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Until Our Last Breath
Israel has murdered Anas Al-Sharif, 28, a steadfast, well-known Al Jazeera correspondent called "the voice of Gaza to the world," in a targeted strike in Gaza City that also killed four other journalists. Long threatened by Israel for his relentless coverage of Israeli atrocities, Al-Sharif vowed to continue "every day and every hour to report what is happening - this is our cause." In a last message, Al-Sharif wrote, "I lived pain in all its details and I tasted loss and grief time and again...Do not forget Gaza."
Al-Sharif was among five Al Jazeera journalists killed in a clearly targeted strike on a tent housing them outside the main gate of al-Shifa Hospital late Sunday. The other victims were Al Jazeera correspondent Mohammed Qreiqeh and camera operators Ibrahim Zaher, Mohammed Noufal and Moamen Aliwa. In his last post before his death, al-Sharif said Israel had launched intense bombing, called "fire belts," on Gaza City; his final video showed the sky lit by orange flashes as loud booms sounded.
Calling Al-Sharif "one of Gaza's bravest journalists" - and one of the most prominent with over half a million followers online - Al Jazeera said he and his colleagues were among the last remaining voices in Gaza "conveying its tragic reality to the world." It accused Israel of waging a “campaign of incitement” against its journalists by repeatedly fabricating evidence seeking to link them to Hamas; in the last 22 months, the Israeli military has killed over 230 journalists, including multiple ones from Al Jazeera.
A U.N. rapporteur had earlier cited Israel's "repeated threats and accusations" against Al-Sharif, arguing, "Fears for (his) safety are well-founded." Last month, Israel claimed it had "unequivocal proof” he was a member of Hamas, and on Sunday they admitted to a deliberate strike against Al-Sharif, "the head of a terrorist cell." Colleagues dismissed the claim as propaganda, with "zero evidence" to support it. Said a colleague of Al-Sharif's: "His entire daily routine was standing in front of a camera from morning to evening."
Other journalists also charge Israel is waging "a deliberate war on journalists" purely for their willingness to risk their lives to document Israel's genocidal crimes, from mass bombardment to mass starvation. “Israel’s strategy is clear: Silence the truth by murdering those who report it," said The Palestine Chronicle's Ramzi Baroud, who mourned having to lose so many journalists solely for their "commitment to the truth." Still, he insisted, "Their deaths will not bury the Palestinian story."
Al-Sharif had earlier written that, "despite all (the) difficulties and tragic circumstances" he and his colleagues had faced over the last brutal year and a half, he held to his belief that "it is the duty of the world to see and witness what we are documenting...This drives us to continue in our coverage to our last breath." Still, he knew death likely awaited. "This is my will and final message," he wrote in April. "If these words reach you, know that Israel has succeeded in killing me and silencing my voice."
"First, peace and God’s mercy and blessings be upon you," he wrote in the translated post published by his family. "God knows I have given all my effort and strength to be a support and a voice for my people since I opened my eyes to life in the alleys and streets of Jabalia Refugee Camp. My hope was that God would grant me life so I could return with my family and loved ones to our original town of Ashkelon (Al-Majdal), now occupied. But God’s will was swifter, and His judgment is inevitable."
Berating "those who remained silent, who accepted our killing," he goes on to entrust those reading "with Palestine, the jewel of the Muslim crown and the heartbeat of every free person in this world...with its people and its innocent children who were not granted a lifetime to dream or live in safety and peace," and with his wife and two children he did not live to see grow. "I die steadfast in my principles," he writes. "Forgive me if I have fallen short, and pray for mercy for me, for I have kept my promise...Do not forget Gaza."
"I lost my voice screaming, 'Massacre, massacre,' hoping that the world takes action. But it is an unjust world." - Anas Jamal Al-Sharif.
Aug 11, 2025
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'Unacceptable': Trump Admin Approves More Exports From LNG Terminal With History of Violations
Climate advocates slammed U.S. President Donald Trump's administration on Tuesday after it signed off on allowing additional liquefied natural gas exports from a controversial terminal with a lengthy history of environmental violations.
In a press release, the U.S. Department of Energy said that Secretary of Energy Chris Wright has now given final authorization for more gas exports from Venture Global's Calcasieu Pass project in Cameron Parish, Louisiana. In total, the new authorizations could allow the export of an additional 20 billion cubic feet of natural gas from the terminal per year.
In touting the authorization, Wright argued that it was "another reminder that this administration is committed to expanding the supply of abundant, affordable, and secure American energy."
The Calcasieu Pass terminal racked up more than 2,000 deviations from its air permit in its first year of operation back in 2022 and has long been a target for environmental and climate activists.
Mahyar Sorour, director of beyond fossil fuels policy at Sierra Club, hammered the administration for supporting policies that would accelerate the global climate emergency.
"It is unacceptable that on the same day Secretary Wright denies climate science, his agency approves more exports from Venture Global's Calcasieu Pass facility," said Sorour. "LNG exports are driving our climate crisis. While communities are experiencing increasingly more dangerous and deadly extreme weather disasters, this administration is pushing an agenda that benefits polluting corporations at all of our expense."
Roishetta Ozane, founder of Vessel Project of Louisiana, warned that the authorizations of new exports posed a direct health threat to her community.
"Venture Global already has countless air permit violations at this facility, polluting my community and making people across the region sick," she said. "But now they've been given a free pass to keep our families in danger with even more LNG exports. This administration is completely disregarding public health, safety, and climate science to boost the profits of a company that cuts corners at every turn, while we pay the price."
Trump has made doubling down on fossil fuels a centerpiece of his administration's energy strategy even as other nations push for a transition to cleaner and cheaper energy sources such as wind and solar power. The massive budget package recently passed by the Republican Congress and signed into law by Trump contained an additional billions of dollars worth of subsidies for fossil fuel production, even as it gutted the green energy subsidies that were approved in 2022 after the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act.
Aug 05, 2025
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Trump DOJ Gives Monopolist UnitedHealth a Green Light to Swallow Yet Another Competitor
The Trump Justice Department on Thursday paved the way for yet another corporate merger, this time settling a Biden-era legal challenge that aimed to block UnitedHealth Group from adding the home health and hospice care provider Amedisys to its eye-popping list of subsidiaries.
The DOJ's Antitrust Division, which is under siege by lobbyists connected to the White House, said the settlement would require UnitedHealth and Amedisys to "divest 164 home health and hospice locations across 19 states." The deal, which must be approved by a judge, would also require Amedisys to "pay a $1.1 million civil penalty to the United States for falsely certifying that it had provided 'true, correct, and complete' responses under the Hart-Scott-Rodino (HSR) Antitrust Improvements Act of 1976."
The settlement was announced on the same day that Sens. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) launched an investigation into UnitedHealth, specifically probing the company's alleged practice of incentivizing nursing homes to slash patient care costs.
Warren was among those who criticized the UnitedHealth-Amedisys settlement, writing on social media that she "sounded the alarm about UnitedHealth's attempt to purchase this home health giant years ago."
"This is another half-baked merger settlement by the Trump DOJ—this time at the expense of the most vulnerable," Warren added. "The public deserves to know if this deal is based on political favors."
"It claims to divest home health and hospice care providers in overlapping markets but, in actuality, cedes them to similarly conflicted buyers, including a highly leveraged private equity firm."
The settlement came as the Trump Justice Department is under growing scrutiny for terminating or sidelining top antitrust officials and acquiescing to lobbyists fighting DOJ merger lawsuits.
Last week, as Common Dreams reported, the Justice Department dropped an antitrust case against American Express Global Business Travel, a company that has paid Ballard Partners—Attorney General Pam Bondi's former lobbying firm—hundreds of thousands of dollars this year to pressure the DOJ on antitrust matters.
Ballard has also been paid big money this year by UnitedHealth, far and away the most powerful healthcare company in the U.S. According to a recent analysis by the Center for Health and Democracy, UnitedHealth currently has around 2,700 subsidiaries, giving it a foothold in virtually every aspect of the U.S. healthcare system.
The legal challenge against UnitedHealth's proposed $3.3 billion acquisition of Amedisys was brought in November 2024 by the Biden Justice Department alongside the attorneys general of Maryland, Illinois, New Jersey, and New York, each of whom backed the Trump DOJ's settlement.
Upon announcing the challenge, then-Assistant Attorney General Jonathan Kanter—the head of the Biden DOJ's Antitrust Division—warned that "unless this $3.3 billion transaction is stopped, UnitedHealth Group will further extend its grip to home health and hospice care, threatening seniors, their families, and nurses."
Emma Freer, senior policy analyst for healthcare at the American Economic Liberties Project, said in a statement Thursday that "the DOJ was right to challenge this deal, which would eliminate head-to-head competition that lowers costs, improves care quality, and betters working conditions for nurses and other caregivers."
"This settlement abandons that goal and caves to UnitedHealth Group, one of the most dangerous monopolists in American healthcare," said Freer. "It claims to divest home health and hospice care providers in overlapping markets but, in actuality, cedes them to similarly conflicted buyers, including a highly leveraged private equity firm."
"As a result," Freer added, "Big Medicine will profit at the expense of vulnerable hospice patients, some of whom will pay with their lives, and the workers who care for them."
Aug 08, 2025
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'You Cut Our Healthcare!' GOP Lawmaker Drowned in Boos at Combative Town Hall
A California Republican faced a group of angry voters during a town hall in the city of Chico on Monday as constituents pelted him with pointed questions about the recently passed GOP budget package, as well as U.S. President Donald Trump's trade and immigration policies.
As The Sacramento Bee reported, Rep. Doug LaMalfa (R-Calif.) was met with boos right from the start of the meeting when he told the estimated crowd of 650 people that "I think we have a lot to be grateful for" during the first seven months of Trump's second term in office.
After he opened up the floor for questions, LaMalfa heard from several constituents who were furious at the policies being pushed by Trump and his administration.
"If you aren't here to announce your resignation, why aren't you here to apologize to the farmers... because of your support for the Trump tariffs?" asked one constituent, as seen in a video posted on social media.
LaMalfa then elicited more boos when he blew off the constituent's question and asked, "Do you want to actually talk about something productive?"
Holy sh*t!
Watch GOP Rep. Doug LaMalfa get absolutely rocked in his town hall today.
Not only was he booed out of the building, but he also got very condescending with the audience.
This is an R+22 district!#CA01 pic.twitter.com/9Seb9cFcFC
— TrumpsTaxes (@trumpstaxes.com on bsky) (@TrumpsTaxes) August 11, 2025
LaMalfa also received a hostile reaction when he tried to tout the GOP's big budget law that cuts an estimated $1 trillion from Medicaid over the next decade.
At one point, the congressman began a sentence by saying, "The work done on the big bill was..." before he was immediately drowned out with boos.
During this part of the town hall, attendees could be heard shouting things such as" "You cut our healthcare!"; "Healthcare is a human right!"; and "We need a hospital!" When LaMalfa claimed that the cuts to Medicaid would improve services to the people who depend on it, he was met with shouts of, "Liar!"
GOP Rep. Doug LaMalfa held a town hall — and was drowned out by an uproar of boos from constituents.
When he tried to bring up Medicaid a constituent shouted: "YOU CUT OUR HEALTH CARE" pic.twitter.com/9mIq1WJxgY
— More Perfect Union (@MorePerfectUS) August 11, 2025
Another attendee accosted LaMalfa over his support for Trump's mass deportation operation that has led to severe disruptions at farms and construction sites across the country as immigrant workers stay away for fear of being caught up in federal workplace raids.
"My parents were Holocaust survivors," the man began. "I have known what an authoritarian fascist government looks like since I was seven years old... People being kidnapped without arrest warrants, without trial, without recourse by the president of the United States' [Immigration and Customs Enforcement] armies is clear evidence of how a fascist, authoritarian government works. We're not headed toward authoritarian fascist government, we are already there."
The constituent then asked LaMalfa if his name 20 years from now will "be mentioned in the same sentence as Goebbels, Mengele, and Trump?"
During an Aug. 11 town hall in Chico, a constituent compared U.S. immigration enforcement to fascist regimes and questioned whether Rep. Doug LaMalfa’s name would be linked with authoritarian figures.
CHICO TOWN HALL: https://t.co/wSlg4Msun5
READ MORE: https://t.co/myrIz3EoeI pic.twitter.com/yQccjQQckC
— KRCR News Channel 7 (@KRCR7) August 11, 2025
"I predict no," LaMalfa replied, which elicited groans from the crowd.
Aug 12, 2025
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Leaked Drafts Show Trump Administration Scrubbing Out Human Rights Violations of Favored Nations
U.S. President Donald Trump's administration earned condemnation from Amnesty International on Thursday over its leaked plans to downplay human rights violations in countries favored by the American government.
News of the plan was originally reported on Wednesday by The Washington Post, which documented how the administration has been revising State Department reports on human rights in El Salvador, Israel, and Russia to "strike all references to LGBTQ+ individuals or crimes against them." The Post also added that "the descriptions of government abuses that do remain have been softened."
In the case of El Salvador, where the administration earlier this year began lawlessly shipping immigrants deported from the United States, the administration's report stated that were "no credible reports of significant human rights abuses" there, even though a State Department report under former President Joe Biden's administration issued last year documented "significant human rights issues" in the country.
Human rights violations against LGBTQ+ people were deleted from the State Department's report on Russia, while the report on Israel deleted references to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's corruption trial and to his government's threats to the country's independent judiciary.
Amanda Klasing, Amnesty International USA's national director of government relations and advocacy, ripped the administration for selectively whitewashing human rights records of nations favored by the president.
"The leaked chapters of the latest Annual Human Rights Report reveal a disturbing effort by the Trump administration to purposefully fail to fully capture the alarming and growing attacks on human rights in certain countries around the globe," she said. "Alarmingly, we understand that the mandate from Secretary Rubio was... to go back and wipe out portions of the reports that had already been written—to delete stories from survivors of human rights violations."
Klasing went on to accuse the administration of turning the human rights report "into yet another tool to obscure facts to push forward anti-rights policy choices."
She also emphasized that "it would be a travesty and subversion of congressional intent to downplay or ignore human rights violations faced by marginalized populations including refugees and asylum seekers, women and girls, Indigenous people, ethnic and religious minorities, and LGBTQI+ people throughout the world."
An unnamed State Department official this week told the Post that the administration was merely simplifying the human rights reports to make them more "readable."
"The 2024 Human Rights report has been restructured in a way that removes redundancies, increases report readability, and is more responsive to the legislative mandate that underpins the report," the official said. "The human rights report focuses on core issues."
Aug 08, 2025
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'Blatant and Premeditated Attack on Press Freedom': Israel Assassinates Five Gaza Journalists
The Israeli military on Sunday killed five Al Jazeera journalists with an airstrike on a press tent in Gaza City, a massacre that the media network decried as "yet another blatant and premeditated attack on press freedom."
Reporters Anas al-Sharif and Mohammed Qreiqeh and camera operators Ibrahim Zaher, Mohammed Noufal, and Moamen Aliwa were killed in the Israeli strike. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said in a statement that it was intentionally targeting al-Sharif, claiming he was "the head of a Hamas terrorist cell."
Press freedom organizations, United Nations experts, and human rights groups have denounced such assertions as part of a smear campaign aimed at justifying al-Sharif's assassination. Last month, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) said it was "gravely worried" about al-Sharif's safety, noting that the IDF ramped up its false attacks after "the journalist cried on air while reporting on starvation in Gaza."
CPJ regional director Sara Qudah said in a statement Sunday that "Israel's pattern of labeling journalists as militants without providing credible evidence raises serious questions about its intent and respect for press freedom."
"Journalists are civilians and must never be targeted," said Qudah. "Those responsible for these killings must be held accountable."
The Al Jazeera Media Network said the five journalists killed by the Israeli military on Sunday "boldly and courageously documented the plight of Gaza and its people since the onset of the war." They are among at least 10 Al Jazeera staff members who have been killed by Israeli forces since October 2023.
"Anas and his colleagues were among the last remaining voices from within Gaza, providing the world with unfiltered, on-the-ground coverage of the devastating realities endured by its people," the network continued. "Through continuous, courageous live coverage, they have delivered searing eyewitness accounts of the horrors unleashed over 22 months of relentless bombing and destruction."
Slain Al Jazeera correspondent Anas al-Sharif reported near a hospital in Gaza City on October 10, 2024. (Photo: AFP via Getty Images)
The Israeli government has barred the foreign press from entering the Gaza Strip, leaving Palestinian journalists with the immense burden of covering the assault while also struggling for their own survival.
CPJ estimates that more than 180 journalists have been killed since Israel's assault on Gaza began following the Hamas-led attack of October 7, 2023. The Palestinian Journalists Syndicate puts the figure higher, at 230.
Palestinian journalists are also among those facing the growing threat of starvation under Israel's suffocating blockade.
Mohamed Duar, Amnesty International Australia's occupied Palestinian territory spokesperson, said Sunday that "Israel isn't just assassinating journalists but attacking journalism itself by preventing the documentation of genocide."
“The courageous and brave journalists who have been reporting since the genocide began have been operating in the most dangerous conditions on Earth," said Duar. "At great risk to their lives, they have remained to show the world the war crimes being committed by Israel against almost two million Palestinian women, men, and children."
Aug 11, 2025
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'Just Tell Us What You Believe': Buttigieg Torched Over Non-Answer on Israel-Palestine
One critic said Buttigieg's description of Israel's genocide in Gaza as "complicated" is "disqualifying... both as a politician and a human being."
Aug 12, 2025
Pete Buttigieg, one of the top contenders for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2028, is facing a bevy of criticism, including from his supporters, after he gave a largely incoherent answer about his preferred policy towards Israel and Palestine.
Over the past several weeks, the genocidal nature of Israel's actions in the Gaza Strip has become undeniable to much of the world. Israeli leaders have openly discussed the goal of clearing the strip of Palestinians and, to that end, have inflicted a punishing blockade that has resulted in mass starvation.
Though official estimates from the Gaza Health Ministry put the death count around 60,000, many expert analyses have found that it will have likely eclipsed 100,000 or potentially 200,000 once all indirect deaths from disease and starvation are accounted for.
In an interview on Pod Save America, the former South Bend mayor and Biden transportation secretary was asked if he would support efforts backed by a majority of Senate Democrats to halt weapons sales to Israel.
Buttigieg began by acknowledging that taxpayer money should not be going to "things that shock the conscience," adding that "we see images every day that shock the conscience" out of Gaza.
"So much of this is complicated," he continued. "But what's not complicated is that if a child is starving because of a choice made by a government, that is unconscionable."
After this brief acknowledgment, however, Buttigieg proceeded to give an answer that Gal Debored of the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft called "a beautiful example of sounding like you care about genocide while actually saying nothing at all."
Buttigieg spent the bulk of his time discussing how Israelis were being affected.
He discussed the necessity of "including the voices of those who care about Israel, who believe in Israel's right to exist, who have stood with Israel in response to the unbelievable cruelty and terrorism of October 7th."
He said what was happening in Gaza was a "catastrophe for Israel in the long run," before describing the United States as "Israel's strongest ally and friend."
"You put your arm around your friend when there's something like this going on," he said, "and talk about what we're prepared to do together."
William Lafi Youmans, a professor at the George Washington School of Media and Public Affairs, described this as rhetorically identical to former U.S. President Joe Biden's approach to Israel.
"Biden wanted to 'bear hug' Israel to constrain it via friendship," he said, noting that it "ended in genocide."
When asked whether he'd support recognizing a Palestinian state, Buttigieg said it was "a profound question that arouses a lot of the biggest problems that have happened with Israel's survival."
Zeteo founder Mehdi Hasan responded: "Answer the fricking question."
Buttigieg later seemed to contradict his previous statement, saying he'd support a "two-state solution" to end the conflict.
J.P. Hill, the author of the Substack newsletter New Means, called out Buttigieg's unwillingness to take a clear stance.
"Pete Buttigieg talking about Palestine," Hill said, "is what happens when someone who wants to perfectly triangulate a middle position on every issue runs into an issue where [there] is no middle ground for him to hide in."
Even Ben Rhodes, a foreign policy official for former President Barack Obama and a co-host on the Democrat-friendly network that produces Pod Save America, was left bewildered.
"Pete is a smart guy and I admire a lot of what he's done," Rhodes said on X. "But I have absolutely no idea what he thinks based on these answers. Just tell us what you believe."
These outraged comments reflect a now overwhelming dissatisfaction among Democratic voters with the party's near-unwavering devotion to Israel. In a July Gallup poll, just 33% of them described themselves as having a favorable view of Israel.
While Buttigieg continues to find himself on the wrong side of that increasingly yawning chasm of public opinion, other Democrats have become much more willing to call for swift action to be taken to constrain Israel.
Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.), another potential 2028 candidate who introduced a resolution calling for the U.S. to recognize Palestinian statehood and urged his fellow Democrats to support a bill that would block weapons to Israel, also denounced Buttigieg's feckless response.
"I respect Pete. But we need moral clarity," Khanna wrote on X. "[President Donald] Trump AND Biden disastrously failed on Gaza, and we need a new human rights-centered vision."
Texas Senate Passes Political Map Rigged for Trump as Abbott Threatens Second Session
"This mid-decade redistricting isn't about fair representation—it's about politicians picking their voters instead of voters choosing their leaders," said the Texas Senate Democratic Caucus.
Aug 12, 2025
Despite a walkout by most Democrats in the Texas Senate on Tuesday, the chamber's 19 Republicans voted to approve a new congressional map that favors the GOP, which they aim to force through at President Donald Trump's request.
The gerrymandering battle has drawn national attention, as many Democrats in the Texas House of Representatives have fled the state to block the map from advancing, and Democratic governors have not only welcomed those legislators but also threatened to redraw their maps to counter the effort to hand Republicans five more congressional seats in the Lone Star State.
On Tuesday, nine Democrats walked out of the Senate, while Democratic Sens. Judith Zaffrini (21) and Juan "Chuy" Hinojosa (20) stayed and voted against the redistricting legislation, S.B. 4. The Houston Chronicle reported that the pair did not respond to requests for comment, but both represent South Texas, where "Trump made major gains in the last election."
In a lengthy statement about the Legislature's current special session and Tuesday's walkout, the Texas Senate Democratic Caucus stressed that families impacted by last month's deadly flooding "cannot afford more delays."
Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott "has the power to move relief funds to survivors immediately using the same emergency budget authority he's used many times—for his border wall, school safety, and even to restore the Legislature's own funding," the Democrats noted. "But now, he's tying the passage of urgently needed relief to an unconstitutional redistricting plan."
"This mid-decade redistricting isn't about fair representation—it's about politicians picking their voters instead of voters choosing their leaders," the caucus continued, warning of future efforts to rig maps for the Republican Party. "That's why we walked out—because this session should only be about flood relief, and we refuse to engage in a corrupt process."
Abbott, meanwhile, threatened to "immediately" call a second special session if the chambers wrap up early on Friday as planned.
"The special session #2 agenda will have the exact same agenda, with the potential to add more items critical to Texans," he said Tuesday. "There will be no reprieve for the derelict Democrats who fled the state and abandoned their duty to the people who elected them. I will continue to call special session after special session until we get this Texas first agenda passed."
Texas House Democrats have made clear that they intend to continue their quorum break despite their GOP colleagues' issuing civil arrest warrants, financial penalties, and even the legally dubious involvement of the Federal Bureau of Investigation at the request of U.S. Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), who faces a primary challenge from Republican state Attorney General Ken Paxton.
Paxton has set his sights on former Democratic Texas Congressman Beto O'Rourke, whose political group Powered by People fundraised to support the lawmakers who left the state. They are now engaged in a legal battle, and Paxton wants a Tarrant County judge to jail and fine O'Rourke for allegedly violating an injunction granted late last week that forbade him from raising money for the Democrats who fled or spending to cover their expenses.
As The Texas Tribune reported:
On Tuesday, Paxton claimed that O'Rourke had violated that temporary injunction at a Fort Worth rally Saturday, when he told the crowd, "There are no refs in this game, fuck the rules."
According to a video of the event, O'Rourke appeared to say that phrase after urging the crowd to support retaliatory redistricting in other blue states—not in relation to the injunction.
Paxton's motion also cited social media posts by O'Rourke after the injunction came down, in which the Democrat said he was "still raising and rallying to stop the steal of five congressional seats in Texas," and included a donation link.
According to the newspaper, attorneys for O'Rourke argued in a court filing that Paxton was "knowingly taking a statement entirely out of context to intentionally misrepresent the statement," and the attorney general's motion "misrepresents" the temporary injunction, which only blocks the former congressman and his group from fundraising for "nonpolitical purposes."
Madonna Amplifies Call for Pope Leo to Go to Gaza
The pope, said one journalist recently, "has the opportunity to use his power to oppose a grave evil and potentially save thousands of lives."
Aug 12, 2025
Elevating calls that started to mount last month following an Israeli airstrike on the Holy Family Catholic Church, international pop star Madonna on Monday called on Pope Leo to travel to Gaza and "bring your light to the children before it's too late"—suggesting the leader of 1.4 billion Catholics could bring aid and force world leaders to respond to the humanitarian crisis that's resulted from Israel's starvation policy and bombardment.
"As a mother, I cannot bear to watch their suffering," said Madonna in a post on Instagram. "The children of the world belong to everyone. You are the only one of us who cannot be denied entry. We need the humanitarian gates to be fully open to save these innocent children."
"There is no more time," she added. "Please say you will go."
The singer-songwriter's plea came amid growing worldwide horror over the impact of Israel's near-total blockade on humanitarian aid and its move to take over Gaza City, with the entirely of the Gaza Strip likely following.
At least 227 Palestinians have died of starvation or malnutrition, including at least 103 children, as Israel has continued to block nearly all humanitarian aid and urge civilians to seek aid at hubs set up by the privatized Gaza Humanitarian Foundation—where nearly 1,400 Palestinians have been killed by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) in recent months. Israeli soldiers have long said they've been directed to shoot at civilians, including those seeking aid.
The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification said last month that famine is unfolding across Gaza, where the overall death toll since October 2023 is at least 61,899..
Palestinians journalists and civilians and global rights advocates have called for Western leaders to take action to stop Israel from bombarding the civilian population of Gaza since the IDF began its attacks 22 months ago. In recent weeks, the media and political establishment in the U.S. and other Western countries have taken more notice of the catastrophe facing Palestinians in the enclave.
After Israel's bombing of Gaza's only Catholic church last month, Al Jazeera journalist Mohammad Alsaafin responded to Pope Leo's statement on the attack by warning that "words, no matter how heartfelt, will not save a single starving child."
"The pope should go to Gaza, and bring aid in," said Alsaafin. "He should dare the Israelis to block him."
At Current Affairs, Alex Skopic quoted a biblical passage from the Book of James in which "the apostle takes a dim view of those who talk about compassion for starving people, but do nothing to actually help":
What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can faith save him? If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food, and one of you says to them, "Depart in peace, be warmed and filled," but you do not give them the things which are needed for the body, what does it profit? Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.
Like his predecessor, Pope Francis, the pontiff has called for a cease-fire in Gaza and has maintained contact with the enclave's small Catholic community. But, wrote Skopik, he "has the opportunity to use his power to oppose a grave evil and potentially save thousands of lives."
"What good is it having a pope who can see children starving and do nothing but talk? Why would anyone listen to such a person?" Skopic wrote.
The positions and actions that institutions take on Israel's slaughter of civilians in Gaza will "make or break" them, Skopic added.
While taking concrete action to stop the forced starvation of Palestinians can't solve the Catholic Church's own "existential crisis, from its anti-LGBTQ prejudice to its long-standing complicity and cover-up of sexual abuse," he added, "it may show the world that the Catholic Church is capable of something other than corruption and malevolence."
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