Israel accepts Gaza ceasefire proposal now under review by Hamas
Israel accepted a new ceasefire proposal over the war in Gaza, potentially offering a respite for the enclave's conflict-battered residents and suggesting ties with the US may be improving.
Israel has given up its demand that negotiations to end the war only begin after all hostages are released, Haaretz reported, and the plan is currently being reviewed by Hamas.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's approval of the proposal comes after weeks of tensions with Washington over the Gaza war, a US ceasefire with Yemen's Houthis, and American negotiations with Iran over Tehran's nuclear program, which Netanyahu fears won't block Iran's bombmaking capabilities but may hold Israel back from taking military action, The Wall Street Journal reported.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles

Yahoo
29 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Federal officials identify two 'sanctuary cities' in NH
A federal Department of Homeland Security report identified the city of Lebanon and adjacent town of Hanover as the only communities in New Hampshire it identifies as being 'sanctuary' communities for immigrants in the country illegally. The report comes less than two weeks after Gov. Kelly Ayotte signed two bills (SB 62 and HB 511) to outlaw sanctuary city policies in the state and to block local officials from preventing police departments or county jail administrations from reaching cooperative agreements with federal immigration authorities. DHS officials said its report complies with President Donald Trump's executive order titled, 'Protecting American Communities from Criminal Aliens.' The report listed the 35 states and the District of Columbia where at least one community had an ordinance blocking or altering cooperation with federal officials about suspected, illegal immigrants. Maine and New Hampshire are the only states in New England not identified as sanctuary states. In Maine, the sanctuary status exists in two counties and the city of Portland, according to the report. A federal court order created the sanctuary treatment in Rhode Island while officials in Massachusetts, Connecticut and Vermont adopted their own language, DHS officials said. The Franconia Board of Selectmen earlier last month endorsed a sanctuary community ordinance. Ayotte said the bills she signed would nullify that town's actions. Legislative critics charged the legislation would worsen the relationship local law enforcement has with legal immigration advocates in their hometowns and was an unfunded mandate as it could impose unreimbursed costs on communities. The new laws the governor signed take effect Jan. 1 except for one anti-sanctuary city provision that would apply starting in late July. Legislative leaders sent out letters last Friday thanking the sheriffs in Rockingham and Hillsborough Counties for signing so-called Section 287G agreements with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Two other counties, six towns and New Hampshire State Police have applied for their own agreements. klandrigan@

Yahoo
29 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Romanian pleads guilty to 'swatting' US lawmakers and top officials
By Raphael Satter WASHINGTON (Reuters) -A Romanian man has pleaded guilty to participating in a years-long series of dangerous hoax phone calls and bomb threats targeting American legislators, law enforcement leaders, and government officials, the U.S. Justice Department said Monday. In a statement, the department said that Thomasz Szabo, 26, who was extradited to the United States last year, admitted targeting more than 75 officials, four religious institutions, and multiple journalists in his campaign of intimidation. Officials said Szabo targeted private residences, including the homes and families of senior government officials. Authorities say Szabo routinely phoned in bomb threats and reports of ongoing violence or hostage situations at his targets' homes or places of work, a technique called 'swatting' because it is meant to elicit the emergency deployment of heavily armed police officers. Emails seeking comment from Szabo's lawyers were not immediately returned. Justice officials described Szabo as the leader of a group that made a series of false reports to U.S. law enforcement, including a December 2020 threat to commit a mass-shooting at New York City synagogues and a January 2021 threat to detonate explosives at the U.S. Capitol and kill then-President-elect Joe Biden. The department said that, in a two-month period alone, members of Szabo's gang targeted at least 25 members of Congress or their family members, six then-current or former senior U.S. federal officials, "including multiple cabinet-level officials," at least 13 then-current or former senior federal law enforcement officials, including the heads of multiple federal law enforcement agencies. Others targeted included members of the federal judiciary, state government officials, and members of the media. It was during that time that one of Szabo's subordinates boasted of "creating massive havoc" in the United States, the department said.
Yahoo
29 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Trump's Budget Axes Program That Keeps Poor People From Freezing To Death At Home
WASHINGTON ― President Donald Trump wants to make some pretty devastating cuts to the Department of Health and Human Services in his new 2026 budget request. But one of the cruelest is a line buried in HHS' Budget in Brief: 'The budget eliminates funding for the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program.' The federal block grant program, often referred to as LIHEAP, has been around for decades and helps millions of people in low-income households pay their energy bills. Critically, it helps seniors, families with children, and people with disabilities keep their heat on in the dead of winter and cool air blowing in the sweltering days of summer. More than 6 million households currently rely on LIHEAP for help with energy bills. The Trump administration appears to justify gutting LIHEAP by tying it to diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives in government, all of which Trump wants to eradicate. 'Savings come from eliminating radical diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) and critical race theory programs, which weaponized large swaths of the Federal Government against the American people and moving programs that are better suited for States and localities to provide,' reads the HHS budget brief, just before it calls for zeroing out LIHEAP funding. To be sure, the president's budget request isn't going to become law. It has to make its way through Congress, where lawmakers will make all kinds of changes to it. But it's going to fall on Republicans to fight to preserve LIHEAP. The Trump administration has already crippled the low-income energy program. On April 1, HHS announced it was putting 10,000 federal employees on administrative leave through June 2, at which they would be terminated. This included the entire staff running LIHEAP. Twenty state attorneys general intervened in May and sued HHS, claiming the mass firings were illegal and calling for everyone's jobs to be restored. The lawsuit is still underway. State administrators that provide LIHEAP assistance still have federal money to keep operating this year, but without federal staff, the program's future looks grim. Trump zeroing out its entire budget certainly feels like its death knell. While Republicans in Congress are overwhelmingly beholden to Trump, they don't have strong margins in either chamber. If even a handful of GOPers push back on a provision in a bill, their opposition could tank the whole thing. LIHEAP could draw such pushback. House and Senate Republicans have called on HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to restore the program's staff and vouched for its need. Rep. Mike Lawler (R-N.Y.), one of the most politically vulnerable in his party, told Kennedy in April the program is 'vital' to his community. 'The program supports our most vulnerable populations, including seniors, individuals with disabilities, and households with young children under the age of six,' Lawler wrote to Kennedy. 'In FY 2023, 24% of New Yorkers reported being unable to pay their energy bill at least once in a 12-month period. During FY 2023, LIHEAP also helped prevent over 100,000 utility disconnections in New York alone, highlighting this program's critical need.' Sens. Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) led a bipartisan letter to Kennedy in April urging him to reverse course on LIHEAP staff cuts. 'We write regarding reports that you have terminated staff responsible for administering the LowIncome Home Energy Program,' reads their letter, signed by 13 senators. 'If true, these terminations threaten to devastate a critical program dedicated to helping Americans afford their home energy bills. 'It is an indispensable lifeline, helping to ensure that recipients do not have to choose between paying their energy bills and affording other necessities like food and medicine,' said the senators. Separately, Murkowski directly told the HHS secretary in May how crucial LIHEAP assistance is for people in her state. 'For us it's not a budget line item,' she told Kennedy as he testified before a Senate committee. 'You've been to Alaska. You know that the temperatures there can get really, really tough. [LIHEAP] keeps people from freezing to death in their homes.' The fate of LIHEAP will almost certainly come up this week on Capitol Hill, with both the House and Senate back in session and Trump's budget request now awaiting their action. Aides to Murkowski, Collins and Lawler did not immediately respond to requests for comment relating to Trump's budget request zeroing out LIHEAP funding.