US lawmaker highlights constituent who lost 48 relatives in Gaza war
Democratic Representative Bonnie Watson Coleman has urged the administration of US President Donald Trump to uphold its commitment to enforce the Gaza ceasefire after reporting that one of her constituents lost 48 family members in Israel’s assault.
“Despite the ‘ceasefire,’ innocent Palestinians continue to be killed,” Watson Coleman wrote on social media.
Sami Shaban, a school board member in New Jersey, has had 48 relatives killed in Israeli attacks during the two-year war, she said.
Most recently, his cousin Sufyan, his wife, and three children were killed on October 17 when Israeli tank fire struck their minibus, according to NorthJersey.com. The attack occurred a week after the ceasefire took effect.
Despite the "ceasefire," innocent Palestinians continue to be killed. Sami from Franklin Township has lost 48 members of his family.
The U.S. needs to uphold its commitment to enforce the ceasefire.https://t.co/FMH9x4H0wZ
— Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman (@RepBonnie) October 27, 2025
Ex-officer says US watered down report on Shireen Abu Akleh’s killing
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/27/world/middleeast/shooting-palestinian-american-journalist.html
A former United States colonel who worked on a team that compiled a report on the Israeli military’s killing of Al Jazeera journalist and US citizen Shireen Abu Akleh has accused the administration of former US President Joe Biden of softening its findings in favour of Israel.
The statements from Colonel Steve Gabavics in an interview with the New York Times represent the first time a military official involved in the report has spoken publicly.
The officer recounted being “flabbergasted” by a State Department statement that described Abu Akleh’s May 11, 2022, killing as “the result of tragic circumstances”.
At the time Abu Akleh was fatally shot in the Jenin refugee camp in the occupied West Bank, Gabavics had been working at the inter-agency Office of the United States Security Coordinator, which oversees cooperation between Israeli and Palestinian security forces.
Writers boycott New York Times opinion section over Gaza coverage
A coalition of more than 300 prominent figures – half of them previous contributors to the newspaper – is refusing to write for The New York Times’s opinion section until its demands on Palestine reporting are met.
The group of writers wants the NYT to examine bias against Palestinians in its journalism, withdraw the contested article “Screams Without Words“, and use its editorial influence to advocate for halting US weapons supplies to Israel.
High-profile names backing the campaign include novelists Sally Rooney, Isabella Hammad, Susan Abulhawa and Viet Thanh Nguyen.
“There is nothing appetizing or enlivening about the prospect of sitting across from the likes of Bret Stephens, Thomas Friedman, or David Leonhardt, politely debating the definition of genocide,” their statement said.
Check the full list of people participating here.
