8 Palestinians killed by Israeli troops in shooting near aid distribution center, Gaza officials say
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(LONDON) — Israeli troops shot and killed at least eight Palestinians near a humanitarian aid distribution center in the Rafah, Gaza, early Saturday, according to hospital officials and Gaza’s Hamas-run Ministry of Health.
The deadly shooting occurred at the Al-Alam roundabout near an aid center west of Rafah city at around 6 a.m. local time, according to the health ministry. The area is approximately 1 kilometer from an aid distribution center, which the Israel Defense Forces considers an active combat zone during the night when the site is closed.
The Israeli- and U.S.-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation — which is running aid distribution in Gaza — closed its aid distribution sites on Friday, without giving a date on when they would reopen. Palestinians in Gaza remain at risk of extreme starvation and famine, the United Nations and other aid groups have warned.
Since May 27, when the aid distribution centers were established, more than 100 Palestinians have been killed and hundreds more have been wounded while trying to collect food from the sites, Gaza’s Hamas-run Government Media Office said.
The Nasser Medical Complex received four out of the eight deceased victims from the incident so far, a source at the hospital told ABC News.
The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation has not responded to ABC News’ request for comment.
The Israel Defense Forces said it “is aware of the reports of casualties.”
“Despite prior warnings that the area is an active combat zone during nighttime hours, several suspects attempted to approach IDF troops operating in the Tel al-Sultan area overnight (Saturday), in a manner that posed a threat to the troops,” the IDF told ABC News when asked for comment. “The troops called out to the suspects to drive them away, but as they continued advancing in a way that endangered the troops, the soldiers responded with warning shots.”
Reverend Dr. Johnnie Moore, the new chairman of GHF, told ABC News this week the organization “can’t control what happens outside” the distribution points and added that there have been incidents, “as one would expect, in a war, outside of our distribution sites.”
According to Moore, GHF — since it was set up 10 days ago — had distributed “10 million meals to Gazans, to thousands and thousands and thousands of people.” The GHF has not specified what it defines as a single “meal.”
(VATICAN CITY) — In the wake of the death of Pope Francis, the spotlight has been placed on the cardinals of the Roman Catholic Church as they gather for a secretive conclave to select the next pontiff.
Many of these clergymen are flocking to social media to share updates with the public, marking a stark difference to the last conclave in 2013 when digital platforms were not as established, according to Gustavo Entrala, a strategic communications consultant who previously worked with Pope Benedict XVI and Pope Francis.
“It’s clear that many cardinals are being more active right now on social media. That’s a huge contrast with the last conclave,” Entrala told ABC News.
Cardinal Isao Kukuchi, the archbishop of Tokyo, posted a selfie on a bus with other cardinals while they were en route to “pray in front of the tomb of Pope Francis” after his funeral on April 26.
Later, once the date of the conclave’s start was announced, Cardinal William Goh of Singapore immediately posted to X asking for people to “pray that we will choose the right candidate to be the successor of St. Peter to lead the Church in this complex world.”
Similarly, Cardinal Timothy Dolan, the archbishop of New York, has attained almost 300,000 followers on X, where he has been posting daily videos describing his activities in Rome and sharing some of the locations of meetings and mass leading up to the conclave.
While the idea of cardinals posting on social media has been a rising trend within the Catholic Church over the years, Entrala said the type of content has shifted slightly since Francis’ death.
“If you watched what [cardinals] were doing one month ago, it was more doctrinal, more spiritual and encouraging to their people, but now they are talking about the papacy and the process that they are going through now,” Entrala said. “I think their content is much more oriented to explaining everything surrounding the papacy and the conclave.”
The openness to share bits of information while in Rome can allow for audiences to feel a stronger connection and sense of relatability to these cardinals, Entrala said.
“People don’t want to see the priests and cardinals or bishops as very distant people who talk to you from high up. [Cardinals] know that that doesn’t work anymore,” Entrala said.
Regardless of the type of content, Entrala said he “cannot see any of them posting for the fact that they want to be elected” as pope.
Still, the willingness cardinals feel to share online could potentially lead to major consequences, according to Kurt Martens, professor at the Catholic University of America and a canon law expert.
“When cardinals post on social media, they have to be extremely careful that nothing that’s been said [in private meetings] gets out,” Martens told ABC News. “If I were a cardinal, I wouldn’t say anything to the media right now other than ‘we are all praying very hard’ and ‘pray for us.'”
Martens said if a cardinal shares any information from their general congregation meetings prior to the conclave — or from the conclave itself — they could be subject to sanctions. Overall, anyone who “directly or indirectly violates the secrecy incurs an excommunication,” which is the highest sanction one could have in the church, Martens said.
Another potential challenge the cardinals face when posting on social media is a slew of negative comments, according to Walter Scheirer, professor of engineering who researches internet culture at the University of Notre Dame. These comments, which Scheirer describes as a “continual mockery of whoever is posting,” typically relate to political partisanship, critiques about the church and other “long-standing problems,” including the church’s sex abuse crisis.
Scheirer told ABC News the problem is that the cardinals do not respond to those comments, eliminating the back-and-forth that he says is the “point of social media.”
“What you see, especially with a high-profile account of a cardinal, is they don’t respond back. You see a string of negative comments, but the public figure never really engages with that. I think that’s a little bit disappointing,” Scheirer said.
Despite the potential downsides, social media has given users more access to the world of the Catholic Church and changed its traditional patterns of hierarchy, according to Jana Bennett, religious studies professor at the University of Dayton.
These platforms have widened the net of possibilities for people to gain religious insight from, instead of only relying on their local parish, Bennett said.
“You can sort of choose your own bishop, choose the people that you see as authoritative, where before, there wasn’t that choice,” Bennett said.
Along with the cardinals, the last two popes, Benedict and Francis, have also embraced social media, with Benedict introducing the papal Twitter account, @Pontifex, back in 2012, Entrala said.
Entrala said Francis was also “extremely active” on the account during his papacy and expects the next pontiff to do the same, and perhaps even increase their digital media presence through livestreaming.
“The idea of meeting the pope and having a selfie with him was unimaginable before Pope Francis,” Entrala said. “I think the next pope will be a man of his time. Even if he is not savvy in terms of using social media, he will accept it, no problem.”
The conclave to elect the Catholic Church’s 267th leader will begin on May 7, according to the Vatican.
(WASHINGTON) — The Trump administration’s plan to accept a luxury jet donated by the Qatari government to use as Air Force One raises significant security concerns, intelligence experts and government officials say, as President Donald Trump said it would be “stupid” not to accept a free plane.
Trump on Monday defended the administration’s plans to receive a luxury jet donated by the Qatari government during remarks at the White House, calling the donation a “very nice gesture.”
“I would never be one to turn down that kind of an offer. I mean, I could be a stupid person and say, ‘No, we don’t want a free, very expensive airplane.’ But it was, I thought it was a great gesture,” he said.
Rhode Island Sen. Jack Reed, the top Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee, slammed the move, arguing that using the plane as Air Force One would “pose immense counterintelligence risks by granting a foreign nation potential access to sensitive systems and communications.”
“This reckless disregard for national security and diplomatic propriety signals a dangerous willingness to barter American interests for personal gain,” Reed said in a statement Monday. “It is an affront to the office of the presidency and a betrayal of the trust placed in any U.S. leader to safeguard the nation’s sovereignty.”
Air Force One a ‘high-value target’
The primary aircraft used in the current Air Force One fleet includes two aging Boeing 747-200 jumbo jets that have been operational since 1990. Despite flying for more than 35 years, the current pair of Air Force One jets are considered some of the safest and secure aircraft in the world.
Many of the security features on the plane remain classified. It has anti-missile defenses or countermeasure systems to protect against surface-to-air and air-to-air missiles, and the communication devices can also withstand the pulse of a nuclear blast. It is also outfitted with sophisticated communications capability to allow the president to securely run the country from the plane and protect him from cyberattacks.
“It’s designed to transport the president in a safe way and be able to withstand physical attacks, but to also ensure that the president maintains communication with military, his cabinet, other government leaders in a safe and secure manner,” said John Cohen, an ABC News contributor and former acting Homeland Security official. “Any building or vehicle or airplane that the president is located is a high-value target for foreign intelligence services who want to gather as much information about the president.”
Air Force One can also remain in the air for several days due to its ability to refuel in midair. The plane also houses a small medical facility where doctors could perform surgery if needed.
All of these systems would likely need to be installed on the Boeing 747-8 that Trump would receive as a gift from Qatar.
A jet donated by Qatar would also be a “counterintelligence nightmare,” ABC News contributor Darrell Blocker, a former CIA field operative, said.
“If you go back to almost anything that is given by a foreign government, there are regulations and restrictions and guidelines for ensuring that they’re not being bugged, and a plane would be an absolute nightmare to be able to confirm that it’s not,” Blocker told ABC News Live on Monday. “From an intelligence perspective, it’s not the brightest move.”
Blocker cited that when the U.S. embassy was being built in Moscow in the 1980s, the U.S. had to “take it down to its bare bones” because the Russians “put bugs through every room, every facility.”
“I think the people of Troy, when they accepted that horse, regretted it after the fact also,” he said.
The complexity and time needed to retrofit and inspect the plane raise questions on cost and a timeline.
“Even under the best of circumstances, it’s going to take a significant effort for the military to be satisfied that the aircraft is constructed safely, that it’s not compromised from the standpoint of intelligence collection capabilities being planted on it, and that it is built in a way that it will be able to assimilate the sensitive communications and countermeasure capabilities that are that are present on any plane that’s Air Force One,” Cohen said. “To be done right, it’s not going to happen quickly.”
“In order to adequately ensure that this airplane — which was operated by a foreign government that happens to have a relationship with Iran and China and Russia — in order to ensure that that plane has not had collection capabilities introduced into it when it was constructed, they’re gonna have to basically tear it down to the airframe,” he added.
White House working on ‘legal details’
ABC News has reached out to the White House for comment on the security concerns and has not yet received a response.
Both the U.S. Air Force and the Department of Defense referred questions to the White House when asked about the possible transfer of the Qatari-owned Boeing 747 to the Department of Defense.
House Speaker Mike Johnson said Monday he would not comment on Trump preparing to receive the jet from Qatar because he hasn’t seen the “details.”
The White House is working on the “legal details” of the Qatari government’s donation to the Defense Department, press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Monday in an appearance on Fox News.
“But, of course, any donation to this government is always done in full compliance with the law. And we commit ourselves to the utmost transparency and we will continue to do that,” Leavitt added.
Trump said during remarks at the White House on Monday that he doesn’t plan to use the plane after he leaves office. Pressed by ABC News Senior Political Correspondent Rachel Scott on what he would say to people who view the luxury plane as a personal gift to him, Trump said it was not a gift to him but “a gift to the Department of Defense.”
Sources familiar with the proposed arrangement told ABC News that the plane would be a gift that is to be available for use by Trump as the new Air Force One until shortly before he leaves office, at which time ownership of the plane will be transferred to the Trump presidential library foundation.
If a private contractor were able to complete the modifications needed to the donated plane before the end of Trump’s presidency, many of the systems installed would then need to be removed should the Trump presidential library foundation take possession of the plane upon Trump leaving office due to the sensitive nature of the technology.
Ultimately, Cohen said he suspects that members of the intelligence community and the military will assess the risk to national security and “the level of effort to minimize the risk to national security.”
“If they’re doing their job, the president’s national security team will explain to him the level of risk that exists if a foreign intelligence service were able to introduce collection capabilities that could intercept face-to-face communications on the plane, electronic communications coming from the plane,” Cohen said. “They should also be explaining to him the level of effort that it will involve in order for that risk to be mitigated. And with that information, he can then make an informed decision on whether and under what conditions to accept the airplane.”
(LONDON) — Russian President Vladimir Putin has announced a temporary ceasefire to come into effect during the 80th anniversary commemoration of V Day, which celebrates the victory of the Soviet Union over Nazi Germany in 1945.
The ceasefire will come into effect on May 8 and end on May 10, the Kremlin announced in a statement posted to its official Telegram channel Monday.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
