DONE DEAL

Humanitarian aid groups are cautiously optimistic that the Israel-Hamas ceasefire deal will allow them to deliver much-needed assistance to Palestinians in Gaza.

• Israel and Hamas agreed to a deal today to pause fighting in the Gaza Strip after 15 months of war. Hamas will release 33 hostages in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian women and children who were imprisoned by Israel, the Associated Press reports. The deal, which starts on Sunday, also includes a limited withdrawal of Israeli forces from the territory, and a surge in humanitarian aid for Gazans. There’s no official confirmation from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

• Getting food and medical supplies into Gaza has been a huge challenge for aid groups. The United Nations has accused Israel of starving out parts of Gaza, and Israel has killed about 175 aid workers since the war began. Gaza has been on the verge of famine for the past year, according to a global food crisis watchdog. Now, much-needed help could be on the way.

• “This agreement brings overdue hope and relief to Gaza,” Oxfam America President Abby Maxman told What A Day. The deal will allow her organization to “take stock and do all we can, along with partner organizations, to rush necessities to those who need them most.” However, she cautioned that there’s “still uncertainty” about aid deliveries as the three-phase deal plays out.

• The U.N. Relief and Works Agency, a massive organization that provides aid to Gaza, also celebrated the decision: “What’s needed is rapid, unhindered and uninterrupted humanitarian access and supplies to respond to the tremendous suffering caused by this war,” UNRWA Commissioner-General Phllippe Lazzarini said today. But will the new ceasefire deal help the agency, which is currently banned by Israel, boost aid deliveries? “No idea. Too soon to know,” a senior UNRWA employee told What A Day.

President-elect Donald Trump took credit for the deal coming together, sparking a debate about who should receive the kudos.

• “This EPIC ceasefire agreement could have only happened as a result of our Historic Victory in November, as it signaled to the entire World that my Administration would seek Peace and negotiate deals to ensure the safety of all Americans, and our Allies,” Trump spewed on Truth Social. In December, Trump said that Hamas would have “ALL HELL TO PAY” if the group didn’t release hostages by Inauguration Day. President Joe Biden also took credit today — considering his administration spent months in negotiations between several countries. A reporter asked Biden: Do you or Trump deserve credit? Biden responded: “Is that a joke?”

• Either way, Israel’s war may not be over. Trump will have to engage in diplomacy with Israel and Hamas mediators — and his team isn’t likely to be sympathetic to the Palestinian plight. Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, Trump’s pick to be ambassador to Israel, once said that Palestinians don’t exist. Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL), his nominee to be secretary of state, argued during his confirmation hearing today that Israel hasn’t “deliberately targeted” civilians in Gaza. “Innocent people are caught up in [war] and that’s true of every conflict on the planet,” Rubio said.

• It’s not that straightforward: Some Israeli soldiers deployed to Gaza refuse to continue fighting because of Israel’s attacks that have killed civilians. One officer recently described how soldiers were ordered to shoot anyone who entered an Israeli-controlled buffer zone, including a teenager: “He died as part of a bigger story. As part of the policy of staying there and not seeing Palestinians as people,” the officer told the Associated Press. As many as 64,000 Palestinians may have been killed in Gaza in the first nine months of the war, which is 40 percent higher than previously estimated, according to a recent analysis. Sixty-two Palestinians have been killed in the past day, according to local health officials.

President Joe Biden and Secretary of State Antony Blinken have refused to stop supporting Israel, even after the U.S. found that Israel had deliberately blocked food from entering Gaza. The Trump administration isn’t expected to be much better

BONDI, PAM BONDI

It looks like Pam Bondi, who’s poised to be the next attorney general, passed Donald Trump’s loyalty test today.

During her confirmation hearing, Bondi was repeatedly asked basic questions like, “Did President Joe Biden win the 2020 election?” and “Do you agree with Trump that Jan. 6 rioters are ‘patriots’?” She dodged every time. It got especially heated when Democratic lawmakers pressed Bondi on whether there was election fraud in the 2020 election.

“The partisanship, the weaponization will be gone,” Bondi said of the Justice Department under her leadership, offering little reassurance that she’s being truthful. “I will not target people simply because of their political affiliation. Justice will be administered evenhandedly throughout this country.”

It’s likely she’ll be confirmed given her background as Florida attorney general. It also seems likely she’ll bend to Trump’s whims, considering her track record with MAGA: She promoted Trump’s election fraud claims, and decided not to pursue legal action against Trump University in 2013 after receiving a $25,000 donation from one of Trump’s charities. Bondi denies that the donation is related to her not pursuing action.

At the hearing, Bondi did, however, indicate that she’ll keep Kash Patel, Trump’s comically unqualified pick to be FBI director, in line if he’s confirmed.

“There will never be an enemies list at the Department of Justice,” Bondi said. Reminder: Patel literally published an enemies list vowed to target people he views as “government gangsters.”

NEWS NEWS NEWS

Donald Trump is considering unconventional ways to save TikTok, the wildly popular video-sharing platform which he credits with helping him win the election. One way involves issuing an executive order suspending the sale or ban of the Chinese-owned app for 60 to 90 days. My hunch: He can’t stand the thought of the “Trump Dance” fading into oblivion.

Oil bigwig Chris Wright, Trump’s pick for energy secretary, has argued that climate change doesn’t make wildfires more severe or frequent, despite, y’know, scientists widely believing that it does. His view drew scrutiny during his confirmation today, in light of the devastating L.A. wildfires that are still raging.

Donald Trump is encouraging tech bro Vivek Ramaswamy to consider taking Vice President-elect JD Vance’s vacant senate seat if he’s offered the position by the state’s governor, the Washington Post reports. Ramaswamy pulled out of the running in November after Trump named him to help lead the Department of Government Efficiency.

Only 2 in 10 Americans approve of talkshow host Pete Hegseth becoming Trump’s defense secretary, according to a new poll. Is it the reports of him drunkenly dancing with strippers, guzzling three gin-and-tonics at a weekday breakfast, or opposing women serving in the military that’s turning them off? Our friends at the What A Day podcast spoke with Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) about the hearing — check it out.

Trump is raking in so much dough from corporations and wealthy donors that he’s expected to raise $500 million by the summer, Axios reports. Since he can’t run again (fingers crossed), much of that is likely to go to helping his allies win office.

Trump received the “first-ever Presidential Commemorative Inaugural Diet Coke bottle” from Coca Cola. Now my favorite drink is gonna taste like chemicals and disappointment. Great.

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