WORLD BRIEFING: December 8, 2023
Israel - Hamas War
The US Secretary of State says there is a "gap" between Israel's intent to protect civilians and how the war has been unfolding in Gaza. Antony Blinken says “it remains imperative that Israel put a premium on civilian protection" - Israel insists it’s taking steps to minimise civilian harm. Meanwhile, a UN official says the Israeli military offensive means there is no safe place left for aid agencies in southern Gaza. Tens of thousands of Palestinians have fled to Rafah near the border with Egypt as intense fighting continues in Khan Younis. Israel says that it will open the Kerem Shalom border crossing in the next few days to allow aid into Gaza - BBC
Hamas officials in Gaza say Israel has killed more than 17,177 people in its retaliatory campaign, including about 7,000 children
Professor Refaat Alareer was killed by Israeli forces, his friend announced on Thursday. He was a co-founder of the ‘We Are Not Numbers’ project, a professor at the Islamic University of Gaza, and one of Gaza's most prominent writers, poets & activists
A video that emerged yesterday on social media showing dozens of Palestinian men detained by Israeli forces has been verified by the BBC. The footage shows them stripped to their underwear, kneeling on the ground and being guarded by Israeli soldiers. The men are thought to have been arrested in Beit Lahia, in the far north of the Gaza Strip. A local media outlet says one of the men is a respected journalist. Other images show them being transported in military trucks. Another shot - which has not yet been verified by the BBC - shows men blindfolded, kneeling in what appears to be a large pit of bulldozed sand. In Israeli media, the captives are being described as Hamas fighters who have surrendered. The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) has not directly commented on the images, but spokesman Daniel Hagari said on Thursday that "IDF fighters and Shin Bet officers detained and interrogated hundreds of terror suspects".
Ukraine War
Russia fired a barrage of cruise missiles at targets in Ukraine early Friday morning after a nearly 80-day pause, Ukrainian officials said. The air raid in Kyiv lasted almost two hours but all missiles heading towards the Ukrainian capital were destroyed by air defenses, according to Serhii Popko, head of the Kyiv city military administration.
Between August and October, the amount of newly committed aid to Ukraine decreased by 87% compared to the same period last year, according to a new study by the Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel). The value of aid packages announced throughout these months totaled 2.11 billion euros (around $2.2 billion), the lowest level since January 2022, the study results showed. The report was published on Dec. 7 amid increasing uncertainty over the U.S.'s further assistance to Ukraine and delays in the European Union's approval of a $50 billion package for Kyiv, opposed by Hungary and Slovakia. Of the 42 donors tracked by the IfW Kiel, only 20 have pledged new aid packages to Ukraine over the last three months, which the institute called the smallest share of active donors since the start of Russia's full-scale invasion - Kyiv Independent
Russia has placed the award-winning American-Russian writer and journalist Masha Gessen on its wanted list. Moscow previously opened a criminal case against Gessen, accusing them of spreading “false information” about the actions of the Russian army in Ukraine
Elsewhere
Despite the economic woes, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi is expected to cruise to a third term, with credible opposition movements sidelined or crushed and the Arab world's most populous country distracted by the war in neighbouring Gaza. But once the vote is over, analysts will be watching closely for austerity measures they believe were postponed for the elections and could start to put Egypt's finances back in order - CNN
The United States said it would carry out flight operations in the South American country of Guyana amid fears that Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro is looking to annex a portion of it - Epoch Times
A Canadian miner is proposing moving its headquarters outside of Canada in an attempt to skirt a national security review that would have allowed the federal government to block its financing deal with an opaque China-based critical minerals company. Montreal-based SRG Mining Inc. in July announced a tentative deal worth $16.9-million to sell a 19.4-per-cent stake to Carbon ONE New Energy Group Co. Ltd. (C-ONE), even though Ottawa last year announced a virtual ban on the acquisition of Canadian mining companies by China-based enterprises, because of national security concerns over the superpower’s dominance in critical minerals. At the time SRG announced its deal, it warned investors that the transaction was subject to approval by the federal government. But in a public filing last week, SRG laid out a workaround that it says will remove Canada’s power to police the transaction. The company will maintain its TSX Venture Exchange listing, but redomicile outside the country. Consequently, the C-ONE deal will no longer need Ottawa’s approval, SRG said - Globe and Mail