By OHAD ZWIGENBERG, SAM METZ and SAMY MAGDY, Associated Press

LOD, Israel (AP) — Protesters in Israel on Tuesday torched tires, blocked highways and clamored for a ceasefire that would free hostages still in Gaza, even as Israeli leaders moved forward with plans for an offensive which they argue is needed to defeat Hamas.

The disruption came as Palestinians in Gaza braced for the expanded offensive against a backdrop of displacement, destruction and parts of the territory plunging into famine. It also followed deadly strikes a day earlier on Gaza’s main hospital which killed 20 people including medics and journalists. Among them was Mariam Dagga, a journalist who worked for The Associated Press.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was expected to convene a security cabinet meeting later Tuesday. However, the government said the meeting will not include discussion of ceasefire talks, according to an official with knowledge of the situation. The official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak on the matter, said there was a delegation from Egypt in Israel on Monday and they discussed the negotiations.

Netanyahu has said that Israel will launch an expanded offensive in Gaza City while simultaneously pursuing a ceasefire, though Israel has yet to send a negotiating team to discuss a proposal on the table. Netanyahu has said the offensive is the best way to weaken Hamas and return hostages, but hostage families and their supporters have pushed back.

“Go back to the negotiation table. There’s a good deal on the table. It’s something we can work with,” said Ruby Chen, the father of 21-year-old Itay Chen, a dual Israeli-American citizen whose body is being held in Gaza. “We could get a deal done to bring all the hostages back.”

Hamas captured 251 hostages on Oct. 7, 2023, in the terrorist attack that triggered the current war. Most have been released during previous ceasefires. Israel has managed to rescue only eight hostages alive. Fifty remain in Gaza, and Israeli officials believe around 20 are still alive.

Hamas has been designated as a terrorist organization by the United States, Canada and the European Union.

Responding to a call from Israel’s Hostages and Missing Families Forum for a “National Day of Struggle,” protesters waved banners that read “Hostage Deal Now.” The relatives of hostages said they hope sustained public pressure can push Netanyahu and his security cabinet to commit to meaningful ceasefire talks. However far-right members of his coalition have threatened to resign if Israel agrees to a truce, dismissing the protesters’ demands.

“We could have ended the war a year ago and brought all the hostages and soldiers home. We could have saved hostages and soldiers, but the prime minister chose, again and again, to sacrifice civilians for the sake of his rule,” said Einav Zangauker, whose 25-year-old son Matan was abducted from one of Israel’s hardest hit kibbutzim on Oct. 7 and is among those believed to still be alive.

Israeli strikes continue after deadly hospital attack

Calls for a ceasefire came a day after Israel struck southern Gaza’s main hospital, killing at least five journalists and 15 others, including Dagga, who had covered doctors treating children for starvation at the same facility days before.

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The strike, among the deadliest of the war against both journalists and hospitals, sparked shock and outrage among press freedom advocates and Palestinians, who mourned the dead at funerals on Monday.

It was swiftly condemned across the globe. Netanyahu called it a “tragic mishap” and said the military would investigate.

Most of those killed died after rushing to the scene of the first blast, only to be hit by a second strike — an attack captured on television by several networks.

The southern Gaza strike came as Israel prepares to expand its offensive into densely populated areas of northern Gaza. Israel’s military wants people in hospitals, displacement camps and Gaza City neighborhoods to evacuate southward to so-called safe zones so it can destroy Hamas and prevent terrorist attacks like the Oct. 7, 2023, assault that killed about 1,200 people and triggered the war.

A day after the strike, Israeli strikes killed at least 16 Palestinians on Tuesday, hospitals said.

Officials from Nasser Hospital, Shifa Hospital and Gaza City’s Sheikh Radwan clinic reported that among the 16 were families, women and children.

Gaza’s Health Ministry also said on Tuesday that three more adults died of causes related to malnutrition and starvation, bringing the malnutrition-related death toll to 186 since late June, when the ministry started to count fatalities among this age category. The toll includes 117 children since the start of the war.

Israel’s military offensive has killed 62,819, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which does not say how many were fighters or civilians but says around half were women and children. The ministry is part of the Hamas-run government and staffed by medical professionals. The U.N. and independent experts consider it the most reliable source on war casualties. Israel disputes its figures but has not provided its own.

Israeli forces raid downtown Ramallah

Lines of Israeli military vehicles entered downtown Ramallah on Tuesday afternoon in a rare daytime raid on one of the largest Palestinian cities in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

The Israeli military acknowledged an ongoing operation in the city but would not provide any information about the purpose of the raid.

Ramallah is the headquarters of the Palestinian Authority, which cooperates with Israel on security and has been largely sidelined since the start of the war. The city has faced similar raids before, including in May when Israeli forces targeted money transfer businesses there and in other Palestinian cities, alleging they had ties to militant groups.

The Palestinian Red Crescent said there were 58 injuries during the raid, including injuries from live fire, rubber bullets, tear gas inhalation, and “live bullet shrapnel.” Israeli armored vehicles entered a busy downtown intersection in the city, stopping traffic. A few dozen people attempted to throw rocks at the military vehicles.

The war in Gaza has sparked a surge of violence in the West Bank, with the Israeli military carrying out large-scale operations targeting militants that have killed hundreds of Palestinians and displaced tens of thousands. That has coincided with a rise in settler violence and Palestinian attacks on Israelis.

There have been more than 1,000 attacks by Israeli settlers throughout 2025, with 11 Palestinians killed and roughly 700 injured, according to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

Metz reported from Jerusalem and Magdy from Cairo. Associated Press journalists Sam Mednick in Tel Aviv, Israel, Jalal Bwaitel and Imad Isseid in Ramallah, West Bank, and Melanie Lidman in Jerusalem contributed reporting.

By JOSH FUNK, Associated Press Transportation Writer

California, Washington and New Mexico could lose millions of dollars of federal funding if they continue failing to enforce English language requirements for truckers, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said Tuesday.

An investigation launched after a deadly Florida crash involving a foreign truck driver who made an illegal U-turn earlier this month found what Duffy called significant failures in the way all three states are enforcing rules that took effect in June after one of President Donald Trump’s executive orders.

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Truckers are supposed to be disqualified if they can’t demonstrate English proficiency and Duffy said the driver involved in the crash that killed three should not have ever been given a commercial driver’s license because of his immigration status. But the crash has become increasingly political with the governors of California and Florida criticizing each other and Duffy highlighting the Trump administration’s immigration concerns in interviews.

“States don’t get to pick and choose which federal safety rules to follow,” Duffy said. “As we saw with the horrific Florida crash that killed three, when states fail to enforce the law, they put the driving public in danger.”

Duffy said California has conducted roughly 34,000 inspections that found at least one violation since the new language standards took effect requiring truck drivers be able to recognize and read road signs and communicate with authorities in English. But only one inspection involved an English language rules violation that resulted in a driver being taken out of service. And 23 drivers with violations in other states were allowed to continue driving after inspections in California.

He cited similar statistics for the other states with Washington finding more than 6,000 violations of safety rules during inspections, but only pulling four drivers out of service for English language violations. New Mexico has not placed any drivers out of service since the rules took effect.

Duffy said the states will lose money from the Motor Carrier Safety Assistance Program if they don’t comply with the rules within 30 days. But he did not specify how much each state could lose. The states did not immediately respond to the proposed sanctions that were announced before officials start their day on the West Coast.

Three people were killed when truck driver Harjinder Singh made an illegal U-turn on a highway, according to Florida’s Highway Patrol. He is being held without bond after being charged with three state counts of vehicular homicide and immigration violations.

Harjinder Singh is escorted to an airplane by Florida Lt. Gov. Jay Collins and law enforcement on Thursday, Aug. 21, 2025, in Stockton, Calif. (AP Photo/Benjamin Fanjoy)

A nearby minivan slammed into Singh’s trailer as he made the turn on a highway about 50 miles (80 kilometers) north of West Palm Beach. Singh and his passenger were not injured.

Diamond R. Litty, the elected public defender in St. Lucie County, said her office was provisionally assigned to Singh’s case during his initial appearance Saturday morning. A review of his finances will determine whether Litty’s office remains on the case.

Litty said her office will focus on the criminal charges against Singh, who is presumed innocent, but they will also work with an immigration attorney to determine how Singh’s status affects the case. After more than three decades at her position, Litty said she can’t recall a case that garnered more attention than this one.

“Unfortunately, Mr. Singh has been caught in the crosshairs of politics,” Litty said.

The Department of Homeland Security has said Singh, a native of India, was in the country illegally. So Duffy said he should not have been granted a commercial driver’s licenses by Washington and California.

California is one of 19 states, in addition to the District of Columbia, that issues licenses regardless of immigration status. Supporters say that lets people work, visit doctors and travel safely.

But in addition, California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s press office posted on the platform X that Singh obtained a work permit while Trump was president, which Homeland Security officials disputed.

Florida authorities have said Singh entered the U.S. illegally from Mexico in 2018.

Associated Press writers David Fischer, Morgan Lee and Eugene Johnson contributed to this report.

By STEPHANIE LIECHTENSTEIN, Associated Press

VIENNA (AP) — France, Britain and Germany have threatened to trigger the “ snapback mechanism ” that automatically reimposes all United Nations sanctions on Iran over its nuclear program, saying Iran has willfully departed from their 2015 nuclear deal that lifted them.

The European countries, known as the E3, offered Iran a delay of the snapback during talks in July in exchange for three conditions for Iran: resuming negotiations with the United States over its nuclear program, allowing U.N. nuclear inspectors access to its nuclear sites, and accounting for the over 400 kilograms of highly enriched uranium the U.N. watchdog says it has.

Tehran, which now enriches uranium at near weapons-grade levels, has rejected that proposal.

The U.S. and Iran tried to reach a new nuclear deal earlier this year, but those talks have not resumed since the 12-day Israeli bombardment of Iran’s nuclear and military sites and the U.S. bombardment on June 22.

How snapback works

Under the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action reached between world powers and Iran in 2015, Iran agreed to limit uranium enrichment to levels necessary for civilian nuclear power in exchange for lifted economic sanctions. The International Atomic Energy Agency was tasked with monitoring Iran’s nuclear program.

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The snapback mechanism’s purpose is to swiftly reimpose all pre-deal sanctions without being vetoed by U.N. Security Council members, including permanent members Russia and China.

The process begins when one or more nuclear deal participants notify the U.N. secretary general and Security Council president about Iran’s “significant non-performance of commitments.”

That triggers a 30-day window during which a new resolution to continue sanctions relief must be adopted. Since that’s unlikely, as the U.S., Britain and France would veto such a resolution, all U.N. sanctions automatically “snap back.” At this stage, no further vote is needed and no Security Council member can block reimposition.

The snapback mechanism expires in October

The Europeans agreed with the U.S. earlier this year to set an end-of-August deadline for triggering the snapback mechanism if no agreement is reached with Iran.

The U.S. itself cannot activate the snapback since U.S. President Donald Trump withdrew the U.S. from the nuclear deal in 2018.

Two factors drive the approaching deadline.

First, the power to automatically snap back sanctions expires on Oct. 18. After that, sanctions efforts could face vetoes from China and Russia, which have provided some support to Iran in the past.

Second, Europeans want to trigger the snapback mechanism under South Korea’s Security Council presidency in September, before Russia takes over in October. While Russia cannot veto the reimposition of sanctions under the mechanism, diplomats say Moscow could use procedural delaying tactics until the nuclear deal expires.

The E3’s position

European nations assert that Iran has “willfully and publicly departed” from the nuclear deal’s commitments.

In May, the IAEA said Iran had amassed 408.6 kilograms (900.8 pounds) of uranium enriched up to 60% purity. If it is enriched to 90%, it would be enough to make nine nuclear weapons, according to an IAEA yardstick, though a weapon would require other expertise, such as a detonation device.

The IAEA also estimated that as of May 17, Iran’s overall stockpile of enriched uranium stood at 9,247.6 kilograms (20,387.4 pounds).

The amounts far exceed the limits set out in the nuclear deal, under which Iran was allowed to enrich uranium up to 3.67% and maintain a uranium stockpile of 300 kilograms.

In addition, in 2022, Iran removed most monitoring equipment, including IAEA cameras. A year later, Iran barred some of the agency’s most experienced inspectors.

Iran’s position

Iran has long maintained that its nuclear program serves peaceful purposes only. Tehran also argues that it has the right to abandon the nuclear deal’s limits because Washington withdrew from the deal in 2018 and reimposed its own sanctions.

Before 2019, when Iran gradually began to breach the deal’s limits, the IAEA confirmed Tehran adhered to all commitments.

Iran contends there is no legal basis for the Europeans to reimpose U.N. sanctions via snapback, claiming the countries failed to uphold the accord after the U.S. exit.

Tehran has also threatened to withdraw from the global Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons if snapback is triggered. By ratifying the NPT in 1970, Iran committed to not developing nuclear weapons.

Other options

Once the snapback mechanism is triggered, there remains a slim chance for a diplomatic solution, said Ali Vaez, Iran project director at the International Crisis Group.

If the West and Iran reach a diplomatic agreement within the 30-day window, a resolution could be introduced to push back the mechanism’s Oct. 18 expiration date, he said.

“The timing is, in one sense, auspicious because it overlaps with the U.N. General Assembly’s annual high-level week, which will bring to New York high-level leaders who could huddle over ways to head off execution,” he said.

But he added that the snapback issue is likely to resurface unless Washington and Tehran can hammer out a new nuclear deal.

The Associated Press receives support for nuclear security coverage from the Carnegie Corporation of New York and Outrider Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

By MARY CLARE JALONICK, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump says the Senate’s century-old tradition of allowing home state senators to sign off on some federal judge and U.S. attorney nominees is “old and outdated.” Republican senators disagree.

Trump has been complaining about what’s called the blue slip process for weeks and has pushed Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, to abandon the practice. But the veteran senator hasn’t budged. On Monday, Trump said he may sue, arguing that he can only get “weak” judges approved in states that have at least one Democratic senator.

“This is based on an old custom. It’s not based on a law. And I think it’s unconstitutional,” Trump told reporters. “And I’ll probably be filing a suit on that pretty soon.”

A look at the blue slip process and why Republicans are holding on to it, for now:

Trump faces rare pushback from Republicans

It’s unclear who Trump would sue or how such a lawsuit would work since the Senate sets its own rules. And Senate Republicans have been unbowed, arguing that they used the process to their own benefit when Democrat Joe Biden was president. They say they will want the practice to be in place if they are in the minority again.

Republicans also note that judges who don’t receive approval from their home state senators are unlikely to have enough votes for confirmation, anyway.

“In Biden admin Republicans kept 30 LIBERALS OFF BENCH THAT PRES TRUMP CAN NOW FILL W CONSERVATIVES,” Grassley posted on X shortly after Trump’s remarks on Monday.

FILE – Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, arrives to advance President Donald Trump’s nominees for the federal bench, including Emil Bove, Trump’s former defense lawyer, at the Capitol in Washington, July 17, 2025. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)

North Carolina Sen. Thom Tillis, a Republican member of the judiciary committee, posted on X that getting rid of the blue slip “is a terrible, short-sighted ploy that paves the path for Democrats to ram through extremist liberal judges in red states over the long-term.”

Republicans “shouldn’t fall for it,” Tillis wrote.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., has also defended blue slips, saying in the past that he had used the process himself and worked with the Biden administration when there was a judicial vacancy in South Dakota. “I don’t sense any rush to change it,” Thune said.

It’s a longstanding practice, though it’s evolved

The blue slip is a blue-colored form that is submitted to the two home state senators after the president nominates someone to become a district judge or U.S. attorney, among other federal positions that are contained within one state.

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The home state senators can individually return the slips with a positive or negative response. If there is a negative response, or if the form is not returned, the chairman of the judiciary panel can choose not to move forward.

Democrats have opposed several of Trump’s nominees this year, including Alina Habba, a nominee for U.S. attorney in New Jersey, and two prosecutors nominated in New York who have been blocked by Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer.

The blue slip tradition has been in place since at least 1918, according to the Congressional Research Service. But like many Senate traditions, it has evolved over the years to become more partisan. Until 2017, at the beginning of Trump’s first term, blue slips were also honored for nominees to the circuit court, which oversee multiple states. But the Republican-led judiciary panel, also led then by Grassley, did away with that tradition.

In the past, the White House has often worked with home state senators as they decide who to nominate. But Trump and Democrats have shown little interest in working with each other.

Trump is growing frustrated

Trump has focused his ire on Grassley, a longtime ally who is the senior-most Senate Republican. In a July post on social media, Trump called on Grassley to have the “courage” to stop honoring the blue slips.

“Chuck Grassley, who I got re-elected to the U.S. Senate when he was down, by a lot, in the Great State of Iowa, could solve the ‘Blue Slip’ problem,” Trump posted.

Grassley responded by defending the practice, and he said he was “offended by what the president said, and I’m disappointed that it would result in personal insults.”

Trump revived his complaints this week, culminating with the threat to sue. On Sunday, he posted that “I have a Consultational Right to appoint Judges and U.S. Attorneys, but that RIGHT has been completely taken away from me in States that have just one Democrat United States Senator.”

It’s all part of a broader nominations fight

Even as Republicans have defied Trump on blue slips, they have agreed with him that the nominations process needs to move faster — especially as Democrats have slowed votes on all of his nominees.

Trump and Republicans pressured Senate Democrats to lift some of their holds on nominees ahead of the traditional August recess, threatening to force them to remain in session all month. But the effort was unsuccessful, and the Senate left town anyway, with Trump posting on social media that Schumer can “GO TO HELL!”

After that standoff, Thune said the chamber will consider in the fall Senate rule changes that would make it harder for Democrats to block or slow votes on nominations.

“I think that the last six months have demonstrated that this process, nominations, is broken,” Thune said. “And so I expect there will be some good robust conversations about that.”