Israel Commemorates One-Year Anniversary of Hamas Attack
“Although the Middle East remains beset with perennial challenges, the region is quieter than it has been for decades,” White House national security advisor Jake Sullivan wrote a year ago for Foreign Affairs. Before the article had even been released, Hamas launched an attack on southern Israel that became the bloodiest day in the history of the Jewish people since the Holocaust and the precursor to a war in the Middle East that has caused the death of thousands.
On the anniversary of the Hamas attack on Israel, militants in Gaza, Yemen, and Lebanon targeted Tel Aviv with rockets and missiles, as Israel reportedly plans retaliation against Iran for their attack into Israel last week.
On Monday, as Israel commemorated the one-year anniversary of the attack by Hamas, CBS previewed a much-anticipated “60 Minutes” episode with Vice-President Harris. Correspondent Bill Whitaker asked Harris about the administration’s relationship with Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel’s prime minister. Critics were surprised at her answer, which was seen as overly critical of the prime minister. Critics were further dismayed that in the final edit of the program, CBS cut out Harris’s original answer to the question and replaced it with something she said later on that represented a completely different answer from what she had originally given.
Trump Returns to Butler
Just 84 days after a bullet from an AR-15 grazed the ear of former President Trump and cut short his rally in Butler County, PA, he returned with a crowd of over 100,000, possibly the biggest crowd he has had all year. "We love Pennsylvania! And as I was saying .... ," Trump began in dramatic fashion, turning and pointing to the immigration chart he has repeatedly said God used to save his life. He said that he had returned “by the hand of providence and the grace of God” and that he would not ever bend or break “even in the face of death itself.”
Shawn McCreesh of The New York Times described the rally as “a religious event,” with times of prayer, performances by opera singer Christopher Macchio of “Ave Maria” and Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah,” and a tribute to Corey Comperatore, the Trump supporter who was killed at the July rally.
Lee Greenwood appeared on stage and performed “God Bless the USA,” Trump’s favorite rally walk-in song. And a giddy Elon Musk attended, literally jumping for joy on the stage, and speaking for the first time at a Trump rally.
“We fought together. We have endured together. We have pushed onward together,” Trump said. “And right here in Pennsylvania, we have bled together.”
Other News:
- Milton Soaks Tampa Bay: This year’s hurricane season has been particularly rough on the Southeast U.S. Cleanup and recovery are still underway from hurricane Helene, with still nearly 100,000 without power, and untold numbers without homes and businesses. On the heels of Helene’s destruction, hurricane Isaac petered off into a tropical storm. Kirk produced torrential rain in southern France. Then Wednesday morning hurricane Milton made landfall on the Florida coast as a Category 3, with winds over 100 mph, leaving 3 million without power in the Tampa Bay Area. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis said the storm caused significant damage, but thankfully was not “the worst-case scenario” of catastrophic devastation that many feared.
- Tim Walz Calls for an End to the Electoral College: During a campaign event Tuesday night, Democrat VP candidate Tim Walz told attendees, “I think all of us know that the Electoral College needs to go,” in favor of settling presidential elections by the national popular vote. During a subsequent “Good Morning America” appearance, Walz appeared to double down on this position while giving a disclaimer that his view does not represent the campaign’s position.
- REPORT—More Than 5,700 Minors Received Sex-Change Surgeries from 2019-2023: According to Fox News, “Do No Harm,” a national advocacy group of medical professionals against “woke” hospital agendas, shared the database, called “Does My Hospital Transition Kids?” with Fox News Digital this week. In total, the group conservatively identified 5,747 minor patients who received sex-change surgery and 13,994 who received some sort of gender-reassignment treatment between 2019 and 2023. The data, de-identified to meet HIPAA compliance rules, shows nearly $120 million total in charges for treatments like sex change surgeries and hormone blockers.
