WASHINGTON: Nearly 90 Democratic lawmakers urged US President Joe Biden to sanction members of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government over anti-Palestinian violence in the West Bank, according to a letter released on Thursday.
Urging Biden to send a message to US partners before he leaves office, the members of Congress said Israeli cabinet members Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir had incited violence by Israeli settlers in the occupied territory.
“We write to express our deep concern about the rise in settler violence, settlement expansion, and measures adopted to weaken the Palestinian Authority and otherwise destabilize the West Bank,” they said in the letter.
The letter, signed by 17 senators and 71 House members, said Israeli settlers have carried out over 1,270 recorded attacks against Palestinians in the West Bank, averaging more than three violent attacks per day.
The letter was dated Oct. 29 but made public on Thursday because the lawmakers had not had a response from the White House, three of the members of Congress said.
Democratic Senator Chris Van Hollen and Democratic House of Representatives members Rosa DeLauro and Sean Casten, who are leading the letter effort, told reporters that Biden has the authority to impose sanctions under an existing executive order.
Doing so would send a message not just to Israel and the Palestinians, but also to US allies elsewhere in the world, that the United States will push back on humanitarian issues, they said.
“We think it’s more important than ever that President Biden right now states that the United States is not going to be a rubber stamp to the Netanyahu government’s extreme actions,” Van Hollen said.
Spokespeople for the White House and Israeli embassy did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The United States has for decades backed a two-state solution between Israel and the Palestinians and urged Israel not to expand settlements.
The West Bank is among territories Israel captured in the 1967 Middle East war and where Palestinians, with international support, seek statehood. Most world powers deem Israeli settlements in the area illegal. Israel disputes that, citing historical claims to the West Bank and describing it as a security bulwark.
Netanyahu and his allies celebrated the re-election this month of Donald Trump, a staunch but sometimes unpredictable ally of Israel. In his first term the Republican president-elect delivered major wins for the Israeli leader. Additionally, Smotrich, who also wields a defense ministry supervisory role for settlers as part of his coalition deal with Netanyahu, said this week he hoped Israel would extend sovereignty into the occupied West Bank in 2025 and that he would push the government to engage the incoming Trump administration to gain Washington’s support.
Democrats in Congress urge Biden to sanction Israelis over West Bank violence
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Democrats in Congress urge Biden to sanction Israelis over West Bank violence
- “We write to express our deep concern about the rise in settler violence, settlement expansion, and measures adopted to weaken the Palestinian Authority,” said the letter
- The letter, signed by 17 senators and 71 House members, said Israeli settlers have carried out over 1,270 recorded attacks against Palestinians
US believes Russia response to Ukraine drone attack not over yet, expects multi-pronged strike
- Russia launched an intense missile and drone barrage at the Ukrainian capital Kyiv on Friday and Russia’s Defense Ministry said the strike on military and military-related targets was in response to what it called Ukrainian “terrorist acts” against Russia
WASHINGTON: The United States believes that Russian President Vladimir Putin’s threatened retaliation against Ukraine over its drone attack last weekend has not happened yet in earnest and is likely to be a significant, multi-pronged strike, US officials told Reuters.
The timing of the full Russian response was unclear, with one source saying it was expected within days. A second US official said the retaliation was likely to include different kinds of air capabilities, including missiles and drones.
The officials spoke on condition of anonymity. They did not detail Russia’s expected targets nor elaborate on intelligence matters. The first official said Moscow’s attack would be “asymmetrical,” meaning that its approach and targeting would not mirror Ukraine’s strike last weekend against Russian warplanes.
HIGHLIGHTS
• Putin's retaliation for Ukraine drone strike has yet to fully unfold, US officials say
• Strikes expected to including missiles, drones, US officials say
• Moscow's retaliation expected to be 'asymmetrical,' official says
Russia launched an intense missile and drone barrage at the Ukrainian capital Kyiv on Friday and Russia’s Defense Ministry said the strike on military and military-related targets was in response to what it called Ukrainian “terrorist acts” against Russia. But the US officials believe the complete Russian response is yet to come.
A Western diplomatic source said that while Russia’s response may have started, it would likely intensify with strikes against symbolic Ukrainian targets like government buildings, in an effort to send a clear message to Kyiv.
Another, senior, Western diplomat anticipated a further devastating assault by Moscow. “It will be huge, vicious and unrelenting,” the diplomat said. “But the Ukrainians are brave people.”
The Russian and Ukrainian embassies in Washington and the White House did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Michael Kofman, a Russia expert at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, said he expected Moscow might seek to punish Ukraine’s domestic security agency, the SBU, for its role in last weekend’s assault. To send a message, Russia could employ intermediate-range ballistic missiles for the attack, he said.
“Most likely, they will attempt to retaliate against (SBU) headquarters, or other regional intelligence administration buildings,” Kofman said, adding Russia could also target Ukrainian defense manufacturing centers.
Still, Kofman suggested Russia’s options for retaliation may be limited as it is already throwing a lot of its military might at Ukraine.
“In general, Russia’s ability to substantially escalate strikes from what they are already doing — and attempting to do over the past month — is quite constrained,” he said.
OPERATION ‘SPIDER’S WEB’
Kyiv says Sunday’s audacious attack employed 117 unmanned aerial vehicles launched deep from within Russian territory in an operation code-named “Spider’s Web.”
The United States assesses that up to 20 warplanes were hit — around half the number estimated by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky — and around 10 were destroyed.
The Russian government on Thursday denied that any planes were destroyed and said the damage would be repaired, but Russian military bloggers have spoken of loss or serious damage to about a dozen planes, including those capable of carrying nuclear weapons.
The strikes, prepared over 18 months and conducted by drones smuggled close to the bases in trucks, dealt a powerful symbolic blow to Russia, which throughout the Ukraine war has frequently reminded the world of its nuclear might.
Putin told President Donald Trump in a telephone conversation on Wednesday that Moscow would have to respond to attack, Trump said in a social media post.
Trump later told reporters that “it’s probably not going to be pretty.”
“I don’t like it. I said: ‘Don’t do it. You shouldn’t do it. You should stop it,’” Trump said of his conversation with Putin. “But, again, there’s a lot of hatred.”
Germany has three years to overhaul military: official
- Germany’s chief of defense, General Carsten Breuer, recently warned that Russia could be in a position to “launch a large-scale attack against NATO territory” as early as 2029
BERLIN: Germany’s armed forces have three years to acquire the equipment to tackle a possible Russian attack on NATO territory, the head of military procurement said Saturday.
Defense spending has risen up the political agenda since Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine in 2022, and more recently with the United States pushing NATO members to increase their commitments.
“Everything necessary to be fully prepared to defend the country must be acquired by 2028,” Annette Lehnigk-Emden, head of the Federal Office for Military Procurement, told the Tagesspiegel newspaper.
Germany’s chief of defense, General Carsten Breuer, recently warned that Russia could be in a position to “launch a large-scale attack against NATO territory” as early as 2029.
He said there was a Russian build-up of ammunition and tanks for a possible attack on NATO’s Baltic members.
Lehnigk-Emden said that Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s new government was enabling the upgrade by allocating hundreds of billions of euros for defense.
She said the priority would be for heavy equipment such as Skyranger anti-aircraft tanks.
Merz has made rearmament a priority of his coalition government to make German forces “the most powerful conventional army in Europe.”
Rearmament had already begun under the previous government of Olaf Scholz after Russia launched its war in Ukraine.
And US President Donald Trump has raised the stakes further this year by pushing NATO members to increase their defense spending to five percent of GDP from the current level of two percent.
Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said Thursday that 50,000 to 60,000 new soldiers would be needed in the coming years to meet the increased NATO defense needs.
Last year, the army had more than 180,000 soldiers and set a goal of exceeding 203,000 by 2031.
Germany is meanwhile looking to speed up the establishment of shelters where the population could find refuge in the event of conflict, according to the president of the German Federal Office for Civil Protection, Ralph Tiesler.
At the end of last year, the authorities began to catalogue tunnels, subway stations, underground carparks and cellars of public buildings that could be converted into bunkers.
“We are going to create one million shelter places as quickly as possible,” Tiesler told the Suddeutsche Zeitung newspaper, indicating that a plan to this effect would be presented this summer.
DR Congo, Burundi thwart Rwanda on regional bloc presidency
- Presidency of the 11-nation ECCAS had been due to pass to Kigali
- Rwanda is accused of helping M23 rebels fighting DR Congo government
MALABO, Equatorial Guinea: Rwanda was blocked Saturday from taking the rotating presidency of the central African economic bloc because of the conflict in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.
The presidency of the 11-nation Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS) had been due to pass to Kigali, but at a heads of state and government meeting, DR Congo and Burundi objected.
“The conference postponed to another time the transfer of the rotating acting presidency of the community to the Republic of Rwanda and consequently decided to keep His Excellency Obiang Nguema Mbasogo as acting president of the community for an additional year,” a communique said.
One ECCAS official described the atmosphere between Rwanda and DR Congo’s representatives at the meeting in Equatorial Guinea’s capital Malabo as “tense.”
The Congolese contingent said “if Rwanda took the presidency, they would not be able to travel to Rwanda for community activities or events,” the official added on condition of anonymity.
“Burundi is also on the same path.”
Diplomatic ties between Kinshasa and Kigali are fraught, with the Congolese government accusing Rwanda of supporting the M23 armed group that has taken swathes of territory in the mineral-rich eastern DRC since the start of the year.
Neighbouring Burundi has sent more than 10,000 soldiers since 2023 to help the Congolese army fight the M23 and other armed groups operating in the conflict-wracked region.
On Thursday, Qatari mediators presented the DRC government and the M23 group “a peace proposal” to end the conflict, a source with knowledge of the talks told AFP.
Immigration authorities extend activity in Los Angeles area amid street protests
- One hand-held sign said, “No Human Being is Illegal.”
LOS ANGELES: US immigration authorities extended activity in Los Angeles area on Saturday in the wake of protests at an federal detention facility and a police response that included tear gas, flash-bangs and the arrest of a union leader.
Border Patrol personnel in riot gear and gas masks stood guard outside an industrial park in the city of Paramount, deploying tear gas as bystanders and protesters gathered on medians and across the street, some jeering at authorities while recording the events on smartphones.
“ICE out of Paramount. We see you for what you are,” a woman announced through a megaphone. “You are not welcome here.”
One hand-held sign said, “No Human Being is Illegal.”
The boulevard was closed to traffic as US Border Patrol circulated through the area. ICE representatives did not respond immediately to email inquiries about weekend enforcement activities.
Arrests by immigration authorities in Los Angeles come as President Donald Trump and his administration push to fulfill promises to carry out mass deportations across the country.
On Friday, Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers arrested more than 40 people as they executed search warrants at multiple locations, including outside a clothing warehouse where a tense scene unfolded as a crowd tried to block agents from driving away.
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass said the activity was meant to “sow terror” in the nation’s second-largest city.
In a statement on Saturday, ICE Acting Director Todd Lyons chided Bass for the city’s response to protests.
“Mayor Bass took the side of chaos and lawlessness over law enforcement,” Lyons said in a statement. “Make no mistake, ICE will continue to enforce our nation’s immigration laws and arrest criminal illegal aliens.”
Protesters gathered Friday evening outside a federal detention center in Los Angeles where lawyers said those arrested had been taken, chanting “set them free, let them stay!”
Other protesters held signs that said “ICE out of LA!” and led chants and shouted from megaphones. Some scrawled graffiti on the building facade.
Federal agents executed search warrants at three locations, including a warehouse in the fashion district of Los Angeles, after a judge found there was probable cause the employer was using fictitious documents for some of its workers, according to representatives for Homeland Security Investigations and the US Attorney’s Office.
Advocates for immigrant rights say people were detained Friday by immigration authorities outside Home Depot stores and a doughnut shop.
Trump says Elon Musk could face ‘serious consequences’ if he backs Democratic candidates
- The president’s latest comments suggest Musk is moving from close ally to a potential new target for Trump, who has aggressively wielded the powers of his office to crack down on critics and punish perceived enemies
BRIDGEWATER, N.J.: President Donald Trump is not backing off his battle with Elon Musk, saying Saturday that he has no desire to repair their relationship and warning that his former ally and campaign benefactor could face “serious consequences” if he tries to help Democrats in upcoming elections.
Trump told NBC’s Kristen Welker in a phone interview that he has no plans to make up with Musk. Asked specifically if he thought his relationship with the mega-billionaire CEO of Tesla and SpaceX is over, Trump responded, “I would assume so, yeah.”
“I’m too busy doing other things,” Trump continued. “You know, I won an election in a landslide. I gave him a lot of breaks, long before this happened, I gave him breaks in my first administration, and saved his life in my first administration, I have no intention of speaking to him.”
The president also issued a warning amid chatter that Musk could back Democratic lawmakers and candidates in the 2026 midterm elections.
“If he does, he’ll have to pay the consequences for that,” Trump told NBC, though he declined to share what those consequences would be. Musk’s businesses have many lucrative federal contracts.
The president’s latest comments suggest Musk is moving from close ally to a potential new target for Trump, who has aggressively wielded the powers of his office to crack down on critics and punish perceived enemies. As a major government contractor, Musk’s businesses could be particularly vulnerable to retribution. Trump has already threatened to cut Musk’s contracts, calling it an easy way to save money.
The dramatic rupture between the president and the world’s richest man began this week with Musk’s public criticism of Trump’s “big beautiful bill” pending on Capitol Hill. Musk has warned that the bill will increase the federal deficit and called it a “disgusting abomination.”
Trump criticized Musk in the Oval Office, and before long, he and Musk began trading bitterly personal attacks on social media, sending the White House and GOP congressional leaders scrambling to assess the fallout.
As the back-and-forth intensified, Musk suggested Trump should be impeached and claimed without evidence that the government was concealing information about the president’s association with infamous pedophile Jeffrey Epstein. Musk appeared by Saturday morning to have deleted his posts about Epstein.
Vice President JD Vance in an interview tried to downplay the feud. He said Musk was making a “huge mistake” going after Trump, but called him an “emotional guy” getting frustrated.
“I hope that eventually Elon comes back into the fold. Maybe that’s not possible now because he’s gone so nuclear,” Vance said.
Vance called Musk an “incredible entrepreneur,” and said that Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency, which sought to cut government spending and laid off or pushed out thousands of workers, was “really good.”
Vance made the comments in an interview with ” manosphere” comedian Theo Von, who last month joked about snorting drugs off a mixed-race baby and the sexuality of men in the US Navy when he opened for Trump at a military base in Qatar.
The Vance interview was taped Thursday as Musk’s posts were unfurling on X, the social media network the billionaire owns.
During the interview, Von showed the vice president Musk’s claim that Trump’s administration hasn’t released all the records related to Epstein because Trump is mentioned in them.
Vance responded to that, saying, “Absolutely not. Donald Trump didn’t do anything wrong with Jeffrey Epstein.”
“This stuff is just not helpful,” Vance said in response to another post shared by Musk calling for Trump to be impeached and replaced with Vance.
“It’s totally insane. The president is doing a good job.”
Vance also defended the bill that has drawn Musk’s ire, and said its central goal was not to cut spending but to extend the 2017 tax cuts approved in Trump’s first term.
The bill would slash spending and taxes but also leave some 10.9 million more people without health insurance and spike deficits by $2.4 trillion over the decade, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office.
“It’s a good bill,” Vance said. “It’s not a perfect bill.”
The interview was taped in Nashville at a restaurant owned by musician Kid Rock, a Trump ally.
