Israel breaks three decades record in land seizures this year

According to an anti-settlement watchdog group, Israel has now claimed their largest seizure of land in the occupied West Bank in more than three decades. The land seizure is the largest since the 1993 Oslo Accords established a framework for a Palestinian state consisting of the West Bank and Gaza, Peace Now said.

“Almost half of the lands that were confiscated [since Oslo] were confiscated this year,” said Hagit Ofran, who tracks settlement growth at Peace Now. “It’s huge.”

In June, Israel laid claim to about 12.7 square kilometers (4.9 sq miles) of the Jordan Valley, allowing Israel to allocate that land for new settlements and to block Palestinians from accessing it. Despite their actions being internationally viewed as illegal, Israel’s Civil Administration published the order on Wednesday - about a week after it was enacted, The Wall Street Journal reported.

According to Peace Now, Israel has laid claim to a total of 9 square miles of the West Bank since the start of this year, making 2024 a record year for land seizures. Since October 7, Israel has claimed to operate extensively within the West Bank to eliminate Hamas. Israel has built about 160 settlements that house some 700,000 Jews since it first occupied the West Bank and East Jerusalem.

“Today, it is clear to everyone that this conflict cannot be resolved without a political settlement that establishes a Palestinian state alongside Israel,” the group said.

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Biden says he ‘screwed up’ in shambolic debate as calls grow to drop out

US President Joe Biden acknowledged his troubling performance in last week’s debate with former President Donald Trump during a pre-recorded interview that aired Thursday.

“I had a bad night. And the fact of the matter is that, you know, I screwed up. I made a mistake,” the president said, speaking with a radio station in the swing state of Wisconsin. Recent polling shows 86% of the American public now believes Biden is too old to serve a second term.

Although the expression of humility is striking in US politics, observers still criticized the statement, noting that it cast the president’s apparent mental decline as something closer to a fleeting verbal gaffe or flub. Biden’s campaign strategists have again moved the goalposts, suggesting he can redeem his increasingly quixotic candidacy in the coming weeks with a series of “make-or-break” appearances on ABC News and other media platforms.

High-ranking members of the Democratic Party politburo, meanwhile, voiced continued support for the president Wednesday after an emergency White House meeting. Marlyland’s Wes Moore, Minnesota’s Tim Walz, and New York’s Kathy Hochul were among the state leaders claiming Biden is “fit for office,” while others such as California governor Gavin Newsom and Michigan governor Gretchen Whitmer voiced support on the X social media platform.

But figures close to the president have suggested his family, and especially his wife Jill Biden, are his closest advisors.

Ultimately, “wealthy donors” may hold the most power in America’s pay-to-play political system, admitted The New York Times, with “Democratic megadonor” and Netflix founder Reed Hastings recently becoming one of the most prominent figures to urge Biden to end his candidacy.

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