Americans are increasingly skeptical of Israeli actions in Gaza, according to a new CNN poll conducted by SSRS that also finds rising sentiment that the US should pull back on military aid to Israel.

The move blindsided the State Department, Ukraine, European allies and members of Congress, who demanded an explanation from the Pentagon.

American private military contractors used dangerous crowd control tactics on a crowd of Palestinian aid seekers in Gaza on Wednesday, witnesses say, causing a deadly stampede and adding to the nearly 1,000 Palestinians who have been killed in relation to the U.S.- and Israeli-backed “humanitarian aid” scheme thus far.

At least 20 people were killed in a crowd crush at an aid distribution site run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), the controversial Israeli- and US-backed organization said Wednesday, the first time it has acknowledged deaths at one of its sites.

Houthi attacks in the Red Sea have sunk vessels and disrupted shipping routes worth $1 trillion annually, as Middle East experts call for U.S. support of Yemen's legitimate government.

The GOP-led House gave final approval to the spending bill just ahead of a Friday midnight deadline otherwise the money under the law must be spent.

There were conflicting accounts from Palestinian and aid officials over what happened at the food distribution hub run by the Israel-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation.

Fenced off behind barbed wire, about 350 soldiers from 31 countries including Ukrainians work in a hangar and air-conditioned green tents at a U.S. military base in Germany.