Texas Weekly Online

Texas-trans-white
Menu
Menu

Year: 2025

Israel kills more than 300 in Gaza in 48 hours as possible truce in balance

Israel kills more than 300 in Gaza in 48 hours as possible truce in balance

More than 300 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces in the last 48 hours, according to the Gaza Government Media Office, which says Israel has “committed 26 bloody massacres” in that period. At least 73 people have been killed by Israel since dawn on Thursday, including 33 desperate aid seekers at the controversial Israeli and United States-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) aid sites. Thirteen people were killed when Israeli forces attacked a tent in al-Mawasi in the south, while 11 were killed and many wounded in an attack on Mustafa Hafez School, sheltering displaced people west of Gaza City, medical sources told Al Jazeera. The Government Media Office statement on Thursday said the attacks over the last 48 hours had targeted civilians in shelters and displacement centres overcrowded with tens of thousands of displaced people, public rest areas, Palestinian families inside their homes, popular markets and vital civilian facilities, and starving civilians searching for food. Reporting from Deir el-Balah on the latest killings of Palestinians who were trying to get aid from centres run by GHF, Al Jazeera’s Tareq Abu Azzoum said, “People described scenes of horror as they wait for hours just hoping to get their hands on basic food supplies, only to be met with sudden and unprovoked gunfire … I’ve been speaking to a number of survivors this morning, and they told me such heartbreaking testimonies and they shared the horrific scenes that unfolded near the GHF-run aid centres.” Advertisement “They told me that there was no prior warning, no prior indication – just gunfire ripping through the crowd, desperate Palestinians scattered for cover as bullets flew. They told me that emergency services and medical teams were not able to access the area due to the intensity of the gunfire … This absolutely reflects the collapse of the humanitarian landscape here in Gaza,” he added. US contractors ostensibly guarding aid distribution sites in Gaza have been using live ammunition and stun grenades as hungry Palestinians scramble for food, according to accounts and videos obtained by The Associated Press news agency. Two US contractors, speaking to the AP on condition of anonymity, said they were speaking out because they were disturbed by what they considered dangerous practices. They said the security staff hired were often unqualified, unvetted, heavily armed and seemed to have an open licence to do whatever they wished. More than 130 humanitarian organisations, including Oxfam, Save the Children and Amnesty International, on Tuesday demanded the immediate closure of the GHF, accusing it of facilitating attacks on starving Palestinians. The NGOs said Israeli forces and armed groups “routinely” open fire on civilians attempting to access food. Since the GHF began operations in late May, more than 600 Palestinians have been killed while seeking aid, and nearly 4,000 have been wounded. Israel’s war on Gaza has killed at least 56,647 people and wounded 134,105, according to Gaza’s Ministry of Health. An estimated 1,139 people were killed in Israel during the Hamas-led October 7, 2023 attacks, and more than 200 were taken captive. Possible ceasefire in the balance Meanwhile, Hamas has said it is studying a new proposal for a 60-day ceasefire in Gaza, but insisted it is seeking an agreement that would bring an end to Israel’s devastating war. Hamas said in a statement on Wednesday that it had received proposals from the mediators and is holding talks with them to “bridge gaps” to return to the negotiating table and try to reach a ceasefire agreement. The Palestinian group said it was aiming for an agreement that would end the Gaza war and ensure the withdrawal of Israeli forces from the enclave. The announcement came a day after US President Donald Trump said Israel had agreed to the ceasefire proposal and urged Hamas to accept the deal before conditions worsen. Trump has been increasing pressure on the Israeli government and Hamas to broker a ceasefire and an agreement for the group to release the Israeli captives held in Gaza. Advertisement Al Jazeera’s Hamdah Salhut, reporting from Amman, said, “For the first time since the beginning of the war, the Israelis are signalling a potential end to the war on Gaza.” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been holding consultations with his security team, according to media reports, and is showing flexibility, Salhut added, due to pressure from Trump. Adblock test (Why?)

China’s north and west on red alert for heavy rains after deadly floods

China’s north and west on red alert for heavy rains after deadly floods

Weather warnings come as Vice Premier Zhang Guoqing urges officials in Hebei province to up their evacuation efforts. Northern and western China remain on high alert as torrential rain threatens to bring more flash flooding and landslides, following weather-related deaths in other parts of the country. Red alerts were in force on Thursday as rains made their way to Gansu province in the northwest and then up to Liaoning province in the northeast. The weather warnings came as more than 1,000 rescue workers were sent on Wednesday to Taiping, a town in the central Henan province, where five people died and three were declared missing after a river burst its banks, according to state media. Another state media report confirmed that two people were killed by a landslide at a construction site in Gansu after heavy rain on Wednesday and Thursday. Meanwhile, a record summer downpour hit the city of Xianfeng in China’s central province of Hubei, bringing more than a month’s rain in just 12 hours, with local videos showing torrents washing away cars. Workers clean up mud after floodwater subsided in Liuzhou, in China’s southwest Guangxi region on June 25, 2025 [AFP] On Tuesday, the authorities there evacuated 18,000 people, closed schools and suspended bus services. During a two-day trip to the northern province of Hebei, China’s Vice Premier Zhang Guoqing urged local officials to ramp up the scale of evacuations. Although China has a nationwide system to forecast and monitor severe weather, scientists say it is hard to make localised predictions, especially in rural communities that lack forecasting capabilities. “Accurately forecasting the intensity and exact location of heavy rain remains challenging, especially with climate change and the complex terrain of rural areas,” Meng Gao, a climate modelling specialist at Hong Kong Baptist University, told the Reuters news agency earlier this week. Last July, the “plum rains”, which coincide with the plum-ripening season, caused more than $10bn in economic losses in China. Advertisement Adblock test (Why?)

Trump rages as rebel House Republicans baulk at backing Big Beautiful Bill

Trump rages as rebel House Republicans baulk at backing Big Beautiful Bill

Efforts to win over holdout House Republicans extend into early hours as Trump’s tax and spending bill hits hurdles. Republicans in the United States House of Representatives have been locked in a dramatic impasse over President Donald Trump’s signature tax and spending package, as a rebel group of lawmakers failed to support the bill that all Democratic representatives oppose. The standoff over the Trump administration’s flagship domestic policy package, dubbed the One Big Beautiful Bill, stretched into the early hours of Thursday, as the Republican leadership worked furiously to try to persuade holdouts to send the bill to Trump’s desk by a Friday, July 4 deadline, US Independence Day, while Trump railed against the rebels on social media. “For Republicans, this should be an easy yes vote. Ridiculous!” he posted on his Truth Social platform. “Largest Tax Cuts in History and a Booming Economy vs. Biggest Tax Increase in History, and a Failed Economy. What are the Republicans waiting for?” he added, threatening that “MAGA is not happy, and it’s costing you votes.” Five Republicans voted “no” in the procedural vote to advance the legislation, while eight have yet to cast a vote. Assuming all Democratic members cast a vote against the bill, Trump can afford to lose only three Republican votes if it is to advance to a final vote. Centrepiece legislation The hefty 800-page bill, the centrepiece of the president’s domestic agenda, combines sweeping tax cuts, spending hikes on defence and border security, and cuts to social safety nets into one giant package. But it faces opposition within Trump’s Republican Party, with moderate critics expressing concern about its cuts to social safety-net programmes like Medicaid, and conservatives baulking at the trillions it is likely to add to the national debt. Advertisement Five Republicans voted against the bill: representatives Victoria Spartz of Indiana, Andrew Clyde of Georgia, Keith Self of Texas, Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania, and Thomas Massie of Kentucky. House Speaker Mike Johnson had summoned lawmakers to Washington for a roll call vote, in a bid to capitalise on the momentum of the bill’s passage a day earlier in the Senate and win House approval ahead of the July 4 national holiday. Lawmakers had passed the bill by a 51 to 50 vote in the Republican-controlled chamber on Tuesday, after Vice President JD Vance broke the tie. But the risky gambit to hold the roll call vote swiftly hit hurdles, with some Republican lawmakers resisting the request to rubber stamp the Senate version of the bill so soon after it passed. ‘Bad bill to enrich those who are already rich’ Johnson said he would keep voting open “as long as it takes”, as senior Republicans attempted to persuade holdouts to support the bill. He said he believed that the Republican holdouts were “going to come on board”, and expected to proceed to a final vote on the legislation in the early hours of Thursday morning, The New York Times reported. As Republicans remain deadlocked, Democrats ramped up their criticisms of the policy package. In a video message posted on social media, Representative Chuy Garcia described the legislation as a “bad bill to enrich those who are already rich”. It’s past midnight in DC and Republicans are still trying to rip healthcare and food from working families to give tax breaks to billionaires. Call your Republican representative and tell them to vote HELL NO pic.twitter.com/IfyXFdSaqs — Congressman Chuy García (@RepChuyGarcia) July 3, 2025 So far, 217 House Representatives have voted against advancing the legislation, including five Republicans, while 207 are in favour. Members can change their vote until voting closes, and eight Republicans have yet to vote. The bill needs 218 votes to advance. Adblock test (Why?)