Happy Monday! To those of you in the path of today’s solar eclipse, check here for information about when the show starts in your area. As a reminder to no one in particular, be sure not to look at the sun without eye protection!

Quick Hits: Today’s Top Stories

• Tens of thousands of protesters gathered in Tel Aviv and other major Israeli cities on Saturday, calling for elections and a deal to secure the release of the hostages held in Gaza as the country marked six months since Hamas’ October 7 attack over the weekend. On Saturday, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) recovered the body of Elad Katzir, a 47-year-old farmer taken hostage on October 7. According to IDF intelligence, Katzir was killed in captivity by Islamic Jihad, a terrorist organization allied with Hamas in Gaza. “He could have been saved if there had been a deal in time,” Katzir’s sister claimed, denouncing the Israeli government. “But our leadership are cowards, motivated by political considerations, and thus it did not happen.” An estimated 95 hostages are still alive in Gaza today, as ongoing negotiations to secure their release fail to yield a breakthrough. 
• The IDF announced on Sunday the withdrawal of most of its ground troops from southern Gaza after several months of fighting in the Khan Younis area. Israeli military officials suggested the move, which leaves just one brigade in the enclave, was in preparation for operations in the southernmost city of Rafah. “The troops exit and prepare ahead of their follow-up missions,” Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said yesterday. Meanwhile, Israeli and U.S. officials are on alert for a potential Iranian attack in the wake of the alleged Israeli strike in Damascus, Syria, last week that killed three senior Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) commanders and four IRGC officers. 
• Two Russian strikes in Kharkiv, Ukraine, killed eight civilians and injured at least 10 others early Saturday morning, regional authorities said. Ukraine’s military indicated that Ukrainian forces had intercepted some but not all of the drones and missiles used in the strike, but Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in an interview on Friday that the country is running low on missile defenses. “If they keep hitting [Ukraine] every day the way they have for the last month, we might run out of missiles, and the partners know it,” he said, noting that the military is already having to decide what areas to protect. 
• Mexico suspended diplomatic relations with Ecuador on Saturday after Ecuadorian authorities raided the Mexican embassy in Quito, Ecuador, on Friday to arrest Jorge Glas, the former vice president of Ecuador. Glas—who had been convicted on bribery charges in Ecuador and faced prison time—had been staying at the embassy since December and on Friday, the Mexican government granted him asylum, prompting Ecuador’s raid just hours later. United Nations officials and countries throughout the region—including Brazil, Argentina, and Uruguay—condemned Ecuador’s actions as violating diplomatic norms, and Nicaragua joined Mexico in cutting diplomatic ties with Ecuador. 
• Populist Peter Pellegrini was elected president of Slovakia over the weekend with 53 percent of the vote. A member of the Hlas (Voice) party and sympathetic to Russia, Pellegrini beat out Ivan Korčok, a former foreign minister and staunch supporter of Ukraine. Though the role of president is largely symbolic, Pellegrini’s victory bolsters Hlas Prime Minister Robert Fico, who leads the government’s ruling coalition and has drawn the country closer to Russia.
• Tens of thousands of people marched in Budapest, Hungary, on Saturday to protest Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s government. Péter Magyar, a former diplomat who was once a senior member of Orbán’s Fidesz party, organized the demonstration and has presented himself as a changemaker with plans to challenge Orbán in upcoming European parliament elections this summer. The rising opposition figure has promised to root out corruption and repair ties with the European Union—of which Hungary is a member—if elected. 
• The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Friday that U.S. employers added 303,000 jobs in March—up from 270,000 in February and far exceeding economists’ expectations. The healthcare and government sectors accounted for 143,000 of the new jobs. The unemployment rate ticked down slightly from 3.9 percent to 3.8 percent, while the labor force participation rate increased from 62.5 percent in February to 62.7 percent last month. Average hourly earnings—a measure the Federal Reserve is watching closely in its fight against inflation—rose 0.3 percent month-over-month in March, and 4.1 percent year-over-year. Those figures were 0.2 and 4.3 percent in February, respectively.
• A 4.8-magnitude earthquake struck New Jersey on Friday morning, with tremors felt from Baltimore to Boston. The quake caused little damage and resulted in minor transit disruption at some airports throughout the region. 
• The South Carolina Gamecocks beat the Iowa Hawkeyes 87-75 on Sunday to win the NCAA Women’s Basketball championship. In her last game as a college player, Iowa’s Caitlin Clark scored 30 points and set a championship record in the first quarter for the most points by a single player in a single period. On the men’s side, the Purdue Boilermakers will face off against the University of Connecticut Huskies for the championship tonight at 9:20 p.m. ET.

Tragic Incident Complicates U.S.-Israel Relations 

Around 11 p.m. local time last Monday, seven aid workers employed by World Central Kitchen (WCK)—an NGO that provides food aid in times of disaster and war—set off along a coastal road used to deliver aid in the central part of the Gaza Strip. They’d been part of a convoy transporting 100 tons of food aid that had arrived at a recently built pier to a warehouse in Deir el-Balah. After unloading at the warehouse, they headed south in three SUVs.

By 11:15 p.m., Israeli forces had ordered three drone strikes—in error—that killed all seven workers.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) quickly admitted culpability for the strikes, dismissing two officers after an investigation—the results of which it released Friday—showed the soldiers operating the drones fired in violation of the IDF’s standard operating procedures following a misidentification. The aid workers’ tragic deaths also set in motion a chain of events that culminated in dramatic policy change from both the Israeli War Cabinet and the Biden administration, which could potentially open additional avenues for aid to reach civilians in Gaza. The strike also illustrated how difficult it is for humanitarian groups to safely operate during a war that has repeatedly seen Hamas use civilians as human shields.