The Biden administration is sending an advanced anti-missile defense system and 100 U.S. troops to Israel as Israel prepares to launch retaliatory strikes against Iran. In a statement, a Pentagon spokesperson said, “This action underscores the United States’ ironclad commitment to the defense of Israel, and to defend Americans in Israel, from any further ballistic missile attacks by Iran.” The missile defense system is known as THAAD, Terminal High Altitude Area Defense. Over the past year, the U.S. has sent over 50,000 tons of armaments and military equipment to Israel, but this marks the first significant deployment of troops to Israel over the past year. A new study by the Cost of War Project at Brown University estimates the U.S. has spent nearly $23 billion during that time on the Israeli military and related operations.

In news from Gaza, Israeli warplanes bombed a tent encampment on the grounds of Al-Aqsa Hospital in central Deir al-Balah early this morning. At least four Palestinians were killed and dozens were injured as the bombing set off a massive fire in an area packed with tents housing displaced people who had sought safety at the hospital. Survivors said they lost everything in the fire.

Umm Mahmoud Wadi: “At 1:10 a.m., we woke up in shock to find a fire rising here. What can I say? I quickly ran with my daughters. I woke them up and quickly rushed to Al-Aqsa Hospital. What can I say? Everything has burned. Everything. As you see, I’m a mother of seven daughters. Where shall I go? My tent has collapsed, destroyed. All our clothes and belongings are gone. Who should we speak to? Where is the safety? We are calling on all countries, the whole world, to stand by our side and stop the war on us. We are exhausted. We’ve had enough.”

The attack came hours after Israel bombed a school sheltering displaced Palestinians in the Nuseirat refugee camp. At least 22 people were killed in the attack. The U.N. reports it had planned to use the site, the Mufti School, to give out polio vaccinations today.

On Saturday, another Israeli airstrike in the Nuseirat refugee camp killed a family of eight — a mother, father and their six children, with the youngest being just 8 years old.

On Friday, Israeli strikes on the Jabaliya refugee camp in the northern Gaza Strip killed at least 20 people and injured dozens. Israel’s intensifying attacks on northern Gaza come as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is considering implementing a “surrender or starve” policy in the area. On Friday, Doctors Without Borders said thousands of residents are trapped in Jabaliya. The group said, “Nobody is allowed to get in or out. Anyone who tries is getting shot.” One Palestinian diplomat, Majed Bamya, decried the Israeli siege, saying, “What is happening in northern Gaza now is a genocide within the genocide.”

In news from Israel, four Israeli soldiers died in a Hezbollah drone strike on an army base in Binyamina, south of Haifa. More than 60 people were injured in the attack, which struck a dining hall at the base.

Israel is continuing to attack Lebanon, killing scores of people over the weekend. Meanwhile, Israel is facing international condemnation after repeatedly attacking U.N. peacekeeping forces in southern Lebanon. Five members of the U.N. Interim Force in Lebanon, UNIFIL, have been injured in recent days. The U.N. has also accused Israel of forcibly entering and destroying part of a UNIFIL base near the Israeli border. Israel denied the claim. On Thursday, Israeli troops fired at a UNIFIL watchtower. The U.N. has rejected calls by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to remove the peacekeeping forces. On Sunday, U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres warned attacks against peacekeepers “may constitute a war crime.”
On Friday, the leaders of France, Italy and Spain issued a joint statement saying the Israeli attacks on peacekeeping forces are “unjustifiable” and should “immediately come to an end.” Lebanon’s caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati also decried the attacks on the U.N. troops.

Prime Minister Najib Mikati: “The attack on UNIFIL forces by Israel is a crime condemned by us and is directed at the international community, whose sanctity is being violated and whose existence is being threatened by targeting the United Nations security forces.”

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez is urging the European Union to suspend its free trade agreement with Israel. Sánchez spoke earlier today in Barcelona.

Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez: “I believe that the European Commission, the government of all Europeans, must respond once and for all to the formal request that two European countries made, Spain and Ireland, nine months ago and suspend the free trade agreement with the government of Israel. … And the international community must immediately suspend the shipment of weapons to Israel, as Spain has done, for a very simple but also overwhelming reason, that without weapons, there is no war.”

Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump called on Sunday for the National Guard or U.S. military to be deployed on U.S. soil to target what he called “radical left lunatics.” Trump made the call during an interview on Fox News.

Donald Trump: “I think the bigger problem are the people from within. We have some very bad people. We have some sick people, radical left lunatics. And I think they’re the — and it should be very easily handled by — if necessary, by National Guard or, if really necessary, by the military, because they can’t let that happen.”

On Sunday, Trump campaigned in Arizona, where he vowed to hire 10,000 new Border Patrol agents. On Friday, Trump campaigned in the Colorado city of Aurora, where he repeated his false claims that Venezuelan gangs had turned the city into a war zone. Trump claimed migrants have “occupied America.” Trump’s claims have been denounced by local officials, including Aurora’s Republican Mayor Mike Coffman, who said Trump’s claims are “grossly exaggerated and have unfairly hurt the city’s identity and sense of safety.”

Former Chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Mark Milley has described Donald Trump as “fascist to the core.” Milley told author Bob Woodward, “Now I realize he’s a total fascist. He is the most dangerous person to this country.”

Vice President Kamala Harris is attempting to expand her appeal to disaffected Republicans. During a campaign stop in Scottsdale, Arizona, Harris vowed to create a bipartisan advisory council.

Vice President Kamala Harris: “I have decided also, not only will I have a Republican in my Cabinet, but I’m also going to — I was talking to my team about it. I want to create some structure around the following, which is … creating a bipartisan council of advisers who can then give feedback on policy as we go forward.”

In other campaign news, the Democratic National Committee has released an ad attacking Green Party presidential nominee Jill Stein, claiming a vote for Stein is a vote for Trump. Democrats are planning to run the ad in Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and Michigan. In August, the Council on American-Islamic Relations, CAIR, published a survey that showed Stein is leading Harris among Muslim voters in Arizona, Michigan and Wisconsin. Stein has criticized Harris for refusing to cut off arms sales to Israel.

Taiwan has condemned China for launching large-scale military exercises in the Taiwan Strait. The Chinese army, navy and air force drills come just days after Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te gave a major speech where he said Taiwan is not “subordinate” to China. Chinese officials said the military drills serve as a “stern warning to the separatist acts of 'Taiwan Independence' forces.” The Chinese war games are occurring as Russia’s defense minister is making an official visit to Beijing.

In Spain, as many as 150,000 protesters marched in Madrid Sunday to demand affordable housing. Protesters organized under the slogan “Housing is a right, not a business.” Housing advocates have blamed the affordable housing shortage in Spain on short-term rental companies including Airbnb and Booking.com.

Blanca Prieto: “We Spaniards cannot live in our cities. We are being driven out of the cities, not just out of the center. Cities don’t belong to us. So we have to regulate it. The government has to regulate prices, to regulate housing.”

In labor news, Boeing has announced plans to cut 17,000 jobs — about 10% of its workforce. This comes as 33,000 Boeing workers on the West Coast have entered their second month on strike.

Lilly Ledbetter has died at the age of 86. In 1999, Ledbetter sued Goodyear Tire after learning she was paid 40% less than male colleagues doing the same job. After the Supreme Court rejected her pay discrimination claim, Congress passed the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, which became the first law signed by President Barack Obama in 2009. In 2012, Lilly Ledbetter spoke at the Democratic National Convention.

Lilly Ledbetter: “After nearly two decades of hard, proud work, I found out that I was making significantly less money than the men who were doing the same work as me. I went home, talked to my husband, and we decided to fight. We decided to fight for our family and for your family, too. We sought justice because equal pay for equal work is an American value.”