More experts see genocide in Israel’s wartime conduct in #Gaza.

The accusation is vehemently denied by Israel, which was established in part as a refuge for Jews after the Holocaust. Others have rejected it or said only a court can make that determination.

Even so, global outrage over Israel’s wartime conduct has mounted in recent months, as images of starving children emerged, adding to the humanitarian catastrophe of a 23-month war that has killed tens of thousands of Palestinians and laid waste to much of Gaza.

A current offensive in the territory’s largest city further raised concern, with some of Israel’s European allies condemning it.

But the genocide accusation goes further, raising the question of whether a state forged in the aftermath of the crime is now committing it.

Israeli leaders brand the argument as veiled antisemitism, saying the country abides by international law and urges Gaza’s civilians to evacuate ahead of major military operations. They say Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack that sparked the war was itself a genocidal act.

In that attack, Hamas-led militants killed some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducted 251. Forty-eight hostages remain in Gaza, around 20 of whom Israel believes are alive.

Israel’s ensuing operation has reduced much of Gaza to rubble and led to famine in parts. Israeli leaders have also expressed support for the mass relocation of Palestinians from Gaza, a move Palestinians and others say would amount to forcible expulsion.

Gaza’s Health Ministry says over 65,000 Palestinians have been killed. The ministry — part of the Hamas-run government and staffed by medical professionals — doesn’t say how many were civilians or combatants, but says women and children make up around half.
The definition of genocide

Genocide was codified in a 1948 convention drawn up after the horrors of the Holocaust that defines it as acts “committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group.”

According to the convention, genocidal acts include: killing; causing serious bodily or mental harm; and deliberately inflicting conditions of life calculated to bring about the group’s physical destruction in whole or in part.
Experts and rights groups increasingly use the genocide label

In a report last week, a team of independent experts commissioned by the U.N. Human Rights Council concluded the war has become an attempt by Israel to destroy the Palestinian population in Gaza and constitutes genocide.

The group, which doesn’t speak for the U.N., said its determination was based on a pattern of behavior, including Israel’s “total siege” of Gaza, killing or wounding vast numbers of Palestinians, and the destruction of health and educational facilities. Israel says Hamas uses such facilities for military purposes. It lifted a complete 2 1/2 month blockade in May.

Many of the world’s leading experts on genocide have reached the same conclusion, with at least two dozen using the term publicly in the past year. Among them is Omer Bartov, a professor of Holocaust and genocide studies at Brown University.

Early in the war, Bartov, who grew up in Israel and served in its military, argued Israel’s actions didn’t amount to genocide.

He changed his mind when Israel took over the city of Rafah, driving out most of its population. He now considers Israel’s actions “a genocidal operation.”

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez called Israel’s conduct genocide this month. “This is not self-defense, it’s not even an attack — it’s the extermination of a defenseless people,” he said.

Two Israeli rights groups have also said it’s genocide. While the groups are respected internationally, their views are not representative of the vast majority of Israelis.

In December, Amnesty International used the term, citing similar findings as the U.N.-commissioned experts. “Looking at the broader picture of Israel’s military campaign and the cumulative impact of its policies and acts, genocidal intent is the only reasonable conclusion,” it said.

Two weeks later, Human Rights Watch accused Israel of intentionally depriving Gaza of water, saying that amounted to “an act of genocide.”
Others do not see genocide — or say it’s for a court to decide

Israel — where the Holocaust plays a critical role in national identity — casts such allegations as an assault on its very legitimacy. It says Hamas — which doesn’t accept Israel’s right to exist — is prolonging the war by not surrendering and releasing the hostages.

The Foreign Ministry dismissed the report by the U.N.-commissioned experts as “distorted and false.”

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said that Israel could have committed genocide “in one afternoon” if it wanted, implying it has acted with restraint. Experts say there’s no numerical threshold for the crime.

Responding to a question in August, U.S. President Donald Trump, whose country is Israel’s staunchest backer, said he didn’t think he’d seen evidence to support the accusation.

The Elie Wiesel Foundation, established by the Nobel laureate and Holocaust survivor, also rejected the characterization.

“Israel’s actions in Gaza do not constitute genocide — they are legitimate acts of self-defense against an organization that seeks Israel’s destruction,” it said in a statement.

Norman Goda, a professor of Holocaust studies at the University of Florida, sees the use of the word as part of “a long-standing effort to delegitimize Israel,” saying the accusations are “laced with antisemitic tropes.”

U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres and others say it’s not for politicians or scholars to make the determination.

“We have always been clear that that is a decision for international courts,” then-British Foreign Secretary David Lammy told Sky News in May.

The European Union has made a similar argument, as has the Auschwitz memorial, dedicated to the victims at the largest Nazi concentration camp, most of them Jews.
The top U.N. court has been asked to rule

In late 2023, South Africa accused Israel of genocide at the U.N.’s top court, the International Court of Justice. About a dozen countries have joined the case. A final ruling could take years.

To prove its case, South Africa must establish intent.

Lawyers for the country have already pointed to comments by Israeli leaders, including then-Defense Minister Yoav Gallant saying Israel was “fighting human animals,” and Deputy Knesset Speaker Nissim Vaturi saying that Israelis shared the goal of “erasing the Gaza Strip from the face of the Earth.”

Israeli leaders have downplayed the comments and argued they were taken out of context or directed at Hamas.

Even if it rules for South Africa, the court has no way to stop any genocide or punish perpetrators. Only the U.N. Security Council can do that — including through sanctions or authorizing military action. The U.S. has a long history of using its veto power there to block resolutions against Israel.

The International Criminal Court, meanwhile, has issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant, but neither faces genocide charges. They are accused of using starvation as a method of warfare, allegations they deny.
Israel faces increasing pressure

Israel faces increasing pressure, even from countries not calling its actions genocide. There have been calls for exclusion in the cultural and sports sectors, and protests in several European cities.

The European Commission’s president, Ursula von der Leyen, one of Israel’s staunchest backers, has called for partially suspending trade ties with the country. Germany and the U.K., both strong supporters of Israel, have suspended or restricted some military exports.

Goda, the academic who doesn’t think Israel is committing genocide, acknowledged the term has ramifications beyond the legal realm.

“‘Genocide’ is a legal term, but it also carries a very heavy political and cultural weight,” he said. “A country committing genocide can never outrun the legacy of that crime.”

Spain’s top diplomat dismisses Israeli leader’s vow of no #Palestinian state, saying it will happen.

Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares said in an interview with The Associated Press on Monday that “a real wave” of countries have recognized the state of Palestine since Spain, Ireland and Norway did in May 2024 and an overwhelming number support a two-state solution to the nearly 80-year Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

“The day that everyone will have recognized the state of Palestine, we will have to move forward,” he said at the United Nations. “I’m sure that we will find someday the right people for peace on the Israel side, in the same way that we have found it in the Palestinian side” in the Palestinian Authority.

Spain has been in the forefront in pressuring Israel to end the war in Gaza sparked by Hamas’ surprise invasion of southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, criticizing “the atrocities” and “endless killing” it is committing in the territory.

Albares spoke before a UN General Assembly meeting at its annual gathering of world leaders. At the meeting, the Palestinians expected 10 recent and new countries to formally recognize the state of Palestine, adding to the list of more than 145 nations that already have. France, Luxembourg, Belgium and others did so at the meeting, even after Netanyahu reiterated his vow that there will never be a Palestinian state. Weekend recognitions came from the United Kingdom, Canada and Australia.

The Spanish minister called Hamas “a terrorist organization” that doesn’t want a two-state solution. “So let’s put aside the extremists, and let’s look for the people that want a peaceful and secure coexistence.”

Spain is a vocal critic of Israeli action

Albares said Spain has staked out one of the strongest positions against Israel’s actions in Gaza because “we cannot accept that the natural way for the people in the Middle East to relate is through war, through violence.”

Israel has the right to peace, stability, security and a state and so do the Palestinians, he said. “I don’t see why they should be condemned to be eternally a people of refugees.”

Albares said that it was impossible for Spain, as a democratic country that believes in human rights, to have a “normal relation with Israel” while “this endless war continues.”

In recent weeks, Spain ratcheted up its opposition to Israel’s actions in Gaza. Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez called the war a “genocide” earlier this month when he announced plans to formalize an arms embargo and block Israel-bound fuel deliveries from passing through Spanish ports. Netanyahu accused Sánchez of a “blatant genocidal threat.”

The following week, pro-Palestine protesters for whom the government expressed its support disrupted the final leg of an international cycling competition in Madrid due to the presence of a team with ties to Israel.

In the incident’s aftermath, Sanchez called for Israel to be banned from all international sporting events while the war continues. A diplomatic tit-for-tat ensued in which both countries banned ministers and Israeli leaders accused the Spanish government of being “antisemitic.”

Albares said that in pressuring Israel to end the war in Gaza, Spain is defending the principles that underpin the creation of the United Nations after World War II — peace, justice, human rights and human dignity.

Balancing demands from Trump

On another contentious issue, the minister defended Spain’s refusal to spend five per cent of its gross domestic product on defense as U.S. President Donald Trump demanded. At a NATO conference in June, the Sanchez government was the only NATO member to say it would not increase spending to that level.

“We are going to meet the targets and the commitments that are needed for Euro-Atlantic security within NATO,” Albares said. “We said in order to meet them we don’t need the five per cent, we can do it with 2.1 per cent. We have already reached the two per cent target.”

Citing Spain’s military deployments along Europe’s eastern flank including “a historical peak” of 3,000 soldiers among its contributions to European security, he said, “We are a very committed ally to transatlantic security.”

Albares said the U.S. is a “historic, natural ally” of Spain and Europeans. “Let’s keep doing it in the same way. But, of course, we need two for a tango,” he said. What’s clear, Albares said, is that Europe must increasingly take its destiny into its own hands whether it’s ramping up internal trade or security.

Looking at broader challenges from the severity of wars to poverty, climate change and artificial intelligence advancements with no guardrails, Albares said the only answer to address them is by all countries working together — the multilateral approach that underpins the UN mission.

“At the end,” he said, “cooperation is always much ... stronger than confrontation.”

South Sudan’s suspended vice president appears in court on treason charges.

JUBA, South Sudan — The criminal trial of South Sudan’s suspended vice president began in the capital Monday as Riek Machar appeared in a cage alongside his co-defendants.

It was the first time Machar had been seen in public since he was placed under house arrest in March.

President Salva Kiir suspended Machar as his deputy earlier this month after justice authorities filed criminal charges for Machar’s alleged role in an attack on a garrison of government troops earlier this year.

In addition to treason, Machar and seven others face charges of crimes against humanity, murder, conspiracy, terrorism, destruction of public property and military assets.

The trial by a special court in Juba, the capital, was broadcast on national television.

In opening remarks, a lawyer for Machar opposed the trial by what he described as “an incompetent court” that lacks jurisdiction.

The defence argued Machar cannot be criminally charged without hurting the spirit of a 2018 peace deal between Machar and Kiir to end a deadly civil war that caused an estimated 400,000 people. That agreement is the basis for the transitional government in which Machar has been serving as first vice president.

Defence attorneys said the agreement effectively governs South Sudan, which has been on the brink of a return to full-blown war as government forces battle armed groups believed to be loyal to Machar.

They argued Machar remains the country’s vice president under the provisions of the 2018 agreement, which was negotiated with the help of regional leaders and others in the international community.

The proceedings were then adjourned until Tuesday.

Kiir and Machar were leaders of the rebel movement that secured South Sudan’s independence from Sudan in 2011. They are from rival ethnic groups: Kiir is from the Dinka, the largest, and Machar is from the Nuer, the second-largest.

Their military rivalry began in the 1990s, when Machar led a breakaway unit that drew accusations he had betrayed the rebel movement. During the split, forces loyal to Machar carried out a massacre in the town of Bor that targeted the Dinka, angering rebel commander Kiir and John Garang, the movement’s now-deceased political figurehead.

Fighting among southerners briefly undermined their struggle for independence, but also sowed lifelong distrust between Kiir and Machar.

Machar and Kiir don’t see eye to eye even as they work together, analysts said, and their feud has grown over the years as Machar waits his turn to become president while Kiir persists in the office.

The criminal case against Machar appeared to be “a pretext for a political power struggle,” said Daniel Akech, a senior analyst for South Sudan with the International Crisis Group.

“This makes the case political,” he said.

Presidential elections in South Sudan have been repeatedly postponed. In 2013, citing a coup plot, Kiir fired Machar as his deputy. Later that year violence erupted in Juba as government soldiers loyal to Kiir fought those devoted to Machar in the start of what became a deadly civil war. The fighting was often along ethnic lines.

___

Muhumuza reported from Kampala, Uganda.

Deng Machol And Rodney Muhumuza, The Associated Press

#Singapore is to hang a Malaysian man this week as activists press for a halt to the death penalty

#Ukrainian and Russian attacks kill 3 civilians as Zelenskyy prepares to meet Trump.

Ukrainian attacks on Russia’s Belgorod border region killed two civilians while Russian shelling of eastern Ukraine left a man dead, officials said Sunday.

Vyacheslav Gladkov, the governor of Belgorod, wrote on the Telegram messaging app that a woman was killed when shelling struck a private home in the border town of Shebekino, while a man died in a drone strike on the village of Rakitnoe.

The Belgorod region, which borders Ukraine, has faced frequent cross-border attacks since Moscow launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

In Ukraine, a man was killed and residential buildings and infrastructure were damaged by Russian shelling in Kostiantynivka in the Donetsk region, Serhii Horbunov, head of the city’s military administration, said Sunday.

The latest round of attacks came after Russia launched a large-scale missile and drone attack targeting regions across Ukraine on Saturday, killing at least three people and wounding dozens. Russia launched 619 drones and missiles during the attack, Ukraine’s air force said.

Also on Saturday, Estonia summoned a Russian diplomat to protest after three Russian fighter aircraft entered its airspace without permission Friday and stayed there for 12 minutes, the Foreign Ministry said. It happened just over a week after NATO planes downed Russian drones over Poland and heightened fears that the war in Ukraine could spill over.

Writing on social media site X on Sunday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Ukraine had been targeted by “more than 1,500 strike drones, over 1,280 guided aerial bombs, and 50 missiles of various types” over the previous week.

Noting that “thousands of foreign components” were found in the Russian weaponry, Zelenskyy said Ukraine was “counting on the 19th EU sanctions package to be truly painful, and on the United States to join the Europeans.” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen presented the package of sanctions on Friday.

Zelenskyy expects to meet U.S. President Donald Trump on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly this week, where he has said he hopes to gauge how close Ukraine and its partners are to finalizing long-term security guarantees.

Trump on Sunday morning in an exchange with reporters very briefly addressed the Russian incursion into Estonian airspace.

“We don’t like it,” Trump said. Asked if the U.S. would back Poland and other Baltic states if they continue to face Russian aggression, Trump responded, “I will.”

Russia’s Defense Ministry on Saturday denied its aircraft violated Estonia’s airspace.

The Associated Press

#Canadian recognition of Palestinian state greeted with cheers, dismay.

OTTAWA — Canada’s formal recognition of a Palestinian state drew applause from longtime advocates of the move and sharp denunciation from voices who said it would not foster a lasting peace.

Prime Minister Mark Carney made the announcement on Palestinian statehood Sunday ahead of a meeting of the United Nations General Assembly. The United Kingdom and Australia joined Canada in recognizing an independent Palestinian state.

Canada officially recognizes the State of Palestine: Carney

Canada has long been committed to a two-state solution in the region -- a sovereign Palestinian state existing side by side with Israel in peace and security.

In July, Carney said the hope was this outcome would be achieved as part of a peace process built around a negotiated settlement between the Israeli government and the Palestinian Authority.

But he added this approach was no longer tenable for several reasons.

He cited the pervasive threat of Hamas terrorism to Israelis, culminating in the terrorist attack of Oct. 7, 2023, a vote by Israel’s Knesset calling for annexation of the West Bank and the “ongoing failure” of the Israeli government to prevent a rapidly unfolding humanitarian disaster in Gaza.

On Sunday, Carney stressed the Palestinian Authority’s commitment to governance reforms, a 2026 election in which Hamas can play no part and demilitarization of the Palestinian state.

Jewish advocacy group B’nai Brith Canada said in a statement that Ottawa had bowed to international pressure by prematurely recognizing a Palestinian state built “entirely on empty promises” from the Palestinian Authority.

“The PA has shown, time and again, that it cannot be trusted,” said Richard Robertson, the organization’s director of research and advocacy. “It is unable to govern the Palestinian Territories and has repeatedly demonstrated it is unwilling to deliver on the very commitments upon which Canada’s recognition is supposed to be predicated.”

Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East called Canada’s recognition a “real policy victory” and the result of sustained pressure from civil society.

“Canada is right to recognize Palestine, but cannot hold it to unfair conditions that would violate this right,” the group said in a statement. “Instead, Canada should work to realize the right of self-determination by doing whatever it can to bring an end to Israel’s illegal presence in occupied Palestine.”

The National Council of Canadian Muslims declared Sunday a historic day, but added that much more has to be done.

New Democrat MP Heather McPherson echoed that sentiment, saying in a social media post that recognition alone is not enough.

Canada must act to end starvation in Gaza and stop annexation of the West Bank, she said. “Without action, there will be little left of Palestine to recognize.”

The federal Conservatives accused Carney of trying to create a Hamas-controlled state that will reward terrorists for violent acts and oppression of Palestinians.

“Conservatives will always stand for Israel’s right to exist and defend itself, living next to a future demilitarized, terror-free, democratic and peaceful Palestinian State.”

People who exploit the tragic events in the Middle East as a pretext to target Jewish Canadians will only be further emboldened by Carney’s announcement, said Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center president Michael Levitt.

“Whether it’s the violent protests on our streets, the antisemitic incitement or escalating physical assaults against Jews, all Canadians should be concerned by the extremists who increasingly threaten public safety,” he said in a statement.

“For the sake of peace in the region and here at home, this is the wrong policy at the wrong time.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 21, 2025.

North Korean leader recalls ‘good memories’ of #Trump, urges US to drop denuclearization demands.

Speaking to Pyongyang’s rubber-stamp parliament on Sunday, Kim stressed that he has no intention of ever resuming dialogue with rival South Korea, a key U.S. ally that helped broker Kim’s previous summits with Trump during the American president’s first term, according to a speech published by state media on Monday.

Kim suspended virtually all cooperation with the South following the collapse of his second summit with Trump in 2019 over disagreements about U.S.-led sanctions against the North. Tensions on the Korean Peninsula have worsened in recent years as Kim has accelerated his weapons buildup and aligned with Russia over the war in Ukraine.

Kim’s comments came as South Korean President Lee Jae Myung prepares to depart for New York to attend the United Nations General Assembly, where he is expected to address nuclear tensions on the Korean Peninsula and call on North Korea to return to talks.

Trump is also expected to visit South Korea next month to attend the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit, prompting media speculation that he may try to meet Kim at the inter-Korean border, as they did during their third meeting in 2019, which ultimately failed to salvage their nuclear diplomacy.

During his latest speech at the Supreme People’s Assembly, Kim reiterated that he would never give up his nuclear weapons program, which experts say he sees as his strongest guarantee of survival and the extension of his family’s dynastic rule.

“The world already knows well what the United States does after forcing other countries to give up their nuclear weapons and disarm,” Kim said. “We will never lay down our nuclear weapons … There will be no negotiations, now or never, about trading anything with hostile countries in exchange for lifting sanctions.”

He said he still holds “good personal memories” of Trump from their first meetings and that there is “no reason not to” resume talks with the United States if Washington “abandons its delusional obsession with denuclearization.”

Kim has stepped up testing activities in recent years, demonstrating weapons of various ranges designed to strike U.S. allies in Asia and the U.S. mainland. Analysts say Kim’s nuclear push is aimed at eventually pressuring Washington to accept the idea of the North as a nuclear power and to negotiate economic and security concessions from a position of strength.

Kim is also trying to bolster his leverage by strengthening cooperation with traditional allies Russia and China, in an emerging partnership aimed at undercutting U.S. influence.

He has sent thousands of troops and huge supplies of military equipment to Russia to help support President Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine. He visited Beijing earlier this month, sharing the spotlight with Chinese President Xi Jinping and Putin at a massive military parade. Experts say Kim’s rare foreign trip was likely intended to boost his leverage ahead of a potential resumption of talks with the United States.

There’s growing concern in Seoul that it could lose its voice in future efforts to defuse the nuclear standoff on the peninsula, as the North seeks to negotiate directly with the United States. Such fears were amplified last year when Kim declared that he was abandoning North Korea’s long-standing goal of peaceful unification with South Korea and ordered a rewriting of the North’s constitution to cement the South as a permanent enemy.

Kim Tong-hyung, The Associated Press

#News: #French mayors fly Palestinian flags despite government orders ahead of UN assembly.

It’s unclear how many cities will join the initiative on Monday after Socialist leader Olivier Faure’s call to fly the flags despite warnings from the Interior Ministry against such displays in a country with both Europe’s largest Jewish and Muslim populations.

But the call has been gaining momentum as Palestinian flags have been more and more visible in France over the nearly two-year war in Gaza.

Palestinian banners were on display in demonstrations this week during a big day of protests across the country that criticized several polices by French President Emmanuel Macron and his government.

The Palestinian flag has been flying at the town hall of Malakoff, a suburb of Paris, since Friday. The city mayor, Jacqueline Belhomme, told The Associated Press on Sunday she was ordered to take it down but refused to comply.

“We stand with the Palestinian people; it is something symbolically important, just as we did some time ago with the Ukrainian flag when we stood with the Ukrainian people who were under attack by Russia.”

In southwestern France, the communist mayor of Mauleon-Licharre, a town of 3,000 residents, raised a Palestinian flag on Friday but removed it the next day after the case was referred to an administrative court.

“The flag is now in my office. This is an attack on my freedom of thought,” mayor Louis Labadot told local radio station Ici Pays Basque.

The war in Gaza and the broader Israeli-Palestinian conflict are expected to be at the top of the agenda of world leaders at their annual gathering at the U.N. General Assembly starting Monday. The Palestinians had said they hope at least 10 more countries will recognize the state of Palestine, adding to the more than 145 countries that already do.

On Sunday, Canada, Australia and the U.K. all formally recognised a Palestinian state.

Mathieu Hanotin, the mayor of Saint-Denis, the Paris suburb hosting the national soccer stadium, said he will fly the Palestinian flag in a solidarity gesture with the Palestinian people.

In western France, the city of Nantes also plans to raise the Palestinian flag on the city hall building, Mayor Johanna Rolland, a Socialist, told France information “For municipalities that wish to join, through a symbolic gesture, France’s recognition of the state of Palestine, I believe it makes sense. I will do so without hesitation,” she said.

In a note sent to the State’s representative in regions, France’s Interior Ministry instructed them to oppose the display of Palestinian flags on town halls and other public buildings, citing the risks of importing an ongoing international conflict onto national territory.

“The principle of neutrality in public service prohibits such displays,” the ministry said, adding that any decisions by mayors to fly the Palestinian flag should be referred to administrative courts.

“The front of a town hall is not a billboard. Only the tricolor flag -- our colors, our values -- has the right to be represented in what remains, for us, a common home,” Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau said on Saturday.

Ian Brossat, a spokesman for the French Communist Party, accused Retailleau of contradicting France’s official position.

“The interior minister disagrees with French diplomacy. He does not support the recognition of a Palestinian state, unlike the president,” Brossat told BFM TV. “By asserting his personal beliefs instead of upholding the position of the French Republic, which is to recognize a Palestinian state, he is taking France and its diplomacy hostage.”

In June, Nice city mayor Christian Estrosi, who had put on display Israeli flags on the Riviera city’s town hall to show his support for hostages held by Hamas, was forced by a court decision to remove them.

The Socialist mayor of Paris suburb Saint-Ouen, Karim Bouamrane, said he would display both the Israeli and Palestinian flags on the facade of his town hall in a bid to carry a message of peace.

“We are one community, the republican community,” he told #RMC radio. “The community I stand for is that of peace: I do not want to pit Muslims against Jews, nor activists against #Hamas supporters and those against (Benjamin) Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister.”

The Associated Press

The armed wing of #Hamas has released what it calls a “farewell picture” of 48 Israeli captives held in #Gaza as the #Israeli army continues to destroy and seize the besieged enclave’s largest urban centre.

Sacramento police arrest man in connection with shooting at local ABC affiliate news station.

Even though the building was occupied at the time, all employees of KXTV — also known as ABC10 — are safe and unharmed after the shooting, according to Tegna, the media company that owns the station.

KXTV is also a local affiliate of ABC and CNN.

Hours after the shooting — which was reported at 1:30 p.m. local time Friday — a 64-year-old man was arrested on charges of assault with a deadly weapon, shooting into an occupied building and negligent discharge of a firearm in connection to the shooting, police said.

Police identified the suspect as Anibal Hernandez Santana, who was arrested after a vehicle match led police to a residence, Sacramento police told CNN early Saturday morning. He is currently being held at the Sacramento County Main Jail on $200,000 bail, records show. He’s scheduled to appear in court on September 23. CNN is working to identify Hernandez Santana’s attorney.

The FBI is assisting the Sacramento Police Department in the investigation, the agency told CNN Saturday.

The shooting came one day after protesters gathered at the station in response to ABC pulling comedian Jimmy Kimmel’s late-night talk show off air “indefinitely” over comments he made about Charlie Kirk’s assassination, according to KXTV. There were no protests taking place at the time of the shooting on Friday, CNN affiliate KCRA reported.

In a statement to CNN, Tegna spokesperson Molly McMahon said “while details are still limited, importantly, all of our employees are safe and unharmed. We are fully cooperating with law enforcement and have taken additional measures to ensure the continued safety of our employees.”

Police are working to determine whether the station has received any recent threats, said Anthony Gamble, Sacramento police spokesperson. They will also look for digital evidence including surveillance footage, piece together a timeline and interview employees who were inside the station.

“It should never be accepted that somebody is going to drive by any type of business, let alone a media partner, and shoot at the building,” Gamble said.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom has been briefed on the shooting, his office said in a post on X.

“While no injuries have been reported, any act of violence toward journalists is an attack on our democracy itself and must be condemned in the strongest terms,” the post read. “We stand with reporters and staff who work every day to keep communities informed and safe!”

Police are asking the public to share any information that may be related to the case. Those who wish to remain anonymous can submit tips through Crime Stoppers.

Article written by Zoe Sottile, Elizabeth Wolfe, CNN

CNN’s Jack Hannah contributed to this report.