Israel has repeatedly bombed Damascus, claiming to be protecting the Druze minority.
As part of a string of cross-border attacks that have pinned the area, Israeli warplanes have struck Damascus.
Israel claims that the Druze minority in Suwayda, in the southern city, is the target of the attacks.
However, Ahmed al-Sharaa, the president of Syria, warns that Israel is attempting to cause conflict and division within the Syrian population for its own gain.
He has ordered the government’s withdrawal from Suwayda and promised to protect the Druze community as part of a ceasefire reached with Druze religious leaders.
But how will Syria’s future be affected by Israel’s intervention?
Presenter: Adrian Finighan
Guests:
Author of Lords of the Land: The War for Israel’s Settlements in the Occupied Territories, 1967-2007: Akiva Eldar
Gamal Mansour, a lecturer and political scientist at Toronto University.
Hani Hammad, 18, was never anticipated that his daily search for flour would lead to him suffocating and being trampled.
He and his seven siblings have been displaced from Rafah and are now living in a tent in the al-Mawasi area of southern Gaza’s Khan Younis, where he has been heading to a food distribution point run by the much-criticized, United States-backed GHF.
“We left at dawn and sat among the gathered crowds.” People rushed forward after US staff and Israeli army signaled to open the gate about 5am, Hani told Al Jazeera.
After arriving at Nasser Hospital gasping and barely conscious, he said, “The gate was open, but people were packed into a very narrow corridor leading to it.
“I had a difficult time joining the crowd.” People began to flee through the corridor as a result of American guards spraying pepper spray and firing gas bombs, he continued.
After a stampede near a controversial GHF site, Hani Hamad was taken unconscious to Nasser Hospital.
I fell asleep. My face was trampled by them.
I was in agony, like I was going to die. I was unable to move forward or backward. I fell asleep. My face and side were trampled. I couldn’t be pulled out by anyone. But “God gave me another chance,” Hani remarked.
He was taken unconscious to Khan Younis’ Nasser Hospital on a tuk-tuk and then placed next to the bodies of several people who had died, some from suffocation and others from bullet wounds.
“I couldn’t see or hear because I was unconscious.” I snuck in and out. I was positioned next to the deceased. I assumed I was one of them.
21 Palestinians died early on Wednesday while attempting to collect food aid, of which 15 were suffocated.
In western Khan Younis, an incident occurred close to a gate managed by the GHF. More than a dozen people were reportedly injured, some of whom are still in intensive care.
Hani is the oldest of eight siblings who reside close to their uncle’s tent. Their parents are still in Jordan after visiting them for medical care a month before the war broke out.
“I feel a lot of burden,” I thought. Without our parents’ assistance or their support, he claimed, “we’ve endured the pressures of displacement and war.”
He adds, “Our intense hunger pushes me every day,” despite acknowledging that waiting for aid from the GHF poses a significant daily risk.
There is “no other choice,” the statement read. I am unable to purchase the excessively priced goods on the market. The young man says, “My only option is to try my luck with aid distributions.”
“Every time is a near-death experience,” says one author. Gunfire, tanks, drones, and attacks are all present. What kind of aid distribution is this? We are truly and truly exhausted.
“We’re shot like animals,” the saying goes.
After the stampede, Mohammed Abedin suffered a broken leg. [Abdullah Attar/Al Jazeera]
After visiting the same aid facility in Khan Younis early on Wednesday, Mohammed Abedin, 24, now sleeps in a hospital bed with a leg wound.
He claims that after sensing the danger of the crowd surge, he made the decision to turn back for the first time.
The young man, a first-year student majoring in accounting, arrived at the distribution center at around 3 a.m. (GMT), but he noticed that things had changed. Prior to reopening, the same location had been closed for two days.
“We used to enter through a number of access points, and the entryway was large.” We were instead sucked into a long, narrow corridor, he claims, filled with metal.
“Everyone rushed forward as the gates opened, and people started to fall.”
As American guards and quadcopters above fired pepper spray and gas bombs, Mohammed described a harrowing scene of people screaming and gasping for help as they were crushed against the metal barriers.
“I was watching my cousin as I stood near her. Because of the overwhelming numbers, we made a decision to avoid entering. I witnessed young people screaming, choking, and trapped youth. No one was able to go back or forward.
He claims that the fenced corridor, where gas bombs were poured down and people were shoved through, turned into a death trap.
Mohammed and his cousin attempted to leave, but a quadcoptor shot him in the leg just as he believed he had made the right decision. His cousin also suffered injuries.
“Quantum captors, tanks, or soldiers are constantly firing at random throughout the area.” He claimed that I had the unfortunate experience this time. “But I survived, thank God.”
Mohammed examines the tragic circumstance in which Palestinians who are forced to risk their lives to obtain food are caught between starvation and death. He pays for the nine members of his displaced family, who are currently residing in al-Mawasi.
“We have bread in our dreams every day. I almost always go to the doctor and usually leave empty-handed. However, the days I brought home just a few kilograms of flour resembled “an eid” [a celebration] for my family.
Given that Israel has blocked humanitarian and commercial goods and Gaza has been under siege for four months, the borders have been sealed, and fleeing is Mohammed’s top priority, especially with flour.
“Bread is what puts me at risk of dying.” He waited for surgery at Nasser Hospital to remove a bullet from his leg, saying, “There is no other choice.” Has there been no reliable means of providing aid delivery?
There are no organized relief, police, or UN interventions, the statement goes. We are viciously attacked like animals. If hunger and stampedes are not the only causes of death, we will also perish.
Following an Israeli-imposed nearly-total blockade, which is still in place and has impeded the entry of humanitarian supplies, the GHF began its aid distribution efforts in Gaza in late May 2025.
At least 798 Palestinians have died since then in an effort to reach or receive aid from the organization’s distribution points, according to UN statistics.
UN organizations and human rights organizations have voiced widespread opposition to the operation’s political and human rights violations. The UN’s assertions that the GHF’s operations are inherently unsafe and violate humanitarian neutrality are highlighted by the hundreds of fatalities reported at their sites.
Either we bring flour back, or we don’t even bring it back.
According to Ziad Masad Mansour, “more than 20 people died for a bag of flour.”
Another frequent visitor to the aid lines is Ziad Masad Mansour, 43, who moved from central Gaza to al-Mawasi in Khan Younis with his wife and six children after their home was destroyed during the war.
“I go there at ten in the morning and spend the rest of my days there.” Mansour, who was struck in the head on Wednesday, remarked, “We endure the dust and humiliation.”
“Sometimes I get some cans of flour.” I do it occasionally with nothing. In exchange for some food, I even assist others in carrying their bags.
“Yesterday, the narrow corridor was filled with gas bombs and bullets, and we were crowded into a horrifying crowd. When I was shot in the head and lost consciousness while attempting to escape the crush, I was unconscious.
Three bills relating to cryptocurrency have been passed by the US House of Representatives, one of which is sent to US President Donald Trump and the other two to the US Senate.
The Republican-controlled chamber’s votes come as part of the Trump administration’s wider campaign to declare the United States the “crypto capital of the world” (crypto week) in the president’s lexicon.
Concerns that the largely unregulated crypto industry may be used to cover up corruption and foreign influence have also been raised by Trump and his family.
The GENIUS Act is the name of the bill that will directly benefit Trump. It establishes consumer protections and initial security for a cryptocurrency known as stablecoins, which are tied to “stable” assets like the US dollar to lessen volatility.
During the debate on Thursday, House Financial Services Chair French Hill stated that the bill will “secure American competitiveness and strong guardrails for our consumers.”
Payment systems are experiencing a revolution, he said, “all over the world.”
The bill was approved by the Senate and the House, which passed it by a 308-122 vote. In both chambers, it won bipartisan support.
A new cryptocurrency market structure would be created by a second bill. It was defeated by a slimmer margin of 294 to 134, and it will now have to go to the Senate to be revised.
The legislation seeks to clarify how digital assets are regulated, most notably by defining which cryptocurrency types should be treated as commodities that the Commodity Futures Trading Commission regulates and which are securities-policed by the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Securities, like stocks and bonds, typically refer to partial ownership of an asset, while commodities are typically regarded as goods that can be traded or sold.
A third bill, which was defeated by a narrow margin of 219 to 210, would essentially ban the US from offering a “central bank digital currency,” or “digital cash” in its purest form. Additionally, it will enter the Senate.
Trump’s crypto-related interests
Since 2009, the popularity of cryptocurrencies, which are unmoored from any central government authority, has soared.
However, experts claim that ambiguous laws have prevented US operations. Advocates have claimed that the bills that were passed on Thursday could encourage more widespread adoption.
Democrats who were critical of the GENIUS bill continued to criticize Republicans for passing the legislation without addressing Trump’s and upcoming presidents’ cryptocurrency interests.
For instance, a provision of the bill prohibits members of Congress and their immediate families from obtaining stablecoins. The president and his family are not subject to that prohibition.
Trump’s family owns a sizable stake in World Liberty Financial, a crypto project that just launched its own stablecoin, USD1. According to a public financial disclosure made in June, Trump claimed to have made $57.35 million in token sales for World Liberty Financial in 2024.
Although the profits are split between several investors, a meme coin that he coined has also generated an estimated $ 320 million in fees.
In the midst of the flurry of votes on Thursday, Representative Maxine Waters, the top Democrat on the House Financial Services panel, said, “No one should be surprised that these same Republicans’ next order of business is to validate, legitimise, and endorse the Trump family’s corruption and efforts to sell the White House to the highest bidder.”
Trump has also suggested creating a “national reserve” for cryptocurrency since taking office, and he has suspended Department of Justice investigations involving the subject.
Some Democrats also criticized the GENIUS bill for creating an “overly weak” regulatory framework that could put long-term financial risks.
After the country was shook by deadly protests last month, Togo has voted in municipal elections despite reports of voter apathy.
On Thursday, Lome, the capital of Togo, had largely deserted polling stations. Following the protests in June that threatened to end Faure Gnassingbe’s rule for the rest of his life, the low turnout resulted in the protests.
Seven marchers’ bodies were found by activists in the capital’s rivers, where they were later blamed on the police, according to rights groups.
Edem Adjaklo, a voter in the Gakli neighborhood, told The Associated Press that “people are afraid of being attacked by protesters for legitimizing these elections” or “of being dispersed by security forces.”
They believe that voting is pointless because the outcomes are predetermined and always the same.
A large police and military presence at major intersections reportedly increased the sense of unease in Lome.
The streets of the seaside capital were quiet on Thursday despite a call for demonstrations against Gnassingbe.
Gnassingbe has ruled the nation since 2005, following the passing of his father and Gnassingbe Eyadema, the country’s president.
The country’s presidential system was replaced by a parliamentary one thanks to the constitutional reforms, which were approved by a parliament led by Gnassingbe’s Union pour le Republic (UNIR).
Gnassingbe was appointed president of the Council of Ministers two months ago, effectively serving as prime minister, a position that had no formal term limits, which would allow him to be re-elected indefinitely.
It was referred to as a “constitutional coup” by critics.
The elections, which were the first national vote organized since the constitutional reform, were being demanded by diaspora-based social media influencers and civil society organizations.
Popular rapper TikToker Tchala Essowe Narcisse, also known as Aamron, was detained for publishing a video in which he demanded protests to honor the president’s birthday on June 6. This year’s wave of protests came to an end.
The economy’s state, the prevalence of unemployment, and the government’s criticism of the government had also been roiling.
Since the 2017 and 2018 protests, which saw thousands of protesters taking to the streets in demonstrations tagged “Faure Must Go” and “Togo stands up,” public demonstrations have been prohibited in the nation.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sent a video message to the Druze minority in his country on Wednesday afternoon. He urged them to avoid entering Suwayda to fight local Bedouin and government forces, and to avoid entering the southwest of Syria.
Yet as Netanyahu made the statement, his own forces were bombing Damascus, hitting the country’s Ministry of Defense, and injuring at least three people.
Netanyahu asserted that he had used Israel’s military might to defend the Druze.
The principal architect of the 2018 nation-state law, which has been widely criticized for marginalizing the Druze and other minorities, said, “My brothers, the Druze citizens of Israel, the situation in Suweyda in southwestern Syria is very serious.” He assured them, referring to the Syrian government, that “we are acting to save our Druze brothers and to put an end to the gangs of the regime.”
Druze in Israel
In Suweyda, there have long-standing sectarian tensions between the Druze and the local Bedouins. Meanwhile, Israel’s repeated threats against the presence of the Syrian military close to its border have stymied attempts by the newly formed Syrian government, which came into power in December after the fall of long-standing dictator Bashar al-Assad.
In Syria, there are roughly 700,000 Druze. Another 150, 000 Druze reside in Israel, where many, at least prior to the law enacted in 2018, believed they were bound by a “blood covenant” with their Jewish neighbors since 1948 and the founding of Israel, at the expense of the Nakba’s ethnic cleansing population. The majority of people still support the Israeli state, where they are enlisted in the military, despite the fact that some people now perceive themselves as “second-class” citizens.
Rami Zeedan, an associate professor at the University of Kansas and the author of Druze Studies Journal, said, “The Israeli Druze view themselves as Druze, as Israelis, and as Arabs.”
The perception that both Jews and Druze are persecuted minorities contributes, he said. The Israeli Druze believe they still stand to gain a lot more from Israel than any other imaginable future. The Druze community’s protection serves as the foundation of this alliance.
He continued, “The Israeli Druze are now trying to use that to pressure the Israeli government to defend fellow Druze in Syria,” and he also cited the justification for Israel’s attacks on Syria, where the Druze community has historically been hostile, even as some leaders become more close to Israel.
Pure opportunism
Israel has historically attacked Syria, even prior to the most recent Druze-related violence to occur in Suwayda.
Israel has invaded and occupied Syria since 1967’s 14-year conflict, excluding the western Golan Heights, which it has occupied since 1967, and has fought with it hundreds of times.
Leading Israeli analysts speculate that the Israeli government’s and its troubled prime minister’s personal and political goals may have been the cause of these recent attacks rather than their concern for the welfare of the Druze.
Former Israeli ambassador and consular general in New York Alon Pinkas told Al Jazeera, “It’s pure opportunism.” In a statement made in reference to another regional ethnic group, he said, “Once again, it’s nice to pretend we’re helping our friends the Druze in the same way we never did our other friends, the Kurds.”
Pinkas identified a number of reasons Israel’s recent strikes on Syria have helped to boost Netanyahu’s newfound self-confidence as a leader of the war, to resuscitate his corruption trial, and to strengthen the “delusion” that Israel has somehow managed to reshape the Middle East through military force alone.
He also said, “He doesn’t want a strong central government led by al-Sharaa,” adding that a unified Syria is possible. He wants a weak central government that deals with the Druze and Bedouin in southern and northern regions that are ruled by the Kurds.
In essence, Israel can pursue its interests in Syria’s southern region if Syria is left unaltered, he continued.
Netanyahu has repeatedly argued that Israel will support only a demilitarized Syria that includes Suwayda and is not associated with Damascus. In effect, this gives Israel a buffer zone, which strengthens the military justification for its actions in Syria.
hollowed out by war
The attacks on Syria also have the additional benefit of sustaining the crisis that has plagued Israeli society and sustained its government through numerous scandals since the Hamas-led attack on October 7, 2023, and the subsequent conflict in Gaza.
Since then, Israel has attacked Syria, Iran, Yemen, and Lebanon.
People don’t seem to care about war anymore; instead, it seems like they do. Israeli political analyst Ori Goldberg described the public’s response to the most recent attacks as “ennui”.
“War is fleeting, but it gives people energy and meaning.” He claimed that the 12-day conflict in June, which sparked global concerns about regional escalation, had been forgotten about by people as well as the Iranian conflict.
According to Goldberg, all the cautions and caveats that would ordinarily come before military action had been replaced by ever-evolving dangers that necessitated new escalations.
He claimed that it was “dangerous.” The Druze are irrelevant to Israelis. There is this worn-out, “OK, dude,” attitude from the beginning; it’s just a new threat, a new front. Let’s do it]attitude] ‘”.
Renowned extreme athlete Felix Baumgartner, most famous for jumping from a record 39 kilometres (24 miles) at the edge of space in the 2012 Red Bull Stratos project, has died in a paragliding accident in Italy on Thursday.
The 56-year-old Austrian crashed his paraglider in Porto Sant’Elpidio, situated on the Italian Adriatic coast, after losing control and plunged into a wooden structure next to a swimming pool of the Le Mimose Family Camping Village, according to Italian media reports.
A female hotel employee was injured by a piece of debris and taken to hospital with neck injuries.
Baumgartner died at the scene of the accident, and investigations into the circumstances of the accident are under way.
Italian media reported that Baumgartner had already lost consciousness in the air.
The city’s mayor, Massimiliano Ciarpella, confirmed Baumgartner’s death in a social media post.
“Our community is deeply affected by the tragic disappearance of Felix Baumgartner, a figure of global prominence, a symbol of courage and passion for extreme flight”, the mayor said.
Just two hours before his deadly crash, he posted on the social media platform Instagram with the foreboding caption “too much wind”.
The famous 2012 jump from the edge of space that propelled Felix Baumgartner to global fame]Handout/Red Bull Content/Pool via Reuters]
From skydiving to the stratosphere
Born in Salzburg, Baumgartner completed his first parachute jump at the age of 16 and later became a parachutist in the Austrian military.
Baumgartner’s reputation as an extreme sports athlete grew exponentially when he turned his hand to the sport of base jumping in the 1990s.
He set a new world record for the highest base jump from a building with his leap from the Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, in 1999. Later that year, he completed a base jump from the famous statue of Christ the Redeemer in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
On July 31, 2003, Baumgartner again made global headlines for his base jumping feats when he became the first person to cross the English Channel in free fall after jumping out of a plane equipped with specially developed wings made of carbon.
But it was Baumgartner’s record-breaking free fall from space in 2012 that shot the Austrian to worldwide fame.
Over the desert of New Mexico, he jumped from a helium balloon almost 39km (24 miles) above the planet and became the first person to break the sound barrier in free fall.
Baumgartner set three world records for his jump: He reached a maximum speed of 1, 357.6 kilometres per hour (834mph), or Mach 1.25, completed the highest jump at 38, 969 metres, and recorded the longest free fall with a length of 36, 402 metres.
His death was confirmed late on Thursday by the energy drink company Red Bull, which sponsored many of Baumgartner’s stunts.
On July 31, 2003, Baumgartner jumps out of a plane above Dover, England, while sporting a carbon fiber wing suit. [Helmut Tucek/AFP]
