Israel tells northern Gaza to evacuate
Israel’s military has informed the U.N. that the entire population of northern Gaza should relocate to the southern half of the territory within 24 hours, a spokesman said, adding that such a movement — involving over one million people — would lead to “devastating humanitarian consequences.”
It came as Israel’s military said that its troops were preparing “for the next stage of the war.” The country has called up 360,000 reservists, and Israel has warned that, after the massacre of its citizens by Hamas on Saturday, the rules have changed. “Every Hamas member is marked by death,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said.
In Gaza, the humanitarian crisis deepened after six days of Israeli bombardment of the crowded, blockaded territory in retaliation for the brutal incursion by Hamas, the Palestinian militant organization that controls the enclave. U.N. officials have warned that people in the territory are experiencing “horrible” suffering as they face a “huge disaster.”
Toll: More than 1,200 Israelis and 1,500 Palestinians have been killed, officials said, and more than 300,000 Palestinians have been forced from their homes.
Humanitarian corridor: Egypt said it would facilitate the moving of urgently needed aid into Gaza, but officials in Cairo were adamantly opposed to allowing Gazans to enter the country, their only viable exit.
What else to know:
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More details were emerging on the atrocity of the Hamas attack on dozens of towns and a military base: civilians, including children, shot dead in homes, in cars, on streets and in hiding places.
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A U.S. Treasury Department official said that Iran, a backer of Hamas, would be blocked from access to $6 billion that the Biden administration had sent to Qatar to be released for humanitarian purposes.
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While Israelis have largely shown solidarity since the Hamas massacre, Netanyahu’s government has begun to face a backlash from people angered by its security failure.
A secret Vatican conference attracts heterodox Catholics
A major assembly of more than 400 bishops and lay Catholics, called by Pope Francis to discuss the church’s future, is underway in Rome. Topics on the agenda include the ordination of female deacons, the celibacy of the clergy and the blessing of same-sex couples.
Outside the conference, every ideological stripe of Catholic activist and special interest group has also descended on the Italian capital, hoping to share the spotlight. They include advocates for the ordination of women, conservative and progressive culture warriors and abortion rights campaigners. (At least one had been formally excommunicated.)
Ukraine and Russia look to sway opinions in Hamas war
Nearly two years into Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the two countries are seeking to nurture their diplomatic alliances and influence opinion to bolster their respective military causes.
Since attacks by Hamas on Israel last weekend, Ukraine has sought to position itself as a friend of Israel while asserting that Moscow would try to use the conflict to drive a wedge between Ukraine and its allies. Russia, in turn, said that Israel’s war in Gaza showed the failure of the West and in particular U.S. policy in the region.
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A Judy Chicago show
Judy Chicago’s monumental 1979 installation “The Dinner Party” is among the most famous works of feminist art. Yet she had never had her own survey in New York — until now. “To see it in the context that I have carried in my heart and in my mind, and it’s sustained me — that’s overwhelming, completely overwhelming,” she said.
“Herstory,” which spans four floors of the New Museum, covers six decades of Chicago’s work, along with pieces from artists and thinkers including Hilma af Klint, Zora Neale Hurston, Virginia Woolf and Frida Kahlo.
