Biden’s policy in Gaza ‘might change’ if Israel doesn’t change its tactics. What would that look like?

Published

2 months ago

April 5, 2024

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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.”

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.

A cynical conclusion? No: the blunt reality.

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.

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.

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.

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.”

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.

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Tornadoes leave trail of death and destruction across parts of US

Published

2 hours ago

May 27, 2024

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Tornadoes leave trail of death and destruction across parts of US

Powerful storms have killed at least 15 people and left a trail of destruction in their wake as they swept across parts of the central United States.

A tornado tore through a rural area in northern Texas, near the Oklahoma border, on Saturday night, killing at least seven people.

Cooke County sheriff Ray Sappington said two children, aged two and five, were among the victims, with numerous injuries also reported.

He said some of the many trailer homes in the area were “completely gone”, while others suffered massive damage from the storm which left a quarter of a mile-wide path of destruction for three to four miles.

“It’s just a trail of debris left,” he said. “The devastation is pretty severe.”

Storms also killed two people and destroyed houses in Oklahoma, where guests at an outdoor wedding were injured, while at least five people were killed in Arkansas, including a 26-year-old woman.

Elsewhere, a man was killed in Louisville, Kentucky, when a tree fell on him on Sunday.

The small community of Valley View, a town in Cooke County, where barely 800 people live, was among the hardest hit.

Kevin Dorantes, 20, said he came across a father and son trapped under the debris and friends and neighbours worked to get them out.

“They were conscious but severely injured,” he said. “The father’s leg was snapped.”

He said they managed to carry the father on a mattress to a truck and he and his son were driven to a nearby ambulance.

Hugo Parra said he sheltered with around 40 to 50 people in the bathroom of a truck stop near Valley View as the storm sheared the roof and walls off the building, mangling metal beams and leaving battered cars in the car park.

“The best way to describe this is the wind tried to rip us out of the bathrooms,” he said.

The full scale of the devastation began to come clear on Sunday morning as aerial footage showed dozens of damaged homes, many without roofs and others reduced to rubble, as residents woke up to overturned cars and collapsed garages.

Hundreds of thousands of customers were without power across a large part of the country, including in Arkansas, Missouri and Texas on Sunday, according to poweroutages.us.

In Indiana, bad weather delayed the start of the famous Indy 500 car race.

More severe weather is expected across parts of Ohio, Kentucky, Missouri and Tennessee, with the National Weather Service warning of damaging winds, large hail and more tornadoes in the affected areas.

April and May have been a busy month for tornadoes, especially in the Midwest, with Iowa hit hard last week, when a deadly twister devastated Greenfield.

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Grayson Murray: PGA Tour golfer who died aged 30 took his own life, parents say

Published

8 hours ago

May 26, 2024

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Grayson Murray: PGA Tour golfer who died aged 30 took his own life, parents say

PGA Tour golfer Grayson Murray who died aged 30 took his own life, his parents have said, as they urged people to be “kind to one another”.

The American player, a two-time tour winner, withdrew from a competition in Texas with two holes remaining of his second round on Friday citing an illness, a day before he died.

In their statement, Eric and Terry Murray said “life wasn’t always easy” for their son and “although he took his own life, we know he rests peacefully now”.

The couple said that losing him was a “nightmare” and they have “so many questions that have no answers… but one”.

“Was Grayson loved? The answer is yes. By us, his brother Cameron, his sister Erica, all of his extended family, by his friends, by his fellow players and – it seems – by many of you who are reading this. He was loved and he will be missed.”

The pair thanked the PGA Tour and “the entire world of golf for the outpouring of support”.

They ended their statement by saying: “Please honour Grayson by being kind to one another. If that becomes his legacy, we could ask for nothing else.”

Murray pulled out of the Charles Schwab Challenge in Fort Worth, Texas, on Friday and his death on Saturday was announced by PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan, who said Murray’s parents had asked for the event to continue.

‘I wanted to give up on life at times’

Murray spoke in January about his battles with anxiety and depression and revealed he had sought treatment in the past few years for alcohol abuse but had been sober for several months.

Following his tour victory at the start of this year in Hawaii, he explained how much the win meant to him after what he had been through, saying: “It’s not easy… I wanted to give up a lot of times, give up on myself, give up on the game of golf, give up on life at times, and you just persevere.

“When you get tired of fighting, let someone else fight for you and that’s what happened.”

Golfers pay tribute to Murray

World number one Scottie Scheffler led the tributes to him. The American golfer said: “Obviously, the news hasn’t really sunk in quite yet, but I’m thinking about his family and praying hard for all of them.

“I can’t imagine how difficult of a time this is. I got to know Grayson a bit better over the last six months or so. There’s not really a way to put into words how sad and tragic it is, but I’m thinking about his family.”

Murray’s long-time caddie Jay Green hailed him as “the absolute best”.

“Not only was he an incredible, thoughtful and generous boss, he was an even better friend,” he said in a statement.

“He truly would do anything for anyone. He has the best family and my heart goes out to them. We will all miss him deeply.”

English golfer Luke Donald wrote on X: “Truly devastating news that Grayson Murray has passed away. He asked me for some advice on how to play Augusta a few months ago, last week I saw him at the PGA Championship, life truly is precious. My condolences and prayers to his whole family that they may find some peace.”

Donald’s fellow countryman Justin Rose wrote: “I had the opportunity to spend a few rounds of golf alongside Grayson in recent weeks at Hilton Head, Quail Hollow and Valhalla.

“I will always remember that and use it to remind myself that you never know what challenges people have going on in their lives and how they may be internalising things. RIP Grayson and love and strength to your family and friends.”

PGA Tour boss Jay Monahan said: “Over the last several years I spent a lot of time with him because I wanted to understand what we could do, in his opinion, to help everybody else out here.

“I’m devastated by Grayson’s loss. The conversations I had with him, particularly the last year, I learned an awful lot from him. He was very open and transparent with me.”

Murray won the Sony Open in Hawaii in January after sinking a 40ft birdie putt to beat Byeong Hun An and Keegan Bradley in a playoff.

It marked his first tour victory since clinching his maiden PGA Tour title during his 2017 rookie campaign, when he won the Barbasol Championship in Alabama aged 24.

Anyone feeling emotionally distressed or suicidal can call Samaritans for help on 116 123 or email jo@samaritans.org in the UK. In the US, call the Samaritans branch in your area or 1 (800) 273-TALK

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Donald Trump booed at Libertarian Party convention

Published

20 hours ago

May 26, 2024

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Donald Trump booed at Libertarian Party convention

Donald Trump was booed during an address at the Libertarian Party National Convention on Saturday.

Libertarians have been largely critical of Mr Trump, whose invitation to speak at the party event in Washington caused mass division.

There was some show of support, as he asked for the party’s endorsement, with chants of “USA! USA”, but the former president was booed at several points during his speech.

It was a highly unusual spectacle, as Trump events are heavily staged – which usually guarantees support from his loyal fans.

Mr Trump tried to get the Libertarians on side by describing President Joe Biden as a “tyrant” and the “worst president in the history of the United States”, but he was instead met with cries of: “That’s you.”

Someone in the audience shouted: “Lock him up!” while another said: “Donald Trump is a threat to democracy!”

Cries were also heard of “You had your shot!”, “F*** you” and “You already had four years, you a******”.

Someone carrying a banner that said “No wannabe dictators!” was also dragged away by security.

The former president tried to endear party members to him by joking about his four criminal indictments, saying: “If I wasn’t a Libertarian before, I sure as hell am a Libertarian now.”

But with more boos from the audience, he hit back: “You don’t want to win” and claimed that the party wants to “keep getting your 3% every four years”.

In the 2016 election, Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson won 3% of the vote, but in 2020, nominee Jo Jorgensen only secured around 1%.

Mr Trump managed to secure a cheer when he promised to reduce the life sentence of Ross Ulbricht, the founder of the illegal drug sales website Silk Road, who is widely championed by Libertarians, and who themselves prioritise individual freedoms and reduced government.

‘I would rather eat my own foot’

The event was a chance for Mr Trump to recruit supporters of independent candidate Robert F Kennedy Jr, who made his own speech at the convention.

But speaking to NBC News, Libertarian Caryn Ann Harlos said of a possible Trump endorsement: “I would rather eat my own foot out of a bear trap.”

Libertarians, who broke out into their signature “End the Fed” chant, to abolish the Federal Reserve, will pick their nomination for the White House on Sunday.

Mr Biden and Mr Trump will face off again in November in a repeat of the 2020 presidential election – with polling showing most Americans are not in favour of a repeat of that contest.

This could lead to an increase in support for independent or fringe candidates outside the Democrats or Republicans, according to some forecasters.