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Tag: Israel
Bridge collapse poses test for Maryland governor, U.S. sends more weapons to Israel: Weekend Rundown
U.S. sends more weapons to Israel as calls for cease-fire grow
The U.S. is sending a fresh round of bombs to Israel, two senior administration officials told NBC News, undermining the Biden administration’s public frustration with how the Israeli government is handling the war.
U.S. officials said Israel has provided Washington with assurances that it is using American-supplied weapons within the laws of war, but there’s growing international scrutiny of Israel’s tactics in Gaza and a mounting civilian death toll.
Meanwhile, hundreds of trucks loaded with food and medical aid have been sitting idle on the roads heading into Gaza, as a senior humanitarian official accused the Israeli government of blocking lifesaving supplies from reaching the devastated enclave.
Members of an NBC News team at the Rafah crossing between Gaza and Egypt saw hundreds of vehicles on the road, as well as some in a parking area and more at a tunnel crossing in Ismailia, roughly three hours and 125 miles from the border crossing.
Bridge collapse poses the first major challenge for a Democratic rising star
Maryland Gov. Wes Moore, a political newcomer elected in 2022, has been seen as a rising star in the Democratic Party, with his name already floated as a possible future presidential contender.
After the bridge collapse in Baltimore killed six people and shut down an international port, he faces a major test in the national spotlight.
Moore allies and Democratic strategists argue that the governor is uniquely positioned to address a complex crisis. “Nobody ever wants to be a crisis governor,” one strategist told NBC News. “But it’s part of the job.”
The governor has repeatedly said reopening the port is one of the main priorities, as thousands of workers linked to the critical shipping hub face an uncertain future.
King Charles makes first major public appearance since cancer diagnosis
King Charles III attended an Easter Sunday service at the chapel in Windsor Castle on Sunday — his first major event since he was diagnosed with cancer in February.
Charles, 75, was accompanied by Queen Camilla and other members of the royal family at the Gothic-style St. George’s Chapel for the traditional annual engagement.
Kate, the Princess of Wales, was not in attendance. Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby mentioned both Kate’s and the king’s cancer diagnoses at the top of his Easter sermon.
Meanwhile, Pope Francis appeared healthy and in good spirits as he waved at crowds gathered for Easter services in Vatican City, after battling frequent bouts of bronchitis, cold and flu for the past few months.
They came for Florida’s sun and sand. They got soaring costs and a culture war.
Hundreds of thousands of new residents have flocked to Florida with the promise of beautiful weather and no income tax.
But nearly 500,000 left in 2022, according to the most recent census data. Why have so many people left the Sunshine State?
More than a dozen recent transplants and longtime residents said soaring insurance costs, a hostile political environment, worsening traffic and extreme weather contributed to their move.
“You’ve got to take your vacation goggles off,” said Barb Carter, who left Florida after a year. “It was very falsely promoted. Once living there, I thought, you know, this isn’t all you guys have cracked this up to be, at all.”
Meet the Press
Rep. Don Bacon, R-Neb., said on “Meet the Press” Sunday it’s possible Rep. Mike Johnson could lose the speakership if he moves to pass Ukraine aid in the House.
Bacon favors some support for Ukraine and highlighted his partnership with Democrats on an aid bill.
“We have one or two people that are not team players. They’d rather enjoy the limelight, the social media,” he told Kristen Welker, though he did not name any members.
Bacon also suggested that Democrats could join several Republicans in helping to save Johnson’s speakership.
You can watch the full interview here.
Politics in brief
- Israel-Hamas war: Rep. Tim Walberg, R-Mich., said this week that the conflict in Gaza should be over quickly “like Nagasaki and Hiroshima.”
- Easter controversy: Several conservative outlets accused the White House of banning religious themes from the children’s egg decorating contest — even though that guidance predates the Biden administration, according to the first lady’s office.
- Afghanistan claims: Former President Donald Trump has said many Americans are still in Afghanistan “probably as hostages.” U.S. officials say they’re trying to free two U.S. citizens jailed there.
An NBC News report helped a lung cancer patient get a lifesaving transplant
As a pulmonologist, Dr. Gary Gibbon never expected to be diagnosed with lung disease himself. After months of aggressive treatment with chemotherapy, radiation and immunotherapy, the cancer shrunk, but his lungs were sustaining irreversible damage. His doctors determined that Gibbon had exhausted his treatment options.
That’s when he remembered an NBC News report on a groundbreaking treatment for late-stage lung cancer patients: the first-ever double lung transplants, which were successfully performed on two patients.
His health was failing when he asked his doctors to refer him to Northwestern Medicine’s DREAM Program, featured in the report — and the surgical team agreed to admit him.
Six months after undergoing a double lung and liver transplant, Gibbon is now cancer-free.
Some ‘buy now, pay later’ users are warning others away
“Buy now, pay later” services can be convenient, but many users have turned away in alarm after racking up thousands of dollars in debt.
One mother was so reliant on it she spent $800 for a day trip to the beach with her son. “I was just seeing my paycheck continually eaten up, and I was like, ‘Where’s my money going?’” she said.
As BNPL usage soars, financial experts and researchers have raised alarms about risky spending on the platforms, even though they can often be used responsibly.
“I’m sure there are people who use it well, but on average, we feel it kind of replaces the credit card,” one accounting professor said. “People are consuming extra. There’s just no way around it.”
Trans people share how their lives have changed
Sunday is Transgender Day of Visibility, and NBC News asked transgender people from across the country to share how their life satisfaction has changed after transition.
Out of two dozen respondents, all but one said they feel more joy in their lives.
“I was so broken and uncertain, and now I have a profound sense of relief, empowerment and alignment with how I feel and being the best human possible,” said Criss Smith, a substitute teacher for the New York City Department of Education.
Christina Angelica Piña, a consultant living in California, said being trans can be difficult, but that “underneath this pain, this is an unfettered joy, power and beauty.”
In case you missed it
- Seven children, all between the ages of 12 and 17, were injured in a shooting outside a mall in downtown Indianapolis on Saturday night, police said.
- A Missouri teenager who was brutally beaten near a high school is out of the intensive care unit, but has limited speech and trouble walking on her own, an attorney for the family said.
- A 26-year-old Black, pregnant mother of four was found dead near a Kansas City, Missouri, park last month. Her family wants to know why the police investigation has stalled.
- The Merrie Monarch Festival in Hawaii, a weeklong cultural event that includes a hula competition, will include a tribute to the Lahaina wildfire victims.
- AT&T is investigating a leak earlier this month that dumped customer data for millions on the dark web, including personal information such as Social Security numbers.
- A hormonal condition that affects millions of women is difficult for doctors to diagnose and treat. Here’s why.
- Even as some parts of the world invest in greener infrastructure and move away from cars, the U.S. is continuing to fund and expand highways.
- The upcoming solar eclipse presents a rare opportunity for astrophysicists to study the sun using probes and high-altitude planes.
- The Powerball jackpot is now almost at $1 billion for Monday night’s drawing.
Easter celebrations held in Israel as Gaza strikes continue
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Israel says it has bombed terrorist command centre in Gaza hospital
The Israeli army is continuing its fight against the Palestinian Islamist Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) in the Gaza Strip, it said on Sunday, providing further details about an attack on a hospital.
Among dozens of other targets, the military bombed a suspected PIJ command centre in the courtyard of the Al-Aqsa hospital in Deir al-Balah, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said.
Four people were killed in the attack, according to the Gaza health authorities. A tent in the courtyard was attacked and 17 people were also injured, including four journalists, Palestinian media reported.
The IDF said members of the terrorist organization were in the jihadist command centre. However, the Gaza media office said the tent that came under attack belonged to people seeking protection.
The hospital itself was not damaged, the IDF said. The command centre was deliberately attacked in order to minimize damage to bystanders in the hospital, the army said, without giving details.
None of the information could initially be independently verified.
The statements came a day after the air force struck 80 positions in the coastal strip, including military sites and areas where Hamas members had been staying, the IDF said.
The army is continuing its operation against extremists entrenched in the Shifa hospital in the city of Gaza in the north of the coastal strip, according to the IDF. People were killed in several buildings of the hospital , according to reports, with the army saying terrorists were killed.
In a stairwell, soldiers engaged in a chase and exchange of fire with armed and high-ranking members of Hamas, killing them in the process.
The army also found hidden weapons in the maternity ward of the largest hospital in the Gaza Strip. Ammunition was found in pillows, blankets and walls, the IDF said.
Israel accuses the Islamist Hamas of systematically misusing medical facilities for military purposes, charges Hamas rejects.
Israel seeks to eliminate Hamas but faces growing criticism at home and abroad given the soaring number of civilian casualties and catastrophic humanitarian situation in Gaza.
So far, 32,782 people have been killed and 75,298 injured in Gaza according to the health authority in the Strip since the start of the war, unleashed when Hamas and other extremists killed some 1,200 people in southern Israel.
Later, the Israeli air force targeted a vehicle in neighbouring Lebanon, killing an important commander of the anti-tank unit of the Shiite militia Hezbollah.
“A short while ago, an IAF aircraft struck a vehicle in the area of Kounine in Lebanon in which Ismail Al-Zin was located. Al-Zin was a significant commander in the Anti-Tank Missile Unit of Hezbollah’s Radwan Forces,” the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said in a post on X.
“Al-Zin was a significant source of knowledge regarding anti-tank missiles and was responsible for dozens of anti-tank missile attacks against Israeli civilians, communities and security forces.”
The information could not initially be independently verified.
The Israeli forces also said there were further rocket attacks from Lebanon on Israeli border towns on Sunday. One soldier was injured in the process. The military attacked targets in southern Lebanon in response, they said.
Cross-border military action has become an almost daily event since the Gaza War erupted late last year.
The escalation, in which there have been deaths on both sides of the border, is the worst since the 2006 Lebanon War.
U.S. sends more weapons to Israel amid growing calls for cease-fire
The U.S. is sending a fresh round of bombs to Israel, two senior administration officials told NBC News, undermining the Biden administration’s public expressions of frustration at Israel’s conduct in the war and its own efforts at brokering a cease-fire.
The bombs are part of a weapons package that was approved for Israel years ago, but is only being fulfilled now — and includes more than 1,800 Mark 84 (MK84) 2,000-pound bombs and approximately 500 Mark 82 (MK82) 500-pound bombs, the officials said.
The delivery of the weapons package was first reported by The Washington Post.
The Mark 84 and 82 are dumb bombs that can be converted into precision-guided ones with the help of a guidance kit, which the U.S. has provided in the past.
Even with precision guidance, these bombs likely lead to civilian deaths, and it’s believed that Israel has used them in its campaign in Gaza.
“These are the bombs that can destroy entire blocks,” one senior administration official said of the MK84 bombs.
The delivery comes as U.S. officials said Israel has provided Washington with assurances that it is using American-supplied weapons within the laws of war.
Israel receives $3.8 billion in annual military assistance from the U.S., but there is growing criticism of Washington’s continued supply of weapons to Israel six months into the war amid international scrutiny of Israel’s military tactics in Gaza and a mounting civilian death toll.
Cease-fire negotiations are expected to resume between Israel and Hamas on Sunday in Egypt’s capital, Cairo, according to the country’s Al-Qahera television. However, a Hamas official told NBC News on Sunday the group will not attend. The Israeli prime minister’s office confirmed to NBC News the talks would resume “next week.” Any new deal would likely result in a lengthy pause in fighting in exchange for the release of some of the estimated 140 hostages still in Hamas captivity. Ongoing efforts by mediators have stalled, and there has been little indication since the last truce in November that the two sides have moved closer to a deal.
Last week, the United Nations Security Council passed a symbolic resolution calling for an immediate cease-fire between Israel and Hamas after the U.S. abstained from the vote, drawing anger from Israel. It came after the U.S. vetoed several past resolutions calling for the end of hostilities.
While the Biden administration’s public frustration with how the Israeli government is handling the war appears to be growing, U.S. efforts to achieve a cease-fire will be overshadowed by the revelation that it continues to send Israel powerful bombs known to cause serious harm to the civilians.
In the nearly six months of fighting since the Oct. 7 attacks, more than 32,000 people have been killed in Gaza, with thousands more trapped under the rubble and presumed dead, according to Palestinian officials.
The fighting has destroyed hospitals, schools and other civilian infrastructure, displacing the vast majority of the enclave’s more than 2 million people. But Israel has maintained that there is no turning back until all of Hamas has been destroyed, and it has continued its military offensive in defiance of increasingly sharp demands for a cease-fire from global leaders and international organizations amid declining support for Israel’s war around the world.
Last week, the U.N. special rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territories determined that the hostilities have already reached the level of genocide.
The Israel Defense Forces said Sunday it was continuing with “precise operational activity” in the area of Gaza’s main hospital, which it says is being used as a Hamas hub. The Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City has been under an Israeli army raid for nearly two weeks, raising questions about the fate of civilians sheltering at the site. The IDF said Saturday it eliminated four senior Hamas operatives at the hospital.
Officials in Gaza said Saturday that the Al-Shifa operation has claimed 400 lives so far. NBC News was not able to verify this number and has reached out to the IDF for comment. The raid is also delaying a new mission to the hospital from the World Health Organization, its chief, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said Saturday, noting three prior missions had been denied.
“100 patients and 50 health workers are reportedly still inside the nonfunctional facility, with hostilities around it,” Tedros said on X. “We are extremely worried about their condition and safety.”
Gaza’s authorities said more than 1,000 homes in the vicinity of Al-Shifa have been targeted.
The Ajour family’s home behind the hospital was one of them, illustrating the civilian toll and calling into question the IDF’s claim that its attacks are targeted. The home was hit last week, killing seven. A small child was the only survivor, with more children feared to be buried in the rubble. Civil defense workers told NBC News they could not look for those trapped inside because there is no coordination with the Red Cross and the fighting in the area is too dangerous.
Hamas authorities in Gaza also accused Israel on Sunday of bombing the tents with displaced people and journalists inside the walls of Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in the Deir al-Balah area of central Gaza, resulting in deaths and injuries. The IDF said its aircraft struck an “operational Islamic Jihad command center” that operated from the courtyard of the hospital. NBC News geolocated footage showing the aftermath of the hit on the hospital courtyard, including medical personnel helping the wounded and at least one injured person lying on the ground, but is unable to independently confirm the conflicting accounts of the attack.
The hostilities continue to keep aid from reaching those in need inside Gaza. While trucks with desperately needed food continue to trickle in slowly at land crossings controlled by Israel, a second convoy of three ships and a barge with 400 tons of food and other supplies set sail from Cyprus this weekend. World Central Kitchen, the charity behind the operation, said there was enough food in the latest shipment to prepare more than 1 million meals. The organization’s first ship carrying the aid reached Gaza two weeks ago in the first such maritime delivery since the conflict broke out.
Palestinian health officials reported earlier this month that 27 children have died due to malnutrition and dehydration in Gaza, but the true death toll from starvation is likely to be significantly higher, the United Nations has warned, and it is set to rise. A report released by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification earlier this month said famine was imminent in northern Gaza and the famine threshold for acute food insecurity has already been far exceeded.
White House authorizes weapons transfers to Israel
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Aid official calls for increased global pressure on Israel to work with UN
Philippe Lazzarini, the commissioner-general of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), called for increased global pressure on Israel to work with the U.N.
In a Friday post on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, Lazzarini referenced a Thursday order from the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to Israel to facilitate humanitarian aid getting into Gaza. The order also noted that there is no substitute for crossings via land for supplies.
“Member states should exert more pressure to implement the ICJ order,” Lazzarini said in his post. “Those who stopped funding UNRWA should reconsider their decision to allow the Agency to fulfill its mandate including help averting famine.”
Last week, Cindy McCain, executive director of the United Nations’ World Food Programme (WFP), said that there is an urgent need for food in Gaza amid the war occurring there.
“[O]ur obstacles are many,” McCain said in an interview on MSNBC’s “Andrea Mitchell Reports”. “We have to be cleared at every level, the Israelis block the — whether or not we’re cleared … drivers are cleared, we don’t have the access on the roads. We need clear, unfettered access to get in at scale, so we can feed the millions of people who are on the verge of famine.”
The ICJ’s order followed a plea from South Africa for the U.N. high court to do more after an earlier ruling from January has not bettered the current drastic humanitarian situation in Gaza. In their recent order, the ICJ said that Gaza’s situation has gone downhill since January.
“The Court observes with regret that, since then, the catastrophic living conditions of the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip have deteriorated further,” the ICJ said in the order, “in particular in view of the prolonged and widespread deprivation of food and other basic necessities to which the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip have been subjected.”
For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
Convoy carrying Gaza aid departs Cyprus amid hunger concerns in war-torn territory
A three-ship convoy left a port in Cyprus on Saturday with 400 tons of food and other supplies for Gaza as concerns about hunger in the territory soar.
World Central Kitchen said the vessels and a barge were carrying an estimated 300 tons of ready-to-eat items like rice, pasta, flour, legumes, canned vegetables and proteins that were enough to prepare more than 1 million meals. Also on board were dates, which are traditionally eaten to break the daily fast during the holy month of Ramadan.
Earlier in March, World Central Kitchen, which is led by celebrity chef José Andrés, brought 200 tons of food, water and other aid to the Palestinian territory via an Open Arms ship. That was the first food delivery made by sea since the outbreak of the war.
The United Nations and partners have warned that famine could occur in devastated, largely isolated northern Gaza as early as this month. CBS News previously reported that an estimated 1.7 million people in Gaza have been displaced in the territory, according to the United Nations, with many having no access to food, water, medicine or appropriate shelter.
World Central Kitchen told CBS News that it has sent more than 37 million meals to the territory since Oct. 7, when Hamas militants launched a terror attack in Israel that triggered the war. World Central Kitchen also said it opened more than 60 community kitchens in the territory. The organization has also airdropped meals into the region, and delivered food to families in Lebanon who have been displaced by the conflict.
Petros Karadjias / AP
Humanitarian officials say deliveries by sea and air are not enough and that Israel must allow far more aid by road. The top U.N. court has ordered Israel to open more land crossings and take other measures to address the humanitarian crisis.
Meanwhile, the United States welcomed the formation of a new Palestinian autonomy government, signaling it is accepting the revised Cabinet lineup as a step toward political reform.
The Biden administration has called for “revitalizing” the West Bank-based Palestinian Authority in the hope that it can also administer the Gaza Strip once the Israel-Hamas war ends. It is headed by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who tapped U.S.-educated economist Mohammad Mustafa as prime minister earlier this month.
But both Israel and Hamas — which drove Abbas’ security forces from Gaza in a 2007 takeover — reject the idea of it administering Gaza, and Hamas rejects the formation of the new Palestinian government as illegitimate. The authority also has little popular support or legitimacy among Palestinians because of its security cooperation with Israel in the West Bank.
The war began after Hamas-led militants stormed across southern Israel on Oct. 7, killing 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking about 250 others hostage.
More than 400 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces or settlers in the West Bank or east Jerusalem since Oct. 7, according to local health authorities. Dr. Fawaz Hamad, director of Al-Razi Hospital in Jenin, told local station Awda TV that Israeli forces killed a 13-year-old boy in nearby Qabatiya early Saturday. Israel’s military said the incident was under review.
A major challenge for anyone administering Gaza will be reconstruction. Nearly six months of war has destroyed critical infrastructure including hospitals, schools and homes as well as roads, sewage systems and the electrical grid.
Airstrikes and Israel’s ground offensive have left 32,705 Palestinians dead, local health authorities said Saturday, with 82 bodies taken to hospitals in the past 24 hours. Gaza’s Health Ministry doesn’t distinguish between civilians and combatants in its toll but has said the majority of those killed have been women and children.
Israel says over one-third of the dead are militants, though it has not provided evidence to support that, and it blames Hamas for civilian casualties because the group operates in residential areas.
The fighting has displaced over 80% of Gaza’s population and pushed hundreds of thousands to the brink of famine, the U.N. and international aid agencies say. Israel’s military said it continued to strike dozens of targets in Gaza, days after the United Nations Security Council issued its first demand for a cease-fire.
Aid also fell on Gaza. The U.S. military during an airdrop on Friday said it had released over 100,000 pounds of aid that day and almost a million pounds overall, part of a multi-country effort.
Israel has said that after the war it will maintain open-ended security control over Gaza and partner with Palestinians who are not affiliated with the Palestinian Authority or Hamas. It’s unclear who in Gaza would be willing to take on such a role.
Hamas has warned Palestinians in Gaza against cooperating with Israel to administer the territory, saying anyone who does will be treated as a collaborator, which is understood as a death threat. Hamas calls instead for all Palestinian factions to form a power-sharing government ahead of national elections, which have not taken place in 18 years.
Christians in Jerusalem celebrate Easter in the midst of the Israel-Hamas war
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Christians in Jerusalem cautiously celebrate Easter amid Israel-Hamas war
As the war between Israel and Hamas continues in Gaza, many Christian pilgrims have stayed away from the Holy Land this Easter, but in Jerusalem, the thousands of Christians who live in the city have begun to celebrate annual rituals amid an increasingly hostile environment.
On Good Friday, Christian pilgrims could be seen filling the city’s ancient alleyways, praying and singing as they walked the Via Dolorosa, which translates to “The Way of Suffering.” Christians believe that Jesus walked this route when he carried the cross to the hill where he would be crucified.
While many Christians who might normally participate in the pilgrimage stayed away, those who attended said they weren’t afraid, despite the ongoing war. Kurt Blackwelder, a minister from North Carolina who traveled to Jerusalem despite the violence, said he wasn’t “at all” frightened.
CBS Saturday Morning
Jerusalem is a contested city, considered a holy place by Jews, Muslims, and Christians. Both Israelis and Palestinians have claimed it as a capital. Many of the Christians in Jerusalem are Palestinian. The community has experienced a spike in assaults by ultra-Orthodox Jews, with Palestinian Christians reporting that they have been spit at.
“It’s very uncommon for people to be arrested,” said Father Bernard Poggi, who is from California but has lived in Jerusalem for ten years, where he preaches to the Palestinian Christian community.
Poggi said he fears even worse backlash.
“Our worst fear is that people won’t have the right to pray,” Poggi said. “Our worst fear is that people will be removed, those who want to come to this holy city to pray, as they are now, will be rejected, that they’re not given permission to come.”
In Gaza, Palestinian Christians are struggling to simply stay alive. Hundreds have taken shelter inside churches in the Gaza Strip, hoping for protection. At Gaza’s Holy Family Church, those sheltering inside celebrated Palm Sunday, reciting the Catholic profession of faith.
Blackwelder said that he has been spending time with a family of Palestinian Muslims during his pilgrimage, and said that he hoped there could be unity between the different groups.
“I love them dearly. I love them all,” he said, referring to his guides. “I wish we could all come together in one, one, one spirit, one belief.”