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Ted Cruz to Push Resolution Forcing Biden to Abandon Floundering Gaza Humanitarian Aid Pier

US Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) speaking at a press conference about the United States restricting weapons for Israel, at the US Capitol, Washington, DC. Photo: Michael Brochstein/Sipa USA via Reuters Connect

US Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) is reportedly planning to put forward a War Powers Resolution that would force President Joe Biden to abandon his administration’s floundering Gaza humanitarian aid pier initiative.

The senator argued that the humanitarian aid pier has become a magnet for attacks since its construction, potentially endangering American servicemen. He also suggested that the aid flowing through the pier will end up in the hands of Hamas — the Palestinian terror group which rules Gaza and launched the ongoing war there by invading Israel on Oct. 7 and murdering 1,200 people — instead of Gaza residents. 

The Biden administration issued a directive to erect the $320 million pier in response to allegations that the Israeli government has not done enough to ensure a sufficient flow of humanitarian aid into the war-torn enclave.

“The Biden White House’s foreign policy is utterly backwards,” Cruz told Punchbowl News. “He is blocking weapons to Israel … and he has just recently spent hundreds of millions of dollars building this pier in Gaza to continue providing aid to Gaza that will go directly to Hamas.”

War Powers Resolutions are of privileged status, meaning that a political party holding a majority in the US Congress cannot prevent the resolution from being brought to the floor for a vote. Democrats currently hold a majority in the Senate, where a Republican-led initiative challenging the foreign policy of Biden, a Democrat, would be difficult to pass.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) has indicated that he would not approve of a direct vote regarding the Gaza pier on the Senate floor, claiming that the White House has already issued a veto threat. 

“The power of the War Powers Resolution is that Schumer can’t block the vote,” Cruz said. 

Cruz acknowledged that the resolution is designed to place vulnerable Democrats in a difficult position. Democrats have become increasingly critical of the Israeli war effort in recent months, with some suggesting that the Jewish state has committed “genocide” and pressuring the Biden administration to secure a ceasefire. 

This War Powers Resolution is a mechanism for forcing a vote and getting every Democrat on record — where do you stand? Do you support undermining Israel and supporting Hamas?” Cruz said. 

Since the completion of its construction, the Gaza pier has not lived up to expectations. 

During a Tuesday press conference, Gen. Patrick S. Ryder, the US Defense Department’s press secretary, revealed that none of the 569 metric tons of humanitarian aid delivered to the pier has been distributed to Palestinian civilians. Other reports claim that local gangs have ransacked the trucks and stripped them of their aid, complicating aid delivery logistics.

Last weekend, portions of the pier itself were dismantled when violent waves caused four transportation vessels to detach from their moorings and beach on shore. On Tuesday, multiple media outlets reported that the pier’s operations would be suspended after a part of it broke off, rendering it temporarily inoperable. Bad weather was believed to be the reason that the part had broken off.

Cruz also plans on advancing a bill to guarantee US arms shipments to Israel. The “Assuring Resupply of Munitions Act of 2024” would prevent the Biden administration from obstructing weapons deliveries to the Jewish state until a year after the Israel-Hamas war has concluded.

“I will use a War Powers Resolution to force a showdown in the Senate on Joe Biden’s policy toward Israel,” Cruz tweeted earlier this month. “What he’s doing is obscene. He’s pressuring Israel to defend his Gaza Pier from Hamas while denying Israel the weapons it needs to counter Hamas.”

The post Ted Cruz to Push Resolution Forcing Biden to Abandon Floundering Gaza Humanitarian Aid Pier first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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Israel Receives Shipment of Heavy Bombs Cleared by Trump

US President Donald Trump looks on as he signs an executive order in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, US, Jan. 31, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Carlos Barria

Israel has received a shipment of heavy MK-84 bombs from the United States, after US President Donald Trump lifted a block imposed on the export of the munitions by the administration of predecessor Joe Biden, the defense ministry said on Sunday.

The MK-84 is an unguided 2,000 pound bomb, which can rip through thick concrete and metal, creating a wide blast radius.

The Biden administration declined to clear them for export to Israel out of concern about the impact on densely populated areas of the Gaza Strip.

The Biden administration sent thousands of 2,000-pound bombs to Israel after the Oct. 7, 2023 attack by Palestinian Hamas terrorists from Gaza but later held up one of the shipments. The hold was lifted by Trump last month.

“The munitions shipment that arrived in Israel tonight, released by the Trump Administration, represents a significant asset for the Air Force and the IDF and serves as further evidence of the strong alliance between Israel and the United States,” Defense Minister Israel Katz said late on Saturday.

The shipment arrived after days of concern about whether a fragile ceasefire in Gaza agreed last month would hold, after both sides accused each other of violating the terms of the deal to halt fighting to allow the exchange of hostages held in Gaza for Palestinian prisoners and detainees in Israeli jails.

Washington has announced assistance for Israel worth billions of dollars since the war began.

The post Israel Receives Shipment of Heavy Bombs Cleared by Trump first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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US Mideast Envoy Says Phase Two Gaza Talks to Continue This Week

US President Donald Trump’s Middle East envoy-designate Steve Witkoff gives a speech at the inaugural parade inside Capital One Arena on the inauguration day of Trump’s second presidential term, in Washington, DC, Jan. 20, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Carlos Barria

US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff said on Sunday that talks on phase two of a ceasefire deal between Israel and Palestinian terrorists Hamas would continue this week “at a location to be determined” to figure out how to reach a successful conclusion.

He told Fox News that he had “very productive and constructive” calls on Sunday with Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Qatar’s Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani and Egypt’s director of intelligence.

Witkoff said they spoke about “the sequencing of phase two, setting forth positions on both sides, so we can understand… where we are today, and then continuing talks this week at a location to be determined so that we can figure out how we get to the end of phase two successfully.”

The post US Mideast Envoy Says Phase Two Gaza Talks to Continue This Week first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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Arab States to Reveal 5-Year Plan to Rebuild Gaza: No Hamas or Relocation

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi attends the Arab summit in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, May 31, 2019. Photo: REUTERS/Hamad l Mohammed/File Photo.

i24 NewsArab countries will unveil their plan for the reconstruction of Gaza on February 27 in Cairo. This initiative, developed by the Palestinians and handed over to the Egyptians for implementation, will be presented to the leaders of Jordan, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Qatar. The plan provides for reconstruction over three to five years, without the displacement of the Palestinian population and without Hamas control. The funding, estimated at several hundred million dollars, will come from Gulf countries. The work will be carried out by Egyptian companies, representing a significant source of income for Egypt, which is strongly opposed to any migration of Palestinians out of Gaza. The workforce will consist mainly of local Palestinians.

“The goal is to marginalize Hamas so that it understands that it has lost control of Gaza, and to completely eliminate the terrorist organization’s grip on the population and the territory within 5 years from the start of reconstruction,” a source involved in the plan said.

An independent “Palestinian administration,” separate from the Palestinian Authority but relying on it, will oversee the reconstruction. This power structure is designed to get the approval of Israel and the United States, who refuse direct management by the Palestinian Authority.

Arab countries fear a resurgence of fighting by Israel, which could, in their view, favor US President Donald Trump’s plan to move Palestinians to neighboring countries. The former US president said he wanted to see Jordan, Egypt, and other Arab countries welcome more displaced people from Gaza, so that the war-torn area can be “cleaned up.”

According to analyzed satellite images, approximately 65% of the buildings in Gaza have been destroyed during the war. Experts estimate that reconstruction could take more than a decade and cost several hundred billion dollars.

The post Arab States to Reveal 5-Year Plan to Rebuild Gaza: No Hamas or Relocation first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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