Veteran BJP leader LK Advani admitted to AIIMS Delhi
He has been admitted due to an old age-related problem.
Criminal charges dropped against Austin officer who shot Michael Ramos
Officer Chris Taylor was tried for murder last year, but jurors couldn’t reach a verdict. A grand jury this week declined to indict him on any criminal charges.
Army veteran running for Congress reveals plan to save America ‘hijacked by left-wing lunatics’
PHOENIX, Ariz. — A U.S. Army veteran running for Congress is working double time to save America from the “left-wing lunatics” he says have “hijacked” the country and are “hell-bent on destroying it.” Republican Abe Hamadeh, 33, a former Maricopa County prosecutor running to represent Arizona’s 8th Congressional District, told Fox News Digital in an interview that a “new generation” of leaders was needed to take on the wide-ranging problems facing the nation, and that he was committed to being the “fighter” everyday Americans have been looking for. “When I took the oath of office as an Army intelligence officer in the reserve and served overseas, I took my oath to the Constitution seriously,” Hamadeh said, vowing he would “never compromise” on the issues that have made America great. “I’m just seeing our country being hijacked by left-wing lunatics who are hell-bent on destroying it. So I think it’s going to take a new generation of fighters who don’t back down, who will never surrender, and never compromise on the issues that have made our country great,” he said. BIDEN DEBATE PREP FOCUSED ON WAYS TO ‘TRIGGER’ TRUMP AS FORMER PRESIDENT RELIES ON CAMPAIGNING: REPORTS “I think people right now are looking for courage. They know all the problems… They all see the border, and they all see our elections are compromised, but they want somebody to go in there and fight and do something about it.” Hamadeh, who has never held elected office, is a son of first-generation immigrants from Syria and Venezuela, and has served in the U.S. Army Reserve in an intelligence role since 2016. He deployed to Saudi Arabia in 2019, where he worked in a counterterrorism capacity following the terrorist attack in Pensacola, Florida, that year at the hands of a Saudi Arabian pilot. He was the Republican nominee for Arizona attorney general during the 2022 midterm elections, but narrowly lost by less than 300 votes to his Democratic opponent. A recount automatically triggered by Arizona law because of the narrow margin cut the Democrat’s lead by nearly half. Hamadeh unsuccessfully challenged the result in court, maintaining that thousands of provisional ballots went uncounted. FAITH VOTERS WILL ‘DECIDE THIS ELECTION,’ ACCORDING TO PROMINENT GOP MEMBERS Now he says one of the first issues he would work to address as a member of Congress is election integrity. “We have so many people who have distrust in our elections because of the incompetence and possible corruption of so many of our election officials and people who refuse to acknowledge that there are some huge failures in how our elections are run,” Hamadeh said, referencing his 2022 race. “It’s just a complete mess… It was just so much chaos. Without addressing it and without accountability, it’s going to increase.” His plan includes banning certain outside money to help fund election operations, as well as putting a stop to ranked-choice voting at the federal level. The ongoing border crisis is another issue Hamadeh said would be a top priority if elected, an area he hopes to work closely on with former President Trump and Arizona Senate candidate Kari Lake should they also win their elections in November. HOW TO WATCH THE CNN PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE SIMULCAST ON THE FOX NEWS CHANNEL He’s grown close with both throughout his campaign, and secured their endorsements early on in the primary race despite going up against a more well-known Blake Masters, who unsuccessfully ran for Senate in 2022. “President Trump and Kari Lake have endorsed me and so many great people, because they’ve seen it takes a certain type of mental toughness to go through any political campaign,” Hamadeh said. “They just want somebody who knows that they’re unwavering and their support to make our country great. And that’s exactly what I intend to do when I’m in Congress.” “People want something new and different, and they expect you to go out there, meet the people and know what issues matter to them and fight for them and not just give them lip service. The voters in this district, especially in Arizona, are hungry for something to be done about our border. They want something to be done about our elections. They just want some push back against what they see is our country being stolen from them right in front of them.” Hamadeh faces a crowded Republican primary field, including Masters, hoping to replace retiring GOP Rep. Debbie Lesko, but is confident his support from Trump and Lake, as well as his experience serving the country, will carry him across the finish line when voters head to the polls. The winner of the July 30 primary will be the heavy favorite to win the November general election since analysts rate the race as either “safe” or “solid” Republican. Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub.
Which Donald Trump will show up at Thursday night’s CNN Presidential Debate?
It’s the biggest question surrounding Thursday night’s CNN Presidential Debate, which is the first of two on-stage showdowns between President Biden and former President Trump in the 2024 election rematch. Which version of the former president will show up at the prime-time debate in Atlanta, the capital and largest city in the southeastern battleground of Georgia? Will it be the undisciplined candidate who continuously interrupted Biden and debate moderator Chris Wallace dozens and dozens of times at their first debate in the 2020 election? Trump appeared to lose his cool, failed to condemn white supremacists, and his performance was widely panned by political pundits and viewers alike. FIRST ON FOX: BIDEN CAMPAIGN RIPS TRUMP OVER ‘NEGLECT OF DUTY’ ON EVE OF FIRST 2024 DEBATE The then-president re-worked his strategy and his disciplined and measured performance in the second 2020 general election debate was a vast improvement. But it was too late, as Biden ended up winning the presidential election. “If he replicates that performance, Donald Trump’s going to have a very good night,” longtime Republican consultant and veteran debate coach Brett O’Donnell told Fox News. HOW TO WATCH THE CNN PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE SIMULCAST ON THE FOX NEWS CHANNEL O’Donnell said his advice to Trump is “watch the second debate you had with Joe Biden in 2020 and replicate that performance. Watch it over and over and replicate that performance in this debate.” “He was measured but firm,” O’Donnell said of Trump. “You can be aggressive and passionate without being offensive.” O’Donnell knows a bit about coaching presidential candidates ahead of their debates. He assisted in debate preparations for George W. Bush in 2004, GOP presidential nominee Sen. John McCain of Arizona in 2008, and Republican standard-bearer and then-former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney in 2012. This election cycle, O’Donnell coached Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis ahead of his debate performances in the Republican presidential primaries. TRUMP, BIDEN, AIM TO USE POST-DEBATE RALLIES IN THESE STATES TO PUT THEIR RIVAL ON DEFENSE O’Donnell argues that Trump has been more disciplined in this race, saying that “for the most part, he’s been talking about the things that he needs to talk about. That’s price of gas and groceries and the fact that people can’t afford their home or mortgage payments and can’t afford to buy their first house. Those are the kind of things that people want to hear answers to.” “Most Americans think that their personal world and the world in general is in chaos, and they’re looking for someone who’s going to restore order, and I don’t think that talking about personal issues helps either person,” O’Donnell said of both Trump and Biden. Along those lines, O’Donnell said Biden should avoid calling Trump a “convict,” as the president has multiple times since Trump last month was convicted on all 34 felony counts in the first criminal trial in the nation’s history of a former or current president. “I think that’s a huge mistake. I think that plays into Trump’s strengths. First of all, I think the American people want this debate to be about their issues and not about the candidates’ issues.,” O’Donnell said. “So if Joe Biden makes this about himself and Donald Trump, that only helps Donald Trump because it deflects away from the issues they should be talking about.” O’Donnell added that “highlighting this allows Donald Trump to talk about the justice system in a way that resonates with a lot of Americans. I think it’s a mistake.” He also warned against Trump focusing on Biden’s age. At 81, Biden is the oldest president in American history and his health and mental fitness has been a major concern among voters, according to public opinion polling. “I would let Joe Biden’s debating make that argument rather than Trump mentioning it directly,” O’Donnell suggested. He predicted that “Biden is likely to be loaded with some clever line like Ronald Reagan had back in 1984” and that if “Trump does the job that he needs to do in the debate, I think that the age factor might be on display by itself without him provoking it.” Trump for weeks has ridiculed Biden as “weak, failed and incompetent” and said that the president “doesn’t have a clue,” as he’s questioned whether the White House incumbent will be ready for the debate. But on Tuesday, the Trump campaign attempted to recast Biden as a capable debater, with senior adviser Jason Miller telling reporters that the president “has been doing this successfully for 50 years.” O’Donnell, who spoke with Fox News ahead of Tuesday’s comments from Miller, cautioned the former president from “setting the bar low for Joe Biden.” “We should have high expectations for Joe Biden’s debate performance. After all, he’s the President of the United States,” O’Donnell said. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP O’Donnell said his advice for Biden “is be careful that you don’t fall into the incumbent trap… Many if not most incumbents in their first debate, whether it’s Ronald Reagan or George H.W. Bush or George W. Bush or Barack Obama, most incumbents perform poorly in their first debate going for the second term.” “So the advice to Biden is avoid the incumbent trap because if he falls into it, it’s doubly bad because of all the age arguments,” he added. And O’Donnell emphasized that Biden has “got to somehow frame the race as a choice in defense of his record over the past four years. That is a tall order, but that’s something he has to do in order to justify picking him over Donald Trump.” “Neither of these candidates has really framed the race up yet for the American voter to understand how they should decide the race,” O’Donnell argued. “And I think the debate is a perfect place for them to do that. And I think that Joe Biden needs to frame the race as a choice between him and Donald Trump. And Donald Trump needs to make this race a referendum on
House Democrats react to Jocelyn Nungaray murder: ‘I don’t know who she is’
House Democrats have been caught on video apparently downplaying the influence of illegal immigration in the murder of Houston 12-year-old Jocelyn Nungaray, with one telling FOX Business, “I don’t know who she is.” The comments come after bail has been set for $10 million each for Johan Jose Martinez-Rangel and Franklin Jose Peña Ramos, the two suspects from Venezuela who are each facing a capital murder charge. Both men entered the U.S. illegally near El Paso, Texas, before being captured by the Border Patrol and released from custody. Nungaray was then strangled to death early last week in a case prosecutors say bears signs of sexual assault. When FOX Business Correspondent Hillary Vaughn caught up with Rep. Summer Lee to ask for her thoughts on Nungaray’s murder, she cut her off, saying “Oh I’m sorry, I don’t talk to strangers – I don’t even know who you are, and I don’t know who she is, I’m out of Pittsburgh.” “I don’t know anything about it,” Lee added before disappearing into an office on Capitol Hill. FAMILY OF JOCELYN NUNGARAY PLEADS FOR HEIGHTENED BORDER SECURITY Rep. Robert Garcia of California, when asked by Vaughn if it is “time to rethink our parole policy if [it] were releasing people who are murdering our children,” called Nungaray’s murder “horrific” and said “the people that committed the crime should be held completely accountable to that crime.” “I think, broadly speaking, I think what the country needs is broad asylum, border and immigration reform,” he continued. “I think we all know what the data says. We know that migrants oftentimes, and according to the data, according to police departments, are often less likely to actually commit crime than the natural born citizens.” Garcia then said “we should not be releasing anyone that we think could be a threat to the country.” “We have issues with judges. The courts are backed up,” he also said. “We’re hearing from people that are trying to actually bring folks in and try to interview and see and try to assess the person if they’re safe or not. With the asylum processes, there’s not enough judges, not enough clerks. So that’s got to get reformed.” JOCELYN NUNGARAY MURDER: SECOND ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT SUSPECT GETS $10 MILLION BAIL, WOMAN YELLS AT HIM IN COURTROOM Rep. Pramila Jayapal of Washington echoed comments similar to her fellow Democrats, telling Vaughn “These are horrible incidents and I think anyone who conducts that kind of terrible act has to be prosecuted. But as we know, the research is that undocumented immigrants commit far fewer crimes than anyone else.” “But aren’t these crimes preventable if we didn’t parole them into the country?” Vaughn then asked. Jayapal gave no response as she entered an elevator and its doors closed. Rep. Jerry Nadler of New York also said he “can’t comment on the parole policy” involving migrants apprehended at the U.S. border, but added that “if you look at the statistics, the crime rate among immigrants is far lower than the crime rate among native born Americans. “It’s unfortunate anybody’s killed, obviously, but immigrants, legal or illegal, commit crimes at a rate far lower than native-born Americans,” he added. “That’s — those are the facts.”
Biden DHS reveals 50 migrants still at large as ISIS-affiliated smuggling network brings hundreds to US
The Department of Homeland Security has identified over 400 individuals brought to the U.S. from Eastern European and Central Asian countries by an ISIS-affiliated smuggling network in the past several months, a DHS senior official confirmed to Fox News on Wednesday. Officials have arrested over 150 so far that have either been removed, placed in removal proceedings, or are currently receiving additional screening. They would not confirm if or how many have matched the terror watchlist. Of the remaining 50 individuals at large, they acknowledged that a small number “may match the terrorism watch list.” “There is no intelligence that suggests the remaining individuals pose an imminent threat to the homeland,” the official said. ICE SOUNDS ALARM ON WHAT MIGRANTS ARE FAILING TO BRING TO BORDER AS FEARS MOUNT AFTER ISIS ARRESTS The officials said the majority of the 400 are not considered “subjects of concern” – and that only a small number are considered that. The network was identified because one of the organizers was determined to have ties to the Islamic terror group, and so, out of precaution, they wanted to identify, apprehend and screen everyone connected to the network. At a press conference in Arizona on Wednesday, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas emphasized that it was “incorrect” to say that 400 migrants with potential ties to ISIS had been brought to the U.S. “We do not have identified 400 people with potential ISIS ties, and let me again assure you that individuals who are identified to have those ties would pose a concern to us from a public safety and security perspective and would be priorities for detention and removal,” he said. “Precision when one is dealing with the facts is very, very important.” The details of the network were first reported by NBC News. The latest revelations come weeks after eight Tajikistan nationals with ties to ISIS were busted by federal authorities in New York City, Los Angeles and Philadelphia. All eight came in via the southern border illegally, but no derogatory information was flagged during processing. DHS does not believe this is an ISIS terror operation, but a network taking advantage of migrants seeking entry to the U.S. However, there is heightened security risk due to their countries of origin. Border officials are being instructed to detain any individuals coming from certain countries or associated with the network so additional vetting can be carried out. NBC reported that recent terror attacks in Russia by ISIS and its offshoots have raised concerns and that DHS has been looking closely at migrants from Central Asia. While authorities say migrants are fully vetted before being released into the U.S., officials have previously conceded that it is difficult to vet them when often they turn up with no information. Acting Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Director Patrick Lechleitner said recently that “sometimes there is just no information on individuals” when they’re being vetted. “It is quite common where there is just nothing, you don’t have anything. There’s no criminal convictions, no threat information or whatever on these individuals. Or maybe these individuals are from an area that is particularly of concern but that pops up later when you get information later on,” he said. AUTHORITIES NAB 8 SUSPECTED TERRORISTS WITH TIES TO ISIS IN MULTI-CITY STING OPERATION That is also within the context of broader concerns about the terrorist threat facing the U.S. A letter sent Tuesday from the Special Operations Association of America (SOAA), which represents thousands of Army Rangers, Green Berets, Navy SEALs, and other current and former elite special ops forces, warned its members are “gravely concerned” about the terrorist threat to the United States and Americans abroad. “Our complete withdrawal from Afghanistan, without a viable stay-behind or over-the-horizon counterterrorism and intelligence capability to suppress threats, has created a vacuum in the region in which anti-American terrorist groups, such as al-Qaeda and the Islamic State, are flourishing once again,” the letter states. The lack of intelligence collection in the region has put the United States “at risk.” Compounding the terrorist threat is the “unsecured southern border,” according to the letter. “We do not know how many other terrorists are already currently inside the U.S.” CLICK HERE FOR MORE COVERAGE OF THE BORDER SECURITY CRISIS The letter from former national security officials is the latest chorus of warnings about the terrorist threat. “There’s a lack of a sense of urgency here,” former CIA acting Director Michael Morell told CBS’ “Face The Nation” Sunday. “The American people need to understand what the threat is.” Republicans immediately responded to the revelations of the smuggling network by blaming the Biden administration and its policies at the southern border. “I am a proud former U.S. Air Force fighter pilot who fought ISIS in Syria and Iraq. Now the Biden administration has opened our border, allowing these terrorists to smuggle illegal aliens into our country,” Rep. August Pfluger, R-Texas, chairman of the House Homeland Security Subcommittee on Counterterrorism, told Fox News Digital. “I will seek immediate action from the administration and work with my colleagues to address any security gaps. The safety of our nation must always be our top priority.” Fox News’ Lucas Tomlinson and Bill Melugin contributed to this report.
Red states notify Biden admin of lawsuit over ‘nonsensical’ EV rule
FIRST ON FOX: A group of 26 Republican attorneys general have notified the Biden administration they will challenge the latest fuel emissions restrictions, calling a new federal rule “the latest attempt to drive gas-powered cars off the road.” Attorneys General Russell Coleman of Kentucky and Patrick Morrisey of West Virginia on Wednesday filed a notice in the 6th Circuit that they will file suit against the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s rule titled “Corporate Average Fuel Economy Standards for Passenger Cars and Light Trucks for Model Years 2027 and Beyond and Fuel Efficiency Standards for Heavy-Duty Pickup Trucks and Vans for Model Years 2030 and Beyond.” That rule, which was enacted on Monday, requires car manufacturers to dramatically increase the average fuel economy of passenger cars and light trucks in less than a decade. The new regulation imposes “unworkable standards that leverage the weight of the federal government to require auto manufacturers to produce more EVs,” the AGs say. MAJOR LITHIUM DISCOVERY IN FRACKING WASTEWATER LEAVES THE LEFT FACING EV ‘IRONY’ “The forced transition to EVs would bypass the free market while increasing costs on families and undermining the reliability of the electric grid,” they said. US-CHINA TRADE TENSIONS ESCALATE OVER SURGING PRODUCTION OF ELECTRIC VEHICLES “Once again, President Biden’s election-year politics value their nonsensical green agenda over helping Kentuckians put food on the table,” Coleman told Fox News Digital. “It’s time for the Biden Administration to hit the brakes on its unaffordable EV mandates, let the free market work and get back to protecting our families.” WIND, SOLAR PROJECTS FLOURISH UNDER CLIMATE LAW, WHILE NUCLEAR AND OTHERS LAG BEHIND According to Coleman, EVs account for less than 1% of vehicles registered in Kentucky. “Congress did not give the NHTSA such power to reshape an industry that would ultimately affect the pocketbooks of consumers — this rule is legally flawed and unrealistic,” Morrisey said. “This will undoubtedly cause the United States to be dependent on other nations like China for our energy needs and will undermine American energy security by increasing demand and strain power grids.” Fox News Digital reached out to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration for comment.
Biden and Trump to face off in first US presidential debate: What to know
They have traded barbs for months, but Joe Biden and Donald Trump will soon get a chance to go head-to-head as the United States gears up for the first debate of the 2024 presidential election campaign. The presumptive Democratic and Republican party nominees will take the debate stage in Atlanta, Georgia on Thursday evening, less than five months before the vote on November 5. Opinion polls show President Biden and ex-President Trump remain locked in a tight race that experts say could come down to a handful of key swing states. Here’s what you need to know about the debate and its potential impact on the campaign. Who is taking part in the debate? Biden, the Democratic incumbent, and his Republican challenger Trump are going up against each other for the first time in the 2024 election cycle. They last debated each other on October 22, 2020, as part of that year’s presidential race. To participate in the debate, presidential candidates had to meet a set of criteria set out by the US news network CNN, which is hosting the event. This included having their name on enough state ballots to reach the Electoral College threshold needed to win the presidency, and having received at least 15 percent support in four separate national polls of registered and likely voters. Where is the debate taking place and at what time? The debate kicks off at 9pm local time (01:00 GMT) at CNN’s studios in Atlanta. Who is hosting the debate? The debate will be hosted by CNN anchors Jake Tapper and Dana Bash. What is the debate format? The debate will last 90 minutes, with two commercial breaks, CNN said. Biden and Trump have agreed to appear behind podiums — as opposed to being seated — and their microphones will be muted unless it is their respective turn to speak. “While no props or pre-written notes will be allowed on the stage, candidates will be given a pen, a pad of paper and a bottle of water,” the network said. There also will not be an audience, CNN said, in order “to ensure candidates may maximize the time allotted in the debate”. Biden challenged Trump to two debates, in June and September, ahead of the election on November 5 [File: Evelyn Hockstein/Reuters] How important are televised debates in a US presidential election? Experts have said most voters already know for whom they plan to vote in November, so it’s unclear how much the debate will push the dial in favour of either candidate. Still, a Pew Research Center poll from 2016 found that 63 percent of voters said the presidential debates were very or somewhat helpful in deciding which White House hopeful to cast a ballot for. That means Biden and Trump will try to use the event to appeal to a small group of “swayable voters”, explained Alan Schroeder, a professor emeritus of journalism at Northeastern University and author of the book Presidential Debates: Risky Business on the Campaign Trail. With Biden and Trump locked in a neck-and-neck contest, those undecided voters could prove critical, Schroeder told Al Jazeera. “Any time it’s this close, a debate can be important simply because it has the potential to break that logjam.” Is the debate happening earlier than usual? How come? Yes. Biden and Trump had called for the 2024 presidential debates to happen earlier in the campaign, saying they wanted to make their pitches to American voters before the early-voting period opens. The first presidential debates are typically held in the fall months — September and October — after the Republican and Democratic parties have held conventions to officially name their nominees. It has also been a tradition since 1988 for the dates to be set by the Commission on Presidential Debates, a non-profit sponsored by the two major parties. Late last year, the commission announced that it had selected three dates: one in mid-September and two in October. But last month, Biden’s campaign announced plans to eschew the traditional schedule and push forward the first debate. It also trimmed the number of debates to two. “The Commission’s schedule has debates that begin after the American people have a chance to cast their vote early, and doesn’t conclude until after tens of millions of Americans will have already voted,” the Biden campaign wrote. It also said the commission’s model of holding debates with large, in-person audiences “simply isn’t necessary or conducive to good debates”. What topics are set to dominate? Many polls indicate the US economy remains the top concern for Americans ahead of the election, and the candidates will no doubt be asked about their economic platforms. Immigration, public safety and reproductive rights will also likely be debate topics, as they too rank high among voter concerns. Foreign policy is also a topic of interest in this year’s election, and candidates are expected to be asked about their positions towards Israel’s war in Gaza, continued support for Ukraine and competition with China. In addition, the state of the US’s democratic institutions is high on voters’ radars and is anticipated to come up on Thursday night. Biden has accused Trump of being a threat to democracy, after the former president’s supporters stormed the US Capitol on January 6, 2021 to stop Congress from certifying the 2020 election results. The Democrat could also try to bring up Trump’s legal cases. The Republican was found guilty last month of falsifying business documents in a New York hush-money case, making him the first former president in US history ever convicted of a crime. But pressing Trump on his conviction and legal troubles — the ex-president faces three other criminal indictments — could be risky, according to Schroeder at Northeastern University. “Do you try to remind the audience over and over that he’s now a convicted felon and there are other trials coming up, or does that look like overkill? Would that be something that audiences might not want to hear about?” Schroeder asked. Trump became
French court upholds arrest warrant for Syria’s Bashar al-Assad
Counterterrorism prosecutors failed to have warrant annulled on grounds that al-Assad enjoys immunity as head of state. A Paris appeals court has upheld the validity of an arrest warrant issued for the Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad over alleged complicity in war crimes committed during the country’s civil war, according to lawyers. The judges ruled on Wednesday that the warrant, which French anti-terrorism prosecutors had sought to annul on the grounds that al-Assad enjoys immunity as a serving head of state, remains in force. “This is a historic decision. It’s the first time a national court has recognised that a sitting head of state does not have total personal immunity” for their actions, said plaintiffs’ lawyers Clemence Bectarte, Jeanne Sulzer and Clemence Witt. Mazen Darwish, director of the Syrian Center for Media and Freedom of Expression, said the decision “shows that there is no immunity when we are talking about crimes against humanity and using chemical weapons against civilians”. #NoImmunity #Justice #Syria pic.twitter.com/R60PCp63xm — Syrian Center for Media and Freedom of Expression (@SyrianCenter) June 26, 2024 The case against al-Assad is a particularly high-profile example of victims of the country’s devastating civil war seeking accountability for government forces that took part in atrocities. An arrest warrant was issued for al-Assad, his brother Maher, and two Syrian generals in November for alleged complicity in war crimes, including chemical weapons attacks on the cities of Douma and East Ghouta in 2013. With al-Assad maintaining a large degree of control over Syria, devastated by years of fighting during which his forces were accused of atrocities against civilians, Syrians who fled the country and settled in Europe have launched legal efforts to hold members of the Syrian military and government to account. The August 2013 chemical attacks killed more than 1,000 people and injured thousands more, but international condemnation produced little change in the Assad government’s prosecution of the war. In May, anti-terror prosecutors contested the arrest warrant against al-Assad, maintaining that acting heads of state enjoy absolute immunity. The prosecutors did not challenge the arrest warrant for al-Assad’s brother or the Syrian generals Ghassan Abbas and Bassam al-Hassan. Those named in the warrants can be arrested and brought to France for the investigation, an unlikely outcome that advocates nonetheless say sends a message of accountability at a time when the Assad government has begun to come back in from the cold after years of being shunned by regional governments and organisations. Adblock test (Why?)
Gallant’s US trip strengthens potential challenge to Israel’s Netanyahu
EDITOR’S ANALYSIS Israeli defence minister’s visit comes a month before Netanyahu’s, and highlights his position as an alternative to the PM. Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant has been on a mission in the past few days to shore up bipartisan support in the United States for Israel, in advance of what could potentially be all-out war against Hezbollah in Lebanon. Gallant set the stage before he left for the US on Saturday, emphasising that ties between the two countries were “perhaps more important than ever”. After meetings with his US counterpart Lloyd Austin and other top officials, Gallant’s message was consistent: the US and Israel are strong allies, and need to be on the same side in the face of the perceived threat from Iran and its supporters in the region. But the Israeli and US government don’t quite see eye to eye on everything at the moment. Many observers believe that one of the most important items on Gallant’s agenda was a frozen shipment of heavy-duty 2,000-pound (907kg) and 500-pound (227kg) bombs. The Biden administration paused the shipment in May, apparently in protest at the potential use of the bombs in Gaza, where the Israelis have killed more than 37,500 people, with continued US backing. The frozen shipment has served as a riposte to critics of the US government who say that President Joe Biden continues to support what critics are calling “genocide” in Gaza. But, in reality, the US has refused to expand that pause to other military shipments. The administration even responded to comments from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in which he claimed that more arms shipments had been held back, by stressing that only one shipment has been stopped. Whether Gallant has succeeded in getting the arms shipment sent to Israel is unclear. The officials Gallant met included pro-Israeli messages in their statements that followed. There was talk of the strong relationship between Israel and the US, the importance of Israel’s security, and the necessity of defeating the Palestinian group Hamas. But, notably, there was no overt attempt to row back any of the clearly signposted anti-Netanyahu messaging of the past few months – including persistent leaks that Biden was displeased with Netanyahu. The US president himself was caught on a hot mic saying that he had told Netanyahu they would have a “come to Jesus” meeting, a phrase used to refer to a moment of realisation before would change the Israeli prime minister’s thinking. Gallant the alternative The Biden administration’s attempts to personify its problems with Israel in Netanyahu means there appears to be space for a US-backed alternative. Many saw former war cabinet minister Benny Gantz as the most likely candidate, but his resignation and return to the opposition earlier this month, as well as a general decline in popularity among the Israeli public, may make him a less appealing figure to back. That opens the door for Gallant, who, while a member of Netanyahu’s Likud party, has shown an independent streak in the past. Gallant called out the prime minister for a lack of a post-war plan for Gaza – echoing US criticisms – in May. And don’t forget that Gallant was fired by Netanyahu in March 2023 for the defence minister’s disagreement with him over the immensely controversial plans to overhaul the judiciary. It was only a mass public outcry that led to Gallant’s reinstatement. With that in mind, an alternative reading of Gallant’s trip to the US is that it is also an attempt to undermine Netanyahu only a month before the prime minister’s own trip to Washington, where he will address a joint session of Congress. Gallant took the opportunity while in the US capital to make a pointed remark that differences between “family”, such as the US, be kept “in-house”, a not-so-subtle dig considering Netanyahu’s public criticism of the Biden administration. To be clear, Gallant is no peacenik. He has been fully supportive of Israel’s actions in Gaza, and – along with Netanyahu – faces a potential International Criminal Court case if judges approve the chief prosecutor’s request for an arrest warrant. And one of the main items on his agenda in the US was drumming up support for a potential assault against Hezbollah, possibly involving a ground invasion. US officials have signalled Washington won’t be as supportive of that plan. But the opportunity to make the case in the corridors of US power allows Gallant to come back to Israel in a stronger position to take on Netanyahu – if he ever decides to make a move. Adblock test (Why?)