The International Criminal Court on Friday called on member states to stand up against sanctions imposed by U.S. President Donald Trump, describing the move as an attempt to “harm its independent and impartial judicial work.” The embattled court has received support in Europe from traditional allies of the U.S. “Sanctioning the ICC threatens the court’s independence and undermines the international criminal justice system as a whole,” said European Council President António Costa, who heads the summits of the European Union's 27 leaders. It was the toughest direct criticism by a senior EU official to a decision by Trump since his return to office last month. The White House issued the executive order against the ICC on Thursday in response to what it called “illegitimate and baseless actions targeting America and our close ally Israel.” Trump’s order was a response to the arrest warrant that the ICC issued last year for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over alleged war crimes in Gaza. The U.S. and Israel aren’t members of the court and don’t recognize it’s authority. Tens of thousands of Palestinians, including children, have been killed during the Israeli military’s response to Hamas' attack on southern Israel that killed around 1,200 people in October 2023. The casualty figure of Palestinians killed is provided by Gaza’s Health Ministry, which doesn't distinguish between fighters and civilians. ‘No one stands above international law’ The Hague-based ICC said that it “condemns” the move by the Trump administration. “The Court stands firmly by its personnel and pledges to continue providing justice and hope to millions of innocent victims of atrocities across the world,” the court said in a statement. “We call on our 125 States Parties, civil society and all nations of the world to stand united for justice and fundamental human rights,” it said. Trump signs order imposing sanctions on ICC over investigations of Israel Germany said it will await the impact of the U.S. sanctions, while indicating where its sympathy lies. “Standing up for international law and for the International Criminal Court is in our own maximum security interest,” German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said. The court “is one of the greatest achievements of international criminal law and is supported by more than 120 states,” she added. “If the ICC could no longer continue its work now, that would be one of the biggest joys for (Russian President Vladimir) Putin,” Baerbock said. “In the past three years, Putin had to see that his crimes against humanity, such as the abduction of Ukrainian children, do not remain without consequences.” She noted that Putin had been unable to travel to a BRICS summit of developing economies in South Africa and said that “no one stands above international law.” ‘Court’s work is essential’ European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the ICC "must be able to freely pursue the fight against global impunity. Europe will always stand for justice and the respect of international law." Thousands at USAID put on forced leave under Trump’s plan The Netherlands, which hosts the court, has also condemned Trump’s order. “The Netherlands regrets the executive order imposing sanctions on the ICC. The court’s work is essential in the fight against impunity,” Foreign Affairs Minister Caspar Veldkamp said in a statement. People in the Dutch government say the Netherlands has been trying to assist the court in shielding itself from the fallout. Trump's executive order said that the U.S. would impose “tangible and significant consequences” on those responsible for the ICC’s “transgressions.” Actions may include blocking property and assets and not allowing ICC officials, employees and relatives to enter the United States. The U.S. Treasury and State Department will determine which people and organizations will be sanctioned. The ICC caught the wrath of the United States in November when a pretrial panel of judges issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu, his former defense minister and Hamas’ military chief, accusing them of war crimes and crimes against humanity in connection with the war in Gaza. The warrants said that there was reason to believe that Netanyahu and Israel's former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant used “starvation as a method of warfare” by restricting humanitarian aid and have intentionally targeted civilians in Israel’s campaign against Hamas in Gaza — charges Israeli officials deny. Funding for staff and investigations at risk Human rights groups have criticized the U.S. sanctions. "Sanctions are for human rights violators, not those working to hold rights abusers to account," Liz Evenson, international justice director at Human Rights Watch, said in a statement. "Trump’s executive order borrows a page out of Russia’s playbook, which has sought to obstruct the court’s work through arrest warrants against its judges and prosecutor,” she added. Court officials had been preparing for sanctions for months. In January, the court gave staff a three-month advance on their salaries, two court insiders told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to speak to media. Should the U.S. sanction the court itself, it could cripple operations, leaving the institution unable to pay staff, fund investigations, or access information stored on servers in the United States. At least two senior staff members at the court have resigned since Trump was elected in an effort to avoid sanctions. Khamenei calls US talks unwise but doesn’t forbid 'ICC’s actions have no legal basis' In an increasingly polarized Western world, Hungary stood side by side with Trump. “The ICC has recently turned itself into a biased political tool and has discredited the entire international court system,” Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó said. “Its decisions have also only contributed to exacerbating insecurity in already difficult parts of the world.” Israel's Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar said that “the ICC’s actions are immoral and have no legal basis.” It is the second time that Trump has gone after the court. During his previous term in office, he imposed sanctions on former prosecutor Fatou Bensouda and one of her deputies over her investigation into crimes committed in Afghanistan. U.S. President Joe Biden lifted the sanctions when he took office in 2021.

U.S. employers added just 143,000 jobs last month, but the unemployment rate fell to 4% to start 2025. The first monthly jobs report of Donald Trump’s second presidency suggested he's inherited a solid but unspectacular U.S. labor market. January job creation was down from the 261,000 added in November, and the 307,000 created in December. Economists had expected about 170,000 new jobs in January. Most Americans still enjoy unusual job security. But for those looking for work, the job hunt has been getting harder as the labor market cools from the red-hot hiring days of 2021-2023. Average hourly wages rose by 0.5% from December and 4.1% from January 2024, coming in a bit hotter than forecasters had expected – news that might be disappointing to the inflation fighters at the Federal Reserve. Still, some of the inflationary pressure from wage gains is being offset by healthy U.S. productivity growth, which allows companies to pay more and earn fatter profits without raising prices. “Employers are really maintaining their workforce, but they are not hiring significantly, nor are they laying off,’’ said Gregory Daco, chief economist at the tax and consulting firm EY Parthenon. Daco expects average job growth to slow to between 100,000 and 150,000 a month this year (down slightly from the 2024 average of 166,000 new jobs a month). “Any hiring decision is going to be judicious,’’ he said, “because the cost of talent is still elevated.’’ The Labor Department also revised payrolls for November and December up by a combined 100,000. Citing the strong upward revisions from late 2024, Carl Weinberg and Mary Chen of High Frequency Economics wrote that "There is no cause for concern about the strength of the economy in today’s employment report.'' But they added that the decent hiring over the past three months suggested the Fed will be in no hurry to cut interest rates again after cutting three times in 2024. Healthcare companies added 44,000 jobs, down from a 2024 average of 57,000. Retailers hired 34,000 workers. And government at all levels added 32,000 jobs. Mining companies shed 8,000 jobs. The Labor Department said the Los Angeles wildfires and a cold snap in the Northeast and Midwest had “no discernable″ impact on the January jobs numbers. The future is cloudier. A federal judge on Thursday temporarily blocked President Donald Trump's plan to push out federal workers by offering them financial incentives, yet a federal hiring freeze that Trump imposed Jan. 20 is a “negative for employment growth,’’ Bradley Saunders, an economist at Capital Economics, wrote in a commentary last week. The freeze came after the Labor Department collected the January jobs numbers, so any impact would be revealed in upcoming employment data. Economists are also worried about Trump’s threat to wage a trade war against other countries. He’s already imposed a 10% tax on imports from China. Canada and Mexico – America’s two largest trading partners -- remain in his crosshairs though he gave them a 30-day reprieve from the 25% tariffs he was planning to sock them with on Tuesday, allowing time for negotiations. Trump says that America’s two neighbors and allies haven’t done enough to stem the flow of undocumented immigrants and fentanyl into the United States. Trump is also itching to slap tariffs on the European Union; pointing to America’s deficit in the trade of goods with the EU, which came to $236 billion last year, he says that Europe treats U.S. exporters unfairly. The tariffs, which are paid by U.S. importers who generally try to pass along the cost to customers, could rekindle inflation – which has fallen from the four-decade high it reached in mid-2022 but is still stuck above the Fed’s 2% target. If the tariffs push prices higher, the Fed may cancel or postpone the two interest-rate cuts it had forecast for this year. And that would be bad for economic growth and job creation. The job market has already lost momentum. American payrolls increased by 2 million last year, down from 2.6 million in 2023, 4.6 million in 2022 and a record 7.2 million in 2021 as the economy roared back from COVID-19 lockdowns. The Labor Department also reports that employers are posting fewer jobs. Monthly job openings have tumbled from a record 12.2 million in March 2022, to 7.6 million in December – still a decent number by historical standards. As the labor market cools, American workers are losing confidence in their ability to find better pay or working conditions by changing jobs. The number of people quitting has fallen from a record 4.5 million near the height of the hiring boom in April 2022, to December’s 3.2 million, which is below pre-pandemic levels. In regular annual revisions, the Labor Department reported Friday that job creation from April 2023 through March 2024 wasn’t as good as originally reported: 589,000 fewer jobs were created over those 12 months. Preliminary estimates, released in August, had suggested the downward revisions would be bigger — 818,000 jobs. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt used the jobs report revisions to say the economy during Joe Biden’s presidency “was far worse than anyone thought.” But Trump is inheriting a healthy unemployment rate and stable economy, just not one that would necessarily make him happy. Trump is banking on tax cuts and regulatory curbs bolstering the economy. But his freezes on federal funding could halt construction projects on infrastructure and manufacturing, while his tariffs could hurt the retail sector and his spending cuts could limit hiring in the health care and government sectors.  

President Donald Trump has signed an executive order imposing sanctions on the International Criminal Court (ICC) in response to its investigations into Israel, a key U.S. ally. Neither the United States nor Israel recognizes or holds membership in the ICC, which recently issued an arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over alleged war crimes related to Israel’s military actions in Gaza following the October 2023 Hamas attack. The Israeli response has resulted in the deaths of tens of thousands of Palestinians, including children. Trump’s order, signed on Thursday, accuses the ICC of engaging in “illegitimate and baseless actions” against the United States and Israel, criticizing the court for issuing what it calls “unfounded arrest warrants” for Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant. The document asserts that the ICC has no jurisdiction over either country and warns that its actions set a “dangerous precedent.” The move coincided with Netanyahu’s visit to Washington, where he met with Trump at the White House on Tuesday and later held discussions with U.S. lawmakers on Capitol Hill. According to the order, the U.S. will impose “tangible and significant consequences” on those responsible for the ICC’s actions. These measures could include freezing assets, blocking property, and restricting entry into the United States for ICC officials, employees, and their relatives. Human rights advocates have strongly criticized the sanctions, warning that such measures could undermine global efforts to hold perpetrators of atrocities accountable. They argue that the move not only restricts access to justice for victims of human rights violations but also contradicts U.S. interests in other international conflict zones where the ICC is active. Trump blames 'obsolete' air traffic control for deadly crash “Victims of human rights abuses worldwide rely on the ICC when they have no other recourse,” said Charlie Hogle, a staff attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union’s National Security Project. He added that Trump’s executive order makes it more difficult for them to seek justice and poses serious First Amendment concerns by penalizing those assisting the ICC in investigating war crimes. Sarah Yager, Washington director for Human Rights Watch, also criticized the decision, stating, “You can disagree with the court’s approach, but this is beyond acceptable.” The U.S. has historically maintained a complicated relationship with the ICC. While it helped negotiate the Rome Statute that established the court, the U.S. voted against its adoption in 1998. President Bill Clinton signed the statute in 2000 but did not seek Senate ratification. Under President George W. Bush, the U.S. withdrew its signature and pressured other countries to sign agreements preventing them from turning over Americans to the ICC. Trump had previously sanctioned former ICC chief prosecutor Fatou Bensouda in 2020 for investigating war crimes in Afghanistan involving U.S. forces. President Joe Biden later lifted those sanctions, allowing limited cooperation with the court, particularly after ICC prosecutor Karim Khan charged Russian President Vladimir Putin with war crimes in Ukraine in 2023. UN chief rejects 'any form of ethnic cleansing' in Gaza Senator Lindsey Graham, a longtime ICC critic, had previously facilitated dialogue between Khan and Republican lawmakers. However, he now feels betrayed and has vowed to take action against the court and any country enforcing Netanyahu’s arrest warrant. “This is a rogue court, a kangaroo court,” Graham said, warning that the legal reasoning used against Israel could eventually target the U.S. Biden has also denounced the arrest warrants, and his national security adviser, Mike Waltz, has accused the ICC of antisemitic bias. Some European nations, including the Netherlands, have pushed back against potential U.S. sanctions, advocating for continued support of the court’s mission. Potential U.S. sanctions could severely impact the ICC’s ability to function, making it difficult for investigators to travel and compromising key evidence-handling technologies. The court recently suffered a cyberattack that disrupted access to critical files for weeks, adding to its operational challenges.

Forced leaves began in Washington and worldwide Friday for most employees of the US Agency for International Development, as federal workers associations turned to the courts to try to roll back Trump administration orders that have dismantled most of the agency and US- funded aid programs around the world. Under a Trump administration plan, the agency is to be left with fewer than 300 workers out of thousands. Two current USAID employees and one former senior USAID official told The Associated Press of the administration's plan, presented to remaining senior officials of the agency Thursday. They spoke on condition of anonymity due to a Trump administration order barring USAID staffers from talking to anyone outside their agency. The agency is being slashed back from more than 8,000 direct hires and contractors. They, along with an unknown number of 5,000 locally hired employees abroad, would run the few life-saving programs that the administration says it intends to keep going for now. It was not immediately clear whether the reduction to 300 would be permanent or temporary, potentially allowing more workers to return after what the Trump administration says is a review of which aid and development programs it wants to resume. Trump's Gaza plan shocks the world but finds support in Israel The administration this week gave almost all USAID staffers posted overseas 30 days, starting Friday, to return to the US, with the government paying for their travel and moving costs. Workers who choose to stay longer, unless they received a specific hardship waiver, might have to cover their own expenses, a notice on the USAID website said late Thursday. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said during a trip to the Dominican Republic on Thursday that the US government will continue providing foreign aid. “But it is going to be foreign aid that makes sense and is aligned with our national interest,” he told reporters. The Trump administration and billionaire ally Elon Musk, who is running a budget-cutting Department of Government Efficiency, have targeted USAID hardest so far in an unprecedented challenge of the federal government and many of its programs. Since President Donald Trump’s Jan. 20 inauguration, a sweeping funding freeze has shut most of the agency’s programs worldwide, and almost all of its workers have been placed on administrative leave or furloughed. Musk and Trump have spoken of eliminating USAID as an independent agency and moving surviving programs under the State Department. Democratic lawmakers and others call the move illegal without congressional approval. The same argument was made by the American Foreign Service Association and the American Federation of Government Employees in their lawsuit, which asks the federal court in Washington to compel the reopening of USAID’s buildings, return its staffers to work and restore funding. Government officials “failed to acknowledge the catastrophic consequences of their actions, both as they pertain to American workers, the lives of millions around the world, and to US national interests," the suit says.

A search is currently underway in western Alaska for a plane carrying 10 people that went missing Thursday afternoon while flying over Norton Sound, south of the Arctic Circle, reports AP. The Bering Air Caravan, which was en route from Unalakleet to Nome with nine passengers and a pilot, lost contact with authorities shortly after takeoff. Four killed in US military-contracted plane crash in Philippines The Alaska Department of Public Safety is working to determine the aircraft’s last known coordinates. Unalakleet is a small community of around 690 people located 150 miles (240 km) southeast of Nome and 395 miles (640 km) northwest of Anchorage. This incident is the third significant aviation tragedy in the United States in just eight days. On January 29, a commercial jetliner collided with an Army helicopter near Washington, D.C., killing 67 people. Two days later, on January 31, a medical transportation plane crashed in Philadelphia, resulting in six deaths. The Cessna Caravan departed Unalakleet at 2:37 p.m., and officials lost communication with the plane less than an hour later, according to David Olson, Bering Air's director of operations. The aircraft was approximately 12 miles (19 km) offshore at the time, the U.S. Coast Guard reported. Bering Air, which operates flights to 32 villages in western Alaska, is actively gathering information and coordinating search and rescue efforts. Airplanes are often the primary mode of transportation in rural Alaska, especially during winter months. Ground crews from the Nome Volunteer Fire Department are conducting a search along the coastline from Nome to Topkok, though weather conditions are limiting air searches. Officials have warned the public not to form their own search parties due to the dangerous weather. Plane with 6 aboard crashes in Philadelphia, setting homes ablaze A U.S. Coast Guard aircraft is expected to search the last known location of the missing plane. The National Guard and state troopers are also assisting with the search. The temperature in Unalakleet was about 17°F (-8.3°C) at the time of takeoff, with light snow and fog in the area. The names of those on board the aircraft have not been released. Nome, a historic Gold Rush town located just south of the Arctic Circle, is famous as the endpoint of the 1,000-mile (1,610 km) Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race.

Philippine Vice President Sara Duterte announced on Friday that her legal team is preparing for her upcoming impeachment trial, but she declined to comment on whether resignation is an option to avoid a potential conviction that could prevent her from running for president in the future, reports AP. Duterte's remarks came after the House of Representatives impeached her on Wednesday, citing various criminal charges, including an alleged plot to have President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. assassinated, which she denied. Marcos, who was her running mate in the 2022 elections, has since had a bitter fallout with Duterte. Four killed in US military-contracted plane crash in Philippines During a news conference, she highlighted the economic difficulties facing Filipinos, noting that the cost of living has risen significantly. "God save the Philippines,” she said, urging her supporters to express their views on social media rather than holding street protests to avoid disrupting their lives. A conviction and subsequent disqualification from office would be a severe blow to one of the country's most influential political families, which is seen as aligning more with China. The impeachment complaint, according to its proponents, revolves around alleged threats to Marcos, misuse of government funds, and Duterte's failure to confront Chinese aggression in the South China Sea. The Senate is expected to address the case in June. While Marcos has strengthened defence ties with Washington, Duterte’s father, former President Rodrigo Duterte, cultivated close relations with Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian leader Vladimir Putin, all while hinting at ending U.S. military engagements in the Philippines. When asked about the possibility of resignation, Duterte did not provide a clear answer, saying, "We're still too far from those matters,” and mentioned that many lawyers have offered to defend her in the impeachment process. China's Xi and Thailand's leader vow to crack down on scam networks that plague Southeast Asia She confirmed that she is still considering a presidential run in 2028 but emphasized the need to evaluate her chances carefully, as her approval ratings have declined in recent independent surveys, though she is still regarded as a top contender. "We're seriously considering that but it's difficult to decide without the numbers," she said.

Iran’s supreme leader has said that engaging in talks with the United States is neither intelligent, wise, nor honourable, following President Donald Trump’s suggestion of nuclear negotiations with Tehran, reports AP. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei also implied on Friday that discussions with such a government should not take place but did not explicitly forbid engaging with Washington. Iran launches its first drone-carrier warship His comments, addressed to air force officers in Tehran, seemed to contradict his earlier statements that had left room for potential negotiations. At 85 years old, Khamenei has consistently been cautious in his wording when addressing the possibility of talks with the West. Iran's foreign minister meets Taliban in first visit to Kabul in 8 years

Two years have passed since a devastating earthquake shattered Turkey’s southern region, but for Omer Aydin and many other of its survivors the memory and the suffering remain fresh. While struggling with a third winter in the cold inside a shipping container-like temporary housing unit, the single father of three is grappling with a cost-of-living crisis that is affecting the whole country as well as still trying to heal the scars from the disaster. The magnitude 7.8 earthquake on Feb. 6, 2023, and a second powerful tremor that came hours later, destroyed or damaged hundreds of thousands of buildings in 11 southern and southeastern Turkish provinces, leaving more than 53,000 people dead. Another 6,000 people were killed in the northern parts of neighboring Syria. It was one of Turkey’s worst disasters. Aydin, a 51-year-old electrician who survived along with his elderly mother and his children, said sounds from the earthquake still echo in his mind. “The sounds of the homes crashing down, the sounds of the cries for help ... I still shake when they come to my mind,” Aydin told The Associated Press over the phone. The house Aydin shared with his mother and children in the Mediterranean port city of Iskenderun — in the worst-hit province of Hatay — split into two, he said. The family were lucky to get out without injuries, he said, but ended up spending four days in the cold inside a makeshift tent he constructed with plastic sheets and pieces of wood. Aydin now lives in a container home at a temporary housing settlement called a “container city” in Iskenderun but is struggling to make ends meet on a small state pension that he says barely covers anything. Magnitude 6.4 Earthquake in Taiwan Injures 27 He occasionally finds work as an electrician but jobs in Iskenderun are scarce, he says. He is the sole provider for his family. His oldest son, who is 26, is receiving cancer treatment and needs to travel regularly to a hospital in the city of Adana, some 135 kilometers (84 miles) away, adding to the financial burden. His youngest child, a daughter, is at school while his middle son is also unemployed while waiting to start his military service. Life in the container city is a daily struggle, and sanitary conditions can be poor, he says. His family will qualify to receive one of the hundreds of thousands of government houses that are under construction, but Aydin is worried about furnishing it or paying the bills once they move in. “I don’t even own a pin, what will I do once I move in?” he said. On Thursday, special prayers seeking blessings for the dead were recited from mosques, the state-run Anadolu Agency reported. Survivors visited cemeteries to pay respects to their loved ones, leaving carnations on their graves and offering their condolences to fellow visitors. Mourners held a minute of silence to remember the dead at 04:17 a.m. — the time the earthquake struck. Shouts of “can anyone hear me?” marked the ceremonies, echoing the cries of those who were trapped under the rubble two years ago. In Kahramanmaras, the epicenter of the earthquake, mourners gathered at the site of a large residential complex where several buildings were destroyed, leaving 1,400 people dead. Small scuffles broke out between police and mourners in Antakya, the provincial capital of Hatay, after officers set up barriers to prevent people marching to a main square. The barriers were eventually lifted, allowing mourners to place flowers on the surface of the Orontes River. Attending a commemoration event in the city of Adiyaman, where more than 8,000 people died, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the government was aiming to deliver a total of 453,000 homes, shops and other work spaces by the end of 2025. 6.2 earthquake jolts southwestern Mexico “Not one single citizen will be left without a home or without claiming their workplaces,” Erdogan said. He later presided over an event where some families were handed keys to their new homes. Justice Minister Yilmaz Tunc said 118 people have been sentenced so far to various prison terms for negligence, while more than 1,300 prosecution cases, filed for alleged negligence or violation of zoning laws, were in progress. Jessie Thomson, the head of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies in Turkey, said nearly half a million people remain in temporary container cities two years after the earthquake struck. “Hundreds of thousands continue to face immense challenges securing sustainable incomes, with depression and despair rising,” Thomson said. “The road to recovery is long and arduous, demanding continued support and solidarity.” Aydin told the AP that when he rests his head on a pillow, he prays that he won’t wake up to face another day. “I swear, every day when I go to bed and put my head on the pillow, I pray to God to not wake me up in the morning,” he said. Songul Erol, a 29-year-old mother of two girls aged 7 and 3, is slowly rebuilding her life in Samandag, another town in Hatay province, after spending months in tents and a container home. With the help of funds provided by the Turkish Red Crescent to small businesses, she was able to rent a shop and reopen her business selling bait, nets, knives or other gear used by fishermen and hunters. She has turned a room at the back of the shop into a living space for herself and her daughters, whose severe allergies were exacerbated by the conditions in the tents and the container home. Earthquake kills 126 people in China near Mount Everest Haunted by memory of buildings that tumbled in Samandag, she told the AP in a video call that she has only one dream: “That is to move to a one-story house that is not surrounded by apartment buildings.”

President Donald Trump’s plan to seek U.S. ownership of the Gaza Strip and move out its population infuriated the Arab world. It stunned American allies and other global powers and even flummoxed members of Trump’s own party. The reaction in Israel was starkly different. The idea of removing hundreds of thousands of Palestinians from Gaza — once relegated to the fringes of political discourse in the country — has found fertile ground in an Israeli public traumatized by Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attacks and grasping for ways to feel secure again after the deadliest assault in their country’s history. Jewish Israeli politicians across the spectrum either embraced the idea wholeheartedly or expressed openness to it. Newspaper columns praised its audacity and TV commentators debated how the idea could practically be set in motion. The country’s defense minister ordered the military to plan for its eventual implementation. Whether or not the plan becomes reality — it is saddled with obstacles, not to mention moral, legal and practical implications — its mere pronouncement by the world's most powerful leader has sparked enthusiasm about an idea once considered to be beyond the pale in the Israeli mainstream. “The fact that it has been laid on the table,” said Israeli historian Tom Segev, “opens the door for such a clear crime to become legitimate.” To be sure, many of those who expressed openness to the plan said it seemed unfeasible for a multitude of legal and logistical reasons. And they say the departures should be voluntary, perhaps an acknowledgment of claims by critics, among them the U.N. secretary-general, that forced expulsions could amount to “ethnic cleansing.” And many others, including liberal Israelis and Palestinian citizens of Israel, voiced opposition to it. The liberal daily Haaretz, in an editorial Thursday, urged Israelis to “oppose transfer." “Even if Trump disregards international law, it’s crucial to remind Israelis that the forced expulsion or transfer of civilians violates international humanitarian law, constitutes a war crime and amounts to a crime against humanity,” the editorial said. Int’l opposition grows as Israel plans Palestinian relocation from Gaza In a joint Washington news conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday, Trump said he envisioned the U.S. taking control of the Gaza Strip, having its people relocate to other places and rebuilding the war-battered coastal enclave into the “Riviera of the Middle East.” The proposal sparked outrage in the Middle East, including in Egypt and Jordan, two close U.S. allies at peace with Israel that Trump has suggested take in the Palestinians. Netanyahu, meanwhile, called Trump’s plan “remarkable” and the “first good idea” that he had heard. “The actual idea of allowing first Gazans who want to leave, to leave. I mean, what’s wrong with that?” Netanyahu told Fox News. Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz took it a step further, asking the military to craft a plan for a potential exodus. Katz has given few details on how such a plan would work. Even Netanyahu's rivals indicated openness. Benny Gantz, a former defense minister and centrist opposition figure, said Trump’s proposal showed “creative, original and intriguing thinking.” Opposition leader Yair Lapid, also a centrist, told Israeli Army Radio “in general, it’s good.” Both said the details and practicability of the plan were complicated and needed to be studied, and they urged Trump and Netanyahu to focus on freeing the hostages who remain in Gaza. For Palestinians, Trump's proclamation triggered painful memories of the expulsion or flight from their homes in what is now Israel in the 1948 war that led to its creation. It also resurfaced the trauma of further displacement wrought by the 1967 Mideast war, when Israel occupied the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. UN chief rejects 'any form of ethnic cleansing' in Gaza Staying steadfast on their land is a key component of the Palestinian identity. In fact, many Palestinian refugees dream of returning to the lands in Israel from which they were originally displaced — something Israel says would threaten its existence as a Jewish majority state. Segev says the concept of driving people off their land is not foreign to the Israeli consciousness. He says Israel's founding leaders felt they needed to clear Palestinians off the land to ensure the security and stability of the state. But in modern Israel, the idea has been promoted only by fringe elements, most prominently the slain radical Rabbi Meir Kahane. The American-born Kahane's views got him banished from the Israeli parliament and led the U.S. to outlaw his group, the Jewish Defense League. Now, however, Kahane's once radical positions are the mainstay of far-right political parties, including one led by a disciple of his, that have been key to Netanyahu’s rule. They were thrilled to have someone as powerful as Trump adopt their idea, which they have billed as “voluntary emigration,” a term the Palestinians say is a euphemism for forced transfer. Trump’s backing will likely embolden these hard-liners. When Hamas attacked on Oct. 7, Israelis were already in a yearslong shift away from support for Palestinian statehood and many had adopted an approach, promoted by Netanyahu, that the conflict was unsolvable and could only be managed through sporadic wars and military operations. The shock of Hamas’ attack — militants killed 1,200 and took about 250 hostages, parading some through Gaza to cheering crowds — brought the Palestinian issue back to the fore and prompted in Israelis an openness to more radical ideas as long as they help restore a sense of security. Trump's suggestion the US 'take over' the Gaza Strip is rejected by allies and adversaries alike Sefi Ovadia, a broadcaster on a popular Israeli talk radio morning show, told his audience Thursday that he had “moral reservations” to the idea before Oct. 7, but that since the attack, he no longer does. Ben Caspit, a widely read columnist, wrote in the Maariv daily that “every Israeli, barring the most delusional ones on the outer reaches of the left, ought to welcome this initiative.” Trauma from Hamas' attack has prompted many Israelis to believe that a way to end the Palestinian-Israeli conflict is to “remove Gaza from the equation," said Shmuel Rosner, a senior fellow at the Jewish People Policy Institute, a Jerusalem think tank. “It was a fringe idea in Israel before Oct. 7 and in some cases it was an illegitimate idea,” Rosner said of Trump's plan. “Oct. 7 changed everything."

Panamanian President José Raúl Mulino on Thursday denied the U.S. State Department’s claim that his country had reached a deal allowing U.S. warships to transit the Panama Canal for free. Mulino said he had told U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth on Wednesday that he could neither set the fees to transit the canal nor exempt anyone from them and that he was surprised by the U.S. State Department’s statement suggesting otherwise late Wednesday. “I completely reject that statement yesterday,” Mulino said during his weekly press conference, adding that he had asked Panama’s ambassador in Washington to dispute the State Department’s statement. He was scheduled to speak with U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday. On Wednesday evening, the U.S. State Department said via X that “U.S. government vessels can now transit the Panama Canal without charge fees, saving the U.S. government millions of dollars a year.” The Panama Canal Authority put out its own terse statement later Wednesday night saying it had "not made any adjustments” to the fees. Mulino said the U.S. statement “really surprises me because they’re making an important, institutional statement from the entity that governs United States foreign policy under the president of the United States based on a falsity. And that’s intolerable.” Panama Canal administrator pushes back against Trump's assertions of Chinese meddling U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who met with Mulino and canal administrators and visited the critical trade route earlier this week, said on Thursday from the Dominican Republic that he had no confusion about his discussions with Panama, but “I respect very much the fact that Panama has a process of laws and procedures that they need to follow.” “The United States has a treaty obligation to protect the Panama Canal if it comes under attack," Rubio said. "That treaty obligation would have to be enforced by the armed forces of the United States, particularly the U.S. Navy. I find it absurd that we would have to pay fees to transit a zone that we are obligated to protect in a time of conflict.” Rubio had carried a message from Trump that China’s influence at the canal was unacceptable. Rubio had told Mulino that Trump believed that China’s presence in the canal area may violate a treaty that led the United States to turn the waterway over to Panama in 1999. That treaty calls for the permanent neutrality of the American-built canal. Canal administrators said they were open to discussing giving U.S. warships priority in crossing the canal, but did not say they had considered waiving fees. Mulino said via X that he was scheduled to speak to Trump on Friday. Since 1998, U.S. warships, including submarines, have transited the Panama Canal 994 times. They accounted for just 0.3% of the canal’s traffic during that period. The canal received $25.4 million in total fees for those crossings, according to data from the canal authority. Villagers concern over plans to dam a river to ensure Panama Canal's water supply The fees charged to U.S. warships and those from other nations are based on the ship’s displacement tonnage, or the weight of the water displaced by the vessel. The measure is different than that used to charge commercial vessels. Mulino said Thursday that both Panama’s constitution and laws regulating the Canal Authority make clear that neither the government nor the authority can waive fees. “It’s a constitutional limitation,” he said.