US vice president urges Israeli minister to ensure ‘credible’ humanitarian plan before advancing in Gaza
Israel should craft a “credible” humanitarian plan before advancing further in southern Gaza, the US vice president has told one of its senior ministers.
Kamala Harris also urged Israeli war cabinet member Benny Gantz – whose visit to Washington was not sanctioned by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu – to increase aid into the devastated enclave.
Last month, Israel stepped up its bombardment of Rafah in Gaza’s south, where about 1.5 million people are believed to be crammed, most of them having fled the offensive further north.
As concerns grow over a humanitarian catastrophe, Ms Harris followed up her message from Sunday, when she called for Hamas to accept terms for an immediate ceasefire and described conditions in Gaza as “inhumane”.
“[They] discussed the situation in Rafah and the need for a credible and implementable humanitarian plan prior to contemplating any major military operation there given the risks to civilians,” the White House said about the meeting on Monday.
In a post on X, Ms Harris said she “reiterated” support for Israel’s “right to defend itself” and discussed the need to increase the flow of aid into Gaza.
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US VP: ‘Immediate ceasefire’ in Gaza
Israel, meanwhile, doubled down on its criticism of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) – the biggest provider of aid to the region – claiming 450 of its employees were members of militant groups.
Major international funders have withheld hundreds of millions of dollars from the agency since Israel accused 12 of its employees of participating in the 7 October Hamas attacks.
The UN envoy focusing on sexual violence in conflict, Pramila Patten, said on Monday there are “reasonable grounds” to believe Hamas committed rape and “sexualised torture”.
That attack sparked the Israeli invasion that Gaza’s health ministry says has killed more than 30,000 Palestinians.
Palestinians gather at the site of an Israeli strike in Rafah. Pic: Reuters
The allegations on Monday were a significant escalation in the accusations against the agency, which employs 13,000 people in Gaza.
Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari, Israel’s chief military spokesperson, did not provide names or other evidence to back up the vastly increased number of UNRWA employees it said were militants.
UNRWA accused Israel of detaining its staffers and forcing them, using torture and ill treatment, into giving false confessions about the links between the agency, Hamas and the 7 October attack.
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“These forced confessions as a result of torture are being used by the Israeli authorities to further spread misinformation about the agency as part of attempts to dismantle UNRWA,” the agency said.
“This is putting our staff in Gaza at risk and has serious implications on our operations in Gaza and around the region.”
Donald Trump has said he is considering “taking away” the US citizenship of actress and comedian Rosie O’Donnell, despite a Supreme Court ruling that expressly prohibits a government from doing so.
In a post on Truth Social on Saturday, the US president said: “Because of the fact that Rosie O’Donnell is not in the best interests of our Great Country, I am giving serious consideration to taking away her Citizenship.”
He also labelled O’Donnell, who has moved to Ireland, as a “threat to humanity” and said she should “remain in the wonderful country of Ireland, if they want her”.
O’Donnell responded on Instagram by posting a photograph of Mr Trump with Jeffrey Epstein.
“You are everything that is wrong with America and I’m everything you hate about what’s still right with it,” she wrote in the caption.
“I’m not yours to silence. I never was.”
Rosie O’Donnell moved to Ireland after Donald Trump secured a second term. Pic: AP
O’Donnell moved to Ireland with her 12-year-old son in January after Mr Trump had secured a second term.
She has said she’s in the process of obtaining Irish citizenship based on family lineage and that she would only return to the US “when it is safe for all citizens to have equal rights there in America”.
O’Donnell and the US president have criticised each other publicly for years, in an often-bitter back-and-forth that predates Mr Trump’s move into politics.
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This is just the latest threat by the president to revoke the citizenship of someone he has disagreed with, most recently his former ally Elon Musk.
But the two situations are different as while Musk was born in South Africa, O’Donnell was born in the US and has a constitutional right to American citizenship.
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Amanda Frost, a law professor at the University of Virginia School of Law, said the Supreme Court ruled in a 1967 case that the fourteenth amendment of the constitution prevents the government from taking away citizenship.
“The president has no authority to take away the citizenship of a native-born US citizen,” he added.
“In short, we are nation founded on the principle that the people choose the government; the government cannot choose the people.”
A farmer who fell from a greenhouse roof during an anti-immigrant raid at a licensed cannabis facility in California this week has died of his injuries.
Jaime Alanis, 57, is the first person to die as a result of Donald Trump’s Immigration Compliance and Enforcement (ICE) raids.
His niece, Yesenia Duran, posted on the fundraising site GoFundMe to say her uncle was his family’s only provider and he had been sending his earnings back to his wife and daughter in Mexico.
The United Food Workers said Mr Alanis had worked on the farm for 10 years.
“These violent and cruel federal actions terrorise American communities, disrupt the American food supply chain, threaten lives and separate families,” the union said in a recent statement on X.
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The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said it executed criminal search warrants at Glass House Farms facilities on Thursday.
Mr Alanis called family to say he was hiding and possibly fleeing agents before he fell around 30ft (9m) from the roof and broke his neck, according to information from family, hospital and government sources.
Agents arrested 200 people suspected of being in the country illegally and identified at least 10 immigrant children on the sites, the DHS said in a statement.
Mr Alanis was not among them, the agency said.
“This man was not in and has not been in CBP (Customs and Border Protection) or ICE custody,” DHS assistant secretary for public affairs Tricia McLaughlin said.
“Although he was not being pursued by law enforcement, this individual climbed up to the roof of a greenhouse and fell 30ft. CBP immediately called a medivac to the scene to get him care as quickly as possible.”
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Four US citizens were arrested during the incident for allegedly “assaulting or resisting officers”, the DHS said, and authorities were offering a $50,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of a person suspected of firing a gun at federal agents.
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In a statement, Glass House, a licensed Cannabis grower, said immigration agents had valid warrants. It said workers were detained and it is helping provide them with legal representation.
“Glass House has never knowingly violated applicable hiring practices and does not and has never employed minors,” it added.
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