Israel is ramping up efforts to seal a sweeping ceasefire and hostage release deal in Gaza ahead of Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s high-stakes trip to Washington next week, multiple Israeli news outlets reported. For the first time since the war erupted, Israel is prepared to enter negotiations on a comprehensive framework that could secure the release of all 50 remaining hostages held by Hamas, Channel 12 reported, citing sources close to the talks. Even if Hamas signals willingness to move forward — a decision that could come within 24 hours — the path to a deal remains long.

Four people have died from gunshot wounds and 14 others have been hospitalized following a drive-by shooting in Chicago, police said Thursday. At least three were in critical condition. The shooting happened late Wednesday in Chicago’s River North neighborhood. Several media outlets said it happened outside a restaurant and lounge that had hosted an album release party for a rapper. Someone opened fire into a crowd standing outside, police said, and the vehicle immediately drove away. No one was in custody, police said. Preliminary information from police said 13 women and five men ranging in age from 21 to 32 were shot, and that the dead included two men and two women. Those shot were taken to multiple hospitals, police said.

The government’s top vaccine official working under Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. recently restricted the approval of two COVID-19 vaccines, disregarding recommendations from government scientists, according to federal documents released Wednesday. The new memos from the Food and Drug Administration show how the agency’s vaccine chief, Dr. Vinay Prasad, personally intervened to place restrictions on COVID shots from vaccine makers Novavax and Moderna. Both vaccines were approved by the FDA in May after months of analysis by rank-and-file FDA reviewers. But internal correspondence show Prasad disagreed with staffers who planned to approve the shots for everyone 12 and older, similar to previous COVID vaccines.

Senior Hamas political leaders based in Qatar have been instructed to relinquish their personal weapons, according to a report by the UK’s The Times on Wednesday. The move reportedly comes in response to increased U.S. pressure aimed at securing a ceasefire agreement in Gaza. Those affected include Khalil al-Hayya, who heads the Hamas delegation conducting ceasefire talks; Zaher Jabarin, responsible for the group’s financial operations; and Muhammad Ismail Darwish, head of the Hamas religious council and a key representative in diplomatic visits to countries such as Turkey and Iran. According to sources cited by Ynet, Defense Minister Yisrael Katz recently named al-Hayya as next on Israel’s list of targets for elimination.

Ongoing friction between justices on Israel’s Supreme Court has exposed deep ideological divides and is creating mounting pressure for reform within the court’s ranks. The growing tension, particularly over how cases with high public profiles are handled, has placed conservative Justice Noam Sohlberg at odds with Supreme Court President Yitzchak Amit, who is known for his judicial activism.
Recent rulings and hearings have drawn criticism from both legal experts and the media, with many alleging that the court is projecting a one-sided tone and failing to maintain the objectivity and balance expected in major legal decisions.

Astronomers are monitoring an object headed our way that may have wandered over from another star system. Scientists have discovered what might be only the third known interstellar object to pass through our solar system, the European Space Agency said Wednesday. The harmless object is currently near Jupiter hundreds of millions of miles (kilometers) away and moving toward Mars, but it should get no closer to the sun than that, according to scientists. It’s too soon to know whether the object, designated for now as A11pl3Z, is a rocky asteroid or a icy comet, or how big and what shape it is. More observations are needed to confirm its origins. NASA said it is monitoring the situation.

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A military veteran was sentenced Wednesday to life in prison for plotting to attack an FBI office and assassinate law enforcement officers in retaliation for his arrest on charges that he was part of the mob that stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, court records show. Edward Kelley was one of the first rioters to breach the Capitol. Nearly two years later, Kelley made plans with another man to attack the FBI office in Knoxville, Tennessee, using improvised explosive devices attached to vehicles and drones, according to prosecutors. Last November, a jury convicted Kelley of conspiring to murder federal employees, solicitation to commit a crime of violence and influencing federal officials by threat. Kelley received a pardon from President Donald Trump for his Jan.