Friday morning news: October 24, 2025

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Rubio in Israel » Secretary of State Marco Rubio is in Israel today where he’ll meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

That comes as the Trump administration pushes forward toward phase two of the US-authored peace plan in Gaza.

Rubio said the administration is clear-eyed about the challenge ahead.

RUBIO: No one's under any illusions. This is...we've already done the impossible once. We feel confident and positive about the progress that's being made.

Netanyahu said he looked forward to meeting with Rubio, noting that some big security challenges remain.

NETANYAHU:  But I think that we can, uh, work together and by working together both, uh, address the challenges and seize the opportunities.

Vance, Trump react to Israeli West Bank vote » Rubio arrived as Vice President JD Vance departed, capping a three-day trip to the Jewish state, a trip that may have ended on a bit of sour note.

Vance on Thursday blasted a vote by the Israeli parliament to annex the West Bank. He dismissed it as a largely symbolic vote, but one he said wasn’t helpful amid efforts to ensure a lasting peace in the region.

VANCE: I mean, look, if it was a political stunt, it was a very stupid political stunt, and I personally take some insult to it.

President Trump also reacted to news of that vote in Israel’s Knesset, telling White House reporters:

TRUMP:  Israel's not gonna do anything with the West Bank. Okay? Don't worry about it. Is that your question? They're not gonna do anything with the West Bank.

Gaza aid » Meantime, more humanitarian aid is flowing into Gaza, but there is still some debate over how much aid is being allowed into the war-ravaged territory.

Andrew Saberton with the United Nations Population Fund says his agency has been able to deliver much-needed medical equipment:

SABERTON:  We have been able to distribute them to hospitals now that we have more freedom of movement.  But the trickle of aid being allowed in to enter Gaza after the ceasefire is nowhere near enough. UNFPA has much more assistance at border crossings ready to enter.

But Israeli government spokeswoman Shosh Bedrosian pushed back on Thursday, telling reporters:

BEDROSIAN: Hundreds of trucks are flowing into the Gaza Strip through the Kerem Shalom Crossing and Crossing 147 every single day.

She also blasted a ruling this week by the UN’s International Court of Justice —or ICJ for short, demanding that Israel allow the UN Palestinian relief agency known as UNRWA to deliver aid within Gaza.

But the Israeli government says UNRWA was infiltrated by Hamas and that some of its staff actively participated in the Hamas terror attack against Israel two years ago.

BEDROSIAN:  The United Nations has never investigated the full extent of this infiltration that took place specifically on the morning of October 7th and after it for the last two years.

Neither Israel nor the United States recognize the authority of the ICJ to impose or enforce binding rulings.

Senate shoots down legislation to pay federal workers amid shutdown » The Senate failed to pass legislation on Thursday aimed at paying essential federal workers amid the government shutdown. WORLD’s Benjamin Eicher reports:

BENJAMIN EICHER: Senate Republicans tried turning up the heat on Democrats with a test vote on paying those federal workers who are required to work without a paycheck for now.

The GOP was effectively daring Democrats to vote against paying air traffic controllers, TSA workers, Border Patrol agents and others amid the shutdown.

The administration has moved around money to pay the military in the short-term.

Democrats shot down the GOP bill and countered with their own legislation that called for paychecks for all federal workers during the shutdown, including those now furloughed. It also included a poison pill provision limiting President Trump’s ability to fire federal workers. Republicans rejected that bill.

For WORLD, I’m Benjamin Eicher.

Another U.S. drug boat strike » The Pentagon says the U.S. military has launched a ninth strike against a boat trafficking drugs in international waters. The latest strike occurred Wednesday in the eastern Pacific Ocean. That followed a strike against another boat in the same region on Tuesday night.

Combined, five people were killed aboard those two boats.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio today pushed back against Democrats who have criticized the strikes.

RUBIO:  I'm not gonna get into the details of the intelligence that we gather, but I can assure you that every one of these strikes involves boats and shipments that were tracked from the very beginning, from the moment these things were put together, the moment they were coordinated. We know where they're headed.

Critics have called the lethal strikes illegal. President Trump authorized the use of deadly force after declaring the cartels foreign terrorist organizations.

The first seven military strikes against vessels identified as cartel trafficking vessels were all in the Caribbean, largely near Venezuela.

Illegal gambling arrests » The FBI has announced criminal charges against dozens of people, including an NBA head coach and a player in connection with alleged illegal gambling schemes.

FBI Director Kash Patel:

PATEL: The FBI led a coordinated take down across 11 states to arrest over 30 individuals today responsible for this case, which is very much ongoing.

Portland Trail Blazers Head Coach Chauncey Billups is charged in an indictment alleging a wide-ranging scheme to rig underground poker games backed by mafia crime families.

Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier is accused in a separate case of participating in an illegal sports betting scheme using private insider NBA information.

Both men face money laundering and wire fraud conspiracy charges.

I'm Kent Covington.

Straight ahead: Culture Friday with John Stonestreet. Plus, Bible stories and the story of the Bible.

This is The World and Everything in It.

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