TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — The U.S. Supreme Court is giving a green light to a $2.5 billion gambling deal between Florida and the state’s Seminole Tribe.

Chief Justice John Roberts, who oversees emergency requests from the federal appeals court in Washington, D.C., earlier this month issued an administrative stay in the case while the full court considered a request for a long-term stay made by lawyers representing Florida casino operators.

In a two-page decision released on Wednesday, the court stated that it had denied the stay request and vacated the administrative hold put in place by Roberts. But the ruling also included a statement by Justice Brett Kavanaugh, who raised questions about whether the 2021 gambling legislation pushed by Gov. Ron DeSantis “raises serious equal protection issues.”

This latest decision is unlikely to end the legal battle, since the two Florida casinos challenging the gambling deal had previously said they intended to pursue a full-blown appeal before the high court. There is also a case pending before the state Supreme Court.

The question, however, is whether this latest ruling will prompt the Seminole Tribe to resume sports betting in Florida after a nearly two-year pause.

“The denial of the stay by the U.S. Supreme Court is very good news,” said Gary Bitner, a spokesperson for the Tribe. “The Seminole Tribe of Florida is heartened by this decision.”

Gov. Ron DeSantis, in concert with legislative leaders like then-Senate President Wilton Simpson, helped put together the gambling deal approved by the GOP-led Legislature in May 2021. It permitted sports betting and also authorized the Tribe to add craps and roulette to its current casinos and build additional casinos on the Tribe’s Hollywood reservation that is already home to Hard Rock Hotel & Casino. Shortly after the deal was approved, the Seminoles began offering sports betting through a mobile app.

But the compact — as it is also known — has been the target of a flurry of legal challenges, with some of it centered on the Tribe’s ability to offer betting throughout the state, and not just on reservations, due to the app.

The lawsuit, which was filed against the Department of Interior since that agency did not block the compact, has wound its way through two layers of federal courts and prompted divergent views from the judges involved.

After a district judge struck down the compact, a panel of federal appeals court judges overturned the decision and said any dispute over the compact between Florida and the Tribe should be fought in state court.

In his statement, Kavanaugh said he supported removing the stay on that appeals court decision. But he said that if the gambling deal allowed betting outside of tribal lands, then it was likely a violation of the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act. Kavanaugh then also raised the question of whether there was an equal protection violation due to the state’s actions.

“But the state law’s constitutionality is not squarely presented in this application, and the Florida Supreme Court is in any event currently considering state-law issues related to the Tribe’s potential off-reservation gaming operations,” Kavanaugh stated.

By AAMER MADHANI, SEUNG MIN KIM and COLLEEN LONG (Associated Press)

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden on Wednesday spoke out against retaliatory attacks by Israeli settlers against Palestinians in the West Bank in the aftermath of the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks on Israel. He also said he was redoubling his commitment to working on a two-state solution to end the decades-long Israel-Palestinian conflict.

Biden said the attacks by “extremist settlers” amounted to “pouring gasoline” on the already burning fires in the Middle East since the Hamas attack.

“It has to stop. They have to be held accountable. It has to stop now,” Biden said at the start of a news conference with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, who was being honored with a state visit to Washington.

Settler violence against Palestinians has intensified since the Hamas attack, and Palestinians have been killed by settlers, according to Palestinian authorities. Rights groups say settlers have torched cars and attacked several small Bedouin communities, forcing them to evacuate to other areas.

The West Bank Protection Consortium, a coalition of nongovernmental organizations and donor countries, including the European Union, says hundreds of Palestinians have been forcibly displaced in the West Bank due to settler violence since Oct. 7. That’s in addition to over 1,100 displaced since 2022.

Deadly violence has been surging in the West Bank as the Israeli military pursues Palestinian terrorists in the aftermath of the Hamas attack from Gaza.

The violence threatens to open another front in the 2-week-old war, and puts pressure on the internationally recognized Palestinian Authority, which administers parts of the West Bank and is deeply unpopular among Palestinians, in large part because it cooperates with Israel on security matters.

Biden again condemned the brutality of the Hamas attack that killed 1,400 Israelis and said that he was convinced that Hamas was driven in part by a desire undo U.S.-led efforts to normalize Israeli relations with some of its Arab neighbors, including Saudi Arabia.

The president also said that after the Israel-Hamas conflict comes to an end, Israeli, Palestinians and their partners must work toward a two-state solution.

“Israelis and Palestinians equally deserve to live side by side in safety, dignity and peace,” Biden said, adding, “When this crisis is over, there has to be a vision of what comes next. And in our view, it has to be a two-state solution.”

The Hamas-run Health Ministry says more than 6,500 Palestinians in Gaza have been killed in retaliatory strikes. Biden said he had doubts about the accuracy of the Hamas death count, but stressed that it was critical for Israel to move carefully in its response to minimize civilian deaths.

“I’m sure innocents have been killed, and it’s the price of waging a war,” Biden said. “Israel should be incredibly careful to be sure that they’re focusing on going after the folks that are propagating this war,” Biden said.

Biden also that he has not directly sought assurances from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that Israel will hold off on an expected ground invasion into Gaza before hostages can be released.

“What I have indicated to him is that if that’s possible, to get these folks out safely, that’s what he should do. It’s their decision,” Biden said at news conference at the White House. “But I did not demand it. I pointed out to him, if it’s real, it should be done.” About 10 Americans remain unaccounted for amid the Israel-Hamas war, according to the White House.

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Associated Press writer Josh Boak contributed to this report.