Biden Admin Tells Congress Famine Is Underway In Gaza For First Time
A top Biden administration official has for the first time declared that famine now exists in parts of the Gaza Strip, more than five months after the Israel-Hamas war began.
USAID Director Samantha Power said it is “credible” to assess that famine is already occurring. Her testimony was issued at Wednesday’s House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing, where in her introductory statement she laid out that “nearly the entire population” of Gaza is “living under the threat of famine.”
The United Nations defines famine as when there is widespread malnutrition as well as hunger-related deaths due to a lack of access to food in a locale or country.
USAID Administrator Samantha Power, a well-known liberal interventionist and the author of a famous book on American leaders’ failure to act in the face of genocide, answered in the affirmative after U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-Texas) asked whether “famine is already occurring” in Gaza, which is under a suffocating Israeli siege and relentless bombing campaign.
“Yes,” said Power. “In northern Gaza, the rate of malnutrition prior to October 7th was almost zero, and it is now one in three—one in three kids.”
“USAID teams have been working day and night to address the catastrophic humanitarian crisis,” Power added. “Food has not flowed in sufficient quantities to avoid this imminent famine in the south and these conditions that are giving rise already to child deaths in the north,” she described.
The following three conditions must be present for a crisis to be deemed famine, according to more from the United Nations definition:
At least 20 per cent of the population in that particular area are facing extreme levels of hunger;
30 per cent of the children in the same place are wasted, or too thin for their height; and
The death – or mortality – rate has doubled, from the average, surpassing two deaths per 10,000 daily for adults and four deaths per 10,000 daily for children.
USAID Director Power and other Biden admin officials have been center of increased outrage among progressive Democrats over their pro-Israel policies.
The very hearing that Power testified in was at one point interrupted activists who shouted denunciations at the USAID chief for “not using her power and influence to end” the assault. Progressive activist group Code Pink led the protests…
At Samantha Power’s hearing with the House Foreign Affairs Committee. SAMANTHA POWER IS COMPLICIT! pic.twitter.com/jCGWoV2uHy
The protesters pointed out the contradiction in Biden’s policy – on the one hand it decries famine and a humanitarian disaster in Gaza, but on the other continues arming Israel, and all the while is unwilling to attach conditions on defense aid.
North Carolina authorities on April 10 reported that cows in the state tested positive for highly pathogenic avian influenza, as the state became the latest to impose restrictions on the movement of cows.
Testing of samples from North Carolina conducted by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) came back positive for the influenza, also known as the bird flu and HPAI, the North Carolina Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services said.
“We have spent years developing methods to handle HPAI in poultry, but this is new and we are working with our state and federal partners to develop protocols to handle this situation,” Steve Troxler, the state’s agriculture commissioner, said in a statement.
He noted that, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, there is presently no concern regarding the safety or availability of pasteurized milk or milk products in the United States. Some experts, though, have warned there’s not enough evidence to support that position.
Avian influenza cases in cattle first appeared in the United States in March. USDA officials have since confirmed cases in 20 herds across six states, including Idaho, Kansas, and Texas, and a single case in a human. They have not yet commented on the North Carolina situation.
Stephanie Langel, an assistant professor at Case Western Reserve University’s School of Medicine, said on social media that because the influenza is not a reportable disease in cows, it’s likely the outbreak is larger than currently represented.
USDA officials do not require testing and only recommend testing if cows start exhibiting symptoms.
“Additionally, the majority of workers on dairy farms (especially large farms) are undocumented and are less likely to report symptoms,” Ms. Langel said, referring to illegal immigrants. “I worry we are underestimating human infections.”
The strain of HPAI that’s circulating, H5N1, originates from birds. Dead birds have been found on farms that have had cows with confirmed cases.
Bird flu is often fatal in birds and humans, but human cases are rare. The recent human case in Texas is only the second in history in the United States. Both patients recovered, officials say.
Worldwide, between 2003 and April 1 of this year, 889 human cases have been reported to the World Health Organization (WHO) from 23 countries. Of those patients, 463 died, the organization said.
Genomic sequencing of the virus in the Texas patient showed a mutation that makes the flu more likely to infect mammals, but the risk to people remains low, according to U.S. public health officials.
“Since the virus has not acquired mutations that facilitate transmission among humans and based on available information, WHO assesses the public health risk to the general population posed by this virus to be low and for occupationally exposed persons, the risk of infection is considered low-to-moderate,” WHO said in an April 9 brief. The agency noted that sustained human-to-human transmission of the strain and similar variants have never been detected.
No vaccines are currently available against H5N1.
Officials recommend people not get close to dead animals or animal droppings and not consume raw milk or raw cheese.
Restrictions
Due to the positive tests from cows in North Carolina, officials joined a growing number of states in restricting the movement of cows.
The movement of cattle from herds with confirmed cases in other states to North Carolina has been suspended, according to the North Carolina Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services.
Seventeen other states have also placed restrictions on cattle importations from the affected states, with Maryland joining the list on Wednesday.
Several states have said the sick cattle have come from Texas, where the first cases were detected.
Now that 21 herds have tested positive, it “stretches plausibility that it was all from one farm, but theoretically possible, given the amount cattle can move,” Gail Hansen, a doctor of veterinary medicine who used to be the state veterinarian for Kansas, wrote on the social media platform X.
The USDA has advised against moving sick or exposed animals and minimizing the movement of other cattle “as much as possible.”
“If cattle must be moved, we strongly encourage extreme diligence by producers, veterinarians, and animal health officials to ensure only healthy cattle are moving and to ensure the validity of interstate health certificates,” the agency said.
EU Parliament Refuses Decision On Budget Until Ukraine Gets More Patriots From Member States
The latest intense Russian bombardment of Ukraine has resulted in the European Parliament taking the unprecedented decision to delay approval of the council budget until EU leaders get fully on board with approving additional Patriot air defense systems for Ukraine.
“What I find scandalous is that Europe, which is opening the door for Ukraine, and the European Council are not even capable in such an urgency to decide to send a number of anti-missile systems to Ukraine,” Guy Verhofstadt, a former Belgian Prime Minister, said in a fiery speech from the parliament floor.
The decision to refuse discharge of the EU Council’s budget was supported by 515 MEPs, with 62 voting against it—however, the effort will ultimately prove little more than symbolic and as but theatrics. European countries are still first and foremost worried about their dwindling defense stockpiles at home, especially as the specter of possible future major NATO-Russia war rises.
Russia’s overnight missile attacks, which reportedly included hypersonic missiles and drones sent against a number of power plants and natural gas facilities, resulted in a new urgent plea from President Volodymyr Zelensky, who post on X: “We need air defense systems and other defense assistance, not just turning a blind eye and having lengthy discussions.”
Russia’s President Putin on Thursday told national news agencies that Russia is obliged to strike Ukrainian energy sites in response to Kiev’s ongoing cross-border attacks against Russia’s own energy infrastructure. He also said these strikes on Ukraine’s energy sites aim to “demilitarize” the country.
MEP Verhofstadt’s appeal was met with applause in the European parliament session:
Verhofstadt reminded that the EU’s chief diplomat, Josep Borrell, told the MEPs that EU states have 100 Patriot air defense systems, while Ukraine asks for seven of them.
“We, Europeans, we invite them to come to the European Union, but we are not capable to do so,” Verhofstadt added.
The MEP proposed to withdraw the discharge of the EU Council’s budget from the agenda until a decision is taken to provide Ukraine with seven air defense systems.
Meanwhile, here’s how a fresh Washington Post interview began:
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba wants the West’s extra, idle Patriot air defense batteries. And he’s not asking nicely anymore.
“Nice and quiet diplomacy didn’t work,” Kuleba, Kyiv’s top diplomat, told The Washington Post in an interview this week.
Below: Thursday’s scene inside European parliament…
‼️ The European Parliament has refused to approve EU Council funding until Ukraine is given new Patriots, – MEP, former Belgian Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt
The European Parliament’s decision is called “unprecedented”. It was supported by 515 MPs, against 62. pic.twitter.com/Lz5bzhoSnj
He told the newspaper that ultimately the country would need 26 Patriot batteries to secure the airspace over the whole country, but that an initial seven would go a long way in meeting the most pressing needs.
“I’m sorry to spoil the birthday party, but who can believe that the mightiest military alliance in the world cannot find seven batteries of Patriots to provide them to the only country in the world that is fighting ballistic attacks every day?” he questioned provocatively.
Israeli Media Says Iran Postponed Attack ‘At Last Minute’ Due To Threat Of US Intervention
Update(1329ET): Israeli media sources have claimed that Iran is poised to launch a major attack on Israel, but that the strikes were postponed “at the last minute”.
Israeli news website Ynet reported Thursday that “Tehran decided to either delay the strike or change the nature of its response to Israel’s attack on its consulate in Damascus, likely due to warnings from the administration of United States President Joe Biden. According to more:
The outlet cited Iranian semi-official news agency Mehr as claiming the attack could happen “maybe tonight,” but soon after deleting the video with the assertion.
The last 48 hours has seen Washington raise the possibility that it could intervene militarily in defense of Israel if Iran retaliates for the April 1st Israeli attack on its embassy in Damascus.
Meanwhile, some international airlines, most notably German airline Lufthansa, have paused their flights to Tehran, citing heightened fears of imminent military action in the region. Russia has also taken steps to warn its citizens against travel to the region, particularly Israel, as the region remains at boiling point.
Oil Price underscoresthat as the waiting game continues, an Iran Strike Threat Hangs Over Inflation-Focused Oil Markets. The industry publication observes, “Oil markets have not visibly responded to the threat hanging over the Middle East, with Brent crude and West Texas Intermediate (WTI) trading down over 1% at 11:00 a.m. ET on Wednesday on inflation concerns that have led to speculation that the Federal Reserve may not implement a June rate cut.”
Israel’s military believes preparation for major attack currently underway…
الجيش الإسرائيلي: إيران تحضر وكلاءها بالمنطقة لمهاجمتنا #العربية_عاجل
Iranian officials have signaled they are taking a path of strategic patience but that a significant response is still coming.
* * *
We previously reported that Iran now considers Israel’s embassies and diplomatic sites abroad as essentially fair game in the wake of Israel’s April 1st airstrikes on Iran’s embassy in Damascus, which killed two high-ranking IRGC generals and at least five others.
An analyst from the Middle East Institute, Jason Brodsky, observed last week that “There are reports Iran’s regime may be eyeing hitting an Israel diplomatic compound in a third country via drones & missiles. Israel maintains embassies in Bahrain; UAE; Jordan; Egypt; Azerbaijan; & Turkey. I would keep an eye on Jordan.”
Russia’s Foreign Ministry had underscored in reacting to the Israeli strike on the Iranian consular compound “the inviolability of which is guaranteed by the relevant Vienna Conventions, to be categorically unacceptable.” Indeed it was unprecedented for a nation’s military to intentionally attack another state’s sovereign embassy. Iran is outraged at the UN Security Council’s silence.
Iran on Thursday is making noise over this at the UN Security Council in New York. Iran’s permanent mission to the UN has blasted the council for failing to condemn Israel’s “reprehensible act of aggression” on Iran’s diplomatic premises in Syria. Al Jazeera reports the Iranian ambassador’s fresh statement as follows:
It said in a statement on X that if the perpetrators had been brought to justice, “the imperative for Iran to punish this rogue regime [Israel] might have been obviated.”
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and other top officials have promised retaliation for the attack on the consulate building that killed members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, including two generals.
So Iran is now saying that in light of UN inaction, which has not so much resulted in verbal censure of Israeli actions, it will be ‘forced’ to respond militarily.
All of this could spark a major war in the Middle East, possibly including US military intervention on behalf of Israel as well well, with President Biden having just promised“ironclad support” in defense of Israel. “As I told Prime Minister Netanyahu, our commitment to Israel’s security against these threats from Iran and its proxies is ironclad,” Biden said Wednesday. “Let me say it again — ironclad. We’re going to do all we can to protect Israel’s security.” He explained this is in response to Tehran “threatening to launch a significant attack on Israel.”
IRAN🇮🇷 PREPARES TO STRIKE ISRAEL:
According to The Intercept, Iran told the White House that if the US defends Israel against the coming retaliation strike for the Damascus Embassy bombing, then the United States will become a legitimate target
Iran appears to be taking its time, waiting patiently while it plans a response. Israel has made very clear that any attack launched from Iranian soil will be met with a stronger response against the territory of the Islamic Republic. There are fresh reports saying Tehran has so far delayed its retaliation due to Washington threats that it will join Israel in hitting back against any strikes.
Below is commentary on what could happen next submittedby Avi Melamed, a former Israeli intelligence official who went on to serve as deputy and then as senior Arab affairs adviser to Jerusalem Mayors Teddy Kollek and Ehud Olmert, operating as a negotiator during the first and second intifadas.
* * *
As the world braces for the Iranian response to the last week’s strike on Quds force commander Brig. Gen. Mohammad Reza Zahedi, it’s likely Tehran is weighing the use of its proxies versus a direct strike. Iran’s proxy warfare strategy is a shield the regime uses to avoid direct retaliation.
This calculated and sophisticated tactic allows Tehran to continue its aggression through intermediaries without facing any consequences. The ongoing assaults orchestrated by Iranian proxies underscore the regime’s influence — and ability — to shape the Middle Eastern geopolitical landscape but come at the cost of navigating local politics and civil strife. Iran’s largest proxy in the region is Hezbollah in Lebanon.
Since the start of Israel’s counteroffensive in Gaza, Hezbollah has launched salvo after salvo of rockets against Israel’s evacuated northern communities. While rhetoric would point to Hezbollah escalating to the point of a full-fledged war on Israel’s northern border, it has yet to target Haifa or significant Israeli infrastructure, a move that would launch a massive war between Israel and Hezbollah, likely triggering a dissolution of Lebanon through a civil war, which Hezbollah would need to allocate resources to fighting in addition to its battles with Israel.
Most recently a senior coordinator for the Hezbollah-rival and Christian-affiliated Lebanese Forces, Pascal Suleiman, was kidnapped in Lebanon and his body was found in Syria. While the official statement is that the attack was prosecuted by “car thieves,” all signs seem to point to Hezbollah involvement.
#BREAKING: @ynetnews: Iran postponed an attack against Israel at the last minute due to American warnings, but it is still expected
Syria is the second Achilles heel that Tehran must consider. Any attack by a proxy force could be countered by an Israeli response that threatens or collapses Assad’s regime and with it the Iranian land corridor from Iran to Hezbollah in Lebanon and ultimately to the Mediterranean. Finally, Tehran must consider the potential response that would be triggered by a direct attack on Israel.
On X, Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz threatened very clearly today that “If Iran attacks from its own territory, Israel will respond and attack in Iran.” Even with Katz’s statement, there is no guarantee that Israel will continue to dance to the tune of Iran and its proxy model, and any future attack launched by Iran or its proxies could ultimately trigger a direct response against the Iranian homeland.
UN Security Council Fails to Condemn Damascus Strike
While the world sits on edge waiting for the inevitable Iranian response, it’s important to note that the regime has thus far acted strategically, that it will respond in order to send a message of strength and restore its deterrence capacity, but that it will do so at the time it calculates will best achieve its successful return of deterrence.”
Four years have passed since the onset of COVID-19 and the global mishandling of its spread. Now, the same governments and international organizations that lied about the last pandemic are negotiating a new pandemic agreement and amendments to the International Health Regulations (IHR) at the World Health Organization (WHO).
The main culprit hasn’t changed. Although the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has never been held accountable for its complete refusal to adhere to previous IHR agreements or its ongoing obstruction of a thorough investigation into the virus’s origins, Beijing is now collaborating with the Biden administration on this new accord.
So naturally, the new agreement advances China’s interests. Successive drafts focus on everything, from sending taxpayer dollars overseas to weakening intellectual property rights and empowering the WHO over the national sovereignty of the United States. Yes, that’s the same WHO that failed to insert a team of global experts in the first few weeks of the COVID-19 outbreak in China (as required by IHR), instead capitulating to the CCP and allowing it to define the international response.
The latest version of the agreement even mandates that parties provide financial and technical assistance to developing countries. Of course, the United States has a long, robust history of providing such assistance—President George W. Bush’s President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) is one good example—but such assistance has always been voluntary, not obligatory.
Unsurprisingly, China stands to benefit from these provisions intended to help “poor” countries. Despite having the second-largest economy in the world, the United Nations considers China to be a “developing country.” That’s right. The country that started the COVID-19 pandemic will not only suffer zero consequences for its actions but, should the United States sign this agreement, stand to benefit from mandatory transfers of funds from U.S. taxpayers.
China would also benefit from other provisions in the agreement that push governments to promote “sustainable and geographically diversified production” of pandemic-related products (like vaccines), invest in developing country capacity and access to proprietary research, use the “flexibilities” of the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights to override patents, and encourage rights holders to forego or reduce royalties and consider time-bound waivers of intellectual property rights.
China, notorious for its theft of intellectual property, would be sure to exploit this privilege.
All this would severely curtail future investment in health research—exactly the opposite incentive that should be applied if we are to be prepared for a future pandemic. And to make matters worse, the agreement almost entirely ignores addressing the countless shortcomings of current international processes in responding to pandemics, such as obligating governments to grant immediate access to international health expert teams to assess the threat of suspected outbreaks and to provide full and timely disclosure of genomic data.
Of course, overseeing sustainable and geographically diversified production, massive transfers, and distribution of up to 20 percent of diagnostics, therapeutics, or vaccines during a pandemic comes with a hefty price tag. The exact amount is not specified, but it is sure to include several commas.
In addition, the agreement would take a sledgehammer to American First Amendment free speech rights. The willingness of governments to use the pandemic to clamp down on unpopular ideas and opinions to “protect” public health and safety has proven durable. And this new agreement instructs governments to “cooperate, in accordance with national law, in preventing misinformation and disinformation.” China and Russia need no encouragement to censor speech. However, such language in an international agreement will encourage those in free countries who similarly wish to suppress unpopular opinions under the guise of countering misinformation and disinformation.
Indeed, the WHO itself seems offended by criticism. Earlier this year, Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said that negotiations were occurring in a very difficult environment, facing a “torrent of fake news, lies, and conspiracy theories.” Ironically, this argument was the same one used against conservatives who subscribed to the increasingly credible lab leak theory.
In short, the new pandemic agreement should alarm all Americans. It is far more focused on redistributing income, transferring technology, and weakening intellectual property than on preventing, detecting, and responding to pandemics in the first place. It failed to address the elephant in the room—the total lack of enforcement in the IHR—and as written, it is nothing short of a power grab by the CCP-controlled WHO.
Our government must wholly reject it.
Views expressed in this article are opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times or ZeroHedge.
The Israeli military has employed yet another AI-based system to select bombing targets in the Gaza Strip, an investigation by +972 Magazine has revealed. The new system has generated sweeping kill lists condemning tens of thousands of Palestinians, part of the IDF’s growing dependence on AI to plan lethal strikes.
Citing six Israeli intelligence officers, the Tel Aviv-based magazine said the previously undisclosed AI system, dubbed ‘Lavender,’ has played a “central role in the unprecedented bombing” of Gaza since last October, with the military effectively treating its output “as if it were a human decision.”
“Formally, the Lavender system is designed to mark all suspected operatives in the military wings of Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), including low-ranking ones, as potential bombing targets,” the outlet reported, adding that “during the first weeks of the war, the army almost completely relied on Lavender, which clocked as many as 37,000 Palestinians as suspected militants—and their homes—for possible air strikes.”
However, while thousands have been killed in the resulting air raids, the majority were “women and children or people who were not involved in the fighting,” the officers told the magazine, noting that Israeli field commanders often rely on the AI system without consulting more substantial intelligence.
“Human personnel often served only as a ‘rubber stamp’ for the machine’s decisions,” one source said, adding that many commanders spend a mere “20 seconds” reviewing targets before approving strikes—“just to make sure the Lavender-marked target is male.”
Human input has been relegated to such a minor role in the decision-making process that Lavender’s conclusions are often treated as “an order” by Israeli troops, “with no requirement to independently check why the machine made that choice.”
Such decisions are made despite well-known system errors which result in misidentified targets in at least 10% of cases. Nonetheless, the AI has “systematically” selected the homes of suspected militants for strikes, with IDF bombings frequently carried out late at night, when entire families are more likely to be present.
In targeting lower-level Hamas fighters in the early stages of the war, the military largely resorted to the use of unguided ‘dumb bombs,’ concluding it was permissible to “kill up to 15 or 20 civilians” in such operations, the intelligence sources added. Senior militants, meanwhile, could warrant the deaths of “more than 100 civilians” in some cases.
“You don’t want to waste expensive bombs on unimportant people,” one officer said.
Automated Assassination
Lavender is far from the first AI program used to direct operations for Israel’s military. Yet another system unveiled by +972 mag, known as ‘Where’s Daddy?’, has also been used “specifically to track the targeted individuals and carry out bombings when they had entered their family’s residences.”
An unnamed intelligence officer told the outlet that homes are considered a “first option” for targeting, observing that the IDF is “not interested in killing [Hamas] operatives only when they [are] in a military building or engaged in a military activity.”
As of April, Israeli bombings have damaged or destroyed a staggering 62% of all housing units in Gaza—or nearly 300,000 homes—leaving more than 1 million people internally displaced, according to United Nations estimates. The territory’s housing sector has borne the brunt of the Israeli onslaught, representing well over two-thirds of the destruction in Gaza to date.
Earlier reporting has shed further light on Israel’s AI-driven “mass assassination factory,” with another program, ‘the Gospel,’ used to automatically generate massive target lists at a rate vastly exceeding previous methods. Under the guidance of that tool, Israeli forces have increasingly struck what they call “power targets,” including high-rise residential structures and public buildings. Such attacks are reportedly part of an effort to exert “civil pressure” on Palestinian society—a tactic clearly prohibited under international law as a form of collective punishment.
What War by A.I. Actually Looks Like – The Israel Defense Forces’ offensive in Gaza is an ominous hint of the military future Via @nytimes: https://t.co/mHVTuP2zbu
The IDF has long relied on extensive “target banks” in planning operations in Gaza and the West Bank, gathering a long list of suspected militant command posts and installations. In recent years, however, those lists have swelled to include thousands of potential targets as the military outsources decision-making to automated systems.
Adding to the litany of AI programs used to deliver death in Gaza and beyond, Israel’s ‘Fire Factory’ system helps to automatically calculate munitions payloads and assign targets to particular aircraft or drones once they are selected. “What used to take hours now takes minutes, with a few more minutes for human review,” an IDF colonel said of the system in comments to Bloomberg.
The change is largely due to respondents from Laos, Indonesia and Malaysia favoring China more strongly at an increase of between 20 to 30 percentage points each since 2023.
In Cambodia, support increased by around 18 percentage points, but remained below 50 percent overall.
The picture in similar in Thailand and Myanmar at increases of around 10 percentage points each and with support for China in Thailand reaching 52 percent.
Countries that would still strongly prefer to partner with the United States are the Philippines (83.3 percent in favor of the U.S.), Vietnam (79 percent) and Singapore (61.5 percent).
In all three countries, support for the U.S. was relatively stable compared to 2023.
Turkey’s decision to halt the export of 54 products to Israel in response to its war on Gaza isn’t likely to have far-reaching results, since both countries’ economies are complementary in nature rather than central to each other.
The Turkish trade ministry announced earlier this week that Ankara would continue to implement the restrictions as long as Israel denies uninterrupted flow of humanitarian aid to Gaza Strip, citing UN Security Council decisions and an International Court of Justice (ICJ) preliminary judgment against Israel’s conduct in the coastal enclave. The export restrictions encompass items such as aluminium wire, steel, cement, construction materials, granite, chemicals, pesticides, engine oils, jet fuel and bricks.
Before the war, Turkish-Israeli ties had been steadier than they had been for years. After years of tensions over Palestine, the two normalized relations in 2022. Yet, while Turkey and Israel quarreled over the past decade, and even stopped cooperating with each other, trade had never been interrupted. In fact, it flourished over time.
The Turkish public has been outraged at Israel’s actions in Gaza, where reportedly more than 33,000 Palestinians have been killed in six months. Lists of ships carrying goods to Israel circulated on social media as Israel’s onslaught grew. People also highlighted companies close to the Turkish government that continued commercial relations with Israel during the war.
Even though there is no evidence to back claims that Turkey sold weapons to Israel, the controversy was stoked by a small quantity of hunting gear or hunting equipment parts being found among the exports. They were broadly classified by the Turkish Statistical Institute (TUIK) as “weaponry”.
In response to this domestic pressure and serious setbacks for the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) in local elections last month, the government decided to act against Israel.
Ties have been cut on the Israeli side, too. In October, several Israeli supermarket chains halted imports from Turkey in response to Ankara’s critical stance on the Gaza war. Israeli food company Strauss in December changed the packaging for one of its most well-known products, Elite Turkish coffee, adding an Israeli flag and patriotic slogans.
An important market
But is the trade between the two countries vital? Many say no, but Israel is nonetheless an important export market for Ankara. Turkey’s exports to Israel were worth $5.4bn in 2023, or 2.1 percent of its total exports, according to official data.
Although bilateral trade has dropped by 33 percent since the October 7 Hamas-led attack, it has nonetheless continued and exports to Israel have increased each month in 2024 so far. Both countries have had a free trade deal in place since 1996 and there have been no tariffs on certain products since 2000, which has enabled major increases in bilateral trade, largely favouring Turkey.
From 2009 to 2023, trade between the two countries nearly tripled. By the end of that period, Turkey had become the fifth-largest supplier of imported goods to Israel, while Israel ranked as Turkey’s tenth-largest export market, based on data from the Central Bureau of Statistics.
Turkey exported steel, automotive industry products, chemicals, ready-made clothing and apparel, electricity and electronics, cement, glass, ceramics and soil products, furniture, paper, and forestry to Israel, according to a report published by the Turkey Exporters Assembly covering the period between 2011 and 2020.
“The economies are complementary but not intertwined,” Gallia Lindenstrauss, a senior research fellow at the Institute for National Security Studies (INSS), told Middle East Eye. “Turkey can find also substitutes to what it imports from Israel, and anyhow, of the bilateral trade, three-quarters are Turkish exports to Israel and only one-quarter is Israeli exports to Turkey.”
Trade with Israel has traditionally been highly advantageous for Turkey, which enjoyed a trade surplus of $3.9bn last year. Israel serves as a significant market for Turkish steel, purchasing 726,000 tonnes last year. This figure constitutes over 20 percent of Turkey’s total steel exports. The ban is expected to significantly affect these exports.
In terms of dependence on imports, Israel heavily relies on Turkish cement, with imports from Turkey making up 29 percent of Israel’s total cement imports last year. Additionally, Turkish imports represent about 11 percent of Israel’s total plastic and rubber products, and around 10 percent in textiles.
Sources familiar with the construction industry told Israeli news outlet Mako that the new restrictions were expected to increase the prices of apartments and rent in the country if they are implemented. “In terms of long-term repercussions, the fact the Turkey halts construction materials when these are needed to repair damaged houses in the south and north of Israel because of rockets and other damage will likely taint relations also in the future,” Lindenstrauss said.
“Also, while anyhow there were question marks regarding a possible gas pipeline between Israel and Turkey, these export restrictions in a time of war will be a big warning sign not to proceed with the pipeline idea.”
Impact on Palestine
Turkey’s decision to restrict exports to Israel likely has an impact on Palestine as well. “Israel has complete control over the border crossings as Palestinian imports arrive at Haifa or Ashdod seaports, and the goods are then transported to Palestinian territories via trucks,” Rashad Yousef, director of policies and planning at the Palestinian Ministry of National Economy, told Anadolu Agency.
Yousef added that Palestinian-Turkish trade volume in 2022 exceeded $900m, representing a 12 percent increase over 2021. He also said that the main Turkish exports to Palestine are iron, wood, vegetable oil, tobacco, food products and items from the plastic industries.
“If we exclude Israel, Turkiye is the largest source of goods and products in the Palestinian market,” Yousef said. However, there are ways to continue to trade with Israel by rerouting trade through third countries, as the Ukraine war has proved following western sanctions on Russia.
Israeli importers are mulling bringing in Turkish goods via Slovenian ports Koper or Ljubljana, according to an Israeli report. “But still, the economic relations were what kept the relations going even in times of political crisis, so it is regrettable we have reached this point,” adds Lindenstrauss.
“And despite it having been a painful step, I don’t see it in itself changing Israel’s policy – the pressures from the White House are much more significant.”
CNN published a detailed piece on Tuesday about how “Ukraine’s AI-enabled drones are trying to disrupt Russia’s energy industry. So far, it’s working”. Although an unnamed source close to the program told them that “The flights are determined in advance with our allies, and the aircraft follow the flight plan to enable us to strike targets with meters of precision”, there are reasons to believe that the US is against these sorts of attacks. Not least among them is what CNN itself reported in that same piece.
According to them, “Ukrainian strikes on refineries have caused global oil prices to rise, with Brent crude up nearly 13% this year, leaving politicians in the United States worried about their potential economic impact in an important election year.” They also cited an expert who claimed, “That was the deal with Ukraine: We will give you money, we will give you weapons, but stay away from the export facility, stay away from Russian energy, because we don’t want a massive energy crisis.”
That individual added in reference to the Congressional deadlock on Ukraine aid that “If they’re not getting the weapons and money that they were promised, what is their incentive to abide by that deal with Washington?” This aligns with what Zelensky himself hinted in an interview with the Washington Post late last month when he revealed that “The reaction of the US was not positive on [us attacking Russian oil refineries]…(but) We used our drones. Nobody can say to us you can’t.”
Secretary of State Blinken echoed that sentiment in a joint press conference with his French counterpart on Tuesday when he said in response to a question about these oil refinery strikes that “we have neither supported nor enabled strikes by Ukraine outside of its territory.” He was asked about this after a Ukrainian drone strike targeted Russia’s third-largest refinery in the Republic of Tatarstan, which is located in the country’s heartland a full 800 miles away from the front lines.
When reflecting on Blinken’s statement, CNN’s report, and Zelensky’s earlier words, it certainly appears to be the case that the US doesn’t want Ukraine striking Russian oil refineries out of fear that the massive energy crisis that this could catalyze would capsize Biden’s re-election bid.
If that’s indeed its position, then it raises the question of which allies are determining the flight paths of these drones and why Zelensky would risk Trump returning to power when he’s much less pro-Ukrainian than Biden is.
It might very well be the case that there are divisions emerging within NATO over these strikes exactly as RT editorialized when drawing attention to how Blinken’s French counterpart seemed to support the latest attacks in his response to the question that they were asked during Tuesday’s press conference. France might therefore be providing this sort of assistance, which could also be complemented by the UK’s and other countries’ complementary contributions, whether on their own or as part of a joint effort.
As for why Zelensky would want to rankle Biden and risk Trump’s return, he might have a “god complex” after being promoted so heavily as a Churchillian leader over the past two years, which could have become part of his identity despite the media souring on him since last summer. In his mind, Biden will do his bidding in somehow getting the Republicans to approve more Ukraine aid under pain of him unleashing a massive energy crisis by taking out more of Russia’s refining and export capabilities.
Biden would have already gotten the Republicans to do this if he was able to so it’s delusional for Zelensky to imagine that holding his re-election bid hostage will make a positive difference. If anything, wider awareness his thuggish tactics among the Republicans could further solidify their resistance to approving more Ukraine aid since Zelensky isn’t just holding Biden’s re-election bid hostage, but the entire American economy as well and therefore also threatening the US’ objective national interests.
Should he authorize a series of strikes that catalyzes the massive energy crisis that the Biden Administration fears, then the most hawkish anti-Russian deep state faction that’s responsible for artificially perpetuating this conflict might lose the influence that it exerts over policymakers. Their comparatively less hawkish rivals could replace their dominant role in that scenario and possibly convince the Biden Administration to finally agree to a pragmatic compromise for ending the conflict.
Zelensky’s decision to hold Biden’s re-election bid hostage by threatening to unleash a massive economic crisis as revenge for the Congressional deadlock on Ukraine aid might be his downfall. He’s not only biting the hand that feeds his regime on the taxpayers’ dime but also threatening the US’ objective national interests.
The desperation that his forces feel on the battlefield is driving him to “go rogue”, but his patrons might soon tire of this and decide to replace him after his term expires on 21 May.
Nearly 20% Of Recent San Francisco Home Sales Were Underwater
Nearly 20% of homes sold in San Francisco during the three months ending Feb. 29 sold at a loss. What’s more, the typical SF homeowner took $155,500 less than they bought it for, which is 400% more in dollar terms than the nationwide median loss of $39,912 over the same period, Redfin reports, citing an internal analysis of county records and MLS data across the US.
San Francisco home sellers are far more likely than sellers in the rest of the country to lose money because home prices there have dropped dramatically since the pandemic homebuying boom. Still, the Bay Area is home to the most expensive real estate market in the U.S.
San Francisco’s median sale price peaked at $1.66 million in April 2022, and has since fallen 15% ($250,000) to $1.41 million as of February. The typical person who bought in San Francisco at nearly any point in 2021 or 2022, when the housing market was red hot due to ultra-low mortgage rates, would have taken a loss if they sold during the first few months of this year. –Redfin
“Home prices have fallen from their peak, especially when it comes to condos,” said real estate agent Christine Chang. “It’s not just because mortgage rates are high. San Francisco has lost some of its appeal post-pandemic. A lot of tech employers and big-name retailers have moved out of the city, and some of my clients have reported they’re leaving the area because they don’t feel as safe as they used to.“
Meanwhile…
According to the same report, Detroit came in second in terms of homes selling at a loss (10.8%) during the three months ending February 29, followed by three other Rust Belt and Midwestern metros: Cleveland (8.2%), St. Louis (8.1%) and Chicago (7.9%).
Sellers in those places are more likely than most to lose money because, like in San Francisco, home prices have fallen quite a bit from their pandemic peak. In Detroit, for instance, the median sale price is down roughly 20% from its pandemic peak.
Additionally, housing markets in Detroit and Chicago have suffered because they’re typically among the U.S. metros homebuyers are most likely to leave. -Redfin
Least likely to take a loss?
Homeowners in New England and Southern California were least likely to sell at a loss – with just 1.2% of homeowners who sold during the same period losing money.
This is followed by Boston, Anaheim, CA, Fort Lauderdale, FL, and San Diego, where roughly 2% of homes sold for less than the seller originally paid in each of those metros.
That said, the vast majority of sellers are still profitable on their home sales – even in San Francisco, where 82% of sellers took in more than they paid – with the typical seller banking $482,000 more than their cost basis over the period analyzed. Nationwide, 96% of sellers are postive on their sales, with a median gain of $196,016 thanks to the national media home price sitting just 5% below the all-time high set in mid-2022.
