He also warned Iran to stop supporting the rebel group, promising to hold the country “fully accountable” for the actions of its proxy. WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — President Donald Trump said he ordered a series of airstrikes on the Houthi-held areas in Yemen on Saturday, promising to use “overwhelming lethal force” until Iranian-backed Houthi rebels cease their attacks on shipping along a vital maritime corridor. The Houthis said at least 18 civilians were killed. “Our brave Warfighters are right now carrying out aerial attacks on the terrorists’ bases, leaders, and missile defenses to protect American shipping, air, and naval assets, and to restore Navigational Freedom,” Trump said in a social media post. “No terrorist force will stop American commercial and naval vessels from freely sailing the Waterways of the World.” He also warned Iran to stop supporting the rebel group, promising to hold the country “fully accountable” for the actions of its proxy. It comes two weeks after the U.S. leader sent a letter to Iranian leaders offering a path to restarting bilateral talks between the countries on Iran’s advancing nuclear weapons program. Trump has said he will not allow it to become operational. The Houthis reported explosions in their territory Saturday evening, in the capital of Sanaa and the northern province of Saada, the rebels’ stronghold on the border with Saudi Arabia, with more airstrikes reported in those areas early Sunday. Images online showed plumes of black smoke over the area of the Sanaa airport complex, which includes a sprawling military facility. The Houthis also reported airstrikes early Sunday on the provinces of Hodeida, Bayda, and Marib. At least 18 people were killed, including 13 in Sanaa and five in Saada, according to the Houthi-run health ministry. At least 24 others were wounded, including nine in Sanaa and 15 in Saada, it said. Nasruddin Amer, deputy head of the Houthi media office, said the airstrikes won’t deter them and they would retaliate against the U.S. “Sanaa will remain Gaza’s shield and support and will not abandon it no matter the challenges,” he added on social media. Another spokesman, Mohamed Abdulsalam, on X, called Trump’s claims that the Houthis threaten international shipping routes “false and misleading.” The airstrikes come a few days after the Houthis said they would resume attacks on Israeli vessels sailing off Yemen in response to Israel’s latest blockade on Gaza. They described the warning as affecting the Red Sea, the Gulf of Aden, the Bab el-Mandeb Strait and the Arabian Sea. There have been no Houthi attacks reported since then. Earlier this month, Israel halted all aid coming into Gaza and warned of “additional consequences” for Hamas if their fragile ceasefire in the war isn’t extended as negotiations continue over starting a second phase. The Houthis had targeted over 100 merchant vessels with missiles and drones, sinking two vessels and killing four sailors, during their campaign targeting military and civilian ships between the start of the war between Israel and Hamas in late 2023 and January of this year, when this ceasefire in Gaza took effect. The attacks raised the Houthis’ profile as they faced economic and other problems at home amid Yemen’s decade-long stalemated war that’s torn apart the Arab world’s poorest nation. The Houthi media office said the U.S. strikes hit a residential neighborhood in Sanaa’s northern district of Shouab. Residents said at least four airstrikes rocked the Eastern Geraf neighborhood there, terrifying women and children. “The explosions were very strong,” said Abdallah al-Alffi. “It was like an earthquake.” The Eastern Geraf is home to Houthi-held military facilities and a headquarters for the rebels’ political bureau, located in a densely populated area. The Houthis reported fresh strikes on the southwestern Dhamar province late Saturday. They said the strikes hit the outskirts of the provincial capital, also named Dhamar, and the district of Abs. The United States, Israel and Britain have previously hit Houthi-held areas in Yemen. Israel’s military declined to comment. Saturday’s operation was the first strike on the Yemen-based Houthis under the second Trump administration. Such broad-based missile strikes against the Houthis were carried out multiple times by the Biden administration in response to frequent attacks by the Houthis against commercial and military vessels in the region. The USS Harry S. Truman carrier strike group, which includes the carrier, three Navy destroyers and one cruiser, are in the Red Sea and were part of Saturday’s mission. The USS Georgia cruise missile submarine has also been operating in the region. Trump announced the strikes as he spent the day at his Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Florida. “These relentless assaults have cost the U.S. and World Economy many BILLIONS of Dollars while, at the same time, putting innocent lives at risk,” Trump said.

Waltz was asked whether the White House would consider direct military action on Iran.WASHINGTON — National security adviser Mike Waltz said Sunday that “all options are always on the table” when asked whether direct military action against Iran would be possible. His comments come after the U.S. launched airstrikes Saturday on parts of Yemen that are controlled by Houthis, an Iran-backed group that has attacked shipping vessels in response to the war in Gaza. President Donald Trump announced the strikes on Saturday, saying in a post to Truth Social that Houthi attacks “on American vessels will not be tolerated.” “We will use overwhelming lethal force until we have achieved our objective,” Trump added. Trump also warned Iran in the same post that its support for Houthis “must end immediately.” He told the nation to “beware” of threatening Americans and that “America will hold you fully accountable and, we won’t be nice about it!” The airstrikes on Yemen come as the Trump administration is also trying to end the war in Ukraine by meeting with Russian and Ukrainian officials to determine a path to a possible ceasefire. Waltz said diplomacy is ongoing, but indicated that it was unrealistic to expect Ukraine would regain all of its territory taken over by Russia. “We have to ask ourselves, is it in our national interest, is it realistic?” Waltz said when asked about territory that may be given to Russia despite Russia having launched the war by invading Ukraine. “Are we going to drive every Russian off of every inch of Ukrainian soil, including Crimea?” he asked, arguing that the Biden administration’s strategy was “essentially endless warfare in an environment that we’re literally losing hundreds of thousands of people in a matter of months, and could escalate into World War III.” “We can talk about what’s right and wrong, and we also have to talk about the reality of the situation on the ground,” Waltz said. Trump’s special envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, said in an interview on CNN’s “State of the Union” that his recent meeting with Russia’s President Vladimir Putin “was positive.” Witkoff has been active in ongoing talks about the future of Russia and Ukraine. Witkoff said in the same interview that he expects Trump and Putin to have a call sometime this week. During his presidential campaign, Trump said he could end the war in Ukraine in one day or even before being sworn in. During a “Full Measure” interview taped last week with journalist Sharyl Attkisson, Trump said he “was being a little bit sarcastic when I said that.”

A mother grieves as her sons, whom she had struggled to keep alive in the war, were killed during a truce, in which Israeli airstrikes continue. For a year and a half, Umm Mahmoud Alerfan did everything she could to try to keep her children alive. As Israel pummeled Gaza with bombs, she kept them close, inside their shelter, terrified that a missile or sudden airstrike would steal them away. On Friday, two months since the fragile ceasefire in Gaza was declared, Alerfan, back in Gaza City with her family, was preparing the meal to break the day’s Ramadan fast. Two of her sons, Mahmoud Alerfan, 15, and Yusuf Alerfan, 13, stepped outside — just for a moment, just to find firewood for their evening meal. But an Israeli drone found them first, firing the missile that killed the boys and tearing Alerfan’s life apart. “Two, both of them in one day,” she screamed, stained with her sons’ blood as she wept into their lifeless bodies. Two of their friends, Malik Althatha, 13, and Salim Hasnin, 15, who had joined them to gather firewood, were also killed. NBC News’ crew on the ground captured the moment as Alerfan clutched their bodies, refusing to let go as her wails echoed through the broken streets. One man holds her back, and guides her away from the bloody scene, her sobs breaking into gasps. “I did not allow them outside, but today I did. Why did they come out today?” she asked. Standing beside one of the bodies, Awda al-Amarin struggled to understand why Israel had killed the children. “Is this a truce?” he said. “Is this peace and safety? Where is the ceasefire?” When asked for comment on the children’s deaths, the Israel Defense Forces told NBC News that it had targeted “terrorists” in central Gaza who it said, without providing evidence, were attempting to plant “explosive devices on the ground.” The first phase of the ceasefire expired earlier this month, and talks continue in Doha. On the ground, the ceasefire remains marred by violence as Israeli airstrikes continue. At least nine people were killed, including two journalists, by an Israeli airstrike on Beit Lahia in northern Gaza on Saturday, Reuters reported, citing Gaza’s health ministry. Last week, an Israeli airstrike killed two Palestinians in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, just a day after an Israeli drone strike killed two people in northern Gaza. More than 48,500 people have been killed in Gaza since Israel launched its sweeping military offensive, according to local health officials, and around 70% of the infrastructure has been destroyed, according to the United Nations. Israel launched the offensive after 250 people were taken hostage during the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023, terrorist attacks in which 1,200 people were killed, according to Israeli officials. A report published on Thursday by United Nations-backed human rights experts accused Israel of a range of violations against women, men, girls and boys, including perpetrating “genocidal acts,” and the “systematic destruction” of reproductive health care in Gaza. It said Israel had carried out “sexual, reproductive and other forms of gender-based violence against Palestinians,” including photographing and filming “hundreds” of Palestinian men and boys in “humiliating and degrading circumstances while subjected to acts of a sexual nature.” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu lashed out at the Human Rights Council, a U.N.-backed body that commissioned the team of independent experts, calling it an “antisemitic, rotten, terrorist-supporting, and irrelevant body.” Israel has denied repeated accusations of genocide. The ceasefire deal, which began Jan. 19, called for hostages to be freed in exchange for a truce. With no agreement on the next phase, Israel has pressed for an extension of the first phase and demanded that Hamas release half the remaining hostages before discussing a lasting ceasefire. Hamas has said it wants to begin negotiations on the second phase of the deal, which would see the hostages who remain in its captivity released, along with the withdrawal of Israeli forces and ultimately an end to the war. The militant group said last week that it had agreed to release Edan Alexander, the last living U.S. citizen held hostage in Gaza, as well as the bodies of four dual nationals. Nothing has been finalized, Hazem Qassem, a Hamas spokesman told NBC News. But he said that the militant group had agreed to a proposal put forward by mediators and was awaiting the results of further negotiations.

The allegations came in one of the most extensive reports of its kind on the issue since Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack on southern Israel ignited the war. Israel has refuted them. United Nations-backed human rights experts on Thursday accused Israel of “the systematic use of sexual, reproductive and other gender-based violence” in its war with Hamas in the Gaza Strip. The allegations came in one of the most extensive reports of its kind on the issue since Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack on southern Israel ignited the war. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu lashed out at the Human Rights Council, a U.N.-backed body that commissioned the team of independent experts, as an “anti-Israel circus” that “has long been exposed as an antisemitic, rotten, terrorist-supporting, and irrelevant body.” His statement did not address the findings themselves. The findings by the Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, which seeks to document in minute detail the allegations and evidence of crimes to bolster accountability for perpetrators, could be used by prosecutors at the International Criminal Court or in other jurisdictions to try to bring justice to victims and their relatives. In its report released Thursday, the commission examined the widespread destruction of Gaza, the use of heavy explosives in civilian areas and Israeli attacks on hospitals and health facilities. It said all three led to “disproportionate violence against women and children.” The commission documented a range of violations perpetrated against Palestinian women, men, girls and boys and accused Israeli security forces of rape and sexual violence against Palestinian detainees. Israel denies any systematic abuse of prisoners and says it takes action when there are violations. “Our report finds that Israel has increasingly employed sexual, reproductive, and other forms of gender-based violence against Palestinians as part of a broader effort to undermine their right to self-determination,” Chris Sidoti, a member of the commission, told reporters in Geneva. Israel’s mission in Geneva rejected the allegations and accused the commission of relying on “second-hand, single, uncorroborated sources.” Since the commission was set up in 2021 — long before the Oct. 7 attacks in Israel — Israel has refused to cooperate with it, accusing the investigative team and the council of bias. Commission member Sidoti said the report “also concludes that Israel has carried out genocidal acts through the systematic destruction of sexual and reproductive health care facilities.” The commission stopped short of accusing Israel of genocide, as some advocacy groups and other rights experts have. Israel, which was established in the wake of the Nazi Holocaust and is home to many survivors and their families, has vigorously denied such allegations. Israel says it took extraordinary measures to avoid harming civilians in the 15-month war, which has been paused by a fragile ceasefire. It blames civilian deaths and destruction on Hamas because the militants operate in residential areas. Israeli forces carried out a number of raids on hospitals, accusing Hamas of using them for military purposes, allegations denied by Palestinian health officials. Pointing to the report, a Hamas statement urged international courts to prosecute Israel’s leaders. The International Criminal Court has issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu and his former defense minister, accusing them of war crimes, which they deny. The court also issued a warrant in November for Hamas’ military leader, but the militants have since confirmed that he was killed. The war began when Hamas-led militants attacked southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking 251 hostages. Israeli authorities, citing eyewitness accounts and other evidence, have accused Hamas-led militants of widespread rape and sexual violence. Israeli experts who have treated former hostages say some were subjected to physical and sexual abuse in captivity. A U.N. envoy last year reported “reasonable grounds” to believe such allegations. Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed over 48,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which does not say how many of the dead were combatants. On Tuesday and Wednesday, the commission held public hearings with victims, lawyers, advocacy groups and others whose accounts were included in the report. The commission was not considering allegations of sexual, gender-based and other violence committed against Israelis during the Oct. 7 attack or against hostages in Gaza, but reported on the issue last year.

The Trump administration has been engaged in direct talks with Hamas over the release of U.S. citizens still held in the Gaza Strip, the White House said this month. Hamas said Friday that it had agreed to release Edan Alexander, the last living U.S. citizen held hostage in Gaza, as well as the bodies of four dual-nationals. Nothing has been finalized, Hazem Qassem, a Hamas spokesman told NBC News. But he said that the militant group had agreed to a proposal put forward by mediators and was awaiting the results of further negotiations. The decision to free Alexander, an American Israeli, was first announced in a statement posted to Telegram on Friday. It said that Hamas was ready to begin negotiations to start the second phase of its ceasefire deal with Israel. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said in a statement that Hamas was engaging in “manipulation and psychological warfare.” It added that Netanyahu would convene his ministerial team on Saturday “to receive a detailed report from the negotiating team, and to decide on the next steps for the release of the hostages.” Talks around maintaining the fragile ceasefire between Israel and Hamas continued in Doha, Qatar. The first phase ended without an agreement on starting the second phase of the deal, which has brought a pause to the war in Gaza. The State Department and National Security Council did not immediately respond to requests for comment from NBC News. A spokesperson for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declined to comment. The Trump administration has been engaged in direct talks with Hamas over the release of U.S. hostages still held in the Gaza Strip, the White House said this month. Hamas said that its leadership had received a proposal on Thursday from mediators to resume negotiations and that it had “responded responsibly and positively” Friday morning, including its agreement to release Alexander and the bodies of four other dual nationals. Hamas is believed to be still holding the bodies of four Israeli-Americans: Itay Chen, 19; Omer Neutra, 21; Judith Weinstein, 70; and her husband, Gadi Haggai, 72. Edan Alexander, who grew up in New Jersey and had volunteered to serve in Israel’s military, is the last living hostage with U.S. citizenship. He was stationed outside Gaza when he was among around 250 people taken hostage during the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023, terrorist attacks that killed 1,200 people, according to Israeli officials. Since then, more than 48,500 people have been killed in the Gaza Strip after Israel launched a sweeping military offensive in the Palestinian enclave, according to local health officials, while around 70% of the infrastructure in the territory has also been destroyed, according to the United Nations. The current ceasefire deal, which took effect Jan. 19, calls for the remaining 59 hostages in Hamas captivity to be released during the second phase, during which plans for an end to the war would be negotiated. With the ceasefire's first phase having come to an end without the agreement of a second phase, Israel has pressed Hamas to instead accept an extension to the first phase, demanding the release of half of the remaining hostages in return for a guarantee of negotiating a lasting truce. Hamas has said it wants to begin negotiations on the second phase of the deal, which would see the hostages who remain in its captivity released, along with the withdrawal of Israeli forces and ultimately, an end to the war.

Columbia Interim President Katrina Armstrong said Thursday that the agents had search warrants and no one was arrested or detained in the student resident search. Department of Homeland Security agents executed search warrants on two Columbia University residences on Thursday evening, just days after graduate student and Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil was arrested by immigration authorities, according to a statement from the university. Katrina Armstrong, the university's interim president, said that no arrests were made, no items were removed, and no further action was taken by authorities. She said that DHS served the university with judicial search warrants signed by a federal magistrate judge to conduct the search. "Our University Public Safety was present at all times," Armstrong said in a message to the school community. "Columbia continues to make every effort to ensure that our campus, students, faculty, and staff are safe. Columbia is committed to upholding the law, and we expect city, state, and federal agencies to do the same." Earlier on Thursday, seven current students sued the school in a bid to block it from producing disciplinary records to a House committee as school officials said they were sanctioning students involved in pro-Palestinian rallies last spring. The suit, filed in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, alleges that the committee's request for the records violates the First Amendment and that the university's compliance with the committee constitutes a breach of contract. Columbia officials declined to comment on the pending litigation. Khalil, a 30-year-old green card holder and Columbia graduate student who played a major role in student protests against the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza, is being held in a Louisiana detention center as immigration authorities seek to deport him. His wife told Reuters earlier this week that he arrived in the United States on a student visa in 2022 and gained his green card two years later. Just as the seven students filed their suit, the university announced “multi-year suspensions, temporary degree revocations and expulsions” for those who participated in the occupation of Hamilton Hall at the school's New York City campus. The university did not say how many people it had disciplined. Among those disciplined was Grant Miner. Miner, the president of a union representing thousands of Columbia student workers, was fired and expelled, UAW Local 2710 said. Thursday's developments came hours after dozens of protesters calling for Khalil's release were arrested at a sit-in at Trump Tower in New York City. Last week, the Trump administration said it would cancel nearly $400 million in federal grants to the university “due to the school’s continued inaction in the face of persistent harassment of Jewish students.” Soon after, Columbia committed to engaging with Trump officials in hope of restoring the lost federal funds. “We are reviewing the announcement from the federal agencies and pledge to work with the federal government to restore Columbia’s federal funding. We take Columbia’s legal obligations seriously and understand how serious this announcement is and are committed to combating antisemitism and ensuring the safety and wellbeing of our students, faculty and staff,” a spokesperson for the university said last week. On Thursday, the Trump administration outlined conditions and policy changes Columbia would have to implement to restore its funding and maintain a "continued financial relationship" with the federal government. The nine bullet points of required policy shifts include the demand to abolish the University Judicial Board to centralize all disciplinary processes under the Office of the President. The letter to Columbia also required the university to complete disciplinary proceedings for students involved in the 2024 student protests. In seeking Khalil's deportation, federal officials have cited a rarely used provision in immigration law that gives the secretary of state the authority to deport someone if it is determined that the person “would have serious adverse foreign policy consequences for the United States.” The Department of Homeland Security has said Khalil’s activities "aligned" with Hamas, a designated terrorist organization. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said he had distributed "pro-Hamas propaganda" at Columbia's campus. Khalil's legal team has said the arrest violates his free speech rights and that there is no evidence he provided support to a terrorist organization. "There is no reason to believe, and I don’t think anybody who knows him would argue otherwise or suggest, that he would have any connection with any of these entities, but that’s also not what he stands for,” said Amy Greer, one of Khalil's attorneys. Khalil, 30, is an Algerian citizen of Palestinian descent who is married to a U.S. citizen and is a legal permanent resident of the United States. His wife, who is eight months pregnant, said in a statement this week that “Mahmoud has been ripped away from me for no reason at all.”

The latest arrest, which was conducted by immigration officers from the Newark, New Jersey, field office, came hours after federal agents executed search warrants on two university residences. Federal agents arrested a Palestinian student who had taken part in protests at Columbia University last spring and had overstayed her student visa, officials said Friday. The student, identified by the Department of Homeland Security as Leqaa Kordia, a Palestinian from the West Bank, was previously arrested for her participation in the protests. Her visa was terminated in January 2022 for lack of attendance, officials said. Her arrest by immigration officers from the Newark, New Jersey, field office follows the self-deportation on Tuesday of a Columbia doctoral student from India, Ranjani Srinivasan, whom DHS accused of supporting Hamas. The State Department had revoked her visa a week earlier. “It is a privilege to be granted a visa to live and study in the United States of America,” DHS Secretary Kristi Noem said in a statement. “When you advocate for violence and terrorism that privilege should be revoked, and you should not be in this country.” The latest arrest comes as students at Columbia say they are fearful that they and their friends could be unjustly targeted amid a tense climate on campus, hours after federal agents executed search warrants on two university residences. Todd Blanche, U.S. deputy attorney general, said Friday that the Justice Department is working with DHS as part of an investigation into Columbia's "harboring and concealing illegal aliens on its campus." While school officials told students that no arrests were made and no items seized when DHS agents entered two student rooms on Thursday night, foreign students remained on edge. The Ivy League’s campus in upper Manhattan has seen renewed demonstrations in recent days following the arrest Saturday of Mahmoud Khalil, a Columbia graduate student and legal permanent resident who was publicly involved in negotiations during last year’s school protests. Many students approached by NBC News declined to comment, but some who agreed to speak asked not to be named for fear of government retaliation. "This is exactly what I was worried about months ago," said an engineering student from the United Kingdom who participated in pro-Palestinian demonstrations last spring over the war in Gaza. The student said he was worried about campus raids and other potential intervention by the federal government. "It's also like, you don't know the scope of the people they're trying to target because thousands of students were involved in this in some capacity. It would have been on camera," the student said, adding, "Logically nothing is going to happen to me, but it's stressful." Columbia’s American students are rallying around their international counterparts as well after the federal agents searched the two student residences. Another student, who is American, said she was "shocked" when she read the email from Katrina Armstrong, Columbia's interim president, informing students that DHS had served the university with judicial search warrants signed by a federal magistrate judge. "It is pretty frightening. The school is doing everything in their power to do their best to keep students safe, but I think there’s a limit to what they're able to do," the student, a junior, said. "Last night was evidence of that limit." Sebastian Javadpoor, 22, said he was "overcome with rage" upon the latest search warrants. Javadpoor, who leads the university's student-led Democratic club, said he and about a dozen other student leaders met with school officials to convey their fears. "We have students who are so scared about the possibility of retaliation, about the possibility of having ICE reported on them, that they're too afraid to call public safety if something happens to them," he said. "They're too afraid to call NYPD. They're too afraid to even seek support and services from the administration itself." Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents arrested Khalil as part of an effort to revoke his green card and deport him, his lawyers said. Khalil, 30, an Algerian citizen and pro-Palestinian activist, is married to a U.S. citizen and was arrested at his university-owned residential building. “The Secretary of State has determined that your presence or activities in the United States would have serious adverse foreign policy consequences for the United States,” the Department of Homeland Security stated in a document obtained by NBC News. He is currently being held at a detention facility in Louisiana, where government officials want him to remain. His lawyers argue that he should be returned to New York and that the administration’s actions violate the First Amendment. Khalil's removal from campus came days after the Trump administration announced that it would cancel approximately $400 million in federal grants to the university "due to the school's continued inaction in the face of persistent harassment of Jewish students." The administration says the school must make sweeping policy changes, including a ban on masks "intended to conceal identity or intimidate others," and allowing for "full law enforcement authority, including arrest and removal of agitators." Columbia has said it would work with the administration to ensure funding continues and is "committed to combating antisemitism and ensuring the safety and wellbeing of our students, faculty and staff." A DHS spokesperson has said Khalil's arrest was in coordination with ICE and the State Department "in support of President Trump's executive orders prohibiting anti-Semitism" because Khalil "led activities aligned to Hamas, a designated terrorist organization." His arrest was only the latest action to roil the campus after the last school year, when student protesters occupied Hamilton Hall, leading to dozens of arrests for trespassing. While nearly all of the related charges were eventually dropped, the school on Thursday said it has suspended or expelled some of the students who participated and temporarily revoked some diplomas of those who graduated. On Friday, dozens of police barricades surrounded the university's main entrance. The university gates that once remained open to all New Yorkers were locked shut as students flashed their badges to get to class, shuffling past police officers, news cameras and flocks of campus security. Some students participated in a walk out Friday afternoon in response to Khalil's arrest and the student sanctions. University leaders want to unify the faculty — and potentially some students — by focusing discussions on how Columbia can best defend the school's independence in the face of unprecedented pressure from the Trump administration, as it cracks down on certain international students who engaged in pro-Palestinian protests that swept college campuses. Some faculty members feel that the Trump administration's demand that Columbia changes how the university operates goes too far and involves core prerogatives of the university. They hope to use this moment to spark a discussion of what the university stands for. “How do we prevent the university from being divided?” an administrator, who asked not to be named because they weren’t authorized to speak publicly, said about the mood among university faculty and staff. “People are more oriented toward what we need to do to defend the university.” A graduate student from India said she wanted to join student-led protests over Khalil's removal from campus in recent days, but feared doing so also could put her student visa in jeopardy. "Your free speech is curtailed. As students, you should be having those kind of rights, but you don’t,” the 29-year-old said. “You know what’s going on, you do want to speak out, but as an international student, you’re in a tough position, right?"

Mahmoud Khalil's attorney said she spoke with one of the ICE agents during the arrest, who said they were acting on State Department orders to revoke Khalil’s student visa. Federal immigration authorities arrested a Palestinian graduate student who played a prominent role in protests against Israel at Columbia University, according to his attorney. Mahmoud Khalil was inside a university-owned residence Saturday night near Columbia’s Manhattan campus when several Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents entered his apartment and took him into custody, his attorney, Amy Greer, told The Associated Press. Greer said she spoke by phone with one of the ICE agents during the arrest, who said they were acting on State Department orders to revoke Khalil’s student visa. Informed by the attorney that Khalil was in the United States as a permanent resident with a green card, the agent said they were revoking that too, according to the lawyer. The arrest appears to be among the first known actions under President Donald Trump’s pledge to deport international students who joined the protests against the war in Gaza that swept college campuses last spring. His administration has claimed participants forfeited their rights to remain in the country by supporting Hamas, a terror organization. When ICE agents arrived at the campus building Saturday, they also threatened to arrest Khalil’s wife, an American citizen who is eight months pregnant, Greer said. The authorities declined to say why Khalil was being arrested, according to the attorney. They were initially told he was transferred to an immigration detention facility in Elizabeth, New Jersey. But when Khalil’s wife tried to visit Sunday, she learned he was not there — and may have been transferred as far away as Louisiana, Greer said. “We have not been able to get any more details about why he is being detained,” Greer told the AP. “This is a clear escalation. The administration is following through on its threats.” In a statement to NBC News on Sunday, Department of Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said Khalil was arrested in coordination with ICE and the State Department “in support of President Trump’s executive orders prohibiting anti-Semitism.” “Khalil led activities aligned to Hamas, a designated terrorist organization,” McLaughlin said. A Columbia spokesperson said law enforcement agents must produce a warrant before entering university property, but declined to say if the school had received one ahead of Khalil’s arrest. The spokesperson also declined to comment on Khalil’s detention. Messages seeking comment were left Sunday with the State Department and ICE. In a message shared on X Sunday evening, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the administration “will be revoking the visas and/or green cards of Hamas supporters in America so they can be deported.” DHS can initiate deportation proceedings against green card holders for a broad range alleged criminal activity, including supporting a terror group. It would ultimately be up to an immigration judge to revoke someone’s permanent resident status, according to Camille Mackler, founder of Immigrant ARC, a coalition of legal service providers in New York. “This has the appearance of a retaliatory action against someone who expressed an opinion the Trump administration didn’t like,” Mackler said. Khalil served as a negotiator for students as they bargained with university officials over an end to the tent encampment erected on campus last spring, a role that made him one of the most visible activists in support of the movement. He was also among those under investigation by a new Columbia University office that has brought disciplinary charges against dozens of students for their pro-Palestinian activism, according to records shared with the AP. The investigations come as the Trump administration has followed through on its threat to cut hundreds of millions of dollars in funding to Columbia because of what the government describes as the Ivy League school’s failure to squelch antisemitism on campus. The university’s allegations against Khalil focused on his involvement in the Columbia University Apartheid Divest group. He faced sanctions for potentially helping to organize an “unauthorized marching event” in which participants glorified Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack and playing a “substantial role” in the circulation of social media posts criticizing Zionism, among other acts of alleged discrimination. “I have around 13 allegations against me, most of them are social media posts that I had nothing to do with,” Khalil told the AP last week. “They just want to show Congress and right-wing politicians that they’re doing something, regardless of the stakes for students,” he added. “It’s mainly an office to chill pro-Palestine speech.”

The man remained on the tower for 16 hours. He has been arrested. LONDON — Traffic around the Palace of Westminster in London came to a standstill for much of Saturday as emergency crews tried to reach a man who climbed the Big Ben tower holding a Palestinian flag. Negotiators were lifted up on a fire brigade ladder platform several times before eventually talking him down. The barefoot man, who appeared to be staging a protest on a ledge several meters (yards) up Elizabeth Tower, which houses Big Ben, stepped off the building and onto a cherry picker after a long conversation with negotiators. He got into a waiting ambulance. Officials said tours of the Houses of Parliament were canceled because of the incident. Westminster Bridge and a nearby street were closed for much of the day and several emergency services vehicles were at the scene as crowds looked on. Police also blocked off all pedestrian access to Parliament Square. The Metropolitan Police said earlier that officers received reports about the man around 7 a.m. Saturday and were “working to bring the incident to a safe conclusion” alongside firefighters and ambulance services. A small group of supporters shouted “Free Palestine” from behind a police cordon nearby.

More than 1,300 people have been killed in an eruption of violence in Latakia and Tartus in the last 72 hours, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. Hundreds of civilians have been killed in Syria in the last 48 hours, the deadliest eruption of violence since the fall of the Assad regime in December. The U.K.-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) reports that at least 830 civilians have been killed in what it described as “the largest collective act of revenge in the coast and its mountains,” with the death toll expected to rise. More than 1,300 people have been killed in 72 hours, according to the organization, including security force members and militants. It is unclear which groups are involved in the killing of civilians, with reports of different militias converging in the area, and much remains unknown about what is unfolding in Syria. Interim Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa called for peace Sunday, amid reports of executions, firing squads and bodies piled in the streets. Clashes between Syrian government forces and fighters loyal to the deposed dictator, Bashar al-Assad, have also led to hundreds more deaths on both sides. The violence has been concentrated in the coastal areas of Tartus and Latakia, the home of the Alawite community, a small Islamic sect to which the Assad family belongs. According to the SOHR, the vast majority of the civilian dead appear to be Alawites, which NBC News has not independently confirmed. Secretary of State Marco Rubio blamed “radical Islamic terrorists” for the killings and urged Syria’s leadership to hold them accountable. Syria’s presidency announced its decision a statement Sunday to form an independent national committee to investigate the events on the Syrian coast, including "causes, circumstances, and conditions" that led to the event. The statement also promised to "identify those responsible." But as the nation grapples with this surge in violence, here’s what we know about what’s happening on the ground and what it could mean for Syria’s future. What we know Syria’s rugged Mediterranean shore was a stronghold of the Assad family’s brutal regime, which lasted 53 years before a rebel alliance led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) ousted Assad three months ago in a lightning-fast offensive that swept across the nation and led HTS leader Sharaa to become the new government’s interim president. However, Syria’s northwest coast remains a fractured battleground, with armed Assad loyalists holding on to villages and remote pockets of territory. Sharaa’s government has deployed armed forces to the region in a bid to assert control, but fierce clashes erupted last week that have left hundreds dead.Video posted on social media and verified by NBC News showed dozens of bodies piled on a blood-soaked street in Latakia. Women gathered around the bloodied corpses. One can be heard sobbing, “My dad, my brother, oh, God.” Other verified videos showed military vehicles moving through the countryside amid explosions and gunfire, while another showed soldiers indiscriminately dropping bombs from a helicopter over Latakia’s rural areas. The SOHR is a prominent information office dedicated to documenting human rights abuses in Syria. The group said that the vast majority of people killed in the current clashes were from the Alawite sect and that women and children were executed by firing squad in the countryside near Tartus. NBC News has not independently verified the death toll or methods of execution. The Associated Press reported that Sunni gunmen, perhaps loyal to the government, initiated revenge killings Friday, with residents saying that Alawites were being killed in the streets or at the gates of their homes and that their houses were looted and set on fire. SOHR also reported that 125 government security forces and 148 militants from Assad-affiliated armed groups were among the dead. Federico Jachetti, Syria country office director for the Norwegian Refugee Council, said in a statement Sunday that the escalation is “a grim reminder that the situation in the country remains fragile” and cited reports of “summary killings, widespread displacement and thousands more left trapped in their homes.” “Syrian families across the country are yearning for a respite after long years of uncertainty and fear,” he said, calling on all parties to protect civilians. Who are the Alawites? The once-ruling minority is a tight-knit Islamic sect to which the Assad family belongs. Under Assad, Alawites were appointed to key positions in the military and security forces, positioning them as the elite within Syria’s state bureaucracy and security apparatus. The rise of HTS, a former Al Qaeda affiliate with an extremist past, raised deep concerns among the Alawite community as it took power. Sunni dominance has inflicted deep scars on the region, and minorities like the Alawites, as well as Christians, Druze and Yazidis, all have reasons to fear the rise of extremist governance. Sharaa had tried to quell such fears, telling CNN in December, “No one has the right to erase another group.” But the recent surge in violence suggests a different story, challenging Sharaa’s claim that his interim government would protect all groups and foster stability.The U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, urged Syria's leadership to take “swift actions to protect Syrians, including by taking all necessary measures to prevent any violations and abuses.” What does this mean for Syria? Unifying Syria’s diverse ethnic and religious groups has been one of the major challenges of a post-Assad Syria. A significant escalation of violence could threaten the country’s fragile stability and at worst threaten to tip the country back into civil war should the interim government lose control of some areas. Sharaa has actively sought to rebrand himself as a unifier willing to put down his previous extremist affiliations. For a time, this strategy appeared successful, generating a surge of goodwill and optimism. In February, a video surfaced showing Sharaa waving from the sunroof of a black vehicle, surrounded by a jubilant crowd during his first visit to Latakia, where he appeared receive a hero’s welcome. Internationally, the explosion of violence may derail the progress Sharaa has made in reassuring Western leaders that he can ferry in a Syria free of threats.