WORLD BRIEFING: October 29, 2023
People attend a rally in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza, in Istanbul, Turkey, on Saturday [Dilara Senkaya/Reuters]
Israel-Gaza War
Latest
Thousands of Gaza residents break into warehouses and distribution centres in the south and middle of the strip, taking flour and other basic supplies, the UN relief agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) says.”This is a worrying sign that civil order is starting to break down after three weeks of war and a tight siege on Gaza," UNRWA said
Gaza phone and internet services are gradually returning
The Israeli Defense Force says they’ve hit 450 Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip. A Sky News correspondent on the Gaza border says it appears soldiers are on the move and under occasional cover of smoke bombs
The Gaza Health Ministry says over 8,000 people in the strip have been killed - of which 3342 are children. The images emerging from Gaza after several days of Israeli strikes are apocalyptic
Israel's military chief says the war with Hamas has entered its next stage, with the "best soldiers" now on the ground in Gaza. The territory is being pummelled with intense air strikes, after Israeli tanks entered the north overnight on Friday. Leaflets are dropped over Gaza City warning residents the area is now a "battlefield" and they must leave for the south. Civilians in Gaza remain cut off from the outside world, because phone lines and the internet are down for most people - BBC
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has called Israel's strikes in Gaza a "massacre" - and accused it of war crimes. Speaking to tens of thousands of people, Erdogan said Hamas is not a “terrorist organisation” and called Israel “the occupier…We will tell the whole world that Israel is a war criminal, we are making preparations for this,” the president said. “The main culprit behind the massacre unfolding in Gaza is the West,” he added. “The West owes you, but Turkey does not owe you,” he said, referring to Israel - Al Jazeera
Shortly, after that, Israel's foreign minister called for all Israeli diplomats in Turkey to leave. A huge rally was held in Istanbul today with Erdogan and large protests have also been held at the Israeli Consulate
Compliments of Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, we receive a fresh reminder of the double standard Russia applies to others - and onto itself. Remember that Russia is accused of a plethora of war crimes in Ukraine - including indiscriminately using force against targets where civilians are known to be present. The Russian foreign minister says Israel’s bombardment of Gaza risks creating a catastrophe that could last for decades. “While we condemn terrorism, we categorically disagree that you can respond to terrorism by violating the norms of international humanitarian law, including indiscriminately using force against targets where civilians are known to be present, including hostages that have been taken,” Lavrov said in an interview with the Belarusian state news agency Belta. Separately, Hamas said it’s looking for five dual national hostages who were named on a list provide by Russia. The group, whose senior leadership met with Lavrov last week in Moscow, said they’d be freed immediately.
Elsewhere
Sanctioned Russian billionaire Mikhail Fridman cannot spend thousands of pounds a month on the upkeep of his London mansion, containing a 44 million-pound ($53.2 million) art collection, London's High Court ruled on Thursday. Fridman took Britain's sanctions office, OFSI, to court after it refused to allow him to spend 30,000 pounds a month to prevent Athlone House, which he bought for 65 million pounds, from falling into disrepair - Reuters
Heavy fighting continued around the eastern Ukrainian city of Avdiyivka on October 28, even as representatives from dozens of nations met in Malta to discuss Ukraine-driven peace proposals and while Kyiv and Moscow exchanged accusations of attacks near nuclear-related sites in each country. British intelligence, in its latest update, said Moscow had likely committed elements of up to eight brigades to the sector around Avdiyivka and probably had “suffered some of Russia’s highest casualty rates of 2023 so far,” appearing to back up remarks by Ukrainian leaders who claimed Kyiv’s forces had repelled multiple Russian attacks in the area. Earlier this week, White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said that, since October 11, Russia has suffered significant losses, including at least 125 pieces of armored vehicles and military equipment in and around Avdiyivka - RFE/RL
To reinforce its troops in Ukraine, and avoid an unpopular new wave of military mobilization, the Kremlin has been arresting and deceiving foreign workers, going as far as raiding mosques for them - Le Monde
Iranian teenager Armita Garavand died on October 28, nearly a month after falling into a coma following an alleged confrontation with police officers over violating the country's hijab law, Iranian media reported. The news came just over a year after the death of Mahsa Amini following her arrest by Iran’s morality police for an alleged head-scarf violation sparked nationwide protests. Rights groups and journalists say Garavand and two of her friends were confronted on October 1 by police officers for not wearing the mandatory hijab as they tried to enter a Tehran subway station. One of the friends has said the officers physically assaulted Garavand, who later fell unconscious after entering a subway carriage. Officials have said Garavand suffered a sudden drop in blood pressure, fainted, and fell to the floor, hitting her head - RFE/RL