House Intelligence Committee Democrats Demand Independent Review of Signal Chat Leak– slaynews.com Source Link Excerpt:
Democrats on the House Intelligence Committee are demanding that Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard conduct an independent review of the recent Signal chat leak.
It comes after an anti-Trump journalist was inadvertently added to a Signal chat about a military attack, WPRI-TV reported.
Ranking member Jim Himes (D-CT) sent a letter to Gabbard Monday demanding a written response.
The issue occurred because National Security Advisor Mike Waltz accidentally added an Atlantic journalist to the Signal chat with officials.
The left-wing “news” outlet subsequently published the messages.
They were discussing a strike on Houthi terrorists.
White House desperately wants you to forget national security fail– www.dailykos.com Source Link Excerpt:
The Trump administration is attempting to shut down growing concerns over the war plans leak, even as congressional requests for independent investigations have begun to surface.
Senior members of the Trump administration—including Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and National Security Adviser Michael Waltz—discussed confidential war plans in a Signal group chat, in which journalist Jeffrey Goldberg was accidentally included.
“As the president has made it very clear, Mike Waltz continues to be an important part of his national security team, and this case has been closed here at the White House as far as we are concerned,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters on Monday.
Leavitt, who has a history of lying, said that “steps have been made” to ensure that another leak doesn’t happen in the future but gave no details on what those purported steps were.
Fresh US strikes extend air campaign targeting Yemen’s Houthis | News– www.aljazeera.com Source Link Excerpt:
Houthis claim to down US drone. President Donald Trump declares Yemeni rebel group ‘decimated’ by air strike campaign.
The United States military launched a series of air attacks on Yemen overnight, targeting Houthi rebels.
Strikes hit an area near the capital, Sanaa, as well as the northern province of Saada early on Tuesday as the US extended a bombing campaign against targets in Yemen that began in mid-March and has killed dozens of people.
The Houthi-affiliated Al Masirah TV reported that US forces launched 15 raids on the northern province of Saada, including the city of Saada and the districts of Majz and Sahar. Mount Nabi Shuaib, in the Bani Matar district of Sanaa province, was also reported to have been targeted.
Thousands flee Gaza’s Rafah after Israel issues new evacuation orders– www.euronews.com Source Link Excerpt:
UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini said 140,000 people are impacted by the Israeli military’s latest displacement orders, which indicate it could soon launch another major ground operation in Gaza’s southernmost city.
Thousand of Palestinians fled Gaza’s southernmost city of Rafah on Monday after the Israeli military issued new sweeping evacuation orders, indicating it could soon launch another major ground operation.
At least 140,000 people were affected by the evacuation order, according to Philippe Lazzarini, the head of UNRWA, the UN agency helping Palestinian refugees.
“People are treated like pinballs with constant military orders playing with their fate and lives,” Lazzarini wrote on the social platform X.
Signs ‘threatening’ deportation of Harvard pro-Hamas students put up, students ‘distressed’– www.thecollegefix.com Source Link Excerpt:
Caused ‘fear’ among many ‘already feeling deeply vulnerable’
This past week, Harvard Law School officials removed a pair stickers adhered to a pole near the campus’ main plaza which “threatened” the deportation of pro-Hamas students.
The first sticker read “Don’t be Mahmood [sic] Khalil,” a reference to the Columbia University grad student recently detained by ICE for, The Crimsonclaims, “serving as a negotiator on behalf of participants in Columbia’s pro-Palestine encampment.”
The sticker also included “Be a racist if you want, Just keep it to yourself #JFB (Jews fight back).”
The group Dissent Collective snapped a photo (pictured) of the sticker, which by that time had the phrase “Free Palestine” scrawled into it. A second sticker reading “I am a green card holder who loves America. I will never be deported. Are You?” soon was placed over the original.
Israel estimates Houthis only have ‘few dozen’ ballistic missiles left; PM Netanyahu praises ‘forceful’ US strikes in Yemen – All Israel News Source Link
Israel Issues Evacuation Order for Southern Gaza– www.nytimes.com Source Link Excerpt:
The Israeli military issued a sweeping evacuation order for the southern Gaza Strip on Monday, signaling that it could relaunch intensive assaults in the area.
The order — which came during the Eid al-Fitr holiday — heralded renewed hardship for Palestinians in the southernmost city of Rafah, which has been battered by the war between Israel and Hamas, and has endured periods of being overwhelmed with displaced people and depopulated by evacuation orders. The war restarted two weeks ago after a monthslong cease-fire collapsed.
In the past, the Israeli military has ordered evacuations ahead of both aerial attacks and ground maneuvers that it has said were targeting Hamas.
Avichay Adraee, the Israeli military’s Arabic-language spokesman, on Monday posted a map of the affected areas on his social media accounts, including Rafah and parts of neighboring Khan Younis. He said Palestinians must relocate to shelters in a costal region to the north.
Hamas slams Israel’s ‘colonial’ road project meant to split West Bank, isolate East Jerusalem – The Cradle Source Link
Excerpt:
Hamas has strongly condemned Israel’s approval of a new road project connecting Jerusalem to the Ma’ale Adumim settlement in the occupied West Bank, calling it a colonial effort to expand illegal settlements and displace Palestinians from occupied East Jerusalem.
In a statement issued on 30 March, the Palestinian resistance group described the Israeli cabinet’s decision as part of a broader plan to isolate Palestinian towns and dismantle hopes for a viable Palestinian state.
“These colonial plans will ultimately be shattered by the steadfastness of the Palestinian people,” the statement read, urging Palestinians in the West Bank and Jerusalem to escalate resistance and confront the occupation.
“The continued implementation of settlement projects in occupied Jerusalem reveals the occupation’s malicious intent to expand settlements and push for the displacement of Palestinians from the holy city.”
The Israeli Security Cabinet on Saturday approved the final phase of the so-called “Fabric of Life Road,” also known as the “Texture of Life Axis.” The project, long delayed, will create a new route allowing Palestinian vehicles to travel between the northern and southern West Bank without passing through Israeli checkpoints or Route 1 — the main highway connecting Jerusalem to Ma’ale Adumim. That road will now be reserved exclusively for Israeli traffic.
Crowd At Anti-Hegseth Town Hall In Deep Red District Reeks Of Astroturf– www.newsbusters.org Source Link Excerpt:
Sunday’s edition of MSNBC’s The Weekend featured a clip from a town hall in Indiana’s 5th Congressional District. In November, Trump and Republican Rep. Victoria Spartz carried the district handily: by 16 and 18 points, respectively.
Yet the crowd overwhelmingly and raucously cheered the suggestion that the congresswoman should demand Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s resignation, given the Signal chat that mistakenly included a journalist.
Co-host Symone Sanders claimed the cheering people were district “constituents,” and co-host Michael Steele took it a step further, saying they were Republicans. The show provided no evidence to support either statement. Did MSNBC make any effort to confirm the residence or registration of the crowd members?
Hypocrisy-proof Steele concluded the segment by saying:
“This sets up additional narratives, I think, for voters as well as journalists to dig a little bit deeper and find out a little bit more.”
Stephen A. Smith goes scorched Earth on media’s SignalGate obsession: “Were y’all talking about 13 lives lost in Afghanistan?”– www.louderwithcrowder.com Source Link Excerpt:
Stephen A. Smith won’t change the way he votes any more than Bill Maher or Jon Stewart will. It’s still entertaining and valuable when he calls out the left and the media (but I repeat myself) to a mainstream audience that wouldn’t typically hear such things. Like with SignalGate. And how the people calling for Pete Hegseth to be fired weren’t this outraged when the People Who Controlled Joe Biden Adminstration’s incompetence led to thirteen service members being killed during the Afghanistan withdrawal.
To recap SignalGate, National Security Advisor Michael Waltz, or someone working for him, “accidentally” invited anti-Trump jorunalismer Jeffrey Goldberg to a group chat about the Houthis being taken out. And because of Waltz’s f*ck up… the media and the left (but I repeat myself) still butthurt they couldn’t collect Hegseth’s scalp are demanding HE resign.
To be clear: Waltz SHOULD resign. This was a colossal f*ck up.
Stephen A., who is no fan of the Defense Secretary, thinks Afghanistan was worse.
We operate in a biased and partisan industry. Sometimes we can be unfair to the left, the media, and the People Who Controlled Joe Biden administration. I get that. It’s one thing for us to blame the previous team for Afghanistan. So here are the families of the servicemembers who lost their lives during the incompetent withdrawal blaming them.
The left and the media (but I repeat myself) weren’t upset about this. They didn’t call for anyone to be held accountable. Yet because a reporter was added to a group chat by the National Security Advisor, the Defense Secretary needs to either resign or be fired.
The ridiculous defenses—ranging from lies about the contents of the messages to conspiracy theories about how the reporter got added to the conversation in the first place—are even rankling some Trump administration allies, who told Politico that President Donald Trump and his team need to own up to the error, fire those involved, and end the controversy.
But that message has clearly not been heard by congressional Republicans, who are still defending the monumental fuck-up that risked U.S. troops who were carrying out an attack on a rebel group in Yemen—even as more details emerge confirming that classified information was shared on an insecure platform.
Sen. Lindsey Graham, Republican of South Carolina, said that he stands by the Trump administration officials who were involved—including Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who shared in the chat the exact timing of the forthcoming attack and the weapons systems that would be used.
“President Trump and his team have admitted that having a journalist in the group text was wrong, will be reviewed and falls in the category of ‘lessons learned’ so that it doesn’t happen again. I think President Trump has handled this matter well. Further, I believe that all the participants in the chat were under the impression they were using an appropriate and secure form of communication. This will also fall into the category of ‘lessons learned,’” Graham said in a statement.
As the statistics reflect, Israel’s war didn’t turn out to be just a war against Hamas, but expanded to the entire civilian population and its critical infrastructure.
To address this crisis of colossal magnitude, two critical steps need to be taken. First, we must immediately provide a comprehensive and thorough humanitarian plan that alleviates the suffering of Palestinians and restore life back to Gaza through early recovery programs and reconstruction.
Second, it is imperative that we offer a political roadmap that brings decisive closure to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict once and for all culminating in an independent Palestinian state and ensure that this latest horrific round of violence becomes the final one. Let me address both steps.
Israel says it has launched new ground operation in Gaza – Reuters Source Link Excerpt:
The Israeli military said on Wednesday its forces resumed ground operations in the central and southern Gaza Strip, as a second day of airstrikes killed at least 48 Palestinians, according to local health workers.
The renewed ground operations came a day after more than 400 Palestinians were killed in airstrikes in one of the deadliest episodes since the beginning of the conflict in October 2023, shattering a ceasefire that has largely held since January.
Strikes hit Houthi stronghold in Yemen’s Sanaa, residents say – The Times of Israel Source Link Excerpt:
Houthi media reports multiple US strikes in rebel-held areas around Yemen including the capital Sanaa, as the US military says its campaign against the Iran-backed rebels is ongoing.
According to the Houthis’ Al-Masirah TV, “an American attack targeted the capital Sanaa… and the area of the town of Saada” in the north, later adding that strikes also hit the district of Al-Sawadiya, southeast of Sana
Thousands of Palestinians are once again fleeing towns in northern Gaza. They’re travelling, mostly by foot, to areas in the south like Khan Younis, after deadly Israeli strikes and evacuation warnings spread fears of further attacks.
UN Security Council discusses Israeli attack in Gaza – NHK WORLD Source Link Excerpt:
Members of the United Nations Security Council discussed the airstrikes that Israel carried out in Gaza on Tuesday. Many called for the ceasefire to be reestablished. However, the United States pushed back on the idea.
Health authorities in Gaza say the attacks killed at least 404 people. The Palestinian Permanent Observer to the UN, Riyad Mansour, said, “Palestinians are being killed indiscriminately, are being denied humanitarian aid indiscriminately, are being maimed and detained indiscriminately.”
Envoys from the UK, France and Russia joined Mansour in urging an immediate end to the fighting.
But the acting US Ambassador to the UN, Dorothy Shea, blamed the attacks on Hamas. She said, “It is well known that Hamas continues to use civilian infrastructure as launching pads, and the United States condemns this practice, as should others.”
Entire Families Wiped Out as Israel Resumes Genocidal Assault on Gaza – Common Dreams Source Link Excerpt:
Once again, entire families are being wiped out by Israeli airstrikes on the Gaza Strip after U.S. President Donald Trumpreportedly gave the green light for the key American ally to resume its assault on the Palestinian enclave.
Israel unilaterally abrogated the crumbling eight-week cease-fire early Tuesday, unleashing a wave of ferocious strikes on the already flattened Gaza Strip, killing at least 404 people—including 174 children, 89 women, and 32 elders—and wounding at least 562 others, with the death toll expected to rise, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.
Palestinian Islamic Jihad spokesman killed in Gaza strikes– www.yahoo.com Source Link Excerpt:
The spokesman for the militant organization Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) was killed in a massive Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip on Tuesday, the group said.
Naji Abu Saif, also known as Abu Hamsa, was killed during an “attack on his family and his brother’s family,” PIJ said.
The group is allied with Hamas, another Palestinian extremist group. Both organizations were involved in the October 7, 2023 massacre in Israel that triggered the latest Gaza war.
Both are said to be backed by Iran.
Palestinians search for their belongings among the rubble of their destroyed homes, following the Israeli airstrikes on Khan Yunis. Israel launched a series of airstrikes against the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday after efforts to extend the ceasefire failed. Abed Rahim Khatib/dpa