Monday briefing: Fear of anarchy is growing in Gaza
Gaza’s deadly leadership vacuum
More than 100 people were killed in northern Gaza last week, health officials there said, after thousands of Gazans rushed toward aid trucks. The crowds on Thursday led to a stampede and prompted Israeli soldiers to fire into the crowd.
The immediate causes were extreme hunger and desperation: the UN has warned that famine is looming in northern Gaza, where some 300,000 civilians are still stranded and aid deliveries are rare – and could be full.
But there is a deeper problem: Although the fighting in the north has subsided, Israel has been reluctant to fill the current leadership vacuum there. In an effort to prevent Hamas’s reconstruction, Israel has stopped police officers from the Hamas-led government from escorting the trucks – and delayed the creation of an alternative Palestinian law enforcement agency.
This means that there is no centralized body that coordinates services, maintains public order and protects emergency trucks. Video footage has emerged of armed groups attacking convoys, and diplomats say criminal gangs are beginning to fill the void left by Hamas.
Sharif is installed for a second term
Pakistan’s parliament yesterday approved Shehbaz Sharif as prime minister. He began his second term after weeks of unrest and will face questions about his legitimacy for years to come.
Analysts say public confidence in Sharif’s government is low. His party did not win the most seats in the elections a month ago; that honor went to the allies of Imran Khan, the imprisoned former prime minister. Allegations are mounting that the military tampered with dozens of races to tilt the vote in favor of Sharif’s party.
What’s next: A top analyst said the longevity of Sharif’s coalition will likely depend on military support. Khan’s allies are preparing for a strong fight in parliament.
Blasphemy: Gangs go after people accused of disrespecting Islam.
Even Biden supporters say he’s “just too old.”
A majority of voters who supported President Biden in 2020 now say he is “simply too old” to effectively lead the country, according to a new poll from The Times and Siena College. Seventy-three percent of all registered voters said he was too old to be effective, and 45 percent believed he couldn’t do the job.
Their fears pose an increasing threat to his re-election bid and do not appear to extend to Donald Trump – who at 77 is only four years younger. Their likely rematch this fall would make them the oldest presidential candidates in history.
High Council: The justices could rule on Trump’s eligibility to hold office today, a day before the Super Tuesday primaries.
THE LAST NEWS
A small island in the English Channel, Alderney feels like a windswept, remote oasis. But it hides dark secrets: During World War II, untold numbers of people died in the Nazi camps.
Now the island is at the center of a debate about how to commemorate the atrocities – and how to reckon with the fact that Britain has never held anyone responsible for running an SS concentration camp on its soil.
Lives lived: A self-described “geriatric star,” Iris Apfel rose to fame in her eighties, and her wildly eclectic wardrobe made for a hit exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. She died at the age of 102.
ARTS AND IDEAS
Chinese ‘Dongbei Renaissance’
Dongbei, a region in northeastern China, has long been the industrial heart of the country: some even called it China’s Rust Belt. But in the 1990s, waves of mass layoffs left millions out of work there as China transitioned from a planned economy to a market-based economy.
Decades later, the region finds itself at the center of an artistic wave dubbed the ‘Dongbei Renaissance’. A television drama about a faded factory town was China’s top-rated show last year, and songs by Dongbei musicians have gone viral. Shuang Xuetao, who grew up there, published a new collection last month, and a star-studded film adaptation of one of his novellas is planned this year.
“I said, OK, I want to help others better understand this place of ours,” Shuang, 40, said. “I want to leave a record of these people.”