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May 6, 2025

	By Natasha Frost

Good morning. We’re covering Israel’s plan to seize territory in Gaza and Trump’s offer to pay migrants to leave.

Plus: Recapping the Met Gala.

Destruction in Jabaliya, Gaza, last month. Saher Alghorra for The New York Times

Israel plans to escalate its Gaza campaign

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel declared yesterday that his country was “on the eve of a forceful entry to Gaza.” Israel’s security cabinet has approved a new plan for tens of thousands of additional soldiers to seize territory in the enclave and relocate Palestinians to the south.

Netanyahu said that the new military action would bring home the remaining hostages, but critics warned that the plan would endanger the lives of hostages without fundamentally changing a dynamic created by 18 months of war. The organization representing the families of hostages issued a statement urging Israel not to widen the war.

What’s next: Israel said the offensive would start slowly as cease-fire talks continued ahead of President Trump’s trip next week to the Gulf region. A government spokesman said the campaign called for Israeli soldiers to hold territories for an indefinite period of time “to prevent Hamas from taking it back.”

Aid: The cabinet also approved a new mechanism for allowing the distribution of humanitarian aid. Food shortages in Gaza have reached “catastrophic” levels, the U.N. has warned.

Yemen: Israeli fighter jets bombed the port city of Hudaydah, after Houthi militants fired a missile near Israel’s main international airport this weekend.

Kristi Noem, the homeland security secretary. Doug Mills/The New York Times

The U.S. offered migrants $1,000 to leave

The Trump administration said yesterday that it was offering undocumented immigrants $1,000 and assistance traveling to their native country if they left the U.S. on their own.

Already, officials said, one migrant from Honduras had taken the government up on the offer and flown from Chicago back to his home country. The money will be paid after migrants confirm they have traveled back home through an app.

“If you are here illegally, self-deportation is the best, safest and most cost-effective way to leave the United States to avoid arrest,” Kristi Noem, the homeland security secretary, said in a statement.

Related: Rwanda’s foreign minister said his country is in early talks with the Trump administration about taking in migrants deported from the U.S.

The funeral for Pope Francis last month.  Tomas Munita for The New York Times

Sexual abuse survivors gathered in Rome, with a message

Survivors of sexual abuse and those who monitor how well the Catholic Church handles abuse cases have arrived in Rome ahead of the papal conclave, which begins tomorrow. They are hoping to persuade cardinals to make the issue a priority when choosing the next pope.

Pope Francis is credited with addressing the issue more strongly than his predecessors had, but new cases continue to emerge and clerical abuse remains a ruinous issue for the Church.

The Vatican spokesman said that during pre-conclave meetings the cardinals had discussed sexual abuse in the church, and considered it a “wound to be kept open” so that awareness of the problem remained alive and concrete paths for healing can be identified.

In other news: Francis’s tomb has caused a stir — among designers and font nerds.

Brendan Hoffman for The New York Times

News From Europe

The New York Times

On Saturday, people in Texas who mostly work for SpaceX, Elon Musk’s rocket company, voted to create their own city: Starbase. SpaceX has already been building homes in the area, and has plans for retail stores, a school — and a sushi restaurant near Musk’s house. Here’s a detailed look.

Erik Carter