Apart from ground-penetrating munitions, US has also given Israel several other types of bombs and artillery shells.
The United States has given so-called ‘bunker buster’ bombs and an array of other munitions to Israel for its war on Gaza, according to a report by The Wall Street Journal.
Washington has transferred 100 BLU-109 bombs to Israel that are meant to penetrate hardened structures before exploding, the report said, citing unnamed US officials.
The bomb carries a warhead weighing more than 900 kilogrammes (19,80 pounds) and has previously been used by the US in conflicts including the war in Afghanistan.
It is not the only type of ammunition provided by the US to Israel for the war on the besieged enclave, which has so far killed more than 15,000 Palestinians, including at least 6,150 children. The October 7 Hamas attack on Israel that started the war killed 1,200 people.
Unlike the regular arms updates by the US about the war in Ukraine, the Pentagon has remained mostly silent on its level of weapons support for Israel amid international condemnation of Israeli military operations in Gaza.
The WSJ report said a surge of US arms to Israel since the start of the war has included 15,000 bombs and 57,000 155mm artillery shells that have primarily been carried on C-17 military cargo planes.
Washington has also sent more than 5,000 unguided Mk82 bombs, more than 5,400 Mk84 bombs, about 1,000 GBU-39 small-diameter bombs, and approximately 3,000 JDAMs, a guidance kit that turns unguided bombs into precision-guided munitions, it said.
This is on top of the billions of dollars Israel receives each year in US financial support for its military operations.
According to the WSJ, large bombs made by the US have been used in some of the deadliest Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip, including a strike that levelled an apartment block in the Jabalia refugee camp, killing more than 100 people. Israel said the attack was justified as it killed a Hamas leader.
Israel’s intense aerial bombing of Gaza restarted shortly after the end of a weeklong truce on Friday that saw dozens of captives held in Gaza exchanged for Palestinians held in Israeli prisons. Many dozens of Palestinians have already been killed less than 24 hours after the strikes resumed.
The Israeli army, which has repeatedly been telling Palestinians to evacuate northern Gaza amid its ground operations, said on Saturday that parts of southern Gaza are also a battle zone now. People on the ground and rights groups have repeatedly said there is no safe place in Gaza.
‘Questioning in Congress’
Al Jazeera’s Heidi Zhou-Castro said the report on the delivery of heavy-duty penetration bombs to Israel has raised new questions about continued US arms transfers to the country.
“These are major bombs that the US has used in the past in its wars in Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria, but mainly in open areas … Now Israel is using these bombs in a very different environment in Gaza, on a densely populated civilian population,” Zhou-Castro said.
“Many people are now questioning in Congress whether continuing to give these ‘bunker bombs’ is a good idea and also calling for more transparency,” she said.
The penetration bombs could theoretically be used to target the tunnels that Hamas uses to move around personnel and munitions. However, the tunnels are located under a densely populated urban area, which would mean using the bombs would lead to many more civilian casualties.
The US has fully backed the Israeli war efforts in the face of growing international pressure for a total ceasefire. Washington has repeatedly said it has asked Israel to try to limit civilian casualties, even as it lay siege to Gaza’s main hospitals.
Washington, DC – Inexplicable. That is how advocates are describing the actions of some Democratic officials who seem to be not only alienating but actively antagonising members of their own party over differing views on the war in Gaza.
Many prominent Democrats, including United States President Joe Biden, have voiced “unwavering” support for Israel’s military offensive in the Palestinian enclave. But that stance has fractured the Democratic base, with polls showing that a majority of Americans support a ceasefire.
That schism was prominently on display in November, when activists held a ceasefire protest outside the Democratic National Committee headquarters in Washington, DC. Democratic Congressman Brad Sherman responded by calling the demonstrators “pro-terrorist”.
“Apparently, these pro-#Hamas demonstrators want #Republicans to prevail in the next Congressional election,” he wrote in a social media post.
He also accused the activists of attempting to break into the building — an allegation refuted by the protest organisers and journalists who were at the scene. The protesters had sought to block an entrance to the headquarters where a reception was unfolding, and police responded by evacuating lawmakers and forcibly dispersing the activists.
But advocates say Sherman’s reaction was one of many instances where Democratic politicians have smeared their constituents over the Gaza war, signalling a disconnect with the party’s base.
‘Major political error’
Beth Miller, the political director at Jewish Voice for Peace Action, an advocacy group, called Democrats’ attacks on ceasefire activists “pathetic” and “shocking”.
“It’s also a major political error,” Miller told Al Jazeera.
She noted that public opinion polls show most Americans — and an overwhelming majority of Democrats — back an end to hostilities in Gaza.
A Reuters/Ipsos survey released last month indicated 68 percent of respondents believed Israel should call a ceasefire and negotiate an end to the war. That number rose to 77 percent among Democrats alone.
“For these members of Congress to not only dismiss it, but to actively attack those people, I think it means that they’re also not reading the political winds of how people will be voting and what they will be demanding in the coming cycle,” Miller said.
The rift between Democratic policy and public opinion has translated into dwindling approval ratings. In October, the Arab American Institute, a think tank, found Arab American support for Biden had dropped 42 percent, reaching an all-time low.
That downward trend was reflected in the wider public as well. A recent NBC poll showed that 70 percent of voters under 34 disapproved of President Joe Biden’s handling of the war.
Usamah Andrabi, communications director at Justice Democrats, a progressive group, said the Democratic Party is showing itself to be “out of step” with its base as well as the broader electorate.
“It is a baffling calculation to see the president and the White House side far closer with Benjamin Netanyahu’s far-right government in Israel than a majority of his own Democratic voters at home,” Andrabi told Al Jazeera.
Congressional leaders attend a pro-Israel rally in Washington, DC, on November 14 [File: Mark Schiefelbein/AP Photo]
Criticising calls for a ceasefire
From the outset of the war, several Democrats, including Biden, have drawn ire for appearing to vilify activists calling for a ceasefire.
Days after the conflict broke out, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre issued a strongly worded response to a question about legislators allegedly “equating the Hamas terror attack” with Israeli actions.
Jean-Pierre first asked for clarity about which Congress members had done so. When the reporter identified them as members who “called for a ceasefire”, she said their statements were “wrong”, “repugnant” and “disgraceful”.
It was unclear which statements she was referring to, but many activists understood her words to be a condemnation of the progressive lawmakers pushing for an end to the war.
Meanwhile, Democratic Senator John Fetterman earned the praise of the far-right publication Breitbart last month for waving an Israeli flag at ceasefire protesters on Capitol Hill.
Then came the large pro-Israel protest on November 14, during which top congressional Democrats held hands with their Republican counterparts, including House Speaker Mike Johnson. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer led chants of “I stand with Israel”. The crowd regularly called out, “No ceasefire!”
The Biden administration was represented by Deborah Lipstadt, the US envoy to combating anti-Semitism, who delivered a speech. The pro-Israel rally was also attended by far-right figures, including Christian Zionist pastor John Hagee, who has been accused of stoking both anti-Semitism and Islamophobia.
A day after the rally, two White House communications officials Andrew Bates and Herbie Ziskend shared approvingly a Fox News story titled, “Biden allies condemn far-left calls for ceasefire in Israel-Hamas war”.
In the article, Democratic lawmakers — including Fetterman and Congressman Ritchie Torres — praised Biden for his support for Israel and admonished those demanding an end to the war as “fringe”.
An anonymous Biden administration official quoted in the story criticised the mainstream media for not being critical enough of Rashida Tlaib, the only Palestinian American member of Congress.
The criticism of Palestinian rights supporters continued this week when Democratic Congressman Brad Schneider gave an interview to Fox News.
He called for revoking the tax-exempt status of groups that he claimed are diverting money “into terrorist organisations”, citing — without evidence — the advocacy organisation American Muslims for Palestine. He added that “groups like Students for Justice in Palestine and others should not be getting these tax benefits”.
‘Core voting bases’
Andrabi, from Justice Democrats, understands this kind of rhetoric as corrosive to the relationship Democratic politicians have with their supporters.
“What we are seeing is the Biden administration attempting to gaslight the American people into believing that their majority that supports a ceasefire is somehow radical and fringe when the only people who are radical and fringe is the coalition between Netanyahu’s far-right government and the Biden White House,” Andrabi said.
He dismissed arguments that the war will not shake Biden’s standing with voters as he seeks reelection in 2024.
Foreign policy is seldom a top priority for voters. But advocates say the scale of the violence in Gaza has made it a decisive issue for many constituents. Some United Nations experts have gone so far as to warn of “a grave risk of genocide“.
“I don’t think anybody will forget that a year from now. And what Democrats are doing is trying to will it into existence that this is not going to matter,” Andrabi explained. But, he added, “it matters so much to so many of their core voting bases”.
Delaware State Representative Madinah Wilson-Anton, who was part of a hunger strike outside the White House this week calling for a ceasefire, expressed bewilderment at the mainstream Democrats’ position.
“I’m trying to figure out what the rationale is,” she told Al Jazeera, voicing disappointment in Biden.
“People feel betrayed. People feel like they were led to believe he was this moral leader that was going to restore the soul of America.”
New York State Representative Zohran Mamdani said Americans are desperate for a government that represents them and their demands. He expressed surprise that calls for a ceasefire have been deemed controversial.
“I don’t know how this demand is characterised as something that is far-left. This is the most mainstream demand in America today on foreign policy,” he said.
Former gang member John Turscak charged with attempted murder and other charges following attack.
A prison inmate in the United States has been charged with attempted murder in the stabbing of Derek Chauvin, the former police officer convicted of murdering George Floyd.
Chauvin was attacked last month in the law library of the Federal Correctional Institution in Tucson, Arizona.
John Turscak, a former gang member serving a 30-year sentence, stabbed Chauvin 22 times and said he would have killed Chauvin if correctional officers had not responded so quickly, federal prosecutors said on Friday.
Turscak told FBI agents that he attacked Chauvin on Black Friday to invoke the Black Lives Matter movement, which drew attention to racism and police brutality in the wake of Floyd’s death.
Turscak told investigators he had thought about attacking Chauvin for about a month because of his status as a high-profile prisoner, although he later denied wanting to kill Chauvin, according to prosecutors.
The US District Attorney’s office in Tucson said it had charged Turscak with attempted murder, assault with intent to commit murder, assault resulting in serious bodily injury, and assault with a dangerous weapon.
The Minnesota Attorney General’s office said in a statement after Chauvin was stabbed that the former police officer was expected to survive the attack.
Chauvin, who was filmed kneeling on the Black man’s neck for more than nine minutes, was sentenced to 22 and a half years in prison after being found guilty of murder and manslaughter charges in April 2021.
In June 2022, Chauvin was sentenced to 21 years in prison for violating Floyd’s civil rights in a separate case.
Last month, the US Supreme Court declined to hear Chauvin’s appeal of his conviction for second-degree murder.
Chauvin’s lawyers had argued he was denied his right to a fair trial because of publicity before the trial and concerns that public safety could be threatened if he was acquitted.
The former justice served from 1981 until 2006, during a time of transition for the nation’s highest court.
Former US Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, a pivotal figure on the nation’s highest court during a period of transformation and the first woman appointed to that role, has died at the age of 93.
In a statement on Friday, the court said that O’Connor died in Phoenix, Arizona, from complications related to dementia and respiratory illness. She served on the Court from 1981 until 2006.
“A daughter of the American Southwest, Sandra Day O’Connor blazed a historic trail as our Nation’s first female Justice,” Chief Justice John Roberts said in the statement.
O’Connor was appointed by Republican former President Ronald Reagan in the early 1980s, as the United States began a shift to the right and conservative groups fought to transform the country’s judicial landscape in their favour.
US Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor holds up a copy of the US Constitution that she carried with her on September 17, 2005 [File: Matt York/AP Photo]
The former justice was known as a relatively moderate figure, focused on reaching consensus and frustrating critics from both left and right. Her middle-of-the-road approach often made her a key vote in close decisions.
Despite her personal conservatism, O’Connor helped reaffirm the 1973 decision Roe v Wade, which made abortion a constitutional right in the United States.
“Some of us as individuals find abortion offensive to our most basic principles of morality, but that can’t control our decision,” O’Connor said in court, reading a summary of the decision in Planned Parenthood v Casey. “Our obligation is to define the liberty of all, not to mandate our own moral code.”
She was also part of a majority that handed the contested 2000 election to former President George W Bush, in a controversial decision that halted a recount effort that could have reversed Bush’s victory in the key state of Florida.
US President George W Bush greets retired Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor after presenting her with a medal during a ceremony in the East Room of the White House in Washington DC on February 10, 2008 [File: Yuri Gripas/Reuters]
O’Connor retired in 2006 during Bush’s second term and was replaced with the more rigidly conservative Samuel Alito as the already conservative court continued a shift to the right.
When the Supreme Court, with a 6-3 conservative majority forged after decades of organising by the conservative judicial movement, overturned Roe v Wade in June 2022, Alito authored the majority opinion.
Tech giant says it has dismantled five China-based networks of fake accounts so far this year.
Meta has removed nearly 4,800 fake accounts that were part of a China-based influence campaign aimed at spreading polarising content about United States politics ahead of the 2024 presidential election, the tech giant has announced.
The influence operation was one of two China-based campaigns detected by Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, in the third quarter of 2023, the tech said in its latest threat adversarial report released on Thursday.
“The people behind this activity posted in English about US politics and US-China relations. The same accounts would criticise both sides of the US political spectrum by using what appears to be copy-pasted partisan content from people on X,” Meta said.
Meta said the network of accounts drew from both liberal and conservative sources while resharing genuine posts by politicians and news outlets under fake identities.
“It’s unclear whether this approach was designed to amplify partisan tensions, build audiences among these politicians’ supporters, or to make the fake accounts sharing authentic content appear more genuine,” the tech firm said.
Meta said it had disrupted five influence campaigns based in China in total this year, more than from any other country. Meta did not attribute the network to the Chinese government or any other specific individual or group in China.
The tech giant said it had also shut down a network based in Russia in the third quarter that spread content about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and ran fictitious “media” brands.
Meta’s report comes amid concerns that tech platforms like Facebook and X could be used to sow divisions and discord in the lead-up to the 2024 presidential elections, during which a highly polarised electorate is likely to face a rerun of the 2020 contest between President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump.
The US Department of Homeland Security in September warned that foreign adversities were increasingly using new technologies such as artificial intelligence to “undermine trust in our government institutions, social cohesion, and democratic processes”.
US Senate and special counsel reports found that Russia used social media to sow division in the US as part of its efforts to interfere in the 2016 presidential election.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has told Israel that it must account for the safety of Palestinian civilians before resuming any military operations in Gaza, where a week-long truce has allowed the exchange of captives held by Hamas for Palestinians imprisoned in Israel.
As negotiators from Qatar and Egypt were in difficult talks on Thursday for a new two-day extension to the pause in fighting between Hamas and Israel, the United States’s top diplomat made his third trip to the region since the Israel-Palestinian war began on October 7.
Blinken said Washington remains committed to supporting Israel’s right to self-defence, but also stepped up calls for Israel to comply with international law and protect civilians if it starts major military operations in southern Gaza.
His message was in keeping with the administration of US President Joe Biden’s shifting rhetoric on the war, which began as a full-throated embrace of Israel’s response to the Hamas attacks but gradually tempered as the number of Palestinian civilian casualties began to rise dramatically.
More than 15,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since October 7, including more than 6,000 children. The death toll and scale of destruction have prompted widespread international criticism.
As Israel bombarded hospitals, schools and homes, the Gaza Ministry of Health said at least 7,000 people are still missing or feared buried under the rubble, and more than 36,000 Palestinians have been wounded, many with life-altering injuries. With 26 of Gaza’s 35 hospitals out of service, their chances of getting treatment are slim.
According to Ibrahim Abusharif of Northwestern University in Qatar, Blinken’s continued trips to Israel and meetings with Israeli leaders “doesn’t seem like it’s moving the needle in any direction”.
Palestinians shop in an open-air market among the ruins of houses and buildings destroyed in Israeli strikes, amid a temporary truce between Hamas and Israel, in Nuseirat refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip, November 30, 2023 [Ibraheem Abu Mustafa/Reuters]
“What set the tone was the early rhetoric from the Biden administration that gave unconditional support for what turned out to be a genocidal war,” he told Al Jazeera. “Blinken can try to soften his rhetoric and apply pressure, but in the end, it won’t bring back the dead in Gaza.”
During a meeting in Jerusalem, Blinken assured Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that he could count on US support.
But, he said that such support requires Israel’s “compliance with international humanitarian law,” and “urged Israel to take every possible measure to avoid civilian harm,” the US Department of State said.
To prevent a further significant increase in civilian casualties, Blinken “stressed the imperative of accounting for humanitarian and civilian protection needs in southern Gaza before any military operations there,” the department said.
Later on Thursday, US National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said Washington supports the resumption of fighting in Gaza after the end of the truce, which Netanyahu has affirmed would happen.
“We continue to believe that Israel has the right and responsibility to go after Hamas … and as they make that decision, they’ll continue to find support from the United States,” Kirby told reporters.
Settler violence
Blinken also “urged immediate steps to hold settler extremists accountable for violence against Palestinians in the West Bank” and said the US places great importance on the resumption of a peace process that would eventually lead to the creation of a Palestinian state.
Israeli officials have pledged to the US on multiple occasions that Israeli settler violence will be punished, but Netanyahu’s office released a statement about the meeting with Blinken that contained no mention of either settler violence or a two-state solution.
Netanyahu said he told Blinken, “We will continue this war until we achieve the three goals – to release all our abductees, to eliminate Hamas completely and to ensure that Gaza will never again face such a threat.”
Blinken also met Israel’s war cabinet in Jerusalem before travelling to the occupied West Bank for talks with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and then back to Tel Aviv where he held talks with Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant and opposition leader Yair Lapid.
Humanitarian aid, Palestinian state
In his meeting with Abbas, Blinken focused on efforts to increase the delivery of humanitarian aid to Gaza and condemned Jewish settler attacks against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank.
Blinken told Abbas “he would continue to insist on full accountability for those responsible,” and that Washington “remains committed to advancing tangible steps for a Palestinian state,” the State Department said.
Abbas presented Blinken with “a comprehensive file documenting Israeli occupation crime in Gaza, and the West Bank, including Jerusalem”, Palestinian state news agency Wafa reported.
I spoke with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah about the conflict in Gaza and measures to improve security and freedom for Palestinians in the West Bank. I reiterated the U.S. commitment to advancing the establishment of a Palestinian state. pic.twitter.com/8WYzlqEYPj
Israeli army raids have taken place on a daily basis across the West Bank since the war began. The total number of people arrested since October 7 is now more than 3,325, according to the Palestinian Prisoner’s Society (PPS).
At least 248 Palestinians, including more than 50 children, have been killed in the occupied West Bank since October 7. More than 2,750 have been injured.
Abbas also raised the topic of the forced displacement of Palestinians in Gaza and the occupied West Bank, particularly in light of increased attackers from settlers.
The top US diplomat will close out his latest Middle East tour in the United Arab Emirates on Friday, where he will discuss the Gaza situation with Arab leaders gathered in Dubai for the COP28 United Nations climate change conference.
Another truce extension?
Blinken’s meetings came as Israel and Hamas agreed at the last minute to a third extension of a truce under which Israel has paused most military activity in return for the release of captives held by Hamas.
Qatar, which has been mediating between the two sides, said the agreement was being extended under the same terms as in the past, under which Hamas has released 10 Israeli captives per day in exchange for 30 Palestinian prisoners.
Late on Thursday, the Israeli military said two released captives have been handed over to its soldiers by the Red Cross and the Palestinian Prisoners’ Club released a list containing the names of 30 Palestinian prisoners – eight women and 22 children – who are expected to be released later in the day.
But as the number of civilians held in Gaza dwindles, Daniel Levy, a former Israeli negotiator, said the current iteration of the truce deal will have to be renegotiated.
“Can one do that in time to extend this cessation without getting back to the intention of the Israeli political and military leadership, which is to resume its all-out assault on Gaza? They are being clear that that’s where they want to go,” Levy told Al Jazeera.
“The Americans are apparently saying, ‘Hey, we’re with you on you continuing your military mission, but can you do it differently’ – that sounds like a disingenuous position to me. Why would anyone have faith that Israel will do this differently.”
X Owner Elon Musk had a crude message for companies pulling advertising from the platform over his endorsement of an antisemitic post: “Go f— yourself.” Speaking at a New York Times Dealbook event, he said the companies were trying to blackmail him and denied that a trip to Israel was an “apology tour.”
Channel president says change aims to put network in ‘better position’ for the 2024 US elections, The Hill reports.
Washington, DC – MSNBC has cancelled Mehdi Hasan’s weekend TV programme, sparking anger from many Palestinian rights supporters who consider the progressive host a rare critic of Israeli policies on United States cable news.
The decision, first reported by the news website Semafor on Thursday, came amid what advocates describe as a crackdown on criticism against Israel in the media, at universities and in the arts. The country is currently conducting a military offensive in Gaza that has killed more than 15,000 Palestinians, prompting human rights concerns.
Left-wing Congressman Ro Khanna said cancelling the show during the conflict is “bad optics” for the network.
“As a strong supporter of free speech, MSNBC owes the public an explanation for this decision,” Khanna wrote in a social media post. “Why would they choose to do this now?”
Semafor reported that Hasan’s show will be replaced by extending news anchor Ayman Mohyeldin’s self-titled programme to two hours. Mohyeldin, who is Arab American, is also a critic of the Israeli government.
Hasan will be retained by the network as an on-screen analyst, US media outlets indicated.
In a note to staff quoted by the publication The Hill, MSNBC President Rashida Jones said the reshuffle aims to “better position” the network as it heads into the 2024 US elections. MSNBC did not immediately respond to Al Jazeera’s request for comment.
Palestinian American human rights lawyer Noura Erakat called the programme “more needed than ever”.
“He should be amplified, not shut down,” Erakat wrote in a post on X, formerly Twitter.
MSNBC cancels Mehdi Hasan’s show@msnbc make this make sense. @mehdirhasan’s program has felt like an oasis on air and more needed than ever. His program w Mark Regev was a whole class on journalistic method. He should be amplified,not shut down. https://t.co/r5Saq1ssdm#Gaza
A persistent interviewer known for confronting guests about false claims and past statements, Hasan previously worked as an Al Jazeera host. He also was a senior columnist at The Intercept, a news website.
This month on his programme, he deployed his trademark interviewing style to question Israeli government adviser Mark Regev about false claims promoted by Israeli officials. In one example, Hasan pointed to an instance in which a calendar in a Gaza hospital was presented as a list of Hamas operatives.
“We shouldn’t blindly believe anything Hamas says. But why should we believe what your government says, either?” Hasan asked.
After a lengthy back-and-forth, Regev acknowledged that Israel may have committed “mistakes” in putting out such information.
Author Sarah Kendzior pointed to that segment as she questioned MSNBC’s decision to nix Hasan’s show.
“They canceled Mehdi Hasan for interviews like this — evidence-based and willing to challenge power — and it is doubtful he will be the only journalist pushed out for daring to practice journalism,” she wrote in a social media post.
On Thursday, US journalist David Sirota noted that Hasan has reported critically on both Republicans and Democrats.
“Canceling him is another step in the deliberate homogenization of news content into pure red-vs-blue infotainment,” Sirota wrote on X.
There is a history of US journalists being penalised for their criticism of Israel. In 2018, CNN sacked Marc Lamont Hill as a contributor over a speech at a United Nations meeting in support of Palestinian rights. Hill now hosts the programme UpFront on Al Jazeera.
In 2021, The Associated Press news agency also fired a young reporter over social media posts in support of Palestinian rights.
The United States Department of Justice has announced charges against an Indian man accusing him of working for the Indian government to carry out the planned assassination of a Sikh separatist leader in New York.
The formal allegations on Wednesday, linking the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the attempted killing of US citizen Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, follow drips of leaks to newspapers referring to the case.
The suggestions from US officials that India might have been involved in an attempt at an extrajudicial killing on the soil of a friendly nation come six months after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau accused New Delhi of involvement in the assassination of another Sikh separatist leader, Hardeep Singh Nijjar, near Vancouver.
Here is all you need to know about the latest allegations.
What does the US indictment say?
The US Justice Department announced murder-for-hire and conspiracy charges against Indian national Nikhil Gupta, 52. Gupta is believed to be a resident of India.
Federal prosecutors describe Gupta as an associate of an Indian government agency employee identified only as “CC-1”. The employee, CC-1, has previously described himself as a senior field officer who works with security management and intelligence. CC-1, according to the indictment, previously worked with the Central Reserve Police Force, a leading Indian government paramilitary force.
The indictment alleges that CC-1 directed the murder plan from India and recruited Gupta around May 2023 to coordinate it.
CC-1 directed Gupta to contact a criminal associate to execute the murder. Gupta contacted someone he believed to be a criminal associate. But in reality, according to the Justice Department, the person Gupta hired was — unknown to him — a source working confidentially for US law enforcement. This source in turn connected him to a “hitman” who was actually an undercover law enforcement officer, working for the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).
Gupta agreed to pay the hitman $100,000 for the job, paying him an advance of $15,000 in cash in Manhattan around June 9.
Gupta was arrested and jailed by Czech authorities on June 30 and is awaiting extradition. If convicted, he can face a maximum sentence of 20 years. The federal district court will determine the sentence.
Justice Department Announces Charges in Connection with Foiled Plot to Assassinate U.S. Citizen in New York City
— National Security Division, U.S. Dept of Justice (@DOJNatSec) November 29, 2023
What has the Indian government said?
India’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Arindam Bagchi on Thursday said it was “contrary to government policy” to pursue extraterritorial assassinations.
On Wednesday, the Indian government said it would formally investigate the concerns and take necessary action on the findings of a panel set up on November 18. Bagchi did not elaborate on this investigation.
“We will continue to expect accountability from the government of India based on the results of their investigations,” said Adrienne Watson, spokesperson for the White House National Security Council.
Who is Pannun?
This indictment comes a week after reports first emerged that US authorities had thwarted a plot to kill a Sikh separatist leader in the US on November 22. This leader was identified as Gurpatwant Singh Pannun.
Pannun is an immigration lawyer and a dual citizen of the US and Canada. He is known for his social media advocacy through videos described as threatening towards Indian leaders or the government.
He has been charged with terrorism and conspiracy in India for being part of the movement that advocates for a separatist Sikh state. New Delhi listed him as an “individual terrorist” in 2020. In January 2021, during the farmers’ protest, India’s counterterrorism agency registered a case against him for inciting violence.
More recently, he released a threatening video warning people to stay away from Air India flights starting November 19. A plane from India’s national flag carrier was blown up midair by alleged Sikh separatists in 1985 while flying from Canada to India, killing more than 300 people.
On Wednesday, Pannun released a statement accusing Modi’s government of trying to kill him because he is organising a referendum among diaspora Sikhs on Khalistan, inviting the community worldwide to vote on whether Punjab should be independent. “If death is the cost for running the Khalistan Referendum, I am willing to pay that price,” he said.
“If Death Is The cost For Running the Khalistan Referendum, I Am Willing To Pay That Price”.
The assassination attempt on my life by India cannot deter me from organizing the voting for the independence referendum and I am moving forward with organizing the American Phase of… pic.twitter.com/5HjELsK53o
The Khalistan movement seeks to establish a separate Sikh state comprising Indian-held Punjab and other Punjabi-speaking regions in northern India. Khalistan is the name proposed for the state.
After gaining initial momentum in the 1970s, the movement died down in India after a brutal crackdown in the 1980s and 90s. However, the idea of a separate Sikh nation still enjoys some support among sections of Sikh diaspora communities, particularly in Canada, the US, the United Kingdom and Australia.
In recent months, prominent activists associated with the movement have died in Canada, the UK and Pakistan.
Is this connected to the Nijjar murder?
Sikh separatist leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar was shot outside a Sikh temple in Canada on June 18. He was also declared a terrorist by India three years ago.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau accused India of potential involvement in the killing of Nijjar, 45, sparking a diplomatic spat between Ottawa and New Delhi.
The indictment says that a day after Nijjar’s murder, Gupta told the undercover DEA agent that Nijjar was also a target, adding, “we have so many targets”.
Will the accusations affect India-US relations?
US President Joe Biden has already spoken to Modi about the allegations and top American diplomats and intelligence chiefs have discussed the case with their Indian counterparts.
The case in the US is expected to inject some tension into bilateral ties, but the fact that the Justice Department has not — so far at least — charged CC-1 or any other Indian government official will come as a relief to New Delhi.
The US views India as a vital bulwark in a coalition of democracies in the Indo-Pacific region that it hopes will allow it to challenge China’s rise.
Washington, DC – Advocates calling for a ceasefire in Gaza were often interrupted by their own tears as they gathered outside the White House and read the names of Palestinians killed in the war.
Several speakers, including Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib and actors Cynthia Nixon and Denee Benton, took turns reading from a long list of names on Wednesday evening. But they barely got through a fraction of the more than 15,000 Palestinians killed in Israeli attacks.
Activists warned that the list of the dead would only grow if the current truce is allowed to expire and a permanent ceasefire is not secured.
The vigil – attended by Tlaib and other progressive Congress members – was organised by activists, state lawmakers and artists, who are hunger striking in Washington, DC, in support of a ceasefire in Gaza.
Tlaib and her colleagues gathered to show support for the hunger strikers and warned that the war in Gaza must end, stressing that a temporary pause in fighting was not sufficient.
“How many more lives will be enough? How many more children need to be killed? How many more families have to be traumatised and torn apart? There is nothing humanitarian, my friends, about giving innocent civilians a few days of rest before they are bombed again,” Tlaib said.
She called on President Joe Biden to listen to people calling for a ceasefire, which is backed by most Americans and an overwhelming majority of Democrats, according to public opinion polls.
Congresswoman Cori Bush speaking at a vigil outside the White House in Washington, DC, on November 29, 2023 [Ali Harb/Al Jazeera]
‘Our movement is working’
Tlaib, who is the only Palestinian American member of Congress, hit out at the White House for calling lawmakers who demanded a ceasefire early in the war “repugnant”.
“The bombing of innocent civilians and children is repugnant and disgraceful. The refusal to support a ceasefire and an end to violence and the killing is repugnant and disgraceful. Our president calling on Congress to fund more bombs that are being dropped on innocent civilians is repugnant and disgraceful,” Tlaib said.
Biden is seeking more than $14bn in additional funding for Israel to support the war on Gaza, on top of the $3.8bn that Israel receives from the US annually.
Tlaib underscored that leading human rights groups and Pope Francis have called for a ceasefire, stressing that the demand is not controversial.
Congresswoman Cori Bush, who introduced a resolution in the House of Representatives last month demanding a ceasefire, echoed Tlaib’s remarks, highlighting that the campaign to demand a ceasefire is making progress.
“Our movement is working. They feel our energy in the White House. They hear our demands. They see us marching in the streets. They are watching the polls,” Bush said.
The congresswoman noted that when she first introduced a resolution on October 16, the measure had just 13 cosponsors. Now more than 40 lawmakers in the House and the Senate have called for a ceasefire in Gaza.
“It’s clear that our constituents and people all around the world want a ceasefire,” Bush said.
Biden sparked speculations on Tuesday with a social media post that could be interpreted as a call for Israel to wind down the war, suggesting that the violence would only boost support for Hamas.
“Hamas unleashed a terrorist attack because they fear nothing more than Israelis and Palestinians living side by side in peace,” Biden wrote.
“To continue down the path of terror, violence, killing, and war is to give Hamas what they seek.”
But White House national security spokesperson John Kirby was quick to reemphasise US support for Israel’s war effort later that day, suggesting that the country has a “responsibility” to eliminate Hamas.
The war
The war on Gaza began on October 7 after Hamas launched an attack on southern Israel that killed 1,200 Israelis and saw more than 200 people taken as captives.
The Palestinian group said the assault was in response to Israel’s illegal settlement expansion in the occupied West Bank, mistreatment of Palestinian prisoners and incursions at Al-Aqsa mosque.
Israel responded with a relentless bombing campaign that has turned into one of the deadliest conflicts for children in modern history. It also launched a ground invasion into parts of the besieged Gaza Strip and severely restricted the entry of food, water, fuel and medicine into the Palestinian territory.
The war has displaced more than one million Palestinians inside Gaza.
The nearly unprecedented scale of the violence has prompted United Nations experts to warn that Palestinians are at a “grave risk of genocide”.
The Biden administration voiced unwavering support for Israel early on, backing its objective of destroying Hamas. But after seven weeks of fighting in Gaza, Israel seems to remain far from achieving that goal.
Last week, an agreement, brokered by Qatar, the US and Egypt, was reached to temporarily halt the fighting to allow for the release of Israeli hostages held by Hamas in exchange for Palestinian prisoners and the ramping up of humanitarian aid into Gaza.
The truce was extended for two days, but it is set to expire early on Thursday.
Hunger strikers demanding a ceasefire in Gaza stand outside the White House on November 29, 2023 [Ali Harb/Al Jazeera]
Outside the White House on Wednesday, Congressman Jamaal Bowman said calling for a ceasefire was about reaching for our shared humanity.
“We’ve all read about genocides. We have all read about mass murders. I cannot believe I’m living through one. And I cannot believe I’m living through one, and the US government is condoning it, and being complicit. Shame,” he said.
For his part, Congressman Jonathan Jackson said “too many” innocent people are suffering in the war.
“We have seen too much bloodshed, and we stand here with a sense of moral outrage with our courage and our conviction,” Jackson said.
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