June 24, 2026

Trump Watch

U.S. says Israel won’t be involved in Gaza aid distribution– www.cbc.ca

pgnewser May 9, 2025 0

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A U.S.-backed mechanism for distributing aid into Gaza should take effect soon, Washington’s ambassador to Israel said on Friday ahead of President Donald Trump’s visit to the Middle East, but he gave few details.

Gaza’s residents are facing a growing humanitarian crisis with Israel enforcing a months-long blockade on aid supplies to the small Palestinian enclave in the third year of its war against militant group Hamas.

Ambassador Mike Huckabee said several partners had already committed to taking part in the aid arrangement but declined to name them, saying details would be released in the coming days.

Israeli minister says Gaza must be ‘entirely destroyed’– www.foxnews.com

pgnewser May 6, 2025 0

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A right-wing Israeli minister says victory for Israel won’t come until Gaza is “entirely destroyed” and Palestinians are forced out into other countries.

Israeli Finance Minister Bazalel Smotrich made the statement during a Tuesday appearance at a conference on Jewish settlements in the West Bank. While Smotrich is a senior Israeli official, his statement does not represent the official policy of the Israeli government.

“Within a year we will be able to declare victory in Gaza,” he told attendees. “Gaza will be entirely destroyed, civilians will be sent to… the south to a humanitarian zone without Hamas or terrorism, and from there they will start to leave in great numbers to third countries,” Smotrich said, according to the Agence France-Presse.

“Israel does not intend to withdraw from territories the IDF captures, not even as part of a deal to release hostages,” he added.

Israeli leadership votes to expand Gaza ground offensive– www.cbc.ca

pgnewser May 5, 2025 0

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Israel approved plans on Monday to capture the entire Gaza Strip and remain in the territory for an unspecified amount of time, two Israeli officials said, in a move that if implemented would vastly expand Israel’s operations in the Palestinian territory and likely bring fierce international opposition.

Israel’s cabinet ministers approved the plan in an early morning vote, hours after the Israeli military chief said the army was calling up tens of thousands of reserve soldiers. The new plan, which the officials said was meant to help Israel achieve its war aims of defeating Hamas and freeing hostages held in Gaza, also would push hundreds of thousands of Palestinians to southern Gaza, likely exacerbating an already dire humanitarian crisis.

Since a ceasefire between Israel and the militant group Hamas collapsed in mid-March, Israel has unleashed fierce strikes on the territory that have killed hundreds. It has captured swathes of territory and now controls roughly 50 per cent of Gaza.

Israeli army calls up tens of thousands of reservists for Gaza offensive– www.yahoo.com

pgnewser May 5, 2025 0

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The Israeli military has called up tens of thousands of reservists to “intensify and expand” its operations in Gaza.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said it was “increasing the pressure” with the aim of returning hostages held in Gaza and defeating Hamas militants.

Under the plan, the military said it would operate in new areas and “destroy all infrastructure” above and below ground.

The Israeli security cabinet was expected to vote on the military expansion on Sunday, local media reported.

No Israeli hostages have been released since Israel resumed its offensive on 18 March after the collapse of a two-month ceasefire with Hamas. Israel and Hamas blamed each other for the end of the truce.

Gaza horror as Israeli air strike victims ‘burned to death’ in fresh wave of attacks– www.mirror.co.uk

pgnewser April 22, 2025 0

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At least 26 Palestinians have been killed – including 11 believed burned to death – in ferocious Israeli attacks across Gaza. Horrific imagery of bodies being pulled out of a rubbled housing complex in Khan Younis, in the Strip’s south, showed the scale of the morning air-strikes.

An attack early on Tuesday destroyed a multistory home in the southern city of Khan Younis, killing nine, including four women and four children. The dead included a 2-year-old girl and her parents and the early morning attacks were part of a widening Israeli campaign in Gaza to try and and wipe out Hamas and force the release of hostages.

Hamas says it has lost contact with US-Israeli hostage in Gaza– www.bbc.com

pgnewser April 21, 2025 0

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Hamas says it has “lost contact” with the group of fighters holding an Israeli-American hostage captive in Gaza following an Israeli strike on their location.

The 21-year-old soldier, Edan Alexander, has appeared in videos released by the group in recent days.

Israel had asked for him to be released on day one of a new 45-day ceasefire proposal put forward last week which has been rejected by Hamas.

Hamas on Tuesday did not indicate when contact had been lost and has not produced any evidence for their claim. Israel regularly asserts it avoids hitting locations where it believes hostages are being held.

“We announce that we have lost contact with the group holding soldier Edan Alexander following a direct strike on their location,” Hamas spokesman Abu Obeida said in a statement.

“We are still trying to reach them at this moment,” he added.

Arson suspect Cody Balmer targeted Josh Shapiro over views on Gaza war: Warrant– www.washingtonexaminer.com

pgnewser April 21, 2025 0

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Cody Balmer, the suspect charged with setting fire to the Pennsylvania governor’s mansion, was allegedly motivated by anger at Gov. Josh Shapiro‘s (D-PA) position on the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza.

Balmer, 38, allegedly had plans to beat the governor with a sledgehammer if he found him. He called 911 shortly after the arson attack, telling the operator he “will not take part in [Shapiro’s] plans for what he wants to do to the Palestinian people,” according to a police affidavit obtained by PennLive.

This image provided by Commonwealth Media Services shows damage after a fire at the Pennsylvania governor’s mansion while Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro and his family slept inside on Sunday, April 13, 2025, in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. (Commonwealth Media Services via AP)

At least 100 Palestinians killed in Israeli airstrikes across Gaza– www.euronews.com

pgnewser April 4, 2025 0

At least 100 Palestinians killed in Israeli airstrikes across Gaza– www.euronews.com
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At least 100 Palestinians were killed in Israeli airstrikes across Gaza on Thursday, including 27, or more sheltering at a school in the north of the strip, according to Palestinian medical authorities.

The attacks come as Israel heightens its offensive in what it said is a campaign intended to ramp up pressure on Hamas and eventually expelling the Gaza-based group.

The bodies of 14 children and five women were recovered from the school in the Tuffah neighbourhood of Gaza City. The death toll may continue to rise as some of the 70 wounded sustained critical injuries, according to the spokesperson of the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry, Zaher al-Wahidi.

Israeli troops expand ‘security zone’ in northern Gaza – after announcing plans to seize areas of south | World News– news.sky.com

pgnewser April 4, 2025 0

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Israeli troops have moved into an area of northern Gaza to expand what they refer to as a “security zone” around the enclave, the military said today.

It comes days after Israel announced plans to seize large areas with an operation in the south.

Israeli forces issued evacuation warnings for Shejaia, a suburb on the edge of the enclave, on Thursday.

Civilians are now being let out of the area via organised routes, the military said in its statement.

Hundreds of residents have streamed out, with some on foot carrying their belongings while others are in vans, on donkey carts and bikes.

Israel announces plan to seize ‘large areas’ in Gaza – latest updates | Israel-Gaza war– www.theguardian.com

pgnewser April 3, 2025 0

Israel announces plan to seize ‘large areas’ in Gaza – latest updates | Israel-Gaza war– www.theguardian.com
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Airstrikes continued on Gaza on Wednesday morning after the Israeli defense minister announced that Israel intended to expand its war. In a statement, Israel Katz said the offensive was “expanding to crush and clean the area of terrorists and terrorist infrastructure and capture large areas that will be added to the security zones of the state of Israel.”

The move has been condemned by the Hostages Families Forum, who said it appeared that Benjamin Netanyahu’s government were making the return of 59 hostages still held in Gaza by Hamas “a secondary task” that had been “pushed to the bottom of the priority list.”

In a post to social media, Katz said:

I wish success to the IDF soldiers who are fighting bravely and powerfully in Gaza for the return of the kidnapped and the defeat of Hamas. The goal of Operation “Strength and Sword” is first and foremost to increase pressure for the release of all the hostages in the face of Hamas’ refusal.

Expanding the operation this morning will increase the pressure on the Hamas murderers and also on the population in Gaza and advance the achievement of the sacred and important goal for all of us. I call on the residents of Gaza to act now to remove Hamas and return all the hostages. This is the only way to end the war.

Thousands flee Gaza’s Rafah after Israel issues new evacuation orders– www.euronews.com

pgnewser April 1, 2025 0

Thousands flee Gaza’s Rafah after Israel issues new evacuation orders– www.euronews.com
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UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini said 140,000 people are impacted by the Israeli military’s latest displacement orders, which indicate it could soon launch another major ground operation in Gaza’s southernmost city.

Thousand of Palestinians fled Gaza’s southernmost city of Rafah on Monday after the Israeli military issued new sweeping evacuation orders, indicating it could soon launch another major ground operation.

At least 140,000 people were affected by the evacuation order, according to Philippe Lazzarini, the head of UNRWA, the UN agency helping Palestinian refugees.

“People are treated like pinballs with constant military orders playing with their fate and lives,” Lazzarini wrote on the social platform X.

Israel Issues Evacuation Order for Southern Gaza– www.nytimes.com

pgnewser March 31, 2025 0

Israel Issues Evacuation Order for Southern Gaza– www.nytimes.com
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The Israeli military issued a sweeping evacuation order for the southern Gaza Strip on Monday, signaling that it could relaunch intensive assaults in the area.

The order — which came during the Eid al-Fitr holiday — heralded renewed hardship for Palestinians in the southernmost city of Rafah, which has been battered by the war between Israel and Hamas, and has endured periods of being overwhelmed with displaced people and depopulated by evacuation orders. The war restarted two weeks ago after a monthslong cease-fire collapsed.

In the past, the Israeli military has ordered evacuations ahead of both aerial attacks and ground maneuvers that it has said were targeting Hamas.

Avichay Adraee, the Israeli military’s Arabic-language spokesman, on Monday posted a map of the affected areas on his social media accounts, including Rafah and parts of neighboring Khan Younis. He said Palestinians must relocate to shelters in a costal region to the north.

Israel Steps up Gaza Assault as Hamas continues to refuse to hand over hostages

pgnewser March 27, 2025 0

In the face of a now-broken truce, Hamas refuses to comply with Israel’s demands to hand over the remaining hostages. In the wake of that defiance, Israel has resumed operations and appears poised to potentially permanently take territory within Gaza.

Now, Israel’s defense minister, Israel Kat, has ordered the military to “seize additional areas in Gaza… The more Hamas continues its refusal, the more territory it will lose to Israel.”

Israel defence minister threatens to ‘seize additional territories’ in Gaza– www.bbc.com
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Israel’s defence minister has ordered the military to “seize additional areas in Gaza” if Hamas does not free all remaining hostages.

Israel Katz said on Friday that the military would continue its ground operation in Gaza “with increasing intensity” until all of the hostages “both living and dead” were returned.

It is yet another escalation in the conflict, which reignited this week as Israel broke a ceasefire, in place since January, to resume its bombing campaign. Hundreds of people have been killed in the ensuing violence.

“The more Hamas continues its refusal, the more territory it will lose to Israel,” Katz said.

In his statement on Friday, Katz said that Israel still agreed to a proposal, which was brought by US envoy Steve Witkoff, “to release all the kidnapped, both living and dead, in advance and in two stages with a ceasefire in between”.

“We will intensify the fighting with strikes from the air, sea and land and by expanding the ground manoeuvre until the hostages are released and Hamas is defeated,” Katz wrote.

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Two Top-Level Hamas Leaders Killed as Tanks Open Fire Again in Gaza

pgnewser March 20, 2025 0

Israel Takes Out Two More Hamas Leaders as IDF Tanks Reenter Gaza– freebeacon.com
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Israel confirmed that an additional two senior Hamas members were killed Tuesday during a series of precision airstrikes in Gaza that also annihilated four other leaders and a spokesman for the Palestinian Islamic Jihad movement. The announcement came as Israeli forces and tanks reentered central Gaza to begin “targeted ground activities.”

The Israel Defense Forces and Shin Bet security agency said on Wednesday that the large-scale military strikes—the first of their kind since a ceasefire went into effect two months ago—killed Yasser Mohammed Harb Musa, a member of Hamas’s politburo, and Mohammed Jamasi, who ran the terror group’s emergency committee.

Musa, the IDF and Shin Bet said in a joint statement, “handled the advancement and guidance of terror attacks against the State of Israel.” He was a close associate of slain former Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, whom Israeli forces took out in Rafah last October.

Jamasi, meanwhile, “held key positions in the political bureau and the leadership of the movement and as part of his role in the war, he coordinated a significant portion of the Hamas regime’s government activity in the Gaza Strip, including the guidance of terror attacks against the State of Israel,” according to the IDF and Shin Bet.

Egypt’s plan for the reconstruction of Gaza– thehill.com

pgnewser March 20, 2025 0

Egypt’s plan for the reconstruction of Gaza– thehill.com
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For over 16 months, Palestinians in Gaza have endured unspeakable humanitarian circumstances unseen since the Second World War. Almost 2 million people in Gaza have been internally displaced, with more than 150,000 people killed or injured according to the UN, 50 percent of hospitals and medical facilities destroyed, 88 percent of schools partially or fully shattered, 68 percent of agricultural areas damaged and 68 percent of roads have become dysfunctional.

As the statistics reflect, Israel’s war didn’t turn out to be just a war against Hamas, but expanded to the entire civilian population and its critical infrastructure.

To address this crisis of colossal magnitude, two critical steps need to be taken. First, we must immediately provide a comprehensive and thorough humanitarian plan that alleviates the suffering of Palestinians and restore life back to Gaza through early recovery programs and reconstruction.

Second, it is imperative that we offer a political roadmap that brings decisive closure to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict once and for all culminating in an independent Palestinian state and ensure that this latest horrific round of violence becomes the final one. Let me address both steps.

Israel says it has launched new ground operation in Gaza – Reuters

pgnewser March 20, 2025 0

Israel says it has launched new ground operation in Gaza – Reuters
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The Israeli military said on Wednesday its forces resumed ground operations in the central and southern Gaza Strip, as a second day of airstrikes killed at least 48 Palestinians, according to local health workers.

The renewed ground operations came a day after more than 400 Palestinians were killed in airstrikes in one of the deadliest episodes since the beginning of the conflict in October 2023, shattering a ceasefire that has largely held since January.

Trump’s ‘Moved Beyond’ Critical Deal, White House Confirms Grander Plans– www.westernjournal.com

pgnewser March 20, 2025 0

Trump’s ‘Moved Beyond’ Critical Deal, White House Confirms Grander Plans– www.westernjournal.com
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Well before politics were even a glint in his eye, President Donald Trump often boasted about his business acumen and mastery of “the art of the deal.”

Now nearing close to a decade in the political spotlight, Trump is showing that he still holds both of those values quite dearly.

While answering questions during her Wednesday media session, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed that Trump has “moved beyond” the ballyhooed Ukraine mineral deal — and onto something much bigger.

“We have moved beyond the economic mineral deal,” Leavitt told the New York Post.

Apparently, Trump has now set his sights on two bigger targets in the region, the first being taking over Ukraine’s military facilities.

UN Security Council discusses Israeli attack in Gaza – NHK WORLD

pgnewser March 19, 2025 0

UN Security Council discusses Israeli attack in Gaza – NHK WORLD
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Members of the United Nations Security Council discussed the airstrikes that Israel carried out in Gaza on Tuesday. Many called for the ceasefire to be reestablished. However, the United States pushed back on the idea.

Health authorities in Gaza say the attacks killed at least 404 people. The Palestinian Permanent Observer to the UN, Riyad Mansour, said, “Palestinians are being killed indiscriminately, are being denied humanitarian aid indiscriminately, are being maimed and detained indiscriminately.”

Envoys from the UK, France and Russia joined Mansour in urging an immediate end to the fighting.

But the acting US Ambassador to the UN, Dorothy Shea, blamed the attacks on Hamas. She said, “It is well known that Hamas continues to use civilian infrastructure as launching pads, and the United States condemns this practice, as should others.”

Entire Families Wiped Out as Israel Resumes Genocidal Assault on Gaza – Common Dreams

pgnewser March 19, 2025 0

Entire Families Wiped Out as Israel Resumes Genocidal Assault on Gaza – Common Dreams
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Once again, entire families are being wiped out by Israeli airstrikes on the Gaza Strip after U.S. President Donald Trumpreportedly gave the green light for the key American ally to resume its assault on the Palestinian enclave.

Israel unilaterally abrogated the crumbling eight-week cease-fire early Tuesday, unleashing a wave of ferocious strikes on the already flattened Gaza Strip, killing at least 404 people—including 174 children, 89 women, and 32 elders—and wounding at least 562 others, with the death toll expected to rise, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.