In photos: Aftermath of Israeli strikes on Gaza as death toll tops 90
Mourners attend the funeral of Palestinians killed in Israeli attacks on a school sheltering displaced people and on people seeking aid, at Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, 3 July 2025 (Reuters)
A Palestinian woman holding a child during the funeral of Palestinians, who were killed in an overnight Israeli strike on a tent, at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, 3 July 2025 (Reuters)
Mourners pray during the funeral of Palestinians, who were killed in an overnight Israeli strike on a tent, at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, 3 July 2025 (Reuters)
Palestinian women mourn during the funeral of Palestinians, who were killed in an overnight Israeli strike on a tent, at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, 3 July 2025 (Reuters)
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2 hours ago
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US Congressman Ro Khanna is facing a deluge of criticism from activists for appearing on a news segment with an anti-Muslim and anti-Palestinian lawmaker. Khanna appeared alongside Republican Congressman Randy Fine in an interview on NewsNation on Thursday, where the politicians discussed the impact of US President Donald Trump's sprawling budget bill, which he and many of his supporters have referred to as the "big, beautiful bill". The interview primarily centred around Medicaid cuts that will result in over 17 million Americans losing access to healthcare. During the interview, Fine repeatedly claimed that "illegal migrants" were benefitting from Medicaid, whilst Khanna emphasised the false nature of those claims and his opposition to the bill. At the end of the interview, Khanna said, "One of the reasons I'm proud is you can have a Democrat of Hindu faith standing side by side with a Republican of Jewish faith having a civil conversation on your show. And we need more of that in this country to bring this country together." New MEE newsletter: Jerusalem Dispatch Sign up to get the latest insights and analysis on Israel-Palestine, alongside Turkey Unpacked and other MEE newsletters For several years, Fine has faced criticism for his incendiary comments against Palestinians, his support for Israel's war on Gaza, as well as his advocacy for the withholding of humanitarian aid from Palestinians. More than 56,000 Palestinians have been killed as a result of the war, which several countries, as well as many international rights groups and experts, now qualify as an act of genocide. This was nauseating to watch. How disgraceful for @RoKhanna to lend credibility to this deplorable Islamophobe who regularly spews some of the most disgusting racist bile against Arabs and Muslims. You're talking about it like he's some tolerant religious man. 🤮🤮🤮🤮🤮 — B L A K E L E Y™℠©® LLC (@_iamblakeley) July 4, 2025 The Florida representative has called for called for Gaza to be destroyed, and in May, during an appearance on Fox News, advocated for the use of nuclear weapons on Gaza. In November 2023, while serving as a Florida state representative, Fine voted against a resolution calling for a ceasefire in Gaza, claiming that those supporting it were "putting every Jewish child in the state at risk". On 10 October 2023, Fine had the Israeli military mark an artillery shell with 'regards from Randy Fine'. The shell was set to be fired at Gaza. In a statement issued on X on Friday, Khanna said that he didn't know about Fine's views and stopped short of apologising for sharing the screen with the Republican lawmaker. Khanna later tweeted: "I reject categorically his views about Palestinians." "I try to always be civil and did not know about his comments. [Chris] Cuomo booked us both. But I exposed the deep betrayal the cuts in Medicaid are for working-class Americans. We need to get the facts out in new mediums, where people who may not be for us will still hear," Khanna said. In June, the Council on American Islamic Relations (Cair) designated Fine as an anti-Muslim extremist for his views on Islam and Palestinians. In its statement issued at the time, Cair called on 'congressional leadership to condemn his actions, initiate formal censure, and remove him from all committee assignments'. No congressional action has been taken to censure him. Khanna, meanwhile, has previously faced sharp criticism for meeting with the anti-Muslim commentator Abhijeet Iyer-Mitra during his visit to India in 2023. At the time, the Indian American Muslim Council said it was "deeply disappointed to see Khanna engaging with a far-right Islamophobe" and condemned him for embracing those who "enable [this] cycle of hate and violence against Muslims".
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4 hours ago
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West Bank town becomes 'big prison' as Israel fences it in
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The fence around Sinjil is a particularly stark example of barriers that have sprung up across the territory, becoming an overwhelming feature of daily life. The Israeli military says it erected it to protect the nearby Ramallah-Nablus highway. "In light of the recurring terror incidents in this area, it was decided to place a fence in order to prevent stone-throwing at a main route and repeated disturbances of public order, thereby safeguarding the security of civilians in the region," it said in a statement. Because residents are still permitted to enter and exit through the single remaining entrance, the policy is deemed to allow "free access" to the town, the military said. CUT OFF FROM LAND The people who live there now have to walk or drive through narrow, winding streets to the sole allowed entry point. Some cross road closures on foot to reach cars on the other side. Those who once earned their livelihoods in the surrounding land are effectively cut off, said Bahaa Foqaa, the deputy mayor. He said the fence had enclosed 8,000 residents inside barely 10 acres, cutting them off from 2,000 acres of surrounding land which they privately own. "This is the policy that the occupation army uses to intimidate people and break the will of the Palestinian people." Israel says its fences and barriers in the West Bank are necessary to protect Jewish settlers who have moved there since Israel captured the territory in a 1967 war. Israel Gantz, head of the Binyamin Regional Council which governs the 47 Israeli settlements in the part of the West Bank where Sinjil is located, said the town's fence was needed because its residents had thrown stones and molotov cocktails at cars on the nearby highway, solely because the occupants were Jewish. "A carte blanche lifting of the restrictions on Arab Palestinians would encourage the mass murder of Jews," he told Reuters. Some 700,000 Israelis now reside in territory Israel captured in 1967. Most countries consider such communities a violation of the Geneva Conventions which ban settling civilians on occupied land; Israel says the settlements are lawful and justified by historic and biblical Jewish ties to the land. After decades during which Israel paid lip-service to the prospect of an independent Palestinian state, the far-right Israeli government now includes prominent settler activists who openly proclaim their aim to annex the entire West Bank. HALF OUR LIFE IS ON THE ROADS Israel increased its military presence in the West Bank immediately after Hamas' surprise attack in October 2023, which precipitated war that has devastated the other main Palestinian territory, the Gaza Strip. Overnight, mounds of earth and heavy boulders were placed on roads. Then heavy metal gates, usually painted yellow or orange, were installed and locked by the military at entrances to Palestinian communities, often leading to roads also used by settlers. The military established new permanent checkpoints. So-called flying checkpoints, set up suddenly and without warning, became more frequent. Sana Alwan, 52, who lives in Sinjil and works as a personal trainer, said what was once a short drive to reach Ramallah can now take as long as three hours each way, with no way of knowing at the start of the day how long she will be stuck at checkpoints. Work has slowed because she can no longer promise clients she can reach them. "Half of our life is on the roads," she said. While the West Bank has largely been spared the all-out assault waged in Gaza, life has grown increasingly precarious. A ban on entering Israel for work abruptly cut off the livelihoods of tens of thousands of workers. At the start of this year, tens of thousands of West Bank residents were displaced by an Israeli crackdown on militants in Jenin in the north. Mohammad Jammous, 34, who grew up in Jericho and lives in Ramallah, used to see his family almost every week. With the hour-long drive now typically stretching to several hours each way, he says he is now usually able to visit only once a month. The Israeli military said its forces operate in a "complex security reality", and checkpoints must be regularly relocated and set up at new locations to monitor movement and respond to threats originating from Palestinian communities. Officials in the Palestinian Authority, which exercises limited self-rule in the West Bank under Israeli occupation, suspect that the stifling impact on the economy and ordinary life is intentional. They say it could backfire against Israel by driving more youths to sympathise with militants. "They are doing everything they can to make life extremely difficult for our people," Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Mustafa told reporters last month. Reuters
Gulf Today
4 hours ago
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Russia hammers Kyiv in largest missile and drone barrage since war in Ukraine began
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