IT’S WAR: Israel’s defense minister said he has “released all restraints” on his forces in their fight against Hamas. “They will regret this moment. Gaza will never return to what it was,” Yoav Gallant said. 

  Even under that threat, Hamas militants fired volleys of rockets yesterday at the Israeli city of Ashkelon in its pyrrhic war of protest as the Israeli air force continued to strike back, levelling whole apartment blocks and buildings.

  As they find and count the bodies, Israeli authorities say they have lost 1,200 people. At least 120 Israeli soldiers have been killed. The Palestinians report their deaths as 830.

  NY Times reporter Isabel Kershner described visiting an Israeli village that was being cleared of bodies by soldiers. “At least a dozen corpses were strewn along the pathways and on lawns gathering flies, some of them of Hamas fighters, others of Israelis loosely covered with blankets,” she wrote. “The smell of death was in the air.”

  There are reports that some victims were beheaded.

  President Biden spoke yesterday, reiterating full support for Israel and notably not asking Israel to be moderate in its response. “This is terrorism,” he said as he spoke to the nation from the White House. He said that the civilian dead had been “butchered” and “slaughtered.”

  The President said that at least 14 Americans are among the hostages taken by Hamas militants. Biden’s national security adviser told reporters that there are “20 or more” Americans missing, although it’s possible some of those are among the hostages.

  While covering the horrors, the press has said little about why Hamas carried out this murderous attack solely to kill and capture Israelis. There has not been a message or demand beyond the message of hate sent by rockets and bullets. 

  The 2.3 million residents of the Gaza strip are jammed into an area about the size of Washington, DC. Washington’s population is just over 700,000. Gaza is bounded by the Mediterranean to the west, Israel on the north and east, and Egypt to the south. Blocked off by Israel and Egypt from certain kinds of commerce, Gaza has been dubbed the world’s largest prison. The United Nations says more than 80% of Gazans live in poverty.

  The Gaza strip is not recognized as a country and therefore has no international rights or recognition as a state. The Palestinians in Gaza detest their treatment by Israel and the growing number of Israeli settlements.

  Unfortunately, Gaza has been ruled since 2006 by the Hamas terrorist organization, which refuses to talk or deal directly with Israel. Their massacre of Israeli citizens could lock them and their population into isolation for decades to come.

DIVIDED POLITICS: House Republicans are expected to vote in private today in an attempt to unite behind a candidate for speaker to replace Kevin McCarthy. Less than half have publicly announced their choice between Rep. Steve Scalise of Louisiana and Jim Jordan of Ohio. 

 Added to Republican troubles is that Long Island Rep. George Santos, who ran on a phony resume, is now the subject of a new federal indictment charging him with stealing the identities of campaign donors then using their credit cards to ring up tens of thousands of dollars in unauthorized charges. Prosecutors say some of that stolen money ended up in his own bank account.

  Santos is in a lot of legal trouble, but not enough to be the Republican nominee for president.

FUNNY MONEY: The former business partner and girlfriend of Sam Bankman-Fried, the busted crypto-currency mogul, testified yesterday in his trial that he instructed her to commit fraud. 

  Caroline Ellison, 28, said that SBF as he’s known in shorthand, ordered her to use FTX customer deposits to finance venture investments and loan repayments by Alameda Research, a crypto hedge fund that she oversaw for him. She said about $14 billion went to Alameda, only some of which it was able to repay.

  “He directed me to commit these crimes,” Ellison said. SBF is charged with conspiracy to commit massive fraud and theft of funds.

THE SPIN RACK: Olympic gold medal gymnast Mary Lou Retton is in intensive care with a rare form of pneumonia and her daughter has started a fund to pay expenses because her mother does not have health insurance. The 55-year-old Retton won five medals at the 1984 Olympics. Her daughter said she’s “fighting for her life.” — Former baseball great Steve Garvey announced that at 74 he will run as a Republican to fill the seat left vacant by the death of Sen. Diane Feinstein. Garvey has never held elective office, but he was excellent at first base for the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego Padres from 1969 to 1987. He says in an announcement video, “I never played for Democrats or Republicans or independents. I played for all of you.”

BELOW THE FOLD: California Gov. Gavin Newsom a few days ago signed what has become known as the “Skittles ban” which will prohibit in the state the manufacture and sale of four chemicals used in as many as 12,000 food products.

The four substances are brominated vegetable oil, potassium bromate, propylparaben, and Red Dye 3. Mmmm, delicious. 

  The law became known as the “Skittles ban” because an earlier version targeted titanium dioxide, a coloring agent in candies including Skittles and M&Ms, as well as some dairy goods like Kraft fat-free shredded cheddar cheese. But titanium dioxide was removed from the final ban so Skittles, M&Ms, and Kraft fat-free shredded cheddar cheese are just as good for you as ever.

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