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Marjorie Taylor Greene says Gaza experiencing ‘genocide’ in Republican first

Marjorie Taylor Greene says Gaza experiencing ‘genocide’ in Republican first
Marjorie Taylor Greene was responding to comments by Rep. Randy Fine, a Jew and one of Israel’s strongest supporters in the US Congress. (File/AFP)
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Updated 30 July 2025

Marjorie Taylor Greene says Gaza experiencing ‘genocide’ in Republican first

Marjorie Taylor Greene says Gaza experiencing ‘genocide’ in Republican first
  • Lawmaker: ‘The genocide, humanitarian crisis and starvation happening in Gaza’ are ‘horrific’
  • Her comments follow Trump saying Palestinians in enclave suffering from ‘real starvation’

LONDON: Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene has described Israel’s war in Gaza as a “genocide,” becoming the first lawmaker from her party to do so.

It came in a social media post following comments by US President Donald Trump that contradicted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s claim that there is no starvation in Gaza.

Greene was responding to comments by Rep. Randy Fine, a Jew and one of Israel’s strongest supporters in the US Congress, The Independent reported.

Fine had said on X: “Release the hostages. Until then, starve away. (This is all a lie anyway. It amazes me that the media continues to regurgitate Muslim terror propaganda.)”

Greene responded: “I can only imagine how Florida’s sixth district feels now that their representative, that they were told to vote for, openly calls for starving innocent people and children.

“It’s the most truthful and easiest thing to say that Oct. 7 in Israel was horrific and all hostages must be returned, but so is the genocide, humanitarian crisis and starvation happening in Gaza.

“But a Jewish US representative calling for the continued starvation of innocent people and children is disgraceful.”

Her social media spat with Fine followed Trump’s contradiction of Netanyahu, who said on Sunday: “There is no policy of starvation in Gaza and there is no starvation in Gaza.”

Trump, while visiting the UK to meet Prime Minister Keir Starmer this week, said the Palestinian enclave is suffering from “real starvation.”

Palestinian children in Gaza “look very hungry,” he added, saying the US would work with other countries to provide assistance to the enclave.


Israel army says two soldiers killed in southern Gaza on Sunday

Israel army says two soldiers killed in southern Gaza on Sunday
Updated 19 October 2025

Israel army says two soldiers killed in southern Gaza on Sunday

Israel army says two soldiers killed in southern Gaza on Sunday
  • First Israeli fatalities since the ceasefire took effect on Oct. 10
  • Israeli military said Sunday it had resumed enforcing a ceasefire in Gaza

JERUSALEM: The Israeli military said two soldiers were killed in combat in southern Gaza on Sunday, as it carried out a series of strikes in the area, accusing Hamas of violating the ceasefire.
Major Yaniv Kula, 26, and Staff Sergeant Itay Yavetz, 21, “fell during combat in the southern Gaza Strip,” the military said, the first Israeli fatalities since the ceasefire took effect on October 10.
The Israeli military said Sunday it had resumed enforcing a ceasefire in Gaza.
“In accordance with the directive of the political echelon, and following a series of significant strikes in response to Hamas’ violations, the IDF has begun the renewed enforcement of the ceasefire,” the military said in a statement.
“The IDF will continue to uphold the ceasefire agreement and will respond firmly to any violation of it.”


Gaza civil defense says at least 45 killed in Israeli strikes Sunday

Gaza civil defense says at least 45 killed in Israeli strikes Sunday
Updated 19 October 2025

Gaza civil defense says at least 45 killed in Israeli strikes Sunday

Gaza civil defense says at least 45 killed in Israeli strikes Sunday
  • Fatalities were confirmed by Al-Aqsa Martyrs hospital and Al-Awda hospital
  • Israel and Hamas traded blame for violating a ceasefire

GAZA CITY: Gaza’s civil defense agency and hospitals said a series of Israeli air strikes across the territory killed at least 45 people on Sunday, updating an earlier toll of 33.
The Israeli military said it had struck dozens of Hamas targets across the Gaza Strip, as both Israel and Hamas accused each other of violating the nine-day-old ceasefire brokered by US President Donald Trump.
“At least 45 people were killed as a result of Israeli air strikes on various areas of the Gaza Strip,” Mahmud Bassal, spokesman for the civil defense agency, which operates as a rescue service under Hamas authority, told AFP.
Four hospitals in Gaza confirmed the death toll to AFP, saying they had received the dead and wounded.
Al-Awda Hospital in Nuseirat reported 24 dead and 73 wounded from multiple strikes in central Gaza.
Al-Aqsa Hospital said it received 12 dead from nearby bombings, while Nasser Hospital in Khan Yunis reported five dead, and Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City confirmed four fatalities.
Earlier, Bassal detailed several of the strikes.
He said six people were killed when an Israeli strike targeted a “group of civilians” in Zuwaida town in central Gaza.
Six other people, including children, were killed and 13 others injured in two separate strikes near Nuseirat in central Gaza, Bassal said.
A woman and two children were killed when a drone strike hit a tent housing displaced people near Asdaa City, north of Khan Yunis.
Two people, including a journalist, were killed and several others injured in an Israeli strike in the western part of Zuwaida town in central Gaza.
In another attack, two people were killed and several injured when an Israeli strike hit a tent in the Al-Ahli Club area in Nuseirat, central Gaza, Bassal said.
Two more people were killed in an Israeli air strike in eastern Jabalia, northern Gaza Strip, he added.
One individual was killed in a strike on an apartment in a building in western Gaza City, the civil defense agency said.
The others succumbed later on Sunday to injuries received in these strikes, Bassal said.
The Israeli military told AFP it was checking reports of casualties.
Later on Sunday, the Israeli military said it has resumed enforcing the ceasefire in Gaza.


Israeli forces blow up Palestinian apartment in Tubas

Israeli forces blow up Palestinian apartment in Tubas
Updated 19 October 2025

Israeli forces blow up Palestinian apartment in Tubas

Israeli forces blow up Palestinian apartment in Tubas
  • Parts of the main square in Tubas bulldozed, private properties damaged and several homes converted into Israeli military posts

LONDON: Israeli forces demolished a residential apartment in the northern occupied West Bank city of Tubas as troops on Sunday launched a large-scale raid for a second consecutive day.

Forces stormed an apartment building, forcibly removed its residents, and planted explosives before detonating them, resulting in an explosion that was heard across the city, according to the Wafa news agency.

Israeli forces bulldozed parts of the main square in Tubas, damaged private properties, and converted several homes into military posts after forcing residents to evacuate. Forces also blocked the southern entrance to Tubas with dirt mounds, detaining several Palestinians for field interrogations, Wafa added.

Tubas and the northern Jordan Valley have faced frequent Israeli military incursions recently, leading to home demolitions, raids, and detentions. Israel has maintained a military occupation of the West Bank since June 1967, which is considered illegal under international law.

Additionally, Israel has pursued a policy of expanding settlements in the territory, which observers view as a significant obstacle to resolving the conflict and establishing a Palestinian state.


Palestinian prisoner from Jenin refugee camp dies in Israeli detention

Palestinian prisoner from Jenin refugee camp dies in Israeli detention
Updated 19 October 2025

Palestinian prisoner from Jenin refugee camp dies in Israeli detention

Palestinian prisoner from Jenin refugee camp dies in Israeli detention
  • Israeli forces arrested Mahmoud Talal Abdullah, 49, on Feb. 1
  • His health deteriorated following arrest, eventually confirmed he had cancer, says prisoners’ rights group

LONDON: A Palestinian detainee died at Israel’s Assaf Harofeh Hospital on Sunday, the Commission of Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs, and the Palestinian Prisoner’s Society announced.

Israeli forces had arrested Mahmoud Talal Abdullah, 49, on Feb. 1 in the Jenin refugee camp, which has been the site of Israeli military operations since January.

The PPS said that Abdullah’s health had severely deteriorated following his arrest, and it was eventually confirmed that he had cancer. He was transferred from Megiddo Prison to Gilboa Prison and later to the Ramla Prison clinic.

Israeli authorities kept him in detention, despite confirming his advanced-stage cancer, and he died the day after being transferred to Assaf Harofeh Hospital, the PPS added.

Abdullah had spent two years in Israeli prisons during the Al-Aqsa Intifada, which lasted from 2000 to 2005.

The PPS said that Abdullah’s death added to the “series of crimes carried out by the Israeli occupation against Palestinian detainees as part of its ongoing genocidal war,” reported the Palestine News Agency.

His death raised to 79 the number of known prisoners and detainees who have died since the Israeli action in Gaza began in 2023.


Yemen’s Houthis detain 20 UN employees and confiscate equipment

Yemen’s Houthis detain 20 UN employees and confiscate equipment
Updated 19 October 2025

Yemen’s Houthis detain 20 UN employees and confiscate equipment

Yemen’s Houthis detain 20 UN employees and confiscate equipment
  • Those detained Sunday include five Yemenis and 15 international staff
  • The militants released another 11 UN staffers after questioning

CAIRO: Iranian-backed Houthi militants detained two dozen UN employees Sunday, a day after they raided another UN facility in the capital Sanaa, a UN official said.
Jean Alam, a spokesman for the UN resident coordinator for Yemen, told The Associated Press that the UN staffers were detained inside the facility in Sanaa’s southwestern neighborhood of Hada.
He said those detained Sunday include five Yemenis and 15 international staff. He said the militants released another 11 UN staffers after questioning.
He said the UN was contact with the Houthis and other parties to “to resolve this serious situation as swiftly as possible, end the detention of all personnel, and restore full control over its facilities in Sanaa.”
A second UN official, speaking spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the raid, said the militants confiscated all communications equipment from the facility, including phones, servers and computers.
The official said the detained employees belong to multiple UN agencies including the World Food Programme, UNICEF and the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
The Houthis have launched a long-running crackdown against the UN and other international organizations working in militant-held areas in Yemen including Sanaa, the coastal city of Hodeida and the militant stronghold in Sadaa province in northern Yemen.
Dozens of people, including over 50 UN staffers, have been detained so far. A World Food Programme worker died in detention earlier this year in Sadaa.
The militants have repeatedly alleged without evidence that the detained UN staffers and those working with other international groups and foreign embassies were spies. The UN fiercely denied the accusations.
The crackdown forced the UN to suspend its operations in Saada province in northern Yemen following the detention of eight staffers in January. The UN also relocated its top humanitarian coordinator in Yemen from Sanaa to the coastal city of Aden, which serves as seat for the internationally recognized government.