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An Israeli airstrike on a school functioning as a shelter in Gaza City killed at least 25 people and injured dozens more on Sunday, according to the Palestinian emergency response agency in Gaza and Palestinian news outlets. Most of the victims were women and children, said Mahmoud Basal, a spokesman for the Palestinian Civil Defense. He said that an F-16 fighter jet hit a school called Hassan Salame, where at least 14 people were still buried under the rubble. The Israeli military said it had targeted “terrorists” in “Hamas command and control centers” located at the Hassan Salame and Nasser schools. “If you want to kill someone, kill him away from other people.”

Persons: Mahmoud, Hassan Salame, Nasser, ” Organizations: Palestinian Civil Defense Locations: Gaza City, Gaza, Palestinian, ”

On Today’s Episode:Biden Asks America to ‘Lower the Temperature’ After Trump Shooting, by Michael D. ShearHere’s What Is Known About the Suspect Who Tried to Assassinate Trump, by Campbell Robertson, Jack Healy, Nicholas Bogel-Burroughs and Glenn ThrushAfter Shooting at Trump Rally, Officials Say R.N.C. Security Is ‘Ready To Go,’ by Julie Bosman, Ernesto Londoño and Dan SimmonsIsrael Struck Twice in Its Attack on Al-Mawasi, Videos and Photos Show, by Riley MellenPromised Cures, Tainted Cells: How Cord Blood Banks Mislead Parents, by Sarah Kliff and Azeen Ghorayshi

Persons: Biden, Michael D, Trump, Campbell Robertson, Jack Healy, Nicholas Bogel, Burroughs, Glenn Thrush, Julie Bosman, Ernesto Londoño, Dan Simmons Israel, Riley Mellen, Blood Banks, Sarah Kliff Organizations: Trump, Trump Rally Locations: ‘

For all the fears of an outbreak of fighting in the Middle East that could draw the United States, Israel and Iran into direct combat, a curious feature of the conflict so far is the care taken — in both Tehran and Washington — to avoid putting their forces into direct contact. No one knows how long that will last, American and European diplomats and other officials say. It is the most delicate of dances, rife with subtle signals, attacks and feints, and deniable action. The evidence of caution is piecemeal, but everywhere. That is considered the red line that could trigger military action against its underground nuclear complexes.

Persons: Washington — Locations: United States, Israel, Iran, Tehran, Washington, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon

Amid a barrage of airstrikes, Israel sharply expanded its evacuation orders in the Gaza Strip on Sunday in preparation for an expected ground invasion in the southern part of the territory. The new orders, coming three days after the collapse of a weeklong truce, sowed confusion and fear among Gaza residents, some of whom have already been displaced at least once before. Images from Gaza on Sunday showed plumes of dark smoke rising above a rubble-covered landscape and bloodied children wailing in dust-covered hospital wards. Mourners stood beside rows of bodies wrapped in white sheets. Late Sunday night, a military spokesman, Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, said Israel “continues and expands its ground operations against Hamas strongholds all across the Gaza Strip,” but did not elaborate.

Persons: Daniel Hagari, Israel “ Locations: Israel, Gaza

The deal came after an Israeli offer to continue the cease-fire by one day for every additional 10 hostages released, who would be exchanged for 30 Palestinians in Israeli prisons. Hamas said it had received a list of three women and 30 minors that Israel would release in return on Monday. Dozens of Israeli soldiers as well as civilian Israeli men in their 70s and 80s are still being held captive in Gaza. The official said Hamas has said that in those cases, the mothers are being held by different groups, and it would take time to get them. Late Monday, Israel’s Army Radio, citing the prime minister’s office, reported that the government had received a list of hostages held by Hamas who are expected to be released on Tuesday.

Persons: Kibbutz Nir Oz, Sharon Alony Cunio, Emma, Yuli Cunio, David Cunio, Cunio’s Organizations: Hamas, Israel’s Army Locations: Israel, Gaza, Qatar

A third group of Gaza Strip hostages, including a 4-year-old American girl whose parents were killed in the Hamas raids on Israel, was freed on Sunday, raising the prospect more captives could be set free and a fragile truce extended. The 17 hostages released by Hamas, who were seized when the militants raided Israel on Oct. 7, included three Thai citizens, one Russian and the little girl Avigail Idan, a dual American-Israeli citizen who was kidnapped from a kibbutz. She marked her fourth birthday in captivity in Gaza on Friday. “Thank God she’s home,” President Biden said to reporters in Nantucket, Mass., where he spent the Thanksgiving holiday. “I wish I was there to hold her.”Much hinged on the latest release of hostages, who were exchanged for 39 Palestinian prisoners held by Israel on the third day of a four-day truce.

Persons: Avigail Idan, God she’s, Biden, “ Organizations: ” Locations: Gaza, Israel, Nantucket

The following day, Lena and her family went back to the border — their fourth trip — as the first aid trucks were scheduled to enter Gaza through the Rafah crossing. Hoping they would finally get to cross, the family waited at the border for hours, along with hundreds of others. Around 4:30 p.m., there was still no movement and no officials at the gates, Lena said. Over the next several days, Lena’s daughters in Gaza were “holding on by a thread,” Lena wrote in a message. Lena said she frequently called the State Department, but they could not tell her when she might be able to leave.

Persons: Lena, —, Lena’s, ”, “, “ I’m Organizations: State Department, Gaza Locations: Gaza, Rafah, U.S

The militants, Israeli security officials say, have spent the better part of 16 years building a vast command complex under the hospital, and setting up similar bases underneath other medical facilities in the enclave. Hamas denies doing anything of the sort, and hospital officials say the facility houses nothing but the sick and injured and the medical professionals dedicated to helping them. In the estimation of most Palestinians, the obsession with Al Shifa is evidence of Israel’s willingness to target even the most helpless civilians without justification. The hospital, Israeli officials said, was spared in past Israeli operations out of concern for civilian life, but at the cost of leaving whatever may be underneath it intact. They say that the complex under Al Shifa is one of the principal Israeli targets of the war and will not be left untouched, despite the growing international outcry to spare Al Shifa and other hospitals.

Persons: Al Shifa, Mohammed Abu Salmiya, ”, Chuck Freilich, “, —, Freilich, “ it’s Organizations: Israel Locations: Gaza, Israel

☆ Tens of Thousands Flee Northern Gaza Strip, as Israel’s Invasion Advances
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-08 | by ( Vivian Yee | More About Vivian Yee | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Tens of thousands of desperate civilians, some waving white flags, have fled the northern Gaza Strip this week, marching along a road pocked with airstrike craters and lined with ruined buildings, as Israeli officials reported that their troops had pushed into the heart of the densely populated Hamas stronghold of Gaza City. The United Nations estimated that through Tuesday, 40,000 people had walked out of northern Gaza along the only route south, after Israeli officials told residents of the besieged enclave to evacuate “for their own safety,” and thousands more streamed out on Wednesday. The evacuations have accelerated in part because of the sharply deteriorating humanitarian situation in northern Gaza, with food and clean water now nearly nonexistent. As the ground invasion has expanded, the Israeli military said it was offering a daily window of time in which it would guarantee safe passage for civilians. News photographs as well as a video released by the Israeli military on Wednesday, the fifth day the evacuation corridor was open, showed men, women and children trudging past half-destroyed buildings.

Persons: Yoav Gallant, Salah Al, —, Saladin — Organizations: The United Nations, Crusaders Locations: Gaza, Gaza City, “, West, Jerusalem

They knew it would be perilous, but Jinan Al Salya and her family decided to heed Israeli directions to evacuate the northern Gaza Strip and head south. They fled their car before a shell hit it, sending it and their luggage up in flames, Ms. Al Salya, 20, said in a telephone interview. “I’m in total shock.” Ms. Al Salya said she believed the shell that hit the car had been fired by an Israeli tank; the Israeli military declined to comment on the incident. Despite intensifying Israeli ground operations, continued air and artillery strikes, a mounting death toll and a critical lack of resources, hundreds of thousands of people remain in northern Gaza. David Satterfield, U.S. special envoy for Mideast humanitarian issues, estimated on Saturday that at least 350,000 to 400,000 people remained in northern Gaza.

Persons: Al Salya, ”, “, Ms, Ahmed Ferwana, Al Shati, Ferwana, Iyad, David Satterfield Organizations: Jinan Al, The New York Times Locations: Jinan, Jinan Al Salya, Gaza, Rafah, Egypt, Jabaliya, Gaza City, Swiss

☆ First Group Has Left Gaza Since the War Began
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-01 | by ( Vivian Yee | More About Vivian Yee | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

After three weeks of thwarted hopes and intensive diplomatic negotiations, the first group of people to evacuate Gaza since the war between Israel and Hamas began on Oct. 7 was beginning to arrive in Egypt. Thousands of foreign passport holders and people affiliated with international organizations are set to evacuate to Egypt starting on Wednesday. Several seriously injured Palestinians arrived on Wednesday, Egyptian state TV and a local medical official said, and hundreds of foreign passport holders were moving through checkpoints at the Rafah border crossing. More were to follow in the coming days, according to Gazan authorities and Western diplomats. The agreement to allow them to cross came together late on Tuesday in talks that have been continuing among Israel, Egypt, Hamas, the United States and Qatar.

Organizations: Hamas Locations: Gaza, Israel, Egypt, Rafah, United States, Qatar

☆ The fate of many Gazans lies with the Rafah crossing, and Egypt.
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-31 | by ( Vivian Yee | More About Vivian Yee | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +5 min

On the far side of the Sinai Peninsula, about a six-hour drive from Cairo through a largely empty Egyptian desert, the Rafah crossing is a dun-colored expanse of sand, concrete and not much else. Yet over the last three weeks of Israel’s war with Hamas in Gaza, Rafah has become the focus of heated negotiations, a place where many people, both powerful and powerless, have pinned their waning hopes. Egypt highlighted that role on Tuesday, when the government took reporters on a tightly controlled trip to Rafah. Aid trucks and army tanks lined the dusty road leading to the crossing. On Tuesday, 83 trucks arrived in Gaza, said Wael Abu Omar, a spokesman for the Gaza side of the Rafah crossing.

Persons: we’ve, Mostafa Madbouly, Wael Abu Omar, David M, ”, Israel, ’, Madbouly, Mustafa Mouftah, Mr, Satterfield, Biden, Hiba, Iyad Abuheweila Organizations: Gaza’s General Authority, ”, European Union, U.S, United Locations: Cairo, Rafah, Egypt, Gaza, Israel, North, United States, Egyptian, El Arish

☆ Israel Says Al Shifa Hospital Conceals Hamas Underground Command Centers
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-28 | by ( Vivian Yee | More About Vivian Yee | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

To people in Gaza, Al Shifa is the biggest and most advanced hospital around — a lifeline, in normal times, and now a place of refuge from relentless Israeli airstrikes. But to the Israeli military, it is a threat, and, perhaps, a target. On Friday, hours before the Israeli military stepped up its bombardment of Gaza in retaliation for Hamas’s mass killings of Israelis three weeks ago, it held a news conference in which it said that Al Shifa conceals underground command centers for Hamas — raising fears that the military was laying the groundwork for attacking the hospital. Hamas “does its command and control in different departments of the hospital,” said Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, the chief spokesman for the Israeli military, speaking in English and citing intelligence sources that he did not release. He displayed an illustrated map of the hospital marking what he said were several underground Hamas installations in the complex.

Persons: Al Shifa, Al, ”, Daniel Hagari Locations: Gaza, Al, —

☆ Gazans Release Names of 6,747 People They Say Were Killed in Israeli Strikes
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-26 | by ( Vivian Yee | More About Vivian Yee | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Also excluded were people believed to be still under the rubble and considered missing, those buried without being admitted to a hospital and those whose deaths had not been recorded by hospitals, it said, raising the possibility that the toll could be far higher. The Ministry of Health, which is part of the Hamas government in Gaza but employs civil servants who predate Hamas’s control of the territory, did not say why it had decided to publish the names of the dead. But it came after Mr. Biden said that he had “no notion that the Palestinians are telling the truth about how many people are killed.” He also added, “I’m sure innocents have been killed, and it’s the price of waging a war.”Mr. Biden did not explain his skepticism. Others have cast doubt on the soaring death toll cited in part because the Health Ministry is, ultimately, overseen by Hamas, which took control of Gaza in 2007, after winning elections there and then battling the Palestinian Authority in the streets for control. The United States has long considered the Islamist political and militant group a terrorist organization.

Persons: Biden, ”, “, Mr Organizations: of Health, Mr, Health Ministry, Hamas, Palestinian Authority, United Locations: Gaza, United States

Quantity and flow of aidIsrael would like for 20 trucks to pass into Gaza, but won’t commit on future aid flows. “What is certainly undoubtedly needed is a steady flow of much bigger quantities of humanitarian assistance,” the European Union humanitarian aid commissioner, Janez Lenarcic, said in an interview on Friday. is the biggest international aid donor to the Palestinians and has dozens of tons of aid on the Egyptian side of the border waiting to be delivered. Destination of aidIsrael wants aid to be delivered to southern Gaza, not northern Gaza where it had demanded last week that civilians leave, in an apparent run-up to a ground invasion. “Humanitarian aid should go to all places where there are people who need it,” Mr. Lenarcic said.

Persons: Janez Lenarcic, Israel, ” Mr, Lenarcic, Patrick Kingsley Organizations: Union, United Nations, United Locations: Israel, Gaza, Syria, United Nations, Jerusalem

On one side of the border crossing between Egypt and Gaza sit more than 100 trucks packed with desperately needed food, water and medical supplies. On the other wait more than 2 million Gazans now scraping by on dwindling stocks of basic human necessities. Officials and aid workers on Thursday were hammering out the logistics of opening the gates, saying that a U.N.-led deal had laid the groundwork to allow trucks carrying humanitarian aid to enter Gaza from Egypt, offering the renewed promise of relief to the besieged enclave. Aid organizations were told that the crossing would open on Friday morning, according to an aid official who was not authorized to discuss the matter publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity. The deal, officials said, includes the U.N. flag being raised at the crossing and international observers inspecting aid trucks before they enter Gaza.

Persons: Egypt — Organizations: Israel, Hamas Locations: Egypt, Gaza, Gazan, Rafah

☆ Across Mideast, Protests Erupt Over ‘Horrific Scenes’ in Gaza
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-18 | by ( Vivian Yee | More About Vivian Yee | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

In Morocco and Bahrain, they demanded a reversal of their government’s normalization with Israel, the country they consider responsible for oppressing their Palestinian brethren. In Lebanon, they pushed toward the United States Embassy, denouncing the superpower for enabling Israel’s brutality toward civilians in the Gaza Strip. In Istanbul, 80,000 people massed outside the Israeli consulate, including some who attempted to storm the building with stones, sticks, torches and fireworks. Thousands of protesters marched in grief, fury and solidarity across the Middle East on Tuesday night and Wednesday, after hundreds of Palestinian civilians were killed in an explosion at a hospital in Gaza. Some Arabs have berated their governments for failing to stand up to Israel in the past, but now those governments have nearly uniformly condemned Israel for the attack.

Persons: Israel, —, ”, Khaled Mhamdi, Biden, Israel’s Organizations: United States Embassy, Islamic, Al Ahli Hospital Locations: Tunis, Cairo, Oman, Muscat ., Morocco, Bahrain, Israel, Lebanon, Gaza, Istanbul, United States, Islamic Jihad, Palestinian, Al Ahli, Jordan, Egypt

☆ Residents See Signs of a Crackdown on Dissent After Libya Floods
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-21 | by ( Vivian Yee | More About Vivian Yee | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Authorities in flood-devastated eastern Libya appeared to be moving to muzzle dissent over the past week, arresting protesters and activists who have demanded accountability for what they say was a botched official response to the catastrophe. Torrential rains that burst two dams unleashed a flood on Sept. 11 that swept much of the coastal city of Derna and the surrounding areas out to the Mediterranean Sea, killing thousands. At least three people who either publicly criticized the government response or participated in a protest in Derna on Monday have been detained, according to witnesses and a relative. Aid workers and journalists also say the authoritarian administration that controls the eastern half of divided Libya, where Derna is, restricted access to the city for some. On Tuesday and Wednesday, internet and cellphone services in the city were also shut down, raising questions about whether they were deliberately severed by operators.

Locations: Libya, Derna

Now she stood near the Koutoubia Mosque, where she and other Marrakesh residents once prayed regularly, filling it during the holy fasting month of Ramadan or the days of Eid. Its square had been sealed off by metal barriers and police tape while experts assessed the damage, but no final diagnosis had been made, according to a government official. “I would love to go there and pray for the dead,” said Ms. Chuegra, “but I’m afraid it might collapse.”Elsewhere in Marrakesh, several museums, as well as the 16th-century El Badi Palace (often translated as “The Incomparable”) and the late 19th-century El Bahia Palace (“The Beautiful”) were closed to visitors. Experts have judged them to be in serious condition, and what appeared to be materials for shoring up the structure of El Badi were piled outside the palace on Wednesday. Residents said the apparently untouched or lightly cracked exterior walls of the homes hid serious destruction within.

Persons: “, ”, Chuegra, El Organizations: Residents Locations: Koutoubia, Marrakesh, Bahia, El Badi, Medina, guesthouses

Prioritizing U.S. national security interests over human rights, the Biden administration has approved $235 million in military aid for Egypt that it had withheld for the past two years because of the country’s repressive policies. The decision means that the United States will withhold just a small fraction — $85 million — of the $1.3 billion in military aid earmarked annually for Egypt. Explaining the decision on Thursday, State Department officials said the United States continued to have serious concerns about human rights in Egypt, which has been ruled by a repressive military government for a decade. The officials insisted that the approval of the $235 million does not reflect any less emphasis by the Biden administration on human rights. They noted that Mr. Blinken raised the cases of political prisoners and other abuses with Egyptian leaders during a visit to Cairo in January and will continue to press those issues.

Persons: Biden, Antony J, Blinken Organizations: State Locations: Egypt, United States, Washington, Cairo

Before the tourists came to marvel at the valley cradled in Morocco’s Atlas Mountains, with its arid red slopes splashed with lush green and its deep-blue lake, the only living to be made was in olive farming, and not much of a living at that. Then came the modest little hiking lodge and the luxury resort, and the quasi-palace owned by Richard Branson and the inns set up by the people of the Ouirgane Valley, many of whom are members of the Amazigh ethnic group, more commonly known as Berbers. As more and more tourists discovered over the last few decades that the area was only an hour’s drive from the city of Marrakesh, the residents of villages like Ouirgane got jobs as guides for mule riding and hiking, drivers, waiters, hoteliers, restaurateurs and more. Many were able to move back home from Moroccan cities like Marrakesh and Essaouira, where they had taken jobs to support families in their villages.

Persons: Richard Branson, Ouirgane Locations: Atlas, Marrakesh, Moroccan, Essaouira

Hopes were fading of finding survivors alive in the rubble of a powerful earthquake that struck Morocco, as rescue efforts entered a fourth day on Tuesday with the death toll creeping up to nearly 2,900 people. The quake on Friday night with a magnitude of at least 6.8 was centered in the High Atlas Mountains, not far from the major city of Marrakesh. It was the most powerful to strike that area in at least a century, flattening fragile mud brick houses in the poor, rural villages that were the hardest hit. Morocco’s government has drawn some criticism for what has been seen as a sluggish response and a seeming reluctance to accept a deluge of offers to send in expert international teams and aid. But a government spokesman pushed back against that criticism late on Sunday, saying the authorities “were working to intervene quickly, effectively and successfully.”But King Mohammad VI, who calls the shots on all the most important matters of state in Morocco, and other authorities have released little information since the earthquake struck, updating casualty figures infrequently and making few public statements.

Persons: King Mohammad VI Locations: Morocco, Marrakesh

When the earth seized his house and shook it late Friday night, Mohamed Abarada ran outside with his 9-month-old daughter in his arms. Mr. Abarada started digging with his bare hands. He dug by day with the help of neighbors and relatives, and by night with the flashlight on his phone. But on Monday, his daughter Chaima had yet to be found. With Mr. Abarada’s shoulder injured, his fellow searchers urged him to rest while they kept sifting through what had been his house — broken bricks mingled with broken wood, bamboo roofing, couch cushions, a satellite dish and teakettles, all the flotsam of family life.

Persons: Mohamed Abarada, Abarada, Chaima, Abarada’s, — Locations: Douar Tnirt

Others tried to comfort the wounded and grieving. A lack of ambulances and other transportation from Douar Tnirt meant that some people who had been pulled alive from the rubble over the weekend died before they could be taken to Marrakesh for treatment, residents said. Others waited for hours before being driven there by private transport. Some Moroccans expressed frustration with the pace of aid efforts. “Help was extremely late,” said Fouad Abdelmoumni, a Moroccan economist.

Persons: Tnirt, “, ”, Fouad Abdelmoumni, King Mohammed VI Organizations: Moroccan Locations: Casablanca, Marrakesh, Moroccan

Rescuers in Morocco are racing to dig survivors out of rubble after the country’s worst earthquake in a century flattened homes and buildings, killing at least 2,000 people. The magnitude-6.8 quake struck in the mountains south of Marrakesh, an ancient city that is a popular tourist destination. The quake particularly devastated communities in the Atlas Mountains, where the full extent of the damage is still unknown. Debris has blocked some of the region’s roads, making it difficult for rescue crews to reach remote communities. Frantic rescue effortsIn some remote areas, people sifted through debris with their bare hands to search for survivors.

Locations: Morocco, Marrakesh

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