For today, links to reports from the Associated Press, Reuters, National Public Radio, and Middle East Monitor, and to an interview on Useful Idiots, via ScheerPost; others are accessible by clicking on their names or initials below. (UKRAINE entry for this date is HERE.) — MCM
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More than half a million people flee fighting in Rafah and northern Gaza, UN says. From AP. Around 450,000 Palestinians were driven out of Rafah in Gaza’s south over the past week, the United Nations’ agency for Palestinian refugees said today. Israeli forces are also battling Hamas militants in northern Gaza, where . . . READ MORE . . .
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Israeli tanks push into Gaza’s Rafah, as displaced civilians flee again, by Nidal Al-Mughrabi | Reuters Israeli tanks forged deeper into eastern Rafah today, reaching some residential districts of . . . READ MORE . . .
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In Gaza, a hidden threat could kill Palestinians even after a cease-fire. Reported by Lauren Frayer and Anas Baba | NPR KHAN YOUNIS, Gaza Strip and TEL AVIV, Israel —The rule of thumb, explosives experts say, is that 10% of munitions do not detonate on impact. That means an estimated 7,500 metric tons of live munition may be scattered throughout Gaza, according to the United Nations. Click HERE to listen and read.
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Oxford University faculty and staff endorse Gaza solidarity encampment. From Middle East Monitor. As of this morning, just over a week since the establishment of Oxford’s “Liberated Zone” for Gaza, over 500 members of faculty and staff at the University of Oxford have pledged support in writing for the solidarity encampment and its demands, and more signatures are being added daily. READ MORE . . .
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Israeli strikes on aid convoys are not unusual, Human Rights Watch says. Leila Fadel of NPR talks with Belkis Wille of Human Rights Watch, which examines casualties among aid workers in Gaza. She says there have been at least eight strikes on convoys and shelter homes. Click HERE to listen and, later, read.
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FROM MAY 13 ‘Insanity’— Mearsheimer on the U.S. role in Gaza and Ukraine. Katie Halper and Aaron Maté of Useful Idiots talk with the political scientist and international relations scholar John Mearsheimer. The 25 minutes pertaining to Gaza begin roughly 63 minutes in. Click HERE for introduction and video.