LIFE IN WARTIME:  Authorities in Gaza blame Israel for a massive explosion that hit a hospital yesterday, killing as many as 500 people. Hamas militants called the hospital strike “a horrific massacre.”

  It is the worst single incident of the war so far, happening  just the day before President Biden’s arrived in Israel today, making diplomacy much more difficult.

   Israeli defense officials blame a misfired Hamas rocket for the tragedy. The Israeli military said the explosion came from a barrage of rockets fired from near the hospital. “Intelligence from multiple sources we have in our hands indicates that Islamic Jihad is responsible for the failed rocket launch,” the military said.

  Fire engulfed the building and the hospital’s grounds were strewn with bodies, many of them children. Hospitals and schools have become what Gazans believe are safe havens from the danger of getting bombed at home in neighborhoods infiltrated with Hamas militants. 

  Israel is also skirmishing in the north against Hezbollah militants in Lebanon, creating fear of a wider war that could be very hazardous for Israel. Hezbollah has been firing rockets, causing Israel to evacuate border villages. Hezbollah has a tough fighting force, and a two-front war would be difficult for Israel. On the other hand, Israeli air strikes would be devastating for Lebanon.

  As a warning to anyone else who wants to get into a fight, the US is moving a second aircraft carrier group into the area and 2,000 Marines are on standby. 

CONGRESS OF CHAOS: Twenty members of the majority Republican party voted against their own Ohio Congressman Jim Jordan for speaker of the House yesterday, causing him to fall 17 votes short of election and even getting fewer votes than Democrat Hakeem Jeffries of New York.

  The vote was 212 Jeffries, 200 Jordan, and 20 for various other Republicans. Another vote is expected today.

  Predictions had been that only a half dozen or so Republicans would vote against Jordan. Among the dissenters were Rep. Kay Granger of Texas, the chair of the Appropriations Committee, and several Republicans from districts won by President Biden in 2020. 

  Conservative activists immediately mounted a telephone campaign to pressure the representatives opposing Jordan to do a turnabout. Rep. Ken Buck of Colorado, who voted against Jordan, said, “The calls that are coming in are ridiculous, they’re in the hundreds if not thousands, that are coming into every office right now.” 

  Jordan is pushing a so-far baseless impeachment investigation of President Biden. Endorsed by Donald Trump, Jordan is a 2020 election denier who has smoothly said he “questions” the result of the presidential vote without claiming fraud. Buck said he will vote only for a speaker candidate who admits Trump lost the 2020 election.

CHECKBOOK ACADEMIA: As rich alumni continue to pressure universities, cosmetics billionaire Ronald Lauder has threatened cutting off contributions to the University of Pennsylvania if it does not speak up more about anti-Semitism

as the war between Gaza and Israel rages on. 

  Penn hosted a Palestinian literary festival last month that included speakers with a history of making anti-Semitic remarks. Lauder wrote, “The conference has put a deep stain on Penn’s reputation that will take a long time to repair.”

  The question here is whether it is the role of a university to take a stand on world issues or just be a host to the clash of ideas. But rich donors have great power.

  Harvard is under similar threat. Victoria’s Secret billionaire Leslie Wexner and his wife Abigail said they are breaking ties, accusing the school of “tiptoeing” over Hamas’ terror attacks against Israel.

THE OTHER WAR: Ukrainian forces for the first time used American-made long range missiles to hit two air bases in Russian-occupied territory. The missiles called ATACMS … pronounced “attack ‘ems” … have a range of about 185 miles.

  The Ukraine military claimed the missiles destroyed nine helicopters, an ammunition depot, an antiaircraft missile launcher, and various other military equipment. The version they used is a cluster munition that releases 950 small bomblets over a wide area.

THE SPIN RACK: Prosecutors in New Mexico plan to present evidence to a grand jury on whether to refile charges of involuntary manslaughter against actor Alec Baldwin in the fatal shooting of his cinematographer on the set of the film “Rust” in 2021. The gun in Baldwin’s hand went off, but it was not supposed to be loaded with live rounds. — A man who wrongfully spent 16 years in prison before being freed by efforts of The Innocence Project was shot and killed by a Florida sheriff’s deputy. Officers said Leonard Cure, 53, had been driving 90 in a 70 zone and refused to cooperate when he was arrested and didn’t give up after being tased and hit with a baton. — Rachel Powell, a Pennsylvania mother of eight and grandmother of six, was sentenced yesterday to more than four years in prison for her part in the January 6^th insurrection. She had smashed a capitol window with an ice axe and used a bullhorn to instruct the crowd how to “take” the building. — The Pentagon released video of Chinese fighter jets harassing US military aircraft in international airspace. The Defense Department says dangerous incidents are on the rise, as many as 180 in the past two years. 

BELOW THE FOLD: An employee of Citibank in London lost the appeal of his firing for filing a false expense account. Szabolcs Fekete was fired after coming back from a trip to Amsterdam and filing a lunch report for two sandwiches, two coffees, and two pasta dishes. 

  He initially claimed he ate all of it because he had skipped breakfast, but later admitted he bought lunch for his partner, although the total expense of $104 was about equal to his per diem.

  Citibank made $14.8 billion last year and now you know how they do it.

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