Pam Bondi and FBI’s Dan Bongino Clash Over Handling of Epstein Case
© Pool photo by Michael Reynolds
© Pool photo by Michael Reynolds
lead image
lead image
© Julian Finney/Getty Images
© Nicole Tung for The New York Times
The death of a 45-year-old ethnic Hungarian in Ukraine, weeks after he was conscripted into the Ukrainian army, has provoked a furious row between the Hungarian government and authorities in Kyiv.
Jozsef Sebestyen, a dual Ukrainian-Hungarian citizen, was beaten with iron bars after he was forcibly conscripted on 14 June, his brother and sister have told Hungarian media.
Sebestyen, from Berehove in western Ukraine, died there in a psychiatric hospital on 8 July.
The circumstances surrounding his death have been denied by the military, but his case has shone a light on forced conscription in Ukraine as the army seeks to defend the front lines from Russia in the face of heavy losses.
"They took me to a forest with many other men and started beating me there," Sebestyen is quoted by Hungary's Mandiner news site as having told his brother and sister.
"The beatings were mainly to the head and body. They said that if I didn't sign something, they would take me to 'zero' [the front line]. It hurt so much, I couldn't move."
On 10 July, Ukrainian ambassador Sandor Fegyir was summoned to the Hungarian Foreign Ministry in Budapest over the case.
Prime Minister Viktor Orban, a bitter critic of the Ukrainian government and war effort, posted on Facebook: "A Hungarian citizen was beaten to death in Ukraine. A few kilometres from the Hungarian border. A country where this can happen cannot be a member of the EU."
Later the same day, the Ukrainian army published its full denial.
"According to the final report of the hospital, no physical injuries were found during the medical examination," the statement said.
"We firmly reject any allegations of forced labour, inhuman treatment or human rights violations, whether by the Territorial Military Centres or other military officials."
The army goes on to say that it would be open to a "transparent investigation under Ukrainian law".
The incident has become the latest flashpoint in a war of words between Orban's government in Budapest and Volodymyr Zelensky's administration in Kyiv.
In May, a spy row sparked arrests in both countries and tit-for-tat expulsions of diplomats.
At the end of June, the Hungarian government published the results of its latest "national consultation", in which it presented eight reasons for not allowing Ukraine into the EU, and invited citizens to vote "no".
More than two million did so, according to the results, which were not independently verified.
Allegations of violence during forced conscription in Ukraine are not new. Ukrainian men are eligible for the army from the ages of 25 to 60, and most men from the age of 18, are barred from leaving the country.
"I keep hearing from relatives of those taken by the military that they receive back their clothes covered in blood," a Hungarian woman in Transcarpathia told the BBC on condition of anonymity.
"The situation has been getting worse since the start of the war, but it got particularly bad in the past two months."
Often, she continued, medical certificates granting exemption from the draft are ignored by the soldiers - and the holders are bundled unceremoniously into vehicles and taken away. Thousands of dollars, "insane sums", were being demanded in exchange for being left in peace.
There are also allegations that critics of the government, including journalists, are deliberately targeted for conscription.
Oleh Dyba, 58, the editor of Zakarpattya Online, is now on hunger strike in military detention. He alleges he was taken because his articles investigating the construction of wind turbines in the Carpathian mountains upset the authorities.
Ukrainians can take cases of unfair or violent conscription to the office of the Ukrainian ombudsman for human rights, Dmytro Lubynets.
He said recently that his office had received 3,500 complaints for human rights violations regarding conscription in 2024, and more than 2,000 complaints so far this year.
Criminal cases have been brought against more than 50 recruiters, he said.
The right to conscientious objection was abolished in Ukraine when martial law was declared in February 2022 - the month Russia launched its full-scale invasion.
At the request of Ukraine's Constitutional Court, the Venice Commission of the Council of Europe issued an opinion on alternative service in Ukraine in March 2025.
"States have the positive obligation to set up a system of alternative service which must be separated from the military system, shall not be of a punitive nature and remain within reasonable time limits," it said.
© Kateryna Klochko/AP
© Loren Elliott for The New York Times
© Alex Wong/Getty Images
© Kirill Kudryavtsev/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images
Tom Homan, the US border czar, said he does not know what happened to the eight men deported to South Sudan after the Trump administration resumed sending migrants to countries that are not their place of origin, known as third countries.
“They’re free as far as we’re concerned. They’re free, they’re no longer in our custody, they’re in Sudan,” Homan told Politico on Friday. “Will they stay in Sudan? I don’t know.”
Administration officials said the men had been convicted of violent crimes in the US. Only one of the eight reportedly has a connection to South Sudan, which recently emerged from a civil war. The others include two people from Myanmar, two from Cuba, and one each from Vietnam, Laos and Mexico.
South Sudanese authorities said on Tuesday the men were in custody in Juba “under the care of the relevant authorities, who are screening them and ensuring their safety and wellbeing”.
The men were initially deported in May, but were held on a military base in Djibouti for weeks after a US court stopped their removal.
They were then transported to South Sudan after two US supreme court decisions: one that broadly allowed for the administration to deport migrants to third countries to which they have no connection, and a second that weighed in directly on the case of the eight men.
“We make arrangements to make sure these countries are receiving these people and there’s opportunities for people, but I can’t tell you – if we removed somebody to Sudan they could stay there a week and leave, I don’t know,” Homan said.
He later added: “There’s like a 100 different endings to this – I just don’t know on every specific case what their status is.”
The administration has also controversially deported Venezuelan migrants to El Salvador, where they are held in a notorious prison. The administration has reportedly also approached countries such as Costa Rica, Panama and Rwanda about accepting migrants.
Homan has been called the intellectual “father” of a policy on migrants enacted in the first Trump administration to separate children from their families, according to an investigation in 2022 by the Atlantic.
© Seth Wenig/AP
Behind the bar at The King's Head in Pollington, east Yorkshire, Emma Baxter has a problem. She runs the pub in her evenings - but it makes no money.
It is the last remaining pub in the village after another shut down, along with a greengrocer and the post office. She says she can't take a salary from the business.
"I run the pub for the love of it and for the fact I'm a village girl," she says.
"I'm a strong believer in the fact that it's the centre of the community and I said when I bought it I would keep it going.
"But my electricity bill has doubled in the last six months – where is that money going to come from?"
Emma felt so strongly about the tough financial situation facing many pubs that she contacted Your Voice, Your BBC News - an initiative to share the stories that matter to you.
According to the British Beer and Pub Association, the number of pubs in the UK has steadily decreased every year since 2000. Some 15,000 pubs have closed in that time, including 289 last year - the equivalent of six a week.
The average price of a pint is set to increase from £4.80 to £5.01. Budget measures mean that pubs face a loss of 9p on each pint if they continue to charge the same pre-budget prices. This means the price of a pint will need to rise by 21p to £5.01 for pubs to maintain current 12p profit.
The industry faced particular struggles during the Covid pandemic, but Emma believes things have deteriorated in the last two years - and it's left some pubs struggling to stay afloat.
"We saw maybe one price increase a year if we were lucky [during Covid] - sometimes we didn't even see that," she says.
"Now we're seeing three for a year and we've got another one coming. That will be the second one in the last two months. So how much more is this going to happen?"
At the same time as battling rising costs, she is attempting to entice customers in.
"I think everybody's trying their best - but you can't compromise the service and the quality that you give and the environment that you give.
"So you can't turn around at 9pm, turn all the lights off and make people sit around one bulb, you know. That's not what people come out for."
Pubs operate under various business models. There are free houses, which are not owned by a brewery or landlord stipulating where landlords buy their beer from. These are often run by owner-occupiers.
Then there are brewery-owned pubs, which generally only sell beers from that brewery.
And there are firms that own thousands of pubs and are occupied by tenants - often referred to as a "pub co".
Some tenants are also obliged to buy the drinks they sell from the same company. In some cases they are responsible for the upkeep of the building too.
Maurice, a tenant for one such company in Sheffield, tells the BBC he is trying to renegotiate his deal to run the pub. He says he will have to close the establishment if he can't get better terms.
"The prices that we are charged for spirits, beer, is ridiculous. I could actually go to a supermarket and buy about two bottles for what they're charging me for one. But I'm not allowed to because I'm tied," he says.
He also wants to see "pub co" breweries offered more help with the maintenance of their pubs, rather than leaving tenants to chase money for repairs.
Having been in the trade all his working life, he says he got involved with running a pub because of his love for community, but he's struggling to see a bright future.
"At the end of the day, you've got to make money. Financially, we're losing about £1,000 a week at a minimum here. And that's been for about the last couple of months.
"I can't afford to carry that anymore. All my savings are going."
For its part, the UK government says the pub is a central part of Britain's national identity and it is working hard to support the industry.
"We are a pro-business government and we know the vital importance of pubs to local communities and the economy, which is why we are supporting them with business rates relief and a 1p cut to alcohol duty on draught pints."
However, campaigners say that's not enough.
"Bringing down the VAT rate for hospitality would be a massive win," says Paul Crossman, landlord of The Swan, in York.
Paul, who is also chair of the pressure group the Campaign for Pubs, says: "I know the Chancellor of the Exchequer won't like that because there will be a cost attached to it, but surely getting 10% VAT from businesses that are still open is better than asking 20% from businesses that can't sustain that and will close."
There are some positive stories, too. Meg and Patrick have recently taken over the oldest pub in Chesterfield, south Yorkshire, and say their re-opening "couldn't have gone better".
Both former teachers, the couple had a shared dream of running their own pub, eventually saving enough to buy the Ye Royal Oak in the town centre.
They say being a free house pub has been helpful, as they are in control of what they do.
Patrick that the support he's witnessed in the community has given him hope.
"Beer and pubs are such a massive part of the fabric of British life that we think that that's not something that's ever going to go away," he says.
The National Trust has announced plans to cut 6% of its current workforce, about 550 jobs, blaming an inflated pay bill and tax rises introduced by Chancellor Rachel Reeves.
The heritage and conservation charity said it was under "sustained cost pressures beyond our control".
These include the increase in employers' National Insurance contributions and the National Living Wage rise from April, which the National Trust said had driven up annual wage costs by more than £10m.
The cost-cutting measures are part of a plan to find £26m worth of savings.
A 45-day consultation period with staff began on Thursday and the Trust said they were working with the union Prospect "to minimise compulsory redundancies".
The charity is running a voluntary redundancy scheme, and is expecting that to significantly reduce compulsory redundancies, a spokeswoman said.
The job cuts will affect all staff from management down, and everyone whose job is at risk will be offered a suitable alternative where available, the spokeswoman added.
Following consultations, which will finish in mid-to-late August, the cuts will be made in the autumn.
The Trust currently has about 9,500 employees.
Oasis fans have gone mad for their music again following their reunion, sending the band to number one in the UK album chart.
After the group kicked off their comeback tour last week, their greatest hits compilation Time Flies has gone back to the top spot, followed by 1995 album (What's the Story) Morning Glory? at number two.
Debut album Definitely Maybe, from 1994, is at number four - with only Sabrina Carpenter preventing them from completing a clean sweep of the top three.
News of the chart revival comes as the Britpop heroes prepare for their homecoming with the first of five sold-out nights in Manchester.
Oasis have had eight number one albums in total, and last topped the chart when Definitely Maybe went back to the summit last September after the reunion was announced. Time Flies and Morning Glory also went back into the top five at that time.
Three of their songs have also gone into the top 20 singles chart this week, led by Acquiesce, which was originally only a B-side, at number 17. That's followed by Don't Look Back in Anger at 18, and Live Forever at 19.
Noel and Liam Gallagher buried the hatchet to get back on stage for the first time in 16 years in Cardiff a week ago, and received enthusiastic reviews from ticket-holders and critics.
They have now moved on to Manchester's Heaton Park, where about 80,000 people will watch them every night.
They will also play seven nights at Wembley Stadium in London as well as shows in Edinburgh and Dublin, and a world tour.
The success of the brotherly reconciliation has gone some way to eclipsing bad memories of the scramble for tickets, when some fans found that prices more than doubled while they spent hours in a virtual queue.
An attack victim has said he is lucky to be alive after being knocked out by a single punch from a stranger who has now been jailed.
Airline pilot Ross McConnell, 35, was assaulted following a Busted concert at Aberdeen's P&J Live in 2023, leaving him unable to work for several months and with permanent scarring.
He has now spoken out to warn of the dangers of a single punch, saying the "split-second action" can have "absolutely devastating consequences".
Ben Corfield, 40, admitted the assault, and was jailed for a year at Aberdeen Sheriff Court.
Speaking after the sentencing, Mr McConnell said: "Justice has been done today, that guy very nearly killed me.
"I understand that he has had time to reflect on it. I accept his remorse, but ultimately he did what he did.
"Every day I'm reminded that the situation could be much more different."
Mr McConnell and his wife Lisa were both assaulted in the incident on 19 September 2023.
Corfield, from Doncaster in South Yorkshire, admitted punching the pilot to his severe injury and permanent disfigurement.
He also admitted assaulting another man on the same night.
Claire Maclagan, 36, from Dundee, admitted assaulting Lisa McConnell and was sentenced to carry out 187 hours of unpaid work.
Sheriff Morag McLaughlin said she had "wrestled" with her decision, but she had no choice but to impose a custodial sentence on the first-time offender.
She described it as an "extremely serious assault" which could have turned out "significantly worse".
The sheriff told the court "everyone wishes Mr Corfield had just walked away".
Mr McConnell said events on the night unfolded very quickly.
"Out of nowhere this guy comes up to me," he said.
"He just punched me to the left-hand side of my jaw. It caused me to fall backwards. The next thing I remember was waking up in the recovery position on the floor.
"I don't recall saying anything to him, it all happened in the space of seconds. I just thought, what did I do to deserve this? If someone else had been in my position it looks like they would have got the same treatment."
Mr McConnell was taken to Aberdeen Royal Infirmary where he received stitches to his serious head wound.
He said: "My daughter nearly lost her father, my wife nearly lost her husband, my mother nearly lost her son - all because one guy had a bad night and decided to punch me.
"Just about 30cm from where my head struck was uneven granite cobble. If my head had hit that, I shudder to think. The situation could have been a lot worse. I might not even be here today at worse case."
He was unable to properly return to his job as an airline pilot for nearly four months.
"That really gets you down," he said. "You know I thought 'why me?' A single punch has caused all of this impact for me, the physical impact as well as the financial loss and the mental impact too.
"I sat for days wondering, had I done anything? Was this my fault?"
Maxine Thompson-Curl set up the charity One Punch UK after her 18-year-old son Kristian's death in 2010.
He was punched by a man in a nightclub.
"He had a fractured skull and a catastrophic brain injury," she said. "My life from that moment has never been the same.
"He was in a coma for five days. And then for many months he was trying to get over having a brain injury. But he died nine months later. It was absolutely horrific."
She added: "We know these one-punch assaults happen, but the difficult thing statistically is that it isn't recorded by the police as a one-punch attack it is recorded as an assault.
"I have contact with people from across the country - Scotland, England, Wales and Ireland - and I would say at least twice a week I am hearing from people who are going through this, they get in touch looking for help.
"We know that one punch can ruin two lives. What I would say is - stop, think and walk away. Don't use those fists as weapons. They weren't given to punch, they were given to us to care, to hold each other, not to kill."
Assistant Chief Constable Mark Sutherland of Police Scotland said violence of any kind was entirely unacceptable.
"A split-second, ill-informed decision can end someone's life, and leave the perpetrator facing a long jail sentence," he said.
Mr McConnell hopes sharing his story might also make others think twice before lashing out.
"I am one of the lucky ones who survived a one-punch attack," he said.
"There are many other accounts out there where people have lost their lives, become disabled from it.
"If you are really having a bad day, taking a swing at somebody Is not going to make it any better."
© Haiyun Jiang/The New York Times
© Maddie McGarvey for The New York Times
© JPL/NASA
© First Liberty Building and Loan
At least 25 people have been taken to hospital in West Baltimore following suspected drug overdoses.
Citing officials from the region's fire department, the BBC's US partner CBS News said five people were admitted in a critical condition with others in a serious condition.
The incident, which took place near a road intersection in the Penn North area of the city on Thursday morning, led to the Maryland Department of Transportation closing a nearby subway station while roads were also blocked.
Fire Chief James Wallace told reporters that emergency services on the scene were directed to multiple people suspected of overdosing by members of the public.
He said people were found along two intersecting avenues as well as on the subway platforms and along alleyways following the initial response at around 09:20 local time (14:20 BST), according to CBS.
Officials have not named any substance they believe to have been involved.
Baltimore Police posted on X on Thursday that they, and fire services, were at the road intersection "in reference to multiple individuals experiencing overdose symptoms".
The police service asked people to avoid the area as multiple streets had been blocked off and buses rerouted.
The city's state attorney, Ivan Bates, said the incident "serves as a powerful reminder of our city's ongoing battle against the opioid epidemic".
He added that his office will support emergency services and the health department in their work to find out what happened.
Maryland Governor Wes Moore also said on Thursday his team were coordinating with state agencies, city officials and first responders.
"I'm grateful to those who quickly alerted us about this situation, and those who are providing support to the community," Mr Moore said.
Separately, an update from the city's mayor, Brandon Scott, issued advice for residents who use drugs; including to never use alone and to carry Naloxone or Narcan - both of which can be collected for free from the city's health department.
After 40 years of armed struggle against the Turkish state, the outlawed Kurdish PKK will hold a ceremony on Friday to mark a symbolic first step in laying down its arms.
The disarmament process will start under tight security in Iraqi Kurdistan and is expected to take all summer.
Turkey's president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, has hailed the move as "totally ripping off and throwing away the bloody shackles that were put on our country's legs".
Some 40,000 people have been killed since the conflict began, and the PKK is listed as a terror group in Turkey, the US, EU and UK. Its disarmament will be felt not just in Turkey but in Iraq, Syria and Iran.
A small group of PKK members will symbolically lay down their weapons in a ceremony near Suleymaniyah in Iraqi Kurdistan, before going back to their bases.
For security reasons, the exact location is not being revealed, although it's thought members of Turkey's pro-Kurdish opposition Dem party will be there, even if other major Turkish political parties will not.
Disarmament will then continue over the coming months at points set up with the involvement of the Turkish, Iraqi and Kurdistan regional governments, BBC Turkish has been told.
In a video, the PKK's long-imprisoned leader, Abdullah Ocalan, said it was "a voluntary transition from the phase of armed conflict to the phase of democratic politics and law". He has been in solitary confinement on the small prison island of Imrali, south-west of Istanbul, since he was captured in 1999.
This is not the first attempt at peace involving Turkey and the PKK, but this is the best hope so far that the armed struggle that began in 1984 will come to an end.
Originally a Marxist group, the Kurdistan Workers' Party took up arms calling for an independent state inside Turkey.
In the 1990s, they called instead for greater autonomy for Kurds, who make up about 20% of the population.
Ocalan announced a ceasefire in 2013, and urged PKK forces to withdraw from Turkey. The 2015 Dolmabahce Agreement was supposed to bring democratic and language rights for Kurds, but the fragile truce collapsed amid devastating violence, especially in the Kurdish-dominated cities of the south-east, including Diyarbakir.
Turkey's air force targeted PKK bases in the mountains of northern Iraq. Several military campaigns have also targeted Kurdish-led forces in Syria.
The government in Ankara ruled out further talks until the PKK laid down its arms. That is now on the verge of happening.
In October 2024, a prominent nationalist leader and key Erdogan ally called Devlet Bahceli began a process described by the government as "terror-free Turkey". He urged the PKK's imprisoned leader to call for the dissolution of the outlawed group. It could pave the way for his possible release from Imrali island, he suggested.
The Turkish government launched talks with Ocalan via the pro-Kurdish Dem party, and then in February came his historic appeal for the PKK to disband, read out by two Dem MPs who had just returned from a visit to the prison island.
"All groups must lay their arms and the PKK must dissolve itself," read Ocalan's letter.
The PKK had been formed primarily because "the channels of democratic politics were closed", he said, but Devlet Bahceli and Erdogan's own positive signals had created the right environment.
The PKK followed Ocalan's lead and declared a ceasefire and later declared that it had "completed its historical mission": the Kurdish issue could now "be resolved through democratic politics".
President Erdogan said it was an "opportunity to take a historic step toward tearing down the wall of terror" and met pro-Kurdish politicians in April.
As founder of the PKK, Ocalan continues to be reviled by many Turks, even after 26 years in solitary confinement.
And yet he still plays an important role in the eyes of Kurds.
"I think he really has this authority; he is a main symbol for many Kurds, not all," says Joost Jongerden, a specialist on the 41-year conflict at Wageningen University in the Netherlands.
Two days before the PKK were due to begin disarmament, Ocalan appeared on video for the first time since he was put on trial more than 20 years ago.
Speaking for seven minutes, he addressed the outlawed group: "I believe in the power of politics and social peace, not weapons. And I call on you to put this principle into practice."
Ocalan was wearing a branded Lacoste polo shirt, and in an indication of his enduring relevance, the shirt quickly went viral and websites ran out of stock.
After Friday's ceremony, the scene switches to Turkey's parliament in Ankara where a commission will be set up to make decisions on the next steps for the government.
As the summer recess is around the corner, no concrete decisions are expected for several months, when MPs vote on the commission's recommendations and President Erdogan has the final say.
What happens to Abdullah Ocalan is not yet clear. The government says his conditions in jail could be reviewed as the process unfolds, but any chance of release will be left to the latter stages.
Erdogan's AK Party has begun work on changing the constitution, and there has been speculation that this would mean Erdogan would be able to run for the presidency again when his final term runs out in 2028.
The AKP and pro-Kurdish Dem party deny there is any link between the peace process and reshaping the constitution, but if Erdogan secures Dem support he would have a far greater chance of pushing through changes.
Erdogan is behind in the polls, but his main opposition rival, Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, is in jail accused of corruption, which he denies, and more opposition mayors have been arrested as part of a crackdown in the past week.
An international human trafficking crackdown has led to more than 150 arrests and the identification of more than 1,000 victims.
The six-day operation, which took place at the start of June, involved nearly 15,000 officers from 43 countries across Europe, Asia, Africa and South America, according to Interpol.
It targeted organised criminal gangs involved in trafficking people - who are typically underage - for the purpose of sexual exploitation, forced criminality and begging, Europol said.
Many sexual exploitation trafficking victims are women, who are typically recruited from abroad and taken to massage parlours where they are pressured into prostitution.
"Human trafficking is a brutal and devastating crime that strips people of their dignity, freedom, and humanity, preying on the most vulnerable, including children," said David Caunter, director of organised and emerging crime at Interpol.
The operation - dubbed "Global Chain" - made 158 arrests in total and identified a further 205 suspects, while 1,194 potential victims were discovered.
It was led by Austrian and Romanian authorities, and focused primarily on Europe - but also saw suspects arrested in Thailand, Nigeria and Vietnam.
Police in Malta freed three Colombian women - two sisters and their aunt - who were originally offered employment as cleaners there by an Italian national, Europol said.
Upon arrival, their passports were confiscated by the suspect under the guise of arranging work permits, the witholding of which was then used to coerce them into prostitution, the agency added.
In Austria, officers made seven arrests in connection with a Romanian family-based gang that allegedly used the "lover-boy" method to lure women into sexual exploitation and forced criminality under the pretence of a romantic relationship.
And in Italy, police raided several massage parlours with suspected links to sexual exploitation, identifying 75 potential trafficking victims, according to Interpol.
Potential trafficking victims originated from 64 countries around the globe, but the majority came from Romania, Ukraine, Colombia, China and Hungary, officials said.
The operation also saw €277,669 (£240,351) in cash seized, as well as 30 guns, 65 fraudulent documents and a tonne of cannabis.
A similar operation took place around the same time last year, resulting in the arrest of 200 suspects and the identification of more than 1,300 victims.
For Gazans, a 60-day ceasefire being negotiated between Israel and Hamas would be a lifeline.
A window to bring in large quantities of desperately needed food, water and medicine after severe – and at times total - Israeli restrictions on aid deliveries.
But for Israel's defence minister Israel Katz a two-month pause in military operations would create an opportunity to build what he has called a "humanitarian city" in the ruins of the southern city of Rafah to contain almost every single Gazan except those belonging to armed groups.
According to the plan, Palestinians would be security screened before being allowed in and not permitted to leave.
Critics, both domestically and internationally, have condemned the proposal, with human rights groups, academics and lawyers calling it a blueprint for a "concentration camp".
It's unclear to what extent it represents a concrete plan of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government or whether it is a negotiating tactic to put more pressure on Hamas in the talks on a ceasefire and hostage release deal.
In the notable absence of any Israeli plan for Gaza after the war ends, this idea is filling the strategic vacuum.
Katz briefed a group of Israeli reporters that the new camp would initially house about 600,000 Palestinians - and eventually the whole 2.1 million population.
His plan would see the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) securing the site from a distance while international bodies managed the area. Four aid distribution sites would be established in the area, he said.
Katz also restated his desire to encourage Palestinians to "voluntarily emigrate" from the Gaza to other countries.
But it has not gained traction or support among other senior figures in Israel, and according to reports the proposal even triggered a clash between the prime minister and the head of the IDF.
Israeli media say the office of the chief of the general staff, Lt Gen Eyal Zamir, made clear the army was not obligated to forcibly transfer civilians, as the plan would require.
It's claimed Gen Zamir and Netanyahu were involved in an angry exchange during a recent war cabinet meeting.
Tal Schneider, a political correspondent at the centrist Times of Israel, said Zamir would be in a strong position to push back because the government "practically begged him to take the job" six months ago – and Netanyahu strongly endorsed his appointment.
It's not only the top military brass that is opposed to the idea. There is also consternation among rank and file too.
"Any transfer of a civil population is a form of war crime, that's a form of ethnic cleansing, which is also a form of genocide," IDF reservist Yotam Vilk told the BBC at his home in Tel Aviv.
The 28-year-old former officer in the Armored Corps is refusing to serve any longer in the army following 270 days of active combat in Gaza.
He describes himself as a patriot and argues Israel must defend itself but that the current war has no strategy nor end in sight.
Vilk is also part of Soldiers for the Hostages, a group calling for an end of the war to secure the release of the 50 Israelis still being held captive by Hamas in Gaza, up to 20 of whom are believed to be alive.
Meanwhile 16 Israeli experts in international law issued a joint letter on Friday denouncing the plan, which they said would constitute a war crime. The letter urged "all relevant parties to publicly withdraw from the plan, renounce it and refrain from carrying it out".
The plan has unsurprisingly dismayed Palestinians in Gaza.
"We completely reject this proposal, and we reject the displacement of any Palestinian from their land," Sabreen, who had been forced to leave Khan Younis, told the BBC. "We are steadfast and will remain here until our last breath."
Ahmad Al Mghayar from Rafah said: "Freedom is above everything. This is our land, we should be free to move wherever we want. Why are we being pressured like this?"
It's not clear how much support Katz's plan has among the general public, but recent surveys have indicated the majority of Jews in Israel favour the expulsion of Palestinians from Gaza.
One poll published in the left-wing daily newspaper Haaretz claimed as many as 82 per cent of Jewish Israelis supported such a move.
But there has been curious lack of public support for the proposal among the far-right, including prominent ministers in the coalition Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich.
Both have been vocal proponents of Palestinians leaving Gaza and Jewish settlers returning.
Tal Schneider said both ministers may still be weighing up giving their backing to the proposal for a mass camp.
"Maybe they're waiting to see where the wind blows to see if it's serious. Both Smotrich and Ben-Gvir are cabinet members and have more access to internal discussions. Maybe they think this is just to put political pressure on Hamas to come to the table."
Outside Israel, the proposal for a new camp for all Gazans has attracted widespread criticism.
In the UK, minister for the Middle East Hamish Falconer posted on social media that he was "appalled" by the plan.
"Palestinian territory must not be reduced," he wrote. "Civilians must be able to return to their communities. We need to move towards a ceasefire deal and open a pathway to lasting peace."
British human rights lawyer Baroness Helena Kennedy KC told the BBC the project would force Palestinians into a "concentration camp".
The description, which other critics including academics, NGOs and senior UN officials have used, holds considerable resonance in light of the role of concentration camps in the Holocaust.
Baroness Kennedy said the plan - as well as the latest actions of Israel - has led her to conclude Israel is committing genocide in Gaza.
"I was very reluctant to go there, because the threshold has to be very high. There has to be specific intent for genocide. But what we're now seeing is genocidal behaviour," she said.
Israel has vehemently rejected the charge of genocide and says it does not target civilians.
The Israeli foreign ministry also told the BBC that "the notion that Israel is creating concentration camps is deeply offensive and draws parallels with the Nazis". Israel "adheres to the Geneva Convention", it added, referring to the international regulations governing the treatment of civilians in occupied territories.
Aside from grim warnings about what might happen, the prospect of a new camp is having an impact on efforts to end the Gaza war.
Palestinian sources at the ceasefire talks grinding on in the Qatari capital Doha have told the BBC the plan has alarmed the Hamas delegation and has created a new obstacle to a deal.
Additional reporting by Joyce Liu and John Landy
"Deeply regrettable" is how Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba has described US President Donald Trump's latest tariff threat - a 25% levy on Japanese goods.
Tokyo, a long-time US ally, has been trying hard to avoid exactly this. It has been seeking concessions for its beleaguered car makers, while resisting pressure to open its markets to American rice.
There have been many rounds of negotiations. Japan's trade minister has visited Washington DC at least seven times since April, when Trump announced sweeping tariffs against friends and foes.
And yet, those trips seem to have borne little fruit. Trump's label for Tokyo moved from "tough" to "spoiled" as talks dragged on.
And then this week, Japan joined a list of 22 nations that were sent tariff letters - 14 of those are in Asia. From South Korea to Sri Lanka, many are export-driven manufacturing hubs.
They have until 1 August to strike a deal with the US. But they are likely wondering about their chances given that Japan, a staunch ally that has been openly pursuing a deal, is still facing a steep levy.
Trump has reset the tariffs clock - again. So who is winning, and who is losing?
In one sense, almost all of the countries targeted by Trump earlier this year benefit from the deadline extension - they now have more than three weeks more to strike deals.
"The optimistic case is that there is pressure now to engage in further negotiations before the 1 August deadline," said Suan Teck Kin, head of research at United Overseas Bank.
Growing economies like Thailand and Malaysia, which received tariff letters this week, will be especially eager to seek a solution. They are also caught in the middle of US-China tensions as Washington targets Chinese exports rerouted through third countries, what are known as transhipped goods.
Economists have told the BBC that further extensions are likely, given the complexity of trade agreements.
Countries will need time to implement Trump's demands, which, going by the letters, are not entirely clear, said business lecturer Alex Capri from the National University of Singapore.
For instance, transhipped goods have been specifically levied as part of Vietnam's trade deal with the US. But it is unclear whether that applies to finished goods, or to all imported components.
Either way, it will involve far more sophisticated technology to keep track of supply chains, Mr Capri said.
"It's going to be a slow, long-term and evolving process involving many third parties, tech companies and logistic partners."
It seems clear that tariffs are here to stay, which makes global trade the loser.
Companies from the US, Europe and China with global businesses remain at risk, Mr Capri said. This hurts not just exporters, but also US importers and consumers.
And it is a blow for the economic ambitions of large parts of Asia, whose rise has been fuelled by manufacturing, from electronics to textiles.
It is unwise to make zero-sum observations on which countries are winning and losing, Mr Capri added, because international trade, especially between US and China is so deeply inter-linked.
Some countries, however, could lose more than others.
Vietnam was the first in Asia to strike a deal, but it has little leverage against Washington, and is now facing levies up to 40%. The same goes for Cambodia. A poor country heavily reliant on exports, it has been negotiating a deal as Trump threatens 35% tariffs.
South Korea and Japan, on the other hand, may be able to hold out longer, because they are richer and have stronger geo-political levers.
India, which too has leverage of its own, has not been issued a letter yet. A deal has seemed imminent but appears to be delayed by key sticking points, including access to the Indian agricultural market and the country's import rules.
"Despite its close economic and military relationship with the US, Japan is being treated the same as other Asian trade partners," said economist Jesper Koll.
And that could transform the relationship, especially as Tokyo, with its large financial reserves, appears to be ready for the long game.
"Japan has proven to be a tough negotiator and I think that has annoyed Trump," Mr Koll said.
Despite a rice shortage that has sent prices soaring, PM Ishiba has refused to buy US rice, choosing instead to protect domestic farmers. His government has also refused to give in to US demands to increase its military spending.
"They are well prepared," Mr Koll argued. He said the day after Trump announced tariffs in April, Tokyo declared an economic emergency and set up hundreds of consultation centres to assist affected companies.
"Japan will be seeking a deal that is credible," he said, because what's the guarantee Trump won't change his mind again?
With Japan's upper-house election due this month, it would be surprising if a deal is agreed by August, Mr Koll said.
"No-one is happy. But is this something that is going to force a recession in Japan? No."
Asia has long been seen as a key battleground between Washington and Beijing, and analysts say, because of tariffs, Trump may be ceding ground.
For one, given how complex these deals can be, Trump may be overplaying his hand by extending the deadline again, according to some observers.
"The bargaining position of the US has actually been diminished as they have revealed that their hand isn't actually as strong as they would like," said NUS economics professor David Jacks.
And the deals that are made could come at the cost of reshaping trade and ties built over decades.
Trump's choice of posting the letters online, rather than through traditional diplomatic channels, could backfire, said Mr Capri, who described it as "political theatre".
The confusion caused is a "great gift" to China, which is trying to portray itself as a stable alternative to Trump's unpredictability, he added.
But the US market is not easy to replace - and Beijing has its fair share of tensions with countries in this part of the world, from Vietnam to Japan.
China is in the middle of its own trade negotiations the US, although it has longer to strike a full agreement - until 13 August.
So who will win more friends in this trade war is hard to say, but the race is still on.
“Both parties see the need for a divorce," Prof Jacks said, "but getting there will be tough and involve proceedings which will span years, if not decades."