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Day: April 1, 2025

Rescue workers Israel killed found in mass grave in Gaza: What to know

Rescue workers Israel killed found in mass grave in Gaza: What to know

Nine Palestine Red Crescent (PRCS) medics in ambulances, as well as some Civil Defence workers, went to help people in Rafah, Gaza, and disappeared on March 23 after coming under attack from Israeli forces. What followed was a week of Israeli obstruction until international teams were finally able to enter the area where the medics and rescue workers disappeared. They found gruesome proof of direct attacks on the humanitarian workers. One medic remains missing. Here’s everything we know about how Israel killed these first responders in Gaza: What happened to the Red Crescent medics in Gaza? Israeli forces killed them. One ambulance was dispatched to al-Hashaashin, Rafah, to help people injured by Israeli attacks on Sunday, March 23. Israeli soldiers fired on it, injuring the crew. [embedded content] “In the early hours of Sunday, 23 March, our Palestine Red Crescent colleagues were entering the area of al-Hashaashin, Rafah to save lives and came under fire,” Tommaso Della Longa, spokesperson for the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), told Al Jazeera. Advertisement The PRCS then sent a further three ambulances to help the injured people their colleagues were trying to reach, and to rescue their colleagues who had been attacked. All the teams dispatched to support the initial ambulance did so during daylight hours, the Civil Defence confirmed. PRCS “lost contact with their colleagues”, Della Longa said, and began trying to find them. 1/6 First responders should never be a target. Yet today @UNOCHA supported @PalestineRCS and Civil Defense to retrieve colleagues from a mass grave in #Rafah #Gaza that was marked with the emergency light from one of their crushed ambulances. pic.twitter.com/xFYFXWp2c6 — Jonathan Whittall (@_jwhittall) March 30, 2025 Who are the medics Israel killed? There were three ambulance officers – who transport the wounded and offer emergency healthcare at times: Ezzedine Shaath, Mostafa Khafaga and Saleh Muamer. There were also five first responder volunteers: Ashraf Abu Labda, Mohammad Bahloul, Mohammed al-Heila, Raed al-Sharif and Rifatt Radwan. Ambulance officer Assad al-Nassasra is still missing. “We don’t know where he is,” Della Longa said. “The colleagues that were killed and found left behind more than 20 children,” he added. Israel has killed 30 Palestinian Red Crescent volunteers and staff – humanitarian workers protected by international humanitarian law – since October 7. Who else did Israel kill in this incident? The bodies of 14 murdered people were found in a shallow mass grave, according to the PRCS. Advertisement Eight were identified as PRCS medics, five were Civil Defense workers, and one was a UN agency employee. 30 Palestinian staff or volunteers have been killed since October 7 [Eyad BABA / AFP] How were they killed? They were killed “one after another”, then buried in the sand along with their emergency vehicles, the UN said. “The available information indicates that the first team was killed by Israeli forces on 23 March, and that other emergency and aid crews were struck one after another over several hours as they searched for their missing colleagues,” a spokesperson for the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in Palestine said. “Their bodies were gathered and buried in this mass grave,” OCHA head Jonathan Whittall said from the scene. “We’re digging them out in their uniforms, with their gloves on. They were here to save lives,” he said. “These ambulances have been buried in the sand. There’s a UN vehicle here, …[an] Israeli forces bulldozer has buried them.” What did Israel have to say? The Israeli army’s international spokesperson, Nadav Shoshani, said the medics had not been killed deliberately. Referring to Israeli soldiers firing at clearly marked ambulances and UN vehicles, Shoshani wrote on X, formerly Twitter, that “several uncoordinated vehicles were identified advancing suspiciously toward IDF troops without headlights or emergency signals”, not clarifying what was meant by “uncoordinated vehicle”. Shoshani also claimed without evidence that “terrorists” were hidden amid the rescue workers and that “[Israeli] forces eliminated a Hamas military operative, Mohammad Amin Ibrahim Shubaki, who took part in the October 7 massacre, along with eight other terrorists from Hamas and the Islamic Jihad.” Advertisement None of the names reported as having been recovered from the mass grave match the name Shoshani claimed. Soshani did not explain the fact that one body was recovered with his hands bound, according to the Red Crescent in Gaza, and that Israeli bulldozers had tried to bury the vehicles after the fact. Israeli claims of Hamas launching attacks from medical facilities in Gaza were often “vague” and sometimes “contradicted by publicly available information”, UN human rights chief, Volker Turk, told the United Nations Security Council in January. The IDF did 𝗻𝗼𝘁 randomly attack an ambulance on March 23. Let me walk through what happened step-by-step: 1.⁠ ⁠Last Sunday, several uncoordinated vehicles were identified advancing suspiciously toward IDF troops without headlights or emergency signals. IDF troops then… https://t.co/VdtyXd8qj5 — LTC Nadav Shoshani (@LTC_Shoshani) March 31, 2025 How were their bodies found? Della Longa said that, for a whole week, the IFRC, PRCS, ICRC and the UN made appeals to Israeli authorities to enter the area to investigate. Israel blocked the requests until finally a mission was able to enter and look for the missing rescue workers. Video from the scene showed searchers digging out several bodies wearing orange emergency vests, some piled on top of each other. One body in a Civil Defence vest was pulled out of the grave only for searchers to realise it was a torso with no legs. What did the ICRC say? IFRC Secretary-General Jagan Chapagain said in a statement: “These dedicated ambulance workers were responding to wounded people… They wore emblems that should have protected them; their ambulances were clearly marked. They should have returned to their families; they did not. “Even in the most complex conflict zones, there are rules [that] could not be clearer – civilians must be protected; humanitarians must be protected. Health services must be protected. Advertisement “Our network is in mourning,

Top Dems sue Trump over executive order requiring proof of citizenship in federal elections

Top Dems sue Trump over executive order requiring proof of citizenship in federal elections

An executive order signed by President Donald Trump last week seeking to overhaul the nation’s elections now faces two legal challenges, one of them by top Democrats. The Democratic National Committee, the Democratic Governors Association, and Senate and House Democratic leaders filed a complaint of their own after the first lawsuit Monday afternoon was filed by Campaign Legal Center and the State Democracy Defenders Fund. Both lawsuits filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia ask the court to block Trump’s order and declare it illegal. “The Executive Order seeks to impose radical changes on how Americans register to vote, cast a ballot, and participate in our democracy—all of which threaten to disenfranchise lawful voters and none of which is legal,” the Democrats’ lawsuit, filed by the Elias Law Group, alleges.  HOUSE DEM TO BLOCK VA NOMINEES TO PROTEST DOGE CUTS The suit takes grievances about mail-in ballot receipt deadlines, the “President’s own design preferences” on “congressionally mandated voter registration forms” and “the President’s unlawful effort to upturn the electoral playing field in his favor and against his political rivals.” Lawyers warned some of Trump’s demands in the order, including a proof-of-citizenship requirement for voter registration and new ballot deadline rules, may violate the U.S. Constitution, according to The Associated Press. TRUMP, EYEING 3RD TERM, KEEPS ATTACKING ELITE INSTITUTIONS – AND MANY ARE CAVING “We believe that this Executive Order is the farthest-reaching executive action taken in the history of the republic to Secure our Elections,” Trump said in a Truth Social post on March 25, the day he signed it, during an ambassador meeting in the Cabinet Room of the White House.  The order also asserts power that legal experts say the president doesn’t have over an independent agency. That agency, the U.S. Election Assistance Commission, sets voluntary voting system guidelines and maintains the federal voter registration form, the AP reports. The DNC’s lawsuit highlights the role of the government’s controversial cost-cutting arm, the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). It alleges the order’s data-sharing requirements, including instructing DOGE to cross-reference federal data with state voter lists, violate Democrats’ privacy rights and increase the risk that they will be harassed “based on false suspicions that they are not qualified to vote.” Top election officials in some Republican states have praised Trump’s order, saying it could inhibit instances of voter fraud and give them access to federal data to better maintain their voter rolls. If the courts determine the order can stand, the changes Trump wants may cause some headaches for election administrators and voters. State election officials, who have already lost some federal cybersecurity assistance, would have to spend time and money to comply with the order, including potentially buying new voting systems and educating voters of the rules. The proof-of-citizenship requirement could also cause confusion or voter disenfranchisement because millions of eligible voting-age Americans do not have the proper documents readily available.  In Kansas, which had a proof-of-citizenship requirement for three years before it was overturned, the state’s own expert estimated that almost all the roughly 30,000 people who were prevented from registering to vote during the time it was in effect were U.S. citizens who had been eligible. The Associated Press contributed to this report. 

Vance doubles down after Trump admin admits ‘error’ sending man to Salvadoran prison

Vance doubles down after Trump admin admits ‘error’ sending man to Salvadoran prison

Vice President JD Vance responded to comments asking him about the Trump administration admitting to sending a Salvadoran man with protected legal status to the megaprison in El Salvador by mistake. “It’s gross to get fired up about gang members getting deported while ignoring citizens they victimize,” Vance wrote on X in response to a question about the error from “Pod Save America” host Jon Favreau. The administration’s attorneys acknowledged in a court filing on Monday that it sent Kilmar Abrego Garcia to El Salvador by mistake, which was first reported by The Atlantic. However, the administration also claimed that U.S. courts lack jurisdiction to order his return from the prison where he is behind bars. Abrego Garcia was removed from Maryland when the administration sent three planeloads of Salvadoran and Venezuelan migrants to El Salvador’s “Terrorism Confinement Center” on March 15 for alleged gang affiliations. FEDERAL JUDGE POSTPONES DHS’S ATTEMPT TO END TEMPORARY PROTECTED STATUS FOR VENEZUELANS Attorneys for several removed Venezuelan migrants have emphasized that the administration has falsely labeled several of the removed migrants as gang members based on their tattoos, though administration officials have repeatedly stated those sent to the prison are the “worst of the worst.” Certain tattoos flagged as gang-affiliated, which could lead to a migrant’s removal, include art of things like a crown or NBA legend Michael Jordan’s famous “Jumpman” logo rather than only symbols of a notable gang in El Salvador or Venezuela. The administration maintains that those tattoos have gang affiliations. DHS’ KRISTI NOEM SAYS TRUMP ADMIN WILL RESUME CONSTRUCTION OF 7 MILES OF SOUTHERN BORDER  While responding to Favreau, who served as an aide to former President Barack Obama, Vance said “you apparently didn’t read he was a convicted MS-13 gang member with no legal right to be here” – referencing the court filing. “My further comment is that it’s gross to get fired up about gang members getting deported while ignoring citizens they victimize,” the vice president added. The court filing states that Abrego Garcia was denied bond in 2019 over an informant’s allegation that he was a member of MS-13, but he has not been convicted. Court filings also show Abrego Garcia came to the U.S. in 2011 at the age of 16 after fleeing gang threats in El Salvador, The Atlantic reported.  Eight years later, a judge granted him a form of protected status known as “withholding of removal” after finding that he would likely be a target of Salvadoran gangs if deported to his native country. Fox News Digital has reached out to the White House for comment.

First election test for Trump’s term surprisingly close in FL, GOP looks to increase razor-thin House majority

First election test for Trump’s term surprisingly close in FL, GOP looks to increase razor-thin House majority

Voters in two congressional districts in Florida head to the polls on Tuesday, as Republicans aim to keep control of both solidly red seats and give themselves slightly more breathing room in the House, where they hold a razor-thin majority. However, the Democratic Party candidates in the two special elections have vastly outraised the Republican nominees – thanks to an energized base eager to resist President Donald Trump and his sweeping and controversial agenda.  The races, in Florida’s 1st and 6th Congressional Districts, which Trump carried by 37 and 30 points in last year’s presidential election, are being viewed as early referendums on the opening couple of months of Trump’s second tour of duty in the White House. While the GOP was expected to sweep both races, some public and private polling suggests the 6th District showdown is now a margin-of-error race. WHAT TRUMP SAID ABOUT THE FLORIDA SPECIAL ELECTIONS  Additionally, Trump, pointing to the Democratic candidates’ massive fundraising advantage, voiced growing concerns by Republicans as he told reporters on Friday that “you never know what happens in a case like that.” Jimmy Patronis, the Florida chief financial officer, is favored over Democrat Gay Valimont in a multi-candidate field in the race to fill the vacant seat in the 1st CD, which is located in the far northwestern corner of Florida in the Panhandle region.  However, Valimont topped Patronis in fundraising by roughly a five-to-one margin. WHAT IT WOULD MEAN FOR THE HOUSE GOP MAJORITY IF REPUBLICANS LOST ONE OF TUESDAY’S ELECTIONS: ‘IT WOULD BE DIFFICULT’ Republican Matt Gaetz, who won re-election in the district in last November’s elections, resigned from office weeks later after Trump selected him to be his nominee for attorney general in his second administration. Gaetz later withdrew himself from Cabinet consideration amid controversy. However, it is the race in the 6th CD, which is located on Florida’s Atlantic coast from Daytona Beach to just south of Saint Augustine and inland to the outskirts of Ocala, that is really raising concerns among some in the GOP. The race is to succeed Republican Michael Waltz, who stepped down from the seat on Jan. 20 after Trump named him his national security adviser. Republican state Sen. Randy Fine is facing off against teacher Josh Weil, a Democrat, in a multi-candidate field. WHAT AMERICANS THINK OF THE JOB TRUMP’S DOING TWO MONTHS INTO HIS SECOND TERM IN THE WHITE HOUSE Weil grabbed plenty of national attention in recent weeks by topping Fine in the campaign cash battle by roughly a 10-to-1 margin. The cash discrepancy in the 6th CD race spurred GOP-aligned outside groups to make last-minute contributions in support of Fine, with conservative super PACs dishing out big bucks to launch ads spotlighting Trump’s support of Fine and to take aim at Weil. “Liberal Josh Weil wants to roadblock the Trump agenda,” the announcer in a spot from the Conservative Fighter PAC charges. America PAC – which is bankrolled by billionaire Elon Musk, Trump’s top donor last year – made infusions as well during the closing days ahead of the election. DEMOCRATS FAR FROM THRILLED ON POSSIBLE BIDEN POLITICAL REEMERGENCE “I would have preferred if our candidate had raised money at a faster rate and gotten on TV quicker,” Rep. Richard Hudson of North Carolina, the chair of the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC), told reporters last week. However, Hudson added that Fine is “doing what he needs to do. He’s on TV now,” and he emphasized, “We’re going to win the seat. I’m not concerned at all.” Neither the NRCC nor the Congressional Leadership Fund, the top super PAC backing House Republicans, put any resources into the race. However, Trump headlined tele-town halls for both Fine and Patronis late last week, and he also took to social media on Saturday to praise both candidates, in efforts to turn out Republican voters. “Randy has been a tremendous Voice for MAGA,” Trump wrote about Fine. “In Congress, Randy will be an incredible fighter.” While Trump was optimistic about sweeping both Florida elections – saying “they seem to be good” – concerns about holding the seat in Florida’s 6th CD may have contributed to the president’s pulling last week of his nomination for GOP Rep. Elise Stefanik to serve as United Nations ambassador. Stefanik represents New York’s 21st Congressional District, a large, mostly rural district in the northernmost reaches of the state that includes most of the Adirondack Mountains and the Thousand Islands region. She cruised to re-election last November by 24 points. “We don’t want to take any chances. We don’t want to experiment,” Trump said as he pointed to what would have been a special election later this year to fill Stefanik’s seat if she had resigned if confirmed as U.N. ambassador. “She’s very popular. She’s going to win. And somebody else will probably win, too, because we did very well there. I did very well there. But the word ‘probably’ is no good,” the president added as he once again emphasized he did not “want to take any chances.” Trump was not the only Republican expressing some concerns about the race in Florida’s 6th District.  Former top Trump political adviser and conservative host Steve Bannon warned last week that Fine “isn’t winning.” Additionally, two-term Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis told reporters last week that the GOP would underperform in the special election, arguing that “it’s a reflection of the candidate running in that race.” However, it is worth pointing out the contentious history between DeSantis and Fine, who was the first Florida Republican to flip his endorsement from DeSantis to Trump during the 2024 Republican presidential nomination battle. On the eve of the election, a Florida Republican official told Fox News the party is not panicked about the race, but rather “concerned.”  However, the official, who asked to remain anonymous to speak more freely, said a win is still likely by about 7-10 points. The GOP currently holds a 218-213 majority in the House – with the

Senate Dem to block VA nominees to protest DOGE cuts

Senate Dem to block VA nominees to protest DOGE cuts

Sen. Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., will block President Donald Trump’s nominations for top positions at the Department of Veterans Affairs, he announced Tuesday. Gallego, a Marine Corps veteran, says the move is a protest against Trump’s plans to gut the VA. He stands to block some 13 of Trump’s VA nominees from receiving confirmation, though VA Secretary Doug Collins and deputy secretary Paul Lawrence have already been confirmed. “Talking to veterans, people that I served with as well as seeing some of what’s happening in Arizona, I decided that whatever tool I have to fix the situation, I’m going to use it. And this is one of the few tools I have at this point,” Gallego said. “As someone who actually has used that VA, you know I had services there done in the past. There’s no way they’re going to be able to cut 15% of the workforce, and it’s not going to impact veterans’ benefits,” he said. ‘LOOKING FOR SCALPS’: GREEN BERET NEVER CHARGED WITH A CRIME ENDS UP WITH MURDER ON BACKGROUND CHECK The announcement came just hours before the Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs was scheduled to hear testimony from three of Trump’s nominees. NEW MILITARY BONUS PROGRAM HAUNTED BY OLD RECRUITING SCANDAL THAT GAVE SOLDIERS FALSE CRIMINAL RECORDS Gallego’s obstructionist move is uncommon but not unprecedented. Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., used the same method to block hundreds of military members from receiving promotions under President Joe Biden’s administration. In that case, Tuberville was protesting the U.S. military’s policies on abortion, and he eventually backed down. There remain 11 unfilled Senate-confirmed positions at the VA. Trump has nominees lined up for five of those positions, but six have yet to receive nominees. TRUMP’S REINSTATEMENT OF TROOPS BOOTED OVER COVID VACCINE HAILED AS WIN FOR FREEDOM: ‘GREAT DAY FOR PATRIOTS’ Trump’s VA is in the midst of plans to cut its workforce by over 80,000 people. That would take it to 2019 staffing levels of just under 400,000 — before it had to provide benefits to veterans impacted by burn pits and exposure to other toxins under the 2022 PACT Act. Collins has argued that the cuts will not come at the expense of any veterans benefits. The Associated Press contributed to this report.

House Dem to block VA nominees to protest DOGE cuts

House Dem to block VA nominees to protest DOGE cuts

Sen. Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., will block President Donald Trump’s nominations for top positions at the Department of Veterans Affairs, he announced Tuesday. Gallego, a Marine Corps veteran, says the move is a protest against Trump’s plans to gut the VA. He stands to block some 13 of Trump’s VA nominees from receiving confirmation, though VA Secretary Doug Collins and deputy secretary Paul Lawrence have already been confirmed. “Talking to veterans, people that I served with as well as seeing some of what’s happening in Arizona, I decided that whatever tool I have to fix the situation, I’m going to use it. And this is one of the few tools I have at this point,” Gallego said. “As someone who actually has used that VA, you know I had services there done in the past. There’s no way they’re going to be able to cut 15% of the workforce, and it’s not going to impact veterans’ benefits,” he said. ‘LOOKING FOR SCALPS’: GREEN BERET NEVER CHARGED WITH A CRIME ENDS UP WITH MURDER ON BACKGROUND CHECK The announcement came just hours before the Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs was scheduled to hear testimony from three of Trump’s nominees. NEW MILITARY BONUS PROGRAM HAUNTED BY OLD RECRUITING SCANDAL THAT GAVE SOLDIERS FALSE CRIMINAL RECORDS Gallego’s obstructionist move is uncommon but not unprecedented. Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., used the same method to block hundreds of military members from receiving promotions under President Joe Biden’s administration. In that case, Tuberville was protesting the U.S. military’s policies on abortion, and he eventually backed down. There remain 11 unfilled Senate-confirmed positions at the VA. Trump has nominees lined up for five of those positions, but six have yet to receive nominees. TRUMP’S REINSTATEMENT OF TROOPS BOOTED OVER COVID VACCINE HAILED AS WIN FOR FREEDOM: ‘GREAT DAY FOR PATRIOTS’ Trump’s VA is in the midst of plans to cut its workforce by over 80,000 people. That would take it to 2019 staffing levels of just under 400,000 — before it had to provide benefits to veterans impacted by burn pits and exposure to other toxins under the 2022 PACT Act. Collins has argued that the cuts will not come at the expense of any veterans benefits. The Associated Press contributed to this report.