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Chris Christie pushes back on calls to drop out of the race, takes aim at Trump in first major ad blitz

Chris Christie pushes back on calls to drop out of the race, takes aim at Trump in first major ad blitz

Chris Christie is pushing back against calls from fellow Republicans for the former two-term New Jersey governor to drop out of the GOP presidential nomination race in the first major ad blitz of his 2024 bid. “Some people say I should drop out of this race. Really? I’m the only one saying Donald Trump is a liar,” Christie said while speaking directly to the camera in a spot launching on TV and digital on Thursday. Christie’s campaign said the commercial is the first spot in what they tout as a seven-figure ad buy in New Hampshire, the state that holds the first primary and second overall contest after Iowa’s caucuses in the GOP presidential nominating calendar. As Christie runs a second time for national office, he faces a steep uphill climb against former President Donald Trump, who is the commanding front-runner in the race as he makes his third straight White House bid. Similar to the 2016 cycle, Christie is once again concentrating his time and resources in New Hampshire, where independent voters and moderates have long played a crucial role in the state’s famed primary. CHRISTIE SAYS SUNUNU ENDORSEMENT OF HALEY ‘DOESN’T CHANGE MY STRATEGY’ Christie’s been running a frugal campaign since declaring his candidacy in June – with ads in support of him coming from an aligned super PAC titled Tell It Like It Is – but he has switched into a higher gear in recent weeks, increasing the number of events he’s hosting with Granite State voters. The former governor ran his first TV spot of his campaign earlier this month, which was backed by six-figures. Now, he’s upping the ante by shelling out at least $1 million for commercials. SUNUNU ON HALEY’S 2024 RIVALS: ‘I THINK THEY SHOULD ALL GET OUT’ A Trump ally turned vocal GOP critic, Christie is now taking aim at the former president in his new commercial. Christie charges in his new ad that Trump “pits Americans against each other,” adding that the former president’s Christmas message to anyone who disagrees with him was “rot in he**.” When referring to the Jan. 6, 2021, deadly attack on the U.S. Capitol by Trump supporters that temporarily disrupted congressional certification of President Biden’s victory over the then-president in the 2020 election, Christie said: “he caused a riot on Capitol Hill. He’ll burn America to the ground to help himself. Every Republican leader says that in private. I’m the only one saying it in public.” THESE TOP FIVE MOMENTS IN 2023 SHAPED THE 2024 GOP PRESIDENTIAL PRIMARY RACE “What kind of President do we want? A liar or someone who has the guts to tell the truth?” Christie asked in the ad. “New Hampshire. It’s up to you. I’m Chris Christie and you bet I approve this message.”  Christie’s in third place in many of the most recent polls in New Hampshire, far behind Trump and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, who later served as ambassador to the United Nations in the Trump administration. Haley, who has been rising in the polls the past couple of months, enjoyed a surge in the surveys in recent weeks after she landed the endorsement of popular Republican Gov. Chris Sununu of New Hampshire. That sparked calls from some Republican insiders and voters for Christie to end his White House bid in order for the anti-Trump vote to consolidate around Haley. Christie has repeatedly pushed back against the calls by saying he’s the only Trump rival in the race who’s directly taking on the former president. He told Fox News Digital earlier this month that he’s “not going anywhere, so let’s be really clear about that.” Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub.

Under the rubble: The missing in Gaza

Under the rubble: The missing in Gaza

Every morning, 51-year-old Yasser Abu Shamala goes to the place where his family’s house once stood in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip. He starts digging through the rubble with his bare hands, lifting pieces of concrete to try to find members of his family buried under the debris. Abu Shamala’s family house was bombed by Israeli forces on October 26, demolishing the building and killing his parents, brothers and cousins. The strike killed 22 people with many more trapped under the rubble. Abu Shamala’s family members are among the more than 7,000 people who are reported missing in Gaza, including 4,900 children and women. The missing are believed to be trapped under bombed buildings, according to Hamas officials in Gaza. Despite multiple failed attempts, Abu Shamala refuses to quit and has pledged to continue searching for his relatives and recover their bodies from under the ruins of the house. He hopes he can bury them in a cemetery with proper Islamic rituals. Israel has dropped thousands of bombs on Gaza since October 7, the day the war started with Hamas attacks on southern Israel. The war is believed to be one of the most destructive and fatal in recent times, having killed nearly 21,000 people in Gaza and 1,139 in Israel, wounding nearly 55,000 Palestinians and at least 8,730 in Israel, and destroying or damaging at least 60 percent of Gaza’s residential units. As the war continues, finding and rescuing those trapped under the rubble is becoming increasingly difficult. Adblock test (Why?)

‘Piles of body parts’: Gaza’s Maghazi residents find families ‘in pieces’

‘Piles of body parts’: Gaza’s Maghazi residents find families ‘in pieces’

Deir el-Balah, Gaza Strip – It has been four days since Gaza’s smallest refugee camp was pounded in yet another series of Israeli air strikes, but Palestinians there are still digging up the bodies of their loved ones from under the rubble. The onslaught in central Gaza’s Maghazi late on Sunday killed at least 90 people, including children and many who were internally displaced. In one of the deadliest attacks on the Gaza Strip since Israel launched a war on the enclave on October 7, residents including Ashraf al-Haj Ahmed said the assault happened “suddenly” and without prior warning. “At around 11:30pm that night, we witnessed a series of large explosions that shook the entire camp,” al-Haj Ahmed told Al Jazeera. At least three homes were completely destroyed [Abdelhakim Abu Riash/Al Jazeera] His relative’s home was among those that were flattened to the ground. Al-Haj Ahmed recalled running towards it as soon as the bombardment woke him up, just a few blocks down. At the scene of the attack, he found a four-storey building destroyed “on top of those who were living in it”. “There must have been around 40 people, among them are the owners of the house, as well as displaced families who were taken in,” he said. At least three houses in the overcrowded camp were hit by Israeli air strikes. Officials in Gaza said seven families were among the casualties. While the official number of those who were killed stands at 90, residents of the camp near Deir el-Balah say in reality, the figure is much higher as entire residential blocks were wiped out. “In each home, there’s a minimum of 50 people,” another Maghazi resident told Al Jazeera. “A lot of them are displaced Palestinians from other parts of Gaza who were forced to flee their homes.” Israel’s attacks have not spared homes and shelters that displaced people have fled to [Abdelhakim Abu Riash/Al Jazeera] The camp normally houses 30,000 people, according to the UN refugee agency for Palestinians (UNRWA). But with the displacement of Palestinians fleeing Israel’s relentless bombardment in other parts of the enclave, the number of people there has risen to an estimated 100,000. “We pulled out so many body parts that we can’t even estimate the total number of deaths yet,” the second resident said. “They’re all in pieces, and we’re pulling them out with our bare hands,” he added. “We’ve now gathered at least two piles of body parts.” ‘Dark and painful night’ Israel’s attacks have not spared homes and shelters that people have fled to. Despite being on the southern side of the Strip, an area that Israeli forces deemed “safe” and ordered civilians from the north to flee ahead of their ground offensive, Maghazi has been subjected to intense artillery and air raids. It was also attacked last month when at least 50 Palestinians were killed. The vicinity of the camp was also subjected to intense Israeli shelling over the last week. Abu Rami Abu al-Ais is among those who have been sheltering in Maghazi ever since he left his home in the al-Zahra neighbourhood. He said Sunday’s attack was not the first time he and his family members had been hit. “We had a home in al-Zahra, which came under attack. After coming here, the house we were staying in was bombed again,” al-Ais, whose daughter is badly injured, told Al Jazeera. More than 21,000 Palestinians have been killed since October 7 [Abdelhakim Abu Riash/Al Jazeera] He echoed al-Haj Ahmed’s experience and said there had been “no warnings whatsoever” prior to the strikes. Al-Ais said in previous assaults on the enclave, Israeli forces would sometimes warn residents of a building to evacuate a few minutes before an attack, either by throwing leaflets or via speakerphones. But during this offensive, there had been no such warnings. “The rockets fall on the heads of innocent people sleeping in their homes,” he said. “They [Israel] want to commit a complete genocide.” Al-Ais said people are still collecting the remains of their friends, neighbours and relatives with their bare hands. “We found the remains of women and children who were blown up. Their body parts have been scattered over a span of about three blocks,” due to the intensity of the strikes, al-Ais said. “It was a very dark and painful night for Maghazi,” he recalled. “The widespread and sheer destruction is indescribable.” Residents of Maghazi refugee camp have called for an urgent ceasefire [Abdelhakim Abu Riash/Al Jazeera] Infrastructure, such as roads leading to the camp, were also destroyed. Al-Ais said there are no excavators that can help speed up the process of recovering people from under the blocks of concrete. The lack of much-needed fuel to operate bulldozers and vehicles means that – just like civil defence teams in Gaza – residents are digging with only their bare hands to try and pull out as many victims from under the rubble as they can. Israel has blocked the entry of fuel since it imposed a total siege on the already blockaded Strip at the start of the war, and has only allowed a very small amount of aid in through the Rafah border crossing. “We don’t need food, we don’t need water, we don’t need coffins,” al-Ais said. “What we need is a ceasefire and for this war to end.” Al-Haj Ahmed, agreed. “Shame on the Arab world. We don’t just need aid, we need you here personally. Come and stand with your brothers,” he said. Attacks on refugee camps and civilian infrastructure have become common since October 7. The Jabalia refugee camp in northern Gaza has been targeted several times, resulting in the deaths of hundreds of Palestinians. Civilian infrastructure – including schools, hospitals, ambulance vehicles, and places of worship – has also been subjected to bombardment. More than 21,000 Palestinians have been killed since October 7, while nearly 1.9 million – more than 80 percent of the 2.3 million people who live in Gaza – have been displaced. Adblock

No safe place for Palestinians in Gaza as Israel widens offensive

No safe place for Palestinians in Gaza as Israel widens offensive

As the Israeli military pounded central and southern Gaza by land, sea and air, Palestinian authorities reported scores of casualties and the United Nations health agency said thousands of people were trying to flee the widening offensive. Residents in the central Gaza Strip said that with nightfall, Israeli tank shelling intensified on Wednesday east of the already overcrowded Bureij, Maghazi and Nuseirat refugee camps where tanks have been trying to force their way through. Israeli army spokesperson Daniel Hagari said that additional reinforcements have been sent into the southern part of the Palestinian territory on the outskirts of Khan Younis. Israeli forces were pressing on with their operations in the northern part of the enclave, leaving hundreds of thousands of fleeing Palestinians with no safe place left to shelter. The World Health Organization (WHO) said its staff had seen thousands of people fleeing heavy strikes in Khan Younis on foot, on donkeys or in cars. Makeshift shelters were being built along the road. “WHO is extremely concerned this fresh displacement of people will further strain health facilities in the south, which are already struggling to meet the population’s immense needs,” said Rik Peeperkorn, WHO representative for the occupied Palestinian territories. “This forced mass movement of people will also lead to more overcrowding, increased risk of infectious diseases and make it even harder to deliver humanitarian aid.” Adblock test (Why?)