Attention to the Unseen

Of the $68 billion in military and related assistance Congress has approved since Russia invaded Ukraine, almost 90% is going to Americans. Including to Lima, Ohio, where workers produce Abrams tanks and Stryker combat vehicles. The state Sen. Vance represents. https://t.co/adF1PWnztH pic.twitter.com/zRVhCCMfMk — Kareem Rifai 🌐 (@KareemRifai) January 25, 2024 We simply have no idea where a lot of our money to Ukraine has gone. The corruption is out of control. One more reason to reject further aid. https://t.co/O4unov6opg —…

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Reuters reports: A U.S. Senate committee approved legislation on Wednesday that would help set the stage for the United States to confiscate Russian assets and hand them over to Ukraine for rebuilding after the destruction of the nearly two-year-long war. The Senate Foreign Relations Committee voted 20 to 1 in favor of the unprecedented “Rebuilding Economic Prosperity and Opportunity (REPO) for Ukrainians Act.” If it were to pass the full Senate and House of Representatives and be signed into law…

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i24News reports: As part of a day of action, Israeli demonstrators demanded an immediate deal to secure the release of hostages held in Gaza for over 100 days since the Hamas-led October 7 attack. Several streets and junctions across the country were blocked. At the same time, a demonstration was held at Israel’s Kerem Shalom crossing into Gaza. Families of hostages, fallen soldiers, reservists, victims of October 7 and the evacuated citizens themselves in protest prevented aid trucks from entering…

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The Daily Beast reports: Israeli war cabinet minister Gadi Eisenkot took direct aim at Benjamin Netanyahu in a televised interview late Thursday in which he accused the prime minister of not being honest about Israel’s wartime objectives in Gaza. Speaking with Israel’s Channel 12, Eisenkot addressed Netanyahu’s recent press conference, in which the prime minister publicly dismissed the U.S. push for a Palestinian state after the war is over—and reiterated his intentions to keep the war going until Israel achieves…

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The Associated Press reports: Turkish legislators on Tuesday endorsed Sweden’s membership in NATO, lifting a major hurdle on the previously nonaligned country’s entry into the military alliance. The legislators ratified Sweden’s accession protocol by 287 votes to 55, with four abstentions. The ratification will come into effect after its publication in the Official Gazette, which is expected to be swift. Hungary then becomes the only NATO ally not to have ratified Sweden’s accession. NATO-member Turkey had been delaying Sweden’s membership…

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Politico reports: The U.S. and U.K. conducted large-scale air and missile strikes on Houthi rebel facilities across Yemen on Monday, according to a joint statement, stepping up operations against the militant group as it vows to continue attacking ships in the Red Sea. The U.S. and U.K. militaries, with support from Australia, Bahrain, Canada and the Netherlands, hit eight Houthi targets in Yemen in response to the Houthis’ continued attacks, according to a joint statement from the countries involved. The…

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CNN reports: Israel has proposed that Hamas senior leaders could leave Gaza as part of a broader ceasefire agreement, two officials familiar with the ongoing international discussions told CNN. The extraordinary proposal, which has not been previously reported, comes as Israel has struggled to achieve its stated goal of completely destroying Hamas. Despite its nearly four-month war in Gaza, Israel has failed to capture or kill any of Hamas’s most senior leaders in Gaza and left around 70% of Hamas’…

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NBC News reports: Tawfic Hafeth Abdel Jabbar was born and raised in Louisiana, in the city of Gretna, across the Mississippi River from New Orleans. It’s a long way from the mountains of the occupied West Bank, but when Tawfic, 17, arrived in May, he was excited to properly explore the landscape of the village where his dad grew up, and to learn more about his roots as a Palestinian American. “He loved the outdoors,” his father, Hafeth Abdel Jabbar,…

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Politico reports: Ukrainian soldiers on the front lines are running out of ammunition and other weapons needed to fight the Russian invaders, a Pentagon official said Tuesday, now that U.S. funding to support the war has lapsed. Since December, Washington has been unable to send urgently needed military aid to Ukraine at the same levels as the previous two years, Celeste Wallander, the Pentagon’s top official overseeing international security affairs, told reporters. That’s because the Pentagon has used all of…

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Yuval Abraham reports: Naama Abiyat’s children are all she has left. I meet the 29-year-old mother of five inside a thinly-walled tent where she is living in the southern occupied West Bank; the tent is nearly empty, save for a blanket she received from passers-by and a few wooden logs. Her children interrupt our conversation from time to time, demanding her attention and letting her know that they are cold. Until two months ago, Abiyat had her own room, a…

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Reuters reports: Israel’s plan to destroy Islamist Palestinian group Hamas in Gaza is not working and the European Union must pursue efforts to create a “two-state solution” despite Israeli opposition, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said on Monday. Israeli Prime Minister had on Sunday reaffirmed a hard line against any Palestinian state as it would pose “an existential danger” to Israel. He said Israel would keep insisting on full security control over all territory west of the Jordan River,…

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The Daily Beast reports: Relatives of Israelis still being held hostage by Hamas in Gaza stormed into a committee session in the Israeli parliament on Monday to demand that lawmakers take immediate action to bring their loved ones home. Around 20 people rushed into the Knesset Finance Committee hearing in Jerusalem carrying signs and chanting “release them now, now, now!” Around 130 of the 253 people abducted and taken to Gaza during Hamas’ Oct. 7 attacks in Israel are feared…

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Daniel Levy writes: The first and most critical shift required is for the administration to embrace the need for a full cease-fire now. That demand cannot be one of rhetoric alone. The administration should condition the transfer of further military supplies on Israel ending the war and stopping the collective punishment of the Palestinian civilian population, and should create oversight mechanisms for the use of American weaponry that is already at Israel’s disposal. Ending Israel’s Gaza operation is also the…

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The Wall Street Journal reports: The U.S., Egypt and Qatar are pushing Israel and Hamas to join a phased diplomatic process that would start with a release of hostages and, eventually, lead to a withdrawal of Israeli forces and an end to the war in Gaza, diplomats involved in mediating the talks said. Neither side in the conflict has agreed to the terms of the new proposal—which includes steps at odds with the stated positions of Israel and Hamas. Taher…

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