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Israeli Troops Pull Out Of Al Shifa Hospital, Gaza

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Israeli troops have pulled out of al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City, according to witnesses who spoke to the BBC.

The medical facility was first raided two weeks ago after the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said it had intelligence indicating Hamas was using it as a base to launch attacks.

Heavy fighting has been reported around the hospital, the largest in Gaza, in recent weeks.

Hamas denies using medical sites to carry out military operations.

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Following the withdrawal on Monday, Palestinian media reports said dozens of bodies were found in the vicinity of the complex, citing witnesses and the Hamas-run health ministry.

The BBC has not verified those reports. But the World Health Organization (WHO) has said 21 patients have died in al-Shifa in the past two weeks, while Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said more than 200 “terrorists” were killed.

When the raid was first announced, IDF chief spokesman Daniel Hagari said “Hamas terrorists have regrouped inside al-Shifa hospital”.

The IDF said then it was launching a “high-precision” operation on the grounds of the hospital and urged displaced civilians sheltering on its grounds to leave immediately.

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Witnesses reported heavy gunfire and tanks surrounding the facility when the raid began in early hours of the morning on 18 March.

Al-Shifa was raided earlier in the conflict after Israel said it had evidence that hostages captured during the 7 October attack were taken there.

Israel has long accused Hamas of using civilian health infrastructure as a cover to launch its operations, which the Palestinian group refutes.

Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, head of the WHO, has described the situation at al-Shifa hospital as a “siege”.

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In a post on X – formerly Twitter – made prior to the troops withdrawal, he said more than 100 people were still inside al-Shifa struggling with a lack of food water, and medical supplies.

But Mr Netanyahu has reiterated that al-Shifa was a “terrorist lair” and praised the efforts of Israeli soldiers for conducting a “precise and surgical” surprise attack.

The Israeli PM made his remarks on Sunday night prior to entering surgery to treat a hernia discovered during a routine check-up.

Early on Monday his office said the operation was successful and Mr Netanyahu was “in good shape and beginning to recover”.

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The surgery took place amid demonstrations held in Jerusalem fuelled by mounting anger over his government’s handling of the war in Gaza. Thousands took to the streets demanding more action to free hostages.

Around 130 people – at least 34 of whom are presumed dead – are still unaccounted for after Hamas’s 7 October attack on Israel.

Mr Netanyahu is under pressure from some in Israeli society who believe there has been insufficient progress in rescuing the remaining hostages inside Gaza. His office had said Mr Netanyahu and his wife were meeting with the families of female soldiers still unaccounted for.

Also on Sunday, seven journalists – including a freelancer working for the BBC – were injured in an Israeli air strike on the grounds of al-Aqsa hospital targeting the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) group.

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The IDF hit a building in the grounds of the hospital which it said PIJ was using as a command centre.

Four members of the PIJ – which is allied with Hamas and participated in the 7 October attack – were killed, the IDF said.

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There will be no same sex marriage again -Trump vows to end ‘transgender madness ‘

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President-elect Donald Trump on Sunday pledged to “stop the transgender lunacy” on day one of his presidency, as Republicans — set to control both chambers of Congress and the White House — continue their push against LGBTQ rights.

“I will sign executive orders to end child sexual mutilation, get transgender out of the military and out of our elementary schools and middle schools and high schools,” the president-elect said at an event for young conservatives in Phoenix, Arizona.

He also vowed to “keep men out of women’s sports,” adding that “it will be the official policy of the United States government that there are only two genders, male and female.”

Speaking to the AmericaFest conference in a border state he easily carried in the November election, Trump further promised immediate measures against “migrant crime,” vowed to designate drug cartels as foreign terrorist organizations, and doubled down on his talk of restoring US control of the Panama Canal.

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Transgender issues have roiled US politics in recent years, as Democratic- and Republican-controlled states have moved in opposite directions on policy such as medical treatment and what books on the topic are allowed in public or school libraries.

Last week, when the US Congress approved its annual defense budget, it included a provision to block funding of some gender-affirming care for the transgender children of service members.

In his speech Sunday, which amounted to something of a victory lap, Trump made expansive promises for his second term — and drew a dark picture of the four years preceding it, under President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, the latter of whom he defeated in the 2024 election.

“On January 20, the United States will turn the page forever on four long, horrible years of failure, incompetence, national decline, and we will inaugurate a new era of peace, prosperity and national greatness,” Trump said, referring to his swearing-in.

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– ‘Golden age’ –

“I will end the war in Ukraine. I will stop the chaos in the Middle East, and I will prevent, I promise, World War III.”

He added: “The golden age of America is upon us.”

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Fresh Israeli Airstrikes In Gaza Kill 25 Palestinians Including Children

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Fresh Israeli airstrikes in the Gaza Strip have killed at least 25 Palestinians, according to medics.

The casualties on Friday included at least eight people in an apartment in the Nuseirat refugee camp and 10 others in the town of Jabalia, among them seven children.

Efforts to broker a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas have yet to succeed.

Sources involved in the negotiations told Reuters on Thursday that Qatar and Egypt had resolved some points of contention but key issues remain unresolved.

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Israel launched its assault on Gaza following Hamas-led attacks on Israeli communities on October 7, 2023.

The attacks resulted in the deaths of 1200 people and the abduction of over 250 hostages, according to Israeli reports.

Israel states that approximately 100 hostages are still being held, though it is unclear how many remain alive.

Gaza authorities report that Israel’s ongoing campaign has killed more than 45,000 Palestinians and displaced the majority of the 2.3 million residents.

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Much of the territory has reportedly been devastated by the conflict.

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Biden signs bipartisan funding bill to keep government open

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President Biden signed the stopgap funding bill that will keep the government open until March, punting the thornier issues surrounding the nation’s finances to the incoming administration of President-elect Donald Trump.

A bloated 1,500-page funding measure was exploded by Trump and his top ally Elon Musk earlier this week as they demanded a pared-down version.

The parties were able to cobble a stopgap bill together Friday evening, which passed the Senate early Saturday morning.

The package funds the government at current levels until March 14, 2025, and includes $100 billion in hurricane relief funds and $10 billion in aid to farmers.

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With the stopgap funding only running until March, an almost certain clash is looming between Trump and GOP spending hardliners when Congress reconvenes in January.

“The bipartisan funding bill I just signed keeps the government open and delivers the urgently needed disaster relief that I requested for recovering communities as well as the funds needed to rebuild the Francis Scott Key Bridge,” Biden said in a statement after inking the deal.

The post Biden signs bipartisan funding bill to keep government open appeared first on New York Post.

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