Ski competition ‘steals snow from vanishing glacier’ for race course

Henry Samuel
Mon, 23 October 2023 

A digger takes snow to dump on bald slopes, according to Swiss newspaper 20 Minuten - Capture de la vidéo ©20min.ch

Organisers of an international ski competition have been accused of stealing snow from a glacier in the Alps amid mild weather in the mountains.

Swiss newspaper 20 Minuten released images of diggers on the Theodul Glacier allegedly being used to prepare runs for the upcoming International Ski and Snowboard Federation (FIS) Alpine World Cup meet, set to take place on November 11-12.

Two-thirds of the race course for the event is on the glacier and while some parts are authorised, other sections run over protected areas, according to 20 Minuten.


It alleged that the diggers have been used to scrape out the equivalent of five football pitches worth of snow and ice from out-of-bounds zones both to create the off-limit runs and plug bald patches and crevasses elsewhere.

The glacier lies high above the Matterhorn Ski Paradise – a cross-border ski resort between Zermatt, Switzerland, and Cervino, Italy, and has already seen its mass shrink by 10 per cent in the last two years due to climate change.

According to drone footage obtained by 20 Minutes and GPS calculations, the start of the women’s race is to be positioned outside of the area designated for winter sports and the men’s course will also traverse large areas of ground deemed off-limits.

Environmental groups have slammed organisers for the alleged digging on the glacier, claiming it is the result of their insistence on staging races this early in the season.

The race course for November's International Ski and Snowboard Federation (FIS) Alpine World Cup meet

Last year, the same competition was cancelled because of a lack of snow.

The Protect Our Winters (POW) group launched a petition calling for the ski federation to become climate “leaders” and “adapt the competition calendar to reduce the impact of travel and respect the changing climate”.

Alexis Pinturault, the French triple world champion skier, expressed dismay and said: “Our sport is one of the most affected by global warming and, instead of changing our system, of adapting, we are doing the opposite.

“This competition, especially at this time of year, doesn’t make sense. The test is not in keeping with the times. It shocks everyone.”

Others accused the event’s organisers of placing money before the environment, arguing they had insisted on staging the race early because sponsors preferred drumming up public interest in skiing at the start of the season.

“To what extent should we adapt our environment to a schedule that we want? Or should we adapt our schedules to the environment?” asked Mikaela Shiffrin, an American World Cup alpine skier.


Meanwhile, organisers insisted the entirety of the competition’s track was within the permitted ski zone on the Swiss side at least.

In an interview with 20 Minuten, Franz Julen, president of the local organisation committee for the event, said although the digger images looked bad, no one was “breaking off the glacier”.

“That’s wrong, three excavators worked on the glacier for three weeks. However, they did not break anything, but filled and secured crevices with ice and snow,” he said.

“They made us a scapegoat. No one knows the issue of the receding glaciers as well as we do in Zermatt. We know what it’s about and take this sensitive topic seriously.”

However, with controversy mounting, authorities in the Wallis/Valais canton have ordered a halt to all digging on the glacier while they investigate.

Scientists predict that more than half of the Theodul Glacier will have disappeared by 2080 as the world continues to warm.

STOOPID HOOMANS

Flat-faced cats bought for social media likes are being abandoned

FELINE VERSION OF THE FRENCH BULLDOG

Catherine Lough
Mon, 23 October 2023 

Flat-faced felines are increasing popular but their 'cute' features can lead to health issues for the creature

Flat-faced cats bought for their “cute” appearance following social media trends have been abandoned in large numbers, the RSPCA said.

The charity revealed there had been a 92 per cent increase in Persian cats ending up in its care over a four-year period.

Demand for cat breeds with flatter faces, or brachycephaly, in which the shape of the skull is shorter than average for a species, has been fuelled by online trends in recent years.

The RSPCA said owners are attracted to the “cartoonish, baby-like features” caused by flat-faces, which can affect Persians, British shorthairs, Himalayan cats, Exotic shorthairs and Birmans. But it can also cause breathing difficulties, eye problems, problems with grooming, and even issues when giving birth.

Internet sensation Grumpy Cat, believed to be a Persian mix, had a grumpy facial expression caused by an underbite and dwarfism that made her especially popular. She appeared in various adverts in the 2010s, as well as featuring on myriad branded merchandise.

Celebrity owners such as Taylor Swift, Paris Hilton and Kim Kardashian have also posted photographs of their flat-faced pets, which may have also fuelled demand among the wider public.

Alice Potter, an RSPCA cat welfare expert, said: “Unfortunately, Persians and other flat-faced cats have become increasingly popular as people think the physical attributes which in reality cause them to suffer are cute.

“While we know many people love these cats and are very caring owners, breeding for features which compromise basic health and welfare is wrong,” she added.

The popularity in flat-faced cats surged in recent years, but now many of the animals are being dumped

The RSPCA said the rise in Persian cats being abandoned occurred between 2018 and 2022. The Governing Council of the Cat Fancy (GCCF) released data suggesting that British shorthair breed numbers had also surged, with a 66 per cent increase in registrations over the past decade.

Ms Potter said: “Just a few years ago, we had very few Persian cats coming into our care but we’ve now seen a huge increase in recent years as their popularity has boomed. This fuels demand and means that sadly more and more cats are being bred with features which can cause them to suffer.”

She added that the popularity of Grumpy Cat had fed into the vogue for flat-faced felines.

“We know that well-meaning people sometimes feel affection for animals with cartoonish, baby-like features which may be one of the reasons why cats with big eyes, a domed cranium and recessed chins, such as these flat-faced cats, are considered by some to be cute,” she said.

“We think the rise in their popularity over recent years could be due to being seen so widely on social media and in celebrity culture. Grumpy Cat became an internet sensation with meme after meme celebrating his squished features which made him permanently look grumpy.”

‘It can be scary for the cat’

Ms Potter said the more that celebrities and influencers are pictured with flat-faced cats and these images shared on social media the more popular they become with the general public, who see them as sought-after pets, “with little understanding of how these features actually impact their everyday lives”.

She pointed out that these cats can suffer from eye problems and other issues such as struggling to breathe. “This can be scary and debilitating and in some instances can make eating, climbing, playing, and all the things our cats naturally love to do, a daily struggle.”

Ms Potter added that the RSPCA wanted breeders to prioritise animal health and welfare rather than breeding for traits which could cause suffering, as well as pointing out a need to raise awareness among the general public about which physical traits might impact cats’ welfare.

The RSPCA has launched the next stage of its Save Our Breath campaign, aiming to highlight the difficulties flat-faced cats can experience.

Mummified mice found in Andes at altitude previously thought uninhabitable for mammals


Sarah Knapton
Mon, 23 October 2023

A live leaf-eared mouse was discovered at the top of the 22,000-foot peak of Llullaillaco volcano, alongside 13 mummified mice on nearby summits

Mummified mice found at the top of the Andes show that mammals can survive at far higher altitudes than previously thought possible.

Experts have discovered rodents living at more than 20,000 feet on the summit of volcanoes in the Puna de Atacama of Chile and Argentina.

Until now, it was thought that surviving in such extreme conditions - where oxygen is about half that at sea level - was impossible, with no mammals seen beyond 17,000 to 19,000 feet.


Although mouse remains were found at the tip of the Andes by archaeologists in the 1970s, it was thought they had been carried up accidentally by Inca travelling to the summit for macabre child sacrifices.

But Professor Jay Storz of the University of Nebraska captured a live leaf-eared mouse at the top of the 22,000-foot peak of Llullaillaco volcano and discovered 13 mummified mice on nearby summits.

Dating the mummified mice showed some were only a few decades old, meaning they could not have been transported by the Inca.

“These are basically freeze-dried, mummified mice,” said Prof Storz. “It now seems more and more clear that they are there of their own accord.”

“Even at the base of the volcanoes, the mice are living in an extreme, Martian environment, and then, on the summits of the volcanoes, it’s even more so. It feels like outer space.

“It just boggles the mind that any kind of animal, let alone a warm-blooded mammal, could be surviving and functioning in that environment. When you experience it all firsthand, it even further impresses upon you: How in God’s name is anything living up there?”
‘Mars-like’ conditions

Puna de Atacama ranks among the most inhospitable locales on the planet and is so arid, cold and oxygen-poor that Nasa uses the region to practise searching for life on Mars.

Experts say they are baffled as to why the mice live in such a hostile location, but believe they may be trying to avoid predators such as foxes and mountain lions.

“Certainly, if you’re hunkering down on top of a 6,000-metre volcano, you’re at least safe from that,” added Prof Storz, “You just have other things to worry about.

“But why they’re ascending to these extreme elevations is still a mystery.”

The team studied the mice’s DNA to discover whether they had acquired mutations enabling them to survive at such high altitudes, but found no differences to lower-dwelling rodents.

The research was published in the journal Current Biology.

How did mummified mice end up on volcanoes in the Atacama Desert?

It’s still a mystery how the leaf-eared mouse survives these Mars-like conditions.

BY LAURA BAISAS | PUBLISHED OCT 23, 2023 

A view from the summit of Volcán Salín, one of three Andean volcanoes where researchers uncovered the mummified cadavers of mice. Analyses of the mummies, combined with the capture of live specimens, suggest that the rodents scaled the Mars-like peaks on their own — and are somehow managing to live on them.

 Jay Storz/University of Nebraska,LincolnSHARE

It’s a little slice of Mars right here on Earth. The volcanoes of the dry and arid Atacama desert in Argentina and Chile climb roughly 20,000 feet above sea level, with blistering winds, parched conditions, and freezing temperatures. However, a team of biologists who discovered a living two ounce leaf-eared mouse three years ago, have now found multiple mummified mice in these extreme conditions. The findings are described in a study published October 23 in the journal Current Biology.

[Related: Male mice are utterly terrified of bananas.]

“The most surprising thing about our discovery is that mammals could be living on the summits of volcanoes in such an inhospitable, Mars-like environment,” study co-author and University of Nebraska, Lincoln evolutionary biologist Jay Storz said in a statement. “Well-trained mountain climbers can tolerate such extreme elevations during a one-day summit attempt, but the fact that mice are actually living at such elevations demonstrates that we have underestimated the physiological tolerances of small mammals.”

Finding freeze-dried mummy mice

As far back as the 1970s and 1980s, archaeologists reported seeing mouse cadavers at these extreme heights. The assumption was that they naturally must have hitched a ride up the summit with the Incas. These sites are considered sacred to the Inca and the belief was that they could have been brought up along with firewood up the slopes or potentially were offered up as sacrifices.

“You can’t fault the archaeologists for thinking this way, because what other explanation is there?” said Storz. “Nothing could be living up there, so they had to have been brought there.”

Inadvertently, doubts on the mice as hitchhikers theory were cast early in 2020. Storz and his friend and fellow mountaineer Mario Pérez Mamani, captured a live specimen of leaf-eared mouse atop the 22,000-foot peak of Llullaillaco, a volcano on Chile-Argentina border.

Along with the discovery of more live mice, they’ve now found 13 mouse mummies on the summits of three neighboring volcanoes—Salín, Púlar, and Copiapo—all close to four miles above sea level.

“These are basically freeze-dried, mummified mice,” Storz said.

It’s all relative

The frozen in time state also helped preserve their DNA and crucial genetic information. Alongside collaborators from the University of Montana, Storz compared the genetic variation among the leaf-eared mice collected in the lowlands, midlands, and highlands of Atacama Desert. This cross-habitat zone analysis can help trace the evolutionary history of animal populations that are separated by physical barriers, distance, or altitude.

[Related: 1,000-year-old mummy with full head of hair and intact jaw found in Peru.]

The team questioned whether the mummified mice living on top of the Andes Mountains may be a different subpopulation of the leaf-eared rodent that has a colonization history that differs from their more low-land dwelling peers. According to Storz, they found that the mice from the summits and those from the flanks or the base of the volcanoes in the surrounding desert are “one big happy family.”

Two pairs of the leaf-eared mummies found on Salín were also closely related, possibly siblings or parents and offspring. Along with the discovery of the live mouse burrows, the equal ratio of males to females found among the mummies, also points to the leaf-eared mouse living in and not just touring these summits.
‘How in God’s name is anything living up there?’

Puna de Atacama is among Earth’s most inhospitable places and NASA has visited the Atacama to practice for future missions on Mars. Its less than 0.6 inches of annual rainfall make it a good analogue for the Red Planet and a rovers designed to dig in Martian soil to search for microbial life have been tested here.

“Even at the base of the volcanoes, the mice are living in an extreme, Martian environment. And then, on the summits of the volcanoes, it’s even more so. It feels like outer space,” said Storz. “It just boggles the mind that any kind of animal, let alone a warm-blooded mammal, could be surviving and functioning in that environment. When you experience it all firsthand, it even further impresses upon you: How in God’s name is anything living up there?”

To learn more, Storz and team have established laboratory colonies of leaf-eared mice that were collected from various altitudes. They acclimated each group to conditions that simulate the Puna de Atacama, hoping to pinpoint the physiological adaptations that the rodents cope with life at the extreme. They’re are also continuing mountaineering surveys of small mammals living on high Andean peaks in Argentina, Bolivia, and Chile.

They believe it possible that avoiding predators such as birds of prey, foxes, mountain lions, and smaller cats could be what’s driving the mice to live here.

“But why they’re ascending to these extreme elevations is still a mystery,” Stoz said.

FOG OF WAR
Israel-Hamas war: Isaac Herzog documents under scrutiny

Sky News
Updated Mon, 23 October 2023 



Israel's president has claimed instructions on how to make chemical weapons were found on the body of a Hamas fighter. Sky News has fact-checked the alleged documents.

We spoke to a former al Qaeda member turned MI6 spy who was involved in the creation of the bomb referenced in the documents, as well as a number of independent experts to help verify the information that has been made available.

What did President Isaac Herzog do?


The Israeli president showed what he said was "al Qaeda material" found by the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) on the body of a dead fighter in Kibbutz Be'eri.

He said it showed Israel was "dealing with ISIS, al Qaeda and Hamas" as he held up a document referencing the two other terrorist organisations: "al Qaeda" written in English and a flag widely recognised as representing ISIS.

The red text reads "a brigade of Islamic international council for jihad against Jews and Christians", while the text at the bottom says it is a "publication for self-advancing knowledge for mujahids [fighters]".

Mr Herzog also held up a labelled diagram of a bomb with one version in Arabic, the second in English. Neither document includes step-by-step instructions on how to assemble the bomb, nor how to use it.

What else has Israel said about the documents?

The president's office later said the materials were found on a USB drive and contained "detailed instructions on creating chemical weapons and implementing their use among the civilian population".

The office claims "the source of the document is a manual from the al Qaeda terrorist organisation dated 2003" and that it "indicates" a "connection" between the organisations.

It is not clear if they purport that all the documents on the USB were from 2003 or just the materials related to bomb-making.

Sky News has not seen any public statement made by Hamas regarding the claims.

Are the documents real?

Trying to verify the material is difficult.

No independent evidence that the material was taken from a Hamas fighter has been provided.

Mr Herzog's team sent Sky News the three documents shown on air but the full material has not been sent to our research team.

In trying to verify the image of the bomb, Sky News has spoken to Aimen Dean, a former member of al Qaeda who turned against the terrorist group and became an MI6 spy. He helped create a poison bomb known as the mubtakkar.

He said: "I can confirm this is the exact diagram from a 2003 secret document written by an al Qaeda cell I was infiltrating in Saudi Arabia between 2002 and 2005."

This corroborates part of Israel's statement that at least some of the material comes from a 2003 manual.

He added that an al Qaeda member leaked the document to Hamas, a detail which is public knowledge as Mr Dean wrote about it in his autobiography, Nine Lives.

The diagram has since been widely distributed online.

"By 2009, al Qaeda released it online for wider distribution on their password protected web forums," Mr Dean told Sky News. "It is estimated that it was downloaded more than 900 times before it was taken down by security services and since then have I seen it posted again [online]."

Mr Dean believes the diagram alone is "enough to construct the mubtakkar as long as the person has basic chemistry skills".

However, this assertion is disputed by William Alberque, director of strategy, technology and arms control at the International Institute of Strategic Services (IISS), who believes some prior knowledge is required.

He said: "I believe that that image alone is not sufficient to create a viable device without additional information and/or prior training."

This is part of the diagram:

The image above shows the diagram given to Sky News by the president's office We have chosen to crop most of the labels, but the use of adhesive tape demonstrates just one of the basic components needed to make the weapon.

What about the other document?

The other document provided was what appears to be a cover or front page document.

The page can be found online.

For example, the page appears as the cover of a digital book.

Sky News viewed a 30-page version of the document which was a biography about Ramzi Yousef, who was convicted of masterminding the 1993 World Trade Centre bombing in New York.

This publication does not include the annotated diagram.

However, materials such as these are removed by governments and internet providers once posted online and Sky News is unable to verify whether the diagrams are part of this manual.

When was the document found?

The first time the IDF claimed it had found the "cover of an al Qaeda/ISIS training and inspiration booklet" was on 12 October.

On X, formerly known as Twitter, Israeli forces posted that the material was found on the body of a dead fighter in Israel.

However, the post did not mention chemical weapons until Mr Herzog's interview and the IDF have not provided any independent proof that the documents were found on the body of a Hamas fighter, or any further details.

Do the documents link Hamas to al Qaeda?

Mr Herzog suggested the discovery linked Hamas to the two other terrorist organisations, saying: "It's al Qaeda material. Official al Qaeda material. We are dealing with ISIS, al Qaeda and Hamas."

His office also issued a statement saying it "indicates the connection between the organisations".

But is that the case?

Mr Alberque, of the IISS, told Sky News there are dozens of "manuals" on how to make and/or deliver chemical weapons that have been created and disseminated over the decades, including a number of materials attributed to al Qaeda.

Asked whether a Hamas fighter having these materials would mean the organisation is collaborating with al Qaeda, Mr Alberque said: "No, it does not. There are many, many variants on manuals like this, as mentioned, dating back years, decades, even centuries. It is not at all surprising that such manuals circulate in the jihadist community with or without direct collaboration."

His comments were echoed by Aymenn Jawad Al Tamimi, independent analyst and Fellow at the Middle East Forum, told Sky News: "The documents showed don't prove a Hamas link with al Qaeda. The fact is that jihadist materials on explosives, bomb making etc have been disseminated on the internet for a long time and it is possible for Hamas members and others to access and download them."

Has Hamas used or expressed an interest in chemical weapons before?

Joe Truzman, analyst at Foundation for Defending Democracies and expert on Palestinian militant groups, told Sky News: "I've never seen them express the interest of using chemical weapons.

"I have seen them express an interest killing civilians... In my experience of tracking this group and many other Palestinian groups inside Gaza, there's not a history of trying to use chemical weapons against Israelis, at least they haven't stated it.

"But I don't think it was planted by the Israeli government to make Hamas look more like a terror group than it already is."

The Data and Forensics team is a multi-skilled unit dedicated to providing transparent journalism from Sky News. We gather, analyse and visualise data to tell data-driven stories. We combine traditional reporting skills with advanced analysis of satellite images, social media and other open source information. Through multimedia storytelling we aim to better explain the world while also showing how our journalism is done.

Israeli and Palestinian families should be welcomed to the UK like Ukrainians, say charities

Fiona Parker
Mon, 23 October 2023 

Palestinian children who have become refugees - Mustafa Hassona/Anadolu via Getty Images

Charities have urged the Government to treat Palestinian and Israeli families like Ukrainians and allow them into the UK.

Hundreds of Israeli families are estimated to have already fled to Britain following the Hamas terrorist attacks.

The Refugee Council warned hundreds of thousands of people have been displaced as a result of the conflict in Israel and Gaza.

The charity has now called on the Government to introduce an emergency family reunion scheme modelled on an arrangement which helped Ukrainians come to the UK.

Around 174,000 people have moved to the UK under the Ukraine Family Scheme and Ukraine Sponsorship Scheme as of May, according to Oxford University’s Migration Observatory.

Documents published by the Refugee Council detail how the proposed scheme would be open to all nationalities and those with a UK-based family member or travelling with someone with permission to enter the UK would be eligible.

“The UK Government should put in place an emergency family reunion scheme so people impacted by the conflict can join family members in the UK, building on the Ukraine Family Scheme,” the documents read.

The papers go on to say: “Under this scheme people would be given five years leave to remain, which can lead to settlement in the UK at the end of that period if the situation is ongoing.”

“The sponsor would be expected to support them.”

Palestinian women and children at a United Nations refugee agency Khan Yunis, Gaza - ABED ZAGOUT/GETTY IMAGES

Children at a UN base for Palestinian refugees in Gaza - Abed Zagout/Anadolu via Getty Images

Other proposals outlined in the documents include medical evacuation for those in need of medical care and an emergency protection visa for “anyone in Israel or Palestine impacted by the conflict”.

The charity suggests the package should form the basis of a model on how the Government responds to future crises.

Meanwhile, organisations such as Safe Passage International and Helen Bamber Foundation have backed the proposals, according to The Guardian.

Sharon Shochat, of Defend Israeli Democracy UK, estimates that hundreds of Israeli families are already being supported by Jewish organisations.

“It’s mainly people who have links to the UK, like family members,” she said. “They are planning to stay for weeks rather than months, but we don’t know what is going to happen, the situation could change.”

Ms Shochat also said that those who lived in kibbutzim which saw some of the worst atrocities may not ever be able to return to their communities.

“I think it’s going to be very difficult for many people to return, because they have experienced such trauma,” she added. “It’s going to be very difficult to go back to where that took place.”

David Simmonds, the MP for Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner in north-west London, represents a constituency that has one of the highest proportions of Jewish residents in the UK.

Last night, he told The Telegraph how he had heard from many residents who were personally affected by the terrorist attacks in Israel.

A picture taken from the southern Israeli city of Sderot on Monday shows rockets fired from the Gaza Strip towards Israel - JACK GUEZ/AFP

“With regular rocket attacks continuing, I am not surprised by reports that hundreds of families have already moved to join loved ones here in the UK temporarily.” he said.

“The Government’s work to secure regional stability is commendable, but in the meantime I urge Ministers to consider how we support the temporary resettlement of Israeli and Palestinian refugees looking to join their families in the UK.”

A Home Office spokesman said: “The UK is committed to supporting those directly from regions of conflict and instability.

“Since 2015 we have offered a safe and legal route to the UK to over half a million people seeking safety but our approach must be considered in the round, rather than on a crisis-by-crisis basis.”

As Israel readies troops for ground assault, Gaza awaits urgently needed aid from Egypt


KHAN YOUNIS, Gaza Strip (AP) — Israel pounded the Gaza Strip with airstrikes Thursday, including in the south where Palestinians were told to take refuge, as the Israeli defense minister ordered ground troops to prepare to see Gaza “from the inside”, though he didn’t indicate when the ground assault would begin.

Gaza’s overwhelmed hospitals tried to stretch out ebbing medical supplies and fuel for generators, as authorities worked out logistics for a desperately needed aid delivery from Egypt. Doctors in darkened wards across Gaza performed surgeries by the light of mobile phones and used vinegar to treat infected wounds.

Amid the violence, President Joe Biden pledged unwavering support for Israel’s security, “today and always,” while adding that the world “can’t ignore the humanity of innocent Palestinians” in the besieged Gaza Strip.

In an address Thursday night from the Oval office, hours after returning to Washington from an urgent visit to Israel, Biden drew a distinction between ordinary Palestinians and Hamas, the militant group that controls Gaza. He linked the current war in Gaza to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, saying Hamas and Russian President Vladimir Putin “both want to completely annihilate a neighboring democracy.”

Biden said he was sending an “urgent budget request” to Congress on Friday, to cover emergency military aid to both Israel and Ukraine.

Meanwhile, an unclassified U.S. intelligence assessment delivered to Congress estimated casualties in an explosion at a Gaza City hospital this week on the “low end” of 100 to 300 deaths. The death toll “still reflects a staggering loss of life,” U.S. intelligence officials said in the report, seen by The Associated Press. It said intelligence officials were still assessing the evidence and their casualty estimate may evolve.

Biden and other U.S. officials already have said that U.S. intelligence officials believe the explosion at al-Ahli Hospital was not caused by an Israeli airstrike. Thursday’s findings echoed that.

The Israeli military has relentlessly attacked Gaza in retaliation for the devastating Oct. 7 Hamas rampage in southern Israel. Even after Israel told Palestinians to evacuate the north of Gaza and flee south, strikes extended across the territory, heightening fears among the territory’s 2.3 million people that nowhere was safe.


Palestinian militants fired rockets into Israel from Gaza and Lebanon, and tensions flared in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

In a fiery speech to Israeli infantry soldiers on the Gaza border, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant urged the forces to “get organized, be ready” to move in. Israel has massed tens of thousands of troops along the border.

“Whoever sees Gaza from afar now, will see it from the inside,” he said. “It might take a week, a month, two months until we destroy them,” he added, referring to Hamas.

Israel’s consent for Egypt to let in food, water and medicine provided the first possible opening in its seal of the territory. Many Gaza residents are down to one meal a day and drinking dirty water.

Egypt and Israel were still negotiating the entry of fuel for hospitals. Israeli military spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said Hamas has stolen fuel from U.N. facilities and Israel wants assurances that won’t happen. The first trucks of aid were expected to go in Friday.

With the Egypt-Gaza border crossing in Rafah closed, the already dire conditions at Gaza’s second-largest hospital deteriorated further, said Dr. Mohammed Qandeel of Nasser Hospital in the southern town of Khan Younis. Power was shut off in most of the hospital and medical staff were using mobile phones for light.

At least 80 wounded civilians and 12 dead flooded into the hospital after witnesses said a strike hit a residential building in Khan Younis. Doctors had no choice but to leave two to die because there were no ventilators, Qandeel said.

“We can’t save more lives if this keeps happening,” he said.

The Gaza Health Ministry pleaded with gas stations to give fuel to hospitals and a U.N. agency donated some of its last fuel.

The agency’s donation to Gaza City’s Shifa Hospital, the territory’s largest, would “keep us going for another few hours,” hospital director Mohammed Abu Selmia said.

Al-Ahli Hospital was still recovering from Tuesday’s explosion, which remains a point of dispute between Hamas and Israel. Hamas quickly said an Israeli airstrike hit the hospital, which Israel denied. The AP has not independently verified any of the claims or evidence released by the parties.

The blast left body parts strewn on the hospital grounds, where crowds of Palestinians had clustered in hopes of escaping Israeli airstrikes. The U.S. assessment noted “only light structural damage,” with no impact crater visible.


Near al-Ahli, meanwhile, another explosion struck a Greek Orthodox church housing displaced Palestinians late Thursday, resulting in deaths and dozens of wounded. Abu Selmia, the Shifa Hospital director general, said dozens were hurt at the Church of Saint Porphyrios but could not give a precise death toll because bodies were buried under rubble.

Palestinian authorities blamed the blast on an Israeli airstrike, a claim that could not be independently verified. The Greek Orthodox Patriarchy of Jerusalem condemned the attack and said it would “not abandon its religious and humanitarian duty” to provide assistance.

The Gaza Health Ministry said 3,785 people have been killed in Gaza since the war began, the majority women, children and older adults. Nearly 12,500 were injured, and another 1,300 people were believed buried under rubble, authorities said.

More than 1,400 people in Israel have been killed, mostly civilians slain during Hamas’ deadly incursion. Roughly 200 others were abducted. The Israeli military said Thursday it had notified the families of 203 captives.

More than 1 million Palestinians, about half of Gaza’s population, have fled their homes in the north since Israel told them to evacuate, crowding into U.N.-run schools-turned-shelters or the homes of relatives.

For the first time since Israel captured Gaza from Egypt in 1967, a major tent camp arose to house displaced people. Dozens of U.N.-provided tents lined a dirt lot in Khan Younis.

The deal to get aid into Gaza through Rafah, the territory’s only connection to Egypt, remained fragile. Israel said the supplies could only go to civilians and that it would “thwart” any diversions by Hamas. Biden said the deliveries “will end” if Hamas takes any aid.

More than 200 trucks and some 3,000 tons of aid were positioned at or near Rafah, according to Khalid Zayed, the head of the Red Crescent for North Sinai.

Under an arrangement reached between the United Nations, Israel and Egypt, U.N. observers will inspect the trucks before entering Gaza. The U.N., working with the Egyptian and Palestinian Red Crescent, will ensure aid goes only to civilians, an Egyptian official and European diplomat told the AP. A U.N. flag will be raised on both sides of the crossing as a sign of protection against airstrikes, said the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief media.


It was not immediately clear how much cargo the crossing could handle. Waleed Abu Omar, spokesperson for the Palestinian side, said work has not started to repair the road damaged by Israeli airstrikes.

Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry told Al-Arabiya TV that foreigners and dual nationals would be allowed to leave Gaza once the crossing was opened.

Israel said it agreed to allow aid from Egypt because of a request by Biden — which followed days of intense talks with the U.S. secretary of state to overcome staunch Israeli refusal.

Israel had previously said it would let nothing into Gaza until Hamas freed the hostages taken from Israel. Relatives of some of the captives were furious over the aid announcement.

“The Israeli government pampers the murderers and kidnappers,” the Hostage and Missing Families Forum said.

The Israeli military said Thursday it killed a top Palestinian militant in Rafah and hit hundreds of targets across Gaza, including militant tunnel shafts, intelligence infrastructure and command centers. Palestinians have launched barrages of rockets at Israel since the fighting began.

Violence was also escalating in the West Bank, where Israel carried out a rare airstrike Thursday, targeting militants in the Nur Shams refugee camp.

Six Palestinians were killed, the Palestinian Health Ministry said, and the Israeli military said the strike killed militants and resulted in 10 Israeli officers being wounded. More than 74 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank since the war started.
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Nessman reported from Jerusalem and Kullab from Baghdad. Associated Press journalists Amy Teibel and Isabel Debre in Jerusalem; Samy Magdy and Jack Jeffrey in Cairo; Matthew Lee and Mary Clare Jalonick in Washington, and Ashraf Sweilam in el-Arish, Egypt, contributed to this report.

Copyright © 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, written or redistributed.The Associated Press
October 19, 2023

Israel Palestinians Relatives mourn Palestinian boy Ali Abu Khazna, who was killed during an Israeli army raid on Nur Shams refugee camp, in a morgue in Tulkarem, West Bank, Thursday, Oct. 19, 2023. (AP Photo/Majdi Mohammed)
AP Photo/Majdi Mohammed
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srael Palestinians A Palestinian boy wounded in an Israeli army raid on Nur Shams refugee camp is brought to a hospital in Tulkarem, West Bank, on Thursday, Oct. 19, 2023. (AP Photo/Majdi Mohammed)
AP Photo/Majdi Mohammed

Israel Palestinians Smoke rises from Nur Shams refugee camp during an Israeli military raid West Bank on Thursday, Oct. 19, 2023. (AP Photo/Majdi Mohammed)
AP Photo/Majdi Mohammed

Palestinians Israel Palestinians evacuate wounded from a building destroyed in Israeli bombardment in Khan Younis, Gaza Strip, Thursday, Oct. 19, 2023. (AP Photo/Fatima Shbair)
AP Photo/Fatima Shbair

Israel Palestinians Israeli soldiers listen to Israel's Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, during his visit to a staging area near the border with the Gaza Strip in southern Israel, Thursday, Oct. 19, 2023. (AP Photo/Tsafrir Abayov)
AP Photo/Tsafrir Abayov

Israel Palestinians Palestinians try to salvage what they can of belongings from the rubble a destroyed building, following Israeli airstrikes on Gaza City, central Gaza Strip, Thursday, Oct. 19, 2023. (AP Photo/Mohammed Dahman)
AP Photo/Mohammed Dahman

Israel Palestinians Palestinians carry the lifeless body of a man found inside a destroyed house following Israeli airstrikes on Gaza City, Thursday, Oct.19, 2023. (AP Photo/Abed Khaled)
AP Photo/Abed Khaled

Israel Palestinians Smoke rises during an Israeli military raid on Nur Shams, West Bank, on Thursday, Oct. 19, 2023. (AP Photo/Majdi Mohammed)
AP Photo/Majdi Mohammed

Israel Palestinians A Palestinian boy wounded in an Israeli army raid on Nur Shams refugee camp is brought to a hospital in Tulkarem, West Bank, on Thursday, Oct. 19, 2023. (AP Photo/Majdi Mohammed)
AP Photo/Majdi Mohammed

Israel Palestinians Palestinian children displaced by the Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip walk in a UNDP-provided tent camp in Khan Younis on Thursday, Oct. 19, 2023. (AP Photo/Fatima Shbair)
AP Photo/Fatima Shbair

Palestinians Israel A Palestinian man holds the body of his nephew killed in the Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip, during his funeral in Khan Younis, Thursday, Oct. 19, 2023. (AP Photo/Fatima Shbair)
AP Photo/Fatima Shbair

Israel Palestinians Israeli soldiers gather in a staging area near the border with Gaza Strip, in southern Israel, Thursday, Oct. 19, 2023. (AP Photo/Tsafrir Abayov)
AP Photo/Tsafrir Abayov

Israel Palestinians The body of a dead Palestinian is found inside a destroyed house following Israeli airstrikes on Gaza City, Thursday, Oct.19, 2023. (AP Photo/Abed Khaled)
AP Photo/Abed Khaled

Israel Palestinians UNDP provided tens set up for Palestinians displaced by the Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip, are seen in Khan Younis on Thursday, Oct. 19, 2023. (AP Photo/Ashraf Amra)
AP Photo/Ashraf Amra

Israel Palestinians Palestinians carry the lifeless body of a man found inside a destroyed house following Israeli airstrikes on Gaza City, Thursday, Oct.19, 2023. (AP Photo/Abed Khaled)
AP Photo/Abed Khaled

Israel Palestinians Israel flags hang in a soccer goal in a backyard of a home that came under attack during a massive Hamas invasion into Kibbutz Nir Oz, Israel, Thursday, Oct. 19, 2023. The small farming community in the south of Israel was overrun by Hamas fighters from the nearby Gaza Strip who killed 1,400 Israelis and captured dozens of others on Oct. 7. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)
AP Photo/Francisco Seco

Israel Palestinians Mourners take the last look at the Bodies of Ibrahim Awad, and Mohammad Fawaqa, not pictured, during their funeral in the West Bank city of Ramallah, Thursday, Oct. 19, 2023. Awad was killed during clashes with Israeli settlers near his home village of Dura al-Qara' and Fawaqa was killed during an Israeli army raid in the village of Qebia, west of Ramallah, while two other Palestinians were killed during Israeli army raids early morning in the occupied West Bank, Palestinian ministry of health said. (AP Photo/Nasser Nasser)
AP Photo/Nasser Nasser

Israel Palestinians Smoke rises during an Israeli military raid on Nur Shams, West Bank, on Thursday, Oct. 19, 2023. (AP Photo/Majdi Mohammed)
AP Photo/Majdi Mohammed

APTOPIX Israel Palestinians Israeli Iron Dome air defense system fires to intercept a rocket fired from the Gaza Strip, in Ashkelon, Israel, Thursday, Oct.19, 2023. (AP Photo/Tsafrir Abayov)
AP Photo/Tsafrir Abayov

Israel Palestinians Wounded Palestinians arrive at the al-Shifa hospital, following Israeli airstrikes on Gaza City, central Gaza Strip, Thursday, Oct. 19, 2023. (AP Photo/Abed Khaled)
AP Photo/Abed Khaled

Israel Palestinians An Israel soldier gestures to passers-by as he drives a military vehicle near the border between Israel and Gaza Strip, Israel, Thursday, Oct. 19, 2023. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)
AP Photo/Francisco Seco

Israel Palestinians Wounded Palestinians arrive at the al-Shifa hospital, on a truck, following Israeli airstrikes on Gaza City, central Gaza Strip, Thursday, Oct. 19, 2023. (AP Photo/Abed Khaled)

AP Photo/Abed Khaled

Israel Palestinians A damaged clock outside a home that came under attack during a massive Hamas invasion into Kibbutz Nir Oz, Israel, Thursday, Oct. 19, 2023. The small farming community in the south of Israel was overrun by Hamas fighters from the nearby Gaza Strip who killed 1,400 Israelis and captured dozens of others on Oct. 7. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)
AP Photo/Francisco Seco

Israel Palestinians Palestinians displaced by the Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip sit in a UNDP-provided tent camp in Khan Younis on Thursday, Oct. 19, 2023. (AP Photo/Fatima Shbair)
AP Photo/Fatima Shbair

Israel Palestinians EDS NOTE: GRAPHIC CONTENT - Blood is seen splattered in a house following a massive Hamas militant attack in Kibbutz Nir Oz, Israel, Thursday, Oct. 19, 2023. The small farming community in the south of Israeli was overrun by Hamas fighters from the nearby Gaza Strip who killed 1,400 Israelis and captured dozens of others on Oct. 7. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)
AP Photo/Francisco Seco

Israel Palestinians Israeli military vehicles are seen during a raid on Nur Shams refugee camp in the West Bank on Thursday, Oct. 19, 2023. (AP Photo/Majdi Mohammed)
AP Photo/Majdi Mohammed

Israel Palestinians A Palestinian boy wounded in an Israeli army raid on Nur Shams refugee camp is brought to a hospital in Tulkarem, West Bank, on Thursday, Oct. 19, 2023. (AP Photo/Majdi Mohammed)
AP Photo/Majdi Mohammed

Israel Palestinians Mourners carry the Bodies of Ibrahim Awad, right, and Mohammad Fawaqa, during their funeral in the West Bank city of Ramallah, Thursday, Oct. 19, 2023. Awad was killed during clashes with Israeli settlers near his home village of Dura al-Qara' and Fawaqa was killed during an Israeli army raid in the village of Qebia, west of Ramallah, while two other Palestinians were killed during Israeli army raids early morning in the occupied West Bank, Palestinian ministry of health said. (AP Photo/Nasser Nasser)
AP Photo/Nasser Nasser

Israel Palestinians Smoke rises following an Israeli airstrike in the Gaza Strip, as seen from southern Israel, Thursday, Oct. 19, 2023. (AP Photo/Maya Alleruzzo)
AP Photo/Maya Alleruzzo

APTOPIX Palestinians Israel Palestinians evacuate wounded from a building destroyed in Israeli bombardment in Khan Younis, Gaza Strip, Thursday, Oct. 19, 2023. (AP Photo/Fatima Shbair)
AP Photo/Fatima Shbair

Palestinians Israel Palestinians search for survivors from a building destroyed in Israeli bombardment in Khan Younis, Gaza Strip, Thursday, Oct. 19, 2023. (AP Photo/Fatima Shbair)
AP Photo/Fatima Shbair

Israel Palestinians Smoke rises from destroyed buildings, following Israeli airstrikes on Gaza City, central Gaza Strip, Thursday, Oct. 19, 2023. (AP Photo/Mohammed Dahman)
AP Photo/Mohammed Dahman

Israel Palestinians A Palestinian man carries a body found inside a destroyed house following Israeli airstrikes on Gaza City, Thursday, Oct.19, 2023. (AP Photo/Abed Khaled)
AP Photo/Abed Khaled

Israel Palestinians Israeli soldiers gather in a staging area near the border with Gaza Strip, in southern Israel, Thursday, Oct. 19, 2023. (AP Photo/Tsafrir Abayov)
AP Photo/Tsafrir Abayov
Israel Palestinians Palestinians leave a partially destroyed building following Israeli airstrikes on Gaza City, central Gaza Strip, Thursday, Oct. 19, 2023. (AP Photo/Mohammed Dahman)
AP Photo/Mohammed Dahman

APTOPIX Israel Palestinians Rockets are fired from the Gaza Strip toward Israel over destroyed buildings following Israeli airstrikes on Gaza City, central Gaza Strip, Thursday, Oct. 19, 2023. (AP Photo/Mohammed Dahman)
AP Photo/Mohammed Dahman

Israel Palestinians Bodies of Palestinians killed during Israeli army raid on Nur Smas refugee camp are seen in a morgue in Tulkarem, West Bank, Thursday, Oct. 19, 2023. (AP Photo/Majdi Mohammed)
AP Photo/Majdi Mohammed

APTOPIX Israel Palestinians EDS NOTE: GRAPHIC CONTENT - Blood is seen splattered in a child's room following a massive Hamas militant attack in Kibbutz Nir Oz, Israel, Thursday, Oct. 19, 2023. The small farming community in the south of Israeli was overrun by Hamas fighters from the nearby Gaza Strip who killed 1,400 Israelis and captured dozens of others on Oct. 7. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)
AP Photo/Francisco Seco

Israel Palestinians UNDP provided tens set up for Palestinians displaced by the Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip, are seen in Khan Younis on Thursday, Oct. 19, 2023. (AP Photo/Ashraf Amra)
AP Photo/Ashraf Amra

Israel Palestinians Destroyed furniture and charred walls are seen in a home that came under attack during a massive Hamas invasion into Kibbutz Nir Oz, Israel, Thursday, Oct. 19, 2023. The small farming community in the south of Israel was overrun by Hamas fighters from the nearby Gaza Strip who killed 1,400 Israelis and captured dozens of others on Oct. 7. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)
AP Photo/Francisco SecoNext(7/40)
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