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‘Heartbreaking’: USAID staffers clear out desks after DOGE layoffs

February 27, 2025 by WDNY Radio

(WASHINGTON) — Several U.S. Agency for International Development staffers cleared out their offices at the agency’s Washington headquarters on Thursday, saying they were disheartened after Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency laid them off or placed them on leave.

“The more I talk about it, the more I want to cry,” said Amanda, who worked in science and technology at USAID and did not want to share her last name out of fear of retribution, as she waited to enter the building to get her things. “It’s heartbreaking.”

Many staffers said they received an email late Sunday informing them they were placed on administrative leave and were later assigned 15-minute windows to enter the building and gather their belongings. Worldwide, 4,080 USAID workers were placed on leave on Monday, and there was a “reduction in force” of an additional 1,600 workers, a State Department spokesman told the Associated Press.

Those picking up their belongings on Thursday were cheered on by hundreds of friends, family and supporters outside as they exited the building with bankers boxes, reusable bags and suitcases.

“It feels profoundly disrespectful to workers, to people who are dedicating themselves to making things better globally, making things better elsewhere so that they don’t come here, so the problems don’t come here,” Melissa, who also did not share her last name, said of the short time they were allotted.

She previously worked on democracy programs in Ukraine and anti-corruption efforts.

“I mean and we’re all people, right,” she added. “We have kids to take care of, we have parents to take [care] of who are aging and we’re all struggling with that as well.”

Caitlin Harwood, a mother of a 4-year-old girl and a 9-month-old, said she is “worried” about her next paycheck and is unsure what is next for her.

A country desk officer with USAID for Mozambique, she told ABC News that while she believes the government could be made more efficient, she takes issue with the way Musk’s team has done it.

“I think there’s a way to go about that. I don’t think anybody would have been as terrified as they are now if they had come through and said we are going to have a program review,” Harwood said.

“So, this is not efficiency, and it’s actually costing the American people billions in dollars in wasted food, wasted medicine,” Harwood added.

Ben Thompson worked in communications prior to being laid off by USAID and said he had been under a “communications freeze” since the early days of the Trump administration.

“Powerful, evil men are targeting a lot of good people who have dedicated their lives to something bigger than themselves, which is something that somebody like Elon [Musk] can’t relate to,” Thompson told reporters. “This clearly isn’t about government waste, fraud and abuse. He’s not going through with a fine-toothed comb — he’s tearing down our institutions for fun.”

Samantha Power, the USAID administrator under former President Joe Biden, went inside the Ronald Reagan Building, which houses the agency’s headquarters, and spoke with workers Thursday morning.

“What is being done is one of the biggest blunders in American foreign policy history. It is one that generations of Americans will look back on in horror,” Power told ABC News. “But the way it’s being done, the cruelty, the savagery, the mercilessness, is an outrage, and it should, whatever you think about foreign assistance — to treat American public servants who want to do nothing more than serve their country, serve the American people, to treat them in the way they are being treated should chill and horrify all of us.”

Power said she hoped USAID workers “remember the lives you’ve touched.”

Some supporters gathered outside had traveled hours to be in Washington to cheer on workers as they exited the building.

Diana Putman told ABC News she drove 3 1/2 hours to get to Washington from Pennsylvania that morning “because I needed to be here to support my colleagues.”

Putman retired from USAID in 2022 after spending her entire decadeslong career with the agency. She followed in the footsteps of her father, who had begun working with USAID in March 1962 — just five months after it was founded.

“USAID literally is the preeminent development agency of the world, and our soft power has meant so, so much around the world for the last 60-plus years,” Putman said. “The positive face of the American people will no longer be seen around the world.”

When supporters arrived, black tape had been placed over the name of USAID on the signs outside of the Ronald Reagan Building. Kate Parsons, a worker who was laid off last week from the the USAID Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance, ripped the tape off. She said she’d come out to support her colleagues.

“I don’t know who put that tape up, but I know that USAID is still here. We are still here,” Parsons told ABC News.

“Only Congress can shut down USAID — it’s a government agency. The current leadership is trying to dismantle it. They’re trying to do it so quickly and so sloppily that people don’t notice or people can’t stop it, but they haven’t fired us all yet,” Parsons added. “This fight is not done yet.”

USAID workers said they want the public to be proud of the work they did.

“We love the American people. We’re here to serve. That’s what bureaucrats are,” Harwood, the mom of two young children, said when asked about her message to the public. “We are nonpartisan. We had a mission. We were so proud to serve it. And we hope we did you proud.”

FBI Director Kash Patel wants to bring the UFC to the FBI, sources say

February 27, 2025 by WDNY Radio

(WASHINGTON) — Newly-installed FBI Director Kash Patel, whose proclaimed plans to overhaul the nation’s premier law enforcement agency have rattled many within the bureau, has proposed enhancing the FBI’s ranks with help from the United Fighting Championship, the martial-arts entertainment giant whose wealthy CEO, Dana White, helped boost President Donald Trump’s reelection, according to sources who were told of Patel’s proposal.

On a teleconference Wednesday with the heads of the FBI’s 55 field offices, Patel suggested that he wants the FBI to establish a formal relationship with the UFC, which could develop programs for agents to improve their physical fitness, said sources who had been briefed on Wednesday’s call.

The virtual meeting with each field office’s special-agent-in-charge has long been a weekly occurrence, but this week’s call was the first led by Patel, who was sworn in as director on Friday.

Within hours of Wednesday’s call, word of Patel’s UFC proposal spread to current and former FBI officials around the country.

“If they’re trying to up their physical fitness, the UFC is very specific in their fitness,” said ABC News contributor Rich Frankel, the former special agent in charge of the FBI’s Newark, New Jersey, office.

It’s not clear exactly what Patel would want UFC to do or provide to help improve fitness among FBI ranks.

Though Patel’s UFC proposal stood out to some who heard about the meeting, Patel addressed a range of issues on the call, according to sources.

The new director tried to calm some of the concerns among FBI agents after the Justice Department last month demanded a list of the thousands of agents who aided investigations stemming from the Jan. 6, 2021, assault on the U.S. Capitol and suggested that even those just following orders could be fired, the sources said.

There were also concerns about Patel’s recent announcement that as many as 1,500 employees at FBI headquarters in Washington, D.C, would be reassigned to field offices and to an FBI office in Huntsville, Alabama. And last week’s controversial email from the Office of Personnel Management demanding that all federal employees list what they had accomplished over the previous week or face termination only added to concerns within the FBI, sources said.

During Wednesday’s call, Patel expressed his own concerns about that email and with confusing follow-up messages from the Trump administration’s new Department of Government Efficiency, which has been guided by billionaire businessman Elon Musk, sources said.

Patel, on the call, also touted the FBI’s work fighting crime and national security threats, and he asked the FBI officials to give him a chance to prove himself as their new leader, sources said. But he also warned them that he would not tolerate “leaks” or what he sees as other forms of insubordination.

Nevertheless, it was Patel’s proposal to ask the UFC for help that quickly created some buzz within the FBI community. UFC is based in Las Vegas, where Patel now lives.

White, who is estimated to be worth hundreds of millions of dollars, has long been friends with Trump and last year became a big donor to Trump’s presidential campaign. He joined Trump on stage in Florida during Trump’s victory speech in November just hours after polls closed on Election Day.

During the speech, Trump recalled how he “helped [White] out a little bit” years earlier when no one else was willing to host UFC fights, claiming that UFC is now “one of the most successful sports enterprises anywhere at any time.”

Trump also said that UFC “is the roughest sport I’ve ever seen,” featuring fighters who “really go at it.”

Just days after Trump won the election in November, Trump attended a heavily-promoted UFC fight at Madison Square Garden in New York City, where he sat in the front row between White and Musk.

Frankel, who spent more than two decades with the FBI, said the FBI may benefit from increasing its physical fitness standards — so the idea of the UFC helping with the FBI’s training regimen may not be as unusual as it sounds.

He said some FBI offices have previously brought in martial arts experts and others to offer tips to agents.

But, said Frankel, “I don’t want UFC to take over the gym.”

Asked about Patel’s proposal to collaborate with the UFC, an FBI representative declined to comment to ABC News.

Pope Francis continues to improve in the hospital, Vatican says

February 27, 2025 by WDNY Radio

(LONDON and oROME) — Pope Francis’ condition continued to improve on Thursday, with the pontiff alternating between high-flow oxygen therapy and ventimask, according to the Vatican.

“Given the complexity of his clinical condition, further days of clinical stability are needed to clarify the prognosis,” the Vatican said.

The pope dedicated the morning to respiratory physiotherapy and rest. After a session of physiotherapy, in the afternoon, he gathered in prayer in the chapel of the private apartment on the 10th floor, receiving the Eucharist. The pope then dedicated himself to work activities, according to the Vatican.

The Vatican said that the pope “slept well during the night and is now resting” peacefully on Thursday morning as the pontiff begins his 14th day in hospital.

Pope Francis’ condition improved slightly on Wednesday, though officials said they “remain guarded” over his prognosis, according to the Vatican.

The slight renal insufficiency the pope had in recent days has subsided and a Tuesday CAT scan of the chest showed a normal evolution of the pulmonary inflammatory picture.

The blood chemistry and blood cell count tests carried out Wednesday have confirmed the pope’s improvement, but he remains on high-flow oxygen therapy and did not have any asthmatic-like respiratory crises.

The pontiff, who has led the Catholic Church since 2013, was diagnosed with pneumonia last week, according to the Vatican.

Over 60 deaths linked to ‘unknown disease’ in Congo: WHO

February 27, 2025 by WDNY Radio

(DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO) — At least 60 people have died and over 1,000 more have been sickened by a deadly “unknown disease” spreading in a region of the Democratic Republic of Congo, the World Health Organization said.

Local health officials in Congo are partnering with the World Health Organization to investigate.

The phrase “unknown disease” primarily means that the disease has not yet been identified.

In previous cases, the cases are linked to a known disease, but a lack of available testing leads to lack of certainty.

For example, there was a separate report of an “unknown disease” in December of last year in Congo that was later attributed to illnesses from malaria and respiratory illnesses.

Local health officials have identified a surge of cases and deaths three times in different areas of the country in recent months.

A total of 1,096 sick people have been identified along with 60 deaths. Symptoms include fever, headache, chills, sweating, stiff neck, muscle aches, multiple joint pain and body aches, a runny or bleeding from nose, cough, vomiting and diarrhea.

Initial lab tests have been negative for Ebola and Marburg. Around half of samples tested have been positive for malaria, which is common in the area. Tests continue to be carried out for meningitis. Officials are also looking into food and water contamination.

Early investigations traced the outbreak’s origin to three kids, all under 5 years old, who developed symptoms after eating a bat carcass.

Symptoms included fever, headache, diarrhea and fatigue – which later progressed to signs associated with hemorrhagic fevers and death.

“The remote location and weak healthcare infrastructure increase the risk of further spread,” the WHO notes in its report.

Major medical groups push back against Trump administration’s ‘sex-based definitions’

February 27, 2025 by WDNY Radio

(WASHINGTON) — Some major medical associations are pushing back against the Department of Health and Human Services’ updated definitions of biological sex in federal policy in the wake of President Donald Trump’s executive order.

HHS issued new guidance on Feb. 19 where it said it “recognizes there are only two sexes: male and female,” adding: “HHS will use these definitions and promote policies acknowledging that women are biologically female and men are biologically male.”

“There is extensive scientific research that supports the complexity of sex and gender beyond binary classifications,” American Psychological Association CEO Arthur C. Evans Jr., Ph.D., told ABC News in a statement. “The new restrictive definition of sex ignores decades of science, increasing harm to youth and families, while undermining critical mental health outcomes.”

The new HHS guidance for the federal government defines “sex” as “a person’s immutable biological classification as either male or female.” It further defines “female” as “a person of the sex characterized by a reproductive system with the biological function of producing eggs (ova)” and “male” as “a person of the sex characterized by a reproductive system with the biological function of producing sperm.” It additionally defines the definition of a “woman” as “an adult human female” and a “man” as “an adult human male.”

The updated HHS guidance also includes definitions for “father” as describing a “male parent” and “mother” as describing a “female parent.”

The HHS guidance doesn’t mention intersex individuals — people born with sex characteristics that don’t fit typical definitions of male or female. The National Institutes of Health estimates that about .018% of the population is considered intersex.

The federal government previously defined “sex” in broader terms.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, one of HHS’ agencies, defines sex as “an individual’s biological status as male, female, or something else. Sex is assigned at birth and associated with physical attributes, such as anatomy and chromosomes.”

The CDC’s website defines gender as “the cultural roles, behaviors, activities and attributes expected of people based on their sex.”

After Trump took office, the administration ordered the CDC and the Food and Drug Administration to remove certain public health websites, including the CDC’s page with more gender-inclusive definitions, which were then taken offline. A judge granted a temporary restraining order to restore the pages after organizations filed lawsuits.

A banner at the top of the CDC page currently states: “Per a court order, HHS is required to restore this website as of 11:59PM ET, February 14, 2025. Any information on this page promoting gender ideology is extremely inaccurate and disconnected from the immutable biological reality that there are two sexes, male and female.”

The HHS did not include its own definition of gender in its updated guidance posted Feb. 19.

The second Trump administration has issued a number of executive orders targeting the transgender population, and a number of lawsuits have been filed to challenge them.

Human biology is complex, and not all individuals fit neatly into binary categories, Evans told ABC News.

“We cannot just ignore the biological science that some people are born with a difference of sex development (DSD),” Evans said in his statement. “DSD are congenital conditions where the development of anatomical, chromosomal or gonadal sex is atypical. It is important that we support access to psychological and medical interventions for such individuals who do not fall into the male or female category, putting them at a higher risk of depression and anxiety.”

Evans also said the new HHS definitions excluded the concept of gender identity.

“It is crucial to recognize the psychological science on the validity of gender identity, as it allows for a more accurate understanding of individual experiences beyond the binary framework of biological sex,” he said. “Research consistently shows that affirming both sex and gender identity is vital for promoting mental health and well-being.”

In its updated guidance, HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said the Trump administration “is bringing back common sense and restoring biological truth to the federal government. The prior administration’s policy of trying to engineer gender ideology into every aspect of public life is over.”

The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists said in a statement that it will not change its current definitions of sex and gender, and will use inclusive language “to recognize and affirm all people who seek and receive care from obstetrician-gynecologists.”

The ACOG also called on researchers to diversify studies by including gender-expansive participants and to report study participant characteristics inclusively by using language beyond traditional binary descriptors.

The American Academy of Family Physicians noted its long-standing policy on care for transgender and nonbinary patients, saying in a statement that it will continue to recognize that “diversity in gender identity and expression is a normal part of human existence and does not represent pathology.” It further asserted that “medical decisions are best made by patients, their families and their physicians, supported by medical evidence.”

The American Academy of Pediatrics said it will comply with all applicable executive orders as the law requires. “The AAP continues to hold that medical decisions are best made by patients, their families and their physicians, supported by medical evidence,” the organization said in a statement.

The American Medical Association’s policy on the Medical Spectrum of Gender, first enacted in 2018, appears to remain unchanged. It “affirms that an individual’s genotypic sex, phenotypic sex, sexual orientation, gender and gender identity are not always aligned or indicative of the other, and that gender for many individuals may differ from the sex assigned at birth,” according to the policy.

HHS spokesperson Andrew Nixon told ABC News the department has no comment.

ABC News has reached out to the White House for comment.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said on Thursday, a day after HHS updated its guidance, that Trump “reestablished the scientific and biological truth that there are only two sexes in this country — male and female — that those are biologically based determinations. They are not based and can never be based on gender identity.”

Dr. Allia Vaez is a family medicine resident at Southern Regional AHEC and a member of the ABC News Medical Unit.

At least 10 injured after car rams into bus stop in Israel

February 27, 2025 by WDNY Radio

(LONDON) — At least 10 people have been injured after a car rammed into a bus stop in Israel, at Karkur Junction, according to Israeli police.

The suspect is a 53-year-old Palestinian from the Jenin area who is married to an Israeli citizen and living in Israel without a permit, according to police.

The driver ran over and injured several civilians standing at the bus stop, police said. The driver has been “neutralized,” police said.

A 17-year-old girl was critically injured, two others seriously wounded, one moderately injured and six others suffered minor injuries, police said.

The critically injured teen suffered head and limb injuries and is now sedated and ventilated, according to Magen David Adom, the Israeli emergency services agency. A 60-year-old male with head and limb injuries has also been sedated and ventilated and a 19-year-old female with head injuries is conscious, Magen David Adom said. A 18-year-old female with limb injuries is in moderate condition and is fully conscious.

“It was a severe scene. When we arrived with large forces, we saw the injured, some of them lying on a dirt mound behind the bus stop,” Orly Keinan, an EMT with the group, said. “They told us they were hit by a vehicle that had mounted the sidewalk and fled. We provided them with lifesaving treatment, including stopping bleeding, bandaging, and immobilization, before evacuating them to Hillel Yaffe Medical Center.”

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

Andrew Tate and brother land in Florida after Romanian travel restrictions lifted

February 27, 2025 by WDNY Radio

(LONDON) — Controversial influencers Andrew and Tristan Tate have landed in Florida, after Romanian officials announced that court restrictions prohibiting them from leaving Romania while awaiting trial were lifted.

The pair were traveling aboard a private jet after being allowed to leave Romania, according to a source close to the brothers.

Their spokesperson shared a live feed of the plane arriving in Fort Lauderdale late Thursday morning.

The charges against the Tates remain in force, and they will be expected to return to Romania for court appearances, according to a statement from Romania’s Directorate for Investigating Organized Crime and Terrorism, or DIICOT.

The brothers had been confined to Romania since late 2022 when they were arrested on allegations of human trafficking, sexual abuse, money laundering and forming an organized criminal group.

They were charged in 2023 and have denied the allegations.

The Tates’ departure follows reports that Trump administration officials had lobbied Romania to lift a travel ban on them while they are awaiting trial.

A lawyer for an American woman who is one of the key alleged victims in the Romanian criminal case against Andrew Tate condemned the Trump administration after he was allowed to leave Romania.

“It seems clear the U.S. intervened in Romania to assist the Tate brothers who are being prosecuted for sex trafficking over 35 women including minors,” Dani Pinter, senior vice president at the National Center on Sexual Exploitation, said in a statement. “This is a slap in the face to all the victims of the Tate brothers especially the U.S. victim who is not being protected by her country.”

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said his office had no involvement in the case and found out through the media that the brothers were traveling to Florida.

“But the reality is, no, Florida is not a place where you’re welcome with that type of conduct in the air,” he said when asked by a reporter at an unrelated press conference on Thursday if Andrew Tate is welcome in Florida.

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

Measles cases reported in New Jersey, Kentucky amid ongoing outbreak in Texas

February 27, 2025 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — More measles cases are being confirmed across the United States as health officials work to treat patients in an ongoing outbreak in Texas.

The Kentucky Department for Public Health (KDPH) and the Franklin County Health Department announced on Wednesday a confirmed case of measles in an adult resident, the first in the state in two years.

The departments said the resident recently traveled internationally to an area where measles is spreading.

Meanwhile, in New Jersey, health officials confirmed two new measles cases in Bergen County linked to a patient whose case was confirmed earlier this month.

Officials haven’t found any links between the cases in Kentucky and New Jersey, and there’s no evidence the cases in Kentucky or New Jersey are connected to the outbreak in Texas, which has so far sickened 124 people and led to one death in an unvaccinated school-aged child.

Kentucky health officials are now attempting to contact anyone the infected resident may have come into contact with. The resident attended a Planet Fitness in Frankfort on Feb. 17 while contagious, officials said.

“Measles is one of the most contagious viruses in the world,” KDPH Commissioner Dr. Steven Stack said in a statement. “Fortunately, measles can be prevented with the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine, which is safe and effective. Vaccines are an essential tool to keep children and adults safe and healthy.”

An official briefed on the situation told ABC News on Thursday that the new cases in New Jersey are members of the same family and were not vaccinated. Because they are in the same family, public health officials are hopeful public spread will have been limited.

The original case tested positive after traveling internationally. The New Jersey Department of Health said people may have been exposed to measles if they visited Englewood Hospital’s Emergency Department on Feb. 5.

Health officials said people who were exposed could develop symptoms until as late as March 6.

Measles is one of the most contagious diseases known to humans. Just one infected patient can spread measles to up to nine out of 10 susceptible close contacts, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Health officials have been urging anyone who isn’t vaccinated to receive the measles, mumps, rubella (MMR) vaccine.

The CDC currently recommends that people receive two vaccine doses, the first at ages 12 to 15 months and the second between 4 and 6 years old. One dose is 93% effective, and two doses are 97% effective. Most vaccinated adults don’t need a booster.

Measles was declared eliminated from the U.S. in 2000 due to the highly effective vaccination program, according to the CDC. However, CDC data shows vaccination rates have been lagging in recent years.

ABC News’ Matt Foster contributed to this report.

Trump hosts UK’s Keir Starmer for Ukraine talks amid disagreement over security guarantees

February 27, 2025 by WDNY Radio

(WASHINGTON) — President Donald Trump is hosting United Kingdom Prime Minister Keir Starmer at the White House on Thursday.

The two leaders will hold a bilateral meeting in the Oval Office shortly after noon ET before a press conference in the East Room slated for 2 p.m. ET.

Senior administration officials told reporters that much of the conversations between Trump and Starmer will focus on a peaceful resolution for the Russia-Ukraine war.

The meeting comes after Europe was left out of talks between the U.S. and Russia on how to end Russian President Vladimir Putin’s brutal invasion of Ukraine, which recently stretched into its fourth year.

Trump has since said Europe will have to bear primary responsibility for any security guarantees for Ukraine, as nations such as France and the United Kingdom urge the U.S. to support peacekeeping efforts post-conflict.

“Well, I’m not going to make security guarantees beyond very much,” Trump said at his first Cabinet meeting on Wednesday. “We’re going to have Europe do that because it’s in, you know, we’re talking about Europe is the next-door neighbor, but we’re going to make sure everything goes well.”

Trump also implied the mineral resource deal between the U.S. and Ukraine would be “automatic security,” because the U.S. will be investing in the nation and that would serve as a barrier to Russia.

Starmer has said he will ensure the United Kingdom is a “leading country” in European nations stepping up to support Ukraine, but said there needs to be a U.S. “backstop” to deter Putin.

“I don’t believe it will be a guarantee if there isn’t the U.S. backstop behind those security guarantees,” Starmer said after European leaders held an emergency meeting in Paris on Ukraine last week as Trump officials gathered with Russian counterparts in Saudi Arabia.

Administration officials said the U.S. has been in constant contact with European partners and providing updates on negotiations regarding an agreement to end the war.

Meanwhile, Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskyy is expected to travel to Washington, D.C., on Friday.

Ukraine is working to win a U.S. security agreement as part of the proposed minerals deal, Zelenskyy told reporters in Kyiv on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskyy is expected to travel to Washington, D.C., on Friday.

Ukraine is working to win a U.S. security agreement as part of the proposed minerals deal, Zelenskyy told reporters in Kyiv on Wednesday.

“I would say that there’s a balance between the size of the force needed and the strength of the diplomacy that backstops that, that secures it,” an official said.

“If that conflict level, as we want, is dialed down to a functional ceasefire, they would have fewer concerns … So the type of force depends very much on the political self settlement that is made to end the war,” the official continued. “And I think that trade off is what the leaders today, part of what the leaders today are going to be discussing.”

Israel will not withdraw from Philadelphi corridor as stipulated in ceasefire

February 27, 2025 by WDNY Radio

(LONDON) — Israel will not withdraw from the Philadelphi corridor — the border separating Egypt and Gaza — as stipulated by the ceasefire agreement between Hamas and Israel, an Israeli official confirmed to ABC News.

“We will not allow Hamas murderers to once again roam our borders with pickup trucks and guns, and we will not allow them to rebuild strength from smuggling,” an Israeli official said in a statement.

The Philadelphi corridor was one of the main sticking points in negotiations between Israel and Hamas for months before the current ceasefire deal was reached. This refusal could lead to a crisis with both Hamas and Egypt, the key mediator, at a delicate time for the already fragile truce.

Israel was supposed to begin withdrawing from the Philadelphi corridor — and the entire Gaza Strip — on Saturday, the last day of the first phase of the ceasefire agreement. Israel was to complete its withdrawal from the corridor within eight days.

Management of the corridor is a red line for Hamas, which had refused to accept ceasefire proposals that did not require Israel to withdraw its troops from the border region.

Israeli officials have said in recent months that they believed the Israeli army had to stay in the Philadelphi corridor to prevent weapons being smuggled through the Egyptian border, back into Gaza, though Israel has destroyed tunnels in that area.

Defense Minister Israel Katz said at a meeting with local leaders that he had seen tunnels penetrating the border on a recent visit to the corridor.

Former Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant had publicly opposed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s insistence that Israel must remain in the corridor — and in the Netzarim corridor, which divides north and south Gaza — to maintain its security and achieve its military goals and maintain its security.

In August, then-Israel Defense Forces Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi said holding on to any part of Gaza or the Philadelphi corridor are conditions Israel should not use as an excuse to break a potential deal with Hamas. The Israeli army can deal with both being out of Gaza and giving up control of Philadelphi, according to Halevi.

The first phase of the ceasefire ends on Saturday.

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

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