Crooked Media - What A Day: Winds of exchange

Tense negotiations for a ceasefire and hostage exchange continue in the Israel-Hamas conflict.
 

• Working through Qatari, Egyptian, and American mediators, Israel and Hamas are in broad agreement in principle on an exchange of Israeli hostages for Palestinian prisoners being held by Israel, according to an exclusive Reuters report that cites three unnamed sources close to the negotiations. The exchange could take place during a one-month ceasefire, but the plan is reportedly being held up by mutual differences over how to bring a permanent end to the war in Gaza. 
   

• Israel has reportedly sought to negotiate a ceasefire one stage at a time, whereas Hamas is looking for “a package deal” that agrees to a permanent ceasefire in Gaza before hostages are released. A spokesperson for the Biden administration said on Tuesday that U.S. envoy to the Middle East Brett McGurk was in the region for a second time in a week to facilitate the discussions and added that Washington supports a longer “humanitarian pause.” 
   

• Israeli forces were in the process of demolishing part of a Palestinian neighborhood to create a “buffer zone” between Gaza and Israel when explosions from the project killed over 20 Israeli soldiers on Monday. The explosion occurred after Gazan militants fired toward a nearby tank that was guarding the unit setting explosives, the Israeli military said. An Israeli Defense Forces spokesperson said the soldiers “were removing structures and terrorist infrastructure… to provide the security conditions necessary to allow the residents of southern Israel to return to their homes.” The State Department spoke out against the creation of such a zone in December, because it would reduce the size of Gaza, which at its narrowest is just four miles across. National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby reiterated that sentiment on Tuesday, saying: “We do not want to see the territory of Gaza reduced in any way. We won’t support that.”

United Nations humanitarian agencies have become even more vocal in recent weeks about the dire conditions in Gaza. 
 

• United Nations fair housing official Balakrishnan Rajagopal said that the demolition of Palestinian homes and buildings along the border could constitute a war crime, because those civilians pose no immediate threat to Israel. In a phone interview with the New York Times, he said: “There is simply no provision in the Geneva Conventions for what Israel is doing along the border, which is kind of a pre-emptive clearing of property.” The Israeli military didn’t respond to the paper’s request for comment on the claim.
   

• The U.N. agency that coordinates aid to Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, also reported on Tuesday that more than half a million people in Gaza currently face “catastrophic hunger.” The humanitarian organization released a video depicting Gazans lying on floors in overcrowded medical facilities and receiving treatment for wounds using what primitive methods and tools medical staff still have left. It also shows families lining up for food and living in crudely-constructed tents and other makeshift shelters. UNRWA spokesperson Juliette Touma said: “These are not conditions meant for human beings.”

The death toll in Gaza has surpassed 25,000, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.

New year, new tour shows, same need for comedy as a coping mechanism as the news cycle spits out its weekly glob of horrors! To kick us off, Lovett or Leave It will be coming to Washington, DC on April 25 for another barnburner of a show at The Lincoln Theatre. Friends of the Pod get early access to tickets. Presale ends on Thursday, the 25th. Subscribe now at crooked.com/friends to get the exclusive pre-sale code today!

Polls closed in the New Hampshire Primary at 8pm Eastern on Tuesday night, and from the outset, it appeared as though disgraced former president Donald Trump had a clear lead over his former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley. Trump went into the nation’s second GOP nominating contest with a significant lead in the polls, which turned out to be accurate. Trump defeated Haley decisively, making it all but a certainty that we will be seeing a Trump-Biden rematch in November. Nikki Haley is toast, as all of the money her PAC has allocated almost all of its total money spent to date to Iowa and New Hampshire. 

President Biden did not submit his name for the primary ballot in the state after New Hampshire refused to comply with the new DNC calendar, which would have made South Carolina the first nominating state. Even so, he still won the Democratic primary with a write-in campaign from supporters. Kick rocks, Rep. Dean Phillips (D-MN)!

A judge in North Dakota refused to block part of a state abortion law that doctors say puts them at risk of prosecution if they have to perform the procedure to save a patient’s life. The request asked the judge to bar the state from enforcing the law against doctors who use their “good-faith medical judgment” to make such calls. 

Sixty-six year-old Kevin Monahan—the man who shot and killed a 20-year-old Kaylin Gillis last April after she and her friends mistakenly pulled into his driveway—was convicted of second-degree murder on Tuesday.

Oklahoma tapped Chaya Raichik, the unhinged, bigoted woman behind the account “Libs of TikTok,” to serve in the state’s Department of Education Library Media Advisory Committee. 

Columbia University and campus police are investigating a report of students being attacked with chemicals at an on-campus protest in support of Gaza last week.   

The House reopened its ethics probe into big-faced creep Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL). 

About 400 workers of Condé Nast Union walked off the job on Tuesday after the major publishing conglomerate announced it would lay off roughly 5 percent of its staff, or 300 people. The company announced last week that Pitchfork, its music outlet, was being absorbed into GQ, resulting in even more layoffs. Don’t cross the click-it line!

In sadly related news, the Los Angeles Times announced on Tuesday that it was laying off at least 115 of its employees—more than 20 percent of the newsroom. It’s one of the largest layoffs in the paper’s history. Imagine if there were a massive misinformation epidemic co-occurring with a deluge of journalist layoffs; that would be crazy!!!

In a conversation with conservative “DEBATE ME” boy Ben Shapiro, “X”/Twitter CEO Elon Musk called himself “Jewish by association” and said he doesn’t understand accusations of antisemitism (he promoted an antisemitic conspiracy theory and called it “the actual truth” if that helps!).

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A federal appeals court denied Trump’s request to reconsider his gag order related to people involved in the 2020 election case.

Legislators in Turkey endorsed Sweden’s membership in NATO on Tuesday, finally lifting the hurdle for the country’s entry into the alliance. 

Gen Z Democrats in Florida are launching a Political Action Committee in the hopes of flipping seats in the state in 2024 and beyond.