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Middle East latest: Gaza ceasefire holds as Israel cracks down in the West Bank

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Middle East latest: Gaza ceasefire holds as Israel cracks down in the West Bank
News

News

Middle East latest: Gaza ceasefire holds as Israel cracks down in the West Bank

2025-01-24 08:59 Last Updated At:09:01

The ceasefire in Gaza between Israel and Hamas stretched into a fifth day on Thursday. Humanitarian aid groups are working to surge food and supplies to the war-ravaged territory as Palestinians scour through mountains of rubble looking for bodies of those killed by Israeli bombardments during the 15-month war.

More than 120 corpses were recovered and brought to hospitals across the Gaza Strip over the past day, the Health Ministry said. It said the overall Palestinian death toll in Gaza exceeds 47,000 people. The ministry doesn’t distinguish between combatants and civilians.

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Israeli soldiers walk ahead of Palestinians displaced by an Israeli military operation evacuating from the Jenin refugee camp in the West Bank carrying their belongings on Thursday, Jan. 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Majdi Mohammed)

Israeli soldiers walk ahead of Palestinians displaced by an Israeli military operation evacuating from the Jenin refugee camp in the West Bank carrying their belongings on Thursday, Jan. 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Majdi Mohammed)

Destroyed buildings in an area of the village of Odaisseh in southern Lebanon, located next to the Israeli-Lebanese border, as seen from northern Israel, Thursday, Jan. 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)

Destroyed buildings in an area of the village of Odaisseh in southern Lebanon, located next to the Israeli-Lebanese border, as seen from northern Israel, Thursday, Jan. 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)

FILE - President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu shake hands at The Israel Museum in Jerusalem, May 23, 2017. (AP Photo/Sebastian Scheiner, File)

FILE - President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu shake hands at The Israel Museum in Jerusalem, May 23, 2017. (AP Photo/Sebastian Scheiner, File)

Israeli soldiers stand next to an Israeli flag inside a village in southern Lebanon, as seen form northern Israel, Thursday, Jan. 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)

Israeli soldiers stand next to an Israeli flag inside a village in southern Lebanon, as seen form northern Israel, Thursday, Jan. 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)

Palestinians displaced by an Israeli military operation evacuate from the Jenin refugee camp in the West Bank carrying an elderly man over rubble, on Thursday, Jan. 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Majdi Mohammed)

Palestinians displaced by an Israeli military operation evacuate from the Jenin refugee camp in the West Bank carrying an elderly man over rubble, on Thursday, Jan. 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Majdi Mohammed)

Israeli soldiers stand guard as Palestinians displaced by an Israeli military operation evacuate from the Jenin refugee camp in the West Bank carry their belongings, Thursday, Jan. 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Majdi Mohammed)

Israeli soldiers stand guard as Palestinians displaced by an Israeli military operation evacuate from the Jenin refugee camp in the West Bank carry their belongings, Thursday, Jan. 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Majdi Mohammed)

Samira Deifallah, 52, displaced from Gaza city, sits outside her tent after a night of heavy rainfall at a tent camp for displaced Palestinians in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza Strip, Thursday Jan. 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

Samira Deifallah, 52, displaced from Gaza city, sits outside her tent after a night of heavy rainfall at a tent camp for displaced Palestinians in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza Strip, Thursday Jan. 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

Palestinians mourn a relative who was killed in the Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip, at the Nasser hospital in Khan Younis, Southern Gaza Strip, Thursday, Jan. 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)

Palestinians mourn a relative who was killed in the Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip, at the Nasser hospital in Khan Younis, Southern Gaza Strip, Thursday, Jan. 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)

Palestinians look for the bodies of their relatives, who were killed in the Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip, at the Nasser hospital in Khan Younis, Southern Gaza Strip, Thursday, Jan. 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)

Palestinians look for the bodies of their relatives, who were killed in the Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip, at the Nasser hospital in Khan Younis, Southern Gaza Strip, Thursday, Jan. 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)

Two Palestinian girls attempt to walk through a flooded area after a night of heavy rainfall at a tent camp for displaced Palestinians in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza Strip, Thursday Jan. 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

Two Palestinian girls attempt to walk through a flooded area after a night of heavy rainfall at a tent camp for displaced Palestinians in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza Strip, Thursday Jan. 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

FILE - Israeli soldiers take up positions next to the Philadelphi Corridor along the border with Egypt, in the Gaza Strip, Sept. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Leo Correa, File)

FILE - Israeli soldiers take up positions next to the Philadelphi Corridor along the border with Egypt, in the Gaza Strip, Sept. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Leo Correa, File)

Humanitarian aid trucks enter through the Kerem Shalom crossing from Egypt into the Gaza Strip, in Rafah, Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025, days after the ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas came into effect. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)

Humanitarian aid trucks enter through the Kerem Shalom crossing from Egypt into the Gaza Strip, in Rafah, Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025, days after the ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas came into effect. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)

Humanitarian aid trucks enter through the Kerem Shalom crossing from Egypt into the Gaza Strip, in Rafah, Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025, days after the ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas came into effect. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)

Humanitarian aid trucks enter through the Kerem Shalom crossing from Egypt into the Gaza Strip, in Rafah, Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025, days after the ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas came into effect. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)

Israeli tank shelling also killed two Palestinian brothers near their home in southern Gaza, the Health Ministry said. Israel's military said troops fired on armed Palestinians that posed a threat.

In the days since the fragile ceasefire took hold in the Gaza Strip, Israel has launched a major military operation in the occupied West Bank city of Jenin. Israeli soldiers and vehicles were fanned out in the muddy streets Thursday as displaced Palestinian families left the area — some carrying suitcases, pets and other belongings.

Israel says it's seeking to stamp out militancy in the area. The Palestinian Health Ministry says at least 10 people have been killed in Jenin.

Here's the latest:

UNITED NATIONS – The war in Gaza has seen children killed, starved, frozen to death, orphaned and separated from their families, the U.N. humanitarian chief says.

“A generation has been traumatized,” Tom Fletcher told a U.N. Security Council meeting called by Russia on Thursday about the war’s impact on Gaza’s youngest residents.

He said “conservative estimates” indicate that over 17,000 children are separated from their families.

In his video briefing from Stockholm, Fletcher did not give any figures on the number of children killed. But he said, “Some died before their first breath – perishing with their mothers in childbirth.”

An estimated 150,000 pregnant women and new mothers are also “in desperate need of health services,” Fletcher said.

He said a million kids in Gaza need mental health and psycho-social support for depression, anxiety and suicidal thoughts, according to the U.N. children’s agency, UNICEF.

UNITED NATIONS — Large volumes of aid are entering Gaza and getting to areas that were hard to reach before the ceasefire, the U.N. humanitarian office reported Thursday.

“The surge in supplies entering Gaza each day and the return of law and order has allowed aid organizations to significantly scale up the delivery of life-saving assistance and services,” the U.N. said.

At least 653 aid trucks entered Gaza on Thursday, according to the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, known as OCHA.

All of the aid is entering Gaza via crossings from Israel, OCHA said, as the direct Egypt-Gaza crossing remains closed under Israeli forces’ control. The aid itself is supplied by the U.N., nongovernmental organizations, other countries and the private sector.

Seven trucks of fuel were delivered to northern Gaza by U.N. humanitarian partners for the first time since the ceasefire, OCHA said. The fuel delivered to 20 health facilities in Gaza City would be enough to keep them running for about a week, it said.

Since the ceasefire, OCHA said most trucks entering Gaza carried food, but more medicine, shelter materials, water and sanitation supplies are expected in the coming days.

Across southern Gaza, the U.N. children’s agency UNICEF is giving out high-energy biscuits and ready-to-use food — enough for thousands of infants.

Also Wednesday, U.N. partners in southern Gaza distributed medical items and kits for trauma management kits to 14 hospitals.

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Senate on Thursday confirmed John Ratcliffe as CIA director, giving President Donald Trump the second member of his new Cabinet.

The Texas Republican was director of national intelligence during Trump’s first term and is the first person to have held that position and the top post at the CIA, the nation’s premier spy agency.

Ratcliffe's predecessor, William Burns, played a key role in brokering the Israel-Hamas ceasefire ceasefire in Gaza.

JERUSALEM — Palestinian officials say that the autopsy of a Hamas militant held by Israel who died in prison last month suggests that he had been tortured.

The alleged abuse likely caused intracranial bleeding, a wound that can result from a serious head injury, the Palestinian Authority’s Commission of Prisoners’ Affairs said in a statement Thursday.

A new autopsy determined that 45-year-old Mohammad al-Aref suffered cuts that pointed to “physical assault and excessive use of restraints” and blood clots in the left side of his head, limbs, chest and abdomen, according to the commission.

Israeli authorities did not respond to a request for comment on the medical report.

Al-Aref, from the Nur Shams refugee camp in the northern Israeli-occupied West Bank, spent 20 years in Israeli prison on charges related to national security and was released in 2021. He was arrested again last November. Less than a week later, on Dec. 4, he was transferred to a hospital in northern Israel and pronounced dead.

Hamas released a statement condemning his death and claiming him as a member of the militant group.

The Palestinian Authority says that Al-Aref is one of dozens of Palestinian prisoners who have died in detention during the war in Gaza. Human rights groups have increasingly raised alarm about the treatment of Palestinian detainees and called for an independent investigation into the deaths of Palestinians in Israeli custody.

Israel has announced several investigations into the deaths of detainees. Its Prison Service did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the number of those who had died in Israeli custody since Oct. 7.

JERUSALEM — Israel’s prime minister says Elon Musk is being unfairly criticized over his straight-arm gesture earlier this week that many social media users said the gesture looked like a Nazi salute.

In a post on X, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says Musk has been “falsely smeared.” He described the world’s richest man as a “great friend of Israel.”

Musk has lashed out at the criticism of his gesture, although right-wing extremists embraced the salute.

JERUSALEM — Israel may seek to delay pulling all of its troops out of southern Lebanon, which would violate the terms of a ceasefire it signed with the militant group Hezbollah.

An Israeli government spokesperson said Thursday that Israel wants the ceasefire agreement to endure, however he hinted that the Lebanese army wasn't deploying fast enough to secure areas.

"There is movement but it is not moving fast enough,” said David Mencer.

Under the ceasefire deal from November, Hezbollah and Israel are both supposed to withdraw from southern Lebanon by Sunday to allow the Lebanese army and U.N. peacekeepers to provide security.

Israel's military also said Thursday it was still finding Hezbollah arms caches in southern Lebanon, including rockets, rifles and ammunition.

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip — Gaza’s Health Ministry says Israeli tank fire killed two Palestinians near the southern border town of Rafah, days after a ceasefire in the war-battered territory took hold.

The Health Ministry said Thursday that Israeli shelling hit the Tel al-Sultan district west of Rafah, killing two brothers near their home. It said the firing apparently targeted a residential building, without elaborating. The Palestinian Civil Defense confirmed it had recovered the two bodies.

The Israeli military, which has forces deployed at the nearby border between Gaza and Egypt, said that its troops “operated against threats posed to them in the Gaza Strip, in accordance with the terms of the ceasefire agreement.”

In Rafah, the army said its forces fired on armed Palestinians “moving suspiciously” near its positions. Troops also fired at “an armed individual operating within a structure," it said, while emphasizing Israel was fully committed to the truce deal.

BEIRUT — The Lebanese militant group Hezbollah said Thursday that any delay in Israeli forces' withdrawal from southern Lebanon “would necessitate a firm response from the state.”

Under the terms of the U.S.-and French-brokered ceasefire, Israeli troops are expected to pull out of Lebanon by Sunday. Israeli media has recently reported that Israel is seeking to postpone the completion of its withdrawal.

Hezbollah had warned it could resume rocket and drone fire if Israel failed to withdraw on time. However, in a statement on Thursday addressing these reports, the group called on the Lebanese state to take action in response to potential violations.

“We call on all parties, especially the Lebanese political authorities, to exert pressure on the countries sponsoring the agreement to ensure the final days of the deadline are monitored effectively,” Hezbollah said in a statement.

Under the ceasefire deal, Hezbollah and Israel are both supposed to withdraw from southern Lebanon by Sunday to allow the Lebanese army and U.N. peacekeepers to provide security.

NAQOURA, Lebanon — Residents returned Thursday to the town of Naqoura near the Lebanon-Israel border, which hosts the headquarters of the U.N. peacekeeping force, after Israeli forces withdrew from the area.

Long lines of cars, some waving Hezbollah flags, inched along the coastal road. The Lebanese Army and U.N. peacekeepers had reopened roads, cleared mines and removed unexploded ordnance from residential neighborhoods.

Residents of the southern town were among over 1.2 million Lebanese displaced during the Israel-Hezbollah war.

Returning residents found their homes and businesses along the main road completely destroyed, some looted. Water and electricity networks lay in ruins. Mosques, health centers and the municipality building were damaged.

Rabab Yazbeck, surveyed the collapsed remains of her home. “Thank God — the most important thing is that we’re back to our land.”

AMMAN, Jordan — The U.N.’s migration agency said Thursday it sent its first convoy of trucks into the Gaza Strip since the ceasefire began, carrying materials for shelters as well as water, sanitation and hygiene supplies to provide relief for approximately 10,000 people.

The International Organization for Migration said it sent trucks from Jordan to Gaza carrying 13,000 sleeping mats, 11,000 mattresses, 11,000 blankets, 10,000 pillows with pillowcases, 2,000 plastic sheets, and 1,200 hygiene kits.

Around 90% of Gaza’s population of 2.3 million people has been displaced by the war, and the United Nations estimated last month that 69% of the structures in Gaza have been damaged or destroyed, including over 245,000 homes.

TEL AVIV — A survivor of the Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas attack will represent Israel at the Eurovision Song Contest to be held in Switzerland in May.

Yuval Raphael, 24, won first place in a singing contest on Israeli television that determines Israel’s entry to Eurovision, a pan-continental pop extravaganza. She won with a performance of the Swedish group ABBA’s pop hit “Dancing Queen,” which she dedicated to the victims of the attack.

Raphael survived the Nova music festival in southern Israel as Palestinian militants stormed the event, killing hundreds and taking many hostage during Hamas’ cross-border raid. She has testified in the Israeli parliament about her experience on Oct. 7. She described hiding from gunmen under piles of dead bodies for eight hours, and said “I’m going to deal with this thing for the rest of my life.”

Last year’s Eurovision was overshadowed by the war in Gaza, with large demonstrations protesting Israel’s participation. Israel’s representative, Eden Golan, who ended up taking fifth place in the competition, was kept under tight security.

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip — Although the ceasefire in Gaza has brought an influx of humanitarian aid and a rare respite from Israeli bombardment, it has done little to change the miserable conditions endured by most of the 2 million people displaced by fighting.

The winter weather has compounded the hardships of those eking out an existence in tattered tents and makeshift shelters. Heavy rains were flooding tents across the territory, leaving Palestinians shivering in the cold.

At one makeshift camp in Deir al-Balah, the downpour Thursday quickly soaked through flimsy tents that seemed to float on pools of muck. Some used sandbags to keep their tents from washing away, while others tried to clear the huge puddles of mud outside their shelters. Barefoot children trod through paths that had become filthy rivers.

Residents of the tent camp said they had no choice but to stay put. After the ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war took effect Sunday, Palestinians returning to their houses said they found only ruins.

JERUSALEM — Israeli forces have killed two Palestinian militants who carried out a deadly attack on a bus in the West Bank earlier this month.

The Israeli military said Thursday that the two men barricaded themselves in a structure in the West Bank village of Burqin and exchanged fire with Israeli troops before they were killed overnight. The army said a soldier was moderately wounded.

The military said Mohammed Nazzal and Katiba al-Shalabi were operatives with the Islamic Jihad militant group.

The Hamas militant group released a statement claiming the two men were members of its armed wing and praising the bus attack. Hamas and the smaller and more radical Islamic Jihad are allies that sometimes carry out attacks together.

The Al Jazeera news network says the Palestinian Authority arrested one of its reporters after preventing him from covering an Israeli operation in the occupied West Bank.

The Qatar-based news network reported Thursday that its reporter, Mohammed al-Atrash, was arrested from his home.

It said Palestinian security forces had earlier prevented him from reporting on a large Israeli military operation in Jenin, an epicenter of Israeli-Palestinian violence in recent years. The Palestinian Authority launched its own crackdown on militants in the city late last year.

There was no immediate comment from the Palestinian Authority.

Both Israel and the Western-backed Palestinian Authority banned Al Jazeera last year. Israel accuses it of being a mouthpiece of Hamas over its coverage of the war in the Gaza Strip and says some of its reporters are also militants.

The pan-Arab broadcaster has rejected the allegations and accused both Israel and the Palestinian Authority of trying to silence critical coverage.

Israeli soldiers walk ahead of Palestinians displaced by an Israeli military operation evacuating from the Jenin refugee camp in the West Bank carrying their belongings on Thursday, Jan. 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Majdi Mohammed)

Israeli soldiers walk ahead of Palestinians displaced by an Israeli military operation evacuating from the Jenin refugee camp in the West Bank carrying their belongings on Thursday, Jan. 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Majdi Mohammed)

Destroyed buildings in an area of the village of Odaisseh in southern Lebanon, located next to the Israeli-Lebanese border, as seen from northern Israel, Thursday, Jan. 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)

Destroyed buildings in an area of the village of Odaisseh in southern Lebanon, located next to the Israeli-Lebanese border, as seen from northern Israel, Thursday, Jan. 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)

FILE - President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu shake hands at The Israel Museum in Jerusalem, May 23, 2017. (AP Photo/Sebastian Scheiner, File)

FILE - President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu shake hands at The Israel Museum in Jerusalem, May 23, 2017. (AP Photo/Sebastian Scheiner, File)

Israeli soldiers stand next to an Israeli flag inside a village in southern Lebanon, as seen form northern Israel, Thursday, Jan. 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)

Israeli soldiers stand next to an Israeli flag inside a village in southern Lebanon, as seen form northern Israel, Thursday, Jan. 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)

Palestinians displaced by an Israeli military operation evacuate from the Jenin refugee camp in the West Bank carrying an elderly man over rubble, on Thursday, Jan. 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Majdi Mohammed)

Palestinians displaced by an Israeli military operation evacuate from the Jenin refugee camp in the West Bank carrying an elderly man over rubble, on Thursday, Jan. 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Majdi Mohammed)

Israeli soldiers stand guard as Palestinians displaced by an Israeli military operation evacuate from the Jenin refugee camp in the West Bank carry their belongings, Thursday, Jan. 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Majdi Mohammed)

Israeli soldiers stand guard as Palestinians displaced by an Israeli military operation evacuate from the Jenin refugee camp in the West Bank carry their belongings, Thursday, Jan. 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Majdi Mohammed)

Samira Deifallah, 52, displaced from Gaza city, sits outside her tent after a night of heavy rainfall at a tent camp for displaced Palestinians in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza Strip, Thursday Jan. 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

Samira Deifallah, 52, displaced from Gaza city, sits outside her tent after a night of heavy rainfall at a tent camp for displaced Palestinians in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza Strip, Thursday Jan. 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

Palestinians mourn a relative who was killed in the Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip, at the Nasser hospital in Khan Younis, Southern Gaza Strip, Thursday, Jan. 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)

Palestinians mourn a relative who was killed in the Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip, at the Nasser hospital in Khan Younis, Southern Gaza Strip, Thursday, Jan. 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)

Palestinians look for the bodies of their relatives, who were killed in the Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip, at the Nasser hospital in Khan Younis, Southern Gaza Strip, Thursday, Jan. 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)

Palestinians look for the bodies of their relatives, who were killed in the Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip, at the Nasser hospital in Khan Younis, Southern Gaza Strip, Thursday, Jan. 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)

Two Palestinian girls attempt to walk through a flooded area after a night of heavy rainfall at a tent camp for displaced Palestinians in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza Strip, Thursday Jan. 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

Two Palestinian girls attempt to walk through a flooded area after a night of heavy rainfall at a tent camp for displaced Palestinians in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza Strip, Thursday Jan. 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

FILE - Israeli soldiers take up positions next to the Philadelphi Corridor along the border with Egypt, in the Gaza Strip, Sept. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Leo Correa, File)

FILE - Israeli soldiers take up positions next to the Philadelphi Corridor along the border with Egypt, in the Gaza Strip, Sept. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Leo Correa, File)

Humanitarian aid trucks enter through the Kerem Shalom crossing from Egypt into the Gaza Strip, in Rafah, Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025, days after the ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas came into effect. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)

Humanitarian aid trucks enter through the Kerem Shalom crossing from Egypt into the Gaza Strip, in Rafah, Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025, days after the ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas came into effect. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)

Humanitarian aid trucks enter through the Kerem Shalom crossing from Egypt into the Gaza Strip, in Rafah, Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025, days after the ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas came into effect. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)

Humanitarian aid trucks enter through the Kerem Shalom crossing from Egypt into the Gaza Strip, in Rafah, Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025, days after the ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas came into effect. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)

A federal judge has temporarily blocked President Donald Trump’s plan to push out federal employees by offering them financial incentives.

The ruling came hours before the midnight deadline for workers to apply for the deferred resignation program, which has been commonly described as a buyout.

Here's the latest:

Rubio said he had no confusion after meeting with Panama President José Raúl Mulino and canal administrators during his Latin American tour.

“I respect very much the fact that Panama has a process of laws and procedures that they need to follow,” Rubio said.

But he said the United States is obligated to protect the Panama Canal if it comes under attack, and “that treaty obligation would have to be enforced by the armed forces of the United States, particularly the U.S. Navy. I find it absurd that we would have to pay fees to transit a zone that we are obligated to protect in a time of conflict.”

▶Read more on Rubio’s Latin America tour

Secretary of State Marco Rubio seemingly contradicted President Donald Trump on Thursday when talking about the proposal for the U.S. to take over Gaza and relocate Palestinians from the territory, insisting that would just be a temporary move.

“I think that’s just a realistic reality that in order to fix a place like that, people are going to have to live somewhere else in the interim,” Rubio said in a press conference in Santo Domingo with Dominican President Luis Abinader. He said it was “not habitable.”

The U.S. top diplomat and other Trump administration officials has attempted to walk back the idea the president wants the permanent relocation of Palestinians from Gaza.

But Trump earlier on Thursday took to his social media platform to insist the U.S. could take over Gaza without needing to send in troops and that Palestinians would be resettled elsewhere in the region with new and modern homes and “would actually have a chance to be happy, safe and free.”

“There’s no time to lose,” Dominican Republic President Luis Abinader said. “The leadership of the United States is essential and irreplaceable.”

Abinader warned Thursday during a press conference with the U.S. Secretary of State that Haiti represents a threat to the U.S. as well as the entire region, and without humanitarian aid, a wave of migrants will leave the violence-wracked country.

Marco Rubio said the only option for the U.S. is to keep supporting the current U.N.-backed mission led by Kenyan police.

“Haiti’s solution is in the hands of Haiti, its people, its elite, but we’re going to help,” Rubio said.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy sparred with Hillary Clinton Thursday on the social media site X over the Trump administration’s actions and the plan to have Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency help upgrade aviation safety.

“They have no relevant experience,” Clinton said in response to Duffy’s post about getting help from Musk’s team. “Most of them aren’t old enough to rent a car. And you’re going to let them mess with airline safety that’s already deteriorated on your watch?”

Duffy responded sharply and told Clinton to sit this one out because experienced Washington bureaucrats are the reason the nation’s infrastructure is crumbling.

“I’m returning this department to its mission of safety by using innovative technology in transportation and infrastructure,” Duffy said. “Your team had its chance and failed. We’re moving on without you because the American people want us to make America’s transportation system great again. And yes, we’re bringing the 22-year-olds with us.”

“We encourage federal workers in this city to accept the very generous offer,” Karoline Levitt said.

“They don’t want to come into the office. If they want to rip the American people off, then they’re welcome to take this buyout and we’ll find highly qualified people” to replace them.

The deferred resignation program was orchestrated by Elon Musk, the billionaire entrepreneur serving as a top Trump adviser, to further the Republican president’s goal of remaking the federal government, weakening what his allies describe as the “deep state” that undermined his first term.

Administration officials said they can save taxpayer money by presenting employees with “a valuable, once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.”

Emails from Elon Musk allies went to a wide swath of the federal government, including a judge overseeing a lawsuit filed to try and block the messages.

U.S. District Judge Randolph Daniel Moss said judges around the country got emails, apparently by mistake, preceding the “fork in the road” message from Musk’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency. Moss ignored it.

He’s overseeing a court challenge filed by federal employees who allege Musk allies set up a server to send the emails without proper privacy protections, leaving their information vulnerable to hacking.

Moss declined to immediately block any future messages, pointing out to a privacy assessment since been completed by the government.

U.S. District Judge John Coughenour in Seattle on Thursday decried what he described as the Trump administration’s attempt to change the Constitution through an executive order.

Coughenour had previously called the order “blatantly unconstitutional” and two weeks ago issued a 14-day temporary restraining order blocking its implementation.

Thursday’s ruling came a day after a Maryland federal judge issued a nationwide pause in a separate but similar case involving immigrants’ rights groups and pregnant women whose soon-to-born children could be affected.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said Thursday it has lifted a pause on permitting renewable energy projects. The nationwide pause had affected at least 168 projects for renewable energy such as wind and solar power. It was intended to comply with an executive order by Trump on “unleashing American energy.″

The Army Corps issues permits for projects on private land that affect wetlands and other waters under the Clean Water Act.

Agency spokesman Doug Garman said the Army Corps received direction Thursday to lift the temporary pause. No reason was given.

Environmental group and clean energy advocates had expressed alarm that a prolonged pause on permitting for solar and wind projects on private lands would have slowed renewable energy development. Trump has issued a similar pause on federal lands and waters as he seeks to expand production of fossil fuels such as oil, coal and natural gas and move away from renewable energy.

White House press secretary Karoline Levitt says 40,000-plus federal workers have agreed to resign in exchange for continuing to be paid through Sept. 30.

“We expect that number to increase,” Leavitt said. “We encourage federal workers in this city to accept the very generous offer.”

She spoke as news broke of another federal judge temporarily blocking the plan. The judge ordered the Trump administration to move a midnight deadline for federal employees to take the offer until after a court hearing on Monday.

The Trump administration’s abrupt closure of the U.S. Agency for International Development is removing a key way of showing American goodwill around the world — with millions of lives at stake.

The stop-work order has closed clinics in more than 25 countries where two-thirds of all child deaths occur globally, said Janeen Madan Keller, deputy director of global health policy at the Center for Global Development.

HIV patients in Africa found locked doors at clinics funded through the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, which is credited with saving more than 25 million lives. In Congo’s conflict zone, American money no longer supports food, water, electricity and basic health care for 4.6 million people. Doctors of the World-Turkey relied on USAID for 60% of its funding in Syria, where it had to shutter 12 field hospitals providing life-saving services.

▶ Read more about the impact on USAID’s global health programs

A federal judge on Thursday blocked President Donald Trump’s plan to push out federal employees by offering them financial incentives.

The ruling came hours before the midnight deadline for workers to apply for the deferred resignation program, which has been commonly described as a buyout.

U.S. District Judge George O’Toole Jr. in Boston did not express an opinion on the legality of the program. He scheduled a hearing for Monday at 2 p.m. EST.

He also directed administration officials to extend the deadline to apply for the program until after the hearing.

Several labor unions have sued over Trump’s plans, which were orchestrated by Elon Musk, a top adviser. The Republican president is trying to downsize and reshape the federal workforce.

Jamieson Greer, President Donald Trump’s choice to be the top U.S. trade negotiator, promised to pursue the president’s hardline trade policies in testimony Wednesday before the Senate Finance Committee. But he faced pushback from senators unsettled by Trump’s unpredictable actions on trade.

Trump’s protectionist approach — involving the heavy use of taxes on foreign goods — will give Americans “the opportunity to work in good-paying jobs producing goods and services they can sell in this market and abroad to earn an honest living,’′ Greer said in remarks prepared ahead of his confirmation hearing Thursday before the Senate Finance Committee.

As U.S. trade representative, Greer would have responsibility — along with Commerce secretary nominee Howard Lutnick — for one of Trump’s top policy priorities: waging or at least threatening trade war with countries around the world, America’s friends and foes alike.

▶ Read more about Trump’s pick for U.S. trade negotiator

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appeared for a photo-op with U.S. senators at the Capitol when a reporter asked the question.

“Mr. Netanyahu, do you think U.S. troops are needed in Gaza to make President Trump’s plan peaceful?”

“No,” he replied, and then press aides shooed journalists from the room.

Trump officials have organized question-and-answer sessions as federal workers decide whether to quit in exchange for several months of pay.

“I know there’s been a lot of questions out there about whether it’s real and whether it’s a trick,” Rachel Oglesby, now chief of staff at the U.S. Department of Education, told employees, according to a recording obtained by The Associated Press.

“And it’s exactly what it looks like. It’s one of the many tools that he’s using to try to achieve the campaign promise to bring reform to the civil service and changes to D.C,” she said.

A similar discussion was recorded at the Department of Agriculture.

“Unfortunately, we don’t have all the answers,” said human resources official Marlon Taubenheim. “These are very trying times.”

▶ Read more about Trump’s effort to reduce the federal workforce

President Donald Trump’s nominee for education secretary will face her first confirmation test next week.

Linda McMahon is scheduled to go before the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee on Feb. 13. If confirmed, Trump said her top priority will be dismantling the agency, saying he wants McMahon “to put herself out of a job.”

McMahon, 76, is a longtime Trump ally and former CEO of World Wrestling Entertainment. She led the Small Business Administration during Trump’s first term.

President Donald Trump on Thursday blamed last week’s deadly collision of a passenger jet and Army helicopter on what he called an “obsolete” computer system used by U.S. air traffic controllers, and he vowed to replace it.

Trump said during an event that “a lot of mistakes happened” on Jan. 29 when an American Airlines flight out of Wichita, Kansas, collided with an Army helicopter as the plane was about to land at Ronald Reagan National Airport near Washington, killing all 67 people on board the two aircraft.

In the immediate aftermath of the tragedy, Trump blamed diversity hiring programs for the crash. But on Thursday, he blamed the computer system used by the country’s air traffic controllers.

“It’s amazing that it happened,” Trump said during a speech at the National Prayer Breakfast at the U.S. Capitol. “And I think that’s going to be used for good. I think what is going to happen is we’re all going to sit down and do a great computerized system for our control towers. Brand new — not pieced together, obsolete.”

▶ Read more about Trump’s response to the crash

Trump is tapping Attorney General Pam Bondi to lead an effort to root out “anti-Christian bias” nationwide.

The president said during the National Prayer Breakfast that the task force would be directed to “immediately halt all forms of anti-Christian targeting and discrimination.”

It’s envisioned as an office within the White House that Trump said would place a special emphasis on bias within the federal government, “at the DOJ, which was absolutely terrible, the IRS, the FBI — terrible — and other agencies.”

The emergence of X owner Elon Musk as the most influential figure around President Donald Trump has created an extraordinary dynamic — a White House adviser using one of the world’s most powerful information platforms to sell the government’s talking points while intimidating its detractors.

The world’s richest man is using the social media platform as a cudgel and a megaphone for the Republican administration at a time when his power to shape the electorate’s perspective is only growing, with more Americans getting their news from ‘influencers’ online. Musk alone has 215 million followers.

Requests for comment from Musk’s special commission, the Department of Government Efficiency, and X were not returned.

Steven Levitsky, a political scientist at Harvard University and the author of “How Democracies Die,” said “This is a combination of economic, media and political power that I believe has never been seen before in any democracy on Earth.”

▶ Read more about how Musk is wielding his power

IRS employees involved in the 2025 tax season will not be allowed to accept the Trump administration’s offer to be paid to quit until after the taxpayer filing deadline.

A letter to IRS employees Wednesday says such workers are exempt until May 15.

Union leaders and worker advocates have criticized the proposal and question whether the Trump administration will honor its terms.

“This country needs skilled, experienced federal employees,” said Doreen Greenwald, president of the National Treasury Employees Union. “We are urging people not to take this deal because it will damage the services to the American people and it will harm the federal employees who have dedicated themselves and their career to serving.”

▶ Read more about how Trump’s push to get federal workers to quit affects the IRS

The Trump administration’s decision to close the U.S. Agency for International Development has drawn widespread criticism from congressional Democrats and raised questions and concern about the influence billionaire ally Elon Musk wields over the federal government.

The United States is by far the world’s largest source of foreign assistance, although several European countries allocate a much bigger share of their budgets to aid. USAID funds projects in some 120 countries aimed at fighting epidemics, educating children, providing clean water and supporting other areas of development.

▶ Read more about the global impact of closing USAID

A federal judge is considering next steps in a slow-moving court case over whether to release documents that could spell legal trouble for Prince Harry.

The influential Heritage Foundation sued the Department of Homeland Security during the Biden administration, seeking to reveal if he lied on his immigration paperwork about past drug use or received special treatment when he and his wife Meghan Markle moved to Southern California.

“People are routinely deported for lying on immigration forms,” Heritage’s attorney Samuel Dewey told reporters after a Wednesday hearing.

▶ Read more about the case involving Prince Harry

Democratic senators are still at it, having talked through the night to protest Trump’s pick of Russ Vought as budget director.

Seizing the Senate floor is one of the remaining tools the minority party has to stonewall a confirmation. Democrats unanimously oppose Vought, a Project 2025 author who is influential in Musk’s DOGE efforts to gut government.

Sen. John Hickenlooper, D. Colo., said his office was flooded with complaints over Trump’s temporary freeze of federal funds, which has since been rescinded and blocked by a court. He said Congress has appropriated this money and the White House cannot unilaterally cut it.

Republicans have the votes to easily confirm Vought once the 30 hours of debate expires Thursday.

Two Elon Musk allies have “read only” access to Treasury Department payment systems, but no one else will get access for now, including Musk himself, under a court order signed Thursday.

It comes in a lawsuit filed by federal workers unions trying to stop the billionaire’s Department of Government Efficiency from following through on what they call a massive privacy invasion.

Two Musk allies, Marko Elez and Tom Krause, have been made “special government employees” and already have access to the system, government attorneys have said.

The temporary order blocks further access by DOGE as U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly considers the case.

President Donald Trump speaks during the National Prayer Breakfast, at the Capitol in Washington, Thursday, Feb. 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

President Donald Trump speaks during the National Prayer Breakfast, at the Capitol in Washington, Thursday, Feb. 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

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