- Rep. Pete Aguilar (D-CA) writing a Valentine to GOP Speaker Mike Johnson

The world is watching anxiously as the Israeli military prepares to launch a full-scale invasion of Rafah in southern Gaza, where nearly half of the enclave’s remaining population has taken cover. 
 

• Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Wednesday that the Israel Defense Forces will push on with an offensive in the southern city of Rafah, the last area of refuge where displaced Gazans are sheltering after months of the Israeli government telling them to move south. Netanyahu said civilians will be allowed to vacate the area, but gave no indication as to where he thought the million-plus people in Rafah would go. 
   

• Ceasefire and hostage release negotiations ground to a halt in Cairo on Tuesday after Netanyahu’s office dismissed Hamas’s counter-proposal for a potential deal as “ludicrous demands.” Hamas responded to Israel’s initial proposal last week with demands for a permanent ceasefire, the release of Palestinian prisoners, and for Israel to lift its 17-year blockade of Gaza. 
   

• After another week of back-and-forth with the militant group, Israel went so far as to recall its delegation from the talks in Egypt, prompting the relatives of Israeli hostages held by Hamas to say they would barricade IDF headquarters in protest.  The family members of hostages called the Israeli government’s decision to hold back its delegation “a death sentence” for those remaining in Hamas captivity, a sign of growing domestic dissent against the Netanyahu government after four months of fighting in Gaza.

Israel maintains that it takes steps to minimize civilian casualties, but many humanitarian organizations and world leaders have said that the staggering death toll undermines those claims, and condemned the looming offensive in Rafah. Even Secretary of State Antony Blinken said back in December that there is a “gap” between Israel’s expressed intent to protect civilians and the reality of what is happening on the ground. 
 

• World Health Organization representative for Gaza and the occupied West Bank Richard Peeperkorn said an assault on Rafah would be “an unfathomable catastrophe… and would even further expand the humanitarian disaster beyond imagination.” French President Emmanuel Macron told Netanyahu that France opposes an offensive on Rafah, and that further forced displacements of upwards of a million people could also bring regional escalation. German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said before speaking with Netanyahu that civilians in Rafah “cannot simply vanish into thin air,” now that the Israeli government is telling them to disperse. 
   

• The IDF launched extensive airstrikes in Lebanon on Wednesday in response to rocket fire that killed a soldier in northern Israel, a significant escalation in recent fighting that threatens to further the spread of violence throughout the Middle East. The rocket fire from Lebanon was the second in two days to cause deaths in northern Israel. No individual or group immediately claimed responsibility, but suspicions were quickly placed on Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, an armed militia aligned with Hamas. 

During a press conference on Tuesday, National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby was asked what the United States would do if Israel’s military operation in Rafah is conducted without concern for civilian safety. He rebuffed the question. “I’m not going to get into a hypothetical game,” he said.

If you’ve run out of fresh Crooked content for the day, no you haven’t! We have so much more to check out on YouTube. Hysteria has a series called This F*cking Guy where they roast the men who deserve it most. Tommy has a show with Brian Tyler Cohen called Liberal Tiers with rankings and drafts of everything political. And Lovett has a new segment called What A Week where he jokes about the early-breaking news of the week. For all of this YouTube exclusive content and more, you can head to crooked.com/videos to watch now.

Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA) is urging California voters to approve a ballot initiative that he says is imperative to tackle the state’s homelessness crisis, but which social providers say could threaten programs that prevent homelessness in the first place. Proposition 1 would give the state more control over how money from a 2004 tax on millionaires to finance mental health services is spent. The program has generated $2-3 billion annually, which has mostly gone to counties to fund mental health programs as those counties see fit. The bill on the March 5 ballot would require counties to spend 60 percent of those funds on housing and programs for unhoused people with serious mental illness or substance abuse issues. The unilateral formula would mean rural counties with lower homeless populations would be required to divert the same percentage of funds as more densely-populated counties with much higher numbers of unhoused people. In one such rural county, Butte, officials said the change could defund cultural centers, peer support programs, vocational services, and even programs that work with the county’s homeless population. 

The two-phase measure on the ballot would also authorize the state to borrow $6.38 billion to build 4,350 housing units—half of which would be reserved for veterans—and to add 6,800 beds to mental health and addiction treatment centers. California currently has only 5,500 beds statewide, down from about 37,000 just 50 years ago. Nearly one-in-three unhoused people in the United States reside in California. Some mental health and addiction treatment advocates say Prop 1 could force more people into involuntary treatment. The Mental Health Association of San Francisco, which treats about 15,000 patients per month, came out in vehement opposition to the proposal, with Executive Director Mark Salazar saying, “There are studies that show over and over that coercing treatment just doesn’t end well for the individual.” Others agree that while more housing and treatment beds are desperately needed, those measures shouldn’t come at the expense of other programs that actively keep people off the streets.

A new study shows that half of the Amazon rainforest could be pushed to the brink of demise by 2050 due to deforestation and climate change-driven extreme heat and drought. 

U.S. officials expressed concern that Russia is developing a space-based military capability that could pose a significant threat to international intelligence or communications satellites with a nuclear weapon. Space nukes??? As if we didn’t have enough going on!

One person died and at least 22 people were injured with gunshot wounds in a shooting near the Kansas City Chiefs Super Bowl Parade on Wednesday. Some victims are children.

Ukraine said on Wednesday that its military had sunk a large Russian ship off the coast of Crimea before dawn, in what could be another defining blow against Moscow at sea as Kyiv continues to struggle on land. 

Drivers for Uber and Lyft, alongside delivery workers for Doordash, went on strike on Wednesday in 10 major U.S. cities seeking fair pay and better working conditions. On the same day, Uber shares hit a record high after the company announced a $7 billion stock buyback, which will benefit shareholders. Many workers and labor organizations argue that the platforms take disproportionate sums from worker fares as fees to pad already-enormous company profits. Uber and Lyft agreed to pay a combined $328 million settlement last year after an investigation brought by New York State Attorney General Letitia James found that the companies cheated drivers out of wages and benefits.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke on Monday via phone with Paul Whelan, the former U.S. Marine who has been detained in Russia for the past five years on bogus espionage charges. Blinken reaffirmed America’s commitment to bringing him home. 

Senate Democrats are reportedly planning to quickly reject the articles of impeachment against Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, which Republicans in the House passed on Tuesday in a display of desperate election-year theatrics to distract from the fact that they have done absolutely nothing else with their slim House majority. 

Bill Post, one of the people who invented Pop-Tarts, died at 96 this week. We raise the great frosted pastry of childhood to him.

Happy Valentine’s Day from Apostrophe!
 

Many of us will be focusing on giving our loved ones extra care and affection today, but don’t forget to continue to show yourself some love and TLC.
 

One of the best forms of self-love is taking care of your skin so you can feel good on the inside and out. 
 

• Apostrophe is an online platform that connects you with an expert dermatology team to get customized acne treatment for your unique skin. 
   

• Through Apostrophe, you can get access to oral and topical medications that use clinically proven ingredients to help clear acne. 
   

• Simply fill out an online consultation about your skin goals and medical history. Then snap a few selfies and a dermatology provider will create a customized treatment plan just for you. 
   

• Apostrophe offers access to prescription treatments for all types of acne - from hormonal acne to facial acne, and even back, chest, and butt acne. Treat breakouts from head to toe. 
   

Get your first consultation visit for only five dollars at Apostrophe.com/WAD when you use our code: WAD. That’s a savings of fifteen dollars!

Democrats had a major pickup in New York’s 3rd Congressional district last night in the special election to replace fraud pioneer George Santos. Dems saw a 15-point swing in their favor in the district from the previous election and Tom Suozzi took home the seat, a truly delightful embarrassment for Republicans that makes their House majority even narrower. 

Former Mississippi State Rep Alyce Clarke was the first Black woman elected to the state legislature. Now she is the first Black person and first woman to have her portrait on display in the state Capitol building.