🇮🇱🇵🇸 Latest updates on the Palestinian-Israeli conflict:

▪️Death toll in Gaza Strip from Israeli attacks up to 18,412 while number of injured exceeds 50,000, according to Gaza's Health Ministry;

▪️Gaza down to 11 functional hospitals, according to the WHO;

▪️The IDF has destroyed the headquarters of Hamas' elite Nukhba unit, where documents with plans for October 7 attack were located;

▪️Netanyahu said Israel received full US support for ground operation in Gaza Strip;

▪️Gaza conflict can go out of control at any moment, Iranian Foreign Minister said;

▪️WHO chief voices concern about prolonged security checks for medical staff in Gaza.

Subscribe to @SputnikInt

🇭🇺 Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said on Tuesday it was discriminatory that the European Union was delaying the accession of Western Balkan countries but fast-tracking Ukraine, despite the latter being less prepared.

"It would be irresponsible to start accession talks with Ukraine as the European Commission has not made adequate preparations. Neither the EU nor Ukraine is ready for a mutually beneficial and well-structured start of accession negotiations. The Western Balkan countries, on the other hand, have been waiting for many years and are quite prepared, so it is simply incomprehensible why some member states are blocking progress in their case," Szijjarto wrote on social media.

He added that the countries opposing the Western Balkan states' accession have been prevailing in the EU recently. However, Hungary is among the proponents of the EU's expansion and "deems unacceptable the discrimination of the Western Balkans."

Subscribe to @SputnikInt

Biden said at a meeting with Zelensky that he signed an executive order granting Ukraine a $200m aid package, but NYT notes that those money was already approved by Congress

Zelensky added at the White House that he wants to use "frozen Russian assets," which are more than $300 billion, for strengthening Ukraine, media reports

However, many US officials have noted that any action to use those assets would undermine the trust in Western financial institutions.

Subscribe to @SputnikInt

Ukraine becomes critically dependent on US aid, ‘has nothing with which to negotiate with Russia’

The cessation of US financial aid to the regime in Kiev, if it were to occur, would likely result in Ukraine’s swift collapse, says Professor Rodney Shakespeare, renowned political commentator and binary economist.

According to him, factions within the United States’ “political structure” apparently hope that the delay in the provision of the latest US aid package to Ukraine might urge Kiev to sue for peace, even though the Ukrainian leadership “has nothing with which to negotiate.”

Subscribe to @SputnikInt

'Hush up!' - Biden to reporters

When asked "Do you want Ukraine to win?," Joe Biden simply smiled in response

US House Speaker Mike Johnson - 'They [Ukraine] have not given us the clarity and detail that we have requested over and over'

Johnson also noted that he considers concern for US national security to be first priority, and pointed to the deteriorating situation at the border.

Subscribe to @SputnikInt

The lower house of Poland’s parliament, the Sejm, on Tuesday passed a vote of confidence in the government of Donald Tusk, according to the live broadcast.

All opposition factions of the Sejm voted in favor of Tusk and his government, while the PiS party, which until recently was Poland’s ruling, and the Confederation alliance of rights and eurosceptics were against.

Subscribe to @SputnikInt

❗️ The US House of Representatives Committee on Rules has approved a resolution authorising further investigation to impeach Joe Biden.

Precise hits

📹 Russian drone operators eliminate Ukrainian militants near Berestovoye.

Subscribe to @SputnikInt

No additional tranches of aid to Ukraine, both financial and material, were announced at the press conference after the meeting between Zelensky and Biden, only wishes for success and assurances of support were voiced.

Zelensky said at a press conference that he had discussed with Biden the plans for the military campaign for 2024. In particular, he discussed strengthening Ukraine's air defence.

Biden, however, said that the US administration was rapidly approaching the point where it would not have the ability to send aid to Ukraine in a situation when Congress does not approve additional budgetary allocations for Ukraine.

Subscribe to @SputnikInt

Sputnik correspondent Pavel Zakovorotny was not allowed into the hall of the press conference of Biden and Zelensky.

The journalist had registered for the event 24 hours in advance and his name was on the list, but the White House representative told the correspondent that there were no free seats in the hall.

He was the only one who did not have enough seats - dozens of other journalists who were waiting at the entrance to the event were able to get in.

Subscribe to @SputnikInt

🇺🇸💸 “The wall of defense for pouring more money into Ukraine without any transparency is the House,” Ed Martin, president of Phyllis Schlafly Eagles and chairperson of the Missouri Republican Party, told Sputnik.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is in Washington again to beg for money, but a majority of House Republicans are likely to demand accountability processes instead of writing Kiev a “blank check.”

“I wouldn’t put anything past what we often call ‘the uni-party,’” Martin warned.

“What they’re doing now is for Republicans to have a way to tell their voters that ‘I didn’t give a blank check’ so there’ll be some sort of strings attached and transparency, which won’t be real, it won’t be significant.”

At least 500 UK troops were sent to Cyprus in secret, a report from British media has revealed.

The UK government had previously announced that 1,000 troops were being deployed to support Israel in the wake of the October 7 attack by Hamas, but their locations remained unknown.

A letter by British Foreign Minister James Heappey to a member of parliament revealed that 500 of those troops were sent to UK bases in Cyprus, about 230 miles from the Gaza Strip. The letter also stated that troops have been sent to Egypt, Israel and Lebanon, but troop numbers were not provided.

Cyprus has served as a staging area for UK bombing campaigns in the Middle East. Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides denied that his country was being used to provide military aid to Israel.

“There is no such information,” Christodoulides said, “our country cannot be used as a base for war operations.”

An investigation by the United States Air Force found that former Massachusetts Air National Guardsman Jack Teixeira likely acted alone when he allegedly leaked classified documents on a Discord server he ran.

The investigation also found that leadership in Teixeira’s unit was not “vigilant” in overseeing the unit and did not prioritize mission safety. The investigation noted that they “failed to take proper action after becoming aware of his intelligence-seeking activities.”

The Air Force announced that 15 individuals have been punished in relation to the leak, ranging from relieving personnel, including leadership, from their positions, and non-judicial punishment under Article 15 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice.

Teixeira is accused of leaking classified documents, including information on US internal evaluations of the Ukrainian military and North Korea’s nuclear weapons program. He faces up to 60 years in prison and has pleaded not guilty.

Subscribe to @SputnikInt

Special Counsel Jack Smith’s decision to bring former US President Donald Trump’s executive immunity defense to the Supreme Court could have lasting implications, including for his boss, US President Joe Biden, journalist and Iraq War veteran Neil McCabe told Sputnik’s The Final Countdown.

McCabe argues that if the Supreme Court agrees with Smith and says Trump can be prosecuted for actions he took while President, it would open a constitutional can of worms and change what the Presidency is.

🗣 “If suddenly the Supreme Court says that when Trump was asking about election irregularities, he was doing that as a self-interested candidate and not as the country’s chief law enforcement officer, all of a sudden it opens up a whole range of possible legal jeopardies for the President of the United States,” McCabe explained.

Those legal jeopardies could have long-lasting effects, including for future and –significantly– the current president.

🗣 “Smith’s ultimate boss is Joseph R. Biden Jr and maybe he would prefer to have some immunity himself as people unwind his relationship with Hunter [Biden],” McCabe mused. “That is sort of the subtext because whatever is done to Trump can then be done to Biden.”

Subscribe to @SputnikInt

📹 Russian paratroopers with Lancets destroyed two tanks and a self-propelled gun of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the Kleshcheyevka area, the Russian Defense Ministry said.

Subscribe to @SputnikInt

🇺🇸🗣 "If there is one thing that Washington wants, [it is] to make sure that this war [in Ukraine] continues... And when Ukraine runs out of military-age men, they will probably look at the United States of America and want to send our military-age men over there," Marjorie Taylor Greene, a member of the House of Representatives of the American Congress, said.

The Republican added that the United States was drawn into the conflict in Ukraine because of the Pentagon, which is "obsessed with foreign wars and can't get enough of them," even though its primary mission is to contain wars and protect national security interests.

Subscribe to @SputnikInt

Russian forces eliminated the Irish mercenary Graham Dale, who joined the Ukrainian army in February 2022.

The Irishman served in the US Marine Corps for seven years, including fighting in Iraq.

The exact circumstances of the militant's death are still unknown.

Subscribe to @SputnikInt

💬 Western media on Zelensky's recent US visit:

The Independent

The mood on Capitol Hill ahead of Mr Zelensky’s visit was grim as leading Senate negotiators said they were essentially out of time to strike a deal on the US-Mexico border security policies that Republicans have insisted be included in the package.

Time

Zelensky’s power on Capitol Hill has waned considerably since his last visit one year ago. Public support for aid to Ukraine has been in decline for months in the US, and Zelensky’s visit did nothing to revive it.

The New York Times

This time, with American support for sending aid to Ukraine deteriorating, particularly among G.O.P. members of Congress, the reception was markedly frostier. Some Republican senators made a point of doing a media tour preemptively criticizing Mr. Zelensky’s visit, and complained that he was coming at all.

The Huffington Post 

GOP Senators scoff at Zelensky's 'grotesque' visit to Capitol Hill

Politico

Biden could not deliver Zelensky what he wanted: a rock-solid promise. It’s another sign that Biden isn’t free to operate on the world stage as he pleases.

Subscribe to @SputnikInt