WORLD BRIEFING: October 17, 2023
As attention has been focused in and around Gaza, tensions have mounted elsewhere in the region - NYT
Israel-Gaza War
Here are the latest casualty figures as of October 16, 2:00pm local time (12:00 GMT):
Gaza - Killed: At least 2,808; Injured: At least 10,859
West Bank - Killed: At least 57; Injured: At least 1,200
Israel - Killed: At least 1,400; Injured: At least 3,400
The figures have been reported by the Palestinian health ministry, Palestine Red Crescent Society and Israeli Medical Services
US President Joe Biden will visit Israel on Wednesday to hear about its plans for a ground offensive against Hamas militants in Gaza. Biden will also discuss how Israel will conduct its operations in a way that "minimises civilian casualties", the US says - BBC
U.S. National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters that Biden will visit Tel Aviv before going to Jordan where he will meet with King Abdullah, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.The White House said Biden will reiterate that the militant group Hamas does not stand for the Palestinian people’s right to dignity and self-determination, and discuss the humanitarian needs of civilians in Gaza. “(The) president will hear from Israel how it will conduct its operations in a way that minimizes civilian casualties and enables humanitarian assistance to flow to civilians in Gaza in a way that does not benefit Hamas," U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said after meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu - VoA
An Israeli army spokesperson has renewed orders for Palestinians in northern Gaza – where some 1.1 million people live – to flee south, raising fears that an Israeli ground operation is imminent. Israel says as many as 300,000 Israeli troops are amassed near Gaza and are getting ready for war with Hamas - Al Jazeera
Jordan’s King Abdullah warned Tuesday that pushing Palestinian refugees into Jordan or Egypt is not an option, as he called for doing everything necessary to prevent further escalation of conflict between Israel and the Palestinians. “This is a situation that has to be handled within Gaza and the West Bank,” he said. “And you don’t have to carry this out on the shoulders of others.”
Juliette Touma, spokesperson for the U.N. agency that assists Palestinians, UNRWA, said Monday there is no water for the vast majority of Gaza’s population. Touma said an estimated 1 million Palestinians have fled toward the south and nearly 400,000 of them are sheltering mostly in UNRWA schools.
Elsewhere
Russian President Vladimir Putin arrived in Beijing on Tuesday for a visit that underscores China's support for Moscow during its war in Ukraine as well as Russian backing for China's bid to expand its economic and diplomatic influence abroad. The two countries have forged an informal alliance against the United States and other democratic nations that is now complicated by the Israel-Hamas war. China has sought to balance its ties with Israel against its relations with Iran and Syria, two countries that are strongly backed by Russia and with which China has forged ties for economic reasons as well as to challenge Washington's influence in the Middle East - NPR
Putin's plane was met by an honor guard as the Russian leader began his visit that is also a show of support for Chinese leader Xi Jinping's signature "Belt and Road" initiative to build infrastructure and expand China's overseas influence. In an interview to Chinese state media, Putin praised the massive but loosely linked BRI projects. “Yes, we see that some people consider it an attempt by the People's Republic of China to put someone under its thumb, but we see otherwise, we just see desire for cooperation," he told state broadcaster CCTV, according to a transcript released by the Kremlin on Monday - NPR
Opposition parties have secured enough votes in Poland's general election to oust the ruling right-wing populist Law and Justice (PiS) party, results have confirmed. PiS won the vote with 35.38%, ahead of Donald Tusk's centrist opposition Civic Coalition with 30.7%. But Mr Tusk is now most likely to be able to form a broad coalition. That would end eight years of rule under PiS leader Jaroslaw Kaczynski - BBC
Today, the U.S. House is set to vote on whether Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan should be the next Speaker.
Ukrainian forces say they have destroyed Russian military equipment in missile strikes against military airfields in the occupied parts of two regions and reportedly launched a new drone attack on Crimea as Russia again pounded Ukraine with deadly missile and drone strikes - RFE/RL
The Ukrainian military on Tuesday used U.S.-supplied longer-range missiles to strike nine Russian helicopters in eastern Ukraine, after Washington secretly shipped the weapons in recent weeks. The delivery and use on the battlefield, confirmed by two people familiar with the move, marks a major ramp up of the administration’s defense of Ukraine, for the first time providing Kyiv’s forces with the ability to strike Russian targets far behind the front lines - Politico
The majority of drones that Russia currently has are imported from China, Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said on Oct. 16 in a rare acknowledgment. “Today, (our) drones are mostly all from the People's Republic of China," Siluanov said at the meeting of the State Duma's Budget and Taxes Committee. “We are grateful to our partners, but we need to develop our own resource base and allocate the necessary funds." The minister said that Russia is devoting 60 billion rubles ($600 million) to boost the domestic production of drones - Kyiv Independent
Since the lightning offensive by Azerbaijani troops in Nagorno-Karabakh on September 19 and the fall of the separatist enclave, Armenians have only one fear: that Azerbaijan will try to attack Armenia itself. even. It has been three years since Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev called for the creation of the “Zanguezour corridor”, supposed to connect his country to the exclave of Nakhitchevan, in the south-west of Armenia, and, beyond that, to offer continuity land with Turkey, its great ally. Faced with Armenia's hostility, he said he was ready to obtain it by force. Just a few days after the defeat of Nagorno-Karabakh and the exodus of 100,000 Armenians from the region, the authoritarian leader once again reaffirmed this priority by receiving his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, on Monday, September 25, in the symbolic location from Nakhchivan. The Turkish president also stressed the importance of opening this corridor and hoped that it would be done “as quickly as possible”. - Le Monde
With thanks to Preeti Bali for her research support