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A curated weekday guide to major news and developments over the past 24 hours. Here’s today’s news:
ISRAEL-HAMAS WAR
The bodies of fifteen emergency and aid workers from the Red Crescent, Palestinian Civil Defense and the U.N. have been recovered from a mass grave in south Gaza’s Rafah, U.N. Emergency Relief Coordinator Tom Fletcher said yesterday, adding that the workers “were killed by Israeli forces while trying to save lives.” The Israeli military said that on March 23 Israeli troops opened fire on a group of vehicles that included ambulances and fire trucks that approached a position “without prior coordination,” and that a Hamas operative and other militants were killed in the attack. Reuters reports; Tom Bateman and Sofia Ferreira Santos report for BBC News.
Israel will expand its ground operations to occupy 25% of Gaza over the next two to three weeks, a senior Israeli official said yesterday, describing the plan as part of Israel’s “maximum pressure” campaign on Hamas. Barak Ravid reports for Axios.
ISRAEL-HAMAS WAR — U.S. RESPONSE
The United States expects “all parties on the ground” in Gaza to comply with international humanitarian law, a State Department spokesperson said, adding that “every single thing that happens in Gaza is happening because of Hamas.” Tom Bateman and Sofia Ferreira Santos report for BBC News.
ISRAEL-HEZBOLLAH CEASEFIRE
An Israeli strike on Beirut, the second in three days, killed four and injured seven people early today, Lebanon’s Health Ministry said. Witnesses said that no evacuation warning was issued ahead of the strike. The Israeli military said it attacked a Hezbollah militant “who had recently directed Hamas operatives.” Charbel Mallo, Irene Nasser, and Kareem El Damanhoury report for CNN; Reuters reports.
U.S. FOREIGN AFFAIRS
The State Department yesterday said the U.S. military deported 17 more “violent criminals” from the Tren de Aragua and MS-13 gangs to El Salvador on Sunday night. The office of El Salvador President Nayib Bukele said Salvadorans and Venezuelans were among the deportees. Rebecca Santana and Marcos Aleman report for AP News.
The Trump administration has mistakenly deported a Salvadoran with protected legal status to El Salvador due to an “administrative error,” the administration’s lawyers acknowledged yesterday in a court filing that also argued U.S.courts lack jurisdiction to order the man’s return from the mega-prison. Nick Miroff reports for the Atlantic.
The Trump administration has assessed Venezuelans as being members of Tren de Aragua over factors such as wearing “high-end urban street wear” or “tattoos denoting membership/loyalty to TDA,” according to court papers. Alan Feuer reports for the New York Times.
The White House is considering an executive order that would fast-track permits for deep-sea mining in international waters and enable companies to bypass a U.N.-based review process, sources say. Ernest Scheyder and Jarrett Renshaw report for Reuters.
The U.S. Army today announced it has recovered the bodies of three U.S. soldiers who were reported missing during a training mission last week. Search and recovery operations to find the fourth missing soldier continue, the Army’s statement added. Haley Britzky and Natasha Bertrand report for CNN.
The United States yesterday sanctioned six high-level Chinese and Hong Kong officials over “undermining Hong Kong’s autonomy” and using national security laws to “intimidate, silence, and harass” pro-democracy activists. Tiffany May reports for the New York Times.
Iran yesterday complained to the U.N. Security Council about “reckless and belligerent” comments by President Trump, describing his remarks on possible U.S. bombing and secondary tariffs over Tehran’s nuclear program as a “flagrant violation of international law.” Reuters reports.
TRUMP ADMINISTRATION ACTIONS
The Department of Interior’s top lawyer and chief information and information security officers were placed on administrative leave late last week after declining to give DOGE access to the sensitive federal payroll, human resources, and credentialing systems. DOI sources believe that DOGE was eventually granted access to the system, although it is unclear what level of control they hold. Tim Marchman reports for WIRED; Coral Davenport reports for the New York Times.
The Internal Revenue Service placed as many as 50 of its senior IT professionals on administrative leave on Friday as the Trump administration finalizes its plan to share taxpayer data with federal immigration authorities, sources say. It is unclear if the employees were put on leave as part of downsizing or in connection with the data-sharing disputes. Rene Marsh and Marshall Cohen report for CNN.
A sweeping plan to lay off more than 10,000 Health and Human Services Department employees was abruptly delayed Friday over growing backlash to the HHS DOGE lead’s handling of the process, officials say. Sophia Cai, Adam Canrcryn, and Lauren Gardner report for POLITICO.
A probe into how the Atlantic’s Jeffrey Goldberg was added to a Signal chat discussing military strikes is “closed,” the White House said yesterday, with a spokesperson saying that “there have been steps taken” to ensure “something like that” does not happen again. Brett Samuels reports for the Hill.
The entire staff of the Institute of Museum and Library Services was placed on administrative leave yesterday, sources say. Trump ordered the federal agency, responsible for funding museums and libraries, to be shrunk to “the maximum extent consistent with applicable law” in an executive order last month. Seb Starcevic and Amanda Friedman report for POLITICO.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth this week ordered the U.S. military to eliminate lower physical fitness standards for women in combat units by the end of October, a move likely to reduce the number of women in the units. Chris Cameron reports for the New York Times.
Trump has commuted the sentence of Jason Galanis, an associate of Hunter Biden who testified in the Republican effort to impeach former President Biden, according to a notice of clemency released yesterday. Galanis was sentenced to 14 years in prison in 2017 for defrauding Native Americans and other investors. Gregory Svirnovskiy reports for POLITICO.
OTHER U.S. DOMESTIC DEVELOPMENTS
The White House Correspondents’ Association yesterday pushed back against the White House’s plan to control the briefing room seating chart, stating that if the White House pushes forward, “it will become even more clear” that the Trump administration is “seeking to seize control” of the system to exact punishment “on outlets over their coverage” in an email to its members. Ben Johansen reports for POLITICO.
The Pentagon estimates the deportations of 400 migrants to Guantánamo have cost $40 million in their first month, Sen. Jack Reed (D-RI) said following a weekend visit to the facility. Carol Rosenberg reports for the New York Times.
OpenAI will release an “open-weight” AI model in the coming months, the company’s CEO Sam Altman announced yesterday, a move likely influenced by the success of DeepSeek’s open model. Will Knight reports for WIRED.
HOUTHI DEVELOPMENTS
Yemen’s Houthi rebels today claimed to have shot down a U.S. MQ-9 Reaper drone, as the United States kept up its campaign of intense airstrikes against the group. Jon Gambrell reports for AP News.
RUSSIA-UKRAINE WAR
Russia has committed more than 183,000 alleged war crimes since the start of its invasion of Ukraine, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said yesterday, citing the tally of incidents documented by Kyiv. Dan Peleschuk reports for Reuters.
OTHER GLOBAL DEVELOPMENTS
The Chinese military today said it had launched joint exercises involving its army, navy, air force and rocket force from “multiple directions” around Taiwan in a “stern warning … against ‘Taiwan Independence’ separatist forces,” days after U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth vowed to counter “China’s aggression” in the region. Taiwan officials have condemned the drills as “reckless.” Simone McCarthy, Nectar Gan, and Eric Cheung report for CNN.
Pakistan plans to expel 3 million Afghans this year, with the deadline for voluntary departure elapsing yesterday, according to government documents seen by AP News. Many of the Afghan refugees in Pakistan were approved for resettlement in the U.S. through a program for people at risk due to their work with the U.S. government or other entities paused by the Trump administration. Riaz Khan and Riazat Butt report.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s two aides were arrested yesterday amid mounting allegations of financial ties between Netanyahu’s office and Qatar. In a statement, Netanyahu accused Israeli police of seeking to “topple” his “right-wing government.” Shira Rubin and Lior Soroka report for the Washington Post.
South Korea’s Constitutional Court today announced it would hand down its judgment on whether to formally dismiss or reinstate impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol on Friday. Hyung-Jin Kim reports for AP News.
TRUMP ADMINISTRATION LITIGATION
A federal judge yesterday ruled that the Trump administration cannot sharply curtail a special immigration status that protects 600,000 Venezuelans living in the United States from deportation, ruling that the decision was based on “sweeping negative generalizations” about the program’s beneficiaries and was “entirely lacking in evidentiary support.” Josh Gerstein and Kyle Cheney report for POLITICO.
The Trump administration is temporarily blocked from firing CIA and Office of Director of National Intelligence staffers who worked on diversity, equality, and inclusion programs after a federal judge yesterday issued a preliminary injunction requiring the Trump administration to allow the staffers to internally appeal their dismissals. Josh Gerstein reports for POLITICO.
A federal judge yesterday declined to order the release of Mohammad Rahim Wahidi, the Taliban’s former ambassador to Spain resident in the US after he was detained by immigration officials over the weekend, leaving in place an order barring his transfer out of the district of Virginia. Sareen Habeshian reports for Axios.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) and a number of Democratic fundraising bodies yesterday filed a lawsuit challenging Trump’s elections executive order, arguing the move was unconstitutional in attempting to take over states’ authority over elections. A challenge to the elections executive order was also filed on the same day by three non-partisan organizations. Ben Johansen reports for POLITICO; Zach Schonfeld reports for the Hill.
The National Treasury Employees yesterday sued the Trump administration over Trump’s executive order eliminating collective bargaining rights for vast swathes of the federal workforce. Emily Peck reports for Axios.
A University of Minnesota graduate student on Sunday filed a challenge to his detention by immigration agents, arguing that he had not participated in campus activism or been outspoken about political issues. The Homeland Security Department said the student had been arrested after the State Department revoked his visa over a drunk driving incident. Ernesto Londoño and Alan Blinder report for the New York Times.
A coalition of immigration advocates has filed a challenge to the Trump administration’s policy requiring migrants to self-register with the government, arguing that the move runs afoul of the Administrative Procedures Act. Rebecca Beitsch reports for the Hill.
Did you miss this? Stay up-to-date with our Litigation Tracker: Legal Challenges to Trump Administration Actions
