Russia-China Ties Most Important Stabilizing Factor in International Arena - Putin

https://sputnikglobe.com/20250508/russia-china-ties-most-important-stabilizing-factor-in-international-arena---putin-1122006731.html

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Ties between Russia and China are the most important stabilizing factor in the international arena, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday.

"In the context of a difficult geopolitical situation and global uncertainty, the Russian-Chinese foreign policy nexus is the most important stabilizing factor in the international arena," Putin said at the expanded-format talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping in the Kremlin.

The cooperation of the two nations will continue to develop for the benefit of the Chinese and Russian peoples, he added.

Mutual Protection of Investments

Russian President Vladimir Putin announced the conclusion of agreements on the promotion and mutual protection of investments between Russia and China.

"Today we will sign updated intergovernmental agreements on the promotion and mutual protection of investments, which, I am sure, will have a positive impact on the formation of a more favorable business environment and will give a serious impetus to the development of our economic cooperation," Putin said.

Russia has become the world's top importer of Chinese cars, the president said, adding that Russia is also ready to expand the range of Russian agricultural products to China.

"For our part, we intend to continue to create comfortable conditions for the activities of companies from China in Russia," the president said.

Additionally, Putin said that Russia and China intend to further modernize the transport infrastructure.

Putin also proposed to review in detail practical aspects of China-Russia cooperation.

"Mr. Xi Jinping, dear friend, distinguished colleagues, today at the expanded talks with the participation of delegations, we will review in detail the practical aspects of our cooperation in various areas. Traditionally, the chairmen of the five intergovernmental commissions from both sides will report on the work of the five intergovernmental commissions, and our foreign ministers will discuss cooperation in the global arena," Putin said at the beginning of the expanded talks.

The Russian leader also said that he and Xi Jinping held an in-depth, meaningful exchange of views and outlined plans for future work during the narrow-format talks earlier in the day.

"The governments of our countries are working effectively. Systematic measures are being taken that will increase the level of financial and technical independence of our cooperation," Putin added.

Key Agreements Signed

Joint statement on deepening comprehensive partnership and strategic cooperation, marking a new era.

Joint statement on strategic stability.

Memorandum on cooperation to combat infectious diseases.

Agreement on promoting and mutually protecting investments.

Memorandum on cooperation between "Movement of the First" and the All-China Youth Federation.

Memorandum on collaboration in creating a lunar power station for the International Lunar Station between Roscosmos and China.

Memorandum of cooperation between RT and China’s Media Corporation.

Main Points From Putin’s Speech

The negotiations took place in a warm, friendly atmosphere, were substantive and productive.

Relations between Russia and China are self-sufficient and independent of global trends.

Both countries will continue efforts to integrate the EEU and the Belt and Road Initiative.

Russia remains one of China's key trading partners.

Significant progress in investment cooperation between the two nations.

The majority of foreign trade transactions between Russia and China are conducted in rubles and yuan.

The trade system between Russia and China is resilient and shielded from third-party influences.

Gazprom continues to meet China's needs, exceeding contractual obligations.

Large Chinese corporations in the automotive, microelectronics, and home appliances sectors are expanding their presence in Russia.

Progress is being made in developing and commercializing the Northern Sea Route.

Putin and Xi will personally oversee all major aspects of the Russia-China partnership, both bilaterally and internationally.

Xi's Main Points

The importance of remaining reliable partners with Moscow and increasing strategic interaction.

The negotiations were thorough and productive, resulting in several important agreements.

China and Russia should work together more actively in the UN, SCO, BRICS, and advocate for multilateralism.

Despite international turbulence, Beijing and Moscow will maintain their commitment to eternal good-neighborliness.

Coordination between China and Russia brings stability and positive energy to an unsettled world.

Joint Statement Between Russia and China

The Soviet and Chinese peoples made a historic sacrifice by defeating fascism and militarism for humanity’s sake.

Moscow considers the Nazi extermination of Soviet civilians to be genocide against the peoples of the Soviet Union.

Russia and China are responsible for preserving the true historical memory of World War II.

Both countries will continue to oppose neo-Nazism and attempts to falsify WWII history.

Russia and China express gratitude to the frontline soldiers and homefront workers for their wartime heroism.

Moscow and Beijing agreed to fight against any discrimination of athletes, protect Olympic values, and uphold the principles of fair sport.

Both nations are committed to countering Washington’s "dual containment" policy toward Russia and China.

Nuclear-armed states should abandon the Cold War mentality and resolve contradictions through dialogue.

To resolve the Ukrainian crisis in a long-term manner, its root causes must be addressed while respecting UN principles.

Smotrich: Gaza Will Be ‘Totally Destroyed,’ Population Will Be ‘Concentrated’

The Israeli minister said the entire Palestinian population will be forced into a small area and pressured to leave as part of an ethnic cleansing campaign

by Dave DeCamp May 6, 2025

https://news.antiwar.com/2025/05/06/smotrich-gaza-will-be-totally-destroyed-population-will-be-concentrated/

Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said on Tuesday that within a few months, the Gaza Strip will be “totally destroyed” and the entire Palestinian population will be “concentrated” into a tiny area in the southern part of the Palestinian territory before being forced to leave as part of an ethnic cleansing campaign.

“Within a few months, we will be able to declare that we have won. Gaza will be totally destroyed,” Smotrich said at a conference on illegal settlements in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, according to The Times of Israel.

“In another six months, Hamas won’t exist as a functioning entity… The population of Gaza will be concentrated from the Morag Corridor southwards. The rest of the Strip will be empty,” Smotrich said.

The Morag Corridor refers to a strip of land between the southern Gaza cities of Khan Younis and Rafah.

“The Gazan citizens will be concentrated in the south. They will be totally despairing, understanding that there is no hope and nothing to look for in Gaza, and will be looking for relocation to begin a new life in other places,” Smotrich added.

The Israeli minister said that the Palestinian population will “leave in great numbers to third countries.” Throughout Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza, Smotrich has been an outspoken proponent of the ethnic cleansing of the territory.

Smotrich’s comments come after the Israeli government approved military plans to completely occupy Gaza. According to Axios, the plan will involve flattening every single building, forcing the civilian population into one small area, and pressuring Palestinians to leave, though it’s unclear where they could go.

In his speech on Tuesday, Smotrich also vowed that the current Israeli government would annex the West Bank. “It will happen this term. It is one of our most important challenges. We are at a historic opportunity,” he said.

Smotrich is a West Bank settler himself and holds another ministerial position in the Defense Ministry that gives him the power to expand settlements in the occupied territory.

Israeli Strikes Kill 51 in Gaza as Another Baby Starves To Death Under Blockade

A four-month-old baby died of malnutrition as malnourished mothers cannot produce breast milk, and Israel is blocking baby formula

by Dave DeCamp May 5, 2025

https://news.antiwar.com/2025/05/05/israeli-strikes-kill-51-in-gaza-as-another-baby-starves-to-death-under-blockade/

Israeli attacks on Gaza killed at least 51 Palestinians since dawn on Monday, medical sources told Al Jazeera, as another baby starved to death in the Strip due to the US-backed Israeli blockade.

According to the Palestinian news agency WAFA, Yousef al-Najjar, a four-month-old baby, died of malnutrition. Yousef weighed only 3.3 pounds when he died, less than one-fourth of the average weight for his age.

Mothers suffering from malnutrition cannot produce breast milk for their babies, and the Israeli blockade is blocking the delivery of baby formula. Over the weekend, a baby girl named Janan Saleh al-Sakafi also died of starvation, and pictures from Gaza show more and more emaciated infants.

UN agencies and other aid groups have said they have thousands of trucks carrying humanitarian aid ready to enter Gaza, but Israel has continued to maintain the total blockade for over two months. The Trump administration is backing the collective punishment of the civilian population and has shown no sign of putting any real pressure on Israel to end the blockade.

Palestinian civilians suffering under the blockade also have had no relief from the violence as Israeli strikes continue to pound targets across the Strip. One attack on Monday hit a car in central Gaza’s Nuseirat refugee camp, killing at least eight people.

Gaza’s Health Ministry said in its daily update that since Israel resumed its genocidal war on March 18, at least 2,459 Palestinians have been killed, and 6,569 were injured. The numbers account for dead and wounded Palestinians brought to hospitals and morgues.

Since October 7, 2023, the ministry’s death toll has reached 52,567, and the number of wounded has climbed to 118,610, figures that don’t account for thousands missing and presumed dead under the rubble or indirect deaths caused by the Israeli siege.

There’s an under-reported Israel angle to the corporate effort to muzzle ’60 Minutes’

Billionaire heiress Shari Redstone has regularly tried to interfere with news coverage of Israel's war on Gaza on one of America’s leading TV networks.

By James North  May 3, 2025 

https://mondoweiss.net/2025/05/theres-an-under-reported-israel-angle-to-the-corporate-effort-to-muzzle-60-minutes/

The corporate efforts to muzzle “60 Minutes,” the prestigious American television news program, have been publicly exposed by courageous members of its own staff. But mainstream U.S. media reports have underplayed one significant factor: the intense pro-Israel views of Shari Redstone, the billionaire heiress who is the controlling shareholder of Paramount, the CBS TV network’s parent company. Her views have mostly gone unreported, even though she is one of the most powerful media moguls in America, and someone who has already sharply criticized her own network’s coverage of Israel’s war on Gaza.

Here’s what’s happened: on April 22, the executive director of ’60 Minutes,’ Bill Owens, resigned, charging interference. Then, at the end of the program’s normal Sunday evening broadcast, one of its on-air reporters, Scott Pelley, dared to stand up for Owens. As the New York Times said, “. . . Mr. Pelley presented Mr. Owens’s decision to resign as an effort to protect ’60 Minutes’ from further interference.”

Pelley pointed out rightly that the parent company, Paramount, has a big merger pending, and that “The Trump administration must approve it.” So far, the majority of the mainstream coverage is emphasizing the merger angle; the (strong) suggestion is that Paramount is trying to tone down criticism of Trump so Shari Redstone can get the necessary Federal Communications Commission blessing to sell it to another billionaire. 

Reporting the merger angle about the proposed sale is certainly not wrong. But it downplays another significant factor. Redstone is passionately pro-Israel, and there is evidence that she has regularly interfered in her network’s coverage. Back in January, she apparently complained to CBS executives about a ’60 Minutes’ segment on Israel and Gaza. In response, CBS appointed a special watchdog to pre-review program reports — an unusual, possibly unprecedented step that smells like additional pressure.

Redstone’s pro-Israel passions are no secret. To pick just one example, you could turn to a New York Post report last October, which cited her anger with a couple of other CBS news programs, including “Face the Nation,” the network’s Sunday morning show. The Post said: “She was particularly upset with a ‘Face the Nation’ broadcast last spring in which the show was critical of Israel after seven aid workers were killed during a strike in Gaza. . .”

This raises some important questions:

• CBS News, although no longer the distinguished exemplar that it was in the days of Walter Cronkite and Dan Rather, is still a powerful presence on the America media landscape. ’60 Minutes’ is the most highly-rated news program on television, has 8.5 million viewers, and will celebrate its 57th anniversary later this year. (By contrast, 2-3 million regularly watch Fox News programming.)

• Shari Redstone is still the dominant shareholder in the parent company, (at least until she does get permission to sell it).

• Redstone is strongly and publicly pro-Israel, and has tried to shape the network’s coverage. Put yourself in the position of, say, the producers of the CBS Evening News. Are we supposed to believe that they are going to ignore her as they plan their daily programming? 

So the question remains: Why aren’t Shari Redstone’s views — and her efforts to influence CBS’s news coverage — known more widely? 

More Exciting News from the White House

Donald Trump has appointed a Jewish community liaison officer

Philip Giraldi • May 2, 2025

https://www.unz.com/pgiraldi/more-exciting-news-from-the-white-house/

I know that those who read my articles will be interested to learn that President Donald Trump has appointed Martin Marks to be his administration’s liaison to the American Jewish community with the title Special Assistant to the President and Director of Jewish Engagement in the White House Faith Office. Marks, whose mother handbag designer Lana Marks served as US ambassador to South Africa in Trump’s first term, appears to be well qualified for the position as “Before turning to politics, [he] was a writer and owned a yoga studio in Palm Beach.”

To be perfectly honest I was a bit confused by the appointment as the US government already has an Office of the Special Envoy for Monitoring and Combating Antisemitism and a Office of the Special Envoy for Holocaust Issues actively promoting the Jewish/Israeli line at the State Department and even worldwide. And one might observe Trump’s entire cabinet is unrelentingly Zionist in its inclinations while Congress is discussing the so-called Antisemitism Accountability Act which will turn any criticism of Israel into a crime even more so than it is regarded as such right now, ask any one of the college students who are being deported! How much “liaison” protecting the most wealthy and educated 3% of the population against the curse of perceived perpetual Jewish victimhood is still warranted? And how will such “liaison” differ from the orders delivered directly from Benjamin Netanyahu, the “Chosen” leader, of the Jewish state of Israel to provide Trump and the rest of the US government with their marching orders, just as was the case with Genocide Joe Biden and his merry band of largely Jewish/Zionist cabinet members?

Professor Jeffrey Sachs of Columbia University has described the current Donald Trump regime as an “Israel First Administration” packed with Zionists at all levels. The State Department Press Secretary Tammy Bruce has declared that “Anyone who tries to touch Israel will wind up in hell.” But there are some who are still brave enough to go against the tide. The Institute for Historical Review, which is one of the few online publishers and free speech associations that still survive in the good old USA, has been confronting the Israel Lobby for forty-seven years. In an email that appeared last week they discuss another new Jewish appointment and laid out the problem in plain English that even Donald Trump might understand:

“Power, Priorities, and Puppeteers: Who Really Governs America?”: The nomination of Yehuda Kaploun — a Chabad-Lubavitch rabbi, Trump loyalist, and confidant of Republican megadonor Miriam Adelson — as US Special Envoy to Combat Antisemitism underscores an uncomfortable reality: Zionist interests wield disproportionate influence over American politics, even as the nation fractures under economic despair. Kaploun’s appointment, framed as a defense against antisemitism, instead reveals a political dynamic that prioritizes the interests of world Jewry over the needs of ordinary Americans. Consider the timing. Household debt has soared to $18.04 trillion, credit card delinquencies hit 14-year highs, and inflation continues to erode wages. Yet policymakers focus on policing campus activism, cracking down criticism of Israel, while ignoring the collapse of social mobility. Kaploun’s own rhetoric comparing US universities to “1930s Germany” diverts attention from the rising cost of living and the United States’ fraying social fabric. Meanwhile, pro-Israel groups like AIPAC have funneled $100+ million into elections, ensuring bipartisan fealty to policies that prioritize Israeli interests at the expense of America. This is not governance. It’s an occupation by foreign interests.”

The IHR point is well made and applies to Biden, Trump and Congress as well as to the 38 states that require citizens to sign documents or swear oaths pledging themselves not to support any boycotts of Israel if they wish to receive benefits or jobs. To even suggest that Israel and American Jews are some kind of victims who must be protected at a time when they are actively engaged in genocide and complete ethnic cleansing of literally millions of Palestinians.

My principal complaint with the government Jewish agenda is that it creates two classes of people before the rule of law, i.e. those who are Jews and must be protected and the rest of us who, on the contrary, will face the consequences if we so much as criticize Israeli or Jewish behavior. Ironically, we can criticize our own country or any other country in the world, but not Israel. If we are a legal resident or a student on an educational visa who crosses the line we can have that status erased and be deported without any due process. It also means that any encounters with law enforcement or government that has any taint of being critical of Jews can lead to two level justice, as many foreign students in the US are currently discovering.

A story last week out of Crown Heights Brooklyn illustrates precisely what I mean. Israel’s monstrous Security Chief Itamar Ben-Gvir, who believes in killing all Palestinians if it becomes necessary to remove them, was in town being cheered on by a large crowd of the indigenous Ultra Orthodox Jews. A local resident, a woman in her thirties, wondered what all of the noise was about and went out to take a look. She was immediately set upon by a large crowd of roughly one hundred, which screamed at her that she was a “Palestinian demonstrator,” which was not true. She “feared for her life as she was chased, kicked, spit at and pelted with objects by [the] mob of Orthodox Jewish men. She recalled how ‘They were shouting at me, threatening to rape me, chanting death to Arabs. I thought the police would protect me from the mob, but they did nothing to intervene.’ As the chants grew in intensity, a lone police officer who had joined her sought to escort her to safety back towards her apartment. They were followed for blocks by hundreds of men and boys jeering in Hebrew and English. Video shows two of the men kicking her in the back, another hurling a traffic cone into her head and a fourth pushing a trash can into her. She was beaten and kicked and even had a large garbage can thrown on top of her.” The woman later recalled how “I felt sheer terror. I realized at that point that I couldn’t lead this mob of men to my home. I had nowhere to go. I didn’t know what to do. I was just terrified.” After several blocks, the officer moved the woman into a police vehicle which prompting one assailant to yell, “Get her!” but the crowd erupted then in cheers as she was driven away. Interestingly, there were many police officers in the immediate area, presumably to protect all the rioting Jews from attacks by antisemites, but they had not intervened while the woman was being pursued apart from the one officer who came to her assistance.

The entire episode was filmed by bystanders and one would think that the Jews who had beaten the woman would face some consequences, but as is always the case when it is Jews/Israelis who are committing crimes there is the presumption of antisemitism at play and nothing happens. I could find nothing in the subsequent press coverage that suggests that anyone was arrested or even detained. I have previously suggested that this has also been the pattern connected to the past year’s demonstrations over the slaughter in Gaza. The universities and local police are quick to detain those normally peaceful demonstrators regarded as pro-Palestinians but when those individuals are in turn physically attacked by Jewish organized groups the Jews are not subjected to the same standard of law enforcement. To put it mildly, there is absolutely no mandate to protect Palestinians or ordinary Americans who become victims in the violent counterattacks on peace encampments staged by local Jews and, reportedly, including some Israeli army veterans in incidents at both Columbia University and the University of California at Los Angeles. Have any violent Israelis been arrested or deported? No? Apparently, the US “justice system” is focused on serving Israel at the expense of the US Constitution’s protection of free speech and free association.

The “Jewish Exemption” that is in practice at all levels of US and local government is readily discernible nearly everywhere to include the media coverage of Israeli atrocities. Israel, has, for example, its own completely illegal nuclear arsenal obtained through theft and deception from the United States, but nobody in the US government is allowed to mention that and it rarely comes up in the press. And no one is permitted to enforce American laws if they impact on Israel, like the Leahy Law which forbids military assistance to any country that violates human rights “with impunity.” Israel clearly is qualified to be sanctioned by that standard, but no US Administration has dared to enforce the law for fear that the powerful Israel Lobby will retaliate.

My point is that every time one turns around currently the government is doing something to exempt Jews or Israel from the consequences of their own behavior while at the same time the folks who criticize that behavior are being punished with denial of free speech and crippling penalties that will in some cases diminish their prospects for the rest of their lives. This has got to stop and all Americans must be treated the same under law. Jews are the most protected and coddled tribe that goes to make up what we Americans call a “country” but they are not the only ones here. It is time that the corrupted political class in this nation begin to realize that.

“Deprivation by Design”: Israel Intensifies Mass Killing Campaign in Gaza With Starvation and Daily Strikes

The scale of killing in Gaza is almost impossible to track as the Israeli military bombs and starves Palestinian civilians with impunity.

Rasha Abou jalal

 and 

Sharif Abdel Kouddous

Apr 30, 2025

https://www.dropsitenews.com/p/israel-intensifies-mass-killing-gaza-starvation

GAZA CITY—Three generations of the al-Khour family were wiped out when Israel bombed their family home in the al-Sabra neighborhood in central Gaza at dawn on April 26. The elderly patriarch of the family, Talal al-Khour, his wives, daughters, sons, and grandchildren were all killed in the attack. A total of twenty-two people—including twelve children—perished, their bodies blown apart and buried under the rubble.

"The airstrike occurred at dawn while we were asleep. Suddenly, we woke up to a blast that felt like an earthquake. We rushed into the street and found that the five-story home of the Al-Khour family had turned into a pile of rubble,” Mohammad Al-Ajla, a 37-year-old neighbor who helped retrieve the bodies, told Drop Site News. "As soon as the dust from the strike cleared, neighbors began trying to rescue members of the family. The recovery operation continued for eight straight hours. We saw bodies everywhere. There were children without heads."

With the help of residents in the area, Civil Defense teams were able to retrieve fifteen of the bodies, which were later buried together in a mass grave. The remaining bodies remain trapped under the debris. Emergency rescue crews were forced to dig through the wreckage with their bare hands as a result of Israel denying the entry of equipment into Gaza and deliberately targeting the little machinery available, according to the Civil Defense spokesperson, Mahmoud Bassal.

"We could hear the cries of the wounded trapped under the rubble, but we were helpless to reach them. Over time, the screaming faded, and we no longer knew whether they were still alive or had been killed,” Bassal told Drop Site. "Many lives could have been saved, but the ongoing blockade and the denial of essential tools eliminated every possible chance for rescue.”

Since Israel resumed its scorched earth bombing campaign on March 18, Gaza has been transformed into a desert of death, in which rubble and ruin form the backdrop for an unceasing campaign of mass killing. The Israeli military has carried out multiple airstrikes and shelling across the enclave on a daily basis, pounding homes, displacement camps, cafes, hospitals, charity kitchens, so-called “humanitarian zones,” and other civilian sites.

The scale of the attacks is almost impossible to track. On Wednesday alone, three residential buildings in the Nuseirat refugee camp were bombed; one of the strikes killed six members of one family, including three siblings, all children. In a nearby building, eight people in a single home were killed. In Jabaliya, at least three people from the same family, including two young girls, were killed in Israeli artillery fire. On the coast, west of Gaza City, a fisherman was killed while pulling his boat ashore. In western Khan Younis, an overnight drone strike on a tent killed six people, including children. This is not a comprehensive list and does not even cover a 24-hour period.

Over two days last week, the Israeli military also targeted and bombed over 30 bulldozers and other pieces of heavy machinery. Some of them had been donated during the “ceasefire” to clear rubble, repair critical infrastructure, and rescue people after airstrikes, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

The scenes emerging from across Gaza, from Rafah in the south to Beit Hanoun in the north, are staggering in their horror. Children blown apart across rooftops or while riding their bikes; dead bodies strewn across a cafe, some still seated, slumped in their chairs; corpses wrapped in white body bags lined up alongside one another; suicide drones crashing into tents housing sleeping families; screaming parents and wounded children scattered in the streets.

“The massacres do not stop. We are being slaughtered from vein to vein,” Al Jazeera correspondent Anas al-Sharif said in a social media post.

At least 2,300 Palestinians have been killed over the past six weeks alone—the equivalent of over fifty people killed every day. Over 740 of the dead are children, the Director of the Information Unit at the Ministry of Health in Gaza, Zaher Al-Wahidi, told Drop Site. Since the start of the war, more than 2,180 families have been entirely annihilated—with all members killed—while more than 5,070 families have lost all members except for one surviving individual, according to the Government Media Office.

The relentless assault comes as Israel has imposed a policy of forced starvation on Gaza’s two million residents, sealing off Gaza completely and denying the entry of all food, fuel, medicine and other humanitarian goods since March 2—by far the longest blockade since the beginning of the war. More than 65,000 children in Gaza have been hospitalized with severe malnutrition, according to a statement this week by the Government Media Office.

Israel has made it clear that the intensifying military assault and the ongoing blockade are explicitly aimed at bringing Hamas to its knees. Negotiations for a ceasefire appear deadlocked with Israel scrapping crucial elements of the original three-phase deal signed by Hamas and Israel in January, and now pushing for Hamas to formally surrender, disarm, and exile its leadership as a condition to end the genocide.

Israel’s defense minister has reiterated that the denial of food, medicine, and other aid is being used to collectively punish the Palestinians of Gaza. "No humanitarian aid is about to enter Gaza,” Israel Katz said, announcing that “preventing humanitarian aid from entering Gaza is one of the main pressure levers."

Using starvation as a weapon of war has had a devastating effect. Last week, the UN warned that Gaza “is now likely facing the worst humanitarian crisis in the 18 months since the escalation of hostilities in October 2023.”

The World Food Program recently announced that it had run out of food. “The situation is at a breaking point,” the organization said in a statement. Food prices have risen by 1,400 percent. With no remaining supplies of flour or fuel, Gaza’s bakeries have stopped functioning and remaining stocks of food are being rapidly depleted. The flour that is available is often insect-infested. Families are increasingly resorting to mixing crushed macaroni with flour to make bread and allocating just one piece of bread per family member per day.

With shortages of cooking gas and firewood, families are forced to burn plastic and other waste to cook the little food they have. People are foraging for wild plants and eating sea turtles that have washed ashore in order to survive. The UN last week said it identified 3,700 children suffering from acute malnutrition in March—now up to 80% from the month before. A total of fifty-three children have died of malnutrition since the war began.

The heads of twelve major aid organizations issued a joint statement last week warning that “Famine is not just a risk, but likely rapidly unfolding in almost all parts of Gaza,” and characterizing the situation in Gaza “one of the worst humanitarian failures of our generation.”

The heads of twelve major aid organizations issued a joint statement last week warning that “Famine is not just a risk, but likely rapidly unfolding in almost all parts of Gaza,” and characterizing the situation in Gaza “one of the worst humanitarian failures of our generation.”

Over the past few weeks, the Israeli military has bombed the al-Ahli Hospital and the Al Durrah Paediatric Hospital, both in Gaza City; the Nasser hospital in Khan Younis and the Kuwaiti Field Hospital in Mawasi; and massacred fifteen emergency workers and first responders. The hospitals that are still standing are barely functioning, with severe shortages of medicine, equipment and doctors.

Meanwhile, the Israeli military continues to squeeze Palestinians onto smaller tracts of land within Gaza. About 70 percent of Gaza has been designated as “no-go” zones or placed under displacement orders. Over the past six weeks, roughly 420,000 Palestinians have been displaced yet again, with no safe place to go.

“This is deprivation by design,” the acting head of office for OCHA, Jonathan Whittall, said in a statement. “Land is being annexed from the north, from the east, from the south of the strip as forces advance…Gaza is being starved, it’s being bombed, it’s being strangled. This looks like the deliberate dismantling of Palestinian life.”

 

 Mike Waltz to exit Trump White House weeks after Signal chat fiasco

Cybele Mayes-Osterman and Joey Garrison, USA TODAY

Thu, May 1, 2025

https://www.yahoo.com/news/mike-waltz-exit-trump-administration-145812907.html

WASHINGTON − Mike Waltz, President Donald Trump's national security adviser, is set to leave his White House post amid continued fallout weeks after he invited a journalist into a chat between top national security officials discussing plans for Yemen airstrikes.

A source familiar with the situation on May 1 confirmed Waltz' exit, as well as deputy national security adviser Alex Wong. Their departures mark the first major staff shake-up since Trump's return to the White House in January.

Trump had publicly stood by Waltz after his national security adviser and other members of the chat vigorously denied sharing any classified war plans on the publicly available app Signal. The chat was revealed when Jeffrey Goldberg, the editor-in-chief of The Atlantic, published a March 24 story detailing how Waltz accidentally invited him into the communications.

Yet behind-the scenes, the embarrassing mishap ‒ which even Trump started referring to as "Signalgate" ‒ took a toll on the relationship between Trump and Waltz, a former Republican congressman from Florida.

A replacement for Waltz has not been named, but one possibility could be Steve Witkoff, Trump's special envoy to the Middle East, whose role has expanded to also include negotiations between Russia and Ukraine.

Waltz' departure, just 102 days into Trump's second term, marks the first high-ranking administration official to leave since the president's inauguration. Yet Waltz lasted longer than Michael Flynn, Trump's first national security adviser, who Trump in February 2017 fired 24 days into his first term.

The Waltz move comes after far-right activist Laura Loomer has exerted increasing influence in Trump's decision-making, including encouraging Trump to recently fire two senior officials on the National Security Council after a White House visit.

"Hopefully, the rest of the people who were set to be fired but were given promotions at the NSC under Waltz also depart," Loomer said in a post on X shortly after news broke about Waltz's exit.

Loomer, on a recent podcast hosted by reporter Tara Palmeri, recounted her recent Oval Office visit with Trump, saying she was prepared to show the president past footage from his 2016 campaign of Waltz criticizing him for remarks he made about U.S. service members.

"I was about to show this video of Michael Waltz, and then President Trump walked into the Oval Office," Loomer said, adding that she's kept in on her phone for "many years."

Just hours before news of his departure, Waltz appeared on Fox News, touting "leadership at its finest, led by our commander-in-chief" as he discussed new military technology investments.

With Waltz out, three original Trump picks for top posts who had been serving as Republican lawmakers in the U.S. House are now either gone or ‒ in the case of Matt Gaetz, Trump's initial nominee to lead the Justice Department, and Elise Stefanik, his onetime selection for U.S. ambassador to the United Nations ‒ never made it.

On the day of the initial Atlantic report revealing the Signal chat, Waltz said he took "full responsibility" for the "embarrassing" blunder. "We're going to get to the bottom of it," he told Laura Ingraham on Fox News.

Waltz mistakenly added Goldberg, a longtime national security journalist, to a chat on the encrypted messaging app Signal in mid-March that also included Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, and Vice President JD Vance, among other members of the Trump administration's top echelon.

Officials in the group discussed military plans to strike the Houthi militant movement in Yemen, and Hegseth sent a message detailing strike times by U.S. warplanes and drones – as Goldberg reported in the bombshell article.

Trump defended Waltz at the start of the controversy, saying it was a "mistake" and that "he's not getting fired." But fallout from the incident grew as lawmakers on the House and Senate intelligence committees grilled Trump's intelligence officials and following reports of an additional Signal chat created by Hegseth in which the Defense secretary shared sensitive military information with his wife and brother.

As Hegseth repeatedly denied accusations that he had shared any classified war plans, The Atlantic published screenshots of messages Hegseth sent in the chat that detailed the exact times of planned strikes and how they would be delivered.

Waltz was also defiant for weeks before news of his departure. "No locations. No sources & methods. NO WAR PLANS," he posted on X in March.

A former member of the Army’s Green Berets, Waltz served three terms representing the sixth congressional district in North Central Florida. He was replaced in Congress by Republican Randy Fine, who won a special election in March.

Waltz initially was elected to the House in 2018, replacing Ron DeSantis after his rise to Florida governor. An officer in the Army National Guard, Waltz had served in combat zones multiple times. He had been a defense policy director in the Pentagon before being tapped by Vice President Dick Cheney as a counterterrorism adviser during the George W. Bush administration.  Waltz retired from the Army Reserve last fall at the rank of colonel.

Dinah Pulver contributed to this report. 

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Mike Waltz to exit White House amid furor over Trump Signal chat