For today, links to reports from Cable News Network, National Public Radio, Reuters, and the Associated Press; others are accessible by clicking on their initials below. Then, links to commentary from the Philadelphia Inquirer and from the Springfield Republican / Masslive. Next, the beginning of an essay in the Republican that is apparently not available for linking even for subscribers. (The UKRAINE entry for this date is HERE.) — MCM
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Why Gaza’s largest hospital has become the ‘epicenter’ of Israel’s war on Hamas. Reported by Nadeen Ebrahim, Jessie Yeung and Christian Edwards | CNN Israeli forces launched a raid Wednesday on Gaza’s largest hospital, Al-Shifa, after accusing Hamas of operating from tunnels beneath the vast complex – a claim denied by the militant group and hospital officials. Thousands of Palestinians are believed to be sheltering in and around the hospital, which the UN said had become . . . Click HERE to read and to view video.
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Israeli soldiers remain inside Gaza’s largest hospital in their fight against Hamas. Reported by Michel Martin and Lauren Frayer | NPR Hundreds of patients, doctors and evacuees are inside the hospital, which was surrounded by gun battles for days. The Israeli military drops leaflets in southern Gaza calling for further evacuations. Click HERE to listen and, later, read.
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Israel orders residents from southern Gaza towns, raising fear of war’s spread, by Nidal Al-Mughrabi and Emily Rose | Reuters GAZA / JERUSALEM — Israel ordered civilians to leave four towns in the southern part of the Gaza Strip on Thursday, raising fears its war against Hamas could spread to areas it had told people were safe. In the north of the Hamas-ruled Palestinian enclave, Israel said its forces were still present at Gaza’s biggest hospital, Al Shifa, but . . . READ MORE . . .
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Their families wiped out, grieving Palestinians in Gaza ask why, by Samya Kullab and Najib Jobain | AP KHAN YOUNIS, Gaza Strip — Entire generations of Palestinian families in the besieged Gaza Strip — from great-grandparents to infants only weeks old — have been killed in airstrikes in the Israel-Hamas war, in which the Israeli army says it aims to root out the militant group from the densely populated coastal territory. Attacks are occurring at a scale . . . READ MORE . . .
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Supplies alone won’t save Gaza hospital patients and evacuation remains perilous, experts say, by Maria Cheng | AP LONDON — As concerns grow for patients stranded inside Gaza’s biggest hospital, experts warned that transporting vulnerable people, including babies, is a perilous proposition under even the best circumstances. On Tuesday, Palestinian authorities proposed a supervised evacuation of Shifa Hospital. Hours later, Israeli forces raided the sprawling complex — further complicating . . . READ MORE . . .
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History is missing element in confusion over Israel-Hamas war, by Michael Engel | The Springfield Republican Let’s see if I can do 3,000 years of history in as few words as possible. Yes, it is necessary to go that far back. Jews began migrating into the Palestine area among the native population before 1000 B.C. The Roman Empire took over in 65 B.C. and threw most Jews out after . . . READ MORE . . .
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‘From the river to the sea’ could drown out any chance for peace, by Trudy Rubin | The Philadelphia Inquirer / The Springfield Republican It is important to understand the meaning of the controversial phrase that thousands of pro-Palestinian demonstrators have been chanting, and whose use earned a censure resolution from the U.S. House of Representatives against Democratic Rep. Rashida Tlaib, the lone Palestinian American in Congress. Tlaib claims . . . READ MORE . . .
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Hamas ideology at heart of horror, by Bruce Hertzberg | The Springfield Republican The laws of war demand every effort to avoid civilian casualties, even as “collateral” damage, and deliberate attacks on civilians are clearly war crimes. The loss of civilian lives in the Israel-Hamas war understandably fuels calls for a pause or cease-fire. But the definition of “civilian” to which . . .