Adult film actress Stormy Daniels took the stand to testify in the unprecedented criminal trial of former President Trump on Tuesday.

Trump has pleaded not guilty to 34 counts of falsifying business records in the first degree. The charges stem from a years-long investigation by the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office.

The charges are related to alleged payments made to silence Daniels about an alleged 2006 extramarital affair with Trump before the 2016 presidential election.

Trump’s former attorney Michael Cohen paid Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, a $130,000 hush money payment ahead of the 2016 presidential election in an effort to keep her silent on allegations of an affair with Trump in 2006.

The payments to Daniels were first revealed in January 2018 in a Wall Street Journal report that said Cohen and Daniels’ lawyer negotiated a nondisclosure agreement to prevent her from publicly discussing the supposed sexual encounter with Trump.

At the time, though, Cohen, Trump, and even Stormy Daniels denied the arrangement.

In January 2018, Cohen said the alleged encounter between Daniels and Trump was a rumor that had circulated “since 2011.”

And in a letter dated Jan. 10, 2018, obtained and reviewed by Fox News, Daniels also denied the allegations.

“I recently became aware that certain news outlets are alleging that I had a sexual and/or romantic affair with Donald Trump many, many, many years ago. I am stating with complete clarity that this is absolutely false,” Daniels wrote. “My involvement with Donald Trump was limited to a few public appearances and nothing more.”

Daniels wrote in the letter that when she met Trump, he was “gracious, professional and a complete gentleman to me and EVERYONE in my presence.”

“Rumors that I have received hush money from Donald Trump are completely false,” the letter read. “If indeed I did have a relationship with Donald Trump, trust me, you wouldn’t be reading about it in the news, you would be reading about it in my book. But the fact of the matter is, these stories are not true.”

But in March 2018, Daniels changed her story. During an interview with CBS News’ “60 Minutes,” Daniels claimed she had a one-time, unprotected sexual encounter with Trump.

At the time, Trump said he was not aware of the payment made to Daniels.

When asked in April 2018 why Cohen made the payment, Trump responded: “You have to ask Michael Cohen — Michael’s my attorney.”

Initially, there were questions about whether the non-disclosure agreement that was signed by Daniels — but not by Trump — was valid.

Daniels began legal efforts to depose Trump and Cohen over the payment. She also filed a defamation suit against Cohen, following a cease-and-desist letter sent by Cohen’s attorney that directed her to refrain from any further “false and defamatory” statements about Cohen following her tell-all “60 Minutes” interview.

Prosecutors, during the third week of the trial, called a number of witnesses to testify, including Keith Davidson, an attorney who once represented Stormy Daniels and Playboy model Karen McDougal.

Davidson said Daniels’ denial of an affair with Trump was technically true. He also testified that the money ex-Trump attorney Michael Cohen paid her was not a payoff, but a “consideration.”

Trump’s defense attorneys, during cross-examination, played audio recordings of Davidson, in which he can be heard admitting Cohen did not need authority from Trump to make the payment to Stormy Daniels.

Meanwhile, Cohen was sentenced to three years in prison, after pleading guilty to federal charges that included lying to Congress, campaign-finance violations and tax evasion. The charges against Cohen arose from two separate investigations – one by federal prosecutors in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, and the other by Special Counsel Robert Mueller.

Cohen pleaded guilty to misleading Congress about his work on a proposal to build a Trump skyscraper in Moscow, and hiding the fact that he continued to speak with Russians about the proposal well into the 2016 presidential campaign.

In the New York case, prosecutors accused Cohen of a years-long “tax evasion scheme” to avoid paying federal income taxes on more than $4 million made through a number of ventures, including through his ownership of taxi medallions, his selling of real estate in Florida and his consulting work for other clients.

Cohen pleaded guilty to arranging the $130,000 payment to Daniels and a payment of $150,000 to model Karen McDougal to prevent them from going public with alleged affairs with Trump. Trump has repeatedly denied those alleged encounters.

A security guard employed by the Canadian rapper Drake was seriously wounded in a shooting near the musician’s Toronto mansion early Tuesday.

The entrance to the sprawling $100 million property was taped off by police after gunfire around around 2:10 a.m., CBC reported.

The suspect fled the ritzy Bridle Path neighborhood in a vehicle, and there was no immediate description of either available, the Toronto Police said.

The victim appeared to have been one of Drake’s security guards, who was injured in what appeared to be a drive-by shooting, a police source told CBC.

He suffered gunshot wounds to the upper chest, and was rushed to the hospital for emergency surgery.

Drake – who is currently in a heated feud with recording artist Kendrick Lamar – has agreed to cooperate with authorities, sources told CTV News Toronto.

The rapper’s 50,000-square foot manse, known as “The Embassy,” previously made headlines when it was featured in Architectural Digest in 2020.

“Because I was building it in my hometown, I wanted the structure to stand firm for 100 years. I wanted it to have a monumental scale and feel,” the former “Degrassi” star told the outlet of putting down roots in his native city.

Anti-Israel protesters vandalized a World War I memorial in Central Park on Monday and burned an American flag after a mob of more than 1,000 marchers was blocked by cops from reaching the Metropolitan Museum of Art, where the star-studded Met Gala was in full swing.

At least one America-hating vandal torched Old Glory at the site of the 107th Infantry Memorial, the base of which was defaced with graffiti reading “Gaza” in large black letters.

Others plastered the statue’s bronze soldiers with stickers of the Palestinian flag that read “Stop the Genocide. End the apartheid. Free Palestine.”

Some of the protesters climbed atop the infantrymen and waved Palestinian flags or draped them over the figures.

The anarchy near the corner of Fifth Avenue and East 67th unfolded with no cops in sight as a large police presence had mobilized about 15 blocks north at the Met to ensure one of the biggest nights in fashion wasn’t crashed by any anti-Israel protesters.

Watch:

A World War I memorial, this isn’t disrespect, it is sheer loathing. These men died so that the West would be free to commit suicide via mass migration. pic.twitter.com/tkoQXzk9Ku

— Darren Grimes (@darrengrimes_) May 7, 2024

Another Central Park monument, the Civil War Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman bronze statue in Grand Army Plaza, was also vandalized Monday night.

“Free Gaza” was graffitied in red letters on the base of the memorial and a Palestinian flag was affixed to its front.

Earlier in the evening, about two dozen anti-Israel protesters were arrested near Madison Ave and East 83rd Street as a massive swarm of demonstrators marched from Hunter College toward the Met, according to police sources.

The crowd, part of a “Day of Rage” protest organized by the Palestinian activist group Within Our Lifetime, had trekked north on Fifth Avenue — blocking traffic along the way — before cops stopped them at the East 79th Street Transverse in Central Park.

“Disclose, divest, we will not stop, we will not rest,” the group chanted as they waved Palestinian flags and wore keffiyeh face coverings.

Despite setting their sights on the glitzy event — which has long been expected to be the target of demonstrations — the demonstrators could not reach the iconic art museum.

Cops managed to divert the crowd into Central Park before blocking the exits, where they remained at a standstill and confused about how to progress.

“This is an exercise in futility at this point. There’s nowhere for them to go,” a cop attempting to corral the crowd was heard telling his partner.

The protesters then filed out of the park and were within sight of the Met, but dozens of police formed a blockade — standing two cops deep — preventing them from heading north.

“Is that the Met?” one protester asked a friend. “Oh no, we were so close.”

The group tried to reach the museum again by turning down East 81st Street but was again stopped by more police barricades at the intersection with Madison Avenue.

Soon after cops met the protesters head-on three blocks uptown and began making about two dozen arrests. Officers were seen tackling at least one woman to the ground while someone chucked a water bottle at the cops.

“Who do you serve? Who do you protect?” the group shouted in a chant at the cops.

Earlier in the evening, several pro-Israel supporters showed up at Hunter College to face off with people they accused of “supporting terrorism.”

“All these people are ignorant, uneducated and blindly following each other. It feels like we’re back in World War two,” said 17-year-old Jewish Upper East Sider Elena Bakhchi.

The two opposing sides engaged in screaming matches on the campus while cops warned demonstrators that they could face arrest for “unlawfully walking in a roadway.”

Across town, nearly 1,000 pro-Israel demonstrators gathered in Riverside Park in support of Jewish students at colleges like Columbia University.

The rally coincided with Yom HaShoah, the day of Holocaust remembrance.

Jewish Columbia students denounced an uptick in antisemitism they said they witnessed on their college campus.

“Today, we stand here 91 years and three months since Hitler was appointed the Chancellor of Germany and 79 years since the last death camp was liberated. Since then, we have all had two main responsibilities. Never forget. And never again,” Columbia sophomore Elisha Baker said.

“Never forget is about the past. Never again is about today, and it’s about tomorrow. For us, this means doing everything in our power to prevent antisemitism from becoming normal in society again,” he continued. “I am here today because I am watching antisemitism become normal in my own backyard. For the first time in my life, it truly feels that never again is right now.”

Ukraine’s spy agency says it thwarted a Russian assassination plot to kill President Zelensky after Putin’s spooks allegedly tried to infiltrate his bodyguards.

The SBU exposed a network of agents who it claims were preparing to take out the Ukrainian leader as well as other political and military top brass.

In a statement posted to Telegram, the SBU wrote: “Yes, the enemy was actively developing plans to eliminate President Volodymyr Zelensky.”

“The network, whose activities were supervised by the FSB from Moscow, included two colonels… who “leaked” secret information of the Russian Federation,” it said.

“One of the tasks of the FSB intelligence network was to search for executors among the military close to the protection of the President, who could take the Head of State hostage and later kill him.”

The SBU also revealed the Russian spies were planning to “liquidate” the head of the SBU, Vasyl Malyuk, and the head of Ukraine’s military intelligence wing (GUR), Kyrylo Budanov, along with other high-ranking officials.

According to Ukraine’s spy agency, part of the foiled plot – including the planned kidnapping of Budanov – was supposed to happen before Russian Orthodox Easter on May 5.

The SBU added: “The enemy’s plan was as follows: first, the recruited agent had to observe the movement of the person under guard and pass information to the enemy.

“According to the coordinates of the house where the official was supposed to be, a rocket attack was planned.

“Then they were going to attack the people who remained at the affected area with a drone.

“After that, the Russians planned to target with another missile, including to destroy traces of the use of the drone.”

Moscow’s alleged Russian intelligence failure comes as Putin was today inaugurated as Russian president for the fifth time following his sham “victory” in the rigged March elections.

Last month, Poland arrested a man believed to be working with the Kremlin’s security services to help plan the assassination of Zelensky.

A joint investigation, led by Polish and Ukrainian law enforcement, found he “established contacts with the Russian Federation directly involved in the war in Ukraine”.

A statement said: “His tasks included the collecting and providing of military intelligence for the Russian Federation with information on the security of the Rzeszów-Jasionka Airport”.

His intention was “to help Russian special services plan a possible attack” on President Zelensky,” it added.

Ukraine’s Prosecutor General Andrii Kostin said at the time: “This case is yet another proof that Russia is a threat not only to Ukraine and Ukrainians but also to the entire free world.

“The Kremlin’s criminal regime is constantly trying to undermine European and global security.”

Israeli soldiers raised their flags as they seized control of the vital Rafah border crossing early Tuesday, while Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu blasted the latest Hamas proposal for a ceasefire as an attempt to “sabotage” their operation.

The Israeli military moved into the southern Gaza city — a key crossing to Egypt — and quickly claimed “operational control” of the border point in its push to fully expel Hamas, officials said.

A pair of soldiers in camouflage raised the Flag of Zion on a small pole on the abandoned-looking main road, video shared by the IDF showed.

Another clip showed an IDF tank crushing signs that read “I (Heart) Gaza.”

The Rafah operation was “very precise and limited in space,” Israel claimed – with the goal of eliminating Hamas infrastructure after the terror group launched a deadly rocket attack at the Israel-Gaza border crossing Sunday.

The long-awaited push into Rafah overnight came just hours after Hamas claimed it accepted a ceasefire proposal mediated by Egypt and Qatar.

The supposed deal, however, was quickly dismissed by Israel, with officials insisting it was not approved by the Jewish State — and that it was a “deception” by the terrorist organization.

Netanyahu said Tuesday that the deal was “very far from Israel’s vital demands” and “meant to sabotage the entry of our forces into Rafah.”

“That did not happen,” the prime minister said in a video statement.

The military operation in the key crossing has created global concern over the 1.3 million Palestinians sheltering in the area, where they were previously told to flee when Israel launched its initial incursion on northern Gaza.

On Monday, President Biden again warned Netanyahu against launching an invasion of Rafah following the leader’s order for 100,000 Palestinians to evacuate from eastern parts of the area.

The Israeli military ultimately carried out a series of strikes across Rafah overnight, killing at least 23 people – including six women and five children, according to the Associated Press, citing hospital records.

“We did nothing. … We don’t have Hamas,” said Mohamed Abu Amra, who said his wife, two brothers, sister and niece were all killed while they slept.

תיעוד: הטנקים של חטיבה 401 השתלטו על מעבר רפיח pic.twitter.com/j5KoycXHq9

— איתי בלומנטל 🇮🇱 Itay Blumental (@ItayBlumental) May 7, 2024

“We found fire devouring us. The house was turned upside down.”

The Rafah crossing and the Kerem Shalom border between Israel and Gaza – both of which are key entry points for aid into the Strip – were closed for two days leading up to the incursion.

Though smaller entry points are still open, the closures are serious blows to the flow of food, medicine, and other supplies to Gaza’s beleaguered civilians – who officials say are already experiencing a “full-blown famine.”

“[The closures] will plunge this crisis into unprecedented levels of need, including the very real possibility of a famine,” said Jens Laerke, a spokesperson for OCHA, the United Nations’ humanitarian affairs office.

Israeli authorities have denied OCHA access to the Rafah crossing, Laerke confirmed.

The IDF, Larke added, “is ignoring all warnings about what this could mean for civilians and for the humanitarian operation across the Gaza Strip.”

Several hours after the initial incursion, a spokesperson for Hamas claimed that a 70-year-old Israeli hostage was killed by Israeli shelling – though he provided no other details nor any evidence.

Egypt’s Foreign Ministry slammed the seizure of the border crossing, calling it a “dangerous escalation” in the months-long war.

Egypt has previously cautioned that any Israeli military incursion in Rafah – which is supposed to be part of a demilitarized border zone – or an attack that forces Palestinians to flee into Egypt would threaten the 1979 peace treaty that’s been a key part of regional security.

Chinese scientists have engineered a virus with parts of Ebola in a lab that killed a group of hamsters.

A team of researchers at Hebei Medical University used a contagious disease of livestock and added a protein found in Ebola, which allows the virus to infect cells and spread throughout the human body.

The group of hamsters that received the lethal injection ‘developed severe systemic diseases similar to those observed in human Ebola patients,’ including multi-organ failure,’ the study shared.

One particularly horrific symptom saw the infected hamsters develop secretions in their eyes, which impaired their vision and scabbed over the surface of the eyeballs

While the experiment may spark fears of another lab leak, the researchers say their goal was to find the right animal models that can safely mimic Ebola symptoms in a lab setting.

The study suggested that infected hamsters could be a decent model for studying the spread and treatment of Ebola in the future.

Ebola needs to be handled in Biosafety Level 4 (BSL-4) facilities which are special high security laboratories, while many are only BLS-2.

To work around this in a lower security setting, scientists used a different virus called vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV), which they engineered to carry part of the Ebola virus that’s called glycoprotein (GP) that plays a crucial role in helping the virus enter and infect cells of its host.

The team studied five female and five male hamsters that were all three weeks old.

All female Syrian hamsters showed decreased rectal temperature and up to 18 percent weight loss – they all died between two and three days.

The five male hamsters lost 15 percent weight and succumbed to the disease at no later than three and a half days.

However, two male hamsters survived and gained 20 percent more weight than pre-infection.

The team harvested organs from the dead animals, finding the virus accumulated in the heart, liver, spleen, lung, kidney, stomach, intestines and brain tissues.

The highest levels were found in the liver and lowest in the brain.

‘It is a sign that 3-week-old Syrian hamsters infected with VSV-EBOV/GP have the possibility of playing a role in the study of optic nerve disorders caused by EVD,’ the team shared in the study, which was published in the Chinese journal Virologica Sinica.

The team concluded that the infected hamsters showed a rapid onset of symptoms, shock liver, systemic infection, and developed severe systemic diseases similar to those observed in human EBOV patients.

They also noted that the experiments provided a rapid preclinical evaluation of medical countermeasures against Ebola under BLS-2 conditions, concluding the study was a success.

The last major outbreak of the virus occurred from 2014 to 2016 in several West African countries was deadly, a report from the World Health Organization (WHO) said.

During those two years more than 28,600 people were reportedly infected, and about 11,300 died.

The virus spread from West Africa to Europe and even over to the United States.

‘The surrogate virus and matched hamster EVD [Ebola virus disease] model will improve the security and economy of the research in the EBOV field,’ the researchers wrote in the study.

Testing infectious viruses is necessary for breakthroughs in treatment and prevention.

But lab leaks happen, and these incidents could lead to the spread of to those outside of the lab.

Experts have confirmed that respiratory viruses – which are spared via coughing and sneezing – are more likely to spread widely through a population.

Data released this March revealed that lab leak incidents occur every year and included the release of controlled pathogens like tuberculosis and anthrax.

There are anywhere from 70 to 100 releases were recorded every year.

However Dr Richard Ebright, a chemical biologist at Rutgers University in New Jersey told DailyMail.com that its unlikely that a lab leak involving VSV would lead to widespread infection in the public.

‘[It] will be imperative to verify that the novel chimeric virus does not infect and replicate in human cells, and does not pose risk of infectivity, transmissibility, and pathogenicity in humans, before proceeding with studies at biosafety level 2,’ he said.

A Georgia candidate for state house says that a group of squatters who’d been arrested at his $450,000 home have returned just hours after making bond to escape jail.

Police arrested six squatters who took residence in the home after they stole a neighbor’s car this past Saturday.

South Fulton cops busted the squatters at 4300 Caveat Court and recovered the stolen vehicle on Saturday – after they had been illegally lodging in the home for five months.

Mel Keyton – a Democratic candidate for the state house in Georgia and president of Hampton Oaks Homeowners Association – says they broke back into the house shortly after 1am Monday morning.

‘This is the worst criminal activity I’ve ever seen in my life,’ Keyton said.

Keyton says the problem is that local laws remain on the side of the squatters encouraging them to return.

‘We have to get the police back involved, the city of South Fulton back involved, and we’ll go through the same process again because they are trespassing. They are already aware that the property is supposed to be vacant,’ he told Fox News.

The National Rental Home Council surveyed its members and found that about 1,200 homes in the Atlanta area have had squatters, reported Newsweek.

‘They were just using the legal system to stay in the house,’ he added.

On Saturday, video showed cops putting the intruders in handcuffs and sitting them on the sidewalk outside of the home.

Keyton told Atlanta News First the neighbor whose car was stolen was out of town.

‘Squatters stole her car and they brought it back over here to drive it in the driveway,’ said Keyton.

According to police the home at 4300 Caveat Court, which has a Zillow estimated worth of $518,400, is supposed to be vacant.

Hampton Oaks Homeowners Association Vice President Kendra Snorton told FOX 5 Atlanta the squatters moved into the vacant house on Christmas Day.

‘The ringleader, we see him walking his dog all the time. He’s very courteous and polite when he interacts with the community,’ Snorton said.

The squatters had been living in the community for months but were finally arrested after they stole the car.

‘When the police showed up, the car was behind us in the yard. That’s how we put two and two together,’ Keyton said.

‘We don’t know who these people are and what they are doing.’

The South Fulton Police Department told DailyMail.com the stolen vehicle was returned to its rightful owner.

‘We sincerely appreciate the vigilance of our community members, who play a vital role in our ongoing efforts to reduce crime in our city,’ police said.

Neighbors in South Fulton hope the passage of a new law will make it easier to evict squatters and it will no longer take them committing crimes like stealing vehicles to get them arrested.

‘Hopefully, it won’t get this bad. Hopefully, we won’t have to use this amount of police,’ Keyton said.

Governor Brian Kemp signed House Bill 1017, known as the Georgia Squatter Reform Act, into law last month. The bill establishes the offense of unlawful squatting, defining it as ‘entering and residing on the land or premises of the owner without consent.’

Offenders will be required to provide authorization of consent within three days, and failure to do so will result in an arrest for criminal trespassing.

If documentation is provided, the accused squatter must attend a magistrate court hearing within seven days to prove that the documents are legitimate.

The new law, which goes into effect in July, makes squatting a misdemeanor offense. Intruders could face a $1,000 fine and up to one year in jail, or both.

False swearing and the submission of improper or fraudulent documentation, meanwhile, count as more serious felony charges.

Those who submit fake documents will be subject to fines covering damages, back rent based on the property’s fair market value and up to a year in jail.

At least one person in Oklahoma has died as a result of a tornado that ripped through small towns, as severe storms moved from the South and into central areas, causing devastation and disruption for millions.

Osage County Sheriff Eddie Virden told NBC News that the unidentified person died as a result of a tornado in Barnsdall, a city of about 1,000 people some 40 miles north of Tulsa, amid some of the storm’s worst devastation, on Monday night.

Virden said it was too early to say how many others may have been injured but said his deputies had carried out multiple rescues.

“There’s areas, residences that [have] been completely destroyed. We did several rescues of people trapped in debris,” he said.

The Oklahoma Highway Patrol said on X that it had established a meeting point in the town for anyone searching for loved ones.

Bartlesville, 20 miles to the northeast, was similarly affected. A hotel in the town was severely damaged, as shown in social media posts uploaded by witnesses — firefighters were called to rescue some people trapped inside.

I took this one.

I was in the Hampton Inn as well. You can use it, give me credit. pic.twitter.com/HoerAAUO8B

— ᏣᏔᎽENG (@nativeamnft) May 7, 2024

Bartlesville’s city’s government said there had been significant damage across Bartlesville, with some power lines down, but only minor injuries reported so far. Residents were urged to stay inside and stay off the roads.

The National Weather Service issued a rare tornado emergency statement for Osage on Monday.

“A large, extremely dangerous and potentially deadly tornado is on the ground,” it said. The tornado watch was extended until 5 a.m. Tuesday.

Osage Nation Emergency Management and local police said on Facebook it had joined “numerous agencies for search and rescue through the Osage Nation Reservation.”

“Our community is strong and eager to help those in need,” it said.

Across Oklahoma, more than 25,000 energy customers were without power as of 5 a.m. local time Tuesday, according to the website PowerOutage.us, while 18,000 were without power in Missouri and almost 10,000 in Arkansas.

The National Weather Service said the severe weather — which has affected parts of the country for more than five weeks — will continue at least into Wednesday as an area of low pressure develops over the Great Lakes.

A tornado also swept through Smithville, Tennessee, bringing down trees and damaging houses, as seen in footage uploaded to social media.

Damage in Smithville, TN pic.twitter.com/J4FjKsxTnF

— Chad Rock (@crockchad) May 6, 2024

Three people had been confirmed dead in Texas as a result of storms and floods there, Gov. Greg Abbott said Monday.

Severe thunderstorms are still moving across parts of the Midwest Tuesday morning, with 29 million people under a severe storm risk in areas including the Tennessee and Ohio River Valleys. Chicago; Nashville, Tennessee; Toledo, Ohio; and Ann Arbor, Michigan could also see devastating weather.

The IDF Spokesperson said on Monday night that the military conducted precise, targeted strikes against Hamas terror targets in Eastern Rafah.

The Prime Minister’s Office said earlier on Monday night that the War Cabinet had agreed to continue with Israel’s planned Rafah operation.

“The War Cabinet unanimously decided that Israel continues the operation in Rafah to exert military pressure on Hamas in order to promote the release of our hostages and the other goals of the war,” the statement read.

The PMO also noted that in parallel and despite the fact that the “proposal is far from Israel’s necessary requirements, Israel will send a delegation of mediators to exhaust the possibility of reaching an agreement under conditions acceptable to Israel.”

This comes despite Hamas’s earlier agreement with the Qatari and Egyptian ceasefire proposal.

‘Deal doesn’t exist’

A former Senior Israeli security source told The Jerusalem Post on Monday that the proposed “deal” Hamas said they agreed upon doesn’t actually exist.

“This so-called ‘deal’ is proof that we’ve just started to apply pressure [on Hamas] by promoting a ground entrance to Rafah, and we suddenly received a green light from Hamas for a prisoner exchange deal and a ceasefire.”

The source added that the reported ceasefire deal “is a proposal that no one in the Israeli administration recognizes. It’s a proposal Hamas invented. They are playing with us. They are telling the world – ‘we agreed to a ceasefire,’ to try to prevent Israel from a ground incursion.”

Gantz: ‘We face a cruel enemy’

Chairman of the National Unity Party Benny Gantz stated on Monday: “I want to address the citizens of Israel and especially the families of the hostages. We face a cruel enemy. We will never give up on the effort to bring our hostages home. We will continue to work for their return as a matter of duty. The negotiation team is working around the clock to examine the proposal presented by Hamas, which does not align with the dialogue held so far with the mediators and contains significant differences. Nevertheless, we continue to turn every stone and dispatch delegations to Cairo.”

“Every decision will be brought to the security cabinet – there will be no political considerations,” he added.

“Even the military operation in Rafah is an integral part of our ongoing efforts and commitment to bring back our abductees and change the security reality in the south. We will continue all efforts until we bring them home.”

Judge Juan Merchan found former President Donald Trump violated his gag order for the 10th time, warning next time he would consider imposing a jail sentence.

Merchan previously held Trump in contempt for nine violations of the order, fining him $9,000 and warning future violations could result in jail time.

Prosecutors argued during a hearing last week that Trump should be held in contempt for an additional four violations since the start of the trial.

“Going forward, this court will have to consider a jail sanction,” Merchan said.

Merchan said the “magnitude” of the decision was not lost on him. “But at the end of the day, I have a job to do,” he said.

Trump’s defense attorney Todd Blanceh argued last week that Michael Cohen, the prosecution’s star witness, has been “inviting and almost daring” Trump to respond through his continued attacks.

The gag order prevents Trump from making statements about witnesses, prosecutors other than the district attorney, court staff and jurors, as well as family members of the staff, district attorney or judge.

Blanche also argued that the gag order prevented Trump from responding to remarks President Joe Biden made about the trial.

A U.S. soldier was detained in Russia last week, a U.S. Army spokesperson said in a statement.

The soldier, Staff Sgt. Gordon Black, had been stationed in South Korea and traveled to Russia on his own and not on official business, according to four U.S. officials.

He had finished his deployment and was heading back to the U.S. when he made a side trip to Vladivostok, Russia, to visit a woman he was romantically involved with, officials said. They added that he had traveled there without permission from his superiors and is now being held in pre-trial confinement.

The soldier is accused of stealing from a woman, the officials said. It was not immediately clear if it was the same woman he was visiting.

The soldier was detained Thursday, U.S. Army spokesperson Cynthia O. Smith said in a statement.

Smith said the soldier was apprehended in Vladivostok “on charges of criminal misconduct.”

“The Russian Federation notified the U.S. Department of State of the criminal detention in accordance with the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations,” Smith said. “The Army notified his family and the U.S. Department of State is providing appropriate consular support to the Soldier in Russia. Given the sensitivity of this matter, we are unable to provide additional details at this time.”

Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas, chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said he is “deeply concerned” by reports that a soldier was detained in Russia.

“Putin has a long history of holding American citizens hostage,” McCaul said in a post shared on X. “A warning to all Americans—as the State Department has said, it is not safe to travel to Russia.”

Current travel guidance from the U.S. State Department restricts travel for citizens to Russia. “Exercise increased caution due to the risk of wrongful detentions,” according to the State Department advisory. The Pentagon also restricts travel for Defense Department personnel.

Black is one of a number of Americans detained in Russia, including several civilians.

Arrests of Americans in Russia have increased as the relationship between the two countries has sunk to Cold War lows, The Associated Press reported. The U.S. has accused Russia of targeting Americans and using them as bargaining chips, according to the AP.

Among the most prominent U.S. citizens to be detained are Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, who was jailed last March, and former Marine Paul Whelan, who was arrested in 2018. The U.S. government has said that both Gershkovich and Whelan are wrongfully detained.

WNBA star Brittney Griner spent 10 months in Russian penal colonies for drug-related charges but was released in a rare prisoner exchange for Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout in 2022.

This MAGA-loving bikini model is suiting up to support Donald Trump — trading the pool for the podium as she lends her ample assets to the Republican National Committee as a new spokeswoman.

Elizabeth Pipko, a 28-year-old born-and-bred Manhattanite, told The Post she’s happy to trade her signature “New York uniform of dark black” for red, white and blue as she helps the rebranded RNC try to re-elect the former president in November.

“The things he’s been through have been unreal. A lot of people look at what he’s up against every day and see his real character,” the Sports Illustrated beauty gushed about Trump, 77.

The RNC, which said it acts as “one unified operation” with the Trump campaign, underwent a major overhaul in March after the ouster of longtime chair Ronna McDaniel.

New co-chairs Michael Whatley and Trump daughter-in-law, Lara Trump have since overseen a significant staffing shake-up that reportedly included some 60 axed employees.

The committee’s current laser focus is on fundraising, beefing up what Trump calls “election integrity” and mounting the “most aggressive early voter turnout campaign ever” in the critical months leading up to the expected nail-biter election Nov. 5 as Trump leads President Biden in key battleground states in new polls.

Pipko, the daughter of Jewish Russian immigrants who fled religious persecution, said she considers herself the embodiment of the American dream — and can’t wait to make “a difference.

“This is one of the biggest elections in this country’s history,” said the self-described “proud religious Jew,” whose resume includes nabbing Ivy League degrees from Harvard and Penn universities and publishing three books.

“Only in this country can a daughter of immigrants who arrived here with nothing get a chance to make some kind of a difference like this. So when you get that chance, you take it.”

Pipko recalled her first trip to the nation’s capital as a young girl and “staring at the White House for six hours,” a reflection of her “obsession with America.”

She said she has been modeling since she was 17, when she signed with the powerhouse agency Wilhelmina, leading to racy features in Maxim, Esquire and Sports Illustrated.

She is also a model of moxie – proudly baring it all and coming out of the fashion closet as a Trump supporter in 2019, eventually damaging her career in a left-leaning industry.

“I lost everything – all of my connections,” including agents, bookers, photographers and friends, Pipko said.

She said that after finding her way back into the industry, she can’t decide which is more cutthroat: modeling or politics.

“I tell people my modeling career prepared me for politics, as they’re both equally brutal,” Pipko said, noting that those with sharp cheekbones and even sharper elbows in modeling groomed her for the political swamp. “Every world I’ve been in is cutthroat.”

She worked her way up from being a Trump campaign volunteer to paid aide during his successful 2016 run, then moved on to political activism as a founder of Exodus Movement, a PAC fighting antisemitism.

The model got married at Mar-a-Lago in December 2018 to Darren Centinello, who she met on the 2016 Trump campaign. Centinello currently works for the Trump campaign.

Pipko said haters who discount and underestimate her because of her looks only fuel her.

“I’ve always been the kind of person who wanted to prove people wrong,” she said.

Asked the burning question that every political observer wants the answer to – who will be Trump’s running mate — Pipko only said, “He’s very big on people earning their way into things.”

She said Trump himself has earned the respect of a widespread demographic, charming starstruck hardhats at construction sites, Bronx bodega workers and Big Apple Bravest while in town for his hush-money trial.

“New Yorkers are real people – they see through everything that’s going on,” she said.

Pipko said she has faith that the American people will cut through what she called Soviet-style tactics to snuff out a political rival.

“But I think it’s less about him and what they’re doing to him and how this has happened in the greatest country in the world,” Pipko said of Trump critics including prosecutors targeting him in four criminal cases. “I think back to everything my parents told me about the former Soviet Union. It’s insane to think that this is basically what we’ve become in front of my eyes.

“I grew up listening to their stories thinking it could never happen in the US, and yet here we are,” she said.

Pipko said that even though swampy DC is her “least favorite place,” she’d be more than happy to return to celebrate a victorious Trump return to the White House.

“I don’t think there’s a day when I haven’t loved America,” Pipko said.

She added that she is more than happy to bust tedious personal stereotypes along the way.

“Any time you accomplish anything, there will always be people who will say to your face, ‘You probably only got that because of your looks,’ ” Pipko said.

But she said she doesn’t lose beauty sleep over it.

“I’m true to myself. I know I’m a lot more than what people think about me.”

Lara Trump said in a statement to The Post, “At a time when patriotism among young Americans sits at record lows, we are lucky to have great Americans like Elizabeth Pipko on our team — she will help to inspire the next generation, rebuild the grand old party, and bring our country back.”

The FAA has opened a new investigation into Boeing after the company voluntarily informed the organization that it may not have completed required inspections to confirm adequate bonding and grounding where the wings join the fuselage on certain 787 Dreamliner airplane.

The Federal Aviation Administration confirmed to FOX Business in a statement that they are investigating whether Boeing completed the inspections and whether company employees falsified aircraft records.

“As the investigation continues, the FAA will take any necessary action – as always – to ensure the safety of the flying public,” the FAA said.

The Wall Street Journal was first to report on the new investigation.

The FAA added that at the same time, Boeing is also reinspecting all 787 airplanes still within the production system and must also create a plan to address the in-service fleet.

The investigation comes after several mishaps involving Boeing aircrafts over the past few months.

Fox News has tracked at least four incidents with Boeing aircraft in January, two in February and as many as 10 as of mid-March.

Since then, a wave of issues has continued to plague Boeing.

In late April, Southwest Airlines announced that the carrier is pulling out of several airports as it contends with financial fallout from Boeing delays.

Southwest is the latest carrier to face setbacks due to Boeing. In early March, United Airlines announced it was temporarily pausing pilot hiring due to new aircraft certification and manufacturing delays at Boeing. It also recently asked pilots to take unpaid time off as delays persist.

The FAA ramped up oversight of Boeing and its supplier Spirit AeroSystems in recent months, which included halting production expansion of the Max after a door plug blew out mid-flight on one of Alaska Airlines’ Max 9 jets in early January.

United Airlines also released its first quarter earnings, which indicated that it lost about $200 million due to the temporary grounding of the Boeing 737 Max 9 earlier this year.

United is one of two U.S. carriers that operate the Boeing 737 Max 9, with the other being Alaska Airlines.

A whistleblower with more than 40 years of engineering experience told members of the Senate that Boeing is putting out defective airplanes in testimony during a hearing in late April.

Sam Salehpour, an engineer at Boeing, told lawmakers that the company is cutting corners in assembling its 787 and 777 jets and claimed his supervisors have retaliated against him for blowing the whistle.

Salehpour has claimed that Boeing failed to adequately shim, or use a thin piece of material to fill tiny gaps in a manufactured product, an omission that could cause premature fatigue failure over time in some areas of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner.

In his testimony, Salehpour also stated that he raised safety concerns with Boeing over the course of three years but had been ignored. He described retaliation by his supervisors, including being transferred out of the 787 program into the 777 program and even alleged physical threats made against him.

Boeing previously told FOX Business that the “claims about the structural integrity of the 787 are inaccurate” and that the “issues raised have been subject to rigorous engineering examination under the FAA oversight.”

President Vladimir Putin has ordered Russian forces to rehearse deploying tactical nuclear weapons, as part of military drills to respond to what he called “threats” by the West.

Since invading Ukraine in 2022, Putin has repeatedly made veiled threats to use tactical nuclear weapons against the West, but Monday marked the first time Russia has publicly announced drills.

“During the exercises, a set of measures will be carried out to practice the issues of preparation and use of non-strategic nuclear weapons,” Russia’s defense ministry said.

Non-strategic, or “tactical,” nuclear weapons can be used in battlefield situations, carrying less power than strategic nuclear weapons, which have the potential to level entire cities.

Russia’s defense ministry said the drills were ordered after “provocative statements and threats” by Western officials against Russia, which Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said had reached “unprecedented levels.”

French President Emmanuel Macron last week reaffirmed that he would not rule out sending Western troops to Ukraine, as he warned of the risks Russia poses to European security and other countries near its borders.

“I’m not ruling anything out, because we are facing someone who is not ruling anything out,” Macron told The Economist magazine. “I have a clear strategic objective: Russia cannot win in Ukraine. If Russia wins in Ukraine, there will be no security in Europe. Who can pretend that Russia will stop there?”

And during a visit to Ukraine last week, British Foreign Secretary David Cameron said that Ukraine could use British-supplied weapons to strike targets inside Russia.

“In terms of what the Ukrainians do, in our view it is their decision about how to use these weapons. They are defending their country. They were illegally invaded by Putin and they must take those steps,” Cameron told reporters after the United Kingdom pledged continued financial and military support for Ukraine.

The drills announcement also comes shortly after the United States last month passed a long-delayed aid package for Kyiv, which will allow desperately needed military equipment and ammunition to flow to Ukraine as it tries to shore up its frontlines in the face of a renewed Russian onslaughts.

Russian forces last month made further gains in at least three locations along Ukraine’s eastern front, as Moscow tries to press home its manpower and ammunition advantage before the bulk of the US aid arrives in Ukraine.

Russia has tended to raise the nuclear specter when its invasion of Ukraine has hit obstacles or when other countries make new pledges of support for Ukraine. After Ukraine liberated large swathes of its territory in late 2022, Putin conceded that the war is “going to take a while” and warned of the “increasing” threat of nuclear war.

In February last year, Putin announced that Russia would suspend participation in the New START treaty, a key nuclear arms reduction agreement with the United States, the last remaining pact that regulates the world’s two largest nuclear arsenals. Putin said Russia would not be the first to test nuclear weapons, but would do so in the event of a US test.

After Macron said in February that sending Western troops to Ukraine could not be ruled out, Putin warned “this really threatens a conflict with the use of nuclear weapons, and therefore the destruction of civilization.”

US President Joe Biden and State Department officials have previously downplayed concerns that Putin could deploy a nuclear weapon, but continue to take the threats seriously.

In response to Russia’s latest announcement, the US said it had seen no change in Russia’s “strategic force posture” following Moscow’s announcement that it would begin tactical nuclear weapons drills, according to Pentagon spokesperson Maj. Gen. Patrick Ryder.

Ryder said Russia’s announcement is “completely inappropriate,” and “an example of the kind of irresponsible rhetoric that we’ve seen from Russia in the past.”

In late 2022, the US began “preparing rigorously” for Russia potentially striking Ukraine with a tactical nuclear weapon, in what would have been the first nuclear attack in war since the US dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki nearly 80 years before, two senior administration officials previously told CNN.

In Monday’s announcement, Russia’s defense ministry said the military’s General Staff had begun preparations for conducting “exercises in the near future with missile formations of the Southern Military District involving aviation as well as naval forces.”

Jack Dorsey resigned from the board of his social networking startup, Bluesky — even as he gave an impromptu endorsement Elon Musk’s X, calling it “freedom technology”.

Dorsey revealed his resignation from Bluesky — which he had championed in the wake of selling the other social network he co-founded, Twitter, to Elon Musk — in an X post, where he responded to a question about whether he was on the board of Bluesky with a simple “no.”

Dorsey went on to share a cryptic message about the necessity of “open protocols,” a term that refers to open-source software coding that allows anyone to view it and suggest changes to the system, similar to how blockchains operates.

“Don’t depend on corporations to grant you rights,” Dorsey posted to the site on Saturday. “Defend them yourself using freedom technology. (you’re on one)”.

The X post, earlier reported on by Bloomberg, suggested that Dorsey is mending his relationship with Musk after claiming last year that the billionaire Tesla chief hadn’t proven himself to be the best possible owner of the social media site.

When asked about it, Dorsey said: “No. Nor do I think he acted right after realizing his timing was bad. Nor do I think the board should have forced the sale,” referring to Musk’s $44 billion acquisition of then-Twitter, according to Bloomberg.

He had also posted on Bluesky a year ago that “it all went south,” after Musk’s radical transformation of Twitter — which is now set to expand into an app “identical” to YouTube’s TV offering for smart televisions as part of Musk’s quest to create “the everything app.”

no

— jack (@jack) May 4, 2024

Musk is now just one of three people Dorsey follows on X — which touts roughly 550 million monthly active users.

The other two accounts belong to Edward Snowden, the American computer contractor who fled to Russia after leaking highly classified information, and Stella Assange, wife of the imprisoned WikiLeaks publisher facing criminal charges over espionage.

While still at the helm of Twitter in 2019, Dorsey began working on Bluesky as a side project using funding from Twitter.

The new app promises a future-thinking “social internet” that allows users more choices and frees people from platforms, according to its website.

It wasn’t until February 2023 that it was first rolled out to iOS users.

A version for Andriod launched in April that same year.

Many users have said Bluesky is similar to a pared-down copy of Twitter. One big difference, however, is that the app’s developers aim to give users “algorithmic choice,” which would allow them to choose how content is fed onto their screens, instead of a one-fits-all algorithm controlled by the app developers.

Bluesky is just one of several alternatives to Twitter that began popping up after Musk purchased the social media giant and began making changes to both the site and the company.

While it made a splash in its early days, when its beta version was available via invite-only, it has since been largely overshadowed by the launch of Meta’s Threads as the most viable X alternative, Bloomberg reported.

A Texas mom told her 3-year-old son to “say goodbye to Daddy” on camera just moments before she shot the boy in a ditch and then turned the gun on herself — a day before she was due in court for a custody hearing with her ex-husband, cops said.

Savannah Kriger, 32, and her son Kaiden were found dead with gunshot wounds to their heads at a San Antonio park back on March 19, but authorities have spent weeks piecing together their harrowing final hours as they probed the murder-suicide.

In the hours before the slayings, authorities determined Kriger shot at her old wedding photos, trashed her ex-husband’s home and taunted him with a slew of FaceTime videos and texts warning him, “You won’t have anything at all by the end of the day.”

The grim ordeal started to unfold when Kriger left work the afternoon of March 18 and headed straight to her ex’s home while he was at work, the Bexar County Sheriff’s Office said.

After damaging the ex’s furniture and some personal items, the mother drove to her own home, where cops later found her wedding dress and portraits laid out on the bed.

“We believe that she fired two shots into her wedding portraits,” Sheriff Javier Salazar said.

Kriger subsequently picked her son up from daycare and then started inundating Kaiden’s father with the harrowing messages, authorities said.

“You don’t have anything to go home to now. You really don’t,” Kriger said on one FaceTime call. “You won’t have anything at all at the end of the day.”

The final text to her ex read, “Say goodbye to your son.”

A 21-second video recovered from her phone showed Kriger and her son sitting in the ditch in the park where their bodies would later be discovered.

In the clip, authorities said the mom told her son to “say goodbye to Daddy” before she apologized to the boy that his father wasn’t there and then kissed him.

Her phone records show she then looked up videos of children’s cartoons on her cell while they were still sitting in the ditch, according to authorities.

Although the video didn’t capture the fatal shootings, Kriger’s intentions were “pretty clear,” the sheriff said.

Their bodies were discovered some 19 hours later after an Amber Alert was issued and authorities scoured the area.

The Bexar County Medical Examiner’s Office quickly labeled the two deaths a murder-suicide.

Authorities at the time had also revealed the little boy was at the center of a custody battle.

Kriger had filed for a divorce and a temporary restraining order against her ex on March 7, MySA reported.

The former couple were due in court on March 19 — the day the bodies were discovered — for a custody hearing.

ABC News President Kim Godwin stepped down Sunday night, months after a corporate restructuring that effectively stripped away much of her management autonomy.

“I have decided to retire from broadcast journalism,” Godwin said in the email sent to staff Sunday night.

“Anyone who’s passionate about what we do knows there’s no other business like it, so this was not an easy or quick decision. But after considerable reflection, I’m certain it’s the right one for me as I look to the future and prioritize what’s most important for me and my family.”

No successor has been named for Godwin, who was named president of the division in 2021.

Godwin’s retirement comes after a restructuring in February that gave her a new boss in Debra OConnell, who serves as president of parent Disney’s news group.

OConnell is a company veteran who is familiar with ABC News, having scrutinized operations across Disney’s networks as part of a corporate review.

When Godwin joined ABC News from CBS, she had her work cut out for her.

Though the news division was a ratings leader, many in the news division said it was suffering from a cutthroat and toxic culture.

She instead became a polarizing figure inside the network.

Detractors say she and her inner circle stifled discussion and dissent while failing to rise up to challenges facing the unit—including a decline in ratings at “Good Morning America.”

Republican National Committee (RNC) Chair Michael Whatley called for party unity as Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) continues to threaten to force an ouster vote against Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.).

“We need to flip the Senate, and we need to expand our majority in the House. We’re not going to do that if we’re not unified,” Whatley told NBC News in an interview.

“We need to make sure that all of the Republicans understand the gravity of this election cycle, and they do, and we need to make sure that we are on the same page as we’re moving forward,” he added in the interview.

Greene said she would force a vote this coming week on her looming motion to vacate resolution against Johnson, sparking concerns among some in the party who worry such a move would throw the chamber into chaos and make Republicans appear incapable of governing just months before an election.

Greene introduced her motion to remove Johnson from power more than a month ago, but her latest move is a sharp escalation of that effort, compelling the House to consider the measure within two legislative days after she activates her motion this coming week.

Greene has sharply criticized Johnson for cutting a number of deals with Democrats on critical legislation, including funding the government, approving billions of dollars in aid for Ukraine and reauthorizing the U.S.’s warrantless surveillance powers.

She accused Johnson of “betraying” his conservative roots — and GOP voters more broadly — and warned that keeping him in power would discourage Republicans from going to the polls in November and ensure that Democrats will control the House next year.

Rep. Bob Good (R-Va.), chair of the House Freedom Caucus, railed against Greene in an interview Sunday, saying, “She’s not acting in the best interests of President Trump. I don’t think this is a good move six months before an election. She’s always been about herself primarily.”

Israel is preparing to launch what is expected to be a massive ground operation inside Rafah, a city in southern Gaza where some 1.5 million Palestinians have taken shelter. The Israeli army has begun ordering tens of thousands of Palestinians living in the city to evacuate.

On Monday, Israel’s Defense Forces ordered an evacuation of Rafah, signaling that a long-promised ground operation could be imminent. The Israeli army has described Rafah as the last significant Hamas stronghold after seven months of war, and its leaders have repeatedly said clearing Rafah is necessary to defeat the Islamic militant group.

Overnight, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant told U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin that Israel was left with no choice but to act in Rafah after Hamas terrorists carried out a deadly rocket attack from Rafah earlier in the day that left four Israeli soldiers dead.

A potential ground operation comes as last-ditch efforts by international mediators, including the CIA, to broker a cease-fire have failed to produce a deal.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to carry out a military operation in Rafah. According to Israel’s army, forces are beginning with a “limited scope operation.”

Lt. Col. Nadav Shoshani, an army spokesman, said some 100,000 people were being ordered to move to a nearby Israel-declared humanitarian zone called Muwasi. He said Israel published a map of the evacuation area.

These orders have been issued through air-dropped leaflets, text messages and radio broadcasts so that Palestinians could get the information.

“Anyone found near (militant) organizations endangers themselves and their family members. For your safety, the (army) urges you to evacuate immediately to the expanded humanitarian area,” one flyer read.

He said Israel has expanded humanitarian aid into Muwasi, including field hospitals, tents, food and water.

Israel’s army said on the social media platform X that it would act with “extreme force” against Hamas terrorists, and urged the population to evacuate immediately for their safety.

The move also comes as the Biden administration reportedly put a hold on a shipment of U.S.-manufactured ammunition to Israel for the first time since the deadly Oct. 7 Hamas terror attack.

Two Israeli officials told Axios that the weapons shipment was stopped last week, leaving officials within the Israeli government scrambling to understand why.

About 1.5 million Palestinians – more than half of Gaza’s population – are sheltering in Rafah, as they have been forced to evacuate other areas in the Gaza Strip, amid Israel’s ongoing war with Hamas.

Four IDF soldiers were killed and at least three others were seriously wounded after Hamas fired ten rockets toward the Kerem Shalom area along the Israel-Gaza border on Sunday afternoon.

The four slain soldiers were identified as St.-Sgt. Ruben Marc Mordechai Assouline, 19, from Ra’anana; St.-Sgt. Ido Testa, 19, from Jerusalem; St.-Sgt. Tal Shavit, 21, from Kfar Giladi; and Sgt. Michael Ruzal, 18, from Rishon Lezion. Assouline and Testa served in the Shaked Battalion in the Givati Brigade. Shavit and Ruzal served in the 931st Battalion in the Nahal Brigade.

Soroka Medical Center stated that it received 10 people wounded in the attack, including three in serious condition, two in moderate condition, and five in light condition.

Shortly after the attack, the IDF closed the Kerem Shalom crossing located in the area, halting the entry of humanitarian aid trucks through the crossing which serves as the main entry point for aid.

Several people received medical treatment on the spot for injuries sustained from the rocket fire, and were evacuated to hospitals for immediate medical care.

The Eshkol Regional Council announced that one of the people wounded was a resident of the Eshkol Regional Council.

Hamas fired the rockets toward Kerem Shalom from right near the Rafah humanitarian crossing, with the IDF striking the launch site in response. Ten people have been reported wounded by the Hamas rocket fire. pic.twitter.com/tds3zXSheC

— Tzvi Joffre (@TzviJoffre) May 5, 2024

Additionally, a home in Kibbutz Kerem Shalom was hit and damaged, according to the Eshkol Regional Council. No injuries were reported in the impact in Kibbutz Kerem Shalom.

Hamas took responsibility for the rocket fire, saying their Al-Qassam Brigades targeted the Kerem Shalom area with 114 mm short-range “Rajoum” rockets.

The rockets were fired from only a couple hundred meters from the Rafah humanitarian crossing, one of the few areas where IDF soldiers still have not entered since the October 27 invasion of Gaza. The IDF said it had some generic intelligence warnings about intent to launch such attacks on IDF soldiers and that there was some kind of rocket alert warning in real-time.

Responding to the rocket attacks, the air force increased its attacks on Hamas command centers and other sites in Rafah, as well as against the locations of the rocket attacks themselves, which it appears came from underground attack platforms.

IDF strikes Rafah area in response

Shortly after the attack, Palestinian media reported a series of Israeli airstrikes in the Rafah area.

.

Over the last few days, in separate incidents:

Hamas shot mortars at the corridor for humanitarian purposes
Hamas disrupted aid from…

— Dr. Arnold Clevs b2839 #HowArnoldSurvived (@Israel) May 5, 2024

“Hamas is intentionally preventing aid from reaching the people of Gaza,” wrote the Foreign Ministry on X, pointing to the rocket fire toward Kerem Shalom, disruptions of the movement of aid from southern to northern Gaza, and the firing of mortars at a corridor used for humanitarian purposes.

President Isaac Herzog responded to the Hamas attack on Sunday afternoon, posting on X: “Hamas attack humanitarian aid because they don’t care for humanity. The world must act to release the hostages and free the people of Gaza from Hamas’s vicious rule.”

Unclear what effects Hamas’s attack will have on Rafah plans

It was unclear what impact Hamas’s latest attack would have on Israeli plans to invade Rafah.

More specifically, whether Israel would move forward sooner to invade Rafah or would still give ongoing hostage negotiations a chance to resolve before taking broader action.

It was also unclear whether if no ceasefire is reached, how prepared IDF soldiers in Gaza, and especially near humanitarian aid centers, would be for additional similar Hamas rocket attacks.

There were questions as well about whether Israeli civilians returning to the Kerem Shalom area in July as scheduled would be impacted and delayed by the current incident.