The President's Daily Brief - PDB Afternoon Bulletin | July 14th, 2025: Israeli Military Admits Error After Deadly Gaza Strike & Russia, China Deepen Diplomatic Ties

Episode Date: July 14, 2025

In this episode of The PDB Afternoon Bulletin:  First—an errant missile strike by Israel killed 10 people, most of them children, filling water containers at a central Gaza refugee camp on Sunday. We’ll discuss the implications for the ongoing war, as Israeli officials admit to the tragic error. Later in the show—Russia and China’s top diplomats met Sunday to discuss relations with the U.S. and the ongoing war in Ukraine. The pair vowed to deepen their already close ties, at a time when the relationship between President Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin has significantly deteriorated. To listen to the show ad-free, become a premium member of The President’s Daily Brief by visiting PDBPremium.com. Please remember to subscribe if you enjoyed this episode of The President's Daily Brief. YouTube: youtube.com/@presidentsdailybrief American Financing: Call American Financing today to find out how customers are saving an avg of $800/mo. 866-885-1881 or visit ⁠http://www.AmericanFinancing.net/PDB⁠ . NMLS 182334, nmlsconsumeraccess.org TriTails Premium Beef: Visit ⁠https://trybeef.com/pdb⁠ & get $10 off 20 Lbs Ground Beef Special Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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filling water containers at a central Gaza refugee camp on Sunday. We'll discuss the implications for the ongoing war, as Israeli officials admit to the tragic error. And later in the show, Russia and China's top diplomats met on Sunday to discuss relations with the U.S. and the ongoing war in Ukraine. The pair vowed even deeper cooperation, oh, that's nice, between the two nations, at a time when the relationship between President Trump and Vladimir Putin has significantly deteriorated. First, today's afternoon spotlight. We begin with an update out of Gaza, where 10 civilians, including six children, were killed on Sunday in an Israeli air strike that mistakenly hit a water distribution point in central Gaza. According to sources on the ground that spoke

with the BBC. In Israeli drone fired a missile at a crowd queuing with empty jerry cans to fill at a water tanker in the Al-Nusirat of refugee camp. In addition to the dead, the resulting blast injured 17 people, among them, seven children, who were treated at Nusirat's Al-Audah hospital. In video footage of the aftermath, verified by the BBC, dozens of people can be seen rushing to help the wounded lying among scattered yellow jerry cans and water containers. One local Palestinian told France's AFP, quote, We woke up to the sound of two large explosions. Our neighbor and his children were under the rubble, end quote.

Officials with the Israeli military were quick to acknowledge the deadly incident, saying there had been a technical error while they were targeting an Islamic jihad terrorist cell in the area, which caused the munition from the drone to fall dozens of meters short of its intended target. The IDF said they are aware of the resulting casualties in the area, and that the incident is under internal review to determine what exactly went wrong. In a statement, Israeli officials said, quote, the IDF regrets any harm to uninvolved civilians, adding that they always work to mitigate civilian harm, quote, as much as possible.

The deadly mishap occurred as the IDF intensified aerial strikes across Gaza, amid ongoing but fragile ceasefire talks with Hamas, which remained deadlocked, frankly, over the extent of an eventual Israeli withdrawal from the battered enclave, and the issue of Hamas disarming and abandoning control and power in Gaza. The strike triggered fresh debate over Israel's tactics in the enclave, which critics say unnecessarily endanger the lives of civilians. Gaza's civil defense agency, which we should stress is a Hamas-controlled entity, claims that more than 40 civilians were killed across Gaza on Sunday in strikes on markets and residential buildings. Separately, representatives,

for the International Committee of the Red Cross said they've seen a sharp uptick in civilian deaths. Officials said their teams have treated more, quote, mass casualty cases at its Rafa Field Hospital over the past six weeks than they had during the previous 12 months of fighting. On Saturday alone,

the group said they had treated 132 patients, quote, suffering from weapon-related injuries and that 31 had died. In a statement, the Red Cross group said, quote, the alarming frequency and scale of these mass casualty incidents underscore the horrific conditions civilians in Gaza are enduring. Now, Israel has not commented on the broader claims of civilian casualties, but said Sunday that their forces had struck more than 150 terror targets throughout the strip over the past 24

hours. Humaas, as has been independently verified many times, embed themselves in their operations inside population centers to use their own civilians as human shields, greatly obviously complicating the picture on the ground. Meanwhile, aid workers say the situation inside Gaza has become dire for Palestinian civilians. According to a report from Reuters, water shortages have risen sharply over the past few weeks as sanitation facilities close and fuel shortages slow desalination efforts. With water in scarce supply, the local population has become increasingly dependent on collection centers where they can fill up empty containers like the one that was hit on Sunday. As for a ceasefire, well, hopes remain alive, barely, although progress has reportedly

once again stalled, so maybe hopes don't remain alive. As we discussed last week, both Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu and President Trump expressed optimism that a ceasefire can soon be reached, one that would involve a 60-day truce and see the release of 10 of the remaining live hostages. But has been the case in numerous past attempts, major disagreements remain with Hamas, over how far Israeli forces would withdraw during the 60-day ceasefire. The terror group is also seeking assurances from the U.S. that Israel will commit to negotiating a permanent end to the war during the period of the ceasefire. Israeli leaders, meanwhile, insist that Hamas relinquished their governing power in the enclave,

disarm and dismantle their military wing. If Hamas cannot meet these, quote, fundamental conditions, Netanyahu says Israel will be forced to achieve those goals through military force. But Nanyahu is facing increasing pressure from the families of hostages, who gathered outside his office in Jerusalem on Sunday to demand a deal, even if it comes at the cost of ending the war. As a reminder, there are still 50 hostages being held by Hamas in Gaza, though Israel believes roughly half are deceased. All right, up next, Russia and China's top diplomats meet to discuss relations with the U.S. and the ongoing war in Ukraine.

vowing to deepen their alliance and to be the very best friends that anyone could ever have. I'll be right back. Hey, Mike Baker here. Let's talk personal finances, shall we? Let me ask you a question. Now, what if you could delay your next two mortgage payments? That's an intriguing thought, isn't it? I mean, it's right.

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superheroes and sidekicks or auto and home insurance. With USAA, you can bundle your auto and home and save up to 10%. Tap the banner to learn more and get a quote at usaa.com slash bundle. Restrictions apply. Welcome back to the afternoon bulletin. Russia and China's top diplomats met on Sunday, vowing deeper coordination on global flashpoints and signaling their defiance of the U.S.-led international order. Now, what they failed to acknowledge, of course, was that key global flashpoints, meaning Ukraine and Taiwan, are their own doing? Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov held talks with his Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi, ahead of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization or SCO Summit, which kicks off tomorrow.

The meeting was more than symbolic, yet underscored the growing alliance between the two authoritarian regimes. Since declaring their so-called, quote, no-limits partnership, back in February 2022, just days before Moscow launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, I'm sure that was a coincidence, Russia and China have positioned themselves as ideological and geopolitical counterweights to the West. According to a statement from Russia's foreign ministry, Lavrov and Wang discussed, quote, relations with the United States and prospects for resolving the Ukrainian crisis. Yes, because as we all know, Russia is very keen to resolve that Ukrainian crisis. But the real message was broader that Moscow and Beijing intend to present a unified front

of sorts across key global hotspots from Eastern Europe to the South China Sea. Both sides reaffirmed their commitment to strengthening ties in multilateral forums, including the UN Security Council, BRICS, the G20, and APEC, where they have increasingly challenged Western norms and attempted to bend international institutions to their strategic vision. China's foreign ministry struck a similarly assertive tone in their statement, emphasizing that the two nations would quote, promote the development and revitalization of each other, and work jointly to meet the, quote, challenges brought by a turbulent and changing world. Lavrov made clear that under the, quote, strategic guidance of President's Vladimir Putin and

Xi Jinping, Moscow is prepared to expand cooperation in various fields and achieve, quote, new results in bilateral relations. The Beijing stop followed Lavrov's visit to Pyongyang, where North Korean leader Kim Jong-un reaffirmed his regime's, quote, unconditional support for Russia's war in Ukraine. As we've discussed here on the BDB, that support has gone beyond rhetoric, obviously, as Pyongyang has supplied ammunition and set troops to bolster Russian positions along segments of the front line. But Beijing's approach, well, it's been more calibrated. Though it continues to call for a political settlement and has stopped short of endorsing Putin's

invasion outright, China has resisted Western pressure. to isolate Russia and deepen ties across military, energy, and infrastructure sectors. But basically, the Beijing regime is talking out of both sides of their mouth. They may try to claim, without smirking, that is, that Beijing is neutral and just wants peace. But the reality, backed by evidence, is that Xi Jinping's multifaceted support for Putin has kept Moscow's war machine running. U.S. officials say Chinese-made components are increasingly showing. showing up on the battlefield, and some reports allege the presence of Chinese nationals among Russian ranks.

The two diplomats also discussed Iran's nuclear program and the situation on the Korean peninsula, though China's readout offered no real specifics. For Washington, the growing convergence between Moscow and Beijing presents a strategic conundrum, and no, that's not the first time I've used the word conundrum on the PDB. The Trump administration characterizes China as America's first foremost long-term strategic rival, while describing Russia as its most acute nation-state threat. Sunday's show of unity between the two nations served to reinforce those assessments. And that, my friends, is the PDB afternoon bulletin for Monday, the 14th of July.

Now, if you have any questions or comments, please reach out to me at pdb at thefirsttv.com. And as my old grandpa used to say, well, sitting on the front porch whittling and listening to his beloved Brooklyn Dodgers, If you want to listen to the PDB ad free, he'd say, just become a premium member of the president's daily brief by visiting PDB Premium.com. You could say grandpa was ahead of his time. I'm Mike Baker, and I'll be back tomorrow. Until then, stay informed. Stay safe. Stay cool. Starting a business can seem like a daunting task, unless you have a partner like Shopify.

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