Friday briefing: Israel says Hamas fired rockets from nearby shelters
Israel accuses Hamas of firing rockets from ‘humanitarian zones’
The Israeli military posted videos and maps yesterday showing that Hamas had fired rockets from “humanitarian zones” in southern Gaza, raising concerns that nowhere in the enclave was safe for civilians.
The military said Hamas militants fired 14 rockets from locations including Al-Mawasi, an arid area in Rafah packed with fleeing Gaza residents, and that the rockets were launched “from tents of evacuated Gaza civilians” and from “ next to the United States”. Nations facilities.” The material and Israel’s account of it could not immediately be verified.
Here’s the latest.
It was not clear whether Israel would now consider the area a legitimate military target. But the Israeli claims about Al-Mawasi underscored the risks of so-called safe zones in Gaza, which the UN has opposed on the grounds that no party to a war can unilaterally declare places completely safe for civilians.
Al-Mawasi and the surrounding Rafah area are among the few remaining places where the Israeli army has told displaced Gazans they can seek safety as it mounts an offensive in southern Gaza.
Mass migration: Nearly 1.9 million people, or about 85 percent of Gaza’s total population, have fled their homes during the two months of war, according to the UN.
The death of a journalist: Human Rights Watch said an October 13 attack that killed a Reuters videographer in southern Lebanon was carried out by the Israeli army and appeared to be a deliberate attack.
How Israel attacks Hamas: Israel has recovered a trove of material its military used to assess the extent of the group’s attack plans and tactics, according to information reviewed by The Times.
EU leaders have pressed China over the country’s trade imbalance with Europe and its alignment with Russia.
No issue has frustrated European officials more than Beijing’s refusal to curb its support for Moscow. European leaders urged China to use its influence over Russia to end the war in Ukraine and allow the country to withdraw its troops. But it is highly unlikely that China will abandon Russia as it needs Moscow as a partner to counter the US
Trade: The European market recorded a trade deficit of $426 billion with China last year, the largest ever. China has rejected many of the European complaints about the imbalance, saying a significant portion of Chinese exports to Europe come from European companies based in China.
Ukraine is preparing for an erosion of US aid
Ukrainian officials are still hopeful that the U.S. Congress will eventually approve an aid package. But given the dire consequences if the U.S. doesn’t do so, officials in Kiev are rushing to bolster their country’s own military capabilities and working to deepen ties with other allies.
For example, Germany announced last month that it would send four more state-of-the-art air defense systems to Ukraine in 2025, in addition to the three it had already delivered. Still, Ukrainians at the front must make difficult decisions about how best to distribute resources, which have plummeted in recent months.
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‘Oppenheimer’ comes to Japan
Many in Japan were offended by the Barbenheimer memes that followed the simultaneous release this summer of “Oppenheimer,” the biopic about the creation of the atomic bomb, and “Barbie,” a story about a doll’s awakening.
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