LIVE: Israel pounds Gaza, Yemen; Houthis fire more missiles
US President Donald Trump says there is a 'good chance' that a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas could be reached this week.
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Al Jazeera
3 hours ago
- Al Jazeera
LIVE: UN says Israeli forces killed hundreds seeking aid in Gaza
Sources at Gaza hospitals say 17 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli raids on the Strip since dawn. At least 10 Palestinians were killed on Friday while waiting for rations in Gaza, adding to nearly 800 similar deaths in the last six weeks, according to the United Nations, with Israel's army saying it issued new instructions to troops following repeated reports of fatalities.
Al Jazeera
3 hours ago
- Al Jazeera
Israeli settlers beat American to death in West Bank; US says it's aware
Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank have beaten to death a United States citizen in his early 20s, the victim's family members and rights groups have said. Settlers attacked and killed Sayfollah Musallet in the town of Sinjil, north of Ramallah, on Friday, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry. Relatives of Musallet, who was from Tampa, Florida, were also quoted by The Washington Post as saying he was beaten to death by Israeli settlers. 'We are aware of reports of the death of a US citizen in the West Bank,' Reuters reported a State Department spokesperson as saying. The official declined to comment further 'out of respect for the privacy of the family and loved ones' of the reported victim. Musallet, also known as Saif al-Din Musalat, had travelled from his home in Florida to visit family in Palestine, his cousin Fatmah Muhammad said in a social media post. Another Palestinian, identified by the Health Ministry as Mohammed Shalabi, was fatally shot by settlers during the attack. Rights advocates have documented repeated instances where Israeli settlers in the West Bank ransack Palestinian neighbourhoods and towns, burning homes and vehicles in attacks sometimes described as pogroms. The Israeli military often protects the settlers during their rampages and has shot Palestinians who show any resistance. The United Nations and other prominent human rights organisations consider the Israeli settlements in the West Bank violations of international law, as part of a broader strategy to displace Palestinians. While some Western countries like France and Australia have imposed sanctions on violent settlers, attacks have increased since the outbreak of Israel's war in Gaza in October 2023. When President Donald Trump took office earlier this year, his administration revoked sanctions on settlers imposed by his predecessor, Joe Biden. Israeli forces have killed at least nine US citizens since 2022, including veteran Al Jazeera reporter Shireen Abu Akleh. But none of the incidents have resulted in criminal charges. The US provides billions of dollars to Israel every year. Advocates have accused successive US administrations of failing to protect American citizens from Israeli violence in the Middle East. On Friday, the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) called on Washington to ensure accountability for the killing of Musallet. 'Every other murder of an American citizen has gone unpunished by the American government, which is why the Israeli government keeps wantonly killing American Palestinians and, of course, other Palestinians,' CAIR deputy director Edward Ahmed Mitchell said in a statement. He then pointed out that Trump has repeatedly promised to prioritise American interests, as typified by his campaign slogan 'America First'. 'If President Trump will not even put America first when Israel murders American citizens, then this is truly an Israel First administration,' Mitchell said. The Institute for Middle East Understanding (IMEU) also called for action from the US administration, noting that settlers are 'lynching Palestinians more frequently – with full support from Israel's army and government'. 'The US government has a legal and moral obligation to stop Israel's racist violence against Palestinians. Instead, it's still backing and funding it,' the group said in a statement. The US Department of State did not respond to Al Jazeera's request for comment about the killing of Musallet. The Palestinian group Hamas condemned the murder of Musallet, describing it as 'barbaric', and called on Palestinians across the West Bank to rise up to 'confront the settlers and their terrorist attacks'. Israel said it was 'investigating' what happened in Sinjil, claiming that the violence started when Palestinians threw rocks at an Israeli vehicle. 'Shortly thereafter, violent clashes developed in the area between Palestinians and Israeli civilians, which included the destruction of Palestinian property, arson, physical confrontations, and stone-throwing,' the Israeli military said in a statement. Israeli investigations often lead to no charges or meaningful accountability for the abuses of Israeli officers and settlers. As settler and military violence intensifies in the West Bank, Israel has killed at least 57,762 Palestinians in Gaza in a campaign that rights groups have described as a genocide.
Al Jazeera
6 hours ago
- Al Jazeera
US State Department begins layoffs in Trump's shake-up of diplomatic corps
More than 1,350 US State Department employees have been fired in a major diplomatic shake-up ordered by President Donald Trump, in a move critics predict would curb the United States' influence around the world. Friday's mass layoff, which affect 1,107 civil service and 246 foreign service officers based in the United States, come at a time when Washington is grappling with multiple crises on the world stage: Russia's war in Ukraine, the almost two-year-long Gaza conflict, and the Middle East on edge due to high tension between Israel and Iran. Diplomats and other staff clapped out departing colleagues in emotional scenes at the Washington headquarters of the department, which runs US foreign policy and the global network of embassies. Some were crying as they walked out with boxes of belongings. 'It's just heartbreaking to stand outside these doors right now and see people coming out in tears, because all they wanted to do was serve this country,' said US Senator Andy Kim, a New Jersey Democrat who worked as a civilian adviser for the State Department in Afghanistan during the administration of former President Barack Obama. The layoffs at the department came three days after the Supreme Court cleared the way for the Trump administration to begin carrying out its plan to gut entire government positions. The conservative-dominated top court lifted a temporary block imposed by a lower court on Trump's plans to lay off potentially tens of thousands of employees. The 79-year-old Republican says he wants to dismantle what he calls the 'deep state'. Since taking office in January, he has worked quickly to install fierce personal loyalists and to fire swaths of veteran government workers. Trump's Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the foreign policy department is too cumbersome and requires thinning out of some 15 percent. 'It's not a consequence of trying to get rid of people. But if you close the bureau, you don't need those positions,' Rubio told reporters on the sidelines of his ASEAN meeting in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. 'Understand that some of these are positions that are being eliminated, not people.' The American Foreign Service Association (AFSA) – the union representing State Department employees – condemned the 'catastrophic blow to our national interests'. 'We oppose this decision in the strongest terms.' The State Department employed more than 80,000 people worldwide last year, according to a fact sheet, with about 17,700 in domestic roles. The US Agency for International Development (USAID), long the primary vehicle to provide US humanitarian assistance around the world, has already been mostly dismantled. According to The Washington Post, State Department employees were informed of their firings by email. Foreign Service officers will lose their jobs 120 days after receiving the notice and will be immediately placed on administrative leave, while civil service employees will be separated after 60 days, the newspaper said. Ned Price, who served as State Department spokesman under former Democratic President Joe Biden, condemned what he called haphazard firings. 'For all the talk about 'merit-based,' they're firing officers based on where they happen to be assigned on this arbitrary day,' Price said on X. 'It's the laziest, most inefficient, and most damaging way to lean the workforce.'
