Israel plans takeover of Gaza City and Texas Gov. Abbott criticizes state Democrats: Morning Rundown

Israeli leaders have approved a plan to escalate the country’s war with Hamas in Gaza. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott ramps up his threats against Democratic lawmakers who fled the state. And the prime suspect in a shooting at an Army base in Georgia was bullied, former co-workers say.

Here’s what to know today.

Israel says it will retake Gaza City, escalating war with Hamas

Israel said it will take over Gaza City, escalating its war with Hamas even as it faces growing international calls to end the 22-month conflict. The plan, announced early Friday local time, stops short of the full occupation of the Gaza Strip that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had discussed in an interview yesterday on Fox News, in which he said that Israelis “intend to” take over the enclave but that he didn’t want to “keep” it long term.

An Israeli offensive could displace tens of thousands of people and could also endanger the remaining hostages held by Hamas.

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Israel’s announcement comes as commercial satellite images show Israel’s military building up troops and equipment near the border with Gaza that would support a possible new ground invasion of the Palestinian enclave, according to three U.S. officials and a former official who viewed the imagery.

It comes at a tense time in relations between Israel and the U.S. At the end of last month, Netanyahu and President Donald Trump had a private phone conversation that devolved into shouting amid White House concerns over whether the U.S.- and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation is working, according to a senior U.S. official, two former U.S. officials and a Western official who were briefed on the matter. The phone call prompted a trip to the region last week by Steve Witkoff, the U.S. special envoy to the Middle East, to find a unified path forward in the war.

Asked earlier this week whether he would support Israel’s occupying Gaza, Trump said he is focused on getting people food. As for military occupation, he said, “I really can’t say. That’s going to be pretty much up to Israel.”

Follow our live blog for the latest updates.

Texas Gov. Abbott vows ‘special session after special session’

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott is ramping up pressure on state Democratic lawmakers who fled the state to block redistricting legislation, saying in an exclusive interview with NBC News that he’ll call “special session after special session after special session” and that the Republican-led state House has approved civil arrest warrants for the missing lawmakers.

“Democrats act like they’re not going to come back as long as this is an issue,” Abbott said. “That means they’re not going to come back until like 2027 or 2028, because I’m going to call special session after special session after special session with the same agenda items on there.”

Abbott defended the mid-decade redistricting efforts, saying they’re necessary because “both the law and the facts have changed since we drew the lines back in 2021.” And, he said, the results of the 2024 election is political justification for redrawing the maps.

More than 50 Democratic lawmakers fled the state earlier this week, a decision that halts action on redistricting, as well as other bills in the legislature. It has also led to mounting fines and financial uncertainty for the lawmakers who have left their families and day jobs for an extended period of time. Read the full story here.

More politics news:

• Federal agents are expected to have a stronger and more visible presence in Washington, D.C., after Trump bashed the city’s crime rate.

• Trump announced he would nominate Stephen Miran, a key architect of the president’s tariff war, to fill an open role at the Federal Reserve.

• The National Weather Service was given permission to fill 450 job positions in a move by the Trump administration to undo most of the DOGE cuts from earlier this year.

• A Florida judge ruled to temporarily halt new construction at Florida’s controversial “Alligator Alcatraz” immigration detention center.

• Rep. Nancy Mace, a Republican candidate for governor of South Carolina, said she’ll “debate anyone” and likes tough questions after a town hall where some who disagreed with her were asked to leave.

Fort Stewart shooting suspect was bullied, Army soldiers say

A day after a soldier was arrested and accused of opening fire at his Army base in Georgia, wounding five people, those who knew the suspect, 28-year-old Quornelius Radford, said the shooting came as a complete shock. But Radford had endured relentless bullying over his stutter almost as soon as he joined the military in 2018, former co-workers said. “It was very bad to the point where he could barely talk,” said Sgt. Cameron Barrett, who was friends with Radford.

Still, Radford showed no signs of anger, resentment or deeper issues, Barrett and other fellow soldiers said. However, Sgt. Carlos Coleman, who remained friends with Radford on Facebook after they parted ways, said Radford expressed deep heartache earlier this year about losing a loved one in a wrong-way crash.

Radford remained in custody yesterday, and Army officials said a motive was unclear. The five wounded soldiers were in stable condition and are expected to recover. Read the full story here.

Read All About It

• Three more victims of the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center have been newly identified.

• The Canyon Fire north of Los Angeles forced thousands of evacuations as the blaze grew to over 1,500 acres.

• An 18-year-old was arrested after allegedly throwing a sex toy into the crowd at a Phoenix Mercury game, the fourth such time the “stupid prank,” as the teen himself called it, has unfolded at a WNBA game recently.

• The rollout of a new Instagram Map that allows users to share where they are in real time has sparked privacy concerns.

• Brandon Blackstock, Kelly Clarkson’s ex-husband and the father of her two children, has died at the age of 48 after a three-year battle with cancer.

• Remember the “stomp clap hey” era of music? It’s making waves online again — much to people’s annoyance.

Staff Pick: This summer’s hottest accessory: a mini fan

This story came to be after I walked into the office one sweltering morning wondering, “When did everyone outside of Asia start carrying handheld fans?” A coworker promptly whipped out two versions of the mini blasters, and the story was born.

Long popular in Asian countries, personal fans seem to be everywhere lately, from New York City subways to Los Angeles climbing gyms. Data shows top searches are in hot southern states, and the popularity points to a rise in both temps and fast accessories, with platforms like Shein making it easy to export the handhelds out of China. The global personal fan market is set to surpass $1 billion by 2033, nearly doubling its current value. Some influencers have even created a brand out of selling them, like model Remi Bader, whose product is called Fangirl, naturally.

— Jessica Prois, NBC Asian America Editorial Director

NBC Select: Online Shopping, Simplified

Want to challenge your brain? Spend some time trying to piece together the mysteries locked within these mind-bending puzzle books. Plus, NBC Select has suggestions for everything you need to properly prepare an emergency kit, according to FEMA and CDC guidance.

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