Tuesday morning news: June 4, 2024

Gaza hostages » Israel has confirmed the deaths of four more hostages in the hands of Hamas.

Israeli military spokesman Daniel Hagari told reporters on Monday:

HAGARI: We assess that the four of them were killed while together in the area of Khan Yunis during our operation there against Hamas.

The three men were all at least 80 years old and had been seen in a Hamas video begging for their release.

HAGARI: Hamas is holding women, children, the sick and the elderly hostage in Gaza. We will keep on doing everything we need for their freedom, to bring them home.

Around 80 hostages captured on Oct. 7 are believed to still be alive in Gaza, alongside the remains of 43 others.

Gaza cease-fire » The news comes as Israel’s government considers a cease-fire proposal put forward by President Biden which could secure the return of more hostages.

The White House has suggested that Israel is already on board with the plan. Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre:

PIERRE:  The ball is in Hamas's court, and if it wants a cease-fire and relief for the people of Gaza, this is now in Hamas's hand to make a decision on.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says President Biden’s portrayal of that proposed deal is not entirely accurate.

Most importantly, he disputes any suggestion that Israel agreed to fully withdraw its troops from Gaza as part of the cease-fire. Also, the White House’s three-phase plan calls for a permanent cease-fire in phase two. But Israel says that will only happen when the mission of dismantling the Hamas terror group is complete.

Biden border measures » Pierre also said President Biden is intent on fixing the crisis at the southern border, which polls show is a top priority of voters this year.

PIERRE: We are constantly and will continuously look at all options, to try and, and, and to try and really deal with the immigration system, a system that's been broken for decades.

The president is reportedly set to sign an executive order that would shut down entries to the U.S.-Mexico border once the number of daily encounters hits 2,500 at ports of entry. That could mean that the border would be closed to migrants seeking asylum immediately, because daily figures already top that 2,500 threshold.

But GOP Congressman Jim Jordan says the president is trying to look tough on the border ahead of the election. But he added that illegal crossings are…

JORDAN: On pace to get to about 12-million in Joe Biden’s presidency in four years. That’s the equivalent to the entire population of Ohio. And we’re the 7th largest state. That’s the magnitude of this problem.

The White House says Republicans are to blame for rejecting a recent Senate border bill.

Biden is expected to unveil his actions at a White House event today.

Fauci testimony » On Capitol Hill …

AUDIO: The Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic will come to order. I want to welcome everyone this morning.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the man who was America’s top-ranking infectious disease specialist when the pandemic hit faced tough questions on Monday.

Members, especially Republicans on the panel pressed Fauci on the government’s COVID-19 response. Some questioned whether things like mask mandates or shutdowns of schools did more harm than good. Fauci told lawmakers:

FAUCI: The CDC was responsible for those kinds of guidelines for schools, not me.

And GOP Congressman Mike Griffith suggested Fauci tried to bury a theory that the virus leaked from a Chinese laboratory conducting U.S. funded research.

GRIFFITH: While telling the public, the media and Congress that COVID-19 almost certainly emerged from nature, experts you convened as a team privately worried that a research-related incident was a possible, if not the probable, origin of the virus.

Fauci forcefully pushed back on that, calling any suggestion of a cover-up “preposterous.”

He said he’s open to the possibility that the virus was man made and escaped a laboratory in Wuhan, China. But he insisted that did not happen with U.S. funding.

Hunter Biden jury chosen » Opening statements are set for today in Hunter Biden’s federal gun charges trial.

It took just one day Monday to seat a jury of six men and six women as First Lady Jill Biden looked on in the Wilmington, Delaware courtroom.

White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre…

JEAN-PIERRE: The president and first lady love their son. They support their son. You’ve heard them say that. You’ve seen that many times in statements.

Hunter Biden is accused of lying on his application to buy a gun in 2018, falsely claiming he wasn’t using illegal drugs at the time.

The president’s son faces up to 25 years behind bars if convicted, though sentences for first-time offenders are generally much more lenient.

SHEINBAUM: [Speaking Spanish]

Mexico first female president » Mexico will inaugurate its first female president later this year.

SHEINBAUM: [Speaking Spanish]

President-Elect Claudia Sheinbaum heard there one day after soundly winning the election with around 60 percent of the vote.

Still, she faces a tough path toward reconciling a country left deeply divided by outgoing leftist President Andrés Manuel López Obrador who congratulated Sheinbaum on her victory.

OBRADOR: (Translated) With all my affection, respect. I congratulate Claudia Sheinbaum, who was triumphant in this race by a wide margin. She is going to be the first woman president of Mexico in 200 years.

Sheinbaum, a climate scientist and former Mexico City mayor.

She is largely aligned with Obrador’s left-leaning policy positions … but is considered more pragmatic than her predecessor.

Christians attacked, jailed in Pakistan » In Pakistan, a Christian husband and father reported armed persecution to the police and found himself behind bars.

WORLD’s Mark Mellinger has more.

MARK MELLINGER: According to the watchdog group Global Christian Relief, the same group of three Muslim men has attacked Farooq Masih for his faith several times over the past year and a half, usually facing no consequences from police.

Last August, they hurled bricks and stones at Masih’s home with his wife and five children inside.

Masih captured that on video, for once leading to charges against the attackers.

But then, just last month, the attackers threatened his life. And when Masih reported the last incident, police accused him of filing a false report and jailed him for two days.

Now out on bail, Masih says he and his family are seeking prayer and support as they fight the charge.

For WORLD, I’m Mark Mellinger.

I’m Kent Covington.

Straight ahead: what’s next in Donald Trump’s New York business fraud case. Plus, World’s Classic Book for June.

This is The World and Everything in It.

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