Leave your feedback Share Copy URL https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/news-wrap-israel-launches-ground-operation-in-gaza-after-ending-ceasefire-with-hamas Email Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest Tumblr Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Transcript Audio In our news wrap Wednesday, Israel launched a ground operation in Gaza after abruptly ending a two-month ceasefire with Hamas, a judge moved the case of Mahmoud Khalil to New Jersey, the White House suspended $175 million in federal funding for the University of Pennsylvania over a transgender athlete and the Federal Reserve held its benchmark interest rate steady for the second meeting in a row. Read the Full Transcript Notice: Transcripts are machine and human generated and lightly edited for accuracy. They may contain errors. Geoff Bennett: We start today's other headlines in the Middle East, where Israel says it launched a limited ground operation in Gaza after abruptly ending a two-month cease-fire with Hamas.The Israeli military claims to have recaptured part of a key corridor that bisects Gaza after withdrawing as part of the truce. By air, a wave of Israeli attacks hit sites in Gaza for a second day in a row. Several U.N. employees were rushed to a hospital after a strike on a U.N. compound killed one worker and severely injured at least five others. Israel denied responsibility. A U.N. official said it's under investigation.Jorge Moreira da Silva, U.N. Office for Project Services: In my opinion, this was not an accident. It cannot be categorized as an accident. It is at least an incident. U.N. personnel and its premises must be protected by all sites. Geoff Bennett: Meantime in Israel, ultra-nationalist Itamar Ben-Gvir regained his position as national security minister. He had left the government coalition in January to protest the cease-fire with Hamas.A federal judge is moving the case of Columbia University graduate Mahmoud Khalil to New Jersey. That's because the 30-year-old was being held there when his lawyers first challenged the legality of his detention. Khalil is currently at a facility in Louisiana as U.S. officials seek to deport him. ICE agents arrested Khalil earlier this month for his role in pro-Palestinian protests on campus.He is a legal us resident with no criminal record, and his lawyers say the grounds for his arrest violate his First Amendment rights.The White House says it's suspending $175 million in federal funding for the University of Pennsylvania. It follows an investigation into Penn's swimming program that focused on Lia Thomas, an openly transgender athlete who last competed for the school in 2022. A Penn spokesperson says they have not received details of the action, but in a statement added — quote — "We have been in the past and remain today in full compliance with the regulations that apply to not only Penn, but all of our NCAA and Ivy League peer institutions."Penn joins Columbia University as the second Ivy League school to be targeted by the administration in the last two weeks.A jury in North Dakota found Greenpeace liable for defamation and other claims related to protests over the Dakota Access Pipeline. The environmental group must pay hundreds of millions of dollars to the Dallas-based energy transfer company and its subsidiary Dakota Access. The lawsuit accuses Greenpeace of defamation, trespass, nuisance, and other acts during the 2016 and 2017 protests near the reservation of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe.Activists opposed the oil pipeline's construction as a risk to the local water supply. Greenpeace says its employees had little to no involvement in the protests.The Federal Reserve held its benchmark interest rate steady today for the second meeting in a row. But even as it projects slower economic growth, the Central Bank signaled it still expects to cut rates twice this year. At a news conference today, Fed Chair Jerome Powell called the outlook uncertain. He explicitly cited tariffs as a potential obstacle to the Fed's effort to bring inflation down to its 2 percent goal. Jerome Powell, Federal Reserve Chairman: Goods inflation moved up pretty significantly in the first two months of the year. Trying to track that back to actual tariff increases, given what was tariffed and what was not. Very, very challenging. So some of it — the answer is clearly some of it, a good part of it is coming from tariffs. Geoff Bennett: Those tariff concerns took a back seat on Wall Street today as investors focused instead on the Fed's commitment to further rate cuts. The Dow Jones industrial average added nearly 400 points on the day. The Nasdaq jumped nearly 250 points. The S&P 500 added 60 points, or about 1 percent.Still to come on the "News Hour": we speak with Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer about his party's infighting over how to oppose the White House; how the Trump administration's changes to Social Security could limit access to benefits for millions; and one Michigan county tries to heal political divisions five years after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Listen to this Segment Watch Watch the Full Episode PBS NewsHour from Mar 19, 2025