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Among the delegation was Israel's far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, alongside Heritage Minister Amichai Eliyahu and 13 members of the Knesset.

Smotrich has called for Gaza to be emptied of its Palestinian population and for the destruction of the besieged enclave.

Middle East Eye reported in May that the Office of the Prosecutor at the International Criminal Court had filed a secret arrest warrant application for Smotrich over alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity committed against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank.

MEE understands that the charges against Smotrich include forced displacement as a crime against humanity and war crime, the transfer of Israel’s own population as a war crime, and persecution and apartheid as crimes against humanity.

Addressing attendees, Smotrich said the parade "reminds me of the Jerusalem Flag March", an ultra-nationalist procession through Jerusalem's Old City and Muslim Quarter on Jerusalem Day where participants have often chanted "Death to Arabs" and while attacking Palestinian and Christian residents.

Eliyahu, another member of the delegation, has previously called for nuclear weapons to be used against Gaza's pre-genocide population of 2.1 million Palestinians.

He has also advocated starving Palestinians in the besieged enclave, declaring that "there is no problem bombing their food and fuel reserves. They should starve."

The Israel Day Parade has long been a fixture of New York's political calendar and is often viewed as a test of political loyalty to Israel among elected officials.

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Could it be that Israel’s 30-year narrative about Iran - one that persuaded US President Donald Trump to wage a criminal and disastrous war of aggression - was always a fiction, an invention cooked up in Tel Aviv? 

Far from Tehran posing an existential danger to Israel, as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has claimed for decades, might Israel’s real fear be that a stronger Iran would undermine its unique leverage over Washington, threatening its status as the region’s sole - and unmonitored - nuclear power? 

Might large parts of the globe be facing economic meltdown simply so that Israel can remain the Middle East’s top dog - an unaccountable apartheid state committing genocide against the Palestinian people and ethnically cleansing southern Lebanon?

We got a definitive answer last week, care of the New York Times. It is an uncompromising yes to all of these questions. 

The newspaper reported that Netanyahu not only mis-sold Trump on the idea of quick regime change in Iran following a short “shock and awe” bombing campaign. He also identified to the White House who was going to replace Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s supreme religious leader.

Extraordinarily, according to the Times, Netanyahu named the man for the job as former Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. The aim at the start of the air campaign was for Israel to kill Khamenei, then liberate Ahmadinejad from house arrest by striking the guards who were confining him. 

Presumably, Ahmadinejad was then supposed to storm the citadel and seize the keys to the palace. But only Khamenei’s assassination went according to plan.

Ahmadinejad, who had reportedly been consulted on the scheme beforehand, is believed to have been injured in the Israeli strike near his home. He got cold feet, possibly suspecting he was being set up for assassination too, and went into hiding. His current whereabouts and medical condition are unknown.

More...https://www.middleeasteye.net/opinion/israeli-claims-about-iran-threat-were-always-lie-now-we-have-proof

The EU is exploring emergency interventions to its maritime trade restrictions, moving to temporarily freeze the price cap on Russian crude oil to prevent global energy market disruptions from handing an unintended financial windfall to the Kremlin, Bloomberg reported.

Last year, the EU established a dynamic, automatic mechanism designed to continuously squeeze Russian oil revenues. The rule mandates that every six months, the price cap must be recalculated and legally set exactly 15% below the prevailing average market price of Russia’s benchmark Urals crude.

The current price ceiling is fixed at $44.10 per barrel, with the next formal adjustment scheduled for late summer. Under this restriction, European maritime firms are legally barred from providing vital logistics, shipping, or insurance services for any vessel carrying Russian oil sold above the threshold.

However, the war in Iran and the physical closure of the strategic Strait of Hormuz have induced severe instability across global energy networks, causing international crude prices to skyrocket.

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Israeli forces have captured a medieval castle in southern Lebanon which dates back to the Crusader era and raised their flag on the strategic mountaintop, part of Israel's deepest military push into Lebanon in 26 years.

Video showed the Israeli flag fluttering from atop the 900-year-old Beaufort Castle while black smoke billowed from the nearby town of Arnoun. The rapidly expanding Israeli operation, including a swathe of destroyed villages, suggests Israeli forces are planning an extended presence in the region.

Israel previously held the castle during an 18-year-old long military occupation that ended in 2000. A quarter-century later the Israelis are still fighting Hezbollah, the militant group backed by Iran.

In recent days, Israel has rushed in ground troops and intensified air strikes — while Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has threatened to "crush" Hezbollah — despite a U.S.-brokered ceasefire that is officially still in place.

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Knocking on strangers’ doors on a warm May afternoon in Trenton, New Jersey, Adam Hamawy did not seem fazed when more than a few went unanswered.

It’s his first time running for office, but this is an area where he has experience. After returning from a medical mission in Gaza in 2024, Hamawy went to Washington to describe the crisis – which he viewed as a US-funded genocide – to lawmakers, only to encounter “too many doors that were closed, that didn’t even want to listen”.

“I could only define it as a genocide, because I saw the bodies of the people that came in,” the veteran army trauma surgeon and political newcomer reflected, while walking between houses. “And it wasn’t an accident. You can’t have an accident, every single day for three years.”

“When the hospital shakes and I see the bodies come in, I’m paying for it with my tax dollars,” he said. “I don’t want my tax dollars doing that.”

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The US military said on Saturday it had carried out a strike on a vessel in the eastern Pacific killing three men, the second strike in as many days.

Officials with the US Southern Command said in a post on X that intelligence had confirmed that the vessel was transiting along “narco-trafficking” routes in the eastern Pacific and engaged in “narco-trafficking” operations.

“Three male narco-terrorists were killed during this action,” the post said. “No US military forces were harmed.”

On Friday, the US military said it carried out another strike on a boat accused of smuggling drugs in the eastern Pacific Ocean. That attacked killed three men as well, pushing the over death toll in such strikes by the US over the last several months to more than 200 people.

Friday’s and Saturday’s strikes were among four over the previous week.

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New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill (D) on Sunday said the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) will resume family visits at the Delaney Hall Detention Center in Newark following a string of protests over immigrants’ treatment at the facility.

“Starting today, limited visitation will resume at noon, and regular visitation hours will be restored beginning tomorrow,” Sherrill wrote in a post on the social platform X.

“Families should contact the facility directly for additional details. Law enforcement will help escort families into the facility. It is critical that outside actors allow this to happen safely,” she added.

For days, demonstrators have participated in a hunger strike outside of the detention center in an effort to draw attention to the alleged inhumane treatment of undocumented immigrants housed at the facility.

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Claude Lemieux’s brain is being donated to the Boston University CTE Center to research the long-term effects of repetitive brain injuries, his family said Saturday in a statement released by daughter Claudia Lemieux Bishop.

Lemieux died of suicide at age 60 on Thursday, according to authorities, after earlier in the week serving as the Montreal Canadiens’ torchbearer prior to a playoff game. He played nearly 1,500 NHL games with six teams from 1983-2009 and was known for his hard-hitting style and ability to perform in big games on the way to winning the Stanley Cup four times.

The family said it gave the CTE Center permission to publicly share any findings with Lemieux’s name, adding that no conclusions should be drawn regarding any diagnosis.

“Claude dedicated his post-playing career to helping the next generation,” the family said, referring to Lemieux becoming an agent. “By allowing his name to be connected to this research, we hope his life can contribute to greater understanding, more honest conversations and better protection for athletes and families in the years ahead.”

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