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🇵🇸 Rafah crossing may reopen despite Israel’s restrictions . Israel says the Rafah crossing could reopen, but only for pedestrian passage under a full Israeli inspection mechanism, according to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office. Hamas demanded Rafah open both directions without restrictions. Ali Shaath, who heads a new Palestinian committee running Gaza’s daily affairs, said the crossing could open this week. United Nations spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric said the priority is humanitarian goods and private cargo moving in at scale for Gaza’s 2M+ people. Aid trucks have waited for months as neighborhoods have been turned to rubble. On Monday, the Egyptian Red Crescent said a convoy with 7,060 tons of food and medical aid moved toward Israeli inspection at Kerem Shalom. Gaza City resident Abdel-Rahman Radwan said his mother has cancer and needs treatment outside Gaza, a journey Rafah can enable. Egypt says it wants immediate two-way passage, while also opposing permanent resettlement of Palestinian refugees on Egyptian soil. International observers have classified Gaza’s conditions as apartheid, blockade, and embargo, with the plight of Palestinians qualifying as ethnic cleansing in the West Bank. Editor’s Note: The polycrisis afflicting Gaza was officially considered a genocide by the United Nations (UN) and International Association of Genocide Scholars (IAGS), with famine declared formally by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), confirmed by UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), UNICEF, World Food Program (WFP), and World Health Organization (WHO), along with Global Sumud Flotilla eyewitnesses.

🇪🇬 Egypt targets kids’ social media in a fight over “digital chaos”. Lawmakers in Cairo floated new restrictions for children online after statements by President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi. The draft would push platforms to verify users’ ages. It would also require parental consent for minors. Supporters call the status quo “digital chaos.” Egypt has roughly 116M people. About 50% are under 25, a youth bulge. Backers say the bill is basic guardrails. Critics warn it could morph into surveillance. Platforms face new compliance pressure either way, and more states are regulating doomscrolling.

🚨 Greg Bovino out after fatal shooting. Border Patrol chief Greg Bovino is expected to leave his Minneapolis post. The shift follows Alex Pretti’s death after a federal encounter. Pretti was an intensive care unit (ICU) nurse, officials said. Videos and witnesses dispute the administration’s account. Bovino has been the highest-ranking face of the crackdown. Protests surged after this was the second fatal shooting by federal officers. White House border czar Tom Homan is slated to visit. Bovino says he sought a “softer tone” with leaders. Federal judge Katherine Menendez, is weighing limits on tactics. Minneapolis is now a test case with stakes in blood.

🏪 Businesses get squeezed between customers and crackdowns. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) enforcement is now a staffing risk. Some employers feel pushed to take a public stance. Others fear that stance invites scrutiny. Workers worry about visibility, not just wages. Attorneys tell owners to learn what a warrant requires. Communities argue about boycotts, solidarity, and silence. Trade groups plead for predictability and clear rules. In small towns, one raid can empty a kitchen. In big cities, it can trigger a consumer backlash. Neutrality has become strategy with teeth.

❄️ Winter storm death toll reaches 30 as cold keeps biting. Officials say at least 30 people died from storm effects across America. Freezing rain turned sidewalks and highways into hazards. Snow piled where plows could not keep up. Ice-loaded trees and power lines like ballast. More frigid air followed, compounding danger. Shelters prepared for people without heat. Crews warned that exposure can be as lethal as crashes. Travel stayed messy while forecasters flagged additional cold as the next threat. Winter Storm Fern left a ledger written in outages and obituaries.

🚔 Tom Homan heads to Minneapolis with a long enforcement résumé. Border czar Tom Homan, 64, has worked immigration enforcement for 4 decades. He started in 1984 as a Border Patrol agent. He joined Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in 2003. Under President Barack Obama, he ran ICE’s Enforcement and Removal Operations. He received a Presidential Rank Award in 2015. Critics link him to policies that separated families. Deportations peaked at 432K in 2013 under Obama. Under Trump’s first term, totals never topped 350K. Trump says Homan will visit Minneapolis after a fatal shooting. Homan now arrives where the cameras already are.

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