Daily Briefing: Gaza City in chaos

Civilians and aid workers who were already struggling amid the war between Israel and Hamas have been sent into chaos following an order to evacuate Gaza City. Also in the news: The House speaker search continues after frontrunner Steve Scalise stepped aside and the Philadelphia Phillies had a history-making win over the Atlanta Braves in the National League Division Series.

🙋🏼‍♀️ I'm Nicole Fallert, Daily Briefing author. A spectacular solar eclipse will darken the sky Saturday.

Here we go with Friday's headlines.

Israel orders evacuation ahead of feared ground offensive

The Israel Defense Forces called for the evacuation of all civilians in Gaza City early Friday, on the heels of what the United Nations said was a warning they received from Israel to evacuate 1.1 million people living in the north of Gaza within 24 hours.

The Israeli alert could signal an imminent ground offensive. Israel has been bombarding Gaza with airstrikes, killing more than 1,500 people. A White House spokesman said Thursday the U.S. death toll from the Hamas attacks last weekend rose to 27 and 14 remain missing.

• The Israeli siege of Gaza has left its 2.3 million people desperate for food, fuel and medicine while hospitals get overwhelmed amid relentless bombing and lack of power. Those conditions won't improve until Hamas militants free the approximately 150 hostages captured in the weekend assault, Israel officials said.

• U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is continuing his trip through the region Friday with stops in Jordan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Egypt, seeking to prevent the conflict from escalating and pursue the release of hostages.

• "This is chaos, no one understands what to do," said Inas Hamdan, an officer at the U.N. Palestinian refugee agency in Gaza City while she grabbed whatever she could throw into her bags as the panicked shouts of her relatives could be heard around her.

More on the Israel and Hamas War from USA TODAY:

• U.S. citizens will have access to charter flights out of Israel beginning Friday

• Harvard student groups were doxxed after signing a letter blaming Israel for Hamas attack

• The EU is chasing X over claims it removed posts involving the war.

• How Israeli police are searching for Hamas members still in the country.

For more updates on the conflict, sign up for our Israel-Hamas War newsletter.

Steve Scalise withdraws from speaker election

The House fell into further chaos Thursday night after Rep. Steve Scalise, R-La., withdrew from the speaker's race despite being formally nominated by the House Republican conference, underscoring the deep divisions that have consumed GOP lawmakers. Scalise, who served as House Majority Leader, the No. 2 ranking House Republican, was largely expected to launch a speakership bid following the historic ouster of the chamber's former speaker, Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif. Read more

• Most of Scalise's antagonists are attempting to elect his former rival in the leadership race, House Judiciary Committee chair Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio.

• Sen. Robert Menendez was indicted as a ''foreign agent'' for Egypt.

• Donald Trump questioned Scalise's health as the House remains without a speaker.

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Nikki Haley tells voters why Trump shouldn't be president

Americans need to stand behind Israel − and that includes former President Donald Trump, Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley said Thursday. “While we have their back now that they’ve been hit, what’s more important is that we have their back when they hit back,” Haley said at a New Hampshire town hall sponsored by the USA TODAY Network. The former ambassador to the United Nations said Hamas must be eliminated and “we need to remember who the true backer of all this is – Iran.” Read our recap of the town hall.

• Here are five things to know about the former governor.

Negotiations in Hollywood actors strike go awry

Talks bitterly broke off between Hollywood actors and studios this week, killing any hopes that the three-month strike by performers would come to an end anytime soon. The studios announced that they had suspended contract negotiations, saying the gap between the two sides was too great to make continuing worth it, despite an offer as good as the one that recently ended the writers strike. The actors union decried their opponents’ “bullying tactics” and said they were wildly mischaracterizing their offers. Read more

• Will the 2024 COLA Social Security adjustment be enough for seniors?

• Opinion: UAW strikes are working and the Kentucky Ford plant walkout could turn the tide.

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Thursday night football: Taylor Swift cheers Chiefs to another victory

Kansas City stifled the Denver Broncos 19-8 on “Thursday Night Football.” It's the Chiefs’ 16th straight victory over their AFC West rival. And yes, there was a famous pop singer watching from the suite section of Arrowhead Stadium cheering on tight end Travis Kelce, who was questionable entering the game with an ankle injury. Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes didn’t play a great game by his standards, but he was still the best player on the field Thursday. Mahomes went 30-for-40 passing for 306 yards. He tossed one touchdown and one interception and finished with a passer rating of 94.4. Read more

• Ahead of her game day arrival, Kansas City mayor Quinton Lucas welcomed Swift back to the city.

• Week 7 college football picks: Predictions for every Top 25 game, led by Oregon-Washington.

Photo of the day: Nick Castellanos makes history as Phillies knock out Braves

In another epic National League Division Series battle between the NL East rivals, the Phillies dispatched the 104-win Braves for the second consecutive year, as three home runs and one throat-grabbing bullpen escape keyed a 3-1 win in Game 4 Thursday night at Citizens Bank Park. Nick Castellanos, who hit a pair of home runs off Atlanta ace Spencer Strider, becoming the first player in major league history to hit two home runs in consecutive playoff games. Read more

Nicole Fallert is a newsletter writer at USA TODAY, sign up for the email here. Want to send Nicole a note? Shoot her an email at NFallert@usatoday.com or follow along with her musings on Twitter. Support journalism like this – subscribe to USA TODAY here.

Associated Press contributed reporting.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Gaza City evacuation, Steve Scalise drops out, Nikki Haley 2024, Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce, Phillis beat Braves: Daily Briefing