| | | | | | | Hello. Today I want to share two pieces from my colleagues in Israel and Gaza. They are difficult and important reads that highlight two realities of a war that has entered its sixth month. First, as a report warns of looming famine in Northern Gaza, Joel Gunter writes about starvation in the territory. In Israel, Orla Guerin speaks to the mother of one of the 130 hostages remaining in Gaza, and to families demanding a deal to get the captives back. But first, some updates from Moscow, New York and Ethiopia. |
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| | | | Get up to speed | | • | Vladimir Putin has described Donbas and other parts of Ukraine occupied by Russian forces as part of a “New Russia” during a speech in Red Square, after he claimed a landslide election win. | | • | Donald Trump’s laywers say he cannot find a private company to guarantee the $464m (£365m) he has been ordered to pay in a New York civil fraud case. | | • | Ethiopia's biggest commercial bank has reportedly lost more than $40m (£31m) after a glitch enabled clients to withdraw more cash than they had in their accounts. Here’s what went down. |
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| | AT THE SCENE | Jerusalem and Gaza | | Gaza faces famine during Ramadan | | | | Khaled Naji and family share a meal in the ruins of his home in Gaza. "There is no joy in this Ramadan," he said. Credit: BBC/Majdi Fathi | | Israel's bombardment of Gaza, in response to the Hamas attacks of 7 October, has destroyed the territory's food infrastructure. A UN-backed report says 1.1 million people are facing starvation and famine is imminent. Israel denies intentionally starving Gazans, saying the UN has created logistical challenges for aid deliveries. | | | When dawn broke last Monday morning, signalling the beginning of Ramadan, it brought a cruel irony for the people of Gaza. The holy month when Muslims fast during daylight had arrived during a looming famine. "The people here have already been fasting for months," said Dr Amjad Eleiwa, the deputy director of the emergency department at al-Shifa hospital, Gaza City.
Under his care on Friday, 16-year-old Rafeeq Dughmoush was lying on his side, bedbound. Rafeeq's bones were showing and one of his legs had been amputated from the knee down. A colostomy bag was attached to his torso. "I am emaciated," he said, speaking slowly in order to draw breath between words. "I am so weak I cannot move my body from one side to another. My uncle has to move me." Rafeeq was already suffering from malnutrition, he said, before the strike that wounded him. "We could not find any kind of fruit to eat, no apple, no guava, there was no meat and any food at the markets was all too expensive," he said. |
| | | | • | Born into war: Mohamed was born in Khan Younis, in the south of Gaza, on 7 October. After a month, his mother Amal was not able to produce enough milk for him, and is constantly struggling to find formula, reports Stephanie Hegarty. | | • | Maritime aid: The first humanitarian aid shipment to Gaza has been unloaded on to the shore on Saturday. It contained 200 tonnes of food. |
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| AT THE SCENE | Tel Aviv, Israel | | Hostage families cling to hope | | | | Hersh Goldberg-Polin, here with his mother Rachel, was last seen in a Hamas video after the 7 October attack. Credit: Family handout | | An estimated 130 people taken hostage during the 7 October attacks remain in Gaza. Israel believes at least 30 of them are already dead. Their relatives - along with those captives who have already been released - are trapped in an anguishing wait. | | | Every morning when Rachel Goldberg-Polin wakes, she writes a number on a piece of tape and sticks it to her clothing. It's the number of days since her son Hersh was taken hostage - she says stolen - by Hamas. When we meet in Jerusalem that number is 155. On the morning of 7 October, she turned on her phone to find two messages from Hersh. The first said: "I love you." The second sent immediately afterwards read: "I'm sorry." She called - no answer. "It rang and rang," she says. "I wrote 'Are you okay? Let me know you are okay.' None of those (messages) were ever seen."
The last image of the 23-year-old is in a Hamas video. He is being loaded on to a pickup truck, surrounded by gunmen. His left arm has been blown off. Rachel says she is always worried, scared, and doubtful. But hope, she says, "is mandatory". "I believe it and I have to believe it, that he will come back to us." |
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| | The big picture | | The WhatsApp group that saved trafficked women | | | | Georgina was one of the women trafficked to Oman and saved thanks to the WhatsApp group. Credit: BBC |
| | Dozens of Malawian women trafficked to Oman to work in slave-like conditions have been saved, in part thanks to a WhatsApp group. From her home in New Hampshire, Malawian social media activist Pililani Mombe Nyoni set up the chat after she heard from a woman trapped in the Gulf state. Then the messages poured in. Here are their stories, with details some may find distressing. | | | | |
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| | | For your downtime | | Land of the uninsurable | | Insurance costs are skyrocketing in areas exposed to climate change-related disasters. | | |
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| | And finally... in the UK | | Street artist Banksy has confirmed that a mural that sprung up in north London is his latest creation. Take a look at the graffiti, a mass of green paint sprayed on a wall behind a cut-back tree to look like foliage. |
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| | | | | | | | In History Newsletter | | The past comes to life through the BBC's unique audio, video and written archive, each Thursday. | | |
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– Jules |
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