Most countries consider Israel’s settlements on West Bank territory seized in 1967's Six-Day War to be illegal. Israel disputes that, citing historical and biblical ties to the land. Israel’s security Cabinet approved a plan to separate 13 Jewish settlements in the Israeli-occupied West Bank from their neighboring communities, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said on Sunday. The settlements will ultimately be recognized as independent, he posted on X about the move, which follows the approval of tens of thousands of housing units across the West Bank. “We continue to lead a revolution of normalization and regulation in the settlements. Instead of hiding and apologizing — we raise the flag, build and settle. This is another important step on the path to actual sovereignty in Judea and Samaria,” Smotrich said, using Israel’s term for the West Bank. Israel’s opposition to ceding control of the West Bank has been deepened by its fears of a repeat of the October 7, 2023, attack by Hamas-led militants. Its military says it is conducting counterterrorism operations in the West Bank and targeting suspected militants. The Palestinian Foreign Ministry criticized the approval of the separation of the neighborhoods and their recognition as independent settlements as disregarding international legitimacy and resolutions. Hamas, the Palestinian militant group governing Gaza, condemned the move in the West Bank, describing it as a “desperate attempt to impose realities on the ground and consolidate colonial occupation on Palestinian lands.” Around 700,000 Israeli settlers live among 2.7 million Palestinians in the West Bank and east Jerusalem, land Israel captured in 1967 during the Six-Day War. Most countries consider Israel’s settlements on territory seized in the war to be illegal. Israel disputes this, citing historical and biblical ties to the land. Israel’s pro-settler politicians have been emboldened by the return to the White House of U.S. President Donald Trump. Smotrich, head of the far-right Religious Zionism party and a key partner in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s governing coalition, has for years called for Israeli sovereignty in the West Bank. He noted that until now the 13 settlements were formally considered part of their parent communities, in some cases for decades, which he said caused significant difficulties in their daily management. “Recognizing each of them as an independent settlement is an important step that will greatly assist in their advancement and development,” Smotrich said.

Israel broke the ceasefire with Hamas last week with intensified bombing as Israeli forces resumed ground operations and threatened to take “permanent” control of Gaza. More than 50,000 people have been killed in Gaza since Oct. 7 2023, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry, the result of Israel’s bombing campaign and ground invasion after Hamas’ terror attack. The Israel Defense Forces’ assault has killed at least 50,021 people, which equates to more than 2.1% of the 2.3 million people living in the enclave. A number of additional victims remain under the rubble and on roads that are unreachable by ambulance and civil defense crews, the ministry said. The World Health Organization has said that the numbers given by health officials in Gaza are reputable. The grim milestone arrives more than 18 months after Hamas launched multipronged surprise attacks on Israel that left 1,200 people dead, according to officials in the country, with another 240 people taken hostage by Hamas and other affiliated militant groups. Last week, Israel broke the two-month ceasefire with Hamas, with the resumption of airstrikes and ground operations in Gaza killing nearly 700 people. Israel has ordered its troops to permanently seize parts of the Gaza Strip — to be “annexed to Israel” — unless Hamas hands over the remaining hostages, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said Friday. The government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to intensify those operations until the militant group, which nominally controlled Gaza before this round of conflict, returns the 59 dead and living hostages whom it continues to hold captive. Katz also threatened the use of “all military and civilian pressure tools including the evacuation of Gaza’s population southward and the implementation of voluntary relocation plans for Gaza residents,” while describing the new more expansive phase of Israel’s military offensive in the enclave. He added that this would be done “through permanent Israeli control of the territory.” Hamas said Friday that it “remains at the heart of the negotiations” and was engaging with mediators, including discussing a proposal by President Donald Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff “and the various ideas on the table.” The group said in a statement that its aim is “achieving a prisoner exchange deal that secures the release of prisoners, ends the war, and achieves withdrawal.”

It is the heaviest exchange of fire since a ceasefire agreement was reached in November. BEIRUT, Lebanon — Israel struck Lebanon on Saturday in retaliation for rockets targeting Israel, killing six people including a child, in the heaviest exchange of fire since its ceasefire with the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah almost four months ago. The rockets fired from Lebanon were the second ones launched since December and again sparked concern about whether the ceasefire would hold. In a statement, Hezbollah denied being responsible for the latest attack, saying it was committed to the truce. Israel’s army said the intercepted rockets targeted the Israeli town of Metula. An Israeli official said six rockets were fired and three crossed into Israeli territory and were intercepted. The official said Israel could not confirm the identity of the group that fired the rockets. The office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said it instructed the army to act forcefully against dozens of targets in Lebanon. Israel’s army said it struck Hezbollah command centers and dozens of rocket launchers. Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency said a strike in the southern village of Touline killed five people, including a child, and wounded 11 others, including two children. On Saturday night, Israel again struck Hezbollah targets in Lebanon. A strike hit a garage in the coastal city of Tyre, the NNA reported, with one person killed and seven wounded. It was the first time the city had been struck since the ceasefire took effect. And a strike on Hawsh al-Sayed Ali village along the border with Syria wounded five people, according to the NNA. In a statement, Lebanon’s Prime Minister Nawaf Salam asked the Lebanese military to take all necessary measures in the south but said the country did not want to return to war. Hezbollah began launching rockets, drones and missiles into Israel the day after Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023, attack out of Gaza ignited the war there. The Israel-Hezbollah conflict boiled over into all-out war in September as Israel carried out massive waves of airstrikes and killed most of the militant group’s senior leaders. The fighting killed over 4,000 people in Lebanon and displaced about 60,000 Israelis. Israeli forces were supposed to withdraw from all Lebanese territory by late January under a ceasefire struck on Nov. 27. The deadline was extended to Feb. 18. But Israel has remained in five locations in Lebanon, across from communities in northern Israel. It has carried out dozens of airstrikes on southern and eastern Lebanon, saying it attacked Hezbollah, while continuing drone attacks that have killed several members of the militant group. Lebanon has appealed to the U.N. to pressure Israel to fully withdraw from the country. The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon, known as UNIFIL, said it was alarmed at the possible escalation of violence and urged all parties to avoid jeopardizing the progress made. Israeli airstrikes pound Gaza The strikes came a day after Israel said it would carry out operations in Gaza “with increasing intensity” until Hamas frees the 59 hostages it holds — 24 of whom are believed to be alive. Israeli strikes on Friday night killed at least nine people, including three children, in a house in Gaza City, according to Al-Ahli Hospital, which received the bodies. “Rubble and glass started falling on us,” said Sameh al-Mashharawi, who lost his brother in the attack. He mourned with his young nephew Samir al-Mashharawi, whose parents and siblings were killed. The 12-year-old, his head and wrists bandaged, sat in the back of a truck and cried. Israel’s military said Friday its forces were planning fresh assaults into three neighborhoods west of Gaza City and issued warnings on social media for Palestinians to evacuate the areas. “Hamas, unfortunately, understands military pressure,” Netanyahu’s foreign policy advisor Ophir Falk told The Associated Press. Around 600 Palestinians have been killed since Israel relaunched the war earlier this week. Israel had already cut off the supply of food, fuel, and humanitarian aid to Gaza’s roughly 2 million Palestinians, aiming to pressure Hamas over ceasefire negotiations. The international community has condemned the resumed attacks. The initial 2023 attack by Hamas-led militants killed some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and took 251 hostages. Most of the hostages have been freed in ceasefire agreements or other deals. Israeli forces have rescued eight living hostages and recovered the bodies of dozens more. Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed more than 49,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. It does not say how many were militants but says more than half of those killed were women and children. Israel says it has killed around 20,000 militants, without providing evidence. Tens of thousands of Israelis on Saturday again protested both the government’s failure to negotiate a hostage deal and its move to fire the head of the country’s Shin Bet internal security service. They called for new elections. The Supreme Court has ordered a temporary halt to Ronen Bar’s dismissal until an appeal is heard. Israel’s attorney general has ruled that the Cabinet has no legal basis to dismiss him. Opposition leader Yair Lapid called for a tax rebellion and general strike if the government defies the ruling, saying: “If this happens, the entire country needs to grind to a halt.”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said he had long ago lost confidence in Ronen Bar, the head of the domestic security service. CAIRO — The Israeli government unanimously approved early on Friday a proposal from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to dismiss Shin Bet head Ronen Bar, the prime minister’s office said. “Ronen Bar will conclude his duties on April 10 or when a permanent ISA Director is appointed — whichever comes first,” it added. On Sunday, Netanyahu told the head of the Shin Bet domestic intelligence service that he will ask the government to approve his dismissal this week. Justifying his decision, Netanyahu said he had long ago lost confidence in Bar and that trust in the head of the domestic security service, whose roles include counter-terrorism and security for government officials, was especially crucial at a time of war. Bar’s sacking is likely to draw widespread criticism amid a new Israeli offensive in Gaza with dozens of Israeli hostages still held there. The war was triggered by Hamas’ terrorist attack on Oct. 7, 2023, one of Israel’s worst security failures, which led to the killing of 1,200 people, and the capture of 251 people who were taken to Gaza as hostages, according to Israeli tallies. The Israeli campaign has killed more than 49,000 people in Gaza, Palestinian health authorities say, and caused a humanitarian crisis with shortages of food, fuel and water.

A federal judge on Thursday blocked the deportation of Badar Khan Suri, an Indian national who is in the U.S. on a student visa. taken into custody this week and targeted for deportation by the Trump administration never made any pro-Hamas or antisemitic comments, his lawyer said. Immigration agents detained Badar Khan Suri, a postdoctoral fellow who teaches at Georgetown and has a visa, outside his home in Arlington, Virginia, on Monday night, his attorney has said. The Department of Homeland Security claimed Suri is “actively spreading Hamas propaganda and promoting antisemitism on social media.” Suri’s lawyer, Hassan Ahmad, denied Thursday that Suri ever made pro-Hamas or antisemitic statements. Ahmad has objected to Suri’s detention as "beyond contemptible." “This is still the United States of America, and we don’t punish people, we don’t whisk them away and send them 1,000 miles away from their family, based on what they may have said, what they may have posted on social media or who they are related to,” Ahmad said. A federal judge in Virginia ordered Thursday that Suri not be removed from the United States unless ordered by the court. Sophia Gregg, an attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union of Virginia, said the judge’s block on any deportation was “exactly what we were hoping for.” “We were very concerned for our client, especially when we learned that he was at a Louisiana staging facility, which is the last stop on the way to tarmac,” she said Thursday. “That was a big concern for us, that he would be summarily deported.” Suri was at the Alexandria Staging Facility in Alexandria, Louisiana, on Thursday, according to the Immigration and Customs Enforcement website. Assistant DHS Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said Wednesday on X, “Suri has close connections to a known or suspected terrorist, who is a senior advisor to Hamas.” Suri has a wife who is a U.S. citizen and three children in Virginia. His wife’s father, Ahmed Yousef, who lives in Gaza, is a former adviser to now-deceased Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh — but he told The New York Times that he left the Hamas-led government of Gaza more than a decade ago and does not have a senior position with Hamas. Yousef told the newspaper that Suri was not involved in any “political activism,” including on behalf of Hamas, the Times reported. Yousef has also publicly criticized Hamas’ decision to attack Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, the newspaper reported. Ahmad told NBC News that he has no information that Suri has been in regular contact with Yousef. “I’m only aware of one instance when my client had contact with his father-in-law, and that was to ask for his daughter’s hand in marriage,” Ahmad said. The Trump administration is trying to deport two other people involved in protests against the war in Gaza at Columbia University. One of them, Mahmoud Khalil, is a Columbia graduate student who is a legal permanent resident and is married to a U.S. citizen. The second is Leqaa Kordia, a Palestinian woman who attended Columbia but overstayed her visa, officials said. The Trump administration is seeking to deport Suri and Khalil under part of U.S. immigration law that allows it if a person “would have serious adverse foreign policy consequences for the United States.” The ACLU and others have called the administration's actions an attempt to punish people for expressing their constitutionally protected views about Israel and the war in Gaza. "Political speech — however controversial some may find it — may never be the basis for punishment, including deportation," Mary Bauer, the executive director of ACLU of Virginia, said in a statement Thursday. "We will not let this egregious, unprecedented, and illegal abuse of power go unchecked.” Secretary of State Marco Rubio has defended attempts to deport Khalil by saying that “no one has a right to a student visa.” A judge has temporarily blocked Khalil's deportation. President Donald Trump in his election campaign condemned student protests against Israel's military action in Gaza, which followed the Oct. 7 Hamas terrorist attacks against Israel. Some congressional Republicans have also criticized universities for what they called antisemitic behavior at protests. The Justice Department in February announced what it called an antisemitism task force focused on college campuses. The Trump administration on March 7 also said it was canceling around $400 million in federal grants to Columbia. On March 4, Trump said on his social media platform, Truth Social, "All Federal Funding will STOP for any College, School, or University that allows illegal protests." Suri is a postdoctoral fellow at the Alwaleed Bin Talal Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding at Georgetown. The director of that center, Nader Hashemi, told NBC Washington that he is shocked by Suri’s arrest and the attempt to deport him. Hashemi said that that Suri was not political or an activist, and that he was focused on his teaching and research. “I would never imagine in a million years to see a faculty member, a student who’s engaged in exercising their First Amendment rights would be picked up by the state and thrown into jail and then deported,” Hashemi told the station. “That’s what they do in Putin’s Russia. That’s what they do in Xi Jinping’s China,” he said. “That’s what they do in the Islamic Republic of Iran, not in the United States, at least until now.”

The lawsuit, which also named law enforcement agencies and 20 counterprotesters, said the university “repeatedly and systemically” violated protesters' rights last year. More than 30 pro-Palestinian activists have filed a civil rights lawsuit against UCLA, alleging the university “repeatedly and systemically” violated the civil rights of protesters during demonstrations at the campus encampment last year. Plaintiffs said they were deprived of “their rights to assemble, speak, learn, and organize freely and safely” and left with “life-altering injuries and post-traumatic stress disorder,” according to a news release about the lawsuit. Stett Holbrook, a spokesperson for the University of California president’s office, said the office had been notified of the lawsuit and was “gathering additional information.” The lawsuit, announced Thursday, was filed Wednesday in Los Angeles County Superior Court. It lists 35 plaintiffs — including students, faculty members and legal observers — who were on campus during the protests last year. In addition to alleging that university officials violated the “civil rights of all pro-Palestinian protesters” and failed to "address and prevent" discrimination, the lawsuit names the Los Angeles Police Department, the California Highway Patrol and 20 individuals it calls a "rioting mob" as defendants. The plaintiffs claim the law enforcement agencies used “excessive physical force” and unlawfully arrested protesters. The plaintiffs alleged that on May 2, when more than 200 people were arrested at the encampment, police “shot powerful kinetic impact projectiles at peoples’ heads and faces.” Spokespeople for the California Highway Patrol and the Los Angeles Police Department said the agencies do not comment on pending litigation. The people the lawsuit describes as a rioting mob are defined as those who participated in a "brutal, hours-long riot" against the encampment. Many of them are identified in the complaint as Los Angeles residents but not members of the UCLA community. The campus police chief resigned in May after he drew intense criticism over his response to the April 30 attack on the encampment, when videos taken at the scene showed counterprotesters beating people and hitting people with poles. The complaint alleges that the counterprotesters “violently assaulted protesters" by "breaking their bones, sexually assaulting them" and "burning their eyes with chemical munitions." The plaintiffs allege in the suit that “police and private security watched from just a few yards away as the attack raged for hours." "It was immediately apparent that there was not a semblance of protection for the physical safety of the encampment members, and the mob had successfully transformed a peaceful, interfaith community space into a site of horror," the complaint says. Plaintiffs' personal testimony included in the lawsuit describes violence they say counterprotesters and police officers inflicted upon them. A student, Jack Kearns, said a member of the group hit him in the head with "a large piece of wood," rendering him unconscious. Another student, Faraaz Qureshi, said he was hit with rubber bullets four times, causing a severe open fracture in his finger and contusions and abrasions on his chest and back. The lawsuit seeks monetary damage for the physical and psychological injuries it said the protesters experienced. Holbrook said the university has instituted “system-wide reforms to promote safety and combat harassment and discrimination” on UC campuses.

“It was a bloody night for the people of Beit Lahiya,” a health official said. “The situation is catastrophic.” DEIR-AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip — Local health officials said Israeli strikes killed at least 85 Palestinians across the Gaza Strip overnight and into Thursday, bringing the total to nearly 600 killed since Israel shattered a truce that had facilitated the release of more than two dozen hostages and brought relative calm since late January. Hours later, Hamas fired three rockets at Israel without causing casualties, in the first such attack since Israel broke the ceasefire Tuesday. Zaher al-Waheidi, head of the records department at the Gaza Health Ministry, said Israeli bombardments have killed at least 592 people in the past three days. The Israeli military said it was again enforcing a blockade on northern Gaza, including Gaza City. Palestinians were not being ordered to leave northern Gaza but can no longer enter, the military said, and are only allowed to move south on foot using the coastal road. Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians had returned to what remains of their homes in the north during the ceasefire. Early Friday, Israel’s Cabinet unanimously approved Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s request to fire the head of the country’s Shin Bet internal security service. The late-night decision to sack Ronen Bar deepens a power struggle focused largely over who bears responsibility for the Hamas attack that sparked the war in Gaza. It also could set the stage for a crisis over the country’s division of powers. Israel’s attorney general has ruled that the Cabinet has no legal basis to dismiss Bar. Israeli ground forces, meanwhile, are pushing into Gaza near the northern town of Beit Lahiya and the southern border city of Rafah, the military said Thursday. The operations come a day after Israel moved to split Gaza in two by retaking part of the strategic Netzarim corridor that divides Gaza’s north from south. The military ordered Palestinians to evacuate an area in central Gaza near the city of Khan Younis, saying it would operate there in response to Thursday’s rocket fire from Hamas. The Palestinian militant group said it targeted Tel Aviv. One rocket was intercepted and two fell in open areas, according to the army. Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels also launched two missiles at Israel, one early Thursday morning and another in the evening, the military said. Both were intercepted before reaching Israeli airspace, according to the army, and no injuries were reported. Air raid sirens rang out and exploding interceptor rockets were heard in Jerusalem. There have been three such attacks since the United States began a new campaign of airstrikes against the Houthis earlier this week. A ‘bloody night’ for hard-hit Gaza Gaza’s Health Ministry said overnight Israeli strikes killed at least 85 people, mostly women and children. The ministry’s records do not distinguish between civilians and combatants. The Indonesian Hospital said it received 19 bodies after strikes in Beit Lahiya, near Gaza’s northern border, which was heavily destroyed and largely depopulated earlier in the war. “It was a bloody night for the people of Beit Lahiya,” said Fares Awad, head of the Health Ministry’s emergency service in northern Gaza, adding that rescuers were still searching the rubble. “The situation is catastrophic.” Israel’s military said Thursday its airstrikes in Gaza had killed the head of Hamas’ internal security apparatus and two other militant commanders. Israel has said it only targets militants and blames civilian deaths on Hamas because it operates in densely populated areas. A United Nations-backed group of human rights experts accused Israel last week of “disproportionate violence against women and children” during the war in Gaza. One of the strikes early Thursday hit the Abu Daqa family’s home in Abasan al-Kabira, a village outside Khan Younis near the border with Israel. It was in an area the Israeli military ordered evacuated earlier this week, encompassing most of eastern Gaza. The strike killed at least 16 people, mostly women and children, according to the nearby European Hospital, which received the dead. Those killed included a father and his seven children, as well as the parents and brother of a month-old baby who survived along with her grandparents. “Another tough night,” said Hani Awad, who was helping rescuers search for more survivors in the rubble. “The house collapsed over the people’s heads.” War in Gaza has no end in sight President Donald Trump’s administration reiterated its support for Israel, with White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt saying, “The president made it very clear to Hamas that if they did not release all of the hostages there would be all hell to pay.” Israel, which cut off the supply of food, fuel and humanitarian aid to Gaza’s roughly 2 million Palestinians, has vowed to intensify its operations until Hamas releases the 59 hostages it holds — 24 of whom are believed alive — and gives up control of the territory. Hamas says it will only release the remaining hostages in exchange for a lasting ceasefire and a full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, as called for in the ceasefire agreement mediated by the United States, Egypt and Qatar. Hamas says it’s willing to hand over power to the Western-backed Palestinian Authority or a committee of political independents but will not lay down its arms until Israel ends its decadeslong occupation of lands the Palestinians want for a future state. Shin Bet chief’s dismissal deepens Israeli political turmoil Netanyahu said Sunday he would seek Bar’s dismissal, saying he had lost faith in his security chief. But critics say the move is a power grab by Netanyahu against an independent-minded civil servant. Tens of thousands of Israelis have demonstrated across the country in recent days in support of Bar, including a mass gathering outside Netanyahu’s office late Thursday in the pouring rain. A Shin Bet report into the Oct. 7 attack acknowledged failures by the security agency. But it also said that policies by Netanyahu’s government created the conditions for the attack. Netanyahu is also upset that the Shin Bet has launched an investigation into connections between some of his close aides and the Gulf state of Qatar. His office said Bar’s dismissal would take effect April 10 or before then if a replacement is found. Bar did not attend the meeting but sent a letter to the Cabinet ahead of time protesting the firing. He said the dismissal was meant to hinder the agency from further investigating the failures of Oct. 7 and undermining the investigation into whether Qatar influenced the prime minister’s office. “This is a direct danger to the security of the state of Israel,” Bar wrote. The war began when Hamas-led militants stormed into southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 hostage, according to Israeli officials. Most of the hostages have been freed in ceasefire agreements or other deals. Israeli forces have rescued eight living hostages and recovered the bodies of dozens more. Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed more than 49,000 Palestinians, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. It does not say how many were militants, but says more than half of those killed were women and children. Israel says it has killed around 20,000 militants, without providing evidence. The war at its height displaced around 90% of Gaza’s population and has caused vast destruction across the territory.

Defense Minister Israel Katz said parts of the Palestinian enclave would be "annexed to Israel" unless the remaining 59 captives, dead and alive, were freed. Israel ordered its troops to permanently seize parts of the Gaza Strip — to be “annexed to Israel” — unless Hamas hands over the remaining hostages, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said Friday. The statement came after Israel this week broke the two-month ceasefire with Hamas, with the resumption of airstrikes and ground operations in Gaza killing nearly 600 people. The government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to intensify those operations until the militant group, which nominally controlled Gaza before this round of conflict, returns the 59 dead and living hostages who it continues to hold captive. “I have instructed the IDF to seize additional areas in Gaza, while evacuating the population, and to expand the security zones around Gaza for the protection of Israeli communities and IDF soldiers,” Katz said in a statement. “The more Hamas persists in its refusal to release the hostages, the more territory it will lose, which will be annexed to Israel.” Katz also threatened the use of “all military and civilian pressure tools including the evacuation of Gaza’s population southward and the implementation of voluntary relocation plans for Gaza residents,” while describing the new more expansive phase of Israel's military offensive in the enclave. He added that this would be done "through permanent Israeli control of the territory." Hamas said Friday that it "remains at the heart of the negotiations," and was engaging with mediators including "discussing the Witkoff proposal and the various ideas on the table." The group said in a statement that its aim is "achieving a prisoner exchange deal that secures the release of prisoners, ends the war, and achieves withdrawal." Since signing the ceasefire in January, Netanyahu has faced the twin pressures of hostage families urging him to facilitate their return, and his hard-right coalition members threatening to collapse his government unless he restarts the war. On Tuesday, his military opted for the latter, launching strikes into Gaza that he and the White House blamed on Hamas’ refusal to release more hostages. But Netanyahu's accusations do not reflect the structure of the deal. In the first phase of the truce, Israel exchanged 1,800 Palestinian prisoners and detainees for the return of 25 living hostages and the bodies of eight more of the roughly 250 who were taken captive during the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023, terrorist attacks, in which some 1,200 people were killed, according to Israel. Nearly 49,000 people have been killed in Gaza since Israel launched its offensive in the enclave, according to local health officials, whose figures the World Health Organization has said in the past are reputable. The first phase of the ceasefire ended March 1 and was meant to precede a second phase 16 days later involving the exchange of all remaining hostages and the establishment of a permanent ceasefire. That never happened, with Netanyahu agreeing to a proposal tabled by White House envoy Steven Witkoff to extend the ceasefire by 50 days in order to discuss phase two. This was immediately rejected by Hamas, but Katz said Friday that Israel was still standing by it. The White House has made it clear it stands with Israel’s decision but has yet to respond to NBC News' request for comment on Katz's remarks Friday. “The president made it very clear to Hamas that if they did not release all of the hostages there would be all hell to pay,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Thursday.

Four Canadians were executed in China on drug-related charges earlier this year, Canadian authorities have confirmed. All of them were dual citizens and their identities have been withheld, Canada's foreign minister Mélanie Joly said. A spokesperson for the Chinese embassy in Canada urged Ottawa to "stop making irresponsible remarks", as pundits feared a further downturn in relations between the countries after years of strain. China's foreign ministry said on Thursday that it had acted "in accordance with the law", while the embassy said there was "solid and sufficient" evidence for their crimes. Beijing had "fully guaranteed the rights and interests of the Canadian nationals concerned", the embassy said, urging Canada to respect "China's judicial sovereignty". China does not recognise dual citizenship and takes a tough stance on drug crimes. However, it's rare for the death penalty to be carried out on foreigners. Joly said she had been following the cases "very closely" for months and had tried with other officials, including former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, to stop the executions. In a statement to Canadian media, Global Affairs Canada spokeswoman Charlotte MacLeod said Canada had "repeatedly called for clemency for these individuals at the senior-most levels and remains steadfast in its opposition to the use of the death penalty in all cases, everywhere". China imposes the death penalty on serious crimes including those related to drugs, corruption and espionage. While the number of executions are kept secret, human rights groups believe China has one of the highest execution rates in the world. "These shocking and inhumane executions of Canadian citizens by Chinese authorities should be a wake-up call for Canada," said Ketty Nivyabandi, from Amnesty International Canada. "We are devastated for the families of the victims, and we hold them in our hearts as they try to process the unimaginable. "Our thoughts also go to the loved ones of Canadian citizens whom China is holding on death row or whose whereabouts in the Chinese prison system are unknown." In 2019, Canadian national Robert Lloyd Schellenberg was sentenced to death in China for drug smuggling, in a high-profile case condemned by the Canadian government. He was not among the Canadians who were executed. "We'll continue to not only strongly condemn but also ask for leniency for other Canadians that are facing similar situations," Joly said on Wednesday. Relations between Canada and China have been icy since 2018, after Canada detained a Chinese telecom executive, Meng Wanzhou, on a US extradition request. China arrested two Canadians shortly afterwards, both of whom have now been released. In 2023, Canadian media released reports, many based on leaked intelligence, about detailed claims of Chinese meddling in the country's federal elections. China denied the reports, calling them "baseless and defamatory". More recently, China imposed retaliatory tariffs on some Canadian farm and food imports after Ottawa placed levies on Chinese electric vehicles, steel and aluminium.

Canada's new Prime Minister Mark Carney is likely to call a national election for 28 April, potentially as soon as this Sunday, multiple news outlets report. With Canada's businesses reeling from a trade dispute with the US, Carney - a former two-time central banker - is expected to pitch himself as the candidate best equipped to take on Donald Trump. The 60-year-old political newcomer took over as leader of the Liberal Party after former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau stepped down from his nine-year term. The prime minister's announcement to call an election and request the dissolution of Parliament will kick off a five-week campaign for Carney and his political opponents. While the timing of the request to dissolve parliament is clear - the exact election date is not. The prime minister is leaning towards setting April 28 as the voting date, the Globe and Mail and the Associated Press reported on Thursday, citing sources in the government. Some suggest a shorter campaign could work in Carney's favour, since much of the current national discourse revolves around the ongoing trade war between the US and Canada, particularly after President Trump's threats and actions. The election is "almost certain to focus on US President Donald Trump's trade war and his talk of making Canada the 51st state", The Globe and Mail wrote. Carney has promised to uphold Canada's reciprocal tariffs, if Trump maintains 25% universal tariffs on Canadian goods not covered by the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA) trade deal. Trump has vowed to impose a sweeping range of tariffs on 2 April on top of the 25% tariffs already imposed on Canada's steel and aluminium. The race will likely come down to a choice between Carney and Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre. Before the threat of tariffs, Conservatives enjoyed a 20-point lead in some election polls. Now polls are indicating a much closer race. When Canadians next go to the polls, the Liberals will face not only the Conservatives - who are the official opposition with 120 seats in the House of Commons - but also the Bloc Quebecois, who have 33 seats, and the New Democrats (NDP), who have 24.