geneva_convenience

The books have detailed a president increasingly unfit for the task of taking on Donald Trump in the 2024 presidential election and his top aides in denial about it, or actively seeking to cover it up, even as the administration warned about the existential threat Trump posed to American democracy.

Journalists Jonathan Allen and Amie Parnes were first out of the gate with Fight: Inside the Wildest Battle for the White House. Revelations included how Biden aides planned for his withdrawal in 2023, then when his disastrous June 2024 debate against Donald Trump supercharged calls for him to quit, “aggressively” argued that he should not, given Harris would be a “disaster”.

Then Chris Whipple, author of a book about Biden’s 2020 win, released Uncharted: How Trump Beat Biden, Harris, and the Odds in the Wildest Campaign in History. Whipple’s book is slim, at just 204 double-spaced pages. But it hits hard. Ron Klain, a former White House chief of staff, describes debate preparations in which Biden seemed “out of it”, unable to “grasp … the back and forth”, and also says that after the debate disaster, Biden declined to do political work necessary to survive, preferring to enjoy the trappings of power.

Israeli forces have bombed al-Ahli Arab Hospital in Gaza City, the largest remaining functioning hospital in northern Gaza, destroying its emergency unit, main entrance and medical oxygen supplies.

Critically ill patients were left on the street after fleeing the attack in the early hours of Sunday morning, with one doctor reporting that at least three people, including a child who was on oxygen, died due to the rushed evacuation.

Authorities in Gaza have condemned the bombing, noting that al-Ahli Hospital was treating hundreds of patients when it was hit by at least two missiles. About 500 people were killed when Israel bombed the hospital in October 2023.

The US has demanded control of a crucial pipeline in Ukraine used to send Russian gas to Europe, according to reports, in a move described as a colonial shakedown.

US and Ukrainian officials met on Friday to discuss White House proposals for a minerals deal. Donald Trump wants Kyiv to hand over its natural resources as “payback” in return for weapons delivered by the previous Biden administration.

Talks have become increasingly acrimonious, Reuters said. The latest US draft is more “maximalist” than the original version from February, which proposed giving Washington $500bn worth of rare metals, as well as oil and gas.

Speaking to Middle East Eye, 20 eyewitnesses and relatives of victims confirmed that military raids are also still ongoing, often under the pretext of searching for looters or Assad loyalists. All witness accounts were given to MEE on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals.

Residents and local observers said the violence appears to be both random and systematic, carried out by armed factions with minimal interference from state authorities

In Sqoubin, a village in Latakia’s countryside, the son of a prominent Alawi cleric was gunned down while returning from work on 5 April. He was riding a motorcycle with two relatives when their path was reportedly blocked by armed men.

Middle East Eye has approached the Latakia governor's office for comment.

The following day, in al-Mawrid village near Baniyas, assailants launched an attack from a neighbouring village. A young man was shot, and a disabled child was beaten. Both remain in critical condition. Despite pleas for help, residents said General Security forces failed to intervene.

A Jewish former member of the UK's governing Labour party has won an appeal against its decision to expel him over alleged antisemitism, according to a recent report in Skwawkbox.

The man, who was not named in the report, was expelled in 2022 with no details given at the time other than the claim it was for antisemitism. He said that he would not be returning to the Labour party, because it "had long ceased to be my political home".

"[Keir] Starmer’s leadership brought betrayal after betrayal, disappointment on disappointment, so it was no loss to be free of it," he added. "While antisemitism was the nominal charge made against me my real offence was to criticise Israel and support for Israel, in its oppression of the Palestinians."

Donald Trump has authorized the military to take control of land at the US-Mexico border as part of the president’s broader efforts to crack down on undocumented immigration.

The authorization came late on Friday in a memorandum from Trump to interior secretary Doug Burgum, defense secretary Pete Hegseth, homeland security secretary Kristi Noem and agricultural secretary Brooke Rollins, outlining new policies concerning military involvement at the US’s southern border.

The memorandum, entitled “Military Mission for Sealing the Southern Border of the United States and Repelling Invasions”, allows the US’s armed forces to “take a more direct role” when it comes to securing the boundary in question.

Shoshana Strook, the daughter of the Israeli government’s far-right ‘Minister of Settlement and National Missions’ Orit Strook, has filed a formal complaint with Italian police accusing her parents and one of her brothers of sexually assaulting her for years.

In a social media statement, Shoshana Strook wrote of her alleged ordeal:

Hi, after a long period of doubts, extreme emotional states, and a lot of guilt, I wanted to share that I experienced sexual abuse by both of my parents and also by one of my brothers.

In addition, memories have surfaced in which I hit three of my younger brothers. I’m currently in Italy and recently filed a report with the police.

Many memories have been coming up lately, but it’s becoming too overwhelming. I hope to find a place where I can find some relief.

Orit Strook is a fanatical supporter of Israel’s illegal settlements on stolen Palestinian land and has pushed and amplified the extremist Netanyahu government’s narrative, including disproven claims of sexual violence on 7 October 2023, which the regime has used as justification for its genocide and other crimes in Gaza. She has also opposed attempts to agree a ceasefire.

After spending half of his life behind bars, Palestinian prisoner Ahmad Manasra has been released from detention, following nearly a decade of physical and psychological abuse and mistreatment in Israeli prisons.

Manasra was 13 when he was arrested for accompanying his cousin Hassan Manasra, who allegedly stabbed two Israeli settlers near the illegal settlement of Pisgat Ze’ev in occupied East Jerusalem.

Following his arrest, a video was leaked to Palestinian media showing Manasra being aggressively mistreated during his interrogation by Israeli officers.