WHO says southern Gaza hospitals are running out of fuel. Plus, Bernie Sanders reveals bill to tackle $220bn in US medical debt
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Good morning.
Joe Biden publicly warned Israel that the US would stop supplying it weapons if Israeli forces launch a major assault on Rafah – the last remaining city in Gaza that has not been razed in the Israeli offensive.
What pressure is the US applying on Israel? US diplomacy appears to have failed to stop a Rafah invasion, so Biden is now speaking publicly. In an analysis, the Guardian’s world affairs editor, Julian Borger, writes that the decision “sends a message to Netanyahu that the US dog is beginning to regain control of its tail”.
What is the humanitarian toll of the war? After Hamas killed about 1,200 people and took 200 hostage on 7 October, Israel’s onslaught on Gaza has killed almost 35,000 people – mostly civilians – and displaced about 80% of the 2.3 million population. Northern Gaza is experiencing “full-blown famine”, according to the UN World Food Programme.
Will this really make a difference? The IDF do not need new bombs to invade Rafah. They have more than enough stockpiles to reduce it to rubble. But US officials are talking of this as a hinge point in the US-Israel relationship, Julian Borger reports from DC.
What do prosecutors allege? That the money paid to Daniels was therefore an election expense and was deliberately entered wrongly in Trump’s business documents – with that act being the crime, rather than anything to do with the actual payment of hush money to cover up the alleged affair.
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