State Department Memo Accuses Biden of ‘Spreading Misinformation’ on Gaza War

Palestinians in shock at Khan Yunis Hospital in southern Gaza after Israeli strikes on Monday. (Reuters)
Palestinians in shock at Khan Yunis Hospital in southern Gaza after Israeli strikes on Monday. (Reuters)
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State Department Memo Accuses Biden of ‘Spreading Misinformation’ on Gaza War

Palestinians in shock at Khan Yunis Hospital in southern Gaza after Israeli strikes on Monday. (Reuters)
Palestinians in shock at Khan Yunis Hospital in southern Gaza after Israeli strikes on Monday. (Reuters)

A memo signed by 100 State Department and USAID employees accused US President Joe Biden of "spreading misinformation" on the Israel-Hamas war and said that Israel is committing "war crimes" in Gaza, according to a copy obtained by Axios.

According to Arab World Press, the memo said that "we strongly recommend that the US government advocate for the release of hostages by both Hamas and Israel" — citing the "thousands" of Palestinians being held in Israel, including those "without charge."

The Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs had prepared a report through which it confirmed the commitment to international law.

The army command said that it has a legal department in the military prosecution, whose task is to approve every Israeli operation in the Gaza Strip and to ensure that it complies with international law.

The government’s legal advisor, Attorney-General Gali Baharav-Miara, sets broad lines for the government to guarantee that it doesn’t violate international law.

One of the prominent stances of the judicial departments is that the war was imposed on Israel, and it is a defense war. The narrative adds that the targeting of civilians is happening because Hamas is using them as human shields.

But the Israeli judicial advisors call on the government not to be reassured by this narrative.

Avichai Mandelblit, the former attorney general of Israel, said that Israel should be more cautious and the fact that Hamas committed war crimes doesn’t necessarily mean that Israel responds the same way.



Protesters Rally Across Spain Against Housing Crisis, Tourist Flats

05 April 2025, Spain, Madrid: People take part in a demonstration in Madrid to demand political measures to intervene in the housing market. Photo: Ignacio Lopez Isasmendi/ZUMA Press Wire/dpa
05 April 2025, Spain, Madrid: People take part in a demonstration in Madrid to demand political measures to intervene in the housing market. Photo: Ignacio Lopez Isasmendi/ZUMA Press Wire/dpa
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Protesters Rally Across Spain Against Housing Crisis, Tourist Flats

05 April 2025, Spain, Madrid: People take part in a demonstration in Madrid to demand political measures to intervene in the housing market. Photo: Ignacio Lopez Isasmendi/ZUMA Press Wire/dpa
05 April 2025, Spain, Madrid: People take part in a demonstration in Madrid to demand political measures to intervene in the housing market. Photo: Ignacio Lopez Isasmendi/ZUMA Press Wire/dpa

Hundreds of thousands marched across 40 Spanish cities on Saturday to protest against soaring rents and a lack of affordable homes in a country that enjoys Europe's fastest economic growth and yet suffers from a severe housing shortage exacerbated by a tourism boom.
Spain's center-left government has struggled to find a balance between attracting tourists and migrants to fill job gaps and keeping rents affordable for average citizens, as short-term rentals have mushroomed in major cities and coastal destinations alike.
"No matter who governs, we must defend housing rights," activists shouted as they rattled keychains in Madrid, where more than 150,000 protesters marched through the capital's center, according to the local tenants' union.
Average Spanish rents have doubled and house prices swelled by 44% over the past decade, data from property website Idealista showed, far outpacing salary growth. Meanwhile, the supply of rentals has halved since the 2020 pandemic.
"They're kicking all of us out to make tourist flats," said Margarita Aizpuru, a 65-year-old resident of the popular Lavapies neighborhood. Nearly 100 families living in her block were told by the building's owners that their rental contracts would not be renewed, Reuters quoted her as saying.
Homeowners associations and experts say that current regulations discourage long-term rentals, and landlords find that renting to tourists or foreigners for days or a couple of months is more profitable and safer.
Spain received a record 94 million tourists in 2024, making it the second most-visited country in the world, as well as an influx of thousands of migrants, both of which are widening a housing deficit of 500,000 homes, the Bank of Spain has said.
According to official data, only about 120,000 new homes are built in Spain every year - a sixth of the levels before the 2008 financial crisis - worsening the already acute supply shortage.
Wendy Davila, 26, said that the problem was not just in the city center, since rents were too high "everywhere".
"It cannot be that to live in Madrid you need to share a flat with four others."