90% of UN aid trucks in Gaza looted by 'starving Palestinians, armed actors’ before destinations

 Nearly 90% of aid trucks collected by the United Nations along Gaza’s border didn’t make it to their intended destination since mid-May due to looting from starving Palestinians or “forcefully armed actors,” officials said.

The UN Office for Project Services (UNOPS) found that of the 2,604 aid trucks that entered the war-torn enclave from May 19 to Aug. 5, only 295 vehicles, or 12%, were spared from theft or mass looting, according to the agency’s Monitor & Tracking Dashboard.

Israel has repeatedly blamed Hamas for looting aid trucks, however, the UNOPS report did not name the groups that were taking the food.

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Nearly all the UN aid trucks that enter Gaza have been raided by starving Palestinians before making it to their final destination since mid-May.REUTERS

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Security guards brandish weapons on top of a aid truck bound for a Gaza refugee camp, with the vehicles regularly coming under attack by armed men.Majdi Fathi/NurPhoto/Shutterstock

The looming famine in Gaza has caused more and more desperate people to raid the incoming food trucks, with UNOPS finding that in July alone, 94% of the 1,161 vehicles that crossed the border were looted.

Ever since humanitarian aid was allowed to trickle back into Gaza, images of hungry Palestinians surrounding the few UN vehicles cleared to cross the border have become commonplace.

While Israel has blamed Hamas for the systematic looting of aid, the New York Times cited Israeli sources last month as saying that the Israeli military never found direct proof of looting by the terror group.

Seeking aid through the Israeli-backed aid effort has also proved perilous to the enclave’s nearly 2 million refugees, according to the UN’s human rights office — with more than 1,000 people reportedly killed in shootings at Gaza Humanitarian Foundation aid sites in recent weeks.

Israel has repeatedly denied that its forces have fired on aid-seeking Palestinians, with the military claiming to have only fired warning shots after groups were spotted trying to approach the food sites before they opened.

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Palestinians climb on top of a supply truck arriving in Khan Younis on Monday.REUTERS

The dire situation in Gaza has left food security experts to warn of a “worst-case scenario famine” as scores of people die from malnutrition-related cases.

As it faces global backlash over the ongoing war, Israel has maintained that the death and suffering falls on Hamas, which has rejected cease-fire deals calling for the terror group to disarm and exit the Gaza Strip.

Hamas said it would only agree to a deal that establishes a permanent end to the war, with the terror group demanding Monday that all humanitarian corridors be open in exchange for allowing the Red Cross to administer aid to the remaining hostages.

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A woman carries a bag of flour over her head after getting aid from one of the few distribution centers open inside Gaza City.ZUMAPRESS.com

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The UN has blamed Israel for the lack of aid available to Gazans, with Israel faulting the UN for the bottleneck.REUTERS

The future of aid distribution to the hostages and refugees remains unclear after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu approved a plan for the full military occupation of Gaza.

https://nypost.com/2025/08/05/world-news/90-of-un-aid-trucks-in-gaza-were-looted-by-armed-militants-or-hungry-palestinians-before-reaching-their-destination-report/

JPMorgan, B of A ‘debanked’ Trump under pressure from Biden admin over January 6th: Sources

by Charles Gasparino

 JPMorgan and Bank of America “debanked” President Trump for his role in the January 6 Capitol Hill melee following pressure from the Biden administration’s banking regulators and the Federal Reserve, people with direct knowledge of the matter tell The Post.

The exact reason for Trump and his tens of millions of dollars in holdings being kicked off the JPMorgan banking platform, and then denied access to Bank of America’s services has yet to be reported.

But sources at the banks — the No. 1 and No. 2 largest in the US in terms of assets — confirmed the cause stemmed from the controversy surrounding Trump’s actions that day, and threats from Biden’s bank regulators that banking the former president’s money put them at in danger of falling afoul of rule that prohibit financial institution from doing business with individuals and companies that present a “reputational risk.”

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JPMorgan and Bank of America “debanked” President Trump after he left office after getting pressured by Biden administration banking regulators and the Federal Reserve, sources told The Post.SAMUEL CORUM/POOL/EPA/Shutterstock

People at the banks tell The Post that Biden’s banking cops at the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the FDIC and the Federal Reserve often used the nebulous nature of the edict to go beyond debanking money launderers and drug kingpins.

They were pressured to include people who have heterodox political and business ties that often included conservatives and anyone who participated in the January 6 protests.

Trump, of course, survived it all and is now in his second presidential term. He is vowing to end debanking; his regulators have stopped enforcing the reputational risk clause and he plans an executive order in the matter.

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Trump was debanked to his role in the January 6 riot at the Capitol buiilding.REUTERS

“Think back to what it was like being Trump back in 2021; he was a hot potato after January 6 and the regulators made it clear to us that we shouldn’t do business with him,” said one banking executive with direct knowledge of the matter.

An executive at JPMorgan said regulators “put the fear of God in you if you did business” with people like Trump.

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Supporters of President Donald Trump clashed with police at the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday, January 6, 2021 in Washington, D.C.James Keivom

That could mean increased surveillance and fines for various issues; banks found it easier simply to avoid taking as customers people that presented this risk, even if they were like Trump and looking to open accounts with tens of millions of dollars in assets.

A Bank of America spokesman declined comment. JPMorgan said in a statement: “We don’t close accounts for political reasons, and we agree with President Trump that regulatory change is desperately needed. We commend the White House for addressing this issue and look forward to working with them to get this right.”

A bank rep wouldn’t deny that the reputation risk edict was at the heart of its debanking of Trump.

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Trump called out Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan for not allowing him to open accounts after leaving office.REUTERS

Trump himself revealed that he was debanked Tuesday in an interview with the financial network CNBC. He said he was denied services at both institutions sometime after his first term ended in January 2021, just weeks after the storming of the Capitol building that political opponents of Trump have described as a riot and insurrection.

First he said he was booted by JPMorgan.

“I had 100s of millions. I had many, many accounts loaded up with cash. I was loaded up with cash, and they told me, ‘I’m sorry, sir, we can’t have you. You have 20 days to get out.’ I said, ‘you’ve got to be kidding. I’ve been with you for 35, 40 years.’ ”

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Trump said that he was debanked during an interview with CNBC.James Keivom

Then he was denied services by Bank Of America. During the interview, he named both JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon and Brian Moynihan of Bank of America, stating both refused to come to his defense.

He said Moynihan, “was kissing my ass when I was president, and when I called him after I was president to deposit a billion dollars plus and a lot of other things, more importantly to open accounts, which banks always like . . . And he said, we can’t do it.”

Trump and his regulators have sought to end the practice and he’s issuing an executive order imminently to end politically motivated debanking.

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Trump said that he is vowing to end debanking.James Keivom for NY Post

Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC) is pushing legislation that would outlaw the practices.

Reps from the Fed, the OCC, and the FDIC all declined to comment.

https://nypost.com/2025/08/05/business/jpmorgan-and-bank-of-america-debanked-trump-under-pressure-from-biden-admin-sources/

How Trump’s Big, Beautiful Law Unlocks Patient Choice

 With the passage of President Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA), Americans can let out a sigh of relief. Tax cut provisions within the package mean the country will avert what would have been a $4.5 trillion tax hike. But fiscal policy changes are not the only improvements secured by the legislation. The bill also expands healthcare choice for millions of Americans. 

In short, the package gives individuals and families more options on how to spend the money they accrue in health savings accounts. This financial tool is essentially a tax-free piggy bank that can be tapped to pay for certain healthcare expenses. Under the OBBBA, patients can now use the money to access direct primary care. 

What is direct primary care? It’s an alternative healthcare model that operates outside of traditional insurance-funded, hospital-based medical care. 

Patients pay a flat monthly fee—typically between $50 and $100—to access a primary care physician. Think of it like a gym membership or Netflix subscription for a doctor’s office. Patients have all their primary care needs covered, including checkups, personalized wellness plans, low-cost prescription drugs, and basic lab work. 

Importantly, the model puts an emphasis on building a strong doctor-patient relationship. Many clinics offer unlimited visits and around-the-clock communication via phone or text. And by avoiding middlemen—such as large hospital networks and insurance companies—physicians have the time to focus on patients rather than paperwork. 

For hundreds of thousands of Americans already enrolled in direct primary care programs, these benefits are clear. Yet until recently, Americans were barred from using their health savings accounts to pay for direct primary care memberships. Federal regulations did not recognize the monthly fees as eligible expenses—effectively penalizing patients for choosing a more personalized and cost-effective approach to care.

The budget reconciliation package changed that. Under the new law, Americans can now use up to $150 per month from their health savings account to pay for direct primary care services—or up to $300 per month if the membership covers multiple people. This long-overdue change brings federal policy in line with modern healthcare, and will help more Americans access affordable, quality primary care outside the traditional, bloated system.

My own experience sheds light on the benefit direct primary care can offer. After my mother and sister passed away following battles with breast cancer, I insisted my doctor order screenings to calculate my own health risks. Because of the bloat and bureaucracy of the system, I learned the test I needed would be delayed by six months.

For me, that was a nonstarter. So, I connected with a direct primary care practitioner that was able to break through the insurance barriers and get me the screening and preventative care that will hopefully protect me from a predisposed fate. My doctor and I took decisive action as a team, and it was made possible because of the direct primary care model. 

Policies included in the Republican budget bill will do more than supercharge the economy with extended tax cuts. Elements that expand patient choice could also save lives.

Elaine Parker is the President of the Job Creators Network Foundation.

https://www.realclearhealth.com/articles/2025/08/05/how_trumps_big_beautiful_law_unlocks_patient_choice_1127075.html