WORLD BRIEFING: October 12, 2023
ISRAEL-GAZA WAR
IAF hits Gaza on ‘unprecedented scale’; Strip’s power plant shuts down. Military officials vow to strike terror leaders and fighters with ‘great power,’ note civilians not targeted but strikes no longer ‘surgical’ - Times of Israel
Here are the latest casualty figures as of 9.15pm local time (18:15 GMT):
Gaza - Killed: At least 1,100 ; Injured: At least 5,339
West Bank - Killed: At least 28 ; Injured: At least 150
Israel - Killed: At least 1,200 ; Injured: At least 3,007
The figures have been reported by the Palestinian health ministry, Palestine Red Crescent Society and Israeli Medical Services.
Israel was warned by Egypt of potential violence three days before Hamas' deadly cross-border raid, a US congressional panel chairman has said. House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee head Michael McCaul told reporters of the alleged warning. Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu described the reports as "absolutely false" - BBC
At least 11 United Nations employees have been killed in Israeli airstrikes in Gaza since the weekend, the UN said Wednesday, even as it called for emergency funding to continue humanitarian work in the embattled Palestinian enclave. The UN staffers who were killed paid “the ultimate price,” Secretary General Antonio Guterres said in a brief statement to press on Wednesday. Among the dead are five teachers, a gynecologist, an engineer, a psychological counselor and three support staff, according to Jenifer Austin, UNRWA’s Deputy Director in Gaza, who added that some were “killed in their homes with their families.” - CNN
The UN Security Council will meet on Friday to discuss the conflict between Israel and Hamas. Brazil, which currently holds the rotating presidency of the UNSC, called the meeting “to address the situation in the Gaza Strip," its ministry said in a statement.
Elsewhere
In his first known international trip this year, Russian President Vladimir Putin arrived on Thursday in Kyrgyzstan, where he will meet with Eastern European leaders - Washington Post
On NATO defense ministers’s agenda in Brussels is the “damage to critical undersea infrastructure in the Baltic Sea,” the alliance said. As The Washington Post reported, Finnish officials said that the Balticconnector gas pipeline, which runs between Finland and Estonia and can send gas in either direction, was damaged, leading to its shut down on Sunday. The officials said an initial assessment suggested the damage was most likely caused by deliberate interference, and they said they intend to investigate the incident as a crime. Concerns over the security of undersea infrastructure has grown in the wake of last year’s attack on the Nord Stream gas pipelines, which previously carried natural gas from Russia to Europe - WP
Ukraine’s allies “won’t be distracted” by the crisis in Israel and the Gaza Strip, and will continue to focus on Kyiv’s war with Russia, British Defense Secretary Grant Shapps said early Thursday ahead of a meeting of all NATO defense ministers in Brussels - WP
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky wants to visit Israel in a show of solidarity with the country amid the fighting in Gaza, two Ukrainian and Israeli officials told Axios. Zelensky's office sent an official request to the Israeli Prime Minister's office asking to coordinate a visit, the Ukrainian and Israeli officials said. The officials said the talks on the issue are preliminary and there is still no date for a visit. Zelensky told reporters on Wednesday that in the early days of Russia's invasion, it was critical for Ukraine not to feel alone and that international support helped a lot. "This is why I urge all leaders to visit Israel and show their support for the people. I'm not talking about any institutions, but about support for the people who suffered from terrorist attacks and are dying today," Zelensky said.
Booker Prize-winning Indian author Arundhati Roy could be prosecuted for allegedly seditious comments made over a decade ago, after a top official in Delhi said there was enough evidence to lay charges - CNN
King Charles, who is due to visit Kenya later this month, will seek to “deepen his understanding of the wrongs suffered” during the British army’s suppression of the Mau Mau uprising of 1952–1960 in that country, which saw thousands hanged and more than 150,000 Kenyans rounded up into camps. The rebellion failed but is considered by historians to have been a major factor leading to Kenyan independence in 1963. At a Buckingham Palace media briefing ahead of the trip Wednesday, a spokesperson for the king said the visit would celebrate the “strong and dynamic partnership” between the countries but also acknowledge the “more painful aspects” of their history - The Daily Beast
Russian drones targeted Danube port infrastructure in southern Ukraine early on October 12, damaging warehouse buildings and wounding a woman, Ukraine's Southern Defense Force and Odesa regional governor said.
The prosecutor's office in Ukraine's Kharkiv region said that two more women had been identified among those killed in a Russian missile strike on a grocery store and cafe in the Kupyansk district last week, bringing the number of dead to 55.
The United States said it would give Ukraine a new military aid package worth $200 million as President Volodymyr Zelenskiy traveled to NATO's headquarters in Belgium to press for more support for his war-ravaged country ahead of the onset of the cold season - RFE/RL
With thanks to Preeti Bali for her research support