Israel should hold elections and oust Netanyahu, Schumer says in harsh speech: Live updates
In his harshest criticism yet of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer called Thursday for Israelis to hold elections and choose a new government that can better handle the threat of Hamas.
“As a lifelong supporter of Israel, it has become clear to me: The Netanyahu coalition no longer fits the needs of Israel after Oct. 7,” the New York Democrat said in a floor speech Thursday morning. “Nobody expects Prime Minister Netanyahu to do the things that must be done to break the cycle of violence, preserve Israel’s credibility on the world stage and work toward a two-state solution.”
The message reflects the growing pressure among Democrats to forcefully push back against the catastrophic loss of life in the Gaza Strip, where Israel has been pursuing Hamas militants and has killed more than 31,000 people.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnel, R-Kentucky, challenged Schumer's view in a social media post, writing the primary “obstacles to peace" are "genocidal terrorists and corrupt Palestinian Authority leaders" who reject peace deals.
"Foreign observers who cannot keep this straight ought to refrain from interfering in the democracy of a sovereign ally," McConnell wrote. Former Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett agreed, posting on social media that Israelis oppose "external intervention" in their politics and that Israel is "an independent nation, not a banana republic."
At the House GOP retreat in West Virginia, Speaker Mike Johnson called an impromptu press conference to respond to Schumer’s floor speech.
“This is not only highly inappropriate, it’s just plain wrong for an American leader to play such a divisive role in Israeli politics while our closest ally in the region is in an existential battle for its survival," the Louisiana Republican said.
Schumer – the highest-ranking Jewish elected official in American history – also criticized Hamas and Palestinians who support the militant group that attacked Israel last fall, killing about 1,200 people and taking some 250 hostages. He called on Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas to “step down and be replaced by a new generation of Palestinian leaders who will work toward attaining peace with a Jewish state.”
Schumer blasted “right-wing Israelis” who have called for the forced displacement of Palestinians from the West Bank and Gaza, and government officials who have encouraged violence in each region.
“I believe a new election is the only way to allow for a healthy and open decision-making process about the future of Israel, at a time when so many Israelis have lost their confidence in the vision and direction of their government,” he said.
– Riley Beggin
Israel to relocate Rafah civilians:Vows move to 'humanitarian islands' before offensive
Developments:
∎ Abdul Malik al-Houthi, leader of the Houthi rebels in Yemen, said his group has expanded operations from the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden and will now also target Israeli-linked commercial ships in the Indian Ocean headed to the Cape of Good Hope, the Times of Israel reported. "This is a major step and we have begun to implement our operations related to it,” al-Houthi told a TV audience.
∎ Iran denied claims Thursday that its talks with the U.S. in January had involved Houthi militant attacks on Red Sea shipping. Iranian officials told state-run IRNA news agency that the talks solely involved Iranian sanctions.
∎ Counterterrorism troops on Thursday found a multiple-rocket launcher next to a school and rockets under a bed in the home of a Hamas operative in the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis, the Israeli military said. Israel has blamed the high civilian death toll from the Gaza campaign on the militants' use of "human shields."
Dozens killed awaiting food aid, Gaza Health Ministry says
Incidents of Palestinians getting killed by Israeli forces while waiting for food aid are proliferating in Gaza, and two such instances Thursday left at least 29 dead, the Health Ministry said.
Israeli gunfire killed at least 21 and injured more than 150 awaiting the arrival of aid trucks at a northern Gaza roundabout, Reuters reported, citing the Hamas-run Health Ministry.
Earlier Thursday, eight people were killed and others wounded in an Israeli airstrike on a warehouse in the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza, according to Middle Eastern media outlets. Al Jazeera said video footage it authenticated captured the moment the Israeli raid hit the food and aid deposit belonging to the Ministry of Social Development.
Late Wednesday, six people were killed and dozens wounded when Israel bombed an area of Gaza City where Palestinians had gathered to wait for aid trucks, the Gaza Health Ministry said.
The Israel Defense Forces said it's investigating the incidents.
The U.N. says severe food shortages in Gaza, especially the north, have left one-quarter of the population on the brink of starvation. That has contributed to crowding and looting of aid trucks. On Feb. 29, more than 100 Palestinians waiting for an aid delivery were killed after Israeli forces fired their weapons. Health ministry officials said the majority died of gunshot wounds, but Israel said its soldiers only fired warning shots and that most in the crowd died in the ensuing trampling.
First aid ship set to arrive in Gaza
The first humanitarian aid ship from Cyprus was due to arrive at war-battered Gaza on Thursday with more than 500,000 meals from chef José Andrés World Central Kitchen. Crews were working on preparing a jetty at an undisclosed location to unload Open Arms, the first ship bringing aid to the enclave. The nonprofit organization said in a statement it was working with the United Arab Emirates, Cyprus and the international community to open the maritime aid corridor.
"Once there, we will distribute the food to communities on the brink of famine," WCK said. The Israeli military said a "comprehensive security check" of the ship and its cargo of almost 200 tons of rice, flour, beans, lentils and canned meats was completed.
A second ship was being prepared to make the trip. WCK says it has already provided more than 35 million meals to displaced Palestinians in the region since the war began. The U.S is sending material for construction of a floating dock that would expand access to aid ships. The dock, when fully operational within two months, should be able to offload up to 2 million meals a day.
Palestinian Authority head names ally as premier, defies calls for reformist
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas on Thursday appointed longtime economic adviser and close ally Mohammad Mustafa as prime minister, despite international pressure to reform the unpopular political entity that rules parts of the West Bank.
The U.S. has pushed for a revitalized Palestinian Authority as a viable option to govern Gaza after the war, a notion rejected by Netanyahu and a hard sell for Palestinians who consider the organization corrupt, ineffective and too cozy with Israel. Abbas, 88, has remained the PA leader and refused to hold elections after his mandate ended in 2009.
Mustafa, 69, earned a doctorate in business administration and economics from George Washington University and currently serves as chairman of the Palestine Investment Fund, after previous posts as the PA's deputy prime minister and economy minister.
Palestinian political analyst Hani al-Masri told the Associated Press that Mustafa is “a respected and educated man” but will have a hard time turning around the economic crisis in the West Bank stemming from restrictions Israel has imposed during the war.
8 die in Israeli airstrike on Gaza aid warehouse
At least eight people were killed and others wounded Thursday in an Israeli airstrike on a warehouse in the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza, according to preliminary reports in multiple Middle Eastern media outlets. Al Jazeera said video footage it authenticated captured the moment the Israeli raid hit the food and aid deposit belonging to the Ministry of Social Development.
Late Wednesday, six people were killed and dozens wounded when Israel bombed an area of Gaza City where Palestinians had gathered to wait for aid trucks, the Gaza Health Ministry said.
Earlier that day, U.N. officials said at least one aid worker was killed and 22 others wounded when Israeli forces struck a humanitarian aid distribution center in the southern Gaza city of Rafah. In an email to USA TODAY, the Israeli military said that strike killed Muhammad Abu Hasna, described as a "combat support operative" in Hamas’ military wing who was involved in "taking control of humanitarian aid and distributing it to Hamas terrorists."
West Bank settlers accused of attacking Palestinians draw sanctions
The U.S. imposed sanctions Thursday on three extremist Israeli West Bank settlers accused of attacking Palestinians to pressure them into leaving their land. The State Department announced sanctions and visa restrictions against Zvi Bar Yosef and his farm, Moshe Sharvit and his farm, and Neriya Ben Pazi, who attacked and expelled Palestinian shepherds from hundreds of acres of land as recently as August.
The U.S. sanctions block the men and their settlements from using the U.S. financial system and bar American citizens from dealing with them.
State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said in a statement “there is no justification for extremist violence against civilians or forcing families from their homes, whatever their national origin, ethnicity, race, or religion.”
Would Biden support scaled-back Israeli effort in Rafah?
Senior officials in the White House have told Israeli officials that President Joe Biden would support efforts to target key Hamas leaders in Rafah if Israel avoids a large-scale invasion of the southern Gaza city, Politico reported Wednesday. The administration is concerned that a military offensive in the city, packed with refugees who fled the fighting elsewhere in the enclave, would further strain waning global support for Israel's effort to destroy the militant group.
Politico, citing private conversations, said "top" administration officials have signaled support for counterterrorism operations rather than an all-out war, four U.S. officials said. Such a plan would minimize civilian casualties and decimate Hamas’ ranks without the intense images of suffering that have fueled opposition to Israel's military effort. Such a plan, however, has not yet been formulated, Politico said. The Israeli military said this week that civilians in Rafah would be redirected to central Gaza and provided food, water and shelter.