Former US official ‘without a doubt' over Israel's Gaza war crimes
Israel has committed war crimes in Gaza, according to a former spokesman for the United States Department of State.
Matthew Miller told the Sky News Trump100 podcast on Monday that he is 'without a doubt' certain that Israel has committed war crimes in the conduct of its military offensive in the Palestinian enclave.
Miller, who until this year regularly defended the pro-Israeli policies of then-President Joe Biden, however, stressed that he did not believe genocide was being carried out.
But he suggested that there was tension within the administration over the US failure to put more pressure on Israel.
According to the Ministry of Health in Gaza, at least 54,381 Palestinians have been killed and 124,054 wounded. Almost all of the enclave's 2.3 million people have been displaced, while an Israeli blockade threatens famine.
During his time with the State Department, Miller repeatedly clashed with journalists who questioned the US response to Israel's handling of Gaza, including repeated bombings of medical facilities and refugee camps sheltering Palestinian civilians, as well as the continued US military aid to Israel and possible violations of international law.
In one incident last November, Miller was rebuked for laughing during a question about Israel blocking aid to Gaza.Miller stressed in the interview that, as spokesman, he was not advocating his own opinion but expressing the official stance of Biden's administration.
'You are a spokesperson for the president, the administration, and you espouse the positions of the administration,' he said. 'And when you're not in the administration, you can just give your own opinions.'
Asked about his experience handling the issue, Miller said there were 'small and big' disagreements within the Biden administration over how to deal with Israel.
'There were disagreements all along the way about how to handle policy. Some of those were big disagreements, some of those were little disagreements,' he said.
In particular, he hinted at tensions between Biden and Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
Although the former official said he does not believe Israel is carrying out genocide in Gaza, he admitted that 'there probably was' more that the US could have done to pressure Israel to stop the war and prevent the killing of 'thousands of … innocent civilians who didn't want this war'.
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Yahoo
29 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Commentary: How big of a threat is China really?
Last June, during an annual security conference in East Asia, then-Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin underscored that the United States was not seeking conflict with China. Maintaining a consistent dialogue with Beijing, he hinted, was just as vital to effective deterrence as ensuring the U.S. military was fully equipped and prepared. Fast-forward a year later and the message from Washington is far different. Unlike his predecessor, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth name-dropped China in his speech to the same security conference multiple times, as if to shame the Asian superpower for running roughshod over the so-called rules-based international order. China, Hegseth warned, was trying to become a hegemon in Asia, where it could dominate its neighbors, exploit the South China Sea's vast natural resources and coerce other countries into accepting Beijing's demands. In Hegseth's words, 'It has to be clear to all that Beijing is credibly preparing to potentially use military force to alter the balance of power in the Indo-Pacific.' An invasion of Taiwan, he added, could be 'imminent.' If this all sounds scary, that's because it is. His comments raise the rhetorical gamesmanship to a level U.S. officials weren't comfortable with in the past. The Biden administration was no slouch on China policy, but it still didn't want to inflame things unnecessarily. The Pentagon, for instance, repeatedly emphasized that while China's military drills around Taiwan were aggressive and designed to wear down the island's will to resist, a conflict in the Taiwan Strait was 'neither imminent nor inevitable.' In other words, there was still an opportunity to defuse any tensions before they exploded into a war that could drag the United States in, kill tens of thousands of people and throw a heavy wrench into the global economy. The Trump administration, however, has deployed noticeably sharper words during its first four months. Although the fundamentals of its wider policy in East Asia mimic the Biden administration's own — reinforcing U.S. alliances; engaging in regular freedom of navigation exercises with Japan and the Philippines; and stressing the utility of preserving the status quo in the Taiwan Strait — Trump's advisers aren't afraid of poking Beijing in the eye. If managing the systemic rivalry with Beijing was a core component of Washington's overall strategy throughout Biden's four years, it increasingly looks like the guardrails that were put in place to prevent miscalculations are now eroding. Even so, does the Trump administration have a point? Is a conflict over Taiwan imminent as Hegseth suggests? And how real is the risk of China becoming Asia's hegemon? First, we should acknowledge that China is a threat in certain respects, particularly to its neighbors who have competing jurisdictional claims. The People's Liberation Army, or PLA, is arguably the strongest military in the region today, a consequence of Chinese President Xi Jinping's long-standing policy of pouring money into its coffers to fund a large-scale modernization campaign. China spent $314 billion on defense in 2024, a 7% increase from the year prior and a whopping 59% increase from a decade ago. The PLA boasts the largest ballistic missile arsenal in Asia and continues to invest in hypersonic missiles, which are difficult for conventional air defenses to intercept. The PLA is also throwing out the old rulebook that used to govern affairs in East Asia. As I mentioned last week, the median line that once served as an unofficial boundary separating Chinese and Taiwanese airspace is now imaginary as the Chinese air force flies closer to the self-ruled island to test Taiwan's defenses and wear down morale. Yet the United States would be wise to refrain from overestimating China's military capability and underestimating the capability of its allies like Japan, the Philippines, South Korea and Australia — all of whom have an even greater interest in preventing Chinese hegemony in Asia than Washington does. China is its own worst enemy in this regard: The more it presses its territorial claims, the more incentive its neighbors have to balance Beijing. For the most part, this is exactly what China's neighbors are doing. Japan is the most obvious case study. Traditionally a pacifist country that kept to an artificially low defense budget relative to its wealth, Japan has spent the last three years adding resources to its so-called Self-Defense Forces and buying American weapons off the shelf. Tokyo's latest national security strategy, unveiled in 2022, was a sea-change in how Japan typically talks about its security environment. In that document, China was called out for challenging the international order, partnering with Russia in its war against Ukraine and trying to change the region's status quo by force. Japan's defense budget is set to double by 2027, and with more resources comes a greater capability to preserve the balance of power. The Philippines is another example. While the country can't possibly compete with China in conventional terms, the Philippine government under President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has effectively given up on rapprochement with Beijing and thrown in its lot with Washington. China's incessant clashes with Philippine forces in the South China Sea have served as a wake-up call to a country whose previous administration under Rodrigo Duterte (who is now in custody at the Hague for war crimes) drifted into the Chinese camp and took a more suspicious view of U.S. intentions. Today, Manila is not only buttressing its navy and coast guard but also increasingly partnering with countries like Japan and Australia who have a similar threat perception about China. In short, Asia's middle-powers aren't standing still. Chinese coercion is bringing them together. And ultimately, this is more important for stability in this area of the world than whatever the United States chooses to do. ____ Daniel DePetris is a fellow at Defense Priorities and a foreign affairs columnist for the Chicago Tribune. ___
Hamilton Spectator
an hour ago
- Hamilton Spectator
Israel says it has recovered the bodies of 2 Israeli-American hostages from the Gaza Strip
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Newsweek
an hour ago
- Newsweek
Donald Trump's Travel Ban Surprisingly Omits One Country
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. President Donald Trump has reinstated and expanded a travel ban targeting citizens from 12 countries, citing national security concerns following a recent terror attack in Boulder, Colorado. The National Iranian American Council (NIAC) told Newsweek the move would "not make America safer." However, the country of origin of the attacker—Egypt—is notably absent from the list, raising questions about the ban's effectiveness and underlying motivations. Newsweek has contacted the White House for comment. President Donald Trump waves at an event held at the White House on June 4, 2025, in Washington D.C. President Donald Trump waves at an event held at the White House on June 4, 2025, in Washington It Matters The new travel restrictions, set to take effect on June 9, are part of the administration's efforts to prevent foreign terrorist threats. Yet, the omission of Egypt, the home country of the Boulder attacker, Mohamed Sabry Soliman, suggests potential inconsistencies in the policy's application. What to Know On June 1, Soliman, a 45-year-old Egyptian national, carried out a firebombing attack at a pro-Israel rally in Boulder, injuring 12 people. Soliman, who had overstayed his visa, used Molotov cocktails and a makeshift flamethrower during the assault. In a televised address from the Oval Office on Wednesday, Trump referred to the attack as evidence of the "extreme dangers" that foreign nationals who have not been properly vetted pose to the U.S. The Department of Homeland Security said Soliman had overstayed a tourist visa. Trump announced a reinstated ban would prohibit entry for citizens from 12 countries; Afghanistan, Myanmar, Chad, the Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen. Tougher restrictions, but not outright bans, would be imposed on visitors from Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan and Venezuela. There are a few exemptions, including athletes traveling for major sporting events, some dual nationals and Afghan nationals who have Special Immigrant Visas. Exemptions may also be granted on a case-by-case basis. However, despite being the origin of the Boulder attacker, Egypt is not included in the list of banned or restricted countries. This exclusion has led to criticism and questions about the criteria used to determine the targeted nations. When asked why Egypt was left of the list, Republican Senator Markwayne Mullin of Oklahoma told CNN that the order was being considered before the Boulder terrorist attack. When pressed on whether the attack had sped up the process, Mullin replied, "I don't think the Boulder incident had anything to do with this moving forward because this conversation has been going on for weeks." He added that Trump only used the Boulder attack as "an example of why we need to do this." On @TheSourceCNN, Kaitlan Collins asked Sen. Markwayne Mullin about why Egypt was not included in President Trump's travel ban tonight: — David Schenkel (@David_Schenkel) June 5, 2025 During his first presidential term, Trump ordered a travel ban against people from seven Muslim-majority countries from coming to the U.S. which was dubbed by critics a "Muslim ban." Following legal challenges, the order was amended before being upheld by the Supreme Court in 2018 although it was repealed by Trump's successor Joe Biden in 2021. In a statement to Newsweek, the NIAC said that Trump's first ban had impacted over 100,000 Iranians and visa processing had not fully recovered. NIAC president Jamal Abdi said the order will "not make America safer, but it will deeply harm the countless Americans, including in the Iranian-American community, whose loved ones will be arbitrarily denied visas or experience racial profiling and discrimination at ports of entry." Trump's order announced on Wednesday does not just target majority Muslim nations, with the president saying the list was based on visa overstay rates or political instability. Human rights groups have criticized the order, with Amnesty International USA saying it would spread "disinformation and hate." The group Human Rights First said the ban would harm refugees, asylum-seekers, and other vulnerable populations. Venezuela called the Trump administration "supremacists who think they own the world," while Somalia said it would engage in dialogue to address the concerns raised." However, Louisiana Representative Clay Higgins, a Republican, told the BBC on Thursday that Trump had a mandate from the American people to address illegal and dangerous immigration and that the U.S. had the right to control its borders. What People Are Saying President Donald Trump said the Boulder attack "underscored the extreme dangers posed to our country by the entry of foreign nationals who are not properly vetted," adding that "we don't want them." National Iranian American Council (NIAC) President Jamal Abdi: "National origin tells us nothing about whether an individual is a terrorist threat. Yet, that is precisely what Trump's bans have been based on." Amnesty International on X, formerly Twitter: "By targeting people based on their nationality, this ban only spreads disinformation and hate." GOP Representative Clay Higgins told the BBC: "President Trump has a mandate from the American people to address illegal and dangerous immigration." What's Next Legal challenges to the travel ban are anticipated, with opponents likely to question its consistency and potential discriminatory impact. The administration may face pressure to reassess the list of targeted countries to ensure it aligns more closely with its national security objectives.
