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US Pressures Egypt to Reopen Rafah Aid Crossing After It Halts Humanitarian Deliveries
Egyptian trucks carrying humanitarian aid make their way to the Gaza Strip, amid the ongoing conflict in Gaza between Israel and Hamas, at the Kerem Shalom crossing in southern Israel, May 30, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Amir Cohen
The US is hosting a trilateral meeting between itself, Israel, and Egypt next week to pressure the Egyptian government to reopen the Rafah crossing to humanitarian aid.
Egypt closed the crossing — which is on the border between Egypt and Gaza — on May 7, when the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) took control of its Gaza side. Egypt said it would not reopen the crossing until the Palestinians controlled it again.
The reason for Egypt’s closure is that it did not want to be perceived as helping the IDF with its military offensive in Rafah, the southernmost Gaza city and the Hamas terror group’s last major stronghold in the Palestinian enclave.
But that has meant no humanitarian aid has been able to get into Gaza from Egypt through the crossing since the closure. On Sunday, Egypt resumed deliveries from the Kerem Shalom crossing it jointly has with Israel.
The US will have a meeting with Israel and Egypt next week to discuss reopening the Rafah crossing, according to Axios. US President Joe Biden reportedly told Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi that if the delivery of aid trucks wasn’t resumed, the US would publicly criticize Egypt for it.
Since the Israel-Hamas war began on Oct. 7 of last year, the US has viewed Egypt as a crucial partner for negotiating hostage and ceasefire deals and the “day after,” when the fighting ends.
But the move to close the Rafah crossing, a key route for humanitarian aid into Gaza, has conflicted with Biden’s goal of increasing the amount of aid given to Palestinian civilians. Biden administration officials have harshly criticized Israel for in their view not doing enough to allow aid to be delivered to the Hamas-ruled enclave, but has not spoken out against Egypt’s actions.
Axios noted that, during a call in the lead-up to next week’s meeting, Sisi agreed to Biden’s request to resume the flow of aid trucks into Gaza through Israel.
When it opens, Israeli troops will leave the crossing, and an international body or, temporarily, Palestinians unaffiliated with Hamas will control it, according to a report in the Times of Israel.
The Egypt-Gaza border has become a significant point of contention since Israel took it over earlier this month. On Monday, Egyptian soldiers opened fire on the IDF, who then returned fire and killed two Egyptian troops. Egypt has, at times, threatened to pull out of its peace agreement with Israel if tensions continue to escalate and if Israel encroaches on Egypt in certain ways.
There have also been significant issues with delivering aid to Palestinians throughout the war. Israeli estimates suggest approximately 60 percent of the aid that has gone into Gaza has been stolen — either by Hamas or other groups and individuals. Oftentimes, that aid is then sold to the population at high prices, making it difficult to impossible for most Gazans to gain access to it.
According to Ehud Yaari, an expert at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, Hamas has made more than $500 million in profit from selling humanitarian aid since Oct. 7.
The post US Pressures Egypt to Reopen Rafah Aid Crossing After It Halts Humanitarian Deliveries first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Noa Tishby Releases Free Passover Cookbook in Collaboration With Jewish Chefs, Social Media Food Influencers
Ben Soffer and Noa Tishby holding up plates of kosher-for-Passover BBQ potato chip-crusted chicken with pickled coleslaw and ranch dressing. Photo: YouTube screenshot
Israeli actress, author, and activist Noa Tishby released a mini cookbook for Passover on Wednesday that features seven recipes from Jewish chefs and social media food influencers ahead of the Jewish holiday that begins this weekend.
Tishby’s cookbook includes recipes for breakfast foods, soups, main dishes, snacks, and desserts. The two-time New York Times best-selling author, who is also Israel’s former special envoy for combating antisemitism, teamed up with Jewish foodies who include cookbook authors Jake Cohen and Eitan Bernath, celebrity private chef Brooke Baevsky, who goes by the Instagram handle Chef Bae, and recipe developer Sivan from Sivan’s Kitchen.
Ben Soffer, better known by his social media handle BoyWithNoJob, shares the recipe for his barbecue potato chip-crusted chicken with pickled coleslaw and homemade ranch dressing, while chef, cookbook author, and restauranteur Beejhy Barhany gives step-by-step directions of how to make Ethiopian, gluten-free matzah. Writer and producer-turned-food-traveler Phil Rosenthal, from the Netflix docuseries “Somebody Feed Phil,” also joins Tishby and her sister as the three of them make Tishby’s “favorite childhood matzah cake.”
Tishby is privately messaging Instagram users a link for the free Passover cookbook after they comment “Passover” on her posts about the various recipes. She filmed videos with each recipe developer, as they cooked together dishes from the book, and she is now sharing those clips on her Instagram page and YouTube. She posted on Thursday a video of her cooking with Soffer, and he talks about a childhood memory of never finding the afikomen on Passover, as well as what he loves the most about the Jewish holiday.
The post Noa Tishby Releases Free Passover Cookbook in Collaboration With Jewish Chefs, Social Media Food Influencers first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Iran Says External Threats Could Lead It to Suspend Cooperation With UN Nuclear Watchdog
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Grossi meets with Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi in Tehran, Iran, Nov. 14, 2024. Photo: Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS
Iran may suspend cooperation with the UN nuclear watchdog if external threats continue, an adviser to Iran’s supreme leader said on Thursday, after US President Donald Trump again warned of military force if Tehran does not agree to a nuclear deal.
Iranian and American diplomats will visit Oman on Saturday to start dialogue on Tehran’s nuclear program, with Trump saying he would have the final word on whether talks are reaching a breakdown, which would put Iran in “great danger.”
“Continued external threats and putting Iran under the conditions of a military attack could lead to deterrent measures like the expulsion of IAEA inspectors and ceasing cooperation with it,” Ali Shamkhani, an adviser to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, published on X, referring to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
“Transferring enriched material to safe and undisclosed locations in Iran could also be on the agenda,” he wrote.
While the US insists that the talks with Tehran will be direct, Iran has stressed the negotiations will be indirect with intermediation from Oman’s foreign minister.
During his first 2017-2021 term, Trump withdrew the US from a 2015 deal between Iran and world powers designed to curb Iran‘s sensitive nuclear work in exchange for sanctions relief. Trump also reimposed sweeping US sanctions.
Since then, Iran has far surpassed that deal’s limits on uranium enrichment, according to the IAEA.
Western powers accuse Iran of having a clandestine agenda to develop nuclear weapons capability by enriching uranium to a high level of fissile purity, above what they say is justifiable for a civilian atomic energy program.
Tehran says its nuclear program is wholly for civilian energy purposes.
The post Iran Says External Threats Could Lead It to Suspend Cooperation With UN Nuclear Watchdog first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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US Immigration Agency to Monitor Social Media for Antisemitism When Approving ‘Permanent Resident Status’
Prisoners stand looking out from their cell as Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem speaks while touring the Terrorist Confinement Center, in Tecoluca, El Salvador, March 26, 2025. Photo: Alex Brandon/Pool via REUTERS
US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced on Wednesday that it will monitor social media platforms for antisemitic speech and conduct as a basis for denying permanent residency status and immigration benefits.
The agency announced that the new policy is set to take effect immediately and will be applicable to both green card applicants and international students.
USCIS will specifically search for expressions of support for terrorist organizations such as Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, Hezbollah, and the Houthis — all of which regularly call for the killing of Jews and the destruction of Israel. Social media posts that reflect, promote, or endorse “antisemitic activity” will be considered in the discretionary evaluation process for immigration benefits.
US Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has emphasized issuing punishment and deportation for non-citizens who support antisemitic violence and terrorism, according to Department of Homeland Security (DHS) spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin.
“The United States has no tolerance for those who sympathize with terrorists from around the globe, and we are not required to allow them entry or permit them to remain in our country,” McLaughlin stated.
“Secretary Noem has made it clear that anyone who thinks they can come to America and hide behind the First Amendment to advocate for antisemitic violence and terrorism – think again. You are not welcome here,” McLaughlin added.
In addition, the agency says that it will consider social media posts it deems as “endorsing, espousing, promoting, or supporting” antisemitic conduct or terrorist organizations.
In the months following the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023, massacre across southern Israel, universities in the US have emerged as hubs of anti-Israel activism. Last spring, anti-Israel students and faculty erected so-called “Gaza solidarity encampments,” occupying sections of campus and refusing to leave unless the school agreed to a boycott of Israel. Many Jewish students have reported incidents of bullying and exclusion because of their religious identity and support for Israel during the protests.
During his 2024 presidential campaign, US President Donald Trump vowed to deport non-citizens who express support for Hamas and other antisemitic organizations. He has also promised not to import refugees from “terror-infested” parts of the world, deeming them hotbeds of antisemitism and anti-American sentiment.
“We will deport the foreign jihad sympathizers, and we will deport them very quickly. And Hamas supporters will be gone,” Trump said. “If you hate America, if you want to eliminate Israel, then we don’t want you in our country. We really don’t want you in our country.”
Nico Perrino, executive vice president of the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, condemned the new directive from the Trump administration.
“Surveillance of protected speech shows the Trump administration is trading the country’s commitment to free and open discourse for fear and silence,” Perrinon said. “Unfortunately, that chill appears to be the administration’s aim.”
During his initial months in the White House, Trump. has issued a series of directives aimed at reining in antisemitic conduct. The White House has withheld federal funds from universities that it claims have failed to protect Jewish students from discrimination. In addition, the White House has moved to deport non-citizens who have participated in anti-Israel demonstrations or spread antisemitic rhetoric.
According to recent polling data from Harvard-Harris, most Americans, 63 percent, believe that the Trump administration should “deport” foreign students who “voice support” for terrorist groups like Hamas, while a slightly higher 67 percent want such deportations for non-citizens on campuses who “actively support” such terrorist groups.
The post US Immigration Agency to Monitor Social Media for Antisemitism When Approving ‘Permanent Resident Status’ first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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