The Wire - July 17, 2025

//The Wire//2000Z July 17, 2025//
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//BLUF: TENSIONS CONTINUE IN THE MIDDLE EAST AMID RENEWED TARGETING IN GAZA AND WEST BANK. CONGRESS WEIGHS IMMIGRATION AMNESTY BILL.//

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-International Events-

Gaza: The war continues as before amid Israeli forces conducting the high-profile targeting of a Christian Church. The Holy Family Church in Gaza City was struck with a tank shell overnight, which resulted in 3x parishioners being killed and many people inside being wounded, including the parish Priest Fr. Gabriel Romanelli.

Analyst Comment: This attack comes after weeks of increased violence on Christian Churches in the West Bank, as Israeli settlers have conducted arson attacks on Churches throughout the region as recently as two days ago. This also comes two years after another high-profile Church bombing, in which the IDF targeted a site adjacent to the Church of St. Porphyrius a few days after the war began in October, 2023. That strike killed over a dozen people, and the Church was heavily damaged during the strike.

-HomeFront-

Washington D.C. - In Congress, Rep. María Elvira Salazar introduced the "Dignity Act" on Tuesday, an immigration reform bill which seeks to grant amnesty to "long-term immigrants" via new work programs. Separately, in the Senate, Bill 225 has been introduced as the End Unaccountable Amnesty Act, which seeks to remove the ability for the DHS to grant immigrants Temporary Protected Status (TPS), as well as allow the deportation of unaccompanied minors that were dropped off at the border.

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Analyst Comments: In Washington, rumors are growing pertaining to the strikes in Iran a few weeks ago. In short, grumblings are beginning to emerge that indicate the airstrikes on Iran's nuclear facilities were not as effective as first touted. Both American and Israeli media outlets have been trying to float this story for a few days, of course citing the usual "unnamed sources" that can't be verified in any way. Whether or not this information is true is largely immaterial when it comes to the potential for this whole affair to kick off again. Right now, there aren't many indicators suggesting the US is interested in escalating things again. However, with strong domestic dissent regarding the handling of issues such as the Epstein scandal, the motivation for diversionary actions is quite high. This consideration, while certainly out on a limb at the moment, is still worth remembering as there might not be much notice of impending escalations with any of the global conflicts currently on the table.

Analyst: S2A1
Research: https://publish.obsidian.md/s2underground
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