Trump Watch

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The Israeli military has called up tens of thousands of reservists to “intensify and expand” its operations in Gaza.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said it was “increasing the pressure” with the aim of returning hostages held in Gaza and defeating Hamas militants.

Under the plan, the military said it would operate in new areas and “destroy all infrastructure” above and below ground.

The Israeli security cabinet was expected to vote on the military expansion on Sunday, local media reported.

No Israeli hostages have been released since Israel resumed its offensive on 18 March after the collapse of a two-month ceasefire with Hamas. Israel and Hamas blamed each other for the end of the truce.

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At least 26 Palestinians have been killed – including 11 believed burned to death – in ferocious Israeli attacks across Gaza. Horrific imagery of bodies being pulled out of a rubbled housing complex in Khan Younis, in the Strip’s south, showed the scale of the morning air-strikes.

An attack early on Tuesday destroyed a multistory home in the southern city of Khan Younis, killing nine, including four women and four children. The dead included a 2-year-old girl and her parents and the early morning attacks were part of a widening Israeli campaign in Gaza to try and and wipe out Hamas and force the release of hostages.

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Hamas says it has “lost contact” with the group of fighters holding an Israeli-American hostage captive in Gaza following an Israeli strike on their location.

The 21-year-old soldier, Edan Alexander, has appeared in videos released by the group in recent days.

Israel had asked for him to be released on day one of a new 45-day ceasefire proposal put forward last week which has been rejected by Hamas.

Hamas on Tuesday did not indicate when contact had been lost and has not produced any evidence for their claim. Israel regularly asserts it avoids hitting locations where it believes hostages are being held.

“We announce that we have lost contact with the group holding soldier Edan Alexander following a direct strike on their location,” Hamas spokesman Abu Obeida said in a statement.

“We are still trying to reach them at this moment,” he added.

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Cody Balmer, the suspect charged with setting fire to the Pennsylvania governor’s mansion, was allegedly motivated by anger at Gov. Josh Shapiro‘s (D-PA) position on the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza.

Balmer, 38, allegedly had plans to beat the governor with a sledgehammer if he found him. He called 911 shortly after the arson attack, telling the operator he “will not take part in [Shapiro’s] plans for what he wants to do to the Palestinian people,” according to a police affidavit obtained by PennLive.

This image provided by Commonwealth Media Services shows damage after a fire at the Pennsylvania governor’s mansion while Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro and his family slept inside on Sunday, April 13, 2025, in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. (Commonwealth Media Services via AP)

At least 100 Palestinians killed in Israeli airstrikes across Gaza– www.euronews.com
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At least 100 Palestinians were killed in Israeli airstrikes across Gaza on Thursday, including 27, or more sheltering at a school in the north of the strip, according to Palestinian medical authorities.

The attacks come as Israel heightens its offensive in what it said is a campaign intended to ramp up pressure on Hamas and eventually expelling the Gaza-based group.

The bodies of 14 children and five women were recovered from the school in the Tuffah neighbourhood of Gaza City. The death toll may continue to rise as some of the 70 wounded sustained critical injuries, according to the spokesperson of the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry, Zaher al-Wahidi.

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Israeli troops have moved into an area of northern Gaza to expand what they refer to as a “security zone” around the enclave, the military said today.

It comes days after Israel announced plans to seize large areas with an operation in the south.

Israeli forces issued evacuation warnings for Shejaia, a suburb on the edge of the enclave, on Thursday.

Civilians are now being let out of the area via organised routes, the military said in its statement.

Hundreds of residents have streamed out, with some on foot carrying their belongings while others are in vans, on donkey carts and bikes.

Israel announces plan to seize ‘large areas’ in Gaza – latest updates | Israel-Gaza war– www.theguardian.com
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Airstrikes continued on Gaza on Wednesday morning after the Israeli defense minister announced that Israel intended to expand its war. In a statement, Israel Katz said the offensive was “expanding to crush and clean the area of terrorists and terrorist infrastructure and capture large areas that will be added to the security zones of the state of Israel.”

The move has been condemned by the Hostages Families Forum, who said it appeared that Benjamin Netanyahu’s government were making the return of 59 hostages still held in Gaza by Hamas “a secondary task” that had been “pushed to the bottom of the priority list.”

In a post to social media, Katz said:

I wish success to the IDF soldiers who are fighting bravely and powerfully in Gaza for the return of the kidnapped and the defeat of Hamas. The goal of Operation “Strength and Sword” is first and foremost to increase pressure for the release of all the hostages in the face of Hamas’ refusal.

Expanding the operation this morning will increase the pressure on the Hamas murderers and also on the population in Gaza and advance the achievement of the sacred and important goal for all of us. I call on the residents of Gaza to act now to remove Hamas and return all the hostages. This is the only way to end the war.

Thousands flee Gaza’s Rafah after Israel issues new evacuation orders– www.euronews.com
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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.

Israel Issues Evacuation Order for Southern Gaza– www.nytimes.com
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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.

Egypt’s plan for the reconstruction of Gaza– thehill.com
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For over 16 months, Palestinians in Gaza have endured unspeakable humanitarian circumstances unseen since the Second World War. Almost 2 million people in Gaza have been internally displaced, with more than 150,000 people killed or injured according to the UN, 50 percent of hospitals and medical facilities destroyed, 88 percent of schools partially or fully shattered, 68 percent of agricultural areas damaged and 68 percent of roads have become dysfunctional.

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
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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.

Trump’s ‘Moved Beyond’ Critical Deal, White House Confirms Grander Plans– www.westernjournal.com
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Well before politics were even a glint in his eye, President Donald Trump often boasted about his business acumen and mastery of “the art of the deal.”

Now nearing close to a decade in the political spotlight, Trump is showing that he still holds both of those values quite dearly.

While answering questions during her Wednesday media session, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed that Trump has “moved beyond” the ballyhooed Ukraine mineral deal — and onto something much bigger.

“We have moved beyond the economic mineral deal,” Leavitt told the New York Post.

Apparently, Trump has now set his sights on two bigger targets in the region, the first being taking over Ukraine’s military facilities.

UN Security Council discusses Israeli attack in Gaza – NHK WORLD
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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
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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
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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

Hamas Says Head Of Its Government In Gaza Killed In Israeli Strike– www.ndtv.com
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Gaza City: Hamas on Tuesday named the head of its government in the Gaza Strip, Essam al-Dalis, among a list of officials it said were killed in a wave of Israeli strikes on the Palestinian territory.

“These leaders, along with their families, were martyred after being directly targeted by the Zionist occupation forces’ aircraft,” said the Hamas statement, which also named interior ministry head Mahmud Abu Watfa and Bahjat Abu Sultan, director-general of the internal security service, among those killed.

Dalis, who was a member of Hamas’s political bureau in Gaza, was elected to the movement’s Gaza leadership in March 2021 and became the head of its administration in June of that year.

In November 2023, Israel claimed to have bombed a Hamas structure in which Dalis was present with other leaders who were killed.

Turkey Condemns Israel’s Strikes On Gaza– www.ndtv.com
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Istanbul: Turkey on Tuesday denounced Israel’s deadly strikes in Gaza as “a new phase” in its “genocide policy”, saying the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu defied humanity through its breach of international law.

“The massacre of hundreds of Palestinians in Israel’s attacks on Gaza… demonstrates that the Netanyahu government’s genocide policy has entered a new phase,” the foreign ministry said in a statement.

Israel launched its most intense strikes overnight since a ceasefire took effect on January 19, with the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory reporting more than 330 people killed.

Hamas has not responded to the strikes so far.

Hundreds killed as Israel launches air strikes across Gaza | Israel-Palestine conflict News– www.aljazeera.com
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Israel has launched a wave of air attacks across the Gaza Strip, shattering the agreed ceasefire, which, although shaky, had been in place since January.

The air raids in the early hours of Tuesday killed more than 320 people, including many women and children.

The surprise bombardment shattered a period of relative calm during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan and raised the prospect of a full return to fighting in a 17-month war that has killed more than 48,000 Palestinians and caused widespread destruction across Gaza.

Rubio and Saudi Arabia’s MBS discuss Gaza reconstruction in Riyadh – The Times of Israel
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US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman discussed the “reconstruction of Gaza” during their meeting in Riyadh earlier today, the State Department says in its readout.

Rubio thanked the Saudi leader for “hosting Arab countries,” the State Department says in an apparent reference to the summit Riyadh hosted for Arab leaders last month to prepare for another confab held in Cairo last week, where Egypt unveiled its plan for the post-war management of Gaza.

The Trump administration has called the plan a good start, while indicating that it doesn’t sufficiently address Hamas’s role, which Washington wants to be non-existent.

Rubio “reiterated [to MBS] the United States’ firm commitment that any solution to the situation in Gaza must not include any role for Hamas,” the US readout adds.

News24 | Hamas pushes for phase two of Gaza truce talks– www.news24.com
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Hamas reiterated on Sunday its insistence on moving directly into negotiating a second phase of the Gaza truce, as Israel announced it would dispatch a delegation to Doha for further talks.

Representatives of the Palestinian militant group met with mediators in Cairo at the weekend, emphasising the need for humanitarian aid to re-enter the besieged territory “without restrictions or conditions”, according to a Hamas press release.

The high-level delegation also stressed the need for “moving directly to begin negotiations for the second phase” of the deal, which will aim to lay the groundwork for a permanent ceasefire.