Israeli strikes killed at least 85 Palestinians across the Gaza Strip overnight and into Thursday, according to local health officials. Hours later, Hamas fired three rockets at Israel without causing casualties, in the first such attack since Israel ended their ceasefire with a surprise bombardment of Gaza on Tuesday.
The Israeli military ordered people to evacuate an area in central Gaza near Khan Younis, saying it would operate there in response to rocket fire from Hamas.
Meanwhile, the Israeli military restored a blockade on northern Gaza, including Gaza City, that it had maintained for most of the war. It warned residents against using the main highway to enter or leave the north and said only passage to the south would be allowed on the coastal road.
It also announced an additional ground operation in northern Gaza near the already largely destroyed town of Beit Lahiya, where strikes have killed dozens over the past 24 hours.
President Donald Trump plans to sign an executive order Thursday “aimed at eliminating” the U.S. Education Department, advancing a campaign promise to eliminate an agency that’s been a longtime target of conservatives. The Justice Department is resisting a federal judge’s demand for more information about flights that took deportees to El Salvador, arguing that the court should end its “continued intrusions” into executive branch authority. And the Trump administration has suspended approximately $175 million in funding for the University of Pennsylvania over a transgender swimmer who last competed for the school in 2022.
Venus will pass between the Earth and sun on Saturday during what’s called an inferior conjunction.
But don’t plan on seeing the linkup. The sight is extremely difficult to spot without special equipment and a trained eye.
“The glare from the sun makes it really, really difficult to see,” said Michelle Nichols with Chicago’s Adler Planetarium.
A conjunction happens when two celestial bodies appear close together in the sky. It could be two planets, or a planet and the sun. An inferior conjunction of Venus happens when the planet swings between the sun and Earth.
Such an alignment happens about every 19 months because of how Venus and Earth orbit the sun. The moment of inferior conjunction happens around 9 p.m. EDT.
“Some people call that a Venus kiss because we’re extremely close together,” said astronomer Geary Albright with James Madison University.
Venus has phases just like the moon. Before and after the conjunction, Venus looks like a thin crescent — though only telescopes can see it. Those looking for signs of the transition can watch Venus move from the evening to morning sky Sunday.
Adam Mueller can be reached at muel7541@stthomas.edu.
