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Mark Pocan Rips AIPAC as ‘Dark Money’ Group, Claims Netanyahu Plotting to ‘Destroy Gaza’
US Rep. Mark Pocan (D-WI) speaking at a press conference at the US Capitol. Photo: Michael Brochstein/Sipa USA via Reuters Connect
US Rep. Mark Pocan (D-WI) slammed the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday, intensifying the rhetoric of some lawmakers in Washington, DC against the Jewish state and its American supporters.
“The hypocrisy of [AIPAC]. Netanyahu refuses to support the ceasefire/return of hostage plan, as his real plan is to destroy Gaza,” Pocan posted on X/Twitter. “Yet they claim Hamas missing a meeting as supposed failure. Both should support the plan. Just dark money [AIPAC] supports Netanyahu, not Israel.”
The stated mission of AIPAC, the foremost pro-Israel lobbying group in the US, is to seek bipartisan support to strengthen the US-Israel relationship.
Pocan’s comment came in response to an earlier post by AIPAC in which the organization criticized him alongside other progressive US lawmakers — Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), Summer Lee (D-PA), and Ayanna Pressley (D-MA), as well as Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) — for remaining silent about Hamas’ refusal to participate in a final round of negotiations brokered by the US, Qatar, and Egypt aimed at reaching a ceasefire in Gaza.
“Total silence from the ‘Ceasefire Now’ squad. Where’d you go, [Ocasio-Cortez], [Pocan ], [Sanders], [Lee], [andPressley]?” AIPAC posted. “Their silence speaks volumes. It was never about a ceasefire, only about demonizing Israel.”
Hamas, the Palestinian terrorist group that runs Gaza, announced on Sunday that it would not attend the ceasefire and hostage negotiations, demanding that the talks be based on previously discussed conditions. Israel immediately accepted last week’s invitation by the US, Egypt, and Qatar to attend the meeting, which is to take place in either Cairo or Doha on Thursday. Organizers hope the meeting will help end the 10-month war sparked by Hamas’ invasion of southern Israel on Oct. 7.
AIPAC further criticized Pocan on X/Twitter, accusing him of repeating “tired lies” against Israel. The organization blasted the progressive lawmaker for refusing to assign blame to Hamas for refusing to negotiate with Israel.
“More of the same tired lies and deflection from [Pocan] who will say just about anything to avoid unequivocally calling out Hamas. Why is it so hard for him and the ‘Ceasefire Now’ Squad to single out Hamas for refusing to join the US-backed talks?” AIPAC wrote.
Monday was not the first time that Pocan leveled harsh condemnations at AIPAC. He has called on the pro-Israel group to condemn Netanyahu for committing a “genocide” and suggested the organization wants the Israel-Hamas war to continue for fundraising purposes.
In the months following Hamas’ Oct. 7 slaughter of roughly 1,200 people throughout southern Israel, Pocan has positioned himself as a strong critic of the Jewish state. He has condemned Israel’s defensive military operations in the Gaza Strip, accusing the Jewish state of causing “devastation” and engaging in “indiscriminate killing.” Pocan has also voted against sending additional offensive arms shipments to Israel, claiming that the Jewish state has inflicted unjustifiable atrocities “upon innocent civilians in Gaza.”
Mediators are still planning to hold ceasefire discussions despite Hamas’ expected absence.
An Israeli official told Axios that the terrorist group’s refusal to attend the next round of negotiations is “a tactical move ahead of a possible attack by Iran and Hezbollah and in an attempt to get better terms for the deal.”
Iran and its chief terror proxy Lebanese Hezbollah are expected to launch some kind of attack on Israel in the coming days as revenge for the killings of top Hamas and Hezbollah leaders.
Netanyahu’s office confirmed that the Jewish state plans on sending mediators to the Aug. 15 ceasefire talks in either Doha or Cairo.
“Pursuant to the proposal by the US and the mediators, Israel will — on Aug. 15 — send the negotiations team to a place to be determined in order to finalize the details of the implementation of the framework agreement,” the Israeli premier’s office said in a statement.
The post Mark Pocan Rips AIPAC as ‘Dark Money’ Group, Claims Netanyahu Plotting to ‘Destroy Gaza’ first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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After False Dawns, Gazans Hope Trump Will Force End to Two-Year-Old War
Palestinians walk past a residential building destroyed in previous Israeli strikes, after Hamas agreed to release hostages and accept some other terms in a US plan to end the war, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
Exhausted Palestinians in Gaza clung to hopes on Saturday that US President Donald Trump would keep up pressure on Israel to end a two-year-old war that has killed tens of thousands and displaced the entire population of more than two million.
Hamas’ declaration that it was ready to hand over hostages and accept some terms of Trump’s plan to end the conflict while calling for more talks on several key issues was greeted with relief in the enclave, where most homes are now in ruins.
“It’s happy news, it saves those who are still alive,” said 32-year-old Saoud Qarneyta, reacting to Hamas’ response and Trump’s intervention. “This is enough. Houses have been damaged, everything has been damaged, what is left? Nothing.”
GAZAN RESIDENT HOPES ‘WE WILL BE DONE WITH WARS’
Ismail Zayda, 40, a father of three, displaced from a suburb in northern Gaza City where Israel launched a full-scale ground operation last month, said: “We want President Trump to keep pushing for an end to the war, if this chance is lost, it means that Gaza City will be destroyed by Israel and we might not survive.
“Enough, two years of bombardment, death and starvation. Enough,” he told Reuters on a social media chat.
“God willing this will be the last war. We will hopefully be done with the wars,” said 59-year-old Ali Ahmad, speaking in one of the tented camps where most Palestinians now live.
“We urge all sides not to backtrack. Every day of delay costs lives in Gaza, it is not just time wasted, lives get wasted too,” said Tamer Al-Burai, a Gaza City businessman displaced with members of his family in central Gaza Strip.
After two previous ceasefires — one near the start of the war and another earlier this year — lasted only a few weeks, he said; “I am very optimistic this time, maybe Trump’s seeking to be remembered as a man of peace, will bring us real peace this time.”
RESIDENT WORRIES THAT NETANYAHU WILL ‘SABOTAGE’ DEAL
Some voiced hopes of returning to their homes, but the Israeli military issued a fresh warning to Gazans on Saturday to stay out of Gaza City, describing it as a “dangerous combat zone.”
Gazans have faced previous false dawns during the past two years, when Trump and others declared at several points during on-off negotiations between Hamas, Israel and Arab and US mediators that a deal was close, only for war to rage on.
“Will it happen? Can we trust Trump? Maybe we trust Trump, but will Netanyahu abide this time? He has always sabotaged everything and continued the war. I hope he ends it now,” said Aya, 31, who was displaced with her family to Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.
She added: “Maybe there is a chance the war ends at October 7, two years after it began.”
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Mass Rally in Rome on Fourth Day of Italy’s Pro-Palestinian Protests
A Pro-Palestinian demonstrator waves a Palestinian flag during a national protest for Gaza in Rome, Italy, October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Claudia Greco
Large crowds assembled in central Rome on Saturday for the fourth straight day of protests in Italy since Israel intercepted an international flotilla trying to deliver aid to Gaza, and detained its activists.
People holding banners and Palestinian flags, chanting “Free Palestine” and other slogans, filed past the Colosseum, taking part in a march that organizers hoped would attract at least 1 million people.
“I’m here with a lot of other friends because I think it is important for us all to mobilize individually,” Francesco Galtieri, a 65-year-old musician from Rome, said. “If we don’t all mobilize, then nothing will change.”
Since Israel started blocking the flotilla late on Wednesday, protests have sprung up across Europe and in other parts of the world, but in Italy they have been a daily occurrence, in multiple cities.
On Friday, unions called a general strike in support of the flotilla, with demonstrations across the country that attracted more than 2 million, according to organizers. The interior ministry estimated attendance at around 400,000.
Italy’s right-wing government has been critical of the protests, with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni suggesting that people would skip work for Gaza just as an excuse for a longer weekend break.
On Saturday, Meloni blamed protesters for insulting graffiti that appeared on a statue of the late Pope John Paul II outside Rome’s main train station, where Pro-Palestinian groups have been holding a protest picket.
“They say they are taking to the streets for peace, but then they insult the memory of a man who was a true defender and builder of peace. A shameful act committed by people blinded by ideology,” she said in a statement.
Israel launched its Gaza offensive after Hamas terrorists staged a cross border attack on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 people hostage.
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Hamas Says It Agrees to Release All Israeli Hostages Under Trump Gaza Plan
Smoke rises during an Israeli military operation in Gaza City, as seen from the central Gaza Strip, October 2, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
Hamas said on Friday it had agreed to release all Israeli hostages, alive or dead, under the terms of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza proposal, and signaled readiness to immediately enter mediated negotiations to discuss the details.