Israel strikes in Gaza kill over 400, nearly half of them children – National & International News – TUE 18Mar2025
Stranded NASA astronauts finally home after 286 days on ISS.
Israel violates ceasefire with Gaza attacks, killing over 400.
NATIONAL NEWS
Stranded NASA astronauts finally home after 286 days on ISS
Last year, two NASA astronauts, Butch Wilmore and Sunita Williams, were stranded on board the International Space Station when their experimental Boeing crew capsule experienced mechanical malfunctions. The Boeing Starliner capsule was eventually returned to Earth via remote piloting, but Wilmore and Williams remained aboard the ISS. What was supposed to be a 6-day stay for them aboard the space station finally ended today after 286 days.
Wilmore and Williams return safely to Earth’s day via a SpaceX Crew dragon capsule. The capsule splashed down just off the Florida coast around 5:57 p.m. ET. With them were two other members of the space station crew who were scheduled to return, Crew 9 Commander Nick Hague and Russian cosmonaut Alexander Gorbunov.
After their lengthy state in space, Wilmore and Williams will require extensive rehabilitation to readjust to earth gravity.
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INTERNATIONAL NEWS
Israel violates ceasefire with Gaza attacks, killing over 400
As reported yesterday, Israel’s prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has taken the decision to unilaterally end the ceasefire in Gaza, which had been in place since the end of January. In the early morning hours of Tuesday, Israeli bombings killed over 400 people throughout the strip, mostly women and children. This is the second largest one-day death toll of the entire war. The highest single day death toll came when Israel bombed the Al Ahli Hospital on October 17, 2023, killing over 500 people. Attacks have continued into Wednesday, with early morning attacks on a tent city that killed at least 14.
At least 174 children were killed in Tuesday’s attacks, which may be the highest one-day death toll for children in Gaza’s history.
Netanyahu has declared that the force will continue to escalate until the hostages are released. Netanyahu has violated the ceasefire in hopes of pressuring Hamas to accept new terms that were not part of the original agreement. A Hamas spokesperson said that Netanyahu was “delusional” if he believed he could achieve his aims by force.
Israel’s breaking of the ceasefire has been met with international condemnation, including by some American politicians. However, President Trump signed off on these attacks before they began.
In Israel itself, thousands of Israelis protested to demand that Netanyahu enter the second phase of the ceasefire (which he has so far refused to do) and end the bombing of Gaza. An advocacy group led by the families of hostages in Gaza decried Netanyahu’s actions, saying he had decided to “sacrifice” the remaining hostages and that the renewed bombing would “bury them”. Israeli police forcibly dispersed these protests.
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