Main events on July 3rd
- At least 101 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli attacks across the Gaza Strip on Thursday, medical sources tell Al Jazeera, including dozens attacked while seeking desperately needed aid.
- The UN’s special rapporteur on human rights in the occupied Palestinian territory, Francesca Albanese, has called for countries to break trade ties with Israel over what she dubbed its “economy of genocide”.
- Pressure continues to build on the US- and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) after an Associated Press report found that American contractors fired on Palestinian aid seekers; the GHF has denied any wrongdoing.
- An Israeli drone attack on a vehicle very near Lebanon’s capital, Beirut, has killed at least one person and injured three others as the Israeli military continues to strike sites across the country despite a months-long truce with Hezbollah.
As debate over massive tax bill roils US politics, support for Israel’s war continues
For weeks, a contentious tax and spending package has been at the centre of US politics, prompting debate about what policies and ideas should receive priority when it comes to shaping economic policy. The bill, which Trump is expected to sign into law this afternoon, includes massive cuts to social programmes providing services such as healthcare.
But as that debate has unfolded, one area remains a subject of largely bipartisan consensus among US lawmakers: Continued arms transfers to Israel, despite widespread evidence of Israeli abuses in Gaza.
“Remember this as Trump prepares to cut billions from Medicaid and SNAP: He’s used over $12 billion of our taxes for weapons to Israel since taking office,” the IMEU Policy Project, a pro-Palestine advocacy organisation based in the US, said in a social media post. “He announced $510 million more for weapons to Israel just this week.”
Ceasefire hinges on US stance for ‘day-after’ in Gaza
Although it’s not clear if Israeli leaders want to end the war they launched on Gaza in the aftermath of the Hamas attack of October 7, 2023, the US has enough leverage to force a truce, says Khaled Elgindy, a visiting scholar at Georgetown University.
“It really depends… on what [the US government is] willing to accept in terms of a day-after scenario,” Elgindy told Steve Clemons, host of Al Jazeera’s The Bottom Line.
“If they go along with this idea of Hamas being completely eradicated – which, of course, is not achievable – then we’re talking about Netanyahu gets his ‘Forever War’ in Gaza, and then he wins,” he said.
