Trump Says Netanyahu's Trial Should Be Canceled
US President Donald Trump offered support to Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday, saying his trial should be canceled.
"Such a WITCH HUNT, for a man who has given so much, is unthinkable to me," Trump said in a post on Truth Social.
"Bibi Netanyahu's trial should be CANCELLED, IMMEDIATELY, or a Pardon given to a Great Hero, who has done so much for the State (of Israel)," Trump added.
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Al Arabiya
4 hours ago
- Al Arabiya
Justice Department Closes Investigation Into Muslim-Centered Community Near Dallas
The US Department of Justice has closed a federal civil rights investigation into a Muslim-centered planned community around one of the state's largest mosques near Dallas without filing any charges or lawsuits. The Justice Department had opened the investigation after US Sen. John Cornyn called for it, arguing that the development could discriminate against Christians and Jews. The developers of the proposed EPIC City community tied to the East Plano Islamic Center have complained they are being bullied by multiple federal and state investigations because they are Muslim. A June 13 Justice Department letter to Community Capital Partners, the group developing the project, noted the department is closing the investigation. 'CCP has affirmed that all will be welcome in any future development,' the letter said. The group wrote that they plan to revise and develop marketing materials to reinforce that message. A Justice Department spokesperson declined to comment further. The letter was first reported Wednesday by the Dallas Morning News. Community Capital Partners had said the development would adhere to the Fair Housing Act and any other state and federal guidelines and that the community would be open to members of all religions. The federal investigation had escalated pressure on the proposed EPIC City, which has faced steady criticism and multiple investigations. Republican Gov. Greg Abbott and other GOP state officials have claimed the group is trying to create a community that excludes non-Muslims and would impose Islamic law on residents. The developers have said they are not seeking to impose religion on anyone and that the community would follow state and federal law. Among its chief critics has been the state's hard-right Attorney General Ken Paxton, who is challenging Cornyn for his Senate seat in 2026. Dan Cogdell, an attorney for EPIC City who defended Paxton in his 2023 impeachment trial when he was acquitted by the state Senate, noted how quickly federal officials had wrapped up their probe. 'None of the investigations would be happening if the community was planned around a Christian church or Jewish temple,' Cogdell said. 'The false accusations that have been swirling around the development were based solely on misinformation, lies, and false rumors,' Cogdell said. 'Frankly, the politicians that have repeated them without ever bothering to look at any fact should be embarrassed.' The state investigations include whether the development is violating financial and fair housing laws and whether funeral practices at the mosque were done legally. The status of those investigations remained unclear Wednesday. Cogdell said the developers will cooperate with anyone who asks. The Council on American-Islamic Relations has criticized the federal and state probes as bullying the Muslim community and a violation of constitutionally protected religious expression. 'We welcome the dropping of this investigation and hope the DOJ's actions send a clear message to the governor and other officials in Texas that they should similarly drop their Islamophobic witch hunt targeting Muslims in that state,' said CAIR National Executive Director Nihad Awad. Plans for the mixed-use development include more than 1,000 homes and apartments, a faith-based school for kindergarten through 12th grade, a community college, assisted living for older residents, and athletics fields. The project may take years to finish. The developers have said they will not even start the initial permitting process for several more months. EPIC City would be near the community of Josephine, about 30 miles (48 kilometers) northeast of Dallas.
Asharq Al-Awsat
4 hours ago
- Asharq Al-Awsat
Trump Sees ‘Progress' on Gaza, Raising Hopes for Ceasefire
US President Donald Trump said Wednesday that progress was being made to end the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza, as a new ceasefire push began more than 20 months since the start of the conflict. "I think great progress is being made on Gaza," Trump told reporters, adding that his special envoy Steve Witkoff had told him: "Gaza is very close." He linked his optimism about imminent "very good news" to a ceasefire agreed on Tuesday between Israel and Hamas's backer Iran to end their 12-day war. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu faces growing calls from opposition politicians, relatives of hostages being held in Gaza and even members of his ruling coalition to bring an end to the fighting, triggered by Palestinian group Hamas's October 7, 2023 attack. Key mediator Qatar announced Tuesday that it would launch a new push for a ceasefire, with Hamas on Wednesday saying talks had stepped up. "Our communications with the brother mediators in Egypt and Qatar have not stopped and have intensified in recent hours," Hamas official Taher al-Nunu told AFP. He cautioned, however, that the group had "not yet received any new proposals" to end the war. The Israeli government declined to comment on any new ceasefire talks beyond saying that efforts to return Israeli hostages in Gaza were ongoing "on the battlefield and via negotiations". - 'No clear purpose' - Israel sent forces into Gaza to root out Iran-linked Hamas and rescue hostages after the group's October 2023 attack, which resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures. Israel's military campaign has killed at least 56,156 people, also mostly civilians, according to the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza. The United Nations considers its figures reliable. In one of the war's deadliest incidents for the Israeli army, it said seven of its soldiers were killed on Tuesday in southern Gaza, taking its overall losses in the territory to 441. The latest losses led to rare criticism of the war effort by the leader of the ultra-Orthodox United Torah Judaism party, a partner in Netanyahu's coalition government. "I still don't understand why we are fighting there... Soldiers are getting killed all the time," lawmaker Moshe Gafni told a hearing in the Israeli parliament on Wednesday. The slain soldiers were from the Israeli combat engineering corps and were conducting a reconnaissance mission in the Khan Younis area when their vehicle was targeted with an explosive device, according to a military statement. At the funeral of 20-year-old Staff Sergeant Ronel Ben-Moshe in Rehovot south of Tel Aviv on Wednesday, inconsolable loved ones sobbed alongside young soldiers in uniform. One former comrade who served with Ben-Moshe in Gaza told AFP of the strain the war was putting on soldiers, saying it was time for it to end. "Me, I was unable to complete my military service. I was so bad off mentally that I was demobilized," said the former soldier, who gave his name only as Ariel. "I have seen so many kids like me die. It's time for it to stop." The Hostages and Missing Families Forum, the main group representing relatives of captives held in Gaza, endorsed the call to end the war. "The war in Gaza has run its course, it is being conducted with no clear purpose and no concrete plan," the group said in a statement. Of the 251 hostages seized by Palestinian gunmen during the Hamas attack, 49 are still held in Gaza, including 27 the Israeli military says are dead. Human rights groups say Gaza and its population of more than two million face famine-like conditions due to Israeli restrictions, with near-daily deaths of people queuing for food aid. - Gunfire near aid site - Gaza's civil defense agency said Wednesday that Israeli fire killed another 35 people, including six who were waiting for aid. Civil defense spokesman Mahmud Bassal told AFP that a crowd of aid-seekers was hit by Israeli "bullets and tank shells" in an area of central Gaza where Palestinians have gathered each night in the hope of collecting rations. Contacted by AFP, the Israeli military said it was "not aware of any incident this morning with casualties in the central Gaza Strip". The United Nations on Tuesday condemned the "weaponization of food" in Gaza, and slammed a US- and Israeli-backed body that has largely replaced established humanitarian organizations there. The privately run Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) was brought into the Palestinian territory at the end of May, but its operations have been marred by chaotic scenes, deaths and neutrality concerns. The GHF has denied that deadly incidents have occurred in the immediate vicinity of its aid points. The Gaza health ministry says that since late May, nearly 550 people have been killed near aid centers while seeking scarce supplies.
Asharq Al-Awsat
5 hours ago
- Asharq Al-Awsat
Israeli Settlers Raid West Bank Town, Troops Kill 3 Palestinians
Dozens of Israeli settlers attacked a Palestinian West Bank town on Wednesday, sparking a confrontation that ended with Israeli forces killing three Palestinians, the Israeli military and Palestinian authorities said. Three Palestinians were killed and seven wounded in the violence in Kafr Malik, northeast of Ramallah, the Palestinian health ministry said. An Israeli military statement said dozens of Israelis set fire to property, and military and police forces were dispatched to the scene after receiving a report of ensuing violence that included an exchange of stone-throwing. The military statement said several Palestinians opened fire and hurled rocks at the forces, who returned the fire. Five Israeli suspects were arrested. An Israeli army officer was lightly wounded. Video footage showed at least two cars had been set ablaze. Reuters could not independently verify the video. Hussein al-Sheikh, the deputy to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, posted on X: "The government of Israel, with its behavior and decisions, is pushing the region to explode." "We call on the international community to intervene urgently to protect our Palestinian people," he said. Earlier on Wednesday a Palestinian boy was shot dead by the Israeli army during a raid on Al-Yamun, a West Bank town west of Jenin, the Palestinian Red Crescent said.
