Signup to receive the Early Edition in your inbox here.
A curated weekday guide to major news and developments over the past 24 hours. Here’s today’s news:
ISRAEL-HAMAS WAR
Israeli forces yesterday resumed their ground operations in Gaza, entering the Netzarim Corridor to reinstate an Israeli-controlled “partial buffer zone” between northern and southern Gaza. It is unclear how many Israeli soldiers were deployed to the corridor and whether their entrance marked the start of a new ground offensive. In a video statement to Palestinians in Gaza, Israel’s Defense Minister Israel Katz said that “what comes next will be much harder.” Megan Fisher and Emir Nader report for BBC News; Aaron Boxerman reports for the New York Times.
Israeli airstrikes across Gaza today killed at least 70 Palestinians and wounded dozens, a Gaza health official said. The Israeli military said it is looking into the reports of strikes targeting houses across the territory overnight. Nidal Al-Mughrabi reports for Reuters; Wafaa Shurafa and Samy Magdy report for AP News.
A U.N. worker was killed and others injured in a “detonation” that hit a U.N. compound in Gaza yesterday, the U.N. said, adding that the circumstances of the incident are unclear. The Hamas-run health ministry blamed Israel for the deaths, while the Israeli military denied it struck the building. Separately, the head of the U.N. aid agency for Palestinians (UNRWA) said that five UNRWA staff have been confirmed killed in Gaza in recent days. Aleks Phillips and Hafsa Khalil report for BBC News; Reuters reports.
Yemen’s Houthis yesterday fired a ballistic missile at Israel’s Ben Gurion Airport, the group’s spokesperson said. The IDF said the missile was intercepted before entering Israel and that no injuries have been reported. George Wright reports for BBC News.
ISRAEL-HAMAS WAR — U.S. RESPONSE
The “opportunity” to extend the ceasefire in Gaza is still there “but it’s closing fast,” a U.S. State Department spokesperson said yesterday. Daphne Psaledakis and Kanishka Singh report for Reuters.
RUSSIA-UKRAINE WAR
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy yesterday agreed to Russia’s offer of a 30-day pause in attacks on energy targets during a call with President Trump. It was not immediately clear when or how the pause would take hold, with Zelenskyy adding that “everything will continue to fly” until there is an “appropriate document” setting out the terms of the partial truce. Shawn McCreesh, Michael Crowley, and Maria Varenikova report for the New York Times.
Ukrainian forces in Kursk have lost ground in recent days but are not encircled, contrary to recent comments by Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin, U.S. and European officials familiar with recent intelligence assessments say. Erin Banco reports for Reuters.
Russia and Ukraine yesterday said they had each swapped 175 prisoners, in one of the largest exchanges since Russia’s invasion three years ago. Hanna Arhirova reports for AP News.
RUSSIA-UKRAINE WAR — U.S. AND INTERNATIONAL RESPONSE
Trump yesterday floated the possibility of the United States acquiring Ukrainian power plants to provide “best protection” for energy infrastructure during his call with Zelenskyy, according to an administration statement on the call. Zelenskyy said that the discussion concerned the idle Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant, located in Russian-occupied territory. Alan Cullison, Ian Lovett, and Alexander Osipovich report for the Wall Street Journal.
A State Department spokesperson yesterday said that data from a repository that helps track thousands of abducted Ukrainian children “exists … and is not missing,” denying earlier reports the repository might have been deleted. The State Department itself never held the data, the spokesperson added. Daphne Psaledakis and Humeyra Pamuk report for Reuters.
A group of senior military officers from Europe’s “coalition of the willing” will meet today to “start the military planning” for a peacekeeping force in Ukraine, British Armed Forces Minister Luke Pollard said. BBC News reports.
TRUMP ADMINISTRATION ACTIONS
Trump is expected to sign an executive order directing Education Secretary Linda McMahon to begin dismantling the agency, according to White House officials. Joey Garrison and Zachary Schermele report for USA Today.
The Pentagon is considering consolidating combatant commands, halting the expansion of U.S. Forces Japan, and possibly eliminating a directorate that oversees development, training and education for the joint force as part of efforts to shrink the federal government, according to a document seen by CNN and a defense official. Natasha Bertrand reports.
DOGE official Jeremy Lewin and acting U.S. Institute of Peace President Kenneth Jackson will handle what remains of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), State Department’s Director of Foreign Assistance Pete Marocco announced on Tuesday. Lewin has been previously involved in the effort to dismantle the agency. Karoun Demirjian and Mattathias Schwartz report for the New York Times.
The Justice Department is preparing a path to allow some people with criminal convictions to own guns, according to an interim rule set to be published today in The Federal Register. Devlin Barrett reports for the New York Times.
The Trump administration is evaluating plans for the Pentagon to empower active-duty troops to temporarily hold migrants who illegally cross into the United States in a buffer zone on the southern U.S. border, officials say. Dan Lamothe reports for the Washington Post.
The Trump administration yesterday said it is suspending $175 million in federal funding for the University of Pennsylvania over the school’s inclusion of a transgender woman on its women’s swimming team. The university said that it has “not yet received any official notification or details.” Max Matza reports for BBC News.
More than a dozen federal agencies have immediately placed reinstated federal employees on administrative leave, according to interviews and agencies’ court filings. Eileen Sullivan and Isabelle Taft report for the New York Times.
U.S. FOREIGN AFFAIRS
Houthis in Yemen will be “completely annihilated” by U.S. military strikes and Tehran should “immediately” stop supplying them with equipment, Trump said yesterday, as the U.S. military continued striking the militant group. Ephrat Livni reports for the New York Times.
The Trump administration is significantly cutting back the State Department’s annual human rights report, removing sections about the rights of women, the disabled, and the LGBTQ+ community, according to documents obtained by POLITICO. Nahal Toosi reports.
Rep. Elise Stefanik’s (R-NY) nomination as the U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. is set to head toward a confirmation vote, with Stefanik released from the House on April 2 following the Florida special elections, sources say. Stef W. Kight reports for Axios.
Democratic Republic of Congo President Félix Tshisekedi last month offered the U.S. Sovereign Wealth Fund mining opportunities in the DRC in exchange for U.S. assistance in defeating rebels, according to a letter seen by the Wall Street Journal. Benoit Faucon, Nicholas Bariyo, and Alexander Ward report.
The Trump administration is considering extending Chevron’s license to extract oil in Venezuela and imposing tariffs or other financial penalties on countries that buy Venezuelan oil, sources say. Brian Schwartz, Alex Leary, and Collin Eaton report for the Wall Street Journal.
The United States is delaying the distribution of $2.6 billion in climate finance to South Africa, sources say. Antony Sguazzin reports for Bloomberg News.
OTHER U.S. DOMESTIC DEVELOPMENTS
The Homeland Security Department has detained Badar Khan Suri, an Indian academic who was studying and teaching at Georgetown University, and deemed him “deportable” for allegedly violating the terms of his student visa by “spreading Hamas propaganda and promoting antisemitism on social media,” a DHS spokesperson said. Suri’s lawyer said Suri denies all the allegations. Kyle Cheney and Josh Gerstein report for POLITICO; Hank Sanders and Zolan Kanno-Youngs report for the New York Times.
A North Dakota jury yesterday ordered Greenpeace to pay more than $600 million to a Texas-based pipeline company which had sued the environmental group over its role in protests against the Dakota Access Pipeline. If upheld on appeal, the verdict is likely to put Greenpeace out of business in the United States. Karen Zraick reports for the New York Times.
House Armed Services Committee Chair Mike Rogers (R-AL) and Senate Armed Services Committee Chair Roger Wicker (R-MS) yesterday said they are “very concerned” about reports that the Pentagon is considering “unilateral changes on major strategic issues” without coordinating with the White House and Congress. Emily Brooks reports for the Hill.
OTHER GLOBAL DEVELOPMENTS
Thousands of people defied restrictions on public gatherings in Turkey to protest the arrest of Istanbul mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, one of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s strongest political rivals. Turkish authorities detained 37 people for sharing “provocative” content on social media, the country’s interior minister said today. Selin Girit, Toby Luckhurst, and Hafsa Khalil report for BBC News; Mehmet Guzel and Susan Fraser report for AP News.
Canada is in advanced talks to join the European Union’s initiative to expand the EU military industry and gain preferential access to the EU market for military equipment, Canadian and EU officials say. Matina Stevis-Gridneff report for the New York Times.
Rwanda-backed M23 rebels yesterday entered the outskirts of the town of Walikale, pressing deeper into Congolese territory in defiance of a call for a ceasefire issued by presidents of Congo and Rwanda yesterday, sources say. Reuters reports.
TRUMP ADMINISTRATION LITIGATION
A judge yesterday ordered that the case of Palestinian student activist Mahmoud Khalil’s legal challenge to his detention be transferred to New Jersey while rejecting the Trump administration’s bid to dismiss the case. Luc Cohen reports for Reuters.
A federal judge yesterday declined to temporarily block DOGE from seizing control of the U.S. Institute of Peace, stating that while she was “very offended” by how Musk’s team operated at the institute, she was concerned that the board members of the institute might not have standing to bring the case. Aishvarya Kavi reports for the New York Times.
The Bureau of Prisons has to “immediately transfer” two transgender women inmates back to federal women’s prisons after a judge issued a preliminary injunction blocking the Trump administration’s attempt to place the women in men’s facilities yesterday. Michael R. Sisak reports for AP News.
The Trump administration has until noon today to provide details about last weekend’s two deportation flights to El Salvador after a federal judge pushed back the deadline for the Justice Department’s response. In an interview, Attorney General Pam Bondi yesterday claimed that the judge has “no right” to ask questions about the specifics of the flights. Alan Feuer reports for the New York Times; Lauren Irwin reports for the Hill.
The Trump administration has moved to dismiss a Biden-era lawsuit against Texas over a state law that would allow Texan police to arrest migrants who enter the country illegally. Nadia Lathan reports for AP News.
Did you miss this? Stay up-to-date with our Litigation Tracker: Legal Challenges to Trump Administration Actions
