2 Feb, 2026 19:23

Israel reopens Gaza border crossing but foreign journalists barred

The Rafah entry point is intended to allow Palestinians to leave the war-torn enclave for Egypt

The Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egyptreopened for a select few Palestinianson Monday.

Although Gaza’s Health Ministry says some20,000 peopleurgently need medical evacuation, the war-ravaged enclave’smain gatewayhas been largelyshut for almost two years. The Israeli army onlyallowed five out of 22,000 patientsto pass on Monday, according to RT sources.

In a statement to RT, the director of one of Gaza’s hospitals, Mohamed Abou Salmiah, claimed that these numbers show that“Israel is practicing a collective punishmentthat threatens thousands of prisoners with murder.”

The Israeli military agency COGAT, which controls aid to Gaza, said on Sunday that the crossingwould reopen in both directionsfor Gaza residentson foot only, and that its operation would be coordinated with Egypt ‍and the EU.

Though the exact number remains unconfirmed, RT sources have claimed thatbetween 50 and 150 peoplewill be allowed to exit the enclave each day.

Before the war, the Rafah border crossing with Egypt was the only direct exit point for most Gazans to reach the outside world, as well as a key entry point for aid into the territory.

Despite the reopening, Israel continues torefuse entry to foreign journalists.

Meanwhile, sources told Reuters that US specialenvoy Steve Witkoffis expected to arrive in Israel on Tuesday to meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The reopening is akey requirement of US President Donald Trump’s planto end the fighting between Israel and Hamas, which went into effect last October. However,Israel had refusedto approve any crossingsuntil now, urging Hamas to hand over the remains of the last hostage in Gaza.

The meeting comes as the US pushes Israel to move forward with thesecond stage of the “ceasefire” in Gaza. It also comes amid heightened tensions between Washington and Iran.

(There’s numerous reports, with much worse punishments that are doled out by Israel! Israel will never bend to the rules; their goal has always been to kill all the Palestinians and they sickenly enjoy it.)

https://www.rt.com/news/631879-israel-reopens-gaza-border-crossing/

Ed Martin out as leader of DOJ's 'weaponization' group, sources say

Asked whether Martin still served in the role, a Justice Department spokesman told NBC Newsthat he continued on in a separate role, as pardon attorney.

Trump loyalist Ed Martin has been stripped of his role leading the Justice Department’s “weaponization” working group, tasked with investigating prosecutors who pursued past investigations into the president and his allies, two people familiar with the discussions told NBC News.

Asked whether Martin still served in the role, a Justice Department spokesman told NBC News that Martin continued to serve in a separate role, as pardon attorney.

“President Trump appointed Ed Martin as Pardon Attorney and Ed continues to do a great job in that role,” according to the spokesman.

Martin had been serving as interim U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia,but the longtime right-wing activist faced opposition from Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., a key member of the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Instead, President Donald Trump made Martin the pardon attorney and director of the “weaponization working group” established by Attorney General Pam Bondi in response to one of the president’s executive orders. Former Fox News host Jeanine Pirro was eventually named U.S. attorney for D.C.

The working group is seeking to examine work including that of former special counsel Jack Smith; any federal cooperation with Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, who prosecuted Trump’s hush money case; the Justice Department’s handling of cases related to the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol attack; and criminal prosecutions of anti-abortion activists, among other issues.

An advocate for those arrested following the riot at the Capitol, Martin previously said he planned to “name” and “shame” individuals the department could not formally charge with crimes, a major departure from long-standing Justice Department policy.

Justice Department protocols state that officials generally shouldn’t confirm the existence of or otherwise comment on ongoing investigations. Martin said it was important to get “the truth” out when asked whether his plan would run afoul of those protocols.

It’s not clear who is heading the group now. Martin didn't respond to a request for comment.

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/justice-department/ed-martin-dojs-weaponization-czar-sources-say-rcna257093

Tillis the tool opposed his appointment

https://x.com/BreitbartNews/status/2018387554370736185?s=20

frustrated by directive to conduct ‘targeted operations’ in Chicago

The former commander-at-large of Border Patrol, Gregory Bovino, clashed with other administration officials over immigration enforcement tactics months before fatal shootings in Minneapolis.

WASHINGTON — Months before two fatal shootings in Minneapolis by Border Patrol agents, Gregory Bovino, who until last week was overseeing the agency’s immigration enforcement operations, pushed back against internal efforts to temper his aggressive approach, according to an email that was obtained by NBC News.

Bovino wanted to conduct large-scale immigration sweeps during an operation in Chicago in September, but the acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Todd Lyons, told him the focus was to conduct “targeted operations,” arresting only of people known to federal agents ahead of time for their violations of immigration law or other laws, according to the correspondence.

“Mr. Lyons seemed intent that CBP conduct targeted operations for at least two weeks before transitioning to full scale immigration enforcement,” Bovino wrote in an email to Department of Homeland Security leaders in Washington, referring to Customs and Border Protection, which oversees Border Patrol agents. “I declined his suggestion. We ended the conversation shortly thereafter.”

Yet after 10 days of more targeted enforcement in Chicago, DHS leadership gave Bovino permission to use his more aggressive approach, and Border Patrol agents he oversaw began to stop people they believed were in the U.S. illegally, according to a person familiar with the conversation between Bovino and Lyons.

“Operation Midway Blitz” grew to include roughly 1,600 arrests. The operation sparked clashes with demonstrators and protests throughout the Chicago area. Immigration officers shot two people.

The email in which Bovino complains to DHS leaders underscores tensions within President Donald Trump’s homeland security team as his aides have tried to carry out his mass deportation agenda. Bovino’s aggressive tactics have come under sharp criticism, leading to a lawsuit over immigration arrests in Chicago and his removal last week from his post after two Border Patrol agents under his command fatally shot intensive care nurse Alex Pretti, 37, in Minneapolis.

The exchange also aligned Bovino with the top aide to Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, Corey Lewandowski. After Minneapolis, Noem and Lewandowski are now taking a back seat to border czar Tom Homan and Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Rodney Scott — who have publicly advocated for a targeted approach.

“Mr. Lyons said he was in charge, and I corrected him saying I report to Corey Lewandowski,” Bovino said in the email. Lewandowski has been an unpaid special government employee since last February.

The email appears to contradict public comments from Noem last month, when she said all immigration enforcement operations are targeted against specific people known to authorities and believed to have broken the law.…

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/immigration/bovino-frustrated-directive-conduct-targeted-operations-chicago-rcna257069

Blame Game

DNI Tulsi Gabbard

@DNIGabbard

Contrary to the blatantly false and slanderous accusations being made against me by Members of Congress and their friends in the propaganda media, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence has and will continue to take action under my statutory authorities to secure our nation and ensure the integrity of our elections.

My response to Congress:

https://x.com/DNIGabbard/status/2018504435769520156?s=20

OPINION

McLaughlin Poll: ICE Hit, But Trump Stays Solid

Despite a barrage of hostile media coverage and relentless attacks from the left, President Donald Trump's standing with voters remains remarkably steady — especially on the issue of border security.

Our latest national survey shows Trump's job approval is unchanged from last month: 50% approve, including 36% who approve of both his persona and his policies, and another 14% who approve of his policies. Forty-seven percent disapprove. [Poll: 1,000 likely voters, plus or minus 3.1%, 95% confidence interval, conducted January 21–27]

The reason Trump's approval remains firm is simple: His base is rock solid.

Among Trump 2024 voters, his approval stands at 89% to 9%. Among Republicans, it is 88% to 11%.

Among conservatives, 85% approve and just 14% disapprove.

That kind of loyalty is rare in modern American politics — and it is driven largely by Trump's unwavering stance on immigration enforcement.

During a stretch of frigid, snowy weather, the biggest national political story became ICE operations in Minneapolis.

Watching the legacy left-wing media's slanted coverage of these enforcement actions made one thing clear: The press is actively trying to help anti-Trump Democrats weaken the federal government's ability to enforce immigration law.

If federal immigration enforcement is neutered, the result is de facto open borders.

Millions of illegal immigrants will continue to pour into the United States — whether they are criminals, terrorists, or individuals who will drain billions of dollars in public assistance from American taxpayers.

Our polling explains exactly why the left is losing this argument.

When voters were asked whether they favor or oppose "deporting known criminal and terrorist migrants who have entered the country illegally," an overwhelming 87% support deportation, including 67% who strongly support it. Only 10% opposed.

Interestingly, Hispanic voters supported deportation by a strong 79% to 19% margin. These numbers are virtually unchanged from December, when support stood at 86% to 8%.

Despite nonstop messaging from the open-borders media, Democrats, and left-wing nonprofits, the American people have not budged: foreign criminals must go.

Support remains strong even when the question expands beyond criminals….

https://www.newsmax.com/mclaughlin/john-mclaughlin-jim-mclaughlin-poll/2026/01/31/id/1244366/

Trump, in an Escalation, Calls for Republicans to ‘Nationalize’ Elections. KEK

The comments, made on a conservative podcast, follow a string of moves from his administration to try to exert more control over American elections.

Feb. 2, 2026

1/2

President Trump called in a new interview for the Republican Party to “nationalize” voting in the United States, an aggressive rhetorical step that was likely to raise new worries about his administration’s efforts to involve itself in election matters.

During an extended monologue about immigration on a podcast released on Monday by Dan Bongino, his former deputy F.B.I. director, Mr. Trump called for Republican officials to “take over” voting procedures in 15 states, though he did not name them.

“The Republicans should say, ‘We want to take over,’” he said. “We should take over the voting, the voting in at least many — 15 places. The Republicans ought to nationalize the voting.”

Under the Constitution, American elections are governed primarily by state law, leading to a decentralized process in which voting is administered by county and municipal officials in thousands of precincts across the country. Mr. Trump, however, has long been fixated on the false claims that U.S. elections are rife with fraud and that Democrats are perpetrating a vast conspiracy to have undocumented immigrants vote and lift the party’s turnout.

Mr. Trump’s remarkable call for a political party to seize the mechanisms of voting follows a string of moves from his administration to try to exert more control over American elections, as he and his allies continue to make false claims about his 2020 defeat.

Last week, F.B.I. agents seized ballots and other voting records from the 2020 election from an election center in Fulton County, Ga., where his allies have for years pursued false claims of election fraud. The New York Times reported on Monday that Mr. Trump had spoken on the phone to the F.B.I. agents involved in the Fulton County raid, praising and thanking them.

The Justice Department, which has been newly politicized under Mr. Trump, is demanding that numerous states, including Minnesota, turn over their full voter rolls as the Trump administration tries to build a national voter file.

In March, Mr. Trump signed an executive order that tried to make significant changes to the electoral process, including requiring documentary proof of citizenship and demanding that all mail ballots be received by the time polls close on Election Day. But that effort has largely been rebuffed by courts.

On social media, Mr. Trump has pushed for even more drastic changes. In August, he wrote that he wanted to end the use of mail-in ballots and potentially the use of voting machines.

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/02/us/politics/trump-nationalize-elections.html?unlocked_article_code=1.JFA.qQqJ.dV1xmZ45ovaj&smid=url-share

>>24211315

2/2. NYTs freak out

The president’s claims of election fraud have been debunked over and over, by both independent reviews and Republican officials. A review of the 2024 election by the Trump administration that began last year had found little evidence of widespread voting fraud by noncitizens as of last month, The Times reported.

Mr. Trump’s escalated remarks about elections come at a moment when Democrats have outperformed the G.O.P. in a series of contests. New Jersey and Virginia elected Democratic governors in landslides in November, and on Saturday, a Democrat won a special election for a Texas State Senate seat by 14 percentage points in a district Mr. Trump had carried by 17 points in 2024, an enormous swing.

Sensing that Republicans were vulnerable to the traditional midterm backlash against the party in power, Mr. Trump last year kick-started an extraordinary effort to gerrymander congressional maps to give his party an edge. The push, which started in Texas but has since expanded to both Democratic- and Republican-controlled states, became a central part of the president’s midterm strategy.

Mr. Trump has made little secret of his interest in expanding the federal government’s role in administering American elections. Last month, he told The Times that he regretted not dispatching the National Guard to seize voting machinery after the 2020 election.

During his interview with Mr. Bongino, Mr. Trump tied his desire for partisan control of voting mechanisms to his administration’s agenda to find and deport undocumented immigrants from American cities.

“If Republicans don’t get them out, you will never win another election as a Republican,” he said, referring to undocumented immigrants. “It’s crazy how you can get these people to vote. If we don’t get them out, look, Republicans will never win another election.”

There is no evidence that a significant number of noncitizens have voted in any American election. A 2024 audit by Georgia’s secretary of state found that just 20 of the 8.2 million people registered to vote in Georgia were not citizens, and only nine had ever voted.

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/02/us/politics/trump-nationalize-elections.html?unlocked_article_code=1.JFA.qQqJ.dV1xmZ45ovaj&smid=url-share

I'm Back (Ep. 2443)

02/02/2026

The Dan Bongino Show Yesterday

1:55;45

https://rumble.com/embed/v730530/?pub=4