By MIKE CORDER and MOLLY QUELL, Associated Press

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — A growing number of experts, including those commissioned by a U.N. body, have said Israel’s offensive in the Gaza Strip amounts to genocide, deepening Israel’s isolation and risking untold damage to the country’s standing even among allies.

The accusation is vehemently denied by Israel, which was established in part as a refuge for Jews after the Holocaust. Others have rejected it or said only a court can make that determination.

Even so, global outrage over Israel’s wartime conduct has mounted in recent months, as images of starving children emerged, adding to the humanitarian catastrophe of a 23-month war that has killed tens of thousands of Palestinians and laid waste to much of Gaza.

A current offensive in the territory’s largest city further raised concern, with some of Israel’s European allies condemning it.

But the genocide accusation goes further, raising the question of whether a state forged in the aftermath of the crime is now committing it.

Israeli leaders brand the argument as veiled antisemitism, saying the country abides by international law and urges Gaza’s civilians to evacuate ahead of major military operations. They say Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack that sparked the war was itself a genocidal act.

In that attack, Hamas-led fighters killed some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducted 251. Forty-eight hostages remain in Gaza, around 20 of whom Israel believes are alive.

Israel’s ensuing operation has reduced much of Gaza to rubble and led to famine in parts. Israeli leaders have also expressed support for the mass relocation of Palestinians from Gaza, a move Palestinians and others say would amount to forcible expulsion.

Gaza’s Health Ministry says over 65,000 Palestinians have been killed. The ministry — part of the Hamas-run government and staffed by medical professionals — doesn’t say how many were civilians or combatants, but says women and children make up around half.

The definition of genocide

Genocide was codified in a 1948 convention drawn up after the horrors of the Holocaust that defines it as acts “committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group.”

According to the convention, genocidal acts include: killing; causing serious bodily or mental harm; and deliberately inflicting conditions of life calculated to bring about the group’s physical destruction in whole or in part.

Experts and rights groups increasingly use the genocide label

In a report last week, a team of independent experts commissioned by the U.N. Human Rights Council concluded the war has become an attempt by Israel to destroy the Palestinian population in Gaza and constitutes genocide.

The group, which doesn’t speak for the U.N., said its determination was based on a pattern of behavior, including Israel’s “total siege” of Gaza, killing or wounding vast numbers of Palestinians, and the destruction of health and educational facilities. Israel says Hamas uses such facilities for military purposes. It lifted a complete 2 1/2 month blockade in May.

Many of the world’s leading experts on genocide have reached the same conclusion, with at least two dozen using the term publicly in the past year. Among them is Omer Bartov, a professor of Holocaust and genocide studies at Brown University.

Early in the war, Bartov, who grew up in Israel and served in its military, argued Israel’s actions didn’t amount to genocide.

He changed his mind when Israel took over the city of Rafah, driving out most of its population. He now considers Israel’s actions “a genocidal operation.”

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez called Israel’s conduct genocide this month. “This is not self-defense, it’s not even an attack — it’s the extermination of a defenseless people,” he said.

Two Israeli rights groups have also said it’s genocide. While the groups are respected internationally, their views are not representative of the vast majority of Israelis.

In December, Amnesty International used the term, citing similar findings as the U.N.-commissioned experts. “Looking at the broader picture of Israel’s military campaign and the cumulative impact of its policies and acts, genocidal intent is the only reasonable conclusion,” it said.

Two weeks later, Human Rights Watch accused Israel of intentionally depriving Gaza of water, saying that amounted to “an act of genocide.”

Others do not see genocide — or say it’s for a court to decide

Israel — where the Holocaust plays a critical role in national identity — casts such allegations as an assault on its very legitimacy. It says Hamas — which doesn’t accept Israel’s right to exist — is prolonging the war by not surrendering and releasing the hostages.

The Foreign Ministry dismissed the report by the U.N.-commissioned experts as “distorted and false.”

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said that Israel could have committed genocide “in one afternoon” if it wanted, implying it has acted with restraint. Experts say there’s no numerical threshold for the crime.

Responding to a question in August, U.S. President Donald Trump, whose country is Israel’s staunchest backer, said he didn’t think he’d seen evidence to support the accusation.

The Elie Wiesel Foundation, established by the Nobel laureate and Holocaust survivor, also rejected the characterization.

“Israel’s actions in Gaza do not constitute genocide — they are legitimate acts of self-defense against an organization that seeks Israel’s destruction,” it said in a statement.

Norman Goda, a professor of Holocaust studies at the University of Florida, sees the use of the word as part of “a long-standing effort to delegitimize Israel,” saying the accusations are “laced with antisemitic tropes.”

U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres and others say it’s not for politicians or scholars to make the determination.

“We have always been clear that that is a decision for international courts,” then-British Foreign Secretary David Lammy told Sky News in May.

The European Union has made a similar argument, as has the Auschwitz memorial, dedicated to the victims at the largest Nazi concentration camp, most of them Jews.

The top U.N. court has been asked to rule

In late 2023, South Africa accused Israel of genocide at the U.N.’s top court, the International Court of Justice. About a dozen countries have joined the case. A final ruling could take years.

To prove its case, South Africa must establish intent.

Lawyers for the country have already pointed to comments by Israeli leaders, including then-Defense Minister Yoav Gallant saying Israel was “fighting human animals,” and Deputy Knesset Speaker Nissim Vaturi saying that Israelis shared the goal of “erasing the Gaza Strip from the face of the Earth.”

Israeli leaders have downplayed the comments and argued they were taken out of context or directed at Hamas.

Even if it rules for South Africa, the court has no way to stop any genocide or punish perpetrators. Only the U.N. Security Council can do that — including through sanctions or authorizing military action. The U.S. has a long history of using its veto power there to block resolutions against Israel.

The International Criminal Court, meanwhile, has issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant, but neither faces genocide charges. They are accused of using starvation as a method of warfare, allegations they deny.

Israel faces increasing pressure

Israel faces increasing pressure, even from countries not calling its actions genocide. There have been calls for exclusion in the cultural and sports sectors, and protests in several European cities.

The European Commission’s president, Ursula von der Leyen, one of Israel’s staunchest backers, has called for partially suspending trade ties with the country. Germany and the U.K., both strong supporters of Israel, have suspended or restricted some military exports.

Goda, the academic who doesn’t think Israel is committing genocide, acknowledged the term has ramifications beyond the legal realm.

“’Genocide’ is a legal term, but it also carries a very heavy political and cultural weight,” he said. “A country committing genocide can never outrun the legacy of that crime.”

Follow AP’s war coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war

By DAVID BAUDER, AP Media Writer

NEW YORK (AP) — Jimmy Kimmel is set to return to late-night television Tuesday after a nearly weeklong suspension that triggered a national discussion about freedom of speech and President Donald Trump’s ability to police the words of journalists, commentators and even comics.

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But two groups of ABC affiliates that denounced Kimmel last week said they would not carry his return. Nexstar Media Group said it would continue to preempt the show, “pending assurances that all parties are committed to fostering an environment of respectful, constructive dialogue in the markets we serve.” Sinclair Broadcast Group said it would also keep Kimmel off its stations. The two corporations collectively control about a quarter of ABC affiliates.

ABC, which suspended Kimmel’s show last Wednesday following criticism of his comments about the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, announced Monday that “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” would return after the network had “thoughtful conversations” with the host.

“Our long national late nightmare is over,” Stephen Colbert joked on his CBS show in response to Kimmel’s reinstatement.

ABC suspended Kimmel indefinitely after comments he made in a monologue last week. Kimmel suggested that many Trump supporters were trying to capitalize on Kirk’s death and were “desperately trying to characterize this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them.”

Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission of the United States Brendan Carr speaks during the Concordia Annual Summit in New York, Monday, Sept. 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Andres Kudacki)

Trump-appointed Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr last week said it appeared that Kimmel was trying to “directly mislead the American public” with his remarks about Tyler Robinson, the 22-year-old Utah man charged with Kirk’s killing, and his motives. Those motives remain unclear. Authorities say Robinson grew up in a conservative family, but his mother told investigators his son had turned left politically in the last year.

“We can do this the easy way or the hard way,” Carr said before ABC announced the suspension. “These companies can find ways to change conduct, to take action, frankly, on Kimmel, or there is going to be additional work for the FCC ahead.”

Those remarks set a backlash in motion, with Republican Sen. Ted Cruz saying that Carr acted like “a mafioso.” Hundreds of entertainment luminaries, including Tom Hanks, Barbra Streisand and Jennifer Aniston, signed a letter circulated by the American Civil Liberties Union that called ABC’s move “a dark moment for freedom of speech in our nation.”

Demonstrators hold signs outside El Capitan Entertainment Centre, where the late-night show “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” is staged, Thursday, Sept. 18, 2025, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)

Some consumers punished ABC parent Disney by canceling subscriptions to its streaming services.

Trump had hailed Kimmel’s suspension, even inaccurately saying the show had been canceled. Kimmel has been a relentless Trump critic in his comedy.

Trump’s administration has used threats, lawsuits and federal government pressure to try to exert more control over the media industry. Trump sued ABC and CBS over news coverage, which the companies settled. Trump has also filed defamation lawsuits against The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times, and successfully urged Congress to strip federal funding from NPR and PBS.

How — or even whether — Kimmel would address the controversy on his first show back remained a mystery. Millions of people are likely to watch.

Disney and ABC executives reportedly negotiated the return for several days before announcing the resolution. The ABC statement said the suspension happened because some of Kimmel’s comments were “ill-timed and thus insensitive,” but it did not call them misleading.

Andrew Kolvet, a spokesperson for Turning Point USA, the organization founded by Kirk and now headed by his widow, posted on X that “Disney and ABC caving and allowing Kimmel back on the air is not surprising, but it’s their mistake to make.”

The suspension happened at a time when the late-night landscape is shifting. Shows are losing viewers, in part because many watch highlights the next day online. CBS announced the cancellation of Colbert’s show over the summer. Kimmel’s contract with ABC reportedly lasts through May.

Colbert, in his opening monologue Monday, grabbed his recently won Emmy Award for outstanding talk series, saying, “Once more, I am the only martyr on late night!”

Associated Press writers Mark Kennedy and James Pollard in New York and Patrick Whittle in Portland, Maine, contributed to this report.

By FRANCESCO SPORTELLI

FIUMICINO, Italy (AP) — Dog owners often face a dilemma before traveling: leave your beloved pet with a sitter or at a kennel? Both require quite some planning and logistics, which can be stressful and time-consuming for fur parents.

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Rome’s Fiumicino International Airport has sought to streamline the process by opening one of the first on-site hotels at a major European airport, following a similar initiative in Frankfurt. Dog Relais’ workers even retrieve pups from the terminal so travelers can proceed straight to their flight.

“This project is fitting into a strategy to provide a very immersive experience to passengers,” said Marilena Blasi, chief commercial officer at Aeroporti di Roma, the company that manages Italian capital’s two airports. “In this case, we provide services to dogs and the owners of the dogs.”

Basic rooms at the dog hotel cost about €40 ($47) and feature temperature-controlled floors and private gardens. More timid or solitary dogs can be placed in kennels at the edge of the facility, where they interact with staff rather than other dogs in the common grass pens. At night, ambient music that has a frequency with a low, soft tone — 432 hertz — designed for relaxation is piped in through the rooms’ speakers.

There are optional extras that range from the usual grooming, bathing and cleaning teeth services, to the more indulgent, such as aromatherapy with lavender or peppermint scents to help induce calm, or arnica cream rubbed into aching muscles and joints.

Manolo Fiorenzi, a dog trainer, caresses Otto, an old a cocker dog in one of the rooms of the Dog Relais, a hotel for dogs at Rome’s Fiumicino International Airport, Wednesday, Sept. 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)

Owners unsatisfied with standard-issue webcams for checking in on their canines from afar can spring for a €60 (about $70) premium room equipped with a screen for round-the-clock videocalls. They can even pamper their pet by tossing a treat via an application connected to a dispenser.

The facility not only provides its services to travelers, but also to dog owners who need daycare.

Working in human resources for Aeroporti di Roma, Alessandra Morelli regularly leaves her 2-year-old, chocolate-colored Labrador Retriever there.

“Since I’ve been able to bring Nina to this dog hotel, my life, and the balance between my personal and professional life have changed because it allows me to enjoy my working day and my personal travels in total peace and tranquility,” said Morelli, 47.

A dog named Zoe, runs out from one of the rooms of the Dog Relais, a hotel for dogs at Rome’s Fiumicino International Airport, Wednesday, Sept. 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)

Dario Chiassarini, 32, said he started bringing his Rottweiler puppy, Athena, to Dog Relais for training, another service on offer, because it’s clean, well-organized and its location was easily accessible. And he said he plans to check his beloved pup into the hotel whenever he and his girlfriend need to travel.

“We will rely on them without hesitation and without doubt — both because we got to know the people who work here, which for us is essential, and because of the love they have for animals and the peace of mind of knowing who we are entrusting Athena to,” said Chiassarini, who works in car sales. “It is certainly a service that, if we should need it, we will make use of.”

A dog stays in the park of the Dog Relais, a hotel for dogs at Rome’s Fiumicino International Airport, Wednesday, Sept. 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)

The dog hotel has proved popular so far. All 40 rooms were occupied in August, when Italians take their customary summer vacation and millions of passengers come through Fiumicino. Occupancy averaged almost 2/3 since doors opened in May, said Blasi.

The same month the dog hotel opened, Italy’s commercial aviation authority changed rules to allow large dogs to fly inside plane cabins for domestic flights, provided they are inside secured crates. The first such flight will take off on Sept. 23, according to transport minister, Matteo Salvini.

A costumer walks with her dog as she leaves the Dog Relais, a hotel for dogs at Rome’s Fiumicino International Airport, Wednesday, Sept. 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)

Salvini admits that while many are happy with having their pups on the plane, others may feel annoyed. However, at a pet conference on Sept. 16, he said: “We always have to use judgment, but … for me it’s a source of pride, as well as a step forward from the point of view of civilization.”

Associated Press writer David Biller in Rome contributed to this report.

In interviews with The Baltimore Sun, exorcists claimed these are not movie scenes but moments they’ve witnessed firsthand. And what’s more, requests from the public to undergo the ancient ritual are multiplying.

Today, more than 50 years after Linda Blair’s head spun in the hit film “The Exorcist” and nearly 15 years after the Catholic Church convened its first U.S. seminar on exorcism in Baltimore, the priests who claim to do battle with demons are in more demand than ever.

At the time of that Baltimore meeting, about two dozen exorcists practiced in the United States; today, it has more than six times that amount.

“We’re getting more and more people needing an exorcism,” said Monsignor Stephen Rossetti, a Washington, D.C.-based priest who has been conducting the solemn religious rite for more than 20 years. “There are only about 150 exorcists in the country, and they are being flooded with requests, including from many desperate people pleading for assistance. We can’t keep up with the demand now — and it’s only going to get worse.”

As anyone who has seen “The Exorcist,” the 1973 psychological thriller by director William Friedkin, knows, an exorcism is a prayer encounter in which a trained clergyman calls on the power of the Holy Spirit to dispel a demonic entity or entities believed to be harassing, oppressing, or possessing the bodies of human beings.

In the Christian worldview, the Devil is an angel who was expelled from heaven for rebelling against God’s will. Christians also believe an array of demons — lesser but similarly rebellious spiritual figures — were cast out along with Satan, and that the dark figures work together to sever the connections between human beings and their creator.

“What’s an exorcism? It’s breaking your relationship with the devil or an evil spirit,” said the Most Rev. Thomas Paprocki, the Bishop of the Diocese of Springfield, Illinois, who organized and helped run the landmark Baltimore symposium.

The movie showed that the process can be terrifying and dangerous. Filmgoers saw Blair as Regan McNeil, the 12-year-old victim of demonic possession, spit bile, spew curses in Latin, levitate, throw a priest across the room, and in a moment that made movie history, grin maniacally as her head whirled around 360 degrees. Exorcists claim these moments reflect the very real battle between good and evil.

Exorcists interviewed for this story said their screening process shows that more than 99% of those who claim possession are suffering from a mental illness. Even when a demonic presence is discerned, it’s rarely as severe as the one portrayed in the movie.

“While most cases are not as intense as the 1973 movie, there are wild things that occasionally happen,” said Rossetti, a licensed psychologist and the author of exorcist books, including “Diary of an American Exorcist” (2021) and “My Confrontation With Hell.”

“Objects do get thrown across the room; people do vomit up strange objects; they do speak in demonic voices, often have superhuman strength and can have occult knowledge and communicate in foreign languages.”

Based on his firsthand experiences, Msgr. Stephen Rossetti shares accounts of real-life encounters with malevolent forces. (Surya Vaidy/Staff)

Sudden temperature drops also happen, he added, and victims do react strongly to holy water and other sacred objects. He has seen a few levitate.

“These sorts of things happen, but not daily,” said Rossetti, who participates in up to 20 exorcisms of varying intensities per week, often at the St. Michael Center for Spiritual Renewal in Washington, the ministry of deliverance he founded 24 years ago.

The center serves individuals who reside within the Archdiocese of Washington, regardless of their religious affiliation. The territory includes Montgomery, Prince George’s, Calvert, Charles and St. Mary’s counties in Maryland.

The Archdiocese of Baltimore, like the vast majority of the nation’s 173 dioceses, has a team of individuals trained to conduct exorcisms, but Christian Kendzierski, a spokesman for the archdiocese, said officials declined to comment due to the sensitivity of the topic.

Few who conduct or view the ritual are eager to discuss it, and the church generally shields the process from the tabloids. But some cases are inherently sensational, such as when Rossetti sought to liberate a woman he calls “C,” who had been cursed by self-described witches.

A small statue of Saint Benedict, a Christian monk which is for sale at the St. Benedict Center. Saint Benedict is often invoked in exorcisms and is known for his power over demons, particularly through the Saint Benedict Medal. (Karl Merton Ferron/Staff)

After Rossetti and his team prayed over her, he recalled, she “vomited up an ugly, thick, black liquid” — and hours later, a text message appeared on her phone: “You’ll have [a] migraine all night for throwing me up, b–ch.”

Rossetti favors sharing such experiences to bring the service to wider attention at a time when, in his view, the American public has become far less committed to formal faith practices. In addition to his books, he keeps a blog on his exploits and conducts an online deliverance prayer session with attendees from more than 50 countries.

Shrieking cats

Then, as he describes in his 2020 book, “Demonic Foes: My Twenty-Five Years as a Psychiatrist Investigating Possessions, Diabolic Attacks, and the Paranormal,” a priest Gallagher knew brought a woman he refers to as Julia to his home office.

The night before her visit, he told The Sun, he and his wife were awakened at 3 a.m. by the sound of their two normally friendly cats shrieking and clawing each other.

When Julia came to his home the next morning, Gallagher said, she introduced herself with a smirk and asked him how his cats were doing.

What he saw as he observed her over the next few weeks convinced him her condition could not be explained by medical science. On one occasion, he recalled, during a drive with Julia and the priest, she appeared to fall asleep, then said, in a suddenly deeper-than-usual voice, “You never learn, you f—ing priest! She’s ours, leave her alone, or you’re going to be sorry.” When she awoke, she had no idea where she was.

A replica of the St. Benedict Medal, as well as the obverse of the pendant, is displayed in front of a small item with the likeness of Saint Benedict, a Christian monk, which is for sale at the St. Benedict Center. Saint Benedict is known for his power over demons, particularly through the Saint Benedict Medal. (Karl Merton Ferron/Staff)

Another time, he said Julia told him she could “see” a friend of his even though the man was several states away. When Gallagher called him to check, the man confirmed her description of his attire (a blue windbreaker) and what he was doing (walking on a beach).

Gallagher later attended several exorcisms of Julia — a self-described Satanist. The sessions fell short of liberating her, but they were the first of hundreds he has witnessed while emerging as one of the world’s most widely consulted scientific experts on demonic possession — and he said he has been seeing more cases than he can fit into his busy physician’s schedule.

“Anybody who thinks there are no Satanists is just as wrong as anybody who thinks that Satanists are around every corner,” he said.

A victim levitating

He said he has never heard of a head spinning but he said it’s common for afflicted people to physically resist entering a church, have the strength to throw a grown man across a room, manifest totally white eyes, speak in Russian or Latin, or — a sign he says means a demon is being expelled -— foaming at the mouth so badly that “you have to get a bucket.”

He also witnessed in Rome a victim levitating about two feet above her chair. He and four other team members had to hold her down.

“This went on for a few minutes,” he said.

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Now retired, the priest still gets multiple requests per week, and “it’s hard to blow off people who are suffering.” He helped establish the Pope Leo XIII Institute, an educational center on exorcism, in the Chicago area in 2012, and like almost everyone in the field, he’s a member of the International Association of Exorcists, an organization the church founded in 1994 and boasts more than 900 members.

The priests interviewed for this story have theories as to why exorcism is in demand. Some point to the growing number of Americans drawn to the kind of alternative practices — tarot cards, astrology, the use of Ouija boards — they believe are like catnip to demons.

Rossetti said there are three steps toward “getting possessed” — abandoning one’s faith life, committing serious sins, and practicing the occult — and “a frightening number of people, including young people, going down this path.

“There’s no doubt in my mind that years from now, many of them will have demonic afflictions,” he added.

Still, he and his colleagues have faith that God has power over Satan, and as long as they bring the faith, strength and humility the task calls for, he’s sure it will set the captives free.

“It’s a great confirmation of the faith and one of the graces of this ministry,” he said.

Have a news tip? Contact Jonathan M. Pitts at jonpitts@baltsun.com.