Trump: Hamas to respond to U.S. ceasefire plan within 24 hours
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Fox News
33 minutes ago
- Fox News
UN blasted for funding committee 'created to destroy the Jewish state,' despite budget crisis
Critics slammed the United Nations for rewarding a controversial anti-Israel Commission of Inquiry with four new positions worth up to three-quarters of a million dollars, even as the world body undergoes a severe cash crisis. "When it comes to spending money for the spread of antisemitism, the U.N. doesn't have a spending limit," Anne Bayefsky, director of the Touro Institute on Human Rights and the Holocaust and president of Human Rights Voices, told Fox News Digital. On June 4, the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Palestinian Territory, Including East Jerusalem (COI), led by South African Navi Pillay, announced four new job openings for senior-level positions in Geneva. These include two P-2 level associate interpreters, one higher-level P-3 level human rights officer, and a still more senior P-4 level human rights officer. Combined, their salaries will range from $530,000 to $704,000, based on salary scales released by the U.N. and its location-based salary multiplier (set at .814 for Swiss employees), published in a document supplied to Fox News Digital by a diplomatic source. These salaries do not include other senior-level U.N. employee benefits, including dependent costs, housing allowances, or relocation fees. Bayefsky asked why the U.N.'s "belt-tightening exercise…applies to all kinds of urgent matters but exempts the COI, which has simultaneously gone on a spending-spree." "The COI was created to destroy the Jewish state and is now conducting itself accordingly." She said its latest report, issued in June, is "totally unhinged" and "claims Israelis are like Nazis engaged in 'extermination' of the Palestinians, refers to those 'extremist Jews,' denies biblical history, [and] fuels antisemitism by claiming Jews defile Muslim holy sites." A spokesperson from the U.N. Human Rights Office did not respond to Fox News Digital's questions about the Commission's findings. Pillay and the COI have come under fire previously for anti-Israel sentiment. In January 2022, 42 Republicans and Democrats in Congress signed an open letter calling for the U.S. to defund the COI. The Representatives expressed concern that "Chairwoman Navi Pillay, while serving as U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights from 2008 to 2014, repeatedly and unjustly accused Israel of committing war crimes." They stated that while she condemned Israel, Pillay "reportedly said nothing at all about egregious human rights abuses in dozens of other countries which, unlike Israel, received the worst, 'Not Free' rating from the respected Freedom House." In October 2023, a representative from the U.S. Mission to the U.N. in Geneva said before the Third Committee of the U.N. that the U.S. "remains deeply concerned about the scope and nature of the open-ended Commission of Inquiry established in May 2021. The COI demonstrates a particular bias against Israel in subjecting it to a unique mechanism that does not exist for any other U.N. Member State." In October 2024, a report from the COI excluded information about Hamas' use of Kamal Adwan Hospital for operations, failed to recount the maltreatment Israeli hostages received at Gazan hospitals, and could "not verify" that tunnels found below Al-Shifa hospital "were used for military purposes." Bayefsky said the report trafficked in blood libels. In March, Pillay's commission claimed that rape and sexual violence are part of the Israel Defense Force's "standard operating procedures towards Palestinians." Pillay also said that the IDF's sexual violence creates "a system of oppression that undermines [Palestinians'] right to self-determination." In response, Bayefsky called Pillay "the world's leading champion of the 2001 U.N. 'Durban Declaration' slander that a Jewish state is a racist state." In March 2024, Congress passed a budget bill that eliminated funding for the COI while simultaneously banning funds for the U.N. Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), according to the Jerusalem Post. The U.N. Human Rights Council is already experiencing the impact of the organization's liquidity crisis. In a June 16 letter penned by U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk, the Human Rights Council outlines more than a dozen reports, as well as studies, regional workshops, and panels mandated by the Council, which were not able to be completed due to inadequate resourcing. In response to a request for comment about how the COI has received additional personnel while the Human Rights Council deals with scarcity, spokesperson Pascal Sim told Fox News Digital that the Human Rights Council's "views are only expressed in the resolutions and decisions that its 47 Member States adopt at the end of each of its sessions." To the question of whether the council is in greater need of personnel or funds to fulfill its current workload, Sim said that "Member States of the U.N. are currently continuing consultations on this matter." In a press conference on July 1, U.N. Under-Secretary-General for Policy Guy Ryder updated reporters on U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres' cost-cutting UN80 Initiative. Ryder said that the U.N. recognizes "that we have a difficult task of untangling the undergrowth of decisions and resolutions and mechanisms that we put in place to implement them, and we wonder if we're going to be able to advance significantly." Ryder also admitted that "When a similar review was undertaken 20 years ago, it ran rather quickly into the sand. It did not produce the results that were hoped for and expected at that time. We're looking at that experience of 20 years ago and we hope we can avoid some of the pitfalls." However, Bayefsky said, "For decades, the U.N. has engaged in phony cost-saving measures while their actual expenditures have ballooned," she said, noting that the U.S. "has always been satisfied by moving around the deck chairs on the Titanic." Bayefsky said that "it's our government's job to put an end to this devious calculus by immediately withholding the entire U.N. budget until such time as the dangerous lesions are removed. It's our job to deny visas to the COI members planning to come to the United States in the next couple of months. "Contrary to popular belief, it is not required by the U.S.-U.N. host agreement to allow international travelers into the U.S. to fan the flames of antisemitism, and vandalize our fundamental values and the Constitution from the middle of New York City," Bayefsky said. "We need a new boat, not new deck chairs." A budget proposal from the Trump administration leaked in April announced the intention to eliminate all expenditures to the U.N. and international organizations. In response to questions about whether a decision about U.N. funding has been finalized, a senior State Department official told Fox News Digital that "President Trump is ensuring taxpayer dollars are used wisely. Any announcements regarding funding to international organizations will come from the President or the administration." The U.S. through its taxpayers is the single-largest contributor to the U.N. In 2022, the U.N. reports that $18.1 billion, or 26.8%, of its $67.5 billion in expenditures came from the U.S.
Newsweek
42 minutes ago
- Newsweek
Donald Trump Reacts To Hamas' 'Positive' Response to Ceasefire Plan
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. Donald Trump has welcomed the response of Hamas to the U.S. ceasefire and hostage release proposal for Gaza. After the militant group said Friday it was ready to enter talks to end the war with Israel, without confirming it had accepted terms, the U.S. president told reporters that the Hamas response was "good" and suggested a deal could be struck next week. Hamas captivity survivor Keith Siegel said in a media statement shared with Newsweek that Trump is "the only one" who can strike a comprehensive deal that can bring the remaining captives home. Newsweek has contacted the Israeli government for comment. File photo: Donald Trump gestures as he speaks on the South Lawn of the White House on July 4, 2025 in Washington, D.C. File photo: Donald Trump gestures as he speaks on the South Lawn of the White House on July 4, 2025 in Washington, It Matters Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will meet Trump in Washington, D.C., on Monday. The positive response from Hamas and the U.S. president's comments that a deal could happen next week have raised speculation that an end to the near-21-month war between Israel and Hamas could be imminent. What To Know Trump had said on Tuesday that Israel had agreed the conditions required for a 60-day ceasefire to end the war that followed Hamas' attacks on southern Israel on October 7, 2023; around 1,200 people were killed and over 250 taken hostage. Israel's bombardment on Gaza since then has killed over 57,000, according to The Associated Press, citing local health officials. Hamas said Friday it had responded in "a positive spirit" to a U.S.-brokered Gaza ceasefire proposal and was ready for talks. Trump told reporters on Air Force One on Friday that he welcomed the response by Hamas as "good" and hoped there would be a deal next week. Hamas had requested changes to the deal; these include ending a U.S.-backed aid system by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) in favor of the U.N. and its partners, as well as American guarantees that the war would not resume if talks failed, the BBC reported, citing a Palestinian official. The plan is also believed to include the staggered release of 10 living Israeli hostages and the bodies of 18 other hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails. Some 50 hostages are held in Gaza, at least 20 of whom are believed to be alive. The Hostages and Missing Families Forum has demanded a deal to end the war and release the remaining hostages. Thousands are expected to join hostage families at rallies in Israel on Saturday to urge the government to reach a deal to free the captives. In a statement via the forum provided to Newsweek on Friday, Hamas captivity survivor Keith Siegel said he and his family were grateful for Trump for prioritizing the hostage crisis, but only a comprehensive deal can bring all of them home. "President Donald Trump, you are the only one who can do it," Siegel said. "End the war, bring them home, create a better future for the Middle East." What People Are Saying Hamas said in a statement it consulted the latest proposal by the mediators to halt the war in Gaza and that it was "fully prepared, with all seriousness, to immediately enter a new round of negotiations on the mechanism for implementing this framework." President Donald Trump said: "They (Hamas) said they gave me a positive response? Well, that's good. There could be a Gaza deal next week." Mayar Al Farr, a 13-year-old Palestinian girl, told Reuters: "There should have been a ceasefire long ago before I lost my brother." Hamas captivity survivor Keith Siegel said in a statement: "My family and I are eternally thankful to President Donald Trump for prioritizing the hostage crisis since day one of his presidency and bringing me and so many others home. Fifty hostages are still in Hamas captivity. Only a comprehensive deal can bring all of them home." What Happens Next Given Trump's comments that a deal could be reached next week, there will be anticipation over the next move Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu who will meet Trump in Washington on Monday. The Israeli leader has repeatedly said Hamas must be disarmed, but it is thought that this is something that the militant group has so far refused to discuss. The Times of Israel newspaper reported that Netanyahu was working with Trump on a deal to end the war, despite the opposition of the right-wing flank of his government.
Washington Post
an hour ago
- Washington Post
Trump branded, browbeat and prevailed. But his big bill may come at a political cost
WASHINGTON — Barack Obama had the Affordable Care Act . Joe Biden had the Inflation Reduction Act . President Donald Trump will have the tax cuts . All were hailed in the moment and became ripe political targets in campaigns that followed. In Trump's case, the tax cuts may almost become lost in the debates over other parts of the multitrillion-dollar bill that Democrats say will force poor Americans off their health care and overturn a decade or more of energy policy.
