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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
Hamas said it will not compromise further with Israel to reach a ceasefire in Gaza. A member of Hamas’s political office in Qatar said late yesterday the group would not make further concessions to Israel beyond the ceasefire proposal it accepted Monday, which would also entail the release of some Israeli hostages in Gaza and Palestinian women and children in Israel. He added, “Israel isn’t serious about reaching an agreement and it is using the negotiation as a cover to invade Rafah and occupy the crossing.” Israel has not commented at the time of writing. Nidal Al-Mughrabi, Steve Holland, and Mohammad Salem report for Reuters.
Israel’s operation in Rafah has expanded from airstrikes to ground operations, according to a CNN analysis of satellite images. The images show Israeli military activity is taking place outside of the immediate border crossing area, which Israel captured Monday. The Washington Post reports that hundreds of tanks and military vehicles have amassed along the Gaza border in recent days, with soldiers saying they are preparing for a wider offensive. In contrast, the Israeli military claimed yesterday it was conducting a “precise counterterrorism operation in specific areas of eastern Rafah.” Paul P. Murphy reports for CNN.
Rafah’s hospitals are running out of fuel as Israeli forces move in, the World Health Organization and humanitarian aid agencies have warned. As of yesterday, hospitals in southern Gaza had only three days of fuel supplies left, and fuel that the U.N. expected would be able to enter Gaza yesterday has not been allowed in, W.H.O. chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on X. The U.N. also said in its own warning that no aid trucks have entered Gaza since Sunday through the two main border crossings. Anushka Patil reports for the New York Times.
Around 80,000 people have fled Rafah since Monday, according to the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA). In a post on X, UNRWA said, “People are facing yet another forced displacement in the Gaza Strip … Nowhere is safe. We need a ceasefire now.” The Israeli military had ordered civilians to evacuate from the eastern parts of Rafah to begin heading to an “expanded humanitarian area,” where it said people would find field hospitals, tents and basic supplies. BBC News reports.
Israel said the Kerem Shalom crossing has reopened, but the U.N. says aid is still being held up. A spokesman for COGAT, the Israeli military body charged with overseeing affairs in the Palestinian territories, said yesterday afternoon the crossing was open and that trucks had passed through to the Gaza side of the border. However, UNRWA said that as of 2.30pm local time, the crossing was not functioning due to military operations in the area, and the agency has not yet seen any fuel or aid enter the Strip. Jennifer Hassan, Claire Parker and Bryan Pietsch report for the Washington Post.
A third mass grave has been uncovered at Al-Shifa Hospital. Palestinian medical teams have retrieved an additional 49 bodies, making the seventh mass grave found inside hospitals across Gaza, according to the Hamas-run health ministry. The Israeli military yesterday denied any involvement in the burials, calling the allegations “baseless” and “unfounded.” Anne Claire Stapleton reports for CNN.
ISRAEL-HAMAS WAR — U.S. RESPONSE
President Biden said yesterday he would halt shipments of U.S. weapons to Israel, which he acknowledged have been used to kill civilians in Gaza, if Netanyahu moves ahead with a ground offensive in Rafah. During an interview with CNN, Biden said that while the United States would continue to provide defensive weapons to Israel, the shipments of offensive weapons would end should a major ground invasion of Rafah begin. It is the first time Biden has threatened to withhold U.S. military aid, and the most direct threat he has made since the outset of the Gaza war. Kevin Liptak reports for CNN; Yasmeen Abutaleb reports for the Washington Post.
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin yesterday confirmed the Biden administration had paused a shipment of U.S. weapons to Israel over concerns with Israel’s ongoing incursion into Rafah. Austin said the administration had paused “one shipment of high payload munitions,” but assured lawmakers the pause was not permanent. “We’re assessing,” he said. “We have not made any final decisions on this yet.” Abigail Hauslohner reports for the Washington Post.
Republican congressional leaders yesterday criticized Biden’s hold on a weapons shipment to Israel. In a joint letter to the president, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) said it was a “dangerous” move that would embolden Israel’s enemies. Abigail Hauslohner and John Hudson report for the Washington Post.
Senior Israeli officials have expressed “deep frustration” with the Biden administration over its decision to halt a weapons shipment to Israel, warning the move could jeopardize hostage negotiations. Barak Ravid reports for Axios; Alexander Ward reports for POLITICO.
CIA Director Bill Burns is back in Cairo after meetings in Israel yesterday with Israel’s Mossad chief, David Barnea, and Netanyahu, according to a source familiar with the meetings. Negotiations by delegations from both Israel and Hamas are continuing in Cairo. Alex Marquardt reports for CNN.
ISRAEL-HAMAS WAR — INTERNATIONAL RESPONSE
Aid is being loaded onto a ship in Cyprus and is set to be the first shipment to Gaza using the U.S.-built temporary pier to facilitate delivery, Cyprus and U.S. officials said. Sammy Westfall reports for the Washington Post.
IRAN-BACKED MILITANTS
An Israeli air strike on a car in southern Lebanon killed four people today, according to Lebanon’s civil defense. Security sources say those killed were members of Iran-backed Lebanese Hezbollah. The Israeli military has not commented at the time of writing. Reuters reports.
MILITARY CONFLICT WITH THE HOUTHIS
Yemen’s Houthi rebels today claimed responsibility for two missile attacks in the Gulf of Aden on two Panama-flagged container ships that caused no damage. Meanwhile, an adviser to Iran’s supreme leader again threatened that Tehran could build a nuclear weapon if it chose to pursue atomic weapons. Jon Gambrell reports for AP News.
RUSSIA-UKRAINE DEVELOPMENTS
Ukrainian officials said yesterday they were preparing to order electricity-rationing measures across the country after a major overnight missile strike by Russia. Brownouts “are possible throughout Ukraine” between 6pm and 11pm, the state energy provider said in a Telegram post, citing a “shortage of electricity in the power system.” David Stern reports for the Washington Post.
Some Ukrainian prisoners will be able to apply for early parole and join the military under a new law aimed at strengthening Kyiv’s manpower in its fight against Russia. The new law will apply only to prisoners who have up to three years left of their original sentences, and won’t cover those who have committed the most serious crimes. The move follows a series of advances by Russian forces along the front lines. Radina Gigova and Olga Voitovych report for CNN.
GLOBAL DEVELOPMENTS
Egyptian authorities have launched a criminal investigation into the fatal shooting of an Israeli-Canadian businessman in Alexandria on Tuesday. A group which calls itself the Vanguards of Liberation for the Martyr Mohammad Salah, an apparent reference to an Egyptian police officer who was killed after shooting dead three Israeli soldiers last year, has claimed responsibility for the killing. In a statement, the group described the man as an Israeli agent and said his killing was in retaliation for what it called massacres in Gaza and Israel’s seizure of the Rafah border crossing. Kathryn Armstrong reports for BBC News.
A prominent Berlin politician was violently assaulted and suffered injuries to her head and neck, police said yesterday. It marks the latest attack on elected officials in Germany as concern rises over rising political violence ahead of next month’s E.U. elections. Franziska Giffey, the city’s top economic official, was attacked at an event in a Berlin library on Tuesday. A 74-year-old man has been detained by police. Kirsten Grieshaber reports for AP News.
The United Kingdom said yesterday it would expel a senior Russian diplomat and close several Russian diplomatic facilities in the country. The government accused Russia’s foreign intelligence service of a pattern of “malign activity” in Britain and Europe, including hacking and leaking U.S.-related trade documents and targeting British lawmakers through malicious email campaigns. British home secretary James Cleverly said the government was announcing the measures “to make clear to Russia that we will not tolerate such apparent escalations.” Mark Landler reports for the New York Times.
Former Fijian prime minister Frank Bainimarama was sentenced today to a year in prison for interfering in a criminal investigation while in office. His lawyers said they plan to appeal. Rod Mcguirk reports for AP News.
Croatia’s ruling HDZ party has agreed to form a coalition with a far-right party following April’s parliamentary election, Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic, who also heads the HDZ, said yesterday. Reuters reports.
DOMESTIC U.S. DEVELOPMENTS
Biden administration officials are readying to announce a new rule to more rapidly reject some migrants from asylum soon after crossing the border. The proposed rule, which could be published as soon as today, would allow immigration officials to prevent migrants from asylum within days or hours of them illegally crossing the border, according to three sources familiar with the news. Stef Kight reports for Axios.
TRUMP-LEGAL MATTERS
Court resumes today in former President Trump’s hush money criminal trial. The defense indicated it will continue cross examining key witness and adult actress Stormy Daniels today, while the prosecution said it will also do a round of re-direct.
The Georgia Court of Appeals will consider an effort by Trump and his co-defendants to disqualify District Attorney Fani Willis from the 2020 election subversion case. In an order yesterday, the court said it will hear the appeal from Trump and others challenging the ruling from Judge Scott McAfee permitting Willis to remain on the case. No trial date has been set in the election subversion case against Trump, and the decision to consider the appeal is another sign that pre-trial efforts to delay a trial are succeeding. Devan Cole and Holmes Lybrand report for CNN.