Gaza, 5-17-24

For today, links to reports from the Associated Press, National Public Radio, Reuters, ScheerPost, the Associated Press, Antiwar.com, and National Public Radio; others are accessible by clicking on their names or initials below. (UKRAINE entry for this date is HERE.) — MCM

   

For the children of Gaza, war means no school — and no indication when formal learning might return, by Wafaa Shurafa and Sam Mednick | AP  DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza — Since the war erupted Oct. 7, all of Gaza’s schools have closed — leaving hundreds of thousands of students without formal schooling or a safe place to spend their days. Aid groups are scrambling to keep children off the streets and their minds focused on something other than . . . READ MORE . . .

   

Amid war, what does the future of education look like in Gaza? Leila Fadel of NPR speaks with UNICEF’s Ricardo Pires about the destruction of Gaza’s education system and its effect on children there. Click HERE to listen and read.

   

As Israel says it will send more troops into southern Gaza, millions run out of food. Steve Inskeep of NPR speaks with Philippe Lazzarini, the commissioner general of the UN’s lead agency for aid to Palestinians, about the international response to a humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza. Click HERE to listen and read.

   

Trucks are rolling across a new U.S. pier into Gaza. But challenges remain to getting enough aid in, by Lolita C. Baldor and Jon Gambrell | AP  WASHINGTON — Trucks carrying badly needed aid for the Gaza Strip rolled across a newly built U.S. pier and into the besieged enclave for the first time today as Israeli restrictions on border crossings and heavy fightinghindered the delivery of food and other supplies. The shipment . . . READ MORE . . .

   

The first trucks carrying aid to Gaza roll off temporary floating pier. Reported by Steve Walsh | NPR  After months of preparation, the U.S. military is opening a floating pier to deliver humanitarian aid to people in Gaza. No U.S. troops will go ashore in Gaza. Click HERE to listen and read.

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Fierce fighting in northern Gaza as Israel defends itself in World Court, by Nidal Al-Mughrabi | Reuters  CAIRO — Israeli forces battled Hamas fighters in the narrow alleyways of Jabalia in northern Gaza today in some of the fiercest engagements since they returned to the area a week ago, while in the south militants attacked tanks massing around Rafah. At the World Court in The Hague, Israel asked . . . READ MORE . . .

   

Hezbollah introduces new weapons and tactics against Israel as war in Gaza drags on, by Bassem Mroue | AP  BEIRUT — The Lebanese militant group Hezbollah this week struck a military post in northern Israel using a drone that fired two missiles. The attack wounded three soldiers, one of them seriously, according to the Israeli military. Hezbollah has regularly fired . . . READ MORE . . .

   

FROM MAY 16  Democratic divide on Gaza war, campus protests hurting Biden, Reuters/Ipsos poll finds, by Jason Lange and James Oliphant | Reuters  WASHINGTON — Democrats are deeply divided over President Joe Biden’s handling of both the war in Gaza and the U.S. campus protests against it, a new Reuters/Ipsos poll found, fraying the coalition that he relied on four years ago to defeat Republican Donald Trump. READ MORE . . .  Click HERE for a look at poll from ScheerPost.

   

FROM MAY 16  U.S. House votes to force weapons shipments to Israel, rebuking Biden, by Patricia Zengerle | Reuters  WASHINGTON — The Republican-led U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill on Thursday that would force President Joe Biden to send weapons to Israel, seeking to rebuke the Democrat for delaying bomb shipments as he urges Israel . . . READ MORE . . .

   

FROM MAY 15  Interior Dept staffer becomes first Jewish Biden appointee to publicly resign over war in Gaza, by Ellen Knickmeyer | AP  WASHINGTON — An Interior Department staffer on Wednesday became the first Jewish political appointee to publicly resign in protest of U.S. support for Israel’s war in Gaza. Lily Greenberg Call, a special assistant to the chief of staff in the Interior Department, accused . . . READ MORE . . . Click HERE for a look at the AP report from Antiwar.com.

   

FROM MAY 16  Israel’s top leaders are divided over the handling of the war in Gaza. Reported by Jackie Northam | NPR  A war of words has erupted among Israel’s top leadership over the government’s handling of the war in Gaza. The country’s military chief and prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu have been trading barbs. Click HERE to listen and read.