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Liz Truss has apologised for the “mistakes” she has made in her first few volatile weeks as prime minister – but insisted she will lead the Tories into the next general election.

Speaking for the first time after almost all the tax cuts announced in last month’s mini-budget were scrapped, Ms Truss said: “I recognise we have made mistakes.

“I am sorry for those mistakes, but I fixed those mistakes. I appointed a new chancellor, we have restored economic stability and fiscal discipline.

“What I now want to do is go on and deliver for the public.

“We were elected on the 2019 manifesto, and I want to go on and deliver that.”

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Rigby tells chancellor: ‘PM has totally failed’

Chancellor Hunt urges Tories to ‘give Truss a chance’

After a fifth Conservative MP – senior backbencher Sir Charles Walker – warned her days are numbered, Ms Truss said she was focused on “delivering for the British public”.

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“We are in difficult economic times; we are in different international times with the war being perpetrated in Ukraine.

“Now is the time to focus on delivering, making sure we are delivering on our energy package,” she said.

Speaking to the BBC, the prime minister added: “I wanted to act… to help people with their energy bills to deal with the issue of high taxes, but we went too far and too fast. I’ve acknowledged that.”

Ms Truss said it was the “mark of an honest politician” to admit their mistakes.

She said she is “sticking around” because she was “elected to deliver for this country”, adding: “I will lead the Conservatives into the next general election.”

Beth Rigby analysis: ‘It can’t go on like this’ – it looks to be over for PM Truss

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Has the chancellor done enough?

Ms Truss is battling to save her premiership after new chancellor Jeremy Hunt tore up the bulk of the economic strategy that brought her into office as prime minister just six weeks ago.

On Tuesday, she is expected to meet the European Research Group of Conservative MPs, after meeting with the One Nation wing of the party on Monday evening.

Ms Truss became PM after winning the Tory leadership contest on the back of promises to dramatically cut tax and upend the status quo in the Treasury.

But she has been left humiliated by a raft of U-turns after her tax-slashing mini-budget unleashed turbulence in the financial markets, sending the pound to record lows against the dollar, interest and mortgage rates soaring, and forcing the Bank of England to intervene.

The chaos ultimately led to Mr Kwarteng’s downfall, and he was sacked after just 38 days in the job.

On Monday, his replacement as chancellor, Mr Hunt, revealed he was reversing nearly all the tax cuts unveiled last month and said he would be setting up an economic advisory council to assist the government as it seeks to repair the damage caused by Ms Truss’s fiscal policies.

The changes Mr Hunt revealed include:

• No cuts to dividend tax rates
• Repeal of the easing of IR35 rules for the self-employed introduced in 2017 and 2021
• No new VAT-free shopping scheme for overseas visitors to the UK
• No freeze on alcohol duty rates
• Basic rate of income tax to remain at 20%, not reduce to 19% from April 2023
• Energy price guarantee only until April 2023

He also signalled there could be U-turns on other policy areas, including the windfall tax, pensions triple lock and pledge to raise defence spending.

The government had already axed plans to scrap the 45p rate of income tax for top earners and had U-turned on a promise not to increase corporation tax.

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‘I don’t think her position is recoverable’

The extraordinary events have led to some Tory MPs calling for Ms Truss to go, with Sir Charles Walker telling Sky News political editor Beth Rigby: “I think her position is untenable. She has put colleagues, the country, through a huge amount of unnecessary pain and upset and worry.”

He suggested she has one to two weeks to resign before MPs try to remove her.

But Mr Hunt has insisted Ms Truss will be prime minister at Christmas, as he called on rebel Tory MPs to “give her a chance”.

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Two security workers injured after grenades thrown at aid site, Gaza Humanitarian Foundation says

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Two security workers injured after grenades thrown at aid site, Gaza Humanitarian Foundation says

Two American security workers in Gaza were injured after grenades were thrown during food distribution in Khan Younis, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) has said.

In a statement, the US and Israeli-backed aid group said a targeted terrorist attack was carried out at one of its sites in southern Gaza on Saturday morning.

The two Americans injured “are receiving medical treatment and are in stable condition,” it said, adding that the delivery of aid was “otherwise successful” and that “no local aid workers or civilians were harmed”.

GHF didn’t say exactly when the incident happened but claimed Hamas was behind the attack, adding: “GHF has repeatedly warned of credible threats from Hamas, including explicit plans to target American personnel, Palestinian aid workers, and the civilians who rely on our sites for food.

“Today’s attack tragically affirms those warnings.”

Later, the aid group posted a picture on social media, which it said showed “fragments of a grenade packed with ball bearings” that was used in the attack.

Asked by Sky’s US partner network, NBC News, whether the two injured individuals were responsible for handing out aid or were responsible for providing security, GHF said they were “American security workers” and “two American veterans.”

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The aid group did not provide specific evidence that Hamas was behind the attack.

The US and Israeli-backed group has been primarily responsible for aid distribution since Israel lifted its 11-week blockade of the Gaza Strip in May.

Read more:
Hamas gives ‘positive’ response to ceasefire proposal
Outcry as Israeli strike hits school
94 killed in Israeli strikes in Gaza, health staff say

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It comes after Sky News analysis showed GHF aid distributions are associated with a significant increase in deaths in Gaza.

According to Gaza’s health ministry, 600 Palestinians have been killed while seeking aid from GHF sites as of 3 July, which charities and the UN have branded “death traps”.

Meanwhile, the Associated Press has reported that Israeli-backed American contractors guarding GHF aid centres in Gaza are using live ammunition and stun grenades.

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Contractors allege colleagues ‘fired on Palestinians’

GHF has vehemently denied the accusations, adding that it investigated AP’s allegations and found them to be “categorically false”.

Israel’s military added that it fires only warning shots and is investigating reports of civilian harm.

It denies deliberately shooting at any innocent civilians and says it’s examining how to reduce “friction with the population” in the areas surrounding the distribution centres.

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Hamas gives ‘positive’ response to ceasefire proposal but asks for amendments

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Hamas gives 'positive' response to ceasefire proposal but asks for amendments

Hamas has said it has “submitted its positive response” to the latest proposal for a ceasefire in Gaza to mediators.

The proposal for a 60-day ceasefire was presented by US President Donald Trump, who has been pushing hard for a deal to end the fighting in Gaza, with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu set to visit the White House next week to discuss a deal.

Mr Trump said Israel had agreed to his proposed ceasefire terms, and he urged Hamas to accept the deal as well.

Hamas’ “positive” response to the proposal had slightly different wording on three issues around humanitarian aid, the status of the Israeli Defence Forces inside Gaza and the language around guarantees beyond the 60-day ceasefire, a source with knowledge of the negotiations revealed.

But the source told Sky News: “Things are looking good.”

The mother of Anas Al-Basyouni mourns his loss shortly after he was killed while on his way to an aid distribution center, during his funeral at Shifa Hospital in Gaza City on Thursday, July 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)
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A woman cries after her son was killed while on his way to an aid distribution centre. Pic: AP/Jehad Alshrafi

Hamas said it is “fully prepared to immediately enter into a round of negotiations regarding the mechanism for implementing this framework” without elaborating on what needed to be worked out in the proposal’s implementation.

The US said during the ceasefire it would “work with all parties to end the war”.

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A Hamas official said on condition of anonymity that the truce could start as early as next week.

An Israeli army tank advances in the Gaza Strip, as seen from southern Israel. Pic: AP/Leo Correa
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An Israeli army tank advances in the Gaza Strip, as seen from southern Israel. Pic: AP/Leo Correa

But he added that talks were needed first to establish how many Palestinian prisoners would be released in return for each freed Israeli hostage and to specify the amount of humanitarian aid that will be allowed to enter Gaza during the ceasefire.

He said negotiations on a permanent ceasefire and the full withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza in return for the release of the remaining hostages would start on the first day of the truce.

Hamas has been seeking guarantees that the 60-day ceasefire would lead to a total end to the nearly 21-month-old war, which caused previous rounds of negotiations to fail as Mr Netanyahu has insisted that Israel would continue fighting in Gaza to ensure the destruction of Hamas.

The Hamas official said that Mr Trump has guaranteed that the ceasefire will extend beyond 60 days if necessary to reach a peace deal, but there is no confirmation from the US of such a guarantee.

Speaking to journalists on Air Force One, Mr Trump welcomed Hamas’s “positive spirit” to the proposal, adding that there could be a ceasefire deal by next week.

Palestinians dispersing away from tear gas fired at an aid distribution site in Gaza. Pic: AP
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Palestinians dispersing away from tear gas fired at an aid distribution site in Gaza. Pic: AP

Lian Al-Za'anin, center, is comforted by relatives as she mourns the loss of her father, Rami Al-Za'anin, who was killed while heading to an aid distribution hub, at the morgue of the Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, on Thursday, July 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)
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A girl mourns the loss of her father, who was killed while heading to an aid distribution hub. Pic: AP/Jehad Alshrafi

Hamas also said it wants more aid to flow through the United Nations and other humanitarian agencies, which comes as the UN human rights officer said it recorded 613 Palestinians killed in Gaza within a month while trying to obtain aid.

Most of them were said to have been killed while trying to reach food distribution points by the controversial US- and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF).

The spokeswoman for the UN human rights office, Ravina Shamdasani, said the agency was not able to attribute responsibility for the killings, but added that “it is clear that the Israeli military has shelled and shot at Palestinians trying to reach the distribution points” operated by GHF.

Read more:
The man in the room acting as backchannel for Hamas in negotiations with US
GHF reacts to claims US contractors fired at Palestinians
Deaths in Gaza rise significantly when GHF distributes aid

Palestinians carry aid packages near the GHF distribution centre in Khan Younis. Pic: AP/Abdel Kareem Hana
Image:
Palestinians carry aid packages near the GHF distribution centre in Khan Younis. Pic: AP/Abdel Kareem Hana

Ms Shamdasani said that of the total tallied, 509 killings were “GHF-related”, meaning at or near its distribution sites.

The GHF accused the UN of taking its casualty figures “directly from the Hamas-controlled Gaza health ministry” and of trying “to falsely smear our effort”, which echoed statements to Sky News by the executive director of GHF, Johnnie Moore.

Mr Moore called the UN figures a “disinformation campaign” that is “meant to shut down our efforts” in the Gaza Strip.

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Gaza: The man in the room acting as backchannel for Hamas in negotiations with US

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Gaza: The man in the room acting as backchannel for Hamas in negotiations with US

Behind the efforts to secure the Gaza ceasefire and hostage release is the remarkable story of one man’s unlikely involvement.  

His name is Bishara Bahbah, he’s a Harvard-educated economics professor from Phoenix, Arizona.

In April, his phone rang. It was Hamas.

Since that phone call, Dr Bahbah has been living temporarily in Qatar where he is in direct contact with officials from Hamas. He has emerged as an important back-channel American negotiator. But how?

An inauguration party

I first met Dr Bahbah in January. It was the eve of President Trump’s inauguration and a group of Arab-Americans had thrown a party at a swanky restaurant in Washington DC’s Wharf district.

There was a sense of excitement. Arab-Americans were crediting themselves for having helped Trump over the line in the key swing state of Michigan.

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Bishara Bahbah,
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Dr Bahbah negotiating with Hamas for the release of Edan Alexander

Despite traditionally being aligned with the Democrats, Arab-Americans had abandoned Joe Biden in large numbers because of his handling of the Gaza war.

I’d reported from Michigan weeks earlier and been struck by the overwhelming support for Trump. The vibe essentially was ‘it can’t get any worse – we may as well give Trump a shot’.

Mingling among diplomats from Middle Eastern countries, wealthy business owners and even the president of FIFA, I was introduced to an unassuming man in his late 60s.

We got talking and shared stories of his birthplace and my adopted home for a few years – Jerusalem.

Bishara Bahbah
Image:
Dr Bahbah and Trump

He told me that he still has the deed to his family’s 68 dunum (16 acre) Palestinian orchard.

With nostalgia, he explained how he still had his family’s UN food card which shows their allocated monthly rations from their time living in a refugee camp and in the Jerusalem’s old city.

Dr Bahnah left Jerusalem in 1976. He is now a US citizen but told me Jerusalem would always be home.

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Will Trump achieve a Gaza ceasefire?

He echoed the views I had heard in Michigan, where he had spent many months campaigning as the president of Arab-Americans for Trump.

He dismissed my scepticism that Trump would be any better than Biden for the Palestinians.

We exchanged numbers and agreed to meet for lunch a few weeks later.

A connection with Trump

Dr Bahbah invited two Arab-American friends to our lunch. Over burgers and coke, a block from the White House, we discussed their hopes for Gaza under Trump.

The three men repeated what I had heard on the campaign trail – that things couldn’t get any worse for the Palestinians than they were under Biden.

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Gaza deaths increase when aid sites open

Trump, they said, would use his pragmatism and transactional nature to create opportunities.

Dr Bahbah displayed to me his own initiative too. He revealed that he got a message to the Palestinian Authority President, Mahmoud Abbas, to suggest he ought to write a personal letter of congratulations to President Trump.

A letter from Ramallah was on the Oval Office desk on 6 November, a day after the election. It’s the sort of gesture Trump notices.

It was clear to me that the campaigning efforts and continued support of these three wealthy men had been recognised by the Trump administration.

They had become close to key figures in Trump’s team – connections that would, in time, pay off.

There were tensions along the way. When Trump announced he would “own Gaza”, Dr Bahbah was disillusioned.

And then came the AI video of Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sunning themselves in a Gazan wonderland.

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President shares ‘Trump Gaza’ AI video

“It is provocative and unacceptable,” he told me just after the president posted the video in February.

Trump must have thought it was funny, so he posted it. He loves anything with his name on it.”

Then came the Trump plan to resettle Palestinians out of Gaza. To this, he released a public statement titled Urgent Press Release.

“Arab-Americans for Trump firmly rejects President Donald J Trump’s suggestion to remove – voluntarily or forcibly – Palestinians in Gaza to Egypt and Jordan,” he said.

Letter from Abbas to Trump
Image:
Letter from Abbas to Trump. Pic: Bishara Bahbah

He then changed the name of his alliance, dropping Trump. It became Arab-Americans for Peace.

I wondered if the wheels were coming off this unlikely alliance.

Was he realising Trump couldn’t or wouldn’t solve the Palestinian issue? But Dr Bahbah maintained faith in the new president.

“I am worried, but at the same time, Trump might be testing the waters to determine what is acceptable…,” he told me in late February as the war dragged on.

“There is no alternative to the two-state solution.”

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He told me that he expected the president and his team to work on the rebuilding of Gaza and work to launch a process that would culminate in the establishment of a Palestinian state, side by side in peace with Israel.

It was, and remains, an expectation at odds with the Trump administration’s official policy.

The phone call

In late April, Dr Bahbah’s phone rang. The man at the other end of the line was Dr Ghazi Hamad, a senior member of Hamas.

Dr Bahbah and Dr Hamad had never met – they did not know each other.

But Hamas had identified Dr Bahbah as the Palestinian-American with the most influence in Trump’s administration.

Dr Hamad suggested that they could work together – to secure the release of all the hostages in return for a permanent ceasefire.

Hamas was already using the Qatari government as a conduit to the Americans but Dr Bahbah represented a second channel through which they hoped they could convince President Trump to increase pressure on Israel.

There is a thread of history which runs through this story. It was the widow of former Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat who passed Dr Bahbah’s number to Dr Hamad.

In the 1990s, Dr Bahbah was part of a Palestinian delegation to the multilateral peace talks.

He became close to Arafat but he had no experience of a negotiation as delicate and intractable as this.

The first step was to build trust. Dr Bahbah contacted Steve Witkoff, Trump’s Middle East envoy.

Witkoff and Bahbah had something in common – one a real-estate mogul, the other an academic, neither had any experience in diplomacy. It represented the perfect manifestation of Trump’s ‘outside the box’ methods.

Read more from Sky News:
Hamas gives ‘positive’ response to ceasefire proposal but asks for amendments

Why Netanyahu only wants a 60-day ceasefire
Iran: Still a chance for peace talks with US

But Witkoff was sceptical of Dr Bahbah’s proposal at first. Could he really have any success at securing agreement between Israel and Hamas? A gesture to build trust was necessary.

Bahbah claims he told his new Hamas contact that they needed to prove to the Trump administration that they were serious about negotiating.

Within weeks a remarkable moment more than convinced Dr Bahbah and Witkoff that this new Hamas back-channel could be vitally important.

On 12 May, after 584 days in Hamas captivity, Israeli-American Edan Alexander was released.

We were told at the time that his release was a result of a direct deal between Hamas and the US.

Israel was not involved and the deal was described by Hamas as a “good faith” gesture. Dr Bahbah sees it as his deal.

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Doctors on the frontline

Direct talks took place between Dr Bahbah and five Hamas officials in Doha who would then convey messages back to at least 17 other Hamas leadership figures in both Gaza and Cairo.

Dr Bahbah in turn conveyed Hamas messages back to Witkoff who was not directly involved in the Hamas talks.

A Qatari source told me that Dr Bahbah was “very involved” in the negotiations.

But publicly, the White House has sought to downplay his role, with an official telling Axios in May that “he was involved but tangentially”.

The Israeli government was unaware of his involvement until their own spies discovered the backchannel discussion about the release of Alexander.

Since that April phone call, Dr Bahbah has remained in the Qatari capital, with trips to Cairo, trying to help secure a final agreement.

He is taking no payment from anyone for his work.

As he told me when we first met back in January: “If I can do something to help to end this war and secure a future for the Palestinian people, I will.”

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