Texas-based housing provider for migrant children engaged in sexual abuse and harassment, DOJ says
The Justice Department says Southwest Key employees, including supervisors, have assaulted children since at least 2015.
Nancy Mace reveals what she wants to hear in Trump’s RNC speech
EXCLUSIVE: Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., is urging former President Trump to emphasize unity in his speech at the Republican National Convention (RNC) on Thursday night. Mace, a Trump ally and unofficial surrogate for his campaign, suggested she wanted to see a plan from Trump to not only appeal to all factions of the GOP but voters outside of it as well – especially groups that traditionally do not vote Republican. “I want to hear him unifying the party, unifying the nation, especially in the wake of the attempted assassination on Saturday,” Mace told Fox News Digital in an interview after her own RNC speech. HOW SECRET SERVICE PROTOCOL HAS CHANGED AMID PRESIDENTIAL ASSASSINATION ATTEMPTS THROUGH THE YEARS Trump is taking the RNC stage on Thursday to formally accept the GOP nomination for president for 2024. He’s expected to have modified his speech after the failed attempt on his life at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, last weekend. A 20-year-old gunman opened fire from a rooftop outside the rally perimeter, killing one attendee and injuring two others. The primetime address will be his first speech since the assassination attempt. Mace suggested the address should not focus on partisan divides but rather on appealing to a broader group of voters. TRUMP RALLY WITNESS IS NOT SURPRISED BY ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT, SAYS VIETNAM WAR VETERAN SHOWED HEROISM “It’s important that we all come together. But this isn’t a fight for the left or the right. Each side has their own,” she said. “This is, how do we attract independent voters? How do we attract women? How do we attract [people] to the left of center, centrists and moderates, and know that they have a home within our party?” “And that can unify a party, that can unify the country. And when he gets elected, it’ll be a landslide.” WHO IS KAI TRUMP? DONALD TRUMP’S ELDEST GRANDCHILD SPEAKS AT 2024 RNC Mace herself has been known to buck the traditional party line on occasion, forcefully calling on Republicans to take a clearer stance on women’s issues like abortion exceptions and sexual assault accountability. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP During her Wednesday night RNC speech, Mace pointed out that she was both a single mom and a rape survivor. “To women tonight who can relate, please know – you have a friend and a sister in me,” Mace said. “And I will fight like hell for you.”
House Oversight Committee investigating after claims of fraud, gender transition care for kids
The House Committee on Oversight and Accountability is investigating whistleblower claims related to fraudulent billing to Medicaid programs for pediatric gender transition care, including at Texas Children’s Hospital in Houston (TCH). In letters sent to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), members of the committee expressed concern that medical providers at TCH are falsifying diagnosis codes for patients seeking gender transition care not covered under Medicaid. “We understand a TCH provider seeking to ensure Medicaid coverage of gender transition care appears to have fraudulently diagnosed a biologically female patient with testosterone deficiency and hypogonadism in order to obtain Medicaid approval for testosterone treatment that would otherwise be denied under Texas Medicaid regulations if prescribed for the purpose of gender transition,” the letters, signed by Subcommittee on Government Operations and the Federal Workforce Chairman Pete Sessions, R-Texas, and Subcommittee on Health Care and Financial Services Chairwoman Lisa McClain, R-Mich., allege. Members of the committee also expressed alarm about its perception that the Biden administration is prioritizing action against individuals who made the allegations. BIDEN OFFICIALS PUSHED TO DROP AGE LIMIT ON TRANS SURGERIES FOR MINORS: REPORT Dr. Eithan Haim, a Texas surgeon whose residency included rotations at TCH during the timeline in question, is facing four federal felony counts related to alleged violations of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) after he released redacted documents appearing to expose the hospital’s pediatric transgender care program continued after the public had been told such practices had ceased. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Texas claims Dr. Haim obtained patient information from Texas Children’s Hospital’s electronic system without authorization. TRANS CHILDREN WHO TOOK PUBERTY-BLOCKING DRUGS HAD MENTAL HEALTH ISSUES, UK STUDY FOUND “He allegedly obtained this information under false pretenses and with intent to cause malicious harm to TCH,” according to federal prosecutors. Jury selection in Dr. Haim’s trial is set for August 20th. “If they can come after me as a whistleblower, they’re going to come after you,” Dr. Haim told Fox News. “So we’re going to have to take this to court, and we’re going to have to win.” Sessions and McClain allege Dr. Haim’s treatment could intimidate future whistleblowers, writing in the letters to HHS and CMS, “potential whistleblowers seeking to disclose Medicaid fraud and other unlawful behavior have seemingly been put on notice: the federal government will target individuals looking to expose illegal actions at hospitals while turning a blind eye to Medicaid fraud and other wrongful hospital conduct they seek to expose.” KIDS’ GENDER CLINIC WHISTLEBLOWER TELLS DR. PHIL REGRETFUL PATIENTS BEGGED TO ‘HAVE BODY PARTS PUT BACK ON’ The committee is now requesting documents, communication, and a staff-level briefing to learn of any ongoing audits or investigations into fraudulent Medicaid billing related to gender transition care. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services tells Fox News, “CMS received the letter and will respond to the Members of Congress.” The HHS Office of Inspector General also confirmed the inquiry from lawmakers, telling Fox News, “we received the letter and are currently reviewing it.” CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP Texas Children’s Hospital has not responded to Fox News’ request for comment.
‘Doesn’t matter’ which Democrat faces Trump in November, Mike Johnson says
Speaker Mike Johnson is expressing confidence that Republicans have enough momentum to win the White House in November – no matter who the Democratic presidential candidate is. “As President Trump has said, he was, they had sort of prepared in the mindset that they would run against Biden, but it doesn’t matter. I mean, if they put Kamala Harris at the top of the ticket, she’s the co-owner of all the policies, it’s not any better,” the Louisiana Republican told Fox News Digital in a Thursday interview. “It doesn’t matter who they run. Anybody that they would put in that place – this election is not about personalities, it’s about policies and what it means to people.” It comes as Democratic pressure continues to build on President Biden to drop his re-election bid. CONGRESSIONAL BYPASS: MANY DEMOCRATS ELUSIVE ON BIDEN ISSUE The 81-year-old president is facing calls to duck out of the race after his disastrous debate performance last month. It’s brought out concerns that Biden may not have the physical or mental stamina to run for office nor hold it for another four-year term. Johnson, who has long accused Biden of not having the mental acuity to hold office, would not say whether the president should leave office right now. But he pointed out that even senior Democrats are apparently moving behind the scenes to push Biden off the 2024 ticket. “Look, it’s for him to determine. They’re in real turmoil. On the other side, you hear in the last 24 hours, I’m told that [Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, former Speaker Nancy Pelosi and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries] have all pretty well indicated that he – told him, I guess, or at least implied publicly that he should… not run for re-election,” Johnson said. ADAM SCHIFF CALLS ON BIDEN TO EXIT PRESIDENTIAL RACE AS DEM CONFIDENCE DWINDLES The trio of top Democrats has made no public indication that they’re pushing Biden to get out of the race, and a White House spokesperson told Fox News on Wednesday after conversations with Schumer and Jeffries, “The president told both leaders he is the nominee of the party, he plans to win, and looks forward to working with both of them to pass his 100 days agenda to help working families.” Meanwhile, there are 20 congressional Democrats publicly calling on Biden to step aside, including Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., a top Pelosi ally. SECRET SERVICE DIRECTOR AGREES TO TESTIFY AT HOUSE HEARING ON TRUMP ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT Vice President Kamala Harris is increasingly being viewed as a likely successor to the president, despite similarly struggling with her approval numbers. However, some Republicans have privately expressed concerns that a younger candidate could fare better against Trump. Johnson said he believes that Trump, on the other hand, is seeing a fresh sense of unity and support ever since the attempt on his life last weekend at his rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, where one rally attendee was killed and two others critically injured. “I have done events in 144 cities, in 31 states, they told me, in the last seven months, and there is something happening out there in the country right now. And I think post the failed assassination attempt, there’s even a greater energy out there,” Johnson said. “People feel it personally, and they know what President Trump has had to go through. He has a sympathy factor on top of all the energy that was already there. I think we’re headed for a really strong November for the party.” Fox News Digital reached out to the Biden campaign for comment but did not hear back by press time.
Dems’ Chicago convention promises ‘chaos and dysfunction’ as Biden future uncertain: Illinois congressman
MILWAUKEE – The Democratic National Convention is set to be a week of “chaos and confusion” following President Biden’s disastrous debate performance that opened the floodgates to calls for him to bow out of the race, and the assassination attempt on former President Trump, Illinois Republican Rep. Darin LaHood told Fox News Digital. “This dump Biden movement, it builds every single day… Democrats know they can’t win with Joe Biden on the ticket. Now that’s a problem for them. We need to stay focused and disciplined with President Trump’s message and JD Vance’s message,” LaHood told Fox News Digital from the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. “I think it’s going to be chaos and dysfunction,” LaHood said of what he expects out of the DNC. “Let me just contrast that with Milwaukee. I’ve never seen a convention or unity or activism or energy in the first two days of this convention.” The Democratic National Convention will kick off next month in LaHood’s home state of Illinois, starting on Monday, Aug. 19, in Chicago. The Democratic Party is in the midst of an election freefall, as elected Democrats, including California Rep. Adam Schiff, continue calling for Biden to bow out of the race due to concerns over his mental fitness to face Trump this year. DNC DELEGATES ACTIVELY DISCUSSING BIDEN STEPPING DOWN IN LEAKED PRIVATE CHATS: REPORTS “While the choice to withdraw from the campaign is President Biden’s alone, I believe it is time for him to pass the torch,” Schiff said in a statement this week. “And in doing so, secure his legacy of leadership by allowing us to defeat Donald Trump in the upcoming election.” Biden is urged to drop out ahead of the DNC, when delegates will officially nominate their pick for the 2024 presidential election. PELOSI ‘CONVINCED BIDEN WILL LOSE,’ WORKING THE PHONES WITH HOPES TO ‘EASE HIM OFF THE TICKET,’ REPORT SAYS LaHood pointed to two “monumental things that have happened in the last three weeks,” that have spurred the chaos in the Democratic Party’s fight to retain the White House. “The debate performance by President Biden was abysmal and disastrous, and so it highlighted his lack of mental acuity. But it also showed that President Trump, where he stands on the issues and how strong he came out of that debate. Second that with the, you know, terrible events of last Saturday and what occurred, and we will never forget President Trump saying, ‘Fight! Fight! Fight!’ and his leadership and his courage,” he said. PELOSI SNAPS AT REPORTER ASKING IF SHE WANTS BIDEN TO DROP OUT OF THE RACE: ‘AM I SPEAKING ENGLISH TO YOU?’ “That’s given everybody here at this convention a lot of energy and a lot of enthusiasm, and that is palpable here at this convention. And so we’ve had a really flawless convention. The unity here, that togetherness, is really apparent. And I think that will be in stark contrast to Chicago,” he continued. On the message of unity, LaHood pointed to Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis all proclaiming their support of Trump and Vance following their primary challenges. “You saw President Trump’s opponents, Nikki Haley, Ron DeSantis, Ted Cruz, come forward last night to talk glowingly about President Trump. So that unity, I think, is going to continue with JD Vance,” he said. FBI’S CONCLUSION INTO ATTEMPTED TRUMP ASSASSINATION AFTER 200 INTERVIEWS CALLED ‘BULL—-‘ BY LAWMAKER The assassination attempt against Trump on Saturday evening during a rally in Pennsylvania has also taken center stage at the RNC, galvanizing the party as they demand political rhetoric be dialed back as to not incite violence. LaHood, who serves on the House Intelligence Committee, told Fox News Digital that he spoke with House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., about investigating the attempt. “I’ve been in touch with him about making sure that we have a select committee or a task force that’s put in place immediately, starting next week, when we’re back in session to get to the bottom of this. As a former federal prosecutor, we need to follow the facts and evidence. Our role in Congress is an oversight role on the executive branch. That includes the Secret Service. There were mistakes made here, make no doubt about it, and we need to make sure people are held accountable, this never happens again, and that we get to the bottom of this. And I think that’ll happen quickly,” he said. Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub.
Blackburn slams Secret Service chief for ‘celebrating herself’ at RNC after Trump assassination attempt
MILWAUKEE — Republican Tennessee Sen. Marsha Blackburn doubled down on her demand for Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle to answer questions about the assassination attempt against former President Trump. “Director Cheatle can run, but she can’t hide. If she has time to sweet-talk folks in a luxury suite at the RNC, she has time to answer how the Secret Service’s failures resulted in President Trump’s near-assassination,” Blackburn told Fox News Digital on Thursday. “The last thing she should be doing is celebrating herself while rank-and-file agents are working around the clock to provide security in Milwaukee.” During the third night of the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee on Wednesday, Blackburn and fellow GOP Sens. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., James Lankford, R-Okla., and Kevin Cramer, R-N.D., confronted Cheatle over the security failures to prevent an assassination attempt on Trump’s life at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on Saturday. SECRET SERVICE DIRECTOR REFUSES TO STEP DOWN AS FBI INVESTIGATES TRUMP SHOOTER THOMAS MATTHEW CROOKS “Stonewalling,” Barrasso can be heard yelling at Cheatle as she walks through the convention center. “This was an assassination attempt, you owe the people answers, you owe President Trump answers,” Blackburn said. SENATORS CONFRONT SECRET SERVICE CHIEF AT REPUBLICAN CONVENTION: ‘YOU OWE PRESIDENT TRUMP ANSWERS’ Cheatle was in a luxury box at the RNC viewing speakers as they took the stage in the lead-up to Ohio Sen. JD Vance’s first speech since he was announced as Trump’s running mate. In another clip, the lawmakers were seen shouting at the Secret Service chief, with Cheatle responding, “I don’t think that this is the forum to have this discussion.” Cheatle has refused to step down amid the calls for answers on how a gunman was able to open fire on Trump and rallygoers in Pennsylvania on Saturday. “Continuity of operations is paramount during a critical incident and U.S. Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle has no intentions to step down,” Secret Service spokesperson Anthony Guglielmi said. “She deeply respects members of Congress and is fiercely committed to transparency in leading the Secret Service through the internal investigation and strengthening the agency through lessons learned in these important internal and external reviews.” HOUSE GOP LEADERS DEMAND ACCOUNTABILITY ON TRUMP ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT: ‘SO MANY QUESTIONS’ Gunfire rang out at the start of Trump’s campaign rally on Saturday. Trump was seen abruptly grabbing his right ear before ducking and hitting the floor of the stage. Secret Service personnel quickly surrounded Trump before they rushed him from the stage, his right ear covered in blood. Before he was ushered out, Trump repeatedly yelled, “Fight!” while giving a fist pump to the crowd to indicate he was all right. DISCORD REVEALS DETAILS OF WOULD-BE TRUMP ASSASSIN’S ACCOUNT ON PLATFORM The shooter was identified as 20-year-old Pennsylvania man Thomas Matthew Crooks, who, in addition to injuring Trump, injured two rally-goers and killed 50-year-old father Corey Comperatore. Calls and questions about the attack have mounted, with conservative lawmakers increasingly calling on Cheatle to resign over the security failure. “How could this have occurred? This close to the death of a former president, we didn’t get any kind of satisfaction. Time for the head of the Secret Service to go,” Barasso said. Security at the Republican National Convention was amplified after the shooting, with officers from jurisdictions across the country staged across the massive convention in Milwaukee.
Trump campaign on Biden turmoil: ‘Democrats can’t even figure out who their nominee should be’
MILWAUKEE – Former President Trump’s campaign is contrasting what they call a “unified” GOP at the Republican National Convention with the latest turmoil surrounding President Biden’s re-election bid. On Thursday, a Trump campaign official told Fox News “when you look at what we’ve done with this convention, we’ve demonstrated to the American people that not only is the Republican Party unified, but we have a unifying vision for the entire country with President Trump’s agenda and plan for America well established.” “At the same time, the Democrats can’t even figure out who their nominee should be,” the official argued. BIDEN CAMPAIGN INSISTS PRESIDENT IS ‘STAYING IN THIS RACE’ The comments come as President Biden’s campaign is pushing back against a slew of reports in the past 24 hours that the president has become more receptive in the last couple of days to hearing arguments about why he should drop his 2024 re-election run. HEAD HERE FOR THE LATEST FOX NEWS REPORTING FROM THE GOP CONVENTION “Our campaign is not working through any scenarios where President Biden is not at the top of the ticket. He is and will be the Democratic nominee,” Biden principal deputy campaign manager Quentin Fulks told reporters at a news conference Thursday morning near the site of the Republican National Convention. Fulks emphasized that “the president has said it several times. He’s staying in this race” and “we look forward to him accepting the [nomination of the] delegates in Chicago and continuing with this race to talk about what’s at stake.” CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP Following his disastrous debate performance last month against Trump, the 2024 GOP presidential nominee, the 81-year-old Biden has been facing questions about whether he has the physical and mental capabilities to serve another four years in the most demanding job in the world. Politically, Biden’s been pushing back against a rising chorus of calls to end his campaign from elected Democrats, who are deeply concerned about the possibility of the party not only losing the White House but both houses of Congress in the fall election. Reports over the past 24 hours indicated that top Democrats – including Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi – have had frank conversations with Biden about him ending his campaign. And a Washington Post report on Thursday suggested that former President Obama has told allies in recent days that Biden’s path to victory has been vastly reduced, and he thinks the president needs to seriously reconsider his decision to keep running. A source familiar with Obama’s thinking, asked about the Post report, told Fox News that the former president “continues to see his primary role as a sounding board and counselor for President Biden, as they have long done for each other for many years now. He believes Joe Biden has been an outstanding President and is protective of him both personally and of the Biden administration’s strong and historic accomplishments.” Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub.
‘He’s got a gun’: The 60 minutes leading up to Trump assassination attempt
Details are beginning to emerge about how the 20-year-old would-be assassin Thomas Matthew Crooks was able to get close enough to Donald Trump at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on Saturday to shoot the former United States president in the ear. Evading Secret Service agents and local law enforcement officers, Crooks reached a rooftop about 140 metres (450ft) from where Trump was speaking on a stage and fired, grazing the Republican candidate running in the presidential election in November. Crooks was shot dead by the Secret Service immediately after firing, and an investigation into the incident is ongoing. In the days since the shooting, digital “bread crumbs” have been gathered via media outlets, photographers at the rally and personal cellphone videos depicting the events leading up to the shooting. Aerial view on Monday, July 15, 2024 of the red stage at the Butler Farm Show site where former President Donald Trump, speaking before a campaign rally, was wounded during an assassination attempt on Saturday, July 13, 2024 [Gene J Puskar/AP] This is the timeline of what is known so far: Sixty minutes before shooting: Crooks spotted by police One hour before Trump took to the stage to give his speech, Crooks was spotted by local police officers outside the event perimeter. They believed he was “acting suspiciously”, according to reports. The officers used a radio to alert the Secret Service and other police officers inside the event that a suspicious person had been seen outside the rally perimeter. In video footage, Crooks can be seen inside the site a short time later. In an exclusive video posted by WTAE-TV, a local ABC news affiliate in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Crooks is shown close to the building where he later fired from about an hour before the shooting. [embedded content] Forty minutes before shooting: Crooks spotted again with rangefinder Local police who were trying to keep track of Crooks lost him for roughly 20 minutes before spotting him again. According to The New York Times, he was carrying a rangefinder, a telescope-like device used to measure the distance from an observer to a target. It is thought that Crooks was using the rangefinder to measure the distance between the roof and the platform where Trump gave his rally speech. (Al Jazeera) Twenty minutes before shooting: Crooks spotted on top of roof Twenty minutes before the shooting, Crooks was spotted by Secret Service on the roof of a complex of interconnected corrugated-metal buildings used by an equipment company, AGR International. Secret Service agents are understood to have reported this to local police and asked them to investigate. According to The Washington Post, a local police officer was sent to identify the suspicious individual. Two minutes before shooting: Rally attendees spot Crooks Two minutes before the shooting, people attending the rally observed Crooks on the roof. They shouted to nearby police officers that someone was crawling along the roof. By then, a police officer had already been dispatched to investigate. [embedded content] Thirty seconds before shooting: Officer tries to reach Crooks Butler County Sheriff Michael T Slupe told the Post that an officer went to examine the roof after a request from local police to try to identify the suspicious individual who had by now been spotted several times. According to reports, the police officer who had been dispatched managed to lift himself up and grasp the edge of the roof of the building Crooks was on top of to get a look. Crooks then turned and pointed his AR-15-style, semiautomatic rifle at the officer. The officer quickly dropped back down to the ground to avoid being shot. The shooting and the seconds that followed Immediately after this, Crooks fired eight shots in Trump’s direction with one grazing Trump’s ear. Three spectators were also hit by bullets – one fatally. He was later named as Corey Comperatore. The two other spectators were critically injured. After Trump ducked down, Secret Service agents formed a protective barrier around him. A Secret Service sniper team then killed Crooks with a high-powered rifle from the roof of a building behind and off to the side of the stage that Trump was on. [embedded content] What happens next? On Wednesday, James Comer, the Republican chairman of the Oversight and Accountability Committee in the US House of Representatives, officially subpoenaed Kimberly Cheatle, the director of the Secret Service, to attend a hearing on Monday. This hearing will be the first in the congressional investigation into the attempted assassination. Several top Republican leaders, including Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and House Speaker Mike Johnson, have called for Cheatle to resign due to the security lapse on Saturday. This week, President Joe Biden also ordered an independent review of the security measures in place during the rally. In an interview with ABC News this week, Cheatle was asked about members of Congress calling for her to resign and stated: “We’re going to continue to be transparent and communicate with people.” She added: “Absolutely, I do plan to stay on.” Adblock test (Why?)
Israel keeps bombing Gaza schools. Why do people still shelter there?
At least eight United Nations-run schools serving as shelters to displaced Palestinians have been hit by Israeli attacks in the last 10 days. The United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) say 120 of their educational institutions have been hit since Israel began its war on Gaza on October 7. Families living in disused classrooms face fatigue, trauma and the overcrowded and unsanitary conditions of shelters stretched far beyond capacity. Despite the difficult conditions and the risk of bombardment, many seek out the relative safety of UN schools, some guided by the memory of past wars where these spaces provided a refuge, and since at least 2017, a couple were designed to double up as emergency shelters with additional power, sanitation and generator facilities. Palestinians stand on a balcony as others gather at the site of an Israeli air attack on a UN-run school in Nuseirat in central Gaza Strip [Ramadan Abed/Reuters] Protection “You hope that the UN affiliation might protect you,” said journalist Mohammed Mhawish, 25, who sheltered in a UN-run school in Gaza City with his wife, two-year-old child and his parents after an Israeli attack destroyed their home in December, trapping them under rubble for two hours until neighbours dug them free. “You need to remember, there are few residential compounds, or anywhere else in Gaza where you can shelter,” he said, recalling how his neighbours had taken the injured family in after rescuing them. It soon became clear the apartment was overcrowded. However, it was the further Israeli bombardment and land assault on their neighbourhood that forced his family to walk the one and a half hours to the nearest UN-run school, a 15-minute journey by car. “It’s a central point. There’s nowhere else where you can access aid or medicine,” he said, speaking from Cairo where his family now lives. “To be clear, there isn’t a lot. Everything is in short supply. You seem to spend all your time standing in line for less and less, but it’s something.” Mohammed added, that, “from a practical perspective, you can’t share what you don’t have. The more people in the school can also mean less food, water and medicine.” In winter, blankets and mattresses were in short supply and they were forced to drink from a contaminated water source, increasing the risk of getting sick. And there was always the threat of bombardment. “It was always there,” Mohammed recalled, “Nowhere was safe. People would simply sit and wait for it.” Still, for some, there was a sense of support. “For some people, it’s good to be around other people who’ve been through the same kind of trauma,” he said. “People share their experiences with each other and that can help.” But for Mohammad, it was unbearable to see how his son Rafik had been traumatised after the bombing they survived. “He stopped communicating. He wouldn’t cry. He wouldn’t show any emotion, there was nothing,” Mohammed recalled. “He stopped remembering how to be a kid.” Then an Israeli evacuation order in January forced them to leave the school to find refuge in the garage of a destroyed apartment building. Nine in every 10 people displaced “People choose these schools because they believe sheltering under the UN flag, as international law states, should provide safety,” UNRWA’s senior communications officer Louise Wateridge told Al Jazeera from Gaza. “For civilians, the schools provide safety in times of war. Under the UN flag, these schools should be protected.” However, the agency faces several challenges in getting supplies to people, even as they shelter in schools. “Several factors continue to stand in our way to bring in humanitarian supplies into Gaza,” she said. “They include the siege, restrictions on movements and safety of humanitarian aid workers,” she explained, going on to stress the limited aid and equipment, much of it medical, allowed into Gaza by the Israeli military, as well as the unpredictability of life in a conflict zone where the schools’ occupants are regularly ordered to evacuate by the Israeli army and make their way to another area it designates a “safe zone”. “People continue to be forcibly displaced,” Wateridge continued. “It’s estimated that nine in every 10 people in Gaza are displaced. Many of them have been displaced up to 10 times since the war started. Protracted forced displacement makes it very difficult for us to verify data and figures.” In addition, Wateridge said, was “the breakdown of law and order as a result of nine months of horrific living conditions, war, hunger, siege and chaos,” she said. Humanitarian workers also report increasing instances of violence and gender-based violence within schools. “Concerns are growing about the risk of cholera spreading, further deteriorating inhumane living conditions,” Wateridge added. “WHO [The World Health Organization] has registered a growing number of adults and children suffering from waterborne diseases, such as hepatitis A, diarrheal illnesses, skin conditions, and others.” Psychological support Ahmad Swais, a psychologist with international medical charity Doctors Without Borders, known by its French initials, MSF, has witnessed how gatherings of large numbers of people carry “a lot of suffering and different experiences.” “This increases the negative psychological and social impact on the individuals,” he said speaking from Nasser Hospital in southern Gaza. “It increases the severity of psychological symptoms for the individual and for the families who are gathering in one place whether in schools or other shelters.” The schools offer little respite or space for those who arrive traumatised or seriously injured from the fighting, Swais said. Many feel a sense of dehumanisation in the difficult conditions. Children are the worst affected psychologically by the repeated displacements and the war. “There [are a] large number of children in urgent need of a psychological support programme. It is crucial to create a suitable environment for the children and a safer place to live and to preserve their dignity and basic humanity,” he said. Still, despite the hardships, “These people living in shelters like UNRWA schools feel they are luckier than those living
What’s behind Pakistan’s move to ban Imran Khan’s PTI?
Islamabad, Pakistan – Just last month, Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif extended an olive branch to the leadership of the country’s main opposition, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), during his speech in the National Assembly. “In 76 years since Pakistan’s independence, we’ve reached a point where we even hesitate to shake hands with one another,” Sharif said on June 26, lamenting the deep political divide in the country. Yet, less than a month later, on July 15, Information Minister Attaullah Tarar announced in a press conference in Islamabad that the government was considering banning the PTI, citing accusations of inciting violent protests last year and leaking classified information. The PTI is led by former Prime Minister Imran Khan, who was in power from 2018 to 2022. “The government has decided to ban PTI after reviewing all available evidence. We will move a case to ban the party,” he stated. The announcement by the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PMLN) government drew widespread condemnation not only from its rivals but also from its allies and human rights groups. Even the United States expressed its concerns. Leaders of the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), the second-largest party in the ruling coalition, said they were not consulted before the announcement. “We were never taken on board, nor have they reached out to us since. We found out about the government’s decision through the information minister’s press conference,” PPP Senator Saleem Mandviwalla told Al Jazeera. The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP), the country’s foremost rights body, called the decision an act of “political desperation”. “HRCP demands that this unconstitutional decision be withdrawn immediately. If implemented, it will only deepen polarisation and likely lead to political chaos and violence,” the commission stated. Facing a torrent of criticism, the PMLN leadership has backtracked — at least for now — saying the final decision would not be taken without consulting the ruling coalition’s allies. “There are multiple factors behind the proposal to ban PTI, but we will first present our reasons for banning to our allies. Only when there is consensus will we move forward with further actions,” Defence Minister Khawaja Asif told Al Jazeera. But why did the government announce plans for a ban in the first place? Many observers believe the plan to ban the PTI, whose leader Imran Khan has been in jail since August last year, was conceived following a Supreme Court verdict last week. The verdict handed a major legal victory to the PTI by declaring it eligible for a share of reserved seats in the national and provincial assemblies. The court also recognised the PTI as a political party, affirming that not having an election symbol does not affect a party’s legal rights to field candidates. The reserved-seat controversy erupted following the country’s general elections in February this year. A month before the polls, the election commission revoked the party’s electoral symbol, a cricket bat, on charges of violating electoral laws. Days before the election, Khan, a former cricket captain and the party’s chief, was sentenced on multiple charges. Despite the setback, the PTI’s candidates, contesting independently, won the most seats (93), compared to the PMLN’s 75 and PPP’s 54. With the reserved seats added after the Supreme Court ruling, the PMLN-led government would no longer have a two-thirds majority in parliament, needed for constitutional amendments. “They [the government] just want to weaken their rival in any way possible, especially as PTI is getting relief from the courts,” Ahmed Ijaz, a political analyst, said. Pakistan has a history of banning political parties under both military dictatorships and civilian administrations. In fact, the last two instances of banning political parties occurred under the PTI government. Sindhi Nationalist party Jeay Sindh Qaumi Mahaz-Aresar was declared banned in May 2020, as the PTI government claimed the party flag was used by a banned outfit that was accused of conducting violent attacks on security personnel. The second party to be banned by the PTI was the far-right religious outfit Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan, which was banned in May 2021 following protests in Punjab province that turned violent, killing several policemen. However, the party successfully appealed its ban and in October of the same year, the ban was lifted. Khan, who served as prime minister from August 2018 to April 2022, has since railed against the country’s powerful military establishment, accusing it of colluding with his political rivals to keep him out of power. The military, which has directly ruled Pakistan for more than three decades and retains significant influence in political decision-making, denies these charges. PTI faced a harsh crackdown following the May 9 violence last year, which erupted after Khan was detained for less than 48 hours. PTI supporters went on a rampage, destroying public properties and targeting military installations and monuments. Thousands of protesters were arrested, and more than 100 were tried in secretive military courts. Former PTI Secretary General Asad Umar, who left the party and retired from politics in November 2023, believes the decision to ban PTI will not come to fruition. “I don’t think even PMLN leaders are serious about banning the party,” he told Al Jazeera. “I think this is merely another tactic to buy time and build pressure.” Constitutional expert Faisal Fareed Chaudhry says that under Pakistan’s constitution, political parties can only be banned by the Supreme Court. “The government can file a reference, but the final verdict will be from the Supreme Court. It is important to remember that only last week the court declared PTI a political party,” he told Al Jazeera. Chaudhry further stated that accusations leading to a ban must include evidence of actions against state sovereignty or collusion with a foreign power. “I don’t think the government has substantial evidence to move this case. This is just to pressure the judiciary, which ruled against the government in the reserved seats matter. It appears the government has no plan, nor will this decision worry PTI,” he added. Ijaz, the political analyst, warned that the move to ban the PTI could