Representative Nancy Pelosi, former House speaker and a key ally of Joe Biden, signed a letter on Friday from dozens of congressional Democrats to the president and Secretary of State Antony Blinken, urging a halt to weapons transfers to Israel.Support from Pelosi, a veteran member of Biden's Democratic Party, for stopping the transfer of weapons to Israel showed that the view is increasingly becoming mainstream in the party.Friday's letter called on the Biden administration to conduct its own probe into an Israeli airstrike that killed seven staff of the aid group World Central Kitchen on Monday."In light of the recent strike against aid workers and the ever-worsening humanitarian crisis, we believe it is unjustifiable to approve these weapons transfers," the letter said. It was signed by Pelosi and 36 other Democrats including Representatives Barbara Lee, Rashida Tlaib and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.

An earthquake aftershock was felt in New York City on Friday afternoon, according to a Reuters witness, following a 4.8-magnitude earthquake earlier in the day in the region.

The combined defense and armed forces of the United States, Japan, Australia and the Philippines will conduct "maritime cooperative activity" to support a free and open Indo-Pacific, the Philippines' defense ministry said on Saturday.The activity will be conducted within the Philippines' exclusive economic zone on April 7, Manila's defense ministry said in a joint statement.

Australia's government said on Saturday it would appoint a special adviser to work with Israel to ensure "full confidence" in investigations into an airstrike in Gaza that killed seven aid workers including an Australian."The government will appoint a special adviser who we have requested the Israelis work with so we can be advised about the appropriateness of the process," Foreign Minister Penny Wong said in a televised media conference in Adelaide."We want to have full confidence in the transparency and accountability of any investigation and we will continue to work to achieve that."The Israeli military on Friday dismissed two officers and formally reprimanded senior commanders after an inquiry into this week's deadly airstrike on the aid workers, including Australian Zomi Frankcom, found serious errors and breaches of procedure.Wong described the dismissals as "necessary first steps" but said the government had told Israel in a letter sent overnight that "initial responses suggest that the gravity of the death of seven humanitarian workers is yet to be appreciated by the Israeli government."

IDF, Shin Bet, and Border Police operated on Friday night to arrest seven wanted individuals in the West Bank, the IDF stated.In the village of Dir Zamat in the Judea Division, IDF soldiers discovered and confiscated numerous combat means hidden in the area, including rifles and ammunition. In Nablus in the Samaria Division, Beit Aroosh, and the village of Dura in the Judea Division, forces arrested four wanted individuals.Further, on Friday night, a report was received of terrorists throwing Molotov cocktails in the Azoun Junction area in the Ephraim Division. IDF soldiers rushed to the scene and found an explosive device alongside Molotov cocktails.The arrested individuals and the confiscated combat means were transferred for further handling by security forces. No injuries were reported among Israeli personnel.So far, about 3,700 wanted individuals have been arrested since the beginning of the war in the West Bank. About 1,600 of this number are affiliated with the Hamas terrorist organization.