WORLD BRIEFING: October 28, 2023
Israel - Gaza War
“Total chaos” - BBC correspondent Rushdi Abualouf in Khan Younis, Gaza. “There was a huge bombardment in the north of Gaza strip on a scale we’ve never seen before. Huge flames could be seen rising into the sky – it seemed they were using different types of bombs. At the hospital here ambulance drivers told me they couldn’t communicate with anyone, so they were just driving in the direction of the explosions. There’s been panic everywhere, even here in Khan Younis, where the bombing was less, as people try to reach family members in other areas to check they are safe, but the phones have been cut off.”
The Israeli army said on Saturday morning that fighter jets hit 150 “terror tunnels, underground combat spaces and additional underground infrastructure” in overnight raids, adding that “several Hamas terrorists were killed”
On Friday, UN spokesperson Stephan Dujarric said: “Misery is growing by the minute…the people of Gaza face an unprecedented avalanche of human suffering. Everyone must assume their responsibilities. This is a moment a moment of truth. History will judge us.”
A nonbinding resolution by Jordan calling for an enduring humanitarian truce in Gaza passed the UN General Assembly with 120 supporting, 14 against and 45 abstaining. An amendment by Canada to condemn the Hamas attacks in Israel failed, with the US voting against the resolution
Israel said it had conducted targeted raids in the central area of the Gaza Strip and struck dozens of Hamas targets. The Israel Defense Forces said Shadi Barud, the deputy head of Hamas's intelligence arm, was killed in an operation - BBC
The number of hostages kidnapped from Israel and held by Hamas in Gaza has been updated to 229. More than 1,400 people were killed in the initial attacks on Israel by Hamas on 7 October. The Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza says 7,000 people have been killed there - almost half of whom are children
“Misery is growing by the minute…the people of Gaza face an unprecedented avalanche of human suffering. Everyone must assume their responsibilities. This is a moment a moment of truth. History will judge us”
The top official for main the UN agency in Gaza, UNRWA, said in a press conference in East Jerusalem on Friday that “intense negotiations” have been underway to send more aid into the Strip but says it’s only been “crumbs that will not make a difference” for the 2-million people there. “Civilians have already paid a staggering price,” Philippe Lazarinni said. He added that public services and civil order in Gaza is collapsing and many people turning their anger onto UNRWA staff. He said he doesn’t know how long the agency can continue to operate under these circumstances. The agency says 53 of its staff have been killed in Gaza since October 7.
Sean Bell, military analyst to Sky News, says that the challenges IDF may face in urban warfare in congested Gaza comparable to the battle for Bakhmut in Ukraine, where the Russians lost 30,000. "It's incredibly difficult to do.”
The new speaker of U.S. House of Representatives, Rep. Mike Johnson, says that funding to support Ukraine and Israel should be handled separately, suggesting that he will not support President Joe Biden's $106 billion aid package for both countries. In an interview to Fox News he said: "We want to know what the object is in Ukraine, what is the endgame there. The White House has not provided that."
Elsewhere
Hungary and Slovakia are reportedly against the allocation of a €50bn aid package to Ukraine from the EU fund. According to Politico, citing an informed source in the EU diplomatic circles, this was not a surprise, as Viktor Orbán and Robert Fico had announced in advance that they would not support the project. The Hungarian prime minister is sure that the EU support does not work, while the head of the Slovak government referred to the problems of corruption in Ukraine, the diplomat specified. The EU budget update requires the support of all 27 EU members.
In Kyiv today families protested for ‘demobilization’ of Ukrainian soldiers who’ve been on the frontlines for months on end. They called for adoption of a law limiting service to 18 months. A petition has received 25,000 signatures. One sign reads “My love has been at war 601 days.” They also chanted, “It’s time for others.”
During the night of Oct. 27, a missile strike was conducted by Russian forces targeting the fire station in Izium, located in the Kharkiv region of Ukraine. This attack resulted in the injury of eight rescuers, as well as significant damage to the fire station building itself and 13 pieces of firefighting equipment.
The paramilitaries fighting Sudan’s army say they have seized control of Nyala, the country’s second-largest city outside the Khartoum area, in a potential turning point in the six-month war. The Rapid Support Forces said in a statement they had taken over the army’s main headquarters in the city, which is the capital of South Darfur state, and seized all of its equipment. The RSF published video, which Reuters could not verify, of their soldiers celebrating with gunfire, claiming to have overrun the base - The Guardian
Amid Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov’s visit to North Korea, there’s now mounting evidence that Pyongyang has started to provide artillery rounds to Russia, opening up a supply line that could have profound implications for the war in Ukraine.