Crooked Media - What A Day: Blackout Friday

Lines of communication in and out of Gaza were severed on Friday as Israeli military forces moved into the enclave. 
 

• Widespread internet and cellular outages were reported in the Gaza Strip on Friday night. This came as Israel Defense Forces escalated bombardment of the enclave and announced that some ground forces had entered the territory, but it’s unclear whether or not this constitutes the start of a full ground invasion. International agencies and news agencies said they were cut off from their teams within Gaza, with aid groups warning that the outage would make it difficult for residents to access emergency medical services.
   

• The situation for Gaza's 2.2 million residents is already precarious, with over one million displaced from their homes, aid groups warning that food and water are running dangerously low as relief supplies are blocked from entering the strip, and one-third of the territory's hospitals already shut due to fuel shortages, with more expected to close soon, according to the United Nations. Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant told reporters that Israel expects to soon launch a ground invasion that will “take a long time” but was necessary to dismantle Hamas’ underground network and to destroy “pockets of resistance.” Little is known about the tunnels or other Hamas infrastructure, though the tunnels are thought to stretch for miles, and are suspected to house the 200 or more hostages the group has held since October 7. 
   

• The White House has continually warned Israel about the need to protect civilian life in Gaza and abide by the rules of war as outlined by the Geneva Conventions, but in a Friday news briefing, national security spokesperson John Kirby would not comment on Israel’s decision to expand its ground operation. He repeated the administration’s support of Israel’s right to defend itself, and said, “We’re not drawing red lines,” or dictating limits to the country’s leadership.

Importantly, however, Kirby also stressed that the United States has “had and will continue to have conversations with [the Israeli government] about the manner in which they're [executing their military strategy]. And we have not been shy about expressing our concerns over civilian casualties, collateral damage, and the approach that they might choose to take. That's what friends can do, and we're friends.”
 

• The Biden administration is privately urging Israel to defer its plans for a ground offensive in the Gaza Strip, according to The Washington Post, which spoke to five federal officials familiar with the discussions. The White House wants Israel to pursue a more “surgical” special operation with raids on high-value Hamas targets and infrastructure, especially since the death toll in Gaza now exceeds 7,000. Senior Biden administration officials are now concerned that an invasion would both fail in eradicating Hamas and possibly derail ongoing negotiations for the safe return of the hostages. They also worry that a ground invasion would result in even more deaths of civilians and Israeli soldiers alike. 
   

• The Post also unearthed new intelligence details partly answering how Hamas militants were able to break through Israel’s border defenses during the October 7 attack. Hamas simultaneously attacked at least seven Israeli military posts across the border, systematically disabling key communication and warning systems using snipers and commercial drones armed with explosives. This allowed its militants to advance deep into Israeli territory with almost no resistance, as well as throwing off any subsequent response from the IDF. Eyal Hulata, the head of Israel’s National Security Council from 2021 to 2023, said, “There weren’t enough soldiers, there weren’t enough capabilities.” He added, “The first line of defense became the last line of defense, and this should never happen. Israel knows that.” 

Gaza is dark, and more than 200 hostages remain in Hamas captivity. On Friday, the U.N. General Assembly approved a nonbinding resolution calling for a “humanitarian truce” in Gaza, the body’s first official response to the war. The vote was 120 in favor, with 45 abstentions and 14 against, including the United States.

Exciting news for Worldos everywhere! We’re thrilled to announce that we’re rolling out extended episodes of Pod Save the World, now ad-free exclusively for our Friends of the Pod Subscribers. Not only are we ditching interruptions, we’re adding a new bi-weekly bonus segment where Tommy and Ben dive deeper into the topics that matter most to you, by answering subscriber-submitted questions straight from our Friends of the Pod Discord community. To enjoy the ad-free Pod Save the World experience and the exclusive Q&A segment, join us today at Crooked.com/friends.

After more than two weeks of testimony in one of the most high-profile fraud trials in Silicon Valley history, disgraced FTX founder and CEO Sam Bankman-Fried took the stand on Friday. For five and a half hours, Bankman-Fried tried to undermine the prosecution’s claim that he knowingly directed his employees and advisors to misappropriate billions of dollars in customer money, essentially using the company as his personal slush fund. The former CEO said he believed all the money that FTX ended up spending on real estate in the Bahamas (sigh), campaign contributions, and stakes in other cryptocurrency companies came from legitimate, above-board corporate resources. He, of course, gave the classic CEO “Mistakes were made!” line of defense as well. The jury has been presented with numerous photos of the lavish lifestyle to which Bankman-Fried and his associates treated themselves in the Bahamas. The luxury accommodations, including Bankman-Fried’s $40 million penthouse, were allegedly paid for out of a pool of $10 billion in customer deposits. The prosecution’s key witnesses included numerous former FTX employees and (presumably also former) close friends and coworkers of Bankman-Fried. Three former top executives associated with the scheme have already pleaded guilty and begun cooperating with prosecutors early in the investigation.

Friday marks the five-year anniversary of the mass shooting at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh, PA, which killed eleven people and wounded six more. It was the deadliest act of antisemitic violence in United States history. 

At Grand Central Station in New York City on Friday, hundreds of protesters—organized by the group Jewish Voice for Peace—held a rally in support of the Palestinian people and calling for a ceasefire in Gaza.

Artforum magazine fired its top editor of six years, David Velasco, after the magazine published an open letter on its website calling for Palestinian liberation and a ceasefire. Velasco has worked at the magazine since 2005. Nearly 50 Artforum employees and contributors signed a different letter demanding Velasco be reinstated, another editor resigned in protest, and several prominent artists said they would boycott the publication unless he is returned to his position.   

Three of disgraced former president Donald Trump's adult children are scheduled to testify in the former president’s civil fraud trial, after Ivanka Trump lost her bid to be exempted from testimony. 

Maine police continued their manhunt on Friday for Robert Card, the man suspected of committing the largest mass shooting in 2023 so far on Wednesday in Lewiston, ME. 

American defense contractors like Lockheed Martin are seeing huge profits from the U.S. government’s supply orders as it continues to support Ukraine in its fight against Russian invasion.

Los Angeles isn’t known for being walkable. But the fantasy Los Angeles of our gay, progressive dreams? That’s a different story. 

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A historic legal filing by government prosecutors in Rio de Janeiro is seeking slavery reparations from Brazil’s oldest bank, Banco do Brasil. If the lawsuit is successful, the reparations will be paid to descendants of thousands of African slaves, returning capital from their trade and labor that was used to fund the bank. Historians say the bank’s first director and vice president were notorious slavers.

Domino’s is offering $1 million in free pizzas to customers who are paying off student loan debt for the next 30 days. Get that pizza!!