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Israeli government approves Gaza ceasefire

Published

45 mins ago

7 minute read

From The Center Square

By Sarah Roderick-Fitch 

The Israeli government has approved a ceasefire as part of the first phase of the peace plan with Hamas.

The deal comes ahead of President Donald Trump’s visit to the region, as Israeli hostages are set to be released and U.S. troops are to deploy to the region.

As part of the Israeli government signing off on the deal and implementing an immediate ceasefire, the U.S. will send around 200 troops to the Middle East to oversee the ceasefire deal in Gaza, according to multiple reports.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delivered remarks during a government meeting to approve a framework for hostage releases.

Netanyahu was joined by Trump’s special envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, and the president’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, who has played a pivotal role in negotiating deals in the Middle East, most notably the Abraham Accords.

Netanyahu praised the Trump administration for leading the negotiations to bring home the remaining surviving Israeli hostages, as well as the return of the deceased.

“We are at a momentous development. In the last two years, we’ve fought to achieve our war aims. And a central one of these war aims is to return the hostages. All of the hostages, the living and the dead. And we’re about to achieve that. We couldn’t have achieved it without the extraordinary help of President Trump and his team, Steve Witkoff, Jared Kushner,” said Netanyahu. “And for the benefit of these families who will finally get to be with their loved ones. And I want to thank you on their behalf, as well as on behalf of the people of Israel. Thank you.”

Per the 20-point deal proposed by Trump last week in Washington during a meeting with Netanyahu, the hostages are to be released within 72 hours of Israel approving the plan. As part of the deal, Palestinian prisoners will be released in return.

The first phase of the peace plan approved by Israel and Hamas brings the region one step closer to ending the two-year war that began after the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attacks.

Last week, Trump hosted Netanyahu at the White House, where the pair announced the 20-point peace plan between Israel and Hamas with an emphasis on releasing the remaining Israeli hostages.

In a Truth Social post Wednesday night, the president led with that portion of the deal.

“I am very proud to announce that Israel and Hamas have both signed off on the first Phase of our Peace Plan. This means that ALL of the Hostages will be released very soon,” the president posted.

As part of the deal, Israel would be required to withdraw their troops to “an agreed upon line.”

Trump touted the first phase “as the first steps toward a Strong, Durable, and Everlasting Peace.”

“All Parties will be treated fairly! This is a GREAT Day for the Arab and Muslim World, Israel, all surrounding Nations, and the United States of America, and we thank the mediators from Qatar, Egypt, and Turkey, who worked with us to make this Historic and Unprecedented Event happen,” the president wrote.

Trump also said he would likely travel to Egypt to oversee the finalization of the deal.

The 20-point plan, which Trump proposed to end the war in Gaza, calls for a “terror-free zone” in Gaza, redevelopment of the territory, and the return of all Israeli hostages, including the dead, within 72 hours of Israel accepting the agreement.

To oversee the success of the plan, the president says that if it’s accepted, he will lead it.

“Gaza will be governed under the temporary transitional governance of a technocratic, apolitical Palestinian committee, responsible for delivering the day-to-day running of public services and municipalities for the people in Gaza. This committee will be made up of qualified Palestinians and international experts, with oversight and supervision by a new international transitional body, the ‘Board of Peace,’ which will be headed and chaired by President Donald J. Trump, with other members and heads of State to be announced, including former Prime Minister Tony Blair,” according to Trump’s plan.

“This body will set the framework and handle the funding for the redevelopment of Gaza until such time as the Palestinian Authority has completed its reform program, as outlined in various proposals, including President Trump’s peace plan in 2020 and the Saudi-French proposal, and can securely and effectively take back control of Gaza. This body will call on best international standards to create modern and efficient governance that serves the people of Gaza and is conducive to attracting investment,” the plan continued.

The plan underscores that Hamas will have no role in the governance of Gaza, adding that regional partners will “ensure that Hamas, and the factions, comply with their obligations.” It also ensures that Israel will not occupy or annex Gaza.

The deal comes as the president is expected to arrive in the region over the weekend with an invitation to address the Israeli Knesset. Trump told reporters during a cabinet meeting on Thursday that he plans to address the Knesset.

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Crime

Florida teens credited for averting school shooting plot in Washington state

Published on October 10, 2025

By

From The Center Square

By 

Two teenage boys in Florida are being called heroes for their response to a five-second TikTok video last month that may well have averted disaster all the way across the country.

The video, which has since been taken down, reportedly showed plans for a mass school shooting at Kamiakin High School in Kennewick, Wash.

“The contents of the TikTok were a map of a high school, and it had classrooms that were identified and labeled as targets,” said Kennewick School Board member Brittany Gledhill in a Thursday interview with The Center Square. “It had other classrooms that were labeled as potential targets. It had labeled exits, and it had the security department of the school listed as a potential threat.”

The map in the video did not indicate the location or name of the school.

“But this young man who lives in Florida decided to show it to a brother, and then together they decided that they needed to tell the authorities,” Gledhill said.

She explained that local authorities in Florida contacted the FBI, and within hours, the investigation was underway to determine the TikTok poster’s location.

That was September 19, a Friday.

“We got involved on Sunday, so that we were able to sweep the campus and provide a secure and safe environment for our students and staff, and that was in conjunction with KPD, or Kennewick police department,” said Kennewick School District Superintendent Lance Hansen.

At that point, the suspect, a 14-year-old Kamiakin High School freshman, was already in custody.

According to the Tri-City Herald, the FBI was able to match the layout and room numbers shown in the TikTok video to Kamiakin High School, and at that point, the FBI contacted the internet provider about the IP address linked to the account.

Officials were able to narrow down the location to a few dozen potential residences in Kennewick, and according to the Herald, law enforcement further narrowed the list based on the times the TikTok account was active.

The address was further narrowed to the boy’s home, where he reportedly lived with his grandparents, and more than two dozen firearms were located.

Hansen told The Center Square that officials believe the young man was most likely to carry out his plan had the boys in Florida not done the right thing.

“It was smart and courageous at the same time, and I think that they can be an example or model for others who may see something and think it’s not a big deal. Just the thought that they would recognize this isn’t right and have the courage to speak up … that’s really where I believe the story is,” Hansen said.

Gledhill said the school board, administration and staff members from Kamiakin High School are putting together a gift basket and thank-you notes for the boys in Florida who reported the TikTok post to authorities.

“We averted a terrible tragedy because of these two young men,” she said. “This is my home high school, and I have two of my own children [who] go to that school.”

Hansen said the school community is still reeling from what could have happened, but is also trying to find a lesson in it.

“In times where information can flow so quickly and there’s some level of anonymity that is created in ways that we communicate, like with social media, it sometimes creates some boldness in youth, which I think is a false positive,” he said. “I mean, there are benefits to the way that we communicate, and there [are] some unintended consequences of that. Having said that, as I reminded our parents, every person who’s on a campus is responsible for the safety of the campus. That’s students, staff, whoever is there. So that model … needs to be applied for everything.”

Given that the accused is 14, he is being charged as a juvenile. Assuming he pleads guilty or is convicted, he could only be confined until he turns 21.

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Business

Call for Federal Inquiry as Pressure Mounts for Release of Buried Report on Buddhist Land Transactions in PEI

Published on October 9, 2025

By

The Great Enlightenment Buddhist Institute Society

Sam Cooper's avatar Sam Cooper

The authors of a new book, Canada Under Siege, allege that a religious group linked to the Chinese Communist Party has been involved in a pattern of suspicious land transactions across Prince Edward Island — Canada’s smallest province, which they say is increasingly a flashpoint for questions about national security, land control, and transparency.

The authors — former RCMP superintendent Garry Clement and publisher Dean Baxendale — are pressing for the release of an investigative report they believe was suppressed, and for a new provincial probe commissioned this year to show concrete progress.

As scrutiny from the authors and from media including CBC and The Bureau has increased this year, the long-sought 2018 land-investigation report at the centre of the controversy — prepared by the Island Regulatory and Appeals Commission (IRAC) — may finally surface, after a legislative standing committee issued a subpoena for the document. The report, which examined land holdings on Prince Edward Island, including those of several Buddhist-affiliated entities, was never released publicly by the regulatory body.

The authors, along with a group of concerned PEI citizens were joined in Ottawa yesterday by Wayne Easter, a retired nine-term Liberal MP and former chair of the House Finance Committee. Easter requested a judicial inquiry into suspected corruption tied to land transactions, saying he is among many Prince Edward Islanders alarmed by suspicious dealings involving the Buddhist groups. (The author of this story also spoke at the press conference on PEI investigations and foreign interference.)

Easter stressed that critics do not believe the Buddhist followers who have come to live and work in the communities established by the China-linked organization are engaged in wrongdoing. Rather, he warned that clandestine actors may have infiltrated and exploited the group’s land holdings for undisclosed purposes.

“You need a federal public inquiry that can subpoena witnesses, trace bank accounts,” Easter said.

In response to a CBC report linking the religious group to Chinese Communist Party entities, representatives of the organizations involved strongly denied the allegation, stating that their activities have no political connection to the CCP.

Clement and Baxendale called for a federal inquiry into what they described as land dealings consistent with money laundering, routed through shell companies and religious non-profits.

Adding to those calls, Jan Matejcek, a PEI-based lawyer who has conducted his own investigations with a group of concerned Island residents, says the provincial government’s apparent reluctance to release a prior report into the land dealings of the Great Enlightenment Buddhist Institute Society, conducted from 2015 to 2018, “raises some doubt about this government’s commitment to transparency.”

Documents reviewed by The Bureau show that the decade-old investigation, authorized under section 15 of PEI’s Lands Protection Act, examined land holdings of several Buddhist-affiliated corporations — including the Great Enlightenment Buddhist Institute Society, Great Wisdom Buddhist Institute Inc., Moonlight International Foundation, and related companies — before being declared concluded in January 2018. No findings were ever made public.

A November 2024 letter from Housing Minister Steven Myers, obtained by The Bureau, and addressed to IRAC CEO Doug Clow, is titled “Re: Great Wisdom Buddhist Institute Inc. and Great Enlightenment Buddhist Institute Society.”

In the letter, Myers wrote:

“I am writing to request that the Commission provide an update on the 2018 land investigation file relating to the above-noted organizations. Given the public interest and recent inquiries from legislators, I ask that the Commission provide a summary of its findings and the status of any recommendations or follow-up actions.”

That earlier investigation is now under renewed scrutiny following a February 2025 directive from Myers ordering IRAC to reopen the case under new powers added to the Lands Protection Act in 2022. The minister cited “public interest” and the need to examine potential direct or indirect control of the corporations’ land holdings, requesting a full report on whether the organizations had contravened the Act or its regulations.

This scrutiny follows mounting concern among residents and lawmakers that PEI’s land protections — designed to prevent excessive concentration of farmland — have been undermined by complex corporate structures and opaque beneficial-ownership chains.

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