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US House fails to pass bill that could target pro-Palestine groups
Legislators in the US House have voted down a bill that would have granted the Department of the Treasury broad authority to revoke the tax-exempt status of nonprofits deemed to be supporting “terrorism”.
The Stop Terror-Financing and Tax Penalties on American Hostages Act, or HR 9495, received 256 votes in favour and 145 against, falling short of the two-thirds majority required to pass.
The Republican-sponsored bill was introduced amid accusations that some Palestinian solidarity groups involved in widespread campus protests against Israel’s war on Gaza were “pro-Hamas”.
“Good news! HR 9495 – the ‘Nonprofit Killer Bill’ aimed at silencing Palestine activism – failed to pass in the House tonight,” the Council on American-Islamic Relations said in a social media post responding to the vote.
They'll try again next year...
US forces attack ‘Iran-aligned targets in Syria’
The US’s Central Command (CENTCOM) said it carried out attacks against an Iranian-backed group’s “weapons storage and logistics headquarters facility” following an attack on American personnel on Tuesday.
It did not identify the targeted militia, but said the attack on US forces did not cause injuries or damage.
Since Israel’s war on Gaza began, armed groups in Syria and Iraq have launched attacks on US forces in protest over Washington’s support for its ally. The attacks have prompted retaliatory US strikes.
On Monday, the US said it carried out attacks against nine targets associated with Iran-backed groups in Syria.
UK and US ‘abetting genocide’ in Gaza
Adel Abdel Ghafar, director of the Foreign Policy and Security programme at the Middle East Council on Global Affairs, says Israel’s failure to meet a deadline set by the US to allow more humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip “highlights the impotence of international institutions and the US”.
“The US continues to provide cover for Israel undertaking this current ethnic cleansing that’s happening in Gaza,” Ghafar told Al Jazeera. While some European countries have been able to act and have recognised Palestinian statehood such as Norway and Spain, the UK and US have fallen short, he said.
“It’s not massive pressure [from countries such as Norway and Spain], but it still adds further impetus on the Israelis on the global stage. In the case of the UK and US, they have been abetting this genocide that’s going on in Gaza,” Ghafar added.
Senior Israeli army officials say there is ‘procrastination’ over October 7 probe: Report
Senior Israeli army officials say there is “procrastination” in presenting investigations of the October 7 events to the chief of staff, despite many findings being submitted to lower levels of command, the Israel Hayom newspaper has reported.
The newspaper stated that the Israeli army justifies the delay by pointing to the tense operational situations in the north over the past few months. The probe began in March and was set to be presented in June.
