Cuba's foreign minister Rodriguez said on the 20th the US, which he described as the executor of collective punishment against the Cuban people, has no political, legal or moral authority to judge reforms Cuba adopts. He said the measures are based on national sovereignty and self-determination to counter the impact of "extreme economic pressure", that US views on how Cuba adapts to new domestic and international realities are "not important", and that Havana will continue to defend its sovereig

President Trump said the US is booming, citing record employment and stock-market gains and calling it the best economy in history; he added the US military remains far ahead of others and the country is 'winning on all fronts'.

Israel Defense Forces said on the 20th it carried out a precision airstrike in central Gaza that killed Ahmed Samir Mohamed Washa, a member of Hamas’s armed wing whom the IDF said also worked as an Al Jazeera cameraman. The IDF said two other Hamas militants were killed and alleged Washa acted as a sniper for Hamas’s military wing and had planned attacks on Israeli forces, posing a direct threat. The IDF said Washa’s brother, Mohammed Samir Mohamed Washa, a key member of Hamas’s rocket and weapons-production unit who also used an Al Jazeera journalist cover, was killed by Israeli strikes in April.