Over the coming hours, the Israeli military will reveal the results of its own inquiry into how it managed to kill seven aid workers in Gaza.
At the White House in Washington, they already know the content of the inquiry.
The details would have formed the heart of a tricky phone conversation between President Biden and Prime Minister Netanyahu yesterday.
The result of that phone call was a demand from the US president that Israel “announce and implement a series of specific, concrete, and measurable steps to address civilian harm, humanitarian suffering, and the safety of aid workers”.
The White House readout of the phone call said: “[Biden] made clear that US policy with respect to Gaza will be determined by our assessment of Israel’s immediate action on these steps.”
Image: Biden recently ratcheted up pressure on Netanyahu following the deaths of foreign aid workers in Gaza.
That point was developed by Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who said: “If we don’t see the changes that we need to see, there’ll be changes in our own policy.”
What forced the Israelis to conduct and publish an inquiry into the killings? And what forced President Biden to threaten Israel with a change in American policy on Gaza? The killing of foreign aid workers.
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Image: Seven foreign WCK workers and a Palestinian driver were killed in the strike. Pic: AP
About 200 Palestinian aid workers have been killed in Gaza since the 7 October Hamas attacks on Israel. They are among more than 30,000 people killed in six months across a closed strip of land just 25 miles long and 6 miles wide.
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Much of that strip has been flattened. Hospitals have been destroyed along with other infrastructure – mosques, courts, schools.
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There is an acute humanitarian crisis across the strip topped by a famine in the north.
But it was the death of foreigners working for the charity World Central Kitchen which prompted Israeli investigation and the American shift in language.
Image: The blood-stained passports of three of the aid workers killed by Israel. Pic: AP
One US official said this moment “is an inflection point in this war” – an inflection point only because the Israeli mistake this time was killing foreigners.
I say “mistake this time” because it’s likely the Israeli investigation will conclude it was a mistake. The obvious question then is how many other mistakes have there been where Palestinians died, and no investigation came?
One separate thought: the US says it’s policy on Gaza “might change” if Israel doesn’t change its tactics. But what would a change in America’s policy actually look like?
There is plenty of chatter about the prospect of the US pulling its military supply chain to Israel. What that sounds like and what it would looks like are two different things.
Do not expect America to cut Israel off. Biden wouldn’t do it. Congress wouldn’t allow it.
Image: “Do not expect America to cut Israel off. Biden wouldn’t do it. Congress wouldn’t allow it”. Pic: Reuters
If America was to limit its supply of weapons to Israel, it could leave the Jewish State in an existential position. Iran and its powerful proxies across the region could exploit the weakness.
And it’s not as if America can meaningfully dictate how Israel uses weapons it receives from America. It can hardly insist “don’t use these in Gaza”.
Look again at the language the Americans are using. Biden talked about US policy “with respect to Gaza”.
Later in the statement: “President Biden made clear that the United States strongly supports Israel in the face of [Iranian] threats.”
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That’s the nub of it. Biden wants to rein in Netanyahu with respect to Gaza – but the key lever he has is one he really can’t pull without exposing Israel to a greater existential threat.
That’s Biden’s challenge, and it’s Netanyahu’s advantage.
Donald Trump has said he plans to hit Canada with a 35% tariff on imported goods, as he warned of a blanket 15 or 20% hike for most other countries.
In a letter to Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, the US president wrote: “I must mention that the flow of Fentanyl is hardly the only challenge we have with Canada, which has many Tariff, and Non-Tariff, Policies and Trade Barriers.”
Mr Trump’s tariffs were allegedly an effort to get Canada to crack down on fentanyl smuggling, and the US president has expressed frustration with Canada’s trade deficit with the US.
In a statement Mr Carney said: “Throughout the current trade negotiations with the United States, the Canadian government has steadfastly defended our workers and businesses. We will continue to do so as we work towards the revised deadline of August 1.”
He added: “Canada has made vital progress to stop the scourge of fentanyl in North America. We are committed to continuing to work with the United States to save lives and protect communities in both our countries.”
The higher rates would go into effect on 1 August.
Shortly after Mr Trump unveiled his “Liberation Day” tariffs on 2 April, there was a huge sell-off on the financial markets. The US president later announced a 90-day negotiating period, during which a 10% baseline tariff would be charged on most imported goods.
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“We’re just going to say all of the remaining countries are going to pay, whether it’s 20% or 15%. We’ll work that out now,” he said.
He added: “I think the tariffs have been very well-received. The stock market hit a new high today.”
The US and UK signed a trade deal in June, with the US president calling it “a fair deal for both” and saying it will “produce a lot of jobs, a lot of income”.
Sir Keir Starmer said the document “implements” the deal to cut tariffs on cars and aerospace, adding: “So this is a very good day for both of our countries – a real sign of strength.”
It comes as Russia’s deputy foreign minister, Sergei Ryabkov, said a new round of talks between Moscow and Washington on bilateral problems could take place before the end of the summer.
A Palestinian activist who was detained for over three months in a US immigration jail after protesting against Israel is suing Donald Trump’s administration for $20m (£15m) in damages.
Lawyers for Mahmoud Khalil have filed a claim against the administration alleging he was falsely imprisoned, maliciously prosecuted and smeared as an antisemite as the government sought to deport him over his role in campus protests.
He described “plain-clothed agents and unmarked cars” taking him “from one place to another, expecting you just to follow orders and shackled all the time”, which he said was “really scary”.
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Mahmoud Khalil reunites with family after release
Mr Khalil said he was not presented with an arrest warrant and wasn’t told where he was being taken.
He said the detention centre he was taken to was “as far from humane as it could be” and “a place where you have no rights whatsoever”.
“You share a dorm with over 70 men with no privacy, with lights on all the time, with really terrible food. You’re basically being dehumanised at every opportunity. It’s a black hole,” he added.
Mr Khalil said he would also accept an official apology from the Trump administration.
The Trump administration celebrated Mr Khalil’s arrest, promising to deport him and others whose protests against Israel it declared were “pro-terrorist, antisemitic, anti-American activity”.
Mr Khalil said after around 36 hours in captivity he was allowed to speak to his wife, who was pregnant at the time.
“These were very scary hours, I did not know what was happening on the outside. I did not know that my wife was safe,” he said.
Mr Khalil said administration officials had made “absolutely absurd allegations” by saying he as involved in antisemitic activities and supporting Hamas.
“They are weaponising antisemitism, weaponising anti-terrorism in order to stifle speech,” he said. “What I was engaged in is simply opposing a genocide, opposing war crimes, opposing Columbia University’s complicity in the war on Gaza.”
A State Department spokesperson said its actions toward Mr Khalil were fully supported by the law.
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Asked about missing the birth of his son while he was in prison, Mr Khalil said: “I don’t think there’s any word that can describe the agony and the sadness that I went through, to be deprived from such a divine moment, from a moment that my wife and I had always dreamed about.”
Meanwhile, the deportation case against Mr Khalil is continuing to wind its way through the immigration court system.
Donald Trump has praised the Liberian president’s command of English – the West African country’s official language.
The US president reacted with visible surprise to Joseph Boakai’s English-speaking skills during a White House meeting with leaders from the region on Wednesday.
After the Liberian president finished his brief remarks, Mr Trump told him he speaks “such good English” and asked: “Where did you learn to speak so beautifully?”
Mr Trump seemed surprised when Mr Boakai laughed and responded he learned in Liberia.
The US president said: “It’s beautiful English.
“I have people at this table who can’t speak nearly as well.”
Mr Boakai did not tell Mr Trump that English is the official language of Liberia.
The country was founded in 1822 with the aim of relocating freed African slaves and freeborn black citizens from the US.
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Later asked by a reporter if he’ll visit the continent, Mr Trump said, “At some point, I would like to go to Africa.”
But he added that he’d “have to see what the schedule looks like”.
Trump’s predecessor, President Joe Biden, promised to go to Africa in 2023, but only fulfilled the commitment by visiting Angola in December 2024, just weeks before he left office.