Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has threatened to renew Israel’s attacks on the Gaza Strip, drawing fear among Palestinians and condemnation from world leaders. On Tuesday, Netanyahu delivered this ultimatum to Hamas.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu: “The decision that I passed unanimously in the Cabinet is this: If Hamas does not return our hostages by Saturday noon, the ceasefire will end, and the military will return to intense fighting until Hamas is finally defeated.”

Netanyahu’s threat comes after repeated Israeli violations of the terms of its ceasefire deal with Hamas. Gaza’s Health Ministry said Tuesday that 92 Palestinians have been killed and 822 wounded in “direct targeting” by the Israeli military since January 19, when the ceasefire came into effect. And Palestinians say Israel has granted access to just a small fraction of the humanitarian aid and fuel it pledged to allow into Gaza. On Tuesday, the United Nations estimated more than $53 billion will be required to rebuild Gaza and end its humanitarian catastrophe.

President Trump has repeated his claim that the United States is preparing to take control of the Gaza Strip and “own” it, while permanently displacing the territory’s entire population of more than 2 million Palestinians. Trump made the comments as he hosted Jordan’s King Abdullah for talks on Gaza at the White House on Tuesday.

President Donald Trump: “We’re going to have Gaza. We don’t have to buy. There’s nothing to buy. We will have Gaza.”

Reporter: “What does that mean?”

President Donald Trump: “There’s no reason to buy. There is nothing to buy. It’s Gaza. It’s a war-torn area. We’re going to take it.”

After meeting with Trump, King Abdullah wrote in a statement, “I reiterated Jordan’s steadfast position against the displacement of Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank. This is the unified Arab position.” 

Meanwhile, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi has postponed a planned visit to Washington, D.C., scheduled for next week, after Trump threatened to cut off aid to Jordan and Egypt unless the countries agree to receive Palestinians expelled from Gaza. A senior Egyptian diplomat told The New Arab newspaper that any cut in U.S. aid would threaten Egypt’s 1979 peace treaty with Israel. 

The family of Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya, the director of northern Gaza’s Kamal Adwan Hospital, confirmed he was finally granted a visit with his attorney — nearly two months after he was abducted and detained by Israeli forces. In a statement, the family described Dr. Abu Safiya’s accounts of severe abuse and torture by Israeli soldiers, including 24 days of solitary confinement before his transfer to Ofer Prison. His family said he’s only given one meal a day. Israel has not filed any charges against Dr. Abu Safiya. In a statement, his family writes, “He urges the world to help secure his release and the release of all detained healthcare personnel from all hospitals. They must be protected, their rights ensured, and they should receive care and be released as soon as possible.”

President Trump signed an executive order Tuesday ordering massive cuts to the U.S. federal workforce, with a “team lead” from the Department of Government Efficiency assigned to each federal agency to oversee firings and new hires. Trump’s order gives even more power to Elon Musk and his DOGE operation, in what Democrats and legal scholars have condemned as an unconstitutional power grab by the world’s richest man. On Tuesday, Democratic lawmakers joined federal workers for a protest on Capitol Hill demanding congressional action. This is Everett Kelley, president of the American Federation of Government Employees.

Everett Kelley: “We are here today to send a message, a loud and clear message, to our senators and our representatives here on Capitol Hill. And the message is this: Save the civil service and save the country.”

On Tuesday, Elon Musk spoke to reporters from the Oval Office, standing alongside President Trump, who remained seated at the Resolute Desk. It was the first time Musk has taken questions about his DOGE operation since Trump tasked him with slashing “trillions” of dollars in federal spending. Musk repeatedly rejected reporters’ assertions that DOGE operates in deep secrecy.

Elon Musk: “So, all of our actions are maximally transparent. In fact, I don’t think there’s been — I don’t know of a case where an organization has been more transparent than the DOGE organization.”

The White House said Tuesday Musk is serving as an unpaid “special government employee,” and therefore his financial disclosure report is not required to be made public. The White House has also worked to shield Musk’s operation from open records laws, including the Freedom of Information Act, by invoking the Presidential Records Act, which would see DOGE records kept sealed until 2034.

The New York Times reports there are more than 32 continuing investigations, pending complaints or enforcement actions into Musk’s six companies across at least 11 federal agencies that have been affected by the Trump administration’s purge of civil servants. Musk is also a major beneficiary of NASA and Department of Defense funds, with SpaceX reporting it has received about $22 billion in government contracts. On Tuesday, Musk repeatedly denied that his vast business holdings presented a conflict of interest.

Reporter: “If you have received billions of dollars in contracts from the Pentagon and the president is directing you to look into the Department of Defense, is that a conflict of interest?”

Elon Musk: “Yes, which we definitely need to do and are going to do, at the president’s request.”

Reporter: “Does that present a conflict of interest for you?”

Elon Musk: “No, because you’d have to look at the individual contract and say — first of all, I’m not the one, you know, filing the contract. It’s people at SpaceX.”

Musk spoke with his 4-year-old son X Æ A-Xii draped over his shoulders, often putting his fingers in Elon Musk’s ears.

The White House has fired Paul Martin, the inspector general for the U.S. Agency for International Development. Martin’s abrupt termination on Tuesday came a day after his office warned in a scathing report that moves by Trump and Elon Musk to defund USAID have put nearly $500 million worth of food aid at risk of spoilage, as it sits idle in ports, ships and warehouses. Like Trump’s purge of 17 other inspectors general last month, Martin’s firing appeared to violate a law requiring the administration to alert Congress 30 days in advance. 

A federal judge has issued a temporary restraining order preventing the National Institutes of Health from implementing severe cuts to research funding imposed by the Trump administration. This comes after 22 states, including Massachusetts, filed a lawsuit Monday arguing the move would eviscerate studies into treatments for cancer, Alzheimer’s, heart disease and other chronic conditions.

The top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee has accused Trump’s pick to head the FBI, Kash Patel, of committing perjury during his confirmation hearing, when Patel testified that he did not know about the Trump administration’s purge of top officials at the FBI. This is Senator Dick Durbin speaking during Senate debate on Tuesday.

Sen. Dick Durbin: “According to my whistleblower sources, Mr. Patel is receiving information from within the FBI from the director’s advisory team. Mr. Patel then provides direction to Stephen Miller, who relays it to the Acting Deputy Attorney General Bove. It is unacceptable for a nominee with no legal or current role in government to personally direct the unjustified and potentially illegal firings of dedicated, nonpartisan professionals at the FBI. If these allegations are true, then Mr. Patel may have committed perjury before the Senate Judiciary Committee.”

The Senate Judiciary has scheduled a Thursday vote on whether to recommend Kash Patel’s nomination to the full Senate. 

In Memphis, Tennessee, shocking new surveillance video shows four masked men in plainclothes hauling away restaurant workers in what city officials later confirmed was a raid by Immigration and Customs Enforcement. A social media account for restaurant owner TACOnganas Memphis posted the video online with the caption, “We don’t know if the men you see in the video work for ICE or for someone else. You’ll see they have no uniforms, do not show any badge or ID, and did not leave any identifying information or paperwork. If not for our security cameras, we would not even know this happened.”

This comes amid Trump’s mass deportation efforts and after prosecutors in at least three states have in recent weeks charged people with impersonating immigration law enforcement officers. The cases include a South Carolina man arrested for kidnapping a Latinx driver following a racist confrontation and a North Carolina man accused of using the false threat of deportation to extort sex.

Meanwhile, more than two dozen Christian and Jewish organizations filed a lawsuit in federal court Tuesday seeking to prevent ICE agents from conducting raids at houses of worship. 

In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, soldiers with the M23 insurgent group on Tuesday launched heavy attacks on Congolese army forces, breaking a two-day pause in fighting. M23 is now advancing toward Bukavu, another key city in the eastern DRC. Many residents were forced to flee amid fears of an imminent M23 attack, with schools and stores shut down. 

Rose-Victorine Sudila Mwembo: “Our school was badly hit. In fact, I don’t know if you’ve seen the other side. Even the buses that transported students were damaged. When you arrive here, you wonder: Will life ever return to normal? Will the children be able to focus on their lessons after everything they’ve witnessed, the bomb fragments, the destruction, seeing where the bullets landed? Will the students truly settle back into their routines?”

U.S. schoolteacher Marc Fogel has arrived in the United States after his release from a Russian prison, following three-and-a-half years in captivity after he was charged with carrying a small amount of medical marijuana. President Trump welcomed Fogel to the White House Tuesday night and said Russia would free another U.S. prisoner on Wednesday — without giving their name. Asked what Russia got in exchange, Trump said a “fair deal,” but would not elaborate.

The White House blocked a journalist with the Associated Press from covering Trump’s signing of a new executive order Tuesday, after AP refused to refer to the Gulf of Mexico as the “Gulf of America.” AP’s senior vice president and executive editor, Julie Pace, said in a statement, “Limiting our access to the Oval Office based on the content of AP’s speech not only severely impedes the public’s access to independent news, it plainly violates the First Amendment.” AP’s style book is used by journalists and other institutions worldwide. The U.S. Geological Service has officially adopted “Gulf of America” — as have Apple and Google Maps when searched by users in the U.S., caving to Trump’s executive order signed on his first day in office.

President Trump has directed the Treasury Department to stop producing new pennies. The proposal is raising further alarm on executive overreach, as it is Congress which authorizes the manufacturing of coins and oversees the U.S. Mint’s operations. Elon Musk’s DOGE has also lashed out at the cost of production, estimated at about 3 cents per penny. 

Trump has ordered the Environmental Protection Agency to revert to previous standards for light bulbs, as well as toilets, showers and other appliances that consume water. During his first term, Trump gutted long-standing water efficiency EPA rules, which were then brought back by the Biden administration. The changes came after Trump in 2019 claimed Americans were having to flush their toilets “10 times, 15 times, as opposed to once” and complaints by Trump that shower heads didn’t have enough pressure. Trump has also issued an executive order banning the federal use of paper straws, saying they “don’t work” and that he wants his government to exclusively use plastic.

The transition back to plastic straws has drawn alarm from ocean conservationists worldwide. Researchers estimate some 15 million tons of plastic enter the world’s oceans each year. This is Komang Sudiarta, founder of an anti-litter group in Bali, Indonesia.

Komang Sudiarta: “I’m very disappointed. An advanced country should be able to give a good example. They should be able to limit trash production. But if they’re back to using plastic straws, they’re going backwards. The impact is, in countries like ours, we’ll have to double down on how to reduce our own trash, especially these plastic straws.”