WORLD BRIEFING: December 3, 2023

Israel Hamas War

Israel has been bombarding Gaza as combat operations resume following the collapse of a truce. The Israeli military said it struck tunnel shafts, command centers and weapons storage facilities in overnight raids - CNN

The US defence secretary reiterates Israel's right to defend itself, but stresses it has a "moral responsibility" to protect civilians. US Vice President Kamala Harris says too many Palestinians have already been killed, with a "devastating" amount of human suffering. An adviser to Israel's prime minister tells the BBC that Israel is making "maximum effort" to avoid killing civilians. Residents of Khan Younis yesterday said the southern city has experienced its heaviest bombardment since the start of the war - BBC

Hisham Awartani, one of the three Palestinian college students who were shot in Vermont over Thanksgiving weekend, is paralyzed from the chest down after a bullet became lodged in his spine, his mother said. The junior at Brown University is scheduled to be released from the hospital next week - CNN

Ukraine War

  • Ukraine and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said two power lines connecting the Zaporizhzhya nuclear plant to the country’s electricity grid were cut overnight, again highlighting the risk of an accident at the plant. The IAEA confirmed in a statement on December 2 that the plant in southern Ukraine lost offsite power overnight and temporarily relied on emergency diesel generators - RFE/RL

  • Ukraine's military has decried the apparent killing of two surrendering Ukrainian troops by Russian forces and said it considers the incident evidence of a war crime. Drone footage of the incident that appeared on social media on December 2 showed apparently unarmed Ukrainian soldiers leaving their shelter, lying on the ground, and then being shot by people in darker uniforms - RFE/RL

  • Ukraine’s Health Minister, Viktor Liashko, says that nearly 200 medical facilities have been destroyed, and close to 1500 others have suffered damage due to the actions of Russian army since the commencement of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. “After more than 21 months of warfare across various regions of Ukraine, the adversary has inflicted damage on 1474 medical facilities and obliterated another 194 establishments. Hospitals, clinics, and maternity hospitals have frequently become targets for the enemy. The current estimated needs for the restoration and development of the medical system over the next decade amount to $16.4 billion,” emphasized Liashko.

Elsewhere

  • The Philippine president blamed "foreign terrorists" for a bomb blast that killed four people Sunday, wounded dozens of other Catholic worshippers in the south and sparked a security alarm, including in the capital, Manila, where state forces were put on alert. The suspected bomb, which the police said was made from a mortar round, went off and hit students and teachers who attended a Mass in a gymnasium at Mindanao State University in southern Marawi city, Taha Mandangan, the security chief of the state-run campus, told The Associated Press by telephone. Dozens of students and teachers dashed out of the gym and the wounded were taken to hospitals.

Michael BociurkiwComment