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Israeli police dispersed a demonstration in West Jerusalem in which Israelis gathered to demand an end to the ongoing Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip, on April 9, 2025.
HARD NUMBERS: Deadly Israeli strike hits Gaza, UK nabs Universal theme park, US visa clampdown crosses threshold, North Korea gets combat lessons, Pleas for release of activist
23: An Israeli airstrike hit a residential area in northern Gaza on Wednesday, reportedly killing 23 people, according to local health officials. A Hamas-run health ministry said that eight women and eight children were among the dead. Israel said it had struck a senior Hamas militant. Meanwhile, in West Jerusalem, police dispersed demonstrators who gathered to protest the ongoing Israeli attacks in Gaza and the killing of Palestinian emergency workers.
8.5 million: As if US tariffs haven’t caused enough of a rollercoaster, Universal announced this week that it plans to build its first-ever European theme park in the United Kingdom and estimated that 8.5 million people will visit during its first year. UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer hailed the plans, saying the news even piqued his children’s interests. The plan is for the park to open in 2031.
500: As part of its clampdown against higher education, the Trump administration has now revoked visas from more than 500 foreign students in the United States, according to NAFSA, an association dedicated to international education. Universities have started warning foreign students and faculty against traveling abroad, as it could allow authorities to take away their visas.
1.2 million: North Korea’s army, totaling 1.2 million soldiers, is reportedly gaining invaluable experience of modern combat from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Twelve thousand of these North Korean fighters helped the Russian ranks beat back the Ukrainians in the Kursk region in December, and South Korea has claimed that another 3,000 North Koreans are joining the Russian frontlines this year.
30: More than 30 human rights groups are pressing the United Kingdom and the European Union to reverse the extradition of Egyptian activist Abdulrahman al-Qaradawi from Lebanon to the United Arab Emirates, where he faces charges of undermining public security, according to UAE state media. An Egyptian activist who has been critical of several Arab states, Qaradawi has reportedly been held in solitary confinement for three months, and he also faces an extradition demand from his home country.
President Donald Trump welcomes Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the entrance of the White House in Washington, on Feb. 4, 2025.
Netanyahu and Trump to talk tariffs, terror, Turkey, and more at White House on Monday
Tariffs top the menu. The main event will be Trump’s 17% tariff on Israeli exports, which will hurt several of its key industries, including diamonds, pharmaceuticals, and electronics. Israel had hoped to preempt additional levies by dropping all its tariffs on US goods last week, but Trump imposed them anyway, citing America’s trade deficit with Israel. Netanyahu hopes to be the first world leader to convince Trump to drop the new levies.
Gaza and the West Bank. Israel has intensified military operations in Gaza, deploying troops to establish the Morag Corridor to the south to pressure Hamas to release the remaining Israeli hostages. At the same time, tensions have been rising in the West Bank, where Israel is authorizing new settlements and being accused of the “Gazafication” of the territory. Bibi will be seeking continued support for Israel’s stance and is likely encouraged by Washington’s recent greenlighting of the export of 20,000 assault rifles, held up under the administration of Joe Biden for fear they might be used by extremist Israeli settlers.
Turkey, Iran, and the rest of the neighborhood. Netanyahu and Trump will also reportedly discuss Israel-Turkey relations and strategies concerning Iran’s nuclear ambitions, and they may also touch on the International Criminal Court’s arrest warrant for Netanyahu over alleged war crimes in Gaza – an issue that prompted Hungary to withdraw from the ICC last week. Trump sanctioned court officials during Netanyahu’s first White House visit in February – we’ll be watching to see if he takes further action this time.
A drone view shows the site of a Russian missile strike amid Russia's attack on Kyiv on April 6, 2025.
Hard Numbers: Russia continues to strike Ukraine, Measles kills again in Texas, Buchenwald liberation remembered, Video of killing of Gazan emergency crew surfaces, Deadly storms wallop the US, Bolsonaro supporters rally
19: A Russian missile strike on Volodymyr Zelensky’s hometown, the central Ukrainian city of Kryvyi Rih, killed 18 people on Friday in one of the deadliest attacks of the year. Russian attacks on Kyiv on Sunday also killed a man and injured three others. Ceasefire talks are ongoing between Ukraine, Russia, and the United States but have thus far failed to make a difference on the ground.
2: The measles outbreak in Texas has claimed another life. An eight-year-old girl died early Thursday in Lubbock, Texas, the second measles death in the country in 10 years. The Lonestar State has seen 480 cases and 56 hospitalizations since late January, and health authorities warn that if the virus continues to spread at this pace, the US could soon lose its measles elimination status.
80: On Sunday, Germany marked the 80th anniversary of the liberation of the Buchenwald concentration camp. Former German President Christian Wulff addressed fellow politicians, as well as survivors and families, as he paid tribute to the victims of Nazism and warned of the risks of “brutalization and radicalization” amid the rise of far-right forces around the world.
15: Fifteen emergency responders were killed last month by Israeli forces near Rafah in southern Gaza. Israel claimed the vehicles advanced on them “suspiciously” without headlights or emergency signals. But a very revealing video found on the phone of one of the victims showed well-marked ambulances moving along a road with headlights and emergency lights flashing in the moments before they were targeted. Israel now says part of its initial account of the incident was “mistaken.”
16: Storms have been hitting the South and Midwest in the US since last Wednesday, bringing torrential rains, tornadoes, and flooding to several states and killing at least 16 people, 10 of whom were in Tennessee. Tornado risks persist in three states — Alabama, Georgia, and Florida — and forecasters warn that flooding could still harm large parts of the Southeast in the coming days.
45,000: Roughly 45,000 people rallied on the streets of Sao Paulo in support of former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro on Sunday after the country’s Supreme Court ruled a couple of weeks ago that he must face trial over his alleged attempt to overturn the 2022 election. “What these guys really want isn’t to lock me up, they want to kill me, because I’m a thorn in their throat,” Bolsonaro, who was speaking of the judges, said at the rally.
Palestinians travel in vehicles between the northern and southern Gaza Strip along the Rashid Road on April 2, 2025.
Israel seizes more Gaza territory – for how long?
Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahusaid Wednesday that Israel was seizing more territory in Gaza to “divide up” the besieged enclave. He spoke as Israeli forces increased the intensity of their assault on Hamas in Gaza, which resumed two weeks ago after phase one of the ceasefire agreed to in January ended.
The context: Hamas still holds 59 hostages captured during the group’s Oct. 7, 2023, attacks in southern Israel. The two sides are deadlocked on reaching a further deal: Netanyahu wants full Hamas disarmament, Israeli security control of Gaza, and the “voluntary” migration of Gazans. Hamas rejects that and says it will release the remaining hostages – 24 are believed to still be alive – only if Israel withdraws fully.
What territory is Israel taking? Netanyahu pointed specifically to a new “Morag Corridor,” which would bisect southern Gaza, cutting off the cities of Rafah and Khan Younis from each other. Since October 2023, the IDF has already occupied nearly 20% of Gazan territory, forming “buffer zones” around the edges of the enclave.
The big question: Is this a tactical move meant to heighten the pressure on Hamas to release the remaining hostages? Or is Israel planning to hold onto vast swathes of Gaza … indefinitely?Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) speaks during a marathon address from the US Senate floor on Tuesday, April 1, 2025.
Hard Numbers: Booker sets record for longest Senate speech, Israel expands latest Gaza offensive, Netanyahu and Orbán defy the ICC, Oz universities cut off Confucius, Argentina’s poverty plunges
25+: The Democrats may not have the White House or a majority in Congress, but one thing they do have, still, is words. Lots and lots of words. Words for days, even, as Democratic Sen. Cory Booker showed by taking to the podium on Monday with a broadside against Donald Trump that lasted more than 25 hours. The veteran lawmaker from New Jersey, a former football player, had vowed to stay up there as long as he was “physically able.” Before yielding the floor on Tuesday night, Booker broke the record for the longest Senate floor speech, surpassing one set in 1957 by the late Sen. Strom Thurmond, who filibustered against civil rights.
42: The first stage of the Israel-Hamas ceasefire, brokered in January, officially lasted 42 days. The deal now looks to be far in the rearview mirror, as Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz announced on Wednesday that he would expand his army’s latest military offensive in Gaza. The two sides are still negotiating another ceasefire deal via mediators but haven’t yet reached an agreement.
5: Benjamin Netanyahuleaves Wednesday on a five-day visit to Hungary. It’s the Israeli PM’s second trip abroad since the International Criminal Court last year issued an arrest warrant for him over alleged war crimes in Gaza. In February, he visited the US. Hungary is an ICC member, but the country’s proudly “illiberal” PM Viktor Orban says he won’t honor the court’s warrant. In recent years, the right-winger Netanyahu has cultivated controversial ties with populist nationalist parties in Europe, including some with histories of overt antisemitism.
6: In recent years, half a dozen Australian universities have closed the Chinese-funded Confucius Institutes on their campuses. The CIs educate students about Chinese language, history, and culture. The moves come amid broader tensions between Australia and China, and they reflect fears that Beijing has used the institutes to spread pro-Chinese propaganda and cultivate possible intelligence assets.
38: Argentina’s poverty rate plunged from 53% to 38% last year. Analysts credit “anarcho-capitalist” president Javier Milei, who drastically slashed government spending to put the mismanaged economy on a more stable footing. After an initial bout of pain, those measures brought inflation down from nearly 300% to 70%, easing poverty as people’s spending power increased.
Palestinians protest to demand an end to war, chanting anti-Hamas slogans, in Beit Lahiya in the northern Gaza Strip, on March 26, 2025.
Palestinians shake fists at Hamas
These protests in the town of Beit Lahia in Gaza’s north were triggered by an Israeli order to evacuate large parts of the town after Islamic Jihad gunmen launched rockets at Israel on Tuesday.
Though limited in numbers, these hundreds of Palestinians took to the streets confident that they would be met, as in the past, by masked and armed Hamas fighters who would denounce them as traitors and assault those slowest to disperse.
It’s a reminder that once the war ends, there will be a reckoning among Gaza’s Palestinians over control of their future. For now, the nearly two-month Gaza ceasefire is over, and Israeli attacks on Palestinian targets resumed on March 18, killing hundreds. But once the war is finally settled, and Israel and outside powers begin to prepare and debate plans for Gaza’s future, the anger many Palestinians feel toward Hamas will likely crest.
Smoke rises from a burning building in North Gaza, as seen from the Israel-Gaza border, March 23, 2025.
Israel ramps up military offensives as Bibi battles the courts
Israel stepped up its attacks against Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon this weekend. The Israeli military ordered the evacuation of Rafah and confirmed the killing of a Hamas leader on Sunday, while the Israeli cabinet approved a proposal to create a directorate to advance the “voluntary departure” of Palestinians from Gaza. In Lebanon, Israel carried out airstrikes in retaliation for rockets fired into Israel. The strikes killed seven people, including a child, according to Lebanon’s health ministry, and prompted fears of a “new war” in the region.
But Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s biggest fight might be internal. Last week, he announced the firing of Shin Bet security head Ronen Bar over alleged failures to prevent the Oct. 7 attacks in 2023. Bar had been investigating Netanyahu’s office for allegations of corruption.
On Friday, the Israeli courts stayed Bar’s dismissal pending further hearings. Now, the Israeli prime minister is attempting to remove Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara, who vocally opposed the dismissal of Bar and has clashed with Netanyahu over his proposed overhaul of the judicial system, an issue which has Israelis taking to the streets regularly to protest his attempts to expand executive power.
On Sunday, the Israeli cabinet unanimously passed a no-confidence motion against Baharav-Miara for “ongoing substantial differences of opinion between the government and the attorney general, which prevents effective collaboration.” The issue of her removal will now go to a committee expected to be stacked with Netanyahu loyalists, whose decision can then be appealed to the Supreme Court.
That process could take weeks and set up a showdown between the executive and judicial branches of government. Opposition leader Yair Lapid warned that if Netanyahu defies the courts, Israel “will no longer [be] a democracy” – and that citizens may stop paying taxes in protest.Israelis protest against the government over Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's plans to remove Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar, the resumption of Israeli strikes on Gaza, and the return of far-right politician Itamar Ben Gvir to the cabinet.
Israel launches Gaza ground operation, Bibi faces blowback
Israel has launched a “limited ground operation” to retake the strategic Netzarim Corridor in Gaza as part of its offensive against Hamas, sealing off North and South Gaza and reoccupying four fortified bases. The moves follow Israeli airstrikes that reportedly killed over 400 Palestinians in 48 hours.
In a statement Wednesday, Hamas called the ground incursion a "new and dangerous violation" of the ceasefire deal. The United Nations also condemned an Israeli strike that killed a UN staffer and wounded five others in central Gaza City, and the International Committee of the Red Cross warned that Gaza hospitals are running out of medical supplies.
What’s the view from Israel? Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu insists the offensive will continue until Hamas is eliminated and all 59 remaining Israeli hostages are freed. In Jerusalem, however, tens of thousands of demonstrators marched Wednesday morning to protest the collapse of the ceasefire as well as efforts to remove the chief of the Shin Bet security force, Ronen Bar, who has been investigating Netanyahu’s aides on corruption allegations.
Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara is refusing to dismiss Bar without a legal review, saying that “the role of the head of the Shin Bet is not a personal trust position serving the prime minister.” We’re watching whether Bibi will continue to press his case, or whether public pressure will make him back down.