Israelis are marking the two-year anniversary of Hamas’s attack, which left 1,200 people dead, including more than 700 Israeli civilians and 79 foreign nationals. Memorial events are underway at kibbutzim in southern Israel where people were killed or kidnapped. Meanwhile, large rallies are being held in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem calling for the release of the remaining hostages held in Gaza. Over the past two years, Israel’s indiscriminate war on Gaza has killed more than 67,000 Palestinians, including at least 20,000 children, though the figures are believed to be a vast undercount with thousands of bodies trapped under the rubble.

In Egypt, indirect talks between Israel and Hamas are underway for a second day on a U.S.-drafted 20-point Gaza ceasefire plan. This comes as Israel continues to attack Gaza, with at least eight Palestinians killed since dawn today; they’re among more than 100 people killed since President Trump last Friday called on Israel to halt its bombing campaign.

Meanwhile, a new study by the Costs of War Project finds the Biden and Trump administrations provided at least $21.7 billion in military assistance to Israel over the past two years.

Swedish activist Greta Thunberg was among at least 170 activists deported from Israel Monday after Israeli military forces last week raided and captured dozens of boats in the Global Sumud Flotilla, which attempted to break Israel’s siege and starvation campaign in Gaza. On Monday, Thunberg spoke to a cheering crowd as she arrived at an airport in Athens, Greece, confirming she and other flotilla activists faced abuse in Israeli custody. She also posted this message on her Instagram.

Greta Thunberg: “Do not let me and other volunteers on the flotilla be a distraction. And the Global Sumud Flotilla is about solidarity with Palestinians, international solidarity. And what Israel did was mainly not to illegally abduct us in international waters and abuse us in prison, but it was that it stopped a humanitarian mission and violating international law by preventing humanitarian aid from entering Gaza, a population that are being systematically starved by Israel. And this is a blatant violation of international humanitarian and maritime law.”

More than 340 flotilla activists have been deported from Israel as advocates continue to demand the release of over 100 others who remain in Israeli prison custody, including U.S. citizens. Meanwhile, another wave of humanitarian aid vessels is sailing toward Gaza. The new flotilla is made up of 11 ships with activists from 25 countries, including doctors, carrying medicines and nutritional supplies.

Lebanon’s Health Ministry says Israeli airstrikes killed two people and injured another in southern Lebanon earlier today. They follow an Israeli strike on a car Monday that killed a man who lost his eyesight in Israel’s pager attack last year, along with his wife who was driving the car. According to the United Nations, Israel’s military has killed at least 103 civilians in the 10 months since it agreed to a ceasefire with Hezbollah; despite the declared truce, Israel has kept up near-daily attacks.

In the United States, 200 National Guard troops from Texas are heading to Chicago after a judge declined to block their deployment following two lawsuits filed by the city of Chicago, the state of Illinois, journalists and protesters. This is Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson.

Mayor Brandon Johnson: “I promise that the city of Chicago will do everything in our power to protect the constitutional rights of all Chicagoans. This lawsuit is the latest demonstration of our commitment. Let me be absolutely clear: The president is not sending military troops to Chicago to keep us safe. We know this because Trump has a history of targeting Chicago.”

The Trump administration is asking an appeals court for authorization to send troops from Texas and California to Oregon, after a federal judge over the weekend blocked the deployment of National Guard troops. In Portland, an elderly couple protesting against ICE on Saturday says they were knocked over by federal agents. Laurie Eckman told The Oregonian, “With no warning the feds charged into us, knocked us down and sprayed us. I was hit in the head with a projectile.” Oregon Senator Jeff Merkley said, “Trump’s troops are deliberately attacking peaceful protesters to incite violence. The goal is to generate riots to justify the expansion of authoritarian measures and to strengthen the case for the troop deployments.”

The U.S. government shutdown has entered its seventh day. Democratic lawmakers are holding to their demands that Republicans agree to extend healthcare subsidies from the Affordable Care Act and reverse cuts to Medicaid.

President Trump, who has threatened mass firings of federal workers, blamed Democrats for the shutdown, saying on Monday, “I call them Democrat layoffs. They’re causing it.” His comments came just days after he celebrated the shutdown as an “unprecedented opportunity” to carry out mass layoffs. On Monday, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries challenged Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson to a prime-time debate over the shutdown, which Johnson rejected. This is Jeffries.

Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries: “Well, the White House has gone radio silent since the Oval Office meeting last Monday, and neither Leader Schumer or myself have heard a word from the administration about resolving this issue, making clear to us that the White House wanted to shut the government down, to continue the chaos that they’ve been inflicting on the American people since day one of this presidency.”

The government of Eswatini confirmed Monday it had received a second deportation flight from the United States carrying 10 people who were not nationals of the small southern African kingdom. This comes after the Trump administration previously sent five other deportees to Eswatini in July. Lawyers and human rights groups warn deportees sent by the U.S. have been held in solitary confinement and denied access to their lawyers. The Trump administration has also sent “third-country” deportees to Ghana, Rwanda and South Sudan.

The head of the United Nations agency for refugees is warning countries not to abandon the post-World War II framework for humanitarian migration, including the 1951 Refugee Convention. Filippo Grandi made the remarks Monday as some European nations — and the Trump administration — seek to limit the right of refugees to request asylum.

Filippo Grandi: “I’m worried that the current debate in Europe, for example, and some current deportation practices, such as in the United States, address real challenges in manners not consistent with international law.”

Syria has established its first parliament since longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad was overthrown 10 months ago, ending a 12-year war. Many Syrians welcomed this as a step forward after more than five decades of dictatorship under the Assad family. But the process was also widely criticized as undemocratic because the public did not directly vote for the lawmakers. Local committees cast their ballots Sunday, while interim Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa will appoint at least a third of the 210-member assembly. There were also mounting concerns about the underrepresentation of women and minority groups; only 4% of members of the new transitional assembly are women.

In related news, the Syrian Army and the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces have reportedly reached a ceasefire deal in Aleppo. This comes after recent escalating tensions between the two groups and the killing of a member of the Syrian security forces in an SDF attack.

The International Criminal Court has convicted a former Sudanese militia leader of war crimes and crimes against humanity for his role in mass executions, rapes and torture in the Darfur region. Ali Muhammad Ali Abd-Al-Rahman, also known as Ali Kushayb, was a commander in the Janjaweed militia when the Darfur conflict erupted more than 20 years ago. Then-President Omar al-Bashir’s government responded to the rebel uprising with a scorched-earth campaign of aerial bombings and gruesome raids across villages carried out by Janjaweed troops. Over the years, it is estimated up to 300,000 people have been killed in Darfur and over 2 million displaced. Al-Bashir has been charged by the ICC with crimes including genocide and remains in a military-run prison in Sudan. ICC Presiding Judge Joanna Korner explained Monday’s verdict.

Judge Joanna Korner: “The chamber is convinced that the accused is guilty beyond reasonable doubt of the crimes with which he has been charged. Its verdicts are unanimous.”

Back in the United States, Paramount Skydance has acquired the right-wing digital media outlet The Free Press for $150 million and has installed its co-founder, Bari Weiss, as editor-in-chief of CBS News. Weiss will report directly to David Ellison, the CEO of Paramount. The Free Press is backed by prominent Silicon Valley venture capitalists and has been widely criticized for its commentary on Gaza, including an article titled “The Gaza Famine Myth,” which questioned famine conditions in the besieged territory caused by Israel’s assault and blockade. A CBS correspondent told The Independent, “The fact that we don’t have money to pay journalists, but we have money to pay Bari Weiss between $100 and 200 million is indicative of what the Ellisons’ true goal here is. And it’s not journalism.”

The Supreme Court has rejected an appeal from convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein’s co-conspirator Ghislaine Maxwell, who is currently serving a 20-year sentence for sex trafficking. Maxwell had attempted to get the Supreme Court to rule on whether her case was covered by a plea deal Epstein reached in 2008, when he pleaded guilty to prostitution offenses in Florida in exchange for federal prosecutors agreeing not to charge his co-conspirators. Meanwhile, President Trump was asked Monday about a possible pardon for Maxwell.

President Donald Trump: “I don’t know. I mean, I’d have to speak to the DOJ. I’ll look at it. I’ll — I have a lot of people who’ve asked me for pardons. I call him 'Puff Daddy,' has asked me for a pardon.”

Kaitlan Collins: “But she was convicted of child sex trafficking.”

President Donald Trump: “Yeah, I mean, I’m going to have to take a look at it. I have to ask DOJ.”

Adelita Grijalva, who just won a special election for a House seat in Arizona last month, has still not been sworn in to Congress despite arriving in Washington, D.C., last week. Last Friday, House Speaker Mike Johnson canceled previously scheduled votes for this week and is holding “pro forma” sessions with just a few minutes of business per day. Grijalva thinks it’s because she’s the deciding vote on a petition to release the Epstein files. Democratic Congresswoman Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez echoed her concerns, writing on X, “The government is in full shutdown and the Republicans are refusing to call the House back into session. Want to know why? Because we have secured the final vote on releasing the Epstein Files and they don’t want it out.”