A curated weekday guide to major news and developments over the last 24 hours. Here’s today’s news:
ISRAEL-HAMAS WAR
Israel and Hamas overnight agreed on the initial terms of a deal to exchange the Israeli hostages and around 250 Palestinian prisoners and 1,700 Gazans detained by Israeli forces in the coming days. Hamas has confirmed the deal, but a Palestinian source told BBC News that they have yet to receive a list of Palestinian prisoners Israel would free in the exchange. An Israeli official said that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was convening his cabinet today to sign the agreement, which would then mark the start of the formal ceasefire. Alice Cuddy, Yolande Knell, and Hugo Bachega report.
Israeli tanks opened fire along the coastal road of Al-Rashid Street near Gaza City today following the announcement of the deal and before the Israeli cabinet have formally signed off on it, according to a live video feed. The IDF told CNN that the tanks were firing “smoke bombs to keep people away from our forces.” The Hamas-controlled Interior Ministry in Gaza urged people “to exercise caution in the final hours before the ceasefire goes into effect in order to ensure their safety.” Ibrahim Dahman and Eyad Kourdi report.
A “formal declaration” ending the war in Gaza must be made in order for the hostage exchange to take place in the coming days, a senior Hamas official said today. “This is what the Israelis have signed up to,” he said. “This is not a ceasefire. It is a declaration to end the war.” Mostafa Salem, Abbas Al Lawati, and Eyad Kourdi report for CNN.
ISRAEL-HAMAS WAR — U.S. AND INTERNATIONAL RESPONSE
Shortly after announcing the Israel-Hamas deal, President Trump told Axios that he is “likely going to Israel in the coming days,” to speak to the Knesset. Trump said he had a “great” call with Netanyahu yesterday, adding “[Netanyahu] is so happy. He should be. It is a great achievement.” Trump also said that under the deal, the hostages would “likely” be released on Monday, and that his administration is “forming a council of peace” to maintain a lasting end to the conflict. Barak Ravid reports; Kaanita Iyer report for CNN.
The U.N. Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, Tom Fletcher, today called for the immediate delivery of 170,000 tonnes of food, medicine, shelter, and other supplies to Gaza. “Let’s get the hostages out and surge aid in – fast,” Fletcher said. Nick Cumming-Bruce reports for the New York Times.
More than 54,600 children under the age of 5 in Gaza may be acutely malnourished, according to an UNRWA-funded study published in The Lancet yesterday. “Tens of thousands of preschool aged children in the Gaza strip are now suffering from preventable acute malnutrition and face an increased risk of mortality,” Dr Masako Harino, the study’s lead scientist, said. Jonel Aleccia and Sarah El Deeb report for AP News.
OTHER GLOBAL DEVELOPMENTS
French President Emmanuel Macron is set to appoint a new prime minister within the next 48 hours, the Élysée presidential office said this morning. “A majority of deputies oppose dissolution [of parliament]; a platform of stability exists; a path is possible to adopt a budget by December 31,” Macron’s office said, citing the outgoing Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu’s findings. Dominique Vidalon, Michel Rose, and Ingrid Melander report for Reuters.
China’s Commerce Ministry announced today that foreign suppliers must obtain approval from Beijing to export products with certain Chinese rare-earth materials if they account for more than 0.1% of the good’s value. Export applications for products with military use will generally be refused and licenses related to semiconductors or AI development will be granted on a case-by-case basis, the ministry said. Hannah Miao reports for the Wall Street Journal.
China is honing its military ability to stage a surprise attack on Taiwan and seeking to undermine trust in the Taiwanese government with online warfare tactics, Taiwan’s defense ministry announced today in their bi-yearly report. The report said China is using a “professional cyber army” to manipulate social media accounts and flood Taiwan with misinformation. Lee and Ben Blanchard report for Reuters.
680,000 children in Haiti have been displaced by violence, according to a UNICEF report released yesterday. The report says that around 6 million Haitians need humanitarian support, adding that “without decisive action, the future of an entire generation is at stake.” Dánica Coto and Evens Sanon report for AP News.
The United Nations will cut a quarter of peacekeepers in nine operations worldwide in the upcoming months due to a current lack of funding and concerns about future funding from the United States, U.N. senior officials said yesterday. An official said that the United States’ total outstanding bill to the U.N. is more than $2.8 billion. Michelle Nichols reports for Reuters.
Over 200 health facilities in east Congo are experiencing shortages of medicine due to a lack of humanitarian funding and fighting in the region, the International Committee of the Red Cross said yesterday. “The lives of thousands of people are at stake” due to shortages of medicine against HIV, malaria, and tuberculosis, according to the head of the ICRC delegation in Congo, FrançoisMoreillon. Jean-Yves Kamale reports for AP News.
The Taliban administration has placed restrictions on content on some social media platforms in Afghanistan, sources at the Afghan Ministry of Communications and Information Technology told BBC News. It is not clear what sort of posts are subject to filtering. Hafizullah Maroof and Doug Faulkner report.
U.S. FOREIGN AFFAIRS
A bipartisan War Powers Act measure to stop Trump’s strikes on alleged drug vessels in the Caribbean failed 48-51 in the Senate yesterday, despite Republican Sens. Rand Paul (KY) and Lisa Murkowski (AK) joining Democrats in supporting the measure. “The U.S. should not be blowing up boats without even knowing who’s on them. There’s no due process in that – no names, no evidence, no oversight,” Paul said yesterday on social media. Stephen Neukam and Stef W. Kight report for Axios.
“Indications show that the last boat bombed” by the United States in the Caribbean sea “was Colombian with Colombian citizens inside of it,” Colombian President Gustavo Petro said yesterday on social media. He did not provide evidence backing the claim. A White House official told Reuters that “the United States looks forward to President Petro publicly retracting his baseless and reprehensible statement.” Nelson Bocanegra and Alexander Villegas reports.
Qatar is trying to act as a mediator in the conflict between the United States and Venezuela, according to three sources. The sources said that Qatar’s efforts have been welcomed by the Venezuelan government, but that the Trump administration is more focussed on military operations than diplomacy. The Pentagon has deployed 10,000 U.S. troops to the region, mostly to bases in Puerto Rico, according to a U.S. military official. Edward Wong, Eric Schmitt, and Julie Turkewitz report for the New York Times.
The United States has sanctioned Serbia’s main oil supplier, which is majority-owned by Russia’s state oil monopoly Gazprom Neft, , the company said today. “The special license from the U.S. Department of the Treasury, which enabled unhindered operational business, has not been extended,” Petroleum Industry of Serbia (Nis) said. U.S. officials have yet to comment. AP News reports.
FEDERALIZATION OF DOMESTIC POLICING
White House officials have held meetings this week that increasingly seriously considered whether Trump should invoke the Insurrection Act to deploy troops inside the United States, five sources told NBC News. A senior official said that a decision to invoke the act is not imminent and that the broad consensus among Trump’s aides is to exhaust all other options first. Two other sources said the debate has shifted from whether to invoke the act to when and how to invoke it. Courtney Kube, Katherine Doyle, Carol E. Lee, and Garrett Haake report.
Trump yesterday called for Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker (D) to be imprisoned for failing to protect ICE agents. “This is not the first time Trump has tried to have a black man unjustly arrested,” Johnson responded on social media. “I’m not going anywhere.” Pritzker said in an interview, “If you come for my people, you come through me. So come and get me.” Joseph De Avilia, Mariah Timms, and Bob Tita report for the Wall Street Journal.
Texas National Guard Troops started “actively protecting federal personnel and property,” in the Chicago area yesterday evening, according to a U.S. Northern Command spokesperson. Several hundred people marched in Chicago yesterday protesting the deployment of the troops. Mitch Smith reports for the New York Times; Emily Schmall, Susan Heavey, and Daniel Trotta report for Reuters.
TRUMP ADMINISTRATION ACTIONS
The Internal Revenue Service said yesterday in an internal memo that federal workers are required by law to be paid for the furlough period during a government shutdown. The letter from Acting IRS Human Capital Officer David Traynor to IRS employees confirms that they will be paid on “the earliest date possible.” Avery Lotz reports for Axios.
FBI Director Kash Patel this week fired two agents who were identified as having worked with Jack Smith, the special counsel who led the federal investigation into Trump, according to two sources. The sources said that the two agents had not been formally accused of misconduct, nor were they subject to investigation. Patel cited Article II of the Constitution and his right to fire anyone without cause. Gleen Thrush and Alan Feuer report for the New York Times.
The Defense Department plans to enforce new policies that “appear designed to stifle a free press,” the Pentagon Press Association said in a statement yesterday. “The policy conveys an unprecedented message of intimidation to everyone” within the DoD, “even suggesting it’s criminal to speak without express permission,” the press association said. Julianna Bragg reports for Axios.
U.S. IMMIGRATION DEVELOPMENTS
Pope Leo XIV yesterday told U.S. bishops that they should firmly address how immigrants are being treated as a result of the Trump administration’s policies, according to attendees at the meeting in the Vatican. Pope Leo “expressed his desire that the U.S. Bishops’ Conference would speak strongly on this issue,” El Paso Bishop Mark Seitz told Reuters. Joshua McElwee reports.
A federal judge ruled on Tuesday that ICE’s use of blank warrants for making arrests can only be used as a basis to arrest someone who has already been given notice to appear before an immigration judge. The ruling, which stems from a consent decree struck by the Biden administration in 2022, is confined to Chicago and will expire in February. Matthias Schwartz reports for the New York Times.
A federal grand jury yesterday elected not to indict two individuals charged with assaulting federal law enforcement officers at a protest outside an immigration facility in Chicago last month. “Obviously they didn’t have enough for a ham sandwich here,” said a lawyer representing one of the protestors, adding that the failure to secure an indictment was “highly unusual.” Ernesto Londoño reports for the New York Times.
U.S. DOMESTIC DEVELOPMENTS
Former FBI Director James Comey yesterday pleaded not guilty to charges that he lied to Congress. Comey’s lawyer said he would move to dismiss the case, calling the prosecution “vindictive” and “selective.” Glenn Thrush, Karoun Demirjian, and Minho Kim report for the New York Times.
TECH DEVELOPMENTS
Microsoft will release an update of its Copilot AI chatbot that responds to queries about healthcare, developed in collaboration with Harvard Medical School, as soon as this month, sources told the Wall Street Journal. Sources said that the move is part of an urgency in Microsoft to build up technological independence from OpenAI. Sebastian Herrera reports.
TRUMP ADMINISTRATION LITIGATION
An appeals court yesterday granted an administrative stay of a federal judge’s October 4 Temporary Restraining Order blocking the deployment of Oregon National Guards troops to Portland. A broader order from October 5 that prohibits any state’s National Guard from entering Portland remains in effect. Peter Charalambous reports for ABC News.
A federal judge yesterday ruled that the Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency must respond to the New York Times’ September 2024 FOIA request and produce a list of any security clearances granted to Elon Musk at that time. The court held that the DCSA’s failed to prove that the disclosure of a list of Musk’s clearances would be a “clearly unwarranted invasion of personal privacy.”
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