Israel’s defense minister said he has “released all restraints” on the Israel Defense Forces' troops in their fight against Hamas.

“Whoever comes to decapitate, murder women, Holocaust survivors — we will eliminate him at the height of our power and without compromise,” Yoav Gallant told soldiers during an inspection of the front line along Israel’s border with the Gaza Strip on Tuesday.

“Hamas wanted a change in Gaza, it will change 180 degrees from what he thought. They will regret this moment. Gaza will never return to what it was,” Gallant said, calling Hamas the "ISIS of Gaza."

The minister visited the IDF’s Gaza division headquarters in the Re’im military base. He also spoke to Shaldag fighters, paratroopers and soldiers at kibbutz Be’eri, one of the sites Hamas first targeted over the weekend.

The first supply of US weapons since Israel faced a devastating attack by Hamas arrived in Israel late Tuesday evening, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said in a statement.

“This evening a plane carrying advanced armaments landed at the Nevatim Airbase in southern Israel this evening," the IDF said. "The armaments are designed to facilitate significant military operations and increase preparedness for other scenarios."
“We are grateful for the US backing and assistance to the IDF, and to the State of Israel in general, during this challenging period. Our common enemies know that the cooperation between our militaries is stronger than ever, and is a key part in ensuring regional security and stability,” the statement said.

Earlier Tuesday, President Joe Biden pledged that the US would make sure Israel has the tools it needs to defend itself and that it was surging military assistance to Israel.

After Donald Trump’s combative posts on Truth Social during his New York fraud trial, U.S. Department of Justice special counsel Jack Smith has requested safeguards for jurors in the lead-up to the former president’s trial in federal court in D.C. related to alleged election interference. Last week, Trump disparaged Judge Arthur Engoron’s chief clerk, Allison Greenfield, sharing a photo of her posing with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and calling it “palling around.” Smith gave his rationale behind the request for protections, saying “chief among them is the defendant’s continued use of social media as a weapon of intimidation in court proceedings.” He asked U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan to administer a questionnaire that would excuse possible jurors without requiring them to appear in court and provide “reasonable boundaries” that would prevent the public identification of potential and chosen jurors. Chutkan will hold a hearing on Smith’s request for a broader gag order on October 16.

Just hours after Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced he would run for president as an independent, more than $11 million gushed to the coffers of the super PAC supporting him.

American Values 2024 said it raised $11.28 million in just six hours following Kennedy’s announcement in Philadelphia on Indigenous People’s Day, according to a press release.

“Millions of independent-minded Americans are seeing through the most powerful censorship and propaganda campaign against any candidate in American political history,” said Tony Lyons, a co-founder of the PAC, in the press release. “They are angry at the DNC for attempting to disenfranchise them, eager to support an honest Democrat and more open than ever before in American history to an Independent and honest candidate.”

Lyons is also in talks with billionaire-entrepreneur Elon Musk to court his support, he said in an interview with POLITICO following Kennedy’s speech in Philadelphia. Lyons declined to share details of their discussions or any potential contributions on Monday.

Former Rep. Tom Suozzi (D-N.Y.) signaled Tuesday that he plans to run for his old seat in New York’s 3rd Congressional District and challenge embattled Rep. George Santos (R), who also faces a number of Republican challengers.

“Today I’m filing a committee to run for Congress in November 2024. The madness in Washington, DC, and the absurdity of George Santos remaining in the United States Congress is obvious to everyone,” Suozzi said in a statement.

A Newsday/Siena College poll of registered voters in New York’s 3rd District in January found an overwhelming number of those voters wanted Santos to resign, by a margin of 78 percent to 13 percent.

Federal prosecutors in May charged Santos with 13 counts, including wire fraud, money laundering and theft of public funds.

Suozzi, 61, held the seat in the 3rd District from January 2017 to January 2023 and gave it up to run for governor in the 2022 election, when he lost in the Democratic primary to Gov. Kathy Hochul.

https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/4247486-suozzi-george-santos-election-house-new-york/

House Republicans are set to hear on Tuesday from the two declared candidates for Speaker: House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) and House Judiciary Committee Chair Jim Jordan (R-Ohio).

Neither Scalise, nor Jordan — nor former Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), who on Monday left the door open to a second bid — has emerged as a clear front-runner.

The Tuesday evening forum comes as the GOP enters a critical stretch, during which the conference must select a nominee and hold a Speaker election on the House floor — all while eyeing a fast-approaching funding deadline and war in Israel.

Follow along with live updates below.


https://thehill.com/homenews/house/4247487-republicans-speaker-candidates-live-coverage/