BIDENOMICS

The US labor market just had one of its best years of the decade.  5 charts tell the story.

Josh Schafer
·Reporter
Fri, January 5, 2024 

The US labor market just finished a year that many thought would see a recession with one of the highest 12-month job totals seen in the last decade.

Including an unexpectedly strong December report, the US labor market added a total of nearly 2.7 million jobs in 2023. 

Excluding outsized gains from the rebound from pandemic-era firings and re-hiring in 2021 and 2022, the most recent year was the most robust for job increases since 2015 and the third highest since 2000.

"The key reason why economic activity surpassed expectations in the US and actually, globally, is the fact that labor market resilience was a key feature of the economic landscape," EY chief economist Greg Daco told Yahoo Finance. "Businesses, business executives, were keenly focused on ensuring that they had the right talent to navigate this very unusual period of impact."

Entering the year, many economists believed the Federal Reserve's aggressive interest rate hikes would slow the labor market as companies looked to cut expenses and protect profits as the cost of capital increased. But that didn't fully come to fruition.

"You look at these very rapid rate increases, and you're assuming that means there's going to be these kind of catastrophic impacts on the economy," Jefferies US economist Thomas Simons recently told Yahoo Finance.

"But in reality, both the household and the corporate sector are much more insulated from rate hikes than it appeared, and certainly than they have been in previous rate hiking cycles, based on just how they fund their activity."

This unusual reaction to rate hikes, combined with employers struggling to rehire workers after the pandemic, created an economic rarity. After the most aggressive federal interest rate hiking cycles in decades, the unemployment rate was nearly unchanged from where it sat when the Fed began hiking rates in March 2022.

The unemployment rate ended 2023 at 3.7%, just slightly above the March 2022 level of 3.6%. The average unemployment rate for the year, 3.6%, matches 2022's reading as the lowest since 1969.

The labor market also entered 2023 in an obscure predicament.

Sectors like leisure and hospitality, government, and healthcare were severely impacted during the pandemic and were still rebuilding throughout the year. That rebound, combined with more workers joining the workforce, contributed to the surprise in job gains.

With bonuses and other lavish incentives driving job gains, some wondered if the full pool of Americans would ever come back to work. They did, contributing to the quickest labor market recovery in history.

In fact, the portion of prime age workers in the labor market hit an annual average of 83.3% in 2023, the highest average in 21 years.

"The ongoing rebound in participation in the labor force, I mean, it's massive," Bank of America US chief economist Michael Gapen told Yahoo Finance recently when describing why the economy outperformed in 2023. "The numbers are massive."

Another narrative about the labor market also failed to materialize.

At the beginning of 2023, the thinking went that a labor market slowing would force the economy into recession, as less employment would result in less disposable income for consumers powering economic growth. But that, too, didn't play out in a year that was defined by resilient consumer spending.

And part of that spending was driven by resilient wage growth.

Average hourly earnings growth in 2023 ended at 4.3%, the third-highest total since 2008.

Josh Schafer is a reporter for Yahoo Finance.

Ukraine's Foreign Ministry says Italian exhibition about "flourishing" Mariupol is a provocation

Ukrainska Pravda
Thu, January 4, 2024 

Stock photo: Getty Images

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine has described a propagandistic event due to be held in the Italian city of Modena as a provocation. The event claims that the Ukrainian city of Mariupol is "being rapidly rebuilt" after being occupied by Russia.

Source: European Pravda with reference to a statement by Oleh Nikolenko, spokesperson for Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry

Details: "The exhibition in Modena about the ‘flourishing’ of Mariupol under Russian occupation is a provocation," Nikolenko said.

He stated that Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry has ordered the Ukrainian embassy in Rome to prepare an official statement.

"On the official level, Italy strongly supports the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine. And we expect that this propagandistic event will provoke a sensible reaction," Nikolenko noted.

Earlier it was reported that the propagandistic event, which alleges that Mariupol is "being rapidly rebuilt" after being occupied by Russia, is planned to be held in the Italian city of Modena on 20 January.

The event’s advertising contains the usual Kremlin narratives about an alleged "civilian uprising" in Donbas - actually the actions of Russian saboteurs during the seizure of power in the region in 2014 - and the "rapid rebuilding process" in the city, which was devastated by Russia’s regular forces during its occupation in the spring of 2022.

Europe must convince Russia it cannot win – FT

Ukrainska Pravda
Thu, January 4, 2024 

Photo: The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine

According to British historian Timothy Garton Ash, there is currently no situation that could lead to a frozen conflict in Ukraine or a negotiated settlement with Russia. In his view, Europe should wake up and do enough for Kyiv to ensure Ukraine's victory.

Source: Financial Times

The article was written by British historian, journalist and author Timothy Garton Ash. He is the author of the book Homelands: A Personal History of Europe.

Quote: "For a start, we must be clear where things stand on the ground in Ukraine. There is no stalemate of the kind that might lead to a frozen conflict or negotiated settlement, as some in the west naively hope.

Rather, we are in the middle of a long, complex war that will probably last until at least 2025, if not longer. Neither side is giving up; either can still win, but not both."

Details: It is noted that the choice made in the next few months by the democracies that support Kyiv, i.e. Ukraine's Western partners, will be crucial for the outcome of the conflict.

The author believes that the West is currently doing enough to prevent Ukraine's defeat but not enough to help it win.

The article adds that in 2024, the partners could provide Kyiv with the tools to regain more territory and convince Russia that it cannot win: "That is the only path to a lasting peace."

In his opinion, Ukraine should be provided with more air defence immediately, with more long-range missiles, including German Taurus and US ATACMS, so that Ukraine can continue to push back Putin's Black Sea Fleet.

In the long run, a necessary condition for victory will be more intensive training of Ukrainian troops and a rapid, significant increase in industrial production of weapons and ammunition.

In conclusion, the historian believes that the responsibility thus falls on Europe, as it is, after all, about the defence of a European country.

He also compared the New Year's messages of European leaders.

UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak did not even mention the war in his laudatory report on his government's successes, which was obviously aimed at this year's general election.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz touched on it only in passing before moving on to the sacred topic of the German economy.

Donald Tusk, the new Prime Minister of Poland, devoted his speech entirely to the restoration of democracy in the country.

French President Emmanuel Macron, focusing on the theme of French pride, proposed a "rearmament of European sovereignty", including "to stop Russia and support Ukrainians".

But it was Finnish President Sauli Niinistö who delivered the most important message: "Europe must wake up".

Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen was surprisingly blunt: "Ukraine lacks ammunition. Europe has not delivered what is needed. We will press for more European production. It’s urgent. And the Danish F16s will soon be in the air. The war in Ukraine is also a war for the Europe we know."

The historian believes that this is exactly the language we need.

WAR TRAIN

Ukrainian railways transport over 2 million passengers to Europe in 2023

Elsa Court, The Kyiv Independent news desk
Fri, January 5, 2024 


Ukraine's state-owned railway company Ukrzaliznytsia transported a record 2.1 million passengers to European countries in 2023, the company reported on Jan. 5.

The airspace above Ukraine has remained closed since the start of Russia's full-scale invasion on Feb. 24, 2022, meaning that road or rail travel is required to enter or exit Ukraine.

Ukrzaliznytsia operates services to Warsaw, Chelm, and Przemysl in Poland, Vienna in Austria, and Chisinau in Moldova. Trains also run to Chop, a town on the border with Hungary, allowing passengers to connect with trains to Budapest.

In total, the company transported 25 million passengers in long-distance trains in 2023.

The company reported a record amount of freight in November 2023, when it transported 14 million metric tons of cargo, a 33.8% increase compared to the same period the previous year.

On the same day, Ukrzaliznytsia's Deputy Director of Commercial Work Valerii Tkachov said his company was preparing to transport 23 trucks stuck at the Polish border by train amid the ongoing blockade by Polish haulers.

Oscar Pistorius release: A reminder of South Africa's femicide problem

RACIST MISOGYNIST WHITE MAN 

Danai Nesta Kupemba - BBC News
Fri, January 5, 2024 

Reeva Steenkamp is one of the many victims of femicide in South Africa

Should men who murder women be entitled to the privilege of parole?

This question around the early release of inmates, albeit under certain conditions, has been raised in South Africa following the freeing on parole of former Paralympic champion Oscar Pistorius.

This was after he had served half of his sentence for the murder of his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp, on Valentine's Day in 2013.


South Africa has a particular problem with femicide and violence against women. In 2020, a woman died at the hands of her intimate partner on average every eight hours, according to a study by the University of the Free State.

In 2019, South Africa ranked among the five countries with the highest rates of the murder of women, according to the United Nations.

This is why campaigners think an exception should be made for the perpetrators of these crimes to the country's normal rules around early release.

For Michael van Niekerk, the fact that Pistorius is now out of prison "feels like a kick to the gut".

He is the founder of Keep the Energy, an organisation that spreads awareness about violence against women, children and LGBTQ+ people in South Africa.

Mr Van Niekerk fervently believes that those responsible for gender-based violence and murder should not be granted parole.

Beyond the numbers of women murdered, South Africa also has extremely high levels of rape - in the three-month period between July and September last year, for example, more than 10,500 incidents were reported to the police.

"I have seen men get released and commit the same crimes over and over again," he says.

Oscar Pistorius, seen here outside court in 2014, will be on parole for the next five years

But Chrispin Phiri, spokesperson for the justice ministry, says that people have misunderstood the nature of parole.

It is "crucial to understand that parole does not equate to absolute freedom at all", he tells the BBC.

The purpose of parole is to rehabilitate offenders and guide them back into society.

Mr Phiri says the argument that perpetrators should not get parole is rooted in a "misunderstanding that [it] signifies complete freedom - which is certainly not the case".

Pistorius will be monitored by the authorities for five years until his more than 13-year sentence expires in 2029. He will have to abide by certain conditions, for example being confined to the home for certain hours each day, as well as a ban on drinking alcohol.

He will also have to attend therapy sessions, including programmes on gender-based violence.

This has gone some way to reassure the mother of the woman he killed. Last year, June Steenkamp said she would be "concerned for the safety of any woman" who came into contact with him after he was freed.

But these measures do not satisfy everyone.

"There is a lack of thinking, or empathy for victims in this scenario," says Mbali Pfeiffer Shongwe.

The 24-year-old activist, who works with Instagram account Girls Against Oppression, is a survivor of gender-based violence, and is frustrated with the country's parole system.

She believes anyone convicted of murder, rape, serious assault, theft, kidnapping, public violence and other serious crimes should not get parole.

"The most basic form of respect would be for a full sentence to be served," she says.

But there are some who believe it is right that Pistorius is no longer in prison.

The BBC spoke to several people who supported his early release but chose to remain anonymous for fear of a backlash against them.

One 25-year old woman believes that Pistorius has paid his penance.

"He has done his time, he has been rehabilitated. He is not a threat to society," she said, adding that because of his notoriety he will have a difficult life whether or not he is in prison.

June Steenkamp did not oppose her daughter's killer being freed. "No amount of time served will bring Reeva back. We, who remain behind, are the ones serving a life sentence."

"It just feels like woman are screaming into the abyss. It's like our cries are not being heard"", Source: Palesa Muano Ramurunzi, Source description: University of Cape Town law graduate, Image: Palesa Muano Ramurunzi

However, for many there is a wider point to be made.

"It just feels like women are screaming into the abyss. It's like our cries aren't being heard," says Palesa Muano Ramurunzi, a 25-year-old University of Cape Town law graduate.

She is fed up with the level of violence that women in her country face. Her belief that barring parole for those convicted of crimes relating to gender-based violence is not meant to "undermine other forms of violence but to confront an urgent crisis".

"There is a palpable sense of entitlement that men often harbour towards the bodies of women," Ms Ramurunzi says, her voice filled with hopelessness.

The ever-present possibility of being killed is a devastating thread linking many women in South Africa.

Ms Steenkamp's last Instagram post proved to be a foreshadow of the tragedy that befell her.

My friend Reeva Steenkamp

The post condemned the killing of 18-year-old Anene Booysen who had been gang-raped, disembowelled and dumped in a construction site in the Western Cape in February 2013.

Her caption read: "I woke up in a happy safe home this morning. Not everyone did. Speak out against the rape of individuals in SA. RIP Anene Booysen."

The murder of Ms Booysen dominated local and international headlines - until Ms Steenkamp's own murder took over the news cycle less than two weeks later.

There have been numerous protests and government promises regarding gender-based violence

Mara Glennie, founder of Tears, a South African domestic abuse helpline, says femicide is "deeply entrenched in institutions and traditions in South Africa".

"In a nation with some of the world's highest levels of violence against women, the laws are failing women," she says.

Even the government has struggled to address the issue, she argues.

"The government has set up task forces and made promises to the women of this country. And yet, after decades of promises, femicide and gender-based violence remain consistently pervasive," Ms Glennie says.

President Cyril Ramaphosa has vowed action to address the rampant levels of femicide in South Africa, calling it an "an assault on our humanity".

The threat of violence shrouds every aspect of women's lives in the country, with new fears forming with each case.

The post office, the park and their own home are places to be hyper-vigilant, and never completely safe.

Ms Shongwe says even after South African women experience violence and survive, it is never the last time.

"You are always looking out for what might happen next," she says.
You may also be interested in:

Are men the key to fighting rape?


'I was raped, now I fear for my daughters'


Will I be next? South Africa women ask


What next for Oscar Pistorius?




Paralympian Oscar Pistorius Released 3 Years Early From Prison
Afouda Bamidele
Fri, January 5, 2024 


MEGA

South Africa's former Paralympic star, Oscar Pistorius, has finally tasted freedom after nearly a decade behind bars for murdering his girlfriend.

He shot Reeva Steenkamp multiple times through a bathroom door in 2013, claiming he mistook her for a burglar. However, the former professional sprinter was found guilty of the crime and sentenced to 13 years and five months.

After serving ten years of his prison sentence, Pistorius was released on parole with strict conditions — an arrangement Steenkamp's mother welcomed but stressed that no punishment could ever fill the hole of her daughter's absence.

Oscar Pistorius Will Live Under Strict Rules Until His Sentence Expires In 2029

Under South African law, all convicts are entitled to parole under certain conditions and are considered eligible once they have served half their total sentence. Pistorius's early release comes three years shy of completing his 13-year and five-month term.

But leaving his prison cell did not automatically grant the double-amputee athlete complete freedom. As stated, he will live under strict conditions, with most of his time spent indoors until his sentence expires in 2029.

For specific hours of the day, Pistorius will be confined in his home, where he is not allowed to speak to the media or consume alcohol. He must also attend therapy to deal with issues relating to gender-based violence and anger.

Following his release, the former Olympic gold medalist is believed to have sought refuge at his uncle's home, per BBC. His relative reportedly lives in an upmarket suburb in Pretoria. It is still being determined if this is where Pistorius plans to live out the remainder of his sentence.



While Pistorius figures out his life, he owes part of his early release to his late girlfriend's mother, June. In a statement, the Steenkamp matriarch noted that she accepted the decision to release her daughter's killer since her family had "always known that parole is part of the South African legal system."

She heartily welcomed the strict conditions placed on Pistorius and noted that the "law must take its course." Despite accepting these terms, June stressed that nothing could ever make her daughter's absence right. In her words:

"Has there been justice for Reeva? Has Oscar served enough time? There can never be justice if your loved one is never coming back, and no amount of time served will bring Reeva back. We, who remain behind, are the ones serving a life sentence."

She continued, "My only desire is that I will be allowed to live my last years in peace with my focus remaining on the Reeva Rebecca Steenkamp Foundation, to continue Reeva's legacy."

Oscar Pistorius Was Granted Parole After Board's Assessment Of His Profile

Before his release, the South African Department of Correctional Services announced that Pistorius would be granted parole in November 2023. They noted that he was released early after a parole board reviewed his case.

They dropped the news via a statement on social media, writing: "The Department of Correctional Services (DCS) confirms parole placement for Mr Oscar Leonard Carl Pistorius, effectively from 5 January 2024."

"Mr Pistorius was initially convicted of culpable homicide in 2014, but the case went through a number of appeals and was eventually ratified to 13 years and five months in 2017," their statement continued.

The correctional services department stressed the importance of parole placement as part of the rehabilitation program to deal with "offending behavior." They also noted authorities would keep an eye on Pistorius until he finished his sentence, writing:

"Mr Pistorius will complete the remainder of the sentence in the system of community corrections and will be subjected to supervision in compliance with parole conditions until his sentence expires."

The news evoked fans' sympathy, with many calling for Pistorius to be released sooner. "Let the man go home, why are you still keeping him until January?" Someone wondered, while another penned: "He served his time shame. Now he can go back to running, continue his career, get a new Reeva, have a family. Life goes on."

Additionally, sources noted Pistorius's parole conditions included therapy because his late girlfriend's mother had expressed concerns about his "huge anger issues." In a letter to the parole board, June noted she was worried about the "safety of any woman" who would encounter her daughter's killer after his release.

Palestinian supporters to press supes for Gaza ceasefire resolution next week in SF

Bay City News
Sat, January 6, 2024

(BCN) — A resolution calling for a ceasefire in Gaza will come before the San Francisco Board of Supervisors for a committee hearing Monday, one day before a potential final vote by the full board.

On Dec. 5, hundreds of Palestinian supporters spoke in support of the resolution at its introduction. A public comment period will be open again Monday at a Rules Committee hearing.

Alaska Airlines grounding all Boeing 737 MAX-9s after hole blows open in cabin

The ceasefire resolution could be brought before the full board at its regular meeting on Tuesday.

If approved, San Francisco would join the cities of Oakland and Richmond in publicly condemning the genocidal war on the Palestinian people.\

The resolution calls for a sustained ceasefire, an influx of humanitarian aid, the release of all hostages and the condemnation of antisemitism, Islamophobia and anti-Palestinian hate.

Since the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas, which resulted in the death of more than 1,200 Israelis, more than 22,500 people have been killed in Gaza, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry.

Copyright © 2024 Bay City News, Inc.

Silicon Valley residents hold town hall calling on Rep. Anna Eshoo to support Gaza ceasefire

LaMonica Peters

FOX NEWS GLEEFULLY REPORTS
Thu, January 4, 2024

LOS ALTOS, Calif. - Some residents of Silicon Valley gathered at a town hall in Los Gatos to publicly call for U.S. Representative Anna Eshoo (D) to support a ceasefire in Gaza. The Gaza Health Ministry estimates nearly 22,000 Palestinians have been killed in the war since Oct. 7.

Organizers say they invited Representative Anna Eshoo to Thursday's town hall, but she did not attend. They want her to call for an end to the war in Gaza, and they say they’ll continue asking for her support until it happens.

"You can't be neutral. You’ve got to take a side and Anna Eshoo has to take a side," said one of the guest speakers.

Dozens of people from throughout Silicon Valley gathered for the town hall. The group says their goal is to make their voices and concerns heard by their local Representative Anna Eshoo. One man says he came to the town hall because dozens of his relatives are struggling to survive in Gaza.

"Knowing that my tax dollars go to fund this, going to fund the bombs that are dropped indiscriminately on civilians, hospitals, ambulances, schools, etc. It makes me feel unheard, unseen. It makes me feel alienated as a Palestinian, as a Muslim and as an American citizen," said Omar, of San Jose.

The Health Ministry in Gaza says as of Jan. 1, 21,968 Palestinians have been killed; 70% of them women and children. Displayed at the town hall, a banner lists the names of Palestinian children killed during the first three weeks of the war in Gaza.

"We just sent another lump sum of money, and we’re giving them the weapons and access to our weapons stores in Israel. This is ridiculous. She needs to call for an end to that right now," said Nickolas Saba, a resident of Silicon Valley.

Eshoo’s constituents also spoke about repeatedly calling and emailing Eshoo’s office and asking for meetings. They say they’ve met with Eshoo’s staffers and Eshoo sent this letter to the group Thursday, saying from the beginning, she’s called on Israel to show restraint and minimize civilian harm. She also said in November she called on Israel to implement a humanitarian pause in Gaza. Still, the group says they’re not satisfied with Eshoo’s response.

"Also, just debunking some of the content we’ve been seeing in her statements, which to be honest, has not been enough for the community to hear. We are tired, we’re exhausted, we’re in pain and Representative Eshoo is not representing us today," said Nadine, of San Jose.

The group says after the town hall, they’ll continue gathering, strategizing, and putting pressure on Eshoo to call for a ceasefire in Gaza.

Gaza's child amputees face further risks without expert care

Thu, January 4, 2024

By Arafat Barbakh, Maggie Fick and Emma Farge

KHAN YOUNIS, Gaza (Reuters) - Eleven-year-old Noor's left leg was almost entirely torn off when her home in Jabalia, Gaza was hit by an explosion in October. Now her right leg, fitted with a heavy metal bar and four screws drilled into the bone, may have to be amputated.

"It hurts me a lot ... I'm afraid that they'll have to cut off my other leg," she said from her hospital bed, staring at her clunky fixation device.

"I used to run and play, I was so happy with my life, but now when I lost my leg, my life became ugly and I got sad. I hope I can get an artificial limb."

In bombed-out Gaza, a generation of child amputees is emerging as Israel's retaliatory blitz after Hamas' deadly Oct. 7 attacks has led to blast and crush injuries as explosive weapons tear through densely-packed high-rise housing blocks.

Israeli authorities have previously said they work to minimise harm to civilians. Israel's military spokesperson's unit pointed to what it called Hamas' strategy of the "exploitation of civilian structures for terror purposes" but provided no specific comment on child amputees.

Doctors and aid workers say Gaza's collapsed medical system is ill-placed to give children the intricate follow-up care they need to salvage their still-growing, truncated bones. Only 30% of pre-conflict medics are working due to killings, detentions and displacements, according to the World Health Organization.

More than 1,000 children had undergone leg amputations, sometimes more than once or on both legs, by end-November, according to U.N. children's agency UNICEF, in a conflict where Gaza health authorities say nearly a quarter of injuries are among children.

Poor hygiene and medicine shortages spell more complications and amputations on existing injuries, some of which may not be survivable, doctors say.

"Many limbs that apparently had been saved, will go on to require amputation. And many (people with) amputations and limbs that we think have been saved may still go on to die of the longer term consequences," said Dr. Chris Hook, a British emergency medicine doctor with medical charity MSF who returned from Gaza in late December.

FLIES AND DECAY

Staff at the European Hospital in Gaza where Noor is being treated, which is running at triple capacity, cannot provide the new limb she dreams of.

Even painkillers to help amputees with chronic pain are running low, staff say. Flies were buzzing around the ward when a Reuters journalist visited.

"I try as much as I can to make things easier for them as a nurse, but no matter what you do, they have severe psychological problems, they feel incomplete with lots of pain," said nurse Wafa Hamdan.

The enclave's main prosthetic limb centre, the Qatari-funded Hamad hospital in Gaza City, was shuttered weeks ago after being hit by Israel, Gaza health authorities say.

Israel's military spokesperson's unit did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Hamad hospital.

Children with war-related amputations will need up to a dozen surgeries on the limb by the time they reach adulthood because the bone keeps growing, experts say.

But even before the conflict there was a shortage of vascular and plastic surgeons, medics say, and Palestinian health authorities say over 300 healthcare workers have been killed since.

Still, Noor, whose right leg may survive intact, is luckier than some children whose limbs were amputated swiftly due to a lack of time or medical expertise, sometimes without anaesthetics.

"Unfortunately many of them are really unnecessary," said Sean Casey, WHO Emergency Medical Teams coordinator.

At other times, amputation is the only choice because wounded children arrive in hospital days after the injury.

UNICEF spokesperson James Elder said he saw a child whose injured left leg had begun to decompose because he had been stuck on a bus for more than three days due to military checkpoint delays.

Israel's military spokesperson's unit said an operational debrief was held to draw immediate lessons from the incident and that it would be further examined.

'NOBODY'S COMING TO SEE THEM'

While Gaza health authorities do not have an official tally, doctors and aid workers say UNICEF's 1,000 figure is accurate for the first two months of the conflict but has likely been far surpassed since, making the Gaza amputation rates unusually high compared to other conflicts and disasters.

In Ukraine, where missiles have also struck residential towers during Russia's invasion, there are 30 known cases of child amputees, according to the ombudsman's office.

British-Palestinian surgeon Dr. Ghassan Abu-Sittah said he performed six amputations in Gaza in one night. Once, he had to reopen a child's thigh stump after amputation to clean out the pus.

MSF's Hook also reported many people returning to its Rafah wound care clinic with infected stumps.

The president of the International Committee of the Red Cross, Mirjana Spoljaric, said she could not forget the images of children, often orphans, with multiple amputations lying in hospital wards after visiting Gaza in December. "On top of the wounds that you see and the lack of pain medication, they are lying there and nobody's coming to see them."

In some cases, as with 10-year-old Gaza orphan Ritash, her right leg had to be re-amputated higher up and just below the knee after it became infected, according to a U.N. humanitarian office (OCHA) aid worker Gemma Connell who met her.

A photograph showed her frowning from a wheelchair on a dirty hospital floor, her stump jutting up in the air. "I think what I have seen would break anyone's heart," said Connell.

(This story has been refiled to say 'pus' instead of 'puss' in paragraph 24)

(Reporting by Arafat Barbakh in Gaza, Maggie Fick in London and Emma Farge in Geneva; additional reporting by Nidal al-Mughrabi in Cairo, Ali Sawafta in Ramallah, Gabrielle Tetrault-Farber in Geneva, Yuliia Dysa in Gdansk, Emily Rose and James Mackenzie in Jerusalem; Editing by Andrew Cawthorne)

'Nobody will win' from wider Middle East conflict - Borrell

Saskia O'Donoghue
Sat, January 6, 2024 

The European Union's top diplomat has warned against the conflict between Israel and Hamas potentially spilling over into Lebanon.

Speaking from Beirut alongside Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati, Josep Borrell said the bloc was "seeing a worrying intensification of exchange of fire across the blue line in the border between Lebanon and Israel."

"I think that the war can be prevented. Has to be avoided. Diplomacy can prevail to look for a better solution. It is imperative to avoid a regional escalation in the Middle East," he said.

"Nobody will win from a regional conflict," Borrell added.

The EU foreign policy chief's comments came as Hezbollah fired dozens of rockets at northern Israel from Lebanon earlier on Saturday.

The Shiite militant and political group warned the barrage was an "initial response" to the alleged Israeli killing of a top Hamas leader in Lebanon's capital earlier this week.



The rocket attack came a day after Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said his group must retaliate for the killing of Saleh Arouri, the deputy political leader of Hamas, in a Hezbollah stronghold south of Beirut.

Nasrallah said that if Hezbollah did not strike back, all of Lebanon would be vulnerable to Israeli attack.

He appeared to be making his case for a response to the Lebanese public, even at the risk of escalating the fighting between Hezbollah and Israel.

Israeli forces have exchanged fire with Hezbollah on an almost daily basis since fighting began in Gaza.

Hezbollah said on Saturday that it had launched 62 rockets toward an Israeli air surveillance base on Mount Meron and that it scored direct hits.

The Israeli military said about 40 rockets were fired toward Meron and that a base was targeted - but made no mention of the base being hit.

It said it struck the Hezbollah cell that fired the rockets.

The war in Gaza was triggered by Hamas's 7 October attack on southern Israel in which militants killed about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and took some 240 hostages.

Israel's blistering retaliation by air, ground and sea has killed more than 22,600 Palestinians, about two-thirds of them women and children, according to Gaza's authorities.

Hamas command in north Gaza destroyed, Israel says

MISSION COMPLETED GO HOME

BBC
Sun, January 7, 2024 

Much of northern Gaza has been reduced to rubble

The Israeli army says it has "completed the dismantling" of Hamas's command structure in the northern Gaza Strip.

Army spokesman Daniel Hagari told reporters that Palestinian militants are now operating in the area only sporadically and "without commanders".

He said Israel had killed around 8,000 militants in north Gaza. The BBC cannot independently verify this number.

The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) are now focused on dismantling Hamas in south and central Gaza, he said.

Israel has killed more than 22,000 people since the war began, according to the Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza. On Sunday, the territory's health ministry said it had recorded more than 113 deaths over the past 24 hours.

Gaza has been devastated during Israel's war with Hamas, and most of the territory's population of 2.3 million has been displaced.

Israel's offensive started after Hamas gunmen launched a surprise attack on southern Israel on 7 October, killing 1,200 people, most of them civilians, and taking about 240 people hostage.

More than 100 remain following some releases in a six-day pause in fighting in November.

On Saturday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said he was focused on ensuring the Gaza conflict does not spread and turn into "an endless cycle of violence" after Hezbollah fired dozens of rockets at Israeli territory on Saturday, in what it called a preliminary response to the killing of a top Hamas official in Beirut earlier this week.

Mr Blinken was speaking in Greece at the start of a week-long trip to the region. He has since flown to Jordan, meeting King Abdullah on Sunday before heading to Qatar.

"Washington should put pressure on Israel to agree to an immediate ceasefire in Gaza," King Abdullah told Mr Blinken, warning him of the "catastrophic repercussions" of the continuation of Israel's military campaign in Gaza, a palace statement said.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reiterated on Saturday that Israel would continue its campaign to "eliminate Hamas, return our hostages and ensure that Gaza will no longer be a threat to Israel".

"We have to put everything aside... until the complete victory is achieved," Mr Netanyahu said in a statement.

In other developments, on Sunday the eldest son of Al Jazeera's Gaza bureau chief Wael al-Dahdouh, Hamza al-Dahdouh, was killed along with another journalist, Mustafa Thuraya, in an Israeli strike in southern Gaza.

Six Palestinians were killed in an Israeli raid in the city of Jenin in the occupied-West Bank, the Palestinian health ministry said on Sunday. Palestinian media said the raid involved a large deployment of Israeli forces.

In addition to the raid, an Israeli air strike reportedly targeted a gathering in the West Bank, after an Israeli military vehicle struck an explosive device, killing one officer.

Jenin has been a scene of repeated Israeli operations over the past 18 months and they have intensified since the war in Gaza started on 7 October.

On the northern border of Israel, Hezbollah fired dozens of rockets at Israeli territory on Saturday following the killing of Hamas leader Saleh al-Arouri in a suspected Israeli attack in the Lebanese capital.

A statement by the Iranian-backed Lebanese movement says it hit an air traffic control base in Meron with 62 rockets. The Israeli military said it had identified about 40 launches from Lebanon, and that it had responded.

OCCUPIERS ARGUE OVER SPOILS

Israel's president says expelling Palestinians not the plan

David Cohen
Sun, January 7, 2024 


Israel's president said Sunday that the expulsion of Palestinians is not the government's official policy, even though some members of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government have called for exactly that.

"I'm saying outright, officially and unequivocally, this is not the Israeli position," President Isaac Herzog said during an interview on NBC's "Meet the Press."

"A minister can say whatever he wants. I may not like it, but this is Israeli politics," Herzog told host Kristen Welker.

Months after Hamas' Oct. 7 incursion into Israel led to an Israeli invasion of Gaza, total casualties on both sides now exceed 24,000 dead, most of them in Gaza. Even as fighting in Gaza winds down, it's not clear what the future will hold for either Gaza or Israel itself, and some in Israel's government have suggested that moving much the Palestinian population out of Gaza could be part of the solution.

The United States has said that idea is not acceptable: "The United States rejects recent statements from Israeli Ministers Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben Gvir advocating for the resettlement of Palestinians outside of Gaza. This rhetoric is inflammatory and irresponsible," the State Department said last week.

On Sunday, Herzog said the world should keep in mind what Israel has gone through in recent months, citing the hostages taken on Oct. 7, more than 100 of whom are still being held.

"We should remember, however, the national psyche here. We are in deep trauma in the last three months. We have seen so much agony, pain, and sadness," he said, adding: "Our nation is bereaving, is worried, is agonized, and we are doing whatever we can to do whatever it takes to bring back these hostages."

Israeli government divisions burst into open as ministers ‘fight’ over post-war plans

Amir Tal, Richard Allen Greene, Niamh Kennedy and Lauren Izso, CNN
Fri, January 5, 2024



Rifts in the Israeli government emerged publicly on Friday as members of the cabinet argued over plans for the post-war future of Gaza and how to handle investigations into the security failings around Hamas’ October 7 attacks.

The public sniping followed what one source described as a “fight” at a meeting of the the security cabinet on Thursday. Far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said there had been a “stormy discussion,” while former Defense Minister Benny Gantz said a “politically motivated attack” had been launched.

The developments illustrate the fault lines emerging in the governing coalition of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu after three months of war with Hamas. If the government collapses, Israel would likely face new elections that Netanyahu is widely expected to lose.

Thursday’s security cabinet split was over how to handle investigations into the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel, including the Israeli military’s failure to foresee it, as well as how to prosecute the war from now on.

Defense Minister Yoav Gallant outlined plans for the next phase of the war in Gaza, and provided details of what might follow that, in a three-page document entitled the “Day After.”

He described a “new combat approach” with a sustained focus on targeting Hamas leaders in southern parts of the strip. In northern Gaza, he said the Israel Defense Forces’ (IDF) campaign would encompass “raids, the destruction of terror tunnels, aerial and ground activities, and special operations.”

After the war, the Israeli military would maintain “operational freedom of action in the Gaza Strip” and Israel would continue to “carry out the inspection of goods entering” the territory.

Gallant, a member of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s center-right Likud party, said that once the goals of the war have been achieved there would be “no Israeli civilian presence in the Gaza Strip,” appearing to rule out the re-establishment of Israeli settlements in Gaza that Israel unilaterally removed in 2005.

The defense minister also unveiled the concept of a US-led multinational task force charged with “the rehabilitation of the Gaza Strip.”

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, pictured on December 18, proposed a post-war plan for Gaza on Thursday. - Violeta Santos Moura/Reuters

But the minister’s plan provided scant detail on the future governance of the enclave, merely saying that the Palestinian “entity controlling the territory” would “build on the capabilities” of “local non-hostile actors” already present in Gaza.

The plan prompted a fiery discussion, according to a source. After a break in the meeting, the source said, Transportation Minister Miri Regev went on the attack. “After the break Miri Regev came back and launched this fight that was leaked,” said the official, who asked not to be named discussing internal political discussions.

Regev, who is also a member of Likud, did not respond to a CNN request for comment.

Gantz, who joined the government from opposition after October 7, said: “What happened yesterday was a politically motivated attack in the middle of a war. I participated in many cabinet meetings – such conduct has never occurred and must not occur.”

He did not say who had launched the attack, but he criticized Netanyahu. “The cabinet should have discussed strategic processes that will affect the continuation of the campaign and our security in the future. It did not happen, and the prime minister is responsible for that,” Gantz said, urging Netanyahu to choose between unity and security on the one hand and politics on the other.

Netanyahu’s Likud party then lashed out at Gantz. “During a war, when the people are united, Gantz is expected to act responsibly and stop looking for excuses to break his promise to remain in the unity government until the end of the war,” it said in a statement.

Gantz is widely considered a likely successor to Netanyahu when an election is called.
Tensions spill out in public

Gallant’s plan was criticized Friday by Smotrich, who along with far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir has advocated for resettling Gazans outside the enclave. Their comments have drawn condemnation from the United States, United Nations officials and several Arab states.

Smotrich wrote on Facebook that “‘The Day After’ is a rerun of ‘The Day Before’ on October 7,” referring to the date of the Hamas terror attack in which 1,200 people were killed and more than 200 taken hostage.

“The solution in Gaza requires thinking outside the box and changing the concept by encouraging voluntary migration and full security control including the renewal of settlement,” Smotrich added.

Israel’s deadly bombardment and besiegement of Gaza has turned swathes of the Palestinian enclave into a wasteland, leaving more than 2.2 million people at risk of severe dehydration, starvation and disease. At least 1.93 million Palestinians have been displaced, according to the United Nations.

Regional actors in the Middle East have repeatedly likened the mass movement of Palestinians in Gaza to the “Nakba,” or catastrophe, the Arabic term for the expulsion or flight of Palestinians from their towns during the founding of Israel in 1948.

Since October 7, Israeli attacks on Gaza have killed at least 22,600 people, 70% of whom are women and children, the Haman-run health ministry said on Friday.

Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich (left) and National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir (right) have advocated for the mass relocation of Palestinians outside of Gaza to make way for Israeli settlers, restoking fears of a Palestinian exodus. - Getty Images

International criticism

Smotrich previously said the removal of Gazans from the strip could pave the way for Israelis to “make the desert bloom” while Ben Gvir had suggested that the current war represented an “opportunity to concentrate on encouraging the migration of the residents of Gaza.”

Smotrich, a Jewish nationalist, has denied the existence of a Palestinian people or nationhood. Ben Gvir was previously convicted of inciting racism against Arabs and supporting a terrorist organization.

Earlier this week, State Department spokesperson Matt Miller roundly condemned the “inflammatory and irresponsible” comments made by Smotrich and Ben Gvir, saying the US had been “told repeatedly and consistently” by Israel “that such statements do not reflect the policy of the Israeli government.

Responding to the US statement, Ben Gvir on Tuesday called the US a “good friend” but said the “emigration of hundreds of thousands from Gaza” would allow Israeli settlers to return and “live in security.”

Smotrich also responded to the US State Department’s rebuke, posting on X: “More than 70% of the Israeli public today supports a humanitarian solution of encouraging the voluntary immigration of Gaza Arabs and their absorption in other countries.”

Other foreign officials, from Europe to Saudi Arabia, have fiercely condemned the rhetoric pushed by Israeli far-right cabinet ministers, while a UN official warned the forced displacement of Palestinians outside Gaza “is an act of genocide.”

“Forcible transfer of Gazan population is an act of genocide especially given the high number of children,” Balakrishnan Rajagopal, the UN’s special rapporteur on the right to adequate housing, posted on X on Friday.

Gaza is Palestinian and its future is not up to Israel to decide, French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna told CNN’s Isa Soares on Friday. “It’s not up to Israel to determine the future of Gaza, which is Palestinian land; we need to return to the principle of international law and respect it.”

On Thursday, the UN’s human rights chief Volker Turk said he was “very disturbed by high-level Israeli officials’ statements on plans to transfer civilians from Gaza to third countries.”

The EU’s foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said on Wednesday, “Forced displacements are strictly prohibited as a grave violation of IHL (International Humanitarian Law) & words matter.”

US officials have previously said they ultimately envision both Gaza and the occupied West Bank being ruled by a unified government led by a “revitalized” Palestinian Authority. At present, the Palestinian Authority exercises limited self-rule in the West Bank, having lost control of the Gaza Strip to Hamas in 2007.

An Arab delegation comprising officials from Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Jordan, Turkey and the Palestinian Authority emphasized in a meeting with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in December that Arab states will need assurances that there is a path toward a Palestinian state if they are going are to play a role in the reconstruction of Gaza.

CNN’s Tim Lister, Mitch McCluskey, Jennifer Hansler, Priscilla Alvarez, Natasha Bertrand, Irene Nasser, Alireza Hajihosseini, Manveena Suri, Abeer Salman, Eyad Kourdi and Abbas Al Lawati contributed reporting.