Monday, April 1, 2024

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1/ The Biden administration authorized another weapons transfer to Israel despite public frustration with Israel’s conduct in the war and opposition to Israel’s planned invasion of Rafah, which could lead to mass casualties and exacerbate the humanitarian disaster on Gaza. The weapons package, worth billions of dollars, includes more than 1,800 MK84 2,000-pound bombs and 500 MK82 500-pound bombs, which have been linked to civilian deaths during Israel’s military campaign in Gaza. It was approved in 2008 but is only being fulfilled now. The Biden administration, however, is considering a new weapons sales worth more than $18 billion to Israel of fighter jets, air-to-air missiles, and guidance kits, which turn dumb bombs (like the MK84 and MK82) into precision-guided weapons. While the sale is pending U.S. government approval, it will be years before the weapons arrive in Israel. U.S. and Israeli officials, meanwhile, held virtual talks to discuss the Biden administration’s alternative proposals to the invasion of Rafah, where more than one million Palestinians are sheltering with nowhere to go. The meeting was supposed to take place last week in-person, but Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu canceled it after the U.S. didn’t veto a U.N. resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza. (Washington Post / NBC News / Associated Press / ABC News / CNN)

Al-Shifa Hospital has become a graveyard, Palestinian health official says. (Washington Post)

“Entire families dead”: Journalist describes scene at Al-Shifa Hospital after Israeli troops withdraw. (CNN)

“A horror movie”: One man describes the aftermath of Israel’s raid on Al-Shifa. (New York Times)

Israeli lawmakers vote to authorize ban on Al Jazeera operating in Israel, which will allow Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to ban the Qatar-based news network Al Jazeera from operating in Israel, citing national security concerns over its coverage of the war in Gaza. (Washington Post)

2/ Trump posted a video to his personal social media website depicting Biden with his hands and feet tied together in the back of a pickup truck. In a 20-second video, a pickup truck featuring pro-Trump flags can be seen with a large decal on its tailgate showing Biden hogtied, lying horizontally. “This image from Donald Trump is the type of crap you post when you’re calling for a bloodbath or when you tell the Proud Boys to ‘stand back and sta...

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