting funding to National Public Radio and the Public Broadcasting System which serves mainly rural communities. Critics argue the administration is taking this action to limit the public's access to independent reports and liberal, progressive views which challenge Trump's line and actions. Trump has led the charge against federal, educational, and institutional policies based on identity. These are meant to give opportunities to people of all backgrounds. These policies, dubbed 'diversity, equity and diversity,' remove gender, ethnic, religious, and educational requirements for inclusion in a wide range of activities and ensure equal treatment and pay. Trump has also issued a travel ban on visitors from 12 countries, including Afghanistan, Iran, Libya, Yemen, and Sudan, and a partial travel ban on seven more. This ban affects predominantly black and brown people as well as those from Muslim-majority countries. Amnesty accused the administration of racial discrimination, creates hatred, and promotes the idea that citizens from the targeted countries are likely to mount attacks in the US. Amnesty said, 'This arbitrary travel ban also violates the right to seek and enjoy asylum from persecution and the US obligation to protect [asylum seekers and refugees] under international and national refugee law.' US Senator Alex Padilla was arrested, thrown to the floor, and handcuffed by law officers for asking a question of Homeland Security chief Kristi Noem at a press conference. A judge was arrested in her office for helping a defendant to evade arrest by an immigration team. Masked squads snatch, arrest, and disappear targeted individuals in public and detain those protesting peacefully against his mass roundups of migrants. Trump placed the California National Guard under federal control and deployed 700 marines against largely peaceful Los Angeles demonstrations against his administration's crack down on migrants. This intervention coincided with the June 14th military parade in Washington to mark the 250th anniversary of the US army, Trump's 79th birthday, and anti-authoritarian 'No King' protests against Trump's authoritarianism which drew five million across the US. Trump again demonstrated his authoritarian bent on the international plane by ordering and carrying out attacks on Iranian nuclear facilities in support of Israel's war on Iran. While anti-Iran hawks and most lawmakers in Trump's Republican party praised this action, Democrats were highly critical. They argued that he failed to seek congressional authorisation to use military force abroad and insisted on a full, classified briefing on this operation. Some Democrats called for Trump's impeachment. Photo: AFP
Gulf Today
3 hours ago
- Gulf Today
Trump says US and Iranian officials will talk next week
President Donald Trump announced on Wednesday that US and Iranian officials will talk next week, continuing a dialogue that was interrupted by the recent war between Israel and Tehran, while a fragile ceasefire appeared to be holding. "I'll tell you what, we're going to talk with them next week, with Iran. We may sign an agreement, I don't know," Trump told a press conference during the Nato summit in the Netherlands. Trump said he wasn't particularly interested in restarting negotiations with Iran, insisting that US strikes had destroyed its nuclear programme. "The way I look at it, they fought, the war is done,' he said. Iran has not acknowledged any talks taking place next week, though US Mideast envoy Steve Witkoff has said there has been direct and indirect communication between the countries. The fragile ceasefire gave rise to cautious hope for longer-term peace even as Tehran insisted it will not give up its nuclear program. Trump, who helped negotiate the ceasefire that took hold on Tuesday, the 12th day of the war, earlier told reporters at a Nato summit it was going "very well," adding that Iran was "not going to have a bomb and they're not going to enrich." Iran has insisted, however, that it will not give up its nuclear programme. In a vote underscoring the tough path ahead, its parliament agreed to fast-track a proposal that would effectively stop the country's cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the UN watchdog that has monitored the programme for years. Ahead of the vote, Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf criticised the IAEA for having "refused to even pretend to condemn the attack on Iran's nuclear facilities' that the United States carried out on Sunday. "For this reason, the Atomic Energy Organisation of Iran will suspend cooperation with the IAEA until security of nuclear facilities is ensured, and Iran's peaceful nuclear program will move forward at a faster pace," Qalibaf told lawmakers. IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi said he had already written to Iran to discuss resuming inspections of their nuclear facilities. Among other things, Iran claims to have moved its highly enriched uranium ahead of the US strikes, and Grossi said his inspectors need to re-assess the country's stockpiles. "We need to return,' he said. "We need to engage.' French President Emmanuel Macron, whose country was part of the 2015 deal with Iran that restricted its nuclear programme but began unraveling after Trump pulled the US out in his first term, said he hoped Tehran would come back to the table. Iran has long maintained that its nuclear programme was peaceful, and US intelligence agencies have assessed that Tehran is not actively pursuing a bomb. However, Israeli leaders have argued that Iran could quickly assemble a nuclear weapon. Israel is widely believed to be the only Middle Eastern country with nuclear weapons, which it has never acknowledged. The Israel Atomic Energy Commission said its assessment was that the US and Israeli strikes have "set back Iran's ability to develop nuclear weapons by many years.' It did not give evidence to back up its claim. The US strikes hit three Iranian nuclear sites, which Trump said "completely and fully obliterated' the country's nuclear program. At the Nato summit, when asked about a US intelligence report that found Iran's nuclear programme has been set back only a few months, Trump scoffed and said it would at least take "years' to rebuild. Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman, Esmail Baghaei, confirmed that the strikes by US B-2 bombers using bunker-buster bombs had caused significant damage. "Our nuclear installations have been badly damaged, that's for sure,' he told Al Jazeera on Wednesday, while refusing to go into detail. He seemed to suggest Iran might not shut out IAEA inspectors for good, noting that the bill before parliament only talks of suspending work with the agency, not ending it. He also insisted Iran has the right to pursue a nuclear energy programme. "Iran is determined to preserve that right under any circumstances,' he said. Witkoff said on Fox News late on Tuesday that Israel and the US had achieved their objective of "the total destruction of the enrichment capacity' in Iran, and Iran's prerequisite for talks - that Israel end its campaign - had been fulfilled. "The proof is in the pudding,' he said. "No one's shooting at each other. It's over.' Grossi said he could not speculate on how bad the damage was but that Iran's nuclear capabilities were well known. "The technical knowledge is there, and the industrial capacity is there,' he said. "That no one can deny, so we need to work together with them.' An Israeli official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations, said the ceasefire agreement with Iran amounted to "quiet for quiet,' with no further understandings about Iran's nuclear programme going ahead. In the Fox News interview, Witkoff said Trump is now looking to land "a comprehensive peace agreement that goes beyond even the ceasefire.' "We're already talking to each other, not just directly, but also through interlocutors,' Witkoff said, adding that the conversations were promising and "we're hopeful that we can have a long-term peace agreement.' However, Baghaei, the Iranian spokesman, said Washington had "torpedoed diplomacy' with its attacks on nuclear sites, and that while Iran in principle was always open to talks, national security was the priority. "We have to make sure whether the other parties are really serious when they're talking about diplomacy, or is it again part of their tactics to make more problems for the region and for my country,' he said. China, a close Iranian partner and major buyer of Iranian oil, said it hoped a "lasting and effective ceasefire can be achieved so as to promote" peace and stability in the region. China has blamed Israel for starting the war and destabilizing the region. Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun told reporters that China is willing to "inject positive factors to safeguard peace and stability in the Middle East.' Grossi said Iran and the international community should seize the opportunity of the ceasefire for a long-term diplomatic solution. "Out of the ... bad things that military conflict brings, there's also now a possibility, an opening,' he said. "We shouldn't miss that opportunity.' Associated Press
