President Donald Trump is visiting a U.S. base installation in the Middle East to emphasize his rejection of America’s past interventionism in the region. During his four-day visit to Gulf states, he aims to shift away from previous approaches towards the Middle East.
Violence erupted in the West Bank and Gaza while President Trump was at the U.S. base, with a pregnant Israeli woman tragically killed. Meanwhile, Human Rights Watch expressed grave concerns over Israel’s intentions in Gaza, warning of potential mass displacement and severe consequences for the local population.
The President’s agenda includes addressing troops at Qatar’s al-Udeid Air Base, a pivotal location in past U.S. military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. This base also played a significant role in supporting recent U.S. air strikes against Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthis. Trump is looking to showcase countries like Saudi Arabia and Qatar as examples of successful economic development in a region marked by strife, while also seeking to engage Iran in negotiations regarding its nuclear program.
The President also meets business leaders in Qatar and heads to Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates.
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President Trump begins his third day in the Middle East
After a morning meeting with top U.S. and Qatari officials and American defense and aerospace business leaders, Trump heads to Al-Udeid Air Base, a U.S. installation at the center of American involvement in the Middle East. There, he will address troops and is expected to view a demonstration of American air capability.
The president then travels to the United Arab Emirates, the final leg of his first major foreign trip. He will head first to the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque and then to a state visit hosted at Abu Dhabi’s Qasr al-Watan palace.
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Human Rights Watch slams Israeli plans to expand Gaza war
The international rights group said that Israel’s plan to seize Gaza, remain in the territory and displace hundreds of thousands of people “inches closer to extermination.”
It called on the international community to speak out against the plan. It said that the new plans, coupled with the “systematic destruction” of civilian infrastructure and the block on all imports into Gaza, were cause for signatories to the Genocide Convention to act to prevent Israel’s moves. It said states should halt weapons transfers to Israel and enforce international arrest warrants against Israel’s prime minister and former defense minister, as well as review their bilateral agreements with the country.
Israel vehemently denies accusations that it is committing genocide in Gaza.
The group also called on Hamas to free the 58 hostages it still holds in Gaza, 23 of whom are believed to be alive.
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Pregnant Israeli woman killed in West Bank shooting attack, doctors rescue her baby
A pregnant Israeli woman has died after she was shot and critically wounded in a shooting attack in the occupied West Bank, a hospital said Thursday.
Beilinson Hospital said that doctors succeeded in saving her unborn baby, who was delivered by caesarean section.
The Israeli military said a Palestinian assailant opened fire on a vehicle late Wednesday, wounded two civilians. Soldiers launched a search for the attacker.
It’s the latest violence in the Palestinian territory, where the Israeli military has launched a major operation that it says is meant to crack down on militancy. The operation has displaced tens of thousands of people.
Hundreds of Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank in months of violence that surged there after the start of the war in Gaza.
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