For today, links to reports from Reuters, the Associated Press, National Public Radio, and a Substack account, followed by links to a piece of commentary from Australia and to two others from the Real News Network; others are accessible by clicking on the sources’ names or initials below. (Today’s UKRAINE entry is HERE,) — MCM
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UN leaders say Gaza war must ‘stop now’, as dozens more die, by Nidal Al-Mughrabi | Reuters GAZA — U.N. agency leaders saying “enough is enough” demanded a humanitarian ceasefire today nearly a month into Gaza’s war, as the enclave’s health authorities said dozens more people were killed in overnight attacks by Israeli fighter jets and troops. Israel has . . . READ MORE . . .
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Israeli forces cut off north Gaza as death toll passes 10,000 in 4 weeks of war, by Wafaa Shurafa and Samy Magy | AP DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Israeli forces severed northern Gaza from the rest of the besieged territory and pounded it with intense airstrikes overnight into today, setting the stage for an expected push into the dense confines of Gaza City and an even bloodier phase of the month-old war. The Palestinian death toll passed 10,000, the Health Ministry in Hamas-run Gaza said today. The ministry . . . READ MORE . . .
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Israel rebuffs calls for ceasefire; Lebanon strike angers Hezbollah, by Nidal Al-Mughrabi, Ali Sawafta and Simon Lewis | Reuters GAZA / RAMALLAH — Israel on Sunday rebuffed growing international pressure for a ceasefire and said its forces had encircled Gaza City as the top U.S. diplomat scrambled to contain a crisis that threatened to cause further escalation in neighbouring Lebanon. The Palestinian news agency WAFA said Gaza was under “unprecedented bombardment” from Israel, while . . . READ MORE . . .
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Blinken shuttles from the West Bank to Iraq trying to contain the fallout from the Israel-Hamas war, by Matthew Lee | AP RAMALLAH, West Bank — U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken took his diplomatic push on the Israel-Hamas war to the occupied West Bank on Sunday, trying to assure Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas that the Biden administration was intensifying efforts to ease the plight of Gaza’s civilians and insisting that Palestinians must . . . READ MORE . . .
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The average Palestinian in Gaza is living on 2 pieces of bread a day, UN official says, by Edith M. Lederer | AP UNITED NATIONS — The average Palestinian in Gaza is living on two pieces of Arabic bread made from flour the United Nations had stockpiled in the region, yet the main refrain now being heard in the street is “Water, water,” the Gaza director for the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees said Friday. Thomas White described Gaza as a “scene of death and destruction,” where no place . . . READ MORE . . .
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As Israel-Hamas war continues, Secretary Blinken urges humanitarian pauses in Gaza. Reported by Michele Kelemen | NPR U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken continues his Middle East trip, with a surprise visit to the occupied West Bank and to the Iraqi capital Baghdad, in search of a diplomatic solution to the war. Click HERE to listen and, at some point, read.
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How the hostage crisis could end, by Seymour M. Hersh | seymourhersh.substack.com A possible breakthrough, if that is the right word, concerning the Israeli hostages emerged in secret talks between Israel and Yahya Sinwar, a onetime prisoner of Israel who now directs the political wing of Hamas. Sinwar publicly announced on Oct. 28 that Hamas was ready for what he said would be an “immediate” prisoner swap with Israel in return for the release of all Palestinian prisoners now in Israeli custody. READ MORE . . .
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U.S. thinks it’s powerless to stop Gaza genocide, by Caitlin Johnstone | CaitlinJohstone.com.au In a bizarre new article titled “White House frustrated by Israel’s onslaught but sees few options,” The Washington Post reports that the Biden administration believes Israel has gone too far and is killing too many civilians in its assault on Gaza, but are powerless to do anything about it. The Post’s Yasmeen Abutaleb writes . . . Click HERE to read and listen.
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We’re a war machine as a nation. Chris Hedges of The Real News Network speaks with former U.S. Rep. Dennis Kucinich for a discussion of what both call the U.S. war machine — “what it is, how it works, and how it might respond should the war in Palestine spiral into a wider conflagration.” Click HERE to watch, listen, and read.
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Three ways our media is militarizing the civilian population in Gaza, by Adam Johnson | The Real News Network There are three popular tropes commonly employed by U.S. media, politicians, and pundits tasked with supporting President Biden and his lockstep backing of the Gaza bombing to effectively, ex post-facto, militarize civilians being killed and maimed by Israel: 1. “Terror tunnels” . . . READ MORE . . .