Gaza Occupation Decision, Redistricting Update, Trump Orders New Census

Israel's cabinet approves a plan to take over Gaza City.

That's Gaza's principal city and one of the last areas not already under Israel's control.

So what does the decision say about Israel's long-term plans?

I'm Emartinez with Steve Inskeep, and this is up first from NPR News.

A battle of election maps spreads across the national map, first in Texas, now in Indiana and beyond.

Republicans talk of partisan redistricting.

It's an explicit bid to make it easier to win, no matter how Americans vote.

Democrats aim to keep up in states they control.

So, what's this all mean for voters who are supposed to be in charge?

Also, what does the president gain by ordering a new census conducted by his rules?

That count would also influence elections and the distribution of federal money.

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Israel's cabinet has voted to expand the war in Gaza.

The move also gives some hints as to what the government envisions for after the war.

The plan is for Israeli forces to take over Gaza City.

That is the territory's principal city, or at least it was, before the war forced most people out of their homes.

So what would happen after that takeover is complete?

And Pierre's Emily Fang is covering this from Tel Aviv.

Hi there, Emily.

Hey, good morning.

Okay, first things first, what is the next step that they have announced?

What we know is from a short statement from the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

It was released early this morning after a very long cabinet meeting that began at 6 p.m.

the night before our time.

And this statement was the one that announced Israel's military would take control of Gaza City.

They said the aim of this plan was to disarm Hamas, get back hostages, and establish what Israel is calling security control of Gaza before ending a war.

Netanyahu's office did not use the word occupy or annex Gaza, but keep in mind, about 90% of land there has already been conquered by Israel or it's in zones off-limits to Palestinians.

But there's a lot of questions that are unanswered.

Netanyahu said in an interview with Fox that aired yesterday before this cabinet meeting that Israel intends to take over the entirety of Gaza, but not keep it.

So this cabinet decision said the objective of their plan was some kind of civil administration that is neither Hamas nor the Palestinian Authority, but it's not clear what that's going to be and at what point Israel decides to hand control over.

Okay, a lot of knowns, a lot of unknowns.

Are Israelis supporting this decision to expand the war?

Public opinion is split, and many people want the war to end.

A poll of Israelis out this week found 54% of them want some kind of ceasefire to get hostages back, even if that means Hamas remains in power.

And there have been dozens of growing protests across the country these past weeks against continuing the war.

Then this morning, the political opposition leader, Yair Lapid, said this cabinet decision was a, quote, disaster and leading Israel into a futile occupation.

Interestingly, some of the most forceful opposition has come from the military, including hundreds of former senior officials and directors of Israel's security establishment.

But right-wing Israelis support the war's expansion, so this has really divided people.

Former peace negotiator Menachem Klein told me he fears this war with Hamas is going to grind on and fracture Israel in the process.

There is no way that the Israeli army can win over a guerrilla falls in its own territory.

And Klein fears this new expanded campaign is going to sacrifice more Israeli soldiers' lives for a territory he believes Israel cannot hold.

Interesting to hear from the former military officials since it's sometimes presumed that people who are outside the military have left the military, speak for some people who are on the inside.

But what does this mean for people living in Gaza?

People there have been squeezed into the sliver that runs down Gaza's western side along the Mediterranean coast.

That includes Gaza City, so if Israel expands operations there, whether through airstrikes or ground defenses, it's very dangerous for people sheltering there.

Enpure's producer in Gaza, Anas Baba, is himself in Gaza City.

He's been speaking to people there, and one of them is 38-year-old Mahmoud Abdel Salam Ahmed.

He says he's preparing to pack his tent and getting ready to flee again.

He says this is the worst news he's heard since the start of the war, that he was shocked by the cabinet decision, and none of them were prepared for an escalation like this.

Netanyahu's office said aid is going to be distributed to civilians outside of combat zones, but he didn't elaborate what that means, given most of Gaza is a combat zone.

And already, more than 61,000 Palestinians have been killed.

According to the Gaza Health Ministry, people are dying every day from starvation and malnutrition, and a third of the people dead so far are children.

Andreas Emily Fang is in Tel Aviv.

Emily, thanks so much.

Thanks, Steve.

Okay, the political battle over redrawing congressional maps is escalating.

Yeah, President Trump started it.

He wants new districts drawn to ensure that Republicans win more congressional seats next year, regardless of how people vote.

Vice President Vance traveled to Indiana yesterday, where he discussed redistricting with the state's GOP leaders.

Now, the battle began in Texas, where Democratic lawmakers fled the state to try and block Republican-led redistricting there, and Democrats are responding in states they control.

So much is happening across the map.

So let's work our way across the national map with NPR's Ashley Lopez.

Ashley, good morning.

Good morning.

Where does Texas stand?

Yeah, so as of now, dozens of Texas Democratic lawmakers like remain scattered across the country in places like Illinois, Massachusetts, and New York.

And I mean, as long as they stay out of Texas, Republican lawmakers can't move forward with their plans to redraw the state's congressional map and give their party up to five more seats.

I mean, mean, and this is why in the past day or so, we've seen Republican leaders ramp up efforts to either force Democrats to come back to Texas or even remove them from office.

How can they do that?

Well, I mean, let's start with forcing them back, right?

So soon after Texas Democrats broke quorum, GOP leaders issued civil arrest warrants for those Democrats.

But state law enforcement doesn't have jurisdiction outside of Texas.

So Republican U.S.

Senator John Cornyn asked the FBI to step in.

And he said yesterday that the FBI has approved that request, though it's unclear what role the FBI even has here.

And as far as removing Democrats from office, I mean, this is a tougher lift, but both the governor and the state attorney general are turning to the courts to declare seats vacant for Democrats who fled.

They've said Democrats are derelict of their duties.

And I mean, we might find out what's next today because Republicans are set for another quorum call at the Capitol.

Okay, A mentioned Indiana.

Vice President Vance was there talking with Republican state leaders.

What happened?

So he spoke to state leaders and they signaled that redistricting was something that they talked about.

And, you know, I think this signals that this is a political arms race now and the White House does not intend to lose.

After Texas began efforts to redraw its map, a lot of Democratic states responded by saying they will look for ways to draw more favorable seats for themselves as well.

And since then, the race has been on.

I mean, let's start with Ohio.

They need a new map because of a state law and Republicans control the process there.

And then there's Florida.

Yesterday, the state house speaker announced a new redistricting committee.

And we know the White House has reached out to Missouri lawmakers.

And of course, Indiana is now on that list and Vance's visit.

I mean, it's just a testament to how seriously the administration is taking this and how much they want to stack the deck in their favor.

It's really interesting because some of these states have overwhelmingly Republican congressional districts.

So they're looking only for another seat or two, but that could make a difference.

What are Democrats doing in response?

Well, I mean, the big state to watch here is California.

They are also looking at adding five seats that are favorable to their party.

Governor Gavin Newsom wants voters to approve a ballot measure that would change their congressional map for the next three three election cycles.

A ballot measure is needed because the state, you know, along with a lot of various other Democratic-led states, I should say, have independent redistricting commissions.

And this would be a way around that particular hurdle in California.

Democratic leaders in general say they are willing to upend past practices in order to fight back.

A great example of this is New York Governor Kathy Hochul.

She said in a press conference recently that like she's tired of fighting with one hand tied behind her back on this.

And I think in general, you are seeing Democrats back off from defending good government government measures in the face, I mean, of what they say is Republicans breaking the rules for their benefit.

NPR's Ashley Lopez, thanks so much.

Yeah, thank you.

The fight over election maps is just one way Republicans are working to improve their odds of winning no matter what voters say.

Another involves the census, a population count that states use when drawing those election districts.

Now the president is calling for an unprecedented change to who is counted.

So how would that work?

NPR correspondent Hansi Lo Wong covers the census.

So Hansi, what do we know about how President Trump wants to change it?

We don't know much.

So far, President Trump has said in a social media post that he's instructed the Commerce Department, which oversees the Census Bureau, to begin work on a, quote, new census.

But we don't know when it would be, and we don't know what it would be used for, specifically whether it's for determining each state's share of seats in the House of Representatives and votes in Electoral College.

But what we do know is that Trump wants to exclude people living in the U.S.

without legal status.

And we have a statement from the Commerce Department, and it says the Census Bureau will use, quote, modern technology tools to analyze census data to, quote, reflect the number of legal residents in the United States.

And it appears to be referencing Trump's call to exclude people without legal status.

And just to be absolutely clear, historically, a census counts everyone that resides in the U.S.

Going back to the first U.S.

Census in 1790, no resident of the states has ever been left out because of their immigration status.

And since after the Civil War, the 14th Amendment has required the, quote, whole number of persons in each state.

And I should note, Trump tried to exclude U.S.

residents without legal status during the 2020 census and ultimately failed.

Well, now it seems like he's trying to do it again on a different schedule, but can he actually order a census right in the middle of a decade?

According to Article 1, Section 2 of the Constitution, no president can just order a census.

Congress has final authority over the census.

Now, decades ago, Congress did pass a law that allows for a mid-decade census, but we're past the timeline for that.

There is a new bill proposed by Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, a Republican from Georgia, and it calls for a new census, a new redistribution of House seats, and a new round of congressional redistricting.

all before next year's midterm election.

And last month, Trump said he supports this bill.

It's captivated the country.

Everybody wants it.

It's going to get in, it's going to pass, and we're going to be very happy.

Now, unlike that new census Trump is calling for, this bill would try to exclude not just U.S.

residents without legal status, but all people living in the states without U.S.

citizenship, which includes green card holders.

And there are other bills proposed by Republicans that call for excluding some or all non-citizens, but those are about the 2030 census.

And if any of those bills become law, there would likely be lawsuits.

Okay, it's one thing to want want a census, Hansi.

You report on this.

You know that it's not easy.

Is it even practically possible to carry out a census before 2030?

You know, A, if we are talking about trying to get an accurate and complete count of every person living in the country, then no.

The Census Bureau is in the middle of a years-long process right now for the 2030 count.

And that preparation has been harder for the Bureau to do because the Trump administration has been slashing its workforce and its programs.

There's also a hiring freeze.

So experts I've talked to say any census that's carried out before 2030 would likely be a rush job that uses untested methods.

That's MPR's Hansi Lo Wong.

Thanks a lot.

You're welcome, Ming.

And that's it first for this Friday, August 8th.

I'm Steve Inskeep.

And I'm a Martinez.

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