By JULIA FRANKEL

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel’s defense minister has outlined plans to pack hundreds of thousands of Palestinians into a closed zone of the Gaza Strip along the border with Egypt, according to local media reports.

It appears to be the latest version of plans by the Israeli government to maintain lasting control over the territory and relocate much of its population of some 2 million. Critics say that would amount to forcible displacement in violation of international law because Israel’s offensive and blockade have made Gaza largely uninhabitable.

Israeli officials say the aim is to separate the civilian population from Hamas, which still controls parts of Gaza and holds dozens of hostages abducted in the Oct. 7 attack that triggered the war 21 months ago. Palestinians would then be given the option of emigrating, they say. Hamas has been designated as a terrorist organization by the United States, Canada and the European Union.

U.S. President Donald Trump, who has said he is narrowing in on a ceasefire and hopes to eventually end the war, has also voiced support for the mass transfer of Palestinians out of Gaza.

A ‘humanitarian city’ atop the ruins of Rafah

Defense Minister Israel Katz outlined the latest plans in a closed briefing with Israeli military reporters on Monday. His office did not respond to a request for comment on their reports, which appeared in several Israeli media outlets.

Katz reportedly said he had ordered Israel’s military to draw up plans to build what he called a “humanitarian city” in Rafah, Gaza’s southernmost city, which has been heavily damaged in the war and is now largely uninhabited.

Katz reportedly said that Palestinians would not be able to leave once they enter the zone.

The military would initially move 600,000 Palestinians from an existing so-called humanitarian zone along the coast, with the aim of eventually transferring the whole population to Rafah. Katz said Israel was searching for an unspecified international body to deliver aid as Israeli troops secured the perimeter.

He said the military could start building the ‘city’ during a 60-day ceasefire that Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu are discussing in Washington this week.

Hamas has said it will only release the remaining hostages in exchange for a lasting ceasefire and the withdrawal of Israeli forces. Palestinians view Gaza as an integral part of their national homeland and oppose any plans to uproot them.

Rights groups see preparations for mass expulsion

Both Trump and Netanyahu have said Gaza’s population should be relocated to other countries through what they refer to as voluntary emigration. During their meeting on Monday at the White House, Netanyahu said Palestinians should have a “free choice” on whether to stay or leave.

Palestinians fear that even if they leave temporarily to escape the war, Israel will never allow them to return — a possible repeat of the mass exodus that occurred before and during the 1948 war surrounding Israel’s creation.

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Katz expressed hope that the “emigration plan” would happen and said Netanyahu was already leading efforts to find countries willing to take in Palestinians, according to Israel’s Haaretz newspaper.

Rights groups fear that concentrating the population along the border with Egypt would create catastrophic conditions that leave Palestinians no choice but to leave.

“Forcing people into what amounts to a large concentration camp echoes dark chapters of history,” said Tania Hary, executive director of Gisha, an Israeli group advocating Palestinians’ right to freedom of movement.

“Israel’s leadership hasn’t been shy about the goal to expel Palestinians from Gaza and maintain permanent control over wide swaths of the territory,” she said.

An Israeli-backed aid system is already in place

Israel and the United States have already rolled out an aid distribution program in Rafah that has been marred by violence and controversy.

Hundreds of Palestinians have been killed or wounded while trying to reach sites run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, a contractor supported by Israel and the U.S., according to local hospitals.

Palestinian witnesses and health officials say Israeli forces have repeatedly opened fire toward crowds of people heading to the sites. The military says it has fired warning shots at people who approached its forces in what it describes as a suspicious manner.

GHF denies there has been any violence in or around the sites themselves, which are in Israeli military zones off limits to independent media. Two U.S. contractors told The Associated Press that their colleagues used live ammunition and stun grenades as crowds scrambled for food, allegations denied by the foundation. GHF has also denied involvement in any population transfer plans.

But in a press conference in May, Netanyahu appeared to link the two initiatives, saying Israel would implement the new aid program and then create a “sterile zone” in southern Gaza, free of Hamas, where the Palestinian population would be relocated.

Netanyahu has said Israel will maintain lasting control over Gaza and has ruled out any role for the internationally-recognized Palestinian Authority, led by political rivals of Hamas.

By Jessica Nix, Bloomberg News

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ended its emergency response for bird flu as the outbreak that sickened dozens of people, spread to cattle and drove up egg prices has abated.

The emergency designation ended in the last week, according to a person familiar with the matter who wasn’t authorized to speak publicly about it.

The CDC merged its bird flu updates with those routinely reported for seasonal influenza starting on Monday, and will post the number of people monitored and tested for the virus also known as H5N1 on a monthly basis, the agency said. It will no longer include infection rates found among animals on its website.

States that were among the hardest hit have also dialed back their efforts. California ended its emergency declaration in April, a spokesperson for the Department of Public Health told Bloomberg. Washington, which had 11 human cases in 2024, is also downsizing its response, state epidemiologist Scott Lindquist said.

The CDC’s emergency bird flu response was deactivated to transition back to regular program activity, according to a spokesperson for the Department of Health and Human Services. Surveillance, readiness and response for bird flu will be included with existing efforts from the CDC’s Influenza Division and other agency programs, they said.

Hard to Spot

While the states said they’re still monitoring bird flu activity and will coordinate with federal officials, doctors and researchers said the moves will make it harder to detect potentially dangerous changes. If the virus continues to jump between species or the human case count grows, there’s a greater risk that it could mutate and become more easily transmissible between people, they said.

“We are letting our guard down,” said Michael Kinch, an infectious disease expert and chief innovation officer at Stony Brook University in New York.

Ending the emergency response comes amid a broader federal pullback from preparing for another outbreak. Earlier this year, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services canceled a $766 million federal contract with Moderna Inc. to develop mRNA vaccines for bird flu.

A CDC emergency declaration redirects people and resources to increase testing, surveillance and communications during an outbreak. During the H5N1 response, 375 staff members from the CDC were assigned to work on the outbreak, the HHS spokesperson said.

Reducing attention to the virus could leave a gap when it is still circulating in migratory birds in the U.S., health experts said.

“If you do miss an uptick, then you’ll be one step behind and then that could lead to more widespread transmission and more herds being infected, more people being infected,” said Dean Blumberg, head of pediatric infectious disease at University of California, Davis.

The CDC previously held regular calls with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response and the White House to update the press and epidemiologists on the status of the virus and the federal response. The calls ended before President Trump’s inauguration in January.

Declining Infections

Other factors may also hinder efforts to identify and track infections. Most of the human infections detected in the U.S. occurred among agricultural workers who were in close proximity to sick dairy herds and poultry. State governments and farm owners have to invite CDC investigators to conduct surveillance, a difficult proposition to reach migrant workers during mass immigration raids across the country.

California, which had the highest human case count in 2024 with 38 people infected, started offering $25 gift cards as an incentive to get people to test for influenza A, the flu strain that contains H5N1, in April.

Bird flu started circulating among cattle last year, and eventually led to 70 infections in people confirmed by the CDC. Signs include flu-like symptoms and conjunctivitis, and it can be treated with the anti-viral medication Tamiflu. While one person died from the disease in January, the current risk to humans remains low, the CDC says.

(With assistance from Michelle Amponsah and Ilena Peng.)

©2025 Bloomberg L.P. Visit bloomberg.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

By ALAN SUDERMAN, AP Business Writer

President Donald Trump continues to expand his crypto-related offerings, this time with a planned exchange-traded fund tied to the prices of five popular cryptocurrencies.

Trump Media & Technology Group, a Florida company that operates the Truth Social media platform, announced Tuesday it had filed paperwork with the Securities and Exchange Commission for approval to launch the “Crypto Blue Chip ETF” later this year.

The proposed ETF would have 70% of its holdings in bitcoin, the world’s most popular cryptocurrency, 15% in ethereum, the second-most popular, and 8% in solana, a cryptocurrency popular in the meme coin community. The fund would hold 5% in the cryptocurrency developed by the company Ripple and 2% in the crypto created by the exchange Crypto.com, which will act as the ETF’s digital custodian.

Trump Media previously announced plans for a crypto ETF with just bitcoin and ethereum. It’s unclear if the company plans to move forward with that ETF offering. Trump Media did not immediately return a request for comment.

Cryptocurrency-based ETFs make it easier for investors to gain exposure to cryptocurrencies without having to buy them directly. These funds have exploded in popularity since bitcoin ETFs began trading in U.S. markets last year.

The SEC released new guidelines last week for crypto ETF issuers as part of the Trump administration’s push to create a more welcoming regulatory environment for crypto-related companies. The agency has also dropped or paused several enforcement actions against crypto companies since Trump took office.

Trump was once a bitcoin skeptic who has since warmly embraced the cryptocurrency industry, which has showered him with campaign and other types of contributions. Ripple, for example, was one of the biggest donors to Trump’s inaugural committee.

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While the Trump administration has pushed for crypto-friendly regulations and laws, the Trump family has aggressively sought to expand its crypto-related businesses. That dynamic has led to allegations of corruption from Democrats and concern among some crypto enthusiasts that the president may be undermining their efforts to establish credibility and stability for the industry.

At a news conference last month, Trump dismissed any notion that his family’s investments were improper and touted his administration’s efforts to make the U.S. the world capital for crypto.

“If we didn’t have it, China would,” Trump said.

MOSCOW (AP) — The apparent suicide of Russia’s transportation minister brought expressions of shock and sorrow Tuesday from the Kremlin but no new clues as to why Roman Starovoit might have taken his own life amid media speculation that he potentially was facing corruption charges.

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Starovoit, who served in his post for little over a year, was found dead from a gunshot wound — news that broke hours after a decree was issued Monday by President Vladimir Putin that dismissed the 53-year-old Cabinet member.

Starovoit’s body was found in the Odintsovo district just west of the capital that is home to many members of Russia’s elite, according to the Investigative Committee, the country’s top criminal investigation agency. It said that a criminal probe was launched into his death and investigators saw suicide as the most likely cause.

The agency said Starovoit’s body was found in his car, but Russian media that carried images from the scene later reported that he was found dead in a small park next to a parking lot where he left his Tesla and a pistol presented to him as an official gift was at his side.

The reports said Starovoit’s personal assistant was asked to identify his body and she was seen weeping afterward.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov refused to comment on the circumstances of Starovoit’s death, saying that investigators will have to determine the details.

“Such information is always tragic and sad,” Peskov said, noting that Putin was immediately informed about it. “Naturally, we were shocked by it.”

Russian media reported that Starovoit’s dismissal and his death could have been linked to an investigation into the embezzlement of state funds allocated for building fortifications in the Kursk region, where he was governor for five years before becoming transportation minister.

Starovoit’s successor as governor, Alexei Smirnov, stepped down in December and was arrested on embezzlement charges in April. Some Russian media have claimed that Smirnov had told investigators about Starovoit’s alleged involvement in the corruption scheme and his arrest appeared inevitable.

Some commentators even alleged that Starovoit’s associates in higher echelons could have ordered his killing to avoid exposure.

The alleged embezzlement has been cited as one reason behind the Russian military’s failure to stem a surprise August 2024 incursion in the region by Ukrainian troops that quickly overwhelmed lightly armed Russian border guards and inexperienced army conscripts. The incursion humiliated the Kremlin — the first time the country’s territory was occupied by an invader since World War II.

The Russian military announced in April that its troops had fully reclaimed the border territory nearly nine months after losing chunks of the region. Ukraine had disputed that assertion.

On July 1, former Deputy Defense Minister Timur Ivanov was convicted on charges of embezzlement and money laundering and sentenced to 13 years in prison in a high-profile case that exposed rampant military corruption widely blamed for Moscow’s military setbacks in Ukraine.

Ivanov was the most visible figure in a far-ranging probe into alleged military graft that also targeted several other top officials who were close to former Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu. Shoigu, a veteran official who had personal ties to Putin, survived the purge of his inner circle and was given a high-profile post of secretary of Russia’s Security Council.

Ivanov, 49, was named deputy defense minister in 2016 and oversaw military construction projects, as well as property management, housing and medical support for the troops. He was known for his lavish lifestyle that outraged many in Moscow just as the fighting in Ukraine exposed glaring deficiencies in Russian military organization and supplies that resulted in battlefield setbacks.

Putin named Andrei Nikitin, who served as deputy transport minister, to replace Starovoit. Lawmakers in the lower house of Russian parliament quickly endorsed his appointment on Tuesday.

Starovoit, who was divorced, is survived by two teenage daughters.