Junk food banned from SNAP benefits in 6 more states, a win for MAHA advocates
In a win for Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) advocates, six more states have gotten waivers allowing them to ban soda, candy and other high-sugar junk foods from being purchased through the federally funded, but state-operated Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, known as SNAP. The waivers, which amend the statutory definition of eligible food for purchase under SNAP, were granted to West Virginia, Florida, Colorado, Louisiana, Oklahoma and Texas. The new restrictions on what can and cannot be purchased will go into effect in 2026. The six new waivers bring the number of states that have sought to restrict SNAP purchases of junk food to 12. The other states who received waivers from the Trump administration earlier this year were Nebraska, Iowa, Indiana, Arkansas, Idaho and Utah. 5 EVERYDAY FOODS AND DRINKS SILENTLY DAMAGING YOUR LONG-TERM HEALTH, SAY NUTRITION EXPERTS “For years, SNAP has used taxpayer dollars to fund soda and candy, products that fuel America’s diabetes and chronic disease epidemics,” Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said. “These waivers help put real food back at the center of the program and empower states to lead the charge in protecting public health.” Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins has praised the historic efforts that states, mostly those with Republican leadership, have made to help improve the health and nutrition assistance provided through SNAP. On average, 42 million low-income Americans receive food stamp assistance each month, including one in five American children under 17, according to a report from the Trump administration released earlier this year. HOUSE REPUBLICANS UNVEIL NEW FOOD STAMP WORK REQUIREMENTS FOR TRUMP’S ‘BIG, BEAUTIFUL BILL’ “It is incredible to see so many states take action at this critical moment in our nation’s history and do something to begin to address chronic health problems,” Rollins said after the latest announcement of new waivers. “President Trump has changed the status quo, and the entire Cabinet is taking action to Make America Healthy Again. … These state waivers promote healthier options for families in need.” Of the 12 states that have been granted SNAP waivers thus far, all of them will restrict SNAP funds from being used to purchase sugary drinks, including soda, while at least eight of the states have indicated plans to ban SNAP funds for candy purchases. Some states, such as Florida, Louisiana and Nebraska, will explicitly ban energy drinks as well, while others, like Arkansas, have indicated drinks with less than 50% natural juice will be banned. ABC News medical correspondent Darien Sutton argued the move, although pushed as an effort to improve health outcomes, lacks evidence. “There’s no evidence that taking away access to soda will actually fight these conditions,” he said, according to ABC News. “Sugar is one of those culprits that you always have to be mindful of.” Sutton pointed out that U.S. dietary guidelines recommend that men do not have more than 35 grams of sugar per day, while women are told to limit it to 25 grams per day.
Ohio senator introduces ‘Holly’s Act’ for woman brutally beaten in viral Cincinnati attack
Sen. Bernie Moreno, R-Ohio, is introducing “Holly’s Act” after a woman was violently attacked by a mob in Cincinnati late last month – a move aimed at ending what he calls the justice system’s revolving door for repeat offenders. The attack happened around 3 a.m. on July 26 at the intersection of Fourth and Elm streets in Cincinnati’s central business district. Bystander video captured the moment a large group turned on several individuals early that morning, and in one video obtained by Fox News Digital, an unidentified man could be heard yelling racial slurs while being beaten in the street. Other footage appears to show the male victim striking a member of the group shortly before the altercation escalated. In another video, a woman later identified only as “Holly” tried to intervene before she was slammed to the ground and knocked unconscious. EXCLUSIVE: RAMASWAMY DECRIES ‘ANTI-LAW ENFORCEMENT CULTURE’ IN WAKE OF BRUTAL CINCINNATI BEATING A single 911 call came several minutes after the incident, despite more than 100 people standing by, recording, or participating in the melee. Moreno held a press conference in Cincinnati on Wednesday after meeting with city officials, the FBI special agent in charge, the future U.S. attorney, police chief and a deputy from the local sheriff’s department. Moreno described the meeting as starting “a little rough,” but said it ended productively. Ultimately, he said everyone at the table agreed to work together to make certain that what happened on July 26 never happens again. He also said he wants to make sure anyone who lives in Ohio can visit any of the state’s cities. CINCINNATI VIRAL BEATING VICTIM FORCED INTO ‘SUPER-SECRET SPOT’ WITH SECURITY “We’re going to talk to some of our state legislators to see if we can put something in place that I call — with her permission — ‘Holly’s Act,’ which is how we raise the bar on minimum sentences, minimum bail requirements… We’re going to end the revolving door of injustice,” Moreno said. “Our judges can no longer hide behind their cloak, and they have to be held accountable for not upholding law and order,” he added. Law enforcement officials risk their lives every day to arrest criminals, which involves going out and making difficult arrests. But when those criminals appear in court, judges undermine the police officers’ efforts by “giving criminals a slap on the hand,” the senator said. “Let’s be honest, because a lot of times you guys are qualifying this as a brawl,” Moreno told reporters. “This was attempted murder of an innocent woman. And that person had a rap sheet a mile long. Nobody who has that rap sheet should be walking the streets of any Ohio city free.” FIFTH SUSPECT ARRESTED IN VIRAL CINCINNATI BEATDOWN AS VICTIM DETAILS HER ‘ONGOING BATTLE’ Standing beside Moreno was Holly, who said she was focused on reform—not reliving the trauma. “I’m here to talk about the future and how we can change it; how we can prevent this from happening to anybody else,” she said. “These heinous crimes have to stop. You know, I never want this to happen to anyone else, especially a mother, a daughter, or somebody who is loved.” Holly said moving forward, more police officers are needed, as is justice reform that prohibits judges from letting people out of custody with a slap on the wrist. “The man who attacked me, and might have permanently damaged me forever, should have never been on the streets, ever,” she said. “The fact that he had just gotten out of jail previously for something he should have been in there for years. It’s really sad to me because I can’t even fathom how many other people who have been attacked by the same type of man over and over and over in Toledo, in Columbus, Cincinnati, Dayton.” FOURTH ARREST ANNOUNCED AS INVESTIGATION INTO VIOLENT CINCINNATI BRAWL CONTINUES Holly said what upsets her most is the public’s desensitization to violence. Holly said she hopes one day there is some sort of bill that allows someone to be prosecuted or fined if they do not call 911 first to save someone’s life. “We all need to help each other out and start helping humanity,” she said. One reporter asked Holly if she felt like she was going to die that night. “I truly felt like I was going to die,” Holly said. “I’m still shocked that I didn’t—and so are my doctors.” RAMASWAMY PLEDGES ‘RULE OF LAW’ REVIVAL AFTER VIRAL CINCINNATI MOB ATTACK Moreno told reporters that during the meeting, the attendees spoke about offering signing bonuses for police officers as a way to bring on more staff. He said at the end of the day, a better police presence and better technology will help prevent incidents like that from July 26 from happening. But Moreno also stressed how critically important it is for civilians to call authorities so that aid can be brought in as soon as possible. “We’re not people that watch a woman get beaten to the inch of her life and our first instinct is to get out and videotape something so that you can be cool on Instagram,” he said. “That’s not who we are.” Several individuals have been charged in connection with what police describe as “a violent attack,” including Dominique Kittle, Montianez Merriweather, Jermaine Matthews, DeKyra Vernon, Aisha Devaugh and Patrick Rosemond. Rosemond, 38, was taken into custody Monday afternoon by the FBI and Atlanta Metropolitan Major Offender’s Task Force in Fulton County, Georgia. He is charged with two counts of felonious assault and aggravated riot, according to the Cincinnati Police Department. He is also charged with one count of fugitive from justice for a fingerprintable charge, according to the Fulton County Sheriff’s Office. He is currently being held in the Fulton County Jail while awaiting extradition to Ohio, police said. Rosemond is a Cincinnati resident and does not have any registered addresses in Georgia, according to records obtained by Fox News Digital. A
WATCH: Trump hints he will federalize DC soon, bring in National Guard after ‘Big Balls’ attack
In the wake of a former DOGE worker nicknamed “Big Balls” being brutally beaten by gang members in the streets of Washington, D.C., President Donald Trump indicated he is strongly considering taking control of the district to stamp out the rampant crime and violence plaguing the nation’s capital city. He also said that he is considering taking control of the Washington, D.C. police and using the National Guard to stop the violence. Speaking with reporters on Wednesday evening, Trump said, “We’re considering it, yeah, because the crime is ridiculous.” “I could show you a chart comparing D.C. to other locations, and you’re not going to want to see what it looks like,” he said. “We want to have a great, safe, capital, and we’re going to have it. And that includes cleanliness. And it includes other things. We have a capital that’s very unsafe.” 2 JUVENILES ARRESTED IN BLOODY DC ATTACK ON EX-DOGE WORKER KNOWN AS ‘BIG BALLS’ Referring to the recent beating of the former DOGE worker, a teenager whose real name is Edward Coristine, Trump said, “We just almost lost a young man, beautiful, handsome guy that got the hell knocked out of him the night before last.” The president said he called to check in on Coristine and that he would be calling again “in a little while.” “He went through a bad situation, to put it mildly. And there’s too much of it. We’re going to do something about it,” said Trump. ANTI-ISRAEL GUNMAN FACES FEDERAL HATE CRIME CHARGES IN DEADLY DC EMBASSY STAFFERS SHOOTING “So, whether you call it federalize or what, and that also includes the graffiti that you see the papers all over the place, the roads that are in bad shape, the medians that are falling down, the median that’s in between roads that’s falling down. We’re going to beautify the city. We’re going to make it beautiful,” he added. “What a shame. Rate of crime, the rate of muggings, killings and everything else. We’re not going to let it. And that includes bringing in the National Guard. Maybe very quickly.” Trump was also asked whether he would support Congress overturning the District of Columbia Home Rule Act. The law was passed in 1973 and granted D.C. a greater degree of autonomy, including allowing residents to elect a mayor and city council. Trump said, “We’re going to look at that. In fact, the lawyers are already studying it.” MOTHER OF SLAIN CONGRESSIONAL INTERN SAYS DC COUNCIL TREATS VIOLENT CRIME LIKE A ‘JOKE’ AMID UNSOLVED KILLING “We have to run D.C. This has to be the best-run place in the country, not the worst-run place in the country,” he said. “And it has so much potential, and we’re going to take care of it. You’re going to be safe. You’re going to be safe walking down streets. You’re not going to get mugged.”
Cuomo flips script on Mamdani for owning property in Uganda despite its anti-LGBT laws: ‘Silence is violence’
The race for New York City mayor intensified this week when former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, running as an independent, called out socialist candidate Zohran Mamdani for owning property in Uganda despite the country’s anti-LGBT policies. “The no-show assemblyman missed this interview while vacationing at his parents’ compound in Uganda, a country that murders LGBTQIA+ people,” Cuomo posted on X Tuesday. “Silence is violence. I hereby call on you to Boycott, Divest, and Sanction your property in Uganda and commit to stop spending tourism dollars there until they overturn their hateful, discriminatory laws which violate basic human rights.” Mamdani, who was born in Uganda, has faced criticism in recent days for spending the last part of June at his family’s compound in Uganda, where, according to a New York Post report, his wedding celebration was surrounded by armed guards. MAMDANI’S PAST ‘VISCERAL DISDAIN’ FOR POLICE ‘SCARES A LOT OF NEW YORKERS’ FOR GOOD REASON: NYC CRIME EXPERT Some, including GOP opponent Curtis Sliwa, called him a hypocrite for calling to defund the police for everyday New Yorkers in the past while employing tight security at his overseas wedding celebration. Cuomo’s post alluded to Mamdani’s strident support for BDS and sanctions against Israel. which Mamdani has promoted dating back to his college days and has stood by on the campaign trail. MAMDANI PREACHES FROM PULPIT OF RADICAL PASTOR PUSHING REPARATIONS, ABOLISHING POLICE: ‘BROTHER AND FRIEND’ Fox News Digital reached out to the Mamdani campaign for comment. Uganda has a long history of government actions against LGBT individuals, including last year, when Uganda’s Constitutional Court upheld an anti-gay law that allows the death penalty for “aggravated homosexuality.” “Queer and trans people across the United States are facing an increasingly hostile political environment,” Mamdani’s campaign website states. “New York City must be a refuge for LGBTQIA+ people, but private institutions in our own city have already started capitulating to Trump’s assault on trans rights. Meanwhile, the cost of living crisis confronting working class people across the city hits the LGBTQIA+ community particularly hard, with higher rates of unemployment and homelessness than the rest of the city. “The Mamdani administration will protect LGBTQIA+ New Yorkers by expanding and protecting gender-affirming care citywide, making NYC an LGBTQIA+ sanctuary city, and creating the Office of LGBTQIA+ Affairs.”
WATCH: Trump DOJ to fight ‘race-based gerrymandering,’ Dhillon says amid Texas redistricting battle
The U.S. Department of Justice will act to crack down on the sort of “race-based gerrymandering” at the heart of the Texas redistricting fight, Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon said Tuesday. “We are ensuring that all 50 states have and continue to have clean voter roles. We are challenging efforts to suppress or dilute the vote. We are attacking illegal race-based gerrymandering. And we are protecting ballot access for all Americans,” said Dhillon, who leads the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division, in a video posted Tuesday marking the 60th anniversary of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. After Democrats fled the state in an attempt to stop Republicans’ attempt to redraw districts, Texas Governor Greg Abbott called on the Texas Department of Public Safety to arrest them for abandoning their duties. DOJ TARGETS NONCITIZENS ON VOTER ROLLS AS PART OF TRUMP ELECTION INTEGRITY PUSH The ongoing debate stems from a letter by the Department of Justice that told Texas officials that the current congressional maps in Texas promote racial vote dilution in violation of the Voting Rights Act. The letter, in turn, spurred Abbott to call a special legislative session to begin the process of redrawing the state’s maps. “We have notified Texas of grave concerns about congressional districts drawn with racial motivations, and we are suing other jurisdictions where there is evidence of ineligible voters on their voter rolls,” Dhillon continued Wednesday. “Our job is to make it easier to vote and harder to cheat. On this anniversary we honor the voting rights act not just by remembering it but by enforcing it for all Americans.” Democrats have decried Republicans for pushing a partisan process, but the Justice Department has said the move is an effort to promote fairer districts. The DOJ’s July letter says four of Texas’s districts currently constitute “unconstitutional ’coalition districts.’” The letter goes on to assert that courts have ruled that “coalition districts” run afoul of the Voting Rights Act and the Fourteenth Amendment. SUPREME COURT ORDERS NEW ARGUMENTS IN PIVOTAL ELECTIONS CASE “We took a look at Texas, and we found that four of their districts in Texas are comprised of these so-called coalition districts,” Dhillon said Tuesday on the “Just the News, No Noise,” a show aired by Real America’s Voice. “In other words, to get to a special minority district, you have to add together multiple minorities or count on a certain percentage of a crossover white vote. And this is too complex, too weird and too inconsistent with equal protection.”
ICE raid tipoffs from Dem lawmaker could mean charges, says DHS rep: ‘Looks like obstruction’
A Democratic state lawmaker tipping off ICE operations in her community could be hit with obstruction-of-justice charges, a spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security told Fox News Digital. After Democratic Arizona state Senator Analise Ortiz admitted on social media to alerting her community about ICE movements, DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin claimed in a statement to Fox News Digital that the lawmaker is choosing illegal criminals over American citizens. “Arizona state Senator Analise Ortiz is siding with vicious cartels, human traffickers, and violent criminals over American citizens,” said McLaughlin. “Notifying the public about ICE law enforcement operations endangers law enforcement and weakens American national security,” she went on. 16 IN CUSTODY AFTER IMMIGRATION RAID AT LA HOME DEPOT, DHS SAYS In response to Fox News Digital’s question about whether Ortiz could face charges, McLaughlin answered, “This certainly looks like obstruction of justice.” She pointed to DHS statistics that ICE officers are currently facing an 830 percent increase in assaults. “The men and women of ICE put their lives on the line every day to arrest violent criminal illegal aliens to protect and defend the lives of American citizens,” said McLaughlin. “Make no mistake, sanctuary politicians like Arizona Senator Analise Ortiz are contributing to the surge in assaults of our ICE officers through their repeated vilification and demonization of ICE.” This comes after popular conservative social media page “Libs of TikTok” blasted Ortiz for posting alerts on her account giving updates on ICE operations in the area. Libs of TikTok posted a screenshot, indicating it belonged to Ortiz, that warned in English and Spanish, “ICE is present.” The post also gave the location of the federal officials’ whereabouts. VENEZUELAN SUSPECT ‘SHOULD NEVER HAVE BEEN IN THE UNITED STATES,’ POLICE CHIEF SAYS AFTER DEADLY SHOOTING Libs of TikTok wrote, “Arizona State Senator Analise Ortiz (D) is actively impeding and doxxing ICE by posting their live locations on instagram.” The account urged Border Czar Tom Homan, the DHS and ICE to file charges against Ortiz. In response, Ortiz admitted to alerting her community about ICE activity, saying, “Yep. When ICE is around, I will alert my community to stay out of the area.” Seemingly in response to the Libs of TikTok’s call for charges against her, Ortiz also wrote, “I’m not f*****g scared of you nor Trump’s masked goons.” After the comment, Arizona Senate Warren Petersen, a Republican, issued a statement reprimanding Ortiz: “Public servants have a duty to uphold the law and respect those who enforce it, not undermine them.” US CRIME DROPPED WIDELY IN 2024, FBI SAYS — WITH SOME NOTABLE CAVEATS Petersen said he had referred the matter to the U.S. Attorney for the District of Arizona for investigation “as it appears she may be in violation of federal law.” Ortiz has remained defiant, writing in an X post, “I will not be intimidated. I will alert our community to avoid the area when Trump’s masked thugs terrorize us all, regardless of citizenship. Trump doesn’t respect our laws nor our constitution. My duty is to keep people safe from his unconstitutional and authoritarian actions.”
DOJ turns to Gabbard’s office for next step in grand jury probe of alleged Russiagate conspiracy
The Department of Justice made a sweeping request to the Office of the Director of National Intelligence this week for more information about allegations of a 2016 conspiracy to tie President Donald Trump to Russia, marking the next step in the department’s grand jury inquiry into the matter. A DOJ prosecutor asked the ODNI for a range of documents to supplement Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard’s recent request to the DOJ to investigate Obama administration officials over the alleged conspiracy. The Federalist first reported on the prosecutor’s request. A source familiar with the request confirmed the veracity of the report to Fox News Digital. The prosecutor requested in a letter to the ODNI a dozen categories of items, including any nonpublic material Gabbard had pertaining to the tranche of declassified documents she made public in July. DOJ LAUNCHING GRAND JURY INQUIRY INTO RUSSIAGATE CONSPIRACY ALLEGATIONS Gabbard also revealed Tuesday night on the Ingraham Angle that she had met that day with the DOJ prosecutors involved in the grand jury inquiry. Gabbard said they “have more questions, and they’re going to be really taking a deep dive into this again.” “They are committed to leaving no stone unturned as they conduct this grand jury investigation and find the truth,” Gabbard said. The revelation that a meeting had occurred and that a DOJ official leading the grand jury inquiry is seeking records from the ODNI signals that the probe is underway and in an information-gathering phase. WHITE HOUSE SENDS MIXED SIGNALS IN RUSSIA ‘HOAX’ BLAME GAME Grand jury investigations are conducted in secret and can take days, weeks or longer to conclude. Prosecutors present the grand jury with evidence, and the panelists on the jury are tasked with deciding whether probable cause exists to charge someone with a crime. Obtaining an indictment against a person through a grand jury is generally much easier than the subsequent process of securing a conviction against them. Fox News Digital first reported on the existence of a grand jury investigation related to Gabbard’s intelligence on Monday, but it remains unclear whom is being targeted in the investigation or what criminal charges could be on the table and still within the statutes of limitations. Gabbard has alleged that newly declassified evidence shows that President Barack Obama and his national security officials, including John Brennan, James Comey and James Clapper, had forgone typical protocols to compile a faulty intelligence product after President Donald Trump won the election in 2016 that undermined his election win. Gabbard alleged that the intelligence laid the “groundwork” for the Trump-Russia narrative that loomed over much of the president’s first administration. Trump’s first presidency was dominated by two-year-long special counsel inquiries surrounding Russia’s involvement in the 2016 election, but neither special counsel identified a conspiracy among Obama officials like the one Gabbard has now alleged. The DOJ official’s letter to ODNI this week also included a request for information about any intelligence community investigations into media leaks, signaling that those could also be part of the grand jury probe. Gabbard has claimed the media obtained information through the Obama administration that helped to falsely attribute Trump’s win to Russian interference in the election in the eyes of the public. Obama recently rejected Gabbard’s allegations through a spokesperson in a rare statement. “Out of respect for the office of the presidency, our office does not normally dignify the constant nonsense and misinformation flowing out of this White House with a response,” the statement said. “But these claims are outrageous enough to merit one. These bizarre allegations are ridiculous and a weak attempt at distraction.”
New Romanian law may have averted NATO clash with Russia after border strikes
Russia narrowly avoided an armed skirmish with Romania, a member of the NATO alliance, after striking just a half mile from its border. Romanian defense officials believe the new law passed by parliament explicitly allowing its armed forces to shoot down Russian drones that fly over its territory prevented the Kremlin from incurring on its territory. Russia struck a gas distribution center in the Ismail Area of Ukraine with Shahed kamikaze drones on Tuesday and Wednesday, so close to Romania’s border that Bucharest deployed F-16 aircraft to monitor. No unauthorized intrusions were reported. “They know we passed this law, and in the last two months they have avoided crossing into our airspace,” one Romanian defense source told Fox News Digital. NATO JETS SCRAMBLED AMID RUSSIA’S LARGEST DRONE ATTACK ON UKRAINE Ilie Bolojan, Romania’s then-acting president, signed the law, which Romanian parliament had passed in February in response to Russian drones spilling over into its territory during attacks on Ukraine. The law specifies that Romanian authorities must establish the drone’s position and identity, attempt contact, intercept and fire warning shots, before neutralizing it. Piloted vehicles can only be destroyed if they conduct an attack or respond aggressively. Romania shares a 380-mile-wide border with Ukraine, though at this time there is no evidence Moscow has deliberately targeted its territory. Ukraine typically receives gas through the Orlovka gas distribution center in Izmail from Greece, Turkey and Romania. RUSSIA LAUNCHED ITS LARGEST AERIAL ATTACK OF THE WAR, UKRAINE SAYS If Russia had incurred into Romanian territory and Romania responded by shooting down its drones, a tit-for-tat escalation risks drawing a NATO member state directly into the war. NATO allies agree to Article 5, a collective defense pact that states each would come to the aid of the other in the case of an attack. Earlier this week, drones believed to originate in Belarus, a client state of Russia, landed in Lithuanian territory. Other eastern European states have enacted new laws to fortify their borders from the threat of Russia: Poland, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania pulled out of an international treaty banning the use of landmines over humanitarian concerns earlier this year. Lithuania this week asked NATO to help strengthen its air defenses after a Russian drone carrying explosives entered its territory. “This is not just Lithuanian airspace, not just Lithuania’s security — it is NATO airspace, NATO security and also EU security,” foreign minister Kęstutis Budrys said.
Netanyahu wants to ‘occupy Gaza’, what do Israeli people, military think?
After 22 months of full-scale war, killing more than 60,000 Palestinians and forcing Gaza to the brink of famine, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is reportedly preparing to defy international, domestic and military opinion by escalating the war on Gaza still further and ordering its full occupation. “The die is cast – we are going for a full occupation of the Gaza Strip,” Israeli media cited an anonymous official, supposedly quoting Netanyahu, as saying. Meeting with senior security officials on Tuesday, Netanyahu was said to have come out in support of the military taking complete control of Gaza, even if it meant that the remaining Israeli captives there might be harmed or killed. The fate of the captives taken during the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on October 7, 2023, has been a constant theme throughout Israel’s war on Gaza and rescuing them was one of the war aims Netanyahu claimed at its outset. However, despite the destruction of much of Gaza and the displacement and starvation of much of its population, many captives remain and the territory where they are thought to now be is outside Israeli military control. “Netanyahu wants to continue the war,” Ahron Bregman, a political scientist at King’s College London and former Israeli officer, said, echoing a widespread criticism of the prime minister. “He wants time. He wants time to maintain his coalition and time to drag out his corruption trial,” he said of the criminal charges that have dogged Netanyahu since 2019. Advertisement Motivation The specific reason for this latest potential offensive remains unclear. Some have suggested that talk of occupation is a tactic to bring Hamas back to the negotiating table. The siege Israel imposed on Gaza after breaking the last ceasefire in March has caused international outrage because of the starvation it has caused. Others have suggested it may also be a genuine attempt to eradicate Hamas and finally break whatever spirit remains in Gaza’s population and force them into “concentration zone” camps. “It could be any of them,” Israeli political analyst Nimrod Flaschenberg said. “Netanyahu has proven in the past that he doesn’t care about popular opinion or mass protest, as long as his right-wing base is happy. “We saw that in Rafah, which he destroyed, and we saw that with Iran, which he attacked. It doesn’t matter what most people think. He just needs to keep the base on side and worry about elections later. This has been the strategy for much of the last two years.” The real question is whether the army is capable of occupying all of Gaza, Flaschenberg added. Palestinians facing immense difficulties accessing food due to the blockade imposed by Israel wait to receive hot meals in Gaza on August 5, 2025 [Abdalhkem Abu Riash/Anadolu] “There’s huge fatigue within the military, extensive PTSD [post-traumatic stress disorder] and massive numbers of both overt and grey [private] refusals,” he said of what was estimated by the Israeli magazine +972 in April to be a shortfall in troops of more than 100,000. “This is not realistic at all,” former US Special Forces commander Colonel Seth Krummrich of international security firm Global Guardian said of Netanyahu’s plans to occupy Gaza. “To capture and hold terrain takes an enormous number of soldiers and resources. The Israeli population is divided on this issue, so there are domestic headwinds that will not support this level of mobilisation,” he said of widespread protests in Israel calling for an end to the war. Refuseniks Irrespective of the politics, many in the Israeli army and security services have opposed Netanyahu’s and his right-wing allies’ plans to occupy Gaza, as well as continuing with the war on the enclave more generally. Several senior Israeli military officers, including Chief of Staff Lieutenant General Eyal Zamir, are understood to oppose any further escalation in Gaza at all. On Tuesday, more than 600 former Israeli senior security officials signed an open letter calling on US President Donald Trump to use his influence to help bring the war to a close. “It is our professional judgement that Hamas no longer poses a strategic threat to Israel,” the Commanders for Israel’s Security (CIS) group said in a post on X, where it shared the open letter to President Donald Trump Advertisement CIS describes itself as “Israel’s largest group of former [Israeli military] generals and Mossad, Shin Bet, Police, and Diplomatic Corps equivalents”. “From the military point of view, [Hamas] is totally destroyed. On the other hand, as an ideology, it is getting more and more power among the Palestinian people, within the Arab street around us, and also in the world of Islam,” Ami Ayolon, the former head of Israel’s Shin Bet internal intelligence agency and one of the letter’s signatories, told the BBC. “The lack of support from the upper echelons of the military would also prove vital,” Colonel Krummrich added. “The military leadership has to ‘own’ this operation. If it fails, the military leadership gets blamed. They have to convince their soldiers that it is worth the cost, especially over the long term – potentially stretching into years,” he said. Photo taken during a controlled embed tour with the Israeli army and subsequently edited under military supervision – The Israeli army is reported to be exhausted and suffering critical shortages of reservists [File: Carlos Reyes/AFP] Why would Netanyahu push for the occupation of Gaza? Any further escalation in Gaza is also certain to prove unpopular with the public, which is already tired of the endless war, analysts said. Some polls show widespread public opposition in Israel to the war, with frustration over Netanyahu’s repeated excuses for his government’s failure to reach a ceasefire deal, which could bring the remaining captives home, tangible. Critically, in May, a poll for Israel’s Channel 12 showed that most Israelis thought Netanyahu cared more about clinging to power than he did winning the war. “When you look at the list of people who’ve come out against this, including Zamir, it begs the question
Ghana’s defence, environment ministers killed in helicopter crash
A helicopter crash has killed eight people including the nation’s defence and environment ministers, according to Ghana’s government. Defence Minister Edward Omane Boamah and Environment Minister Ibrahim Murtala Muhammed were among the victims of the crash in the southern Ashanti region of the country, said Julius Debrah, chief of staff to President John Mahama, on Wednesday. “The president and the government extend their condolences and solidarity to the families of our comrades and soldiers who fell in their service to the nation,” said Debrah. Also among the victims were Alhaji Mohammad Muniru Limuna, deputy national security coordinator and former minister of agriculture, and Samuel Sarpong, vice chairman of Mahama’s National Democratic Congress (NDC) party. The Ghanaian Air Force had reported earlier Wednesday that a military helicopter had disappeared from radar shortly after taking off from Accra at around 9am (local time and GMT), bound for Obuasi, northwest of the capital. Debrah announced that flags would be flown at half-mast. The presidency said that Mahama had suspended all his official activities for the day. More to come… Adblock test (Why?)