Israel is continuing its relentless assault on the Gaza Strip, with deaths reported earlier today in residential areas of Gaza City, Rafah and Khan Younis. Meanwhile, the deadly raid on Al-Shifa Hospital is in its fifth day. Israeli soldiers have killed at least 140 people at Al-Shifa. Journalists and medical staff have been blindfolded and forced to strip naked. At least 13 patients have died in recent days due to a lack of medical treatment. Israeli forces ordered thousands of patients, staff and displaced people sheltering at the hospital to evacuate as they threaten to blow up the entire facility. Families who were already displaced and are once again one the move described their brutal eviction from Al-Shifa.

Umm Essam al-Sakani: “We were surprised that at 2 a.m. there was shelling. The children were terrified. What more can I tell you? We stayed until the morning. We were not allowed to go down or up. They were calling with the loudspeakers from downstairs for men to prepare themselves, that the emergency team should prepare itself. The court outside with the bulldozers, the tanks, they turned things upside down. I don’t know what more to tell you. The children were terrified. They turned things upside down in Al-Shifa, in the area of Al-Shifa. They didn’t care about a child or a pregnant woman or youth or anything.”

Al Jazeera has shared video that appears to show an Israeli drone targeting, then launching an air attack on a group of at least four unarmed civilians as they were walking in an open area of Khan Younis in Gaza. One young man, who survived the first bombing, attempts to leave the scene before being killed in another strike. The shocking video is said to date back to February but was released Thursday.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken held a meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Tel Aviv today and is meeting with other Israeli officials. The U.S. is now pushing for a ceasefire deal in exchange for the release of hostages. Blinken just wrapped up meetings with Arab leaders in Saudi Arabia and Egypt, where he said, “Children should not be dying of malnutrition in Gaza,” adding that “100% of the population of Gaza is experiencing severe levels of acute food insecurity.” The head of Israel’s Mossad spy agency is meeting CIA Director William Burns and Egyptian counterparts for talks in Qatar.

Over 70 former U.S. diplomats, government and military officials have urged President Biden to warn Israel against building illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank and denying Palestinian rights. The officials, including Clinton national security adviser Anthony Lake, say the U.S. should be prepared to withhold “assistance” to Israel. Israel has killed at least 430 Palestinians in the West Bank since October 7, including 10 people on Thursday alone. Among those killed yesterday were a 19-year-old teenager and a 63-year-old man who converted to Judaism but was, reportedly, “mistakenly” shot. Israeli forces have detained over 7,300 West Bank Palestinians since October 7.

U.N. officials continue to sound the alarm over the humanitarian crisis in Sudan, which they’ve described as one of the worst in recent history. The U.N. Security Council met Wednesday to discuss the conflict as it nears the one-year mark since fighting broke out between the Sudanese military and rival Rapid Support Forces. Edem Wosornu, the director of operations for the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, warned Sudan is possibly on course to becoming the world’s worst hunger crisis.

Edem Wosornu: “Malnutrition is soaring to alarming levels and is already claiming children’s lives. A recent MSF report revealed that one child is dying every two hours in Zamzam camp in El Fasher, North Darfur. Our humanitarian partners estimate that in the coming weeks and months somewhere in the region of around 222,000 children could die from malnutrition. And with the estimated — WHO estimates that more than 70% of health facilities are not functional.”

In Haiti, armed groups have launched new attacks and blockades in the suburbs near Port-au-Prince, with multiple deaths reported. Haitian police say an operation killed the head of Delmas 95, Ernst Julme, known as Ti Greg. Delmas 95 is part of Jimmy “Barbecue” Chérizier’s alliance of armed groups.

The U.S. State Department on Wednesday confirmed it had completed the first evacuation of more than 15 U.S. citizens from Port-au-Prince. Florida officials also chartered a plane to evacuate over a dozen residents of Florida from Haiti Wednesday. Florida’s Republican Governor Ron DeSantis has warned he’ll block the entry of undocumented Haitian immigrants into Florida and threatened to fly any undocumented Haitians who arrive in Florida to Martha’s Vineyard in Massachusetts. This comes as dozens of congressmembers are urging the Biden administration stop deportations to Haiti due to the worsening violence and instability, and to extend temporary protected status for Haitians.

Over 70 Rohingya refugees are believed to be dead or missing after their boat capsized off the coast of Indonesia’s Aceh province. At least 75 others have been rescued as of Friday. More than 2,300 Rohingya refugees, fleeing persecution in Burma, arrived in Indonesia last year, while hundreds of others have died or disappeared after attempting to leave Burma or Bangladesh.

French lawmakers advanced a bill that seeks to rein in fast fashion’s impact on the climate, labor rights and the economy. The bill would ban certain “ultra-fast-fashion” companies like Shein from advertising and penalize them by up to 10 euros per individual item of clothing. It also would force fast-fashion retailers to include information on their products’ reuse, repair, recycling and environmental impact next to the product’s price. This is French lawmaker Huguette Tiegna.

Huguette Tiegna: “Fighting fast fashion means, first, protecting children living in other countries. It means preserving our biodiversity. It means preserving our French knowhow. It means preserving our artisans who work hard day and night in our districts to create clothes that are sustainable and that comply with a minimum of environmental rules.”

Russia launched a massive attack on Ukraine’s energy system overnight, killing three people and leaving 1 million without power. The attacks triggered a fire at the Dnipro Hydroelectric Station, cutting off power to the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, but authorities said there was no risk of a breach. This comes just one day after U.S. national security adviser Jake Sullivan visited the Ukrainian capital.

Back in the U.S., the Justice Department has filed a sweeping antitrust lawsuit against Apple, accusing the tech giant of orchestrating an illegal monopoly in the smartphone industry. U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland announced the suit Thursday.

Attorney General Merrick Garland: “Apple carries out its exclusionary, anti-competitive conduct in two principal ways. First, Apple imposes contractual restrictions and fees that limit the features and functionality that developers can offer iPhone users. Second, Apple selectively restricts access to the points of connection between third-party apps and the iPhone’s operating system, degrading the functionality of non-Apple apps and accessories. As a result, for most of the past 15 years Apple has collected a tax in the form of a 30% commission on the price of any app downloaded from the App Store, as well as on in-app purchases.”

In Florida, Republican Governor Ron DeSantis signed a new law banning unhoused people from sleeping in public places such as parks and sidewalks. The law requires counties to establish “temporary campsites” if shelters are at maximum capacity. Under the law, individuals can sue a jurisdiction if they see people living on the streets. Housing advocates and other critics say the law does not effectively address the housing crisis or provide necessary funding, and further marginalizes the already vulnerable unhoused population.

Here in New York, home health aides are on a six-day hunger strike, calling on the city to pass the “No More 24 Act” to put an end to 24-hour workdays. The majority of home health workers are women of color and immigrant women. Guihua Song, from the Chinese Staff and Workers’ Association, said, “Working 24 hours a day for a long time, our bodies have been tortured, broken down, and full of aches and pains. We cannot care for our children and families. Many of our sisters’ health is destroyed, and they too have become patients.”

In more labor rights news, Georgia Republicans passed a bill that penalizes union-friendly employers. The legislation would bar workplaces that voluntarily recognize unions from receiving state subsidies. Republican Governor Brian Kemp backs the law, but it is expected to face tough legal challenges. The president of the AFL-CIO, Liz Shuler, called the measure “appalling,” adding that it “violat[es] long-held precedent established by the National Labor Relations Act.”

Senator Bernie Sanders and Congressmember Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez reintroduced the Green New Deal for Public Housing Act this week to address the dual crises of climate change and unaffordable housing. This is AOC.

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez: “The Green New Deal for Public Housing would immediately replenish the multibillion-dollar backlog for public housing repairs. It would repeal the Faircloth Amendment. It would invest up to $234 billion over 10 years to preserve, upgrade and expand our public housing stock. It would bring public housing down to zero carbon emissions, while creating 280,000 jobs in America. It would end the era of government neglect, demolition and privatization of our public housing stock. This bill also addresses unsustainable rent prices.”