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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UK Conservative Party suffers worst electoral defeat in party’s history – exit poll

The UK’s ruling Conservative Party suffered a historic defeat in Thursday’s election according to exit polling, with Keir Starmer’s Labour Party the primary beneficiary of the collapse in support.

Exit surveys predicted the party of current Prime Minister Rishi Sunak will lose a stunning 234 seats, the worst result in the party’s history, leaving it with an estimated 131 members in the House of Commons. The Labour Party, meanwhile, is expected to end the night with 410 seats, returning the party to power for the first time since its defeat in 2010.

“We’ve not really given enough thought to what the electorate wants,” said one unidentified Tory minister quoted by Politico. “Some of it is our own mismanagement.”

“No two ways about it, it’s a catastrophic comedown even from the turn of the year,” said another. “Over-promoted ex-[advisers] who steered us at full tilt into this iceberg should be exiled.”

Sunak has been criticized by party members for calling the risky early election. The British Prime Minister, the wealthiest in history and the country’s first leader of Indian descent, has ruled without an electoral mandate since the resignation of his predecessor Liz Truss in 2022. Truss, herself an unelected Prime Minister, resigned after less than two months in power, symbolizing the highly chaotic nature of UK politics since former Tory leader Boris Johnson’s ascent to power in 2019.

“People wanted change and people have voted for that in large numbers,” said Labour MP Rachel Reeves, who is set to become chancellor in Starmer’s cabinet.

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Exit polling indicates the desire for change was the primary motivating factor in Thursday’s UK election, with the Labour Party sailing to victory despite perhaps the lowest voter turnout ever recorded.

Defenders of former party leader Jeremy Corbyn have pointed out that Starmer’s Labour Party won Thursday with a lower share of the popular vote than the 40% garnered during the party’s narrow loss under Corbyn in 2017. Labour was granted an assist this year from Nigel Farage’s Reform UK party, which split the right-of-center vote. The populist party surprised observers with its better than expected performance, pushing the Conservative Party into third place in many constituencies.

“The public deserves answers about the UK’s new opposition leader and his relationship with the British national security establishment, including the MI5 and the Times newspaper,” wrote journalist Matt Kennard in 2020, criticizing Starmer’s links to British intelligence services. Corbyn ran for reelection Thursday against Labour Party candidate Praful Nargund, a venture capitalist veteran of the UK’s private healthcare industry recruited to unseat the leftist MP.

Starmer’s allies have signaled the party will promote neoliberal policy during his time as prime minister, with MP Rachel Reeves claiming the UK will be a “safe haven” for wealthy investors.

“Starmer has promised to work with business to stimulate growth, with an agenda that includes planning reform and state investment in green technology,” reported the Financial Times.

“Labour will also pursue a traditional agenda of reforms to worker rights,” the newspaper added, without elaborating.

Results indicate Corbyn will win reelection in his Islington North constituency, maintaining a platform in parliament to criticize Labour’s establishment-oriented leader and his support for Israel's deadly military operation in Gaza.

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