Letter: Look in right direction to achieve elusive peace
However, history has much to tell in regard to this volatile region. The Camp David Accords between Egypt and Israel were much heralded in 1979. Then Egypt's president was assassinated in 1981. The late Palestine Liberation Organization leader Yasser Arafat was on record stating, 'For us peace means the destruction of Israel.' Billions of our tax dollars have been spent there along with many American lives. Nevertheless, the simmering feuds persist.
France and Saudi Arabia are proposing a meeting for the establishment of a so-called Palestinian state. How many times have leaders previously submitted such a failed resolution?
Even large sums of money cannot transcend ideology. Trump's high-stakes gamble is guaranteed to yield a losing hand for the 'art of the deal' promoter. This is not Kansas.
Peace is readily available by the one who was rejected and cruelly crucified two millennia ago. Jesus proclaimed: 'These things I have spoken unto you, that in me you might have peace. In the world you shall have tribulation, but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.' What is impossible for man is possible with God. Nothing is too hard for our creator.
Larry D. Clauser
Amity Township
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The Hill
13 minutes ago
- The Hill
Israel's growing frustration over the war in Gaza erupts in nationwide protests
JERUSALEM (AP) — Israeli police made dozens of arrests on Sunday as tens of thousands of protesters demanding a deal to free hostages in Gaza aimed to shut down the country in one of the largest and fiercest protests in 22 months of war. Groups representing families of hostages organized the demonstrations, and gave an even larger estimate of attendees, as frustration grows in Israel over plans for a new military offensive in some of Gaza's most populated areas. Many Israelis fear that could further endanger the remaining hostages. Twenty of the 50 who remain are believed to be alive. 'We don't win a war over the bodies of hostages,' protesters chanted. Even some former Israeli army and intelligence chiefs now call for a deal to end the fighting. Protesters gathered at dozens of places including outside politicians' homes, military headquarters and on major highways. They blocked lanes and lit bonfires. Some restaurants and theaters closed in solidarity. Police said they arrested 38 people. 'The only way to bring (hostages) back is through a deal, all at once, without games,' former hostage Arbel Yehoud said at a demonstration in Tel Aviv. Her boyfriend Ariel Cunio is still held by Hamas. One protester carried a photo of an emaciated Palestinian child from Gaza. Such images were once rare at Israeli demonstrations but now appear more often as outrage grows over conditions for Palestinian civilians after more than 250 malnutrition-related deaths. Netanyahu opposes any deal that leaves Hamas in power An end to the war does not seem near. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is balancing competing pressures including the potential for mutiny within his coalition. 'Those who today call for an end to the war without defeating Hamas are not only hardening Hamas' position and delaying the release of our hostages, they are also ensuring that the horrors of Oct. 7 will be repeated,' Netanyahu said, referencing the Hamas-led attack in 2023 that killed some 1,200 people and sparked the war. The last time Israel agreed to a ceasefire that released hostages earlier this year, far-right members of his cabinet threatened to topple Netanyahu's government. Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich on Sunday called the demonstrations 'a bad and harmful campaign that plays into Hamas' hands, buries the hostages in the tunnels and attempts to get Israel to surrender to its enemies and jeopardize its security and future.' The new offensive would require the call-up of thousands of reservists, another concern for many Israelis. Another 17 aid-seekers killed in Gaza Hospitals and witnesses in Gaza said Israeli forces killed at least 17 aid-seekers on Sunday, including nine awaiting U.N. aid trucks close to the Morag corridor. Hamza Asfour said he was just north of the corridor awaiting a convoy when Israeli snipers fired, first to disperse the crowds, then from tanks hundreds of meters (yards) away. He saw two people with gunshot wounds. 'It's either to take this risk or wait and see my family die of starvation,' he said. The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, which runs the Israeli-backed and U.S.-supported distribution points that have become the main source of aid since they opened in May, said there was no gunfire 'at or near' its sites, which are located in military-controlled areas. Israel's military did not immediately respond to questions. Israel's air and ground war has displaced most of Gaza's population and killed more than 61,900 people, according to Gaza's Health Ministry, which does not specify how many were fighters or civilians but says around half were women and children. Two children and five adults died of malnutrition-related causes Sunday, according to the ministry, which is part of the Hamas-run government and staffed by medical professionals. The U.N. and independent experts consider it the most reliable source on casualties. Israel disputes its figures but has not provided its own. The United Nations has warned that levels of starvation and malnutrition in Gaza are at their highest since the war began. Most aid has been blocked from entering Gaza since Israel imposed a total blockade in March after ending a ceasefire. Deliveries have since partially resumed, though aid organizations say the flow is far below what is needed. Fears of the coming military offensive It is not clear when Israel's military will begin the new offensive in the crowded Gaza City, Muwasi and what Netanyahu has called the 'central camps' of Gaza. The military body that coordinates its humanitarian aid to Gaza, COGAT, this weekend noted plans to forcibly evacuate people from combat zones to southern Gaza 'for their protection.' Designated 'safe zones,' however, also have been bombed during the war. War-weary Palestinians on Sunday insisted that they won't leave, arguing that there is 'no safe place' in Gaza. 'There are no humanitarian zones at all,' said Raghda Abu Dhaher, who said she has been displaced 10 times during the war and now shelters in a school in western Gaza City. Mohamed Ahmed also insisted that he won't move south. 'Here is bombing and there is bombing,' he said. Airstrike on power plant in Yemen Israeli airstrikes hit Yemen's capital Sunday, escalating strikes on the Iran-backed Houthi rebels, who since the war in Gaza began have fired missiles at Israel and targeted ships in the Red Sea. The Houthi-run Al-Masirah Television said the strikes targeted a power plant in the southern district of Sanhan, sparking a fire and knocking it out of service. Israel's military said the strikes were launched in response to missiles and drones aimed at Israel. While some projectiles have breached its missile defenses — notably during its 12-day war with Iran in June — Israel has intercepted the vast majority of missiles launched from Yemen. Its military later Sunday said it had intercepted another, and the Houthis claimed they had targeted Israel's Ben Gurion Airport. ___ Melzer reported from Nahariya, Israel and Magdy from Cairo. Sam Mednick contributed from Tel Aviv, Israel.
The Hill
13 minutes ago
- The Hill
Trump administration halts visas for people from Gaza after Laura Loomer questions arrivals
WASHINGTON (AP) — A day after conservative activist Laura Loomer posted videos on social media of children from Gaza arriving in the U.S. for medical treatment and questioning how they got visas, the State Department said it was halting all visitor visas for people from Gaza pending a review. The State Department said Saturday the visas would be stopped while it looks into how 'a small number of temporary medical-humanitarian visas' were issued in recent days. Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Sunday told 'Face the Nation' on CBS that the action came after 'outreach from multiple congressional offices asking questions about it.' Rubio said there were 'just a small number' of the visas issued to children in need of medical aid but that they were accompanied by adults. The congressional offices reached out with evidence that 'some of the organizations bragging about and involved in acquiring these visas have strong links to terrorist groups like Hamas,' he asserted, without providing evidence or naming those organizations. As a result, he said, 'we are going to pause this program and reevaluate how those visas are being vetted and what relationship, if any, has there been by these organizations to the process of acquiring those visas.' Loomer on Friday posted videos on X of children from Gaza arriving earlier this month in San Francisco and Houston for medical treatment with the aid of an organization called HEAL Palestine. 'Despite the US saying we are not accepting Palestinian 'refugees' into the United States under the Trump administration,' these people from Gaza were able to travel to the U.S., she said. She called it a 'national security threat' and asked who signed off on the visas, calling for the person to be fired. She tagged Rubio, President Donald Trump, Vice President JD Vance, GOP Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat. Trump has downplayed Loomer's influence on his administration, but several officials swiftly left or were removed shortly after she publicly criticized them. The State Department on Sunday declined to comment on how many of the visas had been granted and whether the decision to halt visas to people from Gaza had anything to do with Loomer's posts. HEAL Palestine said in a statement Sunday that it was 'distressed' by the State Department decision to stop halt visitor visas from Gaza. The group said it is 'an American humanitarian nonprofit organization delivering urgent aid and medical care to children in Palestine.' A post on the organization's Facebook page Thursday shows a photo of a boy from Gaza leaving Egypt and headed to St. Louis for treatment and said he is 'our 15th evacuated child arriving in the U.S. in the last two weeks.' The organization brings 'severely injured children' to the U.S. on temporary visas for treatment they can't get at home, the statement said. Following treatment, the children and any family members who accompanied them return to the Middle East, the statement said. 'This is a medical treatment program, not a refugee resettlement program,' it said. The World Health Organization has repeatedly called for more medical evacuations from Gaza, where Israel's over 22-month war against Hamas has heavily destroyed or damaged much of the territory's health system. 'More than 14,800 patients still need lifesaving medical care that is not available in Gaza,' WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said Wednesday on social media, and called on more countries to offer support. A WHO description of the medical evacuation process from Gaza published last year explained that the WHO submits lists of patients to Israeli authorities for security clearance. It noted that before the war in Gaza began, 50 to 100 patients were leaving Gaza daily for medical treatment, and it called for a higher rate of approvals from Israeli authorities. The U.N. and partners say medicines and even basic health care supplies are low in Gaza after Israel cut off all aid to the territory of over 2 million people for more than 10 weeks earlier this year. 'Ceasefire! Peace is the best medicine,' Tedros added Wednesday.
Fox News
14 minutes ago
- Fox News
Rubio shoots down report that Trump backs Putin's plan for Russia to control Ukraine's Donbas region
Secretary of State Marco Rubio pushed back on reports that President Donald Trump supports Vladimir Putin's proposal for Russia to take full control of Ukraine's Donbas region, making clear that decisions on such territory will be left to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy."The president has said that, in terms of territories, these are things that Zelenskyy is going to have to decide on. These are things that the Ukrainian side is going to have to agree to," Rubio said on "Sunday Morning Futures."His appearance came days after Trump's high-stakes meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska, which Rubio said allowed for "progress" despite a future peace deal remaining GIVES RUBIO A 'NEW AND DIFFERENT APPROACH' AS TRUMP PUSHES FOR PEACE WITH UKRAINERubio also clarified Trump's role in narrowing down the issues and brokering progress between Russia and Ukraine after years of war, while warning that the talks could collapse if the U.S. moves forward with additional sanctions on Moscow. "The minute you put additional sanctions on him [Putin]… peace talks are no longer possible," he continued, cautioning that economic punishment could derail Trump's effort to bring Putin to the believes that Trump is the only world leader capable of brokering peace between the rivaling nations, which have been sparring on a large scale since February WE'RE GOING STRAIGHT TO RUSSIA-UKRAINE PEACE DEAL, 'NOT A MERE CEASEFIRE'European leaders are also said to play a role in the process, particularly in providing long-term security guarantees that could give Ukraine the confidence to negotiate. Several heads of state are expected to join Zelenskyy at the White House this week, alongside NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, as Trump pushes for a framework that could prevent a renewed Russian offensive in the coming Rubio acknowledged that the negotiations remain difficult, with issues like territorial boundaries and future military alliances far from resolved. "If one side gets everything they want, that's not a peace deal. It's called surrender," he secretary added that while peace may not yet be guaranteed, Trump's willingness to engage both sides offers the only realistic path forward.
